Aladdin, Ali Baba and Sindbad the Sailor belong to one of the great story-telling traditions of all times: the enchanted world of the 1001 Nights. Their stories have delighted readers and listeners for more than a thousand years.
First translated into English a hundred years ago by the great Victorian traveller, Sir Richard Burton, the 1001 Nights is a strange and wonderful journey through the mysterious East. Its starting point is in the palace of the cruel King Shabriar where a beautiful Princess called Sheherezade must captivate her listener with her gift for story-telling. Her life depends on her success.
Sheherezade's stories tell of lands of people by monstrous genies, heroes and heroines, cruel demons and fabulously wealthy kings and princes. It is a world where men and spirits meet, where massive birds carry people off, where strange islands turn into giant fish, where magic horses can fly; a world, in fact, where almost anything can happen.
This new adaptation has been specially written to allow younger readers to enjoy these marvellous tales, which include all the classics such as Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, the Voyages of Sindbad and the Fisherman and the Genie. There are also some less familiar but equally fascinating stories like King Yunan and the Wise Man, The Ox and the Ass, The Prince Who Married a Tortoise and Hassan the Ropemaker.
Handed down from generation to generation, the 1001 Nights has stood the test of both place and time. It has captured people's imaginations the world over and retained its freshness and vitality to this day.