Lord. Ay, my gracious lord, and your lovely lady SCENE I." What think you, if he were conveyed to bed?” The story upon which this Induction is founded in all probability had an Eastern origin. The Sleeper Awakened,' of the Thousand and One Nights,' is conjectured by Mr. Lane, in the notes to his admirable translation, not to be a genuine tale, its chief and best portion being "an historical anecdote related as a fact.” Mr. Lane adds,-" The author by whom I have found the chief portion of this tale related as an historical anecdote is El-Is-hakee, who finished his history shortly before the close of the reign of the 'Osmánlee Sulțán Mustafa, apparently in the year of the Flight 1032 (A.D. 1623). He does not mention his authority; and whether it is related by an older historian, I do not know; but perhaps it is founded upon fact." Our readers will be gratified by a few extracts from Mr. Lane's version of the "historical anecdote," which he has blended with portions of the tale as given in the Breslau edition of the Thousand and One Nights.' Abu-l-Hasan, who had spent one-half of his property amongst boon-companions, resolved to associate no longer with ungrateful familiars, but to entertain a stranger for one night only, and then afterwards to refuse to recognise him. In pursuance of this resolution he one night entertained the Khaleefeh.—“ And they drank and caroused until midnight.” "After this, the Khaleefeh said to his host, O Abu-l-Hasan, is there any service that thou wouldst have performed, or any desire that thou wouldst have accomplished? And Abu-l-Hasan answered, In our neighbourhood is a mosque, to which belong an Imám and four sheykhs, and whenever they hear music or any sport they incite the Wálee against me, and impose fines upon me, and trouble my life, so that I suffer torment from them. If I had them in my power, therefore, I would give each of them a thousand lashes, that I might be relieved from their excessive annoyance. "Er-Rasheed replied, May Allah grant thee the accomplishment of thy wish! And without his being aware of it, he put into a cup a lozenge of benj, and handed it to him; and as soon as it had settled in his stomach, he fell asleep immediately. Er-Rasheed then arose and went to the door, where he found his young men waiting for him, and he ordered them to convey Abu-l-Hasan upon a mule, and returned to the palace; Abu-l-Ḥasan being intoxicated and insensible. And when the Khaleefeh had rested himself in the palace, he called for his Weezeer Jaafar, and 'Abd Allah the son of Táhir, the Wálee of Baghdád, and certain of his chief attendants, and said to them all, In the morning, when ye see this young man (pointing to Abu-l-Hasan) seated on the royal couch, pay obedience to him, and salute him as Khaleefeh, and whatsoever he commandeth you, do it. Then going in to his female slaves, he directed them to wait upon Abu-l-Hasan, and to address him as Prince of the Faithful; after which he entered a private closet, and, having let down a curtain over the entrance, slept. "So when Abu-l-Ḥasan awoke, he found himself upon the royal couch, with the attendants standing around, and kissing the ground before him; and a maid said to him, O our lord, it is the time for morning-prayer. Upon which he laughed, and, looking round about him, he beheld a pavilion whose walls were adorned with gold and ultramarine, and the roof bespotted with red gold, surrounded by chambers with curtains of embroidered silk hanging before their doors; and he saw vessels of gold and China-ware and crystal, and furniture and carpets spread, and lighted lamps, and female slaves and eunuchs, and other attendants; whereat he was perplexed in his mind, and said, By Allah, either I am dreaming, or this is Paradise, and the Abode of Peace. And he closed his eyes. So a eunuch said to him, O my lord, this is not thy usual custom, O Prince of the Faithful! And he was perplexed at his case, and put his head into his bosom, and then began to open his eyes by little and little, laughing, and saying, What is this state in which I find myself? And he bit his finger; and when he found that the bite pained him, he cried, Ah!—and was angry. Then raising his head, he called one of the female slaves, who answered him, At thy service, O Prince of the Faithful! And he said to her, What is thy name? She answered, Shejeret ed-Durr. And he said, Knowest thou in what place I am, and who I am?-Thou art the Prince of the Faithful, she answered, sitting in thy palace, upon the royal couch. He replied, I am perplexed at my case, my reason hath departed, and it seemeth that I am asleep; but what shall I say of my yesterday's guest? I imagine nothing but that he is a devil or an enchanter, who hath sported with my reason. "All this time, the Khaleefeh was observing him, from a place where Abu-lHasan could not see him.-And Abu-l-Hasan looked towards the chief eunuch, and called to him. So he came, and kissed the ground before him, saying to him, Yes, O Prince of the Faithful. And Abu-l-Hasan said to him, Who is the Prince of the Faithful?—Thou, he answered. Abu-l-Hasan replied, Thou liest. And addressing another eunuch, he said to him, O my chief, as thou hopest for Allah's protection, tell me, am I the Prince of the Faithful?--Yea, by Allah, answered the eunuch : thou art at this present time the Prince of the Faithful, and the Khaleefeh of the Lord of all creatures. And Abu-l-Hasan, perplexed at all that he beheld, said, In one night do I become Prince of the Faithful? Was I not yesterday Abu-l-Hasan ; and to-day am I Prince of the Faithful?—He remained perplexed and confounded until the morning, when a eunuch advanced to him and said to him, May Allah grant a happy morning to the Prince of the Faithful! And he handed to him a pair of shoes of gold stuff, reticulated with precious stones and rubies; and Abu-lHasan took them, and, after examining them a long time, put them into his sleeve. So the eunuch said to him, These are shoes, to walk in. And Abu-l-Hasan replied, Thou hast spoken truth. I put them into my sleeve but in my fear lest they should be soiled. He therefore took them forth, and put them on his feet. And shortly after, the female slaves brought him a basin of gold and a ewer of silver, and poured the water upon his hands; and when he had performed the ablution, they spread for him a prayer-carpet; and he prayed; but knew not how to do so. He continued his inclinations and prostrations until he had performed twenty rek'ahs; meditating and saying within himself, By Allah, I am none other than the Prince of the Faithful, in truth; or else this is a dream, and all these things occur not in a dream. He therefore convinced himself, and determined in his mind, that he was the Prince of the Faithful; and he pronounced the salutations, and finished his prayers. They then brought him a magnificent dress, and, looking at himself, as he sat upon the couch, he retracted, and said, All this is an illusion, and a machination of the Ján, "And while he was in this state, lo, one of the memlooks came in and said to him, O Prince of the Faithful, the chamberlain is at the door, requesting permission to enter.-Let him enter, replied Abu-l-Hasan. So he came in, and, having kissed the ground before him, said, Peace be on thee, O Prince of the Faithful! And Abu-l-Hasan rose, and descended from the couch to the floor; whereupon the chamberlain exclaimed, Allah! Allah! O Prince of the Faithful! Knowest thou not that all men are thy servants, and under thy authority, and that it is not proper for the Prince of the Faithful to rise to any one?-Abu-l-Hasan was then told that Jaafar el-Barmekee, and 'Abd Allah the son of Táhir, and the chiefs of the mem looks, begged permission to enter. And he gave them permission. So they entered, and kissed the ground before him, each of them addressing him as Prince of the Faithful. And he was delighted at this, and returned their salutation; after which, he called the Walee, who approached him, and said, At thy service, O Prince of the Faithful! And Abu-l-Hasan said to him, Repair immediately to such a street, and give a hundred pieces of gold to the mother of Abu-l-Hasan the Wag, with my salutation: then take the Imám of the mosque, and the four sheykhs, inflict upon each of them a thousand lashes; and when thou hast done that, write a bond against them, confirmed by oath, that they shall not reside in the street, after thou shalt have paraded them through the city, mounted on beasts, with their faces to the tails, and hast proclaimed before them, This is the recompense of those who annoy their neighbours!—And beware of neglecting that which I have commanded thee to do. So the Wálee did as he was ordered. And when Abu-l-Hasan had exercised his authority until the close of the day, he looked towards the chamberlain and the rest of the attendants, and said to them, Depart. "He then called for a eunuch who was near at hand, and said to him, I am hungry, and desire something to eat. And he replied, I hear and obey :—and led him by the hand into the eating-chamber, where the attendants placed before him a table of rich viands; and ten slave girls, high-bosomed virgins, stood behind his head. Abu-l-Hasan, looking at one of these, said to her, What is thy name? She answered Kadeeb el-Bán. And he said to her, O Káḍeeb el-Bán, who am I?— Thou art the Prince of the Faithful, she answered. But he replied, Thou liest, by Allah, thou slut! Ye girls are laughing at me.-So she said, Fear Allah, O Prince of the Faithful: this is thy palace, and the female slaves are thine. And upon this he said within himself, It is no great matter to be effected by God, to whom be ascribed might and glory! Then the slave-girls led him by the hand to the drinking-chamber, where he saw what astonished the mind; and he continued to say within himself, No doubt these are of the Ján, and this person who was my guest is one of the Kings of the Ján, who saw no way of requiting and compensating me for my kindness to him but by ordering his 'O'ns to address me as Prince of the Faithful. All these are of the Ján. May Allah then deliver me from them happily !— And while he was thus talking to himself, lo, one of the slave-girls filled for him a cup of wine; and he took it from her hand and drank it; after which, the slavegirls plied him with wine in abundance; and one of them threw into his cup a lozenge of benj; and when it had settled in his stomach, he fell down senseless. "Er-Rasheed then gave orders to convey him to his house; and the servants did so, and laid him on his bed, still in a state of insensibility.” The parallel here ends between Abu-l-Hasan and Christopher Sly; and it is unnecessary for us to follow the fortunes of "the Wag." The following story, which has been extracted by Malone from Goulart's Admirable and Memorable Histories,' translated by E. Grimestone, 1607, is to be found in Heuterus, Rerum Burgund., lib. iv. Malone thinks that it had appeared in English before the old Taming of a Shrew :' "Philip, called the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the memory of our ancestors, being at Bruxelles with his court, and walking one night after supper through the streets, accompanied with some of his favourites, he found lying upon the stones a certain artisan that was very drunk, and that slept soundly. It pleased the prince, in this artisan, to make trial of the vanity of our life, whereof he had before discoursed with his familiar friends. He, therefore, caused this sleeper to be taken up, and carried into his palace: he commands him to be laid in one of the richest beds; a rich night-cap to be given him; his foul shirt to be taken off, and to have another put on him of fine holland. When as this drunkard had digested his wine, and began to awake, behold there comes about his bed pages and grooms of the Duke's chamber, who draw the curtains, and make many courtesies, and, being bareheaded, ask him if it please him to rise, and what apparel it would please him to put on that day.―They bring him rich apparel. This new Monsieur, amazed at such courtesy, and doubting whether he dreamed or waked, suffered himself to be dressed, and led out of the chamber. There came noblemen which saluted him with all honour, and conduct him to the mass, where with great ceremony they gave him the book of the Gospel, and Pixe to kiss, as they did usually to the Duke. From the mass, they bring him back unto the palace; he washes his hands, and sits down at the table well furnished. After dinner, the Great Chamberlain commands cards to be brought, with a great sum of money. This Duke in imagination plays with the chief of the court. Then they carry him to walk in the garden, and to hunt the hare, and to hawk. They bring him back unto the palace, where he sups in state. Candles being lighted, the musicians begin to play; and, the tables taken away, the gentlemen and gentlewomen fell to dancing. Then they played a pleasant comedy, after which followed a banquet, whereat they had presently store of ipocras and precious wine, with all sorts of confitures, to this prince of the new impression, so as he was drunk, and fell soundly asleep. Thereupon the Duke commanded that he should be disrobed of all his rich attire. He was put into his old rags, and carried into the same place where he had been found the night before; where he spent that night. Being awake in the morning, he began to remember what had happened before ;-he knew not whether it were true indeed, or a dream that had troubled his brain. But in the end, after many discourses, he concludes that all was but a dream that had happened unto him; and so entertained his wife, his children, and his neighbours, without any other apprehension.” SCENE II.-" Old Sly's son, of Burton-heath." Barton-on-the-Heath is a small village on the borders of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire. In Domesday-Book, according to Dugdale, it is written Bertone,—so that the Burton of the text may be correct. It consists of some twenty or thirty cottages, intermixed with a few small farm-houses, making together one short irregular street. The church is small and peculiar in its architectural arrangements; an old mansion near it of the Elizabethan era is the rectory. The village is situated two miles from Long Compton on the road to Stratford from Oxford, and the approaches on all sides are by lonely lanes, and in its general aspect it is solitary and neglected. Of the "heath," however, from which it partly takes its name, no traces remain, the land being wholly enclosed. SCENE II." The fat ale-wife of Wincot." We believe that in this passage, as in Henry IV., Part II.,' the place to which Shakspere alludes is the hamlet of Wilmecote, anciently Wylmyncote, about three miles to the north of Stratford, in the parish of Aston-Cantlow. Here lived Robert Arden, our poet's maternal grandfather; and his youngest daughter, the mother of Shakspere, inherited a house and lands here situate. It is most probable, therefore, that this hamlet, which Malone says (though he gives no authority) was also called Wyncote, was in Shakspere's thoughts. Wilmecote is a straggling village with a few old houses, amongst whose secluded fields our poet no doubt passed many of his boyish hours. 139 SCENE I.-Padua. A public Place. Enter LUCENTIO and TRANIO. Luc. Tranio, since for the great desire I had a My trusty servant, well approv'd in all; Here let us breathe, and haplyb institute A course of learning, and ingenious studies. a My. So the folio. The word has been changed by the modern editors to most. b Haply. So the original. Usually printed happily. It seems to us that Lucentio uses the word in the sense of probably. |