Reading Notes: Arabian Nights, Part A

 Arabian Nights

- "The blow was so heavy that his mind almost gave way, and he declared that he was quite sure that at bottom all women were as wicked as the sultana, if you could only find them out, and that the fewer the world contained the better" That's a bit dramatic on his part but I like it!

- "I am determined to stop this barbarous practice of the Sultan's, and to deliver the girls and mothers from the awful fate that hangs over them." I like Scheherazade as a heroine quite a bit right now. 

- "Grant me a little delay, just a short time to go home and bid my wife and children farewell, and to make my will. When I have done this I will come back here, and you shall kill me." It's almost like Scheherazade is telling her own story within her story.

- "But I am very angry with your brothers, and I shall not rest till I have taken their lives." I like the idea of a vengeant fairy. 

- "He now knew that the lady who said she was the daughter of an Indian king was an ogress who lived in desolate places and who by a thousand wiles surprised and devoured passers-by. He was terrified, and threw himself on his horse." This is an interesting plotline. 

- "Then, to the great astonishment of the king, the eyes opened, and the head said, "Your Majesty, open the book." Creepy!

- "Instead of answering the young man lifted up his robe, and showed the Sultan that, from the waist downwards, he was a block of black marble." Once again, very odd and cool!

- "At last I begged her to cease grieving for him, for although he could not speak or move, by her enchantments she just kept him alive. She turned upon me in a rage, and said over me some magic words, and I instantly became as you see me now, half man and half marble." Interesting. 

The Sultan's Room (Source: Snappy Goat)

Bibliography: Arabian Nights by various authors. Website: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook.