A
beautiful Persian princess
"Shahrzad had perused the books, annals and legends of preceding Kings, and the stories, examples and instances of by gone men and things; indeed it was said that she had collected a thousand books of histories relating to antique races and departed rulers. She had perused the works of the poets and knew them by heart; she had studied philosophy and the sciences, arts and accomplishments; and she was pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred."
Against her father'
s protestations, Scheherazade volunteered to spend one night with the
King. Once in the
King's chambers, Scheherazade asked if she might bid
one last farewell to her beloved sister, Dunyazad, who had secretly been prepared to ask Scheherazade to tell a story during the long night. The
King lay awake and listened with awe to Scheherazade's first story and asked for another, but Scheherazade said there was not time as dawn was breaking, and regretfully so, as the next story was even more exciting.
And so the
King kept Scheherazade alive as he eagerly anticipated each new story, until, one thousand and
one adventurous nights, and three sons later, the
King had not only been entertained but wisely educated in morality and kindness by Scheherazade who became his
Queen.
The nucleus of these stories is formed by an old
Persian book called Hezar-afsana or the "Thousand Myths" (Persian: هزارافسانه).
