Vikram and the Vampire: Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance

One of India's most enduring story cycles, this medieval classic embeds tale within tale like a nesting doll of infinite regress. King Vikramaditya, the great ruler of Ujjain and champion of justice, must capture the supernatural vampire Baital, but each time he seizes the Corpse-Prince, the fiend tells a story so enchanting that Vikram loses himself in narration and forgets his purpose. The vampire escapes. Again and again. The twenty-four tales contained within this frame range from tales of reborn lovers and djinn to political intrigue at royal courts, each one a gem of adventure, magic, and romantic longing. Burton's 1870 translation captures the exotic, dangerous atmosphere of these tales, which predate many European literary forms and share structural DNA with The Arabian Nights. This is ancient Indian storytelling at its finest: violent, sensual, witty, and deeply moral, all at once.