Page:Muhammad Diyab al-Itlidi - Historical Tales and Anecdotes of the Time of the Early Khalîfahs - Alice Frere - 1873.djvu/21

x Lane, Modern Egyptians London, 1846.

Modern Universal History London, 1780–84.

Playfair, A History of Arabia Felix or Yemen (printed for Government) Bombay, 1859.

Sale, The Koran London, 1812 Weil, Geschichte der Khalifen Mannheim, 1846.

The Reverend George Percy Badger, to whom I am indebted for much valuable help, informed me that some of the tales in the following volume had been already translated and offered to the English public in the notes to an edition of Mr. Lane's "Thousand and One Nights" (commonly called The Arabian Nights). I was unaware of this at the time of translating the tales, and since referring to Mr. Lane's volumes, have found that the rule which applies to most of the Eastern tales with which I am acquainted holds good in this instance, viz., that though the foundation of the story may be the same, yet that the details have been varied. This may be partly caused by the fact of so many Oriental tales and anecdotes having been handed down orally for several centuries. And it may be due in part to the flexibility (if I may use such a term) of the Arabic language, which admits of considerable latitude in translation, while the sense in every case is, according