IN T ROD UCTION ome of the stories presented in this book go back to ancient times others may have arisen in medieval times Most appeared in collections during the Middle Ages others were first written down only at the beginning of the 18th century by a European translator of the earlier collections Probably all however were part of folklore of the area extending from North Africa to South Asia including Mesopotamian Persian and Indian cultures as well a later medieval Muslim cultures of Egypt and Syria As such these stories offer an entrance to the sensibilities of that wide area in those varying times The society we find in these stories consists of many poor undereducated people scrambling to stay within the good graces of a wealthy upper class that holds the power Wealth however does not seem to be strictly random Instead those who work hard and are clever enough to seize opportunities can rise from poverty to luxury as merchants or even become viziers princes and kings Self reliance and resourcefulness are prized aualities The supernatural beings that inhabit these stories are also a mixed bag of beneficent and maleficent Woe to the human who just happens to offend a jinni by accident mercy is a rare find Please note that the Arabic word jinni is used in this book with the plural form jinn and the feminine form jinniya Often in English it is spelled genie which is the more common transliteration of the Arabic spelling But a rapid assessment of a situation particularly of the psychological needs of the one in power and careful appropriate action can lead to the mere human prevailing over the magical creature so that disaster is avoided And generally those who are loyal and faithful fare better than those who are not s an abiding interest in exploration and invention Adventurers go from country to country risking their lives in order to see the world New machines are treasured There is nothing complacent or provincial in these stories Rather there is a hunger for the unknown and a desire to be part of something larger In these ways the values and beliefs reflected in the stories feel optimistic to my way of thinking more so than those found in ancient or medieval Greek Norse Celtic or ancient Egyptian mythology There is a strong sense that good behavior will lead to good results and that the world is basically a lot more delightful than it is frightful
A remarkable aspect of these particular tales is the structure of how they are told There is an overall framework in which a wife Scheherazade is telling stories to her husband each night But in the stories she tells there is often a character who tells a story And sometimes we find another story within that embedded story stories within stories within stories within the overarching story Now certainly the current form of the framework of Scheherazade was not there in the original oral folktales But even having three layers of storytelling within the individual oral tales is a lot to keep track of it is as complex to the ear as Persian miniature paintings for example are to the eye This storytelling tradition puts an emphasis on careful listening and mental jockeying The listener is rewarded frequently by gifts to the ear Songs and poems as well as gifts to the spirit characters who make us laugh love stories that hold us entranced fantastical creatures and devices that amaze us For the people of the times when the stories were first told historical details shed light on events they might have heard about Each night s tale stands on its own merit But I have worked to present them within the framework of a growing relationship between wife and husband The tales themselves are often cliffhangers that leave us wondering what will happen next But the most important cliffhanger is whether or not Scheherazade succeeds in getting her husband to grant her another day of life for in the beginning he has vowed to have her put to death after their first night together This innocent girl is subject to the whims of a man so deeply wounded his ego wobbles with every step Scheherazade uses all her story telling skills ingenuity and artistic creativity to craft stories that make her husband s heart beat faster But she also selects stories with an eye toward developing a sense of trust and eventually mercy built on that trust This helps her husband to move beyond his injury to the strength and hope that allow him to experience profound love Scheherazade wins not through trickery but through understanding human nature and through faith in her own abilities and in the transformative power of storytelling She dares to fathom the meaning of life with every bit of intelligence she has As a result she embodies the spirit of the times and places of the tales she spins Welcome to that
I Y OD IV 0 0 0 7 I A JW y IN
THE BEGINNING THE TALE OF SHAH RAYAR SHAH ZAMAN IO I wo brothers were kings Shah Rayar the older ruled the land beyond the Indus River Shah Zaman the younger ruled the land of Samarqand One day Shah Rayar missed his brother the sent his adviser his vizier to fetch him Shah Zaman happily prepared horses and camels with supplies for the journey But the night before leaving he found his wife romancing a kitchen boy Shah Zaman cried then got furious How could she He was a shah a ruler He put them to death When Shah Zaman arrived at his brother s home he kept thinking of his secret disgrace He couldn t eat He couldn t sleep Shah Rayar decided a hunt might cheer him up But Shah Zaman refused to go So Shah Rayar left without him Shah Zaman sat and moaned when what was that his brother s wife strutted across the garden with servant girls They stopped below Shah Zaman s window so close he could see that some were girls yes but others were boys They kissed and I tangled together l How awful His brother s wife was worse than his own But oh this was the way of the world Shah Zaman no longer felt T singled out for misery He ate that evening he slept that night When Shah Rayar returned he found his brother recovered What blight caused you to fade before Shah Zaman didnt want to answer But Shah Rayar insisted So Shah Zaman told what his own wife had done I condemned them both Shah Rayar gasped Good Tell me now how you recovered I l
