The Arabian Nights
The following is a partial translation of The Book of the Thousand
Nights and a Night (i.e., The Arabian Nights) into English, by
Sir Richard F. Burton. The Arabian Nights are a series of stories which
depict life in the court of one the most famous Abbasid rulers, Caliph Harun al-Rashid.
They describe the clothing, court life, and government of the period. Many of the
stories revolve around the city of Baghdad (capital of the Abbasid dynasty).
The structure of the Arabian Nights consists of the following whimsical plot arrangment:
Shahyrar, King of India, is inflamed with jealousy by his wifes wanton ways, and after executing her,
he resolves to take his revenege on all womankind. Night after night he marries some
beautiful girl, only to order her beheaded the next morning. But at last he meets
Scheherazade, the beautiful and clever daughter of his vizier. Knowing that Shahryar loves
a good story, she begins on the night of their wedding to spin a bewildering number of yarns
which she suspends just as the climax is being reached. Devoured by curiosity to know the end
of each story, Shahryar stays the hand of the executioner and after a thousand and one nights
is cured of his mania.
The story of Sheherezade's ingenuity is of Persian origin. Mas'udi speaks of it in 944, and
it is also referred to in the Fihrist (987) as appearing in the Hezar Afsan(Thousand Tales) which
was attributed to the Princess Homai, daughter of Artaxerxes I. However, the tales are more
Arabian than Persian in flavor. It is possible that they were collected in Cario by a
professional storyteller around the fifeteenth century.
Thirty of the choicest tales by Scheherezade have been excerted here.
I have edited and split the text to make it better readable.
Story of King Shahryar and His Brother
The Tale Of The Bull And The Ass
The Fisherman And The Jinni
The Tale Of The Ensorceled Prince
The Porter And The Three Ladies Of
Baghdad
The First Kalandar's Tale
The Second Kalandar's Tale
The Third Kalandar's Tale
The Eldest Lady's Tale
The Tale Of The Three Apples
Tale of Nur Al-Din Ali and his son Badr Al-Din Hasan
The City Of Many-Columned Iram And Abdullah Son Of Abi Kilabah
The Sweep And The Noble Lady
The Man Who Stole The Dish Of Gold Wherein The Dog Ate
The Ruined Man Who Became Rich Again Through A Dream
The Ebony Horse
The Angel Of Death With The Proud And The Devout Man
Sindbad The Seaman And Sindbad The Landsman
First Voyage Of Sindbad Hight The Seaman
The Second Voyage Of Sindbad The Seaman
The Third Voyage Of Sindbad The Seaman
The Fourth Voyage Of Sindbad The Seaman
The Fifth Voyage Of Sindbad The Seaman
The Sixth Voyage Of Sindbad The Seaman
The Seventh Voyage Of Sindbad The Seaman
The Lady And Her Five Suitors
Khalifah The Fisherman Of Baghdad
Abu Kir The Dyer And Abu Sir The Barber
The Sleeper And The Waker
Story Of The Larrikin And The Cook
*Aladdin; Or, The Wonderful Lamp
Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves
Conclusion
Footnotes on Djin's and Ghuls
Bibliography:
-
Burton, F. Richard. Tales from the Arabian Nights Crown Publishers, 1977.
- *Project Gutenburg EText (ftp://uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu/pub/etext/gutenberg/etext93/alad10.txt)
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