SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS 



SEVEN WISE MEN 



333 



enough to convince him of the life beyond the 

 grave of the dead, whereupon they sank again to 

 sleep till the resurrection. Gregory explains that 

 his story is of Syrian origin it is widely current 

 in the East, and was adopted hy Mohammed 

 (sur. xviii.), who even admits their dog Kitmer 

 also into Paradise. The Koman Catholic Church 

 holds their festival on June 27. The names usually 

 given are Maximianus, Malchus, Martinianus, 

 Dionysins, Joannes, Serapion, and Constantius. 

 Pauliis Diaconus (8th century) locates a similar 

 story in Germany, and Rydberg makes out a good 

 case that the myth is of Teutonic origin intimately 

 connected with the return of the dead Balder and 

 of the other dead men from the lower world, with 

 the idea of resurrection and the regeneration of the 

 world, but possihly enough first Christianised in 

 Syria or Asia Minor. The seven sons of Mimer 

 awakening from their long sleep at the blast of 

 Heimdal's trumpet to take their part in the final 

 struggle of the universe is a close parallel to the 

 seven saints of Ephesns. Both in Germany and 

 Sweden the seven sleepers are connected with the 

 weather if it rains on their day rain will follow 

 for seven weeks together. They are supposed also | 

 to take especial care of sailors. See Koch, Die 

 SiebenscMaferlegende (Leip. 1882); and Rydberg, 

 Teutonic Mythology ( Eng. trans. 1889). 



Seventh-day Baptists. See SABBATH, p. 60. 



Seven Wise Masters, the most common title 

 given to a famous mediieval collection of stories, 

 grouped round a central story, the history of which 

 is almost the most important among the problems 

 of storiology. The leading story itself is briefly as 

 follows : A young prince is born in answer to 

 prayer as the only son of the aged king Kurush, 

 and the astrologe'rs foretell a great danger over- 

 hanging his fate at twenty. At seven years he is 

 entrusted to masters, bat at thirteen he has not 

 learned anything. The sages then recommend 

 Sindibad as the best master, but for six and a half 

 more years the young prince studies under him 

 uselessly, and at nineteen and a half he has still 

 learnt nothing. The king again assembles the 

 wise men, and Sindibad oflers to teach the prince 

 everything in six months or forfeit bin life. He 

 now'shuts himself up with his pupil, who this time 

 succeeds to his master's satisfaction. Before bring- 

 ing him back SindibAd consults the stain, and sees 

 that the prince will die if he should speak before 

 seven days. Sindibacl therefore hides himself, and 

 the prince at court is found to be dumb. One 

 of the king's women now tempts him as the wife 

 of Potiphar did Joseph, and in the fury of dis- 

 appointed rage accuses him to the king of an 

 attempt on her virtue. The king condemns him 

 to death, whereupon the seven viziers resolve to 

 intercede to stay his execution. The first goes to 

 the king, and by two tales against women obtains 

 the suspension of the execution for that day. Next 

 day the woman by a tale of contrary character 

 obtains a confirmation of the sentence ; out a second 

 vizier again procures a suspension by two tales ; 

 and so on till the end of the seventh day when the 

 prince is free to speak. He now comes to the king 

 attended by the sages and by Sindibad, whereupon 

 the woman is duly punished, and the king, after 

 seeing proof of his son's wisdom, gives him his 

 throne anil retires into solitude to serve God. 



Of variant versions there are two principal groups, 

 the Eastern and the Western, the first including 

 all the texts in Eastern languages, and some more 

 or less free translations from Oriental texts ; the 

 other including the Dolopathos, the Historia Septem 

 S/ifiientum, the Erasto, and many others. The 

 Oriental texts have so many elements in common 

 that they obviously spring from one book as a 



common basis, of which they are more or less 

 faithful translations, at different epochs and in 

 different literatures. The Western texts, though 

 derivable from the Eastern, show great divergencies 

 alike in the fundamental story and in the tales 

 inserted in it. The real cause of this is that in the 

 Western cases oral tradition has transmuted the 

 contents. 



The earliest version of a Book of Sindibdd is 

 found in Arabian writers of the 10th century. The 

 more important Eastern versions are the follow- 

 ing : ( 1 ) The Syntipas, a Greek text translated 

 from the Syriac by Michael Andreopulos during 

 the last years of the llth century (ed. by Dr A. 

 Eberhard in vol. i. of Fabulce Komanenses Greece 

 Conscriptce, Leip. 1872). A Syriac text was found 

 bv Rodiger, and has lieen edited, with a German 

 translation, by Dr Baethgen (Leip. 1879). (2) 

 The Hebrew version entitled Parables of Sandabar 

 (Mischle Sandabar), translated from the Arabic, 

 probablv in the first half of the 13th century. 

 There is a German translation by Sengelman 

 (Halle, 1842), a French by Carmoly (Paris, 1849). 

 (3) The SindibAd-Nameh, an unedited Persian 

 poem, written in 1375. (4) The eighth night of 

 the Tutt-ndmeh of Nachschebi, a Persian poet who 

 died in 1329. Of this there is a German transla- 

 tion by Professor Brockhaus (Leip. 1845). (5) 

 The Seven Viziers, an Arabic text, forming part 

 of some redactions of the Thousand and One 

 Nights, of uncertain age, but not ancient. (6) An 

 ancient Spanish translation of an Arabic text 

 existing in a loth-century codex the version 

 closest to the Sifiitipas. It was first printed by 

 Comparetti in dis Ricerche intomo al Libra di 

 Sindibdd (Milan, 1869 ; Eng. trans, of Comparetti's 

 study and the old Spanish text, Folklore Society 

 issues, 1882). 



Western versions exist in the most perplexing variety 

 and number Latin, French, Italian, Catalan, Spanish, 

 English, German, Dutch, Icelandic, Swedish, Danish, 

 Polish, Russian, Hungarian, and Armenian. The Dolo- 

 pathot is a French metrical version supposed to have 

 been made by Herbert in the reign of Louis IX. from 

 the Latin romance of Jean de Haute-Seille, Hiiloria de 

 Rege et Septem Sapientibus. This Latin text (Johannit 

 de Alta Silrn Dolopathot) was edited by Oesterley 

 (Strasb. 1873); other Latin versions varied widely. 

 A French metrical version was printed by Keller 

 ITiib. 1836); Li romant de Datapath*)*, by Ch. 

 Brunei and A. de Montaiglon (1856); two prose 

 versions of the Sept tiayet de Rome, by Gaston Paris 

 (187G). An Knglish prose version soon followed 

 (middle of 16th century) under the title; of the Seven 

 Wine Mailert, and about the same time a Scotch metri- 

 cal version by John Holland of Dalkeith. One English 

 metrical version was printed by Henry Wi-ber (1810), 

 another by T. Wright for the Percy Society (1845). 

 Among Italian versions we have a lUth-centnry transla- 

 tion fioni a French prose version, printed by Professor 

 A. d'Ancona (II Libra dei Sette Sarj di Roma, Pisa, 

 1864 ) ; the latest is the 1 6th-century book, / Compaitiotie- 

 Toli ArvenimeiUi di Erasto. German versions begin 

 with the metrical rendering of 1412 hy Hans v. Btihel, 

 Diocletianui Lebeti, edited by A. Keller (Quedlinb. 1841 ). 

 A second and anonymous poetical version is given in 

 Keller's Altdeuttche Gedichte (Tub. 1846). The prose 

 Volksbuch was first printed in the 15th century, and 

 will be found in Simrock's collection. See Professor 

 Mussana, Beitrdiie 2ur Lilterattir der eieben weisen 

 Meister (Vien. 1868); Dr Marcus Landau, Die Qucllen 

 dei Dekamrron |2d ed. 1884) ; and W. A. Clouston, The 

 Book of Sindibad, from Pers. and Arab. (1884). 



Seven Wise Men. the collective designation 

 of a number of Greek sages, whose moral and 

 social experience, according to the ancients, was 

 embodied in certain brief aphorisms. Their names, 

 as usually given, and their characteristic aphorisms 

 are as follows : Solon of Athens' Nothing in 

 excess;' Thales of Miletus ' Suretyship brings 



