THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. The Mystery of the Origin of the Tales Partlally Solved.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 256, 18 April 1888, Page 3

THE ARABIAN NIGHTS. The Mystery of the Origin of the Tales Partlally Solved.

A i^mdis lilciaiv pioblem which has piv/lul j^imh i.iiion> ot .icholai-. h,is just b> «n <ol <-*.!, t>» )>utnli> j.oUod li\ or since the gi>Mt Kieiw h (hientali-t, Galland, ga\e the Thou-and and One N'ighti" to the wuildthe which Schehei a/ado told to In r mdani holy and murdeioiis loid h,i\c al the top of popular lirtion. Gallaud j tian-lated his tal<'-, from an Ka.-tern manu- j mi ipt w Inch flopped betoto the eout lu^ion ot tin; work, Gallaud, ho\\c\er, Idled m the^ai>. lie added eleven stones, and Lhu < pi evented thu woild with the "Aiulnu'i Ni'^ht". in the form in which U h s U!I mo->t familiar. The impel let nunu--n i])t iidin whit h how ovla-d imih'u^ tiicc ; it ionlain> no twice ot an % \ one ot the ui>Mauiu-. ele\cn stoiie^, -Dine ot which lune liouonie lhu mobl popular in the whole collection, lii'ii we remembei that they liv hide such i.iNOUtiti-s u> "All Jiaba and the FoiU Thie\e-, ' "The Sleepei : Awakened," the =toiy of " Piinee Ahmed and the I *« i i lfanon,' the ,^toi> o! the •'Edmous SU(»M'^," and "Aladdin and the Vt ondciful Lamp,' we need haull> be «-v pn-td it tlio puz/lo of their oiij>iti h;iv c.iu-id the ineliLbb euiio^itA. Th-^e tale--, u'ho-e sumn's wcie wnknown, ha\e made the tleepc-L maik upon htciatuie. Whenever UicluMi-^, for example, retell to the "Aiabian > i^hN "' iL i^ almost ,'dwaj^to one 01 othei ot these tales. Whine, Ihoii, did (Jalhuid j«el. (!i<-^o ,-(oi lei- : Such has been the liddle ot Aiabi-i* i\er they became famous. Aecoidui^ to one iheoiy (lalland wiote them hiinxli. In oidei to till the ;;ap in hi-, ''Nijihts," he invented a series of -toiie- wliifli he palmed oil upon l':ui*>.'ind the woild .i- genuine Oiiental iiction. This theoiy, however uneomplunentaiy to (Udlaii X hone-ty, was undoul>(etll\ highly llattenny to Ins liteiary fume. This theory of audacious literary hnpostuio, however, did notion"; hold water. It was piactically knocked to pieces when the Bio-nan text turned np containing the Arabic ordinal of the sfcoiy o\ tho " Sleeper Awakened." W!^ one oricrinal had been dibcovoicd, the discovery ot the otheis was t-o l>o hoped for. But the hope remained unfulfilled.* It was then su^jjcobtud th it Galland had picked, up the-e stories durinoj his travels m the TiCvanl. Students of the folklore ot other countries came across talcs of remarkable similarity. There is a Gieek tale of Syra, for instance, the " Story of (-ho Two Brothers and the Forl.ynine Dragon,'.,"' which is strikingly like "Ali J3.iba." The late Professor Palmer was very sceptical as to tho Aiabic origin of " Aladdin." But all this was speculation. Nothing definite could be proved about tho mysterious .stories. For much more than 100 years thoir origin remained a mystery. During more than 100 years thooiiginal Arabic text of only one- sing,-lo story out of them all rewarded the perseverance and .stimulated the enterprise of scholars. Now, at last, within this month, Mic my.sfcory is partially, if not entirely, solved. M. Hermann Zotonberg, kcoper of Eastern manuscripts in tho Bibliotheque National in Paris, has published within the last few days a volume called " Flistoire d'Ala AlDiii, ou la Lampe Mervcilleuso : Tex Arabe, publi6 avec unc NoHco sur qucl vues Manuscrits dcs Mille-el-Unc Nuits." This book settles decisively the question of tho origin of (Jalland's talcs, on (Jalland's own authority. M. Zotcnbevg has been fovtunato enough to find (ialland's journal, and Gotland's journal records that on Monday, 25th of March, 1709, he met a certain M. Hanna, a Maronite of Aleppos who had accompanied

M. Paul Lucas, tho Eastern traveller, lo I'aris. W. llanna then and at bovornl later diiics told Mm Eastern talcs, ol which ' Galland was careful to make copious summaries in his lournal. These inb.h melurlo " Aladdin,'" the ftory of " The Blind Man J3abn Ahdallah," tho story of " Sidi Nouman," tho story of " The Enchanted riorpo," the story of the " Envious .Sistets/' tho story of "Ahmed and the I'eri-Haiiou," tho story of "AH Baba," tho btory of " Khodja ripsui Al-llabbal," and tho hlury of " Ali-Khodja." The Maronitc lianna oven wrote out for (lalland tho Arabic text of the .«tory ot Aladdin. llcic if indeed an astonishing revelation. Tho mystery of tho taleb is soh ed at la^b so far as (ialUnd is concerned, hut it h<>.«3 }>a^scd irom Ualland to lianna- to tho mjtitie "Maronito who has \;un^hcd into spare like one of his own enchant, is. Whoie did he get his mai\cllons budget oi: tales? \N'lio will toll it- what became ot him? Docs Aleppo or Damascus lightly claim him? M. (J.'illand, in hi- journal, attul)uto^ him indillerently Lo boLh thc.-o eitie^. Did he leave piecioub manuhoiipU behind him, an(i if so Avhal h;is become ot them 7 These are questions which must Ktill tantalise tho mind^of tho euiiovw. In any ease, thanks to M. Zotcnbciu, ono \exed liteiary pioblem has boon sot at ret fur (nor. Autoinc Uall.md j ceitainly not the imentor of "All Haba,'" "Aladdin,'" and the ic^t of the .stoi K's^hoif 01 uj;iu till Lhi--. month \\i»-i\ciled in olwnnt}. Tho yeai 1888 i--, we aic bold by the wi^o, to be a lucky yeai. It ha-, f-or-t/nnly bcunin luckily with the solution--p.uti.d, indeed, but .still highly -ati-i.u-toiy — of ,i htenu y [>ioblLin ulneh has pcitmbLd --eholai-s loi many inittiblo jtcnoiMlions.