Tales from the Arabic, vol 3

Tales from the Arabic, vol 3

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales from the Arabic Volume 3, by
John Payne (#4 in our series by John Payne)
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Title: Tales from the Arabic Volume 3
Author: John Payne
Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5244] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on June 10, 2002]
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, TALES
FROM THE ARABIC VOLUME 3 ***

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TALES FROM THE ARABIC Of the Breslau and Calcutta (1814-18)
editions of The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night not
occurring in the other printed texts of the work, Now first done into
English By John Payne In Three Volumes: VOLUME THE THIRD.
1901 Delhi Edition Contents of The Third Volume.

Breslau Text.
16. Noureddin Ali of Damascus and the Damsel Sitt El Milah 17. El
Abbas and the King's Daughter of Baghdad 18. The Two Kings and the
Vizier's Daughters 19. The Favourite and Her Lover 20. The Merchant
of Cairo and the Favourite of the Khalif El Mamoun El Hakim Bi
Amrillah Conclusion

Calcutta (1814-18) Text.

21. Story of Sindbad the Sailor and Hindbad the Porter a. The Sixth
Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor b. The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the
Sailor Note Table of Contents of the Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac
Editions Table of Contents of the Breslau Edition Table of Contents of
the Calcutta Edition Alphabetical Table of the First Lines of the Verse
in the "Tales from the Arabic" Index to the Names of the "Tales from
the Arabic"

Breslau Text.

NOUREDDIN ALI OF DAMASCUS AND THE DAMSEL SITT EL

MILAH.[FN#1]

There was once, of old days and in bygone ages and times, a merchant
of the merchants of Damascus, by name Aboulhusn, who had money
and riches and slaves and slave-girls and lands and houses and baths;
but he was not blessed with a child and indeed his years waxed great;
wherefore he addressed himself to supplicate God the Most High in
private and in public and in his inclining and his prostration and at the
season of the call to prayer, beseeching Him to vouchsafe him, before
his admittance [to His mercy], a son who should inherit his wealth and
possessions; and God answered his prayer. So his wife conceived and
the days of her pregnancy were accomplished and her months and her
nights and the pangs of her travail came upon her and she gave birth to
a male child, as he were a piece of the moon. He had not his match for
beauty and he put to shame the sun and the resplendent moon; for he
had a shining face and black eyes of Babylonian witchery[FN#2] and
aquiline nose and ruby lips; brief, he was perfect of attributes, the
loveliest of the folk of his time, without doubt or gainsaying.
His father rejoiced in him with the utmost joy and his heart was solaced
and he was glad; and he made banquets to the folk and clad the poor
and the widows. He named the boy Sidi[FN#3] Noureddin Ali and
reared him in fondness and delight among the slaves and servants.
When he came to seven years of age, his father put him to school,
where he learned the sublime Koran and the arts of writing and
reckoning: and when he reached his tenth year, he learned
horsemanship and archery and to occupy himself with arts and sciences
of all kinds, part and parts.[FN#4] He grew up pleasant and subtle and
goodly and lovesome, ravishing all who beheld him, and inclined to
companying with brethren and comrades and mixing with merchants
and travellers. From these latter he heard tell of that which they had
seen of the