Obscene Fables

Nights 367-389

This week, we get a decent end to the Ebony Horse story. Then we get a long story about lovers. We’ve had a lot of these; this one distinguishes itself with a few strong moments (a friendly lion in Nights 373-374 (pp. 155-156), a series of poems about different birds in Night 376 (pp. 162-165), and a final reunion of the lovers in the baths with “aloes and with nadd [incense]” (Night 381, p. 176)). 

The last sixteen pages contain sixteen short stories, most involving sex. The first one is an unfortunately sympathetic portrayal of a rascally pedophile (Night 381, pp. 177-178). Most of the later stories contain morals, like the story of ‘A’isha, who “leaned over towards” her husband and “snorted and grunted with all kinds of strange movements and exotic tricks.” When another woman complains about ‘A’isha doing this during the day, ‘A’isha responds, “A wife should provide her husband with all the stimulation and unusual movements that she can . . . this is how I act by day . . . but at night I do more . . . He reaches out for me and I submit to him, with the result that you have seen.” (Night 387, pp. 189-190) This lesson is followed by two nearly identical stories. In both, slave girls argue about who gets to enjoy their master’s erection, each citing a different aphorism in favor of her case. None of these short stories are great, but they vary so wildly in tone that it has not been a chore to read them.