Arabian Nights I

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

1. The Story of King Shahryar and His Brother
   The Tale of the Ox and the Donkey
2. The Tale of the Merchant and the Jinnee
   The First Sheikh's Story
   The Second Sheikh's Story
   The Third Sheikh's Story
3. 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
4. The Ebony Horse
5. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
6. Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
7. Julnar the Mermaid and Her Son Badar Basim of Persia
8. The Tale About the Thief of Alexandria and the Chief of Police
9. Prince Behram and the Princess Al-Datma
10. The Tale of the Three Apples
    The Tale of Nur al-Din Ali and His Son
11. 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
12. 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
13. The Wiley Dalilah and Her Daughter Zaynab
14. The Tale of Judar and His Brothers
15. 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
16. Conclusion: The Marriage of King Shahryar and Scheherezade

Glossary

Afterword