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Extra Credit Reading Notes: Arabian Nights, Part A

 These notes are based off The Physician's Revenge from Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang (1898).

  • Since this story is a frame narrative, things have gotten a little bit confusing
  • I understand what is happening, but I think it might be hard to retell in a cohesive way
  • Right now, Scheherazade is telling a story about a genie and a fisherman
    • The fisherman is now telling the story of the king and the physician, to the genie
    •  Last time, the vizir told a story to the king-- from this story, the king began to distrust the physician (that saved his life), and now wants to execute him
    • I think if I were to retell this story, I would have to only focus on the king v. physician part of the story. It would be hard to tell all the background info, but maybe I could add in a little bit of outside narrative at the beginning of the story. 
  • The Greek king was fooled by the vizier's story. He now wants to execute the physician
  • He brings the physician to him, and tells him that he will behead him!
  • The physician now warns the king that if he is killed, then he will kill the king
    • This relates back to the story of the genie and the fisherman
  • The physician has a trick ready
  • He tells the king about a magic book--that if the king reads the 6th page, the physicians head will answer questions, even if he has been beheaded!
  • The king wants to see this amazing thing, so he agrees
  • The man is executed. His head will be cut off into a basin, over the book (so the blood will stop flowing). And the man's head will answer the questions!
  • The king follows this and when the man is beheaded, he uses the book
  • The book has no words, but the physician's head  prompts the king to keep turning the pages of the book 
  • The King licks his fingers to turn the pages, but the pages have poison!
  • Eventually, the poison kills the king--there were no words on the pages at all.   
  • The physician was able to trick the king, but he dies anyway
  • I really don't know how to retell this story!! I wish the physician was able to live, so maybe I could make it so his head can be reattached to his body. That way the king dies, and the physician can prove his innocence. But, either way, he would have to kill the king, so he would probably be punished. There's just no good ending for this guy! 

Image Information:
The King and the Physician's Head 
By: H.J Ford 

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