By W. F. KIRBY
Author of “Ed-Dimiryaht: an Oriental Romance,” “The New Arabian
Nights,” &c.
The European editions of the Thousand and One Nights, even
excluding the hundreds of popular editions which have nothing
specially noticeable about them, are very numerous; and the
following Notes must, I am fully aware, be incomplete, though
they will, perhaps, be found useful to persons interested in the
subject. Although I believe that editions of most of the English,
French, and German versions of any importance have passed through
my hands, I have not had an opportunity of comparing many in
other languages, some of which at least may be independent
editions, not derived from Galland. The imitations and
adaptations of The Nights are, perhaps, more numerous than the
editions of The Nights themselves, if we exclude mere reprints of
Galland; and many of them are even more difficult of access.
In the following Notes, I have sometimes referred to tales by
their numbers in the Table.
Galland’s Ms. and Translation.
The first MS. of The Nights known in Europe was brought to Paris
by Galland at the close of the 17th century; and his translation
was published in Paris, in twelve small volumes, under the title
of “Les Mille et une Nuit: Contes Arabes, traduits en Francois
par M. Galland.” These volumes appeared at intervals between 1704
and 1717. Galland himself died in 1715, and it is uncertain how
far he was responsible for the latter part of the work. Only the
first six of the twelve vols. are divided into Nights, vol. 6
completing the story of Camaralzaman, and ending with Night 234.
The Voyages of Sindbad are not found in Galland’s MS., though he
has intercalated them as Nights 69-90 between Nos. 3 and 4. It
should be mentioned, however, that in some texts (Bresl., for
instance) No. 133 is placed much earlier in the series than in
others.
The stories in Galland’s last six vols. may be divided into two
classes, viz., those known to occur in genuine texts of The
Nights, and those which do not. To the first category belong Nos.
7, 8, 59, 153 and 170; and some even of these are not found in
Galland’s own MS., but were derived by him from other sources.
The remaining tales (Nos. 191-198) do not really belong to The
Nights; and, strange to say, although they are certainly genuine
Oriental tales, the actual originals have never been found. I am
inclined to think that Galland may, perhaps, have written and
adapted them from his recollection of stories which he himself
heard related during his own residence in the East, especially as
most of these tales appear to be derived rather from Persian or
Turkish than from Arabian sources.
The following Preface appeared in vol. 9 which I translate from
Talander’s German edition, as the original is not before me:
“The two stories with which the eighth volume concludes do not
properly belong to the Thousand and One Nights. They were added
and printed without the previous knowledge of the translator, who
had not the slightest idea of the trick that had been played upon
him until the eighth volume was actually on sale. The reader must
not, therefore, be surprised that the story of the Sleeper
Awakened, which commences vol. 9, is written as if Scheherazade
had related it immediately after the story of Ganem, which forms
the greater part of vol. 8. Care will be taken to omit these two
stories in a new edition, as not belonging to the work.”
It is, perhaps, not to be wondered at that when the new edition
was actually published, subsequently to Galland’s death, the
condemned stories were retained, and the preface withdrawn;
though No. 170 still reads as if it followed No. 8.
The information I have been able to collect respecting the
disputed tales is very slight. I once saw a MS. advertised in an
auction catalogue (I think that of the library of the late Prof.
H. H. Wilson) as containing two of Galland’s doubtful tales, but
which they were was not stated. The fourth and last volume of the
MS. used by Galland is lost; but it is almost certain that it did
not contain any of these tales (compare Payne, ix. 265 note).
The story of Zeyn Alasnam (No. 191) is derived from the same
source as that of the Fourth Durwesh, in the well-known
Hindustani reading-book, the Bagh o Bahar. If it is based upon
this, Galland has greatly altered and improved it, and has given
it the whole colouring of a European moral fairy tale.
The story of Ali Baba (No. 195) is, I have been told, a Chinese
tale. It occurs under the title of the Two Brothers and the
Forty-nine Dragons in Geldart’s Modern Greek Tales. It has also
been stated that the late Prof. Palmer met with a very similar
story among the Arabs of Sinai (Payne, ix. 266).
The story of Sidi Nouman (No 194b) may have been based partly
upon the Third Shaykh’s Story (No. 1c), which Galland omits. The
feast of the Ghools is, I believe, Greek or Turkish, rather than
Arabic, in character, as vampires, personified plague, and
similar horrors are much commoner in the folk-lore of the former
peoples.
Many incidents of the doubtful, as well as of the genuine tales,
are common in European folk-lore (versions of Nos. 2 and 198, for
instance, occur in Grimm’s Kinder und Hausmärchen), and some of
the doubtful tales have their analogues in Scott’s MS., as will
be noticed in due course.
I have not seen Galland’s original edition in 12 vols.; but the
Stadt-Bibliothek of Frankfort-on-Main contains a copy, published
at La Haye, in 12 vols. (with frontispieces), made up of two or
more editions, as follows:—
Vol. i. (ed. 6) 1729; vols. ii. iii. iv. (ed. 5) 1729; vols. v.
vi. viii. (ed. 5) 1728; vol. vii. (ed. 6) 1731; vols. ix. to xi,
(ed. not noted) 1730; and vol. xii. (ed. not noted) 1731.
The discrepancies in the dates of the various volumes look (as
Mr. Clouston has suggested) as if separate volumes were reprinted
as required, independently of the others. This might account for
vols. v. vi. and viii. of the fifth edition having been
apparently reprinted before vols. ii. iii. and iv.
The oldest French version in the British Museum consists of the
first eight vols., published at La Haye, and likewise made up of
different editions, as follows:—
i. (ed. 5) 1714; ii. iii. iv. (ed. 4) 1714; v. vi. (ed. 5) 1728;
vii. (ed. 5) 1719; viii. (“suivant la copie imprimée à Paris”)
1714.
Most French editions (old and new) contain Galland’s Dedication,
“À Madame la Marquise d’O., Dame du Palais de Madame la Duchesse
de Bourgogne,” followed by an “Avertissement.” In addition to
these, the La Haye copies have Fontenelle’s Approbation prefixed
to several volumes, but in slightly different words, and bearing
different dates. December 27th, 1703 (vol. i.); April 14th, 1704
(vol. vi.); and October 4th, 1705 (vol. vii.). This is according
to the British Museum copy; I did not examine the Frankfort copy
with reference to the Approbation. The Approbation is translated
in full in the old English version as follows: “I have read, by
Order of my Lord Chancellor, this Manuscript, wherein I find
nothing that ought to hinder its being Printed. And I am of
opinion that the Publick will be very well pleased with the
Perusal of these Oriental Stories. Paris, 27th December, 1705
[apparently a misprint for 1703] (Signed) FONTENELLE.”
In the Paris edition of 1726 (vide infrà), Galland says in his
Dedication, “Il a fallu le faire venir de Syrie, et mettre en
François, le premier volume que voici, de quatre seulement qui
m’ont été envoyez.” So, also, in a Paris edition (in eight vols.
12mo) of 1832; but in the La Haye issue of 1714, we read not
“quatre” but “six” volumes. The old German edition of Talander
(vide infrà) does not contain Galland’s Dedication (Epitre) or
Avertissement.
The earliest French editions were generally in 12 vols., or six;
I possess a copy of a six-volume edition, published at Paris in
1726. It may be the second, as the title-page designates it as
“nouvelle edition, corrigée.”
Galland’s work was speedily translated into various European
languages, and even now forms the original of all the numerous
popular editions. The earliest English editions were in six
volumes, corresponding to the first six of Galland, and ending
with the story of Camaralzaman; nor was it till nearly the end of
the 18th century that the remaining half of the work was
translated into English. The date of appearance of the first
edition is unknown to bibliographers; Lowndes quotes an edition
of 1724 as the oldest; but the British Museum contains a set of
six vols., made up of portions of the second, third and fourth
editions, as follows:—
Vols. i. ii. (ed. 4) 1713; vols. iii. iv. (ed. 2) 1712; and vols.
v. vi. (ed. 3) 1715.
Here likewise the separate volumes seem to have been reprinted
independently of each other; and it is not unlikely that the
English translation may have closely followed the French
publication, being issued volume by volume, as the French
appeared, as far as vol. vi. The title-page of this old edition
is very quaint:
“Arabian Nights Entertainments, consisting of One thousand and
one Stories, told by the Sultaness of the Indies to divert the
Sultan from the Execution of a Bloody Vow he had made, to marry a
Lady every day, and have her head cut off next Morning, to avenge
himself for the Disloyalty of the first Sultaness, also
containing a better account of the Customs, Manners and Religion
of the Eastern Nations, viz., Tartars, Persians and Indians, than
is to be met with in any Author hitherto published. Translated
into French from the Arabian MSS. by Mr. Galland of the Royal
Academy, and now done into English. Printed for Andrew Bell at
the Cross Keys and Bible, in Cornhill.”
The British Museum has an edition in 4to published in 1772, in
farthing numbers, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It extends
to 79 numbers, forming five volumes.
The various editions of the Old English version appear to be
rare, and the set in the British Museum is very poor. The oldest
edition which I have seen containing the latter half of Galland’s
version is called the 14th edition, and was published in London
in four volumes, in 1778. Curiously enough, the “13th edition,”
also containing the conclusion, was published at Edinburgh in
three volumes in 1780. Perhaps it is a reprint of a London
edition published before that of 1778. The Scotch appear to have
been fond of The Nights, as there are many Scotch editions both
of The Nights and the imitations.
Revised or annotated editions by Piguenit (4 vols., London, 1792)
and Gough (4 vols., Edinburgh, 1798) may deserve a passing
notice.
A new translation of Galland, by Rev. E. Forster, in five vols.
4to, with engravings from pictures by Robert Smirke, R.A.,
appeared in 1802, and now commands a higher price than any other
edition of Galland. A new edition in 8vo appeared in 1810. Most
of the recent popular English versions are based either upon
Forster’s or Scott’s.
Another translation from Galland, by G. S. Beaumont (four vols.
8vo), appeared in 1811. (Lowndes writes Wiliam Beaumont.)
Among the various popular editions of later date we may mention
an edition in two vols., 8vo, published at Liverpool (1813), and
containing Cazotte’s Continuation; an edition published by
Griffin and Co., in 1866, to which Beckford’s “Vathek” is
appended; an edition “arranged for the perusal of youthful
readers,” by the Hon. Mrs. Sugden (Whittaker & Co., 1863); and
“Five Favourite Tales from The Arabian Nights in words of one
syllable, by A. & E. Warner” (Lewis, 1871).
Some of the English editions of Galland aim at originality by
arranging the tales in a different order. The cheap edition
published by Dicks in 1868 is one instance.
An English version of Galland was published at Lucknow, in four
vols., 8vo, in 1880.
I should, perhaps, mention that I have not noticed De Sacy’s
“Mille et une Nuit,” because it is simply a new edition of
Galland; and I have not seen either Destain’s French edition
(mentioned by Sir R. F. Burton), nor Cardonne’s Continuation
(mentioned in Cabinet des Fées, xxxvii. p. 83). As Cardonne died
in 1784, his Continuation, if genuine, would be the earliest of
all.
The oldest German version, by Talander, seems to have appeared in
volumes, as the French was issued; and these volumes were
certainly reprinted when required, without indication of separate
editions, but in slightly varied style, and with alteration of
date. The old German version is said to be rarer than the French.
It is in twelve parts—some, however, being double. The set
before me is clearly made up of different reprints, and the first
title-page is as follows: “Die Tausend und eine Nacht, worinnen
seltzame Arabische Historien und wunderbare Begebenheiten,
benebst artigen Liebes-Intriguen, auch Sitten und Gewohnheiten
der Morgenländer, auf sehr anmuthige Weise, erzehlet werden;
Erstlich vom Hru. Galland, der Königl. Academie Mitgliede aus der
Arabischen Sprache in die Französische und aus selbiger anitzo
ins Deutsche übersetzt: Erster und Anderer Theil. Mit der Vorrede
Herru Talanders. Leipzig Verlegts Moritz Georg Weidmann Sr.
Konigl. Maj. in Hohlen und Churfürstl. Durchl. zu Sachsen
Buchhändler, Anno 1730.” Talander’s Preface relates chiefly to
the importance of the work as illustrative of Arabian manners and
customs, &c. It is dated from “Liegnitz, den 7 Sept., Anno 1710,”
which fixes the approximate date of publication of the first part
of this translation. Vols. i. and ii. of my set (double vol. with
frontispiece) are dated 1730, and have Talander’s preface; vols.
iii. and iv. (divided, but consecutively paged, and with only one
title-page and frontispiece and reprint of Talander’s preface)
are dated 1719; vols. v. and vi. (same remarks, except that
Talander’s preface is here dated 1717) are dated 1737; vol. vii.
(no frontispiece; preface dated 1710) is dated 1721; vol. viii
(no frontispiece nor preface, nor does Talander’s name appear on
the title-page) is dated 1729; vols. ix. and x. (divided, but
consecutively paged, and with only one title-page and
frontispiece; Talander’s name and preface do not appear, but
Galland’s preface to vol. ix., already mentioned, is prefixed)
are dated 1731; and vols. xi. and xii. (same remarks, but no
preface) are dated 1732.
Galland’s notes are translated, but not his preface and
dedication.
There is a later German translation (6 vols. 8vo, Bremen, 1781-
1785) by J. H. Voss, the author of the standard German
translation of Homer.
The British Museum has just acquired a Portuguese translation of
Galland, in 4 volumes: “As Mil e uma Noites, Contos Arabes,”
published by Ernesto Chardron, Editor, Porto e Braga, 1881.
There are two editions of a modern Greek work in the British
Museum (1792 and 1804), published at Venice in three small
volumes. The first volume contains Galland (Nos. 1-6 of the
table) and vols. ii. and iii. chiefly contain the Thousand and
One Days. It is, apparently, translated from some Italian work.
Several editions in Italian (Mille ed una Notte) have appeared at
Naples and Milan; they are said by Sir R. F. Burton to be mere
reprints of Galland.
There are, also, several in Dutch, one of which, by C. Van der
Post, in 3 vols. 8vo, published at Utrecht in 1848, purports, I
believe, to be a translation from the Arabic, and has been
reprinted several times. The Dutch editions are usually entitled,
“Arabische Vertellinge.” A Danish edition appeared at Copenhagen
in 1818, under the title of “Prindsesses Schehezerade.
Fortällinger eller de saakatle Tusende og een Nat. Udgivna paa
Dansk vid Heelegaan.” Another, by Rasmassen, was commenced in
1824; and a third Danish work, probably founded on the Thousand
and One Nights, and published in 1816, bears the title, “Digt og
Eventyr fra Osterland, af arabiska og persischen utrykta kilder.”
I have seen none of these Italian, Dutch or Danish editions; but
there is little doubt that most, if not all, are derived from
Galland’s work.
The following is the title of a Javanese version, derived from
one of the Dutch editions, and published at Leyden in 1865,
“Eenige Vertellingen uit de Arabisch duizend en één Nacht. Naar
de Nederduitsche vertaling in het Javaansch vertaald, door
Winter-Roorda.”
Mr. A. G. Ellis has shown me an edition of Galland’s Aladdin (No.
193) in Malay, by M. Van der Lawan (?) printed in Batavia, A.D.
1869.
We shall speak elsewhere of the Cabinet des Fées; but the last
four volumes of this great collection (38 to 41), published at
Geneva from 1788 to 1793, contain a work entitled, “Les Veillées
du Sultan Schahriar avec la Sultane Scheherazade; histoires
incroyables, amusantes et morales, traduites de l’arabe par M.
Cazotte et D. Chavis. Faisant suite aux Mille et une Nuits.” Some
copies bear the abridged title of “La suite des Mille et une
Nuits. Contes Arabes, traduits par Dom Chavis et M. Cazotte.”
This collection of tales was pronounced to be spurious by many
critics, and even has been styled “a bare-faced forgery” by a
writer in the Edinburgh Review of July, 1886. It is, however,
certain that the greater part, if not all, of these tales are
founded on genuine Eastern sources, though very few have any real
claim to be regarded as actually part of the Thousand and One
Nights.
Translations of the originals of most of these tales have been
published by Caussin de Perceval and Gauttier; and a comparison
clearly shows the great extent to which Chavis and Cazotte have
altered, amplified and (in a literary sense) improved their
materials.
It is rather surprising that no recent edition of this work seems
to have been issued, perhaps owing to the persistent doubts cast
upon its authenticity, only a few of the tales, and those not the
best, having appeared in different collections. My friend, Mr. A.
G. Ellis, himself an Oriental scholar, has remarked to me that he
considers these tales as good as the old “Arabian Nights”; and I
quite agree with him that Chavis and Cazotte’s Continuation is
well worthy of re-publication in its entirety.
The following are the principal tales comprised in this
collection, those included in our Table from later authors being
indicated.
1. The Robber Caliph, or the Adventures of Haroun Alraschid with
the Princess of Persia, and the beautiful Zutulbe. (No. 246.)
2. The Power of Destiny, being the History of the Journey of
Giafar to Damas, containing the Adventures of Chelih and his
Family. (No. 280.)
3. History of Halechalbe and the Unknown Lady. (No. 204c.)
4. Story of Xailoun the Idiot.
5. The Adventures of Simoustapha and the Princess Ilsetilsone.
(No. 247.)
6. History of Alibengiad, Sultan of Herak, and of the False Birds
of Paradise.
7. History of Sinkarib and his Two Viziers. (No. 249.)
8. History of the Family of the Schebandad of Surat.
9. Story of Bohetzad and his Ten Viziers. (No. 174.)
10. Story of Habib and Dorathil-Goase. (No. 251.)
11. History of the Maugraby, or the Magician.
Of these, Nos. 4, 6, 8 and 11 only are not positively known in
the original. No. 11 is interesting, as it is the seed from which
Southey’s “Thalaba the Destroyer” was derived.
On the word Maugraby, which means simply Moor, Cazotte has the
following curious note: “Ce mot signifie barbare, barbaresque
plus proprement. On jure encore par lui en Provence, en
Languedoc, et en Gascogne Maugraby; ou ailleurs en France
Meugrebleu.”
The Domdaniel, where Zatanai held his court with Maugraby and his
pupilmagicians, is described as being under the sea near Tunis.
In Weil’s story of Joodar and Mahmood (No. 201) the Magician
Mahmood is always called the Moor of Tunis.
No. 3 (=our No. 204c) contains the additional incident of the
door opened only once a year which occurs in our No. 9a, aa.
Moore probably took the name Namouna from Cazotte’s No. 5, in
which it occurs. In the same story we find a curious name of a
Jinniyah, Setelpedour. Can it be a corruption of Sitt El Budoor?
For further remarks on Cazotte’s Continuation, compare Russell’s
History of Aleppo, i. p. 385; and Russell and Scott, Ouseley’s
Oriental Collections, i. pp. 246, 247; ii. p. 25; and the
“Gentleman’s Magazine” for February, 1779.
An English version under the title “Arabian Tales, or a
Continuation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments,” translated
by Robert Heron, was published in Edinburgh in 1792 in 4 vols.,
and in London in 1794 in 3 vols. It was reprinted in Weber’s
“Tales of the East” (Edinburgh, 1812); and, as already mentioned,
is included in an edition of the Arabian Nights published in
Liverpool in 1813.
A German translation forms vols. 5 to 8 of the “Blaue
Bibliothek,” published in Gotha in 1790 and 1791; and the British
Museum possesses vols. 3 and 4 of a Russian edition, published at
Moscow in 1794 and 1795, which is erroneously entered in the
catalogue as the Arabian Nights in Russian.
Respecting the work of Chavis and Cazotte, Sir R. F. Burton
remarks, “Dom Dennis Chavis was a Syrian priest of the order of
Saint Bazil, who was invited to Paris by the learned minister,
Baron Arteuil, and he was assisted by M. Cazotte, a French
author, then well known, but wholly ignorant of Arabic. These
tales are evidently derived from native sources; the story of
Bohetzad (King Bakhtiyar) and his Ten Wazirs is taken bodily from
the Bres. Edit. [not so; but the original Arabic had long been
known in the French libraries]. As regards the style and
treatment, it is sufficient to say that the authors out-Gallanded
Galland, while Heron exaggerates every fault of his original.”
The first enlarged edition of Galland in French was published by
Caussin de Perceval, at Paris, in 9 vols., 8vo (1806). In
addition to Galland’s version, he added four tales (Nos. 21a, 22,
32 and 37), with which he had been furnished by Von Hammer. He
also added a series of tales, derived from MSS. in the Parisian
libraries, most of which correspond to those of Cazotte.
The most important of the later French editions was published by
E. Gauttier in 7 vols. in 1822; it contains much new matter. At
the end, the editor gives a list of all the tales which he
includes, with arguments. He has rather oddly distributed his
material so as to make only 568 nights. The full contents are
given in our Table; the following points require more special
notice. Vol. i. Gauttier omits the Third Shaykh’s story (No. 1c)
on account of its indecency, although it is really no worse than
any other story in The Nights. In the story of the Fisherman, he
has fallen into a very curious series of errors. He has
misunderstood King Yunan’s reference to King Sindbad (Burton i.
p. 50) to refer to the Book of Sindibad (No. 135); and has
confounded it with the story of the Forty Vazirs, which he says
exists in Arabic as well as in Turkish. Of this latter,
therefore, he gives an imperfect version, embedded in the story
of King Yunan (No. 2a). Here it may be observed that another
imperfect French version of the Forty Vazirs had previously been
published by Petis de la Croix under the title of Turkish Tales.
A complete German version by Dr. Walter F. A. Behrnauer was
published at Leipzig in 1851, and an English version by Mr. E. J.
W. Gibb has appeared while these sheets are passing through the
press.
Vol. ii. After No. 6 Gauttier places versions of Nos. 32 and 184
by Langlès. The Mock Caliph is here called Aly-Chah. The other
three tales given by Caussin de Perceval from Von Hammer’s MSS.
are omitted by Gauttier. Vol. v. (after No. 198) concludes with
two additional tales (Nos. 207h and 218) from Scott’s version.
But the titles are changed, No. 207h being called the Story of
the Young Prince and the Green Bird, and No. 218 the Story of
Mahmood, although there is another story of Mahmood in vol. 1.
(==No. 135m) included as part of the Forty Vazirs.
Vol. vi. includes the Ten Vazirs (No. 174), derived, however, not
from the Arabic, but from the Persian Bakhtyar Nameh. Three of
the subordinate tales in the Arabic version are wanting in
Gauttier’s, and another is transferred to his vol. vii., but he
includes one, the King and Queen of Abyssinia (No. 252), which
appears to be wanting in the Arabic. The remainder of the volume
contains tales from Scott’s version, the title of Mazin of
Khorassaun (No. 215) being altered to the Story of Azem and the
Queen of the Genii.
Vol. vii. contains a series of tales of which different versions
of six only (Nos. 30, 174, 246, 248, 249 and 250) were previously
published. Though these have no claim to be considered part of
The Nights, they are of sufficient interest to receive a passing
mention, especially as Gauttier’s edition seems not to have been
consulted by any later writer on The Nights, except Habicht, who
based his own edition mainly upon it. Those peculiar to
Gauttier’s edition are therefore briefly noticed.
Princess Ameny (No. 253)—A princess who leaves home disguised as
a man, and delivers another princess from a black slave. The
episode (253b) is a story of enchantment similar to Nos. 1a-c.
Aly Djohary (No. 254)—Story of a young man’s expedition in
search of a magical remedy.
The Princes of Cochin China (No. 255)—The princes travel in
search of their sister who is married to a Jinni, who is under
the curse of Solomon. The second succeeds in breaking the spell,
and thus rescues both his brother, his sister, and the Jinni by
killing a bird to which the destiny of the last is attached.
(This incident is common in fiction; we find it in the genuine
Nights in Nos. 154a and 201.)
The Wife with Two Husbands (No. 256)—A well-known Eastern story;
it may be found in Wells’ “Mehemet the Kurd,” pp. 121-127, taken
from the Forty Vazirs. Compare Gibbs, the 24th Vazir’s Story, pp.
257-266.
The Favourite (No. 257)—One of the ordinary tales of a man
smuggled into a royal harem in a chest (compare Nos. 6b and 166).
Zoussouf and the Indian Merchant (No. 258)—Story of a ruined man
travelling to regain his fortune.
Prince Benazir (No. 258)—Story of a Prince promised at his
birth, and afterwards given up by his parents to an evil Jinni,
whom he ultimately destroys. (Such promises, especially, as here,
in cases of difficult labour, are extremely common in folk-tales;
the idea probably originated in the dedication of a child to the
Gods.) Gauttier thinks that this story may have suggested that of
Maugraby to Cazotte; but it appears to me rather doubtful whether
it is quite elaborate enough for Cazotte to have used it in this
manner.
Selim, Sultan of Egypt (No. 261)—This and its subordinate tales
chiefly relate to unfaithful wives; that of Adileh (No. 261b) is
curious; she is restored to life by Jesus (whom Gauttier, from
motives of religious delicacy, turns into a Jinni!) to console
her disconsolate husband, and immediately betrays the latter.
These tales are apparently from the Forty Vazirs; cf. Gibbs, the
10th Vazir’s Story, pp. 122-129 (= our No. 261) and the Sixth
Vazir’s Story, pp. 32-84 (= No. 261b.)
The bulk of the tales in Gauttier’s vol. vii. are derived from
posthumous MSS. of M. Langlès, and several have never been
published in English. Gauttier’s version of Heycar (No. 248) was
contributed by M. Agoub.
The best-known modern German version (Tausend und Eine Nacht,
Arabische Erzahlungen, Deutsch von Max. Habicht, Fr. H. von der
Hagen und Carl Schall. Breslau, 15 vols. 12mo) is mainly based
upon Gauttier’s edition, but with extensive additions, chiefly
derived from the Breslau text. An important feature of this
version is that it includes translations of the prefaces of the
various editions used by the editors, and therefore supplies a
good deal of information not always easily accessible elsewhere.
There are often brief notes at the end of the volumes.
The fifth edition of Habicht’s version is before me, dated 1840;
but the preface to vol. i. is dated 1824, which may be taken to
represent the approximate date of its first publication. The
following points in the various vols. may be specially noticed:—
Vol. i. commences with the preface of the German editor, setting
forth the object and scope of his edition; and the prefaces of
Gauttier and Galland follow. No. 1c, omitted by Gauttier, is
inserted in its place. Vols. ii. and iii. (No. 133), notes,
chiefly from Langlès, are appended to the Voyages of Sindbad; and
the destinations of the first six are given as follows:—
I. Voyage to Sumatra. IV. Voyage to the Sunda Islands.
II. Voyage to Ceylon. V. Voyage to the Sunda Islands.
III. Voyage to Selahath. VI. Voyage to Zeilan.
Vol. v. contains an unimportant notice from Galland, with
additional remarks by the German editors, respecting the division
of the work into Nights.
Vol. vi. contains another unimportant preface respecting Nos. 191
and 192.
Vol. x. Here the preface is of more importance, relating to the
contents of the volume, and especially to the Ten Vazirs (No.
174).
Vol. xi. contains tales from Scott. The preface contains a full
account of his MSS., and the tales published in his vol. vi. This
preface is taken partly from Ouseley’s Oriental Collections, and
partly from Scott’s own preface.
Vol. xii. contains tales from Gauttier, vol. vii. The preface
gives the full contents of Clarke’s and Von Hammer’s MSS.
Vol. xiii. includes Caussin de Perceval’s Preface, the remaining
tales from Gauttier’s vol. vii. (ending with Night 568), and four
tales from Caussin which Gauttier omits (Nos. 21a, 22, 37 and
202).
Vols. xiv. and xv. (extending from Night 884 to Night 1001)
consist of tales from the Breslau edition, to which a short
preface, signed by Dr. Max. Habicht, is prefixed. The first of
these tales is a fragment of the important Romance of Seyf Zul
Yesn (so often referred to by Lane), which seems to have been
mixed with Habicht’s MS. of The Nights by mistake. (Compare
Payne, Tales, iii. 243.)
In this fragment we have several incidents resembling The Nights;
there is a statue which sounds an alarm when an enemy enters a
city (cf. Nos. 59 and 137); Seyf himself is converted to the
faith of Abraham, and enters a city where a book written by
Japhet is preserved. The text of this story has lately been
published; and Sir R. F. Burton informs me that he thinks he has
seen a complete version in some European language; but I have not
succeeded in obtaining any particulars concerning it.
On account of the interest and importance of the work, I append
to this section an English version of the fragment translated
into German by Habicht. (From the extreme simplicity of the
style, which I have preserved, I suspect that the translation is
considerably abridged.)
There is an Icelandic version of The Nights (púsund og ein Nott.
Arabiskar Sögur. Kaupmannahöfn, 1857, 4 vols. roy. 8vo), which
contains Galland’s tales, and a selection of others, distributed
into 1001 Nights, and apparently taken chiefly from Gauttier, but
with the addition of two or three which seem to be borrowed from
Lane (Nos. 9a, 163, 165, &c.). It is possibly derived immediately
from some Danish edition.
There is one popular English version which may fairly be called a
composite edition; but it is not based upon Gauttier. This is the
“Select Library Edition. Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, selected
and revised for general use. To which are added other specimens
of Eastern Romance. London: James Burns, 1847. 2 vols.”
It contains the following tales from The Nights: Nos. 134, 3,
133, 162, 1, 2, 155, 191, 193, 192, 194, 194a, 194c, 21, 198,
170, 6.
No. 134 is called the City of Silence, instead of the City of
Brass, and is certainly based partly upon Lane. In No. 155, Manar
Al Sana is called Nur Al Nissa. One story, “The Wicked Dervise,”
is taken from Dow’s “Persian Tales of Inatulla;” another “The
Enchanters, or the Story of Misnar,” is taken from the “Tales of
the Genii.” Four other tales, “Jalaladdeen of Bagdad,” “The two
Talismans,” “The Story of Haschem,” and “Jussof, the Merchant of
Balsora,” clearly German imitations, are said to be translated
from the German of Grimm, and there are two others, “Abdullah and
Balsora,” and “The King and his Servant,” the origin of which I
do not recognise, although I think I have read the last before.
Grimm’s story of Haschem concludes with the hero’s promotion to
the post of Grand Vizier to Haroun Al-Rashid, in consequence of
the desire of the aged “Giafar” to end his days in peaceful
retirement! The principal incident in Jalaladdeen, is that of the
Old Woman in the Chest, borrowed from the wellknown story of the
Merchant Abudah in the “Tales of the Genii,” and it is thus an
imitation of an imitation,
In very ancient times, long before the age of Mohammed, there
lived a King of Yemen, named Zul Yezn. He was a Himyarite of the
race of Fubbaa (Tabbá’) and had large armies and a great capital.
His Minister was named Yottreb (Yathrab == Medinat), and was well
skilled in the knowledge of the ancients. He once had a vision in
which the name of the Prophet was revealed to him, with the
announcement of his mission in later times; and he was also
informed that he would be the last of the Prophets. In
consequence of this vision he believed in the Prophet before his
advent; but he concealed his faith. One day the King held a
review of his troops, and was delighted with their number and
handsome appearance. He said to the Wazir, “Is there any person
on earth whose power can compare with mine?” “O yes,” answered
the Wazir, “there is King Baal-Beg, whose troops fill the deserts
and the cultivated lands, the plains and the valleys.” “I must
make war upon him, then,” exclaimed the King, “and destroy his
power.” He immediately ordered the army to prepare to march, and
after a few days the drums and trumpets were heard. The King and
his Wazir set forth in magnificent array, and after a rapid
march, they arrived before the holy city Medina, which may God
keep in high renown! The Wazir then said to the King, “Here is
the holy house of God, and the place of great ceremonies. No one
should enter here who is not perfectly pure, and with head and
feet bare. Pass around it with your companions, according to the
custom of the Arabs.” The King was so pleased with the place that
he determined to destroy it, to carry the stones to his own
country, and to rebuild it there, that the Arabs might come to
him on pilgrimage, a nd that he might thus exalt himself above
all Kings. He pondered over this plan all night, but next morning
he found his body fearfully swollen. He immediately sent for his
Wazir, and lamented over his misfortune. “This is a judgment sent
upon you,” replied the Wazir, “by the Lord of this house. If you
alter your intention of destroying the temple, you will be healed
at once.” The King gave up his project, and soon found himself
cured. Soon afterwards he said to himself, “This misfortune
happened to me at night, and left me next day of its own accord;
but I will certainly destroy the house.” But next morning his
face was so covered with open ulcers that he could no longer be
recognised. The Wazir then approached him and said, “O King,
renounce your intention, for it would be rebellion against the
Lord of Heaven and Earth, who can destroy every one who opposes
him.” When the King heard this, he reflected awhile and said,
“What would you wish me to do?” The Wazir replied, “Cover the
house with carpets from Yemen.” The King resolved to do this, and
when night came he retired to rest. He then saw an apparition
which ordered him not to march further into the country of King
Baal-Beg, but to turn towards Abyssinia and Nigritia, adding,
“Remain there, and choose it as thy residence, and assuredly one
of thy race will arise through whom the threat of Noah shall be
fulfilled.” When the King awoke next morning he related this to
the Wazir, who advised him to use his own judgment about it. The
King immediately gave orders to march. The army set forth, and
after ten days they arrived at a country the soil of which seemed
to consist of chalk, for it appeared quite white. The Wazir
Yottreb then went to the King and requested his permission to
found a city here for his people. “Why so?” asked the King.
“Because,” replied the Wazir, “this will one day be the place of
Refuge of the Prophet Mohammed, who will be sent at the end of
time.” The King then gave his consent, and Yottreb immediately
summoned architects and surveyors, who dug out the ground, and
reared the walls, and erected beautiful palaces. They did not
desist from the work until the Wazir ordered a number of his
people to remove to this city with their families. This was done,
and their posterity inhabit the city to this day. He then gave
them a scroll, and said, “He who comes to you as a fugitive to
this house will be the ruler of this city.” He then called the
city Yottreb after his own name, and the scroll descended from
father to son till the Apostle of God arrived as a fugitive from
Mecca, when the inhabitants went out to meet him, and presented
him with it. They afterwards became his auxiliaries and were
known as the Ansar. But we must now return to King Zul Yezn. He
marched several days toward Abyssinia, and at last arrived in a
beautiful and fertile country where he informed his Wazir that he
would like to build a city for his subjects. He gave the
necessary orders, which were diligently executed; canals were dug
and the surrounding country cultivated; and the city was named
Medinat El-Hamra, the Red. At last the news reached the King of
Abyssinia, whose name was Saif Ar-Raad (Thunder-sword), and whose
capital was called Medinat ad-Durr (the Rich in Houses). Part of
this city was built on solid land and the other was built in the
sea. This prince could bring an army of 600,000 men into the
field, and his authority extended to the extremity of the then
known world. When he was informed of the invasion of Zul Yezn, he
summoned his two Wazirs, who were named Sikra Divas and Ar-Ryf.
The latter was well versed in ancient books, in which he had
discovered that God would one day send a Prophet who would be the
last of the series. He believed this himself, but concealed it
from the Abyssinians, who were still worshippers of Saturn. When
the Wazirs came before the King, he said to them,“See how the
Arabs are advancing against us; I must fight them.” Sikra Divas
opposed this design, fearing lest the threat of Noah should be
fulfilled. “I would rather advise you,” said he, “to make the
King a present and to send with it the most beautiful maiden in
your palace. But give her poison secretly, and instruct her to
poison the King when she is alone with him. If he is once dead,
his army will retire without a battle.” The King adopted this
advice, and prepared rich presents, and summoned a beautiful
girl, whose artfulness and malice were well known. Her name was
Kamrya (Moonlight). The King said to her, “I have resolved to
send you as a present, for a secret object. I will give you
poison, and when you are alone with the Prince to whom I will
send you, drop it into his cup, and let him take it. As soon as
he is dead, his army will leave us in peace.” “Very well, my
master,” replied the girl, “I will accomplish your wish.” He then
sent her with the other presents and a letter to the city of Zul
Yezn. But the Wazir Ar-Ryf had scarcely left the King’s presence
when he wrote a letter, and commanded a slave to carry it to Zul
Yezn. “If you can give it to him before the arrival of the slave-
girl,” added he, “I will give you your freedom.” The slave made
all possible haste to the Arab King, but yet the presents arrived
before him. A chamberlain went to the King and informed him that
a messenger had arrived at the gate with presents from the King
of Abyssinia, and requested permission to enter. Zul Yezn
immediately ordered that he should be admitted, and the presents
and the maiden were at once delivered to him. When he saw her, he
was astonished at her beauty, and was greatly delighted. He
immediately ordered her to be conveyed to his palace, and was
very soon overcome with love for her. He was just about to
dissolve the assembly to visit Kamrya, when the Wazir Yottreb
detained him, saying, “Delay a while, O King, for I fear there is
some treachery hidden behind this present. The Abyssinians hate
the Arabs exceedingly, but are unwilling to make war with them,
lest the threat of Noah should be fulfilled. It happened one day
that Noah was sleeping when intoxicated with wine, and the wind
uncovered him. His son Ham laughed, and did not cover him; but
his other son Seth (sic) came forward, and covered him up. When
Noah awoke, he exclaimed to Ham, May God blacken thy face!’ But
to Seth he said, May God make the posterity of thy brother the
servants of thine until the day of Resurrection!’ This is the
threat which they dread as the posterity of Ham.” While the King
was still conversing with his Wazir, the Chamberlain announced
the arrival of a messenger with a letter. He was immediately
admitted, and delivered the letter, which was read by the Wazir
Yottreb. Ar-Ryf had written, “Be on your guard against Kamrya, O
King, for she hath poison with her, and is ordered to kill you
when she is alone with you.” The King now began loudly to praise
the acuteness of his Wazir, and went immediately to Kamrya with
his drawn sword. When he entered, she rose and kissed the ground,
but he exclaimed, “You have come here to poison me!” She was
confounded, and took out the poison, and handed it to the King,
full of artifice, and thinking, “If I tell him the truth, he will
have a better opinion of me, and if he confides in me, I can kill
him in some other manner than with this poison.” It fell out as
she expected, for the King loved her, gave her authority over his
palace and his female slaves, and found himself very happy in her
possession. But she herself found her life so pleasant that,
although King Ar-Raad frequently sent to ask her why she had not
fulfilled her commission, she always answered, “Wait a little; I
am seeking an opportunity, for the King is very suspicious.” Some
time passed over, and at length she became pregnant. Six months
afterwards Zul Yezn fell ill; and as his sickness increased, he
assembled the chief men of his Court, informed them of the
condition of Kamrya, and after commending her to their
protection, he ordered that if she bore a son, he should succeed
him. They promised to fulfil his commands, and a few days
afterwards Zul Yezn died. Kamrya now governed the country, till
she brought forth a son. He was a child of uncommon beauty, and
had a small mole on his cheek. When she saw the child she envied
him, and said to herself, “What, shall he take away the kingdom
from me? No, it shall never be;” and from this time forward she
determined to put him to death. After forty days, the people
requested to see their King. She showed him to them, and seated
him on the throne of the kingdom, whereupon they did homage to
him, and then dispersed. His mother took him back into the
Palace, but her envy increased so much that she had already
grasped a sword to kill him, when her nurse entered and asked
what she was going to do. “I am about to kill him,” answered she.
“Have you not reflected,” said the nurse, “that if you kill him
the people will revolt, and may kill you also?” “Let me kill
him,” persisted she, “for even should they kill me, too, I should
at least be released from my envy.” “Do not act thus,” warned the
nurse, “or you may repent it, when repentance cannot help you.”
“It must be done,” said Kamrya. “Nay, then,” said the nurse, “if
it cannot be avoided, let him at least be cast into the desert,
and if he lives, so much the better for him; but if he dies, you
are rid of him for ever.” She followed this advice and set out on
the way at night time with the child, and halted at a distance of
four days’ journey, when she sat down under a tree in the desert.
She took him on her lap, and suckled him once more, and then laid
him on a bed, putting a purse under his head, containing a
thousand gold pieces and many jewels. “Whoever finds him,” said
she, “may use the money to bring him up;” and thus she left him.
It happened by the gracious decree of God, that hunters who were
chasing gazelles surprised a female with a fawn; the former took
to flight, and the hunters carried off the little one. When the
mother returned from the pasture, and found her fawn gone, she
traversed the desert in all directions in search of it, and at
length the crying of the deserted child attracted her. She lay
down by the child, and the child sucked her. The gazelle left him
again to go to graze, but always returned to the little one when
she was satisfied. This went on till it pleased God that she
should fall into the net of a hunter. But she became enraged,
tore the net, and fled. The hunter pursued her, and overtook her
when she reached the child, and was about to give him suck. But
the arrival of the hunter compelled the gazelle to take to
flight, and the child began to cry, because he was not yet
satisfied. The hunter was astonished at the sight, and when he
lifted the child up, he saw the purse under his head, and a
string of jewels round his neck. He immediately took the child
with him, and went to a town belonging to an Abyssinian king
named Afrakh, who was a dependent of King Saif Ar-Raad. He handed
over the child to him, saying that he had found it in the lair of
a gazelle. When the King took the child into his care, it smiled
at him, and God awakened a feeling of love towards him in the
King’s heart; and he then noticed the mole on his cheek. But when
his Wazir Sikar Diun, the brother of Sikar Divas, who was Wazir
to King Saif Ar-Raad, entered and saw the child, God filled his
heart with hate towards him. “Do not believe what this man told
you,” he said, when the King told him the wonderful story of the
discovery, “it can only be the child of a mother who has come by
it wrongly, and has abandoned it in the desert, and it would be
better to kill it.” “I cannot easily consent to this,” said the
King. But he had hardly spoken, when the palace was filled with
sounds of rejoicing, and he was informed that his wife had just
been safely delivered of a child. On this news he took the boy on
his arm, and went to his wife, and found that the new-born child
was a girl, and that she had a red mole on her cheek. He wondered
when he saw this, and said to Sikar Diun, “See how beautiful they
are!” But when the Wazir saw it, he slapped his face, and cast
his cap on the ground, exclaiming, “Should these two moles unite,
I prophesy the downfall of Abyssinia, for they presage a great
calamity. It would be better to kill either the boy or your
daughter.” “I will kill neither of them,” replied the King, “for
they have been guilty of no crime.” He immediately provided
nurses for the two children, naming his daughter Shama (Mole) and
the boy Wakhs[FN#471] El Fellat (Lonely one, or Desert); and he
reared them in separate apartments, that they might not see each
other. When they were ten years old, Wakhs El Fellat grew very
strong, and soon became a practised horseman, and surpassed all
his companions in this accomplishment, and in feats of arms. But
when he was fifteen, he was so superior to all others, that Sikar
Diun threatened the King that he would warn King Saif Ar-Raad
that he was nurturing his enemy in his house, if he did not
immediately banish him from the country; and this threat caused
King Afrakh great alarm. It happened that he had a general, who
was called Gharag El Shaker (Tree-splitter), because he was
accustomed to hurl his javelin at trees, and thus to cleave them
asunder. He had a fortress three days’ journey from the town; and
the King said to him, “Take Wakhs El Fellat to your castle, and
never let him return to this neighbourhood.” He added privately,
“Look well after him and preserve him from all injury, and have
him instructed in all accomplishments.” The general withdrew, and
took the boy with him to his castle, and instructed him
thoroughly in all accomplishments and sciences. One day he said
to him, “One warlike exercise is still unknown to you.” “What is
that?” said Wakhs El Fellat. “Come and see for yourself,” replied
he. The general then took him to a place where several trees were
growing, which were so thick that a man could not embrace the
trunk. He then took his javelin, hurled it at one of them, and
split the trunk. Wakhs El Fellat then asked for the javelin, and
performed the same feat, to the astonishment of his instructor.
“Woe to thee!” exclaimed he, “for I perceive that you are the man
through whom the threat of Noah will be fulfilled against us.
Fly, and never let yourself be seen again in our country, or I
will kill you.” Wakhs El Fellat then left the town, not knowing
where to go. He subsisted for three days on the plants of the
earth, and at last he arrived at a town encircled by high walls,
the gates of which were closed. The inhabitants were clothed in
black, and uttered cries of lamentation. In the foreground he saw
a bridal tent, and a tent of mourning. This was the city of King
Afrakh who had reared him, and the cause of the mourning of the
inhabitants was as follows. Sikar Diun was very angry that the
King had refused to follow his advice, and put the boy to death,
and had left the town to visit one of his friends, who was a
magician, to whom he related the whole story. “What do you
propose to do now?” asked the magician. “I will attempt to bring
about a separation between him and his daughter,” said the Wazir.
“I will assist you,” was the answer of the magician. He
immediately made the necessary preparations, and summoned an evil
Jinni named Mukhtatif (Ravisher) who inquired, “What do you
require of me?” “Go quickly to the city of King Afrakh, and
contrive that the inhabitants shall leave it.” In that age men
had intercourse with the more powerful Jinn, and each attained
their ends by means of the other. The Jinn did not withdraw
themselves till after the advent of the Prophet. The magician
continued, “When the inhabitants have left the city, they will
ask you what you want. Then say, Bring me out Shama, the
daughter of your King, adorned with all her jewels, and I will
come to-morrow and carry her away. But if you refuse, I will
destroy your city, and destroy you all together.’” When Mukhtatif
heard the words of this priest of magic, he did as he was
commanded, and rushed to the city. When Sikar Diun saw this, he
returned to King Afrakh to see what would happen; but he had
scarcely arrived when the voice of Mukhtatif resounded above the
city. The inhabitants went to the King, and said, “You have heard
what is commanded, and if you do not yield willingly, you will be
obliged to do so by force.” The King then went weeping to the
mother of the Princess, and informed her of the calamity. She
could scarcely contain herself for despair, and all in the palace
wept at parting from the Princess. Meantime Shama was richly
attired, torn from her parents, and hurried to the bridal tent
before the town, to be carried away by the evil Jinni. The
inhabitants were all assembled on the walls of the city, weeping.
It was just at this moment that Wakhs El Fellat arrived from the
desert, and entered the tent to see what was going on. When King
Afrakh, who was also on the wall, saw him, he cried out to him,
but he did not listen, and dismounted, fastened his horse to a
tent-stake, and entered. Here he beheld a maiden of extraordinary
beauty and perfection, but she was weeping. While he was
completely bewildered by her beauty, she was no less struck by
his appearance. “Who art thou?” said the maiden to him. “Tell me
rather who art thou?” returned he. “I am Shama, the daughter of
King Afrakh.” “Thou art Shama?” he exclaimed, “and I am Wakhs El
Fellat, who was reared by thy father.” When they were thus
acquainted, they sat down together to talk over their affairs,
and she took this opportunity of telling him what had passed with
the Jinni, and how he was coming to carry her away. “O, you shall
see how I will deal with him,” answered he, but at this moment
the evil Jinni approached, and his wings darkened the sun. The
inhabitants uttered a terrible cry, and the Jinni darted upon the
tent, and was about to raise it when he saw a man there, talking
to the daughter of the King. “Woe to thee, O son of earth,” he
exclaimed, “what authority have you to sit by my betrothed?” When
Wakhs El Fellat saw the terrible form of the Jinni, a shudder
came over him, and he cried to God for aid. He immediately drew
his sword, and struck at the Jinni, who had just extended his
right hand to seize him, and the blow was so violent that it
struck off the hand. “What, you would kill me?” exclaimed
Mukhtatif, and he took up his hand, put it under his arm, and
flew away. Upon this there was a loud cry of joy from the walls
of the city. The gates were thrown open, and King Afrakh
approached, companied by a crowd of people with musical
instruments, playing joyful music; and Wakhs El Fellat was
invested with robes of honour; but when Sikar Diun saw it it was
gall to him. The King prepared an apartment expressly for Wakhs
El Fellat, and while Shama returned to her palace, he gave a
great feast in honour of her deliverance from the fiend. After
seven days had passed, Shama went to Wakhs El Fellat, and said to
him, “Ask me of my father to-morrow, for you have rescued me, and
he will not be able to refuse you.” He consented very willingly,
and went to the King early next morning. The King gave him a very
favourable reception, and seated him with him on the throne; but
Wakhs El Fellat had not courage to prefer his suit, and left him
after a short interview. He had not long returned to his own
room, when Shama entered, saluted him, and asked, “Why did you
not demand me?” “I was too bashful,” he replied. “Lay this
feeling aside,” returned she, “and demand me.” “Well, I will
certainly do so to-morrow,” answered he. Thereupon she left him,
and returned to her own apartment. Early next morning Wakhs El
Fellat went again to the King, who gave him a friendly reception,
and made him sit with him. But he was still unable to prefer his
suit, and returned to his own room. Soon after Shama came to him
and said, “How long is this bashfulness to last? Take courage,
and if not, request some one else to speak for you.” She then
left him, and next morning he repeated his visit to the King.
“What is your request?” asked the latter. “I am come as a
suitor,” said Wakhs El Fellat, “and ask the hand of your noble
daughter Shama.” When Sikar Diun heard this, he slapped his face.
“What is the matter with you?” asked the King. “This is what I
have foreseen,” answered he, “for if these two moles unite, the
destruction of Abyssinia is accomplished.” “How can I refuse
him?” replied the King, “when he has just delivered her from the
fiend.” “Tell him,” answered Sikar Diun, “that you must consult
with your Wazir.” The King then turned to Wakhs El Fellat, and
said, “My son, your request is granted as far as I am concerned,
but I leave my Wazir to arrange it with you, so you must consult
him about it.” Wakhs El Fellat immediately turned to the Wazir,
and repeated his request to him. Sikar Diun answered him in a
friendly manner. “The affair is as good as arranged, no one else
is suited for the King’s daughter, but you know that the
daughters of the Kings require a dowry.” “Ask what you please,”
returned Wakhs El Fellat. “We do not ask you for money or money’s
worth,” said the Wazir, “but for the head of a man named Sudun,
the Ethiopian.” “Where can I find him?” said the prince. The
Wazir replied, “He is said to dwell in the fortress of Reg, three
days’ journey from here.” “But what if I fail to bring the head
of Sudun?” asked he. “But you will have it,” returned the Wazir;
and after this understanding the audience ceased, and each
returned to his dwelling.
Now this Sudun had built his fortress on the summit of a high
hill. It was very secure, and he defended it with the edge of the
sword. It was his usual resort, from whence he sallied forth on
plundering expeditions, and rendered the roads unsafe. At length
the news of him reached King Saif Ar-Raad, who sent against him
three thousand men, but he routed and destroyed them all. Upon
this, the King sent a larger number against him, who experienced
the same fate. He then despatched a third army, upon which Sudun
fortified himself afresh, and reared the walls of his fortress so
high that an eagle could scarcely pass them. We will now return
to Shama, who went to Wakhs El Fellat, and reproached him with
the conditions he had agreed to, and added, “It would be better
for you to leave this place, and take me with you, and we will
put ourselves under the protection of some powerful king.” “God
forbid,” replied he, “that I should take you with me in so
dishonourable a manner.” As he still positively refused to
consent, she grew angry, and left him. Wakhs El Fellat lay down
to rest, but he could not sleep. So he rose up, mounted his
horse, and rode away at midnight; and in the morning he met a
horseman who stationed himself in his path, but who was so
completely armed that his face was concealed. When Wakhs El
Fellat saw him, he cried to him, “Who are you, and where are you
going?” But instead of replying, he pressed upon him, and aimed a
blow which Wakhs El Fellat successfully parried. A fight then
commenced between them, which lasted till nearly evening. At last
the difference in their strength became perceptible, and Wakhs El
Fellat struck his adversary so violent a blow with his javelin
that his horse fell to the ground. He then dismounted, and was
about to slay him, when the horseman cried to him, “Do not kill
me, O brave warrior, or you will repent when repentance will no
more avail you.” “Tell me who you are?” returned Wakhs El Fellat.
“I am Shama, the daughter of King Afrakh,” replied the horseman.
“Why have you acted thus?” asked he. “I wished to try whether you
would be able to hold your own against Sudun’s people,” she
replied. “I have tried you now, and found you so valiant that I
fear no longer on your account. Take me with you, O hero.” “God
forbid that I should do so,” he returned; “what would Sikar Diun
and the others say? They would say that if Shama had not been
with him, he would never have been able to prevail against
Sudun.” She then raised her eyes to heaven, and said, “O God,
permit him to fall into some danger from which I alone may
deliver him!” Upon this Wakhs El Fellat pursued his journey,
without giving any attention to her words. On the third day he
arrived at the valley where the fortress of Sudun was situated,
when he began to work his way along behind the trees; and towards
evening he arrived at the fortress itself, which he found to be
surrounded with a moat; and the gates were closed. He was still
undecided what course to take, when he heard the sound of an
approaching caravan; and he hid himself in the fosse of the
fortress to watch it. He then saw that it was driven forward by a
large body of men, and that the merchants were bound on their
mules. When they arrived at the castle, they knocked at the gate;
and when the troop entered, Wakhs El Fellat entered with them;
and they unloaded the goods and bound the prisoners without
noticing him. When the armed men had finished their work, they
ascended to the castle, but he remained below. After a time, he
wished to follow them, but when he trod on the first step, it
gave way under him, and a dagger flew out, which struck him in
the groin. Upon this his eyes filled with tears, and he already
looked upon his destruction as certain, when a form came towards
him from the entrance of the castle, to deliver him; and as it
drew nearer, he perceived that it was Shama. He was filled with
astonishment, and cried out, “God has heard your prayer! How did
you come here?” “I followed your traces,” she replied, “till you
entered the castle, when I imitated your example, and mingled
with the troops. I have now saved your life, although you have
refused to take me with you; but if you wish to advance further,
do not neglect to try whether each step is fixed, with the point
of your sword.” He now again began to ascend, feeling the way
before him, and Shama followed, till they arrived at the last
stair, when they saw that the staircase ended in a revolving
wheel. “Spring higher,” advised Shama, “for I see a javelin which
magic art has placed here.” They sprang over it, and pursued
their way till they reached a large anteroom, lighted by a high
cupola. They stopped here awhile, and examined everything
carefully. At last they approached the door of a room, and on
looking through the crevices, they saw about a hundred armed
negroes, among whom was a black slave who looked as savage as a
lion. The room was lighted by wax candles, placed on gold and
silver candlesticks. At this moment, the black said, “Slaves,
what have you done with the prisoners belonging to the caravan?”
“We have chained them in the prison below, and left them in the
safest place,” was the reply. But he continued, “If one of them
was carelessly bound, he might be able to release himself and the
others, and to gain possession of the stairs. Let one of you
therefore go down, examine them carefully, and tighten their
bonds.” One of them therefore came out, and the two strangers hid
themselves in the anteroom. When he had passed them, Wakhs El
Fellat stepped forward and pierced him through with his sword;
Shama dragged his body aside, and they both remained quiet for a
time. But as the slave remained away from his companions too
long, Sudun exclaimed, “Go and see why he does not return, for I
have been in great alarm ever since we entered the castle to-
day.” A second then rose and took his sword, and as he came into
the anteroom, Wakhs El Fellat clove him in twain at one blow and
Shama dragged his body also on one side. They again waited
quietly for a time, when Sudun said, “It seems as if hunters are
watching our slaves, and are killing them one after another.” A
third then hastened out, and Wakhs El Fellat struck him such a
blow that he fell dead to the ground, and Shama dragged him also
away. But as he likewise remained absent so long, Sudun himself
stood up and all the others with him, and he said, “Did I not
warn and caution you? There is a singing in my ears, and my heart
trembles, for there must be people here who are watching our
men.” He himself now came out, and the others followed him with
lights and holding their hands on their swords, when one of the
foremost suddenly stopped. “Why do you not advance!” cried the
others. “How shall I go forward,” said he, “when he who has slain
our friends stands before us.” This answer was repeated to Sudun
when he called on them in a voice of thunder to advance. When he
heard this, he forced his way through them till he perceived
Wakhs El Fellat. “Who are you, Satan?” cried he, “and who brought
you here?” “I came here,” replied he, “to cut off your head, and
destroy your memory.” “Have you any blood-feud against me?” asked
Sudun, “or any offence to revenge upon me?” “I have no enmity
against you in my heart,” said Wakhs El Fellat, “and you have
never injured me; but I have asked Shama in marriage of her
father, and he has demanded of me your head as a condition. Be on
your guard, that you may not say I acted foully towards you.”
“Madman,” cried Sudun, “I challenge you to a duel. Will you fight
inside or outside the fortress?” “I leave that to you,” returned
Wakhs El Fellat. “Well, then, await me here,” was the reply.
Sudun then went in, clothed himself in gilded armour, girt on a
saw-like sword, and came out holding a shining club in his hand.
He was so enraged that he knew not what to say, and at once
attacked Wakhs El Fellat, who threw himself on his adversary like
a raging lion, and they fought together like hungry wolves; but
both despaired of victory. The swords spake a hard language on
the shields, and each of the combatants wished that he had never
been born. When this desperate fight had lasted a long time,
Shama was greatly troubled lest Sudun should prove victorious. So
she seized a dagger and struck at Sudun, wounding the nerves of
his hand, so that he dropped his sword, while she exclaimed to
Wakhs El Fellat, “Make an end of him.” “No,” replied Wakhs El
Fellat, “I will make him my prisoner, for he is a brave and
valiant man.” “With whom are you speaking?” asked Sudun. “With
Shama,” answered he. “What,” said Sudun, “did she come with you?”
“Yes,” replied he. “Then let her come before me.” She came
forward, and Sudun said, “Is the world too narrow for your father
that he could demand nothing as your dowry but my head?” “This
was his desire,” answered she. Wakhs El Fellat then said, “Take
your sword and defend yourself, for I will not fight with you,
now that it has fallen out of your hand.” But Sudun replied, “I
will not fight with you, for I am wounded, so take my head, and
go in peace with your bride.” He then sat down and bowed his
head. “If you speak truly,” said Wakhs El Fellat, “separate
yourself from your people.” “Why so?” “Because I fear lest they
may surround me, and compel me to fight with them, and there is
no need for me to shed their blood.” Sudun then left the castle,
bowed his head, and said, “Finish your work.” But Wakhs El Fellat
said, “If you speak truth, come with me across the fosse of the
castle into the open ground.” He did so, carefully barring the
castle behind him, and said, “Now take my head.”
When the slaves saw this, they mounted the walls, and wept and
lamented. But Shama cried out, “Take his head, and let us hasten
our return before morning dawns.” “What,” said Wakhs El Fellat,
“should I kill so brave a man in so treacherous a manner, when he
is so noble and magnanimous?” He then went up to Sudun, kissed
his head, and said, “Rise up, O warrior of the age, for you and
your companions are safe from me.” They now all embraced each
other, and made an offensive and defensive compact. “Take me with
you alive, O brave man,” said Sudun, “and hand me over to the
King as his daughter’s dowry. If he consents, well; but if not,
take my head, and woo your wife.” “God forbid,” said Wakhs El
Fellat, “that I should act thus after your magnanimity. Rather
return to the castle, and assure your companions of your safety.”
All this passed under the eyes of the other armed men. They
rejoiced at the knightly conduct of both, and now came down,
fell at the feet of Sudun and embraced him. They then did the
same to Wakhs El Fellat, whose hands they kissed and loaded him
with praises. After this, they all returned to the castle, and
agreed to set out presently. They took with them whatever
treasures there were, and Wakhs El Fellat commanded them to
release the prisoners and restore them their goods. They now all
mounted their horses and journeyed to the country of King Afrakh,
greatly rejoiced at the mutual love of the warriors. When they
approached the town, Shama parted from them, that nothing should
be known of her absence in the company. During this time, King
Afrakh and Sikar Diun had amused themselves with hunting,
jesting, and sporting, and sent out scouts daily to look for
Wakhs El Fellat. “What can have become of him?” said the King
once to Sikar Diun. “Sudun has certainly killed him,” replied the
latter, “and you will never see him again.” While they were thus
talking, they observed a great cloud of dust, and as it drew
nearer, they could see the armed men more distinctly. The company
was led by a black knight, by whose side rode a younger white
horseman. When the King saw this, he exclaimed, “Wakhs El Fellat
has returned, in company with Sudun and his host.” “Wait a
little,” replied Sikar Dian, “till we are certain of it.” But
when they drew nearer, and they could doubt no longer, Sikar Diun
mounted his horse and fled, accompanied by the King and his
followers, till they reached the town, and barred the gates. They
then watched from the walls, to see what would happen. When they
saw that the strangers dismounted and pitched tents, the King
thought it was a good sign. He therefore ordered the town to be
decorated, and the gates to be opened, and rode out, attended by
a considerable escort, and approached the tents. The other party
now mounted their horses to go to meet them. When they approached
each other, King Afrakh was about to dismount, but Wakhs El
Fellat would not allow it, and the King embraced him, and
congratulated him on his safety. He then saluted Sudun also, but
the latter did not return his salutation. He invited him to enter
the town, but he declined, as did Wakhs El Fellat likewise, who
did not wish to part from his companions. The King returned
accompanied only by his own people, and prepared the best
reception for the new-comers. On the following morning the King
held a general council, at which Sikar Diun appeared greatly
depressed. “Did I not warn you beforehand,” said he to the King,
“what you now see for yourself of this evil-doer? Did we not send
him to bring the head of Sudun, and he returns with him safe and
sound, and on the best of terms, while our hearts are oppressed
with anxiety?” “You may be right,” replied the King, “but what
are we to do now?”
This conversation was interrupted by a tumult caused by the
arrival of Wakhs El Fellat and Sudun, who came to pay their
respects to the King. The King invited them to sit down, but
Sudun remained standing, and when he asked him again, he replied,
“You craven, was the world too narrow for you that you desired my
head as your daughter’s dowry?” “Sit down,” said the King, “for I
know that you are angry.” “How can I sit down,” returned Sudun,
“when you have ordered my death?” “God forbid that I should act
so unjustly,” said the King; “it was Sikar Diun.” “What,” said
he, “do you accuse me of such an action in my presence?” “Did you
not make this condition with Wakhs El Fellat,” said the King,
“and send him on his errand?” Sikar Diun then turned to Sudun,
and said, “Sit down, brave warrior, for we only did so from love
to you, that we might be able to make a treaty with you, and that
you might join our company.” After this answer, Sudun concealed
his anger, and sat down. Refreshments were now brought in, and
after partaking of them, Wakhs El Fellat and Sudun returned to
their tents. Several days passed in this manner, and at length
Sudun said to Wakhs El Fellat, “O my master, it is time for you
to demand Shama in marriage, now you have won her with the edge
of the sword. You have fulfilled their conditions long since by
bringing them my head, but you have made no further progress at
present. Ask for her once more, and if they will not give her up,
I will fall upon them with the sword, and we will carry Shama
off, and then lay waste the city.” “I will demand her as my wife
again to-morrow,” replied the other. When he went to the palace
next day, he found the King and all the court assembled. When
they saw him, they all rose from their seats, and when they sat
down again, he alone remained standing. “Why do you not sit
down,” said the King, “for all your wishes are now fulfilled?” “I
have still to ask for Shama,” he replied. “You know,” returned
the King, “that ever since her birth I have allowed Sikar Diun to
make all arrangements for her.” He now turned to Sikar Diun, who
replied in a friendly tone, “She is yours, for you have fulfilled
the conditions, and you have only now to give her ornaments.”
“What kind of ornaments?” asked he. “Instead of ornaments,”
replied the traitor, “we desire to receive a book containing the
history of the Nile. If you bring it us, she is wholly yours, but
if not, there is no marriage to be thought of.” “Where is it to
be found?” “I cannot tell you myself.” “Well, then,” returned
Wakhs El Fellat, “if I do not bring you the book, Shama is lost
to me; all present are witnesses to this.” He went out with these
words, pushing his way through the crowded assembly, and Sudun
behind him, till they reached their tents. “Why did you promise
that,” said Sudun, “let us rather overcome them with the sword,
and take Shama from them.” “Not so,” replied Wakhs El Fellat, “I
will only possess her honourably.” “And yet you do not even know
how to find the book,” said Sudun; “rather listen to my advice,
retire to my fortress, and leave me in their power.” “I would
never act thus,” said Wakhs El Fellat, “though I should suffer
death.” After these and similar speeches, supper was brought in,
and each retired to his sleeping apartment. But Wakhs El Fellat
had scarcely entered his room when Shama came in. “What have you
done,” said she, “and what engagement have you undertaken? How
can you fulfil this condition? Do you not see that their only
object is to destroy you, or at least to get rid of you? I have
come to warn you again, and I say to you once more, take me with
you to Sudun’s castle, where we can live at peace, and do not act
as they tell you.” “I will carry out my engagement,” he replied;
“I will not possess you like a coward, even though I should be
cut to pieces with swords.” Upon this, Shama was angry and left
him, while he lay down to rest, but could not sleep. He therefore
rose up, saddled and mounted his horse and rode away, without
knowing where, abandoning himself wholly to the will of God. He
wandered about thus for several days, until he reached a lonely
tower. He knocked at the door, and a voice answered, “Welcome, O
thou who hast separated thyself from thy companions; enter
without fear, O brave Saif, son of Zul Yezn.” When he pushed the
door it opened, and his eyes beheld a noble and venerable old
man, from whose appearance it was at once obvious that he busied
himself with the strictest life and fear of God. “Welcome,” cried
he again; “if you had travelled from east to West you would have
found no one who could show you how to obtain the book you seek
as well as I can, for I have dwelt here awaiting your arrival for
sixty years.” “But that was before I was born,” said Wakhs El
Fellat to himself. He then asked aloud, “By what name did you
address me just now?” “O Saif,” answered the old man, “that is
your true name, for you are a sword (Saíf) to the Abyssinians;
but whom do you worship?” “O my master,” was the reply, “the
Abyssinians worship Saturn (Sukhal) but I am in perplexity, and
know not whom to worship.” “My son,” replied the old man,
“worship Him who has reared the heavens over us without pillars,
and who has rested the earth on water; the only and eternal God,
the Lord who is only and alone to be reverenced. I worship Him
and none other beside him, for I follow the religion of Abraham.”
“What is your name?” asked Wakhs El Fellat. “I am called Shaikh
Gyat.” “What declaration must I make,” he asked the old man, “to
embrace your religion?” “Say There is no God but God, and
Abraham is the Friend of God.’ If you make this profession, you
will be numbered among the believers.” He at once repeated the
formula, and Shaikh Gyat was much pleased, and devoted the night
to teaching him the history of Abraham and his religion, and the
forms of worship. Towards morning he said, “O my son, whenever
you advance to battle, say, God is great, grant me victory, O
God, and destroy the infidels,’ and help will be near you. Now
pursue your journey, but leave your horse here until your return.
Enter the valley before you, under the protection of God, and
after three days you will meet some one who will aid you.” Wakhs
El Fellat set out on that road, and after three days he met a
horseman who saluted him, and exclaimed, “Welcome, Saif Zul Yezn,
for you bring happiness to this neighbourhood.” Saif returned his
salutation, and asked, “How do you know me, and how do you know
my name?” “I am not a brave or renowned warrior,” was the answer,
“but one of the maidens of this country and my mother taught me
your name.” “What is your name and that of your mother?” “My
mother’s name is Alka,” answered she, “and I am called Taka.”
When he heard this he was greatly rejoiced, for he remembered
that Shaikh Gyat had said to him, “O thou, whose destiny will be
decided by Alka and Taka.” “O noble virgin,” said he, “where is
your mother, Alka?” “Look round,” she replied; and he saw a very
large and lofty city at some distance. “Know,” said she, “that
360 experienced philosophers dwell in that city. My mother Alka
is their superior, and directs all their affairs and actions. She
knew that you would come to this neighbourhood in search of a
book concerning the Nile, which was written by Japhet, the son of
Noah, and she wishes you to attain your end by her means. She
also informed me of your coming, and promised me to you, saying,
You shall have no other husband but him.’ We expected you to-
day, and she sent me to meet you, adding, Warn him not to enter
the town by daylight, or it will be his destruction.’ Wait here,
therefore, till nightfall, and only approach the city after dark.
Turn to the right along the wall, and stand still when you reach
the third tower, where we will await you. As soon as we see you
we will throw you a rope; bind it round your waist, and we will
draw you up. The rest will be easy.” “But why need you give
yourselves all this trouble?” said Saif Zul Yezn. “Know,” replied
she, “that the inhabitants of this city have been informed of
your approaching arrival by their books, and are aware that you
are about to carry away their book, which they hold in
superstitious reverence. On the first day of each month they
repair to the building where it is preserved; and they adore it
and seek counsel from it respecting their affairs. They have also
a king whose name is Kamrun. When they knew that you were coming
for the book they constructed a talisman against you. They have
made a copper statue, and fixed a brazen horn in its hand, and
have stationed it at the gate of the city. If you enter, the
statue will sound the horn, and it will only do so upon your
arrival. They would then seize you and put you to death. On this
account we desire to baffle their wisdom by drawing you up to the
walls of the city at another place.” “May God reward you a
thousandfold,” replied he; “but go now, and announce my arrival
to your mother.” She went away, and he approached the city in the
darkness of night, and turned towards the third tower on the
right, where he found Alka and Taka. When they recognised him,
they immediately threw him the rope, which he fastened about him.
When he was drawn up, they descended from the wall, and were
about to proceed to Alka’s house, when the talisman suddenly
acted, and the statue blew the horn loudly. “Hasten to our
house,” cried Alka; and they succeeded in reaching it safely and
barred the doors, when the noise increased. The whole population
of the city rose up, and the streets were filled. “What is this
disturbance about?” asked Saif. “This is all due,” replied Alka,
“to the alarm sounded by the statue, because you have entered the
town. There will be a great meeting held to-morrow, where all the
wise men will assemble, to attempt to discover the whereabouts of
the intruder; but by God’s help, I will guide them wrong, and
confuse their counsels. Go to our neighbour the fisherman,” added
she to her daughter, “and see what he has caught.” She went, and
brought news that he had taken a large fish, of the size of a
man. “Take this piece of gold,” said her mother, “and bring us
the fish;” and when she did so, she told her to clean it, which
was done. Food was then brought in, and they ate and talked. The
night passed quietly, but on the following morning Alka ordered
Saif Zul Yezn to undress, and to hide in the skin of the fish.
She put her mouth to the mouth of the fish, and took a long rope,
which she fastened under Saif’s armpits. She then let him down
into a deep well, and fastened him there, saying, “Remain here,
till I come back.” She then left him, and went to the great hall
of the King, where the divan was already assembled, and the King
had taken his seat on the throne. All rose up when she entered,
and when she had seated herself, the King said to her, “O mother,
did you not hear the blast of the horn yesterday, and why did you
not come out with us?” “I did hear it,” she replied, “but I did
not heed it.” “But you know,” said he, “that the sound can only
be heard upon the arrival of the stranger who desires to take the
book.” “I know it, O King; but permit me to choose forty men from
among those assembled here.” She did so, and selected ten from
among the forty again. She then said to them, “Take a Trakhtramml
(sandboard on which the Arabs practise geomancy and notation) and
look and search.” They did so, but had scarcely finished when
they looked at each other in amazement. They destroyed their
calculation, and began a second, and confused this, too, and
began a third, upon which they became quite confounded. “What are
you doing there?” asked the King at last. “You go on working and
obliterating your work; what have you discovered?” “O King,”
replied they, “we find that the stranger has entered the town,
but not by any gate. He appears to have passed in between Heaven
and earth, like a bird. After this, a fish swallowed him, and
carried him down into some dark water.” “Are you fools?” asked
the King angrily; and turning to Alka, continued, “Have you ever
seen a man flying between Heaven and earth, and afterwards
swallowed by a fish, which descends with him into dark water?” “O
King,” replied she, “I always forbid the wise men to eat heavy
food, for it disturbs their understanding and weakens their
penetration; but they will not heed me.” At this the King was
angry, and immediately drove them from the hall. But Alka said,
“It will be plain to-morrow what has happened.” She left the
hall, and when she reached home, she drew Saif Zul Yezn out of
the well, and he dressed himself again. They sat down, and Alka
said, “I have succeeded in confounding their deliberations to-
day! and there will be a great assembly to-morrow, when I must
hide you in a still more out-of-the-way place.” After this they
supped, and went to rest. Next morning Alka called her daughter,
and said, “Bring me the gazelle.” When it was brought her, she
said, “Bring me the wings of an eagle.” Taka gave them to her,
and she bound them on the back of the gazelle. She then took a
pair of compasses, which she fixed in the ceiling of the room.
She next took two other pairs of compasses, which she fixed in
the ceiling of the room. She next took two other pairs of
compasses, and tied one between the fore feet, and the other
between the hind feet of the gazelle. She then tied a rope to the
compasses in the roof, and the two ends to the other pairs. But
she made Saif Zul Yezn lie down in such a position that his head
was between the feet of the gazelle. She then said to him,
“Remain here till I come back”; and went to the King, with whom
she found a very numerous assemblage of the wise men. As soon as
she entered, the King made her sit beside him on the throne. “O
my mother Alka,” he said, “I could not close an eye last night
from anxiety concerning yesterday’s events.” “Have you no wise
men,” returned she, “who eat the bread of the divan?” She then
turned to them, saying, “Select the wisest among you!” and they
chose the wisest among them. She ordered them to take the
sandboard again, but they became so confused that they were
obliged to begin again three times from the beginning. “What do
you discover?” said the King angrily. “O our master,” replied
they, “he whom we seek has been carried away by a beast of the
desert, which is flying with him between Heaven and earth.” “How
is this?” said the King to Alka; “have you ever seen anything
like it?” He seized his sword in a rage, and three fled, and he
killed four of the others. When Alka went home, she released
Saif, and told him what had happened. Next morning Alka took the
gazelle, and slaughtered it in a copper kettle. She then took a
golden mortar, and reversed it over it, and said to Saif Zul
Yezn, “Sit on this mortar till I come back.” She then went to the
divan, and chose out six wise men, who again took the sandboard,
and began again three times over in confusion. “Alas,” said the
King, in anger, “What misfortune do you perceive?” “O our
master,” they exclaimed in consternation, “our understanding is
confused, for we see him sitting on a golden mountain, which is
in the midst of a sea of blood, surrounded by a copper wall.” The
King was enraged, and broke up the assembly, saying, “O Alka, I
will now depend on you alone.” “To-morrow I will attempt to show
you the stranger,” she replied. When she came home, she related
to Saif what had happened, and said, “I shall know by to-morrow
what to tell the King to engage his attention, and prevent him
from pursuing you.” Next morning she found Taka speaking to Saif
Zul Yezn alone; and she asked her, “What does he wish?” “Mother,”
replied Taka, “he wishes to go to the King’s palace, to see him
and the divan.” “What you wish shall be done,” said she to Saif,
“but you must not speak.” He assented to the condition, and she
dressed him as her attendant, gave him a sandboard, and went with
him to the King, who said to her, “I could not sleep at all last
night, for thinking of the stranger for whom we are seeking.”
“Now that the affair is in my hands,” returned she, “you will
find me a sufficient protection against him.” She immediately
ordered Saif to give her the sandboard. She took it, and when she
had made her calculations, she said joyfully to the King, “O my
lord, I can give you the welcome news of the flight of the
stranger, owing to his dread of you and your revenge.” When the
King heard this, he rent his clothes, slapped his face, and said,
“He would not have departed, without having taken the book.” “I
cannot see if he has taken anything,” replied she. “This is the
first of the month,” said the King, “come and let us see if it is
missing.” He then went with a large company to the building where
the book was kept. Alka turned away from the King for a moment to
say to Saif, “Do not enter with us, for if you enter, the case
will open of itself, and the book will fall into your hands. This
would at once betray you, and you would be seized and put to
death, and all my labour would have been in vain.” She then left
him, and rejoined the King. When they reached the building, the
doors were opened, and when the King entered, they found the
book. They immediately paid it the customary honours, and
protracted this species of worship, while Saif stood at the door,
debating with himself whether to enter or not. At last his
impatience overcame him, and he entered, and at the same instant
the casket was broken to pieces, and the book fell out. The King
then ordered all to stand up, and the book rolled to Saif Zul
Yezn. Upon this all drew their swords, and rushed upon him. Saif
drew his sword also, and cried “God is great!” as Shaikh Gyat had
taught him. He continued to fight and defend himself, and
struggled to reach the door. The entire town arose in tumult to
pursue him, when he stumbled over a dead body, and was seized.
“Let me not see his face,” cried the King, “but throw him into
the mine.” This mine was eighty yards deep, and had not been
opened for sixty years. It was closed by a heavy leaden cover,
which they replaced, after they had loaded him with chains, and
thrown him in. Saif sat there in the darkness, greatly troubled,
and lamenting his condition to Him who never sleeps. Suddenly, a
side wall of the mine opened, and a figure came forth which
approached and called him by his name. “Who are you?” asked Saif.
“I am a woman named Akissa, and inhabit the mountain where the
Nile rises. We are a nation who hold the faith of Abraham. A very
pious man lives below us in a beautiful palace. But an evil Jinni
named Mukhtatif lived near us also, who loved me, and demanded me
in marriage of my father. He consented from fear, but I was
unwilling to marry an evil being who was a worshipper of fire.
How can you promise me in marriage to an infidel?’ said I to my
father. I shall thereby escape his malice myself,’ replied he. I
went out and wept, and complained to the pious man about the
affair. Do you know who will kill him?’ said he to me, and I
answered, No.’ I will direct you to him who has cut off his
hand,’ said he. His name is Saif Zul Yezn, and he is now in the
city of King Kamrun, in the mine.’ Thereupon he brought me to
you, and I come as you see me, to guide you to my country, that
you may kill Mukhtatif, and free the earth from his wickedness.”
She then moved him, and shook him, and all his chains fell off.
She lifted him on her shoulders, and carried him to the palace of
the Shaikh, who was named Abbas Salam. Here he heard a voice
crying, “Enter, Saif Zul Yezn.” He did so, and found a grave and
venerable old man, who gave him a very friendly reception,
saying, “Wait till to-morrow, when Akissa will come to guide you
to the castle of Mukhtatif.” He remained with him for the night,
and when Akissa arrived next morning, the old man told her to
hasten, that the world might be soon rid of the monster. They
then left this venerable man, and when they had walked awhile,
Akissa said to Saif, “Look before you.” He did so, and perceived
a black mass at some distance. “This is the castle of the evil-
doer,” said she, “but I cannot advance a step further than this.”
Saif therefore pursued his way alone, and when he came near the
castle, he walked round it to look for the entrance. As he was
noticing the extraordinary height of the castle, which was
founded on the earth, but appeared to overtop the clouds, he saw
a window open, and several people looked out, who pointed at him
with their fingers, exclaiming, “That is he, that is he!” They
threw him a rope, which they directed him to bind round him. They
drew him up by it, when he found himself in the presence of three
hundred and sixty damsels, who saluted him by his name.
(Here Habicht’s fragment ends.)
In 1800, Jonathan Scott, LL.D., published a volume of “Tales,
Anecdotes, and Letters, translated from the Arabic and Persian,”
based upon a fragmentary MS., procured by J. Anderson in Bengal,
which included the commencement of the work (Nos. 1-3) in 29
Nights; two tales not divided into Nights (Nos. 264 and 135) and
No. 21.
Scott’s work includes these two new tales (since republished by
Kirby and Clouston), with the addition of various anecdotes,
&c., derived from other sources. The “Story of the Labourer and
the Chair” has points of resemblance to that of “Malek and the
Princess Chirine” (Shirin?) in the Thousand and One Days; and
also to that of “Tuhfet El Culoub” (No. 183a) in the Breslau
Edition. The additional tales in this MS. and vol. of
translations are marked “A” under Scott in our Tables. Scott
published the following specimens (text and translation) in
Ouseley’s Oriental Collections (1797 and following years) No.
135m (i. pp. 245-257) and Introduction (ii. pp. 160-172; 228-
257). The contents are fully given in Ouseley, vol. ii. pp. 34,
35.
Scott afterwards acquired an approximately complete MS. in 7
vols., written in 1764 which was brought from Turkey by E.
Wortley Montague. Scott published a table of contents (Ouseley,
ii. pp. 25-34), in which, however, the titles of some few of the
shorter tales, which he afterwards translated from it, are
omitted, while the titles of others are differently translated.
Thus “Greece” of the Table becomes “Yemen” in the translation;
and “labourer” becomes “sharper.” As a specimen, he subsequently
printed the text and translation of No. 145 (Ouseley, ii. pp.
349-367).
This MS., which differs very much from all others known, is now
in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
In 1811, Scott published an edition of the Arabian Nights’
Entertainments, in 6 vols., vol. 1 containing a long
introduction, and vol. 6, including a series of new tales from
the Oxford MS. (There is a small paper edition; and also a large
paper edition, the latter with frontispieces, and an Appendix
including a table of the tales contained in the MS.) It had
originally been Scott’s intention to retranslate the MS.; but he
appears to have found it beyond his powers. He therefore
contented himself with re-editing Galland, altering little except
the spelling of the names, and saying that Galland’s version is
in the main so correct that it would be useless repetition to go
over the work afresh. Although he says that he found many of the
tales both immoral and puerile, he translated most of those near
the beginning, and omitted much more (including several harmless
and interesting tales, such as No. 152) towards the end of his
MS. than near the beginning. The greater part of Scott’s
additional tales, published in vol. 6, are included in the
composite French and German editions of Gauttier and Habicht;
but, except Nos. 208, 209, and 215, republished in my “New
Arabian Nights,” they have not been reprinted in England, being
omitted in all the many popular versions which are professedly
based upon Scott, even in the edition in 4 vols., published in
1882, which reprints Scott’s Preface.
The edition of 1882 was published about the same time as one of
the latest reissues of Lane’s Thousand and One Nights; and the
Saturday Review of Nov. 4, 1882 (p. 609), published an article on
the Arabian Nights, containing the following amusing passage:
“Then Jonathan Scott, LL.D. Oxon, assures the world that he
intended to retranslate the tales given by Galland; but he found
Galland so adequate on the whole that he gave up the idea, and
now reprints Galland, with etchings by M. Lalauze, giving a
French view of Arab life. Why Jonathan Scott, LL.D., should have
thought to better Galland, while Mr. Lane’s version is in
existence, and has just been reprinted, it is impossible to say.”
The most interesting of Scott’s additional tales, with reference
to ordinary editions of The Nights, are as follows:—
No. 204b is a variant of No. 37.
No. 204c is a variant of 3e, in which the wife, instead of the
husband, acts the part of a jealous tyrant. (Compare Cazotte’s
story of Halechalbe.)
No. 204e. Here we have a reference to the Nesnás, which only
appears once in the ordinary versions of The Nights (No. 132b;
Burton, v., p. 333).
No. 206b. is a variant of No. 156.
No. 207c. This relates to a bird similar to that in the Jealous
Sisters (No. 198), and includes a variant of 3ba.
No. 207h. Another story of enchanted birds. The prince who seeks
them encounters an “Oone” under similar circumstances to those
under which Princess Parizade (No. 198) encounters the old
durwesh. The description is hardly that of a Marid, with which I
imagine the Ons are wrongly identified.
No. 208 contains the nucleus of the famous story of Aladdin (No.
193).
No. 209 is similar to No. 162; but we have again the well
incident of No. 3ba, and the exposure of the children as in No.
198.
No. 215. Very similar to Hasan of Bassorah (No. 155). As Sir R.
F. Burton (vol. viii., p. 60, note) has called in question my
identification of the Islands of WákWák with the Aru Islands near
New Guinea, I will quote here the passages from Mr. A. R.
Wallace’s Malay Archipelago (chap. 31) on which I based it:—“The
trees frequented by the birds are very lofty.... One day I
got under a tree where a number of the Great Paradise birds were
assembled, but they were high up in the thickest of the foliage,
and flying and jumping about so continually that I could get no
good view of them.... Their voice is most extraordinary. At
early morn, before the sun has risen, we hear a loud cry of
Wawk—wawk—wawk, w k—w k—w k,’ which resounds through the
forest, changing its direction continually. This is the Great
Bird of Paradise going to seek his breakfast.... The birds
had now commenced what the people here call sacaleli,’ or
dancing-parties, in certain trees in the forest, which are not
fruit-trees as I at first imagined, but which have an immense
head of spreading branches and large but scattered leaves, giving
a clear space for the birds to play and exhibit their plumes. On
one of these trees a dozen or twenty full-plumaged male birds
assemble together, raise up their wings, stretch out their necks,
and elevate their exquisite plumes, keeping them in a continual
vibration. Between whiles they fly across from branch to branch
in great excitement, so that the whole tree is filled with waving
plumes in every variety of attitude and motion.”
No. 216bc appears to be nearly the same as No. 42.
No. 225 is a variant of No. 135q.
The only approximately complete original German translation is
“Tausend und eine Nacht. Arabische Erzählungen. Zum Erstenmale
aus dem Urtexte vollständig und treu übersetzt von Dr. Gustav
Weil,” four vols., Stuttgart. The first edition was in roy. 8vo,
and was published at Stuttgart and Pforzheim in 1839-1842; the
last volume I have not seen; it is wanting in the copy in the
British Museum. This edition is divided into Nights, and includes
No. 25b. In the later editions, which are in small square 8vo,
but profusely illustrated, like the larger one, this story is
omitted (except No. 135m, which the French editors include with
it), though Galland’s doubtful stories are retained; and there is
no division into Nights. The work has been reprinted several
times, and the edition quoted in our Table is described as
“Zweiter Abdruck der dritten vollstandig umgearbeiteten, mit
Anmerkungen und mit einer Einleitung versehenen Auflage” (1872).
Weil has not stated from what sources he drew his work, except
that No. 201 is taken from a MS. in the Ducal Library at Gotha.
This is unfortunate, as his version of the great transformation
scene in No. 3b (Burton, vol. i., pp. 134, 135), agrees more
closely with Galland than with any other original version. In
other passages, as when speaking of the punishment of Aziz (No.
9a, aa), Weil seems to have borrowed an expression from Lane, who
writes “a cruel wound;” Weil saying “a severe (schwere) wound.”
Whereas Weil gives the only German version known to me of No. 9
(though considerably abridged) he omits many tales contained in
Zinserling and Habicht, but whether because his own work was
already too bulky, or because his original MSS. did not contain
them, I do not know; probably the first supposition is correct,
for in any case it was open to him to have translated them from
the printed texts, to which he refers in his Preface.
Two important stories (Nos. 200 and 201) are not found in any
other version; but as they are translated in my “New Arabian
Nights,” I need not discuss them here. I will, however, quote a
passage from the story of Judar and Mahmood, which I omitted
because it is not required by the context, and because I thought
it a little out of place in a book published in a juvenile
series. It is interesting from its analogy to the story of
Semele.
When King Kashuk (a Jinni) is about to marry the daughter of King
Shamkoor, we read (New Arabian Nights, p. 182), “Shamkoor
immediately summoned my father, and said, Take my daughter, for
you have won her heart.’ He immediately provided an outfit for
his daughter, and when it was completed, my father and his bride
rode away on horseback, while the trousseau of the Princess
followed on three hundred camels.” The passage proceeds (the
narrator being Daruma, the offspring of the marriage), “When my
father had returned home, and was desirous of celebrating his
marriage Kandarin (his Wazir) said to him, Your wife will be
destroyed if you touch her, for you are created of fire, and she
is created of earth, which the fire devours. You will then bewail
her death when it is too late. To-morrow,’ continued he, I will
bring you an ointment with which you must rub both her and
yourself; and you may then live long and happily together.’ On
the following day he brought him a white ointment, and my father
anointed himself and his bride with it, and consummated his
marriage without danger.”
I may add that this is the only omission of the smallest
consequence in my rendering of either story.
I have heard from more than one source that a complete German
translation of The Nights was published, and suppressed; but I
have not been able to discover the name of the author, the date,
or any other particulars relating to the subject.
Several complete copies of The Nights were obtained by Europeans
about the close of the last or the beginning of the present
century; and one of these (in 4 vols.) fell into the bands of the
great German Orientalist, Joseph von Hammer. This MS. agrees
closely with the printed Bul. and Mac. texts, as well as with Dr.
Clarke’s MS., though the names of the tales sometimes vary a
little. One story, “The two Wazirs,” given in Von Hammer’s list
as inedited, no doubt by an oversight, is evidently No. 7, which
bears a similar title in Torrens. One title, “Al Kavi,” a story
which Von Hammer says was published in “Mag. Encycl.,” and in
English (probably by Scott in Ouseley’s Oriental Collections,
vide anteà p. 491) puzzled me for some time; but from its
position, and the title I think I have identified it as No. 145,
and have entered it as such. No. 9a in this as well as in several
other MSS., bears the title of the Two Lovers, or of the Lover
and the Beloved.
Von Hammer made a French translation of the unpublished tales,
which he lent to Caussin de Perceval, who extracted from it four
tales only (Nos. 21a, 22, 32 and 37), and only acknowledged his
obligations in a general way to a distinguished Orientalist,
whose name he pointedly suppressed. Von Hammer, naturally
indignant, reclaimed his MS., and had it translated into German
by Zinserling. He then sent the French MS. to De Sacy, in whose
hands it remained for some time, although he does not appear to
have made any use of it, when it was despatched to England for
publication; but the courier lost it on the journey, and it was
never recovered.
Zinserling’s translation was published under the title, “Der
Tausend und einen Nacht noch nicht übersetzte Mährchen,
Erzählungen und Anekdoten, zum erstenmale aus dem Arabischen in’s
Französische übersetzt von Joseph von Hammer, und aus dem
Französischen in’s Deutsche von Aug. E. Zinserling, Professor.”
(3 vols., Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1823.) The introductory matter
is of considerable importance, and includes notices of 12
different MSS., and a list of contents of Von Hammer’s MS. The
tales begin with No. 23, Nos. 9-19 being omitted, because Von
Hammer was informed that they were about to be published in
France. (This possibly refers to Asselan Riche’s “Scharkan,”
published in 1829.) The tales and anecdotes in this edition
follow the order of The Nights. No. 163 is incomplete, Zinserling
giving only the commencement; and two other tales (Nos. 132b and
168) are related in such a confused manner as to be
unintelligible, the former from transposition (perhaps in the
sheets of the original MS.) and the latter from errors and
omissions. On the other hand, some of the tales (No. 137 for
instance) are comparatively full and accurate.
A selection from the longer tales was published in English in 3
vols. in 1826, under the title of “New Arabian Nights
Entertainments, selected from the original Oriental MS. by Jos.
von Hammer, and now first translated into English by the Rev.
George Lamb.” I have only to remark that No. 132b is here
detached from its connection with No. 132, and is given an
independent existence.
A complete French re-translation of Zinserling’s work, also in 3
vols., by G. S. Trébutien (Contes inédits des Mille et une
Nuits), was published in Paris in 1828; but in this edition the
long tales are placed first, and all the anecdotes are placed
together last.
The various MSS. mentioned by Von Hammer are as follows:—
I. Galland’s MS. in Paris.
II. Another Paris MS., containing 870 Nights. (No. 9 is
specially noticed as occurring in it.) This seems to be the same
as a MS. subsequently mentioned by Von Hammer as consulted by
Habicht.
III. Scott’s MS. (Wortley Montague).
IV. Scott’s MS. (Anderson).
V. Dr. Russell’s MS. from Aleppo (224 Nights).
VI. Sir W. Jones’ MS., from which Richardson extracted No.
6ee for his grammar.
VII. A. MS. at Vienna (200 Nights).
VIII. MS. in Italinski’s collection.
IX. Clarke’s MS.
X. An Egyptian MS. at Marseilles.
XI. Von Hammer’s MS.
XII. Habicht’s MS. (==Bres. text).
XIII. Caussin’s MS.
XIV. De Sacy’s MS.
XV. One or more MSS. in the Vatican.
These are noticed by Sir R. F. Burton in his “Foreword” (vol. i.,
pp. x-xii.) and consequently can be passed over with a brief
mention here.
Torrens’ edition (vol. 1) extends to the end of Night 50 (Burton,
ii., p. 118).
Lane’s translation originally appeared in monthly half-crown
parts, from 1839 to 1841. It is obvious that he felt himself
terribly restricted in space; for the third volume, although much
thicker than the others, is not only almost destitute of notes
towards the end, but the author is compelled to grasp at every
excuse to omit tales, even excluding No. 168, which he himself
considered “one of the most entertaining tales in the work”
(chap. xxix., note 12), on account of its resemblance to Nos. 1b
and 3d. Part of the matter in Lane’s own earlier notes is
apparently derived from No. 132a, which he probably did not at
first intend to omit. Sir R. F. Burton has taken 5 vols. to cover
the same ground which Lane has squeezed into his vol. 3. But it
is only fair to Lane to remark that in such cases the publisher
is usually far more to blame than the author.
In 1847 appeared a popular edition of Lane, entitled, “The
Thousand and One Nights, or the Arabian Nights Entertainments,
translated and arranged for family reading, with explanatory
notes. Second edition.” Here Galland’s old spelling is restored,
and the “explanatory notes,” ostentatiously mentioned on the
title page, are entirely omitted. This edition was in 3 vols. I
have seen a copy dated 1850; and think I have heard of an issue
in 1 vol.; and there is an American reprint in 2 vols. The
English issue was ultimately withdrawn from circulation in
consequence of Lane’s protests. (Mr. S. L. Poole’s Life of E. W.
Lane, p. 95.) It contains the woodcut of the Flying Couch, which
is wanting in the later editions of the genuine work; but not
Galland’s doubtful tales, as Poole asserts.
Several editions of the original work, edited by Messrs. E. S.
and S. L. Poole, have appeared at intervals from 1859 to 1882.
They differ little from the original edition except in their
slightly smaller size.
The short tales included in Lane’s notes were published
separately as one of Knight’s Weekly Volumes, in 1845, under the
title of “Arabian Tales and Anecdotes, being a selection from the
notes to the new translation of the Thousand and One Nights, by
E. W. Lane, Esq.”
Finally, in 1883, Mr. Stanley Lane Poole published a classified
and arranged edition of Lane’s notes under the title of “Arabian
Society in the Middle Ages.”
Mr. John Payne’s version of the Mac. edition was issued in 9
vols. by the Villon Society to subscribers only. It appeared from
1882 to 1884, and only 500 copies were printed. Judging from the
original prospectus, it seems to have been the author’s intention
to have completed the work in 8 vols., and to have devoted vol. 9
to Galland’s doubtful tales; but as they are omitted, he must
have found that the work ran to a greater length than he had
anticipated, and that space failed him. He published some
preliminary papers on the Nights in the New Quarterly Magazine
for January and April, 1879.
Mr. Payne subsequently issued “Tales from the Arabic of the
Breslau and Calcutta (1814-18) editions of the Thousand Nights
and One Night, not occurring in the other printed texts of the
work.” (Three vols., London, 1884.) Of this work, issued, like
the other, by the Villon Society, to subscribers only, 750 copies
were printed, besides 50 on large paper. The third volume
includes indices of all the tales in the four principal printed
texts.
Finally we have Sir R. F. Burton’s translation now in its
entirety before his subscribers. It is restricted to 1,000
copies. (Why not 1,001?) The five supplementary vols. are to
include tales wanting in the Mac. edition, but found in other
texts (printed and MS.), while Lady Burton’s popular edition will
allow of the free circulation of Sir R. F. Burton’s work among
all classes of the reading public.
There are many volumes of selections derived from Galland, but
these hardly require mention; the following may be noticed as
derived from other sources:
1. Caliphs and Sultans, being tales omitted in the usual editions
of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments. Re-written and re-arranged
by Sylvanus Hanley, F. L. S., etc., London, 1868; 2nd edition
1870.
Consists of portions of tales chiefly selected from Scott, Lamb,
Chavis and Cazotte, Trébutien and Lane; much abridged, and
frequently strung together, as follows:—
Nos. 246, 41, 32 (including Nos. 111, 21a, and 89); 9a (including
9aa [which Hanley seems, by the way, to have borrowed from some
version which I do not recognise], 22 and 248); 155, 156, 136,
162; Xailoun the Silly (from Cazotte); 132 and 132a; and 169
(including 134 and 135x).
2. Ilâm-en-Nâs. Historical tales and anecdotes of the time of the
early Kalîfahs. Translated from the Arabic and annotated by Mrs.
Godfrey Clerk, author of “The Antipodes, and Round the World.”
London, 1873.
Many of these anecdotes, as is candidly admitted by the authoress
in her Preface, are found with variations in the Nights, though
not translated by her from this source.
3. The New Arabian Nights. Select tales not included by Galland
or Lane. By W. F. Kirby, London, 1882.
Includes the following tales, slightly abridged, from Weil and
Scott: Nos. 200, 201, 264, 215, 209, and 208.
Two editions have appeared in England, besides reprints in
America and Australia.
6e (ee).—The Barber’s Fifth Brother.
Mr. W. A. Clouston (in litt.) calls attention to the version of
this story by Addison in the “Spectator,” No. 535, Nov. 13, 1712,
after Galland. There is good reason to suppose that this is
subsequent to the first English edition, which, however, Addison
does not mention. There is also an English version in Faris’
little Arabic Grammar (London, 1856), and likewise in
Richardson’s Arabic Grammar. The latter author extracted it from
a MS. belonging to Sir W. Jones.
5.—Nur Al-din and Badr Al-din Hasan.
There are two Paris editions of the “Histoire de Chems-Eddine et
de NourEddine,” edited by Prof. Cherbonneau. The first (1852)
contains text and notes, and the second (1869) includes text,
vocabulary and translations.
7.—Nur Al-din and Anis Al-jalis.
An edition by Kasimiraki of “Enis’ el-Djelis, ou histoire de la
belle Persane,” appeared in Paris in 1867. It includes text,
translation and notes.
9.—King Omar Bin Al-nu’aman.
There is a French abridgment of this story entitled, “Scharkan,
Conte Arabe, suivi de quelques anecdotes orientales; traduit par
M. Asselan Riche, Membre de la Société Asiatique de Paris” (Paris
and Marseilles, 12mo, 1829, pp. 240). The seven anecdotes
appended are as follows: (1) the well-known story of Omar’s
prisoner and the glass of water; (2) Elhedjadj and a young Arab;
(3)=our No. 140; (4) Anecdote of Elhedjadj and a story-teller;
(5)=our No. 86; (6) King Bahman and the Moubed’s parable of the
Owls; (7)=our No. 145.
133.—Sindbad the Seaman.
This is the proper place to call attention to a work specially
relating to this story, “Remarks on the Arabian Nights
Entertainments; in which the origin of Sindbad’s Voyages and
other Oriental Fictions is particularly described. By Richard
Hole, LL.D.” (London, 1797, pp. iv. 259.)
It is an old book, but may still be consulted with advantage.
There are two important critical editions of No. 133, one in
French and one in German.
1. Les Voyages de Sind-bâd le marin et la ruse des Femmes. Contes
arabes. Traduction littérale, accompagnée du Texte et des Notes.
Par L. Langlès (Paris, 1814).
The second story is our No. 184.
2. Die beiden Sindbad oder Reiseabenteuer Sindbads des
Seefabrers. Nach einer zum ersten Male in Europa bedruckten
Aegyptischen Handschrift unmittelbar und wortlich treu aus den
Arabischen übersetzt und mit erklärenden Anmerkungen, nebst zwei
sprachlichen Beilagen zum Gebrauch für abgehende Orientalisten
herausgegeben von J. G. H. Reinsch (Breslau, 1826).
135.—The Craft and Malice of Women.
The literature of this cluster of tales would require a volume in
itself, and I cannot do better than refer to Mr. W. A. Clouston’s
“Book of Sindibad” (8vo, Glasgow, 1884) for further information.
This book, though privately printed and limited to 300 copies, is
not uncommon.
136.—Judar and His Brethren.
An edition of this story, entitled “Histoire de Djouder le
Pêcheur,” edited by Prof. Houdas, was published in the
Bibliothèque Algérienne, at Algiers, in 1865. It includes text
and vocabulary.
174.—The Ten Wazirs.
This collection of tales has also been frequently reprinted
separately. It is the Arabic version of the Persian Bakhtyar
Nameh, of which Mr. Clouston issued a privately-printed edition
in 1883.
The following versions have come under my notice:—
1. Nouveaux Contes Arabes, ou Supplement aux Mille et une Nuits
suivies de Mélanges de Littérature orientale et de lettres, par
l’Abbe * * * (Paris, 1788, pp. 425).
This work consists chiefly of a series of tales selected and
adapted from the Ten Vazirs. “Written in Europe by a European,
and its interest is found in the Terminal Essay, on the
Mythologia Aesopica” (Burton in litt.).
2. Historien om de ti Vezirer og hoorledes det gik dem med Kong
Azád Bachts Sön, oversat af Arabisk ved R. Rask (8vo, Kobenhavn,
1829).
3. Habicht, x. p. vi., refers to the following:—Historia decem
Vezirorum et filii regis Azad-Bacht insertis XIII. aliis
narrationibus, in usum tironum Cahirensem, edid. G. Knös,
Göttingen, 1807, 8vo.
He also states that Knös published the commencement in 1805, in
his “Disquisitio de fide Herodoti, quo perhibet Phoenices Africam
navibus circumvectos esse cum recentiorum super hac re sententiis
excussis.—Adnexurn est specimen sermonis Arabici vulgaris s.
initium historiae filii regis Azad-Bacht e Codice inedito.”
4. Contes Arabes. Histoire des dix Vizirs (Bakhtyar Nameh)
Traduite et annotée par René Basset, Professeur A l’école
superieure des lettres d’Algérie. Paris, 1883.
Chavis and Cazotte (anteà pp. 471, 472) included a version of the
Ten Vazirs in their work; and others are referred to in our Table
of Tales.
248.—The Wise Heycar.
Subsequently to the publication of Gauttier’s edition of The
Nights, Agoub republished his translation under the title of “Le
sage Heycar, conte Arabe” (Paris, 1824).
A few tales published by Scott in Ouseley’s Oriental Collections
have already been noticed (anteà, pp. 434, 435).
1. Les Mille et Un Jours. Contes Persanes.
“In imitation of the Arabian Nights, was composed a Persian
collection entitled Hazár Yek Rúz or the Thousand and One Days,’
of which Petis de la Croix published a French rendering [in
1710], which was done into English [by Dr. King, and published in
2 vols. (with the Turkish Tales=Forty Vezirs) as early as 1714;
and subsequently] by Ambrose Phillips” (in 1738) (Clouston, in
litt). Here, and occasionally elsewhere, I have quoted from some
MSS. notes on The Nights by Mr. W. A. Clouston, which Sir R. F.
Burton kindly permitted me to inspect. Mr. Clouston then quotes
Cazotte’s Preface (not in my edition of the Thousand and One
Days), according to which the book was written by the celebrated
Dervis Moclès (Mukhlis), chief of the Sofis (Sufis?) of lspahan,
founded upon certain Indian comedies. Petis de la Croix was on
friendly terms with Mukhlis, who allowed him to take a copy of
his work in 1675, during his residence in Ispahan. (I find these
statements confirmed in the Cabinet des Fées, xxxvii. pp. 266,
274, 278, and in Weber’s “Tales of the East,” i. pp. xxxvi.,
xxxxii.)
The framework of the story is the same as Nos. 9a and 152: a
Princess, who conceives an aversion to men from dreaming of the
self-devotion of a doe, and the indifference and selfishness of a
stag. Mr. Clouston refers to Nakhshabí’s Tútí Náma (No. 33 of
Káderí’s abridgment, and 39 of India Office MS. 2,573 whence he
thinks it probable that Mukhlis may have taken the tale.) But the
tale itself is repeated over and over again in many Arabic,
Persian, and Turkish collections; in fact, there are few of
commoner occurrence.
The tales are told by the nurse in order to overcome the aversion
of the Princess to men. They are as follows:
Introduction and Conclusion: Story of the Princess of Cashmir.
1. Story of Aboulcassem Bafry.
2. Story of King Ruzvanchad and the Princess Cheheristani.
a. Story of the young King of Thibet and the Princess of
the Naimans.
b. Story of the Vazir Cavercha.
3. Story of Couloufe and the Beautiful Dilara.
4. Story of Prince Calaf and the Princess of China.
a. Story of Prince Fadlallah, son of Bei-Ortoc, King of
Moussel=Nos. 184 and 251.
5. Story of King Bedreddin-Lolo, and his Vazir Atalmulk,
surnamed the Sad Vazir.
a. Story of Atalmulk and the Princess Zelica Beghume.
b. Story of Prince Seyf-el-Molouk.
c. Story of Malek and the Princess Chirine.
d. Story of King Hormuz, surnamed the King without
trouble.
da. Story of Avicenna.
e. Story of the fair Arouya. Cf. Nos. 135q and 225.
f. Singular Adventures of Aboulfawaris, surnamed the Great
Traveller (2 Voyages).
6. Story of the Two Brother Genii, Adis and Dahy.
7. Story of Nasiraddolé, King of Moussel, of Abderrahman,
Merchant of Bagdad, and the Beautiful Zeineb.
8. Story of Repsima=No. 181r.
This work has many times been reprinted in France, where it holds
a place only second to The Nights.
Sir R. F. Burton remarks, concerning the Persian and Turkish
Tales of Petis de la Crois (the latter of which form part of the
Forty Vazirs, No. 251), “Both are weak and servile imitations of
Galland by an Orientalist who knew nothing of the East. In one
passage in the story of Fadlallah, we read of Le Sacrifice du
Mont Arafáte,’ which seems to have become a fixture in the
European brain. I found the work easy writing and exceedingly
hard reading.”
The following tales require a passing notice:—
1. Story of Aboulcassem Bafry.—A story of concealed treasure; it
has also some resemblance to No. 31.
2. Ruzvanchad and Cheheristani.—Cheheristani is a jinniyah, who
is pursued by the King, under the form of a white doe; marries
him, and becomes the mother of Balkis, the Queen of Sheba. She
exacts a promise from him never to rebuke her for any of her
actions: he breaks it, and she leaves him for a time.
2a. The Young King of Thibet.—Two imposters obtain magic rings
by which they can assume the shapes of other persons.
2a, b. The Vazir Cavercha.—This is one of Scott’s stories (No.
223 of our Table). It goes back at least as far as the Ring of
Polycrates. It is the 8th Vezir’s Story in Mr. Gibbs’ Forty
Vezirs (pp. 200-205).
4. Prince Calaf.—This story is well known, and is sometimes
played as a comedy. The Princess Turandot puts riddles to her
suitors, and beheads them if they fail to answer.
5b. Story of Prince Seyj-el-Molouk.—This story is perhaps an
older version than that which appears in The Nights (No. 154a).
It is placed long after the time of Solomon; Saad is devoured by
ants (Weber (ii. p. 426) has substituted wild beasts!); and when
Seyf enters the palace of Malika (=Daulet Khatoon), the jinni
surprises them, and is overpowered by Seyf’s ring. He then
informs him of the death of Saad; and that Bedy al-Jernal was one
of the mistresses of Solomon; and has also long been dead.
5b. Malek and Chirine.—Resembles No. 264; Malek passes himself
off as the Prophet Mohammed; burns his box (not chair) with
fireworks on his weddingday, and is thus prevented from ever
returning to the Princess.
5f. Adventures of Aboulfawaris.—Romantic travels, resembling
Nos. 132a and 133.
2. Antar.—This is the most famous of the Badawi romances. It
resembles No. 137 in several particulars, but is destitute of
supernaturalism. An English abridgment in 4 vols. was published
in 1820; and the substance of vol. 1 had appeared, as a fragment,
in the previous year, under the title of “Antar, a Bedoueen
Romance translated from the Arabic by Terrick Hamilton, Esq.,
Oriental Secretary to the British Embassy at Constantinople.” I
have also seen vol. 1 of a French translation, published about
1862, and extending to the death of Shas.
Lane (Modern Egyptians, ch. 21-23) describes several other Arab
romances, which have not yet been translated; viz. Aboo-Zeyd; Ez-
Zahir, and Delhemeh.
3. GLAIVE-DES-COURONNES (Seif el-Tidjân) Roman traduit de
l’Arabe. Par M. le Dr. Perron (Paris, 1862).
A romantic story of Arab chivalry, less overloaded with
supernaturalism than No. 137; but more supernatural than Antar.
The hero marries (among other wives) two jinniyahs of the
posterity of Iblis. In ch. 21 we have an account of a magical
city much resembling the City of Brass (No. 134) and defended by
similar talismans.
4. MEHEMET THE KURD, and other tales, from Eastern sources, by
Charles Wells, Turkish Prizeman of King’s College, London, and
Member of the Royal Asiatic Society (London, 1865).
The first story, taken from an Arabic MS., is a narrative of a
handsome simpleminded man, with whom Princesses fall in love, and
who is raised to a mighty throne by their enchantments. Some of
the early incidents are not unlike those in the well-known German
story of Lucky Hans (Hans im Glück). In one place there is an
enchanted garden, where Princesses disport themselves in feather-
dresses (as in No. 155, &c.), and where magic apples grow. (Note
that apples are always held in extraordinary estimation in The
Nights, cf. Nos. 4 and 264.) Among the shorter stories we find
No. 251h; a version of Nos. 9a and 152 (probably that referred to
by Mr. Clouston as in the Tuti Nama); a story “The Prince
Tailor,” resembling No. 251; No. 256, and one or two other tales
not connected with The Nights. (Most of Wells’ shorter tales are
evidently taken from the Forty Vezirs.)
5. RECUEIL DES CONTES POPULAIRES de la Kabylie du Djardjara,
recueillis et traduits par J. Rivière (Paris, 1882). I have not
seen this book; but it can hardly fail to illustrate The Nights.
6. THE STORY OF JEWAD, Romance by ’Ali ’Aziz Efendi the Cretan.
Translated from the Turkish by E. J. W. Gibb, M.R.A.S., &c.
(Glasgow, 1884).
A modern Turkish work, written in A. H. 1211 (1796-97). It
contains the following tales:—
The Story of Jew d.
1. The Story of Eb -’Ali-Sin.
2. The Story of Monia Em n.
3. The Story of Ferah-N z, the daughter of the King of China.
a. The Story of Khoja ’Abdu-llah.
4. The Story told by Jew d to Iklilu’l Mulk.
a. The Story of Sh b r and Hum .
c. The Story of Ghazanfer and R hila.
5. The Story of Qara Khan.
The following deserve notice from our present point of view:—
The Story of Jewad.—Here we have magical illusions, as in Nos.
247 and 251a. Such narratives are common in the East; Lane
(Nights, ch. i., note 15) is inclined to attribute such illusions
to the influence of drugs; but the narratives seem rather to
point to so-called electro-biology, or the Scotch Glamour (such
influences, as is notorious, acting far more strongly upon
Orientals than upon Europeans).
2. The Story of Monia Em n corresponds to the Story of Naerdan
and Guzulbec, in Caylus’ Oriental Tales. A story of magical
illusions.
3. The Story of Ferah N z.—Here again we have a variant of
Nos. 9a and 152.
3a. Khoja ’Abdu-ltab.—This is a version of the Story of
Aboulcassem in the Thousand and One Days.
4a. Sh b r and Hum .—The commencement of this story might have
suggested to Southey the adventures of Thalaba and Oneida in the
Gardens of Aloadin; the remainder appears to be taken from the
Story of the young King of Thibet, in the Thousand and One Days.
5. Qara Khan.—The principal part of this story is borrowed
from the First Voyage of Aboulfawaris in the Thousand and One
Days; it has some resemblance to the story of the Mountain of
Loadstone in No. 3c.
7. FRÜCHTE DES ASIATISCHEN GEIST, von A. T. Hartmann. 2 vols.,
12mo (Münster) 1803. A collection of anecdotes, &c., from various
Eastern sources, Arabic, Indian, &c. I think it not impossible
that this may be the work referred to by Von Hammer in the
preface to Zinserling’s “1001 Nacht” (p. xxvii. note) as
“Asiatische Perleuschnur von Hartmann.” At least I have not yet
met with any work to which the scanty indication would apply
better.
8. TUTI-NAMA. I could hardly pass over the famous Persian and
Turkish “Parrot-Book” quite without notice; but its tales have
rarely any direct connection with those in The Nights, and I have
not attempted to go into its very extensive bibliography.
Dr. Edward Daniel Clarke has given an account of an important MS.
nearly agreeing with Bul. and Mac., which he purchased in Egypt,
in his “Travels in various countries of Europe, Asia and Africa.”
Part ii. Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land. Section i. (1812) App.
iii., pp. 701-704. Unfortunately, this MS. was afterwards so
damaged by water during a shipwreck that it was rendered totally
illegible. The list of tales (as will be seen by the numbers in
brackets, which correspond to our Table, as far as the
identifications are safe) will show the approximate contents of
the MS., but the list (which is translated into German by Habicht
in the preface to his vol. 12) was evidently compiled carelessly
by a person nearly ignorant of Arabic, perhaps with the aid of an
interpreter, Maltese, or other, and seems to abound with the most
absurd mistakes. The full text of Clarke’s App. iii. is as
follows: “List of One Hundred and Seventy-two Tales, contained in
a manuscript copy of the ’Àlif Lila va Lilin,’ or ’Arabian
Nights,’ as it was procured by the Author in Egypt.”
N.B.—The Arabic words mentioned in this list are given as they
appeared to be pronounced in English characters, and of course,
therefore, adapted to English pronunciation.
The number of tales amounts to 172, but one tale is supposed to
occupy many nights in the recital, so that the whole number is
divided into “One Thousand and One Nights.” It rarely happens
that any two copies of the Alif Lila va Lilin resemble each
other. This title is bestowed upon any collection of Eastern
tales divided into the same number of parts. The compilation
depends upon the taste, the caprice, and the opportunities of the
scribe, or the commands of his employer. Certain popular stories
are common to almost all copies of the Arabian Nights, but almost
every collection contains some tales which are not found in every
other. Much depends upon the locality of the scribe. The popular
stories of Egypt will be found to differ materially from those of
Constantinople. A nephew of the late Wortley Montague, living in
Rosetta, had a copy of the Arabian Nights, and upon comparing the
two manuscripts it appeared that out of the 172 tales here
enumerated only 37 were found in his manuscript. In order to
mark, therefore, the stories which were common to the two
manuscripts, an asterisk has been prefixed to the thirty-seven
tales which appeared in both copies.
1. The Bull and the Ass (a).
2. The Merchant and the Hobgoblin (1; Habicht translates Kobold!).
3. The Man and the Antelope (1a).
4. The Merchant and Two Dogs (1b).
5. The Old Man and the Mule (1c).
*6. The History of the Hunters (2).
7&8. The History of King Unam and the Philosopher Reinan (2a).
*9. History of King Sinbad and Elbase (2a, ab).
*10. History of the Porter (3).
*11. History of Karanduli.
12. Story of the Mirror.
13. Story of the Three Apples (4).
*14. Of Shensheddin Mohammed, and his Brother Noureddin (5).
*15. Of the Taylor, Little Hunchback, the Jew and the Christian (6).
16. The History of Noureddin Ali (7).
17. Ditto of Gaumayub, &c. (8).
*18. The History of King Omar and Oman and his Children. (This tale
is extremely long, and occupies much of the manuscript) (9).
*19. Of the Lover and the Beloved (9a).
20. Story of the Peacock, the Goose, the Ass, the Horse, &c. (10).
21. Of the Pious Man (11).
22. Of the Pious Shepherd.
23. Of the Bird and the Turtle (12).
24. Of the Fox, the Hawk, &c. (13).
25. Of the Lord of the Beasts.
*26. Of the Mouse and the Partridge (14).
27. Of the Raven and the Cat (15).
28. Of the Raven, the Fox, the Mouse, the Flea, &c., &c. (16).
29. Story of the Thief (18).
*30. Of Aul Hassan and the Slave Shemsney Har (20).
*31. Of Kamrasaman, &c. (21).
32. Of Naam and Nameto la (21a).
*33. Of Aladin Abuskelmat (22).
*34. Of Hallina Die (23).
35. Story of Maan Jaamnazida (24).
36. History of the Town Litta (26).
37. Story of Hassan Abdulmelac (27).
38. Of Ibrahim Elmachde, Brother of Haroun al Raschid (28).
39. History of the Famous Garden Ezem (Paradise) (29).
40. Of Isaac of Mossul (30).
41. Of Hasli Hasli.
42. Of Mohammed Eli Ali (32).
43. Of Ali the Persian (33).
44. History of the Raschid and his Judge (34).
45. Of Haled Immi Abdullah.
46. Of Jafaard the Bamasside (36).
47. Of Abokohammed Kurlan (37).
48. Of Haroun al-Raschid and Sala.
49. History of Mamoan (40).
50. Of Shar and the Slave Zemroud (41).
51. Of the Lady Bedoor (literally Mrs. Moon-face) and Mr.
Victorious (42).
52. Of Mammon and Mohammed of Bassorah.
53. Of Haroun al-Raschid and his Slave (44).
54. Of the Merchant in Debt (45).
55. Of Hassoun Medin, the Governor (46).
56. Of King Nassir and his Three Children—the Governor of Cairo,
the Governor of Bulac, and the Governor of Old Cairo (47).
57. History of the Banker and the Thief (48).
58. Of Aladin, Governor of Constantinople.
59. Of Mamoon and Ibrahim (50).
60. Of a certain King (51).
61. Of a Pious Man (52).
62. Of Abul Hassan Ezeada (53).
63. Of a Merchant (54).
64. Of a Man of Bagdad (55).
65. Of Modavikil (56).
*66. Of Virdan in the time of Hakim Veemrelack (N.B.—He built
the Mosque in going from Cairo to Heliopolis) (57).
67. Of a Slave and an Ape (58).
*68. Story of the Horse of Ebony (59).
*69. Of Insilvujud (60).
70. Of Eban Vas (61).
71. Of an Inhabitant of Bassora (62).
72. History of a Man of the tribe of Arabs of Beucadda (63).
73. History of Benriddin, Vizir of Yemen (64).
74. Of a Boy and a Girl (65).
75. Of Mutelmis (66).
76. Of Haroun al Rashid and the Lady Zebeda (67).
77. Of Mussa ab imni Zibir (69).
78. Of the Black Father.
79. Of Haroun al Raschid.
80. Story of an Ass Keeper (74?).
81. Of Haroun al Rashid and Eboo Yussuf (75).
82. Of Hakim, Builder of the Mosque (76).
83. Of Melikel Horrais.
84. Of a Gilder and his Wife (78).
85. Of Hashron, &c. (79).
86. Of Yackyar, &c., the Barmadride (80).
87. Of Mussa, &c.
88. Of Said, &c.
89. Of the Whore and the Good Woman.
90. Of Raschid and Jacob his Favourite.
91. Of Sherif Hussein.
92. Of Mamoon, son of Haroun al Raschid (87).
93. Of the repenting Thief (88)
94. Of Haroun al Raschid (89).
95. Of a Divine, &c. (90).
96. Another story of a Divine.
97. The Story of the Neighbours.
98. Of Kings (94).
99. Of Abdo Rackman (95).
100. Of Hind, daughter of Nackinan (96).
101. Of Tabal (97).
102. Of Isaac son of Abraham (98).
103. Of a Boy and a Girl.
104. Story of Chassim Imni Addi.
105. Of Abul Abass.
106. Of Ebubecker Ben Mohammed.
107. Of Ebi Evar.
108. Of Emmin, brother of Mamon (105).
109. Of six Scheiks of Bagdad.
110. Of an Old Woman.
111. Of a Wild Girl.
112. Of Hasan Elgevire of Bagdad.
113. Of certain Kings.
114. Of a king of Israel (116).
115. Of Alexander (117).
116. Of King Nusharvian (118).
117. Of a Judge and his Wife (119).
118. Of an Emir.
119. Of Malek Imnidinar.
120. Of a devout man of the children of Israel (122).
121. Of Hedjage Himni Yussuf (123).
122. Of a Blacksmith (124).
123. Of a devout man (125).
124. Of Omar Imnilchatab.
125. Of Ibrahim Elchaber.
126. Of a Prophet (128).
127. Of a Pious Man (129).
128. Of a Man of the Children of Israel (130).
129. Of Abul Hassan Duradge (131).
130. Of Sultana Hayaat.
131. Of the Philosopher Daniel (132).
*132. Of Belukia (132A).
*133. The Travels of Sinbad—certain seven voyages, &c. (133).
134. Of the Town of Copper (134).
135. Of the Seven Virgins and the Slave (135).
*136. Story of Judais (136).
137. The Wonderful History.
138. Of Abdullah lmni Mohammi.
139. Of Hind Imni Haman (139).
140. Of Chazmimé Imni Bashés (140).
141. Of Jonas the Secretary (141).
142. Of Haroun al-Rashid (142).
143. Of ditto.
144. Of Ebon Isaac Ibrahim (144).
145. Of Haroun al Raschid, Misroor and the Poet.
146. Of the Caliph Moavia.
147. Of Haroun al Raschid.
148. Of Isaac Imni Ibrahim (148),
149. Of Ebwi Amér.
*150. Of Achmet Ezenth and the old Female Pimp.
151. Of the three Brothers.
152. Of Erdeshir and Hiaker, of Julmar El Bacharia (152).
153. Of Mahomet, &c.
154. Ditto (154?).
*155. Story of Safil Moluki (154A).
*156. Of Hassan, &c. (155).
*157. Of Caliph the Hunter (156).
*158. Of Mersir and his Mistress (157).
159. Of Noureddin and Mary (158).
160. Of a Bedouin and a Frank (159).
161. Of a Man of Baghdad and his Female Slave (160).
162. Of a King, his Son, and the Vizir Shemar (161).
*163. Of a Merchant and the Thieves.
*164. Of Abousir and Aboukir (162).
*165. Abdulak El Beri and Abdulak El Backari (163).
*166. Of Haroun al Raschid.
167. Of the Merchant Abul Hassan al-Omani (164).
168. Of Imnil Echarib (168).
169. Of Moted Bila.
*170. Of Kamasi Zemuan (167).
*171. Of Abdulah Imni Fasil (168).
*172. The Story of Maroof (169).
The success of Galland’s work led to the appearance of numerous
works more or less resembling it, chiefly in England and France.
Similar imitations, though now less numerous, have continued to
appear down to the present day.
The most important of the older works of this class were
published in French in the “Cabinet des Fées” (Amsterdam and
Geneva, 1785-1793; 41 vols.); in English in “Tales of the East:
comprising the most popular Romances of Oriental origin, and the
best imitations by European authors, with new translations and
additional tales never before published, to which is prefixed an
introductory dissertation, containing an account of each work and
of its author or translator. By Henry Weber, Esq.” (Edinburgh,
1812, 3 vols.); and in German in “Tausand und ein Tag.
Morgenländische Erzählungen aus dem Persisch, Turkisch und
Arabisch, nach Petis de la Croix, Galland, Cardonne, Chavis und
Cazotte, dem Grafen Caylus, und Anderer. Übersetzt von F. H. von
der Hagen” (Prenzlau, 1827-1837, 11 vols.). In the “Cabinet des
Fées” I find a reference to an older collection of tales (partly
Oriental) called the “Bibliothèque des Fées et des Génies,” by
the Abbé de la Porte, which I have not seen, but which is, in
part, incorporated in the “Cabinet.” It formed only 2 vols. 12mo,
and was published in 1765.
The examination of these tales is difficult, for they comprise
several classes, not always clearly defined:—
1. Satires on The Nights themselves (e.g. the Tales of the
Count of Hamilton).
2. Satires in an Oriental garb (e.g. Beckford’s Vathek).
3. Moral tales in an Oriental garb (e.g. Mrs. Sheridan’s
Nourjahad).
4. Fantastic tales with nothing Oriental about them but the
name (e.g. Stevenson’s New Arabian Nights).
5. Imitations pure and simple (e.g. G. Meredith’s Shaving of
Shagpat).
6. Imitations more or less founded on genuine Oriental sources
(e.g. the Tales of the Comte de Caylus).
7. Genuine Oriental Tales (e.g. Mille et une Jours, translated
by Petis de la Croix).
Most of the tales belonging to Class 7 and some of those
belonging to Class 6 have been treated of in previous sections.
The remaining tales and imitations will generally need only a
very brief notice; sometimes only the title and the indication of
the class to which they belong. We will begin with an enumeration
of the Oriental contents of the Cabinet des Fées, adding W. i.,
ii. and iii. to show which are included in Weber’s “Tales of the
East”:—
7-11. 1001 Nuits (W. 1).
12, 13. Les Aventures d’Abdalla (W. iii).
14, 15. 1001 Jours (Persian tales, W. ii.). 16. Histoire de la
Sultane de Perse et des Visirs. Contes Turcs (Turkish
tales, W. 3==our 251).
16. Les Voyages de Zulma dans le pays des Fées.
17, 18. Contes de Bidpai.
19. Contes Chinois, on les Aventures merveilleuses du Mandarin
Fum-Hoam (W. iii.). 21, 22. Les Mille et un Quart d’Heures.
Contes Tartares (W. iii.).
22, 23. Les Sultanes de Guzerath, ou les Songes des hommes
eveillés. Contes Moguls (W. iii.).
25. Nouveaux Contes Orientaux, par le Comte de Caylus (W. ii.).
29, 30. Les Contes des Génies (W. iii.).
30. Les Aventures de Zelouide et d’Amanzarifdine.
30. Contes Indiens par M. de Moncrif.
33. Nourjahad (W. ii.).
34. Contes de M. Pajon.
38-41. Les Veillées du Sultan Schahriar, &c. (Chavis and Cazotte;
cf. anteà, p. 419; W. i. ii.).
(Weber also includes, in his vol. ii. Nos. 21a, 22, 32 and 37,
after Caussin de Perceval.)
12, 13. The Adventures of Abdallah, the Son of Hanif (Class 5 or
6).
Originally published in 1713; attributed to M. de Bignon, a young
Abbé. A series of romantic travels, in which Eastern and Western
fiction is mixed; for instance, we have the story of the Nose-
tree, which so far as I know has nothing Oriental about it.
16. The Voyages of Zulma in Fairy Land (Class 4).
European fairy tales, with nothing Oriental about them but the
names of persons and places. The work is unfinished.
17, 18. The Tales of Bidpai (translated by Galland) are Indian,
and therefore need no further notice here.
19-23. Chinese, Tartarian and Mogul Tales (Class 6).
Published in 1723, and later by Thomas Simon Gueulette.
Concerning these tales, Mr. Clouston remarks (in litt.): “Much of
the groundwork of these clever imitations of the Arabian Nights
has been, directly or indirectly, derived from Eastern sources;
for instance, in the so-called Tartar tales, the adventures of
the Young Calender find parallels, (1) in the well-known Bidpai
tale of the Bráhman, the Sharpers and the Goat (Kalila and Dimna,
Pánchatantra, Hitopadesa, &c.) and (2) in the worldwide story of
the Farmer who outwitted the Six Men (Indian Antiquary, vol. 3)
of which there are many versions current in Europe, such as the
Norse tale of Big Peter and Little Peter, the Danish tale of
Great Claus and Little Claus; the German tale (Grimm) of the
Little Farmer; the Irish tale of Little Fairly (Samuel Lover’s
collection of Irish Fairy Legends and Stories); four Gaelic
versions in Campbell’s Popular Tales of the West Highlands; a
Kaba’il version in Riviere’s French collection (Contes populaires
Kabylies); Uncle Capriano in Crane’s recently published Italian
Popular Tales; and a Latin mediæval version (written probably in
the I **1th century) in which the hero is called Unibos,’
because he had only one cow.”
25. Oriental Tales (Class 6).
Mr. Clouston observes, “Appeared in 1749,[FN#472] and on the
title page are said to have been translated from MSS. in the
Royal French Library. The stories are, however, largely the
composition of De Caylus himself, and those elements of them
which are traceable to Asiatic sources have been considerably
Frenchified.”
Nevertheless they are not without interest, and are nearly all of
obviously Oriental origin. One of the stories is a fantastic
account of the Birth of Mahomet, including romantic travels
largely borrowed from No. 132a. Another story is a version of
that of the Seven Sleepers. Other noteworthy tales are the story
of the Dervish Abounader, which resembles Nos. 193 and 216d; and
the story of Naerdan and Guzulbec, which is a tale of magical
illusions similar to that of Monia Emin, in the Turkish story of
Jewad.
The Count de Caylus was the author of various European as well as
Oriental fairy tales. Of his Oriental collection, Sir R. F.
Burton remarks:—“The stories are not Eastern but Western fairy
tales proper, with kings and queens, giants and dwarfs, and
fairies, good and bad. Barbets’ act as body guard and army.
Written in good old style, and free language, such as, for
instance, son pétenlaire, with here and there a touch of salt
humour, as in Rosanie Charmante reine (car on n’a jamais parlé
autrement à une reine, quel que laide qu’elle ait été).’”
29, 30. Tales of the Genii (Class 3).
Written in the middle of the last century by Rev. James Ridley,
but purporting to be translated from the Persian of Horam, the
son of Asmar, by Sir Charles Morell.
These tales have been reprinted many times; but it is very
doubtful if they are based on any genuine Oriental sources. The
amount of Oriental colouring may be guessed from the story of
Urad, who having consented to become the bride of a Sultan on
condition that he should dismiss all his concubines, and make her
his sole queen (like Harald Harfagr on his marriage with
Ragnhilda), is presented to his loving subjects as their Sultana!
32. Adventures of Zeloide and Amanzarifdine. Indian Tales, by M.
de Moncrif (Class 4). Ordinary European Fairy Tales, with
the scene laid in the East.
33. Nourjahad, by Mrs. Sheridan (Class 3).
An unworthy favourite is reformed by a course of practical moral
lessons conveyed by the Sultan through supposed supernatural
agencies. Mr. Clouston regards it as “one of the very best of the
imitations of Eastern fiction. The plot is ingeniously conceived
and well wrought out, and the interest never flags throughout.”
34. Pajon’s Oriental Tales (Class 5). These demand no special
notice.
In addition to the above, the following Oriental works are
mentioned in the Cabinet des Fées, but not reprinted:
1. Apologues orientaux, par l’abbé Blanchet.
2. Mélanges de littérature orientale, par Cardonne. (Paris, 2
vols. 1770.)
3. Neraïr et Meloe, roman oriental, par H. B. Deblanes (1759).
4. Contes orientaux, par M. de la Dixmerie.
5. Les Cinq Cent Matinées et une demie, contes Syriens, par le
chevalier de Duclos.
6. Abassâi, conte oriental, par Mademoiselle Fault (ou
Fauques) 1752.
7. Les Contes du Serail, par Mdlle. Fault (1753.)
8. Kara Mustapha, conte oriental, par Fromaget (1745).
9. Zilia et Cénie, par Francoise d’Isembourg d’Hippincourt de
Graffigny.
10. Salned et Garalde, conte oriental, par A. H. De la Motte.
11. Anecdotes orientales, par G. Mailhol (2 vols. 1752).
12. Alzahel, traduit d’un manuscrit arabe, par Mdlle. Raigné de
Malfontaine (Mercure, 1773).
13. Mahmoud le Gasnevide, conte oriental, par J. F. Melon.
14. Contes Orientaux, ou les recits du Sage Caleb, voyageur
persan, par Mme. Mouet.
15. Nadir, par A. G. de Montdorge.
16. Lettres Persanes, de Montesquieu.
17. Les Amusements de Jour, ou recueil de petits contes, par
Mme. de Mortemar.
18. Mirloh, conte oriental, par Martine de Morville (1769).
19. Ladila, anecdote turque (par la même) 1769.
20. Daira, histoire orientale, par A. J. J. de la Riche de la
Poupelinière (1761).
21. Cara Mustapha, par de Preschat.
22. Des trois Nations, conte oriental, par Marianne Robert
(1760).
23. Contes Orientaux, tirés des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du
Roi, 2 vols. 12mo (1749).
This is the same as the Count de Caylus’ Oriental Tales. Sir R.
F. Burton has received the following memorandum, respecting a
copy of an earlier edition of the same work: “Contes Orientaux,
tirés des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Roy de France, ornés
de figures en taille douce. A la Haye, 1743, 2 vols. 12mo,
polished calf gilt, gilt edges, arms in gilt on the sides.
“The Preface says, M. Petit et M. Galland n’ont en aucune
connaissance des manuscrits dont cet ouvrage est tiré.’
“The Tales are from the MSS. and translations sent by those
despatched by the French Ministers to Constantinople to learn
Arabic, &c., and so become fit to act as Dragomans and
Interpreters to the French Embassy.”
There is a copy of this work in the British Museum; it proves, as
I expected, to be the series of tales subsequently attributed to
the Count de Caylus.
In addition to the above, the following, of which I can only give
the names, are mentioned in the Cabinet des Fées, but not
reprinted:—
1. Alma-Moulin, conte oriental, 1779.
2. Gengiskan, histoire orientale, par M. de St. M.
3. Almanzor et Zelira, conte arabe, par M. Bret. (1772). {From
“les mercures.”}
4. Almerine et Zelima, ou les Dangers de la Beauté, conte
orientale, 1773. {From “les mercures.”}
5. Les Ames, conte arabe, par M. B————. {From “les
mercures.”}
6. Balky, conte oriental, 1768. {From “les mercures.”}
7. Mirza, ou Is necessité d’etre utile (1774). {From “les
mercures.”}
8. Zaman, histoire orientale, par M. B. {From “les mercures.”}
9. Anecdotes Orientales, par Mayol, 1752.12mo.
10. Contes très moguls.
11. Foka ou les Metamorphoses, conte chinois. Derobé à M.
de V. 1777. 12mo.
12. Mahulem, histoire orientale. 12mo, 1776.
13. Mille et une heure, contes Peruviens. 4 vols. 12mo,
1733.
14. Histoire de Khedy, Hermite de Mont Ararat. Conte
orientale, traduit de l’Anglais, 12mo, 1777.
15. Zambeddin, histoire orientale. 12mo, 1768.
16. Zelmoille et Zulmis et Turlableu. Par M. l’Abbé de
Voisem, 12mo, 1747.
17. Roman Oriental, Paris, 1753.
The remaining imitations, &c., known to me I shall place roughly
in chronological order, premising that I fear the list must be
very incomplete, and that I have met with very few except in
English and French.
A.—French
1. Zadig, ou la Destinée, par Voltaire[FN#473] probably
partakes of classes 2 and 6; said to be partly based on
Gueulette’s “Soirées Bretonnes,” published in 1712. The latter is
included in Cabinet des Fées, Vol. 32.
2. Vathek, an Arabian Tale, by William Beckford. I include this
book here because it was written and first published in French.
Its popularity was once very great, and it contains some
effective passages, though it belongs to Class 2, and is rather a
parody than an imitation of Oriental fiction. The Caliph Vathek,
after committing many crimes at the instance of his mother, the
witch Carathis, in order to propitiate Eblis, finally starts on
an expedition to Istakar. On the way, he seduces Nouronihar, the
beautiful daughter of the Emir Fakreddin, and carries her with
him to the Palace of Eblis, where they am condemned to wander
eternally, with their hearts surrounded with flames.
This idea (which is certainly not Oriental, so far as I know)
took the fancy of Byron, who was a great admirer of Vathek, and
he has mixed it with genuine Oriental features in a powerful
passage in the Giaour, beginning:
“But thou, false infidel! shalt writhe
Beneath avenging Monkir’s scythe;
And from its torment ’scape alone
To wander round lost Eblis’ throne;
And fire unquenched, unquenchable,
Around, within thy heart shall dwell;
Nor ear can hear, nor tongue can tell
The tortures of that inward hell!” &c.
How errors relative to Eastern matters are perpetuated is
illustrated by the fact that I have seen these lines quoted in
some modern philosophical work as descriptive of the hell in
which the Mohammedans believe!
Southey, in Thalaba, b. 1., speaks of the Sarsar, “the Icy Wind
of Death,” an expression which he probably borrowed from Vathek.
3. The Count of Hamilton’s Fairy Tales. Written shortly after
the first publication of Galland’s work. There is an English
Translation among Bohn’s Extra Volumes.
4. Les Mille et un Fadaises, par Cazotte. Class 1. I have not
seen them.
5. La Mille et deuxième Nuit, par Theophilus Gautier (Paris,
1880). Probably Class 1 or 2; I have not seen it.
B.—English.
1. The Vision of Mirza (Addison in the “Spectator”). Class 3.
2. The Story of Amurath. Class 3. I do not know the author. I
read it in a juvenile book published about the end of last
century, entitled the Pleasing Instructor.
3. The Persian Tales of Inatulla of Delhi. Published in 1768,
by Colonel Alexander Dow at Edinburgh. A French translation
appeared at Amsterdam in two vols. and in Paris in one vol.
(1769). Class 6. Chiefly founded on a wellknown Persian work, of
which a more correct, though still incomplete, version was
published in 3 vols. by Jonathan Scott in 1799, under the title
of Bahar Danush, or Garden of Knowledge.
5. Rasselas, by Samuel Johnson. Class 3. Too well known to need
comment.
6. Almoran and Hamet, by Dr. Hawksworth. Class 3. Very popular
at the beginning of the present century, but now forgotten.
7. Oriental Fairy Tales (London, 1853). Class 4. A series of
very pretty fairy tales, by an anonymous author, in which the
scene is laid in the East (especially Egypt).
8. The Shaving of Shagpat, by George Meredith (London, 1855).
Class 5. I prefer this to most other imitations of an Oriental
tale.
9. The Thousand and One Humbugs. Classes 1 and 2. Published in
“Household Words,” vol. xi. (1855) pp. 265-267, 289-292, 313-316.
Parodies on Nos. 1, 195, 6d, and 6e,f.
10. Eastern Tales, by many story-tellers. Compiled and edited
from ancient and modern authors by Mrs. Valentine, author of “Sea
Fights and Land Battles,” &c. (Chandos Classics.)
In her preface, the authoress states that the tales “are gathered
from both ancient and modern French, Italian and English
sources.”
Contains 14 tales, some genuine, others imitations, One,
“Alischar and Smaragdine,” is a genuine story of The Nights (No.
41 of our Table), and is probably taken from Trébutien. Three
tales, “Jalaladeen,” “Haschem,” and “Jussuf,” are Grimm’s
imitations, taken probably from the composite English edition of
1847, and with the same illustrations. “The Seven Sleepers” and
the “Four Talismans” are from the Count de Caylus’ tales;
“Halechalbe” and “Bohetzad” (our No. 174) are from Chavis and
Cazotte; “The Enchanters” and “Urad” are from the “Tales of the
Genii”; and “The Pantofles” is the well-known story of the miser
Casem and his slippers, but I know not where it first appeared.
The remaining three tales are unknown to me, and as I have seen
no volume of Italian Oriental tales, some, no doubt, are derived
from the Italian sources of which the authoress spoke. They are
the following: “The Prince and the Lions,” “The City of the
Demons” (a Jewish story purporting to have been written in
England) and “Sadik Beg.”
11. New Arabian Nights, by R. L. Stevenson (London, 1882).
12. More New Arabian Nights. The Dynamiter. By R. L. Stevenson
and Vander Grift (London, 1882). Class 4.
Of these tales, Sir R. F. Burton observes, “The only visible
connection with the old Nights is in the habit of seeking
adventures under a disguise. The method is to make the main idea
possible and the details extravagant. In another New Arabian
Nights,’ the joint production of MM. Brookfield, Besant and
Pollock, the reverse treatment is affected, the leading idea
being grotesque and impossible, and the details accurate and
lifelike.”
C.—German.
It is quite possible that there are many imitations in German,
but I have not met with them. I can only mention one or two tales
by Hauff (the Caliph turned Stork, and the Adventures of Said); a
story called “Ali and Gulhindi,” by what author I do not now
remember; and some imitations said to be by Grimm, already
mentioned in reference to the English composite edition of 1847.
They are all European fairy tales, in an Eastern dress.
Among books specially interesting to the student of The Nights, I
may mention Weil’s “Biblische Legenden der Muselmänner, aus
arabischen Quellen zusammengetragen, und mit jüdischen Sagen
verglichen” (Frankfort-on-Main, 1845). An anonymous English
translation appeared in 1846 under the title of “The Bible, the
Koran, and the Talmud,” and it also formed one of the sources
from which the Rev. S. Baring-Gould compiled his “Legends of Old
Testament Characters” (2 vols., 1871). The late Prof. Palmer’s
“Life of Haroun Al-Raschid” (London, 1881), is not much more than
a brief popular sketch. The references to The Nights in English
and other European literatures are innumerable; but I cannot
refrain from quoting Mark Twain’s identification of Henry the
Eighth with Shahryar (Huckleberry Finn, chap. xxiii).
“My, you ought to have seen old Henry the Eighth when he was in
bloom. He was a blossom. He used to marry a new wife every day,
and chop off her head next morning. And he would do it just as
indifferent as if he was ordering up eggs. “Fetch up Nell Gwynn,”
he says. They fetch her up. Next morning, “Chop off her head.”
And they chop it off. “Fetch up Jane Shore,” he says; and up she
comes. Next morning, “Chop off her head.” And they chop it off.
“Ring up Fair Rosamun.” Fair Rosamun answers the bell. Next
morning, “Chop off her head.” And he made every one of them tell
him a tale every night, and he kept that up till he had hogged a
thousand and one tales that way, and then he put them all in a
book, and called it Domesday Book—which was a good name, and
stated the case. You don’t know kings, Jim, but I know them, and
this old rip of ourn is one of the cleanest I’ve struck in
history. Well, Henry, he takes a notion he wants to get up some
trouble with this country. How does he do it—give notice?—give
the country a show? No. All of a sudden he heaves all the tea in
Boston Harbour overboard, and whacks out a declaration of
independence, and dares them to come on. That was his style—he
never give anybody a chance. He had suspicions of his father, the
Duke of Wellington. Well, what did he do?—ask him to show up?
No—drownded him in a butt of mamsey, like a cat. Spose people
left money laying around where he was—what did he do? He
collared it. Spose he contracted to do a thing, and you paid him,
and didnt set down there and see that he done it—what did he do?
He always done the other thing. Spose he opened his mouth—what
then? If he didnt shut it up powerful quick, he’d lose a lie,
every time. That’s the kind of a bug Henry was.”
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF THE TALES IN THE PRINCIPAL
EDITIONS OF THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, viz.:—
1. Galland.
2. Caussin de Perceval.
3. Gauttier.
4. Scott’s MS. (Wortley Montague).
5. Ditto (Anderson; marked A).
6. Scott’s Arabian Nights.
7. Scott’s Tales and Anecdotes (marked A).
8. Von Hammer’s MS.
9. Zinserling.
10. Lamb.
11. Trébutien.
12. Bul. text.
13. Lane.
14. Bres. text.
15. Habicht.
16. Weil.
17. Mac. text.
18. Torrens.
19. Payne.
20. Payne’s Tales from the Arabic (marked I. II. III.)
21. Calc.
22. Burton.
As nearly all editions of The Nights are in several volumes, the
volumes are indicated throughout, except in the case of some of
the texts. Only those tales in No. 5, not included in No. 4, are
here indicated in the same column. All tales which there is good
reason to believe do not belong to the genuine Nights are marked
with an asterisk.
The blank column may be used to enter the contents of some other
edition.
| Galland. |“Bul.” Text. Burton.
| |Caussin de Perceval. | |Lane. |
| | |Gauttier. | | |“Bres.” Text. |
| | | |Scott’s MS. | | | |Habicht. |
| | | | |Scott. | | | | |Weil. |
| | | | | |Von Hammer’s MS. | | | | |“Mac.” Text |
| | | | | | |Zinserling.| | | | | | |Torrens. |
| | | | | | | |Lamb. | | | | | | | |Payne. |
| | | | | | | | |Trébutien | | | | | | |Calc. |
[| 1.| 2.| 3.|4,5|6,7| 8.| 9.|10.|11.|12.|13.|14.|15.|16.|17.|18.|19.|20.| |22.]
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . | - |…|…| 1 | - |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + |…| 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
Story of King Shahryar and his brother . . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
a. Tale of the Bull and the Ass . . . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | A | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
1. Tale of the Trader and the Jinni . . . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
a. The First Shaykh’s Story . . . . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
b. The Second Shaykh’s Story . . . . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
c. The Third Shaykh’s Story . . . . . | - | - |…| 1 | - |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | - |…| 1
2. The Fisherman and the Jinni . . . . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
a. Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
ab. Story of King Sindibad and his Falcon . | - | - |…| ? | - |VHa|…|…|…| + | - | - | - | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | - |…| 1
ac. Tale of the Husband and the Parrot . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | ? | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| - | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | + |…| 1
ad. Tale of the Prince and the Ogress . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | ? | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
b. Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince . . . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad . . | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 2 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
a. The First Kalandar’s Tale . . . . . | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 2 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
b. The Second Kalandar’s Tale . . . . . | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 2 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
ba. Tale of the Envier and the Envied . . | 2 | 1 | 1 | ? | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| - | 1 | + | 2 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
c. The Third Kalandar’s Tale . . . . . | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 2 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
d. The Eldest Lady’s Tale . . . . . . | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 2 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
e. Tale of the Portress . . . . . . | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 2 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | - |…| 1
Conclusion of the Story of the Porter and
three Ladies . . . . . . . . | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 2 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
4. Tale of the Three Apples . . . . . . | 3 | 2 | 2 |…| 2 |VHa|…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 3 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
5. Tale of Nur Al-Din and his Son Badr Al-Din Hasan |3,4| 2 | 2 |…| 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 3 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
6. The Hunchback’s Tale . . . . . . . | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 3 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
a. The Nazarene Broker’s Story . . . . . | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 3 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
b. The Reeve’s Tale . . . . . . . | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 3 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
c. Tale of the Jewish Doctor . . . . . | 4 | 3 | 2 | ? | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 3 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
d. Tale of the Tailor . . . . . . . |4,5| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 3 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
e. The Barber’s Tale of Himself . . . . | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 4 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
ea. The Barber’s Tale of his First Brother . | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 4 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
eb. The Barber’s Tale of his Second Brother . | 5 | 3 | 2 | ? | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 4 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
ec. The Barber’s Tale of his Third Brother . | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 4 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
ed. The Barber’s Tale of his Fourth Brother . | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 4 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
ee. The Barber’s Tale of his Fifth Brother . | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 4 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
ef. The Barber’s Tale of his Sixth Brother . | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 4 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
The End of the Tailor’s Tale. . . . . | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 4 | 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 1
7. Nur Al-Din Ali and the Damsel Anis Al-Jalis . | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + |5,6| 1 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 2
8. Tale of Ghanim Bin Ayyub, the Distraught, the
Thrall o’ Love . . . . . . . . | 8 |4,5| 4 |…| 4 | 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 | + | 8 | 2 | + | 1 | 1 |…|…| 2
a. Tale of the First Eunuch, Bukhayt . . . |…|…|…|…|…| ? |…|…|…| + | | + |…| 2 | + | 1 | 1 |…|…| 2
b. Tale of the Second Eunuch, Kafur. . . . |…|…|…|…|…| ? |…|…|…| + | 1 | + |…| 2 | + | 1 | 1 |…|…| 2
9. Tale of King Omar Bin Al-Nu’uman, and his
sons Sharrkan and Zan Al-Makan . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…| + | - |…|…| 3 | + |1(p)|2 |…|…|2,3
a. Tale of Taj Al-Muluk and the Princess Dunya . |…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 |…|…| 3 | + |…| 2 |…|…|2,3
aa. Tale of Aziz and Azizah . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…| + | 1 |…|…| 3 | + |…| 2 |…|…|2,3
b. Tale of the Hashish-Eater . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| ? |…|…|…| + | - |…|…| - | + |…| 2 |…|…| 3
c. Tale of Hammad the Badawi . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…| + | - |…|…| - | + |…| 2 |…|…| 3
10. The Birds and Beasts and the Carpenter . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | 2 |…|…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
11. The Hermits . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
12. The Water-fowl and the Tortoise . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
13. The Wolf and the Fox . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
a. Tale of the Falcon and the Partridge . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
14. The Mouse and the Ichneumon . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
15. The Cat and the Crow . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
16. The Fox and the Crow . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
a. The Flea and the Mouse . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
b. The Saker and the Birds . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
c. The Sparrow and the Eagle . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
17. The Hedgehog and the Wood Pigeons . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
a. The Merchant and the Two Sharpers . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
18. The Thief and his Monkey . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
a. The Foolish Weaver . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
19. The Sparrow and the Peacock . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHb|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 3 |…|…| 3
20. Ali Bin Bakkar and Shams Al-Nahar . . . . |5,6| 3 | 3 |…|2,3| 1 |…|…|…| + | 2 | + | 4 | 1 | + |…| 3 | + |…| 3
21. Tale of Kamar Al-Zaman . . . . . . . | 6 |3,4| 3 | 2 | 3 |1,2|…|…|…| + | 2 | + | 5 | 1 | + |…| 3 |…|…|3,4
a. Ni’amah bin Al-Rabia and Naomi his Slave-girl |…| 9 |…|…|…| ? |…|…|…| + | 2 | + | 13| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
22. Ala Al-Din Abu Al-Shamat . . . . . . |…| 9 |…|…|…| 2 |…|…|…| + | 2 | + | 13| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
23. Hatim of the Tribe of Tayy . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
24. Ma’an the son of Zaidah and the three Girls . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 |…| 2 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
25. Ma’an son of Zaidah and the Badawi . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
26. The City of Labtayt . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
27. The Caliph Hisham and the Arab Youth . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
28. Ibrahim bin Al-Mahdi and the Barber-Surgeon . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
29. The City of Many-columned Iram and Abdullah
son of Abi Kalabah . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
30. Isaac of Mosul . . . . . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + | 13| 2 | + |…| 3 | + |…| 4
31. The Sweep and the Noble Lady . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
32. The Mock Caliph . . . . . . . . |…| 9 | 2 |…|…| 2 | - |…| - | + | 2 | + | 4 | 2 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
33. Ali the Persian . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 3 |…|…| 4
34. Harun Al-Rashid and the Slave-Girl and the
Imam Abu Yusuf . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | - | + |…| 2 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
35. The Lover who feigned himself a Thief . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
36. Ja’afar the Barmecide and the Bean-Seller . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | - |…| - | + | 2 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
37. Abu Mohammed hight Lazybones . . . . . |…| 9 |…|…|…| 2 | - |…| - | + | 2 | + | 13| 2 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
38. Generous dealing of Yahya bin Khalid the
Barmecide with Mansur . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| ? | - |…| - | + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
39. Generous Dealing of Yahya son of Khalid with
a man who forged a letter in his name . . |…|…|…|…|…| ? | - |…| - | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
40. Caliph Al-Maamun and the Strange Scholar . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…|…|…|…| 4 |…|…| 4
41. Ali Shar and Zumurrud . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 1 | + | 2 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
42. The Loves of Jubayr Bin Umayr and the Lady Budur |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 1 | + | 2 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
43. The Man of Al-Yaman and his six Slave-Girls . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 2 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
44. Harun Al-Rashid and the Damsel and Abu Nowas . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 2 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
45. The Man who stole the dish of gold whereon
the dog ate . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
46. The Sharper of Alexandria and the Chief of Police |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
47. Al-Malik Al-Nasir and the three Chiefs of Police |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
a. Story of the Chief of the new Cairo Police . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
b. Story of the Chief of the Bulak Police . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
c. Story of the Chief of the Old Cairo Police . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
48. The Thief and the Shroff . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
49. The Chief of the Kus Police and the Sharper . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
50. Ibrahim bin al-Mahdi and the Merchant’s Sister . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
51. The Woman whose hands were cut off for alms-
giving . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
52. The devout Israelite . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
53. Abu Hassan Al-Ziyadi and the Khorasan Man . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
54. The Poor Man and his Friend in Need . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
55. The Ruined Man who became rich again through
a dream . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
56. Caliph Al-Mutawakkil and his Concubine Mahbubah |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
57. Wardan the Butcher’s Adventure with the Lady
and the Bear . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
58. The King’s Daughter and the Ape . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 4
59. The Ebony Horse . . . . . . . . | 11| 7 | 5 |…| 5 | 2 | - |…| - | + | 2 | + | 9 | 1 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
60. Uns Al-Wujud and the Wazir’s Daughter Rose-
in-Hood . . . . . . . . . . |…|…| 6 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 |…| 1 | + | 2 | + | 11| 2 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
61. Abu Nowas with the Three Boys and the Caliph
Harun Al-Rashid . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| - | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
62. Abdullah bin Ma’amar with the Man of Bassorah
and his Slave-Girl . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
63. The Lovers of the Banu Ozrah . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | 2 | + | 11| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
64. The Wazir of Al-Yaman and his young Brother . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
65. The Loves of the Boy and Girl at School . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
66. Al-Mutalammis and his Wife Umaymah . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
67. Harun Al-Rashid and Zubaydah in the Bath . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
68. Harim Al-Rashid and the Three Poets . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 2 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
69. Mus ’ab bin Al-Zubayr and Ayishah his Wife . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
70. Abu Al-Aswad and his Slave-Girl . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…|…| + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
71. Harun Al-Rashid and the two Slave-Girls . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
72. Harun Al-Rashid and the Three Slave-Girls . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…|…| + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
73. The Miller and his Wife . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
74. The Simpleton and the Sharper . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
75. The Kazi Abu Yusuf with Harun Al-Rashid and
Queen Zubaydah . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| A | A | - | - |…| - | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
76. The Caliph Al-Hakim and the Merchant . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
77. King Kisra Anushirwan and the Village Damsel . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
78. The Water-carrier and the Goldsmith’s Wife . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
79. Khusrau and Shirin and the Fisherman . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
80. Yahya bin Khalid and the Poor Man . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
81. Mohammed al-Amin and the Slave-Girl . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
82. The Sons of Yahya bin Khalid and Said bin Salim |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
83. The Woman’s Trick against her Husband . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
84. The Devout Woman and the Two Wicked Elders . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
85. Ja’afar the Barmecide and the old Badawi . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
86. Omar bin Al-Khattab and the Young Badawi . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
87. Al-Maamun and the Pyramids of Eygpt . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
88. The Thief and the Merchant . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
89. Masrur the Eunuch and Ibn Al-Karibi . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
90. The Devotee Prince . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
91. The Schoolmaster who fell in Love by Report . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
92. The Foolish Dominie . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…|…| + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
93. The Illiterate who set up for a Schoolmaster . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
94. The King and the Virtuous Wife . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
95. Abd Al-Rahman the Maghribi’s story of the Rukh . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
96. Adi bin Zayd and the Princess Hind . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
97. Di’ibil Al-Khuza’i with the Lady and Muslim bin
Al-Walid . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
98. Isaac of Mosul and the Merchant . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
99. The Three Unfortunate Lovers . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
100. How Abu Hasan brake Wind . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| - | - |…| - | ? | - |…|…|…| ? |…| - |…|…| 5
101. The Lovers of the Banu Tayy . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
102. The Mad Lover . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
103. The Prior who became a Moslem . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
104. The Loves of Abu Isa and Kurrat Al-Ayn . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
105. Al-Amin and his Uncle Ibrahim bin Al-Mahdi . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
106. Al-Fath bin Khakan and Al-Mutawakkil . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
107. The Man’s dispute with Learned Woman concerning
the relative excellence of male and female . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
108. Abu Suwayd and the pretty Old Woman . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
109. Ali bin Tahir and the girl Muunis . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
110. The Woman who had a Boy, and the other who had
a Man to lover . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
111. Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 1 | + | 2 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
112. The Pilgrim Man and the Old Woman . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
113. Abu Al-Husn and his Slave-girl Tawaddud . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 1 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 4 |…|…| 5
114. The Angel of Death with the Proud King and the
Devout Man . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
115. The Angel of Death and the Rich King . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
116. The Angel of Death and the King of the Children
of Israel . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | + | 2 |…|…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
117. Iskandar zu Al-Karnayn and a certain Tribe of
Poor Folk . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
118. The Righteousness of King Anushirwan . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
119. The Jewish Kazi and his Pious Wife . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
120. The Shipwrecked Woman and her Child . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
121. The Pious Black Slave . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
122. The Devout Tray-maker and his Wife . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
123. Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf and the Pious Man . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
124. The Blacksmith who could Handle Fire Without Hurt |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
125. The Devotee to whom Allah gave a Cloud for
Service and the Devout King . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
126. The Moslem Champion and the Christian Damsel . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
127. The Christian King’s Daughter and the Moslem . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
128. The Prophet and the Justice of Providence . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | 2 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
129. The Ferryman of the Nile and the Hermit . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| - | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
130. The Island King and the Pious Israelite . . |…|…| 6 |…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…| 10| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
131. Abu Al-Hasan and Abu Ja’afar the Leper . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
132. The Queen of the Serpents . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
a. The Adventure of Bulukiya . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
b. The Story of Janshah . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 5
133. Sindbad the Seaman and Sindbad the Landsman . | 3 | 2 | 2 |…| 2 | 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 | + | 2 | 1 | + |…| 5 | + |…| 6
a. The First Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman . . | 3 | 2 | 2 |…| 2 | 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 | + | 2 | 1 | + |…| 5 | + |…| 6
b. The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman . . | 3 | 2 | 2 |…| 2 | 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 | + | 2 | 1 | + |…| 5 | + |…| 6
c. The Third Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman . . | 3 | 2 | 2 |…| 2 | 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 | + | 2 | 1 | + |…| 5 | + |…| 6
d. The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman . . | 3 | 2 | 2 |…| 2 | 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 | + | 2 | 1 | + |…| 5 | + |…| 6
e. The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman . . | 3 | 2 | 2 |…| 2 | 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 | + | 3 | 1 | + |…| 5 | + |…| 6
f. The Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman . . | 3 | 2 | 2 |…| 2 | 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 | + | 3 | 1 | + |…| 5 | - |…| 6
ff. The Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| - | 3 | - |…|…| - |…|III| + |…| -
g. The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman . | 3 | 2 | 2 |…| 2 | 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 | + | 3 | 1 | + |…| 5 | + |…| 6
gg. The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman . | - |…|…|…| - | - | - |…| - | - | 3 | - |…| - | - |…|III| + |…| 6
134. The City of Brass . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | + | 3 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
135. The Craft and Malice of Women: . . . . . |…|…|…| A | A | 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
a. The King and his Wazir’s Wife . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |…| - |…| - | + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
b. The Confectioner, his Wife and the Parrot . |…|…|…| A | A |VHc| - |…| - | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
c. The Fuller and his Son . . . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |VHc|…|…|…| + | - | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
d. The Rake’s Trick against the Chaste Wife . |…|…|…|…|…|VHc|…|…|…| + | - | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
e. The Miser and the Loaves of Bread . . . |…|…|…|…|…|VHc|…|…|…| + | - | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
f. The Lady and her two Lovers . . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |VHc|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
g. The King’s Son and the Ogress . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |VHc|…|…|…| + | - | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
h. The Drop of Honey . . . . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |VHc|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
i. The Woman who made her husband sift dust . |…|…|…| A |…|VHc|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
j. The Enchanted Spring . . . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |VHc|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
k. The Wazir’s Son and the Hammam-keeper’s Wife |…|…|…| A |…|…|…|…|…| + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
l. The Wife’s device to cheat her Husband . . |…|…|…| A | A |…|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
m. The Goldsmith and the Cashmere Singing-girl . |…|…| 1 | A | A |…|…|…|…| + | 3 | + | 1 | 1 | + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
n. The Man who never laughed during the rest
of his days . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |…|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
o. The King’s Son and the Merchant’s Wife . . |…|…|…| A | A |…|…|…|…| + | - | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
p. The Page who feigned to know the Speech of
Birds . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
q. The Lady and her five Suitors . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |…|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
r. The Three Wishes, or the Man who longed to
see the Night of Power . . . . . |…|…|…| A |…|…|…|…|…| + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
s. The Stolen Necklace . . . . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |…|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
t. The Two Pigeons . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 3 |…|…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
u. Prince Behram and the Princess Al-Datma . . |…|…|…| A | A |…|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
v. The House with the Belvedere . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |…|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
w. The King’s Son and the Ifrit’s Mistress . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
x. The Sandal-wood Merchant and the Sharpers . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
y. The Debauchee and the Three-year-old Child . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
z. The Stolen Purse . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…| 5 |…|…| 6
aa. The Fox and the Folk . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| - | - | + |15 |…| - |…| 5 |…|…| 6
136. Judar and his Brethren . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | + | 3 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 6 |…|…| 6
137. The History of Gharib and his Brother Ajib . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 1 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…|6,7
138. Otbah and Rayya . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | 3 |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
139. Hind, daughter of Al-Nu’man and Al-Hajjaj . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
140. Khuzaymah bin Bishr and Ekrimah al-Fayyaz . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | 3 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
141. Yunus the Scribe and the Caliph Walid bin Sahl . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
142. Harun Al-Rashid and the Arab Girl . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
143. Al-Asma’i and the three girls of Bassorah . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | - |…| - | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
144. Ibrahim of Mosul and the Devil . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | - |…|…| + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
145. The Lovers of the Banu Uzrah . . . . . |…|…| 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | - |…|…| + | 3 |…|11 |…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
146. The Badawi and his Wife . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
147. The Lovers of Bassorah . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
148. Ishak of Mosul and his Mistress and the Devil . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
149. The Lovers of Al-Medinah . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | 3 |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
150. Al-Malik Al-Nasir and his Wazir . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
151. The Rogueries of Dalilah the Crafty and her
Daughter Zaynab the Coney-Catcher . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 2 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
a. The Adventures of Mercury Ali of Cairo . . |…|…|…|…|…| 3 | 2 |…| 2 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
152. Ardashir and Hayat Al-Nufus . . . . . |…|…|…| 7 |…| 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | + | - | + |…| 2 | + |…| 6 |…|…| 7
153. Julnar the Sea-born and her son King Badr Basim
of Persia . . . . . . . . . | 7 | 4 | 3 |…|3,4| 3 | - |…| - | + | 3 |…| 6 | 3 | + |…| 7 |…|…| 7
154. King Mohammed bin Sabaik and the Merchant Hasan |…|…|…| 1 |…| 3 | 2 |…| 2 | + | 3 | + |…| - | + |…| 7 |…|…| 7
a. Story of Prince Sayf Al-Muluk and the
Princess Badi’a Al-Jamal . . . . . |…|…|…| 1 |…|3,4| 2 |…| 2 | + | 3 | + |…| 2 | + |…| 7 |…|…|7,8
155. Hasan of Bassorah . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 3 |…| 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | + | | + |…| 2 | + |…| 7 |…|…| 8
156. Khalifah the Fisherman of Baghdad . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 |…| 2 | + | 3 | - |…| 2 | + |…| 7 |…|…| 8
a. The same from the Breslau Edition . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| - | + |…|…|…|…| 7 |…|…| 8
157. Masrur and Zayn Al-Mawassif . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 8 |…|…| 8
158. Ali Nur Al-Din and Miriam the Girdle-Girl . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 8 |…|…|8,9
159. The Man of Upper Egypt and his Frankish Wife . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | - | 3 | + | - | + |…|…| + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
160. The Ruined Man of Baghdad and his Slave-Girl . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | - | 3 | + | 3 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
161. King Jali’ad of Hind and his Wazir Shimas,
followed by the history of King Wird Khan,
son of King Jali’ad, with his Women and
Wazirs . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
a. The Mouse and the Cat . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
b. The Fakir and his Jar of Butter . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
c. The Fishes and the Crab . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
d. The Crow and the Serpent . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
e. The Wild Ass and the jackal . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
f. The Unjust King and the Pilgrim Prince . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
g. The Crows and the Hawk . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
h. The Serpent-Charmer and his Wife . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
i. The Spider and the Wind . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
j. The Two Kings . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
k. The Blind Man and the Cripple . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
l. The Foolish Fisherman . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
m. The Boy and the Thieves . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
n. The Man and his Wife . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
o. The Merchant and the Robbers . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
p. The Jackals and the Wolf . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
q. The Shepherd and the Rogue . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
r. The Francolin and the Tortoises . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | - | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
162. Abu Kir the Dyer and Abu Sir the Barber. . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | + | 3 | + |…| 4 | + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
163. Abdullah the Fisherman and Abdullah the Merman . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | + | 3 | + |…|…| + |…| 8 |…|…| 9
164. Harun Al-Rashid and Abu Hasan, the Merchant of
Oman . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 |…| 3 | + | - | + |…| 2 | + |…| 9 |…|…| 9
165. Ibrahim and Jamilah . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | + | 3 |…|…|…| + |…| 9 |…|…| 9
166. Abu Al-Hasan of Khorasan . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 9 |…|…| 9
167. Kamar Al-Zaman and the Jeweller’s Wife . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | + | - |…|…| 4 | + |…| 9 |…|…| 9
168. Abdullah bin Fazil and his Brothers . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 |…| 3 | + | - |…|…|…| + |…| 9 |…|…| 9
169. Ma’aruf the Cobbler and his wife Fatimah . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | + | 3 |…|…| 4 | + |…| 9 |…|…| 10
170. Asleep and Awake . . . . . . . . | 9 | 5 | 4 |…| 4 |…|…|…|…|…| 2 | + | 7 | 1 |…|…| I |…|…|…
a. Story of the Lackpenny and the Cook . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| - | + |…|…|…|…| I |…|…|…
171. The Caliph Omar ben Abdulaziz and the Poets . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| - | + |…| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
172. El Hejjaj and the Three Young Men . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| - | + |…|…|…|…| I |…|…|…
173. Haroun Er Reshid and the Woman of the Barmecides |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| - | + |…|…|…|…| I |…|…|…
174. The Ten Viziers, or the History of King
Azadbekht and his Son . . . . . . |…| 8 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| - | + | 10| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
a. Of the uselessness of endeavor against
persistent ill-fortune . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
aa. Story of the Unlucky Merchant . . . |…| 8 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| - | + | 10| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
b. Of looking to the issues of affairs . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
bb. Story of the Merchant and his Sons . . |…| 8 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 10| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
c. Of the advantages of Patience . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
cc. Story of Abou Sabir . . . . . . |…| 8 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 10| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
d. Of the ill effects of Precipitation . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
dd. Story of Prince Bihzad . . . . . |…| 8 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 10| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
e. Of the issues of good and evil actions . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
ee. Story of King Dabdin and his Viziers . |…| 8 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 10| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
f. Of Trust in God . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
ff. Story of King Bekhtzeman . . . . |…| 8 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
g. Of Clemency . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
gg. Story of King Bihkerd . . . . . |…| 8 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 10| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
h. Of Envy and Malice . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
hh. Story of Ilan Shah and Abou Temam . . |…| 8 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 10| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
i. Of Destiny, or that which is written on the
Forehead . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
ii. Story of King Ibrahim and his Son . . |…| 8 | 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + | 13| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
k. Of the appointed Term, which if it be
advanced, may not be deferred, and if it
be deferred, may not be advanced . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
jj. Story of King Suleiman Shah and his Sons |…| 8 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
k. Of the speedy Relief of God . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
kk. Story of the Prisoner, and how God gave
him relief . . . . . . . |…| 8 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
175. Jaafer Ben Zehya and Abdulmelik Ben Salih the
Abbaside . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
176. Er Reshid and the Barmecides . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…| 2 |…|…| I |…|…|…
177. Ibn Es-Semmak and Er-Reshid . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…|…|…|…| I |…|…|…
178. El Mamoun and Zubeideh . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…|…|…|…| I |…|…|…
179. En Numan and the Arab of the Benou Tai . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…|…|…|…| I |…|…|…
180. Firouz and his Wife . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…|…|…|…| I |…|…|…
181. King Shah Bekht and his Vizier Er Rehwan . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
a. Story of the Man of Khorassan his son and
his governor . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
b. Story of the Singer and the Druggist . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
c. Story of the King who knew the quintessence
of things . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
d. Story of the Rich Man who gave his fair
Daughter in Marriage to the Poor Old Man . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
e. Story of the Rich Man and his Wasteful Son . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
f. The King’s Son who fell in love with the
Picture . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
g. Story of the Fuller and his Wife . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
h. Story of the Old Woman, the Merchant, and
the King . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
i. Story of the credulous Husband . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
j. Story of the Unjust King and the Tither . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
jj. Story of David and Solomon . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
k. Story of the Thief and the Woman . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
l. Story of the Three Men and our Lord Jesus . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
ll. The Disciple’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
m. Story of the Dethroned King whose kingdom
and good were restored to him . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
n. Story of the Man whose caution was the cause
of his Death . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
o. Story of the Man who was lavish of his house
and his victual to one whom he knew not . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
p. Story of the Idiot and the Sharper . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
q. Story of Khelbes and his Wife and the
Learned Man . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…| I |…|…|…
r. Story of the Pious Woman accused of lewdness |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…|…|…|…|II |…|…|…
s. Story of the Journeyman and the Girl . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
t. Story of the Weaver who became a Physician
by his Wife’s commandment . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
u. Story of the Two Sharpers who cheated each
his fellow . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
v. Story of the Sharpers with the Moneychanger
and the Ass . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
w. Story of the Sharper and the Merchants . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
wa. Story of the Hawk and the Locust . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
x. Story of the King and his Chamberlain’s Wife |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
xa. Story of the Old Woman and the Draper’s
Wife . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
y. Story of the Foul-favoured Man and his Fair
Wife . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
z. Story of the King who lost Kingdom and Wife
and Wealth, and God restored them to him . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
aa. Story of Selim and Selma . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
bb. Story of the King of Hind and his Vizier . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| |…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
182. El Melik Ez Zahir Rukneddin Bibers El
Bunducdari, and the Sixteen Officers of
Police . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
a. The First Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
b. The Second Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
c. The Third Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
d. The Fourth Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…|…|…|…|II |…|…|…
e. The Fifth Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
f. The Sixth Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |…|…|…|…|II |…|…|…
g. The Seventh Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
h. The Eighth Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
ha. The Thief’s Story . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
i. The Ninth Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
j. The Tenth Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
k. The Eleventh Officer’s Story . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
l. The Twelfth Officer’s Story . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
m. The Thirteenth Officer’s Story . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
n. The Fourteenth Officer’s Story . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
na. A Merry Jest of a Thief . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
nb. Story of the Old Sharper . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
o. The Fifteenth Officer’s Story . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
p. The Sixteenth Officer’s Story . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
183. Abdallah Ben Nafi, and the King’s Son of
Cashgbar . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
a. Story of the Damsel Tuhfet El Culoub and
Khalif Haroun Er Reshid . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |14 |…|…|…|II |…|…|…
184. Women’s Craft . . . . . . . . . |…|…| 2 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 4 |…|…|…|II | + |…|…
185. Noureddin Ali of Damascus and the Damsel Sitt
El Milah . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |15 |…|…|…|III|…|…|…
186. El Abbas and the King’s Daughter of Baghdad . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |15 |…|…|…|III|…|…|…
187. The Two Kings and the Vizier’s Daughters . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |15 |…|…|…|III|…|…|…
188. The Favourite and her Lover . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |15 |…|…|…|III|…|…|…
189. The Merchant of Cairo and the Favourite of the
Khalif El Mamoun El Hakim bi Amrillah . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| + |15 |…|…|…|III|…|…|…
190. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…| 4 | 3 |…| 3 | + | 3 | + |15 |…| + |…|{9&|…|…| 10
III}
*191. History of Prince Zeyn Alasnam . . . . . | 8 | 5 | 4 |…| 4 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 6 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*192. History of Codadad and his Brothers . . . | 8 | 5 | 4 |…| 4 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 6 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*a. History of the Princess of Deryabar . . | 8 | 5 | 4 |…| 4 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 6 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*193. Story of Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp . . |9,10|5,6| 4 |…|4,5|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|7,8| 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*194. Adventures of the Caliph Harun Al-Rashid . . | 10| 6 | 5 |…| 5 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 8 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*a. Story of the Blind Man, Baba Abdallah . . | 10| 6 | 5 |…| 5 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 8 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*b. Story of Sidi Numan . . . . . . | 10| 6 | 5 |…| 5 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 8 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*c. Story of Cogia Hassan Alhabbal . . . .|10,11| 6 | 5 |…| 5 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 8 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*195. Story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves . . | 11| 6 | 5 |…| 5 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 9 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*196. Story of Ali Cogia, a Merchant of Baghdad . . | 11| 7 | 5 |…| 5 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 9 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*197. Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Peri Banou . | 12| 7 | 5 |…| 5 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 9 | 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
*198. Story of the Sisters who envied their younger
sister . . . . . . . . . . | 12| 7 | 5 |…| 5 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 10| 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…
199. (Anecdote of Jaafar the Barmecide = No.39) . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 2 |…|…|…|…|…|…
200. The Adventures of Ali and Zaher of Damascus. . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 4 |…|…|…|…|…|…
201. The Adventures of the Fisherman, Judar of Cairo,
and his meeting with the Moor Mahmood and the
Sultan Beibars . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 4 |…|…|…|…|…|…
202. The Physician and the young man of Mosul . . |…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
203. Story of the Sultan of Yemen and his three sons |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
204. Story of the Three Sharpers and the Sultan . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
a. Adventures of the Abdicated Sultan . . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
b. History of Mahummud, Sultan of Cairo . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
c. Story of the First Lunatic . . . . . |…| 8 | 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
d. (Story of the Second Lunatic = No.184) . . |…|…| 2 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
e. Story of the Sage and his Pupil . . . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
f. Night adventure of the Sultan . . . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
g, Story of the first foolish man . . . . |…|…|…| 3 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
h. Story of the broken-backed Schoolmaster . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
i. Story of the wry-mouthed Schoolmaster . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
j. The Sultan’s second visit to the Sisters . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
k. Story of the Sisters and the Sultana, their
mother . . . . . . . . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
205. Story of the Avaricious Cauzee and his wife . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
206. Story of the Bang-Eater and the Cauzee . . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
a. Story of the Bang-Eater and his wife . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
b. Continuation of the Fisherman, or
Bang-Eater’s Adventures . . . . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
207. The Sultan and the Traveller Mhamood Al Hyjemmee |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
a. The Koord Robber (= No.33) . . . . . |…|…|…| 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
b. Story of the Husbandman . . . . . . |…|…|…| 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
c. Story of the Three Princes and Enchanting
Bird . . . . . . . . . . |…|…| 6 | 3 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
d. Story of a Sultan of Yemen and his three Sons |…|…| 6 | 4 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
e. Story of the first Sharper in the Cave . . |…|…|…| 4 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
f. Story of the second Sharper . . . . . |…|…|…| 4 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
g. Story of the third Sharper . . . . . |…|…|…| 4 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
h. History of the Sultan of Hind . . . . |…|…| 5 | 4 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|10 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
208. Story of the Fisherman’s Son . . . . . |…|…|…| 4 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
209. Story of Abou Neeut and Abou Neeuteen . . . |…|…| 6 | 4 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
210. Story of the Prince of Sind, and Fatima, daughter
of Amir Bin Naomaun . . . . . . . |…|…| 6 | 4 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
211. Story of the Lovers of Syria, or the Heroine . |…|…| 6 | 4 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
212. Story of Hyjauje, the tyrannical Governor of
Confeh, and the young Syed . . . . . |…|…|…| 4 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
213. Story of the Sultan Haieshe . . . . . |…|…|…| 4 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
214. Story told by a Fisherman . . . . . . |…|…|…| 4 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
215. The Adventures of Mazin of Khorassaun . . . |…|…| 6 |4,5| 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|10 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
216. Adventure of Haroon Al Rusheed . . . . . |…|…| 6 | 5 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
a. Story of the Sultan of Bussorah . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
b. Nocturnal adventures of Haroon Al Rusheed . |…|…|…| 5 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
e. Story related by Munjaub . . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
d. Story of the Sultan, the Dirveshe and the
Barber’s Son . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
e. Story of the Bedouin’s Wife . . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
f. Story of the Wife and her two Gallants . . |…|…|…| 5 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
217. Adventures of Aleefa, daughter of Mherejaun,
Sultan of Hind, and Eusuff, son of Sohul,
Sultan of Sind . . . . . . . . |…|…| 6 | 5 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
218. Adventures of the three Princes, sons of the
Sultan of China . . . . . . . . |…|…| 5 | 5 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|10 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
219. Story of the Gallant Officer . . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
220. Story of another officer . . . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
221. Story of the Idiot and his Asses . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
222. Story of the Lady of Cairo and the Three
Debauchees . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
223. Story of the Good Vizier unjustly imprisoned . |…|…| 6 | 5 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
224. Story of the Prying Barber and the young man of
Cairo . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
225. Story of the Lady of Cairo and her four Gallants |…|…| 6 | 5 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
a. The Cauzee’s Story . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 5 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
b. The Syrian . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…|5,6| - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
c. The Caim-makaum’s Wife . . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
d. Story told by the Fourth Gallant . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
226. Story of a Hump-backed Porter . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
227. The Aged Porter of Cairo and the Artful Female
Thief . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
228. Mhassun and his tried friend Mouseh . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
229. Mahummud Julbee, son to an Ameer of Cairo . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
230. The Farmer’s Wife . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
231. The Artful Wife . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
232. The Cauzee’s Wife . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
233. Story of the Merchant, his Daughter, and the
Prince of Eerauk . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
234. The Two Orphans . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
235. Story of another Farmer’s Wife . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
236. Story of the Son who attempted his Father’s
Wives . . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
237. The Two Wits of Cairo and Syria . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
238. Ibrahim and Mouseh . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 6 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
239. The Viziers Ahmed and Mahummud . . . . . |…|…|…|6,7| - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
240. The Son addicted to Theft . . . . . . |…|…|…| 7 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
241. Adventures of the Cauzee, his Wife, &c. . . |…|…| 6 | 7 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
a. The Sultan’s Story of Himself . . . . |…|…| 6 | 7 | 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|11 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
242. Story of Shaykh Nukheet the Fisherman, who
became favourite to a Sultan . . . . |…|…|…| 7 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
a. Story of the King of Andalusia . . . . |…|…|…| 7 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
243. Story of Teilone, Sultan of Egypt . . . . |…|…|…| 7 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
244. Story of the Retired Man and his Servant . . |…|…|…| 7 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
245. The Merchant’s Daughter who married the Emperor
of China . . . . . . . . . |…|…|…| 7 | - |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*246. New Adventures of the Caliph Harun Al-Rashid . |…| 8 | 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*247. The Physician and the young Purveyor of Bagdad . |…| 8 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|13 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*248. The Wise Heycar . . . . . . . . |…| 8 | 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|13 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*249. Attaf the Generous . . . . . . . . |…| 9 | 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|13 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*250. Prince Habib and Dorrat-al-Gawas . . . . |…| 9 | 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*251. The Forty Wazirs . . . . . . . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*a. Story of Shaykh Shahabeddin . . . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*b. Story of the Gardener, his Son, and the Ass |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*c. The Sultan Mahmoud and his Wazir . . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*d. Story of the Brahman Padmanaba and the young
Fyquai . . . . . . . . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*e. Story of Sultan Akshid . . . . . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*f. Story of the Husband, the Lover and the
Thief . . . . . . . . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*g. Story of the Prince of Carisme and the
Princess of Georgia . . . . . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*h. The Cobbler and the King’s Daughter . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*i. The Woodcutter and the Genius . . . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*j. The Royal Parrot . . . . . . . |…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…| 1 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*252. Story of the King and Queen of Abyssinia . . |…|…| 6 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|10 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*253. Story of Princes Amina . . . . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*a. Story of the Princess of Tartary . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*b. Story told by the Old Man’s Wife . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*254. Story of Ali Johari . . . . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*255. Story of the two Princes of Cochin China . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*256. Story of the two Husbands . . . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*a. Story of Abdallah . . . . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*b. Story of the Favourite . . . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*257. Story of Yusuf and the Indian Merchant . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*258. Story of Prince Benazir . . . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|12 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*259. Story of Selim, Sultan of Egypt . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|13 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*a. Story of the Cobbler’s Wife . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|13 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*b. Story of Adileh . . . . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|13 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*c. Story of the scarred Kalender . . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|13 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*d. Continuation of the story of Selim . . . |…|…| 7 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|13 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
*260. Story of Seif Sul Yesn . . . . . . . |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|14 |…|…|…|…|…|…|…
261. Story of the Labourer and the Chair . . . |…|…|…| A | A |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
262. Story of Ahmed the Orphan . . . . . . |…|…|…| A | A |…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…|…
VHa (Full contents from Introd. to No. 4 not given: 3e and 4 are apparently wanting.)
VHb (Nos. 10-19 represented by 7 Fables.)
VHc (Would include subordinate tales.)
N.B.—In using this Table, some allowance must be made for differences in the titles of many of the tales in different editions.
For the contents of the printed text, I have followed the lists in Mr. Payne’s “Tales from the Arabic,” vol. iii.
And here I end this long volume with repeating in other words and
other tongue what was said in “L’Envoi”:—
Hide thou whatever here is found of fault;
And laud The Faultless and His might exalt!
After which I have only to make my bow and to say
“Salam.”
Arabian Nights, Volume 10
Footnotes
[FN#1] Arab. “Zarábín” (pl. of zarbún), lit. slaves’ shoes or
sandals (see vol. iii. p. 336) the chaussure worn by Mamelukes.
Here the word is used in its modern sense of stout shoes or
walking boots.
[FN#2] The popular word means goodness, etc.
[FN#3] Dozy translates “’Urrah”=Une Mégère: Lane terms it a
“vulgar word signifying a wicked, mischievous shrew.” But it is
the fem. form of ’Urr=dung; not a bad name for a daughter of
Billingsgate.
[FN#4] i.e. black like the book of her actions which would be
shown to her on Doomsday.
[FN#5] The “Kunáfah” (vermicelli-cake) is a favourite dish of
wheaten flour, worked somewhat finer than our vermicelli, fried
with samn (butter melted and clarified) and sweetened with honey
or sugar. See vol. v. 300.
[FN#6] i.e. Will send us aid. The Shrew’s rejoinder is highly
impious in Moslem opinion.
[FN#7] Arab. Asal Katr; “a fine kind of black honey, treacle”
says Lane; but it is afterwards called cane-honey (’Asal Kasab).
I have never heard it applied to “the syrup which exudes from
ripe dates, when hung up.”
[FN#8] Arab. “’Aysh,” lit.=that on which man lives: “Khubz” being
the more popular term. “Hubz and Joobn” is well known at Malta.
[FN#9] Insinuating that he had better make peace with his wife by
knowing her carnally. It suggests the story of the Irishman who
brought over to the holy Catholic Church three several Protestant
wives, but failed with the fourth on account of the decline of
his “Convarter.”
[FN#10] Arab. “Asal Kasab,” i.e. Sugar, possibly made from
sorgho-stalks Holcus sorghum of which I made syrup in Central
Africa.
[FN#11] For this unpleasant euphemy see vol. iv. 215.
[FN#12] This is a true picture of the leniency with which women
were treated in the Kazi’s court at Cairo; and the effect was
simply deplorable. I have noted that matters have grown even
worse since the English occupation, for history repeats herself;
and the same was the case in Afghanistan and in Sind. We govern
too much in these matters, which should be directed not changed,
and too little in other things, especially in exacting respect
for the conquerors from the conquered.
[FN#13] Arab. “Báb al-’Áli”=the high gate or Sublime Porte; here
used of the Chief Kazi’s court: the phrase is a descendant of the
Coptic “Per-ao” whence “Pharaoh.”
[FN#14] “Abú Tabak,” in Cairene slang, is an officer who arrests
by order of the Kazi and means “Father of whipping” (=tabaka, a
low word for beating, thrashing, whopping) because he does his
duty with all possible violence in terrorem.
[FN#15] Bab al-Nasr the Eastern or Desert Gate: see vol. vi. 234.
[FN#16] This is a mosque outside the great gate built by Al-Malik
al-’Ádil Tuman Bey in A.H. 906 (=1501). The date is not worthy of
much remark for these names are often inserted by the scribe—for
which see Terminal Essay.
[FN#17] Arab. “’Ámir” lit.=one who inhabiteth, a peopler; here
used in technical sense. As has been seen, ruins and impure
places such as privies and Hammám-baths are the favourite homes
of the Jinn. The fire-drake in the text was summoned by the
Cobbler’s exclamation and even Marids at times do a kindly
action.
[FN#18] The style is modern Cairene jargon.
[FN#19] Purses or gold pieces see vol. ix. 313.
[FN#20] i.e. I am a Cairene.
[FN#21] Arab. “Darb al-Ahmar,” a street still existing near to
and outside the noble Bab Zuwaylah, for which see vol. i. 269.
[FN#22] Arab. “’Attár,” perfume-seller and druggist; the word is
connected with our “Ottar” (’Atr).
[FN#23] Arab. “Mudarris” lit.=one who gives lessons or lectures
(dars) and pop. applied to a professor in a collegiate mosque
like Al-Azhar of Cairo.
[FN#24] This thoroughly dramatic scene is told with a charming
naïveté. No wonder that The Nights has been made the basis of a
national theatre amongst the Turks.
[FN#25] Arab. “Taysh” lit.=vertigo, swimming of head.
[FN#26] Here Trébutien (iii. 265) reads “la ville de Khaïtan (so
the Mac. Edit. iv. 708) capital du royaume de Sohatan.” Ikhtiyán
Lane suggests to be fictitious: Khatan is a district of Tartary
east of Káshgar, so called by Sádik al-Isfaháni p. 24.
[FN#27] This is a true picture of the tact and savoir faire of
the Cairenes. It was a study to see how, under the late Khedive
they managed to take precedence of Europeans who found themselves
in the background before they knew it. For instance, every Bey,
whose degree is that of a Colonel was made an “Excellency” and
ranked accordingly at Court whilst his father, some poor Fellah,
was ploughing the ground. Tanfík Pasha began his ill-omened rule
by always placing natives close to him in the place of honour,
addressing them first and otherwise snubbing Europeans who, when
English, were often too obtuse to notice the petty insults
lavished upon them.
[FN#28] Arab. “Kathír” (pron. Katir)=much: here used in its slang
sense, “no end.”
[FN#29] i.e. “May the Lord soon make thee able to repay me; but
meanwhile I give it to thee for thy own free use.”
[FN#30] Punning upon his name. Much might be written upon the
significance of names as ominous of good and evil; but the
subject is far too extensive for a footnote.
[FN#31] Lane translates “Ánisa-kum” by “he hath delighted you by
his arrival”; Mr. Payne “I commend him to you.”
[FN#32] Arab. “Fatúrát,”=light food for the early breakfast of
which the “Fatírah”-cake was a favourite item. See vol. i. 300.
[FN#33] A dark red dye (Lane).
[FN#34] Arab. “Jadíd,” see vol. viii. 121.
[FN#35] Both the texts read thus, but the reading has little
sense. Ma’aruf probably would say, “I fear that my loads will be
long coming.”
[FN#36] One of the many formulas of polite refusal.
[FN#37] Each bazar, in a large city like Damascus, has its tall
and heavy wooden doors which are locked every evening and opened
in the morning by the Ghafir or guard. The “silver key,” however,
always lets one in.
[FN#38] Arab. “Wa lá Kabbata hámiyah,” a Cairene vulgarism
meaning, “There came nothing to profit him nor to rid the people
of him.”
[FN#39] Arab. “Kammir,” i.e. brown it before the fire, toast it.
[FN#40] It is insinuated that he had lied till he himself
believed the lie to be truth—not an uncommon process, I may
remark.
[FN#41] Arab. “Rijál”=the Men, equivalent to the Walis, Saints or
Santons; with perhaps an allusion to the Rijál al-Ghayb, the
Invisible Controls concerning whom I have quoted Herklots in vol.
ii. 211.
[FN#42] A saying attributed to Al-Hariri (Lane). It is good
enough to be his: the Persians say, “Cut not down the tree thou
plantedst,” and the idea is universal throughout the East.
[FN#43] A quotation from Al-Hariri (Ass. of the Badawin). Ash’ab
(ob. A.H. 54), a Medinite servant of Caliph Osman, was proverbial
for greed and sanguine, Micawber-like expectation of “windfalls.”
The Scholiast Al-Sharíshi (of Xeres) describes him in
Theophrastic style. He never saw a man put hand to pocket without
expecting a present, or a funeral go by without hoping for a
legacy, or a bridal procession without preparing his own house,
hoping they might bring the bride to him by mistake. * * * When
asked if he knew aught greedier than himself he said “Yes; a
sheep I once kept upon my terrace-roof seeing a rainbow mistook
it for a rope of hay and jumping to seize it broke its neck!”
Hence “Ash’ab’s sheep” became a by-word (Preston tells the tale
in full, p. 288).
[FN#44] i.e. “Show a miser money and hold him back, if you can.”
[FN#45] He wants £40,000 to begin with.
[FN#46] i.e. Arab. “Sabíhat al-’urs” the morning after the
wedding. See vol. i. 269.
[FN#47] Another sign of modern composition as in Kamar al-Zaman
II.
[FN#48] Arab. “Al-Jink” (from Turk.) are boys and youths mostly
Jews, Armenians, Greeks and Turks, who dress in woman’s dress
with long hair braided. Lane (M. E. chapts. xix. and xxv.) gives
same account of the customs of the “Gink” (as the Egyptians call
them) but cannot enter into details concerning these catamites.
Respectable Moslems often employ them to dance at festivals in
preference to the Ghawázi-women, a freak of Mohammedan decorum.
When they grow old they often preserve their costume, and a
glance at them makes a European’s blood run cold.
[FN#49] Lane translates this, “May Allah and the Rijal retaliate
upon thy temple!”
[FN#50] Arab. “Yá aba ’l-lithámayn,” addressed to his member.
Lathm the root means kissing or breaking; so he would say, “O
thou who canst take her maidenhead whilst my tongue does away
with the virginity of her mouth.” “He breached the citadel”
(which is usually square) “in its four corners” signifying that
he utterly broke it down.
[FN#51] A mystery to the Author of Proverbs (xxx. 18-19),
There be three things which are too wondrous for me,
The way of an eagle in the air;
The way of a snake upon a rock;
And the way of a man with a maid.
[FN#52] Several women have described the pain to me as much
resembling the drawing of a tooth.
[FN#53] As we should say, “play fast and loose.”
[FN#54] Arab. “Náhí-ka” lit.=thy prohibition but idiomatically
used=let it suffice thee!
[FN#55] A character-sketch like that of Princess Dunya makes
ample amends for a book full of abuse of women. And yet the
superficial say that none of the characters have much personal
individuality.
[FN#56] This is indeed one of the touches of nature which makes
all the world kin.
[FN#57] As we are in Tartary “Arabs” here means plundering
nomades, like the Persian “Iliyát” and other shepherd races.
[FN#58] The very cruelty of love which hates nothing so much as a
rejected lover. The Princess, be it noted, is not supposed to be
merely romancing, but speaking with the second sight, the
clairvoyance, of perfect affection. Men seem to know very little
upon this subject, though every one has at times been more or
less startled by the abnormal introvision and divination of
things hidden which are the property and prerogative of perfect
love.
[FN#59] The name of the Princess meaning “The World,” not unusual
amongst Moslem women.
[FN#60] Another pun upon his name, “Ma’aruf.”
[FN#61] Arab. “Naká,” the mound of pure sand which delights the
eye of the Badawi leaving a town. See vol. i. 217, for the lines
and explanation in Night cmlxiv. vol. ix. p. 250.
[FN#62] Euphemistic: “I will soon fetch thee food.” To say this
bluntly might have brought misfortune.
[FN#63] Arab. “Kafr”=a village in Egypt and Syria e.g. Capernaum
(Kafr Nahum).
[FN#64] He has all the bonhomie of the Cairene and will do a
kindness whenever he can.
[FN#65] i.e. the Father of Prosperities: pron. Aboosa’ádát; as in
the Tale of Hasan of Bassorah.
[FN#66] Koran lxxxix. “The Daybreak” which also mentions Thamud
and Pharaoh.
[FN#67] In Egypt the cheapest and poorest of food, never seen at
a hotel table d’hôte.
[FN#68] The beautiful girls who guard ensorcelled hoards: See
vol. vi. 109.
[FN#69] Arab. “Asákir,” the ornaments of litters, which are
either plain balls of metal or tapering cones based on crescents
or on balls and crescents. See in Lane (M. E. chapt. xxiv.) the
sketch of the Mahmal.
[FN#70] Arab. “Amm”=father’s brother, courteously used for
“father-in-law,” which suggests having slept with his daughter,
and which is indecent in writing. Thus by a pleasant fiction the
husband represents himself as having married his first cousin.
[FN#71] i.e. a calamity to the enemy: see vol. ii. 87 and passim.
[FN#72] Both texts read “Asad” (lion) and Lane accepts it: there
is no reason to change it for “Hásid” (Envier), the Lion being
the Sultan of the Beasts and the most majestic.
[FN#73] The Cairene knew his fellow Cairene and was not to be
taken in by him.
[FN#74] Arab. “Hizám”: Lane reads “Khizám”=a nose-ring for which
see appendix to Lane’s M. E. The untrained European eye dislikes
these decorations and there is certainly no beauty in the hoops
which Hindu women insert through the nostrils, camel-fashion, as
if to receive the cord-acting bridle. But a drop-pearl hanging to
the septum is at least as pretty as the heavy pendants by which
some European women lengthen their ears.
[FN#75] Arab. “Shamtá,” one of the many names of wine, the
“speckled” alluding to the bubbles which dance upon the freshly
filled cup.
[FN#76] i.e. in the cask. These “merry quips” strongly suggest
the dismal toasts of our not remote ancestors.
[FN#77] Arab. “A’láj” plur. of “’Ilj” and rendered by Lane “the
stout foreign infidels.” The next line alludes to the cupbearer
who was generally a slave and a non-Moslem.
[FN#78] As if it were a bride. See vol. vii. 198. The stars of
Jauzá (Gemini) are the cupbearer’s eyes.
[FN#79] i.e. light-coloured wine.
[FN#80] The usual homage to youth and beauty.
[FN#81] Alluding to the cup.
[FN#82] Here Abu Nowas whose name always ushers in some
abomination alluded to the “Ghulámiyah” or girl dressed like boy
to act cupbearer. Civilisation has everywhere the same devices
and the Bordels of London and Paris do not ignore the “she-boy,”
who often opens the door.
[FN#83] Abdallah ibn al-Mu’tazz, son of Al-Mu’tazz bi ’llah, the
13th Abbaside, and great-great-grandson of Harun al-Rashid. He
was one of the most renowned poets of the third century (A.H.)
and died A.D. 908, strangled by the partisans of his nephew
Al-Muktadir bi ’llah, 18th Abbaside.
[FN#84] Jazírat ibn Omar, an island and town on the Tigris north
of Mosul. “Some versions of the poem, from which these verses are
quoted, substitute El-Mutireh, a village near Samara (a town on
the Tigris, 60 miles north of Baghdad), for El-Jezireh, i.e.
Jeziret ibn Omar.” (Payne.)
[FN#85] The Convent of Abdun on the east bank of the Tigris
opposite the Jezirah was so called from a statesman who caused it
to be built. For a variant of these lines see Ibn Khallikan, vol.
ii. 42; here we miss “the shady groves of Al-Matírah.”
[FN#86] Arab. “Ghurrah” the white blaze on a horse’s brow. In Ibn
Khallikan the bird is the lark.
[FN#87] Arab. “Táy’i”=thirsty used with Jáy’i=hungry.
[FN#88] Lit. “Kohl’d with Ghunj” for which we have no better word
than “coquetry.” But see vol. v. 80. It corresponds with the
Latin crissare for women and cevere for men.
[FN#89] i.e. gold-coloured wine, as the Vino d’Oro.
[FN#90] Compare the charming song of Abu Miján translated from
the German of Dr. Weil in Bohn’s Edit. of Ockley (p. 149),
When the Death-angel cometh mine eyes to close,
Dig my grave ’mid the vines on the hill’s fair side;
For though deep in earth may my bones repose,
The juice of the grape shall their food provide.
Ah, bury me not in a barren land,
Or Death will appear to me dread and drear!
While fearless I’ll wait what he hath in hand I
An the scent of the vineyard my spirit cheer.
The glorious old drinker!
[FN#91] Arab. “Rub’a al-Kharáb” in Ibn al-Wardi Central Africa
south of the Nile-sources, one of the richest regions in the
world. Here it prob. alludes to the Rub’a al-Kháli or Great
Arabian Desert: for which see Night dclxxvi. In rhetoric it is
opposed to the “Rub’a Maskún,” or populated fourth of the world,
the rest being held to be ocean.
[FN#92] This is the noble resignation of the Moslem. What a
dialogue there would have been in a European book between man and
devil!
[FN#93] Arab. “Al-’iddah” the period of four months and ten days
which must elapse before she could legally marry again. But this
was a palpable wile: she was not sure of her husband’s death and
he had not divorced her; so that although a “grass widow,” a
“Strohwitwe” as the Germans say, she could not wed again either
with or without interval.
[FN#94] Here the silence is of cowardice and the passage is a
fling at the “timeserving” of the Olema, a favourite theme, like
“banging the bishops” amongst certain Westerns.
[FN#95] Arab. “Umm al-raas,” the poll, crown of the head, here
the place where a calamity coming down from heaven would first
alight.
[FN#96] From Al-Hariri (Lane): the lines are excellent.
[FN#97] When the charming Princess is so ready at the voie de
faits, the reader will understand how common is such energetic
action among women of lower degree. The “fair sex” in Egypt has a
horrible way of murdering men, especially husbands, by tying them
down and tearing out the testicles. See Lane M. E. chapt. xiii.
[FN#98] Arab. “Sijn al-Ghazab,” the dungeons appropriated to the
worst of criminals where they suffer penalties far worse than
hanging or guillotining.
[FN#99] According to some modern Moslems Munkar and Nakir visit
the graves of Infidels (non-Moslems) and Bashshir and Mubashshir
(“Givers of glad tidings”) those of Mohammedans. Petis de la
Croix (Les Mille et un Jours vol. iii. 258) speaks of the
“Zoubanya,” black angels who torture the damned under their chief
Dabilah.
[FN#100] Very simple and pathetic is this short sketch of the
noble-minded Princess’s death.
[FN#101] In sign of dismissal (vol. iv. 62) I have noted that
“throwing the kerchief” is not an Eastern practice: the idea
probably arose from the Oriental practice of sending presents in
richly embroidered napkins and kerchiefs.
[FN#102] Curious to say both Lane and Payne omit this passage
which appears in both texts (Mac. and Bul.). The object is
evidently to prepare the reader for the ending by reverting to
the beginning of the tale; and its prolixity has its effect as in
the old Romances of Chivalry from Amadis of Ghaul to the Seven
Champions of Christendom. If it provoke impatience, it also
heightens expectation; “it is like the long elm-avenues of our
forefathers; we wish ourselves at the end; but we know that at
the end there is something great.”
[FN#103] Arab. “alà malákay bayti ’l-ráhah;” on the two slabs at
whose union are the round hole and longitudinal slit. See vol. i.
221.
[FN#104] Here the exclamation wards off the Evil Eye from the
Sword and the wearer: Mr. Payne notes, “The old English
exclamation Cock’s ’ill!’ (i.e., God’s will, thus corrupted for
the purpose of evading the statute of 3 Jac. i. against profane
swearing) exactly corresponds to the Arabic”—with a difference,
I add.
[FN#105] Arab. “Mustahakk”=deserving (Lane) or worth (Payne) the
cutting.
[FN#106] Arab. “Mashhad” the same as “Sháhid”=the upright stones
at the head and foot of the grave. Lane mistranslates, “Made for
her a funeral procession.”
[FN#107] These lines have occurred before. I quote Lane.
[FN#108] There is nothing strange in such sudden elevations
amongst Moslems and even in Europe we still see them
occasionally. The family in the East, however humble, is a model
and miniature of the state, and learning is not always necessary
to wisdom.
[FN#109] Arab. “Fárid” which may also mean “union-pearl.”
[FN#110] Trébutien (iii. 497) cannot deny himself the pleasure of
a French touch making the King reply, “C’est assez; qu’on lui
coupe la tête, car ces dernières histoires surtout m’ont causé un
ennui mortel.” This reading is found in some of the MSS.
[FN#111] After this I borrow from the Bresl. Edit. inserting
passages from the Mac. Edit.
[FN#112] i.e. whom he intended to marry with regal ceremony.
[FN#113] The use of coloured powders in sign of holiday-making is
not obsolete in India. See Herklots for the use of “Huldee”
(Haldí) or turmeric-powder, pp. 64-65.
[FN#114] Many Moslem families insist upon this before giving
their girls in marriage, and the practice is still popular
amongst many Mediterranean peoples.
[FN#115] i.e. Sumatran.
[FN#116] i.e. Alexander, according to the Arabs; see vol. v. 252.
[FN#117] These lines are in vol. i. 217.
[FN#118] I repeat the lines from vol. i. 218.
[FN#119] All these coquetries require as much inventiveness as a
cotillon; the text alludes to fastening the bride’s tresses
across her mouth giving her the semblance of beard and
mustachios.
[FN#120] Repeated from vol. i. 218.
[FN#121] Repeated from vol. i. 218.
[FN#122] See vol. i. 219.
[FN#123] Arab. Sawád=the blackness of the hair.
[FN#124] Because Easterns build, but never repair.
[FN#125]i.e. God only knows if it be true or not.
[FN#126] Ouseley’s Orient. Collect. I, vii.
[FN#127] This three-fold distribution occurred to me many years
ago and when far beyond reach of literary authorities, I was,
therefore, much pleased to find the subjoined three-fold
classification with minor details made by Baron von Hammer-
Purgstall (Preface to Contes Inédits etc. of G. S. Trébutien,
Paris, mdcccxxviii.) (1) The older stories which serve as a base
to the collection, such as the Ten Wazirs (“Malice of Women”) and
Voyages of Sindbad (?) which may date from the days of Mahommed.
These are distributed into two sub-classes; (a) the marvellous
and purely imaginative (e.g. Jamasp and the Serpent Queen) and
(b) the realistic mixed with instructive fables and moral
instances. (2) The stories and anecdotes peculiarly Arab,
relating to the Caliphs and especially to Al- Rashíd; and (3) The
tales of Egyptian provenance, which mostly date from the times of
the puissant “Aaron the Orthodox.” Mr. John Payne (Villon
Translation vol. ix. pp. 367-73) distributes the stories roughly
under five chief heads as follows: (1) Histories or long
Romances, as King Omar bin Al-Nu’man (2) Anecdotes or short
stories dealing with historical personages and with incidents and
adventures belonging to the every-day life of the period to which
they refer: e.g. those concerning Al-Rashíd and Hátim of Tayy.
(3) Romances and romantic fictions comprising three different
kinds of tales; (a) purely romantic and supernatural; (b)
fictions and nouvelles with or without a basis and background of
historical fact and (c) Contes fantastiques. (4) Fables and
Apologues; and (5) Tales proper, as that of Tawaddud.
[FN#128] Journal Asiatique (Paris, Dondoy-Dupré, 1826) “Sur
l’origine des Mille et une Nuits.”
[FN#129] Baron von Hammer-Purgstall’s château is near Styrian
Graz, and, when I last saw his library, it had been left as it
was at his death.
[FN#130] At least, in Trébutien’s Preface, pp. xxx.-xxxi.,
reprinted from the Journ. Asiat. August, 1839: for corrections
see De Sacy’s “Mémoire.” p. 39.
[FN#131] Vol. iv. pp. 89-90, Paris mdccclxv. Trébutien quotes,
chapt. lii. (for lxviii.), one of Von Hammer’s manifold
inaccuracies.
[FN#132] Alluding to Iram the Many-columned, etc.
[FN#133] In Trébutien “Síhá,” for which the Editor of the Journ.
Asiat. and De Sacy rightly read “Sabíl-há.”
[FN#134] For this some MSS. have “Fahlawiyah” = Pehlevi
[FN#135] i.e. Lower Roman, Grecian, of Asia Minor, etc., the word is still applied throughout
Marocco, Algiers and Northern Africa to Europeans in general.
[FN#136] De Sacy (Dissertation prefixed to the Bourdin Edition)
notices the “thousand and one,” and in his Mémoire “a thousand:”
Von Hammer’s MS. reads a thousand, and the French translation a
thousand and one. Evidently no stress can be laid upon the
numerals.
[FN#137] These names are noticed in my vol. i. 14, and vol. ii.
3. According to De Sacy some MSS. read “History of the Wazir and
his Daughters.”
[FN#138] Lane (iii. 735) has Wizreh or Wardeh which guide us to
Wird Khan, the hero of the tale. Von Hammer’s MS. prefers
Djilkand (Jilkand), whence probably the Isegil or Isegild of
Langlés (1814), and the Tséqyl of De Sacy (1833). The mention of
“Simás” (Lane’s Shemmas) identifies it with “King Jalí’ád of
Hind,” etc. (Night dcccxcix.) Writing in A.D. 961 Hamzah Isfaháni
couples with the libri Sindbad and Schimas, the libri Baruc and
Barsinas, four nouvelles out of nearly seventy. See also Al-
Makri’zi’s Khitat or Topography (ii. 485) for a notice of the
Thousand or Thousand and one Nights.
[FN#139] alluding to the “Seven Wazirs” alias “The Malice of
Women” (Night dlxxviii.), which Von Hammer and many others have
carelessly confounded with Sindbad the Seaman We find that two
tales once separate have now been incorporated with The Nights,
and this suggests the manner of its composition by accretion.
[FN#140] Arabised by a most “elegant” stylist, Abdullah ibn al-
Mukaffá (the shrivelled), a Persian Guebre named Roz-bih (Day
good), who islamised and was barbarously put to death in A.H. 158
(= 775) by command of the Caliph al-Mansur (Al-Siyuti p. 277).
“He also translated from Pehlevi the book entitled Sekiserán,
containing the annals of Isfandiyar, the death of Rustam, and
other episodes of old Persic history,” says Al-Mas’udi chapt.
xxi. See also Ibn Khallikan (1, 43) who dates the murder in A.H.
142 (= 759-60).
[FN#141] “Notice sur Le Schah-namah de Firdoussi,” a posthumous
publication of M. de Wallenbourg, Vienna, 1810, by M. A. de
Bianchi. In sect. iii. I shall quote another passage of Al-
Mas’udi (viii. 175) in which I find a distinct allusion to the
“Gaboriau detective tales” of The Nights.
[FN#142] Here Von Hammer shows his customary inexactitude. As we
learn from Ibn Khallikan (Fr. Tr. I. 630), the author’s name was
Abu al-Faraj Mohammed ibn Is’hak pop. known as Ibn Ali Ya’kúb al-
Warrák, the bibliographe, librarian, copyist. It was published
(vol. i Leipzig, 1871) under the editorship of G. Fluegel, J.
Roediger, and A. Müller.
[FN#143] See also the Journ. Asiat., August, 1839, and Lane iii.
736-37
[FN#144] Called “Afsánah” by Al-Mas’udi, both words having the
same sense = tale story, parable, “facetiæ.” Moslem fanaticism
renders it by the Arab “Khuráfah” = silly fables, and in
Hindostan it = a jest: “Bát-kí bát, khurafát-ki khurafát” (a word
for a word, a joke for a joke).
[FN#145] Al-Mas’údi (chapt. xxi.) makes this a name of the Mother
of Queen Humái or Humáyah, for whom see below.
[FN#146] The preface of a copy of the Shah-nameh (by Firdausi,
ob. A.D. 1021), collated in A.H. 829 by command of Bayisunghur
Bahadur Khán (Atkinson p. x.), informs us that the Hazar Afsanah
was composed for or by Queen Humái whose name is Arabised to
Humáyah This Persian Marguerite de Navarre was daughter and wife
to (Ardashir) Bahman, sixth Kayanian and surnamed Diraz-dast
(Artaxerxes Longimanus), Abu Sásán from his son, the Eponymus of
the Sassanides who followed the Kayanians when these were
extinguished by Alexander of Macedon. Humái succeeded her husband
as seventh Queen, reigned thirty-two years and left the crown to
her son Dárá or Dáráb 1st = Darius Codomanus. She is better known
to Europe (through Herodotus) as Parysatis = Peri-zádeh or the
Fairy-born.
[FN#147] i.e. If Allah allow me to say sooth.
[FN#148] i.e. of silly anecdotes: here speaks the good Moslem!
[FN#149] No. 622 Sept. 29, 39, a review of Torrens which
appeared shortly after Lane’s vol. i. The author quotes from a
MS. in the British Museum, No. 7334 fol. 136.
[FN#150] There are many Spaniards of this name: Mr. Payne (ix.
302) proposes Abu Ja’afar ibn Abd al-Hakk al-Khazraji, author of
a History of the Caliphs about the middle of the twelfth century.
[FN#151] The well-known Rauzah or Garden-island, of old Al-
Saná’ah (Al-Mas’udi chapt. xxxi.) which is more than once noticed
in The Nights. The name of the pavilion Al-Haudaj = a camel-
litter, was probably intended to flatter the Badawi girl.
[FN#152] He was the Seventh Fatimite Caliph of Egypt: regn. A.H.
495-524 (= 1101 1129).
[FN#153] Suggesting a private pleasaunce in Al-Rauzah which has
ever been and is still a succession of gardens.
[FN#154] The writer in The Athenæum calls him Ibn Miyvah, and
adds that the Badawiyah wrote to her cousin certain verses
complaining of her thraldom, which the youth answered abusing the
Caliph. Al-Ámir found the correspondence and ordered Ibn Miyah’s
tongue to be cut out, but he saved himself by a timely flight.
[FN#155] In Night dccclxxxv. we have the passage “He was a wily
thief: none could avail against his craft as he were Abu Mohammed
Al-Battál”: the word etymologically means The Bad; but see infra.
[FN#156] Amongst other losses which Orientals have sustained by
the death of Rogers Bey, I may mention his proposed translation
of Al-Makrízí’s great topographical work.
[FN#157] The name appears only in a later passage.
[FN#158] Mr. Payne notes (viii. 137) “apparently some famous
brigand of the time” (of Charlemagne). But the title may signify
The Brave, and the tale may be much older.
[FN#159] In his “Mémoire sur l’origine du Recueil des Contes
intitulé Les Mille et une Nuits” (Mém. d’Hist. et de Littér.
Orientale, extrait des tomes ix., et x. des Mémoires de l’Inst.
Royal Acad. des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Paris, Imprimerie
Royale, 1833). He read the Memoir before the Royal Academy on
July 31, 1829. Also in his Dissertation “Sur les Mille et une
Nuits” (pp. i. viii.) prefixed to the Bourdin Edit. When first
the Arabist in Europe landed at Alexandria he could not exchange
a word with the people the same is told of Golius the
lexicographer at Tunis.
[FN#160] Lane, Nights ii. 218.
[FN#161] This origin had been advocated a decade of years before
by Shaykh Ahmad al-Shirawáni; Editor of the Calc. text (1814-18):
his Persian preface opines that the author was an Arabic speaking
Syrian who designedly wrote in a modern and conversational style,
none of the purest withal, in order to instruct non-Arabists.
Here we find the genus “Professor” pure and simple.
[FN#162] Such an assertion makes us enquire, Did De Sacy ever
read through The Nights in Arabic?
[FN#163] Dr. Jonathan Scott’s “translation” vi. 283.
[FN#164] For a note on this world-wide Tale see vol. i. 52.
[FN#165] In the annotated translation by Mr. I. G. N. Keith-
Falconer, Cambridge University Press. I regret to see the
wretched production called the “Fables of Pilpay” in the “Chandos
Classics” (London, F. Warne). The words are so mutilated that few
will recognize them, e.g. Carchenas for Kár-shínás, Chaschmanah
for Chashmey-e-Máh (Fountain of the Moon), etc.
[FN#166] Article Arabia in Encyclop. Brit., 9th Edit., p. 263,
colt 2. I do not quite understand Mr. Palgrave, but presume that
his “other version” is the Bresl. Edit., the MS. of which was
brought from Tunis; see its Vorwort (vol. i. p. 3).
[FN#167] There are three distinct notes according to De Sacy
(Mém., p. 50). The first (in MS. 1508) says “This blessed book
was read by the weak slave, etc. Wahabah son of Rizkallah the
Kátib (secretary, scribe) of Tarábulus al-Shám (Syrian Tripoli),
who prayeth long life for its owner (li máliki-h). This tenth day
of the month First Rabí’a A.H. 955 (= 1548).” A similar note by
the same Wahabah occurs at the end of vol. ii. (MS. 1507) dated
A.H. 973 (= 1565) and a third (MS. 1506) is undated. Evidcntly M.
Caussin has given undue weight to such evidence. For further
information see “Tales of the East” to which is prefixed an
Introductory Dissertation (vol. i. pp. 24-26, note) by Henry
Webber, Esq., Edinburgh, 1812, in 3 vols.
[FN#168] “Notice sur les douze manuscrits connus des Milles et
une Nuits, qui existent en Europe.” Von Hammer in Trébutien,
Notice, vol. i.
[FN#169] Printed from the MS. of Major Turner Macan, Editor of
the Shahnamah: he bought it from the heirs of Mr. Salt, the
historic Consul-General of England in Egypt and after Macan’s
death it became the property of the now extinct Allens, then of
Leadenhall Street (Torrens, Preface, i.). I have vainly enquired
about what became of it.
[FN#170] The short paper by “P. R.” in the Gentleman’s Magazine
(Feb. 19th, 1799, vol. lxix. p. 61) tells us that MSS. of The
Nights were scarce at Aleppo and that he found only two vols.
(280 Nights) which he had great difficulty in obtaining leave to
copy. He also noticed (in 1771) a MS., said to be complete, in
the Vatican and another in the “King’s Library” (Bibliothèque
Nationale), Paris.
[FN#171] Aleppo has been happy in finding such monographers as
Russell and Maundrell while poor Damascus fell into the hands of
Mr. Missionary Porter, and suffered accordingly.
[FN#172] Vol. vi. Appendix, p.452.
[FN#173] The numbers, however, vary with the Editions of Galland:
some end the formula with Night cxcvii; others with the ccxxxvi.
: I adopt that of the De Sacy Edition.
[FN#174] Contes Persans, suivis des Contes Turcs. Paris; Béchet
Ainé, 1826.
[FN#175] In the old translation we have “eighteen hundred years
since the prophet Solomon died,” (B.C. 975) = A.D. 825.
[FN#176] Meaning the era of the Seleucides. Dr. Jonathan Scott
shows (vol. ii. 324) that A.H. 653 and A.D. 1255 would correspond
with 1557 of that epoch; so that the scribe has here made a
little mistake of 5,763 years. Ex uno disce.
[FN#177] The Saturday Review (Jan. 2nd ’86) writes, “Captain
Burton has fallen into a mistake by not distinguishing between
the names of the by no means identical Caliphs Al-Muntasir and
Al-Mustansir.” Quite true: it was an ugly confusion of the
melancholy madman and parricide with one of the best and wisest
of the Caliphs. I can explain (not extenuate) my mistake only by
a misprint in Al-Siyúti (p. 554).
[FN#178] In the Galland MS. and the Bresl. Edit. (ii. 253), we
find the Barber saying that the Caliph (Al-Mustansir) was at that
time (yaumaizin) in Baghdad, and this has been held to imply that
the Caliphate had fallen. But such conjecture is evidently based
upon insufficient grounds.
[FN#179] De Sacy makes the “Kalandar” order originate in A.D.
1150, but the Shaykh Sharíf bú Ali Kalandar died in A.D. 1323-24.
In Sind the first Kalandar, Osmán-i-Marwándí surnamed Lál
Sháhbáz, the Red Goshawk, from one of his miracles, died and was
buried at Sehwán in A D. 1274: see my “History of Sindh” chapt.
viii. for details. The dates therefore run wild.
[FN#180] In this same tale H. H. Wilson observes that the title
of Sultan of Egypt was not assumed before the middle of the xiith
century.
[FN#181] Popularly called Vidyanagar of the Narsingha.
[FN#182] Time-measurers are of very ancient date. The Greeks had
clepsydræ and the Romans gnomons, portable and ring-shaped,
besides large standing town-dials as at Aquileja and San Sabba
near Trieste. The “Saracens” were the perfecters of the
clepsydra: Bosseret (p. 16) and the Chronicon Turense (Beckmann
ii. 340 et seq.) describe the water-clock sent by Al-Rashid to
Karl the Great as a kind of “cockoo-clock.” Twelve doors in the
dial opened successively and little balls dropping on brazen
bells told the hour: at noon a dozen mounted knights paraded the
face and closed the portals. Trithonius mentions an horologium
presented in A.D. 1232 by Al-Malik al-Kámil the Ayyubite Soldan
to the Emperor Frederick II: like the Strasbourg and Padua clocks
it struck the hours, told the day, month and year, showed the
phases of the moon, and registered the position of the sun and
the planets. Towards the end of the fifteenth century Gaspar
Visconti mentions in a sonnet the watch proper (certi orologii
piccioli e portativi); and the “animated eggs” of Nurembourg
became famous. The earliest English watch (Sir Ashton Lever’s)
dates from 1541: and in 1544 the portable chronometer became
common in France.
[FN#183] An illustrated History of Arms and Armour etc. (p. 59);
London: Bell and Sons, 1877. The best edition is the Guide des
Amateurs d’Armes, Paris: Renouard, 1879.
[FN#184] Chapt. iv. Dr. Gustav Oppert “On the Weapons etc. of the
Ancient Hindus;” London: Trübner and Co., 1880.
[FN#185] I have given other details on this subject in pp. 631-
637 of “Camoens, his Life and his Lusiads.”
[FN#186] The morbi venerei amongst the Romans are obscure because
“whilst the satirists deride them the physicians are silent.”
Celsus, however, names (De obscenarum partium vitiis, lib.
xviii.) inflammatio coleorum (swelled testicle), tubercula
glandem (warts on the glans penis), cancri carbunculi (chancre or
shanker) and a few others. The rubigo is noticed as a lues
venerea by Servius in Virg. Georg.
[FN#187] According to David Forbes, the Peruvians believed that
syphilis arose from connection of man and alpaca; and an old law
forbade bachelors to keep these animals in the house. Francks
explains by the introduction of syphilis wooden figures found in
the Chinchas guano; these represented men with a cord round the
neck or a serpent devouring the genitals.
[FN#188] They appeared before the gates of Paris in the summer of
1427, not “about July, 1422”: in Eastern Europe, however, they
date from a much earlier epoch. Sir J. Gilbert’s famous picture
has one grand fault, the men walk and the women ride: in real
life the reverse would be the case.
[FN#189] Rabelais ii. c. 30.
[FN#190] I may be allowed to note that syphilis does not confine
itself to man: a charger infected with it was pointed out to me
at Baroda by my late friend, Dr. Arnott (18th Regiment, Bombay
N.I.) and Tangier showed me some noticeable cases of this hippic
syphilis, which has been studied in Hungary. Eastern peoples have
a practice of “passing on” venereal and other diseases, and
transmission is supposed to cure the patient; for instance a
virgin heals (and catches) gonorrhœa. Syphilis varies greatly
with climate. In Persia it is said to be propagated without
contact: in Abyssinia it is often fatal and in Egypt it is
readily cured by sand baths and sulphur-unguents. Lastly in lands
like Unyamwezi, where mercurials are wholly unknown, I never saw
caries of the nasal or facial bones.
[FN#191] For another account of the transplanter and the
casuistical questions to which coffee gave rise, see my “First
Footsteps in East Africa” (p. 76).
[FN#192] The first mention of coffee proper (not of Kahwah or old wine in vol. ii. 260) is in Night
cdxxvi. vol. v. 169, where the coffee-maker is called Kahwahjiyyah, a mongrel term showing the
modern date of the passage in Ali the Cairene. As the work advances notices become thicker, e.g.
in Night dccclxvi. where Ali Nur al-Din and the Frank King’s daughter seems to be a modernisation
of the story “Ala al-Din Abu al-Shámát” (vol. iv. 29); and in Abu Kir and Abu Sir (Nights cmxxx.
and cmxxxvi.) where coffee is drunk with sherbet after present fashion. The use culminates in
Kamar al-Zaman II. where it is mentioned six times (Nights cmlxvi. cmlxx. cmlxxi. twice; cmlxxiv.
and cmlxxvii.), as being drunk after the dawn-breakfast and following the meal as a matter of
course. The last notices are in Abdullah bin Fazil, Nights cmlxxviii. and cmlxxix.
[FN#193] It has been suggested that Japanese tobacco is an
indigenous growth and sundry modern travellers in China contend
that the potato and the maize, both white and yellow, have there
been cultivated from time immemorial.
[FN#194] For these see my “City of the Saints,” p. 136.
[FN#195] Lit. meaning smoke: hence the Arabic “Dukhán,” with the
same signification.
[FN#196] Unhappily the book is known only by name: for years I have vainly troubled friends and
correspondents to hunt for a copy. Yet I am sanguine enough to think that some day we shall
succeed: Mr. Sidney Churchill, of Teheran, is ever on the look-out.
[FN#197] In § 3 I shall suggest that this tale also is mentioned
by Al-Mas’udi.
[FN#198] I have extracted it from many books, especially from
Hoeffer’s Biographie Générale, Paris, Firmin Didot, mdccclvii.;
Biographie Universelle, Paris, Didot, 1816, etc. etc. All are
taken from the work of M. de Boze, his “Bozzy.”
[FN#199] As learning a language is an affair of pure memory,
almost without other exercise of the mental faculties, it should
be assisted by the ear and the tongue as well as the eyes. I
would invariably make pupils talk, during lessons, Latin and
Greek, no matter how badly at first; but unfortunately I should
have to begin with teaching the pedants who, as a class, are far
more unwilling and unready to learn than are those they teach.
[FN#200] The late Dean Stanley was notably trapped by the wily
Greek who had only political purposes in view. In religions as a
rule the minimum of difference breeds the maximum of disputation,
dislike and disgust.
[FN#201] See in Trébutien (Avertissement iii.) how Baron von
Hammer escaped drowning by the blessing of The Nights.
[FN#202] He signs his name to the Discours pour servir de
Préface.
[FN#203] I need not trouble the reader with their titles, which
fill up nearly a column and a half in M. Hoeffer. His collection
of maxims from Arabic, Persian and Turkish authors appeared in
English in 1695.
[FN#204] Galland’s version was published in 1704-1717 in 12 vols.
12mo., (Hoeffer’s Biographie; Grasse’s Trésor de Livres rares and
Encyclop. Britannica, ixth Edit.)
[FN#205] See also Leigh Hunt “The Book of the Thousand Nights and
one Night,” etc., etc. London and Westminster Review Art. iii.,
No. lxiv. mentioned in Lane, iii., 746.
[FN#206] Edition of 1856 vol. xv.
[FN#207] To France England also owes her first translation of the
Koran, a poor and mean version by Andrew Ross of that made from
the Arabic (No. iv.) by André du Reyer, Consul de France for
Egypt. It kept the field till ousted in 1734 by the learned
lawyer George Sale whose conscientious work, including
Preliminary Discourse and Notes (4to London), brought him the
ill-fame of having “turned Turk.”
[FN#208] Catalogue of Printed Books, 1884, p. 159, col. i. I am
ashamed to state this default in the British Museum, concerning
which Englishmen are apt to boast and which so carefully mulcts
modern authors in unpaid copies. But it is only a slight
specimen of the sad state of art and literature in England,
neglected equally by Conservatives, Liberals and Radicals. What
has been done for the endowment of research? What is our
equivalent for the Prix de Rome? Since the death of Dr. Birch,
who can fairly deal with a Demotic papyrus? Contrast the Société
Anthropologique and its palace and professors in Paris with our
“Institute” au second in a corner of Hanover Square and its
skulls in the cellar!
[FN#209] Art. vii. pp. 139-168, “On the Arabian Nights and
translators, Weil, Torrens and Lane (vol. i.) with the Essai of
A. Loisseleur Deslongchamps.” The Foreign Quarterly Review, vol.
xxiv., Oct. 1839-Jan. 1840. London, Black and Armstrong, 1840.
[FN#210] Introduction to his Collection “Tales of the East,” 3
vols. Edinburgh, 1812. He was the first to point out the
resemblance between the introductory adventures of Shahryar and
Shah Zaman and those of Astolfo and Giacondo in the Orlando
Furioso (Canto xxviii.). M. E. Lévêque in Les Mythes et les
Légendes de l’Inde et la Perse (Paris, 1880) gives French
versions of the Arabian and Italian narratives, side by side in
p. 543 ff. (Clouston).
[FN#211] Notitiæ Codicis MI. Noctium. Dr. Pusey studied Arabic
to familiarise himself with Hebrew, and was very different from
his predecessor at Oxford in my day, who, when applied to for
instruction in Arabic, refused to lecture except to a class.
[FN#212] This nephew was the author of “Recueil des Rits et
Cérémonies des Pilgrimages de La Mecque,” etc. etc. Paris and
Amsterdam, 1754, in 12mo.
[FN#213] The concluding part did not appear, I have said, till
1717: his “Comes et Fables Indiennes de Bidpaï et de Lokman,”
were first printed in 1724, 2 vols. in 12mo. Hence, I presume,
Lowndes’ mistake.
[FN#214] M. Caussin (de Perceval), Professeur of Arabic at the
Imperial Library, who edited Galland in 1806, tells us that he
found there only two MSS., both imperfect. The first (Galland’s)
is in three small vols. 4to. each of about pp. 140. The stories
are more detailed and the style, more correct than that of other
MS., is hardly intelligible to many Arabs, whence he presumes
that it contains the original (an early?) text which has been
altered and vitiated. The date is supposed to be circa A.D.
1600. The second Parisian copy is a single folio of some 800
pages, and is divided into 29 sections and cmv. Nights, the last
two sections being reversed. The MS. is very imperfect, the
12th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 21st-23rd, 25th and 27th parts are
wanting; the sections which follow the 17th contain sundry
stories repeated, there are anecdotes from Bidpai, the Ten Wazirs
and other popular works, and lacunæ everywhere abound.
[FN#215] Mr. Payne (ix. 264) makes eleven, including the Histoire
du Dormeur éveillé = The Sleeper and the Waker, which he
afterwards translated from the Bresl. Edit. in his “Tales from
the Arabic” (vol. i. 5, etc.)
[FN#216] Mr. E. J. W. Gibb informs me that he has come upon this
tale in a Turkish storybook, the same from which he drew his
“Jewád.”
[FN#217] A littérateur lately assured me that Nos. ix. and x.
have been found in the Bibliothèque Nationale (du Roi) Paris; but
two friends were kind enough to enquire and ascertained that it
was a mistake. Such Persianisms as Codadad (Khudadad), Baba
Cogia (Khwájah) and Peri (fairy) suggest a Persic MS.
[FN#218] Vol. vi. 212. “The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments
(London: Longmans, 1811) by Jonathan Scott, with the Collection
of New Tales from the Wortley Montagu MS. in the Bodleian.” I
regret to see that Messieurs Nimmo in reprinting Scott have
omitted his sixth Volume.
[FN#219] Dr. Scott who uses Fitnah (iv. 42) makes it worse by
adding “Alcolom (Al-Kulúb?) signifying Ravisher of Hearts” and
his names for the six slave-girls (vol. iv. 37) such as “Zohorob
Bostan” (Zahr al-Bústán), which Galland rightly renders by “Fleur
du Jardin,” serve only to heap blunder upon blunder. Indeed the
Anglo-French translations are below criticism: it would be waste
of time to notice them. The characteristic is a servile suit
paid to the original e.g. rendering hair “accomodé en boucles” by
“hair festooned in buckles” (Night ccxiv.), and Île d’Ébène
(Jazírat al-Abnús, Night xliii.) by “the Isle of Ebene.” A
certain surly old littérateur tells me that he prefers these
wretched versions to Mr. Payne’s. Padrone! as the Italians say:
I cannot envy his taste or his temper.
[FN#220] De Sacy (Mémoire p. 52) notes that in some MSS., the
Sultan, ennuyé by the last tales of Shahrázad, proposes to put
her to death, when she produces her three children and all ends
merrily without marriage-bells. Von Hammer prefers this version
as the more dramatic, the Frenchman rejects it on account of the
difficulties of the accouchements. Here he strains at the gnat—
a common process.
[FN#221] See Journ. Asiatique, iii. série, vol. viii., Paris,
1839.
[FN#222] “Tausend und Eine Nacht: Arabische Erzählungen. Zum
ersten mal aus einer Tunisischen Handschrift ergänzt und
vollstandig übersetzt,” Von Max Habicht, F. H. von der Hagen und
Karl Schatte (the offenders?).
[FN#223] Dr. Habicht informs us (Vorwort iii., vol. ix. 7) that
he obtained his MS. with other valuable works from Tunis, through
a personal acquaintance, a learned Arab, Herr M. Annagar
(Mohammed Al-Najjár?) and was aided by Baron de Sacy, Langlès and
other savants in filling up the lacunæ by means of sundry MSS.
The editing was a prodigy of negligence: the corrigenda (of which
brief lists are given) would fill a volume; and, as before
noticed, the indices of the first four tomes were printed in the
fifth, as if the necessity of a list of tales had just struck the
dense editor. After Habicht’s death in 1839 his work was
completed in four vols. (ix.-xii.) by the well-known Prof. H. J.
Fleischer who had shown some tartness in his “Dissertatio Critica
de Glossis Habichtianis.” He carefully imitated all the
shortcomings of his predecessor and even omitted the Verzeichniss
etc., the Varianten and the Glossary of Arabic words not found in
Golius, which formed the only useful part of the first eight
volumes.
[FN#224] Die in Tausend und Eine Nacht noch nicht übersetzten
Nächte, Erzählungen und Anekdoten, zum erstenmal aus dem
Arabischen in das Französische übersetzt von J. von Hammer, und
aus dem Französischen in das Deutsche von A. E. Zinserling,
Professor, Stuttgart und Tubingen, 1823. Drei Bde. 80 .
Trébutien’s, therefore, is the translation of a translation of a
translation.
[FN#225] Tausend und Eine Nacht Arabische Erzählungen. Zum
erstenmale aus dem Urtexte vollständig und treu uebersetze von
Dr. Gustav Weil. He began his work on return from Egypt in 1836
and completed his first version of the Arabische Meisterwerk in
1838-42 (3 vols. roy. oct.). I have the Zweiter Abdruck der
dritten (2d reprint of 3d) in 4 vols. 8vo., Stuttgart, 1872. It
has more than a hundred woodcuts.
[FN#226] My learned friend Dr. Wilhelm Storck, to whose admirable
translations of Camoens I have often borne witness, notes that
this Vorhalle, or Porch to the first edition, a rhetorical
introduction addressed to the general public, is held in Germany
to be valueless and that it was noticed only for the Bemerkung
concerning the offensive passages which Professor Weil had toned
down in his translation. In the Vorwort of the succeeding
editions (Stuttgart) it is wholly omitted.
[FN#227] The most popular are now “Mille ed una notte. Novelle
Arabe.” Napoli, 1867, 8vo illustrated, 4 francs; and “Mille ed
une notte. Novelle Arabe, versione italiana nuovamente emendata
e corredata di note”; 4 vols. in 32 (dateless) Milano, 8vo, 4
francs.
[FN#228] These are; (l) by M. Caussin (de Perceval), Paris, 1806,
9 vols. 8vo. (2) Edouard Gauttier, Paris, 1822-24: 7 vols. 12mo;
(3) M. Destain, Paris, 1823-25, 6 vols. 8vo, and (4) Baron de
Sacy, Paris. 1838 (?) 3 vols. large 8vo, illustrated (and vilely
illustrated).
[FN#229] The number of fables and anecdotes varies in the
different texts, but may be assumed to be upwards of four
hundred, about half of which were translated by Lane.
[FN#230] I have noticed these points more fully in the beginning
of chapt. iii. “The Book of the Sword.”
[FN#231] A notable instance of Roman superficiality,
incuriousness and ignorance. Every old Egyptian city had its
idols (images of metal, stone or wood), in which the Deity became
incarnate as in the Catholic host; besides its own symbolic
animal used as a Kiblah or prayer-direction (Jerusalem or
Meccah), the visible means of fixing and concentrating the
thoughts of the vulgar, like the crystal of the hypnotist or the
disk of the electro-biologist. And goddess Diana was in no way
better than goddess Pasht. For the true view of idolatry see
Koran xxxix. 4. I am deeply grateful to Mr. P. le Page Renouf
(Soc. of Biblic. Archæology, April 6, 1886) for identifying the
Manibogh, Michabo or Great Hare of the American indigenes with
Osiris Unnefer (“Hare God”). These are the lines upon which
investigation should run. And of late years there is a notable
improvement of tone in treating of symbolism or idolatry: the
Lingam and the Yoni are now described as “mystical
representations, and perhaps the best possible impersonal
representatives of the abstract expressions paternity and
maternity” (Prof. Monier Williams in “Folk-lore Record” vol. iii.
part i. p. 118).
[FN#232] See Jotham’s fable of the Trees and King Bramble
(Judges lxi. 8) and Nathan’s parable of the Poor Man and his
little ewe Lamb (2 Sam. ix. 1).
[FN#233] Herodotus (ii. c. 134) notes that “Æsop the fable-writer
( ) was one of her (Rhodopis) fellow slaves”.
Aristophanes (Vespæ, 1446) refers to his murder by the Delphians
and his fable beginning, “Once upon a time there was a fight;”
while the Scholiast finds an allusion to The Serpent and the Crab
in Pax 1084; and others in Vespæ 1401, and Aves 651.
[FN#234] There are three distinct Lokmans who are carefully
confounded in Sale (Koran chapt. xxxi.) and in Smith’s Dict. of
Biography etc. art. Æsopus. The first or eldest Lokman, entitled
Al-Hakim (the Sage) and the hero of the Koranic chapter which
bears his name, was son of Bá’úrá of the Children of Azar,
sister’s son of Job or son of Job’s maternal aunt; he witnessed
David’s miracles of mail-making and when the tribe of ’Ád was
destroyed, he became King of the country. The second, also called
the Sage, was a slave, an Abyssinian negro, sold to the
Israelites during the reign of David or Solomon, synchronous with
the Persian Kay Káús and Kay Khusrau, also Pythagoras the Greek
(!) His physique is alluded to in the saying, “Thou resemblest
Lokman (in black ugliness) but not in wisdom” (Ibn Khallikan i.
145). This negro or negroid, after a godly and edifying life,
left a volume of “Amsál,” proverbs and exempla (not fables or
apologues); and Easterns still say, “One should not pretend to
teach Lokmán”—in Persian, “Hikmat ba Lokman ámokhtan.” Three of
his apothegms dwell in the public memory: “The heart and the
tongue are the best and worst parts of the human body.” “I
learned wisdom from the blind who make sure of things by touching
them” (as did St. Thomas); and when he ate the colocynth offered
by his owner, “I have received from thee so many a sweet that
’twould be surprising if I refused this one bitter.” He was
buried (says the Tárikh Muntakhab) at Ramlah in Judæa, with the
seventy Prophets stoned in one day by the Jews. The youngest
Lokman “of the vultures” was a prince of the tribe of Ad who
lived 3,500 years, the age of seven vultures (Tabari). He could
dig a well with his nails; hence the saying, “Stronger than
Lokman” (A. P. i. 701); and he loved the arrow-game, hence, “More
gambling than Lokman” (ibid. ii. 938). “More voracious than
Lokman” (ibid i. 134) alludes to his eating one camel for
breakfast and another for supper. His wife Barákish also appears
in proverb, e.g. “Camel us and camel thyself” (ibid. i. 295) i.e.
give us camel flesh to eat, said when her son by a former husband
brought her a fine joint which she and her husband relished.
Also, “Barákish hath sinned against her kin” (ibid. ii. 89). More
of this in Chenery’s Al-Hariri p. 422; but the three Lokmans are
there reduced to two.
[FN#235] I have noticed them in vol. ii. 47-49. “To the Gold
Coast for Gold.”
[FN#236] I can hardly accept the dictum that the Katha Sarit
Sagara, of which more presently, is the “earliest representation
of the first collection.”
[FN#237] The Pehlevi version of the days of King Anushirwan (A.D.
531-72) became the Humáyun-námeh (“August Book”) turned into
Persian for Bahram Shah the Ghaznavite: the Hitopadesa
(“Friendship-boon”) of Prakrit, avowedly compiled from the
“Panchatantra,” became the Hindu Panchopakhyan, the Hindostani
Akhlák-i-Hindi (“Moralities of Ind”) and in Persia and Turkey the
Anvar-i-Suhayli (“Lights of Canopus”). Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac
writers entitle their version Kalilah wa Damnah, or Kalilaj wa
Damnaj, from the name of the two jackal-heroes, and Europe knows
the recueil as the Fables of Pilpay or Bidpay (Bidyá-pati, Lord
of learning?) a learned Brahman reported to have been Premier at
the Court of the Indian King Dabishlím.
[FN#238] Diet. Philosoph. S. V. Apocrypha.
[FN#239] The older Arab writers, I repeat, do not ascribe fables
or beast-apologues to Lokman; they record only “dictes” and
proverbial sayings.
[FN#240] Professor Taylor Lewis: Preface to Pilpay.
[FN#241] In the Katha Sarit Sagara the beast-apologues are more
numerous, but they can be reduced to two great nuclei; the first
in chapter lx. (Lib. x.) and the second in the same book chapters
lxii-lxv. Here too they are mixed up with anecdotes and acroamata
after the fashion of The Nights, suggesting great antiquity for
this style of composition.
[FN#242] Brugsch, History of Egypt, vol. i. 266 et seq. The
fabliau is interesting in more ways than one. Anepu the elder
(Potiphar) understands the language of cattle, an idea ever
cropping up in Folk-lore; and Bata (Joseph), his “little
brother,” who becomes a “panther of the South (Nubia) for rage”
at the wife’s impudique proposal, takes the form of a bull—
metamorphosis full blown. It is not, as some have called it, the
“oldest book in the world;” that name was given by M. Chabas to a
MS. of Proverbs, dating from B.C. 2200. See also the “Story of
Saneha,” a novel earlier than the popular date of Moses, in the
Contes Populaires of Egypt.
[FN#243] The fox and the jackal are confounded by the Arabic
dialects not by the Persian, whose “Rubáh” can never be mistaken
for “Shaghál.” “Sa’lab” among the Semites is locally applied to
either beast and we can distinguish the two only by the fox being
solitary and rapacious, and the jackal gregarious and a
carrion-eater. In all Hindu tales the jackal seems to be an
awkward substitute for the Grecian and classical fox, the Giddar
or Kolá (Cants aureus) being by no means sly and wily as the
Lomri (Vulpes vulgaris). This is remarked by Weber (Indische
Studien) and Prof. Benfey’s retort about “King Nobel” the lion is
by no means to the point. See Katha Sarit Sagara, ii. 28.
I may add that in Northern Africa jackal’s gall, like jackal’s
grape (Solanum nigrum = black nightshade), ass’s milk and melted
camel-hump, is used aphrodisiacally as an unguent by both sexes.
See. p. 239, etc., of Le Jardin parfumé du Cheikh Nefzaoui, of
whom more presently.
[FN#244] Rambler, No. lxvii.
[FN#245] Some years ago I was asked by my old landlady if ever in
the course of my travels I had come across Captain Gulliver.
[FN#246] In “The Adventurer” quoted by Mr. Heron, “Translator’s
Preface to the Arabian Tales of Chaves and Cazotte.”
[FN#247] “Life in a Levantine Family” chapt. xi. Since the able
author found his “family” firmly believing in The Nights, much
has been changed in Alexandria; but the faith in Jinn and Ifrit,
ghost and vampire is lively as ever.
[FN#248] The name dates from the second century A. H. or before
A. D. 815.
[FN#249] Dabistan i. 231 etc.
[FN#250] Because Si = thirty and Murgh = bird. In McClenachan’s
Addendum to Mackay’s Encyclopæedia of Freemasonry we find the
following definition: “Simorgh. A monstrous griffin, guardian of
the Persian mysteries.”
[FN#251] For a poor and inadequate description of the festivals
commemorating this “Architect of the Gods” see vol. iii. 177,
“View of the History etc. of the Hindus” by the learned Dr. Ward,
who could see in them only the “low and sordid nature of
idolatry.” But we can hardly expect better things from a
missionary in 1822, when no one took the trouble to understand
what “idolatry” means.
[FN#252] Rawlinson (ii. 491) on Herod. iii. c. 102. Nearchus saw
the skins of these formicæ Indicæ, by some rationalists explained
as “jackals,” whose stature corresponds with the text, and by
others as “pengolens” or ant-eaters (manis pentedactyla). The
learned Sanskritist, H. H. Wilson, quotes the name Pippilika =
ant-gold, given by the people of Little Thibet to the precious
dust thrown up in the emmet heaps.
[FN#253] A writer in the Edinburgh Review (July, ’86), of whom
more presently, suggests that The Nights assumed essentially
their present shape during the general revival of letters, arts
and requirements which accompanied the Kurdish and Tartar
irruptions into the Nile Valley, a golden age which embraced the
whole of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and
ended with the Ottoman Conquest in A. D. 1527.
[FN#254] Let us humbly hope not again to hear of the golden prime
of
“The good (fellow?) Haroun Alrasch’id,”
a mispronunciation which suggests only a rasher of bacon. Why
will not poets mind their quantities, in lieu of stultifying
their lines by childish ignorance? What can be more painful than
Byron’s
“They laid his dust in Ar’qua (for Arqua) where he
died?”
[FN#255] See De Sacy’s Chrestomathie Arabe (Paris, 1826), vol. i.
[FN#256] See Le Jardin Parfumé du Cheikh Nefzaoui Manuel
d’Erotologie Arabe Traduction revue et corrigée Edition privée,
imprimé à deux cent.-vingt exemplaires, par Isidore Liseux et ses
Amis, Paris, 1866. The editor has forgotten to note that the
celebrated Sidi Mohammed copied some of the tales from The Nights
and borrowed others (I am assured by a friend) from Tunisian MSS.
of the same work. The book has not been fairly edited: the notes
abound in mistakes, the volume lacks an index, &c., &c. Since
this was written the Jardin Parfumé has been twice translated
into English as “The Perfumed Garden of the Cheikh Nefzaoui, a
Manual of Arabian Erotology (sixteenth century). Revised and
corrected translation, Cosmopoli: mdccclxxxvi.: for the Kama
Shastra Society of London and Benares and for private circulation
only.” A rival version will be brought out by a bookseller whose
Committee, as he calls it, appears to be the model of literary
pirates, robbing the author as boldly and as openly as if they
picked his pocket before his face.
[FN#257] Translated by a well-known Turkish scholar, Mr. E. J. W.
Gibb (Glasgow, Wilson and McCormick, 1884).
[FN#258] D’Herbelot (s. v. “Asmai”): I am reproached by a dabbler
in Orientalism for using this admirable writer who shows more
knowledge in one page than my critic does in a whole volume.
[FN#259] For specimens see Al-Siyuti, pp. 301 and 304, and the
Shaykh al Nafzawi, pp. 134-35
[FN#260] The word “nakh” (to make a camel kneel) is explained in
vol. ii. 139.
[FN#261] The present of the famous horologium-clepsydra-cuckoo
clock, the dog Becerillo and the elephant Abu Lubabah sent by
Harun to Charlemagne is not mentioned by Eastern authorities and
consequently no reference to it will be found in my late friend
Professor Palmer’s little volume “Haroun Alraschid,” London,
Marcus Ward, 1881. We have allusions to many presents, the clock
and elephant, tent and linen hangings, silken dresses, perfumes,
and candelabra of auricalch brought by the Legati (Abdalla
Georgius Abba et Felix) of Aaron Amiralmumminim Regis Persarum
who entered the Port of Pisa (A. D. 801) in (vol. v. 178) Recueil
des Histor. des Gaules et de la France, etc., par Dom Martin
Bouquet, Paris, mdccxliv. The author also quotes the lines:—
Persarum Princeps illi devinctus amore
Præcipuo fuerat, nomen habens Aaron.
Gratia cui Caroli præ cunctis Regibus atque
Illis Principibus tempora cara funit.
[FN#262] Many have remarked that the actual date of the decease
is unknown.
[FN#263] See Al-Siyuti (p. 305) and Dr. Jonathan Scott’s “Tales,
Anecdotes, and Letters,” (p. 296).
[FN#264] I have given (vol. i. 188) the vulgar derivation of the
name; and D’Herbelot (s. v. Barmakian) quotes some Persian lines
alluding to the “supping up.” Al-Mas’udi’s account of the
family’s early history is unfortunately lost. This Khálid
succeeded Abu Salámah, first entitled Wazir under Al-Saffah (Ibn
Khallikan i. 468).
[FN#265] For his poetry see Ibn Khallikan iv. 103.
[FN#266] Their flatterers compared them with the four elements.
[FN#267] Al-Mas’udi, chapt. cxii.
[FN#268] Ibn Khallikan (i. 310) says the eunuch Abu Háshim
Masrúr, the Sworder of Vengeance, who is so pleasantly associated
with Ja’afar in many nightly disguises; but the Eunuch survived
the Caliph. Fakhr al-Din (p. 27) adds that Masrur was an enemy of
Ja’afar; and gives further details concerning the execution.
[FN#269] Bresl. Edit., Night dlxvii. vol. vii. pp. 258-260;
translated in the Mr. Payne’s “Tales from the Arabic,” vol. i.
189 and headed “Al-Rashid and the Barmecides.” It is far less
lively and dramatic than the account of the same event given by
Al-Mas’udi, chapt. cxii., by Ibn Khallikan and by Fakhr al-Din.
[FN#270] Al-Mas’udi, chapt. cxi.
[FN#271] See Dr. Jonathan Scott’s extracts from Major Ouseley’s
“Tarikh-i-Barmaki.”
[FN#272] Al-Mas’udi, chapt. cxii. For the liberties Ja’afar took
see Ibn Khallikan, i. 303.
[FN#273] Ibid. chapt. xxiv. In vol. ii. 29 of The Nights, I find
signs of Ja’afar’s suspected heresy. For Al-Rashid’s hatred of
the Zindiks see Al-Siyuti, pp. 292, 301; and as regards the
religious troubles ibid. p. 362 and passim.
[FN#274] Biogr. Dict. i. 309.
[FN#275] This accomplished princess had a practice that suggests
the Dame aux Camélias.
[FN#276] i. e. Perdition to your fathers, Allah’s curse on your
ancestors.
[FN#277] See vol. iv. 159, “Ja’afar and the Bean-seller;” where
the great Wazir is said to have been “crucified;” and vol. iv.
pp. 179, 181. Also Roebuck’s Persian Proverbs, i. 2, 346, “This
also is through the munificence of the Barmecides.”
[FN#278] I especially allude to my friend Mr. Payne’s admirably
written account of it in his concluding Essay (vol. ix.). From
his views of the Great Caliph and the Lady Zubaydah I must differ
in every point except the destruction of the Barmecides.
[FN#279] Bresl. Edit., vol. vii. 261-62.
[FN#280] Mr. Grattan Geary, in a work previously noticed, informs
us (i. 212) “The Sitt al-Zobeide, or the Lady Zobeide, was so
named from the great Zobeide tribe of Arabs occupying the country
East and West of the Euphrates near the Hindi’ah Canal; she was
the daughter of a powerful Sheik of that Tribe.” Can this explain
the “Kásim”?
[FN#281] Vol. viii. 296.
[FN#282] Burckhardt, “Travels in Arabia” vol. i. 185.
[FN#283] The reverse has been remarked by more than one writer;
and contemporary French opinion seems to be that Victor Hugo’s
influence on French prose, was on the whole, not beneficial.
[FN#284] Mr. W. S. Clouston, the “Storiologist,” who is preparing
a work to be entitled “Popular Tales and Fictions; their
Migrations and Transformations,” informs me the first to adapt
this witty anecdote was Jacques de Vitry, the crusading bishop of
Accon (Acre) who died at Rome in 1240, after setting the example
of “Exempla” or instances in his sermons. He had probably heard
it in Syria, and he changed the day-dreamers into a Milkmaid and
her Milk-pail to suit his “flock.” It then appears as an
“Exemplum” in the Liber de Donis or de Septem Donis (or De Dono
Timoris from Fear the first gift) of Stephanus de Borbone, the
Dominican, ob. Lyons, 1261: it treated of the gifts of the Holy
Spirit (Isaiah xi. 2 and 3), Timor, Pietas, Scientia, Fortitudo,
Consilium, Intellectus et Sapientia; and was plentifully
garnished with narratives for the use of preachers.
[FN#285] The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register (new series,
vol. xxx. Sept.-Dec. 1830, London, Allens, 1839); p. 69 Review of
the Arabian Nights, the Mac. Edit. vol. i., and H. Torrens.
[FN#286] As a household edition of the “Arabian Nights” is now
being prepared, the curious reader will have an opportunity of
verifying this statement.
[FN#287] It has been pointed out to me that in vol. ii. p. 285,
line 18 “Zahr Shah” is a mistake for Sulayman Shah.
[FN#288] I have lately found these lovers at Schloss Sternstein
near Cilli in Styria, the property of my excellent colleague, Mr.
Consul Faber, dating from A. D. 1300 when Jobst of Reichenegg and
Agnes of Sternstein were aided and abetted by a Capuchin of
Seikkloster.
[FN#289] In page 226 Dr. Steingass sensibly proposes altering the
last hemistich (lines 11-12) to
At one time showing the Moon and Sun.
[FN#290] Omitted by Lane for some reason unaccountable as usual.
A correspondent sends me his version of the lines which occur in
The Nights (vol. v. 106 and 107):—
Behold the Pyramids and hear them teach
What they can tell of Future and of Past:
They would declare, had they the gift of speech,
The deeds that Time hath wrought from first to last
* * * *
My friends, and is there aught beneath the sky
Can with th’ Egyptian Pyramids compare?
In fear of them strong Time hath passed by
And everything dreads Time in earth and air.
[FN#291] A rhyming Romance by Henry of Waldeck (flor. A. D. 1160)
with a Latin poem on the same subject by Odo and a prose version
still popular in Germany. (Lane’s Nights iii. 81; and Weber’s
“Northern Romances.”)
[FN#292] e. g. ’Ajáib al-Hind (= Marvels of Ind) ninth century,
translated by J. Marcel Devic, Paris, 1878; and about the same
date the Two Mohammedan Travellers, translated by Renaudot. In
the eleventh century we have the famous Sayyid al-ldrisi, in the
thirteenth the ’Ajáib al-Makhlúkat of Al-Kazwini and in the
fourteenth the Kharídat al-Ajáib of Ibn Al-Wardi. Lane (in loco)
traces most of Sindbad to the two latter sources.
[FN#293] So Hector France proposed to name his admirably
realistic volume “Sous le Burnous” (Paris, Charpentier, 1886).
[FN#294] I mean in European literature, not in Arabic where it is
a lieu commun. See three several forms of it in one page (505) of
Ibn Kallikan, vol. iii.
[FN#295] My attention has been called to the resemblance between
the half-lie and Job (i. 13- 19).
[FN#296] Boccaccio (ob. Dec. 2, 1375), may easily have heard of
The Thousand Nights and a Night or of its archetype the Hazár
Afsánah. He was followed by the Piacevoli Notti of Giovan
Francisco Straparola (A. D. 1550), translated into almost all
European languages but English: the original Italian is now rare.
Then came the Heptameron ou Histoire des amans fortunez of
Marguerite d’Angoulême, Reyne de Navarre and only sister of
Francis I. She died in 1549 before the days were finished: in
1558 Pierre Boaistuan published the Histoire des amans fortunez
and in 1559 Claude Guiget the “Heptameron.” Next is the Hexameron
of A. de Torquemada, Rouen, 1610; and, lastly, the Pentamerone or
El Cunto de li Cunte of Giambattista Basile (Naples 1637), known
by the meagre abstract of J. E. Taylor and the caricatures of
George Cruikshank (London 1847-50). I propose to translate this
Pentamerone direct from the Neapolitan and have already finished
half the work.
[FN#297] Translated and well annotated by Prof. Tawney, who,
however, affects asterisks and has considerably bowdlerised
sundry of the tales, e. g. the Monkey who picked out the Wedge
(vol. ii. 28). This tale, by the by, is found in the Khirad Afroz
(i. 128) and in the Anwar-i-Suhayli (chapt. i.) and gave rise to
the Persian proverb, “What has a monkey to do with carpentering?”
It is curious to compare the Hindu with the Arabic work whose
resemblances are as remarkable as their differences, while even
more notable is their correspondence in impressioning the reader.
The Thaumaturgy of both is the same: the Indian is profuse in
demonology and witchcraft; in transformation and restoration; in
monsters as wind-men, fire-men and water-men, in air-going
elephants and flying horses (i. 541-43); in the wishing cow,
divine goats and laughing fishes (i. 24); and in the speciosa
miracula of magic weapons. He delights in fearful battles (i.
400) fought with the same weapons as the Moslem and rewards his
heroes with a “turband of honour” (i. 266) in lieu of a robe.
There is a quaint family likeness arising from similar stages and
states of society: the city is adorned for gladness, men carry
money in a robe-corner and exclaim “Ha! good!” (for “Good, by
Allah!”), lovers die with exemplary facility, the “soft-sided”
ladies drink spirits (i. 61) and princesses get drunk (i. 476);
whilst the Eunuch, the Hetaira and the bawd (Kuttini) play the
same preponderating parts as in The Nights. Our Brahman is strong
in love-making; he complains of the pains of separation in this
phenomenal universe; he revels in youth, “twin-brother to mirth,”
and beauty which has illuminating powers; he foully reviles old
age and he alternately praises and abuses the sex, concerning
which more presently. He delights in truisms, the fashion of
contemporary Europe (see Palmerin of England chapt. vii), such as
“It is the fashion of the heart to receive pleasure from those
things which ought to give it,” etc. etc. What is there the wise
cannot understand? and so forth. He is liberal in trite
reflections and frigid conceits (i. 19, 55, 97, 103, 107, in fact
everywhere); and his puns run through whole lines; this in fine
Sanskrit style is inevitable. Yet some of his expressions are
admirably terse and telling, e. g. Ascending the swing of Doubt:
Bound together (lovers) by the leash of gazing: Two babes looking
like Misery and Poverty: Old Age seized me by the chin: (A lake)
first assay of the Creator’s skill: (A vow) difficult as standing
on a sword-edge: My vital spirits boiled with the fire of woe:
Transparent as a good man’s heart: There was a certain convent
full of fools: Dazed with scripture-reading: The stones could not
help laughing at him: The Moon kissed the laughing forehead of
the East: She was like a wave of the Sea of Love’s insolence (ii.
127), a wave of the Sea of Beauty tossed up by the breeze of
Youth: The King played dice, he loved slave-girls, he told lies,
he sat up o’ nights, he waxed wroth without reason, he took
wealth wrongously, he despised the good and honoured the bad (i.
562); with many choice bits of the same kind. Like the Arab the
Indian is profuse in personification; but the doctrine of
pre-existence, of incarnation and emanation and an excessive
spiritualism ever aiming at the infinite, makes his imagery run
mad. Thus we have Immoral Conduct embodied; the God of Death;
Science; the Svarga-heaven; Evening; Untimeliness, and the
Earth-bride, while the Ace and Deuce of dice are turned into a
brace of Demons. There is also that grotesqueness which the
French detect even in Shakespeare, e. g. She drank in his
ambrosial form with thirsty eyes like partridges (i. 476) and it
often results from the comparison of incompatibles, e. g. a row
of birds likened to a garden of nymphs; and from forced
allegories, the favourite figure of contemporary Europe. Again,
the rhetorical Hindu style differs greatly from the sobriety,
directness and simplicity of the Arab, whose motto is Brevity
combined with precision, except where the latter falls into “fine
writing.” And, finally, there is a something in the atmosphere of
these Tales which is unfamiliar to the West and which makes them,
as more than one has remarked to me, very hard reading.
[FN#298] The Introduction (i. 1-5) leads to the Curse of
Pushpadanta and Mályaván who live on Earth as Vararúchi and
Gunádhya and this runs through lib. i. Lib. ii. begins with the
Story of Udáyana to whom we must be truly grateful as our only
guide: he and his son Naraváhanadatta fill up the rest and end
with lib. xviii. Thus the want of the clew or plot compels a
division into books, which begin for instance with “We worship
the elephantine proboscis of Ganesha” (lib. x. i.) a reverend and
awful object to a Hindu but to Englishmen mainly suggesting the
“Zoo.” The “Bismillah” of The Nights is much more satisfactory.
[FN#299] See pp. 5-6 Avertissement des Éditeurs, Le Cabinet des
Fées, vol. xxxviii: Geneva 1788. Galland’s Edit. of mdccxxvi ends
with Night ccxxxiv and the English translations with ccxxxvi and
cxcvii. See retro p. 82.
[FN#300] There is a shade of difference in the words; the former
is also used for Reciters of Traditions—a serious subject. But
in the case of Hammád surnamed Al-Ráwiyah (the Rhapsode) attached
to the Court of Al-Walid, it means simply a conteur. So the
Greeks had Homeristæ = reciters of Homer, as opposed to the
Homeridæ or School of Homer.
[FN#302] Vol. i, Preface p. v. He notes that Mr. Dallaway
describes the same scene at Constantinople where the Story-teller
was used, like the modern “Organs of Government” in newspaper
shape, for “reconciling the people to any recent measure of the
Sultan and Vizier.” There are women Ráwiyahs for the Harems and
some have become famous like the Mother of Hasan al-Basri (Ibn
Khall. i, 370).
[FN#302] Hence the Persian proverb, “Báki-e-dastán fardá = the
rest of the tale to-morrow,” said to askers of silly questions.
[FN#303] The scene is excellently described in, “Morocco: Its
People and Places,” by Edmondo de Amicis (London: Cassell, 1882),
a most refreshing volume after the enforced platitudes and
commonplaces of English travellers.
[FN#304] It began, however, in Persia, where the celebrated
Darwaysh Mukhlis, Chief Sofi of Isfahan in the xviith century,
translated into Persian tales certain Hindu plays of which a MS.
entitled Alfaraga Badal-Schidda (Al-faraj ba’d al-shiddah = Joy
after annoy) exists in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. But to
give an original air to his work, he entitled it “Hazár o yek
Ruz” = Thousand and One Days, and in 1675 he allowed his friend
Petis de la Croix, who happened to be at Isfahan, to copy it. Le
Sage (of Gil Blas) is said to have converted many of the tales of
Mukhlis into comic operas, which were performed at the Théâtre
Italien. I still hope to see The Nights at the Lyceum.
[FN#305] This author, however, when hazarding a change of style
which is, I think, regretable, has shown abundant art by filling
up the frequent deficiencies of the text after the fashion of
Baron McGuckin de Slane in Ibn Khallikan. As regards the tout
ensemble of his work, a noble piece of English, my opinion will
ever be that expressed in my Foreword. A carping critic has
remarked that the translator, “as may be seen in every page, is
no Arabic scholar.” If I be a judge, the reverse is the case: the
brilliant and beautiful version thus traduced is almost entirely
free from the blemishes and carelessness which disfigure Lane’s,
and thus it is far more faithful to the original. But it is no
secret that on the staff of that journal the translator of Villon
has sundry enemies, vrais diables enjupponés, who take every
opportunity of girding at him because he does not belong to the
clique and because he does good work when theirs is mostly sham.
The sole fault I find with Mr. Payne is that his severe grace of
style treats an unclassical work as a classic, when the romantic
and irregular would have been a more appropriate garb. But this
is a mere matter of private judgment.
[FN#306] Here I offer a few, but very few, instances from the
Breslau text, which is the greatest sinner in this respect. Mas.
for fem., vol. i. p. 9, and three times in seven pages, Ahná and
nahná for nahnú (iv. 370, 372); Aná ba-ashtarí = I will buy (iii.
109): and Aná ’Ámíl = I will do (v. 367). Alaykí for Alayki (i.
18), Antí for Anti (iii. 66) and generally long í for short .
’Ammál (from ’amala = he did) tahlam = certainly thou dreamest,
and ’Ammálín yaakulú = they were about to eat (ix. 315): Aywá for
Ay wa’lláhí = yes, by Allah (passim). Bitá’ = belonging to, e.g.
Sára bitá’k = it is become thine (ix. 352) and Matá’ with the
same sense (iii. 80). Dá ’l-khurj = this saddle-bag (ix. 336) and
Dí (for hazah) = this woman (iii. 79) or this time (ii. 162).
Fayn as ráha fayn = whither is he gone? (iv. 323). Kamá badri =
he rose early (ix. 318): Kamán = also, a word known to every
European (ii. 43): Katt = never (ii. 172): Kawám (pronounced
’awám) = fast, at once (iv. 385) and Rih ásif kawí (pron. ’awí) =
a wind, strong very. Laysh, e.g. bi tasalní laysh (ix. 324) = why
do you ask me? a favourite form for li ayya shayyin: so Máfish =
má fihi shayyun (there is no thing) in which Herr Landberg (p.
425) makes “Sha, le présent de pouvoir.” Min ajali = for my sake;
and Li ajal al-taudí’a = for the sake of taking leave (Mac. Edit.
i. 384). Rijál nautiyah = men sailors when the latter word would
suffice: Shuwayh (dim. of shayy) = a small thing, a little (iv.
309) like Moyyah (dim. of Má) a little water: Waddúní = they
carried me (ii. 172) and lastly the abominable Wáhid gharíb = one
(for a) stranger. These few must suffice: the tale of Judar and
his brethren, which in style is mostly Egyptian, will supply a
number of others. It must not, however, be supposed, as many have
done, that vulgar and colloquial Arabic is of modern date: we
find it in the first century of Al-Islam, as is proved by the
tale of Al-Hajjáj and Al-Shabi (Ibn Khallikan, ii. 6). The former
asked “Kam ataa-k?” (= how much is thy pay?) to which the latter
answered, “Alfayn!” (= two thousand!). “Tut,” cried the Governor,
“Kam atau-ka?” to which the poet replied as correctly and
classically, “Alfáni.”
[FN#307] In Russian folk-songs a young girl is often compared
with this tree e.g.—
Ivooshka, ivooshka zelonaia moia!
(O Willow, O green Willow mine!)
[FN#308] So in Hector France (“La vache enragée”) “Le sourcil en
accent circonflexe et l’oeil en point d’interrogation.”
[FN#309] In Persian “Áb-i-rú” in India pronounced Ábrú.
[FN#310] For further praises of his poetry and eloquence see the
extracts from Fakhr al-Din of Rayy (an annalist of the xivth
century A.D.) in De Sacy’s Chrestomathie Arabe, vol. i.
[FN#311] After this had been written I received “Babylonian, das
reichste Land in der Vorzeit und das lohnendste Kolonisationsfeld
für die Gegenwart,” by my learned friend Dr. Aloys Sprenger,
Heidelberg, 1886.
[FN#312] The first school for Arabic literature was opened by Ibn
Abbas, who lectured to multitudes in a valley near Meccah; this
rude beginning was followed by public teaching in the great
Mosque of Damascus. For the rise of the “Madrasah,” Academy or
College’ see Introduct. to Ibn Khallikan pp. xxvii-xxxii.
[FN#313] When Ibn Abbád the Sáhib (Wazir) was invited to visit
one of the Samanides, he refused, one reason being that he would
require 400 camels to carry only his books.
[FN#314] This “Salmagondis” by Francois Beroalde de Verville was
afterwards worked by Tabarin, the pseudo-Bruscambille d’Aubigné
and Sorel.
[FN#315] I prefer this derivation to Strutt’s adopted by the
popular, “mumm is said to be derived from the Danish word mumme,
or momme in Dutch (Germ. = larva), and signifies disguise in a
mask, hence a mummer.” In the Promptorium Parvulorum we have
“Mummynge, mussacio, vel mussatus”: it was a pantomime in dumb
show, e.g. “I mumme in a mummynge;” “Let us go mumme (mummer) to
nyghte in women’s apparayle.” “Mask” and “Mascarade,” for
persona, larva or vizard, also derive, I have noticed, from an
Arabic word—Maskharah.
[FN#316] The Pre-Adamite doctrine has been preached with but
scant success in Christendom. Peyrere, a French Calvinist,
published (A.D. 1655) his “Praadamitæ, sive exercitatio supra
versibus 12, 13, 14, cap. v. Epist. Paul. ad Romanos,” contending
that Adam was called the first man because with him the law
began. It brewed a storm of wrath and the author was fortunate to
escape with only imprisonment.
[FN#317] According to Socrates the verdict was followed by a free
fight of the Bishop-voters over the word “consubstantiality.”
[FN#318] Servetus burnt (in A.D. 1553 for publishing his Arian
tractate) by Calvin, whom half-educated Roman Catholics in
England firmly believe to have been a pederast. This arose I
suppose, from his meddling with Rabelais who, in return for the
good joke Rabie læsus, presented a better anagram, “Jan (a pimp
or cuckold) Cul” (Calvinus).
[FN#319] There is no more immoral work than the “Old Testament.”
Its deity is an ancient Hebrew of the worst type, who condones,
permits or commands every sin in the Decalogue to a Jewish
patriarch, quâ patriarch. He orders Abraham to murder his son and
allows Jacob to swindle his brother; Moses to slaughter an
Egyptian and the Jews to plunder and spoil a whole people, after
inflicting upon them a series of plagues which would be the
height of atrocity if the tale were true. The nations of Canaan
are then extirpated. Ehud, for treacherously disembowelling King
Eglon, is made judge over Israel. Jael is blessed above women
(Joshua v. 24) for vilely murdering a sleeping guest; the horrid
deeds of Judith and Esther are made examples to mankind; and
David, after an adultery and a homicide which deserved
ignominious death, is suffered to massacre a host of his enemies,
cutting some in two with saws and axes and putting others into
brick-kilns. For obscenity and impurity we have the tales of Onan
and Tamar, Lot and his daughters, Amnon and his fair sister (2
Sam. xiii.), Absalom and his father’s concubines, the “wife of
whoredoms” of Hosea and, capping all, the Song of Solomon. For
the horrors forbidden to the Jews who, therefore, must have
practiced them, see Levit. viii. 24, xi. 5, xvii. 7, xviii. 7, 9,
10, 12, 15, 17, 21, 23, and xx. 3. For mere filth what can be
fouler than 1st Kings xviii. 27; Tobias ii. 11; Esther xiv. 2,
Eccl. xxii. 2; Isaiah xxxvi. 12, Jeremiah iv. 5, and (Ezekiel iv.
12-15), where the Lord changes human ordure into “Cow-chips!” Ce
qui excuse Dieu, said Henri Beyle, c’est qu’il n’existe pas,—I
add, as man has made him.
[FN#320] It was the same in England before the “Reformation,” and
in France where, during our days, a returned priesthood collected
in a few years “Peter-pence” to the tune of five hundred millions
of francs. And these men wonder at being turned out!
[FN#321] Deutsch on the Talmud: Quarterly Review, 1867.
[FN#322] Evidently. Its cosmogony is a myth read literally: its
history is, for the most part, a highly immoral distortion, and
its ethics are those of the Talmudic Hebrews. It has done good
work in its time; but now it shows only decay and decrepitude in
the place of vigour and progress. It is dying hard, but it is
dying of the slow poison of science.
[FN#323] These Hebrew Stoics would justly charge the Founder of
Christianity with preaching a more popular and practical
doctrine, but a degradation from their own far higher and more
ideal standard.
[FN#324] Dr. Theodore Christlieb (“Modern Doubt and Christian
Belief,” Edinburgh: Clark 1874) can even now write:—“So then the
’full age’ to which humanity is at present supposed to have
attained, consists in man’s doing good purely for goodness sake!
Who sees not the hollowness of this bombastic talk. That man has
yet to be born whose practice will be regulated by this insipid
theory (dieser grauen theorie). What is the idea of goodness per
se? * * * The abstract idea of goodness is not an effectual
motive for well-doing” (p. 104). My only comment is c’est
ignolile! His Reverence acts the part of Satan in Holy Writ,
“Does Job serve God for naught?” Compare this selfish,
irreligious, and immoral view with Philo Judæus (On the Allegory
of the Sacred Laws, cap. lviii.), to measure the extent of the
fall from Pharisaism to Christianity. And the latter is still
infected with the “bribe-and-threat doctrine:” I once immensely
scandalised a Consular Chaplain by quoting the noble belief of
the ancients, and it was some days before he could recover mental
equanimity. The degradation is now inbred.
[FN#325] Of the doctrine of the Fall the heretic Marcion wrote:
“The Deity must either be deficient in goodness if he willed, in
prescience if he did not foresee, or in power if he did not
prevent it.”
[FN#326] In his charming book, “India Revisited.”
[FN#327] This is the answer to those who contend with much truth
that the moderns are by no means superior to the ancients of
Europe: they look at the results of only 3000 years instead of
30,000 or 300,000.
[FN#328] As a maxim the saying is attributed to the Duc de Lévis,
but it is much older.
[FN#329] There are a few, but only a few, frightful exceptions to
this rule, especially in the case of Khálid bin Walíd, the Sword
of Allah, and his ferocious friend, Darár ibn al-Azwar. But their
cruel excesses were loudly blamed by the Moslems, and Caliph Omar
only obeyed the popular voice in superseding the fierce and
furious Khalid by the mild and merciful Abú Obaydah.
[FN#330] This too when St. Paul sends the Christian slave
Onesimus back to his unbelieving (?) master, Philemon; which in
Al-Islam would have created a scandal.
[FN#331] This too when the Founder of Christianity talks of
“Eating and drinking at his table!” (Luke xxn. 29.) My notes have
often touched upon this inveterate prejudice the result, like the
soul-less woman of Al-Islam, of ad captandum, pious fraud. “No
soul knoweth what joy of the eyes is reserved for the good in
recompense for their works” (Koran xxxn. 17) is surely as
“spiritual” as St. Paul (I Cor. ii., 9). Some lies, however are
very long-lived, especially those begotten by self interest.
[FN#332] I have elsewhere noted its strict conservatism which,
however, it shares with all Eastern faiths in the East. But
progress, not quietism, is the principle which governs humanity
and it is favoured by events of most different nature. In Egypt
the rule of Mohammed Ali the Great and in Syria the Massacre of
Damascus (1860) have greatly modified the constitution of Al-
Islam throughout the nearer East.
[FN#333] Chapt. viii. “Narrative of a Year’s Journey through
Central and Eastern Arabia;” London, Macmillan, 1865.
[FN#334] The Soc. Jesu has, I believe, a traditional conviction
that converts of Israelitic blood bring only misfortune to the
Order.
[FN#335] I especially allude to an able but most superficial
book, the “Ten Great Religions” by James F. Clarke (Boston,
Osgood, 1876), which caricatures and exaggerates the false
portraiture of Mr. Palgrave. The writer’s admission that,
“Something is always gained by learning what the believers in a
system have to say in its behalf,” clearly shows us the man we
have to deal with and the “depths of his self-consciousness.”
[FN#336] But how could the Arabist write such hideous grammar as
“La Il h illa All h” for “Lá iláha (accus.) ill’ Allah”?
[FN#337] p. 996 “Muhammad” in vol. iii. Dictionary of Christian
Biography. See also the Illustration of the Mohammedan Creed,
etc., from Al-Ghazáli introduced (pp. 72-77) into Bell and Sons’
“History of the Saracens” by Simon Ockley, B.D. (London, 1878). I
regret some Orientalist did not correct the proofs: everybody
will not detect “Al-Lauh al-Mahfúz” (the Guarded Tablet) in
“Allauh ho’hnehphoud” (p. 171); and this but a pinch out of a
camel-load.
[FN#338] The word should have been Arianism. This “heresy” of the
early Christians was much aided by the “Discipline of the
Secret,” supposed to be of apostolic origin, which concealed from
neophytes, catechumens and penitents all the higher mysteries,
like the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Metastoicheiosis
(transubstantiation), the Real Presence, the Eucharist and the
Seven Sacraments; when Arnobius could ask, Quid Deo cum vino est?
and when Justin, fearing the charge of Polytheism, could
expressly declare the inferior nature of the Son to the Father.
Hence the creed was appropriately called Symbol i.e., Sign of the
Secret. This “mental reservation” lasted till the Edict of
Toleration, issued by Constantine in the fourth century, held
Christianity secure when divulging her “mysteries”; and it
allowed Arianism to become the popular creed.
[FN#339] The Gnostics played rather a fantastic rôle in
Christianity with their Demiurge, their Æonogony, their Æons by
syzygies or couples, their Maio and Sabscho and their beatified
bride of Jesus, Sophia Achamoth, and some of them descended to
absolute absurdities, e.g., the Tascodrugitæ and the
Pattalorhinchitæ who during prayers placed their fingers upon
their noses or in their mouths, &c., reading Psalm cxli. 3.
[FN#340] “Kitáb al-’Unwán fí Makáid al-Niswán” = The Book of the
Beginnings on the Wiles of Womankind (Lane i. 38).
[FN#341] This person was one of the Amsál or Exampla of the
Arabs. For her first thirty years she whored; during the next
three decades she pimped for friend and foe, and, during the last
third of her life, when bed-ridden by age and infirmities, she
had a buckgoat and a nanny tied up in her room and solaced
herself by contemplating their amorous conflicts.
[FN#342] And modern Moslem feeling upon the subject has
apparently undergone a change. Ashraf Khan, the Afghan poet,
sings,
Since I, the parted one, have come the secrets of the world to
ken,
Women in hosts therein I find, but few (and very few) of men.
And the Osmanli proverb is, “Of ten men nine are women!”
[FN#343] His Persian paper “On the Vindication of the Liberties
of the Asiatic Women” was translated and printed in the Asiatic
Annual Register for 1801 (pp. 100-107); it is quoted by Dr. Jon.
Scott (Introd. vol. i. p. xxxiv. et seq.) and by a host of
writers. He also wrote a book of Travels translated by Prof.
Charles Stewart in 1810 and re-issued (3 vols. 8vo.) in 1814.
[FN#344] The beginning of which I date from the Hijrah, lit.= the
separation, popularly “The Flight.” Stating the case broadly, it
has become the practice of modern writers to look upon Mohammed
as an honest enthusiast at Meccah and an unscrupulous despot at
Al- Medinah, a view which appears to me eminently unsound and
unfair. In a private station the Meccan Prophet was famed as a
good citizen, teste his title Al-Amín =The Trusty. But when
driven from his home by the pagan faction, he became de facto as
de jure a king: nay, a royal pontiff; and the preacher was merged
in the Conqueror of his foes and the Commander of the Faithful.
His rule, like that of all Eastern rulers, was stained with
blood; but, assuming as true all the crimes and cruelties with
which Christians charge him and which Moslems confess, they were
mere blots upon a glorious and enthusiastic life, ending in a
most exemplary death, compared with the tissue of horrors and
havock which the Law and the Prophets attribute to Moses, to
Joshua, to Samuel and to the patriarchs and prophets by express
command of Jehovah.
[FN#345] It was not, however, incestuous: the scandal came from
its ignoring the Arab “pundonor.”
[FN#346] The “opportunism” of Mohammed has been made a matter of
obloquy by many who have not reflected and discovered that
time-serving is the very essence of “Revelation.” Says the Rev.
W. Smith (“Pentateuch,” chaps. xiii.), “As the journey (Exodus)
proceeds, so laws originate from the accidents of the way,” and
he applies this to successive decrees (Numbers xxvi. 32-36;
xxvii. 8-11 and xxxvi. 1-9), holding it indirect internal
evidence of Mosaic authorship (?). Another tone, however, is used
in the case of Al-Islam. “And now, that he might not stand in awe
of his wives any longer, down comes a revelation,” says Ockley in
his bluff and homely style, which admits such phrases as, “the
imposter has the impudence to say.” But why, in common honesty,
refuse to the Koran the concessions freely made to the Torah? It
is a mere petitio principii to argue that the latter is
“inspired” while the former is not, moreover, although we may be
called upon to believe things beyond Reason, it is hardly fair to
require our belief in things contrary to Reason.
[FN#347] This is noticed in my wife’s volume on The Inner Life of
Syria, chaps. xii. vol. i. 155.
[FN#348] Mirza preceding the name means Mister and following it
Prince. Addison’s “Vision of Mirza” (Spectator, No. 159) is
therefore “The Vision of Mister.”
[FN#349] And women. The course of instruction lasts from a few
days to a year and the period of puberty is fêted by magical
rites and often by some form of mutilation. It is described by
Waitz, Réclus and Schoolcraft, Páchue-Loecksa, Collins, Dawson,
Thomas, Brough Smyth, Reverends Bulmer and Taplin, Carlo
Wilhelmi, Wood, A. W. Howitt, C. Z. Muhas (Mem. de la Soc.
Anthrop. Allemande, 1882, p. 265) and by Professor Mantegazza
(chaps. i.) for whom see infra.
[FN#350] Similarly certain Australian tribes act scenes of rape
and pederasty saying to the young, If you do this you will be
killed.
[FN#351] “Báh,” is the popular term for the amatory appetite:
hence such works are called Kutub al-Báh, lit. = Books of Lust.
[FN#352] I can make nothing of this title nor can those whom I
have consulted: my only explanation is that they may be fanciful
names proper.
[FN#353] Amongst the Greeks we find erotic specialists (1)
Aristides of the Libri Milesii; (2) Astyanassa, the follower of
Helen who wrote on androgenization; (3) Cyrene, the artist of
amatory Tabellæ or ex-votos offered to Priapus; (4) Elephantis,
the poetess who wrote on Varia concubitus genera; (5) Evemerus,
whose Sacra Historia, preserved in a fragment of Q. Eunius, was
collected by Hieronymus Columnar (6) Hemitheon of the Sybaritic
books, (7) Musæus, the Iyrist; (8) Niko, the Samian girl; (9)
Philænis, the poetess of Amatory Pleasures, in Athen. viii. 13,
attributed to Polycrates the Sophist; (10) Protagorides, Amatory
Conversations; (11) Sotades, the Mantinæan who, says Suidas,
wrote the poem “Cinædica”; (12) Sphodrias the Cynic, his Art of
Love; and (13) Trepsicles, Amatory Pleasures. Amongst the Romans
we have Aedituus, Annianus (in Ausonius), Anser, Bassus Eubius,
Helvius Cinna, Lævius (of Io and the Erotopægnion), Memmius,
Cicero (to Cerellia), Pliny the Younger, Sabellus (de modo
coeundi); Sisenna, the pathic Poet and translator of Milesian
Fables and Sulpitia, the modest erotist. For these see the
Dictionnaire Érotique of Blondeau pp. ix. and x. (Paris, Liseux,
1885).
[FN#354] It has been translated from the Sanskrit and annotated
by A.F.F. and B.F.R. Reprint Cosmopoli: mdccclxxxv.: for the Kama
Shastra Society, London and Benares, and for private circulation
only. The first print has been exhausted and a reprint will
presently appear.
[FN#355] The local press has often proposed to abate this
nuisance of erotic publication which is most debasing to public
morals already perverted enough. But the “Empire of Opinion”
cares very little for such matters and, in the matter of the
“native press,” generally seems to seek only a quiet life. In
England if erotic literature were not forbidden by law, few would
care to sell or to buy it, and only the legal pains and penalties
keep up the phenomenally high prices.
[FN#356] The Spectator (No. 119) complains of an “infamous piece
of good breeding,” because “men of the town, and particularly
those who have been polished in France, make use of the most
coarse and uncivilised words in our language and utter themselves
often in such a manner as a clown would blush to hear.”
[FN#357] See the Novelle of Bandello the Bishop (Tome 1, Paris,
Liseux, 1879, small in 18) where the dying fisherman replies to
his confessor, “Oh! Oh! your reverence, to amuse myself with boys
was natural to me as for a man to eat and drink; yet you asked me
if I sinned against nature!” Amongst the wiser ancients sinning
contra naturam was not marrying and begetting children.
[FN#358] Avis au Lecteur “L’Amour dans l’Humanité,” par P.
Mantegazza, traduit par Emilien Chesneau, Paris, Fetscherin et
Chuit, 1886.
[FN#359] See “H. B.” (Henry Beyle, French Consul at Civita
Vecchia) par un des Quarante” (Prosper Mérimee),
Elutheropolis, An mdccclxiv. De l’Imposture du Nazaréen.
[FN#360] This detail especially excited the veteran’s curiosity.
The reason proved to be that the scrotum of the unmutilated boy
could be used as a kind of bridle for directing the movements of
the animal. I find nothing of the kind mentioned in the Sotadical
literature of Greece and Rome; although the same cause might be
expected everywhere to the same effect. But in Mirabeau
(Kadhésch) a grand seigneur moderne, when his valet-de-chambre de
confiance proposes to provide him with women instead of boys,
exclaims, “Des femmes! eh! c’est comme si tu me servais un gigot
sans manche.” See also infra for “Le poids du tisserand.”
[FN#361] See Falconry in the Valley of the Indus, London, John
Van Voorst, 1852.
[FN#362] Submitted to Government on Dec. 31, ’47, and March 2,
’48, they were printed in “Selections from the Records of the
Government of India.” Bombay. New Series. No. xvii. Part 2, 1855.
These are (1) Notes on the Population of Sind, etc., and (2)
Brief Notes on the Modes of Intoxication, etc., written in
collaboration with my late friend Assistant-Surgeon John E.
Stocks, whose early death was a sore loss to scientific botany.
[FN#363] Glycon the Courtesan in Athen. xiii. 84 declares that
“boys are handsome only when they resemble women,” and so the
Learned Lady in The Nights (vol. v. 160) declares “Boys are
likened to girls because folks say, Yonder boy is like a girl.”
For the superior physical beauty of the human male compared with
the female, see The Nights, vol. iv. 15; and the boy’s voice
before it breaks excels that of any diva.
[FN#364] “Mascula,” from the priapiscus, the over-development of
clitoris (the veretrum muliebre, in Arabic Abu Tartúr, habens
cristam), which enabled her to play the man. Sappho (nat. B.C.
612) has been retoillée like Mary Stuart, La Brinvilliers, Marie
Antoinette and a host of feminine names which have a savour not
of sanctity. Maximus of Tyre (Dissert. xxiv.) declares that the
Eros of Sappho was Socratic and that Gyrinna and Atthis were as
Alcibiades and Chermides to Socrates: Ovid who could consult
documents now lost, takes the same view in the Letter of Sappho
to Phaon and in Tristia ii. 265.
Lesbia quid docuit Sappho nisi amare puellas?
Suidas supports Ovid. Longinus eulogises the (a
term applied only to carnal love) of the far-famed Ode to
Atthis:—
Ille mî par esse Deo videtur * * *
(Heureux! qui près de toi pour toi seule soupire * * *
Blest as th’ immortal gods is he, etc.)
By its love symptoms, suggesting that possession is the sole cure
for passion, Erasistratus discovered the love of Antiochus for
Stratonice. Mure (Hist. of Greek Literature, 1850) speaks of the
Ode to Aphrodite (Frag. 1) as “one in which the whole volume of
Greek literature offers the most powerful concentration into one
brilliant focus of the modes in which amatory concupiscence can
display itself.” But Bernhardy, Bode, Richter, K. O. Müller and
esp. Welcker have made Sappho a model of purity, much like some
of our dull wits who have converted Shakespeare, that most
debauched genius, into a good British bourgeois.
[FN#365] The Arabic Sabhákah, the Tractatrix or Subigitatrix who
has been noticed in vol. iv. 134. Hence to Lesbianise ( )
and tribassare ( ); the former applied to the love of
woman for woman and the latter to its mecanique: this is either
natural, as friction of the labia and insertion of the clitoris
when unusually developed, or artificial by means of the fascinum,
the artificial penis (the Persian “Mayájang”); the patte de chat,
the banana-fruit and a multitude of other succedanea. As this
feminine perversion is only glanced at in The Nights I need
hardly enlarge upon the subject.
[FN#366] Plato (Symp.) is probably mystical when he accounts for
such passions by there being in the beginning three species of
humanity, men, women and men-women or androgynes. When the latter
were destroyed by Zeus for rebellion, the two others were
individually divided into equal parts. Hence each division seeks
its other half in the same sex, the primitive man prefers men and
the primitive woman women. C’est beau, but—is it true? The idea
was probably derived from Egypt which supplied the Hebrews with
androgynic humanity, and thence it passed to extreme India, where
Shiva as Ardhanárí was male on one side and female on the other
side of the body, combining paternal and maternal qualities and
functions. The first creation of humans (Gen. i. 27) was
hermaphrodite (=Hermes and Venus), masculum et fminam creavit
eos—male and female created He them—on the sixth day, with the
command to increase and multiply (ibid. v. 28), while Eve the
woman was created subsequently. Meanwhile, say certain
Talmudists, Adam carnally copulated with all races of animals.
See L’Anandryne in Mirabeau’s Erotika Biblion, where Antoinette
Bourgnon laments the undoubling which disfigured the work of God,
producing monsters incapable of independent self-reproduction
like the vegetable kingdom.
[FN#367] De la Femme, Paris, 1827.
[FN#368] Die Lustseuche des Alterthum’s, Halle, 1839.
[FN#369] See his exhaustive article on (Grecian) “Paederastie” in
the Allgemeine Encyclopædie of Ersch and Gruber, Leipzig,
Brockhaus, 1837. He carefully traces it through the several
states, Dorians, Æolians, Ionians, the Attic cities and those of
Asia Minor. For these details I must refer my readers to M.
Meier; a full account of these would fill a volume not the
section of an essay.
[FN#370] Against which see Henri Estienne, Apologie pour
Hérodote, a society satire of xvith century, lately reprinted by
Liseux.
[FN#371] In Sparta the lover was called or x
and the beloved as in Thessaly or x.
[FN#372] The more I study religions the more I am convinced that
man never worshipped anything but himself. Zeus, who became
Jupiter, was an ancient king, according to the Cretans, who were
entitled liars because they showed his burial-place. From a
deified ancestor he would become a local god, like the Hebrew
Jehovah as opposed to Chemosh of Moab; the name would gain
amplitude by long time and distant travel, and the old island
chieftain would end in becoming the Demiurgus. Ganymede (who
possibly gave rise to the old Lat. “Catamitus”) was probably some
fair Phrygian boy (“son of Tros”) who in process of time became a
symbol of the wise man seized by the eagle (perspicacity) to be
raised amongst the Immortals; and the chaste myth simply
signified that only the prudent are loved by the gods. But it
rotted with age as do all things human. For the Pederastía of the
Gods see Bayle under Chrysippe.
[FN#373] See Dissertation sur les idées morales des Grecs et sur
les dangers de lire Platon. Par M. Audé, Bibliophile, Rouen,
Lemonnyer, 1879. This is the pseudonym of the late Octave
Delepierre, who published with Gay, but not the Editio
Princeps—which, if I remember rightly, contains much more
matter.
[FN#374] The phrase of J. Matthias Gesner, Comm. Reg. Soc.
Gottingen i. 1-32. It was founded upon Erasmus’ “Sancte Socrate,
ore pro nobis,” and the article was translated by M. Alcide
Bonmaire, Paris, Liseux, 1877.
[FN#375] The subject has employed many a pen, e.g.,Alcibiade
Fanciullo a Scola, D. P. A. (supposed to be Pietro Aretino—ad
captandum?), Oranges, par Juann Wart, 1652: small square 8vo of
pp. 102, including 3 preliminary pp. and at end an unpaged leaf
with 4 sonnets, almost Venetian, by V. M. There is a
re-impression of the same date, a small 12mo of longer format,
pp. 124 with pp. 2 for sonnets: in 1862 the Imprimerie Racon
printed 102 copies in 8vo of pp. iv.-108, and in 1863 it was
condemned by the police as a liber spurcissimus atque execrandus
de criminis sodomici laude et arte. This work produced “Alcibiade
Enfant à l’école,” traduit pour la première fois de l’Italien de
Ferrante Pallavicini, Amsterdam, chez l’Ancien Pierre Marteau,
mdccclxvi. Pallavicini (nat. 1618), who wrote against Rome, was
beheaded, aet. 26 (March 5, 1644), at Avignon in 1644 by the
vengeance of the Barberini: he was a bel esprit déréglé, nourri
d’études antiques and a Memb. of the Acad. Degl’ Incogniti. His
peculiarities are shown by his “Opere Scelte,” 2 vols. 12mo,
Villafranca, mdclxiii.; these do not include Alcibiade Fanciullo,
a dialogue between Philotimus and Alcibiades which seems to be a
mere skit at the Jesuits and their Péché philosophique. Then came
the “Dissertation sur l’Alcibiade fanciullo a scola,” traduit de
l’Italien de Giambattista Baseggio et accompagnée de notes et
d’une post-face par un bibliophile francais (M. Gustave Brunet,
Librarian of Bordeaux), Paris. J. Gay, 1861—an octavo of pp. 78
(paged), 254 copies. The same Baseggio printed in 1850 his
Disquisizioni (23 copies) and claims for F. Pallavicini the
authorship of Alcibiades which the Manuel du Libraire wrongly
attributes to M. Girol. Adda in 1859. I have heard of but not
seen the “Amator fornaceus, amator ineptus” (Palladii, 1633)
supposed by some to be the origin of Alcibiade Fanciullo; but
most critics consider it a poor and insipid production.
[FN#376] The word is from numbness, torpor, narcotism: the
flowers, being loved by the infernal gods, were offered to the
Furies. Narcissus and Hippolytus are often assumed as types of
morose voluptas, masturbation and clitorisation for nymphomania:
certain mediæval writers found in the former a type of the
Saviour, and ’Mirabeau a representation of the androgynous or
first Adam: to me Narcissus suggests the Hindu Vishnu absorbed in
the contemplation of his own perfections.
[FN#377] The verse of Ovid is parallel’d by the song of Al-Záhir
al-Jazari (Ibn Khall. iii. 720).
Illum impuberem amaverunt mares; puberem feminæ.
Gloria Deo! nunquam amatoribus carebit.
[FN#378] The venerable society of prostitutes contained three
chief classes. The first and lowest were the Dicteriads, so
called from Diete (Crete), who imitated Pasiphaë, wife of Minos,
in preferring a bull to a husband; above them was the middle
class, the Aleutridæ, who were the Almahs or professional
musicians, and the aristocracy was represented by the Hetairai,
whose wit and learning enabled them to adorn more than one page
of Grecian history. The grave Solon, who had studied in Egypt,
established a vast Dicterion (Philemon in his Delphica), or
bordel whose proceeds swelled the revenue of the Republic.
[FN#379] This and Saint Paul (Romans i. 27) suggested to
Caravaggio his picture of St. Rosario (in the museum of the Grand
Duke of Tuscany), showing a circle of thirty men turpiter ligati.
[FN#380] Properly speaking, “Medicus” is the third or ring
finger, as shown by the old Chiromantist verses,
Est pollex Veneris; sed Jupiter indice gaudet,
Saturnus medium; Sol medicumque tenet.
[FN#381] So Seneca uses digito scalpit caput. The modern Italian
does the same by inserting the thumb-tip between the index and
medius to suggest the clitoris.
[FN#382] What can be wittier than the now trite Tale of the
Ephesian Matron, whose dry humour is worthy of The Nights? No
wonder that it has made the grand tour of the world. It is found
in the neo-Phædrus, the tales of Musæus and in the Septem
Sapientes as the “Widow which was comforted.” As the “Fabliau de
la Femme qui se fist putain sur la fosse de son Mari,” it tempted
Brantôme and La Fontaine; and Abel Rémusat shows in his Contes
Chinois that it is well known to the Middle Kingdom. Mr. Walter
K. Kelly remarks, that the most singular place for such a tale is
the “Rule and Exercise of Holy Dying” by Jeremy Taylor, who
introduces it into his chapt. v.—“Of the Contingencies of Death
and Treating our Dead.” But in those days divines were not
mealy-mouthed.
[FN#383] Glossarium eroticum linguæ Latinæ, sive theogoniæ, legum
et morum nuptialium apud Romanos explanatio nova, auctore P. P.
(Parisiis, Dondey-Dupré, 1826, in 8vo). P. P. is supposed to be
Chevalier Pierre Pierrugues, an engineer who made a plan of
Bordeaux and who annotated the Erotica Biblion. Gay writes, “On
s’est servi pour cet ouvrage des travaux inédits de M. Ie Baron
de Schonen, etc. Quant au Chevalier Pierre Pierrugues qu’on
désignait comme l’auteur de ce savant volume, son existence n’est
pas bien avérée, et quelques bibliographes persistent à penser
que ce nom cache la collaboration du Baron de Schonen et d’Eloi
Johanneau.” Other glossicists as Blondeau and Forberg have been
printed by Liseux, Paris.
[FN#384] This magnificent country, which the petty jealousies of
Europe condemn, like the glorious regions about Constantinople,
to mere barbarism, is tenanted by three Moslem races. The
Berbers, who call themselves Tamazight (plur. of Amazigh), are
the Gætulian indigenes speaking an Africo-Semitic tongue (see
Essai de Grammaire Kabyle, etc., par A. Hanoteau, Paris, Benjamin
Duprat). The Arabs, descended from the conquerors in our eighth
century, are mostly nomads and camel-breeders. Third and last are
the Moors proper, the race dwelling in towns, a mixed breed
originally Arabian but modified by six centuries of Spanish
residence and showing by thickness of feature and a
parchment-coloured skin, resembling the American Octaroon’s, a
negro innervation of old date. The latter are well described in
“Morocco and the Moors,” etc. (Sampson Low and Co., 1876), by my
late friend Dr. Arthur Leared, whose work I should like to see
reprinted.
[FN#385] Thus somewhat agreeing with one of the multitudinous
modern theories that the Pentapolis was destroyed by discharges
of meteoric stones during a tremendous thunderstorm. Possible,
but where are the stones?
[FN#386] To this Iranian domination I attribute the use of many
Persic words which are not yet obsolete in Egypt. “Bakhshísh,”
for instance, is not intelligible in the Moslem regions west of
the Nile-Valley, and for a present the Moors say Hadíyah, regalo
or favor.
[FN#387] Arnobius and Tertullian, with the arrogance of their
caste and its miserable ignorance of that symbolism which often
concealed from vulgar eyes the most precious mysteries, used to
taunt the heathen for praying to deities whose sex they ignored
“Consuistis in precibus ’Seu tu Deus seu tu Dea,’ dicere!” These
men would know everything; they made God the merest work of man’s
brains and armed him with a despotism of omnipotence which
rendered their creation truly dreadful.
[FN#388] Gallus lit. = a cock, in pornologic parlance is a capon,
a castrato.
[FN#389] The texts justifying or enjoining castration are Matt.
xviii. 8-9; Mark ix. 43-47; Luke xxiii. 29 and Col. iii. 5. St.
Paul preached (1 Corin. vii. 29) that a man should live with his
wife as if he had none. The Abelian heretics of Africa abstained
from women because Abel died virginal. Origen mutilated himself
after interpreting too rigorously Matt. xix. 12, and was duly
excommunicated. But his disciple, the Arab Valerius founded (A.D.
250) the castrated sect called Valerians who, persecuted and
dispersed by the Emperors Constantine and Justinian, became the
spiritual fathers of the modern Skopzis. These eunuchs first
appeared in Russia at the end of the xith century, when two
Greeks, John and Jephrem, were metropolitans of Kiew: the former
was brought thither in A.D. 1089 by Princess Anna Wassewolodowna
and is called by the chronicles Nawjè or the Corpse. But in the
early part of the last century (1715-1733) a sect arose in the
circle of Uglitseh and in Moscow, at first called Clisti or
flagellants, which developed into the modern Skopzi. For this
extensive subject see De Stein (Zeitschrift für Ethn. Berlin,
1875) and Mantegazza, chaps. vi.
[FN#390] See the marvellously absurd description of the glorious
“Dead Sea” in the Purchas v. 84.
[FN#391] Jehovah here is made to play an evil part by destroying
men instead of teaching them better. But, “Nous faisons les Dieux
à notre image et nous portons dans le ciel ce que nous voyons sur
la terre.” The idea of Yahweh, or Yah, is palpably Egyptian, the
Ankh or ever-living One: the etymon, however, was learned at
Babylon and is still found amongst the cuneiforms.
[FN#392] The name still survives in the Shajarát al-Ashará, a
clump of trees near the village Al-Ghájar (of the Gypsies?) at
the foot of Hermon.
[FN#393] I am not quite sure that Astarte is not primarily the
planet Venus; but I can hardly doubt that Prof. Max Müller and
Sir G. Cox are mistaken in bringing from India Aphrodite the Dawn
and her attendants, the Charites identified with the Vedic
Harits. Of Ishtar in Accadia, however, Roscher seems to have
proved that she is distinctly the Moon sinking into Amenti (the
west, the Underworld) in search of her lost spouse Izdubar, the
Sun-god. This again is pure Egyptianism.
[FN#394] In this classical land of Venus the worship of
Ishtar-Ashtaroth is by no means obsolete. The Metáwali heretics,
a people of Persian descent and Shiite tenets, and the peasantry
of “Bilád B’sharrah,” which I would derive from Bayt Ashirah,
still pilgrimage to the ruins and address their vows to the
Sayyidat al-Kabírah, the Great Lady. Orthodox Moslems accuse them
of abominable orgies and point to the lamps and rags which they
suspend to a tree entitled Shajarat al-Sitt—the Lady’s tree—an
Acacia Albida which, according to some travellers, is found only
here and at Sayda (Sidon) where an avenue exists. The people of
Kasrawán, a Christian province in the Libanus, inhabited by a
peculiarly prurient race, also hold high festival under the
far-famed Cedars, and their women sacrifice to Venus like the
Kadashah of the Phnicians. This survival of old superstition is
unknown to missionary “Handbooks,” but amply deserves the study
of the anthropologist.
[FN#395] Some commentators understand “the tabernacles sacred to
the reproductive powers of women;” and the Rabbis declare that
the emblem was the figure of a setting hen.
[FN#396] “Dog” is applied by the older Jews to the Sodomite and
the Catamite, and thus they understand the “price of a dog” which
could not be brought into the Temple (Deut. xxiii. 18). I have
noticed it in one of the derivations of cinædus and can only
remark that it is a vile libel upon the canine tribe.
[FN#397] Her name was Maachah and her title, according to some,
“King’s mother”: she founded the sect of Communists who rejected
marriage and made adultery and incest part of worship in their
splendid temple. Such were the Basilians and the Carpocratians
followed in the xith century by Tranchelin, whose sectarians, the
Turlupins, long infested Savoy.
[FN#398] A noted exception is Vienna, remarkable for the enormous
development of the virginal bosoni, which soon becomes pendulent.
[FN#399] Gen. xxxviii. 2-11. Amongst the classics Mercury taught
the “Art of le Thalaba” to his son Pan who wandered about the
mountains distraught with love for the Nymph Echo and Pan passed
it on to the pastors. See Thalaba in Mirabeau.
[FN#400] The reader of The Nights has remarked how often the “he”
in Arabic poetry denotes a “she”; but the Arab, when
uncontaminated by travel, ignores pederasty, and the Arab poet is
a Badawi.
[FN#401] So Mohammed addressed his girl-wife Ayishah in the
masculine.
[FN#402] So amongst the Romans we have the Iatroliptæ, youths or
girls who wiped the gymnast’s perspiring body with swan-down, a
practice renewed by the professors of “Massage”; Unctores who
applied perfumes and essences; Fricatrices and Tractatrices or
shampooers; Dropacistæ, corn-cutters; Alipilarii who plucked the
hair, etc., etc., etc.
[FN#403] It is a parody on the well-known song (Roebuck i. sect.
2, No. 1602):
The goldsmith knows the worth of gold, jewellers worth of
jewelry;
The worth of rose Bulbul can tell and Kambar’s worth his lord,
Ali.
[FN#404] For “Sindí” Roebuck (Oriental Proverbs Part i. p. 99)
has Kunbu (Kumboh) a Panjábi peasant, and others vary the saying
ad libitum. See vol. vi. 156.
[FN#405] See “Sind Revisited” i. 133-35.
[FN#406] They must not be confounded with the grelots lascifs,
the little bells of gold or silver set by the people of Pegu in
the prepuce-skin, and described by Nicolo de Conti who however
refused to undergo the operation.
[FN#407] Relation des découvertes faites par Colomb, etc., p.
137: Bologna 1875; also Vespucci’s letter in Ramusio (i. 131) and
Paro’s Recherches philosophiques sur les Américains.
[FN#408] See Mantegazza loc. cit. who borrows from the Thèse de
Paris of Dr. Abel Hureau de Villeneuve, “Frictiones per coitum
productæ magnum mucosæ membranæ vaginalis turgorem, ac simul
hujus cuniculi coarctationem tam maritis salacibus quæritatam
afferunt.”
[FN#409] Fascinus is the Priapus-god to whom the Vestal Virgins
of Rome, professed tribades, sacrificed, also the neck-charm in
phallus-shape. Fascinum is the male member.
[FN#410] Captain Grose (Lexicon Balatronicum) explains merkin as
“counterfeit hair for women’s privy parts. See Bailey’s Dict.”
The Bailey of 1764, an “improved edition,” does not contain the
word which is now generally applied to a cunnus succedaneus.
[FN#411] I have noticed this phenomenal cannibalism in my notes
to Mr. Albert Tootle’s excellent translation of “The Captivity of
Hans Stade of Hesse:” London, Hakluyt Society, mdccclxxiv.
[FN#412] The Ostreiras or shell mounds of the Brazil, sometimes
200 feet high, are described by me in Anthropologia No. i. Oct.
1873.
[FN#413] The Native Races of the Pacific States of South America,
by Herbert Howe Bancroft, London, Longmans, 1875.
[FN#414] All Peruvian historians mention these giants, who were
probably the large-limbed Gribs (Caraíbes) of the Brazil: they
will be noticed in page 211.
[FN#415] This sounds much like a pious fraud of the missionaries,
a Europeo-American version of the Sodom legend.
[FN#416] Les Races Aryennes du Perou, Paris, Franck, 1871.
[FN#417] O Brazil e os Brazileiros, Santos, 1862.
[FN#418] Aethiopia Orientalis, Purchas ii. 1558.
[FN#419] Purchas iii. 243.
[FN#420] For a literal translation see 1re Série de la Curiosité
Littéraire et Bibliographique, Paris, Liseux, 1880.
[FN#421] His best-known works are (1) Praktisches Handbuch der
Gerechtlichen Medecin, Berlin, 1860; and (2) Klinische Novellen
zur Gerechtlichen Medecin, Berlin, 1863.
[FN#422] The same author printed another imitation of Petronius
Arbiter, the “Larissa” story of Théophile Viand. His cousin, the
Sévigné, highly approved of it. See Bayle’s objections to
Rabutin’s delicacy and excuses for Petronius’ grossness in his
“Éclaircissement sur les obscénités” (Appendice au Dictionnaire
Antique).
[FN#423] The Boulgrin of Rabelais, which Urquhart renders Ingle
for Boulgre, an “indorser,” derived from the Bulgarus or
Bulgarian, who gave to Italy the term bugiardo—liar. Bougre and
Bougrerie date (Littré) from the xiiith century. I cannot,
however, but think that the trivial term gained strength in the
xvith, when the manners of the Bugres or indigenous Brazilians
were studied by Huguenot refugees in La France Antartique and
several of these savages found their way to Europe. A grand Fête
in Rouen on the entrance of Henri II. and Dame Katherine de
Medicis (June 16, 1564) showed, as part of the pageant, three
hundred men (including fifty “Bugres” or Tupis) with parroquets
and other birds and beasts of the newly explored regions. The
procession is given in the four-folding woodcut “Figure des
Brésiliens” in Jean de Prest’s Edition of 1551.
[FN#424] Erotika Biblion, chaps. Kadésch (pp. 93 et seq.),
Edition de Bruxelles, with notes by the Chevalier P. Pierrugues
of Bordeaux, before noticed.
[FN#425] Called Chevaliers de Paille because the sign was a straw
in the mouth, à la Palmerston.
[FN#426] I have noticed that the eunuch in Sind was as meanly
paid and have given the reason.
[FN#427] Centuria Librorum Absconditorum (by Pisanus Fraxi) 4to,
p. Ix. and 593. London. Privately printed, mdccclxxix.
[FN#428] A friend learned in these matters supplies me with the
following list of famous pederasts. Those who marvel at the wide
diffusion of such erotic perversion, and its being affected by so
many celebrities, will bear in mind that the greatest men have
been some of the worst: Alexander of Macedon, Julius Cæsar and
Napoleon Buonaparte held themselves high above the moral law
which obliges common-place humanity. All three are charged with
the Vice. Of Kings we have Henri iii., Louis xiii. and xviii.,
Frederick ii. Of Prussia Peter the Great, William ii. of Holland
and Charles ii. and iii. of Parma. We find also Shakespeare (i.,
xv., Edit. Francois Hugo) and Moliere, Theodorus Beza, Lully (the
Composer), D’Assoucy, Count Zintzendorff, the Grand Condé,
Marquis de Villette, Pierre Louis Farnese, Duc de la Vallière, De
Soleinne, Count D’Avaray, Saint Mégrin, D’Epernon, Admiral de la
Susse La Roche-Pouchin Rochfort S. Louis, Henne (the
Spiritualist), Comte Horace de Viel Castel, Lerminin, Fievée,
Théodore Leclerc, Archi-Chancellier Cambacèrés, Marquis de
Custine, Sainte-Beuve and Count D’Orsay. For others refer to the
three volumes of Pisanus Fraxi, Index Librorum Prohibitorum
(London, 1877), Centuria Librorum Absconditorum (before alluded
to) and Catena Librorum Tacendorum, London, 1885. The indices
will supply the names.
[FN#429] Of this peculiar character Ibn Khallikan remarks (ii.
43), “There were four poets whose works clearly contraried their
character. Abú al-Atahíyah wrote pious poems himself being an
atheist; Abú Hukayma’s verses proved his impotence, yet he was
more salacious than a he-goat, Mohammed ibn Házim praised
contentment, yet he was greedier than a dog, and Abú Nowás hymned
the joys of sodomy, yet he was more passionate for women than a
baboon.”
[FN#430] A virulently and unjustly abusive critique never yet
injured its object: in fact it is generally the greatest favour
an author’s unfriends can bestow upon him. But to notice a
popular Review books which have been printed and not published is
hardly in accordance with the established courtesies of
literature. At the end of my work I propose to write a paper “The
Reviewer Reviewed” which will, amongst other things, explain the
motif of the writer of the critique and the editor of the
Edinburgh.
[FN#431] 1 For detailed examples and specimens see p. 10 of
Gladwin’s “Dissertations on Rhetoric,” etd., Calcutta, 1801.
[FN#432] For instance: I, M. | take thee N. | to my wedded wife,
| to have and to hold, | from this day forward, | for better for
worse, | for richer for poorer, | in sickness and in health, | to
love and to cherish, | till death do us part, etc. Here it
becomes mere blank verse which is, of course, a defect in prose
style. In that delightful old French the Saj’a frequently
appeared when attention was solicited for the titles of books:
e.g. Lea Romant de la Rose, ou tout lart damours est enclose.
[FN#433] See Gladwin loc. cit. p. 8: it also is = alliteration
(Ibn Khall. ii., 316).
[FN#434] He called himself “Nabiyun ummí” = illiterate prophet;
but only his most ignorant followers believe that he was unable
to read and write. His last words, accepted by all traditionists,
were “Aatíní dawáta wa kalam” (bring me ink-case and pen); upon
which the Shi’ah or Persian sectaries base, not without
probability, a theory that Mohammed intended to write down the
name of Ali as his Caliph or successor when Omar, suspecting the
intention, exclaimed, “The Prophet is delirious; have we not the
Koran?” thus impiously preventing the precaution. However that
may be, the legend proves that Mohammed could read and write even
when not “under inspiration.” The vulgar idea would arise from a
pious intent to add miracle to the miraculous style of the Koran.
[FN#435] I cannot but vehemently suspect that this legend was
taken from much older traditions. We have Jubal the semi-mythical
who, “by the different falls of his hammer on the anvil,
discovered by the ear the first rude music that pleased the
antediluvian fathers.” Then came Pythagoras, of whom Macrobius
(lib. ii ) relates how this Græco-Egyptian philosopher, passing
by a smithy, observed that the sounds were grave or acute
according to the weights of the hammers; and he ascertained by
experiment that such was the case when different weights were
hung by strings of the same size. The next discovery was that two
strings of the same substance and tension, the one being double
the length of the other, gave the diapason-interval, or an
eighth; and the same was effected from two strings of similar
length and size, the one having four times the tension of the
other. Belonging to the same cycle of invention-anecdotes are
Galileo’s discovery of the pendulum by the lustre of the Pisan
Duomo; and the kettle-lid, the falling apple and the copper hook
which inspired Watt, Newton and Galvani.
[FN#436] To what an absurd point this has been carried we may
learn from Ibn Khallikán (i. 114). A poet addressing a single
individual does not say “My friend!” or “My friends!” but “My two
friends!” (in the dual) because a Badawi required a pair of
companions, one to tend the sheep and the other to pasture the
camels.
[FN#437] For further details concerning the Sabab, Watad and
Fasilah, see at the end of this Essay the learned remarks of Dr.
Steingass.
[FN#438] e.g., the Mu’allakats of “Amriolkais,” Tarafah and
Zuhayr compared by Mr. Lyall (Introduction to Translations) with
the metre of Abt Vogler, e.g.,
Ye know why the forms are fair, ye hear how the tale is told
[FN#439] e.g., the Poem of Hareth which often echoes the
hexameter
[FN#440] Gladwin, p. 80.
[FN#441] Gladwin (p. 77) gives only eight, omitting F ’ l which
he or his author probably considers the Muzáhaf, imperfect or
apocopêd form of F ’ l n, as M f ’ l of M f ’ l n. For the
infinite complications of Arabic prosody the Khafíf (soft
breathing) and Sahíh (hard breathing); the Sadr and Arúz (first
and last feet), the Ibtidá and Zarb (last foot of every line);
the Hashw (cushion-stuffing) or body part of verse, the ’Amúd
al-Kasídah or Al-Musammat (the strong) and other details I must
refer readers to such specialists as Freytag and Sam. Clarke
(Prosodia Arabica), and to Dr. Steingass’s notes infra.
[FN#442] The Hebrew grammarians of the Middle Ages wisely copied
their Arab cousins by turning Fa’la into Pael and so forth.
[FN#443] Mr. Lyall, whose “Ancient Arabic Poetry” (Williams and
Norgate, 1885) I reviewed in The Academy of Oct. 3, ’85, did the
absolute reverse of what is required: he preserved the metre and
sacrificed the rhyme even when it naturally suggested itself. For
instance in the last four lines of No. xii. what would be easier
than to write,
Ah sweet and soft wi’ thee her ways: bethink thee well! The day
shall be
When some one favoured as thyself shall find her fair and fain
and free;
And if she swear that parting ne’er shall break her word of
constancy,
When did rose-tinted finger-tip with pacts and pledges e’er
agree?
[FN#444] See p. 439 Grammatik des Arabischen Vulgär Dialekts von
Ægyptian, by Dr. Wilhelm Spitta Bey, Leipzig, 1880. In pp.
489-493 he gives specimens of eleven Mawáwíl varying in length
from four to fifteen lines. The assonance mostly attempts
monorhyme: in two tetrastichs it is aa + ba, and it does not
disdain alternates, ab + ab + ab.
[FN#445] Al-Siyuti, p. 235, from Ibn Khallikan. Our knowledge of
oldest Arab verse is drawn chiefly from the Katáb al-Aghání
(Song-book) of Abu al-Faraj the Isfaháni who flourished A.H.
284-356 (= 897- 967): it was printed at the Bulak Press in 1868.
[FN#446] See Lyall loc. cit. p. 97.
[FN#447] His Diwán has been published with a French translation,
par R. Boucher, Paris, Labitte, 1870.
[FN#448] I find also minor quotations from the Imám Abu al-Hasan
al-Askari (of Sarra man raa) ob. A.D. 868; Ibn Makúla (murdered
in A.D. 862?), Ibn Durayd (ob. A.D. 933)
Al-Zahr the Poet (ob. A.D. 963); Abu Bakr al-Zubaydi (ob. A.D.
989), Kábús ibn Wushmaghir (murdered in A.D. 1012-13); Ibn
Nabatah the Poet (ob. A.D. 1015), Ibn al-Sa’ati (ob. A.D. 1028);
Ibn Zaydun al-Andalusi who died at Hums (Emessa, the Arab name
for Seville) in A.D. 1071; Al-Mu’tasim ibn Sumadih (ob. A.D.
1091), Al-Murtaza ibn al-Shahrozuri the Sufi (ob. A.D. 1117); Ibn
Sara al-Shantaráni (of Santarem) who sang of Hind and died A.D.
1123; Ibn al-Kházin (ob. A.D. 1124), Ibn Kalakis (ob. A D. 1172)
Ibn al-Ta’wizi (ob. A.D. 1188); Ibn Zabádah (ob. A.D. 1198), Bahá
al-Dín Zuhayr (ob A.D. 1249); Muwaffak al-Din Muzaffar (ob. A.D.
1266) and sundry others. Notices of Al-Utayyah (vol. i. 11), of
Ibn al-Sumám (vol. i. 87) and of Ibn Sáhib al-Ishbíli, of Seville
(vol. i. 100), are deficient. The most notable point in Arabic
verse is its savage satire, the language of excited
“destructiveness” which characterises the Badawi: he is “keen for
satire as a thirsty man for water:” and half his poetry seems to
consist of foul innuendo, of lampoons, and of gross personal
abuse.
[FN#449] If the letter preceding Wáw or Yá is moved by Fathah,
they produce the diphthongs au (aw), pronounced like ou in
“bout’” and se, pronounced as i in “bite.”
[FN#450] For the explanation of this name and those of the
following terms, see Terminal Essay, p. 225.
[FN#451] This Fásilah is more accurately called sughrá, the
smaller one, there is another Fásilah kubrà, the greater,
consisting of four moved letters followed by a quiescent, or of a
Sabab sakíl followed by a Watad majmú’. But it occurs only as a
variation of a normal foot, not as an integral element in its
composition, and consequently no mention of it was needed in the
text.
[FN#452] It is important to keep in mind that the seemingly
identical feet 10 and 6, 7 and 3, are distinguished by the
relative positions of the constituting elements in either pair.
For as it will be seen that Sabab and Watad are subject to
different kinds of alterations it is evident that the effect of
such alterations upon a foot will vary, if Sabab and Watad occupy
different places with regard to each other.
[FN#453] i.e. vertical to the circumference.
[FN#454] This would be a Fásilah kubrá spoken of in the note p.
239.
[FN#455] In pause that is at the end of a line, a short vowel
counts either as long or is dropped according to the exigencies
of the metre. In the Hashw the u or i of the pronominal affix for
the third person sing., masc., and the final u of the enlarged
pronominal plural forms, humu and kumu, may be either short or
long, according to the same exigencies. The end-vowel of the
pronoun of the first person aná, I, is generally read short,
although it is written with Alif.
[FN#456] On p. 236 the word akámú, as read by itself, was
identified with the foot Fa’úlun. Here it must be read together
with the following syllable as “akámulwaj,” which is Mafá’ílun.
[FN#457] Prof. Palmer, p. 328 of his Grammar, identifies this
form of the Wáfir, when every Mufá’ alatum of the Hashw has
become Mafá’ílun, with the second form of the Rajaz It should be
Hazaj. Professor Palmer was misled, it seems, by an evident
misprint in one of his authorities, the Muhít al-Dáirah by Dr.
Van Dayk, p. 52.
[FN#458] Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac 134b “The Merchant’s Wife
and the Parrot.”
[FN#459] This will be found translated in my “Book of the
Thousand Nights and One Night,” vol. vii. p. 307, as an Appendix
to the Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac version of the story, from
which it differs in detail.
[FN#460] Called “Bekhit” in Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac
Editions.
[FN#461] Yehya ben Khalid (Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac),
[FN#462] “Shar” (Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac).
[FN#463] “Jelyaad” (Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac.)
[FN#464] Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac, No. 63. See my “Book of
the Thousand Nights and One Night,” vol. iv., p. 211.
[FN#465] Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac, “Jaafar the Barmecide.”
[FN#466] Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac, “The Thief turned
Merchant and the other Thief,” No. 88.
[FN#467] This story will be found translated in my “Book of the
Thousand Nights and One Night,” vol. v., p. 345.
[FN#468] After this I introduce the Tale of the Husband and the
Parrot.
[FN#469] The Bulak Edition omits this story altogether.
[FN#470] After this I introduce How Abu Hasan brake wind.
[FN#471] Probably Wakksh al-Falák=Feral of the Wild.
[FN#472] This is the date of the Paris edition. There was an
earlier edition published at La Haye in 1743.
[FN#473] There are two other Oriental romances by Voltaire; viz.,
Babouc, and the Princess of Babylon.