The collection of these stories must originally be called  “One Thousand and One Nights”. Another title, “Tales of the Arabian Nights”, or shortly “Arabian Nights” appears with its first translations into English dating about 1800. The first European translation was made by Frenchman, called Antoinne Galland. The most famous English translation was made by Sir Richard Burton and published for the first time in 1885, before there was one attempt for translation into English, made by John Payne.

    Anyway, the appearance of these tales must be put somewhere in time after the beginning of Middle Ages. Because of its traditional ethnical orientation, it is a mixture collection of Islamic traditional stories. As you know, Islam appears on Earth after the seventh century.

   Its situation is more deeply put in time – the argumentation between brothers. You know many of the biblical plots, first of which in that direction is the quarrel between Kain and Avel. Anyway, there is a new line – shared love of one and the same princess. One brother, the sultan, the other brother, his opponent, and one and the same lady, loved by both of them. Anyway, the result is complexively hard – killed princess. The next step for the sultan is to trust the domestic tradition – he finds himself a new wife, and she is named Scheherazade. Scheherazade was the only and virginal daughter of a vezir – the first but one man in the land, after the sultan himself.

   Philip Stevick fairly well follows the steps in doing the material stronger in our souls, comparing the original plot with organically new stories. Anyway, it works. Here we will follow the original plot.

  The new wife, Scheherazade, had to keep her life; she was taught by a story-teller to have a good etiquette in her language. Thus, she transmissively decided to tell stories in her new role, and to spare her own life by catching the only listener’s attention – this of the sultan himself. I read the translation by Sir Richard  Burton. It is so intrigue, and nothing compares to it. I watched the film “Arabian Nights” by hallmark from the beginning of twenty-first century. It is amazingly well-done work of professional quality.

   Anyway, I want to give you an idea of something else in brief comment. If it is the dream of the Eastern World, what should be said about the dreams of the Western hemisphere?...

  Anyhow, anyway, anywhere, the stories of Scheherazade can be divided in several groups. I remember one musical work of the Russian composer Rimsky – Korsakov, named “Scheherazade”. It is a typical orchestral suite. Its picturesque musical movements and descriptions made in musical terms describe before us, the listeners, the artificial face of the romantic tales, included in that cycle, I am talking especially about “Sindbad the Sailor”, “Ali Baba”. The second and the third movements are in waltz time, it ends with revisit a recast of the themes from proceeding movements – the last structural characteristic defers it from its literal original work.

   The beginning with classical structured fairy tales traces our way to really philosophical types, given in deep telling, following after them. We see the parallel with “this man” and “that man” put in the soul inside everyone of us. It is given to us not so occasionally in the story about Harun al-Rashid (the forbidden sultan) and the joke he made with his second citizen Amin, who was actually a bad drinker, a beggar and nothing else. In fact, Amin takes the place of the sultan. Thus, we may understand, no one can make fun on the back of someone else, and to double it, without to be punished as well.

   From the previous chapters of the plot line, one of the most interesting heroes is Aladdin. Even he was only a good thief. His mother and he were able to steal everything possible to remind to be stolen. But, his star-work with the magic lamp follows to some unexpected events. Some of us can certainly love Aladdin. But, he was not so honorable as expected to be.

   My favorite story of this anthology is the most philosophical one. This was the story about the father and the three sons, three heirs. They had been quarrelling everyday, everywhere. But, each of the three men was the best one in active field. One shooter, one bower, and one striker … all of them excellent ones. They brought their “victims” to their father – a magic telescope, the apple of life, and the magical flying carpet. It is significant to know, the magical flying carpet came from the lost underground town of Petra. When they understand that the old sultan, their father, is going to die, the re-union of the three sons is set up to be made. This calls to be “the different”, and the special story for me. In my opinion, it symbolizes the Holy Trinity with the three different sons and three different objects in the hands of each of the heirs.

   Now, let us come the other cultural pole of the planet. Everyone of us knows many “western” people. I mean, western-minded and broad shouldered in characteristic behavior and manners. Do you know the real imagined dream, that is in us, the people from not so Eastern world?... Believe me, we dream not to work at all, to eat what we want, to have big buildings made only for us, to have many women /men, if you are a woman/, we dream not to think about anything else than pleasure, and pleasures again. That comes true there, in the Eastern hemisphere. Even so close to us, in Istanbul, everyone of us could die by everything, except by … hunger. Nobody is hungry at those places. But those men dream also – for big cities, big Islamic mosques, contemporary modern cars, buildings, highways, etc.  Nobody can be anything else than himself at his own place. I have travelled a lot, and always prefer Europe for living, more westward, more better for me. But, every time  it is a real challenge to visit Oriental world. It is significant too, I know by my own experience. Someday I will visit China and Japan, maybe there will be the real different world for me.

   Do you know, the plot of above themed of this work tales, is Indian. The places are Persian, Arabic and Turkish. And the names and characters are Islamic. Nobody knows what will happen one day, maybe so close to us. Islam is one of the youngest religion types. I am a Christian. The Islamic people have nothing against me, when I visit their countries. I have nothing against them as well. You know, we live in the twenty-first century, thus distances must not be a problem. If there is some difference among us, there is no difference in God ands God’s purposes for everyone of us, every time he slows down among us. He is always the same, He is forever still and right. My real dream is to travel. It is fully reached by me, year by year, time passes away, distances are conquered by me. I will tell you about travelling things of mine next time.

        I do really hope you did enjoy my essay writing theme. Thank you.0