Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp | Page 3

the handwriting of
the Syrian ecclesiastic, was that which served for the production of the
"Sequel" in question; but, superficial as was the mistake, it sufficed to
prevent the examination by students of the MS. No. 1716 and so
retarded the discovery of the Arabic originals of Aladdin and its fellows
till the acquisition (some two years ago) by the Bibliotheque Nationale
of another (and complete) MS. of the Thousand and One Nights, which
appears to have belonged to the celebrated Orientalist M. Caussin de
Perceval, although the latter could not have been acquainted with it at
the time (1806) he published his well-known edition and continuation
of Galland's translation, in the eighth and ninth volumes of which, by
the by, he gives a correct version of the tales so fearfully garbled by
Chavis and Cazotte in their so-called translation as well nigh to defy
recognition and to cause Orientalists in general to deny the possibility
of their having been derived from an Oriental source until the discovery
of the actual Arabic originals so barbarously maltreated [FN#8]
This MS. is in the handwriting of of Sebbagh, the well-known Syrian
collaborator of Silvestre de Sacy, and is supposed to have been copied
by him at Paris between the years 1805 and 1810 for some European
Orientalist (probably de Perceval himself) from a Baghdad MS. of the
early part of the 18th century, of which it professes to be an exact
reproduction, as appears from a terminal note, of which the following is
a translation:
"And the finishing of it was in the first tenth (decade) of Jumada the
Latter [in the] year one thousand one hundred and fifteen of the Hegira
(October, 1703) in the handwriting of the neediest of the faithful [FN#9]
unto God [FN#10] the Most High, Ahmed ibn Mohammed et Teradi, in
the city of Baghdad, and he the Shafiy by sect and the Mosuli by birth
and the Baghdadi by sojourn, and indeed he wrote it for himself and set
upon it his seal, and God bless and keep our lord Mohammed and his
companions! Kebikej [FN#11] (ter)."
This MS. contains the three "interpolated" tales aforesaid, i.e. the
Sleeper Awakened (Nights CCCXXXVII-LXXXVI), Zeyn Alasnam

(Nights CCCCXCVII-DXIII) and Aladdin (Nights DXIV-XCI), the last
two bearing traces of a Syrian origin, especially Aladdin, which is
written in a much commoner and looser style than Zeyn Alasnam. The
two tales are evidently the work of different authors, Zeyn Alasnam
being incomparably superior in style and correctness to Aladdin, which
is defaced by all kinds of vulgarisms and solecisms and seems,
moreover, to have been less correctly copied than the other.
Nevertheless, the Sebbagh text is in every respect preferable to that of
Shawish (which appears to abound in faults and errors of every kind,
general and particular,) and M. Zotenberg has, therefore, exercised a
wise discretion in selecting the former for publication.

III.

Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of M. Zorenberg's long and
interesting introduction is a series of extracts from the (as yet
unpublished) MS. Diary regularly kept by Galland, the last four
volumes (1708-15) of which are preserved in the Bibliotheque
Nationale. These extracts effectually settle the question of the origin of
the interpolated tales, as will be seen from the following abstract.
On the 25th March, 1709, Galland records having that day made the
acquaintance of a Maronite scholar, by name Youhenna Diab, [FN#12]
who had been brought from Aleppo to Paris by Paul Lucas, the
celebrated traveller, and with whom he evidently at once broached the
question of the Nights, [FN#13] probably complaining to him of the
difficulty (or rather impossibility) of obtaining a perfect copy of the
work; whereupon Hanna (as he always calls him) appears to have
volunteered to help him to fill the lacune by furnishing him with
suitable Oriental stories for translation in the same style as those
already rendered by him and then and there (says Galland) "told me
some very fine Arabian tales, which he promised to put into writing for
me." There is no fresh entry on the subject till May 5 following, when
(says Galland) "The Maronite Hanna finished telling me the tale of the
Lamp." [FN#14]
Hanna appears to have remained in Paris till the autumn of the year
1709 and during his stay, Galland's Diary records the communication
by him to the French savant of the following stories, afterwards

included in the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth volumes of the latter's
translation, (as well as of several others which he probably intended to
translate, had he lived,) [FN#15] i.e. (May 10, 1709) "Babe Abdalla"
and "Sidi Nouman," (May 13, 1709) "The Enchanted Horse," (May 22,
1709) " Prince Ahmed and Pari Banou," (May 25, 1709) " The Two
Sisters who envied their younger Sister," (May 27,