Characters
Dunyazad, the Sister Who Asked for Stories
- Also spelled
- Dinazad, Dunyazade
- Family
- Scheherazade (sister), the vizier (father)
- Known for
- asking for a story every night
- First appears
- the opening story
Dunyazad is the younger sister of Scheherazade and the second daughter of the king's vizier.
She has a small but very important job. Late each night, in King Shahryar's palace, she says: "Sister, if you are not sleepy, please tell us a story." That question lets Scheherazade start a new tale without the king asking first. When dawn comes and the story stops, Dunyazad says how wonderful it was, and the king wants to hear more.
Some old writers spell her name Dinazad. A tenth-century writer, al-Mas'udi, already mentions the two sisters as Shirazad and Dinazad.
Appears in
The beginning · King Shahryar and ScheherazadeThe Brave Storyteller: How Scheherazade Began the Thousand and One NightsWhy did Scheherazade tell the king a new story every night? A gentle retelling of how the Arabian Nights begin, for children aged 6 to 12.
Night 1 · The Merchant and the JinniThe Merchant Who Kept His PromiseA merchant throws away a date stone and a furious jinni appears. Night 1 of the Arabian Nights, retold for children aged 6 to 12, with comic panels.
See also
Scheherazade
The Vizier
King ShahryarFrom the book
- Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume 1 (1885).
- One Thousand and One Nights, Wikipedia, for al-Mas'udi's mention.
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