e find that Bodenstedt has made
some decided alterations and has considerably amplified the legend. Thus
in his version the motive of the lady's attempt at suicide is despised
love, while in the original it is only a prosaic nervous headache. In
both cases, however, the sequel is the same.

Finally, the sixth book offers very free paraphrases of poems by Rumi,
Sa'di, Amir Mu'izzi and Anvari, who, oddly enough, are termed "Vorlaeufer
des Mirza Schaffy." The source for most of these poems was evidently
Hammer's _Geschichte der schoenen Redekuenste Persiens_. To realize with
what freedom Bodenstedt has treated his models, it is only necessary to
compare some of the poems from Rumi with Hammer's versions, e.g. "Glaube
und Unglaube" (_Red._ p. 175), "Der Mensch und die Welt" (ibid. p. 180),
"Des Lebens Kreislauf" (ibid. p. 178), "Wach' auf" (ibid. p. 181). "Die
Pilger," p. 188, attributed to Jami, is likewise from Rumi (_Red._ p.
181; cf. Rueckert, _Werke_, vol. v. p. 220). The poems from Sa'di can
mostly be traced to the _Gulistan_; they are so freely rendered that
they have little in common with the originals except the thought. No. 1
is _Gul._ ii. 18, _qit'ah_ 1, to which the words of Luqman are added;
no. 2 is from _Gul._ iii. 10, couplet (p. 76; K.S. p. 129); no. 3 is
_Gul._ iii. 27, _math_. (p. 89; K.S., p. 151); no. 4 is _Gul._ iii. 27,
_qit'ah_ (p. 91; K.S., p. 154) and no. 5 is _Gul._ i. 39, _math_. The
poem "Heimat und Fremde" is taken from Amir Mu'izzi,[218] the court-poet
of Malak Shah, who in turn took it from Anvari. It is cited in the _Haft
Qulzum_ to illustrate a kind of poetic theft.[219] "Unterschied" is from
Jami (_Red._ p. 315, given as from _Subhat ul-abrar_), "Warum" from Ibn
Yamin (_Red._ p. 235); "Die Sterne" and "Die Zeit" are both from Anvari
(_Red._ pp. 98, 99).

* * * * *

So far, Bodenstedt had taken the material for his Oriental poems from
Persia, but now he turned to India and in 1887 appeared _Sakuntala_, a
romantic epic in five cantos. In the main it follows the story of
Kalidasa's famous drama, but the version in the _Mahabharata_ is also
used, and a considerable number of episodes are invented. Even where the
account of the drama is followed, changes of a more or less sweeping
nature are frequent. We cannot say that they strike us as so many
improvements on Kalidasa; they certainly often destroy or obliterate
characteristic Indic features. Thus in the drama