The Arabian Nights Tales from a Thousand and One Nights

by Burton, Richard; Byatt, A. S.

• ISBN13: 9780375756757
• ISBN10: 0375756752
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-04-10
• Publisher: Modern Library

Summary

Full of mischief, valor, ribaldry, and romance,The Arabian Nightshas enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved the life of Shahrazad, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Shahrazad always withheld the ending: A thousand and one nights later, her life was spared forever. This volume reproduces the 1932 Modern Library edition, for which Bennett A. Cerf chose the most famous and representative stories from Sir Richard F. Burton's multivolume translation, and includes Burton's extensive and acclaimed explanatory notes. These tales, including Alaeddin; or, the Wonderful Lamp, Sinbad the Seaman and Sinbad the Landsman, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, have entered into the popular imagination, demonstrating that Shahrazad's spell remains unbroken.

Author Biography

A. S. Byatt is the author of <b>The Biographer's Tale</b>, <b>Elementals</b>, and the Booker Prize winning novel <b>Possession</b>, among other books. She lives in London.

Table of Contents

Biographical Note	v
Introduction	xiii
A. S. Byatt
Preface	xxiii
Sir Richard F. Burton
Story of King Shahryar and His Brother	3	(719)
The Tale of the Bull and the Ass (Burton, vol. 1, p. 2)	15	(10)
THE TALES OF SHAHRAZAD
The Fisherman and the Jinni	25	(22)
The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince (Burton, vol. 1, p. 38)	37	(10)
The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad	47	(77)
The First Kalandar's Tale	64	(6)
The Second Kalandar's Tale	70	(17)
The Third Kalandar's Tale	87	(18)
The Eldest Lady's Tale	105	(8)
Tale of the Portress (Burton, vol. 1, p. 82)	113	(11)
The Tale of the Three Apples (Burton, vol. 1, p. 186)	124	(8)
Tale of Nur al-Din Ali and His Son Badr al-Din Hasan (Burton, vol. 1, p. 195)	132	(46)
Tale of Ghanim bin Ayyub, the Distraught, the Thrall O'Love	178	(26)
Tale of the First Eunuch, Bukhayt	181	(1)
Tale of the Second Eunuch, Kafur (Burton, vol. 2, p. 45)	182	(22)
The Tale of the Birds and Beasts and the Carpenter (Burton, vol. 3, p. 114)	204	(10)
The Hermits (Burton, vol. 3, p. 125)	214	(3)
The Tale of Kamar al-Zaman (Burton, vol. 3, p. 212)	217	(63)
Hatim of the Tribe of Tayy (Burton, vol. 4, p. 94)	280	(2)
The Tale of Ma'an Son of Zaidah and the Badawi (Burton, vol. 4, p. 97)	282	(2)
The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kalibah (Burton, vol. 4, p. 113)	284	(5)
The Sweep and the Noble Lady (Burton, vol. 4, p. 125)	289	(4)
Ali the Persian (Burton, vol. 4, p. 149)	293	(4)
The Man Who Stole the Dish of Gold Wherein the Dog Ate (Burton, vol. 4, p. 265)	297	(3)
The Ruined Man Who Became Rich Again Through a Dream (Burton, vol. 4, p. 289)	300	(2)
The Ebony Horse (Burton, vol. 5, p. 1)	302	(25)
How Abu Hasan Brake Wind (Burton, vol. 5, p. 135)	327	(2)
The Angel of Death with the Proud King and the Devout Man (Burton, vol. 5, p. 246)	329	(2)
Sindbad the Seaman and Sindbad the Landsman	331	(59)
The First Voyage of Sindbad Hight the Seaman	333	(7)
The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	340	(7)
The Third Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	347	(9)
The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	356	(10)
The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	366	(7)
The Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	373	(9)
The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman (Burton, vol. 6, p. 1)	382	(8)
The City of Brass (Burton, vol. 6, p. 83)	390	(30)
The Lady and Her Five Suitors (Burton, vol. 6, p. 172)	420	(7)
Judar and His Brethren (Burton, vol. 6, p. 213)	427	(35)
Julnar the Sea-Born and Her Son King Badr Basim of Persia (Burton, vol. 7, p. 264)	462	(36)
Khalifah the Fisherman of Baghdad (Burton, vol. 8, p. 145)	498	(29)
Abu Kir the Dver and Abu Sir the Barber (Burton, vol. 9, p. 134)	527	(24)
The Sleeper and the Waker	551	(24)
A. Story of the Larrikin and the Cook (Burton, supplemental vol. 1, p. 1)	553	(22)
Alaeddin; or, The Wonderful Lamp (Burton, supplemental vol. 3, p. 52)	575	(82)
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Burton, supplemental vol. 3, p. 369)	657	(24)
Ma'aruf the Cobbler and His Wife Fatimah (Burton, vol. 10, p. 1)	681	(41)
Conclusion (Burton, vol. 10, p. 54)	722	(9)
Notes	731	(134)
Sir Richard F. Burton
Commentary	865	(6)
Reading Group Guide	871

Excerpts

alf laylah wa laylah.

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate!

praise be to Allah, the beneficient king, the creator of the universe, lord of the three worlds, who set up the firmament without pillars in its stead, and who stretched out the earth even as a bed, and grace, and prayer, blessing be upon our Lord Mohammed, lord of apostolic men, and upon his family and companion-train, prayer and blessings enduring and grace which unto the day of doom shall remain, amen! 'o thou of the three worlds sovereign!

And afterwards. Verily the works and words of those gone before us have become instances and examples to men of our modern day, that folk may view what admonishing chances befel other folk and may therefrom take warning; and that they may peruse the annals of antique peoples and all that hath betided them, and be thereby ruled and restrained: Praise, therefore, be to Him who hath made the histories of the Past an admonition unto the Present!

Now of such instances are the tales called "A Thousand Nights and a Night," together with their far-famed legends and wonders. Therein it is related (but Allah is All-knowing of His hidden things and All-ruling and All-honoured and All-giving and All-gracious and All-merciful!)

1. that, in tide of yore and in time long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu Sasan in the Islands of India and China, a Lord of armies and guards and servants and dependents.

2. He left only two sons, one in the prime of manhood and the other yet a youth, while both were Knights and Braves, albeit the elder was a doughtier horseman than the younger. So he succeeded to the empire; when he ruled the land and lorded it over his lieges with justice so exemplary that he was beloved by all the peoples of his capital and of his kingdom. His name was King Shahryar,

3. and he made his younger brother, Shah Zaman hight, King of Samarcand in Barbarian-land. These two ceased not to abide in their several realms and the law was ever carried out in their dominions; and each ruled his own kingdom, with equity and fair-dealing to his subjects, in extreme solace and enjoyment; and this condition continually endured for a score of years. But at the end of the twentieth twelve month the elder King yearned for a sight of his younger brother and felt that he must look upon him once more. So he took counsel with his Wazir

4. about visiting him, but the Minister, finding the project unadvisable, recommended that a letter be written and a present be sent under his charge to the younger brother with an invitation to visit the elder. Having accepted this advice the King forthwith bade prepare handsome gifts, such as horses with saddles of gem-encrusted gold; Mamelukes, or white slaves; beautiful handmaids, high-breasted virgins, and splendid stuffs and costly. He then wrote a letter to Shah Zaman expressing his warm love and great wish to see him, ending with these words, "We therefore hope of the favour and affection of the beloved brother that he will condescend to bestir himself and turn his face us-wards."

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Excerpted from The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights
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