Introduction (revised: APRIL 22, 2014)

 

Zach:               Have you ever hoped that a bedtime story would go on and on, without an end?

 

Ms. Erin’s:       Yes

Zach:               There's a collection of stories that comes close. It's known as The Arabian Nights, or The Thousand and One Nights.

Caryss:            Hundreds of years ago professional storytellers in India and the Middle East made up the stories now known as The Arabian Nights. 

Brian:              Later on, groups of these stories were put together. One group was translated from Arabic to French by Antoine Galland in the early 1700's.

Zach:               Will you help us tell the tale?

Ms. Erin’s:       Yes

(students stand up and do movements)

Lydia:              All the collections have one thing in common

Gibson:            A heroine, Scheherazade, tells the different stories. She recites the tales for a very good reason:

Sophie:            She must gain the trust and love of her husband.

Brian:              Scheherazade was married to a cruel Sultan Shahriyar.

Caryss:            Sultan Shahriyar was very harsh and did not trust anyone, not even his new wife.

Gibson:            So Scheherazade set out to gain the trust and love of her husband and prove her love and loyalty.

Zach:               Every night she began to tell her Sultan husband a magnificent story and stopped just before she reached the end.

Ava:                Each night the Sultan waited with anticipation to hear the rest of the tale.

Zach:               Each night he softened toward his new bride.

Sophia:            Each night she finished the story… (pause) BUT began another one even more fascinating than the first.  

 Lydia:              (pause) Each new story she stopped before the ending.

Ava:                So it went, for

ALL:               a thousand and one nights.

Gibson:            The king had fallen in love with Scheherazade and they live happily ever after.

Caryss:            The stories told by Scheherazade are very popular.

Lydia:              These treasures are full of  beasts and cunning magicians.

Brian:              The best-known stories of Scheherazade are Sinbad the Sailor; Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves; The Fisherman and the Genie and

Caryss:            One of the most famous stories is Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp.

 

 

 

 

 

"Arabian Nights." Reviewed by Carolyn W. Field. The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

 




 


 

 

 

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