Arabian Nights

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Crunch-Studio

More... more!!

More, more!!

Later... Magic is very exhausting,

and I am 542 years old.

Oh... you don't look a day over 200.

Yes, I'm still as bad as ever I was.

We'll continue after I've got my rest.

Thank you for not telling

your friend the Demon.

He's not my friend, he's my

husband. He keeps me in that box

because he's so jealous.

I saved you from him...

And now you must make love to

me, while my husband sleeps.

If you don't, I'll wake him up,

and he'll rip your head off.

Oh, not again, Sire.

Giafar, I had that dream

again. The Demon's wife,

She tried to kill me, so I killed her.

Oh - You've had it now for five years,

Ever since your late wife

tried to do the same thing.

I murdered her... It was an accident, Sire.

It was an accident!

Allah is just... you're free of her Sire.

I'll never be free of her

- she haunts me still.

Don't let her.

Don't you forget, I have to take

a wife by the next full moon,

Or the kingdom will be

given to my dear brother.

May he rot in hell!

Your father wanted you to marry...

I can't take another wife...

she'll try to kill me too...

They all will! What about...

You must. You lose the kingdom unless

you marry as quickly as possible.

I know what it means... even

the Demon was betrayed...

The dream tells me all wives are treacherous.

No, no, you just had a bad experience, Sire.

There's only one way to deal with

wives, they have to be executed.

Well, I'm sure we've all felt like that.

I will marry. There will be a

wedding and a wedding night...

But in the morning, I'll

have my wife executed.

I'll kill her before she kills me.

She can't be a princess of the blood...

her death would cause problems.

Pick me a woman from the Harem, Giafar.

Someone bright and happy, and

with no thought for the future.

And in secret... now send

for the Chief Executioner.

... He was loaded with riches and honours...

but that was not the end of the story.

After Douban was beheaded,

the King licked his fingers

And turned to the page

in the dead man's book.

He stared at the words, and

then slumped forward - dead!

The pages of the book had been poisoned

So that the King, wetting his

finger, had executed himself.

Here again, mistress. That's

the sixth time this week.

These people sit for hours just

listening -- it's a miracle.

People need stories more than bread itself

... they tell us how to live, and why.

Sorry I'm late, father.

This is my daughter, Scheherazade.

She's my strong right arm,

You may speak freely in front

of her. How is the Sultan?

The Sultan is being eaten

by the worm of madness...

It reminds me a little

of the case of Gilgamesh

The king of Urak when his

friend, the grand warrior...

Can you cure the Sultan?

No... Only Allah can do that.

How was Gilgamesh cured?

It was a young woman who did it. No

one knows how... a complete amateur.

Beginner's luck. That sort of thing

can be really, really distressing

For an experienced professional like myself.

When did Schahriar become so ill?

When I played with him

as a child in the palace

He was always so happy.

Everybody loved him.

Madness creeps in unseen

and floods the soul.

You're no help!

Patients often say that,

but what do they know.

Should I get a second opinion?

Why not?... I can come back tomorrow.

I didn't know Schahriar was this ill.

I've been trying to keep it from everybody.

You look terrible father.

Oh, it's only natural. I have to deal

with the worst kind of madman...

A madman with power!

You understand what is needed?

I know my job Sire. You wish your bride to

be executed the morning after the wedding.

Early.

There are certain procedural problems, Sire...

as I will be executing her after the wedding

It means she will be Sultaness,

Who by tradition cannot be

hung or beheaded.

Details... details!

Never fear, Sire, where there's a will,

there's a way... I can strangle her.

That's what I want.

But, I can't use hemp rope...

not on a royal throat.

Must I be crossed at every turn?!

But there's no objection to

silk!... a silk rope would fulfill

All legal requirements... rely on me, Sire.

... They haven't seen each other for years.

That's enough, girls.

The Sultan's going to kill us!

Who told you that?

My mother... she got it from

the cook who got it straight

From the Chief Executioner's

Assistant... it's a secret.

And her mother's never wrong...

I heard it from a handmaid

Who heard it from one of the guards.

He's going to marry one of us.

In the morning after the wedding he

is going to have the bride executed.

Why would he do that?

He's mad, isn't he?

And it won't stop there.

He'll gets a taste for it

And kill us all!

Don't worry, I'll talk to my father.

- Father, I must speak with you.

- What are you doing here, child?

Put some clothes on Father, it's urgent.

I blame your late lamented

mother... it's all her fault.

Please be quick, Father, or they'll say

you're meeting women in the steam room.

The women in the Harem are frightened

that it won't stop at one girl...

The Sultan may get a taste for killing them.

If Schahriar wasn't the Sultan, he'd be

locked away till the madness passed.

He was such a loving boy...

We used to climb his father's

favorite peach tree.

One day I fell and cut myself.

He bound up the wound.

Oh, what am I going to do child?

I can't go through with this.

I can't pick a poor girl from the Harem

knowing I'm condemning her to death!

I may have a way out for you, father.

I'll marry Sultan Schahriar myself.

I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me.

I'm not doing it for you, Father... I'm

not even doing it to save the girls

In the Harem...

I'm doing it for Schahriar and myself.

I love him.

No, you love the boy he

was, not the man he is.

That boy is still there in him.

You'd have to dig very,

very deep to find him...

He's changed completely!...

It's not just betrayal by his wife and

brother...absolute power has eaten his soul.

I know him... you think you

can change him, but you can't.

I don't believe that.

Scheherazade, listen to me,

listen! You are all I have.

I beg you, I beg you! Don't do this!

I can save him from

himself... I don't know how,

But I've made up my mind.

I know I can do it.

Daughter, when you walk

out onto that balcony,

You will be married and you will have

signed your own death certificate.

If you love me, please, please,

please, please don't do this.

I know what I'm doing, Father.

You don't. You have no

idea what you're doing.

Sire, your brother, Schahzenan,

wishes to offer his blessings.

May they choke him.

Think of the people. Show

them you're brothers again.

I hope you have better

luck this time, brother.

Your late wife loved me from the first.

How will we know when Sultan's ready?

He'll call...

I think pink will suit the Sultaness.

You have such good taste, Chief.

Sire, do you remember me?

From when we were children.

We played together here in the

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