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The Arabian Nights
賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘
賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘貙 賲噩賲賵毓賴鈥屫й� 丕夭 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏й� 丕賮爻丕賳賴鈥屫й� 賯丿蹖賲蹖 賴賳丿蹖貙 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖 賵 毓乇亘蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 亘賴 夭亘丕賳鈥屬囏й� 賲鬲毓丿丿蹖 賲賳鬲卮乇 卮丿賴 丕爻鬲.
卮乇賵毓 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 亘賴 賳賯賱 丕夭 倬丕丿卮丕賴蹖 丕爻鬲 爻丕爻丕賳蹖 亘丕 毓賳賵丕賳 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 賵 乇賵丕蹖鬲诏乇 丌賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 丕爻鬲.
卮乇賵毓 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 亘賴 賳賯賱 丕夭 倬丕丿卮丕賴蹖 丕爻鬲 爻丕爻丕賳蹖 亘丕 毓賳賵丕賳 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 賵 乇賵丕蹖鬲诏乇 丌賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 丕爻鬲.
2329 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 800
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* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,568 reviews
June 24, 2021
When I was a little girl my grandmother gave me a big, blue, cloth bound edition of this book. It had the most exquisite coloured plates protected by tissue paper interleaved with the printed sheets. It was the perfect storybook for a bookish, fanciful child living in an abusive home. I spent a year reading this book. Every night I would read it and disappear from all the fear and unpleasantness around me into this realm of people in exotic clothes who could do magic. I cherished the book. I took it everywhere. It was never on display but always kept in the airing cupboard where it would be warm and dry.
One year I rented my London flat to a thieving pig. He looked very nice, tall, handsome, very well-spoken and lived with his girlfriend and their baby. Her father would phone me from time to time as he was worried that the man was not a good person for his daughter. He was right, but she was his match, just as dishonest and also lazy. He would write cheques with the sixes and nines reversed (in his favour), ones he'd 'forgotten' to sign.
I phoned his father. He was all shock/horror on the phone. But when he came round he threatened me. If I took it further he and his sons would make me very sorry. I phoned her father, he came round in his taxi (he was a taxi driver), paid me the owed rent. I gave the man notice. He had the cheek to ask me for a reference so he could get another place. When I refused and eventually got possession of the place, he superglued the bedroom doors locks, ripped the panelling off the bathtub, and threw black paint on the mattresses. And stole all my rare books. One was an amazing underground banned book on Turkey, a sort of guide book to what they don't want you to see, went missing and another one was this one.
I kind of wish I had a book like this again. One with the capability of taking me far away into another realm where the troubles of the day just don't intrude. But I'm grown up now and books no longer have that amazing, all-encompassing, lost for hours effect.
Rewritten June 2021
One year I rented my London flat to a thieving pig. He looked very nice, tall, handsome, very well-spoken and lived with his girlfriend and their baby. Her father would phone me from time to time as he was worried that the man was not a good person for his daughter. He was right, but she was his match, just as dishonest and also lazy. He would write cheques with the sixes and nines reversed (in his favour), ones he'd 'forgotten' to sign.
I phoned his father. He was all shock/horror on the phone. But when he came round he threatened me. If I took it further he and his sons would make me very sorry. I phoned her father, he came round in his taxi (he was a taxi driver), paid me the owed rent. I gave the man notice. He had the cheek to ask me for a reference so he could get another place. When I refused and eventually got possession of the place, he superglued the bedroom doors locks, ripped the panelling off the bathtub, and threw black paint on the mattresses. And stole all my rare books. One was an amazing underground banned book on Turkey, a sort of guide book to what they don't want you to see, went missing and another one was this one.
I kind of wish I had a book like this again. One with the capability of taking me far away into another realm where the troubles of the day just don't intrude. But I'm grown up now and books no longer have that amazing, all-encompassing, lost for hours effect.
Rewritten June 2021
August 25, 2021
(Book 996 From 1001 Books) - Hez膩r Afs膩n = The Thousand and One Nights = The Arabian Nights, Anonymous
The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, and South Asia and North Africa.
The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Greek, Indian, Jewish, Persian and Turkish folklore and literature.
In particular, many tales were originally folk stories from the Abbasid era, while others, especially the frame story, are most probably drawn from the Pahlavi Persian work Hez膩r Afs膩n (A Thousand Tales), which in turn relied partly on Indian elements.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 爻丕賱 1981賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 賵 爻倬爻 亘丕乇賴丕 賳爻禺賴 賴丕蹖 丿蹖诏乇 乇丕 賳蹖夭 禺賵丕賳丿賴 丕賲
賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘貨 賴賲蹖卮賴 賲丕賳丿賳蹖貙 賴賲蹖卮賴 蹖丕丿诏丕乇 賯氐賴 賴丕 賵 睾氐賴 賴丕蹖 乇賵夭賴丕蹖 丿賵乇貙 賴賲蹖卮賴 丿賵爻鬲 丿賵爻鬲
丿乇 亘丕乇賴 蹖 丕氐賱 賵 賳爻亘 芦賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘禄貨 讴賴 丕夭 卮賳丕禺鬲賴 颅鬲乇蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘颅賴丕蹖 噩賴丕賳 丕爻鬲貙 賵 亘賴 賴賲诏蹖 夭亘丕賳颅賴丕蹖 夭賳丿賴 蹖 丕蹖賳 丿賳蹖丕 亘乇诏乇丿丕賳 卮丿賴貙 爻禺賳丕賳 亘爻蹖丕乇 诏賮鬲賴颅 丕賳丿貙 賵 丕夭 賲毓鬲亘乇鬲乇蹖賳 賳賵卮鬲丕乇颅賴丕 丿乇 丕蹖賳 亘丕亘貙 蹖讴蹖 賲胤賱亘蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 乇賵丕賳卮丕丿 芦賲爻毓賵丿蹖 (賲鬲賵賮蹖 亘賴颅 爻丕賱 346賴噩乇蹖 賯賲乇蹖)禄 丿乇 芦賲乇賵噩颅 丕賱匕賴亘禄 丌賵乇丿賴貙 賵 丿蹖诏乇蹖 賯賵賱 乇賵丕賳卮丕丿 芦丕亘賳颅 賳丿蹖賲 (賲鬲賵賮蹖 亘賴颅 爻丕賱 385賴噩乇蹖 賯賲乇蹖)禄 丿乇 讴鬲丕亘 芦丕賱賮賴乇爻鬲禄 丕爻鬲貨 丕夭 爻禺賳丕賳 丕蹖賳 丿賵 趩賳蹖賳 亘乇賲蹖颅丌蹖丿貙 讴賴 讴鬲丕亘 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖 芦賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳賴禄貙 亘蹖 鬲乇丿蹖丿 賲乇噩毓 丕氐賱蹖 芦丕賱賮 賱蹖賱丞 賵賱蹖賱賴禄貙 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲貨 丕賲丕 賲賲讴賳 丕爻鬲貙 賵 诏賲丕賳 賲蹖乇賵丿貙 讴賴 禺賵丿 賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳賴 蹖 芦倬賴賱賵蹖禄 賵 蹖丕 趩丕乇趩賵亘賴 蹖 芦丿丕爻鬲丕賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 賵 卮賴乇蹖丕乇禄貙 賵 亘乇禺蹖 丕夭 丿丕爻鬲丕賳颅賴丕蹖 丌賳貙 丕夭 賲賳丕亘毓 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 亘乇诏乇賮鬲賴 卮丿賴貙 賵 丕夭 乇賵蹖 爻乇賲卮賯 賵 丕賱诏賵蹖蹖 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 丿乇 芦丕蹖乇丕賳禄 倬丿蹖丿 丌賲丿賴 亘丕卮丿貙 賵 芦丕賱賮 賱蹖賱禄 賲蹖乇丕孬 芦賴賳丿禄 賵 芦賮乇爻禄 卮丕蹖丿 亘丕卮丿貨 趩賵賳 毓賱丕賵賴 亘乇 賲卮丕亘賴鬲颅 賴丕蹖 丿賯蹖賯蹖貙 讴賴 賲蹖丕賳 亘乇禺蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 讴賴賳 芦賴夭丕乇賵蹖讴 卮亘禄貙 賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 讴賴賳 賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 蹖丕賮鬲貨 讴賴 丿乇 鬲賯丿賲 鬲丕乇蹖禺蹖 讴鬲丕亘賴丕蹖 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 亘乇 芦賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳禄 倬丕乇爻蹖貙 丨乇賮蹖 賵 爻禺賳蹖 賳蹖爻鬲貙 卮蹖賵賴 蹖 賳賯賱 賵 乇賵丕蹖鬲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 倬蹖丕倬蹖 賵 鬲賵丿乇鬲賵貙 賵 丿乇噩 賯氐賴 丿乇 賯氐賴貙 亘乇丕蹖 賲丕賳毓 卮丿賳 丕夭 丕賳噩丕賲 蹖丕賮鬲賳 讴丕乇蹖 卮鬲丕亘颅夭丿賴貙 賵 賳爻賳噩蹖丿賴貙 賵 亘賴颅 丿爻鬲颅 讴乇丿賳 賲賴賱鬲貙 賳馗蹖乇 讴鬲丕亘 芦胤賵胤蹖颅賳丕賲賴禄 賳蹖夭貙 卮诏乇丿 賵蹖跇賴 蹖 芦賴賳丿蹖丕賳禄 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 賵 丿乇 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 丿蹖诏乇 賲賱賱 噩賴丕賳 亘蹖颅賲丕賳賳丿 丕爻鬲貙 賵 蹖丕 讴賲鬲乇 賴賲丕賳賳丿 丿丕乇丿貨 亘賴颅 賴乇 丨丕賱 趩賴 芦賴夭丕乇丕賮爻丕賳賴禄 丕夭 讴鬲丕亘 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 丕賯鬲亘丕爻 卮丿賴 亘丕卮丿貙 賵 趩賴 夭丕丿賴 蹖 胤亘毓 芦丕蹖乇丕賳蹖丕賳禄 亘丕卮丿貙 鬲乇丿蹖丿蹖 賳蹖爻鬲 讴賴 賴賲蹖賳 賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳賴 蹖 芦倬賴賱賵蹖禄貙 丿乇 丿賵乇丕賳 芦禺賱賮丕蹖 毓亘丕爻蹖禄貙 亘賴 芦毓乇亘蹖禄 鬲乇噩賲賴 卮丿賴貙 賵 芦丕賱賮 賱蹖賱丞 賵賱蹖賱賴禄 蹖丕 賴賲丕賳 芦賴夭丕乇賵蹖讴 卮亘禄 賳丕賲 诏乇賮鬲賴 丕爻鬲貨 丕賱亘鬲賴 芦賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳賴禄蹖 丕氐賱蹖 賳蹖夭 亘禺卮 讴賵鬲丕賴蹖 丕夭 芦賴夭丕乇賵蹖讴 卮亘禄 讴賳賵賳蹖 乇丕貙 讴賴 倬乇 丨噩賲 丕爻鬲貙 鬲卮讴蹖賱 賲蹖丿丕丿賴貙 賵 賲蹖丿賴丿貙 趩賵賳 芦賴夭丕乇賵蹖讴 卮亘禄 丕賲乇賵夭蹖賳貙 亘賴 賲乇賵乇 賮乇丕賴賲 丌賲丿賴貙 賵 亘丿蹖賳 丨噩賲 乇爻蹖丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 賵 丿乇 乇賵夭诏丕乇丕賳 丿蹖乇蹖賳貙 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 诏賵賳丕讴賵賳貙 丕夭 賲賳丕亘毓 芦丕蹖乇丕賳蹖禄貙 芦賴賳丿蹖禄貙 芦蹖賵賳丕賳蹖禄貙 芦蹖賴賵丿禄貙 芦毓乇亘蹖禄貙 賵 芦丕爻賱丕賲蹖禄 亘乇 丌賳 丕賮夭賵丿賴颅 丕賳丿貨 亘賳丕亘乇丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 賴賲趩賵賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴颅 丕蹖貙 讴賴 倬蹖賵爻鬲賴 丌賳 乇丕 鬲讴賲蹖賱 讴乇丿賴颅 丕賳丿貙 亘賴 丿爻鬲 丕賲乇賵夭蹖丕賳 乇爻蹖丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 噩賲賱賴 丿乇 賲丿鬲 夭賲丕賳蹖 丿乇丕夭貙 乇賳诏 颅賵 亘賵蹖 丕爻賱丕賲蹖 賳蹖夭貙 蹖丕賮鬲賴 丕爻鬲貙 蹖毓賳蹖 乇丕賵蹖丕賳 賵 賳丕賯賱丕賳 诏賵賳丕诏賵賳貙 賯氐賴颅 賴丕蹖 睾蹖乇丕爻賱丕賲蹖 乇丕貙 鬲丕 丌賳噩丕 讴賴 鬲賵丕賳爻鬲賴颅 丕賳丿貙 亘賴 乇賳诏颅 賵 賳诏丕乇 丕爻賱丕賲 丿乇丌賵乇丿賴颅 丕賳丿貙 賵 亘丿蹖賳 亘乇賴丕賳 丿乇 丨丕賱 讴賳賵賳蹖 讴鬲丕亘貙 讴賴 賯爻賲鬲 毓賲丿賴 蹖 丌賳貙 乇賳诏 芦丕爻賱丕賲蹖禄 賵 芦毓乇亘蹖禄 丿丕乇丿貙 诏賳噩蹖賳賴 賵 噩賭購賳诏蹖 丕夭 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 毓丕賲蹖丕賳賴 蹖 賲卮乇賯 夭賲蹖賳貙 丿乇 爻丿賴 賴丕蹖 賲蹖丕賳賴 丕爻鬲貙 賵 賳賯卮 賵 鬲氐賵蹖乇蹖 丕夭 讴賱蹖鬲 鬲賲丿賳貙 賵 賮乇賴賳诏 丿賳蹖丕蹖 丕爻賱丕賲 乇丕貙 丿乇 爻丿賴 賴丕蹖 賲蹖丕賳蹖 賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 毓乇囟賴 賲蹖丿丕乇丿
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 04/08/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 02/06/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, and South Asia and North Africa.
The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Greek, Indian, Jewish, Persian and Turkish folklore and literature.
In particular, many tales were originally folk stories from the Abbasid era, while others, especially the frame story, are most probably drawn from the Pahlavi Persian work Hez膩r Afs膩n (A Thousand Tales), which in turn relied partly on Indian elements.
鬲丕乇蹖禺 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 禺賵丕賳卮: 爻丕賱 1981賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 賵 爻倬爻 亘丕乇賴丕 賳爻禺賴 賴丕蹖 丿蹖诏乇 乇丕 賳蹖夭 禺賵丕賳丿賴 丕賲
賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘貨 賴賲蹖卮賴 賲丕賳丿賳蹖貙 賴賲蹖卮賴 蹖丕丿诏丕乇 賯氐賴 賴丕 賵 睾氐賴 賴丕蹖 乇賵夭賴丕蹖 丿賵乇貙 賴賲蹖卮賴 丿賵爻鬲 丿賵爻鬲
丿乇 亘丕乇賴 蹖 丕氐賱 賵 賳爻亘 芦賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘禄貨 讴賴 丕夭 卮賳丕禺鬲賴 颅鬲乇蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘颅賴丕蹖 噩賴丕賳 丕爻鬲貙 賵 亘賴 賴賲诏蹖 夭亘丕賳颅賴丕蹖 夭賳丿賴 蹖 丕蹖賳 丿賳蹖丕 亘乇诏乇丿丕賳 卮丿賴貙 爻禺賳丕賳 亘爻蹖丕乇 诏賮鬲賴颅 丕賳丿貙 賵 丕夭 賲毓鬲亘乇鬲乇蹖賳 賳賵卮鬲丕乇颅賴丕 丿乇 丕蹖賳 亘丕亘貙 蹖讴蹖 賲胤賱亘蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 乇賵丕賳卮丕丿 芦賲爻毓賵丿蹖 (賲鬲賵賮蹖 亘賴颅 爻丕賱 346賴噩乇蹖 賯賲乇蹖)禄 丿乇 芦賲乇賵噩颅 丕賱匕賴亘禄 丌賵乇丿賴貙 賵 丿蹖诏乇蹖 賯賵賱 乇賵丕賳卮丕丿 芦丕亘賳颅 賳丿蹖賲 (賲鬲賵賮蹖 亘賴颅 爻丕賱 385賴噩乇蹖 賯賲乇蹖)禄 丿乇 讴鬲丕亘 芦丕賱賮賴乇爻鬲禄 丕爻鬲貨 丕夭 爻禺賳丕賳 丕蹖賳 丿賵 趩賳蹖賳 亘乇賲蹖颅丌蹖丿貙 讴賴 讴鬲丕亘 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖 芦賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳賴禄貙 亘蹖 鬲乇丿蹖丿 賲乇噩毓 丕氐賱蹖 芦丕賱賮 賱蹖賱丞 賵賱蹖賱賴禄貙 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲貨 丕賲丕 賲賲讴賳 丕爻鬲貙 賵 诏賲丕賳 賲蹖乇賵丿貙 讴賴 禺賵丿 賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳賴 蹖 芦倬賴賱賵蹖禄 賵 蹖丕 趩丕乇趩賵亘賴 蹖 芦丿丕爻鬲丕賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 賵 卮賴乇蹖丕乇禄貙 賵 亘乇禺蹖 丕夭 丿丕爻鬲丕賳颅賴丕蹖 丌賳貙 丕夭 賲賳丕亘毓 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 亘乇诏乇賮鬲賴 卮丿賴貙 賵 丕夭 乇賵蹖 爻乇賲卮賯 賵 丕賱诏賵蹖蹖 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 丿乇 芦丕蹖乇丕賳禄 倬丿蹖丿 丌賲丿賴 亘丕卮丿貙 賵 芦丕賱賮 賱蹖賱禄 賲蹖乇丕孬 芦賴賳丿禄 賵 芦賮乇爻禄 卮丕蹖丿 亘丕卮丿貨 趩賵賳 毓賱丕賵賴 亘乇 賲卮丕亘賴鬲颅 賴丕蹖 丿賯蹖賯蹖貙 讴賴 賲蹖丕賳 亘乇禺蹖 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 讴賴賳 芦賴夭丕乇賵蹖讴 卮亘禄貙 賵 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 讴賴賳 賲蹖鬲賵丕賳 蹖丕賮鬲貨 讴賴 丿乇 鬲賯丿賲 鬲丕乇蹖禺蹖 讴鬲丕亘賴丕蹖 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 亘乇 芦賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳禄 倬丕乇爻蹖貙 丨乇賮蹖 賵 爻禺賳蹖 賳蹖爻鬲貙 卮蹖賵賴 蹖 賳賯賱 賵 乇賵丕蹖鬲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 倬蹖丕倬蹖 賵 鬲賵丿乇鬲賵貙 賵 丿乇噩 賯氐賴 丿乇 賯氐賴貙 亘乇丕蹖 賲丕賳毓 卮丿賳 丕夭 丕賳噩丕賲 蹖丕賮鬲賳 讴丕乇蹖 卮鬲丕亘颅夭丿賴貙 賵 賳爻賳噩蹖丿賴貙 賵 亘賴颅 丿爻鬲颅 讴乇丿賳 賲賴賱鬲貙 賳馗蹖乇 讴鬲丕亘 芦胤賵胤蹖颅賳丕賲賴禄 賳蹖夭貙 卮诏乇丿 賵蹖跇賴 蹖 芦賴賳丿蹖丕賳禄 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 賵 丿乇 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 丿蹖诏乇 賲賱賱 噩賴丕賳 亘蹖颅賲丕賳賳丿 丕爻鬲貙 賵 蹖丕 讴賲鬲乇 賴賲丕賳賳丿 丿丕乇丿貨 亘賴颅 賴乇 丨丕賱 趩賴 芦賴夭丕乇丕賮爻丕賳賴禄 丕夭 讴鬲丕亘 芦賴賳丿蹖禄 丕賯鬲亘丕爻 卮丿賴 亘丕卮丿貙 賵 趩賴 夭丕丿賴 蹖 胤亘毓 芦丕蹖乇丕賳蹖丕賳禄 亘丕卮丿貙 鬲乇丿蹖丿蹖 賳蹖爻鬲 讴賴 賴賲蹖賳 賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳賴 蹖 芦倬賴賱賵蹖禄貙 丿乇 丿賵乇丕賳 芦禺賱賮丕蹖 毓亘丕爻蹖禄貙 亘賴 芦毓乇亘蹖禄 鬲乇噩賲賴 卮丿賴貙 賵 芦丕賱賮 賱蹖賱丞 賵賱蹖賱賴禄 蹖丕 賴賲丕賳 芦賴夭丕乇賵蹖讴 卮亘禄 賳丕賲 诏乇賮鬲賴 丕爻鬲貨 丕賱亘鬲賴 芦賴夭丕乇 丕賮爻丕賳賴禄蹖 丕氐賱蹖 賳蹖夭 亘禺卮 讴賵鬲丕賴蹖 丕夭 芦賴夭丕乇賵蹖讴 卮亘禄 讴賳賵賳蹖 乇丕貙 讴賴 倬乇 丨噩賲 丕爻鬲貙 鬲卮讴蹖賱 賲蹖丿丕丿賴貙 賵 賲蹖丿賴丿貙 趩賵賳 芦賴夭丕乇賵蹖讴 卮亘禄 丕賲乇賵夭蹖賳貙 亘賴 賲乇賵乇 賮乇丕賴賲 丌賲丿賴貙 賵 亘丿蹖賳 丨噩賲 乇爻蹖丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 賵 丿乇 乇賵夭诏丕乇丕賳 丿蹖乇蹖賳貙 丿丕爻鬲丕賳賴丕蹖 诏賵賳丕讴賵賳貙 丕夭 賲賳丕亘毓 芦丕蹖乇丕賳蹖禄貙 芦賴賳丿蹖禄貙 芦蹖賵賳丕賳蹖禄貙 芦蹖賴賵丿禄貙 芦毓乇亘蹖禄貙 賵 芦丕爻賱丕賲蹖禄 亘乇 丌賳 丕賮夭賵丿賴颅 丕賳丿貨 亘賳丕亘乇丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 賴賲趩賵賳 賲噩賲賵毓賴颅 丕蹖貙 讴賴 倬蹖賵爻鬲賴 丌賳 乇丕 鬲讴賲蹖賱 讴乇丿賴颅 丕賳丿貙 亘賴 丿爻鬲 丕賲乇賵夭蹖丕賳 乇爻蹖丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 丕賲丕 丕蹖賳 噩賲賱賴 丿乇 賲丿鬲 夭賲丕賳蹖 丿乇丕夭貙 乇賳诏 颅賵 亘賵蹖 丕爻賱丕賲蹖 賳蹖夭貙 蹖丕賮鬲賴 丕爻鬲貙 蹖毓賳蹖 乇丕賵蹖丕賳 賵 賳丕賯賱丕賳 诏賵賳丕诏賵賳貙 賯氐賴颅 賴丕蹖 睾蹖乇丕爻賱丕賲蹖 乇丕貙 鬲丕 丌賳噩丕 讴賴 鬲賵丕賳爻鬲賴颅 丕賳丿貙 亘賴 乇賳诏颅 賵 賳诏丕乇 丕爻賱丕賲 丿乇丌賵乇丿賴颅 丕賳丿貙 賵 亘丿蹖賳 亘乇賴丕賳 丿乇 丨丕賱 讴賳賵賳蹖 讴鬲丕亘貙 讴賴 賯爻賲鬲 毓賲丿賴 蹖 丌賳貙 乇賳诏 芦丕爻賱丕賲蹖禄 賵 芦毓乇亘蹖禄 丿丕乇丿貙 诏賳噩蹖賳賴 賵 噩賭購賳诏蹖 丕夭 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 毓丕賲蹖丕賳賴 蹖 賲卮乇賯 夭賲蹖賳貙 丿乇 爻丿賴 賴丕蹖 賲蹖丕賳賴 丕爻鬲貙 賵 賳賯卮 賵 鬲氐賵蹖乇蹖 丕夭 讴賱蹖鬲 鬲賲丿賳貙 賵 賮乇賴賳诏 丿賳蹖丕蹖 丕爻賱丕賲 乇丕貙 丿乇 爻丿賴 賴丕蹖 賲蹖丕賳蹖 賲蹖賱丕丿蹖 毓乇囟賴 賲蹖丿丕乇丿
鬲丕乇蹖禺 亘賴賳诏丕賲 乇爻丕賳蹖 04/08/1399賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 02/06/1400賴噩乇蹖 禺賵乇卮蹖丿蹖貨 丕. 卮乇亘蹖丕賳蹖
January 16, 2015
Ah, if only I could write like the late Sir Richard Burton! Normally I dislike translations, but to refuse to read The Arabian Nights on those grounds would be like refusing to read the Bible. I love parodying people's styles, and I have tried my utmost to parody Burton convincingly, but I can't do it. He's too clever. He has taken this unique book, a miraculous survival from the most ancient antiquity, and he has created a unique language to make it accessible to us: the backbone is a kind of Spenserian English, but he has modified it in subtle ways, adding some French roots here, some Nordic ones there, pinches of more obscure ingredients when he feels he needs them, creating alliterations and internal rhymes and odd sentence structures to echo the rhythms of the original, inserting endless footnotes to tell us poor people what we're missing through not knowing Arabic.
Burton is always present in the text, leading us by the hand through his favorite passages, flooring us with a jaw-droppingly inappropriate comment one moment (it isn't sexist or racist: it transcends sexism and racism) and then turning round a second later to hit us with a marvellous piece of poetry or romance or heroism, crowing over his rivals' mistakes, inserting irrelevant anecdotes or obscure pieces of etymology that he just couldn't resist, showing off his knowledge of the seventeen languages he speaks fluently and the others that he just has a passing acquaintance with. And all the time, often without us even realizing what he's doing, telling us about Islam, the religion so many of us Westerners fear without understanding it, showing us what it's like from the inside, from the perspective of an eighth century cobbler or Caliph or slave-girl, how, whatever else it may be, it is a great religion, one that hundreds of millions of people have gladly lived and died in, without ever questioning the will of Allah or his prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him.
I have never read anything like it.
Burton is always present in the text, leading us by the hand through his favorite passages, flooring us with a jaw-droppingly inappropriate comment one moment (it isn't sexist or racist: it transcends sexism and racism) and then turning round a second later to hit us with a marvellous piece of poetry or romance or heroism, crowing over his rivals' mistakes, inserting irrelevant anecdotes or obscure pieces of etymology that he just couldn't resist, showing off his knowledge of the seventeen languages he speaks fluently and the others that he just has a passing acquaintance with. And all the time, often without us even realizing what he's doing, telling us about Islam, the religion so many of us Westerners fear without understanding it, showing us what it's like from the inside, from the perspective of an eighth century cobbler or Caliph or slave-girl, how, whatever else it may be, it is a great religion, one that hundreds of millions of people have gladly lived and died in, without ever questioning the will of Allah or his prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him.
I have never read anything like it.
June 4, 2019
丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賴丕蹖 賴夭丕乇 賵 賷讴 卮亘貙 賲丨氐賵賱 鬲賱丕賯賶 趩賳丿賷賳 賳爻賱 賵 趩賳丿賷賳 賯乇賳 丕爻胤賵乇賴 丕爻鬲. 賵 賴乇 賮乇賴賳诏 賵 賴乇 賯乇賳貙 乇丿賾 倬丕賶 禺賵丿 乇丕 亘乇 丕賷賳 賰鬲丕亘貙 賰賴 亘丕賷丿 亘賴 丨賯 丌賳 乇丕 丿丕卅乇丞 丕賱賲毓丕乇賮 丕賮爻丕賳賴 賴丕 禺賵丕賳丿貙 亘乇 噩丕 诏匕丕卮鬲賴 丕爻鬲. 乇賷卮賴 賴丕賶 "卮亘 賴丕賶 毓乇亘賶" (趩賳丕賳 賰賴 丕乇賵倬丕賷賷丕賳卮 賲賶 禺賵丕賳賳丿) 乇丕 亘丕賷丿 丿乇 噩賱诏賴 賴丕賶 賴賳丿賵爻鬲丕賳 噩爻鬲貙 賲丨賱 鬲賵賱賾丿 丕賮爻丕賳賴 賴丕 丕夭 賰賱賷賱賴 賵 丿賲賳賴 鬲丕 貙 爻倬爻 乇丿賾卮 乇丕 鬲丕 "賴夭丕乇丕賮爻丕賳" 丕賷乇丕賳 诏乇賮鬲 賵 亘毓丿 丿乇 倬爻 賰賵趩賴 賴丕賶 賯丕賴乇賴 賵 丿賲卮賯 诏賲卮 賰乇丿貙 鬲丕 趩賳丿 氐丿 爻丕賱 亘毓丿 爻乇 丕夭 倬丕乇蹖爻 丿乇丌賵乇丿.
卮賰丕賮 丿賵 賮乇賴賳诏貙 賷賰賶 賴賳丿賵丕乇賵倬丕賷賶 賵 丿賷诏乇 爻丕賲賶貙 乇丕 賲賶 鬲賵丕賳 亘賴 胤賵乇 丿賯賷賯 丿乇 禺賵丿 賰鬲丕亘 亘丕夭丿賷丿. 讴鬲丕亘 丿乇 胤蹖賾 丿賵 丿賵乇賴 賳賵卮鬲賴 卮丿賴: 蹖讴 丿賵乇踿 丕賵賱蹖賴貙 讴賴 卮丕賲賱 亘蹖卮鬲乇 亘禺卮 賴丕蹖 賳禺爻鬲 讴鬲丕亘 賲賶 卮賵丿. 賵 蹖讴 丿賵乇踿 丕禺蹖乇貙 讴賴 亘賷卮 丕夭 趩賳丿 氐丿 爻丕賱 賯丿賲鬲 賳丿丕乇丿貙 賵 亘賷卮鬲乇 亘禺卮 丿賵賲 賰鬲丕亘 乇丕 丿乇 亘乇 賲賶 诏賷乇丿. 丿賵乇踿 丕賵賱蹖賴 丕丨鬲賲丕賱丕賸 丿乇 賴賳丿 賵 丕蹖乇丕賳 賳賵卮鬲賴 賵 鬲讴賲蹖賱 卮丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 爻倬爻 亘賴 丿賳蹖丕蹖 毓乇亘蹖-丕爻賱丕賲蹖 乇丕賴 蹖丕賮鬲賴 賵 賳蹖賲踿 丿賵賲 亘賴 丌賳 囟賲蹖賲賴 诏卮鬲賴 丕爻鬲. 亘賵乇禺爻 丿乇 賲賯丕賱賴贁 倬丕蹖丕賳蹖 讴鬲丕亘 賲蹖 诏賵蹖丿 讴賴 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 亘丕乇 睾乇亘蹖丕賳 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 乇丕 丿乇 賲氐乇 蹖丕賮鬲賳丿貨 丿乇 丌賳 爻乇夭賲蹖賳貙 賳賯賾丕賱丕賳 丿賵乇賴 诏乇丿賶 亘賵丿賳丿 賰賴 丿乇 讴賵趩賴 賵 亘丕夭丕乇 亘賴 賳賯賱 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賴丕蹖 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 賲蹖 倬乇丿丕禺鬲賳丿. 賳蹖賲踿 丿賵賲 丿乇 丨賯蹖賯鬲 賴賲趩賵賳 賱丨丕賮 趩賴賱 鬲讴賴 丕蹖爻鬲 讴賴 亘賴 賳馗乇 賲蹖 乇爻丿 賴乇 鬲讴賴 丕卮 鬲賵爻胤 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丕蹖賳 賳賯賾丕賱丕賳 丿賵乇賴 诏乇丿 亘乇 倬乇丿踿 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 丿賵禺鬲賴 卮丿賴 賵 诏丕賴 丨鬲蹖 亘乇禺蹖 丕夭 丨讴丕蹖丕鬲 (賲丕賳賳丿 丕賮爻丕賳踿 丿禺鬲乇讴 讴亘賵鬲乇倬賵卮) 丿賵亘丕乇 鬲讴乇丕乇 卮丿賴 丕賳丿.
丕爻賱賵亘 賴丕賶 禺丕氐 賯氐賴 诏賵賷賶 (賲孬賱 卮蹖賵踿 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳)貙 賲囟丕賲蹖賳 賲卮鬲乇讴 (賲孬賱 禺蹖丕賳鬲 夭賳丕賳 賵 卮賵賴乇丕賳 賰賴 亘丕乇賴丕 賵 亘丕乇賴丕 丿乇 亘禺卮 賳禺爻鬲 丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賴丕賶 賲禺鬲賱賮 鬲賰乇丕乇 賲賶 卮賵丿)貙 乇賵丕蹖鬲 賴丕蹖 亘賱賳丿 賵 讴賲丕亘蹖卮 倬蹖賵爻鬲賴貙 賵 丨囟賵乇 讴賲乇賳诏 鬲乇 噩丕丿賵 丕夭 賲卮禺氐賴 賴丕蹖 賳蹖賲踿 賳禺爻鬲 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 丕爻鬲.
丿乇 丨丕賱蹖 讴賴 賵乇賵丿 丕爻丕胤蹖乇 毓乇亘蹖 (丕夭 噩賲賱賴 賳爻賳丕爻 賵 噩賳賾) 賵 乇賵丕蹖丕鬲 丕爻賱丕賲蹖-賲氐乇賶 (賲丕噩乇丕賴丕蹖 賴丕乇賵賳 丕賱乇卮蹖丿貙 賲丕噩乇丕蹖 亘丕睾 丕乇賲貙 賲丕噩乇丕賶 賲兀賲賵賳 賵 丕賴乇丕賲 賲氐乇 賵...)貙 乇賵丕賷鬲 賴丕賶 讴賵鬲丕賴 賵 賰賲丕亘賷卮 诏爻爻鬲賴貙 倬蹖乇賵蹖 賳讴乇丿賳 丨讴丕蹖丕鬲 丕夭 丕爻賱賵亘 賵丕丨丿 (亘乇 禺賱丕賮 丕爻賱賵亘 賵 賲囟賲賵賳 賵丕丨丿蹖 讴賴 丿乇 亘蹖卮鬲乇 亘禺卮 賳禺爻鬲 丨讴賲 賮乇賲丕 亘賵丿)貙 丨囟賵乇 倬乇乇賳诏 噩丕丿賵貙 賵 鬲賯賱蹖丿賽 亘乇禺蹖 丨讴丕蹖丕鬲 丕夭 丕爻丕胤蹖乇 蹖賵賳丕賳蹖 讴賴 鬲丕 趩賳丿 氐丿 爻丕賱 诏匕卮鬲賴 亘乇丕蹖 卮乇賯蹖丕賳 賳丕卮賳丕禺鬲賴 亘賵丿賳丿 (賲卮禺氐丕賸: 丕賵丿賷爻賴)貙 丕夭 賲卮禺氐賴 賴丕蹖 賳蹖賲踿 丿賵賲 丕爻鬲. 賵 賲禺氐賵氐丕賸 毓賳氐乇 丕禺賷乇貙 賷毓賳賶 鬲賯賱賷丿 丕夭 丕賵丿賷爻賴 卮丕賴丿賶 乇賵卮賳 亘乇 賲鬲兀禺賾乇 亘賵丿賳 賳賷賲賴 丿賵賲 賴夭丕乇 賵 賷讴 卮亘 丕爻鬲.
爻賳丿亘丕丿 賵 丕賵丿賷爻賴
賲丕噩乇丕賴丕賶 爻賳丿亘丕丿 亘丨乇賶 讴賴 丕夭 夭蹖亘丕鬲乇蹖賳 賯氐賴 賴丕蹖 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 丕爻鬲貙 丿乇 丨賯蹖賯鬲 賳爻禺踿 卮乇賯蹖 卮丿踿 "" 丕爻鬲. 丕夭 噩賲賱賴 爻賮乇 爻賵賲 讴賴 亘毓蹖賳賴 丕夭 丕賵丿蹖爻赖 丕賯鬲亘丕爻 卮丿賴. 爻賳丿亘丕丿 賵 丿賵爻鬲丕賳卮 亘賴 噩夭賷乇賴 丕賶 賲賶 乇爻賳丿 賰賴 睾賵賱賶 丿乇 丌賳 爻賰賵賳鬲 丿丕乇丿貙 睾賵賱 爻賳丿亘丕丿 賵 賷丕乇丕賳卮 乇丕 丿乇 睾丕乇賶 丨亘爻 賰乇丿賴 賯氐丿 禺賵乇丿賳卮丕賳 乇丕 丿丕乇丿貙 丕賲丕 爻賳丿亘丕丿 丕賵 乇丕 賰賵乇 賲賶 賰賳丿 賵 爻賵丕乇 亘乇 賰卮鬲賶 丕夭 噩夭賷乇 賲賶 诏乇賷夭丿 賵 睾賵賱 賳毓乇賴 夭賳丕賳 鬲禺鬲賴 爻賳诏 賴丕賷賶 亘夭乇诏 乇丕 亘賴 爻賲鬲 丿乇賷丕 賲賶 丕賮賰賳丿 鬲丕 賰卮鬲賶 爻賳丿亘丕丿 乇丕 睾乇賯 爻丕夭丿. 丕賷賳 乇賵丕賷鬲 丨鬲賶 丿乇 噩夭卅賶 鬲乇賷賳 賵賯丕賷毓卮 毓蹖賳丕賸 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賲賯丕亘賱踿 丕賵丿蹖爻赖 賵 讴賵讴賱賵倬爻賽 蹖讴 趩卮賲 丕爻鬲. 賴賲趩賳蹖賳 爻賮乇 趩賴丕乇賲 賳蹖夭 亘蹖 卮亘丕賴鬲 亘賴 丕賵丿蹖爻赖 賳蹖爻鬲.
亘賴 噩夭 丕賷賳貙 賰賱賷鬲 賲丕噩乇丕賴丕賶 爻賳丿亘丕丿 賳賷夭 亘賶 卮亘丕賴鬲 亘賴 丕賵丿賷爻賴 賳賷爻鬲: 爻賮乇賴丕蹖 丿乇蹖丕蹖蹖 鬲賵兀賲 亘丕 賲氐丕卅亘 賮乇丕賵丕賳 賵 丕蹖賳 讴賴 卮禺氐賷鬲 賲丨賵乇賶貙 亘乇 禺賱丕賮 乇賵丕賱 賲毓賲賵賱 賯賴乇賲丕賳 賴丕蹖 丕賮爻丕賳賴 丕蹖貙 丿乇 賲賯丕亘賱 賲氐丕卅亘貙 丕乇丕丿賴貙 賯丿乇鬲 賵 丨賲蹖鬲 禺丕乇賯 丕賱毓丕丿賴 賳卮丕賳 賳賲蹖 丿賴丿貙 亘賱讴賴 倬賷賵爻鬲賴 爻乇卮丕乇 丕夭 毓噩夭 賵 囟毓賮 賵 賴乇丕爻 丕爻鬲貙 蹖毓賳蹖 禺氐賱鬲賶 囟丿賯賴乇賲丕賳 诏賵賳賴 丿丕乇丿.
卮賰丕賮 丿賵 賮乇賴賳诏貙 賷賰賶 賴賳丿賵丕乇賵倬丕賷賶 賵 丿賷诏乇 爻丕賲賶貙 乇丕 賲賶 鬲賵丕賳 亘賴 胤賵乇 丿賯賷賯 丿乇 禺賵丿 賰鬲丕亘 亘丕夭丿賷丿. 讴鬲丕亘 丿乇 胤蹖賾 丿賵 丿賵乇賴 賳賵卮鬲賴 卮丿賴: 蹖讴 丿賵乇踿 丕賵賱蹖賴貙 讴賴 卮丕賲賱 亘蹖卮鬲乇 亘禺卮 賴丕蹖 賳禺爻鬲 讴鬲丕亘 賲賶 卮賵丿. 賵 蹖讴 丿賵乇踿 丕禺蹖乇貙 讴賴 亘賷卮 丕夭 趩賳丿 氐丿 爻丕賱 賯丿賲鬲 賳丿丕乇丿貙 賵 亘賷卮鬲乇 亘禺卮 丿賵賲 賰鬲丕亘 乇丕 丿乇 亘乇 賲賶 诏賷乇丿. 丿賵乇踿 丕賵賱蹖賴 丕丨鬲賲丕賱丕賸 丿乇 賴賳丿 賵 丕蹖乇丕賳 賳賵卮鬲賴 賵 鬲讴賲蹖賱 卮丿賴 丕爻鬲貙 爻倬爻 亘賴 丿賳蹖丕蹖 毓乇亘蹖-丕爻賱丕賲蹖 乇丕賴 蹖丕賮鬲賴 賵 賳蹖賲踿 丿賵賲 亘賴 丌賳 囟賲蹖賲賴 诏卮鬲賴 丕爻鬲. 亘賵乇禺爻 丿乇 賲賯丕賱賴贁 倬丕蹖丕賳蹖 讴鬲丕亘 賲蹖 诏賵蹖丿 讴賴 賳禺爻鬲蹖賳 亘丕乇 睾乇亘蹖丕賳 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 乇丕 丿乇 賲氐乇 蹖丕賮鬲賳丿貨 丿乇 丌賳 爻乇夭賲蹖賳貙 賳賯賾丕賱丕賳 丿賵乇賴 诏乇丿賶 亘賵丿賳丿 賰賴 丿乇 讴賵趩賴 賵 亘丕夭丕乇 亘賴 賳賯賱 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賴丕蹖 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 賲蹖 倬乇丿丕禺鬲賳丿. 賳蹖賲踿 丿賵賲 丿乇 丨賯蹖賯鬲 賴賲趩賵賳 賱丨丕賮 趩賴賱 鬲讴賴 丕蹖爻鬲 讴賴 亘賴 賳馗乇 賲蹖 乇爻丿 賴乇 鬲讴賴 丕卮 鬲賵爻胤 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 丕蹖賳 賳賯賾丕賱丕賳 丿賵乇賴 诏乇丿 亘乇 倬乇丿踿 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 丿賵禺鬲賴 卮丿賴 賵 诏丕賴 丨鬲蹖 亘乇禺蹖 丕夭 丨讴丕蹖丕鬲 (賲丕賳賳丿 丕賮爻丕賳踿 丿禺鬲乇讴 讴亘賵鬲乇倬賵卮) 丿賵亘丕乇 鬲讴乇丕乇 卮丿賴 丕賳丿.
丕爻賱賵亘 賴丕賶 禺丕氐 賯氐賴 诏賵賷賶 (賲孬賱 卮蹖賵踿 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳)貙 賲囟丕賲蹖賳 賲卮鬲乇讴 (賲孬賱 禺蹖丕賳鬲 夭賳丕賳 賵 卮賵賴乇丕賳 賰賴 亘丕乇賴丕 賵 亘丕乇賴丕 丿乇 亘禺卮 賳禺爻鬲 丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賴丕賶 賲禺鬲賱賮 鬲賰乇丕乇 賲賶 卮賵丿)貙 乇賵丕蹖鬲 賴丕蹖 亘賱賳丿 賵 讴賲丕亘蹖卮 倬蹖賵爻鬲賴貙 賵 丨囟賵乇 讴賲乇賳诏 鬲乇 噩丕丿賵 丕夭 賲卮禺氐賴 賴丕蹖 賳蹖賲踿 賳禺爻鬲 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 丕爻鬲.
丿乇 丨丕賱蹖 讴賴 賵乇賵丿 丕爻丕胤蹖乇 毓乇亘蹖 (丕夭 噩賲賱賴 賳爻賳丕爻 賵 噩賳賾) 賵 乇賵丕蹖丕鬲 丕爻賱丕賲蹖-賲氐乇賶 (賲丕噩乇丕賴丕蹖 賴丕乇賵賳 丕賱乇卮蹖丿貙 賲丕噩乇丕蹖 亘丕睾 丕乇賲貙 賲丕噩乇丕賶 賲兀賲賵賳 賵 丕賴乇丕賲 賲氐乇 賵...)貙 乇賵丕賷鬲 賴丕賶 讴賵鬲丕賴 賵 賰賲丕亘賷卮 诏爻爻鬲賴貙 倬蹖乇賵蹖 賳讴乇丿賳 丨讴丕蹖丕鬲 丕夭 丕爻賱賵亘 賵丕丨丿 (亘乇 禺賱丕賮 丕爻賱賵亘 賵 賲囟賲賵賳 賵丕丨丿蹖 讴賴 丿乇 亘蹖卮鬲乇 亘禺卮 賳禺爻鬲 丨讴賲 賮乇賲丕 亘賵丿)貙 丨囟賵乇 倬乇乇賳诏 噩丕丿賵貙 賵 鬲賯賱蹖丿賽 亘乇禺蹖 丨讴丕蹖丕鬲 丕夭 丕爻丕胤蹖乇 蹖賵賳丕賳蹖 讴賴 鬲丕 趩賳丿 氐丿 爻丕賱 诏匕卮鬲賴 亘乇丕蹖 卮乇賯蹖丕賳 賳丕卮賳丕禺鬲賴 亘賵丿賳丿 (賲卮禺氐丕賸: 丕賵丿賷爻賴)貙 丕夭 賲卮禺氐賴 賴丕蹖 賳蹖賲踿 丿賵賲 丕爻鬲. 賵 賲禺氐賵氐丕賸 毓賳氐乇 丕禺賷乇貙 賷毓賳賶 鬲賯賱賷丿 丕夭 丕賵丿賷爻賴 卮丕賴丿賶 乇賵卮賳 亘乇 賲鬲兀禺賾乇 亘賵丿賳 賳賷賲賴 丿賵賲 賴夭丕乇 賵 賷讴 卮亘 丕爻鬲.
爻賳丿亘丕丿 賵 丕賵丿賷爻賴
賲丕噩乇丕賴丕賶 爻賳丿亘丕丿 亘丨乇賶 讴賴 丕夭 夭蹖亘丕鬲乇蹖賳 賯氐賴 賴丕蹖 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 丕爻鬲貙 丿乇 丨賯蹖賯鬲 賳爻禺踿 卮乇賯蹖 卮丿踿 "" 丕爻鬲. 丕夭 噩賲賱賴 爻賮乇 爻賵賲 讴賴 亘毓蹖賳賴 丕夭 丕賵丿蹖爻赖 丕賯鬲亘丕爻 卮丿賴. 爻賳丿亘丕丿 賵 丿賵爻鬲丕賳卮 亘賴 噩夭賷乇賴 丕賶 賲賶 乇爻賳丿 賰賴 睾賵賱賶 丿乇 丌賳 爻賰賵賳鬲 丿丕乇丿貙 睾賵賱 爻賳丿亘丕丿 賵 賷丕乇丕賳卮 乇丕 丿乇 睾丕乇賶 丨亘爻 賰乇丿賴 賯氐丿 禺賵乇丿賳卮丕賳 乇丕 丿丕乇丿貙 丕賲丕 爻賳丿亘丕丿 丕賵 乇丕 賰賵乇 賲賶 賰賳丿 賵 爻賵丕乇 亘乇 賰卮鬲賶 丕夭 噩夭賷乇 賲賶 诏乇賷夭丿 賵 睾賵賱 賳毓乇賴 夭賳丕賳 鬲禺鬲賴 爻賳诏 賴丕賷賶 亘夭乇诏 乇丕 亘賴 爻賲鬲 丿乇賷丕 賲賶 丕賮賰賳丿 鬲丕 賰卮鬲賶 爻賳丿亘丕丿 乇丕 睾乇賯 爻丕夭丿. 丕賷賳 乇賵丕賷鬲 丨鬲賶 丿乇 噩夭卅賶 鬲乇賷賳 賵賯丕賷毓卮 毓蹖賳丕賸 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 賲賯丕亘賱踿 丕賵丿蹖爻赖 賵 讴賵讴賱賵倬爻賽 蹖讴 趩卮賲 丕爻鬲. 賴賲趩賳蹖賳 爻賮乇 趩賴丕乇賲 賳蹖夭 亘蹖 卮亘丕賴鬲 亘賴 丕賵丿蹖爻赖 賳蹖爻鬲.
亘賴 噩夭 丕賷賳貙 賰賱賷鬲 賲丕噩乇丕賴丕賶 爻賳丿亘丕丿 賳賷夭 亘賶 卮亘丕賴鬲 亘賴 丕賵丿賷爻賴 賳賷爻鬲: 爻賮乇賴丕蹖 丿乇蹖丕蹖蹖 鬲賵兀賲 亘丕 賲氐丕卅亘 賮乇丕賵丕賳 賵 丕蹖賳 讴賴 卮禺氐賷鬲 賲丨賵乇賶貙 亘乇 禺賱丕賮 乇賵丕賱 賲毓賲賵賱 賯賴乇賲丕賳 賴丕蹖 丕賮爻丕賳賴 丕蹖貙 丿乇 賲賯丕亘賱 賲氐丕卅亘貙 丕乇丕丿賴貙 賯丿乇鬲 賵 丨賲蹖鬲 禺丕乇賯 丕賱毓丕丿賴 賳卮丕賳 賳賲蹖 丿賴丿貙 亘賱讴賴 倬賷賵爻鬲賴 爻乇卮丕乇 丕夭 毓噩夭 賵 囟毓賮 賵 賴乇丕爻 丕爻鬲貙 蹖毓賳蹖 禺氐賱鬲賶 囟丿賯賴乇賲丕賳 诏賵賳賴 丿丕乇丿.
April 23, 2022
What the hell did I just read?!
These were some crazy stories that don't really resemble the shiny cleaned-up versions of the tales we hear today.
Loved it!
That's the best part of reading stuff like this - finding out how batshit things were back in the day.
So while the stories weren't particularly good, there were moments of pure hilarity that made it all worthwhile.
For example, Sinbad.
Really boring for an adventure story. Just sort of nonsensical that he keeps getting on a boat. Dude, really? How many times do you have to almost get eaten by a sea monster or a cannibal before you pack it in?
BUT.
There's this moment that stuck with me and still makes me giggle when I think about it.
So, let me set the scene a bit.
Sinbad has been on one of his wacky adventures and ends up in a faraway land, married to a chick that he likes quite a bit. Right up till she dies...and he finds out that his adopted people entomb the living spouses with the dead ones.
Yup.
They just drop the dead person down in this cave and send the living one down right behind them -with a few provisions to stave off their own death for a couple of days.
So, there sits Sinbad. Alone with a pile of dead bodies and a crust of bread or whatever.
Then all of a sudden a beautiful woman gets plopped down the hole with him.
What luck! <--I think.
I'll bet those two fall in love and escape together! <--I think.
Turns out I was a little off in my prediction.
What actually happens is Sinbad kills her and takes her shit.
Did not see that one coming.
To be honest, when he bludgeoned the pretty widow to death I laughed so hard that I honked.
You just don't get heroes like this anymore in stories.
Anyway. He continues to kill all the living spouses that get shoved down into the death cave, taking their goodies until he finally finds a back door out of that place.
Unexpectedly awesome problem-solving skills there, sir.
There were quite a few hilariously brutal twists like that, and they turned what might otherwise have been a dull bucket list read into a so-bad-it's-good book.
I'm recommending you read this for those hidden gems alone. Unless of course, that sort of thing bothers you. <--trigger warning?
Now, there are a lot of different translations and collections of these stories, and I definitely listened to one of the shorter ones.
Mine is was the abridged version from Naxos Audiobooks that clocked in at 3 hrs and 43 minutes & was read by Philip Madoc.
I say that because there were only a few stories in this one.
And while I don't feel the need to track down every story, I'll probably have to find a longer version if I want to feel like I've done my due diligence with this collection.
This one had (of course) the story of the Khalifa who found his ho-wife banging a black dude and lost his damn mind. Once he starts lopping off the heads of his brides after one night (of what I'm assuming is rather awkward passion) it leads to good old Sherezade stepping up to the plate and telling the stories of Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves, and The Barber of Baghdad.
WHERE WAS ALADDIN, ANNE?! <--I'm assuming you asked.
Not in this one, that's for damn sure.
I said that to say this:
Pick your version wisely, Random Goodreader.
These were some crazy stories that don't really resemble the shiny cleaned-up versions of the tales we hear today.
Loved it!
That's the best part of reading stuff like this - finding out how batshit things were back in the day.
So while the stories weren't particularly good, there were moments of pure hilarity that made it all worthwhile.
For example, Sinbad.
Really boring for an adventure story. Just sort of nonsensical that he keeps getting on a boat. Dude, really? How many times do you have to almost get eaten by a sea monster or a cannibal before you pack it in?
BUT.
There's this moment that stuck with me and still makes me giggle when I think about it.
So, let me set the scene a bit.
Sinbad has been on one of his wacky adventures and ends up in a faraway land, married to a chick that he likes quite a bit. Right up till she dies...and he finds out that his adopted people entomb the living spouses with the dead ones.
Yup.
They just drop the dead person down in this cave and send the living one down right behind them -with a few provisions to stave off their own death for a couple of days.
So, there sits Sinbad. Alone with a pile of dead bodies and a crust of bread or whatever.
Then all of a sudden a beautiful woman gets plopped down the hole with him.
What luck! <--I think.
I'll bet those two fall in love and escape together! <--I think.
Turns out I was a little off in my prediction.
What actually happens is Sinbad kills her and takes her shit.
Did not see that one coming.
To be honest, when he bludgeoned the pretty widow to death I laughed so hard that I honked.
You just don't get heroes like this anymore in stories.
Anyway. He continues to kill all the living spouses that get shoved down into the death cave, taking their goodies until he finally finds a back door out of that place.
Unexpectedly awesome problem-solving skills there, sir.
There were quite a few hilariously brutal twists like that, and they turned what might otherwise have been a dull bucket list read into a so-bad-it's-good book.
I'm recommending you read this for those hidden gems alone. Unless of course, that sort of thing bothers you. <--trigger warning?
Now, there are a lot of different translations and collections of these stories, and I definitely listened to one of the shorter ones.
Mine is was the abridged version from Naxos Audiobooks that clocked in at 3 hrs and 43 minutes & was read by Philip Madoc.
I say that because there were only a few stories in this one.
And while I don't feel the need to track down every story, I'll probably have to find a longer version if I want to feel like I've done my due diligence with this collection.
This one had (of course) the story of the Khalifa who found his ho-wife banging a black dude and lost his damn mind. Once he starts lopping off the heads of his brides after one night (of what I'm assuming is rather awkward passion) it leads to good old Sherezade stepping up to the plate and telling the stories of Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves, and The Barber of Baghdad.
WHERE WAS ALADDIN, ANNE?! <--I'm assuming you asked.
Not in this one, that's for damn sure.
I said that to say this:
Pick your version wisely, Random Goodreader.
April 21, 2008
For those 2 people who don't know, The Arabian Nights is sort of a collection of short stories told in the Arabian world, as I'm told it should be called, (which seems to include India and parts of China) waaaaaay back in the day. The framework of the story is about a sultan who caught his wife cheating on him. After he has her killed, he decides to take out his revenge on the entire sex, so he marries a different wife every day and has her killed the next morning. Scheherazade is the Grand Vizier's beautiful, intelligent daughter. She realizes that this can't go on, so she comes up with a plan. She asks to be the next wife of the sultan, and she starts telling him a story on their wedding night. But buried within that story is another story. The sultan is so intrigued by the story that he decides to let her live so he can find out how the story ends. She keeps stringing him along like this, theoretically for 1000 nights, until he relents and gives her a full pardon and takes her for his real wife. But that's only a very small part of the book. The biggest part of the book is the stories Scheherazade tells the sultan. Included are Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad, and others that we've probably all heard in one form or another.
I just picked this up because I wanted to see what it was all about. This version was very readable. It was interesting to see a slice of Arabian life. I would catch myself thinking, "They treat women so badly over there" and then I would remember that when these stories were first told, women were treated badly pretty much everywhere. But then there would be some stories where the women had surprising freedom and I would catch myself wondering where things started going bad. I can't say that I know enough about the culture to comment on what's changed and what hasn't, but these stories do give you a little idea of what life is/was like in the Middle East and where they're coming from. And in these times, a little understanding can only be a good thing.
I just picked this up because I wanted to see what it was all about. This version was very readable. It was interesting to see a slice of Arabian life. I would catch myself thinking, "They treat women so badly over there" and then I would remember that when these stories were first told, women were treated badly pretty much everywhere. But then there would be some stories where the women had surprising freedom and I would catch myself wondering where things started going bad. I can't say that I know enough about the culture to comment on what's changed and what hasn't, but these stories do give you a little idea of what life is/was like in the Middle East and where they're coming from. And in these times, a little understanding can only be a good thing.
November 17, 2019
Arabian Nights is one of the great literary works of all time but precautions need to be made if you want to read it to your kids. First off, there is a LOT of violence in the stories and a TON of sex. Don't be an idiot like me and start reading an unabridged copy to your kids or you will have to be explaining very early on why so and so killed his wife and imprisoned another...
That being said, there are few works with as much imagination and wonder in them and taken in lighter doses, it is a beautiful way of expanding your children's imaginations.
For adults, one has to take a lot of this in its historical context and try hard to put aside the misogyny which is rampant in the text. Perhaps easier said than done. But there are so many eternal stories here - Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp - that they must be read at least once to get the non-Disney-died versions (like the Anderson and Grimm fairy tales that were similarly contorted to fit mass consumption and commercialisation by Walt&Co).
That being said, there are few works with as much imagination and wonder in them and taken in lighter doses, it is a beautiful way of expanding your children's imaginations.
For adults, one has to take a lot of this in its historical context and try hard to put aside the misogyny which is rampant in the text. Perhaps easier said than done. But there are so many eternal stories here - Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp - that they must be read at least once to get the non-Disney-died versions (like the Anderson and Grimm fairy tales that were similarly contorted to fit mass consumption and commercialisation by Walt&Co).
September 20, 2016
When I first read One Thousand and One Nights I was literally put under the book鈥檚 spell 鈥� charmed, enchanted and bewitched. It isn鈥檛 just magic of fairytales. It is first of all magic of the oriental world. And of course I was at once mesmerized with the incredible frame tale of Shahryar and Scheherazade.
Nowhere is so much magic as in Arabian Nights: magical word opening the cave door: 鈥溾€極pen, Sesame!鈥� And forthwith appeared a wide doorway in the face of the rock. The robbers went in, and last of all their chief, and then the portal shut of itself,鈥� powerful Jinni sealed in the magical lamp: 鈥淭his is not he, O my mother. This who appeared before thee is the Slave of the Lamp!鈥� and many, many others.
And of course my favourite tales are Voyages of Sindbad the Seaman鈥� Stunning adventures in the distant lands full of fantastic beasts, evil creatures, monsters, wonders and miracles. And most of all I was stupefied and simultaneously disgusted with Old Man of the Sea:
鈥淚 told them all that had betided me, whereat they marveled with exceeding marvel and said: 鈥楬e who rode on thy shoulder is called the Sheikh-al-Bahr or Old Man of the Sea, and none ever felt his legs on neck and came off alive but thou, and those who die under him he eateth. So praised be Allah for thy safety!鈥欌€�
Even nowadays I gratefully remember this miraculous book, which practically was for me a door into the absolutely new world.
Nowhere is so much magic as in Arabian Nights: magical word opening the cave door: 鈥溾€極pen, Sesame!鈥� And forthwith appeared a wide doorway in the face of the rock. The robbers went in, and last of all their chief, and then the portal shut of itself,鈥� powerful Jinni sealed in the magical lamp: 鈥淭his is not he, O my mother. This who appeared before thee is the Slave of the Lamp!鈥� and many, many others.
And of course my favourite tales are Voyages of Sindbad the Seaman鈥� Stunning adventures in the distant lands full of fantastic beasts, evil creatures, monsters, wonders and miracles. And most of all I was stupefied and simultaneously disgusted with Old Man of the Sea:
鈥淚 told them all that had betided me, whereat they marveled with exceeding marvel and said: 鈥楬e who rode on thy shoulder is called the Sheikh-al-Bahr or Old Man of the Sea, and none ever felt his legs on neck and came off alive but thou, and those who die under him he eateth. So praised be Allah for thy safety!鈥欌€�
Even nowadays I gratefully remember this miraculous book, which practically was for me a door into the absolutely new world.
July 12, 2019
A review is pointless for this book. It鈥檚 a classic and everyone should read it. Those who are complaining about how women are treated in the stories should read it more carefully and should pay attention also when it was first written.
Reading this edition, two things amazed me: how well I remember all the stories, taking into consideration that last time I read them was more than 20 years ago and second, how accurate the Romanian translation I read is compared to this one.
As for this edition, it is simply superb. Starting with the translation, the beautiful artworks inside its pages, the cover, the paper鈥� It is a feast for eyes, senses and soul.
Loved it.
-------------------
I read 1001 Nights several times in my childhood and adolescence and loved them to pieces. I still have it in Romanian translation, 4 volumes, edition from 1959 from my grandparents. But I couldn鈥檛 resist not to buy this exquisite edition 鈥� it is absolutely gorgeous!
For many months, from now on, it will be on my nightstand to savor now and then a story from it, the beautiful artwork of the pages and the stunning illustrations.
Have a look:
Reading this edition, two things amazed me: how well I remember all the stories, taking into consideration that last time I read them was more than 20 years ago and second, how accurate the Romanian translation I read is compared to this one.
As for this edition, it is simply superb. Starting with the translation, the beautiful artworks inside its pages, the cover, the paper鈥� It is a feast for eyes, senses and soul.
Loved it.
-------------------
I read 1001 Nights several times in my childhood and adolescence and loved them to pieces. I still have it in Romanian translation, 4 volumes, edition from 1959 from my grandparents. But I couldn鈥檛 resist not to buy this exquisite edition 鈥� it is absolutely gorgeous!
For many months, from now on, it will be on my nightstand to savor now and then a story from it, the beautiful artwork of the pages and the stunning illustrations.
Have a look:
April 19, 2024
銆斤笍I need to read a full version of the Arabian Nights and do a proper review. Soon. At least I've slept in the Sinai and listened to the whisper of the shifting sands as they built dunes and told stories.
Read
May 22, 2018As a child I had a small selection of tales from the Arabian nights in a hardback volume with a few gorgeous full colour plates. From this a couple of stories stayed with me, a Sultan travelling in disguise meets a man who having learnt of the Sultan's weakness for baby cucumbers was intent on trying to fool him out of a fortune in exchange for them, the man although greedy is also garrulous, tells the Sultan in disguise his wicked plans enabling the Sultan to turn the tables on him and trick him and eat the cucumbers , then a story about the keys of Destiny - , and a story about a Sultan of Egypt who had a beautiful wife, excellent children, but none less had depression, then one day a mysterious old man who had spent so many years on mountain tops growing wise than he no longer needed to wear clothes ( ie his beard and hair had grown so long that it was wound about him to form a dense coat) wandered in to his palace and forced the Sultan to have an extremely unpleasant visionary experience which cures him of his depression .
So anyhow spotting a new translation in the Everyman series I determined to buy it - inevitably those stories were not in it. Apparently in the dim and distant past there were two story collections - the Arabian Nights and the 1000 and one nights which at one stage merged like a dream of Italo Calvino - indeed very much so as the stories became very popular in Europe through French translations, the translator spotting this, commissioned additional stories, or maybe just made up new ones to best match the taste of eighteenth century French readers.
This collection purports to get round this by drawing on medieval manuscripts, the translation preserves the frequent divisions into nights some of which are less than a page long. This breaks up the flow of the stories, but provides the reader with the sense of frustration which was meant to be experienced in the framing story.
As this version is truer to the manuscript tradition, some of the more familiar tales are missing however those given here have a certain power from their rhythm and the sense of the inevitable, that element and the attitude towards sexual adventure reminded me very strongly of Boccaccio's .
Another attraction is the sense of falling through from one story to next, as in the middle of one story a character will begin to tell a story to another character which the narrative then takes up. It is rather like and the effect is both disconcerting and exciting. A constant moving between narratives and framing stories all insanely nested within each other only missing an internal narrator to begin telling the story of Scheherazade to achieve a M枚bius-strip narrative and for the reader to disappear without trace.
So anyhow spotting a new translation in the Everyman series I determined to buy it - inevitably those stories were not in it. Apparently in the dim and distant past there were two story collections - the Arabian Nights and the 1000 and one nights which at one stage merged like a dream of Italo Calvino - indeed very much so as the stories became very popular in Europe through French translations, the translator spotting this, commissioned additional stories, or maybe just made up new ones to best match the taste of eighteenth century French readers.
This collection purports to get round this by drawing on medieval manuscripts, the translation preserves the frequent divisions into nights some of which are less than a page long. This breaks up the flow of the stories, but provides the reader with the sense of frustration which was meant to be experienced in the framing story.
As this version is truer to the manuscript tradition, some of the more familiar tales are missing however those given here have a certain power from their rhythm and the sense of the inevitable, that element and the attitude towards sexual adventure reminded me very strongly of Boccaccio's .
Another attraction is the sense of falling through from one story to next, as in the middle of one story a character will begin to tell a story to another character which the narrative then takes up. It is rather like and the effect is both disconcerting and exciting. A constant moving between narratives and framing stories all insanely nested within each other only missing an internal narrator to begin telling the story of Scheherazade to achieve a M枚bius-strip narrative and for the reader to disappear without trace.
January 15, 2018
Ultima trovata della serie Inc. cool 8 (made in Crozza)
Avete presente il Tim Cook, partorito da Crozza, proprietario della famosa multinazionale? Il fratello di Setigiritin Cook. Ecco, di sicuro il fratello lavora alla BUR.
Attenzione attenzione, ecco a voi la loro ultima trovata geniale. La suddetta casa editrice ha pensato bene di prenderci tutti allegramente per il culo, spacciando un libro per qualcosa che non 猫. Ora: io sono abbastanza delusa, per non dire di peggio. Questo volume (bello vero? Fa proprio un figurone sui propri scaffali, ed 猫 anche illustrato!) viene venduto come un'edizione lussuosa de Le mille e una notte, comparendo in una nuova collana piuttosto curata dal punto di vista estetico. Peccato che queste non siano le mille e una notte, no, manco per il cazzo, e nemmeno cento. E nemmeno dieci. Quello che il consumatore paga - e intendiamoci: profumatamente - 猫 una raccolta di CINQUE (CINQUE!!!! s矛, cinque misere favole) racconti tratti da Le mille e una notte, e a me la differenza pare sostanziale.
Io non mi aspetto di trovare l'edizione del tutto integrale, ok, si pu貌 comprendere: le dimensioni dell'originale sono gigantesche, l'opera 猫 stata arricchita nel corso della storia da pi霉 "filoni", 猫 stata rimaneggiata, e per tanto definire un'edizione "completa" risulta anche difficile, oltre che poco maneggevole dal punto di vista pratico. Ma tu me lo devi scrivere che, per Dio, mi stai vendendo 5 fiabe. Non ci puoi appiccicare l矛 in bella mostra un titolo quando poi stai vendendo aria fritta, cara Bur. Questo rasenta la truffa.
Quindi mia madre, convinta di farmi un bellissimo regalo, non solo ha sganciato come minimo 20 euro (non so quanto sia di preciso, ma direi per fortuna, a questo punto), ma si 猫 dovuta anche subire la mia delusione; 猫 ovvio che un lettore attento avrebbe fiutato la trappola contando solo 500 pagine e poco pi霉, d'accordo. Purtroppo non tutti sono lettori attenti, e magari qualcuno, come mia madre, appunto, vuol fare un regalo. Inoltre, siccome l'infamia non era abbastanza grande, l'editore si 猫 fatto furbo, e ha pensato: "mmm...come faccio a fare abboccare gli scemi all'amo? questi mi sgamano subito...", ed ecco la genialit脿, signori: "mettiamo un formato pagina pi霉 scomodo di un A4, caratteri cubitali, cos矛 facciamo pi霉 pagine; queste ultime le facciamo spesse 5 centimetri. E poi riempiamo tutto di disegni! S矛 s矛, faremo proprio cos矛."
Bravi, applausi!!!
La vostra collana mi sembrava bellissima, ma ve la potete ficcare dove potete immaginare da soli.
Quando legger貌 le vere Arabian nights, o almeno quando ne legger貌 degli estratti che per numero si possano per lo meno contare su due mani, mi potr貌 pronunciare sul contenuto; per ora, non posso dire niente. Manco la cornice narrativa ci hanno messo, sti disgraziati. Sharazad? E chi 猫, chissenefrega, proprio.
Fatevi un favore: NON LO COMPRATE.
Avete presente il Tim Cook, partorito da Crozza, proprietario della famosa multinazionale? Il fratello di Setigiritin Cook. Ecco, di sicuro il fratello lavora alla BUR.
Attenzione attenzione, ecco a voi la loro ultima trovata geniale. La suddetta casa editrice ha pensato bene di prenderci tutti allegramente per il culo, spacciando un libro per qualcosa che non 猫. Ora: io sono abbastanza delusa, per non dire di peggio. Questo volume (bello vero? Fa proprio un figurone sui propri scaffali, ed 猫 anche illustrato!) viene venduto come un'edizione lussuosa de Le mille e una notte, comparendo in una nuova collana piuttosto curata dal punto di vista estetico. Peccato che queste non siano le mille e una notte, no, manco per il cazzo, e nemmeno cento. E nemmeno dieci. Quello che il consumatore paga - e intendiamoci: profumatamente - 猫 una raccolta di CINQUE (CINQUE!!!! s矛, cinque misere favole) racconti tratti da Le mille e una notte, e a me la differenza pare sostanziale.
Io non mi aspetto di trovare l'edizione del tutto integrale, ok, si pu貌 comprendere: le dimensioni dell'originale sono gigantesche, l'opera 猫 stata arricchita nel corso della storia da pi霉 "filoni", 猫 stata rimaneggiata, e per tanto definire un'edizione "completa" risulta anche difficile, oltre che poco maneggevole dal punto di vista pratico. Ma tu me lo devi scrivere che, per Dio, mi stai vendendo 5 fiabe. Non ci puoi appiccicare l矛 in bella mostra un titolo quando poi stai vendendo aria fritta, cara Bur. Questo rasenta la truffa.
Quindi mia madre, convinta di farmi un bellissimo regalo, non solo ha sganciato come minimo 20 euro (non so quanto sia di preciso, ma direi per fortuna, a questo punto), ma si 猫 dovuta anche subire la mia delusione; 猫 ovvio che un lettore attento avrebbe fiutato la trappola contando solo 500 pagine e poco pi霉, d'accordo. Purtroppo non tutti sono lettori attenti, e magari qualcuno, come mia madre, appunto, vuol fare un regalo. Inoltre, siccome l'infamia non era abbastanza grande, l'editore si 猫 fatto furbo, e ha pensato: "mmm...come faccio a fare abboccare gli scemi all'amo? questi mi sgamano subito...", ed ecco la genialit脿, signori: "mettiamo un formato pagina pi霉 scomodo di un A4, caratteri cubitali, cos矛 facciamo pi霉 pagine; queste ultime le facciamo spesse 5 centimetri. E poi riempiamo tutto di disegni! S矛 s矛, faremo proprio cos矛."
Bravi, applausi!!!
La vostra collana mi sembrava bellissima, ma ve la potete ficcare dove potete immaginare da soli.
Quando legger貌 le vere Arabian nights, o almeno quando ne legger貌 degli estratti che per numero si possano per lo meno contare su due mani, mi potr貌 pronunciare sul contenuto; per ora, non posso dire niente. Manco la cornice narrativa ci hanno messo, sti disgraziati. Sharazad? E chi 猫, chissenefrega, proprio.
Fatevi un favore: NON LO COMPRATE.
August 16, 2018
氐丿 賵 賴賮鬲 氐賮丨賴 亘蹖卮鬲乇 賳鬲賵賳爻鬲賲 亘禺賵賳賲
丕亘鬲丿丕 丕賲蹖丿賵丕乇 亘賵丿賲 讴賴 丨讴丕蹖鬲 賴丕 乇賮鬲賴 乇賮鬲賴 賱丕亘丿 禺賵丕賳丿賳蹖 鬲乇 禺賵丕賴賳丿 卮丿 丕賲丕 賴乇诏夭 趩賳蹖賳 賳卮丿
卮丕蹖丿 亘乇丕蹖 丕孬乇蹖 賲孬賱 "賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘" 賳馗乇 爻賳诏丿賱丕賳賴 丕蹖 亘丕卮丿 賵賱蹖 賵丕賯毓丕 亘乇丕蹖 賲賳 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 讴鬲丕亘 賴丕蹖蹖 卮丿 讴賴 丕氐賱丕 賵 丕亘丿丕 禺賵卮賲 賳蹖賵賲丿
诏乇蹖夭蹖 亘賴 賳蹖賲賴 賴丕蹖卮 夭丿賲 亘賱讴賴 鬲丨賵賱蹖 賵 鬲睾蹖蹖乇蹖 亘亘蹖賳賲 賵 亘賴 賴賵丕蹖 賴賲丕賳 倬蹖卮 亘乇賵賲 賵 賲孬賱丕 夭賵丿 賯囟丕賵鬲 賳讴乇丿賴 亘丕卮賲 賵賱蹖 丿乇蹖睾
爻賵跇賴 賴丕蹖 鬲讴乇丕乇蹖
倬丕蹖丕賳 賴丕蹖 毓噩蹖亘 賵 睾乇蹖亘
鬲賵 丿乇 鬲賵 賵 禺爻鬲賴 讴賳賳丿賴
亘丿賵賳 噩匕丕亘蹖鬲蹖 亘乇丕蹖 丕丿丕賲賴 丿丕丿賳
丕賳鬲賴丕蹖 賴乇 丨讴丕蹖鬲 丕夭 禺賵丿賲 賲蹖 倬乇爻蹖丿賲 禺亘 讴賴 趩蹖 賲孬賱丕責責
賵 丿蹖丿賲 丿蹖诏賴 賳賲蹖 鬲賵賳賲 禺賵丿賲 乇賵 乇丕囟蹖 讴賳賲 讴賴 丨賵丕爻鬲 亘丕卮賴 讴賴 丿丕乇蹖 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 賲蹖 禺賵賳蹖 賵 丨賯 賳丿丕乇蹖 丿賵爻鬲卮 賳丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮蹖
禺賱丕氐賴 亘丿賵賳 匕乇賴 丕蹖 毓匕丕亘 賵噩丿丕賳貙 賯卮賳诏 讴鬲丕亘 乇賵 亘爻鬲賲 賵 亘賴 賴賲丕賳 賯賮爻賴 讴鬲丕亘 賴丕 爻倬乇丿賲卮 賵 賲胤賲卅賳賲 鬲丕 氐丿 爻丕賱 丿蹖诏賴 賴賲 爻乇丕睾卮 賳禺賵丕賴賲 乇賮鬲
丕亘鬲丿丕 丕賲蹖丿賵丕乇 亘賵丿賲 讴賴 丨讴丕蹖鬲 賴丕 乇賮鬲賴 乇賮鬲賴 賱丕亘丿 禺賵丕賳丿賳蹖 鬲乇 禺賵丕賴賳丿 卮丿 丕賲丕 賴乇诏夭 趩賳蹖賳 賳卮丿
卮丕蹖丿 亘乇丕蹖 丕孬乇蹖 賲孬賱 "賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘" 賳馗乇 爻賳诏丿賱丕賳賴 丕蹖 亘丕卮丿 賵賱蹖 賵丕賯毓丕 亘乇丕蹖 賲賳 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 讴鬲丕亘 賴丕蹖蹖 卮丿 讴賴 丕氐賱丕 賵 丕亘丿丕 禺賵卮賲 賳蹖賵賲丿
诏乇蹖夭蹖 亘賴 賳蹖賲賴 賴丕蹖卮 夭丿賲 亘賱讴賴 鬲丨賵賱蹖 賵 鬲睾蹖蹖乇蹖 亘亘蹖賳賲 賵 亘賴 賴賵丕蹖 賴賲丕賳 倬蹖卮 亘乇賵賲 賵 賲孬賱丕 夭賵丿 賯囟丕賵鬲 賳讴乇丿賴 亘丕卮賲 賵賱蹖 丿乇蹖睾
爻賵跇賴 賴丕蹖 鬲讴乇丕乇蹖
倬丕蹖丕賳 賴丕蹖 毓噩蹖亘 賵 睾乇蹖亘
鬲賵 丿乇 鬲賵 賵 禺爻鬲賴 讴賳賳丿賴
亘丿賵賳 噩匕丕亘蹖鬲蹖 亘乇丕蹖 丕丿丕賲賴 丿丕丿賳
丕賳鬲賴丕蹖 賴乇 丨讴丕蹖鬲 丕夭 禺賵丿賲 賲蹖 倬乇爻蹖丿賲 禺亘 讴賴 趩蹖 賲孬賱丕責責
賵 丿蹖丿賲 丿蹖诏賴 賳賲蹖 鬲賵賳賲 禺賵丿賲 乇賵 乇丕囟蹖 讴賳賲 讴賴 丨賵丕爻鬲 亘丕卮賴 讴賴 丿丕乇蹖 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 賲蹖 禺賵賳蹖 賵 丨賯 賳丿丕乇蹖 丿賵爻鬲卮 賳丿丕卮鬲賴 亘丕卮蹖
禺賱丕氐賴 亘丿賵賳 匕乇賴 丕蹖 毓匕丕亘 賵噩丿丕賳貙 賯卮賳诏 讴鬲丕亘 乇賵 亘爻鬲賲 賵 亘賴 賴賲丕賳 賯賮爻賴 讴鬲丕亘 賴丕 爻倬乇丿賲卮 賵 賲胤賲卅賳賲 鬲丕 氐丿 爻丕賱 丿蹖诏賴 賴賲 爻乇丕睾卮 賳禺賵丕賴賲 乇賮鬲
January 16, 2015
As I say in , I wanted to write a parody of this wonderful book but was forced to admit defeat. Burton is too damn clever for a good parody to be possible. During my preliminary negotiations, I had however received a remarkable offer from Alfonso. A Burton parody without political incorrectness is unthinkable, and Alfonso bravely put himself forward to play the role of an evil blackamoor of hideous appearance.
It seems wrong that Alfonso's selfless devotion to literature should go unrewarded. I am therefore proud to present:
A Fragment of the Tale of Rashid al-Bhattan and al-Fonso the Maghrabi
Now there dwelt not far from the Caliph's court another foreigner, a Darwaysh from the Maghrib named al-Fonso, a powerful magician and geomancer; from his earliest age upwards he had been addicted to witchcraft and had studied and practiced every manner of occult science, for which unholy lore the city of Africa is notorious. And the Maghrabi possessed a seal ring, a signet that once had graced the hand of Solomon Davids-son; yet so woven about with secret spells and enchantments was it, that the Maghrabi could not avail himself of its familiar, for all his arts. But by his gramarye, the Maghrabi learned how it stood with Rashid, and he thought himself a scheme whereby he might bend the ring to his will. And one day, as Rashid left the Caliph's court, the Maghribi thrust himself in Rashid's way; and addressing him, he asked if he would learn the infallible method to win the favour of any woman, even the highest and most beautiful.
The Maghrabi was a hideous blackamoor, ill-favoured and foul with grease and grime, and Rashid laughed to hear his words, believing that he spoke in jest. But the Maghrabi spoke kindly to Rashid and flattered him and used all his charms to put him at his ease; and presently he took forth the ring and instructed him in its use, telling him that he had but to rub it to gain aught that he might want, but that only one of the Isles of the Setting Sun might thus constrain the Spirit of the Ring; and Rashid still doubting, the Maghrabi put the ring on Rashid's finger and told him to rub it. Rashid did as the Maghrabi bade; and instantly before him appeared a Marid. He trembled at the terrible sight; but, hearing the Slave of the Ring say, "Ask whatso thou wantest, verily, I am thy thrall, seeing that the signet of my lord be upon thy finger", he took courage. "Command the Marid," said the Maghrabi, "that he transport us to the Caliph's Harim." Rashid did as the Maghrabi said; "Hearing and obeying," replied the Marid, and smote the earth, so that it clave in two; and taking the Maghrabi under one arm and Rashid under the other, he bore them to the innermost sanctum of the Harim.
"Hide thyself in this closet," said the Maghrabi to Rashid, when they were arrived. "As soon as thou dost espy one of the Caliph's concubines, command the Marid to make me in all ways pleasing to her; then shalt thou see the true power of the Ring." Rashid did as the Maghrabi said; and no sooner had he concealed himself, than entered a girl high-bosomed and pleasing of face, slender-waisted and heavy of hip, of whom one might soothly say as the poet鹿
Notes
鹿 I use Lane's somewhat anaemic translation.
虏 The Breslau Edition adds some details concerning the excessive size of the Maghrabi's manhood; the wording leaves it unclear whether or not this can be ascribed to the influence of the Ring.
It seems wrong that Alfonso's selfless devotion to literature should go unrewarded. I am therefore proud to present:
A Fragment of the Tale of Rashid al-Bhattan and al-Fonso the Maghrabi
Now there dwelt not far from the Caliph's court another foreigner, a Darwaysh from the Maghrib named al-Fonso, a powerful magician and geomancer; from his earliest age upwards he had been addicted to witchcraft and had studied and practiced every manner of occult science, for which unholy lore the city of Africa is notorious. And the Maghrabi possessed a seal ring, a signet that once had graced the hand of Solomon Davids-son; yet so woven about with secret spells and enchantments was it, that the Maghrabi could not avail himself of its familiar, for all his arts. But by his gramarye, the Maghrabi learned how it stood with Rashid, and he thought himself a scheme whereby he might bend the ring to his will. And one day, as Rashid left the Caliph's court, the Maghribi thrust himself in Rashid's way; and addressing him, he asked if he would learn the infallible method to win the favour of any woman, even the highest and most beautiful.
The Maghrabi was a hideous blackamoor, ill-favoured and foul with grease and grime, and Rashid laughed to hear his words, believing that he spoke in jest. But the Maghrabi spoke kindly to Rashid and flattered him and used all his charms to put him at his ease; and presently he took forth the ring and instructed him in its use, telling him that he had but to rub it to gain aught that he might want, but that only one of the Isles of the Setting Sun might thus constrain the Spirit of the Ring; and Rashid still doubting, the Maghrabi put the ring on Rashid's finger and told him to rub it. Rashid did as the Maghrabi bade; and instantly before him appeared a Marid. He trembled at the terrible sight; but, hearing the Slave of the Ring say, "Ask whatso thou wantest, verily, I am thy thrall, seeing that the signet of my lord be upon thy finger", he took courage. "Command the Marid," said the Maghrabi, "that he transport us to the Caliph's Harim." Rashid did as the Maghrabi said; "Hearing and obeying," replied the Marid, and smote the earth, so that it clave in two; and taking the Maghrabi under one arm and Rashid under the other, he bore them to the innermost sanctum of the Harim.
"Hide thyself in this closet," said the Maghrabi to Rashid, when they were arrived. "As soon as thou dost espy one of the Caliph's concubines, command the Marid to make me in all ways pleasing to her; then shalt thou see the true power of the Ring." Rashid did as the Maghrabi said; and no sooner had he concealed himself, than entered a girl high-bosomed and pleasing of face, slender-waisted and heavy of hip, of whom one might soothly say as the poet鹿
Eyes like two stars and hair as black as nightShe glanced with displeasure on the Maghrabi; but Rashid, heeding the magician's rede, rubbed the ring and commanded the Marid. The Maghrabi spake some words to the girl; and instantly her aspect changed, and she did with goodly gree suffer the Maghrabi, for all his hideousness, to kiss her and toy with her, and presently to disrobe her of her gold-purfled dress and even of her petticoat-trousers and know her carnally虏, whereby she joyed with great joyance. "Now command the Marid to take us hence," said the Maghrabi without even making the Ghusl-ablution, for he was a Kafir; and again Rashid commanded the Marid, and they made good their escape, leaving the Caliph's concubine swooned on the ground.
Lips ruby red caught in a winsome pucker
So fair a maid I ween ne'er crossed my sight
To look on her is aye to wish to embrace her.
Notes
鹿 I use Lane's somewhat anaemic translation.
虏 The Breslau Edition adds some details concerning the excessive size of the Maghrabi's manhood; the wording leaves it unclear whether or not this can be ascribed to the influence of the Ring.
December 16, 2021
- Hey, do you like The Arabian nights?
- Sure! Loved this book as a kid. My favourite story is Aladdin!
- Um, it鈥檚 not in the original text and was written by a Frenchman Antoine Galland and then it was translated into Arabic and attempted to pass as an original text.
- Hmm. Well, then Ali Baba and the forty thieves. Love it!
- Um, same thing as with Aladdin鈥�
- Damn! Ok, I love Sinbad鈥檚 adventures! Ha!
- You see, it was a cycle of independent stories from 17-18th centuries. They are not in the original oldest Syrian manuscript we have now in the Biblioth猫que Nationale.
- The hell?? What are these stories then??
- Glad you asked!
This is the world of jealous murderous husbands, horny duplicitous wives, demons and sex. the surprising amount of sex... The colorful world of magic. The world of uncountable kings. You thought romance genre鈥檚 England has too many Dukes? Ha!
I really loved the first half of the book but by the end stories became too samey. Still it鈥檚 a recommend and this book makes a very fun reading experience.
This version is by Muhsin Mahdi based on the fourteenth- or fifteenth-century Syrian manuscript that is currently in the Biblioth猫que Nationale. Mahdi argued that this version is the earliest extant one (a view that is largely accepted today) and that it reflects most closely a "definitive" coherent text ancestral to all others that he believed to have existed during the Mamluk period (a view that remains contentious).
A few months later...
This book is quite extraordinary. While reading it, I am enjoying it, but I can never remember any further than the last two stories. And the spell is broken every time I close the book. They just refuse to stay in my head. I vaguely remember that there must be a prince, a sea voyage, betrayal/misfortune, some island in the middle of the sea with strange things happening on it, sometimes there's castle with virgins, and then return to Baghdad and becoming wealthy. And that's almost every story.
- Sure! Loved this book as a kid. My favourite story is Aladdin!
- Um, it鈥檚 not in the original text and was written by a Frenchman Antoine Galland and then it was translated into Arabic and attempted to pass as an original text.
- Hmm. Well, then Ali Baba and the forty thieves. Love it!
- Um, same thing as with Aladdin鈥�
- Damn! Ok, I love Sinbad鈥檚 adventures! Ha!
- You see, it was a cycle of independent stories from 17-18th centuries. They are not in the original oldest Syrian manuscript we have now in the Biblioth猫que Nationale.
- The hell?? What are these stories then??
- Glad you asked!
This is the world of jealous murderous husbands, horny duplicitous wives, demons and sex. the surprising amount of sex... The colorful world of magic. The world of uncountable kings. You thought romance genre鈥檚 England has too many Dukes? Ha!
I really loved the first half of the book but by the end stories became too samey. Still it鈥檚 a recommend and this book makes a very fun reading experience.
This version is by Muhsin Mahdi based on the fourteenth- or fifteenth-century Syrian manuscript that is currently in the Biblioth猫que Nationale. Mahdi argued that this version is the earliest extant one (a view that is largely accepted today) and that it reflects most closely a "definitive" coherent text ancestral to all others that he believed to have existed during the Mamluk period (a view that remains contentious).
A few months later...
This book is quite extraordinary. While reading it, I am enjoying it, but I can never remember any further than the last two stories. And the spell is broken every time I close the book. They just refuse to stay in my head. I vaguely remember that there must be a prince, a sea voyage, betrayal/misfortune, some island in the middle of the sea with strange things happening on it, sometimes there's castle with virgins, and then return to Baghdad and becoming wealthy. And that's almost every story.
December 17, 2020
In Urdu,this is called Alif Laila.These are familiar stories which enthralled me in my childhood.Also adapted as countless TV episodes and movies.
Fondly recall Pakistan television's series Alif Laila from the 1980s,which though made on a shoestring budget was great fun.
King Sheharyar takes a new wife each day and executes her the next day.The beautiful Sheherzade agrees to be his wife to stop him.
She tells him a story,and then another and still another.The king is so engrossed that he does not kill her.
Who can forget Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,Aladin's Magic Lamp and Sindbad the Sailor.
Cruelty and violence is certainly a theme,but the entertainment value is very much there.
Fondly recall Pakistan television's series Alif Laila from the 1980s,which though made on a shoestring budget was great fun.
King Sheharyar takes a new wife each day and executes her the next day.The beautiful Sheherzade agrees to be his wife to stop him.
She tells him a story,and then another and still another.The king is so engrossed that he does not kill her.
Who can forget Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,Aladin's Magic Lamp and Sindbad the Sailor.
Cruelty and violence is certainly a theme,but the entertainment value is very much there.
March 13, 2011
Oh, the wonders of literature! While reading this book I could not help but sing the songs or hum the tunes associated with the tales:
All of these 70+ (whew!) tales are framed into a story that Scheherazade is telling King Shahryar so that she will not be killed. The king and his brother have philandering wives who they have killed so the King does not want to have a wife anymore so he orders his vizier (assistant) to bring young pretty girls from the village and after one night of sex, the king orders his soldiers to kill the girl. To survive, the wise Scheherazade tells the 1001 tales, part-by-part. The king, so eager to know what comes next, decides not to kill her until all the tales are told.
I will not tell you if she gets eventually killed in the end.
鈾櫕鈾� A whole new worldI grew up with mostly Filipino komiks around me. Only my father loved reading books and we had very few (compared to what I have now) classics and contemporary books at home. My parents did not read to me when I was young. Those are the reasons why I missed all those children's books. So, reading these Tales from 1001 Nights a.k.a., The Arabian Nights was like going back to the komiks time in the province. You see, the story of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, although I read it just now, is so popular that we must all have seen it in movies, read in local adaptations as individual children's books or comics or even seen in TV ads. However, if you compare the original story to the Disney-produced movie, the carpet in the book does not fly. Rather, it just covers the distance between the entrance of the King's palace and Alladin's pavilion so that the princess, Lady Badar Al-Budur (maybe the equivalent of Princess Jasmine) will not walk on mud. The story is fantastic. I admire how the magician thinks: cunning and devious. I hate Alladin before he got rich particularly on his laziness and how he treats his old mother.
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming 鈾櫕鈾�
鈾櫕鈾� A-li-ba-ba... A-li-ba-ba... 鈾櫕鈾�I still remember the theme and my sister used to mimic it. Low key. She marches like a soldier and with eyes wide and scary. The other tale that I liked was Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves. Who would not remember ourselves shouting: Open Se-sa-me! when we saw a closed door when we were kids? Then expecting our mom or playmate to open it for us? Who says that this book treats women badly? In this tale, the maid Morgiana is so smart that she saves his master's (Ali Baba) life several times.
鈾櫕鈾� Sinbad the SailorI tried looking this up for lyrics but I think that there is a popular Hindi rock song with the same title. I remember the tune and I thought that it is similar to "Popeye the Sailor Man" or maybe as catchy as that. Well, the tale of Sinbad the Sailor is a short one and it talks about is mistake of killing his falcon. It is one of those tales inside another tale.
Sailing through the seas... 鈾櫕鈾�
All of these 70+ (whew!) tales are framed into a story that Scheherazade is telling King Shahryar so that she will not be killed. The king and his brother have philandering wives who they have killed so the King does not want to have a wife anymore so he orders his vizier (assistant) to bring young pretty girls from the village and after one night of sex, the king orders his soldiers to kill the girl. To survive, the wise Scheherazade tells the 1001 tales, part-by-part. The king, so eager to know what comes next, decides not to kill her until all the tales are told.
I will not tell you if she gets eventually killed in the end.
October 28, 2022
TW//
A few years back, I signed up for a course that was going to study this book. I was really looking forward to the course, but I ended up having to drop it right before the term started because of my health issues. I hung onto The Arabian Nights all this time because I thought maybe it鈥檇 be interesting. I really regret hanging onto it for this long...
The Arabian Nights is about a king who decides that women aren鈥檛 trustworthy, so to cope with this, he sleeps with a different woman each night and then kills them in the morning. A girl decides to outsmart the king. Her plan is to tell the king a series of interesting stories that end on cliffhangers so that he will want to know what comes next and will choose not to kill her.
I appreciated the history behind this book and why The Arabian Nights is important to a lot of people, but I just couldn鈥檛 look past the problematic things in this book, especially the misogyny. This book is filled with nonstop misogyny. The whole premise of this story wouldn鈥檛 take place without misogyny and almost every individual tale in this story not only hates on women but also kills them and injures them in the most gruesome ways. The misogyny isn鈥檛 even dealt with in respectful ways. The men who harm the women and hate on the women are often viewed as the heroes of the story. It鈥檚 awful. I understand that times were different when these stories first started being told, but these stories really do not hold up well with the modern times.
Besides the misogyny, I also struggled will how boring and repetitive this book was. The stories weren鈥檛 very fast paced or interesting and I often found myself struggling to stay awake while I was reading them. The whole format of this book also involved a few lines of text being repeated every "night." My edition had only 271 nights, so I only had to read these repeating lines 271 times, but I can鈥檛 even begin to imagine how annoyed I鈥檇 get with reading the same lines of text 1,001 times.
One of the few praises that I can give this book is that it鈥檚 fairly understandable for a classic. This probably has a lot to do with the translator of my edition. I鈥檓 sure other editions might be a little more confusing. The only parts of this text that I found confusing were the poems, which was no surprise that I found them confusing since I don鈥檛 really get along well with poems.
I don鈥檛 really recommend reading this book unless you enjoy reading slow paced classics. I feel like learning about the history of this story is enough. There鈥檚 really no need to read over 500 pages of nonstop misogyny.
I have one final thought on this book but it鈥檚 one that mentions sexual content, so proceed at your own risk.
I hate how this book deals with the topic of virginity. This happens in our current times, too, but it鈥檚 a nonstop theme throughout this book. Men are having sex nonstop, but women are expected to remain a virgin until marriage and men view it as a treat when women save their virginity for them. It鈥檚 gross and I hated to constantly have to read about this in The Arabian Nights.
A few years back, I signed up for a course that was going to study this book. I was really looking forward to the course, but I ended up having to drop it right before the term started because of my health issues. I hung onto The Arabian Nights all this time because I thought maybe it鈥檇 be interesting. I really regret hanging onto it for this long...
The Arabian Nights is about a king who decides that women aren鈥檛 trustworthy, so to cope with this, he sleeps with a different woman each night and then kills them in the morning. A girl decides to outsmart the king. Her plan is to tell the king a series of interesting stories that end on cliffhangers so that he will want to know what comes next and will choose not to kill her.
I appreciated the history behind this book and why The Arabian Nights is important to a lot of people, but I just couldn鈥檛 look past the problematic things in this book, especially the misogyny. This book is filled with nonstop misogyny. The whole premise of this story wouldn鈥檛 take place without misogyny and almost every individual tale in this story not only hates on women but also kills them and injures them in the most gruesome ways. The misogyny isn鈥檛 even dealt with in respectful ways. The men who harm the women and hate on the women are often viewed as the heroes of the story. It鈥檚 awful. I understand that times were different when these stories first started being told, but these stories really do not hold up well with the modern times.
Besides the misogyny, I also struggled will how boring and repetitive this book was. The stories weren鈥檛 very fast paced or interesting and I often found myself struggling to stay awake while I was reading them. The whole format of this book also involved a few lines of text being repeated every "night." My edition had only 271 nights, so I only had to read these repeating lines 271 times, but I can鈥檛 even begin to imagine how annoyed I鈥檇 get with reading the same lines of text 1,001 times.
One of the few praises that I can give this book is that it鈥檚 fairly understandable for a classic. This probably has a lot to do with the translator of my edition. I鈥檓 sure other editions might be a little more confusing. The only parts of this text that I found confusing were the poems, which was no surprise that I found them confusing since I don鈥檛 really get along well with poems.
I don鈥檛 really recommend reading this book unless you enjoy reading slow paced classics. I feel like learning about the history of this story is enough. There鈥檚 really no need to read over 500 pages of nonstop misogyny.
I have one final thought on this book but it鈥檚 one that mentions sexual content, so proceed at your own risk.
I hate how this book deals with the topic of virginity. This happens in our current times, too, but it鈥檚 a nonstop theme throughout this book. Men are having sex nonstop, but women are expected to remain a virgin until marriage and men view it as a treat when women save their virginity for them. It鈥檚 gross and I hated to constantly have to read about this in The Arabian Nights.
June 16, 2021
卮賴乇蹖丕乇 賵 卮丕賴鈥屫操呚з嗀� 丿賵 亘乇丕丿乇 賵 倬丕丿卮丕賴 丿賵 爻乇夭賲蹖賳 丿乇 賳夭丿蹖讴蹖 賴賲鈥屫з� 讴賴 賴乇 丿賵 亘丕 禺蹖丕賳鬲 賴賲爻乇丕賳卮賵賳 賲賵丕噩賴 賲蹖鈥屫促�. 卮丕賴鈥屫操呚з� 爻乇夭賲蹖賳卮 乇賵 鬲乇讴 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 賵 丕夭 賳丕乇丕丨鬲蹖 亘賴 亘乇丕丿乇卮 倬賳丕賴 賲蹖丕乇賴. 丕賲丕 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 禺卮賲卮 乇賵 丕蹖賳胤賵乇 丕亘乇丕夭 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 讴賴 丕賵賱 賴賲爻乇 禺丕卅賳卮 乇賵 賲蹖鈥屭┴促� 賵 亘毓丿 賴乇 卮亘 丿禺鬲乇蹖 亘丕讴乇賴 乇賵 亘賴 毓賯丿 禺賵丿 丿乇賲蹖鈥屫ж辟� 賵 賮乇丿丕蹖 丌賳 乇賵夭 丕賵賳 乇賵 賲蹖鈥屭┴促�.
丕蹖賳 乇賵賳丿 丌賳賯丿乇 丕丿丕賲賴 倬蹖丿丕 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 讴賴 丿乇 賳賴丕蹖鬲 丿禺鬲乇賴丕蹖 賵夭蹖乇 亘丕賯蹖 賲蹖鈥屬呝堎嗁�. 卮賴乇夭丕丿 賵 丿賳蹖丕夭丕丿. 賵夭蹖乇 丕夭 丕蹖賳讴賴 噩丕賳 丿禺鬲乇丕賳卮 丿乇 禺胤乇賴 鬲乇爻蹖丿賴 丕賲丕 卮賴乇夭丕丿 讴賴 丿禺鬲乇 亘夭乇诏鬲乇賴 禺蹖丕賱 倬丿乇 乇賵 乇丕丨鬲 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 賵 丕夭 丕賵 賲蹖鈥屫堌ж� 亘賴 丕蹖賳 毓賯丿 丕噩丕夭賴 亘丿賴. 卮亘 丕賵賱 鬲賵蹖 丨噩賱賴 卮賴乇夭丕丿 亘賴 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 賲蹖鈥屭� 讴賴 禺賵丕賴乇賲 丿賳蹖丕夭丕丿 賴賲蹖卮賴 亘丕 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏й� 賲賳 賲蹖鈥屫堌жㄙ�. 丕噩丕夭賴 亘丿賴 讴賴 亘賴 毓賳賵丕賳 丌禺乇蹖賳 卮亘 賴賲 亘乇丕卮 賯氐賴 亘诏賲. 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 賯亘賵賱 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 丕賲丕 噩匕丕亘蹖鬲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 賵 賳丨賵賴 鬲毓乇蹖賮 讴乇丿賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 亘賴 賯丿乇蹖 亘乇丕蹖 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 讴卮卮 丿丕乇賴 讴賴 丕賵賳 乇賵 賲噩丕亘 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 丿乇 卮亘鈥屬囏й� 丿蹖诏賴 賴賲 亘賴卮 賮乇氐鬲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屭堐屰� 亘丿賴. 丕蹖賳 賯氐賴 诏賮鬲賳 賴丕 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 胤賵賱 賲蹖鈥屭┴促�. 鬲賵蹖 丕蹖賳 賲丿鬲 卮賴乇夭丕丿 鄢 鬲丕 倬爻乇 亘乇丕蹖 卮丕賴 丿賳蹖丕 賲蹖丕乇賴 賵 丌賳賯丿乇 乇賵蹖 乇賵丨蹖丕鬲 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 丕孬乇 賲孬亘鬲 賲蹖鈥屫柏ж辟� 讴賴 丕賵賳 丕夭 讴卮鬲賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 賵 亘賯蹖賴 丿禺鬲乇賴丕 賲賳氐乇賮 賲蹖卮賴 賵 丿賵亘丕乇賴 亘賴 噩賳爻 夭賳賴丕 丕賲蹖丿賵丕乇 賲蹖卮賴. :)
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丕蹖賳 馗丕賴乇 讴鬲丕亘 "賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘" 亘賵丿. 丿乇亘丕乇賴 亘丕胤賳卮 亘賯蹖賴 丿賵爻鬲丕賳 丨乇賮丕蹖 讴丕賲賱蹖 诏賮鬲賳 讴賴 禺賵亘賴 亘禺賵賳蹖丿.
丕蹖賳 乇賵賳丿 丌賳賯丿乇 丕丿丕賲賴 倬蹖丿丕 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 讴賴 丿乇 賳賴丕蹖鬲 丿禺鬲乇賴丕蹖 賵夭蹖乇 亘丕賯蹖 賲蹖鈥屬呝堎嗁�. 卮賴乇夭丕丿 賵 丿賳蹖丕夭丕丿. 賵夭蹖乇 丕夭 丕蹖賳讴賴 噩丕賳 丿禺鬲乇丕賳卮 丿乇 禺胤乇賴 鬲乇爻蹖丿賴 丕賲丕 卮賴乇夭丕丿 讴賴 丿禺鬲乇 亘夭乇诏鬲乇賴 禺蹖丕賱 倬丿乇 乇賵 乇丕丨鬲 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 賵 丕夭 丕賵 賲蹖鈥屫堌ж� 亘賴 丕蹖賳 毓賯丿 丕噩丕夭賴 亘丿賴. 卮亘 丕賵賱 鬲賵蹖 丨噩賱賴 卮賴乇夭丕丿 亘賴 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 賲蹖鈥屭� 讴賴 禺賵丕賴乇賲 丿賳蹖丕夭丕丿 賴賲蹖卮賴 亘丕 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏й� 賲賳 賲蹖鈥屫堌жㄙ�. 丕噩丕夭賴 亘丿賴 讴賴 亘賴 毓賳賵丕賳 丌禺乇蹖賳 卮亘 賴賲 亘乇丕卮 賯氐賴 亘诏賲. 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 賯亘賵賱 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 丕賲丕 噩匕丕亘蹖鬲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屬囏� 賵 賳丨賵賴 鬲毓乇蹖賮 讴乇丿賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 亘賴 賯丿乇蹖 亘乇丕蹖 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 讴卮卮 丿丕乇賴 讴賴 丕賵賳 乇賵 賲噩丕亘 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗁� 丿乇 卮亘鈥屬囏й� 丿蹖诏賴 賴賲 亘賴卮 賮乇氐鬲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳鈥屭堐屰� 亘丿賴. 丕蹖賳 賯氐賴 诏賮鬲賳 賴丕 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 胤賵賱 賲蹖鈥屭┴促�. 鬲賵蹖 丕蹖賳 賲丿鬲 卮賴乇夭丕丿 鄢 鬲丕 倬爻乇 亘乇丕蹖 卮丕賴 丿賳蹖丕 賲蹖丕乇賴 賵 丌賳賯丿乇 乇賵蹖 乇賵丨蹖丕鬲 卮賴乇蹖丕乇 丕孬乇 賲孬亘鬲 賲蹖鈥屫柏ж辟� 讴賴 丕賵賳 丕夭 讴卮鬲賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 賵 亘賯蹖賴 丿禺鬲乇賴丕 賲賳氐乇賮 賲蹖卮賴 賵 丿賵亘丕乇賴 亘賴 噩賳爻 夭賳賴丕 丕賲蹖丿賵丕乇 賲蹖卮賴. :)
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丕蹖賳 馗丕賴乇 讴鬲丕亘 "賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘" 亘賵丿. 丿乇亘丕乇賴 亘丕胤賳卮 亘賯蹖賴 丿賵爻鬲丕賳 丨乇賮丕蹖 讴丕賲賱蹖 诏賮鬲賳 讴賴 禺賵亘賴 亘禺賵賳蹖丿.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2016
A Story to Save a Live
The beauty of the stories and the poetry of the thought that most destructive demons can be tamed back with a few stories was fascinating to me even when I first saw the serialized version on tv. What I didn鈥檛 realized was that the stories Scheherazade, that great goddess of story tellers and inventor of cliff-hangings, told the king weren鈥檛 as random but had an order in themselves.
This book has made Scherzade my favorite superhero 鈥� superhero was the word we use for one who risk one鈥檚 life for others, don鈥檛 we? I mean we like Doctor Who for he won鈥檛 use weapons 鈥� and yet the enemies he fought weren鈥檛 in any way real. What Scherzade had to fight was real, and after centuries of her single victory continues unfortunately to remain real 鈥� lack of trust among sexes.
Sheriyar is misogyny humanized. There is another famous collection of stories called 鈥楾ota Maine ke kise鈥� from same regions (Iraq, Iran, India etc) which comprise of a parrot and she-parrot who are in love. The frame story is simple. The parrot would say mynah is sure to cheat him and would back that prediction with a story where a woman cheated on her lover. Mynah, in her turn, would say it is parrot who is sure to cheat her and will back that up with a story of how some man cheated on his lover. Then parrot would come back with another story 鈥� and this exchange of accusations will go on and on. A similar conversation takes place between Shylock鈥檚 daughter and her lover towards the end of 鈥楳erchant of Venice鈥�.
Sheriyar is the result of this mistrust among sexes. In a short time, he comes across three cases of adulatory committed by three women, including one by his own wife, and generalizes to the whole of the fair sex. Remember how Hamlet concluded 鈥楩railty thy鈥︹€� after seeing frailty of a single woman (his mother). A person who is suffering because he thinks he is cheated can be quite suggestible (Othello) . And a generalization can be temting.
The parrot and she-parrot were afraid of how vulnerable they are making themselves to other鈥檚 injuries. Sheriyar has developed this fear after being cheated his wife. His Black Widower鈥檚 wish, to kill his spouse the morning after marriage, is height of this mistrust.
And Sherzade is the beauty who tamed this beast. She did this 鈥� she fought away her death - the literal sword of her own father a few hours away from being forced to cut her head; with armor of a pleasant smile on her lips and the weapon of story on her tongue. And she does that. Repeatedly. For a thousand and one nights.
In the play I鈥檒l teach the King
Not the play but through the stories (repetitive Shakespearean references are coincidental). A tyrant can鈥檛 be reasoned with directly. Same goes for a prejudiced person - prejudice is by very definition refusal to reconsider the already reached false conclusions. Now imagine prejudiced tyrants. Scherzade knew this well enough. Instead, she used her stories to make king see the truth. The change of heart, which the king admitted to on the thousand and the first night, wasn鈥檛 born all of sudden but came out of efforts of last thousand nights 鈥� over which she gradually changed the opinion of the king.
And it is the way she changed king鈥檚 opinion that I love so much. As good as the stories are in themselves, they carry a trend. One of the very first story, Scherzade told the king 鈥� was about a wicked woman, but a woman made wicked by jealousy against his husband鈥檚 new wife. May be the king understood her jealousy, maybe he didn鈥檛.
Then you come across the story of a king, suffering from misfortune caused by an adulterous wife 鈥� a king not unlike Scheriyar, may be Scheherazade is simply saying what king would love to hear 鈥� but look carefully, and you will notice that the villain wife suddenly gets a voice. Even though she was beheaded, the wife in the story did get a say 鈥� love of an adultress woman is love still. You see what Scherzade did.
Move a little ahead and roles are reversed. Now we meet a woman who has to suffer on account of meaningless jealousy of her husband 鈥� a husband who doesn鈥檛 want her to show his face in public. Her husband is made to repent in the end. (There is a similar story towards the end, except there it is husband suffering of his wife鈥檚 jealousy.)
So now you see the trend. There is soon a story in which a king Haroon is at fault 鈥� making people suffer with his tyrannies 鈥� but he is quick to repent upon realizing the mistake 鈥� and even makes up for the loss of these people. Did you get you lesson, Sheriyar?
And so it goes on. One story actually involved a prince who has formed a bad opinion regarding all women kind from all the mischief caused by them that he read about in his books. His mother, the queen asked him to think about all the tyrant kings that the world has and what they have done to the women over centuries (I can imagine Scheherazade having her tongue in her cheek when she must have narrated the scene)
Later on, Scheherazade diverts to stories about how married women have fun at the expense of their wanna-be-lovers.
The last story is that of a woman 鈥� Ulysses and Penlope combined into one woman, who goes out on a difficult journey while maintaining her loyality to her husband against all the suitors.
Gradually, the stories change to afford a better position for women and while also reminding the king that even King can make mistakes 鈥� and how much more troublesome are their mistakes than that of an ordinary person. There are a few stories (e.g. Sindbad) where the issue of friction between sexes is not raised but the general trend is too good to miss. In fact, very first few pages you find a remark by a woman (other than Scherzade) about futility of keeping women under lock. In Aladin鈥檚 story, it is the princess who kills the bad guy (and her name is not Jasmine 鈥� Sherzade got that wrong, Disney knew better.) In Ali Baba鈥檚 story, it is a woman, avery, very clever woman who kills all the forty thieves.
While we are talking about fighting prejudice 鈥� a good reason for people to read it to observe how lightly the veil is used by women. Women, who wear vile while being out, are shown at liberty and often chose to show their face to whoever they wish to. (They often do it for the guy, even if he is a stranger, they found handsome who in turn is almost always 鈥榩ierced鈥� by their beauty.) Not only that, there are a lot of night parties and extra-marital kissing. Yes, there are strict and overprotective fathers but I mean that goes everywhere. Then in at least one place, there is a remark on regarding how the judges are too strict regarding how women should behave. (It is surprising these same judges had nothing to say about drinking wine or when their king had more than four wives.) Moreover, there seems to be no way men can cheat their wives - men are permitted marry multiple times and can have sex with slaves under Islam (like other religions) but women are not - this means men can not cheat on their wives.
Celebrating the art of Storytelliing
There are a number of techniques used by the Scheherazade 鈥� cliff hangings, repetitive characters (king Haroon and his wife, Zobeida) story-within-story (at times story-within-story-within-story-within-story) etc. One time Scheherazade forgets a part of narrative and have to retreat to cover that part.
Cliff-hangings though were never that important and never that close to being figurative. Here they are saving lives 鈥� the stakes on which Scherzade bargains to get another day of life.
Regarding the story-within-story thing, you may claim that too many of the stories are told by characters trying to save lives. But look at Scheherazade, the original story teller. Isn鈥檛 she doing the same? Won鈥檛 her psychology affect her stories? And it is the most excellent part 鈥� that story-teller and the listener are both part of the story; you get most out of it when you think about how their minds are involved in and are affected by the stories. Just imagine the thoughts that Sheriyar would carry in his mind at the end of each story.
There is a criticism that some of stories are too similar 鈥� but you see it is because of the central theme. And I mean how much diversity you can wish for? There are love stories 鈥揵oth comedies and tragedies, stories of adventures, stories of genies, humorous stories (especially the one about tailor), criminal stories, stories of suddenly found treasures. There is one short story about the three brothers who can reason backwards 鈥� a little like Sherlock Holmes. Given its time, the stories show remarkable diversity.
In one weird story, a woman disguised as her own husband marries another woman. Latter this second woman marries husband of first. Weird enough? Wait till the two women find a crush for each other鈥檚 sons.
Antisemitism, Racism and Body Shaming
From beautiful to ugly ... There is a lot of (much more than you can imagine) antisemitism, racism and body shaming specially in first 200 or so pages, especially for a book trying to fight prejudice. All wicked wizards are African, Jew, Worshiper of fire or Hindu. All cheating merchants are Jews. It probably speaks as much about powerful men鈥檚 sexual jealousies as about slavery, that a lot of slaves were eunuchs. The filthy tradition of eunuchs was not limited to Arabia though.
Some female slaves do seem to gain independence and are lawfully married - but that is a fairy tale sort of thing. The terrible treatment of a hunch-back in particular made me stop reading it for a month.
I don鈥檛 believe in cultural, temporal or spatial relativism; so I won't defend the book. I just took away six stars from my rating. It was already twenty-nine stars.
Some advice if you chose to live in medieval Persia
The beauty of the stories and the poetry of the thought that most destructive demons can be tamed back with a few stories was fascinating to me even when I first saw the serialized version on tv. What I didn鈥檛 realized was that the stories Scheherazade, that great goddess of story tellers and inventor of cliff-hangings, told the king weren鈥檛 as random but had an order in themselves.
This book has made Scherzade my favorite superhero 鈥� superhero was the word we use for one who risk one鈥檚 life for others, don鈥檛 we? I mean we like Doctor Who for he won鈥檛 use weapons 鈥� and yet the enemies he fought weren鈥檛 in any way real. What Scherzade had to fight was real, and after centuries of her single victory continues unfortunately to remain real 鈥� lack of trust among sexes.
Sheriyar is misogyny humanized. There is another famous collection of stories called 鈥楾ota Maine ke kise鈥� from same regions (Iraq, Iran, India etc) which comprise of a parrot and she-parrot who are in love. The frame story is simple. The parrot would say mynah is sure to cheat him and would back that prediction with a story where a woman cheated on her lover. Mynah, in her turn, would say it is parrot who is sure to cheat her and will back that up with a story of how some man cheated on his lover. Then parrot would come back with another story 鈥� and this exchange of accusations will go on and on. A similar conversation takes place between Shylock鈥檚 daughter and her lover towards the end of 鈥楳erchant of Venice鈥�.
Sheriyar is the result of this mistrust among sexes. In a short time, he comes across three cases of adulatory committed by three women, including one by his own wife, and generalizes to the whole of the fair sex. Remember how Hamlet concluded 鈥楩railty thy鈥︹€� after seeing frailty of a single woman (his mother). A person who is suffering because he thinks he is cheated can be quite suggestible (Othello) . And a generalization can be temting.
The parrot and she-parrot were afraid of how vulnerable they are making themselves to other鈥檚 injuries. Sheriyar has developed this fear after being cheated his wife. His Black Widower鈥檚 wish, to kill his spouse the morning after marriage, is height of this mistrust.
And Sherzade is the beauty who tamed this beast. She did this 鈥� she fought away her death - the literal sword of her own father a few hours away from being forced to cut her head; with armor of a pleasant smile on her lips and the weapon of story on her tongue. And she does that. Repeatedly. For a thousand and one nights.
In the play I鈥檒l teach the King
Not the play but through the stories (repetitive Shakespearean references are coincidental). A tyrant can鈥檛 be reasoned with directly. Same goes for a prejudiced person - prejudice is by very definition refusal to reconsider the already reached false conclusions. Now imagine prejudiced tyrants. Scherzade knew this well enough. Instead, she used her stories to make king see the truth. The change of heart, which the king admitted to on the thousand and the first night, wasn鈥檛 born all of sudden but came out of efforts of last thousand nights 鈥� over which she gradually changed the opinion of the king.
And it is the way she changed king鈥檚 opinion that I love so much. As good as the stories are in themselves, they carry a trend. One of the very first story, Scherzade told the king 鈥� was about a wicked woman, but a woman made wicked by jealousy against his husband鈥檚 new wife. May be the king understood her jealousy, maybe he didn鈥檛.
Then you come across the story of a king, suffering from misfortune caused by an adulterous wife 鈥� a king not unlike Scheriyar, may be Scheherazade is simply saying what king would love to hear 鈥� but look carefully, and you will notice that the villain wife suddenly gets a voice. Even though she was beheaded, the wife in the story did get a say 鈥� love of an adultress woman is love still. You see what Scherzade did.
Move a little ahead and roles are reversed. Now we meet a woman who has to suffer on account of meaningless jealousy of her husband 鈥� a husband who doesn鈥檛 want her to show his face in public. Her husband is made to repent in the end. (There is a similar story towards the end, except there it is husband suffering of his wife鈥檚 jealousy.)
So now you see the trend. There is soon a story in which a king Haroon is at fault 鈥� making people suffer with his tyrannies 鈥� but he is quick to repent upon realizing the mistake 鈥� and even makes up for the loss of these people. Did you get you lesson, Sheriyar?
And so it goes on. One story actually involved a prince who has formed a bad opinion regarding all women kind from all the mischief caused by them that he read about in his books. His mother, the queen asked him to think about all the tyrant kings that the world has and what they have done to the women over centuries (I can imagine Scheherazade having her tongue in her cheek when she must have narrated the scene)
Later on, Scheherazade diverts to stories about how married women have fun at the expense of their wanna-be-lovers.
The last story is that of a woman 鈥� Ulysses and Penlope combined into one woman, who goes out on a difficult journey while maintaining her loyality to her husband against all the suitors.
Gradually, the stories change to afford a better position for women and while also reminding the king that even King can make mistakes 鈥� and how much more troublesome are their mistakes than that of an ordinary person. There are a few stories (e.g. Sindbad) where the issue of friction between sexes is not raised but the general trend is too good to miss. In fact, very first few pages you find a remark by a woman (other than Scherzade) about futility of keeping women under lock. In Aladin鈥檚 story, it is the princess who kills the bad guy (and her name is not Jasmine 鈥� Sherzade got that wrong, Disney knew better.) In Ali Baba鈥檚 story, it is a woman, avery, very clever woman who kills all the forty thieves.
While we are talking about fighting prejudice 鈥� a good reason for people to read it to observe how lightly the veil is used by women. Women, who wear vile while being out, are shown at liberty and often chose to show their face to whoever they wish to. (They often do it for the guy, even if he is a stranger, they found handsome who in turn is almost always 鈥榩ierced鈥� by their beauty.) Not only that, there are a lot of night parties and extra-marital kissing. Yes, there are strict and overprotective fathers but I mean that goes everywhere. Then in at least one place, there is a remark on regarding how the judges are too strict regarding how women should behave. (It is surprising these same judges had nothing to say about drinking wine or when their king had more than four wives.) Moreover, there seems to be no way men can cheat their wives - men are permitted marry multiple times and can have sex with slaves under Islam (like other religions) but women are not - this means men can not cheat on their wives.
Celebrating the art of Storytelliing
There are a number of techniques used by the Scheherazade 鈥� cliff hangings, repetitive characters (king Haroon and his wife, Zobeida) story-within-story (at times story-within-story-within-story-within-story) etc. One time Scheherazade forgets a part of narrative and have to retreat to cover that part.
Cliff-hangings though were never that important and never that close to being figurative. Here they are saving lives 鈥� the stakes on which Scherzade bargains to get another day of life.
Regarding the story-within-story thing, you may claim that too many of the stories are told by characters trying to save lives. But look at Scheherazade, the original story teller. Isn鈥檛 she doing the same? Won鈥檛 her psychology affect her stories? And it is the most excellent part 鈥� that story-teller and the listener are both part of the story; you get most out of it when you think about how their minds are involved in and are affected by the stories. Just imagine the thoughts that Sheriyar would carry in his mind at the end of each story.
There is a criticism that some of stories are too similar 鈥� but you see it is because of the central theme. And I mean how much diversity you can wish for? There are love stories 鈥揵oth comedies and tragedies, stories of adventures, stories of genies, humorous stories (especially the one about tailor), criminal stories, stories of suddenly found treasures. There is one short story about the three brothers who can reason backwards 鈥� a little like Sherlock Holmes. Given its time, the stories show remarkable diversity.
In one weird story, a woman disguised as her own husband marries another woman. Latter this second woman marries husband of first. Weird enough? Wait till the two women find a crush for each other鈥檚 sons.
Antisemitism, Racism and Body Shaming
From beautiful to ugly ... There is a lot of (much more than you can imagine) antisemitism, racism and body shaming specially in first 200 or so pages, especially for a book trying to fight prejudice. All wicked wizards are African, Jew, Worshiper of fire or Hindu. All cheating merchants are Jews. It probably speaks as much about powerful men鈥檚 sexual jealousies as about slavery, that a lot of slaves were eunuchs. The filthy tradition of eunuchs was not limited to Arabia though.
Some female slaves do seem to gain independence and are lawfully married - but that is a fairy tale sort of thing. The terrible treatment of a hunch-back in particular made me stop reading it for a month.
I don鈥檛 believe in cultural, temporal or spatial relativism; so I won't defend the book. I just took away six stars from my rating. It was already twenty-nine stars.
Some advice if you chose to live in medieval Persia
October 24, 2007
This edition is a translation of the first 271 nights from the "1001 Nights" cycle.
One of my favorite aspects of this work is the role of Shahrazad. While many people discuss that she is telling the stories to save her own life, what people fail to recognize many times is that, really, she volunteers to be placed in the position in order to save her kingdom. She's a great literary heroine--saving the world through storytelling.
It also provides a great lens into a world that today is depicted in US media as a wartorn hotbed for terrorist activity. For me it was a reminder that Bagdhad used to be a beautiful, opulent city and cultural center.
Anyone with an interest in storytelling, folklore, or the culture of Persia and the Arabian world should check out this work. Although I have no other translations for comparison, I think that this one is excellent. I found it readable, but with important words and names left untranslated. Also, Haddawy isn't afraid to describe sexual situations plainly, without overly poetic euphamisms.
One of my favorite aspects of this work is the role of Shahrazad. While many people discuss that she is telling the stories to save her own life, what people fail to recognize many times is that, really, she volunteers to be placed in the position in order to save her kingdom. She's a great literary heroine--saving the world through storytelling.
It also provides a great lens into a world that today is depicted in US media as a wartorn hotbed for terrorist activity. For me it was a reminder that Bagdhad used to be a beautiful, opulent city and cultural center.
Anyone with an interest in storytelling, folklore, or the culture of Persia and the Arabian world should check out this work. Although I have no other translations for comparison, I think that this one is excellent. I found it readable, but with important words and names left untranslated. Also, Haddawy isn't afraid to describe sexual situations plainly, without overly poetic euphamisms.
February 1, 2016
I really need a 2.5 stars option, though I would end up using it on three-fourths of everything. As a generic, I can neither recommend nor disavow this book.
Okay so the beloved Arabian Nights, tales from a thousand and one nights. I should start with what this is NOT. This is not a linear story about a princess telling stories to a king. This is not a children's read involving genies, magic, and cyclopi (I refuse to spell this any other way, no matter the red line beneath it). This IS a collection of stories, probably oral traditions, dating back from ancient times.
Taken on their own, many of the stories are quite fascinating. Unfortunately, as a straight through read, I quickly became bored. The stories are, with some notable exceptions, more or less the same.
"There's a beautiful girl whose eyes were like moonbeams, her lips were the color of coral, and as fresh, and she astounded with amazing astoundness all who beheld her. But she had no interest in being married, and her father the king, though he doted on her, could not accept this and so he locked her up. But on the other side of the world, there's a handsome gent whose eyes burned like saucers of the sun, his lips were sweeter than the nectar that camels walked thousands of miles to obtain and carry back, and his hair floated like all the Towers of Babylon. He, also, had no interest in being married, truly he said to HIS father the other king, "I have no interest in being married," and though his father was wroth and consulted his Wazir extensively, no plan was made. Then deus-ex-machina style, there are two omnipotent Djinnis that decide to compare the two and yadda yadda yadda. They get married." But, says the meta-princess, who is meta-telling the meta-king these stories so she doesn't get mega-decapitated, this story is not more fascinating than the other girl and guy who get screwed over, but fall in love anyway, and so on.
Congrats, you have had the Arabian Nights experience!
In short, this book, quaint translation included (he joyed with exceeding joyness!), is something that you'd have to keep by your bedside for several years. Reading one story a week, lest you get tired of it. Unfortunately it's not good enough to keep by your bedside for several years, so where does that leave it? 2.5 stars, baby.
Get from library. Read a few so you can be edumacated. Write a witty review. Have ten times more fun watching Aladdin.
Oh and I found this particular footnote moderately hilarious: "Four wives are allowed by Moslem law and for this reason. If you marry one wife she holds herself your equal, answers you and "gives herself airs"; two are always quarreling and making a hell of the house; three are "no company" and two of them always combine against the nicest to make her hours bitter. Four are company; they can quarrel and "make it up" amongst themselves, and the husband enjoys comparative peace."
Okay so the beloved Arabian Nights, tales from a thousand and one nights. I should start with what this is NOT. This is not a linear story about a princess telling stories to a king. This is not a children's read involving genies, magic, and cyclopi (I refuse to spell this any other way, no matter the red line beneath it). This IS a collection of stories, probably oral traditions, dating back from ancient times.
Taken on their own, many of the stories are quite fascinating. Unfortunately, as a straight through read, I quickly became bored. The stories are, with some notable exceptions, more or less the same.
"There's a beautiful girl whose eyes were like moonbeams, her lips were the color of coral, and as fresh, and she astounded with amazing astoundness all who beheld her. But she had no interest in being married, and her father the king, though he doted on her, could not accept this and so he locked her up. But on the other side of the world, there's a handsome gent whose eyes burned like saucers of the sun, his lips were sweeter than the nectar that camels walked thousands of miles to obtain and carry back, and his hair floated like all the Towers of Babylon. He, also, had no interest in being married, truly he said to HIS father the other king, "I have no interest in being married," and though his father was wroth and consulted his Wazir extensively, no plan was made. Then deus-ex-machina style, there are two omnipotent Djinnis that decide to compare the two and yadda yadda yadda. They get married." But, says the meta-princess, who is meta-telling the meta-king these stories so she doesn't get mega-decapitated, this story is not more fascinating than the other girl and guy who get screwed over, but fall in love anyway, and so on.
Congrats, you have had the Arabian Nights experience!
In short, this book, quaint translation included (he joyed with exceeding joyness!), is something that you'd have to keep by your bedside for several years. Reading one story a week, lest you get tired of it. Unfortunately it's not good enough to keep by your bedside for several years, so where does that leave it? 2.5 stars, baby.
Get from library. Read a few so you can be edumacated. Write a witty review. Have ten times more fun watching Aladdin.
Oh and I found this particular footnote moderately hilarious: "Four wives are allowed by Moslem law and for this reason. If you marry one wife she holds herself your equal, answers you and "gives herself airs"; two are always quarreling and making a hell of the house; three are "no company" and two of them always combine against the nicest to make her hours bitter. Four are company; they can quarrel and "make it up" amongst themselves, and the husband enjoys comparative peace."
January 13, 2015
What you thought was the Arabian Nights was more likely Richard Burton's bastardized, inflated 19th-century adaptation, which was as much about Richard Burton (and his weird ideas about sex) as it was about Arabia.
Which is sortof neither here nor there; there is no canonical version of Arabian Nights anyway. It's just an umbrella term for, basically, all of the Middle East's favorite stories. And if the version that heavily influenced guys like Borges was Burton's, isn't Burton's version the one that's a cornerstone of Western fiction? Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves is not in the original, is what I'm saying, and this is a text where the quest for an official version is in some ways doomed and pointless.
But that doesn't stop me from being all twitchy about it, because I'm an obsessive dork; I wanted to get as close as I could to the original, canonical Arabian Nights. And here it is: Husain Haddawy has gone back to the oldest surviving version, from 14th-century Syria. It is filthy.
Lots of fucking, is what these stories have. It's all very Decameron. And they're great! Extremely convoluted: frequently Shahrazad will tell a story in which someone else tells a story about a third guy telling a story, so you're all wrapped up in multiple layers of story, which isn't really as confusing as it sounds. Well, sometimes it's a little confusing. But it's always, always entertaining. There are no misses in this book at all.
Haddawy's translation is good, except for his poetry, of which there's quite a bit; for all I know the original poetry was itself terrible, but it seems more likely that it's Haddawy's fault. I ended up skimming or outright skipping all the verse; it's usually not plot-related and it's never any good.
This is one of the most important books ever written, despite its not really being a book and also not exactly having been written, and it's incredibly fun stuff. Get psyched: this is the shit.
Which is sortof neither here nor there; there is no canonical version of Arabian Nights anyway. It's just an umbrella term for, basically, all of the Middle East's favorite stories. And if the version that heavily influenced guys like Borges was Burton's, isn't Burton's version the one that's a cornerstone of Western fiction? Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves is not in the original, is what I'm saying, and this is a text where the quest for an official version is in some ways doomed and pointless.
But that doesn't stop me from being all twitchy about it, because I'm an obsessive dork; I wanted to get as close as I could to the original, canonical Arabian Nights. And here it is: Husain Haddawy has gone back to the oldest surviving version, from 14th-century Syria. It is filthy.
Lots of fucking, is what these stories have. It's all very Decameron. And they're great! Extremely convoluted: frequently Shahrazad will tell a story in which someone else tells a story about a third guy telling a story, so you're all wrapped up in multiple layers of story, which isn't really as confusing as it sounds. Well, sometimes it's a little confusing. But it's always, always entertaining. There are no misses in this book at all.
Haddawy's translation is good, except for his poetry, of which there's quite a bit; for all I know the original poetry was itself terrible, but it seems more likely that it's Haddawy's fault. I ended up skimming or outright skipping all the verse; it's usually not plot-related and it's never any good.
This is one of the most important books ever written, despite its not really being a book and also not exactly having been written, and it's incredibly fun stuff. Get psyched: this is the shit.
April 6, 2012
The Arabian Nights / 0-486-22289-6
I'm a bit of an "Thousand Nights" enthusiast -- I enjoy the stories immensely and I have four separate translations in my personal library. Several friends have asked me to discuss the differences between the editions, so I thought I'd present a four-way comparison and then talk about which version is best for which audience.
For the purposes of the four-way comparison, I will draw text from the opening tale of the two kingly brothers in order to highlight how each popular version handles "adult" content and racial content.
-- The Tale of King Shahryar and of his Brother, King Shahzaman --
Now there were in the King's palace certain windows that looked on to the garden, and, as King Shahzaman leaned there and looked out, the door of the palace opened and twenty women slaves with twenty men slaves came from it; and the wife of the King, his brother, was among them and walked there in all her bright beauty. When they came to the pool of a fountain they all undressed and mingled one with another. Suddenly, on the King's wife crying: 'O Masud! Ya Masud!', a gigantic negro ran towards her, embraced her, and, turning her upon her back, enjoyed her. At this signal, all the other men slaves did the same with the women and they continued thus a long while, not ceasing their kisses and embraces and goings in and the like until the approach of dawn.
-- Madrus & Mathers edition
-- The Tale of King Shahriar and of his Brother, King Shahzenan --
One day, Shahriar had started on a great hunting match, about two days' journey from his capital; but Shahzenan, pleading ill health, was left behind. He shut himself up in his apartment, and sat down at a window that looked into the garden. Suddenly a secret gate of the palace opened, and there came out of it twenty women, in the midst of whom walked the Sultaness. The persons who accompanied the Sultaness threw off their veils and long robes, and Shahzenan was greatly surprised when he saw that ten of them were black slaves, each of whom chose a female companion. The Sultaness clapped her hands, and called: "Masoud, Masoud!" and immediately a black came running to her; and they all remained conversing familiarly together.
-- Muhsin al-Musawi edition
-- The Tale of King Schahriar and of his Brother, King Schahzeman --
Now the Sultan Schahriar had a wife whom he loved more than all the world, and his greatest happiness was to surround her with splendour, and to give her the finest dresses and the most beautiful jewels. It was therefore with the deepest shame and sorrow that he accidentally discovered, after several years, that she had deceived him completely, and her whole conduct turned out to have been so bad, that he felt himself obliged to carry out the law of the land, and order the grand-vizir to put her to death.
-- Lang edition
-- The Tale of King Shahryar and of his Brother, King Shah Zaman --
Thereupon Shah Zaman drew back from the window, but he kept the bevy in sight espying them from a place whence he could not be espied. They walked under the very lattice and advanced a little way into the garden till they came to a jetting fountain amiddlemost a great basin of water; then they stripped off their clothes and behold, ten of them were women, concubines of the King, and the other ten were white slaves. Then they all paired off, each with each: but the Queen, who was left alone, presently cried out in a loud voice, "Here to me, O my lord Saeed!" and then sprang with a drop leap from one of the trees a big slobbering blackamoor with rolling eyes which showed the whites, a truly hideous sight. He walked boldly up to her and threw his arms round her neck while she embraced him as warmly; then he bussed her and winding his legs round hers, as a button loop clasps a button, he threw her and enjoyed her.
-- Burton edition
-------
For my money, the superior volume by far is the Madrus & Mathers edition. The editor and translator have deliberately worked the translation to be as readable to the English eye as possible, even making judicious choices about where to refrain from using diacritical points (single quote sound points, as in 'ain) in order to ease the reading experience. They've made a concerted effort to retain the adult content without being lewd, the racial content without descending into offensive caricature, the poetic content without overwhelming the reader, and the entire content without condensing the text and losing material. The Madrus & Mathers editions comprise four giant volumes, but the casual enthusiast will be more than satisfied with just volume one, and with over 600 pages of stories in the electronic edition, the reader will have plenty of reading material available.
For children, however, the superior volume is probably the Muhsin al-Musawi edition. This edition is condensed, but the editing was done with great care to maintain story structure and content. The adult content has been toned down considerably, the racial content has been handled tactfully, the extra songs and poems have been almost entirely removed, and there are interesting and attractive pictures in the electronic edition. My biggest complain here is that the adult content has been excised to a degree that almost brings unfortunate implications: when adultery is characterized as "conversing", the angry and jilted husband seems to be seriously over-reacting. Still, if you want a sanitized version of the tales, the al-Musawi edition is almost certainly the way to go.
I do not recommend the Lang edition. Lang's fairy tale collections, such as the color fairy tale books, are usually a delight, but his Arabian Nights edition is thin on content and heavily paraphrased. The stories are gutted to remove the adult content and shorten the tale length for children, but in many cases the changes are not carefully glossed over, and huge plot holes and unresolved threads are left dangling. I've never met a Lang reader who didn't ask me what was going on in one tale or other because the translation is so poorly rendered.
Neither do I recommend the Burton version. If anything, the Burton version has the exact opposite problems as the Lang version: Burton's edition lengthens the stories with extensively lewd descriptions and offensive racial imagery. The edition was also rendered in the 1800s, and the language within has not aged well -- there are all lot of "forsooth"s and "verily"s that bog down the reading. If you're interested in a historical analysis of how these tales have been rendered over the years, by all means become familiar with the Burton version, but if you're just looking for light bedtime reading, give the Burton edition a pass.
I hope that this comparison will be helpful. This particular listing here is for the Lang edition which I really cannot recommend.
~ Ana Mardoll
I'm a bit of an "Thousand Nights" enthusiast -- I enjoy the stories immensely and I have four separate translations in my personal library. Several friends have asked me to discuss the differences between the editions, so I thought I'd present a four-way comparison and then talk about which version is best for which audience.
For the purposes of the four-way comparison, I will draw text from the opening tale of the two kingly brothers in order to highlight how each popular version handles "adult" content and racial content.
-- The Tale of King Shahryar and of his Brother, King Shahzaman --
Now there were in the King's palace certain windows that looked on to the garden, and, as King Shahzaman leaned there and looked out, the door of the palace opened and twenty women slaves with twenty men slaves came from it; and the wife of the King, his brother, was among them and walked there in all her bright beauty. When they came to the pool of a fountain they all undressed and mingled one with another. Suddenly, on the King's wife crying: 'O Masud! Ya Masud!', a gigantic negro ran towards her, embraced her, and, turning her upon her back, enjoyed her. At this signal, all the other men slaves did the same with the women and they continued thus a long while, not ceasing their kisses and embraces and goings in and the like until the approach of dawn.
-- Madrus & Mathers edition
-- The Tale of King Shahriar and of his Brother, King Shahzenan --
One day, Shahriar had started on a great hunting match, about two days' journey from his capital; but Shahzenan, pleading ill health, was left behind. He shut himself up in his apartment, and sat down at a window that looked into the garden. Suddenly a secret gate of the palace opened, and there came out of it twenty women, in the midst of whom walked the Sultaness. The persons who accompanied the Sultaness threw off their veils and long robes, and Shahzenan was greatly surprised when he saw that ten of them were black slaves, each of whom chose a female companion. The Sultaness clapped her hands, and called: "Masoud, Masoud!" and immediately a black came running to her; and they all remained conversing familiarly together.
-- Muhsin al-Musawi edition
-- The Tale of King Schahriar and of his Brother, King Schahzeman --
Now the Sultan Schahriar had a wife whom he loved more than all the world, and his greatest happiness was to surround her with splendour, and to give her the finest dresses and the most beautiful jewels. It was therefore with the deepest shame and sorrow that he accidentally discovered, after several years, that she had deceived him completely, and her whole conduct turned out to have been so bad, that he felt himself obliged to carry out the law of the land, and order the grand-vizir to put her to death.
-- Lang edition
-- The Tale of King Shahryar and of his Brother, King Shah Zaman --
Thereupon Shah Zaman drew back from the window, but he kept the bevy in sight espying them from a place whence he could not be espied. They walked under the very lattice and advanced a little way into the garden till they came to a jetting fountain amiddlemost a great basin of water; then they stripped off their clothes and behold, ten of them were women, concubines of the King, and the other ten were white slaves. Then they all paired off, each with each: but the Queen, who was left alone, presently cried out in a loud voice, "Here to me, O my lord Saeed!" and then sprang with a drop leap from one of the trees a big slobbering blackamoor with rolling eyes which showed the whites, a truly hideous sight. He walked boldly up to her and threw his arms round her neck while she embraced him as warmly; then he bussed her and winding his legs round hers, as a button loop clasps a button, he threw her and enjoyed her.
-- Burton edition
-------
For my money, the superior volume by far is the Madrus & Mathers edition. The editor and translator have deliberately worked the translation to be as readable to the English eye as possible, even making judicious choices about where to refrain from using diacritical points (single quote sound points, as in 'ain) in order to ease the reading experience. They've made a concerted effort to retain the adult content without being lewd, the racial content without descending into offensive caricature, the poetic content without overwhelming the reader, and the entire content without condensing the text and losing material. The Madrus & Mathers editions comprise four giant volumes, but the casual enthusiast will be more than satisfied with just volume one, and with over 600 pages of stories in the electronic edition, the reader will have plenty of reading material available.
For children, however, the superior volume is probably the Muhsin al-Musawi edition. This edition is condensed, but the editing was done with great care to maintain story structure and content. The adult content has been toned down considerably, the racial content has been handled tactfully, the extra songs and poems have been almost entirely removed, and there are interesting and attractive pictures in the electronic edition. My biggest complain here is that the adult content has been excised to a degree that almost brings unfortunate implications: when adultery is characterized as "conversing", the angry and jilted husband seems to be seriously over-reacting. Still, if you want a sanitized version of the tales, the al-Musawi edition is almost certainly the way to go.
I do not recommend the Lang edition. Lang's fairy tale collections, such as the color fairy tale books, are usually a delight, but his Arabian Nights edition is thin on content and heavily paraphrased. The stories are gutted to remove the adult content and shorten the tale length for children, but in many cases the changes are not carefully glossed over, and huge plot holes and unresolved threads are left dangling. I've never met a Lang reader who didn't ask me what was going on in one tale or other because the translation is so poorly rendered.
Neither do I recommend the Burton version. If anything, the Burton version has the exact opposite problems as the Lang version: Burton's edition lengthens the stories with extensively lewd descriptions and offensive racial imagery. The edition was also rendered in the 1800s, and the language within has not aged well -- there are all lot of "forsooth"s and "verily"s that bog down the reading. If you're interested in a historical analysis of how these tales have been rendered over the years, by all means become familiar with the Burton version, but if you're just looking for light bedtime reading, give the Burton edition a pass.
I hope that this comparison will be helpful. This particular listing here is for the Lang edition which I really cannot recommend.
~ Ana Mardoll
November 8, 2023
Tengo varias (muchas) asignaturas pendientes en cuanto a libros por leer y 鈥淟as Mil y Una Noches鈥� es una de ellas. Tengo una edici贸n completa de esta obra en dos tomos enormes, que es de los a帽os 70 u 80 y que fue editada por el emblem谩tico Chicho Ib谩帽ez Serrador, con ilustraciones a color y publicada por el c铆rculo de lectores. Pero nunca me he animado a leerla por pura pereza, ya que ambos vol煤menes son muy grandes. As铆 que sacio el mono por conocer estas historias leyendo alguna que otra recopilaci贸n de estos cuentos. Por lo que cuando RBA sac贸 este libro como el primero de su colecci贸n Historias Maravillosas, no dude en hacerme con 茅l. El sello saca series muy bonitas y muy bien cuidadas, y esta no es la excepci贸n. Por lo que he bicheado me parece que va a ser una colecci贸n preciosa y muy bien cuidada. Si por mi fuera, la har铆a entera, pero me falta espacio y dinero. As铆 que me conformar茅 con coger alg煤n que otro fasc铆culo.
Desde luego, la edici贸n es una maravilla. Cada una de las historias viene acompa帽adas por una ilustraci贸n a color y jalonada por otras en blanco y negro, con un fuerte sabor orientalista al estilo modernista. Cada cuento se inicia con un 铆ncipit de estilo medieval, a modo de gui帽o a los manuscritos antiguos donde por primera vez aparecieron estas historias. Es una edici贸n muy cuidada y bonita, con una portada realmente preciosa y vintage con detalles en oro, y una traducci贸n tambi茅n muy cuidada y con un fuerte sabor a帽ejo que ayudan al lector a sumergirse en este mundo de esencias, magia, agua, amores, locuras y desiertos . La 煤nica pega es que el tama帽o me ha parecido un poco peque帽o, un pelin m谩s grande creo que la edici贸n hubiera lucido m谩s.
El tomo recoge siete de las muchas historias que hay en est谩 recopilaci贸n. El libro sigue la edici贸n que en 1898 prepar贸 el folklorista brit谩nico Andrew Lang, la cual estaba enfocadas al p煤blico infantil. Lo cual no impide que nos encontremos con unas historias un tanto oscuras, en las que hay enga帽os, sensualidad, sangre, asesinatos y canibalismo. No son versiones Disney, desde luego, y eso puede chocar para aquellos que conozcan la versi贸n de Aladdin que hizo la compa帽铆a del rat贸n (Y que, como podemos ver si leemos este volumen, difiere en muchos aspectos del original). Pero no dejan de ser legibles para el p煤blico m谩s joven, adaptando todo lo posible el material original. El cual est谩 plagado de gore, sexo y enga帽os, por lo que parad贸jicamente estos relatos no son una lectura apta para los m谩s peque帽os pese a que sean conocidos como parte de ese tipo de literatura.
Volviendo a la antolog铆a propiamente dicha, RBA ha sido muy inteligente a la hora de preparar esta edici贸n. Por un lado al iniciarla con un capitulo introductorio en el que se plasma el famos铆simo hilo conductor de la recopilaci贸n: como la inteligente Sherezade accede a casarse con el enloquecido sult谩n Shahrirar , quien cada d铆a se desposa con una muchacha a la que manda ejecutar al amanecer siguiente. Para no ser una m谩s en esa cuenta sangrienta, Sherezade se las ingenia cada noche para narrar un cuento que capta la atenci贸n del sult谩n, parando de contar cuando se encuentra en su punto interesante, un cliffhanger que la obliga a seguir la narraci贸n la noche siguiente , aplazando astutamente su sentencia un d铆a m谩s.
Y lo que sigue son siete historias muy variadas en contenido y continente. Una buena muestra de todo lo que es y todo lo que podemos encontrar en 鈥淟as Mil y Una Noches鈥� como, por ejemplo, narraciones herederas del car谩cter oral de esta recopilaci贸n en sus or铆genes . As铆 podemos verlo en 鈥淟a Historia del Mercader y el Genio鈥� una autentica mu帽eca matriusksa literaria en la que un cuento contiene otros dos y un tercero que se deja a imaginaci贸n del propio lector, haci茅ndole participe de la propia historia poniendo a prueba su capacidad imaginativa. Esta tradici贸n oral tambi茅n se puede ver en la historia m谩s extensa, una de las m谩s populares, que es la que cuenta los siete viajes de Simbad el marino. Dicha narraci贸n est谩 dentro del g茅nero de viajes y de la literatura fant谩stica. Cada uno de los siete viajes del c茅lebre marinero est谩 plagado de aventuras que dejan sin aliento y de circunstancias adversas, de las cuales Simbad sale exitosamente gracias a su astucia. Hace mucho que las le铆 por primera vez, pero me ha sorprendido recordar lo mucho que me ha evocado a las aventuras de Ulises en 鈥淟a Odisea鈥�. Y tambi茅n por la forma en que los dos h茅roes, cuyo mayor enemigo son sus propias ansias de viajar y descubrir m谩s cosas, se enfrentan los problemas y logran volver a casa.
Me hizo especial ilusi贸n encontrarme en la recopilaci贸n una de mis historias favoritas, llamada aqu铆 鈥淟a Historia de Dos Hermanas que Estaban Celosas de su Hermana Peque帽a鈥�. En esta narraci贸n, plagada de traiciones familiares, magia, aventuras y objetos sobrenaturales, Conocemos a una personaje principal femenino inteligente y seguro de s铆 misma, con una personalidad muy matizada y capaz de superar por s铆 misma cualquier dificultad y salvar a sus hermanos. Una hero铆na que contrasta con la protagonista de 鈥淣ured铆n y la Bella Persa鈥�. En este cuento es donde m谩s se nota el paso de los a帽os desde que la antolog铆a fue escrita, all谩 por los siglos VIII y XIV. Y es que la bella persa es v铆ctima de los prejuicios religiosos y el sistema patriarcal musulm谩n, donde se ve la poca importancia que las mujeres pod铆an llegar a tener, socialmente, ya que nuestra protagonista es una esclava que no duda en venderse asimismo para salvar a su marido de la banca rota. Una muestra de c贸mo se ve铆an las propias mujeres en la 茅poca y en la cultura isl谩mica (aunque tampoco se puede decir que en occidente las cosas fueran mucho mejor, todo hay que decirlo). Esta historia puede resultar un tanto chocante al lector moderno, y la forma en que es manejado, el personaje femenino puede opacar su vertiente sat铆rica y la forma en que puede encuadrarse dentro del g茅nero de la picaresca.
Y hablando de p铆caros, si hay uno que es popular en el mundo entero, es el protagonista del cuento m谩s famoso de 鈥淟as Mil y Una Noches鈥� , 鈥淎laddin鈥�. Como ya os dije antes, aqu铆 encontramos la versi贸n original, que se encuentra ambientada en la antigua China y que nos presenta a un personaje que muchas ve es es muy poco ortodoxo y sinverg眉enza, muy alejado de aquel que cantaba por las calles de Agrabah en la pel铆cula de Disney. Antes os hablaba de lo bien hecha que estaba la traducci贸n del volumen. La 煤nica pega que puedo ponerle en este aspecto es que en esta historia se nos dice en un principio que est谩 ambientada en Persia, para posteriormente rectificar y decir que se encuentra ubicada en China. Y para acabar, el libro se cierra con las historias de 鈥淓l Jorobadito鈥� y 鈥淟a Historia del Quinto Hijo del Barbero鈥�. Dos historias conectadas entre s铆 y que se basan en las coincidencias y en los absurdos para convertirse en relatos muy humor铆sticos y llenos de sabor, personajes desternillantes y situaciones que deber铆an ser dram谩ticas, pero que despiertan la sonrisa al lector. Y de las cuales se pueden sacar una moraleja que a d铆a de hoy siguen teniendo toda su fuerza.
En definitiva, una lectura que he disfrutado mucho. En parte, creo que esto se debe a que he ido poco a poco con ella, compagin谩ndolo con otras m谩s densas. Gracias a esta lentitud he podido saborear cada uno de los cuentos, incluso, aunque conociera la inmensa mayor铆a de ellos. Eso no ha sido problema, ya que el encanto de esta antolog铆a y de la edici贸n de Historias Maravillosas me han conquistado totalmente. Son historias que tienen algo que las hace envejecer muy bien y que atrapan al lector, quiz谩s lo diferentes que son los originales respecto a las ideas que el p煤blico tiene de ellas en la actualidad. Creo que en la colecci贸n van a sacar un segundo tomo con m谩s historias, sacadas tambi茅n de las 鈥淟as Mil y Una Noches鈥� . Espero que sea una de las entregas de las que pueda adquirir.
Desde luego, la edici贸n es una maravilla. Cada una de las historias viene acompa帽adas por una ilustraci贸n a color y jalonada por otras en blanco y negro, con un fuerte sabor orientalista al estilo modernista. Cada cuento se inicia con un 铆ncipit de estilo medieval, a modo de gui帽o a los manuscritos antiguos donde por primera vez aparecieron estas historias. Es una edici贸n muy cuidada y bonita, con una portada realmente preciosa y vintage con detalles en oro, y una traducci贸n tambi茅n muy cuidada y con un fuerte sabor a帽ejo que ayudan al lector a sumergirse en este mundo de esencias, magia, agua, amores, locuras y desiertos . La 煤nica pega es que el tama帽o me ha parecido un poco peque帽o, un pelin m谩s grande creo que la edici贸n hubiera lucido m谩s.
El tomo recoge siete de las muchas historias que hay en est谩 recopilaci贸n. El libro sigue la edici贸n que en 1898 prepar贸 el folklorista brit谩nico Andrew Lang, la cual estaba enfocadas al p煤blico infantil. Lo cual no impide que nos encontremos con unas historias un tanto oscuras, en las que hay enga帽os, sensualidad, sangre, asesinatos y canibalismo. No son versiones Disney, desde luego, y eso puede chocar para aquellos que conozcan la versi贸n de Aladdin que hizo la compa帽铆a del rat贸n (Y que, como podemos ver si leemos este volumen, difiere en muchos aspectos del original). Pero no dejan de ser legibles para el p煤blico m谩s joven, adaptando todo lo posible el material original. El cual est谩 plagado de gore, sexo y enga帽os, por lo que parad贸jicamente estos relatos no son una lectura apta para los m谩s peque帽os pese a que sean conocidos como parte de ese tipo de literatura.
Volviendo a la antolog铆a propiamente dicha, RBA ha sido muy inteligente a la hora de preparar esta edici贸n. Por un lado al iniciarla con un capitulo introductorio en el que se plasma el famos铆simo hilo conductor de la recopilaci贸n: como la inteligente Sherezade accede a casarse con el enloquecido sult谩n Shahrirar , quien cada d铆a se desposa con una muchacha a la que manda ejecutar al amanecer siguiente. Para no ser una m谩s en esa cuenta sangrienta, Sherezade se las ingenia cada noche para narrar un cuento que capta la atenci贸n del sult谩n, parando de contar cuando se encuentra en su punto interesante, un cliffhanger que la obliga a seguir la narraci贸n la noche siguiente , aplazando astutamente su sentencia un d铆a m谩s.
Y lo que sigue son siete historias muy variadas en contenido y continente. Una buena muestra de todo lo que es y todo lo que podemos encontrar en 鈥淟as Mil y Una Noches鈥� como, por ejemplo, narraciones herederas del car谩cter oral de esta recopilaci贸n en sus or铆genes . As铆 podemos verlo en 鈥淟a Historia del Mercader y el Genio鈥� una autentica mu帽eca matriusksa literaria en la que un cuento contiene otros dos y un tercero que se deja a imaginaci贸n del propio lector, haci茅ndole participe de la propia historia poniendo a prueba su capacidad imaginativa. Esta tradici贸n oral tambi茅n se puede ver en la historia m谩s extensa, una de las m谩s populares, que es la que cuenta los siete viajes de Simbad el marino. Dicha narraci贸n est谩 dentro del g茅nero de viajes y de la literatura fant谩stica. Cada uno de los siete viajes del c茅lebre marinero est谩 plagado de aventuras que dejan sin aliento y de circunstancias adversas, de las cuales Simbad sale exitosamente gracias a su astucia. Hace mucho que las le铆 por primera vez, pero me ha sorprendido recordar lo mucho que me ha evocado a las aventuras de Ulises en 鈥淟a Odisea鈥�. Y tambi茅n por la forma en que los dos h茅roes, cuyo mayor enemigo son sus propias ansias de viajar y descubrir m谩s cosas, se enfrentan los problemas y logran volver a casa.
Me hizo especial ilusi贸n encontrarme en la recopilaci贸n una de mis historias favoritas, llamada aqu铆 鈥淟a Historia de Dos Hermanas que Estaban Celosas de su Hermana Peque帽a鈥�. En esta narraci贸n, plagada de traiciones familiares, magia, aventuras y objetos sobrenaturales, Conocemos a una personaje principal femenino inteligente y seguro de s铆 misma, con una personalidad muy matizada y capaz de superar por s铆 misma cualquier dificultad y salvar a sus hermanos. Una hero铆na que contrasta con la protagonista de 鈥淣ured铆n y la Bella Persa鈥�. En este cuento es donde m谩s se nota el paso de los a帽os desde que la antolog铆a fue escrita, all谩 por los siglos VIII y XIV. Y es que la bella persa es v铆ctima de los prejuicios religiosos y el sistema patriarcal musulm谩n, donde se ve la poca importancia que las mujeres pod铆an llegar a tener, socialmente, ya que nuestra protagonista es una esclava que no duda en venderse asimismo para salvar a su marido de la banca rota. Una muestra de c贸mo se ve铆an las propias mujeres en la 茅poca y en la cultura isl谩mica (aunque tampoco se puede decir que en occidente las cosas fueran mucho mejor, todo hay que decirlo). Esta historia puede resultar un tanto chocante al lector moderno, y la forma en que es manejado, el personaje femenino puede opacar su vertiente sat铆rica y la forma en que puede encuadrarse dentro del g茅nero de la picaresca.
Y hablando de p铆caros, si hay uno que es popular en el mundo entero, es el protagonista del cuento m谩s famoso de 鈥淟as Mil y Una Noches鈥� , 鈥淎laddin鈥�. Como ya os dije antes, aqu铆 encontramos la versi贸n original, que se encuentra ambientada en la antigua China y que nos presenta a un personaje que muchas ve es es muy poco ortodoxo y sinverg眉enza, muy alejado de aquel que cantaba por las calles de Agrabah en la pel铆cula de Disney. Antes os hablaba de lo bien hecha que estaba la traducci贸n del volumen. La 煤nica pega que puedo ponerle en este aspecto es que en esta historia se nos dice en un principio que est谩 ambientada en Persia, para posteriormente rectificar y decir que se encuentra ubicada en China. Y para acabar, el libro se cierra con las historias de 鈥淓l Jorobadito鈥� y 鈥淟a Historia del Quinto Hijo del Barbero鈥�. Dos historias conectadas entre s铆 y que se basan en las coincidencias y en los absurdos para convertirse en relatos muy humor铆sticos y llenos de sabor, personajes desternillantes y situaciones que deber铆an ser dram谩ticas, pero que despiertan la sonrisa al lector. Y de las cuales se pueden sacar una moraleja que a d铆a de hoy siguen teniendo toda su fuerza.
En definitiva, una lectura que he disfrutado mucho. En parte, creo que esto se debe a que he ido poco a poco con ella, compagin谩ndolo con otras m谩s densas. Gracias a esta lentitud he podido saborear cada uno de los cuentos, incluso, aunque conociera la inmensa mayor铆a de ellos. Eso no ha sido problema, ya que el encanto de esta antolog铆a y de la edici贸n de Historias Maravillosas me han conquistado totalmente. Son historias que tienen algo que las hace envejecer muy bien y que atrapan al lector, quiz谩s lo diferentes que son los originales respecto a las ideas que el p煤blico tiene de ellas en la actualidad. Creo que en la colecci贸n van a sacar un segundo tomo con m谩s historias, sacadas tambi茅n de las 鈥淟as Mil y Una Noches鈥� . Espero que sea una de las entregas de las que pueda adquirir.
August 26, 2009
I am planning to read through this whole book someday, I swear. But it's going to be a slow process. Here, in list form, are the reasons I may or may not finish The Arabian Nights.
Reasons I May Finish This Ridiculously Long Book:
-Scheherazade (or whichever of the twenty ways to spell her name you prefer) is kind of a badass genius. Since her father is the king's vizier, she gets exempted from said batshit crazy king's plan to marry and then kill every single available virgin in the city. But she volunteers for the job anyway, based purely on her plan to keep telling the king stories until he decides she's much too interesting to kill.
-Her method of telling the stories is really complicated and interesting. She starts a story in which a man with some unsolvable problem attempts to solve it. He meets three other men. They then meet a djin. The men all tell stories to the djin. The djin tells stories. They tell a story in which a person meets another person, and tells them stories. The whole book is like some kind of reverse Jenga game: she keeps piling stories on top of stories and we can't help but be baffled that she even manages to keep them all straight in her head, much less prevent them from collapsing around her.
-It's pretty dirty. There's lots of orgies and naked slave girls running around, and since Scheherazade's sister sleeps in her bedroom and is there when the king visits her every night, I got the sense that there were some kinky three-ways going on before Story Time started.
Reasons I May Not Finish This Ridiculously Long Book:
-It's racist and misongynist to a level I have never experienced before (and I've read Stephenie Meyer and Ian Fleming, so I know misongyny when I see it). Here's an example: so, the king finds out that his wife has been cheating on him, and with a black slave, no less. Not only that, most of the cheating women (and it is always the women who sleep around) in the book are found ravenously sexing up black men. It's at this point that we break for a lovely footnote by the translator that explains how black men, owing to their insanely massive genitalia, are the paramour of choice for cheating wives. He adds that several men he knows will not allow their wives to visit Africa with them, since the danger of their being seduced by a well-hung Negro is just too high. I am not making any of this up.
-The book is ridiculously long. Did I mention that already?
Reasons I May Finish This Ridiculously Long Book:
-Scheherazade (or whichever of the twenty ways to spell her name you prefer) is kind of a badass genius. Since her father is the king's vizier, she gets exempted from said batshit crazy king's plan to marry and then kill every single available virgin in the city. But she volunteers for the job anyway, based purely on her plan to keep telling the king stories until he decides she's much too interesting to kill.
-Her method of telling the stories is really complicated and interesting. She starts a story in which a man with some unsolvable problem attempts to solve it. He meets three other men. They then meet a djin. The men all tell stories to the djin. The djin tells stories. They tell a story in which a person meets another person, and tells them stories. The whole book is like some kind of reverse Jenga game: she keeps piling stories on top of stories and we can't help but be baffled that she even manages to keep them all straight in her head, much less prevent them from collapsing around her.
-It's pretty dirty. There's lots of orgies and naked slave girls running around, and since Scheherazade's sister sleeps in her bedroom and is there when the king visits her every night, I got the sense that there were some kinky three-ways going on before Story Time started.
Reasons I May Not Finish This Ridiculously Long Book:
-It's racist and misongynist to a level I have never experienced before (and I've read Stephenie Meyer and Ian Fleming, so I know misongyny when I see it). Here's an example: so, the king finds out that his wife has been cheating on him, and with a black slave, no less. Not only that, most of the cheating women (and it is always the women who sleep around) in the book are found ravenously sexing up black men. It's at this point that we break for a lovely footnote by the translator that explains how black men, owing to their insanely massive genitalia, are the paramour of choice for cheating wives. He adds that several men he knows will not allow their wives to visit Africa with them, since the danger of their being seduced by a well-hung Negro is just too high. I am not making any of this up.
-The book is ridiculously long. Did I mention that already?
April 15, 2021
丌賳丿乇賴 跇蹖丿 賲蹖鈥屭堐屫�: 芦賲賳 賴乇 賵賯鬲 亘賴 禺丕賳賴 賲蹖鈥屫辟堎� 賲蹖鈥屫з嗁� 讴賴 讴鬲丕亘 丕乇夭卮賲賳丿蹖 賲賳鬲馗乇 賲賳 丕爻鬲 賵 丌賳 賴賲丕賳 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 丕爻鬲.禄
賴夭丕乇賵賷讴卮亘 賲噩賲賵毓賴 丕蹖 丕夭 亘丕賵乇賴丕 賵 賳馗乇诏丕賴賴丕蹖 乇賵夭诏丕乇 亘丕爻鬲丕賳 丿乇亘丕乇賴 胤亘賷毓鬲貙 丕賳爻丕賳 賵 丌乇夭賵賴丕蹖 丕賵 賵 亘禺氐賵氐 毓卮賯 丕爻鬲.丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘丕賵噩賵丿 丌锟斤拷 讴賴 丿乇 丿乇丕夭賳丕蹖 夭賲丕賳 丿趩丕乇 丿诏乇诏賵賳蹖 卮丿賴 賵 丕賮夭賵賳蹖 賴丕蹖 賳丕禺賵丕爻鬲賴 亘爻賷丕乇 丿乇 禺賵丿 丿丕乇丿貨 丕賲丕 丕爻鬲禺賵丕賳 亘賳丿蹖 丕卮 趩賳丕賳 賯丿乇鬲賲賳丿 賵 倬乇 賲丕賷賴 亘賵丿賴 讴賴 賴賲賴 丕賷賳 丕賮夭賵丿賳蹖 賴丕 乇丕 丿乇 禺賵丿 噩丕 丿丕丿賴貙 亘蹖 丌賳 讴賴 賲丕賴賷鬲卮 听亘賴 讴丕爻鬲蹖 诏乇丕賷丿. 听賴乇 趩賳丿 丿乇 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘貙 丕夭 賳诏丕賴 賯丕胤毓 賵 噩夭卅蹖 鬲讴 丌賵丕蹖蹖賽 賲丐賱賮 丕孬乇蹖 賳蹖爻鬲貨 丕賲丕 丿乇 毓賵囟 丿乇 亘胤賳 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 賲蹖颅鬲賵丕賳 賴賲颅丌賵丕蹖蹖 賲賱丕蹖賲 賵 馗乇蹖賮 丿賴颅賴丕 乇丕賵蹖 乇丕 讴卮賮 讴乇丿 讴賴 丌诏丕賴丕賳賴 賵 蹖丕 賳丕丌诏丕賴丕賳賴貙 丿蹖丿诏丕賴 卮乇賯蹖 禺賵丿 乇丕 乇賵丕蹖鬲 讴乇丿賴颅 丕賳丿 賵 亘蹖 丌賳讴賴 亘賴 倬乇丕讴賳丿诏蹖 讴鬲丕亘 丿丕賲賳 夭賳賳丿貙 亘賴 睾賳丕 賵 毓賲賯 趩賳丿 氐丿丕蹖蹖 卮丿賳 丌賳 丕賮夭賵丿賴颅 丕賳丿.
賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 賲鬲賵賳 丕丿亘蹖 趩賳丿 賲賱蹖鬲蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 夭賳丕賳 丿乇 丌賳 丨囟賵乇蹖 乇賵卮賳 賵 賮毓賾丕賱 丿丕乇賳丿.讴購賳卮賲賳丿蹖 夭賳丕賳 亘丕 賳卮丕賳 丿丕丿賳 夭賳丕賳 賯丿乇鬲賲賳丿貙 賲讴賾丕乇 賵 噩丕丿賵诏乇 丿乇 賱賮丕賮 賯氐賾賴颅 賴丕 丕夭 夭亘丕賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 賵 蹖丕 乇丕賵蹖丕賳 賯氐賾賴颅 賴丕 鬲賳丕爻亘蹖 賴賵卮賲賳丿丕賳賴 丿乇 乇賵賳丿 賯氐賾賴颅 诏賵蹖蹖 丕蹖噩丕丿 賲蹖鈥� 讴賳丿.卮賴乇夭丕丿賽 賴夭丕乇賵賷賰 卮亘貙 亘乇鬲乇賷賳 賳賲賵賳賴 蹖 丕蹖賳 夭賳丕賳 丕爻鬲 賰賴 亘丕 亘賴 鬲氐賵賷乇 賰卮賷丿賳 賲賵賯毓賷鬲 夭賳丕賳 賵 鬲賵氐賷賮 丕賷卮丕賳 亘賴 毓賳賵丕賳 夭賳 賲丿亘乇貙 卮噩丕毓 賵 丿賱丕賵乇貙 毓丕卮賯 倬賷卮賴貙 賴賳乇賲賳丿 賵 丕賴賱 賯賱賲貙 賴賲诏乇丕賷賷 賰賱賷 丕賷 乇丕 丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 亘賴 賵噩賵丿 丌賵乇丿賴貨 賵 爻亘亘 卮丿賴 鬲丕 丿賷诏乇 亘賴 賳馗乇 鬲禺賮賷賮 亘賴 夭賳 賳诏乇賷爻鬲賴 賳卮賵丿...
丿丕賳卮賳丕賲賴 亘乇蹖鬲丕賳蹖讴丕貙 乇蹖卮賴 賵 賲賳卮丕 賴賲賴 賯氐賴鈥屬囏й� 噩賴丕賳 乇丕 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 賲蹖鈥屫з嗀�.丕乇賵倬丕賷賷丕賳 亘爻賷丕乇 夭賵丿鬲乇 丕夭 丕賷乇丕賳賷丕賳 丌賳 乇丕 亘賴 夭亘丕賳 賮乇丕賳爻賴 賵 丕賳诏賱賷爻蹖 賵 丕爻倬丕賳賷丕賷蹖 鬲乇噩賲賴 賵 賲賳鬲卮乇 讴乇丿賴 丕賳丿 讴賴 倬賷丕賲丿卮 鬲丕孬賷乇丕鬲 卮诏乇賮 亘乇 丕丿亘賷丕鬲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丕乇賵倬丕賷蹖 亘賵丿. 丿爻鬲 讴賲 賲蹖 丿丕賳賷賲 賳賵賷爻賳丿诏丕賳 乇賲丕賳爻賴丕蹖 丕賵賱賷賴 丕乇賵倬丕賷賷貙 賴賲賴 賵 賴賲賴 爻乇賲卮賯蹖 亘賳丕賲 芦賴夭丕乇賵賷讴卮亘禄 丿丕卮鬲賴 丕賳丿貙 賳賲賵賳賴 丕卮 芦丿乇 噩爻鬲噩賵蹖 夭賲丕賳 丕夭 丿爻鬲 乇賮鬲賴禄 卮丕賴讴丕乇 賲丕乇爻賱 倬乇賵爻鬲 丕爻鬲 讴賴 亘賴 诏賮鬲賴 賳賵賷爻賳丿賴 丕卮貙 賲鬲丕孬乇 丕夭 噩賴丕賳 卮诏賮鬲 丕賳诏賷夭 賴夭丕乇賵賷讴卮亘 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲.
賳馗乇 亘賴 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖 亘賵丿賳 禺丕爻鬲诏丕賴 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 賵 鬲丕孬蹖乇 毓賲蹖賯 丌賳 亘乇 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 噩賴丕賳貙 丨丿丕賯賱 蹖讴亘丕乇 禺賵丕賳丿賳 丌賳 亘賴 賴乇 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖 鬲賵氐蹖賴 賲蹖 卮賵丿.
賴夭丕乇賵賷讴卮亘 賲噩賲賵毓賴 丕蹖 丕夭 亘丕賵乇賴丕 賵 賳馗乇诏丕賴賴丕蹖 乇賵夭诏丕乇 亘丕爻鬲丕賳 丿乇亘丕乇賴 胤亘賷毓鬲貙 丕賳爻丕賳 賵 丌乇夭賵賴丕蹖 丕賵 賵 亘禺氐賵氐 毓卮賯 丕爻鬲.丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 亘丕賵噩賵丿 丌锟斤拷 讴賴 丿乇 丿乇丕夭賳丕蹖 夭賲丕賳 丿趩丕乇 丿诏乇诏賵賳蹖 卮丿賴 賵 丕賮夭賵賳蹖 賴丕蹖 賳丕禺賵丕爻鬲賴 亘爻賷丕乇 丿乇 禺賵丿 丿丕乇丿貨 丕賲丕 丕爻鬲禺賵丕賳 亘賳丿蹖 丕卮 趩賳丕賳 賯丿乇鬲賲賳丿 賵 倬乇 賲丕賷賴 亘賵丿賴 讴賴 賴賲賴 丕賷賳 丕賮夭賵丿賳蹖 賴丕 乇丕 丿乇 禺賵丿 噩丕 丿丕丿賴貙 亘蹖 丌賳 讴賴 賲丕賴賷鬲卮 听亘賴 讴丕爻鬲蹖 诏乇丕賷丿. 听賴乇 趩賳丿 丿乇 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘貙 丕夭 賳诏丕賴 賯丕胤毓 賵 噩夭卅蹖 鬲讴 丌賵丕蹖蹖賽 賲丐賱賮 丕孬乇蹖 賳蹖爻鬲貨 丕賲丕 丿乇 毓賵囟 丿乇 亘胤賳 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘貙 賲蹖颅鬲賵丕賳 賴賲颅丌賵丕蹖蹖 賲賱丕蹖賲 賵 馗乇蹖賮 丿賴颅賴丕 乇丕賵蹖 乇丕 讴卮賮 讴乇丿 讴賴 丌诏丕賴丕賳賴 賵 蹖丕 賳丕丌诏丕賴丕賳賴貙 丿蹖丿诏丕賴 卮乇賯蹖 禺賵丿 乇丕 乇賵丕蹖鬲 讴乇丿賴颅 丕賳丿 賵 亘蹖 丌賳讴賴 亘賴 倬乇丕讴賳丿诏蹖 讴鬲丕亘 丿丕賲賳 夭賳賳丿貙 亘賴 睾賳丕 賵 毓賲賯 趩賳丿 氐丿丕蹖蹖 卮丿賳 丌賳 丕賮夭賵丿賴颅 丕賳丿.
賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 蹖讴蹖 丕夭 賲鬲賵賳 丕丿亘蹖 趩賳丿 賲賱蹖鬲蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 夭賳丕賳 丿乇 丌賳 丨囟賵乇蹖 乇賵卮賳 賵 賮毓賾丕賱 丿丕乇賳丿.讴購賳卮賲賳丿蹖 夭賳丕賳 亘丕 賳卮丕賳 丿丕丿賳 夭賳丕賳 賯丿乇鬲賲賳丿貙 賲讴賾丕乇 賵 噩丕丿賵诏乇 丿乇 賱賮丕賮 賯氐賾賴颅 賴丕 丕夭 夭亘丕賳 卮賴乇夭丕丿 賵 蹖丕 乇丕賵蹖丕賳 賯氐賾賴颅 賴丕 鬲賳丕爻亘蹖 賴賵卮賲賳丿丕賳賴 丿乇 乇賵賳丿 賯氐賾賴颅 诏賵蹖蹖 丕蹖噩丕丿 賲蹖鈥� 讴賳丿.卮賴乇夭丕丿賽 賴夭丕乇賵賷賰 卮亘貙 亘乇鬲乇賷賳 賳賲賵賳賴 蹖 丕蹖賳 夭賳丕賳 丕爻鬲 賰賴 亘丕 亘賴 鬲氐賵賷乇 賰卮賷丿賳 賲賵賯毓賷鬲 夭賳丕賳 賵 鬲賵氐賷賮 丕賷卮丕賳 亘賴 毓賳賵丕賳 夭賳 賲丿亘乇貙 卮噩丕毓 賵 丿賱丕賵乇貙 毓丕卮賯 倬賷卮賴貙 賴賳乇賲賳丿 賵 丕賴賱 賯賱賲貙 賴賲诏乇丕賷賷 賰賱賷 丕賷 乇丕 丿乇 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 亘賴 賵噩賵丿 丌賵乇丿賴貨 賵 爻亘亘 卮丿賴 鬲丕 丿賷诏乇 亘賴 賳馗乇 鬲禺賮賷賮 亘賴 夭賳 賳诏乇賷爻鬲賴 賳卮賵丿...
丿丕賳卮賳丕賲賴 亘乇蹖鬲丕賳蹖讴丕貙 乇蹖卮賴 賵 賲賳卮丕 賴賲賴 賯氐賴鈥屬囏й� 噩賴丕賳 乇丕 賴夭丕乇 賵 蹖讴 卮亘 賲蹖鈥屫з嗀�.丕乇賵倬丕賷賷丕賳 亘爻賷丕乇 夭賵丿鬲乇 丕夭 丕賷乇丕賳賷丕賳 丌賳 乇丕 亘賴 夭亘丕賳 賮乇丕賳爻賴 賵 丕賳诏賱賷爻蹖 賵 丕爻倬丕賳賷丕賷蹖 鬲乇噩賲賴 賵 賲賳鬲卮乇 讴乇丿賴 丕賳丿 讴賴 倬賷丕賲丿卮 鬲丕孬賷乇丕鬲 卮诏乇賮 亘乇 丕丿亘賷丕鬲 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 丕乇賵倬丕賷蹖 亘賵丿. 丿爻鬲 讴賲 賲蹖 丿丕賳賷賲 賳賵賷爻賳丿诏丕賳 乇賲丕賳爻賴丕蹖 丕賵賱賷賴 丕乇賵倬丕賷賷貙 賴賲賴 賵 賴賲賴 爻乇賲卮賯蹖 亘賳丕賲 芦賴夭丕乇賵賷讴卮亘禄 丿丕卮鬲賴 丕賳丿貙 賳賲賵賳賴 丕卮 芦丿乇 噩爻鬲噩賵蹖 夭賲丕賳 丕夭 丿爻鬲 乇賮鬲賴禄 卮丕賴讴丕乇 賲丕乇爻賱 倬乇賵爻鬲 丕爻鬲 讴賴 亘賴 诏賮鬲賴 賳賵賷爻賳丿賴 丕卮貙 賲鬲丕孬乇 丕夭 噩賴丕賳 卮诏賮鬲 丕賳诏賷夭 賴夭丕乇賵賷讴卮亘 亘賵丿賴 丕爻鬲.
賳馗乇 亘賴 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖 亘賵丿賳 禺丕爻鬲诏丕賴 丕蹖賳 讴鬲丕亘 賵 鬲丕孬蹖乇 毓賲蹖賯 丌賳 亘乇 丕丿亘蹖丕鬲 噩賴丕賳貙 丨丿丕賯賱 蹖讴亘丕乇 禺賵丕賳丿賳 丌賳 亘賴 賴乇 丕蹖乇丕賳蹖 鬲賵氐蹖賴 賲蹖 卮賵丿.
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August 14, 2015賵 賯亘賱 兀賳 鬲丿賱賮 廿賱賶 賴匕丕 丕賱毓丕賱賲 丕賱爻丕丨乇 賵 丕賱卮丕卅賯 .. 毓丕賱賲
(兀賱賮 賱賷賱丞 賵 賱賷賱丞) ..
賲賳 賮囟賱賰 ..
賱丕 鬲賳爻賶 賵囟毓 毓賯賱賰 禺丕乇噩丕 毓賱賶 亘賵丕亘鬲賴 ! 貙
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兀乇丨 毓賯賱賰 賯賱賷賱丕 貙 賵 丕賱丕 賮賱賳 鬲卮毓乇 亘丕賱賲鬲毓丞 兀亘丿丕
:) !
丨賰丕賷丞 噩賵賴 丨賰丕賷丞 賲賳 賵乇丕 丨賰丕賷丞
丕賷賴 丿丕 亘噩丿 :) !! 責
賰兀賳賰 賵丕賯毓 賮賷 賲丨賷胤 .. 亘鬲爻丨亘賰 賮賷賴 賵 亘乇睾賲 丕乇丕丿鬲賰 .. 丿賵丕賲丞 賱匕賷匕丞
...
亘鬲爻丨亘賰 賲賳 丨賰丕賷丞 賱賱鬲丕賳賷丞 .. 賲賳 毓丕賱賲 賱賱鬲丕賳賷 ... 亘鬲爻丨亘賰 賱鬲丕乇賷禺 .. 賱丨囟丕乇丕鬲 .. 賱噩夭乇 賵 賯氐賵乇 .. 賱丨囟乇丞 賲賱賵賰 丕賱噩丕賳 賵爻賱丕胤賷賳 丕賱廿賳爻 ! ... 亘鬲爻丨亘賰 .. 亘鬲爻丨亘賰 .. 亘賳毓賵賲丞 .. 賵 丕賳鬲 賲爻鬲爻賱賲 .. 賲爻鬲爻賱賲 .. 賱睾丕賷丞 賲丕鬲睾乇賾賯 賵毓賷賰 賵 鬲丨鬲賱 丨賵丕爻賰
卮卅 賰丿賴 夭賷 丕賱爻丨乇 ! :)
孬賲 ..賲丕賰賱 賴匕賴 丕賱兀賳亘丕亍 賵 丕賱丨賰賲 賵 丕賱兀卮毓丕乇 賵 丕賱丌丿丕亘 丕賱乇丕卅毓丞 丕賱鬲賷 丨賵鬲賴丕 鬲賱賰 丕賱兀賱賮 賱賷賱丞 賵 賱賷賱丞 !責
毓賱賶 (賵賷賰賷 賲氐丿乇 ) 賰丕賲賱丞 毓賱賶 兀乇亘毓 丕噩夭丕亍 賮乇睾鬲 賱賱丌賳 賲賳 丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱孬丕賳賷 貙
丕賰鬲卮賮鬲 丕賳 賲毓馗賲 丕賱賯氐氐 丕賱賱賷 賯乇兀鬲賴丕 賱賱丌賳 爻亘賯 賱賷 賯乇丕卅鬲賴丕 賲賳賮乇丿丞 夭賲丕賳 貙 賵 丕賳丕 胤賮賱丞 貙
賲毓丿丞 賰賯氐氐 賱賱兀胤賮丕賱
貙
賳氐賷亘 丕賱兀爻丿 賮賷賴丕 賰丕賳 賱賭 (賰丕賲賱 賰賷賱丕賳賷) 賵 賲賳 丕毓丿丕丿賴 胤亘毓丕
:)
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賵 毓賲賵賲丕 賲丕夭賱鬲 賲爻鬲賲鬲毓賴 亘賯乇丕亍鬲賴丕 賰兀賵賱 賲乇丞
:)
丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱兀賵賱 :
丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱孬丕賳賷 :
丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱孬丕賱孬 :
丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱乇丕亘毓 :
(兀賱賮 賱賷賱丞 賵 賱賷賱丞) ..
賲賳 賮囟賱賰 ..
賱丕 鬲賳爻賶 賵囟毓 毓賯賱賰 禺丕乇噩丕 毓賱賶 亘賵丕亘鬲賴 ! 貙
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兀乇丨 毓賯賱賰 賯賱賷賱丕 貙 賵 丕賱丕 賮賱賳 鬲卮毓乇 亘丕賱賲鬲毓丞 兀亘丿丕
:) !
丨賰丕賷丞 噩賵賴 丨賰丕賷丞 賲賳 賵乇丕 丨賰丕賷丞
丕賷賴 丿丕 亘噩丿 :) !! 責
賰兀賳賰 賵丕賯毓 賮賷 賲丨賷胤 .. 亘鬲爻丨亘賰 賮賷賴 賵 亘乇睾賲 丕乇丕丿鬲賰 .. 丿賵丕賲丞 賱匕賷匕丞
...
亘鬲爻丨亘賰 賲賳 丨賰丕賷丞 賱賱鬲丕賳賷丞 .. 賲賳 毓丕賱賲 賱賱鬲丕賳賷 ... 亘鬲爻丨亘賰 賱鬲丕乇賷禺 .. 賱丨囟丕乇丕鬲 .. 賱噩夭乇 賵 賯氐賵乇 .. 賱丨囟乇丞 賲賱賵賰 丕賱噩丕賳 賵爻賱丕胤賷賳 丕賱廿賳爻 ! ... 亘鬲爻丨亘賰 .. 亘鬲爻丨亘賰 .. 亘賳毓賵賲丞 .. 賵 丕賳鬲 賲爻鬲爻賱賲 .. 賲爻鬲爻賱賲 .. 賱睾丕賷丞 賲丕鬲睾乇賾賯 賵毓賷賰 賵 鬲丨鬲賱 丨賵丕爻賰
卮卅 賰丿賴 夭賷 丕賱爻丨乇 ! :)
孬賲 ..賲丕賰賱 賴匕賴 丕賱兀賳亘丕亍 賵 丕賱丨賰賲 賵 丕賱兀卮毓丕乇 賵 丕賱丌丿丕亘 丕賱乇丕卅毓丞 丕賱鬲賷 丨賵鬲賴丕 鬲賱賰 丕賱兀賱賮 賱賷賱丞 賵 賱賷賱丞 !責
毓賱賶 (賵賷賰賷 賲氐丿乇 ) 賰丕賲賱丞 毓賱賶 兀乇亘毓 丕噩夭丕亍 賮乇睾鬲 賱賱丌賳 賲賳 丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱孬丕賳賷 貙
丕賰鬲卮賮鬲 丕賳 賲毓馗賲 丕賱賯氐氐 丕賱賱賷 賯乇兀鬲賴丕 賱賱丌賳 爻亘賯 賱賷 賯乇丕卅鬲賴丕 賲賳賮乇丿丞 夭賲丕賳 貙 賵 丕賳丕 胤賮賱丞 貙
賲毓丿丞 賰賯氐氐 賱賱兀胤賮丕賱
貙
賳氐賷亘 丕賱兀爻丿 賮賷賴丕 賰丕賳 賱賭 (賰丕賲賱 賰賷賱丕賳賷) 賵 賲賳 丕毓丿丕丿賴 胤亘毓丕
:)
...
賵 毓賲賵賲丕 賲丕夭賱鬲 賲爻鬲賲鬲毓賴 亘賯乇丕亍鬲賴丕 賰兀賵賱 賲乇丞
:)
丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱兀賵賱 :
丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱孬丕賳賷 :
丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱孬丕賱孬 :
丕賱噩夭亍 丕賱乇丕亘毓 :
August 20, 2022
Este es de esos libros que marcaron mi adolescencia, y en un buen sentido, es de aquellas historias que me hicieron amar los libros y disfrutar de la lectura.
La trama es archi-conocida, el rey Schariar tras sufrir el enga帽o de su esposa decide en venganza conseguir una joven virgen para casarse cada d铆a para a la ma帽ana siguiente ordenar matarla. Hasta que Scherezade, la hija del Visir, planea una manera con la cual detener este sinsentido, el qu茅 consiste en contarle a Schariar una historia cada noche dej谩ndola en su punto 谩lgido para que de esta manera el sult谩n por inter茅s a no quedarse sin el final vaya aplazando la ejecuci贸n qu茅 termina por extenderse por m谩s de mil noches...
Lo que nos lleva directo a un mont贸n de cuentos, historias, poemas, leyendas, parodias, etc. Que nos hacen saltar la imaginaci贸n y nos transportan a mundos fant谩sticos de diversa 铆ndole. Todo, por supuesto, impregnado de la diferente e interesante cultura medieval de oriente medio. Ac谩, por supuesto, encontramos historias mundialmente famosas como Aladdin, Sinbad o Al铆 bab谩, entre otras menos conocidas, pero igual de imaginativas que me hacen imposible elegir una como favorita, cito algunas menos conocidas como cuando un par de personajes descienden a un mundo subterr谩neo reinado por mujeres con cola de serpiente, o la princesa que se disfraza de su amado y termina cas谩ndose con otra mujer, o el ilusionista que compraba carne con monedas supuestamente nuevas y relucientes, o el jorobado que supuestamente muere atragantado por una espina de pescado, pero al final nunca estuvo muerto, o el hombre que llega a un palacio de mil habitaciones d贸nde le entregan todo sin nada a cambio con la 煤nica condici贸n de j谩mas entrar en una habitaci贸n en particular, o el par de viajeros que son forzados a volverse reyes de un pueblo de monos, o el hombre que se cas贸 con una mujer que por las noches se escapaba al cementerio a comer carne de muerto... entre tantas otras que te hacen volar la imaginaci贸n como pocas historias pueden.
Cabe destacar que existen varias versiones de Las mil y una noches, algunas de ellas con historias recortadas, adaptadas o modificadas con la idea de evitar material que pudiese resultar ofensivo a lectores actuales, lo que a m铆 juicio es un error. Por lo personal tuve la suerte de leer la versi贸n Integra ilustrada de tres tomos y la verdad es que no hay desperdicio. Varias de las historias dejan alg煤n tipo de ense帽anza o alguna par谩bola aunque tambi茅n es verdad que hay historias bastante machistas, dado la cultura de oriente medio, o historias que entran en lo er贸tico con escenas l茅sbicas y hasta zoofilicas en parte. M谩s, c贸mo se advierte en el pr贸logo hay que comprender que eran otros tiempos, otra 茅poca, otra cultura... que a trav茅s de sus historias nos ayudan a entender c贸mo ve铆an el mundo esta gente y c贸mo podemos aprender de ellos, que lecciones sacamos. "El que rehuye de su pasado est谩 condenado a repetirlo" dicen y creo que saber apreciar este tipo de historias, algo arcaicas en algunos aspectos, desde una perspectiva moderna nos ayuda a mirar al pasado y entender cu谩nto hemos cambiado y avanzado como sociedad. Y que nos queda a煤n por mejorar.
隆De lo mejor que le铆do en toda mi vida! 隆Muy recomendado!
La trama es archi-conocida, el rey Schariar tras sufrir el enga帽o de su esposa decide en venganza conseguir una joven virgen para casarse cada d铆a para a la ma帽ana siguiente ordenar matarla. Hasta que Scherezade, la hija del Visir, planea una manera con la cual detener este sinsentido, el qu茅 consiste en contarle a Schariar una historia cada noche dej谩ndola en su punto 谩lgido para que de esta manera el sult谩n por inter茅s a no quedarse sin el final vaya aplazando la ejecuci贸n qu茅 termina por extenderse por m谩s de mil noches...
Lo que nos lleva directo a un mont贸n de cuentos, historias, poemas, leyendas, parodias, etc. Que nos hacen saltar la imaginaci贸n y nos transportan a mundos fant谩sticos de diversa 铆ndole. Todo, por supuesto, impregnado de la diferente e interesante cultura medieval de oriente medio. Ac谩, por supuesto, encontramos historias mundialmente famosas como Aladdin, Sinbad o Al铆 bab谩, entre otras menos conocidas, pero igual de imaginativas que me hacen imposible elegir una como favorita, cito algunas menos conocidas como cuando un par de personajes descienden a un mundo subterr谩neo reinado por mujeres con cola de serpiente, o la princesa que se disfraza de su amado y termina cas谩ndose con otra mujer, o el ilusionista que compraba carne con monedas supuestamente nuevas y relucientes, o el jorobado que supuestamente muere atragantado por una espina de pescado, pero al final nunca estuvo muerto, o el hombre que llega a un palacio de mil habitaciones d贸nde le entregan todo sin nada a cambio con la 煤nica condici贸n de j谩mas entrar en una habitaci贸n en particular, o el par de viajeros que son forzados a volverse reyes de un pueblo de monos, o el hombre que se cas贸 con una mujer que por las noches se escapaba al cementerio a comer carne de muerto... entre tantas otras que te hacen volar la imaginaci贸n como pocas historias pueden.
Cabe destacar que existen varias versiones de Las mil y una noches, algunas de ellas con historias recortadas, adaptadas o modificadas con la idea de evitar material que pudiese resultar ofensivo a lectores actuales, lo que a m铆 juicio es un error. Por lo personal tuve la suerte de leer la versi贸n Integra ilustrada de tres tomos y la verdad es que no hay desperdicio. Varias de las historias dejan alg煤n tipo de ense帽anza o alguna par谩bola aunque tambi茅n es verdad que hay historias bastante machistas, dado la cultura de oriente medio, o historias que entran en lo er贸tico con escenas l茅sbicas y hasta zoofilicas en parte. M谩s, c贸mo se advierte en el pr贸logo hay que comprender que eran otros tiempos, otra 茅poca, otra cultura... que a trav茅s de sus historias nos ayudan a entender c贸mo ve铆an el mundo esta gente y c贸mo podemos aprender de ellos, que lecciones sacamos. "El que rehuye de su pasado est谩 condenado a repetirlo" dicen y creo que saber apreciar este tipo de historias, algo arcaicas en algunos aspectos, desde una perspectiva moderna nos ayuda a mirar al pasado y entender cu谩nto hemos cambiado y avanzado como sociedad. Y que nos queda a煤n por mejorar.
隆De lo mejor que le铆do en toda mi vida! 隆Muy recomendado!
August 25, 2022
翱迟迟补苍迟补迟谤茅
There was a young girl called Scheherazade
Whose husband was simply stark raving mad
He said: off with your head
If I don鈥檛 go to bed
With a tale either funny or sad
A sinistra... / A destra...
.
There was a young girl called Scheherazade
Whose husband was simply stark raving mad
He said: off with your head
If I don鈥檛 go to bed
With a tale either funny or sad
A sinistra... / A destra...
.
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