Classics Retold

Ja'far continued his story to the Caliph Harun al Rashid. Badr al-Din Hasan sat on a bench next to the hunchbacked.  Attendants came to the bride to get her dressed. They combed her hair, anointing musk on the comb, braided her hair, perfumed her with the incense of cardomom and ambergris, deked her with robes of jewellery worthy of Persian kings. She paraded in a robe embroidered in gold in figures of birds and beasts, with eyes and bills of precious stones;  necklace with dazzling gems. The attendants led the way with lighted camphor and candles. And she moved like a full moon, accompanied by singing women, tambourine in their hands. The bride, swaying gracefully passed the hunchbacked, who rose to receive her. But she moved forward and stopped in front of Badr al-Din Hasan. Silence followed a moment. Badr al-Din Hasan rose, began to move towards her, and the tambourines hit the hands of singing women, the jingles jingled, it was full of sound, it was full of voice. Badr al-...

The narrator of the Frame story is Shahrazad, the queen of Indian King Shahriar. The present story within the frame is told by Ja'far the vizier of the Caliph Harun al Rashid to the latter. The scene is the city state of Cairo. The vizier of the king of Cairo was Shams al Din Muhammad. He had a daughter of In her twenties. The king wanted her in marriage. The king summoned the vizier and exposed his wish. The vizier said that his daughter was destined to nuptial knot with her cousin Badr al-Din Hasan al Basri.  The king was angry, and decided to marry her to the meanest man in Cairo, a hunchbacked. A demon and a she-demon interfere in the event, on the day of the marriage. They carried him from Basra and set him in the pavilion erected for the matrimonial function. He mixed himself with the singers and candle bearers. Continue to read the story: Badr al-Din Hasan walked in the procession, and whenever the singing women paused the song to collect money from the people, he put his ha...

With no greater events in the Longbourn family, January and February passed away.  March was to take Elizabeth to Hunsford.  She had not at first thought seriously of going there.  But Charlotte was depending on the plan, and she gradually considered it herself with greater pleasure and great certainty.  Absence had increased her desire for seeing Charlotte again, and weakened her disgust of Mr Collins.  There was novelty in the scheme, and a little change was not unwelcome for its own sake.  The journey would moreover give a peep at Jane, and as the time drew nearer she was thrilled.  Everything was settled according to Charlotte's plan.  She was to accompany sir William and his second daughter. The improvement of spending a night in London was added, and the plan became perfect as plan could be. The only pain was, leaving her father, who little liked her going. The farewell between herself and Mr Wickham was rather friendly.  Elizabeth had ...

Karl Marx was not aware of Demand and Supply Theory as developed by Alfred Marshall, mainly because of chronological gap between their lives. Karl Marx lived from 1818 to 1883. Alfred Marshall published his  Principles of Economics in 1890, seven years after the death of Karl Marx. Marginal utility theory came around 1870. Marginal Utility Theory before Alfred Marshall: 1. William Stanley Jevon (1835 to 1882) There are three books to his credit: a) A General Mathematical Theory of Political Economy 1862 b) The Coal Question 1865 c) The Theory of Political Economy 1871. Above publications showcase on marginal utility theory and its application to economics. It is unlikely that Marx was aware of these publications, and the Theory of Political Economy was published towards the end of Marx's life. 2. Carl Menger was an Austrian economist and the founder of Austrian School of Economics. Marginal theory of value developed by him laid the groundwork for modern microeconomics. His book Pri...

These stories were popularised by ancient and mediaeval story tellers who entertained crowds in markets. Markets were a common meeting place. Shahrazad the queen of Indian King Shahriar uses these stories to lead the king to the world of reason and logic.  Here, the story is told by Ja'far, the vizier of the Caliph Harun al Rashid to the latter.  Two demons, demon and she demon saw Badr al-Din Hasan in deep sleep in a cemetery. She demon found that the youth resembled exactly the daughter of Shams al Din Muhammad, the vizier of Egypt. The daughter of the vizier attained twenty. The king of Egypt was attracted by her beauty. He summoned his vizier Shams al Din Muhammad and asked him to give his daughter to him in marriage. The vizier said he had decided to give her to Badr al-Din Hasan, the son of Nur al Din Ali. The king was angry. Continue to read the rest: The king said, "Damn you, you put me off with lame excuse." The king had a plan to take revenge on the vizier. He d...

Stories by the vizier, Ja'far, of the Caliph Harun al Rashid continue. These stories are the inner layers of the stories told by Shahrazad the queen of Indian King Shahriar to lead him to the path of reason. At the previous night, we saw Badr al-Din Hasan sleeping at the cemetery and a demon visiting him. The demon looked at Badr al-Din Hasan al Basri, marveled at his beauty and said to himself, "This can be none other than one of the children of paradise, whom God has created to tempt all mortals." He looked upon him for a long time; then he flew up in the air, rising until he was between the heaven and the earth where he ran into a flying she- demon. He asked her, "Who are you?" She replied, "I am a she-demon." He greeted her and asked, "She-demon, will you come with me to my cemetery, to see what the Almighty God has created among men?" She replied, "Very well." They flew down to the cemetery, and as they stood there, the demon a...

Mrs Gardiner's caution to Elizabeth was punctually and kindly given on the first favourable opportunity of speaking to her alone; after honestly telling her what she thought, she went on: "You are too sensible a girl, Lizzy, to fall in love merely because you are warned against it; and, therefore, I am not afraid of speaking openly.  Seriously, I would have you be on your guard.  Do not involve yourself or endeavour to involve in an affection which the want of fortune would make so very imprudent.  I have nothing to say against him; he is a most interesting young man; and if he had the fortune he ought to have, I should not think you could not do better.  But as it is, you must not let your fancy run away with you.  You have sense, and we all expect you to use it.  Your father would depend on your resolution and good conduct, I am sure.  You must not disappoint your father." "My dear aunt, this is being serious indeed." "Yes, and I hope to engage you t...