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The Story of the Blind Baba-Abdalla

From The Arabian Nights Entertainments, collected by Andrew Lang

This tale comes from The Arabian Nights, the vast cycle of Middle Eastern stories framed by Scheherazade's nightly storytelling, and was collected by Andrew Lang in the nineteenth century. It is a moral parable in the tradition of wisdom literature: a merchant's greed destroys him, step by step, even as he is warned at every turn. The story examines the psychology of avarice — how desire escalates, how possession never satisfies, and how a man can lose everything by grasping for more than his share. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The tale is worth a senior reader's time because it dramatises a timeless human failing with clear-eyed honesty and allows the reader to watch, in real time, a man choose his own ruin.

Band

Red · Complex language and analysisTypical starting range: ages 15–17

Length

long · about 1358 words in 5 sections · 2 pictures

Source

The Arabian Nights Entertainments, Andrew Lang

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (11 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

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