Edmund Dulac's Picture-Book for the French Red Cross

In Short

This collection brings together classic fairy tales, ancient love stories, and traditional folk songs gathered from across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Within its pages, lovers face bitter feuds, emperors learn humility, and ordinary people encounter magical transformations. Created as a wartime benefit volume, the compilation gathers famous narratives alongside lesser-known cultural gems. Its enduring charm rests on its rich variety of narrative traditions, timeless moral themes, and universal human passions.

The Story

The book moves across wide geographic and cultural distances, beginning in China with the majestic story of the bird Feng, who drops a portrait at the feet of a princess to ignite a magical quest. From there, it shifts to Persia to chart the tragic passion of Laylá and Qays. Meeting at a festival, the young pair fall instantly in love, but a long-standing blood feud between their families stands in their path. Consumed by heartbreak, Qays retreats to the wilderness, earning the name Majnún—"mad with love." Though a desert chief named Noufal offers to conquer Laylá’s family to force a marriage, the lovers remain separated by fate and duty. Laylá is married to another, yet she remains faithful in heart, while Majnún waits endlessly in the shadows. Only after years of grief and her husband’s death does a fleeting chance of reunion arise, though their devotion has already transcended the physical world.

The narrative lens then moves to imperial China, where a humble nightingale’s sweet song brings an emperor to tears. Though court life tries to cage and commodify the bird with ribbons and golden slippers, the nightingale returns to nature, only to fly back loyally at the dawn of the emperor's death to sing away the Grim Reaper himself.

In the Middle East, the voyages of Sindbad reveal the perils of the sea, most notably his encounter with the deceitful Old Man of the Sea. Appearing as a fragile, dumb old man wrapped in leaves, the creature tricks Sindbad into carrying him across a stream, only to lock his legs around Sindbad’s neck and ride him mercilessly like a beast of burden until Sindbad outwits him. In another Arabian tale, the mischievous Caliph of Baghdad plays a prank on Abu Hasan, drugging him and letting him awaken as the absolute ruler for a day. When Hasan is cast back into his ordinary life, he believes he is insane, enduring beatings in an asylum before discovering the truth and confronting his royal tormentor.

European traditions offer romantic and dramatic contrasts. In the medieval French idyll of Aucassin and Nicolette, two devoted lovers brave dungeons, parental rage, and war to be together, with Nicolette escaping her tower by a rope of silk to shear off her hair for her knight. In Blue Beard, a young wife named Fatima yields to curiosity and opens a forbidden iron door in her husband's grand estate, uncovering his terrible secrets; she is saved from his bloody retribution at the last second by her sword-wielding brothers. Finally, in Egypt, the biblically inspired tale of Jusef and Asenath shows the chaste Jusef meeting the pure virgin Asenath, turning mutual isolation into a holy bond. The volume closes with a direct appeal for donations to support wounded soldiers in the First World War.

How It Unfolds

Love sparks amidst an ancient feud Laylá and Qays catch sight of each other at a rare tribal festival, falling instantly in love despite the historic hatred separating their families. Qays abandons all normal life, wandering the desert as Majnún while Laylá pines in her father's palace.

A nightingale moves an emperor to tears A plain gray bird is brought from the forest to sing for the Chinese court, deeply touching the monarch's heart. Though offered lavish imperial honors, the bird prefers its freedom, returning later in secret to save the dying ruler through song.

A trickster enslaves a weary sailor Sindbad alights on a seemingly peaceful island and offers to carry a frail, mute old man across a stream. The creature suddenly clamps his legs around Sindbad's throat, forcing the sailor to carry him continuously around the island as a helpless steed.

A humble girl enters a magical court Cinderella's fairy godmother transforms a simple pumpkin, garden mice, and six lizards into a golden coach and fine footmen. Clothed in gold and fitted with custom glass slippers, the young woman steps out to meet her fate at the royal ball.

Curiosity unlocks a hidden room Fatima gives in to temptation and turns the small key in the forbidden iron lock of her husband's mansion. Her disobedience brings her to the brink of death before her brothers crash through the gates to rescue her.

A wandering prince finds a soulmate Jusef enters the house of Putiphra to collect corn, insisting he will not look upon strange women. Upon learning that Putiphra's daughter Asenath is a pure maiden who hates all other men, Jusef welcomes her warmly as a sister and beloved.

The People

• Majnún (Qays): A chief's son who wants only to be united with Laylá. His path is blocked by an ancestral war and rigid social duty. He ends up driven to near-madness, wandering the desert as a legendary figure of endless devotion.
• Laylá: A beautiful princess who desires to give her heart freely to Qays. Her father's enmity and forced marriage stand in her way. She remains steadfast and dry-eyed through severe trial, holding her quiet dignity until her freedom arrives.
• The Nightingale: A wild bird that desires only to sing freely and bring true emotional comfort. The court's desire to control and decorate it stands in its way. It remains uncorrupted by luxury, choosing liberty while offering unconditional loyalty to the emperor.
• Sindbad: An adventurous sailor who desires peaceful rest on an island shore. He is trapped by his own naive pity when the Old Man of the Sea enslaves him. Through endurance and cunning, he breaks free from his tormentor.
• Fatima: A young bride who desires to enjoy her husband's vast wealth and satisfy her overwhelming curiosity. The stern prohibition and deadly rage of Blue Beard stand in her path. She narrowly escapes execution and matures into a wealthy, happy woman married to a gentle man.
• Abu Hasan: A cheerful host who wants one day of supreme power to punish a hypocritical local religious leader. His host's secret identity as the Caliph transforms his wish into a chaotic reality that lands him in a madhouse before he learns to outwit his fate.

In Its Own Voice

"Her cheeks grew hot, and, with a wildly beating heart, she turned and ran back to her father's palace."

Laylá realizes she has wandered all the way to the lovers' fountain in search of the spot where she might meet Qays.

"I have seen tears in the eyes of the emperor, and that is sufficient reward."

The little gray nightingale refuses the golden slipper offered by the moved monarch, explaining why true art needs no official decorations.

"There, sitting against the tree next to mine, was an aged man of comely and benevolent aspect."

Sindbad catches his first glimpse of the deceitful Old Man of the Sea before realizing the creature's sinister nature.

What It's Really About

At its core, this volume explores the tension between duty and desire, as well as the danger of deceptive appearances. Across many of these stories, characters must navigate rigid societal expectations or hidden traps. Majnún and Laylá suffer because family feuds and traditional honor override individual love. Fatima and Sindbad both fall victim to initial impressions—a harmless-looking old man and an indulgent husband—only to discover cruelty lurking beneath a gentle exterior. The collection also examines the nature of true generosity and loyalty. Whether it is the nightingale choosing genuine sympathy over official court rewards or Lisette giving her bread to the poor without worrying about tomorrow, the book elevates quiet purity of heart over external rank, wealth, or power.

Why Read It Today

This collection will captivate lovers of folklore, classic fairy tales, and orientalist fantasy who appreciate lush, atmospheric storytelling. Reading it feels like turning the pages of an antique illuminated manuscript; the language is formal, rhythmic, and steeped in the literary style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Readers should be prepared for period conventions typical of early 1900s fairy-tale translations, including formal phrasing, theatrical melodrama, and stark moral contrasts between pure virtue and absolute villainy. Violence occasionally erupts with old-world swiftness, such as Blue Beard being run through with swords or Abu Hasan receiving daily thrashings in an asylum. Yet these historical quirks only add to its vintage charm. The book's rich variety—moving seamlessly from Persian romance to Nordic fairy tale, from French medieval song to Arabian humor—makes it an engaging slice of world folklore, preserved as a historical gesture of wartime goodwill.