Vikram and the Vampire-Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance, by Sir Richard F. Burton, presents Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance as delivered by the pen of the great Sir Richard Francis Burton. The legendary king Vikrama promises a vamachari (a tantric sorcerer) that he will capture a vetala (or Baital), a celestial spirit Pishacha, celestial spirit analogous to a vampire in Western literature who hangs upside-down from a tree and inhabits and animates dead bodies. King Vikrama faces many difficulties in bringing the vetala to the tantric. Each time Vikram tries to capture the vetala, it tells a story that ends with a riddle. If Vikrama cannot answer the question correctly, the vampire consents to remain in captivity. If the king knows the answer but still keeps quiet, then his head shall burst into thousand pieces. And if King Vikrama answers the question correctly, the vampire would escape and return to his tree. He knows the answer to every question; therefore the cycle of catching and releasing the vampire continues twenty-four times. On the twenty-fifth attempt, the Vetala tells the story of a father and a son in the aftermath of a devastating war.