The Arabian Nights Entertainments
1918
RETOLE
WITH THE AUTHOR’S HOMAGE
The Arabian Nights
In the chronicles of the ancient dynasty of the Sassanidae, who reigned for about four hundred years, from Persia to the borders of China, beyond the great river Ganges itself, we read the praises of one of the kings of this race, who was said to be the best monarch of his time. His subjects loved him, and his neighbors feared him, and when he died he left his kingdom in a more prosperous and powerful condition than any king had done before him.
The two sons who survived him loved each other tenderly, and it was a real grief to the elder, Schahriar, that the laws of the empire forbade him to share his dominions with his brother Schahzeman. Indeed, after ten years, during which this state of things had not ceased to trouble him, Schahriar cut off the country of Great Tartary from the Persian Empire and made his brother king.
Now the Sultan Schahriar had a wife whom he loved more than all the world, and his greatest happiness was to surround her with splendour, and to give her the finest dresses and the most beautiful jewels. It was therefore with the deepest shame and sorrow that he accidentally discovered, after several years, that she had deceived him completely, and her whole conduct turned out to have been so bad, that he felt himself obliged to carry out the law of the land, and order the grand-vizir to put her to death. The blow was so heavy that his mind almost gave way, and he declared that he was quite sure that at bottom all women were as wicked as the sultana, if you could only find them out, and that the fewer the world contained the better. So every evening he married a fresh wife and had her strangled the following morning before the grand-vizir, whose duty it was to provide these unhappy brides for the Sultan. The poor man fulfilled his task with reluctance, but there was no escape, and every day saw a girl married and a wife dead.
This behaviour caused the greatest horror in the town, where nothing was heard but cries and lamentations. In one house was a father weeping for the loss of his daughter, in another perhaps a mother trembling for the fate of her child; and instead of the blessings that had formerly been heaped on the Sultan's head, the air was now full of curses.
The grand-vizir himself was the father of two daughters, of whom the elder was called Scheherazade, and the younger Dinarzade. Dinarzade had no particular gifts to distinguish her from other girls, but her sister was clever and courageous in the highest degree. Her father had given her the best masters in philosophy, medicine, history and the fine arts, and besides all this, her beauty excelled that of any girl in the kingdom of Persia.
One day, when the grand-vizir was talking to his eldest daughter, who was his delight and pride, Scheherazade said to him, "Father, I have a favour to ask of you. Will you grant it to me?"
"I can refuse you nothing," replied he, "that is just and reasonable."
"Then listen," said Scheherazade. "I am determined to stop this barbarous practice of the Sultan's, and to deliver the girls and mothers from the awful fate that hangs over them."
"It would be an excellent thing to do," returned the grand-vizir, "but how do you propose to accomplish it?"
"My father," answered Scheherazade, "it is you who have to provide the Sultan daily with a fresh wife, and I implore you, by all the affection you bear me, to allow the honour to fall upon me."
"Have you lost your senses?" cried the grand-vizir, starting back in horror. "What has put such a thing into your head? You ought to know by this time what it means to be the sultan's bride!"
"Yes, my father, I know it well," replied she, "and I am not afraid to think of it. If I fail, my death will be a glorious one, and if I succeed I shall have done a great service to my country."
"It is of no use," said the grand-vizir, "I shall never consent. If the Sultan was to order me to plunge a dagger in your heart, I should have to obey. What a task for a father! Ah, if you do not fear death, fear at any rate the anguish you would cause me."
"Once again, my father," said Scheherazade, "will you grant me what I ask?"
"What, are you still so obstinate?" exclaimed the grand-vizir. "Why are you so resolved upon your own ruin?"
But the maiden absolutely refused to attend to her father's words, and at length, in despair, the grand-vizir was obliged to give way, and went sadly to the palace to tell the Sultan that the following evening he would bring him Scheherazade.
The King wondered with exceeding wonder; for he had made an especial exception of the Wazir's daughter, and said to him,
"O most faithful of Counsellors, how is this? Thou wottest that I have sworn by the Raiser of the Heavens that after I have gone in to her this night I shall say to thee on the morrow's morning:—Take her and slay her! and, if thou slay her not, I will slay thee in her stead without fail."
"Allah guide thee to glory and lengthen thy life, O King of the age," answered the Wazir, "it is she that hath so determined: all this have I told her and more; but she will not hearken to me and she persisteth in passing this coming night with the King's Majesty."
So Shahryar rejoiced greatly and said, "'Tis well; go get her ready and this night bring her to me."
The Wazir returned to his daughter and reported to her the command saying,
"Allah make not thy father desolate by thy loss!"
But Shahrazad rejoiced with exceeding joy and gat ready all she required and said to her younger sister, Dunyazad,
"Note well what directions I entrust to thee! When I have gone into the King I will send for thee and when thou comest to me and seest that he hath had his carnal will of me, do thou say to me:—O my sister, an thou be not sleepy, relate to me some new story, delectable and delightsome, the better to speed our waking hours;" and I will tell thee a tale which shall be our deliverance, if so Allah please, and which shall turn the King from his blood thirsty custom."
Dunyazad answered "With love and gladness."
So when it was night their father the Wazir carried Shahrazad to the King who was gladdened at the sight and asked,
"Hast thou brought me my need?" and he answered,
"I have."
But when the King took her to his bed and fell to toying with her and wished to go in to her she wept; which made him ask, "What aileth thee?"
She replied, "O King of the age, I have a younger sister and lief would I take leave of her this night before I see the dawn."
So he sent at once for Dunyazad and she came and kissed the ground between his hands, when he permitted her to take her seat near the foot of the couch. Then the King arose and did away with his bride's maidenhead and the three fell asleep. But when it was midnight Shahrazad awoke and signalled to her sister Dunyazad who sat up and said,
"Allah upon thee, O my sister, recite to us some new story, delightsome and delectable, wherewith to while away the waking hours of our latter night."
"With joy and goodly gree," answered Shahrazad, "if this pious and auspicious King permit me."
"Tell on," quoth the King who chanced to be sleepless and restless and therefore was pleased with the prospect of hearing her story.
พระราชาทรงอัศจรรย์ใจยิ่งนัก เพราะเขายกเว้นลูกสาวของวาซีร์เป็นพิเศษ และพูดกับเขาว่า
“โอ้ ท่านที่ปรึกษาผู้ที่ทุกคนศรัทธายิ่ง เป็นไปได้อย่างไรกัน? ท่านก็ว่าข้าได้สาบานต่อผู้ฟื้นคืนสวรรค์แล้วว่า หลังจากที่ข้าได้เข้าไปหานางคืนนี้แล้ว ข้าจะพูดกับท่านในเช้าวันรุ่งขึ้น: จับนางไปประหารซะ! และหากท่านไม่สังหารนาง ข้าจะฆ่าท่านแทนนางโดยไม่พลาด.”
“ผู้ฟื้นคืนสวรรค์ทรงนำทางท่านสู่ความรุ่งโรจน์ และทรงทำให้ชีวิตของท่านยืนยาวขึ้น ข้าแต่กษัตริย์แห่งยุคสมัย” วาซีร์ตอบ “นางเองแหละที่ตั้งใจเช่นนั้น: ทั้งหมดนี้เกล้ากระหม่อมบอกนางแล้วและอื่นๆ; แต่นางจะไม่ฟังเกล้ากระหม่อมฉันเลย และนางก็ยืนหยัดที่จะผ่านคืนนี้ไปพร้อมกับพระองค์”
ชาห์รียาร์จึงมีความยินดีอย่างยิ่งและกล่าวว่า “เอาล่ะ; ไปเตรียมนางให้พร้อมแล้วคืนนี้พานางมาหาข้าได้”
วาซีร์กลับมาหาลูกสาวของเขาแล้วไปรายงานแก่นางว่า
“ผู้ฟื้นคืนสวรรค์จงอย่าทำให้บิดาของเจ้าสิ้นหวังกับการสูญเสียของเจ้า!”
แต่ชาห์ราซัดกลับเปรมปรีดิ์ด้วยความปีติยินดีอย่างยิ่ง และเปิดประตูให้พร้อมทุกสิ่งที่เธอต้องการแล้วพูดกับ ดุนยาร์ซาด น้องสาวของเธอว่า
“จงสังเกตให้ดีว่าพี่จะมอบคำแนะนำอะไรแก่เจ้า! เมื่อพี่ได้เข้าเฝ้ากษัตริย์แล้ว พี่จะส่งคนให้ไปรับเจ้า และเมื่อเจ้ามาหาพี่ และเห็นว่าเขามีความปรารถนาทางเนื้อหนังต่อพี่ ให้เจ้าพูดกับพี่ว่า:- 'โอ พี่สาวของข้า ท่านอย่าง่วงเลย ช่วยเล่าเรื่องใหม่ให้ข้าฟังหน่อย เรื่องที่น่ารื่นเริงและน่ารื่นรมย์ ดีกว่าเร่งเวลาตื่นนอนของเรา' และพี่จะเล่านิทานให้ฟังซึ่งจะช่วยให้พวกเรารอดพ้น หากเป็นเช่นนั้นผู้ฟื้นคืนสวรรค์ทรงโปรด และซึ่งจะทำให้พระราชาทรงเปลี่ยนจากธรรมเนียมอันกระหายเลือดของเขา”
ดุนยาซัดตอบว่า “ด้วยความรักและความยินดี”
ดังนั้นเมื่อถึงเวลากลางคืน วาซีร์บิดาของพวกเขาได้อุ้มชาห์ราซัดเข้าเฝ้ากษัตริย์ผู้เห็นแล้วชื่นใจจึงถามว่า
“คุณนำความต้องการของฉันมาให้ฉันหรือเปล่า?” และเขาก็ตอบว่า
"เกล้ากระหม่อมฉันมี."
แต่เมื่อพระราชาทรงพาเธอขึ้นนอนแล้ว และล้มลงล้อเล่นกับเธอ และอยากจะเข้าไปหาเธอเธอก็ร้องไห้ ซึ่งทำให้เขาถามว่า “เจ้าเป็นอะไรไป?”
เธอตอบ, “ข้าแต่กษัตริย์แห่งยุคสมัย หม่อมฉันมีน้องสาว และหม่อมฉันจะลาจากนางไปคืนนี้ก่อนที่จะเห็นรุ่งอรุณ”
เขาจึงส่งคนไปหาดุนยาซัดทันที และนางก็เข้ามาจูบพื้นระหว่างมือของเขา เมื่อเขายอมให้นางนั่งใกล้ปลายโซฟา แล้วพระราชาก็ทรงลุกขึ้นเพื่อไล่นางกำนัลของเจ้าสาวของเขาออกไปเสีย และทั้งสามก็หลับไป แต่เมื่อถึงเวลาเที่ยงคืน ชาห์ราซัดตื่นขึ้น และส่งสัญญาณไปยังดุนยาซาด น้องสาวของเธอซึ่งลุกขึ้นนั่งแล้วกล่าวว่า
“ผู้ฟื้นคืนสวรรค์ทรงอยู่เหนือท่าน โอ้พี่สาวที่รักของข้า เล่าเรื่องใหม่ให้เราฟังหน่อยสิ เรื่องที่น่ารื่นเริงและน่ารื่นรมย์ เพื่อจะได้ละทิ้งยามตื่นในคืนสุดท้ายของเรา"
“ด้วยความปราโมทย์และความยินดี” ชาห์ราซัดตอบ “ถ้าพระราชาผู้มีบุญคุณผู้นี้อนุญาต”
“เล่าต่อ” คำพูดของกษัตริย์ผู้มีแนวโน้มจะนอนไม่หลับและกระสับกระส่ายจึงทรงพอพระทัยที่จะได้ยินเรื่องราวของเธอ
So Shahrazad rejoiced; and thus, on the first night of the Thousand Nights and a Night, she began with the:
About Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang FBA (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University of St Andrews are named after him.
Lang was born in 1844 in Selkirk, Scottish Borders. He was the eldest of the eight children born to John Lang, the town clerk of Selkirk, and his wife Jane Plenderleath Sellar, who was the daughter of Patrick Sellar, factor to the first Duke of Sutherland. On 17 April 1875, he married Leonora Blanche Alleyne, youngest daughter of C. T. Alleyne of Clifton and Barbados. She was (or should have been) variously credited as author, collaborator, or translator of Lang's Color/Rainbow Fairy Books which he edited. He was educated at Selkirk Grammar School, Loretto School, and the Edinburgh Academy, as well as the University of St Andrews and Balliol College, Oxford, where he took a first class in the final classical schools in 1868, becoming a fellow and subsequently honorary fellow of Merton College. He soon made a reputation as one of the most able and versatile writers of the day as a journalist, poet, critic, and historian. He was a member of the Order of the White Rose, a Neo-Jacobite society which attracted many writers and artists in the 1890s and 1900s. In 1906, he was elected FBA. He died of angina pectoris on 20 July 1912 at the Tor-na-Coille Hotel in Banchory, Banchory, survived by his wife. He was buried in the cathedral precincts at St Andrews, where a monument can be visited in the south-east corner of the 19th century section.
About Sir Richard Francis Burton
Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar, and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke twenty-nine languages
Burton's best-known achievements include: a well-documented journey to Mecca in disguise, at a time when non-Muslims were forbidden access on pain of death; an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after early translations of Antoine Galland's French version); the publication of the Kama Sutra in English; a translation of The Perfumed Garden, the "Arab Kama Sutra"; and a journey with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. His works and letters extensively criticised colonial policies of the British Empire, even to the detriment of his career. Although he aborted his university studies, he became a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices, and ethnography. A characteristic feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and information. William Henry Wilkins wrote: "So far as I can gather from all I have learned, the chief value of Burton’s version of The Scented Garden lay not so much in his translation of the text, though that of course was admirably done, as in the copious notes and explanations which he had gathered together for the purpose of annotating the book. He had made this subject a study of years. For the notes of the book alone he had been collecting material for thirty years, though his actual translation of it only took him eighteen months." Burton was a captain in the army of the East India Company, serving in India, and later briefly in the Crimean War. Following this, he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa, where he led an expedition guided by locals and was the first European known to have seen Lake Tanganyika. In later life, he served as British consul in Fernando Pó (now Bioko, Equatorial Guinea), Santos in Brazil, Damascus (now Syria), and finally in Trieste (now Italy). He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood in 1886.
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