The Arabian Nights Entertainments, vol 1 | Page 2

with the like
sentiments. Every one remembers the wonderful exactness of his
judgment;--the meanest of his thoughts had something in them that was
shining, and his lowest expressions were always exact and nice, which
made every one admire him; for never had any man so much wit and so
much solidity. I have seen him, at a time when he was so much taken
up with the affairs of his master, that nobody could expect any thing
from him but what related to his ministry, and his profound capacity to
manage the most knotty negotiations; yet all the weight of his
employment diminished nothing of his inimitable pleasantness, which
charmed his friends, and was agreeable even to those barbarous nations

with whom that great man did treat. After the loss of him, which to me
is irreparable, I could not address myself to any other person than
yourself, Madam, since you alone can supply the want of him to me;
therefore it is that I take the boldness to beg of you the same protection
for this book that you was pleased to grant to the French translation of
the seven Arabian stories that I had the honour to present you.
You may perhaps wonder, Madam, that I have not since that time
presented them to you in print; but the reason of it is, that when I was
about putting them to the press, I was informed that those seven stories
were taken out of a prodigious collection of stories of the like sort,
entitled "One thousand and one nights." This discovery obliged me to
suspend the printing of them, and to use my endeavours to get that
collection. I was forced to send for it from Syria; and have translated
into French this first volume being one of the four that were sent me.
These stories will certainly divert you, Madam, much more than those
you have already seen. They are new to you, and more in number; you
will also perceive, with pleasure, the ingenious design of this
anonymous Arabian, who has given us these stories after the manner of
his country, fabulous indeed, but very diverting.
I beg, Madam, your acceptance of this small present which I have the
honour to make you; it is a public testimony of my acknowledgment of
the profound respect with which I am, and shall for ever be,
Madam,
Your most humble and most obedient servant,
Galland.

Preface

There is no occasion to prepossess the reader with an opinion of the
merit and beauty of the following work. There needs no more but to
read it to satisfy any man, that hitherto nothing so fine of this nature
has appeared in any language.
What can be more ingenious than to compose such a prodigious
quantity of pleasant stories, whose variety is surprising, and whose
connexion is so wonderful? We know not the name of the author of so
great a work; but probably it is not all done by one hand; for how can
we suppose that one man alone could have invention enough to make

so many fine things?
If stories of this sort be pleasant and diverting, because of the wonders
they usually contain, these have certainly the advantage above all that
have yet been published; because they are full of surprising events,
which engage our attention, and show how much the Arabians surpass
other nations in compositions of this sort.
They must also be pleasing, because of the account they give of the
customs and manners of the eastern nations, and of the ceremonies of
their religion, as well Pagan as Mahometan, which are better described
here than in any author that has written of them, or in the relation of
travellers. All the eastern nations, Persians, Tartars, and Indians, are
here distinguished, and appear such as they are, from the sovereign to
the meanest subject; so that, without the fatigue of going to see those
people in their respective countries, the reader has here the pleasure to
see them act, and hear them speak. Care has been taken to preserve
their characters, and to keep their sense; nor have we varied from the
text, but when modesty obliged us to it. The translator flatters himself,
that those who understand Arabic, and will be at the pains to compare
the original with the translation, must agree that he has showed the
Arabians to the French with all the circumspection that the niceness of
the French tongue and of the times require; and if those who read these
stories have any inclination to profit by the example of virtue and vice
which they will here find exhibited, they may reap an advantage by it
that is not to be reaped in other stories, which are more fit to