How fairy tales travelled the world
In short: Tales move with people. The Indian Panchatantra animal fables were translated into Persian and Arabic and later into European languages. Anansi, the trickster spider, came from the Akan people of Ghana to the Caribbean. And Aladdin is not in the oldest Arabian Nights manuscripts: the French translator Antoine Galland added it in 1709-1712 after hearing it from the Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab.
Fables on the road
The Panchatantra was compiled in India roughly two thousand years ago, was translated into Middle Persian in the 6th century and into Arabic as Kalila wa Dimna in the 8th century, and from there into many languages. Aesop's fables, attributed to a Greek storyteller of the 6th century BCE, include the Tortoise and the Hare.
Strange and wonderful characters
- Baba Yaga: a witch in Slavic tales who lives in a hut on chicken legs.
- Anansi: the clever spider of Akan stories who tricks bigger animals and who travelled to the Caribbean.
- Puss in Boots: a clever cat found in 16th-century Italian collections and in Perrault.
- Keloğlan: the bald, poor and cheerful hero of Turkish tales.
Aladdin and the forgotten storyteller
Galland wrote in his diary about meeting Hanna Diyab in Paris in 1709 and recorded the story he heard. For a long time Diyab's name was almost forgotten, and a memoir of his journey was found in the Vatican Library in 1993.
Why tales change on the way
Each teller swaps in familiar places, foods and names, so a cat in Italy, a fox in Turkey and a spider in Ghana can solve similar problems.
Timeline
- About 6th century BCEAesop's fables are attributed to a Greek storyteller.
- Roughly 2,000 years agoThe Panchatantra is compiled in India.
- 8th centuryKalila wa Dimna in Arabic.
- 1709-1712Galland publishes Aladdin from Hanna Diyab's telling.
Questions
Is Aladdin from Arabia?
The story was told to Galland by a Syrian storyteller. It is not in the earliest manuscripts of the Nights.
Who invented Anansi?
Anansi comes from the Akan tradition of Ghana, and the stories spread with people to the Caribbean.
Sources and further reading
- The Panchatantra, translations by Arthur W. Ryder and Patrick Olivelle.
- Robert Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion.
- Hanna Diyab, memoir (Vatican Library manuscript Sbath 254).