I Read Books: Arabian Nights Entertainment

 

Arabian Night Entertainments

A selection from One Thousand And One Nights, for children, this 1981 volume is, I believe, a straight copy of the 1898 Andrew Lang version. We start, of course, with some dubious geography. “In the chronicles of the ancient dynasty of the Sassanidæ,who reigned, for about four hundred years, from Persia to the borders of China, beyond the great river Ganges itself…” As well as the peculiar mention of the Ganges (well beyond the eastern extent of the Sasanian Empire) it’s perhaps worth noting that Persians weren’t Arabs, and that their relationship with the Arabs on the western and southern borders of the Empire was somewhat complex. More interesting though is the odd chronology; although Schahriar and Scheherazade are fictional they are placed within the Sasanian dynasty (224-651 CE). Meanwhile several of the stories Scheherazde tells are clearly set later, referencing both Islam (not yet revealed) and Haroun-al-Raschid (reigned 786-809 CE). This is simply explained (the framing tale is used to encompass a collection of stories irrespective of chronology) but also suggests some more interesting interpretations within the fiction.

All this is beside the point. We have the most famous stories (Aladdin, Sinbad, various men who meet a “genius”, the story of everyone confessing to a murder etc.) in versions apparently suitable for children. By which I mean there are moments when women may or may not have been raped, couples may or may not have had sex, and this is all glossed over, but people are constantly being threatened with having their heads cut off (and occasionally they do).

Most famous stories? They’re all the familiar ones. But are they familiar because they’re the kids’ English-language version that’s been about for 125 years, or is it that it’s familiar to me as this is the very volume I read when I was a kid?

Read This: Classic tales, for all their flaws
Don’t Read This: Rather than this abridged, bowlderised, set of fairy tales, why not read fuller translations?