Reuben and the Forty Thieves: Arab Tales

With the advent of the early XVIII century. The French translation of A. Gallan's famous Arabic collection of fairy tales "1001 Nights" makes the book a favorite for European readers. It, on the one hand, bizarrely intertwines the magical world with the human world, and on the other - offers interesting stories from the life of the burghers and the caliph's entourage, full of intriguing adventures. However, there are just as many "Arab fairy tales" in addition to those that can be read in the collection. their existence is largely oral. Some fairy tales are kept in the family memory of grandmothers, mothers and nannies, others - make up the oral repertoire of professional storytellers on the streets. The best impression of this folk heritage can be obtained from folklore records of the late XIX - early XX centuries. Such tales, proverbs and sayings were recorded in the Lebanese villages and the city of Beirut by the Crimean Agatangel during a business trip to the East (1896-1898). The collection of fairy tales offered to the reader is a translation and literary processing in Ukrainian of Arabic texts collected by A. Krymsky. Tales organically complement and continue the genre repertoire of the legendary "1001 Nights", sometimes making variations and modifications to its stories ("The Tale of the Hunchback", "Ruvvas and Forty Robbers", etc.). For a wide range of readers.