Step inside The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 01

The film without the cuts. And the book itself.

To halt a king who weds and kills a bride each dawn, Shahrazad marries him and stops each night’s tale on a cliffhanger.

9:41

The Cast

Shahrazad

Main · royal household

A learned woman enters a deadly chamber carrying a storehouse of stories.

Locations

Shahryar’s Palace Chamber

palace chamber

A king kills each bride by morning; one of them talks her way past dawn.

Passage

She stakes her life on a story, hoping words can stop a killer.

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The Author’s Pen

The Plan for Deliverance

When I have gone into the King I will send for thee and when thou comest to me and seest that he hath had his carnal will of me, do thou say to me:—O my sister, an thou be not sleepy, relate to me some new story, delectable and delightsome, the better to speed our waking hours;" and I will tell thee a tale which shall be our deliverance, if so Allah please, and which shall turn the King from his blood thirsty custom." Dunyazad answered "With love and gladness."

Reading

Scheherazade is arming her sister with a single line to say, and the whole scheme rests on it. She has volunteered to marry a king who beds a new wife each night and kills her by morning, and her escape depends on him wanting to hear the rest of a tale badly enough to let her live another day. Notice that Dunyazad's part is not to plead for mercy but simply to ask, innocently, for a story, so that the king never sees the trap. The plan aims past Scheherazade's own survival: it is meant to break his habit of killing women altogether.

World Index

The Plot

Shahrazad Begins the WagerThe Trader and the Three ShaykhsThe Fisherman and the IfritSage Duban and the Poisoned BookThe Ensorcelled PrinceThe Porter and the Three LadiesThe Three ApplesNur al-Din and Badr al-DinThe Hunchback Cycle

The Cast

ShahrazadShahryarThe TraderThe FishermanDunyazadThe Wazir, Father of ShahrazadShah ZamanThe Jinni of the Trader’s TaleThe First ShaykhThe Herdsman’s DaughterThe Second ShaykhThe Third ShaykhThe Sealed IfritSage DubanKing YunanKing Yunan’s Envious WazirThe Ensorcelled PrinceThe Ensorcelled Prince’s WifeThe PorterThe Three Ladies of BaghdadThe PortressThe Eldest LadyThe CateressThe First KalandarThe Second KalandarThe Third KalandarHarun al-RashidJa’afarMasrurThe Young Man in the Three ApplesNur al-Din AliBadr al-Din HasanShams al-DinSitt al-HusnThe HunchbackThe TailorThe Tailor’s WifeThe Jewish DoctorThe ReeveThe Nazarene BrokerThe BarberThe King of ChinaShahryar’s First WifeShah Zaman’s WifeThe Captive Woman with the IfritThe Frame-Story IfritThe First Shaykh’s Gazelle-WifeThe First Shaykh’s Calf-SonThe Second Shaykh’s Two Black HoundsThe Third Shaykh’s She-MuleKing SindibadSindibad’s FalconThe Husband in the Parrot TaleThe ParrotThe Wife in the Parrot TaleThe Prince in the Ogress TaleThe OgressThe EnvierThe EnviedThe Murdered Young WomanThe Old Man in the Three ApplesThe Slave in the Three ApplesGobbo, the Hunchbacked GroomThe Wedding IfritThe Ifritah of the WeddingThe Sultan of EgyptThe Governor / WaliThe Barber’s First BrotherThe Barber’s Second BrotherThe Barber’s Third BrotherThe Barber’s Fourth BrotherThe Barber’s Fifth BrotherThe Barber’s Sixth BrotherThe Lame Young Man from BaghdadThe Kingdom’s Young WomenThe Trader’s FamilyThe King of China

Locations

BaghdadBaghdad MarketplaceBaghdad Streets at NightBassorahCairoDamascusKing Sindibad’s Hunting GroundKing Yunan’s CourtSamarcandShahryar’s Audience HallShahryar’s KingdomShahryar’s Palace ChamberSitt al-Husn’s Wedding HallThe Broker’s StreetThe Caliph’s PalaceThe Enchanted Lake of the Black IslandsThe Ensorcelled Prince’s PalaceThe Fisherman’s SeashoreThe Governor’s Judgment SpaceThe Husband’s House in the Parrot TaleThe Jewish Doctor’s HouseThe King of China’s CourtThe Ladies’ House in BaghdadThe Reeve’s HouseThe Riverbank of the ChestThe Roadside TreeThe Tailor’s HouseThe Trader’s Home

Objects of Note

Nur al-Din’s Sealed Lineage DocumentSage Duban’s Healing InstrumentShahrazad’s Books and HistoriesSolomon’s SealThe Barber’s ToolsThe Chest in the Three ApplesThe Date-StonesThe Disguises of Harun, Ja’afar, and MasrurThe Fisherman’s NetThe Hunchback’s Fish MealThe Jinni’s Drawn SwordThe Ladies’ Banquet ServiceThe Ladies’ Musical InstrumentsThe Poisoned BookThe Porter’s Market LoadThe Sealed VesselThe Three ApplesThe Wazir’s ShroudThe Wedding Garments and Bridal Display

Core Concepts

Bad counsel can make prudence sound like wisdomBodies and appearances hide the stories that explain themCareful speech can defeat power that force cannot resistCuriosity endangers people and also saves themEvery story opens into another storyHousehold secrets become matters of judgmentJudgment becomes dangerous when it arrives before the whole storyPower is tested by how well it listensSmall objects become engines of fateSpoken tales become records that outlast the dangerStories keep death waitingThe story survives because it stops at the right moment

The Author's Pen

The First Night BeginsThe Ifrit Accuses the MerchantThe Merchant Rests Beneath a TreeThe Jinni Demands BloodA Year's ReprieveThe Bewitched SonThe Calf RevealedThe Calf Is His SonThe Merchant Awaits DeathThree Shaykhs GatherThe Jinni Claims The MerchantThe Merchant Is ReleasedThe Dead Jackass CatchThe Sealed Copper JarThe Ifrit From the JarThe Ifrit's Death SentenceThe Freed Ifrit's ThreatThe Fisherman’s RuseThe Ifrit in the JarThe Fisherman Refuses MercyThe Sage Duban ArrivesA Cure Without MedicineThe Medicinal Mall BatThe King Honors the SageThe Wazir's Envious WarningThe Wazir's Deadly CounselThe King's Death SentenceThe Speaking HeadThe Poisoned BookThe Falcon and the VipersThe Parrot as DuennaThe Lost Prince And DamselThe Youth Half Turned to StoneThe House of LamentationsHalf Stone and Daily ScourgedFollow Me PorterThe Porter's Silence BargainThe Porter’s First CupJaafar's Plea for ShelterThe Condition of EntryJaafar Counsels SilenceThe Porter's Auspicious DayThe Wazir's RevengeThe One Eyed PrinceThe Envied DepartsKing Ajib Sets SailThe Caliph Marries ThemHarun Walks the CityLearning Without LuckThe Old Fisherman’s SongConfession Beneath the GallowsThe Slave's Apple TaleThe Apple and the LieJaafar Given Three DaysJaafar Bargains for His SlaveWending Without Wotting WhitherThe Sewn DocumentProof Against a DreamThe Hunchback ChokesThe Hunchback Passed AlongFour Claim the HunchbackThe Broker's Wondrous TaleThe Corpse on the StairsThe Hunchback on the RoofThe Physician Steps ForwardThe Left HandThe Lame Youth RecoilsThe Silent Man’s BrothersThe Wazir Stands UpThe Silent Man SummonedThe Generosity of My NatureThe Hunchback LivesThe Barber's Deliverance

Plot point 01

Shahrazad Begins the Wager

To halt a king who weds and kills a bride each dawn, Shahrazad marries him and stops each night’s tale on a cliffhanger.

Objects of Note

Shahrazad’s Books and Histories

Everything she has read becomes the only weapon she has against a king who kills by morning.

The Cast

Shahryar

Main · royal household

A betrayed king turns the marriage chamber into a nightly instrument of death.

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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night - Volume 01

Anonymous / traditional; translated and annotated by Sir Richard Francis Burton

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

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