Witty genies, magic lamps, exotic landscapes and empowered princesses like Shahrazad. It is not known which of these ingredients was the one that attracted the most attention to readers in 18th century Europe when they first held a volume of The Thousand and One Nights in their hands. Perhaps it was the sum of all of them that has made it possible for the book to become one of the oldest and most famous classics in the world and that has inspired authors such as Charles Dickens, Clarice Lispector or Edgar Allan Poe.
Something that has a lot of merit if one takes into account that not all its editions are the same. “In the 90s, many publishers extracted some of his most famous stories, such as Aladdin or Ali Baba and the forty thieves. Stories that ended up gaining prominence independently”, Paulo Lemos Horta, professor of literature and creative writing at the New York University of Abu Dhabi, explains to La Vanguardia, who has just published The Thousand and One Nights together with the poet Yasmine Seale. Annotated Edition (Akal), to date, the most up-to-date and complete edition.
The logical question that would come next would be why many publishers in their day insisted on not adding these stories to their volumes if, paradoxically, they were the most popular. “The Thousand and One Nights arrived in Europe at the hands of Antoine Galland, a tomb robber who, in addition to jewels and treasures, brought back this collection of stories from the Middle East. Scholar that he was, Galland decided to translate these tales into French. But in this process he realized that stories were missing and he decided to make some up to make the book more appealing. And, curiously, it was these that became the most famous, ”he explains.
"Centuries later, when it was considered that some ten stories were added later and that, therefore, they were not strictly Arabic, many editors decided to eliminate them." But now in his study, Lemos proves that it was not Galland who invented these tales, but Hanna Diyab, the servant of Paul Lucas, another tomb raider and Galland's rival. With this book I do not intend anything other than to vindicate the figure of Diyab”, points out the literary historian.
Hanna Diyab, also known as the narrator of Aleppo, met Lucas when he traveled to the Middle East in search of jewels for his patron, the Duchess of Burgundy, "one of the most powerful women of the moment, as she was the wife of the grandson of the King and it was hoped that one day she would be queen of France, something that did not happen. Lucas was convinced that this young Maronite, about nineteen years old, could be of help to him, so he convinced him to come with him to France, promising that he would rub shoulders with the court on a day-to-day basis”. The boy accepted and, once in Versailles, his employer did not hesitate to make him known, since he boasted of having someone from distant lands in his service.
“Galland, always a sharp eye, noticed the boy's intelligence and the good stories he told. So she took advantage of moments when she was alone to meet him and write down all the stories she had in his memory. Everything always behind Lucas's back and in exchange for false promises, ”says Lemos, and also remembers that in his personal diary, which came to light when the Frenchman died, Galland talked about all this and that it was Hanna who told him stories. However, “for French intellectuals it was easier to accept that the stories had been created by one of them than by an Arab cook. It's sad, but that's how it was."
Diyab's name came up again many years later, when her memoirs were found in the Vatican Library. “It was the result of chance. Some scholars were interested in rescuing manuscripts written in Aramaic and came across Diyab's travel account years after his arrival in France. The Maronites, like the rest of the Catholics, sent their papers to the Vatican and Diyab was no less. But since the first five pages were missing from his manuscript, in which the author and his provenance are usually identified, he was forgotten. When these intellectuals began to read him centuries later, they realized that they had before them a jewel, not only because of its historical value, but also because it was evident that he was the creator of those additional stories from The Thousand and One Nights and that, therefore, they belonged to the Arabic narrative tradition, so it made all the sense in the world to include them back in the collection. And this is what I have done. Give back to the classic what is his”, concludes the literary historian.
The author and Marga Castells, Catalan translator of One Thousand and One Nights, City of Barcelona Award and Serra d'Or Critic for translation, will present One Thousand and One Nights. Annotated Edition, on Wednesday, February 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the Fnac Triangle Forum.
