kept her alive, and at last grew so fond of her that he had no thought of putting her to death.  As for the authorship of the stories, they are certainly not the work of one mind, and have probably grown with the ages into their present form.  The editions published for Christian countries do not represent the true character of these legends, which are often exceedingly sensual.  The European versions of this extraordinary entertainment began in 1704 with the work of one Antoine Galland, Professor of Arabic at the College of France, a Frenchman who, according to Sir Richard Burton, possessed “in a high degree that art of telling a tale which is far more captivating than culture or scholarship.”  Sir R. Burton (see Vol.  XIX) summed up what may be definitely believed of the Nights in the following conclusion:  The framework of the book is purely Persian perfunctorily Arabised, the archetype being the Hazar Afsanah.  The oldest tales may date from the reign of Al-Mansur, in the eighth century; others belong to the tenth century; and the latest may be ascribed to the sixteenth.  The work assumed its present form in the thirteenth century.  The author is unknown, “for the best reason; there never was one.”

I.—­The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor

When the father of Sindbad was taken to Almighty Allah, much wealth came to the possession of his son; but soon did it dwindle in boon companionship, for the city of Baghdad is sweet to the youthful.  Then did Sindbad bethink him how he might restore his fortune, saying to himself:  “Three things are better than other three; the day of death is better than the day of birth, a live dog is better than a dead lion, and the grave is better than want”; and gathering merchandise together, he took ship and sailed away to foreign countries.

Now it came to pass that the captain of this ship sighted a strange island, whereon were grass and trees, very pleasant to the eyes.  So they anchored, and many went ashore.  When these had gathered fruits, they made a fire, and were about to warm themselves, when the captain cried out from the ship:  “Ho there! passengers, run for your lives and hasten back to the ship and leave your gear and save yourselves from destruction.  Allah preserve you!  For this island whereon ye stand is no true island, but a great fish stationary a-middlemost of the sea, whereon the sand hath settled and trees have sprung up of old time, so that it is become like unto an island; but when ye lighted fires on it, it felt the heat and moved; and in a moment it will sink with you into the depths of the sea and ye will be drowned.”