Preparing for Class: November 17

The Arabian Nights, pp. 86-132

1. A reminder: As you read these stories, keep asking yourself who is telling each story and who is hearing it, on all the levels of the narrative. Then think about how the story might mean different things to different tellers and audiences. How can the same story mean different things in different contexts?

2. The guests begin telling tales because they have broken a promise to the women in whose house they have just feasted. Condemned to death, they have been given just one chance. If they tell their life stories well enough they will be allowed to leave with their heads still attached. How is that motivation similar to the telling of the tales of the three old men in "The Merchant and the Demon"? How does it relate to Shahrazad's own situation?

3. What did the first dervish's cousin neglect to tell him about the cousin's relationship with his sister? What is God's response to the prince's hiding in the underground chamber with the lady?

4. The narrator's own misfortunes are many; he saves his life after his father's vizier steals the kingdom by using a popular fairy tale ploy. What western heroine also saves her life this way?

5. How does misfortune pursue the narrator even to his uncle's kingdom?

6. Do you think the first dervish deserves his fate? Why or why not?

7. The second dervish is also a king's son. What constitutes a good education for a well-born young man in his country? How does this training compare with that of the noble European heroes in our previous readings?

8. After being rescued by the tailor, the second dervish encounters (by chance) a lady living in a buried palace. Does that story remind you of any of the others in this book?

9. After the narrator (predictably) screws up, how does he distinguish himself as a hero? What do you think of his decision to flee: is it practical or cowardly?

10. Why is the lady punished so much more severely than the narrator?

11. "Mighty demon, if a woman, who is befuddled, thoughtless, and inarticulate, refuses to strike off the head of a man she does not know, how can I, a man, strike off the head of a woman I do not know?" asks the narrator in "The Second Dervish's Tale." What can you learn from this question?

12. What's the moral of the story the narrator tells the demon? Is it rhetorically effective? Does it persuade the demon?

13. How does bad luck still pursue the narrator, even after he has been transformed into an ape?

14. Why is the king so taken with the ape (our narrator)?

15. How does the king's daughter recognize that the ape is actually a young man? Where did she acquire this knowledge?

16. Tales of shape changers are popular in many cultures. Who was a shape changer in The Odyssey? How do you capture (or kill) a shape changer? Why do you think this kind of story is so popular with human beings in different cultures?

17. How does the second dervish lose his eye? Why does he end up on the road and poverty-stricken?

18. Does he deserve his fate? Why or why not?

19. According to your text, a dervish is an Islamic monk who travels from place to place, relying on the charity of others to feed, clothe and house him as he informally teaches religious truths. In Christian countries, monastic orders like the Franciscans lived in the same way. What impact does it have on your reading of the third dervish's tale to know that the teller has gone from great king to mendicant monk?

20. Look for a pattern in the various adventures of Ajib ibn-Khasib. What character traits help him in his journeys? Does he have any traits that make him more likely to fail?

21. What can you tell about the values of the culture from which Ajib comes by reading his story? See if you can find details that tell you about what the culture considers important--and not important.

22. Ajib's adventures echo other adventure tales, including the tale of Odysseus. As you read, try to remember other stories that seem similar to "The Third Dervish's Tale."

23. How does Ajib escape the island of the magic mountain? What goes wrong in his escape? How would you rate Ajib on obedience?

24. What is the significance of the adventure in the underground chamber? Can you compare this tale to that of "Sleeping Beauty" or Oedipus Rex? Any other comparisons?

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