Boundaries! More than a mental health buzzword. How do we deal with the culture and conflict to sacrifice self? We know no one owes the world all their time, energy and attention but when do we choose to build a boundary? And when do we choose to move its borders? Is it possible to create boundaries and yet maintain healthy relationships?

Welcome to The Arabian Nights Entertainments! This is the fourth of 16 parts that make up Andrew Lang’s The Arabian Nights Entertainments. In this series, you’ll hear some familiar stories, some new stories, and even stories within stories. Today we will hear the rest of the Second Dervish’s Story, including a story he told; we will also hear the Story of the Third Dervish, and the mistakes he made.

In our last episode, a group of wartime travelers attempts to escape the Prussian-occupied city of Rouen. They includea prostitute named Boule de Suif and are being held hostage at an inn by a Prussian officer who refuses to let them leave the town of Totes, where they are marooned after a snowstorm.

“Boule de Suif,” translated variously as "Dumpling," "Butterball," "Ball of Fat," "Tallow Ball," or "Ball of Lard," is a famous short story by the late 19th-century French writer Guy de Maupassant, first published in 1880.