prey is to be found in the 5th Canto of the Finnish Kalevala.
Väinäimöinen, the old minstrel, is fishing in the lake where his love,
Aino, has drowned herself, because she would not marry an old man. He
hooks a salmon of very peculiar appearance, and while he is speculating
about cutting it up and cooking it, it leaps from the boat into the
water, and then reproaches him with his folly, telling him that it is
Aino (now transformed into a waternymph) who threw herself in his way to
be his life-companion, but that owing to his folly in proposing to eat
her, he has now lost her for ever. Hereupon she disappears, and all his
efforts to rediscover her are fruitless.
_THE TALE OF ATTAF (pp. 165–222)._
P. 178, note 6.—I may add that an episode is inserted in the
Europeanised version of this story, relative to the loves of the son of
Chebib and the Princess of Herak, which is evidently copied from the
first nocturnal meeting of Kamaralzaman and Budur (No. 21, Night iii.,
pp. 223–242), and is drawn on exactly similar lines (Weber, i. pp.
508–510).
_HISTORY OF PRINCE HABIB, AND WHAT BEFEL HIM WITH THE LADY DURRAT
AL-GHAWWAS. (pp. 223–261)._
P. 256, note 1.—Epithets of colour, as applied to seas, frequently have
a purely mythological application in Eastern tales. Thus, in the story
of Zaher and Ali (cf. my “New Arabian Nights,” p. 13) we read, “You are
now upon an island of the Black Sea, which encompasses all other seas,
and flows within Mount Kaf. According to the reports of travellers, it
is a ten years’ voyage before you arrive at the Blue Sea, and it takes
full ten years to traverse this again to reach the Green Sea, after
which there is another ten years’ voyage before you can reach the Greek
Sea, which extends to inhabited countries and islands.”
Kenealy says (in a note to his poem on “Night”) that the Atlantic Ocean
is called the Sea of Darkness, on account of the great irruption of
water which occasioned its formation; but this is one of his positive
statements relative to facts not generally known to the world, for which
he considered it unnecessary to quote his authority.
P. 261.—According to one account of impalement which I have seen, the
stake is driven through the flesh of the back beneath the skin.
Reading the account of the Crucifixion between the lines, I have come to
the conclusion that the sudden death of Christ was due to his drinking
from the sponge which had just been offered to him. The liquid, however,
is said to have been vinegar, and not water; but this might have had the
same effect, or water may have been substituted, perhaps with the
connivance of Pilate. In the latter case vinegar may only have been
mentioned as a blind, to deceive the fanatical Jews. The fragmentary
accounts of the Crucifixion which have come down to us admit of many
possible interpretations of details.
Appendix IV.
_ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS._
(Cf. Nights, x., App. ii., pp. 465–532).
BY W. F. KIRBY.
Herewith I add notes on any works of importance which I had not seen
when my “Contributions” were published, or which have appeared since.
Owing to the occasional missing of a proof, some misprints escaped
correction in my former article, and these I will place first, along
with the correction of other slight errors. Tales and more important
notes will follow under the same headings as before.
ERRATA, &C., IN VOL. X.
P. 470, l. 21, _for_ “even has” _read_ “has even,” l. 3 from bottom,
_for_ “Chelih” _read_ “Chebib.”
P. 474, ll. 6 and 5 from bottom, _for_ “taken from Dow’s Persian Tales
of Inatulla,” _read_ “taken from the latter part of that of Prince
Fadlallah (1001 Days, cf. our p. 500, No. 4a; or from No. 251j of our
Table).”
P. 491, l. 14 from bottom, _after_ “frontispieces” _add_ “and an
Appendix including a table of the tales contained in the MS.”
P. 492, l. 35, _for_ “3c” _read_ “3e.”
P. 495, l. 14 from bottom, _for_ “Burton iii.” _read_ “Burton ii.”
P. 497, l. 5, _for_ “Xailonn” _read_ “Xailoun,” l. 22, _for_ “Mr. W. R.
Clouston” _read_ “Mr. W. A. Clouston,” l. 11 from bottom, _for_
“Kasiwirski” _read_ “Kasimirski.”
P. 500, l. 6 _for_ “Dilora” _read_ “Dilara,” l. 8 (No 4a), _add_ “ =
Nos. 184 and 251,” l. 16 (No. 5e.) _add_ “cf. Nos. 135q and 225,” l. 22
(No. 8), _add_ “ = No. 181r.”
P. 501, l. 1, _after_ “ants” _add_ “Weber (ii. p. 426) has substituted
wild beasts!”
P. 506, l. 16, _for_ “160” _read_ “140.”
P. 508. l. 8, _for_ “Zeloudvit” _read_ “Zelouide et,” l. 19, _for_
“Rose-Tree” _read_ “Nose-Tree,” l. 13 from bottom, _for_ “Little Fairy”
_read_ “Little Fairly.”
P. 511, l. 22, _for_ “Nouronnihar” _read_ “Nouronihar,” l. 8 from
bottom, _for_ “Mahommedans” _read_ “Mohammedans,” l. 5–3 from bottom,
_read_ “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.”
P. 513, l. 24 from bottom, _read_ “My, you ought to seen old Henry the
Eight,” l. 21 from bottom, _for_ “Nell Gwynne” _read_ “Nell Gwynn,” l.
13 from bottom, _for_ “corn” _read_ “ourn.”
P. 519, No. 100, _omit_ “?” in columns 10 and 15, substituting blanks.
P. 532, is of course Sir R. F. Burton’s, and not mine.
_GALLAND’S MS. AND TRANSLATIONS (pp. 465–470)._
P. 468, l. 4 from bottom, Destains’ “Mille et une Nuits,” should be
noticed on p. 472, after l. 2. The full title is as follows:—
_Les Mille et une Nuits_, Contes Arabes, Traduits en François par
Galland, Nouvelle édition revue sur les textes orientaux et augmentée de
plusieurs nouvelles et contes traduites des langues orientaux, par M.
Destains, précédée d’un notice historique sur Galland par M. Charles
Nodier. Paris, 1822.
This edition is in 6 vols. 8vo, and proves to be of no special interest.
The first 5 vols. contain the ordinary version of Galland, and the 6th
vol. contains a selection of tales translated from Scott’s vol. 6, eked
out with Chavis and Cazotte’s Story of Habib. (No. 250 of our Table).
_ZOTENBERG’S WORK ON ALADDIN AND ON VARIOUS MANUSCRIPTS OF THE NIGHTS._
One of the most important works which has appeared lately in connection
with the Thousand and one Nights, is the following:
_Histoire d’ ‘Alâ Al-Dîn ou la Lampe Merveilleuse._ Texte Arabe publié
avec une notice sur quelques manuscrits des Mille et une Nuits par H.
Zotenberg, roy. 8vo, Paris, Imprimérie Nationale, 1888, p., 70.
The publication of this work puts an end to the numerous conjectures of
scholars as to the source of Galland’s unidentified tales; and the notes
on various MSS. of the Nights are also very valuable. It therefore
appears desirable to give a tolerably full sketch of the contents of the
book.[432]
M. Zotenberg begins with general remarks, and passes on to discuss
Galland’s edition (section 1). Although Galland frequently speaks of
Oriental tales[433] in his journal, kept at Constantinople in 1672 and
1673, yet as he informs us, in his Dedication to the Marquise d’ O., he
only succeeded in obtaining from Syria a portion of the MS. of the
Nights themselves with considerable difficulty after his return to
France.
There is some doubt as to the date of appearance of the first 6 vols. of
Galland’s “Mille et une Nuit.” According to Caussin de Perceval, vols. 1
and 2 were published together in 1704, and vols. 3 and 4 in the course
of the same year. Nevertheless, in the copy in the Bibliothèque
Nationale, vols. 1 and 4 are dated 1704, and vols. 2, 5 and 6 are dated
1705; vol. 3 is missing, just as we have only odd volumes of the 2nd,
3rd and 4th English editions in the British Museum, the 1st being still
quite unknown.
M. Zotenberg proceeds to give an account of Galland’s MS. (cf. Nights,
x. App. p. 465), and illustrates it by a specimen page in facsimile.
Judging from the character of the writing, &c., he considers it to have
been transcribed about the second half of the 14th century (Sir R. F.
Burton suggests about A.D. 1384). It is curious that there is a MS. of
the 15th century in the Library of the Vatican, which appears to be
almost a counterpart of Galland’s, and likewise contains only the first
282 Nights. Galland’s MS. wants a leaf extending from part of Night 102
to the beginning of Night 104, and containing an account of the
Hunchback and his buffooneries; this hiatus is filled up in the Vatican
MS.
Habìcht’s version is noted as more approaching Galland’s MS. than do the
texts founded on the Egyptian texts; but in thus speaking, Zotenberg
does not notice the assertion that Habìcht’s MS., though obtained at
Tunis, came originally from Egypt. He considers the ordinary Egyptian
texts to be generally abridged and condensed.
Although it is clear that Galland made great use of this MS. for his
translation, yet M. Zotenberg points out numerous discrepancies,
especially those at the commencement of the work, which led Caussin de
Perceval to regard Galland’s work as a mere paraphrase of the original.
M. Zotenberg, however (p. 14), writes, “Évidemment, Galland, pour la
traduction du commencement du récit, à suivi un texte plus developpé que
celui du MS. 1508, texte dont la rédaction égyptienne ne presente qu’un
maladroit abrégé.” He quotes other instances which seem to show that
Galland had more than one text at his disposal.
Section II.—At the beginning of the 17th century, only two MS. of the
Nights existed in the libraries of Paris, one in Arabic, and the other
in Turkish. The Arabic MS. contains 870 Nights, and is arbitrarily
divided into 29 sections. M. Zotenberg considers that it was to this MS.
that Galland referred, when he said that the complete work was in 36
parts. The tales follow the order of our Table as far as No. 7 (Nos.
2ab, 2ac and 3ba are wanting), the remainder are irregular, and run as
follows: 153, 154, 154a, 20; story of Khailedján ibn Hámán, the Persian;
Story of the Two Old Men, and of Báz al-Aschháb Abou Lahab; 9,
apparently including as episodes 9a, 9aa, 21, 8, 9b, 170, 181r to 181bb,
137, 154 (commencement repeated), 181u to 181bb (repeated), 135a,
Adventures of a traveller who entered a pond (étang) and underwent
metamorphoses:[434] anecdotes and apothegms; a portion of the Kalila and
Dimna?
The Turkish MS. (in 11 vols.) is made up of several imperfect copies,
which have been improperly put together. The bulk is formed by vols.
2–10 which are written in three different hands, and some of which bear
date 1046 A.H. The contents of these nine vols. are as follows:
Introduction and 1–3, (wanting 2ab); Story of ’Abdallah of Basra; 5;
Story of ’Attáf ibn Ismá’il al-Schoqláni of Damascus and the schaikh
Abou-’l-Baraka al-Nawwám, 6; Story told by the Christian Merchant
(relating to Qamar al-Zamán) during the reign of Sultan Mahmoud, and
different from the story known under this title; Story of Ahmad
al-Saghir (the little) and Schams al-Qosour; Story of the Young Man of
Baghdad and the Bathman (Baigneur, attendant in a Hammám), 7; 153, 21;
Story of Khaledjan ibn Maháni; Story of سنمنح and غوثان (or
غوثبان); Story of Nour al-Din ‘Ali and of Dounya (or Dinar) of
Damascus, 133; Story of Prince Qamar-Khan and of the schaikh ’Ata, of
the Sultan Mahmoud-Khán, of Bahrám-Scháh, of ’Abdallah ibn Hilal, of
Harout and Marout, &c.; Story of Qowwat al-Qoloub; 9, including as
episodes 9a; 8; Story of Moubaref who slept in the bath; (? = 96); and
170; Fables.
The other volumes (1 and 11 of the MS.) both contain the beginning of
the MS. Vol. 1 was written towards the end of the 17th century, and
extends about as far Night 55, concluding with No. 7, which follows No.
3. Vol. 11., which once belonged to Galland, includes only a portion of
the Introduction. The text of these two fragments is similar, but
differs considerably from that of vol. 2 of the MS.; and specimens of
the commencement of vols. 1 and 2 are given to shew this. Yet it is
singular that Galland does not seem to have used these Turkish volumes;
and the second MS. which he actually used, like the 4th vol. of the copy
preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, appears to be missing.
M. Zotenberg then remarks on the missing vol. 4 of Galland, and quotes
extracts from Galland’s Diary, shewing that Nos. 191, 192 and 192a,
which were surreptitiously introduced into his work without his
knowledge, and greatly to his annoyance, were translated by Petis de la
Croix, and were probably intended to be included in the Thousand and One
Days, which was published in 1710. “Comme la plupart de ces contes, ils
sont tirés de l’ouvrage turc intitulé الفرج بعد الشدة, dont ils
forment le 6^e, le 8^e et le 9^e récit.” (Zotenberg, p. 27.)
Then follows Section iii., one of the most important in the book, in
which extracts from Galland’s Diary of 1709 are quoted, shewing that he
was then in constant communication with a Christian Maronite of Aleppo,
named Hanna (Jean), who was brought to Paris by the traveller Paul
Lucas, and who related stories to Galland, of which the latter took
copious notes, and most of which he worked up into the later volumes of
his “Mille et une Nuit” (_sic_). Among these were 193, 194a, 194b, 59,
197, 198, 174, 195, 194c, 196. The following tales he did not use: An
Arab story of two cousins, Camar eddin and Bedr el Bodour; the Golden
City (another version of the story of the Three Princes, in No. 198,
combined with the story of the woman who slew pretenders who were unable
to solve a riddle); The Three Princes, the Genius Morhagian, and his
Daughters; and the story of the seller of ptisanne (or diet-drinks) and
his son Hassan.
Further extracts from Galland’s Diary are added, extending from the time
of Hanna’s departure from Paris between June and October, 1709, and the
completion of the 12th volume of the Mille et une Nuit in 1712. These
relate to the gradual progress of the work; and to business in
connection with it; and Hanna’s name is occasionally mentioned.
Hanna supplied Galland with a written version of No. 193, and probably
of 194 a-c; (_i.e._ most of the tales in vols. 9 and 10); but the tales
in vols. 11 and 12 were apparently edited by Galland from his notes and
recollections of Hanna’s narrations. These are Nos. 195, 196, 59, 197
and 198. M. Zotenberg concludes that Hanna possessed a MS. containing
all these tales, part of which he copied for Galland, and that this
copy, like several other important volumes which Galland is known or
believed to have possessed, was lost. M. Zotenberg thinks that we may
expect to meet with most of Hanna’s tales either in other copies of the
Nights, or in some other collection of the same kind. The latter
supposition appears to me to be by far the most probable.
[Section IV.]—M. Zotenberg proceeds to give an account of one or two
very important MSS. of the Nights in the Bibliothèque Nationale. One of
these is a MS. which belonged to the elder Caussin, and was carefully
copied by Michael Sabbagh from a MS. of Baghdad. Prof. Fleischer, who
examined it, states (Journal Asiatique, 1827, t. II., p. 221) that it
follows the text of Habicht, but in a more developed form. M. Zotenberg
copies a note at the end, finishing up with the word كبيكج (Kabíkaj)
thrice repeated. This, he explains, “est le nom du génie préposé au
régne des insectes. Les scribes, parfois, l’invoquent pour preserver
leurs manuscrits de l’atteinte de vers.”
This MS. was copied at Paris on European paper at the beginning of the
century, though Caussin de Perceval was not acquainted with it in 1806,
but only with a MS. of the Egyptian redaction. This MS. agrees with
Galland’s only as far as the 69th Night. It differs from it in two other
points; it contains No. 1c. and the end of No. 3 coincides with the end
of Night 69. The contents of Nights 70–1001 are as follows: 246, 4, 5,
6, 20, 7, 153, 21, 170, 247, The Unhappy Lover confined in the Madhouse
(probably = 204c), 8, 191, 193, 174, 9, 9b (not 9a, or 9aa) and as
episodes, 155, 32, and the story of the two brothers ’Amír and Ghadir,
and their children Djamil and Bathina.
Another MS., used by Chavis and Cazotte, and Caussin de Perceval, was
written in the year 1772. It has hitherto been overlooked, because it
was erroneously stated in the late M. Reinaud’s Catalogue to be a MS.
containing part of the 1001 Nights, extending from Night 282 to Night
631, and copied by Chavis. It is not from Chavis’ hand, and does not
form part of the ordinary version of the Nights, but contains the
following tales: 174, 248, Story of King Sapor, 246, 3a, 36, 3c, 153,
Story of the Intendant, the Interpreter, and the Young Man; 247, 204c,
240, 250, Story of the Caliph and the Fisherman, (probably = 156); the
Cat and the Fox, and the Little Bird and the Fowler.
Another MS., really written by Chavis, commences exactly where Vol. 3 of
Galland’s MS. leaves off; _i.e._ in the middle of No. 21, and extends
from Night 281 to Night 631. M. Zotenberg supposes it to have been
written to supply the place of the last volume of Galland’s set. It
contains the following tales, in addition to the conclusion of No. 21:
170, 247, 204c, 8, 191, 193 and 174. M. Zotenberg suggests that the
first part of this MS. may have been copied from Galland’s last volume,
which may have existed at the time in private hands.
The two last MSS. contain nearly the same tales, though with numerous
variations. M. Zotenberg discusses the hypothesis of Chavis’ MS. being a
translation from the French, and definitely rejects it.
[Section V.]—Here M. Zotenberg discusses the MSS. of the Nights in
general, and divides them into three categories. I. MSS. proceeding from
Muslim parts of Asia. These, except the MSS. of Michael Sabbagh and that
of Chavis, contain only the first part of the work. They are all more or
less incomplete, and stop short in the middle of the text. They are not
quite uniform, especially in their readings, but generally contain the
same tales arranged in the same order. II. Recent MSS. of Egyptian
origin, characterised by a special style, and a more condensed
narrative; by the nature and arrangement of the tales; by a great number
of anecdotes and fables; and by the early part of the work containing
the great romance of chivalry of King Omar Bin Al-Nu’uman. III. MSS.
mostly of Egyptian origin, differing as much among themselves in the
arrangement of the tales, as do those of the other groups.
The following MSS. are mentioned as belonging to the first group:—
I. Galland’s MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Nos. 1506–1508.
II. MS. in the Vatican, No. 782.
III. Dr. Russell’s MS. from Aleppo.
IV. MS. in the Bibl. Nat. (Suppl. 1715, I. and II.).
V. MS. in the Library of Christ Church College, Oxford (No. ccvii.).
VI. MS. in the Library of the India Office, London (No. 2699).
VII. Sir W. Jones’ MS., used by Richardson.
VIII. Rich’s MS. in the Library of the British Museum (Addit. 7404).
IX. MS. in Bibl. Nat. (Suppl. 2522 and 2523).
X. MS. in Bibl. Nat. (Suppl. 1716).
The following MSS. are enumerated as belonging to the second group:—
I. Salt’s MS. (printed in Calcutta in 4 vols).
II.-IV. Three complete MSS. in Bibliothèque Nationale (Suppl. Arabe,
Nos. 1717, 1718, 1719).
V. Incomplete MS. of Vol. II. in Bibl. Nat. (Suppl. Arabe, Nos. 2198
to 2200).
VI. Incomplete MS. of Vol. 4 (Suppl. Arabe, Nos. 2519 to 2521).
VII. Odd vol. containing Nights 656 to 1001 (Suppl. Arabe, No. 1721,
III).
XII. MS. containing Nights 284 to 327. (Suppl. Arabe, No. 1720.)
XIII. MS. in British Museum (Oriental MSS., Nos. 1593 to 1598).
XIV. Ditto, (Oriental MSS., Nos. 2916 to 2919).
XV. Burckhardt’s MS. in the University Library at Cambridge (B. MSS.
106 to 109).
XVI. MS. in the Vatican (Nos. 778 to 781).
XVII. MS. in the Ducal Library at Gotha.
XVIII. Odd vol. in ditto.
XIX. MS. in the Royal Library at Munich.
XX. Ditto, incomplete (De Sacy’s).
XXI. Fragment in the Library of the Royal and Imperial Library at
Vienna (No. CL.).
XXII. MS. in the Imperial Public Library at St. Petersburg (Von
Hammer’s).
XXIII. MS. in the Library of the Institute for the Study of Oriental
languages at St. Petersburg (Italinski’s).
XXIV. Dr. Clarke’s MS. (cf. Nights, x., App. pp. 502–506).
XXV. Caussin de Perceval’s MS
XXVI. Sir W. Ouseley’s MSS.
The above list does not include copies or fragments in various libraries
of which M. Zotenberg has no sufficient information, nor miscellaneous
collections in which tales from the Nights are mixed with others.
Portions of Habicht’s MS. appear to belong to the Egyptian recension,
and others to have come from further East.
There is a MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale (Suppl. Arabe, No. 1721,
IV.) from Egypt, containing the first 210 Nights, which somewhat
resembles Habicht’s MS. both in style and in the arrangement of the
tales. The Third Shaykh’s Story (No. 1 c.) is entirely different from
those in the ordinary MSS., nor is it the same as that in the Turkish
version of the Nights, which is again quite different from either. In
this MS. (No. 1721, IV.) No. 6 is followed by Nos. 7, 174, and 133.
Then follow notices of Anderson’s MS., used by Scott, but which cannot
now be traced; the Calcutta edition of the first 200 Nights; and of the
Wortley Montague MS. These form M. Zotenberg’s third group of MSS.
M. Zotenberg does not enter into the question of the original form, date
and constituents of the primitive work, but concludes that the complete
work as we now have it, only assumed its present form at a comparatively
recent period. But it must not be forgotten that the details,
description, manners, and style of the tales composing this vast
collection, are undergoing daily alteration both from narrators and
copyists.
Then follows an Appendix, in which M. Zotenberg has copied two tales
from Galland’s journals, which he took down as related by the Maronite
Hanna. One of these is new to me; it is the story of the Three Princes,
and the Genius Morhagian and his Daughters (added at the end of this
section); and the other is the well-known story of the Envious Sisters.
The remainder of M. Zotenberg’s volume contains the Arabic text of the
story of ’Ala Al-Din, or the Wonderful Lamp, with numerous critical
notes, most of which refer to Galland’s version. A few pages of Chavis’
text are added for comparison.
The story itself, M. Zotenberg remarks, is modern, giving a faithful
picture of Egyptian manners under the reign of the last Mamlouk Sultans.
Some expressions which occur in the French-Arabic Dictionary of Ellions
Bocthor and of A. Caussin de Perceval, are apparently derived from the
story of ’Ala Al-Din.
_STORY OF THE THREE PRINCES AND THE GENIUS MORHAGIAN AND HIS DAUGHTERS._
[Reprinted by M. Zotenberg (pp. 53–61) from Galland’s Journal, MS.
français, No. 15277, pp. 120–131.] The passages in brackets are
added by the present translator (chiefly where Galland has inserted
“etc.”) to fill up the sense.
When the Sultan of Samarcand had reached a great age, he called the
three princes, his sons, and after observing that he was much pleased to
see how much they loved and revered him, he gave them leave to ask for
whatever they most desired. They had only to speak, and he was ready to
grant them whatever they asked, let it be what it might, on the sole
condition that he should satisfy the eldest first, and the two younger
ones afterwards, each in his turn. The eldest prince, whose name was
Rostam, begged the Sultan to build him a cabinet of bricks of gold and
silver alternately, and roofed with all kinds of precious stones.
The Sultan issued his orders that very day, but before the roof of the
cabinet was finished, indeed before any furniture had been put into it,
Prince Rostam asked his father’s leave to sleep there. The Sultan tried
to dissuade him, saying that [the roof] ought to be finished first; but
the prince was so impatient that he ordered his bed to be removed there,
and he lay down. He was reading the Koran about midnight, when suddenly
the floor opened and he beheld a most hideous genius named Morhagian
rise from the ground, who cried out, “You are a prince, but even if you
were the Sultan himself, I would not refrain from taking vengeance for
your rashness in entering this house which has been built just above the
palace of my eldest daughter.” At the same time he paced around the
cabinet, and struck its walls, when the whole cabinet was reduced to
dust so fine that the wind carried it away, and left not a trace of it.
The prince drew his sword, and pursued the genius, who took to flight
until he came to a well, into which he plunged [and vanished]. When the
prince appeared before his father the Sultan next morning, he was
overwhelmed with confusion [not only at what had happened, but on
account of his disobedience to his father, who reproached him severely
for having disregarded his advice.]