Transcriber's note:
There are two levels of notes (footnotes)in this book: The first level is called Notes bythe author and are referred from the main bodyof text as [C_n] where C is the Chapter numberand n the number of the note related to thischapter. The second level conists of regularfootnotes referred from the Notes of the authorand are numbered the usual way.
In the HTML file Notes and footnotes are numberedwithout chapter numbers.
THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS
COMMONLY CALLED THE
ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS
TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC, WITH COPIOUS NOTES, BY
EDWARD WILLIAM LANE
EDITED BY HIS NEPHEW EDWARD STANLEY POOLE
FROM A COPY ANNOTATED BY THE TRANSLATOR
WITH A PREFACE BY STANLEY LANE-POOLE AND
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE DESIGNS OF WILLIAM HARVEY
A NEW IMPRESSION IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. I
LONDON
CHATTO & WINDUS
1912
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED.
DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The present edition is an exact reproduction of that edited by myfather, with my great-uncle's final corrections, and published by Mr.John Murray in 1859. Several reprints of that edition have testifiedto the continued popularity of the work, and the necessity for thepresent issue shows that an acquaintance of nearly half a century hasnot yet wearied the public of the standard translation of the Thousandand One Nights. The secret of Mr. Lane's success is to be foundpartly in the instinctive sympathy for the spirit of the East, whichenabled him faithfully to reproduce the characteristic tone of theoriginal, and partly in the rich store of illustrations of oriental lifeand thought contained in his Notes. In the various cheap versions,based upon Galland's French paraphrase, the Eastern tone and localcolour is wholly wanting; and the peculiarities of life and manners,which contrast so markedly with those of the West, are left unnotedand unexplained. Such versions may serve in an inadequate degreeto make the Arabian Nights known to those who care only for thebare stories; but educated readers, who are capable of somethingmore than the mere enjoyment of the romance, and desire to understandthe character and habits of the actors and the spectators, findin Mr. Lane's translation, and in his only, a complete satisfaction oftheir want. It is not merely a scholar's edition, though no orientalstudent can afford to be without it; but beyond this narrow circle ithas ever appealed to the wide audience that cares to know the famousbooks of the world in their most perfect and faithful reflections.
The actual moment is an opportune one for the reappearance ofthe work. Egypt just now holds a foremost place in the eyes ofthe world, and it is of Egypt that the Thousand and One Nights