Storytelling: Arabian Nights- The Story of the Greek King and Physician Douban Retold

"Arabian Nights", from Good Reads

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   And so Scheherazade tells the story of the Greek King and physician Douban, in her effort to try and save the girls of her city and their families from the horrible ritual of Sultan Scharhriar: each day the Sultan would marry a new young girl from the city to be his bride, and the next day she would be beheaded at the Sultan's whim. Like clockwork.
   However, the reason for this horrific practice was because of the Sultan's original wife betraying him with a leader of another kingdom, causing him to go mad with grief.
   The girl Scheherazade, who is an enchantress when it comes to storytelling, has been chosen as the Sultan's next bride, and her sister Dinarzade has insisted that she accompany her in the Sultan's palace. Up until now, Scheherazade has been able to stay her fate by offering a story every night for the Sultan to listen to. None of these stories has a true ending, for within each story that Scheherazade tells, a character within that story tells a story of their own to a different character. For one thousand and one nights, Scheherazade has decided to continue to tell these tales to Sultan Scharhriar until she sees that his spirit has changed for the better: hopefully he could find love in her stories again. And Scheherazade felt that tonight was that night.
   Before Scheherazade began her tale, she mentioned a new idea to Sultan Scharhriar,"My Sultan, would he who is as powerful as you indulge in a subtle change to my storytelling?"
   The Sultan replied,"What would be the nature of this suggestion?" Gathering her breath, Scheherazade responded,"That you lend me your voice and your mind to help me tell the story?"
   Scharhriar nodded and motioned her to begin the story. Scheherazade's sister Dinarzade, who was present, leaned toward her sister. "But sister!" Dinarzade urgently whispered in her ear "This gives the Sultan total rule over the story! Surely he will end it and your plan would have been for nothing!"
   "No, it does not." Scheherazade confidently retorted,"In order for him to continue enjoying my stories as he has for many nights before, he must now work together with me to continue it. I want to see if his heart has truly changed." Scheherazade then turned to Scharhriar,"Now where were we?"
 
   ...There was once a Greek King who had contracted a terrible disease that none of his royal aids could alleviate. He also never seemed to muster enough happiness to smile, no matter how joyful the circumstance he might be in. However, there was a wonderful physician, who had been reported to be the best in her corner of the world. She had heard of the King's illness and...-

   "No no..." Scharhriar interjected,"'HIS corner of the globe'... I have heard of Greek Queens, but I have never met OR heard of a woman physician."
   Scheherazade conceded,"Very well, my Sultan. But then the Greek ruler must be a woman, a queen, in order for us to reach the moral of the story."  Scharhriar huffed,"Very well, very well."

   ...He had heard of the youthful, beautiful Greek Queen's illness and decided to test his expert practice. This illness was from an old wound that the Queen had...

   "...And that wound came from her late husband," the Sultan interrupted,"who betrayed her not only in body, but in spirit."
   Scheherazade nodded,"I understand, my Sultan."

   ...So the physician had concocted a remedy, simple to him, that would cure the Greek Queen of her illness. Upon arriving and gracing the Queen in her current state, the physician asked,"...So, my Queen, when was the last time you went to frolic about, or be active for the sake of sport?"
   "Years... Not since shortly after my husband left." the Queen replied.
   The physician nodded,"I see... Might we try that? Perhaps only until you have sweat from your brow?"
   The Queen agreed. So she, the physician, and some of her courtesans played polo for most part of the afternoon until the Queen's brow slightly glistened with sweat. The physician decided to check up on her,"How are you feeling, my lady?"
   "Fine, fine! I haven't had so much fun in years! And now the ache in my head and my chest is slightly lesser." the Queen exclaimed. "Wonderful!" the physician replied,"Let us try tomorrow and see if you feel any better."
   So they did. For a thousand and one days and nights, the physician and the Queen had their sessions of play and sport, exchanging words and feelings of great importance to one another. By the end of this time, the Queen's illness had left her, and she was now smiling again. One night, as the the two were out riding alone under the moonlit sky, the Queen asked,"My dear, you have cured me, when all my other resources had failed me. How?"
   The physician smiled,"The body can never fully heal if the heart and mind remain ill." Realizing the cleverness of the physician, the Queen sighed and smiled back, kissing the physician on the cheek.
   A few days later, the Queen proposed that the physician not only become her court healer, but her husband. He accepted and they were wedded, living out the rest of their years together: laughing with each other in times of good, and helping to heal each other in times of bad. Yet, they had gotten into the unusual habit of telling each other the most wonderful stories, every night before they slept...

   Scharhriar was now smiling at Scheherazade, with a warmth and fondness that he hadn't shown in many years. Dinarzade blushed and looked away. Scheherazade realized that she was now blushing as well, but retained her gaze on the Sultan. "...Would you like to know what stories the physician told the Queen?" she asked.
   "Only if I get to tell the stories that the Queen told the physician." replied Scharhriar, beaming at her."Now, where were we?"

Author's Note:
   In the source story, a Thousand and One Arabian Nights, the girl Scheherazade has decided to become the wife of the Sultan that rules the city in which she lives. This is at the risk of her life, however: due to his wife betraying him with the leader of another kingdom, the Sultan Scharhriar has become mentally ill and adopted the brutal practice of marrying a new girl every night, and killing her the next day. He does this because his wife's betrayal made him convinced that all women were deceitful, and this is the theme to his madness. So Scheherazade becomes his wife as a step in her master plan: to tell him a never-ending string of stories, so that he would have to let her live "one more night" to hear the next tale.
   I chose Scheherazade's tale of the Physician Douban and the Greek King because I thought it would be a great juxtaposition to play on: just as Scheherazade intended to heal the mind of the Sultan with her stories, the physician would heal the Greek Queen. I wanted to add another layer to the narrative that Scheherazade weaves with her stories to Sultan Scharhriar: I wanted mostly to use the story of the physican and the Greek King to lead to a climax in the interactions between the Sultan and Scheherazade. The way I wanted to portray her crafting her story to the Sultan was to make her message abundantly clear: that she wants to heal him from his grief, just like the physician does with the Queen.


Here is a link to the story (The Story of the Greek King and Physician Douban)

Bibliography:
Arabian Nights' Entertainments, by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).