COMPARISON OF AVAILABLE TRANSLATIONS
of the Arabian Nights

On this page an excerpt from the story of the Fifth Voyage of Sindbad is given in translations by:

Galland
Grub Street
Lane
Burton
Dawood
Haddawy

Les Mille et Une Nuits
The original translation of Antoine Galland .
Click here for a list of the stories contained within this volume.

From "Cinquième voyage de Sindbad le marin "

"Nous fimes voile au premier bon vent et primes le large. Après une longue navigation, le premier endroit où nous abordâmes fut une ile déserte où nous trouvâmes l'oeuf d'un roc d'une grosseur pareille à celui don't vous m'avez entendu parler. Il renfermait un petit roc près d'éclore, dont le bec commençait à paraitre."

A ces mots, Scheherazade se lui, parce que le jour se faisait déjà voir dans l'appartement du sultan des Indes. La nuit suivante, elle reprit son discours.

CCXXVII NUIT

Sindbad le marin, dit-elle, continuant de raconter son cinquième voyage: "Les marchands, poursuivit-il, qui s'étaient embarqués sur mon navire, et qui avaient pris terre avec moi, cassèrent l'oeuf à grands coups de hache, et firent une ouverture par où ils tirèrent le petit roc par morceaux, et le firent rotir. Je lais avais avertis sérieusement de ne pas toucher à l'oeuf; mais ils ne voulurent pas m'écouter.

Ils eurent à peine achevé le régal qu'ils venaient de se donner, qu'il parut en l'air, assez loin de nous, deux gros nuages. Le capitaine que j'avais pris à gage pour conduire mon vaisseau, sachant par expérience ce que cela signifiait, s'écria que c'étaient le père et la mère du petit roc, et il nous pressa tous de nous rembarquer au plus vite pour éviter le malheur qu'il prévoyait. Nous suivimes son conseil avec empressement, et nous remimes à la voile en diligence.

Arabian Nights' Entertainments
The Grub Street translation of Antoine Galland (translated into English 1706-21)
published by Oxford World's Classics - ISBN 0-19-283479-7
NB. The spellings and grammar are true to the source.
Click here for a list of the stories contained within this volume.

From "The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor"

We sailed with the first fair wind, and after a long navigation, the first place we touched was a desart island, where we found an egg of a roc, equal in bigness with that I formerly mentioned. There was a young roc in it just ready to be hatched, and the bill of it began to appear.

The merchants, whom I had taken on board my ship, and who landed with me, broke the egg with hatchets, and made a hole in it, from whence they pulled out the young roc piece after piece, and roasted it. I had earnestly dissuaded them from meddling with the egg, but they would not listen to me.

Scarce had they made an end of their treat, when there appeared in the air, at a considerable distance from us, two great clouds. The captain whom I hired to sail my ship, knowing by experience what it meant, cried that it was the he and the she roc that belonged to the young one, and I pressed us to reimbark with all speed, to prevent the misfortune which he saw would otherwise befall us. We made haste to do so, and set sail with all possible diligence.

The Thousand and One Nights
Edward Lane (translated 1838-41)
NB. This translation is not currently available as far as I am aware, but I have placed it here because Lane's original forms part of my collection and it provides another point of reference - so please forgive the indulgence.
After all, T.E. Lawrence said of this version "It doesn't matter missing if you don't aim; thereby Lane's Arabian Nights is better than Burton's."
Click here for a list of the stories contained within this volume.

From "The Fifth Voyage of Es-Sindibad of the Sea"

We set sail in the utmost joy and happiness, and rejoicing in the prospect of safety and gain, and ceased not to persue our voyage from island to island and from sea to sea, diverting ourselves with viewing the islands and towns, and landing at them and selling and buying. Thus we continued to do until we arrived one day at a large island, destitute of inhabitants. There was no person upon it: It was deserted and desolate; but on it was an enormous white dome, of great bulk; and we landed to amuse ourselves with a sight of it, and, lo, it was a great egg of a rukh. Now when the merchants had landed, and were diverting themselves with viewing it, not knowing that it was the egg of a rukh, they struck it with stones; whereupon it broke, and there poured down from it a great quantity of liquid, and the young rukh appeared within it. So they pulled it and drew it from the shell, and killed it, and took from it an abundance of meat. I was then in my ship, and knew not of it, and they acquainted me not with that which they did. But in the mean time one of the passemgers said to me, O my master, arise and divert thyself with thesight of this egg which we imagined to be a dome. I therefore arose to take a view of it, and found the merchants striking the egg. I called out to them, Do not this deed; for the rukh will come and demolish our ship, and destroy us. But they would not hear my words.

And while they were doing as above related, behold, the sun became concealed from us, and the day grew dark, and there came over us a cloud by which the sky was obscured. So we raised our heads to see what had intervened between us and the sun, and saw that the wings of the rukh were what veiled from us the sun's light, so that the sky was darkened. And when the rukh came, and beheld its egg broken, it cried out to us; whereupon its mate, the female bird, came to it, and they flew in circles over the ship, crying out at us with a voice more vehement than thunder. So I called out to the master and the sailors, and said to them, Push off the vessel, and seek safety before we perish.

The Book of a Thousand Nights and a Night
"Richard Burton - The Arabian Nights" is a good one volume edition of Burton's translation and is good value for money, running to 931 pages. Of this translation, Jorges Luis Borges said that Burton's translation added its own contribution to literature - "In some way, the almost inexhaustable process is shadowed forth in Burton - the hard obscenity of John Donne, the gigantic vocabulary of Shakespeare and Cyril Tourneur, Swinburne's tendency to archaism, the gross erudition of the treatise-writers of the seventeenth century, the energy and vagueness, the love of tempests and magic."
The text is that of the 1932 Modern Library edition, for which Bennet A. Cerf chose the "most famous and representative" of the stories, printed "complete and unabridged with many of Burton's notes -
published by the New York Modern Library - ISBN 0-679-60235-6
Click here for a list of the stories contained within this volume.
Burton's tomb at Mortlake.

From "The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman"

We sailed from city to city and from island to island and from sea to sea viewing the cities and countries by which we passed, and selling and buying in not a few till one day we came to a great uninhabited island, deserted and desolate, whereon was a white dome of biggest hulk half buried in the sands. The merchants landed to examine this dome, leaving me in the ship; and when they drew near, behold, it was a huge Rukh's egg. They fell a-beating it with stones, knowing not what it was, and presently broke it open, whereupon much water ran out of it and the young Rukh appeared within. So they pulled it forth of the shell and cut its throat and took of it great store of meat. Now I was in the ship and knew not what they did; but presently one of the passengers came up to me and said, "O my lord, come and look at the egg that we thought to be a dome." So I looked and seeing the merchants beating it with stones, called out to them, "Stop, stop! do not meddle with that egg, or the bird Rukh will come out and break our ship and destroy us." But they paid no heed to me and gave not over smiting upon the egg, when behold, the day grew dark and dun and the sun was hidden from us, as if some great cloud had passed over the firmament. So we raised our eyes and saw that what we took for a cloud was the Rukh poised between us and the sun, and it was his wings that darkened the day. When he came and saw his egg broken, he cried a loud cry, whereupon his mate came flying up and they both began circling about the ship crying out at us with voices louder than thunder. I called to the Rais and crew, "Put out to sea and seek safety in flight, before we be all destroyed."

Tales from the Thousand and One Nights
Translated from Calcutta II by N.J. Dawood, (London 1973)
published by Penguin Classics - ISBN 0-14-044289-8
Click here for a list of the stories contained within this volume.

From "The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor"

Blessed with a favourable wind, we voyaged many days and nights, trading from sea to sea and shore to shore, and at length came to a desert island where we caught sight of a solitary white dome, half-buried in the sand. This I recognized at once as a roc's egg; and the passengers begged leave to land, so they might go near and gaze upon this prodigy.

As ill luck would have it, however, the light-hearted merchants found no better sport than to throw great stones at the egg. When the shell was broken, the passengers, who were determined to have a feast, dragged out the young bird and cut it up in pieces. Then they returned on board to tell me of their adventure.

I was filled with horror and cried: 'We are lost! The parent birds will now pursue our ship with implacable rage and destroy us all!'

Scarcely had I finished speaking when the sun was suddenly hidden from our view by a great cloud and the world grew dark around us as the rocs came flying home. On finding their egg broken and their offspring destroyed, the birds uttered deafening cries; they took to the air again, and in a twinkling vanished from sight.

'All aboard, quickly!' I exclaimed. 'We must at once flee from this island!'

The Arabian Nights (2)
Volume one of Husain Haddawy's work is translated from Mahdi's Arabic critical edition, reconstructing a lost early Syrian document. Volume two, from which this comes, contains four of the most famous stories, added to the collection in more recent times. The story of Sindbad is translated from the Bulaq edition.
Click here for a list of the stories contained within this volume.

From "The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad"

We continued in this fashion until one day we came to a large uninhabited island, waste and desolate, except for a vast white dome. The merchants landed to look at the dome, which was in reality a huge Rukh's egg, but, not knowing what it was, they struck it with stones, and when they broke it, much fluid ran out of it, and the young Rukh appeared inside. They drew it out of the shell, slaughtered it, and took from it a great deal of meat. While this was going on, I was on the ship, uninformed and unaware of it until one of the passengers came to me and said, "Sir, go and look at that egg, which we thought to be a dome." I went to look at the egg and arrived just when the merchants were striking it. I cried out to them, "Don't do this, for the Rukh will come, demolish our ship, and destroy us all." But they did not heed my words.

While they were thus engaged, the sun suddenly disappeared, and the day grew dark, as if a dark cloud was passing above us. We raised our heads to see what had veiled the sun and saw that it was the Rukh's wings that had blocked the sunlight and made the day dark, for when the Rukh came and saw its egg broken, it cried out at us, and its mate came, and they circled above the ship, shrieking with voices louder than thunder. I called out to the captain and the sailors, saying, "Push off the ship, and let us escape before we perish."