The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 06 (of 10) — Reading Companion

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In Category - Fairy Tales

Authors: Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890 [Translator] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2017 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Folklore -- Arab countries; Fairy tales -- Arab countries Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 142,975

Reading time 622 min

Text sections 24

The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 06 (of 10) — Reading Companion can be approached with a clearer sense of reading commitment from its source measurements: 142,975 words, 10 hr 22 min estimated reading time, and 24 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 27.5 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Folklore -- Arab countries,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #54525

Volume 6 of Burton's translation includes the seven voyages of Sindbad, the moral fable of the City of Brass, and a series of tales on the craft and malice of woman, with a frame story of a king's son accused by a damsel and the wazirs' delaying tactics.

Editorial Edition Score 4.9/5

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

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orish ways.” Said the host, “Be not ashamed; thou art become my brother; but repeat to me the verses, for they pleased me whenas I heard thee recite them at the gate.” Hereupon the Porter repeated the couplets and they delighted the merchant, who said to him:—Know, O Hammal, that my story is a wonderful one, and thou shalt hear all that befel me and all I underwent ere I rose to this state of prosperity and became the lord of this place wherein thou seest me; for I came not to this high estate save after travail sore and perils galore, and how much toil and trouble have I not suffered in days of yore! I have made seven voyages, by each of which hangeth a marvellous tale, such as confoundeth the reason, and all this came to pass by doom of fortune and fate; for from what destiny doth write there is neither refuge nor flight. Know, then, good my lords (continued he) that I am about to relate the

_FIRST VOYAGE OF SINDBAD HIGHT THE SEAMAN._[5]

My father was a merchant, one of the notables of my native place, a monied man and ample of means, who died whilst I was yet a child, leaving me much wealth in money and lands and farmhouses. When I grew up, I laid hands on the whole and ate of the best and drank freely and wore rich clothes and lived lavishly, companioning and consorting with youths of my own age, and considering that this course of life would continue for ever and ken no change. Thus did I for a long time, but at last I awoke from my heedlessness and, returning to my senses, I found my wealth had become unwealth and my condition ill-conditioned and all I once hent had left my hand. And recovering my reason I was stricken with dismay and confusion and bethought me of a saying of our lord Solomon, son of David (on whom be peace!), which I had heard aforetime from my father, “Three things are better than other three; the day of death is better than the day of birth, a live dog is better than a dead lion and the grave is better than want.”[6] Then I got together my remains of estates and property and sold all, even my clothes, for three thousand dirhams, with which I resolved to travel to foreign parts, remembering the saying of the poet:—

By means of toil man shall scale the height; ✿ Who to fame aspires mustn’t sleep o’ night: Who seeketh pearl in the deep must dive, ✿ Winning weal and wealth by his main and might: And who seeketh Fame without toil and strife ✿ Th’ impossible seeketh and wasteth life.

So taking heart I bought me goods, merchandise and all needed for a voyage and, impatient to be at sea, I embarked, with a company of merchants, on board a ship bound for Bassorah. There we again embarked and sailed many days and nights, and we passed from isle to isle and sea to sea and shore to shore, buying and selling and bartering everywhere the ship touched, and continued our course till we came to an island as it were a garth of the gardens of Paradise. Here the captain cast anchor and making fast to the shore, put out the landing planks. So all on board landed and made furnaces[7] and lighting fires therein, busied themselves in various ways, some cooking and some washing, whilst other some walked about the island for solace, and the crew fell to eating and drinking and playing and sporting. I was one of the walkers but, as we were thus engaged, behold the master who was standing on the gunwale cried out to us at the top of his voice, saying, “Ho there! passengers, run for your lives and hasten back to the ship and leave your gear and save yourselves from destruction, Allah preserve you! For this island whereon ye stand is no true island, but a great fish stationary a-middlemost of the sea, whereon the sand hath settled and trees have sprung up of old time, so that it is become like unto an island;[8] but, when ye lighted fires on it, it felt the heat and moved; and in a moment it will sink with you into the sea and ye will all be drowned. So leave your gear and seek your safety ere ye die!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Five Hundred and Thirty-ninth Night,

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This volume opens with the well-known voyages of Sindbad the Seaman, but the frame that introduces them—Sindbad the Landsman listening to his wealthy namesake—immediately sets up a contrast between sedentary comfort and perilous adventure. The tales that follow, including the City of Brass and the cycle of stories about women's cunning, share a preoccupation with deception, justice, and the limits of human knowledge. Burton's footnotes, often as vivid as the text, annotate customs, beliefs, and linguistic nuances, making the reader aware of the cultural distance between the 19th-century translator and the medieval Arabic original.

Sindbad's Voyages: Wealth Through Wreck

The seven voyages of Sindbad are not merely adventure stories; they are structured as a repeated pattern of shipwreck, survival, and enrichment. Each voyage begins with a merchant setting out, only to be cast onto a strange shore where he encounters marvels—the roc, the Old Man of the Sea, the valley of diamonds—and returns laden with treasure. The frame story of Sindbad the Landsman, who envies the seaman's wealth without understanding the cost, underscores a tension between risk and reward. Burton's translation preserves the oral rhythm of the tales, with formulaic openings and closings that signal the cyclical nature of Sindbad's fortunes.

The City of Brass: A Moral Geography

The City of Brass presents a different kind of journey: a deliberate expedition to find ancient brass vessels sealed by Solomon, which leads the party to a deserted city of marvels. The tale is rich in descriptive passages—the high walls, the brass horseman, the inscribed tablets—that evoke a sense of awe and decay. The moral is explicit: worldly power is fleeting, and only piety endures. The story's structure, with its embedded inscriptions and warnings, mirrors the didactic function of many Nights tales. Burton's notes here draw attention to the Islamic eschatological elements, such as the angels Munkar and Nakir, grounding the fantasy in theological tradition.

The Craft and Malice of Woman: Embedded Narratives and Shifting Blame

The long cycle of tales framed by a king's son accused by a damsel and the wazirs' delaying stories offers a complex view of gender and deception. Each wazir tells a story to postpone the prince's execution, and the damsel counters with her own tales. The stories within—such as the goldsmith's trick to rescue a singing-girl from a well—demonstrate how narrative can be used to manipulate justice. The frame itself is unresolved in the excerpts, leaving the outcome uncertain. The tales are linked by recurring motifs: false accusations, hidden wounds, and clever escapes. Burton's translation captures the legalistic tone of the frame, with its repeated appeals to the king's judgment.

Readers approaching this volume should attend to the interplay between frame and embedded tale, as the stories often comment on the narrative situation itself. The wazirs' tales, for instance, are explicitly told to influence a king's decision, making the act of storytelling a political tool. Burton's extensive notes, while sometimes digressive, provide valuable context for the customs and beliefs that shape the plots. This volume rewards a slow reading that savors both the marvels and the moral ambiguities.

There’s a particular ache in Sindbad’s voyages—the way home always costs something. I felt it again in the City of Brass, that old weariness of marvels. It reminded me, strangely, of the quiet loneliness in Australian fairy tales — Background and Themes, where the bush itself feels like a storyteller waiting for you to leave. Both books leave that same wistful dust behind.