Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents
IMITATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS HAVING MORE OR LESS CONNECTION WITH THE NIGHTS.
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, ; 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 mediaeval 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 1749,472 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 Voltaire473 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) p-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.”
One Thousand and One Nights Page 990