Schoolteachers are stupid

Nights 390-413

This week had twenty-five stories in about thirty-three stories, one of the highest number of stories we’ll have in any given week. Many of the stories were about love and money, two of the themes that are common throughout the Nights so far. A new theme also showed up: “men of intelligence agree that schoolteachers are stupid.” (Night 402, p. 217). This was demonstrated in two stories, and I wonder if it will come back again.

A couple of the short stories were about pious men. The best of them, just before the quote about stupid schoolteachers, ended with a melancholy poem about the lonely life of a pious man. It begins: “I am a stranger, taking shelter with no man; // I am a stranger even in my own land. // I am a stranger without kith or kin; // There is none here who seeks another’s shelter.”

Two stories related to Magic cards appeared. First, the Pyramids. Night 398 (pp. 208-209) gives a theory about how they were constructed and what was inside them. The second Magic card is a Rukh Egg. (Night 405, p. 222) In the story, some sailors find a rukh egg and crack it open with “axes, stones and pieces of wood.” Inside is a baby rukh that is “as big as a firmly based mountain.” They take its meat to cook it! Then they barely escape from the adult rukh that pursues them. It’s a short story, so I wonder if we’ll get another one about a rukh. 

My favorite from the week is a comedy. They say comedy doesn’t translate well, but this one is just fine! In night 395 (pp. 203-204), Harun al-Rashid orders Ja’far to make fun of a man. The exchange of insults delights Harun so much that he gives the man three thousand dirhams. It’s a nice silly story.