The first nine of Payne's, and the first ten of Burton's, volumes are devoted to the 'Nights' proper, and follow the same lines. The translation has been made from what are commonly known as the Boulac (Cairo) and the two Calcutta Arabic texts of the 'Nights,' though references are made to the Breslau (Tunis) edition, from which also some extracts have been taken and some translations made. The contents of these volumes may be divided into four heads: (1) Fables and apologues. (2) Short stories and anecdotes, some biographical and historical. (3) Tales and stories. (4) Long stories, or romances. Excluding the two short stories in the introductory chapter, there are 10 principal and 6 subordinate fables under the first heading, 116 principal and 3 subordinate stories under the second, 38 principal and 75 subordinate under the third, and 6 principal and 12 subordinate under the fourth heading. This gives a total of 170 principal and 96 subordinate stories in Burton's edition, while Payne gives one principal story and one subordinate one less, his numbers being 169 and 95 respectively. By principal is meant the main or chief story, while by subordinate is meant another story forming part of the main story. In Oriental literature this custom is frequently introduced. A story is commenced, but owing to some allusion in it another story is interpolated, and when this is finished, the original tale is reverted to, only, perhaps, to be interpolated again by another story, and so on. Out of this mass of fable, tale and story, it is difficult to select any particular ones that may prove interesting to everybody. Some are very good, others good, some fairish, and others indifferent; but all are more or less interesting, as they deal with all sorts and conditions of men and women, and all sorts of events and situations. Personally, some twelve stories have struck me as particularly interesting or amusing, though it does not at all follow that what one person fancies another person cares about. A perusal of the work itself will enable its readers to find out what they like for themselves, while the following brief remarks on the twelve stories alluded to above will give a scanty outline of them.