"Variants and Analogues of XI and XII" - читать интересную книгу автора (Burtons Version)

Nay, and five hundred pound, with ten acres of ground
Thou shalt never, said he, range the counteries round,
Crying old brass to mend, for I'll be thy good friend,
Nay, and Joan thy sweet wife shall my duchess attend.

Then the tinker reply'd, What! must Joan my sweet bride
Be a lady in chariots of pleasure to ride?
Must we have gold and land ev'ry day at command?
Then I shall be a squire I well understand:
Well I thank your good grace, and your love I embrace,
I was never before in so happy a case.

The same story is also cited in the "Anatomy of Melancholy," part 2, memb. 4, from Ludovicus Vives in Epist. [FN#485] and Pont. Heuter in Rerum Burgund., as follows:

"It is reported of Philippus Bonus, that good Duke of Burgundy, that the said duke, at the marriage of Eleonora, sister to the King of Portugal, at Bruges in Flanders, which was solemnized in the deep of winter, when as by reason of the unseasonable (!) weather he could neither hawk nor hunt, and was now tyred with cards, dice, &c., and such other domestical sports, or to see ladies dance, with some of his courtiers, he would in the evening walk disguised all about the town.  It so fortuned as he was walking late one night, he found a country fellow dead drunk, snorting on a bulk; he caused his followers to bring him to his palace, and there stripping him of his old clothes, and attiring him after the court fashion, when he waked, he and they were all ready to attend upon his excellency, persuading him that he was some great duke.  The poor fellow, admiring how he came there, was served in state all the day long; after supper he saw them dance, heard musick, and the rest of those court-like pleasures; but late at night, when he was well-tipled, and again fast asleep they put on his old robes, and so conveyed him to the place where they first found him.  Now the fellow had not made them so good sport the day before, as he did when he returned to himself; all the jest was to see how he looked upon it.  In conclusion, after some little admiration, the poor man told his friends he had seen a vision, constantly beleeved it, would not otherwise be perswaded; and so the jest ended."

I do not think that this is a story imported from the East: the adventure is just as likely to have happened in Bruges as in Baghdбd; but the exquisite humor of the Arabian tale is wanting--even Shakspeare's Christopher Sly is not to be compared with honest Abъ al-Hasan the Wag.

This story of the Sleeper and the Waker recalls the similar device practised by the Chief of the Assassins--that formidable, murderous association, the terror of the Crusades--on promising novices.  Von Hammer, in his "History of the Assassins," end of Book iv., gives a graphic description of the charming gardens into which the novices were carried while insensible from hashish:

In the center of the Persian as well as the Assyrian territory of the Assassins, that is to say, both at Alamut and Massiat, were situated, in a space surrounded by walls, splendid gardens--true Eastern paradises.  There were flower-beds and thickets of fruit-trees, intersected by canals, shady walks, and verdant glades, where the sparkling stream bubbled at every step; bowers of roses and vineyards; luxurious halls and porcelain kiosks, adorned with Persian carpets and Grecian stuffs, where drinking-vessels of gold, silver, and crystal glittered on trays of the same costly materials; charming maidens and handsome boys of Muhammed's Paradise, soft as the cushions on which they reposed, and intoxicating as the wine which they presented.  The music of the harp was mingled with the songs of birds, and the melodious tones of the songstress harmonized with the murmur of the brooks.  Everything breathed pleasure, rapture, and sensuality.  A youth, was deemed worthy by his strength and resolution to be initiated into the Assassin service, was invited to the table and conversation of the grand master, or grand prior; he was then intoxicated with hashish and carried into the garden, which on awaking he believed to be Paradise; everything around him, the houris in particular, contributing to confirm the delusion.  After he had experienced as much of the pleasures of Paradise, which the Prophet has promised to the faithful, as his strength would admit; after quaffing enervating delight from the eyes of the houris and intoxicating wine from the glittering goblets; he sank into the lethargy produced by debility and the opiate, on awakening from which, after a few hours, he again found himself by the side of his superior.  The latter endeavored to convince him that corporeally he had not left his side, but that spiritually he had been wrapped into Paradise and had there enjoyed a foretaste of the bliss which awaits the faithful who devote their lives to the service of the faith and the obedience of their chiefs.





 THE TEN WAZIRS; OR, THE HISTORY OF KING БZБDBAKHT AND HIS SON
Vol. XI. p. 37.



The precise date of the Persian original of this romance ("Bakhtyбr Nбma") has not been ascertained, but it was probably composed before the beginning of the fifteenth century, since there exists in the Bodleian Library a unique Turkн version, in the Uygur language and characters, which was written in 1434.  Only three of the tales have hitherto been found in other Asiatic storybooks.  The Turkн version, according to M. Jaubert, who gives an account of the MS. and a translation of one of the tales in the Journal Asiatique, tome x. 1827, is characterised by "great sobriety of ornament and extreme simplicity of style, and the evident intention on the part of the translator to suppress all that may not have appeared to him sufficiently probable, and all that might justly be taxed with exaggeration;" and he adds that "apart from the interest which the writing and phraseology of the work may possess for those who study the history of languages, it is rather curious to see how a Tбtбr translator sets to work to bring within the range of his readers stories embellished in the original with descriptions and images familiar, doubtless, to a learned and refined nation like the Persians, for foreign to shepherds."

At least three different versions are known to the Malays--different in the frame, or leading story, if not in the subordinate tales.  One of those is described in the second volume of Newbold's work on Malacca, the frame of which is similar to the Persian original and its Arabian derivative, excepting that the name of the king is Zбdbokhtin and that of the minister's daughter (who is nameless in the Persian) is Mahrwat.  Two others are described in Van den Berg's account of Malay, Arabic, Javanese and other MSS. published at Batavia, 1877: p. 21, No. 132 is entitled "The History of Ghulбm, son of Zбdbukhtбn, King of Adбn, in Persia," and the frame also corresponds with our version, with the important difference that the robber-chief who had brought up Ghulбm, "learning that he had become a person of consequence, came to his residence to visit him, but finding him imprisoned, he was much concerned, and asked the king's pardon on his behalf, telling him at the same time how he had formerly found Ghulбm in the jungle; from which the king knew that Ghulбm was his son."  The second version noticed by Van den Berg (p. 32, No. 179), though similar in title to the Persian original, "History of Prince Bakhtyбr," differs very materially in the leading story, the outline of which is as follows: This prince, when his father was put to flight by a younger brother, who wished to dethrone him, was born in a jungle, and abandoned by his parents. A merchant named Idrнs took charge of him and brought him up. Later on he became one of the officers of state with his own father, who had in the meanwhile found another kingdom, and decided with fairness, the cases brought before him.  He was, however, put in prison on account of a supposed attempt on the king's life, and would have been put to death had he not stayed the execution by telling various beautiful stories.  Even the king came repeatedly to listen to him.  At one of these visits Bakhtyбr's foster-father Idrнs was present, and related to his adopted son how he had found him in the jungle.  The king, on hearing this, perceived that it was his son who had been brought up by Idrнs, recognised Bakhtyбr as such, as made over to him the kingdom."--I have little doubt that this romance is of Indian extraction.





 STORY OF KING DADBIN AND HIS WAZIRS.--Vol. XI. p. 68.



This agrees pretty closely with the Turkн version of the same story (rendered into French by M. Jaubert), though in the latter the names of the characters are the same as in the Persian, King Dбdнn and the Wazнrs Kбmgбr and Kбrdбr.  In the Persian story, the damsel is tied hands and feet and placed upon a camel, which is then turned into a dreary wilderness.  "Here she suffered from the intense heat and from thirst; but she resigned herself to the will of Providence, conscious of her own innocence.  Just then the camel lay down, and on the spot a fountain of delicious water suddenly sprang forth; the cords which bound her hands and feet dropped off; she refreshed herself by a draught of the water, and fervently returned thanks to Heaven for this blessing and her wonderful preservation."  This two-fold miracle does not appear in the Turkн and Arabian versions.  It is not the cameleer of the King of Persia, but of King Dбdнn, who meets with the pious damsel in the wilderness.  He takes her to his own house and one day relates his adventure to King Dбdнn, who expresses a wish to see such a prodigy of sanctity.  The conclusion of the Persian story is quite dramatic: The cameleer, having consented, returned at once to his house, accompanied by the king, who waited at the door of the apartment where the daughter of Kбmgбr was engaged in prayer.  When she had concluded he approached, and with astonishment recognised her.  Having tenderly embraced her, he wept, and entreated her forgiveness.  This she readily granted, but begged that he would conceal himself in the apartment while she should converse with Kбrdбr, whom she sent for.  When he arrived, and beheld her with a thousand expressions of fondness, he inquired how she had escaped, and told her that on the day the king had banished her into the wilderness, he had sent people to seek her and bring her to him.  "How much better would it have been," he added, "had you followed my advice, and agreed to my proposal of poisoning the king, who, I said, would one day destroy you as he had done your father!  But you rejected my advice, and declared yourself ready to submit to whatever Providence should decree.  Hereafter you will pay more attention to my words.  But now let us not think of what is past.  I am your slave, and you are dearer to me than my own eyes."  So saying, he attempted to clasp the daughter of Kбmgбr in his arms, when the king, who was concealed behind the hangings, rushed furiously on him and put him to death.  After this he conducted the damsel to his palace, and constantly lamented his precipitancy in having killed her father.--This tale seems to have been taken from the Persian "Tъtн Nбma," or Parrot-book, composed by Nahkshabн about the year 1306; [FN#486] it occurs in the 51st Night of the India Office MS. 2573, under the title of "Story of the Daughter of the Vazнr Khбssa, and how she found safety through the blessing of her piety:"  the name of the king is Bahram, and the Wazнrs are called Khбssa and Khalбssa.





 STORY OF AYLAN SHAH AND ABЪ TAMMБM--Vol. XI p. 82.