The Panchatantra reached Europe mainly through an Arabic version titled
- A.Kalila wa Dimna
- B.Alf Layla wa Layla
- C.Kitab al-Hind
- D.Shahnama
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Kalila wa Dimna. The Panchatantra was first rendered into Middle Persian, and from that version it was turned into Arabic as Kalila wa Dimna, the two names being those of the jackals of the first book. From Arabic it passed into Hebrew, Latin, Spanish and the other languages of Europe, which is how the Indian fables entered the western tradition and why the work is among the most translated in the world. Option B, Alf Layla wa Layla, is the Thousand and One Nights, a separate Arabic collection of frame stories told by Scheherazade. Option C, Kitab al-Hind, is the account of India written by Alberuni in the eleventh century, a work of observation and not of fables. Option D, Shahnama, is the Persian epic of kings composed by Firdausi.
Read the full article: Children's Literature and Fables: Authors and Collections
Practice Questions
View allWho is traditionally regarded as the author of the Panchatantra?
- A.Narayana Pandita
- B.Vishnu Sharma
- C.Somadeva
- D.Kalidasa
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The Panchatantra, a collection of animal fables in Sanskrit arranged in five books, is traditionally said to have been composed by Vishnu Sharma to teach practical statecraft to the dull witted sons of a king.
Read the full explanation →The Jataka tales are stories of
- A.the earlier births of the Buddha
- B.the exploits of King Vikramaditya
- C.the adventures of the Pandavas
- D.the childhood of Mahavira
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The Jataka tales form part of the Buddhist canon in Pali and number over five hundred.
Read the full explanation →International Children's Book Day is observed on 2 April to mark the birthday of
- A.the Brothers Grimm
- B.Hans Christian Andersen
- C.Lewis Carroll
- D.Rudyard Kipling
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The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen was born on 2 April, and the International Board on Books for Young People chose that date for International Children's Book Day; the same body gives the Hans Christian Andersen Award, often called the little Nobel of children's literature.
Read the full explanation →Mowgli, Baloo and Shere Khan are characters created by
- A.Rudyard Kipling
- B.Robert Louis Stevenson
- C.Roald Dahl
- D.Kenneth Grahame
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Mowgli the boy raised by wolves, Baloo the bear, Bagheera the panther, Kaa the python and Shere Khan the tiger are the characters of The Jungle Book, written by Rudyard Kipling and set in the forests of central India.
Read the full explanation →Which Indian writer for children received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra?
- A.R. K. Narayan
- B.Ruskin Bond
- C.Sudha Murty
- D.Anant Pai
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Ruskin Bond, who has lived in Mussoorie for most of his life, won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for the collection Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.
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