Once upon a time, there was a great Sultan in India with three very worthy sons: Hussain, Ali and Ahmed. He also had a beautiful and accomplished niece, Nur-un-nihar, who had become an orphan when she was a child. He brought her up with great care and love.All the princes were in love with Nur-un-nihar […]
The King of Persia ruled over a large and prosperous kingdom. He was a well-loved and happy king. But he longed for an heir.One day, as he sat in the court, a merchant wished to speak to him privately. After the day’s work was over in the court, the King called the merchant. He brought
“My story is equally strange,” said the second old man, “These two dogs are my elder brothers. Our father died and left each of us a thousand gold sequins. We all became merchants.”The eldest brother wanted to become a trader. So, he sold off his shop and used all the money he had to buy
“This hind that you see,” said the first old man, telling his story to the Genie, the merchant and the others, “is my wife.” His story ran as follows:The man and his wife were happy but had no children. So, he adopted the son of a favourite slave. But his wife was extremely jealous of
Long ago, there lived a merchant who was very rich. He had a lot of merchandise, property and money too. He went to many lands trading his merchandise.One day, he had to set off on a journey to a distant land. On the way, he had to pass through a desert where no food was
Once upon a time in Kashgar, there lived a tailor and his wife who loved each other dearly. One day, a little hunchback came and sat outside the tailor’s shop and sang, playing upon a tambourine.The tailor enjoyed his songs so much that he took him home to let him meet his wife. She had
Long ago in the capital of China, Mustafa the poor tailor died, leaving his wife and an idle son, Aladdin. Aladdin spent the whole day playing in the streets with other boys who were as lazy as he.One day, a stranger came up to Aladdin and asked him if he was Mustafa’s son.Aladdin nodded, saying,
Two brothers, Kasim and Ali Baba, lived in Persia. They had not inherited much from their father when he died. Kasim married a rich widow and became prosperous.Ali Baba was a woodcutter who lived with his wife, chopped wood in the forest every day and sold it in the market. They were very poor.One day
“I was tired of travelling and facing untold dangers,” confessed Sindbad, “But one day, an officer of the Caliph’s court came to inform me that I was required to serve the Caliph. I had to bear a letter and gifts from him for the King of the Indies in return for the courtesy and friendship
“My family and friends pleaded with me not to travel into danger again,” said Sindbad, “But after one year I was very eager to travel again! This time I took an overland route all the way to a port in India from where I began my voyage by ship.” The story of his sixth voyage
“I was never comfortable being idle for long. I wished to travel once more. But I decided to build my own ship and travel in it next time,” said Sindbad to his guests, “And I invited merchants from other nations to travel with me and they willingly agreed.” The story of his fifth voyage ran
“I always enjoyed trading and seeing new and strange places and people,” said Sindbad to his guests, “So, it was not long before I took off on a voyage again!” The story of his fourth voyage ran as follows:This time Sindbad decided to take a ship from a Persian port. The voyage began well but
“I had forgotten the dangers of the earlier voyages,” said Sindbad to his guest, “And I was restless once again for travel! So having collected some goods and merchandise for trading, I set off once more, with merchants who were known to me, from Balsora.” The story of his third voyage ran as follows:The merchants
The next day, when his guest came, the table was laden with delicious food and wine. Sindbad invited him and the other guests to eat and then he continued the story of his second voyage.Sindbad told him how he had become restless and wished to travel again. So once again, he bought goods and, with
“I was born into a rich family,” began Sindbad, “But I was a very stupid fellow and wasted the wealth that I had inherited completely.” The adventure story of his first voyage ran as follows:Sindbad sold what was left of his property and used the money to buy up some goods. Then he joined a