Scheherazade, it will be recalled, was the teller of the famous tales which for a thousand and one nights beguiled the moody Sultan Schariar. The action of the ballet which bears her name is derived from the incident which according to tradition led up to the Sultan’s savage determination to slay every morning a wife newly-wed overnight,--a practice only ended by the story-telling art of one of the intended victims. Scheherazade herself does not, therefore, figure in the ballet. The title of Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite has been borrowed. Reclining upon a divan in the sybaritic apartments of his women, we see the Sultan Schariar taking his ease. His wife Zobéide is beside him, soliciting attention with caresses which he scarcely deigns to heed. The other women, of lesser estate than the Sultana, are grouped around, sedulous in the flattery of watchful eagerness to forestall their lord’s least wish. At the monarch’s other elbow sits Schah-Zeman, his brother, recipient in only lesser degree of similar ministrations. But the Sultan Schariar is in gloomy mood; his brow is clouded, and the blandishments of Zobéide elicit no response. Distraction must be sought. Obedient to a summons, the chief eunuch presents himself, profuse of service, officious of advice. Fussily he hastens to execute the commands which he receives, and in response to his signals three odalisques make graceful entry. They dance before the court, now moving swiftly in a lively measure, now posing lithe bodies and entwining arms as only long training in the arts of seduction could teach. [Illustration] [Illustration] The women of the harem look on jealously, fearing a skill that threatens rivalry with their own. But the Sultan takes little notice of the dancing figures before him, and Zobéide, watchfully intent upon his face, notes with vague premonitory fears his gloom deepening into sullenness. From clouds so heavy lightning may presently flash. Ever and anon the Sultan mutters a secret word into his brother’s ear. They whisper like conspirators. The dancing girls are presently dismissed, and Schariar rises to pace the floor in moody thought, while the women eye him anxiously askance. Schah-Zeman, too, not without some knowledge of the thoughts which occupy his brother’s mind, keeps watchful eye upon him, and is quick to answer the gesture which soon summons him. Increasing uneasiness runs through the harem, as the royal brothers confer apart, which rises to a climax as the chief eunuch is sent off upon an errand whose purport is not overheard.