Summary
The Thousand and One Nights, also known as Arabian Nights, is a famous collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian folk tales compiled over centuries.
Volume I, as translated by Edward William Lane, introduces readers to the famous frame story of Shahrazad (Scheherazade) and King Shahryar.
After discovering his wife’s infidelity, Shahryar begins executing a new bride each morning after their wedding night.
Shahrazad, the vizier’s clever daughter, volunteers to marry the king but devises a plan to survive: she tells the king a gripping story every night — always stopping at a cliffhanger — so that he spares her life to hear the ending.
This continues for 1,001 nights.
Volume I contains some of the earliest and most famous stories, such as:
The Merchant and the Genie
The Fisherman and the Jinni
The Three Apples
The Porter and the Three Ladies
The Tale of the Hunchback
Each story weaves into another, forming a rich tapestry of morality, mystery, adventure, romance, and magic.