Note 48 — HASSAN OR THE CHILD OF THE PYRAMID (continued 2)

The legend of Rabîah is one of the most ancient now known in the East. It was first communicated to me in the shape of an old Arab MS. by that eminent Arabic scholar, M. Fresnel. I believe he translated and sent it to one of the European Oriental magazines; but I have never seen it myself in print. As it is ten years since I saw the MS., I cannot remember exactly how far the tale in our text deviates from the original. The names which I have introduced are taken at random among names common in the Nejd; but I distinctly remember that of Rabîah, and his heroic death in the gap, as forming the catastrophe of the legend.