The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night Volume XV Part 19

The Story of Ahmad and Ali who cuckolded their Masters, Night dcccxxiv.-dcccxxix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225

SCOTT: "The Two Orphans."

The Fellah and his fair Wife, Night dcccxxix.-dcccx.x.x. . . . .241 The Youth who would futter his Father's Wives, Night dcccx.x.x.-dcccx.x.xviii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .247

SCOTT: "The Vicious Son, translating the Arab. Al-Ibn al-Fidawi."

The two Lack-tacts of Cairo and Damascus, including the short 'Tale of the Egyptian, the Syrian and the a.s.s," Night dcccx.x.xviii.-dcccxl. . . . . .261

SCOTT: "The two wits of Cairo and Sind."

The Tale of Musa and Ibrahim, including Anecdotes of the Berberines, Night dcccxl.-dcccxliii. . . . . . . . . . . . . .271 The Brother Wazirs, Ahmad and Mohammed, Night dcccxiv.-dccclxxiii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280 And to end of vol. vi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365

VOL. VII.

Contains 447 pages, from Night dccclxxiii.-mi.

The following is a list of the contents:--

PAGE Conclusion of the Brother Wazirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-69 Story of the thieving Youth and his Step-mother, Night dcccxcvii.-cm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 The Kazi of Baghdad and his virtuous Wife, Night cm.-cmxi. . . 77 History of the Sultan who protected the Kazi's Wife, Night cmxi.-cmxvii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 The Sultan of Al-'Irak, Zunnar ibn Zunnar, Night cmxvii.-cmxxi126 Ardashir, Prince of Persia, and the Princess Hayat al-Nufus, daughter of Sultan Kadir, Night cmxxi.-cmlxviii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139 Story of Shaykh Nakkit the Fisherman, Night cmlxviii.-cmlxxviii297 The Sultan of Andalusia, and the Prince of Al-'Irak who deflowered the Wazir's daughter; a prose replica of Al-Hayfa and Yusuf. MS. vol. v. 210. Night cmlxxviii.-cmlx.x.xviii. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329 Tale of Sultan Taylun and the generous Fellah, Night cmlx.x.xviii365 The retired Sage and his Servant-lad, Night cmxcviii . . . . .414 The Merchant's Daughter who married an Emperor of China, Night cmxcviii.-mi., ending the work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .430-447

This MS. terminates The Nights with the last tale and has no especial conclusion relating the marriage of the two brother Kings with the two sisters.

Appendix II.

I.--NOTES ON THE STORIES CONTAINED IN VOLUME XIV.[FN#640]

By W. F. Kirby.

Story of the Sultan of Al-yaman and His Three Sons.

P. 5.--The hippopotamus has also been observed, at the Zoological Gardens, to scatter his dung in the manner described.

P. 7.--It is evident from the importance which the author attaches to good birth and heredity, that he would hardly approve of the Socialistic custom, so prevalent in the East, of raising men of low birth to important offices of State.

The Story of the Three Sharpers (pp. 10-23).

P. 10.--In quoting the t.i.tles of this and other tales of the Wortley Montague MS., in which the word Ja'idi frequently occurs, Scott often wrote "labourer"

or "artisan" instead of "sharper." The term "sharper" is hardly applicable here, for the fellows appear really to have possessed the knowledge to which they laid claim. The "sharpers" in this story differ much from such impostors as the Illiterate Schoolmaster (No. 93, vol. v. pp. 119-121), who escapes from his dilemma by his ready wit, or from European pretenders of the type of Grimm's Dr. Knowall, who escapes from his difficulties by mere accident; or again from our old friend Ma'aruf (No. 169), whose impudent pretensions and impostures are aided by astounding good luck.

P. 13.--This test was similar to that given to Ma'aruf (vol. x. pp. 16,17), but there is nothing in the latter pa.s.sage to show whether Ma'aruf had any real knowledge of gems, or not. In the present story, the incident of the worm recalls the well-known incident of Solomon ordering worms to pierce gems for Bilkees, the Queen of Sheba.

P. 13.--English schoolboys sometimes play the "trussing game." Two boys have their wrists and ankles tied together, and their arms are pa.s.sed over their knees, and a stick thrust over the arms and under the knees, and they are then placed opposite each other on the ground, and endeavour to turn each other over with their toes.

P. 15 note.--Can the word Kashmar be a corruption of Kashmiri?

History of Mohammed, Sultan of Cairo (pp. 25-35).

P. 25.--A few years ago, a travelling menagerie exhibited a pair of dog-faced baboons in Dublin as "two monstrous gorillas!"

P. 28.--Ma'aruf's jewel has been already referred to. The present incident more resembles the demand made by the king and the wazir from Aladdin and his mother, though that was far more extravagant.

P. 29.--A more terrible form of these wedding disillusions, is when the bridegroom is entrapped into marriage by an evil magician, and wakes in the morning to find the phantom of a murdered body in the place of his phantom bride, and to be immediately charged with the crime. Compare the story of Naerdan and Guzulbec (Caylus' Oriental Tales; Weber, ii. pp. 632-637) and that of Monia Emin (Gibb's Story of Jew d, pp. 36, 75). Compare my Appendix, Nights, x. pp. 443, 449, 450.

P. 31.--There is a Western story (one of the latest versions of which may be found in Moore's Juvenile Poems under the t.i.tle of "The Ring") in which a bridegroom on his wedding-day places the ring by accident on the finger of a statue of Venus; the finger closes on it, and Venus afterwards interposes continually between him and his bride, claiming him as her husband on the strength of the ring. The unfortunate husband applies to a magician, who sends him by night to a meeting of cross-roads, where a procession similar to that described in the text pa.s.ses by. He presents the magician's letters to the King (the devil in the mediaeval versions of the story) who requires Venus to surrender the ring, and with it her claim to the husband.

One of the most curious stories of these royal processions is perhaps the Lithuanian (or rather Samoghitian) story of

The King of the Rats.[FN#641]

Once upon a time a rich farmer lived in a village near Korzian, who was in the habit of going into the wood late in the evening. One evening he went back again into the wood very late, when he distinctly heard the name Zurkielis shouted. He followed the voice, but could not discover from whence the sound proceeded.

On the next evening the farmer went into the wood, and did not wait long before he heard the cry repeated, but this time much louder and more distinctly. On the third evening the farmer went again to the wood; but this time on Valpurgis-night--the Witch's Sabbath. Suddenly he saw a light appear in the distance; then more lights shone out, and the light grew stronger and stronger; and presently the farmer saw a strange procession advancing, and pa.s.sing by him. In front of the procession ran a great number of mice of all sorts, each of whom carried a jewel in his mouth which shone brighter than the sun. After these came a golden chariot, drawn by a lion, a bear, and two wolves. The chariot shone like fire, and, instead of nails, it was studded with dazzling jewels. In the chariot sat the King of the Rats and his consort, both clad in golden raiment. The King of the Rats wore a golden crown on his head, and his consort marshalled the procession. After the chariot followed a vast procession of rats, each of whom carried a torch, and the sparks which flew from the torches fell to the earth as jewels. Some of the rats were shouting "Zurkielis" incessantly; and whenever a rat uttered this cry, a piece of gold fell from his mouth. The procession was followed by a great number of fantastic forms, which collected the gold from the ground, and put it into large sacks. When the farmer saw this he also gathered together as much of the gold and jewels as he could reach. Presently a c.o.c.k crew, and everything vanished. The farmer returned to his house, but the gold and jewels gave him a very tangible proof that the adventure had not been a dream.

A year pa.s.sed by, and on the next Valpurgis-night the farmer went back to the wood, and everything happened as on the year before. The farmer became immensely rich from the gold and jewels which he collected; and on the third anniversary of the Valpurgis-night he did not go to the wood, but remained quietly at home. He was quite rich enough, and he was afraid that some harm might happen to him in the wood. But on the following morning a rat appeared, and addressed him as follows: "You took the gold and jewels, but this year you did not think it needful to pay our king and his consort the honour due to them by appearing before them during the procession in the wood; and henceforward it will go ill with you."

Having thus spoken, the rat disappeared; but shortly afterwards such a host of rats took up their abode in the farmer's house that it was impossible for him to defend himself against them. The rats gnawed everything in the house, and whatever was brought into it. In time the farmer was reduced to beggary, and died in wretchedness.