FROM THE PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES TO THE TIME OF SIR WILLIAM JONES.
Travels to India and Persia--Olearius and his Work--Progress
of Persian Studies--Roger--India's Language and Literature remain
unknown--Oriental Influence in German Literature.
Little can be said of Oriental influence on German poetry during the
next three centuries after the Great Age of Discovery, and in an
investigation like the one in hand, which confines itself to poetry
only, this chapter might perhaps be omitted. Nevertheless a brief
consideration of this influence on German literature in general during
this period forms an appropriate transition to the time when the
Oriental movement in Germany really began.
After the Portuguese had sailed around Africa, direct and uninterrupted
communication with the far East was established. Portuguese, Dutch,
French and English merchants appeared successively on the scene to get
their share of the rich India commerce. German merchants also made a
transitory effort. The firm of the Welsers in Augsburg sent two
representatives who accompanied the expedition of Francisco d' Almeida
in 1505 and that of Tristão da Cunha in the following year. But
conditions were not favorable and the attempt was not renewed.[49]
Travels to India and Persia now multiplied rapidly, and accounts of such
travels became very common; so common, in fact, that already in the
sixteenth century collections of them were made, the best known being
the _Novus Orbis_ of Grynaeus, and the works of Ramusio and Hakluyt.
Among the more famous travellers of the sixteenth century we may mention
Barthema, Federici, Barbosa, Fitch and van Linschoten for India, and the
brothers Shirley for Persia. In the seventeenth century we may cite the
names of della Valle, Baldaeus, Tavernier, Bernier and the German
Mandelslo for India, while those of Olearius and Chardin are most famous
in connection with Persia. And that books of travel were much read in
Germany is attested by the number of editions and translations which
appeared there. Thus among the earliest books printed there we have a
translation of Marco Polo (Nuremberg), 1477,[50] reprinted repeatedly,
e.g. at Augsburg, 1481, in the _Novus Orbis_, 1534 (Latin version), at
Basle, 1534 (German translation of the preceding), while Mandeville's
memoirs were so popular as to become finally a _Volksbuch_.[51]
The account of Olearius is of special interest to us. It gives an
excellent description of Persia, and above all it gives us valuable
information on the literature and language. Olearius is struck by the
similarity of many Persian words to corresponding words in German and
Latin, and hints at the kinship of these idioms, though, looking only at
the vocabulary and not at the structure, he supposes Persian to be
related to Arabic.[52] He tells us of the high esteem in which poetry
was held by the Persians, and notices that rhyme is an indispensable
requisite of their poetic art. He also mentions some of their leading
poets, among them Saʻdī, H̱āfiḍ, Firdausī and Niḍāmī.[53]
* * * * *
But what interests us most is the translation which he made of the
_Gulistān_, published in 1654, under the title of _Persianischer
Rosenthal_. True, it was not the first in point of time. As early as
1634 du Ryer had published at Paris an incomplete French version, and
shortly afterwards this version was translated into German by Johann
Friedrich Ochsenbach of Tübingen, but apparently without attracting much
notice.[54] In 1644, Levin Warner of Leyden had given the Persian text
and Latin version of a number of Saʻdī's maxims,[55] while Gentius had
published the whole text with a Latin translation at Amsterdam in 1651.
But it was the version of Olearius that really introduced the _Gulistān_
to Europe.
The edition of Olearius, from which we have cited, contains also a
translation of the _Būstān_, called _Der Persianische Baumgarten_, made,
however, not directly from the Persian, but from a Dutch version.
Besides this, the edition contains also the narratives of two other
travellers, Jürgen Andersen and Volquard Iversen, as well as an account
of Persia by the French missionary Sanson. Iversen, in speaking of the
Parsi religion, gives an essentially correct account of the Zoroastrian
hierarchy, of the supreme god and his seven servants, each presiding
over some special element, evidently an allusion to Ahura Mazda and his
six Amesha Spentas, with the possible addition of Sraosha.[56] Sanson
states that the _Gavres_ have kept up the old Persian language and that
it is entirely different from modern Persian,[57] a distinct recognition
of the existence of the Avestan language. The eighteenth century saw the
discovery of the _Avesta_ by Anquetil du Perron, and its close found men
like Jones, Revizky, de Sacy and Hammer busily engaged in spreading a
knowledge of Persian literature in Europe.
* * * * *
India, as far as its literature was concerned, did not fare so well. The
struggles of European nations for the mastery of that rich empire did
little towards promoting a knowledge of its religion or its language.
Nor were the efforts of missionaries very successful. Most of their
attention was devoted to the Dravidian idioms of Southern India, not to
Sanskrit. We have the authority of Friedrich Schlegel for the statement
that before his time there were but two Germans who were known to have
gained a knowledge of the sacred language, the missionary Heinrich Roth
and the Jesuit Hanxleben.[58] Even their work was not published and was
superseded by that of Jones, Colebrooke and others. Most valuable
information on Hindu religion was given by the Dutch preacher Abraham
Roger in his well known book _De Open-Deure tot het Verborgen
Heydendom_, published at Leyden in 1651, two years after the author's
death. This book also gave to the West the first specimen of Sanskrit
literature in the shape of a Dutch version of two hundred maxims of
Bhartṛhari, not a direct translation from the Sanskrit, but based on
oral communication imparted by a learned Brahman Padmanaba.[59] As a
rule the rendering is very faithful, sometimes even literal. The maxims
were translated into German by C. Arnold and were published at Nuremberg
in 1663.
This, however, ended the progress of Sanskrit literature in Europe for
the time being. Information came in very slowly. The _Lettres
Édifiantes_ of the Jesuits, and the accounts of travellers like Sonnerat
began to shed additional light on the religious customs of India, but
its sacred language remained a secret. In 1785, Herder wrote that what
Europe knew of Hindu literature was only late legends, that the Sanskrit
language as well as the genuine Vēda would probably for a long time
remain unknown.[60] Sir William Jones, however, had founded the Asiatic
Society a year before and the first step towards the discovery of
Sanskrit had really thus been taken.
But let us consider what bearing all this had on German poetry. In this
field the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were desperately dreary.
In the former century the leading thinkers of Germany were absorbed in
theological controversy, while in the next the Thirty Years' War
completely crushed the spirit of the nation. There is little poetry in
this period that calls for even passing notice in this investigation.
Paul Fleming, although he was with Olearius in Persia, has written
nothing that would interest us here. Andreas Gryphius took the subject
for his drama "Catharina von Georgien" (1657) from Persian history. It
is the story of the cruel execution of the Georgian queen by order of
Shāh ʻAbbās in 1624.[61] Nor is Oriental influence in the eighteenth
century more noticeable. Occasionally an Oriental touch is brought in.
Pfeffel makes his "Bramine" read a lesson to bigots; Matthias Claudius
in his well-known poem makes Herr Urian pay a visit to the Great Mogul;
Bürger, in his salacious story of the queen of Golkonde, transports the
lovers to India; Lessing, in "Minna von Barnhelm" (Act i. Sc. 12)
represents Werner as intending to take service with Prince Heraklius of
Persia, and he chooses an Oriental setting for his "Nathan der Weise."
* * * * *
In the prose writings of this period Oriental influence is much more
discernible. In the literature dealing with magic Zoroaster always
played a prominent part. The invention of the Cabala was commonly
ascribed to him.[62] European writers on the black art, as for instance
Bodinus, whose _De Magorum Dæmonomania_ was translated by Fischart
(Strassburg, 1591), repeat about Zoroaster all the fables found in
classical or patristic writers. So the Iranian sage figures prominently
also in the Faust-legend. He is the prince of magicians whose book Faust
studies so diligently that he is called a second Zoroastris.[63] This
book passes into the hands of Faust's pupil Christoph Wagner, who uses
it as diligently as his master.[64]
In all this folkbook-literature India is a mere name. Thus in the oldest
Faust-book of 1587 the sorcerer makes a journey in the air through
England, Spain, France, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, India, Africa and
Persia, and finally comes to _Morenland_.[65]
Of all the prose-writings, however, the novel, which began to flourish
luxuriously in the seventeenth century, showed the most marked tendency
to make use of Eastern scenery and episodes, and incidentally to exhibit
the author's erudition on everything Oriental. Thus Grimmelshausen
transports his hero Simplicissimus into Asia through the device of
Tartar captivity. Lohenstein, in his ultra-Teutonic romance of Arminius,
manages to introduce an Armenian princess and a prince from Pontus. The
latter, as we learn from the autobiography with which he favors us in
the fifth book, has been in India. He took with him a Brahman sage, who
burned himself on reaching Greece. Evidently Lohenstein had read
Arrian's description of the burning of Kalanos (Arrian vii. 2, 3). The
_Asiatische Banise_ of Heinrich Anselm von Ziegler-Kliphausen, perhaps
the most popular German novel of the seventeenth century, was based
directly on the accounts of travellers to Farther India, not on Greek or
Latin writings.[66] Other authors who indulged their predilection for
Oriental scenery were Buchholtz in his _Herkules und Valisca_ (1659),
Happel in _Der Asiatische Onogambo_ (Hamb. 1673), Bohse (Talander) in
_Die durchlauchtigste Alcestis aus Persien_ (Leipz. 1689) and
others.[67]
The most striking instance of the Oriental tendency is furnished by
Grimmelshausen's _Joseph_, first published probably in 1667.[68] Here we
meet the famous story of Yūsuf and Zalīχā as it is given in the _Qurān_
or in the poems of Firdausī and Jāmī. The well-known episode of the
ladies cutting their hands instead of the lemons in consequence of their
confusion at the sight of Joseph's beauty is here narrated at
length.[69] In the preface the author states explicitly that he has
drawn, not only from the Bible, but from Hebrew, Arabic and Persian
writings as well.[70] That he should have made use of Arabic material is
credible enough, for Dutch Orientalists like Golius and Erpenius had
made this accessible.[71] That he had some idea of Persian poetry is
shown by his allusions to the fondness of Orientals for handsome
boys.[72] On the other hand, what he says of Zoroaster in the _Musai_
can all be found in Latin and Greek writers.[73] Here we get the
biography of Joseph's chief servant in the form of an appendix to the
novel, and the author displays all the learning which fortunately his
good taste had excluded from the story itself. Of the Iranian tradition
concerning Zoroaster's death as given in the Pahlavī writings or the
_Shāh Nāmah_[74] Grimmelshausen knew absolutely nothing; nor can we find
the slightest evidence to substantiate his assertion that for the work
in question he drew from Persian or Arabic sources.
* * * * *
In the eighteenth century the Oriental tale was extremely popular in
France, and thence it spread to other countries. The translation of the
Thousand and One Nights by Galland (Paris, 1704-1712) and of the Persian
Tales by Pétis de La Croix called into being a host of similar French
productions, which in turn found their way into German literature. The
most fruitful writer in this genre was Simon Gueulette, the author of
_Soirées Bretonnes_ (1712) and _Mille et un quart d'heures_ (1715). The
latter contains the story of a prince who is punished for his
presumption by having two snakes grow from his shoulders. To appease
them they are fed on fresh human brain.[75] Of course, we recognize at
once the story of the tyrant Ẕaẖẖāk familiar from Firdausī. The material
for the _Soirées_ was drawn largely from Armeno's _Peregrinaggio_, which
purports to be a translation from the Persian, although no original is
known to scholars.[76] From these _Soirées_ Voltaire took the material
for his _Zadig_.[77] In most cases, however, all that was Oriental about
such stories was the name and the costume. So popular was the Oriental
costume that Montesquieu used it for satirizing the Parisians in his
_Lettres Persanes_ (1721). Through French influence the Oriental story
came to Germany, and so we get such works as August Gottlob Meissner's
tales of _Nushirvan_, _Massoud_, _Giaffar_, _Sadi_ and others,[78] or
Klinger's _Derwisch_. Wieland used the Eastern costume in his _Schach
Lolo_ (1778) and in his politico-didactic romance of the wise
Danischmende. This fondness for an Oriental atmosphere continues even
into the nineteenth century and may be seen in such works as Tieck's
_Abdallah_ and Hauff's _Karawane_. But this brings us to the time when
India and Persia were to give up their secrets, and when the influence
of their literature begins to be a factor in the literature of Europe.
FOOTNOTES:
[49] See Kunstmann, Die Fahrt der ersten Deutschen nach dem
portugiesischen Indien in Hist. pol. Blätter f. d. Kath. Deutschl.,
München, 1861, vol. 48, pp. 277-309.
[50] For title see Panzer, Annalen d. älteren deutsch. Litt., Nürnb.
1788.
[51] See Grässe, op. cit. ii. 2. pp. 773, 774.
[52] Des Welt-berühmten Adami Olearii colligirte und viel vermehrte
Reise-Beschreibungen etc., Hamb. 1696, chap. xxv.
[53] Ibid. chap. xxviii. p. 327 seq.
[54] Olearius, op. cit., Preface to the Rosenthal. Full title of
Ochsenbach's book in Buch der Beispiele, ed. Holland, p. 258, n. 1.
[55] Proverbiorum et Sententiarum Persicarum Centuria, Leyden, 1644. In
the preface the author says that he undertakes his work, "cum e genuinis
Persarum scriptis nihil hactenus in Latinam linguam sit translatum."
[56] Iversen in op. cit. chap. xi. p. 157 seq. Cf. Jackson, Die
iranische Religion in Grdr. iran. Ph. iii. pp. 633, 634, 636.
[57] Sanson in op. cit. pp. 48, 49.
[58] Fr. Schlegel, Weisheit der Indier, Heidelb. 1808, Vorrede, p. xi.
[59] See preface to op. cit.
[60] Ideen zur Phil. d. Gesch. der Menschheit, chap. iv. ed. Suphan,
vol. 13, p. 415.
[61] The story is given in Chardin's book, though this was not the
source. See Andreas Gryphius Trauerspiele, ed. Herm. Palm, BLVS. vol.
162, pp. 138, 139.
[62] See Zoroasters Telescop oder Schlüssel zur grossen divinatorischen
Kabbala der Magier in Das Kloster ed. J. Scheible, Stuttg. 1846, vol.
iii. p. 414 seq., esp. p. 439.
[63] Widmann's Faust in Das Kloster, vol. ii. p. 296; Der Christlich
Meynende, ibid. ii. p. 85.
[64] Christoph. Wagners Leben, ibid. vol. iii. p. 78.
[65] Ibid. ii. p. 1004.
[66] Ed. by Felix Bobertag, KDNL. vol. 37, Einl. p. 8.
[67] On this see Felix Bobertag, Gesch. des Romans und der ihm
verwandten Dichtungsgattungen in Deutschland, Bresl. 1876, vol. ii. 2.
pp. 110 seq., 140, 160.
[68] In Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus ed. Adalb. Keller, Stuttg.
1862 (BLVS. vol. 66), vol. iv. pp. 707 seq.
[69] Op. cit. pp. 759, 760.
[70] Ibid, p. 710; again p. 841.
[71] The Story of Joseph from the Qurān was published in Arabic with a
Latin version by Erpenius as early as 1617. See Zenker, Bibl. Orient.,
Leipz. 1846, vol. i. p. 169, No. 1380.
[72] Keller, op. cit. p. 742.
[73] See Jackson, Zoroaster, Appendix V (by Gray).
[74] See Jackson, Zoroaster, pp. 127-132.
[75] Rud. Fürst, Die Vorläufer der Modernen Novelle im achtzehnten
Jahrhundert, Halle a. S. 1897. p. 51.
[76] Some of the stories are undoubtedly Oriental in origin. The work
appeared at Venice, 1557, and was translated into German, in 1583, by
Johann Wetzel under the title Die Reise der Söhne Giaffers. Ed. by Herm.
Fischer and Joh. Bolte (BLVS, vol. 208), Tüb. 1895.
[77] Fürst, op. cit. p. 52. The name is derived from the Arabic صد يق
"speaker of the truth," as pointed out by Hammer in Red. p. 326. See
essay L'ange et l'hermite by Gaston Paris in La Poésie du Moyen Age,
Paris, 1887, p. 151.
[78] Fürst, op. cit. p. 154.