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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1, by Richard F. Burton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1
+
+Author: Richard F. Burton
+
+Release Date: March 20, 2001 [eBook #3435]
+[Most recently updated: January 8, 2021]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: J.C. Byers. Proofreaders were: J.C. Byers, Norm Wolcott, Dianne Doefler and Charles Wilson
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS ***
+
+
+
+
+THE BOOK OF THE
+THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT
+
+A Plain and Literal Translation
+of the Arabian Nights Entertainments
+
+Translated and Annotated by
+ Richard F. Burton 
+
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE
+
+
+Inscribed to the Memory
+of
+My Lamented Friend
+John Frederick Steinhaeuser,
+(Civil Surgeon, Aden)
+who
+A Quarter of a Century Ago
+Assisted Me in this Translation.
+
+
+“TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE”
+(Puris omnia pura)
+
+—_Arab Proverb._
+
+“Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole.”
+
+—“_Decameron_”—_conclusion_.
+
+“Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum
+Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget.”
+
+—MARTIAL.
+
+“Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,
+Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes.”
+
+—RABELAIS.
+
+“The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand-and-One Stories
+makes us regret that we possess only a comparatively small part of
+these truly enchanting fictions.”
+
+—CRICHTON’S “_History of Arabia_.”
+
+
+Contents of the First Volume
+
+ Introduction
+ Story Of King Shahryar and His Brother
+ a. Tale of the Bull and the Ass
+ 1. Tale of the Trader and the Jinni
+ a. The First Shaykh’s Story
+ b. The Second Shaykh’s Story
+ c. The Third Shaykh’s Story
+ 2. The Fisherman and the Jinni
+ a. Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban
+ ab. Story of King Sindibad and His Falcon
+ ac. Tale of the Husband and the Parrot
+ ad. Tale of the Prince and the Ogress
+ b. Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince
+ 3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad
+ a. The First Kalandar’s Tale
+ b. The Second Kalandar’s Tale
+ ba. Tale of the Envier and the Envied
+ c. The Third Kalandar’s Tale
+ d. The Eldest Lady’s Tale
+ e. Tale of the Portress
+ Conclusion of the Story of the Porter and the Three Ladies
+ 4. Tale of the Three Apples
+ 5. Tale of Nur Al-din Ali and his Son
+ 6. The Hunchback’s Tale
+ a. The Nazarene Broker’s Story
+ b. The Reeve’s Tale
+ c. Tale of the Jewish Doctor
+ d. Tale of the Tailor
+ e. The Barber’s Tale of Himself
+ ea. The Barber’s Tale of his First Brother
+ eb. The Barber’s Tale of his Second Brother
+ ec. The Barber’s Tale of his Third Brother
+ ed. The Barber’s Tale of his Fourth Brother
+ ee. The Barber’s Tale of his Fifth Brother
+ ef. The Barber’s Tale of his Sixth Brother
+ The End of the Tailor’s Tale
+
+
+
+
+The Translator’s Foreword.
+
+
+This work, labourious as it may appear, has been to me a labour of
+love, an unfailing source of solace and satisfaction. During my long
+years of official banishment to the luxuriant and deadly deserts of
+Western Africa, and to the dull and dreary half clearings of South
+America, it proved itself a charm, a talisman against ennui and
+despondency. Impossible even to open the pages without a vision
+starting into view; with out drawing a picture from the pinacothek of
+the brain; without reviving a host of memories and reminiscences which
+are not the common property of travellers, however widely they may have
+travelled. From my dull and commonplace and "respectable" surroundings,
+the Jinn bore me at once to the land of my pre-dilection, Arabia, a
+region so familiar to my mind that even at first sight, it seemed a
+reminiscence of some by gone metem-psychic life in the distant Past.
+Again I stood under the diaphanous skies, in air glorious as aether,
+whose every breath raises men's spirits like sparkling wine. Once more
+I saw the evening star hanging like a solitaire from the pure front of
+the western firmament; and the after glow transfiguring and
+transforming, as by magic, the homely and rugged features of the scene
+into a fairy land lit with a light which never shines on other soils or
+seas. Then would appear the woollen tents, low and black, of the true
+Badawin, mere dots in the boundless waste of lion tawny clays and
+gazelle brown gravels, and the camp fire dotting like a glow worm the
+village centre. Presently, sweetened by distance, would be heard the
+wild weird song of lads and lasses, driving or rather pelting, through
+the gloaming their sheep and goats; and the measured chant of the
+spearsmen gravely stalking behind their charge, the camels; mingled
+with bleating of the flocks and the bellowing of the humpy herds; while
+the reremouse flitted overhead with his tiny shriek, and the rave of
+the jackal resounded through deepening glooms, and—most musical of
+music—the palm trees answered the whispers of the night breeze with the
+softest tones of falling water.
+
+And then a shift of scene. The Shaykhs and "white beards" of the tribe
+gravely take their places, sitting with outspread skirts like hillocks
+on the plain, as the Arabs say, around the camp fire, whilst I reward
+their hospitality and secure its continuance by reading or reciting a
+few pages of their favourite tales. The women and children stand
+motionless as silhouettes outside the ring; and all are breathless with
+attention; they seem to drink in the words with eyes and mouths as well
+as with ears. The most fantastic flights of fancy, the wildest
+improbabilities, the most impossible of impossibilities, appear to them
+utterly natural, mere matters of every day occurrence. They enter
+thoroughly into each phase of feeling touched upon by the author: they
+take a personal pride in the chivalrous nature and knightly prowess of
+Taj al-Mulúk; they are touched with tenderness by the self sacrificing
+love of Azízah; their mouths water as they hear of heaps of untold gold
+given away in largesse like clay; they chuckle with delight every time
+a Kázi or a Fakír—a judge or a reverend—is scurvily entreated by some
+Pantagruelist of the Wilderness; and, despite their normal solemnity
+and impassibility, all roar with laughter, sometimes rolling upon the
+ground till the reader's gravity is sorely tried, at the tales of the
+garrulous Barber and of Ali and the Kurdish Sharper. To this
+magnetising mood the sole exception is when a Badawi of superior
+accomplishments, who sometimes says his prayers, ejaculates a startling
+"Astagh-faru'llah"—I pray Allah's pardon!—for listening, not to
+Carlyle's "downright lies," but to light mention of the sex whose name
+is never heard amongst the nobility of the Desert.
+
+Nor was it only in Arabia that the immortal Nights did me such notable
+service: I found the wildlings of Somali land equally amenable to its
+discipline; no one was deaf to the charm and the two women cooks of my
+caravan, on its way to Harar, were in continently dubbed by my men
+"Shahrazad" and "Dinazad."
+
+It may be permitted me also to note that this translation is a natural
+outcome of my Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah. Arriving at Aden in
+the (so called) winter of 1852, I put up with my old and dear friend,
+Steinhaeuser, to whose memory this volume is inscribed; and, when
+talking over Arabia and the Arabs, we at once came to the same
+conclusion that, while the name of this wondrous treasury of Moslem
+folk lore is familiar to almost every English child, no general reader
+is aware of the valuables it contains, nor indeed will the door open to
+any but Arabists. Before parting we agreed to "collaborate" and produce
+a full, complete, unvarnished, uncastrated copy of the great original,
+my friend taking the prose and I the metrical part; and we corresponded
+upon the subject for years. But whilst I was in the Brazil,
+Steinhaeuser died suddenly of apoplexy at Berne in Switzerland and,
+after the fashion of Anglo India, his valuable MSS. left at Aden were
+dispersed, and very little of his labours came into my hands.
+
+Thus I was left alone to my work, which progressed fitfully amid a host
+of obstructions. At length, in the spring of 1879, the tedious process
+of copying began and the book commenced to take finished form. But,
+during the winter of 1881-82, I saw in the literary journals a notice
+of a new version by Mr. John Payne, well known to scholars for his
+prowess in English verse, especially for his translation of "The Poems
+of Master Francis Villon, of Paris." Being then engaged on an
+expedition to the Gold Coast (for gold), which seemed likely to cover
+some months, I wrote to the "Athenæum" (Nov. 13, 1881) and to Mr.
+Payne, who was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same
+work, and freely offered him precedence and possession of the field
+till no longer wanted. He accepted my offer as frankly, and his
+priority entailed another delay lasting till the spring of 1885. These
+details will partly account for the lateness of my appearing, but there
+is yet another cause. Professional ambition suggested that literary
+labours, unpopular with the vulgar and the half educated, are not
+likely to help a man up the ladder of promotion. But common sense
+presently suggested to me that, professionally speaking, I was not a
+success, and, at the same time, that I had no cause to be ashamed of my
+failure. In our day, when we live under a despotism of the lower
+"middle class" Philister who can pardon anything but superiority, the
+prizes of competitive services are monopolized by certain "pets" of the
+_Médiocratie_, and prime favourites of that jealous and potent
+majority—the Mediocrities who know "no nonsense about merit." It is
+hard for an outsider to realise how perfect is the monopoly of common
+place, and to comprehend how fatal a stumbling stone that man sets in
+the way of his own advancement who dares to think for himself, or who
+knows more or who does more than the mob of gentlemen-employés who know
+very little and who do even less.
+
+Yet, however behindhand I may be, there is still ample room and verge
+for an English version of the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments."
+
+Our century of translations, popular and vernacular, from (Professor
+Antoine) Galland's delightful abbreviation and adaptation (A.D. 1704),
+in no wise represent the eastern original. The best and latest, the
+Rev. Mr. Foster's, which is diffuse and verbose, and Mr. G. Moir
+Bussey's, which is a re-correction, abound in gallicisms of style and
+idiom; and one and all degrade a chef d'oeuvre of the highest
+anthropological and ethnographical interest and importance to a mere
+fairy book, a nice present for little boys.
+
+After nearly a century had elapsed, Dr. Jonathan Scott (LL.D.
+H.E.I.C.'s S., Persian Secretary to the G. G. Bengal; Oriental
+Professor, etc., etc.), printed his "Tales, Anecdotes, and Letters,
+translated from the Arabic and Persian," (Cadell and Davies, London,
+A.D. 1800); and followed in 1811 with an edition of "The Arabian
+Nights' Entertainments" from the MS. of Edward Wortley Montague (in 6
+vols., small 8vo, London: Longmans, etc.). This work he (and he only)
+describes as "Carefully revised and occasionally corrected from the
+Arabic." The reading public did not wholly reject it, sundry texts were
+founded upon the Scott version and it has been imperfectly reprinted (4
+vole., 8vo, Nimmo and Bain, London, 1883). But most men, little recking
+what a small portion of the original they were reading, satisfied
+themselves with the Anglo French epitome and metaphrase. At length in
+1838, Mr. Henry Torrens, B.A., Irishman, lawyer ("of the Inner Temple")
+and Bengal Civilian, took a step in the right direction; and began to
+translate, "The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," (1 vol.,
+8vo, Calcutta: W. Thacker and Co.) from the Arabic of the Ægyptian (!)
+MS. edited by Mr. (afterwards Sir)William H. Macnaghten. The attempt,
+or rather the intention, was highly creditable; the copy was carefully
+moulded upon the model and offered the best example of the _verbatim et
+literatim_ style. But the plucky author knew little of Arabic, and
+least of what is most wanted, the dialect of Egypt and Syria. His prose
+is so conscientious as to offer up spirit at the shrine of letter; and
+his verse, always whimsical, has at times a manner of Hibernian whoop
+which is comical when it should be pathetic. Lastly he printed only one
+volume of a series which completed would have contained nine or ten.
+
+That amiable and devoted Arabist, the late Edward William Lane does not
+score a success in his "New Translation of the Tales of a Thousand and
+One Nights" (London: Charles Knight and Co., MDCCCXXXIX.) of which
+there have been four English editions, besides American, two edited by
+E. S. Poole. He chose the abbreviating Bulak Edition; and, of its two
+hundred tales, he has omitted about half and by far the more
+characteristic half: the work was intended for "the drawing room
+table;" and, consequently, the workman was compelled to avoid the
+"objectionable" and aught "approaching to licentiousness." He converts
+the Arabian Nights into the Arabian Chapters, arbitrarily changing the
+division and, worse still, he converts some chapters into notes. He
+renders poetry by prose and apologises for not omitting it altogether:
+he neglects assonance and he is at once too Oriental and not Oriental
+enough. He had small store of Arabic at the time—Lane of the Nights is
+not Lane of the Dictionary—and his pages are disfigured by many
+childish mistakes. Worst of all, the three handsome volumes are
+rendered unreadable as Sale's Koran by their anglicised Latin, their
+sesquipedalian un English words, and the stiff and stilted style of
+half a century ago when our prose was, perhaps, the worst in Europe.
+Their cargo of Moslem learning was most valuable to the student, but
+utterly out of place for readers of "The Nights;" re-published, as
+these notes have been separately (London, Chatto, 1883), they are an
+ethnological text book.
+
+Mr. John Payne has printed, for the Villon Society and for private
+circulation only, the first and sole complete translation of the great
+compendium, "comprising about four times as much matter as that of
+Galland, and three times as much as that of any other translator;" and
+I cannot but feel proud that he has honoured me with the dedication of
+"The Book of The Thousand Nights and One Night." His version is most
+readable: his English, with a sub-flavour of the Mabinogionic
+archaicism, is admirable; and his style gives life and light to the
+nine volumes whose matter is frequently heavy enough. He succeeds
+admirably in the most difficult passages and he often hits upon choice
+and special terms and the exact vernacular equivalent of the foreign
+word, so happily and so picturesquely that all future translators must
+perforce use the same expression under pain of falling far short. But
+the learned and versatile author bound himself to issue only five
+hundred copies, and "not to reproduce the work in its complete and
+uncastrated form." Consequently his excellent version is caviaire to
+the general—practically unprocurable.
+
+And here I hasten to confess that ample use has been made of the three
+versions above noted, the whole being blended by a _callida junctura_
+into a homogeneous mass. But in the presence of so many predecessors a
+writer is bound to show some _raison d'être_ for making a fresh attempt
+and this I proceed to do with due reserve.
+
+Briefly, the object of this version is to show what "The Thousand
+Nights and a Night" really is. Not, however, for reasons to be more
+fully stated in the Terminal Essay, by straining _verbum reddere
+verbo_, but by writing as the Arab would have written in English. On
+this point I am all with Saint Jerome (Pref. in Jobum) "Vel verbum e
+verbo, vel sensum e sensu, vel ex utroque commixtum, et medie
+temperatum genus translationis." My work claims to be a faithful copy
+of the great Eastern Saga book, by preserving intact, not only the
+spirit, but even the _mécanique_, the manner and the matter. Hence,
+however prosy and long drawn out be the formula, it retains the scheme
+of The Nights because they are a prime feature in the original. The
+Ráwí or reciter, to whose wits the task of supplying details is left,
+well knows their value: the openings carefully repeat the names of the
+_dramatis personæ_ and thus fix them in the hearer's memory. Without
+the Nights no Arabian Nights! Moreover it is necessary to retain the
+whole apparatus: nothing more ill advised than Dr. Jonathan Scott's
+strange device of garnishing The Nights with fancy head pieces and tail
+pieces or the splitting up of Galland's narrative by merely prefixing
+"Nuit," etc., ending moreover, with the ccxxxivth Night: yet this has
+been done, apparently with the consent of the great Arabist Sylvestre
+de Sacy (Paris, Ernest Bourdin). Moreover, holding that the
+translator's glory is to add something to his native tongue, while
+avoiding the hideous hag like nakedness of Torrens and the bald
+literalism of Lane, I have carefully Englished the picturesque turns
+and novel expressions of the original in all their outlandishness; for
+instance, when the dust cloud raised by a tramping host is described as
+"walling the horizon." Hence peculiar attention has been paid to the
+tropes and figures which the Arabic language often packs into a single
+term; and I have never hesitated to coin a word when wanted, such as
+"she snorted and snarked," fully to represent the original. These, like
+many in Rabelais, are mere barbarisms unless generally adopted; in
+which case they become civilised and common currency.
+
+Despite objections manifold and manifest, I have preserved the balance
+of sentences and the prose rhyme and rhythm which Easterns look upon as
+mere music. This "Saj'a," or cadence of the cooing dove, has in Arabic
+its special duties. It adds a sparkle to description and a point to
+proverb, epigram and dialogue; it corresponds with our "artful
+alliteration" (which in places I have substituted for it) and,
+generally, it defines the boundaries between the classical and the
+popular styles which jostle each other in The Nights. If at times it
+appear strained and forced, after the wont of rhymed prose, the scholar
+will observe that, despite the immense copiousness of assonants and
+consonants in Arabic, the strain is often put upon it intentionally,
+like the _Rims cars_ of Dante and the Troubadours. This rhymed prose
+may be "un English" and unpleasant, even irritating to the British ear;
+still I look upon it as a _sine quâ non_ for a complete reproduction of
+the original. In the Terminal Essay I shall revert to the subject.
+
+On the other hand when treating the versical portion, which may
+represent a total of ten thousand lines, I have not always bound myself
+by the metrical bonds of the Arabic, which are artificial in the
+extreme, and which in English can be made bearable only by a tour de
+force. I allude especially to the monorhyme, _Rim continuat or tirade
+monorime_, whose monotonous simplicity was preferred by the Troubadours
+for threnodies. It may serve well for three or four couplets but, when
+it extends, as in the Ghazal-canzon, to eighteen, and in the Kasidah,
+elegy or ode, to more, it must either satisfy itself with banal rhyme
+words, when the assonants should as a rule be expressive and emphatic;
+or, it must display an ingenuity, a smell of the oil, which assuredly
+does not add to the reader's pleasure. It can perhaps be done and it
+should be done; but for me the task has no attractions: I can fence
+better in shoes than in sabots. Finally I print the couplets in Arab
+form separating the hemistichs by asterisks.
+
+And now to consider one matter of special importance in the book—its
+_turpiloquium_. This stumbling-block is of two kinds, completely
+distinct. One is the simple, naïve and child like indecency which, from
+Tangiers to Japan, occurs throughout general conversation of high and
+low in the present day. It uses, like the holy books of the Hebrews,
+expressions "plainly descriptive of natural situations;" and it treats
+in an unconventionally free and naked manner of subjects and matters
+which are usually, by common consent, left undescribed. As Sir William
+Jones observed long ago, "that anything natural can be offensively
+obscene never seems to have occurred to the Indians or to their
+legislators; a singularity (?) pervading their writings and
+conversation, but no proof of moral depravity." Another justly
+observes, _Les peuples primitifs n'y entendent pas malice: ils
+appellent les choses par leurs noms et ne trouvent pas condamnable ce
+qui est naturel_. And they are prying as children. For instance the
+European novelist marries off his hero and heroine and leaves them to
+consummate marriage in privacy; even Tom Jones has the decency to bolt
+the door. But the Eastern story teller, especially this unknown "prose
+Shakespeare," must usher you, with a flourish, into the bridal chamber
+and narrate to you, with infinite gusto, everything he sees and hears.
+Again we must remember that grossness and indecency, in fact _les
+turpitudes_, are matters of time and place; what is offensive in
+England is not so in Egypt; what scandalises us now would have been a
+tame joke _tempore Elisæ_. Withal The Nights will not be found in this
+matter coarser than many passages of Shakespeare, Sterne, and Swift,
+and their uncleanness rarely attains the perfection of Alcofribas
+Nasier, "divin maître et atroce cochon." The other element is absolute
+obscenity, sometimes, but not always, tempered by wit, humour and
+drollery; here we have an exaggeration of Petronius Arbiter, the
+handiwork of writers whose ancestry, the most religious and the most
+debauched of mankind, practised every abomination before the shrine of
+the Canopic Gods.
+
+In accordance with my purpose of reproducing the Nights, not
+_virginibus puerisque_, but in as perfect a picture as my powers
+permit, I have carefully sought out the English equivalent of every
+Arabic word, however low it may be or "shocking" to ears polite;
+preserving, on the other hand, all possible delicacy where the
+indecency is not intentional; and, as a friend advises me to state, not
+exaggerating the vulgarities and the indecencies which, indeed, can
+hardly be exaggerated. For the coarseness and crassness are but the
+shades of a picture which would otherwise be all lights. The general
+tone of The Nights is exceptionally high and pure. The devotional
+fervour often rises to the boiling point of fanaticism. The pathos is
+sweet, deep and genuine; tender, simple and true, utterly unlike much
+of our modern tinsel. Its life, strong, splendid and multitudinous, is
+everywhere flavoured with that unaffected pessimism and constitutional
+melancholy which strike deepest root under the brightest skies and
+which sigh in the face of heaven:—
+
+Vita quid est hominis? Viridis floriscula mortis;
+Sole Oriente oriens, sole cadente cadens.
+
+
+Poetical justice is administered by the literary Kází with exemplary
+impartiality and severity; "denouncing evil doers and eulogising deeds
+admirably achieved." The morale is sound and healthy; and at times we
+descry, through the voluptuous and libertine picture, vistas of a
+transcendental morality, the morality of Socrates in Plato. Subtle
+corruption and covert licentiousness are utterly absent; we find more
+real"vice" in many a short French roman, say La Dame aux Camélias, and
+in not a few English novels of our day than in the thousands of pages
+of the Arab. Here we have nothing of that most immodest modern modesty
+which sees covert implication where nothing is implied, and "improper"
+allusion when propriety is not outraged; nor do we meet with the
+Nineteenth Century refinement; innocence of the word not of the
+thought; morality of the tongue not of the heart, and the sincere
+homage paid to virtue in guise of perfect hypocrisy. It is, indeed,
+this unique contrast of a quaint element, childish crudities and
+nursery indecencies and "vain and amatorious" phrase jostling the
+finest and highest views of life and character, shown in the
+kaleidoscopic shiftings of the marvellous picture with many a "rich
+truth in a tale's pretence", pointed by a rough dry humour which
+compares well with "wut; "the alternations of strength and weakness, of
+pathos and bathos, of the boldest poetry (the diction of Job) and the
+baldest prose (the Egyptian of today); the contact of religion and
+morality with the orgies of African Apuleius and Petronius Arbiter—at
+times taking away the reader's breath—and, finally, the whole dominated
+everywhere by that marvellous Oriental fancy, wherein the spiritual and
+the supernatural are as common as the material and the natural; it is
+this contrast, I say, which forms the chiefest charm of The Nights,
+which gives it the most striking originality and which makes it a
+perfect expositor of the medieval Moslem mind.
+
+Explanatory notes did not enter into Mr. Payne's plan. They do with
+mine: I can hardly imagine The Nights being read to any profit by men
+of the West without commentary. My annotations avoid only one subject,
+parallels of European folklore and fabliaux which, however interesting,
+would overswell the bulk of a book whose speciality is anthropology.
+The accidents of my life, it may be said without undue presumption, my
+long dealings with Arabs and other Mahommedans, and my familiarity not
+only with their idiom but with their turn of thought, and with that
+racial individuality which baffles description, have given me certain
+advantages over the average student, however deeply he may have
+studied. These volumes, moreover, afford me a long sought opportunity
+of noticing practices and customs which interest all mankind and which
+"Society" will not hear mentioned. Grote, the historian, and Thackeray,
+the novelist, both lamented that the bégueulerie of their countrymen
+condemned them to keep silence where publicity was required; and that
+they could not even claim the partial licence of a Fielding and a
+Smollett. Hence a score of years ago I lent my best help to the late
+Dr. James Hunt in founding the Anthropological Society, whose
+presidential chair I first occupied (pp. 2-4 Anthropologia; London,
+Balliere, vol. i., No. I, 1873). My motive was to supply travellers
+with an organ which would rescue their observations from the outer
+darkness of manuscript, and print their curious information on social
+and sexual matters out of place in the popular book intended for the
+Nipptisch and indeed better kept from public view. But, hardly had we
+begun when "Respectability," that whited sepulchre full of all
+uncleanness, rose up against us. "Propriety" cried us down with her
+brazen blatant voice, and the weak kneed brethren fell away. Yet the
+organ was much wanted and is wanted still. All now known barbarous
+tribes in Inner Africa, America and Australia, whose instincts have not
+been overlaid by reason, have a ceremony which they call "making men."
+As soon as the boy shows proofs of puberty, he and his coevals are
+taken in hand by the mediciner and the Fetisheer; and, under priestly
+tuition, they spend months in the "bush," enduring hardships and
+tortures which impress the memory till they have mastered the "theorick
+and practick" of social and sexual relations. Amongst the civilised
+this fruit of the knowledge tree must be bought at the price of the
+bitterest experience, and the consequences of ignorance are peculiarly
+cruel. Here, then, I find at last an opportunity of noticing in
+explanatory notes many details of the text which would escape the
+reader's observation, and I am confident that they will form a
+repertory of Eastern knowledge in its esoteric phase. The student who
+adds the notes of Lane ("Arabian Society," etc., before quoted) to mine
+will know as much of the Moslem East and more than many Europeans who
+have spent half their lives in Orient lands. For facility of reference
+an index of anthropological notes is appended to each volume.
+
+The reader will kindly bear with the following technical details.
+Steinhaeuser and I began and ended our work with the first Bulak
+("Bul.") Edition printed at the port of Cairo in A.H. 1251 = A.D. 1835.
+But when preparing my MSS. for print I found the text incomplete, many
+of the stories being given in epitome and not a few ruthlessly
+mutilated with head or feet wanting. Like most Eastern scribes the
+Editor could not refrain from "improvements," which only debased the
+book; and his sole title to excuse is that the second Bulak Edition (4
+vols. A.H. 1279 = A.D. 1863), despite its being "revised and corrected
+by Sheik Mahommed Qotch Al-Adewi," is even worse; and the same may be
+said of the Cairo Edit. (4 vols. A.H. 1297 = A. D. 1881). The Calcutta
+("Calc.") Edition, with ten lines of Persian preface by the Editor,
+Ahmed al-Shirwani (A.D. 1814), was cut short at the end of the first
+two hundred Nights, and thus made room for Sir William Hay Macnaghten's
+Edition (4 vols. royal 4to) of 1839-42. This ("Mac."), as by far the
+least corrupt and the most complete, has been assumed for my basis with
+occasional reference to the Breslau Edition ("Bres.") wretchedly edited
+from a hideous Egyptian MS. by Dr. Maximilian Habicht (1825-43). The
+Bayrut Text "Alif-Leila we Leila" (4 vols. gt. 8vo, Beirut, 1881-83) is
+a melancholy specimen of The Nights taken entirely from the Bulak
+Edition by one Khalil Sarkis and converted to Christianity; beginning
+without Bismillah, continued with scrupulous castration and ending in
+ennui and disappointment. I have not used this missionary production.
+
+As regards the transliteration of Arabic words I deliberately reject
+the artful and complicated system, ugly and clumsy withal, affected by
+scientific modern Orientalists. Nor is my sympathy with their prime
+object, namely to fit the Roman alphabet for supplanting all others.
+Those who learn languages, and many do so, by the eye as well as by the
+ear, well know the advantages of a special character to distinguish,
+for instance, Syriac from Arabic, Gujrati from Marathi. Again this
+Roman hand bewitched may have its use in purely scientific and literary
+works; but it would be wholly out of place in one whose purpose is that
+of the novel, to amuse rather than to instruct. Moreover the devices
+perplex the simple and teach nothing to the learned. Either the reader
+knows Arabic, in which case Greek letters, italics and "upper case,"
+diacritical points and similar typographic oddities are, as a rule with
+some exceptions, unnecessary; or he does not know Arabic, when none of
+these expedients will be of the least use to him. Indeed it is a matter
+of secondary consideration what system we prefer, provided that we
+mostly adhere to one and the same, for the sake of a consistency which
+saves confusion to the reader. I have especially avoided that of Mr.
+Lane, adopted by Mr. Payne, for special reasons against which it was
+vain to protest: it represents the debased brogue of Egypt or rather of
+Cairo; and such a word as Kemer (ez-Zeman) would be utterly
+un-pronounceable to a Badawi. Nor have I followed the practice of my
+learned friend, Reverend G. P. Badger, in mixing bars and acute
+accents; the former unpleasantly remind man of those hateful dactyls
+and spondees, and the latter should, in my humble opinion, be applied
+to long vowels which in Arabic double, or should double, the length of
+the shorts. Dr. Badger uses the acute symbol to denote accent or stress
+of voice; but such appoggio is unknown to those who speak with purest
+articulation; for instance whilst the European pronounces Mus-cat', and
+the Arab villager Mas′-kat; the Children of the Waste, "on whose
+tongues Allah descended," articulate Mas-kat. I have therefore followed
+the simple system adopted in my "Pilgrimage," and have accented Arabic
+words only when first used, thinking it unnecessary to preserve
+throughout what is an eyesore to the reader and a distress to the
+printer. In the main I follow "Johnson on Richardson," a work known to
+every Anglo-Orientalist as the old and trusty companion of his studies
+early and late; but even here I have made sundry deviations for reasons
+which will be explained in the Terminal Essay. As words are the
+embodiment of ideas and writing is of words, so the word is the spoken
+word; and we should write it as pronounced. Strictly speaking, the
+e-sound and the o-sound (viz. the Italian o-sound not the English which
+is peculiar to us and unknown to any other tongue) are not found in
+Arabic, except when the figure Imálah obliges: hence they are called
+"Yá al-Majhúl" and "Waw al-Majhúl" the unknown y (í) and u. But in all
+tongues vowel-sounds, the flesh which clothes the bones (consonants) of
+language, are affected by the consonants which precede and more
+especially which follow them, hardening and softening the articulation;
+and deeper sounds accompany certain letters as the sád ( ) compared
+with the sín ( ). None save a defective ear would hold, as Lane does,
+"Maulid" ( = birth-festival) "more properly pronounced 'Molid.'" Yet I
+prefer Khokh (peach) and Jokh (broad cloth) to Khukh and Jukh; Ohod
+(mount) to Uhud; Obayd (a little slave) to Ubayd; and Hosayn (a
+fortlet, not the P. N. Al-Husayn) to Husayn. As for the short e in such
+words as "Memlúk" for "Mamluk" (a white slave), "Eshe" for "Asha"
+(supper), and "Yemen" for "Al-Yaman," I consider it a flat Egyptianism,
+insufferable to an ear which admires the Badawi pronunciation. Yet I
+prefer "Shelebi" (a dandy) from the Turkish Chelebi, to "Shalabi;"
+"Zebdani" (the Syrian village) to "Zabdani," and "Fes and Miknes" (by
+the figure Imálah) to "Fas and Miknás,", our "Fez and Mequinez."
+
+With respect to proper names and untranslated Arabic words I have
+rejected all system in favour of common sense. When a term is
+incorporated in our tongue, I refuse to follow the purist and mortify
+the reader by startling innovation. For instance, Aleppo, Cairo and
+Bassorah are preferred to Halab, Kahirah and Al-Basrah; when a word is
+half naturalised, like Alcoran or Koran, Bashaw or Pasha, which the
+French write Pacha; and Mahomet or Mohammed (for Muhammad), the modern
+form is adopted because the more familiar. But I see no advantage in
+retaining,, simply because they are the mistakes of a past generation,
+such words as "Roc" (for Rukh),), Khalif (a pretentious blunder for
+Khalífah and better written Caliph) and "genie" ( = Jinn) a mere Gallic
+corruption not so terrible, however, as "a Bedouin" ( = Badawi).). As
+little too would I follow Mr. Lane in foisting upon the public such
+Arabisms as "Khuff" (a riding boot), "Mikra'ah" (a palm rod) and a host
+of others for which we have good English equivalents. On the other hand
+I would use, but use sparingly, certain Arabic exclamations, as
+"Bismillah" ( = in the name of Allah!) and "Inshallah" ( = if Allah
+please!), (= which have special applications and which have been made
+familiar to English ears by the genius of Fraser and Morier.
+
+I here end these desultory but necessary details to address the reader
+in a few final words. He will not think lightly of my work when I
+repeat to him that with the aid of my annotations supplementing Lane's,
+the student will readily and pleasantly learn more of the Moslem's
+manners and customs, laws and religion than is known to the average
+Orientalist; and, if my labours induce him to attack the text of The
+Nights he will become master of much more Arabic than the ordinary Arab
+owns. This book is indeed a legacy which I bequeath to my fellow
+countrymen in their hour of need. Over devotion to Hindu, and
+especially to Sanskrit literature, has led them astray from those (so
+called) "Semitic" studies, which are the more requisite for us as they
+teach us to deal successfully with a race more powerful than any
+pagans—the Moslem. Apparently England is ever forgetting that she is at
+present the greatest Mohammedan empire in the world. Of late years she
+has systematically neglected Arabism and, indeed, actively discouraged
+it in examinations for the Indian Civil Service, where it is
+incomparably more valuable than Greek and Latin. Hence, when suddenly
+compelled to assume the reins of government in Moslem lands, as
+Afghanistan in times past and Egypt at present, she fails after a
+fashion which scandalises her few (very few) friends; and her crass
+ignorance concerning the Oriental peoples which should most interest
+her, exposes her to the contempt of Europe as well as of the Eastern
+world. When the regrettable raids of 1883-84, culminating in the
+miserable affairs of Tokar, Teb and Tamasi, were made upon the gallant
+Sudani negroids, the Bisharin outlying Sawakin, who were battling for
+the holy cause of liberty and religion and for escape from Turkish
+task-masters and Egyptian tax-gatherers, not an English official in
+camp, after the death of the gallant and lamented Major Morice, was
+capable of speaking Arabic. Now Moslems are not to be ruled by raw
+youths who should be at school and college instead of holding positions
+of trust and emolument. He who would deal with them successfully must
+be, firstly, honest and truthful and, secondly, familiar with and
+favourably inclined to their manners and customs if not to their law
+and religion. We may, perhaps, find it hard to restore to England those
+pristine virtues, that tone and temper, which made her what she is; but
+at any rate we (myself and a host of others) can offer her the means of
+dispelling her ignorance concerning the Eastern races with whom she is
+continually in contact.
+
+In conclusion I must not forget to notice that the Arabic
+ornamentations of these volumes were designed by my excellent friend
+Yacoub Artin Pasha, of the Ministry of Instruction, Cairo, with the aid
+of the well-known writing artist, Shaykh Mohammed Muunis the Cairene.
+My name, Al-Hajj Abdullah ( = the Pilgrim Abdallah) was written by an
+English calligrapher, the lamented Professor Palmer who found a
+premature death almost within sight of Suez.
+
+RICHARD F. BURTON
+
+Wanderers’ Club, _August_ 15, 1885.
+
+
+
+
+The Book Of The
+THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT
+
+(ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAH.)
+
+In the Name of Allah,
+the Compassionating, the Compassionate!
+
+PRAISE BE TO ALLAH * THE BENEFICENT KING * THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE
+* LORD OF THE THREE WORLDS * WHO SET UP THE FIRMAMENT WITHOUT PILLARS
+IN ITS STEAD * AND WHO STRETCHED OUT THE EARTH EVEN AS A BED * AND
+GRACE, AND PRAYER-BLESSING BE UPON OUR LORD MOHAMMED * LORD OF
+APOSTOLIC MEN * AND UPON HIS FAMILY AND COMPANION TRAIN * PRAYER AND
+BLESSINGS ENDURING AND GRACE WHICH UNTO THE DAY OF DOOM SHALL REMAIN *
+AMEN! * O THOU OF THE THREE WORLDS SOVEREIGN!
+
+
+And afterwards. Verily the works and words of those gone before us have
+become instances and examples to men of our modern day, that folk may
+view what admonishing chances befel other folk and may therefrom take
+warning; and that they may peruse the annals of antique peoples and all
+that hath betided them, and be thereby ruled and restrained:—Praise,
+therefore, be to Him who hath made the histories of the Past an
+admonition unto the Present! Now of such instances are the tales called
+"A Thousand Nights and a Night," together with their far famed legends
+and wonders. Therein it is related (but Allah is All knowing of His
+hidden things and All ruling and All honoured and All giving and All
+gracious and All merciful [FN#1]) that, in tide of yore and in time
+long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu Sásán in
+the Islands of India and China, a Lord of armies and guards and
+servants and dependents.[FN#2] He left only two sons, one in the prime
+of manhood and the other yet a youth, while both were Knights and
+Braves, albeit the elder was a doughtier horseman than the younger. So
+he succeeded to the empire; when he ruled the land and lorded it over
+his lieges with justice so exemplary that he was beloved by all the
+peoples of his capital and of his kingdom. His name was King
+Shahryár[FN#3], and he made his younger brother, Shah Zamán hight, King
+of Samarcand in Barbarian land. These two ceased not to abide in their
+several realms and the law was ever carried out in their dominions; and
+each ruled his own kingdom, with equity and fair dealing to his
+subjects, in extreme solace and enjoyment; and this condition
+continually endured for a score of years. But at the end of the
+twentieth twelvemonth the elder King yearned for a sight of his younger
+brother and felt that he must look upon him once more. So he took
+counsel with his Wazír[FN#4] about visiting him, but the Minister,
+finding the project unadvisable, recommended that a letter be written
+and a present be sent under his charge to the younger brother with an
+invitation to visit the elder. Having accepted this advice the King
+forthwith bade prepare handsome gifts, such as horses with saddles of
+gem encrusted gold; Mamelukes, or white slaves; beautiful handmaids,
+high breasted virgins, and splendid stuffs and costly. He then wrote a
+letter to Shah Zaman expressing his warm love and great wish to see
+him, ending with these words, "We therefore hope of the favour and
+affection of the beloved brother that he will condescend to bestir
+himself and turn his face us wards. Furthermore we have sent our Wazir
+to make all ordinance for the march, and our one and only desire is to
+see thee ere we die; but if thou delay or disappoint us we shall not
+survive the blow. Wherewith peace be upon thee!" Then King Shahryar,
+having sealed the missive and given it to the Wazir with the offerings
+aforementioned, commanded him to shorten his skirts and strain his
+strength and make all expedition in going and returning. "Harkening and
+obedience!" quoth the Minister, who fell to making ready without stay
+and packed up his loads and prepared all his requisites without delay.
+This occupied him three days, and on the dawn of the fourth he took
+leave of his King and marched right away, over desert and hill' way,
+stony waste and pleasant lea without halting by night or by day. But
+whenever he entered a realm whose ruler was subject to his Suzerain,
+where he was greeted with magnificent gifts of gold and silver and all
+manner of presents fair and rare, he would tarry there three
+days,[FN#5] the term of the guest rite; and, when he left on the
+fourth, he would be honourably escorted for a whole day's march. As
+soon as the Wazir drew near Shah Zaman's court in Samarcand he
+despatched to report his arrival one of his high officials, who
+presented himself before the King; and, kissing ground between his
+hands, delivered his message. Hereupon the King commanded sundry of his
+Grandees and Lords of his realm to fare forth and meet his brother's
+Wazir at the distance of a full day's journey; which they did, greeting
+him respectfully and wishing him all prosperity and forming an escort
+and a procession. When he entered the city he proceeded straightway to
+the palace, where he presented himself in the royal presence; and,
+after kissing ground and praying for the King's health and happiness
+and for victory over all his enemies, he informed him that his brother
+was yearning to see him, and prayed for the pleasure of a visit. He
+then delivered the letter which Shah Zaman took from his hand and read:
+it contained sundry hints and allusions which required thought; but,
+when the King had fully comprehended its import, he said, "I hear and I
+obey the commands of the beloved brother!" adding to the Wazir, "But we
+will not march till after the third day's hospitality." He appointed
+for the Minister fitting quarters of the palace; and, pitching tents
+for the troops, rationed them with whatever they might require of meat
+and drink and other necessaries. On the fourth day he made ready for
+wayfare and got together sumptuous presents befitting his elder
+brother's majesty, and stablished his chief Wazir viceroy of the land
+during his absence. Then he caused his tents and camels and mules to be
+brought forth and encamped, with their bales and loads, attendants and
+guards, within sight of the city, in readiness to set out next morning
+for his brother's capital. But when the night was half spent he
+bethought him that he had forgotten in his palace somewhat which he
+should have brought with him, so he re turned privily and entered his
+apartments, where he found the Queen, his wife, asleep on his own
+carpet bed, embracing with both arms a black cook of loathsome aspect
+and foul with kitchen grease and grime. When he saw this the world
+waxed black before his sight and he said, "If such case happen while I
+am yet within sight of the city what will be the doings of this damned
+whore during my long absence at my brother's court?" So he drew his
+scymitar and, cutting the two in four pieces with a single blow, left
+them on the carpet and returned presently to his camp without letting
+anyone know of what had happened. Then he gave orders for immediate
+departure and set out at once and began his travel; but he could not
+help thinking over his wife's treason and he kept ever saying to
+himself, "How could she do this deed by me? How could she work her own
+death?," till excessive grief seized him, his colour changed to yellow,
+his body waxed weak and he was threatened with a dangerous malady, such
+an one as bringeth men to die. So the Wazir shortened his stages and
+tarried long at the watering stations and did his best to solace the
+King. Now when Shah Zaman drew near the capital of his brother he
+despatched vaunt couriers and messengers of glad tidings to announce
+his arrival, and Shahryar came forth to meet him with his Wazirs and
+Emirs and Lords and Grandees of his realm; and saluted him and joyed
+with exceeding joy and caused the city to be decorated in his honour.
+When, however, the brothers met, the elder could not but see the change
+of complexion in the younger and questioned him of his case whereto he
+replied, "Tis caused by the travails of wayfare and my case needs care,
+for I have suffered from the change of water and air! but Allah be
+praised for reuniting me with a brother so dear and so rare!" On this
+wise he dissembled and kept his secret, adding, "O King of the time and
+Caliph of the tide, only toil and moil have tinged my face yellow with
+bile and hath made my eyes sink deep in my head." Then the two entered
+the capital in all honour; and the elder brother lodged the younger in
+a palace overhanging the pleasure garden; and, after a time, seeing his
+condition still unchanged, he attributed it to his separation from his
+country and kingdom. So he let him wend his own ways and asked no
+questions of him till one day when he again said, "O my brother, I see
+thou art grown weaker of body and yellower of colour." "O my brother,"
+replied Shah Zaman "I have an internal wound:"[FN#6] still he would not
+tell him what he had witnessed in his wife. Thereupon Shahryar summoned
+doctors and surgeons and bade them treat his brother according to the
+rules of art, which they did for a whole month; but their sherbets and
+potions naught availed, for he would dwell upon the deed of his wife,
+and despondency, instead of diminishing, prevailed, and leach craft
+treatment utterly failed. One day his elder brother said to him, "I am
+going forth to hunt and course and to take my pleasure and pastime;
+maybe this would lighten thy heart." Shah Zaman, however, refused,
+saying, "O my brother, my soul yearneth for naught of this sort and I
+entreat thy favour to suffer me tarry quietly in this place, being
+wholly taken up with my malady." So King Shah Zaman passed his night in
+the palace and, next morning, when his brother had fared forth, he
+removed from his room and sat him down at one of the lattice windows
+overlooking the pleasure grounds; and there he abode thinking with
+saddest thought over his wife's betrayal and burning sighs issued from
+his tortured breast. And as he continued in this case lo! a postern of
+the palace, which was carefully kept private, swung open and out of it
+came twenty slave girls surrounding his bother's wife who was wondrous
+fair, a model of beauty and comeliness and symmetry and perfect
+loveliness and who paced with the grace of a gazelle which panteth for
+the cooling stream. Thereupon Shah Zaman drew back from the window, but
+he kept the bevy in sight espying them from a place whence he could not
+be espied. They walked under the very lattice and advanced a little way
+into the garden till they came to a jetting fountain amiddlemost a
+great basin of water; then they stripped off their clothes and behold,
+ten of them were women, concubines of the King, and the other ten were
+white slaves. Then they all paired off, each with each: but the Queen,
+who was left alone, presently cried out in a loud voice, "Here to me, O
+my lord Saeed!" and then sprang with a drop leap from one of the trees
+a big slobbering blackamoor with rolling eyes which showed the whites,
+a truly hideous sight.[FN#7] He walked boldly up to her and threw his
+arms round her neck while she embraced him as warmly; then he bussed
+her and winding his legs round hers, as a button loop clasps a button,
+he threw her and enjoyed her. On like wise did the other slaves with
+the girls till all had satisfied their passions, and they ceased not
+from kissing and clipping, coupling and carousing till day began to
+wane; when the Mamelukes rose from the damsels' bosoms and the
+blackamoor slave dismounted from the Queen's breast; the men resumed
+their disguises and all, except the negro who swarmed up the tree,
+entered the palace and closed the postern door as before. Now, when
+Shah Zaman saw this conduct of his sister in law he said in himself,
+"By Allah, my calamity is lighter than this! My brother is a greater
+King among the kings than I am, yet this infamy goeth on in his very
+palace, and his wife is in love with that filthiest of filthy slaves.
+But this only showeth that they all do it[FN#8] and that there is no
+woman but who cuckoldeth her husband, then the curse of Allah upon one
+and all and upon the fools who lean against them for support or who
+place the reins of conduct in their hands." So he put away his
+melancholy and despondency, regret and repine, and allayed his sorrow
+by constantly repeating those words, adding, " 'Tis my conviction that
+no man in this world is safe from their malice!" When supper time came
+they brought him the trays and he ate with voracious appetite, for he
+had long refrained from meat, feeling unable to touch any dish however
+dainty. Then he returned grateful thanks to Almighty Allah, praising
+Him and blessing Him, and he spent a most restful night, it having been
+long since he had savoured the sweet food of sleep. Next day he broke
+his fast heartily and began to recover health and strength, and
+presently regained excellent condition. His brother came back from the
+chase ten days after, when he rode out to meet him and they saluted
+each other; and when King Shahryar looked at King Shah Zaman he saw how
+the hue of health had returned to him, how his face had waxed ruddy and
+how he ate with an appetite after his late scanty diet. He wondered
+much and said, "O my brother, I was so anxious that thou wouldst join
+me in hunting and chasing, and wouldst take thy pleasure and pastime in
+my dominion!" He thanked him and excused himself; then the two took
+horse and rode into the city and, when they were seated at their ease
+in the palace, the food trays were set before them and they ate their
+sufficiency. After the meats were removed and they had washed their
+hands, King Shahryar turned to his brother and said, "My mind is
+overcome with wonderment at thy condition. I was desirous to carry thee
+with me to the chase but I saw thee changed in hue, pale and wan to
+view, and in sore trouble of mind too. But now Alham-dolillah—glory be
+to God!—I see thy natural colour hath returned to thy face and that
+thou art again in the best of case. It was my belief that thy sickness
+came of severance from thy family and friends, and absence from capital
+and country, so I refrained from troubling thee with further questions.
+But now I beseech thee to expound to me the cause of thy complaint and
+thy change of colour, and to explain the reason of thy recovery and the
+return to the ruddy hue of health which I am wont to view. So speak out
+and hide naught!" When Shah Zaman heard this he bowed groundwards
+awhile his head, then raised it and said, "I will tell thee what caused
+my complaint and my loss of colour; but excuse my acquainting thee with
+the cause of its return to me and the reason of my complete recovery:
+indeed I pray thee not to press me for a reply." Said Shahryar, who was
+much surprised by these words, "Let me hear first what produced thy
+pallor and thy poor condition." "Know, then, O my brother," rejoined
+Shah Zaman, "that when thou sentest thy Wazir with the invitation to
+place myself between thy hands, I made ready and marched out of my
+city; but presently I minded me having left behind me in the palace a
+string of jewels intended as a gift to thee. I returned for it alone
+and found my wife on my carpet bed and in the arms of a hideous black
+cook. So I slew the twain and came to thee, yet my thoughts brooded
+over this business and I lost my bloom and became weak. But excuse me
+if I still refuse to tell thee what was the reason of my complexion
+returning." Shahryar shook his head, marvelling with extreme marvel,
+and with the fire of wrath flaming up from his heart, he cried,
+"Indeed, the malice of woman is mighty!" Then he took refuge from them
+with Allah and said, "In very sooth, O my brother, thou hast escaped
+many an evil by putting thy wife to death,[FN#9] and right excusable
+were thy wrath and grief for such mishap which never yet befel crowned
+King like thee. By Allah, had the case been mine, I would not have been
+satisfied without slaying a thousand women and that way madness lies!
+But now praise be to Allah who hath tempered to thee thy tribulation,
+and needs must thou acquaint me with that which so suddenly restored to
+thee complexion and health, and explain to me what causeth this
+concealment." "O King of the Age, again I pray thee excuse my so
+doing!" "Nay, but thou must." "I fear, O my brother, lest the recital
+cause thee more anger and sorrow than afflicted me." "That were but a
+better reason," quoth Shahryar, "for telling me the whole history, and
+I conjure thee by Allah not to keep back aught from me." Thereupon Shah
+Zaman told him all he had seen, from commencement to conclusion, ending
+with these words, "When I beheld thy calamity and the treason of thy
+wife, O my brother, and I reflected that thou art in years my senior
+and in sovereignty my superior, mine own sorrow was belittled by the
+comparison, and my mind recovered tone and temper: so throwing off
+melancholy and despondency, I was able to eat and drink and sleep, and
+thus I speedily regained health and strength. Such is the truth and the
+whole truth." When King Shahryar heard this he waxed wroth with
+exceeding wrath, and rage was like to strangle him; but presently he
+recovered himself and said, "O my brother, I would not give thee the
+lie in this matter, but I cannot credit it till I see it with mine own
+eyes." "An thou wouldst look upon thy calamity," quoth Shah Zaman,
+"rise at once and make ready again for hunting and coursing.[FN#10] and
+then hide thyself with me, so shalt thou witness it and thine eyes
+shall verify it." "True," quoth the King; whereupon he let make
+proclamation of his intent to travel, and the troops and tents fared
+forth without the city, camping within sight, and Shahryar sallied out
+with them and took seat amidmost his host, bidding the slaves admit no
+man to him. When night came on he summoned his Wazir and said to him,
+"Sit thou in my stead and let none wot of my absence till the term of
+three days." Then the brothers disguised themselves and returned by
+night with all secrecy to the palace, where they passed the dark hours:
+and at dawn they seated themselves at the lattice overlooking the
+pleasure grounds, when presently the Queen and her handmaids came out
+as before, and passing under the windows made for the fountain. Here
+they stripped, ten of them being men to ten women, and the King's wife
+cried out, "Where art thou, O Saeed?" The hideous blackamoor dropped
+from the tree straightway; and, rushing into her arms without stay or
+delay, cried out, "I am Sa'ad al Din Saood!"[FN#11] The lady laughed
+heartily, and all fell to satisfying their lusts, and remained so
+occupied for a couple of hours, when the white slaves rose up from the
+handmaidens' breasts and the blackamoor dismounted from the Queen's
+bosom: then they went into the basin and, after performing the Ghusl,
+or complete ablution, donned their dresses and retired as they had done
+before. When King Shahryar saw this infamy of his wife and concubines
+he became as one distraught and he cried out, "Only in utter solitude
+can man be safe from the doings of this vile world! By Allah, life is
+naught but one great wrong." Presently he added, "Do not thwart me, O
+my brother, in what I propose;" and the other answered, "I will not."
+So he said, "Let us up as we are and depart forthright hence, for we
+have no concern with Kingship, and let us overwander Allah's earth,
+worshipping the Almighty till we find some one to whom the like
+calamity hath happened; and if we find none then will death be more
+welcome to us than life." So the two brothers issued from a second
+private postern of the palace; and they never stinted wayfaring by day
+and by night, until they reached a tree a middle of a meadow hard by a
+spring of sweet water on the shore of the salt sea. Both drank of it
+and sat down to take their rest; and when an hour of the day had gone
+by: lo! they heard a mighty roar and uproar in the middle of the main
+as though the heavens were falling upon the earth; and the sea brake
+with waves before them, and from it towered a black pillar, which grew
+and grew till it rose skywards and began making for that meadow. Seeing
+it, they waxed fearful exceedingly and climbed to the top of the tree,
+which was a lofty; whence they gazed to see what might be the matter.
+And behold, it was a Jinni,[FN#12] huge of height and burly of breast
+and bulk, broad of brow and black of blee, bearing on his head a coffer
+of crystal. He strode to land, wading through the deep, and coming to
+the tree whereupon were the two Kings, seated himself beneath it. He
+then set down the coffer on its bottom and out it drew a casket, with
+seven padlocks of steel, which he unlocked with seven keys of steel he
+took from beside his thigh, and out of it a young lady to come was
+seen, white-skinned and of winsomest mien, of stature fine and thin,
+and bright as though a moon of the fourteenth night she had been, or
+the sun raining lively sheen. Even so the poet Utayyah hath excellently
+said:—
+
+She rose like the morn as she shone through the night * And she gilded
+the grove with her gracious sight:
+From her radiance the sun taketh increase when * She unveileth and
+shameth the moonshine bright.
+Bow down all beings between her hands * As she showeth charms with her
+veil undight.
+And she floodeth cities[FN#13] with torrent tears * When she flasheth
+her look of leven-light.
+
+
+The Jinni seated her under the tree by his side and looking at her
+said, "O choicest love of this heart of mine! O dame of noblest line,
+whom I snatched away on thy bride night that none might prevent me
+taking thy maidenhead or tumble thee before I did, and whom none save
+myself hath loved or hath enjoyed: O my sweetheart! I would lief sleep
+a little while." He then laid his head upon the lady's thighs; and,
+stretching out his legs which extended down to the sea, slept and
+snored and snarked like the roll of thunder. Presently she raised her
+head towards the tree top and saw the two Kings perched near the
+summit; then she softly lifted off her lap the Jinni's pate which she
+was tired of supporting and placed it upon the ground; then standing
+upright under the tree signed to the Kings, "Come ye down, ye two, and
+fear naught from this Ifrit."[FN#14] They were in a terrible fright
+when they found that she had seen them and answered her in the same
+manner, "Allah upon thee[FN#15] and by thy modesty, O lady, excuse us
+from coming down!" But she rejoined by saying, "Allah upon you both,
+that ye come down forthright, and if ye come not, I will rouse upon you
+my husband, this Ifrit, and he shall do you to die by the illest of
+deaths;" and she continued making signals to them. So, being afraid,
+they came down to her and she rose be fore them and said, "Stroke me a
+strong stroke, without stay or delay, otherwise will I arouse and set
+upon you this Ifrit who shall slay you straightway." They said to her,
+"O our lady, we conjure thee by Allah, let us off this work, for we are
+fugitives from such and in extreme dread and terror of this thy
+husband. How then can we do it in such a way as thou desirest"?" "Leave
+this talk: it needs must be so;" quoth she, and she swore them by
+Him[FN#16] who raised the skies on high, without prop or pillar, that,
+if they worked not her will, she would cause them to be slain and cast
+into the sea. Whereupon out of fear King Shahryar said to King Shah
+Zaman, "O my brother, do thou what she biddeth thee do;" but he
+replied, "I will not do it till thou do it before I do." And they began
+disputing about futtering her. Then quoth she to the twain, "How is it
+I see you disputing and demurring; if ye do not come forward like men
+and do the deed of kind ye two, I will arouse upon you the Ifrit." At
+this, by reason of their sore dread of the Jinni, both did by her what
+she bade them do; and, when they had dismounted from her, she said,
+"Well done!" She then took from her pocket a purse and drew out a
+knotted string, whereon were strung five hundred and seventy[FN#17]
+seal rings, and asked, "Know ye what be these?" They answered her
+saying, "We know not!" Then quoth she; "These be the signets of five
+hundred and seventy men who have all futtered me upon the horns of this
+foul, this foolish, this filthy Ifrit; so give me also your two seal
+rings, ye pair of brothers." When they had drawn their two rings from
+their hands and given them to her, she said to them, "Of a truth this
+Ifrit bore me off on my bride night, and put me into a casket and set
+the casket in a coffer and to the coffer he affixed seven strong
+padlocks of steel and deposited me on the deep bottom of the sea that
+raves, dashing and clashing with waves; and guarded me so that I might
+remain chaste and honest, quotha! that none save himself might have
+connexion with me. But I have lain under as many of my kind as I
+please, and this wretched Jinni wotteth not that Des tiny may not be
+averted nor hindered by aught, and that whatso woman willeth the same
+she fulfilleth however man nilleth. Even so saith one of them.—
+
+Rely not on women; * Trust not to their hearts,
+Whose joys and whose sorrows * Are hung to their parts!
+Lying love they will swear thee * Whence guile ne'er departs:
+Take Yusuf[FN#18] for sample * 'Ware sleights and 'ware smarts!
+Iblis[FN#19] ousted Adam * (See ye not?) thro' their arts.
+
+
+And another saith:—
+
+Stint thy blame, man! 'Twill drive to a passion without bound; * My
+fault is not so heavy as fault in it hast found.
+If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not * Save what
+happened unto many in the bygone stound.
+For wonderful is he and right worthy of our praise * Who fromwiles of
+female wits kept him safe and kept him sound."
+
+
+Hearing these words they marvelled with exceeding marvel, and she went
+from them to the Ifrit and, taking up his head on her thigh as before,
+said to them softly, "Now wend your ways and bear yourselves beyond the
+bounds of his malice." So they fared forth saying either to other,
+"Allah! Allah!" and, "There be no Majesty and there be no Might save in
+Allah, the Glorious, the Great; and with Him we seek refuge from
+women's malice and sleight, for of a truth it hath no mate in might.
+Consider, O my brother, the ways of this marvellous lady with an Ifrit
+who is so much more powerful than we are. Now since there hath happened
+to him a greater mishap than that which befel us and which should bear
+us abundant consolation, so return we to our countries and capitals,
+and let us decide never to intermarry with womankind and presently we
+will show them what will be our action." Thereupon they rode back to
+the tents of King Shahryar, which they reached on the morning of the
+third day; and, having mustered the Wazirs and Emirs, the Chamberlains
+and high officials, he gave a robe of honour to his Viceroy and issued
+orders for an immediate return to the city. There he sat him upon his
+throne and sending for the Chief Minister, the father of the two
+damsels who (Inshallah!) will presently be mentioned, he said, "I
+command thee to take my wife and smite her to death; for she hath
+broken her plight and her faith." So he carried her to the place of
+execution and did her die. Then King Shahryar took brand in hand and
+repairing to the Serraglio slew all the concubines and their
+Mamelukes.[FN#20] He also sware himself by a binding oath that whatever
+wife he married he would abate her maidenhead at night and slay her
+next morning to make sure of his honour; "For," said he, "there never
+was nor is there one chaste woman upon the face of earth." Then Shah
+Zaman prayed for permission to fare homewards; and he went forth
+equipped and escorted and travelled till he reached his own country.
+Mean while Shahryar commanded his Wazir to bring him the bride of the
+night that he might go in to her; so he produced a most beautiful girl,
+the daughter of one of the Emirs and the King went in unto her at
+eventide and when morning dawned he bade his Minister strike off her
+head; and the Wazir did accordingly for fear of the Sultan. On this
+wise he continued for the space of three years; marrying a maiden every
+night and killing her the next morning, till folk raised an outcry
+against him and cursed him, praying Allah utterly to destroy him and
+his rule; and women made an uproar and mothers wept and parents fled
+with their daughters till there remained not in the city a young person
+fit for carnal copulation. Presently the King ordered his Chief Wazir,
+the same who was charged with the executions, to bring him a virgin as
+was his wont; and the Minister went forth and searched and found none;
+so he returned home in sorrow and anxiety fearing for his life from the
+King. Now he had two daughters, Shahrazad and Dunyazad hight,[FN#21] of
+whom the elder had perused the books, annals and legends of preceding
+Kings, and the stories, examples and instances of by gone men and
+things; indeed it was said that she had collected a thousand books of
+histories relating to antique races and departed rulers. She had
+perused the works of the poets and knew them by heart; she had studied
+philosophy and the sciences, arts and accomplishments; and she was
+pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred. Now on
+that day she said to her father, "Why do I see thee thus changed and
+laden with cark and care? Concerning this matter quoth one of the
+poets.—
+
+Tell whoso hath sorrow * Grief never shall last:
+E'en as joy hath no morrow * So woe shall go past."
+
+
+When the Wazir heard from his daughter these words he related to her,
+from first to last, all that had happened between him and the King.
+Thereupon said she, "By Allah, O my father, how long shall this
+slaughter of women endure? Shall I tell thee what is in my mind in
+order to save both sides from destruction?" "Say on, O my daughter,"
+quoth he, and quoth she, "I wish thou wouldst give me in marriage to
+this King Shahryar; either I shall live or I shall be a ransom for the
+virgin daughters of Moslems and the cause of their deliverance from his
+hands and thine."[FN#22] "Allah upon thee!" cried he in wrath exceeding
+that lacked no feeding, "O scanty of wit, expose not thy life to such
+peril! How durst thou address me in words so wide from wisdom and un
+far from foolishness? Know that one who lacketh experience in worldly
+matters readily falleth into misfortune; and whoso considereth not the
+end keepeth not the world to friend, and the vulgar say:—I was lying at
+mine ease: nought but my officiousness brought me unease." "Needs must
+thou," she broke in, "make me a doer of this good deed, and let him
+kill me an he will: I shall only die a ransom for others." "O my
+daughter," asked he, "and how shall that profit thee when thou shalt
+have thrown away thy life?" and she answered, "O my father it must be,
+come of it what will!" The Wazir was again moved to fury and blamed and
+reproached her, ending with, "In very deed—I fear lest the same befal
+thee which befel the Bull and the Ass with the Husband man." "And
+what," asked she, "befel them, O my father?" Whereupon the Wazir began
+the
+
+
+
+
+Tale of the Bull[FN#23] and the Ass.
+
+
+Know, O my daughter, that there was once a merchant who owned much
+money and many men, and who was rich in cattle and camels; he had also
+a wife and family and he dwelt in the country, being experienced in
+husbandry and devoted to agriculture. Now Allah Most High had endowed
+him with understanding the tongues of beasts and birds of every kind,
+but under pain of death if he divulged the gift to any. So he kept it
+secret for very fear. He had in his cow house a Bull and an Ass each
+tethered in his own stall one hard by the other. As the merchant was
+sitting near hand one day with his servants and his children were
+playing about him, he heard the Bull say to the Ass, "Hail and health
+to thee O Father of Waking![FN#24] for that thou enjoyest rest and good
+ministering; all under thee is clean swept and fresh sprinkled; men
+wait upon thee and feed thee, and thy provaunt is sifted barley and thy
+drink pure spring water, while I (unhappy creature!) am led forth in
+the middle of the night, when they set on my neck the plough and a
+something called Yoke; and I tire at cleaving the earth from dawn of
+day till set of sun. I am forced to do more than I can and to bear all
+manner of ill treatment from night to night; after which they take me
+back with my sides torn, my neck flayed, my legs aching and mine
+eyelids sored with tears. Then they shut me up in the byre and throw me
+beans and crushed straw,[FN#25] mixed with dirt and chaff; and I lie in
+dung and filth and foul stinks through the livelong night. But thou art
+ever in a place swept and sprinkled and cleansed, and thou art always
+lying at ease, save when it happens (and seldom enough!) that the
+master hath some business, when he mounts thee and rides thee to town
+and returns with thee forthright. So it happens that I am toiling and
+distrest while thou takest thine ease and thy rest; thou sleepest while
+I am sleepless; I hunger still while thou eatest thy fill, and I win
+contempt while thou winnest good will." When the Bull ceased speaking,
+the Ass turned towards him and said, "O Broad o' Brow,[FN#26] O thou
+lost one! he lied not who dubbed thee Bull head, for thou, O father of
+a Bull, hast neither forethought nor contrivance; thou art the simplest
+of simpletons,[FN#27] and thou knowest naught of good advisers. Hast
+thou not heard the saying of the wise:—
+
+For others these hardships and labours I bear * And theirs is the
+pleasure and mine is the care;
+As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun * To whiten the
+raiment which other men wear.[FN#28]
+
+
+But thou, O fool, art full of zeal and thou toilest and moilest before
+the master; and thou tearest and wearest and slayest thy self for the
+comfort of another. Hast thou never heard the saw that saith, None to
+guide and from the way go wide? Thou wendest forth at the call to dawn
+prayer and thou returnest not till sundown; and through the livelong
+day thou endurest all manner hardships; to wit, beating and belabouring
+and bad language. Now hearken to me, Sir Bull! when they tie thee to
+thy stinking manger, thou pawest the ground with thy forehand and
+lashest out with thy hind hoofs and pushest with thy horns and
+bellowest aloud, so they deem thee contented. And when they throw thee
+thy fodder thou fallest on it with greed and hastenest to line thy fair
+fat paunch. But if thou accept my advice it will be better for thee and
+thou wilt lead an easier life even than mine. When thou goest a field
+and they lay the thing called Yoke on thy neck, lie down and rise not
+again though haply they swinge thee; and, if thou rise, lie down a
+second time; and when they bring thee home and offer thee thy beans,
+fall backwards and only sniff at thy meat and withdraw thee and taste
+it not, and be satis fied with thy crushed straw and chaff; and on this
+wise feign thou art sick, and cease not doing thus for a day or two
+days or even three days, so shalt thou have rest from toil and moil."
+When the Bull heard these words he knew the Ass to be his friend and
+thanked him, saying, "Right is thy rede;" and prayed that all blessings
+might requite him, and cried, "O Father Wakener![FN#29] thou hast made
+up for my failings." (Now[FN#30] the merchant, O my daughter,
+understood all that passed between them.) Next day the driver took the
+Bull, and settling the plough on his neck,[FN#31] made him work as
+wont; but the Bull began to shirk his ploughing, according to the
+advice of the Ass, and the ploughman drubbed him till he broke the yoke
+and made off; but the man caught him up and leathered him till he
+despaired of his life. Not the less, however, would he do nothing but
+stand still and drop down till the evening. Then the herd led him home
+and stabled him in his stall: but he drew back from his manger and
+neither stamped nor ramped nor butted nor bellowed as he was wont to
+do; whereat the man wondered. He brought him the beans and husks, but
+he sniffed at them and left them and lay down as far from them as he
+could and passed the whole night fasting. The peasant came next
+morning; and, seeing the manger full of beans, the crushed straw
+untasted and the ox lying on his back in sorriest plight, with legs
+outstretched and swollen belly, he was concerned for him, and said to
+himself, "By Allah, he hath assuredly sickened and this is the cause
+why he would not plough yesterday." Then he went to the merchant and
+reported, "O my master, the Bull is ailing; he refused his fodder last
+night; nay more, he hath not tasted a scrap of it this morning." Now
+the merchant farmer understood what all this meant, because he had
+overheard the talk between the Bull and the Ass, so quoth he, "Take
+that rascal donkey, and set the yoke on his neck, and bind him to the
+plough and make him do Bull's work." Thereupon the ploughman took the
+Ass, and worked him through the livelong day at the Bull's task; and,
+when he failed for weakness, he made him eat stick till his ribs were
+sore and his sides were sunken and his neck was flayed by the yoke; and
+when he came home in the evening he could hardly drag his limbs along,
+either forehand or hind legs. But as for the Bull, he had passed the
+day lying at full length and had eaten his fodder with an excellent
+appetite, and he ceased not calling down blessings on the Ass for his
+good advice, unknowing what had come to him on his account. So when
+night set in and the Ass returned to the byre the Bull rose up before
+him in honour, and said, "May good tidings gladden thy heart, O Father
+Wakener! through thee I have rested all this day and I have eaten my
+meat in peace and quiet." But the Ass returned no reply, for wrath and
+heart burning and fatigue and the beating he had gotten; and he
+repented with the most grievous of repentance; and quoth he to himself:
+"This cometh of my folly in giving good counsel; as the saw saith, I
+was in joy and gladness, nought save my officiousness brought me this
+sadness. But I will bear in mind my innate worth and the nobility of my
+nature; for what saith the poet?
+
+Shall the beautiful hue of the Basil[FN#32] fail * Tho' the beetle's
+foot o'er the Basil crawl?
+And though spider and fly be its denizens * Shall disgrace attach to
+the royal hall?
+The cowrie,[FN#33] I ken, shall have currency * But the pearl's clear
+drop, shall its value fall?
+
+
+And now I must take thought and put a trick upon him and return him to
+his place, else I die." Then he went aweary to his manger, while the
+Bull thanked him and blessed him. And even so, O my daughter, said the
+Wazir, thou wilt die for lack of wits; therefore sit thee still and say
+naught and expose not thy life to such stress; for, by Allah, I offer
+thee the best advice, which cometh of my affection and kindly
+solicitude for thee." "O my father," she answered, "needs must I go up
+to this King and be married to him." Quoth he, "Do not this deed;" and
+quoth she, "Of a truth I will:" whereat he rejoined, "If thou be not
+silent and bide still, I will do with thee even what the merchant did
+with his wife." "And what did he?" asked she. "Know then, answered the
+Wazir, that after the return of the Ass the merchant came out on the
+terrace roof with his wife and family, for it was a moonlit night and
+the moon at its full. Now the ter race overlooked the cowhouse and
+presently, as he sat there with his children playing about him, the
+trader heard the Ass say to the Bull, "Tell me, O Father Broad o' Brow,
+what thou purposest to do to morrow?" The Bull answered, "What but
+continue to follow thy counsel, O Aliboron? Indeed it was as good as
+good could be and it hath given me rest and repose; nor will I now
+depart from it one tittle: so, when they bring me my meat, I will
+refuse it and blow out my belly and counterfeit crank." The Ass shook
+his head and said, "Beware of so doing, O Father of a Bull!" The Bull
+asked, "Why," and the Ass answered, "Know that I am about to give thee
+the best of counsel, for verily I heard our owner say to the herd, If
+the Bull rise not from his place to do his work this morning and if he
+retire from his fodder this day, make him over to the butcher that he
+may slaughter him and give his flesh to the poor, and fashion a bit of
+leather[FN#34] from his hide. Now I fear for thee on account of this.
+So take my advice ere a calamity befal thee; and when they bring thee
+thy fodder eat it and rise up and bellow and paw the ground, or our
+master will assuredly slay thee: and peace be with thee!" Thereupon the
+Bull arose and lowed aloud and thanked the Ass, and said, "To morrow I
+will readily go forth with them;" and he at once ate up all his meat
+and even licked the manger. (All this took place and the owner was
+listening to their talk.) Next morning the trader and his wife went to
+the Bull's crib and sat down, and the driver came and led forth the
+Bull who, seeing his owner, whisked his tail and brake wind, and
+frisked about so lustily that the merchant laughed a loud laugh and
+kept laughing till he fell on his back. His wife asked him, "Whereat
+laughest thou with such loud laughter as this?"; and he answered her,
+"I laughed at a secret something which I have heard and seen but cannot
+say lest I die my death." She returned, "Perforce thou must discover it
+to me, and disclose the cause of thy laughing even if thou come by thy
+death!" But he rejoined, "I cannot reveal what beasts and birds say in
+their lingo for fear I die." Then quoth she, "By Allah, thou liest!
+this is a mere pretext: thou laughest at none save me, and now thou
+wouldest hide somewhat from me. But by the Lord of the Heavens! an thou
+disclose not the cause I will no longer cohabit with thee: I will leave
+thee at once." And she sat down and cried. Whereupon quoth the
+merchant, "Woe betide thee! what means thy weeping? Fear Allah and
+leave these words and query me no more questions." "Needs must thou
+tell me the cause of that laugh," said she, and he replied, "Thou
+wottest that when I prayed Allah to vouchsafe me understanding of the
+tongues of beasts and birds, I made a vow never to disclose the secret
+to any under pain of dying on the spot." "No matter," cried she, "tell
+me what secret passed between the Bull and the Ass and die this very
+hour an thou be so minded;" and she ceased not to importune him till he
+was worn out and clean distraught. So at last he said, "Summon thy
+father and thy mother and our kith and kin and sundry of our
+neighbours," which she did; and he sent for the Kazi[FN#35] and his
+assessors, intending to make his will and reveal to her his secret and
+die the death; for he loved her with love exceeding because she was his
+cousin, the daughter of his father's brother, and the mother of his
+children, and he had lived with her a life of an hundred and twenty
+years. Then, having assembled all the family and the folk of his
+neighbourhood, he said to them, "By me there hangeth a strange story,
+and 'tis such that if I discover the secret to any, I am a dead man."
+Therefore quoth every one of those present to the woman, "Allah upon
+thee, leave this sinful obstinacy and recognise the right of this
+matter, lest haply thy husband and the father of thy children die." But
+she rejoined, "I will not turn from it till he tell me, even though he
+come by his death." So they ceased to urge her; and the trader rose
+from amongst them and repaired to an out-house to perform
+Wuzu-ablution,[FN#36] and he purposed thereafter to return and to tell
+them his secret and to die. Now, daughter Shahrazad, that mer chant had
+in his out-houses some fifty hens under one cock, and whilst making
+ready to farewell his folk he heard one of his many farm dogs thus
+address in his own tongue the Cock, who was flapping his wings and
+crowing lustily and jumping from one hen's back to another and treading
+all in turn, saying "O Chanticleer! how mean is thy wit and how
+shameless is thy conduct! Be he disappointed who brought thee
+up![FN#37] Art thou not ashamed of thy doings on such a day as this!"
+"And what," asked the Rooster, "hath occurred this day?" when the Dog
+answered, "Dost thou not know that our master is this day making ready
+for his death? His wife is resolved that he shall disclose the secret
+taught to him by Allah, and the moment he so doeth he shall surely die.
+We dogs are all a mourning; but thou clappest thy wings and clarionest
+thy loudest and treadest hen after hen. Is this an hour for pastime and
+pleasuring? Art thou not ashamed of thyself?"[FN#38] "Then by Allah,"
+quoth the Cock, "is our master a lack wit and a man scanty of sense: if
+he cannot manage matters with a single wife, his life is not worth
+prolonging. Now I have some fifty Dame Partlets; and I please this and
+provoke that and starve one and stuff another; and through my good
+governance they are all well under my control. This our master
+pretendeth to wit and wisdom, and he hath but one wife, and yet knoweth
+not how to manage her." Asked the Dog, "What then, O Cock, should the
+master do to win clear of his strait?" "He should arise forthright,"
+answered the Cock, "and take some twigs from yon mulberry tree and give
+her a regular back basting and rib roasting till she cry:—I repent, O
+my lord! I will never ask thee a question as long as I live! Then let
+him beat her once more and soundly, and when he shall have done this he
+shall sleep free from care and enjoy life. But this master of ours owns
+neither sense nor judgment." "Now, daughter Shahrazad," continued the
+Wazir, "I will do to thee as did that husband to that wife." Said
+Shahrazad, "And what did he do?" He replied, "When the merchant heard
+the wise words spoken by his Cock to his Dog, he arose in haste and
+sought his wife's chamber, after cutting for her some mulberry twigs
+and hiding them there; and then he called to her, "Come into the closet
+that I may tell thee the secret while no one seeth me and then die."
+She entered with him and he locked the door and came down upon her with
+so sound a beating of back and shoulders, ribs, arms and legs, saying
+the while, "Wilt thou ever be asking questions about what concerneth
+thee not?" that she was well nigh senseless. Presently she cried out,
+"I am of the repentant! By Allah, I will ask thee no more questions,
+and indeed I repent sincerely and wholesomely." Then she kissed his
+hand and feet and he led her out of the room submissive as a wife
+should be. Her parents and all the company rejoiced and sadness and
+mourning were changed into joy and gladness. Thus the merchant learnt
+family discipline from his Cock and he and his wife lived together the
+happiest of lives until death. And thou also, O my daughter!" continued
+the Wazir, "Unless thou turn from this matter I will do by thee what
+that trader did to his wife." But she answered him with much decision,
+"I will never desist, O my father, nor shall this tale change my
+purpose. Leave such talk and tattle. I will not listen to thy words
+and, if thou deny me, I will marry myself to him despite the nose of
+thee. And first I will go up to the King myself and alone and I will
+say to him:—I prayed my father to wive me with thee, but he refused
+being resolved to disappoint his lord, grudging the like of me to the
+like of thee." Her father asked, "Must this needs be?" and she
+answered, "Even so." Hereupon the Wazir being weary of lamenting and
+contending, persuading and dissuading her, all to no purpose, went up
+to King Shahryar and after blessing him and kissing the ground before
+him, told him all about his dispute with his daughter from first to
+last and how he designed to bring her to him that night. The King
+wondered with exceeding wonder; for he had made an especial exception
+of the Wazir's daughter, and said to him, "O most faithful of
+Counsellors, how is this? Thou wottest that I have sworn by the Raiser
+of the Heavens that after I have gone in to her this night I shall say
+to thee on the morrow's morning:—Take her and slay her! and, if thou
+slay her not, I will slay thee in her stead without fail." "Allah guide
+thee to glory and lengthen thy life, O King of the age," answered the
+Wazir, "it is she that hath so determined: all this have I told her and
+more; but she will not hearken to me and she persisteth in passing this
+coming night with the King's Majesty." So Shahryar rejoiced greatly and
+said, "'Tis well; go get her ready and this night bring her to me." The
+Wazir returned to his daughter and reported to her the command saying,
+"Allah make not thy father desolate by thy loss!" But Shahrazad
+rejoiced with exceeding joy and gat ready all she required and said to
+her younger sister, Dunyazad, "Note well what directions I entrust to
+thee! When I have gone into the King I will send for thee and when thou
+comest to me and seest that he hath had his carnal will of me, do thou
+say to me:—O my sister, an thou be not sleepy, relate to me some new
+story, delectable and delightsome, the better to speed our waking
+hours;" and I will tell thee a tale which shall be our deliverance, if
+so Allah please, and which shall turn the King from his blood thirsty
+custom." Dunyazad answered "With love and gladness." So when it was
+night their father the Wazir carried Shahrazad to the King who was
+gladdened at the sight and asked, "Hast thou brought me my need?" and
+he answered, "I have." But when the King took her to his bed and fell
+to toying with her and wished to go in to her she wept; which made him
+ask, "What aileth thee?" She replied, "O King of the age, I have a
+younger sister and lief would I take leave of her this night before I
+see the dawn." So he sent at once for Dunyazad and she came and kissed
+the ground between his hands, when he permitted her to take her seat
+near the foot of the couch. Then the King arose and did away with his
+bride's maidenhead and the three fell asleep. But when it was midnight
+Shahrazad awoke and signalled to her sister Dunyazad who sat up and
+said, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, recite to us some new story,
+delightsome and delectable, wherewith to while away the waking hours of
+our latter night."[FN#39] "With joy and goodly gree," answered
+Shahrazad, "if this pious and auspicious King permit me." "Tell on,"
+quoth the King who chanced to be sleepless and restless and therefore
+was pleased with the prospect of hearing her story. So Shahrazad
+rejoiced; and thus, on the first night of the Thousand Nights and a
+Night, she began with the
+
+
+
+
+TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI.
+
+
+It is related, O auspicious King, that there was a merchant of the
+merchants who had much wealth, and business in various cities. Now on a
+day he mounted horse and went forth to recover monies in certain towns,
+and the heat sore oppressed him; so he sat beneath a tree and, putting
+his hand into his saddle bags, took thence some broken bread and dry
+dates and began to break his fast. When he had ended eating the dates
+he threw away the stones with force and lo! an Ifrit appeared, huge of
+stature and brandishing a drawn sword, wherewith he approached the
+merchant and said, "Stand up that I may slay thee, even as thou slewest
+my son!" Asked the merchant, "How have I slain thy son?" and he
+answered, "When thou atest dates and threwest away the stones they
+struck my son full in the breast as he was walking by, so that he died
+forthwith."[FN#40] Quoth the merchant, "Verily from Allah we proceeded
+and unto Allah are we returning. There is no Majesty, and there is no
+Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! If I slew thy son, I slew
+him by chance medley. I pray thee now pardon me." Rejoined the Jinni,
+"There is no help but I must slay thee." Then he seized him and dragged
+him along and, casting him to the earth, raised the sword to strike
+him; whereupon the merchant wept, and said, "I commit my case to
+Allah," and began repeating these couplets:—
+
+Containeth Time a twain of days, this of blessing that of bane * And
+holdeth Life a twain of halves, this of pleasure that of pain.
+See'st not when blows the hurricane, sweeping stark and striking strong
+* None save the forest giant feels the suffering of the strain?
+How many trees earth nourisheth of the dry and of the green * Yet none
+but those which bear the fruits for cast of stone complain.
+See'st not how corpses rise and float on the surface of the tide *
+While pearls o'price lie hidden in the deepest of the main!
+In Heaven are unnumbered the many of the stars * Yet ne'er a star but
+Sun and Moon by eclipse is overta'en.
+Well judgedst thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well * And
+countedst not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever fain.
+The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride * But
+bliss and blessings of the night are 'genderers of bane!
+
+
+When the merchant ceased repeating his verses the Jinni said to him,
+"Cut thy words short, by Allah! needs must I slay thee." But the
+merchant spake him thus, "Know, O thou Ifrit, that I have debts due to
+me and much wealth and children and a wife and many pledges in hand; so
+permit me to go home and discharge to every claimant his claim; and I
+will come back to thee at the head of the new year. Allah be my
+testimony and surety that I will return to thee; and then thou mayest
+do with me as thou wilt and Allah is witness to what I say." The Jinni
+took sure promise of him and let him go; so he returned to his own city
+and transacted his business and rendered to all men their dues and
+after informing his wife and children of what had betided him, he
+appointed a guardian and dwelt with them for a full year. Then he
+arose, and made the Wuzu ablution to purify himself before death and
+took his shroud under his arm and bade farewell to his people, his
+neighbours and all his kith and kin, and went forth despite his own
+nose.[FN#41] They then began weeping and wailing and beating their
+breasts over him; but he travelled until he arrived at the same garden,
+and the day of his arrival was the head of the New Year. As he sat
+weeping over what had befallen him, behold, a Shaykh,[FN#42] a very
+ancient man, drew near leading a chained gazelle; and he saluted that
+merchant and wishing him long life said, "What is the cause of thy
+sitting in this place and thou alone and this be a resort of evil
+spirits?" The merchant related to him what had come to pass with the
+Ifrit, and the old man, the owner of the gazelle, wondered and said,
+"By Allah, O brother, thy faith is none other than exceeding faith and
+thy story right strange; were it graven with gravers on the eye
+corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned." Then seating
+himself near the merchant he said, "By Allah, O my brother, I will not
+leave thee until I see what may come to pass with thee and this Ifrit."
+And presently as he sat and the two were at talk the merchant began to
+feel fear and terror and exceeding grief and sorrow beyond relief and
+ever growing care and extreme despair. And the owner of the gazelle was
+hard by his side; when behold, a second Shaykh approached them, and
+with him were two dogs both of greyhound breed and both black. The
+second old man after saluting them with the salam, also asked them of
+their tidings and said "What causeth you to sit in this place, a
+dwelling of the Jann?"[FN#43] So they told him the tale from beginning
+to end, and their stay there had not lasted long before there came up a
+third Shaykh, and with him a she mule of bright bay coat; and he
+saluted them and asked them why they were seated in that place. So they
+told him the story from first to last: and of no avail, O my master, is
+a twice told tale! There he sat down with them, and lo! a dust cloud
+advanced and a mighty sand-devil appeared amidmost of the waste.
+Presently the cloud opened and behold, within it was that Jinni hending
+in hand a drawn sword, while his eyes were shooting fire sparks of
+rage. He came up to them and, haling away the merchant from among them,
+cried to him, "Arise that I may slay thee, as thou slewest my son, the
+life stuff of my liver."[FN#44] The merchant wailed and wept, and the
+three old men began sighing and crying and weeping and wailing with
+their companion. Presently the first old man (the owner of the gazelle)
+came out from among them and kissed the hand of the Ifrit and said, "O
+Jinni, thou Crown of the Kings of the Jann! were I to tell thee the
+story of me and this gazelle and thou shouldst consider it wondrous
+wouldst thou give me a third part of this merchant's blood?" Then quoth
+the Jinni "Even so, O Shaykh ! if thou tell me this tale, and I hold it
+a marvellous, then will I give thee a third of his blood." Thereupon
+the old man began to tell
+
+
+
+
+The First Shaykh’s Story.
+
+
+Know O Jinni! that this gazelle is the daughter of my paternal uncle,
+my own flesh and blood, and I married her when she was a young maid,
+and I lived with her well nigh thirty years, yet was I not blessed with
+issue by her. So I took me a concubine[FN#45] who brought to me the
+boon of a male child fair as the full moon, with eyes of lovely shine
+and eyebrows which formed one line, and limbs of perfect design. Little
+by little he grew in stature and waxed tall; and when he was a lad
+fifteen years old, it became needful I should journey to certain cities
+and I travelled with great store of goods. But the daughter of my uncle
+(this gazelle) had learned gramarye and egromancy and clerkly
+craft[FN#46] from her childhood; so she bewitched that son of mine to a
+calf, and my handmaid (his mother) to a heifer, and made them over to
+the herdsman's care. Now when I returned after a long time from my
+journey and asked for my son and his mother, she answered me, saying
+"Thy slave girl is dead, and thy son hath fled and I know not whither
+he is sped." So I remained for a whole year with grieving heart, and
+streaming eyes until the time came for the Great Festival of
+Allah.[FN#47] Then sent I to my herdsman bidding him choose for me a
+fat heifer; and he brought me one which was the damsel, my handmaid,
+whom this gazelle had ensorcelled. I tucked up my sleeves and skirt
+and, taking a knife, proceeded to cut her throat, but she lowed aloud
+and wept bitter tears. Thereat I marvelled and pity seized me and I
+held my hand, saying to the herd, "Bring me other than this." Then
+cried my cousin, "Slay her, for I have not a fatter nor a fairer!" Once
+more I went forward to sacrifice her, but she again lowed aloud upon
+which in ruth I refrained and commanded the herdsman to slay her and
+flay her. He killed her and skinned her but found in her neither fat
+nor flesh, only hide and bone; and I repented when penitence availed me
+naught. I gave her to the herdsman and said to him, "Fetch me a fat
+calf;" so he brought my son ensorcelled. When the calf saw me, he brake
+his tether and ran to me, and fawned upon me and wailed and shed tears;
+so that I took pity on him and said to the herdsman, "Bring me a heifer
+and let this calf go!" Thereupon my cousin (this gazelle) called aloud
+at me, saying, "Needs must thou kill this calf; this is a holy day and
+a blessed, whereon naught is slain save what be perfect pure; and we
+have not amongst our calves any fatter or fairer than this!" Quoth I,
+"Look thou upon the condition of the heifer which I slaughtered at thy
+bidding and how we turn from her in disappointment and she profited us
+on no wise; and I repent with an exceeding repentance of having killed
+her: so this time I will not obey thy bidding for the sacrifice of this
+calf." Quoth she, "By Allah the Most Great, the Compassionating, the
+Compassionate! there is no help for it; thou must kill him on this holy
+day, and if thou kill him not to me thou art no man and I to thee am no
+wife." Now when I heard those hard words, not knowing her object I went
+up to the calf, knife in hand—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
+and ceased to say her permitted say.[FN#48] Then quoth her sister to
+her, "How fair is thy tale, and how grateful, and how sweet and how
+tasteful!" And Shahrazad answered her, "What is this to that I could
+tell thee on the coming night, were I to live and the King would spare
+me?" Then said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay her,
+until I shall have heard the rest of her tale." So they slept the rest
+of that night in mutual embrace till day fully brake. Then the King
+went forth to his audience hall[FN#49] and the Wazir went up with his
+daughter's shroud under his arm. The King issued his orders, and
+promoted this and deposed that, until the end of the day; and he told
+the Wazir no whit of what had happened. But the Minister wondered
+thereat with exceeding wonder; and when the Court broke up King
+Shahryar entered his palace.
+
+When it was the Second Night,
+
+
+said Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, "O my sister, finish for us that
+story of the Merchant and the Jinni;" and she answered "With joy and
+goodly gree, if the King permit me." Then quoth the King, "Tell thy
+tale;" and Shahrazad began in these words: It hath reached me, O
+auspicious King and Heaven directed Ruler! that when the merchant
+purposed the sacrifice of the calf but saw it weeping, his heart
+relented and he said to the herdsman, "Keep the calf among my cattle."
+All this the old Shaykh told the Jinni who marvelled much at these
+strange words. Then the owner of the gazelle continued:—O Lord of the
+Kings of the Jann, this much took place and my uncle's daughter, this
+gazelle, looked on and saw it, and said, "Butcher me this calf, for
+surely it is a fat one;" but I bade the herdsman take it away and he
+took it and turned his face homewards. On the next day as I was sitting
+in my own house, lo! the herdsman came and, standing before me said, "O
+my master, I will tell thee a thing which shall gladden thy soul, and
+shall gain me the gift of good tidings."[FN#50] I answered, "Even so."
+Then said he, "O merchant, I have a daughter, and she learned magic in
+her childhood from an old woman who lived with us. Yesterday when thou
+gavest me the calf, I went into the house to her, and she looked upon
+it and veiled her face; then she wept and laughed alternately and at
+last she said:—O my father, hath mine honour become so cheap to thee
+that thou bringest in to me strange men? I asked her:—Where be these
+strange men and why wast thou laughing, and crying?; and she answered,
+Of a truth this calf which is with thee is the son of our master, the
+merchant; but he is ensorcelled by his stepdame who bewitched both him
+and his mother: such is the cause of my laughing; now the reason of his
+weeping is his mother, for that his father slew her unawares. Then I
+marvelled at this with exceeding marvel and hardly made sure that day
+had dawned before I came to tell thee." When I heard, O Jinni, my
+herdsman's words, I went out with him, and I was drunken without wine,
+from the excess of joy and gladness which came upon me, until I reached
+his house. There his daughter welcomed me and kissed my hand, and
+forthwith the calf came and fawned upon me as before. Quoth I to the
+herdsman's daughter, "Is this true that thou sayest of this calf?"
+Quoth she, "Yea, O my master, he is thy son, the very core of thy
+heart." I rejoiced and said to her, "O maiden, if thou wilt release him
+thine shall be whatever cattle and property of mine are under thy
+father's hand." She smiled and answered, "O my master, I have no greed
+for the goods nor will I take them save on two conditions; the first
+that thou marry me to thy son and the second that I may bewitch her who
+bewitched him and imprison her, otherwise I cannot be safe from her
+malice and malpractices." Now when I heard, O Jinni, these, the words
+of the herdsman's daughter, I replied, "Beside what thou askest all the
+cattle and the household stuff in thy father's charge are thine and, as
+for the daughter of my uncle, her blood is lawful to thee." When I had
+spoken, she took a cup and filled it with water: then she recited a
+spell over it and sprinkled it upon the calf, saying, "If Almighty
+Allah created thee a calf, remain so shaped, and change not; but if
+thou be enchanted, return to thy whilom form, by command of Allah Most
+Highest!" and lo! he trembled and became a man. Then I fell on his neck
+and said, "Allah upon thee, tell me all that the daughter of my uncle
+did by thee and by thy mother." And when he told me what had come to
+pass between them I said, " O my son, Allah favoured thee with one to
+restore thee, and thy right hath returned to thee." Then, O Jinni, I
+married the herdsman's daughter to him, and she transformed my wife
+into this gazelle, saying:—Her shape is a comely and by no means
+loathsome. After this she abode with us night and day, day and night,
+till the Almighty took her to Himself. When she deceased, my son fared
+forth to the cities of Hind, even to the city of this man who hath done
+to thee what hath been done;[FN#51] and I also took this gazelle (my
+cousin) and wandered with her from town to town seeking tidings of my
+son, till Destiny drove me to this place where I saw the merchant
+sitting in tears. Such is my tale! Quoth the Jinni, "This story is
+indeed strange, and therefore I grant thee the third part of his
+blood." Thereupon the second old man, who owned the two greyhounds,
+came up and said, " O Jinni, if I recount to thee what befel me from my
+brothers, these two hounds, and thou see that it is a tale even more
+wondrous and marvellous than what thou hast heard, wilt thou grant to
+me also the third of this man's blood?" Replied the Jinni, "Thou hast
+my word for it, if thine adventures be more marvellous and wondrous."
+Thereupon he thus began
+
+
+
+
+The Second Shaykh’s Story.
+
+
+Know, O lord of the Kings of the Jann! that these two dogs are my
+brothers and I am the third. Now when our father died and left us a
+capital of three thousand gold pieces,[FN#52] I opened a shop with my
+share, and bought and sold therein, and in like guise did my two
+brothers, each setting up a shop. But I had been in business no long
+while before the elder sold his stock for a thousand dinars, and after
+buying outfit and merchandise, went his ways to foreign parts. He was
+absent one whole year with the caravan; but one day as I sat in my
+shop, behold, a beggar stood before me asking alms, and I said to him,
+"Allah open thee another door!"[FN#53] Whereupon he answered, weeping
+the while, "Am I so changed that thou knowest me not?" Then I looked at
+him narrowly, and lo! it was my brother, so I rose to him and welcomed
+him; then I seated him in my shop and put questions concerning his
+case. "Ask me not," answered he; "my wealth is awaste and my state hath
+waxed unstated!" So I took him to the Hammam bath[FN#54] and clad him
+in a suit of my own and gave him lodging in my house. Moreover, after
+looking over the accounts of my stock in trade and the profits of my
+business, I found that industry had gained me one thousand dinars,
+while my principal, the head of my wealth, amounted to two thousand. So
+I shared the whole with him saying, "Assume that thou hast made no
+journey abroad but hast remained at home; and be not cast down by thine
+ill luck." He took the share in great glee and opened for himself a
+shop; and matters went on quietly for a few nights and days. But
+presently my second brother (yon other dog), also setting his heart
+upon travel, sold off what goods and stock in trade he had, and albeit
+we tried to stay him he would not be stayed: he laid in an outfit for
+the journey and fared forth with certain wayfarers. After an absence of
+a whole year he came back to me, even as my elder brother had come
+back; and when I said to him, "O my brother, did I not dissuade thee
+from travel?" he shed tears and cried, "O my brother, this be destiny's
+decree: here I am a mere beggar, penniless[FN#55] and without a shirt
+to my back." So I led him to the bath, O Jinni, and clothing him in new
+clothes of my own wear, I went with him to my shop and served him with
+meat and drink. Furthermore I said to him, "O my brother, I am wont to
+cast up my shop accounts at the head of every year, and whatso I shall
+find of surplusage is between me and thee."[FN#56] So I proceeded, O
+Ifrit, to strike a balance and, finding two thousand dinars of profit,
+I returned praises to the Creator (be He extolled and exalted!) and
+made over one half to my brother, keeping the other to myself.
+Thereupon he busied himself with opening a shop and on this wise we
+abode many days. After a time my brothers began pressing me to travel
+with them; but I refused saying, "What gained ye by travel voyage that
+I should gain thereby?" As I would not give ear to them we went back
+each to his own shop where we bought and sold as before. They kept
+urging me to travel for a whole twelvemonth, but I refused to do so
+till full six years were past and gone when I consented with these
+words, "O my brothers, here am I, your companion of travel: now let me
+see what monies you have by you." I found, however, that they had not a
+doit, having squandered their substance in high diet and drinking and
+carnal delights. Yet I spoke not a word of reproach; so far from it I
+looked over my shop accounts once more, and sold what goods and stock
+in trade were mine; and, finding myself the owner of six thousand
+ducats, I gladly proceeded to divide that sum in halves, saying to my
+brothers, "These three thousand gold pieces are for me and for you to
+trade withal," adding, "Let us bury the other moiety underground that
+it may be of service in case any harm befal us, in which case each
+shall take a thousand wherewith to open shops." Both replied, "Right is
+thy recking;" and I gave to each one his thousand gold pieces, keeping
+the same sum for myself, to wit, a thousand dinars. We then got ready
+suitable goods and hired a ship and, having embarked our merchandise,
+proceeded on our voyage, day following day, a full month, after which
+we arrived at a city, where we sold our venture; and for every piece of
+gold we gained ten. And as we turned again to our voyage we found on
+the shore of the sea a maiden clad in worn and ragged gear, and she
+kissed my hand and said, "O master, is there kindness in thee and
+charity? I can make thee a fitting return for them." I answered, "Even
+so; truly in me are benevolence and good works, even though thou render
+me no return." Then she said, "Take me to wife, O my master, and carry
+me to thy city, for I have given myself to thee; so do me a kindness
+and I am of those who be meet for good works and charity: I will make
+thee a fitting return for these and be thou not shamed by my
+condition." When I heard her words, my heart yearned towards her, in
+such sort as willed it Allah (be He extolled and exalted!); and took
+her and clothed her and made ready for her a fair resting place in the
+vessel, and honourably entreated her. So we voyaged on, and my heart
+became attached to her with exceeding attachment, and I was separated
+from her neither night nor day, and I paid more regard to her than to
+my brothers. Then they were estranged from me, and waxed jealous of my
+wealth and the quantity of merchandise I had, and their eyes were
+opened covetously upon all my property. So they took counsel to murder
+me and seize my wealth, saying, "Let us slay our brother and all his
+monies will be ours;" and Satan made this deed seem fair in their
+sight; so when they found me in privacy (and I sleeping by my wife's
+side) they took us both up and cast us into the sea. My wife awoke
+startled from her sleep and, forthright becoming an Ifritah,[FN#57] she
+bore me up and carried me to an island and disappeared for a short
+time; but she returned in the morning and said, "Here am I, thy
+faithful slave, who hath made thee due recompense; for I bore thee up
+in the waters and saved thee from death by command of the Almighty.
+Know—that I am a Jinniyah, and as I saw thee my heart loved thee by
+will of the Lord, for I am a believer in Allah and in His Apostle (whom
+Heaven bless and preserve!). Thereupon I came to thee conditioned as
+thou sawest me and thou didst marry me, and see now I have saved thee
+from sinking. But I am angered against thy brothers and assuredly I
+must slay them." When I heard her story I was surprised and, thanking
+her for all she had done, I said, "But as to slaying my brothers this
+must not be." Then I told her the tale of what had come to pass with
+them from the beginning of our lives to the end, and on hearing it
+quoth she, "This night will I fly as a bird over them and will sink
+their ship and slay them." Quoth I, "Allah upon thee, do not thus, for
+the proverb saith, O thou who doest good to him that doth evil, leave
+the evil doer to his evil deeds. Moreover they are still my brothers."
+But she rejoined, "By Allah, there is no help for it but I slay them."
+I humbled myself before her for their pardon, whereupon she bore me up
+and flew away with me till at last she set me down on the terrace roof
+of my own house. I opened the doors and took up what I had hidden in
+the ground; and after I had saluted the folk I opened my shop and
+bought me merchandise. Now when night came on I went home, and there I
+saw these two hounds tied up; and, when they sighted me, they arose and
+whined and fawned upon me; but ere I knew what happened my wife said,
+"These two dogs be thy brothers!" I answered, "And who hath done this
+thing by them?" and she rejoined, "I sent a message to my sister and
+she entreated them on this wise, nor shall these two be released from
+their present shape till ten years shall have passed." And now I have
+arrived at this place on my way to my wife's sister that she may
+deliver them from this condition, after their having endured it for
+half a score of years. As I was wending onwards I saw this young man,
+who acquainted me with what had befallen him, and I determined not to
+fare hence until I should see what might occur between thee and him.
+Such is my tale! Then said the Jinni, "Surely this is a strange story
+and therefor I give thee the third portion of his blood and his crime."
+Thereupon quoth the third Shaykh, the master of the mare mule, to the
+Jinni, "I can tell thee a tale more wondrous than these two, so thou
+grant me the remainder of his blood and of his offense," and the Jinni
+answered, "So be it!" Then the old man began
+
+
+
+
+The Third Shaykh’s Story.
+
+
+Know, O Sultan and head of the Jann, that this mule was my wife. Now it
+so happened that I went forth and was absent one whole year; and when I
+returned from my journey I came to her by night, and saw a black slave
+lying with her on the carpet bed and they were talking, and dallying,
+and laughing, and kissing and playing the close buttock game. When she
+saw me, she rose and came hurriedly at me with a gugglet[FN#58] of
+water; and, muttering spells over it, she besprinkled me and said,
+"Come forth from this thy shape into the shape of a dog;" and I became
+on the instant a dog. She drove me out of the house, and I ran through
+the doorway nor ceased running until I came to a butcher's stall, where
+I stopped and began to eat what bones were there. When the stall owner
+saw me, he took me and led me into his house, but as soon as his
+daughter had sight of me she veiled her face from me, crying out, "Dost
+thou bring men to me and dost thou come in with them to me?" Her father
+asked, "Where is the man?"; and she answered, "This dog is a man whom
+his wife hath ensorcelled and I am able to release him." When her
+father heard her words, he said, "Allah upon thee, O my daughter,
+release him." So she took a gugglet of water and, after uttering words
+over it, sprinkled upon me a few drops, saying, "Come forth from that
+form into thy former form." And I returned to my natural shape. Then I
+kissed her hand and said, "I wish thou wouldest transform my wife even
+as she transformed me." Thereupon she gave me some water, saying, "As
+soon as thou see her asleep, sprinkle this liquid upon her and speak
+what words thou heardest me utter, so shall she become whatsoever thou
+desirest." I went to my wife and found her fast asleep; and, while
+sprinkling the water upon her, I said, "Come forth from that form into
+the form of a mare mule." So she became on the instant a she mule, and
+she it is whom thou seest with thine eyes, O Sultan and head of the
+Kings of the Jann! Then the Jinni turned towards her and said, "Is this
+sooth?" And she nodded her head and replied by signs, "Indeed, 'tis the
+truth: for such is my tale and this is what hath befallen me." Now when
+the old man had ceased speaking the Jinni shook with pleasure and gave
+him the third of the merchant's blood. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
+of day and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth Dunyazad, "O. my
+sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful; how sweet and how
+grateful!" She replied, "And what is this compared with that I could
+tell thee, the night to come, if I live and the King spare me?"[FN#59]
+Then thought the King, "By Allah, I will not slay her until I hear the
+rest of her tale, for truly it is wondrous." So they rested that night
+in mutual embrace until the dawn. After this the King went forth to his
+Hall of Estate, and the Wazir and the troops came in and the court was
+crowded, and the King gave orders and judged and appointed and deposed,
+bidding and forbidding during the rest of the day. Then the Divan broke
+up, and King Shahryar entered his palace.
+
+When it was the Third Night,
+
+
+And the King had had his will of the Wazir's daughter, Dunyazad, her
+sister, said to her, "Finish for us that tale of thine;" and she
+replied, "With joy and goodly gree! It hath reached me, O auspicious
+King, that when the third old man told a tale to the Jinni more
+wondrous than the two preceding, the Jinni marvelled with exceeding
+marvel, and, shaking with delight, cried, Lo! I have given thee the
+remainder of the merchant's punishment and for thy sake have I released
+him." Thereupon the merchant embraced the old men and thanked them, and
+these Shaykhs wished him joy on being saved and fared forth each one
+for his own city. Yet this tale is not more wondrous than the
+fisherman's story." Asked the King, "What is the fisherman's story?"
+And she answered by relating the tale of
+
+
+
+
+THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI.
+
+
+It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was a Fisher man well
+stricken in years who had a wife and three children, and withal was of
+poor condition. Now it was his custom to cast his net every day four
+times, and no more. On a day he went forth about noontide to the sea
+shore, where he laid down his basket; and, tucking up his shirt and
+plunging into the water, made a cast with his net and waited till it
+settled to the bottom. Then he gathered the cords together and haled
+away at it, but found it weighty; and however much he drew it
+landwards, he could not pull it up; so he carried the ends ashore and
+drove a stake into the ground and made the net fast to it. Then he
+stripped and dived into the water all about the net, and left not off
+working hard until he had brought it up. He rejoiced thereat and,
+donning his clothes, went to the net, when he found in it a dead
+jackass which had torn the meshes. Now when he saw it, he exclaimed in
+his grief, "There is no Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah
+the Glorious, the Great!" Then quoth he, "This is a strange manner of
+daily bread;" and he began re citing in extempore verse:—
+
+O toiler through the glooms of night in peril and in pain * Thy toiling
+stint for daily bread comes not by might and main!
+Seest thou not the fisher seek afloat upon the sea * His bread, while
+glimmer stars of night as set in tangled skein.
+Anon he plungeth in despite the buffet of the waves * The while to
+sight the bellying net his eager glances strain;
+Till joying at the night's success, a fish he bringeth home * Whose
+gullet by the hook of Fate was caught and cut in twain.
+When buys that fish of him a man who spent the hours of night *
+Reckless of cold and wet and gloom in ease and comfort fain,
+Laud to the Lord who gives to this, to that denies his wishes * And
+dooms one toil and catch the prey and other eat the fishes.[FN#60]
+
+
+Then quoth he, "Up and to it; I am sure of His beneficence,
+Inshallah!" So he continued:—
+
+When thou art seized of Evil Fate, assume * The noble soul's long
+suffering: 'tis thy best:
+Complain not to the creature; this be plaint * From one most Ruthful to
+the ruthlessest.
+
+
+The Fisherman, when he had looked at the dead ass, got it free of the
+toils and wrung out and spread his net; then he plunged into the sea,
+saying, "In Allah's name!" and made a cast and pulled at it, but it
+grew heavy and settled down more firmly than the first time. Now he
+thought that there were fish in it, and he made it fast, and doffing
+his clothes went into the water, and dived and haled until he drew it
+up upon dry land. Then found he in it a large earthen pitcher which was
+full of sand and mud; and seeing this he was greatly troubled and began
+repeating these verses[FN#61]:—
+
+Forbear, O troubles of the world, * And pardon an ye nill forbear:
+I went to seek my daily bread * I find that breadless I must fare:
+For neither handcraft brings me aught * Nor Fate allots to me a share:
+How many fools the Pleiads reach * While darkness whelms the wise and
+ware.
+
+
+So he prayed pardon of Allah and, throwing away the jar, wrung his net
+and cleansed it and returned to the sea the third time to cast his net
+and waited till it had sunk. Then he pulled at it and found therein
+potsherds and broken glass; whereupon he began to speak these verses:—
+
+He is to thee that daily bread thou canst nor loose nor bind * Nor pen
+nor writ avail thee aught thy daily bread to find:
+For joy and daily bread are what Fate deigneth to allow; * This soil is
+sad and sterile ground, while that makes glad the hind.
+The shafts of Time and Life bear down full many a man of worth * While
+bearing up to high degree wights of ignoble mind.
+So come thou, Death! for verily life is not worth a straw * When low
+the falcon falls withal the mallard wings the wind:
+No wonder 'tis thou seest how the great of soul and mind * Are poor,
+and many a losel carle to height of luck designed.
+This bird shall overfly the world from east to furthest west * And that
+shall win her every wish though ne'er she leave the nest.
+
+
+Then raising his eyes heavenwards he said, "O my God![FN#62] verily
+Thou wottest that I cast not my net each day save four times[FN#63];
+the third is done and as yet Thou hast vouchsafed me nothing. So this
+time, O my God, deign give me my daily bread." Then, having called on
+Allah's name,[FN#64] he again threw his net and waited its sinking and
+settling; whereupon he haled at it but could not draw it in for that it
+was entangled at the bottom. He cried out in his vexation "There is no
+Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!" and he began reciting:—
+
+Fie on this wretched world, an so it be * I must be whelmed by grief
+and misery:
+Tho' gladsome be man's lot when dawns the morn * He drains the cup of
+woe ere eve he see:
+Yet was I one of whom the world when asked * "Whose lot is happiest?"
+oft would say "'Tis he!"
+
+
+Thereupon he stripped and, diving down to the net, busied himself with
+it till it came to land. Then he opened the meshes and found therein a
+cucumber shaped jar of yellow copper,[FN#65] evidently full of
+something, whose mouth was made fast with a leaden cap, stamped with
+the seal ring of our Lord Sulayman son of David (Allah accept the
+twain!). Seeing this the Fisherman rejoiced and said, "If I sell it in
+the brass bazar 'tis worth ten golden dinars." He shook it and finding
+it heavy continued, "Would to Heaven I knew what is herein. But I must
+and will open it and look to its contents and store it in my bag and
+sell it in the brass market." And taking out a knife he worked at the
+lead till he had loosened it from the jar; then he laid the cup on the
+ground and shook the vase to pour out whatever might be inside. He
+found nothing in it; whereat he marvelled with an exceeding marvel. But
+presently there came forth from the jar a smoke which spired
+heavenwards into aether (whereat he again marvelled with mighty
+marvel), and which trailed along earth's surface till presently, having
+reached its full height, the thick vapour condensed, and became an
+Ifrit, huge of bulk, whose crest touched the clouds while his feet were
+on the ground. His head was as a dome, his hands like pitchforks, his
+legs long as masts and his mouth big as a cave; his teeth were like
+large stones, his nostrils ewers, his eyes two lamps and his look was
+fierce and lowering. Now when the Fisherman saw the Ifrit his side
+muscles quivered, his teeth chattered, his spittle dried up and he
+became blind about what to do. Upon this the Ifrit looked at him and
+cried, "There is no god but the God, and Sulayman is the prophet of
+God;" presently adding, "O Apostle of Allah, slay me not; never again
+will I gainsay thee in word nor sin against thee in deed."[FN#66] Quoth
+the Fisherman, "O Marid,[FN#67] diddest thou say, Sulayman the Apostle
+of Allah; and Sulayman is dead some thousand and eight hundred years
+ago,[FN#68] and we are now in the last days of the world! What is thy
+story, and what is thy account of thyself, and what is the cause of thy
+entering into this cucurbit?" Now when the Evil Spirit heard the words
+of the Fisher man, quoth he; "There is no god but the God: be of good
+cheer, O Fisherman!" Quoth the Fisherman, "Why biddest thou me to be of
+good cheer?" and he replied, "Because of thy having to die an ill death
+in this very hour." Said the Fisherman, "Thou deservest for thy good
+tidings the withdrawal of Heaven's protection, O thou distant
+one![FN#69] Wherefore shouldest thou kill me and what thing have I done
+to deserve death, I who freed thee from the jar, and saved thee from
+the depths of the sea, and brought thee up on the dry land?" Replied
+the Ifrit, "Ask of me only what mode of death thou wilt die, and by
+what manner of slaughter shall I slay thee." Rejoined the Fisherman,
+"What is my crime and wherefore such retribution?" Quoth the Ifrit,
+"Hear my story, O Fisherman!" and he answered, "Say on, and be brief in
+thy saying, for of very sooth my life breath is in my nostrils."[FN#70]
+Thereupon quoth the Jinni, "Know, that I am one among the heretical
+Jann and I sinned against Sulayman, David son (on the twain be peace!)
+I together with the famous Sakhr al Jinni;"[FN#71] whereupon the
+Prophet sent his minister, Asaf son of Barkhiya, to seize me; and this
+Wazir brought me against my will and led me in bonds to him (I being
+downcast despite my nose) and he placed me standing before him like a
+suppliant. When Sulayman saw me, he took refuge with Allah and bade me
+embrace the True Faith and obey his behests; but I refused, so sending
+for this cucurbit[FN#72] he shut me up therein, and stopped it over
+with lead whereon he impressed the Most High Name, and gave his orders
+to the Jann who carried me off, and cast me into the midmost of the
+ocean. There I abode an hundred years, during which I said in my heart,
+"Whoso shall release me, him will I enrich for ever and ever." But the
+full century went by and, when no one set me free, I entered upon the
+second five score saying, "Whoso shall release me, for him I will open
+the hoards of the earth." Still no one set me free and thus four
+hundred years passed away. Then quoth I, "Whoso shall release me, for
+him will I fulfil three wishes." Yet no one set me free. Thereupon I
+waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and said to myself, "Whoso shall
+release me from this time forth, him will I slay and I will give him
+choice of what death he will die; and now, as thou hast released me, I
+give thee full choice of deaths." The Fisherman, hearing the words of
+the Ifrit, said, "O Allah! the wonder of it that I have not come to
+free thee save in these days!" adding, "Spare my life, so Allah spare
+thine; and slay me not, lest Allah set one to slay thee." Replied the
+Contumacious One, "There is no help for it; die thou must; so ask me by
+way of boon what manner of death thou wilt die." Albeit thus certified
+the Fisherman again addressed the Ifrit saying, "Forgive me this my
+death as a generous reward for having freed thee;" and the Ifrit,
+"Surely I would not slay thee save on account of that same release." "O
+Chief of the Ifrits," said the Fisherman, "I do thee good and thou
+requitest me with evil! in very sooth the old saw lieth not when it
+saith:—
+
+We wrought them weal, they met our weal with ill; * Such, by my life!
+is every bad man's labour:
+To him who benefits unworthy wights * Shall hap what inapt to Ummi
+Amir's neighbor.[FN#73]"
+
+
+Now when the Ifrit heard these words he answered, "No more of this
+talk, needs must I kill thee." Upon this the Fisherman said to himself,
+"This is a Jinni; and I am a man to whom Allah hath given a passably
+cunning wit, so I will now cast about to compass his destruction by my
+contrivance and by mine intelligence; even as he took counsel only of
+his malice and his frowardness."[FN#74] He began by asking the Ifrit,
+"Hast thou indeed resolved to kill me?" and, receiving for all answer,
+"Even so," he cried, "Now in the Most Great Name, graven on the seal
+ring of Sulayman the Son of David (peace be with the holy twain!), an I
+question thee on a certain matter wilt thou give me a true answer?" The
+Ifrit replied "Yea;" but, hearing mention of the Most Great Name, his
+wits were troubled and he said with trembling, "Ask and be brief."
+Quoth the Fisherman, "How didst thou fit into this bottle which would
+not hold thy hand; no, nor even thy foot, and how came it to be large
+enough to contain the whole of thee?" Replied the Ifrit, "What! dost
+not believe that I was all there?" and the Fisherman rejoined, "Nay! I
+will never believe it until I see thee inside with my own eyes." And
+Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
+say.
+
+When it was the Fourth Night,
+
+
+Her sister said to her, "Please finish us this tale, an thou be not
+sleepy!" so she resumed:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
+when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, "I will never and nowise believe
+thee until I see thee inside it with mine own eyes;" the Evil Spirit on
+the instant shook[FN#75] and became a vapour, which condensed, and
+entered the jar little and little, till all was well inside when lo!
+the Fisherman in hot haste took the leaden cap with the seal and
+stoppered therewith the mouth of the jar and called out to the Ifrit,
+saying, "Ask me by way of boon what death thou wilt die! By Allah, I
+will throw thee into the sea[FN#76] before us and here will I build me
+a lodge; and whoso cometh hither I will warn him against fishing and
+will say:—In these waters abideth an Ifrit who giveth as a last favour
+a choice of deaths and fashion of slaughter to the man who saveth him!"
+Now when the Ifrit heard this from the Fisherman and saw him self in
+limbo, he was minded to escape, but this was prevented by Solomon's
+seal; so he knew that the Fisherman had cozened and outwitted him, and
+he waxed lowly and submissive and began humbly to say, "I did but jest
+with thee." But the other answered, "Thou liest, O vilest of the
+Ifrits, and meanest and filthiest!" and he set off with the bottle for
+the sea side; the Ifrit calling out "Nay! Nay!" and he calling out
+"Aye! Aye !" There upon the Evil Spirit softened his voice and smoothed
+his speech and abased himself, saying, "What wouldest thou do with me,
+O Fisherman?" "I will throw thee back into the sea," he answered;
+"where thou hast been housed and homed for a thousand and eight hundred
+years; and now I will leave thee therein till Judgment day: did I not
+say to thee:—Spare me and Allah shall spare thee; and slay me not lest
+Allah slay thee? yet thou spurnedst my supplication and hadst no
+intention save to deal ungraciously by me, and Allah hath now thrown
+thee into my hands and I am cunninger than thou." Quoth the Ifrit,
+"Open for me and I may bring thee weal." Quoth the Fisherman, "Thou
+liest, thou accursed! my case with thee is that of the Wazir of King
+Yunan with the sage Duban."[FN#77] "And who was the Wazir of King Yunan
+and who was the sage Duban; and what was the story about them?" quoth
+the Ifrit, whereupon the Fisherman began to tell
+
+
+
+
+The Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban.
+
+
+Know, O thou Ifrit, that in days of yore and in ages long gone before,
+a King called Yunan reigned over the city of Fars of the land of the
+Roum.[FN#78] He was a powerful ruler and a wealthy, who had armies and
+guards and allies of all nations of men; but his body was afflicted
+with a leprosy which leaches and men of science failed to heal. He
+drank potions and he swallowed pow ders and he used unguents, but
+naught did him good and none among the host of physicians availed to
+procure him a cure. At last there came to his city a mighty healer of
+men and one well stricken in years, the sage Duban hight. This man was
+a reader of books, Greek, Persian, Roman, Arabian, and Syrian; and he
+was skilled in astronomy and in leechcraft, the theorick as well as the
+practick; he was experienced in all that healeth and that hurteth the
+body; conversant with the virtues of every plant, grass and herb, and
+their benefit and bane; and he understood philosophy and had compassed
+the whole range of medical science and other branches of the knowledge
+tree. Now this physician passed but few days in the city, ere he heard
+of the King's malady and all his bodily sufferings through the leprosy
+with which Allah had smitten him; and how all the doctors and wise men
+had failed to heal him. Upon this he sat up through the night in deep
+thought and, when broke the dawn and appeared the morn and light was
+again born, and the Sun greeted the Good whose beauties the world
+adorn,[FN#79] he donned his handsomest dress and going in to King
+Yunan, he kissed the ground before him: then he prayed for the
+endurance of his honour and prosperity in fairest language and made
+himself known saying, "O King, tidings have reached I me of what befel
+thee through that which is in thy person; and how the host of
+physicians have proved themselves unavailing to abate it; and lo! I can
+cure thee, O King; and yet will I not make thee drink of draught or
+anoint thee with ointment." Now when King Yunan heard his words he said
+in huge surprise, "How wilt thou do this? By Allah, if thou make me
+whole I will enrich thee even to thy son's son and I will give thee
+sumptuous gifts; and whatso thou wishest shall be thine and thou shalt
+be to me a cup companion[FN#80] and a friend." The King then robed him
+with a dress of honour and entreated him graciously and asked him,
+"Canst thou indeed cure me of this complaint without drug and unguent?"
+and he answered, "Yes! I will heal I thee without the pains and
+penalties of medicine." The King marvelled with exceeding marvel and
+said, "O physician, when shall be this whereof thou speakest, and in
+how many days shall it take place? Haste thee, O my son!" He replied,"I
+hear and I obey; the cure shall begin tomorrow." So saying he went
+forth from the presence, and hired himself a house in the city for the
+better storage of his books and scrolls, his medicines and his aromatic
+roots. Then he set to work at choosing the fittest drugs and simples
+and he fashioned a bat hollow within, and furnished with a handle
+without, for which he made a ball; the two being prepared with
+consummate art. On the next day when both were ready for use and wanted
+nothing more, he went up to the King; and, kissing the ground between
+his hands bade him ride forth on the parade ground[FN#81] there to play
+at pall and mall. He was accompanied by his suite, Emirs and
+Chamberlains, Wazirs and Lords of the realm and, ere he was seated, the
+sage Duban came up to him, and handing him the bat said, "Take this
+mall and grip it as I do; so! and now push for the plain and leaning
+well over thy horse drive the ball with all thy might until thy palm be
+moist and thy body perspire: then the medicine will penetrate through
+thy palm and will permeate thy person. When thou hast done with playing
+and thou feelest the effects of the medicine, return to thy palace, and
+make the Ghusl-ablution[FN#82] in the Hammam bath, and lay thee down to
+sleep; so shalt thou become whole; and now peace be with thee!"
+Thereupon King Yunan took the bat from the Sage and grasped it firmly;
+then, mounting steed, he drove the ball before him and gallopped after
+it till he reached it, when he struck it with all his might, his palm
+gripping the bat handle the while; and he ceased not malling the ball
+till his hand waxed moist and his skin, perspiring, imbibed the
+medicine from the wood. Then the sage Duban knew that the drugs had
+penetrated his person and bade him return to the palace and enter the
+Hammam without stay or delay; so King Yunan forthright returned and
+ordered them to clear for him the bath. They did so, the carpet
+spreaders making all haste, and the slaves all hurry and got ready a
+change of raiment for the King. He entered the bath and made the total
+ablution long and thoroughly; then donned his clothes within the Hammam
+and rode therefrom to his palace where he lay him down and slept. Such
+was the case with King Yunan, but as regards the sage Duban, he
+returned home and slept as usual and when morning dawned he repaired to
+the palace and craved audience. The King ordered him to be admitted;
+then, having kissed the ground between his hands, in allusion to the
+King he recited these couplets with solemn intonation:—
+
+Happy is Eloquence when thou art named her sire * But mourns she whenas
+other man the title claimed.
+O Lord of fairest presence, whose illuming rays * Clear off the fogs of
+doubt aye veiling deeds high famed,
+Ne'er cease thy face to shine like Dawn and rise of Morn * And never
+show Time's face with heat of ire inflamed!
+Thy grace hath favoured us with gifts that worked such wise * As rain
+clouds raining on the hills by wolds enframed:
+Freely thou lavishedst thy wealth to rise on high * Till won from Time
+the heights whereat thy grandeur aimed.
+
+
+Now when the Sage ceased reciting, the King rose quickly to his feet
+and fell on his neck; then, seating him by his side he bade dress him
+in a sumptuous dress; for it had so happened that when the King left
+the Hammam he looked on his body and saw no trace of leprosy: the skin
+was all clean as virgin silver. He joyed thereat with exceeding joy,
+his breast broadened[FN#83] with delight and he felt thoroughly happy.
+Presently, when it was full day he entered his audience hall and sat
+upon the throne of his kingship whereupon his Chamberlains and Grandees
+flocked to the presence and with them the Sage Duban. Seeing the leach
+the King rose to him in honour and seated him by his side; then the
+food trays furnished with the daintiest viands were brought and the
+physician ate with the King, nor did he cease companying him all that
+day. Moreover, at nightfall he gave the physician Duban two thousand
+gold pieces, besides the usual dress of honour and other gifts galore,
+and sent him home on his own steed. After the Sage had fared forth King
+Yunan again expressed his amazement at the leach's art, saying, "This
+man medicined my body from without nor anointed me with aught of
+ointments: by Allah, surely this is none other than consummate skill! I
+am bound to honour such a man with rewards and distinction, and take
+him to my companion and my friend during the remainder of my days." So
+King Yunan passed the night in joy and gladness for that his body had
+been made whole and had thrown off so pernicious a malady. On the
+morrow the King went forth from his Serraglio and sat upon his throne,
+and the Lords of Estate stood about him, and the Emirs and Wazirs sat
+as was their wont on his right hand and on his left. Then he asked for
+the Sage Duban, who came in and kissed the ground before him, when the
+King rose to greet him and, seating him by his side, ate with him and
+wished him long life. Moreover he robed him and gave him gifts, and
+ceased not conversing with him until night approached. Then the King
+ordered him, by way of salary, five dresses of honour and a thousand
+dinars.[FN#84] The physician returned to his own house full of
+gratitude to the King. Now when next morning dawned the King repaired
+to his audience hall, and his Lords and Nobles surrounded him and his
+Chamberlains and his Ministers, as the white encloseth the black of the
+eye.[FN#85] Now the King had a Wazir among his Wazirs, unsightly to
+look upon, an ill omened spectacle; sordid, ungenerous, full of envy
+and evil will. When this Minister saw the King place the physician near
+him and give him all these gifts, he jaloused him and planned to do him
+a harm, as in the saying on such subject, "Envy lurks in every body;"
+and the saying, "Oppression hideth in every heart: power revealeth it
+and weakness concealeth it." Then the Minister came before the King
+and, kissing the ground between his hands, said, "O King of the age and
+of all time, thou in whose benefits I have grown to manhood, I have
+weighty advice to offer thee, and if I withhold it I were a son of
+adultery and no true born man; wherefore an thou order me to disclose
+it I will so do forthwith." Quoth the King (and he was troubled at the
+words of the Minister), "And what is this counsel of thine?" Quoth he,
+"O glorious monarch, the wise of old have said:—Whoso regardeth not the
+end, hath not Fortune to friend; and indeed I have lately seen the King
+on far other than the right way; for he lavisheth largesse on his
+enemy, on one whose object is the decline and fall of his kingship: to
+this man he hath shown favour, honouring him with over honour and
+making of him an intimate. Wherefore I fear for the King's life." The
+King, who was much troubled and changed colour, asked, "Whom dost thou
+suspect and anent whom doest thou hint?" and the Minister answered, "O
+King, an thou be asleep, wake up! I point to the physician Duban."
+Rejoined the King, "Fie upon thee! This is a true friend who is
+favoured by me above all men, because he cured me with something which
+I held in my hand, and he healed my leprosy which had baffled all
+physicians; indeed he is one whose like may not be found in these
+days—no, not in the whole world from furthest east to utmost west! And
+it is of such a man thou sayest such hard sayings. Now from this day
+forward I allot him a settled solde and allowances, every month a
+thousand gold pieces; and, were I to share with him my realm 'twere but
+a little matter. Perforce I must suspect that thou speakest on this
+wise from mere envy and jealousy as they relate of the King
+Sindibad."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased saying
+her permitted say. Then quoth Dunyazad, "O my sister, how pleasant is
+thy tale, and how tasteful, how sweet, and how grateful!" She replied,
+"And where is this compared with what I could tell thee on the coming
+night if the King deign spare my life?" Then said the King in himself,
+"By Allah, I will not slay her until I hear the rest of her tale, for
+truly it is wondrous." So they rested that night in mutual embrace
+until the dawn. Then the King went forth to his Hall of Rule, and the
+Wazir and the troops came in, and the audience chamber was thronged and
+the King gave orders and judged and appointed and deposed and bade and
+forbade during the rest of that day till the Court broke up, and King
+Shahryar returned to his palace.
+
+When It Was The Fifth Night,
+
+
+Her sister said, "Do you finish for us thy story if thou be not
+sleepy," and she resumed:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King and
+mighty Monarch, that King Yunan said to his Minister, "O Wazir, thou
+art one whom the evil spirit of envy hath possessed because of this
+physician, and thou plottest for my putting him to death, after which I
+should repent me full sorely, even as repented King Sindibad for
+killing his falcon." Quoth the Wazir, Pardon me, O King of the age, how
+was that?" So the King began the story of
+
+
+
+
+King Sindibad and his Falcon.
+
+
+It is said (but Allah is All knowing![FN#86]) that there was a King of
+the Kings of Fars, who was fond of pleasuring and diversion, especially
+coursing end hunting. He had reared a falcon which he carried all night
+on his fist, and whenever he went a chasing he took with him this bird;
+and he bade make for her a golden cuplet hung around her neck to give
+her drink therefrom. One day as the King was sitting quietly in his
+palace, behold, the high falconer of the household suddenly addressed
+him, "O King of the age, this is indeed a day fit for birding." The
+King gave orders accordingly and set out taking the hawk on fist; and
+they fared merrily forwards till they made a Wady[FN#87] where they
+planted a circle of nets for the chase; when lo! a gazelle came within
+the toils and the King cried, "Whoso alloweth yon gazelle to spring
+over his head and loseth her, that man will I surely slay." They
+narrowed the nets about the gazelle when she drew near the King's
+station; and, planting herself on her hind quarter, crossed her
+forehand over her breast, as if about to kiss the earth before the
+King. He bowed his brow low in acknowledgment to the beast; when she
+bounded high over his head and took the way of the waste. Thereupon the
+King turned towards his troops and seeing them winking and pointing at
+him, he asked, "O Wazir, what are my men saying?" and the Minister
+answered, "They say thou didst proclaim that whoso alloweth the gazelle
+to spring over his head, that man shall be put to death." Quoth the
+King, "Now, by the life of my head! I will follow her up till I bring
+her back." So he set off gallopping on the gazelle's trail and gave not
+over tracking till he reached the foot hills of a mountain chain where
+the quarry made for a cave. Then the King cast off at it the falcon
+which presently caught it up and, swooping down, drove her talons into
+its eyes, bewildering and blinding it;[FN#88] and the King drew his
+mace and struck a blow which rolled the game over. He then dismounted;
+and, after cutting the antelope's throat and flaying the body, hung it
+to the pommel of his saddle. Now the time was that of the siesta[FN#89]
+and the wold was parched and dry, nor was any water to be found
+anywhere; and the King thirsted and his horse also; so he went about
+searching till he saw a tree dropping water, as it were melted butter,
+from its boughs. Thereupon the King who wore gauntlets of skin to guard
+him against poisons took the cup from the hawk's neck, and filling it
+with the water set it before the bird, and lo! the falcon struck it
+with her pounces and upset the liquid. The King filled it a second time
+with the dripping drops, thinking his hawk was thirsty; but the bird
+again struck at the cup with her talons and overturned it. Then the
+King waxed wroth with the hawk and filling the cup a third time offered
+it to his horse: but the hawk upset it with a flirt of wings. Quoth the
+King, "Allah confound thee, thou unluckiest of flying things! thou
+keepest me from drinking, and thou deprivest thyself also, and the
+horse." So he struck the falcon with his sword and cut off her wing;
+but the bird raised her head and said by signs, "Look at that which
+hangeth on the tree!" The King lifted up his eyes accordingly and
+caught sight of a brood of vipers, whose poison drops he mistook for
+water; thereupon he repented him of having struck off his falcon's
+wing, and mounting horse, fared on with the dead gazelle, till he
+arrived at the camp, his starting place. He threw the quarry to the
+cook saying, Take and broil it," and sat down on his chair, the falcon
+being still on his fist when suddenly the bird gasped and died;
+whereupon the King cried out in sorrow and remorse for having slain
+that falcon which had saved his life. Now this is what occurred in the
+case of King Sindibad; and I am assured that were I to do as thou
+desirest I should repent even as the man who killed his parrot." Quoth
+the Wazir, "And how was that?" And the King began to tell
+
+
+
+
+The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot.[FN#90]
+
+
+A certain man and a merchant to boot had married a fair wife, a woman
+of perfect beauty and grace, symmetry and loveliness, of whom he was
+mad-jealous, and who contrived successfully to keep him from travel. At
+last an occasion compelling him to leave her, he went to the bird
+market and bought him for one hundred gold pieces a she parrot which he
+set in his house to act as duenna, expecting her to acquaint him on his
+return with what had passed during the whole time of his absence; for
+the bird was kenning and cunning and never forgot what she had seen and
+heard. Now his fair wife had fallen in love with a young Turk, [FN#91]
+who used to visit her, and she feasted him by day and lay with him by
+night. When the man had made his journey and won his wish he came home;
+and, at once causing the Parrot be brought to him, questioned her
+concerning the conduct of his consort whilst he was in foreign parts.
+Quoth she, "Thy wife hath a man friend who passed every night with her
+during thine absence." Thereupon the husband went to his wife in a
+violent rage and bashed her with a bashing severe enough to satisfy any
+body. The woman, suspecting that one of the slave girls had been
+tattling to the master, called them together and questioned them upon
+their oaths, when all swore that they had kept the secret, but that the
+Parrot had not, adding, "And we heard her with our own ears." Upon this
+the woman bade one of the girls to set a hand mill under the cage and
+grind therewith and a second to sprinkle water through the cage roof
+and a third to run about, right and left, flashing a mirror of bright
+steel through the livelong night. Next morning when the husband
+returned home after being entertained by one of his friends, he bade
+bring the Parrot before him and asked what had taken place whilst he
+was away. "Pardon me, O my master," quoth the bird, "I could neither
+hear nor see aught by reason of the exceeding murk and the thunder and
+lightning which lasted throughout the night." As it happened to be the
+summer tide the master was astounded and cried, "But we are now in mid
+Tammuz,[FN#92] and this is not the time for rains and storms." "Ay, by
+Allah," rejoined the bird, "I saw with these eyes what my tongue hath
+told thee." Upon this the man, not knowing the case nor smoking the
+plot, waxed exceeding wroth; and, holding that his wife had been
+wrongously accused, put forth his hand and pulling the Parrot from her
+cage dashed her upon the ground with such force that he killed her on
+the spot. Some days afterwards one of his slave girls confessed to him
+the whole truth,[FN#93] yet would he not believe it till he saw the
+young Turk, his wife's lover, coming out of her chamber, when he bared
+his blade [FN#94] and slew him by a blow on the back of the neck; and
+he did the same by the adulteress; and thus the twain, laden with
+mortal sin, went straightways to Eternal Fire. Then the merchant knew
+that the Parrot had told him the truth anent all she had seen and he
+mourned grievously for her loss, when mourning availed him not. The
+Minister, hearing the words of King Yunan, rejoined, 'O Monarch, high
+in dignity, and what harm have I done him, or what evil have I seen
+from him that I should compass his death? I would not do this thing,
+save to serve thee, and soon shalt thou sight that it is right; and if
+thou accept my advice thou shalt be saved, otherwise thou shalt be
+destroyed even as a certain Wazir who acted treacherously by the young
+Prince." Asked the King, "How was that?" and the Minister thus began
+
+
+
+
+The Tale of the Prince and the Ogress.
+
+
+A certain King, who had a son over much given to hunting and coursing,
+ordered one of his Wazirs to be in attendance upon him whithersoever he
+might wend. One day the youth set out for the chase accompanied by his
+father's Minister; and, as they jogged on together, a big wild beast
+came in sight. Cried the Wazir to the King's son, "Up and at yon noble
+quarry!" So the Prince followed it until he was lost to every eye and
+the chase got away from him in the waste; whereby he was confused and
+he knew not which way to turn, when lo! a damsel appeared ahead and she
+was in tears. The King's son asked, "Who art thou?" and she answered,
+"I am daughter to a King among the Kings of Hind, and I was travelling
+with a caravan in the desert when drowsiness overcame me, and I fell
+from my beast unwittingly whereby I am cut off from my people and sore
+bewildered." The Prince, hearing these words, pitied her case and,
+mounting her on his horse's crupper, travelled until he passed by an
+old ruin [FN#95], when the damsel said to him, "O my master, I wish to
+obey a call of nature": he therefore set her down at the ruin where she
+delayed so long that the King's son thought that she was only wasting
+time; so he followed her without her knowledge and behold, she was a
+Ghulah,[FN#96] a wicked Ogress, who was saying to her brood, "O my
+children, this day I bring you a fine fat youth, [FN#97] for dinner;"
+whereto they answered, "Bring him quick to us, O our mother, that we
+may browse upon him our bellies full." The Prince hearing their talk,
+made sure of death and his side muscles quivered in fear for his life,
+so he turned away and was about to fly. The Ghulah came out and seeing
+him in sore affright (for he was trembling in every limb? cried,
+"Wherefore art thou afraid?" and he replied, "I have hit upon an enemy
+whom I greatly fear." Asked the Ghulah, "Diddest thou not say:—I am a
+King's son?" and he answered, "Even so." Then quoth she, "Why dost not
+give thine enemy something of money and so satisfy him?" Quoth he, "He
+will not be satisfied with my purse but only with my life, and I
+mortally fear him and am a man under oppression." She replied, "If thou
+be so distressed, as thou deemest, ask aid against him from Allah, who
+will surely protect thee from his ill doing and from the evil whereof
+thou art afraid." Then the Prince raised his eyes heavenwards and
+cried, "O Thou who answerest the necessitous when he calleth upon Thee
+and dispellest his distress; O my God ! grant me victory over my foe
+and turn him from me, for Thou over all things art Almighty." The
+Ghulah, hearing his prayer, turned away from him, and the Prince
+returned to his father, and told him the tale of the Wazir; whereupon
+the King summoned the Minister to his presence and then and there slew
+him. Thou likewise, O King, if thou continue to trust this leach, shalt
+be made to die the worst of deaths. He verily thou madest much of and
+whom thou entreatedest as an intimate, will work thy destruction. Seest
+thou not how he healed the disease from outside thy body by something
+grasped in thy hand? Be not assured that he will not destroy thee by
+something held in like manner! Replied King Yunan, "Thou hast spoken
+sooth, O Wazir, it may well be as thou hintest O my well advising
+Minister; and belike this Sage hath come as a spy searching to put me
+to death; for assuredly if he cured me by a something held in my hand,
+he can kill me by a something given me to smell." Then asked King
+Yunan, "O Minister, what must be done with him?" and the Wazir
+answered, "Send after him this very instant and summon him to thy
+presence; and when he shall come strike him across the neck; and thus
+shalt thou rid thyself of him and his wickedness, and deceive him ere
+he can deceive thee." 'Thou hast again spoken sooth, O Wazir," said the
+King and sent one to call the Sage who came in joyful mood for he knew
+not what had appointed for him the Compassionate; as a certain poet
+saith by way of illustration:—
+
+O Thou who fearest Fate, confiding fare * Trust all to Him who built
+the world and wait:
+What Fate saith "Be" perforce must be, my lord! * And safe art thou
+from th’ undecreed of Fate.
+
+
+As Duban the physician entered he addressed the King in these lines:—
+
+An fail I of my thanks to thee nor thank thee day by day * For whom
+composed I prose and verse, for whom my say and lay?
+Thou lavishedst thy generous gifts ere they were craved by me * Thou
+lavishedst thy boons unsought sans pretext or delay:
+How shall I stint my praise of thee, how shall I cease to laud * The
+grace of thee in secresy and patentest display?
+Nay; I will thank thy benefits, for aye thy favours lie * Light on my
+thought and tongue, though heavy on my back they weigh.
+
+
+And he said further on the same theme:—
+
+Turn thee from grief nor care a jot! * Commit thy needs to Fate and
+Lot!
+Enjoy the Present passing well * And let the Past be clean forgot
+For whatso haply seemeth worse * Shall work thy weal as Allah wot
+Allah shall do whate'er He wills * And in His will oppose Him not.
+
+
+And further still.—
+
+To th' All wise Subtle One trust worldly things * Rest thee from all
+whereto the worldling clings:
+Learn wisely well naught cometh by thy will * But e'en as willeth
+Allah, King of Kings.
+
+
+And lastly.—
+
+Gladsome and gay forget thine every grief * Full often grief the wisest
+hearts outwore:
+Thought is but folly in the feeble slave * Shun it and so be saved
+evermore.
+
+
+Said the King for sole return, "Knowest thou why I have summoned thee?"
+and the Sage replied, "Allah Most Highest alone kenneth hidden things!"
+But the King rejoined, "I summoned thee only to take thy life and
+utterly to destroy thee." Duban the Wise wondered at this strange
+address with exceeding wonder and asked, "O King, and wherefore
+wouldest thou slay me, and what ill have I done thee?" and the King
+answered, "Men tell me thou art a spy sent hither with intent to slay
+me; and lo! I will kill thee ere I be killed by thee;" then he called
+to his Sworder, and said, "Strike me off the head of this traitor and
+deliver us from his evil practices." Quoth the Sage, "Spare me and
+Allah will spare thee; slay me not or Allah shall slay thee." And he
+repeated to him these very words, even as I to thee, O Ifrit, and yet
+thou wouldst not let me go, being bent upon my death. King Yunan only
+rejoined, "I shall not be safe without slaying thee; for, as thou
+healedst me by something held in hand, so am I not secure against thy
+killing me by something given me to smell or otherwise." Said the
+physician, "This then, O King, is thy requital and reward; thou
+returnest only evil for good." The King replied, "There is no help for
+it; die thou must and without delay." Now when the physician was
+certified that the King would slay him without waiting, he wept and
+regretted the good he had done to other than the good. As one hath said
+on this subject:—
+
+Of wit and wisdom is Maymunah[FN#98] bare * Whose sire in wisdom all
+the wits outstrippeth:
+Man may not tread on mud or dust or clay * Save by good sense, else
+trippeth he and slippeth.
+
+
+Hereupon the Sworder stepped forward and bound the Sage Duban's eyes
+and bared his blade, saying to the King, "By thy leave;" while the
+physician wept and cried, "Spare me and Allah will spare thee, and slay
+me not or Allah shall slay thee," and began repeating:—
+
+I was kind and 'scaped not, they were cruel and escaped; * And my
+kindness only led me to Ruination Hall,
+If I live I'll ne'er be kind; if I die, then all be damned * Who follow
+me, and curses their kindliness befal.
+
+
+"Is this," continued Duban, "the return I meet from thee? Thou givest
+me, meseems, but crocodile boon." Quoth the King,"What is the tale of
+the crocodile?", and quoth the physician, "Impossible for me to tell it
+in this my state; Allah upon thee, spare me, as thou hopest Allah shall
+spare thee." And he wept with exceeding weeping. Then one of the King's
+favourites stood up and said, "O King! grant me the blood of this
+physician; we have never seen him sin against thee, or doing aught save
+healing thee from a disease which baffled every leach and man of
+science." Said the King, "Ye wot not the cause of my putting to death
+this physician, and this it is. If I spare him, I doom myself to
+certain death; for one who healed me of such a malady by something held
+in my hand, surely can slay me by something held to my nose; and I fear
+lest he kill me for a price, since haply he is some spy whose sole
+purpose in coming hither was to compass my destruction. So there is no
+help for it; die he must, and then only shall I be sure of my own
+life." Again cried Duban, "Spare me and Allah shall spare thee; and
+slay me not or Allah shall slay thee." But it was in vain. Now when the
+physician, O Ifrit, knew for certain that the King would kill him, he
+said, "O King, if there be no help but I must die, grant me some little
+delay that I may go down to my house and release myself from mine
+obligations and direct my folk and my neighbours where to bury me and
+distribute my books of medicine. Amongst these I have one, the rarest
+of rarities, which I would present to thee as an offering: keep it as a
+treasure in thy treasury." "And what is in the book?" asked the King
+and the Sage answered, "Things beyond compt; and the least of secrets
+is that if, directly after thou hast cut off my head, thou open three
+leaves and read three lines of the page to thy left hand, my head shall
+speak and answer every question thou deignest ask of it." The King
+wondered with exceeding wonder and shaking[FN#99] with delight at the
+novelty, said, "O physician, dost thou really tell me that when I cut
+off thy head it will speak to me?" He replied, "Yes, O King!" Quoth the
+King, "This is indeed a strange matter!" and forthwith sent him closely
+guarded to his house, and Duban then and there settled all his
+obligations. Next day he went up to the King's audience hall, where
+Emirs and Wazirs, Chamberlains and Nabobs, Grandees and Lords of Estate
+were gathered together, making the presence chamber gay as a garden of
+flower beds. And lo! the physician came up and stood before the King,
+bearing a worn old volume and a little etui of metal full of powder,
+like that used for the eyes.[FN#100] Then he sat down and said, "Give
+me a tray." So they brought him one and he poured the powder upon it
+and levelled it and lastly spake as follows: "O King, take this book
+but do not open it till my head falls; then set it upon this tray, and
+bid press it down upon the powder, when forthright the blood will cease
+flowing. That is the time to open the book." The King thereupon took
+the book and made a sign to the Sworder, who arose and struck off the
+physician's head, and placing it on the middle of the tray, pressed it
+down upon the powder. The blood stopped flowing, and the Sage Duban
+unclosed his eyes and said, "Now open the book, O King!" The King
+opened the book, and found the leaves stuck together; so he put his
+finger to his mouth and, by moistening it, he easily turned over the
+first leaf, and in like way the second, and the third, each leaf
+opening with much trouble; and when he had unstuck six leaves he looked
+over them and, finding nothing written thereon, said, "O physician,
+there is no writing here!" Duban re plied, "Turn over yet more;" and he
+turned over three others in the same way. Now the book was poisoned;
+and before long the venom penetrated his system, and he fell into
+strong convulsions and he cried out, "The poison hath done its work!"
+Whereupon the Sage Duban's head began to improvise:—
+
+There be rulers who have ruled with a foul tyrannic sway * But they
+soon became as though they had never, never been:
+Just, they had won justice: they oppressed and were opprest * By
+Fortune, who requited them with ban and bane and teen:
+So they faded like the morn, and the tongue of things repeats * "Take
+this for that, nor vent upon Fortune's ways thy spleen."
+
+
+No sooner had the head ceased speaking than the King rolled over dead.
+Now I would have thee know, O Ifrit, that if King Yunan had spared the
+Sage Duban, Allah would have spared him, but he refused so to do and
+decreed to do him dead, wherefore Allah slew him; and thou too, O
+Ifrit, if thou hadst spared me, Allah would have spared thee. And
+Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
+say: then quoth Dunyazad, "O my sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and
+how tasteful; how sweet, and how grateful!" She replied, "And where is
+this compared with what I could tell thee this coming night, if I live
+and the King spare me?" Said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not
+slay her until I hear the rest of her story, for truly it is wondrous."
+They rested that night in mutual embrace until dawn: then the King went
+forth to his Darbar; the Wazirs and troops came in and the audience
+hall was crowded; so the King gave orders and judged and appointed and
+deposed and bade and forbade the rest of that day, when the court broke
+up, and King Shahryar entered his palace,
+
+When it was the Sixth Night,
+
+
+Her sister, Dunyazad, said to her,"Pray finish for us thy story;" and
+she answered, "I will if the King give me leave." "Say on," quoth the
+King. And she continued:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
+when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, "If thou hadst spared me I would
+have spared thee, but nothing would satisfy thee save my death; so now
+I will do thee die by jailing thee in this jar and I will hurl thee
+into this sea." Then the Marid roared aloud and cried, "Allah upon
+thee, O Fisherman, don't! Spare me, and pardon my past doings; and, as
+I have been tyrannous, so be thou generous, for it is said among
+sayings that go current:—O thou who doest good to him who hath done
+thee evil, suffice for the ill doer his ill deeds, and do not deal with
+me as did Umamah to 'Atikah."[FN#101] Asked the Fisherman, "And what
+was their case?" and the Ifrit answered, "This is not the time for
+story telling and I in this prison; but set me free and I will tell
+thee the tale." Quoth the Fisherman, "Leave this language: there is no
+help but that thou be thrown back into the sea nor is there any way for
+thy getting out of it for ever and ever. Vainly I placed myself under
+thy protection,[FN#102] and I humbled myself to thee with weeping,
+while thou soughtest only to slay me, who had done thee no injury
+deserving this at thy hands; nay, so far from injuring thee by any evil
+act, I worked thee nought but weal in releasing thee from that jail of
+thine. Now I knew thee to be an evil doer when thou diddest to me what
+thou didst, and know, that when I have cast thee back into the sea, I
+will warn whomsoever may fish thee up of what hath befallen me with
+thee, and I will advise him to toss thee back again; so shalt thou
+abide here under these waters till the End of Time shall make an end of
+thee." But the Ifrit cried aloud, "Set me free; this is a noble
+occasion for generosity and I make covenant with thee and vow never to
+do thee hurt and harm; nay, I will help thee to what shall put thee out
+of want." The Fisherman accepted his promises on both conditions, not
+to trouble him as before, but on the contrary to do him service; and,
+after making firm the plight and swearing him a solemn oath by Allah
+Most Highest he opened the cucurbit. Thereupon the pillar of smoke rose
+up till all of it was fully out; then it thickened and once more became
+an Ifrit of hideous presence, who forthright administered a kick to the
+bottle and sent it flying into the sea. The Fisherman, seeing how the
+cucurbit was treated and making sure of his own death, piddled in his
+clothes and said to himself, "This promiseth badly;" but he fortified
+his heart, and cried, "O Ifrit, Allah hath said[FN#103]:—Perform your
+covenant; for the performance of your covenant shall be inquired into
+hereafter. Thou hast made a vow to me and hast sworn an oath not to
+play me false lest Allah play thee false, for verily he is a jealous
+God who respiteth the sinner, but letteth him not escape. I say to thee
+as said the Sage Duban to King Yunan, "Spare me so Allah may spare
+thee!" The Ifrit burst into laughter and stalked away, saying to the
+Fisherman, "Follow me;" and the man paced after him at a safe distance
+(for he was not assured of escape) till they had passed round the
+suburbs of the city. Thence they struck into the uncultivated grounds,
+and crossing them descended into a broad wilderness, and lo! in the
+midst of it stood a mountain tarn. The Ifrit waded in to the middle and
+again cried, "Follow me;" and when this was done he took his stand in
+the centre and bade the man cast his net and catch his fish. The
+Fisherman looked into the water and was much astonished to see therein
+vari coloured fishes, white and red, blue and yellow; however he cast
+his net and, hauling it in, saw that he had netted four fishes, one of
+each colour. Thereat he rejoiced greatly and more when the Ifrit said
+to him, "Carry these to the Sultan and set them in his presence; then
+he will give thee what shall make thee a wealthy man; and now accept my
+excuse, for by Allah at this time I wot none other way of benefiting
+thee, inasmuch I have lain in this sea eighteen hundred years and have
+not seen the face of the world save within this hour. But I would not
+have thee fish here save once a day." The Ifrit then gave him Godspeed,
+saying, Allah grant we meet again;"[FN#104] and struck the earth with
+one foot, whereupon the ground clove asunder and swallowed him up. The
+Fisherman, much marvelling at what had happened to him with the Ifrit,
+took the fish and made for the city; and as soon as he reached home he
+filled an earthen bowl with water and therein threw the fish which
+began to struggle and wriggle about. Then he bore off the bowl upon his
+head and repairing to the King's palace (even as the Ifrit had bidden
+him) laid the fish before the presence; and the King wondered with
+exceeding wonder at the sight, for never in his lifetime had' he seen
+fishes like these in quality or in conformation. So he said, "Give
+those fish to the stranger slave girl who now cooketh for us," meaning
+the bond maiden whom the King of Roum had sent to him only three days
+before, so that he had not yet made trial of her talents in the
+dressing of meat. Thereupon the Wazir carried the fish to the cook and
+bade her fry them[FN#105] saying, "O damsel, the King sendeth this say
+to thee:—I have not treasured thee, O tear o' me! save for stress time
+of me; approve, then, to us this day thy delicate handiwork and thy
+savoury cooking; for this dish of fish is a present sent to the Sultan
+and evidently a rarity." The Wazir, after he had carefully charged her,
+returned to the King, who commanded him to give the Fisherman four
+hundred dinars: he gave them accordingly, and the man took them to his
+bosom and ran off home stumbling and falling and rising again and
+deeming the whole thing to be a dream. However, he bought for his
+family all they wanted and lastly he went to his wife in huge joy and
+gladness. So far concerning him; but as regards the cookmaid, she took
+the fish and cleansed them and set them in the frying pan, basting them
+with oil till one side was dressed. Then she turned them over and,
+behold, the kitchen wall crave asunder, and therefrom came a young
+lady, fair of form, oval of face, perfect in grace, with eyelids which
+Kohl lines enchase.[FN#106] Her dress was a silken head kerchief
+fringed and tasseled with blue: a large ring hung from either ear; a
+pair of bracelets adorned her wrists; rings with bezels of priceless
+gems were on her fingers; and she hent in hand a long rod of rattan
+cane which she thrust into the frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! be
+ye constant to your covenant?" When the cookmaiden saw this apparition
+she swooned away. The young lady repeated her words a second time and a
+third time, and at last the fishes raised their heads from the pan, and
+saying in articulate speech "Yes! Yes!" began with one voice to
+recite:—
+
+Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * And if ye fain
+forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!
+
+
+After this the young lady upset the frying pan and went forth by the
+way she came in and the kitchen wall closed upon her. When the cook
+maiden recovered from her fainting fit, she saw the four fishes charred
+black as charcoal, and crying out, "His staff brake in his first
+bout,"[FN#107] she again fell swooning to the ground. Whilst she was in
+this case the Wazir came for the fish and looking upon her as
+insensible she lay, not knowing Sunday from Thursday, shoved her with
+his foot and said, "Bring the fish for the Sultan!" Thereupon
+recovering from her fainting fit she wept and informed him of her case
+and all that had befallen her. The Wazir marvelled greatly and
+exclaiming, "This is none other than a right strange matter!", he sent
+after the Fisherman and said to him, "Thou, O Fisherman, must needs
+fetch us four fishes like those thou broughtest before." Thereupon the
+man repaired to the tarn and cast his net; and when he landed it, lo!
+four fishes were therein exactly like the first. These he at once
+carried to the Wazir, who went in with them to the cook maiden and
+said, "Up with thee and fry these in my presence, that I may see this
+business." The damsel arose and cleansed the fish, and set them in the
+frying pan over the fire; however they remained there but a little
+while ere the wall clave asunder and the young lady appeared, clad as
+before and holding in hand the wand which she again thrust into the
+frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! be ye constant to your olden
+covenant?" And behold, the fish lifted their heads, and repeated "Yes!
+Yes!" and recited this couplet:
+
+Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye fain
+forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!
+
+
+And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
+say.
+
+When it was the Seventh Night,
+
+
+She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
+fishes spoke, and the young lady upset the frying pan with her rod, and
+went forth by the way she came and the wall closed up, the Wazir cried
+out, "This is a thing not to be hidden from the King." So he went and
+told him what had happened, where upon quoth the King, "There is no
+help for it but that I see this with mine own eyes." Then he sent for
+the Fisherman and commanded him to bring four other fish like the first
+and to take with him three men as witnesses. The Fisherman at once
+brought the fish: and the King, after ordering them to give him four
+hundred gold pieces, turned to the Wazir and said, "Up and fry me the
+fishes here before me!" The Minister, replying "To hear is to obey,"
+bade bring the frying pan, threw therein the cleansed fish and set it
+over the fire; when lo! the wall clave asunder, and out burst a black
+slave like a huge rock or a remnant of the tribe Ad[FN#108] bearing in
+hand a branch of a green tree; and he cried in loud and terrible tones,
+"O fish! O fish! be ye all constant to your antique covenant?"
+whereupon the fishes lifted their heads from the frying pan and said,
+"Yes! Yes ! we be true to our vow;" and they again recited the couplet:
+
+Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye fain
+forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!
+
+
+Then the huge blackamoor approached the frying pan and upset it with
+the branch and went forth by the way he came in. When he vanished from
+their sight the King inspected the fish; and finding them all charred
+black as charcoal, was utterly bewildered and said to the Wazir,
+"Verily this is a matter whereanent silence cannot be kept, and as for
+the fishes, assuredly some marvellous adventure connects with them." So
+he bade bring the Fisherman and asked him, saying "Fie on thee, fellow!
+whence came these fishes?" and he answered, "From a tarn between four
+heights lying behind this mountain which is in sight of thy city."
+Quoth the King, "How many days' march?" Quoth he, "O our lord the
+Sultan, a walk of half hour." The King wondered and, straight way
+ordering his men to march and horsemen to mount, led off the Fisherman
+who went before as guide, privily damning the Ifrit. They fared on till
+they had climbed the mountain and descended unto a great desert which
+they had never seen during all their lives; and the Sultan and his
+merry men marvelled much at the wold set in the midst of four
+mountains, and the tarn and its fishes of four colours, red and white,
+yellow and blue. The King stood fixed to the spot in wonderment and
+asked his troops and all present, "Hath any one among you ever seen
+this piece of water before now?" and all made answer, "O King of the
+age never did we set eyes upon it during all our days." They also
+questioned the oldest inhabitants they met, men well stricken in years,
+but they replied, each and every, "A lakelet like this we never saw in
+this place." Thereupon quoth the King, "By Allah I will neither return
+to my capital nor sit upon the throne of my forbears till I learn the
+truth about this tarn and the fish therein." He then ordered his men to
+dismount and bivouac all around the mountain; which they did; and
+summoning his Wazir, a Minister of much experience, sagacious, of
+penetrating wit and well versed in affairs, said to him, "'Tis in my
+mind to do a certain thing whereof I will inform thee; my heart telleth
+me to fare forth alone this night and root out the mystery of this tarn
+and its fishes. Do thou take thy seat at my tent door, and say to the
+Emirs and Wazirs, the Nabobs and the Chamberlains, in fine to all who
+ask thee:—The Sultan is ill at ease, and he hath ordered me to refuse
+all admittance;[FN#109] and be careful thou let none know my design."
+And the Wazir could not oppose him. Then the King changed his dress and
+ornaments and, slinging his sword over his shoulder, took a path which
+led up one of the mountains and marched for the rest of the night till
+morning dawned; nor did he cease wayfaring till the heat was too much
+for him. After his long walk he rested for a while, and then resumed
+his march and fared on through the second night till dawn, when
+suddenly there appeared a black point in the far distance. Hereat he
+rejoiced and said to himself, "Haply some one here shall acquaint me
+with the mystery of the tarn and its fishes." Presently drawing near
+the dark object he found it a palace built of swart stone plated with
+iron; and, while one leaf of the gate stood wide open, the other was
+shut, The King's spirits rose high as he stood before the gate and
+rapped a light rap; but hearing no answer he knocked a second knock and
+a third; yet there came no sign. Then he knocked his loudest but still
+no answer, so he said, "Doubtless 'tis empty." Thereupon he mustered up
+resolution and boldly walked through the main gate into the great hall
+and there cried out aloud, "Holla, ye people of the palace! I am a
+stranger and a wayfarer; have you aught here of victual?" He repeated
+his cry a second time and a third but still there came no reply; so
+strengthening his heart and making up his mind he stalked through the
+vestibule into the very middle of the palace and found no man in it.
+Yet it was furnished with silken stuffs gold starred; and the hangings
+were let down over the door ways. In the midst was a spacious court off
+which set four open saloons each with its raised dais, saloon facing
+saloon; a canopy shaded the court and in the centre was a jetting fount
+with four figures of lions made of red gold, spouting from their mouths
+water clear as pearls and diaphanous gems. Round about the palace birds
+were let loose and over it stretched a net of golden wire, hindering
+them from flying off; in brief there was everything but human beings.
+The King marvelled mightily thereat, yet felt he sad at heart for that
+he saw no one to give him account of the waste and its tarn, the
+fishes, the mountains and the palace itself. Presently as he sat
+between the doors in deep thought behold, there came a voice of lament,
+as from a heart grief spent and he heard the voice chanting these
+verses:—
+
+I hid what I endured of him[FN#110] and yet it came to light, * And
+nightly sleep mine eyelids fled and changed to sleepless night:
+Oh world! Oh Fate! withhold thy hand and cease thy hurt and harm * Look
+and behold my hapless sprite in colour and affright:
+Wilt ne'er show ruth to highborn youth who lost him on the way * Of
+Love, and fell from wealth and fame to lowest basest wight.
+Jealous of Zephyr's breath was I as on your form he breathed * But
+whenas Destiny descends she blindeth human sight[FN#111]
+What shall the hapless archer do who when he fronts his foe * And bends
+his bow to shoot the shaft shall find his string undight?
+When cark and care so heavy bear on youth[FN#112] of generous soul *
+How shall he 'scape his lot and where from Fate his place of flight?
+
+
+Now when the Sultan heard the mournful voice he sprang to his feet;
+and, following the sound, found a curtain let down over a chamber door.
+He raised it and saw behind it a young man sitting upon a couch about a
+cubit above the ground; and he fair to the sight, a well shaped wight,
+with eloquence dight; his forehead was flower white, his cheek rosy
+bright, and a mole on his cheek breadth like an ambergris mite; even as
+the poet doth indite:—
+
+A youth slim waisted from whose locks and brow * The world in blackness
+and in light is set.
+Throughout Creation's round no fairer show * No rarer sight thine eye
+hath ever met:
+A nut brown mole sits throned upon a cheek * Of rosiest red beneath an
+eye of jet.[FN#113]
+
+
+The King rejoiced and saluted him, but he remained sitting in his
+caftan of silken stuff purfled with Egyptian gold and his crown studded
+with gems of sorts; but his face was sad with the traces of sorrow. He
+returned the royal salute in most courteous wise adding, "O my lord,
+thy dignity demandeth my rising to thee; and my sole excuse is to crave
+thy pardon."[FN#114] Quoth the King, "Thou art excused, O youth; so
+look upon me as thy guest come hither on an especial object. I would
+thou acquaint me with the secrets of this tarn and its fishes and of
+this palace and thy loneliness therein and the cause of thy groaning
+and wailing." When the young man heard these words he wept with sore
+weeping;[FN#115] till his bosom was drenched with tears and began
+reciting—
+
+Say him who careless sleeps what while the shaft of Fortune flies * How
+many cloth this shifting world lay low and raise to rise?
+Although thine eye be sealed in sleep, sleep not th' Almighty's eyes *
+And who hath found Time ever fair, or Fate in constant guise?
+
+
+Then he sighed a long fetched sigh and recited:—
+
+Confide thy case to Him, the Lord who made mankind; * Quit cark and
+care and cultivate content of mind;
+Ask not the Past or how or why it came to pass: * All human things by
+Fate and Destiny were designed!
+
+
+The King marvelled and asked him, "What maketh thee weep, O young man?"
+and he answered, "How should I not weep, when this is my case!"
+Thereupon he put out his hand and raised the skirt of his garment, when
+lo! the lower half of him appeared stone down to his feet while from
+his navel to the hair of his head he was man. The King, seeing this his
+plight, grieved with sore grief and of his compassion cried, "Alack and
+well away! in very sooth, O youth, thou heapest sorrow upon my sorrow.
+I was minded to ask thee the mystery of the fishes only: whereas now I
+am concerned to learn thy story as well as theirs. But there is no
+Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
+Great![FN#116] Lose no time, O youth, but tell me forthright thy whole
+tale." Quoth he, "Lend me thine ears, thy sight and thine insight;" and
+quoth the King, "All are at thy service!" Thereupon the youth began,
+"Right wondrous and marvellous is my case and that of these fishes; and
+were it graven with gravers upon the eye corners it were a warner to
+whoso would be warned." "How is that?" asked the King, and the young
+man began to tell
+
+
+
+
+The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince.
+
+
+Know then, O my lord, that whilome my sire was King of this city, and
+his name was Mahmud, entitled Lord of the Black Islands, and owner of
+what are now these four mountains. He ruled three score and ten years,
+after which he went to the mercy of the Lord and I reigned as Sultan in
+his stead. I took to wife my cousin, the daughter of my paternal
+uncle,[FN#117] and she loved me with such abounding love that whenever
+I was absent she ate not and she drank not until she saw me again. She
+cohabited with me for five years till a certain day when she went forth
+to the Hammam bath; and I bade the cook hasten to get ready all
+requisites for our supper. And I entered this palace and lay down on
+the bed where I was wont to sleep and bade two damsels to fan my face,
+one sitting by my head and the other at my feet. But I was troubled and
+made restless by my wife's absence and could not sleep; for although my
+eyes were closed my mind and thoughts were wide awake. Presently I
+heard the slave girl at my head say to her at my feet, "O Mas'udah, how
+miserable is our master and how wasted in his youth and oh! the pity of
+his being so betrayed by our mistress, the accursed whore!"[FN#118] The
+other replied, "Yes indeed: Allah curse all faithless women and
+adulterous; but the like of our master, with his fair gifts, deserveth
+something better than this harlot who lieth abroad every night." Then
+quoth she who sat by my head, "Is our lord dumb or fit only for
+bubbling that he questioneth her not!" and quoth the other, "Fie on
+thee! doth our lord know her ways or doth she allow him his choice?
+Nay, more, doth she not drug every night the cup she giveth him to
+drink before sleep time, and put Bhang[FN#119] into it? So he sleepeth
+and wotteth not whither she goeth, nor what she doeth; but we know that
+after giving him the drugged wine, she donneth her richest raiment and
+perfumeth herself and then she fareth out from him to be away till
+break of day; then she cometh to him, and burneth a pastile under his
+nose and he awaketh from his deathlike sleep." When I heard the slave
+girl's words, the light became black before my sight and I thought
+night would never-fall. Presently the daughter of my uncle came from
+the baths; and they set the table for us and we ate and sat together a
+fair half hour quaffing our wine as was ever our wont. Then she called
+for the particular wine I used to drink before sleeping and reached me
+the cup; but, seeming to drink it according to my wont, I poured the
+contents into my bosom; and, lying down, let her hear that I was
+asleep. Then, behold, she cried, "Sleep out the night, and never wake
+again: by Allah, I loathe thee and I loathe thy whole body, and my soul
+turneth in disgust from cohabiting with thee; and I see not the moment
+when Allah shall snatch away thy life!" Then she rose and donned her
+fairest dress and perfumed her person and slung my sword over her
+shoulder; and, opening the gates of the palace, went her ill way. I
+rose and followed her as she left the palace and she threaded the
+streets until she came to the city gate, where she spoke words I
+understood not, and the padlocks dropped of themselves as if broken and
+the gate leaves opened. She went forth (and I after her without her
+noticing aught) till she came at last to the outlying mounds[FN#120]
+and a reed fence built about a round roofed hut of mud bricks. As she
+entered the door, I climbed upon the roof which commanded a view of the
+interior, and lo! my fair cousin had gone in to a hideous negro slave
+with his upper lip like the cover of a pot, and his lower like an open
+pot; lips which might sweep up sand from the gravel-floor of the cot.
+He was to boot a leper and a paralytic, lying upon a strew of sugar
+cane trash and wrapped in an old blanket and the foulest rags and
+tatters. She kissed the earth before him, and he raised his head so as
+to see her and said, "Woe to thee! what call hadst thou to stay away
+all this time? Here have been with me sundry of the black brethren, who
+drank their wine and each had his young lady, and I was not content to
+drink because of thine absence." Then she, "O my lord, my heart's love
+and coolth of my eyes,[FN#121] knowest thou not that I am married to my
+cousin whose very look I loathe, and hate myself when in his company?
+And did not I fear for thy sake, I would not let a single sun arise
+before making his city a ruined heap wherein raven should croak and
+howlet hoot, and jackal and wolf harbour and loot; nay I had removed
+its very stones to the back side of Mount Kaf." [FN#122] Rejoined the
+slave, Thou liest, damn thee! Now I swear an oath by the valour and
+honour of blackamoor men (and deem not our manliness to be ; the poor
+manliness of white men), from today forth if thou stay away till this
+hour, I will not keep company with thee nor will I glue my body with
+thy body and strum and belly bump Dost play fast and loose with us,
+thou cracked pot, that we may satisfy thy dirty lusts? stinkard! bitch!
+vilest of the vile whites!" When I heard his words, and saw with my own
+eyes what passed between these two wretches, the world waxed dark
+before my face and my soul knew not in what place it was. But , my wife
+humbly stood up weeping before and wheedling the slave, and saying, O
+my beloved, and very fruit of my heart, there is none left to cheer me
+but thy dear self; and, if thou cast me off who shall take me in, O my
+beloved, O light of my eyes?" And she ceased not weeping and abasing
+herself to him until he deigned be reconciled with her. Then was she
+right glad and stood up and doffed her clothes, even to her petticoat
+trousers, and said, "0 my master what hast thou here for thy handmaiden
+to eat? Uncover the basin," he grumbled, "and thou shalt find at the
+bottom the broiled bones of some rats we dined on, pick at them, and
+then go to that slop pot where thou shalt find some leavings of beer
+[FN#123] which thou mayest drink." So she ate and drank and washed her
+hands, and went and lay down by the side of the slave, upon the cane
+trash and, stripping herself stark naked, she crept in with him under
+his foul coverlet and his rags and tatters. When I saw my wife, my
+cousin, the daughter of my uncle, do this deed[FN#124] I clean lost my
+wits, and climbing down from the roof, I entered and took the sword
+which she had with her and drew it, determined to cut down the twain. I
+first struck at the slave's neck and thought that the death decree had
+fallen on him:"And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
+say her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Eighth Night,
+
+
+She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
+ensorcelled Prince said to the King, "When I smote the slave with
+intent to strike off his head, I thought that I had slain him; for he
+groaned a loud hissing groan, but I had cut only the skin and flesh of
+the gullet and the two arteries! It awoke the daughter of my uncle, so
+I sheathed the sword and fared forth for the city; and, entering the
+palace, lay upon my bed and slept till morning when my wife aroused me
+and I saw that she had cut off her hair and had donned mourning
+garments. Quoth she:—O son of my uncle, blame me not for what I do; it
+hath just reached me that my mother is dead, and my father hath been
+killed in holy war, and of my brothers one hath lost his life by a
+snake sting and the other by falling down some precipice; and I can and
+should do naught save weep and lament. When I heard her words I
+refrained from all reproach and said only:—Do as thou list; I certainly
+will not thwart thee. She continued sorrowing, weeping and wailing one
+whole year from the beginning of its circle to the end, and when it was
+finished she said to me.—I wish to build me in thy palace a tomb with a
+cupola, which I will set apart for my mourning and will name the House
+of Lamentations.[FN#125] Quoth I again:—Do as thou list! Then she
+builded for herself a cenotaph wherein to mourn, and set on its centre
+a dome under which showed a tomb like a Santon's sepulchre. Thither she
+carried the slave and lodged him; but he was exceeding weak by reason
+of his wound, and unable to do her love service; he could only drink
+wine and from the day of his hurt he spake not a word, yet he lived on
+because his appointed hour[FN#126] was not come. Every day, morning and
+evening, my wife went to him and wept and wailed over him and gave him
+wine and strong soups, and left not off doing after this manner a
+second year; and I bore with her patiently and paid no heed to her. One
+day, however, I went in to her unawares; and I found her weeping and
+beating her face and crying:—Why art thou absent from my sight, O my
+heart's delight? Speak to me, O my life; talk with me, O my love? Then
+she recited these verses:—
+
+For your love my patience fails and albeit you forget * I may not, nor
+to other love my heart can make reply:
+Bear my body, bear my soul wheresoever you may fare * And where you
+pitch the camp let my body buried lie:
+Cry my name above my grave, and an answer shall return * The moaning of
+my bones responsive to your cry.[FN#127]
+
+
+Then she recited, weeping bitterly the while:—
+
+The day of my delight is the day when draw you near * And the day of
+mine affright is the day you turn away:
+Though I tremble through the night in my bitter dread of death * When I
+hold you in my arms I am free from all affray
+
+
+Once more she began reciting:—
+
+Though a morn I may awake with all happiness in hand * Though the world
+all be mine and like Kisra-kings[FN#128] I reign;
+To me they had the worth of the winglet of the gnat * When I fail to
+see thy form, when I look for thee in vain
+
+
+When she had ended for a time her words and her weeping I said to her—O
+my cousin, let this thy mourning suffice, for in pouring forth tears
+there is little profit! Thwart me not, answered she, in aught I do, or
+I will lay violent hands on myself! So I held my peace and left her to
+go her own way; and she ceased not to cry and keen and indulge her
+affliction for yet another year. At the end of the third year I waxed
+aweary of this longsome mourning, and one day I happened to enter the
+cenotaph when vexed and angry with some matter which had thwarted me,
+and suddenly I heard her say:—O my lord, I never hear thee vouch safe a
+single word to me! Why dost thou not answer me, O my master? and she
+began reciting:—
+
+O thou tomb! O, thou tomb! be his beauty set in shade? * Hast thou
+darkened that countenance all sheeny as the noon?
+O thou tomb! neither earth nor yet heaven art to me * Then how cometh
+it in thee are conjoined my sun and moon?
+
+
+When I heard such verses as these rage was heaped upon my rage I cried
+out:—Well away! how long is this sorrow to last? and I began
+repeating:—
+
+O thou tomb! O thou tomb! be his horrors set in blight? * Hast thou
+darkenèd his countenance that sickeneth the soul?
+O thou tomb! neither cess pool nor pipkin art to me * Then how cometh
+it in thee are conjoined soil and coal?
+
+
+When she heard my words she sprang to her feet crying.—Fie upon thee,
+thou cur! all this is of thy doings; thou hast wounded my heart s
+darling and thereby worked me sore woe and thou hast wasted his youth
+so that these three years he hath lain abed more dead than alive! In my
+wrath I cried:—O thou foulest of harlots and filthiest of whores ever
+futtered by negro slaves who are hired to have at thee![FN#129] Yes
+indeed it was I who did this good deed; and snatching up my sword I
+drew it and made at her to cut her down. But she laughed my words and
+mine intent to scorn crying: To heel, hound that thou art! Alas[FN#130]
+for the past which shall no more come to pass nor shall any one avail
+the dead to raise. Allah hath indeed now given into my hand him who did
+to me this thing, a deed that hath burned my heart with a fire which
+died not and a flame which might not be quenched! Then she stood up;
+and, pronouncing some words to me unintelligible, she said:— By virtue
+of my egromancy become thou half stone and half man; whereupon I became
+what thou seest, unable to rise or to sit, and neither dead nor alive.
+Moreover she ensorcelled the city with all its streets and garths, and
+she turned by her gramarye the four islands into four mountains around
+the tarn whereof thou questionest me; and the citizens, who were of
+four different faiths, Moslem, Nazarene, Jew and Magian, she
+transformed by her enchantments into fishes; the Moslems are the white,
+the Magians red, the Christians blue and the Jews yellow.[FN#131] And
+every day she tortureth me and scourgeth me with an hundred stripes,
+each of which draweth floods of blood and cutteth the skin of my
+shoulders to strips; and lastly she clotheth my upper half with a hair
+cloth and then throweth over them these robes." Hereupon the young man
+again shed tears and began reciting:—
+
+In patience, O my God, I endure my lot and fate; * I will bear at will
+of Thee whatsoever be my state:
+They oppress me; they torture me; they make my life a woe * Yet haply
+Heaven's happiness shall compensate my strait:
+Yea, straitened is my life by the bane and hate o' foes * But Mustafa
+and Murtaza[FN#132] shall ope me Heaven's gate.
+
+
+After this the Sultan turned towards the young Prince and said, "O
+youth, thou hast removed one grief only to add another grief; but now,
+O my friend, where is she; and where is the mausoleum wherein lieth the
+wounded slave?" "The slave lieth under yon dome," quoth the young man,
+"and she sitteth in the chamber fronting yonder door. And every day at
+sunrise she cometh forth, and first strippeth me, and whippeth me with
+an hundred strokes of the leathern scourge, and I weep and shriek; but
+there is no power of motion in my lower limbs to keep her off me. After
+ending her tormenting me she visiteth the slave, bringing him wine and
+boiled meats. And to morrow at an early hour she will be here." Quoth
+the King, "By Allah, O youth, I will assuredly do thee a good deed
+which the world shall not willingly let die, and an act of derring do
+which shall be chronicled long after I am dead and gone by." Then the
+King sat him by the side of the young Prince and talked till nightfall,
+when he lay down and slept; but, as soon as the false dawn[FN#133]
+showed, he arose and doffing his outer garments[FN#134] bared his blade
+and hastened to the place wherein lay the slave. Then was he ware of
+lighted candles and lamps, and the perfume of incenses and unguents,
+and directed by these, he made for the slave and struck him one stroke
+killing him on the spot: after which he lifted him on his back and
+threw him into a well that was in the palace. Presentry he returned
+and, donning the slave's gear, lay down at length within the mausoleum
+with the drawn sword laid close to and along his side. After an hour or
+so the accursed witch came; and, first going to her husband, she
+stripped off his clothes and, taking a whip, flogged him cruelly while
+he cried out, "Ah! enough for me the case I am in! take pity on me, O
+my cousin!' But she replied, "Didst thou take pity on me and spare the
+life of my true love on whom I coated?" Then she drew the cilice over
+his raw and bleeding skin and threw the robe upon all and went down to
+the slave with a goblet of wine and a bowl of meat broth in her hands.
+She entered under the dome weeping and wailing, "Well-away!" and
+crying, "O my lord! speak a word to me! O my master! talk awhile with
+me!" and began to recite these couplets.—
+
+How long this harshness, this unlove, shall bide? * Suffice thee not
+tear floods thou hast espied?
+Thou dost prolong our parting purposely * And if wouldst please my foe,
+thou'rt satisfied!
+
+
+Then she wept again and said, "O my lord! speak to me, talk with me!"
+The King lowered his voice and, twisting his tongue, spoke after the
+fashion of the blackamoors and said "'lack! 'lack! there be no Ma'esty
+and there be no Might save in Allauh, the Gloriose, the Great!" Now
+when she heard these words she shouted for joy, and fell to the ground
+fainting; and when her senses returned she asked, "O my lord, can it be
+true that thou hast power of speech?" and the King making his voice
+small and faint answered, "O my cuss! dost thou deserve that I talk to
+thee and speak with thee?" "Why and wherefore?" rejoined she; and he
+replied "The why is that all the livelong day thou tormentest thy
+hubby; and he keeps calling on 'eaven for aid until sleep is strange to
+me even from evenin' till mawnin', and he prays and damns, cussing us
+two, me and thee, causing me disquiet and much bother: were this not
+so, I should long ago have got my health; and it is this which prevents
+my answering thee." Quoth she, "With thy leave I will release him from
+what spell is on him;"and quoth the King, "Release him and let's have
+some rest!" She cried, "To hear is to obey;" and, going from the
+cenotaph to the palace, she took a metal bowl and filled it with water
+and spake over it certain words which made the contents bubble and boil
+as a cauldron seetheth over the fire. With this she sprinkled her
+husband saying, "By virtue of the dread words I have spoken, if thou
+becamest thus by my spells, come forth out of that form into thine own
+former form." And lo and behold! the young man shook and trembled; then
+he rose to his feet and, rejoicing at his deliverance, cried aloud, "I
+testify that there is no god but the God, and in very truth Mohammed is
+His Apostle, whom Allah bless and keep!" Then she said to him, "Go
+forth and return not hither, for if thou do I will surely slay thee;"
+screaming these words in his face. So he went from between her hands;
+and she returned to the dome and, going down to the sepulchre, she
+said, "O my lord, come forth to me that I may look upon thee and thy
+goodliness!" The King replied in faint low words, "What[FN#135] thing
+hast thou done? Thou hast rid me of the branch but not of the root."
+She asked, "O my darling! O my negroling! what is the root?" And he
+answered, "Fie on thee, O my cuss! The people of this city and of the
+four islands every night when it's half passed lift their heads from
+the tank in which thou hast turned them to fishes and cry to Heaven and
+call down its anger on me and thee; and this is the reason why my
+body's baulked from health. Go at once and set them free then come to
+me and take my hand, and raise me up, for a little strength is already
+back in me." When she heard the King's words (and she still supposed
+him to be the slave) she cried joyously, “O my master, on my head and
+on my eyes be thy command, Bismillah[FN#136]!” So she sprang to her
+feet and, full of joy and gladness, ran down to the tarn and took a
+little of its water in the palm of her hand—And Shahrazad perceived the
+dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
+
+When it Was the Ninth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the young
+woman, the sorceress, took in hand some of the tarn water and spake
+over it words not to be understood, the fishes lifted their heads and
+stood up on the instant like men, the spell on the people of the city
+having been removed. What was the lake again became a crowded capital;
+the bazars were thronged with folk who bought and sold; each citizen
+was occupied with his own calling and the four hills became islands as
+they were whilome. Then the young woman, that wicked sorceress,
+returned to the King and (still thinking he was the negro) said to him,
+O my love! stretch forth thy honoured hand that I may assist thee to
+rise." "Nearer to me," quoth the King in a faint and feigned tone. She
+came close as to embrace him when he took up the sword lying hid by his
+side and smote her across the breast, so that the point showed gleaming
+behind her back. Then he smote her a second time and cut her in twain
+and cast her to the ground in two halves. After which he fared forth
+and found the young man, now freed from the spell, awaiting him and
+gave him joy of his happy release while the Prince kissed his hand with
+abundant thanks. Quoth the King, "Wilt thou abide in this city or go
+with me to my capital?" Quoth the youth, "O King of the age, wottest
+thou not what journey is between thee and thy city?" "Two days and a
+half," answered he, whereupon said the other, "An thou be sleeping, O
+King, awake! Between thee and thy city is a year's march for a well
+girt walker, and thou haddest not come hither in two days and a half
+save that the city was under enchantment. And I, O King, will never
+part from thee; no, not even for the twinkling of an eye." The King
+rejoiced at his words and said, "Thanks be to Allah who hath bestowed
+thee upon me! From this hour thou art my son and my only son, for that
+in all my life I have never been blessed with issue." Thereupon they
+embraced and joyed with exceeding great joy; and, reaching the palace,
+the Prince who had been spell bound informed his lords and his grandees
+that he was about to visit the Holy Places as a pilgrim, and bade them
+get ready all things necessary for the occasion. The preparations
+lasted ten days, after which he set out with the Sultan, whose heart
+burned in yearning for his city whence he had been absent a whole
+twelvemonth. They journeyed with an escort of Mamelukes[FN#137]
+carrying all manners of precious gifts and rarities, nor stinted they
+wayfaring day and night for a full year until they approached the
+Sultan's capital, and sent on messengers to announce their coming. Then
+the Wazir and the whole army came out to meet him in joy and gladness,
+for they had given up all hope of ever seeing their King; and the
+troops kissed the ground before him and wished him joy of his safety.
+He entered and took seat upon his throne and the Minister came before
+him and, when acquainted with all that had befallen the young Prince,
+he congratulated him on his narrow escape. When order was restored
+throughout the land the King gave largesse to many of his people, and
+said to the Wazir, "Hither the Fisherman who brought us the fishes!" So
+he sent for the man who had been the first cause of the city and the
+citizens being delivered from enchantment and, when he came into the
+presence, the Sultan bestowed upon him a dress of honour, and
+questioned him of his condition and whether he had children. The
+Fisherman gave him to know that he had two daughters and a son, so the
+King sent for them and, taking one daughter to wife, gave the other to
+the young Prince and made the son his head treasurer. Furthermore he
+invested his Wazir with the Sultanate of the City in the Black Islands
+whilome belonging to the young Prince, and dispatched with him the
+escort of fifty armed slaves together with dresses of honour for all
+the Emirs and Grandees. The Wazir kissed hands and fared forth on his
+way; while the Sultan and the Prince abode at home in all the solace
+and the delight of life; and the Fisherman became the richest man of
+his age, and his daughters wived with the Kings, until death came to
+them. And yet, O King! this is not more wondrous than the story of
+
+
+
+
+The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad.
+
+
+Once upon a time there was a Porter in Baghdad, who was a bachelor and
+who would remain unmarried. It came to pass on a certain day, as he
+stood about the street leaning idly upon his crate, behold, there stood
+before him an honourable woman in a mantilla of Mosul[FN#138] silk,
+broidered with gold and bordered with brocade; her walking shoes were
+also purfled with gold and her hair floated in long plaits. She raised
+her face veil[FN#139] and, showing two black eyes fringed with jetty
+lashes, whose glances were soft and languishing and whose perfect
+beauty was ever blandishing, she accosted the Porter and said in the
+suavest tones and choicest language, "Take up thy crate and follow me."
+The Porter was so dazzled he could hardly believe that he heard her
+aright, but he shouldered his basket in hot haste saying in himself, "O
+day of good luck! O day of Allah's grace!" and walked after her till
+she stopped at the door of a house. There she rapped, and presently
+came out to her an old man, a Nazarene, to whom she gave a gold piece,
+receiving from him in return what she required of strained wine clear
+as olive oil; and she set it safely in the hamper, saying "Lift and
+follow." Quoth the Porter, "This, by Allah, is indeed an auspicious
+day, a day propitious for the granting of all a man wisheth." He again
+hoisted up the crate and followed her; till she stopped at a
+fruiterer's shop and bought from him Shami[FN#140] apples and Osmani
+quinces and Omani[FN#141] peaches, and cucumbers of Nile growth, and
+Egyptian limes and Sultani oranges and citrons; besides Aleppine
+jasmine, scented myrtle berries, Damascene nenuphars, flower of
+privet[FN#142] and camomile, blood red anemones, violets, and
+pomegranate bloom, eglantine and narcissus, and set the whole in the
+Porter's crate, saying, "Up with it." So he lifted and followed her
+till she stopped at a butcher's booth and said, "Cut me off ten pounds
+of mutton." She paid him his price and he wrapped it in a banana leaf,
+whereupon she laid it in the crate and said "Hoist, O Porter." He
+hoisted accordingly, and followed her as she walked on till she stopped
+at a grocer's, where she bought dry fruits and pistachio kernels,
+Tihamah raisins, shelled almonds and all wanted for dessert, and said
+to the Porter, "Lift and follow me." So he up with his hamper and after
+her till she stayed at the confectioner's, and she bought an earthen
+platter, and piled it with all kinds of sweetmeats in his shop, open
+worked tarts and fritters scented with musk and "soap cakes," and lemon
+loaves and melon preserves,[FN#143] and "Zaynab's combs," and "ladies'
+fingers," and "Kazi's tit-bits" and goodies of every description; and
+placed the platter in the Porter's crate. Thereupon quoth he (being a
+merry man), "Thou shouldest have told me, and I would have brought with
+me a pony or a she camel to carry all this market stuff." She smiled
+and gave him a little cuff on the nape saying, "Step out and exceed not
+in words for (Allah willing!) thy wage will not be wanting." Then she
+stopped at a perfumer's and took from him ten sorts of waters, rose
+scented with musk, orange-flower, water-lily, willow-flower, violet and
+five others; and she also bought two loaves of sugar, a bottle for
+perfume spraying, a lump of male incense, aloe-wood, ambergris and
+musk, with candles of Alexandria wax; and she put the whole into the
+basket, saying, "Up with thy crate and after me." He did so and
+followed until she stood before the greengrocer's, of whom she bought
+pickled safflower and olives, in brine and in oil; with tarragon and
+cream cheese and hard Syrian cheese; and she stowed them away in the
+crate saying to the Porter, "Take up thy basket and follow me." He did
+so and went after her till she came to a fair mansion fronted by a
+spacious court, a tall, fine place to which columns gave strength and
+grace: and the gate thereof had two leaves of ebony inlaid with plates
+of red gold. The lady stopped at the door and, turning her face veil
+sideways, knocked softly with her knuckles whilst the Porter stood
+behind her, thinking of naught save her beauty and loveliness.
+Presently the door swung back and both leaves were opened, whereupon he
+looked to see who had opened it; and behold, it was a lady of tall
+figure, some five feet high; a model of beauty and loveliness,
+brilliance and symmetry and perfect grace. Her forehead was flower
+white; her cheeks like the anemone ruddy bright; her eyes were those of
+the wild heifer or the gazelle, with eyebrows like the crescent moon
+which ends Sha'aban and begins Ramazan;[FN#144] her mouth was the ring
+of Sulayman,[FN#145] her lips coral red, and her teeth like a line of
+strung pearls or of camomile petals. Her throat recalled the
+antelope's, and her breasts, like two pomegranates of even size, stood
+at bay as it were,[FN#146] her body rose and fell in waves below her
+dress like the rolls of a piece of brocade, and her navel[FN#147] would
+hold an ounce of benzoin ointment. In fine she was like her of whom the
+poet said:—
+
+On Sun and Moon of palace cast thy sight * Enjoy her flower like face,
+her fragrant light:
+Thine eyes shall never see in hair so black * Beauty encase a brow so
+purely white:
+The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim * Though fail her name whose
+beauties we indite:
+As sways her gait I smile at hips so big * And weep to see the waist
+they bear so slight.
+
+
+When the Porter looked upon her his wits were waylaid, and his senses
+were stormed so that his crate went nigh to fall from his head, and he
+said to himself, "Never have I in my life seen a day more blessed than
+this day!" Then quoth the lady portress to the lady cateress, "Come in
+from the gate and relieve this poor man of his load." So the
+provisioner went in followed by the portress and the Porter and went on
+till they reached a spacious ground floor hall,[FN#148] built with
+admirable skill and beautified with all manner colours and carvings;
+with upper balconies and groined arches and galleries and cupboards and
+recesses whose curtains hung before them. In the midst stood a great
+basin full of water surrounding a fine fountain, and at the upper end
+on the raised dais was a couch of juniper wood set with gems and
+pearls, with a canopy like mosquito curtains of red satin silk looped
+up with pearls as big as filberts and bigger. Thereupon sat a lady
+bright of blee, with brow beaming brilliancy, the dream of philosophy,
+whose eyes were fraught with Babel's gramarye[FN#149] and her eye brows
+were arched as for archery; her breath breathed ambergris and perfumery
+and her lips were sugar to taste and carnelian to see. Her stature was
+straight as the letter I[FN#150] and her face shamed the noon sun's
+radiancy; and she was even as a galaxy, or a dome with golden marquetry
+or a bride displayed in choicest finery or a noble maid of
+Araby.[FN#151] Right well of her sang the bard when he said:—
+
+Her smiles twin rows of pearls display * Chamomile-buds or rimey spray
+Her tresses stray as night let down * And shames her light the dawn o'
+day.
+
+
+[FN#152]The third lady rising from the couch stepped forward with grace
+ful swaying gait till she reached the middle of the saloon, when she
+said to her sisters, "Why stand ye here? take it down from this poor
+man's head!" Then the cateress went and stood before him, and the
+portress behind him while the third helped them, and they lifted the
+load from the Porter's head; and, emptying it of all that was therein,
+set everything in its place. Lastly they gave him two gold pieces,
+saying, "Wend thy ways, O Porter." But he went not, for he stood
+looking at the ladies and admiring what uncommon beauty was theirs, and
+their pleasant manners and kindly dispositions (never had he seen
+goodlier); and he gazed wistfully at that good store of wines and sweet
+scented flowers and fruits and other matters. Also he marvelled with
+exceeding marvel, especially to see no man in the place and delayed his
+going; whereupon quoth the eldest lady, "What aileth thee that goest
+not; haply thy wage be too little?" And, turning to her sister the
+cateress, she said, "Give him another diner!" But the Porter answered,
+"By Allah, my lady, it is not for the wage; my hire is never more than
+two dirhams; but in very sooth my heart and my soul are taken up with
+you and your condition. I wonder to see you single with ne'er a man
+about you and not a soul to bear you company; and well you wot that the
+minaret toppleth o'er unless it stand upon four, and you want this same
+fourth; and women's pleasure without man is short of measure, even as
+the poet said:—
+
+Seest not we want for joy four things all told * The harp and lute, the
+flute and flageolet;
+And be they companied with scents four fold * Rose, myrtle, anemone and
+violet
+Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withhold * Good wine and
+youth and gold and pretty pet.
+
+
+You be three and want a fourth who shall be a person of good sense and
+prudence; smart witted, and one apt to keep careful counsel." His words
+pleased and amused them much; and they laughed at him and said, "And
+who is to assure us of that? We are maidens and we fear to entrust our
+secret where it may not be kept, for we have read in a certain
+chronicle the lines of one Ibn al-Sumam:—
+
+Hold fast thy secret and to none unfold * Lost is a secret when that
+secret's told
+An fail thy breast thy secret to conceal * How canst thou hope
+another's breast shall hold?
+
+
+And Abu Nowás[FN#153] said well on the same subject:—
+
+Who trusteth secret to another's hand * Upon his brow deserveth burn of
+brand!"
+
+
+When the Porter heard their words he rejoined, "By your lives! I am a
+man of sense and a discreet, who hath read books and perused
+chronicles; I reveal the fair and conceal the foul and I act as the
+poet adviseth:—
+
+None but the good a secret keep * And good men keep it unrevealed:
+It is to me a well shut house * With keyless locks and door
+ensealed"[FN#154]
+
+
+When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application addressed
+to them they said, "Thou knowest that we have laid out all our monies
+on this place. Now say, hast thou aught to offer us in return for
+entertainment? For surely we will not suffer thee to sit in our company
+and be our cup companion, and gaze upon our faces so fair and so rare
+without paying a round sum.[FN#155] Wottest thou not the saying:—
+
+Sans hope of gain
+Love's not worth a grain?"
+
+
+Whereto the lady portress added, "If thou bring anything thou art a
+something; if no thing, be off with thee, thou art a nothing;" but the
+procuratrix interposed, saying, "Nay, O my sisters, leave teasing him
+for by Allah he hath not failed us this day, and had he been other he
+never had kept patience with me, so whatever be his shot and scot I
+will take it upon myself." The Porter, over joyed, kissed the ground
+before her and thanked her saying, "By Allah, these monies are the
+first fruits this day hath given me." Hearing this they said, "Sit thee
+down and welcome to thee," and the eldest lady added, "By Allah, we may
+not suffer thee to join us save on one condition, and this it is, that
+no questions be asked as to what concerneth thee not, and frowardness
+shall be soundly flogged." Answered the Porter, "I agree to this, O my
+lady, on my head and my eyes be it! Lookye, I am dumb, I have no
+tongue. Then arose the provisioneress and tightening her girdle set the
+table by the fountain and put the flowers and sweet herbs in their
+jars, and strained the wine and ranged the flasks in row and made ready
+every requisite. Then sat she down, she and her sisters, placing amidst
+them the Porter who kept deeming himself in a dream; and she took up
+the wine flagon, and poured out the first cup and drank it off, and
+likewise a second and a third.[FN#156] After this she filled a fourth
+cup which she handed to one of her sisters; and, lastly, she crowned a
+goblet and passed it to the Porter, saying:—
+
+"Drink the dear draught, drink free and fain * What healeth every grief
+and pain."
+
+
+He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best thanks
+and improvised:—
+
+“Drain not the bowl save with a trusty friend * A man of worth whose
+good old blood all know:
+For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet * And stinks when
+over stench it haply blow:”
+
+
+Adding:—
+
+Drain not the bowl; save from dear hand like thine * The cup recall thy
+gifts; thou, gifts of wine."
+
+
+After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and was
+drunk and sat swaying from side to side and pursued:—
+
+"All drinks wherein is blood the Law unclean * Doth hold save one, the
+blood shed of the vine:
+Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won * Thou fawn! a willing
+ransom for those eyne."
+
+
+Then the cateress crowned a cup and gave it to the portress, who took
+it from her hand and thanked her and drank. Thereupon she poured again
+and passed to the eldest lady who sat on the couch, and filled yet
+another and handed it to the Porter. He kissed the ground before them;
+and, after drinking and thanking them, he again began to recite :
+
+"Here! Here! by Allah, here! * Cups of the sweet, the dear'
+Fill me a brimming bowl * The Fount o' Life I speer
+
+
+Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and said, "O
+lady, I am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall, thy very
+bondsman;" and he began reciting:—
+
+"A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door * Lauding thy generous
+boons and gifts galore
+Beauty! may he come in awhile to 'joy * Thy charms? for Love and I part
+nevermore!"
+
+
+She said to him, "Drink; and health and happiness attend thy drink." So
+he took the cup and kissed her hand and recited these lines in sing
+song:
+
+"I gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks * Blushed red or flame
+from furnace flaring up:
+She bussed the brim and said with many a smile * How durst thou deal
+folk's cheek for folk to sup?
+"Drink!" (said I) "these are tears of mine whose tinct * Is heart blood
+sighs have boiled in the cup."
+
+
+She answered him in the following couplet:—
+
+"An tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed * Suffer me sup them,
+by thy head and eyes!"
+
+
+Then the lady took the cup, and drank it off to her sisters' health,
+and they ceased not drinking (the Porter being in the midst of them),
+and dancing and laughing and reciting verses and singing ballads and
+ritornellos. All this time the Porter was carrying on with them,
+kissing, toying, biting, handling, groping, fingering; whilst one
+thrust a dainty morsel in his mouth, and another slapped him; and this
+cuffed his cheeks, and that threw sweet flowers at him; and he was in
+the very paradise of pleasure, as though he were sitting in the seventh
+sphere among the Houris[FN#157] of Heaven. They ceased not doing after
+this fashion until the wine played tricks in their heads and worsted
+their wits; and, when the drink got the better of them, the portress
+stood up and doffed her clothes till she was mother naked. However, she
+let down her hair about her body by way of shift, and throwing herself
+into the basin disported herself and dived like a duck and swam up and
+down, and took water in her mouth, and spurted it all over the Porter,
+and washed her limbs, and between her breasts, and inside her thighs
+and all around her navel. Then she came up out of the cistern and
+throwing herself on the Porter's lap said, "O my lord, O my love, what
+callest thou this article?" pointing to her slit, her solution of
+continuity. "I call that thy cleft," quoth the Porter, and she
+rejoined, Wah! wah, art thou not ashamed to use such a word?" and she
+caught him by the collar and soundly cuffed him. Said he again, Thy
+womb, thy vulva;" and she struck him a second slap crying, "O fie, O
+fie, this is another ugly word; is there no shame in thee?" Quoth he,
+"Thy coynte;" and she cried, O thou! art wholly destitute of modesty?"
+and thumped him and bashed him. Then cried the Porter, "Thy
+clitoris,"[FN#158] whereat the eldest lady came down upon him with a
+yet sorer beating, and said, "No;" and he said, " 'Tis so," and the
+Porter went on calling the same commodity by sundry other names, but
+whatever he said they beat him more and more till his neck ached and
+swelled with the blows he had gotten; and on this wise they made him a
+butt and a laughing stock. At last he turned upon them asking, And what
+do you women call this article?" Whereto the damsel made answer, "The
+basil of the bridges."[FN#159] Cried the Porter, "Thank Allah for my
+safety: aid me and be thou propitious, O basil of the bridges!" They
+passed round the cup and tossed off the bowl again, when the second
+lady stood up; and, stripping off all her clothes, cast herself into
+the cistern and did as the first had done; then she came out of the
+water and throwing her naked form on the Porter's lap pointed to her
+machine and said, "O light of mine eyes, do tell me what is the name of
+this concern?" He replied as before, "Thy slit;" and she rejoined,
+"Hath such term no shame for thee?" and cuffed him and buffeted him
+till the saloon rang with the blows. Then quoth she, "O fie! O fie! how
+canst thou say this without blushing?" He suggested, "The basil of the
+bridges;" but she would not have it and she said, "No! no!" and struck
+him and slapped him on the back of the neck. Then he began calling out
+all the names he knew, "Thy slit, thy womb, thy coynte, thy clitoris;"
+and the girls kept on saying, "No! no!" So he said, "I stick to the
+basil of the bridges;" and all the three laughed till they fell on
+their backs and laid slaps on his neck and said, "No! no! that's not
+its proper name." Thereupon he cried, "O my sisters, what is its name?"
+and they replied, "What sayest thou to the husked sesame seed?" Then
+the cateress donned her clothes and they fell again to carousing, but
+the Porter kept moaning, "Oh! and Oh!" for his neck and shoulders, and
+the cup passed merrily round and round again for a full hour. After
+that time the eldest and handsomest lady stood up and stripped off her
+garments, whereupon the Porter took his neck in hand, and rubbed and
+shampoo'd it, saying, "My neck and shoulders are on the way of
+Allah!"[FN#160] Then she threw herself into the basin, and swam and
+dived, sported and washed; and the Porter looked at her naked figure as
+though she had been a slice of the moon[FN#161] and at her face with
+the sheen of Luna when at full, or like the dawn when it brighteneth,
+and he noted her noble stature and shape, and those glorious forms that
+quivered as she went; for she was naked as the Lord made her. Then he
+cried "Alack! Alack!"and began to address her, versifying in these
+couplets:—
+
+"If I liken thy shape to the bough when green * My likeness errs and I
+sore mistake it;
+For the bough is fairest when clad the most * And thou art fairest when
+mother naked."
+
+
+When the lady heard his verses she came up out of the basin and,
+seating herself upon his lap and knees, pointed to her genitory and
+said, "O my lordling, what be the name of this?" Quoth he, "The basil
+of the bridges;" but she said, "Bah, bah!" Quoth he, "The husked
+sesame;" quoth she, "Pooh, pooh!" Then said he, "Thy womb;" and she
+cried, "Fie, Fie! art thou not ashamed of thyself?" and cuffed him on
+the nape of the neck. And whatever name he gave declaring " 'Tis so,"
+she beat him and cried "No! no!" till at last he said, "O my sisters,
+and what is its name?" She replied, "It is entitled the Khan[FN#162] of
+Abu Mansur;" whereupon the Porter replied, "Ha! ha! O Allah be praised
+for safe deliverance! O Khan of Abu Mansur!" Then she came forth and
+dressed and the cup went round a full hour. At last the Porter rose up,
+and stripping off all his clothes, jumped into the tank and swam about
+and washed under his bearded chin and armpits, even as they had done.
+Then he came out and threw himself into the first lady's lap and rested
+his arms upon the lap of the portress, and reposed his legs in the lap
+of the cateress and pointed to his prickle[FN#163] and said, "O my
+mistresses, what is the name of this article?" All laughed at his words
+till they fell on their backs, and one said, "Thy pintle!" But he
+replied, "No!" and gave each one of them a bite by way of forfeit. Then
+said they, "Thy pizzle!" but he cried "No," and gave each of them a
+hug; And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
+permitted say.
+
+When it was the Tenth Night,
+
+
+Quoth her sister Dunyazad, "Finish for us thy story;" and she answered,
+"With joy and goodly gree." It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that
+the damsels stinted not saying to the Porter "Thy prickle, thy pintle,
+thy pizzle," and he ceased not kissing and biting and hugging until his
+heart was satisfied, and they laughed on till they could no more. At
+last one said, "O our brother, what, then, is it called?" Quoth he,
+"Know ye not?" Quoth they, "No!" "Its veritable name," said he, "is
+mule Burst all, which browseth on the basil of the bridges, and
+muncheth the husked sesame, and nighteth in the Khan of Abu Mansur."
+Then laughed they till they fell on their backs, and returned to their
+carousel, and ceased not to be after this fashion till night began to
+fall. Thereupon said they to the Porter, “Bismillah,[FN#164] O our
+master, up and on with those sorry old shoes of thine and turn thy face
+and show us the breadth of thy shoulders!” Said he, "By Allah, to part
+with my soul would be easier for me than departing from you: come let
+us join night to day, and tomorrow morning we will each wend our own
+way." "My life on you," said the procuratrix, "suffer him to tarry with
+us, that we may laugh at him: we may live out our lives and never meet
+with his like, for surely he is a right merry rogue and a
+witty."[FN#165] So they said, "Thou must not remain with us this night
+save on condition that thou submit to our commands, and that whatso
+thou seest, thou ask no questions there anent, nor enquire of its
+cause." "All right," rejoined he, and they said, "Go read the writing
+over the door." So he rose and went to the entrance and there found
+written in letters of gold wash; WHOSO SPEAKETH OF WHAT CONCERNETH HIM
+NOT, SHALL HEAR WHAT PLEASETH HIM NOT![FN#166] The Porter said, Be ye
+witnesses against me that I will not speak on whatso concerneth me
+not." Then the cateress arose, and set food before them and they ate;
+after which they changed their drinking-place for another, and she
+lighted the lamps and candles and burned ambergris and aloes wood, and
+set on fresh fruit and the wine service, when they fell to carousing
+and talking of their lovers. And they ceased not to eat and drink and
+chat, nibbling dry fruits and laughing and playing tricks for the space
+of a full hour when lo! a knock was heard at the gate. The knocking in
+no wise disturbed the seance, but one of them rose and went to see what
+it was and presently returned, saying, "Truly our pleasure for this
+night is to be perfect." "How is that?" asked they; and she answered,
+"At the gate be three Persian Kalandars[FN#167] with their beards and
+heads and eyebrows shaven; and all three blind of the left eye—which is
+surely a strange chance. They are foreigners from Roum-land with the
+mark of travel plain upon them; they have just entered Baghdad, this
+being their first visit to our city; and the cause of their knocking at
+our door is simply because they cannot find a lodging. Indeed one of
+them said to me:—Haply the owner of this mansion will let us have the
+key of his stable or some old out house wherein we may pass this night;
+for evening had surprised them and, being strangers in the land, they
+knew none who would give them shelter. And, O my sisters, each of them
+is a figure o' fun after his own fashion; and if we let them in we
+shall have matter to make sport of." She gave not over persuading them
+till they said to her, "Let them in, and make thou the usual condition
+with them that they speak not of what concerneth them not, lest they
+hear what pleaseth them not." So she rejoiced and going to the door
+presently returned with the three monoculars whose beards and
+mustachios were clean shaven.[FN#168] They salam'd and stood afar off
+by way of respect; but the three ladies rose up to them and welcomed
+them and wished them joy of their safe arrival and made them sit down.
+The Kalandars looked at the room and saw that it was a pleasant place,
+clean swept and garnished with flowers; and the lamps were burning and
+the smoke of perfumes was spireing in air; and beside the dessert and
+fruits and wine, there were three fair girls who might be maidens; so
+they exclaimed with one voice, "By Allah, 'tis good!" Then they turned
+to the Porter and saw that he was a merry faced wight, albeit he was by
+no means sober and was sore after his slappings. So they thought that
+he was one of themselves and said, "A mendicant like us! whether Arab
+or foreigner."[FN#169] But when the Porter heard these words, he rose
+up, and fixing his eyes fiercely upon them, said, "Sit ye here without
+exceeding in talk! Have you not read what is writ over the door? surely
+it befitteth not fellows who come to us like paupers to wag your
+tongues at us." "We crave thy pardon, O Fakír,"[FN#170] rejoined they,
+"and our heads are between thy hands." The ladies laughed consumedly at
+the squabble; and, making peace between the Kalandars and the Porter,
+seated the new guests before meat and they ate. Then they sat together,
+and the portress served them with drink; and, as the cup went round
+merrily, quoth the Porter to the askers, "And you, O brothers mine,
+have ye no story or rare adventure to amuse us withal?" Now the warmth
+of wine having mounted to their heads they called for musical
+instruments; and the portress brought them a tambourine of Mosul, and a
+lute of Irák, and a Persian harp; and each mendicant took one and tuned
+it; this the tambourine and those the lute and the harp, and struck up
+a merry tune while the ladies sang so lustily that there was a great
+noise.[FN#171] And whilst they were carrying on, behold, some one
+knocked at the gate, and the portress went to see what was the matter
+there. Now the cause of that knocking, O King (quoth Shahrazad) was
+this, the Caliph, Harun al-Rashid, had gone forth from the palace, as
+was his wont now and then, to solace himself in the city that night,
+and to see and hear what new thing was stirring; he was in merchant's
+gear, and he was attended by Ja'afar, his Wazir, and by Masrur his
+Sworder of Vengeance.[FN#172] As they walked about the city, their way
+led them towards the house of the three ladies; where they heard the
+loud noise of musical instruments and singing and merriment; so quoth
+the Caliph to Ja'afar, "I long to enter this house and hear those songs
+and see who sing them." Quoth Ja'afar, "O Prince of the Faithful; these
+folk are surely drunken with wine, and I fear some mischief betide us
+if we get amongst them." "There is no help but that I go in there,"
+replied the Caliph, "and I desire thee to contrive some pretext for our
+appearing among them." Ja'afar replied, "I hear and I obey;"[FN#173]
+and knocked at the door, whereupon the portress came out and opened.
+Then Ja'afar came forward and kissing the ground before her said, "O my
+lady, we be merchants from Tiberias town: we arrived at Baghdad ten
+days ago; and, alighting at the merchants' caravanserai, we sold all
+our merchandise. Now a certain trader invited us to an entertainment
+this night; so we went to his house and he set food before us and we
+ate: then we sat at wine and wassail with him for an hour or so when he
+gave us leave to depart; and we went out from him in the shadow of the
+night and, being strangers, we could not find our way back to our Khan.
+So haply of your kindness and courtesy you will suffer us to tarry with
+you this night, and Heaven will reward you!"[FN#174] The portress
+looked upon them and seeing them dressed like merchants and men of
+grave looks and solid, she returned to her sisters and repeated to them
+Ja'afar's story; and they took compassion upon the strangers and said
+to her, "Let them enter." She opened the door to them, when said they
+to her, "Have we thy leave to come in?" "Come in," quoth she; and the
+Caliph entered followed by Ja'afar and Masrur; and when the girls saw
+them they stood up to them in respect and made them sit down and looked
+to their wants, saying, "Welcome, and well come and good cheer to the
+guests, but with one condition!" "What is that?" asked they, and one of
+the ladies answered, "Speak not of what concerneth you not, lest ye
+hear what pleaseth you not." "Even so," said they; and sat down to
+their wine and drank deep. Presently the Caliph looked on the three
+Kalandars and, seeing them each and every blind of the left eye,
+wondered at the sight; then he gazed upon the girls and he was startled
+and he marvelled with exceeding marvel at their beauty and loveliness.
+They continued to carouse and to converse and said to the Caliph,
+"Drink!" but he replied, "I am vowed to Pilgrimage;"[FN#175] and drew
+back from the wine. Thereupon the portress rose and spreading before
+him a table cloth worked with gold, set thereon a porcelain bowl into
+which she poured willow flower water with a lump of snow and a spoonful
+of sugar candy. The Caliph thanked her and said in himself,"By Allah, I
+will recompense her tomorrow for the kind deed she hath done." The
+others again addressed themselves to conversing and carousing; and,
+when the wine gat the better of them, the eldest lady who ruled the
+house rose and making obeisance to them took the cateress by the hand,
+and said, "Rise, O my sister and let us do what is our devoir." Both
+answered "Even so!" Then the portress stood up and proceeded to remove
+the table service and the remnants of the banquet; and renewed the
+pastiles and cleared the middle of the saloon. Then she made the
+Kalandars sit upon a sofa at the side of the estrade, and seated the
+Caliph and Ja'afar and Masrur on the other side of the saloon; after
+which she called the Porter, and said, "How scanty is thy courtesy! now
+thou art no stranger; nay, thou art one of the household." So he stood
+up and, tightening his waist cloth, asked, "What would ye I do?" and
+she answered, "Stand in thy place." Then the procuratrix rose and set
+in the midst of the saloon a low chair and, opening a closet, cried to
+the Porter, "Come help me." So he went to help her and saw two black
+bitches with chains round their necks; and she said to him, "Take hold
+of them;" and he took them and led them into the middle of the saloon.
+Then the lady of the house arose and tucked up her sleeves above her
+wrists and, seizing a scourge, said to the Porter, "Bring forward one
+of the bitches." He brought her forward, dragging her by the chain,
+while the bitch wept, and shook her head at the lady who, however, came
+down upon her with blows on the sconce; and the bitch howled and the
+lady ceased not beating her till her forearm failed her. Then, casting
+the scourge from her hand, she pressed the bitch to her bosom and,
+wiping away her tears with her hands, kissed her head. Then she said to
+the Porter, "Take her away and bring the second;" and, when he brought
+her, she did with her as she had done with the first. Now the heart of
+the Caliph, was touched at these cruel doings; his chest straitened and
+he lost all patience in his desire to know why the two bitches were so
+beaten. He threw a wink at Ja'afar wishing him to ask, but; the
+Minister turning towards him said by signs, "Be silent!" Then quoth the
+portress to the mistress of the house, "O my lady, arise and go to thy
+place that I in turn may do my devoir."[FN#176] She answered, "Even
+so"; and, taking her seat upon the couch of juniper wood, pargetted
+with gold and silver, said to the portress and cateress, "Now do ye
+what ye have to do." Thereupon the portress sat upon a low seat by the
+couch side; but the procuratrix, entering a closet, brought out of it a
+bag of satin with green fringes and two tassels of gold. She stood up
+before the lady of the house and shaking the bag drew out from it a
+lute which she tuned by tightening its pegs; and when it was in perfect
+order, she began to sing these quatrains:—
+
+"Ye are the wish, the aim of me *And when, O Love, thy sight I
+see[FN#177]
+The heavenly mansion openeth;[FN#178] * But Hell I see when lost thy
+sight.
+From thee comes madness; nor the less * Comes highest joy, comes
+ecstasy:
+Nor in my love for thee I fear * Or shame and blame, or hate and spite.
+When Love was throned within my heart * I rent the veil of modesty;
+And stints not Love to rend that veil * Garring disgrace on grace to
+alight;
+The robe of sickness then I donned * But rent to rags was secrecy:
+Wherefore my love and longing heart * Proclaim your high supremest
+might;
+The tear drop railing adown my cheek * Telleth my tale of ignomy:
+And all the hid was seen by all * And all my riddle ree'd aright.
+
+
+Heal then my malady, for thou * Art malady and remedy!
+But she whose cure is in thy hand * Shall ne'er be free of bane and
+blight;
+Burn me those eyne that radiance rain * Slay me the swords of phantasy;
+How many hath the sword of Love * Laid low, their high degree despite?
+Yet will I never cease to pine * Nor to oblivion will I flee.
+Love is my health, my faith, my joy * Public and private, wrong or
+right.
+O happy eyes that sight thy charms * That gaze upon thee at their gree!
+Yea, of my purest wish and will * The slave of Love I'll aye be hight."
+
+
+When the damsel heard this elegy in quatrains she cried out "Alas!
+Alas!" and rent her raiment, and fell to the ground fainting; and the
+Caliph saw scars of the palm rod[FN#179] on her back and welts of the
+whip; and marvelled with exceeding wonder. Then the portress arose and
+sprinkled water on her and brought her a fresh and very fine dress and
+put it on her. But when the company beheld these doings their minds
+were troubled, for they had no inkling of the case nor knew the story
+thereof; so the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "Didst thou not see the scars
+upon the damsel's body? I cannot keep silence or be at rest till I
+learn the truth of her condition and the story of this other maiden and
+the secret of the two black bitches." But Ja'afar answered, "O our
+lord, they made it a condition with us that we speak not of what
+concerneth us not, lest we come to hear what pleaseth us not." Then
+said the portress "By Allah, O my sister, come to me and complete this
+service for me." Replied the procuratrix, "With joy and goodly gree;"
+so she took the lute; and leaned it against her breasts and swept the
+strings with her finger tips, and began singing:—
+
+"Give back mine eyes their sleep long ravished * And say me whither be
+my reason fled:
+I learnt that lending to thy love a place * Sleep to mine eyelids
+mortal foe was made.
+They said, "We held thee righteous, who waylaid * Thy soul?" "Go ask
+his glorious eyes," I said.
+I pardon all my blood he pleased to spill * Owning his troubles drove
+him blood to shed.
+On my mind's mirror sun like sheen he cast * Whose keen reflection fire
+in vitals bred
+Waters of Life let Allah waste at will * Suffice my wage those lips of
+dewy red:
+An thou address my love thou'lt find a cause * For plaint and tears or
+ruth or lustihed.
+In water pure his form shall greet your eyne * When fails the bowl nor
+need ye drink of wine.[FN#180]"
+
+
+Then she quoted from the same ode:—
+
+"I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wine, * And his swaying
+gait swayed to sleep these eyne:
+'Twas not grape juice grips me but grasp of Past * 'Twas not bowl
+o'erbowled me but gifts divine:
+His coiling curl-lets my soul ennetted * And his cruel will all my wits
+outwitted.[FN#181]"
+
+
+After a pause she resumed:—
+
+"If we 'plain of absence what shall we say? * Or if pain afflict us
+where wend our way?
+An I hire a truchman[FN#182] to tell my tale * The lover's plaint is
+not told for pay:
+If I put on patience, a lover's life * After loss of love will not last
+a day:
+Naught is left me now but regret, repine * And tears flooding cheeks
+for ever and aye:
+O thou who the babes of these eyes[FN#183] hast fled * Thou art homed
+in heart that shall never stray
+Would heaven I wot hast thou kept our pact * Long as stream shall flow,
+to have firmest fay?
+Or hast forgotten the weeping slave * Whom groans afflict and whom
+griefs waylay?
+Ah, when severance ends and we side by side * Couch, I'll blame thy
+rigours and chide thy pride!"
+
+
+Now when the portress heard her second ode she shrieked aloud and said,
+"By Allah! 'tis right good!"; and laying hands on her garments tore
+them, as she did the first time, and fell to the ground fainting.
+Thereupon the procuratrix rose end brought her a second change of
+clothes after she had sprinkled water on her. She recovered and sat
+upright and said to her sister the cateress, "Onwards, and help me in
+my duty, for there remains but this one song." So the provisioneress
+again brought out the lute and began to sing these verses:—
+
+"How long shall last, how long this rigour rife of woe * May not
+suffice thee all these tears thou seest flow?
+Our parting thus with purpose fell thou dost prolong * Is't not enough
+to glad the heart of envious foe?
+Were but this lying world once true to lover heart * He had not watched
+the weary night in tears of woe:
+Oh pity me whom overwhelmed thy cruel will * My lord, my king, 'tis
+time some ruth to me thou show:
+To whom reveal my wrongs, O thou who murdered me? * Sad, who of broken
+troth the pangs must undergo!
+Increase wild love for thee and phrenzy hour by hour * And days of
+exile minute by so long, so slow;
+O Moslems, claim vendetta[FN#184] for this slave of Love * Whose sleep
+Love ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low:
+Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish! to lie * Lapt in another's arms
+and unto me cry Go!?
+Yet in thy presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy * When he I love but
+works my love to overthrow?"
+
+
+When the portress heard the third song she cried aloud; and, laying
+hands on her garments, rent them down to the very skirt and fell to the
+ground fainting a third time, again showing the scars of the scourge.
+Then said the three Kalandars, "Would Heaven we had never entered this
+house, but had rather nighted on the mounds and heaps outside the city!
+for verily our visit hath been troubled by sights which cut to the
+heart." The Caliph turned to them and asked, "Why so?" and they made
+answer, "Our minds are sore troubled by this matter." Quoth the Caliph,
+"Are ye not of the household?" and quoth they, "No; nor indeed did we
+ever set eyes on the place till within this hour." Hereat the Caliph
+marvelled and rejoined, "This man who sitteth by you, would he not know
+the secret of the matter?" and so saying he winked and made signs at
+the Porter. So they questioned the man but he replied, "By the All
+might of Allah, in love all are alike![FN#185] I am the growth of
+Baghdad, yet never in my born days did I darken these doors till to day
+and my companying with them was a curious matter." "By Allah," they
+rejoined, "we took thee for one of them and now we see thou art one
+like ourselves." Then said the Caliph, "We be seven men, and they only
+three women without even a fourth to help them; so let us question them
+of their case; and, if they answer us not, fain we will be answered by
+force." All of them agreed to this except Ja'afar who said,[FN#186]
+"This is not my recking; let them be; for we are their guests and, as
+ye know, they made a compact and condition with us which we accepted
+and promised to keep: wherefore it is better that we be silent
+concerning this matter; and, as but little of the night remaineth, let
+each and every of us gang his own gait." Then he winked at the Caliph
+and whispered to him, "There is but one hour of darkness left and I can
+bring them before thee to morrow, when thou canst freely question them
+all concerning their story." But the Caliph raised his head haughtily
+and cried out at him in wrath, saying, "I have no patience left for my
+longing to hear of them: let the Kalandars question them forthright."
+Quoth Ja'afar, "This is not my rede." Then words ran high and talk
+answered talk, and they disputed as to who should first put the
+question, but at last all fixed upon the Porter. And as the jingle
+increased the house mistress could not but notice it and asked them, "O
+ye folk! on what matter are ye talking so loudly?" Then the Porter
+stood up respectfully before her and said, "O my lady, this company
+earnestly desire that thou acquaint them with the story of the two
+bitches and what maketh thee punish them so cruelly; and then thou
+fallest to weeping over them and kissing them; and lastly they want to
+hear the tale of thy sister and why she hath been bastinado'd with palm
+sticks like a man. These are the questions they charge me to put, and
+peace be with thee."[FN#187] Thereupon quoth she who was the lady of
+the house to the guests, "Is this true that he saith on your part?" and
+all replied, "Yes!" save Ja'afar who kept silence. When she heard these
+words she cried, "By Allah, ye have wronged us, O our guests. with
+grievous wronging; for when you came before us we made compact and
+condition with you, that whoso should speak of what concerneth him not
+should hear what pleaseth him not. Sufficeth ye not that we took you
+into our house and fed you with our best food? But the fault is not so
+much yours as hers who let you in." Then she tucked up her sleeves from
+her wrists and struck the floor thrice with her hand crying, "Come ye
+quickly;" and lo! a closet door opened and out of it came seven negro
+slaves with drawn swords in hand to whom she said, "Pinion me those
+praters' elbows and bind them each to each." They did her bidding and
+asked her, "O veiled and virtuous! is it thy high command that we
+strike off their heads?"; but she answered, "Leave them awhile that I
+question them of their condition, before their necks feel the sword."
+"By Allah, O my lady!" cried the Porter, "slay me not for other's sin;
+all these men offended and deserve the penalty of crime save myself.
+Now by Allah, our night had been charming had we escaped the
+mortification of those monocular Kalandars whose entrance into a
+populous city would convert it into a howling wilderness." Then he
+repeated these verses :
+
+"How fair is ruth the strong man deigns not smother! * And fairest fair
+when shown to weakest brother:
+By Love's own holy tie between us twain, * Let one not suffer for the
+sin of other."
+
+
+When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed. And Shahrazad
+perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
+
+When It was the Eleventh Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lady, after
+laughing at the Porter despite her wrath, came up to the party and
+spake thus, "Tell me who ye be, for ye have but an hour of life; and
+were ye not men of rank and, perhaps, notables of your tribes, you had
+not been so froward and I had hastened your doom." Then said the
+Caliph, "Woe to thee, O Ja'afar, tell her who we are lest we be slain
+by mistake; and speak her fair before some horror befal us." "'Tis part
+of thy deserts,"replied he; whereupon the Caliph cried out at him
+saying, "There is a time for witty words and there is a time for
+serious work." Then the lady accosted the three Kalandars and asked
+them, "Are ye brothers?"; when they answered, "No, by Allah, we be
+naught but Fakirs and foreigners." Then quoth she to one among them,
+"Wast thou born blind of one eye?"; and quoth he, "No, by Allah, 'twas
+a marvellous matter and a wondrous mischance which caused my eye to be
+torn out, and mine is a tale which, if it were written upon the eye
+corners with needle gravers, were a warner to whoso would be
+warned."[FN#188] She questioned the second and third Kalandar; but all
+replied like the first, "By Allah, O our mistress, each one of us
+cometh from a different country, and we are all three the sons of
+Kings, sovereign Princes ruling over suzerains and capital cities."
+Thereupon she turned towards them and said, "Let each and every of you
+tell me his tale in due order and explain the cause of his coming to
+our place; and if his story please us let him stroke his head[FN#189]
+and wend his way." The first to come forward was the Hammal, the
+Porter, who said, "O my lady, I am a man and a porter. This dame, the
+cateress, hired me to carry a load and took me first to the shop of a
+vintner, then to the booth of a butcher; thence to the stall of a
+fruiterer; thence to a grocer who also sold dry fruits; thence to a
+confectioner and a perfumer cum druggist and from him to this place
+where there happened to me with you what happened. Such is my story and
+peace be on us all!" At this the lady laughed and said, "Rub thy head
+and wend thy ways!"; but he cried, "By Allah, I will not stump it till
+I hear the stories of my companions." Then came forward one of the
+Monoculars and began to tell her
+
+
+
+
+The First Kalandar’s Tale.
+
+
+Know, O my lady, that the cause of my beard being shorn and my eye
+being out torn was as follows. My father was a King and he had a
+brother who was a King over another city; and it came to pass that I
+and my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle, were both born on one and
+the same day. And years and days rolled on; and, as we grew up, I used
+to visit my uncle every now and then and to spend a certain number of
+months with him. Now my cousin and I were sworn friends; for he ever
+entreated me with exceeding kindness; he killed for me the fattest
+sheep and strained the best of his wines, and we enjoyed long
+conversing and carousing. One day when the wine had gotten the better
+of us, the son of my uncle said to me, "O my cousin, I have a great
+service to ask of thee; and I desire that thou stay me not in whatso I
+desire to do!" And I replied, "With joy and goodly will." Then he made
+me swear the most binding oaths and left me; but after a little while
+he returned leading a lady veiled and richly apparelled with ornaments
+worth a large sum of money. Presently he turned to me (the woman being
+still behind him) and said, "Take this lady with thee and go before me
+to such a burial ground" (describing it, so that I knew the place),
+"and enter with her into such a sepulchre[FN#190] and there await my
+coming." The oaths I swore to him made me keep silence and suffered me
+not to oppose him; so I led the woman to the cemetery and both I and
+she took our seats in the sepulchre; and hardly had we sat down when in
+came my uncle's son, with a bowl of water, a bag of mortar and an adze
+somewhat like a hoe. He went straight to the tomb in the midst of the
+sepulchre and, breaking it open with the adze set the stones on one
+side; then he fell to digging into the earth of the tomb till he came
+upon a large iron plate, the size of a wicket door; and on raising it
+there appeared below it a staircase vaulted and winding. Then he turned
+to the lady and said to her, "Come now and take thy final choice!" She
+at once went down by the staircase and disappeared; then quoth he to
+me, "O son of my uncle, by way of completing thy kindness, when I shall
+have descended into this place, restore the trap door to where it was,
+and heap back the earth upon it as it lay before; and then of thy great
+goodness mix this unslaked lime which is in the bag with this water
+which is in the bowl and, after building up the stones, plaster the
+outside so that none looking upon it shall say:—This is a new opening
+in an old tomb. For a whole year have I worked at this place whereof
+none knoweth but Allah, and this is the need I have of thee;" presently
+adding, "May Allah never bereave thy friends of thee nor make them
+desolate by thine absence, O son of my uncle, O my dear cousin!" And he
+went down the stairs and disappeared for ever. When he was lost to
+sight I replaced the iron plate and did all his bidding till the tomb
+became as it was before and I worked almost unconsciously for my head
+was heated with wine. Returning to the palace of my uncle, I was told
+that he had gone forth a-sporting and hunting; so I slept that night
+without seeing him; and, when the morning dawned, I remembered the
+scenes of the past evening and what happened between me and my cousin;
+I repented of having obeyed him when penitence was of no avail, I still
+thought, however, that it was a dream. So I fell to asking for the son
+of my uncle; but there was none to answer me concerning him; and I went
+out to the grave-yard and the sepulchres, and sought for the tomb under
+which he was, but could not find it; and I ceased not wandering about
+from sepulchre to sepulchre, and tomb to tomb, all without success,
+till night set in. So I returned to the city, yet I could neither eat
+nor drink; my thoughts being engrossed with my cousin, for that I knew
+not what was become of him; and I grieved with exceeding grief and
+passed another sorrowful night, watching until the morning. Then went I
+a second time to the cemetery, pondering over what the son of mine
+uncle had done; and, sorely repenting my hearkening to him, went round
+among all the tombs, but could not find the tomb I sought. I mourned
+over the past, and remained in my mourning seven days, seeking the
+place and ever missing the path. Then my torture of scruples[FN#191]
+grew upon me till I well nigh went mad, and I found no way to dispel my
+grief save travel and return to my father. So I set out and journeyed
+homeward; but as I was entering my father's capital a crowd of rioters
+sprang upon me and pinioned me.[FN#192] I wondered thereat with all
+wonderment, seeing that I was the son of the Sultan, and these men were
+my father's subjects and amongst them were some of my own slaves. A
+great fear fell upon me, and I said to my soul,[FN#193] "Would heaven I
+knew what hath happened to my father!" I questioned those that bound me
+of the cause of their doing, but they returned me no answer. However,
+after a while one of them said to me (and he had been a hired servant
+of our house), "Fortune hath been false to thy father; his troops
+betrayed him and the Wazir who slew him now reigneth in his stead and
+we lay in wait to seize thee by the bidding of him." I was well nigh
+distraught and felt ready to faint on hearing of my father's death;
+when they carried me off and placed me in presence of the usurper. Now
+between me and him there was an olden grudge, the cause of which was
+this. I was fond of shooting with the stone bow,[FN#194] and it befel
+one day as I was standing on the terrace roof of the palace, that a
+bird lighted on the top of the Wazir's house when he happened to be
+there. I shot at the bird and missed the mark; but I hit the Wazir's
+eye and knocked it out as fate and fortune decreed. Even so saith the
+poet:—
+
+We tread the path where Fate hath led * The path Fate writ we fain must
+tread:
+And man in one land doomed to die * Death no where else shall do him
+dead.
+
+
+And on like wise saith another:—
+
+Let Fortune have her wanton way * Take heart and all her words obey:
+Nor joy nor mourn at anything * For all things pass and no things stay.
+
+
+Now when I knocked out the Wazir's eye he could not say a single word,
+for that my father was King of the city; but he hated me ever after and
+dire was the grudge thus caused between us twain. So when I was set
+before him hand bound and pinioned, he straightway gave orders for me
+to be beheaded. I asked, "For what crime wilt thou put me to death?";
+whereupon he answered, "What crime is greater than this?" pointing the
+while to the place where his eye had been Quoth I, "This I did by
+accident not of malice prepense;" and quoth he, “If thou didst it by
+accident, I will do the like by thee with intention.”[FN#195] Then
+cried he, "Bring him forward," and they brought me up to him, when he
+thrust his finger into my left eye and gouged it out; whereupon I
+became one eyed as ye see me. Then he bade bind me hand and foot, and
+put me into a chest and said to the sworder, "Take charge of this
+fellow, and go off with him to the waste lands about the city; then
+draw thy scymitar and slay him, and leave him to feed the beasts and
+birds." So the headsman fared forth with me and when he was in the
+midst of the desert, he took me out of the chest (and I with both hands
+pinioned and both feet fettered) and was about to bandage my eyes
+before striking off my head. But I wept with exceeding weeping until I
+made him weep with me and, looking at him I began to recite these
+couplets:—
+
+"I deemed you coat o' mail that should withstand * The foeman's shafts,
+and you proved foeman's brand
+I hoped your aidance in mine every chance * Though fail my left to aid
+my dexter hand:
+Aloof you stand and hear the railer's gibe * While rain their shafts on
+me the giber-band:
+But an ye will not guard me from my foes * Stand clear, and succour
+neither these nor those!"
+
+
+And I also quoted:—
+
+"I deemed my brethren mail of strongest steel * And so they were—from
+foes to fend my dart!
+I deemed their arrows surest of their aim; * And so they were—when
+aiming at my heart!"
+
+
+When the headsman heard my lines (he had been sworder to my sire and he
+owed me a debt of gratitude) he cried, "O my lord, what can I do, being
+but a slave under orders?" presently adding, "Fly for thy life and
+nevermore return to this land, or they will slay thee and slay me with
+thee, even as the poet said:—
+
+Take thy life and fly whenas evils threat; * Let the ruined house tell
+its owner's fate:
+New land for the old thou shalt seek and find * But to find new life
+thou must not await.
+Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, * When Allah's world
+is so wide and great!
+And trust not other, in matters grave * Life itself must act for a life
+beset:
+Ne'er would prowl the lion with maned neck, * Did he reckon on aid or
+of others reck."
+
+
+Hardly believing in my escape, I kissed his hand and thought the loss
+of my eye a light matter in consideration of my escaping from being
+slain. I arrived at my uncle's capital; and, going in to him, told him
+of what had befallen my father and myself; whereat he wept with sore
+weeping and said, "Verily thou addest grief to my grief, and woe to my
+woe; for thy cousin hath been missing these many days; I wot not what
+hath happened to him, and none can give me news of him." And he wept
+till he fainted. I sorrowed and condoled with him; and he would have
+applied certain medicaments to my eye, but he saw that it was become as
+a walnut with the shell empty. Then said he, "O my son, better to lose
+eye and keep life!" After that I could no longer remain silent about my
+cousin, who was his only son and one dearly loved, so I told him all
+that had happened. He rejoiced with extreme joyance to hear news of his
+son and said, "Come now and show me the tomb;" but I replied, "By
+Allah, O my uncle, I know not its place, though I sought it carefully
+full many times, yet could not find the site." However, I and my uncle
+went to the graveyard and looked right and left, till at last I
+recognised the tomb and we both rejoiced with exceeding joy. We entered
+the sepulchre and loosened the earth about the grave; then, upraising
+the trap door, descended some fifty steps till we came to the foot of
+the staircase when lo! we were stopped by a blinding smoke. Thereupon
+said my uncle that saying whose sayer shall never come to shame, "There
+is no Majesty and there is no Might, save in Allah, the Glorious, the
+Great!" and we advanced till we suddenly came upon a saloon, whose
+floor was strewed with flour and grain and provisions and all manner
+necessaries; and in the midst of it stood a canopy sheltering a couch.
+Thereupon my uncle went up to the couch and inspecting it found his son
+and the lady who had gone down with him into the tomb, lying in each
+other's embrace; but the twain had become black as charred wood; it was
+as if they had been cast into a pit of fire. When my uncle saw this
+spectacle, he spat in his son's face and said, "Thou hast thy deserts,
+O thou hog![FN#196] this is thy judgment in the transitory world, and
+yet remaineth the judgment in the world to come, a durer and a more
+enduring "— And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
+her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Twelfth Night,
+
+
+She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kalandar
+thus went on with his story before the lady and the Caliph and
+Ja'afar:—My uncle struck his son with his slipper[FN#197] as he lay
+there a black heap of coal. I marvelled at his hardness of heart, and
+grieving for my cousin and the lady, said, "By Allah, O my uncle, calm
+thy wrath: dost thou not see that all my thoughts are occupied with
+this misfortune, and how sorrowful I am for what hath befallen thy son,
+and how horrible it is that naught of him remaineth but a black heap of
+charcoal? And is not that enough, but thou must smite him with thy
+slipper?" Answered he,"O son of my brother, this youth from his boyhood
+was madly in love with his own sister;[FN#198] and often and often I
+forbade him from her, saying to myself:—They are but little ones.
+However, when they grew up sin befel between them; and, although I
+could hardly believe it, I confined him and chided him and threatened
+him with the severest threats; and the eunuchs and servants said to
+him:—Beware of so foul a thing which none before thee ever did, and
+which none after thee will ever do; and have a care lest thou be
+dishonoured and disgraced among the Kings of the day, even to the end
+of time. And I added:—Such a report as this will be spread abroad by
+caravans, and take heed not to give them cause to talk or I will
+assuredly curse thee and do thee to death. After that I lodged them
+apart and shut her up; but the accursed girl loved him with passionate
+love, for Satan had got the mastery of her as well as of him and made
+their foul sin seem fair in their sight. Now when my son saw that I
+separated them, he secretly built this souterrain and furnished it and
+transported to it victuals, even as thou seest; and, when I had gone
+out a-sporting, came here with his sister and hid from me. Then His
+righteous judgment fell upon the twain and consumed them with fire from
+Heaven; and verily the last judgment will deal them durer pains and
+more enduring!" Then he wept and I wept with him; and he looked at me
+and said, "Thou art my son in his stead." And I bethought me awhile of
+the world and of its chances, how the Wazir had slain my father and had
+taken his place and had put out my eye; and how my cousin had come to
+his death by the strangest chance: and I wept again and my uncle wept
+with me. Then we mounted the steps and let down the iron plate and
+heaped up the earth over it; and, after restoring the tomb to its
+former condition, we returned to the palace. But hardly had we sat down
+ere we heard the tomtoming of the kettle drum and tantara of trumpets
+and clash of cymbals; and the rattling of war men's lances; and the
+clamours of assailants and the clanking of bits and the neighing of
+steeds; while the world was canopied with dense dust and sand clouds
+raised by the horses' hoofs.[FN#199] We were amazed at sight and sound,
+knowing not what could be the matter; so we asked and were told us that
+the Wazir who usurped my father's kingdom had marched his men; and that
+after levying his soldiery and taking a host of wild Arabs[FN#200] into
+service, he had come down upon us with armies like the sands of the
+sea; their number none could tell and against them none could prevail.
+They attacked the city unawares; and the citizens, being powerless to
+oppose them, surrendered the place: my uncle was slain and I made for
+the suburbs saying to myself, "If thou fall into this villain's hands
+he will assuredly kill thee." On this wise all my troubles were
+renewed; and I pondered all that had betided my father and my uncle and
+I knew not what to do; for if the city people or my father's troops had
+recognised me they would have done their best to win favour by
+destroying me; and I could think of no way to escape save by shaving
+off my beard and my eyebrows. So I shore them off and, changing my fine
+clothes for a Kalandar's rags, I fared forth from my uncle's capital
+and made for this city; hoping that peradventure some one would assist
+me to the presence of the Prince of the Faithful,[FN#201] and the
+Caliph who is the Viceregent of Allah upon earth. Thus have I come
+hither that I might tell him my tale and lay my case before him. I
+arrived here this very night, and was standing in doubt whither I
+should go, when suddenly I saw this second Kalandar; so I salam'd to
+him saying—"I am a stranger!" and he answered:—"I too am a stranger!"
+And as we were conversing behold, up came our companion, this third
+Kalandar, and saluted us saying:—"I am a stranger!" And we
+answered:—"We too be strangers!" Then we three walked on and together
+till darkness overtook us and Destiny crave us to your house. Such,
+then, is the cause of the shaving of my beard and mustachios and
+eyebrows; and the manner of my losing my right eye. They marvelled much
+at this tale and the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "By Allah, I have not seen
+nor have I heard the like of what hath happened to this Kalandar!"
+Quoth the lady of the house, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he
+replied, "I will not go, till I hear the history of the two others."
+Thereupon the second Kalandar came forward; and, kissing the ground,
+began to tell
+
+
+
+
+The Second Kalandar’s Tale.
+
+
+Know, O my lady, that I was not born one eyed and mine is a strange
+story; an it were graven with needle graver on the eye corners, it were
+a warner to whoso would be warned. I am a King, son of a King, and was
+brought up like a Prince. I learned intoning the Koran according the
+seven schools;[FN#202] and I read all manner books, and held
+disputations on their contents with the doctors and men of science;
+moreover I studied star lore and the fair sayings of poets and I
+exercised myself in all branches of learning until I surpassed the
+people of my time; my skill in calligraphy exceeded that of all the
+scribes; and my fame was bruited abroad over all climes and cities, and
+all the kings learned to know my name. Amongst others the King of Hind
+heard of me and sent to my father to invite me to his court, with
+offerings and presents and rarities such as befit royalties. So my
+father fitted out six ships for me and my people; and we put to sea and
+sailed for the space of a full month till we made the land. Then we
+brought out the horses that were with us in the ships; and, after
+loading the camels with our presents for the Prince, we set forth
+inland. But we had marched only a little way, when behold, a dust cloud
+up flew, and grew until it walled[FN#203] the horizon from view. After
+an hour or so the veil lifted and discovered beneath it fifty horsemen,
+ravening lions to the sight, in steel armour dight. We observed them
+straightly and lo! they were cutters off of the highway, wild as wild
+Arabs. When they saw that we were only four and had with us but the ten
+camels carrying the presents, they dashed down upon us with lances at
+rest. We signed to them, with our fingers, as it were saying, "We be
+messengers of the great King of Hind, so harm us not!" but they
+answered on like wise, "We are not in his dominions to obey nor are we
+subject to his sway." Then they set upon us and slew some of my slaves
+and put the lave to flight; and I also fled after I had gotten a wound,
+a grievous hurt, whilst the Arabs were taken up with the money and the
+presents which were with us. I went forth unknowing whither I went,
+having become mean as I was mighty; and I fared on until I came to the
+crest of a mountain where I took shelter for the night in a cave. When
+day arose I set out again, nor ceased after this fashion till I arrived
+at a fair city and a well filled. Now it was the season when Winter was
+turning away with his rime and to greet the world with his flowers came
+Prime, and the young blooms were springing and the streams flowed
+ringing, and the birds were sweetly singing, as saith the poet
+concerning a certain city when describing it:—
+
+A place secure from every thought of fear * Safety and peace for ever
+lord it here:
+Its beauties seem to beautify its sons * And as in Heaven its happy
+folk appear.
+
+
+I was glad of my arrival for I was wearied with the way, and yellow of
+face for weakness and want; but my plight was pitiable and I knew not
+whither to betake me. So I accosted a Tailor sitting in his little shop
+and saluted him; he returned my salam, and bade me kindly welcome and
+wished me well and entreated me gently and asked me of the cause of my
+strangerhood. I told him all my past from first to last; and he was
+concerned on my account and said, "O youth, disclose not thy secret to
+any: the King of this city is the greatest enemy thy father hath, and
+there is blood wit[FN#204] between them and thou hast cause to fear for
+thy life." Then he set meat and drink before me; and I ate and drank
+and he with me; and we conversed freely till night fall, when he
+cleared me a place in a corner of his shop and brought me a carpet and
+a coverlet. I tarried with him three days; at the end of which time he
+said to me, "Knowest thou no calling whereby to win thy living, O my
+son?" "I am learned in the law," I replied, "and a doctor of doctrine;
+an adept in art and science, a mathematician and a notable penman." He
+rejoined, "Thy calling is of no account in our city, where not a soul
+understandeth science or even writing or aught save money making." Then
+said I, "By Allah, I know nothing but what I have mentioned;" and he
+answered, "Gird thy middle and take thee a hatchet and a cord, and go
+and hew wood in the wold for thy daily bread, till Allah send thee
+relief; and tell none who thou art lest they slay thee." Then he bought
+me an axe and a rope and gave me in charge to certain wood cutters; and
+with these guardians I went forth into the forest, where I cut fuel
+wood the whole of my day and came back in the evening bearing my bundle
+on my head. I sold it for half a diner, with part of which I bought
+provision and laid by the rest. In such work I spent a whole year and
+when this was ended I went out one day, as was my wont, into the
+wilderness; and, wandering away from my companions, I chanced on a
+thickly grown lowland[FN#205] in which there was an abundance of wood.
+So I entered and I found the gnarled stump of a great tree and loosened
+the ground about it and shovelled away the earth. Presently my hatchet
+rang upon a copper ring; so I cleared away the soil and behold, the
+ring was attached to a wooden trap door. This I raised and there
+appeared beneath it a staircase. I descended the steps to the bottom
+and came to a door, which I opened and found myself in a noble hall
+strong of structure and beautifully built, where was a damsel like a
+pearl of great price, whose favour banished from my heart all grief and
+cark and care; and whose soft speech healed the soul in despair and
+captivated the wise and ware. Her figure measured five feet in height;
+her breasts were firm and upright; her cheek a very garden of delight;
+her colour lively bright; her face gleamed like dawn through curly
+tresses which gloomed like night, and above the snows of her bosom
+glittered teeth of a pearly white.[FN#206] As the poet said of one like
+her:—
+
+Slim waisted loveling jetty hair encrowned * A wand of willow on a
+sandy mound:
+
+
+And as saith another.—
+
+Four things that meet not, save they here unite * To shed my heart
+blood and to rape my sprite:
+Brilliantest forehead; tresses jetty bright; * Cheeks rosy red and
+stature beauty dight.
+
+
+When I looked upon her I prostrated myself before Him who had created
+her, for the beauty and loveliness He had shaped in her, and she looked
+at me and said, "Art thou man or Jinni?" "I am a man," answered I, and
+she, "Now who brought thee to this place where I have abided five and
+twenty years without even yet seeing man in it?" Quoth I (and indeed I
+found her words wonder sweet, and my heart was melted to the core by
+them), "O my lady, my good fortune led me hither for the dispelling of
+my cark and care." Then I related to her all my mishap from first to
+last, and my case appeared to her exceeding grievous; so she wept and
+said, "I will tell thee my story in my turn. I am the daughter of the
+King Ifitamus, lord of the Islands of Abnus,[FN#207] who married me to
+my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle; but on my wedding night an
+Ifrit named Jirjís[FN#208] bin Rajmús, first cousin that is, mother's
+sister's son, of Iblís, the Foul Fiend, snatched me up and, flying away
+with me like a bird, set me down in this place, whither he conveyed all
+I needed of fine stuffs, raiment and jewels and furniture, and meat and
+drink and other else. Once in every ten days he comes here and lies a
+single night with me, and then wends his way, for he took me without
+the consent of his family; and he hath agreed with me that if ever I
+need him by night or by day, I have only to pass my hand over yonder
+two lines engraved upon the alcove, and he will appear to me before my
+fingers cease touching. Four days have now passed since he was here;
+and, as there remain six days before he come again, say me, wilt thou
+abide with me five days, and go hence the day before his coming?" I
+replied "Yes, and yes again! O rare, if all this be not a dream!"
+Hereat she was glad and, springing to her feet, seized my hand and
+carried me through an arched doorway to a Hammam bath, a fair hall and
+richly decorate. I doffed my clothes, and she doffed hers; then we
+bathed and she washed me; and when this was done we left the bath, and
+she seated me by her side upon a high divan, and brought me sherbet
+scented with musk. When we felt cool after the bath, she set food
+before me and we ate and fell to talking; but presently she said to me,
+"Lay thee down and take thy rest, for surely thou must be weary." So I
+thanked her, my lady, and lay down and slept soundly, forgetting all
+that had happened to me. When I awoke I found her rubbing and
+shampooing my feet;[FN#209] so I again thanked her and blessed her and
+we sat for awhile talking. Said she, "By Allah, I was sad at heart, for
+that I have dwelt alone underground for these five and twenty years;
+and praise be to Allah, who hath sent me some one with whom I can
+converse!" Then she asked, "O youth, what sayest thou to wine?" and I
+answered, "Do as thou wilt." Whereupon she went to a cupboard and took
+out a sealed flask of right old wine and set off the table with flowers
+and scented herbs and began to sing these lines:—
+
+"Had we known of thy coming we fain had dispread * The cores of our
+hearts or the balls of our eyes;
+Our cheeks as a carpet to greet thee had thrown * And our eyelids had
+strown for thy feet to betread."
+
+
+Now when she finished her verse I thanked her, for indeed love of her
+had gotten hold of my heart and my grief and anguish were gone. We sat
+at converse and carousel till nightfall, and with her I spent the
+night—such night never spent I in all my life! On the morrow delight
+followed delight till midday, by which time I had drunken wine so
+freely that I had lost my wits, and stood up, staggering to the right
+and to the left, and said "Come, O my charmer, and I will carry thee up
+from this underground vault and deliver thee from the spell of thy
+Jinni." She laughed and replied "Content thee and hold thy peace: of
+every ten days one is for the Ifrit and the other nine are thine."
+Quoth I (and in good sooth drink had got the better of me), "This very
+instant will I break down the alcove whereon is graven the talisman and
+summon the Ifrit that I may slay him, for it is a practice of mine to
+slay Ifrits!" When she heard my words her colour waxed wan and she
+said, "By Allah, do not!" and she began repeating:—
+
+"This is a thing wherein destruction lies * I rede thee shun it an thy
+wits be wise."
+
+
+And these also:—
+
+"O thou who seekest severance, draw the rein * Of thy swift steed nor
+seek o'ermuch t' advance;
+Ah stay! for treachery is the rule of life, * And sweets of meeting end
+in severance."
+
+
+I heard her verse but paid no heed to her words, nay, I raised my foot
+and administered to the alcove a mighty kick. And Shahrazad perceived
+the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Thirteenth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the second
+Kalandar thus continued his tale to the lady:—But when, O my mistress,
+I kicked that alcove with a mighty kick, behold, the air starkened and
+darkened and thundered and lightened; the earth trembled and quaked and
+the world became invisible. At once the fumes of wine left my head: I
+cried to her, "What is the matter?" and she replied, "The Ifrit is upon
+us! did I not warn thee of this? By Allah, thou hast brought ruin upon
+me; but fly for thy life and go up by the way thou camest down!" So I
+fled up the staircase; but, in the excess of my fear, I forgot sandals
+and hatchet. And when I had mounted two steps I turned to look for
+them, and lo! I saw the earth cleave asunder, and there arose from it
+an Ifrit, a monster of hideousness, who said to the damsel "What
+trouble and pother be this wherewith thou disturbest me? What mishap
+hath betided thee?" "No mishap hath befallen me" she answered, "save
+that my breast was straitened[FN#210] and my heart heavy with sadness!
+so I drank a little wine to broaden it and to hearten myself; then I
+rose to obey a call of Nature, but the wine had gotten into my head and
+I fell against the alcove." "Thou liest, like the whore thou art!"
+shrieked the Ifrit; and he looked around the hall right and left till
+he caught sight of my axe and sandals and said to her, "What be these
+but the belongings of some mortal who hath been in thy society?" She
+answered, "I never set eyes upon them till this moment: they must have
+been brought by thee hither cleaving to thy garments." Quoth the Ifrit,
+"These words are absurd; thou harlot! thou strumpet!" Then he stripped
+her stark naked and, stretching her upon the floor, bound her hands and
+feet to four stakes, like one crucified;[FN#211] and set about
+torturing and trying to make her confess. I could not bear to stand
+listening to her cries and groans; so I climbed the stair on the quake
+with fear; and when I reached the top I replaced the trap door and
+covered it with earth. Then repented I of what I had done with
+penitence exceeding; and thought of the lady and her beauty and
+loveliness, and the tortures she was suffering at the hands of the
+accursed Ifrit, after her quiet life of five and twenty years; and how
+all that had happened to her was for the cause of me. I bethought me of
+my father and his kingly estate and how I had become a woodcutter; and
+how, after my time had been awhile serene, the world had again waxed
+turbid and troubled to me. So I wept bitterly and repeated this
+couplet:—
+
+What time Fate's tyranny shall most oppress thee * Perpend! one day
+shall joy thee, one distress thee!
+
+
+Then I walked till I reached the home of my friend, the Tailor, whom I
+found most anxiously expecting me; indeed he was, as the saying goes,
+on coals of fire for my account. And when he saw me he said, "All night
+long my heart hath been heavy, fearing for thee from wild beasts or
+other mischances. Now praise be to Allah for thy safety!" I thanked him
+for his friendly solicitude and, retiring to my corner, sat pondering
+and musing on what had befallen me; and I blamed and chided myself for
+my meddlesome folly and my frowardness in kicking the alcove. I was
+calling myself to account when behold, my friend, the Tailor, came to
+me and said, "O youth, in the shop there is an old man, a
+Persian,[FN#212] who seeketh thee: he hath thy hatchet and thy sandals
+which he had taken to the woodcutters,[FN#213] saying, "I was going out
+at what time the Mu'azzin began the call to dawn prayer, when I chanced
+upon these things and know not whose they are; so direct me to their
+owner." The woodcutters recognised thy hatchet and directed him to
+thee: he is sitting in my shop, so fare forth to him and thank him and
+take thine axe and sandals." When I heard these words I turned yellow
+with fear and felt stunned as by a blow; and, before I could recover
+myself, lo! the floor of my private room clove asunder, and out of it
+rose the Persian who was the Ifrit. He had tortured the lady with
+exceeding tortures, natheless she would not confess to him aught; so he
+took the hatchet and sandals and said to her, "As surely as I am Jirjis
+of the seed of Iblis, I will bring thee back the owner of this and
+these!"[FN#214] Then he went to the woodcutters with the pretence
+aforesaid and, being directed to me, after waiting a while in the shop
+till the fact was confirmed, he suddenly snatched me up as a hawk
+snatcheth a mouse and flew high in air; but presently descended and
+plunged with me under the earth (I being aswoon the while), and lastly
+set me down in the subterranean palace wherein I had passed that
+blissful night. And there I saw the lady stripped to the skin, her
+limbs bound to four stakes and blood welling from her sides. At the
+sight my eyes ran over with tears; but the Ifrit covered her person and
+said, "O wanton, is not this man thy lover?" She looked upon me and
+replied, "I wot him not nor have I ever seen him before this hour!"
+Quoth the Ifrit, "What! this torture and yet no confessing;" and quoth
+she,"I never saw this man in my born days, and it is not lawful in
+Allah's sight to tell lies on him." "If thou know him not," said the
+Ifrit to her, “take this sword and strike off his head.”[FN#215] She
+hent the sword in hand and came close up to me; and I signalled to her
+with my eyebrows, my tears the while flowing adown my cheeks. She
+understood me and made answer, also by signs, "How couldest thou bring
+all this evil upon me?" and I rejoined after the same fashion, "This is
+the time for mercy and forgiveness." And the mute tongue of my
+case[FN#216] spake aloud saying:—
+
+Mine eyes were dragomans for my tongue betied * And told full clear the
+love I fain would hide:
+When last we met and tears in torrents railed * For tongue struck dumb
+my glances testified:
+She signed with eye glance while her lips were mute * I signed with
+fingers and she kenned th' implied:
+Our eyebrows did all duty 'twixt us twain; * And we being speechless
+Love spake loud and plain.
+
+
+Then, O my mistress, the lady threw away the sword and said, "How shall
+I strike the neck of one I wot not, and who hath done me no evil? Such
+deed were not lawful in my law!" and she held her hand. Said the Ifrit,
+"'Tis grievous to thee to slay thy lover; and, because he hath lain
+with thee, thou endurest these torments and obstinately refusest to
+confess. After this it is clear to me that only like loveth and pitieth
+like." Then he turned to me and asked me, "O man, haply thou also dost
+not know this woman;" whereto I answered, "And pray who may she be?
+assuredly I never saw her till this instant." "Then take the sword,"
+said he "and strike off her head and I will believe that thou wottest
+her not and will leave thee free to go, and will not deaf 'hardly with
+thee." I replied, "That will I do;" and, taking the sword went forward
+sharply and raised my hand to smite. But she signed to me with her
+eyebrows, "Have I failed thee in aught of love; and is it thus that
+thou requitest me?" I understood what her looks implied and answered
+her with an eye-glance, "I will sacrifice my soul for thee." And the
+tongue of the case wrote in our hearts these lines:—
+
+How many a lover with his eyebrows speaketh * To his beloved, as his
+passion pleadeth:
+With flashing eyne his passion he inspireth * And well she seeth what
+kits pleading needeth.
+How sweet the look when each on other gazeth; * And with what swiftness
+and how sure it speedeth:
+And this with eyebrows all his passion writeth; * And that with
+eyeballs all his passion readeth.
+
+
+Then my eyes filled with tears to overflowing and I cast the sword from
+my hand saying, "O mighty Ifrit and hero, if a woman lacking wits and
+faith deem it unlawful to strike off my head, how can it be lawful for
+me, a man, to smite her neck whom I never saw in my whole life. I
+cannot do such misdeed though thou cause me drink the cup of death and
+perdition." Then said the Ifrit, "Ye twain show the good understanding
+between you; but I will let you see how such doings end." He took the
+sword, and struck off the lady's hands first, with four strokes, and
+then her feet; whilst I looked on and made sure of death and she
+farewelled me with her dying eyes. So the Ifrit cried at her, "Thou
+whorest and makest me a wittol with thine eyes;" and struck her so that
+her head went flying. Then he turned to me and said, "O mortal, we have
+it in our law that, when the wife committeth advowtry it is lawful for
+us to slay her. As for this damsel I snatched her away on her
+bride-night when she was a girl of twelve and she knew no one but
+myself. I used to come to her once every ten days and lie with her the
+night, under the semblance of a man, a Persian; and when I was well
+assured that she had cuckolded me, I slew her. But as for thee I am not
+well satisfied that thou hast wronged me in her; nevertheless I must
+not let thee go unharmed; so ask a boon of me and I will grant it."
+Then I rejoiced, O my lady, with exceeding joy and said, "What boon
+shall I crave of thee?" He replied, "Ask me this boon; into what shape
+I shall bewitch thee; wilt thou be a dog, or an ass or an ape?" I
+rejoined (and indeed I had hoped that mercy might be shown me), "By
+Allah, spare me, that Allah spare thee for sparing a Moslem and a man
+who never wronged thee." And I humbled myself before him with exceeding
+humility, and remained standing in his presence, saying, "I am sore
+oppressed by circumstance." He replied "Talk me no long talk, it is in
+my power to slay thee; but I give thee instead thy choice." Quoth I, "O
+thou Ifrit, it would besit thee to pardon me even as the Envied
+pardoned the Envier." Quoth he, "And how was that?" and I began to tell
+him
+
+
+
+
+The Tale of the Envier and the Envied.
+
+
+They relate, O Ifrit, that in a certain city were two men who dwelt in
+adjoining houses, having a common party wall; and one of them envied
+the other and looked on him with an evil eye,[FN#217] and did his
+utmost endeavour to injure him; and, albeit at all times he was jealous
+of his neighbour, his malice at last grew on him till he could hardly
+eat or enjoy the sweet pleasures of sleep. But the Envied did nothing
+save prosper; and the more the other strove to injure him, the more he
+got and gained and throve. At last the malice of his neighbour and the
+man's constant endeavour to work him a harm came to his knowledge; so
+he said, "By Allah! God's earth is wide enough for its people;" and,
+leaving the neighbourhood, he repaired to another city where he bought
+himself a piece of land in which was a dried up draw well,[FN#218] old
+and in ruinous condition. Here he built him an oratory and, furnishing
+it with a few necessaries, took up his abode therein, and devoted
+himself to prayer and worshipping Allah Almighty; and Fakirs and holy
+mendicants flocked to him from all quarters; and his fame went abroad
+through the city and that country side. Presently the news reached his
+envious neighbour, of what good fortune had befallen him and how the
+city notables had become his disciples; so he travelled to the place
+and presented himself at the holy man's hermitage, and was met by the
+Envied with welcome and greeting and all honour. Then quoth the Envier,
+"I have a word to say to thee; and this is the cause of my faring
+hither, and I wish to give thee a piece of good news; so come with me
+to thy cell." Thereupon the Envied arose and took the Envier by the
+hand, and they went in to the inmost part of the hermitage; but the
+Envier said, "Bid thy Fakirs retire to their cells, for I will not tell
+thee what I have to say, save in secret where none may hear us."
+Accordingly the Envied said to his Fakirs, "Retire to your private
+cells;" and, when all had done as he bade them, he set out with his
+visitor and walked a little way until the twain reached the ruinous old
+well. And as they stood upon the brink the Envier gave the Envied a
+push which tumbled him headlong into it, unseen of any; whereupon he
+fared forth, and went his ways, thinking to have had slain him. Now
+this well happened to be haunted by the Jann who, seeing the case, bore
+him up and let him down little by little, till he reached the bottom,
+when they seated him upon a large stone. Then one of them asked his
+fellows, "Wot ye who be this man?" and they answered, "Nay." "This
+man," continued the speaker, "is the Envied hight who, flying from the
+Envier, came to dwell in our city, and here founded this holy house,
+and he hath edified us by his litanies[FN#219] and his lections of the
+Koran; but the Envier set out and journeyed till he rejoined him, and
+cunningly contrived to deceive him and cast him into the well where we
+now are. But the fame of this good man hath this very night come to the
+Sultan of our city who designeth to visit him on the morrow on account
+of his daughter." "What aileth his daughter?" asked one, and another
+answered "She is possessed of a spirit; for Maymun, son of Damdam, is
+madly in love with her; but, if this pious man knew the remedy, her
+cure would be as easy as could be." Hereupon one of them inquired, "And
+what is the medicine?" and he replied, "The black tom cat which is with
+him in the oratory hath, on the end of his tail, a white spot, the size
+of a dirham; let him pluck seven white hairs from the spot, then let
+him fumigate her therewith and the Marid will flee from her and not
+return; so she shall be sane for the rest of her life." All this took
+place, O Ifrit, within earshot of the Envied who listened readily. When
+dawn broke and morn arose in sheen and shone, the Fakirs went to seek
+the Shaykh and found him climbing up the wall of the well; whereby he
+was magnified in their eyes.[FN#220] Then, knowing that naught save the
+black tomcat could supply him with the remedy required, he plucked the
+seven tail hairs from the white spot and laid them by him; and hardly
+had the sun risen ere the Sultan entered the hermitage, with the great
+lords of his estate, bidding the rest of his retinue to remain standing
+outside. The Envied gave him a hearty welcome, and seating him by his
+side asked him, "Shall I tell thee the cause of thy coming?" The King
+answered, "Yes." He continued, "Thou hast come upon pretext of a
+visitation;[FN#221] but it is in thy heart to question me of thy
+daughter." Replied the King, " 'Tis even so, O thou holy Shaykh;" and
+the Envied continued, "Send and fetch her, and I trust to heal her
+forthright (an such it be the will of Allah!)" The King in great joy
+sent for his daughter, and they brought her pinioned and fettered. The
+Envied made her sit down behind a curtain and taking out the hairs
+fumigated her therewith; whereupon that which was in her head cried out
+and departed from her. The girl was at once restored to her right mind
+and veiling her face, said, "What hath happened and who brought me
+hither?" The Sultan rejoiced with a joy that nothing could exceed, and
+kissed his daughter's eyes,[FN#222] and the holy man's hand; then,
+turning to his great lords, he asked, "How say ye! What fee deserveth
+he who hath made my daughter whole?" and all answered, "He deserveth
+her to wife;" and the King said, "Ye speak sooth!" So he married him to
+her and the Envied thus became son in law to the King. And after a
+little the Wazir died and the King said, "Whom can I make Minister in
+his stead?" "Thy son in law," replied the courtiers. So the Envied
+became a Wazir; and after a while the Sultan also died and the lieges
+said, "Whom shall we make King?" and all cried, "The Wazir." So the
+Wazir was forthright made Sultan, and he became King regnant, a true
+ruler of men. One day as he had mounted his horse; and, in the eminence
+of his kinglihood, was riding amidst his Emirs and Wazirs and the
+Grandees of his realm his eye fell upon his old neighbour, the Envier,
+who stood afoot on his path; so he turned to one of his Ministers, and
+said, "Bring hither that man and cause him no affright." The Wazir
+brought him and the King said, "Give him a thousand miskals[FN#223] of
+gold from the treasury, and load him ten camels with goods for trade,
+and send him under escort to his own town." Then he bade his enemy
+farewell and sent him away and forbore to punish him for the many and
+great evils he had done. See, O Ifrit, the mercy of the Envied to the
+Envier, who had hated him from the beginning and had borne him such
+bitter malice and never met him without causing him trouble; and had
+driven him from house and home, and then had journeyed for the sole
+purpose of taking his life by throwing him into the well. Yet he did
+not requite his injurious dealing, but forgave him and was bountiful to
+him.[FN#224] Then I wept before him, O my lady, with sore weeping,
+never was there sorer, and I recited:—
+
+"Pardon my fault, for 'tis the wise man's wont * All faults to pardon
+and revenge forgo:
+In sooth all manner faults in me contain * Then deign of goodness mercy
+grace to show:
+Whoso imploreth pardon from on High * Should hold his hand from sinners
+here below."
+
+
+Said the Ifrit, "Lengthen not thy words! As to my slaying thee fear it
+not, and as to my pardoning thee hope it not; but from my bewitching
+thee there is no escape." Then he tore me from the ground which closed
+under my feet and flew with me into the firmament till I saw the earth
+as a large white cloud or a saucer[FN#225] in the midst of the waters.
+Presently he set me down on a mountain, and taking a little dust, over
+which he muttered some magical words, sprinkled me therewith, saying,
+"Quit that shape and take thou the shape of an ape!" And on the instant
+I became an ape, a tailless baboon, the son of a century[FN#226]. Now
+when he had left me and I saw myself in this ugly and hateful shape, I
+wept for myself, but resigned my soul to the tyranny of Time and
+Circumstance, well weeting that Fortune is fair and constant to no man.
+I descended the mountain and found at the foot a desert plain, long and
+broad, over which I travelled for the space of a month till my course
+brought me to the brink of the briny sea.[FN#227] After standing there
+awhile, I was ware of a ship in the offing which ran before a fair wind
+making for the shore. I hid myself behind a rock on the beach and
+waited till the ship drew near, when I leaped on board. I found her
+full of merchants and passengers and one of them cried, "O Captain,
+this ill omened brute will bring us ill luck!" and another said, "Turn
+this ill omened beast out from among us;" the Captain said, "Let us
+kill it!" another said, "Slay it with the sword;" a third, "Drown it;"
+and a fourth, "Shoot it with an arrow." But I sprang up and laid hold
+of the Rais's[FN#228] skirt, and shed tears which poured down my chops.
+The Captain took pity on me, and said, "O merchants! this ape hath
+appealed to me for protection and I will protect him; henceforth he is
+under my charge: so let none do him aught hurt or harm, otherwise there
+will be bad blood between us." Then he entreated me kindly and
+whatsoever he said I understood and ministered to his every want and
+served him as a servant, albeit my tongue would not obey my wishes; so
+that he came to love me. The vessel sailed on, the wind being fair, for
+the space of fifty days; at the end of which we cast anchor under the
+walls of a great city wherein was a world of people, especially learned
+men, none could tell their number save Allah. No sooner had we arrived
+than we were visited by certain Mameluke officials from the King of
+that city; who, after boarding us, greeted the merchants and giving
+them joy of safe arrival said, "Our King welcometh you, and sendeth you
+this roll of paper, whereupon each and every of you must write a line.
+For ye shall know that the King's Minister, a calligrapher of renown,
+is dead, and the King hath sworn a solemn oath that he will make none
+Wazir in his stead who cannot write as well as he could." He then gave
+us the scroll which measured ten cubits long by a breadth of one, and
+each of the merchants who knew how to write wrote a line thereon, even
+to the last of them; after which I stood up (still in the shape of an
+ape) and snatched the roll out of their hands. They feared lest I
+should tear it or throw it overboard; so they tried to stay me and
+scare me, but I signed to them that i could write, whereat all
+marvelled, saying, "We never yet saw an, ape write." And the Captain
+cried, "Let him write; and if he scribble and scrabble we will kick him
+out and kill him; but if he; write fair and scholarly I will adopt him
+as my son; for surely I never yet saw a more intelligent and well
+mannered monkey than he. Would Heaven my real son were his match in
+morals and manners." I took the reed, and stretching out my paw, dipped
+it in ink and wrote, in the hand used for letters,[FN#229] these two
+couplets:—
+
+Time hath recorded gifts she gave the great; * But none recorded thine
+which be far higher
+Allah ne'er orphan men by loss of thee * Who be of Goodness mother.
+Bounty's sire.
+
+
+And I wrote in Rayháni or larger letters elegantly curved[FN#230]:—
+
+Thou hast a reed[FN#231] of rede to every land, * Whose driving causeth
+all the world to thrive;
+Nil is the Nile of Misraim by thy boons * Who makest misery smile with
+fingers five
+
+
+Then I wrote in the Suls[FN#232] character:—
+
+There be no writer who from Death shall fleet, * But what his hand hath
+writ men shall repeat:
+Write, therefore, naught save what shall serve thee when * Thou see't
+on Judgment-Day an so thou see't!
+
+
+Then I wrote in the character Naskh[FN#233]:—
+
+When to sore parting Fate our love shall doom, * To distant life by
+Destiny decreed,
+We cause the inkhorn's lips to 'plain our pains, * And tongue our
+utterance with the talking reed.
+
+
+And I wrote in the Túmár character[FN#234]:—
+
+Kingdom with none endures; if thou deny * This truth, where be the
+Kings of earlier earth?
+Set trees of goodliness while rule endures, * And when thou art fallen
+they shall tell thy worth.
+
+
+And I wrote in the character Muhakkak[FN#235]:—
+
+When oped the inkhorn of thy wealth and fame * Take ink of generous
+heart and gracious hand;
+Write brave and noble deeds while write thou can * And win thee praise
+from point of pen and brand.
+
+
+Then I gave the scroll to the officials and, after we all had written
+our line, they carried it before the King. When he saw the paper no
+writing pleased him save my writing; and he said to the assembled
+courtiers, "Go seek the writer of these lines and dress him in a
+splendid robe of honour; then mount him on a she mule,[FN#236] let a
+band of music precede him and bring him to the presence." At these
+words they smiled and the King was wroth with them and cried, "O
+accursed! I give you an order and you laugh at me?" "O King," replied
+they, "if we laugh 'tis not at thee and not without a cause." "And what
+is it?" asked he; and they answered, "O King, thou orderest us to bring
+to thy presence the man who wrote these lines; now the truth is that he
+who wrote them is not of the sons of Adam,[FN#237] but an ape, a
+tail-less baboon, belonging to the ship captain." Quoth he, "Is this
+true that you say?" Quoth they, "Yea! by the rights of thy
+munificence!" The King marvelled at their words and shook with mirth
+and said, "I am minded to buy this ape of the Captain." Then he sent
+messengers to the ship with the mule, the dress, the guard and the
+state drums, saying, "Not the less do you clothe him in the robe of
+honour and mount him on the mule and let him be surrounded by the
+guards and preceded by the band of music." They came to the ship and
+took me from the Captain and robed me in the robe of honour and,
+mounting me on the she mule, carried me in state procession through the
+streets', whilst the people were amazed and amused. And folk said to
+one another, "Halloo! is our Sultan about to make an ape his
+Minister?"; and came all agog crowding to gaze at me, and the town was
+astir and turned topsy turvy on my account. When they brought me up to
+the King and set me in his presence, I kissed the ground before him
+three times, and once before the High Chamberlain and great officers,
+and he bade me be seated, and I sat respectfully on shins and
+knees,[FN#238] and all who were present marvelled at my fine manners,
+and the King most of all. Thereupon he ordered the lieges to retire;
+and, when none remained save the King's majesty, the Eunuch on duty and
+a little white slave, he bade them set before me the table of food,
+containing all manner of birds, whatever hoppeth and flieth and
+treadeth in nest, such as quail and sand grouse. Then he signed me to
+eat with him; so I rose and kissed ground before him, then sat me down
+and ate with him. And when the table was removed I washed my hands in
+seven waters and took the reed-case and reed; and wrote instead of
+speaking these couplets:—
+
+Wail for the little partridges on porringer and plate; * Cry for the
+ruin of the fries and stews well marinate:
+Keen as I keen for loved, lost daughters of the Katá-grouse,[FN#239] *
+And omelette round the fair enbrowned fowls agglomerate:
+O fire in heart of me for fish, those deux poissons I saw, * Bedded on
+new made scones[FN#240] and cakes in piles to laniate.
+For thee, O vermicelli! aches my very maw! I hold * Without thee every
+taste and joy are clean annihilate
+Those eggs have rolled their yellow eyes in torturing pains of fire *
+Ere served with hash and fritters hot, that delicatest cate.
+Praised be Allah for His baked and roast and ah! how good * This pulse,
+these pot-herbs steeped in oil with eysill combinate!
+When hunger sated was, I elbow-propt fell back upon * Meat
+pudding[FN#241] wherein gleamed the bangles that my wits amate.
+Then woke I sleeping appetite to eat as though in sport * Sweets from
+broceded trays and kickshaws most elaborate.
+Be patient, soul of me! Time is a haughty, jealous wight; * Today he
+seems dark-lowering and tomorrow fair to sight.[FN#242]
+
+
+Then I rose and seated myself at a respectful distance while the King
+read what I had written, and marvelled, exclaiming, "O the miracle,
+that an ape should be gifted with this graceful style and this power of
+penmanship! By Allah, 'tis a wonder of wonders!" Presently they set
+before the King choice wines in flagons of glass and he drank: then he
+passed on the cup to me; and I kissed the ground and drank and wrote on
+it:—
+
+With fire they boiled me to loose my tongue,[FN#243] * And pain and
+patience gave for fellowship:
+Hence comes it hands of men upbear me high * And honey dew from lips of
+maid I sip!
+
+
+And these also:—
+
+Morn saith to Night, "withdraw and let me shine;" * So drain we
+draughts that dull all pain and pine:[FN#244]
+I doubt, so fine the glass, the wine so clear, * If 'tis the wine in
+glass or glass in wine.
+
+
+The King read my verse and said with a sigh, "Were these gifts[FN#245]
+in a man, he would excel all the folk of his time and age!" Then he
+called for the chess board, and said, "Say, wilt thou play with me?";
+and I signed with my head, "Yes." Then I came forward and ordered the
+pieces and played with him two games, both of which I won. He was
+speechless with surprise; so I took the pen case and, drawing forth a
+reed, wrote on the board these two couplets:—
+
+Two hosts fare fighting thro' the livelong day * Nor is their battling
+ever finished,
+Until, when darkness girdeth them about, * The twain go sleeping in a
+single bed.[FN#246]
+
+
+The King read these lines with wonder and delight and said to his
+Eunuch,[FN#247] "O Mukbil, go to thy mistress, Sitt al-Husn,[FN#248]
+and say her, 'Come, speak the King who biddeth thee hither to take thy
+solace in seeing this right wondrous ape!"' So the Eunuch went out and
+presently returned with the lady who, when she saw me veiled her face
+and said, "O my father! hast thou lost all sense of honour? How cometh
+it thou art pleased to send for me and show me to strange men?" "O Sitt
+al-Husn," said he, "no man is here save this little foot page and the
+Eunuch who reared thee and I, thy father. From whom, then, dost thou
+veil thy face?" She answered, "This whom thou deemest an ape is a young
+man, a clever and polite, a wise and learned and the son of a King; but
+he is ensorcelled and the Ifrit Jirjaris, who is of the seed of Iblis,
+cast a spell upon him, after putting to death his own wife the daughter
+of King Ifitamus lord of the Islands of Abnus." The King marvelled at
+his daughter's words and, turning to me, said, "Is this true that she
+saith of thee?"; and I signed by a nod of my head the answer, "Yea,
+verily;" and wept sore. Then he asked his daughter, "Whence knewest
+thou that he is ensorcelled?"; and she answered, "O my dear papa, there
+was with me in my childhood an old woman, a wily one and a wise and a
+witch to boot, and she taught me the theory of magic and its practice;
+and I took notes in writing and therein waxed perfect, and have
+committed to memory an hundred and seventy chapters of egromantic
+formulas, by the least of which I could transport the stones of thy
+city behind the Mountain Kaf and the Circumambient Main,[FN#249] or
+make its site an abyss of the sea and its people fishes swimming in the
+midst of it." "O my daughter," said her father, "I conjure thee, by my
+life, disenchant this young man, that I may make him my Wazir and marry
+thee to him, for indeed he is an ingenious youth and a deeply learned."
+"With joy and goodly gree," she replied and, hending in hand an iron
+knife whereon was inscribed the name of Allah in Hebrew characters, she
+described a wide circle—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
+ceased saying her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Fourteenth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kalandar
+continued his tale thus:—O my lady, the King's daughter hent in hand a
+knife whereon were inscribed Hebrew characters and described a wide
+circle in the midst of the palace hall, and therein wrote in Cufic
+letters mysterious names and talismans; and she uttered words and
+muttered charms, some of which we understood and others we understood
+not. Presently the world waxed dark before our sight till we thought
+that the sky was falling upon our heads, and lo! the Ifrit presented
+himself in his own shape and aspect. His hands were like many pronged
+pitch forks, his legs like the masts of great ships, and his eyes like
+cressets of gleaming fire. We were in terrible fear of him but the
+King's daughter cried at him, "No welcome to thee and no greeting, O
+dog!" whereupon he changed to the form of a lion and said, "O
+traitress, how is it thou hast broken the oath we sware that neither
+should contraire other!" "O accursed one," answered she, "how could
+there be a compact between me and the like of thee?" Then said he,
+"Take what thou has brought on thyself;" and the lion opened his jaws
+and rushed upon her; but she was too quick for him; and, plucking a
+hair from her head, waved it in the air muttering over it the while;
+and the hair straightway became a trenchant sword blade, wherewith she
+smote the lion and cut him in twain. Then the two halves flew away in
+air and the head changed to a scorpion and the Princess became a huge
+serpent and set upon the accursed scorpion, and the two fought, coiling
+and uncoiling, a stiff fight for an hour at least. Then the scorpion
+changed to a vulture and the serpent became an eagle which set upon the
+vulture, and hunted him for an hour's time, till he became a black tom
+cat, which miauled and grinned and spat. Thereupon the eagle changed
+into a piebald wolf and these two battled in the palace for a long
+time, when the cat, seeing himself overcome, changed into a worm and
+crept into a huge red pomegranate,[FN#250] which lay beside the jetting
+fountain in the midst of the palace hall. Whereupon the pomegranate
+swelled to the size of a water melon in air; and, falling upon the
+marble pavement of the palace, broke to pieces, and all the grains fell
+out and were scattered about till they covered the whole floor. Then
+the wolf shook himself and became a snow white cock, which fell to
+picking up the grains purposing not to leave one; but by doom of
+destiny one seed rolled to the fountain edge and there lay hid. The
+cock fell to crowing and clapping his wings and signing to us with his
+beak as if to ask, ' Are any grains left?" But we understood not what
+he meant, and he cried to us with so loud a cry that we thought the
+palace would fall upon us. Then he ran over all the floor till he saw
+the grain which had rolled to the fountain edge, and rushed eagerly to
+pick it up when behold, it sprang into the midst of the water and
+became a fish and dived to the bottom of the basin. Thereupon the cock
+changed to a big fish, and plunged in after the other, and the two
+disappeared for a while and lo! we heard loud shrieks and cries of pain
+which made us tremble. After this the Ifrit rose out of the water, and
+he was as a burning flame; casting fire and smoke from his mouth and
+eyes and nostrils. And immediately the Princess likewise came forth
+from the basin and she was one live coal of flaming lowe; and these
+two, she and he, battled for the space of an hour, until their fires
+entirely compassed them about and their thick smoke filled the palace.
+As for us we panted for breath, being well nigh suffocated, and we
+longed to plunge into the water fearing lest we be burnt up and utterly
+destroyed; and the King said, There is no Majesty and there is no Might
+save in Allah the Glorious, the Great! Verily we are Allah's and unto
+Him are we returning! Would Heaven I had not urged my daughter to
+attempt the disenchantment of this ape fellow, whereby I have imposed
+upon her the terrible task of fighting yon accursed Ifrit against whom
+all the Ifrits in the world could not prevail. And would Heaven we had
+never seen this ape, Allah never assain nor bless the day of his
+coming! We thought to do a good deed by him before the face of
+Allah,[FN#251] and to release him from enchantment, and now we have
+brought this trouble and travail upon our heart." But I, O my lady, was
+tongue tied and powerless to say a word to him. Suddenly, ere we were
+ware of aught, the Ifrit yelled out from under the flames and, coming
+up to us as we stood on the estrade, blew fire in our faces. The damsel
+overtook him and breathed blasts of fire at his face and the sparks
+from her and from him rained down upon us, and her sparks did us no
+harm, but one of his sparks alighted upon my eye and destroyed it
+making me a monocular ape; and another fell on the King's face
+scorching the lower half, burning off his beard and mustachios and
+causing his under teeth to fall out; while a third alighted on the
+Castrato's breast, killing him on the spot. So we despaired of life and
+made sure of death when lo! a voice repeated the saying, "Allah is most
+Highest! Allah is most Highest! Aidance and victory to all who the
+Truth believe; and disappointment and disgrace to all who the religion
+of Mohammed, the Moon of Faith, unbelieve." The speaker was the
+Princess who had burnt the Ifrit, and he was become a heap of ashes.
+Then she came up to us and said, "Reach me a cup of water." They
+brought it to her and she spoke over it words we understood not, and
+sprinkling me with it cried, "By virtue of the Truth, and by the Most
+Great name of Allah, I charge thee return to thy former shape." And
+behold, I shook, and became a man as before, save that I had utterly
+lost an eye. Then she cried out, "The fire! The fire! O my dear papa an
+arrow from the accursed hath wounded me to the death, for I am not used
+to fight with the Jann; had he been a man I had slain him in the
+beginning. I had no trouble till the time when the pomegranate burst
+and the grains scattered, but I overlooked the seed wherein was the
+very life of the Jinni. Had I picked it up he had died on the spot, but
+as Fate and Fortune decreed, I saw it not; so he came upon me all
+unawares and there befel between him and me a sore struggle under the
+earth and high in air and in the water; and, as often as I opened on
+him a gate,[FN#252] he opened on me another gate and a stronger, till
+at last he opened on me the gate of fire, and few are saved upon whom
+the door of fire openeth. But Destiny willed that my cunning prevail
+over his cunning; and I burned him to death after I vainly exhorted him
+to embrace the religion of al-Islam. As for me I am a dead woman; Allah
+supply my place to you!" Then she called upon Heaven for help and
+ceased not to implore relief from the fire; when lo! a black spark shot
+up from her robed feet to her thighs; then it flew to her bosom and
+thence to her face. When it reached her face she wept and said, "I
+testify that there is no god but the God and that Mahommed is the
+Apostle of God!" And we looked at her and saw naught but a heap of
+ashes by the side of the heap that had been the Ifrit. We mourned for
+her and I wished I had been in her place, so had I not seen her lovely
+face who had worked me such weal become ashes; but there is no
+gainsaying the will of Allah. When the King saw his daughter's terrible
+death, he plucked out what was left of his beard and beat his face and
+rent his raiment; and I did as he did and we both wept over her. Then
+came in the Chamberlains and Grandees and were amazed to find two heaps
+of ashes and the Sultan in a fainting fit; so they stood round him till
+he revived and told them what had befallen his daughter from the Ifrit;
+whereat their grief was right grievous and the women and the slave
+girls shrieked and keened,[FN#253] and they continued their
+lamentations for the space of seven days. Moreover the King bade build
+over his daughter's ashes a vast vaulted tomb, and burn therein wax
+tapers and sepulchral lamps: but as for the Ifrit's ashes they
+scattered them on the winds, speeding them to the curse of Allah. Then
+the Sultan fell sick of a sickness that well nigh brought him to his
+death for a month's space; and, when health returned to him and his
+beard grew again and he had been converted by the mercy of Allah to
+al-Islam, he sent for me and said, "O youth, Fate had decreed for us
+the happiest of lives, safe from all the chances and changes of Time,
+till thou camest to us, when troubles fell upon us. Would to Heaven we
+had never seen thee and the foul face of thee! For we took pity on thee
+and thereby we have lost our all. I have on thy account first lost my
+daughter who to me was well worth an hundred men, secondly I have
+suffered that which befel me by reason of the fire and the loss of my
+teeth, and my Eunuch also was slain. I blame thee not, for it was out
+of thy power to prevent this: the doom of Allah was on thee as well as
+on us and thanks be to the Almighty for that my daughter delivered
+thee, albeit thereby she lost her own life! Go forth now, O my son,
+from this my city, and suffice thee what hath befallen us through thee,
+even although 'twas decreed for us. Go forth in peace; and if I ever
+see thee again I will surely slay thee." And he cried out at me. So I
+went forth from his presence, O my lady, weeping bitterly and hardly
+believing in my escape and knowing not whither I should wend. And I
+recalled all that had befallen me, my meeting the tailor, my love for
+the damsel in the palace beneath the earth, and my narrow escape from
+the Ifrit, even after he had determined to do me die; and how I had
+entered the city as an ape and was now leaving it a man once more. Then
+I gave thanks to Allah and said, "My eye and not my life!" and before
+leaving the place I entered the bath and shaved my poll and beard and
+mustachios and eyebrows; and cast ashes on my head and donned the
+coarse black woollen robe of a Kalandar. Then I fared forth, O my lady,
+and every day I pondered all the calamities which had betided me, and I
+wept and repeated these couplets:—
+
+"I am distraught, yet verily His ruth abides with me, * Tho' round me
+gather hosts of ills, whence come I cannot see:
+Patient I'll be till Patience self with me impatient wax; * Patient for
+ever till the Lord fulfil my destiny:
+Patient I'll bide without complaint, a wronged and vanquisht man; *
+Patient as sunparcht wight that spans the desert's sandy sea:
+Patient I'll be till Aloe's[FN#254] self unwittingly allow * I'm
+patient under bitterer things than bitterest aloë:
+No bitterer things than aloes or than patience for mankind, * Yet
+bitterer than the twain to me were Patience' treachery:
+My sere and seamed and seared brow would dragoman my sore * If soul
+could search my sprite and there unsecret secrecy:
+Were hills to bear the load I bear they'd crumble 'neath the weight, *
+'Twould still the roaring wind, 'twould quench the flame-tongue's
+flagrancy,
+And whoso saith the world is sweet certès a day he'll see * With more
+than aloes' bitterness and aloes' pungency."
+
+
+Then I journeyed through many regions and saw many a city intending for
+Baghdad, that I might seek audience, in the House of Peace,[FN#255]
+with the Commander of the Faithful and tell him all that had befallen
+me. I arrived here this very night and found my brother in Allah, this
+first Kalandar, standing about as one perplexed; so I saluted him with
+"Peace be upon thee," and entered into discourse with him. Presently up
+came our brother, this third Kalandar, and said to us, "Peace be with
+you! I am a stranger;" whereto we replied, "And we too be strangers,
+who have come hither this blessed night." So we all three walked on
+together, none of us knowing the other's history, till Destiny drave us
+to this door and we came in to you. Such then is my story and my reason
+for shaving my beard and mustachios, and this is what caused the loss
+of my eye. Said the house mistress, "Thy tale is indeed a rare; so rub
+thy head and wend thy ways;" but he replied, "I will not budge till I
+hear my companions' stories." Then came forward the third Kalandar, and
+said, "O illustrious lady! my history is not like that of these my
+comrades, but more wondrous and far more marvellous. In their case Fate
+and Fortune came down on them unawares; but I drew down destiny upon my
+own head and brought sorrow on mine own soul, and shaved my own beard
+and lost my own eye. Hear then
+
+
+
+
+The Third Kalandar’s Tale.
+
+
+Know, O my lady, that I also am a King and the son of a King and my
+name is Ajíb son of Kazíb. When my father died I succeeded him; and I
+ruled and did justice and dealt fairly by all my lieges. I delighted in
+sea trips, for my capital stood on the shore, before which the ocean
+stretched far and wide; and near hand were many great islands with
+sconces and garrisons in the midst of the main. My fleet numbered fifty
+merchantmen, and as many yachts for pleasance, and an hundred and fifty
+sail ready fitted for holy war with the Unbelievers. It fortuned that I
+had a mind to enjoy myself on the islands aforesaid, so I took ship
+with my people in ten keel; and, carrying with me a month's victual, I
+set out on a twenty days' voyage. But one night a head wind struck us,
+and the sea rose against us with huge waves; the billows sorely
+buffetted us and a dense darkness settled round us. We gave ourselves
+up for lost and I said, "Whoso endangereth his days, e'en an he 'scape
+deserveth no praise." Then we prayed to Allah and besought Him; but the
+storm blasts ceased not to blow against us nor the surges to strike us
+till morning broke when the gale fell, the seas sank to mirrory
+stillness and the sun shone upon us kindly clear. Presently we made an
+island where we landed and cooked somewhat of food, and ate heartily
+and took our rest for a couple of days. Then we set out again and
+sailed other twenty days, the seas broadening and the land shrinking.
+Presently the current ran counter to us, and we found ourselves in
+strange waters, where the Captain had lost his reckoning, and was
+wholly bewildered in this sea; so said we to the look out man,[FN#256]
+"Get thee to the mast head and keep thine eyes open." He swarmed up the
+mast and looked out and cried aloud, "O Rais, I espy to starboard
+something dark, very like a fish floating on the face of the sea, and
+to larboard there is a loom in the midst of the main, now black and now
+bright." When the Captain heard the look out's words he dashed his
+turband on the deck and plucked out his beard and beat his face saying,
+"Good news indeed! we be all dead men; not one of us can be saved." And
+he fell to weeping and all of us wept for his weeping and also for our
+lives; and I said, "O Captain, tell us what it is the look out saw." "O
+my Prince," answered he, "know that we lost our course on the night of
+the storm, which was followed on the morrow by a two days' calm during
+which we made no way; and we have gone astray eleven days reckoning
+from that night, with ne'er a wind to bring us back to our true course.
+Tomorrow by the end of the day we shall come to a mountain of black
+stone, hight the Magnet Mountain;[FN#257] for thither the currents
+carry us willy-nilly. As soon as we are under its lea, the ship's sides
+will open and every nail in plank will fly out and cleave fast to the
+mountain; for that Almighty Allah hath gifted the loadstone with a
+mysterious virtue and a love for iron, by reason whereof all which is
+iron travelleth towards it; and on this mountain is much iron, how much
+none knoweth save the Most High, from the many vessels which have been
+lost there since the days of yore. The bright spot upon its summit is a
+dome of yellow laton from Andalusia, vaulted upon ten columns; and on
+its crown is a horseman who rideth a horse of brass and holdeth in hand
+a lance of laton; and there hangeth on his bosom a tablet of lead
+graven with names and talismans." And he presently added, “And, O King,
+none destroyeth folk save the rider on that steed, nor will the
+egromancy be dispelled till he fall from his horse.”[FN#258] Then, O my
+lady, the Captain wept with exceeding weeping and we all made sure of
+death doom and each and every one of us farewelled his friend and
+charged him with his last will and testament in case he might be saved.
+We slept not that night and in the morning we found ourselves much
+nearer the Loadstone Mountain, whither the waters drave us with a
+violent send. When the ships were close under its lea they opened and
+the nails flew out and all the iron in them sought the Magnet Mountain
+and clove to it like a network; so that by the end of the day we were
+all struggling in the waves round about the mountain. Some of us were
+saved, but more were drowned and even those who had escaped knew not
+one another, so stupefied were they by the beating of the billows and
+the raving of the winds. As for me, O my lady, Allah (be His name
+exalted!) preserved my life that I might suffer whatso He willed to me
+of hardship, misfortune and calamity; for I scrambled upon a plank from
+one of the ships, and the wind and waters threw it at the feet of the
+Mountain. There I found a practicable path leading by steps carven out
+of the rock to the summit, and I called on the name of Allah
+Almighty"[FN#259]—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
+say her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Fifteenth Night,
+
+
+She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the third
+Kalandar said to the lady (the rest of the party sitting fast bound and
+the slaves standing with swords drawn over their heads):—And after
+calling on the name of Almighty Allah and passionately beseeching Him,
+I breasted the ascent, clinging to the steps and notches hewn in the
+stone, and mounted little by little. And the Lord stilled the wind and
+aided me in the ascent, so that I succeeded in reaching the summit.
+There I found no resting place save the dome, which I entered, joying
+with exceeding joy at my escape; and made the Wuzu-ablution[FN#260] and
+prayed a two bow prayer,[FN#261] a thanksgiving to God for my
+preservation. Then I fell asleep under the dome, and heard in my dream
+a mysterious Voice[FN#262] saying, "O son of Khazib! when thou wakest
+from thy sleep dig under thy feet and thou shalt find a bow of brass
+and three leaden arrows, inscribed with talismans and characts. Take
+the bow and shoot the arrows at the horseman on the dome top and free
+mankind from this sore calamity. When thou hast shot him he shall fall
+into the sea, and the horse will also drop at thy feet: then bury it in
+the place of the bow. This done, the main will swell and rise till it
+is level with the mountain head, and there will appear on it a skiff
+carrying a man of laton (other than he thou shalt have shot) holding in
+his hand a pair of paddles. He will come to thee and do thou embark
+with him but beware of saying Bismillah or of otherwise naming Allah
+Almighty. He will row thee for a space of ten days, till he bring thee
+to certain Islands called the Islands of Safety, and thence thou shalt
+easily reach a port and find those who will convey thee to thy native
+land; and all this shall be fulfilled to thee so thou call not on the
+name of Allah." Then I started up from my sleep in joy and gladness
+and, hastening to do the bidding of the mysterious Voice, found the bow
+and arrows and shot at the horseman and tumbled him into the main,
+whilst the horse dropped at my feet; so I took it and buried it.
+Presently the sea surged up and rose till it reached the top of the
+mountain; nor had I long to wait ere I saw a skiff in the offing coming
+towards me. I gave thanks to Allah; and, when the skiff came up to me,
+I saw therein a man of brass with a tablet of lead on his breast
+inscribed with talismans and characts; and I embarked without uttering
+a word. The boatman rowed on with me through the first day and the
+second and the third, in all ten whole days, till I caught sight of the
+Islands of Safety; whereat I joyed with exceeding joy and for stress of
+gladness exclaimed, “Allah! Allah! In the name of Allah! There is no
+god but the God and Allah is Almighty.”[FN#263] Thereupon the skiff
+forthwith upset and cast me upon the sea; then it righted and sank deep
+into the depths. Now I am a fair swimmer, so I swam the whole day till
+nightfall, when my forearms and shoulders were numbed with fatigue and
+I felt like to die; so I testified to my faith, expecting naught but
+death. The sea was still surging under the violence of the winds, and
+presently there came a billow like a hillock; and, bearing me up high
+in air, threw me with a long cast on dry land, that His will might be
+fulfilled. I crawled up the beach and doffing my raiment wrung it out
+to dry and spread it in the sunshine: then I lay me down and slept the
+whole night. As soon as it was day, I donned my clothes and rose to
+look whither I should walk. Presently I came to a thicket of low trees;
+and, making a cast round it, found that the spot whereon I stood was an
+islet, a mere holm, girt on all sides by the ocean; whereupon I said to
+myself, "Whatso freeth me from one great calamity casteth me into a
+greater!" But while I was pondering my case and longing for death
+behold, I saw afar off a ship making for the island; so I clomb a tree
+and hid myself among the branches. Presently the ship anchored and
+landed ten slaves, blackamoors, bearing iron hoes and baskets, who
+walked on till they reached the middle of the island. Here they dug
+deep into the ground, until they uncovered a plate of metal which they
+lifted, thereby opening a trap door. After this they returned to the
+ship and thence brought bread and flour, honey and fruits, clarified
+butter,[FN#264] leather bottles containing liquors and many household
+stuffs; also furniture, table service and mirrors rugs, carpets and in
+fact all needed to furnish a dwelling; and they kept going to and fro,
+and descending by the trap door, till they had transported into the
+dwelling all that was in the ship. After this the slaves again went on
+board and brought back with them garments as rich as may be, and in the
+midst of them came an old, old man, of whom very little was left, for
+Time had dealt hardly and harshly with him, and all that remained of
+him was a bone wrapped in a rag of blue stuff through which the winds
+whistled west and east. As saith the poet of him:—
+
+Time gars me tremble Ah, how sore the baulk! * While Time in pride of
+strength doth ever stalk:
+Time was I walked nor ever felt I tired, * Now am I tired albe I never
+walk!
+
+
+And the Shaykh held by the hand a youth cast in beauty's mould, all
+elegance and perfect grace; so fair that his comeliness deserved to be
+proverbial; for he was as a green bough or the tender young of the roe,
+ravishing every heart with his loveliness and subduing every soul with
+his coquetry and amorous ways.[FN#265] It was of him the poet spake
+when he said:—
+
+Beauty they brought with him to make compare, * But Beauty hung her
+head in shame and care:
+Quoth' they, "O Beauty, hast thou seen his like?" * And Beauty cried,
+"His like? not anywhere!"
+
+
+They stinted not their going, O my lady, till all went down by the trap
+door and did not reappear for an hour, or rather more; at the end of
+which time the slaves and the old man came up without the youth and,
+replacing the iron plate and carefully closing the door slab as it was
+before, they returned to the ship and made sail and were lost to my
+sight. When they turned away to depart, I came down from the tree and,
+going to the place I had seen them fill up, scraped off and removed the
+earth; and in patience possessed my soul till I had cleared the whole
+of it away. Then appeared the trap door which was of wood, in shape and
+size like a millstone; and when I lifted it up it disclosed a winding
+staircase of stone. At this I marvelled and, descending the steps till
+I reached the last, found a fair hall, spread with various kinds of
+carpets and silk stuffs, wherein was a youth sitting upon a raised
+couch and leaning back on a round cushion with a fan in his hand and
+nosegays and posies of sweet scented herbs and flowers before
+him;[FN#266] but he was alone and not a soul near him in the great
+vault. When he saw me he turned pale; but I saluted him courteously and
+said, "Set thy mind at ease and calm thy fears; no harm shall come near
+thee; I am a man like thyself and the son of a King to boot; whom the
+decrees of Destiny have sent to bear thee company and cheer thee in thy
+loneliness. But now tell me, what is thy story and what causeth thee to
+dwell thus in solitude under the ground?" When he was assured that I
+was of his kind and no Jinni, he rejoiced and his fine colour returned;
+and, making me draw near to him he said, "O my brother, my story is a
+strange story and 'tis this. My father is a merchant-jeweller possessed
+of great wealth, who hath white and black slaves travelling and trading
+on his account in ships and on camels, and trafficking with the most
+distant cities; but he was not blessed with a child, not even one. Now
+on a certain night he dreamed a dream that he should be favoured with a
+son, who would be short lived; so the morning dawned on my father
+bringing him woe and weeping. On the following night my mother
+conceived and my father noted down the date of her becoming
+pregnant.[FN#267] Her time being fulfilled she bare me; whereat my
+father rejoiced and made banquets and called together the neighbours
+and fed the Fakirs and the poor, for that he had been blessed with
+issue near the end of his days. Then he assembled the astrologers and
+astronomers who knew the places of the planets, and the wizards and
+wise ones of the time, and men learned in horoscopes and
+nativities,[FN#268] and they drew out my birth scheme and said to my
+father, "Thy son shall live to fifteen years, but in his fifteenth
+there is a sinister aspect; an he safely tide it over he shall attain a
+great age. And the cause that threateneth him with death is this. In
+the Sea of Peril standeth the Mountain Magnet hight; on whose summit is
+a horseman of yellow laton seated on a horse also of brass and bearing
+on his breast a tablet of lead. Fifty days after this rider shall fall
+from his steed thy son will die and his slayer will be he who shoots
+down the horseman, a Prince named Ajib son of King Khazib." My father
+grieved with exceeding grief to hear these words; but reared me in
+tenderest fashion and educated me excellently well until my fifteenth
+year was told. Ten days ago news came to him that the horseman had
+fallen into the sea and he who shot him down was named Ajib son of King
+Khazib. My father thereupon wept bitter tears at the need of parting
+with me and became like one possessed of a Jinni. However, being in
+mortal fear for me, he built me this place under the earth; and,
+stocking it with all required for the few days still remaining, he
+brought me hither in a ship and left me here. Ten are already past and,
+when the forty shall have gone by without danger to me, he will come
+and take me away; for he hath done all this only in fear of Prince
+Ajib. Such, then, is my story and the cause of my loneliness." When I
+heard his history I marvelled and said in my mind, "I am the Prince
+Ajib who hath done all this; but as Allah is with me I will surely not
+slay him!" So said I to him, "O my lord, far from thee be this hurt and
+harm and then, please Allah, thou shalt not suffer cark nor care nor
+aught disquietude, for I will tarry with thee and serve thee as a
+servant, and then wend my ways; and after having borne thee company
+during the forty days, I will go with thee to thy home where thou shalt
+give me an escort of some of thy Mamelukes with whom I may journey back
+to my own city; and the Almighty shall requite thee for me." He was
+glad to hear these words, when I rose and lighted a large wax candle
+and trimmed the ramps and the three lanterns; and I set on meat and
+drink and sweetmeats. We ate and drank and sat talking over various
+matters till the greater part of the night was gone; when he lay down
+to rest and I covered him up and went to sleep myself. Next morning I
+arose and warmed a little water, then lifted him gently so as to awake
+him and brought him the warm water wherewith he washed his face[FN#269]
+and said to me, "Heaven requite thee for me with every blessing, O
+youth! By Allah, if I get quit of this danger and am saved from him
+whose name is Ajib bin Khazib, I will make my father reward thee and
+send thee home healthy and wealthy; and, if I die, then my blessing be
+upon thee." I answered, "May the day never dawn on which evil shall
+betide thee; and may Allah make my last day before thy last day!" Then
+I set before him somewhat of food and we ate; and I got ready perfumes
+for fumigating the hall, wherewith he was pleased. Moreover I made him
+a Mankalah-cloth;[FN#270] and we played and ate sweetmeats and we
+played again and took our pleasure till nightfall, when I rose and
+lighted the lamps, and set before him somewhat to eat, and sat telling
+him stories till the hours of darkness were far spent. Then he lay down
+to rest and I covered him up and rested also. And thus I continued to
+do, O my lady, for days and nights and affection for him took root in
+my heart and my sorrow was eased, and I said to myself, "The
+astrologers lied[FN#271] when they predicted that he should be slain by
+Ajib bin Khazib: by Allah, I will not slay him." I ceased not
+ministering to him and conversing and carousing with him and telling
+him all manner tales for thirty nine days. On the fortieth
+night[FN#272] the youth rejoiced and said, "O my brother, Alhamdo,
+lillah!—praise be to Allah—who hath preserved me from death and this is
+by thy blessing and the blessing of thy coming to me and I pray God
+that He restore thee to thy native land. But now, O my brother, I would
+thou warm me some water for the Ghusl ablution and do thou kindly bathe
+me and change my clothes." I replied, "With love and gladness;" and I
+heated water in plenty and carrying it in to him washed his body all
+over the washing of health,[FN#273] with meal of lupins[FN#274] and
+rubbed him well and changed his clothes and spread him a high bed
+whereon he lay down to rest, being drowsy after bathing. Then said he,
+"O my brother, cut me up a water melon, and sweeten it with a little
+sugar candy."[FN#275] So I went to the store room and bringing out a
+fine water melon I found there, set it on a platter and laid it before
+him saying, "O my master hast thou not a knife?" "Here it is," answered
+he, "over my head upon the high shelf." So I got up in haste and taking
+the knife drew it from its sheath; but my foot slipped in stepping down
+and I fell heavily upon the youth holding in my hand the knife which
+hastened to fulfil what had been written on the Day that decided the
+destinies of man, and buried itself, as if planted, in the youth's
+heart. He died on the instant. When I saw that he was slain and knew
+that I had slain him, maugre myself, I cried out with an exceeding loud
+and bitter cry and beat my face and rent my raiment and said, “Verily
+we be Allah's and unto Him we be returning, O Moslems! O folk fain of
+Allah! there remained for this youth but one day of the forty dangerous
+days which the astrologers and the learned had foretold for him; and
+the predestined death of this beautiful one was to be at my hand. Would
+Heaven I had not tried to cut the watermelon. What dire misfortune is
+this I must bear lief or loath? What a disaster! What an affliction! O
+Allah mine, I implore thy pardon and declare to Thee my innocence of
+his death. But what God willeth let that come to pass.”[FN#276]—And
+Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
+say.
+
+When it was the Sixteenth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ajib thus
+continued his tale to the lady:—When I was certified that I had slain
+him, I arose and ascending the stairs replaced the trapdoor and covered
+it with earth as before. Then I looked out seawards and saw the ship
+cleaving the waters and making for the island, wherefore I was afeard
+and said, "The moment they come and see the youth done to death, they
+will know 'twas I who slew him and will slay me without respite." So I
+climbed up into a high tree and concealed myself among its leaves; and
+hardly had I done so when the ship anchored and the slaves landed with
+the ancient man, the youth's father, and made direct for the place and
+when they removed the earth they were surprised to see it soft.[FN#277]
+Then they raised the trap door and went down and found the youth lying
+at full length, clothed in fair new garments, with a face beaming after
+the bath, and the knife deep in his heart. At the sight they shrieked
+and wept and beat their faces, loudly cursing the murderer; whilst a
+swoon came over the Shaykh so that the slaves deemed him dead, unable
+to survive his son. At last they wrapped the slain youth in his clothes
+and carried him up and laid him on the ground covering him with a
+shroud of silk. Whilst they were making for the ship the old man
+revived; and, gazing on his son who was stretched out, fell on the
+ground and strewed dust over his head and smote his face and plucked
+out his beard; and his weeping redoubled as he thought of his murdered
+son and he swooned away once more. After awhile a slave went and
+fetched a strip of silk whereupon they lay the old man and sat down at
+his head. All this took place and I was on the tree above them watching
+everything that came to pass; and my heart became hoary before my head
+waxed grey, for the hard lot which was mine, and for the distress and
+anguish I had undergone, and I fell to reciting:—
+
+"How many a joy by Allah's will hath fled * With flight escaping sight
+of wisest head!
+How many a sadness shall begin the day, * Yet grow right gladsome ere
+the day is sped!
+How many a weal trips on the heels of ill, * Causing the mourner's
+heart with joy to thrill!"[FN#278]
+
+
+But the old man, O my lady, ceased not from his swoon till near sunset,
+when he came to himself and, looking upon his dead son, he recalled
+what had happened, and how what he had dreaded had come to pass; and he
+beat his face and head and recited these couplets:—
+
+"Racked is my heart by parting fro' my friends * And two rills ever
+fro' my eyelids flow:
+With them[FN#279] went forth my hopes, Ah, well away! * What shift
+remaineth me to say or do?
+Would I had never looked upon their sight, * What shift, fair sirs,
+when paths e'er strainer grow?
+What charm shall calm my pangs when this wise burn * Longings of love
+which in my vitals glow?
+Would I had trod with them the road of Death! * Ne'er had befel us
+twain this parting blow:
+Allah: I pray the Ruthful show me ruth * And mix our lives nor part
+them evermo'e!
+How blest were we as 'neath one roof we dwelt * Conjoined in joys nor
+recking aught of woe;
+Till Fortune shot us with the severance shaft; * Ah who shall patient
+bear such parting throe?
+And dart of Death struck down amid the tribe * The age's pearl that
+Morn saw brightest show:
+I cried the while his case took speech and said:—* Would Heaven, my
+son, Death mote his doom foreslow!
+Which be the readiest road wi' thee to meet * My Son! for whom I would
+my soul bestow?
+If sun I call him no! the sun doth set; * If moon I call him, wane the
+moons; Ah no!
+O sad mischance o' thee, O doom of days, * Thy place none other love
+shall ever know:
+Thy sire distracted sees thee, but despairs * By wit or wisdom Fate to
+overthrow:
+Some evil eye this day hath cast its spell * And foul befal him as it
+foul befel!"
+
+
+Then he sobbed a single sob and his soul fled his flesh. The slaves
+shrieked aloud, "Alas, our lord!" and showered dust on their heads and
+redoubled their weeping and wailing. Presently they carried their dead
+master to the ship side by side with his dead son and, having
+transported all the stuff from the dwelling to the vessel, set sail and
+disappeared from mine eyes. I descended from the tree and, raising the
+trap-door, went down into the underground dwelling where everything
+reminded me of the youth; and I looked upon the poor remains of him and
+began repeating these verses:—
+
+“Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang * And on deserted
+hearths I weep and yearn:
+And Him I pray who doomed them depart * Some day vouchsafe the boon of
+safe return.”[FN#280]
+
+
+Then, O my lady, I went up again by the trap-door, and every day I used
+to wander round about the island and every night I returned to the
+underground hall. Thus I lived for a month, till at last, looking at
+the western side of the island, I observed that every day the tides
+ebbed, leaving shallow water for which the flow did not compensate; and
+by the end of the month the sea showed dry land in that direction. At
+this I rejoiced making certain of my safety; so I arose and fording
+what little was left of the water got me to the mainland, where I fell
+in with great heaps of loose sand in which even a camel's hoof would
+sink up to the knee.[FN#281] However I emboldened my soul and wading
+through the sand behold, a fire shone from afar burning with a blazing
+light.[FN#282] So I made for it hoping haply to find succour, and broke
+out into these verses:—
+
+"Belike my Fortune may her bridle turn * And Time bring weal although
+he's jealous hight;
+Forward my hopes, and further all my needs, * And passed ills with
+present weals requite."
+
+
+And when I drew near the fire aforesaid lo! it was a palace with gates
+of copper burnished red which, when the rising sun shone thereon,
+gleamed and glistened from afar showing what had seemed to me a fire. I
+rejoiced in the sight, and sat down over against the gate, but I was
+hardly settled in my seat before there met me ten young men clothed in
+sumptuous gear and all were blind of the left eye which appeared as
+plucked out. They were accompanied by a Shaykh, an old, old man, and
+much I marvelled at their appearance, and their all being blind of the
+same eye. When they saw me, they saluted me with the Salam and asked me
+of my case and my history; whereupon I related to them all what had
+befallen me, and what full measure of misfortune was mine. Marvelling
+at my tale they took me to the mansion, where I saw ranged round the
+hall ten couches each with its blue bedding and coverlet of blue
+stuff[FN#283] and amiddlemost stood a smaller couch furnished like them
+with blue and nothing else. As we entered each of the youths took his
+seat on his own couch and the old man seated himself upon the smaller
+one in the middle saying to me, "O youth, sit thee down on the floor
+and ask not of our case nor of the loss of our eyes." Presently he rose
+up and set before each young man some meat in a charger and drink in a
+large mazer, treating me in like manner; and after that they sat
+questioning me concerning my adventures and what had betided me: and I
+kept telling them my tale till the night was far spent. Then said the
+young men, "O our Shaykh, wilt not thou set before us our ordinary? The
+time is come." He replied, "With love and gladness," and rose and
+entering a closet disappeared, but presently returned bearing on his
+head ten trays each covered with a strip of blue stuff. He set a tray
+before each youth and, lighting ten wax candles, he stuck one upon each
+tray, and drew off the covers and lo! under them was naught but ashes
+and powdered charcoal and kettle soot. Then all the young men tucked up
+their sleeves to the elbows and fell a weeping and wailing and they
+blackened their faces and smeared their clothes and buffetted their
+brows and beat their breasts, continually exclaiming, "We were sitting
+at our ease but our frowardness brought us unease! " They ceased not to
+do this till dawn drew nigh, when the old man rose and heated water for
+them; and they washed their faces, and donned other and clean clothes.
+Now when I saw this, O my lady, for very wonderment my senses left me
+and my wits went wild and heart and head were full of thought, till I
+forgot what had betided me and I could not keep silence feeling I fain
+must speak out and question them of these strangenesses; so I said to
+them, "How come ye to do this after we have been so open hearted and
+frolicksome? Thanks be to Allah ye be all sound and sane, yet actions
+such as these befit none but mad men or those possessed of an evil
+spirit. I conjure you by all that is dearest to you, why stint ye to
+tell me your history, and the cause of your losing your eyes and your
+blackening your faces with ashes and soot?" Hereupon they turned to me
+and said, "O young man, hearken not to thy youthtide's suggestions and
+question us no questions." Then they slept and I with them and when
+they awoke the old man brought us somewhat of food; and, after we had
+eaten and the plates and goblets had been removed, they sat conversing
+till night fall when the old man rose and lit the wax candles and lamps
+and set meat and drink before us. After we had eaten and drunken we sat
+conversing and carousing in companionage till the noon of night, when
+they said to the old man, "Bring us our ordinary, for the hour of sleep
+is at hand!" So he rose and brought them the trays of soot and ashes;
+and they did as they had done on the preceding night, nor more, nor
+less. I abode with them after this fashion for the space of a month
+during which time they used to blacken their faces with ashes every
+night, and to wash and change their raiment when the morn was young;
+and I but marvelled the more and my scruples and curiosity increased to
+such a point that I had to forego even food and drink. At last, I lost
+command of myself, for my heart was aflame with fire unquenchable and
+lowe unconcealable and I said, "O young men, will ye not relieve my
+trouble and acquaint me with the reason of thus blackening your faces
+and the meaning of your words:—We were sitting at our ease but our
+frowardness brought us unease?" Quoth they "'Twere better to keep these
+things secret." Still I was bewildered by their doings to the point of
+abstaining from eating and drinking and, at last wholly losing
+patience, quoth I to them, There is no help for it: ye must acquaint me
+with what is the reason of these doings." They replied, "We kept our
+secret only for thy good: to gratify thee will bring down evil upon
+thee and thou wilt become a monocular even as we are." I repeated
+"There is no help for it and, if ye will not, let me leave you and
+return to mine own people and be at rest from seeing these things, for
+the proverb saith:—
+
+Better ye 'bide and I take my leave: * For what eye sees not heart
+shall never grieve."
+
+
+Thereupon they said to me, "Remember, O youth, that should ill befal
+thee we will not again harbour thee nor suffer thee to abide amongst
+us;" and bringing a ram they slaughtered it and skinned it. Lastly they
+gave me a knife saying, "Take this skin and stretch thyself upon it and
+we will sew it around thee, presently there shall come to thee a
+certain bird, hight Rukh,[FN#284] that will catch thee up in his
+pounces and tower high in air and then set thee down on a mountain.
+When thou feelest he is no longer flying, rip open the pelt with this
+blade and come out of it; the bird will be scared and will fly away and
+leave thee free. After this fare for half a day, and the march will
+place thee at a palace wondrous fair to behold, towering high in air
+and builded of Khalanj[FN#285], lign-aloes and sandal-wood, plated with
+red gold, and studded with all manner emeralds and costly gems fit for
+seal rings. Enter it and thou shalt win to thy wish for we have all
+entered that palace; and such is the cause of our losing our eyes and
+of our blackening our faces. Were we now to tell thee our stories it
+would take too long a time; for each and every of us lost his left eye
+by an adventure of his own." I rejoiced at their words and they did
+with me as they said; and the bird Rukh bore me off end set me down on
+the mountain. Then I came out of the skin and walked on till I reached
+the palace. The door stood open as I entered and found myself in a
+spacious and goodly hall, wide exceedingly, even as a horse-course; and
+around it were an hundred chambers with doors of sandal and aloes woods
+plated with red gold and furnished with silver rings by way of
+knockers.[FN#286] At the head or upper end[FN#287] of the hall I saw
+forty damsels, sumptuously dressed and ornamented and one and all
+bright as moons; none could ever tire of gazing upon them and all so
+lovely that the most ascetic devotee on seeing them would become their
+slave and obey their will. When they saw me the whole bevy came up to
+me and said "Welcome and well come and good cheer[FN#288] to thee, O
+our lord! This whole month have we been expecting thee. Praised be
+Allah who hath sent us one who is worthy of us, even as we are worthy
+of him!" Then they made me sit down upon a high divan and said to me,
+"This day thou art our lord and master, and we are thy servants and thy
+hand-maids, so order us as thou wilt." And I marvelled at their case.
+Presently one of them arose and set meat before me and I ate and they
+ate with me; whilst others warmed water and washed my hands and feet
+and changed my clothes and others made ready sherbets and gave us to
+drink; and all gathered around me being full of joy and gladness at my
+coming. Then they sat down and conversed with me till nightfall, when
+five of them arose and laid the trays and spread them with flowers and
+fragrant herbs and fruits, fresh and dried, and confections in
+profusion. At last they brought out a fine wine service with rich old
+wine; and we sat down to drink and some sang songs and others played
+the lute and psaltery and recorders and other instruments, and the bowl
+went merrily round. Hereupon such gladness possessed me that I forgot
+the sorrows of the world one and all and said, "This is indeed life; O
+sad that 'tis fleeting!" I enjoyed their company till the time came for
+rest; and our heads were all warm with wine, when they said, "O our
+lord, choose from amongst us her who shall be thy bed-fellow this night
+and not lie with thee again till forty days be past." So I chose a girl
+fair of face and perfect in shape, with eyes Kohl-edged by nature's
+hand;[FN#289] hair long and jet black with slightly parted
+teeth[FN#290] and joining brows: 'twas as if she were some limber
+graceful branchlet or the slender stalk of sweet basil to amaze and to
+bewilder man's fancy, even as the poet said of such an one—
+
+To even her with greeny bough were vain * Fool he who finds her
+beauties in the roe:
+When hath the roe those lively lovely limbs * Or honey dews those lips
+alone bestow?
+Those eyne, soul piercing eyne, which slay with love, * Which bind the
+victim by their shafts laid low?
+My heart to second childhood they beguiled * No wonder: love sick-man
+again is child!
+
+
+And I repeated to her the maker's words who said:—
+
+"None other charms but thine shall greet mine eyes, * Nor other image
+can my heart surprise:
+Thy love, my lady, captives all my thoughts * And on that love I'll die
+and I'll arise.
+
+
+So I lay with her that night; none fairer I ever knew; and, when it was
+morning, the damsels carried me to the Hammam bath and bathed me and
+robed me in fairest apparel. Then they served up food, and we ate and
+drank and the cup went round till nightfall when I chose from among
+them one fair of form and face, soft-sided and a model of grace, such
+an one as the poet described when he said.—
+
+On her fair bosom caskets twain I scanned, * Sealed fast with musk
+seals lovers to withstand
+With arrowy glances stand on guard her eyes, * Whose shafts would shoot
+who dares put forth a hand.
+
+
+With her I spent a most goodly night; and, to be brief, O my mistress,
+I remained with them in all solace and delight of life, eating and
+drinking, conversing and carousing and every night lying with one or
+other of them. But at the head of the new year they came to me in tears
+and bade me farewell, weeping and crying out and clinging about me:
+whereat I wondered and said, "What may be the matter? verily you break
+my heart!" They exclaimed, "Would Heaven we had never known thee; for,
+though we have companied with many, yet never saw we a pleasanter than
+thou or a more courteous." And they wept again. "But tell me more
+clearly," asked I, "what causeth this weeping which maketh my
+gall-bladder[FN#291] like to burst;" and they answered, "O our lord and
+master, it is severance which maketh us weep; and thou, and thou only,
+art the cause of our tears. If thou hearken to us we need never be
+parted and if thou hearken not we part for ever; but our hearts tell us
+that thou wilt not listen to our words and this is the cause of our
+tears and cries." "Tell me how the case standeth?" "Know, O our lord,
+that we are the daughters of Kings who have met here and have lived
+together for years; and once in every year we are perforce absent for
+forty days; and afterwards we return and abide here for the rest of the
+twelve month eating and drinking and taking our pleasure and enjoying
+delights: we are about to depart according to our custom; and we fear
+lest after we be gone thou contraire our charge and disobey our
+injunctions. Here now we commit to thee the keys of the palace which
+containeth forty chambers and thou mayest open of these thirty and
+nine, but beware (and we conjure thee by Allah and by the lives of us!)
+lest thou open the fortieth door, for therein is that which shall
+separate us for ever."[FN#292] Quoth I, "Assuredly I will not open it,
+if it contain the cause of severance from you." Then one among them
+came up to me and falling on my neck wept and recited these verses.—
+
+"If Time unite us after absent while, * The world harsh frowning on our
+lot shall smile
+And if thy semblance deign adorn mine eyes,[FN#293] * I'll pardon Time
+past wrongs and by gone guile."
+
+
+And I recited the following:—
+
+"When drew she near to bid adieu with heart unstrung, * While care and
+longing on that day her bosom wrung
+Wet pearls she wept and mine like red carnelians rolled * And, joined
+in sad rivière, around her neck they hung."
+
+
+When I saw her weeping I said, "By Allah I will never open that
+fortieth door, never and no wise!" and I bade her farewell. Thereupon
+all departed flying away like birds; signalling with their hands
+farewells as they went and leaving me alone in the palace. When evening
+drew near I opened the door of the first chamber and entering it found
+myself in a place like one of the pleasaunces of Paradise. It was a
+garden with trees of freshest green and ripe fruits of yellow sheen;
+and its birds were singing clear and keen and rills ran wimpling
+through the fair terrene. The sight and sounds brought solace to my
+sprite; and I walked among the trees, and I smelt the breath of the
+flowers on the breeze; and heard the birdies sing their melodies
+hymning the One, the Almighty in sweetest litanies; and I looked upon
+the apple whose hue is parcel red and parcel yellow; as said the poet:—
+
+Apple whose hue combines in union mellow * My fair's red cheek, her
+hapless lover's yellow.
+
+
+Then I looked upon the quince, and inhaled its fragrance which putteth
+to shame musk and ambergris, even as the poet hath said :
+
+Quince every taste conjoins; in her are found * Gifts which for queen
+of fruits the Quince have crowned
+Her taste is wine, her scent the waft of musk; * Pure gold her hue, her
+shape the Moon's fair round.
+
+
+Then I looked upon the pear whose taste surpasseth sherbet and sugar;
+and the apricot[FN#294] whose beauty striketh the eye with admiration,
+as if she were a polished ruby. Then I went out of the place and locked
+the door as it was before. When it was the morrow I opened the second
+door; and entering found myself in a spacious plain set with tall date
+palms and watered by a running stream whose banks were shrubbed with
+bushes of rose and jasmine, while privet and eglantine, oxe-eye, violet
+and lily, narcissus, origane and the winter gilliflower carpeted the
+borders; and the breath of the breeze swept over these sweet smelling
+growths diffusing their delicious odours right and left, perfuming the
+world and filling my soul with delight. After taking my pleasure there
+awhile I went from it and, having closed the door as it was before,
+opened the third door wherein I saw a high open hall pargetted with
+parti-coloured marbles and pietra dura of price and other precious
+stones, and hung with cages of sandal-wood and eagle-wood; full of
+birds which made sweet music, such as the Thousand voiced,[FN#295] and
+the cushat, the merle, the turtle-dove and the Nubian ring dove. My
+heart was filled with pleasure thereby; my grief was dispelled and I
+slept in that aviary till dawn. Then I undocked the door of the fourth
+chamber and therein found a grand saloon with forty smaller chambers
+giving upon it. All their doors stood open: so I entered and found them
+full of pearls and jacinths and beryls and emeralds and corals and car
+buncles, and all manner precious gems and jewels, such as tongue of man
+may not describe. My thought was stunned at the sight and I said to
+myself, "These be things methinks united which could not be found save
+in the treasuries of a King of Kings, nor could the monarchs of the
+world have collected the like of these!" And my heart dilated and my
+sorrows ceased, "For," quoth I, "now verily am I the monarch of the
+age, since by Allah's grace this enormous wealth is mine; and I have
+forty damsels under my hand nor is there any to claim them save
+myself." Then I gave not over opening place after place until nine and
+thirty days were passed and in that time I had entered every chamber
+except that one whose door the Princesses had charged me not to open.
+But my thoughts, O my mistress, ever ran on that forbidden
+fortieth[FN#296] and Satan urged me to open it for my own undoing; nor
+had I patience to forbear, albeit there wanted of the trysting time but
+a single day. So I stood before the chamber aforesaid and, after a
+moment's hesitation, opened the door which was plated with red gold,
+and entered. I was met by a perfume whose like I had never before
+smelt; and so sharp and subtle was the odour that it made my senses
+drunken as with strong wine, and I fell to the ground in a fainting fit
+which lasted a full hour. When I came to myself I strengthened my heart
+and, entering, found myself in a chamber whose floor was bespread with
+saffron and blazing with light from branched candelabra of gold and
+lamps fed with costly oils, which diffused the scent of musk and
+ambergris. I saw there also two great censers each big as a
+mazer-bowl,[FN#297] flaming with lign-aloes, nadd-perfume,[FN#298]
+ambergris and honied scents; and the place was full of their fragrance.
+Presently, O my lady, I espied a noble steed, black as the murks of
+night when murkiest, standing, ready saddled and bridled (and his
+saddle was of red gold) before two mangers, one of clear crystal
+wherein was husked sesame, and the other also of crystal containing
+water of the rose scented with musk. When I saw this I marvelled and
+said to myself, "Doubtless in this animal must be some wondrous
+mystery;" and Satan cozened me, so I led him without the palace end
+mounted him, but he would not stir from his place. So I hammered his
+sides with my heels, but he moved not, and then I took the rein
+whip,[FN#299] and struck him withal. When he felt the blow, he neighed
+a neigh with a sound like deafening thunder and, opening a pair of
+wings[FN#300] flew up with me in the firmament of heaven far beyond the
+eyesight of man. After a full hour of flight he descended and alighted
+on a terrace roof and shaking me off his back lashed me on the face
+with his tail and gouged out my left eye causing it roll along my
+cheek. Then he flew away. I went down from the terrace and found myself
+again amongst the ten one eyed youths sitting upon their ten couches
+with blue covers; and they cried out when they saw me, "No welcome to
+thee, nor aught of good cheer! We all lived of lives the happiest and
+we ate and drank of the best; upon brocades and cloths of gold we took
+our rest and we slept with our heads on beauty's breast, but we could
+not await one day to gain the delights of a year!" Quoth I, "Behold I
+have become one like unto you and now I would have you bring me a tray
+full of blackness, wherewith to blacken my face, and receive me into
+your society." "No, by Allah," quoth they, "thou shalt not sojourn with
+us and now get thee hence!" So they drove me away. Finding them reject
+me thus I foresaw that matters would go hard with me, and I remembered
+the many miseries which Destiny had written upon my forehead; and I
+fared forth from among them heavy hearted and tearful eyed, repeating
+to myself these words, "I was sitting at mine ease but my frowardness
+brought me to unease." Then I shaved beard and mustachios and eye
+brows, renouncing the world, and wandered in Kalandar garb about
+Allah's earth; and the Almighty decreed safety for me till I arrived at
+Baghdad, which was on the evening of this very night. Here I met these
+two other Kalandars standing bewildered; so I saluted them saying, "I
+am a stranger!" and they answered, "And we likewise be strangers!" By
+the freak of Fortune we were like to like, three Kalandars and three
+monoculars all blind of the left eye. Such, O my lady, is the cause of
+the shearing of my beard and the manner of my losing an eye. Said the
+lady to him, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he answered, "By
+Allah, I will not go until I hear the stories of these others." Then
+the lady, turning towards the Caliph and Ja'afar and Masrur, said to
+them, "Do ye also give an account of yourselves, you men!" Whereupon
+Ja'afar stood forth and told her what he had told the portress as they
+were entering the house; and when she heard his story of their being
+merchants and Mosul men who had outrun the watch, she said, "I grant
+you your lives each for each sake, and now away with you all." So they
+all went out and when they were in the street, quoth the Caliph to the
+Kalandars, "O company, whither go ye now, seeing that the morning hath
+not yet dawned?" Quoth they, "By Allah, O our lord, we know not where
+to go." "Come and pass the rest of the night with us," said the Caliph
+and, turning to Ja'afar, "Take them home with thee and tomorrow bring
+them to my presence that we may chronicle their adventures." Ja'afar
+did as the Caliph bade him and the Commander of the Faithful returned
+to his palace; but sleep gave no sign of visiting him that night and he
+lay awake pondering the mishaps of the three Kalandar princes and
+impatient to know the history of the ladies and the two black bitches.
+No sooner had morning dawned than he went forth and sat upon the throne
+of his sovereignty; and, turning to Ja'afar, after all his Grandees and
+Officers of state were gathered together, he said, "Bring me the three
+ladies and the two bitches and the three Kalandars." So Ja'afar fared
+forth and brought them all before him (and the ladies were veiled);
+then the Minister turned to them and said in the Caliph's name, "We
+pardon you your maltreatment of us and your want of courtesy, in
+consideration of the kindness which forewent it, and for that ye knew
+us not: now however I would have you to know that ye stand in presence
+of the fifth[FN#301] of the sons of Abbas, Harun al-Rashid, brother of
+Caliph Músá al-Hádi, son of Al-Mansúr; son of Mohammed the brother of
+Al-Saffáh bin Mohammed who was first of the royal house. Speak ye
+therefore before him the truth and the whole truth!" When the ladies
+heard Ja afar's words touching the Commander of the Faithful, the
+eldest came forward and said, "O Prince of True Believers, my story is
+one which, were it graven with needle-gravers upon the eye corners were
+a warner for whoso would be warned and an example for whoso can take
+profit from example."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
+ceased to say her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Seventeenth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that she stood forth
+before the Commander of the Faithful and began to tell
+
+
+
+
+The Eldest Lady’s Tale.
+
+
+Verily a strange tale is mine and 'tis this:—Yon two black bitches are
+my eldest sisters by one mother and father; and these two others, she
+who beareth upon her the signs of stripes and the third our procuratrix
+are my sisters by another mother. When my father died, each took her
+share of the heritage and, after a while my mother also deceased,
+leaving me and my sisters german three thousand dinars; so each
+daughter received her portion of a thousand dinars and I the same, albe
+the youngest. In due course of time my sisters married with the usual
+festivities and lived with their husbands, who bought merchandise with
+their wives monies and set out on their travels together. Thus they
+threw me off. My brothers in law were absent with their wives five
+years, during which period they spent all the money they had and,
+becoming bankrupt, deserted my sisters in foreign parts amid stranger
+folk. After five years my eldest sister returned to me in beggar's gear
+with her clothes in rags and tatters[FN#302] and a dirty old
+mantilla;[FN#303] and truly she was in the foulest and sorriest plight.
+At first sight I did not know my own sister; but presently I recognised
+her and said "What state is this?" "O our sister," she replied, "Words
+cannot undo the done; and the reed of Destiny hath run through what
+Allah decreed." Then I sent her to the bath and dressed her in a suit
+of mine own, and boiled for her a bouillon and brought her some good
+wine and said to her, "O my sister, thou art the eldest, who still
+standest to us in the stead of father and mother; and, as for the
+inheritance which came to me as to you twain, Allah hath blessed it and
+prospered it to me with increase; and my circumstances are easy, for I
+have made much money by spinning and cleaning silk; and I and you will
+share my wealth alike." I entreated her with all kindliness and she
+abode with me a whole year, during which our thoughts and fancies were
+always full of our other sister. Shortly after she too came home in yet
+fouler and sorrier plight than that of my eldest sister; and I dealt by
+her still more honorably than I had done by the first, and each of them
+had a share of my substance. After a time they said to me, 'O our
+sister, we desire to marry again, for indeed we have not patience to
+drag on our days without husbands and to lead the lives of widows
+bewitched;" and I replied, "O eyes of me![FN#304] ye have hitherto seen
+scanty weal in wedlock, for now-a-days good men and true are become
+rarities and curiosities; nor do I deem your projects advisable, as ye
+have already made trial of matrimony and have failed." But they would
+not accept my advice and married without my consent: nevertheless I
+gave them outfit and dowries out of my money; and they fared forth with
+their mates. In a mighty little time their husbands played them false
+and, taking whatever they could lay hands upon, levanted and left them
+in the lurch. Thereupon they came to me ashamed and in abject case and
+made their excuses to me, saying, Pardon our fault and be not wroth
+with us;[FN#305] for although thou art younger in years yet art thou
+older in wit; henceforth we will never make mention of marriage; so
+take us back as thy hand maidens that we may eat our mouthful." Quoth
+I, "Welcome to you, O my sisters, there is naught dearer to me than
+you." And I took them in and redoubled my kindness to them. We ceased
+not to live after this loving fashion for a full year, when I resolved
+to sell my wares abroad and first to fit me a conveyance for Bassorah;
+so I equipped a large ship, and loaded her with merchandise and
+valuable goods for traffic, and with provaunt and all needful for a
+voyage, and said to my sisters, "Will ye abide at home whilst I travel,
+or would ye prefer to accompany me on the voyage?" "We will travel with
+thee," answered they, "for we cannot bear to be parted from thee." So I
+divided my monies into two parts, one to accompany me and the other to
+be left in charge of a trusty person, for, as I said to myself, "Haply
+some accident may happen to the ship and yet we remain alive; in which
+case we shall find on our return what may stand us in good stead." I
+took my two sisters and we went a voyaging some days and nights; but
+the master was careless enough to miss his course, and the ship went
+astray with us and entered a sea other than the sea we sought. For a
+time we knew naught of this; and the wind blew fair for us ten days,
+after which the look out man went aloft to see about him and cried,
+"Good news!" Then he came down rejoicing and said, "I have seen what
+seemeth to be a city as 'twere a pigeon." Hereat we rejoiced and, ere
+an hour of the day had passed, the buildings showed plain in the offing
+and we asked the Captain, "What is the name of yonder city?" and he
+answered By Allah I wot not, for I never saw it before and never sailed
+these seas in my life: but, since our troubles have ended in safety,
+remains for you only to land there with your merchandise and, if you
+find selling profitable, sell and make your market of what is there;
+and if not, we will rest here two days and provision ourselves and fare
+away." So we entered the port and the Captain went up town and was
+absent awhile, after which he returned to us and said, "Arise; go up
+into the city and marvel at the works of Allah with His creatures and
+pray to be preserved from His righteous wrath!" So we landed and going
+up into the city, saw at the gate men hending staves in hand; but when
+we drew near them, behold, they had been translated[FN#306] by the
+anger of Allah and had become stones. Then we entered the city and
+found all who therein woned into black stones enstoned: not an
+inhabited house appeared to the espier, nor was there a blower of
+fire.[FN#307] We were awe struck at the sight and threaded the market
+streets where we found the goods and gold and silver left lying in
+their places; and we were glad and said, "Doubtless there is some
+mystery in all this." Then we dispersed about the thorough-fares and
+each busied himself with collecting the wealth and money and rich
+stuffs, taking scanty heed of friend or comrade. As for myself I went
+up to the castle which was strongly fortified; and, entering the King's
+palace by its gate of red gold, found all the vaiselle of gold and
+silver, and the King himself seated in the midst of his Chamberlains
+and Nabobs and Emirs and Wazirs; all clad in raiment which confounded
+man's art. I drew nearer and saw him sitting on a throne incrusted and
+inlaid with pearls and gems; and his robes were of gold-cloth adorned
+with jewels of every kind, each one flashing like a star. Around him
+stood fifty Mamelukes, white slaves, clothed in silks of divers sorts
+holding their drawn swords in their hands; but when I drew near to them
+lo! all were black stones. My understanding was confounded at the
+sight, but I walked on and entered the great hall of the Harim,[FN#308]
+whose walls I found hung with tapestries of gold striped silk and
+spread with silken carpets embroidered with golden cowers. Here I saw
+the Queen lying at full length arrayed in robes purfled with fresh
+young[FN#309] pearls; on her head was a diadem set with many sorts of
+gems each fit for a ring[FN#310] and around her neck hung collars and
+necklaces. All her raiment and her ornaments were in natural state but
+she had been turned into a black stone by Allah's wrath. Presently I
+espied an open door for which I made straight and found leading to it a
+flight of seven steps. So I walked up and came upon a place pargetted
+with marble and spread and hung with gold-worked carpets and tapestry,
+amiddlemostof which stood a throne of juniper wood inlaid with pearls
+and precious stones and set with bosses of emeralds. In the further
+wall was an alcove whose curtains, bestrung with pearls, were let down
+and I saw a light issuing therefrom; so I drew near and perceived that
+the light came from a precious stone as big as an ostrich egg, set at
+the upper end of the alcove upon a little chryselephantine couch of
+ivory and gold; and this jewel, blazing like the sun, cast its rays
+wide and side. The couch also was spread with all manner of silken
+stuffs amazing the gazer with their richness and beauty. I marvelled
+much at all this, especially when seeing in that place candles ready
+lighted; and I said in my mind, "Needs must some one have lighted these
+candles." Then I went forth and came to the kitchen and thence to the
+buttery and the King's treasure chambers; and continued to explore the
+palace and to pace from place to place; I forgot myself in my awe and
+marvel at these matters and I was drowned in thought till the night
+came on. Then I would have gone forth, but knowing not the gate I lost
+my way, so I returned to the alcove whither the lighted candles
+directed me and sat down upon the couch; and wrapping myself in a
+coverlet, after I had repeated somewhat from the Koran, I would have
+slept but could not, for restlessness possessed me. When night was at
+its noon I heard a voice chanting the Koran in sweetest accents; but
+the tone thereof was weak; so I rose, glad to hear the silence broken,
+and followed the sound until I reached a closet whose door stood ajar.
+Then peeping through a chink I considered the place and lo! it was an
+oratory wherein was a prayer niche[FN#311] with two wax candles burning
+and lamps hanging from the ceiling. In it too was spread a prayer
+carpet whereupon sat a youth fair to see; and before him on its
+stand[FN#312] was a copy of the Koran, from which he was reading. I
+marvelled to see him alone alive amongst the people of the city and
+entering saluted him; whereupon he raised his eyes and returned my
+salam. Quoth I, "Now by the Truth of what thou readest in Allah's Holy
+Book, I conjure thee to answer my question." He looked upon me with a
+smile and said, "O handmaid of Allah, first tell me the cause of thy
+coming hither, and I in turn will tell what hath befallen both me and
+the people of this city, and what was the reason of my escaping their
+doom." So I told him my story whereat he wondered; and I questioned him
+of the people of the city, when he replied, "Have patience with me for
+a while, O my sister!" and, reverently closing the Holy Book, he laid
+it up in a satin bag. Then he seated me by his side; and I looked at
+him and behold, he was as the moon at its full, fair of face and rare
+of form, soft sided and slight, of well proportioned height, and cheek
+smoothly bright and diffusing light; in brief a sweet, a sugar
+stick,[FN#313]. even as saith the poet of the like of him in these
+couplets:—
+
+That night th' astrologer a scheme of planets drew, * And lo! a
+graceful shape of youth appeared in view:
+Saturn had stained his locks with Saturninest jet, * And spots of nut
+brown musk on rosy side face blew:[FN#314]
+Mars tinctured either cheek with tinct of martial red; * Sagittal shots
+from eyelids Sagittarius threw:
+Dowered him Mercury with bright mercurial wit; * Bore off the
+Bear[FN#315] what all man's evil glances grew:
+Amazed stood Astrophil to sight the marvel birth * When louted low the
+Moon at full to buss the Earth.
+
+
+And of a truth Allah the Most High had robed him in the raiment of
+perfect grace and had purfled and fringed it with a cheek all beauty
+and loveliness, even as the poet saith of such an one:—
+
+By his eyelids shedding perfume and his fine slim waist I swear, * By
+the shooting of his shafts barbed with sorcery passing rare;
+By the softness of his sides,[FN#316] and glances' lingering light, *
+And brow of dazzling day-tide ray and night within his hair;
+By his eyebrows which deny to who look upon them rest, * Now bidding
+now forbidding, ever dealing joy and care;
+By the rose that decks his cheek, and the myrtle of its moss,[FN#317] *
+By jacinths bedded in his lips and pearl his smile lays bare;
+By his graceful bending neck and the curving of his breast, * Whose
+polished surface beareth those granados, lovely pair;
+By his heavy hips that quiver as he passeth in his pride, * Or he
+resteth with that waist which is slim beyond compare;
+By the satin of his skin, by that fine unsullied sprite; * By the
+beauty that containeth all things bright and debonnair;
+By that ever open hand; by the candour of his tongue; * By noble blood
+and high degree whereof he's hope and heir;
+Musk from him borrows muskiness she loveth to exhale * And all the airs
+of ambergris through him perfume the air;
+The sun, methinks, the broad bright sun, before my love would pale *
+And sans his splendour would appear a paring of his nail.[FN#318]
+
+
+I glanced at him with one glance of eyes which caused me a thousand
+sighs; and my heart was at once taken captive wise, so I asked him, "O
+my lord and my love, tell me that whereof I questioned thee;" and he
+answered, "Hearing is obeying! Know O handmaid of Allah, that this city
+was the capital of my father who is the King thou sawest on the throne
+transfigured by Allah's wrath to a black stone, and the Queen thou
+foundest in the alcove is my mother. They and all the people of the
+city were Magians who fire adored in lieu of the Omnipotent
+Lord[FN#319] and were wont to swear by lowe and heat and shade and
+light and the spheres revolving day and night. My father had ne'er a
+son till he was blest with me near the last of his days; and he reared
+me till I grew up and prosperity anticipated me in all things. Now it
+so fortuned that there was with us an old woman well stricken in years,
+a Moslemah who, inwardly believing in Allah and His Apostle, conformed
+outwardly with the religion of my people; and my father placed thorough
+confidence in her for that he knew her to be trustworthy and virtuous;
+and he treated her with ever increasing kindness believing her to be of
+his own belief. So when I was well nigh grown up my father committed me
+to her charge saying:—Take him and educate him and teach him the rules
+of our faith; let him have the best instructions and cease not thy
+fostering care of him. So she took me and taught me the tenets of
+Al-Islam with the divine ordinances[FN#320] of the Wuzu ablution and
+the five daily prayers and she made me learn the Koran by rote, often
+repeating:—Serve none save Allah Almighty! When I had mastered this
+much of knowledge she said to me:—O my son, keep this matter concealed
+from thy sire and reveal naught to him lest he slay thee. So I hid it
+from him and I abode on this wise for a term of days when the old woman
+died, and the people of the city redoubled in their impiety[FN#321] and
+arrogance and the error of their ways. One day, while they were as
+wont, behold, they heard a loud and terrible sound and a crier crying
+out with a voice like roaring thunder so every ear could hear, far and
+near, "O folk of this city, leave ye your fire worshipping and adore
+Allah the All-compassionate King!" At this, fear and terror fell upon
+the citizens and they crowded to my father (he being King of the city)
+and asked him, "What is this awesome voice we have heard, for it hath
+confounded us with the excess of its terror?" and he answered, "Let not
+a voice fright you nor shake your steadfast sprite nor turn you back
+from the faith which is right." Their hearts inclined to his words and
+they ceased not to worship the fire and they persisted in rebellion for
+a full year from the time they heard the first voice; and on the
+anniversary came a second cry, and a third at the head of the third
+year, each year once Still they persisted in their malpractises till
+one day at break of dawn, judgment and the wrath of Heaven descended
+upon them with all suddenness, and by the visitation of Allah all were
+metamorphosed into black stones,[FN#322] they and their beasts and
+their cattle; and none was saved save myself who at the time was
+engaged in my devotions. From that day to this I am in the case thou
+seest, constant in prayer and fasting and reading and reciting the
+Koran; but I am indeed grown weary by reason of my loneliness, having
+none to bear me company." Then said I to him (for in very sooth he had
+won my heart and was the lord of my life and soul), "O youth, wilt thou
+fare with me to Baghdad city and visit the Olema and men learned in the
+law and doctors of divinity and get thee increase of wisdom and
+understanding and theology? And know that she who standeth in thy
+presence will be thy handmaid, albeit she be head of her family and
+mistress over men and eunuchs and servants and slaves Indeed my life
+was no life before it fell in with thy youth. I have here a ship laden
+with merchandise; and in very truth Destiny drove me to this city that
+I might come to the knowledge of these matters, for it was fated that
+we should meet." And I ceased not to persuade him and speak him fair
+and use every art till he consented.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
+of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Eighteenth Night,
+
+
+She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lady
+ceased not persuading with soft speech the youth to depart with her
+till he consented and said "Yes." She slept that night lying at his
+feet and hardly knowing where she was for excess of joy. As soon as the
+next morning dawned (she pursued, addressing the Caliph), I arose and
+we entered the treasuries and took thence whatever was light in weight
+and great in worth; then we went down side by side from the castle to
+the city, where we were met by the Captain and my sisters and slaves
+who had been seeking for me. When they saw me they rejoiced and asked
+what had stayed me, and I told them all I had seen and related to them
+the story of the young Prince and the transformation wherewith the
+citizens had been justly visited. Hereat all marvelled, but when my two
+sisters (these two bitches, O Commander of the Faithful!) saw me by the
+side of my young lover they jaloused me on his account and were wroth
+and plotted mischief against me. We awaited a fair wind and went on
+board rejoicing and ready to fly for joy by reason of the goods we had
+gotten, but my own greatest joyance was in the youth; and we waited
+awhile till the wind blew fair for us and then we set sail and fared
+forth. Now as we sat talking, my sisters asked me, "And what wilt thou
+do with this handsome young man?"; and I answered, "I purpose to make
+him my husband!" Then I turned to him and said, "O my lord, I have that
+to propose to thee wherein thou must not cross me; and this it is that,
+when we reach Baghdad, my native city, I offer thee my life as thy
+handmaiden in holy matrimony, and thou shalt be to me baron and I will
+be femme to thee." He answered, "I hear and I obey!; thou art my lady
+and my mistress and whatso thou doest I will not gainsay." Then I
+turned to my sisters and said, "This is my gain; I content me with this
+youth and those who have gotten aught of my property let them keep it
+as their gain with my good will." "Thou sayest and doest well,"
+answered the twain, but they imagined mischief against me. We ceased
+not spooning before a fair wind till we had exchanged the sea of peril
+for the seas of safety and, in a few days, we made Bassorah city, whose
+buildings loomed clear before us as evening fell. But after we had
+retired to rest and were sound alseep, my two sisters arose and took me
+up, bed and all, and threw me into the sea: they did the same with the
+young Prince who, as he could not swim, sank and was drowned and Allah
+enrolled him in the noble army of Martyrs.[FN#323] As for me would
+Heaven I had been drowned with him, but Allah deemed that I should be
+of the saved; so when I awoke and found myself in the sea and saw the
+ship making off like a dash of lightning, He threw in my way a piece of
+timber which I bestrided, and the waves tossed me to and fro till they
+cast me upon an island coast, a high land and an uninhabited. I landed
+and walked about the island the rest of the night and, when morning
+dawned, I saw a rough track barely fit for child of Adam to tread,
+leading to what proved a shallow ford connecting island and mainland.
+As soon as the sun had risen I spread my garments to dry in its rays;
+and ate of the fruits of the island and drank of its waters; then I set
+out along the foot track and ceased not walking till I reached the
+mainland. Now when there remained between me and the city but a two
+hours' journey behold, a great serpent, the bigness of a date palm,
+came fleeing towards me in all haste, gliding along now to the right
+then to the left till she was close upon me, whilst her tongue lolled
+ground wards a span long and swept the dust as she went. She was
+pursued by a Dragon[FN#324] who was not longer than two lances, and of
+slender build about the bulk of a spear and, although her terror lent
+her speed, and she kept wriggling from side to side, he overtook her
+and seized her by the tail, whereat her tears streamed down and her
+tongue was thrust out in her agony. I took pity on her and, picking up
+a stone and calling upon Allah for aid, threw it at the Dragon's head
+with such force that he died then and there; and the serpent opening a
+pair of wings flew into the lift and disappeared from before my eyes. I
+sat down marvelling over that adventure, but I was weary and,
+drowsiness overcoming me, I slept where I was for a while. When I awoke
+I found a jet black damsel sitting at my feet shampooing them; and by
+her side stood two black bitches (my sisters, O Commander of the
+Faithful!). I was ashamed before her[FN#325] and, sitting up, asked
+her, "O my sister, who and what art thou?"; and she answered, "How soon
+hast thou forgotten me! I am she for whom thou wroughtest a good deed
+and sowedest the seed of gratitude and slewest her foe; for I am the
+serpent whom by Allah's aidance thou didst just now deliver from the
+Dragon. I am a Jinniyah and he was a Jinn who hated me, and none saved
+my life from him save thou. As soon as thou freedest me from him I flew
+on the wind to the ship whence thy sisters threw thee, and removed all
+that was therein to thy house. Then I ordered my attendant Marids to
+sink the ship and I transformed thy two sisters into these black
+bitches; for I know all that hath passed between them and thee; but as
+for the youth, of a truth he is drowned." So saying, she flew up with
+me and the bitches, and presently set us down on the terrace roof of my
+house, wherein I found ready stored the whole of what property was in
+my ship, nor was aught of it missing. "Now (continued the serpent that
+was), I swear by all engraven on the seal-ring of Solomon[FN#326] (with
+whom be peace!) unless thou deal to each of these bitches three hundred
+stripes every day I will come and imprison thee forever under the
+earth." I answered, "Hearkening and obedience!"; and away she flew. But
+before going she again charged me saying, "I again swear by Him who
+made the two seas flow[FN#327] (and this be my second oath) if thou
+gainsay me I will come and transform thee like thy sisters." Since then
+I have never failed, O Commander of the Faithful, to beat them with
+that number of blows till their blood flows with my tears, I pitying
+them the while, and well they wot that their being scourged is no fault
+of mine and they accept my excuses. And this is my tale and my history!
+The Caliph marvelled at her adventures and then signed to Ja'afar who
+said to the second lady, the Portress, "And thou, how camest thou by
+the welts and wheals upon thy body?" So she began the
+
+
+
+
+Tale of the Portress.
+
+
+Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that I had a father who, after
+fulfilling his time, deceased and left me great store of wealth. I
+remained single for a short time and presently married one of the
+richest of his day. I abode with him a year when he also died, and my
+share of his property amounted to eighty thousand dinars in gold
+according to the holy law of inheritance.[FN#328] Thus I became passing
+rich and my reputation spread far and wide, for I had made me ten
+changes of raiment, each worth a thousand dinars One day as I was
+sitting at home, behold, there came in to me an old woman[FN#329] with
+lantern jaws and cheeks sucked in, and eyes rucked up, and eyebrows
+scant and scald, and head bare and bald; and teeth broken by time and
+mauled, and back bending and neck nape nodding, and face blotched, and
+rheum running, and hair like a snake black and white speckled, in
+complexion a very fright, even as saith the poet of the like of her:—
+
+Ill-omened hag! unshriven be her sins * Nor mercy visit her on dying
+bed:
+Thousand head strongest he mules would her guiles, * Despite their
+bolting lead with spider thread.
+
+
+And as saith another:—
+
+A hag to whom th' unlawful lawfullest * And witchcraft wisdom in her
+sight are grown:
+A mischief making brat, a demon maid, * A whorish woman and a pimping
+crone.[FN#330]
+
+
+When the old woman entered she salamed to me and kissing the ground
+before me, said, "I have at home an orphan daughter and this night are
+her wedding and her displaying.[FN#331] We be poor folks and strangers
+in this city knowing none inhabitant and we are broken hearted. So do
+thou earn for thyself a recompense and a reward in Heaven by being
+present at her displaying and, when the ladies of this city shall hear
+that thou art to make act of presence, they also will present
+themselves; so shalt thou comfort her affliction, for she is sore
+bruised in spirit and she hath none to look to save Allah the Most
+High." Then she wept and kissed my feet reciting these couplets:—
+
+"Thy presence bringeth us a grace * We own before thy winsome face:
+And wert thou absent ne'er an one * Could stand in stead or take thy
+place."
+
+
+So pity get hold on me and compassion and I said, "Hearing is
+consenting and, please Allah, I will do somewhat more for her; nor
+shall she be shown to her bridegroom save in my raiment and ornaments
+and jewelry." At this the old woman rejoiced and bowed her head to my
+feet and kissed them, saying, "Allah requite thee weal, and comfort thy
+heart even as thou hast comforted mine! But, O my lady, do not trouble
+thyself to do me this service at this hour; be thou ready by supper
+time,[FN#332] when I will come and fetch thee." So saying she kissed my
+hand and went her ways. I set about stringing my pearls and donning my
+brocades and making my toilette. Little recking what Fortune had in
+womb for me, when suddenly the old woman stood before me, simpering and
+smiling till she showed every tooth stump, and quoth she, "O my
+mistress, the city madams have arrived and when I apprized them that
+thou promisedst to be present, they were glad and they are now awaiting
+thee and looking eagerly for thy coming and for the honour of meeting
+thee." So I threw on my mantilla and, making the old crone walk before
+me and my handmaidens behind me, I fared till we came to a street well
+watered and swept neat, where the winnowing breeze blew cool and sweet.
+Here we were stopped by a gate arched over with a dome of marble stone
+firmly seated on solidest foundation, and leading to a Palace whose
+walls from earth rose tall and proud, and whose pinnacle was crowned by
+the clouds,[FN#333] and over the doorway were writ these couplets:—
+
+I am the wone where Mirth shall ever smile; * The home of Joyance
+through my lasting while:
+And 'mid my court a fountain jets and flows, * Nor tears nor troubles
+shall that fount defile:
+The marge with royal Nu'uman's[FN#334] bloom is dight, * Myrtle,
+Narcissus-flower and Chamomile.
+
+
+Arrived at the gate, before which hung a black curtain, the old woman
+knocked and it was opened to us; when we entered and found a vestibule
+spread with carpets and hung around with lamps all alight and wax
+candles in candelabra adorned with pendants of precious gems and noble
+ores. We passed on through this passage till we entered a saloon, whose
+like for grandeur and beauty is not to be found in this world. It was
+hung and carpeted with silken stuffs, and was illuminated with branches
+sconces and tapers ranged in double row, an avenue abutting on the
+upper or noble end of the saloon, where stood a couch of juniper wood
+encrusted with pearls and gems and surmounted by a baldaquin with
+mosquito curtains of satin looped up with margaritas. And hardly had we
+taken note of this when there came forth from the baldaquin a young
+lady and I looked, O Commander of the Faithful, upon a face and form
+more perfect than the moon when fullest, with a favour brighter than
+the dawn gleaming with saffron-hued light, even as the poet sang when
+he said—
+
+Thou pacest the palace a marvel sight, * A bride for a Kisra's or
+Kaisar's night!
+Wantons the rose on thy roseate cheek, * O cheek as the blood of the
+dragon[FN#335] bright!
+Slim waisted, languorous, sleepy eyed, * With charms which promise all
+love-delight:
+And the tire which attires thy tiara'd brow * Is a night of woe on a
+morn's glad light.
+
+
+The fair young girl came down from the estrade and said to me, "Welcome
+and well come and good cheer to my sister, the dearly beloved, the
+illustrious, and a thousand greetings!" Then she recited these
+couplets:—
+
+"An but the house could know who cometh 'twould rejoice, * And kiss the
+very dust whereon thy foot was placed
+And with the tongue of circumstance the walls would say, * "Welcome and
+hail to one with generous gifts engraced!"
+
+
+Then sat she down and said to me, "O my sister, I have a brother who
+hath had sight of thee at sundry wedding feasts and festive seasons: he
+is a youth handsomer than I, and he hath fallen desperately in love
+with thee, for that bounteous Destiny hath garnered in thee all beauty
+and perfection; and he hath given silver to this old woman that she
+might visit thee; and she hath contrived on this wise to foregather us
+twain. He hath heard that thou art one of the nobles of thy tribe nor
+is he aught less in his; and, being desirous to ally his lot with thy
+lot, he hath practised this device to bring me in company with thee;
+for he is fain to marry thee after the ordinance of Allah and his
+Apostle; and in what is lawful and right there is no shame." When I
+heard these words and saw myself fairly entrapped in the house, I said,
+"Hearing is consenting." She was delighted at this and clapped her
+hands;[FN#336] whereupon a door opened and out of it came a young man
+blooming in the prime of life, exquisitely dressed, a model of beauty
+and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace, with gentle winning
+manners and eyebrows like a bended bow and shaft on cord, and eyes
+which bewitched all hearts with sorcery lawful in the sight of the
+Lord; even as saith some rhymer describing the like of him:—
+
+His face as the face of the young moon shines * And Fortune stamps him
+with pearls for signs.[FN#337]
+
+
+And Allah favour him who said:—
+
+Blest be his beauty; blest the Lord's decree * Who cast and shaped a
+thing so bright of blee:
+All gifts of beauty he conjoins in one; * Lost in his love is all
+humanity;
+For Beauty's self inscribed on his brow * "I testify there be no Good
+but he!"[FN#338]
+
+
+When I looked at him my heart inclined to him and I loved him; and he
+sat by my side and talked with me a while, when the young lady again
+clapped her hands and behold, a side door opened and out of it came the
+Kazi with his four assessors as witnesses; and they saluted us and,
+sitting down, drew up and wrote out the marriage contract between me
+and the youth and retired. Then he turned to me and said, "Be our night
+blessed," presently adding, "O my lady, I have a condition to lay on
+thee." Quoth I, "O my lord, what is that?" Whereupon he arose and
+fetching a copy of the Holy Book presented it to me saying "Swear
+hereon thou wilt never look at any other than myself nor incline thy
+body or thy heart to him." I swore readily enough to this and he joyed
+with exceeding joy and embraced me round the neck while love for him
+possessed my whole heart. Then they set the table[FN#339] before us and
+we ate and drank till we were satisfied, but I was dying for the coming
+of the night. And when night did come he led me to the bride chamber
+and slept with me on the bed and continued to kiss and embrace me till
+the morning—such a night I had never seen in my dreams. I lived with
+him a life of happiness and delight for a full month, at the end of
+which I asked his leave[FN#340] to go on foot to the bazar and buy me
+certain especial stuffs and he gave me permission. So I donned my
+mantilla and, taking with me the old woman and a slave-girl,[FN#341] I
+went to the khan of the silk-mercers, where I seated myself in the shop
+front of a young merchant whom the old woman recommended, saying to me,
+"This youth's father died when he was a boy and left him great store of
+wealth: he hath by him a mighty fine[FN#342] stock of goods and thou
+wilt find what thou seekest with him, for none in the bazar hath better
+stuffs than he. Then she said to him, "Show this lady the most costly
+stuffs thou hast by thee;" and he replied, "Hearkening and obedience!"
+Then she whispered me, "Say a civil word to him!"; but I replied, "I am
+pledged to address no man save my lord. And as she began to sound his
+praise I said sharply to her, We want nought of thy sweet speeches; our
+wish is to buy of him whatsoever we need, and return home." So he
+brought me all I sought and I offered him his money, but he refused to
+take it saying, "Let it be a gift offered to my guest this day!" Then
+quoth I to the old woman, "If he will not take the money, give him back
+his stuff." "By Allah," cried he, "not a thing will I take from thee: I
+sell it not for gold or for silver, but I give it all as a gift for a
+single kiss; a kiss more precious to me than everything the shop
+containeth." Asked the old woman, "What will the kiss profit thee?";
+and, turning to me, whispered, "O my daughter, thou hearest what this
+young fellow saith? What harm will it do thee if he get a kiss from
+thee and thou gettest what thou seekest at that price?" Replied I, “I
+take refuge with Allah from such action! Knowest thou not that I am
+bound by an oath?”[FN#343] But she answered, "Now whist! just let him
+kiss thee and neither speak to him nor lean over him, so shalt thou
+keep thine oath and thy silver, and no harm whatever shall befal thee."
+And she ceased not to persuade me and importune me and make light of
+the matter till evil entered into my mind and I put my head in the
+poke[FN#344] and, declaring I would ne'er consent, consented. So I
+veiled my eyes and held up the edge of my mantilla between me and the
+people passing and he put his mouth to my cheek under the veil. But
+while kissing me he bit me so hard a bite that it tore the flesh from
+my cheek,[FN#345] and blood flowed fast and faintness came over me. The
+old woman caught me in her arms and, when I came to myself, I found the
+shop shut up and her sorrowing over me and saying, "Thank Allah for
+averting which might have been worse!" Then she said to me, "Come, take
+heart and let us go home before the matter become public and thou be
+dishonoured. And when thou art safe inside the house feign sickness and
+lie down and cover thyself up; and I will bring thee powders and
+plasters to cure this bite withal, and thy wound will be healed at the
+latest in three days." So after a while I arose and I was in extreme
+distress and terror came full upon me; but I went on little by little
+till I reached the house when I pleaded illness and lay me down. When
+it was night my husband came in to me and said, "What hath befallen
+thee, O my darling, in this excursion of thine?"; and I replied, "I am
+not well: my head acheth badly." Then he lighted a candle and drew near
+me and looked hard at me and asked, "What is that wound I see on thy
+cheek and in the tenderest part too?" And I answered, When I went out
+to day with thy leave to buy stuffs, a camel laden with firewood
+jostled me and one of the pieces tore my veil and wounded my cheek as
+thou seest; for indeed the ways of this city are strait." "Tomorrow,"
+cried he, "I will go complain to the Governor, so shall he gibbet every
+fuel seller in Baghdad." "Allah upon thee," said I, "burden not thy
+soul with such sin against any man. The fact is I was riding on an ass
+and it stumbled, throwing me to the ground; and my cheek lighted upon a
+stick or a bit of glass and got this wound." "Then," said he, "tomorrow
+I will go up to Ja'afar the Barmaki and tell him the story, so shall he
+kill every donkey boy in Baghdad." "Wouldst thou destroy all these men
+because of my wound," said I, "when this which befel me was by decree
+of Allah and His destiny?" But he answered, "There is no help for it;"
+and, springing to his feet, plied me with words and pressed me till I
+was perplexed and frightened; and I stuttered and stammered and my
+speech waxed thick and I said, "This is a mere accident by decree of
+Allah." Then, O Commander of the Faithful, he guessed my case and said,
+"Thou hast been false to thine oath." He at once cried out with a loud
+cry, whereupon a door opened and in came seven black slaves whom he
+commanded to drag me from my bed and throw me down in the middle of the
+room. Furthermore, he ordered one of them to pinion my elbows and squat
+upon my head; and a second to sit upon my knees and secure my feet; and
+drawing his sword he gave it to a third and said, "Strike her, O Sa'ad,
+and cut her in twain and let each one take half and cast it into the
+Tigris[FN#346] that the fish may eat her; for such is the retribution
+due to those who violate their vows and are unfaithful to their love."
+And he redoubled in wrath and recited these couplets:—
+
+"An there be one who shares with me her love, * I'd strangle Love tho'
+life by Love were slain
+Saying, O Soul, Death were the nobler choice, * For ill is Love when
+shared 'twixt partners twain."
+
+
+Then he repeated to the slave, "Smite her, O Sa'ad!" And when the slave
+who was sitting upon me made sure of the command he bent down to me and
+said, "O my mistress, repeat the profession of Faith and bethink thee
+if there be any thing thou wouldst have done; for verily this is the
+last hour of thy life." "O good slave," said I, "wait but a little
+while and get off my head that I may charge thee with my last
+injunctions." Then I raised my head and saw the state I was in, how I
+had fallen from high degree into lowest disgrace; and into death after
+life (and such life!) and how I had brought my punishment on myself by
+my own sin; where upon the tears streamed from mine eyes and I wept
+with exceed ing weeping. But he looked on me with eyes of wrath, and
+began repeating:—
+
+"Tell her who turneth from our love to work it injury sore, * And
+taketh her a fine new love the old love tossing o'er:
+We cry enough o' thee ere thou enough of us shalt cry! * What past
+between us doth suffice and haply something more."[FN#347]
+
+
+When I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I wept and looked at
+him and began repeating these couplets:—
+
+"To severance you doom my love and all unmoved remain; * My tear sore
+lids you sleepless make and sleep while I complain:
+You make firm friendship reign between mine eyes and insomny; * Yet can
+my heart forget you not, nor tears can I restrain:
+You made me swear with many an oath my troth to hold for aye; * But
+when you reigned my bosom's lord you wrought me traitor bane:
+I loved you like a silly child who wots not what is Love; * Then spare
+the learner, let her not be by the master slain!
+By Allah's name I pray you write, when I am dead and gone, * Upon my
+tomb, This died of Love whose senses Love had ta'en:
+Then haply one shall pass that way who fire of Love hath felt, * And
+treading on a lover's heart with ruth and woe shall melt."
+
+
+When I ended my verses tears came again; but the poetry and the weeping
+only added fury to his fury, and he recited:—
+
+"'Twas not satiety bade me leave the dearling of my soul, * But that
+she sinned a mortal sin which clipt me in its clip:
+She sought to let another share the love between us twain, * But my
+True Faith of Unity refuseth partnership."[FN#348]
+
+
+When he ceased reciting I wept again and prayed his pardon and humbled
+myself before him and spoke him softly, saying to myself, "I will work
+on him with words; so haply he will refrain from slaying me, even
+though he take all I have." So I complained of my sufferings and began
+to repeat these couplets:—
+
+"Now, by thy life and wert thou just my life thou hadst not ta'en, *
+But who can break the severance law which parteth lovers twain!
+Thou loadest me with heavy weight of longing love, when I * Can hardly
+bear my chemisette for weakness and for pain:
+I marvel not to see my life and soul in ruin lain: * I marvel much to
+see my frame such severance pangs sustain."
+
+
+When I ended my verse I wept again; and he looked at me and reviled me
+in abusive language,[FN#349] repeating these couplets:—
+
+"Thou wast all taken up with love of other man, not me; * 'Twas thine
+to show me severance face, ’twas only mine to see:
+I'll leave thee for that first thou wast of me to take thy leave * And
+patient bear that parting blow thou borest so patiently:
+E'en as thou soughtest other love, so other love I'll seek, * And make
+the crime of murdering love thine own atrocity."
+
+
+When he had ended his verses he again cried out to the slave, "Cut her
+in half and free us from her, for we have no profit of her. So the
+slave drew near me, O Commander of the Faithful and I ceased bandying
+verses and made sure of death and, despairing of life, committed my
+affairs to Almighty Allah, when behold, the old woman rushed in and
+threw herself at my husband's feet and kissed them and wept and said,
+"O my son, by the rights of my fosterage and by my long service to
+thee, I conjure thee pardon this young lady, for indeed she hath done
+nothing deserving such doom. Thou art a very young man and I fear lest
+her death be laid at thy door; for it is said:—Whoso slayeth shall be
+slain. As for this wanton (since thou deemest her such) drive her out
+from thy doors, from thy love and from thy heart." And she ceased not
+to weep and importune him till he relented and said, 'I pardon her, but
+needs must I set on her my mark which shall show upon her all her
+life." Then he bade the slaves drag me along the ground and lay me out
+at full length, after stripping me of all my clothes;[FN#350] and when
+the slaves had so sat upon me that I could not move, he fetched in a
+rod of quince tree and came down with it upon my body, and continued
+beating me on the back and sides till I lost consciousness from excess
+of pain, and I despaired of life. Then he commanded the slaves to take
+me away as soon as it was dark, together with the old woman to show
+them the way and throw me upon the floor of the house wherein I dwelt
+before my marriage. They did their lord's bidding and cast me down in
+my old home and went their ways. I did not revive from my swoon till
+dawn appeared, when I applied myself to the dressing of my wounds with
+ointments and other medicaments; and I medicined myself, but my sides
+and ribs still showed signs of the rod as thou hast seen. I lay in
+weakly case and confined to my bed for four months before I was able to
+rise and health returned to me. At the end of that time I went to the
+house where all this had happened and found it a ruin; the street had
+been pulled down endlong and rubbish heaps rose where the building erst
+was; nor could I learn how this had come about. Then I betook myself to
+this my sister on my father's side and found her with these two black
+bitches. I saluted her and told her what had betided me and the whole
+of my story and she said, "O my sister, who is safe from the despite of
+Time and secure? Thanks be to Allah who has brought thee off safely;"
+and she began to say:—
+
+"Such is the World, so bear a patient heart * When riches leave thee
+and when friends depart!"
+
+
+Then she told me her own story, and what had happened to her with her
+two sisters and how matters had ended; so we abode together and the
+subject of marriage was never on our tongues for all these years. After
+a while we were joined by our other sister, the procuratrix, who goeth
+out every morning and buyeth all we require for the day and night; and
+we continued in such condition till this last night. In the morning our
+sister went out, as usual, to make her market and then befel us what
+befel from bringing the Porter into the house and admitting these three
+Kalandar men.
+
+
+We entreated them kindly and honourably and a quarter of the night had
+not passed ere three grave and respectable merchants from Mosul joined
+us and told us their adventures. We sat talking with them but on one
+condition which they violated, whereupon we treated them as sorted with
+their breach of promise, and made them repeat the account they had
+given of themselves. They did our bidding and we forgave their offence;
+so they departed from us and this morning we were unexpectedly summoned
+to thy presence. And such is our story! The Caliph wondered at her
+words and bade the tale be recorded and chronicled and laid up in his
+muniment-chambers.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
+saying her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Nineteenth Night,
+
+
+She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph
+commanded this story and those of the sister and the Kalandars to be
+recorded in the archives and be set in the royal muniment-chambers.
+Then he asked the eldest lady, the mistress of the house, "Knowest thou
+the whereabouts of the Ifritah who spelled thy sisters?"; and she
+answered, "O Commander of the Faithful, she gave me a ringlet of her
+hair saying: —Whenas thou wouldest see me, burn a couple of these hairs
+and I will be with thee forthright, even though I were beyond
+Caucasus-mountain." Quoth the Caliph, "Bring me hither the hair." So
+she brought it and he threw the whole lock upon the fire. As soon as
+the odour of the burning hair dispread itself, the palace shook and
+trembled, and all present heard a rumbling and rolling of thunder and a
+noise as of wings and lo! the Jinniyah who had been a serpent stood in
+the Caliph's presence. Now she was a Moslemah, so she saluted him and
+said, "Peace be with thee O Vicar[FN#351] of Allah;" whereto he
+replied, "And with thee also be peace and the mercy of Allah and His
+blessing." Then she continued, "Know that this damsel sowed for me the
+seed of kindness, wherefor I cannot enough requite her, in that she
+delivered me from death and destroyed mine enemy. Now I had seen how
+her sisters dealt with her and felt myself bound to avenge her on them.
+At first I was minded to slay them, but I feared it would be grievous
+to her, so I transformed them to bitches; but if thou desire their
+release, O Commander of the Faithful, I will release them to pleasure
+thee and her for I am of the Moslems." Quoth the Caliph, "Release them
+and after we will look into the affair of the beaten lady and consider
+her case carefully; and if the truth of her story be evidenced I will
+exact retaliation[FN#352] from him who wronged her." Said the Ifritah,
+"O Commander of the Faithful, I will forthwith release them and will
+discover to thee the man who did that deed by this lady and wronged her
+and took her property, and he is the nearest of all men to thee!" So
+saying she took a cup of water and muttered a spell over it and uttered
+words there was no understanding; then she sprinkled some of the water
+over the faces of the two bitches, saying, "Return to your former human
+shape!" whereupon they were restored to their natural forms and fell to
+praising their Creator. Then said the Ifritah, "O Commander of the
+Faithful, of a truth he who scourged this lady with rods is thy son
+Al-Amin brother of Al-Maamun ;[FN#353] for he had heard of her beauty
+and love liness and he played a lover's stratagem with her and married
+her according to the law and committed the crime (such as it is) of
+scourging her. Yet indeed he is not to be blamed for beating her, for
+he laid a condition on her and swore her by a solemn oath not to do a
+certain thing; however, she was false to her vow and he was minded to
+put her to death, but he feared Almighty Allah and contented himself
+with scourging her, as thou hast seen, and with sending her back to her
+own place. Such is the story of the second lady and the Lord knoweth
+all." When the Caliph heard these words of the Ifritah, and knew who
+had beaten the damsel, he marvelled with mighty marvel and said,
+"Praise be to Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, who hath shown his
+exceeding mercy towards me, enabling me to deliver these two damsels
+from sorcery and torture, and vouchsafing to let me know the secret of
+this lady's history! And now by Allah, we will do a deed which shall be
+recorded of us after we are no more." Then he summoned his son Al-Amin
+and questioned him of the story of the second lady, the portress; and
+he told it in the face of truth; whereupon the Caliph bade call into
+presence the Kazis and their witnesses and the three Kalandars and the
+first lady with her sisters german who had been ensorcelled; and he
+married the three to the three Kalandars whom he knew to be princes and
+sons of Kings and he appointed them chamberlains about his person,
+assigning to them stipends and allowances and all that they required,
+and lodging them in his palace at Baghdad. He returned the beaten lady
+to his son, Al-Amin, renewing the marriage contract between them and
+gave her great wealth and bade rebuild the house fairer than it was
+before. As for himself he took to wife the procuratrix and lay with her
+that night: and next day he set apart for her an apartment in his
+Serraglio, with handmaidens for her service and a fixed daily
+allowance. And the people marvelled at their Caliph's generosity and
+natural beneficence and princely widsom; nor did he forget to send all
+these histories to be recorded in his annals. When Shahrazad ceased
+speaking Dunyazad exclaimed, "O my own sister, by Allah in very sooth
+this is a right pleasant tale and a delectable; never was heard the
+like of it, but prithee tell me now another story to while away what
+yet remaineth of the waking hours of this our night." She replied,
+"With love and gladness if the King give me leave;" and he said, "Tell
+thy tale and tell it quickly." So she began, in these words,
+
+
+
+
+THE TALE OF THE THREE APPLES
+
+
+They relate, O King of the age and lord of the time and of these days,
+that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid summoned his Wazir Ja'afar one night
+and said to him, 'I desire to go down into the city and question the
+common folk concerning the conduct of those charged with its
+governance; and those of whom they complain we will depose from office
+and those whom they commend we will promote." Quoth Ja'afar,
+"Hearkening and obedience!" So the Caliph went down with Ja'afar and
+Eunuch Masrur to the town and walked about the streets and markets and,
+as they were threading a narrow alley, they came upon a very old man
+with a fishing-net and crate to carry small fish on his head, and in
+his hand a staff; and, as he walked at a leisurely pace, he repeated
+these lines:—
+
+"They say me: —Thou shinest a light to mankind * With thy lore as the
+night which the Moon doth uplight!
+I answer, "A truce to your jests and your gibes; * Without luck what is
+learning?—a poor-devil wight!
+If they take me to pawn with my lore in my pouch, * With my volumes to
+read and my ink-case to write,
+For one day's provision they never could pledge me; * As likely on
+Doomsday to draw bill at sight:"
+How poorly, indeed, doth it fare wi' the poor, * With his pauper
+existence and beggarly plight:
+In summer he faileth provision to find; * In winter the fire-pot's his
+only delight:
+The street-dogs with bite and with bark to him rise, * And each losel
+receives him with bark and with bite:
+If he lift up his voice and complain of his wrong, * None pities or
+heeds him, however he's right;
+And when sorrows and evils like these he must brave * His happiest
+homestead were down in the grave."
+
+
+When the Caliph heard his verses he said to Ja'afar, "See this poor man
+and note his verses, for surely they point to his necessities." Then he
+accosted him and asked, "O Shaykh, what be thine occupation?" and the
+poor man answered, "O my lord, I am a fisherman with a family to keep
+and I have been out between mid-day and this time; and not a thing hath
+Allah made my portion wherewithal to feed my family. I cannot even pawn
+myself to buy them a supper and I hate and disgust my life and I hanker
+after death." Quoth the Caliph, "Say me, wilt thou return with us to
+Tigris' bank and cast thy net on my luck, and whatsoever turneth up I
+will buy of thee for an hundred gold pieces?" The man rejoiced when he
+heard these words and said, "On my head be it! I will go back with
+you;" and, returning with them river-wards, made a cast and waited a
+while; then he hauled in the rope and dragged the net ashore and there
+appeared in it a chest padlocked and heavy. The Caliph examined it and
+lifted it finding it weighty; so he gave the fisherman two hundred
+dinars and sent him about his business; whilst Masrur, aided by the
+Caliph, carried the chest to the palace and set it down and lighted the
+candles. Ja'afar and Masrur then broke it open and found therein a
+basket of palm-leaves corded with red worsted. This they cut open and
+saw within it a piece of carpet which they lifted out, and under it was
+a woman's mantilla folded in four, which they pulled out; and at the
+bottom of the chest they came upon a young lady, fair as a silver
+ingot, slain and cut into nineteen pieces. When the Caliph looked upon
+her he cried, "Alas!" and tears ran down his cheeks and turning to
+Ja'afar he said, "O dog of Wazirs, [FN#354] shall folk be murdered in
+our reign and be cast into the river to be a burden and a
+responsibility for us on the Day of Doom? By Allah, we must avenge this
+woman on her murderer and he shall be made die the worst of deaths!"
+And presently he added, " Now, as surely as we are descended from the
+Sons of Abbas, [FN#355] if thou bring us not him who slew her, that we
+do her justice on him, I will hang thee at the gate of my palace, thee
+and forty of thy kith and kin by thy side." And the: Caliph was wroth
+with exceeding rage. Quoth Ja'afar, "Grant me three days' delay;" and
+quoth the Caliph, "We grant thee this." So Ja'afar went out from before
+him and returned to his own house, full of sorrow and saying to
+himself, "How shall I find him who murdered this damsel, that I may
+bring him before the Caliph? If I bring other than the murderer, it
+will be laid to my charge by the Lord: in very sooth I wot not what to
+do." He kept his house three days and on the fourth day the Caliph sent
+one of the Chamberlains for him and, as he came into the presence,
+asked him, "Where is the murderer of the damsel?" to which answered
+Ja'afar, "O Commander of the Faithful, am I inspector of " murdered
+folk that I should ken who killed her?" The Caliph was furious at his
+answer and bade hang him before the palace-gate and commanded that a
+crier cry through the streets of Baghdad, "Whoso would see the hanging
+of Ja'afar, the Barmaki, Wazir of the Caliph, with forty of the
+Barmecides, [FN#356] his cousins and kinsmen, before the palace-gate,
+let him come and let him look!" The people flocked out from all the
+quarters of the city to witness the execution of Ja'afar and his
+kinsmen, not knowing the cause. Then they set up the gallows and made
+Ja'afar and the others stand underneath in readiness for execution, but
+whilst every eye was looking for the Caliph's signal, and the crowd
+wept for Ja'afar and his cousins of the Barmecides, lo and behold! a
+young man fair of face and neat of dress and of favour like the moon
+raining light, with eyes black and bright, and brow flower-white, and
+cheeks red as rose and young down where the beard grows, and a mole
+like a grain of ambergris, pushed his way through the people till he
+stood immediately before the Wazir and said to him, "Safety to thee
+from this strait, O Prince of the Emirs and Asylum of the poor! I am
+the man who slew the woman ye found in the chest, so hang me for her
+and do her justice on me!" When Ja'afar heard the youth's confession he
+rejoiced at his own deliverance. but grieved and sorrowed for the fair
+youth; and whilst they were yet talking behold, another man well
+stricken in years pressed forwards through the people and thrust his
+way amid the populace till he came to Ja'afar and the youth, whom he
+saluted saying, "Ho thou the Wazir and Prince sans-peer! believe not
+the words of this youth. Of a surety none murdered the damsel but I;
+take her wreak on me this moment; for, an thou do not thus, I will
+require it of thee before Almighty Allah." Then quoth the young man, "O
+Wazir, this is an old man in his dotage who wotteth not whatso he saith
+ever, and I am he who murdered her, so do thou avenge her on me!" Quoth
+the old man, "O my son, thou art young and desirest the joys of the
+world and I am old and weary and surfeited with the world: I will offer
+my life as a ransom for thee and for the Wazir and his cousins. No one
+murdered the damsel but I, so Allah upon thee, make haste to hang me,
+for no life is left in me now that hers is gone." The Wazir marvelled
+much at all this strangeness and, taking the young man and the old man,
+carried them before the Caliph, where, after kissing the ground seven
+times between his hands, he said, "O Commander of the Faithful, I bring
+thee the murderer of the damsel!" "Where is he?" asked the Caliph and
+Ja'afar answered, "This young man saith, I am the murderer, and this
+old man giving him the lie saith, I am the murderer, and behold, here
+are the twain standing before thee." The Caliph looked at the old man
+and the young man and asked, "Which of you killed the girl?" The young
+man replied, "No one slew her save I;" and the old man answered,
+"Indeed none killed her but myself." Then said the Caliph to Ja'afar,
+"Take the twain and hang them both;" but Ja'afar rejoined, "Since one
+of them was the murderer, to hang the other were mere
+injustice."[FN#357] "By Him who raised the firmament and dispread the
+earth like a carpet," cried the youth, "I am he who slew the damsel;"
+and he went on to describe the manner of her murder and the basket, the
+mantilla and the bit of carpet, in fact all that the Caliph had found
+upon her. So the Caliph was certified that the young man was the
+murderer; whereat he wondered and asked him, 'What was the cause of thy
+wrongfully doing this damsel to die and what made thee confess the
+murder without the bastinado, and what brought thee here to yield up
+thy life, and what made thee say Do her wreak upon me?" The youth
+answered, "Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that this woman was my
+wife and the mother of my children; also my first cousin and the
+daughter of my paternal uncle, this old man who is my father's own
+brother. When I married her she was a maid [FN#358] and Allah blessed
+me with three male children by her; she loved me and served me and I
+saw no evil in her, for I also loved her with fondest love. Now on the
+first day of this month she fell ill with grievous sickness and I
+fetched in physicians to her; but recovery came to her little by
+little. and, when I wished her to go to the Hammam-bath, she said,
+"There is a something I long for before I go to the bath and I long for
+it with an exceeding longing." To hear is to comply," said I. "And what
+is it?" Quoth she, "I have a queasy craving for an apple, to smell it
+and bite a bit of it." I replied, "Hadst thou a thousand longings I
+would try to satisfy them!" So I went on the instant into the city and
+sought for apples but could find none; yet, had they cost a gold piece
+each, would I have bought them. I was vexed at this and went home and
+said, "O daughter of my uncle. by Allah I can find none!" She was
+distressed, being yet very weakly, and her weakness increased greatly
+on her that night and I felt anxious and alarmed on her account. As
+soon as morning dawned I went out again and made the round of the
+gardens, one by one, but found no apples anywhere. At last there met me
+an old gardener. of whom I asked about them and he answered, "O my son,
+this fruit is a rarity with us and is not now to be found save in the
+garden of the Commander of the Faithful at Bassorah, where the gardener
+keepeth it for the Caliph's eating." I returned to my house troubled by
+my ill-success; and my love for my wife and my affection moved me to
+undertake the journey. So I gat me ready and set out and travelled
+fifteen days and nights, going and coming, and brought her three apples
+which I bought from the gardener for three dinars. But when I went in
+to my wife and set them before her, she took no pleasure in them and
+let them lie by her side; for her weakness and fever had increased on
+her and her malady lasted without abating ten days, after which time
+she began to recover health. So I left my house and betaking me to my
+shop sat there buying and selling; and about midday behold, a great
+ugly black slave, long as a lance and broad as a bench, passed by my
+shop holding in hand one of the three apples wherewith he was playing.
+Quoth I, "O my good slave, tell me whence thou tookest that apple, that
+I may get the like of it?" He laughed and answered, "I got it from my
+mistress, for I had been absent and on my return I found her lying ill
+with three apples by her side, and she said to me, 'My horned wittol of
+a husband made a journey for them to Bassorah and bought them for three
+dinars.' So I ate and drank with her and took this one from her."
+[FN#359] When I heard such words from the slave, O Commander of the
+Faithful, the world grew black before my face, and I arose and locked
+up my shop and went home beside myself for excess of rage. I looked for
+the apples and finding only two of the three asked my wife, "O my
+cousin, where is the third apple?"; and raising her head languidly she
+answered, "I wot not, O son of my uncle, where 'tis gone!" This
+convinced me that the slave had spoken the truth, so I took a knife and
+coming behind her got upon her breast without a word said and cut her
+throat. Then I hewed off her head and her limbs in pieces and, wrapping
+her in her mantilla and a rag of carpet, hurriedly sewed up the whole
+which I set in a chest and, locking it tight, loaded it on my he-mule
+and threw it into the Tigris with my own hands. So Allah upon thee, O
+Commander of the Faithful, make haste to hang me, as I fear lest she
+appeal for vengeance on Resurrection Day. For, when I had thrown her
+into the river and none knew aught of it, as I went back home I found
+my eldest son crying and yet he knew naught of what I had done with his
+mother. I asked him, "What hath made thee weep, my boy?" and he
+answered, "I took one of the three apples which were by my mammy and
+went down into the lane to play with my brethren when behold, a big
+long black slave snatched it from my hand and said. 'Whence hadst thou
+this?' Quoth I, 'My father travelled far for it, and brought it from
+Bassorah for my mother who was ill and two other apples for which he
+paid three ducats.' He took no heed of my words and I asked for the
+apple a second and a third time, but he cuffed me and kicked me and
+went off with it. I was afraid lest my mother should swinge me on
+account of the apple, so for fear of her I went with my brother outside
+the city and stayed there till evening closed in upon us; and indeed I
+am in fear of her; and now by Allah, O my father, say nothing to her of
+this or it may add to her ailment!" When I heard what-my child said I
+knew that the slave was he who had foully slandered my wife, the
+daughter of my uncle, and was certified that I had slain her wrong.
+fully. So I wept with exceeding weeping and presently this old man, my
+paternal uncle and her father, came in; and I told him what had
+happened and he sat down by my side and wept and we ceased not weeping
+till midnight. We have kept up mourning for her these last five days
+and we lamented her in the deepest sorrow for that she was unjustly
+done to die. This came from the gratuitous lying of the slave, the
+blackamoor, and this was the manner of my killing her; so I conjure
+thee, by the honour of thine ancestors, make haste to kill me and do
+her justice upon me, as there is no living for me after her!" The
+Caliph marvelled at his words and said, "By Allah, the young man is
+excusable: I will hang none but the accursed slave and I will do a deed
+which shall comfort the ill-at-ease and suffering, and which shall
+please the All-glorious King."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
+and ceased saying her permitted say,
+
+When it was the Twentieth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph swore
+he would hang none but the slave, for the youth was excusable. Then he
+turned to Ja'afar and said to him, "Bring before me this accursed slave
+who was the sole cause of this calamity; and, if thou bring him not
+before me within three days, thou shalt be slain in his stead." So
+Ja'afar fared forth weeping and saying. "Two deaths have already beset
+me, nor shall the crock come of safe from every shock.' [FN#360] In
+this matter craft and cunning are of no avail; but He who preserved my
+life the first time can preserve it a second time. By Allah, I will not
+leave my house during the three days of life which remain to me and let
+the Truth (whose perfection be praised!) do e'en as He will." So he
+kept his house three days, and on the fourth day he summoned the Kazis
+and legal witnesses and made his last will and testament, and took
+leave of his children weeping. Presently in came a messenger from the
+Caliph and said to him, "The Commander of the Faithful is in the most
+violent rage that can be, and he sendeth to seek thee and he sweareth
+that the day shall certainly not pass without thy being hanged unless
+the slave be forth-coming." When Ja'afar heard this he wept, and his
+children and slaves and all who were in the house wept with him. After
+he had bidden adieu to everybody except his youngest daughter, he
+proceeded to farewell her; for he loved this wee one, who was a
+beautiful child, more than all his other children; and he pressed her
+to his breast and kissed her and wept bitterly at parting from her;
+when he felt something round inside the bosom of her dress and asked
+her, "O my little maid, what is in thy bosom pocket?"; "O my father,"
+she replied, "it is an apple with the name of our Lord the Caliph
+written upon it. Rayhán our slave brought it to me four days ago and
+would not let me have it till I gave him two dinars for it." When
+Ja'afar heard speak of the slave and the apple, he was glad and put his
+hand into his child's pocket [FN#361] and drew out the apple and knew
+it and rejoiced saying, "O ready Dispeller of trouble " [FN#362] Then
+he bade them bring the slave and said to him, "Fie upon thee, Rayhan!
+whence haddest thou this apple?" "By Allah, O my master," he replied,
+"though a lie may get a man once off, yet may truth get him off, and
+well off, again and again. I did not steal this apple from thy palace
+nor from the gardens of the Commander of the Faithful. The fact is that
+five days ago, as I was walking along one of the alleys of this city, I
+saw some little ones at play and this apple in hand of one of them. So
+I snatched it from him and beat him and he cried and said, 'O youth
+this apple is my mother's and she is ill. She told my father how she
+longed for an apple, so he travelled to Bassorah and bought her three
+apples for three gold pieces, and I took one of them to play withal.'
+He wept again, but I paid no heed to what he said and carried it off
+and brought it here, and my little lady bought it of me for two dinars
+of gold. And this is the whole story." When Ja'afar heard his words he
+marvelled that the murder of the damsel and all this misery should have
+been caused by his slave; he grieved for the relation of the slave to
+himself, while rejoicing over his own deliverance, and he repeated
+these lines: —
+
+"If ill betide thee through thy slave, * Make him forthright thy
+sacrifice:
+A many serviles thou shalt find, * But life comes once and never
+twice."
+
+
+Then he took the slave's hand and, leading him to the Caliph, related
+the story from first to last and the Caliph marvelled with extreme
+astonishment, and laughed till he fell on his back and ordered that the
+story be recorded and be made public amongst the people. But Ja'afar
+said, "Marvel not, O Commander of the Faithful, at this adventure, for
+it is not more wondrous than the History of the Wazir Núr al-Dín Ali of
+Egypt and his brother Shams al-Dín Mohammed. — Quoth the Caliph, "Out
+with it; but what can be stranger than this story?" And Ja'afar
+answered, "O Commander of the Faithful, I will not tell it thee, save
+on condition that thou pardon my slave;" and the Caliph rejoined, "If
+it be indeed more wondrous than that of the three apples, I grant thee
+his blood, and if not I will surely slay thy slave." So Ja'afar began
+in these words the
+
+
+
+
+TALE OF NUR AL-DIN AND HIS SON.
+
+Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that in times of yore the land of
+Egypt was ruled by a Sultan endowed with justice and generosity, one
+who loved the pious poor and companied with the Olema and learned men;
+and he had a Wazir, a wise and an experienced, well versed in affairs
+and in the art of government. This Minister, who was a very old man,
+had two sons, as they were two moons; never man saw the like of them
+for beauty and grace, the elder called Shams al-Din Mohammed and the
+younger Nur al-Din Ali; but the younger excelled the elder in
+seemliness and pleasing semblance, so that folk heard his fame in far
+countries and men flocked to Egypt for the purpose of seeing him. In
+course of time their father, the Wazir, died and was deeply regretted
+and mourned by the Sultan, who sent for his two sons and, investing
+them with dresses of honour, [FN#363] said to them, "Let not your
+hearts be troubled, for ye shall stand in your father's stead and be
+joint Ministers of Egypt." At this they rejoiced and kissed the ground
+before him and performed the ceremonial mourning [FN#364] for their
+father during a full month; after which time they entered upon the
+Wazirate, and the power passed into their hands as it had been in the
+hands of their father, each doing duty for a week at a time. They lived
+under the same roof and their word was one; and whenever the Sultan
+desired to travel they took it by turns to be in attendance on him. It
+fortuned one night that the Sultan purposed setting out on a journey
+next morning, and the elder, whose turn it was to accompany him, was
+sitting conversing with his brother and said to him, "O my brother, it
+is my wish that we both marry, I and thou, two sisters; and go in to
+our wives on one and the same night." "Do, O my brother, as thou
+desirest," the younger replied, "for right is thy recking and surely I
+will comply with thee in whatso thou sayest." So they agreed upon this
+and quoth Shams al-Din, "If Allah decree that we marry two damsels and
+go in to them on the same night, and they shall conceive on their
+bridenights and bear children to us on the same day, and by Allah's
+will thy wife bear thee a son and my wife bear me a daughter, let us
+wed them either to other, for they will be cousins." Quoth Nur al-Din,
+"O my brother, Shams al-Din, what dower [FN#365] wilt thou require from
+my son for thy daughter?" Quoth Shams al-Din, "I will take three
+thousand dinars and three pleasure gardens and three farms; and it
+would not be seemly that the youth make contract for less than this."
+When Nur al-Din heard such demand he said, "What manner of dower is
+this thou wouldest impose upon my son? Wottest thou not that we are
+brothers and both by Allah's grace Wazirs and equal in office? It
+behoveth thee to offer thy daughter to my son without marriage
+settlement; or if one need be, it should represent a mere nominal value
+by way of show to the world: for thou knowest that the masculine is
+worthier than the feminine, and my son is a male and our memory will be
+preserved by him, not by thy daughter." "But what," said Shams al-Din,
+"is she to have?"; and Nur al-Din continued, "Through her we shall not
+be remembered among the Emirs of the earth; but I see thou wouldest do
+with me according to the saying:—An thou wouldst bluff off a buyer, ask
+him high price and higher; or as did a man who, they say, went to a
+friend and asked something of him being in necessity and was answered,
+'Bismillah, [FN#366] in the name of Allah, I will do all what thou
+requirest but come to-morrow!' Whereupon the other replied in this
+verse:—
+
+'When he who is asked a favour saith "To-morrow," * The wise man wots
+'tis vain to beg or borrow.'"
+
+
+Quoth Shams al-Din, "Basta! [FN#367] I see thee fail in respect to me
+by making thy son of more account than my daughter; and 'tis plain that
+thine understanding is of the meanest and that thou lackest manners.
+Thou remindest me of thy partnership in the Wazirate, when I admitted
+thee to share with me only in pity for thee, and not wishing to mortify
+thee; and that thou mightest help me as a manner of assistant. But
+since thou talkest on this wise, by Allah, I will never marry my
+daughter to thy son; no, not for her weight in gold!" When Nur al-Din
+heard his brother's words he waxed wroth and said, "And I too, I will
+never, never marry my son to thy daughter; no, not to keep from my lips
+the cup of death." Shams al-Din replied, "I would not accept him as a
+husband for her, and he is not worth a paring of her nail. Were I not
+about to travel I would make an example of thee; however when I return
+thou shalt see, and I will show thee, how I can assert my dignity and
+vindicate my honour. But Allah doeth whatso He willeth."[FN#368] When
+Nur al-Din heard this speech from his brother, he was filled with fury
+and lost his wits for rage; but he hid what he felt and held his peace;
+and each of the brothers passed the night in a place far apart, wild
+with wrath against the other. As soon as morning dawned the Sultan
+fared forth in state and crossed over from Cairo [FN#369] to Jizah
+[FN#370] and made for the pyramids, accompanied by the Wazir Shams
+al-Din, whose turn of duty it was, whilst his brother Nur al-din, who
+passed the night in sore rage, rose with the light and prayed the
+dawn-prayer. Then he betook himself to his treasury and, taking a small
+pair of saddle-bags, filled them with gold; and he called to mind his
+brother's threats and the contempt wherewith he had treated him, and he
+repeated these couplets:—
+
+"Travel! and thou shalt find new friends for old ones left behind; *
+Toil! for the sweets of human life by toil and moil are found:
+The stay-at-home no honour wins nor aught attains but want; * So leave
+thy place of birth [FN#371] and wander all the world around!
+I've seen, and very oft I've seen, how standing water stinks, * And
+only flowing sweetens it and trotting makes it sound:
+And were the moon forever full and ne'er to wax or wane, * Man would
+not strain his watchful eyes to see its gladsome round:
+Except the lion leave his lair he ne'er would fell his game, * Except
+the arrow leave the bow ne'er had it reached its bound:
+Gold-dust is dust the while it lies untravelled in the mine, * And
+aloes-wood mere fuel is upon its native ground:
+And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoal'd; * And
+aloes sent to foreign parts grows costlier than gold."
+
+
+When he ended his verse he bade one of his pages saddle him his Nubian
+mare-mule with her padded selle. Now she was a dapple-grey, [FN#372]
+with ears like reed-pens and legs like columns and a back high and
+strong as a dome builded on pillars; her saddle was of gold-cloth and
+her stirrups of Indian steel, and her housing of Ispahan velvet; she
+had trappings which would serve the Chosroës, and she was like a bride
+adorned for her wedding night. Moreover he bade lay on her back a piece
+of silk for a seat, and a prayer-carpet under which were his
+saddle-bags. When this was done he said to his pages and slaves, "I
+purpose going forth a-pleasuring outside the city on the road to
+Kalyub-town, [FN#373] and I shall lie three nights abroad; so let none
+of you follow me, for there is something straiteneth my breast." Then
+he mounted the mule in haste; and, taking with him some provaunt for
+the way, set out from Cairo and faced the open and uncultivated country
+lying around it. [FN#374] About noontide he entered Bilbays-city,
+[FN#375] where he dismounted and stayed awhile to rest himself and his
+mule and ate some of his victual. He bought at Bilbays all he wanted
+for himself and forage for his mule and then fared on the way of the
+waste. Towards night-fall he entered a town called Sa'adiyah [FN#376]
+where he alighted and took out somewhat of his viaticum and ate; then
+he spread his strip of silk on the sand and set the saddle-bags under
+his head and slept in the open air; for he was still overcome with
+anger. When morning dawned he mounted and rode onward till he reached
+the Holy City, [FN#377] Jerusalem, and thence he made Aleppo, where he
+dismounted at one of the caravanserais and abode three days to rest
+himself and the mule and to smell the air. [FN#378] Then, being
+determined to travel afar and Allah having written safety in his fate,
+he set out again, wending without wotting whither he was going; and,
+having fallen in with certain couriers, he stinted not travelling till
+he had reached Bassorah-city albeit he knew not what the place was. It
+was dark night when he alighted at the Khan, so he spread out his
+prayer-carpet and took down the saddle-bags from the back of the mule
+and gave her with her furniture in charge of the door-keeper that he
+might walk her about. The man took her and did as he was bid. Now it so
+happened that the Wazir of Bassorah, a man shot in years, was sitting
+at the lattice-window of his palace opposite the Khan and he saw the
+porter walking the mule up and down. He was struck by her trappings of
+price and thought her a nice beast fit for the riding of Wazirs or even
+of royalties; and the more he looked the more was he perplexed till at
+last he said to one of his pages, "Bring hither yon door-keeper," The
+page went and returned to the Wazir with the porter who kissed the
+ground between his hands, and the Minister asked him, "Who is the owner
+of yonder mule and what manner of man is he?"; and he answered, "O my
+lord, the owner of this mule is a comely young man of pleasant manners,
+withal grave and dignified, and doubtless one of the sons of the
+merchants." When the Wazir heard the door-keeper's words he arose
+forthright; and, mounting his horse, rode to the Khan [FN#379] and went
+in to Nur al-Din who, seeing the minister making towards him, rose to
+his feet and advanced to meet him and saluted him. The Wazir welcomed
+him to Bassorah and dismounting, embraced him and made him sit down by
+his side and said, "O my son, whence comest thou and what dost thou
+seek?" "O my lord," Nur al-Din replied, "I have come from Cairo-city of
+which my father was whilome Wazir; but he hath been removed to the
+grace of Allah;" and he informed him of all that had befallen him from
+beginning to end, adding, "I am resolved never to return home before I
+have seen all the cities and countries of the world." When the Wazir
+heard this, he said to him, "O my son, hearken not to the voice of
+passion lest it cast thee into the pit; for indeed many regions be
+waste places and I fear for thee the turns of Time." Then he let load
+the saddle-bags and the silk and prayer-carpets on the mule and carried
+Nur al-Din to his own house, where he lodged him in a pleasant place
+and entreated him honourably and made much of him, for he inclined to
+love him with exceeding love. After a while he said to him, "O my son,
+here am I left a man in years and have no male children, but Allah hath
+blessed me with a daughter who eventh thee in beauty; and I have
+rejected all her many suitors, men of rank and substance. But affection
+for thee hath entered into my heart; say me, then, wilt thou be to her
+a husband? If thou accept this, I will go up with thee to the Sultan of
+Bassorah [FN#380] and will tell him that thou art my nephew, the son of
+my brother, and bring thee to be appointed Wazir in my place that I may
+keep the house for, by Allah, O my son, I am stricken in years and
+aweary." When Nur al-Din heard the Wazir's words, he bowed his head in
+modesty and said, "To hear is to obey!" At this the Wazir rejoiced and
+bade his servants prepare a feast and decorate the great assembly-hall,
+wherein they were wont to celebrate the marriages of Emirs and
+Grandees. Then he assembled his friends and the notables of the reign
+and the merchants of Bassorah and when all stood before him he said to
+them, "I had a brother who was Wazir in the land of Egypt, and Allah
+Almighty blessed him with two sons, whilst to me, as well ye wot, He
+hath given a daughter. My brother charged me to marry my daughter to
+one of his sons, whereto I assented; and, when my daughter was of age
+to marry, he sent me one of his sons, the young man now present, to
+whom I purpose marrying her, drawing up the contract and celebrating
+the night of unveiling with due ceremony; for he is nearer and dearer
+to me than a stranger and, after the wedding, if he please he shall
+abide with me, or if he desire to travel I will forward him and his
+wife to his father's home." Hereat one and all replied, "Right is thy
+recking;" and they all looked at the bridegroom and were pleased with
+him. So the Wazir sent for the Kazi and legal witnesses and they wrote
+out the marriage-contract, after which the slaves perfumed the guests
+with incense, [FN#381] and served them with sherbet of sugar and
+sprinkled rose-water on them and all went their ways. Then the Wazir
+bade his servants take Nur al-Din to the Hammam-baths and sent him a
+suit of the best of his own especial raiment, and napkins and towelry
+and bowls and perfume-burners and all else that was required. After the
+bath, when he came out and donned the dress, he was even as the full
+moon on the fourteenth night; and he mounted his mule and stayed not
+till he reached the Wazir's palace. There he dismounted and went in to
+the Minister and kissed his hands, and the Wazir bade him welcome.—And
+Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
+say.
+
+When it was the Twenty-first Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir stood
+up to him and welcoming him said, "Arise and go in to thy wife this
+night, and on the morrow I will carry thee to the Sultan, and pray
+Allah bless thee with all manner of weal." So Nur al-Din left him and
+went in to his wife the Wazir's daughter. Thus far concerning him, but
+as regards his elder brother, Shams al-Din, he was absent with the
+Sultan a long time and when he returned from his journey he found not
+his brother; and he asked of his servants and slaves who answered, "On
+the day of thy departure with the Sultan, thy brother mounted his mule
+fully caparisoned as for state procession saying, 'I am going towards
+Kalyub-town and I shall be absent one day or at most two days; for my
+breast is straitened, and let none of you follow me.' Then he fared
+forth and from that time to this we have heard no tidings of him."
+Shams al-Din was greatly troubled at the sudden disappearance of his
+brother and grieved with exceeding grief at the loss and said to
+himself, "This is only because I chided and upbraided him the night
+before my departure with the Sultan; haply his feelings were hurt and
+he fared forth a-travelling; but I must send after him." Then he went
+in to the Sultan and acquainted him with what had happened and wrote
+letters and dispatches, which he sent by running footmen to his
+deputies in every province. But during the twenty days of his brother's
+absence Nur al-Din had travelled far and had reached Bassorah; so after
+diligent search the messengers failed to come at any news of him and
+returned. Thereupon Shams al-Din despaired of finding his brother and
+said, "Indeed I went beyond all bounds in what I said to him with
+reference to the marriage of our children. Would that I had not done
+so! This all cometh of my lack of wit and want of caution." Soon after
+this he sought in marriage the daughter of a Cairene merchant, [FN#382]
+and drew up the marriage contract and went in to her. And it so chanced
+that, on the very same night when Shams al-Din went in to his wife, Nur
+al-Din also went in to his wife the daughter of the Wazir of Bassorah;
+this being in accordance with the will of Almighty Allah, that He might
+deal the decrees of Destiny to His creatures. Furthermore, it was as
+the two brothers had said; for their two wives became pregnant by them
+on the same night and both were brought to bed on the same day; the
+wife of Shams al-Din, Wazir of Egypt, of a daughter, never in Cairo was
+seen a fairer; and the wife of Nur al-Din of a son, none more beautiful
+was ever seen in his time, as one of the poets said concerning the like
+of him:—
+
+That jetty hair, that glossy brow,
+     My slender-waisted youth, of thine,
+Can darkness round creation throw,
+     Or make it brightly shine.
+The dusky mole that faintly shows
+     Upon his cheek, ah! blame it not:
+The tulip-flower never blows
+     Undarkened by its spot [FN#383]
+
+
+And as another also said:—
+
+His scent was musk and his cheek was rose; * His teeth are pearls and
+his lips drop wine;
+His form is a brand and his hips a hill; * His hair is night and his
+face moon-shine.
+
+
+They named the boy Badr al-Din Hasan and his grandfather, the Wazir of
+Bassorah, rejoiced in him and, on the seventh day after his birth, made
+entertainments and spread banquets which would befit the birth of
+Kings' sons and heirs. Then he took Nur al-Din and went up with him to
+the Sultan, and his son-in-law, when he came before the presence of the
+King, kissed the ground between his hands and repeated these verses,
+for he was ready of speech, firm of sprite and good in heart as he was
+goodly in form:—
+
+"The world's best joys long be thy lot, my lord! * And last while
+darkness and the dawn o'erlap:
+O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts, * The world to dance and
+Time his palms to clap."[FN#384]
+
+
+Then the Sultan rose up to honour them, and thanking Nur al-Din for his
+fine compliment, asked the Wazir, "Who may be this young man?"; and the
+Minister answered, "This is my brother's son," and related his tale
+from first to last. Quoth the Sultan, "And how comes he to be thy
+nephew and we have never heard speak of him?" Quoth the Minister, "O
+our lord the Sultan, I had a brother who was Wazir in the land of Egypt
+and he died, leaving two sons, whereof the elder hath taken his
+father's place and the younger, whom thou seest, came to me. I had
+sworn I would not marry my daughter to any but to him; so when he came
+I married him to her. [FN#385] Now he is young and I am old; my hearing
+is dulled and my judgement is easily fooled; wherefore I would solicit
+our lord the Sultan [FN#386] to set him in my stead, for he is my
+brother's son and my daughter's husband; and he is fit for the
+Wazirate, being a man of good counsel and ready contrivance." The
+Sultan looked at Nur al-Din and liked him, so he stablished him in
+office as the Wazir had requested and formally appointed him,
+presenting him with a splendid dress of honour and a she-mule from his
+private stud; and assigning to him solde, stipends and supplies. Nur
+al-Din kissed the Sultan's hand and went home, he and his
+father-in-law, joying with exceeding joy and saying, "All this
+followeth on the heels of the boy Hasan's birth!" Next day he presented
+himself before the King and, kissing the ground, began repeating:—
+
+"Grow thy weal and thy welfare day by day: * And thy luck prevail o'er
+the envier's spite;
+And ne'er cease thy days to be white as day, * And thy foeman's day to
+be black as night!"
+
+
+The Sultan bade him be seated on the Wazir's seat, so he sat down and
+applied himself to the business of his office and went into the cases
+of the lieges and their suits, as is the wont of Ministers; while the
+Sultan watched him and wondered at his wit and good sense, judgement
+and insight. Wherefor he loved him and took him into intimacy. When the
+Divan was dismissed Nur al-Din returned to his house and related what
+had passed to his father-in-law who rejoiced. And thenceforward Nur
+al-Din ceased not so to administer the Wazirate that the Sultan would
+not be parted from him night or day; and increased his stipend and
+supplies until his means were ample and he became the owner of ships
+that made trading voyages at his command, as well as of Mamelukes and
+blackamoor slaves; and he laid out many estates and set up Persian
+wheels and planted gardens. When his son Hasan was four years of age,
+the old Wazir deceased and he made for his father-in-law a sumptuous
+funeral ceremony ere he was laid in the dust. Then he occupied himself
+with the education of this son and, when the boy waxed strong and came
+to the age of seven, he brought him a Fakih, a doctor of law and
+religion, to teach him in his own house and charged him to give him a
+good education and instruct him in politeness and good manners. So the
+tutor made the boy read and retain all varieties of useful knowledge,
+after he had spent some years in learning the Koran by heart; [FN#387]
+and he ceased not to grow in beauty and stature and symmetry, even as
+saith the poet:—
+
+In his face-sky shines the fullest moon; * In his cheeks' anemone glows
+the sun:
+He so conquered Beauty that he hath won * All charms of humanity one by
+one.
+
+
+The professor brought him up in his father's palace teaching him
+reading, writing and cyphering, theology and belles lettres. His
+grandfather the old Wazir had bequeathed to him the whole of his
+property when he was but four years of age. Now during all the time of
+his earliest youth he had never left the house, till on a certain day
+his father, the Wazir Nur al-Din, clad him in his best clothes and,
+mounting him on a she-mule of the finest, went up with him to the
+Sultan. The King gazed at Badr al-Din Hasan and marvelled at his
+comeliness and loved him. As for the city-folk, when he first passed
+before them with his father, they marvelled at his exceeding beauty and
+sat down on the road expecting his return, that they might look their
+fill on his beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace; even
+as the poet said in these verses:—
+
+As the sage watched the stars, the semblance clear
+Of a fair youth on 's scroll he saw appear.
+Those jetty locks Canopus o'er him threw,
+And tinged his temple curls a musky hue;
+Mars dyed his ruddy cheek; and from his eyes
+The Archer-star his glittering arrow flies;
+His wit from Hermes came; and Soha's care,
+(The half-seen star that dimly haunts the Bear)
+Kept off all evil eyes that threaten and ensnare,
+The sage stood mazed to see such fortunes meet,
+And Luna kissed the earth beneath his feet. [FN#388]
+
+
+And they blessed him aloud as he passed and called upon Almighty Allah
+to bless him. [FN#389] The Sultan entreated the lad with especial
+favour and said to his father, "O Wazir, thou must needs bring him
+daily to my presence;" whereupon he replied, "I hear and I obey." Then
+the Wazir returned home with his son and ceased not to carry him to
+court till he reached the age of twenty. At that time the Minister
+sickened and, sending for Badr al-Din Hasan, said to him, "Know, O my
+son, that the world of the Present is but a house of mortality, while
+that of the Future is a house of eternity. I wish, before I die, to
+bequeath thee certain charges and do thou take heed of what I say and
+incline thy heart to my words." Then he gave him his last instructions
+as to the properest way of dealing with his neighbours and the due
+management of his affairs; after which he called to mind his brother
+and his home and his native land and wept over his separation from
+those he had first loved. Then he wiped away his tears and, turning to
+his son, said to him, "Before I proceed, O my son, to my last charges
+and injunctions, know that I have a brother, and thou hast an uncle,
+Shams al-Din hight, the Wazir of Cairo, which whom I parted, leaving
+him against his will. Now take thee a sheet of paper and write upon it
+whatso I say to thee." Badr al-Din took a fair leaf and set about doing
+his father's bidding and he wrote thereon a full account of what had
+happened to his sire first and last; the dates of his arrival at
+Bassorah and of his foregathering with the Wazir; of his marriage, of
+his going in to the Minister's daughter and of the birth of his son;
+brief, his life of forty years from the date of his dispute with his
+brother, adding the words, "And this is written at my dictation and may
+Almighty Allah be with him when I am gone!" Then he folded the paper
+and sealed it and said, "O Hasan, O my son, keep this paper with all
+care; for it will enable thee to stablish thine origin and rank and
+lineage and, if anything contrary befal thee, set out for Cairo and ask
+for thine uncle and show him this paper and say to him that I died a
+stranger far from mine own people and full of yearning to see him and
+them." So Badr al-Din Hasan took the document and folded it; and,
+wrapping it up in a piece of waxed cloth, sewed it like a talisman
+between the inner and outer cloth of his skull-cap and wound his light
+turband [FN#390] round it. And he fell to weeping over his father and
+at parting with him, and he but a boy. Then Nur al-Din lapsed into a
+swoon, the forerunner of death; but presently recovering himself he
+said, "O Hasan, O my son, I will now bequeath to thee five last
+behests. The FIRST BEHEST is, Be over-intimate with none, nor frequent
+any, nor be familiar with any; so shalt thou be safe from his mischief;
+[FN#391] for security lieth in seclusion of thought and a certain
+retirement from the society of thy fellows; and I have heard it said by
+a poet:—
+
+In this world there is none thou mayst count upon * To befriend thy
+case in the nick of need:
+So live for thyself nursing hope of none * Such counsel I give thee:
+enow, take heed!
+
+
+The SECOND BEHEST is, O my son: Deal harshly with none lest fortune
+with thee deal hardly; for the fortune of this world is one day with
+thee and another day against thee and all worldly goods are but a loan
+to be repaid. And I have heard a poet say:—
+
+Take thought nor haste to win the thing thou wilt; * Have ruth on man
+for ruth thou may'st require:
+No hand is there but Allah's hand is higher; * No tyrant but shall rue
+worse tyrant's ire!
+
+
+The THIRD BEHEST is, Learn to be silent in society and let thine own
+faults distract thine attention from the faults of other men: for it is
+said:—In silence dwelleth safety, and thereon I have heard the lines
+that tell us:—
+
+Reserve's a jewel, Silence safety is; * Whenas thou speakest many a
+word withhold;
+For an of Silence thou repent thee once, * Of speech thou shalt repent
+times manifold.
+
+
+The FOURTH BEHEST, O my son, is Beware of wine-bibbing, for wine is the
+head of all frowardness and a fine solvent of human wits. So shun, and
+again I say, shun mixing strong liquor; for I have heard a poet say
+[FN#392]:—
+
+From wine [FN#393] I turn and whoso wine-cups swill; * Becoming one of
+those who deem it ill:
+Wine driveth man to miss salvation-way, [FN#394] * And opes the gateway
+wide to sins that kill.
+
+
+The FIFTH BEHEST, O my son, is Keep thy wealth and it will keep thee;
+guard thy money and it will guard thee; and waste not thy substance
+lest haply thou come to want and must fare a-begging from the meanest
+of mankind. Save thy dirhams and deem them the sovereignest salve for
+the wounds of the world. And here again I have heard that one of the
+poets said:—
+
+When fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend: * When wealth
+abounds all friends their friendship tender:
+How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend; * But friends to lack of
+wealth no friendship render.
+
+
+On this wise Nur al-Din ceased not to counsel his son Badr al-Din Hasan
+till his hour came and, sighing one sobbing sigh, his life went forth.
+Then the voice of mourning and keening rose high in his house and the
+Sultan and all the grandees grieved for him and buried him; but his son
+ceased not lamenting his loss for two months, during which he never
+mounted horse, nor attended the Divan nor presented himself before the
+Sultan. At last the King, being wroth with him, stablished in his stead
+one of his Chamberlains and made him Wazir, giving orders to seize and
+set seals on all Nur al-Din's houses and goods and domains. So the new
+Wazir went forth with a mighty posse of Chamberlains and people of the
+Divan, and watchmen and a host of idlers to do this and to seize Badr
+al-Din Hasan and carry him before the King, who would deal with him as
+he deemed fit. Now there was among the crowd of followers a Mameluke of
+the deceased Wazir who, when he heard this order, urged his horse and
+rode at full speed to the house of Badr al-Din Hasan; for he cold not
+endure to see the ruin of his old master's son. He found him sitting at
+the gate with head hung down and sorrowing, as was his wont, for the
+loss of his father; so he dismounted and kissing his hand said to him,
+"O my lord and son of my lord, haste ere ruin come and lay waste!" When
+Hasan heard this he trembled and asked, "What may be the matter?; and
+the man answered, "The Sultan is angered with thee and hath issued a
+warrant against thee, and evil cometh hard upon my track; so flee with
+thy life!" At these words Hasan's heart flamed with the fire of bale,
+and his rose-red cheek turned pale, and he said to the "Mameluke, "O my
+brother, is there time for me to go in and get me some worldly gear
+which may stand me in stead during my strangerhood?" But the slave
+replied, "O my lord, up at once and save thyself and leave this house,
+while it is yet time." And he quoted these lines:—
+
+"Escape with thy life, if oppression betide thee, * And let the house
+of its builder's fate!
+Country for country thou'lt find, if thou seek it; * Life for life
+never, early or late.
+It is strange men should dwell in the house of abjection, * When the
+plain of God's earth is so wide and so great!" [FN#395]
+
+
+At these words of the Mameluke, Badr al-Din covered his head with the
+skirt of his garment and went forth on foot till he stood outside of
+the city, where he heard folk saying, "The Sultan hath sent his new
+Wazir to the house of the old Wazir, now no more, to seal his property
+and seize his son Badr al-Din Hasan and take him before the presence,
+that he may put him to death; " and all cried, "Alas for his beauty and
+his loveliness!" When he heard this he fled forth at hazard, knowing
+not whither he was going, and gave not over hurrying onwards till
+Destiny drove him to his father's tomb. So he entered the cemetery and,
+threading his way through the graves, at last he reached the sepulchre
+where he sat down and let fall from his head the skirt of his long robe
+[FN#396] which was made of brocade with a gold-embroidered hem whereon
+were worked these couplets:—
+
+O thou whose forehead, like the radiant East, * Tells of the stars of
+Heaven and bounteous dews:
+Endure thine honour to the latest day, * And Time thy growth of glory
+ne'er refuse!
+
+
+While he was sitting by his father's tomb behold, there came to him a
+Jew as he were a Shroff, [FN#397] a money-changer, with a pair of
+saddle-bags containing much gold, who accosted him and kissed his hand,
+saying, "Whither bound, O my lord; 'tis late in the day and thou art
+clad but lightly, and I read signs of trouble in thy face?" "I was
+sleeping within this very hour," answered Hasan, "when my father
+appeared to me and chid me for not having visited his tomb; so I awoke
+trembling and came hither forthright lest the day should go by without
+my visiting him, which would have been grievous to me." "O my lord,"
+rejoined the Jew, [FN#398] "thy father had many merchantmen at sea and,
+as some of them are now due, it is my wish to buy of thee the cargo of
+the first ship that cometh into port with this thousand dinars of
+gold." "I consent," quoth Hasan, whereupon the Jew took out a bag full
+of gold and counted out a thousand sequins which he gave to Hasan, the
+son of the Wazir, saying, "Write me a letter of sale and seal it." So
+Hasan took a pen and paper and wrote these words in duplicate, "The
+writer, Hasan Badr al-Din, son of Wazir Nur al-Din, hath sold to Isaac
+the Jew all the cargo of the first of his father's ships which cometh
+into port, for a thousand dinars, and he hath received the price in
+advance." And after he had taken one copy the Jew put it into his pouch
+and went away; but Hasan fell a-weeping as he thought of the dignity
+and prosperity which had erst been his and he began reciting:—
+
+"This house, my lady, since you left is now a home no more * For me,
+nor neighbours, since you left, prove kind and neighbourly:
+The friend, whilere I took to heart, alas! no more to me * Is friend;
+and even Luna's self displayeth lunacy:
+You left and by your going left the world a waste, a wold, * And lies a
+gloomy murk upon the face of hill and lea:
+O may the raven-bird whose cry our hapless parting croaked * Find ne'er
+a nesty home and eke shed all his plumery!
+At length my patience fails me; and this absence wastes my flesh; * How
+many a veil by severance rent our eyes are doomed see:
+Ah! shall I ever sight again our fair past nights of yore; * And shall
+a single house become a home for me once more?"
+
+
+Then he wept with exceeding weeping and night came upon him; so he
+leant his head against his father's grave and sleep overcame him: Glory
+to him who sleepeth not! He ceased not slumbering till the moon rose,
+when his head slipped from off the tomb and he lay on his back, with
+limbs outstretched, his face shining bright in the moonlight. Now the
+cemetery was haunted day and night by Jinns who were of the True
+Believers, and presently came out a Jinniyah who, seeing Hasan asleep,
+marvelled at his beauty and loveliness and cried, "Glory to God! This
+youth can be none other than one of the Wuldan of Paradise.[FN#399]
+Then she flew firmament-wards to circle it, as was her custom, and met
+an Ifrit on the wing who saluted her and she said to him, "Whence
+comest thou?" "From Cairo," he replied. "Wilt thou come with me and
+look upon the beauty of a youth who sleepeth in yonder burial place?"
+she asked and he answered, "I will." So they flew till they lighted at
+the tomb and she showed him the youth and said, "Now diddest thou ever
+in thy born days see aught like this?" The Ifrit looked upon him and
+exclaimed, "Praise be to Him that hath no equal! But, O my sister,
+shall I tell thee what I have seen this day?" Asked she, "What is
+that?" and he answered, "I have seen the counterpart of this youth in
+the land of Egypt. She is the daughter of the Wazir Shams al-Din and
+she is a model of beauty and loveliness, of fairest favour and formous
+form, and dight with symmetry and perfect grace. When she had reached
+the age of nineteen, [FN#400] the Sultan of Egypt heard of her and,
+sending for the Wazir her father, said to him, 'Hear me, O Wazir: it
+hath reached mine ear that thou hast a daughter and I wish to demand
+her of thee in marriage." The Wazir replied, "O our lord the Sultan,
+deign accept my excuses and take compassion on my sorrows, for thou
+knowest that my brother, who was partner with me in the Wazirate,
+disappeared from amongst us many years ago and we wot not where he is.
+Now the cause of his departure was that one night, as we were sitting
+together and talking of wives and children to come, we had words on the
+matter and he went off in high dudgeon. But I swore that I would marry
+my daughter to none save to the son of my brother on the day her mother
+gave her birth, which was nigh upon nineteen years ago. I have lately
+heard that my brother died at Bassorah, where he had married the
+daughter of the Wazir and that she bare him a son; and I will not marry
+my daughter but to him in honour of my brother's memory. I recorded the
+date of my marriage and the conception of my wife and the birth of my
+daughter; and from her horoscope I find that her name is conjoined with
+that of her cousin; [FN#401] and there are damsels in foison for our
+lord the Sultan.' The King, hearing his Minister's answer and refusal,
+waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and cried, 'When the like of me asketh
+a girl in marriage of the like of thee, he conferreth an honour, and
+thou rejectest me and puttest me off with cold [FN#402] excuses! Now,
+by the life of my head I will marry her to the meanest of my men in
+spite of the nose of thee! [FN#403] There was in the palace a
+horse-groom which was a Gobbo with a bunch to his breast and a hunch to
+his back; and the Sultan sent for him and married him to the daughter
+of the Wazir, lief or loath, and hath ordered a pompous marriage
+procession for him and that he go in to his bride this very night. I
+have now just flown hither from Cairo, where I left the Hunchback at
+the door of the Hammam-bath amidst the Sultan's white slaves who were
+waving lighted flambeaux about him. As for the Minister's daughter she
+sitteth among her nurses and tirewomen, weeping and wailing; for they
+have forbidden her father to come near her. Never have I seen, O my
+sister, more hideous being than this Hunchback [FN#404] whilst the
+young lady is the likest of all folk to this young man, albeit even
+fairer than he,"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
+saying her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Twenty-second Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Jinni
+narrated to the Jinniyah how the King had caused the wedding contract
+to be drawn up between the hunchbacked groom and the lovely young lady
+who was heart-broken for sorrow; and how she was the fairest of created
+things and even more beautiful than this youth, the Jinniyah cried at
+him "Thou liest! this youth is handsomer than any one of his day." The
+Ifrit gave her the lie again, adding, "By Allah, O my sister, the
+damsel I speak of is fairer than this; yet none but he deserveth her,
+for they resemble each other like brother and sister or at least
+cousins. And, well-away! how she is wasted upon that Hunchback!" Then
+said she, "O my brother, let us get under him and lift him up and carry
+him to Cairo, that we may compare him with the damsel of whom thou
+speakest and so determine whether of the twain is the fairer." "To hear
+is to obey!" replied he, "thou speakest to the point; nor is there a
+righter recking than this of thine, and I myself will carry him." So he
+raised him from the ground and flew with him like a bird soaring in
+upper air, the Ifritah keeping close by his side at equal speed, till
+he alighted with him in the city of Cairo and set him down on a stone
+bench and woke him up. He roused himself and finding that he was no
+longer at his father's tomb in Bassorah-city he looked right and left
+and saw that he was in a strange place; and he would have cried out;
+but the Ifrit gave him a cuff which persuaded him to keep silence. Then
+he brought him rich raiment and clothed him therein and, giving him a
+lighted flambeau, said, "Know that I have brought thee hither, meaning
+to do thee a good turn for the love of Allah: so take this torch and
+mingle with the people at the Hammam-door and walk on with them without
+stopping till thou reach the house of the wedding-festival; then go
+boldly forward and enter the great saloon; and fear none, but take thy
+stand at the right hand of the Hunchback bridegroom; and, as often as
+any of the nurses and tirewomen and singing-girls come up to thee,
+[FN#405] put thy hand into thy pocket which thou wilt find filled with
+gold. Take it out and throw it to them and spare not; for as often as
+thou thrustest fingers in pouch thou shalt find it full of coin. Give
+largesse by handsful and fear nothing, but set thy trust upon Him who
+created thee, for this is not by thine own strength but by that of
+Allah Almighty, that His decrees may take effect upon his creatures."
+When Badr al-Din Hasan heard these words from the Ifrit he said to
+himself, "Would Heaven I knew what all this means and what is the cause
+of such kindness!" However, he mingled with the people and, lighting
+his flambeau, moved on with the bridal procession till he came to the
+bath where he found the Hunchback already on horseback. Then he pushed
+his way in among the crowd, a veritable beauty of a man in the finest
+apparel, wearing tarbush [FN#406] and turband and a long-sleeved robe
+purfled with gold; and, as often as the singing-women stopped for the
+people to give them largesse, he thrust his hand into his pocket and,
+finding it full of gold, took out a handful and threw it on the
+tambourine [FN#407] till he had filled it with gold pieces for the
+music-girls and the tirewomen. The singers were amazed by his bounty
+and the people marvelled at his beauty and loveliness and the splendour
+of his dress. He ceased not to do thus till he reached the mansion of
+the Wazir (who was his uncle), where the Chamberlains drove back the
+people and forbade them to go forward; but the singing-girls and the
+tirewomen said, "By Allah we will not enter unless this young man enter
+with us, for he hath given us length o' life with his largesse and we
+will not display the bride unless he be present." Therewith they
+carried him into the bridal hall and made him sit down defying the evil
+glances of the hunchbacked bridegroom. The wives of the Emirs and
+Wazirs and Chamberlains and Courtiers all stood in double line, each
+holding a massy cierge ready lighted; all wore thin face-veils and the
+two rows right and left extended from the bride's throne [FN#408] to
+the head of the hall adjoining the chamber whence she was to come
+forth. When the ladies saw Badr al-Din Hasan and noted his beauty and
+loveliness and his face that shone like the new moon, their hearts
+inclined to him and the singing-girls said to all that were present,
+"Know that this beauty crossed our hands with naught but red gold; so
+be not chary to do him womanly service and comply with all he says, no
+matter what he ask. [FN#409] So all the women crowded around Hasan with
+their torches and gazed on his loveliness and envied him his beauty;
+and one and all would gladly have lain on his bosom an hour or rather a
+year. Their hearts were so troubled that they let fall their veils from
+before their faces and said, "Happy she who belongeth to this youth or
+to whom he belongeth!"; and they called down curses on the crooked
+groom and on him who was the cause of his marriage to the girl-beauty;
+and as often as they blessed Badr al-Din Hasan they damned the
+Hunchback, saying, "Verily this youth and none else deserveth our
+Bride: Ah, well-away for such a lovely one with this hideous Quasimodo;
+Allah's curse light on his head and on the Sultan who commanded the
+marriage!" Then the singing-girls beat their tabrets and lulliloo'd
+with joy, announcing the appearing of the bride; and the Wazir's
+daughter came in surrounded by her tirewomen who had made her goodly to
+look upon; for they had perfumed her and incensed her and adorned her
+hair; and they had robed her in raiment and ornaments befitting the
+mighty Chosroes Kings. The most notable part of her dress was a loose
+robe worn over her other garments; it was diapered in red gold with
+figures of wild beasts, and birds whose eyes and beaks were of gems,
+and claws of red rubies and green beryl; and her neck was graced with a
+necklace of Yamani work, worth thousands of gold pieces, whose bezels
+were great round jewels of sorts, the like of which was never owned by
+Kaysar or by Tobba King. [FN#410] And the bride was as the full moon
+when at fullest on fourteenth night; and as she paced into the hall she
+was like one of the Houris of Heaven—praise be to Him who created her
+in such splendour of beauty! The ladies encompassed her as the white
+contains the black of the eye, they clustering like stars whilst she
+shone amongst them like the moon when it eats up the clouds. Now Badr
+al-Din Hasan of Bassorah was sitting in full gaze of the folk, when the
+bride came forward with her graceful swaying and swimming gait, and her
+hunchbacked groom stood up to meet [FN#411] and receive her: she,
+however, turned away from the wight and walked forward till she stood
+before her cousin Hasan, the son of her uncle. Whereat the people
+laughed. But when the wedding-guests saw her thus attracted towards
+Badr al-Din they made a mighty clamour and the singing-women shouted
+their loudest; whereupon he put his hand into his pocket and, pulling
+out a handful of gold, cast it into their tambourines and the girls
+rejoiced and said, "Could we win our wish this bride were thine!" At
+this he smiled and the folk came round him, flambeaux in hand like the
+eyeball round the pupil, while the Gobbo bridegroom was left sitting
+alone much like a tail-less baboon; for every time they lighted a
+candle for him it went out willy-nilly, so he was left in darkness and
+silence and looking at naught but himself. [FN#412] When Badr al-Din
+Hasan saw the bridegroom sitting lonesome in the dark, and all the
+wedding-guests with their flambeaux and wax candles crowding around
+himself, he was bewildered and marvelled much; but when he looked at
+his cousin, the daughter of his uncle, he rejoiced and felt an inward
+delight: he longed to greet her and gazed intently on her face which
+was radiant with light and brilliancy. Then the tirewomen took off her
+veil and displayed her in the first bridal dress which was of scarlet
+satin; and Hasan had a view of her which dazzled his sight and dazed
+his wits, as she moved to and fro, swaying with graceful gait; [FN#413]
+and she turned the heads of all the guests, women as well as men, for
+she was even as saith the surpassing poet:—
+
+A sun on wand in knoll of sand she showed * Clad in her cramoisy-hued
+chemisette:
+Of her lips honey-dew she gave me drink, * And with her rosy cheeks
+quencht fire she set.
+
+
+Then they changed that dress and displayed her in a robe of azure; and
+she reappeared like the full moon when it riseth over the horizon, with
+her coal-black hair and cheeks delicately fair; and teeth shown in
+sweet smiling and breasts firm rising and crowning sides of the softest
+and waist of the roundest. And in this second suit she was as a certain
+master of high conceits saith of the like of her:—
+
+She came apparelled in an azure vest, * Ultramarine, as skies are deckt
+and dight;
+I view'd th' unparellel'd sight, which show'd my eyes * A moon of
+Summer on a Winter-night.
+
+
+Then they changed that suit for another and, veiling her face in the
+luxuriance of her hair, loosed her lovelocks, so dark, so long that
+their darkness and length outvied the darkest nights, and she shot
+through all hearts with the magical shaft of her eye-babes. They
+displayed her in the third dress and she was as said of her the sayer:—
+
+Veiling her cheeks with hair a-morn she comes, * And I her mischiefs
+with the cloud compare:
+Saying, "Thou veilest morn with night!" "Ah, no!" * Quoth she, "I
+shroud full moon with darkling air!"
+
+
+Then they displayed her in the fourth bridal dress and she came forward
+shining like the rising sun and swaying to and fro with lovesome grace
+and supple ease like a gazelle-fawn. And she clave all hearts with the
+arrows of her eyelashes, even as saith one who described a charmer like
+her:—
+
+The sun of beauty she to sight appears * And, lovely-coy, she mocks all
+loveliness;
+And when he fronts her favour and her smile * A-morn, the Sun of day in
+clouds must dress.
+
+
+Then she came forth in the fifth dress, a very light of loveliness like
+a wand of waving willow or a gazelle of the thirsty wold. Those locks
+which stung like scorpions along her cheeks were bent, and her neck was
+bowed in blandishment, and her hips quivered as she went. As saith one
+of the poets describing her in verse:—
+
+She comes like fullest moon on happy night; * Taper of waist, with
+shape of magic might:
+She hath an eye whose glances quell mankind, * And Ruby on her cheeks
+reflects his light:
+Enveils her hips the blackness of her hair; *Beware of curls that bite
+with viper-bite!
+Her sides are silken-soft, the while the heart * Mere rock behind that
+surface lurks from sight:
+From the fringed curtains of her eyne she shoots * Shafts which at
+farthest range on mark alight:
+When round her neck or waist I throw my arms * Her breasts repel me
+with their hardened height.
+Ah, how her beauty all excels! ah how * That shape transcends the
+graceful waving bough!
+
+
+Then they adorned her with the sixth toilette, a dress which was green.
+And now she shamed in her slender straightness the nut-brown spear; her
+radiant face dimmed the brightest beams of full moon and she outdid the
+bending branches in gentle movement and flexile grace. Her loveliness
+exalted the beauties of earth's four quarters and she broke men's
+hearts by the significance of her semblance; for she was even as saith
+one of the poets in these lines:—
+
+A damsel 'twas the tirer's art had decked with snares and
+sleight.[FN#414] * And robed in rays as though the sun from her had
+borrowed light:
+She came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green, * As veiled by
+its leafy screen pomegranate hides from sight:
+And when he said "How callest thou the manner of thy dress?" * She
+answered us in pleasant way with double meaning dight;
+"We call this garment creve-coeur; and rightly is it hight, * For many
+a heart wi' this we broke [FN#415] and conquered many a sprite!"
+
+
+Then they displayed her in the seventh dress, coloured between
+safflower [FN#416] and saffron, even as one of the poets saith:—
+
+In vest of saffron pale and safflower red * Musk'd, sandal'd
+ambergris'd, she came to front:
+"Rise!" cried her youth, "go forth and show thyself!" * "Sit!" said her
+hips, "we cannot bear the brunt!"
+And when I craved a bout, her Beauty said * "Do, do!" and said her
+pretty shame, "Don't, don't!"
+
+
+Thus they displayed the bride in all her seven toilettes before Hasan
+al-Basri, wholly neglecting the Gobbo who sat moping alone; and, when
+she opened her eyes [FN#417] she said, "O Allah make this man my
+goodman and deliver me from the evil of this hunchbacked groom." As
+soon as they had made an end of this part of the ceremony they
+dismissed the wedding guests who went forth, women, children and all,
+and none remained save Hasan and the Hunchback, whilst the tirewomen
+led the bride into an inner room to change her garb and gear and get
+her ready for the bridegroom. Thereupon Quasimodo came up to Badr
+al-Din Hasan and said, "O my lord, thou hast cheered us this night with
+thy good company and overwhelmed us with thy kindness and courtesy; but
+now why not get thee up and go?" "Bismallah," he answered, "In Allah's
+name so be it!" and rising, he went forth by the door, where the Ifrit
+met him and said, "Stay in thy stead, O Badr al-Din, and when the
+Hunchback goes out to the closet of ease go in without losing time and
+seat thyself in the alcove; and when the bride comes say to her, "'Tis
+I am thy husband, for the King devised this trick only fearing for thee
+the evil eye, and he whom thou sawest is but a Syce, a groom, one of
+our stablemen.' Then walk boldly up to her and unveil her face; for
+jealousy hath taken us of this matter." While Hasan was still talking
+with the Ifrit behold, the groom fared forth from the hall and entering
+the closet of ease sat down on the stool. Hardly had he done this when
+the Ifrit came out of the tank, [FN#418] wherein the water was, in
+semblance of a mouse and squeaked out "Zeek!" Quoth the Hunchback,
+"What ails thee?"; and the mouse grew and grew till it became a
+coal-black cat and caterwauled "Meeao! Meeao!"[FN#419] Then it grew
+still more and more till it became a dog and barked out "Owh! Owh!"
+When the bridegroom saw this he was frightened and exclaimed "Out with
+thee, O unlucky one!" [FN#420] But the dog grew and swelled till it
+became an ass-colt that brayed and snorted in his face "Hauk! Hauk!"
+[FN#421] Whereupon the Hunchback quaked and cried, "Come to my aid, O
+people of the house!" But behold, the ass-colt grew and became big as a
+buffalo and walled the way before him and spake with the voice of the
+sons of Adam, saying, "Woe to thee, O thou Bunch-back, thou stinkard, O
+thou filthiest of grooms!" Hearing this the groom was seized with a
+colic and he sat down on the jakes in his clothes with teeth chattering
+and knocking together. Quoth the Ifrit, "Is the world so strait to thee
+thou findest none to marry save my lady-love?" But as he was silent the
+Ifrit continued, "Answer me or I will do thee dwell in the dust!" "By
+Allah," replied the Gobbo, "O King of the Buffaloes, this is no fault
+of mine, for they forced me to wed her; and verily I wot not that she
+had a lover amongst the buffaloes; but now I repent, first before Allah
+and then before thee." Said the Ifrit to him, "I swear to thee that if
+thou fare forth from this place, or thou utter a word before sunrise, I
+assuredly will wring thy neck. When the sun rises wend thy went and
+never more return to this house." So saying, the Ifrit took up the
+Gobbo bridegroom and set him head downwards and feet upwards in the
+slit of the privy, [FN#422] and said to him, "I will leave thee here
+but I shall be on the look-out for thee till sunrise; and, if thou stir
+before then, I will seize thee by the feet and dash out thy brains
+against the wall: so look out for thy life!" Thus far concerning the
+Hunchback, but as regards Badr al-Din Hasan of Bassorah he left the
+Gobbo and the Ifrit jangling and wrangling and, going into the house,
+sat him down in the very middle of the alcove; and behold, in came the
+bride attended by an old woman who stood at the door and said, "O
+Father of Uprightness, [FN#423] arise and take what God giveth thee."
+Then the old woman went away and the bride, Sitt al-Husn or the Lady of
+Beauty hight, entered the inner part of the alcove broken-hearted and
+saying in herself, "By Allah I will never yield my person to him; no,
+not even were he to take my life!" But as she came to the further end
+she saw Badr al-Din Hasan and she said, "Dearling! Art thou still
+sitting here? By Allah I was wishing that thou wert my bridegroom or,
+at least, that thou and the hunchbacked horse-groom were partners in
+me." He replied, "O beautiful lady, how should the Syce have access to
+thee, and how should he share in thee with me?" "Then," quoth she, "who
+is my husband, thou or he?" "Sitt al-Husn," rejoined Hasan, "we have
+not done this for mere fun, [FN#424] but only as a device to ward off
+the evil eye from thee; for when the tirewomen and singers and wedding
+guests saw thy beauty being displayed to me, they feared fascination
+and thy father hired the horse-groom for ten dinars and a porringer of
+meat to take the evil eye off us; and now he hath received his hire and
+gone his gait." When the Lady of Beauty heard these words she smiled
+and rejoiced and laughed a pleasant laugh. Then she whispered him, "By
+the Lord thou hast quenched a fire which tortured me and now, by Allah,
+O my little dark-haired darling, take me to thee and press me to thy
+bosom!" Then she began singing:—
+
+"By Allah, set thy foot upon my soul; * Since long, long years      for
+this alone I long:
+And whisper tale of love in ear of me; * To me 'tis sweeter than     
+the sweetest song!
+No other youth upon my heart shall lie; * So do it often, dear,     
+and do it long."
+
+
+Then she stripped off her outer gear and she threw open her chemise
+from the neck downwards and showed her parts genital and all the
+rondure of her hips. When Badr al-Din saw the glorious sight his
+desires were roused, and he arose and doffed his clothes, and wrapping
+up in his bag-trousers [FN#425] the purse of gold which he had taken
+from the Jew and which contained the thousand dinars, he laid it under
+the edge of the bedding. Then he took off his turband and set it upon
+the settle [FN#426] atop of his other clothes, remaining in his
+skull-cap and fine shirt of blue silk laced with gold. Whereupon the
+Lady of Beauty drew him to her and he did likewise. Then he took her to
+his embrace and set her legs round his waist and point-blanked that
+cannon [FN#427] placed where it battereth down the bulwark of
+maidenhead and layeth it waste. And he found her a pearl unpierced and
+unthridden and a filly by all men save himself unridden; and he abated
+her virginity and had joyance of her youth in his virility and
+presently he withdrew sword from sheath; and then returned to the fray
+right eath; and when the battle and the siege had finished, some
+fifteen assaults he had furnished and she conceived by him that very
+night. Then he laid his hand under her head and she did the same and
+they embraced and fell asleep in each other's arms, as a certain poet
+said of such lovers in these couplets:—
+
+Visit thy lover, spurn what envy told; * No envious churl shall smile
+on love ensoul'd.
+Merciful Allah made no fairer sight * Than coupled lovers single couch
+doth hold;
+Breast pressing breast and robed in joys their own, * With pillowed
+forearms cast in finest mould:
+And when heart speaks to heart with tongue of love, * Folk who would
+part them hammer steel ice-cold:
+If a fair friend[FN#428] thou find who cleaves to thee, * Live for that
+friend, that friend in heart enfold.
+O ye who blame for love us lover kind * Say, can ye minister to
+diseasèd mind?
+
+
+This much concerning Badr al-Hasan and Sitt al-Husn his cousin; but as
+regards the Ifrit, as soon as he saw the twain asleep, he said to the
+Ifritah, "Arise, slip thee under the youth and let us carry him back to
+his place ere dawn overtake us; for the day is nearhand." Thereupon she
+came forward and, getting under him as he lay asleep, took him up clad
+only in his fine blue shirt, leaving the rest of his garments; and
+ceased not flying (and the Ifrit vying with her in flight) till the
+dawn advised them that it had come upon them mid-way, and the Muezzin
+began his call from the Minaret, "Haste ye to salvation! Haste ye to
+salvation!" [FN#429] Then Allah suffered his angelic host to shoot down
+the Ifrit with a shooting star, [FN#430] so he was consumed, but the
+Ifritah escaped and she descended with Badr al-Din at the place where
+the Ifrit was burnt, and did not carry him back to Bassorah, fearing
+lest he come to harm. Now by the order of Him who predestineth all
+things, they alighted at Damascus of Syria, and the Ifritah set down
+her burden at one of the city-gates and flew away. When day arose and
+the doors were opened, the folks who came forth saw a handsome youth,
+with no other raiment but his blue shirt of gold-embroidered silk and
+skull-cap,[FN#431] lying upon the ground drowned in sleep after the
+hard labour of the night which had not suffered him to take his rest.
+So the folk looking at him said, "O her luck with whom this one spent
+the night! but would he had waited to don his garments." Quoth another,
+"A sorry lot are the sons of great families! Haply he but now came
+forth of the tavern on some occasion of his own and his wine flew to
+his head,[FN#432] whereby he hath missed the place he was making for
+and strayed till he came to the gate of the city; and finding it shut
+lay him down and went to by-by!" As the people were bandying guesses
+about him suddenly the morning breeze blew upon Badr al-Din and raising
+his shirt to his middle showed a stomach and navel with something below
+it, [FN#433] and legs and thighs clear as crystal and smooth as cream.
+Cried the people, "By Allah he is a pretty fellow!"; and at the cry
+Badr al-din awoke and found himself lying at a city-gate with a crowd
+gathered around him. At this he greatly marvelled and asked, "Where am
+I, O good folk; and what causeth you thus to gather round me, and what
+have I had to do with you?"; and they answered, "We found thee lying
+here asleep during the call to dawn-prayer and this is all we know of
+the matter, but where diddest thou lie last night?" [FN#434] "By Allah,
+O good people," replied he, "I lay last night in Cairo." Said somebody,
+"Thou hast surely been eating Hashish," [FN#435] and another, "He is a
+fool;" and a third, "He is a citrouille;" and a fourth asked him, "Art
+thou out of thy mind? thou sleepest in Cairo and thou wakest in the
+morning at the gate of Damascus-city!" [FN#436] Cried he, "By Allah, my
+good people, one and all, I lie not to you: indeed I lay yesternight in
+the land of Egypt and yesternoon I was at Bassorah." Quoth one, "Well!
+well!"; and quoth another, "Ho! ho!"; and a third, "So! so!"; and a
+fourth cried, "This youth is mad, is possessed of the Jinni!" So they
+clapped hands at him and said to one another, "Alas, the pity of it for
+his youth: by Allah a madman! and madness is no respecter of persons."
+Then they said to him, "Collect thy wits and return to thy reason! How
+couldest thou be in Bassorah yesterday and Cairo yesternight and withal
+awake in Damascus this morning?" But he persisted, "Indeed I was a
+bridegroom in Cairo last night." "Belike thou hast been dreaming,"
+rejoined they, "and sawest all this in thy sleep." So Hasan took
+thought for a while and said to them, "By Allah, this is no dream; nor
+vision-like doth it seem! I certainly was in Cairo where they displayed
+the bride before me, in presence of a third person, the Hunchback groom
+who was sitting hard by. By Allah, O my brother, this be no dream, and
+if it were a dream, where is the bag of gold I bore with me and where
+are my turband and my robe, and my trousers?" Then he rose and entered
+the city, threading its highways and by-ways and bazar-streets; and the
+people pressed upon him and jeered at him, crying out "Madman! madman!"
+till he, beside himself with rage, took refuge in a cook's shop. Now
+that Cook had been a trifle too clever, that is, a rogue and thief; but
+Allah had made him repent and turn from his evil ways and open a
+cook-shop; and all the people of Damascus stood in fear of his boldness
+and his mischief. So when the crowd saw the youth enter his shop, they
+dispersed being afraid of him, and went their ways. The Cook looked at
+Badr al-Din and, noting his beauty and loveliness, fell in love with
+him forthright and said, "Whence comest thou, O youth? Tell me at once
+thy tale, for thou art become dearer to me than my soul." So Hasan
+recounted to him all that had befallen him from beginning to end (but
+in repetition there is no fruition) and the Cook said, "O my lord Badr
+al-Din, doubtless thou knowest that this case is wondrous and this
+story marvellous; therefore, O my son, hide what hath betided thee,
+till Allah dispel what ills be thine; and tarry with me here the
+meanwhile, for I have no child and I will adopt thee." Badr al-Din
+replied, "Be it as thou wilt, O my uncle!" Whereupon the Cook went to
+the bazar and bought him a fine suit of clothes and made him don it;
+then fared with him to the Kazi, and formally declared that he was his
+son. So Badr al-Din Hasan became known in Damascus-city as the Cook's
+son and he sat with him in the shop to take the silver, and on this
+wise he sojourned there for a time. Thus far concerning him; but as
+regards his cousin, the Lady of Beauty, when morning dawned she awoke
+and missed Badr al-Din Hasan from her side; but she thought that he had
+gone to the privy and she sat expecting him for an hour or so; when
+behold, entered her father Shams al-Din Mohammed, Wazir of Egypt. Now
+he was disconsolate by reason of what had befallen him through the
+Sultan, who had entreated him harshly and had married his daughter by
+force to the lowest of his menials and he too a lump of a groom
+bunch-backed withal, and he said to himself, "I will slay this daughter
+of mine if of her own free will she have yielded her person to this
+accursed carle." So he came to the door of the bride's private chamber
+and said, "Ho! Sitt al-Husn." She answered him, "Here am I! here am I!"
+[FN#437] O my lord," and came out unsteady of gait after the pains and
+pleasures of the night; and she kissed his hand, her face showing
+redoubled brightness and beauty for having lain in the arms of that
+gazelle, her cousin. When her father, the Wazir, saw her in such case,
+he asked her, "O thou accursed, art thou rejoicing because of this
+horse-groom?", and Sitt al-Husn smiled sweetly and answered, "By Allah,
+don't ridicule me: enough of what passed yesterday when folk laughed at
+me, and evened me with that groom-fellow who is not worthy to bring my
+husband's shoes or slippers; nay who is not worth the paring of my
+husband's nails! By the Lord, never in my life have I nighted a night
+so sweet as yesternight!, so don't mock by reminding me of the Gobbo."
+When her parent heard her words he was filled with fury, and his eyes
+glared and stared, so that little of them showed save the whites and he
+cried, "Fie upon thee! What words are these? 'Twas the hunchbacked
+horse-groom who passed the night with thee!" "Allah upon thee," replied
+the Lady of Beauty, "do not worry me about the Gobbo, Allah damn his
+father; [FN#438] and leave jesting with me; for this groom was only
+hired for ten dinars and a porringer of meat and he took his wage and
+went his way. As for me I entered the bridal-chamber, where I found my
+true bridegroom sitting, after the singer-women had displayed me to
+him; the same who had crossed their hands with red gold, till every
+pauper that was present waxed wealthy; and I passed the night on the
+breast of my bonny man, a most lively darling, with his black eyes and
+joined eyebrows." [FN#439] When her parent heard these words the light
+before his face became night, and he cried out at her saying, "O thou
+whore! What is this thou tellest me? Where be thy wits?" "O my father,"
+she rejoined, "thou breakest my heart; enough for thee that thou hast
+been so hard upon me! Indeed my husband who took my virginity is but
+just now gone to the draught-house and I feel that I have conceived by
+him." [FN#440] The Wazir rose in much marvel and entered the privy
+where he found the hunchbacked groom with his head in the hole, and his
+heels in the air. At this sight he was confounded and said, "This is
+none other than he, the rascal Hunchback!" So he called to him, "Ho
+Hunchback!" The Gobbo grunted out, "Taghum! Taghum!" [FN#441] thinking
+it was the Ifrit spoke to him; so the Wazir shouted at him and said,
+"Speak out, or I'll strike off thy pate with this sword." Then quoth
+the Hunchback, "By Allah, O Shaykh of the Ifrits, ever since thou
+settest me in this place, I have not lifted my head; so Allah upon
+thee, take pity and entreat me kindly!" When the Wazir heard this he
+asked, "What is this thou sayest? I'm the bride's father and no Ifrit."
+"Enough for thee that thou hast well nigh done me die, " answered
+Quasimodo; "now go thy ways before he come upon thee who hath served me
+thus. Could ye not marry me to any save the lady-love of buffaloes and
+the beloved of Ifrits? Allah curse her and curse him who married me to
+her and was the cause of this my case,"—And Shahrazad perceived the
+dawn of day, and ceased to say her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Twenty-third Night,
+
+
+Said she, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the hunchbacked
+groom spake to the bride's father saying, "Allah curse him who was the
+cause of this my case!" Then said the Wazir to him, "Up and out of this
+place!" "Am I mad," cried the groom, "that I should go with thee
+without leave of the Ifrit whose last words to me were:—"When the sun
+rises, arise and go thy gait." So hath the sun risen or no?; for I dare
+not budge from this place till then." Asked the Wazir, "Who brought
+thee hither?"; and he answered "I came here yesternight for a call of
+nature and to do what none can do for me, when lo! a mouse came out of
+the water, and squeaked at me and swelled and waxed gross till it was
+big as a buffalo, and spoke to me words that entered my ears. Then he
+left me here and went away, Allah curse the bride and him who married
+me to her!" The Wazir walked up to him and lifted his head out of the
+cesspool hole; and he fared forth running for dear life and hardly
+crediting that the sun had risen; and repaired to the Sultan to whom he
+told all that had befallen him with the Ifrit. But the Wazir returned
+to the bride's private chamber, sore troubled in spirit about her, and
+said to her, "O my daughter, explain this strange matter to me!" Quoth
+she, "Tis simply this. The bridegroom to whom they displayed me
+yestereve lay with me all night, and took my virginity and I am with
+child by him. He is my husband and if thou believe me not, there are
+his turband, twisted as it was, lying on the settle and his dagger and
+his trousers beneath the bed with a something, I wot not what, wrapped
+up in them." When her father heard this he entered the private chamber
+and found the turband which had been left there by Badr al-Din Hasan,
+his brother's son, and he took it in hand and turned it over, saying,
+"This is the turband worn by Wazirs, save that it is of Mosul stuff."
+[FN#442] So he opened it and, finding what seemed to be an amulet sewn
+up in the Fez, he unsewed the lining and took it out; then he lifted up
+the trousers wherein was the purse of the thousand gold pieces and,
+opening that also, found in it a written paper. This he read and it was
+the sale-receipt of the Jew in the name of Badr al-Din Hasan, son of
+Nur al-Din Ali, the Egyptian; and the thousand dinars were also there.
+No sooner had Shams al-Din read this than he cried out with a loud cry
+and fell to the ground fainting; and as soon as he revived and
+understood the gist of the matter he marvelled and said, "There is no
+God, but _the_ God, whose All-might is over all things! Knowest thou, O
+my daughter, who it was that became the husband of thy virginity?"
+"No," answered she, and he said, "Verily he is the son of my brother,
+thy cousin, and this thousand dinars is thy dowry. Praise be to Allah!
+and would I wot how this matter came about!" then opened he the amulet
+which was sewn up and found therein a paper in the handwriting of his
+deceased brother, Nur al-Din the Egyptian, father of Badr al-Din Hasan;
+and, when he saw the hand-writing, he kissed it again and again; and he
+wept and wailed over his dead brother and improvised this lines:—
+
+"I see their traces and with pain I melt, * And on their whilome homes
+I weep and yearn:
+And Him I pray who dealt this parting-blow * Some day he deign
+vouchsafe a safe return." [FN#443]
+
+
+When he ceased versifying, he read the scroll and found in it recorded
+the dates of his brother's marriage with the daughter of the Wazir of
+Bassorah, and of his going in to her, and her conception, and the birth
+of Badr al-Din Hasan and all his brother's history and doings up to his
+dying day. So he marvelled much and shook with joy and, comparing the
+dates with his own marriage and going in to his wife and the birth of
+their daughter, Sitt al-Husn, he found that they perfectly agreed. So
+he took the document and, repairing with it to the Sultan, acquainted
+him with what had passed, from first to last; whereat the King
+marvelled and commanded the case to be at once recorded. [FN#444] The
+Wazir abode that day expecting to see his brother's son but he came
+not; and he waited a second day, a third day and so on to the seventh
+day, without any tidings of him. So he said, "By Allah, I will do a
+deed such as none hath ever done before me!"; and he took reed-pen and
+ink and drew upon a sheet of paper the plan of the whole house, showing
+whereabouts was the private chamber with the curtain in such a place
+and the furniture in such another and so on with all that was in the
+room. Then he folded up the sketch and, causing all the furniture to be
+collected, he took Badr al-Din's garments and the turband and Fez and
+robe and purse, and carried the whole to his house and locked them up,
+against the coming of his nephew, Badr al-Din Hasan, the son of his
+lost brother, with an iron padlock on which he set his seal. As for the
+Wazir's daughter, when her tale of months was fulfilled, she bare a son
+like the full moon, the image of his father in beauty and loveliness
+and fair proportions and perfect grace. They cut his navel-string
+[FN#445] and Kohl'd his eyelids to strengthen his eyes, and gave him
+over to the nurses and nursery governesses, [FN#446] naming him Ajib,
+the Wonderful. His day was as a month and his month was as a year;
+[FN#447] and, when seven years had passed over him, his grandfather
+sent him to school, enjoining the master to teach him Koran-reading,
+and to educate him well. he remained at the school four years, till he
+began to bully his schoolfellows and abuse them and bash them and
+thrash them and say, "Who among you is like me? I am the son of Wazir
+of Egypt!" At last the boys came in a body to complain to the Monitor
+[FN#448] of what hard usage they were wont to have from Ajib, and he
+said to them, "I will tell you somewhat you may do to him so that he
+shall leave off coming to the school, and it is this. When he enters
+to-morrow, sit ye down about him and say some one of you to some other,
+'By Allah none shall play with us at this game except he tell us the
+names of his mamma and his papa; for he who knows not the names of his
+mother and his father is a bastard, a son of adultery, [FN#449] and he
+shall not play with us.'" When morning dawned the boys came to school,
+Ajib being one of them, and all flocked around him saying, "We will
+play a game wherein none can join save he can tell the name of his
+mamma and his papa." And they all cried, "By Allah, good!" Then quoth
+one of them, "My name is Majid and my mammy's name is Alawiyah and my
+daddy's Izz al-Din." Another spoke in like guise and yet a third, till
+Ajid's turn came, and he said, "MY name is Ajib, and my mother's is
+Sitt al-Husn, and my father's Shams al-Din, the Wazir of Cairo." "By
+Allah," cried they, "the Wazir is not thy true father." Ajib answered,
+"The Wazir is my father in very deed." Then the boys all laughed and
+clapped their hands at him, saying "He does not know who is his papa:
+get out from among us, for none shall play with us except he know his
+father's name." Thereupon they dispersed from around him and laughed
+him to scorn; so his breast was straitened and he well nigh choked with
+tears and hurt feelings. Then said the Monitor to him, "We know that
+the Wazir is thy grandfather, the father of thy mother, Sitt al-Husn,
+and not thy father. As for thy father, neither dost thou know him nor
+yet do we; for the Sultan married thy mother to the hunchbacked
+horse-groom; but the Jinni came and slept with her and thou hast no
+known father. Leave, then, comparing thyself too advantageously with
+the little ones of the school, till thou know that thou hast a lawful
+father; for until then thou wilt pass for a child of adultery amongst
+them. Seest thou not that even a huckster's son knoweth his own sire?
+Thy grandfather is the Wazir of Egypt; but as for thy father we wot him
+not and we say indeed that thou hast none. So return to thy sound
+senses!" When Ajib heard these insulting words from the Monitor and the
+school boys and understood the reproach they put upon him, he went out
+at once and ran to his mother, Sitt al-Husn, to complain; but he was
+crying so bitterly that his tears prevented his speech for a while.
+When she heard his sobs and saw his tears her heart burned as though
+with fire for him, and she said, "O my son, why dost thou weep? Allah
+keep the tears from thine eyes! Tell me what hath betided thee?" So he
+told her all that he heard from the boys and from the Monitor and ended
+with asking, "And who, O my mother, is my father?" She answered, "Thy
+father is the Wazir of Egypt;" but he said, "Do not lie to me. The
+Wazir is thy father, not mine! who then is my father? Except thou tell
+me the very truth I will kill myself with this hanger." [FN#450] When
+his mother heard him speak of his father she wept, remembering her
+cousin and her bridal night with him and all that occurred there and
+then, and she repeated these couplets:—
+
+"Love in my heart they lit and went their ways, * And all I love to
+furthest lands withdrew;
+And when they left me sufferance also left, * And when we parted
+Patience bade adieu:
+They fled and flying with my joys they fled, * In very constancy my
+spirit flew:
+They made my eyelids flow with severance tears * And to the
+parting-pang these drops are due:
+And when I long to see reunion-day, * My groans prolonging sore for
+ruth I sue:
+Then in my heart of hearts their shapes I trace, * And love and longing
+care and cark renew:
+O ye, whose names cling round me like a cloak, * Whose love yet closer
+than a shirt I drew,
+Beloved ones! how long this hard despite? * How long this severance and
+this coy shy flight?"
+
+
+Then she wailed and shrieked aloud and her son did the like; and
+behold, in came the Wazir whose heart burnt within him at the sight of
+their lamentations, and he said, "What makes you weep?" So the Lady of
+Beauty acquainted him with what had happened between her son and the
+school boys; and he also wept, calling to mind his brother and what had
+past between them and what had betided his daughter and how he had
+failed to find out what mystery there was in the matter. Then he rose
+at once and, repairing to the audience-hall, went straight to the King
+and told his tale and craved his permission [FN#451] to travel eastward
+to the city of Bassorah and ask after his brother's son. Furthermore,
+he besought the Sultan to write for him letters patent, authorising him
+to seize upon Badr al-Din, his nephew and son-in-law, wheresoever he
+might find him. And he wept before the King, who had pity on him and
+wrote royal autographs to his deputies in all climes [FN#452] and
+countries and cities; whereat the Wazir rejoiced and prayed for
+blessings on him. Then, taking leave of his Sovereign, he returned to
+his house, where he equipped himself and his daughter and his adopted
+child Ajib, with all things meet for a long march; and set out and
+travelled the first day and the second and the third and so forth till
+he arrived at Damascus-city. He found it a fair place abounding in
+trees and streams, even as the poet said of it:—
+
+When I nighted and dayed in Damascus town, * Time sware such another he
+ne'er should view:
+And careless we slept under wing of night, * Till dappled Morn 'gan her
+smiles renew:
+And dew-drops on branch in their beauty hung, * Like pearls to be dropt
+when the Zephyr blew:
+And the Lake [FN#453] was the page where birds read and note, * And the
+clouds set points to what breezes wrote.
+
+
+The Wazir encamped on the open space called Al-Hasa; [FN#454] and,
+after pitching tents, said to his servants, "A halt here for two days!"
+So they went into the city upon their several occasions, this to sell
+and that to buy; this to go to the Hammam and that to visit the
+Cathedral-mosque of the Banu Umayyah, the Ommiades, whose like is not
+in this world. [FN#455] Ajib also went, with his attendant eunuch, for
+solace and diversion to the city and the servant followed with a
+quarter-staff [FN#456] of almond-wood so heavy that if he struck a
+camel therewith the beast would never rise again. [FN#457] When the
+people of Damascus saw Ajib's beauty and brilliancy and perfect grace
+and symmetry (for he was a marvel of comeliness and winning loveliness,
+softer than the cool breeze of the North, sweeter than limpid waters to
+a man in drowth, and pleasanter than the health for which sick man
+sueth), a mighty many followed him, whilst others ran on before, and
+sat down on the road until he should come up, that they might gaze on
+him, till, as Destiny had decreed, the Eunuch stopped opposite the shop
+of Ajib's father, Badr al-Din Hasan. Now his beard had grown long and
+thick and his wits had ripened during the twelve years which had passed
+over him, and the Cook and ex-rogue having died, the so-called Hasan of
+Bassorah had succeeded to his goods and shop, for that he had been
+formally adopted before the Kazi and witnesses. When his son and the
+Eunuch stepped before him he gazed on Ajib and, seeing how very
+beautiful he was, his heart fluttered and throbbed, and blood drew to
+blood and natural affection spake out and his bowels yearned over him.
+He had just dressed a conserve of pomegranate-grains with sugar, and
+Heaven-implanted love wrought within him; so he called to his son Ajib
+and said, "O my lord, O thou who hast gotten the mastery of my heart
+and my very vitals and to whom my bowels yearn; say me, wilt thou enter
+my house and solace my soul by eating of my meat?" Then his eyes
+streamed with tears which he could not stay, for he bethought him of
+what he had been and what he had become. When Ajib heard his father's
+words his heart also yearned himwards and he looked at the Eunuch and
+said to him, "Of a truth, O my good guard, my heart yearns to this
+cook; he is as one that hath a son far away from him: so let us enter
+and gladden his heart by tasting of his hospitality. Perchance for our
+so doing Allah may reunite me with my father." When the Eunuch heard
+these words he cried, "A fine thing this, by Allah! Shall the sons of
+Wazirs be seen eating in a common cook-shop? Indeed I keep off the folk
+from thee with this quarter-staff lest they even look upon thee; and I
+dare not suffer thee to enter this shop at all." When Hasan of Bassorah
+heard his speech he marvelled and turned to the Eunuch with the tears
+pouring down his cheeks; and Ajib said, "Verily my heart loves him!"
+But he answered, "Leave this talk, thou shalt not go in." Thereupon the
+father turned to the Eunuch and said, "O worthy sir, why wilt thou not
+gladden my soul by entering my shop? O thou who art like a chestnut,
+dark without but white of heart within! O thou of the like of whom a
+certain poet said * * *" The Eunuch burst out a-laughing and
+asked—"Said what? Speak out by Allah and be quick about it." So Hasan
+the Bassorite began reciting these couplets:—
+
+"If not master of manners or aught but discreet * In the household of
+Kings no trust could he take:
+And then for the Harem! what Eunuch [FN#458] is he * Whom angels would
+serve for his service sake."
+
+
+The Eunuch marvelled and was pleased at these words, so he took Ajib by
+the hand and went into the cook's shop: whereupon Hasan the Bassorite
+ladled into a saucer some conserve of pomegranate-grains wonderfully
+good, dressed with almonds and sugar, saying, "You have honoured me
+with your company: eat then and health and happiness to you!" Thereupon
+Ajib said to his father, "Sit thee down and eat with us; so perchance
+Allah may unite us with him we long for." Quoth Hasan, "O my son, hast
+thou then been afflicted in thy tender years with parting from those
+thou lovest?" Quoth Ajib, "Even so, O nuncle mine; my heart burns for
+the loss of a beloved one who is none other than my father; and indeed
+I come forth, I and my grandfather, [FN#459] to circle and search the
+world for him. Oh, the pity of it, and how I long to meet him!" Then he
+wept with exceeding weeping, and his father also wept seeing him weep
+and for his own bereavement, which recalled to him his long separation
+from dear friends and from his mother; and the Eunuch was moved to pity
+for him. Then they ate together till they were satisfied; and Ajib and
+the slave rose and left the shop. Hereat Hasan the Bassorite felt as
+though his soul had departed his body and had gone with them; for he
+could not lose sight of the boy during the twinkling of an eye, albeit
+he knew not that Ajib was his son. So he locked up his shop and
+hastened after them; and he walked so fast that he came up with them
+before they had gone out of the western gate. The Eunuch turned and
+asked him, "What ails the?"; and Badr al-Din answered, "When ye went
+from me, meseemed my soul had gone with you; and, as I had business
+without the city-gate, I purposed to bear you company till my matter
+was ordered and so return." The Eunuch was angered and said to Ajib,
+"This is just what I feared! we ate that unlucky mouthful (which we are
+bound to respect), and here is the fellow following us from place to
+place; for the vulgar are ever the vulgar." Ajib, turning and seeing
+the Cook just behind him, was wroth and his face reddened with rage and
+he said to the servant; "Let him walk the highway of the Moslems; but,
+when we turn off it to our tents, and find that he still follows us, we
+will send him about his business with a flea in his ear." Then he bowed
+his head and walked on, the Eunuch walking behind him. But Hasan of
+Bassorah followed them to the plain Al-Hasa; and, as they drew near to
+the tents, they turned round and saw him close on their heels; so Ajib
+was very angry, fearing that the Eunuch might tell his grandfather what
+had happened. His indignation was the hotter for apprehension lest any
+say that after he had entered a cook-shop the cook had followed him. So
+he turned and looked at Hasan of Bassorah and found his eyes fixed on
+his own, for the father had become a body without a soul; and it seemed
+to Ajib that his eye was a treacherous eye or that he was some lewd
+fellow. So his rage redoubled and, stooping down, he took up a stone
+weighing half a pound and threw it at his father. It struck him on the
+forehead, cutting it open from eye-brow to eye-brow and causing the
+blood to stream down: and Hasan fell to the ground in a swoon whilst
+Ajib and the Eunuch made for the tents. When the father came to himself
+he wiped away the blood and tore off a strip from his turband and bound
+up his head, blaming himself the while, and saying, "I wronged the lad
+by shutting up my shop and following, so that he thought I was some
+evil-minded fellow." Then he returned to his place where he busied
+himself with the sale of his sweetmeats; and he yearned after his
+mother at Bassorah, and wept over her and broke out repeating:—
+
+"Unjust it were to bid the World [FN#460] be just * And blame her not:
+She ne'er was made for justice:
+Take what she gives thee, leave all grief aside, * For now to fair and
+then to foul her lust is."
+
+
+So Hasan of Bassorah set himself steadily to sell his sweetmeats; but
+the Wazir, his uncle, halted in Damascus three days and then marched
+upon Emesa, and passing through that town he made enquiry there and at
+every place where he rested. Thence he fared on by way of Hamah and
+Aleppo and thence through Diyár Bakr and Maridin and Mosul, still
+enquiring, till he arrived at Bassorah-city. Here, as soon as he had
+secured a lodging, he presented himself before the Sultan, who
+entreated him with high honour and the respect due to his rank, and
+asked the cause of his coming. The Wazir acquainted him with his
+history and told him that the Minister Nur al-Din was his brother;
+whereupon the Sultan exclaimed, "Allah have mercy upon him!" and added,
+"My good Sahib!" [FN#461]; he was my Wazir for fifteen years and I
+loved him exceedingly. Then he died leaving a son who abode only a
+single month after his father's death; since which time he has
+disappeared and we could gain no tidings of him. But his mother, who is
+the daughter of my former Minister, is still among us." When the Wazir
+Shams al-Din heard that his nephew's mother was alive and well, he
+rejoiced and said, "O King I much desire to meet her." The King on the
+instant gave him leave to visit her; so he betook himself to the
+mansion of his brother, Nur al-Din, and cast sorrowful glances on all
+things in and around it and kissed the threshold. Then he bethought him
+of his brother, Nur al-Din Ali, and how he had died in a strange land
+far from kith and kin and friends; and he wept and repeated these
+lines:—
+
+"I wander 'mid these walls, my Layla's walls, * And kissing this and
+other wall I roam:
+'Tis not the walls or roof my heart so loves, * But those who in this
+house had made their home."
+
+
+Then he passed through the gate into a courtyard and found a vaulted
+doorway builded of hardest syenite [FN#462] inlaid with sundry kinds of
+multi-coloured marble. Into this he walked and wandered about the house
+and, throwing many a glance around, saw the name of his brother, Nur
+al-Din, written in gold wash upon the walls. So he went up to the
+inscription and kissed it and wept and thought of how he had been
+separated from his brother and had now lost him for ever, and he
+recited these couplets:—
+
+"I ask of you from every rising sun, * And eke I ask when flasheth
+levenlight:
+Restless I pass my nights in passion-pain, * Yet ne'er I 'plain me of
+my painful plight;
+My love! if longer last this parting throe * Little by little shall it
+waste my sprite.
+An thou wouldst bless these eyne with sight of thee * One day on earth,
+I crave none other sight:
+Think not another could possess my mind * Nor length nor breadth for
+other love I find."
+
+
+Then he walked on till he came to the apartment of his brother's widow,
+the mother of Badr al-Din Hasan, the Egyptian. Now from the time of her
+son's disappearance she had never ceased weeping and wailing through
+the light hours and the dark; and, when the years grew longsome with
+her, she built for him a tomb of marble in the midst of the saloon and
+there used to weep for him day and night, never sleeping save thereby.
+When the Wazir drew near her apartment, he heard her voice and stood
+behind the door while she addressed the sepulchre in verse and said:—
+
+"Answer, by Allah! Sepulchre, are all his beauties gone? * Hath change
+the power to blight his charms, that Beauty's paragon?
+Thou art not earth, O Sepulchre! nor art thou sky to me; * How comes
+it, then, in thee I see conjoint the branch and moon?"
+
+
+While she was bemoaning herself after this fashion, behold, the Wazir
+went in to her and saluted her and informed her that he was her
+husband's brother; and, telling her all that had passed between them,
+laid open before her the whole story, how her son Badr al-Din Hasan had
+spent a whole night with his daughter full ten years ago but had
+disappeared in the morning. And he ended with saying, "My daughter
+conceived by thy son and bare a male child who is now with me, and he
+is thy son and thy son's son by my daughter." When she heard the
+tidings that her boy, Badr al-Din, was still alive and saw her
+brother-in-law, she rose up to him and threw herself at his feet and
+kissed them, reciting these lines:—
+
+"Allah be good to him that gives glad tidings of thy steps; * In very
+sooth for better news mine ears would never sue:
+Were he content with worn-out robe, upon his back I'd throw * A heart
+to pieces rent and torn when heard the word Adieu."
+
+
+Then the Wazir sent for Ajib and his grandmother stood up and fell on
+his neck and wept; but Shams al-Din said to her, "This is no time for
+weeping; this is the time to get thee ready for travelling with us to
+the land of Egypt; haply Allah will reunite me and thee with thy son
+and my nephew." Replied she, "Hearkening and obedience;" and, rising at
+once, collected her baggage and treasures and her jewels, and equipped
+herself and her slave-girls for the march, whilst the Wazir went to
+take his leave of the Sultan of Bassorah, who sent by him presents and
+rarities for the Soldan of Egypt. Then he set out at once upon his
+homeward march and journeyed till he came to Damascus-city where he
+alighted in the usual place and pitched tents, and said to his suite,
+"We will halt a se'nnight here to buy presents and rare things for the
+Soldan." Now Ajib bethought him of the past so he said to the Eunuch,
+"O Laik, I want a little diversion; come, let us go down to the great
+bazar of Damascus, [FN#463] and see what hath become of the cook whose
+sweetmeats we ate and whose head we broke, for indeed he was kind to us
+and we entreated him scurvily." The Eunuch answered, "Hearing is
+obeying!" So they went forth from the tents; and the tie of blood drew
+Ajib towards his father, and forthwith they passed through the gateway,
+Bab al-Faradis [FN#464] hight, and entered the city and ceased not
+walking through the streets till they reached the cookshop, where they
+found Hasan of Bassorah standing at the door. It was near the time of
+mid-afternoon prayer [FN#465] and it so fortuned that he had just
+dressed a confection of pomegranate-grains. When the twain drew near to
+him and Ajib saw him, his heart yearned towards him, and noticing the
+scar of the blow, which time had darkened on his brow, he said to him,
+"Peace be on thee, O man!" [FN#466] know that my heart is with thee."
+But when Badr al-Din looked upon his son his vitals yearned and his
+heart fluttered, and he hung his head earthwards and sought to make his
+tongue give utterance to his words, but he could not. Then he raised
+his head humbly and suppliant-wise towards his boy and repeated these
+couplets:—
+
+"I longed for my beloved but when I saw his face, * Abashed I held my
+tongue and stood with downcast eye;
+And hung my head in dread and would have hid my love, * But do whatso I
+would hidden it would not lie;
+Volumes of plaints I had prepared, reproach and blame, * But when we
+met, no single word remembered I."
+
+
+And then said he to them, "Heal my broken heart and eat of my
+sweetmeats; for, by Allah, I cannot look at thee but my heart flutters.
+Indeed I should not have followed thee the other day, but that I was
+beside myself." "By Allah," answered Ajib, "thou dost indeed love us!
+We ate in thy house a mouthful when we were here before and thou madest
+us repent of it, for that thou followedst us and wouldst have disgraced
+us; so now we will not eat aught with thee save on condition that thou
+make oath not to go out after us nor dog us. Otherwise we will not
+visit thee again during our present stay; for we shall halt a week
+here, whilst my grandfather buys certain presents for the King." Quoth
+Hasan of Bassorah, "I promise you this." So Ajib and the Eunuch entered
+the shop, and his father set before them a saucer-full of conserve of
+pomegranate-grains. Said Ajib, "Sit thee down and eat with us, so haply
+shall Allah dispel our sorrows." Hasan the Bassorite was joyful and sat
+down and ate with them; but his eyes kept gazing fixedly on Ajib's
+face, for his very heart and vitals clove to him; and at last the boy
+said to him, "Did I not tell thee thou art a most noyous dotard?; so do
+stint thy staring in my face!" But when Hasan of Bassorah heard his
+son's words he repeated these lines:—
+
+"Thou hast some art the hearts of men to clip; * Close-veiled,
+far-hidden mystery dark and deep:
+O thou whose beauties shame the lustrous moon, * Wherewith the saffron
+Morn fears rivalship!
+Thy beauty is a shrine shall ne'er decay; * Whose signs shall grow
+until they all outstrip; [FN#467]
+Must I be thirst-burnt by that Eden-brow * And die of pine to taste
+that Kausar-lip?" [FN#468]
+
+
+Hasan kept putting morsels into Ajib's mouth at one time and at another
+time did the same by the Eunuch and they ate till they were satisfied
+and could no more. Then all rose up and the cook poured water on their
+hands; [FN#469] and, loosing a silken waist-shawl, dried them and
+sprinkled them with rose-water from a casting-bottle he had by him.
+Then he went out and presently returned with a gugglet of sherbet
+flavoured with rose-water, scented with musk and cooled with snow; and
+he set this before them saying, "Complete your kindness to me!" So Ajib
+took the gugglet and drank and passed it to the Eunuch; and it went
+round till their stomachs were full and they were surfeited with a meal
+larger than their wont. Then they went away and made haste in walking
+till they reached the tents, and Ajib went in to his grandmother, who
+kissed him and, thinking of her son, Badr al-Din Hasan, groaned aloud
+and wept and recited these lines:—
+
+"I still had hoped to see thee and enjoy thy sight, * For in thine
+absence life has lost its kindly light:
+I swear my vitals wot none other love but thine * By Allah, who can
+read the secrets of the sprite!"
+
+
+Then she asked Ajib, "O my son! where hast thou been?"; and he
+answered, "In Damascus-city;" Whereupon she rose and set before him a
+bit of scone and a saucer of conserve of pomegranate-grains (which was
+too little sweetened), and she said to the Eunuch, "Sit down with thy
+master!" Said the servant to himself, "By Allah, we have no mind to
+eat: I cannot bear the smell of bread;" but he sat down and so did
+Ajib, though his stomach was full of what he had eaten already and
+drunken. Nevertheless he took a bit of the bread and dipped it in the
+pomegranate-conserve and made shift to eat it, but he found it too
+little sweetened, for he was cloyed and surfeited, so he said, "Faugh;
+what be this wild-beast [FN#470] stuff?" "O my son," cried his
+grandmother, "dost thou find fault with my cookery? I cooked this
+myself and none can cook it as nicely as I can save thy father, Badr
+al-Din Hasan." "By Allah, O my lady, Ajib answered, "this dish is nasty
+stuff; for we saw but now in the city of Bassorah a cook who so
+dresseth pomegranate-grains that the very smell openeth a way to the
+heart and the taste would make a full man long to eat; and, as for this
+mess compared with his, 'tis not worth either much or little." When his
+grandmother heard his words she waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and
+looked at the servant—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
+ceased to say her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Twenty-fourth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ajib's
+grandmother heard his words, she waxed wroth and looked at the servant
+and said, "Woe to thee! dost thou spoil my son, [FN#471] and dost take
+him into common cookshops?" The Eunuch was frightened and denied,
+saying, "We did not go into the shop; we only passed by it." "By
+Allah," cried Ajib, "but we did go in and we ate till it came out of
+our nostrils, and the dish was better than thy dish!" Then his
+grandmother rose and went and told her brother-in-law, who was incensed
+against the Eunuch, and sending for him asked him, "Why didst thou take
+my son into a cookshop?"; and the Eunuch being frightened answered, "We
+did not go in." But Ajib said, "We did go inside and ate conserve of
+pomegranate-grains till we were full; and the cook gave us to drink of
+iced and sugared sherbet." At this the Wazir's indignation redoubled
+and he questioned the Castrato but, as he still denied, the Wazir said
+to him, "If thou speak sooth, sit down and eat before us." So he came
+forward and tried to eat, but could not and threw away the mouthful
+crying "O my lord! I am surfeited since yesterday." By this the Wazir
+was certified that he had eaten at the cook's and bade the slaves throw
+him [FN#472] which they did. Then they came down on him with a
+rib-basting which burned him till he cried for mercy and help from
+Allah, saying, "O my master, beat me no more and I will tell thee the
+truth;" whereupon the Wazir stopped the bastinado and said, "Now speak
+thou sooth." Quoth the Eunuch, "Know then that we did enter the shop of
+a cook while he was dressing conserve of pomegranate-grains and he set
+some of it before us: by Allah! I never ate in my life its like, nor
+tasted aught nastier than this stuff which is now before us."[FN#473]
+Badr al-Din Hasan's mother was angry at this and said, "Needs thou must
+go back to the cook and bring me a saucer of conserved
+pomegranate-grains from that which is in his shop and show it to thy
+master, that he may say which be the better and the nicer, mine or
+his." Said the unsexed, "I will." So on the instant she gave him a
+saucer and a half dinar and he returned to the shop and said to the
+cook, "O Shaykh of all Cooks, [FN#474] we have laid a wager concerning
+thy cookery in my lord's house, for they have conserve of
+pomegranate-grains there also; so give me this half-dinar's worth and
+look to it; for I have eaten a full meal of stick on account of thy
+cookery, and so do not let me eat aught more thereof." Hasan of
+Bassorah laughed and answered, "By Allah, none can dress this dish as
+it should be dressed save myself and my mother, and she at this time is
+in a far country." Then he ladled out a saucer-full; and, finishing it
+off with musk and rose-water, put it in a cloth which he sealed
+[FN#475] and gave it to the Eunuch, who hastened back with it. No
+sooner had Badr al-Din Hasan's mother tasted it and perceived its fine
+flavour and the excellence of the cookery, than she knew who had
+dressed it, and she screamed and fell down fainting. The Wazir, sorely
+started, sprinkled rose-water upon her and after a time she recovered
+and said, "If my son be yet of this world, none dressed this conserve
+of pomegranate-grains but he; and this Cook is my very son Badr al-Din
+Hasan; there is no doubt of it nor can there be any mistake, for only I
+and he knew how to prepare it and I taught him." When the Wazir heard
+her words he joyed with exceeding joy and said, "O the longing of me
+for a sight of my brother's son! I wonder if the days will ever unite
+us with him! Yet it is to Almighty Allah alone that we look for
+bringing about this meeting." Then he rose without stay or delay and,
+going to his suite said to them, "Be off, some fifty of you with sticks
+and staves to the Cook's shop and demolish it; then pinion his arms
+behind him with his own turband, saying, 'It was thou madest that foul
+mess of pomegranate-grains!' and drag him here perforce but without
+doing him a harm." And they replied, "It is well." Then the Wazir rode
+off without losing an instant to the Palace and, foregathering with the
+Viceroy of Damascus, showed him the Sultan's orders. After careful
+perusal he kissed the letter, and placing it upon his head said to his
+visitor, "Who is this offender of thine?" Quoth the Wazir, "A man who
+is a cook." So the Viceroy at once sent his apparitors to the shop;
+which they found demolished and everything in it broken to pieces; for
+whilst the Wazir was riding to the palace his men had done his bidding.
+Then they awaited his return from the audience, and Hasan of Bassorah
+who was their prisoner kept saying, "I wonder what they have found in
+the conserve of pomegranate-grains to bring things to this pass!"
+[FN#476] When the Wazir returned to them, after his visit to the
+Viceroy who had given him formal permission to take up his debtor and
+depart with him, on entering the tents he called for the Cook. They
+brought him forward pinioned with his turband; and, when Badr al-Din
+Hasan saw his uncle, he wept with excessive weeping and said, "O my
+lord, what is my offence against thee?" "Art thou the man who dressed
+that conserve of pomegranate-grains?"; asked the Wazir, and he answered
+"Yes! didst thou find in it aught to call for the cutting off of my
+head?" Quoth the Wazir, "That were the least of thy deserts!" Quoth the
+cook, "O my lord, wilt thou not tell me my crime and what aileth the
+conserve of pomegranate-grains?" "Presently," replied the Wazir and
+called aloud to his men, saying "Bring hither the camels." So they
+struck the tents and by the Wazir's orders the servants took Badr
+al-Din Hasan, and set him in a chest which they padlocked and put on a
+camel. Then they departed and stinted not journeying till nightfall,
+when they halted and ate some victual, and took Badr al-Din Hasan out
+of his chest and gave him a meal and locked him up again. They set out
+once more and travelled till they reached Kimrah, where they took him
+out of the box and brought him before the Wazir who asked him, "Art
+thou he who dressed that conserve of pomegranate-grains?" He answered
+"Yes, O my lord!"; and the Wazir said "Fetter him!" So they fettered
+him and returned him to the chest and fared on again till they reached
+Cairo and lighted at the quarter called Al-Raydaniyah.[FN#477] Then the
+Wazir gave order to take Badr al-Din Hasan out of the chest and sent
+for a carpenter and said to him, "Make me a cross of wood [FN#478] for
+this fellow!" Cried Badr al-Din Hasan "And what wilt thou do with it?";
+and the Wazir replied, "I mean to crucify thee thereon, and nail thee
+thereto and parade thee all about the city." "And why wilt thou use me
+after this fashion?" "Because of thy villanous cookery of conserved
+pomegranate-grains; how durst thou dress it and sell it lacking
+pepper?" "And for that it lacked pepper wilt thou do all this to me? Is
+it not enough that thou hast broken my shop and smashed my gear and
+boxed me up in a chest and fed me only once a day?" "Too little pepper!
+too little pepper! this is a crime which can be expiated only upon the
+cross!" Then Badr al-Din Hasan marvelled and fell a-mourning for his
+life; whereupon the Wazir asked him, "Of what thinkest thou?"; and he
+answered him, "Of maggoty heads like thine; [FN#479] for an thou had
+one ounce of sense thou hadst not treated me thus." Quoth the Wazir,
+"It is our duty to punish thee lest thou do the like again." Quoth Badr
+al-Din Hasan, "Of a truth my offense were over-punished by the least of
+what thou hast already done to me; and Allah damn all conserve of
+pomegranate-grains and curse the hour when I cooked it and would I had
+died ere this!" But the Wazir rejoined, "There is no help for it; I
+must crucify a man who sells conserve of pomegranate-grains lacking
+pepper." All this time the carpenter was shaping the wood and Badr
+al-Din looked on; and thus they did till night, when his uncle took him
+and clapped him into the chest, saying, "The thing shall be done
+to-morrow!" Then he waited until he knew Badr al-Din "Hasan to be
+asleep, when he mounted; and taking the chest up before him, entered
+the city and rode on to his own house, where he alighted and said to
+his daughter, Sitt al-Husn, "Praised be Allah who hath reunited thee
+with thy husband, the son of thine uncle! Up now, and order the house
+as it was on thy bridal night." So the servants arose and lit the
+candles; and the Wazir took out his plan of the nuptial chamber, and
+directed them what to do till they had set everything in its stead, so
+that whoever saw it would have no doubt but it was the very night of
+the marriage. Then he bade them put down Badr al-Din Hasan's turband on
+the settle, as he had deposited it with his own hand, and in like
+manner his bag-trousers and the purse which were under the mattress:
+and told daughter to undress herself and go to bed in the private
+chamber as on her wedding-night, adding, "When the son of thine uncle
+comes in to thee, say to him:—Thou hast loitered while going to the
+privy; and call him to lie by thy side and keep him in converse till
+daybreak, when we will explain the whole matter to him." Then he bade
+take Badr al-Din Hasan out of the chest, after loosing the fetters from
+his feet and stripping off all that was on him save the fine shirt of
+blue silk in which he had slept on his wedding-night; so that he was
+well-nigh naked and trouserless. All this was done whilst he was
+sleeping on utterly unconscious. Then, by doom of Destiny, Badr al-Din
+Hasan turned over and awoke; and, finding himself in a lighted
+vestibule, said to himself, "Surely I am in the mazes of some dream."
+So he rose and went on a little to an inner door and looked in and lo!
+he was in the very chamber wherein the bride had been displayed to him;
+and there he saw the bridal alcove and the settle and his turband and
+all his clothes. When he saw this he was confounded and kept advancing
+with one foot, and retiring with the other, saying, "Am I sleeping or
+waking?" And he began rubbing his forehead and saying (for indeed he
+was thoroughly astounded), "By Allah, verily this is the chamber of the
+bride who was displayed before me! Where am I then? I was surely but
+now in a box!" Whilst he was talking with himself, Sitt al-Husn
+suddenly lifted the corner of the chamber-curtain and said, "O my lord,
+wilt thou not come in? Indeed thou hast loitered long in the
+water-closet." When he heard her words and saw her face he burst out
+laughing and said, "Of a truth this is a very nightmare among dreams!"
+Then he went in sighing, and pondered what had come to pass with him
+and was perplexed about his case, and his affair became yet more
+obscure to him when he saw his turband and bag-trousers and when,
+feeling the pocket, he found the purse containing the thousand gold
+pieces. So he stood still and muttered, "Allah is all knowing!
+Assuredly I am dreaming a wild waking dream!" Then said the Lady of
+Beauty to him, "What ails thee to look puzzled and perplexed?"; adding,
+"Thou wast a very different man during the first of the night!" He
+laughed and asked her, "How long have I been away from thee?"; and she
+answered him, "Allah preserve thee and His Holy Name be about thee!
+Thou didst but go out an hour ago for an occasion and return. Are thy
+wits clean gone?" When Badr al-Din Hasan heard this, he laughed,
+[FN#480] and said, "Thou hast spoken truth; but, when I went out from
+thee, I forgot myself awhile in the draught-house and dreamed that I
+was a cook at Damascus and abode there ten years; and there came to me
+a boy who was of the sons of the great, and with him an Eunuch." Here
+he passed his hand over his forehead and, feeling the scar, cried, "By
+Allah, O my lady, it must have been true, for he struck my forehead
+with a stone and cut it open from eye-brow to eye-brow; and here is the
+mark: so it must have been on wake." Then he added, "But perhaps I
+dreamt it when we fell asleep, I and thou, in each other's arms, for
+meseems it was as though I travelled to Damascus without tarbush and
+trousers and set up as a cook there." Then he was perplexed and
+considered for awhile, and said, "By Allah, I also fancied that I
+dressed a conserve of pomegranate-grains and put too little pepper in
+it. By Allah, I must have slept in the numerocent and have seen the
+whole of this in a dream; but how long was that dream!" "Allah upon
+thee," said Sitt al-Husn, "and what more sawest thou?" So he related
+all to her; and presently said, "By Allah had I not woke up they would
+have nailed me to a cross of wood!" "Wherefore?" asked she; and he
+answered, "For putting too little pepper in the conserve of
+pomegranate-grains, and meseemed they demolished my shop and dashed to
+pieces my pots and pans, destroyed all my stuff and put me in a box;
+they then sent for the carpenter to fashion a cross for me and would
+have crucified me thereon. Now Alham-dolillah! thanks be to Allah, for
+that all this happened to me in sleep, and not on wake." Sitt al-Husn
+laughed and clasped him to her bosom and he her to his: then he thought
+again and said, "By Allah, it could not be save while I was awake:
+truly I know not what to think of it." Then he lay him down and all the
+night he was bewildered about his case, now saying, "I was dreaming!"
+and then saying, "I was awake!", till morning, when his uncle Shams
+al-Din, the Wazir, came to him and saluted him. When Badr al-Din Hasan
+saw him he said, "By Allah, art thou not he who bade bind my hands
+behind me and smash my shop and nail me to a cross on a matter of
+conserved pomegranate-grains because the dish lacked a sufficiency of
+pepper?" Whereupon the Wazir said to him, "Know, O my son, that truth
+hath shown it soothfast and the concealed hath been revealed! [FN#481]
+Thou art the son of my brother, and I did all this with thee to certify
+myself that thou wast indeed he who went in unto my daughter that
+night. I could not be sure of this, till I saw that thou knewest the
+chamber and thy turband and thy trousers and thy gold and the papers in
+thy writing and in that of thy father, my brother; for I had never seen
+thee afore that and knew thee not; and as to thy mother I have
+prevailed upon her to come with me from Bassorah." So saying, he threw
+himself on his nephew's breast and wept for joy; and Badr al-Din Hasan,
+hearing these words from his uncle, marvelled with exceeding marvel and
+fell on his neck and also shed tears for excess of delight. Then said
+the Wazir to him, "O my son, the sole cause of all this is what passed
+between me and thy sire;" and he told him the manner of his father
+wayfaring to Bassorah and all that had occurred to part them. Lastly
+the Wazir sent for Ajib; and when his father saw him he cried, "And
+this is he who struck me with the stone!" Quoth the Wazir, "This is thy
+son!" And Badr al-Din Hasan threw himself upon his boy and began
+repeating:—
+
+"Long have I wept o'er severance ban and bane, * Long from mine eyelids
+tear-rills rail and rain:
+And vowed I if Time re-union bring * My tongue from name of "Severance"
+I'll restrain:
+Joy hath o'ercome me to this stress that I * From joy's revulsion to
+shed tears am fain:
+Ye are so trained to tears, O eyne of me! * You weep with pleasure as
+you weep with pain." [FN#482]
+
+
+When he had ended his verse his mother came in and threw herself upon
+him and began reciting:—
+
+"When we met we complained, * Our hearts were sore wrung:
+But plaint is not pleasant * Fro' messenger's tongue."
+
+
+Then she wept and related to him what had befallen her since his
+departure, and he told her what he had suffered, and they thanked Allah
+Almighty for their reunion. Two days after his arrival the Wazir Shams
+al-din went in to the Sultan and, kissing the ground between his hands,
+greeted him with the greeting due to Kings. The Sultan rejoiced at his
+return and his face brightened and, placing him hard by his side,
+[FN#483] asked him to relate all he had seen in his wayfaring and
+whatso had betided him in his going and coming. So the Wazir told him
+all that had passed from first to last and the Sultan said, "Thanks be
+to Allah for thy victory [FN#484] and the winning of thy wish and thy
+safe return to thy children and thy people! And now I needs must see
+the son of thy brother, Hasan of Bassorah, so bring him to the
+audience-hall to-morrow." Shams al-Din replied, "Thy slave shall stand
+in thy presence to-morrow, Inshallah, if it be God's will." Then he
+saluted him and, returning to his own house, informed his nephew of the
+Sultan's desire to see him, whereto replied Hasan, whilome the
+Bassorite, "The slave is obedient to the orders of his lord." And the
+result was that next day he accompanied his uncle, Shams al-Din, to the
+Divan; and, after saluting the Sultan and doing him reverence in most
+ceremonious obeisance and with most courtly obsequiousness, he began
+improvising these verses:—
+
+"The first in rank to kiss the ground shall deign * Before you,
+     and all ends and aims attain:
+You are Honour's fount; and all that hope of you, * Shall gain
+     more honour than Hope hoped to gain."
+
+
+The Sultan smiled and signed to him to sit down. So he took a seat
+close to his uncle, Shams al-Din, and the King asked him his name.
+Quoth Badr al-Din Hasan, "The meanest of thy slaves is known as Hasan
+the Bassorite, who is instant in prayer for thee day and night." The
+Sultan was pleased at his words and, being minded to test his learning
+and prove his good breeding, asked him, "Dost thou remember any verses
+in praise of the mole on the cheek?" He answered, "I do," and began
+reciting:—
+
+"When I think of my love and our parting-smart, * My groans go forth
+and my tears upstart:
+He's a mole that reminds me in colour and charms * O' the black o' the
+eye and the grain [FN#485] of the heart."
+
+
+The King admired and praised the two couplets and said to him, "Quote
+something else; Allah bless thy sire and may thy tongue never tire!" So
+he began:—
+
+"That cheek-mole's spot they evened with a grain * Of musk, nor did
+they here the simile strain:
+Nay, marvel at the face comprising all * Beauty, nor falling short by
+single grain."
+
+
+The King shook with pleasure [FN#486] and said to him, "Say more:
+Allah bless thy days!" So he began:—
+
+"O you whose mole on cheek enthroned recalls * A dot of musk upon a
+stone of ruby,
+Grant me your favours! Be not stone at heart! * Core of my heart whose
+only sustenance you be!"
+
+
+Quoth the King, "Fair comparison, O Hasan! [FN#487] thou hast spoken
+excellently well and hast proved thyself accomplished in every
+accomplishment! Now explain to me how many meanings be there in the
+Arabic language [FN#488] for the word Khal or mole." He replied, "Allah
+keep the King! Seven and fifty and some by tradition say fifty." Said
+the Sultan, "Thou sayest sooth," presently adding, "Hast thou knowledge
+as to the points of excellence in beauty?" "Yes," answered Badr al-Din
+Hasan, "Beauty consisteth in brightness of face, clearness of
+complexion, shapeliness of nose, gentleness of eyes, sweetness of
+mouth, cleverness of speech, slenderness of shape and seemliness of all
+attributes. But the acme of beauty is in the hair and, indeed,
+al-Shihab the Hijazi hath brought together all these items in his
+doggrel verse of the metre Rajaz, [FN#489] and it is this:
+
+Say thou to skin "Be soft," to face "Be fair," * And gaze, nor shall
+they blame howso thou stare:
+Fine nose in Beauty's list is high esteemed; * Nor less an eye full,
+bright and debonnair:
+Eke did they well to laud the lovely lips * (Which e'en the sleep of me
+will never spare);
+A winning tongue, a stature tall and straight; [FN#490] * A seemly
+union of gifts rarest rare:
+But Beauty's acme in the hair one views it; * So hear my strain and
+with some few excuse it!"
+
+
+The Sultan was captivated by his converse and, regarding him as a
+friend, asked, "What meaning is there in the saw 'Shurayh is foxier
+than the fox'?" And he answered, "Know, O King (whom Almighty Allah
+keep!) that the legist Shurayh [FN#491] was wont, during the days of
+the plague, to make a visitation to Al-Najaf; and, whenever he stood up
+to pray, there came a fox which would plant himself facing him and
+which, by mimicking his movements, distracted him from his devotions.
+Now when this became longsome to him, one day he doffed his shirt and
+set it upon a cane and shook out the sleeves; then placing his turband
+on the top and girding its middle with a shawl, he stuck it up in the
+place where he used to pray. Presently up trotted the fox according to
+his custom and stood over against the figure, whereupon Shurayh came
+behind him, and took him. Hence the sayer saith, 'Shurayh foxier than
+the fox.'" When the Sultan heard Badr al-Din Hasan's explanation he
+said to his uncle, Shams al-Din, "Truly this the son of thy brother is
+perfect in courtly breeding and I do not think that his like can be
+found in Cairo." At this Hasan arose and kissed the ground before him
+and sat down again as a Mameluke should sit before his master. When the
+Sultan had thus assured himself of his courtly breeding and bearing and
+his knowledge of the liberal arts and belles-lettres, he joyed with
+exceeding joy and invested him with a splendid robe of honour and
+promoted him to an office whereby he might better his condition.
+[FN#492] Then Badr al-Din Hasan arose and, kissing the ground before
+the King, wished him continuance of glory and asked leave to retire
+with his uncle, the Wazir Shams al-Din. The Sultan gave him leave and
+he issued forth and the two returned home, where food was set before
+them and they ate what Allah had given them. After finishing his meal
+Hasan repaired to the sitting-chamber of his wife, the Lady of Beauty,
+and told her what had past between him and the Sultan; whereupon quoth
+she, "He cannot fail to make thee a cup-companion and give thee largess
+in excess and load thee with favours and bounties; so shalt thou, by
+Allah's blessing, dispread, like the greater light, the rays of thy
+perfection wherever thou be, on shore or on sea." Said he to her, "I
+purpose to recite a Kasidah, an ode, in his praise, that he may
+redouble in affection for me." "Thou art right in thine intent," she
+answered, "so gather thy wits together and weigh thy words, and I shall
+surely see my husband favoured with his highest favour." Thereupon
+Hasan shut himself up and composed these couplets on a solid base and
+abounding in inner grace and copies them out in a hand-writing of the
+nicest taste. They are as follows:—
+
+Mine is a Chief who reached most haught estate, * Treading the pathways
+of the good and great:
+His justice makes all regions safe and sure, * And against froward foes
+bars every gate:
+Bold lion, hero, saint, e'en if you call * Seraph or Sovran [FN#493] he
+with all may rate!
+The poorest suppliant rich from him returns, * All words to praise him
+were inadequate.
+He to the day of peace is saffron Morn, * And murky Night in furious
+warfare's bate.
+Bow 'neath his gifts our necks, and by his deeds * As King of freeborn
+[FN#494] souls he 'joys his state:
+Allah increase for us his term of years, * And from his lot avert all
+risks and fears!
+
+
+When he had finished transcribing the lines, he despatched them, in
+charge of one of his uncle's slaves, to the Sultan, who perused them
+and his fancy was pleased; so he read them to those present and all
+praised them with the highest praise. Thereupon he sent for the writer
+to his sitting-chamber and said to him, "Thou art from this day forth
+my boon-companion and I appoint to thee a monthly solde of a thousand
+dirhams, over and above that I bestowed on thee aforetime." So Hasan
+rose and, kissing the ground before the King several times, prayed for
+the continuance of his greatness and glory and length of life and
+strength. Thus Badr al-Din Hasan the Bassorite waxed high in honour and
+his fame flew forth to many regions and he abode in all comfort and
+solace and delight of life with his uncle and his own folk till Death
+overtook him. When the Caliph Harun al-Rashid heard this story from the
+mouth of his Wazir, Ja'afar the Barmecide, he marvelled much and said,
+"It behoves that these stories be written in letters of liquid gold."
+Then he set the slave at liberty and assigned to the youth who had
+slain his wife such a monthly stipend as sufficed to make his life
+easy; he also gave him a concubine from amongst his own slave-girls and
+the young man became one of his cup-companions. "Yet this story,"
+(continued Shahrazad) "is in no wise stranger than the tale of the
+Tailor and the Hunchback and the Jew and the Reeve and the Nazarene,
+and what betided them." Quoth the King, "And what may that be?" So
+Shahrazad began, in these words,[FN#495]
+
+
+
+
+THE HUNCHBACK’S TALE.
+
+
+It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there dwelt during times of
+yore, and years and ages long gone before, in a certain city of
+China,[FN#496] a Tailor who was an open handed man that loved
+pleasuring and merry making; and who was wont, he and his wife, to
+solace themselves from time to time with public diversions and
+amusements. One day they went out with the first of the light and were
+returning in the evening when they fell in with a Hunchback, whose
+semblance would draw a laugh from care and dispel the horrors of
+despair. So they went up to enjoy looking at him and invited him to go
+home with them and converse and carouse with them that night. He
+consented and accompanied them afoot to their home; whereupon the
+Tailor fared forth to the bazar (night having just set in) and bought a
+fried fish and bread and lemons and dry sweetmeats for dessert; and set
+the victuals before the Hunchback and they ate. Presently the Tailor's
+wife took a great fid of fish and gave it in a gobbet to the Gobbo,
+stopping his mouth with her hand and saying, "By Allah, thou must down
+with it at a single gulp; and I will not give thee time to chew it." So
+he bolted it; but therein was a stiff bone which stuck in his gullet
+and, his hour being come, he died.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
+day and ceased saying her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Twenty-fifth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Tailor's
+wife gave the Hunchback that mouthful of fish which ended his term of
+days he died on the instant. Seeing this the Tailor cried aloud, "There
+is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! Alas, that this poor
+wretch should have died in so foolish fashion at our hands!" and the
+woman rejoined, "Why this idle talk? Hast thou not heard his saying who
+said:—
+
+Why then waste I my time in grief, until I * find no friend to bear my
+weight of woe
+How sleep upon a fire that flames unquenched? * Upon the flames to rest
+were hard enow!"
+
+
+Asked her husband, "And what shall I do with him?"; and she answered,
+"Rise and take him in thine arms and spread a silken kerchief over him;
+then I will fare forth, with thee following me this very night and if
+thou meet any one say, 'This is my son, and his mother and I are
+carrying him to the doctor that he may look at him.'" So he rose and
+taking the Hunchback in his arms bore him along the streets, preceded
+by his wife who kept crying, "O my son, Allah keep thee! what part
+paineth thee and where hath this small-pox[FN#497] attacked thee?" So
+all who saw them said "'Tis a child sick of small-pox." [FN#498] They
+went along asking for the physician's house till folk directed them to
+that of a leach which was a Jew. They knocked at the door, and there
+came down to them a black slave girl who opened and, seeing a man
+bearing a babe, and a woman with him, said to them, "What is the
+matter?" "We have a little one with us," answered the Tailor's wife,
+"and we wish to show him to the physician: so take this quarter dinar
+and give it to thy master and let him come down and see my son who is
+sore sick." The girl went up to tell her master, whereupon the Tailor's
+wife walked into the vestibule and said to her husband, "Leave the
+Hunchback here and let us fly for our lives." So the Tailor carried the
+dead man to the top of the stairs and propped him upright against the
+wall and ran away, he and his wife. Meanwhile the girl went in to the
+Jew and said to him, "At the door are a man and a woman with a sick
+child and they have given me a quarter dinar for thee, that thou mayest
+go down and look at the little one and prescribe for it." As soon as
+the Jew saw the quarter dinar he rejoiced and rose quickly in his greed
+of gain and went forth hurriedly in the dark; but hardly had he made a
+step when he stumbled on the corpse and threw it over, when it rolled
+to the bottom of the staircase. So he cried out to the girl to hurry up
+with the light, and she brought it, whereupon he went down and
+examining the Hunchback found that he was stone dead. So he cried out,
+"O for Esdras![FN#499] O for Moses! O for Aaron! O for Joshua, son of
+Nun! O the Ten Commandments! I have stumbled against the sick one and
+he hath fallen downstairs and he is dead! How shall I get this man I
+have killed out of my house? O by the hoofs of the ass of Esdras!" Then
+he took up the body and, carrying it into the house, told his wife what
+had happened and she said to him, "Why dost thou sit still? If thou
+keep him here till day break we shall both lose our lives. Let us two
+carry him to the terrace roof and throw him over into the house of our
+neighbour, the Moslem, for if he abide there a night the dogs will come
+down on him from the adjoining terraces and eat him up." Now his
+neighbour was a Reeve, the controller of the Sultan's kitchen, and was
+wont to bring back great store of oil and fat and broken meats; but the
+cats and rats used to eat it, or, if the dogs scented a fat sheep's
+tail they would come down from the nearest roofs and tear at it; and on
+this wise the beasts had already damaged much of what he brought home.
+So the Jew and his wife carried the Hunchback up to the roof; and,
+letting him down by his hands and feet through the wind-shaft[FN#500]
+into the Reeve's house, propped him up against the wall and went their
+ways. Hardly had they done this when the Reeve, who had been passing an
+evening with his friends hearing a recitation of the Koran, came home
+and opened the door and, going up with a lighted candle, found a son of
+Adam standing in the corner under the ventilator. When he saw this, he
+said, "Wah! by Allah, very good forsooth! He who robbeth my stuff is
+none other than a man." Then he turned to the Hunchback and said, "So
+'tis thou that stealest the meat and the fat! I thought it was the cats
+and dogs, and I kill the dogs and cats of the quarter and sin against
+them by killing them. And all the while 'tis thou comest down from the
+house terrace through the wind shaft. But I will avenge myself upon
+thee with my own hand!" So he snatched up a heavy hammer and set upon
+him and smote him full on the breast and he fell down. Then he examined
+him and, finding that he was dead, cried out in horror, thinking that
+he had killed him, and said, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might
+save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" And he feared for his life,
+and added "Allah curse the oil and the meat and the grease and the
+sheep's tails to boot! How hath fate given this man his quietus at my
+hand!" Then he looked at the body and seeing it was that of a Gobbo,
+said, "Was it not enough for thee to be a hunchback,[FN#501] but thou
+must likewise be a thief and prig flesh and fat! O thou Veiler,[FN#502]
+deign to veil me with Thy curtain of concealment!" So he took him up on
+his shoulders and, going forth with him from his house about the latter
+end of the night, carried him to the nearest end of the bazar, where he
+set him up on his feet against the wall of a shop at the head of a dark
+lane, and left him and went away. After a while up came a
+Nazarene,[FN#503] the Sultan's broker who, much bemused with liquor,
+was purposing for the Hammam bath as his drunkenness whispered in his
+ear, "Verily the call to matins[FN#504] is nigh." He came plodding
+along and staggering about till he drew near the Hunchback and squatted
+down to make water[FN#505] over against him; when he happened to glance
+around and saw a man standing against the wall. Now some person had
+snatched off the Christian's turband[FN#506] in the first of the night;
+so when he saw the Hunchback hard by he fancied that he also meant to
+steal his headdress. Thereupon he clenched his fist and struck him on
+the neck, felling him to the ground, and called aloud to the watchman
+of the bazar, and came down on the body in his drunken fury and kept on
+belabouring and throttling the corpse. Presently the Charley came up
+and, finding a Nazarene kneeling on a Moslem and frapping him, asked,
+"What harm hath this one done?"; and the Broker answered, "The fellow
+meant to snatch off my turband." "Get up from him," quoth the watch
+man. So he arose and the Charley went up to the Hunchback and finding
+him dead, exclaimed, "By Allah, good indeed! A Christian killing a
+Mahometan!" Then he seized the Broker and, tying his hands behind his
+back, carried him to the Governor's house,[FN#507] and all the while
+the Nazarene kept saying to himself, "O Messiah! O Virgin! how came I
+to kill this fellow? And in what a hurry he must have been to depart
+this life when he died of a single blow!" Presently, as his drunkenness
+fled, came dolour in its stead. So the Broker and the body were kept in
+the Governor's place till morning morrowed, when the Wali came out and
+gave order to hang the supposed murderer and commanded the
+executioner[FN#508] make proclamation of the sentence. Forthwith they
+set up a gallows under which they made the Nazarene stand and the torch
+bearer, who was hangman, threw the rope round his neck and passed one
+end through the pulley, and was about to hoist him up[FN#509] when lo!
+the Reeve, who was passing by, saw the Broker about to be hanged; and,
+making his way through the people, cried out to the executioner, "Hold!
+Hold! I am he who killed the Hunchback!" Asked the Governor, "What made
+thee kill him?"; and he answered, "I went home last night and there
+found this man who had come down the ventilator to steal my property;
+so I smote him with a hammer on the breast and he died forthright. Then
+I took him up and carried him to the bazar and set him up against the
+wall in such a place near such a lane;" adding, "Is it not enough for
+me to have killed a Moslem without also killing a Christian? So hang
+none other but me." When the Governor heard these words he released the
+Broker and said to the torch bearer, "Hang up this man on his own
+confession." So he loosed the cord from the Nazarene's neck and threw
+it round that of the Reeve and, making him stand under the gallows
+tree, was about to string him up when behold, the Jewish physician
+pushed through the people and shouted to the executioner, "Hold! Hold!
+It was I and none else killed the Hunchback! Last night I was sitting
+at home when a man and a woman knocked at the door carrying this Gobbo
+who was sick, and gave my handmaid a quarter dinar, bidding her hand me
+the fee and tell me to come down and see him. Whilst she was gone the
+man and the woman brought him into the house and, setting him on the
+stairs, went away; and presently I came down and not seeing him, for I
+was in the dark, stumbled over him and he fell to the foot of the
+staircase and died on the moment. Then we took him up, I and my wife,
+and carried him on to the top terrace; and, the house of this Reeve
+being next door to mine, we let the body down through the ventilator.
+When he came home and found the Hunchback in his house, he fancied he
+was a thief and struck him with a hammer, so that he fell to the
+ground, and our neighbour made certain that he had slain him. Now is it
+not enough for me to have killed one Moslem unwittingly, without
+burdening myself with taking the life of another Moslem wittingly?"
+When the Governor heard this he said to the hangman, "Set free the
+Reeve and hang the Jew." Thereupon the torch bearer took him and slung
+the cord round his neck when behold, the Tailor pushed through the
+people, and shouted to the executioner, "Hold! Hold! It was I and none
+else killed the Hunchback; and this was the fashion thereof. I had been
+out a pleasuring yesterday and, coming back to supper, fell in with
+this Gobbo, who was drunk and drumming away and singing lustily to his
+tambourine. So I accosted him and carried him to my house and bought a
+fish, and we sat down to eat. Presently my wife took a fid of fish and,
+making a gobbet of it,[FN#510] crammed it into his mouth; but some of
+it went down the wrong way or stuck in his gullet and he died on the
+instant. So we lifted him up, I and my wife, and carried him to the
+Jew's house where the slave girl came down and opened the door to us
+and I said to her, 'Tell thy master that there are a man and a woman
+and a sick person for thee to see!' I gave her a quarter dinar and she
+went up to tell her master; and, whilst she was gone, I carried the
+Hunchback to the head of the staircase and propped him up against the
+wall, and went off with my wife. When the Jew came down he stumbled
+over him and thought that he had killed him." Then he asked the Jew,
+"Is this the truth?"; and the Jew answered, "Yes." Thereupon the Tailor
+turned to the Governor, and said, "Leave go the Jew and hang me." When
+the Governor heard the Tailor's tale he marvelled at the matter of this
+Hunchback and exclaimed. "Verily this is an adventure which should be
+recorded in books!" Then he said to the hangman, "Let the Jew go and
+hang the Tailor on his own confession." The executioner took the Tailor
+and put the rope around his neck and said, "I am tired of such slow
+work: we bring out this one and change him for that other, and no one
+is hanged after all!" Now the Hunchback in question was, they relate,
+jester to the Sultan of China who could not bear him out of his sight;
+so when the fellow got drunk and did not make his appearance that night
+or the next day till noon, the Sultan asked some of his courtiers about
+him and they answered, "O our lord, the Governor hath come upon him
+dead and hath ordered his murderer to be hanged; but, as the hangman
+was about to hoist him up there came a second and a third and a fourth
+and each one said, 'It is I, and none else killed the Hunchback!' and
+each gave a full and circumstantial account of the manner of the jester
+being killed." When the King heard this he cried aloud to the
+Chamberlain in waiting, "Go down to the Governor and bring me all four
+of them." So the Chamberlain went down at once to the place of
+execution, where he found the torch bearer on the point of hanging the
+Tailor and shouted to him, "Hold! Hold!" Then he gave the King's
+command to the Governor who took the Tailor, the Jew, the Nazarene and
+the Reeve (the Hunchback's body being borne on men's shoulders) and
+went up with one and all of them to the King. When he came into the
+presence, he kissed the ground and acquainted the ruler with the whole
+story which it is needless to relate for, as they say, There is no
+avail in a thrice told tale. The Sultan hearing it marvelled and was
+moved to mirth and commanded the story to be written in letters of
+liquid gold, saying to those present, "Did ye ever hear a more wondrous
+tale than that of my Hunchback?" Thereupon the Nazarene broker came
+forward and said, "O King of the age, with thy leave I will tell thee a
+thing which happened to myself and which is still more wondrous and
+marvellous and pleasurable and delectable than the tale of the
+Hunchback." Quoth the King "Tell us what thou hast to say!" So he began
+in these words
+
+
+
+
+The Nazarene Broker’s Story.
+
+
+O King of the age, I came to this thy country with merchandise and
+Destiny stayed me here with you: but my place of birth was Cairo, in
+Egypt, where I also was brought up, for I am one of the Copts and my
+father was a broker before me. When I came to man's estate he departed
+this life and I succeeded to his business. One day, as I was sitting in
+my shop, behold, there came up to me a youth as handsome as could be,
+wearing sumptuous raiment and riding a fine ass.[FN#511] When he saw me
+he saluted me, and I stood up to do him honour: then he took out a
+kerchief containing a sample of sesame and asked, "How much is this
+worth per Ardabb?";[FN#512] whereto I answered, "An hundred dirhams."
+Quoth he, "Take porters and gaugers and metesmen and come tomorrow to
+the Khan al-Jawáli,[FN#513] by the Gate of Victory quarter where thou
+wilt find me." Then he fared forth leaving with me the sample of sesame
+in his kerchief; and I went the round of my customers and ascertained
+that every Ardabb would fetch an hundred and twenty dirhams. Next day I
+took four metesmen and walked with them to the Khan, where I found him
+awaiting me. As soon as he saw me he rose and opened his magazine, when
+we measured the grain till the store was empty; and we found the
+contents fifty Ardabbs, making five thousand pieces of silver. Then
+said he, "Let ten dirhams on every Ardabb be thy brokerage; so take the
+price and keep in deposit four thousand and five hundred dirhams for
+me; and, when I have made an end of selling the other wares in my
+warehouses, I will come to thee and receive the amount." "I will well,"
+replied I and kissing his hand went away, having made that day a profit
+of a thousand dirhams. He was absent a month, at the end of which he
+came to me and asked, "Where be the dirhams?" I rose and saluted him
+and answered to him, "Wilt thou not eat somewhat in my house?" But he
+refused with the remark, "Get the monies ready and I will presently
+return and take them." Then he rode away. So I brought out the dirhams
+and sat down to await him, but he stayed away for another month, when
+he came back and said to me, "Where be the dirhams?" I rose and
+saluting him asked, "Wilt thou not eat some thing in my house?" But he
+again refused adding, "Get me the monies ready and I will presently
+return and take them." Then he rode off. So I brought out the dirhams
+and sat down to await his return; but he stayed away from me a third
+month, and I said, "Verily this young man is liberality in incarnate
+form." At the end of the month he came up, riding a mare mule and
+wearing a suit of sumptuous raiment; he was as the moon on the night of
+fullness, and he seemed as if fresh from the baths, with his cheeks
+rosy bright, and his brow flower white, and a mole spot like a grain of
+ambergris delighting the sight; even as was said of such an one by the
+poet:—
+
+Full moon with sun in single mansion * In brightest sheen and fortune
+rose and shone,
+With happy splendour changing every sprite: * Hail to what guerdons
+prayer with blissfull boon!
+Their charms and grace have gained perfection's height, * All hearts
+have conquered and all wits have won.
+Laud to the Lord for works so wonder strange, * And what th' Almighty
+wills His hand hath done!
+
+
+When I saw him I rose to him and invoking blessings on him asked, O my
+lord, wilt thou not take thy monies?" "Whence the hurry?"[FN#514] quoth
+he, "Wait till I have made an end of my business and then I will come
+and take them." Again he rode away and I said to myself, "By Allah,
+when he comes next time needs must I make him my guest; for I have
+traded with his dirhams and have gotten large gains thereby." At the
+end of the year he came again, habited in a suit of clothes more
+sumptuous than the former; and, when I conjured him by the Evangel to
+alight at my house and eat of my guest food, he said, "I consent, on
+condition that what thou expendest on me shall be of my monies still in
+thy hands. I answered, "So be it," and made him sit down whilst I got
+ready what was needful of meat and drink and else besides; and set the
+tray before him, with the invitation "Bismillah"![FN#515] Then he drew
+near the tray and put out his left hand[FN#516] and ate with me; and I
+marvelled at his not using the right hand. When we had done eating, I
+poured water on his hand and gave him wherewith to wipe it. Upon this
+we sat down to converse after I had set before him some sweetmeats; and
+I said to him, "O my master, prithee relieve me by telling me why thou
+eatest with thy left hand? Perchance something aileth thy other hand?"
+When he heard my words, he repeated these verses:—
+
+"Dear friend, ask not what burneth in my breast, * Lest thou see fiery
+pangs eye never saw:
+Wills not my heart to harbour Salma in stead * Of Layla's[FN#517] love,
+but need hath ne'er a law!"
+
+
+And he put out his right arm from his sleeve and behold, the hand was
+cut off, a wrist without a fist. I was astounded at this but he said,
+"Marvel not, and think not that I ate with my left hand for conceit and
+insolence, but from necessity; and the cutting off my right hand was
+caused by an adventure of the strangest." Asked I, "And what caused
+it?"; and he answered:—"Know that I am of the sons of Baghdad and my
+father was of notables of that city. When I came to man's estate I
+heard the pilgrims and wayfarers, travellers and merchants talk of the
+land of Egypt and their words sank deep into my mind till my parent
+died, when I took a large sum of money and furnished myself for trade
+with stuffs of Baghdad and Mosul and, packing them up in bales, set out
+on my wanderings; and Allah decreed me safety till I entered this your
+city. Then he wept and began repeating:—
+
+The blear eyed 'scapes the pits * Wherein the lynx eyed fall:
+A word the wise man slays * And saves the natural:
+The Moslem fails of food * The Kafir feasts in hall:
+What art or act is man's? * God's will obligeth all!
+
+
+Now when he had ended his verse he said, So I entered Cairo and took
+off my loads and stored my stuffs in the Khan "Al-Masrúr."[FN#518] Then
+I gave the servant a few silvers wherewith to buy me some food and lay
+down to sleep awhile. When I awoke I went to the street called "Bayn
+al-Kasrayn"—Between the two Palaces—and presently returned and rested
+my night in the Khan. When it was morning I opened a bale and took out
+some stuff saying to myself, "I will be off and go through some of the
+bazars and see the state of the market." So I loaded the stuff on some
+of my slaves and fared forth till I reached the Kaysariyah or Exchange
+of Jaharkas;[FN#519] where the brokers who knew of my coming came to
+meet me. They took the stuffs and cried them for sale, but could not
+get the prime cost of them. I was vexed at this, however the Shaykh of
+the brokers said to me, "O my lord, I will tell thee how thou mayest
+make a profit of thy goods. Thou shouldest do as the merchants do and
+sell thy merchandise at credit for a fixed period, on a contract drawn
+up by a notary and duly witnessed; and employ a Shroff to take thy dues
+every Monday and Thursday. So shalt thou gain two dirhams and more, for
+every one; and thou shalt solace and divert thyself by seeing Cairo and
+the Nile." Quoth I, "This is sound advice," and carried the brokers to
+the Khan. They took my stuffs and went with them on 'Change where I
+sold them well taking bonds for the value. These bonds I deposited with
+a Shroff, a banker, who gave me a receipt with which I returned to the
+Khan. Here I stayed a whole month, every morning breaking my fast with
+a cup of wine and making my meals on pigeon's meat, mutton and
+sweetmeats, till the time came when my receipts began to fall due. So,
+every Monday and Thursday I used to go on 'Change and sit in the shop
+of one or other of the merchants, whilst the notary and money changer
+went round to recover the monies from the traders, till after the time
+of mid afternoon prayer, when they brought me the amount, and I counted
+it and, sealing the bags, returned with them to the Khan. On a certain
+day which happened to be a Monday,[FN#520] I went to the Hammam and
+thence back to my Khan, and sitting in my own room[FN#521] broke my
+fast with a cup of wine, after which I slept a little. When I awoke I
+ate a chicken and, perfuming my person, repaired to the shop of a
+merchant hight Badr al-Din al-Bostáni, or the Gardener,[FN#522] who
+welcomed me; and we sat talking awhile till the bazar should open.
+Presently, behold, up came a lady of stately figure wearing a
+head-dress of the most magnificent, perfumed with the sweetest of
+scents and walking with graceful swaying gait; and seeing me she raised
+her mantilla allowing me a glimpse of her beautiful black eyes. She
+saluted Badr al-Din who returned her salutation and stood up, and
+talked with her; and the moment I heard her speak, the love of her got
+hold of my heart. Presently she said to Badr al-Din, "Hast thou by thee
+a cut piece of stuff woven with thread of pure gold?" So he brought out
+to her a piece from those he had bought of me and sold it to her for
+one thousand two hundred dirhams; when she said, "I will take the piece
+home with me and send thee its price." "That is impossible, O my lady,"
+the merchant replied, "for here is the owner of the stuff and I owe him
+a share of profit." "Fie upon thee!" she cried, "Do I not use to take
+from thee entire rolls of costly stuff, and give thee a greater profit
+than thou expectest, and send thee the money?" "Yes," rejoined he; "but
+I stand in pressing need of the price this very day." Hereupon she took
+up the piece and threw it back upon his lap, saying "Out on thee! Allah
+confound the tribe of you which estimates none at the right value;" and
+she turned to go. I felt my very soul going with her; so I stood up and
+stayed her, saying, "I conjure thee by the Lord, O my lady, favour me
+by retracing thy gracious steps." She turned back with a smile and
+said, "For thy sake I return," and took a seat opposite me in the shop.
+Then quoth I to Badr al-Din, "What is the price they asked thee for
+this piece?"; and quoth he, "Eleven hundred dirhams." I rejoined, "The
+odd hundred shall be thy profit: bring me a sheet of paper and I will
+write thee a discharge for it." Then I wrote him a receipt in my own
+handwriting and gave the piece to the lady, saying, "Take it away with
+thee and, if thou wilt, bring me its price next bazar day; or better
+still, accept it as my guest gift to thee." "Allah requite thee with
+good," answered she, "and make thee my husband and lord and master of
+all I have!"[FN#523] And Allah favoured her prayer. I saw the Gates of
+Paradise swing open before me and said, "O my lady, let this piece of
+stuff be now thine and another like it is ready for thee, only let me
+have one look at thy face." So she raised her veil and I saw a face the
+sight of which bequeathed to me a thousand sighs, and my heart was so
+captivated by her love that I was no longer ruler of my reason. Then
+she let fall her face veil and taking up the piece of stuff said, "O my
+lord make me not desolate by thine absence!" and turned away and
+disappeared from my sight. I remained sitting on 'Change till past the
+hour of after noon prayer, lost to the world by the love which had
+mastered me, and the violence of my passion compelled me to make
+enquiries concerning her of the merchant, who answered me, "This is a
+lady and a rich: she is the daughter of a certain Emir who lately died
+and left her a large fortune." Then I took leave of him and returned
+home to the Khan where they set supper before me; but I could not eat
+for thinking of her and when I lay down to sleep, sleep came not near
+me. So I watched till morning, when I arose and donned a change of
+raiment and drank a cup of wine and, after breaking my fast on some
+slight matter, I went to the merchant's shop where I saluted him and
+sat down by him. Presently up came the lady as usual, followed by a
+slave girl and wearing a dress more sumptuous than before; and she
+saluted me without noticing Badr al-Din and said in fluent graceful
+speech (never heard I voice softer or sweeter), "Send one with me to
+take the thousand and two hundred dirhams, the price of the piece."
+"Why this hurry?" asked I and she answered, "May we never lose
+thee!"[FN#524] and handed me the money. Then I sat talking with her and
+presently I signed to her in dumb show, whereby she understood that I
+longed to enjoy her person,[FN#525] and she rose up in haste with a
+show of displeasure. My heart clung to her and I went forth from the
+bazar and followed on her track. As I was walking suddenly a black
+slave girl stopped me and said, "O my master, come speak with my
+mistress."[FN#526] At this I was surprised and replied, "There is none
+who knows me here;" but she rejoined, "O my lord, how soon hast thou
+forgotten her! My lady is the same who was this day at the shop of such
+a merchant." Then I went with her to the Shroff's, where I found the
+lady who drew me to her side and said, "O my beloved, thine image is
+firmly stamped upon my fancy, and love of thee hath gotten hold of my
+heart: from the hour I first saw thee nor sleep nor food nor drink hath
+given me aught of pleasure." I replied, "The double of that suffering
+is mine and my state dispenseth me from complaint." Then said she, "O
+my beloved, at thy house, or at mine?" "I am a stranger here and have
+no place of reception save the Khan, so by thy favour it shall be at
+thy house." "So be it; but this is Friday[FN#527] night and nothing can
+be done till tomorrow after public prayers; go to the Mosque and pray;
+then mount thine ass, and ask for the Habbániyah[FN#528] quarter; and,
+when there, look out for the mansion of Al-Nakib[FN#529] Barakát,
+popularly known as Abu Shámah the Syndic; for I live there: so do not
+delay as I shall be expecting thee." I rejoiced with still greater joy
+at this; and took leave of her and returned to my Khan, where I passed
+a sleepless night. Hardly was I assured that morning had dawned when I
+rose, changed my dress, perfumed myself with essences and sweet scents
+and, taking fifty dinars in a kerchief, went from the Khan Masrúr to
+the Zuwaylah[FN#530] gate, where I mounted an ass and said to its
+owner, "Take me to the Habbaniyah." So he set off with me and brought
+up in the twinkling of an eye at a street known as Darb al-Munkari,
+where I said to him, "Go in and ask for the Syndic's mansion." He was
+absent a while and then returned and said, "Alight." "Go thou before me
+to the house," quoth I, adding, "Come back with the earliest light and
+bring me home;" and he answered, "In Allah's name;" whereupon I gave
+him a quarter dinar of gold, and he took it and went his ways. Then I
+knocked at the door and out came two white slave girls, both young;
+high-bosomed virgins, as they were moons, and said to me, "Enter, for
+our mistress is expecting thee and she hath not slept the night long
+for her delight in thee." I passed through the vestibule into a saloon
+with seven doors, floored with parti-coloured marbles and furnished
+with curtains and hangings of coloured silks: the ceiling was cloisonné
+with gold and corniced with inscriptions[FN#531] emblazoned in lapis
+lazuli; and the walls were stuccoed with Sultání gypsum[FN#532] which
+mirrored the beholder's face. Around the saloon were latticed windows
+overlooking a garden full of all manner of fruits; whose streams were
+railing and rilling and whose birds were trilling and shrilling; and in
+the heart of the hall was a jetting fountain at whose corners stood
+birds fashioned in red gold crusted with pearls and gems and spouting
+water crystal clear. When I entered and took a seat.—And Shahrazad
+perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Twenty-sixth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
+merchant continued, When I entered and took a seat, the lady at once
+came in crowned with a diadem[FN#533] of pearls and jewels; her face
+dotted with artificial moles in indigo,[FN#534] her eyebrows pencilled
+with Kohl and her hands and feet reddened with Henna. When she saw me
+she smiled in my face and took me to her embrace and clasped me to her
+breast; then she put her mouth to my mouth and sucked my tongue[FN#535]
+(and I did likewise) and said, "Can it be true, O my little darkling,
+thou art come to me?" adding, "Welcome and good cheer to thee! By
+Allah, from the day I saw thee sleep hath not been sweet to me nor hath
+food been pleasant." Quoth I, "Such hath also been my case: and I am
+thy slave, thy negro slave." Then we sat down to converse and I hung my
+head earthwards in bashfulness, but she delayed not long ere she set
+before me a tray of the most exquisite viands, marinated meats,
+fritters soaked in bee's[FN#536] honeys and chickens stuffed with sugar
+and pistachio nuts, whereof we ate till we were satisfied. Then they
+brought basin and ewer and I washed my hands and we scented ourselves
+with rose water musk'd and sat down again to converse. So she began
+repeating these couplets[FN#537]:
+
+"Had we wist of thy coming, thy way had been strown
+       With the blood of our heart and the balls of our sight:
+Our cheek as a foot cloth to greet thee been thrown,
+       That thy step on our eyelids should softly alight."
+
+
+And she kept plaining of what had befallen her and I of what had
+betided me; and love of her gat so firm hold of my heart that all my
+wealth seemed a thing of naught in comparison with her. Then we fell to
+toying and groping and kissing till night fall, when the handmaidens
+set before us meats and a complete wine service, and we sat carousing
+till the noon of night, when we lay down and I lay with her; never in
+my life saw I a night like that night. When morning morrowed I arose
+and took leave of her, throwing under the carpet bed the kerchief
+wherein were the dinars[FN#538] and as I went out she wept and said, "O
+my lord, when shall I look upon that lovely face again?" "I will be
+with thee at sunset," answered I, and going out found the donkey boy,
+who had brought me the day before, awaiting at the door. So I mounted
+ass and rode to the Khan of Masrur where I alighted and gave the man a
+half dinar, saying, "Return at sunset;" and he said "I will." Then I
+breakfasted and went out to seek the price of my stuffs; after which I
+returned, and taking a roast lamb and some sweetmeats, called a porter
+and put the provision in his crate, and sent it to the lady paying the
+man his hire.[FN#539] I went back to my business till sunset, when the
+ass driver came to me and I took fifty dinars in a kerchief and rode to
+her house where I found the marble floor swept, the brasses burnisht,
+the branch lights burning, the wax candles ready lighted, the meat
+served up and the wine strained.[FN#540] When my lady saw me she threw
+her arms about my neck, and cried, "Thou hast desolated me by thine
+absence." Then she set the tables before me and we ate till we were
+satisfied, when the slave girls carried off the trays and served up
+wine. We gave not over drinking till half the night was past; and,
+being well warmed with drink, we went to the sleeping chamber and lay
+there till morning. I then arose and fared forth from her leaving the
+fifty dinars with her as before; and, finding the donkey boy at the
+door, rode to the Khan and slept awhile. After that I went out to make
+ready the evening meal and took a brace of geese with gravy on two
+platters of dressed and peppered rice, and got ready
+colocasia[FN#541]-roots fried and soaked in honey, and wax candles and
+fruits and conserves and nuts and almonds and sweet scented flowers;
+and I sent them all to her. As soon as it was night I again tied up
+fifty dinars in a kerchief and, mounting the ass as usual, rode to the
+mansion where we ate and drank and lay together till morning when I
+threw the kerchief and dinars to her[FN#542] and rode back to the Khan.
+I ceased not doing after that fashion till, after a sweet night, I woke
+one fine morning and found myself beggared, dinar-less and dirhamless.
+So said I to myself "All this be Satan's work;" and began to recite
+these couplets:—
+
+"Poverty dims the sheen of man whate'er his wealth has been, * E'en as
+the sun about to set shines with a yellowing light
+Absent he falls from memory, forgotten by his friends; * Present he
+shareth not their joys for none in him delight
+He walks the market shunned of all, too glad to hide his head, * In
+desert places tears he sheds and moans his bitter plight
+By Allah, 'mid his kith and kin a man, however good, * Waylaid by want
+and penury is but a stranger wight!"
+
+
+I fared forth from the Khan and walked down "Between the Palaces"
+street till I came to the Zuwaylah Porte, where I found the people
+crowding and the gateway blocked for the much folk. And by the decree
+of Destiny I saw there a trooper against whom I pressed
+unintentionally, so that my hand came upon his bosom pocket and I felt
+a purse inside it. I looked and seeing a string of green silk hanging
+from the pocket knew it for a purse; and the crush grew greater every
+minute and just then, a camel laden with a load of fuel happened to
+jostle the trooper on the opposite side, and he turned round to fend it
+off from him, lest it tear his clothes; and Satan tempted me, so I
+pulled the string and drew out a little bag of blue silk, containing
+something which chinked like coin. But the soldier, feeling his pocket
+suddenly lightened, put his hand to it and found it empty; whereupon he
+turned to me and, snatching up his mace from his saddle bow, struck me
+with it on the head. I fell to the ground, whilst the people came round
+us and seizing the trooper's mare by the bridle said to him, "Strikest
+thou this youth such a blow as this for a mere push!" But the trooper
+cried out at them, "This fellow is an accursed thief!" Whereupon I came
+to myself and stood up, and the people looked at me and said, "Nay, he
+is a comely youth: he would not steal anything;" and some of them took
+my part and others were against me and question and answer waxed loud
+and warm. The people pulled at me and would have rescued me from his
+clutches; but as fate decreed behold, the Governor, the Chief of
+Police, and the watch[FN#543] entered the Zuwaylah Gate at this moment
+and, seeing the people gathered together around me and the soldier, the
+Governor asked, "What is the matter?" "By Allah! O Emir," answered the
+trooper, "this is a thief! I had in my pocket a purse of blue silk
+lined with twenty good gold pieces and he took it, whilst I was in the
+crush." Quoth the Governor, "Was any one by thee at the time?"; and
+quoth the soldier, "No." Thereupon the Governor cried out to the Chief
+of Police who seized me, and on this wise the curtain of the Lord's.
+protection was withdrawn from me. Then he said "Strip him;" and, when
+they stripped me, they found the purse in my clothes. The Wali took it,
+opened it and counted it; and, finding in it twenty dinars as the
+soldier had said, waxed exceeding wroth and bade his guard bring me
+before him. Then said he to me, "Now, O youth, speak truly: didst thou
+steal this purse?"[FN#544] At this I hung my head to the ground and
+said to myself, "If I deny having stolen it, I shall get myself into
+terrible trouble." So I raised my head and said, "Yes, I took it." When
+the Governor heard these words he wondered and summoned witnesses who
+came forward and attested my confession. All this happened at the
+Zuwaylah Gate. Then the Governor ordered the link bearer to cut off my
+right hand, and he did so; after which he would have struck off my left
+foot also; but the heart of the soldier softened and he took pity on me
+and interceded for me with the Governor that I should not be
+slain.[FN#545] Thereupon the Wali left me, and went away and the folk
+remained round me and gave me a cup of wine to drink. As for the
+trooper he pressed the purse upon me, and said, "Thou art a comely
+youth and it befitteth not thou be a thief." So I repeated these
+verses:—
+
+"I swear by Allah's name, fair sir! no thief was I, * Nor, O thou best
+of men! was I a bandit bred:
+But Fortune's change and chance o'erthrew me suddenly, * And cark and
+care and penury my course misled:
+I shot it not, indeed, 'twas Allah shot the shaft * That rolled in dust
+the Kingly diadem from my head."[FN#546]
+
+
+The soldier turned away after giving me the purse; and I also went my
+ways having wrapped my hand in a piece of rag and thrust it into my
+bosom. My whole semblance had changed, and my colour had waxed yellow
+from the shame and pain which had befallen me. Yet I went on to my
+mistress's house where, in extreme perturbation of spirit I threw
+myself down on the carpet bed. She saw me in this state and asked me,
+"What aileth thee and why do I see thee so changed in looks?"; and I
+answered, "My head paineth me and I am far from well." Whereupon she
+was vexed and was concerned on my account and said, "Burn not my heart,
+O my lord, but sit up and raise thy head and recount to me what hath
+happened to thee today, for thy face tells me a tale." "Leave this
+talk," replied I. But she wept and said, "Me seems thou art tired of
+me, for I see thee contrary to thy wont." But I was silent; and she
+kept on talking to me albeit I gave her no answer, till night came on.
+Then she set food before me, but I refused it fearing lest she see me
+eating with my left hand and said to her, "I have no stomach to eat at
+present." Quoth she, "Tell me what hath befallen thee to day, and why
+art thou so sorrowful and broken in spirit and heart?" Quoth I, "Wait
+awhile; I will tell thee all at my leisure." Then she brought me wine,
+saying, "Down with it, this will dispel thy grief: thou must indeed
+drink and tell me of thy tidings." I asked her, "Perforce must I tell
+thee?"; and she answered, "Yes." Then said I, "If it needs must be so,
+then give me to drink with thine own hand." She filled and
+drank,[FN#547] and filled again and gave me the cup which I took from
+her with my left hand and wiped the tears from my eyelids and began
+repeating:
+
+"When Allah willeth aught befall a man * Who hath of ears and eyes and
+wits full share:
+His ears He deafens and his eyes He blinds * And draws his wits e'en as
+we draw a hair[FN#548]
+Till, having wrought His purpose, He restores * Man's wits, that warned
+more circumspect he fare."
+
+
+When I ended my verses I wept, and she cried out with an exceeding loud
+cry, "What is the cause of thy tears? Thou burnest my heart! What makes
+thee take the cup with thy left hand?" Quoth I, "Truly I have on my
+right hand a boil;" and quoth she, "Put it out and I will open it for
+thee."[FN#549] "It is not yet time to open it," I replied, "so worry me
+not with thy words, for I will not take it out of the bandage at this
+hour." Then I drank off the cup, and she gave not over plying me with
+drink until drunkenness overcame me and I fell asleep in the place
+where I was sitting; whereupon she looked at my right hand and saw a
+wrist without a fist. So she searched me closely and found with me the
+purse of gold and my severed hand wrapped up in the bit of rag.[FN#550]
+With this such sorrow came upon her as never overcame any and she
+ceased not lamenting on my account till the morning. When I awoke I
+found that she had dressed me a dish of broth of four boiled chickens,
+which she brought to me together with a cup of wine. I ate and drank
+and laying down the purse, would have gone out; but she said to me,
+"Whither away?"; and I answered, "Where my business calleth me;" and
+said she, "Thou shalt not go: sit thee down." So I sat down and she
+resumed, "Hath thy love for me so overpowered thee that thou hast
+wasted all thy wealth and hast lost thine hand on my account? I take
+thee to witness against me and also Allah be my witness that I will
+never part with thee, but will die under thy feet; and soon thou shalt
+see that my words are true." Then she sent for the Kazi and witnesses
+and said to them, "Write my contract of marriage with this young man,
+and bear ye witness that I have received the marriage
+settlement."[FN#551] When they had drawn up the document she said, "Be
+witness that all my monies which are in this chest and all I have in
+slaves and handmaidens and other property is given in free gift to this
+young man." So they took act of this statement enabling me to assume
+possession in right of marriage; and then withdrew, after receiving
+their fees. Thereupon she took me by the hand and, leading me to a
+closet, opened a large chest and said to me, "See what is herein;" and
+I looked and behold, it was full of kerchiefs. Quoth she, "This is the
+money I had from thee and every kerchief thou gavest me, containing
+fifty dinars, I wrapped up and cast into this chest; so now take thine
+own, for it returns to thee, and this day thou art become of high
+estate. Fortune and Fate afflicted thee so that thou didst lose thy
+right hand for my sake; and I can never requite thee; nay, although I
+gave my life 'twere but little and I should still remain thy debtor."
+Then she added, "Take charge of thy property."; so I transferred the
+contents of her chest to my chest, and added my wealth to her wealth
+which I had given her, and my heart was eased and my sorrow ceased. I
+stood up and kissed her and thanked her; and she said, "Thou hast given
+thy hand for love of me and how am I able to give thee an equivalent?
+By Allah, if I offered my life for thy love, it were indeed but little
+and would not do justice to thy claim upon me." Then she made over to
+me by deed all that she possessed in clothes and ornaments of gold and
+pearls, and goods and farms and chattels, and lay not down to sleep
+that night, being sorely grieved for my grief, till I told her the
+whole of what had befallen me. I passed the night with her. But before
+we had lived together a month's time she fell sorely sick and illness
+increased upon her, by reason of her grief for the loss of my hand, and
+she endured but fifty days before she was numbered among the folk of
+futurity and heirs of immortality. So I laid her out and buried her
+body in mother earth and let make a pious perlection of the
+Koran[FN#552] for the health of her soul, and gave much money in alms
+for her; after which I turned me from the grave and returned to the
+house. There I found that she had left much substance in ready money
+and slaves, mansions, lands and domains, and among her store houses was
+a granary of sesame seed, whereof I sold part to thee; and I had
+neither time nor inclination to take count with thee till I had sold
+the rest of the stock in store; nor, indeed, even now have I made an
+end of receiving the price. So I desire thou baulk me not in what I am
+about to say to thee: twice have I eaten of thy food and I wish to give
+thee as a present the monies for the sesame which are by thee. Such is
+the cause of the cutting off my right hand and my eating with my left."
+"Indeed," said I, "thou hast shown me the utmost kindness and
+liberality." Then he asked me, "Why shouldst thou not travel with me to
+my native country whither I am about to return with Cairene and
+Alexandrian stuffs? Say me, wilt thou accompany me?"; and I answered "I
+will." So I agreed to go with him at the head of the month, and I sold
+all I had and bought other merchandise; then we set out and travelled,
+I and the young man, to this country of yours, where he sold his
+venture and bought other investment of country stuffs and continued his
+journey to Egypt But it was my lot to abide here, so that these things
+befell me in my strangerhood which befell last night, and is not this
+tale, O King of the age, more wondrous and marvellous than the story of
+the Hunchback? "Not so," quoth the King, "I cannot accept it: there is
+no help for it but that you be hanged, every one of you."—And Shahrazad
+perceived the dawn of day, and ceased saying her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Twenty-seventh Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the King of
+China declared "There is no help for it but that you be hanged," the
+Reeve of the Sultan's Kitchen came forward and said, "If thou permit me
+I will tell thee a tale of what befell me just before I found this
+Gobbo, and, if it be more wondrous than his story, do thou grant us our
+lives." And when the King answered "Yes" he began to recount
+
+
+
+
+The Reeve’s Tale.
+
+
+Know, O King, that last night I was at a party where they made a
+perlection of the Koran and got together doctors of law and religion
+skilled in recitation and intoning; and, when the readers ended, the
+table was spread and amongst other things they set before us was a
+marinated ragout[FN#553] flavoured with cumin seed. So we sat down, but
+one of our number held back and refused to touch it. We conjured him to
+eat of it but he swore he would not; and, when we again pressed him, he
+said, "Be not instant with me; sufficeth me that which hath already
+befallen me through eating it", and he began reciting:
+
+"Shoulder thy tray and go straight to thy goal; * And, if suit thee
+this Kohl why,-use this Kohl!"[FN#554]
+
+
+When he ended his verse we said to him, "Allah upon thee, tell us thy
+reason for refusing to eat of the cumin ragout?" “If so it be,” he
+replied, "and needs must I eat of it, I will not do so except I wash my
+hand forty times with soap, forty times with potash and forty times
+with galangale,[FN#555] the total being one hundred and twenty
+washings." Thereupon the hospitable host bade his slaves bring water
+and whatso he required; and the young man washed his hand as afore
+mentioned. Then he sat down, as if disgusted and frightened withal, and
+dipping his hand in the ragout, began eating and at the same time
+showing signs of anger. And we wondered at him with extreme wonderment,
+for his hand trembled and the morsel in it shook and we saw that his
+thumb had been cut off and he ate with his four fingers only. So we
+said to him, "Allah upon thee, what happened to thy thumb? Is thy hand
+thus by the creation of God or hath some accident befallen it?" "O my
+brothers," he answered, "it is not only thus with this thumb, but also
+with my other thumb and with both my great toes, as you shall see." So
+saying he uncovered his left hand and his feet, and we saw that the
+left hand was even as the right and in like manner that each of his
+feet lacked its great toe. When we saw him after this fashion, our
+amazement waxed still greater and we said to him, "We have hardly
+patience enough to await thy history and to hear the manner of the
+cutting off of thy thumbs, and the reason of thy washing both hands one
+hundred and twenty times." Know then, said he, that my father was chief
+of the merchants and the wealthiest of them all in Baghdad city during
+the reign of the Caliph Harun al Rashid; and he was much given to wine
+drinking and listening to the lute and the other instruments of
+pleasaunce; so that when he died he left nothing. I buried him and had
+perlections of the Koran made for him, and mourned for him days and
+nights: then I opened his shop and found that he had left in it few
+goods, while his debts were many. However I compounded with his
+creditors for time to settle their demands and betook myself to buying
+and selling, paying them something from week to week on account; and I
+gave not over doing this till I had cleared off his obligations in full
+and began adding to my principal. One day, as I sat in my shop,
+suddenly and unexpectedly there appeared before me a young lady, than
+whom I never saw a fairer, wearing the richest raiment and ornaments
+and riding a she mule, with one negro slave walking before her and
+another behind her. She drew rein at the head of the exchange bazar and
+entered followed by an eunuch who said to her, "O my lady come out and
+away without telling anyone, lest thou light a fire which will burn us
+all up." Moreover he stood before her guarding her from view whilst she
+looked at the merchants' shops. She found none open but mine; so she
+came up with the eunuch behind her and sitting down in my shop saluted
+me; never heard I aught fairer than her speech or sweeter than her
+voice. Then she unveiled her face, and I saw that she was like the moon
+and I stole a glance at her whose sight caused me a thousand sighs, and
+my heart was captivated with love of her, and I kept looking again and
+again upon her face repeating these verses:—
+
+"Say to the charmer in the dove hued veil, * Death would be welcome to
+abate thy bale!
+Favour me with thy favours that I live: * See, I stretch forth my palm
+to take thy vail!
+
+
+When she heard my verse she answered me saying:—
+
+"I've lost all patience by despite of you; * My heart knows nothing
+save love plight to you!
+If aught I sight save charms so bright of you; * My parting end not in
+the sight of you!
+I swear I'll ne'er forget the right of you; * And fain this breast
+would soar to height of you:
+You made me drain the love cup, and I lief * A love cup tender for
+delight of you:
+Take this my form where'er you go, and when * You die, entomb me in the
+site of you:
+Call on me in my grave, and hear my bones * Sigh their responses to the
+shright of you:
+And were I asked 'Of God what wouldst thou see?' * I answer, 'first His
+will then Thy decree!'
+
+
+When she ended her verse she asked me, "O youth, hast thou any fair
+stuffs by thee?"; and I answered, "O my lady, thy slave is poor; but
+have patience till the merchants open their shops, and I will suit thee
+with what thou wilt." Then we sat talking, I and she (and I was drowned
+in the sea of her love, dazed in the desert[FN#556] of my passion for
+her), till the merchants opened their shops; when I rose and fetched
+her all she sought to the tune of five thousand dirhams. She gave the
+stuff to the eunuch and, going forth by the door of the Exchange, she
+mounted mule and went away, without telling me whence she came, and I
+was ashamed to speak of such trifle. When the merchants dunned me for
+the price, I made myself answerable for five thousand dirhams and went
+home, drunken with the love of her. They set supper before me and I ate
+a mouthful, thinking only of her beauty and loveliness, and sought to
+sleep, but sleep came not to me. And such was my condition for a whole
+week, when the merchants required their monies of me, but I persuaded
+them to have patience for another week, at the end of which time she
+again appeared mounted on a she mule and attended by her eunuch and two
+slaves. She saluted me and said, "O my master, we have been long in
+bringing thee the price of the stuffs; but now fetch the Shroff and
+take thy monies." So I sent for the money changer and the eunuch
+counted out the coin before him and made it over to me. Then we sat
+talking, I and she, till the market opened, when she said to me, "Get
+me this and that." So I got her from the merchants whatso she wanted,
+and she took it and went away without saying a word to me about the
+price. As soon as she was out of sight, I repented me of what I had
+done; for the worth of the stuffs bought for her amounted to a thousand
+dinars, and I said in my soul, "What manner of love is this? She hath
+brought me five thousand dirhams, and hath taken goods for a thousand
+dinars."[FN#557] I feared lest I should be beggared through having to
+pay the merchants their money, and I said, "They know none other but
+me; this lovely lady is naught but a cheat and a swindler, who hath
+diddled me with her beauty and grace; for she saw that I was a mere
+youth and laughed at me for not asking her address." I ceased not to be
+troubled by these doubts and fears, as she was absent more than a
+month, till the merchants pestered me for their money and were so hard
+upon me that I put up my property for sale and stood on the very brink
+of ruin. However, as I was sitting in my shop one day, drowned in
+melancholy musings, she suddenly rode up and, dismounting at the bazar
+gate, came straight towards me. When I saw her all my cares fell from
+me and I forgot every trouble. She came close up to me and greeted me
+with her sweet voice and pleasant speech and presently said, "Fetch me
+the Shroff and weigh thy money."[FN#558] So she gave me the price of
+what goods I had gotten for her and more, and fell to talking freely
+with me, till I was like to die of joy and delight. Presently she asked
+me, "Hast thou a wife?"; and I answered "No, indeed: I have never known
+woman"; and began to shed tears. Quoth she "Why weepest thou?" Quoth I
+"It is nothing!" Then giving the eunuch some of the gold pieces, I
+begged him to be go between[FN#559] in the matter; but he laughed and
+said, "She is more in love with thee than thou with her: she hath no
+occasion for the stuffs she hath bought of thee and did all this only
+for the love of thee; so ask of her what thou wilt and she will deny
+thee nothing." When she saw me giving the dinars to the eunuch, she
+returned and sat down again; and I said to her, "Be charitable to thy
+slave and pardon him what he is about to say." Then I told her what was
+in my mind and she assented and said to the eunuch, "Thou shalt carry
+my message to him," adding to me, "And do thou whatso the eunuch
+biddeth thee." Then she got up and went away, and I paid the merchants
+their monies and they all profited; but as for me, regret at the
+breaking off of our intercourse was all my gain; and I slept not the
+whole of that night. However, before many days passed her eunuch came
+to me, and I entreated him honourably and asked him after his mistress.
+"Truly she is sick with love of thee," he replied and I rejoined, "Tell
+me who and what she is." Quoth he, "The Lady Zubaydah, queen consort of
+Harun al-Rashid, brought her up as a rearling[FN#560] and hath advanced
+her to be stewardess of the Harim, and gave her the right of going in
+and out of her own sweet will. She spoke to her lady of thee and begged
+her to marry her to thee; but she said, 'I will not do this, till I see
+the young man; and, if he be worthy of thee, I will marry thee to him.'
+So now we look for the moment to smuggle thee into the Palace and if
+thou succeed in entering privily thou wilt win thy wish to wed her; but
+if the affair get wind, the Lady Zubaydah will strike off thy
+head.[FN#561] What sayest thou to this?" I answered, "I will go with
+thee and abide the risk whereof thou speakest." Then said he, "As soon
+as it is night, go to the Mosque built by the Lady Zubaydah on the
+Tigris and pray the night prayers and sleep there." "With love and
+gladness," cried I. So at nightfall I repaired to the Mosque, where I
+prayed and passed the night. With earliest dawn, behold, came sundry
+eunuchs in a skiff with a number of empty chests which they deposited
+in the Mosque; then all of them went their ways but one, and looking
+curiously at him, I saw he was our go between. Presently in came the
+handmaiden, my mistress, walking straight up to us; and I rose to her
+and embraced her while she kissed me and shed tears.[FN#562] We talked
+awhile; after which she made me get into one of the chests which she
+locked upon me. Presently the other eunuchs came back with a quantity
+of packages and she fell to stowing them in the chests, which she
+locked down, one by one, till all were shut. When all was done the
+eunuchs embarked the chests in the boat and made for the Lady
+Zubaydah's palace. With this, thought began to beset me and I said to
+myself, "Verily thy lust and wantonness will be the death of thee; and
+the question is after all shalt thou win to thy wish or not?" And I
+began to weep, boxed up as I was in the box and suffering from cramp;
+and I prayed Allah that He deliver me from the dangerous strait I was
+in, whilst the boat gave not over going on till it reached the Palace
+gate where they lifted out the chests and amongst them that in which I
+was. Then they carried them in, passing through a troop of eunuchs,
+guardians of the Harim and of the ladies behind the curtain, till they
+came to the post of the Eunuch in Chief[FN#563] who started up from his
+slumbers and shouted to the damsel "What is in those chests?" "They are
+full of wares for the Lady Zubaydah!" "Open them, one by one, that I
+may see what is in them." "And wherefore wouldst thou open them?" "Give
+me no words and exceed not in talk! These chests must and shall be
+opened." So saying, he sprang to his feet, and the first which they
+brought to him to open was that wherein I was; and, when I felt his
+hands upon it, my senses failed me and I bepissed myself in my funk,
+the water running out of the box. Then said she to the Eunuch in Chief,
+"O steward! thou wilt cause me to be killed and thyself too, for thou
+hast damaged goods worth ten thousand dinars. This chest contains
+coloured dresses, and four gallon flasks of Zemzem water;[FN#564] and
+now one of them hath got unstoppered and the water is running out over
+the clothes and it will spoil their colours." The eunuch answered,
+"Take up thy boxes and get thee gone to the curse of God!" So the
+slaves carried off all the chests, including mine; and hastened on with
+them till suddenly I heard the voice of one saying, "Alack, and alack!
+the Caliph! the Caliph !" When that cry struck mine ears I died in my
+skin and said a saying which never yet shamed the sayer, "There is no
+Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! I
+and only I have brought this calamity upon myself." Presently I heard
+the Caliph say to my mistress, "A plague on thee, what is in those
+boxes?"; and she answered, "Dresses for the Lady Zubaydah";[FN#565]
+whereupon he, "Open them before me!" When I heard this I died my death
+outright and said to myself, "By Allah, today is the very last of my
+days in this world: if I come safe out of this I am to marry her and no
+more words, but detection stares me in the face and my head is as good
+as stricken off." Then I repeated the profession of Faith, saying,
+"There is no god but the God, and Mohammed is the Apostle of God!"—And
+Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
+say.
+
+When it was the Twenty-eighth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
+merchant continued as follows: Now when I testified, "I bear witness
+that there is no god save the God," I heard my mistress the handmaid
+declare to the Caliph, "These chests, O Commander of the Faithful, have
+been committed to my charge by the Lady Zubaydah, and she doth not wish
+their contents to be seen by any one." "No matter!" quoth the Caliph,
+"needs must they be opened, I will see what is in them"; and he cried
+aloud to the eunuchs, "Bring the chests here before me." At this I made
+sure of death (without benefit of a doubt) and swooned away. Then the
+eunuchs brought the chests up to him one after another and he fell to
+inspecting the contents, but he saw in them only ottars and stuffs and
+fine dresses; and they ceased not opening the chests and he ceased not
+looking to see what was in them, finding only clothes and such matters,
+till none remained unopened but the box in which I was boxed. They put
+forth their hands to open it, but my mistress the handmaid made haste
+and said to the Caliph, "This one thou shalt see only in the presence
+of the Lady Zubaydah, for that which is in it is her secret." When he
+heard this he gave orders to carry in the chests; so they took up that
+wherein I was and bore it with the rest into the Harim and set it down
+in the midst of the saloon; and indeed my spittle was dried up for very
+fear.[FN#566] Then my mistress opened the box and took me out, saying,
+"Fear not: no harm shall betide thee now nor dread; but broaden thy
+breast and strengthen thy heart and sit thee down till the Lady
+Zubaydah come, and surely thou shalt win thy wish of me." So I sat down
+and, after a while, in came ten hand maidens, virgins like moons, and
+ranged themselves in two rows, five facing five; and after them twenty
+other damsels, high bosomed virginity, surrounding the Lady Zubaydah
+who could hardly walk for the weight of her raiment and ornaments. As
+she drew near, the slave girls dispersed from around her, and I
+advanced and kissed the ground between her hands. She signed to me to
+sit and, when I sat down before her chair, she began questioning me of
+my forbears and family and condition, to which I made such answers that
+pleased her, and she said to my mistress, "Our nurturing of thee, O
+damsel, hath not disappointed us." Then she said to me, "Know that this
+handmaiden is to us even as our own child and she is a trust committed
+to thee by Allah." I again kissed the ground before her, well pleased
+that I should marry my mistress, and she bade me abide ten days in the
+palace. So I abode there ten days, during which time I saw not my
+mistress nor anybody save one of the concubines, who brought me the
+morning and evening meals. After this the Lady Zubaydah took counsel
+with the Caliph on the marriage of her favourite handmaid, and he gave
+leave and assigned to her a wedding portion of ten thousand gold
+pieces. So the Lady Zubaydah sent for the Kazi and witnesses who wrote
+our marriage contract, after which the women made ready sweetmeats and
+rich viands and distributed them among all the Odahs[FN#567] of the
+Harim. Thus they did other ten days, at the end of which time my
+mistress went to the baths.[FN#568] Meanwhile, they set before me a
+tray of food where on were various meats and among those dishes, which
+were enough to daze the wits, was a bowl of cumin ragout containing
+chickens breasts, fricandoed[FN#569] and flavoured with sugar,
+pistachios, musk and rose water. Then, by Allah, fair sirs, I did not
+long hesitate; but took my seat before the ragout and fell to and ate
+of it till I could no more. After this I wiped my hands, but forgot to
+wash them; and sat till it grew dark, when the wax candles were lighted
+and the singing women came in with their tambourines and proceeded to
+display the bride in various dresses and to carry her in procession
+from room to room all round the palace, getting their palms crossed
+with gold. Then they brought her to me and disrobed her. When I found
+myself alone with her on the bed I embraced her, hardly believing in
+our union; but she smelt the strong odours of the ragout upon my hands
+and forth with cried out with an exceeding loud cry, at which the slave
+girls came running to her from all sides. I trembled with alarm,
+unknowing what was the matter, and the girls asked her, "What aileth
+thee, O our sister?" She answered them, "Take this mad man away from
+me: I had thought he was a man of sense!" Quoth I to her, "What makes
+thee think me mad?" Quoth she, "Thou madman' what made thee eat of
+cumin ragout and forget to wash thy hand? By Allah, I will requite thee
+for thy misconduct. Shall the like of thee come to bed with the like of
+me with unclean hands?"[FN#570] Then she took from her side a plaited
+scourge and came down with it on my back and the place where I sit till
+her forearms were benumbed and I fainted away from the much beating;
+when she said to the handmaids, "Take him and carry him to the Chief of
+Police, that he may strike off the hand wherewith he ate of the cumin
+ragout, and which he did not wash." When I heard this I said, "There is
+no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! Wilt thou cut off my
+hand, because I ate of a cumin ragout and did not wash?" The
+handmaidens also interceded with her and kissed her hand saying, "O our
+sister, this man is a simpleton, punish him not for what he hath done
+this nonce;" but she answered, "By Allah, there is no help but that I
+dock him of somewhat, especially the offending member." Then she went
+away and I saw no more of her for ten days, during which time she sent
+me meat and drink by a slave girl who told me that she had fallen sick
+from the smell of the cumin ragout. After that time she came to me and
+said, "O black of face![FN#571] I will teach thee how to eat cumin
+ragout without washing thy hands!" Then she cried out to the handmaids,
+who pinioned me; and she took a sharp razor and cut off my thumbs and
+great toes; even as you see, O fair assembly! Thereupon I swooned away,
+and she sprinkled some powder of healing herbs upon the stumps and when
+the blood was staunched, I said, "Never again will I eat of cumin
+ragout without washing my hands forty times with potash and forty times
+with galangale and forty times with soap!" And she took of me an oath
+and bound me by a covenant to that effect. When, therefore, you brought
+me the cumin ragout my colour changed and I said to myself, "It was
+this very dish that caused the cutting off of my thumbs and great
+toes;" and, when you forced me, I said, "Needs must I fulfil the oath I
+have sworn." "And what befell thee after this?" asked those present;
+and he answered, "When I swore to her, her anger was appeased and I
+slept with her that night. We abode thus awhile till she said to me one
+day, "Verily the Palace of the Caliph is not a pleasant place for us to
+live in, and none ever entered it save thyself; and thou only by grace
+of the Lady Zubaydah. Now she hath given me fifty thousand dinars,"
+adding, "Take this money and go out and buy us a fair dwelling house."
+So I fared forth and bought a fine and spacious mansion, whither she
+removed all the wealth she owned and what riches I had gained in stuffs
+and costly rarities. Such is the cause of the cutting off of my thumbs
+and great toes. We ate (continued the Reeve), and were returning to our
+homes when there befell me with the Hunchback that thou wottest of.
+This then is my story, and peace be with thee! Quoth the King; "This
+story is on no wise more delectable than the story of the Hunchback;
+nay, it is even less so, and there is no help for the hanging of the
+whole of you." Then came forward the Jewish physician and kissing the
+ground said, "O King of the age, I will tell thee an history more
+wonderful than that of the Hunchback." "Tell on," said the King of
+China; so he began the
+
+
+
+
+Tale of the Jewish Doctor.
+
+
+Right marvellous was a matter which came to pass to me in my youth. I
+lived in Damascus of Syria studying my art and, one day, as I was
+sitting at home behold, there came to me a Mameluke from the household
+of the Sahib and said to me, "Speak with my lord!" So I followed him to
+the Viceroy's house and, entering the great hall, saw at its head a
+couch of cedar plated with gold whereon lay a sickly youth beautiful
+withal; fairer than he one could not see. I sat down by his head and
+prayed to Heaven for a cure; and he made me a sign with his eyes, so I
+said to him, "O my lord! favour me with thy hand, and safety be with
+thee!"[FN#572] Then he put forth his left hand and I marvelled thereat
+and said, "By Allah, strange that this handsome youth, the son of a
+great house, should so lack good manners. This can be nothing but pride
+and conceit!" However I felt his pulse and wrote him a prescription and
+continued to visit him for ten days, at the end of which time he
+recovered and went to the Hammam,[FN#573] whereupon the Viceroy gave me
+a handsome dress of honour and appointed me superintendent of the
+hospital which is in Damascus.[FN#574] I accompanied him to the baths,
+the whole of which they had kept private for his accommodation; and the
+servants came in with him and took off his clothes within the bath, and
+when he was stripped I saw that his right hand had been newly cut off,
+and this was the cause of his weakliness. At this I was amazed and
+grieved for him: then, looking at his body, I saw on it the scars of
+scourge stripes whereto he had applied unguents. I was troubled at the
+sight and my concern appeared in my face. The young man looked at me
+and, comprehending the matter, said, "O Physician of the age, marvel
+not at my case; I will tell thee my story as soon as we quit the
+baths." Then we washed and, returning to his house, ate somewhat of
+food and took rest awhile; after which he asked me, "What sayest thou
+to solacing thee by inspecting the supper hall?"; and I answered "So
+let it be." Thereupon he ordered the slaves to carry out the carpets
+and cushions required and roast a lamb and bring us some fruit. They
+did his bidding and we ate together, he using the left hand for the
+purpose. After a while I said to him, "Now tell me thy tale." "O
+Physician of the age," replied he, "hear what befell me. Know that I am
+of the sons of Mosul, where my grandfather died leaving nine children
+of whom my father was the eldest. All grew up and took to them wives,
+but none of them was blessed with offspring except my father, to whom
+Providence vouchsafed me. So I grew up amongst my uncles who rejoiced
+in me with exceeding joy, till I came to man's estate. One day which
+happened to be a Friday, I went to the Cathedral mosque of Mosul with
+my father and my uncles, and we prayed the congregational prayers,
+after which the folk went forth, except my father and uncles, who sat
+talking of wondrous things in foreign parts and the marvellous sights
+of strange cities. At last they mentioned Egypt, and one of my uncles
+said, "Travellers tell us that there is not on earth's face aught
+fairer than Cairo and her Nile;" and these words made me long to see
+Cairo. Quoth my father, "Whoso hath not seen Cairo hath not seen the
+world. Her dust is golden and her Nile a miracle holden; and her women
+are as Houris fair; puppets, beautiful pictures; her houses are palaces
+rare; her water is sweet and light[FN#575] and her mud a commodity and
+a medicine beyond compare, even as said the poet in this his poetry:—
+
+The Nile[FN#576] flood this day is the gain you own; * You alone in
+such gain and bounties wone:
+The Nile is my tear flood of severance, * And here none is forlorn but
+I alone.
+
+
+Moreover temperate is her air, and with fragrance blent, Which
+surpasseth aloes wood in scent; and how should it be otherwise, she
+being the Mother of the World? And Allah favour him who wrote these
+lines:—
+
+An I quit Cairo and her pleasaunces, * Where can I wend to find so
+gladsome ways?
+Shall I desert that site, whose grateful scents * Joy every soul and
+call for loudest praise?
+Where every palace, as another Eden, * Carpets and cushions richly
+wrought displays;
+A city wooing sight and sprite to glee, * Where Saint meets Sinner and
+each 'joys his craze;
+Where friend meets friend, by Providence united * In greeny garden and
+in palmy maze:
+People of Cairo, and by Allah's doom * I fare, with you in thoughts I
+wone always!
+Whisper not Cairo in the ear of Zephyr, * Lest for her like of garden
+scents he reave her.[FN#577]
+
+
+And if your eyes saw her earth, and the adornment thereof with bloom,
+and the purfling of it with all manner blossoms, and the islands of the
+Nile and how much is therein of wide spread and goodly prospect, and if
+you bent your sight upon the Abyssinian Pond,[FN#578] your glance would
+not revert from the scene quit of wonder; for nowhere would you behold
+the fellow of that lovely view; and, indeed, the two arms of the Nile
+embrace most luxuriant verdure,[FN#579] as the white of the eye
+encompasseth its black or like filagree'd silver surrounding
+chrysolites. And divinely gifted was the poet who there anent said
+these couplets:—
+
+By th' Abyssinian Pond, O day divine!* In morning twilight and in sunny
+shine:
+The water prisoned in its verdurous walls, * Like sabre flashes before
+shrinking eyne:
+And in The Garden sat we while it drains * Slow draught, with purfled
+sides dyed finest fine:
+The stream is rippled by the hands of clouds; * We too, a-rippling, on
+our rugs recline,
+Passing pure wine, and whoso leaves us there * Shall ne'er arise from
+fall his woes design:
+Draining long draughts from large and brimming bowls, * Administ'ring
+thirst's only medicine—wine.
+
+
+And what is there to compare with the Rasad, the Observatory, and its
+charms whereof every viewer as he approacheth saith, 'Verily this spot
+is specialised with all manner of excellence!' And if thou speak of the
+Night of Nile full,[FN#580] give the rainbow and distribute it![FN#581]
+And if thou behold The Garden at eventide, with the cool shades sloping
+far and wide, a marvel thou wouldst see and wouldst incline to Egypt in
+ecstasy. And wert thou by Cairo's river side,[FN#582] when the sun is
+sinking and the stream dons mail coat and habergeon[FN#583] over its
+other vestments, thou wouldst be quickened to new life by its gentle
+zephyrs and by its all sufficient shade." So spake he and the rest fell
+to describing Egypt and her Nile. As I heard their accounts, my
+thoughts dwelt upon the subject and when, after talking their fill, all
+arose and went their ways, I lay down to sleep that night, but sleep
+came not because of my violent longing for Egypt; and neither meat
+pleased me nor drink. After a few days my uncles equipped themselves
+for a trade journey to Egypt; and I wept before my father till he made
+ready for me fitting merchandise, and he consented to my going with
+them, saying however, "Let him not enter Cairo, but leave him to sell
+his wares at Damascus." So I took leave of my father and we fared forth
+from Mosul and gave not over travelling till we reached Aleppo[FN#584]
+where we halted certain days. Then we marched onwards till we made
+Damascus and we found her a city as though she were a Paradise,
+abounding in trees and streams and birds and fruits of all kinds. We
+alighted at one of the Khans, where my uncles tarried awhile selling
+and buying; and they bought and sold also on my account, each dirham
+turning a profit of five on prime cost, which pleased me mightily.
+After this they left me alone and set their faces Egyptwards; whilst I
+abode at Damascus, where I had hired from a jeweller, for two dinars a
+month, a mansion[FN#585] whose beauties would beggar the tongue. Here I
+remained, eating and drinking and spending what monies I had in hand
+till, one day, as I was sitting at the door of my house be hold, there
+came up a young lady clad in costliest raiment never saw my eyes
+richer. I winked[FN#5886 at her and she stepped inside without
+hesitation and stood within. I entered with her and shut the door upon
+myself and her; whereupon she raised her face veil and threw off her
+mantilla, when I found her like a pictured moon of rare and marvellous
+loveliness; and love of her gat hold of my heart. So I rose and brought
+a tray of the most delicate eatables and fruits and whatso befitted the
+occasion, and we ate and played and after that we drank till the wine
+turned our heads. Then I lay with her the sweetest of nights and in the
+morning I offered her ten gold pieces; when her face lowered and her
+eye brows wrinkled and shaking with wrath she cried, "Fie upon thee, O
+my sweet companion! dost thou deem that I covet thy money?" Then she
+took out from the bosom of her shift[FN#587] fifteen dinars and, laying
+them before me, said, "By Allah! unless thou take them I will never
+come back to thee." So I accepted them and she said to me, "O my
+beloved! expect me again in three days' time, when I will be with thee
+between sunset and supper tide; and do thou prepare for us with these
+dinars the same entertainment as yesternight." So saying, she took
+leave of me and went away and all my senses went with her. On the third
+day she came again, clad in stuff weft with gold wire, and wearing
+raiment and ornaments finer than before. I had prepared the place for
+her ere she arrived and the repast was ready; so we ate and drank and
+lay together, as we had done, till the morning, when she gave me other
+fifteen gold pieces and promised to come again after three days.
+Accordingly, I made ready for her and, at the appointed time, she
+presented herself more richly dressed than on the first and second
+occasions, and said to me, "O my lord, am I not beautiful?" "Yea, by
+Allah thou art!" answered I, and she went on, "Wilt thou allow me to
+bring with me a young lady fairer than I, and younger in years, that
+she may play with us and thou and she may laugh and make merry and
+rejoice her heart, for she hath been very sad this long time past, and
+hath asked me to take her out and let her spend the night abroad with
+me?" "Yea, by Allah!" I replied; and we drank till the wine turned our
+heads and slept till the morning, when she gave me other fifteen
+dinars, saying, "Add something to thy usual provision on account of the
+young lady who will come with me." Then she went away, and on the
+fourth day I made ready the house as usual, and soon after sunset
+behold, she came, accompanied by another damsel carefully wrapped in
+her mantilla. They entered and sat down; and when I saw them I repeated
+these verses:—
+
+"How dear is our day and how lucky our lot, * When the cynic's away
+with his tongue malign!
+When love and delight and the swimming of head * Send cleverness
+trotting, the best boon of wine.
+When the full moon shines from the cloudy veil, * And the branchlet
+sways in her greens that shine:
+When the red rose mantles in freshest cheek, * And Narcissus[FN#588]
+opeth his love sick eyne:
+When pleasure with those I love is so sweet, * When friendship with
+those I love is complete!"
+
+
+I rejoiced to see them, and lighted the candles after receiving them
+with gladness and delight. They doffed their heavy outer dresses and
+the new damsel uncovered her face when I saw that she was like the moon
+at its full never beheld I aught more beautiful. Then I rose and set
+meat and drink before them, and we ate and drank; and I kept giving
+mouthfuls to the new comer, crowning her cup and drinking with her till
+the first damsel, waxing inwardly jealous, asked me, "By Allah, is she
+not more delicious than I?"; whereto I answered, "Ay, by the Lord!" "It
+is my wish that thou lie with her this night; for I am thy mistress but
+she is our visitor. Upon my head be it, and my eyes." Then she rose and
+spread the carpets for our bed[FN#589] and I took the young lady and
+lay with her that night till morning, when I awoke and found myself
+wet, as I thought, with sweat. I sat up and tried to arouse the damsel;
+but when I shook her by the shoulders my hand became crimson with blood
+and her head rolled off the pillow. Thereupon my senses fled and I
+cried aloud, saying, "O All powerful Protector, grant me Thy
+protection!" Then finding her neck had been severed, I sprung up and
+the world waxed black before my eyes, and I looked for the lady, my
+former love, but could not find her. So I knew that it was she who had
+murdered the damsel in her jealousy,[FN#590] and said, "There is no
+Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!
+What is to be done now?" I considered awhile then, doffing my clothes,
+dug a hole in the middle of the court yard, wherein I laid the murdered
+girl with her jewellery and golden ornaments; and, throwing back the
+earth on her, replaced the slabs of the marble[FN#591] pavement. After
+this I made the Ghusl or total ablution,[FN#592] and put on pure
+clothes; then, taking what money I had left, locked up the house and
+summoned courage and went to its owner to whom I paid a year's rent,
+saying, "I am about to join my uncles in Cairo." Presently I set out
+and, journeying to Egypt, foregathered with my uncles who rejoiced in
+me, and I found that they had made an end of selling their merchandise.
+They asked me, "What is the cause of thy coming?"; and I answered "I
+longed for a sight of you;" but did not let them know that I had any
+money with me. I abode with them a year, enjoying the pleasures of
+Cairo and her Nile,[FN#593] and squandering the rest of my money in
+feasting and carousing till the time drew near for the departure of my
+uncles, when I fled from them and hid myself. They made enquiries and
+sought for me, but hearing no tidings they said, "He will have gone
+back to Damascus." When they departed I came forth from my hiding place
+and abode in Cairo three years, until naught remained of my money. Now
+every year I used to send the rent of the Damascus house to its owner,
+until at last I had nothing left but enough to pay him for one year's
+rent and my breast was straitened. So I travelled to Damascus and
+alighted at the house whose owner, the jeweller, was glad to see me and
+I found everything locked up as I had left it. I opened the closets and
+took out my clothes and necessaries and came upon, beneath the carpet
+bed whereon I had lain that night with the girl who had been beheaded,
+a golden necklace set with ten gems of passing beauty. I took it up
+and, cleansing it of the blood, sat gazing upon it and wept awhile.
+Then I abode in the house two days and on the third I entered the
+Hammam and changed my clothes. I had no money by me now; so Satan
+whispered temptation to me that the Decree of Destiny be carried out.
+Next day I took the jewelled necklace to the bazar and handed it to a
+broker who made me sit down in the shop of the jeweller, my landlord,
+and bade me have patience till the market was full,[FN#594] when he
+carried off the ornament and proclaimed it for sale, privily and
+without my knowledge. The necklet was priced as worth two thousand
+dinars, but the broker returned to me and said, "This collar is of
+copper, a mere counterfeit after the fashion of the Franks[FN#595] and
+a thousand dirhams have been bidden for it." "Yes," I answered, "I knew
+it to be copper, as we had it made for a certain person that we might
+mock her: now my wife hath inherited it and we wish to sell it; so go
+and take over the thousand dirhams."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
+of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Twenty-ninth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the beautiful
+youth said to the broker, "Take over the thousand dirhams;" and when
+the broker heard this, he knew that the case was suspicious. So he
+carried the collar to the Syndic of the bazar, and the Syndic took it
+to the Governor who was also prefect of police, and said to him falsely
+enough, "This necklet was stolen from my house, and we have found the
+thief in traders' dress." So before I was aware of it the watch got
+round me and, making me their prisoner, carried me before the Governor
+who questioned me of the collar. I told him the tale I had told to the
+broker; but he laughed and said, "These words are not true." Then,
+before I knew what was doing, the guard stripped off my clothes and
+came down with palm rods upon my ribs, till for the smart of the stick
+I confessed, "It was I who stole it;" saying to myself, "'Tis better
+for thee to say, I stole it, than to let them know that its owner was
+murdered in thy house, for then would they slay thee to avenge her." So
+they wrote down that I had stolen it and they cut off my hand and
+scalded the stump in oil,[FN#596] when I swooned away for pain; but
+they gave me wine to drink and I recovered and, taking up my hand, was
+going to my fine house, when my landlord said to me, "Inasmuch, O my
+son, as this hath befallen thee, thou must leave my house and look out
+for another lodging for thee, since thou art convicted of theft. Thou
+art a handsome youth, but who will pity thee after this?" "O my master"
+said I, "bear with me but two days or three, till I find me another
+place." He answered, "So be it." and went away and left me. I returned
+to the house where I sat weeping and saying, How shall I go back to my
+own people with my hand lopped off and they know not that I am
+innocent? Perchance even after this Allah may order some matter for
+me." And I wept with exceeding weeping, grief beset me and I remained
+in sore trouble for two days; but on the third day my landlord came
+suddenly in to me, and with him some of the guard and the Syndic of the
+bazar, who had falsely charged me with stealing the necklet. I went up
+to them and asked, "What is the matter?" however, they pinioned me with
+out further parley and threw a chain about my neck, saying, "The
+necklet which was with thee hath proved to be the property of the Wazir
+of Damascus who is also her Viceroy;" and they added, "It was missing
+from his house three years ago at the same time as his younger
+daughter." When I heard these words, my heart sank within me and I said
+to myself, "Thy life is gone beyond a doubt! By Allah, needs must I
+tell the Chief my story; and, if he will, let him kill me, and if he
+please, let him pardon me." So they carried me to the Wazir's house and
+made me stand between his hands. When he saw me, he glanced at me out
+of the corner of his eye and said to those present, "Why did ye lop off
+his hand? This man is unfortunate, and there is no fault in him; indeed
+ye have wronged him in cutting off his hand." When I heard this, I took
+heart and, my soul presaging good, I said to him, "By Allah, O my lord,
+I am no thief; but they calumniated me with a vile calumny, and they
+scourged me midmost the market, bidding me confess till, for the pain
+of the rods, I lied against myself and confessed the theft, albeit I am
+altogether innocent of it." "Fear not," quoth the Viceroy, "no harm
+shall come to thee." Then he ordered the Syndic of the bazar to be
+imprisoned and said to him, "Give this man the blood money for his
+hand; and, if thou delay I will hang thee and seize all thy property."
+Moreover he called to his guards who took him and dragged him away,
+leaving me with the Chief. Then they loosed by his command the chain
+from my neck and unbound my arms; and he looked at me, and said, "O my
+son, be true with me, and tell me how this necklace came to thee." And
+he repeated these verses:—
+
+"Truth best befits thee, albeit truth * Shall bring thee to burn on the
+threatened fire."
+
+
+"By Allah, O my lord," answered I, "I will tell thee nothing but the
+truth." Then I related to him all that had passed between me and the
+first lady, and how she had brought me the second and had slain her out
+of jealousy, and I detailed for him the tale to its full. When he heard
+my story, he shook his head and struck his right hand upon the
+left,[FN#597] and putting his kerchief over his face wept awhile and
+then repeated:—
+
+"I see the woes of the world abound, * And worldings sick with spleen
+and teen;
+There's One who the meeting of two shall part, * And who part not are
+few and far between!"
+
+
+Then he turned to me and said, "Know, O my son, that the elder damsel
+who first came to thee was my daughter whom I used to keep closely
+guarded. When she grew up, I sent her to Cairo and married her to her
+cousin, my brother's son. After a while he died and she came back: but
+she had learnt wantonness and ungraciousness from the people of
+Cairo;[FN#598] so she visited thee four times and at last brought her
+younger sister. Now they were sisters-german and much attached to each
+other; and, when that adventure happened to the elder, she disclosed
+her secret to her sister who desired to go out with her. So she asked
+thy leave and carried her to thee; after which she returned alone and,
+finding her weeping, I questioned her of her sister, but she said, 'I
+know nothing of her.' However, she presently told her mother privily of
+what had happened and how she had cut off her sister's head and her
+mother told me. Then she ceased not to weep and say, 'By Allah! I shall
+cry for her till I die.' Nor did she give over mourning till her heart
+broke and she died; and things fell out after that fashion. See then, O
+my son, what hath come to pass; and now I desire thee not to thwart me
+in what I am about to offer thee, and it is that I purpose to marry
+thee to my youngest daughter; for she is a virgin and born of another
+mother;[FN#599] and I will take no dower of thee but, on the contrary,
+will appoint thee an allowance, and thou shalt abide with me in my
+house in the stead of my son." "So be it," I answered, "and how could I
+hope for such good fortune?" Then he sent at once for the Kazi and
+witnesses, and let write my marriage contract with his daughter and I
+went in to her. Moreover, he got me from the Syndic of the bazar a
+large sum of money and I became in high favour with him. During this
+year news came to me that my father was dead and the Wazir despatched a
+courier, with letters bearing the royal sign manual, to fetch me the
+money which my father had left behind him, and now I am living in all
+the solace of life. Such was the manner of the cutting off my right
+hand." I marvelled at his story (continued the Jew), and I abode with
+him three days after which he gave me much wealth, and I set out and
+travelled Eastward till I reached this your city and the sojourn suited
+me right well; so I took up my abode here and there befell me what thou
+knowest with the Hunchback. There upon the King of China shook his
+head[FN#600] and said, "This story of thine is not stranger and more
+wondrous and marvellous and delectable than the tale of the Hunchback;
+and so needs must I hang the whole number of you. However there yet
+remains the Tailor who is the head of all the offence;" and he added,
+"O Tailor, if thou canst tell me any thing more wonderful than the
+story of the Hunchback, I will pardon you all your offences." Thereupon
+the man came forward and began to tell the
+
+
+
+
+Tale of the Tailor.
+
+
+Know, O King of the age, that most marvellous was that which befell me
+but yesterday, before I foregathered with the Hunch back. It so chanced
+that in the early day I was at the marriage feast of one of my
+companions, who had gotten together in his house some twenty of the
+handicraftsmen of this city, amongst them tailors and silk spinners and
+carpenters and others of the same kidney. As soon as the sun had risen,
+they set food[FN#601] before us that we might eat when behold, the
+master of the house entered, and with him a foreign youth and a well
+favoured of the people of Baghdad, wearing clothes as handsome as
+handsome could be; and he was of right comely presence save that he was
+lame of one leg. He came and saluted us and we stood up to receive him;
+but when he was about to sit down he espied amongst us a certain man
+which was a Barber; whereupon he refused to be seated and would have
+gone away. But we stopped him and our host also stayed him, making oath
+that he should not leave us and asked him, "What is the reason of thy
+coming in and going out again at once?"; whereto he answered, "By
+Allah, O my lord, do not hinder me; for the cause of my turning back is
+yon Barber of bad omen,[FN#602] yon black o'face, yon ne'er do well!"
+When the housemaster heard these words he marvelled with extreme marvel
+and said, "How cometh this young man, who haileth from Baghdad, to be
+so troubled and perplexed about this Barber?" Then we looked at the
+stranger and said, "Explain the cause of thine anger against the
+Barber." "O fair company," quoth the youth, "there befell me a strange
+adventure with this Barber in Baghdad (which is my native city); he was
+the cause of the breaking of my leg and of my lameness, and I have
+sworn never to sit in the same place with him, nor even tarry in any
+town where he happens to abide; and I have bidden adieu to Baghdad and
+travelled far from it and came to stay in this your city; yet I have
+hardly passed one night before I meet him again. But not another day
+shall go by ere I fare forth from here." Said we to him, "Allah upon
+thee, tell us the tale;" and the youth replied (the Barber changing
+colour from brown to yellow as he spoke): Know, O fair company, that my
+father was one of the chief merchants of Baghdad, and Almighty Allah
+had blessed him with no son but myself. When I grew up and reached
+man's estate, my father was received into the mercy of Allah (whose
+Name be exalted!) and left me money and eunuchs, servants and slaves;
+and I used to dress well and diet well. Now Allah had made me a hater
+of women kind and one day, as I was walking along a street in Baghdad,
+a party of females met me face to face in the footway; so I fled from
+them and, entering an alley which was no thoroughfare, sat down upon a
+stone bench at its other end. I had not sat there long before the
+latticed window of one of the houses opposite was thrown open, and
+there appeared at it a young lady, as she were the full moon at its
+fullest; never in my life saw I her like; and she began to water some
+flowers on the window sill.[FN#603] She turned right and left and,
+seeing me watching her, shut the window and went away. Thereupon fire
+was suddenly enkindled in my heart; my mind was possessed with her and
+my woman hate turned to woman love. I continued sitting there, lost to
+the world, till sunset when lo! the Kazi of the city came riding by
+with his slaves before him and his eunuchs behind him, and dismounting
+entered the house in which the damsel had appeared. By this I knew that
+he was her father; so I went home sorrowful and cast myself upon my
+carpet bed in grief. Then my handmaids flocked in and sat about me,
+unknowing what ailed me; but I addressed no speech to them, and they
+wept and wailed over me. Presently in came an old woman who looked at
+me and saw with a glance what was the matter with me: so she sat down
+by my head and spoke me fair, saying, "O my son, tell me all about it
+and I will be the means of thy union with her."[FN#604] So I related to
+her what had happened and she answered, "O my son, this one is the
+daughter of the Kazi of Baghdad who keepeth her in the closest
+seclusion; and the window where thou sawest her is her floor, whilst
+her father occupies the large saloon in the lower story. She is often
+there alone and I am wont to visit at the house; so thou shalt not win
+to her save through me. Now set thy wits to work and be of good cheer."
+With these words she went away and I took heart at what she said and my
+people rejoiced that day, seeing me rise in the morning safe and sound.
+By and by the old woman returned looking chopfallen,[FN#605] and said,
+"O my son, do not ask me how I fared with her! When I told her that,
+she cried at me, 'If thou hold not thy peace, O hag of ill omen, and
+leave not such talk, I will entreat thee as thou deservest and do thee
+die by the foulest of deaths.' But needs must I have at her a second
+time."[FN#606] When I heard this it added ailment to my ailment and the
+neighbours visited me and judged that I was not long for this world;
+but after some days, the old woman came to me and, putting her mouth
+close to my ear, whispered, "O my son; I claim from thee the gift of
+good news." With this my soul returned to me and I said, "Whatever thou
+wilt shall be thine." Thereupon she began, "Yesterday I went to the
+young lady who, seeing me broken in spirit and shedding tears from
+reddened eyes, asked me, 'O naunty[FN#607] mine, what ails thee, that I
+see thy breast so straitened?'; and I answered her, weeping bitterly,
+'O my lady, I am just come from the house of a youth who loves thee and
+who is about to die for sake of thee!' Quoth she (and her heart was
+softened), 'And who is this youth of whom thou speakest?'; and quoth I,
+'He is to me as a son and the fruit of my vitals. He saw thee, some
+days ago, at the window watering thy flowers and espying thy face and
+wrists he fell in love at first sight. I let him know what happened to
+me the last time I was with thee, whereupon his ailment increased, he
+took to the pillow and he is naught now but a dead man, and no doubt
+what ever of it.' At this she turned pale and asked, 'All this for my
+sake?'; and I answered, 'Ay, by Allah![FN#608] what wouldst thou have
+me do?' Said she, 'Go back to him and greet him for me and tell him
+that I am twice more heartsick than he is. And on Friday, before the
+hour of public prayer, bid him here to the house, and I will come down
+and open the door for him. Then I will carry him up to my chamber and
+foregather with him for a while, and let him depart before my father
+return from the Mosque.'" When I heard the old woman's words, all my
+sickness suddenly fell from me, my anguish ceased and my heart was
+comforted; I took off what clothes were on me and gave them to her and,
+as she turned to go, she said, "Keep a good heart!" "I have not a jot
+of sorrow left." I replied. My household and intimates rejoiced in my
+recovery and I abode thus till Friday, when behold, the old woman came
+in and asked me how I did, to which I answered that I was well and in
+good case. Then I donned my clothes and perfumed myself and sat down to
+await the congregation going in to prayers, that I might betake myself
+to her. But the old woman said to me, "Thou hast time and to spare: so
+thou wouldst do well to go to the Hammam and have thy hair shaven off
+(especially after thy ailment), so as not to show traces of sickness."
+"This were the best way," answered I, "I have just now bathed in hot
+water, but I will have my head shaved." Then I said to my page, "Go to
+the bazar and bring me a barber, a discreet fellow and one not inclined
+to meddling or impertinent curiosity or likely to split my head with
+his excessive talk."[FN#609] The boy went out at once and brought back
+with him this wretched old man, this Shaykh of ill omen. When he came
+in he saluted me and I returned his salutation; then quoth he, "Of a
+truth I see thee thin of body;" and quoth I, "I have been ailing." He
+continued, "Allah drive far away from thee thy woe and thy sorrow and
+thy trouble and thy distress." "Allah grant thy prayer!" said I. He
+pursued, "All gladness to thee, O my master, for indeed recovery is
+come to thee. Dost thou wish to be polled or to be blooded? Indeed it
+was a tradition of Ibn Abbas[FN#610] (Allah accept of him!) that the
+Apostle said, 'Whoso cutteth his hair on a Friday, the Lord shall avert
+from him threescore and ten calamities;' and again is related of him
+also that he said, 'Cupping on a Friday keepeth from loss of sight and
+a host of diseases.'" "Leave this talk," I cried; "come, shave me my
+head at once for I can't stand it." So he rose and put forth his hand
+in most leisurely way and took out a kerchief and unfolded it, and lo!
+it contained an astrolabe[FN#611] with seven parallel plates mounted in
+silver. Then he went to the middle of the court and raised head and
+instrument towards the sun's rays and looked for a long while. When
+this was over, he came back and said to me, "Know that there have
+elapsed of this our day, which be Friday, and this Friday be the tenth
+of the month Safar in the six hundred and fifty-third year since the
+Hegira or Flight of the Apostle (on whom be the bestest of blessings
+and peace!) and the seven thousand three hundred and twentieth year of
+the era of Alexander, eight degrees and six minutes. Furthermore the
+ascendant of this our day is, according to the exactest science of
+computation, the planet Mars; and it so happeneth that Mercury is in
+conjunction with him, denoting an auspicious moment for hair cutting;
+and this also maketh manifest to me that thou desires union with a
+certain person and that your intercourse will not be propitious. But
+after this there occurreth a sign respecting a matter which will befall
+thee and whereof I will not speak." "O thou," cried I, "by Allah, thou
+weariest me and scatterest my wits and thy forecast is other than good;
+I sent for thee to poll my head and naught else: so up and shave me and
+prolong not thy speech." "By Allah," replied he, "if thou but knew what
+is about to befall thee, thou wouldst do nothing this day, and I
+counsel thee to act as I tell thee by computation of the
+constellations." "By Allah," said I, "never did I see a barber who
+excelled in judicial astrology save thyself: but I think and I know
+that thou art most prodigal of frivolous talk. I sent for thee only to
+shave my head, but thou comest and pesterest me with this sorry
+prattle." "What more wouldst thou have?" replied he. "Allah hath
+bounteously bestowed on thee a Barber who is an astrologer, one learned
+in alchemy and white magic;[FN#612] syntax, grammar, and lexicology;
+the arts of logic, rhetoric and elocution; mathematics, arithmetic and
+algebra; astronomy, astromancy and geometry; theology, the Traditions
+of the Apostle and the Commentaries on the Koran. Furthermore, I have
+read books galore and digested them and have had experience of affairs
+and comprehended them. In short I have learned the theorick and the
+practick of all the arts and sciences; I know everything of them by
+rote and I am a past master in tota re scibili. Thy father loved me for
+my lack of officiousness, argal, to serve thee is a religious duty
+incumbent on me. I am no busy body as thou seemest to suppose, and on
+this account I am known as The Silent Man, also, The Modest Man.
+Wherefore it behoveth thee to render thanks to Allah Almighty and not
+cross me, for I am a true counsellor to thee and benevolently minded
+towards thee. Would that I were in thy service a whole year that thou
+mightest do me justice; and I would ask thee no wage for all this."
+When I heard his flow of words, I said to him, "Doubtless thou wilt be
+my death this day!"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
+saying her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Thirtieth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young man
+said to the Barber, "Thou certainly wilt be the death of me this very
+day!" "O master mine," replied he, "I am he, The Silent Man hight, by
+reason of the fewness of my words, to distinguish me from my six
+brothers. For the eldest is called Al-Bakbúk, the prattler; the second
+Al-Haddár, the babbler; the third Al-Fakík, the gabbler; the fourth,
+his name is Al-Kuz al-aswáni, the long necked Gugglet, from his eternal
+chattering; the fifth is Al-Nashshár, the tattler and tale teller; the
+sixth Shakáshik, or many clamours; and the seventh is famous as
+Al-Sámit, The Silent Man, and this is my noble self!" Whilst he
+redoubled his talk, I thought my gall bladder would have burst; so I
+said to the servant, "Give him a quarter dinar and dismiss him and let
+him go from me in the name of God who made him. I won't have my head
+shaved to day." "What words be these, O my lord?" cried he. "By Allah!
+I will accept no hire of thee till I have served thee and have
+ministered to thy wants; and I care not if I never take money of thee.
+If thou know not my quality, I know thine; and I owe thy father, an
+honest man, on whom Allah Almighty have mercy! many a kindness, for he
+was a liberal soul and a generous. By Allah, he sent for me one day, as
+it were this blessed day, and I went in to him and found a party of his
+intimates about him. Quoth he to me, 'Let me blood;' so I pulled out my
+astrolabe and, taking the sun's altitude for him, I ascertained that
+the ascendant was inauspicious and the hour unfavourable for blooding.
+I told him of this, and he did according to my bidding and awaited a
+better opportunity. So I made these lines in honour of him:—
+
+I went to my patron some blood to let him, * But found that the moment
+was far from good:
+So I sat and I talked of all strangenesses, * And with jests and jokes
+his good will I wooed:
+They pleased him and cried he, 'O man of wit, * Thou hast proved thee
+perfect in merry mood!'
+Quoth I, 'O thou Lord of men, save thou * Lend me art and wisdom I'm
+fou and wood
+In thee gather grace, boon, bounty, suavity, * And I guerdon the world
+with lore, science and gravity.'
+
+
+Thy father was delighted and cried out to the servant, 'Give him an
+hundred and three gold pieces with a robe of honour!' The man obeyed
+his orders, and I awaited an auspicious moment, when I blooded him; and
+he did not baulk me; nay he thanked me and I was also thanked and
+praised by all present. When the blood-letting was over I had no power
+to keep silence and asked him, 'By Allah, O my lord, what made thee say
+to the servant, Give him an hundred and three dinars?'; and he
+answered, 'One dinar was for the astrological observation, another for
+thy pleasant conversation, the third for the phlebotomisation, and the
+remaining hundred and the dress were for thy verses in my
+commendation.'" "May Allah show small mercy to my father," exclaimed I,
+"for knowing the like of thee." He laughed and ejaculated, "There is no
+god but the God and Mohammed is the Apostle of God! Glory to Him that
+changeth and is changed not! I took thee for a man of sense, but I see
+thou babblest and dotest for illness. Allah hath said in the Blessed
+Book,[FN#613] 'Paradise is prepared for the goodly who bridle their
+anger and forgive men.' and so forth; and in any case thou art excused.
+Yet I cannot conceive the cause of thy hurry and flurry; and thou must
+know that thy father and thy grandfather did nothing without consulting
+me, and indeed it hath been said truly enough, 'Let the adviser be
+prized'; and, 'There is no vice in advice'; and it is also said in
+certain saws, 'Whoso hath no counsellor elder than he, will never
+himself an elder be';[FN#614] and the poet says:—
+
+Whatever needful thing thou undertake, * Consult th' experienced and
+contraire him not!
+
+
+And indeed thou shalt never find a man better versed in affairs than I,
+and I am here standing on my feet to serve thee. I am not vexed with
+thee: why shouldest thou be vexed with me? But whatever happen I will
+bear patiently with thee in memory of the much kindness thy father
+shewed me." "By Allah," cried I, "O thou with tongue long as the tail
+of a jackass, thou persistest in pestering me with thy prate and thou
+becomest more longsome in thy long speeches, when all I want of thee is
+to shave my head and wend thy way!" Then he lathered my head saying, "I
+perceive thou art vexed with me, but I will not take it ill of thee,
+for thy wit is weak and thou art but a laddy: it was only yesterday I
+used to take thee on my shoulder[FN#615] and carry thee to school.' "O
+my brother," said I, "for Allah's sake do what I want and go thy gait!"
+And I rent my garments.[FN#616] When he saw me do this he took the
+razor and fell to sharpening it and gave not over stropping it until my
+senses were well nigh leaving me. Then he came up to me and shaved part
+of my head; then he held his hand and then he said, "O my lord, haste
+is Satan's gait whilst patience is of Allah the Compassionate. But
+thou, O my master, I ken thou knowest not my rank; for verily this hand
+alighteth upon the heads of Kings and Emirs and Wazirs, and sages and
+doctors learned in the law, and the poet said of one like me:—
+
+All crafts are like necklaces strung on a string, * But this Barber's
+the union pearl of the band:
+High over all craftsmen he ranketh, and why? * The heads of the Kings
+are under his hand!"[FN#617]
+
+
+Then said I, "Do leave off talking about what concerneth thee not:
+indeed thou hast straitened my breast and distracted my mind." Quoth
+he, "Meseems thou art a hasty man;" and quoth I, "Yes ! yes! yes!" and
+he, "I rede thee practice restraint of self, for haste is Satan's pelf
+which bequeatheth only repentance and ban and bane, and He (upon whom
+be blessings and peace!) hath said, 'The best of works is that wherein
+deliberation lurks;' but I, by Allah! have some doubt about thine
+affair; and so I should like thee to let me know what it is thou art in
+such haste to do, for I fear me it is other than good." Then he
+continued, "It wanteth three hours yet to prayer time; but I do not
+wish to be in doubt upon this matter; nay, I must know the moment
+exactly, for truly, 'A guess shot in times of doubt, oft brings harm
+about;' especially in the like of me, a superior person whose merits
+are famous amongst mankind at large; and it doth not befit me to talk
+at random, as do the common sort of astrologers." So saying, he threw
+down the razor and taking up the astrolabe, went forth under the sun
+and stood there a long time; after which he returned and counting on
+his fingers said to me, "There remain still to prayer time three full
+hours and complete, neither more nor yet less, according to the most
+learned astronomicals and the wisest makers of almanacks." "Allah upon
+thee," cried I, "hold thy tongue with me, for thou breakest my liver in
+pieces." So he took the razor and, after sharpening it as before and
+shaving other two hairs of my head, he again held his hand and said, "I
+am concerned about thy hastiness and indeed thou wouldst do well to let
+me into the cause of it; 't were the better for thee, as thou knowest
+that neither thy father nor thy grandfather ever did a single thing
+save by my advice." When I saw that there was no escape from him I said
+to myself, "The time for prayer draws near and I wish to go to her
+before the folk come out of the mosque. If I am delayed much longer, I
+know not how to come at her." Then said I aloud, "Be quick and stint
+this talk and impertinence, for I have to go to a party at the house of
+some of my intimates." When he heard me speak of the party, he said,
+"This thy day is a blessed day for me! In very sooth it was but
+yesterday I invited a company of my friends and I have forgotten to
+provide anything for them to eat. This very moment I was thinking of
+it: Alas, how I shall be disgraced in their eyes!" "Be not distressed
+about this matter," answered I; "have I not told thee that I am bidden
+to an entertainment this day? So every thing in my house, eatable and
+drinkable, shall be thine, if thou wilt only get through thy work and
+make haste to shave my head." He replied, "Allah requite thee with
+good! Specify to me what is in thy house for my guests that I may be
+ware of it." Quoth I, "Five dishes of meat and ten chickens with
+reddened breasts[FN#618] and a roasted lamb." "Set them before me,"
+quoth he "that I may see them." So I told my people to buy, borrow or
+steal them and bring them in anywise, And had all this set before him.
+When he saw it he cried, "The wine is wanting," and I replied, "I have
+a flagon or two of good old grape-juice in the house," and he said,
+"Have it brought out!" So I sent for it and he exclaimed, "Allah bless
+thee for a generous disposition! But there are still the essences and
+perfumes." So I bade them set before him a box containing Nadd,[FN#619]
+the best of compound perfumes, together with fine lign-aloes, ambergris
+and musk unmixed, the whole worth fifty dinars. Now the time waxed
+strait and my heart straitened with it; so I said to him, "Take it all
+and finish shaving my head by the life of Mohammed (whom Allah bless
+and keep!)." "By Allah," said he, "I will not take it till I see all
+that is in it." So I bade the page open the box and the Barber laid
+down the astrolabe, leaving the greater part of my head unpolled; and,
+sitting on the ground, turned over the scents and incense and aloes
+wood and essences till I was well nigh distraught. Then he took the
+razor and coming up to me shaved off some few hairs and repeated these
+lines:—
+
+"The boy like his father shall surely show, * As the tree from its
+parent root shall grow."[FN#620]
+
+
+Then said he, "By Allah, O my son, I know not whether to thank thee or
+thy father; for my entertainment this day is all due to thy bounty and
+beneficence; and, although none of my company be worthy of it, yet I
+have a set of honourable men, to wit Zantut the bath-keeper and Sali'a
+the corn-chandler; and Silat the bean-seller; and Akrashah the
+greengrocer; and Humayd the scavenger; and Sa'id the camel-man; and
+Suwayd the porter; and Abu Makarish the bathman;[FN#621] and Kasim the
+watchman; and Karim the groom. There is not among the whole of them a
+bore or a bully in his cups; nor a meddler nor a miser of his money,
+and each and every hath some dance which he danceth and some of his own
+couplets which he caroleth; and the best of them is that, like thy
+servant, thy slave here, they know not what much talking is nor what
+forwardness means. The bath keeper sings to the tom-tom[FN#622] a song
+which enchants; and he stands up and dances and chants,
+
+'I am going, O mammy, to fill up my pot.'
+
+
+As for the corn-chandler he brings more skill to it than any; he dances
+and sings,
+
+'O Keener,[FN#623] O sweetheart, thou fallest not short'
+
+
+and he leaves no one's vitals sound for laughing at him. But the
+scavenger sings so that the birds stop to listen to him and dances and
+sings,
+
+'News my wife wots is not locked in a box!'[FN#624]
+
+
+And he hath privilege, for 'tis a shrewd rogue[FN#625] and a witty; and
+speaking of his excellence I am wont to say,
+
+My life for the scavenger! right well I love him, * Like a waving bough
+he is sweet to my sight:
+Fate joined us one night, when to him quoth I * (The while I grew weak
+and love gained more might)
+'Thy love burns my heart!' 'And no wonder,' quoth he * 'When the drawer
+of dung turns a stoker wight.'[FN#626]
+
+
+And indeed each is perfect in whatso can charm the wit with joy and
+jollity;" adding presently, "But hearing is not seeing; and indeed if
+thou make up thy mind to join us and put off going to thy friends,
+'twill be better for us and for thee. The traces of illness are yet
+upon thee and haply thou art going among folk who be mighty talkers,
+men who commune together of what concerneth them not; or there may be
+amongst them some forward fellow who will split thy head, and thou half
+thy size from sickness." "This shall be for some other day," answered
+I, and laughed with heart angered: "finish thy work and go, in Allah
+Almighty's guard, to thy friends, for they will be expecting thy
+coming." "O my lord," replied he, "I seek only to introduce thee to
+these fellows of infinite mirth, the sons of men of worth, amongst whom
+there is neither procacity nor dicacity nor loquacity; for never, since
+I grew to years of discretion, could I endure to consort with one who
+asketh questions concerning what concerneth him not, nor have I ever
+frequented any save those who are, like myself, men of few words. In
+sooth if thou were to company with them or even to see them once, thou
+wouldst forsake all thy intimates." "Allah fulfil thy joyance with
+them," said I, "needs must I come amongst them some day or other." But
+he said, "Would it were this very day, for I had set my heart upon thy
+making one of us; yet if thou must go to thy friends to day, I will
+take these good things, wherewith thou hast honoured and favoured me,
+to my guests and leave them to eat and drink and not wait for me;
+whilst I will return to thee in haste and accompany thee to thy little
+party; for there is no ceremony between me and my intimates to prevent
+my leaving them. Fear not, I will soon be back with thee and wend with
+thee whithersoever thou wendest. There is no Majesty and there is no
+Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" I shouted, "Go thou to
+thy friends and make merry with them; and do let me go to mine and be
+with them this day, for they expect me." But the Barber cried, "I will
+not let thee go alone;" and I replied, "The truth is none can enter
+where I am going save myself." He rejoined, "I suspect that to day thou
+art for an assignation with some woman, else thou hadst taken me with
+thee; yet am I the right man to take, one who could aid thee to the end
+thou wishest. But I fear me thou art running after strange women and
+thou wilt lose thy life; for in this our city of Baghdad one cannot do
+any thing in this line, especially on a day like Friday: our Governor
+is an angry man and a mighty sharp blade." "Shame on thee, thou wicked,
+bad, old man!" cried I, "Be off! what words are these thou givest me?"
+"O cold of wit,"[FN#627] cried he, "thou sayest to me what is not true
+and thou hidest thy mind from me, but I know the whole business for
+certain and I seek only to help thee this day with my best endeavour."
+I was fearful lest my people or my neighbours should hear the Barber's
+talk, so I kept silence for a long time whilst he finished shaving my
+head; by which time the hour of prayer was come and the Khutbah, or
+sermon, was about to follow. When he had done, I said to him, "Go to
+thy friends with their meat and drink, and I will await thy return.
+Then we will fare together." In this way I hoped to pour oil on
+troubled waters and to trick the accursed loon, so haply I might get
+quit of him; but he said, "Thou art cozening me and thou wouldst go
+alone to thy appointment and cast thyself into jeopardy, whence there
+will be no escape for thee. Now by Allah! and again by Allah! do not go
+till I return, that I may accompany thee and watch the issue of thine
+affair." "So be it," I replied, "do not be long absent." Then he took
+all the meat and drink I had given him and the rest of it and went out
+of my house; but the accursed carle gave it in charge of a porter to
+carry to his home but hid himself in one of the alleys. As for me I
+rose on the instant, for the Muezzins had already called the Salam of
+Friday, the salutation to the Apostle;[FN#628] and I dressed in haste
+and went out alone and, hurrying to the street, took my stand by the
+house wherein I had seen the young lady. I found the old woman on guard
+at the door awaiting me, and went up with her to the upper story, the
+damsel's apartment. Hardly had I reached it when behold, the master of
+the house returned from prayers and entering the great saloon, closed
+the door. I looked down from the window and saw this Barber (Allah's
+curse upon him!) sitting over against the door and said, "How did this
+devil find me out?" At this very moment, as Allah had decreed it for
+rending my veil of secrecy, it so happened that a handmaid of the house
+master committed some offence for which he beat her. She shrieked out
+and his slave ran in to intercede for her, whereupon the Kazi beat him
+to boot, and he also roared out. The damned Barber fancied that it was
+I who was being beaten; so he also fell to shouting and tore his
+garments and scattered dust on his head and kept on shrieking and
+crying "Help ! Help !" So the people came round about him and he went
+on yelling, "My master is being murdered in the Kazi's house!" Then he
+ran clamouring to my place with the folk after him, and told my people
+and servants and slaves; and, before I knew what was doing, up they
+came tearing their clothes and letting loose their hair[FN#629] and
+shouting, "Alas, our master!"; and this Barber leading the rout with
+his clothes rent and in sorriest plight; and he also shouting like a
+madman and saying, "Alas for our murdered master!" And they all made an
+assault upon the house in which I was. The Kazi, hearing the yells and
+the uproar at his door, said to one of his servants, "See what is the
+matter"; and the man went forth and returned and said, "O my master, at
+the gate there are more than ten thousand souls what with men and
+women, and all crying out, 'Alas for our murdered master!'; and they
+keep pointing to our house." When the Kazi heard this, the matter
+seemed serious and he waxed wroth; so he rose and opening the door saw
+a great crowd of people; whereat he was astounded and said, "O folk!
+what is there to do?" "O accursed! O dog! O hog!" my servants replied;
+"'Tis thou who hast killed our master!" Quoth he, "O good folk, and
+what hath your master done to me that I should kill him?"— And
+Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
+say.
+
+When it was the Thirty-first Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kazi said to
+the servants, "What hath your master done to me that I should kill him?
+This is my house and it is open to you all." Then quoth the Barber,
+"Thou didst beat him and I heard him cry out;" and quoth the Kazi, "But
+what was he doing that I should beat him, and what brought him in to my
+house; and whence came he and whither went he?" "Be not a wicked,
+perverse old man!" cried the Barber, "for I know the whole story; and
+the long and short of it is that thy daughter is in love with him and
+he loves her; and when thou knewest that he had entered the house, thou
+badest thy servants beat him and they did so: by Allah, none shall
+judge between us and thee but the Caliph; or else do thou bring out our
+master that his folk may take him, before they go in and save him
+perforce from thy house, and thou be put to shame." Then said the Kazi
+(and his tongue was bridled and his mouth was stopped by confusion
+before the people), "An thou say sooth, do thou come in and fetch him
+out." Whereupon the Barber pushed forward and entered the house. When I
+saw this I looked about for a means of escape and flight, but saw no
+hiding place except a great chest in the upper chamber where I was. So
+I got into it and pulled the lid down upon myself and held my breath.
+The Barber was hardly in the room before he began to look about for me,
+then turned him right and left and came straight to the place where I
+was, and stepped up to the chest and, lifting it on his head, made off
+as fast as he could. At this, my reason forsook me, for I knew that he
+would not let me be; so I took courage and opening the chest threw
+myself to the ground. My leg was broken in the fall, and the door being
+open I saw a great concourse of people looking in. Now I carried in my
+sleeve much gold and some silver, which I had provided for an ill day
+like this and the like of such occasion; so I kept scattering it
+amongst the folk to divert their attention from me and, whilst they
+were busy scrambling for it, I set off, hopping as fast as I could,
+through the by streets of Baghdad, shifting and turning right and left.
+But whithersoever I went this damned Barber would go in after me,
+crying aloud, "They would have bereft me of my maa-a-ster! They would
+have slain him who was a benefactor to me and my family and my friends!
+Praised be Allah who made me prevail against them and delivered my lord
+from their hands!" Then to me, "Where wilt thou go now? Thou wouldst
+persist in following thine own evil devices, till thou broughtest
+thyself to this ill pass; and, had not Allah vouchsafed me to thee,
+ne'er hadst thou escaped this strait into which thou hast fallen, for
+they would have cast thee into a calamity whence thou never couldest
+have won free. But I will not call thee to account for thine ignorance,
+as thou art so little of wit and inconsequential and addicted to
+hastiness!" Said I to him, "Doth not what thou hast brought upon me
+suffice thee, but thou must run after me and talk me such talk in the
+bazar streets?" And I well nigh gave up the ghost for excess of rage
+against him. Then I took refuge in the shop of a weaver amiddlemost of
+the market and sought protection of the owner who drove the Barber
+away; and, sitting in the back room,[FN#630] I said to myself, "If I
+return home I shall never be able to get rid of this curse of a Barber,
+who will be with me night and day; and I cannot endure the sight of him
+even for a breathing space." So I sent out at once for witnesses and
+made a will, dividing the greater part of my property among my people,
+and appointed a guardian over them, to whom I committed the charge of
+great and small, directing him to sell my houses and domains. Then I
+set out on my travels that I might be free of this pimp;[FN#631] and I
+came to settle in your town where I have lived some time. When you
+invited me and I came hither, the first thing I saw was this accursed
+pander seated in the place of honour. How then can my heart be glad and
+my stay be pleasant in company with this fellow who brought all this
+upon me, and who was the cause of the breaking of my leg and of my
+exile from home and native land. And the youth refused to sit down and
+went away. When we heard his story (continued the Tailor) we were
+amazed beyond measure and amused and said to the Barber, "By Allah, is
+it true what this young man saith of thee?" "By Allah," replied he, "I
+dealt thus by him of my courtesy and sound sense and generosity. Had it
+not been for me he had perished and none but I was the cause of his
+escape. Well it was for him that he suffered in his leg and not in his
+life! Had I been a man of many words, a meddler, a busy body, I had not
+acted thus kindly by him; but now I will tell you a tale which befell
+me, that you may be well assured I am a man sparing of speech in whom
+is no forwardness and a very different person from those six Brothers
+of mine; and this it is."
+
+
+
+
+The Barber’s Tale of Himself.
+
+
+I was living in Baghdad during the times of Al-Mustansir
+bi'llah,[FN#632] Son of Al-Mustazi bi'llah the then Caliph, a prince
+who loved the poor and needy and companied with the learned and pious.
+One day it happened to him that he was wroth with ten persons,
+highwaymen who robbed on the Caliph's highway, and he ordered the
+Prefect of Baghdad to bring them into the presence on the anniversary
+of the Great Festival.[FN#633] So the Prefect sallied out and, making
+them His prisoners, embarked with them in a boat. I caught sight of
+them as they were embarking and said to myself, "These are surely
+assembled for a marriage feast; methinks they are spending their day in
+that boat eating and drinking, and none shall be companion of their
+cups but I myself." So I rose, O fair assembly; and, of the excess of
+my courtesy and the gravity of my understanding, I embarked with them
+and entered into conversation with them. They rowed across to the
+opposite bank, where they landed and there came up the watch and
+guardians of the peace with chains, which they put round the robbers'
+necks. They chained me among the rest of them; and, O people, is it not
+a proof of my courtesy and spareness of speech, that I held my peace
+and did not please to speak? Then they took us away in bilbos and next
+morning carried us all before Al-Mustansir bi'llah, Commander of the
+Faithful, who bade smite the necks of the ten robbers. So the Sworder
+came forward after they were seated on the leather of blood;[FN#634]
+then drawing his blade, struck off one head after another until he had
+smitten the neck of the tenth; and I alone remained. The Caliph looked
+at me and asked the Heads man, saying, "What ails thee that thou hast
+struck off only nine heads?"; and he answered, "Allah forbid that I
+should behead only nine, when thou biddest me behead ten!" Quoth the
+Caliph, "Meseems thou hast smitten the necks of only nine, and this man
+before thee is the tenth." "By thy beneficence!" replied the Headsman,
+"I have beheaded ten." "Count them!" cried the Caliph and whenas they
+counted heads, lo! there were ten. The Caliph looked at me and said,
+"What made thee keep silence at a time like this and how camest thou to
+company with these men of blood? Tell me the cause of all this, for
+albeit thou art a very old man, assuredly thy wits are weak." Now when
+I heard these words from the Caliph I sprang to my feet and replied,
+"Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that I am the Silent Shaykh and am
+thus called to distinguish me from my six brothers. I am a man of
+immense learning whilst, as for the gravity of my understanding, the
+wiliness of my wits and the spareness of my speech, there is no end of
+them; and my calling is that of a barber. I went out early on yesterday
+morning and saw these men making for a skiff; and, fancying they were
+bound for a marriage feast, I joined them and mixed with them. After a
+while up came the watch and guardians of the peace, who put chains
+round their necks and round mine with the rest; but, in the excess of
+my courtesy, I held my peace and spake not a word; nor was this other
+but generosity on my part. They brought us into thy presence, and thou
+gavest an order to smite the necks of the ten; yet did I not make
+myself known to thee and remained silent before the Sworder, purely of
+my great generosity and courtesy which led me to share with them in
+their death. But all my life long have I dealt thus nobly with mankind,
+and they requite me the foulest and evillest requital!" When the Caliph
+heard my words and knew that I was a man of exceeding generosity and of
+very few words, one in whom is no forwardness (as this youth would have
+it whom I rescued from mortal risk and who hath so scurvily repaid me),
+he laughed with excessive laughter till he fell upon his back. Then
+said he to me, "O Silent Man, do thy six brothers favour thee in wisdom
+and knowledge and spareness of speech?" I replied, "Never were they
+like me! Thou puttest reproach upon me, O Commander of the Faithful,
+and it becomes thee not to even my brothers with me; for, of the
+abundance of their speech and their deficiency of courtesy and gravity,
+each one of them hath gotten some maim or other. One is a monocular,
+another palsied, a third stone blind, a fourth cropped of ears and nose
+and a fifth shorn of both lips, while the sixth is a hunchback and a
+cripple. And conceive not, O Commander of the Faithful, that I am
+prodigal of speech; but I must perforce explain to thee that I am a man
+of greater worth and fewer words than any of them. From each one of my
+brothers hangs a tale of how he came by his bodily defect and these I
+will relate to thee." So the Caliph gave ear to
+
+
+
+
+The Barber’s Tale of his First Brother.
+
+
+Know then, O Commander of the Faithful, that my first brother, Al
+Bakbuk, the Prattler, is a Hunchback who took to tailoring in Baghdad,
+and he used to sew in a shop hired from a man of much wealth, who dwelt
+over the shop,[FN#635] and there was also a flour-mill in the basement.
+One day as my brother, the Hunchback, was sitting in his shop a
+tailoring, he chanced to raise his head and saw a lady like the rising
+full moon at a balconied window of his landlord's house, engaged in
+looking out at the passers by.[FN#636] When my brother beheld her, his
+heart was taken with love of her and he passed his whole day gazing at
+her and neglected his tailoring till eventide. Next morning he opened
+his shop and sat him down to sew; but, as often as he stitched a
+stitch, he looked to the window and saw her as before; and his passion
+and infatuation for her increased. On the third day as he was sitting
+in his usual place gazing on her, she caught sight of him and,
+perceiving that he had been captivated with love of her, laughed in his
+face[FN#637] and he smiled back at her. Then she disappeared and
+presently sent her slave girl to him with a bundle containing a piece
+of red flowered silk. The handmaid accosted him and said, "My lady
+salameth to thee and desireth thee, of thy skill and good will, to
+fashion for her a shift of this piece and to sew it handsomely with thy
+best sewing. He replied, "Hearkening and obedience"; and shaped for her
+a chemise and finished sewing it the same day. When the morning
+morrowed the girl came back and said to him, "My lady salameth to thee
+and asks how thou hast passed yesternight; for she hath not tasted
+sleep by reason of her heart being taken up with thee. Then she laid
+before him a piece of yellow satin and said, My lady biddeth thee cut
+her two pair of petticoat trousers out of this piece and sew them this
+very day." "Hearkening and obedience!' replied he, "greet her for me
+with many greetings and say to her, Thy slave is obedient to thine
+order; so command him as thou wilt." Then he applied himself to cutting
+out and worked hard at sewing the trousers; and after an hour the lady
+appeared at the lattice and saluted him by signs, now casting down her
+eyes, then smiling in his face, and he began to assure himself that he
+would soon make a conquest. She did not let him stir till he had
+finished the two pair of trousers, when she with drew and sent the
+handmaid to whom he delivered them; and she took them and went her
+ways. When it was night, he threw himself on his carpet bed, and lay
+tossing about from side to side till morning, when he rose and sat down
+in his place. Presently the damsel came to him and said, "My master
+calleth for thee." Hearing these words he feared with exceeding fear;
+but the slave girl, seeing his affright, said to him, "No evil is meant
+to thee: naught but good awaiteth thee. My lady would have thee make
+acquaintance with my lord." So my brother the tailor, rejoicing with
+great joy, went with her; and when he came into the presence of his
+landlord, the lady's husband, he kissed the ground before him, and the
+master of the house returned his greeting and gave him a great piece of
+linen saying, "Shape me shirts out of this stuff and sew them well;"
+and my brother answered, "To hear is to obey." Thereupon he fell to
+work at once, snipping, shaping and sewing till he had finished twenty
+shirts by supper time, without stopping to taste food. The house master
+asked him, "How much the wage for this?"; and he answered, "Twenty
+dirhams." So the gentleman cried out to the slave girl, "Bring me
+twenty dirhams," and my brother spake not a word; but the lady signed,
+"Take nothing from him;' whereupon my brother said, "By Allah I will
+take naught from thy hand. And he carried off his tailor's gear and
+returned to his shop, although he was destitute even to a red
+cent.[FN#638] Then he applied himself to do their work; eating, in his
+zeal and diligence, but a bit of bread and drinking only a little water
+for three days. At the end of this time came the handmaid and said to
+him, "What hast thou done?" Quoth he, "They are finished," and carried
+the shirts to the lady's husband, who would have paid him his hire: but
+he said, "I will take nothing," for fear of her and, returning to his
+shop, passed the night without sleep because of his hunger. Now the
+dame had informed her husband how the case stood (my brother knowing
+naught of this); and the two had agreed to make him tailor for nothing,
+the better to mock and laugh at him. Next morning he went to his shop,
+and, as he sat there, the handmaid came to him and said, "Speak with my
+master." So he accompanied her to the husband who said to him, "I wish
+thee to cut out for me five long sleeved robes."[FN#639] So he cut them
+out[FN#640] and took the stuff and went away. Then he sewed them and
+carried them to the gentleman, who praised his sewing and offered him a
+purse of silver. He put out his hand to take it, but the lady signed to
+him from behind her husband not to do so, and he replied, "O my lord,
+there is no hurry, we have time enough for this." Then he went forth
+from the house meaner and meeker than a donkey, for verily five things
+were gathered together in him viz.: love, beggary, hunger, nakedness
+and hard labour. Nevertheless he heartened himself with the hope of
+gaining the lady's favours. When he had made an end of all their jobs,
+they played him another trick and married him to their slave girl; but,
+on the night when he thought to go in to her, they said to him, "Lie
+this night in the mill; and to morrow all will go well." My brother
+concluded that there was some good cause for this and nighted alone in
+the mill. Now the husband had set on the miller to make the tailor turn
+the mill: so when night was half spent the man came in to him and began
+to say, "This bull of ours hath be come useless and standeth still
+instead of going round: he will not turn the mill this night, and yet
+we have great store of corn to be ground. However, I'll yoke him
+perforce and make him finish grinding it before morning, as the folk
+are impatient for their flour." So he filled the hoppers with grain
+and, going up to my brother with a rope in his hand, tied it round his
+neck and said to him, "Gee up! Round with the mill! thou, O bull,
+wouldst do nothing but grub and stale and dung!" Then he took a whip
+and laid it on the shoulders and calves of my brother, who began to
+howl and bellow; but none came to help him; and he was forced to grind
+the wheat till hard upon dawn, when the house master came in and,
+seeing my brother still tethered to the yoke and the man flogging him,
+went away. At day break the miller returned home and left him still
+yoked and half dead; and soon after in came the slave girl who unbound
+him, and said to him, "I and my lady are right sorry for what hath
+happened and we have borne thy grief with thee." But he had no tongue
+wherewith to answer her from excess of beating and mill turning. Then
+he retired to his lodging and behold, the clerk who had drawn up the
+marriage deed came to him[FN#641] and saluted him, saying, "Allah give
+thee long life! May thy espousal be blessed! This face telleth of
+pleasant doings and dalliance and kissing and clipping from dusk to
+dawn." "Allah grant the liar no peace, O thou thousandfold cuckold!",
+my brother replied, "by Allah, I did nothing but turn the mill in the
+place of the bull all night till morning!" "Tell me thy tale," quoth
+he; and my brother recounted what had befallen him and he said, "Thy
+star agrees not with her star; but an thou wilt I can alter the
+contract for thee," adding, "'Ware lest another cheat be not in store
+for thee." And my brother answered him, "See if thou have not another
+contrivance." Then the clerk left him and he sat in his shop, looking
+for some one to bring him a job whereby he might earn his day's bread.
+Presently the handmaid came to him and said, "Speak with my lady."
+"Begone, O my good girl," replied he, "there shall be no more dealings
+between me and thy lady." The handmaid returned to her mistress and
+told her what my brother had said and presently she put her head out of
+the window, weeping and saying, "Why, O my beloved, are there to be no
+more dealings 'twixt me and thee?" But he made her no answer. Then she
+wept and conjured him, swearing that all which had befallen him in the
+mill was not sanctioned by her and that she was innocent of the whole
+matter. When he looked upon her beauty and loveliness and heard the
+sweetness of her speech, the sorrow which had possessed him passed from
+his heart; he accepted her excuse and he rejoiced in her sight. So he
+saluted her and talked with her and sat tailoring awhile, after which
+the handmaid came to him and said, "My mistress greeteth thee and
+informeth thee that her husband purposeth to lie abroad this night in
+the house of some intimate friends of his; so, when he is gone, do thou
+come to us and spend the night with my lady in delightsomest joyance
+till the morning." Now her husband had asked her, "How shall we manage
+to turn him away from thee?"; and she answered, "Leave me to play him
+another trick and make him a laughing stock for all the town." But my
+brother knew naught of the malice of women. As soon as it was dusk, the
+slave girl came to him and carried him to the house, and when the lady
+saw him she said to him, "By Allah, O my lord, I have been longing
+exceedingly for thee." "By Allah," cried he, "kiss me quick before thou
+give me aught else."[FN#642] Hardly had he spoken, when the lady's
+husband came in from the next room[FN#643] and seized him, saying, "By
+Allah, I will not let thee go, till I deliver thee to the chief of the
+town watch." My brother humbled himself to him; but he would not listen
+to him and carried him before the Prefect who gave him an hundred
+lashes with a whip and, mounting him on a camel, promenaded him round
+about the city, whilst the guards proclaimed aloud, "This is his reward
+who violateth the Harims of honourable men!" Moreover, he fell off the
+camel and broke his leg and so became lame. Then the Prefect banished
+him from the city; and he went forth unknowing whither he should wend;
+but I heard of him and fearing for him went out after him and brought
+him back secretly to the city and restored him to health and took him
+into my house where he still liveth. The Caliph laughed at my story and
+said, "Thou hast done well, O Samit, O Silent Man, O spare of speech!";
+and he bade me take a present and go away. But I said, "I will accept
+naught of thee except I tell thee what befell all my other brothers;
+and do not think me a man of many words." So the Caliph gave ear to
+
+
+
+
+The Barber’s Tale of his Second Brother.
+
+
+Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that my second brother's name was
+Al-Haddar, that is the Babbler, and he was the paralytic. Now it
+happened to him one day, as he was going about his business, that an
+old woman accosted him and said, "Stop a little, my good man, that I
+may tell thee of somewhat which, if it be to thy liking, thou shalt do
+for me and I will pray Allah to give thee good of it!" My brother
+stopped and she went on, "I will put thee in the way of a certain
+thing, so thou not be prodigal of speech." "On with thy talk," quoth
+he; and she, "What sayest thou to handsome quarters and a fair garden
+with flowing waters, flowers blooming, and fruit growing, and old wine
+going and a pretty young face whose owner thou mayest embrace from dark
+till dawn? If thou do whatso I bid thee thou shalt see something
+greatly to thy advantage." "And is all this in the world?" asked my
+brother; and she answered, "Yes, and it shall be thine, so thou be
+reasonable and leave idle curiosity and many words, and do my bidding."
+"I will indeed, O my lady," said he, "how is it thou hast preferred me
+in this matter before all men and what is it that so much pleaseth thee
+in me?" Quoth she, "Did I not bid thee be spare of speech? Hold thy
+peace and follow me. Know, that the young lady, to whom I shall carry
+thee, loveth to have her own way and hateth being thwarted and all who
+gainsay; so, if thou humour her, thou shalt come to thy desire of her."
+And my brother said, "I will not cross her in anything." Then she went
+on and my brother followed her, an hungering after what she described
+to him till they entered a fine large house, handsome and choicely
+furnished, full of eunuchs and servants and showing signs of prosperity
+from top to bottom. And she was carrying him to the upper story when
+the people of the house said to him, "What dost thou here?" But the old
+woman answered them, "Hold your peace and trouble him not: he is a
+workman and we have occasion for him." Then she brought him into a fine
+great pavilion, with a garden in its midst, never eyes saw a fairer;
+and made him sit upon a handsome couch. He had not sat long, be fore he
+heard a loud noise and in came a troop of slave girls surrounding a
+lady like the moon on the night of its fullest. When he saw her, he
+rose up and made an obeisance to her, whereupon she welcomed him and
+bade him be seated. So he sat down and she said to him, "Allah advance
+thee to honour! Is all well with thee?" "O my lady," he answered, "all
+with me is right well." Then she bade bring in food, and they set
+before her delicate viands; so she sat down to eat, making a show of
+affection to my brother and jesting with him, though all the while she
+could not refrain from laughing; but as often as he looked at her, she
+signed towards her handmaidens as though she were laughing at them. My
+brother (the ass!) understood nothing; but, in the excess of his
+ridiculous passion, he fancied that the lady was in love with him and
+that she would soon grant him his desire. When they had done eating,
+they set on the wine and there came in ten maidens like moons, with
+lutes ready strung in their hands, and fell to singing with full
+voices, sweet and sad, whereupon delight gat hold upon him and he took
+the cup from the lady's hands and drank it standing. Then she drank a
+cup of wine and my brother (still standing) said to her "Health," and
+bowed to her. She handed him another cup and he drank it off, when she
+slapped him hard on the nape of his neck.[FN#644] Upon this my brother
+would have gone out of the house in anger; but the old woman followed
+him and winked to him to return. So he came back and the lady bade him
+sit and he sat down without a word. Then she again slapped him on the
+nape of his neck; and the second slapping did not suffice her, she must
+needs make all her handmaidens also slap and cuff him, while he kept
+saying to the old woman, "I never saw aught nicer than this." She on
+her side ceased not exclaiming, "Enough, enough, I conjure thee, O my
+mistress!"; but the women slapped him till he well nigh swooned away.
+Presently my brother rose and went out to obey a call of nature, but
+the old woman overtook him, and said, "Be patient a little and thou
+shalt win to thy wish." "How much longer have I to wait," my brother
+replied, "this slapping hath made me feel faint." "As soon as she is
+warm with wine," answered she, "thou shalt have thy desire." So he
+returned to his place and sat down, where upon all the handmaidens
+stood up and the lady bade them perfume him with pastiles and
+besprinkle his face with rose-water. Then said she to him, "Allah
+advance thee to honour! Thou hast entered my house and hast borne with
+my conditions, for whoso thwarteth me I turn him away, and whoso is
+patient hath his desire." "O mistress mine," said he, "I am thy slave
+and in the hollow of thine hand!" "Know, then," continued she, "that
+Allah hath made me passionately fond of frolic; and whoso falleth in
+with my humour cometh by whatso he wisheth." Then she ordered her
+maidens to sing with loud voices till the whole company was delighted;
+after which she said to one of them, "Take thy lord, and do what is
+needful for him and bring him back to me forthright." So the damsel
+took my brother (and he not knowing what she would do with him); but
+the old woman overtook him and said, "Be patient; there remaineth but
+little to do." At this his face brightened and he stood up before the
+lady while the old woman kept saying, "Be patient; thou wilt now at
+once win to thy wish!"; till he said, "Tell me what she would have the
+maiden do with me?" "Nothing but good," replied she, "as I am thy
+sacrifice! She wisheth only to dye thy eyebrows and pluck out thy
+mustachios." Quoth he, "As for the dyeing of my eye brows, that will
+come off with washing,[FN#645] but for the plucking out of my
+mustachios, that indeed is a somewhat painful process." "Be cautious
+how thou cross her," cried the old woman; "for she hath set her heart
+on thee." So my brother patiently suffered her to dye his eyebrows and
+pluck out his mustachios, after which the maiden returned to her
+mistress and told her. Quoth she "Remaineth now only one other thing to
+be done; thou must shave his beard and make him a smooth o'
+face."[FN#646] So the maiden went back and told him what her mistress
+had bidden her do; and my brother (the blockhead!) said to her, "How
+shall I do what will disgrace me before the folk?" But the old woman
+said, "She would do on this wise only that thou mayst be as a beardless
+youth and that no hair be left on thy face to scratch and prick her
+delicate cheeks; for indeed she is passionately in love with thee. So
+be patient and thou shalt attain thine object." My brother was patient
+and did her bidding and let shave off his beard and, when he was
+brought back to the lady, lo! he appeared dyed red as to his eyebrows,
+plucked of both mustachios, shorn of his beard, rouged on both cheeks.
+At first she was affrighted at him; then she made mockery of him and,
+laughing till she fell upon her back, said, "O my lord, thou hast
+indeed won my heart by thy good nature!" Then she conjured him, by her
+life, to stand up and dance, and he arose, and capered about, and there
+was not a cushion in the house but she threw it at his head, and in
+like manner did all her women who also kept pelting him with oranges
+and lemons and citrons till he fell down senseless from the cuffing on
+the nape of the neck, the pillowing and the fruit pelting. "Now thou
+hast attained thy wish," said the old woman when he came round; "there
+are no more blows in store for thee and there remaineth but one little
+thing to do. It is her wont, when she is in her cups, to let no one
+have her until she put off her dress and trousers and remain stark
+naked.[FN#647] Then she will bid thee doff thy clothes and run; and she
+will run before thee as if she were flying from thee; and do thou
+follow her from place to place till thy prickle stands at fullest
+point, when she will yield to thee;"[FN#648] adding, "Strip off thy
+clothes at once." So he rose, well nigh lost in ecstasy and, doffing
+his raiment, showed himself mother naked.—And Shahrazad perceived the
+dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Thirty-second Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old
+woman said to the Barber's second brother, "Doff thy clothes," he rose,
+well nigh lost in ecstasy; and, stripping off his raiment, showed
+himself mother naked. Whereupon the lady stripped also and said to my
+brother, "If thou want anything run after me till thou catch me." Then
+she set out at a run and he ran after her while she rushed into room
+after room and rushed out of room after room, my brother scampering
+after her in a rage of desire like a veritable madman, with yard
+standing terribly tall. After much of this kind she dashed into a
+darkened place, and he dashed after her; but suddenly he trod upon a
+yielding spot, which gave way under his weight; and, before he was
+aware where he was, he found himself in the midst of a crowded market,
+part of the bazar of the leather sellers who were crying the prices of
+skins and hides and buying and selling. When they saw him in his
+plight, naked, with standing yard, shorn of beard and mustachios, with
+eyebrows dyed red, and cheeks ruddied with rouge, they shouted and
+clapped their hands at him, and set to flogging him with skins upon his
+bare body till a swoon came over him. Then they threw him on the back
+of an ass and carried him to the Chief of Police. Quoth the Chief,
+"What is this?" Quoth they, "This fellow fell suddenly upon us out of
+the Wazir's house[FN#649] in this state." So the Prefect gave him an
+hundred lashes and then banished him from Baghdad. However I went out
+after him and brought him back secretly into the city and made him a
+daily allowance for his living: although, were it not for my generous
+humour, I could not have put up with the like of him. Then the Caliph
+gave ear to
+
+
+
+
+The Barber’s Tale of his Third Brother.
+
+
+My third brother's name was Al-Fakík, the Gabbler, who was blind. One
+day Fate and Fortune drove him to a fine large house, and he knocked at
+the door, desiring speech of its owner that he might beg somewhat of
+him. Quoth the master of the house, "Who is at the door?" But my
+brother spake not a word and presently he heard him repeat with a loud
+voice, "Who is this?" Still he made no answer and immediately heard the
+master walk to the door and open it and say, "What dost thou want?" My
+brother answered "Something for Allah Almighty's sake."[FN#650] "Art
+thou blind?" asked the man, and my brother answered "Yes." Quoth the
+other, "Stretch me out thy hand." So my brother put out his hand
+thinking that he would give him something; but he took it and, drawing
+him into the house, carried him up from stair to stair till they
+reached the terrace on the house top, my brother thinking the while
+that he would surely give him something of food or money. Then he asked
+my brother, "What dost thou want, O blind man?" and he answered,
+"Something for the Almighty's sake." "Allah open for thee some other
+door!" "O thou! why not say so when I was below stairs?" "O cadger, why
+not answer me when I first called to thee?" "And what meanest thou to
+do for me now?" "There is nothing in the house to give thee." "Then
+take me down the stair." "The path is before thee." So my brother rose
+and made his way downstairs, till he came within twenty steps of the
+door, when his foot slipped and he rolled to the bottom and broke his
+head. Then he went out, unknowing whither to turn, and presently fell
+in with two other blind men, companions of his, who said to him, "What
+didst thou gain to day?" He told them what had befallen him and added,
+"O my brothers, I wish to take some of the money in my hands and
+provide myself with it." Now the master of the house had followed him
+and was listening to what they said; but neither my brother nor his
+comrades knew of this. So my brother went to his lodging and sat down
+to await his companions, and the house owner entered after him without
+being perceived. When the other blind men arrived, my brother said to
+them, "Bolt the door and search the house lest any stranger have
+followed us." The man, hearing this, caught hold of a cord that hung
+from the ceiling and clung to it, whilst they went round about the
+house and searched but found no one. So they came back, and, sitting
+beside my brother, brought out their money which they counted and lo!
+it was twelve thousand dirhams. Each took what he wanted and they
+buried the rest in a corner of the room. Then they set on food and sat
+down, to eat. Presently my brother, hearing a strange pair of jaws
+munching by his side,[FN#651] said to his friends, "There is a stranger
+amongst us;" and, putting forth his hand, caught hold of that of the
+house master. Thereupon all fell on him and beat him;[FN#652] and when
+tired of belabouring him they shouted, "O ye Moslems! a thief is come
+in to us, seeking to take our money!" A crowd gathered around them,
+whereupon the intruder hung on to them; and complained with them as
+they complained, and, shutting his eyes like them, so that none might
+doubt his blindness, cried out, "O Moslems, I take refuge with Allah
+and the Governor, for I have a matter to make known to him!" Suddenly
+up came the watch and, laying hands on the whole lot (my brother being
+amongst them), drove them[FN#653] to the Governor's who set them before
+him and asked, "What news with you?" Quoth the intruder, "Look and find
+out for thyself, not a word shall be wrung from us save by torture, so
+begin by beating me and after me beat this man our leader."[FN#654] And
+he pointed to my brother. So they threw the man at full length and gave
+him four hundred sticks on his backside. The beating pained him,
+whereupon he opened one eye and, as they redoubled their blows, he
+opened the other eye. When the Governor saw this he said to him, "What
+have we here, O accursed?"; whereto he replied, "Give me the seal-ring
+of pardon! We four have shammed blind, and we impose upon people that
+we may enter houses and look upon the unveiled faces of the women and
+contrive for their corruption. In this way we have gotten great gain
+and our store amounts to twelve thousand dirhams. Said I to my company,
+'Give me my share, three thousand;' but they rose and beat me and took
+away my money, and I seek refuge with Allah and with thee; better thou
+have my share than they. So, if thou wouldst know the truth of my
+words, beat one and every of the others more than thou hast beaten me,
+and he will surely open his eyes." The Governor gave orders for the
+question to begin with my brother, and they bound him to the whipping
+post,[FN#655] and the Governor said, "O scum of the earth, do ye abuse
+the gracious gifts of Allah and make as if ye were blind!" "Allah!
+Allah!" cried my brother, "by Allah, there is none among us who can
+see." Then they beat him till he swooned away and the Governor cried,
+"Leave him till he come to and then beat him again." After this he
+caused each of the companions to receive more than three hundred
+sticks, whilst the sham-abraham kept saying to them "Open your eyes or
+you will be beaten afresh." At last the man said to the Governor,
+"Dispatch some one with me to bring thee the money; for these fellows
+will not open their eyes, lest they incur disgrace before the folk." So
+the Governor sent to fetch the money and gave the man his pretended
+share, three thousand dirhams; and, keeping the rest for himself,
+banished the three blind men from the city. But I, O Commander of the
+Faithful, went out and overtaking my brother questioned him of his
+case; whereupon he told me of what I have told thee; so I brought him
+secretly into the city, and appointed him (in the strictest privacy) an
+allowance for meat and drink! The Caliph laughed at my story and said,
+"Give him a gift and let him go;" but I said, "By Allah! I will take
+naught till I have made known to the Commander of the Faithful what
+came to pass with the rest of my brothers; for truly I am a man of few
+words and spare of speech." Then the Caliph gave ear to
+
+
+
+
+The Barber’s Tale of his Fourth Brother.
+
+
+Now as for my fourth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Al-Kuz
+al-aswáni, or the long necked Gugglet hight, from his brimming over
+with words, the same who was blind of one eye, he became a butcher in
+Baghdad and he sold flesh and fattened rams; and great men and rich
+bought their meat of him, so that he amassed much wealth and got him
+cattle and houses. He fared thus a long while, till one day, as he was
+sitting in his shop, there came up an old man and long o' the beard,
+who laid down some silver and said, "Give me meat for this." He gave
+him his money s worth of flesh and the oldster went his ways. My
+brother examined the Shaykh's silver, and, seeing that the dirhams were
+white and bright, he set them in a place apart. The greybeard continued
+to return to the shop regularly for five months, and my brother ceased
+not to lay up all the coin he received from him in its own box. At last
+he thought to take out the money to buy sheep; so he opened the box and
+found in it nothing, save bits of white paper cut round to look like
+coin;[FN#656] so he buffeted his face and cried aloud till the folk
+gathered about him, whereupon he told them his tale which made them
+marvel exceedingly. Then he rose as was his wont, and slaughtering a
+ram hung it up inside his shop; after which he cut off some of the
+flesh, and hanging it outside kept saying to himself, "O Allah, would
+the ill omened old fellow but come!" And an hour had not passed before
+the Shaykh came with his silver in hand; where upon my brother rose and
+caught hold of him calling out, "Come aid me, O Moslems, and learn my
+story with this villain!" When the old man heard this, he quietly said
+to him, "Which will be the better for thee, to let go of me or to be
+disgraced by me amidst the folk?" "In what wilt thou disgrace me?" "In
+that thou sellest man's flesh for mutton!" "Thou liest, thou accursed!"
+"Nay, he is the accursed who hath a man hanging up by way of meat in
+his shop. If the matter be as thou sayest, I give thee lawful leave to
+take my money and my life." Then the old man cried out aloud, "Ho, ye
+people! if you would prove the truth of my words, enter this man's
+shop." The folk rushed in and found that the ram was become a dead
+man[FN#657] hung up for sale. So they set upon my brother crying out,
+"O Infidel! O villain!"; and his best friends fell to cuffing and
+kicking him and kept saying, "Dost thou make us eat flesh of the sons
+of Adam?" Furthermore, the old man struck him on the eye and put it
+out. Then they carried the carcass, with the throat cut, before the
+Chief of the city watch, to whom the old man said, "O Emir, this fellow
+butchers men and sells their flesh for mutton and we have brought him
+to thee; so arise and execute the judgments of Allah (to whom be honour
+and glory!)." My brother would have defended himself, but the Chief
+refused to hear him and sentenced him to receive five hundred sticks
+and to forfeit the whole of his property. And, indeed, had it not been
+for that same property which he expended in bribes, they would have
+surely slain him. Then the Chief banished him from Baghdad; and my
+brother fared forth at a venture, till he came to a great town, where
+he thought it best to set up as a cobbler; so he opened a shop and sat
+there doing what he could for his livelihood. One day, as he went forth
+on his business, he heard the distant tramp of horses and, asking the
+cause, was told that the King was going out to hunt and course; so my
+brother stopped to look at the fine suite. It so fortuned that the
+King's eye met my brother's; whereupon the King hung down his head and
+said, "I seek refuge with Allah from the evil of this day!";[FN#658]
+and turned the reins of his steed and returned home with all his
+retinue. Then he gave orders to his guards, who seized my brother and
+beat him with a beating so painful that he was well nigh dead; and my
+brother knew not what could be the cause of his maltreatment, after
+which he returned to his place in sorriest plight. Soon afterwards he
+went to one of the King's household and related what had happened to
+him; and the man laughed till he fell upon his back and cried, "O
+brother mine, know that the King cannot bear to look at a monocular,
+especially if he be blind of the right eye, in which case he doth not
+let him go without killing him." When my brother heard this, he
+resolved to fly from that city; so he went forth from it to another
+wherein none knew him and there he abode a long while. One day, being
+full of sorrowful thought for what had befallen him, he sallied out to
+solace himself; and, as he was walking along, he heard the distant
+tramp of horses behind him and said, "The judgement of Allah is upon
+me!" and looked about for a hiding place but found none. At last he saw
+a closed door which he pushed hard: it yielded. and he entered a long
+gallery in which he took refuge, but hardly had he done so, when two
+men set upon him crying out, "Allah be thanked for having delivered
+thee into our hands, O enemy of God! These three nights thou hast
+robbed us of our rest and sleep, and verily thou hast made us taste of
+the death cup." My brother asked, "O folk, what ails you?"; and they
+answered, "Thou givest us the change and goest about to disgrace us and
+plannest some plot to cut the throat of the house master! Is it not
+enough that thou hast brought him to beggary, thou and thy fellows? But
+now give us up the knife wherewith thou threatenest us every night."
+Then they searched him and found in his waist belt the knife used for
+his shoe leather; and he said, "O people, have the fear of Allah before
+your eyes and maltreat me not, for know that my story is a right
+strange!" "And what is thy story?" said they: so he told them what had
+befallen him, hoping they would let him go; however they paid no heed
+to what he said and, instead of showing some regard, beat him
+grievously and tore off his clothes: then, finding on his sides the
+scars of beating with rods, they said, "O accursed! these marks are the
+manifest signs of thy guilt!" They carried him before the Governor,
+whilst he said to himself, "I am now punished for my sins and none can
+deliver me save Allah Almighty!" The Governor addressing my brother
+asked him, "O villain, what led thee to enter their house with
+intention to murther?"; and my brother answered, "I conjure thee by
+Allah, O Emir, hear my words and be not hasty in condemning me!" But
+the Governor cried, "Shall we listen to the words of a robber who hath
+beggared these people, and who beareth on his back the scar of his
+stripes?" adding, "They surely had not done this to thee, save for some
+great crime." So he sentenced him to receive an hundred cuts with the
+scourge, after which they set him on a camel and paraded him about the
+city, proclaiming, "This is the requital and only too little to requite
+him who breaketh into people's houses." Then they thrust him out of the
+city, and my brother wandered at random, till I heard what had befallen
+him; and, going in search of him, questioned him of his case; so he
+acquainted me with his story and all his mischances, and I carried him
+secretly to the city where I made him an allowance for his meat and
+drink. Then the Caliph gave ear to
+
+
+
+
+The Barber’s Tale of his Fifth Brother.
+
+
+My fifth brother, Al-Nashshár,[FN#659] the Babbler, the same who was
+cropped of both ears, O Commander of the Faithful, was an asker wont to
+beg of folk by night and live on their alms by day. Now when our
+father, who was an old man well stricken in years sickened and died, he
+left us seven hundred dirhams whereof each son took his hundred; but,
+as my fifth brother received his portion, he was perplexed and knew not
+what to do with it. While in this uncertainty he bethought him to lay
+it out on glass ware of all sorts and turn an honest penny on its
+price. So he bought an hundred dirhams worth of verroterie and, putting
+it into a big tray, sat down to sell it on a bench at the foot of a
+wall against which he leant back. As he sat with the tray before him he
+fell to musing and said to himself, "Know, O my good Self, that the
+head of my wealth, my principal invested in this glass ware, is an
+hundred dirhams. I will assuredly sell it for two hundred with which I
+will forthright buy other glass and make by it four hundred; nor will I
+cease to sell and buy on this wise, till I have gotten four thousand
+and soon find myself the master of much money. With these coins I will
+buy merchandise and jewels and ottars[FN#660] and gain great profit on
+them; till, Allah willing, I will make my capital an hundred thousand
+dirhams. Then I will purchase a fine house with white slaves and
+eunuchs and horses; and I will eat and drink and disport myself; nor
+will I leave a singing man or a singing woman in the city, but I will
+summon them to my palace and make them perform before me." All this he
+counted over in his mind, while the tray of glass ware,: worth an
+hundred dirhams, stood on the bench before him, and, after looking at
+it, he continued, "And when, Inshallah! my capital shall have become
+one hundred thousand[FN#661] dinars, I will send out marriage
+brokeresses to require for me in wedlock the daughters of Kings and
+Wazirs; and I will demand to wife the eldest daughter of the Prime
+Minister; for it hath reached me that she is perfect in beauty and
+prime in loveliness and rare in accomplishments. I will give a marriage
+settlement of one thousand dinars; and, if her father consent, well:
+but if not I will take her by force from under his very nose. When she
+is safely homed in my house, I will buy ten little eunuchs[FN#662] and
+for myself a robe of the robes of Kings and Sultans; and get me a
+saddle of gold and a bridle set thick with gems of price. Then I will
+mount with the Mamelukes preceding me and surrounding me, and I will
+make the round of the city whilst the folk salute me and bless me;
+after which I will repair to the Wazir (he that is father of the girl)
+with armed white slaves before and behind me and on my right and on my
+left. When he sees me, the Wazir stands up, and seating me in his own
+place sits down much below me; for that I am to be his son in law. Now
+I have with me two eunuchs carrying purses, each containing a thousand
+dinars; and of these I deliver to him the thousand, his daughter's
+marriage settlement, and make him a free gift of the other thousand,
+that he may have reason to know my generosity and liberality and my
+greatness of spirit and the littleness of the world in my eyes. And for
+ten words he addresses to me I answer him two. Then back I go to my
+house, and if one come to me on the bride's part, I make him a present
+of money and throw on him a dress of honour; but if he bring me a gift,
+I give it back to him and refuse to accept it,[FN#663] that they may
+learn what a proud spirit is mine which never condescends to derogate.
+Thus I establish my rank and status. When this is done I appoint her
+wedding night and adorn my house showily! gloriously! And as the time
+for parading the bride is come, I don my finest attire and sit down on
+a mattress of gold brocade, propping up my elbow with a pillow, and
+turning neither to the right nor to the left; but looking only straight
+in front for the haughtiness of my mind and the gravity of my
+understanding. And there before me stands my wife in her raiment and
+ornaments, lovely as the full moon; and I, in my loftiness and dread
+lordliness,[FN#664] will not glance at her till those present say to
+me, 'O our lord and our master, thy wife, thy handmaid, standeth before
+thee; vouchsafe her one look, for standing wearieth her.' Then they
+kiss the ground before me many times; whereupon I raise my eyes and
+cast at her one single glance and turn my face earthwards again. Then
+they bear her off to the bride chamber,[FN#665] and I arise and change
+my clothes for a far finer suit; and, when they bring in the bride a
+second time, I deign not to throw her a look till they have begged me
+many times; after which I glance at her out of the corner of one eye,
+and then bend down my head. I continue acting after this fashion till
+the parading and displaying are completed[FN#666]"—And Shahrazad
+perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
+
+When It was the Thirty-third Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Barber's
+fifth brother proceeded:—"Then I bend down my head and continue acting
+after this fashion till her parading and displaying are completed.
+Thereupon I order one of my eunuchs to bring me a bag of five hundred
+dinars which I give as largesse to the tire women present and bid them
+one and all lead me to the bride chamber. When they leave me alone with
+her I neither look at her nor speak to her, but lie[FN#667] by her side
+with my face to the wall showing my contempt, that each and every may
+again remark how high and haughty I am. Presently her mother comes in
+to me, and kissing[FN#668] my head and hand, says to me, 'O my lord,
+look upon thine handmaid who longs for thy favour; so heal her broken
+spirit!' I give her no answer; and when she sees this she rises and
+busses my feet many times and says, 'O my lord, in very sooth my
+daughter is a beautiful maid, who hath never known man; and if thou
+show her this backwardness and aversion, her heart will break; so do
+thou incline to her and speak to her and soothe her mind and spirit.'
+Then she rises and fetches a cup of wine; and says to her daughter,
+'Take it and hand it to thy lord.' But as she approaches me I leave her
+standing between my hands and sit, propping my elbow on a round cushion
+purfled with gold thread, leaning lazily back, and without looking at
+her in the majesty of my spirit, so that she may deem me indeed a
+Sultan and a mighty man. Then she says to me, 'O my lord, Allah upon
+thee, do not refuse to take the cup from the hand of thine hand maid,
+for verily I am thy bondswoman.' But I do not speak to her and she
+presses me, saying, 'There is no help but that thou drink it;' and she
+puts it to my lips. Then I shake my fist in her face and kick her with
+my foot thus." So he let out with his toe and knocked over the tray of
+glass ware which fell to the ground and, falling from the bench, all
+that was on it was broken to bits. 'O foulest of pimps,[FN#669] this
+comes from the pride of my spirit'" cried my brother; and then, O
+Commander of the Faithful, he buffeted his face and rent his garments
+and kept on weeping and beating himself. The folk who were flocking to
+their Friday prayers saw him; and some of them looked at him and pitied
+him, whilst others paid no heed to him, and in this way my brother lost
+both capital and profit. He remained weeping a long while, and at last
+up came a beautiful lady, the scent of musk exhaling from her, who was
+going to Friday prayers riding a mule with a gold saddle and followed
+by several eunuchs. When she saw the broken glass and my brother
+weeping, her kind heart was moved to pity for him, and she asked what
+ailed him and was told that he had a tray full of glass ware by the
+sale of which he hoped to gain his living, but it was broken, and (said
+they), "there befell him what thou seest." Thereupon she called up one
+of her eunuchs and said to him, Give what thou hast with thee to this
+poor fellow!". And he gave my brother a purse in which he found five
+hundred dinars; and when it touched his hand he was well nigh dying for
+excess of joy and he offered up blessings for her. Then he returned to
+his abode a substantial man; and, as he sat considering, some one
+rapped at the door. So he rose and opened and saw an old woman whom he
+had never seen. "O my son," said she, "know that prayer tide is near
+and I have not yet made my Wuzu-ablution;[FN#670] so kindly allow me
+the use of thy lodging for the purpose." My brother answered, "To hear
+is to comply;" and going in bade her follow him. So she entered and he
+brought her an ewer wherewith to wash, and sat down like to fly with
+joy because of the dinars which he had tied up in his belt for a purse.
+When the old woman had made an end of her ablution, she came up to
+where he sat, and prayed a two bow prayer; after which she blessed my
+brother with a godly benediction, and he while thanking her put his
+hand to the dinars and gave her two, saying to himself "These are my
+voluntaries."[FN#671] When she saw the gold she cried, "Praise be to
+Allah! why dost thou look on one who loveth thee as if she were a
+beggar? Take back thy money: I have no need of it; or, if thou want it
+not, return it to her who gave it thee when thy glass ware was broken.
+Moreover, if thou wish to be united with her, I can manage the matter,
+for she is my mistress." "O my mother," asked my brother, "by what
+manner of means can I get at her?"; and she answered, "O my son! she
+hath an inclination for thee, but she is the wife of a wealthy man; so
+take the whole of thy money with thee and follow me, that I may guide
+thee to thy desire: and when thou art in her company spare neither
+persuasion nor fair words, but bring them all to bear upon her; so
+shalt thou enjoy her beauty and wealth to thy heart's content." My
+brother took all his gold and rose and followed the old woman, hardly
+believing in his luck. She ceased not faring on, and my brother
+following her, till they came to a tall gate at which she knocked and a
+Roumi slave-girl[FN#672] came out and opened to them. Then the old
+woman led my brother into a great sitting room spread with wondrous
+fine carpets and hung with curtains, where he sat down with his gold
+before him, and his turband on his knee.[FN#673] He had scarcely taken
+seat before there came to him a young lady (never eye saw fairer) clad
+in garments of the most sumptuous; whereupon my brother rose to his
+feet, and she smiled in his face and welcomed him, signing to him to be
+seated. Then she bade shut the door and, when it was shut, she turned
+to my brother, and taking his hand conducted him to a private chamber
+furnished with various kinds of brocades and gold cloths. Here he sat
+down and she sat by his side and toyed with him awhile; after which she
+rose and saying, "Stir not from thy seat till I come back to thee;"
+disappeared. Meanwhile as he was on this wise, lo! there came in to him
+a black slave big of body and bulk and holding a drawn sword in hand,
+who said to him, "Woe to thee! Who brought thee hither and what dost
+thou want here?" My brother could not return him a reply, being tongue
+tied for terror; so the blackamoor seized him and stripped him of his
+clothes and bashed him with the flat of his sword blade till he fell to
+the ground, swooning from excess of belabouring. The ill omened nigger
+fancied that there was an end of him and my brother heard him cry,
+"Where is the salt wench?"[FN#674] Where upon in came a handmaid
+holding in hand a large tray of salt, and the slave kept rubbing it
+into my brother's wounds;[FN#675] but he did not stir fearing lest the
+slave might find out that he was not dead and kill him outright. Then
+the salt girl went away, and the slave cried Where is the
+souterrain[FN#676] guardianess?" Hereupon in came the old woman and
+dragged my brother by his feet to a souterrain and threw him down upon
+a heap of dead bodies. In this place he lay two full days, but Allah
+made the salt the means of preserving his life by staunching the blood
+and staying its flow Presently, feeling himself able to move,
+Al-Nashshar rose and opened the trap door in fear and trembling and
+crept out into the open; and Allah protected him, so that he went on in
+the darkness and hid himself in the vestibule till dawn, when he saw
+the accursed beldam sally forth in quest of other quarry. He followed
+in her wake without her knowing it, and made for his own lodging where
+he dressed his wounds and medicined himself till he was whole.
+Meanwhile he used to watch the old woman, tracking her at all times and
+seasons, and saw her accost one man after another and carry them to the
+house. However he uttered not a word; but, as soon as he waxed hale and
+hearty, he took a piece of stuff and made it into a bag which he filled
+with broken glass and bound about his middle. He also disguised himself
+as a Persian that none might know him, and hid a sword under his
+clothes of foreign cut. Then he went out and presently, falling in with
+the old woman, said to her, speaking Arabic with a Persian accent,
+"Venerable lady,[FN#677] I am a stranger arrived but this day here
+where I know no one. Hast thou a pair of scales wherein I may weigh
+eleven hundred dinars? I will give thee somewhat of them for thy
+pains." "I have a son, a money changer, who keepeth all kinds of
+scales," she answered, "so come with me to him before he goeth out and
+he will weigh thy gold." My brother answered "Lead the way!" She led
+him to the house and the young lady herself came out and opened it,
+whereupon the old woman smiled in her face and said, "I bring thee fat
+meat today."[FN#678] Then the damsel took my brother by the hand, and
+led him to the same chamber as before; where she sat with him awhile
+then rose and went forth saying, "Stir not from thy seat till I come
+back to thee." Presently in came the accursed slave with the drawn
+sword and cried to my brother, "Up and be damned to thee." So he rose,
+and as the slave walked on before him he drew the sword from under his
+clothes and smote him with it, making head fly from body. Then he
+dragged the corpse by the feet to the souterrain and called out, "Where
+is the salt wench?" Up came the girl carrying the tray of salt and,
+seeing my brother sword in hand, turned to fly; but he followed her and
+struck off her head. Then he called out, "Where is the souterrain
+guardianess? , and in came the old woman to whom he said, "Dost know me
+again, ill omened hag?" "No my lord," she replied, and he said, "I am
+the owner of the five hundred gold pieces, whose house thou enteredst
+to make the ablution and to pray, and whom thou didst snare hither and
+betray." "Fear Allah and spare me," cried she; but he regarded her not
+and struck her with the sword till he had cut her in four. Then he went
+to look for the young lady; and when she saw him her reason fled and
+she cried out piteously "Aman![FN#679] Mercy!" So he spared her and
+asked, "What made thee consort with this blackamoor?", and she
+answered, "I was slave to a certain merchant, and the old woman used to
+visit me till I took a liking to her. One day she said to me, 'We have
+a marriage festival at our house the like of which was never seen and I
+wish thee to enjoy the sight.' 'To hear is to obey,' answered I, and
+rising arrayed myself in my finest raiment and ornaments, and took with
+me a purse containing an hundred gold pieces. Then she brought me
+hither and hardly had I entered the house when the black seized on me,
+and I have remained in this case three whole years through the perfidy
+of the accursed beldam." Then my brother asked her, "Is there anything
+of his in the house?"; whereto she answered, "Great store of wealth,
+and if thou art able to carry it away, do so and Allah give thee good
+of it" My brother went with her and she opened to him sundry chests
+wherein were money bags, at which he was astounded; then she said to
+him, "Go now and leave me here, and fetch men to remove the money.", He
+went out and hired ten men, but when he returned he found the door wide
+open, the damsel gone and nothing left but some small matter of coin
+and the household stuffs.[FN#680] By this he knew that the girl had
+overreached him; so he opened the store rooms and seized what was in
+them, together with the rest of the money, leaving nothing in the
+house. He passed the night rejoicing, but when morning dawned he found
+at the door some twenty troopers who laid hands on him saying, "The
+Governor wants thee!" My brother implored them hard to let him return
+to his house; and even offered them a large sum of money; but they
+refused and, binding him fast with cords, carried him off. On the way
+they met a friend of my brother who clung to his skirt and implored his
+protection, begging him to stand by him and help to deliver him out of
+their hands. The man stopped, and asked them what was the matter, and
+they answered, "The Governor hath ordered us to bring this fellow
+before him and, look ye, we are doing so." My brother's friend urged
+them to release him, and offered them five hundred dinars to let him
+go, saying, "When ye return to the Governor tell him that you were
+unable to find him." But they would not listen to his words and took my
+brother, dragging him along on his face, and set him before the
+Governor who asked him, "Whence gottest thou these stuffs and monies?";
+and he answered, "I pray for mercy!" So the Governor gave him the
+kerchief of mercy;[FN#681] and he told him all that had befallen him
+from first to last with the old woman and the flight of the damsel;
+ending with, "Whatso I have taken, take of it what thou wilt, so thou
+leave me sufficient to support life."[FN#682] But the Governor took the
+whole of the stuffs and all the money for himself; and, fearing lest
+the affair come to the Sultan's ears, he summoned my brother and said,
+"Depart from this city, else I will hang thee." "Hearing and obedience"
+quoth my brother and set out for another town. On the way thieves fell
+foul of him and stripped and beat him and docked his ears; but I heard
+tidings of his misfortunes and went out after him taking him clothes;
+and brought him secretly into the city where I assigned to him an
+allowance for meat and drink. And presently the Caliph gave ear to
+
+
+
+
+The Barber’s Tale of his Sixth Brother.
+
+
+My sixth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Shakashik,[FN#683] or
+Many clamours, the shorn of both lips, was once rich and became poor,
+so one day he went out to beg somewhat to keep life in him. As he was
+on the road he suddenly caught sight of a large and handsome mansion,
+with a detached building wide and lofty at the entrance, where sat
+sundry eunuchs bidding and forbidding.[FN#684] My brother enquired of
+one of those idling there and he replied "The palace belongs to a scion
+of the Barmaki house;" so he stepped up to the door keepers and asked
+an alms of them "Enter," said they, "by the great gate and thou shalt
+get what thou seekest from the Wazir our master." Accordingly he went
+in and, passing through the outer entrance, walked on a while and
+presently came to a mansion of the utmost beauty and elegance, paved
+with marble, hung with curtains and having in the midst of it a flower
+garden whose like he had never seen.[FN#685] My brother stood awhile as
+one bewildered not knowing whither to turn his steps; then, seeing the
+farther end of the sitting chamber tenanted, he walked up to it and
+there found a man of handsome presence and comely beard. When this
+personage saw my brother he stood up to him and welcomed him and asked
+him of his case; whereto he replied that he was in want and needed
+charity. Hearing these words the grandee showed great concern and,
+putting his hand to his fine robe, rent it exclaiming, "What! am I in a
+City, and thou here an hungered? I have not patience to bear such
+disgrace!" Then he promised him all manner of good cheer and said,
+"There is no help but that thou stay with me and eat of my
+salt."[FN#686] "O my lord," answered my brother, "I can wait no longer;
+for I am indeed dying of hunger." So he cried, "Ho boy! bring basin and
+ewer;" and, turning to my brother, said, "O my guest come forward and
+wash thy hands." My brother rose to do so but he saw neither ewer nor
+basin; yet his host kept washing his hands with invisible soap in
+imperceptible water and cried, "Bring the table!" But my brother again
+saw nothing. Then said the host, "Honour me by eating of this meat and
+be not ashamed." And he kept moving his hand to and fro as if he ate
+and saying to my brother, "I wonder to see thee eating thus sparely: do
+not stint thyself for I am sure thou art famished." So my brother began
+to make as though he were eating whilst his host kept saying to him,
+"Fall to, and note especially the excellence of this bread and its
+whiteness!" But still my brother saw nothing. Then said he to himself,
+"This man is fond of poking fun at people;" and replied, "O my lord, in
+all my days I never knew aught more winsome than its whiteness or
+sweeter than its savour." The Barmecide said, "This bread was baked by
+a hand maid of mine whom I bought for five hundred dinars." Then he
+called out, "Ho boy, bring in the meat pudding[FN#687] for our first
+dish, and let there be plenty of fat in it;" and, turning to my brother
+said, "O my guest, Allah upon thee, hast ever seen anything better than
+this meat pudding? Now by my life, eat and be not abashed." Presently
+he cried out again, "Ho boy, serve up the marinated stew[FN#688] with
+the fatted sand grouse in it;" and he said to my brother, "Up and eat,
+O my guest, for truly thou art hungry and needest food." So my brother
+began wagging his jaws and made as if champing and chewing,[FN#689]
+whilst the host continued calling for one dish after another and yet
+produced nothing save orders to eat. Presently he cried out, "Ho boy,
+bring us the chickens stuffed with pistachio nuts;" and said to my
+brother, "By thy life, O my guest, I have fattened these chickens upon
+pistachios; eat, for thou hast never eaten their like." "O my lord,"
+replied my brother, "they are indeed first rate." Then the host began
+motioning with his hand as though he were giving my brother a mouthful;
+and ceased not to enumerate and expatiate upon the various dishes to
+the hungry man whose hunger waxt still more violent, so that his soul
+lusted after a bit of bread, even a barley scone.[FN#690] Quoth the
+Barmecide, "Didst thou ever taste anything more delicious than the
+seasoning of these dishes?"; and quoth my brother, "Never, O my lord!"
+"Eat heartily and be not ashamed," said the host, and the guest, "I
+have eaten my fill of meat;" So the entertainer cried, "Take away and
+bring in the sweets;" and turning to my brother said, "Eat of this
+almond conserve for it is prime and of these honey fritters; take this
+one, by my life, the syrup runs out of it." "May I never be bereaved of
+thee, O my lord," replied the hungry one and began to ask him about the
+abundance of musk in the fritters. "Such is my custom," he answered:
+"they put me a dinar weight of musk in every honey fritter and half
+that quantity of ambergris." All this time my brother kept wagging head
+and jaws till the master cried, "Enough of this. Bring us the dessert!"
+Then said he to him,' "Eat of these almonds and walnuts and raisins;
+and of this and that (naming divers kinds of dried fruits), and be not
+abashed." But my brother replied, "O my lord, indeed I am full: I can
+eat no more." "O my guest," repeated the host, "if thou have a mind to
+these good things eat: Allah! Allah![FN#691] do not remain hungry;" but
+my brother rejoined, "O my lord, he who hath eaten of all these dishes
+how can he be hungry?" Then he considered and said to himself, "I will
+do that shall make him repent of these pranks." Presently the
+entertainer called out "Bring me the wine;" and, moving his hands in
+the air, as though they had set it before them, he gave my brother a
+cup and said, "Take this cup and, if it please thee, let me know." "O
+my lord," he replied, "it is notable good as to nose but I am wont to
+drink wine some twenty years old." "Knock then at this door,"[FN#692]
+quoth the host "for thou canst not drink of aught better." "By thy
+kindness," said my brother, motioning with his hand as though he were
+drinking. "Health and joy to thee," exclaimed the house master and
+feigned to fill a cup and drink it off; then he handed another to my
+brother who quaffed it and made as if he were drunken. Presently he
+took the host unawares; and, raising his arm till the white of his
+armpit appeared, dealt him such a cuff on the nape of his neck that the
+palace echoed to it. Then he came down upon him with a second cuff and
+the entertainer cried aloud "What is this, O thou scum of the earth?"
+"O my lord," replied my brother, "thou hast shown much kindness to thy
+slave, and admitted him into thine abode and given him to eat of thy
+victual; then thou madest him drink of thine old wine till he became
+drunken and boisterous; but thou art too noble not to bear with his
+ignorance and pardon his offence." When the Barmaki heard my brother's
+words he laughed his loudest and said, "Long have I been wont to make
+mock of men and play the madcap among my intimates, but never yet have
+I come across a single one who had the patience and the wit to enter
+into all my humours save thyself: so I forgive thee, and thou shalt be
+my boon companion in very sooth and never leave me." Then he ordered
+the servants to lay the table in earnest and they set on all the dishes
+of which he had spoken in sport; and he and my brother ate till they
+were satisfied; after which they removed to the drinking chamber, where
+they found damsels like moons who sang all manner songs and played on
+all manner instruments. There they remained drinking till their wine
+got the better of them and the host treated my brother like a familiar
+friend, so that he became as it were his brother, and bestowed on him a
+robe of honour and loved him with exceeding love. Next morning the two
+fell again to feasting and carousing, and ceased not to lead this life
+for a term of twenty years; at the end of which the Barmecide died and
+the Sultan took possession of all his wealth and squeezed my brother of
+his savings, till he was left a pauper without a penny to handle. So he
+quitted the city and fled forth following his face;[FN#693] but, when
+he was half way between two towns, the wild Arabs fell on him and bound
+him and carried him to their camp, where his captor proceeded to
+torture him, saying, "Buy thy life of me with thy money, else I will
+slay thee!" My brother began to weep and replied, "By Allah, I have
+nothing, neither gold nor silver; but I am thy prisoner; so do with me
+what thou wilt." Then the Badawi drew a knife, broad bladed and so
+sharp grinded that if plunged into a camel's throat it would sever it
+clean across from one jugular to the other,[FN#694] and cut off my
+brother's lips and waxed more instant in requiring money. Now this
+Badawi had a fair wife who in her husband's absence used to make
+advances to my brother and offer him her favours, but he held off from
+her. One day she began to tempt him as usual and he played with her and
+made her sit on his lap, when behold, in came the Badawi who, seeing
+this, cried out, "Woe to thee, O accursed villain, wouldest thou
+debauch my wife for me?" Then he took out a knife and cut off my
+brother's yard, after which he bound him on the back of a camel and,
+carrying him to a mountain, left him there. He was at last found by
+some who recognised him and gave him meat and drink and acquainted me
+with his condition; whereupon I went forth to him and brought him back
+to Baghdad where I made him an allowance sufficient to live on. This,
+then, O Commander of the Faithful, is the history of my six brothers,
+and I feared to go away without relating it all to thee and leave thee
+in the error of judging me to be like them. And now thou knowest that I
+have six brothers upon my hands and, being more upright than they, I
+support the whole family. When the Caliph heard my story and all I told
+him concerning my brothers, he laughed and said, "Thou sayest sooth, O
+Silent Man! thou art indeed spare of speech nor is there aught of
+forwardness in thee; but now go forth out of this city and settle in
+some other." And he banished me under edict. I left Baghdad and
+travelled in foreign parts till I heard of his death and the accession
+of another to the Caliphate. Then I returned to Baghdad where I found
+all my brothers dead and chanced upon this young man, to whom I
+rendered the kindliest service, for without me he had surely been
+killed. Indeed he slanders me and accuses me of a fault which is not in
+my nature; and what he reports concerning impudence and meddling and
+forwardness is idle and false; for verily on his account I left Baghdad
+and travelled about full many a country till I came to this city and
+met him here in your company. And was not this, O worthy assemblage, of
+the generosity of my nature?
+
+
+
+
+The End of the Tailor’s Tale.
+
+
+Then quoth the Tailor to the King of China: When we heard the Barber's
+tale and saw the excess of his loquacity and the way in which he had
+wronged this young man, we laid hands on him and shut him up, after
+which we sat down in peace, and ate and drank and enjoyed the good
+things of the marriage feast till the time of the call to mid afternoon
+prayer, when I left the party and returned home. My wife received me
+with sour looks and said, "Thou goest a pleasuring among thy friends
+and thou leavest me to sit sorrowing here alone. So now, unless thou
+take me abroad and let me have some amusement for the rest of the day,
+I will cut the rope[FN#695] and it will be the cause of my separation
+from thee." So I took her out and we amused ourselves till supper time,
+when we returned home and fell in with this Hunchback who was brimful
+of drink and trolling out these rhymes:
+
+"Clear's the wine, the cup's fine; * Like to like they combine:
+It is wine and not cup! * 'Tis a cup and not wine!"
+
+
+So I invited him to sup with us and went out to buy fried fish; after
+which we sat down to eat; and presently my wife took a piece of bread
+and a fid of fish and stuffed them into his mouth and he choked; and,
+though I slapped him long and hard between the shoulders, he died. Then
+I carried him off and contrived to throw him into the house of this
+leach, the Jew; and the leach contrived to throw him into the house of
+the Reeve; and the Reeve contrived to throw him on the way of the
+Nazarene broker. This, then, is my adventure which befell me but
+yesterday. Is not it more wondrous than the story of the Hunchback?
+When the King of China heard the Tailor's tale he shook his head for
+pleasure; and, showing great surprise, said, "This that passed between
+the young man and the busy-body of a Barber is indeed more pleasant and
+wonderful than the story of my lying knave of a Hunchback." Then he
+bade one of his Chamberlains go with the Tailor and bring the Barber
+out of jail, saying, "I wish to hear the talk of this Silent Man and it
+shall be the cause of your deliverance one and all: then we will bury
+the Hunchback, for that he is dead since yesterday, and set up a tomb
+over him."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
+her permitted say.
+
+When it was the Thirty-fourth Night,
+
+
+She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King of China
+bade, "Bring me the Barber who shall be the cause of your deliverance;
+then we will bury this Hunchback, for that he is dead since yesterday
+and set up a tomb over him." So the Chamberlain and the Tailor went to
+the jail and, releasing the Barber, presently returned with him to the
+King. The Sultan of China looked at him and considered him carefully
+and lo and behold! he was an ancient man, past his ninetieth year;
+swart of face, white of beard, and hoar of eyebrows; lop eared and
+proboscis-nosed,[FN#696] with a vacant, silly and conceited expression
+of countenance. The King laughed at this figure o' fun and said to him,
+"O Silent Man, I desire thee to tell me somewhat of thy history." Quoth
+the Barber, "O King of the age, allow me first to ask thee what is the
+tale of this Nazarene and this Jew and this Moslem and this Hunchback
+(the corpse) I see among you? And prithee what may be the object of
+this assemblage?" Quoth the King of China, "And why dost thou ask?" "I
+ask," he replied, "in order that the King's majesty may know that I am
+no forward fellow or busy body or impertinent meddler; and that I am
+innocent of their calumnious charges of overmuch talk; for I am he
+whose name is the Silent Man, and indeed peculiarly happy is my
+sobriquet, as saith the poet:
+
+When a nickname or little name men design, * Know that nature with name
+shall full oft combine."
+
+
+Then said the King, "Explain to the Barber the case of this Hunchback
+and what befell him at supper time; also repeat to him the stories told
+by the Nazarene, the Jew, the Reeve, and the Tailor; and of no avail to
+me is a twice told tale." They did his bidding, and the Barber shook
+his head and said, "By Allah, this is a marvel of marvels! Now uncover
+me the corpse of yonder Hunchback. They undid the winding sheet and he
+sat down and, taking the Hunchback's head in his lap, looked at his
+face and laughed and guffaw'd[FN#697] till he fell upon his back and
+said, "There is wonder in every death,[FN#698] but the death of this
+Hunchback is worthy to be written and recorded in letters of liquid
+gold!" The bystanders were astounded at his words and the King
+marvelled and said to him, "What ails thee, O Silent Man? Explain to us
+thy words !" "O King of the age," said the Barber, "I swear by thy
+beneficence that there is still life in this Gobbo Golightly!"
+Thereupon he pulled out of his waist belt a barber's budget, whence he
+took a pot of ointment and anointed therewith the neck of the Hunchback
+and its arteries. Then he took a pair of iron tweezers and, inserting
+them into the Hunchback's throat, drew out the fid of fish with its
+bone; and, when it came to sight, behold, it was soaked in blood.
+Thereupon the Hunchback sneezed a hearty sneeze and jumped up as if
+nothing had happened and passing his hand over his face said, "I
+testify that there is no god, but the God, and I testify that Mohammed
+is the Apostle of God." At this sight all present wondered; the King of
+China laughed till he fainted and in like manner did the others. Then
+said the Sultan, "By Allah, of a truth this is the most marvellous
+thing I ever saw! O Moslems, O soldiers all, did you ever in the lives
+of you see a man die and be quickened again? Verily had not Allah
+vouchsafed to him this Barber, he had been a dead man!" Quoth they, "By
+Allah, 'tis a marvel of marvels." Then the King of China bade record
+this tale, so they recorded it and placed it in the royal
+muniment-rooms; after which he bestowed costly robes of honour upon the
+Jew, the Nazarene and the Reeve, and bade them depart in all esteem.
+Then he gave the Tailor a sumptuous dress and appointed him his own
+tailor, with suitable pay and allowances; and made peace between him
+and the Hunchback, to whom also he presented a splendid and expensive
+suit with a suitable stipend. He did as generously with the Barber,
+giving him a gift and a dress of honour; moreover he settled on him a
+handsome solde and created him Barber surgeon[FN#699] of state and made
+him one of his cup companions. So they ceased not to live the most
+pleasurable life and the most delectable, till there came to them the
+Destroyer of all delights and the Sunderer of all societies, the
+Depopulator of palaces and the Garnerer for graves. Yet, O most
+auspicious King! (continued Shahrazad) this tale is by no means more
+wonderful than that of the two Wazirs and Anís al-Jalís. Quoth her
+sister Dunyazad, "And what may that be?", whereupon she began to relate
+the following tale of
+
+End of Vol. 1.
+
+
+
+
+Footnotes
+
+
+[FN#1] Allaho A'alam, a deprecatory formula, used because the writer is
+going to indulge in a series of what may possibly be untruths.
+
+[FN#2] The "Sons of Sásán" are the famous Sassanides whose dynasty
+ended with the Arabian Conquest (A.D. 641). "Island" Jazírah) in Arabic
+also means "Peninsula," and causes much confusion in geographical
+matters.
+
+[FN#3] Shahryár not Shahriyar (Persian) = "City-friend." The Bulak
+edition corrupts it to Shahrbáz (City-hawk), and the Breslau to
+Shahrbán or "Defender of the City," like Marz-ban=Warden of the
+Marshes. Shah Zamán (Persian)="King of the Age:" Galland prefers Shah
+Zenan, or "King of women," and the Bul. edit. changes it to Shah
+Rummán, "Pomegranate King." Al-Ajam denotes all regions not Arab
+(Gentiles opposed to Jews, Mlechchhas to Hindus, Tajiks to Turks, etc.,
+etc.), and especially Persia; Ajami (a man of Ajam) being an equivalent
+of the Gr. Βάρβαρος. See Vol. ii., p. 1.
+
+[FN#4] Galland writes "Vizier," a wretched frenchification of a mincing
+Turkish mispronunciation; Torrens, "Wuzeer" (Anglo-Indian and
+Gilchristian); Lane, "Wezeer"; (Egyptian or rather Cairene); Payne,
+"Vizier," according to his system; Burckhardt (Proverbs), "Vizír;" and
+Mr. Keith-Falconer, "Vizir." The root is popularly supposed to be
+"wizr" (burden) and the meaning "Minister;" Wazir al-Wuzará being
+"Premier." In the Koran (chapt. xx., 30) Moses says, "Give me a Wazir
+of my family, Harun (Aaron) my brother." Sale, followed by the
+excellent version of the Rev. J. M. Rodwell, translates a "Counsellor,"
+and explains by "One who has the chief administration of affairs under
+a prince." But both learned Koranists learnt their Orientalism in
+London, and, like such students generally, fail only upon the easiest
+points, familiar to all old dwellers in the East.
+
+[FN#5] This three-days term (rest-day, drest-day and departure day)
+seems to be an instinct-made rule in hospitality. Among Moslems it is a
+Sunnat or practice of the Prophet.)
+
+[FN#6] _i.e._, I am sick at heart.
+
+[FN#7] Debauched women prefer negroes on account of the size of their
+parts. I measured one man in Somali-land who, when quiescent, numbered
+nearly six inches. This is a characteristic of the negro race and of
+African animals; _e.g._ the horse; whereas the pure Arab, man and
+beast, is below the average of Europe; one of the best proofs by the
+by, that the Egyptian is not an Asiatic, but a negro partially
+white-washed. Moreover, these imposing parts do not increase
+proportionally during erection; consequently, the "deed of kind" takes
+a much longer time and adds greatly to the woman's enjoyment. In my
+time no honest Hindi Moslem would take his women-folk to Zanzibar on
+account of the huge attractions and enormous temptations there and
+thereby offered to them. Upon the subject of Imsák = retention of semen
+and "prolongation of pleasure," I shall find it necessary to say more.
+
+[FN#8] The very same words were lately spoken in England proving the
+eternal truth of The Nights which the ignorant call "downright lies."
+
+[FN#9] The Arab's _Tue la!_
+
+[FN#10] Arab. "Sayd wa kanas": the former usually applied to fishing;
+hence Sayda (Sidon) = fish-town. But noble Arabs (except the Caliph
+Al-Amin) do not fish; so here it means simply "sport," chasing,
+coursing, birding (oiseler), and so forth.
+
+[FN#11] In the Mac. Edit. the negro is called "Mas'úd"; here he utters
+a kind of war-cry and plays upon the name, "Sa'ád, Sa'íd, Sa'úd," and
+"Mas'ud", all being derived from one root, "Sa'ad" = auspiciousness,
+prosperity.
+
+[FN#12] The Arab. singular (whence the French "génie"), fem. Jinniyah;
+the Div and Rakshah of old Guebre-land and the "Rakshasa," or "Yaksha,"
+of Hinduism. It would be interesting to trace the evident connection,
+by no means "accidental," of "Jinn" with the "Genius" who came to the
+Romans through the Asiatic Etruscans, and whose name I cannot derive
+from "gignomai" or "genitus." He was unknown to the Greeks, who had the
+Daimon {Greek Letters}, a family which separated, like the Jinn and the
+Genius, into two categories, the good (Agatho-dæmons) and the bad
+(Kako-dæmons). We know nothing concerning the status of the Jinn
+amongst the pre-Moslemitic or pagan Arabs: the Moslems made him a
+supernatural anthropoid being, created of subtile fire (Koran chapts.
+xv. 27; lv. 14), not of earth like man, propagating his kind, ruled by
+mighty kings, the last being Ján bin Ján, missionarised by Prophets and
+subject to death and Judgment. From the same root are "Junún" = madness
+(_i.e._, possession or obsession by the Jinn) and "Majnún"=a madman.
+According to R. Jeremiah bin Eliazar in Psalm xii. 5, Adam was
+excommunicated for one hundred and thirty years, during which he begat
+children in his own image (Gen. v. 3) and these were Mazikeen or
+Shedeem—Jinns. Further details anent the Jinn will presently occur.
+
+[FN#13] Arab. "Amsár" (cities): in Bul. Edit. "Amtár" (rains), as in
+Mac. Edit. So Mr. Payne (I., 5) translates: And when she flashes forth
+the lightning of her glance, She maketh eyes to rain, like showers,
+with many a tear. I would render it, "She makes whole cities shed
+tears," and prefer it for a reason which will generally influence
+me—its superior exaggeration and impossibility.
+
+[FN#14] Not "A-frit," pronounced Aye-frit, as our poets have it. This
+variety of the Jinn, who, as will be shown, are divided into two races
+like mankind, is generally, but not always, a malignant being, hostile
+and injurious to mankind (Koran xxvii. 39).
+
+[FN#15] _i.e._, "I conjure thee by Allah;" the formula is technically
+called "Inshád."
+
+[FN#16] This introducing the name of Allah into an indecent tale is
+essentially Egyptian and Cairene. But see Boccaccio ii. 6, and vii. 9.
+
+[FN#17] So in the Mac. Edit.; in others "ninety." I prefer the greater
+number as exaggeration is a part of the humour. In the Hindu "Kathá
+Sárit Ságara" (Sea of the Streams of Story), the rings are one hundred
+and the catastrophe is more moral, the good youth Yashodhara rejects
+the wicked one's advances; she awakes the water-sprite, who is about to
+slay him, but the rings are brought as testimony and the improper young
+person's nose is duly cut off. (Chap. Ixiii.; p. 80, of the excellent
+translation by Prof. C. H. Tawney: for the Bibliotheca Indica:
+Calcutta, 1881.) The Kathá, etc., by Somadeva (century xi), is a
+poetical version of the prose compendium, the "Vrihat Kathá" (Great
+Story) by Gunadhya (cent. vi).
+
+[FN#18] The Joseph of the Koran, very different from him of Genesis. We
+shall meet him often enough in The Nights.
+
+[FN#19] "Iblis," vulgarly written "Eblis," from a root meaning The
+Despairer, with a suspicious likeness to Diabolos; possibly from
+"Balas," a profligate. Some translate it The Calumniator, as Satan is
+the Hater. Iblis (who appears in the Arab. version of the N. Testament)
+succeeded another revolting angel Al-Haris; and his story of pride
+refusing to worship Adam, is told four times in the Koran from the
+Talmud (Sanhedrim 29). He caused Adam and Eve to lose Paradise (ii.
+34); he still betrays mankind (xxv. 31), and at the end of time he,
+with the other devils, will be "gathered together on their knees round
+Hell" (xix. 69). He has evidently had the worst of the game, and we
+wonder, with Origen, Tillotson, Burns and many others, that he does not
+throw up the cards.
+
+[FN#20] A similar tale is still told at Akká (St. John d'Acre)
+concerning the terrible "butcher"—Jazzár (Djezzar) Pasha. One can
+hardly pity women who are fools enough to run such risks. According to
+Frizzi, Niccolò, Marquis of Este, after beheading Parisina, ordered all
+the faithless wives of Ferrara to be treated in like manner.
+
+[FN#21] "Shahrázád" (Persian) = City-freer, in the older version
+Scheherazade (probably both from Shirzád=lion-born).
+"Dunyázád"=World-freer. The Bres. Edit. corrupts theformer to Sháhrzád
+or Sháhrazád, and the Mac. and Calc. to Shahrzád or Shehrzád. I have
+ventured to restore the name as it should be. Galland for the second
+prefers Dinarzade (?) and Richardson Dinazade (Dinázád =
+Religion-freer): here I have followed Lane and Payne; though in "First
+Footsteps" I was misled by Galland. See Vol. ii. p. 1.
+
+[FN#22] Probably she proposed to "Judith" the King. These learned and
+clever young ladies are very dangerous in the East.
+
+[FN#23] In Egypt, etc., the bull takes the place of the Western ox. The
+Arab. word is "Taur" (Thaur, Saur); in old Persian "Tora" and Lat.
+"Taurus," a venerable remnant of the days before the "Semitic" and
+"Aryan" families of speech had split into two distinct growths. "Taur"
+ends in the Saxon "Steor" and the English "Steer "
+
+[FN#24] Arab. "Abú Yakzán" = the Wakener, because the ass brays at
+dawn.
+
+[FN#25] Arab. "Tibn"; straw crushed under the sledge: the hay of Egypt,
+Arabia, Syria, etc. The old country custom is to pull up the corn by
+handfuls from the roots, leaving the land perfectly bare: hence the
+"plucking up" of Hebrew Holy Writ. The object is to preserve every atom
+of "Tibn."
+
+[FN#26] Arab. "Yá Aftah": Al-Aftah is an epithet of the bull, also of
+the chameleon.
+
+[FN#27] Arab. "Balíd," a favourite Egyptianism often pleasantly
+confounded with "Wali" (a Santon), hence the latter comes to mean "an
+innocent," a "ninny."
+
+[FN#28] From the Calc. Edit., Vol. 1., p. 29.
+
+[FN#29] Arab. "Abu Yakzán" is hardly equivalent with "Père l'Eveillé."
+
+[FN#30] In Arab. the wa (x) is the sign of parenthesis.
+
+[FN#31] In the nearer East the light little plough is carried afield by
+the bull or ass.
+
+[FN#32] Ocymum basilicum, the "royal herb," so much prized all over the
+East, especially in India, where, under the name of "Tulsi," it is a
+shrub sacred to the merry god Krishna. I found the verses in a MS. copy
+of The Nights.
+
+[FN#33] Arab. "Sadaf," the Kauri, or cowrie, brought from the Maldive
+and Lakdive Archipelago. The Kámús describes this "Wada'" or Concha
+Veneris as "a white shell (whence to "shell out") which is taken out of
+the sea, the fissure of which is white like that of the date-stone. It
+is hung about the neck to avert the evil eye." The pearl in Arab. is
+"Murwarid," hence evidently "Margarita" and Margaris (woman's name).
+
+[FN#34] Arab. "Kat'a" (bit of leather): some read "Nat'a;" a leather
+used by way of table-cloth, and forming a bag for victuals; but it is
+never made of bull's hide.
+
+[FN#35] The older "Cadi," a judge in religious matters. The Shuhúd, or
+Assessors, are officers of the Mahkamah or Kazi's Court.
+
+[FN#36] Of which more in a future page. He thus purified himself
+ceremonially before death.
+
+[FN#37] This is Christian rather than Moslem: a favourite Maltese curse
+is "Yahrak Kiddisak man rabba-k!" = burn the Saint who brought thee up!
+
+[FN#38] A popular Egyptian phrase: the dog and the cock speak like
+Fellahs.
+
+[FN#39] i. e. between the last sleep and dawn when they would rise to
+wash and pray.
+
+[FN#40] Travellers tell of a peculiar knack of jerking the date-stone,
+which makes it strike with great force: I never saw this "Inwá"
+practised, but it reminds me of the water splashing with one hand in
+the German baths.
+
+[FN#41] i.e., sorely against his will.
+
+[FN#42] Arab. "Shaykh"=an old man (primarily), an elder, a chief (of
+the tribe, guild, etc.), and honourably addressed to any man. Comp.
+among the neo Latins "Sieur," "Signore," "Señor," "Senhor," etc. from
+Lat. "Senior," which gave our "Sire" and "Sir." Like many in Arabic the
+word has a host of different meanings and most of them will occur in
+the course of The Nights. Ibrahim (Abraham) was the first Shaykh or man
+who became grey. Seeing his hairs whiten he cried, "O Allah what is
+this?" and the answer came that it was a sign of dignified gravity.
+Hereupon he exclaimed, "O Lord increase this to me!" and so it happened
+till his locks waxed snowy white at the age of one hundred and fifty.
+He was the first who parted his hair, trimmed his mustachios, cleaned
+his teeth with the Miswák (tooth-stick), pared his nails, shaved his
+pecten, snuffed up water, used ablution after stool and wore a shirt
+(Tabari).
+
+[FN#43] The word is mostly plural = Jinnís: it is also singular = a
+demon; and Ján bin Ján has been noticed.
+
+[FN#44] With us moderns "liver" suggests nothing but malady: in Arabic
+and Persian as in the classic literature of Europe it is the seat of
+passion, the heart being that of affection. Of this more presently.
+
+[FN#45] Originally in Al-Islam the concubine (Surriyat, etc.) was a
+captive taken in war and the Koran says nothing about buying
+slave-girls. But if the captives were true believers the Moslem was
+ordered to marry not to keep them. In modern days concubinage has
+become an extensive subject. Practically the disadvantage is that the
+slave-girls, knowing themselves to be the master's property, consider
+him bound to sleep with them; which is by no means the mistress's view.
+Some wives, however, when old and childless, insist, after the fashion
+of Sarah, upon the husband taking a young concubine and treating her
+like a daughter—which is rare. The Nights abound in tales of
+concubines, but these are chiefly owned by the Caliphs and high
+officials who did much as they pleased. The only redeeming point in the
+system is that it obviated the necessity of prostitution which is,
+perhaps, the greatest evil known to modern society.
+
+[FN#46] Arab. "Al-Kahánah"=the craft of a "Káhin" (Heb. Cohen) a
+diviner, soothsayer, etc.
+
+[FN#47] Arab. "Id al-kabír = The Great Festival; the Turkish Bayrám and
+Indian Bakar-eed (Kine-fête), the pilgrimage-time, also termed
+"Festival of the Kurbán" (sacrifice) because victims are slain, Al-Zuha
+(of Undurn or forenoon), Al-Azhá (of serene night) and Al-Nahr (of
+throat-cutting). For full details I must refer readers to my "Personal
+Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah" (3 vols. 8vo,
+London, Longmans, 1855). I shall have often to refer to it.
+
+[FN#48] Arab. "Kalám al-mubáh," i.e., that allowed or permitted to her
+by the King, her husband.
+
+[FN#49] Moslem Kings are expected, like the old Gabble Monarchs, to
+hold "Darbar" (i.e., give public audience) at least twice a day,
+morning and evening. Neglect of this practice caused the ruin of the
+Caliphate and of the Persian and Moghul Empires: the great lords were
+left uncontrolled and the lieges revolted to obtain justice. The Guebre
+Kings had two levée places, the Rozistan (day station) and the
+Shabistan (night-station—istán or stán being a nominal form of istádan,
+to stand, as Hindo-stán). Moreover one day in the week the sovereign
+acted as "Mufti" or Supreme Judge.
+
+[FN#50] Arab. "Al-Bashárah," the gift everywhere claimed in the East
+and in Boccaccio's Italy by one who brings good news. Those who do the
+reverse expose themselves to a sound strappado.
+
+[FN#51] A euphemistic formula, to avoid mentioning unpleasant matters.
+I shall note these for the benefit of students who would honestly
+prepare for the public service in Moslem lands.
+
+[FN#52] Arab. "Dínár," from the Latin denarius (a silver coin worth ten
+ounces of brass) through the Greek δηνάριον: it is a Koranic word
+(chapt. iii.) though its Arab equivalent is "Miskál." It also occurs in
+the Kathá before quoted, clearly showing the derivation. In the "Book
+of Kalilah and Dimnah" it is represented by the Daric or Persian Dinár,
+δαρεικός, from Dárá= a King (whence Darius). The Dinar, sequin or
+ducat, contained at different times from 10 and 12 (Abu Hanifah's day)
+to 20 and even 25 dirhams or drachmas, and, as a weight, represented a
+drachma and a half. Its value greatly varied, but we may assume it here
+at nine shillings or ten francs to half a sovereign. For an elaborate
+article on the Dinar see Yule's "Cathay and the Way Thither" (ii., pp.
+439-443).
+
+[FN#53] The formula used in refusing alms to an "asker" or in rejecting
+an insufficient offer: "Allah will open to thee!" (some door of
+gain—not mine)! Another favourite ejaculation is "Allah Karim" (which
+Turks pronounce "Kyereem") = Allah is All-beneficent! meaning Ask Him,
+not me.
+
+[FN#54] The public bath. London knows the word through "The Hummums."
+
+[FN#55] Arab. "Dirham" (Plur. diráhim, also used in the sense of money,
+"siller"),the Gr. δραχμή and the drachuma of Plautus (Trin. 2, 4, 23).
+The word occurs in the Panchatantra also showing the derivation; and in
+the Syriac Kalilah wa Dimnah it is "Zúz." This silver piece was = 6
+obols (9 3/4d.) and as a weight = 66 1/2 grains. The Dirham of The
+Nights was worth six "Dánik," each of these being a fraction over a
+penny. The modern Greek Drachma is=one franc.
+
+[FN#56] In Arabic the speaker always puts himself first, even if he
+address the King, without intending incivility.
+
+[FN#57] A she-Ifrit, not necessarily an evil spirit.
+
+[FN#58] Arab. "Kullah" (in Egypt pron. "gulleh"), the wide mouthed jug,
+called in the Hijaz "baradiyah;" "daurak" being the narrow. They are
+used either for water or sherbet and, being made of porous clay,
+"sweat," and keep the contents cool; hence all old Anglo Egyptians
+drink from them, not from bottles. Sometimes they are perfumed with
+smoke of incense, mastich or Kafal (Amyris Kafal). For their graceful
+shapes see Lane's "Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern
+Egyptians" (chapt. v) I quote, here and elsewhere, from the fifth
+edition, London, Murray, 1860.
+
+[FN#59] "And what is?" etc. A popular way of expressing great
+difference. So in India:—"Where is Rajah Bhoj (the great King) and
+where is Gangá the oilman?"
+
+[FN#60] Here, as in other places, I have not preserved the monorhyme,
+but have ended like the English sonnet with a couplet; as a rule the
+last two lines contain a "Husn makta'" or climax.
+
+[FN#61] Lit. "he began to say (or speak) poetry," such improvising
+being still common amongst the Badawin as I shall afterwards note. And
+although Mohammed severely censured profane poets, who "rove as bereft
+of their senses through every valley" and were directly inspired by
+devils (Koran xxvi.), it is not a little curious to note that he
+himself spoke in "Rajaz" (which see) and that the four first Caliphs
+all "spoke poetry." In early ages the verse would not be written, if
+written at all, till after the maker's death. I translate "inshád" by
+"versifying" or "repeating" or "reciting," leaving it doubtful if the
+composition be or be not original. In places, however, it is clearly
+improvised and then as a rule it is model doggrel.
+
+[FN#62] Arab. "Allahumma"=Yá Allah (O Allah) but with emphasis the Fath
+being a substitute for the voc. part. Some connect it with the Heb.
+"Alihím," but that fancy is not Arab. In Al-Hariri and the rhetoricians
+it sometimes means to be sure; of course; unless indeed; unless
+possibly= Greek νὴ δία.
+
+[FN#63] Probably in consequence of a vow. These superstitious
+practices, which have many a parallel amongst ourselves, are not
+confined to the lower orders in the East.
+
+[FN#64] i.e., saying "Bismillah!" the pious ejaculation which should
+precede every act. In Boccaccio (viii., 9) it is "remembering Iddio e'
+Santi."
+
+[FN#65] Arab. Nahás asfar = brass, opposed to "Nahás" and "Nahás
+ahmar," = copper.
+
+[FN#66] This alludes to the legend of Sakhr al-Jinni, a famous fiend
+cast by Solomon David son into Lake Tiberias whose storms make it a
+suitable place. Hence the "Bottle imp," a world-wide fiction of
+folk-lore: we shall find it in the "Book of Sindibad," and I need
+hardly remind the reader of Le Sage's "Diable Boiteux," borrowed from
+"El Diablo Cojuelo," the Spanish novel by Luiz Velez de Guevara.
+
+[FN#67] Márid (lit. "contumacious" from the Heb. root Marad to rebel,
+whence "Nimrod" in late Semitic) is one of the tribes of the Jinn,
+generally but not always hostile to man. His female is "Máridah."
+
+[FN#68] As Solomon began to reign (according to vulgar chronometry) in
+B.C. 1015, the text would place the tale circ. A.D. 785, = A.H. 169.
+But we can lay no stress on this date which may be merely fanciful.
+Professor Tawney very justly compares this Moslem Solomon with the
+Hindu King, Vikramáditya, who ruled over the seven divisions of the
+world and who had as many devils to serve him as he wanted.
+
+[FN#69] Arab. "Yá Ba'íd:" a euphemism here adopted to prevent using
+grossly abusive language. Others will occur in the course of these
+pages.
+
+[FN#70] i. e. about to fly out; "My heart is in my mouth." The
+Fisherman speaks with the dry humour of a Fellah.
+
+[FN#71] "Sulayman," when going out to ease himself, entrusted his
+seal-ring upon which his kingdom depended to a concubine "Amínah" (the
+"Faithful"), when Sakhr, transformed to the King's likeness, came in
+and took it. The prophet was reduced to beggary, but after forty days
+the demon fled throwing into the sea the ring which was swallowed by a
+fish and eventually returned to Sulayman. This Talmudic fable is hinted
+at in the Koran (chapt. xxxviii.), and commentators have extensively
+embroidered it. Asaf, son of Barkhiya, was Wazir to Sulayman and is
+supposed to be the "one with whom was the knowledge of the Scriptures"
+(Koran, chapt. xxxvii.), i.e. who knew the Ineffable Name of Allah. See
+the manifest descendant of the Talmudic Koranic fiction in the "Tale of
+the Emperor Jovinian" (No. lix.) of the Gesta Romanorum, the most
+popular book of mediæval Europe composed in England (or Germany) about
+the end of the thirteenth century.
+
+[FN#72] Arab. "Kumkum," a gourd-shaped bottle of metal, china or glass,
+still used for sprinkling scents. Lane gives an illustration (chapt.
+viii., Mod. Egypt.).
+
+[FN#73] Arab. meaning "the Mother of Amir," a nickname for the hyena,
+which bites the hand that feeds it.
+
+[FN#74] The intellect of man is stronger than that of the Jinni; the
+Ifrit, however, enters the jar because he has been adjured by the Most
+Great Name and not from mere stupidity. The seal-ring of Solomon
+according to the Rabbis contained a chased stone which told him
+everything he wanted to know.
+
+[FN#75] The Mesmerist will notice this shudder which is familiar to him
+as preceding the "magnetic" trance.
+
+[FN#76] Arab. "Bahr" which means a sea, a large river, a sheet of
+water, etc., lit. water cut or trenched in the earth. Bahri in Egypt
+means Northern; so Yamm (Sea, Mediterranean) in Hebrew is West.
+
+[FN#77] In the Bul. Edit. "Ruyán," evidently a clerical error. The name
+is fanciful not significant.
+
+[FN#78] The geography is ultra-Shakespearean. "Fárs" (whence "Persia")
+is the central Province of the grand old Empire now a mere wreck, "Rúm"
+(which I write Roum, in order to avoid Jamaica) is the neo-Roman or
+Byzantine Empire, while "Yunan" is the classical Arab term for Greece
+(Ionia) which unlearned Moslems believe to be now under water.
+
+[FN#79] The Sun greets Mohammed every morning even as it dances on
+Easter Day for Christendom. Risum teneatis?
+
+[FN#80] Arab. "Nadím," a term often occurring. It denotes one who was
+intimate enough to drink with the Caliph, a very high honour and a
+dangerous. The last who sat with "Nudamá" was Al-Razi bi'llah A.H. 329
+= 940. See Al-Siyuti's famous "History of the Caliphs" translated and
+admirably annotated by Major H. S. Jarrett, for the Bibliotheca Indica,
+Calcutta, 1880.
+
+[FN#81]Arab. Maydán (from Persian); Lane generally translates it "horse
+course ' and Payne "tilting yard." It is both and something more; an
+open space, in or near the city, used for reviewing troops, races,
+playing the Jeríd (cane-spear) and other sports and exercises: thus
+Al-Maydan=Gr. hippodrome. The game here alluded to is our -'polo," or
+hockey on horseback, a favourite with the Persian Kings, as all old
+illustrations of the Shahnamah show. Maydan is also a natural plain for
+which copious Arabic has many terms, Fayhah or Sath (a plain
+generally), Khabt (a low-lying plain), Bat'há (a low sandy flat),
+Mahattah (a plain fit for halting) and so forth. (Pilgrimage iii., 11.)
+
+[FN#82] For details concerning the "Ghusl" see Night xliv.
+
+[FN#83] A popular idiom and highly expressive, contrasting the upright
+bearing of the self-satisfied man with the slouch of the miserable and
+the skirt-trailing of the woman in grief. I do not see the necessity of
+such Latinisms as "dilated" or "expanded."
+
+[FN#84] All these highest signs of favour foreshow, in Eastern tales
+and in Eastern life, an approaching downfall of the heaviest; they are
+so great that they arouse general jealousy. Many of us have seen this
+at native courts.
+
+[FN#85] This phrase is contained in the word "ihdák" =encompassing, as
+the conjunctiva does the pupil.
+
+[FN#86] I have noted this formula, which is used even in conversation
+when about to relate some great unfact.
+
+[FN#87] We are obliged to English the word by "valley," which is about
+as correct as the "brook Kedron," applied to the grisliest of ravines.
+The Wady (in old Coptic wah, oah, whence "Oasis") is the bed of a
+watercourse which flows only after rains. I have rendered it by
+"Fiumara" (Pilgrimage i., 5, and ii., 196, etc.), an Italian or rather
+a Sicilian word which exactly describes the "wady."
+
+[FN#88] I have described this scene which Mr. T. Wolf illustrated by an
+excellent lithograph in "Falconry, etc." (London, Van Voorst,
+MDCCCLII.)
+
+[FN#89] Arab. "Kaylúlah," mid-day sleep; called siesta from the sixth
+canonical hour.
+
+[FN#90] This parrot-story is world-wide in folk-lore and the belief in
+metempsychosis, which prevails more or less over all the East, there
+lends it probability. The "Book of Sindibad" (see Night dlxxix. and
+"The Academy," Sept. 20, 1884, No. 646) converts it into the "Story of
+the Confectioner, his Wife and the Parrot," and it is the base of the
+Hindostani text-book, "Tota-Kaháni" (Parrot-chat), an abridgement of
+the Tutinámah (Parrot-book) of Nakhshabi (circ. A.D. 1300), a congener
+of the Sanskrit "Suka Saptati," or Seventy Parrot-stories. The tale is
+not in the Bul. or Mac. Edits. but occurs in the Bresl. (i., pp. 90,
+91) much mutilated; and better in the Calc. Edit I cannot here refrain
+from noticing how vilely the twelve vols. of the Breslau Edit have been
+edited; even a table of contents being absent from the first four
+volumes.
+
+[FN#91] The young "Turk" is probably a late addition, as it does not
+appear in many of the MSS., e. g. the Bresl. Edit. The wife usually
+spreads a cloth over the cage; this in the Turkish translation becomes
+a piece of leather.
+
+[FN#92] The Hebrew-Syrian month July used to express the height of
+summer. As Herodotus tells us (ii. 4) the Egyptians claimed to be the
+discoverers of the solar year and the portioners of its course into
+twelve parts.
+
+[FN#93] This proceeding is thoroughly characteristic of the servile
+class; they conscientiously conceal everything from the master till he
+finds a clew; after which they tell him everything and something more.
+
+[FN#94] Until late years, merchants and shopkeepers in the nearer East
+all carried swords, and held it a disgrace to leave the house unarmed.
+
+[FN#95] The Bresl. Edit. absurdly has Jazírah (an island).
+
+[FN#96] The Ghúlah (fem. of Ghúl) is the Heb. Lilith or Lilis; the
+classical Lamia; the Hindu Yogini and Dákini; the Chaldean Utug and
+Gigim (desert-demons) as opposed to the Mas (hill-demon) and Telal (who
+steal into towns); the Ogress of our tales and the Ba{l}a yaga {Баба
+Яга} (Granny-witch) of Russian folk-lore. Etymologically "Ghul" is a
+calamity, a panic fear; and the monster is evidently the embodied
+horror of the grave and the graveyard.
+
+[FN#97] Arab. "Shább" (Lat. juvenis) between puberty and forty or
+according to some fifty; when the patient becomes a "Rajul ikhtiyár"
+(man of free will) politely termed, and then a Shaykh or Shaybah
+(grey-beard, oldster).
+
+[FN#98] Some proverbial name now forgotten. Torrens (p. 48) translates
+it "the giglot" (Fortune?) but "cannot discover the drift."
+
+[FN#99] Arab. "Ihtizáz," that natural and instinctive movement caused
+by good news suddenly given, etc.
+
+[FN#100] Arab. "Kohl," in India, Surmah, not a "collyrium," but
+powdered antimony for the eyelids. That sold in the bazars is not the
+real grey ore of antimony but a galena or sulphuret of lead. Its use
+arose as follows. When Allah showed Himself to Moses on Sinai through
+an opening the size of a needle, the Prophet fainted and the Mount took
+fire: thereupon Allah said, "Henceforth shalt thou and thy seed grind
+the earth of this mountain and apply it to your eyes!" The powder is
+kept in an étui called Makhalah and applied with a thick blunt needle
+to the inside of the eyelid, drawing it along the rim; hence etui and
+probe denote the sexual rem in re and in cases of adultery the question
+will be asked, "Didst thou see the needle in the Kohl-pot ?" Women
+mostly use a preparation of soot or lamp-black (Hind. Kajala, Kajjal)
+whose colour is easily distinguished from that of Kohl. The latter
+word, with the article (Al-Kohl) is the origin of our "alcohol;" though
+even M. Littré fails to show how "fine powder" became "spirits of
+wine." I found this powder (wherewith Jezebel "painted" her eyes) a
+great preservative from ophthalmia in desert-travelling: the use in
+India was universal, but now European example is gradually abolishing
+it.
+
+[FN#101] The tale of these two women is now forgotten.
+
+[FN#102] Arab. "Atadakhkhal." When danger threatens it is customary to
+seize a man's skirt and cry "Dakhíl-ak!" ( = under thy protection).
+Among noble tribes the Badawi thus invoked will defend the stranger
+with his life. Foreigners have brought themselves into contempt by thus
+applying to women or to mere youths.
+
+[FN#103] The formula of quoting from the Koran.
+
+[FN#104] Lit. "Allah not desolate me" (by thine absence). This is still
+a popular phrase—Lá tawáhishná = Do not make me desolate, i.e. by
+staying away too long, and friends meeting after a term of days exclaim
+"Auhashtani!"=thou hast made me desolate, Je suis desole.
+
+[FN#105] Charming simplicity of manners when the Prime Minister carries
+the fish (shade of Vattel!)!) to the cookmaid. The "Gesta Romanorum" is
+nowhere more naïve.
+
+[FN#106] Arab. "Kahílat al-taraf" = lit. eyelids lined with Kohl; and
+figuratively "with black lashes and languorous look." This is a phrase
+which frequently occurs in The Nights and which, as will appear,
+applies to the "lower animals" as well as to men. Moslems in Central
+Africa apply Kohl not to the thickness of the eyelid but upon both
+outer lids, fixing it with some greasy substance. The peculiar Egyptian
+(and Syrian) eye with its thick fringes of jet-black lashes, looking
+like lines of black drawn with soot, easily suggests the simile. In
+England I have seen the same appearance amongst miners fresh from the
+colliery.
+
+[FN#107] Of course applying to her own case.
+
+[FN#108] Prehistoric Arabs who measured from 60 to 100 cubits high:
+Koran, chapt. xxvi., etc. They will often be mentioned in The Nights.
+
+[FN#109] I Arab. "Dastúr" (from Persian) = leave, permission. The word
+has two meanings (see Burckhardt, Arab. Prov. No. 609) and is much
+used, ea. before walking up stairs or entering a room where strange
+women might be met. So "Tarík" = Clear the way (Pilgrimage, iii., 319).
+The old Persian occupation of Egypt, not to speak of the Persian
+speaking Circassians and other rulers has left many such traces in
+popular language. One of them is that horror of travelers—"Bakhshísh"
+pron. bakh-sheesh and shortened to shísh from the Pers. "bakhshish."
+Our "Christmas box" has been most unnecessarily derived from the same,
+despite our reading:—
+
+Gladly the boy, with Christmas box in hand.
+
+And, as will be seen, Persians have bequeathed to the outer world worse
+things than bad language, e.g. heresy and sodomy.
+
+[FN#110] He speaks of his wife but euphemistically in the masculine.
+
+[FN#111] A popular saying throughout Al-Islam.
+
+[FN#112] Arab. "Fata": lit.=a youth; a generous man, one of noble mind
+(as youth-tide should be). It corresponds with the Lat. "vir," and has
+much the meaning of the Ital. "Giovane," the Germ. "Junker" and our
+"gentleman."
+
+[FN#113] From the Bul. Edit.
+
+[FN#114] The vagueness of his statement is euphemistic.
+
+[FN#115] This readiness of shedding tears contrasts strongly with the
+external stoicism of modern civilization; but it is true to Arab
+character, and Easterns, like the heroes of Homer and Italians of
+Boccacio, are not ashamed of what we look upon as the result of
+feminine hysteria—"a good cry."
+
+[FN#116] The formula (constantly used by Moslems) here denotes
+displeasure, doubt how to act and so forth. Pronounce, "Lá haula wa lá
+kuwwata illá bi 'lláhi 'I-Aliyyi 'I-Azim." As a rule mistakes are
+marvellous: Mandeville (chapt. xii.) for "Lá iláha illa 'lláhu wa
+Muhammadun Rasúlu 'llah" writes "La ellec sila, Machomete rores alla."
+The former (lá haula, etc.), on account of the four peculiar Arabic
+letters, is everywhere pronounced differently. and the exclamation is
+called "Haulak" or "Haukal."
+
+[FN#117] An Arab holds that he has a right to marry his first cousin,
+the daughter of his father's brother, and if any win her from him a
+death and a blood-feud may result. It was the same in a modified form
+amongst the Jews and in both races the consanguineous marriage was not
+attended by the evil results (idiotcy, congenital deafness, etc.)
+observed in mixed races like the English and the Anglo-American. When a
+Badawi speaks of "the daughter of my uncle" he means wife; and the
+former is the dearer title, as a wife can be divorced, but blood is
+thicker than water.
+
+[FN#118] Arab. "Kahbah;" the coarsest possible term. Hence the unhappy
+"Cava" of Don Roderick the Goth, which simply means The Whore.
+
+[FN#119] The Arab "Banj" and Hindú "Bhang" (which I use as most
+familiar) both derive from the old Coptic "Nibanj" meaning a
+preparation of hemp (Cannabis sativa seu Indica); and here it is easy
+to recognise the Homeric "Nepenthe." Al-Kazwini explains the term by
+"garden hemp (Kinnab bostáni or Sháhdánaj). On the other hand not a few
+apply the word to the henbane (hyoscyamus niger) so much used in
+mediæval Europe. The Kámús evidently means henbane distinguishing it
+from Hashish al haráfísh" = rascals' grass, i.e. the herb
+Pantagruelion. The "Alfáz Adwiya" (French translation) explains
+"Tabannuj" by "Endormir quelqu'un en lui faisant avaler de la
+jusquiame." In modern parlance Tabannuj is = our anæsthetic
+administered before an operation, a deadener of pain like myrrh and a
+number of other drugs. For this purpose hemp is always used (at least I
+never heard of henbane); and various preparations of the drug are sold
+at an especial bazar in Cairo. See the "powder of marvellous virtue" in
+Boccaccio, iii., 8; and iv., 10. Of these intoxicants, properly so
+termed, I shall have something to say in a future page.
+
+The use of Bhang doubtless dates from the dawn of civilisation, whose
+earliest social pleasures would be inebriants. Herodotus (iv. c. 75)
+shows the Scythians burning the seeds (leaves and capsules) in worship
+and becoming drunken with the fumes, as do the S. African Bushmen of
+the present day. This would be the earliest form of smoking: it is
+still doubtful whether the pipe was used or not. Galen also mentions
+intoxication by hemp. Amongst Moslems, the Persians adopted the drink
+as an ecstatic, and about our thirteenth century Egypt, which began the
+practice, introduced a number of preparations to be noticed in the
+course of The Nights.
+
+[FN#120] The rubbish heaps which outlie Eastern cities, some (near
+Cairo) are over a hundred feet high.
+
+[FN#121] Arab. "Kurrat al-ayn;" coolness of eyes as opposed to a hot
+eye ("sakhin") one red with tears. The term is true and picturesque so
+I translate it literally. All coolness is pleasant to dwellers in
+burning lands: thus in Al-Hariri Abu Zayd says of Bassorah, "I found
+there whatever could fill the eye with coolness." And a "cool booty"
+(or prize) is one which has been secured without plunging into the
+flames of war, or simply a pleasant prize.
+
+[FN#122] Popularly rendered Caucasus (see Night cdxcvi): it corresponds
+so far with the Hindu "Udaya" that the sun rises behind it; and the
+"false dawn" is caused by a hole or gap. It is also the Persian Alborz,
+the Indian Meru (Sumeru), the Greek Olympus and the Rhiphæan Range
+(Veliki Camenypoys) or great starry girdle of the world, etc.
+
+[FN#123] Arab. "Mizr" or "Mizar;" vulg. Búzah; hence the medical Lat.
+Buza, the Russian Buza (millet beer), our booze, the O. Dutch "buyzen"
+and the German "busen." This is the old of negro and negroid Africa,
+the beer of Osiris, of which dried remains have been found in jars
+amongst Egyptian tombs. In Equatorial Africa it known as Pombe; on the
+Upper Nile "Merissa" or "Mirisi" and amongst the Kafirs (Caffers)
+"Tshuala," "Oala" or "Boyala:" I have also heard of "Buswa"in Central
+Africa which may be the origin of "Buzah." In the West it became,
+(Romaic ), Xythum and cerevisia or cervisia, the humor ex hordeo, long
+before the days of King Gambrinus. Central Africans drink it in immense
+quantities: in Unyamwezi the standing bedsteads, covered with
+bark-slabs, are all made sloping so as to drain off the liquor. A chief
+lives wholly on beef and Pombe which is thick as gruel below. Hops are
+unknown: the grain, mostly Holcus, is made to germinate, then pounded,
+boiled and left to ferment. In Egypt the drink is affected chiefly by
+Berbers, Nubians and slaves from the Upper Nile, but it is a superior
+article and more like that of Europe than the "Pombe." I have given an
+account of the manufacture in The Lake Regions of Central Africa, vol.
+ii., p. 286. There are other preparations, Umm-bulbul (mother
+nightingale), Dinzáyah and Súbiyah, for which I must refer to the
+Shaykh El-Tounsy.
+
+[FN#124] There is a terrible truth in this satire, which reminds us of
+the noble dame who preferred to her handsome husband the palefrenier
+laid, ord et infâme of Queen Margaret of Navarre (Heptameron No. xx.).
+We have all known women who sacrificed everything despite themselves,
+as it were, for the most worthless of men. The world stares and scoffs
+and blames and understands nothing. There is for every woman one man
+and one only in whose slavery she is "ready to sweep the floor." Fate
+is mostly opposed to her meeting him but, when she does, adieu husband
+and children, honour and religion, life and "soul." Moreover Nature
+(human) commands the union of contrasts, such as fair and foul, dark
+and light, tall and short; otherwise mankind would be like the canines,
+a race of extremes, dwarf as toy-terriers, giants like mastiffs, bald
+as Chinese "remedy dogs," or hairy as Newfoundlands. The famous Wilkes
+said only a half truth when he backed himself, with an hour s start,
+against the handsomest man in England; his uncommon and remarkable
+ugliness (he was, as the Italians say, un bel brutto) was the highest
+recommendation in the eyes of very beautiful women.
+
+[FN#125] Every Moslem burial-ground has a place of the kind where
+honourable women may sit and weep unseen by the multitude. These visits
+are enjoined by the Apostle:—Frequent the cemetery, 'twill make you
+think of futurity! Also:—Whoever visiteth the graves of his parents (or
+one of them) every Friday, he shall be written a pious son, even though
+he might have been in the world, before that, a disobedient.
+(Pilgrimage, ii., 71.) The buildings resemble our European "mortuary
+chapels." Said, Pasha of Egypt, was kind enough to erect one on the
+island off Suez, for the "use of English ladies who would like shelter
+whilst weeping and wailing for their dead." But I never heard that any
+of the ladies went there.
+
+[FN#126] Arab. "Ajal"=the period of life, the appointed time of death:
+the word is of constant recurrence and is also applied to sudden death.
+See Lane's Dictionary, s.v.
+
+[FN#127] "The dying Badawi to his tribe" (and lover) appears to me
+highly pathetic. The wild people love to be buried upon hill slopes
+whence they can look down upon the camp; and they still call out the
+names of kinsmen and friends as they pass by the grave-yards. A similar
+piece occurs in Wetzstein (p. 27, "Reisebericht ueber Hauran," etc.):—
+
+     O bear with you my bones where the camel bears his load
+       And bury me before you, if buried I must be;
+     And let me not be burled 'neath the burden of the vine
+       But high upon the hill whence your sight I ever see!
+     As you pass along my grave cry aloud and name your names
+       The crying of your names shall revive the bones of me:
+     I have fasted through my life with my friends, and in my
+       death, I will feast when we meet, on that day of joy and
+       glee.
+
+[FN#128] The Akásirah (plur. of Kasrá=Chosroës) is here a title of the
+four great dynasties of Persian Kings. 1. The Peshdadian or Assyrian
+race, proto-historics for whom dates fail, 2. The Káyánián (Medes and
+Persians) who ended with the Alexandrian invasion in B. C. 331. 3. The
+Ashkánián (Parthenians or Arsacides) who ruled till A. D. 202; and 4.
+The Sassanides which have already been mentioned. But strictly speaking
+"Kisri" and "Kasra" are titles applied only to the latter dynasty and
+especially to the great King Anushirwan. They must not be confounded
+with "Khusrau" (P. N. Cyrus, Ahasuerus? Chosroës?), and yet the three
+seem to have combined in "Cæsar," Kaysar and Czar. For details
+especially connected with Zoroaster see vol. I, p. 380 of the Dabistan
+or School of Manners, translated by David Shea and Anthony Troyer,
+Paris, 1843. The book is most valuable, but the proper names are so
+carelessly and incorrectly printed that the student is led into
+perpetual error.
+
+[FN#129] The words are the very lowest and coarsest; but the scene is
+true to Arab life.
+
+[FN#130] Arab."Hayhát:" the word, written in a variety of ways is
+onomatopoetic, like our "heigh-ho!" it sometimes means "far from me (or
+you) be it!" but in popular usage it is simply "Alas."
+
+[FN#131] Lane (i., 134) finds a date for the book in this passage. The
+Soldan of Egypt, Mohammed ibn Kala'ún, in the early eighth century
+(Hijrah = our fourteenth), issued a sumptuary law compelling Christians
+and Jews to wear indigo-blue and saffron-yellow turbans, the white
+being reserved for Moslems. But the custom was much older and
+Mandeville (chapt. ix.) describes it in A. D. 1322 when it had become
+the rule. And it still endures; although abolished in the cities it is
+the rule for Christians, at least in the country parts of Egypt and
+Syria. I may here remark that such detached passages as these are
+absolutely useless for chronology: they may be simply the additions of
+editors or mere copyists.
+
+[FN#132] The ancient "Mustaphá" = the Chosen (prophet, i. e. Mohammed),
+also titled Al-Mujtaba, the Accepted (Pilgrimage, ii., 309).
+"Murtaza"=the Elect, i.e. the Caliph Ali is the older "Mortada" or
+"Mortadi" of Ockley and his day, meaning "one pleasing to (or
+acceptable to) Allah." Still older writers corrupted it to "Mortis Ali"
+and readers supposed this to be the Caliph's name.
+
+[FN#133] The gleam (zodiacal light) preceding the true dawn; the
+Persians call the former Subh-i-kázib (false or lying dawn) opposed to
+Subh-i-sádik (true dawn) and suppose that it is caused by the sun
+shining through a hole in the world-encircling Mount Kaf.
+
+[FN#134] So the Heb. "Arún" = naked, means wearing the lower robe only;
+= our "in his shirt."
+
+[FN#135] Here we have the vulgar Egyptian colloquialism "Aysh" (—Ayyu
+shayyin) for the classical "Má" = what.
+
+[FN#136] "In the name of Allah!" here said before taking action.
+
+[FN#137] Arab. "Mamlúk" (plur. Mamálik) lit. a chattel; and in The
+Nights a white slave trained to arms. The "Mameluke Beys" of Egypt were
+locally called the "Ghuzz," I use the convenient word in its old
+popular sense;
+
+     'Tis sung, there's a valiant Mameluke
+     In foreign lands ycleped (Sir Luke)-
+                      HUDIBRAS.
+
+And hence, probably, Molière's "Mamamouchi"; and the modern French use
+"Mamaluc." See Savary's Letters, No. xl.
+
+[FN#138] The name of this celebrated successor of Nineveh, where some
+suppose The Nights were written, is orig. Μεσοπύλαι (middle-gates)
+because it stood on the way where four great highways meet. The Arab.
+form "Mausil" (the vulgar "Mosul") is also significant, alluding to the
+"junction" of Assyria and Babylonia. Hence our "muslin."
+
+[FN#139] This is Mr. Thackeray's "nose-bag." I translate by
+"walking-shoes" the Arab "Khuff" which are a manner of loose boot
+covering the ankle; they are not usually embroidered, the ornament
+being reserved for the inner shoe.
+
+[FN#140] _i.e._ Syria (says Abulfeda) the "land on the left" (of one
+facing the east) as opposed to Al-Yaman the "land on the right." Osmani
+would mean Turkish, Ottoman. When Bernard the Wise (Bohn, p. 24) speaks
+of "Bagada and Axiam" (Mabillon's text) or "Axinarri" (still worse), he
+means Baghdad and Ash-Shám (Syria, Damascus), the latter word puzzling
+his Editor. Richardson (Dissert, lxxii.) seems to support a hideous
+attempt to derive Shám from Shámat, a mole or wart, because the country
+is studded with hillocks! Al-Shám is often applied to Damascus-city
+whose proper name Dimishk belongs to books: this term is generally
+derived from Dimáshik b. Káli b. Málik b. Sham (Shem). Lee (Ibn
+Batùtah, 29) denies that ha-Dimishki means "Eliezer of Damascus."
+
+[FN#141] From Oman = Eastern Arabia.
+
+[FN#142] Arab. "Tamar Hannà" lit. date of Henna, but applied to the
+flower of the eastern privet (Lawsonia inermis) which has the sweet
+scent of freshly mown hay. The use of Henna as a dye is known even in
+England. The "myrtle" alluded to may either have been for a perfume (as
+it is held an anti-intoxicant) or for eating, the bitter aromatic
+berries of the "Ás" being supposed to flavour wine and especially Raki
+(raw brandy).
+
+[FN#143] Lane. (i. 211) pleasantly remarks, "A list of these sweets is
+given in my original, but I have thought it better to omit the names"
+(!) Dozy does not shirk his duty, but he is not much more satisfactory
+in explaining words interesting to students because they are unfound in
+dictionaries and forgotten by the people. "Akrás (cakes) Laymunìyah (of
+limes) wa Maymunìyah" appears in the Bresl. Edit. as "Ma'amuniyah"
+which may mean "Ma'amun's cakes" or "delectable cakes." "Amshát" =
+(combs) perhaps refers to a fine kind of Kunàfah (vermicelli) known in
+Egypt and Syria as "Ghazl al-banát" = girl's spinning.
+
+[FN#144] The new moon carefully looked for by all Moslems because it
+begins the Ramazán-fast.
+
+[FN#145] Solomon's signet ring has before been noticed.
+
+[FN#146] The "high-bosomed" damsel, with breasts firm as a cube, is a
+favourite with Arab tale tellers. Fanno baruffa is the Italian term for
+hard breasts pointing outwards.
+
+[FN#147] A large hollow navel is looked upon not only as a beauty, but
+in children it is held a promise of good growth.
+
+[FN#148] Arab. "Ka'ah," a high hall opening upon the central court: we
+shall find the word used for a mansion, barrack, men's quarters, etc.
+
+[FN#149] Babel = Gate of God (El), or Gate of Ilu (P. N. of God), which
+the Jews ironically interpreted "Confusion." The tradition of Babylonia
+being the very centre of witchcraft and enchantment by means of its
+Seven Deadly Spirits, has survived in Al-Islam; the two fallen angels
+(whose names will occur) being confined in a well; Nimrod attempting to
+reach Heaven from the Tower in a magical car drawn by monstrous birds
+and so forth. See p. 114, François Lenormant's "Chaldean Magic,"
+London, Bagsters.
+
+[FN#150] Arab. "Kámat Alfíyyah" = like the letter Alif, a straight
+perpendicular stroke. In the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the origin of every
+alphabet (not syllabarium) known to man, one form was a flag or leaf of
+water-plant standing upright. Hence probably the Arabic Alif-shape;
+while other nations preferred other modifications of the letter (ox's
+head, etc), which in Egyptian number some thirty-six varieties, simple
+and compound.
+
+[FN#151] I have not attempted to order this marvellous confusion of
+metaphors so characteristic of The Nights and the exigencies of
+Al-Saj'a = rhymed prose.
+
+[FN#152] Here and elsewhere I omit the "kála (dice Turpino)" of the
+original: Torrens preserves "Thus goes the tale" (which it only
+interrupts). This is simply letter-wise and sense-foolish.
+
+[FN#153] Of this worthy more at a future time.
+
+[FN#154] i.e., sealed with the Kazi or legal authority's seal of
+office.
+
+[FN#155] "Nothing for nothing" is a fixed idea with the Eastern woman:
+not so much for greed as for a sexual point d' honneur when dealing
+with the adversary—man.
+
+[FN#156] She drinks first, the custom of the universal East, to show
+that the wine she had bought was unpoisoned. Easterns, who utterly
+ignore the "social glass" of Western civilisation drink honestly to get
+drunk; and, when far gone are addicted to horse-play (in Pers.
+"Badmasti" = le vin mauvais) which leads to quarrels and bloodshed.
+Hence it is held highly irreverent to assert of patriarchs, prophets
+and saints that they "drank wine;" and Moslems agree with our
+"Teatotallers" in denying that, except in the case of Noah,
+inebriatives are anywhere mentioned in Holy Writ.
+
+[FN#157] Arab. "Húr al-Ayn," lit. (maids) with eyes of lively white and
+black, applied to the virgins of Paradise who will wive with the happy
+Faithful. I retain our vulgar "Houri," warning the reader that it is a
+masc. for a fem. ("Huríyah") in Arab, although accepted in Persian, a
+genderless speach.
+
+[FN#158] Arab. "Zambúr," whose head is amputated in female
+circumcision. See Night cccclxxiv.
+
+[FN#159] Ocymum basilicum noticed in Introduction, the bassilico of
+Boccaccio iv. 5. The Book of Kalilah and Dimnah represents it as
+"sprouting with something also whose smell is foul and disgusting and
+the sower at once sets to gather it and burn it with fire." (The Fables
+of Bidpai translated from the later Syriac version by I. G. N.
+Keith-Falconer, etc., etc., etc., Cambridge University Press, 1885).
+Here, however, Habk is a pennyroyal (mentha puligium), and probably
+alludes to the pecten.
+
+[FN#160] i. e. common property for all to beat.
+
+[FN#161] "A digit of the moon" is the Hindú equivalent.
+
+[FN#162] Better known to us as Caravanserai, the "Travellers' Bungalow"
+of India: in the Khan, however, shelter is to be had, but neither bed
+nor board.
+
+[FN#163] Arab. "Zubb." I would again note that this and its synonyms
+are the equivalents of the Arabic, which is of the lowest. The
+tale-teller's evident object is to accentuate the contrast with the
+tragical stories to follow.
+
+[FN#164] "ln the name of Allah," is here a civil form of dismissal.
+
+[FN#165] Lane (i. 124) is scandalised and naturally enough by this
+scene, which is the only blot in an admirable tale admirably told. Yet
+even here the grossness is but little more pronounced than what we find
+in our old drama (_e. g._, Shakespeare's King Henry V.) written for the
+stage, whereas tales like The Nights are not read or recited before
+both sexes. Lastly "nothing follows all this palming work:" in Europe
+the orgie would end very differently. These "nuns of Theleme" are
+physically pure: their debauchery is of the mind, not the body. Galland
+makes them five, including the two doggesses.
+
+[FN#166] So Sir Francis Walsingham's "They which do that they should
+not, should hear that they would not."
+
+[FN#167] The old "Calendar," pleasantly associated with that form of
+almanac. The Mac. Edit. has Karandaliyah," a vile corruption, like Ibn
+Batutah's "Karandar" and Torrens' "Kurundul:" so in English we have the
+accepted vulgarism of "Kernel" for Colonel. The Bul. Edit. uses for
+synonym "Su'ulúk"=an asker, a beggar. Of these mendicant monks, for
+such they are, much like the Sarabaites of mediæval Europe, I have
+treated and of their institutions and its founder, Shaykh Sharif Bu Ali
+Kalandar (ob. A. H. 724 =1323-24), at some length in my "History of
+Sindh," chapt. viii. See also the Dabistan (i. 136) where the good
+Kalandar exclaims:—
+
+     If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain!
+     But how sorely I feel for the poor broken thorn!
+
+D'Herbelot is right when he says that the Kalandar is not generally
+approved by Moslems: he labours to win free from every form and
+observance and he approaches the Malámati who conceals all his good
+deeds and boasts of his evil doings—our "Devil's hypocrite."
+
+[FN#168] The "Kalandar" disfigures himself in this manner to show
+"mortification."
+
+[FN#169] Arab. "Gharíb:" the porter is offended because the word
+implies "poor devil;" esp. one out of his own country.
+
+[FN#170] A religious mendicant generally.
+
+[FN#171] Very scandalous to Moslem "respectability" Mohammed said the
+house was accursed when the voices of women could be heard out of
+doors. Moreover the neighbours have a right to interfere and abate the
+scandal.
+
+[FN#172] I need hardly say that these are both historical personages;
+they will often be mentioned, and Ja'afar will be noticed in the
+Terminal Essay.
+
+[FN#173] Arab. "Sama ’an wa tá’atan"; a popular phrase of assent
+generally translated "to hear is to obey;" but this formula may be and
+must be greatly varied. In places it means "Hearing (the word of Allah)
+and obeying" (His prophet, viceregent, etc.)
+
+[FN#174] Arab. "Sawáb"=reward in Heaven. This word for which we have no
+equivalent has been naturalized in all tongues (e. g. Hindostani)
+spoken by Moslems.
+
+[FN#175] Wine-drinking, at all times forbidden to Moslems, vitiates the
+Pilgrimage rite: the Pilgrim is vowed to a strict observance of the
+ceremonial law and many men date their "reformation" from the "Hajj."
+Pilgrimage, iii., 126.
+
+[FN#176] Here some change has been necessary; as the original text
+confuses the three "ladies."
+
+[FN#177] In Arab. the plural masc. is used by way of modesty when a
+girl addresses her lover and for the same reason she speaks of herself
+as a man.
+
+[FN#178] Arab. "Al-Na'ím", in full "Jannat-al-Na'ím" = the Garden of
+Delights, i.e. the fifth Heaven made of white silver. The generic name
+of Heaven (the place of reward) is "Jannat," lit. a garden; "Firdaus"
+being evidently derived from the Persian through the Greek παράδεισος,
+and meaning a chase, a hunting park. Writers on this subject should
+bear in mind Mandeville's modesty, "Of Paradise I cannot speak
+properly, for I was not there."
+
+[FN#179] Arab. "Mikra'ah," the dried mid-rib of a date-frond used for
+many purposes, especially the bastinado.
+
+[FN#180] According to Lane (i., 229) these and the immediately
+following verses are from an ode by Ibn Sahl al-Ishbili. They are in
+the Bul. Edit. not the Mac. Edit.
+
+[FN#181] The original is full of conceits and plays on words which are
+not easily rendered in English.
+
+[FN#182] Arab. "Tarjumán," same root as Chald. Targum ( = a
+translation), the old "Truchman," and through the Ital. "tergomano" our
+"Dragoman," here a messenger.
+
+[FN#183] Lit. the "person of the eyes," our "babe of the eyes," a
+favourite poetical conceit in all tongues; much used by the
+Elizabethans, but now neglected as a silly kind of conceit. See Night
+ccix.
+
+[FN#184] Arab. "Sár" (Thár) the revenge-right recognised by law and
+custom (Pilgrimage, iii., 69).
+
+[FN#185] That is "We all swim in the same boat."
+
+[FN#186] Ja'afar ever acts, on such occasions, the part of a wise and
+sensible man compelled to join in a foolish frolic. He contrasts
+strongly with the Caliph, a headstrong despot who will not be gainsaid,
+whatever be the whim of the moment. But Easterns would look upon this
+as a proof of his "kingliness."
+
+[FN#187] Arab. "Wa'l-Salám" (pronounced Was-Salám); meaning "and here
+ends the matter." In our slang we say "All right, and the child's name
+is Antony."
+
+[FN#188] This is a favourite jingle, the play being upon "ibrat" (a
+needle-graver) and " 'ibrat" (an example, a warning).
+
+[FN#189] That is "make his bow," as the English peasant pulls his
+forelock. Lane (i., 249) suggests, as an afterthought, that it
+means:—"Recover thy senses; in allusion to a person's drawing his hand
+over his head after sleep or a fit." But it occurs elsewhere in the
+sense of "cut thy stick."
+
+[FN#190] This would be a separate building like our family tomb and
+probably domed, resembling that mentioned in "The King of the Black
+Islands." Europeans usually call it "a little Wali;" or, as they write
+it, "Wely," the contained for the container; the "Santon" for the
+"Santon's tomb." I have noticed this curious confusion (which begins
+with Robinson, i. 322) in "Unexplored Syria," i. 161.
+
+[FN#191] Arab. "Wiswás," = diabolical temptation or suggestion. The
+"Wiswásí" is a man with scruples (scrupulus, a pebble in the shoe),
+e.g. one who fears that his ablutions were deficient, etc.
+
+[FN#192] Arab. "Katf" = pinioning by tying the arms behind the back and
+shoulders (Kitf) a dire disgrace to free-born men.
+
+[FN#193] Arab. "Nafs."=Hebr. Nephesh (Nafash) =soul, life as opposed to
+"Ruach"= spirit and breath. In these places it is equivalent to "I said
+to myself." Another form of the root is "Nafas," breath, with an idea
+of inspiration: so 'Sáhib Nafas" (=master of breath) is a minor saint
+who heals by expiration, a matter familiar to mesmerists (Pilgrimage,
+i., 86).
+
+[FN#194] Arab. "Kaus al-Banduk;" the "pellet bow" of modern India; with
+two strings joined by a bit of cloth which supports a ball of dry clay
+or stone. It is chiefly used for birding.
+
+[FN#195] In the East blinding was a common practice, especially in the
+case of junior princes not required as heirs. A deep perpendicular
+incision was made down each corner of the eyes; the lids were lifted
+and the balls removed by cutting the optic nerve and the muscles. The
+later Caliphs blinded their victims by passing a red-hot sword blade
+close to the orbit or a needle over the eye-ball. About the same time
+in Europe the operation was performed with a heated metal basin—the
+well known bacinare (used by Ariosto), as happened to Pier delle Vigne
+(Petrus de Vineâ), the "godfather of modern Italian."
+
+[FN#196] Arab. "Khinzír" (by Europeans pronounced "Hanzír"), prop. a
+wild-boar, but popularly used like our "you pig!"
+
+[FN#197] Striking with the shoe, the pipe-stick and similar articles is
+highly insulting, because they are not made, like whips and scourges,
+for such purpose. Here the East and the West differ diametrically.
+"Wounds which are given by instruments which are in one's hands by
+chance do not disgrace a man," says Cervantes (D. Q. i., chapt. 15),
+and goes on to prove that if a Zapatero (cobbler) cudgel another with
+his form or last, the latter must not consider himself cudgelled. The
+reverse in the East where a blow of a pipe stick cost Mahommed Ali
+Pasha's son his life: Ishmail Pasha was burned to death by Malik Nimr,
+chief of Shendy (Pilgrimage, i., 203). Moreover, the actual wound is
+less considered in Moslem law than the instrument which caused it: so
+sticks and stones are venial weapons, whilst sword and dagger, gun and
+pistol are felonious. See ibid. (i., 336) for a note upon the weapons
+with which nations are policed.
+
+[FN#198] Incest is now abominable everywhere except amongst the
+overcrowded poor of great and civilised cities. Yet such unions were
+common and lawful amongst ancient and highly cultivated peoples, as the
+Egyptians (Isis and Osiris), Assyrians and ancient Persians.
+Physiologically they are injurious only when the parents have
+constitutional defects: if both are sound, the issue, as amongst the
+so-called "lower animals " is viable and healthy.
+
+[FN#199] Dwellers in the Northern Temperates can hardly imagine what a
+dust-storm is in sun parched tropical lands. In Sind we were often
+obliged to use candles at mid-day, while above the dust was a sun that
+would roast an egg.
+
+[FN#200] Arab. “’Urban,” now always used of the wild people, whom the
+French have taught us to call _les Bedouins_; "Badw" being a waste or
+desert, and Badawi (fem. Badawíyah, plur. Badáwi and Bidwán), a man of
+the waste. Europeans have also learnt to miscall the Egyptians "Arabs":
+the difference is as great as between an Englishman and a Spaniard.
+Arabs proper divide their race into sundry successive families. "The
+Arab al-Arabá" (or al-Aribah, or al-Urubíyat) are the autochthones,
+prehistoric, proto-historic and extinct tribes; for instance, a few of
+the Adites who being at Meccah escaped the destruction of their wicked
+nation, but mingled with other classes. The "Arab al-Muta'arribah,"
+(Arabised Arabs) are the first advenæ represented by such noble strains
+as the Koraysh (Koreish), some still surviving. The "Arab
+al-Musta'aribah" (insititious, naturalized or instituted Arabs, men who
+claim to be Arabs) are Arabs like the Sinaites, the Egyptians and the
+Maroccans descended by intermarriage with other races. Hence our
+"Mosarabians" and the "Marrabais" of Rabelais (not, "a word compounded
+of Maurus and Arabs"). Some genealogists, however, make the
+Muta'arribah descendants of Kahtan (possibly the Joktan of Genesis x.,
+a comparatively modern document, B.C. 700?); and the Musta'aribah those
+descended from Adnán the origin of Arab genealogy. And, lastly, are the
+"Arab al-Musta'ajimah," barbarised Arabs, like the present population
+of Meccah and Al-Medinah. Besides these there are other tribes whose
+origin is still unknown, such as the Mahrah tribes of Hazramaut, the
+"Akhdám" (=serviles) of Oman (Maskat); and the "Ebná" of Al-Yaman: Ibn
+Ishak supposes the latter to be descended from the Persian soldiers of
+Anushirwan who expelled the Abyssinian invader from Southern Arabia.
+(Pilgrimage, iii., 31, etc.)
+
+[FN#201] Arab. "Amír al-Muuminín." The title was assumed by the Caliph
+Omar to obviate the inconvenience of calling himself "Khalífah"
+(successor) of the Khalífah of the Apostle of Allah (i.e. Abu Bakr);
+which after a few generations would become impossible. It means "Emir
+(chief or prince) of the Muumins," men who hold to the (true Moslem)
+Faith, the "Imán" (theory, fundamental articles) as opposed to the
+"Dín," ordinance or practice of the religion. It once became a Wazirial
+time conferred by Sultan Malikshah (King King-king) on his Nizám
+al-Mulk. (Richardson's Dissert. lviii.)
+
+[FN#202] This may also mean "according to the seven editions of the
+Koran " the old revisions and so forth (Sale, Sect. iii. and D'Herbelot
+"Alcoran.") The schools of the "Mukri," who teach the right
+pronunciation wherein a mistake might be sinful, are seven, Harnzah,
+Ibn Katír, Ya'akúb, Ibn Amir, Kisái, Asim and Hafs, the latter being
+the favourite with the Hanafis and the only one now generally known in
+Al-Islam.
+
+[FN#203] Arab. "Sadd"=wall, dyke, etc. the "bund" or "band" of
+Anglo-India. Hence the "Sadd" on the Nile, the banks of grass and
+floating islands which "wall" the stream. There are few sights more
+appalling than a sandstorm in the desert, the "Zauba'ah" as the Arabs
+call it. Devils, or pillars of sand, vertical and inclined, measuring a
+thousand feet high, rush over the plain lashing the sand at their base
+like a sea surging under a furious whirlwind; shearing the grass clean
+away from the roots, tearing up trees, which are whirled like leaves
+and sticks in air and sweeping away tents and houses as if they were
+bits of paper. At last the columns join at the top and form, perhaps
+three thousand feet above the earth, a gigantic cloud of yellow sand
+which obliterates not only the horizon but even the mid-day sun. These
+sand-spouts are the terror of travellers. In Sind and the Punjab we
+have the dust-storm which for darkness, I have said, beats the blackest
+London fog.
+
+[FN#204] Arab. Sár = the vendetta, before mentioned, as dreaded in
+Arabia as in Corsica.
+
+[FN#205] Arab. "Ghútah," usually a place where irrigation is abundant.
+It especially applies (in books) to the Damascus-plain because "it
+abounds with water and fruit trees." Bochart (Geog. Sacra, p. 90)
+derives ﬠיטה (utah) from ﬠוץ Uz, son of Arab, who (he says) founded
+Damascus. The Ghutah is one of the four earthly paradises, the others
+being Basrah (Bassorah), Shiraz and Samarcand. Its peculiarity is the
+likeness to a seaport; the Desert which rolls up almost to its doors
+being the sea and its ships being the camels. The first Arab to whom we
+owe this admirable term for the "Companion of Job" is "Tarafah" one of
+the poets of the Suspended Poems: he likens (v. v. 3, 4) the camels
+which bore away his beloved to ships sailing from Aduli. But "ships of
+the desert" is doubtless a term of the highest antiquity.
+
+[FN#206] The exigencies of the "Saj'a," or rhymed prose, disjoint this
+and many similar passages.
+
+[FN#207] The "Ebony" Islands; Scott's "Isle of Ebene," i., 217.
+
+[FN#208] "Jarjarís" in the Bul. Edit.
+
+[FN#209] Arab. "Takbís." Many Easterns can hardly sleep without this
+kneading of the muscles, this "rubbing" whose hygienic properties
+England is now learning.
+
+[FN#210] The converse of the breast being broadened, the drooping,
+"draggle-tail" gait compared with the head held high and the chest
+inflated.
+
+[FN#211] This penalty is mentioned in the Koran (chapt. v.) as fit for
+those who fight against Allah and his Apostle, but commentators are not
+agreed if the sinners are first to be put to death or to hang on the
+cross till they die. Pharaoh (chapt. xx.) threatens to crucify his
+magicians on palm-trees, and is held to be the first crucifier.
+
+[FN#212] Arab. "'Ajami"=foreigner, esp. a Persian: the latter in The
+Nights is mostly a villain. I must here remark that the contemptible
+condition of Persians in Al-Hijáz (which I noted in 1852, Pilgrimage,
+i., 327) has completely changed. They are no longer, "The slippers of
+Ali and hounds of Omar:" they have learned the force of union and now,
+instead of being bullied, they bully.
+
+[FN#213] The Calc. Edit. turns them into Tailors (Khayyátín) and
+Torrens does not see the misprint.
+
+[FN#214] i.e. Axe and sandals.
+
+[FN#215] Lit. "Strike his neck."
+
+[FN#216] A phrase which will frequently recur; meaning the situation
+suggested such words a these.
+
+[FN#217] The smiter with the evil eye is called “A’in” and the person
+smitten “Ma’ín” or “Ma’ún.”
+
+[FN#218] Arab. "Sákiyah," the well-known Persian wheel with pots and
+buckets attached to the tire. It is of many kinds, the boxed, etc.,
+etc., and it is possibly alluded to in the "pitcher broken at the
+fountain" (Ecclesiastes xii. 6) an accident often occurring to the
+modern "Noria." Travellers mostly abuse its "dismal creaking" and
+"mournful monotony": I have defended the music of the water-wheel in
+Pilgrimage ii. 198.
+
+[FN#219] Arab. "Zikr" lit. remembering, mentioning (i. c. the names of
+Allah), here refers to the meetings of religious for devotional
+exercises; the "Zikkirs," as they are called, mostly standing or
+sitting in a circle while they ejaculate the Holy Name. These
+"rogations" are much affected by Darwayshes, or begging friars, whom
+Europe politely divides into "dancing" and "howling"; and, on one
+occasion, greatly to the scandal of certain Engländerinns to whom I was
+showing the Ezbekiyah I joined the ring of "howlers." Lane (Mod. Egypt,
+see index) is profuse upon the subject of "Zikrs" and Zikkírs. It must
+not be supposed that they are uneducated men: the better class,
+however, prefers more privacy.
+
+[FN#220] As they thought he had been there for prayer or penance.
+
+[FN#221] Arab. "Ziyárat," a visit to a pious person or place.
+
+[FN#222] This is a paternal salute in the East where they are
+particular about the part kissed. A witty and not unusually gross
+Persian book, called the "Al-Námah" because all questions begin with
+"Al" (the Arab article) contains one "Al-Wajib al-busidan?" (what best
+deserves bussing?) and the answer is "Kus-i-nau-pashm," (a bobadilla
+with a young bush).
+
+[FN#223] A weight of 71-72 English grains in gold; here equivalent to
+the diner.
+
+[FN#224] Compare the tale of The Three Crows in Gammer Grethel, Evening
+ix.
+
+[FN#225] The comparison is peculiarly apposite; the earth seen from
+above appears hollow with a raised rim.
+
+[FN#226] A hundred years old.
+
+[FN#227] "Bahr" in Arab. means sea, river, piece of water; hence the
+adjective is needed.
+
+[FN#228] The Captain or Master of the ship (not the owner). In Al-Yaman
+the word also means a "barber," in virtue of the root, Raas, a head.
+
+[FN#229] The text has "in the character Ruká'í,"," or Riká'í,, the
+correspondence-hand.
+
+[FN#230] A curved character supposed to be like the basil-leaf
+(rayhán). Richardson calls it "Rohani."
+
+[FN#231] I need hardly say that Easterns use a reed, a Calamus (Kalam
+applied only to the cut reed) for our quills and steel pens.
+
+[FN#232] Famous for being inscribed on the Kiswah (cover) of Mohammed's
+tomb; a large and more formal hand still used for engrossing and for
+mural inscriptions. Only seventy two varieties of it are known
+(Pilgrimage, ii., 82).
+
+[FN#233] The copying and transcribing hand which is either Arabi or
+Ajami. A great discovery has been lately made which upsets all our old
+ideas of Cufic, etc. Mr. Löytved of Bayrut has found, amongst the
+Hauranic inscriptions, one in pure Naskhi, dating A. D. 568, or fifty
+years before the Hijrah; and it is accepted as authentic by my learned
+friend M. Ch. Clermont-Ganneau (p. 193, Pal. Explor. Fund. July 1884).
+In D'Herbelot and Sale's day the Koran was supposed to have been
+written in rude characters, like those subsequently called "Cufic,"
+invented shortly before Mohammed's birth by Murámir ibn Murrah of Anbar
+in Irák, introduced into Meccah by Bashar the Kindian, and perfected by
+Ibn Muklah (Al-Wazir, ob. A. H. 328=940). We must now change all that.
+See Catalogue of Oriental Caligraphs, etc., by G. P, Badger, London,
+Whiteley, 1885.
+
+[FN#234] Capital and uncial letters; the hand in which the Ka'abah veil
+is inscribed (Pilgrimage iii. 299, 300).
+
+[FN#235] A "Court hand" says Mr. Payne (i. 112): I know nothing of it.
+Other hands are: the Ta'alík; hanging or oblique, used for finer MSS.
+and having, according to Richardson, "the same analogy to the Naskhi as
+our Italic has to the Roman." The Nasta' lík (not Naskh-Ta'alik) much
+used in India, is, as the name suggests, a mixture of the Naskhi
+(writing of transactions) and the Ta'alik. The Shikastah (broken hand)
+everywhere represents our running hand and becomes a hard task to the
+reader. The Kirmá is another cursive character, mostly confined to the
+receipts and disbursements of the Turkish treasury. The Diváni, or
+Court (of Justice) is the official hand, bold and round. a business
+character, the lines often rising with a sweep or curve towards the
+(left) end. The Jáli or polished has a variety, the Jali-Ta'alik: the
+Sulsi (known in many books) is adopted for titles of volumes, royal
+edicts, diplomas and so forth; "answering much the same purpose as
+capitals with us, or the flourished letters in illuminated manuscripts"
+(Richardson) The Tughrái is that of the Tughrá, the Prince's cypher or
+flourishing signature in ceremonial writings, and containing some such
+sentence as: Let this be executed. There are others e. g. Yákuti and
+Sirenkil known only by name. Finally the Maghribi (Moorish) hand
+differs in form and diacritical points from the characters used further
+east almost as much as German running hand does from English. It is
+curious that Richardson omits the Jali (intricate and convoluted) and
+the divisions of the Sulusí, Sulsi or Sulus (Thuluth) character, the
+Sulus al-Khafíf, etc.
+
+[FN#236] Arab. "Baghlah"; the male (Baghl) is used only for loads. This
+is everywhere the rule: nothing is more unmanageable than a restive
+"Macho", and he knows that he can always get you off his back when so
+minded. From "Baghlah" is derived the name of the native craft
+Anglo-Indicè a "Buggalow."
+
+[FN#237] In Heb. ""Ben-Adam" is any man opp. to "Beni ish" (Psalm iv.
+3) =filii viri, not homines.
+
+[FN#238] This posture is terribly trying to European legs; and few
+white men (unless brought up to it) can squat for any time on their
+heels. The “tailor-fashion,” with crossed legs, is held to be free and
+easy.
+
+[FN#239] Arab. "Katá"=Pterocles Alchata, the well-known sand-grouse of
+the desert. It is very poor white flesh.
+
+[FN#240] Arab. “Khubz” which I do not translate “cake” or “bread,” as
+that would suggest the idea of our loaf. The staff of life in the East
+is a thin flat circle of dough baked in the oven or on the griddle, and
+corresponding with the Scotch “scone,” the Spanish tortilla and the
+Australian “flap-jack.”
+
+[FN#241] Arab. "Harísah," a favourite dish of wheat (or rice) boiled
+and reduced to a paste with shredded meat, spices and condiments. The
+"bangles" is a pretty girl eating with him.
+
+[FN#242] These lines are repeated with a difference in Night cccxxx.
+They affect Rims cars, out of the way, heavy rhymes: e. g. here Sakáríj
+(plur. of Sakrúj, platters, porringers); Tayáhíj (plur. of Tayhúj, the
+smaller caccabis-partridge); Tabáhíj (Persian Tabahjah, an omelet or a
+stew of meat, onions, eggs, etc.) Ma'áríj ("in stepped piles" like the
+pyramids; which Lane ii. 495, renders "on the stairs"); Makáríj (plur.
+of Makraj, a small pot); Damálíj (plur. of dumlúj, a bracelet, a
+bangle); Dayábíj (brocades) and Tafáríj (openings, enjoyments). In
+Night cccxxx. we find also Sikábíj (plur. of Sikbáj, marinated meat
+elsewhere explained); Faráríj (plur. of farrúj, a chicken, vulg. farkh)
+and Dakákíj (plur. of dakújah, a small jar). In the first line we have
+also (though not a rhyme) Gharánik Gr. Γερανὸς, a crane, preserved in
+Romaic. The weeping and wailing are caused by the remembrance that all
+these delicacies have been demolished like a Badawi camp.
+
+[FN#243] This is the vinum coctum, the boiled wine, still a favourite
+in Southern Italy and Greece.
+
+[FN#244] Eastern topers delight in drinking at dawn: upon this subject
+I shall have more to say in other Nights.
+
+[FN#245] Arab. "Adab," a crux to translators, meaning anything between
+good education and good manners. In mod. Turk. "Edibiyyet" (Adabiyat) =
+belles lettres and "Edebi' or "Edíb" = a littérateur.
+
+[FN#246] The Caliph Al-Maamún, who was a bad player, used to say, "I
+have the administration of the world and am equal to it, whereas I am
+straitened in the ordering of a space of two spans by two spans." The
+"board" was then "a square field of well-dressed leather."
+
+[FN#247] The Rabbis (after Matth. xix. 12) count three kinds of
+Eunuchs; (1) Seris chammah=of the sun, i.e. natural, (2) Seris
+Adam=manufactured per homines; and (3) Seris Chammayim—of God (i.e..
+religious abstainer). Seris (castrated) or Abd (slave) is the general
+Hebrew name.
+
+[FN#248] The "Lady of Beauty."
+
+[FN#249] "Káf" has been noticed as the mountain which surrounds earth
+as a ring does the finger:: it is popularly used like our Alp and
+Alpine. The "circumambient Ocean" (Bahr al-muhit) is the Homeric
+Ocean-stream.
+
+[FN#250] The pomegranate is probably chosen here because each fruit is
+supposed to contain one seed from Eden-garden. Hence a host of
+superstitions (Pilgrimage iii., 104) possibly connected with the
+Chaldaic-Babylonian god Rimmon or Ramanu. Hence Persephone or Ishtar
+tasted the "rich pomegranate's seed." Lenormant, loc. cit. pp. 166,
+182.
+
+[FN#251] i.e. for the love of God—a favourite Moslem phrase.
+
+[FN#252] Arab. "Báb," also meaning a chapter (of magic, of war, etc.),
+corresponding with the Persian "Dar" as in Sad-dar, the Hundred Doors.
+Here, however, it is figurative "I tried a new mode." This scene is in
+the Mabinogion.
+
+[FN#253] I use this Irish term = crying for the dead, as English wants
+the word for the præfica, or myrialogist. The practice is not
+encouraged in Al-Islam; and Caliph Abu Bakr said, ; "Verily a corpse is
+sprinkled with boiling water by reason of the lamentations of the
+living, i.e. punished for not having taken measures to prevent their
+profitless lamentations. But the practice is from Negroland whence it
+reached Egypt, and the people have there developed a curious system in
+the "weeping-song" I have noted this in "The Lake Regions of Central
+Africa." In Zoroastrianism (Dabistan, chapt. xcvii.) tears shed for the
+dead form a river in hell, black and frigid.
+
+[FN#254] These lines are hardly translatable. Arab. "Sabr" means
+"patience" as well as "aloes," hereby lending itself to a host of puns
+and double entendres more or less vile. The aloe, according to
+Burckhardt, is planted in graveyards as a lesson of patience: it is
+also slung, like the dried crocodile, over house doors to prevent evil
+spirits entering: "thus hung without earth and water," says Lane (M.E.,
+chapt. xi.), "it will live for several years and even blossom. Hence
+(?) it is called Sabr, which signifies patience. But Sibr as well as
+Sabr (a root) means "long sufferance." I hold the practice to be one of
+the many Inner African superstitions. The wild Gallas to the present
+day plant aloes on graves, and suppose that when the plant sprouts the
+deceased has been admitted to the gardens of Wák, the Creator.
+(Pilgrimage iii. 350.)
+
+[FN#255] Every city in the East has its specific title: this was given
+to Baghdad either on account of its superior police or simply because
+it was the Capital of the Caliphate. The Tigris was also called the
+"River of Peace (or Security)."
+
+[FN#256] This is very characteristic: the passengers finding themselves
+in difficulties at once take command. See in my Pilgrimage (I. chapt.
+xi.) how we beat and otherwise maltreated the Captain of the "Golden
+Wire."
+
+[FN#257] The fable is probably based on the currents which, as in
+Eastern Africa, will carry a ship fifty miles a day out of her course.
+We first find it in Ptolemy (vii. 2) whose Maniólai Islands, of India
+extra Gangem, cause iron nails to fly out of ships, the effect of the
+Lapis Herculeus (Loadstone). Rabelais (v. c. 37) alludes to it and to
+the vulgar idea of magnetism being counteracted by Skordon (Scordon or
+garlic). Hence too the Adamant (Loadstone) Mountains of Mandeville
+(chapt. xxvii.) and the "Magnetic Rock" in Mr Puttock's clever "Peter
+Wilkins." I presume that the myth also arose from seeing craft built,
+as on the East African Coast, without iron nails. We shall meet with
+the legend again. The word Jabal ("Jebel" in Egypt) often occurs in
+these pages. The Arabs apply it to any rising ground or heap of rocks;
+so it is not always = our mountain. It has found its way to Europe e.
+g. Gibraltar and Monte Gibello (or Mongibel in poetry) "Mt. Ethne that
+men clepen Mounte Gybelle." Other special senses of Jabal will occur.
+
+[FN#258] As we learn from the Nubian Geographer the Arabs in early ages
+explored the Fortunate Islands (Jazírát al-Khálidát=Eternal Isles), or
+Canaries, on one of which were reported a horse and horseman in bronze
+with his spear pointing west. Ibn al-Wardi notes two images of hard
+stone, each an hundred cubits high, and upon the top of each a figure
+of copper pointing with its hand backwards, as though it would
+say:—Return for there is nothing behind me!" But this legend attaches
+to older doings. The 23rd Tobba (who succeeded Bilkis), Malik bin
+Sharhabíl, (or Sharabíl or Sharahíl) surnamed Náshir al-Ní'am=scatterer
+of blessings, lost an army in attempting the Western sands and set up a
+statue of copper upon whose breast was inscribed in antique
+characters:—
+
+     There is no access behind me,
+     Nothing beyond,
+     (Saith) The Son of Sharabíl.
+
+[FN#259] i.e. I exclaimed "Bismillah!"
+
+[FN#260] The lesser ablution of hands, face and feet; a kind of
+"washing the points." More in Night ccccxl.
+
+[FN#261] Arab. "Ruka'tayn"; the number of these bows which are followed
+by the prostrations distinguishes the five daily prayers.
+
+[FN#262] The "Beth Kol" of the Hebrews; also called by the Moslems
+"Hátif"; for which ask the Spiritualists. It is the Hindu "voice
+divine" or "voice from heaven."
+
+[FN#263] These formulae are technically called Tasmiyah, Tahlil (before
+noted) and Takbír: the "testifying" is Tashhíd.
+
+[FN#264] Arab. "Samn," (Pers. "Raughan" Hind. "Ghi") the "single sauce"
+of the East; fresh butter set upon the fire, skimmed and kept (for a
+century if required) in leather bottles and demijohns. Then it becomes
+a hard black mass, considered a panacea for wounds and diseases. It is
+very "filling": you say jocosely to an Eastern threatened with a sudden
+inroad of guests, "Go, swamp thy rice with Raughan." I once tried
+training, like a Hindu Pahlawan or athlete, on Gur (raw sugar), milk
+and Ghi; and the result was being blinded by bile before the week
+ended.
+
+[FN#265] These handsome youths are always described in the terms we
+should apply to women.
+
+[FN#266] The Bul. Edit. (i. 43) reads otherwise:—I found a garden and a
+second and a third and so on till they numbered thirty and nine; and,
+in each garden, I saw what praise will not express, of trees and rills
+and fruits and treasures. At the end of the last I sighted a door and
+said to myself, "What may be in this place?; needs must I open it and
+look in!" I did so accordingly and saw a courser ready saddled and
+bridled and picketed; so I loosed and mounted him, and he flew with me
+like a bird till he set me down on a terrace-roof; and, having landed
+me, he struck me a whisk with his tail and put out mine eye and fled
+from me. Thereupon I descended from the roof and found ten youths all
+blind of one eye who, when they saw me exclaimed, "No welcome to thee,
+and no good cheer!" I asked them, "Do ye admit me to your home and
+society?" and they answered, "No, by Allah' thou shalt not live amongst
+us." So I went forth with weeping eyes and grieving heart, but Allah
+had written my safety on the Guarded Tablet so I reached Baghdad in
+safety, etc. This is a fair specimen of how the work has been curtailed
+in that issue.
+
+[FN#267] Arabs date pregnancy from the stopping of the menses, upon
+which the foetus is supposed to feed. Kalilah wa Dimnah says, "The
+child's navel adheres to that of his mother and thereby he sucks" (i.
+263).
+
+[FN#268] This is contrary to the commands of Al-Islam, Mohammed
+expressly said "The Astrologers are liars, by the Lord of the
+Ka'abah!"; and his saying is known to almost all Moslems, lettered or
+unlettered. Yet, the further we go East (Indiawards) the more we find
+these practices held in honour. Turning westwards we have:
+
+     Iuridicis, Erebo, Fisco, fas vivere rapto:
+     Militibus, Medicis, Tortori occidere ludo est;
+     Mentiri Astronomis, Pictoribus atque Poetis.
+
+[FN#269] He does not perform the Wuzu or lesser ablution because he
+neglects his dawn prayers.
+
+[FN#270] For this game see Lane (M. E. Chapt. xvii.) It is usually
+played on a checked cloth not on a board like our draughts; and
+Easterns are fond of eating, drinking and smoking between and even
+during the games. Torrens (p. 142) translates "I made up some dessert,"
+confounding "Mankalah" with "Nukl" (dried fruit, quatre-mendiants).
+
+[FN#271] Quoted from Mohammed whose saying has been given.
+
+[FN#272] We should say "the night of the thirty-ninth."
+
+[FN#273] The bath first taken after sickness.
+
+[FN#274] Arab. "Dikák" used by way of soap or rather to soften the
+skin: the meal is usually of lupins, "Adas"="Revalenta Arabica," which
+costs a penny in Egypt and half-a-crown in England.
+
+[FN#275] Arab. "Sukkar-nabát." During my day (1842-49) we had no other
+sugar in the Bombay Presidency.
+
+[FN#276] This is one of the myriad Arab instances that the decrees of
+"Anagké," Fate, Destiny, Weird, are inevitable. The situation is highly
+dramatic; and indeed The Nights, as will appear in the Terminal Essay,
+have already suggested a national drama.
+
+[FN#277] Having lately been moved by Ajib.
+
+[FN#278] Mr. Payne (i. 131) omits these lines which appear out of
+place; but this mode of inappropriate quotation is a characteristic of
+Eastern tales.
+
+[FN#279] Anglicè "him."
+
+[FN#280] This march of the tribe is a lieu commun of Arab verse e.g.
+the poet Labid's noble elegy on the "Deserted Camp." We shall find
+scores of instances in The Nights.
+
+[FN#281] I have heard of such sands in the Desert east of Damascus
+which can be crossed only on boards or camel furniture; and the same is
+reported of the infamous Region "Al-Ahkáf" ("Unexplored Syria").
+
+[FN#282] Hence the Arab. saying "The bark of a dog and not the gleam of
+a fire;" the tired traveller knows from the former that the camp is
+near, whereas the latter shows from great distances.
+
+[FN#283] Dark blue is the colour of mourning in Egypt as it was of the
+Roman Republic. The Persians hold that this tint was introduced by Kay
+Kawús (B. C. 600) when mourning for his son Siyáwush. It was continued
+till the death of Husayn on the 10th of Muharram (the first month, then
+representing the vernal equinox) when it was changed for black. As a
+rule Moslems do not adopt this symbol of sorrow (called "Hidád")
+looking upon the practice as somewhat idolatrous and foreign to Arab
+manners. In Egypt and especially on the Upper Nile women dye their
+hands with indigo and stain their faces black or blacker.
+
+[FN#284] The older Roc, of which more in the Tale of Sindbad. Meanwhile
+the reader curious about the Persian Símurgh (thirty bird) will consult
+the Dabistan, i., 55,191 and iii., 237, and Richardson's Diss. p.
+xlviii. For the Anka (Enka or Unka—long necked bird) see Dab. iii., 249
+and for the Humá (bird of Paradise) Richardson lxix. We still lack
+details concerning the Ben or Bennu (nycticorax) of Egypt which with
+the Article pi gave rise to the Greek "phoenix."
+
+[FN#285] Probably the Haledj of Forskal (p. xcvi. Flor. Ægypt. Arab.),
+"lignum tenax, durum, obscuri generis." The Bres. Edit. has "ákúl"=teak
+wood, vulg. "Sáj."
+
+[FN#286] The knocker ring is an invention well known to the Romans.
+
+[FN#287] Arab. "Sadr"; the place of honour; hence the "Sudder Adawlut"
+(Supreme Court) in the Anglo-Indian jargon.
+
+[FN#288] Arab. "Ahlan wa sahlan wa marhabá," the words still popularly
+addressed to a guest.
+
+[FN#289] This may mean "liquid black eyes"; but also, as I have
+noticed, that the lashes were long and thick enough to make the eyelids
+appear as if Kohl-powder had been applied to the inner rims.
+
+[FN#290] A slight parting between the two front incisors, the upper
+only, is considered a beauty by Arabs; why it as hard to say except for
+the racial love of variety. "Sughr" (Thugr) in the text means,
+primarily, the opening of the mouth, the gape: hence the front teeth.
+
+[FN#291] i.e. makes me taste the bitterness of death, "bursting the
+gall-bladder" (Marárah) being our "breaking the heart."
+
+[FN#292] Almost needless to say that forbidden doors and rooms form a
+lieu-commun in Fairie: they are found in the Hindu Katha Sarit Sagara
+and became familiar to our childhood by "Bluebeard."
+
+[FN#293] Lit. "apply Kohl to my eyes," even as Jezebel "painted her
+face," in Heb. put her eyes in painting (2 Kings ix. 30).
+
+[FN#294] Arab. "Al-Barkúk," whence our older "Apricock." Classically it
+is "Burkúk" and Pers. for Arab. "Mishrnish," and it also denotes a
+small plum or damson. In Syria the side next the sun" shows a glowing
+red flush.
+
+[FN#295] Arab. "Hazár" (in Persian, a thousand) = a kind of mocking
+bird.
+
+[FN#296] Some Edits. make the doors number a hundred, but the
+Princesses were forty and these coincidences, which seem to have
+significance and have none save for Arab symmetromania, are common in
+Arab stories.
+
+[FN#297] Arab. "Májur": hence possibly our "mazer," which is popularly
+derived from Masarn, a maple.
+
+[FN#298] A compound scent of ambergris, musk and aloes.
+
+[FN#299] The ends of the bridle-reins forming the whip.
+
+[FN#300] The flying horse is Pegasus which is a Greek travesty of an
+Egyptian myth developed India.
+
+[FN#301] The Bres. Edit. wrongly says "the seventh."
+
+[FN#302] Arab. "Sharmutah" (plur. Sharámít) from the root Sharmat, to
+shred, a favourite Egyptian word also applied in vulgar speech to a
+strumpet, a punk, a piece. It is also the popular term for strips of
+jerked or boucaned meat hung up m the sun to dry, and classically
+called "Kadíd."
+
+[FN#303] Arab. "Izár," the man's waistcloth opposed to the Ridá or
+shoulder-cloth, is also the sheet of white calico worn by the poorer
+Egyptian women out of doors and covering head and hands. See Lane (M.
+E., chapt. i.). The rich prefer a "Habárah" of black silk, and the
+poor, when they have nothing else, use a bed-sheet.
+
+[FN#304] i.e. "My dears."
+
+[FN#305] Arab. "Lá tawákhizná:" lit. "do not chastise (or blame) us;"
+the pop. expression for, "excuse (or pardon) us."
+
+[FN#306] Arab. "Maskhút," mostly applied to change of shape as man
+enchanted to monkey, and in vulgar parlance applied to a statue (of
+stone, etc.). The list of metamorphoses in Al-Islam is longer than that
+known to Ovid. Those who have seen Petra, the Greek town of the Haurán
+and the Roman ruins in Northern Africa will readily detect the basis
+upon which these stories are built. I shall return to this subject in
+The City of Iram (Night cclxxvi.) and The City of Brass (dlxvii.).
+
+[FN#307] A picturesque phrase enough to express a deserted site, a
+spectacle familiar to the Nomades and always abounding in pathos to the
+citizens.
+
+[FN#308] The olden "Harem" (or gynæceum, Pers. Zenanah, Serraglio):
+Harím is also used by synecdoche for the inmates; especially the wife.
+
+[FN#309] The pearl is supposed in the East to lose 1% per ann. of its
+splendour and value.
+
+[FN#310] Arab. "Fass," properly the bezel of a ring; also a gem cut en
+cabochon and generally the contenant for the contenu.
+
+[FN#311] Arab. "Mihráb" = the arch-headed niche in the Mosque-wall
+facing Meccah-wards. Here, with his back to the people and fronting the
+Ka'abah or Square House of Meccah (hence called the "Kiblah" =
+direction of prayer), stations himself the Imám, antistes or fugleman,
+lit. "one who stands before others;" and his bows and prostrations give
+the time to the congregation. I have derived the Mihrab from the niche
+in which the Egyptian God was shrined: the Jews ignored it, but the
+Christians preserved it for their statues and altars. Maundrell
+suggests that the empty niche denotes an invisible God. As the niche
+(symbol of Venus) and the minaret (symbol of Priapus) date only from
+the days of the tenth Caliph, Al-Walid (A.H. 86-96=105-115), the Hindus
+charge the Moslems with having borrowed the two from their favourite
+idols—The Linga-Yoni or Cunnus phallus (Pilgrimage ii. 140), and
+plainly call the Mihrab a Bhaga= Cunnus (Dabistan ii. 152). The Guebres
+further term Meccah "Mah-gah," locus Lunæ, and Al-Medinah, "Mahdinah,"
+= Moon of religion. See Dabistan i., 49, etc.
+
+[FN#312] Arab "Kursi," a stool of palm-fronds, etc., X-shaped (see
+Lane's illustration, Nights i., 197), before which the reader sits.
+Good Moslems will not hold the Holy Volume below the waist nor open it
+except when ceremonially pure. Englishmen in the East should remember
+this, for to neglect the "Adab al-Kúran" (respect due to Holy Writ)
+gives great scandal.
+
+[FN#313] Mr. Payne (i. 148) quotes the German Zuckerpüppchen.
+
+[FN#314] The Persian poets have a thousand conceits in praise of the
+"mole," (Khál or Shámah) for which Hafiz offered "Samarkand and
+Bokhara" (they not being his, as his friends remarked). Another "topic"
+is the flight of arrows shot by eyelashes.
+
+[FN#315] Arab. "Suhá" a star in the Great Bear introduced only to
+balance "wushát" = spies, enviers, enemies, whose "evil eye" it will
+ward off.
+
+[FN#316] In Arab tales beauty is always "soft-sided," and a smooth skin
+is valued in proportion to its rarity.
+
+[FN#317] The myrtle is the young hair upon the side face
+
+[FN#318] In other copies of these verses the fourth couplet swears "by
+the scorpions of his brow" _i.e._ the _accroche-cœurs_, the
+beau-catchers, bell-ropes or aggravators," as the B.P. calls them. In
+couplet eight the poet alludes to his love's "Unsur," or element his
+nature made up of the four classicals, and in the last couplet he makes
+the nail paring refer to the moon not the sun.
+
+[FN#319] This is regular formula when speaking of Guebres.
+
+[FN#320] Arab. "Faráiz"; the orders expressly given in the Koran which
+the reader will remember, is Uncreate and Eternal. In India "Farz" is
+applied to injunctions thrice repeated; and "Wájíb" to those given
+twice over. Elsewhere scanty difference is made between them.
+
+[FN#321] Arab. "Kufr" = rejecting the True Religion, i.e. Al-Islam,
+such rejection being "Tughyán" or rebellion against the Lord. The
+"terrible sound" is taken from the legend of the prophet Sálih and the
+proto-historic tribe of Thámúd which for its impiety was struck dead by
+an earthquake and a noise from heaven. The latter, according to some
+commentators, was the voice of the Archangel Gabriel crying "Die all of
+you" (Koran, chapts. vii., xviii., etc.). We shall hear more of it in
+the "City of many-coloured Iram." According to some, Salih, a
+mysterious Badawi prophet, is buried in the Wady al-Shaykh of the
+so-called Sinaitic Peninsula.
+
+[FN#322] Yet they kept the semblance of man, showing that the idea
+arose from the basaltic statues found in Hauranic ruins. Mohammed in
+his various marches to Syria must have seen remnants of Greek and Roman
+settlements; and as has been noticed "Sesostris" left his mark near
+Meccah. (Pilgrimage iii. 137).
+
+[FN#323] Arab. "Shuhadá"; highly respected by Moslems as by other
+religionists; although their principal if not only merit seems as a
+rule to have been intense obstinacy and devotion to one idea for which
+they were ready to sacrifice even life. The Martyrs-category is
+extensive including those killed by falling walls; victims to the
+plague, pleurisy and pregnancy, travellers drowned or otherwise lost
+when journeying honestly, and chaste lovers who die of "broken hearts"
+i.e. impaired digestion. Their souls are at once stowed away in the
+crops of green birds where they remain till Resurrection Day, "eating
+of the fruits and drinking of the streams of Paradise," a place
+however, whose topography is wholly uncertain. Thus the young Prince
+was rewarded with a manner of anti-Purgatory, a preparatory heaven.
+
+[FN#324] Arab. "Su'ubán:" the Badawin give the name to a variety of
+serpents all held to be venomous; but in tales the word, like "Tannín,"
+expresses our "dragon" or "cockatrice."
+
+[FN#325] She was ashamed to see the lady doing servile duty by rubbing
+her feet. This massage, which B. de la Brocquière describes in 1452 as
+"kneading and pinching," has already been noticed. The French term is
+apparently derived from the Arab. "Mas-h."
+
+[FN#326] Alluding to the Most High Name, the hundredth name of God, the
+Heb. Shem hamphorash, unknown save to a favoured few who by using it
+perform all manner of miracles.
+
+[FN#327] i e. the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.
+
+[FN#328] i.e. Settled by the Koran.
+
+[FN#329] The uglier the old woman the better procuress she is supposed
+to make. See the Santa Verdiana in Boccaccio v., 10. In Arab. "Ajuz"
+(old woman) is highly insulting and if addressed to an Egyptian,
+whatever be her age she will turn fiercely and resent it. The polite
+term is Shaybah (Pilgrimage hi., 200).
+
+[FN#330] The four ages of woman, considered after Demosthenes in her
+three-fold character, prostitute for pleasure, concubine for service
+and wife for breeding.
+
+[FN#331] Arab. "Jilá" (the Hindostani Julwa) = the displaying of the
+bride before the bridegroom for the first time, in different dresses,
+to the number of seven which are often borrowed for the occasion. The
+happy man must pay a fee called "the tax of face-unveiling" before he
+can see her features. Amongst Syrian Christians he sometimes tries to
+lift the veil by a sharp movement of the sword which is parried by the
+women present, and the blade remains entangled in the cloth. At last he
+succeeds, the bride sinks to the ground covering her face with her
+hands and the robes of her friends: presently she is raised up, her
+veil is readjusted and her face is left bare.
+
+[FN#332] Arab. "Ishá"= the first watch of the night, twilight,
+supper-time, supper. Moslems have borrowed the four watches of the
+Romans from 6 (a.m. or p.m.) to 6, and ignore the three original
+watches of the Jews, even, midnight and cockcrow (Sam. ii. 19, Judges
+vii. 19, and Exodus xiv. 24).
+
+[FN#333] A popular Arab hyperbole.
+
+[FN#334] Arab. "Shakáik al-Nu'uman," lit. the fissures of Nu'uman, the
+beautiful anemone, which a tyrannical King of Hirah, Nu'uman ibn
+Al-Munzir, a contemporary of Mohammed, attempted to monopolize.
+
+[FN#335] Arab. "Andam"=here the gum called dragon's blood; in other
+places the dye-wood known as brazil.
+
+[FN#336] I need hardly say that in the East, where bells are unused,
+clapping the hands summons the servants. In India men cry "Quy hye"
+(Koi hái?) and in Brazil whistle "Pst!" after the fashion of Spain and
+Portugal.
+
+[FN#337] The moles are here compared with pearls; a simile by no means
+common or appropriate.
+
+[FN#338] A parody on the testification of Allah's Unity.
+
+[FN#339] Arab. "Simát" (prop. "Sumát"); the "dinner-table," composed of
+a round wooden stool supporting a large metal tray, the two being
+called "Sufrah" (or "Simat"): thus "Sufrah házirah!" means dinner is on
+the table. After the meal they are at once removed.
+
+[FN#340] In the text "Dastúr," the Persian word before noticed; "Izn"
+would be the proper Arabic equivalent.
+
+[FN#341] In the Moslem East a young woman, single or married, is not
+allowed to appear alone in the streets; and the police have a right to
+arrest delinquents. As a preventive of intrigues the precaution is
+excellent. During the Crimean war hundreds of officers, English, French
+and Italian, became familiar with Constantinople; and not a few
+flattered themselves on their success with Turkish women. I do not
+believe that a single bona fide case occurred: the "conquests" were all
+Greeks, Wallachians, Armenians or Jewesses.
+
+[FN#342] Arab. "Azím": translators do not seem to know that this word
+in The Nights often bears its Egyptian and slang sense, somewhat
+equivalent to our "deuced" or "mighty" or "awfully fine."
+
+[FN#343] This is a very serious thing amongst Moslems and scrupulous
+men often make great sacrifices to avoid taking an oath.
+
+[FN#344] We should say "into the noose."
+
+[FN#345] The man had fallen in love with her and determined to mark her
+so that she might be his.
+
+[FN#346] Arab. "Dajlah," in which we find the Heb. Hid-dekel.
+
+[FN#347] Such an execution would be contrary to Moslem law: but people
+would look leniently upon the peccadillo of beheading or sacking a
+faithless wife. Moreover the youth was of the blood royal and _A quoi
+bon être prince?_ as was said by a boy of viceroyal family in Egypt to
+his tutor who reproached him for unnecessarily shooting down a poor old
+man.
+
+[FN#348] Arab. "Shirk," partnership, evening or associating gods with
+God; polytheism: especially levelled at the Hindu triadism, Guebre
+dualism and Christian Trinitarianism.
+
+[FN#349] Arab. "Shatm"—abuse, generally couched in foulest language
+with especial reference to the privy parts of female relatives.
+
+[FN#350] When a woman is bastinadoed in the East they leave her some
+portion of dress and pour over her sundry buckets of water for a
+delicate consideration. When the hands are beaten they are passed
+through holes in the curtain separating the sufferer from mankind, and
+made fast to a "falakah" or pole.
+
+[FN#351] Arab. "Khalifah," Caliph. The word is also used for the
+successor of a Santon or holy man.
+
+[FN#352] Arab. "Sár," here the Koranic word for carrying out the
+venerable and undying lex talionis the original basis of all criminal
+jurisprudence. Its main fault is that justice repeats the offence.
+
+[FN#353] Both these sons of Harun became Caliphs, as we shall see in
+The Nights.
+
+[FN#354] "Dog" and "hog" are still highly popular terms of abuse. The
+Rabbis will not defile their lips with "pig;" but say "Dabhar
+akhir"="another thing."
+
+[FN#355] The "hero eponymus" of the Abbaside dynasty, Abbas having been
+the brother of Abdullah the father of Mohammed. He is a famous
+personage in AI-Islam (D'Herbelot).
+
+[FN#356] Europe translates the word "Barmecides. It is Persian from bar
+(up) and makidan (to suck). The vulgar legend is that Ja'afar, the
+first of the name, appeared before the Caliph Abd al-Malik with a ring
+poisoned for his own need; and that the Caliph, warned of it by the
+clapping of two stones which he wore ad hoc, charged the visitor with
+intention to murder him. He excused himself and in his speech occurred
+the Persian word "Barmakam," which may mean "I shall sup it up," or "I
+am a Barmak," that is, a high priest among the Guebres. See D'Herbelot
+s.v.
+
+[FN#357] Arab."Zulm," the deadliest of monarch's sins. One of the
+sayings of Mohammed, popularly quoted, is, "Kingdom endureth with Kufr
+or infidelity (i. e. without accepting AI-Islam) but endureth not with
+Zulm or injustice." Hence the good Moslem will not complain of the rule
+of Kafirs or Unbelievers, like the English, so long as they rule him
+righteously and according to his own law.]
+
+[FN#358] All this aggravates his crime: had she been a widow she would
+not have had upon him "the claims of maidenhead," the premio della
+verginita of Boccaccio, x. 10.
+
+[FN#359] It is supposed that slaves cannot help telling these fatal
+lies. Arab story-books are full of ancient and modern instances and
+some have become "Joe Millers." Moreover it is held unworthy of a
+free-born man to take over-notice of these servile villanies; hence the
+scoundrel in the story escapes unpunished. I have already noticed the
+predilection of debauched women for these "skunks of the human race;"
+and the young man in the text evidently suspected that his wife had
+passed herself this "little caprice." The excuse which the Caliph would
+find for him is the pundonor shown in killing one he loved so fondly.
+
+[FN#360] The Arab equivalent of our pitcher and well.
+
+[FN#361] i.e. Where the dress sits loosely about the bust.
+
+[FN#362] He had trusted in Allah and his trust was justified.
+
+[FN#363] Arab. "Khila'ah" prop. what a man strips from his person: gen.
+an honorary gift. It is something more than the "robe of honour" of our
+chivalrous romances, as it includes a horse, a sword (often
+gold-hilted), a black turban (amongst the Abbasides) embroidered with
+gold, a violet-coloured mantle, a waist-shawl and a gold neck-chain and
+shoe-buckles.
+
+[FN#364] Arab. "Izá," i.e. the visits of condolence and so forth which
+are long and terribly wearisome in the Moslem East.
+
+[FN#365] Arab. "Mahr," the money settled by the man before marriage on
+the woman and without which the contract is not valid. Usually half of
+it is paid down on the marriage-day and the other half when the husband
+dies or divorces his wife. But if she take a divorce she forfeits her
+right to it, and obscene fellows, especially Persians, often compel her
+to demand divorce by unnatural and preposterous use of her person.
+
+[FN#366] Bismillah here means "Thou art welcome to it."
+
+[FN#367] Arab. "Bassak," half Pers. (bas = enough) and—ak = thou; for
+thee. "Bas" sounds like our "buss" (to kiss) and there are sundry good
+old Anglo-Indian jokes of feminine mistakes on the subject.
+
+[FN#368] This saving clause makes the threat worse. The scene between
+the two brothers is written with characteristic Arab humour; and it is
+true to nature. In England we have heard of a man who separated from
+his wife because he wished to dine at six and she preferred half-past
+six.
+
+[FN#369] Arab. "Misr." (vulg. Masr). The word, which comes of a very
+ancient house, was applied to the present capital about the time of its
+conquest by the Osmanli Turks A.H. 923 = 1517.
+
+[FN#370] The Arab. "Jízah," = skirt, edge; the modern village is the
+site of an ancient Egyptian city, as the "Ghizah inscription" proves
+(Brugsch, History of Egypt, ii. 415)
+
+[FN#371] Arab. "Watan" literally meaning "birth-place" but also used
+for "patria, native country"; thus "Hubb al-Watan" = patriotism. The
+Turks pronounce it "Vatan," which the French have turned into Va-t'en!
+
+[FN#372] Arab. "Zarzariyah" = the colour of a stare or starling
+(Zurzúr).
+
+[FN#373] Now a Railway Station on the Alexandria-Cairo line.
+
+[FN#374] Even as late as 1852, when I first saw Cairo, the city was
+girt by waste lands and the climate was excellent. Now cultivation
+comes up to the house walls; while the Mahmudiyah Canal, the planting
+the streets with avenues and over-watering have seriously injured it;
+those who want the air of former Cairo must go to Thebes. Gout,
+rheumatism and hydrophobia (before unknown) have become common of late
+years.
+
+[FN#375] This is the popular pronunciation: Yakút calls it "Bilbís."
+
+[FN#376] An outlying village on the "Long Desert," between Cairo and
+Palestine.
+
+[FN#377] Arab. "Al-Kuds" = holiness. There are few cities which in our
+day have less claim to this title than Jerusalem; and, curious to say,
+the "Holy Land" shows Jews, Christians and Moslems all in their worst
+form. The only religion (if it can be called one) which produces men in
+Syria is the Druse. "Heiligen-landes Jüden" are proverbial and nothing
+can be meaner than the Christians while the Moslems are famed for
+treachery.
+
+[FN#378] Arab. "Shamm al-hawá." In vulgar parlance to "smell the air"
+is to take a walk, especially out of town. There is a peculiar Egyptian
+festival called "Shamm al-Nasím" (smelling the Zephyr) which begins on
+Easter-Monday (O.S.), thus corresponding with the Persian Nau-roz,
+vernal equinox and introducing the fifty days of "Khammasín" or
+"Mirísi" (hot desert winds). On awakening, the people smell and bathe
+their temples with vinegar in which an onion has been soaked and break
+their fast with a "fisikh" or dried "búri" = mullet from Lake Menzalah:
+the late Hekekiyan Bey had the fish-heads counted in one public garden
+and found 70,000. The rest of the day is spent out of doors "Gypsying,"
+and families greatly enjoy themselves on these occasions. For a longer
+description, see a paper by my excellent friend Yacoub Artin Pasha, in
+the Bulletin de l'Institut Égyptien, 2nd series, No. 4, Cairo, 1884. I
+have noticed the Mirísi (south-wester) and other winds in the Land of
+Midian, i., 23.
+
+[FN#379] So in the days of the "Mameluke Beys" in Egypt a man of rank
+would not cross the street on foot.
+
+[FN#380] Arab. Basrah. The city is now in decay and not to flourish
+again till the advent of the Euphrates Valley R.R., is a modern place,
+founded in A.H. 15, by the Caliph Omar upon the Aylah, a feeder of the
+Tigris. Here, according to Al-Haríri, the "whales and the lizards
+meet," and, as the tide affects the river,
+
+Its stream shows prodigy, ebbing and flowing.
+
+In its far-famed market-place, Al-Marbad, poems used to be recited; and
+the city was famous for its mosques and Saint-shrines, fair women and
+school of Grammar which rivalled that of Kúfah. But already in
+Al-Hariri's day (nat. A.H. 446 = A.D. 1030) Baghdad had drawn off much
+of its population.
+
+[FN#381] This fumigation (Bukhúr) is still used. A little incense or
+perfumed wood is burnt upon an open censor (Mibkharah) of earthenware
+or metal, and passed round, each guest holding it for a few moments
+under his beard. In the Somali Country, the very home of incense, both
+sexes fumigate the whole person after carnal intercourse. Lane (Mod.
+Egypt, chapt. viii) gives an illustration of the Mibkharah.
+
+[FN#382] The reader of The Nights will remark that the merchant is
+often a merchant-prince, consorting and mating with the highest
+dignitaries. Even amongst the Romans, a race of soldiers, statesmen and
+lawyers, "mercatura" on a large scale was "not to be vituperated." In
+Boccacio (x. 19) they are netti e delicati uomini. England is perhaps
+the only country which has made her fortune by trade, and much of it
+illicit trade, like that in slaves which built Liverpool and Bristol,
+and which yet disdains or affects to disdain the trader. But the
+unworthy prejudice is disappearing with the last generation, and men
+who formerly would have half starved as curates and ensigns, barristers
+and carabins are now only too glad to become merchants.
+
+[FN#383] These lines in the Calc. and Bul. Edits. Have already occurred
+(Night vii.) but such carelessness is characteristic despite the
+proverb, "In repetition is no fruition." I quote Torrens (p. 60) by way
+of variety. As regards the anemone (here called a tulip) being named
+"Shakík" = fissure, I would conjecture that it derives from the flower
+often forming long lines of red like stripes of blood in the landscape.
+Travellers in Syria always observe this.
+
+[FN#384] Such an address to a royalty (Eastern) even in the present
+day, would be a passport to future favours.
+
+[FN#385] In England the man marries and the woman is married: there is
+no such distinction in Arabia.
+
+[FN#386] "Sultan" (and its corruption "Soldan") etymologically means
+lord, victorious, ruler, ruling over. In Arabia it is a not uncommon
+proper name; and as a title it is taken by a host of petty kinglets.
+The Abbaside Caliphs (as Al-Wásik who has been noticed) formally
+created these Sultans as their regents. Al-Tá'i bi'llah (regn. A.H. 363
+= 974), invested the famous Sabuktagin with the office; and as
+Alexander-Sikandar was wont to do, fashioned for him two flags, one of
+silver, after the fashion of nobles, and the other of gold, as
+Viceroy-designate. Sabuktagin's son, the famous Mahmúd of the
+Ghaznavite dynasty in A.H. 393 = 1002, was the first to adopt "Sultan"
+as an independent title some two hundred years after the death of Harun
+al-Rashid. In old writers we have the Soldan of Egypt, the Soudan of
+Persia, and the Sowdan of Babylon; three modifications of one word.
+
+[FN#387] i.e. he was a "Háfiz," one who commits to memory the whole of
+the Koran. It is a serious task and must be begun early. I learnt by
+rote the last "Juzw" (or thirtieth part) and found that quite enough.
+This is the vulgar use of "Hafiz": technically and theologically it
+means the third order of Traditionists (the total being five) who know
+by heart 300,000 traditions of the Prophet with their ascriptions. A
+curious "spiritualist" book calls itself "Hafed, Prince of Persia,"
+proving by the very title that the Spirits are equally ignorant of
+Arabic and Persian.
+
+[FN#388] Here again the Cairo Edit. repeats the six couplets already
+given in Night xvii. I take them from Torrens (p. 163).
+
+[FN#389] This naïve admiration of beauty in either sex characterised
+our chivalrous times. Now it is mostly confined to "professional
+beauties" or what is conventionally called the "fair sex"; as if there
+could be any comparison between the beauty of man and the beauty of
+woman, the Apollo Belvidere with the Venus de Medici.
+
+[FN#390] Arab. "Shásh" (in Pers. urine) a light turband generally of
+muslin.
+
+[FN#391] This is a _lieu commun_ of Eastern worldly wisdom. Quite true!
+Very unadvisable to dive below the surface of one's acquaintances, but
+such intimacy is like marriage of which Johnson said, "Without it there
+is no pleasure in life."
+
+[FN#392] The lines are attributed to the famous Al-Mutanabbi = the
+claimant to "Prophecy," of whom I have given a few details in my
+Pilgrimage iii. 60, 62. He led the life of a true poet, somewhat
+Chauvinistic withal; and, rather than run away, was killed in A.H. 354
+= 965.
+
+[FN#393] Arab. "Nabíz" = wine of raisins or dates; any fermented
+liquor; from a root to "press out" in Syriac, like the word "Talmiz"
+(or Tilmiz says the Kashf al-Ghurrah) a pupil, student. Date-wine
+(fermented from the fruit, not the Tádi, or juice of the stem, our
+"toddy") is called Fazikh. Hence the Masjid al-Fazikh at Al-Medinah
+where the Ansar or Auxiliaries of that city were sitting cup in hand
+when they heard of the revelation forbidding inebriants and poured the
+liquor upon the ground (Pilgrimage ii. 322).
+
+[FN#394] Arab. "Huda" = direction (to the right way), salvation, a word
+occurring in the Opening Chapter of the Koran. Hence to a Kafir who
+offers the Salam-salutation many Moslems reply "Allah-yahdík" = Allah
+direct thee! (i.e. make thee a Moslem), instead of Allah yusallimak =
+Allah lead thee to salvation. It is the root word of the Mahdi and
+Mohdi.
+
+[FN#395] These lines have already occurred in The First Kalandar's
+Story (Night xi.) I quote by way of change and with permission Mr.
+Payne's version (i. 93).
+
+[FN#396] Arab. "Farajíyah," a long-sleeved robe worn by the learned
+(Lane, M.E., chapt. i.).
+
+[FN#397] Arab. "Sarráf" (vulg. Sayrafi), whence the Anglo-Indian
+"Shroff," a familiar corruption.
+
+[FN#398] Arab. "Yahúdi" which is less polite than "Banú Isráil" =
+Children of Israel. So in Christendom "Israelite" when in favour and
+"Jew" (with an adjective or a participle) when nothing is wanted of
+him.
+
+[FN#399] Also called "Ghilmán" = the beautiful youths appointed to
+serve the True Believers in Paradise. The Koran says (chapt. lvi. 9
+etc.) "Youths, which shall continue in their bloom for ever, shall go
+round about to attend them, with goblets, and beakers, and a cup of
+flowing wine," etc. Mohammed was an Arab (not a Persian, a born
+pederast) and he was too fond of women to be charged with love of boys:
+even Tristam Shandy (vol. vii. chapt. 7; "No, quoth a third; the
+gentleman has been committing——") knew that the two tastes are
+incompatibles. But this and other passages in the Koran have given the
+Chevaliers de la Paille a hint that the use of boys, like that of wine,
+here forbidden, will be permitted in Paradise.
+
+[FN#400] Which, by the by, is the age of an oldish old maid in Egypt. I
+much doubt puberty being there earlier than in England where our
+grandmothers married at fourteen. But Orientals are aware that the
+period of especial feminine devilry is between the first menstruation
+and twenty when, according to some, every girl is a "possible
+murderess." So they wisely marry her and get rid of what is called the
+"lump of grief," the "domestic calamity"—a daughter. Amongst them we
+never hear of the abominable egotism and cruelty of the English mother,
+who disappoints her daughter's womanly cravings in order to keep her at
+home for her own comfort; and an "old maid" in the house, especially a
+stout, plump old maid, is considered not "respectable." The ancient
+virgin is known by being lean and scraggy; and perhaps this diagnosis
+is correct.
+
+[FN#401] This prognostication of destiny by the stars and a host of
+follies that end in -mancy is an intricate and extensive subject. Those
+who would study it are referred to chapt. xiv. of the "Qanoon-e-Islam,
+or the Customs of the Mussulmans of India; etc., etc., by Jaffur
+Shurreeff and translated by G. A. Herklots, M. D. of Madras." This
+excellent work first appeared in 1832 (Allen and Co., London) and thus
+it showed the way to Lane's "Modern Egyptians" (1833-35). The name was
+unfortunate as "Kuzzilbash" (which rhymed to guzzle and hash), and kept
+the book back till a second edition appeared in 1863 (Madras: J.
+Higginbotham).
+
+[FN#402] Arab. "Bárid," lit. cold: metaph. vain, foolish, insipid.
+
+[FN#403] Not to "spite thee" but "in spite of thee." The phrase is
+still used by high and low.
+
+[FN#404] Arab. "Ahdab," the common hunchback; in classical language the
+Gobbo in the text would be termed "Ak'as" from "Ka'as," one with
+protruding back and breast; sometimes used for hollow back and
+protruding breast.
+
+[FN#405] This is the custom with such gentry, who, when they see a
+likely man sitting, are allowed by custom to ride astraddle upon his
+knees with most suggestive movements, till he buys them off. These
+Ghawázi are mostly Gypsies who pretend to be Moslems; and they have
+been confused with the Almahs or Moslem dancing-girls proper (Awálim,
+plur. of Alimah, a learned feminine) by a host of travellers. They call
+themselves Barámikah or Barmecides only to affect Persian origin. Under
+native rule they were perpetually being banished from and returning to
+Cairo (Pilgrimage i., 202). Lane (M.E., chapts. xviii. and xix.)
+discusses the subject, and would derive Al'mah, often so pronounced,
+from Heb. Almah, girl, virgin, singing-girl, hence he would translate
+Al-Alamoth shir (Psalm xlvi.) and Nebalim al-alamoth (I. Chron., xv.
+20) by a "song for singing-girls" and "harps for singing-girls." He
+quotes also St. Jerome as authority that Alma in Punic (Phoenician)
+signified a virgin, not a common article, I may observe, amongst
+singing-girls. I shall notice in a future page Burckhardt's description
+of the Ghawazi, p. 173, "Arabic Proverbs;" etc., etc. Second Edition.
+London: Quaritch, 1875.
+
+[FN#406] I need hardly describe the tarbúsh, a corruption of the Per.
+"Sar-púsh" (headcover) also called "Fez" from its old home; and
+"tarbrush" by the travelling Briton. In old days it was a calotte worn
+under the turban; and it was protected from scalp-perspiration by an
+"Arakiyah" (Pers. Arak-chin) a white skull-cap. Now it is worn without
+either and as a head-dress nothing can be worse (Pilgrimage ii. 275).
+
+[FN#407] Arab. "Tár.": the custom still prevails. Lane (M.E., chapt.
+xviii.) describes and figures this hoop-drum.
+
+[FN#408] The couch on which she sits while being displayed. It is her
+throne, for she is the Queen of the occasion, with all the Majesty of
+Virginity.
+
+[FN#409] This is a solemn "chaff;" such liberties being permitted at
+weddings and festive occasions.
+
+[FN#410] The pre-Islamític dynasty of Al-Yaman in Arabia Felix, a
+region formerly famed for wealth and luxury. Hence the mention of
+Yamani work. The caravans from Sana'á, the capital, used to carry
+patterns of vases to be made in China and bring back the porcelains at
+the end of the third year: these are the Arabic inscriptions which have
+puzzled so many collectors. The Tobba, or Successors, were the old
+Himyarite Kings, a dynastic name like Pharaoh, Kisra (Persia), Negush
+(Abyssinia), Khakan or Khan (Tartary), etc., who claimed to have
+extended their conquests to Samarcand and made war on China. Any
+history of Arabia (as Crichton I., chapt. iv.) may be consulted for
+their names and annals. I have been told by Arabs that "Tobba" (or
+Tubba) is still used in the old Himyar-land = the Great or the Chief.
+
+[FN#411] Lane and Payne (as well as the Bres. Edit.) both render the
+word "to kiss her," but this would be clean contrary to Moslem usage.
+
+[FN#412] i.e. he was full of rage which he concealed.
+
+[FN#413] The Hindus (as the Katha shows) compare this swimming gait
+with an elephant's roll.
+
+[FN#414] Arab. "Fitnah," a word almost as troublesome as "Adab."
+Primarily, revolt, seduction, mischief: then a beautiful girl (or boy),
+and lastly a certain aphrodisiac perfume extracted from mimosa-flowers
+(Pilgrimage i., 118).
+
+[FN#415] Lit. burst the "gall-bladder:" In this and in the "liver"
+allusions I dare not be baldly literal.
+
+[FN#416] Arab. "Usfur" the seeds of Carthamus tinctorius = Safflower
+(Forskal, Flora, etc. lv.). The seeds are crushed for oil and the
+flowers, which must be gathered by virgins or the colour will fail, are
+extensively used for dying in Southern Arabia and Eastern Africa.
+
+[FN#417] On such occasions Miss Modesty shuts her eye and looks as if
+about to faint.
+
+[FN#418] After either evacuation the Moslem is bound to wash or sand
+the part; first however he should apply three pebbles, or potsherds or
+clods of earth. Hence the allusion in the Koran (chapt. ix), "men who
+love to be purified." When the Prophet was questioning the men of Kuba,
+where he founded a mosque (Pilgrimage ii., 215), he asked them about
+their legal ablutions, especially after evacuation; and they told him
+that they used three stones before washing. Moslems and Hindus (who
+prefer water mixed with earth) abhor the unclean and unhealthy use of
+paper without ablution; and the people of India call European
+draught-houses, by way of opprobrium, "Kághaz-khánah" = paper closets.
+Most old Anglo-Indians, however, learn to use water.
+
+[FN#419] "Miao" or "Mau" is the generic name of the cat in the Egyptian
+of the hieroglyphs.
+
+[FN#420] Arab. "Ya Mash'úm" addressed to an evil spirit.
+
+[FN#421] "Heehaw!" as we should say. The Bresl. Edit. makes the cat cry
+"Nauh! Nauh!" and the ass-colt "Manu! Manu!" I leave these
+onomatopoeics as they are in Arabic; they are curious, showing the
+unity in variety of hearing inarticulate sounds. The bird which is
+called "Whip poor Will" in the U.S. is known to the Brazilians as "Joam
+corta páo" (John cut wood); so differently do they hear the same notes.
+
+[FN#422] It is usually a slab of marble with a long slit in front and a
+round hole behind. The text speaks of a Kursi (= stool); but this is
+now unknown to native houses which have not adopted European fashions.
+
+[FN#423] This again is chaff as she addresses the Hunchback. The Bul.
+Edit. has "O Abu Shiháb" (Father of the shooting-star = evil spirit);
+the Bresl. Edit. "O son of a heap! O son of a Something!" (al-afsh, a
+vulgarism).
+
+[FN#424] As the reader will see, Arab ideas of "fun" and practical
+jokes are of the largest, putting the Hibernian to utter rout, and
+comparing favourably with those recorded in Don Quixote.
+
+[FN#425] Arab. "Saráwil" a corruption of the Pers. "Sharwál"; popularly
+called "libás" which, however, may also mean clothing in general and
+especially outer-clothing. I translate "bag-trousers" and
+"petticoat-trousers," the latter being the divided skirt of our future.
+In the East, where Common Sense, not Fashion, rules dress, men, who
+have a protuberance to be concealed, wear petticoats and women wear
+trousers. The feminine article is mostly baggy but sometimes, as in
+India, collant-tight. A quasi-sacred part of it is the inkle, tape or
+string, often a most magnificent affair, with tassels of pearl and
+precious stones; and "laxity in the trouser-string" is equivalent to
+the loosest conduct. Upon the subject of "libás," "sarwál" and its
+variants the curious reader will consult Dr. Dozy's "Dictionnaire
+Détaillé des Noms des Vêtements chez les Arabes," a most valuable work.
+
+[FN#426] The turban out of respect is not put upon the ground (Lane, M.
+E., chapt. i.).
+
+[FN#427] Arab. "Madfa" showing the modern date or the modernization of
+the tale. In Lebid "Madáfi" (plur. of Madfa') means water-courses or
+leats.
+
+[FN#428] In Arab. the "he" is a "she;" and Habíb ("friend") is the
+Attic {Greek Letters}, a euphemism for lover. This will occur
+throughout The Nights. So the Arabs use a phrase corresponding with the
+Stoic {Greek Letters}, i.e. is wont, is fain.
+
+[FN#429] Part of the Azán, or call to prayer.
+
+[FN#430] Arab. "Shiháb," these meteors being the flying shafts shot at
+evil spirits who approach too near heaven. The idea doubtless arose
+from the showers of August and November meteors (The Perseides and
+Taurides) which suggest a battle raging in upper air. Christendom also
+has its superstition concerning these and called those of August the
+"fiery tears of Saint Lawrence," whose festival was on August 10.
+
+[FN#431] Arab. "Tákiyah" = Pers. Arak-chin; the calotte worn under the
+Fez. It is, I have said, now obsolete and the red woollen cap (mostly
+made in Europe) is worn over the hair; an unclean practice.
+
+[FN#432] Often the effect of cold air after a heated room.
+
+[FN#433] i.e. He was not a Eunuch, as the people guessed.
+
+[FN#434] In Arab. "this night" for the reason before given.
+
+[FN#435] Meaning especially the drink prepared of the young leaves and
+florets of Cannabis Sativa. The word literally means "day grass" or
+"herbage." This intoxicant was much used by magicians to produce
+ecstasy and thus to "deify themselves and receive the homage of the
+genii and spirits of nature."
+
+[FN#436] Torrens, being an Irishman, translates "and woke in the
+morning sleeping at Damascus."
+
+[FN#437] Arab. "Labbayka," the cry technically called "Talbiyah" and
+used by those entering Meccah (Pilgrimage iii. 125-232). I shall also
+translate it by "Adsum." The full cry is:—
+
+     Here am I, O Allah, here am I!
+     No partner hast Thou, here am I:
+     Verily the praise and the grace and the kingdom are thine:
+     No partner hast Thou: here am I!
+
+A single Talbiyah is a "Shart" or positive condition: and its
+repetition is a Sunnat or Custom of the Prophet. See Night xci.
+
+[FN#438] The staple abuse of the vulgar is cursing parents and
+relatives, especially feminine, with specific allusions to their
+"shame." And when dames of high degree are angry, Nature, in the East
+as in the West, sometimes speaks out clearly enough, despite Mistress
+Chapone and all artificial restrictions.
+
+[FN#439] A great beauty in Arabia and the reverse in Denmark, Germany
+and Slav-land, where it is a sign of being a were-wolf or a vampire. In
+Greece also it denotes a "Brukolak" or vampire.
+
+[FN#440] This is not physiologically true: a bride rarely conceives the
+first night, and certainly would not know that she had conceived.
+Moreover the number of courses furnished by the bridegroom would be
+against conception. It is popularly said that a young couple often
+undoes in the morning what it has done during the night.
+
+[FN#441] Torrens (Notes, xxiv.) quotes "Fleisher" upon the word
+"Ghamghama" (Diss. Crit. De Glossis Habichtionis), which he compares
+with "Dumduma" and Humbuma," determining them to be onomatopoeics, "an
+incomplete and an obscure murmur of a sentence as it were lingering
+between the teeth and lips and therefore difficult to be understood."
+Of this family is "Taghúm"; not used in modern days. In my Pilgrimage
+(i. 313) I have noticed another, "Khyas', Khyas'!" occurring in a Hizb
+al-Bahr (Spell of the Sea). Herklots gives a host of them; and their
+sole characteristics are harshness and strangeness of sound, uniting
+consonants which are not joined in Arabic. The old Egyptians and
+Chaldeans had many such words composed at will for theurgic operations.
+
+[FN#442] This may mean either "it is of Mosul fashion" or, it is of
+muslin.
+
+[FN#443] To the English reader these lines would appear the reverse of
+apposite; but Orientals have their own ways of application, and all
+allusions to Badawi partings are effective and affecting. The civilised
+poets of Arab cities throw the charm of the Desert over their verse by
+images borrowed from its scenery, the dromedary, the mirage and the
+well as naturally as certain of our bards who hated the country,
+babbled of purling rills, etc. thoroughly to feel Arabic poetry one
+must know the Desert (Pilgrimage iii., 63).
+
+[FN#444] In those days the Arabs and the Portuguese recorded everything
+which struck them, as the Chinese and Japanese in our times. And yet we
+complain of the amount of our modern writing!
+
+[FN#445] This is mentioned because it is the act preliminary to naming
+the babe.
+
+[FN#446] Arab. "Kahramánát" from Kahramán, an old Persian hero who
+conversed with the Simurgh-Griffon. Usually the word is applied to
+women-at-arms who defend the Harem, like the Urdu-begani of India,
+whose services were lately offered to England (1885), or the "Amazons"
+of Dahome.
+
+[FN#447] Meaning he grew as fast in one day as other children in a
+month.
+
+[FN#448] Arab. Al-Aríf; the tutor, the assistant-master.
+
+[FN#449] Arab. "Ibn harám," a common term of abuse; and not a factual
+reflection on the parent. I have heard a mother apply the term to her
+own son.
+
+[FN#450] Arab. "Khanjar" from the Persian, a syn. with the Arab.
+"Jambiyah." It is noticed in my Pilgrimage iii., pp. 72,75. To "silver
+the dagger" means to become a rich man. From "Khanjar," not from its
+fringed loop or strap, I derive our silly word "hanger." Dr. Steingass
+would connect it with Germ. Fänger, e.g. Hirschfänger.
+
+[FN#451] Again we have "Dastur" for Izn."
+
+[FN#452] Arab. "Iklím"; the seven climates of Ptolemy.
+
+[FN#453] Arab. "Al-Ghadir," lit. a place where water sinks, a lowland:
+here the drainage-lakes east of Damascus into which the Baradah
+(Abana?) discharges. The higher eastern plain is "Al-Ghutah" before
+noticed.
+
+[FN#454] The "Plain of Pebbles" still so termed at Damascus; an open
+space west of the city.
+
+[FN#455] Every Guide-book, even the Reverend Porter's "Murray," gives a
+long account of this Christian Church 'verted to a Mosque.
+
+[FN#456] Arab. "Nabút"; Pilgrimage i. 336.
+
+[FN#457] The Bres. Edit. says, "would have knocked him into Al-Yaman,"
+(Southern Arabia), something like our slang phrase "into the middle of
+next week."
+
+[FN#458] Arab. "Khádim": lit. a servant, politely applied (like Aghá =
+master) to a castrato. These gentry wax furious if baldly called
+"Tawáshi" = Eunuch. A mauvais plaisant in Egypt used to call me The
+Agha because a friend had placed his wife under my charge.
+
+[FN#459] This sounds absurd enough in English, but Easterns always put
+themselves first for respect.
+
+[FN#460] In Arabic the World is feminine.
+
+[FN#461] Arab. "Sáhib" = lit. a companion; also a friend and especially
+applied to the Companions of Mohammed. Hence the Sunnis claim for them
+the honour of "friendship" with the Apostle; but the Shia'hs reply that
+the Arab says "Sahaba-hu'l-himár" (the Ass was his Sahib or companion).
+In the text it is a Wazirial title, in modern India it is = gentleman,
+e.g. "Sahib log" (the Sahib people) means their white conquerors, who,
+by the by, mostly mispronounce the word "Sáb."
+
+[FN#462] Arab. "Suwán," prop. Syenite, from Syene (Al-Suwan) but
+applied to flint and any hard stone.
+
+[FN#463] It was famous in the middle ages, and even now it is, perhaps,
+the most interesting to travellers after that "Sentina Gentium," the
+"Bhendi Bazar" of unromantic Bombay.
+
+[FN#464] "The Gate of the Gardens," in the northern wall, a Roman
+archway of the usual solid construction shaming not only our modern
+shams, but our finest masonry.
+
+[FN#465] Arab. "Al-Asr," which may mean either the hour or the prayer.
+It is also the moment at which the Guardian Angels relieve each other
+(Sale's Koran, chapt. v.).
+
+[FN#466] Arab. "Ya házá" = O this (one)! a somewhat slighting address
+equivalent to "Heus tu! O thou, whoever thou art." Another form is "Yá
+hú" = O he! Can this have originated Swift's "Yahoo"?
+
+[FN#467] Alluding to the τήρατα ("minor miracles which cause surprise")
+performed by Saints' tombs, the mildest form of thaumaturgy. One of
+them gravely recorded in the Dabistan (ii. 226) is that of the holy
+Jamen, who opened the Sámran or bead- bracelet from the arm of the
+beautiful Chistápá with member erect, "thus evincing his manly strength
+and his command over himself"(!)
+
+[FN#468] The River of Paradise, a lieu commun of poets (Koran, chapt.
+cviii.): the water is whiter than milk or silver, sweeter than honey,
+smoother than cream, more odorous than musk; its banks are of
+chrysolite and it is drunk out of silver cups set around it thick as
+stars. Two pipes conduct it to the Prophet's Pond which is an exact
+square, one month's journey in compass. Kausar is spirituous like wine;
+Salsabil sweet like clarified honey; the Fount of Mildness is like milk
+and the Fount of Mercy like liquid crystal.
+
+[FN#469] The Moslem does not use the European basin because water which
+has touched an impure skin becomes impure. Hence it is poured out from
+a ewer ("ibrík" Pers. Abríz) upon the hands and falls into a basin
+("tisht") with an open-worked cover.
+
+[FN#470] Arab. "Wahsh," a word of many meanings; nasty, insipid,
+savage, etc. The offside of a horse is called Wahshi opposed to Insi,
+the near side. The Amir Taymur ("Lord Iron") whom Europeans unwittingly
+call after his Persian enemies' nickname, "Tamerlane," i.e.
+Taymur-I-lang, or limping Taymur, is still known as "Al-Wahsh" (the
+wild beast) at Damascus, where his Tartars used to bury men up to their
+necks and play at bowls with their heads for ninepins.
+
+[FN#471] For "grandson" as being more affectionate. Easterns have not
+yet learned that clever Western saying:—The enemies of our enemies are
+our friends.
+
+[FN#472] This was a simple bastinado on the back, not the more
+ceremonious affair of beating the feet-soles. But it is surprising what
+the Egyptians can bear; some of the rods used in the time of the
+Mameluke Beys are nearly as thick as a man's wrist.
+
+[FN#473] The woman-like spite of the eunuch intended to hurt the
+grandmother's feelings.
+
+[FN#474] The usual Cairene "chaff."
+
+[FN#475] A necessary precaution against poison (Pilgrimage i. 84, and
+iii. 43).
+
+[FN#476] The Bresl. Edit. (ii. 108) describes the scene at greater
+length.
+
+[FN#477] The Bul. Edit. gives by mistake of diacritical points,
+"Zabdaniyah:" Raydaniyah is or rather was a camping ground to the North
+of Cairo.
+
+[FN#478] Arab. "La'abat" = a plaything, a puppet, a lay figure. Lane
+(i. 326) conjectures that the cross is so called because it resembles a
+man with arms extended. But Moslems never heard of the fanciful ideas
+of mediæval Christian divines who saw the cross everywhere and in
+everything. The former hold that Pharaoh invented the painful and
+ignominious punishment. (Koran, chapt. vii.).
+
+[FN#479] Here good blood, driven to bay, speaks out boldly. But, as a
+rule, the humblest and mildest Eastern when in despair turns round upon
+his oppressors like a wild cat. Some of the criminals whom Fath Ali
+Shah of Persia put to death by chopping down the fork, beginning at the
+scrotum, abused his mother till the knife reached their vitals and they
+could no longer speak.
+
+[FN#480] These repeated "laughs" prove the trouble of his spirit. Noble
+Arabs "show their back-teeth" so rarely that their laughter is held
+worthy of being recorded by their biographers.
+
+[FN#481] A popular phrase, derived from the Koranic "Truth is come, and
+falsehood is vanished: for falsehood is of short continuance" (chapt.
+xvii.). It is an equivalent of our adaptation from 1 Esdras iv. 41,
+"Magna est veritas et prævalebit." But the great question still
+remains, What is Truth?
+
+[FN#482] In Night lxxv. these lines will occur with variants.
+
+[FN#483] This is always mentioned: the nearer seat the higher the
+honour.
+
+[FN#484] Alluding to the phrase "Al-safar zafar" = voyaging is victory
+(Pilgrimage i., 127).
+
+[FN#485] Arab. "Habb;" alluding to the black drop in the human heart
+which the Archangel Gabriel removed from Mohammed by opening his
+breast.
+
+[FN#486] This phrase, I have said, often occurs: it alludes to the
+horripilation (Arab. Kush'arírah), horror or gooseflesh which, in Arab
+as in Hindu fables, is a symptom of great joy. So Boccaccio's "pelo
+arriciato" v., 8: Germ. Gänsehaut.
+
+[FN#487] Arab. "Hasanta ya Hasan" = Bene detto, Benedetto! the usual
+word-play vulgarly called "pun": Hasan (not Hassan, as we will write
+it) meaning "beautiful."
+
+[FN#488] Arab. "Loghah" also = a vocabulary, a dictionary; the Arabs
+had them by camel-loads.
+
+[FN#489] The seventh of the sixteen "Bahr" (metres) in Arabic prosody;
+the easiest because allowing the most license and, consequently, a
+favourite for didactic, homiletic and gnomic themes. It means literally
+"agitated" and was originally applied to the rude song of the Cameleer.
+De Sacy calls this doggrel "the poet's ass" (Torrens, Notes xxvi.). It
+was the only metre in which Mohammed the Apostle ever spoke: he was no
+poet (Koran xxxvi., 69) but he occasionally recited a verse and recited
+it wrongly (Dabistan iii., 212). In Persian prosody Rajaz is the
+seventh of nineteen and has six distinct varieties (pp. 79-81),
+"Gladwin's Dissertations on Rhetoric," etc. Calcutta, 1801). I shall
+have more to say about it in the Terminal Essay.
+
+[FN#490] "Her stature tall—I hate a dumpy woman" (Don Juan).
+
+[FN#491] A worthy who was Kazi of Kufah (Cufa) in the seventh century.
+Al-Najaf, generally entitled "Najaf al-Ashraf" (the Venerand) is the
+place where Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, lies or is supposed to lie
+buried, and has ever been a holy place to the Shi'ahs. I am not certain
+whether to translate "Sa'alab" by fox or jackal; the Arabs make scant
+distinction between them. "Abu Hosayn" (Father of the Fortlet) is
+certainly the fox, and as certainly "Sha'arhar" is the jackal from the
+Pehlevi Shagál or Shaghál.
+
+[FN#492] Usually by all manner of extortions and robbery, corruption
+and bribery, the ruler's motto being
+
+Fiat injustitia ruat Coelum.
+
+There is no more honest man than the Turkish peasant or the private
+soldier; but the process of deterioration begins when he is made a
+corporal and culminates in the Pasha. Moreover official dishonesty is
+permitted by public opinion, because it belongs to the condition of
+society. A man buys a place (as in England two centuries ago) and
+retains it by presents to the heads of offices. Consequently he must
+recoup himself in some way, and he mostly does so by grinding the faces
+of the poor and by spoiling the widow and the orphan. The radical cure
+is high pay; but that phase of society refuses to afford it.
+
+[FN#493] Arab. "Malik" (King) and "Malak" (angel) the words being
+written the same when lacking vowels and justifying the jingle.
+
+[FN #494] Arab. "Hurr"; the Latin "ingenuus," lit. freeborn; metaph.
+noble as opp. to a slave who is not expected to do great or good deeds.
+In pop. use it corresponds, like "Fatá," with our "gentleman."
+
+[FN#495] This is one of the best tales for humour and movement, and
+Douce and Madden show what a rich crop of fabliaux, whose leading
+incident was the disposal of a dead body, it produced.
+
+[FN#496] Other editions read, "at Bassorah" and the Bresl. (ii. 123)
+"at Bassorah and Kájkár" (Káshghár): somewhat like in Dover and
+Sebastopol. I prefer China because further off and making the
+improbabilities more notable.
+
+[FN#497] Arab. "Judri," lit. "small stones" from the hard gravelly
+feeling of the pustules (Rodwell, p. 20). The disease is generally
+supposed to be the growth of Central Africa where it is still a plague
+and passed over to Arabia about the birth-time of Mohammed. Thus is
+usually explained the "war of the elephant" (Koran, chapt. cv.) when
+the Abyssinian army of Abrahah, the Christian, was destroyed by
+swallows (Abábíl which Major Price makes the plural of Abilah = a
+vesicle) which dropped upon them "stones of baked clay," like vetches
+(Pilgrimage ii. 175). See for details Sale (in loco) who seems to
+accept the miraculous defence of the Ka'abah. For the horrors of
+small-pox in Central Intertropical Africa the inoculation, known also
+to the Badawin of Al-Hijáz and other details, readers will consult "The
+Lake Regions of Central Africa" (ii. 318). The Hindus "take the bull by
+the horns" and boldly make "Sítlá" (small-pox) a goddess, an
+incarnation of Bhawáni, deëss of destruction-reproduction. In China
+small-pox is believed to date from B.C. 1200; but the chronology of the
+Middle Kingdom still awaits the sceptic.
+
+[FN#498] In Europe we should add "and all fled, especially the women."
+But the fatalism inherent in the Eastern mind makes the great
+difference.
+
+[FN#499] Arab. "Uzayr." Esdras was a manner of Ripp van Winkle. He was
+riding over the ruins of Jerusalem when it had been destroyed by the
+Chaldeans and he doubted by what means Allah would restore it;
+whereupon he died and at the end of a hundred years he revived. He
+found his basket of figs and cruse of wine as they were; but of his ass
+only the bones remained. These were raised to life as Ezra looked on
+and the ass began at once to bray. Which was a lesson to Esdras.
+(Koran, chapt. ii.) The oath by the ass's hoofs is to ridicule the Jew.
+Mohammed seems to have had an idée fixe that "the Jews say, Ezra is the
+son of God" (Koran ix.); it may have arisen from the heterodox Jewish
+belief that Ezra, when the Law was utterly lost, dictated the whole
+anew to the scribes of his own memory. His tomb with the huge green
+dome is still visited by the Jews of Baghdad.
+
+[FN#500] Arab. "Bádhanj," the Pers. Bád. (wind) -gír (catcher): a
+wooden pent-house on the terrace-roof universal in the nearer East.
+
+[FN#501] The hunchback, in Arabia as in Southern Europe, is looked upon
+by the vulgar with fear and aversion. The reason is that he is usually
+sharper-witted than his neighbours.
+
+[FN#502]Arab. "Yá Sattár" = Thou who veilest the discreditable secrets
+of Thy creatures.
+
+[FN#503] Arab. "Nasráni," a follower of Him of Nazareth and an older
+name than "Christian" which (Acts xi., 26) was first given at Antioch
+about A.D. 43. The cry in Alexandria used to be "Ya Nasráni, Kalb
+awáni!"=O Nazarene! O dog obscene! (Pilgrimage i., 160).). "Christian"
+in Arabic can be expressed only by "Masíhi" = follower of the Messiah.
+
+[FN#504] Arab. "Tasbíh," = Saluting in the Subh (morning).
+
+[FN#505] In the East women stand on minor occasions while men squat on
+their hunkers in a way hardly possible to an untrained European. The
+custom is old. Herodotus (ii., 35) says, "The women stand up when they
+make water, but the men sit down." Will it be believed that Canon
+Rawlinson was too modest to leave this passage in his translation? The
+custom was perpetuated by Al-Islam because the position prevents the
+ejection touching the clothes and making them ceremonially impure;
+possibly they borrowed it from the Guebres. Dabistan, Gate xvi. says,
+"It is improper, whilst in an erect posture, to make water, it is
+therefore necessary to sit at squat and force it to some distance,
+repeating the Avesta mentally."
+
+[FN#506] This is still a popular form of the "Kinchin lay," and as the
+turbands are often of fine stuff, the petite industrie pays well.
+
+[FN#507]Arab. "Wali" = Governor; the term still in use for the Governor
+General of a Province as opposed to the "Muháfiz," or
+district-governor. In Eastern Arabia the Wali is the Civil Governor
+opposed to the Amir or Military Commandant. Under the Caliphate the
+Wali acted also as Prefect of Police (the Indian Faujdár), who is now
+called "Zábit." The older name for the latter was "Sáhib al-Shartah" (=
+chief of the watch) or "Mutawalli"; and it was his duty to go the
+rounds in person. The old "Charley," with his lantern and cudgel, still
+guards the bazars in Damascus.
+
+[FN#508] Arab. "Al-Mashá ilí" = the bearer of a cresset (Mash'al) who
+was also Jack Ketch. In Anglo-India the name is given to a lower
+body-servant. The "Mash'al" which Lane (M. E., chapt. vi.) calls
+"Mesh'al" and illustrates, must not be confounded with its congener the
+"Sha'ilah" or link (also lamp, wick, etc.).
+
+[FN#509] I need hardly say that the civilised "drop" is unknown to the
+East where men are strung up as to a yardarm. This greatly prolongs the
+suffering.
+
+[FN#510] Arab. "Lukmah"; = a mouthful. It is still the fashion amongst
+Easterns of primitive manners to take up a handful of rice, etc., ball
+it and put it into a friend's mouth honoris causâ. When the friend is a
+European the expression of his face is generally a study.
+
+[FN#511] I need hardly note that this is an old Biblical practice. The
+ass is used for city-work as the horse for fighting and travelling, the
+mule for burdens and the dromedary for the desert. But the Badawi, like
+the Indian, despises the monture and sings:—
+
+     The back of the steed is a noble place
+     But the mule's dishonour, the ass disgrace!
+
+The fine white asses, often thirteen hands high, sold by the Banu Salíb
+and other Badawi tribes, will fetch £100, and more. I rode a little
+brute from Meccah to Jedda (42 miles) in one night and it came in with
+me cantering.
+
+[FN#512] A dry measure of about five bushels (Cairo). The classical
+pronunciation is Irdabb and it measured 24 sa'a (gallons) each filling
+four outstretched hands.
+
+[FN#513] "Al-Jawáli" should be Al-Jáwali (Al-Makrizi) and the Bab
+al-Nasr (Gate of Victory) is that leading to Suez. I lived in that
+quarter as shown by my Pilgrimage (i. 62).
+
+[FN#514] Arab. "Al-'ajalah," referring to a saying in every Moslem
+mouth, "Patience is from the Protector (Allah): Hurry is from Hell."
+That and "Inshallah bukra!" (Please God tomorrow.) are the traveller's
+bêtes noires.
+
+[FN#515] Here it is a polite equivalent for "fall to!"
+
+[FN#516] The left hand is used throughout the East for purposes of
+ablution and is considered unclean. To offer the left hand would be
+most insulting and no man ever strokes his beard with it or eats with
+it: hence, probably, one never sees a left handed man throughout the
+Moslem east. In the Brazil for the same reason old-fashioned people
+will not take snuff with the right hand. And it is related of the
+Khataians that they prefer the left hand, "Because the heart, which is
+the Sultan of the city of the Body, hath his mansion on that side"
+(Rauzat al-Safá).
+
+[FN#517] Two feminine names as we might say Mary and Martha.
+
+[FN#518] It was near the Caliph's two Palaces (Al Kasrayn); and was
+famous in the 15th century A. D. The Kazi's Mahkamah (Court house) now
+occupies the place of the Two Palaces
+
+[FN#519] A Kaysariah is a superior kind of bazar, a "bezestein." That
+in the text stood to the east of the principal street in Cairo and was
+built in A. H. 502 (=1108-9) by a Circassian Emir, known as Fakhr
+al-Din Jahárkas, a corruption of the Persian "Chehárkas" = four persons
+(Lane, i. 422, from Al-Makrizi and Ibn Khallikan). For Jahárkas the
+Mac. Edit. has Jirjís (George) a common Christian name. I once lodged
+in a 'Wakálah (the modern Khan) Jirjis." Pilgrimage, i. 255.
+
+[FN#520]Arab. "Second Day," i.e. after Saturday, the true Sabbath, so
+marvellously ignored by Christendom.
+
+[FN#521] Readers who wish to know how a traveller is lodged in a
+Wakálah, Khan, or Caravanserai, will consult my Pilgrimage, i. 60.
+
+[FN#522] The original occupation of the family had given it a name, as
+amongst us.
+
+[FN#523] The usual "chaff" or banter allowed even to modest women when
+shopping, and—many a true word is spoken in jest.
+
+[FN#524] "La adamnák" = Heaven deprive us not of thee, i.e. grant I see
+thee often!
+
+[FN#525] This is a somewhat cavalier style of advance; but Easterns
+under such circumstances go straight to the point, hating to filer the
+parfait amour.
+
+[FN#526] The peremptory formula of a slave delivering such a message.
+
+[FN#527] This would be our Thursday night, preceding the day of public
+prayers which can be performed only when in a state of ceremonial
+purity. Hence many Moslems go to the Hammam on Thursday and have no
+connection with their wives till Friday night.
+
+[FN#528] Lane (i. 423) gives ample details concerning the Habbániyah,
+or grain-sellers' quarter in the southern part of Cairo; and shows that
+when this tale was written (or transcribed?) the city was almost as
+extensive as it is now.
+
+[FN#529] Nakíb is a caravan-leader, a chief, a syndic; and "Abú
+Shámah"= Father of a cheek mole, while "Abú Shámmah" = Father of a
+smeller, a nose, a snout. The "Kuniyah," bye-name, patronymic or
+matronymic, is necessary amongst Moslems whose list of names, all
+connected more or less with religion, is so scanty. Hence Buckingham
+the traveller was known as Abu Kidr, the Father of a Cooking-pot and
+Hajj Abdullah as Abu Shawárib, Father of Mustachios (Pilgrimage, iii.,
+263).
+
+[FN#530] More correctly Bab Zawilah from the name of a tribe in
+Northern Africa. This gate dates from the same age as the Eastern or
+Desert gate, Bab al-Nasr (A.D. 1087) and is still much admired. M.
+Jomard describes it (Description, etc., ii. 670) and lately my good
+friend Yacoub Artin Pasha has drawn attention to it in the Bulletin de
+l'Inst. Egypt., Deuxième Série, No. 4, 1883.
+
+[FN#531] This ornament is still seen in the older saloons of Damascus:
+the inscriptions are usually religious sentences, extracts from the
+Koran, etc., in uncial characters. They take the place of our frescos;
+and, as a work of art, are generally far superior.
+
+[FN#532] Arab. "Bayáz al-Sultání," the best kind of gypsum which shines
+like polished marble. The stucco on the walls of Alexandria, built by
+Alexander of the two Horns, was so exquisitely tempered and beautifully
+polished that men had to wear masks for fear of blindness.
+
+[FN#533] This Iklíl, a complicated affair, is now obsolete, its place
+having been taken by the "Kurs," a gold plate, some five inches in
+diameter, set with jewels, etc. Lane (M. E. Appendix A) figures it.
+
+[FN#534] The woman-artist who applies the dye is called "Munakkishah."
+
+[FN#535] "Kissing with th' inner lip," as Shakespeare calls it; the
+French _langue fourrée:_ and Sanskrit "Samputa." The subject of kissing
+is extensive in the East. Ten different varieties are duly enumerated
+in the "Ananga-Ranga;" or, The Hindu Art of Love (Ars Amoris Indica)
+translated from the Sanskrit, and annotated by A. F. F. and B. F. R It
+is also connected with unguiculation, or impressing the nails, of which
+there are seven kinds; morsication (seven kinds); handling the hair and
+tappings or pattings with the fingers and palm (eight kinds).
+
+[FN#536] Arab. "asal-nahl," to distinguish it from "honey" i.e. syrup
+of sugar-cane and fruits
+
+[FN#537] The lines have occurred in Night xii. By way of variety I give
+Torrens' version p. 273.
+
+[FN#538] The way of carrying money in the corner of a
+pocket-handkerchief is still common.
+
+[FN#539] He sent the provisions not to be under an obligation to her in
+this matter. And she received them to judge thereby of his liberality
+
+[FN#540] Those who have seen the process of wine-making in the Libanus
+will readily understand why it is always strained.
+
+[FN#541] Arab. "Kulkasá," a kind of arum or yam, eaten boiled like our
+potatoes.
+
+[FN#542]At first he slipped the money into the bed-clothes: now he
+gives it openly and she accepts it for a reason.
+
+[FN#543] Arab. Al-Zalamah lit. = tyrants, oppressors, applied to the
+police and generally to employés of Government. It is a word which
+tells a history.
+
+[FN#544] Moslem law is never completely satisfied till the criminal
+confess. It also utterly ignores circumstantial evidence and for the
+best of reasons: amongst so sharp-witted a people the admission would
+lead to endless abuses. I greatly surprised a certain Governor-General
+of India by giving him this simple information
+
+[FN#545] Cutting off the right hand is the Koranic punishment (chapt.
+v.) for one who robs an article worth four dinars, about forty francs
+to shillings. The left foot is to be cut off at the ankle for a second
+offence and so on; but death is reserved for a hardened criminal. The
+practice is now obsolete and theft is punished by the bastinado, fine
+or imprisonment. The old Guebres were as severe. For stealing one
+dirham's worth they took a fine of two, cut off the ear-lobes, gave ten
+stick-blows and dismissed the criminal who had been subjected to an
+hour's imprisonment. A second theft caused the penalties to be doubled;
+and after that the right hand was cut off or death was inflicted
+according to the proportion stolen.
+
+[FN#546] Koran viii. 17.
+
+[FN#547] A universal custom in the East, the object being originally to
+show that the draught was not poisoned.
+
+[FN#548] Out of paste or pudding.
+
+[FN#549] Boils and pimples are supposed to be caused by broken
+hair-roots and in Hindostani are called Bál-tor.
+
+[FN#550] He intended to bury it decently, a respect which Moslems
+always show even to the exuviæ of the body, as hair and nail parings.
+Amongst Guebres the latter were collected and carried to some mountain.
+The practice was intensified by fear of demons or wizards getting
+possession of the spoils.
+
+[FN#551] Without which the marriage was not valid. The minimum is ten
+dirhams (drachmas) now valued at about five francs to shillings; and if
+a man marry without naming the sum, the woman, after consummation, can
+compel him to pay this minimum.
+
+[FN#552] Arab. "Khatmah" = reading or reciting the whole Koran, by one
+or more persons, usually in the house, not over the tomb. Like the
+"Zikr," Litany or Rogation, it is a pious act confined to certain
+occasions.
+
+[FN#553] Arab. "Zirbájah" = meat dressed with vinegar, cumin-seed
+(Pers. Zír) and hot spices. More of it in the sequel of the tale.
+
+[FN#554] A saying not uncommon meaning, let each man do as he seems
+fit; also = "age quad agis": and at times corresponding with our saw
+about the cap fitting.
+
+[FN#555] Arab. "Su'úd," an Alpinia with pungent rhizome like ginger;
+here used as a counter-odour.
+
+[FN#556] Arab. "Tá'ih" = lost in the "Tíh," a desert wherein man may
+lose himself, translated in our maps 'The Desert of the Wanderings,"
+scil. of the children of Israel. "Credat Judæus."
+
+[FN#557] _i.e._ £125 and £500.
+
+[FN#558] A large sum was weighed by a professional instead of being
+counted, the reason being that the coin is mostly old and worn: hence
+our words "pound" and "pension" (or what is weighed out).
+
+[FN#559] The eunuch is the best possible go-between on account of his
+almost unlimited power over the Harem.
+
+[FN#560] i.e., a slave-girl brought up in the house and never sold
+except for some especial reason, as habitual drunkenness, etc.
+
+[FN#561] Smuggling men into the Harem is a stock "topic" of eastern
+tales. "By means of their female attendants, the ladies of the royal
+harem generally get men into their apartments in the disguise of
+women," says Vatsyayana in The Kama Sutra, Part V. London: Printed for
+the Hindoo Kamashastra Society. 1883. For private circulation only.
+
+[FN#562] These tears are shed over past separation. So the "Indians" of
+the New World never meet after long parting without beweeping mutual
+friends they have lost.
+
+[FN#563] A most important Jack in office whom one can see with his
+smooth chin and blubber lips, starting up from his lazy snooze in the
+shade and delivering his orders more peremptorily than any Dogberry.
+These epicenes are as curious and exceptional in character as in
+external conformation. Disconnected, after a fashion, with humanity,
+they are brave, fierce and capable of any villany or barbarity (as Agha
+Mohammed Khan in Persia 1795-98). The frame is unnaturally long and
+lean, especially the arms and legs; with high, flat, thin shoulders,
+big protruding joints and a face by contrast extraordinarily large, a
+veritable mask; the Castrato is expert in the use of weapons and sits
+his horse admirably, riding well "home" in the saddle for the best of
+reasons; and his hoarse, thick voice, which apparently does not break,
+as in the European "Cáppone," invests him with all the circumstance of
+command.
+
+[FN#564] From the Meccan well used by Moslems much like Eau de Lourdes
+by Christians: the water is saltish, hence the touch of Arab humour
+(Pilgrimage iii., 201-202).
+
+[FN#565] Such articles would be sacred from Moslem eyes.
+
+[FN#566] Physiologically true, but not generally mentioned in
+describing the emotions.
+
+[FN#567] Properly "Uta," the different rooms, each "Odalisque," or
+concubine, having her own.
+
+[FN#568] Showing that her monthly ailment was over.
+
+[FN#569] Arab "Muhammarah" = either browned before the fire or
+artificially reddened.
+
+[FN#570] The insolence and licence of these palace-girls was (and is)
+unlimited, especially when, as in the present case, they have to deal
+with a "softy." On this subject numberless stories are current
+throughout the East.
+
+[FN#571] i.e., blackened by the fires of Jehannam.
+
+[FN#572] Arab. "Bi'l-Salámah" = in safety (to avert the evil eye). When
+visiting the sick it is usual to say something civil; "The Lord heal
+thee! No evil befall thee!" etc.
+
+[FN#573] Washing during sickness is held dangerous by Arabs; and "going
+to the Hammam" is, I have said, equivalent to convalescence.
+
+[FN#574] Arab. "Máristán" (pronounced Múristan) a corruption of the
+Pers. "Bímáristán" = place of sickness, a hospital much affected by the
+old Guebres (Dabistan, i., 165, 166). That of Damascus was the first
+Moslem hospital, founded by Al-Walid Son of Abd al-Malik the Ommiade in
+A. H. 88 = 706-7. Benjamin of Tudela (A. D. 1164) calls it "Dar-al
+Maraphtan" which his latest Editor explains by "Dar-al-Morabittan"
+(abode of those who require being chained). Al-Makrizi (Khitat)
+ascribes the invention of "Spitals" to Hippocrates; another historian
+to an early Pharaoh "Manákiyush;" thus ignoring the Persian Kings,
+Saint Ephrem (or Ephraim), Syru, etc. In modern parlance "Maristan" is
+a madhouse where the maniacs are treated with all the horrors which
+were universal in Europe till within a few years and of which
+occasional traces occur to this day. In A.D. 1399 Katherine de la Court
+held a "hospital in the Court called Robert de Paris," but the first
+madhouse in Christendom was built by the legate Ortiz in Toledo A. D.
+1483, and was therefore called Casa del Nuncio. The Damascus "Maristan"
+was described by every traveller of the last century: and it showed a
+curious contrast between the treatment of the maniac and the idiot or
+omadhaun, who is humanely allowed to wander about unharmed, if not held
+a Saint. When I saw it last (1870) it was all but empty and mostly in
+ruins. As far as my experience goes, the United States is the only
+country where the insane are rationally treated by the sane.
+
+[FN#575] Hence the trite saying "Whoso drinks the water of the Nile
+will ever long to drink it again." "Light" means easily digested water;
+and the great test is being able to drink it at night between the
+sleeps, without indigestion
+
+[FN#576] "Níl" in popular parlance is the Nile in flood; although also
+used for the River as a proper name. Egyptians (modern as well as
+ancient) have three seasons, Al-Shitá (winter), Al-Sayf (summer) and
+Al-Níl (the Nile i.e. flood season' our mid-summer); corresponding with
+the Growth months; Housing (or granary)-months and Flood-months of the
+older race.
+
+[FN#577] These lines are in the Mac. Edit.
+
+[FN#578] Arab. "Birkat al-Habash," a tank formerly existing in Southern
+Cairo: Galland (Night 128) says "en remontant vers l'Ethiopie."
+
+[FN#579] The Bres. Edit. (ii., 190), from which I borrow this
+description, here alludes to the well-known Island, Al-Rauzah (Rodah) =
+The Garden.
+
+[FN#580] Arab. "Laylat al-Wafá," the night of the completion or
+abundance of the Nile (-flood), usually between August 6th and 16th,
+when the government proclaims that the Nilometer shows a rise of 16
+cubits. Of course it is a great festival and a high ceremony, for Egypt
+is still the gift of the Nile (Lane M. E. chapt. xxvi—a work which
+would be much improved by a better index).
+
+[FN#581] i.e., admiration will be complete.
+
+[FN#582] Arab. "Sáhil Masr" (Misr): hence I suppose Galland's villes
+maritimes.
+
+[FN#583] A favourite simile, suggested by the broken glitter and
+shimmer of the stream under the level rays and the breeze of eventide.
+
+[FN#584] Arab. "Halab," derived by Moslems from "He (Abraham) milked
+(halaba) the white and dun cow." But the name of the city occurs in the
+Cuneiforms as Halbun or Khalbun, and the classics knew it as {Greek
+Letters}, Beroca, written with variants.
+
+[FN#585] Arab. "Ká'ah," usually a saloon; but also applied to a fine
+house here and elsewhere in The Nights.
+
+[FN#586] Arab. "Ghamz" = winking, signing with the eye which, amongst
+Moslems, is not held "vulgar."
+
+[FN#587] Arab. "Kamís" from low Lat. "Camicia," first found in St.
+Jerome:— "Solent militantes habere lineas, quas Camicias vocant." Our
+shirt, chemise, chemisette, etc., was unknown to the Ancients of
+Europe.
+
+[FN#588] Arab. "Narjís." The Arabs borrowed nothing, but the Persians
+much, from Greek Mythology. Hence the eye of Narcissus, an idea hardly
+suggested by the look of the daffodil (or asphodel)-flower, is at times
+the glance of a spy and at times the die-away look of a mistress. Some
+scholars explain it by the form of the flower, the internal calyx
+resembling the iris, and the stalk being bent just below the petals
+suggesting drooping eyelids and languid eyes. Hence a poet addresses
+the Narcissus:—
+
+O Narjis, look away! Before those eyes * I may not kiss her as a-breast
+she lies.
+What! Shall the lover close his eyes in sleep * While thine watch all
+things between earth and skies?
+
+
+The fashionable lover in the East must affect a frantic jealousy if he
+does not feel it.
+
+[FN#589] In Egypt there are neither bedsteads nor bedrooms: the carpets
+and mattresses, pillows and cushions (sheets being unknown), are spread
+out when wanted, and during the day are put into chests or cupboards,
+or only rolled up in a corner of the room (Pilgrimage i. 53).
+
+[FN#590] The women of Damascus have always been famed for the
+sanguinary jealousy with which European story-books and novels credit
+the "Spanish lady." The men were as celebrated for intolerance and
+fanaticism, which we first read of in the days of Bertrandon de la
+Brocquière and which culminated in the massacre of 1860. Yet they are a
+notoriously timid race and make, physically and morally, the worst of
+soldiers: we proved that under my late friend Fred. Walpole in the
+Bashi-Buzuks during the old Crimean war. The men looked very fine
+fellows and after a month in camp fell off to the condition of old
+women.
+
+[FN#591] Arab. "Rukhám," properly = alabaster and "Marmar" = marble;
+but the two are often confounded.
+
+[FN#592] He was ceremonially impure after touching a corpse.
+
+[FN#593] The phrase is perfectly appropriate: Cairo without "her Nile"
+would be nothing.
+
+[FN#594] "The market was hot" say the Hindustanis. This would begin
+between 7 and 8 a.m.
+
+[FN#595] Arab. Al-Faranj, Europeans generally. It is derived from "Gens
+Francorum," and dates from Crusading days when the French played the
+leading part. Hence the Lingua Franca, the Levantine jargon, of which
+Molière has left such a witty specimen.
+
+[FN#596] A process familiar to European surgery of the same date.
+
+[FN#597] In sign of disappointment, regret, vexation; a gesture still
+common amongst Moslems and corresponding in significance to a certain
+extent with our stamping, wringing the hands and so forth. It is not
+mentioned in the Koran where, however, we find "biting fingers' ends
+out of wrath" against a man (chapt. iii.).
+
+[FN#598] This is no unmerited scandal. The Cairenes, especially the
+feminine half (for reasons elsewhere given), have always been held
+exceedingly debauched. Even the modest Lane gives a "shocking" story of
+a woman enjoying her lover under the nose of her husband and confining
+the latter in a madhouse (chapt. xiii.). With civilisation, which
+objects to the good old remedy, the sword, they become worse: and the
+Kazi's court is crowded with would-be divorcees. Under English rule the
+evil has reached its acme because it goes unpunished: in the avenues of
+the new Isma'iliyah Quarter, inhabited by Europeans, women, even young
+women, will threaten to expose their persons unless they receive
+"bakhshísh." It was the same in Sind when husbands were assured that
+they would be hanged for cutting down adulterous wives: at once after
+its conquest the women broke loose; and in 1843-50, if a young officer
+sent to the bazar for a girl, half-a-dozen would troop to his quarters.
+Indeed more than once the professional prostitutes threatened to
+memorialise Sir Charles Napier because the "modest women," the "ladies"
+were taking the bread out of their mouths. The same was the case at
+Kabul (Caboul) of Afghanistan in the old war of 1840; and here the
+women had more excuse, the husbands being notable sodomites as the song
+has it.
+
+     The worth of slit the Afghan knows;
+     The worth of hole the Kábul-man.
+
+[FN#599] So that he might not have to do with three sisters-german.
+Moreover amongst Moslems a girl's conduct is presaged by that of her
+mother; and if one sister go wrong, the other is expected to follow
+suit. Practically the rule applies everywhere, "like mother like
+daughter."
+
+[FN#600] In sign of dissent; as opposed to nodding the head which
+signifies assent. These are two items, apparently instinctive and
+universal, of man's gesture-language which has been so highly
+cultivated by sundry North American tribes and by the surdo-mute
+establishments of Europe.
+
+[FN#601] This "Futur" is the real "breakfast" of the East, the "Chhoti
+házri" (petit déjeûner) of India, a bit of bread, a cup of coffee or
+tea and a pipe on rising. In the text, however, it is a ceremonious
+affair.
+
+[FN#602] Arab. "Nahs," a word of many meanings; a sinister aspect of
+the stars (as in Hebr. and Aram.) or, adjectivally, sinister, of
+ill-omen. Vulgarly it is used as the reverse of nice and corresponds,
+after a fashion, with our "nasty."
+
+[FN#603] "Window-gardening," new in England, is an old practice in the
+East.
+
+[FN#604] Her pimping instinct at once revealed the case to her.
+
+[FN#605] The usual "pander-dodge" to get more money.
+
+[FN#606] The writer means that the old woman's account was all false,
+to increase apparent difficulties and pour se faire valoir.
+
+[FN#607] Arab. "Yá Khálati" =mother's sister; a familiar address to the
+old, as uncle or nuncle (father's brother) to a man. The Arabs also
+hold that as a girl resembles her mother so a boy follows his uncle
+(mother's brother): hence the address "Ya tayyib al-Khál!" = O thou
+nephew of a good uncle. I have noted that physically this is often
+fact.
+
+[FN#608] "Ay w' Alláhi," contracted popularly to Aywa, a word in every
+Moslem mouth and shunned by Christians because against orders Hebrew
+and Christian. The better educated Turks now eschew that eternal
+reference to Allah which appears in The Nights and which is still the
+custom of the vulgar throughout the world of Al-Islam.
+
+[FN#609] The "Muzayyin" or barber in the East brings his basin and
+budget under his arm: he is not content only to shave, he must scrape
+the forehead, trim the eyebrows, pass the blade lightly over the nose
+and correct the upper and lower lines of the mustachios, opening the
+central parting and so forth. He is not a whit less a tattler and a
+scandal monger than the old Roman tonsor or Figaro, his confrère in
+Southern Europe. The whole scene of the Barber is admirable, an
+excellent specimen of Arab humour and not over-caricatured. We all have
+met him.
+
+[FN#610] Abdullah ibn Abbas was a cousin and a companion of the
+Apostle, also a well known Commentator on the Koran and conserver of
+the traditions of Mohammed.
+
+[FN#611] I have noticed the antiquity of this father of our sextant, a
+fragment of which was found in the Palace of Sennacherib. More
+concerning the "Arstable" (as Chaucer calls it) is given in my
+"Camoens: his Life and his Lusiads," p. 381.
+
+[FN#612] Arab. "Simiyá" to rhyme with Kímiyá (alchemy proper). It is a
+subordinate branch of the Ilm al-Ruháni which I would translate
+"Spiritualism," and which is divided into two great branches, "Ilwí or
+Rahmáni" (the high or related to the Deity) and Siflí or Shaytáni (low,
+Satanic). To the latter belongs Al-Sahr, magic or the black art proper,
+gramarye, egromancy, while Al-Simiyá is white magic, electro-biology, a
+kind of natural and deceptive magic, in which drugs and perfumes
+exercise an important action. One of its principal branches is the Darb
+al-Mandal or magic mirror, of which more in a future page. See
+Boccaccio's Day x. Novel 5.
+
+[FN#613] Chap. iii., 128. See Sale (in loco) for the noble application
+of this text by the Imam Hasan, son of the Caliph Ali.
+
+[FN#614] These proverbs at once remind us of our old friend Sancho
+Panza and are equally true to nature in the mouth of the Arab and of
+the Spaniard.
+
+[FN#615] Our nurses always carry in the arms: Arabs place the children
+astraddle upon the hip and when older on the shoulder.
+
+[FN#616] Eastern clothes allow this biblical display of sorrow and
+vexation, which with our European garb would look absurd: we must
+satisfy ourselves with maltreating our hats
+
+[FN#617] Koran xlviii., 8. It may be observed that according to the
+Ahádis (sayings of the Prophet) and the Sunnat (sayings and doings of
+Mahommed), all the hair should be allowed to grow or the whole head be
+clean shaven. Hence the "Shúshah," or topknot, supposed to be left as a
+handle for drawing the wearer into Paradise, and the Zulf, or
+side-locks, somewhat like the ringlets of the Polish Jews, are both
+vain "Bida'at," or innovations, and therefore technically termed
+"Makrúh," a practice not laudable, neither "Halál" (perfectly lawful)
+nor "Harám" (forbidden by the law). When boys are first shaved
+generally in the second or third year, a tuft is left on the crown and
+another over the forehead; but this is not the fashion amongst adults.
+Abu Hanifah, if I am rightly informed, wrote a treatise on the Shushah
+or long lock growing from the Násiyah (head-poll) which is also a
+precaution lest the decapitated Moslem's mouth be defiled by an impure
+hand; and thus it would resemble the chivalry lock by which the Redskin
+brave (and even the "cowboy" of better times) facilitated the removal
+of his own scalp. Possibly the Turks had learned the practice from the
+Chinese and introduced it into Baghdad (Pilgrimage i., 240). The Badawi
+plait their locks in Kurún (horns) or Jadáil (ringlets) which are
+undone only to be washed with the water of the she-camel. The wild
+Sherifs wear Haffah, long elf-locks hanging down both sides of the
+throat, and shaved away about a finger's breadth round the forehead and
+behind the neck (Pilgrimage iii., 35-36). I have elsewhere noted the
+accroche-coeurs, the "idiot fringe," etc.
+
+[FN#618] Meats are rarely coloured in modern days; but Persian cooks
+are great adepts in staining rice for the "Puláo (which we call after
+its Turkish corruption "pilaff"): it sometimes appears in
+rainbow-colours, red, yellow and blue; and in India is covered with
+gold and silver leaf. Europe retains the practice in tinting Pasch
+(Easter) eggs, the survival of the mundane ovum which was hatched at
+Easter-tide; and they are dyed red in allusion to the Blood of
+Redemption.
+
+[FN#619] As I have noticed, this is a mixture.
+
+[FN#620] We say:—
+
+     Tis rare the father in the son we see:
+     He sometimes rises in the third degree.
+
+[FN#621] Arab. "Ballán" i.e. the body-servant: "Ballánah" is a
+tire-woman.
+
+[FN#622] Arab. "Darabukkah" a drum made of wood or earthen-ware (Lane,
+M. E., xviii.), and used by all in Egypt.
+
+[FN#623] Arab. "Naihah" more generally "Naddábah" Lat. præfica or
+carina, a hired mourner, the Irish "Keener" at the conclamatio or
+coronach, where the Hullabaloo, Hulululu or Ululoo showed the
+survivors' sorrow.
+
+[FN#624] These doggerels, which are like our street melodies, are now
+forgotten and others have taken their place. A few years ago one often
+heard, "Dus ya lalli" (Tread, O my joy) and "Názil il'al-Ganínah" (Down
+into the garden) and these in due turn became obsolete. Lane (M. E.
+chapt. xviii.) gives the former e.g.
+
+     Tread, O my joy! Tread, O my joy!
+     Love of my love brings sore annoy,
+
+A chorus to such stanzas as:—
+
+Alexandrian damsels rare! * Daintily o'er the floor ye fare: Your lips
+are sweet, are sugar-sweet, * And purfled Cashmere shawls ye wear!
+
+It may be noted that "humming" is not a favourite practice with
+Moslems; if one of the company begin, another will say, "Go to the
+Kahwah" (the coffee-house, the proper music-hall) "and sing there!" I
+have elsewhere observed their dislike to Al-sifr or whistling.
+
+[FN#625] Arab. Khalí'a = worn out, crafty, an outlaw; used like Span.
+"Perdido."
+
+[FN#626] "Zabbál" is the scavenger, lit. a dung-drawer, especially for
+the use of the Hammam which is heated with the droppings of animals.
+"Wakkád" (stoker) is the servant who turns the fire. The verses are
+mere nonsense to suit the Barber's humour.
+
+[FN#627] Arab. "Yá bárid" = O fool.
+
+[FN#628] This form of blessing is chanted from the Minaret about
+half-an-hour before midday, when the worshippers take their places in
+the mosque. At noon there is the usual Azán or prayer-call, and each
+man performs a two-bow, in honour of the mosque and its gathering, as
+it were. The Prophet is then blessed and a second Salám is called from
+the raised ambo or platform (dikkah) by the divines who repeat the
+midday-call. Then an Imam recites the first Khutbah, or sermon "of
+praise"; and the congregation worships in silence. This is followed by
+the second exhortation "of Wa'az," dispensing the words of wisdom. The
+Imam now stands up before the Mihráb (prayer niche) and recites the
+Ikámah which is the common Azan with one only difference: after "Hie ye
+to salvation" it adds "Come is the time of supplication;" whence the
+name, "causing" (prayer) "to stand" (i.e., to begin). Hereupon the
+worshippers recite the Farz or Koran commanded noon-prayer of Friday;
+and the unco' guid add a host of superogatories Those who would study
+the subject may consult Lane (M. E. chapt. iii. and its abstract in his
+"Arabian Nights," I, p. 430, or note 69 to chapt. v.).
+
+[FN#629] i.e., the women loosed their hair; an immodesty sanctioned
+only by a great calamity.
+
+[FN#630] These small shops are composed of a "but" and a "ben."
+(Pilgrimage i., 99.)
+
+[FN#631] Arab. "Kawwád," a popular term of abuse; hence the Span. and
+Port. "Alco-viteiro." The Italian "Galeotto" is from Galahalt, not
+Galahad.
+
+[FN#632] i.e., "one seeking assistance in Allah." He was the son of
+Al-Záhir bi'lláh (one pre-eminent by the decree of Allah). Lane says
+(i. 430), "great-grandson of Harun al-Rashid," alluding to the first
+Mustansir son of Al-Mutawakkil (regn. A.H. 247-248 =861-862). But this
+is the 56th Abbaside and regn. A. H. 623-640 (= 1226-1242).
+
+[FN#633] Arab. "Yaum al-Id," the Kurban Bairam of the Turks, the
+Pilgrimage festival. The story is historical. In the "Akd," a
+miscellany compiled by Ibn Abd Rabbuh (vulg. Rabbi-hi) of Cordova, who
+ob. A. H. 328 = 940 we read:—A sponger found ten criminals and followed
+them, imagining they were going to a feast; but lo, they were going to
+their deaths! And when they were slain and he remained, he was brought
+before the Khalifah (Al Maamun) and Ibrahim son of Al-Mahdi related a
+tale to procure pardon for the man, whereupon the Khalifah pardoned
+him. (Lane ii., 506.)
+
+[FN#634] Arab. "Nata' al-Dam"; the former word was noticed in the Tale
+of the Bull and the Ass. The leather of blood was not unlike the Sufrah
+and could be folded into a bag by a string running through rings round
+the edges. Moslem executioners were very expert and seldom failed to
+strike off the head with a single blow of the thin narrow blade with
+razor-edge, hard as diamond withal, which contrasted so strongly with
+the great coarse chopper of the European headsman.
+
+[FN#635] The ground floor, which in all hot countries is held, and
+rightly so, unwholesome during sleep, is usually let for shops. This is
+also the case throughout Southern Europe, and extends to the Canary
+Islands and the Brazil.
+
+[FN#636] This serious contemplation of street-scenery is one of the
+pleasures of the Harems.
+
+[FN#637] We should say "smiled at him": the laugh was not intended as
+an affront.
+
+[FN#638] Arab. "Fals ahmar." Fals is a fish-scale, also the smaller
+coin and the plural "Fulús" is the vulgar term for money (= Ital.
+quattrini ) without specifying the coin. It must not be confounded with
+the "Fazzah," alias "Nuss," alias "Páráh" (Turk.); the latter being
+made, not of "red copper" but of a vile alloy containing, like the
+Greek "Asper," some silver; and representing, when at par, the fortieth
+of a piastre, the latter=2d. 2/5ths.
+
+[FN#639] Arab "Farajiyah " a long-sleeved robe; Lane's "Farageeyeh,"
+(M. E., chapt. i)
+
+[FN#640] The tailor in the East, as in Southern Europe, is made to cut
+out the cloth in presence of its owner, to prevent "cabbaging."
+
+[FN#641] Expecting a present.
+
+[FN#642] Alluding to the saying, "Kiss is the key to Kitty."
+
+[FN#643] The "panel-dodge" is fatally common throughout the East, where
+a man found in the house of another is helpless.
+
+[FN#644] This was the beginning of horseplay which often ends in a
+bastinado.
+
+[FN#645] Hair-dyes, in the East, are all of vegetable matter, henna,
+indigo-leaves, galls, etc.: our mineral dyes are, happily for them,
+unknown. Herklots will supply a host of recipes The Egyptian mixture
+which I quoted in Pilgrimage (ii., 274) is sulphate of iron and
+ammoniure of iron one part and gall nuts two parts, infused in eight
+parts of distilled water. It is innocuous but very poor as a dye.
+
+[FN#646] Arab. Amrad, etymologically "beardless and handsome," but
+often used in a bad sense, to denote an effeminate, a catamite.
+
+[FN#647] The Hindus prefer "having the cardinal points as her sole
+garment." "Vêtu de climat," says Madame de Stael. In Paris nude statues
+are "draped in cerulean blue." Rabelais (iv.,29) robes King Shrovetide
+in grey and gold of a comical cut, nothing before, nothing behind, with
+sleeves of the same.
+
+[FN#648] This scene used to be enacted a few years ago in Paris for the
+benefit of concealed spectators, a young American being the victim. It
+was put down when one of the lookers-on lost his eye by a pen-knife
+thrust into the "crevice."
+
+[FN#649] Meaning that the trick had been played by the Wazir's wife or
+daughter. I could mention sundry names at Cairo whose charming owners
+have done worse things than this unseemly frolic.
+
+[FN#650] Arab. "Shayyun li'lláhi," a beggar's formula = per amor di
+Dio.
+
+[FN#651] Noting how sharp-eared the blind become.
+
+[FN#652] The blind in Egypt are notorious for insolence and violence,
+fanaticism and rapacity. Not a few foreigners have suffered from them
+(Pilgrimage i., 148). In former times many were blinded in infancy by
+their mothers, and others blinded themselves to escape conscription or
+honest hard work. They could always obtain food, especially as
+Mu'ezzins and were preferred because they could not take advantage of
+the minaret by spying into their neighbours' households. The Egyptian
+race is chronically weak-eyed, the effect of the damp hot climate of
+the valley, where ophthalmia prevailed even during the pre-Pharaohnic
+days. The great Sesostris died stone-blind and his successor lost his
+sight for ten years (Pilgrimage ii., 176). That the Fellahs are now
+congenitally weak-eyed, may be seen by comparing them with negroes
+imported from Central Africa. Ophthalmia rages, especially during the
+damp season, in the lower Nile-valley; and the best cure for it is a
+fortnight's trip to the Desert where, despite glare, sand and wind, the
+eye readily recovers tone.
+
+[FN#653] i.e., with kicks and cuffs and blows, as is the custom.
+(Pilgrimage i., 174.)
+
+[FN#654] Arab. Káid (whence "Alcayde") a word still much used in North
+Western Africa.
+
+[FN#655] Arab. "Sullam" = lit. a ladder; a frame-work of sticks, used
+by way of our triangles or whipping-posts.
+
+[FN#656] This is one of the feats of Al-Símiyá = white magic;
+fascinating the eyes. In Europe it has lately taken the name of
+"Electro-biology."
+
+[FN#657] again by means of the "Símiyá" or power of fascination
+possessed by the old scoundrel.
+
+[FN#658] A formula for averting "Al-Ayn," the evil eye. It is always
+unlucky to meet a one-eyed man, especially the first thing in the
+morning and when setting out on any errand. The idea is that the
+fascinated one will suffer from some action of the physical eye.
+Monoculars also are held to be rogues: so the Sanskrit saying "Few
+one-eyed men be honest men."
+
+[FN#659] Al-Nashshár from Nashr = sawing: so the fiddler in Italian is
+called the "village-saw" (Sega del villaggio). He is the Alnaschar of
+the Englished Galland and Richardson. The tale is very old. It appears
+as the Brahman and the Pot of Rice in the Panchatantra; and Professor
+Benfey believes (as usual with him) that this, with many others,
+derives from a Buddhist source. But I would distinctly derive it from
+Æsop's market-woman who kicked over her eggs, whence the Lat. prov.
+Ante victoriam canere triumphum = to sell the skin before you have
+caught the bear. In the "Kalilah and Dimnah" and its numerous offspring
+it is the "Ascetic with his Jar of oil and honey;" in Rabelais (i., 33)
+Echephron's shoemaker spills his milk, and so La Perette in La
+Fontaine. See M. Max Muller's "Chips," (vol. iii., appendix) The
+curious reader will compare my version with that which appears at the
+end of Richardson's Arabic Grammar (Edit. Of 1811): he had a better, or
+rather a fuller MS. (p. 199) than any yet printed.
+
+[FN#660] Arab. "Atr" = any perfume, especially oil of roses; whence our
+word "Ottar,' through the Turkish corruption.
+
+[FN#661] The texts give "dirhams" (100,000 = 5,000 dinars) for
+"dinars," a clerical error as the sequel shows.
+
+[FN#662] "Young slaves," says Richardson, losing "colour."
+
+[FN#663] Nothing more calculated to give affront than such a refusal.
+Richardson (p. 204) who, however, doubts his own version (p. 208), here
+translates, "and I will not give liberty to my soul (spouse) but in her
+apartments." The Arabic, or rather Cairene, is, "wa lá akhalli rúhi" I
+will not let myself go, i.e., be my everyday self, etc.
+
+[FN#664] "Whilst she is in astonishment and terror." (Richardson.)
+
+[FN#665] "Chamber of robes," Richardson, whose text has "Nám" for
+"Manám."
+
+[FN#666] "Till I compleat her distress," Richardson, whose text is
+corrupt.
+
+[FN#667] "Sleep by her side," R. the word "Náma" bearing both senses.
+
+[FN#668] "Will take my hand," R. "takabbal" being also ambiguous.
+
+[FN#669] Arab. "Mu'arras" one who brings about "'Ars," marriages, etc.
+So the Germ. = "Kupplerinn" a Coupleress. It is one of the many
+synonyms for a pimp, and a word in general use (Pilgrimage i., 276).The
+most insulting term, like Dayyús, insinuates that the man panders for
+his own wife.
+
+[FN#670] Of hands and face, etc. See Night cccclxiv.
+
+[FN#671] Arab. "Sadakah" (sincerity), voluntary or superogatory alms,
+opposed to "Zakát" (purification), legal alms which are indispensable.
+"Prayer carries us half way to Allah, fasting brings us to the door of
+His palace and alms deeds (Sadakah) cause us to enter." For "Zakát" no
+especial rate is fixed, but it should not be less than one-fortieth of
+property or two and a half per cent. Thus Al-lslam is, as far as I
+know, the only faith which makes a poor-rate (Zakát) obligatory and
+which has invented a property-tax, as opposed the unjust and unfair
+income-tax upon which England prides herself.
+
+[FN#672] A Greek girl.
+
+[FN#673] This was making himself very easy; and the idea is that the
+gold in the pouch caused him to be so bold. Lane's explanation (in
+loco) is all wrong. The pride engendered by sudden possession of money
+is a lieu commun amongst Eastern story tellers; even in the
+beast-fables the mouse which has stolen a few gold pieces becomes
+confident and stout-hearted.
+
+[FN#674] Arab. "al-Málihah" also means the beautiful (fem.) from
+Milh=salt, splendour, etc., the Mac edit. has "Mumallihah" = a
+salt-vessel.
+
+[FN#675] i.e., to see if he felt the smart.
+
+[FN#676] Arab. "Sardábeh" (Persian)=an underground room used for
+coolness in the hot season. It is unknown in Cairo but every house in
+Baghdad, in fact throughout the Mesopotamian cities, has one. It is on
+the principle of the underground cellar without which wine will not
+keep: Lane (i., 406) calls it a "vault".
+
+[FN#677] In the orig. "O old woman!" which is insulting.
+
+[FN#678] So the Italians say "a quail to skin."
+
+[FN#679] "Amán" is the word used for quarter on the battle-field; and
+there are Joe Millers about our soldiers in India mistaking it for "a
+man" or (Scottice) "a mon."
+
+[FN#680] Illustrating the Persian saying "Allah himself cannot help a
+fool."
+
+[FN#681] Any article taken from the person and given to a criminal is a
+promise of pardon, of course on the implied condition of plenary
+confession and of becoming "King's evidence."
+
+[FN#682] A naïve proposal to share the plunder.
+
+[FN#683] In popular literature "Schacabac.", And from this tale comes
+our saying "A Barmecide's Feast," i.e., an illusion.
+
+[FN#684] The Castrato at the door is still (I have said) the fashion of
+Cairo and he acts "Suisse" with a witness.
+
+[FN#685] As usual in the East, the mansion was a hollow square
+surrounding what in Spain is called Patio: the outer entrance was far
+from the inner, showing the extent of the grounds.
+
+[FN#686] "Nahnu málihín" = we are on terms of salt, said and say the
+Arabs. But the traveller must not trust in these days to the once
+sacred tie; there are tribes which will give bread with one hand and
+stab with the other. The Eastern use of salt is a curious contrast with
+that of Westerns, who made it an invidious and inhospitable
+distinction, e.g., to sit above the salt-cellar and below the salt.
+Amongst the ancients, however, "he took bread and salt" means he swore,
+the food being eaten when an oath was taken. Hence the "Bride cake" of
+salt, water and flour.
+
+[FN#687] Arab. "Harísah," the meat-pudding before explained.
+
+[FN#688] Arab. "Sikbáj," before explained; it is held to be a lordly
+dish, invented by Khusraw Parwiz. "Fatted duck" says the Bresl. Edit.
+ii., 308, with more reason.
+
+[FN#689] I was reproved in Southern Abyssinia for eating without this
+champing, "Thou feedest like a beggar who muncheth silently in his
+corner;" and presently found that it was a sign of good breeding to eat
+as noisily as possible.
+
+[FN#690] Barley in Arabia is, like our oats, food for horses: it
+fattens at the same time that it cools them. Had this been known to our
+cavalry when we first occupied Egypt in 1883-4 our losses in
+horse-flesh would have been far less; but official ignorance persisted
+in feeding the cattle upon heating oats and the riders upon beef, which
+is indigestible, instead of mutton, which is wholesome.
+
+[FN#691] i.e. "I conjure thee by God."
+
+[FN#692] i.e. "This is the very thing for thee."
+
+[FN#693] i.e., at random.
+
+[FN#694] This is the way of slaughtering the camel, whose throat is
+never cut on account of the thickness of the muscles. "Égorger un
+chameau" is a mistake often made in French books.
+
+[FN#695] i.e. I will break bounds.
+
+[FN#696] The Arabs have a saying corresponding with the dictum of the
+Salernitan school:—
+
+     Noscitur a labiis quantum sit virginis antrum:
+     Noscitur a naso quanta sit hasta viro;
+     (A maiden's mouth shows what's the make of her _chose;_
+     And man's mentule one knows by the length of his nose.)
+
+Whereto I would add:—
+
+     And the eyebrows disclose how the lower wig grows.
+
+The observations are purely empirical but, as far as my experience
+extends, correct.
+
+[FN#697] Arab. "Kahkahah," a very low proceeding.
+
+[FN#698] Or "for every death there is a cause;" but the older Arabs had
+a saying corresponding with "Deus non fecit mortem."
+
+[FN#699] The King's barber is usually a man of rank for the best of
+reasons, that he holds his Sovereign's life between his fingers. One of
+these noble Figaros in India married an English lady who was, they say,
+unpleasantly surprised to find out what were her husband's official
+duties.
+
+
+
+
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