EXCURSES TO THE ENCHANTED RING, THE INSTRUMENT, and THE TIMOROUS FIANCEE.
Each of the three foregoing stories is remarkable for the fact it contains the same naïve idea—the possibility of purchasing a male "implement." The idea is fairly common in folk-lore stories of virginity, but, almost always, results in a highly humorous situation. It is a crude but very effective method of depicting the ignorance, even stupidity, of a virgin girl. It also affords the story-teller an opportunity of an indirect reference to a favourite theme—the erotic tendency of women once their sexual senses are aroused.[1]
One episode of The Enchanted Ring (the remarkable qualities of the young man's penis when adorned with the ring) can hardly fail to recall "The Night of Power," (Sir Richard F. Burton's Thousand Nights and a Night), wherein the husband's organs undergo rapid and wonderful transformation. This tale is described by Sir Richard Burton as "the grossest and most brutal satire on the sex, suggesting that a woman would prefer an
- ↑ C.f. Excursus to The Tale of Kamar al-Zaman, where the subject is discussed at length.
64
