![]() The favorite scene is the glorious city, ninth-century Bagdad, whose caliph, Haroun al Raschid, though a great king, and heir of still mightier men, is known to fame chiefly by the favor of these tales. But most of the stories, even those with scenes laid in Persia or India, are thoroughly Mohammedan in thought, feeling, situation, and action. A good many of the tales as we have them contain elements clearly indicating Persian or Hindu origin. There are two or three references in tenth-century Arabic literature to a Persian collection of tales, called The Thousand Nights, by the fascination of which the lady Scheherazade kept winning one more day’s lease of life. de Goeje has pointed out as indicating their original identity ( Encyclopædia Britannica, Thousand and One Nights). The reader will be interested to trace out for himself the similarities in the adventures of the two Persian queens, Scheherazade, and Esther of Bible story, which M. Critical scholarship, however, has been able to reach fairly definite conclusions. Hence the world’s most delightful story book has come to us with but scant indications of its origin. The Moslems delight in stories, but are generally ashamed to show a literary interest in fiction. In spite of inaccuracies and loss of color, his twelve volumes long remained classic in France, and formed the basis of our popular translations.Ī more accurate version, corrected from the Arabic, with a style admirably direct, easy, and simple, was published by Dr. But he had really discovered an Arabic manuscript from sixteenth-century Egypt, and had consulted Oriental story-tellers. The learned world at first refused to believe that M. There are even accounts of the translator being roused from sleep by bands of young men under his windows in Paris, importuning him to tell them another story. The Arabian Nights was introduced to Europe in a French translation by Antoine Galland in 1704, and rapidly attained a unique popularity. I feel that everyone should read this book of stories at least once in their lives. I enjoyed this book immensely! The illustrations are amazingly gorgeous and add to the feel of the book and the stories themselves and in a way even make the stories come to life. ![]() ![]() Vaguely reminiscent of Aesop's Fables, these stories are magnificent and hold their own life lessons within timeless moral confines. Every night a new story takes place and every night they are spared their lives.Stories within stories with in stories are interweave so cleverly and beautifully that they flow into the readers very soul. With the help of her younger sister they weave a web of stories to enchant the sultan. with much reluctance the grand vizier finally agrees to her plan knowing that if she fails he will have to murder her himself. But the catch is she has to marry him first. But one day the grand vizier's eldest daughter comes to him and tells him that she has a plan to get the sultan to stop murdering young women. To ensure that this blasphemy will never happen to him again every night he takes on a new bride and every morning the bride is ordered killed by the grand vizier. But when he found her dishonoring him in the worst way he has no choice but to put her to death. Masterfully written!The Sultan Schahriar had the most beautiful wife. These exciting tales, with their languid prose and wild adventures, form the basis of the book and its narrative arc.Īccompanying these timeless short stories are stunning, vintage illustrations by renowned artist Milo Winter, only enhancing their glow and adding to their magic. The book highlights the incredible adventure stories she tells to the king each night, and how she purposefully ends them on cliffhangers in order to peak his interest and survive the next morning. The stories begin with one of the earliest female protagonists in literature, Scheherazade, who is set to be executed by an evil Arabian king. Since their origins they have inspired countless adaptations, most notably the Disney film Aladdin. It consists of well-known Arabic folk tales penned during the Islamic Golden Age, including “Aladdin’s Lamp,” “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” “The Three Apples,” “The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor,” and many more. Tales from the Arabian Nights is one of the oldest continuously circulated collections of shorts stories in the world.
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