lederhosen

A couple of months ago

silverblue et al. led me into temptation, i.e. a second-hand bookshop, and I came away with a four-volume hardback set of the Thousand Nights And One Night. I've been reading it on the train this week, and just finished the first volume.

Near the start of the second volume:

But when the hundred-and-seventy-first night had come...

[tale snipped]

At this point Shahrazad saw the approach of morning and discreetly fell silent.

But when the hundred-and-seventy-second night had come...

[snip, Sh. falls silent again.]

But when the hundred-and-seventy-sixth night had come...

And a little footnote reads: "As the three Nights before this occupied only a few lines in the Arabic text, Mardrus suppressed them in order that the narrative should not be unnecessarily interrupted. Such omissions in future will not be noted - P.M."

WHAT? You bastards! I paid for a thousand and one nights! The book claims to be "rendered into English from the literal and complete French translation of Dr J.C. Mardrus by Powys Mathers."

Now I'm curious. These stories are full of interruptions and digressions - they're sometimes nested three deep, after all. Why would a few lines be such a problem? (I know there are heavily expurgated versions of the Nights out there, but this doesn't appear to be one of them - previous stories have been quite smutty). Nights 177-178 and 181, at least, are also missing.

Anybody know what the missing lines are about?