The Merchant and The Genie

Scott’s Translation:
“When he had finished his repast, being a good Moosulmaun, he washed his hands, face, and feet, and said his prayers.Before he had finished, and while he was yet on his knees, he saw a genie, white with age, and of a monstrous bulk, advancing towards him with a cimeter in his hand. The genie spoke to him in a terrible voice: “Rise, that I may kill thee with this cimeter, as thou hast killed my son;” and accompanied these words with a frightful cry. The merchant being as much alarmed at the hideous shape of the monster as at his threatening language, answered him, trembling, “Alas! my good lord, of what crime can I be guilty towards you, that you should take away my life?” “I will,” replied the genie, “kill thee, as thou hast killed my son.” “Heavens,” exclaimed the merchant, “how could I kill your son? I never knew, never saw him.” “Did not you sit down when you came hither?” demanded the genie: “did you not take dates out of your wallet, and as you ate them, did not you throw the shells about in different directions?” “I did all that you say,” answered the merchant, “I cannot deny it.” “If it be so,” resumed the genie, “I tell thee that thou hast killed my son; and in this manner: When thou wert throwing the shells about, my son was passing by, and thou didst throw one into his eye, which killed him; therefore I must kill thee.” “Ah! my lord! pardon me!” cried the merchant. “No pardon,” exclaimed the genie, “no mercy. Is it not just to kill him that has killed another?” “I agree it is,” replied the merchant, “but certainly I never killed your son; and if I have, it was unknown to me, and I did it innocently; I beg you therefore to pardon me, and suffer me to live.” “No, no,” returned the genie, persisting in his resolution, “I must kill thee, since thou hast killed my son.” Then taking the merchant by the arm, he threw him with his face on the ground, and lifted up his cimeter to cut off his head.”

Payne’s Translation:
“Then he put his hand to his saddle bags and took out a cake of bread and a date and ate them and threw away the date stone, when behold, there started up before him a gigantic Afrit, with a naked sword in his hand, who came up to him and said, ‘Arise, that I may slay thee, even as thou hast slain my son.’ ‘How did I slay thy son?’ asked the merchant, and the genie replied, ‘When thou threwest away the date stone, it smote my son, who was passing at the time, on the breast, and he died forthright.’ When the merchant heard this, he said, ‘Verily we are God’s and to Him we return! There is no power and no virtue but in God, the Most High, the Supreme! If I killed him, it was by misadventure, and I prithee pardon me.’ But the genie said, ‘There is no help for it but I must kill thee.’ Then he seized him and throwing him down, raised his sword to strike him: whereupon the merchant wept and said, ‘I commit my affair to God!’ and recited the following verses:…”

Payne’s translation and Scott’s translation are both titled, “The merchant and the Genie”. Payne’s translation is shorter and there are less details in his translation, but his translation also includes things that were not included in Scott’s translation. There are many differences in Payne’s and Scott’s translation. The text I chose to analyze in both of these translations is when the merchant meets the genie. In Payne’s translation the merchant had just finished eating and his encounter with the genie occurs when the merchant throws away the date stone. In Payne’s translation the genie is described as gigantic and holding a sword. The genie is not called a genie during the first encounter but instead is referred to as an Afrit. The genie states, the merchant has killed his son by throwing a date stone on his son’s chest as he was passing by. The genie tells the merchant he must kill him for what he has done and the merchant begins to weep and recite several verses. In Scott’s translation the merchant finishes eating and throws his shells, and one of the shells hit the genie’s son in his eye which caused him his death. The first encounter with the genie in Scott’s translation occurs when the merchant is still praying. In Scott’s translation the genie’s tone of voice is described as terrible accompanied by a frightful cry and his language is described as threatening whereas in Payne’s translation we do not know what the tone of his voice is. In Scott’s translation the genie is described as being the shape of a monster and in Payne’s translation he is described as gigantic. In Payne’s translation the genie has a sword and in Scott’s translation the genie has a cimeter, which is a sharp butchers knife. In both translations the merchant is asking the genie to forgive him for what he has done, however in Scott’s translation he asks the genie for forgiveness more than once and in a way is begging the genie to forgive him. In Scott’s translation the merchant is described as a good moosulmaun.