VOL. I.,
which contains 472 pages=92 Nights. It is rudely written, with great carelessness and frequent corrections, and there is a noted improvement in the subsequent vols. which Scott would attribute to another transcriber. This, however, I doubt: in vol. i. the scribe does not seem to have settled down to his work. The MS. begins abruptly and without caligraphic decoration; nor is there any red ink in vol. i. except for the terminal three words. The topothesia is in the land of Sásán, in the Isles of Al-Hind and Al-Sind; the elder King being called "Báz" and "Shár-báz" and the younger "Kahramán" (p. 1, ll. 5-6), and in the same page (l. 10) "Saharbán, King of Samarkand"; while the Wazir's daughters are "Shahrzádah" and "Dunyázádah" (p. 8). The Introduction is like that of the Mac. Edit. (my text); but the dialogue between the Wazir and his Daughter is shortened, and the "Tale of the Merchant and his Wife," including "The Bull and the Ass," is omitted. Of novelties we find few. When speaking of the Queen and Mas'úd the Negro (called Sa'id in my text, p. 6) the author remarks:—
Take no black to lover; pure musk tho' he be * Carrion-taint
shall pierce to the nose of thee.
And in the "Tale of the Trader and the Jinni " (MS. 1, 9: see my transl. 1, 25) the 'Ifrit complains that the Merchant had thrown the date-stones without exclaiming "Dastúr!"—by thy leave.
The following is a list of the Tales in vol. i.:—
PAGE
Introductory Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-9
Tale of the Trader and the Jinni, Night i.-ii. . . . . . . . . .9
The First Shaykh's Story, Night ii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Second Shaykh's Story, Night ii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
The Third Shaykh's Story, Night iv.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Scott, following "Oriental Collections," ii. 34, supposes that
the latter was omitted by M. Galland "on account of its
indecency, it being a very free detail of the amours of an
unfaithful wife." The true cause was that it did not exist in
Galland's Copy of The Nights (Zotenberg, Histoire d' 'Ala al-Din,
p. 37). Scott adds, "In this copy the Genie restores the
Antelope, the Dogs and the Mule to their pristine forms, which is
not mentioned by Galland, on their swearing to lead virtuous
lives."
PAGE
Conclusion of the Trader and the Jinni, Night v. . . . . . . . 43
The Fisherman and the Jinni, including the Tales of the Sage
Dúbán and the ensorcelled Prince
and omitting the Stories (1) of King Sindibád and his Falcon
(2) the Husband and the Parrot and (3) the Prince and the
Ogress.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad, Night v. . . . . .100
The First Kalandar's Tale, Night xxxix.. . . . . . . . . . . .144
The Second Kalandar's Tale, Night xlviii.. . . . . . . . . . .152
(The beginning of this Tale is wanting in the MS. which
omits p. 151: also The Envier and the Envied, admitted into
the list of Hikáyát, is here absent.)
The Third Kalandar's Tale, Night lv. . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
The Eldest Lady's Tale. Night lxvi.. . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Tale of the Portress. Conclusion of the Story of the Porter and
Three Ladies of Baghdad,
Night lxii. (a clerical mistake for lxx.?). . . . . . . .260
(In Galland follow the Voyages of Sindbad the Seaman which
are not found in this copy.)
The Tailor and the Hunchback, Night lxviii. (for lxxiv.?). . .295
The Nazarene Broker's Story, Night lxviii. (for lxxiv.?) . . .308
The Youth whose hand was cut off, Night (?)[628]. . . . . .312
(In p. 314 is a hiatus not accounting for the loss of hand.)
The Barber's Tale of his First Brother . . . . . . . . . . . .314
The Barber's Tale of his Second Brother. . . . . . . . . . . .317
The Barber's Tale of his Third Brother . . . . . . . . . . .323
The Barber's Tale of his Fourth Brother. . . . . . . . . . . .327
The Barber's Tale of his Fifth Brother . . . . . . . . . . . .331
The Barber's Tale of his Sixth Brother . . . . . . . . . . . .343
The end of the Tale of the Hunchback, the Barber and others,
Night lxviii.(?) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .350
(Here Ends My Vol. I.)
Núr al-Dín Alí and the Damsel Anis al-Jalís, Night lxviii. . .355
Sayf al-Mulúk and Badí'a al-Jamal, Night xci.[629]. . . . .401
Tale of the Youth of Mosul whose hand was cut off, Night xcii466-472
(The Tale of the Jewish Doctor in my vol. i. 288-300.)
Vol. i. ends with a page of scrawls, the work of some by-gone
owner.