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The King's Son and the She-Ghoul

 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul
type
TVTItem
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul
label
The King's Son and the She-Ghoul
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul
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TheKingsSonAndTheSheGhoul
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul
comment
"The King's Son and the She-Ghoul" is a sub-substory of "The Fisherman and the Jinni", one of the eleven core stories of the Arabian Nights. Told within "The Fisherman and the Jinni" by the fisherman to the djinni is "The King Yunan and the Sage Duban", within which the vizier tells the king the story of "The King's Son and the She-Ghoul" after the king already told the vizier one or two stories himself. As "The vizier that was punished", the sub-substory is part of Volume 1 of Antoine Galland's Les Mille et Une Nuits, which saw publication in 1704. An English translation from which in turn many other translations followed occurred in 1706 with the publication of the Grub Street The Arabian Nights' Entertainment. In Richard Francis Burton's influential 19th Century English compilation, it is included in Volume 1, published in 1887, as "The Prince and the Ogress".In the original text, the creature the prince deals with is a ghoul, but in 1704 ghouls weren't a creature familiar to Europe. For their role as eaters of humans, they were deemed analogous to ogres and translated as such. It was "The Story of Sidi Nouman" in which the ghoul was translated as "goule" and explained to Western audiences for the first time. That the so-called ogress is a "ghole" too was first acknowledged in Jonathan Scott's 1811 translation, but for about half a century thereafter it depended on the translator whether she'd be identified as an ogre or ghoul. The story's currently common title of "The King's Son and the She-Ghoul" is courtesy of the 1990 translation by Husain Haddawy.As a threefold substory, "The King's Son and the She-Ghoul" is short. Whether by narrative accident or intentional manipulation by the vizier, the motive given for telling it changes between the prompt and the wrap-up. The vizier brings the story up by stating that if he himself is untrustworthy, he is to be punished like the vizier from "The King's Son and the She-Ghoul". Once he's done telling it, he uses the unreliability of the fictional vizier as a metaphor as to why the king shouldn't trust his doctor. The king doesn't pick up on this change of tactic.There was once a prince who enjoyed hunting and on these outings was to be accompanied by the vizier to ensure his safety. One day, the vizier urges him to make game of a fleeing animal and the prince does so, but both loses track of it and of the way back home. As he wanders around, he comes across a woman who introduced herself as a princess from India. She was out horse-riding when she fell asleep and off her horse, becoming just as lost as the prince before her. Taking pity, he helps her up on his horse so that they can both search for a way home. At some ruins, the princess asks for a moment to relieve herself. When she's out of sight, the prince goes after her and discovers that he's been deceived: she is not an Indian princess, but a ghoul with multiple children to whom she announces that she's brought a fat boy for dinner. The prince returns to his horse and when the ghoul comes back outside, she notices he's upset and asks him about it. The prince answers he's being deceived without accusing the ghoul directly, prompting her to reply that he should ask Allah for protection. Taking the advice, the prince asks for protection from his enemies, which makes the ghoul back off. The prince leaves and finds his way home eventually. He relays his peril to his father and blames the vizier for it all. The king has the vizier executed.For nearly two centuries "The King's Son and the She-Ghoul" was of little fame among the other stories in Arabian Nights. This changed when Edward Lucas White used it as the basis of "Amina" and "The Ghoula", the former being particularly noteworthy as the starting point of the Lovecraftian take on ghouls.
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul
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2023-09-30T17:31:30Z
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul
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2023-09-30T17:31:30Z
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DBTropes
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_1bbb76bc
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Abandoned Area
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_1bbb76bc
comment
Abandoned Area: The ghoul and her children have taken up residence in some unspecified ruins in an area abandoned by human civilization. It allows them to hunt for lone travelers without much risk for retaliation.
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_1bbb76bc
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 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_30de7a51
type
Chivalrous Pervert
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_30de7a51
comment
Chivalrous Pervert: The prince, upon meeting a princess lost like he is but without mount, offers her a seat on his horse so that they can both look for the way back to civilization with no ulterior motives. But as they pass some ruins, the princess requests a break so she can go relieve herself there. Once she's out of sight, the prince sneaks after her, ostensibly to watch her in the act.
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 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_50b05d30
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Disproportionate Retribution
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_50b05d30
comment
Disproportionate Retribution: The vizier is put to death for having encouraged the prince to go after an animal during the hunt and losing track of him thereafter when he was supposed to ensure his safety. He was not the one who threatened the prince's life, couldn't have known about the ghoul, and is not described as or accused of having purposely sent off the prince. He failed to do his job due to circumstances, for which execution seems quite radical.
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 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_567e7c4d
type
Wounded Gazelle Gambit
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_567e7c4d
comment
Wounded Gazelle Gambit: The ghoul pretends to be a princess from India who went out on a horse ride and fell off her horse when fatigue overcame her. A frail woman used to the finer lost horribly lost without a mount to make travel easier is sure to garner sympathy from any potential meal, like the prince.
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 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_8fcb5843
type
The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_8fcb5843
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The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: The prince gets lost during a hunt after going after an intended prey that manages to outrun him. As he wanders around, he meets a woman who is a ghoul and who decides to make him her prey by means of trickery. Like his own prey, though, he manages to escape.
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 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_acf33d00
type
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_acf33d00
comment
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The ghoul returns to the prince to lure him to the ruins to eat him, but he's already eavesdropped on her and her children discussing having him as their meal. Visibly terrified, the ghoul asks him what is bothering him and he tells her he has an enemy through no fault of his own. As the ghoul is not accused directly, she tells him that he should ask Allah for protection from this fiend's designs. He follows her advice, uttering an invocation that protects him from the ghoul. Knowing the prince is out of her reach, she gives up and returns to the ruins alone.
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 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_d2d520f4
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Our Ghouls Are Creepier
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_d2d520f4
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Our Ghouls Are Creepier: There are at minimum three ghouls: a mother and several children of hers. The mother is implied to either look like an attractive young woman or have the ability to take that form, which she uses to gain people's trust and lure them to her home in some old ruins for her and her children to feast on.
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 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_d6f544aa
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Struggling Single Mother
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_d6f544aa
comment
Struggling Single Mother: The ghoul lives in some old ruins with her children and no mention of any father being part of the household. She has to leave the children alone whenever she sets out to hunt and in the story wastes a lot of time and energy on a prey she fails to claim.
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 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_dbbaed55
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Monster Is a Mommy
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_dbbaed55
comment
Monster Is a Mommy: The prince meets a woman who convincingly looks and plays the part of a princess from India. In truth, she is a ghoul intending to eat him. But not alone. She has at least two children to whom she intends though fails to feed the prince.
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_dbbaed55
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 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_f3d5d15f
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Creepy Child
 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul / int_f3d5d15f
comment
Creepy Child: The ghouls waiting in the ruins for their mother to bring them food are mere children, but human-eaters still and eager to set their teeth in a healthy fat specimen.
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The King's Son and the She-Ghoul

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 The King's Son and the She-Ghoul
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Our Ghouls Are Creepier / int_1bab4f69