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

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.1
Word count
678K words
Chapters
68

Tags

English Originals Folk LiteratureWorld Classics Portrait GalleryAdventure JourneyFantasy ImaginationFolk NarrativeShort Story CollectionTranslated LiteratureEclectic ReadingExotic CultureFolk CustomsArabian Legend

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: Mar 30, 2019

Editor's review

This is a literal English translation of the Arabian Nights, a public-domain text in the Project Gutenberg free e-book collection. Its core value lies in its two defining features, "plain" and "literal": compared with the more widely circulated polished and adapted versions, this edition stays closer to the original narrative structure, making it suitable for readers who want to observe how the stories are organized, retold, and layered. The book contains English translations of the Arabian Nights story cycle; its language has the plainness of early translations, and its narrative rhythm and diction differ noticeably from contemporary English reading matter, so it can serve both as literary reading and as a reference text for translation studies, edition comparison, and folktale research. As for reading situations, it is better suited to careful reading in sections in a quiet setting than to continuous reading for plot excitement. Because it is a public-domain e-book, the layout and annotation system are relatively simple, and readers need some textual patience and a basic grounding in English reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Start with the table of contents or the opening story to get used to the sentence patterns and narrative rhythm of the literal translation before continuing.
  2. Read in story units, and after each tale record the character relationships and narrative framework.
  3. Read alongside other translations of the Arabian Nights and note differences in wording, cuts, and changes.
  4. Do not stop over every unfamiliar expression; grasp the gist of the paragraph first and revisit the details afterward.

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

FAQ

How does this edition differ from common translations of the Arabian Nights? Judging from the title, it emphasizes "plain" and "literal" translation, meaning the text stays closer to the original wording and structure rather than pursuing fluent polish. Readers may find the sentences plain and the diction old-fashioned, but precisely for that reason it is suitable for observing the narrative layers of the stories and the appearance of early English translation; it is not meant as a light storybook.
Can someone with average English read this book? You can try, but be prepared. The sentence patterns and diction of a literal text are distant from contemporary English, and the story-within-a-story structure also requires patience to follow. It is advisable to start with the shorter tales, use a dictionary and take notes by paragraph, and not insist on finishing the whole book at once.
Is this book suitable as material for translation research? It is suitable as supplementary material. Its "literal" positioning offers an entry point for observing how the translator handles original wording, syntax, and cultural expression. Researchers can compare it with other translations and analyze the reading differences produced by different translation strategies, but should note that the public-domain e-book itself provides no systematic annotations.

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.