, 1873-11-30
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS,
Who Wrote Them .

who Wrote Them 2
Donald g. Mitchell undertales, In the nov
the authorship Of that father OF romances !" Ono
Thousand and Ono Nights." Ho thinks It was
not Capt. Msyno Roid though, II he had boen
born boz, L. perStat, and liycd long time enough ago.
tar. instcad Of Captain In the Mexican War,
with q Colt's revolver nnd goatoe and had
seen tho cloud OF dust which Ali-Daba saw,l
think llo could havo made out the land Of forty
But AInyno Rola didr't sea tho cloud Of dust
which covered theuo robbers (and which ia very
apt to coycr all gangs OF public robbers), and
therefore did not writo tho "Arabian NigLtH."
IN her gtylo;. nor did tho author Of Little
Women;" and tho goni,1a In her "work,"
though worry decided, lint ut al Ako tho genus
that comes In s1noie aud flnma into the wonllor.
ful Gtory Of Aladdin and tho Limp.
You could uevor guoss rho wrote tho Arabian
Nights, for nobody knows whom those stories
we're tlrat writton. It Heoms worry odd that
book should be made, and no ono ablo to tell
when Il vas made: Tho publishers don't allow
oyon go With tho book wo arc talking Of. OF
oonrso, 1t in possible to fix tho dato Of tho many
tranalations Of tho Arabian Nights which hayo
hcon b, m made into tho LANGUAGES ot Europe from
the year 17oi that certain Antoine aallaud.
distinguished Oriental scholar Of Paris, who
had travelled In tho East and who had collected
many curious manuscripts and medals, publish-
Thousad and One Nghts b "i Ts 1 vaa uain IN tho tho
time Of the gay Court Of Louis tho Fourteenth
and tho 1uo 1adios Of, tho Court-tnoHe Of tho1n
who could read-a1l doyoured tho book. And
tho schoolboys throughout Trance (though
outside Of the great ctio1) MI came to know tho
wonderful seoriee OF Aladdin aud OF Ali-Baba.
hemetnbor thas thlB was about tho timo whom
tho gront Duko Of Marlboro Was winning lis ia
tr7Ns nh
Of nlouholul, about Which m Englist pook. DR..
So,lthey, has written quaint 1ittle pootn, which
you should read: It was in tho lifetime, too, Of
Dsniol DO Toe-wlo wrote thnt oyer~
or ,tiftcou ycars lator aud the first newspaper
in Amorica--callod tho Boston Neso,- Leke,'-w.a
printed II tho same ycer in which Antoine Gal
land published tlia translation Of tho Thousand
DO curious to ses it. You can find in tho Imperial
Library or tho National Library Tor whatcycr
those ohungeublo Frcnch people may call it now)
tho very manuscript Of Antoine Gallhnd.
somo years aftorward thoro was now and
which bud aucccodod HI. Qalland as Professor
Of Arabic in tho royal college. Thon thoze 1ol-
lowed In the early part Of this century transla-
boys in the daya Of President Monroe took thoi1
first tasto Of tl1oao gorgeous Arabian tales.
But tho completeHt OF all tho COLLECTIONS Was
made by German scholar, Mr. Won Hammer,
in tho year 1824-not so far back but that your
fathers and mothers may remember little stray
paragraphs in tho pnporn which mado mention
Of ho" . German scholar had traced those old
Arabian tales back to rory dim antiquity in
Indis; and how ho beloved they had thonco
gone into persis. whcro tho great men Of tho
atorios all became Cslfphs, aud how thoy foaloa
thonco, by lealsay, into Arabia (uhich was 4
country Of scrlbos and scholars in tho days Of
Hnroup al Isagchil) and how they thoro took
form in the old Arabic manuscripts Which An
tome Galland had found aud translated. But
during tho century that had passed since III.
Gallanl'a death, other and fuller Arabic copies
have been found. with now tales added, and with
other vorsionB Of tho taloa first told.
But what VIC call tho machinery OF tho stos1cs
Eas always much the sano and the 8amo pcnii
flashed out in smoke and flame, aud tue same
scllaitars wont blazing and dealing death through
Al tho copies Of tho " Thousand aud One
Nights"