The most beautiful tales of a thousand and one nights. Arabian tales "A Thousand and One Nights" (a set of postcards) Drawing of a fairy tale 1000 and 1 night in pencil

The Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Western and South Asian stories and folk tales, collected in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. The first European edition of the collection, entitled The Arabian Night, was published in 1706.

The Thousand and One Nights is a monumental, centuries-old work that includes the work of many authors, translators, and scholars. The tales and stories collected in A Thousand and One Nights are rooted in medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian and Egyptian folklore. In particular, many tales originally dated from the era of the Caliphate. The connecting element of all fairy tales is Scheherazade, the wife of the ruler Shahriyar, who, according to legend, told her husband fairy tales at night. "A Thousand and One Nights" is one of the most popular and well-known collections of oriental tales, published and republished for hundreds of years. And today we will begin a long journey through the illustrations for the tales of the Thousand and One Nights. Let's start by talking about illustrations, which cover the period up to the beginning of the 20th century.

This illustration is the oldest we have found. It dates from 1595. Today, the illustration is on display at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. The illustration is made in gouache and gold on paper, using calligraphy. The image without the author, however, is a typical classical image of the Golden Age of Islam.

1706 was the year of the first English edition of the Thousand and One Nights. The year when the European reader first touched the Eastern folklore creation. The illustration presented is by David Coster, engraving, with fine details worked out, in the best style of A. Dürer.

David Coster was a Dutch painter and engraver. He was the first Western artist to illustrate One Thousand and One Nights.

Robert Smirke was an English painter and illustrator. He specialized in small stage and genre paintings based on literary subjects. He was a member of the Royal Academy.

Adam Muller is another artist who was interested in the theme of the East and who could not pass by Eastern motifs and scenes of Eastern life in his work. Was a Danish artist. He died at the age of 32, but the artist's legacy was included as the most important component of Danish art of the 19th century. Throughout his short creative life, he repeatedly turned to oriental themes and the image of Aladdin.

The illustration shown is from the Thousand and One Nights, published in London in 1840. The Reverend Edward Forster translated for this edition. We assume that the illustrations for the edition were made by an English artist and illustrator who specialized in small paintings based on literary subjects, he was a member of the Royal Academy - Robert Smir (Robert Smirke).

Speaking of illustrations, it would be surprising not to say about the greatest illustrator, cartoonist -. We talked in detail about this artist in the context of illustrations for the fairy tale "", because this is the most famous work of the author. Tenniel also tried his hand in the illustrations for The Thousand and One Nights. And this is the traditional engraving work of the artist in his best traditions.

Abul Hasan Ghaffari Kashani is an outstanding Persian artist. He worked in a wide variety of techniques. He painted portraits in oils, designed lacquer boxes, worked in watercolor. Having painted a successful portrait of Shah Muhammad, he became a court painter. He worked in miniature technique, as well as the presented illustration. One illustration could reflect the forward movement of literary material.

The illustration shown was created by Gustaf Thome for the Swedish edition of the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights in 1854.

John Frederick Lewis was an orientalist and English painter. He specialized in Oriental and Mediterranean scenes. He worked in the style of exquisitely detailed watercolors. For a long time he lived in Cairo, where the artist made a large number of sketches and sketches. Later, these sketches turned into paintings.

We have already talked about the work of the greatest French artist and engraver when we considered illustrations for the fairy tale "". And as with Little Red Riding Hood, Gustave Dore's work on the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor is a complete picture. The artist worked a lot with biblical and religious themes.

Felix Darley is an American artist, illustrator, known for his illustrations of many works by famous authors of the 19th century, including James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, Washington Irving. Darley was a self-taught artist. Started as a staff artist for a publishing company in Philadelphia.

Arthur Boyd Houghton was a British illustrator and artist. He worked in ink and watercolor. Born in India. Traveled across America and Russia. He created illustrations for books, including "A Thousand and One Nights" and "Don Quixote". The Pre-Raphaelites played a big role in the formation of the artist. He played a major role in the revival of woodcuts during the Golden Age of English illustration.

Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger is a French artist known for his Oriental tastes.

Boulanger's paintings are a prime example of 19th-century academic art. Boulanger visited Italy, Greece and North Africa. His fascination with the East was reflected in his paintings, especially in the depiction of female beauty.

Godefroy Durand was a French draftsman and engraver. Worked for L'Univers Illustré. He was a member of the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists.

The presented illustration is an illustration of the Finnish edition of the Thousand and One Nights tales, created by Gustaf Velin. He started his career as a clerk in a printing house. By 1865 he became the head of the company, was engaged in the publication of newspapers and magazines.

The illustration shown is a painting by the French graphic artist, Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant, made approximately in the early 80s of the 19th century. Benjamin-Constant specialized in oriental motifs, among his works there are many oriental portraits, scenes of oriental life. The presented picture is called "Arabian Night".

Ferdinand Keller is a German artist. He worked in a classical academic style. He was the son of an engineer, a bridge designer, and traveled a lot due to his father's work. He created genre scenes and portraits. The presented picture is not, in fact, an illustration for the book, however, it depicts Sheherazade and Sultan Shahriyar.

The illustrated illustration is from the 1883 collection of tales of the Thousand and One Nights published by J. B. Lippincott & Co.

The publishing house J. B. Lippincott & Co began its work in 1836 with the publishing house of Bibles and prayer books, prose and poetry. Later, almanacs, medical and legal literature, textbooks and dictionaries began to be printed. The presented illustration of the fairy tales "A Thousand and One Nights" is made in the style of magazine engraving cartoons.

Adolphe Lalauze is a prolific French engraver. Creator of illustrations for many books. He won many awards and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor.

Lalaus entered the history of world illustration with his famous etchings depicting children. The models of these etchings were the children of the artist himself. During his lifetime, he was called "one of the most skillful engravers of the modern French school."

Henry Ford was a successful artist and illustrator. Success came to the artist after his work on "The Book of Fairies", Andrew Lang. He worked in the genre of historical painting and landscape. He also worked on the creation of costumes for the character of Peter Pan, for the first production in 1904.

John Baton was a British painter, book illustrator and engraver. An active member of the Society of Artists in Tempera Technique.

Joseph Clark was an English painter and book illustrator. He worked in various styles from watercolor and oil painting to black and white engraving.

The illustration shown is an illustration of the Thousand and One Nights, published in 1896 by the Henry Altemus Company. The company began operations in 1863 as a bookbinding workshop. Of the first books published by the company, the Bible of 1880 can be noted, all publishing houses begin their work with religious literature.

William Strang was a Scottish painter, illustrator and printmaker. He worked in many techniques: etching, painting, engraving, lithography. Cases of wooden lithographic models for creating paintings. Strang's work is distinguished by clarity, artistry, high craftsmanship, strength and skillful use of shadow. The illustration shown is one of the illustrations from the Netherlands edition of the stories dated 1896.

Here is the cover for the tales of "A Thousand and One Nights" by English illustrator Aubrey Vincent Beardsley. Aubrey made drawings in black ink. The development of his work was greatly influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, and this is emphasized by grotesque, decadent, and erotic images. He was a leading cultural figure in late 19th century England, along with Oscar Wilde and James McNeil Whistler. Beardsley made a huge contribution to the development of Art Nouveau and poster art.

The illustration shown was made by Albert Letchford, for the publication of the Thousand and One Nights book series, in 1885. The translation was done by Richard Burton, an English traveler, orientalist and cartographer.

Frances Isabelle Brundage is an American female illustrator. Success came to Isabel thanks to her images of attractive and cute children on postcards and calendars. She was a professional artist and illustrator.

To create these portraits, so unusual and colorful, artists Yasmina Alaoui and Marco Guerra mix old and new imaging techniques. In the presented series of works called "100 and 1 Nights" / "1001 Dreams", Marco first photographed nude models in black and white, and then Yasmina manually painted the images with ink and watercolors in places.



As the artists say in one of the interviews, they just wanted to create something very beautiful, eye-catching and at the same time calm and meaningful. So that there is something from the great masters and something absolutely new and relevant. Inspired by the beauty and sensuality of the fairy tale "1000 and One Nights", as well as the fine arts of Morocco and Chile, the guys set to work, the result of which you can see here.



In the drawings, you can see natural elements, such as plants or even animals with insects. They are used as spiritual symbols like a message to all mankind - "we are one" or "we are in harmony".... The works made a huge impression all over the world!

FAIRY TALE

Arab fairy tales "Thousand and One Nights" entered the treasury of world literature as a wonderful monument of Arab culture. In the proposed set of color illustrations, made in the spirit of an oriental miniature, the Moscow artist Alexander Melikhov sought to convey the national flavor, the bizarre and unique world of an oriental fairy tale.

THE STORY OF THE TAJ AL-MULUK

And he approached her and said: "Allah save you from the fact that because of you bad things happen to your father." And he told her about everything that had happened and that her lover, the son of King Suleiman Shah, wanted to marry her. “The matter of matchmaking and marriage depends on your desire,” he said, and Sitt Dunya smiled and replied: “Didn’t I tell you that he is the son of the Sultan, and I will certainly make him crucify you on a board at the cost of two dirhams.”

“O my daughter, have pity on me, Allah will have pity on you,” her father told her. And she exclaimed: "Quickly, go quickly and bring him to me quickly, without delay!" - “On the head and in the eyes!” - answered her father and quickly returned from her and, having come to Taj-al-Muluk, slowly conveyed these words to him. And they got up and went to her, and, seeing Taj-al-Muluk, the princess embraced him in the presence of her father, and leaned close to him, and kissed him, saying: “You made me yearn!”

THE STORY ABOUT KING SHAHRIIR AND HIS BROTHER

And so the vizier, the father of Scheherazade, brought her to the king, and the king, seeing him, was delighted and asked: “Have you delivered what I need?”

And the vizier said: "Yes!"

And Shahriyar wanted to take Shahrazade, but she wept: and then he asked her: “What is the matter with you?”

Shahrazade said, "O king, I have a little sister and I want to say goodbye to her." And the king then sent for Danyazada, and she came to her sister, hugged her and sat down on the floor near the bed. And then Shahriyar took possession of Shahrazade, and then they began to talk; and the younger sister said to Shahrazade: "I conjure you by Allah, sister, tell us something to shorten the sleepless hours of the night."

“With love and willingness, if the most worthy king permits me,” Shahrazade replied. And, having heard these words, the king, tormented by insomnia, was glad that he would listen to the story, and allowed it.

“What do you want to achieve by this struggle, O vanquished one? Come hither and know that this fight will be enough."

And then she stooped and called him to the fight, and Sharr-Kahn stooped over her too, and took it seriously, not to weaken. And they wrestled a little, and the girl found in him a strength that she did not know in him before, and said to him: “O Muslim, have you decided to be careful?” “Yes,” answered Sharr-Kan, “you know that only this fight is left for me with you, and after that each of us will go our own way.” And she laughed, and Sharr-Kan also laughed in her face, and when this happened, the girl quickly grabbed his thigh, unexpectedly for him, and threw him to the ground, so that he fell on his back.

A STORY OF A PORTER AND THREE GIRLS

And when the woman heard their words, she exclaimed: “Truly, O guests, you offended me with a great offense! After all, we agreed with you earlier that those who begin to talk about what does not concern them will hear what they do not like! Is it not enough for you that we brought you into our house and fed you with our food? But the fault is not on you, the fault is on the one who brought you to us.” Then she bared her arms, hit the floor three times, and exclaimed, "Hurry up!" Suddenly the door of the closet opened, and seven slaves came out with drawn swords in their hands. "Twist those talkers and tie them together!" - she exclaimed. And the slaves did this and said: "O venerable lady, order us to remove their heads." "Give them a little reprieve while I ask them who they are before they get their heads knocked off," the woman said.

THE STORY ABOUT THE VIZIR OF KING JUNAN

And King Yunan ordered that the doctor's head be cut off, and he took the book from him, and the executioner got up and cut off the doctor's head, and the head fell into the middle of the dish. And the king rubbed powder on his head, and the blood stopped, and the doctor Duban opened his eyes and said: “O king, open the book!” And the king opened it and saw that the sheets were stuck together, and then he put his finger in his mouth, moistened it with saliva and opened the first sheet, and the second, and the third, and the sheets were opened with difficulty. And the king turned over six sheets and looked at them, but did not see any writing and said to the doctor: “O doctor, nothing is written on it.” - "Open more, beyond this," said the doctor; and the king turned over three more leaves, and only a little time passed, and in one minute the poison spread throughout the body of the king, since the book was poisoned.

The Tale of King Omar Ibn An-Numan

And when night fell, they entered the tent of this sorceress Zat-ad-Dawahi and saw that she was standing and praying. And, come to her, they began to cry, pitying her, but she did not pay attention to them until night fell. And then she ended the prayer with a final greeting and, turning to them, greeted them and asked: “Why did you come?” And they said to her: “O worshiper, did you not hear how we wept beside you?” “He who stands before the face of Allah does not exist in existence and does not hear anyone's voice and does not see anyone,” the old woman answered. And they said, “We want you to tell us why you were in captivity and pray for us tonight; it is better for us than owning al-Kustantiniya.”

Hearing their words, the old woman exclaimed: “By Allah, if you were not the emirs of Muslims, I would not tell you anything about this at all, for I only complain to Allah! But here I will tell you why I was a prisoner.”

THE STORY OF THE TAJ AL-MULUK

And when everything needed for the bride was completely ready, the king ordered to set up tents.

They were smashed outside the city, and they put the matter in chests, and prepared the Rumiian slaves and Turkish servants, and the king sent valuable treasures and expensive stones along with the bride. And besides, he made her a litter of pure gold, embroidered with pearls and jewels, and appointed twenty mules for this litter alone to carry them. And these stretchers became like an upper room among the upper rooms, and their owner was like a houri from beautiful houris, and the dome above them resembled a room from heavenly rooms. And the treasures and riches were bogged down, and they were loaded on mules and camels, and King Zakhr Shah traveled with those departing a distance of three farsakhs, and then he said goodbye to the vizier and those who were with him, and returned to his native city, joyful and calm. And the vizier went with the tsar's daughter and constantly passed stops and deserts ...

A STORY ABOUT THE LOVING AND THE LOVED

And when the young man took the rag and put it under his thigh, Taj-al-Muluk asked him: “What is this rag?” - “Oh, lord,” said the young man, “I refused to show you my goods only because of this rag: I cannot let you look at it ...”

A STORY OF THREE APPLES

And the vizier, hearing this, was amazed and, taking with him a young man and an old man, went up with them to the caliph and kissed the ground in front of him and said: “O ruler of the faithful, we have brought the murderer of a woman.” - "Where is he?" asked the caliph. And Jafar replied: “This young man says that he is the murderer, and this old man says that the young man is lying, and says that he killed. Here they are both in front of you.

And the hunchback was opened to him, and he sat down beside him and, taking his head on his knees, looked into his face and began to laugh so much that he turned over on his back, and then exclaimed: “Every death is amazing, but the death of this hunchback should be written in golden ink! » And all those gathered were dumbfounded by the words of the barber, and the king was surprised at his speeches and asked: “What is the matter with you, O Silent One, tell us.” And the barber answered: “O king of time, by your grace, there is a spirit in the liar-hunchback!” The barber took out a casket from his bosom and, opening it, took out a pot of fat from it and smeared it on the neck of the hunchback and the sinews on it, and then he took out two iron hooks and, lowering them into his throat, took out a piece of fish with a bone; and when he took it out, it turned out to be covered in blood. And the hunchback sneezed once and jumped to his feet and stroked his face...

TALE ABOUT VIZIR NUR-AD-DIN AND HIS BROTHER

And they began to curse the hunchbacked groom and the one who was the reason for his marriage to this beauty, and every time they blessed Bedr-ad-din Hasan, they cursed this hunchback. And then the singers beat the tambourines and whistled the pipes, and the attendants appeared, and among them the vizier's daughter; they perfumed her, and anointed her, and clothed her, and removed her hair, and fumigated her, and put on her ornaments and garments from the robes of the kings of Chosroes. And among other clothes, she was wearing clothes embroidered with pure gold, with the image of animals and birds, and she descended from her eyebrows, and a necklace worth thousands was put on her neck, and each pebble in it was worth wealth, which Tobba and Caesar did not have. . And the bride became like the moon on the fourteenth night, and approaching, she looked like a houri; Praise be to him who made her brilliant! And the women surrounded her and became like stars, and she was among them like the moon when the clouds open it.

And Bedr-ad-din Hasan of Basri was sitting, and the people were looking at him, and the bride proudly approached, swaying, and the hunchbacked groom rose to kiss her, but she turned away and turned so that she was in front of Hassan, her uncle's son, and that's all laughed.

A STORY ABOUT TWO VIZIRS
AND ANIS AL-JALIS

And al-Muin ibn Sawi wanted to throw himself at him, and then the merchants looked at Nur-ad-din (and they all loved him), and he said to them: “Here I am in front of you, and you know how cruel he is!” And the vizier exclaimed: “By Allah, if not for you, I would probably have killed him!” And all the merchants showed Nur-ad-din with a sign of the eye: “Deal with him! - and said: - Not one of us will stand between him and you.

Then Nur-ad-din went up to the vizier ibn Savi (and Nur-ad-din was a brave man) and pulled the vizier from the saddle and threw him to the ground. And here was a kneader for clay, and the vizier fell into it, and Nur-ad-din began to beat him and beat him with his fists, and one of the blows hit him in the teeth, so that the vizier's beard was stained with his blood.

THE TALE OF THE MERCHANT AND THE SPIRIT

And suddenly a huge spinning column of dust flew up from the desert, and when the dust cleared, it turned out that it was the same genie, and he had a naked sword in his hands, and his eyes were throwing sparks. And, going up to them, the genie dragged the merchant by the hand and exclaimed: “Get up, I will kill you, as you killed my child, which was dearer to me than life!” And the merchant began to sob and weep, and the three elders also raised weeping, weeping and wailing.

And he took out the knife and tried with the lead until he plucked it from the jar, and put the jar sideways on the ground, and shook it so that what was in it poured out - and nothing came out of it, and the fisherman was utterly surprised. And then smoke came out of the jar, which rose to the clouds of heaven and crawled over the face of the earth, and when the smoke came out completely, it gathered, and shrank, and trembled, and became ifrit with his head in the clouds and his feet on the ground.

There are few books in world literature that are as popular as the tales of the Thousand and One Nights. Fantasy and reality, teaching and unique literary flavor are inextricably linked here. All of us from childhood are familiar with the amazing tales of this book. Travels of Sinbad the Sailor, stories about oriental sages and wizards, Ali Baba's adventures, stories with the participation of Harun-ar-Rashitsa - all these are vivid signs of memory among our very first books.

And now we, adults, long gone from childhood, rejoice, again referring to this book. Together with Shahra-zada, as if for the first time, we set off to travel through thousands of nights of the patterned East to the wonderful land of a fairy tale. Night after night stretches on, the moon rises and leaves, the nightingale falls silent and again sings its songs in bizarre tangles of branches - the stories of Scheherazade. And as if spellbound, we cannot tear ourselves away from the ancient lines, from which the smell of flowering peach orchards, roses and jasmine seems to flow.

They say that once they asked one of the Persian kings which book was the best in the world. And he answered: the one in which wisdom. There is no fairy tale without wisdom, and wisdom is not born without fairy tales. That is why the magnificent tales of the legendary Shahrazatsy, filled with the aroma of antiquity, are alive for us.

The fairy tale collection was born in Persia and in Persian and Arabic versions was distributed throughout the East. Who knows where, when and who laid the foundation of this great monument of the word, the "Tower of Babel" of world literature. They are still arguing about it. And there is no consensus on this. The highly artistic language, folk literature, the very spirit of the wise and crafty East - this is the basis on which the flowers of fairy tales "1001 nights" bloom.

In 1704, a small book was published in Paris, which almost immediately became a bibliographic rarity. It was a French translation of several Arabic tales, previously unknown in Europe. Their translator was a modest teacher of the Latin language of one of the colleges A. Gallan. How, where did the translator find out about the existence of the fairy tales “1001 nights”, one can only guess. However, it is known that at the turn of the XV II-XVII centuries, Gallan was the secretary of the French embassy in Turkey. And when he returned from there, he did not hesitate to publish his famous translations, the publication cycle of which ended in 1717, after the death of the "discoverer" of the wonderful land of fairy tales of the East.

Time passed, and Galland's translation appeared in other countries of Western Europe. Already from French, the tale was translated in Germany (Von Hammer), then in England (Ed. Lehn) and in many other countries.

A translation of fairy tales also appeared in Russia, approximately in the middle of the 19th century, as a translation from a translation, without using the original. And only in 1929 was a complete edition of the tales directly from the original Calcutta text of the Nights, which is the most reliable, carried out. The translation was made by M. A. Salier for the Asademia publishing house. In the introductory article, M. Gorky noted: “... I warmly welcome the publication of the first translation of fairy tales from ... the original. This is the most solid cultural merit of the translator and a good, quite timely whole ... "

How many editions - so many illustrations. And each artist sees the tales of "A Thousand and One Nights" in his own way. The second issue of the set of postcards "1001 nights" offered to the reader was made by the artist A. G. Melikhov. Here are scenes from fairy tales, individual heroes, here in each illustration there is a riot of color and the aroma of a blooming oriental night.

THE STORY ABOUT ALI IBN BEKKAR

And when we were drowning in a sea of ​​joy,” the jeweler said, “suddenly a little maid came in to us, all trembling, and said: “Oh lady, think about how you can leave: people surrounded us and overtook us, and we don’t know what kind of cause".

Hearing this, I got up frightened, and suddenly I heard one slave crying: “Trouble has come!” And the earth became cramped for me, with all its spaciousness. And I looked at the gate, but found no way there. I jumped to the neighbor's gate and hid and saw people enter my house and there was a great noise.

I thought then that the news of us reached the caliph and he sent the head of the guard to seize us and bring us to him. And I was confused and sat outside the neighbor's gate until midnight, not being able to get out of where I was. And the owner of the house got up, and seeing me, he was afraid and felt great fear because of me. He left the house and came up to me, holding a drawn sword in his hand, and asked: “Who is this with us?” And I answered him: "I am your neighbor, a jeweler."

BUDUR

And Dahnash and Maimuna began to look at them, and Dahnash exclaimed: “By Allah, it’s good, O lady! My beloved is more beautiful!” “No, my beloved is more beautiful!” said Maimuna. Is the truth hidden? Don't you see how handsome and charming he is, slender and well-proportioned? Woe to you, listen to what I say about my beloved, and if you sincerely love the one you are in love with, say about her what I will say about mine.
beloved."

THE STORY ABOUT KAMAR-AZ-ZAMAN AND THE PRINCESS
BUDUR

And when Sitt Budur finished her poems, she immediately got up and, resting her feet against the wall, with force leaned on the iron collar and tore it off her neck, and then she broke the chains and, coming out from behind the curtain, rushed to Kamaraz-Zaman and kissed him on the mouth, as doves peck, and, embracing him from strong love and passion, she exclaimed: “O my lord, is this a reality or a dream? Has Allah sent us intimacy after separation? Praise be to Allah that we met after we lost hope!”

THE STORY ABOUT KAMAR-AZ-ZAMAN AND THE PRINCESS
BUDUR

And all this happened, and Qamar-az-Zaman looked and was surprised, and suddenly he glanced at the place where the bird was killed, and saw something brilliant there. And he came closer, and it turned out that it was the goiter of that bird, and Qamar-al-Zaman took it and opened it and found there a stone that was the reason for his separation from his wife. And when Kamar-al-Zaman saw and recognized the stone, he fell unconscious for joy, and waking up, he exclaimed: “Praise be to Allah! Here is a good sign and news of a meeting with my beloved.

THE STORY OF AL-AMJAD AND AL-ASAD

And they followed in the footsteps of the vizier, and the footprints led them to a thicket, and the brothers said to each other: “Truly, the horse and the treasurer did not go further than this thicket.” “Stay here,” al-Asad said to his brother, “and I will go into the thicket and look at the emir.” But al-Amjad exclaimed: “I will not let you enter the forest alone, and we will enter only both! If we are saved, we will be saved together, and if we perish, we will perish together.”

And both entered and saw that the lion had already rushed at the treasurer, and he was under him like a sparrow, but he only prayed to Allah and pointed to the sky with his hand. And when al-Amjad saw this, he grabbed a sword and, rushing at the lion, struck him between the eyes with the sword, and the lion fell and sprawled on the ground.

THE TALE OF NIM AND NUM

And one day he was sitting, and suddenly an old woman riding a donkey, the saddle on which was made of brocade adorned with precious stones, approached him. And the old woman stopped near the shop of the Persian and, tying the donkey by the bridle, made a sign to the Persian and said: “Take my hand,” and the Persian took the old woman by the hand, and she got off the donkey and asked: “It is you, the Persian doctor who has arrived from Iraq?” “Yes,” answered the doctor. And the old woman said: "Know, I have a daughter, and she is sick." And the old woman took out the jar, and when the Persian looked at what was in the jar, he asked: “O lady, tell me the name of this girl so that I can calculate her star and find out what time it is suitable for her to drink medicine.” And the old woman said: "O brother of the Persians, her name is Num..."

THE STORY ABOUT ALA AD-DIN ABU-SH-SHAMAT

And Ala ad-Din opened the gate for the dervishes and brought them in and seated them and said to them: "Welcome!" and then he brought food; but they did not eat and said: “O lord ... order your wife to play music for us so that we enjoy and feel cheerfulness, music for some people is food, for some it is medicine, and for some it is a fan ... "

And Zubeida played music for them on the lute, from which a stone rock would dance, and they spent their time in enjoyment, joy and merriment, telling each other different stories; and when the morning rose and shone with light and shone, the caliph put a hundred dinars under the rug, and then they said goodbye to Ala ad-Din and went on their way.

THE STORY ABOUT ISHAQ OF MOSULS

And then we spent the whole day in pleasures, and the heart of al-Mamun became attached to that girl. And we could not believe that the time had come, and we set off, and I instructed al-Mamun and told him: “Restrain to call me by my name in front of her - in her presence I am your guide”

And we agreed on this and walked until we reached the place where the basket was, and found two baskets there, and sat down in them, and they were raised with us to an already familiar place. And the girl came and greeted us, and seeing her, al-Ma'mun fell into confusion because of her beauty and charm.

A STORY OF A CLEANER AND A WOMAN

“And I went with the donkey into the lane and stood waiting for the crowd to disperse. And I saw eunuchs with sticks in their hands and with them about thirty women, among whom was one, like a branch of a willow or a thirsty gazelle, and she was perfect in beauty, grace and effeminacy, and everyone served her. And coming to the gate of that alley where I was standing, this woman looked to the right and to the left, and then called a certain eunuch. And when he appeared before her, she said something in his ear, and suddenly the eunuch came up to me and grabbed me, and the people fled. And suddenly another eunuch took my donkey and led him away, and then the eunuch came up and tied me with a rope and dragged me along with him, and I did not know what was the matter, and the people who stood behind us shouted and said: “Allah does not allows! This is a cleaner, poor man, why was he tied with ropes?

And Abul-Muzaffar saw a man sitting there, and in front of him were many monkeys, among which was one with plucked hair. And the other monkeys, whenever their master turned away, grabbed the plucked monkey and beat it and threw it to the master, and he beat them and tied and tortured them, and all the monkeys were angry with that monkey and beat him. And when Sheikh Abu-l-Muzaffar saw this oboyan, he took pity on her and was sad.

"Will you sell this monkey to me?" he asked the owner, and he answered: “Buy!” And then Abu-l-Muzaffar said: “I have five dirhams, which belong to one orphan child. Will you sell me a monkey for this price?” - "I will sell it to you, may Allah bless you!" replied the owner of the monkeys.

THE STORY ABOUT ABU-MUHAMMED-LAYER

And left alone with the bride, I marveled at her beauty and charm, harmony and proportion, since tongues cannot describe her beauty and charm, and rejoiced at her with great joy; when midnight came and the bride fell asleep, I got up and, taking the keys, unlocked the closet, took a knife, slaughtered a rooster, threw down the flags and overturned the chest. And the woman woke up and, seeing that the closet was open and the rooster was slaughtered, she exclaimed: “There is no power and strength except with Allah, high, great! Marid took me!” And before she finished her words, the marid began to circle around the house and kidnapped the bride.

And the girl saw that Ali-Shar lowered his head, and said to the mediator: “Take my hand and take me to him; I will show him myself and tempt him to take me - I will not be sold to anyone but him. And the mediator took the girl and placed her in front of Ali-Shar and said to him: “What do you think, sir?” But Ali-Shar did not give him an answer. “O my lord and beloved of my heart, why do you not buy me? - asked the girl. “Buy me and I will be the cause of your happiness.”

A STORY ABOUT ALI-SHAR AND ZUMURRUD

And Barsum mounted a mule and, taking his servants with him, went with his brother to the house of Ali-Shar and took a bag with a thousand dinars, so that when the wali met him, he would bribe him.

And he opened the rooms, and the people who were with him rushed to Zumurrud and forcibly took her, threatening her with death if she spoke, and left the house as it was, taking nothing. And Ali-Shar was left lying in the passage, and the door was closed, and the key to the rooms was placed next to him.

THE STORY OF THE SIX SLAVES

And he had six slaves like moons: the first was white, the second was brown, the third was well-fed, the fourth was thin, the fifth was yellow and the sixth was black, and they were all beautiful in face and perfect in education, and knew the art of singing and playing musical instruments. And it happened that he called these slaves one day to him and demanded food and wine, and they began to eat and drink, and enjoyed, and rejoiced, and their master filled the goblet and, taking it in his hand, made a sign of white slave and said: "O face of the new moon, let us hear sweet words."

ABOUT THE JEWELER AND THREE STRANGERS

And when he sat down in his shop, three people came to him and asked him about his father, and he mentioned his death, and then these people asked him: “Did he leave any offspring?” - "He left the slave who is in front of you," the jeweler replied, and those who came said: "And who knows that you are his son?" - "People in the market," the jeweler replied. “Gather them together so that they testify that you are his son,” said those who came. And the jeweler got the people together, and they witnessed it. And then those three men took out a sack containing about thirty thousand dinars and expensive stones and precious metals, and said: "This was entrusted to us by your father." And then they left.

A STORY OF A THIEF AND A SIMPLE

And her husband went to the market and stopped near the donkeys and suddenly he sees that his donkey is being sold! And, recognizing the donkey, he went up to him and put his mouth to his ear and said: “Woe to you, unfortunate one! Maybe you went back to drinking or beat your mother? I swear by Allah, I will never buy you again!” And then he left him and left.

One of the best illustrated reprints of 2011, according to , was the book "The most beautiful tales of a thousand and one nights". I can't help but agree - the book is truly amazing in every way.

Illustrations Olga Dugina so thin and graceful that they instantly immerse me in the atmosphere of the Ancient East - I even dreamed about the beautiful Mardzhana. The retelling from the German Leonid Yakhnin is pleasant, smooth and not too overloaded for children's perception with oriental terms. In addition to the three tales, there is the beginning and end of the story of Shaherizade herself.

The quality of the publication is excellent: large format, lacquered inscriptions on the cover, excellent printing, light-beige tinted coated paper, large type and an eye-catching "oriental" strip of endpapers. The pagination of some drawings looks a little inorganic, which would look better on a full spread, without a white stripe in the center, but this is a trifle. In general, the atmosphere of the book is fascinating - see for yourself.

in the "Labyrinth"
Olga Dugina and her husband Andrei create masterpieces of book illustration.
As D. Yakovlev notes, “the Dugins have properties that make them related to medieval miniaturists: they decorate a modern book with the same love as the old masters did ...” Andrey and Olga spend an average of two years on one book. And they drew illustrations for the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale "The Brave Little Tailor" for almost seven years. For this book, in 2007, the Dugins were awarded the Gold Medal of the Society of Illustrators of the United States.

The fairy tale "Dragon Feathers", designed by Andrey and Olga Dugin, was first published by the German Schreiber publishing house in 1993. Then ten foreign publishers decided to release "Dragon Feathers" with illustrations by the Dugins. Today the book can be bought from us.

The illustrations in these two books are really beautiful, but they are designed for the perception of children of middle and high school age, and the texts of the books are for older preschoolers and younger schoolchildren. Therefore, I will NOT recommend these books to children. They are more suitable for adult collectors and lovers of Bosch and Brueghel. For myself, I limited myself to postcards - to enjoy the beauty, and save a place in Shkapu / finance.

There is also the book “Red-faced Bun” for sale, but I don’t recommend it to anyone except fans of the Dugins’ work, and they already bought it without me.
More information about the artists can be found at: http://www.illustratoren-online.de/Dugin/illustration1/thumb1.htm

And for those who want to get acquainted with the tales of Scheherazade in the "adult" classic oriental translation by Mikhail Alexandrovich Salier, there is a luxurious book by the Eksmo publishing house with drawings unsurpassed to this day for the tales of 1001 nights by the English artist Edmond Dulac. "A Thousand and One Nights" is a masterpiece of the prose of the medieval East, a collection of 40 amazing Arabic and Persian fairy tales for adults. In the design, in addition to Dulac, illustrations by L. Bakst and S. Vidberg are used. This book is sure to be a gem in any library.

A children's version with illustrations by Dulac was released by IDM - this is the book "Legends of the Singing Sands" from my favorite series of Reflections, which I already wrote about in . In "Legends of the Singing Sands" there are four fairy tales in a good retelling by Julia Doppelmeier.