SUPPLEMENTAL NIGHTS To The Book Of The Thousand And One Nights With Notes Anthropological And Explanatory
By Richard F. Burton
VOLUME ONE Privately Printed By The Burton Club
General Studholme J. Hodgson
My Dear General,
To whom with more pleasure or propriety can I inscribe this volume than to my preceptor of past times; my dear old friend, whose deep study and vast experience of such light literature as The Nights made me so often resort to him for good counsel and right direction? Accept this little token of gratitude, and believe me, with the best of wishes and the kindest of memories,
Ever your sincere and attached Richard F. Burton.
London, July 15, 1886.
"To the pure all things are pure" (Puris omnia pura) —Arab Proverb.
"Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole." —"Decameron" —conclusion.
"Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget." —Martial.
"Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre, Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes." —Rabelais.
"The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One Stories makes us regret that we possess only a comparatively small part of these truly enchanting fictions." —Crichton's "History of Arabia."
Contents of the Eleventh Volume.
1. The Sleeper and the Waker Story of the Larrikin and the Cook 2. The Caliph Omar Bin Abd Al-Aziz and the Poets 3. Al-Hajjaj and the Three Young Men 4. Harun Al-Rashid and the Woman of the Barmecides 5. The Ten Wazirs; or the History of King Azadbakht and His Son a. Of the Uselessness of Endeavour Against Persistent Ill Fortune aa. Story of the Merchant Who Lost His Luck b. Of Looking To the Ends of Affairs bb. Tale of the Merchant and His Sons c. Of the Advantages of Patience cc. Story of Abu Sabir d. Of the Ill Effects of Impatience dd. Story of Prince Bihzad e. Of the Issues of Good and Evil Actions ee. Story of King Dadbin and His Wazirs f. Of Trust in Allah ff. Story of King Bakhtzaman g. Of Clemency gg. Story of King Bihkard h. Of Envy and Malice hh. Story of Aylan Shah and Abu Tammam i. Of Destiny or That Which Is Written On the Forehead ii. Story of King Ibrahim and His Son j. Of the Appointed Term, Which, if it be Advanced, May Not Be Deferred, and if it be Deferred, May Not Be Advanced jj. Story of King Sulayman Shah and His Niece k. Of the Speedy Relief of Allah kk. Story of the Prisoner and How Allah Gave Him Relief 6. Ja'afar Bin Yahya and Abd Al-Malik Bin Salih the Abbaside 7. Al-Rashid and the Barmecides 8. Ibn Al-Sammak and Al-Rashid 9. Al-Maamum and Zubaydah 10. Al-Nu'uman and the Arab of the Banu Tay 11. Firuz and His Wife 12. King Shah Bakht and his Wazir Al-Rahwan a. Tale of the Man of Khorasan, His Son and His Tutor b. Tale of the Singer and the Druggist c. Tale of the King Who Kenned the Quintessence of Things d. Tale of the Richard Who Married His Beautiful Daughter to the Poor Old Man e. Tale of the Sage and His Three Sons f. Tale of the Prince who Fell in Love With the Picture g. Tale of the Fuller and His Wife and the Trooper h. Tale of the Merchant, The Crone, and the King i. Tale of the Simpleton Husband j. Tale of the Unjust King and the Tither ja. Story of David and Solomon k. Tale of the Robber and the Woman l. Tale of the Three Men and Our Lord Isa la. The Disciple's Story m. Tale of the Dethroned Ruler Whose Reign and Wealth Were Restored to Him n. Talk of the Man Whose Caution Slew Him o. Tale of the Man Who Was Lavish of His House and His Provision to One Whom He Knew Not p. Tale of the Melancholist and the Sharper q. Tale of Khalbas and his Wife and the Learned Man r. Tale of the Devotee Accused of Lewdness s. Tale of the Hireling and the Girl t. Tale of the Weaver Who Became a Leach by Order of His Wife u. Tale of the Two Sharpers Who Each Cozened His Compeer v. Tale of the Sharpers With the Shroff and the Ass w. Tale of the Chear and the Merchants wa. Story of the Falcon and the Locust x. Tale of the King and His Chamberlain's Wife xa. Story of the Crone and the Draper's Wife y. Tale of the Ugly Man and His Beautifule Wife z. Tale of the King Who Lost Kingdom and Wife and Wealth and Allah Restored Them to Him aa. Tale of Salim the Youth of Khorasan and Salma, His Sister bb. Tale of the King of Hind and His Wazir Shahrazad and Shahryar
The Translator's Foreword.
After offering my cordial thanks to friends and subscribers who have honoured "The Thousand Nights and a Night" (Kama Shastra Society) with their patronage and approbation, I would inform them that my "Anthropological Notes" are by no means exhausted, and that I can produce a complete work only by means of a somewhat extensive Supplement. I therefore propose to print (not publish), for private circulation only, five volumes, bearing title—
Supplemental Nights to the book of The Thousand Nights and a Night
This volume and its successor (Nos. i. and ii.) contain Mr. John Payne's Tales from the Arabic; his three tomes being included in my two. The stories are taken from the Breslau Edition where they are distributed among the volumes between Nos. iv and xii., and from the Calcutta fragment of 1814. I can say little for the style of the story-stuff contained in this Breslau text, which has been edited with phenomenal incuriousness. Many parts are hopelessly corrupted, whilst at present we have no means of amending the commissions and of supplying the omissions by comparison with other manuscripts. The Arabic is not only faulty, but dry and jejune, comparing badly with that of the "Thousand Nights and a Night," as it appears in the Macnaghten and the abridged Bulak Texts. Sundry of the tales are futile; the majority has little to recommend it, and not a few require a diviner rather than a translator. Yet they are valuable to students as showing the different sources and the heterogeneous materials from and of which the great Saga-book has been compounded. Some are, moreover, striking and novel, especially parts of the series entitled King Shah Bakht and his Wazir Al- Rahwan (pp. 191-355). Interesting also is the Tale of the "Ten Wazirs" (pp. 55-155), marking the transition of the Persian Bakhtiyár-Námeh into Arabic. In this text also and in this only is found Galland's popular tale "Abou-Hassan; or, the Sleeper Awakened," which I have entitled "The Sleeper and the Waker."
In the ten volumes of "The Nights" proper, I mostly avoided parallels of folk-lore and fabliaux which, however interesting and valuable to scholars, would have over-swollen the bulk of a work especially devoted to Anthropology. In the "Supplementals," however, it is otherwise; and, as Mr. W.A. Clouston, the "Storiologist," has obligingly agreed to collaborate with me, I shall pay marked attention to this subject, which will thus form another raison d'être for the additional volumes.
Richard F. Burton
Junior Travellers' Club, December 1, 1886
Supplemental Nights
To The Book Of The
Thousand Nights And A Night
The Sleeper and the Waker.[FN#1]
It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was once at Baghdad, in the Caliphate of Harun al-Rashid, a man and a merchant, who had a son Abú al-Hasan-al-Khalí'a by name.[FN#2] The merchant died leaving great store of wealth to his heir who divided it into two equal parts, whereof he laid up one and spent of the other half; and he fell to companying with Persians[FN#3] and with the sons of the merchants and he gave himself up to good drinking and good eating, till all the wealth[FN#4] he had with him was wasted and wantoned; whereupon he betook himself to his friends and comrades and cup-companions and expounded to them his case, discovering to them the failure of that which was in his hand of wealth. But not one of them took heed of him or even deigned answer him. So he returned to his mother (and indeed his spirit was broken) and related to her that which had happened to him and what had befallen him from his friends, how they had neither shared with him nor requited him with speech. Quoth she, "O Abu al-Hasan, on this wise are the sons[FN#5] of this time: an thou have aught, they draw thee near to them,[FN#6] and if thou have naught, they put thee away from them." And she went on to condole with him, what while he bewailed himself and his tears flowed and he repeated these lines:—
"An wane my wealth, no mane will succour me, * When my wealth waxeth all men friendly show: How many a friend, for wealth showed friendliness * Who, when my wealth departed, turned to foe!"
Then he sprang up and going to the place wherein was the other half of his good, took it and lived with it well; and he sware that he would never again consort with a single one of those he had known, but would company only with the stranger nor entertain even him but one night and that, when it morrowed, he would never know him more. Accordingly he fell to sitting every eventide on the bridge over Tigris and looking at each one who passed by him; and if he saw him to be a stranger, he made friends with him and carried him to his house, where he conversed and caroused with him all night till morning. Then he dismissed him and would never more salute him with the Salam nor ever more drew near unto him neither invited him again. Thus he continued to do for the space of a full year, till, one day, while he sat on the bridge, as was his wont, expecting who should come to him so he might take him and pass the night with him, behold, up came the Caliph and Masrur, the Sworder of his vengeance[FN#7] disguised in merchants' dress, according to their custom. So Abu al-Hasan looked at them and rising, because he knew them not, asked them, "What say ye? Will ye go with me to my dwelling-place, so ye may eat what is ready and drink what is at hand, to wit, platter- bread[FN#8] and meat cooked and wine strained?" The Caliph refused this, but he conjured him and said to him, "Allah upon thee, O my lord, go with me, for thou art my guest this night, and baulk not my hopes of thee!" And he ceased not to press him till he consented; whereat Abu al-Hasan rejoiced and walking on before him, gave not over talking with him till they came to his house and he carried the Caliph into the saloon. Al-Rashid entered a hall such as an thou sawest it and gazedst upon its walls, thou hadst beheld marvels; and hadst thou looked narrowly at its water-conduits thou would have seen a fountain cased with gold. The Caliph made his man abide at the door; and, as soon as he was seated, the host brought him somewhat to eat; so he ate, and Abu al-Hasan ate with him that eating might be grateful to him. Then he removed the tray and they washed their hands and the Commander of the Faithful sat down again; whereupon Abu al- Hasan set on the drinking vessels and seating himself by his side, fell to filling and giving him to drink[FN#9] and entertaining him with discourse. And when they had drunk their sufficiency the host called for a slave-girl like a branch of Bán who took a lute and sang to it these two couplets:—