303

46.750 Readers and Textbooks.

It seems difficult to designate some texts in Old Javanese and Javanese-Balinese liter ature as written especially to> be used as text books for educational purposes. No doubt the numerous didactic-moralistic texts listed in Part One of the present Synopsis (see 13.000) were often read and copied in order to practise the art of writing and reading. But then, probably, among the readers and listeners the young and uneducated were mixed with grown-up persons who sought religious edification. In the Islamic period Arabic books were used as textbooks in religious schools where the young were taught the principles of the Faith. In order to make the Arabic texts understandable for Javanese pupils they were provided with Javanese glosses written under the lines of the original. In some cases these glosses were worked up into Javanese religious textbooks. In Part One, Religion and Ethics, of the present Synopsis, many religious textbooks have been regis tered (see 15.800). Modern European schools, appearing in Java in the nineteenth century, required readers, primers and textbooks of all sub jects of instruction. In the beginning authors of Javanese textbooks imitated Dutch ones. In the course of time, especially in the twen tieth century, many original Javanese text books were written and published in Java or in The Netherlands. Some of them con tain interesting information on daily life, arts and crafts, games and pastimes of com mon Javanese people. Since time immemorial folk-tales, fairy tales, animal fables and children’s stories must have existed in Java, and the art of telling them, belonging to' old women or old

men, was appreciated by young and old. The texts seem never to have been written down, though, because they were not considered to be of any consequence. Finally, in the last decades of the nineteenth century and in the beginning of the twentieth century, some Ja vanese authors were persuaded by Dutch scholars to commit folk-tales to writing. A number of these folk-tales, considered suit able reading-matter for young people, were published by “Volkslektuur”. In the present Synopsis folk-tales and novellistic stories, though sometimes read in schools, and in serted in readers, have been listed in Part Three, Belles-Lettres (see 31.400 ff.). Under the present head only manuscripts of text books written exclusively for use in the schools are collected. 46.760 Readers, elementary Javanese prose, translated by C. F. Winter from Dutch originals: cod. 2143, 2155. 46.770 Textbook of natural history, trans lated by Puspa Wilaga, 1841, from a Malay original, Surakarta: cod. NBS 97 (= NBS 114). 46.780 Notes, various textbooks, Javanese, by Puspa Wilaga, 1841, Surakarta: cod. 2159. 46.790 Wulat} Basa, textbook of Javanese style: cod. 6186. 46.800 Moralistic stories, adapted for children: cod. 5536, 7552. 46.810 Oncèn-oncèn, Javanese Anthology, by C. Poensen: cod. 5796.