Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 473

THE SIAMESE LANGUAGE
433
language, and who have discovered in its alphabet an
arrangement exactly similar to that of the Hindu alphabets.
In some languages of India the sign or inflection denoting
the vowel that always accompanies a consonant is placed
before it
the same practice is followed with regard to
Like the Hindus, the
several letters in Siamese writing.
Siamese write from left to right. This coincidence can
it rather
hardly be alleged to be the result of chance
indicates some common origin.
The investigations of modern authors with regard to this
subject leave no doubt whatever that the Pali language, or
the learned tongue of Siam, is a corrupt form of the San-
;
;
And this mother-tongue appears to have extended
even still farther, since we find a large number of Sanskrit
words in the Malay language.
However, in shape the Siamese letters as written appeared
to me to bear no resemblance whatever to the Hindu alpha-
bets with which I was acquainted.
skrit.
CHAPTER XXVI
Hindu
Fables.
The Hindus
are particularly fond of poetry and fiction,
and their literature contains a large collection of interest-
ing fables.
Some of these fables possess a moral signifi-
cance and are very popular while others are merely stories,
I have,
of no great value from a literary point of view.
however, selected a few stories which appeared to me
calculated to interest my readers, and a collection of them
will be found in the next chapter.
The fables are to be found in large numbers in various
Hindu books. They are generally based on excellent moral
principles, and contain some severe criticisms on the vices
of men.
The following I have heard related many times
;
:
A
having missed his way, was overtaken by
darkness in the midst of a dense forest. In fear of wild
beasts, he decided that the only means of escaping them
would be to spend the night in the branches of one of the
largest trees which he could find.
He therefore climbed
into a tree, and, without further thought of the dangers
which might befall him, fell fast asleep, and awoke only
'
traveller,