Hi toolbag,
Thank you for an interesting question.
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights is a piece of classic Arabic
literature and Scheherazade is the (fictional) storyteller whose
stories end in cliffhangers.
Scheherazade
http://www.fact-index.com/s/sc/scheherazade.html
"Scheherazade is the (fictional) storyteller of The Book of One
Thousand and One Nights.
The story goes that every day King Shahryar would marry a new virgin,
and every day he would send yesterday's wife to be beheaded.
Scheherazade volunteers to be the king's new wife, trusting in her
ability as a storyteller to save her from the fate of her predecesors.
Each night Scheherazade would create a new story with the ending in
suspense. For 1001 nights this went on and, in the end, the Shahryar
spared her life (and the world benefited from her 1001 stories)."
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One Thousand and One Nights
http://www.fact-index.com/t/th/the_book_of_one_thousand_and_one_nights.html
"The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, also known as 1001 Arabian
Nights, or simply the Arabian Nights, is a piece of classic Arabic
literature in the style of a frame tale. Shahryar (or Schriyar), king
of an unnamed island "between India and China", is so shocked by his
wife's infidelity that he kills her and gives his vizier an order to
get him a new wife for every night (in other versions, every third
night). After his time with her he kills her. When this has been going
on for some time, Scheherazade, daughter of the vizier1, volunteers to
become the king's wife, and begins to tell him stories that end in
cliff-hangers, so the king's curiosity will prevent him from having
her killed. In the end of all those nights she has given birth to
three sons and the king has long ago changed his mind.
The tales vary widely; they include historical tales, love stories,
tragedies, comedies, poems, burlesques and Muslim religious legends.
Some of the famous stories Scheherazade spins are Aladdin's Lamp,
Sindbad the Sailor, and the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
Numerous stories depict djinns, magicians and legendary places. Real
life historical caliph Harun al-Rashid is a common protagonist.
Frequently, tales are wrapped inside other tales wrapped inside still
others and so on, adding to the fantastic texture.
Scheherazade has been taken by story-tellers as a symbol of
themselves, the woman that saves her life just by telling tales.
Editions
The original Arabic compiler is reputedly storyteller Abu abd-Allah
Muhammed el-Gahshigar in the 9th century. The frame-story of
Scheherezade seems to have been added in the 14th century. The first
modern Arabic compilation, made out of Egyptian writings, was
published in Cairo in 1835."
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Read more at this link: THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS
http://66.1911encyclopedia.org/T/TH/THOUSAND_AND_ONE_NIGHTS.htm
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Best regards,
tlspiegel |
