1001 Arabian Nights

"Not only an untrustworthy scoundrel but a fundamentally wicked person."

-Pope Pius XII

Everybody has either been untrustworthy, or has had experience with an untrustworthy person. Those who are untrustworthy are also usually seen as immoral people. Within the frame stories of 1001 Arabian Nights one can understand what Pope Pius XII is explaining about untrustworthiness. In this collection of works, the characters range from royalty to street magicians to mythical creatures, such as genies. One can see while reading these stories that even people with the highest authority will be untrustworthy if they can benefit from it. In 1001 Arabian Nights countless characters are depicted as untrustworthy because of their wrongful words and actions.

In "The Story of the Fisherman", the fisherman was unable to trust the genie. The genie tells the man he will become rich if he journeys to the pond hidden in the mountains, catches four different colored fish, and carries them to the sultan. The sultan brings the fish to the cook who "began to prepare [the fish] and cook them. ... he turned them over on the other [side]. Then the wall of the room opened, [and] a black slave came out" (Lang 29). The fisherman ends up being dragged back to the castle to deal with this unusual situation of the fish. He assumes he can trust the genie that he will catch good fish that would give him many riches and no problems. In the end, the genie's untrue words causes this fisherman trouble because he has to make the journey to and from the Sultan's home many times with new fish.

Also, the magician proves he is an untrustworthy man throughout the story of "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp". While Aladdin is playing in the streets one day, a stranger asks him his father's name and then "The stranger, who was a famous African magician,