Aladin und Ali Baba: Geschichten aus 1001 Nacht?

Originating in ancient India in the 4th century, these dreamlike tales were transmitted orally as far as Persia, then translated and enriched by Arab merchants, before undergoing other influences. The French orientalist Antoine Galland (1646-1715) was the first European to translate the mysterious collection, triggering a veritable craze for these tales, with The Thousand and One Nights becoming the most widely read text after the Bible. The hero Aladdin, in particular, enjoyed a particular and enduring popularity. Yet many people are unaware that neither Aladdin or the Wonderful Lamp, Sinbad the Sailor nor Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves were part of the original version. For centuries, scholars have tried in vain to trace the origins of these orphan stories. The fortuitous discovery of a manuscript in the Vatican Apostolic Library, however, has enabled us to trace their authorship in part: these are extracts from the Memoirs of the Syrian Christian Hanna Dyâb, born in Aleppo in 1688, who in 1709, during a trip to Paris, told some of the tales to Antoine Galland.