Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit

The collection Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit features nine stories translated from Sanskrit, an ancient language from India. Each story has more than four chapters, and each tale addresses morality and honesty. The collection is the translation work of author Siddha Mohana Mitra, who was born in 1856, and wrote extensively on India, publishing several books on the subject in Britain. Siddha Mohana Mitra is often credited as S.M. Mitra, the name under which Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit was written.

The stories of Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit are unusual compared to other fairy tale and folklore collections from around the world, because after each story, questions are posed to the reader. As the collection’s editor Nancy Bell states in the book’s foreword, these questions help adults look at children’s mental processes and problem-solving skills. Bell says that the questions are “an amusing game,” where the children compete with each other to give the best answer. The stories within the book Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit are part of the Hindu children’s education, and help them learn to concentrate on details and emotions. The questions poised by the stories include queries such as “What do you think had become of Subha Datta?” and follow each story’s individual chapter.