The first volume of the classic collection of Middle Eastern stories, including “Tale of the Three Apples” and “Tale of the Trader and the Jinni.” To be chosen by King Shahriyar as a wife was a death sentence. After a single night of marriage, he executed each of his wives. So when Scheherazade was picked, she knew her time on Earth had reached its end—unless she could hold the king’s interest. To that end, each night she spun a new enchanting, erotic, mesmerizing tale, always keeping the king guessing as to its conclusion—and sparing her life for another thousand and one nights. The first volume of this collection, translated by the renowned British explorer Sir Richard Burton, begins the stories that Scheherazade told . . .