Simla Village Tales or, Folk Tales from the Himalayas

Alice Elizabeth Dracott, Simla Village Tales or, Folk Tales from the Himalayas, London: John Murray, 1906

xiv, frontispiece, 8 illustrations, 237 pages; original decorated cloth binding
8 x 5.2 in (20 x 13 cm)

Alice Elizabeth Dracott visited India at the turn of the 20th century in order to collect and record Indian folktales by interviewing inhabitants from the village of Simla.

One cannot sojourn for long in the East without hearing strange stories, all of which are vouched for by the natives. Most would make one's blood run cold, but they are irresistibly fascinating. Filled with pathos but almost always showing that every cloud has its silver lining, these tales carry the reader into the mythical past that was India.

Most of these tales have the raw transparency of folk art, whilst others are fashioned with uncommon sophistication. Many of the stories have been passed down by word of mouth. Long before the radio and television ever existed, people spent hours around fires telling stories for entertainment.

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