Seductor

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AdulteryFailed/rejected seductionDeceptionDeceitful loverJealous husbandChastityFood and drinkBody fluidsFalse evidence of unchastity/criminalityJudgementEvidenceRevengeJealousySemenWoman tricked/coerced into sexMisinterpretationViolent punishmentBeating

The Rake's Trick against the Chaste Wife

A man falls in love with a chaste married woman who will not return his affections. He beings an affair with her servant instead, who eventually falls so in love with him that she will do anything he asks, including letting him into the house when the master and his wife are away. The man sneaks into the bedchamber and spreads egg whites on the bedsheets. When the couple return home, the man sees the egg whites and assumes it is semen, and flies into a murderous rage, and beats his wife. He is ready to kill her when the neighbours hear her screams and intervene. The wife pleads her innocence and explains the problem, and one of the neighbours examines the sheets. Then, he asks for a frying pan, puts the whites into the pan, and frieds and eats them, sharing them with all who are there to prove they are only eggs. The couple are reconciled.

From: 1001 Nights

[Added by Jane Bonsall]

Critical Literature
Nishimura (2001), Marzolph and van Leeuwen (2004), Chauvin (1892-1922)

Seductor appears in the following versions and secondary versions
Version Original Language Branch of Tradition Adapted from Arabic Version A1001 (Thousand and One Nights) Arabic Book of Sindbad

Seductor is narrated in the following occurrences
Narrator Pages Empress Arabic Version A1001 (Thousand and One Nights)

Seductor appears in the following manuscripts
This inset story appears in no manuscripts of the database