After discovering his new bride has been unfaithful, the vengeful King Shahriyar has her executed and begins sleeping with a different virgin every night, executing her the next morning. Eventually, no more virgins can be found, so the vizier's daughter volunteers herself. To spare her own life, she captures his attention with wild stories of adventure and chivalry--tales of mystical lands, the many voyages of Sindbad, of Ali Baba's forty thieves and of Aladdin's magical lamp. As one story leads into the next, the king is too enthralled to end her life.