Arabian Nights

[Ranai]

The oriental story collection known under the name Arabian Nights contains many erotic stories and anecdotes. Heavy BDSM may be a scarce commodity, but some kinky action can be found. Here are a couple of samples...

The Barber's Tale of his Second Brother
from The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night, vol 1
Thirty-first to Thirty-second Night
translated into English by Richard Burton
Story Codes: F+/m D/s spanking shaving humiliation exhibition reluctant
Synopsis: 'Hold thy peace and follow me. Know, that the young lady, to whom I shall carry thee, loveth to have her own way and hateth being thwarted and all who gainsay; so, if thou humour her, thou shalt come to thy desire of her.' And my brother said, 'I will not cross her in anything.'
Read story


Abu Nowas with the Three Boys and the Caliph Harun al-Rashid
from The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night, vol 5
Three hundred and Eighty-first to Three hundred and Eighty-third Night
translated into English by Richard Burton
Story Codes: M/m+ M/m exhibition humiliation historical
Synopsis: Presently the drink got into his noddle, drunkenness mastered him and he knew not hand from head, so that he lolled from side to side in joy and inclined to the youths one and all, anon kissing them and anon embracing them leg overlying leg. (...) While they were in this deboshed state behold, there came a knocking at the door; so they bade him who knocked enter, and behold, it was the Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid.
Read story


Interested in more delights from the 1001 Nights?
www.manybooks.net provides the entire text for free as part of the Gutenberg Project.
In a library or bookstore, just look for any unabridged edition.
Not a children's edition purged of sexual content. Enjoy.

[Donatien]

The oriental story collection known under the name Arabian Nights contains many erotic stories and anecdotes. Heavy BDSM may be a scarce commodity, but some kinky action can be found. Here are a couple of samples...
ext0251001107/74.html]Read story[/URL]
Interested in more delights from the 1001 Nights?
www.manybooks.net provides the entire text for free as part of the Gutenberg Project.
In a library or bookstore, just look for any unabridged edition.
Not a children's edition purged of sexual content. Enjoy.

My complete edition is translated into english from the literal and complete french translation of Dr J.C.Mardrus by Powers Mathers published in paper back in 1986 by Routledge, and reprinted in1993 [isbn 0-415-04543-6]

Here is a brief episode which gives a flavour of the books and the translation.

THE THOUSAND NIGHTS,AND ONE NIGHTS
Inscription on a Chemise
Then Shahrazad said:
IT is related that al-Amin, brother of the Khalifah al-Mamun, I on going one day to visit his uncle al-Mahdi, saw a very beautiful young slave playing the lute, and fell in love with her. Al-Mahdi noticed the impression which the child had made upon his nephew and, wishing to give him an agreeable present, waited until he had gone and then sent the slave after him, loaded with jewels and very richly dressed. But al-Amin, knowing that his uncle had a great reputation as a lover of still unripe fruit, imagined that he had had first use of the slave; therefore he did not wish to accept her and sent her back with a letter, saying that apples which the gardener had bitten before they were ripe were not popular in the market.
Al-Mahdi at once undressed the girl, placed a lute in her hand, and sent her back again to al-Amin, dressed only in a silk chemise over which ran this inscription in letters of gold:

No hand has been allowed to touch The rose I hide,
Though eyes have looked upon it and desired it.
Surely the thought of all this foiled desire Should feed your fire.

on seeing the girl's charms displayed by this delightful garment on reading the inscription, al-Amin accepted the gift as one of most pleasant he had ever had.


As I said in the thread on music, I have for as long as I can remember found the world of the arabian nights , intnsely sensual, erotic voluptuous, and barbaric, an extremely BDSM ambience pervades it even though there is little that is explicitly so. At school, of all places we read in class the play "Hassan", now probably remembered for the incidental music written for it by Delius the most popular number being the serenade with its violin solo. It was written by James Elroy Fletcher who died in 1915 aged only 31, leaving the play complete but uncorrected.
In the play a middle aged confectioner Hassan who saves the life of the calif through overhearing and reporting a plot against him, is honoured at court. But then a rebel Rafi who was involved in the plot that Hassan, had over heard and aborted is captured; and It turns out that his betrothed Pervaneh was abducted and sold as slave to the caliphs harem. When the caliph hears their story he offers them a choice, either Pervaneh returns to the harem and Rafi leaves Bagdad for ever, or they may spend one day of love together and then be tortured slowly to death in front of each other and the court.After some anguish, they choose the one day of love.when the the confectioner protests to the caliph that he is too cruel he is forced to watch their execution. ythis is the scene as written:--

"Come now, a sweet lie first, Yasmin: sing a little how you love me. Show me your beauty limb by limb - then bring, ah, bring your new lover - mock my moon-touched verses and call me the fool, the old fool, the weary fool I am!
Y A S M I N : I will not yet call Hassan a fool. Hassan has fallen from power, but he need not fall from riches. The Palace Confectioner, Hassan, may still become the richest merchant in Bagdad.
HA S S A N : Thou harlot, thou harlot, thou harlot!
Y A S M I N : Why art thou angry? In what have I insulted thee? HASSAN : Oh, if it were thou about to suffer! If it were thou ! YASMIN (staring across the garden and forgetting xnssnN):
At last, at last! - the Procession of Protracted Death! I shall see it all!
A deep red afterglow illumines the back of the garden. Across the garden towards the door of the pavilion moves in black silhouettes the Procession of Protracted Death, of which the order is this:
MASRUR, naked, with his scimitar.
Four assistant torturers in black holding steel implements. Two men in armour bearing a lighted brazier slung between them on a pole.
Two men bearing a monstrous wheel. Four men carrying the rack.
A man with a hammer and a whip.
PERVANEx arid RAFI, half naked, pulling a cart that bears their coffins: their legs drag great chains.
Behind each of them walks a soldier with uplifted sword.
MASRUR knocks at the door of the Pavilion: the Slaves open and flee in terror at the sight. The light of the brazier glows through the windows. The Soldiers who guard PERVANEx and RAFt unhook the chai ns that chain them to the cart, and placing their hands on the necks of the prisoners push them in. The four Slaves of the house then appear under the guidance of the man with the whip and lift in the coffins. Lastly, xnssAN is taken by his two Guards and forced to enter. The stage grows dark, save for the shining of the light from the windows. In the silence rises the splashing of the fountain and the whirring and whirling of a wheel. The sounds blend and grow unendurably insistent, and with them music begins to play softly. A cry of pain is half smothered by the violins. At last the silver light of the moon floods the garden. HASSAN, thrust forth by his Guards, appears at the door of the pavilion. His face is white and haggard: he totters a,few steps and finally falls in a faint in the shadow of the fountain. The coffins are brought out, nailed down, and placed in the cart. The Soldiers pull the cart in place of the prisoners, and what remains of the procession departs in reverse order. MASRUR only has lingered by the door. YASMIN is clutching at his arm.
Y A S M I N : Masrur - thou dark Masrur ! MASRUR: Allah - the woman! YASMIN: How you smell of blood! MASRUR: And you of roses.
YASMIN: I laughed to see them writhe - I laughed, I laughed, as I watched behind the curtain. Why did you drink his veins?
MASRUR: A VOW.
Y A S M I N : Will you not drink mine also?
M A S R U R : Shall I put my arms around you?
Y A S M I N : Your arms are walls of black and shining stone. Your breast is the castle of the night.
MAS.RUR: Little white moth, I will crush you to my heart.
YASMIN (with a sudden cry of terror, struggling from his embrace a moment after) : Ah, let me go. Do you hear them? Do you hear them? ...
M A S R U R : What is there to hear but the noises of the night?
YASMIN (springing away): The flowers are talking . . . the garden is alive.... (She falls.)
M A S R U R (stooping to carry her) : She loves blood and is fright*ened of the moon. She is smooth and white. I will take her home.
Enter Isxnx searching for xnssAN.
ISHAK: Hassan - where doth he he? Haman, oh Hassan. Thou hast broken that gentle heart, Haroun, and I have broken my lute: I play no more for thee. Ah, why did they not tell me sooner - I fear his reason may have fled before I find him. Hassan.
It is he: he lies just as I first saw him: beneath a 'fountain, face toward the moon. His life is rhyming like a song: it harks back to the old refrain. Is life a mirror wherein events show double?
HASSAN (half waking from his swoon): Swans that drift into the mist....
Isxnx (bending over him to raise him): Friend, I am glad to hear thy voice. Rise, rise, thou art in a pitiable case. HASSAN (faintly): Let me lie.... This place is quiet, and the earth smells cool.
ISHAK; You are alive - you have your reason. Why do you despair? Be brave: I know you have suffered.
HA S S A N : She was brave. Ah, her hands, her hands!.........."

Below is a reproduction of Delacroix's death of Sardanapolis which although depicting the assyrian period, captures the ambience I have talked about , perfectly.

[Ranai]

Yes, voluptuous... fits the Delacroix painting. Now we just need someone to analyse differences & similarities between erotic fiction in the 1001 Nights, and fantasies about 'the Orient'...

Masrur shows up a lot, following Harun al-Rashid around and executing (or almost executing) those who step on the caliph's venerable toes. As the soused poet Abu Nuwas with his cheeky comments.

Richard Burton was not very shy. For 'The Barber's Tale of his Second Brother' he wrote this footnote: 'Then she drank a cup of wine and my brother (still standing) said to her "Health," and bowed to her. She handed him another cup and he drank it off, when she slapped him hard on the nape of his neck.' [This was the beginning of horseplay which often ends in a bastinado.]

Many of the erotic allusions in the 1001 Nights are hidden in poems. Bewildered readers at times need to refer to endnotes to find out which parts of each other's bodies the characters are praising! I have a translation into German by Enno Littmann. It is unabridged, but Littmann was coy about sexual content and wrote comments like 'We do not need to delve into further possible meanings of these verses'. Cute, huh.

'Arabian Nights' is somewhat misleading. The stories in the 1001 Nights originate from various different regions such as India, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, the Arabian peninsula and Egypt.

[Ranai]

The link is to a different website this time. It is part of Project Gutenberg and also provides the text for free. By the way, in case anyone is puzzled by the male sub slant in the samples: I have simply picked erotic episodes I like. 1001 Nights – it's a big selection. The lovely slave girls and cruel demons are there too. You did not dream them up. Not all of them anyway.


The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad
from The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night, vol 1
Ninth to Nineteenth Night
translated into English by Richard Burton
Story Codes: F+/m D/s spanking consensual
And: perfume, incense, poetry, drunkenness, dancing, kissing, biting, flower-throwing, teasing, swimming in the nude, banter and silly erotic guessing games

Synopsis:
'Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and said, "O lady, I am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall, a, thy very bondsman;" and he began reciting:
"A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door
Lauding thy generous boons and gifts galore
Beauty! may he come in awhile to 'joy
Thy charms? for Love and I part nevermore!"
(...)
Then she came up out of the cistern and throwing herself on the Porter's lap said, "O my lord, O my love, what callest thou this article?" pointing to her slit, her solution of continuity.
"I call that thy cleft," quoth the Porter, and she rejoined, "Wah! wah, art thou not ashamed to use such a word?" and she caught him by the collar and soundly cuffed him.
Said he again, "Thy womb, thy vulva;" and she struck him a second slap crying, "O fie, O fie, this is another ugly word; is here no shame in thee?"
Quoth he, "Thy coynte;" and she cried, "O thou! art wholly destitute of modesty?" and thumped and bashed him.
Then cried the Porter, "Thy clitoris," whereat the eldest lady came down upon him with a yet sorer beating, and said, "No;" and he said, " 'Tis so," and the Porter went on calling the same commodity by sundry other names, but whatever he said they beat him more and more...'

The episode ends with the words:
'Then laughed they till they fell on their backs, and returned to their carousel, and ceased not to be after this fashion till night began to fall.'

If you are interested, read on. There are various convoluted stories within the story. Enter three fakirs. Enter the trio Harun al-Rashid, Ja'afar and Masrur. Nosy and up to mischief as usual. Watch, among other things... two black bitches with chains round their necks... scars upon the damsel's body... commotion: 'Pinion me those praters' elbows and bind them each to each.' They did her bidding and asked her, 'O veiled and virtuous! is it thy high command that we strike off their heads?'... a caliph who panics at the prospect... The usual circus. Enjoy.

To read the story, click here.
Scroll down the menu on the left.
Click on > 3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad.

[Aeneas]

Sir Richard has to be one of the all time most amazing characters in English history. A recent movie, "The Mountains of the Moon" shows his exploration for the source of the Nile with Speake. It touches on his ability to understand and embrace foreign cultures, a trait not usually identified with 19th century Europeans and Americans.
When Burton was serving with the Indian army, his general ordered him to write an intelligence report on local tribesmen. Burton delightedly entitled his work, "Sexual Perversions Among Certain Tribes Of the Hindustandi". The Army was furious, but it was required reading in the officer's mess.
Is there a current edition in English of his translation with his complete and unexpurgated footnotes? The footnotes by themselves can make a book of their own, and ramble on about the most amazing details of Occult and Sexual details not seen this side of "The Perfumed Garden".

[Ranai]

Currently available editions in print... ask booksellers? Or maybe a library in your neighbourhood has them. The one I have is a translation of the 1839 Arabic Calcutta edition into German, called 'Die Erzählungen aus den Tausendundein Nächten' in 12 volumes. Texts available online:

Article in the wikipedia on his life, travels and works.

Free ebooks written or translated by Burton. Of erotic interest are his translations of the Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana (but it has now been superseded by newer translations), and The Perfumed Garden by Shaykh Nefwazi. Their 1001 Nights edition has endnotes on the last pages of each volume, which is inconvenient to access but they are there. I don't know whether they are complete.

http://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/index.htm provides the footnotes when you click on one of the [FN#] in the text. They appear at the bottom of the page, which is very convenient. 'Other works by, about, and related to Richard Burton' on this site has a selected bibliography with links to various online editions.

I think however that his comments in the 1001 Nights must be taken with a grain of salt... I don't doubt his vast experience and erudition, but he did tend to make sweeping generalisations. And though he was in many respects exceptional, he was a child of his era as we are of ours. Nonetheless, the notes make the tales much more fun to read, so it's great that they have been included!

[Aeneas]

Thanks so much, Ranai, for those great links. I have been plowing through them, and it is a gold mine of information.

The internet is like having the Library of Alexandria in my bedroom. Anytime I want to know anything all I have to do is ask the genie (Google) and I am off oon a magic carpet ride.
I so enjoyed this post and others from Donatien, yourself, and others which show how universal and how literary our callings can be.

Thanks again,
A