Scheherazade

Gesundheit?

No, I didn't sneeze. That is a legendary Persian Queen.
Quick description:
Persian King marries a new girl everyday after killing yesterday's wife. He had some serious hurt feelings from his 1st wife. After killing 1,000 girls, enter Scheherazade stage right. Not wanting to die the next day, she tells her new husband, that Persian king with some serious trust issues, a story which takes all night. BUT when dawn breaks she stops in the middle of her story. The Persian King wants to know the ending, but she says it is a new day, and he must wait until the next night to hear the ending. She stays alive and finishes the story, and then starts a new one only to stop in the middle again.... King keeps her alive. After 1001 nights of this, the King realizes he has fallen in love with Scheherazade... He spares her life and makes her Queen.

YaY for happy endings!!

I heard of the story when I was spending some "Me" time at Barnes and Noble. I was looking in the biography section and came across a book about an America woman who became one of the many wives of a Middle Eastern Sheikh. This story was in her prologue. She ended the prologue asking the reader (and I'm paraphrasing) to understand that every writer feels like Scheherazade. Writing is their story telling, and the reader has the power to simply put the book down and "kill" the story or fall in love with the story and keep reading. She told the reader to take care in the story for it was the author's life in their hands.




I think that this Persian story is beautiful, and this biographer's use of it was brilliant. I have many friends who are amazing writers and could make a living with their skill. I see their talent now as something much more precious. I see stories and books in a new light. And, you know what? I think I am a better reader for it