Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/146

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. I. FEB. 12, '98.

Heron- Allen's opinion, in a hand midway between Nasta'lik and Shikasta), and is said to be one of the most beautiful Persian MSS. of its age in existence,

written upon a thick yellow paper in purple- dered with gold. For

black ink, profusely pow.

further particulars concerning a MS. of high interest, and the means by which the effects have been reproduced, the reader is referred to the introduc- tion. Older MSS. are probably in existence in the ancient cities of Central Asia. None, however, that will serve as a point of departure for the student has as yet been traced. It would seem as though the recently aroused enthusiasm for Omar has not extended beyond Western Europe, and is not even understood in the East. So magical was the effect of Fitzgerald's rendering of Omar Khayyam that subsequent and more accurate versions are apt to prove disappointing. Concerning the manner in which the task was approached and accomplished, and concerning the fortunes of the rendering, we know much from Fitzgerald's own writings, and from the introductory matter to the translation of Mr. Justin Huntly McCarthy. Mr. Heron-Allen

..

has, however, thrown new light upon many points by which readers have hitherto been puzzled. That Fitzgerald, while adhering closely to the spirit of his original, and informing it with fresh beauties, did not hold to the sequence of ideas, and incor- porated two or more quatrains in one, was known. The original of what is perhaps the most familiar stanza

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,

A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness.

Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow is thus found in two quatrains, numbered respec- tively 149 and 155 in Mr. Heron- Allen's translation, in which the latter quatrain is thus rendered : If a loaf of wheaten bread be forthcoming, a gourd of wine, and a thigh-bone of mutton, and then, if thou and I be sitting in the wilderness, that would be a joy to which no sultan can set

bounds.

In the case, however, of quatrains that have hitherto baffled all students such as, for instance, that beginning

Oh Thou ! who man of baser earth didst make, and the second, opening

Heaven but the vision of fulfilled desire- Mr. Heron- Allen has discovered that they are taken from the 'Mantik ut tair' of Ferld ud dm Attar, which Fitzgerald had closely studied immediately before he turned his attention to Omar Khayyam. This discovery, interesting and valuable in itself, explains why later renderings of the 'Ruba'iyat' leave behind them a sense of disappointment, since we do not find therein the passages for which we most earnestly look. The idea that Fitzgerald's book is a translation has, indeed, to be dismissed. It is, as Fitzgerald himself said, " the paraphrase of a syllabus of the poem." It comes as a series of detached passages rather than as sustained satire or arraignment. Such as it is, it is a work of genius, and as such the world has welcomed it. In no other form will the ' Ruba'iyat ' be equally welcome to the present generation. It is pleasant, however, to have Mr. Heron - Allen's new and admirable translation, which, if it is not Fitzgerald, is at least Omar, and gives us a fine impression of the master. Concerning the method in which the work is

ixecuted, we may say that after his interesting ntroduction Mr. Heron -Allen gives an English translation, in which the 158 quatrains are num- jered and unaccompanied by notes. Then follows 'ollowed by the transcript of the text into modern Persian, at the foot of which the translation is reprinted, while the opposite page is occupied with notes. This is a convenient arrangement which may be commended for imitation. At the end comes )he bibliography. Mr. Heron-Allen has executed lis task admirably, and his book will be seized upon by all lovers of Omar. He has received im- portant aid from Oriental scholars, which is duly icknowledged. In speaking of the work it is but just to the publishers to say that it is got up in an exquisite and a luxurious form, with every attrac- J ion of type, paper, illustrations, and binding. It is as well suited to grace the boudoir as to be herished in the library, and will, we doubt not, be called on to do both. It may be helpful to some few readers unfamiliar with Oriental languages to say that the word ruba'iyat is properly translated quatrains."
 * he beautifully executed facsimile. This, again, is

Bygone Norfolk. Edited by William Andrews.

(Andrews & Co. )

THE plan adopted in ' Bygone Norfolk ' is different from that followed in the case of most of the counties that have been included in the series to which it belongs, though similar proceedings appear to have been followed in the case of 'Bygone Cheshire,' which we do not recall. Instead of trusting the work to some well-known Norfolk scholar, such as Mr. Walter Rye or Dr. Jessopp, Mr. Andrews has assigned separate chapters to different writers, and has himself exercised over all a supervision tantamount to editorship. Something may be said in favour of a plan of this kind. The man most familiar with the ecclesiastical archi- tecture of a county may know little concerning its guilds, and nothing whatever concerning its popular speech or customs. At the same time we are con- scious, in the present case, of a feeling that the whole in appearance, and in the impression it leaves, is fragmentary. Separate chapters are, as a rule, in competent hands, and the completed volume is qualified to hold its own in an excellent series. What most commends it to us is the space assigned to what may perhaps be called popular subjects. That Norwich Cathedral, the famous shrine at Walsingham, and the church of St. Nicholas, Great Yarmouth, would receive adequate treatment was to be expected. A chapter on the guilds, which in Norfolk were both numerous and important, must necessarily be included in a local history aiming at completeness; and " Echoes of King's Lynn," by the Rev. W. B. Russell Cayley, though they might with advantage have been more numerous, do not come as a surprise. Mr. W. H. Jones, however, the editor of the Norfolk Chronicle, sends very interesting accounts of "Norwich Pageants" and "Packthorpe, its Mayor and Fair." Mr. James Hooper conveys very useful information con- cerning " Horkeys, or Harvest Frolics/' and Mr. H. E. Gillett gives " Some Saws and Proverbs of Norfolk" and "The Sports and Pastimes of Old Norfolk." The local saws are far from complete. We are pleased, accordingly, to hear that these are being collected with a view to separate publication. We miss the lines on "Cromer craps, Runton dabs," &c., and those on