Story-Telling Techniques in the Arabian Nights (Studies in Arabic Literature, Vol 15) 9004095306, 9789004095304

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STORY -TELLING TECHNIQUES IN THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

STUDIES IN ARABIC LITERATURE SUPPLEMENTS TO THE JOURNAL OF ARABIC LITERATURE

EDITED BY

M.M. BADAWI and J.N. MATTOCK

VOLUME XV

STORY -TELLING TECHNIQUES IN THE ARABIAN NIGHTS BY

DAVID PINAULT

E.J. BRILL LEIDEN • NEW YORK· KOLN 1992

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pinault, David. Story-telling techniques in the Arabian nights / by David Pinault. cm.-(Studies in Arabic literature, ISSN 0169-9903 ; v. p. 15) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 90-04-09530-6 (alk. paper) 1. Arabian nights-Style. 2. Narration (Rhetoric) 3. Storytelling. 1. Title. II. Series. PJ7737.P56 1992 91-28203 398.22-dc20 CIP

ISSN 0169-9903 ISBN 90 04 09530 6

© Copyright 1992 by E.j. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission from the publisher Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by E.j. Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center, 27 Congress Street, SALEM MA 01970, USA. Fees are subject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

CONTENTS Preface ........................................... I. An introduction to the Arabian Nights .. . . . . . . . . . . . . A. A note on the history of the Nights ............... . B. Oral performance and literary language in the Arabian Nights ......................................... C. A description of selected storytelling techniques from the Nights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i. Repetitive designation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii. Leitwortstit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii. Thematic patterning and formal patterning. . . . . . iv. Dramatic visualization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

II. The i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. xii. xiii. xiv.

Fisherman and the Genie/Enchanted Prince cycle Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The manuscripts ............................ The Fisherman and the Genie ................ King Yunan and the Physician Duban ......... Inner frames within Yunan and Duban. The Leiden version: The Vizier of King Sindibad/The Jealous Husband and the Parrot ..................... Inner frames within Yunan and Duban. The Egyptian version: King Sindibad and His Falcon. . . . . Return to the frame of Yunan and Duban. The vizier's tale of The King's Son and the Ghoul ... The Fisherman-frame, resumed ............... The function of exempla and Leitwarter in the Fisherman-Duban cycle ........................... The Tale of the Enchanted Prince. Introduction. In the palace of the enchanted prince .......... The prince and the sorceress .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The sultan's stratagem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusion: the narratives united .. . . . . . . . . . . . .

IX

1

12 16 16 18 22 25

31 31 32 35 41 43 45 46 51 53 62 64 69 74 80

VI

CONTENTS

III. Caliphal Pleasures: tales of Harun al-Rashid, his vizier jaCfar, and the poet Abu Nuwas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. The historical background ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. The Three Apples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i. Introduction .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii. The mystery of the locked chest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii. jaCfar at the gallows: first crisis and resolution. . . iv. The inner frame: the murderer's tale. . . . . . . . . . . v. jaCfar bids his family farewell: second crisis and resolution ..................................... vi. A concluding note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. The False Caliph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i. The plot at a glance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii. Texts of The False Caliph: B, MN and Paris 3663 iii. The interaction of poetry and prose ......... . . . iv. " ... Teakwood, inlaid with gleaming gold": storytellers' improvisations and the use of formulaic language ..................................... v. The caliph as Pharaoh: violence viewed in a mirror vi. A chronicler's aside: Mascudl on love and submisSIon .......................................

vii. Scars of love and the story they disclose ..... . . . viii. A test of love and its consequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . a. the inner-frame narrative: B/MN ........... b. the inner-frame narrative: Paris 3663 ........ ix. The tale concluded. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. Caliphal adventures in unpublished North African manuscripts ........................................ i. Introduction ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii. The tale of the Artisans (Rabat 6152) .. . . . . . . . . iii. The madhouse-scene from the tale of I:Iamld the porter (Rabat 6152) ......................... iv. The Tale of a Man Who Claimed to be a Prophet (Tunis 18047) .............................. v. Conclusion ................................. IV. The City of Brass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. A survey of the texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i. Introduction. An outline of the story and some notes on its historical and legendary antecedents ...... ii. The Bulaq and MacN aghten editions ..........

82 82 86 86 87 90 94 96 99 99 99 100 102 107 114 117 118 129 129 133 137 139 139 140 142 145 146 148 148 148 150

CONTENTS

VII

iii. Tunis 04576 and the Hundred and One Nights iv. Paris 3118 and the Habicht edition of the Arabian Nights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v. Paris 3651 and 3668 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi. Paris 5725 ................................. vii. In the footsteps of Alexander the Great: geographical and legendary references in The City of Brass ... An analysis of scenes from The City of Brass. . . . . . . . i. Prefatory comments. A word on method and previous scholarship ............................. ii. The opening: Damascus, in the caliph's court. . . iii. The Black Castle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv. The tale of the imprisoned genie .. . . . . . . . . . . . . v. In the throne-room of Queen Tadmur . . . . . . . . . . vi. The return to Damascus ..................... The storyteller's use of sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i. The background: folklore and history .......... ii. Portrait of a courtier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii. A quarrel over plunder: the table of King Solomon iv. On being tempted to throw oneself from the top of a wall: some early geographers' accounts ....... v. Yaqut and the queen's curse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi. The idol by the staircase: a comparison with The Tale of the Second Quest ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii. Sapphire fruit, trees of gold: descriptive passages in Qazwini and in the tale of Abu Mubammad the Lazy viii. The emir's retreat to pious solitude .. . . . . . . . . . . Alternative versions of scenes from The City of Brass. i. The emir Musa as protagonist ................ ii. Tug-of-war: the demons and the shaykh . . . . . . . . iii. Guardian statues and a king's treasure ... . . . . . . iv. A conspectus: tale's end and the quiet life. . . . . . Form and meaning in The City of Brass. . . . . . . . . . . .

152

223 225 226 226 227 229 230 231

V. Of demons, hunchbacks, and Barmecide feasts: concluding notes on storytelling techniques in the Arabian Nights

240

Appendix. List of selected manuscripts from libraries in Tunisia and Morocco containing Arabian Nights-analogues and other examples of popular literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

252

Bibliography of works cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

254

Index ............................................

260

B.

C.

D.

E.

157 173 176 180 186 186 190 194 200 202 208 210 210 213 215 216 217 222

PREFACE Scene: an oasis in the desert wastes. An angry demon holds captive a helpless businessman and makes ready to do away with him. The man's crime: the inadvertent killing of the genie's son. Three aged travellers happen by and try to effect a rescue: I'll tell you a wondrous story, each says by way of tempting the demon, if you'll surrender one-third of your blood-claim to this man's life. Intrigued, the genie listens to each in turn; and when the third shaykh finishes his story, the demon shakes with the laughing pleasure of hearing this recitation and cries out to the old men, "I make you a gift of my blood-claim and release him to you." Rejoicing and relief all around. The vignette above (an episode in The Merchant and the Genie) is one of my long-standing favorites from the Alf laylah wa-laylah, the collection of tales known to English readers as the Thousand and One or Arabian Nights. The tale illustrates a trait held in common by virtually every Alf laylah character, sultan, slave, human, sprite: abject inability to resist a good story. The genie's response suggests my own motivation in undertaking this study: the sheer pleasure of experiencing a good story and wanting to present it to others. The present volume is written for the general reader as well as the student of Arabic literature. For this reason I translate all the Arabic passages which I cite in the text. To orient the reader I also discuss briefly the history of the Nights and summarize the plots of the individual stories I discuss. My approach is literary, and selective: for reasons to be presented in chapter One I do not attempt to analyze the collection as a whole; I limit myself instead to a close reading of major and minor tales enframed within specific story-cycles. Two sets of questions in particular drive my work. First: how is the story told? What narrative techniques are favored by Alf laylah storytellers for engaging an audience? What devices make one version of a story more effective than another? Second: in what ways does the redactor make use of pre-existent material? How are traditional sources-legends, poetry, historical accounts-modified in the shaping of an Alf laylah adventure? Is it possible to catch a glimpse of the storytellers' interaction with their tradition?

x

PREFACE

In trying to answer these questions I compare differing versions of Alf laylah tales as they appear in various editions of the Nights. My sources include the nineteenth-century Arabic editions of Bulaq, MacNaghten and (to a very limited extent) Habicht; moreover, I have benefited greatly from Muhsin Mahdi's superb new Leiden edition of the fourteenth-century Galland text. In addition, I made use of what I term "analogue" texts, i.e., story-collections independent of the Nights which nevertheless contain adventures and characters related in some way to the Nights proper. These texts are preserved in unpublished Arabic manuscripts of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. For the present study I examined manuscripts housed in libraries and archives in Morocco, Tunisia and France. These analogue texts are unfortunately a much underutilized resource in literary studies of the Alf laylah. Portions of chapters One and Five were published as an article in theJoumal oj Semitic Studies in 1987. I am grateful to the journal's editors for permission to include this material in the present study. This book has its roots in a doctoral dissertation which I completed in 1986 at the University of Pennsylvania. My first acknowledgments for help given in my research go to Profs. Adel Allouche, George Makdisi, and Margaret Mills, who served on my dissertation committee and critiqued my first investigations of the Alf laylah. Margaret in particular offered numerous perspectives on oral narrative and the performance dimension of storytelling. lowe a very large debt of gratitude to Prof. Roger Allen, my dissertation advisor at Penn. And not only because he carefully supervised my dissertation research at every stage in its development: for it was with Roger that I first began the study of the Arabic language and medieval Arabic literature. Like so many others of his students, I was heartened to persevere in a demanding field of studies in large part because of his kindness and continual encouragement. My postdoctoral research on the Nights was greatly facilitated by grants from the American Philosophical Society and the American Institute of Maghribi Studies. These grants made possible my manuscript research overseas in 1988. I was again and again impressed with the cheerful assistance provided me by numerous librarians and archivists: M. Francis Richard, of the Salle Orientale at the Bibliotheque N ationale in Paris; Hamida ben Samida at the Dar al-kutub in Tunis; Muhammad al-Khattabi and Kasem al-Idris of al-Khizanah al-I:Iasaniyah at the Moroccan Royal Palace in

PREFACE

XI

Rabat; and (closer to home) Dr. Dennis Hyde of the University of Pennsylvania and David Hughes of Interlibrary Loan at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. I thank the many people who offered hospitality during these travels: in Paris: Benedicte Santry and Monique and Francis Larre; in Tunis, Mohamed TaIbi, professor emeritus of the University of Tunis, and Mme. Jeanne Jeffers Mrad, director of the Centre d'Etudes Maghrebines a Tunis, together with members of her staff, Amel Bel Hadj and Ali Bel Kheria; in Rabat, Mary andJ effEhret, who provided a quiet haven in which to ponder manuscript-jottings, andJ .A. Mohamed, who guided me through the streets of Rabat and provided very pleasant company on a memorable excursion to Volubilis. Friendship and encouragement along the way came from many people, most notably Tom Pesci, S.j., Albert Gury, Basilides Elatinos, Birch Miles, Sagaree Sengupta and Frank Korom. There were times when collating the various manuscripts felt as exasperating as trying to coax a genie back into a bottle. That the work saw completion at all is because of my wife, Dr. Jody Rubin Pinault, who acted as the best possible travelling-companion and critic of rough drafts. To her above all I offer thanks. Clinton, New York August 1990

CHAPTER ONE

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ARABIAN NIGHTS

A. A note on the history of the Nights "The first people to collect stories," claims the tenth-century Arab encyclopedist Ibn Isl;taq al-Nadim in his work al-Fihrist, "devoting books to them and safeguarding them in libraries, some of them being written as though animals were speaking, were the early Persians." AI-Nadim makes this statement while discussing the genre of "evening stories and fables"; and he notes that the Sassanid kings ofIran (reigned third-seventh centuries AD) took an interest in such tales. Al-Nadim goes on to state of this material that "the Arabs translated it into the Arabic language and then, when masters of literary style and eloquence became interested, they refined and elaborated it." 1 It seems that Arab interest in Persian popular narrative began at a very early period and can be discerned even in seventh-century Mecca during the life of the Prophet. In the Qur)an (31: 6 - 7) we find the statement: There is one person who purchases frivolous stories so as to lead people away from the path of God; ignorant, he makes mock of God's path. For persons such as this there will be a humiliating punishment.

In his Qur)an commentary Mal;tmud ibn(Umar al-Zamakhshari (d. AD 1143) explained the context of the above revelation: "Frivolous stories": such as evening conversations dealing with legends, tales lacking any basis of truth, the telling of fairy tales and jokes, excessive talk in general, unseemly popular poems; also singing and acquaintance with musicians, and so forth. It is said that this passage was revealed concerning al-Na