There were several editions in the field; but
they were all abridged or "Bowdlerized" ones, adapted more or less for
"family and domestic reading." Burton's object in bringing out this
great work was not only to produce a literal translation but to
reproduce it faithfully in the Arabian manner. He preserved throughout
the orientation of the verses and figures of speech instead of
Anglicising them. It is this, combined with his profound oriental
scholarship, his fine old-world style, and the richness, variety, and
quaintness of vocabulary, which has given to his original edition its
unique value.
In Burton the immortal tales had at last found a translator who would
do them justice, and who was not afraid of prejudices of Anglo-Saxon
Puritanism. Burton's view of this matter is sufficiently expressed in
the following speech: "I do not care a button about being prosecuted;
and if the matter comes to a fight, I will walk into court with my
Bible and my Shakspeare and my Rabelais under my arm, and prove to them
that before they condemn me they must cut half of _them_, and not allow
them to be circulated to the public."[1] He expressed his views in this
matter to his wife; and though at his wish she did not read the original
edition of _The Arabian Nights_, she set to work to help him in every
way that she could. In fact it may be truly said that it was she who
did all the difficult work of evading the "vigilance" of certain
persons, and of arranging for the publication of this important book.
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