19 MARCH 1831, Page 16

THE SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

Ma. NOBLE'S Orientalist is a chapter in the history of literature, in the form of letters : partly by description, criticism, biography, and example, it conveys a luminous idea of the spirit and cha- racter of the literature Of the East. The mere English reader will find considerable novelty in the style and matter of the various Eastern authors who are referred to. Mr. NOBLE, by an agree- . .able method of exemplifying his remarks, has rendered that which niany might otherwise have called dry, and have turned away from, amusing as well as instructive. Our favourite, of all the different forms in which the genius of • the authors of the East has clothed itself, is the table or story, as we find it in LOTMAN and BIDPAI. Mr. NOBLE has added to our stores in this respect. In an imaginary contest between two fable-propounders, who, like the Melibcean shepherds of VIRGIL, dispute in alternate tales, as they did in verses in praise of Daphnis, we find a considerable body of these very agreeable pro- ductions. Mr. NOBLE has been somewhat too solicitous to trans- late literally; so that he not unfrequently loses the pith of a fable by clumsiness of expression : nevertheless, many of these tra- ditional morsels of wisdom and wit are exceedingly delightful.

We shall give one specimen—it is a very good one—in his own words, and then proceed to gather the essence of several others that have pleased us, in a much smaller compass than the origi- nals. They may lose some portion of their life by compression, .but our readers will find enough left to amuse them. " The Durwesh an4 Sceptic.—A certain man went to a Durwesh, and proposed three questions :—First, Why do they say God is omnipresent ? I do not see him in any place ; show me where lie is.' Second, 'Why is man punished for crimes, since whatever he does proceeds from God ? Man has no ability in himself ; for without the will of God lie is not able to do any thing; and if he had power he would do every thing for his own good.' Third, • How can God punish Satan in hell-lire since his composition is of fire ; and what impression can fire make on itself ? ' " The Durwesh took up a large clod of earth, and struck him on the lead with it. The man, weeping, went to the Kazee, and said, I pro- posed three questions to such a Durwesh, who struck such a clod of earth at my head that it is pained, and he has not given me any answer.' The Kazee sent for the Durwesh, and asked, 'Why did you strike a clod of -earth at his head, and not give an answer to his questions ?' The Dur- wesh replied,—' That clod of earth is an answer to his speech ;—he says he has a pain in his head ; let him show where it is, when I will make God visible to him : and why has he made a complaint against me before your Excellency? Whatever I did was the act of God ; I did not strike him without the will of God : what ability is there in me ? And as his com- position is of earth, how has pain come to him from that element ? ' The man became confounded, and the Kazee approved much of the answer of the Durwesh." Two brothers amuse themselves by imagining, if they had a .piece of ground, what they would do with it. In his half, one °brother would make a flower-garden ; in his, the other would keep cows and buffaloes. This the former brother would not permit, because the cattle would destroy his flowers : whereupon they began to quarrel, and ultimately to fight. The bystanders ob- served—" Why this is the very proverb. The thread before it be .cotton is gone to fisticuffs with the weaver." A logician and a swimmer were embarked in the same vessel. The logician said to his companion—" What do you know of logic ?" It appeared that he did not know even the name of it. "Alas! alas !" exclaimed the reasoner, "you have sunk one half of your life in an ocean of ignorance." A storm arose : the swimmer said to the logician—" Have you learned to swim ?"-- -" No," answered the reasoner. " Alas ! alas !" said the swimmer, "you have thrown away your whole life upon the winds." A traveller dismounted, and was about to tie up his horse next that of a merchant who was eating his dinner. The merchant . said, "My horse is vicious—do not tie your mare by his side." The traveller persisted ; and when he had done, sat down, and without leave, or attending to a prohibition, began to partake of Tie merchant's dinner, feigning himself deg!. Presently the horse kicked the mare, and broke her leg. Whereupon the traveller began to storm—would have the value of his beast, and had the merchant up before the Kazee. The merchant pretended to be dumb. "He is not dumb," cried the traveller. "How do you know that ?" said the Kazee. "Because," replied the traveller, .4, when I came up to him, and he saw me tying my mare near his horse, he shouted out, Don't tie!" The plaintiff was of course nonsnited, and driven from the presence of the Kazee. A deaf gentleman determined to visit a sick friend, and, as he 'could not hear the answers to his questions, he arranged the con- versation beforehand. "I will say, How do you do ? He will an- swer, Better ; and I will say, Amen, may it be lasting. Then I will ask, What food do you take ? He will say, Rice. I will answer, Good appetite to you. My next inquiry will be, Who is your physician? He will say, The great Doctor Such-a-one ; and I will say, May God grant a complete cure by his means 1" After the deaf gen- tleman had made his salaam, the following conversation took place. " Tell me, friend, how is your health ?" " Why do you ask ? I am dying of fever." "Amen, may God cause it to be so !" ejaculated the deaf gentleman. The sick patient was exasperated; and when the deaf man again asked him what he ate, "Dirt," cried the patient,—meaning abuse. " May your appetite be good !" re- joined the deaf man ; and pray who is your physician ?" " The angel of death !" shouted the fevered patient. " I wish you joy !" answered his deaf friend, as he took his leave; " I hope God will grant you a speedy relief!" Many of the Eastern stories turn upon evidence, and the inge°- nuity of the judge in discovering the side ofjustice. The judgment of Solomon between the two women claiming a child is here told of some Oriental Kazee. The following story is of the same nature. A young man going a journey, intrusted a hundred deenars to an old man : when he came back, the old than denied having had any money deposited with him, and he was had up before the Kazee. " Where were you, young man, when you delivered this money?" " Under a tree." " Take my seal and summon that tree," said the Judge. " Go, young man, and tell the tree to come hither, and the tree will obey when you show it my seal." The young man went in wonder. After he had been gone some time, the Kazee said to the old man, " He is long—do you think he has got there yet ?" " No," said the old man ; "it is at some dis- tance ; he has not got there yet." " How knowest thou,. old man," cried the Kazee, " where that tree is ?" The young man returned, and said the tree would not come. " He has been here, young man, and given his evidence—the money is thine." Another case of evidence turns upon a ruby, which two false witnesses swear had been given in their presence to a third 'party. " Here is some bread," said the Kazee, " make it in the form of the ruby." The witnesses made imitations of the ruby utterly different from each other. - There is also a clever story of a judgment between a master and his runaway slave. When the slave was laid hold of in a foreign country, he declared that it was the master who was the slave, and not he. The Kazee said, " Put both your heads out of that window :" he then cried out in a loud voice, " Executioner, strike off the head of the slave." The real slave started back.

There is also the judgment in the Merchant of Venice amongst these Eastern fables.

A lazy servant made his wit serve him instead of his strength. His master and he were sleeping together in one house. "Get' up," said the master, "and see whether it rains." " It does rain," said the man: "How do you know that ?" replied the master, "for you do not stir." " No—the cat came in, I felt her, and she was wet." "Put out the lamp." "Sleep with the cloak over your head, and it will be dark enough," said the attendant. "Shut the door," said the master. "I have done two' things for you—do the third for yourself," said the servant.

It would seem, that servants Of this disputatious habit are not uncommon in the East—the land of laziness ; for several fables turn upon their quibbling with their masters. A master said to his servant, "I am sick—go to such a physi- cian, and bring me medicine." The servant said, "Perhaps the doctor will not be at home." "Go," said the master, "and see." "Perhaps, if I should meet with him, perhaps he will not give me the medicine." - "Take a note, and he will not refuse," said the master. "But, even if he should give it to me, it will do you no good." "You base scoundrel!" exclaimed the enraged master, "will he give it to you as long as you keep sitting here ?" "And if he should- give it me," continued the servant, " and it should do you good, you must die at some time—you may as well die now as then."

The literature of the East is as much distinguished for the subtlety of its distinctions as the extravagance of its tropes : it is the latter characteristic with which we of the West Are most fami- liar; and we give them little credit for their ingenuity. But very amusing instances of their love of quibbling constantly occur in Oriental literature, and some are quoted here. A fine -example of the Berkeleian system of universal scepticism is quoted by Mrs. JUDSON, in her very curious Letters, giving an account of her husband's mission to Burrnah.

" Mouny Long," says Mr. JUDSON, in his Journal, "is a great sceptic, scarcely believing in his own existence. He is always quarrelling with his wile on some metaphysical point. For instance, if she says, The rice is ready,' he will reply, 'Rice! what is rice? Is it matter or spirit ? Is it an idea, or is it nonentity ?' perhaps she will say, 'It is matter;' and he will reply, Well, wife,* and what is matter ? Are you sure there is such a thing in existence, or are you merely subject to a delusion of the senses ?'" An amusing instance of scepticism carried to absurdity is given by our author, in a person who applied to Mr. linawrrz to learn Hebrew. He bade the pupil repeat his alphabet after him- " Say Aleph," said the Rabbi. "What is Aleph t" demanded the pupil. " Aleph is the name of the first letter." "How do I know that ? You must convince me." Mr. Huawrrz caught hold of his ear, and asked him if he knew what the name of that' might be ? The scholar was convinced by this process,—which 'may be called the ad captandum form of reasoning. A tyrant went out of his city incog. and seeing a person under a tree, he asked him what sort of a person was the Emperor of this country ? "A great tyrant," answered the man. "Do you know me?" said the Emperor. "No," said the stranger. "1 am the Sultan," rejoined the Emperor. Whereupon the man was dreadinlly alarmed, but nevertheless he said, "Do you know met" "No," said the Sultan. "1 am the son ,of such a person : every month I am mad three days : to-day is one of these days." -The Emperor laughed, and let him go. We have got our horses from Arabia, but it is still more singu- lar, that the word "stable" should be Arabic too. Istubul has the same meaning exactly as our word stable. This remark occurs in a note to a story which is neither more nor less than the old tra- ditional trick of a Yorkshireman, who made money by showing his horse with his head where his tail should be—viz, turned in his stall.

• After the gratification afforded to us by this volume, it is our duty to take a passage from the Envoi, "which explains Mr. NOBLE'S intentions as to another volume. Our recommendation will, ere hope, add weight to his reasons. " Shall this, as it is the first, be also the last volume of our undertak- ing? Or shall there be another volume ? Or, perhaps, an annual ? These are questions for the public to decide. I was told by the booksel- lers, who are known to be wise in their generation, that the work could not succeed, because Oriental literature is not popular in this country. But why should it not he rendered popular ? Germany and France have done much for Orientalism ; and in the latter country especially it has been long decidedly popular. And why not in Britain ? Is it because Britain is the only nation in the world that is well paid for her Oriental- ism; and has, at present, not less than a hundred millions of Orientals under her dominion? Or, is it because there is nothing in Oriental lite- rature that can ever become popular ? This is absurd."