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The Thousand and One Nights

An 1888 American poster for a burlesque show that featured the story of Aladdin. The majestic backdrop for the production shows an imaginary Arabia of fairy castles, dancing girls, soldiers, ostriches, wise men, and sultans dressed as European kings. The Thousand and One Nights sparked a romantic interest in the world of the tales in Europe and America, in which the magical elements overwhelmed the realism of the tales and the Muslim world became a fantasy land.

<img src="http://www.learner.org/courses/worldlit/media/the-thousand-and-one-nights/slideshow/slideshow_04_lg.jpg" alt="" />

Please add any more information on The Thousand and One Nights if you please :)

Feb 18, 2012 1:35 AM
Comments · 9

Yes I've read this amazing book before and I will write some excerpts from it in this discussion.  Please join along and write about your favorite quotations from The Arabian Nights. Of course this is a classical suggested read!

February 18, 2012

She was like her of whom the poet said:

Her smile reveals twin rows of pearls Or white daisies or pearly hail. Her forelock like the night unfurls; Before her light the sun is pale.

<img src="http://www.learner.org/courses/worldlit/media/the-thousand-and-one-nights/read_text_image_03.jpg" alt="" />

(The Three Ladies and the Porter )

February 18, 2012

In the middle stood a large pool full of water, with a fountain in the center, and at the far end stood a couch of black juniper wood, covered with white silk and set with gems and pearls as big as hazelnuts or bigger. The curtain was unfastened, and a dazzling girl emerged, with genial charm, wise mien, and features as radiant as the moon. She has an elegant figure, the scent of ambergris, sugared lips, Babylonian eyes, with eyebrows as arched as a pair of bent bows, and a face whose radiance put the shining sun to shame, for she was like a great star soaring in the heavens, or a dome of gold, or an unveiled bride, or a splendid fish swimming in a fountain, or a morsel of luscious fat in a bowl of milk soup.

 

February 18, 2012

(The ever so famous excerpt: 

When the porter saw her, he lost his senses and his wits, and the basket nearly fell from his head, as he exclaimed, "Never in my life have I seen a more blessed day then this!" Then the girl who had opened the door said to the girl who had done the shopping, "Sister, what are you waiting for? Come in and relieve this poor man of his heavy burden." The shopper and the porter went in, and the doorkeeper locked the door and followed them until they came to a spacious, well-appointed, and splendid hall. It had arched compartments and niches with carved woodwork; it had a booth hung with drapes; and it had closets and cupboards covered with curtains.   (to be continued..)

February 18, 2012
"It will be sufficient to break off a branch and carry it to plant in your own garden." Maxfield Parrish illustration
 
February 18, 2012
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