One Thousand and One Nights - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about One Thousand and One Nights Printer Friendly
The Free Dictionary
905,275,649 visitors served.
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Arabian Nights
(redirected from One Thousand and One Nights)

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.09 sec.

Arabian Nights

Tales in oral circulation among Arab storytellers from the 10th century, probably having their roots in India. They are also known as The Thousand and One Nights and include ‘Ali Baba’, ‘Aladdin’, ‘Sinbad the Sailor’, and ‘The Old Man of the Sea’.

They were supposed to have been told to the sultan Shahryar by his bride Scheherazade to avoid the fate of her predecessors, who were all executed following the wedding night to prevent their infidelity. She began a new tale each evening, which she would only agree to finish on the following night. After 1,001 nights the ‘sentence’ was rescinded.

The earliest complete Arabic version dates from 1814-18, over 100 years later than the first European translation in 12 volumes 1704-08, by French writer Antoine Galland, which made the work famous. Some of the best known episodes, such as Aladdin and Ali Baba, have no earlier source than Galland, who may have actually written the tales.

The earliest version in English dates from 1708; translations were also made by E W Lane 1838-40 and Richard Burton, who published a complete version 1885-88.


?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
?Sign in SSL protected
Email:
Password:
Register

? Mentioned in
 
Hutchinson browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Hutchinson Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2008 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.