The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments

"My undertaking to translate anew the Tales of 'The Thousand and One Nights' implies an unfavourable opinion of the version which has so long amused us; but I must express my objections with respect to the latter in plain terms, and this I shall do by means of a few words on the version of Galland, from which it is derived; for to him alone its chief faults are to be attributed. I am somewhat reluctant to make this remark, because several persons, and among them some of high and deserved reputation as Arabic scholars, have pronounced an opinion that his version is an _improvement_ upon the original. That 'The Thousand and One Nights' may be greatly improved, I most readily admit; but as confidently do I assert that Galland has excessively _perverted_ the work. His acquaintance with Arab manners and customs was insufficient to preserve him always from errors of the grossest description, and by the _style_ of his version he has given to the whole a false character, thus sacrificing, in a great measure, what is most valuable in the original work,--I mean its minute accuracy with respect to those peculiarities which distinguish the Arabs from every other nation, not only of the West, but also of the East. Deceived by the vague nature of Galland's version, travellers in Persia, Turkey, and India, have often fancied that the Arabian Tales describe the particular manners of the natives of those countries; but no one who has read them in the original language, having an intimate acquaintance with the Arabs, can be of this opinion: it is in Arabian countries, and especially in Egypt, that we see the people, the dresses, and the buildings, which it describes in almost every case, even when the scene is laid in Persia, in India, or in China.