Scheherazade

Scheherazade was the daughter of the Grand Vizier of the Indies, and she begged to become the wife of the Sultan Schahriah so that she could save the lives of other women whom the sultan was determined to murder. The reason for his killings was that he had discovered his sultana had been unfaithful, and he swore to take a fresh wife every night and have her put to the sword at daybreak so that she could never betray him. Scheherazade's plan was that she would become his wife, and would so entrance him with the stories she told him that he would be unable to resist letting her live in order to continue the tales. She sustained this ruse for a thousand and one nights and so saved the lives of a thousand women. After the thousand and one nights the sultan revoked the decree.

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