Fables Across Time: Kalila And Dimna

Abstract

Heavy, well-made landscape-formatted book 11¼" x 8¼". The book works in English in one direction and in Arabic in the other, with mirror-opposites of the same illustrations at each step along the way towards the book's center. The book's three stories are "Three Fish," "The Lion and the Ox," and "Four Friends," each story covering some twenty pages. "Three Fish" presents an even more immediate threat than in some other versions I have read. The wise fish is gone immediately without even saying good-bye, and the fishermen are already putting their nets into the water. The other two stories, that are told in such leisure elsewhere with illustrative fables, are pared down to the strict narrative. I feel the loss! One good illustration in "The Lion and the Ox" shows Kalila and Dimna facing each other on 45-46. The Dimna page appears also on the cover of the book. A second good illustration shows Dimna whispering into King Lion's ear (49). "Four Friends" presumes an already-existing friendship between the gazelle and the turtle. There is an excellent rendition of the doves in the net on 62-63. A happy collaboration among art museums – in Bahrain, Indianapolis, and New York – brought this beautiful book into existence.