She expended the whole of it in additional comforts for her husband
during his illness, which unfortunately seemed to get more serious as
time went on. In February he quite lost the use of his legs for eight
months, which of necessity kept him much in the house. It was during
this period that he began his great work _Alf Laylah wa Laylah_, or _The
Arabian Nights_. When I say he began it, that is not strictly speaking
correct, for he had been gathering material for years. He merely took
in hand the matter which he had already collected thirty years before.
He worked at it _con amore_, and it was very soon necessary to call in
an amanuensis to copy his manuscript.
This year was uneventful. They were absent from Trieste a good deal on
"cures" and short excursions. Burton's health gave him a great deal of
trouble; but whenever he was well enough, or could find time from his
official duties, he devoted himself to his translation of _The Arabian
Nights_. Isabel also worked hard in connexion with it in another way.
She had undertaken the financial part of the business, and sent out no
less than thirty-four thousand circulars to people with a view to their
buying copies of the book.
In January and February, 1885, Burton was so ill that his wife implored
him to throw up the Consular Service, and live in a place which suited
him, away from Trieste. Of course that meant that they would have to
live in a very small way; for if they gave up their appointment at that
time and forfeited the salary, they would have been very poor.
Pages:
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286