Scheherazade and the Sultan Trivia Quiz

Answer: To delay her own execution

Scheherazade was married to Sultan Shahryar, whose custom was to marry a virgin every day and kill her the next morning, in order to assure that his wife would never be unfaithful. On her wedding night, she began telling a tale so engaging that he couldn't bear to kill her without hearing the ending. On the second night, she left off at another cliffhanger, and so on, and so on, until the Sultan finally decided not to kill her after all.

Answer: Open Sesame

Although the tale of "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" is one of the best known today, it may only have been introduced into the collection in the 18th century by a French translator called Antoine Galland. (By the way, "alohomora" is the unlocking spell from J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books, and "mellon" is the key to opening the mines of Moria in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.)

Answer: Richard Burton

British soldier, scholar and explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton lived from 1821 to 1890. He traveled extensively through Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and picked up more than two dozens languages, including Hindi, Persian and Arabic. His ten-volume "Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night" was published in 1885; he followed it up with a supplement of six volumes, released between 1886 and 1888.

These days, his work is sometimes criticized for its fixation on the sexual aspects of the stories (he also published a version of the sexual how-to manual known as the "Kama Sutra").

Answer: In the original story, Aladdin is killed by the wicked Vizier

The traditional story tells us that Aladdin was able to marry his princess with the help of two genies, but an evil sorcerer, disguised as a peddler, convinced the princess to trade "new lamps for old", and stole away the lamp, the palace and the princess to a faraway desert. Luckily, with the help of the Genie of the Ring, Aladdin was able to pursue them and win back his possessions and his bride.

Answer: Harun al-Rashid

Harun al-Rashid was a Caliph of Baghdad from 786 to 809, and is remembered as having contributed to the city's cultural flourishing at the time. He also appears as a character in works by numerous authors, including O. Henry, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, James Joyce, Salman Rushdie and Roald Dahl. Abu-Nuwas (756-814) was a famous Arabic poet who appears in several tales. Al-Mustazi (from "The Hunchback's Tale") was a Caliph of Baghdad from 1225 to 1226; he was followed by Mustensir Billah (from "The Barber of Baghdad"), who ruled from 1226 to 1242.

Answer: Douglas Fairbanks

Very loosely based on the Arabian Nights tales, "The Thief of Baghdad", directed by Raoul Walsh, is considered to be a classic of the silent film era. It tells of a daring and handsome thief who manages to steal the heart of the Caliph's beautiful daughter with the help of a flying carpet and a cloak of invisibility, and it was a perfect vehicle for the dashing and athletic Fairbanks at the height of his career.

Answer: The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad

Oddly, most of the events that are depicted in the movie are actually found in the stories from the second and fifth voyages, not the seventh. Featuring no "name" stars, the movie is nonetheless fondly remembered by many film fans, and was followed up by two others, "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" and "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger".

Answer: A huge bird of prey

In his second voyage, Sinbad hitches a ride on the talons of a roc. In the fifth voyage, his crewmen destroy a roc's egg. Enraged, the roc follows them and takes revenge. The roc was a standard creature in Asian and Middle Eastern myth and legend; it is mentioned in the Sanskrit epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", as well as in the (theoretically) non-fiction memoirs of 13th-century traveller Marco Polo. Rocs of a more recent vintage pop up in the Shannara fantasy series by Terry Brooks.

Answer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) frequently used themes from fairy tales and folklore. Written in 1888, his "Scheherazade" is divided into four main parts that correspond to episodes in various tales: "The Sea and Sinbad's Ship", "The Kalendar Prince", "The Young Prince and The Young Princess", and "Festival at Baghdad.

The Sea. The Ship Breaks against a Cliff Surmounted by a Bronze Horseman." Woven throughout the work are themes for the "Sultan Shakhriar" and Scheherazade herself, portrayed by the violin.

Answer: Kismet

"Kismet" means "fate", and this musical, somewhat loosely inspired by the Arabian Nights tales, enjoyed a very successful reception in its day, although it is not often revived. Its score is odd in one respect: most of the melodies come from tunes found in the work of classical composer Alexander Borodin. Probably the most famous song from the show is "Stranger in Paradise".