1€4 Remarks on the Alif Leilah. [March, 



so saturated. 4. This was, therefore, an Indian MS. thus prepared. 

 5. This was, therefore, an Indian king. 6. This was, therefore, an 

 Indian story. The answer to this somewhat illogical sorties is — 1. 

 That an Indian king turning over an Indian MS. would not, as did 

 the king in the story, have exposed himself to the chance of being 

 poisoned. 2. That the supposition of the MS. being an ordinary 

 Indian MS. would utterly take away the moral of the tale. 3. That 

 (as the tale tells us) the supposed MS. was no MS. at all, for " the king 

 turned over six leaves, and looked upon them, and found nothing 

 written upon them," which induces a further search into the book, 

 and a more certain death in consequence. But perhaps a literal 

 translation of the latter part of the story from the Arabic of the 

 Macan MS. will best show the futility of Mons. De S.'s argument, 

 the moral of the tale being the retribution inflicted by the victim on 

 the oppressor by means of the knowledge he is in the commencement 

 said to possess of " all modes of healing, and of hurting." 

 Extract from the Story of the Physician and the King. 

 "And after this the executioner stepped forward, and rolled his eyes 

 fiercely, and drew his sword, and said, ' Give the word;' and the physi- 

 cian wept, and said to the king, ' Spare me, spare me, for the love of 

 God, and kill me not, or God will kill thee/ and commenced extempora- 

 neously reciting, 



' If I live no man I'll profit ; if I perish curse for me 



All the good, when I'm no more, with every curse of infamy. 



I was kindly ; others cruel ; they were prosperous ; I lost all ; 



And benevolence hath made me master of a ruined hall*.' 



Then said the physician to the king, ' This is the return I meet from you ■ j 

 you return me the reward of the crocodile.' Then said the king, ' And 

 what is the tale of the crocodile?' The physician replied, ' It is not possi- 

 ble for me to tell it, and I in this state ; and as God is with you, spare 

 me as God will spare you.' So then the physician wept with exceeding 

 weeping, and certain of the king's private attendants arose, and said, ' Oh ! 

 king, grant us the life of this physician, for we have not seen him com- 

 mit one fault towards you, and we have not seen him save as healing you 

 from your disease, which baffled all physicians and men of science.' Then 

 said the king to them, ' You know not the cause of my putting to death 

 this physician and this it is, that if I spare him, surely I myself am doomed 



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