Reading Notes: Arabian Nights, Part A

 The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

I've never heard of Scheherazade. I thought she was the sultan's wife who deceived him and then told him stories in order to stay alive. I'm pleased to know Scheherazade is a woman of virtue and is using her gift for the benefit of others as well as her father who has to carry out such horrible deeds. 

There seems to be some murkiness about the origins of this story. I could be reading something already disproven. I've always associated Aladdin-- I got it. Someone was saying the story of Aladdin was more Asian than Middle Eastern at one time, but later retellings of the story played up the Middle Eastern part. That still doesn't make any sense considering these stories definitely originated in the Middle East. I read something about the original author possibly being a traveling merchant. So if Aladdin was Asian (maybe Indian) or something it could be because the merchant traveled to foreign lands and received inspiration. 

Ha. The title "The Story of the First Old Man" had me thinking it was going to be a story about the first old man. I was waiting up until the end. 

My wife was a fairy. That came out of left field. Maybe what I need to take away from this story is the story within a story plot device.

Everyone wants revenge. 

What a switch for the genie with the fisherman. He called him king and then told the fisherman he would kill him. I see. The genie was talking to the last person he saw before he was imprisoned. I don't know if I've read this story before, or if it's just so similar to the fable with the lion and jackal that I think it's the same thing. 

Dang. That poor parrot. It is a little confusing about whether the parrot owner's wife did anything wrong originally, though.

Genies, even in their gifts, are deceptive. The four fish are different races. Apparently the blocks in Mario are Toads who were turned into blocks by Bowser. Very similar, huh?

That's a pretty good ending. I'm glad the fisherman was rewarded since it was his discovery of the genie that lead to the King of the Black Isles delivery from his untrue form. Maybe genies work in mysterious ways. 

Let me tell you a story... (Source)