[S']Akoontalá

[S']AKOONTALÁ BY SIR MONIER MONIER-WILLIAMS PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH EDITION. The fact that the following translation (first published in 1855) of India's most celebrated drama has gone through seven editions, might reasonably have absolved me from the duty of revising it. Three years ago, however, I heard that Sir John Lubbock had thought '[S']akoontalá' worthy of a place among the hundred best books of the world, and had adopted my version of the original. I therefore undertook to go through every line and once again compare the translation with the Sanskrit, in the hope that I might be able to give a few finishing touches to a performance which, although it had been before the public for about forty years, was certainly not perfect. The act of revision was a labour of love, and I can honestly say that I did my best to make my representation of Kálidása's immortal work as true and trustworthy as possible.