VOL. III.
Contains 456 pages, extending from Night cccvi. (instead of Night clxvii.) to cdxxv. and thus leaving an initial hiatus of 140 Nights (cxvi.-cccvi. C. de Perceval, vol. viii. p. 14). Thus the third of the original eight volumes is lost. On this subject Dr. White wrote to Scott, "One or two bundles of Arabic manuscript, of the same size and handwriting as the second volume of the Arabian Tales, were purchased at the sale by an agent for Mr. Beckford of Fonthill, and I have no doubt whatever but that the part deficient in your copy is to be found in his possession." If such be the case, and everything seems to prove it, this volume was not No. iii. but No. iv. The MS. begins abruptly with the continuation of the tale. There is no list of contents, and at the end are two unimportant "copies of verses" addressed to the reader, five couplets rhyming inÂímu (e.g. ta'dimu) and two in—af (e.g. Salaf).
The following is a list of the contents:—
PAGE
Part of the Tale of Hasan of Bassorah, Nights cccvi.-cccxxix 1-81
Story of the Sultan of Al-Yaman[630] and his Sons, told to
Al-Rashíd by Hasan of Bassorah,
Nights cccxxix.-cccxxxiv. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Story of the Three Sharpers,[631] Nights cccxxxiv.-cccxlii. 96
The Sultan who fared forth in the habit of a Darwaysh, Night
cccxlii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
History of Mohammed, Sultan of Cairo, Night cccxliii.-cccxlviii124
Story of the First Lunatic,[632] Night cccxlviii.-ccclv . .141
Story of the Second Lunatic, Night ccclv.-ccclvii. . . . . . .168
Story of the Sage and his Scholar, Night ccclvii.-ccclxii. . .179
Night-Adventure of Sultan Mohammed of Cairo with three foolish
Schoolmasters,
Night ccclxii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204
Tale of the Mother and her Three Daughters, Night ccclxii. . .206
Story of the broke-back Schoolmaster, Night ccclxiii . . . . .211
Story of the Split-mouthed Schoolmaster, Night ccclxiii. . . .214
Story of the limping Schoolmaster, Night ccclxiv.-ccclxv . . 219
Story of the three Sisters and their Mother the Sultánah, Night
ccclxvi.-ccclxxxvi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
History of the Kází who bare a babe, Night ccclxxxvi.-cccxcii.322
Tale of the Kází and the Bhang-eater, Night cccxciii.-cdiii. .344
History of the Bhang-eater and his wife, Night cccxciii.-cdiii348
How Drummer Abú Kásim became a Kází, Night cdiii.-cdxii. . . .372
Story of the Kazi and his Slipper (including the Tale of the
Bhang-eater who became the Just
Wazir and who decided two difficult cases), Night
cdxii.-cdxiii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .424
Tale of Mahmúd the Persian and the Kurd Sharper, Night
cdxiii.-cdxvi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .428
Tale of the Sultan and the poor man who brought to him fruit,
including the
Fruit-seller's[633] Tale, Night cdxvi.-cdxxv. . . . .432
Story of the King of Al-Yaman and his Three Sons and the
Enchanting Bird, which ends this
volume, Night cdxvii-cdxxvi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .437