Penguin Books Australia

'Tell me, my sister, some tale of marvel to beguile the night'

The tales told by Shahrazad over a thousand and one nights to delay her execution by the vengeful King Shahriyar have become among the most popular in both Eastern and Western literature.  From the epic adventures of 'Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp' and Sindbad the Sailor' to the farcical 'Young Woman and her Five Lovers' and the social criticism of 'The Tale of the Hunchback'. the stories depict a fabulous world of all-powerful sorcerers, jinns imprisoned in bottles and enchanting princess.  But despite their imaginative extravagance, the Tales form the Thousand and One Nights are also anchored to everyday life by their bawdiness and realism, providing a full and intimate record of the medieval Eastern world.

In this section, N.J. Dawood presents the reader with and unexpurgated translation of the finest and best-known tales, preserving their spirited narrative style in lively modern English.  In his introduction, he discusses their origins in the East and their differences form Classical Arabic literature, and examines English translations of the tales since the eighteenth century.