Page:The Thousand And One Days - 1892 - Volume 1.djvu/16

 'The Thousand and One Days' for the sake of that enchanted and enchanting Orient of which they tell.

According to the preface to the Garnier edition, 'The Thousand and One Days' were first given to the Western world by the French Orientalist, Petis de la Croix, in 1710. His version professes to be a translation of a Persian original called 'Hazar Yek Ruz,' or 'The Thousand and One Days.' Petis de la Croix professed to get them from a Dervish named Modes, whom he knew when he was in Ispahan in 1675. Modes had adapted them, it would seem, from certain Indian comedies. Of these Indian comedies it is said that a Turkish version exists in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, under the title of 'Al farady baad al chidda,' or 'Joy after Sorrow.' Modes allowed Petis de la Croix, who seems to have stood high in his favour, to take a copy of the 'Hazar Yek Ruz,' and from this copy Petis de la Croix made his translation on his return to Paris. That is the statement. Whether it is accurate or not, whether the manuscript of the 'Hazar Yek Ruz' used by Petis de la Croix exists, whether the 'Hazar Yek Ruz' are still familiar VOL. 1.