1836.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 599 



On the other hand, the first of the unpublished Tales in both the Egyptian 

 MSS. — where it occupies from Night 34—38 (MS. vol. 1 and Treb. p. xli.) 

 occupies all from the 139th to the 218th in Habicht (iii. 66—166). It is 

 not, however, actually longer in the latter than in the former : and as 

 this tale, viz. the History of the two Viziers of Mohammed Ibin Soleman 

 Alzini [in Habicht " Alrasi"] has never been translated either by Gal- 

 land or Trebutten, I selected it for the collation of the two Arabic 

 texts. Here, though I found the printed and MS. text to tally in the main 

 from beginning to end, not only as to the succession of incidents, but in the 

 poetical passages interspersed throughout, the variations were very con- 

 siderable both in the prose and the verse : whole clauses appeared in the 

 one which were not in the other ; the advantage of fullness being some- 

 times on the side of Mr. Brownlow's MS., but more frequently on that 

 of the Breslau edition. 



On the whole, I should strongly recommend the publication of this text 

 without any reference to that of M. Habicht — even in the parts which 

 might be compared with advantage. (Mr. Macnaghten's offer of assisting 

 in the correction of the press is one which should be most thankfully 

 embraced, however learned may be the Maulavi engaged for the pur- 

 pose.) When both texts shall have been published, (belonging, as they do, 

 apparently to two very different editions or recensions of these celebrat- 

 ed tales, one long current in Egypt and Arabia, the other among the 

 Maghrebin Arabs of Barbary and Spain,) they may enable the critics of 

 Europe to form perhaps a judgment as to the true original text of both. 

 The work of a translator is one of greater difficulty : and we have none 

 probably in India, possessed at the same time of ability and leisure for a 

 work of this description. The ease and vivacity of M. Galland's 

 translation, so deservedly popular among Western readers, would be a 

 good model for imitation — avoiding, however, his liberties with his origi- 

 nal, except, indeed, in the too frequent cases where decency requires 

 curtailment or omission. M. Trebutien is far more faithful in giving the 

 whole of his original : but in the mode of representing it, a due medium 

 between his too occidental style of paraphrase, and a servilely literal 

 version of the Arabic text, would be, in my opinion, at the same time 

 more accurate and more pleasing. 



W. H. Mill. 



Minute by Mr. J. R. Colvin. 



I have no pretensions to the name of an Arabic scholar, and shall not 

 presumejio offer any opinion of my own on the genuineness of these 

 volumes. But I can bear testimony to the late Major Macan's opinion 

 of their genuineness. He was a highly competent judge, and had made 

 inquiries which satisfied him on the point before he bought the manu- 

 scripts in England. 



I cordially join in the wish to give encouragement to the publication 

 of a complete edition. J. R. Colvin. 



Minute by Mr. C. E. Trevelyan. 

 Neither have I the least pretension to be called an Arabic scholar, but 

 it is not necessary to be one in order to appreciate in soma degree the 

 beauty of the Arabian Nights. I think it very desirable that a correct 

 version of the original Arabic should be published, and still more so that 

 it should be well translated into English. Such a translation, if it were 

 well executed, would be a most valuable accession to English literature, 

 and I believe that for one person who would read the book in Arabic, 

 five hundred would read it in English. Nobody, in my opinion, is so 

 eminently qualified for this task as Mr. Macnaghten, and if he could 

 be persuaded to undertake it, he would lay every person who reads 

 English under an obligation to him. C. E. Trevelyan. 



