Extra Credit Reading Notes: Arabian Nights Part A
Arabian Nights Readings Part A: Extra Credit
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So for my notes, I typically do a "liked" and "disliked" section. For this week, however, I think I'm going to do a short recap of the stories until the Fisherman and the Genie because I really enjoyed all of the stories up to this point. When the stories switched over to the King of Greece, I became less interested and found it harder to follow because I didn't like them as much. I loved that everything was so intertwined and I think it made the stories that much more engaging because you had to think a little bit about how many layers you were into the stories.
The intermingling stories begin by a backstory to help us understand why our primary storyteller ends up in the precarious position as wife of the Sultan. A woman has betrayed the Sultan and he is determined to get revenge on the other women of the land by marrying a new one each night and then having her executed in the morning. Scheherazade, however, is super smart and wants to put a stop to that. She begs her father, the executioner, to let her sacrifice herself. She has a plan, and this plan includes help from her sister. Scheherazade spends the night with the Sultan and asks that her sister come, as well. They then enact the plan to tell the Sultan stories which repeatedly get cut off and have to be continued the next night. This is successful.
The Merchant and the Genius
The story that Scheherazade launches into in the story of the Merchant and the Genie, or Genius. In this, Scheherazade tells the story of how a man murdered a genie's son and must pay with his life. The merchant bargains to have one year to get his affairs settled, and on his way back to meet the genie to be killed, the merchant meets three old men who tell stories on his behalf to the genie.
The Story of the First Old Man and the Hind
The first story told to the genie by the newfound friends-of-the-merchant is one that is kind of sad. The man decides to adopt the son of a slave. He is thrilled to have a son, but his wife is less pleased and when the man goes on a trip, she turns the mother slave into a cow and the son slave into a calf. She then tried to have the sacrificed when the man gets home. He almost goes through with it but luckily the son slave is saved, although his mother is sacrificed. The story pleases the genie so much that he is willing to give up 1/3 of the merchant's death sentence.
The Story of the Second Old Man and the Two Black Dogs
The second story told on behalf of the Merchant is about a man and his brothers who are selfish. This story is being told by Scheherazade ultimately, but she is telling the story within the story of The Merchant and the Genius. This story was probably my least favorite. The main brother was unselfish and always willing to share with his loser brothers and they got greedy when he was successful and tried to kill him. The main brother's fairy wife saved him and sent him home. The genie must have like the story better than I did, because this also got 1/3 of the Merchant's death sentence waived. Scheherazade tells the Sultan at the end of this that she didn't know the third man's story, but it also got 1/3 waived and the merchant did not die at the hands of the genie. She then entices him with another story.
The Story of the Fisherman
The story of the fisherman brings us to a whole different level of inception. This story initiated another story which will ultimately initiate 2? other stories. I keep losing track. This gets a bit convoluted at this point, even with the descriptions above the stories.
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