Excerpt from Sublime Though Blind: A Tale of Parsi Life, Men and Manners

HE line between fact and fiction is not easy to draw. Fact is but fiction verified in some one's experience and the most successful fiction is that which not only approaches life, but that which transmutes itself into life - and life is but coherent fiction. It is the merit Of this work, for which I am asked to write apreface, that it is written by a man of wide experience, one who has been in intimate daily touch with the life Of his community in all its many-sided phases, and who has projected these living experiences into the harmonies Of a carefully planned sketch of Parsi life which While it is faithful to facts idealises them for the purposes of his art. Life, in this work, is not a succession Of sensational horrors the morbid sentimentalism which is misnamed love is remarkably absent the ethical vein may be perhaps a little too prominent and the reader is hardly given Opportunities to think for himself. All is clear cut, sharply defined, explicitly analysed. Is this the outcome Of a feeling that the average Parsi cannot think for himself? But when all is said, there remains one pleasing feature to notice. This work has been written by one who has been deprived of his vision by the dispensation Of Providence; it has been the outcome of intro spective reflection on the part of one who has had his due share, - if not more, - Of the sorrows and sufferings incidental to human life; he has been a meek soldier of the cross, carrying his burden with courage and patience: this work is the outcome Of his life, and if it manifestsa little impatience, here too much Of asermonising strain and there too much of critical analysis, it must be taken in the light Of that life, a mute but eloquent testimony to the possibilities which God Opens out to his children even in the shadows Of misfortune and the vicissitudes Of sufferings. It is God's good work that is being done by the states man guiding the destinies of nations or by the social worker in the slums or towns, or by the man at the desk who throws his soul into his work for. The instruction and guidance Of his fellow-men. If the last be doing his work deprived Of the Opportunities Of sight and painfully conscious Of the shadows of human vicissitudes, his work must be held to be unique indeed. I confidently hope that the book will receive that cordial welcome from the English reading public which it so richly deserves. P. A. Wadia, m.a., Professor. Wilson College.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.