re: #42 Nyet

As a kid I learned a bit about Islam by reading the (uncensored) stories from 1001 Nights. Some of the stories are particularly aimed at teaching an average person the basics of Islam, e.g. the story of Tawaddud:

Ah yes, the uncensored version. My head nearly exploded the first time I started reading it, though the translation I have is the 4-volume one by Mardrus & Mathers. I believe that one was translated from Arabic to French, then from French to English. The language is very poetic (even the parts that made me blush), but I’m sure some things were lost.

I’ve never attempted to tackle the Burton version. It may be more correct since he spoke Arabic fluently and his mother tongue was English.