A companion volume to Stories of Vikramaditya – Simhasana Dwatriimsika – this collection titled Vetala Panchavimsati or Twenty-five Tales of a Ghoul is a cycle of most absorbing tales related by a Ghoul. The stories of Vikramaditya are among the oldest collection of folk-tales centering round the personality of Kind Vikramaditya of Ujjain. First written in Sanskrit, a number of slightly differing versions are extent in all the major languages of India. The stories are most interesting. The main purpose of these stories is to illustrate the generous deeds of a model kind and emphasize moral lessons. In this light they are didactic, but in their ingenious plots, dramatic situations, portrayal of real life and correct appraisal of human character, they are superb. As the reader can easily notice, human nature has not changer a whit after a thousand years at least. The original authorship of these stories is unknown even as their date; but they are generally believed to have originated during the period of 11th to 13th centuries.
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