Chapter+1


 * Chapter 1 **
 * THE UNHAPPY KING**

The King wants a wife Long ago, there was a great king called Shahriah. He was a good king — until he found his wife loved another man. Then the King was very angry with his wife. ‘Cut off her head!’ he roared. The executioner took the King’s wife away, and cut her head off. Every night after that the King lay in his great bed all alone and very sad. When he slept, he dreamt of his beautiful, dead wife. When he was awake, he thought he could see her in the arms of the other man. He did not know what to do. At last he called for the Wazir, the chief of his servants. The sleepy Wazir hurried to the King’s room. ‘I will not spend another night by myself,’ said the King. ‘Oh, you have decided to marry again. I am so glad, dear King,’ cried the Wazir, happily. ‘Marry again? How can I do that? Women are so bad. A woman cannot love one man for more than one day.’ A new wife every day ‘Any woman would love you for ever, great King,’ said the Wazir. ‘You are wrong!’ roared King Shahriah. ‘A woman’s love is like a leaf in the wind. One minute it goes this way, the next minute it goes another way. No one ever knows where it will go next.’ ‘Of course, you are right, O great King,’ said the Wazir quickly. ‘Women are just like leaves. But what can anyone do?’ ‘I know what I shall do,’ said the King. ‘And you are going to help me. Bring me a pretty, clever girl and I will marry her.’ The Wazir looked pleased. Then the King added, ‘And tell the executioner to come to the wedding. He must cut off the girl’s head the next morning, before she can stop loving me. After that, you must bring me another girl. As long as you do your job, I shall never be alone at night again. As long as the executioner does his job, no wife of mine will live long enough to love another man!’ The Wazir went away sadly. He hated to send all those lovely girls to their deaths. But he had to obey the King. The Wazir’s daughter For three years King Shahriah married a new wife every day. Every morning the executioner cut off the head of the King’s new wife. More than a thousand girls died. The Wazir was very unhappy about this but he was afraid of the King. He was afraid of the executioner, too. He often shut himself in his room and cried. He prayed to God to help him. One day, someone heard the Wazir crying. That person was the Wazir’s daughter. She was beautiful. Clever and good, and her name was Sheherezade. The Wazir loved her more than anything in the world. Sheherezade walked into her father’s room. ‘Why are you so sad, Father?’ she asked. ‘Dear child,’ said the Wazir, ‘I am crying for a thousand lovely young girls. Every day the King marries a new wife. Every morning his executioner cuts off her head.’ ‘But why?’ asked Sheherezade. Her father told her the whole sad story. ‘It makes me so sad that it will break my heart,’ he finished, ‘but I don’t know what I can do.’ Sheherezade’s plan Sheherezade was sad, too, when she heard about the poor young girls. She thought carefully for a few minutes. Then she said: ‘Listen, Father. I think I know how we can stop the King from killing any more young girls. Let me marry him.’ ‘You? Oh, my dear daughter, do not throw your life away! Do not leave your poor old father alone in the world!’ ‘Father, please do as I ask you. I have a plan.’ King Shahriah was very happy when he saw Sheherezade. ‘Why didn’t you bring this one to me before, Wazir?’ he said. ‘She is my own daughter, great King,’ said the Wazir, very sadly. That night Sheherezade lay beside the King in his great bed. She began to tell him a story. Shahriah had never heard a story like it before. The story was about a place far, far away where people did strange things. Sometimes the story was funny, and the King laughed. He had not laughed so much for many years. Sometimes it was sad, and he could not stop crying. He had not cried so much for many years, either. Always it was interesting. But before Sheherezade reached the end of the story, day had come. The wonderful stories The sun was up in a pink sky, and the birds were singing their morning song. ‘It is day,’ said the King. ‘I have work to do. Tonight, Sheherezade, you must come to me again. You can finish the story then.’ The executioner was standing outside the door. ‘Not this morning,’ the king told him. ‘Come again tomorrow.’ So Sheherezade lived one day longer than all the other young girls. The next night she finished her story. Then she started a new one. This story, too, was about a wonderful place far, far away. The King laughed even louder at the funny parts. He cried even longer at the sad parts. He was so interested in the story that before he knew it, it was daytime. And of course, Sheherezade had not finished. Once again the King sent the executioner away. He asked Sheherezade to come back the next night to finish her second story. So it went on, night after night, week after week, month after month. Sheherezade knew so many different stories. Each one was new. Each one was too long to finish before day come. Here are just a few of the stories that she told the King.