Inspiration Relay
The last forty chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber are lost. Qing-dynasty readers wrote dozens of sequels, each unconvinced by the others. Now it's your turn — take the baton and write your version. Every continuation stays here, growing into one tree.
This week's relay
Middle Eastern · Rumi · Persia
Rumi's reed flute sings of separation: 'Listen to the reed, how it tells a tale, complaining of separations.' The Masnavi is 25,000 verses of longing for...
Middle Eastern · Ferdowsi, Shahnameh · Persia · epic
Continue the Shahnameh: Rostam after Sohrab
Rostam, the greatest hero of the Shahnameh, unknowingly kills his own son Sohrab — Persian literature's most...
Middle Eastern · Kalila and Dimna · folk tradition · fables
Continue Kalila and Dimna: one more retelling
Kalila and Dimna — the jackals, the lion, the endless stratagems. These fables traveled from India to Persia to...
Middle Eastern · One Thousand and One Nights · folk tradition · folk tales
Continue the 1001 Nights: night 1002
One thousand and one nights. Scheherazade has survived — the king's heart is changed, the killing is over. On night...