Bawdy and exotic, Arabian Nights, features the wily, seductive Scheherazade, who saves her own life by telling tales of magical transformations, genies and wishes, flying carpets and fantastical journeys, terror and passion to entertain and appease the brutal King Shahryar. First introduced into the West in 1704, the stories of The Thousand and One Nights are most familiar to American readers in sanitized children's versions.
This modern edition, based on Richard F. Burton's unexpurgated translation, restores the sensuality and lushness of the original Arabic. (Unexpurgated was a new word to us. It means, basically, "unpurified." This is a bit too much for younger readers.) Here are the famous adventures of Sinbad, "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," and "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp." Here too are less familiar stories, such as "Prince Behram and the Princess Al-Datma," a delightful early version of The Taming of the Shrew and "The Wily Dalilah and her Daughter Zaynab," a hilarious tale about two crafty women who put an entire city of men in their place. Intricate and imaginative, these stories-within-stories told over a thousand and one nights continue to captivate readers as they have for centuries.
Contents:
Introduction
Note on the Text and the Translator
Prologue
- The Story of King Shahryar and His Brother
The Tale of the Ox and the Donkey
- The Tale of the Merchant and the Jinnee
The First Sheikh's Story
The Second Sheikh's Story
The Third Sheikh's Story
- The Fisherman and the Jinnnee
The Tale of King Yunan and the Sage Duban
The Tale of King Sinbad and His Falcon
The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot
The Tale of the Prince and the Ogress
The Tale of the Enchanted Prince
- The Ebony Horse
- Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
- Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
- Julnar the Mermaid and Her Son Badar Basim of Persia
- The Tale About the Thief of Alexandria and the Chief of Police
- Prince Behram and the Princess Al-Datma
- The Tale of the Three Apples
The Tale of Nur al-Din Ali and His Son
- The Hunchback's Tale
The Christian Broker's Tale
The Steward's Tale
The Jewish Doctor's Tale
The Tailor's Tale
The Barber's Tale of Himself
The Barber's Tale of His First Brother
The Barber's Tale of His Second Brother
The Barber's Tale of His Third Brother
The Barber's Tale of His Fourth Brother
The Barber's Tale of His Fifth Brother
The Barber's Tale of His Sixth Brother
The End of the Barber's Tale
The End of the Hunchback's Tale
- The Hedgehog and the Pigeons
The Tale of the Merchant and the Two Thieves
The Tale of the Thief and His Monkey
The Tale of the Foolish Weaver
- The Wiley Dalilah and Her Daughter Zaynab
- The Tale of Judar and His Brothers
- Sinbad the Seaman and Sinbad the Landsman
The First Voyage of Sinbad the Seaman
The Second Voyage of Sinbad the Seaman
The Third Voyage of Sinbad the Seaman
The Fourth Voyage of Sinbad the Seaman
The Fifth Voyage of Sinbad the Seaman
The Sixth Voyage of Sinbad the Seaman
The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad the Seaman
- Conclusion: The Marriage of King Shahryar and Scheherezade
Glossary
Afterword
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