A 1001 Nights is a much-beloved collection of stories from the Middle East and India. The framing device of the whole collection is Scheherazade, a king’s bride who tells a series of tales to save herself from execution. Included in several of the stories are the characters themselves telling their own story, so it features a story-within-a-story. The tales aren’t from one specific area, but originate from a variety of places including India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Persia.
There are many versions of the story collection for readers. Researchers believe the tales date back to the 8th century and one of the earliest fragments was discovered by a scholar named Nabia Abbott in 1948. The first English edition of A 1001 Nights was published around 1706. Named The Arabian Nights Entertainments, the collection introduced English readers to the now-familiar tales of Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin. When folklorist Andrew Lang had an English version of the stories published in 1898, he named it The Arabian Nights Entertainments. In the introduction of this edition, Lang writes about how his own books of fairy tales (The Color Fairy book series) feature tales for children, but A 1001 Nights was more for adults, with events supposed to be set 786-808 A.D. His own version is translated from the French edition Les mille et une nuits by Monsieur Galland. Published from 1704 to 1717, Galland’s version spanned 12 volumes, plus featured new tales of the heroics of Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin.
Once upon a time, there reigned over Persia a Sultan named Kosrouschah, who from his boyhood had been fond of putting on a disguise and seeking adventures in all parts of the city, accompanied by one of his officers, disguised like himself. And no sooner was his father buried and the ceremonies over that marked…
It was the Feast of the New Year, the oldest and most splendid of all the feasts in the Kingdom of Persia, and the day had been spent by the king in the city of Schiraz, taking part in the magnificent spectacles prepared by his subjects to do honor to the festival. The sun was…
In the reign of Haroun-al-Raschid, there lived in Bagdad a merchant named Ali Cogia, who, having neither wife nor child, contented himself with the modest profits produced by his trade. He had spent some years quite happily in the house his father had left him, when three nights running he dreamed that an old man…
The Caliph, Haroun-al-Raschid, was much pleased with the tale of the blind man and the dervish, and when it was finished he turned to the young man who had ill-treated his horse, and inquired his name also. The young man replied that he was called Sidi-Nouman. “Sidi-Nouman,” observed the Caliph, “I have seen horses broken…
I was born, Commander of the Faithful, in Bagdad, and was left an orphan while I was yet a very young man, for my parents died within a few days of each other. I had inherited from them a small fortune, which I worked hard night and day to increase, till at last I found…
The Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid sat in his palace, wondering if there was anything left in the world that could possibly give him a few hours’ amusement, when Giafar the grand-vizir, his old and tried friend, suddenly appeared before him. Bowing low, he waited, as was his duty, till his master spoke, but Haroun-al-Raschid merely turned his…
There once lived a poor tailor, who had a son called Aladdin, a careless, idle boy who would do nothing but play all day long in the streets with little idle boys like himself. This so grieved the father that he died; yet, in spite of his mother’s tears and prayers, Aladdin did not mend…
Balsora was the capital of a kingdom long tributary to the caliph. During the time of the Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid the king of Balsora, who was his cousin, was called Zinebi. Not thinking one vizir enough for the administration of his estates he had two, named Khacan and Saouy. Khacan was kind, generous, and liberal, and…
Some twenty days’ sail from the coast of Persia lies the isle of the children of Khaledan. The island is divided into several provinces, in each of which are large flourishing towns, and the whole forms an important kingdom. It was governed in former days by a king named Schahzaman, who, with good right, considered…
There now remains for me to relate to you the story of my sixth brother, whose name was Schacabac. Like the rest of us, he inherited a hundred silver drachmas from our father, which he thought was a large fortune, but through ill-luck, he soon lost it all, and was driven to beg. As he…