Stories from the Arabian Nights
Stories from "The Arabian Nights," are only fairy tales of the East. The people of Asia, Arabia, and Persia told them in their own way, not for children, but for grown-up people. There were no novels then, nor any printed books, of course; but there were people whose profession it was to amuse men and women by telling tales. They dressed the fairy stories up, and made the characters good Mahommedans, living in Bagdad or India.
The events were often supposed to happen in the reign of the great Caliph, or ruler of the Faithful, Haroun al Raschid, who lived in Bagdad in 786-808 A.D. The vizir who accompanies the Caliph was also a real person of the great family of the Barmecides. He was put to death by the Caliph in a very cruel way, nobody ever knew why. The stories must have been told in their present shape a good long while after the Caliph died, when nobody knew very exactly what had really happened. At last some storyteller thought of writing down the tales, and fixing them into a kind of framework, as if they had all been narrated to a cruel Sultan by his wife.
The Arabian Nights was introduced to Europe in a French translation by Antoine Galland in 1704, and rapidly attained a unique popularity. There are even accounts of the translator being roused from sleep by bands of young men under his windows in Paris, importuning him to tell them another story.
The learned world at first refused to believe that M. Galland had not invented the tales. But he had really discovered an Arabic manuscript from sixteenth-century Egypt, and had consulted Oriental story-tellers. In spite of inaccuracies and loss of color, his twelve volumes long remained classic in France, and formed the basis of many popular translations.
Browse Stories from the Arabian Nights:
The Arabian Nights - The Sultan and His Vow
The Story of the Merchant and the Genius
The Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind
The Story of the Second Old Man, and of the Two Black Dogs
The Fable of the Ass, the Ox, and the Laborer
The Story of Aladdin; or The Wonderful Lamp - Part 1
The Story of Aladdin; or The Wonderful Lamp - Part 2
The Story of Aladdin; or The Wonderful Lamp - Part 3
The Story of Aladdin; or The Wonderful Lamp - Part 4
The Story of Aladdin; or The Wonderful Lamp - Part 5
The Story of Aladdin; or The Wonderful Lamp - Part 6
The Story of Aladdin; or The Wonderful Lamp - Part 7
The History of Ali Baba & of the 40 Robbers Killed by One Slave - Part 1
The History of Ali Baba & of the 40 Robbers Killed by One Slave - Part 2
The History of Ali Baba & of the 40 Robbers Killed by One Slave - Part 3
The History of Ali Baba & of the 40 Robbers Killed by One Slave - Part 4
The History of Ali Baba & of the 40 Robbers Killed by One Slave - Part 5
The King of Persia and the Princess of the Sea
The King of Persia and the Princess of the Sea - Part 2
The King of Persia and the Princess of the Sea - Part 3
The Story of Sindbad the Sailor
The First Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
The Third Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
The Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
Kids Corner
Early childhood is the time to awaken the imagination...Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy
Getting your kids to eat healthy food can be difficult. Serve healthy food choices with same enthusiasm as dessert. Try to serve vegetables more often and present them in a simple way. If you are serving cooked vegetables, don't overcook them.
Ask your kids to help you with the shopping and meal preparation. Try to make food shopping and preparation interesting and fun activity for the whole family. Kids like to help and have fun. Activity like that is also a good way to get them more interested in what you're serving.
Get your kids to drink more water and take a stand against carbonated drinks and fruit juices. They are among the biggest culprits behind childhood obesity and full of empty calories.