Reading Week 5: Arabian Nights, Part A

 I chose this story, Arabian Nights, because as a young girl I was obsessed with the movie Aladdin. I loved the music, the colorful clothing, and of course, the magic carpet. I even saw Aladdin on Broadway a few years back with my mom. This version is a modern retelling of Arabian Nights by Scheherazade. I am excited to read this version and I hope it's packed with magic, talking animals, dancing, and magic carpet rides! Let's jump right in!

Scheherazade

The Sultan Schahriar had a wonderful wife who brought him great happiness. He showered her with the finest things the world could offer, but one day he found out she had deceived him and he felt obliged to put her to death. This made him bitter and he believed all women were wicked. From then on, every evening he married a new wife and by nightfall he would strangle her to death. The town was horrified and everyone was weeping for the loss of their daughters. There was a curse over them.

The grand-vizier was the father of two daughters whom the elder was Scheherazade and the younger Dinarzade. Dinarzade was nothing special, but her sister was clever and witty. One day, the older daughter asked her father for a favor which he couldn't refuse. She wanted to stop the curse. She asked her father to bear her as the Sultan's fresh wife but her father was horrified. She knew if she failed this task, her death would be a glorious one. He wanted to refuse, but sadly her went to the palace to give away Scheherazade. 

The Sultan was astonished with the news. The daughter was excited her plan was going through and she prepared herself that evening for the marriage. She talked to her sister and asked her to help her with her plan and asked her to tell her a charming story before the sun rises. Soon after, the wedding began and as the Sultan raised the veil, there were tears in her eyes. She requested her sister to sleep in her room that night. He obliged. Right before sunrise, the sister did as she was told and began telling her story The Merchant and the Genius. 

The Merchant and the Genius

Once upon a time, there was a merchant who possessed great wealth and he was obliged from time to time to take journeys to deal with his money. One day he had to go a long way from home, so he packed a bag of fates and biscuits to last him through the desert. On the fourth day, he was overcome by the heat on the sun so he went to rest under a tree. At the foot of the tree was running water so he washed his face and hands in it. This brought about a genie who was angry and threatened to kill him. The merchant was terrified for the genie told him he killed his son when he was throwing rocks one hit him in the eye and killed him.

The merchant begged for forgiveness, but the genie was not pleased. The genie threw him on the ground and lifted his saber to cut his head off. At this point in the story, Scheherazade knew the Sultan rose early every morning to attend council so she thanked her sister for the wonderful story. She said, if the Sultan would allow her to live another day, the sister could finish the story that night. They obliged, but the father was very anxious about his daughter's fate. The next morning, the sister began telling the story to reveal the ending. 

When the merchant knew his death was coming he asked the genie if he could go home to tell his children and wife goodbye and then come back. The genie agreed and disappeared. When he arrived home, his family weeped for they knew bad news was coming. He only had one year left to live and after he had all his affairs in line, he left to return to the genie. He was stopped along the way by a mysterious man and then three other men arrived near the tree saying they had been told the exact same story. In the distance smoke arose and it approached the merchant with sword in hand. All began to weep but the third man begged to tell the genie the Story of the First Old Man. 

The First Old Man and of the Hind

The hind you see if my wife and we have no children so they adopted a favorite slave as their son. The wife did not like the son or the son's mother. During the time, she took up learning magic to carry out a wicked scheme. When she became good, she turned the boy into a calf and the slave into a cow to be her steward. When the man returned, the wife said his slave is dead and his son has disappeared. The man was very sad and eight months passed without his son and the feast of Bairam came.

To celebrate, he ordered his steward to bring a very fat cow to sacrifice which in turn was his slave. Just as he was about to kill her, he saw tears streaming from its eyes and he ordered his steward to bring another cow. The wife scoffed at his compassion and said kill this cow for it is the best. He tried to kill the cow again but he couldn't. The steward killed her and when he was skinning, he found the cow to be only bows which was confusing. 

Then he brought a very fat calf which he didn't know was his son. The calf threw itself at the man's feet in pity and the man couldn't sacrifice it. The wife demanded he sacrifice this calf and this one only but the man remained firm in his word. They killed another calf and the next day the steward told the man he had a daughter who knew magic and told him his son was the calf and the mother was sacrificed yesterday as the cow. The man went with the steward to meet his daughter and he asked her to change his son back to a boy. She agreed under two conditions.

First she asked for an ample dowry and the second is to spare her life. He agreed and she changed the calf into his boy again. The man was so joyful being reunited again. Since then, the son has become a widow and had gone traveling and the man is in search of him. The genie enjoyed the story and granted him a third part of the punishment. Then the second man asked to share his story called The Second Old Man, and of the Two Black Dogs. 

The Second Old Man and of the The Two Black Dogs

There were three brothers who had two black dogs and their father died leaving them each a thousand sequins. They all became merchants. After opening their shops, the eldest brother and one of the dogs went to foreign countries to travel. He sold all he had and bought merchandise suitable to the voyages he was about to make. Then a beggar came to the shop asking if they recognized him and they saw it was their brother. He had fallen into misfortunes. They brother shut up shop and gave the beggar a bath and beautiful robes. He gave his beggar brother half his fortuned and they began living together again.

Then the second brother wanted to go off and travel even though the other brothers begged him not to go. He came back at the end of the year in the same state as the first brother. They clothed him and gave him a thousand sequins to spare and reopened his shop. Then one day, the two brothers came to me saying we should all go travel together, and I agreed. They used half the money to buy the supplied for the journey and then buried the rest in the corner of my house. They sailed for two months and did great trade. At one seaport, I found a beautiful beggar woman who asked me to marry her and I consented and gave her beautiful dresses and I loved her. 

The other brothers began to be jealous of my prosperity. They threw me and my wife into the sea one night, but my wife was a fairy so she didn't let me drown. He begged the fairy not to kill his brothers and she transported me to the roof of my house and disappeared. I dug up the money I had hidden and opened my shop again. When returning home, he found two black dogs with sorrowful faces for the fairy said the dogs were his brothers. She cursed them in this shape for ten years. Currently, I am on my way to find her for the ten years have passed. The genie agreed to give his third of the punishment. Then the third old man made the same request but the most beautiful story is the next one, The Fisherman. 

The Fisherman

Once upon a time there was an old fisherman who couldn't support his wife and three children. He fished every day and made a rule not to throw his nets more than four times. One day, he went out as usual, but he began to pull in a great weight. Instead of a fish, it was the carcass of an ass. He began mending the nets for the ass broke and then threw the net in again to pull back a large basket of rubble. He cried out for help for he was a poor man who need the fish to support his family. A third time he threw his net in to only draw up stones, shells and mud. A fourth time he there his net in to find a yellow pot. He would sell it the founder and use the money to buy a measure of wheat. He examined the jar and opened it with his knife.

Smoke began coming from the clouds and a genie appeared as a giant terrible monster. He asked the genie to tell him his history, but the genie threatened to kill him. The fisherman didn't understand for he had just freed the genie. The genie said he rebelled against the king of the genii and he was punished by being locked in this copper vase and thrown into the sea. He vowed if he was found he would make that person rich by nobody ever came. Then he became angry and bitter. The man knew he had to die because that's what the genie told him so he demanded the genie show him first how he could fit in the jar. 

The genie proved it to him and went into a cloud of smoke into the jar. The fisherman shut the vase and threw him back into the sea. He then built a house on the shore to warn fisherman of the wicked genie. 

The Greek King and the Physician Douban 

In the country of Zouman, in Persia, there was a Greek king and the king was a leper. No doctors could cure him, but there was a clever physician who knew lots about herbs and medicines. He told the king if he followed his instructions, he will promise to cure him. The king promised to make him and his descendants rich forever. The physician went to his home and made a polo cup and told the king the next day he wanted to play polo. He told the king the remedy was in the club. When the king feels his arm start to warm, he must go bathe and go to sleep for he will be cured the next morning. He did as he was told and was cured the next morning.

The physician Douban was given a long and rich robe and was presented with two thousand sequins. The king's grand-vizier was a jealous man and was determined to bring the physician to his ruin. The king argued this doctor was a faithful man and that he would not be manipulated. 

The Husband and the Parrot

A good man had a beautiful wife he loved very much. One day he had to leave on business and he went to a place where all kinds of birds were sold and bought a parrot. This parrot had the gift of telling all that had been done before it. He brought it home to his wife and asked her to take care of it and then he departed. The parrot told the man bad things about his wife and this made the wife want to take revenge on him. When the man left the next day, she asked the slave to turn the bird's cage a hand-mil, throw water down it, and put a mirror in its eyes. The bird told the master he couldn't recall for their was a great storm. The man knew the bird was not telling the truth so he took him and killed him. 

The vizier said the death of the parrot was nothing but when it comes to the king's life, it is better to sacrifice the innocent than save the guilty. He was told Douban wants to assassinate you. He then told the king a story about an Ogress.

There once was a king who had a son who loved hunting. One day he roused a stag and ended up alone and lost his way. He saw a beautiful woman crying bitterly on the side of the road and he asked her if she needed help. She said her horse ran away and the young prince had pity on her. On the way inside a ruined building, the woman said I am bringing a fat youth in. The prince knew at once he was in danger. The lady was the daughter of an Indian king and was an ogress. The prince ran away and got on his horse and arrived safely at his father's house. The king was angry with him when he told him what happened and strangled him. 

The Physician's Revenge

Vizir said he was worried the king had been cursed by the doctor and the king didn't understand the wicked intention of his vizier. He sent for the doctor to cut off his head. The doctor was astonished and didn't understand. The king revealed he thought he was a spy and intended to him him. The doctor threw himself on his knees and begged for his life to be spared. The Greek king had no mercy on his. The doctor begged to get his affairs in order first and to leave his books to someone who needs them and could learn. This tempted the king to want to learn more. The king delayed the execution. 

Then the doctor went to the throne with a large book and presented it to the king and showed his innocence. His head was cut off and it fell into the sin and blood ceased to flow. The king at once opened the book and in doing so, and saw there was no writing on the sixth page. In putting his fingers in his mouth, the poison made him lose his sight and kill him. 

The Sultan and the Fish

The genie and the fisherman walked up a hill and the genie told the fisherman to cast his net to catch fish. The fisherman did exactly that and he knew he would get lucky for there was lots of colorful fish in the sea below. He was excited for he knew he would make lots of money for them. The genie told him to take the fish to the Sultan who will give you more money than you have ever had but also not to cast his net more than once a day or harm will come to him. Then the genie disappeared. The fisherman obeyed the genie by casting his net only once.

When the Sultan saw all the fish he was astonished! The Sultan believed it was a mystery that he needed to solve and he sent for the fisherman. He told him where he got the fish but the Sultan had never seen this lake before. The Sultan ordered his whole court and the fisherman to go to the lake at once so they climbed the mountain and saw the lake on the other side. The Sultan felt he had solved the mystery and he wanted to go out alone by the vizier begged him not to. 

He began on his journey and came to a splendid palace of black polished marble covered with steel. He went in and it was so majestic and stately. The Sultan didn't see anyone until he ran into a handsome young man. The Sultan bowed to him and offered his help to him. He asked who the palace belonged to and why it remained empty. The man opened his robe and from the waist down he was a block of black marble. The Sultan was horrified and asked him to share his story which he did willingly. 

The Young King of the Black Isles

The handsome young man said his father was Mahmoud, the king of this country, the Black Isles. His father died when he was in his sixties and the young man succeeded him to the throne where he married his cousin who he loved. One afternoon when he was sleeping, he heard the maids whisper his cousin didn't love him and she would kill him. He discovered they were right and he wounded one of her slaves. This made her beg that he build her a palace in the garden where she could weep for two years. The young man begged her to stop grieving and then her sadness turned to rage and she somehow magically turned him into half man half marble. 

The wicked cousin changed the whole city and the four colors of the fish in the lake represented the different races who lived in the town. The four hills represent the four isles and she would come in every day to whip the young man with buffalo hide. When the young man finished his story he. began to weep and ask where the wicked woman was residing now. He didn't know where she lived, but every day at sunrise she goes to see if the slave can speak to her after she had beaten him. The Sultan consulted with him on a way to help him out of this misfortune. 

The next morning, the Sultan arose and went to the garden where the Ethiopian slave was and he destroyed the life that remained in her and threw her body down the well. He then waited for the wicked cousin. The cousin went first to the young king and beat him one hounded times and then came to the room where she thought the slave would be. The Sultan imitated the Ethiopians and the cousin was excited to hear him speak. The queen took a cup of water and boiled it and threw it over the young king. He was transformed into a man again and was filled with joy. The Palace of Tears is where the enchantress returned to. She ended up putting a curse on him where every day at midnight all the people changed into fish would cry out in vengeance. 

Then the enchantress said some magic words and the fish then became men, women, and children and the houses of the town were filled. The Sultan's camp was astonished. As the enchantress came back to the Sultan he sprang up and cut her into two and told the prince his enemy was killed. The prince graciously thanked him! The king offered to accompany the king on his journey back and the Sultan made him his heir. He told his court how he intended to adopt the young king as his heir. The Sultan then gave the young fisherman much of his money and the fisherman's family was filled with joy. 

Bibliography:

Title: Arabian Nights

Author: Andrew Lang 

(Cassim in the Cave by Maxfield Parrish: Wikipedia)