Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/169

 9*8. VII. MARCH 2, 1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

161

LONDON, SATURDAY, MAECH 2, 1901.

CONTENTS. -No. 166.

NOTES : Fantastic Fiction, 161 " Knavish " Shakespeare and Rabelais, 163 Shakespeare's Books, 163 'N. & Q.' : Corrections in Indexes, 164 Empire and Kingdom of Aries -"Hutching about" "To trunk up" "Become" Moscow and London Debris Ferdinand VII." Barted " London Evening Papers "Knights of the Moon," 165

Queens and the Garter General Bligh Sarigue Disraeli's Letters, 166.

QUERIES : ' ' Paulie "Gibson Craig Lament for Chaucer R. Fothergill J. P. Fox Early French 'Pilgrim's Progress,' 167 Population of Towns "Wabbling" Brandreth Family Col. Cooper " Mary's Chappel," 168 Early Methodists and Parish Church London Churches Blackheads Madame Bontemps Hand-ruling in Old Title-pages ' Lass of Richmond Hill ' R. Smith, of Bristol Sergeant of the Catery " Cradle Commissions " Fergaunt Roos Family, 169 "Tolpatchery," 170.

REPLIES: Searchers of Leather Wine in the Early Church Quotations, 170 Dresden Amen Achill Island Rhododendrons and Oleanders Independent Company of Invalids Funeral Cards Area of Churchyards " Clubbing the battalion," 171 Definition of Gratitude- " The power of the dog" - Governor Haynes's Grand- fatherMorris as a Man of Business " Wise," 172 St. Clement Danes "Knievogue" Darcy Lever, 173 Public Mourning Dutton Family, 174 Visitation of Suffolk Note on Chaucer, 175 "Five o'clock tea" Dr. Johnson Motto for Laundry Porch Royal Standard

D'Auvergne Family, 176 Last Male Descendant of Defoe-' Book- World ' - Whately's ' Logic ' " Frail " - " Brazen-soft "Gladstone Statue, 177 Whitgift's Hos- pital, Croydon Jesse and Selwyn, 178.

NOTES ON BOOKS -.Grant's ' The French Monarchy ' Wendell's 'Literary History of America ' Stocker's ' Language of Handwriting' ' Whitaker's Peerage.'

Notices to Correspondents.

FANTASTIC FICTION. SOME fragments of the 'Arabian Nights' are to be found in the 'Pleasant Nights' of Straparola, who wrote before the 'Arabian Nights ' were known in Europe. But Strapa- rola might have got, and is supposed to have got, some of his stories directly from the East. It is, however, strange to find the same stories in the ' Arabian Nights ' and in the folk traditions of the north of Europe. The Persian tales are excellent, and some- times hardly inferior to their Arabian cousins, but they undoubtedly have had some French additions to them, made by the hand of their translator into that language. The Turkish stories seem to be more genuinely Oriental, but for the most part have less fancy. One might have supposed that superior people would have thought the Arabian and Per- sian tales charming, even though they considered them to be mere trifles. Some people, however, are not charmed by them. Bishop Atterbury, writing to Pope on the subject of the Arabian tales, expresses himself thus :

"To read those two volumes through, liking them as little as I do, would be a terrible penance. I will never believe that you have any keen relish

of them. Who that Petit de la Croise is, the pre- tended author of them, I cannot tell, but, observing how full they are in the description of dress, &c., I cannot help thinking them the product of some woman's imagination."

The reference to Petit de la Croix seems to show that the bishop was alluding to the Persian tales, of which Petit de la Croix was the translator. Although, as has pre- viously been remarked, a few samples nad been picked up by Straparola, and perhaps by others, the greater treasures of Oriental fiction were not disclosed to Europe before the latter part of the seventeenth century. The French then turned their attention to the East, and also began to give heed to the marvellous stories which, coming originally from the East, lay latent, preserved by tradition, amongst all the nations of Europe. D'Herbelot, the author of the ' Bibliotheque Orientale' ; Galland, translator of the' Arabian Nights ' ; Petit de la Croix, translator of the Persian tales and the Turkish tales ; Perrault, collector of folk-tales ; Madame d'Aulnoy, writer of fairy stories founded on folk-tales ; Anthony Hamilton, also author of fairy stories founded on folk-tales, and travestier of the 'Arabian Nights,' were all contemporaries, and died about the beginning of the eighteenth century or twenty years later. Madame d'Aulnoy in her fairy tales was indebted to Straparola and Basile ; but she must also have had access to other folk-stories, for there is a strong resemblance between her work and Northern folk-stories which are not in the small collection made by her contemporary Perrault. Count Hamilton's story of ' Fleur d'Epine' is almost entirely manufactured out of a couple of Scandinavian folk-tales.

After the time of Galland there arose a host of writers who deluged the world with imita- tions of Eastern stories. Members of the French Academy, gentlemen and ladies of quality, lawyers and abbes, all wrote after this manner. Often the plan was to divide the series into one thousand and one fragments, though fortunately the authors seldom got through more than one-fifth of their in- tended labours. Voltaire was affected by the Oriental mania, and wrote ' Zadig ' and other Eastern tales. Cazotte had a hand in the continuation of the 'Arabian Nights,' and is responsible for some inferior fairy stories ; but he was really inspired when he wrote his 'Diable Amoureux.' Afterwards came the ' Vathek' of Beckford. True genius, though it may occasionally be a little extravagant, is al- most always allied to good taste. In 'Vathek' taste and genius are equally conspicuous ; and