The translator flatters himself, that those who understand
Arabic, and will be at the pains to compare the original with the
translation, must agree that he has showed the Arabians to the
French with all the circumspection that the niceness of the
French tongue and of the times require; and if those who read
these stories have any inclination to profit by the example of
virtue and vice which they will here find exhibited, they may
reap an advantage by it that is not to be reaped in other
stories, which are more fit to corrupt than to reform our
manners.
Approbation.
I have read, by order of my Lord Chancellor, this manuscript, and
find nothing in it that should hinder its being printed.
(Signed)
Fontenelle.
Paris, October 4. 1706.
Arabian Nights Entertainments.
The chronicles of the Susanians, the ancient kings of Persia, who
extended their empire into the Indies, over all the islands
thereunto belonging, a great way beyond the Ganges, and as far as
China, acquaint us, that there was formerly a king of that potent
family, the most excellent prince of his time; he was as much
beloved by his subjects for his wisdom and prudence, as he was
dreaded by his neighbours because of his valour, and his warlike
and well-disciplined troops.
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