The story goes that Sharahazhad told one tale a night to the Sultan, to prolong a condemned man's life. Each night she told him a tale, if he liked it, he would not kill her lover that night. After 1001 and one nights (a little under 3 years if you do the math) the Sultan decided to spare the man's life.
EDIT: upon further research- I've also seen it that she is trying to save her own life. Either way- every night she would end the story in an intensely suspensful situation, forcing the Sultan to keep her alive another night.
(no, there aren't 1001 of these stories)
Has anyone else read these/ and/or heard about them? Aladdin and the wonderful lamp (basis for the Disney movie, Aladdin, go fig.) is the longest of these stories. 40,000 words, not all of which are easily understandable.
A link to the original translation of these stories, with little else as filler:http://mfx.dasburo.com/an/a_index_commented.html
If you haven't, give them a read. They're intriguing, if nothing else.
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