The netpaper about Elftowners, by Elftowners, for Elftowners.
Arabian Nights
written by [Teufelsweib]
What Are The Arabian Nights?
"Is it possible, that by telling these tales,
one might indeed save one's self?"
That quote might indeed sound weird. What magical tales could those be? How can you, by telling stories, save your life? It might sound impossible, in fact perhaps it is, but you should over think that thought before you say it out loud. For many years ago a young woman did save her life simply by telling tales. Scheherezade was the name of the woman who accomplished that. The name might ring a bell, for yes, the tales she told are indeed known as the Arabian Nights (or the 1001 Arabian Nights, if you prefer). Scheherezade told the stories to the sultan, the one who gave her her death sentence, so she could live a bit longer.
Those stories have been rewritten and republished again so they can figure as a main source of inspiration for writers all over the world (and inspirational for the theme of the herald this month!). The amount of stories though has only grown since they were translated. Not only are they about adventures that set place in Asia, India and Arabia but also in China, North Africa and if I can remember good even Greece! A lot of civilizations contributed stories of great variety to the Arabian Nights collection, and most of them set place thousands of years ago.
The tales can be adventurous, about the truth, the good defeating the bad, romances, legends, fairytales and other fantastic things that brings your imagination to a state of Moksia. Sometimes the tales are beautiful and are fitted to be used as bed time story, but others can be brutal and have mature content. Though the varying situations that are presented in the Arabian Nights tales, there is a strong core that keeps them together. It were tales that Scheherezade didn’t only tell to keep herself alive, but also to give the sultan a hint that a human life is worth more than he assumes I suppose. The moral of the stories is that life is always worth living, no matter what, and that the abilities and strength of humans are wonderful things. Even their bad sides can be fascinating.
There are hundreds of tales from the Arabian Nights, and since they are public domain they shouldn’t be hard to get your hands on somehow. There are, for example, versions translated by Andrew Lang and Edward Lane. A few populair examples of them are The seven voyages of Sindbad the Sailor and Alladin and the wonderful lamp.
The storytelling point of these tales is also highly present, for they make you believe that is a jewel that when in contact with humans, it changes them. The jewel is the art of storytelling, and is a beautiful jewel to be seen. It is symbolic of course, but when you think about it quite true. How else can it be that when you tell someone a story about the most outrageous things, the listener can totally be washed away into your world of fantasy in which everything can happen. If there is a purple sky in your story, the listener shall believe. If animals can talk in your tale, the listener shall accept. There is a change in his mind. A good storyteller can chance people, a symbolic touch with a jewel to make them believe.
“"A book of tales from a Thousand Nights.
There is neither strength nor power except in God the Highest, the Mightiest."”
- first page of Arabian Nights
have a wonderful and inspirational time reading through this edition of the Herald.
- [
Teufelsweib]
Thankyou to [Sunny Silverunicorn] and Austin Cheney at http://cheneymac.deviantart.com/ for the beautiful illustration!
return to TH Issue 14 Index
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