The Arabian Nights: Reading 4

Stories Read:

• The Tale of King Yunan and the Sage Duban
• The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot
• The Tale of the King's Son and the She-Ghoul
• Continuation of the Tale of the Fisherman and the Demon

My reaction:

It got really confusing. Shahrazad is telling a story about the Merchant (and the Demon), which led into the story of the Fisherman and the Demon, which led to the Fisherman telling the Demon the story of King Yunan. In which King Yunan and his vizier swap the stories about the She-Ghoul and the other one about the Parrot. How does she keep all this straight?

I found the repetition of certain ideas to be really interesting. The line about "I did a good deed but was rewarded with an evil line" Also that "Spare me, and God will spare you; destroy me, and God will destroy me." There is a lot of stuff having to do whether or not someone deserves their reward or punishment.

King Yunan irritated me. First of all, how did the story of the Son and the She-Ghoul help make up his mind about Duban? And how was he so easily persuaded to kill someone who helped him and he wanted to befriend? The whole gross thing with the talking chopped off head, and poisoning the king through a book was gross and odd. Was it necessary for that to happen? Couldn't God have punished the king directly by striking him with lightning? Also, the Fisherman story with the woman coming out of nowhere while the fish were being cooked was very confusing. Hopefully the reading for tomorrow will help clarify everything.