Stories from the Arabian Nights retold by Laurence Housman, Bk 1 [PDF]

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STORIES FROM TH



ARABIA



NIGHTS ILLUSTRATED BY



EDMUND DULAC



NY PUBLIC LIBRARY



THE BRANCH LIBRAP'ES



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STORIES



FROM THE



ARABIAN NIGHTS



RETOLD BY LAVRENCE HOVSMAN ILLVSTRATED BY EDMVND DVLAC



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PREFACE SCHEHERAZADE, the heroine of the Thousand



and One Nights, ranks among the great tellers



among



of the world the weavers.



basis of her art; for



plished



much



as



story-



does Penelope



Procrastination was the



though the task she accom-



was splendid and memorable,



it is



rather



in the quantity than the quality of her invention



in the long spun-out



performance of what



could have been done far more shortly



The



idea



greater



and



the stories themselves;



and



becomes a figure of dramatic



which binds



interest.



the stories together



more romantic than



that she



is



though, both in the original and in translation, the diurnal interruption of their flow



more taken



for granted,



we



is



more and



are never quite [ix



Preface Scheherazade



who



Scheherazade, loquacious and



self-



renewed



call



robbed of the sense that is



speaking



possessed, sitting



of



dawn



bed



in



up



Here



is



at the



neck for the round of



to save her



another day.



it is



a figure of



romance worth



a dozen of the prolix stories to which



made sponsor and



often



;



the fortunes of



has been



we may have followed



some shoddy hero and heroine what possible point of



chiefly to determine at interest the narrator frail



it



could have



left



hanging



that



thread on which for another twenty- four



hours her



was



life



Yes, the idea



is



to



depend.



delightful and, with the fiction ;



of Scheherazade to colour them, the tales ac-



quire a rank which they serve; their prolixity



of their



art, their



vour of ironic morous, their



is



would not otherwise



de-



then the crowning point



sententious truisms have a



wit, their repetitions



trivialities



a



mark



fla-



become hu-



of light-hearted



courage even those deeper indiscretions, which ;



x]



Preface Burton has so faithfully recorded, seem then but a wise adaptation of vile means to a noble end.



And yet we know that it is not so



;



for, as a



matter



of fact, the "Arabian Nights Entertainment"



is



but a miscellany gathered from various sources, of various dates, and passing its



down



to us,



even in



collocated form, under widely differing ver-



sions.



None



but scholars can



know how



the unadulterated originals have



come



little



of



into our



possession and only those whose pious opinions ;



shut their eyes to obvious facts can object in principle to the simplification of a form which,



from the point of view of mere so easily be bettered.



the



Even



the



story-telling,



can



more accurate of



versions ordinarily available



are



of



full



abridgement, alteration, and suppression; and



you have your



to eliminate



stories



Scheherazade and



mainly with a view



if



select



to illustration,



then you have very largely done away with the reasons for treating tenderly that prolixity which [xi



Preface in an impatient age tends to debar readers from



an old



classic.



And care the



so, in the



to



make



original



present version, whoever shall



comparison



material



will



find



that



has been treated with



considerable freedom in the direction of brevity,



and with an almost uniform departure from the exact



text,



save where essentials of plot or char-



acter or local colour required a closer accuracy.



In the case also of conflicting versions, there has



been no reluctance



to



choose and combine in



order to secure a livelier result; and a further



freedom has sometimes been taken of giving



to



an incident more meaning and connexion than has been allowed to



it



in the original.



perhaps, the greatest licence of



one that does



least



no one can read



harm



all,



but



That it is



is,



the



in formal result; for



the majority of the tales in their



accepted versions without perceiving



that,



as



regards construction and the piecing of event "~i



xnj



Preface with event, they are either incredibly careless or



We



discreditably perfunctory.



have to reckon



with them as the product of a race keenly alive to the value of colour



and



pictorial description,



but a race whose constructive imagination was feeble



and



diffuse,



lacking almost entirely that



great essential for the development of art in finer



forms



the



its



economy of means toward ends.



But because they contain, though pressure, the expression of so



much



at a life,



low



habit



and custom, so many coloured and secluded interiors, so quaint a



so brilliant



commingling of crowds,



and moving a pageantry of Eastern



medievalism, because of ''Arabian Nights" will nial



charm.



ellers;



and never



this



still



these things the



retain their peren-



Those of us who read are



awakened perhaps, such as



all



all trav-



is



our travelling sense so



as



when we



dip into a book



where the incredible and the com-



monplace are



so curiously blended,



and where xni [...



Preface Jinn and Efreet and Magician have far terest for



us



now



than the



silly



less in-



staring crowds,



and the bobbing camels in the narrow



streets,



and Scheherazade spinning her poor thin yarn of wonders that she



may



share for another night



the pillow of a homicidal maniac.



xiv]



Contents



CONTENTS THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE



...



THE STORY OF THE KING OF THE EBONY



ALI BABA



.



27



ISLES



53



.



81



AND THE FORTY THIEVES



THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE



PAGE



.



.133



THE STORY OF THE WICKED HALF-BROTHERS



187



THE STORY OF THE PRINCESS OF DERYABAR



205



.



[xvii



Illustrations



ILLUSTRATIONS THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE



......



Scheherazade, the heroine of the Thousand and One



Nights



Frontispiece PAGE



Thereupon the damsel upset the pan



He



into the fire



.



arrived within sight of a palace of shining marble



THE STORY OF THE KING OF THE EBONY The Queen of



Began



to



the



Ebony



Isles



39



47



ISLES



....



57



heap upon me terms of the most violent and



shameful abuse



She went on islands



.



.



.



to vent her malice .



.



.



.



upon the .



.



.



city .



.65 and



-75 [xxi



Illustrations ALI BABA



AND THE FORTY THIEVES PAGE



As soon



as he



came



in



she began to jeer at him



"Sir," said he, "I have brought



tance to sell to-morrow"



She poured into each jar



my .



oil a



89



.



great dis-



.



.109



.



in turn a sufficient quantity



of the boiling oil to scald



its



occupant to death



117



THE STORY OF THE MAGIC HORSE As he descended, had been



Till the tale of



the daylight in which hitherto he



travelling



faded from view



her mirror contented her



She gave orders for the banquet



For many months he



.



.



....



to be served



travelled without clue



.



.



.



139



147



155



.177



THE STORY OF THE WICKED HALF-BROTHERS The



lady advanced to meet him



xxii]



....



197



Illustrations THE STORY OF THE PRINCESS OF DERYABAR PAGE



A



city



among



the Isles



named Deryabar



.



.



209



After these, maidens on white horses, with heads unveiled, bearing in their hands baskets of precious stones



.......



229



XX111 [...



The Fisherman and



the Genie



THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE "AHERE was



once an old fisherman



lived in great poverty with a wife



who and



three children. But though poorer than others he ever toiled in humble submis-



and



sion to the decrees of Providence, the



same hour each day, he would



cast his net



four times into the sea, and whatever



up



him therewith he



to



One found



draw



it



first



time, he



that he could scarcely



when



at last he got it to shore contained was the carcase of an ass.



in; yet



all that it



heavy



brought



it



rested content.



day, having cast for the his net so



so, at



He cast a second time,



and found



the draught



of the net even heavier than before.



But again



he was



doomed



to disappointment, for this time



contained nothing but a large earthenware His third attempt jar full of mud and sand. brought him only a heap of broken old bottles it



[27]



The Fisherman and potsherds: fortune seemed



to



be against



him.



Then, committing his hope to Providence, he cast for the fourth and last time; and once



more the weight of the was unable to haul it. to land,



he found that



vessel, its



mouth



net



was



When it



so great that he at last



he got



it



contained a brazen



closed with a leaden stopper,



bearing upon it the seal of King Solomon. The sight cheered him. "This," thought he, "I can sell in the market, where I may get for



buy a measure of corn; and, if one is to judge by weight, what lies within may prove yet more valuable." it



enough



to



Thus reckoning, he



prised out the stopper



with his knife, and turning the vessel upside down looked for the contents to follow. Great



was his astonishment when nothing but smoke came out of it. The smoke rose in a thick black column and spread like a mist between earth and sky, till presently, drawing together, it



took form; and there in



its



midst stood a



mighty Genie, whose brows touched heaven while his feet rested upon ground. His head was like a dome, his hands were like flails, and 28]



and



Genie



the



mouth was black



his legs like pine trees; his



as a cavern, his nostrils



eyes blazed



like torches,



round and over him



were



like trumpets, his



and



his



like the



wings whirled



simoom



of the



desert.



At



so fearful a sight all the fisherman's cour-



age oozed out of him; but the Genie, perceiving him, cried with a loud voice, "O, Solomon,



Prophet of God, slay



me



will I withstand thee in



not, for never again



word



or deed!"



"Alas!" said the fisherman, "I



and



am no



prophet;



Solomon, he has been dead for I am but a poor nearly two thousand years. fisherman whom chance has knocked by accias



for



dent against thy door." "In that case," answered the Genie,



"know



that presently thou wilt have to die."



"Heaven forbid!" at least, tell I



me why!



cried the fisherman; "or,



Surely



had done thee some service ;