The second old man’s tale

Shahrazad, daughter of Vizier, decides she wants to sleep with king shahrayar knowing she will be put to death the next morning. Shahrazad was not unfaithful but to save the lives of the young women in the kingdom. For every night, Shahrazad explains in details a story she tells to the king. She became the first women to not die the next morning but in return to be put to death after her stories are finished. Hoping her courageous and fearless act, can change the views of King Shahrayar.

The tale is focused on a man and his brothers known as two dogs. All opened a shop and became shopkeepers. Both the brothers struggling to live, the man provides them with his profit splitting it upon equally. The man encounter a woman and the woman made a request. Marry her and in return reward the man for his kindness and charity. Knowing his two brothers, jealous and envied, attempts to kill both of them. It was the wife (also a she-demon) that saved him and then punished his brothers by having them turned into dogs. Now what is the purpose of this story? Shahrazad speaks all her tales to teach Shahrayar that not all women are bad. We see from the second mans tale the sympathy and successfulness of the man is what made his malicious brothers into dogs. The wife protected her husband.

Through the stories we observe the interaction between the two sexes and the punishment for those who become unfaithful. The Arabian culture emphasizes on their women and how precious they are. shahrazad displays her stories with emphasizes of faitlhful women. In her stories, the women are the ones to show loyalty and happiness to their husbands.

One thought on “The second old man’s tale

  1. Very well written, agree with nicholas blog post. In most cultures womens infedility is frowned upon. In this tale that infedelity was punishable by death. The women are greatly valued and held in high regards but yet not trusted in how the old man was telling the story in how all women are cunning and can not be trusted.

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