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diff --git a/3435-h/3435-h.htm b/3435-h/3435-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..34be3df --- /dev/null +++ b/3435-h/3435-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17744 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1, by Richard F. 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Burton</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'> +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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Richard F. Burton</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 20, 2001 [eBook #3435]<br /> +[Most recently updated: January 8, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: J.C. Byers. Proofreaders were: J.C. Byers, Norm Wolcott, Dianne Doefler and Charles Wilson</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS ***</div> + +<h1>THE BOOK OF THE<br/> THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT</h1> + +<h4>A Plain and Literal Translation<br/> +of the Arabian Nights Entertainments<br/></h4> + +<h2>Translated and Annotated by<br/> Richard F. Burton </h2> + +<h2>VOLUME ONE</h2> + +<p class="center"> +Inscribed to the Memory<br/> +of<br/> +My Lamented Friend<br/> +John Frederick Steinhaeuser,<br/> +(Civil Surgeon, Aden)<br/> +who<br/> +A Quarter of a Century Ago<br/> +Assisted Me in this Translation. +</p> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center"> +“TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE”<br /> +(Puris omnia pura) +</p> + +<p class="right"> +—<i>Arab Proverb.</i> +</p> + +<p class="center"> +“Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole.” +</p> + +<p class="right"> +—“<i>Decameron</i>”—<i>conclusion</i>. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +“Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum<br /> +Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget.” +</p> + +<p class="right"> +—M<small>ARTIAL</small>. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +“Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,<br /> +Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes.” +</p> + +<p class="right"> +—R<small>ABELAIS</small>. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +“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.” +</p> + +<p class="right"> +—C<small>RICHTON’S</small> “<i>History of Arabia</i>.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>Contents of the First Volume</h2> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">Introduction</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">Story Of King Shahryar and His Brother</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">a. Tale of the Bull and the Ass</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">1. Tale of the Trader and the Jinni</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">a. The First Shaykh’s Story</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">b. The Second Shaykh’s Story</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">c. The Third Shaykh’s Story</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">2. The Fisherman and the Jinni</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">a. Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">ab. Story of King Sindibad and His Falcon</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">ac. Tale of the Husband and the Parrot</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">ad. Tale of the Prince and the Ogress</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">b. Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">a. The First Kalandar’s Tale</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">b. The Second Kalandar’s Tale</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">ba. Tale of the Envier and the Envied</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">c. The Third Kalandar’s Tale</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">d. The Eldest Lady’s Tale</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">e. Tale of the Portress</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap21">Conclusion of the Story of the Porter and the Three Ladies</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap22">4. Tale of the Three Apples</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap23">5. Tale of Nur Al-din Ali and his Son</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap24">6. The Hunchback’s Tale</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap25">a. The Nazarene Broker’s Story</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap26">b. The Reeve’s Tale</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap27">c. Tale of the Jewish Doctor</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap28">d. Tale of the Tailor</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap29">e. The Barber’s Tale of Himself</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap30">ea. The Barber’s Tale of his First Brother</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap31">eb. The Barber’s Tale of his Second Brother</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap32">ec. The Barber’s Tale of his Third Brother</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap33">ed. The Barber’s Tale of his Fourth Brother</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap34">ee. The Barber’s Tale of his Fifth Brother</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap35">ef. The Barber’s Tale of his Sixth Brother</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap36">The End of the Tailor’s Tale</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>The Translator’s Foreword.</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>Médiocratie</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +Yet, however behindhand I may be, there is still ample room and verge for an +English version of the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>verbatim et +literatim</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +And here I hasten to confess that ample use has been made of the three versions +above noted, the whole being blended by a <i>callida junctura</i> into a +homogeneous mass. But in the presence of so many predecessors a writer is bound +to show some <i>raison d'être</i> for making a fresh attempt and this I proceed +to do with due reserve. +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>verbum reddere verbo</i>, 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 <i>mécanique</i>, 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 <i>dramatis personæ</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +<i>Rims cars</i> 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 <i>sine quâ non</i> for a complete reproduction of the original. In the +Terminal Essay I shall revert to the subject. +</p> + +<p> +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, <i>Rim continuat or tirade monorime</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +And now to consider one matter of special importance in the book—its +<i>turpiloquium</i>. 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, <i>Les +peuples primitifs n'y entendent pas malice: ils appellent les choses par leurs +noms et ne trouvent pas condamnable ce qui est naturel</i>. 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 <i>les +turpitudes</i>, 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 <i>tempore +Elisæ</i>. 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. +</p> + +<p> +In accordance with my purpose of reproducing the Nights, not <i>virginibus +puerisque</i>, 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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Vita quid est hominis? Viridis floriscula mortis;<br/> +Sole Oriente oriens, sole cadente cadens. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +RICHARD F. BURTON +</p> + +<p> +Wanderers’ Club, <i>August</i> 15, 1885. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<a name="chap01"></a> +<h2>The Book Of The<br/> +THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT +</h2> + +<h5>(ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAH.)</h5> + +<p class="center"> +In the Name of Allah,<br/> +the Compassionating, the Compassionate! +</p> + +<p class="center"> +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! +</p> + +<a name="chap02"></a> +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +She rose like the morn as she shone through the night * And she gilded the +grove with her gracious sight:<br/> +From her radiance the sun taketh increase when * She unveileth and shameth the +moonshine bright.<br/> +Bow down all beings between her hands * As she showeth charms with her veil +undight.<br/> +And she floodeth cities[FN#13] with torrent tears * When she flasheth her look +of leven-light. +</p> + +<p> +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.— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Rely not on women; * Trust not to their hearts,<br/> +Whose joys and whose sorrows * Are hung to their parts!<br/> +Lying love they will swear thee * Whence guile ne'er departs:<br/> +Take Yusuf[FN#18] for sample * 'Ware sleights and 'ware smarts!<br/> +Iblis[FN#19] ousted Adam * (See ye not?) thro' their arts. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And another saith:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Stint thy blame, man! 'Twill drive to a passion without bound; * My fault is +not so heavy as fault in it hast found.<br/> +If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not * Save what happened unto +many in the bygone stound.<br/> +For wonderful is he and right worthy of our praise * Who fromwiles of female +wits kept him safe and kept him sound." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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.— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Tell whoso hath sorrow * Grief never shall last:<br/> +E'en as joy hath no morrow * So woe shall go past." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>Tale of the Bull[FN#23] and the Ass.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +For others these hardships and labours I bear * And theirs is the pleasure and +mine is the care;<br/> +As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun * To whiten the raiment which +other men wear.[FN#28] +</p> + +<p> +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? +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Shall the beautiful hue of the Basil[FN#32] fail * Tho' the beetle's foot o'er +the Basil crawl?<br/> +And though spider and fly be its denizens * Shall disgrace attach to the royal +hall?<br/> +The cowrie,[FN#33] I ken, shall have currency * But the pearl's clear drop, +shall its value fall? +</p> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI.</h2> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +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.<br/> +See'st not when blows the hurricane, sweeping stark and striking strong * None +save the forest giant feels the suffering of the strain?<br/> +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.<br/> +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!<br/> +In Heaven are unnumbered the many of the stars * Yet ne'er a star but Sun and +Moon by eclipse is overta'en.<br/> +Well judgedst thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well * And countedst +not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever fain.<br/> +The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride * But bliss +and blessings of the night are 'genderers of bane! +</p> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>The First Shaykh’s Story.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Second Night, +</p> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>The Second Shaykh’s Story.</h2> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>The Third Shaykh’s Story.</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Third Night, +</p> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI.</h2> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +O toiler through the glooms of night in peril and in pain * Thy toiling stint +for daily bread comes not by might and main!<br/> +Seest thou not the fisher seek afloat upon the sea * His bread, while glimmer +stars of night as set in tangled skein.<br/> +Anon he plungeth in despite the buffet of the waves * The while to sight the +bellying net his eager glances strain;<br/> +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.<br/> +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,<br/> +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] +</p> + +<p> +Then quoth he, "Up and to it; I am sure of His beneficence,<br/> +Inshallah!" So he continued:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +When thou art seized of Evil Fate, assume * The noble soul's long suffering: +'tis thy best:<br/> +Complain not to the creature; this be plaint * From one most Ruthful to the +ruthlessest. +</p> + +<p> +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]:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Forbear, O troubles of the world, * And pardon an ye nill forbear:<br/> +I went to seek my daily bread * I find that breadless I must fare:<br/> +For neither handcraft brings me aught * Nor Fate allots to me a share:<br/> +How many fools the Pleiads reach * While darkness whelms the wise and ware. +</p> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +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:<br/> +For joy and daily bread are what Fate deigneth to allow; * This soil is sad and +sterile ground, while that makes glad the hind.<br/> +The shafts of Time and Life bear down full many a man of worth * While bearing +up to high degree wights of ignoble mind.<br/> +So come thou, Death! for verily life is not worth a straw * When low the falcon +falls withal the mallard wings the wind:<br/> +No wonder 'tis thou seest how the great of soul and mind * Are poor, and many a +losel carle to height of luck designed.<br/> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Fie on this wretched world, an so it be * I must be whelmed by grief and +misery:<br/> +Tho' gladsome be man's lot when dawns the morn * He drains the cup of woe ere +eve he see:<br/> +Yet was I one of whom the world when asked * "Whose lot is happiest?" oft would +say "'Tis he!" +</p> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +We wrought them weal, they met our weal with ill; * Such, by my life! is every +bad man's labour:<br/> +To him who benefits unworthy wights * Shall hap what inapt to Ummi Amir's +neighbor.[FN#73]" +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Fourth Night, +</p> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>The Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban.</h2> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Happy is Eloquence when thou art named her sire * But mourns she whenas other +man the title claimed.<br/> +O Lord of fairest presence, whose illuming rays * Clear off the fogs of doubt +aye veiling deeds high famed,<br/> +Ne'er cease thy face to shine like Dawn and rise of Morn * And never show +Time's face with heat of ire inflamed!<br/> +Thy grace hath favoured us with gifts that worked such wise * As rain clouds +raining on the hills by wolds enframed:<br/> +Freely thou lavishedst thy wealth to rise on high * Till won from Time the +heights whereat thy grandeur aimed. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When It Was The Fifth Night, +</p> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>King Sindibad and his Falcon.</h2> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot.[FN#90]</h2> + +<p> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>The Tale of the Prince and the Ogress.</h2> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +O Thou who fearest Fate, confiding fare * Trust all to Him who built the world +and wait:<br/> +What Fate saith "Be" perforce must be, my lord! * And safe art thou from +th’ undecreed of Fate. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +As Duban the physician entered he addressed the King in these lines:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +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?<br/> +Thou lavishedst thy generous gifts ere they were craved by me * Thou lavishedst +thy boons unsought sans pretext or delay:<br/> +How shall I stint my praise of thee, how shall I cease to laud * The grace of +thee in secresy and patentest display?<br/> +Nay; I will thank thy benefits, for aye thy favours lie * Light on my thought +and tongue, though heavy on my back they weigh. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And he said further on the same theme:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Turn thee from grief nor care a jot! * Commit thy needs to Fate and Lot!<br/> +Enjoy the Present passing well * And let the Past be clean forgot<br/> +For whatso haply seemeth worse * Shall work thy weal as Allah wot<br/> +Allah shall do whate'er He wills * And in His will oppose Him not. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And further still.— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +To th' All wise Subtle One trust worldly things * Rest thee from all whereto +the worldling clings:<br/> +Learn wisely well naught cometh by thy will * But e'en as willeth Allah, King +of Kings. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And lastly.— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Gladsome and gay forget thine every grief * Full often grief the wisest hearts +outwore:<br/> +Thought is but folly in the feeble slave * Shun it and so be saved evermore. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Of wit and wisdom is Maymunah[FN#98] bare * Whose sire in wisdom all the wits +outstrippeth:<br/> +Man may not tread on mud or dust or clay * Save by good sense, else trippeth he +and slippeth. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +I was kind and 'scaped not, they were cruel and escaped; * And my kindness only +led me to Ruination Hall,<br/> +If I live I'll ne'er be kind; if I die, then all be damned * Who follow me, and +curses their kindliness befal. +</p> + +<p> +"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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +There be rulers who have ruled with a foul tyrannic sway * But they soon became +as though they had never, never been:<br/> +Just, they had won justice: they oppressed and were opprest * By Fortune, who +requited them with ban and bane and teen:<br/> +So they faded like the morn, and the tongue of things repeats * "Take this for +that, nor vent upon Fortune's ways thy spleen." +</p> + +<p> +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, +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Sixth Night, +</p> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * And if ye fain forsake, +I'll requite till quits we cry! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye fain forsake, +I'll requite till quits we cry! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Seventh Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye fain forsake, +I'll requite till quits we cry! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +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:<br/> +Oh world! Oh Fate! withhold thy hand and cease thy hurt and harm * Look and +behold my hapless sprite in colour and affright:<br/> +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.<br/> +Jealous of Zephyr's breath was I as on your form he breathed * But whenas +Destiny descends she blindeth human sight[FN#111]<br/> +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?<br/> +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? +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +A youth slim waisted from whose locks and brow * The world in blackness and in +light is set.<br/> +Throughout Creation's round no fairer show * No rarer sight thine eye hath ever +met:<br/> +A nut brown mole sits throned upon a cheek * Of rosiest red beneath an eye of +jet.[FN#113] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Say him who careless sleeps what while the shaft of Fortune flies * How many +cloth this shifting world lay low and raise to rise?<br/> +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? +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Then he sighed a long fetched sigh and recited:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Confide thy case to Him, the Lord who made mankind; * Quit cark and care and +cultivate content of mind;<br/> +Ask not the Past or how or why it came to pass: * All human things by Fate and +Destiny were designed! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince.</h2> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Eighth Night, +</p> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +For your love my patience fails and albeit you forget * I may not, nor to other +love my heart can make reply:<br/> +Bear my body, bear my soul wheresoever you may fare * And where you pitch the +camp let my body buried lie:<br/> +Cry my name above my grave, and an answer shall return * The moaning of my +bones responsive to your cry.[FN#127] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Then she recited, weeping bitterly the while:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +The day of my delight is the day when draw you near * And the day of mine +affright is the day you turn away:<br/> +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 +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Once more she began reciting:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +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;<br/> +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 +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +O thou tomb! O, thou tomb! be his beauty set in shade? * Hast thou darkened +that countenance all sheeny as the noon?<br/> +O thou tomb! neither earth nor yet heaven art to me * Then how cometh it in +thee are conjoined my sun and moon? +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +O thou tomb! O thou tomb! be his horrors set in blight? * Hast thou darkenèd +his countenance that sickeneth the soul?<br/> +O thou tomb! neither cess pool nor pipkin art to me * Then how cometh it in +thee are conjoined soil and coal? +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +In patience, O my God, I endure my lot and fate; * I will bear at will of Thee +whatsoever be my state:<br/> +They oppress me; they torture me; they make my life a woe * Yet haply Heaven's +happiness shall compensate my strait:<br/> +Yea, straitened is my life by the bane and hate o' foes * But Mustafa and +Murtaza[FN#132] shall ope me Heaven's gate. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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.— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +How long this harshness, this unlove, shall bide? * Suffice thee not tear +floods thou hast espied?<br/> +Thou dost prolong our parting purposely * And if wouldst please my foe, thou'rt +satisfied! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it Was the Ninth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +On Sun and Moon of palace cast thy sight * Enjoy her flower like face, her +fragrant light:<br/> +Thine eyes shall never see in hair so black * Beauty encase a brow so purely +white:<br/> +The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim * Though fail her name whose beauties +we indite:<br/> +As sways her gait I smile at hips so big * And weep to see the waist they bear +so slight. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Her smiles twin rows of pearls display * Chamomile-buds or rimey spray<br/> +Her tresses stray as night let down * And shames her light the dawn o' day. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +[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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Seest not we want for joy four things all told * The harp and<br/> lute, the +flute and flageolet;<br/> +And be they companied with scents four fold * Rose, myrtle, anemone and +violet<br/> +Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withhold * Good wine and youth and +gold and pretty pet. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Hold fast thy secret and to none unfold * Lost is a secret when that secret's +told<br/> +An fail thy breast thy secret to conceal * How canst thou hope another's breast +shall hold? +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And Abu Nowás[FN#153] said well on the same subject:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Who trusteth secret to another's hand * Upon his brow deserveth burn of brand!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +None but the good a secret keep * And good men keep it unrevealed:<br/> +It is to me a well shut house * With keyless locks and door ensealed"[FN#154] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Sans hope of gain<br/> +Love's not worth a grain?" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Drink the dear draught, drink free and fain * What healeth every grief and +pain." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best thanks and +improvised:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +“Drain not the bowl save with a trusty friend * A man of worth whose good +old blood all know:<br/> +For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet * And stinks when over +stench it haply blow:” +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Adding:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Drain not the bowl; save from dear hand like thine * The cup recall thy gifts; +thou, gifts of wine." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and was drunk and +sat swaying from side to side and pursued:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"All drinks wherein is blood the Law unclean * Doth hold save one, the blood +shed of the vine:<br/> +Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won * Thou fawn! a willing ransom +for those eyne." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 : +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Here! Here! by Allah, here! * Cups of the sweet, the dear'<br/> +Fill me a brimming bowl * The Fount o' Life I speer +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door * Lauding thy generous boons and +gifts galore<br/> +Beauty! may he come in awhile to 'joy * Thy charms? for Love and I part +nevermore!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks * Blushed red or flame from +furnace flaring up:<br/> +She bussed the brim and said with many a smile * How durst thou deal folk's +cheek for folk to sup?<br/> +"Drink!" (said I) "these are tears of mine whose tinct * Is heart blood sighs +have boiled in the cup." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +She answered him in the following couplet:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"An tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed * Suffer me sup them, by thy +head and eyes!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"If I liken thy shape to the bough when green * My likeness errs and I sore +mistake it;<br/> +For the bough is fairest when clad the most * And thou art fairest when mother +naked." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Tenth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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; +<small>WHOSO SPEAKETH OF WHAT CONCERNETH HIM NOT, SHALL HEAR WHAT PLEASETH HIM +NOT!</small>[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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Ye are the wish, the aim of me *And when, O Love, thy sight I see[FN#177]<br/> +The heavenly mansion openeth;[FN#178] * But Hell I see when lost thy +sight.<br/> +From thee comes madness; nor the less * Comes highest joy, comes ecstasy:<br/> +Nor in my love for thee I fear * Or shame and blame, or hate and spite.<br/> +When Love was throned within my heart * I rent the veil of modesty;<br/> +And stints not Love to rend that veil * Garring disgrace on grace to +alight;<br/> +The robe of sickness then I donned * But rent to rags was secrecy:<br/> +Wherefore my love and longing heart * Proclaim your high supremest might;<br/> +The tear drop railing adown my cheek * Telleth my tale of ignomy:<br/> +And all the hid was seen by all * And all my riddle ree'd aright. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Heal then my malady, for thou * Art malady and remedy!<br/> +But she whose cure is in thy hand * Shall ne'er be free of bane and +blight;<br/> +Burn me those eyne that radiance rain * Slay me the swords of phantasy;<br/> +How many hath the sword of Love * Laid low, their high degree despite?<br/> +Yet will I never cease to pine * Nor to oblivion will I flee.<br/> +Love is my health, my faith, my joy * Public and private, wrong or right.<br/> +O happy eyes that sight thy charms * That gaze upon thee at their gree!<br/> +Yea, of my purest wish and will * The slave of Love I'll aye be hight." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Give back mine eyes their sleep long ravished * And say me whither be my +reason fled:<br/> +I learnt that lending to thy love a place * Sleep to mine eyelids mortal foe +was made.<br/> +They said, "We held thee righteous, who waylaid * Thy soul?" "Go ask his +glorious eyes," I said.<br/> +I pardon all my blood he pleased to spill * Owning his troubles drove him blood +to shed.<br/> +On my mind's mirror sun like sheen he cast * Whose keen reflection fire in +vitals bred<br/> +Waters of Life let Allah waste at will * Suffice my wage those lips of dewy +red:<br/> +An thou address my love thou'lt find a cause * For plaint and tears or ruth or +lustihed.<br/> +In water pure his form shall greet your eyne * When fails the bowl nor need ye +drink of wine.[FN#180]" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Then she quoted from the same ode:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wine, * And his swaying gait +swayed to sleep these eyne:<br/> +'Twas not grape juice grips me but grasp of Past * 'Twas not bowl o'erbowled me +but gifts divine:<br/> +His coiling curl-lets my soul ennetted * And his cruel will all my wits +outwitted.[FN#181]" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +After a pause she resumed:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"If we 'plain of absence what shall we say? * Or if pain afflict us where wend +our way?<br/> +An I hire a truchman[FN#182] to tell my tale * The lover's plaint is not told +for pay:<br/> +If I put on patience, a lover's life * After loss of love will not last a +day:<br/> +Naught is left me now but regret, repine * And tears flooding cheeks for ever +and aye:<br/> +O thou who the babes of these eyes[FN#183] hast fled * Thou art homed in heart +that shall never stray<br/> +Would heaven I wot hast thou kept our pact * Long as stream shall flow, to have +firmest fay?<br/> +Or hast forgotten the weeping slave * Whom groans afflict and whom griefs +waylay?<br/> +Ah, when severance ends and we side by side * Couch, I'll blame thy rigours and +chide thy pride!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"How long shall last, how long this rigour rife of woe * May not suffice thee +all these tears thou seest flow?<br/> +Our parting thus with purpose fell thou dost prolong * Is't not enough to glad +the heart of envious foe?<br/> +Were but this lying world once true to lover heart * He had not watched the +weary night in tears of woe:<br/> +Oh pity me whom overwhelmed thy cruel will * My lord, my king, 'tis time some +ruth to me thou show:<br/> +To whom reveal my wrongs, O thou who murdered me? * Sad, who of broken troth +the pangs must undergo!<br/> +Increase wild love for thee and phrenzy hour by hour * And days of exile minute +by so long, so slow;<br/> +O Moslems, claim vendetta[FN#184] for this slave of Love * Whose sleep Love +ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low:<br/> +Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish! to lie * Lapt in another's arms and +unto me cry Go!?<br/> +Yet in thy presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy * When he I love but works my +love to overthrow?" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 : +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"How fair is ruth the strong man deigns not smother! * And fairest fair when +shown to weakest brother:<br/> +By Love's own holy tie between us twain, * Let one not suffer for the sin of +other." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed. And Shahrazad perceived the +dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When It was the Eleventh Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>The First Kalandar’s Tale.</h2> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +We tread the path where Fate hath led * The path Fate writ we fain must +tread:<br/> +And man in one land doomed to die * Death no where else shall do him dead. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And on like wise saith another:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Let Fortune have her wanton way * Take heart and all her words obey:<br/> +Nor joy nor mourn at anything * For all things pass and no things stay. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I deemed you coat o' mail that should withstand * The foeman's shafts, and you +proved foeman's brand<br/> +I hoped your aidance in mine every chance * Though fail my left to aid my +dexter hand:<br/> +Aloof you stand and hear the railer's gibe * While rain their shafts on me the +giber-band:<br/> +But an ye will not guard me from my foes * Stand clear, and succour neither +these nor those!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And I also quoted:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I deemed my brethren mail of strongest steel * And so they were—from foes to +fend my dart!<br/> +I deemed their arrows surest of their aim; * And so they were—when aiming at my +heart!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Take thy life and fly whenas evils threat; * Let the ruined house tell its +owner's fate:<br/> +New land for the old thou shalt seek and find * But to find new life thou must +not await.<br/> +Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, * When Allah's world is so +wide and great!<br/> +And trust not other, in matters grave * Life itself must act for a life +beset:<br/> +Ne'er would prowl the lion with maned neck, * Did he reckon on aid or of others +reck." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twelfth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>The Second Kalandar’s Tale.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +A place secure from every thought of fear * Safety and peace for ever lord it +here:<br/> +Its beauties seem to beautify its sons * And as in Heaven its happy folk +appear. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Slim waisted loveling jetty hair encrowned * A wand of willow on a sandy mound: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And as saith another.— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Four things that meet not, save they here unite * To shed my heart blood and to +rape my sprite:<br/> +Brilliantest forehead; tresses jetty bright; * Cheeks rosy red and stature +beauty dight. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Had we known of thy coming we fain had dispread * The cores of our hearts or +the balls of our eyes;<br/> +Our cheeks as a carpet to greet thee had thrown * And our eyelids had strown +for thy feet to betread." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"This is a thing wherein destruction lies * I rede thee shun it an thy wits be +wise." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And these also:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"O thou who seekest severance, draw the rein * Of thy swift steed nor seek +o'ermuch t' advance;<br/> +Ah stay! for treachery is the rule of life, * And sweets of meeting end in +severance." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Thirteenth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +What time Fate's tyranny shall most oppress thee * Perpend! one day shall joy +thee, one distress thee! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Mine eyes were dragomans for my tongue betied * And told full clear the love I +fain would hide:<br/> +When last we met and tears in torrents railed * For tongue struck dumb my +glances testified:<br/> +She signed with eye glance while her lips were mute * I signed with fingers and +she kenned th' implied:<br/> +Our eyebrows did all duty 'twixt us twain; * And we being speechless Love spake +loud and plain. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +How many a lover with his eyebrows speaketh * To his beloved, as his passion +pleadeth:<br/> +With flashing eyne his passion he inspireth * And well she seeth what kits +pleading needeth.<br/> +How sweet the look when each on other gazeth; * And with what swiftness and how +sure it speedeth:<br/> +And this with eyebrows all his passion writeth; * And that with eyeballs all +his passion readeth. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>The Tale of the Envier and the Envied.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Pardon my fault, for 'tis the wise man's wont * All faults to pardon and +revenge forgo:<br/> +In sooth all manner faults in me contain * Then deign of goodness mercy grace +to show:<br/> +Whoso imploreth pardon from on High * Should hold his hand<br/> from sinners +here below." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Time hath recorded gifts she gave the great; * But none recorded thine which be +far higher<br/> +Allah ne'er orphan men by loss of thee * Who be of Goodness mother. Bounty's +sire. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And I wrote in Rayháni or larger letters elegantly curved[FN#230]:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Thou hast a reed[FN#231] of rede to every land, * Whose driving causeth all the +world to thrive;<br/> +Nil is the Nile of Misraim by thy boons * Who makest misery smile with fingers +five +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Then I wrote in the Suls[FN#232] character:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +There be no writer who from Death shall fleet, * But what his hand hath writ +men shall repeat:<br/> +Write, therefore, naught save what shall serve thee when * Thou see't on +Judgment-Day an so thou see't! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Then I wrote in the character Naskh[FN#233]:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +When to sore parting Fate our love shall doom, * To distant life by Destiny +decreed,<br/> +We cause the inkhorn's lips to 'plain our pains, * And tongue our utterance +with the talking reed. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And I wrote in the Túmár character[FN#234]:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Kingdom with none endures; if thou deny * This truth, where be the Kings of +earlier earth?<br/> +Set trees of goodliness while rule endures, * And when thou art fallen they +shall tell thy worth. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And I wrote in the character Muhakkak[FN#235]:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +When oped the inkhorn of thy wealth and fame * Take ink of generous heart and +gracious hand;<br/> +Write brave and noble deeds while write thou can * And win thee praise from +point of pen and brand. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Wail for the little partridges on porringer and plate; * Cry for the ruin of +the fries and stews well marinate:<br/> +Keen as I keen for loved, lost daughters of the Katá-grouse,[FN#239] * And +omelette round the fair enbrowned fowls agglomerate:<br/> +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.<br/> +For thee, O vermicelli! aches my very maw! I hold * Without thee every taste +and joy are clean annihilate<br/> +Those eggs have rolled their yellow eyes in torturing pains of fire * Ere +served with hash and fritters hot, that delicatest cate.<br/> +Praised be Allah for His baked and roast and ah! how good * This pulse, these +pot-herbs steeped in oil with eysill combinate!<br/> +When hunger sated was, I elbow-propt fell back upon * Meat pudding[FN#241] +wherein gleamed the bangles that my wits amate.<br/> +Then woke I sleeping appetite to eat as though in sport * Sweets from broceded +trays and kickshaws most elaborate.<br/> +Be patient, soul of me! Time is a haughty, jealous wight; * Today he seems +dark-lowering and tomorrow fair to sight.[FN#242] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +With fire they boiled me to loose my tongue,[FN#243] * And pain and patience +gave for fellowship:<br/> +Hence comes it hands of men upbear me high * And honey dew from lips of maid I +sip! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And these also:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Morn saith to Night, "withdraw and let me shine;" * So drain we draughts that +dull all pain and pine:[FN#244]<br/> +I doubt, so fine the glass, the wine so clear, * If 'tis the wine in glass or +glass in wine. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Two hosts fare fighting thro' the livelong day * Nor is their battling ever +finished,<br/> +Until, when darkness girdeth them about, * The twain go sleeping in a single +bed.[FN#246] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Fourteenth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I am distraught, yet verily His ruth abides with me, * Tho' round me gather +hosts of ills, whence come I cannot see:<br/> +Patient I'll be till Patience self with me impatient wax; * Patient for ever +till the Lord fulfil my destiny:<br/> +Patient I'll bide without complaint, a wronged and vanquisht man; * Patient as +sunparcht wight that spans the desert's sandy sea:<br/> +Patient I'll be till Aloe's[FN#254] self unwittingly allow * I'm patient under +bitterer things than bitterest aloë:<br/> +No bitterer things than aloes or than patience for mankind, * Yet bitterer than +the twain to me were Patience' treachery:<br/> +My sere and seamed and seared brow would dragoman my sore * If soul could +search my sprite and there unsecret secrecy:<br/> +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,<br/> +And whoso saith the world is sweet certès a day he'll see * With more than +aloes' bitterness and aloes' pungency." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>The Third Kalandar’s Tale.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Fifteenth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Time gars me tremble Ah, how sore the baulk! * While Time in pride of strength +doth ever stalk:<br/> +Time was I walked nor ever felt I tired, * Now am I tired albe I never walk! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Beauty they brought with him to make compare, * But Beauty hung her head in +shame and care:<br/> +Quoth' they, "O Beauty, hast thou seen his like?" * And Beauty cried, "His +like? not anywhere!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Sixteenth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"How many a joy by Allah's will hath fled * With flight escaping sight of +wisest head!<br/> +How many a sadness shall begin the day, * Yet grow right gladsome ere the day +is sped!<br/> +How many a weal trips on the heels of ill, * Causing the mourner's heart with +joy to thrill!"[FN#278] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Racked is my heart by parting fro' my friends * And two rills ever fro' my +eyelids flow:<br/> +With them[FN#279] went forth my hopes, Ah, well away! * What shift remaineth me +to say or do?<br/> +Would I had never looked upon their sight, * What shift, fair sirs, when paths +e'er strainer grow?<br/> +What charm shall calm my pangs when this wise burn * Longings of love which in +my vitals glow?<br/> +Would I had trod with them the road of Death! * Ne'er had befel us twain this +parting blow:<br/> +Allah: I pray the Ruthful show me ruth * And mix our lives nor part them +evermo'e!<br/> +How blest were we as 'neath one roof we dwelt * Conjoined in joys nor recking +aught of woe;<br/> +Till Fortune shot us with the severance shaft; * Ah who shall patient bear such +parting throe?<br/> +And dart of Death struck down amid the tribe * The age's pearl that Morn saw +brightest show:<br/> +I cried the while his case took speech and said:—* Would Heaven, my son, Death +mote his doom foreslow!<br/> +Which be the readiest road wi' thee to meet * My Son! for whom I would my soul +bestow?<br/> +If sun I call him no! the sun doth set; * If moon I call him, wane the moons; +Ah no!<br/> +O sad mischance o' thee, O doom of days, * Thy place none other love shall ever +know:<br/> +Thy sire distracted sees thee, but despairs * By wit or wisdom Fate to +overthrow:<br/> +Some evil eye this day hath cast its spell * And foul befal him as it foul +befel!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +“Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang * And on deserted +hearths I weep and yearn:<br/> +And Him I pray who doomed them depart * Some day vouchsafe the boon of safe +return.”[FN#280] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Belike my Fortune may her bridle turn * And Time bring weal although he's +jealous hight;<br/> +Forward my hopes, and further all my needs, * And passed ills with present +weals requite." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Better ye 'bide and I take my leave: * For what eye sees not heart shall never +grieve." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +To even her with greeny bough were vain * Fool he who finds her beauties in the +roe:<br/> +When hath the roe those lively lovely limbs * Or honey dews those lips alone +bestow?<br/> +Those eyne, soul piercing eyne, which slay with love, * Which bind the victim +by their shafts laid low?<br/> +My heart to second childhood they beguiled * No wonder: love sick-man again is +child! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And I repeated to her the maker's words who said:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"None other charms but thine shall greet mine eyes, * Nor other image can my +heart surprise:<br/> +Thy love, my lady, captives all my thoughts * And on that love I'll die and +I'll arise. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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.— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +On her fair bosom caskets twain I scanned, * Sealed fast with musk seals lovers +to withstand<br/> +With arrowy glances stand on guard her eyes, * Whose shafts would shoot who +dares put forth a hand. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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.— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"If Time unite us after absent while, * The world harsh frowning on our lot +shall smile<br/> +And if thy semblance deign adorn mine eyes,[FN#293] * I'll pardon Time past +wrongs and by gone guile." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And I recited the following:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"When drew she near to bid adieu with heart unstrung, * While care and longing +on that day her bosom wrung<br/> +Wet pearls she wept and mine like red carnelians rolled * And, joined in sad +rivière, around her neck they hung." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Apple whose hue combines in union mellow * My fair's red cheek, her hapless +lover's yellow. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Then I looked upon the quince, and inhaled its fragrance which putteth to shame +musk and ambergris, even as the poet hath said : +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Quince every taste conjoins; in her are found * Gifts which for queen of fruits +the Quince have crowned<br/> +Her taste is wine, her scent the waft of musk; * Pure gold her hue, her shape +the Moon's fair round. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Seventeenth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that she stood forth before +the Commander of the Faithful and began to tell +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>The Eldest Lady’s Tale.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +That night th' astrologer a scheme of planets drew, * And lo! a graceful shape +of youth appeared in view:<br/> +Saturn had stained his locks with Saturninest jet, * And spots of nut brown +musk on rosy side face blew:[FN#314]<br/> +Mars tinctured either cheek with tinct of martial red; * Sagittal shots from +eyelids Sagittarius threw:<br/> +Dowered him Mercury with bright mercurial wit; * Bore off the Bear[FN#315] what +all man's evil glances grew:<br/> +Amazed stood Astrophil to sight the marvel birth * When louted low the Moon at +full to buss the Earth. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +By his eyelids shedding perfume and his fine slim waist I swear, * By the +shooting of his shafts barbed with sorcery passing rare;<br/> +By the softness of his sides,[FN#316] and glances' lingering light, * And brow +of dazzling day-tide ray and night within his hair;<br/> +By his eyebrows which deny to who look upon them rest, * Now bidding now +forbidding, ever dealing joy and care;<br/> +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;<br/> +By his graceful bending neck and the curving of his breast, * Whose polished +surface beareth those granados, lovely pair;<br/> +By his heavy hips that quiver as he passeth in his pride, * Or he resteth with +that waist which is slim beyond compare;<br/> +By the satin of his skin, by that fine unsullied sprite; * By the beauty that +containeth all things bright and debonnair;<br/> +By that ever open hand; by the candour of his tongue; * By noble blood and high +degree whereof he's hope and heir;<br/> +Musk from him borrows muskiness she loveth to exhale * And all the airs of +ambergris through him perfume the air;<br/> +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] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Eighteenth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>Tale of the Portress.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Ill-omened hag! unshriven be her sins * Nor mercy visit her on dying bed:<br/> +Thousand head strongest he mules would her guiles, * Despite their bolting lead +with spider thread. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And as saith another:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +A hag to whom th' unlawful lawfullest * And witchcraft wisdom in her sight are +grown:<br/> +A mischief making brat, a demon maid, * A whorish woman and a pimping +crone.[FN#330] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Thy presence bringeth us a grace * We own before thy winsome face:<br/> +And wert thou absent ne'er an one * Could stand in stead or take thy place." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +I am the wone where Mirth shall ever smile; * The home of Joyance through my +lasting while:<br/> +And 'mid my court a fountain jets and flows, * Nor tears nor troubles shall +that fount defile:<br/> +The marge with royal Nu'uman's[FN#334] bloom is dight, * Myrtle, +Narcissus-flower and Chamomile. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Thou pacest the palace a marvel sight, * A bride for a Kisra's or Kaisar's +night!<br/> +Wantons the rose on thy roseate cheek, * O cheek as the blood of the +dragon[FN#335] bright!<br/> +Slim waisted, languorous, sleepy eyed, * With charms which promise all +love-delight:<br/> +And the tire which attires thy tiara'd brow * Is a night of woe on a morn's +glad light. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"An but the house could know who cometh 'twould rejoice, * And kiss the very +dust whereon thy foot was placed<br/> +And with the tongue of circumstance the walls would say, * "Welcome and hail to +one with generous gifts engraced!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +His face as the face of the young moon shines * And Fortune stamps him with +pearls for signs.[FN#337] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And Allah favour him who said:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Blest be his beauty; blest the Lord's decree * Who cast and shaped a thing so +bright of blee:<br/> +All gifts of beauty he conjoins in one; * Lost in his love is all +humanity;<br/> +For Beauty's self inscribed on his brow * "I testify there be no Good but +he!"[FN#338] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"An there be one who shares with me her love, * I'd strangle Love tho' life by +Love were slain<br/> +Saying, O Soul, Death were the nobler choice, * For ill is Love when shared +'twixt partners twain." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"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:<br/> +We cry enough o' thee ere thou enough of us shalt cry! * What past between us +doth suffice and haply something more."[FN#347] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +When I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I wept and looked at him and +began repeating these couplets:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"To severance you doom my love and all unmoved remain; * My tear sore lids you +sleepless make and sleep while I complain:<br/> +You make firm friendship reign between mine eyes and insomny; * Yet can my +heart forget you not, nor tears can I restrain:<br/> +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:<br/> +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!<br/> +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:<br/> +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." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +When I ended my verses tears came again; but the poetry and the weeping only +added fury to his fury, and he recited:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"'Twas not satiety bade me leave the dearling of my soul, * But that she sinned +a mortal sin which clipt me in its clip:<br/> +She sought to let another share the love between us twain, * But my True Faith +of Unity refuseth partnership."[FN#348] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"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!<br/> +Thou loadest me with heavy weight of longing love, when I * Can hardly bear my +chemisette for weakness and for pain:<br/> +I marvel not to see my life and soul in ruin lain: * I marvel much to see my +frame such severance pangs sustain." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +When I ended my verse I wept again; and he looked at me and reviled me in +abusive language,[FN#349] repeating these couplets:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Thou wast all taken up with love of other man, not me; * 'Twas thine to show +me severance face, ’twas only mine to see:<br/> +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:<br/> +E'en as thou soughtest other love, so other love I'll seek, * And make the +crime of murdering love thine own atrocity." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Such is the World, so bear a patient heart * When riches leave thee and when +friends depart!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<a name="chap21"></a> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Nineteenth Night, +</p> + +<p> +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, +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a>THE TALE OF THE THREE APPLES</h2> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"They say me: —Thou shinest a light to mankind * With thy lore as the night +which the Moon doth uplight!<br/> +I answer, "A truce to your jests and your gibes; * Without luck what is +learning?—a poor-devil wight!<br/> +If they take me to pawn with my lore in my pouch, * With my volumes to read and +my ink-case to write,<br/> +For one day's provision they never could pledge me; * As likely on Doomsday to +draw bill at sight:"<br/> +How poorly, indeed, doth it fare wi' the poor, * With his pauper existence and +beggarly plight:<br/> +In summer he faileth provision to find; * In winter the fire-pot's his only +delight:<br/> +The street-dogs with bite and with bark to him rise, * And each losel receives +him with bark and with bite:<br/> +If he lift up his voice and complain of his wrong, * None pities or heeds him, +however he's right;<br/> +And when sorrows and evils like these he must brave * His happiest homestead +were down in the grave." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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, +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twentieth Night, +</p> + +<p> +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: — +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"If ill betide thee through thy slave, * Make him forthright thy +sacrifice:<br/> +A many serviles thou shalt find, * But life comes once and never twice." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap23"></a>TALE OF NUR AL-DIN AND HIS SON.</h2> + +<p>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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +'When he who is asked a favour saith "To-morrow," * The wise man wots 'tis vain +to beg or borrow.'" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"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:<br/> +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!<br/> +I've seen, and very oft I've seen, how standing water stinks, * And only +flowing sweetens it and trotting makes it sound:<br/> +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:<br/> +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:<br/> +Gold-dust is dust the while it lies untravelled in the mine, * And aloes-wood +mere fuel is upon its native ground:<br/> +And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoal'd; * And aloes +sent to foreign parts grows costlier than gold." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twenty-first Night, +</p> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +That jetty hair, that glossy brow,<br/> + My slender-waisted youth, of thine,<br/> +Can darkness round creation throw,<br/> + Or make it brightly shine.<br/> +The dusky mole that faintly shows<br/> + Upon his cheek, ah! blame it not:<br/> +The tulip-flower never blows<br/> + Undarkened by its spot [FN#383] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And as another also said:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +His scent was musk and his cheek was rose; * His teeth are pearls and his lips +drop wine;<br/> +His form is a brand and his hips a hill; * His hair is night and his face +moon-shine. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"The world's best joys long be thy lot, my lord! * And last while darkness and +the dawn o'erlap:<br/> +O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts, * The world to dance and Time his +palms to clap."[FN#384] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Grow thy weal and thy welfare day by day: * And thy luck prevail o'er the +envier's spite;<br/> +And ne'er cease thy days to be white as day, * And thy foeman's day to be black +as night!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +In his face-sky shines the fullest moon; * In his cheeks' anemone glows the +sun:<br/> +He so conquered Beauty that he hath won * All charms of humanity one by one. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +As the sage watched the stars, the semblance clear<br/> +Of a fair youth on 's scroll he saw appear.<br/> +Those jetty locks Canopus o'er him threw,<br/> +And tinged his temple curls a musky hue;<br/> +Mars dyed his ruddy cheek; and from his eyes<br/> +The Archer-star his glittering arrow flies;<br/> +His wit from Hermes came; and Soha's care,<br/> +(The half-seen star that dimly haunts the Bear)<br/> +Kept off all evil eyes that threaten and ensnare,<br/> +The sage stood mazed to see such fortunes meet,<br/> +And Luna kissed the earth beneath his feet. [FN#388] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +F<small>IRST</small> B<small>EHEST</small> 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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +In this world there is none thou mayst count upon * To befriend thy case in the +nick of need:<br/> +So live for thyself nursing hope of none * Such counsel I give thee: enow, take +heed! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Take thought nor haste to win the thing thou wilt; * Have ruth on man for ruth +thou may'st require:<br/> +No hand is there but Allah's hand is higher; * No tyrant but shall rue worse +tyrant's ire! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Reserve's a jewel, Silence safety is; * Whenas thou speakest many a word +withhold;<br/> +For an of Silence thou repent thee once, * Of speech thou shalt repent times +manifold. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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]:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +From wine [FN#393] I turn and whoso wine-cups swill; * Becoming one of those +who deem it ill:<br/> +Wine driveth man to miss salvation-way, [FN#394] * And opes the gateway wide to +sins that kill. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +When fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend: * When wealth abounds all +friends their friendship tender:<br/> +How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend; * But friends to lack of wealth +no friendship render. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Escape with thy life, if oppression betide thee, * And let the house of its +builder's fate!<br/> +Country for country thou'lt find, if thou seek it; * Life for life never, early +or late.<br/> +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] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +O thou whose forehead, like the radiant East, * Tells of the stars of Heaven +and bounteous dews:<br/> +Endure thine honour to the latest day, * And Time thy growth of glory ne'er +refuse! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"This house, my lady, since you left is now a home no more * For me, nor +neighbours, since you left, prove kind and neighbourly:<br/> +The friend, whilere I took to heart, alas! no more to me * Is friend; and even +Luna's self displayeth lunacy:<br/> +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:<br/> +O may the raven-bird whose cry our hapless parting croaked * Find ne'er a nesty +home and eke shed all his plumery!<br/> +At length my patience fails me; and this absence wastes my flesh; * How many a +veil by severance rent our eyes are doomed see:<br/> +Ah! shall I ever sight again our fair past nights of yore; * And shall a single +house become a home for me once more?" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twenty-second Night, +</p> + +<p> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +A sun on wand in knoll of sand she showed * Clad in her cramoisy-hued +chemisette:<br/> +Of her lips honey-dew she gave me drink, * And with her rosy cheeks quencht +fire she set. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +She came apparelled in an azure vest, * Ultramarine, as skies are deckt and +dight;<br/> +I view'd th' unparellel'd sight, which show'd my eyes * A moon of Summer on a +Winter-night. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Veiling her cheeks with hair a-morn she comes, * And I her mischiefs with the +cloud compare:<br/> +Saying, "Thou veilest morn with night!" "Ah, no!" * Quoth she, "I shroud full +moon with darkling air!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +The sun of beauty she to sight appears * And, lovely-coy, she mocks all +loveliness;<br/> +And when he fronts her favour and her smile * A-morn, the Sun of day in clouds +must dress. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +She comes like fullest moon on happy night; * Taper of waist, with shape of +magic might:<br/> +She hath an eye whose glances quell mankind, * And Ruby on her cheeks reflects +his light:<br/> +Enveils her hips the blackness of her hair; *Beware of curls that bite with +viper-bite!<br/> +Her sides are silken-soft, the while the heart * Mere rock behind that surface +lurks from sight:<br/> +From the fringed curtains of her eyne she shoots * Shafts which at farthest +range on mark alight:<br/> +When round her neck or waist I throw my arms * Her breasts repel me with their +hardened height.<br/> +Ah, how her beauty all excels! ah how * That shape transcends the graceful +waving bough! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +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:<br/> +She came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green, * As veiled by its +leafy screen pomegranate hides from sight:<br/> +And when he said "How callest thou the manner of thy dress?" * She answered us +in pleasant way with double meaning dight;<br/> +"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!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Then they displayed her in the seventh dress, coloured between safflower +[FN#416] and saffron, even as one of the poets saith:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +In vest of saffron pale and safflower red * Musk'd, sandal'd ambergris'd, she +came to front:<br/> +"Rise!" cried her youth, "go forth and show thyself!" * "Sit!" said her hips, +"we cannot bear the brunt!"<br/> +And when I craved a bout, her Beauty said * "Do, do!" and said her pretty +shame, "Don't, don't!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"By Allah, set thy foot upon my soul; * Since long, long years for this +alone I long:<br/> +And whisper tale of love in ear of me; * To me 'tis sweeter than the +sweetest song!<br/> +No other youth upon my heart shall lie; * So do it often, dear, and do it +long." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Visit thy lover, spurn what envy told; * No envious churl shall smile on love +ensoul'd.<br/> +Merciful Allah made no fairer sight * Than coupled lovers single couch doth +hold;<br/> +Breast pressing breast and robed in joys their own, * With pillowed forearms +cast in finest mould:<br/> +And when heart speaks to heart with tongue of love, * Folk who would part them +hammer steel ice-cold:<br/> +If a fair friend[FN#428] thou find who cleaves to thee, * Live for that friend, +that friend in heart enfold.<br/> +O ye who blame for love us lover kind * Say, can ye minister to diseasèd mind? +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twenty-third Night, +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>the</i> 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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I see their traces and with pain I melt, * And on their whilome homes I weep +and yearn:<br/> +And Him I pray who dealt this parting-blow * Some day he deign vouchsafe a safe +return." [FN#443] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Love in my heart they lit and went their ways, * And all I love to furthest +lands withdrew;<br/> +And when they left me sufferance also left, * And when we parted Patience bade +adieu:<br/> +They fled and flying with my joys they fled, * In very constancy my spirit +flew:<br/> +They made my eyelids flow with severance tears * And to the parting-pang these +drops are due:<br/> +And when I long to see reunion-day, * My groans prolonging sore for ruth I +sue:<br/> +Then in my heart of hearts their shapes I trace, * And love and longing care +and cark renew:<br/> +O ye, whose names cling round me like a cloak, * Whose love yet closer than a +shirt I drew,<br/> +Beloved ones! how long this hard despite? * How long this severance and this +coy shy flight?" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +When I nighted and dayed in Damascus town, * Time sware such another he ne'er +should view:<br/> +And careless we slept under wing of night, * Till dappled Morn 'gan her smiles +renew:<br/> +And dew-drops on branch in their beauty hung, * Like pearls to be dropt when +the Zephyr blew:<br/> +And the Lake [FN#453] was the page where birds read and note, * And the clouds +set points to what breezes wrote. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"If not master of manners or aught but discreet * In the household of Kings no +trust could he take:<br/> +And then for the Harem! what Eunuch [FN#458] is he * Whom angels would serve +for his service sake." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Unjust it were to bid the World [FN#460] be just * And blame her not: She +ne'er was made for justice:<br/> +Take what she gives thee, leave all grief aside, * For now to fair and then to +foul her lust is." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I wander 'mid these walls, my Layla's walls, * And kissing this and other wall +I roam:<br/> +'Tis not the walls or roof my heart so loves, * But those who in this house had +made their home." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I ask of you from every rising sun, * And eke I ask when flasheth +levenlight:<br/> +Restless I pass my nights in passion-pain, * Yet ne'er I 'plain me of my +painful plight;<br/> +My love! if longer last this parting throe * Little by little shall it waste my +sprite.<br/> +An thou wouldst bless these eyne with sight of thee * One day on earth, I crave +none other sight:<br/> +Think not another could possess my mind * Nor length nor breadth for other love +I find." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Answer, by Allah! Sepulchre, are all his beauties gone? * Hath change the +power to blight his charms, that Beauty's paragon?<br/> +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?" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Allah be good to him that gives glad tidings of thy steps; * In very sooth for +better news mine ears would never sue:<br/> +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." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I longed for my beloved but when I saw his face, * Abashed I held my tongue +and stood with downcast eye;<br/> +And hung my head in dread and would have hid my love, * But do whatso I would +hidden it would not lie;<br/> +Volumes of plaints I had prepared, reproach and blame, * But when we met, no +single word remembered I." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Thou hast some art the hearts of men to clip; * Close-veiled, far-hidden +mystery dark and deep:<br/> +O thou whose beauties shame the lustrous moon, * Wherewith the saffron Morn +fears rivalship!<br/> +Thy beauty is a shrine shall ne'er decay; * Whose signs shall grow until they +all outstrip; [FN#467]<br/> +Must I be thirst-burnt by that Eden-brow * And die of pine to taste that +Kausar-lip?" [FN#468] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I still had hoped to see thee and enjoy thy sight, * For in thine absence life +has lost its kindly light:<br/> +I swear my vitals wot none other love but thine * By Allah, who can read the +secrets of the sprite!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twenty-fourth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Long have I wept o'er severance ban and bane, * Long from mine eyelids +tear-rills rail and rain:<br/> +And vowed I if Time re-union bring * My tongue from name of "Severance" I'll +restrain:<br/> +Joy hath o'ercome me to this stress that I * From joy's revulsion to shed tears +am fain:<br/> +Ye are so trained to tears, O eyne of me! * You weep with pleasure as you weep +with pain." [FN#482] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +When he had ended his verse his mother came in and threw herself upon him and +began reciting:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"When we met we complained, * Our hearts were sore wrung:<br/> +But plaint is not pleasant * Fro' messenger's tongue." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"The first in rank to kiss the ground shall deign * Before you,<br/> + and all ends and aims attain:<br/> +You are Honour's fount; and all that hope of you, * Shall gain<br/> + more honour than Hope hoped to gain." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"When I think of my love and our parting-smart, * My groans go forth and my +tears upstart:<br/> +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." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"That cheek-mole's spot they evened with a grain * Of musk, nor did they here +the simile strain:<br/> +Nay, marvel at the face comprising all * Beauty, nor falling short by single +grain." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +The King shook with pleasure [FN#486] and said to him, "Say more:<br/> +Allah bless thy days!" So he began:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"O you whose mole on cheek enthroned recalls * A dot of musk upon a stone of +ruby,<br/> +Grant me your favours! Be not stone at heart! * Core of my heart whose only +sustenance you be!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Say thou to skin "Be soft," to face "Be fair," * And gaze, nor shall they blame +howso thou stare:<br/> +Fine nose in Beauty's list is high esteemed; * Nor less an eye full, bright and +debonnair:<br/> +Eke did they well to laud the lovely lips * (Which e'en the sleep of me will +never spare);<br/> +A winning tongue, a stature tall and straight; [FN#490] * A seemly union of +gifts rarest rare:<br/> +But Beauty's acme in the hair one views it; * So hear my strain and with some +few excuse it!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Mine is a Chief who reached most haught estate, * Treading the pathways of the +good and great:<br/> +His justice makes all regions safe and sure, * And against froward foes bars +every gate:<br/> +Bold lion, hero, saint, e'en if you call * Seraph or Sovran [FN#493] he with +all may rate!<br/> +The poorest suppliant rich from him returns, * All words to praise him were +inadequate.<br/> +He to the day of peace is saffron Morn, * And murky Night in furious warfare's +bate.<br/> +Bow 'neath his gifts our necks, and by his deeds * As King of freeborn [FN#494] +souls he 'joys his state:<br/> +Allah increase for us his term of years, * And from his lot avert all risks and +fears! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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] +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24"></a>THE HUNCHBACK’S TALE.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twenty-fifth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Why then waste I my time in grief, until I * find no friend to bear my weight +of woe<br/> +How sleep upon a fire that flames unquenched? * Upon the flames to rest were +hard enow!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap25"></a>The Nazarene Broker’s Story.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Full moon with sun in single mansion * In brightest sheen and fortune rose and +shone,<br/> +With happy splendour changing every sprite: * Hail to what guerdons prayer with +blissfull boon!<br/> +Their charms and grace have gained perfection's height, * All hearts have +conquered and all wits have won.<br/> +Laud to the Lord for works so wonder strange, * And what th' Almighty wills His +hand hath done! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Dear friend, ask not what burneth in my breast, * Lest thou see fiery pangs +eye never saw:<br/> +Wills not my heart to harbour Salma in stead * Of Layla's[FN#517] love, but +need hath ne'er a law!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +The blear eyed 'scapes the pits * Wherein the lynx eyed fall:<br/> +A word the wise man slays * And saves the natural:<br/> +The Moslem fails of food * The Kafir feasts in hall:<br/> +What art or act is man's? * God's will obligeth all! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twenty-sixth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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]: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Had we wist of thy coming, thy way had been strown<br/> + With the blood of our heart and the balls of our sight:<br/> +Our cheek as a foot cloth to greet thee been thrown,<br/> + That thy step on our eyelids should softly alight." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"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<br/> +Absent he falls from memory, forgotten by his friends; * Present he shareth not +their joys for none in him delight<br/> +He walks the market shunned of all, too glad to hide his head, * In desert +places tears he sheds and moans his bitter plight<br/> +By Allah, 'mid his kith and kin a man, however good, * Waylaid by want and +penury is but a stranger wight!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I swear by Allah's name, fair sir! no thief was I, * Nor, O thou best of men! +was I a bandit bred:<br/> +But Fortune's change and chance o'erthrew me suddenly, * And cark and care and +penury my course misled:<br/> +I shot it not, indeed, 'twas Allah shot the shaft * That rolled in dust the +Kingly diadem from my head."[FN#546] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"When Allah willeth aught befall a man * Who hath of ears and eyes and wits +full share:<br/> +His ears He deafens and his eyes He blinds * And draws his wits e'en as we draw +a hair[FN#548]<br/> +Till, having wrought His purpose, He restores * Man's wits, that warned more +circumspect he fare." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twenty-seventh Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap26"></a>The Reeve’s Tale.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Shoulder thy tray and go straight to thy goal; * And, if suit thee this Kohl +why,-use this Kohl!"[FN#554] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Say to the charmer in the dove hued veil, * Death would be welcome to abate +thy bale!<br/> +Favour me with thy favours that I live: * See, I stretch forth my palm to take +thy vail! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +When she heard my verse she answered me saying:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I've lost all patience by despite of you; * My heart knows nothing save love +plight to you!<br/> +If aught I sight save charms so bright of you; * My parting end not in the +sight of you!<br/> +I swear I'll ne'er forget the right of you; * And fain this breast would soar +to height of you:<br/> +You made me drain the love cup, and I lief * A love cup tender for delight of +you:<br/> +Take this my form where'er you go, and when * You die, entomb me in the site of +you:<br/> +Call on me in my grave, and hear my bones * Sigh their responses to the shright +of you:<br/> +And were I asked 'Of God what wouldst thou see?' * I answer, 'first His will +then Thy decree!' +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twenty-eighth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap27"></a>Tale of the Jewish Doctor.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +The Nile[FN#576] flood this day is the gain you own; * You alone in such gain +and bounties wone:<br/> +The Nile is my tear flood of severance, * And here none is forlorn but I alone. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +An I quit Cairo and her pleasaunces, * Where can I wend to find so gladsome +ways?<br/> +Shall I desert that site, whose grateful scents * Joy every soul and call for +loudest praise?<br/> +Where every palace, as another Eden, * Carpets and cushions richly wrought +displays;<br/> +A city wooing sight and sprite to glee, * Where Saint meets Sinner and each +'joys his craze;<br/> +Where friend meets friend, by Providence united * In greeny garden and in palmy +maze:<br/> +People of Cairo, and by Allah's doom * I fare, with you in thoughts I wone +always!<br/> +Whisper not Cairo in the ear of Zephyr, * Lest for her like of garden scents he +reave her.[FN#577] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +By th' Abyssinian Pond, O day divine!* In morning twilight and in sunny +shine:<br/> +The water prisoned in its verdurous walls, * Like sabre flashes before +shrinking eyne:<br/> +And in The Garden sat we while it drains * Slow draught, with purfled sides +dyed finest fine:<br/> +The stream is rippled by the hands of clouds; * We too, a-rippling, on our rugs +recline,<br/> +Passing pure wine, and whoso leaves us there * Shall ne'er arise from fall his +woes design:<br/> +Draining long draughts from large and brimming bowls, * Administ'ring thirst's +only medicine—wine. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"How dear is our day and how lucky our lot, * When the cynic's away with his +tongue malign!<br/> +When love and delight and the swimming of head * Send cleverness trotting, the +best boon of wine.<br/> +When the full moon shines from the cloudy veil, * And the branchlet sways in +her greens that shine:<br/> +When the red rose mantles in freshest cheek, * And Narcissus[FN#588] opeth his +love sick eyne:<br/> +When pleasure with those I love is so sweet, * When friendship with those I +love is complete!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Twenty-ninth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Truth best befits thee, albeit truth * Shall bring thee to burn on the +threatened fire." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +"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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"I see the woes of the world abound, * And worldings sick with spleen and +teen;<br/> +There's One who the meeting of two shall part, * And who part not are few and +far between!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap28"></a>Tale of the Tailor.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Thirtieth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +I went to my patron some blood to let him, * But found that the moment was far +from good:<br/> +So I sat and I talked of all strangenesses, * And with jests and jokes his good +will I wooed:<br/> +They pleased him and cried he, 'O man of wit, * Thou hast proved thee perfect +in merry mood!'<br/> +Quoth I, 'O thou Lord of men, save thou * Lend me art and wisdom I'm fou and +wood<br/> +In thee gather grace, boon, bounty, suavity, * And I guerdon the world with +lore, science and gravity.' +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Whatever needful thing thou undertake, * Consult th' experienced and contraire +him not! +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +All crafts are like necklaces strung on a string, * But this Barber's the union +pearl of the band:<br/> +High over all craftsmen he ranketh, and why? * The heads of the Kings are under +his hand!"[FN#617] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"The boy like his father shall surely show, * As the tree from its parent root +shall grow."[FN#620] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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, +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +'I am going, O mammy, to fill up my pot.' +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +As for the corn-chandler he brings more skill to it than any; he dances and +sings, +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +'O Keener,[FN#623] O sweetheart, thou fallest not short' +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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, +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +'News my wife wots is not locked in a box!'[FN#624] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +And he hath privilege, for 'tis a shrewd rogue[FN#625] and a witty; and +speaking of his excellence I am wont to say, +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +My life for the scavenger! right well I love him, * Like a waving bough he is +sweet to my sight:<br/> +Fate joined us one night, when to him quoth I * (The while I grew weak and love +gained more might)<br/> +'Thy love burns my heart!' 'And no wonder,' quoth he * 'When the drawer of dung +turns a stoker wight.'[FN#626] +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Thirty-first Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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." +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap29"></a>The Barber’s Tale of Himself.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap30"></a>The Barber’s Tale of his First Brother.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap31"></a>The Barber’s Tale of his Second Brother.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Thirty-second Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap32"></a>The Barber’s Tale of his Third Brother.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap33"></a>The Barber’s Tale of his Fourth Brother.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap34"></a>The Barber’s Tale of his Fifth Brother.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When It was the Thirty-third Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap35"></a>The Barber’s Tale of his Sixth Brother.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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? +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap36"></a>The End of the Tailor’s Tale.</h2> + +<p class="noindent"> +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: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Clear's the wine, the cup's fine; * Like to like they combine:<br/> +It is wine and not cup! * 'Tis a cup and not wine!" +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +When it was the Thirty-fourth Night, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +When a nickname or little name men design, * Know that nature with name shall +full oft combine." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +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 +</p> + +<h5>End of Vol. 1.</h5> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>Footnotes</h2> + +<p>[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.) +</p> + +<p> +[FN#6] <i>i.e.</i>, I am sick at heart. +</p> + +<p> +[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; +<i>e.g.</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#8] The very same words were lately spoken in England proving the eternal +truth of The Nights which the ignorant call "downright lies." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#9] The Arab's <i>Tue la!</i> +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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>i.e.</i>, +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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#15] <i>i.e.</i>, "I conjure thee by Allah;" the formula is technically +called "Inshád." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#18] The Joseph of the Koran, very different from him of Genesis. We shall +meet him often enough in The Nights. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#22] Probably she proposed to "Judith" the King. These learned and clever +young ladies are very dangerous in the East. +</p> + +<p> +[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 " +</p> + +<p> +[FN#24] Arab. "Abú Yakzán" = the Wakener, because the ass brays at dawn. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#26] Arab. "Yá Aftah": Al-Aftah is an epithet of the bull, also of the +chameleon. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#27] Arab. "Balíd," a favourite Egyptianism often pleasantly confounded with +"Wali" (a Santon), hence the latter comes to mean "an innocent," a "ninny." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#28] From the Calc. Edit., Vol. 1., p. 29. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#29] Arab. "Abu Yakzán" is hardly equivalent with "Père l'Eveillé." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#30] In Arab. the wa (x) is the sign of parenthesis. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#31] In the nearer East the light little plough is carried afield by the +bull or ass. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#35] The older "Cadi," a judge in religious matters. The Shuhúd, or +Assessors, are officers of the Mahkamah or Kazi's Court. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#36] Of which more in a future page. He thus purified himself ceremonially +before death. +</p> + +<p> +[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! +</p> + +<p> +[FN#38] A popular Egyptian phrase: the dog and the cock speak like Fellahs. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#39] i. e. between the last sleep and dawn when they would rise to wash and +pray. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#41] i.e., sorely against his will. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#43] The word is mostly plural = Jinnís: it is also singular = a demon; and +Ján bin Ján has been noticed. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#46] Arab. "Al-Kahánah"=the craft of a "Káhin" (Heb. Cohen) a diviner, +soothsayer, etc. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#48] Arab. "Kalám al-mubáh," i.e., that allowed or permitted to her by the +King, her husband. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#54] The public bath. London knows the word through "The Hummums." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#56] In Arabic the speaker always puts himself first, even if he address the +King, without intending incivility. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#57] A she-Ifrit, not necessarily an evil spirit. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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?" +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#64] i.e., saying "Bismillah!" the pious ejaculation which should precede +every act. In Boccaccio (viii., 9) it is "remembering Iddio e' Santi." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#65] Arab. Nahás asfar = brass, opposed to "Nahás" and "Nahás ahmar," = +copper. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#70] i. e. about to fly out; "My heart is in my mouth." The Fisherman speaks +with the dry humour of a Fellah. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#73] Arab. meaning "the Mother of Amir," a nickname for the hyena, which +bites the hand that feeds it. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#75] The Mesmerist will notice this shudder which is familiar to him as +preceding the "magnetic" trance. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#77] In the Bul. Edit. "Ruyán," evidently a clerical error. The name is +fanciful not significant. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#79] The Sun greets Mohammed every morning even as it dances on Easter Day +for Christendom. Risum teneatis? +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.) +</p> + +<p> +[FN#82] For details concerning the "Ghusl" see Night xliv. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#85] This phrase is contained in the word "ihdák" =encompassing, as the +conjunctiva does the pupil. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#86] I have noted this formula, which is used even in conversation when +about to relate some great unfact. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#88] I have described this scene which Mr. T. Wolf illustrated by an +excellent lithograph in "Falconry, etc." (London, Van Voorst, MDCCCLII.) +</p> + +<p> +[FN#89] Arab. "Kaylúlah," mid-day sleep; called siesta from the sixth canonical +hour. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#95] The Bresl. Edit. absurdly has Jazírah (an island). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#98] Some proverbial name now forgotten. Torrens (p. 48) translates it "the +giglot" (Fortune?) but "cannot discover the drift." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#99] Arab. "Ihtizáz," that natural and instinctive movement caused by good +news suddenly given, etc. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#101] The tale of these two women is now forgotten. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#103] The formula of quoting from the Koran. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#107] Of course applying to her own case. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#108] Prehistoric Arabs who measured from 60 to 100 cubits high: Koran, +chapt. xxvi., etc. They will often be mentioned in The Nights. +</p> + +<p> +[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:— +</p> + +<p> +Gladly the boy, with Christmas box in hand. +</p> + +<p> +And, as will be seen, Persians have bequeathed to the outer world worse things +than bad language, e.g. heresy and sodomy. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#110] He speaks of his wife but euphemistically in the masculine. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#111] A popular saying throughout Al-Islam. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#113] From the Bul. Edit. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#114] The vagueness of his statement is euphemistic. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#118] Arab. "Kahbah;" the coarsest possible term. Hence the unhappy "Cava" +of Don Roderick the Goth, which simply means The Whore. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#120] The rubbish heaps which outlie Eastern cities, some (near Cairo) are +over a hundred feet high. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.):— +</p> + +<p> + O bear with you my bones where the camel bears his load<br/> + And bury me before you, if buried I must be;<br/> + And let me not be burled 'neath the burden of the vine<br/> + But high upon the hill whence your sight I ever see!<br/> + As you pass along my grave cry aloud and name your names<br/> + The crying of your names shall revive the bones of me:<br/> + I have fasted through my life with my friends, and in my<br/> + death, I will feast when we meet, on that day of joy and<br/> + glee. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#129] The words are the very lowest and coarsest; but the scene is true to +Arab life. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#134] So the Heb. "Arún" = naked, means wearing the lower robe only; = our +"in his shirt." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#135] Here we have the vulgar Egyptian colloquialism "Aysh" (—Ayyu shayyin) +for the classical "Má" = what. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#136] "In the name of Allah!" here said before taking action. +</p> + +<p> +[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; +</p> + +<p> + 'Tis sung, there's a valiant Mameluke<br/> + In foreign lands ycleped (Sir Luke)-<br/> + HUDIBRAS. +</p> + +<p> +And hence, probably, Molière's "Mamamouchi"; and the modern French use +"Mamaluc." See Savary's Letters, No. xl. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#140] <i>i.e.</i> 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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#141] From Oman = Eastern Arabia. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#144] The new moon carefully looked for by all Moslems because it begins the +Ramazán-fast. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#145] Solomon's signet ring has before been noticed. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#153] Of this worthy more at a future time. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#154] i.e., sealed with the Kazi or legal authority's seal of office. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#158] Arab. "Zambúr," whose head is amputated in female circumcision. See +Night cccclxxiv. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#160] i. e. common property for all to beat. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#161] "A digit of the moon" is the Hindú equivalent. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#164] "ln the name of Allah," is here a civil form of dismissal. +</p> + +<p> +[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 +(<i>e. g.</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#166] So Sir Francis Walsingham's "They which do that they should not, +should hear that they would not." +</p> + +<p> +[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:— +</p> + +<p> + If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain!<br/> + But how sorely I feel for the poor broken thorn! +</p> + +<p> +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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#168] The "Kalandar" disfigures himself in this manner to show +"mortification." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#169] Arab. "Gharíb:" the porter is offended because the word implies "poor +devil;" esp. one out of his own country. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#170] A religious mendicant generally. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.) +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#176] Here some change has been necessary; as the original text confuses the +three "ladies." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#179] Arab. "Mikra'ah," the dried mid-rib of a date-frond used for many +purposes, especially the bastinado. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#181] The original is full of conceits and plays on words which are not +easily rendered in English. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#182] Arab. "Tarjumán," same root as Chald. Targum ( = a translation), the +old "Truchman," and through the Ital. "tergomano" our "Dragoman," here a +messenger. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#184] Arab. "Sár" (Thár) the revenge-right recognised by law and custom +(Pilgrimage, iii., 69). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#185] That is "We all swim in the same boat." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#188] This is a favourite jingle, the play being upon "ibrat" (a +needle-graver) and " 'ibrat" (an example, a warning). +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#192] Arab. "Katf" = pinioning by tying the arms behind the back and +shoulders (Kitf) a dire disgrace to free-born men. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#196] Arab. "Khinzír" (by Europeans pronounced "Hanzír"), prop. a wild-boar, +but popularly used like our "you pig!" +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#200] Arab. “’Urban,” now always used of the wild people, +whom the French have taught us to call <i>les Bedouins</i>; "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.) +</p> + +<p> +[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.) +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#204] Arab. Sár = the vendetta, before mentioned, as dreaded in Arabia as in +Corsica. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#206] The exigencies of the "Saj'a," or rhymed prose, disjoint this and many +similar passages. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#207] The "Ebony" Islands; Scott's "Isle of Ebene," i., 217. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#208] "Jarjarís" in the Bul. Edit. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#209] Arab. "Takbís." Many Easterns can hardly sleep without this kneading +of the muscles, this "rubbing" whose hygienic properties England is now +learning. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#210] The converse of the breast being broadened, the drooping, +"draggle-tail" gait compared with the head held high and the chest inflated. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#213] The Calc. Edit. turns them into Tailors (Khayyátín) and Torrens does +not see the misprint. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#214] i.e. Axe and sandals. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#215] Lit. "Strike his neck." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#216] A phrase which will frequently recur; meaning the situation suggested +such words a these. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#217] The smiter with the evil eye is called “A’in” and +the person smitten “Ma’ín” or “Ma’ún.” +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#220] As they thought he had been there for prayer or penance. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#221] Arab. "Ziyárat," a visit to a pious person or place. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#223] A weight of 71-72 English grains in gold; here equivalent to the +diner. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#224] Compare the tale of The Three Crows in Gammer Grethel, Evening ix. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#225] The comparison is peculiarly apposite; the earth seen from above +appears hollow with a raised rim. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#226] A hundred years old. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#227] "Bahr" in Arab. means sea, river, piece of water; hence the adjective +is needed. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#229] The text has "in the character Ruká'í,"," or Riká'í,, the +correspondence-hand. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#230] A curved character supposed to be like the basil-leaf (rayhán). +Richardson calls it "Rohani." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#234] Capital and uncial letters; the hand in which the Ka'abah veil is +inscribed (Pilgrimage iii. 299, 300). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#237] In Heb. ""Ben-Adam" is any man opp. to "Beni ish" (Psalm iv. 3) =filii +viri, not homines. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#239] Arab. "Katá"=Pterocles Alchata, the well-known sand-grouse of the +desert. It is very poor white flesh. +</p> + +<p> +[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.” +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#243] This is the vinum coctum, the boiled wine, still a favourite in +Southern Italy and Greece. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#244] Eastern topers delight in drinking at dawn: upon this subject I shall +have more to say in other Nights. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#248] The "Lady of Beauty." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#251] i.e. for the love of God—a favourite Moslem phrase. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.) +</p> + +<p> +[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)." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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:— +</p> + +<p> + There is no access behind me,<br/> + Nothing beyond,<br/> + (Saith) The Son of Sharabíl. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#259] i.e. I exclaimed "Bismillah!" +</p> + +<p> +[FN#260] The lesser ablution of hands, face and feet; a kind of "washing the +points." More in Night ccccxl. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#261] Arab. "Ruka'tayn"; the number of these bows which are followed by the +prostrations distinguishes the five daily prayers. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#263] These formulae are technically called Tasmiyah, Tahlil (before noted) +and Takbír: the "testifying" is Tashhíd. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#265] These handsome youths are always described in the terms we should +apply to women. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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: +</p> + +<p> + Iuridicis, Erebo, Fisco, fas vivere rapto:<br/> + Militibus, Medicis, Tortori occidere ludo est;<br/> + Mentiri Astronomis, Pictoribus atque Poetis. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#269] He does not perform the Wuzu or lesser ablution because he neglects +his dawn prayers. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#271] Quoted from Mohammed whose saying has been given. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#272] We should say "the night of the thirty-ninth." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#273] The bath first taken after sickness. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#275] Arab. "Sukkar-nabát." During my day (1842-49) we had no other sugar in +the Bombay Presidency. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#277] Having lately been moved by Ajib. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#279] Anglicè "him." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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"). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#286] The knocker ring is an invention well known to the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#287] Arab. "Sadr"; the place of honour; hence the "Sudder Adawlut" (Supreme +Court) in the Anglo-Indian jargon. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#288] Arab. "Ahlan wa sahlan wa marhabá," the words still popularly +addressed to a guest. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#291] i.e. makes me taste the bitterness of death, "bursting the +gall-bladder" (Marárah) being our "breaking the heart." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#295] Arab. "Hazár" (in Persian, a thousand) = a kind of mocking bird. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#297] Arab. "Májur": hence possibly our "mazer," which is popularly derived +from Masarn, a maple. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#298] A compound scent of ambergris, musk and aloes. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#299] The ends of the bridle-reins forming the whip. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#300] The flying horse is Pegasus which is a Greek travesty of an Egyptian +myth developed India. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#301] The Bres. Edit. wrongly says "the seventh." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#304] i.e. "My dears." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#305] Arab. "Lá tawákhizná:" lit. "do not chastise (or blame) us;" the pop. +expression for, "excuse (or pardon) us." +</p> + +<p> +[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.). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#308] The olden "Harem" (or gynæceum, Pers. Zenanah, Serraglio): Harím is +also used by synecdoche for the inmates; especially the wife. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#309] The pearl is supposed in the East to lose 1% per ann. of its splendour +and value. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#310] Arab. "Fass," properly the bezel of a ring; also a gem cut en cabochon +and generally the contenant for the contenu. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p>[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#313] Mr. Payne (i. 148) quotes the German Zuckerpüppchen. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#316] In Arab tales beauty is always "soft-sided," and a smooth skin is +valued in proportion to its rarity. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#317] The myrtle is the young hair upon the side face +</p> + +<p> +[FN#318] In other copies of these verses the fourth couplet swears "by the +scorpions of his brow" <i>i.e.</i> the <i>accroche-cœurs</i>, 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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#319] This is regular formula when speaking of Guebres. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#327] i e. the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#328] i.e. Settled by the Koran. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#333] A popular Arab hyperbole. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#335] Arab. "Andam"=here the gum called dragon's blood; in other places the +dye-wood known as brazil. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#337] The moles are here compared with pearls; a simile by no means common +or appropriate. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#338] A parody on the testification of Allah's Unity. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#340] In the text "Dastúr," the Persian word before noticed; "Izn" would be +the proper Arabic equivalent. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#343] This is a very serious thing amongst Moslems and scrupulous men often +make great sacrifices to avoid taking an oath. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#344] We should say "into the noose." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#345] The man had fallen in love with her and determined to mark her so that +she might be his. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#346] Arab. "Dajlah," in which we find the Heb. Hid-dekel. +</p> + +<p> +[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 <i>A quoi bon être prince?</i> 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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#348] Arab. "Shirk," partnership, evening or associating gods with God; +polytheism: especially levelled at the Hindu triadism, Guebre dualism and +Christian Trinitarianism. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#349] Arab. "Shatm"—abuse, generally couched in foulest language with +especial reference to the privy parts of female relatives. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#351] Arab. "Khalifah," Caliph. The word is also used for the successor of a +Santon or holy man. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#353] Both these sons of Harun became Caliphs, as we shall see in The +Nights. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.] +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#360] The Arab equivalent of our pitcher and well. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#361] i.e. Where the dress sits loosely about the bust. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#362] He had trusted in Allah and his trust was justified. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#364] Arab. "Izá," i.e. the visits of condolence and so forth which are long +and terribly wearisome in the Moslem East. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#366] Bismillah here means "Thou art welcome to it." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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) +</p> + +<p> +[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! +</p> + +<p> +[FN#372] Arab. "Zarzariyah" = the colour of a stare or starling (Zurzúr). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#373] Now a Railway Station on the Alexandria-Cairo line. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#375] This is the popular pronunciation: Yakút calls it "Bilbís." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#376] An outlying village on the "Long Desert," between Cairo and Palestine. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#379] So in the days of the "Mameluke Beys" in Egypt a man of rank would not +cross the street on foot. +</p> + +<p> +[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, +</p> + +<p> +Its stream shows prodigy, ebbing and flowing. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#384] Such an address to a royalty (Eastern) even in the present day, would +be a passport to future favours. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#385] In England the man marries and the woman is married: there is no such +distinction in Arabia. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#388] Here again the Cairo Edit. repeats the six couplets already given in +Night xvii. I take them from Torrens (p. 163). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#390] Arab. "Shásh" (in Pers. urine) a light turband generally of muslin. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#391] This is a <i>lieu commun</i> 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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#396] Arab. "Farajíyah," a long-sleeved robe worn by the learned (Lane, +M.E., chapt. i.). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#397] Arab. "Sarráf" (vulg. Sayrafi), whence the Anglo-Indian "Shroff," a +familiar corruption. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#402] Arab. "Bárid," lit. cold: metaph. vain, foolish, insipid. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#403] Not to "spite thee" but "in spite of thee." The phrase is still used +by high and low. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#407] Arab. "Tár.": the custom still prevails. Lane (M.E., chapt. xviii.) +describes and figures this hoop-drum. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#409] This is a solemn "chaff;" such liberties being permitted at weddings +and festive occasions. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#412] i.e. he was full of rage which he concealed. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#413] The Hindus (as the Katha shows) compare this swimming gait with an +elephant's roll. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#415] Lit. burst the "gall-bladder:" In this and in the "liver" allusions I +dare not be baldly literal. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#417] On such occasions Miss Modesty shuts her eye and looks as if about to +faint. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#419] "Miao" or "Mau" is the generic name of the cat in the Egyptian of the +hieroglyphs. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#420] Arab. "Ya Mash'úm" addressed to an evil spirit. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#426] The turban out of respect is not put upon the ground (Lane, M. E., +chapt. i.). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#429] Part of the Azán, or call to prayer. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#432] Often the effect of cold air after a heated room. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#433] i.e. He was not a Eunuch, as the people guessed. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#434] In Arab. "this night" for the reason before given. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#436] Torrens, being an Irishman, translates "and woke in the morning +sleeping at Damascus." +</p> + +<p> +[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:— +</p> + +<p> + Here am I, O Allah, here am I!<br/> + No partner hast Thou, here am I:<br/> + Verily the praise and the grace and the kingdom are thine:<br/> + No partner hast Thou: here am I! +</p> + +<p> +A single Talbiyah is a "Shart" or positive condition: and its repetition is a +Sunnat or Custom of the Prophet. See Night xci. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#442] This may mean either "it is of Mosul fashion" or, it is of muslin. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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! +</p> + +<p> +[FN#445] This is mentioned because it is the act preliminary to naming the +babe. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#447] Meaning he grew as fast in one day as other children in a month. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#448] Arab. Al-Aríf; the tutor, the assistant-master. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#451] Again we have "Dastur" for Izn." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#452] Arab. "Iklím"; the seven climates of Ptolemy. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#454] The "Plain of Pebbles" still so termed at Damascus; an open space west +of the city. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#455] Every Guide-book, even the Reverend Porter's "Murray," gives a long +account of this Christian Church 'verted to a Mosque. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#456] Arab. "Nabút"; Pilgrimage i. 336. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#459] This sounds absurd enough in English, but Easterns always put +themselves first for respect. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#460] In Arabic the World is feminine. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#462] Arab. "Suwán," prop. Syenite, from Syene (Al-Suwan) but applied to +flint and any hard stone. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.). +</p> + +<p> +[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"? +</p> + +<p> +[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"(!) +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#473] The woman-like spite of the eunuch intended to hurt the grandmother's +feelings. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#474] The usual Cairene "chaff." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#475] A necessary precaution against poison (Pilgrimage i. 84, and iii. 43). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#476] The Bresl. Edit. (ii. 108) describes the scene at greater length. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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? +</p> + +<p> +[FN#482] In Night lxxv. these lines will occur with variants. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#483] This is always mentioned: the nearer seat the higher the honour. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#484] Alluding to the phrase "Al-safar zafar" = voyaging is victory +(Pilgrimage i., 127). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#485] Arab. "Habb;" alluding to the black drop in the human heart which the +Archangel Gabriel removed from Mohammed by opening his breast. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#488] Arab. "Loghah" also = a vocabulary, a dictionary; the Arabs had them +by camel-loads. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#490] "Her stature tall—I hate a dumpy woman" (Don Juan). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#492] Usually by all manner of extortions and robbery, corruption and +bribery, the ruler's motto being +</p> + +<p> +Fiat injustitia ruat Coelum. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#493] Arab. "Malik" (King) and "Malak" (angel) the words being written the +same when lacking vowels and justifying the jingle. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#500] Arab. "Bádhanj," the Pers. Bád. (wind) -gír (catcher): a wooden +pent-house on the terrace-roof universal in the nearer East. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#502]Arab. "Yá Sattár" = Thou who veilest the discreditable secrets of Thy +creatures. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#504] Arab. "Tasbíh," = Saluting in the Subh (morning). +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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.). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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:— +</p> + +<p> + The back of the steed is a noble place<br/> + But the mule's dishonour, the ass disgrace! +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#515] Here it is a polite equivalent for "fall to!" +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#517] Two feminine names as we might say Mary and Martha. +</p> + +<p> +[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 +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#520]Arab. "Second Day," i.e. after Saturday, the true Sabbath, so +marvellously ignored by Christendom. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#521] Readers who wish to know how a traveller is lodged in a Wakálah, Khan, +or Caravanserai, will consult my Pilgrimage, i. 60. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#522] The original occupation of the family had given it a name, as amongst +us. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#523] The usual "chaff" or banter allowed even to modest women when +shopping, and—many a true word is spoken in jest. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#524] "La adamnák" = Heaven deprive us not of thee, i.e. grant I see thee +often! +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#526] The peremptory formula of a slave delivering such a message. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#534] The woman-artist who applies the dye is called "Munakkishah." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#535] "Kissing with th' inner lip," as Shakespeare calls it; the French +<i>langue fourrée:</i> 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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#536] Arab. "asal-nahl," to distinguish it from "honey" i.e. syrup of +sugar-cane and fruits +</p> + +<p> +[FN#537] The lines have occurred in Night xii. By way of variety I give +Torrens' version p. 273. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#538] The way of carrying money in the corner of a pocket-handkerchief is +still common. +</p> + +<p> +[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 +</p> + +<p> +[FN#540] Those who have seen the process of wine-making in the Libanus will +readily understand why it is always strained. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#541] Arab. "Kulkasá," a kind of arum or yam, eaten boiled like our +potatoes. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#542]At first he slipped the money into the bed-clothes: now he gives it +openly and she accepts it for a reason. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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 +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#546] Koran viii. 17. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#547] A universal custom in the East, the object being originally to show +that the draught was not poisoned. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#548] Out of paste or pudding. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#549] Boils and pimples are supposed to be caused by broken hair-roots and +in Hindostani are called Bál-tor. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#553] Arab. "Zirbájah" = meat dressed with vinegar, cumin-seed (Pers. Zír) +and hot spices. More of it in the sequel of the tale. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#555] Arab. "Su'úd," an Alpinia with pungent rhizome like ginger; here used +as a counter-odour. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#557] <i>i.e.</i> £125 and £500. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#559] The eunuch is the best possible go-between on account of his almost +unlimited power over the Harem. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#560] i.e., a slave-girl brought up in the house and never sold except for +some especial reason, as habitual drunkenness, etc. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#565] Such articles would be sacred from Moslem eyes. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#566] Physiologically true, but not generally mentioned in describing the +emotions. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#567] Properly "Uta," the different rooms, each "Odalisque," or concubine, +having her own. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#568] Showing that her monthly ailment was over. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#569] Arab "Muhammarah" = either browned before the fire or artificially +reddened. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#571] i.e., blackened by the fires of Jehannam. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#573] Washing during sickness is held dangerous by Arabs; and "going to the +Hammam" is, I have said, equivalent to convalescence. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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 +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#577] These lines are in the Mac. Edit. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#578] Arab. "Birkat al-Habash," a tank formerly existing in Southern Cairo: +Galland (Night 128) says "en remontant vers l'Ethiopie." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#581] i.e., admiration will be complete. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#582] Arab. "Sáhil Masr" (Misr): hence I suppose Galland's villes maritimes. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#583] A favourite simile, suggested by the broken glitter and shimmer of the +stream under the level rays and the breeze of eventide. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#585] Arab. "Ká'ah," usually a saloon; but also applied to a fine house here +and elsewhere in The Nights. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#586] Arab. "Ghamz" = winking, signing with the eye which, amongst Moslems, +is not held "vulgar." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +O Narjis, look away! Before those eyes * I may not kiss her as a-breast she +lies.<br /> +What! Shall the lover close his eyes in sleep * While thine watch all things +between earth and skies? +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +The fashionable lover in the East must affect a frantic jealousy if he does not +feel it. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#591] Arab. "Rukhám," properly = alabaster and "Marmar" = marble; but the +two are often confounded. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#592] He was ceremonially impure after touching a corpse. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#593] The phrase is perfectly appropriate: Cairo without "her Nile" would be +nothing. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#594] "The market was hot" say the Hindustanis. This would begin between 7 +and 8 a.m. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#596] A process familiar to European surgery of the same date. +</p> + +<p> +[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.). +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> + The worth of slit the Afghan knows;<br/> + The worth of hole the Kábul-man. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#603] "Window-gardening," new in England, is an old practice in the East. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#604] Her pimping instinct at once revealed the case to her. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#605] The usual "pander-dodge" to get more money. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#606] The writer means that the old woman's account was all false, to +increase apparent difficulties and pour se faire valoir. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#615] Our nurses always carry in the arms: Arabs place the children +astraddle upon the hip and when older on the shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +[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 +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#619] As I have noticed, this is a mixture. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#620] We say:— +</p> + +<p> + Tis rare the father in the son we see:<br/> + He sometimes rises in the third degree. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#621] Arab. "Ballán" i.e. the body-servant: "Ballánah" is a tire-woman. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#622] Arab. "Darabukkah" a drum made of wood or earthen-ware (Lane, M. E., +xviii.), and used by all in Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> + Tread, O my joy! Tread, O my joy!<br/> + Love of my love brings sore annoy, +</p> + +<p> +A chorus to such stanzas as:— +</p> + +<p> +Alexandrian damsels rare! * Daintily o'er the floor ye fare: Your lips are +sweet, are sugar-sweet, * And purfled Cashmere shawls ye wear! +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#625] Arab. Khalí'a = worn out, crafty, an outlaw; used like Span. +"Perdido." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#627] Arab. "Yá bárid" = O fool. +</p> + +<p> +[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.). +</p> + +<p> +[FN#629] i.e., the women loosed their hair; an immodesty sanctioned only by a +great calamity. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#630] These small shops are composed of a "but" and a "ben." (Pilgrimage i., +99.) +</p> + +<p> +[FN#631] Arab. "Kawwád," a popular term of abuse; hence the Span. and Port. +"Alco-viteiro." The Italian "Galeotto" is from Galahalt, not Galahad. +</p> + +<p> +[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). +</p> + +<p> +[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.) +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#636] This serious contemplation of street-scenery is one of the pleasures +of the Harems. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#637] We should say "smiled at him": the laugh was not intended as an +affront. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#639] Arab "Farajiyah " a long-sleeved robe; Lane's "Farageeyeh," (M. E., +chapt. i) +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#641] Expecting a present. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#642] Alluding to the saying, "Kiss is the key to Kitty." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#643] The "panel-dodge" is fatally common throughout the East, where a man +found in the house of another is helpless. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#644] This was the beginning of horseplay which often ends in a bastinado. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#646] Arab. Amrad, etymologically "beardless and handsome," but often used +in a bad sense, to denote an effeminate, a catamite. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#650] Arab. "Shayyun li'lláhi," a beggar's formula = per amor di Dio. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#651] Noting how sharp-eared the blind become. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#653] i.e., with kicks and cuffs and blows, as is the custom. (Pilgrimage +i., 174.) +</p> + +<p> +[FN#654] Arab. Káid (whence "Alcayde") a word still much used in North Western +Africa. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#655] Arab. "Sullam" = lit. a ladder; a frame-work of sticks, used by way of +our triangles or whipping-posts. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#657] again by means of the "Símiyá" or power of fascination possessed by +the old scoundrel. +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#660] Arab. "Atr" = any perfume, especially oil of roses; whence our word +"Ottar,' through the Turkish corruption. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#661] The texts give "dirhams" (100,000 = 5,000 dinars) for "dinars," a +clerical error as the sequel shows. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#662] "Young slaves," says Richardson, losing "colour." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#664] "Whilst she is in astonishment and terror." (Richardson.) +</p> + +<p> +[FN#665] "Chamber of robes," Richardson, whose text has "Nám" for "Manám." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#666] "Till I compleat her distress," Richardson, whose text is corrupt. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#667] "Sleep by her side," R. the word "Náma" bearing both senses. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#668] "Will take my hand," R. "takabbal" being also ambiguous. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#670] Of hands and face, etc. See Night cccclxiv. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#672] A Greek girl. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#674] Arab. "al-Málihah" also means the beautiful (fem.) from Milh=salt, +splendour, etc., the Mac edit. has "Mumallihah" = a salt-vessel. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#675] i.e., to see if he felt the smart. +</p> + +<p> +[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". +</p> + +<p> +[FN#677] In the orig. "O old woman!" which is insulting. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#678] So the Italians say "a quail to skin." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#680] Illustrating the Persian saying "Allah himself cannot help a fool." +</p> + +<p> +[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." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#682] A naïve proposal to share the plunder. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#683] In popular literature "Schacabac.", And from this tale comes our +saying "A Barmecide's Feast," i.e., an illusion. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#684] The Castrato at the door is still (I have said) the fashion of Cairo +and he acts "Suisse" with a witness. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#687] Arab. "Harísah," the meat-pudding before explained. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#691] i.e. "I conjure thee by God." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#692] i.e. "This is the very thing for thee." +</p> + +<p> +[FN#693] i.e., at random. +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#695] i.e. I will break bounds. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#696] The Arabs have a saying corresponding with the dictum of the +Salernitan school:— +</p> + +<p> + Noscitur a labiis quantum sit virginis antrum:<br/> + Noscitur a naso quanta sit hasta viro;<br/> + (A maiden's mouth shows what's the make of her <i>chose;</i><br/> + And man's mentule one knows by the length of his nose.) +</p> + +<p> +Whereto I would add:— +</p> + +<p> + And the eyebrows disclose how the lower wig grows. +</p> + +<p> +The observations are purely empirical but, as far as my experience extends, +correct. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#697] Arab. "Kahkahah," a very low proceeding. +</p> + +<p> +[FN#698] Or "for every death there is a cause;" but the older Arabs had a +saying corresponding with "Deus non fecit mortem." +</p> + +<p> +[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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS ***</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 3435-h.htm or 3435-h.zip</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/3/3435/</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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