Читать книгу The Bakhtyār Nāma. A Persian Romance онлайн

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Habicht’s Arabian Text. Cazotte’s Translation. C. de Perceval. German Translation. Persian Texts. 1 Introductory Story (King Āzādbakht) 1 1 1 1 2 History of the Merchant pursued by Ill-Fortune 2 4 2 2 3 History of the Jewel Merchant 3 8 8 8 4 History of Abū Saber 4 7 4 4 5 History of Prince Bihzād 5 3 3 3 6 History of King Dādbīn and his Two Viziers 6 10 6 6 7 History of Bakhtzamān 7 6 8 History of King Bīhkard 8 5 5 5 9 History of Īlan Shāh and Abū Temām 9 ^[24] 9 9 10 History of King Ibrahīm and his Son 10 9 10 11 History of Sulaymān Shāh, his Sons, his Niece, and their Children 11 2 7 7

It will be observed from this table that in Habicht’s Arabian text, in Cazotte, and C. de Perceval there are eleven stories, including the Introductory Tale, which forms part of the frame; and this arrangement is more in accordance with what was evidently the original plan of the romance than is our Persian version, in which there is no story to counteract the arguments employed by the First Vizier against Bakhtyār. In all other romances of the Sindibād cycle, where the sages, or counsellors, relate stories in behalf of the accused, the narrators appear in regular succession, from the first to the seventh (or, in the case of the Forty Viziers, from the first to the fortieth); and there can be little doubt, I think, that in the original Persian romance—probably no longer extant—the First Vizier, as in the Arabian version, was represented as appearing before the King on the first day after Bakhtyār was committed to prison, urging his immediate execution, and the youth, on being brought into the King’s presence, as relating one of the tales included in Habicht’s text, but omitted in our present version. On the Eleventh Day in Cazotte (reckoning the day of our hero’s unhappy adventure as one) the young man relates two stories, that of “Sulaymān Shāh and his Family,” which exactly agrees with Habicht’s text; and a rather pointless story, entitled “The King of Haram and his Slave,” which is probably identical with the eleventh tale in C. de Perceval, entitled “The Freed Slave,” which takes the place of the story of Abū Temām, omitted. The titles of the several stories as given in the above table are those in Habicht’s text. No. 3 in Cazotte is entitled “Ilage Mahomet and his Sons.” No. 8 is “Baharkan, or the Intemperate (i.e., hasty-tempered) Man”—our “King of Yemen” and in the German translation “The Prince of Zanzībār.” No. 10 is in Cazotte also “Ibrahīm and his Son,” and the incidents are the same in both. No. 7, “The History of Bakht-zamān,” also in Cazotte and C. de Perceval, but omitted in the Persian version, treats of the vain attempts of a man to succeed in war or peace without God’s help—utterly vain, unless prayers are offered up for His assistance. No. 11 (our “King of Abyssinia”) has the same title in Cazotte, and in both the story is very differently told from the Persian narrative; it is, however, an excellent tale, and I regret that I have not space here for an analysis of it. In the German translation our tenth story (“King of Persia”) is omitted, although it is found in the Arabian text.