What does auther want to express in the following? explain in your own words

now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,
hath not old custom made this life more sweet
than that of painted pomp? are not these woods
more free from peril than the envious court?
here feel we but the penalty of adam,
the seasons' difference, as the icy fang
and churlish chiding of the winter's wind,
which, when it bites and blows upon my body,
even till i shrink with cold, i smile and say
'this is no flattery: these are counsellors
that feelingly persuade me what i am.'
sweet are the uses of adversity,
which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
and this our life exempt from public haunt
finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
sermons in stones and good in every thing.
i would not change it.

Life in Nature is True and Free from Vices

Explanation:

The passage is a dialog by Duke Senior in the play 'As You Like It' by William Shakespeare. Duke Senior is banished from his kingdom by his brother and he, with his friends, is now in the forest. The author shows the hardships and struggles of life amidst the natural environment. The open forest is less dangerous than the closed courts where human jealousy creates perils. In the forest, the only thing that affects the humans, as the sons of Adam, is weather, i.e. cold, heat and rain, but not the human intrigues. The differences in weather can test human patience since a human can better understand things in adversity. Nature offers melody from trees, lesson of life in the running streams and sacred sermons in stones and this world is natural, free from vices and intrigues of the courtly life.  

one thousand and one nights, also known as arabian nights is a collection of stories whose basic structure is that of embedded narrative. this technique refers to a main story which works as the common frame - or framing narrative - for the other stories, and then this series of stories which are connected to the main one. this technique can also be referred to as a story within a story. the stories stem from the original tale, some begin and end on their own, some are connected to the previous or following one, by means of questions that are answered in the subsequent tale, or characters which reappear.

b is the answer.   i sat on the lumpy sofa, totally exhausted, with a bad taste in my mouth, wondering what i should do next.