Part 3 (1/2)

[74] See Jackson, Zoroaster, pp. 127-132.

[75] Rud. Furst, Die Vorlaufer der Modernen Novelle im achtzehnten Jahrhundert, Halle a. S. 1897. p. 51.

[76] Some of the stories are undoubtedly Oriental in origin. The work appeared at Venice, 1557, and was translated into German, in 1583, by Johann Wetzel under the t.i.tle Die Reise der Sohne Giaffers. Ed. by Herm.

Fischer and Joh. Bolte (BLVS, vol. 208), Tub. 1895.

[77] Furst, op. cit. p. 52. The name is derived from the Arabic ?? ??

”speaker of the truth,” as pointed out by Hammer in Red. p. 326. See essay L'ange et l'hermite by Gaston Paris in La Poesie du Moyen Age, Paris, 1887, p. 151.

[78] Furst, op. cit. p. 154.

CHAPTER III.

HERDER.

Herder's Interest in the Orient--Fourth Collection of his Zerstreute Blatter--His Didactic Tendency And Predilection For Sa?di.

The epoch-making work of the English Orientalists, and above all, of the ill.u.s.trious Sir William Jones, at the end of the eighteenth century not only laid the foundation of Sanskrit scholars.h.i.+p in Europe, but also gave the first direct impulse to the Oriental movement which in the first half of the nineteenth century manifests itself so strikingly both in English as well as in German literature, especially in the work of the poets. In Germany this movement came just at the time when the idea of a universal literature had taken hold of the minds of the leading literary men, and so it was very natural that the pioneer and prophet of this great idea should also be the first to introduce into German poetry the new _west-ostliche Richtung_.

Herder's theological studies turned his attention to the East at an early age. As is well known, he always had a fervid admiration for the Hebrew poets, but we have evidence to show, that, even before the year 1771, when Jones' _Traite sur la poesie orientale_ appeared, he had widened the sphere of his Oriental studies and had become interested in Sa?di.[79] Rhymed paraphrases made by him of some stories from the _Gulistan_ date from the period 1761-1764,[80] and, as occasional references prove, Sa?di continued to hold his attention until the appearance, in 1792, of the fourth Collection of the _Zerstreute Blatter_, which contains the bulk of Herder's translation from Persian and Sanskrit literature, and which therefore will have to occupy our attention.[81]

Of this collection the following are of interest to us: 1. Four books of translations, more or less free, of maxims from the _Gulistan_, ent.i.tled _Blumen aus morgenlandischen Dichtern gesammlet_. 2.

Translations from the Sanskrit consisting of maxims from the _Hitopadesa_ and from Bhart?hari and pa.s.sages from the _Bhagavadgita_ under the name of _Gedanken einiger Bramanen_. 3. A number of versions from Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic poets given in the Suphan edition as _Vermischte Stucke_.

The first three books of the _Blumen_ consist entirely of maxims from the _Gulistan_, the versions of Gentius, or sometimes of Olearius, being the basis, while the fourth book contains also poems from Rumi, H_afi?

and others (some not Persian), taken mostly from Jones' well known _Poeseos_.[82] For the _Gedanken_ our poet made use of Wilkins'

translation of the _Hitopadesa_ (1787) and of the _Bhagavadgita_ (1785), together with the German version of Bhart?hari by Arnold from Roger's Dutch rendering.

As Herder did not know either Sanskrit or Persian, his versions are translations of translations, and it is not surprising if the sense of the original is sometimes very much altered, especially when we consider that the translations on which he depended were not always accurate.[83]

In most cases, however, the sense is fairly well preserved, sometimes even with admirable fidelity, as in ”Lob der Gottheit” (_Bl._ i. 1), which is a version of pa.s.sages from the introduction to the _Gulistan_.

No attention whatever is paid to the form of the originals. For the selections from Sa?di the distich which had been used for the versions from the Greek anthology is the favorite form. Rhyme, which in Persian poetry is an indispensable requisite, is never employed.

The moralizing tendency which characterizes all of Herder's work, and which grew stronger as he advanced in years, rendered him indifferent to the purely artistic side of poetry. He makes no effort in his versions to bring out what is characteristically Oriental in the original; on the contrary, he often destroys it. Thus his ”Blume des Paradieses” (_Bl._ iv. 7 = H_. 548) is addressed to a girl instead of a boy. The fourth couplet is accordingly altered to suit the sense, while the last couplet, which according to the law governing the construction of the Persian _?azal_ contained the name of the poet, is omitted. So also in ”Der heilige Wahnsinn” (_Verm._ 6 = _Gul._ v. 18, ed. Platts, p.

114) the characteristic Persian phrase

”It is necessary to survey Laila's beauty from the window of Majnun's eye”

appears simply as ”O ... sieh mit meinen Augen an.”

This exclusive interest in the purely didactic side induced Herder also to remove the maxims from the stories which in the _Gulistan_ or _Hitopadesa_ served as their setting. So they appear simply as general sententious literature, whereas in the originals they are as a rule introduced solely to ill.u.s.trate or to emphasize some particular point of the story. Then again a story may be considerably shortened, as in ”Die Luge” (_Bl._ ii. 28 = _Gul._ i. 1), ”Der heilige Wahnsinn” (see above).

To atone for such abridgment new lines embodying in most cases a general moral reflection are frequently added. Thus both the pieces just cited have such additions. In ”Verschiedener Umgang” (_Ged._ 3 = Bhart.