I am Shahrazad, the wife of the king of Persia.
I am not the king's first wife.
Oh no! He has had hundreds of wives!
I will explain.
For years, each and every day the king would marry a beautiful young woman.
Then the very next morning, he would order her to be killed!
The people in the kingdom became very angry at this.
Mothers and fathers cried, and all the young women shook with fear.
No one wanted to marry the king.
But unfortunately a king may do whatever he wants.
One day it was my turn, and I became his bride.
But as you can see, I am still alive.
On the night of the day we were married, I kissed the king and said,
"Shall I tell you a story to pass the time, sire?"
"I love stories!" he said.
So I told him a very good tale full of adventure.
And the king listened all night.
When I came to the end of the story, the king clapped his hands and said,
"Oh, what a fine story!
Please tell me another one, right now."
Just then the sun peeked through the window, and a rooster crowed.
"I am sorry, husband," I said.
"The night is over, and there is no time left.
But if you let me live, tonight I will tell an even better story."
So the king did not kill me that day.
That night, I told him a very long story.
It was so long that when morning came, I was not finished.
The king had to spare my life again so that he could hear how the story ended!
So it has gone on, night after night.
At sunrise, he lets me live another day so he can hear another exciting story.
Would you like to hear one of the king's favorite stories? Yes?
Then I will tell you all about Aladdin and his wonderful lamp.
Long ago, a poor tailor lived in a faraway land by a great sea.
This tailor had a son named Aladdin, who wanted to do nothing but play.
When Aladdin was ten years old, the tailor said,
"Son, you must learn a trade.
I will teach you to be a tailor like me."
"I don't want to work," Aladdin grumbled.
Every time the tailor turned his back, Aladdin would run out the door to play.
"Come back!" the tailor called, but the boy would not obey.
Aladdin's father was so sad that he became ill.
He soon died of a broken heart.
Aladdin and his mother were alone in the world.
"All day I spin yarn so I can buy bread,"
sighed his mother, who was named Zeba.
"You play all day.
You come home only when you are hungry!"
And that is how things remained until Aladdin was seventeen years old.
That year a stranger named Magrib came to the city.
Nobody knew that Magrib was a magician.
That was his secret.
One day Magrib was watching the children who played in the streets.
His pale eyes shone beneath the hood of his dusty robe.
He pointed to Aladdin.
"Who is that boy?" he whispered to a nearby child.
"Who is his father?"
"That's Aladdin," the child said.
"He's the tailor's son."
Magrib asked many questions.
He learned everything about Aladdin.
Then he smiled.
"My search is over!" said the magician.
"I have found him!"