The methods of beginning and ending storyin Thousand and one night

“Thousand and one night” –with 251 narratives- is the best example of distinct storytelling in Indian and Iranian cultures. Perhaps, it is the most voluminous story collection which has so far attracted researchers and theorist of narratology. Narratology is a dynamic branch of literary theory. Its final goal is discovering universal pattern of narrative. Narrative is a closed chain of events with both an ending as well as a beginning. Beginning and ending methods of story telling are so important in narrative configuration. Many narratologists describe beginning of stories as a firm primary state. It goes to an imbalanced situation because of one or other forces. At the end, the story comes to a balanced position through the action of a reverse power. In spite of 91 tales which do not have a story structure, approximately all “thousand and one night” tales have this pattern of beginning and ending. Only three tales begin in imbalance, however even these stories finish in a balanced state. A statement like “they said that” is the opening sentence of most of these tales. This statement not only puts the intertexual and extratexual readers at the same level of consciousness-regarding the narrating or regenerating of the story- as the writer, but it also refers to such a kind of timelessness which is the hallmark of such tales. Ending statements of numerous tales have the same function as the opening sentence, as well.