वासवदत्ता (महाकवि सुबन्धु - श्लेष-प्रधान शास्त्रीय गद्यकाव्य सान्वय सटीक)

TO PROFESSOR A. V. WILLIAMS JACKSON
My Dear Guru—That you consented, on one of the many
occasions that I have been privileged to be your guest, to accept
the dedication of this translation of India’s oldest formal romance,
has ever been to me a source of keenest joy. It is to you that
I owe my knowledge of India and her sister land, Iran; and to
you I am indebted, as to a guru indeed—that word which no
tongue can truly translate—for so much that makes for true
manhood, without which, as without charity, mere knowledge is
but ‘as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.’ I have tried
to make my work, here as always, worthy both of you and
of Columbia, to which we are each so loyal. Generously you
have helped me, even when your leisure was most limited, and
gratefully I acknowledge your aid; for of you I can say with
all my heart, as the Irish host of legend cried to their hero,
Cáilte, Adrae buaid ocus bennachtain; is mor in fis ocus in
faillsiugud fírinde doberi duind ar cach ní fíarfaigther dít,
‘Success and benison attend thee; great is the lore and the
disclosure of truth which thou givest us upon all that is asked
of thee!’
L. H. G.