Article #128-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from The Arabian Nights Entertainments, by Andrew Lang

Preface
The Arabian Nights
The Story of the Merchant and the Genius
The Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind
The Story of the Second Old Man, and of the Two Black Dogs
The Story of the Fisherman
The Story of the Greek King and the Physician Douban
The Story of the Husband and the Parrot
The Story of the Vizir Who Was Punished
The Story of the Young King of the Black Isles
The Story of the Three Calenders, Sons of Kings,
and of Five Ladies of Bagdad
The Story of the First Calender, Son of a King
The Story of the Envious Man and of Him Who Was Envied
The Story of the Second Calendar, Son of a King
The Story of the Third Calendar, Son of a King
The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor
First Voyage
Second Voyage
Third Voyage
Fourth Voyage
Fifth Voyage
Sixth Voyage
Seventh and Last Voyage
The Little Hunchback
The Story of the Barber's Fifth Brother
The Story of the Barber's Sixth Brother
The Adventures of Prince Camaralzaman and the Princess Badoura
Noureddin and the Fair Persian
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
The Adventures of Haroun-al-Raschid, Caliph of Bagdad
The Story of the Blind Baba-Abdalla
The Story of Sidi-Nouman
The Story of Ali Colia, Merchant of Bagdad
The Enchanted Horse
The Story of Two Sisters Who Were Jealous of Their Younger Sister

Preface

The stories in the Fairy Books have generally been such as old women in
country places tell to their grandchildren. Nobody knows how old they
are, or who told them first. The children of Ham, Shem and Japhet may
have listened to them in the Ark, on wet days. Hector's little boy may
have heard them in Troy Town, for it is certain that Homer knew them,
and that some of them were written down in Egypt about the time of
Moses.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Preface to The Arabian Nights Entertainments (Andrew Lang’s Edition)**

1. Context of the Source

Andrew Lang’s The Arabian Nights Entertainments (1898) is one of many Western adaptations of One Thousand and One Nights (Alf Laylah wa-Laylah), a medieval Middle Eastern collection of folktales, fables, and legends. The original work, compiled over centuries (with roots in Persian, Indian, and Arabic traditions), frames its stories within the narrative of Scheherazade, a clever queen who tells her husband, King Shahryar, a new story each night to delay her execution.

Lang’s version is part of his colored Fairy Books series (e.g., The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book), which aimed to make global folktales accessible to Victorian-era children. His preface reflects the 19th-century European fascination with "Oriental" tales, though it also reveals colonial-era assumptions about storytelling traditions.

2. Themes in the Preface

The preface introduces several key themes that recur in The Arabian Nights and Lang’s broader approach to folklore:

Universality and Timelessness of Stories
- Lang emphasizes that these tales are ancient and anonymous, suggesting they transcend cultures and eras.
- The reference to "the children of Ham, Shem, and Japhet" (Noah’s sons in the Bible) implies the stories are as old as civilization itself, linking them to Judeo-Christian, Greek, and Egyptian traditions.
- The mention of Homer (ancient Greek epic poet) and Moses (biblical figure) positions the tales as part of a shared human heritage, reinforcing their legitimacy in Western literary canon.
Oral Tradition vs. Written Record
- The preface highlights the oral origins of the stories ("old women in country places tell to their grandchildren"), which contrasts with the written, scholarly traditions of Greece and Egypt.
- This reflects a Romantic-era valorization of folklore as pure, uncorrupted by "civilized" literature—a common trope in 19th-century European folkloristics.
Colonial and Orientalist Undertones
- While Lang presents the stories as universal, his framing also exoticizes them, implying they come from a distant, mystical "East."
- The preface does not acknowledge the Islamic and Persian cultural context of the original Nights, instead tying them to biblical and classical antiquity—a move that aligns them with Western literary history.

3. Literary Devices and Style

Lang’s preface is brief but employs several rhetorical strategies:

Hyperbole and Mythic Grandeur
- The claim that these stories might have been told "in the Ark, on wet days" is playful hyperbole, exaggerating their antiquity to mythic proportions.
- The reference to Hector’s little boy in Troy (from the Iliad) further elevates the tales by associating them with epic literature.
Appeal to Authority
- By stating that "Homer knew them" and that some were "written down in Egypt about the time of Moses," Lang lends the stories historical credibility, making them seem more than mere entertainment.
Folk Narrative Tone
- The phrasing "Nobody knows how old they are, or who told them first" mimics the oral storytelling tradition, inviting readers into a world where stories are passed down through generations without a single author.
Juxtaposition of High and Low Culture
- The contrast between "old women in country places" (humble, oral tradition) and "written down in Egypt" (scholarly, written tradition) suggests that these stories bridge common folklore and elite literature.

4. Significance of the Preface

Cultural Appropriation vs. Preservation
- Lang’s adaptation popularized The Arabian Nights in the West but also sanitized and altered the original stories (removing erotic or violent elements to suit Victorian audiences).
- The preface’s focus on universality downplays the specific Islamic and Middle Eastern origins of the tales, reflecting a colonial-era tendency to claim non-Western stories as part of a "global" (i.e., Eurocentric) heritage.
The Power of Storytelling
- The preface reinforces the frame narrative of The Arabian Nights—the idea that stories have the power to entertain, educate, and even save lives (as Scheherazade does).
- By suggesting these tales are ancient and enduring, Lang implies that they contain timeless truths about human nature.
Influence on Western Literature
- Lang’s Arabian Nights inspired countless retellings, adaptations, and references in Western literature (e.g., Poe’s A Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade, Disney’s Aladdin).
- The preface’s mythic framing helped cement the collection’s reputation as a foundational work of world literature.

5. Close Reading of Key Lines

"The stories in the Fairy Books have generally been such as old women in country places tell to their grandchildren."

Imagery of Oral Tradition: The "old women" evoke a matriarchal, rural storytelling culture, contrasting with the male-dominated written traditions of the time.
Intimacy and Simplicity: The phrase suggests these stories are homely, moral, and accessible—qualities that made them appealing to Victorian children.

"Nobody knows how old they are, or who told them first."

Mystery and Anonymity: This line reinforces the collective, communal nature of folklore, where stories belong to no one and everyone.
Contrast with Author-Centric Literature: Unlike modern novels, these tales are not tied to a single creator, making them feel more organic and timeless.

"Hector's little boy may have heard them in Troy Town, for it is certain that Homer knew them..."

Classical Legitimization: By linking the stories to Homer (Greek epic poetry) and Troy (Western civilization’s origins), Lang elevates them to the status of classical literature.
Cultural Syncretism: This implies that Eastern and Western storytelling traditions are interconnected, a common Orientalist trope that blurs cultural distinctions to make foreign tales palatable to Western audiences.

6. Conclusion: Why This Preface Matters

Andrew Lang’s preface is more than an introduction—it is a cultural and literary manifesto that:

Positions The Arabian Nights as a universal, ancient text, stripping it of some of its specific Middle Eastern context.
Reflects 19th-century attitudes toward folklore, where oral tales were seen as both primitive and profound.
Sets the stage for Western adaptations, shaping how later generations would perceive and retell these stories.

While the preface romanticizes the tales’ origins, it also underscores the enduring power of storytelling—a theme at the heart of The Arabian Nights itself. Scheherazade’s stories save her life; Lang’s adaptation ensures they live on in new forms, for new audiences.

Would you like a deeper analysis of any specific story from the collection?

Questions

Question 1

The preface’s assertion that the stories "may have been told in the Ark, on wet days" primarily serves to:

A. establish a biblical framework to legitimize the tales as morally instructive for Victorian readers.
B. highlight the stories’ resilience in surviving catastrophic historical events.
C. suggest that the tales were originally intended as didactic tools for children during confinement.
D. undermine the stories’ cultural specificity by anchoring them in a Judeo-Christian mythic past.
E. evoke a sense of primordial universality, collapsing temporal and cultural boundaries to mythologize the tales’ origins.

Question 2

The reference to "Hector’s little boy" in Troy functions most critically as:

A. an appeal to Western literary authority, subtly subordinating the tales’ Eastern origins to a Greco-Roman canon.
B. a historical claim that the stories were transmitted from Mesopotamia to Greece via trade routes.
C. a playful anachronism, underscoring the preface’s ironic tone toward folkloric historiography.
D. evidence of the tales’ oral transmission among warrior cultures, contrasting with their later written forms.
E. a metaphor for the cyclical nature of storytelling, where each generation reinterprets ancient narratives.

Question 3

The preface’s juxtaposition of "old women in country places" with "written down in Egypt about the time of Moses" is most effectively read as:

A. a critique of patriarchal historiography, elevating female oral tradition over male-scribed records.
B. an attempt to reconcile folk culture with religious scripture, blending pagan and monotheistic traditions.
C. a reflection of the Victorian era’s anxiety about the authenticity of oral versus literary sources.
D. a strategic conflation of humble origins with sacred authority, lending the tales both intimacy and gravitas.
E. an implicit argument for the superiority of written texts, as only they endure across millennia.

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the preface’s rhetorical effect on a 19th-century European reader?

A. It would likely have provoked skepticism about the tales’ historical accuracy, given the lack of verifiable sources.
B. It reinforces colonial-era assumptions by presenting non-Western stories as derivative of classical Western traditions.
C. It encourages readers to view the stories as mere children’s entertainment, devoid of deeper cultural significance.
D. It subverts Orientalist tropes by centering the tales’ Middle Eastern provenance over European adaptations.
E. It creates a paradoxical tension between the stories’ purported universality and their exoticized, "Oriental" framing.

Question 5

The preface’s claim that "nobody knows how old [the stories] are, or who told them first" is most aligned with which of the following theoretical perspectives on folklore?

A. The diffusionist view, which traces tales to singular points of origin before global dissemination.
B. The functionalist view, which interprets stories as tools for social cohesion and moral instruction.
C. The structuralist view, which emphasizes the recurrent patterns and archetypes across cultures.
D. The marxist view, which reads folklore as a site of class struggle between oral and literate traditions.
E. The postcolonial view, which critiques the erasure of indigenous authorship in Western adaptations.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: E

Why E is most correct: The phrase "in the Ark, on wet days" is not a literal historical claim but a mythopoetic device—it collapses the tales into a primordial, almost biblical timelessness, stripping them of specific cultural moorings to present them as universal and ancient. This aligns with the preface’s broader strategy of mythologizing the stories’ origins to appeal to a Western audience. The image of Noah’s Ark evokes a shared human heritage, transcending geographical and temporal boundaries.