The Tale of Three Apples
The Tale of Three Apples
| Burton’s Translation | Payne’s Translation |
| The Caliph examined it and lifted it finding it weighty; so he gave the fisherman two hundred dinars and sent him about his business | The Khalif lifted it and found it weighty; so he gave the fisherman a hundred dinars, and he went his way |
| So the Caliph went down with Ja’afar and Eunuch Masrur to the town and walked about the streets and markets and, as they were threading a narrow alley, | So the Khalif and Jaafer and Mesrour went down into the town and walked about the streets and markets till |
| fair as a silver ingot, slain and cut into nineteen pieces. | as she were an ingot of silver, slain and cut in pieces |
| “O dog of Wazirs, shall folk be murdered in our reign and be cast into the river to be a burden and a responsibility for us on the Day of Doom? | “O dog of a Vizier, shall folk be murdered in my capital city and thrown into the river and their death laid to my account on the Day of Judgment? |
| lo and behold! a young man fair of face and neat of dress and of favour like the moon raining light, with eyes black and bright, and brow flower-white, and cheeks red as rose and young down where the beard grows, and a mole like a grain of ambergris, | behold, a handsome and well-dressed young man, with shining face and bright black eyes, flower-white forehead, downy whiskers and rosy cheeks and a mole like a grain of ambergris, |
For most of the story on both sides were pretty much the same. However, Burton’s version seemed a little more detailed and in depth and more dramatic than Payne’s. In the same light Payne’s was easier to read and in more of a lament standard than Burton’s. I think the reason for this is that Payne was from a later century than Burton, as he was born in 1842 and died in 1916 and Burton was 1821 to 1890 so Payne was around a few years in the 20th century when a lot of things changed. Other than that fact, there were several other differences which I pointed out above. The first difference I noticed was the spelling of the names, such as Caliph and Khalif, Ja’afar and Jaafer and Masrur and Mesrour. This I didn’t really understand why given they were both from London and they’re language have been should be the same. The second thing I noticed was Payne made no mention of how many pieces she was cut up into while Burton did, again proving what I said before about details which for me helps to give audience a better picture and keep them more interested. Burton’s description of the young man who killed his wife was very thorough “a young man fair of face and neat of dress and of favour like the moon raining light, with eyes black and bright, and brow flower-white, and cheeks red as rose and young down where the beard grows, and a mole like a grain of ambergris,” whilst Payne’s was a little less exhaustive and a bit dry “a handsome and well-dressed young man, with shining face and bright black eyes, flower-white forehead, downy whiskers and rosy cheeks and a mole like a grain of ambergris”.
I found the “Tale of Three Apples” quite interesting and a little disheartening. I was disheartened at the fact that no one was punished for a woman’s brutal murder and that the King wanted the story to be recorded and published because he found it funny. Despite her husband’s reasoning, which by the way to me is unforgiveable, what he did was a crime and should not go unpunished. He didn’t just poison her, it wasn’t that simple. He cut her up into pieces, nine to be exact, and discarded the body and any piece of evidence into the river. The situation could have been handled much fairer by everyone involved.