why is the story entitled chimera
Answers
Answer:
The first part is entitled Dunyazaidiad and it is the name given to Scheherazade’s presupposed sister. The first story recreates the story of Scheherazade from One Hundred and One Nights; the story begins with the two sisters talking. Scheherazade is praised for her talent of telling stories and stopping them at the right moment. While her sister praises her, Scheherazade tells her that she is forced to do so, fearing that if she one day will remain without stories to tell, the King will kill her.
The story then presents the efforts of an eminent girl, Scheherazade, to stop the King from killing a virgin every night. Scheherazade first analyzed the political context but soon realized that he the King had absolute power and there was no possibility of taking that power away from him. Next, she analyzed the problem from a psychological perspective but she found no answer. Then, she turned to magic and reached the conclusion that the only place where one could find some kind of magic is inside words and so Scheherazade became obsessed with letters.
Suddenly, a genie appears and the girls are astonished to see that the genie that appeared in front of them was the complete opposite of what they expected it to be. The man before them was a middle age man, tall and with unusual clothes and claiming to come from a distant land and time, unsure whether the girls were reality or a dream and whether he will be able to help them or not because according to him, he was stuck and was no longer able to create. The genie gave Scheherazade the idea of writing stories but the girl told the genie that the only stories she knows are the ones that everybody knows. The genie expresses his adoration for her and he confessed that he felt in love with her after reading 1001 Nights. After that, every work of fiction was always eclipsed by the stories told by Scheherazade.
Scheherazade tells the genie that she thought of telling the King stories each night and leaving them unfinished to stop the King from killing her but gave up on the idea believing that she won’t be able to do it. Scheherazade asks the genie whether he remembers the stories from the book but he tells her that he doesn’t. The genie began to slowly disappear but both he and Scheherazade said the magic words and they were able to see each other again. The genie then told her that he was able to see the title of the first story and agreed to meet every day to tell her the next story and help her. Scheherazade asked him what he wants in return but the genie refused to accept anything. Scheherazade even offered herself but the genie refused, saying that he now lives with one of his friends whom he loves and he has no desire for concubines or slaves. The girls then bid goodbye to the genie and wished that all his dreams may come true.
The next day, Scheherazade expressed her wish to go to the King and Dunyazaidiad offered to go as well. That night, the King takes her virginity and after that, Dunyazaidiad asks her sister to tell her a story. The King becomes intrigued hearing her story and lets her live another day. The next day, Scheherazade talks once more with the genie who urges Scheherazade to try and find some pleasure in her relationship with the King, as to make thing easier for her, but Scheherazade claims that she will never be able to do that. Years passed and Scheherazade became pregnant and bore the King three children. The genie also got married and he began to work on three novellas that will become his masterpiece.
One day, the genie tells the sisters that he has no more stories to tell and thus Scheherazade must become the one who will invent new ones. Scheherazade becomes desperate, telling the genie that she will ever be able to do that. The genie then tells Scheherazade that she will have to plead the King to spare her life for the sake of her children if she will not be able to tell him other stories. The genie then disappears, telling them that the novels written by him will have Scheherazade’s sister as the main character.
That night, Scheherazade did what the genie instructed her to do and the King proposed to her. What is more, it was decided that Dunyazaidiad will marry his brother. Dunyazaidiad became scared but Scheherazade assured her sister that she will help her. Scheherazade instructed her sister than on her wedding night, just before the King’s brother takes her, to plead him to let her spend some time with her sister. Then only, Scheherazade will tell Dunyazaidiad what they will do next.