The Sultan and Scheherazade (一千零一夜)

The Sultan and Scheherazade
一千零一夜
There was once a wise and powerful Sultan, who rose to power by conquering all the great empires of his time. He was a good man and his kingdom prospered.
从前，有一个英明善战的苏丹[注：某些伊斯兰国家统治者的称号]。他征服了当时所有伟大的王国，权倾天下。他为人很好，治下的王国也蒸蒸日上。
The Sultan loved and adored no one else, but this one woman. However, this woman did not return his love, nevertheless, because she wanted wealth and power, she eventually married him.
苏丹只痴情地爱着一个女人，但她心里却没有他。然而，由于贪恋着他的财富和权势，她最终还是嫁给了他。
Every day, the Sultan would lavish his love and attention on her, but she was cold to him, cruel and heartless. He tried pleasing her in all manners possible, but nothing truly moved her heart to him.
每一天，苏丹都毫无保留向她倾注自己所有的爱意。但她回应的，却是冷淡无情和残酷无理。他倾其所有，尽一切可能去取悦她，却从未得到她的真心。
One day, as the Sultan returned to his palace, he caught her cheating on him with another man. With the last will of his broken heart, he sent her to the dungeons.
有一天，苏丹回到皇宫，撞上她和另一个男人在一起。此时，他的心彻底伤透了，但念及一丝往日情面，他把她打入了地牢。
A few months passed, and the Sultan’s mood grew darker and darker. “Surely all women are just cheats and traitors!”, he thought to himself, “Never could they love a man, but only use him for their own sake.”
几个月过去了，苏丹的心情一天天变得阴暗。“女人，可不都是骗子嘛，叛徒！”，他心想，“她们不会去爱男人，只会为了自己的目的利用他。”
In his agony and pain, he decreed, that for each and every new day, a new wife was to be brought to him. “This time,” he thought to himself, “I will see through their wickedness and cruelty.” And so, after only a single night spent with each new wife, the Sultan would send her to the dungeons the very next morning.
他备受折磨，痛苦不堪，最后下令：他每天都要迎娶一个新的妻子。“这一次，”他心想，“我要看穿他们的邪恶和残忍。”就这样，每一位新的妻子都会在陪他过完一夜之后，第二天早上就会被送到地牢去。
Months turned into years as rumors of the Sultan’s actions drove all the women away from his palace. Those who were unwillingly chosen to be his next “bride” cried in despair as they waited for their impending doom.
人们听说苏丹把所有的女人都赶出了宫殿，就这样过了一个月又一个月，一年又一年。那些被迫选为他的下一任“新娘”的女人，只能在绝望中哭泣着等待即将到来的厄运。
Near the palace, lived Scheherazade, the brave and beautiful young daughter of the Sultan’s Vizier. For years she had surrounded herself with books, and spent her nights reading numerous ancient stories and reciting classical poems.
在王宫的附近，住着一位勇敢漂亮的姑娘，名叫谢赫拉莎德，她是苏丹大臣的女儿。多年来她遍读经典，每日挑灯夜读，阅读古代故事，背诵经典名诗。
Against her father’s wishes, she boldly volunteered to marry the Sultan.
胆识过人的她没有遵从父亲的意愿，自告奋勇地嫁给了苏丹。
On her first night with the Sultan when the moon was beaming solemnly through the window, and the Sultan was lying tired on his bed, Scheherazade suddenly asked him if she might tell him a story. The Sultan, fatigued and uninterested, allowed her to do so.
嫁给苏丹的第一个晚上，肃穆的月光透过窗户照进了屋里，苏丹疲惫地躺在床上，谢赫拉莎德突然问到是否可以给他讲一个故事。苏丹显得精疲力尽，兴趣索然，但还是默许了。
Cautiously, but lovingly, Scheherazade began her tale describing the various backgrounds vividly and brilliantly, filling each character in the story with soul and complexity, and altering her voice and tone to match each instance and situation.
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