Shahrazad's Life Work

In ancient Arabia, the Sultan was known to have a temper. While he did quarrel with one of his former wives (who happened to die in an unrelated accident), the Sultan was a kind-hearted man deep down inside. In fact, being married to Shahrazad brought out the best in him. Sadly, the commonfolk of the town did not realize the true nature of their loving relationship. Cruel gossip spread throughout the kingdom that Shahrazad was being held against her will, with the constant threat of death hanging over her head the entire time. While it is true that the Sultan loved Shahrazad’s tales, as everyone does, he was by no means intending to kill Shahrazad. In fact, he gave Shahrazad everything he could to help her with her writing. Although the Sultan was not threatening Shahrazad, she was still under an indescribable pressure to come up with stories every night: she was the first female journalist in any major newspaper. The Sultan ruled well, and the kingdom was very prosperous, so there were no major new events that occurred. Where a lesser journalist would write a mediocre story about a cat in a tree, Shahrazad refused to stoop to such a low level. Every single night she found a story worth sharing to the world and had a column written for the paper next day.

Based on One Thousand and One Nights