It was not a single author, but a legion of anonymous narrators, whose stories were gathered over centuries until they formed the collection that is a classic of fantastic literature. Some scholars believe that a good part of these tales would have appeared in India around the 3rd century – which would explain the presence of so many animal metamorphoses, demigods and geniuses reminiscent of the populous Hindu pantheon. From this Indian origin, the stories traveled to Persia (now Iran), transmitted by the conversations between merchants traveling from one place to another. In Persia, then, a work entitled Hezar Afsaneh (“The Thousand Tales”) would have constituted the first compilation of these legends, already featuring important characters from the definitive version of The Thousand and One Nights, such as Sultan Chahriar and his wife Cheherazade, who make the tie between the stories.
Around the 8th century, the Arab peoples had already translated the Hezar Afsaneh, adding Islamic values, strong erotic content and pejorative quotes to Christians and Jews. The title The Thousand and One Nights would also have been adopted at this time because of an Arab superstition regarding round numbers, which would bring bad luck. In the centuries that followed, the essence of the work as we know it today appeared in different manuscripts, each with its own variation in story selection. Researchers divide manuscripts into branches such as Syriac, Ancient Egyptian, and Late Egyptian. “In the first 280 stories of the Syrian branch, it is possible to observe a stylistic and thematic unity that points to a single author-scribe”, says linguist Mamede Mustafa Jarouche, from the University of São Paulo (USP). The Arabian Nights would only become known in the West after 1702, when the Frenchman Antoine Galland translated a manuscript from the Syrian branch of the 13th century.
Galland eliminated erotic passages, offenses against Christians and Jews and some believe he added new Arab tales – among them, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Aladdin and The Travels of Sinbá. For those who want an adult version faithful to the original, enriched by countless footnotes on Persian and Arabic cultures, the most respected translation is that of the English explorer Sir Richard Burton, consisting of 16 volumes released between 1885 and 1888.
Stories gathered in the East over the centuries have become a universal heritage
1 – ALI BABÁ’S PASSWORD
In a city in Persia, there lived two brothers, Cassim and Ali Baba. The first had married a rich woman, while the second got a very poor wife, starting to live almost in misery. One day, while chopping wood in a forest, Ali Baba hears a bang. Frightened, he climbs to the top of a tree and sees 40 men arriving on horseback. The leader of the group looks at a mountain and says: “Open, Sesame”. Suddenly, a rock moves, opening a passage through which the band disappears into a hidden cave. Ali Baba then repeats the magic words and enters the cave, which turns out to be a den of thieves, including a fabulous treasure.
2 – CHERAZADE, QUEEN OF SUSPENSE
A common thread ties together the stories in the collection: the character Cheherazade, daughter of the grand vizier (equivalent to prime minister) of a kingdom in Persia. She decides to marry the local sultan, Chahriar, to end a disgrace that occurred in her kingdom. Upon discovering that his former wife was unfaithful, the sultan had her killed. After that, he began to marry a new girl every night, who he had strangled at daybreak, to avoid further betrayals. To put an end to the succession of deaths, Cheherazade marries him and, in the bedroom, begins to tell a story, which she interrupts before its conclusion, just as day is about to break. The sultan then spares his life in order to be able, the following night, to know the end – and Cheherazade repeats his strategy night after night, 1001 times
3 – THE GENIUS OF THE LAMP
Young Aladdin lived in a kingdom in China. After his father’s death, an estranged uncle promises to help him. One day, accompanying his uncle on a walk, Aladdin is tasked with looking for a lamp inside a tunnel. When Aladdin finds the object, his uncle asks him to hand it over before leaving the dark place, but his nephew refuses. Angry, the villain, endowed with magical powers, orders the earth to close over the boy. After three days underground, Aladdin manages to escape and, hungry, decides to sell the lamp. When rubbing it, however, a genie capable of fulfilling wishes appears… and the adventure is just beginning.
4 – ENVIOUS SAILOR
In the city of Baghdad, a porter named Hindbá rests beside a beautiful house, when he discovers that it belongs to a sailor named Sinbá. Hindbá raises his eyes to the heavens and asks God what Sinbá had done to deserve such a good fate, while he lived in misery. Sinbá hears the lament and invites the porter to hear the story of his travels, full of adventures and sufferings in the Persian Gulf