The Arabian Nights Entertainments
1898
A thousand and one nights of storytelling to survive the sword. This is the legendary frame tale of Scheherazade, the clever queen who marries a murderous sultan and keeps him hanging on her every word by spinning stories so intoxicating he cannot execute her until he hears how they end. What unfolds is an inexhaustible treasure chest of adventure, magic, and mischief: Aladdin's lamp, Ali Baba's forty thieves, Sinbad's seven voyages, the talking roc bird, jinns trapped in copper bottles. But these aren't just fairy tales for children. Behind the enchantment lies sharp social satire, dark humor, and a medieval Islamic world rendered in intimate detail. Andrew Lang's collection gathers the most celebrated tales from Richard Burton's famous translation, offering a gateway into a civilization's dreams. The power here is primal: a woman buying her life with words, and the ancient truth that story is the closest thing we have to magic.
Editions
X-Ray
“A loss that can be repaired by money is not of such very great importance.””
— Andrew Lang
“Glory be to Him who changes others and remains Himself unchanged!””
— Andrew Lang
“WHOEVER TALKS ABOUT WHAT DOES NOT CONCERN HIM, OFTEN HEARS WHAT DOES NOT PLEASE HIM!””
— Andrew Lang
“A library of books is the fairest garden in the world, and to walk there is an ecstasy.””
— Andrew Lang
“My story is of such marvel that if it were written with a needle on the corner of an eye, it would yet serve as a lesson to those who seek wisdom.””
— Andrew Lang
“We live in biological time, and we have beginnings, middles, and ends.””
— Andrew Lang
“Psychology claims that when you can't sleep at night, you are actually awake in someone's dream.””
— Andrew Lang
“It is amazing what women in love will do””
— Andrew Lang
“A truth once seen by a single mind ends up by imposing itself on the totality of human consciousness.””
— Andrew Lang
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