The Story of King Shahryar and His Brother

Lady In the Glass Case, Robert Smirke

 

Thousand and one Nights in three Volumes, Edward Willimas Lane, John Murray, 1859, Illustrated by engravings on wood from designs by William Harben, Edited by Edward Stanley Poole

Setting the stage for the books this is the story of the circumstances leading up to Scheherazade coming to the Sultan's court.

Betrayed by their wives the two brothers make a pact to travel until they "find one who's life is worse" than theirs. During their travels, they encounter a huge Jinn who falls asleep beneath the tree they hide in. With him, he has a beautiful woman imprisoned in a glass coffin whom he kidnapped on her wedding night.The Jinn believes her to be a virgin and has plans that he shall be her only lover. However, she has secretly been seducing men while the Jinn naps, threatening to wake him. She has collected many signet rings from her lovers and relishes in the thought that the Jinn believes she is his alone. The brothers decide he is worse off than they are and decide to return home happy in this knowledge.