Among the incidents connected with this work, I must not omit to notice
the splendid Divertissement, founded upon it, which was acted at the
Château Royal of Berlin, during the visit of the Grand Duke Nicholas to
that capital, in the year 1822. The different stories composing the work
were represented in Tableaux Vivans and songs; and among the crowd of
royal and noble personages engaged in the performances, I shall mention
those only who represented the principal characters, and whom I find
thus enumerated in the published account of the Divertissement.[vi]
“Fadladin, Grand-Nasir Comte Haack (Maréchal de Cour.)
Aliris, Roi de Bucharie S. A. I. Le Grand Duc.
Lalla Roûkh S. A. I. Le Grande Duchesse.
Aurungzeb, le Grand Mogol { S. A. R. Le Prince Guillaume,
{ frère du Roi.
Abdallah, Père d’Aliris S. A. R. Le Duc de Cumberland.
La Reine, son épouse { S. A. R. La Princesse Louise
{ Radzivill.”
Besides these and other leading personages, there were also brought into
action, under the various denominations of Seigneurs et Dames de
Bucharie, Dames de Cachemire, Seigneurs et Dames dansans à la Fête des
Roses, &c. nearly 150 persons.
Of the manner and style in which the Tableaux of the different stories
are described in the work from which I cite, the following account of
the performance of Paradise and the Peri will afford some specimen:—
“La décoration représentoit les portes brillantes du Paradis, entourées
de nuages. Dans le premier tableau on voyoit la Péri, triste et desolée,
couchée sur le seuil des portes fermées, et l’Ange de lumière qui lui
addresse des consolations et des conseils. Le second représente le
moment où la Péri, dans l’espoir que ce don lui ouvrira l’entrée du
Paradis, recueille la dernière goutte de sang que vient de verser le
jeune guerrier Indien....
“La Péri et l’Ange de lumière répondoient pleinement à l’image et à
l’idée qu’on est tenté de se faire de ces deux individus, et
l’impression qu’a faite généralement la suite des tableaux de cet
épisode délicat et intéressant est loin de s’effacer de notre souvenir.”
In this grand Fête, it appears, originated the translation of Lalla
Rookh into German[vii] verse, by the Baron de la Motte Fouqué; and the
circumstances which led him to undertake the task, are described by
himself in a Dedicatory Poem to the Empress of Russia, which he has
prefixed to his translation. As soon as the performance, he tells us,
had ended, Lalla Rookh (the Empress herself) exclaimed, with a sigh, “Is
it, then, all over? are we now at the close of all that has given us so
much delight? and lives there no poet who will impart to others, and to
future times, some notion of the happiness we have enjoyed this
evening?” On hearing this appeal, a Knight of Cashmere (who is no other
than the poetical Baron himself) comes forward and promises to attempt
to present to the world “the Poem itself in the measure of the
original:”—whereupon Lalla Rookh, it is added, approvingly smiled.
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Footnote i:
April 10, 1815.
Footnote ii:
November 9, 1816.
Footnote iii:
Voltaire, in his tragedy of “Les Guèbres,” written with a similar
under-current of meaning, was accused of having transformed his
Fire-worshippers into Jansenists:—“Quelques figuristes,” he says,
“prétendent que les Guèbres sont les jansénistes.”
Footnote iv:
The Fire-worshippers.
Footnote v:
“Tradunt autem Hebræi hanc fabulam quod Abraham in ignem missus sit
quia ignem adorare noluit.”—ST. HIERON. _in Quæst. in Genesim_.
Footnote vi:
Lalla Roûkh Divertissement, mêlé de Chants et de Danses, Berlin, 1822.
The work contains a series of coloured engravings, representing
groups, processions, &c. in different Oriental costumes.
Footnote vii:
Since this was written, another translation of Lalla Rookh into German
verse has been made by Theodor Oelckers (Leipzig, Tauchnitz, Jun.),
which has already passed through three editions.
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