A luminous translation of Arabic tales of enchantment and wonder
Translated into English for the very first time, A Hundred and One
Nights is a marvelous example of the rich tradition of popular Arabic
storytelling. Like the celebrated Thousand and One Nights, this
collection opens with the frame story of Scheherazade, the vizier's
gifted daughter who recounts imaginative tales night after night in an
effort to distract the murderous king from taking her life. A Hundred
and One Nights features an almost entirely different set of stories,
however, each one more thrilling, amusing, and disturbing than the last.
Here, we encounter tales of epic warriors, buried treasure, disappearing
brides, cannibal demon-women, fatal shipwrecks, and clever ruses, where
human strength and ingenuity play out against a backdrop of inexorable,
inscrutable fate.
Distinctly rooted in Arabic literary culture and the Islamic tradition,
these tales draw on motifs and story elements that circulated across
cultures, including Indian and Chinese antecedents, and features a frame
story possibly older than its more famous sibling. This vibrant
translation of A Hundred and One Nights promises to transport readers,
new and veteran alike, into its fantastical realms of magic and wonder.
An English-only edition.
