[Illustration]
[Illustration: لا لابرار كلّ شي تبر]
“TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE.”
(Puris omnia pura)
—_Arab Proverb._
“Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole.”
—“_Decameron_”—_conclusion_.
“Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum
Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget.”
—_Martial._
“Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,
Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes.”
—RABELAIS.
“The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One Stories makes
us regret that we possess only a comparatively small part of these truly
enchanting fictions.”
—CRICHTON’S “_History of Arabia_.”
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Supplemental
Nights
_TO THE BOOK OF THE_
Thousand Nights and a Night
_WITH NOTES ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND EXPLANATORY_
VOLUME V.
BY
RICHARD F. BURTON
[Illustration]
PRINTED BY THE BURTON CLUB FOR PRIVATE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
Shammar Edition
Limited to one thousand numbered sets, of which this is
Number 547
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME
PAGE
1. THE SAY OF HAYKAR THE SAGE 1
2. THE HISTORY OF AL-BUNDUKANI OR THE CALIPH HARUN AL-RASHID AND
THE DAUGHTER OF KING KISRA 39
3. THE LINGUIST-DAME, THE DUENNA AND THE KING’S SON 87
NOTE TO THE LINGUIST-DAME 112
4. THE TALE OF THE WARLOCK AND THE YOUNG COOK OF BAGHDAD 119
5. THE PLEASANT HISTORY OF THE COCK AND THE FOX 143
6. HISTORY OF WHAT BEFEL THE FOWL WITH THE FOWLER 151
7. THE TALE OF ATTAF 165
THE TALE OF ATTAF BY ALEXANDER J. COTHEAL 197
8. HISTORY OF PRINCE HABIB AND WHAT BEFEL HIM WITH THE LADY
DURRAT AL-GHAWWAS 223
Appendix I.
INDEX TO THE TALES AND PROPER NAMES 277
Appendix II.
ALPHABETICAL TABLE OF THE NOTES (ANTHROPOLOGICAL, &c.) 289
Appendix III.
NOTES ON THE STORIES CONTAINED IN VOL. VI. OF SUPPLEMENTAL
NIGHTS. BY W. F. KIRBY 351
Appendix IV.
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE THOUSAND AND ONE
NIGHTS. BY W. F. KIRBY 356
THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE BOOK AND ITS REVIEWERS REVIEWED 385
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS 455
THE TRANSLATOR’S FOREWORD.
This volume has been entitled “THE NEW ARABIAN NIGHTS,” a name now
hackneyed because applied to its contents as far back as 1819 in Henry
Weber’s “Tales of the East,” (Edinburgh, Ballantyne).
The original MS. was brought to France by Al-Káhin Diyúnisiús Sháwísh, a
Syrian priest of the Congregation of St. Basil, whose name has been
Frenchified to Don Dennis (or Denys) Chavis. He was a student at the
European College of Al-Kadís Ithanásiús (St. Athanasius) in Rúmiyah the
Grand (Constantinople) and was summoned by the Minister of State, Baron
de Breteuil, to Paris, where he presently became “Teacher of the Arabic
Tongue at the College of the Sultán, King of Fransá in Bárís (Paris) the
Great.” He undertook (probably to supply the loss of Galland’s ivth MS.
volume) a continuation of The Nights (proper), and wrote with his own
hand the last two leaves of the third tome, which ends with three
instead of four couplets: thus he completed Kamar al-Zamán (Night
cclxxxi.–cccxxix.) and the following tales:—
The History of the Sleeper and the Waker (Nights cccxxx.–ccclxxix.).
The History of Warlock and the Cook (ccclxxx.–cd.).
The History of the Prisoner in the Bímáristán or Madhouse
(cd.–cdxxvii.).
The History of Ghánim the Thrall o’ Love (cdxxviii.–cdlxxiv.).
The History of Zayn al-Asnám and the King of the Jánn (cdlxxv.–cdxci.).
The History of Alaeddin (cdxcii.–dlxix.), and
The History of Ten Wazirs (dlxx.).
The copy breaks off at folio 320, r^o in the middle of Night dcxxxi.,
and the date (given at the end of Night cdxxvii., folio 139) is Shubát
(February), A.D. 1787. This is the MS. numbered _Supplément Arabe_, No.
1716.
In Paris, Dom Chavis forgathered with M. Cazotte, a littérateur of the
category “light,” an _ingénieux écrivain_, distinguished for “gaiety,
delicacy, wit and Attic elegance,” and favorably known for (_inter
alia_) his poem “Olivier,” his “Diable Amoureux,” “The Lord Impromptu,”
and a travesty of The Nights called “The Thousand and One Fopperies.”
The two agreed to collaborate, the Syrian translating the Arabic into
French, and the Parisian metamorphosing the manner and matter to “the
style and taste of the day”; that is to say, working up an exaggerated
imitation, a caricature, of Galland. The work appeared, according to Mr.
A. G. Ellis, of the British Museum, who kindly sent me these notes, in
_Le Cabinet | des Fées, | ou | Collection choisie | des Contes des Fées,
| et autres contes merveilleux, | ornés de figures. | Tome
trente-huitième-(quarante-unième). | À Genève, | chez Bárde, Manget et
Compagnie, | Imprimeurs-Libraires. | Et se trouve à Paris | Rue et Hôtel
Serpente._ | 1788–89, 8^o[1] |. The half-title is _Les Veilliées
Persanes_, and on the second title-page is _Les Veilliées_ | _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. | Ornées
de 12 belles gravures. | Tome premier (—quatrième) | à Genève, | chez
Barde, Manget et Comp^e | 1793._ This 8vo.[2] bears the abridged title,
_La Suite des mille et une Nuits, Contes Arabes, traduits par Dom Chavis
et M. Cazotte_. The work was printed with illustrations at Geneva and in
Paris, MDCCLXXXVIII., and formed the last four volumes (xxxviii.–xli.)
of the great Recueil, the Cabinet des Fées, published at Geneva from
A.D. 1788 to 1793.
The following is a complete list of the histories, as it appears in the
English translation, lengthily entitled, “Arabian Tales; | or, | a
Continuation | of the | Arabian Nights Entertainments. | Consisting of |
Stories | Related by the | Sultana of the Indies | to divert her Husband
from the Performance of a rash vow; | Exhibiting | A most interesting
view of the Religion, Laws, | Manners, Customs, Arts, and Literature |
of the | Nations of the East, | And | Affording a rich Fund of the most
pleasing Amusement, | which fictitious writings can supply. | In Four
Volumes | newly translated from the original Arabic into French | By Dom
Chavis | a native Arab and M. Cazotte, Member | of the Academy of Dijon.
| And translated from the French into English | By Robert Heron. |
Edinburgh: | Printed for Bell and Bradfute, J. Dickson, E. Balfour, |
and P. Hill, Edinburgh; | and G. G. J. and J. Robinson, London |
MDCCXCII.”
1. The Robber-Caliph; or, adventures of Haroun-Alraschid, with the
Princess of Persia and the fair Zutulbe.[3]
2. The Power of Destiny; or, Story of the Journey of Giafar to
Damascus, comprehending the Adventures of Chebib (Habíb) and
his family.
3 The Story of Halechalbé (Ali Chelebí) and the Unknown Lady; or,
the Bimaristan.
4. The Idiot; or, Story of Xailoun.[4]
5. The Adventures of Simustafa (=“Sí” for Sídí “Mustafa”) and the
Princess Ilsatilsone (Lizzat al-Lusún = Delight of Tongues?).
6. Adventures of Alibengiad, Sultan of Herat, and of the False
Birds of Paradise.
7. History of Sankarib and his two Viziers.
8. History of the Family of the Schebandad (Shahbandar = Consul) of
Surat.
9. The Lover of the Stars: or, Abil Hasan’s Story.
10. History of Captain Tranchemont and his Brave Companions: Debil
Hasen’s Story.
11. The Dream of Valid Hasan.
12–23. Story of Bohetzad and his Ten Viziers (with eleven subsidiary
tales).[5]
24. Story of Habib and Dorathal-Goase (=Durrat al-Ghawwás the Pearl
of the Diver); or, the Arabian Knight.
25. Story of Illabousatrous (?) of Schal-Goase, and of Camarilzaman.
26. Story of the Lady of the Beautiful Tresses.
27. The History of Habib and Dorathal-Goase; or, the Arabian Knight
continued.
28. History of Maugraby (Al-Maghrabi = the Moor); or, the Magician.
29. History of Halaiaddin (’Alà al-Din, Alaeddin, Aladdin), Prince
of Persia.
30. History of Yemaladdin (Jamál al-Dín), Prince of Great Katay.
31. History of Baha-Ildur, Prince of Cinigae.
32. History of Badrildinn (Badr al-Dín), Prince of Tartary.
33. History of the Amours of Maugraby with Auhata al-Kawakik (=Ukht
al-Kawákib, Sister of the Planets), daughter of the King of
Egypt.
34. History of the Birth of Maugraby.
Of these thirty-four only five (MS. iv., vi., vii., xxvii. and xxxii.)
have not been found in the original Arabic.
Public opinion was highly favourable to the “Suite” when first issued.
Orientalism was at that time new to Europe, and the general was startled
by its novelties, _e.g._ by “Women wearing drawers and trousers like
their husbands, and men arrayed in loose robes like their wives, yet at
the same time cherishing, as so many goats, each a venerable length of
beard.” (Heron’s Preface.) They found its “phænomena so remote from the
customs and manners of Europe, that, when exhibited as entering into the
ordinary system of human affairs, they could not fail to confer a
considerable share of amusive novelty on the characters and events with
which they were connected.” (Ditto, Preface.) Jonathan Scott roundly
pronounced the continuation a forgery. Dr. Patrick Russell (History of
Aleppo, vol. i. 385) had no good opinion of it, and Caussin de Perceval
(père, vol. viii., p. 40–46) declared the version _éloignée du goût
Orientale_; yet he re-translated the tales from the original Arabic
(_Continués_, Paris, 1806), and in this he was followed by Gauttier,
while Southey borrowed the idea of his beautiful romance, Thalaba the
Destroyer, now in Lethe from the “History of Maughraby.” Mr. A. G. Ellis
considers these tales as good as the old “Arabian Nights,” and my friend
Mr. W. F. Kirby, (Appendix to The Nights, vol. x. p. 476), quite agrees
with him that Chavis and Cazotte’s Continuation is well worthy of
republication in its entirety. It remained for the _Edinburgh Review_,
in one of those ignorant and scurrilous articles with which it
periodically outrages truth and good taste (No. 535, July, 1886), to
state, “Cazotte published his _Suite des Mille et une Nuits_, a
barefaced forgery, in 1785.” A barefaced forgery! when the original of
twenty-eight tales out of thirty-four are perfectly well known, and when
sundry of these appear in MSS. of “The Thousand Nights and a Night.”
The following is a list of the Tales (widely differing from those of
Chavis and Cazotte) which appeared in the version of Caussin de
Perceval.
VOLUME VIII.
Les | Mille et une Nuits, | Contes Arabes, | Traduits en Français |
Par M. Galland, | Membre de l’Académie des Inscriptions et |
Belles-Lettres, Professeur de Langue Arabe | au Collége Royal; |
Continués | Par M. Caussin de Perceval, | Professeur de Langue Arabe
au Collége Impérial. | Tome huitième. | à Paris, | chez Le Normant,
Imp.-Libraire, | Rue des Prêtres Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois. | 1806.
1. Nouvelles aventures du calife Haroun Alraschid; ou histoire de
la petite fille de Chosroès Anouschirvan.
(Gauttier, Histoire du Khalyfe de Baghdad: vol. vii. 117.)
2. Le Bimaristan, ou histoire du jeune Marchand de Bagdad et de la
dame inconnue.
3. Le médecin et le jeune traiteur de Bagdad.
4. Histoire du Sage Hicar.
(Gauttier, Histoire du Sage Heycar, vii. 313).
5. Histoire du roi Azadbakht, ou des dix Visirs.
6. Histoire du marchand devenu malheureux.
7. Histoire du marchand imprudent et de ses deux enfants.
8. Histoire d’ Abousaber, ou de l’homme patient.
9. Histoire du prince Behezad.
10. Histoire du roi Dadbin, ou de la vertueuse Aroua.
11. Histoire du roi Bakhtzeman.
12. Histoire du roi Khadidan.
13. Histoire du roi Beherkerd.
14. Histoire du roi Ilanschah et d’Abouteman.
15. Histoire du roi Ibrahim et de son fils.
16. Histoire du Soleïman-schah.
17. Histoire de l’esclave sauvé du supplice.
VOLUME IX.
18. Attaf ou l’homme généreux.
(Gauttier, Histoire de l’habitant de Damas; vii. 234.)
19. Histoire du Prince Habib et de Dorrat Algoase.
20. Histoire du roi Sapor, souverain des îles Bellour; de Camar
Alzemann, fille du génie Alatrous, et Dorrat Algoase.
(Gauttier, vii. 64.)
21. Histoire de Naama et de Naam.
22. Histoire d’Alaeddin.
23. Histoire d’Abou Mohammed Alkeslan.
24. Histoire d’Aly Mohammed le joaillier, ou du faux calife.
I need hardly offer any observations upon these tales, as they have been
discussed in the preceding pages.
By an error of the late M. Reinaud (for which see p. 39 Histoire d’ ’Alâ
al-Dîn by M. H. Zotenberg, Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, MDCCCLXXXVIII,)
the MS. _Supplément Arabe, No. 1716_, in the writing of Dom Chavis has
been confounded with No. 1723, which is not written by the Syrian priest
but which contains the originals of the Cazotte Continuation as noted by
M. C. de Perceval (_Les Mille et une Nuits_, etc., vol. viii. Préf. p.
17, et seqq.). It is labelled _Histoires tirées la plupart des Mille et
une Nuits_ | _Supplément Arabe_ | _Volume de_ 742 pages. The thick
quarto measures centimètres 20½ long by 16 wide; the binding is
apparently Italian and the paper is European, but the filegrane or
water-mark, which is of three varieties, a coronet, a lozenge-shaped
bunch of circles and a nondescript, may be Venetian or French. It
contains 765 pages, paginated after European fashion, but the last
eleven leaves are left blank reducing the number written to 742; and the
terminal note, containing the date, is on the last leaf. Each page
numbers 15 lines and each leaf has its catchword (_mot de rappel_). It
is not ordered by “karrás” or quires; but is written upon 48 sets of 4
double leaves. The text is in a fair Syrian hand, but not so flowing as
that of No. 1716, by Sháwísh himself, which the well-known Arabist,
Baron de Slane, described as _Bonne écriture orientale de la fin du
XVIII^e Siècle_. The colophon conceals or omits the name of the scribe,
but records the dates of incept Kánún II^d. (the Syrian winter-month
January) A.D. 1772; and of conclusion Naysán (April) of the same year.
It has head-lines disposed recto and verso, _e.g._,
Haykár —— Al-Hakím,
and parentheses in the text after European fashion with an imperfect
list at the beginning. A complete index is furnished at the end. The
following are the order and pagination of the fourteen stories:—
1. The King of Persia and his Ten Wazirs pp. 1 to 62
2. Say of the Sage Haykár 140
3. History of King Sabúr and the Three Wise Men 183
4. The Daughter of Kisrà the King (Al Bundukâni) 217
5. The Caliph and the Three Kalandars 266
6. Julnár the Sea-born 396
7. The Duenna, the Linguist-dame and the King’s Son 476
8. The Tale of the Warlock and the young Cook of Baghdad 505
9. The Man in the Bímáristán or Madhouse 538
10. The Tale of Attáf the Syrian 588
11. The History of Sultan Habíb and Durrat al-Ghawwás 628
12. The Caliph and the Fisherman 686
13. The Cock and the Fox 718
14. The Fowl-let and the Fowler 725 to 739
(finis)
Upon these tales I would be permitted to offer a few observations. No.
i. begins with a Christian formula:—“In the name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Ghost” (Rúhu’l-Kudus); and it is not translated,
because it is a mere replica of the Ten Wazirs (Suppl. vol. i. 55–151).
The second, containing “The Sage Haykár,” which is famous in folk-lore
throughout the East, begins with the orthodox Moslem “Bismillah,” etc.
“King Sapor” is prefaced by a Christian form which to the Trinitarian
formula adds, “Allah being One”: this, again, is not translated, because
it repeats the “Ebony Horse” (vol. v. 1). No. iv., which opens with the
Bismillah, is found in the Sabbágh MS. of The Nights (see Suppl. vol.
iii.) as the _Histoire de Haroun al-Raschid et de la descendante de
Chosroès_. _Albondoqani_ (Nights lxx.–lxxvii.). No. v., which also has
the Moslem invocation, is followed by the “Caliph and the Three
Kalandars,” where, after the fashion of this our MS., the episodes (vol.
i., 104–130), are taken bodily from “The Porter and the Three Ladies of
Baghdad” (i. 82), and are converted into a separate History. No. vi. has
no title to be translated, being a replica of the long sea-tale in vol.
vii., 264. Nos. vii., viii., ix., x. and xi. lack initiatory invocation
betraying Christian or Moslem provenance. No. viii. is the History of Sí
Mustafá and of Shaykh Shaháb al-Dín in the Turkish Tales: it also occurs
in the Sabbágh MS. (Nights ccclxxxvi.–cdviii.). The Bímáristán (No.
ix.), alias Ali Chalabi (Halechalbé), has already appeared in my Suppl.
vol. iv. 49. No. xii., “The Caliph and the Fisherman,” makes Harun
al-Rashid the hero of the tale in “The Fisherman and the Jinni” (vol. i.
38); it calls the ensorcelled King of the Black Islands Mahmúd, and his
witch of a wife Sitt al-Mulúk, and it also introduces into the Court of
the Great Caliph Hasan Shumán and Ahmad al-Danaf, the prominent
personages in “The Rogueries of Dalílah” (vol. vii. 144) and its sister
tale (vii. 172). The two last Histories, which are ingenious enough,
also lack initial formulæ.
Dr. Russell (the historian of Aleppo) brought back with him a
miscellaneous collection comprising—
Al-Bundukani, or the Robber Caliph;
The Power of Destiny (Attaf the Syrian);
Ali Chelebi, or the Bimaristan;
King Sankharib and the Sage Haykar;
Bohetzad (Azádbakht) and the Ten Wazirs; and, lastly,
Habib, or the Arabian Knight.
The Encyclopedia Britannica (ixth edit. of MDCCCLXXVI), which omits the
name of Professor Galland, one of the marking Orientalists in his own
day, has not ignored Jacques Cazotte, remarkable for chequered life and
noble death. Born in 1720, at Dijon, where his father was Chancellor for
the Province of Burgundy, he studied with the Jesuits at home; and,
having passed through the finishing process in Paris, he was introduced
to public life by the _Administration de la Marine_. He showed early
taste for poetry as well as prose, and composed songs, tales, and an
opera—the “Thousand and one Fopperies.” His physique is described as a
tall figure, with regular features, expressive blue eyes, and fine hair,
which he wore long. At twenty-seven he became a commissary in the office
and was presently sent as Comptroller to the Windward Islands, including
the French Colony Martinique, which then as now was famous for
successful woman-kind. At these head quarters he became intimate with
Père Lavalette, Superior of the S. J. Mission, and he passed some years
of a pleasant and not unintellectual career. Returning to Paris on leave
of absence he fell in with a country-woman and an old family friend,
Madame La Poissonnier, who had been appointed head nurse to the Duke of
Burgundy; and, as the child in her charge required lulling to sleep,
Cazotte composed the favourite _romances (ballads)_, _Tout au beau
milieu des Ardennes_, and _Commère Il faut chauffer le lit_. These
_scherzi_, however, brought him more note than profit, and soon
afterwards he returned to Martinique.
During his second term of service Cazotte wrote his heroic-comic poem,
the Roman d’Olivier, in twelve cantos, afterwards printed in Paris (2
vols. 8vo, 1765); and it was held a novel and singular composition. When
the English first attacked (in 1759) Saint Pierre of Martinique,
afterwards captured by Rodney in 1762, the sprightly _littérateur_
showed abundant courage and conduct, but over-exertion injured his
health, and he was again driven from his post by sickness. He learned,
on landing in France, that his brother, whilome Vicar-General to M. de
Choiseul, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne, had died and left him a fair
estate, Pierry, near Epernay; he therefore resigned his appointment and
retired with the title “Commissary-General to the Marine.” But presently
he lost 50,000 écus—the whole fruit of his economies—by the speculations
of Père Lavalette to whose hands he had entrusted his estates, negroes,
and effects at Martinique. These had been sold and the cheques had been
forwarded to the owner: the S. J., however, refused to honour them.
Hence the scandal of a law-suit in which Cazotte showed much delicacy
and regard for the feelings of his former tutors.
Meanwhile Cazotte had married Elizabeth Roignon, daughter to the Chief
Justice of Martinique; he returned to the Parisian world with some éclat
and he became an universal favourite on account of his happy wit and
humour, his bonhomie, his perfect frankness, and his hearty amiability.
The vogue of “Olivier” induced him to follow it up with _Le Diable
Amoureux_, a continuation or rather parody of Voltaire’s _Guerre civile
de Genève_: this work was so skilfully carried out that it completely
deceived the world; and it was followed by sundry minor pieces which
were greedily read. Unlike the esprits forts of his age, he became after
a gay youthtide an ardent Christian; he made the Gospel his rule of
life; and he sturdily defended his religious opinions; he had also the
moral courage to enter the lists with M. de Voltaire, then the
idol-in-chief of the classes and the masses.
In later life Cazotte met Dom Chavis, who was translating into a curious
jargon (Arabo-Franco-Italian) certain Oriental tales; and, although he
was nearing the Psalmist’s age-term of man, he agreed to “collaborate.”
The Frenchman used to take the pen at midnight when returning from
“social pleasures,” and work till 4–5 a.m. As he had prodigious facility
and spontaneity he finished his part of the task in two winters. Some of
the tales in the suite, especially that of “Maugraby,” are attributed
wholly to his invention; and, as a rule, his aim and object were to
diffuse his spiritual ideas and to write treatises on moral perfection
under the form of _novelle_.
Cazotte, after a well-spent and honourable life, had reason to expect
with calmness “the evening and ending of a fine day.” But this was not
to be, the Great Revolution had burst like a hurricane over the land,
and he was doomed to die a hero’s death. His character was too candid,
and his disposition too honest, for times which suggested concealment.
He had become one of the Illuminati, and La Harpe ascribed to him the
celebrated prophecy which described the minutest events of the Great
Revolution. A Royalist _pur sang_, he freely expressed his sentiments to
his old friend Ponteau, then Secretary of the Civil List. His letters
came to light shortly after the terrible day, August 10, 1792: he was
summarily arrested at Pierry and brought to Paris, where he was thrown
into prison. On Sept. 3, when violence again waxed rampant, he was
attacked by the patriot-assassins, and was saved only by the devotion of
his daughter Elizabeth, who threw herself upon the old man crying, “You
shall not reach my father’s heart before piercing mine.” The courage of
the noble pair commanded the admiration of the ruffians, and they were
carried home in triumph.
For a few weeks the family remained unmolested, but in those days
“Providence” slept and Fortune did not favour the brave. The
Municipality presently decreed a second arrest, and the venerable
littérateur, aged seventy-two, was sent before the revolutionary
tribunal appointed to deal with the pretended offences of August 10. He
was subjected to an interrogatory of thirty-six hours, during which his
serenity and presence of mind never abandoned him and impressed even his
accusers. But he was condemned to die for the all-sufficient reason:—“It
is not enough to be a good son, a good husband, a good father, one must
also prove oneself a good citizen.” He spent his last hours with his
confessor, wrote to his wife and children, praying his family not to
beweep him, not to forget him, and never to offend against their God;
and this missive, with a lock of his hair for his beloved daughter, he
finally entrusted to the ghostly father. Upon the scaffold he turned to
the crowd and cried, “I die as I have lived, truthful and faithful to my
God and my King.” His venerable head, crowned with the white honours of
age, fell on Sept. 25, 1792.
Cazotte printed many works, some of great length, as the _Œuvres
Morales_, which filled 7 vols, 8vo. in the complete edition of 1817; and
the biographers give a long list of publications, besides those
above-mentioned, romantic, ethical, and spiritual, in verse and in
prose. But he wrote mainly for his own pleasure, he never sought fame,
and consequently his reputation never equalled his merit. His name,
however, still smells sweet, passing sweet, amid the corruption and the
frantic fury of his day and the memory of the witty, genial, and
virtuous littérateur still blossoms in the dust.
During my visit to Paris in early 1887, M. Hermann Zotenberg was kind
enough to show me the MS., No. 1723, containing the original tales of
the “New Arabian Nights.” As my health did not allow me sufficient
length of stay to complete my translation, Professor Houdas (for whom,
see Appendix, p. 10, Suppl. vol. iii.) kindly consented to copy the
excerpts required, and to explain the words and phrases which a
deficiency of dictionaries and vocabularies at an outlandish port-town
rendered unintelligible to me.
In translating a MS., which has never been collated or corrected and
which abounds in errors of omission and commission, I have been guided
by one consideration only, which is, that my first and chiefest duty to
the reader is to make my book readable at the same time that it lays
before him the whole matter which the text offered or ought to have
offered. Hence I have not hesitated when necessary to change the order
of the sentences, to delete tautological words and phrases, to suppress
descriptions which are needlessly re-iterated, and in places to supply
the connecting links without which the chain of narrative is weakened or
broken. These are liberties which must be allowed, unless the
translator’s object be to produce a mutilated version of a mutilation.
Here also I must express my cordial gratitude to Mr. Alexander J.
Cotheal, Consul-General for Nicaragua, in New York. This distinguished
Arabist not only sent to me across the seas his MS. containing, _inter
alia_, “The Tale of Attaf,” he also undertook to translate it for my
collection upon my distinct assurance that its many novelties of
treatment deserved an especial version. Mr. W. F. Kirby has again
conferred upon my readers an important service by his storiological
notes. Lastly, Dr. Steingass has lent me, as before, his valuable aid in
concluding as he did in commencing this series, and on putting the
colophon to
The Sixteenth Volume
OF
_THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT_.
RICHARD F. BURTON.
UNITED SERVICE CLUB,
_August 1st, 1888_.
I INSCRIBE THIS FINAL VOLUME
TO
THE MANY EXCELLENT FRIENDS
WHO LENT ME THEIR VALUABLE AID IN COPYING AND ANNOTATING
The Thousand Nights and a Night.
THE SAY OF HAYKAR THE SAGE.[6]
=In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate, the
Eternal One, the Termless, the Timeless, and of Him aidance we await.
And here we begin (with the assistance of Allah Almighty and His fair
furtherance) to indite the Story of Haykar the Sage, the Philosopher,
the Wazir of Sankharib[7] the Sovran, and of the son of the wise man’s
sister Nadan[8] the Fool.=