A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments, Now

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.3
Word count
980K words
Chapters
98

Tags

English Originals Folk LiteratureWorld Classics Legendary LivesAdventure JourneyPower GameComplex HumanityMoral DilemmaPopular NarrativeEclectic ReadingAncient StyleExotic CultureFolk Customs

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments, NowAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: PJ: Language and Literatures: Oriental languages and literatures, Release Date: Feb 20, 2016

Editor's review

This is an English literal translation of The Arabian Nights, released by Project Gutenberg and classified under Oriental languages and literatures. The "plain and literal" approach means it stays closer to the original narrative manner and wording rather than being a smoothed-out story collection rewritten for children; readers can thus see the story frame, the nested storytelling, and the Oriental subject matter as they appeared in early English translation. Its value lies in both its documentary quality and its reading experience: it serves as a text for understanding the transmission history of The Arabian Nights and can also be dipped into as a story collection. Because of its period and translation strategy, some language reads rather stiffly today, and some content requires cultural background to understand. It suits reading in sections rather than straight through; readers interested in translation issues may note how the translator handles proper names and poetry.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. You need not read straight through; start with familiar tales, then expand to the frame narrative.
  2. Keep pen and paper handy to note how stories nest within stories, which helps clarify the narrative structure.
  3. When you meet old-fashioned expressions or proper names, compare other translations to understand the translator's choices.
  4. Read one or two tales at a time to keep it fresh and avoid fatigue from long continuous reading.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96
  97. 97
  98. 98

FAQ

How is this translation different from the common children's editions? It uses a plain, literal approach that preserves more of the original narrative forms and wording; it is not a simplified collection cut down for children. The content is therefore more complete, but the language may not feel smooth to today's readers, and the barrier to entry is higher.
Do I need to know the background of The Arabian Nights first? No systematic preparation is needed. Knowing the basic frame of Scheherazade telling stories to survive is enough to begin. For a deeper understanding, read an introduction on the textual history first, then return to appreciate this translation's structure and phrasing.
How difficult is the English? The text is an older English translation, with sentence structures and vocabulary marked by their era; overall it is harder than modern popular reading. A reasonable command of English is recommended, or read with a dictionary and a Chinese translation for comparison.
Why does the title emphasize "plain and literal"? The phrase signals the translator's approach: closer to the original wording and narration rather than pursuing Chinese-style fluency or child-friendly rewriting. Readers can adjust their expectations accordingly and treat it as a research or comparison text rather than light entertainment.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.