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 The Biographer's Tale, Elementals, and the Booker Prize winning novel Possession, among other books. She lives in London. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Biographical Note
Introduction
Preface
Story of King Shahryar and His Brother	p. 3
The Tale of the Bull and the Ass	p. 15
The Fisherman and the Jinni	p. 25
The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince	p. 37
The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad	p. 47
The First Kalandar's Tale	p. 64
The Second Kalandar's Tale	p. 70
The Third Kalandar's Tale	p. 87
The Eldest Lady's Tale	p. 105
Tale of the Portress	p. 113
The Tale of the Three Apples	p. 124
Tale of Nur al-Din Ali and His Son Badr al-Din Hasan	p. 132
Tale of Ghanim bin Ayyub, the Distraught, the Thrall o'Love	p. 178
Tale of the First Eunuch, Bukhayt	p. 181
Tale of the Second Eunuch, Kafur	p. 182
The Tale of the Birds and Beasts and the Carpenter	p. 204
The Hermits	p. 214
The Tale of Kamar al-Zaman	p. 217
Hatim of the Tribe of Tayy	p. 280
The Tale of Ma'an Son of Zaidah and the Badawi	p. 282
The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kalibah	p. 284
The Sweep and the Noble Lady	p. 289
Ali the Persian	p. 293
The Man Who Stole the Dish of Gold Wherein the Dog Ate	p. 297
The Ruined Man Who Became Rich Again Through a Dream	p. 300
The Ebony Horse	p. 302
How Abu Hasan Brake Wind	p. 327
The Angel of Death with the Proud King and the Devout Man	p. 329
Sindbad the Seaman and Sindbad the Landsman	p. 331
The First Voyage of Sindbad Hight the Seaman	p. 333
The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	p. 340
The Third Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	p. 347
The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	p. 356
The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	p. 366
The Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	p. 373
The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Seaman	p. 382
The City of Brass	p. 390
The Lady and Her Five Suitors	p. 420
Judar and His Brethren	p. 427
Julnar the Sea-Born and Her Son King Badr Basim of Persia	p. 462
Khalifah the Fisherman of Baghdad	p. 498
Abu Kir the Dyer and Abu Sir the Barber	p. 527
The Sleeper and the Waker	p. 551
Story of the Larrikin and the Cook	p. 553
Alaeddin; or, The Wonderful Lamp	p. 575
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves	p. 657
Ma'aruf the Cobbler and His Wife Fatimah	p. 681
Conclusion	p. 722
Notes	p. 731
Commentary	p. 865
Reading Group Guide	p. 871
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

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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."

From the Trade Paperback edition.

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