The Van Buren press., 1873-11-18
The Thousand and One Nights.

The Thousand and One Nights. "
But how came that title Of The Thou
sand and One Nights, which belonged.
aud still belongs, TO all the European
collections OF the old Arabias stories?
will tell you why; and in teliin. yon
why, SHALL give you the whole back
ground on which all these various Ara.
bian stories, wherever found, are array"d
And the backgroI 4 is itself II story, and
this is the way it runs
Once there lived wicked Sultan Of
Persia, whose name was Schahrar; and
he had many wives-liks the Persian
Shah who went journeying into England
this summer past; and he thought OF lis
wives as stock-Owners think ef 1helr cat
,le--and tear the Persian Shah think,
M otherwise
Well, when this old Schahriar found
his wives we're laithless and deceiifui--as
all wives viii he who are esteemed no
more than cat;le-he vowed he wonld cut
Off all their shining, by making an end OF
them; 50 it happened that whatever neS
wfe he espoused one day, he killel upon
the next,
You will think the wives were foolish
to marry him but many women keep on
making rs foolish matches all the world
over; and she who marries q sot, or the
man who promises to hc sot, is killed
slowly, instead of being killed quickly
with a bowstins,--as the Schaariar did
his work,
Besides. all women Of tho East were
slaves, rs they are mostly nov, aud sub.
icct to whatever orders the Sultan might
make.
Now it happened tina, this old Schah
riar had u vizIcr. or chief officer under
him (who executed all his murisrous or
dcrs, and who was horriied by the cru
elites he had to commit Aud thi, same
vizicr had a beautiful and accomplished
daughter, who was even more Mortified
than her father; and she plotted how she
might stay the bloJdy actions of the
Schahrar.
She could gain no access to him, and
could hope to win no influence over lhm.
except by becoming his BRIDE but il she
became his bride she woall have bu, one
day to live. So, ut least, thought her
uuV lututT. CdS, VI tOUl
II very hard to win the conseat or her ta
ther. tho vizier. to her plan; but at last
she succeeded, and 80 arranged matters
that the Schahriar sh ,uld command her
to be his bride.
The fatal marriage. day came, and the
vizisr was in aa agony Of grief aud alarm
The morning after the espousals he wait
ell, in an ecstacy Of fear the usual order
for tho slaughter OF the innocent bride !;
but, to his a,nazemcat and present relief,
the order was postponed 10 the follow.
ing day.
This bride. whose name was Sehehcra
xale-knuwn now to schoOl.b0ys AMI
school girls all over the world-w was most
heguiing of speech, aud most charm.
Ing sto-y. teller. And on the day OF her
espousals she had commenced the nara
ton OF most engrossing story to her
husband, the Schahriar, and had SO art
fully timed il, aud measured ont its length
that when the hour came for the Satan
70 set about his cares Of Office, she shoul,
be at its most interesting stage, The
Sultan had been so begniled by the
witchery Of her narrative, and s. eager
to learn the issue, that he put off the cx
ecution OF MIS- murlerous design, in or
der to hear the termination Of the story
on the following night.
And so rich was the narration and so
great was the art Of the Princess Schehe-
razade, that she kept alive the curiosity
aud wonder of her husband, the Sultan,
day after day. and month after month,
until ner fascinating stories had lasted
for q thousand and one nights
Ifyou count up these YOU will find they
make n period Of two years and nine
months during which she besuiled the
Sultan and stayed the order for her exc
cu,ion IL the interval chi lren had been
born to her, anl she had so won upon
her husband that he abolished his cruel
cdict forever, on condition that from time
to time she should tell over again those
enchanting stories And the stories she
told ON those thousand anl one nights,
anil which have been rsritsl in every Ian
guage Of Europe. thousands aud thaus
ands OF times, are the Arabian Nights
Tales.
IT this story 10 not true in all particu
lars, it 10 at least as true as the storie.
are.
A good woman sacrificed herself to
work deed OF bcnevolcsce. Tint stor,
at any rate is true. and is being repeated
over and over in lives al! around us
Donald g !Ht.hsU, ~ 81 Nicholas 10,
Novemter.