_Mr. Andrew Lang says amusingly that he has left out of his special versions "all the pieces that are suitable only for Arabs and old gentlemen," and we have done the same; but we have taken no undue liberties. We have removed no genies nor magicians, however terrible; have cut out no base deed of Vizier nor noble deed of Sultan; have diminished the size of no roc's egg, nor omitted any single allusion to the great and only Haroun Al-raschid, Caliph of Bagdad, Commander of the Faithful, who must have been a great inspirer of good stories._ _Enter into this "treasure house of pleasant things," then, and make yourself at home in the golden palaces, the gem-studded caves, the bewildering gardens. Sit by its mysterious fountains, hear the plash of its gleaming cascades, unearth its magic lamps and talismans, behold its ensorcelled princes and princesses._ _Nowhere in the whole realm of literature will you find such a Marvel, such a Wonder, such a Nonesuch of a book; nowhere will you find impossibilities so real and so convincing; nowhere but in what Henley calls:_ _"... that blessed brief Of what is gallantest and best In all the full-shelved Libraries of Romance. The Book of rocs, Sandalwood, ivory, turbans, ambergris, Cream-tarts, and lettered apes, and Calenders, And ghouls, and genies--O so huge They might have overed the tall Minster Tower, Hands down, as schoolboys take a post; In truth the Book of Camaralzaman, Schemselnihar and Sinbad, Scheherezade The peerless, Bedreddin, Badroulbadour, Cairo and Serendib and Candahar, And Caspian, and the dim, terrific bulk-- Ice-ribbed, fiend-visited, isled in spells and storms-- Of Kaf ... That centre of miracles The sole, unparalleled Arabian Nights."_ KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN. August, 1909. CONTENTS THE TALKING BIRD, THE SINGING TREE, AND THE GOLDEN WATER 3 THE STORY OF THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE 52 THE HISTORY OF THE YOUNG KING OF THE BLACK ISLES 67 THE STORY OF GULNARE OF THE SEA 81 THE STORY OF ALADDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP 97 THE STORY OF PRINCE AGIB 190 THE STORY OF THE CITY OF BRASS 205 THE STORY OF ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES 229 THE HISTORY OF CODADAD AND HIS BROTHERS 264 THE STORY OF SINBAD THE VOYAGER 290 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS IN COLORS BY MAXFIELD PARRISH THE TALKING BIRD 32 It will be sufficient to break off a branch and carry it to plant in your garden THE FISHERMAN AND THE GENIE 54