Group 3 (1001 Nights)

One Thousand and One Nights

One Thousand and One Nights is also known as the Arabian Nights, and it is a combination of various folk tales that take place in the Middle East and Asia. As the centuries have gone by these folk tales have been translated and as they have been translated the plot and the characters have begun to change. These folk tales have been re-interpreted according to the generation which it was translated in and according to the audience that will be reading and/or enacting it.

John Payne was an English poet from the United Kingdom who was born during the 19th century and passed away during the early 20th century. Whereas, Johnathan Scott was also born in the United Kingdom, however, he was born during the late 18th century and passed away during the mid 19th century. Both translator’s may have been from the same country, but their translations have many differences; such as the text used in the language and this was because the translations occurring during different time periods.
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 this translation also includes things that were not included in Scott’s translation. Both translations have a different encounter when they first meet 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.

As the translations have occurred, and centuries have passed the concept of Orientalism has been applied to these folktales. Edward Said states, “… the first set of problems is concerned with the problems of Orientalism reconsidered from the standpoint of local issues like who writes or studies the Orient, in what institutional or discursive setting, for what audience, and with what ends in mind…”