Surely you've ever heard of a collection of Arabic tales called "A Thousand and One Nights." According to legend, the beautiful wife of the Persian king Shahriyar composed them, trying to avoid a painful death. What is this story and who is Scheherazade, the article will tell.
Who's that girl?
According to legend, Scheherazade (in different sources her name is slightly different, she was called Shahrazad or Shikhirizad) is the eldest daughter of the Persian vizier. A girl of noble birth, she was dazzlingly beautiful and slender, and also very smart. She received a good upbringing and education. Sheikh took him as his wife. The story of the girl is described in detail below, it will become clear from the story who Shakherezada is. But first, about the amazing country in which the heroine of our article was born and lived.
Persia - wonderland
In the 6th century BC, the state of Persia (modern Iran) flourished in the East. In ancient times, it was the center of the greatest empire in history, the territory of which was simply huge, stretching from Egypt in Africa to the Indus River in South Asia. Persian kings were the rulers of most of the world known at that time.
Everyone called this land a land of miracles and said that the black-eyed Persians were of rare beauty. One of the most famous women of Persia, whose name has survived to this day, was Scheherazade. A photo of her does not exist, since the girl lived many centuries ago. We can only imagine it from descriptions from ancient legends.
Ancient legend
Now let’s tell you who Scheherazade is. The Persian king Shahriyar once found his beloved wife in the arms of a slave. The traitor was executed, but Shahriyar no longer believed a single woman in the world. He began to spend every night with his new wife, who was executed in the morning. Soon the sheikh's harem was empty. He began to marry young girls. But each was executed in the morning after the night spent with the king. And soon in the state there was not a single girl and young woman left, except for the young daughter of the vizier, the beautiful Scheherazade. The king ordered the 17-year-old girl to be married to him. Shedding tears, the vizier said goodbye to his beloved daughter and led her to the sheikh. But the girl was very smart, as a child, her mother taught her how to deal with men, and Scheherazade hoped to avoid an evil fate. She persuaded her younger sister to play along with her at the right time.
And after the wedding night, Scheherazade was sentenced to death, like all previous padishah’s wives. The girl asked permission to say goodbye to her younger sister. When the girl was brought in, she began to cry and ask Scheherazade for the last time to tell her one of her wonderful tales. Sheikh graciously allowed, and his young wife began to tell ... Her tale was very interesting, and Shakhriyar listened with great pleasure. But the wise Scheherazade stopped at the sharpest point and asked her husband to allow her to be told the next night, as she was very tired. Sheikh agreed. And so it happened: every night the newlyweds indulged in love, and after Scheherazade told a new magical story, interrupting at the most interesting place and asking her husband for permission to tell the tale tomorrow.
According to legend, a thousand and one nights passed, and the beauty knelt in front of the sheikh and told him: "I don’t know any more tales. Now you can execute me, but first let me introduce you to someone." She brought and put before the padishah three sons, one of whom was running, the second was crawling, and the third was sucking her breasts. Shahriyar cried and hugged his beloved wife and his children tightly. And they lived happily ever after. Now you know who Scheherazade is.
Image in art
Many books were written based on this ancient legend, and feature films were shot. Inspired by this magical story, the Russian composer N.A. created a wonderful piece of music. Rimsky-Korsakov. "Scheherazade" is his most famous symphonic suite. It is performed not only by academic musicians, but also by pop artists.
The fairy tales of Scheherazade as a monument of ancient Persian literature have survived to our days. Who has not heard the “ Aladdin's Magic Lamp”, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, “ Khazar-Efsan”, “Maruf the Shoemaker”, “ Adjib and Garib” and many others? Legend has it that the beautiful Scheherazade composed them all.