NIGHT 2
At midnight the next night, Dinarzad called, “Sister, wake and continue that tale.” Scheherazade was awake, of course. She turned to the king, who stirred beside her. “May I?” The king assented. Scheherazade began fast, before this all-powerful man could change his mind.
he jinni stood his ground, while the merchant sobbed. The first sheikh, the one with the gazelle, kissed the jinni’s feet. “King of jinn-kings,” he said, “I have a tale. If you find it more fabulous than what happened between you and the merchant, will you grant me one-third of your right to the merchant’s life?”
The jinni agreed.
The first sheikh told this tale.
THIS GAZELLE IS MY WIFE. I LOVED HER BUT SHE BORE NO CHILDREN. So I took a second wife, who bore a son. My first wife grew jealous.
One day I left on a yearlong journey. During that time, my first wife learned magic. She turned my second wife into a cow and my son into a bull. When I returned, my first wife said my second wife had died and my son had run off. Bereft, I beat my chest.
When the Great Feast of the Immolation came, I asked my animal tender to bring me a cow for sacrifice. The chosen cow mooed piteously, as though she understood she was to die. She was my second wife—but I knew nothing. Still, her eyes pleaded. So I asked for a different cow. But my first wife insisted on butchering that cow.
The cow’s insides were nothing but bones and nerves. No flesh, no fat. What a waste to have butchered her! I told my animal tender to fetch a fat young bull now. The bull rubbed his head against my chest and lowed sweetly. Little did I know he was my son. Still, my insides panged. “Pick a different bull,” I told the animal tender. But my first wife said, “Butcher this one!” So I gripped the knife. After all, my first wife was all I had.
But the bull cried like a child. I dropped the knife, and held up a finger to my first wife, lest she protest. “Next year, I’ll sacrifice this one.”
Later the animal tender whispered to me. His daughter knew magic. She had recognized the bull as my son! In an instant, she guessed the evil my first wife had done.
I offered the girl riches to free my son from the spell. She wanted nothing but to marry him. She sprinkled magic water on him. His body shook hard until there stood my son, strong again!
Then she turned my first wife into this gazelle because a gazelle is beautiful, and we needed to watch her. It is better to look on the beautiful than the ugly.
The first sheikh pet the gazelle gently, for love doesn’t disappear even when we wish it would. “Is my tale not fabulous?”
The jinni rubbed the tip of his nose and nodded. “I grant you one-third of my right to this merchant’s life.” The second sheikh, the one with two black dogs, stood. “I too have a tale. If it is even more fabulous, will you grant me one-third of your right to the merchant’s life?”
The jinni agreed.
A shaft of light entered the room. Scheherazade marveled at how day exposed the secrets of the dark. All her life she’d seen dawn come, but only now did she realize this moment—ruled by this first shaft of light—was a revelation. A gem of truth. She feared and loved it, but fear had the lead. “This tale amazes me,” said Dinarzad.
“It will amaze more in the coming night, if the king will allow.” “I will,” said Shah Rayar, for his curiosity was piqued. There was not enough air in this room to fill Scheherazade’s lungs. She rushed to the window and pushed the shutters wide. 
Animal Sacrifices
Ceremonies in which animals are sacrificed are common to many religions throughout history and around the globe. Sometimes the sacrifices are meant to appease an angry god; other times they are meant to show gratitude. The feast talked about here is a celebration of the end of the pilgrimage season when pilgrims and other Muslims sacrifice animals to affirm their obedience to and love of God. The meat of the sacrificed animals is eaten by family and friends and given to the poor.
In a fit of jealousy, the first sheikh’s first wife turned his son and second wife into cattle. A magician rescued the son from his enchantment and turned the first wife into a gazelle.