Week 5 Story: Scheherazade's Diary
Dear diary,
A tragic day for the kingdom.
Our dearest sultana has betrayed the sultan, so quietly and painfully. Father tells me the sultan is mad with grief, pacing the halls of the palace and tearing at his hair. None of this can excuse the sultan's final actions toward his wife today or his forcing father to play a part. I am conflicted — while I am disappointed in the sultana's actions, I mourn deeply for her loss at the sultan's hand.
I only hope we as a kingdom can move past this and the sultan can return to his former mind.
___________________________________________________
Dear diary,
Dark times across the city. The sultan has taken a turn for the worse — that may in fact be an understatement. Father weeps every night when he arrives home for the tasks the sultan sets him to. Each morning the sultan slaughters his bride from the evening before and each day father must go find him a new bride for the evening. I weep now thinking of it; the streets too are filled with lamenting. My dearest friends are being chosen one by one to meet the most terrible fate at the hands of our leader, and I fear for my sister. I only wish there was something I could do.
I write no more for my despair.
________________________________________________________________________________
Dear diary,
Last night I had an idea, something to help. I talked to father today as I know he can help me. I only want to save more lives with my own, to rid my city's families of this terrible curse.
I asked father that he present me to the sultan as his newest bride tomorrow evening. When I first came to father with my request, he told me he could refuse me nothing; I knew it was my chance. He pleaded with me to reconsider; I asked yet again. I know his heart is heavy with what he may be forced to do to me by the sultan's command, but I do not fear death. I only fear the prospect of failure, of allowing more of my city's women and girls to fall prey to the sultan's madness.
Father went to the sultan to tell him my plans already; I will go to him tomorrow night. The sultan is cruel and unrelenting even with his own grand-vizir's child. But, I am undaunted. I will go to him.
________________________________________________________________________________
Dear diary,
I tremble as I write this. I leave to go to the sultan in the hour.
My final wish was to speak with my darling Dinarzade before I depart. I told her but part of my plan, and asked that she stay with me tonight. I hope the sultan will allow it — it will be my one request of him. Before dawn, when cruel destiny awaits me, my sister will ask me that I tell her a story. With that story I will prolong my fate and hopefully the fates of the women of my kingdom. Dinarzade agreed to my wishes. I trust my sister and will learn to trust myself.
________________________________________________________________________________
Dear diary,
I live another day. The sultan was riveted by my story this morning — its layers and complexity completely drew him in. I am so grateful for my years of sending Dinarzade off to sleep by weaving tales off the top of my head — my talent has saved me. Tomorrow I will draw him deeper in. For now I am grateful to be alive.
________________________________________________________________________________
Author's note: In the original tale, the sultan's wife is somehow unfaithful to him and he orders her killed out of rage. He then believes all women to be deceptive, and begins marrying a new woman every night and strangling her every morning. Scheherazade, my narrator, is the daughter of the sultan's grand-vizir, a man tasked with finding the sultan a new bride each day. Scheherazade is so brave and tenderhearted that she begs her father to allow her to sacrifice herself to the sultan so no more women will be killed, and the grand-vizor is forced to do so after telling her he will give her whatever she wants. Before Scheherazade goes to the sultan, she asks her sister Dinarzade to stay the night with her, then ask Scheherazade her to tell one of her stories in the morning before the sultan can kill her. When Scheherazade arrives at the palace, she requests that Dinarzade stay with her and the sultan that night. Dinarzade asks for Scheherazade's story just before dawn, and Scheherazade is kept alive by her rapturous storytelling, which keeps the sultan begging for more morning by morning. I chose to tell Scheherazade's tale from a more personal perspective as the original story painted her as a compassionate, strong woman and I wanted to explore her personality more. I didn't make
Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Andrew Lang (1898).
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| Image from page 170 of "Stories from the Arabian nights." Source: Flickr. |
A tragic day for the kingdom.
Our dearest sultana has betrayed the sultan, so quietly and painfully. Father tells me the sultan is mad with grief, pacing the halls of the palace and tearing at his hair. None of this can excuse the sultan's final actions toward his wife today or his forcing father to play a part. I am conflicted — while I am disappointed in the sultana's actions, I mourn deeply for her loss at the sultan's hand.
I only hope we as a kingdom can move past this and the sultan can return to his former mind.
___________________________________________________
Dear diary,
Dark times across the city. The sultan has taken a turn for the worse — that may in fact be an understatement. Father weeps every night when he arrives home for the tasks the sultan sets him to. Each morning the sultan slaughters his bride from the evening before and each day father must go find him a new bride for the evening. I weep now thinking of it; the streets too are filled with lamenting. My dearest friends are being chosen one by one to meet the most terrible fate at the hands of our leader, and I fear for my sister. I only wish there was something I could do.
I write no more for my despair.
________________________________________________________________________________
Dear diary,
Last night I had an idea, something to help. I talked to father today as I know he can help me. I only want to save more lives with my own, to rid my city's families of this terrible curse.
I asked father that he present me to the sultan as his newest bride tomorrow evening. When I first came to father with my request, he told me he could refuse me nothing; I knew it was my chance. He pleaded with me to reconsider; I asked yet again. I know his heart is heavy with what he may be forced to do to me by the sultan's command, but I do not fear death. I only fear the prospect of failure, of allowing more of my city's women and girls to fall prey to the sultan's madness.
Father went to the sultan to tell him my plans already; I will go to him tomorrow night. The sultan is cruel and unrelenting even with his own grand-vizir's child. But, I am undaunted. I will go to him.
________________________________________________________________________________
Dear diary,
I tremble as I write this. I leave to go to the sultan in the hour.
My final wish was to speak with my darling Dinarzade before I depart. I told her but part of my plan, and asked that she stay with me tonight. I hope the sultan will allow it — it will be my one request of him. Before dawn, when cruel destiny awaits me, my sister will ask me that I tell her a story. With that story I will prolong my fate and hopefully the fates of the women of my kingdom. Dinarzade agreed to my wishes. I trust my sister and will learn to trust myself.
________________________________________________________________________________
Dear diary,
I live another day. The sultan was riveted by my story this morning — its layers and complexity completely drew him in. I am so grateful for my years of sending Dinarzade off to sleep by weaving tales off the top of my head — my talent has saved me. Tomorrow I will draw him deeper in. For now I am grateful to be alive.
________________________________________________________________________________
Author's note: In the original tale, the sultan's wife is somehow unfaithful to him and he orders her killed out of rage. He then believes all women to be deceptive, and begins marrying a new woman every night and strangling her every morning. Scheherazade, my narrator, is the daughter of the sultan's grand-vizir, a man tasked with finding the sultan a new bride each day. Scheherazade is so brave and tenderhearted that she begs her father to allow her to sacrifice herself to the sultan so no more women will be killed, and the grand-vizor is forced to do so after telling her he will give her whatever she wants. Before Scheherazade goes to the sultan, she asks her sister Dinarzade to stay the night with her, then ask Scheherazade her to tell one of her stories in the morning before the sultan can kill her. When Scheherazade arrives at the palace, she requests that Dinarzade stay with her and the sultan that night. Dinarzade asks for Scheherazade's story just before dawn, and Scheherazade is kept alive by her rapturous storytelling, which keeps the sultan begging for more morning by morning. I chose to tell Scheherazade's tale from a more personal perspective as the original story painted her as a compassionate, strong woman and I wanted to explore her personality more. I didn't make
Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Andrew Lang (1898).
Hi Emma! Your story title caught my eye in the blog stream. I also read the Arabian Tales module, and I wanted to read your version and Scheherazade's Diary! It definitely didn't disappoint! It was fantastic! I loved how you did multiple diary entries from her point of view! It's so original! Nice job! I really enjoyed reading and seeing things from her point of view from the very beginning when the first sultana died.
ReplyDeleteHey Emma! What a cool story and what an interesting way of telling it! This is the first diary entry story I've read this semester. I Think it is interesting how much this parallels the Parrot's Tales which I read in which a parrot tells his mistress stories to keep her from going to a man to cheat on her husband with. I guess distracting people by telling stories is a much more common theme than I realized, but what else could people do before Netflix?
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