It is impossible to watch this book go out into the world without wondering what Burton himself would have thought of it。Certainty is impossible，for only Allah knows all; but I do not think
there is reason for much doubt。Burton may have issued his translation in a strictly limited edition，and adjured his subscribers to keep it under cover，but to translate and issue the work at
all，under whatever restrictions，was a courageous act in an age which，even more than our own，“was saturated with cant and hypocrisy。”Before the limited audience which he chose to address he
defended the obscenity，pornography，or turpiloquium of the Nights--call it what you will—with vigorous candor and wise argument。Had the time been ripe for him to come before a larger audience，he
would have done so; but it was not。
