Arabian Stories

Hey fellow adventurers! Once again, we’re talking about stories! This was probably the post I was most excited for this month because I loved reading One Thousand and One Nights growing up (a kid’s version obviously). And there are so many more versions that I want to read now that I’m an adult!

For those of you who don’t know, One Thousand and One Nights is about a king who discovers the wives of both him and his brother have been cheating on them with other men. Deciding that all women are unfaithful traitors, the king decides to marry and eventually kill every innocent virgin girl in his village until the only one left is the vizier’s daughter. Rather than back away, the daughter begs her dad to let her marry the king to which the vizier reluctantly agrees. On the night of their marriage, the vizier’s daughter begins to tell the king a story but stops midway. The king agrees to let her live another day if she finishes her story the following day. She does but then she starts another story and once again, doesn’t finish the story unless he lets her live another day. This goes on for one thousand and one nights until (spoiler alert) he pardons her so she’s no longer in danger of being executed. Some of the stories she tells him are pretty well known:

Aladdin (http://www.thenagain.info/Classes/Sources/Aladdin.html)

Aladdin finds a magic lamp that grants him riches, the hand of the sultan’s daughter and an extravagant palace but is tricked by an evil sorcerer.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/burt1k1/tale31.htm)

Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter, stumbles upon a cave full of treasure while gathering firewood and takes a small bag of coins home with him. However, when his greedy brother finds out about the cave, he gets caught and murdered by the forty thieves who frequent the cave. It doesn’t take the thieves long to figure out Ali Baba knows their secret and attempt to eliminate him multiple times but fail every time.

Sinbad the Sailor (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lang1k1/tale15.htm)

A rich merchant tells a poor porter the story of how he became rich through seven wondrous journeys. During his voyages throughout the seas east of Africa and south of Asia, he has fantastic adventures going to magical places, meeting monsters, and encountering supernatural phenomena.

And then there’s stories you might have heard of but didn’t realize where Arabian Night stories:

The Three Princes (http://www.fairytales24.ru/catalog/saudi-arabia-folktales/skazka-the-three-princes-675/)

To win the hand of a beautiful princess, three princes embark on a journey to find the most a trinket so amazing that it will move the princess to want to marry them.

The Fisherman and the Genie (http://www.uexpress.com/tell-me-a-story/2008/5/4/the-fisherman-and-the-genie-a)

A fisherman stumbles upon a genie’s bottle and accidentally awakens the vengeful genie who has planned on killing whoever releases him from his bottle.

In the post on Indian folktales I mentioned that this was my favorite story growing up:

The Prince and the Tortoise (http://ursulav.livejournal.com/1488524.html)

A king intent on marrying off his sons tells his sons that Allah will decide their future wives by leading the arrow they shoot into the territory of their future wives’ homes. The first two sons land their arrows in the territory of nearby kingdoms but the third and youngest son shoots his arrow into a tortoise’s garden. Certain it’s a mistake the king has his son shoot several more arrows, all of which land in the tortoise’s garden. The son, believing it is Allah’s will, marries the tortoise. However, the tortoise has some surprising secrets up her sleeve (shell?).

That’s it for this post! I highly recommend you read the stories I mentioned. They’re all amazing! Do have a favorite Arabian Nights story? If so, please comment which one below! I would love to check it out if I haven’t read it already! Thank you so much for reading my blog! Until our next adventure!