The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherezade
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherezade was originally published in 1845.
A day after Scheherazade escaped death, she endeavours to recount another story to the king, this time of a retired Sinbad who finds himself seeking out new adventure. A comical sequel to the classic Sinbad tales, The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherezade is highly recommended for fans of the short story form, and is not to be missed by those who have read and enjoyed other works by this author.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American author, editor, poet, and critic. Most famous for his stories of mystery and horror, he was one of the first American short story writers, and is widely considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre.
We are republishing this vintage text, The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherezade, in an affordable, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
Extract from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherezade:
“Passing beyond this last island, we reached a country where there was a cave that ran to the distance of thirty or forty miles within the bowels of the earth, and that contained a greater number of far more spacious and more magnificent palaces than are to be found in all Damascus and Bagdad. From the roofs of these palaces there hung myriads of gems, liked diamonds, but larger than men; and in among the streets of towers and pyramids and temples, there flowed immense rivers as black as ebony, and swarming with fish that had no eyes.”
“Hum!” said the king.
“We then swam into a region of the sea where we found a lofty mountain, down whose sides there streamed torrents of melted metal, some of which were twelve miles wide and sixty miles long;† while from an abyss on the summit, issued so vast a quantity of ashes that the sun was entirely blotted out from the heavens, and it became darker than the darkest midnight; so that when we were even at the distance of a hundred and fifty miles from the mountain, it was impossible to see the whitest object, however close we held it to our eyes.’ ”
“Hum!” said the king.
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Here, at edgarallanpoe.co.uk, you can find the best of this fantastic author’s novels, short stories, essays, and poems.
You can also find a biography of Edgar Allan Poe, along with some of his most famous quotes and loved poems.
Through republishing works such as ‘The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherezade’, it is hoped that the writing of this author of mystery and the macabre, can continue to delight – almost two centuries after its initial publication.
