书名：The Arabian Nights一千零一夜/天方夜谭/阿拉伯民间故事集

难度：Lexile蓝思阅读指数1320

作者：Richard Burton

出版社名称：Canterbury Classics

出版时间：2011

语种：英语

ISBN：9781607103097

商品尺寸： 3.8 x 16.5 x 23.5 cm

包装：软精装

页数：650

The Arabian Nights《一千零一夜》，在西方被称为《阿拉伯之夜》，在中国却有一个独特的称呼：《天方夜谭》。“天方”是中国古代对阿拉伯的称呼，仅凭这名字，就足以把人带到神秘的异域世界中。它是世界上非常具生命力、极负盛名，拥有无数读者和影响力很大的作品之一。同时，它以民间文学的朴素身份却能跻身于世界古典名著之列，也堪称是世界文学史上的一大瑰宝。

1.本书是英国翻译家Burton根据官方订正本布拉克本所翻译，完整未删节，有插图，包金边，装帧精美，设计典雅，适合收藏或馈赠；

2.以离奇多变的题材，洒脱的艺术手法和神幻莫测的东方色彩，生动描绘了阿拉伯帝国的社会生活，从各个不时期，不同角度反映了人民的思想感情、生活方式、风土人情和社会制度；

3.故事形式丰富，主题多样，有格言、谚语、寓言、童话，还有揭露封建统治阶级和描写人民群众反抗斗争的故事，神话传说和魔神故事，描写婚姻恋爱的故事，描写航海冒险的故事，反映宗教问题的故事，表现古代劳动人民智慧的故事、道德教训故事等；

4.情节诡谲怪异，神幻莫测，优美动人，扣动着匹界各国读者的心，焕发出经久不衰的魅力。

“A book that captivates in childhood, and still delights in age.”—Robert Louis Stevenson

They are ancient stories, but they still enchant our imaginations today. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Sinbad the Sailor. Aladdin. These and the other Middle Eastern stories collected in Arabian Nights are delightful, fascinating, and fun for fans and first-time readers alike.

Full of mischief and valor, ribaldry and romance,The Arabian Nights is a work that has enthralled readers for centuries. The text presented here is that of the 1932 Modern Library edition for which Bennett A. Cerf chose the “most famous and representative” of the stories from the multivolume translation of Richard F. Burton.

The origins ofThe Arabian Nights are obscure. About a thousand years ago a vast number of stories in Arabic from various countries began to be brought together; only much later was the collection calledThe Arabian Nights or theThousand and One Nights. All the stories are told by Shahrazad (Scheherazade), who entertains her husband, King Shahryar, whose custom it was to execute his wives after a single night. Shahrazad begins a story each night but withholds the ending until the following night, thus postponing her execution. 

This beautiful, leather-bound edition collects the classic tales of Arabian Nights in a new, redesigned format. Specially designed end papers, gilded edges, a ribbon bookmark, and other decorative elements enhance the reading experience, while an expert introduction provides new information and context for these well-known stories. 

Arabian Nights is a compelling look at a long-gone culture—and the perfect addition to any home library.

The Arabian Nights orOne Thousand and One Nights is a collection of stories collected over many centuries by various authors, translators and scholars in various countries across the Middle East and South Asia. These collections of tales trace their roots back to ancient Arabia and Yemen, ancient Indian literature and Persian literature, ancient Egyptian literature and Mesopotamian mythology, ancient Syria and Asia Minor, and medieval Arabic folk stories from the Caliphate era. Though the oldest Arabic manuscript dates from the fourteenth century, scholarship generally dates the collection\'s genesis to somewhere between AD 800–900.

The Arabian Nights《一千零一夜》是阿拉伯民间故事集，又名《天方夜谭》。相传古代印度与中国之间有一萨桑国，国王山鲁亚尔生性残暴嫉妒，因王后行为不端，将其杀死，此后每日娶一少女，翌日晨即杀掉，以示报复。宰相的女儿山鲁佐德为拯救无辜的女子，自愿嫁给国王，用讲述故事方法吸引国王，每夜讲到精彩处，天刚好亮了，使国王爱不忍杀，允她下一夜继续讲。她的故事一直讲了一千零一夜，国王终于被感动，与她白首偕老。因其内容丰富，规模宏大，故被高尔基誉为世界民间文学史上“非常壮丽的一座纪念碑”。

Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) was an renown British explorer, writer, translator, and linguist who is best known for his travels within Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Of his many achievements, one of his most recognizable contributions is a translation of One Thousand and One Nights, also commonly known as The Arabian Nights.



Kenneth C. Mondschein earned his Ph.D. in History at Fordham University. He lives in New York, NY. 

Now of such instances are the tales called “A Thousand Nights and a Night,” together with their far-famed legends and wonders. Therein it is related (but Allah is All-knowing of His hidden things and All-ruling and All-honoured and All-giving and All-gracious and All-merciful!) that, in tide of yore and in time long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu Sasan in the Islands of India and China, a Lord of armies and guards and servants and dependents. He left only two sons, one in the prime of manhood and the other yet a youth, while both were Knights and Braves, albeit the elder was a doughtier horseman than the younger. So he succeeded to the empire; when he ruled the land and lorded it over his lieges with justice so exemplary that he was beloved by all the peoples of his capital and of his kingdom. His name was King Shahryar, and he made his younger brother, Shah Zaman hight, King of Samarcand in Barbarian-land. These two ceased not to abide in their several realms and the law was ever carried out in their dominions; and each ruled his own kingdom, with equity and fair-dealing to his subjects, in extreme solace and enjoyment; and this condition continually endured for a score of years. But at the end of the twentieth twelve month the elder King yearned for a sight of his younger brother and felt that he must look upon him once more. So he took counsel with his Wazir about visiting him, but the Minister, finding the project unadvisable, recommended that a letter be written and a present be sent under his charge to the younger brother with an invitation to visit the elder. Having accepted this advice the King forthwith bade prepare handsome gifts, such as horses with saddles of gem-encrusted gold; Mamelukes, or white slaves; beautiful handmaids, high-breasted virgins, and splendid stuffs and costly. He then wrote a letter to Shah Zaman expressing his warm love and great wish to see him, ending with these words, “We therefore hope of the favour and affection of the beloved brother that he will condescend to bestir himself and turn his face us-wards.”