Zibn vayzn maynster bikhl (Basel: Conrad Waldkirch 1602)

A successful Yiddish chapbook, addressed to « vayber und meydlekh », names on its title page neither place of publication nor name of printing house. Twice, though, it names Jakob Buchhendler, the book’s co-editor and corrector at Conrad Waldkirch. The book is an entertaining cycle of tales which, under diverse titles and in numerous variations, circulated widely in Middle Eastern and European literature. In the framing narrative, a prince - in European versions, a Roman Emperor’s son - is raised in a foreign country by seven sages. Before returning home, he must keep a vow of silence at the risk of his life. He arrives at his father’s court, where his young stepmother tries to seduce him. Failing to do so, she accuses him of rape (cf. Joseph and Potiphar’s wife), and he is condemned to death. A storytelling competition ensues between the accusing stepmother and the defending seven sages who finally succeed in saving the prince (cf. Scheherazade) and exposing the slanderer (cf. Susanna and the Elders). After Greek (Syntipas), Arabic (Sieben Wesire), Hebrew (Mishle Sendebar), Latin (Dolopathos, Historia septem sapientum), Persian (Sindbād-nameh) and Syrian versions (Sindbād), the cycle makes its way, between the 12th and late 17th centuries, through literature in all European languages. Whereas the later European versions are based on an Old French version, the Basel edition follows a contemporary German version, but with differences: some are based on a Hebrew model, while the others are most likely the result of the creative work of the translator or reviser. The Basel edition contains moralising insertions, lascivious excerpts, edifying elements and soulful passages. The analysis of the content, which is completely unusual for the targeted Yiddish readers, tries to highlight the role and place of the woman as storyteller and those of the child in educational purposes.