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DECEMBER, 1891.]
MISCELLANEA.
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of one Hari Lal, a baniyd in Almôrå (Kumfun), who communicated to him some fine folktales, which are to be found in Minayef's Indian Tales collected in Kamdon in 1875, published in St. Petersburg, in 1877. The somewhat plain language of these pieces of real folklore was probably the cause why the late Professor did not put them in the account of his journey to India (St. Petersburg,-1878;.2 Vols.) Nearly all the pieces are of a satirical character, some of them being directed against false devotees, some against the European rulers of the country, some against Missionaries, some against unfaithful wives.
IV.-Semitic. 1. On a fragment of a Hebrew papyrus from the collection of W. S. Golenishef, by A. Harkavy. This short fragment bears on ritual. It is chiefly remarkable for its age, as it belongs to a date between the VIIIth and Xth Centuries. • 2. Contributions to the biography and works of Sayyid-al-Fayúní from the MSS. in the Imperial Public Library by A. Harkavy. Sayyid. al. Fayhmi (892-942 A. D.) the first Hebrew grammarian, belongs to the time of the revival of Hebrew science, in the IXth and Xth Centuries, A.D., in Egypt. Some of his works are known and published, but many important facts relating to his literary career can be gathered from this Hebrew-Arabic MSS. in the Imperial Public Library at St. Petersburg. Dr. Harkavy gives extracts from the following works of AlFayúmi. (1) From the "Book of Poetry” (a manual), and (2) from the Book of the Exiled " (a controversial work). To this last are appended some extracts from works directed against the Sayyid
3. On an inedited MS. of the Arabian Nights, by Baron D. Gunzburg. The MS. under notice belongs to the private library of Baron Gunzburg, and of all the MSS. of the Arabian Nights that have been as yet examined, it is the most closely allied to the MS. of Michel Sabbagh (Paris National Library, Nos. 2522 and 2523), and con. sequently to the Baghdad MS. This MS. is complete, unusually correct, and written in a very elegant style. It seems to be one of the best of the MSS. of the Arabian Nights. A remarkable feature of it is the high esteem in which women are held throughout the whole text, against the usual oriental way of treating women.
The article gives a comparative table of the tales, and a detailed comparison of the tale of Aladdin's Lamp in Zotenberg's text. This story
is somewhat short in Baron Gunzburg's MS., but it is given in a more elegant and refined style than in the printed version. We may add that it is most desirable that Dr. Zotenberg, who is preparing a work on the Arabian Nights, should get access to this fine MS.
V.- Armenian and Georgian. 1. 4 summer journey to Armenia. Notes and extracts from Armenian MSS., by N. J. Marr. This is the result of a journey to Armenia in the summer of 1890. M. Marr went to Armenia cbiefly to collect materials for his work (shortly to be published) on the Armenian fables ascribed to Vardan. He found, however, time enough to peruse also other MSS. of the rich Etchmiadzin Library, and to make a catalogue of the Armenian MSS. in the monastery on Lake Sevan (Gokcha). Besides some emendations to the text of Moses of Khoren, the article gives :-(1) a note on Asath, the translator of the Armenian " Barlaam and Joasaph," who is named in two MSS. of the Sevan Monastery, and one MS. of Etchmiadzin, written in 1441: (2) a passage from the " Answers and Questions of Vardan" bearing on the legend of king Artavazd: (3) a passage of Vardan the Great (XIIIth Century) on a translation of the Bible into Syriac by the king Abgar, which telle us that at that time there was no Armenian alphabet ; M. Marr points out the importance of collecting all possible data bearing on the history of the Armenian alphabet and on works in Armenian prior to the invention of the Mesro. pian alphabet : (5) on the Oskiphoriks, a sort of collection of pious legends and apocryphas: (6) a note on the Armenian text of the Georgian Chronicle: the original of all hitherto known copies is the MS. No. 1722 of the Etchmiadzin Library : (7) the Book of Adam and Eve; copious extracts of the Armenian text of which apocrypha are given with a Russian translation, and the text seems to go back to the Greek version : (8) Joseph and Asseneth ; some notes on this in. teresting apocrypha, edited by Prof. Carrière; M. Marr gives from the Etchmiadzin MSS. two texts (with translation) bearing on the same history; vix,—"The Prayer of Asseneth” and the "Testament of Joseph," which last he identifies with the “ Prayer of Joseph" in the list of apocryphas of Mekhitar (XIIIth Century).
The article is to be continued, and will deal with some more apocryphas and other Armenian texts.
2. Sophron, son of Isaac, or Isaac, son of Sophron ? by N. J. Marr. The existing MSS. of
• A facsimile is given on pl. 1. 4.
