Sir Richard Francis Burton"Vikram And The Vampire:Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance "
PDF | ISBN not applicable | Year 1870 | 209 pages | English | 5 MB
Vikram and The Vampire is a collection of tales and legends from India. It was originally written in Sanskrit. Like Arabian Nights, it is a set of tales, within a frame story.
According to Isabel Burton, the Baital Pachisi "is the germ which culminated in the Arabian Nights, and which inspired the "Golden Ass" of Apuleius, Boccacio's "Decamerone," the "Pentamerone," and all that class of facetious fictitious literature.".
The story revolves around the semi-legendary King Vikram, identified as Vikramaditya (c. 1st century BC). Vikram promises a tantric sorcerer (Vamachara) to bring him the Baital (or Vetala in Sanskrit), a huge vampire. Baital hangs on a tree and inhabits and animates dead bodies. Vikram faces many difficulties in bringing the Baital to the tantric.