The Arabian Nights Entertainments Volume 4 of 4

by Anonymous, Jonathan Scott (Translator)

The 1811 edition, revised and corrected, being the first English text of these classic tales to be directly translated from the Arabic.

244 pages, Paperback

Published June 20, 2006

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concluding volume of the Jonathan Scott translation contains several additional shorter tales. But it is most notable because of the number of stories herein that are reworkings, revisions, embellishments, additions, and retellings of earlier stories from this volume and the first three as well. All follow a similar pattern of rewarding good and punishing evil, although there is a surprising amount of tales of mercy that forego revenge, even when it is justified. Another thing the stories reveal is a perhaps surprising amount of social mobility, people arise (and fall) to and from positions of high honor and power. And they do so from both humble beginnings (fishermen, artisans, peddlers) as well as what could be called the merchant class (traders, shop owners, ships' captains). Still the majority of the heroes and heroines are royalty, either of the mortal kind or from the ruling families of the genii. Finally, there is a recurring plot throughout all four volumes. Most of the stories rely on the theme of the quest. Not surprising, as you can find the antecedents of these stories in the world's earliest tale, which emanated from this region, the Epic of Gligamesh. Otherwise, allusions and adaptations from the Bible, Homer's epic poems, as well as from the mythology of Greece and Rome can be found throughout.