Bohol Island State University-Clarin Campus

Poblacion Norte, Clarin, Bohol

World Literature
Reporting
(Folktales from the One Thousand and One Nights)

Submitted by: Louie Mejares & Rhona Rose Arcales

BSEd-Math 1, 4th Presentor

Submitted to: Mrs. Grethyl Ann Nodalo

Subject Teacher
“Folktales from One Thousand
and One Nights”

Learning Outcomes:
🔹 Identify the different folktales from the Thousand and One Nights

🔹 Create a story map in one of the most standout stories, and,

🔹 Reflect on the importance of the tales given

What is Folktale?
➥A folktale is a fictional story that has been orally passed down over hundreds, sometimes thousands,
of years. The word folk comes from the German word volk, which means people. Folktales are thus
stories for people (all people).

➥Are traditional stories. The word “traditional” means that the stories have been transmitted from
generations to generations through the word of mouth which is called “Oral Tradition”.

➥Any stories or beliefs that passes on traditionally, especially one considered to be false or based on
superstition.

Some examples of Folktales include Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears
and many more to mention.

One Thousand and One Nights

➥Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, also known as One Thousand and One Nights, is a collection
of interconnected stories, an amalgamation of Arab, Persian, Indian, and other fairytales which were
reshaped and retold by storytellers throughout the medieval Islamic world.

One Thousand and One Nights has an Indian-Persian core and Egyptian-Bagdad stories.The book
begins with a Persian book of fairytales “Thousand Stories” that was translated into Arabic in the 9th
century under the title “Thousand Nights”. Some new stories were added in the translation, and some of
them were adapted to Islam.

During the crusade, the book got to Egypt where new stories were added. By the end of the 18 th
century, the book had 1001 stories. The rest of the world found out about these stories in 1704 when
J.A. Galanda translated them.
 This one of a kind work tells many stories by unknown authors from the Arabic literature, and they
uncover the medieval world in the Orient. The stories make the reader feel as if they were real and as if
the reader is traveling with the main characters.

Summary of the Story:

➥The story revolves around the Shahryar, who is a king who rules over India and China. The King learn
that his brother’s wife is unfaithful and he becomes aware of his own wife’s infidelity and has her
executed. In anger and sadness, he decides all women are guilty and must be executed. After this, he
marries virgins everyday and has them executed by the next morning before she can be unfaithful.

This goes on for a while until the Vizier ( King’s servant) cannot find any more virgins. The Vizier
daughter Scheherazade offers to be the King’s next bride. When the King takes Scheherazade as his wife,
she tells him a story on the night of their marriage, but she doesn’t have time to finish it. The King
postpone her execution to find out the end of the story. The next night she finishes her story but begins
a new one, and Shahryar postpone her execution again. They continue this for 1,001 nights as the title
says.

The following are the most standout stories:

1. Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp

➥The story is all about this guy Aladdin, a young man who grows up on the streets of Agrabah. A
sorcerer deceives Aladdin and persuade him to steal an oil lamp from the magic cave. Aladdin
accidentally release a genie from the lamp and so a series of events unfold in which Aladdin every wish
comes true, but only to be dismantled by the villain.

2. The Tale of the Hunchback

➥In Basrah, a tailor and his wife came upon an amusing hunchback who they decided to invite to their
home for dinner. While the hunchback was eating and joking, he choked on a huge, sharp fishbone. The
two wrapped the dead man up in cloth and pretended he was a child with smallpox so everyone would
leave them alone. The two left the hunchback at the doctor’s house and ran away. The doctor was eager
to see his patient, and he tripped down the stairs, falling onto the hunchback. Believing he killed a
patient, the doctor pawns the dead body off on his neighbor. The hunchback is passed around until the
king’s broker is found with the dead body, and just as the broker is about to be executed, a string of
confessions comes from all the assumed murderers. But it turns out the hunchback was never dead at
all – a barber brings him back to life.

3. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

➥This famous tale is another that was added by Galland in the 18th century. Ali Baba is a poor but
hardworking woodcutter who finds a thieves’ hideout protected by magic, which he enters by saying,
‘Open Sesame.’ The den is filled with treasures, and Ali Baba lets the secret out to his brother Cassim,
who is killed by the thieves while trying to steal the treasure. The thieves find out Ali Baba knows how to
get into their hideout, so they set off to kill him, but they are outwitted by Ali Baba’s clever slave,
Morgiana.

4. The Fisherman and the Genie

➥A poor fisherman casts out his net after calling upon God and pulls out a copper jar. When he opens it,
pleased to have found something so valuable, a powerful genie is released. Having been kept captive in
the jar for so long, the genie is furious with humanity and vows to kill whoever released him. The
fisherman, a wise old man, has no success pleading with the genie, so he tricks the genie into returning
to the jar. Trapped again, the genie pledges to reward the fisherman with a lake full of exotic fish if he is
released. The fisherman agrees and sells the fish to the sultan as the genie instructed. When the sultan
investigates the lake where the fish came from, he meets a prince who is half stone. The sultan helps the
prince and continues to stay friends with the fisherman.

5. The Three Princes and the Princess Nouronnihar

➥Three princes all want to marry their cousin Nouronnihar, and the Grand Sultan, their father,
guarantees the woman’s hand to the brother who finds the item with the highest value. They each work
to bring the best item to the table, including a magic carpet to ride, a magical tube that shows the
viewer his deepest wishes, and a healing apple. After finding the items, the princes hear that
Nouronnihar is ill, and rather than fighting over her, they bring all of their items together to save her life.

Definition of Terms
🔹Superstition — excessively credulous belief in and reverence for supernatural beings.

🔹Amalgamation — the action, process, or result of combining or uniting.

🔹Infidelity — the action or state of being unfaithful to a spouse or other sexual partner.

🔹Medieval — relating to the Middle Ages.

🔹Agrabah — Agrabah, Arabia is the central location in the popular 1992 Disney film, Aladdin. It is
located near the Jordan River. It was then located in Lone Keep, Auradon since King Beast connected
Agrabah in 1995.

🔹Sorcerer — a person who claims or is believed to have magic powers; a wizard.

🔹Hunchback — a back deformed by a sharp forward angle, forming a hump, typically caused by
collapse of a vertebra.
🔹Woodcutter — a person who cuts down trees or branches, especially for fuel.

Assessment
General Instruction: Copy and Answer

Phase 1: Among the stories discussed, cite one story and answer these following questions.

1. Why did you choose that story?

2. What is the lesson of the story you chose?

Phase 2: From the story you’ve watched, I want you to pick one character from it and draw the face of
that chosen character. Right after that, you are task to explain why you draw that certain character, just
in one sentence.