Chapter X: Appendix: A

NOTES

Page 204, =Sterne=. The manuscript of Sterne’s _Bramine’s Journal_, now in the British Museum (Add. Ms. 34,527), is exhibited with the following note: “The _Bramine’s Journal_, being Sterne’s Journal addressed to Mrs. Eliza Draper after her departure for India. It extends from 13 April (1767) to 4 August with a postscript on 1 Nov. and is entirely in the author’s hand. It is full of expressions of extreme devotion, and was discontinued on the arrival of Mrs. Sterne. At the beginning is a note (evidently prefixed with a view to publication) stating that the names are fictitious and the whole translated from a French manuscript. The page exhibited contains the record for 17 June: ‘I have brought your name _Eliza_! and Picture into my Work [The Sentimental Journey, see the page exhibited above, No. 23] where they will remain when you and I are at rest forever.—Some annotator or explainer of my works in this place will take occasion to speak of the Friendship which subsisted so long and faithfully betwixt Yorick and the Lady he speaks of.’ See also the letter of W. M. Thackeray exhibited in Case VII., No. 44, written after reading the Ms. [Add. Ms. 34,527]. Bequeathed in 1894 by T. W. Gibbs, Esq.” In Case VII. the letter exhibited reads as follows: “He wasn’t dying, but lying, I’m afraid—God help him—a falser and wickeder man it’s difficult to read of.... Of course any man is welcome to believe as he likes for me _except_ a parson: I can’t help looking upon Swift and Sterne as a couple of traitors and renegades—... with a scornful pity for them in spite of their genius and greatness.” “Dated 12 Sept. [1851] Holograph. [Add. Ms. 34,527, f. 75.] Bequeathed in 1894 by T. W. Gibbs, Esq.”

Page 251, note 1, =Byron=. On Byron’s indebtedness to the oriental tale, cf. (_a_) _Die Belesenheit des jungen Byrons_ ... Dissertation ... von Ludwig Fuhrmann, Berlin, 1903, pp. 60, 61, also 5, 6.

(_b_) _Byron’s und Moore’s Orientalische Gedichte, Eine Parallele_ ... Dissertation ... von O. Thiergen. Leipzig, 1880.

(_c_) _Byron und Moore_ ... Dissertation ... von Edgar Dawson. Leipzig, 1902, p. 60.

(_d_), (1), _Childe Harold_, Canto I., 22, note by editor. _Works of Lord Byron_ ... edited by T. Moore, in 14 vols., Vol. VIII. London, 1832: “‘Vathek’ (says Lord Byron in one of his diaries) was one of the tales I had a very early admiration of. For correctness of costume, beauty of description, and power of imagination, it far surpasses all European imitations; and bears such marks of originality, that those who have visited the East will find some difficulty in believing it to be no more than a translation. As an Eastern tale, even Rasselas must bow before it: his ‘happy valley’ will not bear a comparison with the ‘Hall of Eblis.’”

(2) _The Siege of Corinth_, same edition, Vol. X., p. 131, Byron acknowledges that an idea in certain lines was drawn from _Vathek_, and then goes on to say, “[_Vathek_ is] a work to which I have before referred; and never recur to, or read, without a renewal of gratification.”

(3) _The Giaour_, same edition, Vol. IX., p. 178,

“To wander round lost Eblis throne;
And, fire unquenched, unquenchable,
Around, within thy heart shall dwell;” etc.

(4) _Manfred_, Act II., Sc. 4, p. 112 and notes. _Poetry_, Vol. IV., of _The Works of Lord Byron ..._ edited by E. H. Coleridge ... London ... New York, 1901. Byron’s note at beginning of the scene, “The Hall of Arimanes—Arimanes on his Throne, a Globe of Fire, surrounded by the Spirits.”

Page 252, note 4, =Swift=. (In strict compliance with our avowed exclusion of Hebrew literature from our subject, the following note would be omitted. But since the _Turkish Tales_ is little known to-day, the student of Swift may find it convenient to have access to this curious story here.) In the _Turkish Tales_, the story of the King of Aad, a distorted legend[278] based on the conflict of the Children of Israel with Og, King of Bashan and the Sons of Anak, reads as follows [abridged from H. Weber: _Tales of the East_, Edinburgh, 1812, Vol. III., p. 198]:—

“Aoudge-Ibn-Anak, King of Aad, being informed that the prophet Mousa, at the head of 600,000 Israelites, was coming to preach the Jewish religion to him, sent an army.... The prophet was strangely surprised when he saw the King of Aad’s troops ... whose children were above an hundred feet high. His zeal then cooled a little; and before coming into action, ... he sent twelve doctors to tell their prince that it was a great pity such proper men should be ignorant of God. This compliment was not difficult to remember; and yet the doctors forgot it when they came into the presence of Aoudge, who was cutting his nails with a terrible large axe. This monstrous king, seeing the prophet’s twelve doctors so affrighted that they could not speak one word, began to laugh so loud that the echo resounded for the space of fifty leagues around; he then put them all into the hollow of his left hand, and turning them about like ants with the little finger of his right hand, he said, ‘If these wretched animals would but speak, we would give them to our children for playthings.’ After this, he put them into his pocket and marched [against] the Israelites. When he came [near], he pulled their twelve doctors out of his pocket; but they were no sooner on the ground than they fled with all possible speed, and never looked behind them. The Jews, terrified with the enormous size of their enemies, abandoned their prophet. Their wives attempted in vain to animate and embolden them; but their timorous husbands forced them with them in their flight, saying, ‘Let us fly, and leave the affair to the prophet. The Lord hath no occasion for anybody besides himself to work a miracle.’ Mousa ... then marched singly against the people of Aad. The terrible Aoudge expected him unconcerned ... and lanced a rock at him, which had crushed the prophet if God had not sent an angel in the shape of a bird, which, with one peck of his bill, cleft the rock in two.... Mousa then ... by a prodigious effort of the Omnipotent Power became 70 cubits higher than his natural stature; he then flew into the air for the space of 70 cubits, and his rod was 70 cubits long, with which he touched Aoudge’s knee, and that prince died suddenly. The people of Aad immediately fled, and the Israelites returned to offer their service to the prophet; who said to them, ‘Since you are so timorous, as not to have courage enough to follow the generous counsel of your wives, God will make you wander in the lands of Teyhyazousi, for the space of 40 years.’”

Cf. in a _Voyage to Lilliput_, in _Gulliver’s Travels_, edited by G. R. Dennis, London, 1899, Vol. VIII., p. 30, of _Prose Works_ of J. Swift, edited by Temple Scott, the incident of Gulliver’s putting into his pocket five Lilliputians, who had shot arrows at him. “As to the sixth, I made countenance as if I would eat him alive. The poor man squalled terribly ... but ... looking mildly ... I set him gently on the ground, and away he ran. I treated the rest in the same manner, taking them one by one out of my pocket....” The picture of Aoudge holding the doctors in his hand and putting them into his pocket is quite in the manner of Swift; the mockery of the doctors and the ironical description of the courageous wives of the Jews, and of the miracle, is thoroughly Swiftian in spirit. Yet the similarity may be chance coincidence. Cf. Dennis, _op. cit._, _Introduction_, p. xxiii, on the sources of _Gulliver’s Travels_.

Page 252, note 4, =Smollett=. Cf. The Works of _Tobias Smollett ..._ Edinburgh, 1883. On pp. 497, 498 of _The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker_, Lydia Melford writes about London to her friend Miss Letitia Willis at Gloucester: “All that you read of wealth and grandeur in the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments and the Persian Tales, concerning Bagdad, Diabekir, Damascus, Ispahan, and Samarkand, is here realized.... Ranelagh looks like the enchanted palace of a genie, adorned with the most exquisite performances of painting, carving, and gilding, enlightened with a thousand golden lamps that emulate the noonday sun; crowded with the great, the rich, the gay, the happy, and the fair; glittering with cloth of gold and silver, lace, embroidery and precious stones. While these exulting sons and daughters of felicity tread this round of pleasure, or regale in different parties and separate lodges, with fine imperial tea and other delicious refreshments, their ears are entertained with the most ravishing delights of music, both instrumental and vocal.... I really thought myself in paradise.”

Page 252, n. 4, =Southey=. Cf. _Thalaba the Destroyer_. In the Preface to the fourth edition, Cintra, 1800, quoted on p. 6 of Vol. IV., _Poetical Works of R. Southey_, Boston, 1880, Southey writes: “In the continuation of the Arabian Tales, the Domdaniel is mentioned,—a seminary of evil magicians, under the roots of the sea. From this seed the present romance has grown.”

Page 252, n. 4, =James Thomson= (1634–1882). Cf. _Poetical Works of James Thomson_, edited ... by B. Dobell in 2 vols., London, 1895, Vol. II., p. 109, _The City of Dreadful Night_. Thomson says, p. 442, note 3, “The city of the statues is from the tale of Zobeide in the History of the Three Ladies of Bagdad and the Three Calendars. This episode and the account of the Kingdoms of the Sea in Prince Beder and —— impressed my boyhood more powerfully than anything else in the Arabian Nights.”

Page 253, n. 1, =Wordsworth=. Cf. _The Prelude_, Book V. _The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth_, edited ... by E. Dowden in 7 vols., l. 460 _et seq._, Vol. VII., London, 1893.

“A precious treasure had I long possessed,
A little yellow, canvas-covered book,
A slender abstract of the Arabian Tales;
And, from companions in a new abode,
When first I learnt, that this dear prize of mine
Was but a block hewn from a mighty quarry—
That there were four large volumes, laden all
With kindred matter, ’twas to me, in truth,
A promise scarcely earthly. Instantly,
With one not richer than myself, I made
A covenant that each should lay aside
The moneys he possessed, and hoard up more,
Till our joint savings had amassed enough
To make this book our own. Through several months
In spite of all temptation, we preserved
Religiously that vow; but firmness failed.
Nor were we ever masters of our wish.

And when thereafter to my father’s house
The holidays returned me, there to find
That golden store of books which I had left,
What joy was mine! How often....
For a whole day together, have I lain
Down by thy side, O Derwent! murmuring stream,
On the hot stones, and in the glaring sun,
And there have read, devouring as I read,

· · · · ·

A gracious spirit o’er this earth presides,
And o’er the heart of man: invisibly
It comes, to works of unreproved delight,
And tendency benign, directing those
Who care not, know not, think not what they do.
The tales that charm away the wakeful night
In Araby, romances; legends penned
For solace by dim light of monkish lamps;
Fictions, for ladies of their love, devised
By youthful squires; adventures endless,

· · · · ·

Dumb yearnings, hidden appetites, are ours,
And _they must_ have their food. Our childhood sits,
Our simple childhood, sits upon a throne
That hath more power than all the elements.
... Ye dreamers, then
Forgers of daring tales! we bless you then.
Imposters, drivellers, dotards, as the ape
Philosophy will call you: _then_ we feel
With what, and how great might ye are in league,
Who make our wish, our power, our thought a deed,
An empire, a possession,—ye whom time
And seasons serve; all Faculties to whom
Earth crouches, the elements are potter’s clay,
Space like a heaven filled up with northern lights,
Here, nowhere, there, and everywhere at once.”

Page 253, n. 1, =Scott=. Cf. _Autobiography_ in Lockhart’s _Life of Scott_, in five vols., Vol. I., p. 29, Boston, 1902.

“In the intervals of my school hours I had always perused with avidity such books of history or poetry or voyages and travels as chance presented to me—not forgetting the usual, or rather ten times the usual quantity of fairy tales, eastern stories, romances, &c. These studies were totally unregulated and undirected. My tutor thought it almost a sin to open a profane book or poem.” Cf. also references such as that in _Waverley_, Chap. V., to Prince Hussein’s tapestry, and “Malek’s flying sentry box”; and in the Introduction to _Quentin Durward_ to the “generous Aboulcasem.”

Page 253, n. 1, =Dickens=. (1) _David Copperfield_, Chap. IV. “My father had left a small collection of books.... From that blessed little room, Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Humphrey Clinker, Tom Jones, The Vicar of Wakefield, Don Quixote, Gil Blas, and Robinson Crusoe, came out, a glorious host, to keep me company. They kept alive my fancy, and my hope of something beyond that place and time [his dreary childhood],—they, and the Arabian Nights and the Tales of the Genii,—and did me no harm.”

(2) When a child, Dickens wrote a tragedy called _Misnar, the Sultan of India_, founded on the _Tales of the Genii_. See _Life of Dickens_ by John Forster, Vol. I., pp. 7, 29, 34; also Chauvin, _op. cit._, IV., p. 11.

Page 253, n. 1, =Thackeray=. Cf. (1) _Vanity Fair_, Chap. V. “On a sunshiny afternoon ... poor William Dobbin ... was lying under a tree in the playground, spelling over a favorite copy of the _Arabian Nights_—apart from the rest of the school—quite lonely and almost happy.... Dobbin had for once forgotten the world and was away with Sinbad the Sailor in the Valley of Diamonds or with Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Peribanon in that delightful cavern where the prince found her, and whither we should all like to make a tour.” Chap. III. “She [Becky] had a vivid imagination; she had, besides, read the _Arabian Nights_ and _Guthrie’s Geography_.”

(2) _The Virginians_, Chap. XXIII. Hetty Lambert “brought out ‘The Persian Tales’ from her mamma’s closet.” Chap. XXX. Harry Warrington writes home of reading “in French the translation of an Arabian Work of Tales, very diverting.”

(3) _Roundabout Papers._ In the paper “On a Lazy, Idle Boy,” Thackeray refers to “a score of white-bearded, white-robed warriors, or grave seniors of the city, seated at the gate of Jaffa or Beyrout, and listening to the story teller reciting his marvels out of _The Arabian Nights_.”

(4) _Eastern Sketches_ contains many references to the pleasure Thackeray has always taken in the _Arabian Nights_, _e.g._ pp. 338, 339, of _Works_, Vol. X.