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The Story of Gulnare of the Sea

From The Arabian Nights, retold by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith

This tale is drawn from The Arabian Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories compiled over many centuries. The version here was retold by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith and published in the early twentieth century, with illustrations by Maxfield Parrish. The story belongs to the frame-tale tradition, in which stories are nested within stories, and reflects the fascination of the Arabian Nights corpus with the boundary between the human and the magical, the land and the sea. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The tale is worth reading for its exploration of trust, patience, and the meeting of worlds—and for the way it examines the reciprocal duties of honour and generosity that bind families and kingdoms across realms.

Band

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

Length

long · about 1275 words in 4 sections · 2 pictures

Source

The Arabian Nights: Their Best-known Tales, Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin, Nora Archibald Smith and Maxfield Parrish

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 (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

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