One Thousand and One Nights

The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , also known as 1001 Arabian Nights, or simply the Arabian Nights, is a piece of classic literature in the style of a frame tale. The oriental king of the Arabian Nights vows to marry each day and execute his newlywed wife in the morning if she displeases him. As the story begins, Sherezade, his latest conquest, devises the scheme of telling him nightly stories that end in cliff-hangers, so the king's curiosity will prevent him from having her killed.

Some of the famous stories she spins are Aladdin's Lamp and Sindbad the Sailor.

Editions

The first European version was a translation into French by Antoine Galland of an earlier compilation was written in Arabic. This book, Les Mille et une nuits, contes arabes traduits en français probably included Arabic stories known to the translator but not included in the Arabic compilation. The Arabic compilation Alf Layla (A Thousand Nights), originating about 850 C.E., was in turn probably an abridged translation of an earlier Persian work called Hazar Afsanah (A Thousand Legends). Both Arabic and Persian written versions have been lost to modern readers.

The work is made up of a collection of stories thought to be from traditional Arabic, Persian,and Indian stories.

Perhaps the best-known translation to English speakers is that by Sir Richard Francis Burton, published as The Arabian Nights.

References and external links:

• Stories From One Thousand and One Nights, Project Bartleby edition (Lane and Poole translation): http://www.bartleby.com/16/