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diff --git a/old/11001107.zip b/old/11001107.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0cbd693 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11001107.zip diff --git a/old/11001108.zip b/old/11001108.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6b3560 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11001108.zip diff --git a/old/3435-8.txt b/old/3435-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9fea97 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/3435-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17582 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a +Night, Volume 1, by Richard F. Burton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1 + +Author: Richard F. Burton + +Posting Date: December 3, 2010 [EBook #3435] +Release Date: September, 2003 +[This file was first posted on March 20, 2001] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS *** + + + + +Produced by J.C. Byers at jcbyers@capitalnet.com. +Proofreaders were: J.C. Byers, Norm Wolcott, Dianne +Doefler and Charles Wilson. + + + + + + + + + THE BOOK OF THE + THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT + A Plain and Literal Translation + of the Arabian Nights Entertainments + + Translated and Annotated by + Richard F. Burton + + VOLUME ONE + + + + + + + + + + Inscribed to the Memory + of + My Lamented Friend + John Frederick Steinhaeuser, + (Civil Surgeon, Aden) + who + A Quarter of a Century Ago + Assisted Me in this Translation. + + + + +"To the pure all things are pure" (Puris omnia pura) + - Arab Proverb. + +"Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole." + - "Decameron" - conclusion. + +"Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum Sed coram Bruto. Brute! +reced, leget. + - Martial. + +"Miculx est de ris que de larmes escripre, Pour ce que rire est +le propre des hommes." + - Rabelais. + +"The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand and One +Stories makes us regret that we possess only a comparatively +small part of these truly enchanting fictions." + - Crichton's "History of Arabia." + + + + Contents of the First Volume + + +Introduction +Story Of King Shahryar and His Brother + a. Tale of the Bull and the Ass +1. Tale of the Trader and the Jinni + a. The First Shaykh's Story + b. The Second Shaykh's Story + c. The Third Shaykh's Story +2. The Fisherman and the Jinni + a. Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban + ab. Story of King Sindibad and His Falcon + ac. Tale of the Husband and the Parrot + ad. Tale of the Prince and the Ogress + b. Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince +3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad + a. The First Kalandar's Tale + b. The Second Kalandar's Tale + ba. Tale of the Envier and the Envied + c. The Third Kalandar's Tale + d. The Eldest Lady's Tale + e. Tale of the Portress + Conclusion of the Story of the Porter and the Three Ladies +4. Tale of the Three Apples +5. Tale of Nur Al-din Ali and his Son +6. The Hunchback's Tale + a. The Nazarene Broker's Story + b. The Reeve's Tale + c. Tale of the Jewish Doctor + d. Tale of the Tailor + e. The Barber's Tale of Himself + ea. The Barber's Tale of his First Brother + eb. The Barber's Tale of his Second Brother + ec. The Barber's Tale of his Third Brother + ed. The Barber's Tale of his Fourth Brother + ee. The Barber's Tale of his Fifth Brother + ef. The Barber's Tale of his Sixth Brother + The End of the Tailor's Tale + + + + + + + The Translator's Foreword. + + +This work, labourious as it may appear, has been to me a labour +of love, an unfailing source of solace and satisfaction. During +my long years of official banishment to the luxuriant and deadly +deserts of Western Africa, and to the dull and dreary half +clearings of South America, it proved itself a charm, a talisman +against ennui and despondency. Impossible even to open the pages +without a vision starting into view; with out drawing a picture +from the pinacothek of the brain; without reviving a host of +memories and reminiscences which are not the common property of +travellers, however widely they may have travelled. From my dull +and commonplace and "respectable" surroundings, the Jinn bore me +at once to the land of my pre-direction, Arabia, a region so +familiar to my mind that even at first sight, it seemed a +reminiscence of some by gone metem-psychic life in the distant +Past. Again I stood under the diaphanous skies, in air glorious +as aether, whose every breath raises men's spirits like sparkling +wine. Once more I saw the evening star hanging like a solitaire +from the pure front of the western firmament; and the after glow +transfiguring and transforming, as by magic, the homely and +rugged features of the scene into a fairy land lit with a light +which never shines on other soils or seas. Then would appear the +woollen tents, low and black, of the true Badawin, mere dots in +the boundless waste of lion tawny clays and gazelle brown +gravels, and the camp fire dotting like a glow worm the village +centre. Presently, sweetened by distance, would be heard the wild +weird song of lads and lasses, driving or rather pelting, through +the gloaming their sheep and goats; and the measured chant of the +spearsmen gravely stalking behind their charge, the camels; +mingled with bleating of the flocks and the bellowing of the +humpy herds; while the reremouse flitted overhead with his tiny +shriek, and the rave of the jackal resounded through deepening +glooms, and--most musical of music--the palm trees answered the +whispers of the night breeze with the softest tones of falling +water. + +And then a shift of scene. The Shaykhs and "white beards" of the +tribe gravely take their places, sitting with outspread skirts +like hillocks on the plain, as the Arabs say, around the camp +fire, whilst I reward their hospitality and secure its +continuance by reading or reciting a few pages of their favourite +tales. The women and children stand motionless as silhouettes +outside the ring; and all are breathless with attention; they +seem to drink in the words with eyes and mouths as well as with +ears. The most fantastic flights of fancy, the wildest +improbabilities, the most impossible of impossibilities, appear +to them utterly natural, mere matters of every day occurrence. +They enter thoroughly into each phase of feeling touched upon by +the author: they take a personal pride in the chivalrous nature +and knightly prowess of Taj al-Mulúk; they are touched with +tenderness by the self sacrificing love of Azízah; their mouths +water as they hear of heaps of untold gold given away in largesse +like clay; they chuckle with delight every time a Kázi or a +Fakír--a judge or a reverend--is scurvily entreated by some +Pantagruelist of the Wilderness; and, despite their normal +solemnity and impassibility, all roar with laughter, sometimes +rolling upon the ground till the reader's gravity is sorely +tried, at the tales of the garrulous Barber and of Ali and the +Kurdish Sharper. To this magnetising mood the sole exception is +when a Badawi of superior accomplishments, who sometimes says his +prayers, ejaculates a startling "Astagh-faru'llah"--I pray +Allah's pardon!--for listening, not to Carlyle's "downright +lies," but to light mention of the sex whose name is never heard +amongst the nobility of the Desert. + +Nor was it only in Arabia that the immortal Nights did me such +notable service: I found the wildlings of Somali land equally +amenable to its discipline; no one was deaf to the charm and the +two women cooks of my caravan, on its way to Harar, were in +continently dubbed by my men "Shahrazad" and "Dinazad." + +It may be permitted me also to note that this translation is a +natural outcome of my Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah. +Arriving at Aden in the (so called) winter of 1852, I put up with +my old and dear friend, Steinhaeuser, to whose memory this volume +is inscribed; and, when talking over Arabia and the Arabs, we at +once came to the same conclusion that, while the name of this +wondrous treasury of Moslem folk lore is familiar to almost every +English child, no general reader is aware of the valuables it +contains, nor indeed will the door open to any but Arabists. +Before parting we agreed to "collaborate" and produce a full, +complete, unvarnished, uncastrated copy of the great original, my +friend taking the prose and I the metrical part; and we +corresponded upon the subject for years. But whilst I was in the +Brazil, Steinhaeuser died suddenly of apoplexy at Berne in +Switzerland and, after the fashion of Anglo India, his valuable +MSS. left at Aden were dispersed, and very little of his labours +came into my hands. + +Thus I was left alone to my work, which progressed fitfully amid +a host of obstructions. At length, in the spring of 1879, the +tedious process of copying began and the book commenced to take +finished form. But, during the winter of 1881-82, I saw in the +literary journals a notice of a new version by Mr. John Payne, +well known to scholars for his prowess in English verse, +especially for his translation of "The Poems of Master Francis +Villon, of Paris." Being then engaged on an expedition to the +Gold Coast (for gold), which seemed likely to cover some months, +I wrote to the "Athenaeum" (Nov. 13, 1881) and to Mr. Payne, who +was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same work, and +freely offered him precedence and possession of the field till no +longer wanted. He accepted my offer as frankly, and his priority +entailed another delay lasting till the spring of 1885. These +details will partly account for the lateness of my appearing, but +there is yet another cause. Professional ambition suggested that +literary labours, unpopular with the vulgar and the half +educated, are not likely to help a man up the ladder of +promotion. But common sense presently suggested to me that, +professionally speaking, I was not a success, and, at the same +time, that I had no cause to be ashamed of my failure. In our +day, when we live under a despotism of the lower "middle class" +Philister who can pardon anything but superiority, the prizes of +competitive services are monopolized by certain "pets" of the +Médiocratie, and prime favourites of that jealous and potent +majority--the Mediocrities who know "no nonsense about merit." It +is hard for an outsider to realise how perfect is the monopoly of +common place, and to comprehend how fatal a stumbling stone that +man sets in the way of his own advancement who dares to think for +himself, or who knows more or who does more than the mob of +gentlemen employee who know very little and who do even less. + +Yet, however behindhand I may be, there is still ample room and +verge for an English version of the "Arabian Nights' +Entertainments." + +Our century of translations, popular and vernacular, from +(Professor Antoine) Galland's delightful abbreviation and +adaptation (A.D. 1704), in no wise represent the eastern +original. The best and latest, the Rev. Mr. Foster's, which is +diffuse and verbose, and Mr. G. Moir Bussey's, which is a re- +correction, abound in gallicisms of style and idiom; and one and +all degrade a chef d'oeuvre of the highest anthropological and +ethnographical interest and importance to a mere fairy book, a +nice present for little boys. + +After nearly a century had elapsed, Dr. Jonathan Scott (LL.D. +H.E.I.C.'s S., Persian Secretary to the G. G. Bengal; Oriental +Professor, etc., etc.), printed his "Tales, Anecdotes, and +Letters, translated from the Arabic and Persian," (Cadell and +Davies, London, A.D. 1800); and followed in 1811 with an edition +of "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments" from the MS. of Edward +Wortley Montague (in 6 vols., small 8vo, London: Longmans, etc.). +This work he (and he only) describes as "Carefully revised and +occasionally corrected from the Arabic." The reading public did +not wholly reject it, sundry texts were founded upon the Scott +version and it has been imperfectly reprinted (4 vole., 8vo, +Nimmo and Bain, London, 1883). But most men, little recking what +a small portion of the original they were reading, satisfied +themselves with the Anglo French epitome and metaphrase. At +length in 1838, Mr. Henry Torrens, B.A., Irishman, lawyer ("of +the Inner Temple") and Bengal Civilian, took a step in the right +direction; and began to translate, "The Book of the Thousand +Nights and One Night," (1 vol., 8vo, Calcutta: W. Thacker and +Co.) from the Arabic of the Ægyptian (!) MS. edited by Mr. +(afterwards Sir)William H. Macnaghten. The attempt, or rather the +intention, was highly creditable; the copy was carefully moulded +upon the model and offered the best example of the verbatim et +literatim style. But the plucky author knew little of Arabic, and +least of what is most wanted, the dialect of Egypt and Syria. His +prose is so conscientious as to offer up spirit at the shrine of +letter; and his verse, always whimsical, has at times a manner of +Hibernian whoop which is comical when it should be pathetic. +Lastly he printed only one volume of a series which completed +would have contained nine or ten. + +That amiable and devoted Arabist, the late Edward William Lane +does not score a success in his "New Translation of the Tales of +a Thousand and One Nights" (London: Charles Knight and Co., +MDCCCXXXIX.) of which there have been four English editions, +besides American, two edited by E. S. Poole. He chose the +abbreviating Bulak Edition; and, of its two hundred tales, he has +omitted about half and by far the more characteristic half: the +work was intended for "the drawing room table;" and, +consequently, the workman was compelled to avoid the +"objectionable" and aught "approaching to licentiousness." He +converts the Arabian Nights into the Arabian Chapters, +arbitrarily changing the division and, worse still, he converts +some chapters into notes. He renders poetry by prose and +apologises for not omitting it altogether: he neglects assonance +and he is at once too Oriental and not Oriental enough. He had +small store of Arabic at the time--Lane of the Nights is not Lane +of the Dictionary--and his pages are disfigured by many childish +mistakes. Worst of all, the three handsome volumes are rendered +unreadable as Sale's Koran by their anglicised Latin, their +sesquipedalian un English words, and the stiff and stilted style +of half a century ago when our prose was, perhaps, the worst in +Europe. Their cargo of Moslem learning was most valuable to the +student, but utterly out of place for readers of "The Nights;" +re-published, as these notes have been separately (London, +Chatto, 1883), they are an ethnological text book. + +Mr. John Payne has printed, for the Villon Society and for +private circulation only, the first and sole complete translation +of the great compendium, "comprising about four times as much +matter as that of Galland, and three times as much as that of any +other translator;" and I cannot but feel proud that he has +honoured me with the dedication of "The Book of The Thousand +Nights and One Night." His version is most readable: his English, +with a sub-flavour of the Mabinogionic archaicism, is admirable; +and his style gives life and light to the nine volumes whose +matter is frequently heavy enough. He succeeds admirably in the +most difficult passages and he often hits upon choice and special +terms and the exact vernacular equivalent of the foreign word, so +happily and so picturesquely that all future translators must +perforce use the same expression under pain of falling far short. +But the learned and versatile author bound himself to issue only +five hundred copies, and "not to reproduce the work in its +complete and uncastrated form." Consequently his excellent +version is caviaire to the general--practically unprocurable. + +And here I hasten to confess that ample use has been made of the +three versions above noted, the whole being blended by a callida +junctura into a homogeneous mass. But in the presence of so many +predecessors a writer is bound to show some raison d'etre for +making a fresh attempt and this I proceed to do with due reserve. + +Briefly, the object of this version is to show what "The Thousand +Nights and a Night" really is. Not, however, for reasons to be +more fully stated in the Terminal Essay, by straining verbum +reddere verbo, but by writing as the Arab would have written in +English. On this point I am all with Saint Jerome (Pref. in +Jobum) "Vel verbum e verbo, vel sensum e sensu, vel ex utroque +commixtum, et medic temperatum genus translationis." My work +claims to be a faithful copy of the great Eastern Saga book, by +preserving intact, not only the spirit, but even the mécanique, +the manner and the matter. Hence, however prosy and long drawn +out be the formula, it retains the scheme of The Nights because +they are a prime feature in the original. The Ráwí or reciter, to +whose wits the task of supplying details is left, well knows +their value: the openings carefully repeat the names of the +dramatic personae 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 sparked," fully to represent the original. These, like many +in Rabelais, are mere barbarisms unless generally adopted; in +which case they become civilised and common currency. + +Despite objections manifold and manifest, I have preserved the +balance of sentences and the prose rhyme and rhythm which +Easterns look upon as mere music. This "Saj'a," or cadence of the +cooing dove, has in Arabic its special duties. It adds a sparkle +to description and a point to proverb, epigram and dialogue; it +corresponds with our "artful alliteration" (which in places I +have substituted for it) and, generally, it defines the +boundaries between the classical and the popular styles which +jostle each other in The Nights. If at times it appear strained +and forced, after the wont of rhymed prose, the scholar will +observe that, despite the immense copiousness of assonants and +consonants in Arabic, the strain is often put upon it +intentionally, like the Rims cars of Dante and the Troubadours. +This rhymed prose may be "un English" and unpleasant, even +irritating to the British ear; still I look upon it as a sine quâ +non for a complete reproduction of the original. In the Terminal +Essay I shall revert to the subject. + +On the other hand when treating the versical portion, which may +represent a total of ten thousand lines, I have not always bound +myself by the metrical bonds of the Arabic, which are artificial +in the extreme, and which in English can be made bearable only by +a tour de force. I allude especially to the monorhyme, Rim +continuat or tirade monorime, whose monotonous simplicity was +preferred by the Troubadours for threnodies. It may serve well +for three or four couplets but, when it extends, as in the +Ghazal-cannon, to eighteen, and in the Kasidah, elegy or ode, to +more, it must either satisfy itself with banal rhyme words, when +the assonants should as a rule be expressive and emphatic; or, it +must display an ingenuity, a smell of the oil, which assuredly +does not add to the reader's pleasure. It can perhaps be done and +it should be done; but for me the task has no attractions: I can +fence better in shoes than in sabots. Finally I print the +couplets in Arab form separating the hemistichs by asterisks. + +And now to consider one matter of special importance in the book--its +turpiloquium. This stumbling-block is of two kinds, +completely distinct. One is the simple, naïve and child like +indecency which, from Tangiers to Japan, occurs throughout +general conversation of high and low in the present day. It uses, +like the holy books of the Hebrews, expressions "plainly +descriptive of natural situations;" and it treats in an +unconventionally free and naked manner of subjects and matters +which are usually, by common consent, left undescribed. As Sir +William Jones observed long ago, "that anything natural can be +offensively obscene never seems to have occurred to the Indians +or to their legislators; a singularity (?) pervading their +writings and conversation, but no proof of moral depravity." +Another justly observes, Les peuples primitifs n'y entendent pas +malice: ils appellent les choses par leurs noms et ne trouvent +pas condamnable ce qui est naturel. And they are prying as +children. For instance the European novelist marries off his hero +and heroine and leaves them to consummate marriage in privacy; +even Tom Jones has the decency to bolt the door. But the Eastern +story teller, especially this unknown "prose Shakespeare," must +usher you, with a flourish, into the bridal chamber and narrate +to you, with infinite gusto, everything he sees and hears. Again +we must remember that grossness and indecency, in fact les +turpitudes, are matters of time and place; what is offensive in +England is not so in Egypt; what scandalises us now would have +been a tame joke tempore Elisoe. 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 Naiser, "divin maitre et atroce cochon." +The other element is absolute obscenity, sometimes, but not +always, tempered by wit, humour and drollery; here we have an +exaggeration of Petronius Arbiter, the handiwork of writers whose +ancestry, the most religious and the most debauched of mankind, +practised every abomination before the shrine of the Canopic +Gods. + +In accordance with my purpose of reproducing the Nights, not +virginibus puerisque, but in as perfect a picture as my powers +permit, I have carefully sought out the English equivalent of +every Arabic word, however low it may be or "shocking" to ears +polite; preserving, on the other hand, all possible delicacy +where the indecency is not intentional; and, as a friend advises +me to state, not exaggerating the vulgarities and the indecencies +which, indeed, can hardly be exaggerated. For the coarseness and +crassness are but the shades of a picture which would otherwise +be all lights. The general tone of The Nights is exceptionally +high and pure. The devotional fervour often rises to the boiling +point of fanaticism. The pathos is sweet, deep and genuine; +tender, simple and true, utterly unlike much of our modern +tinsel. Its life, strong, splendid and multitudinous, is +everywhere flavoured with that unaffected pessimism and +constitutional melancholy which strike deepest root under the +brightest skies and which sigh in the face of heaven: -- + + Vita quid est hominis? Viridis floriscula mortis; + Sole Oriente oriens, sole cadente cadens. + +Poetical justice is administered by the literary Kází with +exemplary impartiality and severity; "denouncing evil doers and +eulogising deeds admirably achieved." The morale is sound and +healthy; and at times we descry, through the voluptuous and +libertine picture, vistas of a transcendental morality, the +morality of Socrates in Plato. Subtle corruption and covert +licentiousness are utterly absent; we find more real"vice" in +many a short French roman, say La Dame aux Camélias, and in not a +few English novels of our day than in the thousands of pages of +the Arab. Here we have nothing of that most immodest modern +modesty which sees covert implication where nothing is implied, +and "improper" allusion when propriety is not outraged; nor do we +meet with the Nineteenth Century refinement; innocence of the +word not of the thought; morality of the tongue not of the heart, +and the sincere homage paid to virtue in guise of perfect +hypocrisy. It is, indeed, this unique contrast of a quaint +element, childish crudities and nursery indecencies and "vain and +amatorious" phrase jostling the finest and highest views of life +and character, shown in the kaleidoscopic shiftings of the +marvellous picture with many a "rich truth in a tale's presence", +pointed by a rough dry humour which compares well with "wut; "the +alternations of strength and weakness, of pathos and bathos, of +the boldest poetry (the diction of Job) and the baldest prose +(the Egyptian of today); the contact of religion and morality +with the orgies of African Apuleius and Petronius Arbiter--at +times taking away the reader's breath--and, finally, the whole +dominated everywhere by that marvellous Oriental fancy, wherein +the spiritual and the supernatural are as common as the material +and the natural; it is this contrast, I say, which forms the +chiefest charm of The Nights, which gives it the most striking +originality and which makes it a perfect expositor of the +medieval Moslem mind. + +Explanatory notes did not enter into Mr. Payne's plan. They do +with mine: I can hardly imagine The Nights being read to any +profit by men of the West without commentary. My annotations +avoid only one subject, parallels of European folklore and +fabliaux which, however interesting, would overswell the bulk of +a book whose speciality is anthropology. The accidents of my +life, it may be said without undue presumption, my long dealings +with Arabs and other Mahommedans, and my familiarity not only +with their idiom but with their turn of thought, and with that +racial individuality which baffles description, have given me +certain advantages over the average student, however deeply he +may have studied. These volumes, moreover, afford me a long +sought opportunity of noticing practices and customs which +interest all mankind and which "Society" will not hear mentioned. +Grate, the historian, and Thackeray, the novelist, both lamented +that the bégueulerie of their countrymen condemned them to keep +silence where publicity was required; and that they could not +even claim the partial licence of a Fielding and a Smollett. +Hence a score of years ago I lent my best help to the late Dr. +James Hunt in founding the Anthropological Society, whose +presidential chair I first occupied (pp. 2-4 Anthropologia; +London, Balliere, vol. i., No. I, 1873). My motive was to supply +travellers with an organ which would rescue their observations +from the outer darkness of manuscript, and print their curious +information on social and sexual matters out of place in the +popular book intended for the Nipptisch and indeed better kept +from public view. But, hardly had we begun when "Respectability," +that whited sepulchre full of all uncleanness, rose up against +us. "Propriety" cried us down with her brazen blatant voice, and +the weak kneed brethren fell away. Yet the organ was much wanted +and is wanted still. All now known barbarous tribes in Inner +Africa, America and Australia, whose instincts have not been +overlaid by reason, have a ceremony which they call "making men." +As soon as the boy shows proofs of puberty, he and his coevals +are taken in hand by the mediciner and the Fetisheer; and, under +priestly tuition, they spend months in the "bush," enduring +hardships and tortures which impress the memory till they have +mastered the "theorick and practick" of social and sexual +relations. Amongst the civilised this fruit of the knowledge tree +must be bought at the price of the bitterest experience, and the +consequences of ignorance are peculiarly cruel. Here, then, I +find at last an opportunity of noticing in explanatory notes many +details of the text which would escape the reader's observation, +and I am confident that they will form a repertory of Eastern +knowledge in its esoteric phase. The student who adds the notes +of Lane ("Arabian Society," etc., before quoted) to mine will +know as much of the Moslem East and more than many Europeans who +have spent half their lives in Orient lands. For facility of +reference an index of anthropological notes is appended to each +volume. + +The reader will kindly bear with the following technical details. +Steinhaeuser and I began and ended our work with the first Bulak +("Bul.") Edition printed at the port of Cairo in A.H. 1251 = A.D. +1835. But when preparing my MSS. for print I found the text +incomplete, many of the stories being given in epitome and not a +few ruthlessly mutilated with head or feet wanting. Like most +Eastern scribes the Editor could not refrain from "improvements," +which only debased the book; and his sole title to excuse is that +the second Bulak Edition (4 vols. A.H. 1279 = A.D. 1863), despite +its being "revised and corrected by Sheik Mahommed Qotch Al- +Adewi," is even worse; and the same may be said of the Cairo +Edit. (4 vols. A.H. 1297 = A. D. 1881). The Calcutta ("Calc.") +Edition, with ten lines of Persian preface by the Editor, Ahmed +al-Shirwani (A.D. 1814), was cut short at the end of the first +two hundred Nights, and thus made room for Sir William Hay +Macnaghten's Edition (4 vols. royal 4to) of 1839-42. This +("Mac."), as by far the least corrupt and the most complete, has +been assumed for my basis with occasional reference to the +Breslau Edition ("Bres.") wretchedly edited from a hideous +Egyptian MS. by Dr. Maximilian Habicht (1825-43). The Bayrut Text +"Alif-Leila we Leila" (4 vols. at. 8vo, Beirut, 1881-83) is a +melancholy specimen of The Nights taken entirely from the Bulak +Edition by one Khalil Sarkis and converted to Christianity; +beginning without Bismillah, continued with scrupulous castration +and ending in ennui and disappointment. I have not used this +missionary production. + +As regards the transliteration of Arabic words I deliberately +reject the artful and complicated system, ugly and clumsy withal, +affected by scientific modern Orientalists. Nor is my sympathy +with their prime object, namely to fit the Roman alphabet for +supplanting all others. Those who learn languages, and many do +so, by the eye as well as by the ear, well know the advantages of +a special character to distinguish, for instance, Syriac from +Arabic, Gujrati from Marathi. Again this Roman hand bewitched may +have its use in purely scientific and literary works; but it +would be wholly out of place in one whose purpose is that of the +novel, to amuse rather than to instruct. Moreover the devices +perplex the simple and teach nothing to the learned. Either the +reader knows Arabic, in which case Greek letters, italics and +"upper case," diacritical points and similar typographic oddities +are, as a rule with some exceptions, unnecessary; or he does not +know Arabic, when none of these expedients will be of the least +use to him. Indeed it is a matter of secondary consideration what +system we prefer, provided that we mostly adhere to one and the +same, for the sake of a consistency which saves confusion to the +reader. I have especially avoided that of Mr. Lane, adopted by +Mr. Payne, for special reasons against which it was vain to +protest: it represents the debased brogue of Egypt or rather of +Cairo; and such a word as Kemer (ez-Zeman) would be utterly un- +pronounceable to a Badawi. Nor have I followed the practice of my +learned friend, Reverend G. P. Badger, in mixing bars and acute +accents; the former unpleasantly remind man of those hateful +dactyls and spondees, and the latter should, in my humble +opinion, be applied to long vowels which in Arabic double, or +should double, the length of the shorts. Dr. Badger uses the +acute symbol to denote accent or stress of voice; but such +appoggio is unknown to those who speak with purest articulation; +for instance whilst the European pronounces Mus-cat', and the +Arab villager Mas'-kat; the Children of the Waste, "on whose +tongues Allah descended," articulate Mas-kat. I have therefore +followed the simple system adopted in my "Pilgrimage," and have +accented Arabic words only when first used, thinking it +unnecessary to preserve throughout what is an eyesore to the +reader and a distress to the printer. In the main I follow +"Johnson on Richardson," a work known to every Anglo-Orientalist +as the old and trusty companion of his studies early and late; +but even here I have made sundry deviations for reasons which +will be explained in the Terminal Essay. As words are the +embodiment of ideas and writing is of words, so the word is the +spoken word; and we should write it as pronounced. Strictly +speaking, the e-sound and the o-sound (viz. the Italian o-sound +not the English which is peculiar to us and unknown to any other +tongue) are not found in Arabic, except when the figure Imálah +obliges: hence they are called "Yá al-Majhúl" and "Waw al-Majhúl" +the unknown y (í) and u. But in all tongues vowel-sounds, the +flesh which clothes the bones (consonants) of language, are +affected by the consonants which precede and more especially +which follow them, hardening and softening the articulation; and +deeper sounds accompany certain letters as the sád ( ) compared +with the sín ( ). None save a defective ear would hold, as Lane +does, "Maulid" ( = birth-festival) "more properly pronounced +'Molid.'" Yet I prefer Khokh (peach) and Jokh (broad cloth) to +Khukh and Jukh; Ohod (mount) to Uhud; Obayd (a little slave) to +Ubayd; and Hosayn (a fortlet, not the P. N. Al-Husayn) to Husayn. +As for the short e in such words as "Memlúk" for "Mamluk" (a +white slave), "Eshe" for "Asha" (supper), and "Yemen" for "Al- +Yaman," I consider it a flat Egyptianism, insufferable to an ear +which admires the Badawi pronunciation. Yet I prefer "Shelebi" (a +dandy) from the Turkish Chelebi, to "Shalabi;" "Zebdani" (the +Syrian village) to "Zabdani," and "Fes and Miknes" (by the figure +Imálah) to "Fas and Miknás,", our "Fez and Mequinez." + +With respect to proper names and untranslated Arabic words I have +rejected all system in favour of common sense. When a term is +incorporated in our tongue, I refuse to follow the purist and +mortify the reader by startling innovation. For instance, Aleppo, +Cairo and Bassorah are preferred to Halab, Kahirah and Al-Basrah; +when a word is half naturalised, like Alcoran or Koran, Bashaw or +Pasha, which the French write Pacha; and Mahomet or Mohammed (for +Muhammad), the modern form is adopted because the more familiar. +But I see no advantage in retaining,, simply because they are the +mistakes of a past generation, such words as "Roc" (for Rikh),), +Khalif (a pretentious blunder for Kalífah and better written +Caliph) and "genie" ( = Jinn) a mere Gallic corruption not so +terrible, however, as "a Bedouin" ( = Badawi).). As little too +would I follow Mr. Lane in foisting upon the public such Arabisms +as "Khuff" (a riding boot), "Mikra'ah" (a palm rod) and a host of +others for which we have good English equivalents. On the other +hand I would use, but use sparingly, certain Arabic exclamations, +as "Bismillah" ( = in the name of Allah!) and "Inshallah" ( = if +Allah please!), (= which have special applications and which have +been made familiar to English ears by the genius of Fraser and +Morier. + +I here end these desultory but necessary details to address the +reader in a few final words. He will not think lightly of my work +when I repeat to him that with the aid of my annotations +supplementing Lane's, the student will readily and pleasantly +learn more of the Moslem's manners and customs, laws and religion +than is known to the average Orientalist; and, if my labours +induce him to attack the text of The Nights he will become master +of much more Arabic than the ordinary Arab owns. This book is +indeed a legacy which I bequeath to my fellow countrymen in their +hour of need. Over devotion to Hindu, and especially to Sanskrit +literature, has led them astray from those (so called) "Semitic" +studies, which are the more requisite for us as they teach us to +deal successfully with a race more powerful than any pagans--the +Moslem. Apparently England is ever forgetting that she is at +present the greatest Mohammedan empire in the world. Of late +years she has systematically neglected Arabism and, indeed, +actively discouraged it in examinations for the Indian Civil +Service, where it is incomparably more valuable than Greek and +Latin. Hence, when suddenly compelled to assume the reins of +government in Moslem lands, as Afghanistan in times past and +Egypt at present, she fails after a fashion which scandalises her +few (very few) friends; and her crass ignorance concerning the +Oriental peoples which should most interest her, exposes her to +the contempt of Europe as well as of the Eastern world. When the +regrettable raids of 1883-84, culminating in the miserable +affairs of Tokar, Teb and Tamasi, were made upon the gallant +Sudani negroids, the Bisharin outlying Sawakin, who were battling +for the holy cause of liberty and religion and for escape from +Turkish task-masters and Egyptian tax-gatherers, not an English +official in camp, after the death of the gallant and lamented +Major Morice, was capable of speaking Arabic. Now Moslems are not +to be ruled by raw youths who should be at school and college +instead of holding positions of trust and emolument. He who would +deal with them successfully must be, firstly, honest and truthful +and, secondly, familiar with and favourably inclined to their +manners and customs if not to their law and religion. We may, +perhaps, find it hard to restore to England those pristine +virtues, that tone and temper, which made her what she is; but at +any rate we (myself and a host of others) can offer her the means +of dispelling her ignorance concerning the Eastern races with +whom she is continually in contact. + +In conclusion I must not forget to notice that the Arabic +ornamentations of these volumes were designed by my excellent +friend Yacoub Artin Pasha, of the Ministry of Instruction, Cairo, +with the aid of the well-known writing artist, Shayth Mohammed +Muunis the Cairene. My name, Al-Hajj Abdullah ( = the Pilgrim +Abdallah) was written by an English calligrapher, the lamented +Professor Palmer who found a premature death almost within sight +of Suez. + +RICHARD F. BURTON + +Wanderers' Club, August 15, 1885. + + + + + The Book Of The + THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT + + (ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAH.) + + + In the Name of Allah, + the Compassionating, the Compassionate! + +PRAISE BE TO ALLAH * THE BENEFICENT KING * THE CREATOR OF THE +UNIVERSE * LORD OF THE THREE WORLDS * WHO SET UP THE FIRMAMENT +WITHOUT PILLARS IN ITS STEAD * AND WHO STRETCHED OUT THE EARTH +EVEN AS A BED * AND GRACE, AND PRAYER-BLESSING BE UPON OUR LORD +MOHAMMED * LORD OF APOSTOLIC MEN * AND UPON HIS FAMILY AND +COMPANION TRAIN * PRAYER AND BLESSINGS ENDURING AND GRACE WHICH +UNTO THE DAY OF DOOM SHALL REMAIN * AMEN! * O THOU OF THE THREE +WORLDS SOVEREIGN! + +And afterwards. Verily the works and words of those gone before +us have become instances and examples to men of our modern day, +that folk may view what admonishing chances befel other folk and +may therefrom take warning; and that they may peruse the annals +of antique peoples and all that hath betided them, and be thereby +ruled and restrained:--Praise, therefore, be to Him who hath made +the histories of the Past an admonition unto the Present! Now of +such instances are the tales called "A Thousand Nights and a +Night," together with their far famed legends and wonders. +Therein it is related (but Allah is All knowing of His hidden +things and All ruling and All honoured and All giving and All +gracious and All merciful [FN#1]) that, in tide of yore and in +time long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu +Sásán in the Islands of India and China, a Lord of armies and +guards and servants and dependents.[FN#2] He left only two sons, +one in the prime of manhood and the other yet a youth, while both +were Knights and Braves, albeit the elder was a doughtier +horseman than the younger. So he succeeded to the empire; when he +ruled the land and forded 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, attend ants 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 pastern 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 con elusion, +ending with these words, "When I beheld thy calamity and the +treason of thy wife, O my brother, and I resected 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 in tent to travel, and the troops and +tents fared forth without the city, camping within sight, and +Shahryar sallied out with them and took seat amidmost his host, +bidding the slaves admit no man to him. When night came on he +summoned his Wazir and said to him, "Sit thou in my stead and let +none wot of my absence till the term of three days." Then the +brothers disguised themselves and returned by night with all +secrecy to the palace, where they passed the dark hours: and at +dawn they seated themselves at the lattice overlooking the +pleasure grounds, when presently the Queen and her handmaids came +out as before, and passing under the windows made for the +fountain. Here they stripped, ten of them being men to ten women, +and the King's wife cried out, "Where art thou, O Saeed?" The +hideous blackamoor dropped from the tree straightway; and, +rushing into her arms without stay or delay, cried out, "I am +Sa'ad al Din Saood!"[FN#11] The lady laughed heartily, and all +fell to satisfying their lusts, and remained so occupied for a +couple of hours, when the white slaves rose up from the +handmaidens' breasts and the blackamoor dismounted from the +Queen's bosom: then they went into the basin and, after +performing the Ghusl, or complete ablution, donned their dresses +and retired as they had done before. When King Shahryar saw this +infamy of his wife and concubines he became as one distraught and +he cried out, "Only in utter solitude can man be safe from the +doings of this vile world! By Allah, life is naught but one great +wrong." Presently he added, "Do not thwart me, O my brother, in +what I propose;" and the other answered, "I will not." So he +said, "Let us up as we are and depart forthright hence, for we +have no concern with Kingship, and let us overwander Allah's +earth, worshipping the Almighty till we find some one to whom the +like calamity hath happened; and if we find none then will death +be more welcome to us than life." So the two brothers issued from +a second private postern of the palace; and they never stinted +wayfaring by day and by night, until they reached a tree a middle +of a meadow hard by a spring of sweet water on the shore of the +salt sea. Both drank of it and sat down to take their rest; and +when an hour of the day had gone by: lo! they heard a mighty roar +and uproar in the middle of the main as though the heavens were +falling upon the earth; and the sea brake with waves before them, +and from it towered a black pillar, which grew and grew till it +rose skywards and began making for that meadow. Seeing it, they +waxed fearful exceedingly and climbed to the top of the tree, +which was a lofty; whence they gazed to see what might be the +matter. And behold, it was a Jinni,[FN#12] huge of height and +burly of breast and bulk, broad of brow and black of blee, +bearing on his head a coffer of crystal. He strode to land, +wading through the deep, and coming to the tree whereupon were +the two Kings, seated himself beneath it. He then set down the +coffer on its bottom and out it drew a casket, with seven +padlocks of steel, which he unlocked with seven keys of steel he +took from beside his thigh, and out of it a young lady to come +was seen, white-skinned and of winsomest mien, of stature fine +and thin, and bright as though a moon of the fourteenth night she +had been, or the sun raining lively sheen. Even so the poet +Utayyah hath excellently said:-- + +She rose like the morn as she shone through the night * And she + gilded the grove with her gracious sight: +From her radiance the sun taketh increase when * She unveileth + and shameth the moonshine bright. +Bow down all beings between her hands * As she showeth charms + with her veil undight. +And she foodeth cities[FN#13] with torrent tears * When she + flasheth her look of levee light. + +The Jinni seated her under the tree by his side and looking at +her said, "O choicest love of this heart of mine! O dame of +noblest line, whom I snatched away on thy bride night that none +might prevent me taking thy maidenhead or tumble thee before I +did, and whom none save myself hath loved or hath enjoyed: O my +sweetheart! I would fief 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 sparked 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 +desires"?" "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 If rit." +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 If rit +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! none save himself +might have connexion with me. But I have lain under as many of my +kind as I please, and this wretched Jinni wotteth not that Des +tiny may not be averted nor hindered by aught, and that whatso +woman willeth the same she fulfilleth however man nilleth. Even +so saith one of them.-- + +Rely not on women; * Trust not to their hearts, +Whose joys and whose sorrows * Are hung to their parts! +Lying love they will swear thee * Whence guile ne'er departs: +Take Yusuf[FN#18] for sample * 'Ware sleights and 'ware smarts! +Iblis[FN#19] ousted Adam * (See ye not?) thro' their arts. + +And another saith:-- + +Stint thy blame, man! 'Twill drive to a passion without bound; * + My fault is not so heavy as fault in it hast found. +If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not * Save what + happened unto many in the bygone stound. +For wonderful is he and right worthy of our praise * Who from + wiles of female wits kept him safe and kept him sound." + +Hearing these words they marvelled with exceeding marvel, and she +went from them to the Ifrit and, taking up his head on her thigh +as before, said to them softly, "Now wend your ways and bear +yourselves beyond the bounds of his malice." So they fared forth +saying either to other, "Allah! Allah!" and, "There be no Majesty +and there be no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great; and +with Him we seek refuge from women's malice and sleight, for of a +truth it hath no mate in might. Consider, O my brother, the ways +of this marvellous lady with an Ifrit who is so much more +powerful than we are. Now since there hath hap pened 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 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 accomplish meets; +and she was pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and +well bred. Now on that day she said to her father, "Why do I see +thee thus changed and laden with cark and care? Concerning this +matter quoth one of the poets.-- + + Tell whoso hath sorrow * Grief never shall last: + E'en as joy hath no morrow * So woe shall go past." + +When the Wazir heard from his daughter these words he related to +her, from first to last, all that had happened between him and +the King. Thereupon said she, "By Allah, O my father, how long +shall this slaughter of women endure? Shall I tell thee what is +in my mind in order to save both sides from destruction?" "Say +on, O my daughter," quoth he, and quoth she, "I wish thou wouldst +give me in marriage to this King Shahryar; either I shall live or +I shall be a ransom for the virgin daughters of Moslems and the +cause of their deliverance from his hands and thine."[FN#22] +"Allah upon thee!" cried he in wrath exceeding that lacked no +feeding, "O scanty of wit, expose not thy life to such peril! How +durst thou address me in words so wide from wisdom and un far +from foolishness? Know that one who lacketh experience in worldly +matters readily falleth into misfortune; and whoso considereth +not the end keepeth not the world to friend, and the vulgar say:- +-I was lying at mine ease: nought but my officiousness brought me +unease." "Needs must thou," she broke in, "make me a doer of this +good deed, and let him kill me an he will: I shall only die a +ransom for others." "O my daughter," asked he, "and how shall +that profit thee when thou shalt have thrown away thy life?" and +she answered, "O my father it must be, come of it what will!" The +Wazir was again moved to fury and blamed and reproached her, +ending with, "In very deed--I fear lest the same befal thee which +befel the Bull and the Ass with the Husband man." "And what," +asked she, "befel them, O my father?" Whereupon the Wazir began +the + + + + + + Tale of the Bull[FN#23] and the Ass. + + +Know, O my daughter, that there was once a merchant who owned +much money and many men, and who was rich in cattle and camels; +he had also a wife and family and he dwelt in the country, being +experienced in husbandry and devoted to agriculture. Now Allah +Most High had endowed him with under standing 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 distress 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 +to wards him and said, "O Broad o' Brow,[FN#26] 0 thou lost one! +he lied not who dubbed thee Bull head, for thou, O father of a +Bull, hast neither forethought nor contrivance; thou art the +simplest of simpletons,[FN#27] and thou knowest naught of good +advisers. Hast thou not heard the saying of the wise:-- + +For others these hardships and labours I bear * And theirs is the + pleasure and mine is the care; +As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun * To whiten the + raiment which other men wear.[FN#28] + +But thou, O fool, art full of zeal and thou toilest and moilest +before the master; and thou tearest and wearest and slayest thy +self for the comfort of another. Hast thou never heard the saw +that saith, None to guide and from the way go wide? Thou wendest +forth at the call to dawn prayer and thou returnest not till +sundown; and through the livelong day thou endurest all manner +hardships; to wit, beating and belabouring and bad language. Now +hearken to me, Sir Bull! when they tie thee to thy stinking +manger, thou pawest the ground with thy forehand and rashest 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 live long 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 hayed by the yoke; and when he came home in the +evening he could hardly drag his limbs along, either fore hand 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 ac count. So when +night set in and the Ass returned to the byte the Bull rose up +before him in honour, and said, "May good tidings gladden thy +heart, O Father Wakener! through thee I have rested all this day +and I have eaten my meat in peace and quiet." But the Ass +returned no reply, for wrath and heart burning and fatigue and +the beating he had gotten; and he repented with the most grievous +of repentance; and quoth he to himself: "This cometh of my folly +in giving good counsel; as the saw saith, I was in joy and +gladness, nought save my officiousness brought me this sadness. +But I will bear in mind my innate worth and the nobility of my +nature; for what saith the poet? + +Shall the beautiful hue of the Basil[FN#32] fail * Tho' the + beetle's foot o'er the Basil crawl? +And though spider and fly be its denizens * Shall disgrace attach + to the royal hall? +The cowrie,[FN#33] I ken, shall have currency * But the pearl's + clear drop, shall its value fall? + +And now I must take thought and put a trick upon him and return +him to his place, else I die." Then he went aweary to his manger, +while the Bull thanked him and blessed him. And even so, O my +daughter, said the Wazir, thou wilt die for lack of wits; +therefore sit thee still and say naught and expose not thy life +to such stress; for, by Allah, I offer thee the best advice, +which cometh of my affection and kindly solicitude for thee." "O +my father," she answered, "needs must I go up to this King and be +married to him." Quoth he, "Do not this deed;" and quoth she, "Of +a truth I will:" whereat he rejoined, "If thou be not silent and +bide still, I will do with thee even what the merchant did with +his wife." "And what did he?" asked she. "Know then, answered the +Wazir, that after the return of the Ass the merchant came out on +the terrace roof with his wife and family, for it was a moonlit +night and the moon at its full. Now the ter race overlooked the +cowhouse and presently, as he sat there with his children playing +about him, the trader heard the Ass say to the Bull, "Tell me, O +Father Broad o' Brow, what thou purposest to do to morrow?" The +Bull answered, "What but continue to follow thy counsel, O +Aliboron? Indeed it was as good as good could be and it hath +given me rest and repose; nor will I now depart from it one +little: 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 re veal 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? Bear 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 per form 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 Chanti clear! 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, "Doss 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 mourn ing 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 Shah razed rejoiced with +exceeding joy and get ready all she required and said to her +younger sister, Dunyazad, "Note well what directions I entrust to +thee! When I have gone in to 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 fief would I take leave of +her this night before I see the dawn." So he sent at once for +Dunyazad and she came and kissed the ground between his hands, +when he permitted her to take her seat near the foot of the +couch. Then the King arose and did away with his bride's +maidenhead and the three fell asleep. But when it was midnight +Shahrazad awoke and signalled to her sister Dunyazad who sat up +and said, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, recite to us some new +story, delightsome and delectable, wherewith to while away the +waking hours of our latter night."[FN#39] "With joy and goodly +gree," answered Shahrazad, "if this pious and auspicious King +permit me." "Tell on," quoth the King who chanced to be sleepless +and restless and therefore was pleased with the prospect of +hearing her story. So Shahrazad rejoiced; and thus, on the first +night of the Thousand Nights and a Night, she began with the + + + + + + TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI. + + +It is related, O auspicious King, that there was a merchant of +the merchants who had much wealth, and business in various +cities. Now on a day he mounted horse and went forth to re cover +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 mer chant +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 re turning. There is no +Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the +Great! If I slew thy son, I slew him by chance medley. I pray +thee now pardon me." Rejoined the Jinni, "There is no help but I +must slay thee." Then he seized him and dragged him along and, +casting him to the earth, raised the sword to strike him; +whereupon the merchant wept, and said, "I commit my case to +Allah," and began repeating these couplets:-- + +Containeth Time a twain of days, this of blessing that of bane * + And holdeth Life a twain of halves, this of pleasure that of + pain. +See'st not when blows the hurricane, sweeping stark and striking + strong * None save the forest giant feels the suffering of + the strain? +How many trees earth nourisheth of the dry and of the green * + Yet none but those which bear the fruits for cast of stone + complain. +See'st not how corpses rise and float on the surface of the tide + * While pearls o'price lie hidden in the deepest of the + main! +In Heaven are unnumbered the many of the stars * Yet ne'er a star + but Sun and Moon by eclipse is overta'en. +Well judgedst thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well * + And countedst not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever + fain. +The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride + * But bliss and blessings of the night are 'genderers of + bane! + +When the merchant ceased repeating his verses the Jinni said to +him, "Cut thy words short, by Allah! needs must I slay thee." But +the merchant spake him thus, "Know, O thou Ifrit, that I have +debts due to me and much wealth and children and a wife and many +pledges in hand; so permit me to go home and dis charge 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 send devil appeared amidmost of the +waste. Presently the cloud opened and behold, within it was that +Jinni hending in hand a drawn sword, while his eyes were shooting +fire sparks of rage. He came up to them and, haling away the +merchant from among them, cried to him, "Arise that I may slay +thee, as thou slewest my son, the life stuff of my liver."[FN#44] +The merchant wailed and wept, and the three old men began sighing +and crying and weeping and wailing with their companion. +Presently the first old man (the owner of the gazelle) came out +from among them and kissed the hand of the Ifrit and said, "O +Jinni, thou Crown of the Kings of the Jann! were I to tell thee +the story of me and this gazelle and thou shouldst consider it +wondrous wouldst thou give me a third part of this merchant's +blood?" Then quoth the Jinni "Even so, O Shaykh ! if thou tell me +this tale, and I hold it a marvellous, then will I give thee a +third of his blood." Thereupon the old man began to tell + + + + + +The First Shaykh's Story. + + +Know O Jinni! that this gazelle is the daughter of my paternal +uncle, my own flesh and blood, and I married her when she was a +young maid, and I lived with her well nigh thirty years, yet was +I not blessed with issue by her. So I took me a concubine[FN#45] +who brought to me the boon of a male child fair as the full moon, +with eyes of lovely shine and eyebrows which formed one line, and +limbs of perfect design. Little by little he grew in stature and +waxed tall; and when he was a lad fifteen years old, it became +needful I should journey to certain cities and I travelled with +great store of goods. But the daughter of my uncle (this gazelle) +had learned gramarye and egromancy and clerkly craft[FN#46] from +her childhood; so she bewitched that son of mine to a calf, and +my handmaid (his mother) to a heifer, and made them over to the +herdsman's care. Now when I returned after a long time from my +journey and asked for my son and his mother, she answered me, +saying "Thy slave girl is dead, and thy son hath fled and I know +not whither he is sped." So I remained for a whole year with +grieving heart, and streaming eyes until the time came for the +Great Festival of Allah.[FN#47] Then sent I to my herdsman bidding +him choose for me a fat heifer; and he brought me one which +was the damsel, my handmaid, whom this gazelle had ensorcelled. I +tucked up my sleeves and skirt and, taking a knife, proceeded to +cut her throat, but she lowed aloud and wept bitter tears. +Thereat I marvelled and pity seized me and I held my hand, saying +to the herd, "Bring me other than this." Then cried my cousin, +"Slay her, for I have not a fatter nor a fairer!" Once more I +went forward to sacrifice her, but she again lowed aloud upon +which in ruth I refrained and commanded the herdsman to slay her +and flay her. He killed her and skinned her but found in her +neither fat nor flesh, only hide and bone; and I repented when +penitence availed me naught. I gave her to the herdsman and said +to him, "Fetch me a fat calf;" so he brought my son ensorcelled. +When the calf saw me, he brake his tether and ran to me, and +fawned upon me and wailed and shed tears; so that I took pity on +him and said to the herdsman, "Bring me a heifer and let this +calf go!" Thereupon my cousin (this gazelle) called aloud at me, +saying, "Needs must thou kill this calf; this is a holy day and a +blessed, whereon naught is slain save what be perfect pure; and +we have not amongst our calves any fatter or fairer than this!" +Quoth I, "Look thou upon the condition of the heifer which I +slaughtered at thy bidding and how we turn from her in +disappointment and she profited us on no wise; and I repent with +an exceeding repentance of having killed her: so this time I will +not obey thy bidding for the sacrifice of this calf." Quoth she, +"By Allah the Most Great, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! +there is no help for it; thou must kill him on this holy day, and +if thou kill him not to me thou art no man and I to thee am no +wife." Now when I heard those hard words, not knowing her object +I went up to the calf, knife in hand--And Shahrazad perceived the +dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.[FN#48] Then +quoth her sister to her, "How fair is thy tale, and how grateful, +and how sweet and how tasteful!" And Shahrazad answered her, +"What is this to that I could tell thee on the coming night, were +I to live and the King would spare me?" Then said the King in +himself, "By Allah, I will not slay her, until I shall have heard +the rest of her tale." So they slept the rest of that night in +mutual em brace till day fully brake. Then the King went forth to +his audience hall[FN#49] and the Wazir went up with his +daughter's shroud under his arm. The King issued his orders, and +promoted this and deposed that, until the end of the day; and he +told the Wazir no whit of what had happened. But the Minister +wondered thereat with exceeding wonder; and when the Court broke +up King Shahryar entered his palace. + + When it was the Second Night, + +said Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, "O my sister, finish for +us that story of the Merchant and the Jinni;" and she answered +"With joy and goodly gree, if the King permit me." Then quoth the +King, "Tell thy tale;" and Shahrazad began in these words: It +hath reached me, O auspicious King and Heaven directed Ruler! +that when the merchant purposed the sacrifice of the calf but saw +it weeping, his heart relented and he said to the herdsman, "Keep +the calf among my cattle." All this the old Shaykh told the Jinni +who marvelled much at these strange words. Then the owner of the +gazelle continued:--O Lord of the Kings of the Jann, this much +took place and my uncle's daughter, this gazelle, looked on and +saw it, and said, "Butcher me this calf, for surely it is a fat +one;" but I bade the herdsman take it away and he took it and +turned his face homewards. On the next day as I was sitting in my +own house, lo! the herdsman came and, standing before me said, "O +my master, I will tell thee a thing which shall gladden thy soul, +and shall gain me the gift of good tidings."[FN#50] I answered, +"Even so." Then said he, "O merchant, I have a daughter, and she +learned magic in her childhood from an old woman who lived with +us. Yesterday when thou gavest me the calf, I went into the house +to her, and she looked upon it and veiled her face; then she wept +and laughed alternately and at last she said:--O my father, hath +mine honour become so cheap to thee that thou bringest in to me +strange men? I asked her:--Where be these strange men and why +wast thou laughing, and crying?; and she answered, Of a truth +this calf which is with thee is the son of our master, the +merchant; but he is ensorcelled by his stepdame who bewitched +both him and his mother: such is the cause of my laughing; now +the reason of his weeping is his mother, for that his father slew +her unawares. Then I marvelled at this with exceeding marvel and +hardly made sure that day had dawned before I came to tell thee." +When I heard, O Jinni, my herdsman's words, I went out with him, +and I was drunken without wine, from the excess of joy and +gladness which came upon me, until I reached his house. There his +daughter welcomed me and kissed my hand, and forthwith the calf +came and fawned upon me as before. Quoth I to the herdsman's +daughter, "Is this true that thou sayest of this calf?" Quoth +she, "Yea, O my master, he is thy son, the very core of thy +heart." I rejoiced and said to her, "O maiden, if thou wilt +release him thine shall be whatever cattle and property of mine +are under thy father's hand." She smiled and answered, "O my +master, I have no greed for the goods nor will I take them save +on two conditions; the first that thou marry me to thy son and +the second that I may bewitch her who bewitched him and imprison +her, otherwise I cannot be safe from her malice and +malpractices." Now when I heard, O Jinni, these, the words of the +herdsman's daughter, I replied, "Beside what thou askest all the +cattle and the house hold 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." There upon the second old man, who owned the two +greyhounds, came up and said, " O Jinni, if I recount to thee +what befel me from my brothers, these two hounds, and thou see +that it is a tale even more wondrous and marvellous than what +thou hast heard, wilt thou grant to me also the third of this +man's blood?" Replied the Jinni, "Thou hast my word for it, if +thine adventures be more marvellous and wondrous." Thereupon he +thus began + + + + + +The Second Shaykh's Story. + + +Know, O lord of the Kings of the Jann! that these two dogs are my +brothers and I am the third. Now when our father died and left us +a capital of three thousand gold pieces,[FN#52] I opened a shop +with my share, and bought and sold therein, and in like guise did +my two brothers, each setting up a shop. But I had been in +business no long while before the elder sold his stock for a +thousand diners, 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 diners, 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 diners 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 my self. 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 diners. 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 cloth evil, leave the evil doer to his +evil deeds. Moreover they are still my brothers." But she +rejoined, "By Allah, there is no help for it but I slay them." I +humbled myself before her for their pardon, whereupon she bore me +up and flew away with me till at last she set me down on the +terrace roof of my own house. I opened the doors and took up what +I had hidden in the ground; and after I had saluted the folk I +opened my shop and bought me merchandise. Now when night came on +I went home, and there I saw these two hounds tied up; and, when +they sighted me, they arose and whined and fawned upon me; but +ere I knew what happened my wife said, "These two dogs be thy +brothers!" I answered, "And who hath done this thing by them?" +and she rejoined, "I sent a message to my sister and she +entreated them on this wise, nor shall these two be released from +their present shape till ten years shall have passed." And now I +have arrived at this place on my way to my wife's sister that she +may deliver them from this condition, after their having endured +it for half a score of years. As I was wending onwards I saw this +young man, who acquainted me with what had befallen him, and I +determined not to fare hence until I should see what might occur +between thee and him. Such is my tale! Then said the Jinni, +"Surely this is a strange story and therefor I give thee the +third portion of his blood and his crime." Thereupon quoth the +third Shaykh, the master of the mare mule, to the Jinni, "I can +tell thee a tale more wondrous than these two, so thou grant me +the remainder of his blood and of his offense," and the Jinni +answered, "So be it!" Then the old man began + + + + + +The Third Shaykh's Story. + + +Know, O Sultan and head of the Jann, that this mule was my wife. +Now it so happened that I went forth and was absent one whole +year; and when I returned from my journey I came to her by night, +and saw a black slave lying with her on the carpet bed and they +were talking, and dallying, and laughing, and kissing and playing +the close buttock game. When she saw me, she rose and came +hurriedly at me with a gugglet[FN#58] of water; and, muttering +spells over it, she besprinkled me and said, "Come forth from +this thy shape into the shape of a dog;" and I became on the +instant a dog. She drove me out of the house, and I ran through +the doorway nor ceased running until I came to a butcher's stall, +where I stopped and began to eat what bones were there. When the +stall owner saw me, he took me and led me into his house, but as +soon as his daughter had sight of me she veiled her face from me, +crying out, "Doss 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 bans formed 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 be fallen me." Now when +the old man had ceased speaking the Jinni shook with pleasure and +gave him the third of the merchant's blood. And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. +Then quoth Dunyazad, "O. my sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and +how tasteful; how sweet and how grateful!" She replied, "And what +is this compared with that I could tell thee, the night to come, +if I live and the King spare me?"[FN#59] Then thought the King, +"By Allah, I will not slay her until I hear the rest of her tale, +for truly it is wondrous." So they rested that night in mutual +embrace until the dawn. After this the King went forth to his +Hall of Estate, and the Wazir and the troops came in and the +court was crowded, and the King gave orders and judged and +appointed and deposed, bidding and forbidding during the rest of +the day. Then the Divan broke up, and King Shahryar entered his +palace. + + When it was the Third Night, + +And the King had had his will of the Wazir's daughter, Dunyazad, +her sister, said to her, "Finish for us that tale of thine;" and +she replied, "With joy and goodly gree! It hath reached me, O +auspicious King, that when the third old man told a tale to the +Jinni more wondrous than the two preceding, the Jinni marvelled +with exceeding marvel, and, shaking with delight, cried, Lo! I +have given thee the remainder of the merchant's punishment and +for thy sake have I released him." Thereupon the merchant +embraced the old men and thanked them, and these Shaykhs wished +him joy on being saved and fared forth each one for his own city. +Yet this tale is not more wondrous than the fisherman's story." +Asked the King, "What is the fisherman's story?" And she answered +by relating the tale of + + + + + + THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI. + + +It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was a Fisher +man well stricken in years who had a wife and three children, and +withal was of poor condition. Now it was his custom to cast his +net every day four times, and no more. On a day he went forth +about noontide to the sea shore, where he laid down his basket; +and, tucking up his shirt and plunging into the water, made a +cast with his net and waited till it settled to the bottom. Then +he gathered the cords together and haled away at it, but found it +weighty; and however much he drew it landwards, he could not pull +it up; so he carried the ends ashore and drove a stake into the +ground and made the net fast to it. Then he stripped and dived +into the water all about the net, and left not off working hard +until he had brought it up. He rejoiced thereat and, donning his +clothes, went to the net, when he found in it a dead jackass +which had torn the meshes. Now when he saw it, he exclaimed in +his grief, "There is no Majesty, and there is no Might save in +Allah the Glorious, the Great!" Then quoth he, "This is a strange +manner of daily bread;" and he began re citing in extempore +verse:-- + +O toiler through the glooms of night in peril and in pain * Thy + toiling stint for daily bread comes not by might and main! +Seest thou not the fisher seek afloat upon the sea * His bread, + while glimmer stars of night as set in tangled skein. +Anon he plungeth in despite the buffet of the waves * The while + to sight the bellying net his eager glances strain; +Till joying at the night's success, a fish he bringeth home * + Whose gullet by the hook of Fate was caught and cut in + twain. +When buys that fish of him a man who spent the hours of night * + Reckless of cold and wet and gloom in ease and comfort fain, +Laud to the Lord who gives to this, to that denies his wishes * + And dooms one toil and catch the prey and other eat the + fishes.[FN#60] + +Then quoth he, "Up and to it; I am sure of His beneficence, +Inshallah!" So he continued:-- + +When thou art seized of Evil Fate, assume * The noble soul's long + suffering: 'tis thy best: +Complain not to the creature; this be plaint * From one most + Ruthful to the ruthlessest. + +The Fisherman, when he had looked at the dead ass, got it free of +the toils and wrung out and spread his net; then he plunged into +the sea, saying, "In Allah's name!" and made a cast and pulled at +it, but it grew heavy and settled down more firmly than the first +time. Now he thought that there were fish in it, and he made it +fast, and doffing his clothes went into the water, and dived and +haled until he drew it up upon dry land. Then found he in it a +large earthen pitcher which was full of sand and mud; and seeing +this he was greatly troubled and began repeating these +verses[FN#61]:-- + +Forbear, O troubles of the world, * And pardon an ye nill + forbear: +I went to seek my daily bread * I find that breadless I must + fare: +For neither handcraft brings me aught * Nor Fate allots to me a + share: +How many fools the Pleiads reach * While darkness whelms the + wise and ware. + +So he prayed pardon of Allah and, throwing away the jar, wrung +his net and cleansed it and returned to the sea the third time to +cast his net and waited till it had sunk. Then he pulled at it +and found therein potsherds and broken glass; whereupon he began +to speak these verses:-- + +He is to thee that daily bread thou canst nor loose nor bind * + Nor pen nor writ avail thee aught thy daily bread to find: +For joy and daily bread are what Fate deigneth to allow; * This + soil is sad and sterile ground, while that makes glad the + hind. +The shafts of Time and Life bear down full many a man of worth * + While bearing up to high degree wights of ignoble mind. +So come thou, Death! for verily life is not worth a straw * When + low the falcon falls withal the mallard wings the wind: +No wonder 'tis thou seest how the great of soul and mind * Are + poor, and many a loser carle to height of luck designed. +This bird shall overfly the world from east to furthest west * + And that shall win her every wish though ne'er she leave the + nest. + +Then raising his eyes heavenwards he said, "O my God![FN#62] +verily Thou wottest that I cast not my net each day save four +times[FN#63]; the third is done and as yet Thou hast vouchsafed +me nothing. So this time, O my God, deign give me my daily +bread." Then, having called on Allah's name,[FN#64] he again +threw his net and waited its sinking and settling; whereupon he +haled at it but could not draw it in for that it was entangled at +the bottom. He cried out in his vexation "There is no Majesty and +there is no Might save in Allah!" and he began reciting:-- + + Fie on this wretched world, an so it be * I must be whelmed by + grief and misery: + Tho' gladsome be man's lot when dawns the morn * He drains the + cup of woe ere eve he see: + Yet was I one of whom the world when asked * "Whose lot is + happiest?" oft would say "'Tis he!" + +Thereupon he stripped and, diving down to the net, busied him +self 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 diners." 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 +thou sand 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 cucur bit?" Now when the Evil Spirit heard the words of the +Fisher man, quoth he; "There is no god but the God: be of good +cheer, O Fisherman!" Quoth the Fisherman, "Why biddest thou me to +be of good cheer?" and he replied, "Because of thy having to die +an ill death in this very hour." Said the Fisherman, "Thou +deservest for thy good tidings the withdrawal of Heaven's +protection, O thou distant one![FN#69] Wherefore shouldest thou kill +me and what thing have I done to deserve death, I who freed thee +from the jar, and saved thee from the depths of the sea, and +brought thee up on the dry land?" Replied the Ifrit, "Ask of me +only what mode of death thou wilt die, and by what manner of +slaughter shall I slay thee." Rejoined the Fisherman, "What is my +crime and wherefore such retribution?" Quoth the Ifrit, "Hear my +story, O Fisherman!" and he answered, "Say on, and be brief in +thy saying, for of very sooth my life breath is in my +nostrils."[FN#70] Thereupon quoth the Jinni, "Know, that I am one +among the heretical Jann and I sinned against Sulayman, David son +(on the twain be peace!) I together with the famous Sakhr al +Jinni;"[FN#71] whereupon the Prophet sent his minister, Asaf son +of Barkhiya, to seize me; and this Wazir brought me against my +will and led me in bonds to him (I being downcast despite my +nose) and he placed me standing before him like a suppliant. When +Sulayman saw me, he took refuge with Allah and bade me embrace +the True Faith and obey his behests; but I refused, so sending +for this cucurbit[FN#72] he shut me up therein, and stopped it +over with lead whereon he impressed the Most High Name, and gave +his orders to the Jann who carried me off, and cast me into the +midmost of the ocean. There I abode an hundred years, during +which I said in my heart, "Whoso shall release me, him will I +enrich for ever and ever." But the full century went by and, when +no one set me free, I entered upon the second five score saying, +"Whoso shall release me, for him I will open the hoards of the +earth." Still no one set me free and thus four hundred years +passed away. Then quoth I, "Whoso shall release me, for him will +I fulfil three wishes." Yet no one set me free. Thereupon I waxed +wroth with exceeding wrath and said to myself, "Whoso shall +release me from this time forth, him will I slay and I will give +him choice of what death he will die; and now, as thou hast +released me, I give thee full choice of deaths." The Fisherman, +hearing the words of the Ifrit, said, "O Allah! the wonder of it +that I have not come to free thee save in these days!" adding, +"Spare my life, so Allah spare thine; and slay me not, lest Allah +set one to slay thee." Replied the Contumacious One, "There is no +help for it; die thou must; so ask me by way of boon what manner +of death thou wilt die." Albeit thus certified the Fisherman +again addressed the Ifrit saying, "Forgive me this my death as a +generous reward for having freed thee;" and the Ifrit, "Surely I +would not slay thee save on account of that same release." "O +Chief of the Ifrits," said the Fisherman, "I do thee good and +thou requitest me with evil! in very sooth the old saw lieth not +when it saith:-- + +We wrought them weal, they met our weal with ill; * Such, by my + life! is every bad man's labour: +To him who benefits unworthy wights * Shall hap what inapt to + Ummi Amir's neighbor.[FN#73]" + +Now when the Ifrit heard these words he answered, "No more of +this talk, needs must I kill thee." Upon this the Fisherman said +to himself, "This is a Jinni; and I am a man to whom Allah hath +given a passably cunning wit, so I will now cast about to com +pass 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! cost 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 per ceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her +permitted say. + + When it was the Fourth Night, + +Her sister said to her, "Please finish us this tale, an thou be +not sleepy!" so she resumed:--It hath reached me, O auspicious +King, that when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, "I will never +and nowise believe thee until I see thee inside it with mine own +eyes;" the Evil Spirit on the instant shook[FN#75] and became a +vapour, which condensed, and entered the jar little and little, +till all was well inside when lo! the Fisherman in hot haste took +the leaden cap with the seal and stoppered therewith the mouth of +the jar and called out to the Ifrit, saying, "Ask me by way of +boon what death thou wilt die! By Allah, I will throw thee into +the sea[FN#76] be fore 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 an +swered, "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 spurn +east my supplication and hadst no intention save to deal un +graciously by me, and Allah hath now thrown thee into my hands +and I am cunninger than thou." Quoth the Ifrit, "Open for me and +I may bring thee weal." Quoth the Fisherman, "Thou liest, thou +accursed! my case with thee is that of the Wazir of King Yunan +with the sage Duban."[FN#77] "And who was the Wazir of King Yunan +and who was the sage Duban; and what was the story about them?" +quoth the Ifrit, whereupon the Fisherman began to tell + + + + + +The Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban. + + +Know, O thou Ifrit, that in days of yore and in ages long gone +before, a King called Yunan reigned over the city of Fars of the +land of the Roum.[FN#78] He was a powerful ruler and a wealthy, +who had armies and guards and allies of all nations of men; but +his body was afflicted with a leprosy which leaches and men of +science failed to heal. He drank potions and he swallowed pow +ders and he used unguents, but naught did him good and none among +the host of physicians availed to procure him a cure. At last +there came to his city a mighty healer of men and one well +stricken in years, the sage Duban highs. 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 ablation[FN#82] in the +Hammam bath, and lay thee down to sleep; so shalt thou be come +whole; and now peace be with thee!" Thereupon King Yunan took the +bat from the Sage and grasped it firmly; then, mounting steed, he +drove the ball before him and gallopped after it till he reached +it, when he struck it with all his might, his palm gripping the +bat handle the while; and he ceased not malling the ball till his +hand waxed moist and his skin, perspiring, imbibed the medicine +from the wood. Then the sage Duban knew that the drugs had +penetrated his person and bade him return to the palace and enter +the Hammam without stay or delay; so King Yunan forthright +returned and ordered them to clear for him the bath. They did so, +the carpet spreaders making all haste, and the slaves all hurry +and got ready a change of raiment for the King. He entered the +bath and made the total ablution long and thoroughly; then donned +his clothes within the Hammam and rode therefrom to his palace +where he lay him down and slept. Such was the case with King +Yunan, but as regards the sage Duban, he returned home and slept +as usual and when morning dawned he repaired to the palace and +craved audience. The King ordered him to be admitted; then, +having kissed the ground between his hands, in allusion to the +King he recited these couplets with solemn intonation:-- + +Happy is Eloquence when thou art named her sire * But mourns + she whenas other man the title claimed. +O Lord of fairest presence, whose illuming rays * Clear off the + fogs of doubt aye veiling deeds high famed, +Ne'er cease thy face to shine like Dawn and rise of Morn * And + never show Time's face with heat of ire inflamed! +Thy grace hath favoured us with gifts that worked such wise * As + rain clouds raining on the hills by words enframed: +Freely thou lavishedst thy wealth to rise on high * Till won from + Time the heights whereat thy grandeur aimed. + +Now when the Sage ceased reciting, the King rose quickly to his +feet and fell on his neck; then, seating him by his side he bade +dress him in a sumptuous dress; for it had so happened that when +the King left the Hammam he looked on his body and saw no trace +of leprosy: the skin was all clean as virgin silver. He joyed +thereat with exceeding joy, his breast broadened[FN#83] with +delight and he felt thoroughly happy. Presently, when it was full +day he entered his audience hall and sat upon the throne of his +kingship whereupon his Chamberlains and Grandees flocked to the +presence and with them the Sage Duban. Seeing the leach the King +rose to him in honour and seated him by his side; then the food +trays furnished with the daintiest viands were brought and the +physician ate with the King, nor did he cease companying him all +that day. Moreover, at nightfall he gave the physician Duban two +thousand gold pieces, besides the usual dress of honour and other +gifts galore, and sent him home on his own steed. After the Sage +had fared forth King Yunan again expressed his amazement at the +leach's art, saying, "This man medicined my body from without nor +anointed me with aught of ointments: by Allah, surely this is +none other than consummate skill! I am bound to honour such a man +with re wards 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 con versing 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 en closeth the black +of the eye.[FN#85] Now the King had a Wazir among his Wazirs, +unsightly to look upon, an ill omened spectacle; sor did, +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 say +ing, "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 king ship: 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 +cost 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 some thing which I held in my hand, and he healed +my leprosy which had baffled all physicians; indeed he is one +whose like may not be found in these days--no, not in the whole +world from furthest east to utmost west! And it is of such a man +thou sayest such hard sayings. Now from this day forward I allot +him a settled solde and allowances, every month a thousand gold +pieces; and, were I to share with him my realm 'twere but a +little matter. Perforce I must suspect that thou speakest on this +wise from mere envy and jealousy as they relate of the King +Sindibad."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased +saying her permitted say. Then quoth Dunyazad, "O my sister, how +pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful, how sweet, and how +grateful!" She replied, "And where is this compared with what I +could tell thee on the coming night if the King deign spare my +life?" Then said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay +her until I hear the rest of her tale, for truly it is wondrous." +So they rested that night in mutual embrace until the dawn. Then +the King went forth to his Hall of Rule, and the Wazir and the +troops came in, and the audience chamber was thronged and the +King gave orders and judged and appointed and deposed and bade +and forbade during the rest of that day till the Court broke up, +and King Shahryar returned to his palace. + + When It Was The Fifth Night, + +Her sister said, "Do you finish for us thy story if thou be not +sleepy," and she resumed:--It hath reached me, O auspicious King +and mighty Monarch, that King Yunan said to his Minister, "O +Wazir, thou art one whom the evil spirit of envy hath possessed +because of this physician, and thou plottest for my putting him +to death, after which I should repent me full sorely, even as +repented King Sindibad for killing his falcon." Quoth the Wazir, +Pardon me, O King of the age, how was that?" So the King began +the story of + + + + + +King Sindibad and his Falcon. + + +It is said (but Allah is All knowing![FN#86]) that there was a +King of the Kings of Fars, who was fond of pleasuring and +diversion, especially coursing end hunting. He had reared a +falcon which he carried all night on his fist, and whenever he +went a chasing he took with him this bird; and he bade make for +her a golden cuplet hung around her neck to give her drink +therefrom. One day as the King was sitting quietly in his palace, +behold, the high falcaner of the household suddenly addressed +him, "O King of the age, this is indeed a day fit for birding." +The King gave orders accordingly and set out taking the hawk on +fist; and they fared merrily forwards till they made a +Wady[FN#87] where they planted a circle of nets for the chase; +when lo! a gazelle came within the toils and the King cried, +"Whoso alloweth yon gazelle to spring over his head and loseth +her, that man will I surely slay." They narrowed the nets about +the gazelle when she drew near the King's station; and, planting +herself on her hind quarter, crossed her forehand over her +breast, as if about to kiss the earth before the King. He bowed +his brow low in acknowledgment to the beast; when she bounded +high over his head and took the way of the waste. Thereupon the +King turned towards his troops and seeing them winking and +pointing at him, he asked, "O Wazir, what are my men saying?" and +the Minister answered, "They say thou didst proclaim that whoso +alloweth the gazelle to spring over his head, that man shall be +put to death." Quoth the King, "Now, by the life of my head! I +will follow her up till I bring her back." So he set off +gallopping on the gazelle's trail and gave not over tracking till +he reached the foot hills of a mountain chain where the quarry +made for a cave. Then the King cast off at it the falcon which +presently caught it up and, swooping down, drove her talons into +its eyes, bewildering and blinding it;[FN#88] and the King drew +his mace and struck a blow which rolled the game over. He then +dismounted; and, after cutting the antelope's throat and flaying +the body, hung it to the pommel of his saddle. Now the time was +that of the siesta[FN#89] and the wold was parched and dry, nor +was any water to be found anywhere; and the King thirsted and his +horse also; so he went about searching till he saw a tree +dropping water, as it were melted butter, from its boughs. +Thereupon the King who wore gauntlets of skin to guard him +against poisons took the cup from the hawk's neck, and filling it +with the water set it before the bird, and lo! the falcon struck +it with her pounces and upset the liquid. The King filled it a +second time with the dripping drops, thinking his hawk was +thirsty; but the bird again struck at the cup with her talons and +overturned it. Then the King waxed wroth with the hawk and +filling the cup a third time offered it to his horse: but the +hawk upset it with a flirt of wings. Quoth the King, "Allah +confound thee, thou unluckiest of flying things! thou keepest me +from drinking, and thou deprivest thyself also, and the horse." +So he struck the falcon with his sword and cut off her wing; but +the bird raised her head and said by signs, "Look at that which +hangeth on the tree!" The King lifted up his eyes accordingly and +caught sight of a brood of vipers, whose poison drops he mistook +for water; thereupon he repented him of having struck off his +falcon's wing, and mounting horse, fared on with the dead +gazelle, till he arrived at the camp, his starting place. He +threw the quarry to the cook saying, Take and broil it," and sat +down on his chair, the falcon being still on his fist when +suddenly the bird gasped and died; whereupon the King cried out +in sorrow and remorse for having slain that falcon which had +saved his life. Now this is what occurred in the case of King +Sindibad; and I am assured that were I to do as thou desirest I +should repent even as the man who killed his parrot." Quoth the +Wazir, "And how was that?" And the King began to tell + + + + + +The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot.[FN#90] + + +A certain man and a merchant to boot had married a fair wife, a +woman of perfect beauty and grace, symmetry and loveliness, of +whom he was mad-jealous, and who contrived successfully to keep +him from travel. At last an occasion compelling him to leave her, +he went to the bird market and bought him for one hundred gold +pieces a she parrot which he set in his house to act as duenna, +expecting her to acquaint him on his return with what had passed +during the whole time of his absence; for the bird was kenning +and cunning and never forgot what she had seen and heard. Now his +fair wife had fallen in love with a young Turk, [FN#91] who used +to visit her, and she feasted him by day and lay with him by +night. When the man had made his journey and won his wish he came +home; and, at once causing the Parrot be brought to him, +questioned her concerning the conduct of his consort whilst he +was in foreign parts. Quoth she, "Thy wife hath a man friend who +passed every night with her during thine absence." Thereupon the +husband went to his wife in a violent rage and bashed her with a +bashing severe enough to satisfy any body. The woman, suspecting +that one of the slave girls had been tattling to the master, +called them together and questioned them upon their oaths, when +all swore that they had kept the secret, but that the Parrot had +not, adding, "And we heard her with our own ears." Upon this the +woman bade one of the girls to set a hand mill under the cage and +grind therewith and a second to sprinkle water through the cage +roof and a third to run about, right and left, dashing 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 after wards +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 Yu nan, +rejoined, 'O Monarch, high in dignity, and what harm have I done +him, or what evil have I seen from him that I should compass his +death? I would not do this thing, save to serve thee, and soon +shalt thou sight that it is right; and if thou accept my advice +thou shalt be saved, otherwise thou shalt be destroyed even as a +certain Wazir who acted treacherously by the young Prince." Asked +the King, "How was that?" and the Minister thus began + + + + + +The Tale of the Prince and the Ogress. + + +A certain King, who had a son over much given to hunting and +coursing, ordered one of his Wazirs to be in attendance upon him +whithersoever he might wend. One day the youth set out for the +chase accompanied by his father's Minister; and, as they jogged +on together, a big wild beast came in sight. Cried the Wazir to +the King's son, "Up and at yon noble quarry!" So the Prince +followed it until he was lost to every eye and the chase got away +from him in the waste; whereby he was confused and he knew not +which way to turn, when lo! a damsel appeared ahead and she was +in tears. The King's son asked, "Who art thou?" and she answered, +"I am daughter to a King among the Kings of Hind, and I was +travelling with a caravan in the desert when drowsiness overcame +me, and I fell from my beast unwittingly whereby I am cut off +from my people and sore bewildered." The Prince, hearing these +words, pitied her case and, mounting her on his horse's crupper, +travelled until he passed by an old ruin [FN#95], when the damsel +said to him, "O my master, I wish to obey a call of nature": he +therefore set her down at the ruin where she delayed so long that +the King's son thought that she was only wasting time; so he +followed her without her knowledge and behold, she was a +Ghulah,[FN#96] a wicked Ogress, who was saying to her brood, "O +my children, this day I bring you a fine fat youth, [FN#97] for +dinner;" whereto they answered, "Bring him quick to us, O our +mother, that we may browse upon him our bellies full." The Prince +hearing their talk, made sure of death and his side muscles +quivered in fear for his life, so he turned away and was about to +fly. The Ghulah came out and seeing him in sore affright (for he +was trembling in every limb? cried, "Wherefore art thou afraid?" +and he replied, "I have hit upon an enemy whom I greatly fear." +Asked the Ghulah, "Diddest thou not say: - I am a King's son?" +and he answered, "Even so." Then quoth she, "Why cost not give +shine 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 I deceive thee." 'Thou hast again spoken +sooth, O Wazir," said the King and sent one to call the Sage who +came in joyful mood for he knew not what had appointed for him +the Compassionate; as a certain poet saith by way of +illustration:-- + +O Thou who fearest Fate, confiding fare * Trust all to Him who + built the world and wait: +What Fate saith "Be" perforce must be, my lord! * And safe art + thou from th undecreed of Fate. + +As Duban the physician entered he addressed the King in these +lines:-- + +An fail I of my thanks to thee nor thank thee day by day * For + whom com posed I prose and verse, for whom my say and lay? +Thou lavishedst thy generous gifts ere they were craved by me * + Thou lavishedst thy boons unsought sans pretext or delay: +How shall I stint my praise of thee, how shall I cease to laud * + The grace of thee in secresy and patentest display? +Nay; I will thank thy benefits, for aye thy favours lie * Light + on my thought and tongue, though heavy on my back they + weigh. + +And he said further on the same theme:-- + +Turn thee from grief nor care a jot! * Commit thy needs to Fate + and Lot! +Enjoy the Present passing well * And let the Past be clean forgot +For whatso haply seemeth worse * Shall work thy weal as Allah + wot +Allah shall do whate'er He wills * And in His will oppose Him + not. + +And further still.-- + +To th' All wise Subtle One trust worldly things * Rest thee from + all whereto the worldling clings: +Learn wisely well naught cometh by thy will * But e'en as willeth + Allah, King of Kings. + +And lastly.-- + +Gladsome and gay forget thine every grief * Full often grief the + wisest hearts outwore: +Thought is but folly in the feeble slave * Shun it and so be + saved evermore. + +Said the King for sole return, "Knowest thou why I have summoned +thee?" and the Sage replied, "Allah Most Highest alone kenneth +hidden things!" But the King rejoined, "I summoned thee only to +take thy life and utterly to destroy thee." Duban the Wise +wondered at this strange address with exceeding wonder and asked, +"O King, and wherefore wouldest thou slay me, and what ill have I +done thee?" and the King answered, "Men tell me thou art a spy +sent hither with intent to slay me; and lo! I will kill thee ere +I be killed by thee;" then he called to his Sworder, and said, +"Strike me off the head of this traitor and deliver us from his +evil practices." Quoth the Sage, "Spare me and Allah will spare +thee; slay me not or Allah shall slay thee." And he repeated to +him these very words, even as I to thee, O Ifrit, and yet thou +wouldst not let me go, being bent upon my death. King Yunan only +rejoined, "I shall not be safe without slaying thee; for, as thou +healedst me by something held in hand, so am I not secure against +thy killing me by something given me to smell or otherwise." Said +the physician, "This then, O King, is thy requital and reward; +thou returnest only evil for good." The King replied, "There is +no help for it; die thou must and without delay." Now when the +physician was certified that the King would slay him without +waiting, he wept and regretted the good he had done to other than +the good. As one hath said on this subject:-- + +Of wit and wisdom is Maymunah[FN#98] bare * Whose sire in + wisdom all the wits outstrippeth: +Man may not tread on mud or dust or clay * Save by good sense, + else trippeth he and slippeth. + +Hereupon the Sworder stepped forward and bound the Sage Duban's +eyes and bared his blade, saying to the King, "By thy leave;" +while the physician wept and cried, "Spare me and Allah will +spare thee, and slay me not or Allah shall slay thee," and began +repeating:-- + +I was kind and 'scaped not, they were cruel and escaped; * And my + kindness only led me to Ruination Hall, +If I live I'll ne'er be kind; if I die, then all be damned * Who + follow me, and curses their kindliness befal. + +"Is this," continued Duban, "the return I meet from thee? Thou +givest me, meseems, but crocodile boon." Quoth the King,"What is +the tale of the crocodile?", and quoth the physician, "Impossible +for me to tell it in this my state; Allah upon thee, spare me, as +thou hopest Allah shall spare thee." And he wept with ex ceeding +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, cost 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 un stuck six leaves he looked over them +and, finding nothing written thereon, said, "O physician, there +is no writing here!" Duban re plied, "Turn over yet more;" and he +turned over three others in the same way. Now the book was +poisoned; and before long the venom penetrated his system, and he +fell into strong convulsions and he cried out, "The poison hath +done its work!" Whereupon the Sage Duban's head began to +improvise:-- + +There be rulers who have ruled with a foul tyrannic sway * + But they soon became as though they had never, never been: +Just, they had won justice: they oppressed and were oppress * + By Fortune, who requited them with ban and bane and teen: +So they faded like the morn, and the tongue of things repeats * + "Take this far that, nor vent upon Fortune's ways thy + spleen." + +No sooner had the head ceased speaking than the King rolled over +dead. Now I would have thee know, O Ifrit, that if King Yunan had +spared the Sage Duban, Allah would have spared him, but he +refused so to do and decreed to do him dead, wherefore Allah slew +him; and thou too, O Ifrit, if thou hadst spared me, Allah would +have spared thee. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and +ceased saying her permitted say: then quoth Dunyazad, "O my +sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful; how sweet, +and how grateful!" She replied, "And where is this compared with +what I could tell thee this coming night, if I live and the King +spare me?" Said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay +her until I hear the rest of her story, for truly it is +wondrous." They rested that night in mutual embrace until dawn: +then the King went forth to his Darbar; the Wazirs and troops +came in and the audience hall was crowded; so the King gave +orders and judged and appointed and deposed and bade and forbade +the rest of that day, when the court broke up, and King Shahryar +entered his palace, + + When it was the Sixth Night, + +Her sister, Dunyazad, said to her,"Pray finish for us thy story;" +and she answered, "I will if the King give me leave." "Say on," +quoth the King. And she continued:--It hath reached me, O +auspicious King, that when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, "If +thou hadst spared me I would have spared thee, but nothing would +satisfy thee save my death; so now I will do thee die by jailing +thee in this jar and I will hurl thee into this sea." Then the +Marid roared aloud and cried, "Allah upon thee, O Fisher man, +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 my self 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 ad +ministered 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 +God speed, 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 +diners: he gave them accordingly, and the man took them to his +bosom and ran off home stumbling and falling and rising again and +deeming the whole thing to be a dream. However, he bought for his +family all they wanted and lastly he went to his wife in huge joy +and gladness. So far concerning him; but as regards the cookmaid, +she took the fish and cleansed them and set them in the frying +pan, basting them with oil till one side was dressed. Then she +turned them over and, behold, the kitchen wall crave asunder, and +therefrom came a young lady, fair of form, oval of face, perfect +in grace, with eyelids which Kohl lines enchase.[FN#106] Her +dress was a silken head kerchief fringed and tasseled with blue: +a large ring hung from either ear; a pair of bracelets adorned +her wrists; rings with bezels of priceless gems were on her +fingers; and she hent in hand a long rod of rattan cane which she +thrust into the frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! be ye +constant to your covenant?" When the cookmaiden saw this +apparition she swooned away. The young lady repeated her words a +second time and a third time, and at last the fishes raised their +heads from the pan, and saying in articulate speech "Yes! Yes!" +began with one voice to recite:-- + +Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * And if ye + fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry! + +After this the young lady upset the frying pan and went forth by +the way she came in and the kitchen wall closed upon her. When +the cook maiden recovered from her fainting fit, she saw the four +fishes charred black as charcoal, and crying out, "His staff +brake in his first bout,"[FN#107] she again fell swooning to the +ground. Whilst she was in this case the Wazir came for the fish +and looking upon her as insensible she lay, not knowing Sunday +from Thursday, shoved her with his foot and said, "Bring the fish +for the Sultan!" Thereupon recovering from her fainting fit she +wept and in formed 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 crave asunder and the young lady +appeared, clad as before and holding in hand the wand which she +again thrust into the frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! be ye +constant to your olden covenant?" And behold, the fish lifted +their heads, and repeated "Yes! Yes!" and recited this couplet: + +Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye + fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry! + +And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her +permitted say. + + When it was the Seventh Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when +the fishes spoke, and the young lady upset the frying pan with +her rod, and went forth by the way she came and the wall closed +up, the Wazir cried out, "This is a thing not to be hidden from +the King." So he went and told him what had happened, where upon +quoth the King, "There is no help for it but that I see this with +mine own eyes." Then he sent for the Fisherman and commended 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 crave asunder, and out +burst a black slave like a huge rock or a remnant of the tribe +Ad[FN#108] bearing in hand a branch of a green tree; and he cried +in loud and terrible tones, "O fish! O fish! be ye all constant +to your antique covenant?" whereupon the fishes lifted their +heads from the frying pan and said, "Yes! Yes ! we be true to our +vow;" and they again recited the couplet: + +Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye + fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry! + +Then the huge blackamoor approached the frying pan and upset it +with the branch and went forth by the way he came in. When he +vanished from their sight the King inspected the fish; and +finding them all charred black as charcoal, was utterly +bewildered and said to the Wazir, "Verily this is a matter +whereanent silence cannot be kept, and as for the fishes, +assuredly some marvellous adventure connects with them." So he +bade bring the Fisherman and asked him, saying "Fie on thee, +fellow! whence came these fishes?" and he answered, "From a tarn +between four heights lying behind this mountain which is in sight +of thy city." Quoth the King, "How many days' march?" Quoth he, +"O our lord the Sultan, a walk of half hour." The King wondered +and, straight way ordering his men to march and horsemen to +mount, led off the Fisherman who went before as guide, privily +damning the Ifrit. They fared on till they had climbed the +mountain and descended unto a great desert which they had never +seen during all their lives; and the Sultan and his merry men +marvelled much at the wold set in the midst of four mountains, +and the tarn and its fishes of four colours, red and white, +yellow and blue. The King stood fixed to the spot in wonderment +and asked his troops and all present, "Hath any one among you +ever seen this piece of water before now?" and all made answer, +"O King of the age never did we set eyes upon it during all our +days." They also questioned the oldest inhabitants they met, men +well stricken in years, but they replied, each and every, "A +lakelet this we never saw in this place." Thereupon quoth the +King, "By Allah I will neither return to my capital nor sit upon +the throne of my forbears till I learn the truth about this tarn +and the fish therein." He then ordered his men to dismount and +bivouac all around the mountain; which they did; and summoning +his Wazir, a Minister of much experience, sagacious, of +penetrating wit and well versed in affairs, said to him, "'Tis in +my mind to do a certain thing whereof I will inform thee; my +heart telleth me to fare forth alone this night and root out the +mystery of this tarn and its fishes. Do thou take thy seat at my +tent door, and say to the Emirs and Wazirs, the Nabobs and the +Chamberlains, in fine to all who ask thee:--The Sultan is ill at +ease, and he hath ordered me to refuse all admittance;[FN#109] +and be careful thou let none know my design." And the Wazir could +not oppose him. Then the King changed his dress and ornaments +and, slinging his sword over his shoulder, took a path which led +up one of the mountains and marched for the rest of the night +till morning dawned; nor did he cease wayfaring till the heat was +too much for him. After his long walk he rested for a while, and +then resumed his march and fared on through the second night till +dawn, when suddenly there appeared a black point in the far +distance. Hereat he rejoiced and said to himself, "Haply some one +here shall acquaint me with the mystery of the tarn and its +fishes." Presently drawing near the dark object he found it a +palace built of swart stone plated with iron; and, while one leaf +of the gate stood wide open, the other was shut, The King's +spirits rose high as he stood before the gate and rapped a light +rap; but hearing no answer he knocked a second knock and a third; +yet there came no sign. Then he knocked his loudest but still no +answer, so he said, "Doubtless 'tis empty." Thereupon he mustered +up resolution and boldly walked through the main gate into the +great hall and there cried out aloud, "Holla, ye people of the +palace! I am a stranger and a wayfarer; have you aught here of +victual?" He repeated his cry a second time and a third but still +there came no reply; so strengthening his heart and making up his +mind he stalked through the vestibule into the very middle of the +palace and found no man in it. Yet it was furnished with silken +stuffs gold starred; and the hangings were let down over the door +ways. In the midst was a spacious court off which set four open +saloons each with its raised dais, saloon facing saloon; a canopy +shaded the court and in the centre was a jetting fount with four +figures of lions made of red gold, spouting from their mouths +water clear as pearls and diaphanous gems. Round about the palace +birds were let loose and over it stretched a net of golden wire, +hindering them from flying off; in brief there was everything but +human beings. The King marvelled mightily thereat, yet felt he +sad at heart for that he saw no one to give him account of the +waste and its tarn, the fishes, the mountains and the palace +itself. Presently as he sat between the doors in deep thought +behold, there came a voice of lament, as from a heart grief spent +and he heard the voice chanting these verses:-- + +I hid what I endured of him[FN#110] and yet it came to light, * + And nightly sleep mine eyelids fled and changed to sleepless + night: +Oh world! Oh Fate! withhold thy hand and cease thy hurt and + harm * Look and behold my hapless sprite in colour and + affright: +Wilt ne'er show ruth to highborn youth who lost him on the way * + Of Love, and fell from wealth and fame to lowest basest + wight. +Jealous of Zephyr's breath was I as on your form he breathed * + But whenas Destiny descends she blindeth human sight[FN#111] +What shall the hapless archer do who when he fronts his foe * And + bends his bow to shoot the shaft shall find his string + undight? +When cark and care so heavy bear on youth[FN#112] of generous + soul * How shall he 'scape his lot and where from Fate his + place of flight? + +Now when the Sultan heard the mournful voice he sprang to his +feet; and, following the sound, found a curtain let down over a +chamber door. He raised it and saw behind it a young man sitting +upon a couch about a cubit above the ground; and he fair to the +sight, a well shaped wight, with eloquence dight; his forehead +was flower white, his cheek rosy bright, and a mole on his cheek +breadth like an ambergris mite; even as the poet cloth indite:-- + +A youth slim waisted from whose locks and brow * The world in + blackness and in light is set. +Throughout Creation's round no fairer show * No rarer sight thine + eye hath ever met: +A nut brown mole sits throned upon a cheek * Of rosiest red + beneath an eye of jet.[FN#113] + +The King rejoiced and saluted him, but he remained sitting in his +caftan of silken stuff pureed with Egyptian gold and his crown +studded with gems of sorts; but his face was sad with the traces +of sorrow. He returned the royal salute in most courteous wise +adding, "O my lord, thy dignity demandeth my rising to thee; and +my sole excuse is to crave thy pardon."[FN#114] Quoth the King, +"Thou art excused, O youth; so look upon me as thy guest come +hither on an especial object. I would thou acquaint me with the +secrets of this tarn and its fishes and of this palace and thy +loneliness therein and the cause of thy groaning and wailing." +When the young man heard these words he wept with sore +weeping;[FN#115] till his bosom was drenched with tears and began +reciting-- + +Say him who careless sleeps what while the shaft of Fortune flies + * How many cloth this shifting world lay low and raise to + rise? +Although thine eye be sealed in sleep, sleep not th' Almighty's + eyes * And who hath found Time ever fair, or Fate in + constant guise? + +Then he sighed a long fetched sigh and recited:-- + +Confide thy case to Him, the Lord who made mankind; * Quit cark + and care and cultivate content of mind; +Ask not the Past or how or why it came to pass: * All human + things by Fate and Destiny were designed! + +The King marvelled and asked him, "What maketh thee weep, O young +man?" and he answered, "How should I not weep, when this is my +case!" Thereupon he put out his hand and raised the skirt of his +garment, when lo! the lower half of him appeared stone down to +his feet while from his navel to the hair of his head he was man. +The King, seeing this his plight, grieved with sore grief and of +his compassion cried, "Alack and well away! in very sooth, O +youth, thou heapest sorrow upon my sorrow. I was minded to ask +thee the mystery of the fishes only: whereas now I am concerned +to learn thy story as well as theirs. But there is no Majesty and +there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great![FN#116] +Lose no time, O youth, but tell me forthright thy whole tale." +Quoth he, "Lend me thine ears, thy sight and thine insight;" and +quoth the King, "All are at thy service!" Thereupon the youth +began, "Right wondrous and marvellous is my case and that of +these fishes; and were it graven with gravers upon the eye +corners it were a warner to whoso would be warned." "How is +that?" asked the King, and the young man began to tell + + + + + +The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince. + + +Know then, O my lord, that whilome my sire was King of this city, +and his name was Mahmud, entitled Lord of the Black Islands, and +owner of what are now these four mountains. He ruled three score +and ten years, after which he went to the mercy of the Lord and I +reigned as Sultan in his stead. I took to wife my cousin, the +daughter of my paternal uncle,[FN#117] and she loved me with such +abounding love that whenever I was absent she ate not and she +drank not until she saw me again. She cohabited with me for five +years till a certain day when she went forth to the Hammam bath; +and I bade the cook hasten to get ready all requisites for our +supper. And I entered this palace and lay down on the bed where I +was wont to sleep and bade two damsels to fan my face, one +sitting by my head and the other at my feet. But I was troubled +and made restless by my wife's absence and could not sleep; for +although my eyes were closed my mind and thoughts were wide +awake. Presently I heard the slave girl at my head say to her at +my feet, "O Mas'udah, how miserable is our master and how wasted +in his youth and oh! the pity of his being so be trayed 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! cloth our lord know her ways or cloth she allow him his +choice? Nay, more, cloth 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 velour +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 be fore 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 t the bottom the broiled bones of some rats +we dined on, pick at them, and then go to that slop pot where +thou shalt find some leavings of beer [FN#123] which thou mayest +drink." So she ate and drank and washed her hands, and went and +lay down by the side of the slave, upon the cane trash and, +stripping herself stark naked, she crept in with him under his +foul coverlet and his rags and tatters. When I saw my wife, my +cousin, the daughter of my uncle, do this deed[FN#124] I clean +lost my wits, and climbing down from the roof, I entered and took +the sword which she had with her and drew it, determined to cut +down the twain. I first struck at the slave's neck and thought +that the death decree had fallen on him:"And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Eighth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +young ensorcelled Prince said to the King, "When I smote the +slave with intent to strike off his head, I thought that I had +slain him; for he groaned a loud hissing groan, but I had cut +only the skin and flesh of the gullet and the two arteries! It +awoke the daughter of my uncle, so I sheathed the sword and fared +forth for the city; and, entering the palace, lay upon my bed and +slept till morning when my wife aroused me and I saw that she had +cut off her hair and had donned mourning garments. Quoth she:--O +son of my uncle, blame me not for what I do; it hath just reached +me that my mother is dead, and my father hath been killed in holy +war, and of my brothers one hath lost his life by a snake sting +and the other by falling down some precipice; and I can and +should do naught save weep and lament. When I heard her words I +refrained from all reproach and said only:--Do as thou list; I +certainly will not thwart thee. She continued sorrowing, weeping +and wailing one whole year from the beginning of its circle to +the end, and when it was finished she said to me.--I wish to +build me in thy palace a tomb with a cupola, which I will set +apart for my mourning and will name the House of +Lamentations.[FN#125] Quoth I again:--Do as thou list! Then she +builded for herself a cenotaph wherein to mourn, and set on its +centre a dome under which showed a tomb like a Santon's +sepulchre. Thither she carried the slave and lodged him; but he +was exceeding weak by reason of his wound, and unable to do her +love service; he could only drink wine and from the day of his +hurt he spake not a word, yet he lived on because his appointed +hour[FN#126] was not come. Every day, morning and evening, my +wife went to him and wept and wailed over him and gave him wine +and strong soups, and left not off doing after this manner a +second year; and I bore with her patiently and paid no heed to +her. One day, however, I went in to her unawares; and I found her +weeping and beating her face and crying:--Why art thou absent +from my sight, O my heart's delight? Speak to me, O my life; talk +with me, O my love? Then she recited these verses:-- + +For your love my patience fails and albeit you forget * I may + not, nor to other love my heart can make reply: +Bear my body, bear my soul wheresoever you may fare * And + where you pitch the camp let my body buried lie: +Cry my name above my grave, and an answer shall return * The + moaning of my bones responsive to your cry.[FN#127] + +Then she recited, weeping bitterly the while:-- + +The day of my delight is the day when draw you near * And the + day of mine affright is the day you turn away: +Though I tremble through the night in my bitter dread of death * + When I hold you in my arms I am free from all affray + +Once more she began reciting:-- + +Though a morn I may awake with all happiness in hand * + Though the world all be mine and like Kisra-kings[FN#128] I + reign; +To me they had the worth of the winglet of the gnat * When I fail + to see thy form, when I look for thee in vain + +When she had ended for a time her words and her weeping I said to +her--O my cousin, let this thy mourning suffice, for in pouring +forth tears there is little profit! Thwart me not, answered she, +in aught I do, or I will lay violent hands on myself! So I held +my peace and left her to go her own way; and she ceased not to +cry and keen and indulge her affliction for yet another year. At +the end of the third year I waxed aweary of this lonesome +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 cost thou not answer me, O my master? and she +began reciting:-- + +O thou tomb! O, thou tomb! be his beauty set in shade? * Hast + thou darkened that countenance all sheeny as the noon? +O thou tomb! neither earth nor yet heaven art to me * Then how + cometh it in thee are conjoined my sun and moon? + +When I heard such verses as these rage was heaped upon my rage I +cried out:--Well away! how long is this sorrow to last? and I +began repeating:-- + +O thou tomb! O thou tomb! be his horrors set in blight? * Hast + thou dark ened his countenance that sickeneth the soul? +O thou tomb! neither cess pool nor pipkin art to me * Then how + cometh it in thee are conjoined soil and coal? + +When she heard my words she sprang to her feet crying.--Fie upon +thee, thou cur! all this is of thy doings; thou hast wounded my +heart s darling and thereby worked me sore woe and thou hast +wasted his youth so that these three years he hath lain abed more +dead than alive! In my wrath I cried:--O thou foulest of harlots +and filthiest of whores ever futtered by negro slaves who are +hired to have at thee![FN#129] Yes indeed it was I who did this +good deed; and snatching up my sword I drew it and made at her to +cut her down. But she laughed my words and mine intent to scorn +crying: To heel, hound that thou art! Alas[FN#130] for the past +which shall no more come to pass nor shall any one avail the dead +to raise. Allah hath indeed now given into my hand him who did to +me this thing, a deed that hath burned my heart with a fire which +died not and a flame which might not be quenched! Then she stood +up; and, pronouncing some words to me unintelligible, she said:-- +By virtue of my egromancy become thou half stone and half man; +whereupon I became what thou seest, unable to rise or to sit, and +neither dead nor alive. Moreover she ensorcelled the city with +all its streets and garths, and she turned by her gramarye the +four islands into four mountains around the tarn whereof thou +questionest me; and the citizens, who were of four different +faiths, Moslem, Nazarene, Jew and Magian, she transformed by her +enchantments into fishes; the Moslems are the white, the Magians +red, the Christians blue and the Jews yellow.[FN#131] And every +day she tortureth me and scourgeth me with an hundred stripes, +each of which draweth floods of blood and cutteth the skin of my +shoulders to strips; and lastly she clotheth my upper half with a +hair cloth and then throweth over them these robes." Hereupon the +young man again shed tears and began reciting:-- + +In patience, O my God, I endure my lot and fate; * I will bear at + will of Thee whatsoever be my state: +They oppress me; they torture me; they make my life a woe * Yet + haply Heaven's happiness shall compensate my strait: +Yea, straitened is my life by the bane and hate o' foes * But + Mustafa and Murtaza[FN#132] shall ope me Heaven's gate. + +After this the Sultan turned towards the young Prince and said, +"O youth, thou hast removed one grief only to add another grief; +but now, O my friend, where is she; and where is the mausoleum +wherein lieth the wounded slave?" "The slave lieth under yon +dome," quoth the young man, "and she sitteth in the chamber +fronting yonder door. And every day at sunrise she cometh forth, +and first strippeth me, and whippeth me with an hundred strokes +of the leathern scourge, and I weep and shriek; but there is no +power of motion in my lower limbs to keep her off me. After +ending her tormenting me she visiteth the slave, bringing him +wine and boiled meats. And to morrow at an early hour she will be +here." Quoth the King, "By Allah, O youth, I will as suredly do +thee a good deed which the world shall not willingly let die, and +an act of derring do which shall be chronicled long after I am +dead and gone by." Then the King sat him by the side of the young +Prince and talked till nightfall, when he lay down and slept; +but, as soon as the false dawn[FN#133] showed, he arose and +doffing his outer garments[FN#134] bared his blade and hastened +to the place wherein lay the slave. Then was he ware of lighted +candles and lamps, and the perfume of incenses and unguents, and +directed by these, he made for the slave and struck him one +stroke killing him on the spot: after which he lifted him on his +back and threw him into a well that was in the palace. Presentry +he returned and, donning the slave's gear, lay down at length +within the mausoleum with the drawn sword laid close to and along +his side. After an hour or so the accursed witch came; and, first +going to her husband, she stripped off his clothes and, taking a +whip, flogged him cruelly while he cried out, "Ah! enough for me +the case I am in! take pity on me, O my cousin!' But she replied, +"Didst thou take pity on me and spare the life of my true love on +whom I coated?" Then she drew the cilice over his raw and +bleeding skin and threw the robe upon all and went down to the +slave with a goblet of wine and a bowl of meat broth in her +hands. She entered under the dome weeping and wailing, +"Well-away!" and crying, "O my lord! speak a word to me! O my +master! talk awhile with me!" and began to recite these +couplets.-- + +How long this harshness, this unlove, shall bide? * Suffice thee + not tear floods thou hast espied? +Thou cost prolong our parting purposely * And if wouldst please + my foe, thou'rt satisfied! + +Then she wept again and said, "O my lord! speak to me, talk with +me!" The King lowered his voice and, twisting his tongue, spoke +after the fashion of the blackamoors and said "'lack! 'lack! +there be no Ma'esty and there be no Might save in Allauh, the +Gloriose, the Great!" Now when she heard these words she shouted +for joy, and fell to the ground fainting; and when her senses +returned she asked, "O my lord, can it be true that thou hast +power of speech?" and the King making his voice small and faint +answered, "O my cuss! cost 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 +shine 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 negro ring! 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 +commend, 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 n the palm of her hand--And Shahrazad perceived the +dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it Was the Ninth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +young woman, the sorceress, took in hand some of the tarn water +and spake over it words not to be understood, the fishes lifted +their heads and stood up on the instant like men, the spell on +the people of the city having been removed. What was the lake +again became a crowded capital; the bazars were thronged with +folk who bought and sold; each citizen was occupied with his own +calling and the four hills became islands as they were whilome. +Then the young woman, that wicked sorceress, returned to the King +and (still thinking he was the negro) said to him, O my love! +stretch forth thy honoured hand that I may assist thee to rise." +"Nearer to me," quoth the King in a faint and feigned tone. She +came close as to embrace him when he took up the sword lying hid +by his side and smote her across the breast, so that the point +showed gleaming behind her back. Then he smote her a second time +and cut her in twain and cast her to the ground in two halves. +After which he fared forth and found the young man, now freed +from the spell, awaiting him and gave him joy of his happy +release while the Prince kissed his hand with abundant thanks. +Quoth the King, "Wilt thou abide in this city or go with me to my +capital?" Quoth the youth, "O King of the age, wottest thou not +what journey is between thee and thy city?" "Two days and a +half," answered he, whereupon said the other, "An thou be +sleeping, O King, awake! Between thee and thy city is a year's +march for a well girt walker, and thou haddest not come hither in +two days and a half save that the city was under enchantment. And +I, O King, will never part from thee; no, not even for the +twinkling of an eye." The King rejoiced at his words and said, +"Thanks be to Allah who hath bestowed thee upon me! From this +hour thou art my son and my only son, for that in all my life I +have never been blessed with issue." Thereupon they embraced and +joyed with exceeding great joy; and, reaching the palace, the +Prince who had been spell bound informed his lords and his +grandees that he was about to visit the Holy Places as a pilgrim, +and bade them get ready all things necessary for the occasion. +The preparations lasted ten days, after which he set out with the +Sultan, whose heart burned in yearning for his city whence he had +been absent a whole twelvemonth. They journeyed with an escort of +Mamelukes[FN#137] carrying all manners of precious gifts and +rarities, nor stinted they wayfaring day and night for a full +year until they approached the Sultan's capital, and sent on +messengers to announce their coming. Then the Wazir and the whole +army came out to meet him in joy and gladness, for they had given +up all hope of ever seeing their King; and the troops kissed the +ground before him and wished him joy of his safety. He entered +and took seat upon his throne and the Minister came before him +and, when acquainted with all that had be fallen 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 in to 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 Kings, until death came to them. And yet, O King! +this is not more wondrous than the story of + + + + + + The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. + + +Once upon a time there was a Porter in Baghdad, who was a +bachelor and who would remain unmarried. It came to pass on a +certain day, as he stood about the street leaning idly upon his +crate, behold, there stood before him an honourable woman in a +mantilla of Mosul[FN#138] silk, broidered with gold and bordered +with brocade; her walking shoes were also purfled with gold and +her hair floated in long plaits. She raised her face veil[FN#139] +and, showing two black eyes fringed with jetty lashes, whose +glances were soft and languishing and whose perfect beauty was +ever blandishing, she accosted the Porter and said in the suavest +tones and choicest language, "Take up thy crate and follow me." +The Porter was so dazzled he could hardly believe that he heard +her aright, but he shouldered his basket in hot haste saying in +himself, "O day of good luck! O day of Allah's grace!" and walked +after her till she stopped at the door of a house. There she +rapped, and presently came out to her an old man, a Nazarene, to +whom she gave a gold piece, receiving from him in return what she +required of strained wine clear as olive oil; and she set it +safely in the hamper, saying "Lift and follow." Quoth the Porter, +"This, by Allah, is indeed an auspicious day, a day propitious +for the granting of all a man wisheth." He again hoisted up the +crate and followed her; till she stopped at a fruiterer's shop +and bought from him Shami[FN#140] apples and Osmani quinces and +Omani[FN#141] peaches, and cucumbers of Nile growth, and Egyptian +limes and Sultani oranges and citrons; besides Aleppine jasmine, +scented myrtle berries, Damascene nenuphars, flower of +privet[FN#142] and camomile, blood red anemones, violets, and +pomegranate bloom, eglantine and narcissus, and set the whole in +the Porter's crate, saying, "Up with it." So he lifted and +followed her till she stopped at a butcher's booth and said, "Cut +me off ten pounds of mutton." She paid him his price and he +wrapped it in a banana leaf, whereupon she laid it in the crate +and said "Hoist, O Porter." He hoisted accordingly, and followed +her as she walked on till she stopped at a grocer's, where she +bought dry fruits and pistachio kernels, Tihamah raisins, shelled +almonds and all wanted for dessert, and said to the Porter, "Lift +and follow me." So he up with his hamper and after her till she +stayed at the confectioner's, and she bought an earthen platter, +and piled it with all kinds of sweetmeats in his shop, open +worked tarts and fritters scented with musk and "soap cakes," and +lemon loaves and melon preserves,[FN#143] and "Zaynab's combs," +and "ladies' fingers," and "Kazi's tit-bits" and goodies of every +description; and placed the platter in the Porter's crate. +Thereupon quoth he (being a merry man), "Thou shouldest have told +me, and I would have brought with me a pony or a she camel to +carry all this market stuff." She smiled and gave him a little +cuff on the nape saying, "Step out and exceed not in words for +(Allah willing!) thy wage will not be wanting." Then she stopped +at a perfumer's and took from him ten sorts of waters, rose +scented with musk, grange Lower, waterlily, willow flower, violet +and five others; and she also bought two loaves of sugar, a +bottle for perfume spraying, a lump of male in cense, aloe wood, +ambergris and musk, with candles of Alex' andria wax; and she put +the whole into the basket, saying, "Up with thy crate and after +me." He did so and followed until she stood before the +greengrocer's, of whom she bought pickled safflower and olives, +in brine and in oil; with tarragon and cream cheese and hard +Syrian cheese; and she stowed them away in the crate saying to +the Porter, "Take up thy basket and follow me." He did so and +went after her till she came to a fair mansion fronted by a +spacious court, a tall, fine place to which columns gave strength +and grace: and the gate thereof had two leaves of ebony inlaid +with plates of red gold. The lady stopped at the door and, +turning her face veil sideways, knocked softly with her knuckles +whilst the Porter stood behind her, thinking of naught save her +beauty and loveliness. Presently the door swung back and both +leaves were opened, whereupon he looked to see who had opened it; +and behold, it was a lady of tall figure, some five feet high; a +model of beauty and loveliness, brilliance and symmetry and +perfect grace. Her forehead was flower white; her cheeks like the +anemone ruddy bright; her eyes were those of the wild heifer or +the gazelle, with eyebrows like the crescent moon which ends +Sha'aban and begins Ramazan;[FN#144] her mouth was the ring of +Sulayman,[FN#145] her lips coral red, and her teeth like a line +of strung pearls or of camomile petals. Her throat recalled the +antelope's, and her breasts, like two pomegranates of even size, +stood at bay as it were,[FN#146] her body rose and fell in waves +below her dress like the rolls of a piece of brocade, and her +navel[FN#147] would hold an ounce of benzoin ointment. In fine +she was like her of whom the poet said:-- + +On Sun and Moon of palace cast thy sight * Enjoy her flower like + face, her fragrant light: +Thine eyes shall never see in hair so black * Beauty encase a + brow so purely white: +The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim * Though fail her name + whose beauties we indite: +As sways her gait I smile at hips so big * And weep to see the + waist they bear so slight. + +When the Porter looked upon her his wits were waylaid, and his +senses were stormed so that his crate went nigh to fall from his +head, and he said to himself, "Never have I in my life seen a day +more blessed than this day!" Then quoth the lady portress to the +lady cateress, "Come in from the gate and relieve this poor man +of his load." So the provisioner went in followed by the portress +and the Porter and went on till they reached a spacious ground +floor hall,[FN#148] built with admirable skill and beautified +with all manner colours and carvings; with upper balconies and +groined arches and galleries and cupboards and recesses whose +curtains hung before them. In the midst stood a great basin full +of water surrounding a fine fountain, and at the upper end on the +raised dais was a couch of juniper wood set with gems and pearls, +with a canopy like mosquito curtains of red satin silk looped up +with pearls as big as filberts and bigger. Thereupon sat a lady +bright of blee, with brow beaming brilliancy, the dream of +philosophy, whose eyes were fraught with Babel's gramarye[FN#149] +and her eye brows were arched as for archery; her breath breathed +ambergris and perfumery and her lips were sugar to taste and +carnelian to see. Her stature was straight as the letter +I[FN#150] and her face shamed the noon sun's radiancy; and she +was even as a galaxy, or a dome with golden marquetry or a bride +displayed in choicest finery or a noble maid of Araby.[FN#151] +Right well of her sang the bard when he said:-- + +Her smiles twin rows of pearls display * Chamomile-buds or rimey + spray +Her tresses stray as night let down * And shames her light the + dawn o' day. + +[FN#152]The third lady rising from the couch stepped forward with +grace ful swaying gait till she reached the middle of the saloon, +when she said to her sisters, "Why stand ye here? take it down +from this poor man's head!" Then the cateress went and stood +before him, and the portress behind him while the third helped +them, and they lifted the load from the Porter's head; and, +emptying it of all that was therein, set everything in its place. +Lastly they gave him two gold pieces, saying, "Wend thy ways, O +Porter." But he went not, for he stood looking at the ladies and +admiring what uncommon beauty was theirs, and their pleasant +manners and kindly dispositions (never had he seen goodlier); and +he gazed wistfully at that good store of wines and sweet scented +flowers and fruits and other matters. Also he marvelled with +exceeding marvel, especially to see no man in the place and +delayed his going; whereupon quoth the eldest lady, "What aileth +thee that goest not; haply thy wage be too little?" And, turning +to her sister the cateress, she said, "Give him another diner!" +But the Porter answered, "By Allah, my lady, it is not for the +wage; my hire is never more than two dirhams; but in very sooth +my heart and my soul are taken up with you and your condition. I +wonder to see you single with ne'er a man about you and not a +soul to bear you company; and well you wot that the minaret +toppleth o'er unless it stand upon four, and you want this same +fourth; and women's pleasure without man is short of measure, +even as the poet said:-- + +Seest not we want for joy four things all told * The harp and + lute, the flute and flageolet; +And be they companied with scents four fold * Rose, myrtle, + anemone and violet +Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withold * Good wine and + youth and gold and pretty pet. + +You be there and want a fourth who shall be a person of good +sense and prudence; smart witted, and one apt to keep careful +counsel." His words pleased and amused them much; and they +laughed at him and said, "And who is to assure us of that? We are +maidens and we fear to entrust our secret where it may not be +kept, for we have read in a certain chronicle the lines of one +Ibn al-Sumam:- + +Hold fast thy secret and to none unfold * Lost is a secret when + that secret's told +An fail thy breast thy secret to conceal * How canst thou hope + another's breast shall hold? + +And Abu Nowás[FN#153] said well on the same subject:-- + +Who trusteth secret to another's hand * Upon his brow deserveth + burn of brand!" + +When the Porter heard their words he rejoined, "By your lives! I +am a man of sense and a discreet, who hath read books and perused +chronicles; I reveal the fair and conceal the foul and I act as +the poet adviseth:-- + +None but the good a secret keep * And good men keep it + unrevealed: +It is to me a well shut house * With keyless locks and door + ensealed"[FN#154] + +When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application +addressed to them they said, "Thou knowest that we have laid out +all our monies on this place. Now say, hast thou aught to offer +us in return for entertainment? For surely we will not suf fer +thee to sit in our company and be our cup companion, and gaze +upon our faces so fair and so rare without paying a round +sum.[FN#155] Wottest thou not the saying:-- + + Sans hope of gain + Love's not worth a grain?" + +Whereto the lady portress added, "If thou bring anything thou art +a something; if no thing, be off with thee, thou art a nothing;" +but the procuratrix interposed, saying, "Nay, O my sisters, leave +teasing him for by Allah he hath not failed us this day, and had +he been other he never had kept patience with me, so whatever be +his shot and scot I will take it upon myself." The Porter, over +joyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her saying, "By +Allah, these monies are the first fruits this day hath given me." +Hearing this they said, "Sit thee down and welcome to thee," and +the eldest lady added, "By Allah, we may not suffer thee to join +us save on one condition, and this it is, that no questions be +asked as to what concerneth thee not, and frowardness shall be +soundly flogged." Answered the Porter, "I agree to this, O my +lady, on my head and my eyes be it! Lookye, I am dumb, I have no +tongue. Then arose the provisioneress and tightening her girdle +set the table by the fountain and put the flowers and sweet herbs +in their jars, and strained the wine and ranged the flasks in row +and made ready every requisite. Then sat she down, she and her +sisters, placing amidst them the Porter who kept deeming himself +in a dream; and she took up the wine flagon, and poured out the +first cup and drank it off, and likewise a second and a +third.[FN#156] After this she filled a fourth cup which she +handed to one of her sisters; and, lastly, she crowned a goblet +and passed it to the Porter, saying:-- + +"Drink the dear draught, drink free and fain * What healeth every + grief and pain." + +He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best +thanks and improvised:-- + +Drain not the bowl save with a trusty friend * A man of worth + whose good old +For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet * And stinks + when over stench it haply blow:" + +Adding:-- + +Drain not the bowl; save from dear hand like thine * The cup + recall thy gifts; thou, gifts of wine." + +After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and +was drunk and sat swaying from side to side and pursued:-- + +"All drinks wherein is blood the Law unclean * Doth hold save + one, the blood shed of the vine: +Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won * Thou fawn! a + willing ransom for those eyne." + +Then the cateress crowned a cup and gave it to the portress, who +took it from her hand and thanked her and drank. Thereupon she +poured again and passed to the eldest lady who sat on the couch, +and filled yet another and handed it to the Porter. He kissed the +ground before them; and, after drinking and thanking them, he +again began to recite : + +"Here! Here! by Allah, here! * Cups of the sweet, the dear' + Fill me a brimming bowl * The Fount o' Life I speer + +Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and +said, "O lady, I am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall, a, +thy very bondsman;" and he began reciting:-- + +"A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door * Lauding thy + generous boons and gifts galore +Beauty! may he come in awhile to 'joy * Thy charms? for Love + and I part nevermore!" + +She said to him, "Drink; and health and happiness attend thy +drink." So he took the cup and kissed her hand and recited these +lines in sing song: + +"I gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks * Blushed red or + flame from furnace flaring up: +She bussed the brim and said with many a smile * How durst thou + deal folk's cheek for folk to sup? +"Drink!" (said I) "these are tears of mine whose tinct * Is heart + blood sighs have boiled in the cup." + +She answered him in the following couplet:-- + +"An tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed * Suffer me sup + them, by thy head and eyes!" + +Then the lady took the cup, and drank it off to her sisters' +health, and they ceased not drinking (the Porter being in the +midst of them), and dancing and laughing and reciting verses and +singing ballads and ritornellos. All this time the Porter was +carrying on with them, kissing, toying, biting, handling, +groping, fingering; whilst one thrust a dainty morsel in his +mouth, and another slapped him; and this cuffed his cheeks, and +that threw sweet flowers at him; and he was in the very paradise +of pleasure, as though he were sitting in the seventh sphere +among the Houris[FN#157] of Heaven. They ceased not doing after +this fashion until the wine played tucks 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 here no +shame in thee?" Quoth he, "Thy coynte;" and she cried, O thou! +art wholly destitute of modesty?" and thumped 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 stuck him and slapped him on the back of the neck. Then +he began calling out all the names he knew, "Thy slit, thy womb, +thy coynte, thy clitoris;" and the girls kept on saying, "No! +no!" So he said, "I stick to the basil of the bridges;" and all +the three laughed till they fell on their backs and laid slaps on +his neck and said, "No! no! that's not its proper name." +Thereupon he cried, "O my sisters, what is its name?" and they +replied, "What sayest thou to the husked sesame seed?" Then the +cateress donned her clothes and they fell again to carousing, but +the Porter kept moaning, "Oh! and Oh!" for his neck and +shoulders, and the cup passed merrily round and round again for a +full hour. After that time the eldest and handsomest lady stood +up and stripped off her garments, whereupon the Porter took his +neck in hand, and rubbed and shampoo'd it, saying, "My neck and +shoulders are on the way of Allah!"[FN#160] Then she threw +herself into the basin, and swam and dived, sported and washed; +and the Porter looked at her naked figure as though she had been +a slice of the moon[FN#161] and at her face with the sheen of +Luna when at full, or like the dawn when it brighteneth, and he +noted her noble stature and shape, and those glorious forms that +quivered as she went; for she was naked as the Lord made her. +Then he cried "Alack! Alack!"and began to address her, versifying +in these couplets:-- + +"If I liken thy shape to the bough when green * My likeness errs + and I sore mistake it; +For the bough is fairest when clad the most * And thou art + fairest when mother naked." + +When the lady heard his verses she came up out of the basin and, +seating herself upon his lap and knees, pointed to her genitory +and said, "O my lordling, what be the name of this?" Quoth he, +"The basil of the bridges;" but she said, "Bah, bah!" Quoth he, +"The husked sesame;" quoth she, "Pooh, pooh!" Then said he, "Thy +womb;" and she cried, "Fie, Fie! art thou not ashamed of +thyself?" and cuffed him on the nape of the neck. And whatever +name he gave declaring " 'Tis so," she beat him and cried "No! +no!" till at last he said, "O my sisters, and what is its name?" +She replied, "It is entitled the Khan[FN#162] of Abu Mansur;" +whereupon the Porter replied, "Ha! ha! O Allah be praised for +safe deliverance! O Khan of Abu Mansur!" Then she came forth and +dressed and the cup went round a full hour. At last the Porter +rose up, and stripping off all his clothes, jumped into the tank +and swam about and washed under his bearded chin and armpits, +even as they had done. Then he came out and threw himself into +the first lady's lap and rested his arms upon the lap of the +portress, and reposed his legs in the lap of the cateress and +pointed to his prickle[FN#163] and said, "O my mistresses, what +is the name of this article?" All laughed at his words till they +fell on their backs, and one said, "Thy pintle!" But he replied, +"No!" and gave each one of them a bite by way of forfeit. Then +said they, "Thy pizzle!" but he cried "No," and gave each of them +a hug; And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying +her permitted say. + + When it was the Tenth Night, + +Quoth her sister Dunyazad, "Finish for us thy story;" and she +answered, "With joy and goodly greet" It hath reached me, O +auspicious King, that the damsels stinted not saying to the +Porter "Thy prickle, thy pintle, thy pizzle," and he ceased not +kissing and biting and hugging until his heart was satisfied, and +they laughed on till they could no more. At last one said, "O our +brother, what, then, is it called?" Quoth he, "Know ye not?" +Quoth they, "No!" "Its veritable name," said he, "is mule Burst +all, which browseth on the basil of the bridges, and muncheth the +husked sesame, and nighteth in the Khan of Abu Mansur." Then +laughed they till they fell on their backs, and returned to their +carousel, and ceased not to be after this fashion till night +began to fall. Thereupon said they to the Porter, +''Bismillah,[FN#164] O our master, up and on with those sorry old +shoes of thine and turn thy face and show us the breadth of thy +shoulders!" Said he, "By Allah, to part with my soul would be +easier for me than departing from you: come let us join night to +day, and tomorrow morning we will each wend our own way." "My +life on you," said the procuratrix, "suffer him to tarry with us, +that we may laugh at him: we may live out our lives and never +meet with his like, for surely he is a right merry rogue and a +witty."[FN#165] So they said, "Thou must not remain with us this +night save on condition that thou submit to our commands, and +that whatso thou seest, thou ask no questions there anent, nor +enquire of its cause." "All right," rejoined he, and they said, +"Go read the writing over the door." So he rose and went to the +entrance and there found written in letters of gold wash; WHOSO +SPEAKETH OF WHAT CONCERNETH HIM NOT, SHALL HEAR WHAT PLEASETH HIM +NOT! [FN#166] The Porter said, Be ye witnesses against me that I +will not speak on whatso concerneth me not." Then the cateress +arose, and set food before them and they ate; after which they +changed their drinking place for an other, and she lighted the +lamps and candles and burned amber gris 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 dis turbed 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 cowers; 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 to morrow 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 procuretrix, +entering a closet, brought out of it a bag of satin with green +fringes and two tassels of gold. She stood up before the lady of +the house and shaking the bag drew out from it a lute which she +tuned by tightening its pegs; and when it was in perfect order, +she began to sing these quatrains:-- + +"Ye are the wish, the aim of me *And when, O Love, thy sight I + see[FN#177] +The heavenly mansion openeth;[FN#178] * But Hell I see when + lost thy sight. +From thee comes madness; nor the less * Comes highest joy, + comes ecstasy: +Nor in my love for thee I fear * Or shame and blame, or hate and + spite. +When Love was throned within my heart * I rent the veil of + modesty; +And stints not Love to rend that veil * Garring disgrace on grace + to alight; +The robe of sickness then I donned * But rent to rags was + secrecy: +Wherefore my love and longing heart * Proclaim your high + supremest might; +The tear drop railing adown my cheek * Telleth my tale of + ignomy: +And all the hid was seen by all * And all my riddle ree'd aright. + +Heal then my malady, for thou * Art malady and remedy! +But she whose cure is in thy hand * Shall ne'er be free of bane + and blight; +Burn me those eyne that radiance rain * Slay me the swords of + phantasy; +How many hath the sword of Love * Laid low, their high degree + despite? +Yet will I never cease to pine * Nor to oblivion will I flee. +Love is my health, my faith, my joy * Public and private, wrong + or right. +O happy eyes that sight thy charms * That gaze upon thee at their + gree! +Yea, of my purest wish and will * The slave of Love I'll aye be + hight." + +When the damsel heard this elegy in quatrains she cried out +"Alas! Alas!" and rent her raiment, and fell to the ground +fainting; and the Caliph saw scars of the palm rod[FN#179] on her +back and welts of the whip; and marvelled with exceeding wonder. +Then the portress arose and sprinkled water on her and brought +her a fresh and very fine dress and put it on her. But when the +company beheld these doings their minds were troubled, for they +had no inkling of the case nor knew the story thereof; so the +Caliph said to Ja'afar, "Didst thou not see the scars upon the +damsel's body? I cannot keep silence or be at rest till I learn +the truth of her condition and the story of this other maiden and +the secret of the two black bitches." But Ja'afar answered, "O +our lord, they made it a condition with us that we speak not of +what concerneth us not, lest we come to hear what pleaseth us +not." Then said the portress "By Allah, O my sister, come to me +and complete this service for me." Replied the procuratrix, "With +joy and goodly gree;" so she took the lute; and leaned it against +her breasts and swept the strings with her finger tips, and began +singing:-- + +"Give back mine eyes their sleep long ravished * And say me + whither be my reason fled: +I learnt that lending to thy love a place * Sleep to mine eyelids + mortal foe was made. +They said, "We held thee righteous, who waylaid * Thy soul?" "Go + ask his glorious eyes," I said. +I pardon all my blood he pleased to spill * Owning his troubles + drove him blood to shed. +On my mind's mirror sun like sheen he cast * Whose keen + reflection fire in vitals bred +Waters of Life let Allah waste at will * Suffice my wage those + lips of dewy red: +An thou address my love thou'lt find a cause * For plaint and + tears or ruth or lustihed. +In water pure his form shall greet your eyne * When fails the + bowl nor need ye drink of wine.[FN#180]" + +Then she quoted from the same ode:-- + + +"I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wine, * And his + swaying gait swayed to sleep these eyne: +'Twas not grape juice grips me but grasp of Past * 'Twas not bowl + o'erbowled me but gifts divine: +His coiling curl-lets my soul ennetted * And his cruel will all + my wits outwitted.[FN#181]" + +After a pause she resumed:-- + +"If we 'plain of absence what shall we say? * Or if pain afflict + us where wend our way? +An I hire a truchman[FN#182] to tell my tale * The lover's plaint + is not told for pay: +If I put on patience, a lover's life * After loss of love will + not last a day: +Naught is left me now but regret, repine * And tears flooding + cheeks for ever and aye: +O thou who the babes of these eyes[FN#183] hast fled * Thou art + homed in heart that shall never stray +Would heaven I wot hast thou kept our pact * Long as stream shall + flow, to have firmest fey? +Or hast forgotten the weeping slave * Whom groans afflict and + whom griefs waylay? +Ah, when severance ends and we side by side * Couch, I'll blame + thy rigours and chide thy pride!" + +Now when the portress heard her second ode she shrieked aloud and +said, "By Allah! 'tis right good!"; and laying hands on her +garments tore them, as she did the first time, and fell to the +ground fainting. Thereupon the procuratrix rose end brought her a +second change of clothes after she had sprinkled water on her. +She recovered and sat upright and said to her sister the +cateress, "Onwards, and help me in my duty, for there remains but +this one song." So the provisioneress again brought out the lute +and began to sing these verses:-- + +"How long shall last, how long this rigour rife of woe * May not + suffice thee all these tears thou seest flow? +Our parting thus with purpose fell thou dost prolong * Is't not + enough to glad the heart of envious foe? +Were but this lying world once true to lover heart * He had not + watched the weary night in tears of woe: +Oh pity me whom overwhelmed thy cruel will * My lord, my king, + 'tis time some ruth to me thou show: +To whom reveal my wrongs, O thou who murdered me? * Sad, + who of broken troth the pangs must undergo! +Increase wild love for thee and phrenzy hour by hour * And days + of exile minute by so long, so slow; +O Moslems, claim vendetta[FN#184] for this slave of Love * + Whose sleep Love ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low: +Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish! to lie * Lapt in + another's arms and unto me cry Go!? +Yet in thy presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy * When he I + love but works my love to overthrow?" + +When the portress heard the third song she cried aloud; and, +laying hands on her garments, rent them down to the very skirt +and fell to the ground fainting a third time, again showing the +scars of the scourge. Then said the three Kalandars, "Would +Heaven we had never entered this house, but had rather righted on +the mounds and heaps outside the city! for verily our visit hath +been troubled by sights which cut to the heart." The Caliph +turned to them and asked, "Why so?" and they made answer, "Our +minds are sore troubled by this matter." Quoth the Caliph, "Are +ye not of the household?" and quoth they, "No; nor indeed did we +ever set eyes on the place till within this hour." Hereat the +Caliph marvelled and rejoined, "This man who sitteth by you, +would he not know the secret of the matter?" and so saying he +winked and made signs at the Porter. So they questioned the man +but he replied, "By the All might of Allah, in love all are +alike![FN#185] I am the growth of Baghdad, yet never in my born +days did I darken these doors till to day and my companying with +them was a curious matter." "By Allah," they rejoined, "we took +thee for one of them and now we see thou art one like ourselves." +Then said the Caliph, "We be seven men, and they only three women +without even a fourth to help them; so let us question them of +their case; and, if they answer us not, fain we will be answered +by force." All of them agreed to this except Ja'afar who +said,[FN#186] "This is not my recking; let them be; for we are +their guests and, as ye know, they made a compact and condition +with us which we accepted and promised to keep: wherefore it is +better that we be silent concerning this matter; and, as but +little of the night remaineth, let each and every of us gang his +own gait." Then he winked at the Caliph and whispered to him, +"There is but one hour of darkness left and I can bring them +before thee to morrow, when thou canst freely question them all +concerning their story." But the Caliph raised his head haughtily +and cried out at him in wrath, saying, "I have no patience left +for my longing to hear of them: let the Kalandars question them +forthright." Quoth Ja'afar, "This is not my rede." Then words ran +high and talk answered talk, and they disputed as to who should +first put the question, but at last all fixed upon the Porter. +And as the jingle increased the house mistress could not but +notice it and asked them, "O ye folk! on what matter are ye +talking so loudly?" Then the Porter stood up respectfully before +her and said, "O my lady, this company earnestly desire that thou +acquaint them with the story of the two bitches and what maketh +thee punish them so cruelly; and then thou fallest to weeping +over them and kissing them; and lastly they want to hear the tale +of thy sister and why she hath been bastinado'd with palm sticks +like a man. These are the questions they charge me to put, and +peace be with thee."[FN#187] Thereupon quoth she who was the lady +of the house to the guests, "Is this true that he saith on your +part?" and all replied, "Yes!" save Ja'afar who kept silence. +When she heard these words she cried, "By Allah, ye have wronged +us, O our guests. with grievous wronging; for when you came +before us we made compact and condition with you, that whoso +should speak of what concerneth him not should hear what pleaseth +him not. Sufficeth ye not that we took you into our house and fed +you with our best food? But the fault is not so much yours as +hers who let you in." Then she tucked up her sleeves from her +wrists and struck the floor thrice with her hand crying, "Come ye +quickly;" and lo! a closet door opened and out of it came seven +negro slaves with drawn swords in hand to whom she said, "Pinion +me those praters' elbows and bind them each to each." They did +her bidding and asked her, "O veiled and virtuous! is it thy high +command that we strike off their heads?"; but she answered, +"Leave them awhile that I question them of their condition, +before their necks feel the sword." "By Allah, O my lady!" cried +the Porter, "slay me not for other's sin; all these men offended +and deserve the penalty of crime save myself. Now by Allah, our +night had been charming had we escaped the mortification of those +monocular Kalandars whose entrance into a populous city would +convert it into a howling wilderness." Then he repeated these +verses : + +"How fair is ruth the strong man deigns not smother! * And + fairest fair when shown to weakest brother: +By Love's own holy tie between us twain, * Let one not suffer for + the sin of other." + +When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed. And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When It was the Eleventh Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lady, +after laughing at the Porter despite her wrath, came up to the +party and spake thus, "Tell me who ye be, for ye have but an hour +of life; and were ye not men of rank and, perhaps, notables of +your tribes, you had not been so froward and I had hastened your +doom." Then said the Caliph, "Woe to thee, O Ja'afar, tell her +who we are lest we be slain by mistake; and speak her fair be +fore some horror befal us." "'Tis part of thy deserts,"replied +he; whereupon the Caliph cried out at him saying, "There is a +time for witty words and there is a time for serious work." Then +the lady accosted the three Kalandars and asked them, "Are ye +brothers?"; when they answered, "No, by Allah, we be naught but +Fakirs and foreigners." Then quoth she to one among them, "Wast +thou born blind of one eye?"; and quoth he, "No, by Allah, 'twas +a marvellous matter and a wondrous mischance which caused my eye +to be torn out, and mine is a tale which, if it were written upon +the eye corners with needle gravers, were a warner to whoso would +be warned."[FN#188] She questioned the second and third Kalandar; +but all replied like the first, "By Allah, O our mistress, each +one of us cometh from a different country, and we are all three +the sons of Kings, sovereign Princes ruling over suzerains and +capital cities." Thereupon she turned towards them and said, "Let +each and every of you tell me his tale in due order and explain +the cause of his coming to our place; and if his story please us +let him stroke his head[FN#189] and wend his way." The first to +come forward was the Hammal, the Porter, who said, "O my lady, I +am a man and a porter. This dame, the cateress, hired me to carry +a load and took me first to the shop of a vintner, then to the +booth of a butcher; thence to the stall of a fruiterer; thence to +a grocer who also sold dry fruits; thence to a confectioner and a +perfumer cum druggist and from him to this place where there +happened to me with you what happened. Such is my story and peace +be on us all!" At this the lady laughed and said, "Rub thy head +and wend thy ways!"; but he cried, "By Allah, I will not stump it +till I hear the stories of my companions." Then came forward one +of the Monoculars and began to tell her + + + + + +The First Kalandar's Tale. + + +Know, O my lady, that the cause of my beard being shorn and my +eye being out torn was as follows. My father was a King and he +had a brother who was a King over another city; and it came to +pass that I and my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle, were +both born on one and the same day. And years and days rolled on; +and, as we grew up, I used to visit my uncle every now and then +and to spend a certain number of months with him. Now my cousin +and I were sworn friends; for he ever entreated me with exceeding +kindness; he killed for me the fattest sheep and strained the +best of his wines, and we enjoyed long conversing and carousing. +One day when the wine had gotten the better of us, the son of my +uncle said to me, "O my cousin, I have a great service to ask of +thee; and I desire that thou stay me not in whatso I desire to +do!" And I replied, "With joy and goodly will." Then he made me +swear the most binding oaths and left me; but after a little +while he returned leading a lady veiled and richly apparelled +with ornaments worth a large sum of money. Presently he turned to +me (the woman being still behind him) and said, "Take this lady +with thee and go before me to such a burial ground" (describing +it, so that I knew the place), "and enter with her into such a +sepulchre[FN#190] and there await my coming." The oaths I swore +to him made me keep silence and suffered me not to oppose him; so +I led the woman to the cemetery and both I and she took our seats +in the sepulchre; and hardly had we sat down when in came my +uncle's son, with a bowl of water, a bag of mortar and an adze +somewhat like a hoe. He went straight to the tomb in the midst of +the sepulchre and, breaking it open with the adze set the stones +on one side; then he fell to digging into the earth of the tomb +till he came upon a large iron plate, the size of a wicket door; +and on raising it there appeared below it a staircase vaulted and +winding. Then he turned to the lady and said to her, "Come now +and take thy final choice!" She at once went down by the +staircase and disappeared; then quoth he to me, "O son of my +uncle, by way of completing thy kindness, when I shall have +descended into this place, restore the trap door to where it was, +and heap back the earth upon it as it lay before; and then of thy +goodness mix this unslaked lime which is in the bag with this +water which is in the bowl and, after building up the stones, +plaster the outside so that none looking upon it shall say:--This +is a new opening in an old tomb. For a whole year have I worked +at this place whereof none knoweth but Allah, and this is the +need I have of thee;" presently adding, "May Allah never bereave +thy friends of thee nor make them desolate by thine absence, O +son of my uncle, O my dear cousin!" And he went down the stairs +and disappeared for ever. When he was lost to sight I replaced +the iron plate and did all his bidding till the tomb became as it +was before and I worked almost unconsciously for my head was +heated with wine. Returning to the palace of my uncle, I was told +that he had gone forth a-sporting and hunting; so I slept that +night without seeing him; and, when the morning dawned, I +remembered the scenes of the past evening and what happened +between me and my cousin; I repented of having obeyed him when +penitence was of no avail, I still thought, however, that it was +a dream. So I fell to asking for the son of my uncle; but there +was none to answer me concerning him; and I went out to the +grave-yard and the sepulchres, and sought for the tomb under +which he was, but could not find it; and I ceased not wandering +about from sepulchre to sepulchre, and tomb to tomb, all without +success, till night set in. So I returned to the city, yet I +could neither eat nor drink; my thoughts being engrossed with my +cousin, for that I knew not what was become of him; and I grieved +with exceeding grief and passed another sorrowful night, watching +until the morning. Then went I a second time to the cemetery, +pondering over what the son of mine uncle had done; and, sorely +repenting my hearkening to him, went round among all the tombs, +but could not find the tomb I sought. I mourned over the past, +and remained in my mourning seven days, seeking the place and +ever missing the path. Then my torture of scruples[FN#191] grew +upon me till I well nigh went mad, and I found no way to dispel +my grief save travel and return to my father. So I set out and +journeyed homeward; but as I was entering my father's capital a +crowd of rioters sprang upon me and pinioned me.[FN#192] I +wondered thereat with all wonderment, seeing that I was the son +of the Sultan, and these men were my father's subjects and +amongst them were some of my own slaves. A great fear fell upon +me, and I said to my soul,[FN#193] "Would heaven I knew what hath +happened to my father!" I questioned those that bound me of the +cause of their doing, but they returned me no answer. However, +after a while one of them said to me (and he had been a hired +servant of our house), "Fortune hath been false to thy father; +his troops betrayed him and the Wazir who slew him now reigneth +in his stead and we lay in wait to seize thee by the bidding of +him." I was well nigh distraught and felt ready to faint on +hearing of my father's death; when they carried me off and placed +me in presence of the usurper. Now between me and him there was +an olden grudge, the cause of which was this. I was fond of +shooting with the stone bow,[FN#194] and it befel one day as I +was standing on the terrace roof of the palace, that a bird +lighted on the top of the Wazir's house when he happened to be +there. I shot at the bird and missed the mark; but I hit the +Wazir's eye and knocked it out as fate and fortune decreed. Even +so saith the poet:-- + +We tread the path where Fate hath led * The path Fate writ we + fain must tread: +And man in one land doomed to die * Death no where else shall do + him dead. + +And on like wise saith another:-- + +Let Fortune have her wanton way * Take heart and all her words + obey: +Nor joy nor mourn at anything * For all things pass and no things + stay. + +Now when I knocked out the Wazir's eye he could not say a single +word, for that my father was King of the city; but he hated me +everafter and dire was the grudge thus caused between us twain. +So when I was set before him hand bound and pinioned, he +straightway gave orders for me to be beheaded. I asked, "For what +crime wilt thou put me to death?"; whereupon he answered, "What +crime is greater than this?" pointing the while to the place +where his eye had been Quoth I, "This I did by accident not of +malice prepense;" and quoth he, "If thou didst it by accident, I +will do the like by thee with intention.''[FN#195] Then cried he, +"Bring him forward," and they brought me up to him, when he +thrust his finger into my left eye and gouged it out; whereupon I +became one eyed as ye see me. Then he bade bind me hand and foot, +and put me into a chest and said to the sworder, "Take charge of +this fellow, and go off with him to the waste lands about the +city; then draw thy scymitar and slay him, and leave him to feed +the beasts and birds." So the headsman fared forth with me and +when he was in the midst of the desert, he took me out of the +chest (and I with both hands pinioned and both feet fettered) and +was about to bandage my eyes before striking off my head. But I +wept with exceeding weeping until I made him weep with me and, +looking at him I began to recite these couplets:-- + +"I deemed you coat o' mail that should withstand * The foeman's + shafts, and you proved foeman's brand +I hoped your aidance in mine every chance * Though fail my left + to aid my dexter hand: +Aloof you stand and hear the railer's gibe * While rain their + shafts on me the giber-band: +But an ye will not guard me from my foes * Stand clear, and + succour neither these nor those!" + +And I also quoted:-- + +"I deemed my brethren mail of strongest steel * And so they were-- + from foes I to fend my dart! +I deemed their arrows surest of their aim; * And so they were-- + when aiming at my heart!" + +When the headsman heard my lines (he had been sworder to my sire +and he owed me a debt of gratitude) he cried, "O my lord, what +can I do, being but a slave under orders?" presently adding, "Fly +for thy life and nevermore return to this land, or they will slay +thee and slay me with thee, even as the poet said:-- + +Take thy life and fly whenas evils threat; * Let the ruined house + tell its owner's fate: +New land for the old thou shalt seek and find * But to find new + life thou must not await. +Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, * When Allah's + world is so wide and great! +And trust not other, in matters grave * Life itself must act for + a life beset: +Ne'er would prowl the lion with maned neck, * Did he reckon on + aid or of others reck." + +Hardly believing in my escape, I kissed his hand and thought the +loss of my eye a light matter in consideration of my escaping +from being slain. I arrived at my uncle's capital; and, going in +to him, told him of what had befallen my father and myself; +whereat he wept with sore weeping and said, "Verily thou addest +grief to my grief, and woe to my woe; for thy cousin hath been +missing these many days; I wot not what hath happened to him, and +none can give me news of him." And he wept till he fainted. I +sorrowed and condoled with him; and he would have applied certain +medicaments to my eye, but he saw that it was become as a walnut +with the shell empty. Then said he, "O my son, better to lose eye +and keep life!" After that I could no longer remain silent about +my cousin, who was his only son and one dearly loved, so I told +him all that had happened. He rejoiced with extreme joyance to +hear news of his son and said, "Come now and show me the tomb;" +but I replied, "By Allah, O my uncle, I know not its place, +though I sought it carefully full many times, yet could not find +the site." However, I and my uncle went to the grave yard 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, up raising the trap +door, descended some fifty steps till we came to the foot of the +staircase when lo! we were stopped by a blinding smoke. Thereupon +said my uncle that saying whose sayer shall never come to shame, +"There is no Majesty and there is no Might, save in Allah, the +Glorious, the Great!" and we advanced till we suddenly came upon +a saloon, whose floor was strewed with flour and grain and +provisions and all manner necessaries; and in the midst of it +stood a canopy sheltering a couch. Thereupon my uncle went up to +the couch and inspecting it found his son and the lady who had +gone down with him into the tomb, lying in each other's embrace; +but the twain had become black as charred wood; it was as if they +had been cast into a pit of fire. When my uncle saw this +spectacle, he spat in his son's face and said, "Thou hast thy +deserts, O thou hog![FN#196] this is thy judgment in the +transitory world, and yet remaineth the judgment in the world to +come, a durer and a more enduring "-- And Shahrazad perceived the +dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Twelfth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +Kalandar thus went on with his story before the lady and the +Caliph and Ja'afar:--My uncle struck his son with his +slipper[FN#197] as he lay there a black heap of coal. I marvelled +at his hardness of heart, and grieving for my cousin and the +lady, said, "By Allah, O my uncle, calm thy wrath: dost thou not +see that all my thoughts are occupied with this misfortune, and +how sorrowful I am for what hath befallen thy son, and how +horrible it is that naught of him remaineth but a black heap of +charcoal? And is not that enough, but thou must smite him with +thy slipper?" Answered he,"O son of my brother, this youth from +his boyhood was madly in love with his own sister;[FN#198] and +often and often I forbade him from her, saying to myself:--They +are but little ones. However, when they grew up sin befel between +them; and, although I could hardly believe it, I confined him and +chided him and threatened him with the severest threats; and the +eunuchs and servants said to him:--Beware of so foul a thing +which none before thee ever did, and which none after thee will +ever do; and have a care lest thou be dishonoured and disgraced +among the Kings of the day, even to the end of time. And I +added:--Such a report as this will be spread abroad by caravans, +and take heed not to give them cause to talk or I will assuredly +curse thee and do thee to death. After that I lodged them apart +and shut her up; but the accursed girl loved him with passionate +love, for Satan had got the mastery of her as well as of him and +made their foul sin seem fair in their sight. Now when my son saw +that I separated them, he secretly built this souterrain and +furnished it and transported to it victuals, even as thou seest; +and, when I had gone out a-sporting, came here with his sister +and hid from me. Then His righteous judgment fell upon the twain +and consumed them with fire from Heaven; and verily the last +judgment will deal them durer pains and more enduring!" Then he +wept and I wept with him; and he looked at me and said, "Thou art +my son in his stead." And I bethought me awhile of the world and +of its chances, how the Wazir had slain my father and had taken +his place and had put out my eye; and how my cousin had come to +his death by the strangest chance: and I wept again and my uncle +wept with me. Then we mounted the steps and let down the iron +plate and heaped up the earth over it; and, after restoring the +tomb to its former condition, we returned to the palace. But +hardly had we sat down ere we heard the tomtoming of the kettle +drum and tantara of trumpets and clash of cymbals; and the +rattling of war men's lances; and the clamours of assailants and +the clanking of bits and the neighing of steeds; while the world +was canopied with dense dust and sand clouds raised by the +horses' hoofs.[FN#199] We were amazed at sight and sound, knowing +not what could be the matter; so we asked and were told us that +the Wazir who usurped my father's kingdom had marched his men; +and that after levying his soldiery and taking a host of wild +Arabs[FN#200] into service, he had come down upon us with armies +like the sands of the sea; their number none could tell and +against them none could prevail. They attacked the city unawares; +and the citizens, being powerless to oppose them, surrendered the +place: my uncle was slain and I made for the suburbs saying to +myself, "If thou fall into this villain's hands he will assuredly +kill thee." On this wise all my troubles were renewed; and I +pondered all that had betided my father and my uncle and I knew +not what to do; for if the city people or my father's troops had +recognised me they would have done their best to win favour by +destroying me; and I could think of no way to escape save by +shaving off my beard and my eyebrows. So I shore them off and, +changing my fine clothes for a Kalandar's rags, I fared forth +from my uncle's capital and made for this city; hoping that +peradventure some one would assist me to the presence of the +Prince of the Faithful,[FN#201] and the Caliph who is the +Viceregent of Allah upon earth. Thus have I come hither that I +might tell him my tale and lay my case before him. I arrived here +this very night, and was standing in doubt whither I should go, +when suddenly I saw this second Kalandar; so I salam'd to him +saying--"I am a stranger!" and he answered:--"I too am a +stranger!" And as we were conversing behold, up came our +companion, this third Kalandar, and saluted us saying:--"I am a +stranger!" And we answered:--"We too be strangers!" Then we three +walked on and together till darkness overtook us and Destiny +crave us to your house. Such, then, is the cause of the shaving +of my beard and mustachios and eyebrows; and the manner of my +losing my right eye. They marvelled much at this tale and the +Caliph said to Ja'afar, "By Allah, I have not seen nor have I +heard the like of what hath happened to this Kalandar!" Quoth the +lady of the house, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he +replied, "I will not go, till I hear the history of the two +others." Thereupon the second Kalandar came forward; and, kissing +the ground, began to tell + + + + + +The Second Kalandar's Tale. + + +Know, O my lady, that I was not born one eyed and mine is a +strange story; an it were graven with needle graver on the eye +corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned. I am a King, +son of a King, and was brought up like a Prince. I learned +intoning the Koran according the seven schools;[FN#202] and I +read all manner books, and held disputations on their contents +with the doctors and men of science; moreover I studied star lore +and the fair sayings of poets and I exercised myself in all +branches of learning until I surpassed the people of my time; my +skill in calligraphy exceeded that of all the scribes; and my +fame was bruited abroad over all climes and cities, and all the +kings learned to know my name. Amongst others the King of Hind +heard of me and sent to my father to invite me to his court, with +offerings and presents and rarities such as befit royalties. So +my father fitted out six ships for me and my people; and we put +to sea and sailed for the space of a full month till we made the +land. Then we brought out the horses that were with us in the +ships; and, after loading the camels with our presents for the +Prince, we set forth inland. But we had marched only a little +way, when behold, a dust cloud up flew, and grew until it +walled[FN#203] the horizon from view. After an hour or so the +veil lifted and discovered beneath it fifty horsemen, ravening +lions to the sight, in steel armour dight. We observed them +straightly and lo! they were cutters off of the highway, wild as +wild Arabs. When they saw that we were only four and had with us +but the ten camels carrying the presents, they dashed down upon +us with lances at rest. We signed to them, with our fingers, as +it were saying, "We be messengers of the great King of Hind, so +harm us not!" but they answered on like wise, "We are not in his +dominions to obey nor are we subject to his sway." Then they set +upon us and slew some of my slaves and put the lave to flight; +and I also fled after I had gotten a wound, a grievous hurt, +whilst the Arabs were taken up with the money and the presents +which were with us. I went forth unknowing whither I went, having +become mean as I was mighty; and I fared on until I came to the +crest of a mountain where I took shelter for the night in a cave. +When day arose I set out again, nor ceased after this fashion +till I arrived at a fair city and a well filled. Now it was the +season when Winter was turning away with his rime and to greet +the world with his flowers came Prime, and the young blooms were +springing and the streams flowed ringing, and the birds were +sweetly singing, as saith the poet concerning a certain city when +describing it:-- + +A place secure from every thought of fear * Safety and peace for + ever lord it here: +Its beauties seem to beautify its sons * And as in Heaven its + happy folk appear. + +I was glad of my arrival for I was wearied with the way, and +yellow of face for weakness and want; but my plight was pitiable +and I knew not whither to betake me. So I accosted a Tailor +sitting in his little shop and saluted him; he returned my salam, +and bade me kindly welcome and wished me well and entreated me +gently and asked me of the cause of my strangerhood. I told him +all my past from first to last; and he was concerned on my +account and said, "O youth, disclose not thy secret to any: the +King of this city is the greatest enemy thy father hath, and +there is blood wit[FN#204] between them and thou hast cause to +fear for thy life." Then he set meat and drink before me; and I +ate and drank and he with me; and we conversed freely till night +fall, when he cleared me a place in a corner of his shop and +brought me a carpet and a coverlet. I tarried with him three +days; at the end of which time he said to me, "Knowest thou no +calling whereby to win thy living, O my son?" "I am learned in +the law," I replied, "and a doctor of doctrine; an adept in art +and science, a mathematician and a notable penman." He rejoined, +"Thy calling is of no account in our city, where not a soul under +standeth science or even writing or aught save money making." +Then said I, "By Allah, I know nothing but what I have +mentioned;" and he answered, "Gird thy middle and take thee a +hatchet and a cord, and go and hew wood in the wold for thy daily +bread, till Allah send thee relief; and tell none who thou art +lest they slay thee." Then he bought me an axe and a rope and +gave me in charge to certain wood cutters; and with these +guardians I went forth into the forest, where I cut fuel wood the +whole of my day and came back in the evening bearing my bundle on +my head. I sold it for half a diner, with part of which I bought +provision and laid by the rest. In such work I spent a whole year +and when this was ended I went out one day, as was my wont, into +the wilderness; and, wandering away from my companions, I chanced +on a thickly grown lowland[FN#205] in which there was an +abundance of wood. So I entered and I found the gnarled stump of +a great tree and loosened the ground about it and shovelled away +the earth. Presently my hatchet rang upon a copper ring; so I +cleared away the soil and behold, the ring was attached to a +wooden trap door. This I raised and there appeared beneath it a +staircase. I descended the steps to the bottom and came to a +door, which I opened and found myself in a noble hall strong of +structure and beautifully built, where was a damsel like a pearl +of great price, whose favour banished from my heart all grief and +cark and care; and whose soft speech healed the soul in despair +and captivated the wise and ware. Her figure measured five feet +in height; her breasts were firm and upright; her cheek a very +garden of delight; her colour lively bright; her face gleamed +like dawn through curly tresses which gloomed like night, and +above the snows of her bosom glittered teeth of a pearly +white.[FN#206] As the poet said of one like her:-- + +Slim waisted loveling jetty hair encrowned * A wand of willow on + a sandy mound: + +And as saith another.-- + +Four things that meet not, save they here unite * To shed my + heart blood and to rape my sprite: +Brilliantest forehead; tresses jetty bright; * Cheeks rosy red + and stature beauty dight. + +When I looked upon her I prostrated myself before Him who had +created her, for the beauty and loveliness He had shaped in her, +and she looked at me and said, "Art thou man or Jinni?" "I am a +man," answered I, and she, "Now who brought thee to this place +where I have abided five and twenty years without even yet seeing +man in it?" Quoth I (and indeed I found her words wonder sweet, +and my heart was melted to the core by them), "O my lady, my good +fortune led me hither for the dispelling of my cark and care." +Then I related to her all my mishap from first to last, and my +case appeared to her exceeding grievous; so she wept and said, "I +will tell thee my story in my turn. I am the daughter of the King +Ifitamus, lord of the Islands of Abnus,[FN#207] who married me to +my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle; but on my wedding night +an Ifrit named Jirjís[FN#208] bin Rajmús, first cousin that is, +mother's sister's son, of Iblís, the Foul Fiend, snatched me up +and, flying away with me like a bird, set me down in this place, +whither he conveyed all I needed of fine stuffs, raiment and +jewels and furniture, and meat and drink and other else. Once in +every ten days he comes here and lies a single night with me, and +then wends his way, for he took me without the consent of his +family; and he hath agreed with me that if ever I need him by +night or by day, I have only to pass my hand over yonder two +lines engraved upon the alcove, and he will appear to me before +my fingers cease touching. Four days have now passed since he was +here; and, as there remain six days before he come again, say me, +wilt thou abide with me five days, and go hence the day before +his coming?" I replied "Yes, and yes again! O rare, if all this +be not a dream!" Hereat she was glad and, springing to her feet, +seized my hand and carried me through an arched doorway to a +Hammam bath, a fair hall and richly decorate. I doffed my +clothes, and she doffed hers; then we bathed and she washed me; +and when this was done we left the bath, and she seated me by her +side upon a high divan, and brought me sherbet scented with musk. +When we felt cool after the bath, she set food before me and we +ate and fell to talking; but presently she said to me, "Lay thee +down and take thy rest, for surely thou must be weary." So I +thanked her, my lady, and lay down and slept soundly, forgetting +all that had happened to me. When I awoke I found her rubbing and +shampooing my feet;[FN#209] so I again thanked her and blessed +her and we sat for awhile talking. Said she, "By Allah, I was sad +at heart, for that I have dwelt alone underground for these five +and twenty years; and praise be to Allah, who hath sent me some +one with whom I can converse!" Then she asked, "O youth, what +sayest thou to wine?" and I answered, "Do as thou wilt." Where- +upon she went to a cupboard and took out a sealed flask of right +old wine and set off the table with flowers and scented herbs and +began to sing these lines:-- + +"Had we known of thy coming we fain had dispread * The cores of + our hearts or the balls of our eyes; +Our cheeks as a carpet to greet thee had thrown * And our eyelids + had strown for thy feet to betread." + + Now when she finished her verse I thanked her, for indeed love +of her had gotten hold of my heart and my grief and anguish were +gone. We sat at converse and carousel till nightfall, and with +her I spent the night--such night never spent I in all my life! +On the morrow delight followed delight till midday, by which time +I had drunken wine so freely that I had lost my wits, and stood +up, staggering to the right and to the left, and said "Come, O my +charmer, and I will carry thee up from this underground vault and +deliver thee from the spell of thy Jinni." She laughed and +replied "Content thee and hold thy peace: of every ten days one +is for the Ifrit and the other nine are thine." Quoth I (and in +good sooth drink had got the better of me), "This very instant +will I break down the alcove whereon is graven the talisman and +summon the Ifrit that I may slay him, for it is a practice of +mine to slay Ifrits!" When she heard my words her colour waxed +wan and she said, "By Allah, do not!" and she began repeating:-- + +"This is a thing wherein destruction lies * I rede thee shun it + an thy wits be wise." + +And these also:-- + +"O thou who seekest severance, draw the rein * Of thy swift steed + nor seek o'ermuch t' advance; +Ah stay! for treachery is the rule of life, * And sweets of + meeting end in severance." + +I heard her verse but paid no heed to her words, nay, I raised my +foot and administered to the alcove a mighty kick. And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permisted say. + + When it was the Thirteenth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the second +Kalandar thus continued his tale to the lady:--But when, O my +mistress, I kicked that alcove with a mighty kick, behold, the +air starkened and darkened and thundered and lightened; the earth +trembled and quaked and the world became invisible. At once the +fumes of wine left my head: I cried to her, "What is the matter?" +and she replied, "The Ifrit is upon us! did I not warn thee of +this? By Allah, thou hast brought ruin upon me; but fly for thy +life and go up by the way thou camest down!" So I fled up the +staircase; but, in the excess of my fear, I forgot sandals and +hatchet. And when I had mounted two steps I turned to look for +them, and lo! I saw the earth cleave asunder, and there arose +from it an Ifrit, a monster of hideousness, who said to the +damsel "What trouble and posher be this wherewith thou disturbest +me? What mishap hath betided thee?" "No mishap hath befallen me" +she answered, "save that my breast was straitened[FN#210] and my +heart heavy with sadness! so I drank a little wine to broaden it +and to hearten myself; then I rose to obey a call of Nature, but +the wine had gotten into my head and I fell against the alcove." +"Thou liest, like the whore thou art!" shrieked the Ifrit; and he +looked around the hall right and left till he caught sight of my +axe and sandals and said to her, "What be these but the +belongings of some mortal who hath been in thy society?" She +answered, "I never set eyes upon them till this moment: they must +have been brought by thee hither cleaving to thy garments." Quoth +the Ifrit, "These words are absurd; thou harlot! thou strumpet!" +Then he stripped her stark naked and, stretching her upon the +floor, bound her hands and feet to four stakes, like one +crucified;[FN#211] and set about torturing and trying to make her +confess. I could not bear to stand listening to her cries and +groans; so I climbed the stair on the quake with fear; and when I +reached the top I replaced the trap door and covered it with +earth. Then repented I of what I had done with penitence +exceeding; and thought of the lady and her beauty and loveliness, +and the tortures she was suffering at the hands of the accursed +Ifrit, after her quiet life of five and twenty years; and how all +that had happened to her was for the cause of me. I bethought me +of my father and his kingly estate and how I had become a +woodcutter; and how, after my time had been awhile serene, the +world had again waxed turbid and troubled to me. So I wept +bitterly and repeated this couplet:-- + + What time Fate's tyranny shall most oppress thee * Perpend! one + day shall joy thee, one distress thee! + +Then I walked till I reached the home of my friend, the Tailor, +whom I found most anxiously expecting me; indeed he was, as the +saying goes, on coals of fire for my account. And when he saw me +he said, "All night long my heart hath been heavy, fearing for +thee from wild beasts or other mischances. Now praise be to Allah +for thy safety!" I thanked him for his friendly solicitude and, +retiring to my corner, sat pondering and musing on what had +befallen me; and I blamed and chided myself for my meddlesome +folly and my frowardness in kicking the alcove. I was calling +myself to account when behold, my friend, the Tailor, came to me +and said, "O youth, in the shop there is an old man, a +Persian,[FN#212] who seeketh thee: he hath thy hatchet and thy +sandals which he had taken to the woodcutters,[FN#213] saying, "I +was going out at what time the Mu'azzin began the call to dawn +prayer, when I chanced upon these things and know not whose they +are; so direct me to their owner." The woodcutters recognised thy +hatchet and directed him to thee: he is sitting in my shop, so +fare forth to him and thank him and take thine axe and sandals." +When I heard these words I turned yellow with fear and felt +stunned as by a blow; and, before I could recover myself, lo! the +floor of my private room clove asunder, and out of it rose the +Persian who was the Ifrit. He had tortured the lady with +exceeding tortures, natheless she would not confess to him aught; +so he took the hatchet and sandals and said to her, "As surely as +I am Jirjis of the seed of Iblis, I will bring thee back the +owner of this and these!"[FN#214] Then he went to the woodcutters +with the presence 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 dew high +in air; but presently descended and plunged with me under the +earth (I being aswoon the while), and lastly set me down in the +subterranean palace wherein I had passed that blissful night. And +there I saw the lady stripped to the skin, her limbs bound to +four stakes and blood welling from her sides. At the sight my +eyes ran over with tears; but the Ifrit covered her person and +said, "O wanton, is not this man thy lover?" She looked upon me +and replied, "I wot him not nor have I ever seen him before this +hour!" Quoth the Ifrit, "What! this torture and yet no +confessing;" and quoth she,"I never saw this man in my born days, +and it is not lawful in Allah's sight to tell lies on him." "If +thou know him not," said the Ifrit to her, "take this sword and +strike off his head.''[FN#215] She hent the sword in hand and +came close up to me; and I signalled to her with my eyebrows, my +tears the while flowing adown my cheeks. She understood me and +made answer, also by signs, "How couldest thou bring all this +evil upon me?" and I rejoined after the same fashion, "This is +the time for mercy and forgiveness." And the mute tongue of my +case[FN#216] spake aloud saying:-- + +Mine eyes were dragomans for my tongue betted * And told full + clear the love I fain would hide: +When last we met and tears in torrents railed * For tongue struck + dumb my glances testified: +She signed with eye glance while her lips were mute * I signed + with fingers and she kenned th' implied: +Our eyebrows did all duty 'twixt us twain; * And we being + speechless Love spake loud and plain. + +Then, O my mistress, the lady threw away the sword and said, "How +shall I strike the neck of one I wot not, and who hath done me no +evil? Such deed were not lawful in my law!" and she held her +hand. Said the Ifrit, "'Tis grievous to thee to slay thy lover; +and, because he hath lain with thee, thou endurest these torments +and obstinately refusest to confess. After this it is clear to me +that only like loveth and pitieth like." Then he turned to me and +asked me, "O man, haply thou also dost not know this woman;" +whereto I answered, "And pray who may she be? assuredly I never +saw her till this instant." "Then take the sword," said he "and +strike off her head and I will believe that thou wottest her not +and will leave thee free to go, and will not deaf 'hardly with +thee." I replied, "That will I do;" and, taking the sword went +forward sharply and raised my hand to smite. But she signed to me +with her eyebrows, "Have I failed thee in aught of love; and is +it thus that thou requirest me?" I understood what her looks +implied and answered her with an eye-glance, "I will sacrifice my +soul for thee." And the tongue of the case wrote in our hearts +these lines:-- + +How many a lover with his eyebrows speaketh * To his beloved, as + his passion pleadeth: +With flashing eyne his passion he inspireth * And well she seeth + what kits pleading needeth. +How sweet the look when each on other gazeth; * And with what + swiftness and how sure it speedeth: +And this with eyebrows all his passion writeth; * And that with + eyeballs all his passion readeth. + +Then my eyes filled with tears to overflowing and I cast the +sword from my hand saying, "O mighty Ifrit and hero, if a woman +lacking wits and faith deem it unlawful to strike off my head, +how can it be lawful for me, a man, to smite her neck whom I +never saw in my whole life. I cannot do such misdeed though thou +cause me drink the cup of death and perdition." Then said the +Ifrit, "Ye twain show the good understanding between you; but I +will let you see how such doings end." He took the sword, and +struck off the lady's hands first, with four strokes, and then +her feet; whilst I looked on and made sure of death and she +farewelled me with her dying eyes. So the Ifrit cried at her, +"Thou whorest and makest me a wittol with thine eyes;" and struck +her so that her head went flying. Then he turned to me and said, +"O mortal, we have it in our law that, when the wife committeth +advowtry it is lawful for us to slay her. As for this damsel I +snatched her away on her bride-night when she was a girl of +twelve and she knew no one but myself. I used to come to her once +every ten days and lie with her the night, under the semblance of +a man, a Persian; and when I was well assured that she had +cuckolded me, I slew her. But as for thee I am not well satisfied +that thou hast wronged me in her; nevertheless I must not let +thee go unharmed; so ask a boon of me and I will grant it." Then +I rejoiced, O my lady, with ex ceeding joy and said, "What boon +shall I crave of thee?" He replied, "Ask me this boon; into what +shape I shall bewitch thee; wilt thou be a dog, or an ass or an +ape?" I rejoined (and indeed I had hoped that mercy might be +shown me), "By Allah, spare me, that Allah spare thee for sparing +a Moslem and a man who never wronged thee." And I humbled myself +before him with exceeding humility, and remained standing in his +presence, saying, "I am sore oppressed by circumstance." He +replied "Talk me no long talk, it is in my power to slay thee; +but I give thee instead thy choice." Quoth I, "O thou Ifrit, it +would besit thee to pardon me even as the Envied pardoned the +Envier." Quoth he, "And how was that?" and I began to tell him + + + + + +The Tale of the Envier and the Envied. + + +They relate, O Ifrit, that in a certain city were two men who +dwelt in adjoining houses, having a common party wall; and one of +them envied the other and looked on him with an evil eye,[FN#217] +and did his utmost endeavour to injure him; and, albeit at all +times he was jealous of his neighbour, his malice at last grew on +him till he could hardly eat or enjoy the sweet pleasures of +sleep. But the Envied did nothing save prosper; and the more the +other strove to injure him, the more he got and gained and +throve. At last the malice of his neighbour and the man's +constant endeavour to work him a harm came to his knowledge; so +he said, "By Allah! God's earth is wide enough for its people;" +and, leaving the neighbourhood, he repaired to another city where +he bought himself a piece of land in which was a dried up draw +well,[FN#218] old and in ruinous condition. Here he built him an +oratory and, furnishing it with a few necessaries, took up his +abode therein, and devoted himself to prayer and worshipping +Allah Almighty; and Fakirs and holy mendicants docked to him from +all quarters; and his fame went abroad through the city and that +country side. Presently the news reached his envious neighbour, +of what good fortune had befallen him and how the city notables +had become his disciples; so he travelled to the place and +presented himself at the holy man's hermitage, and was met by the +Envied with welcome and greeting and all honour. Then quoth the +Envier, "I have a word to say to thee; and this is the cause of +my faring hither, and I wish to give thee a piece of good news; +so come with me to thy cell." Thereupon the Envied arose and took +the Envier by the hand, and they went in to the inmost part of +the hermitage; but the Envier said, "Bid thy Fakirs retire to +their cells, for I will not tell thee what I have to say, save in +secret where none may hear us." Accordingly the Envied said to +his Fakirs, "Retire to your private cells;" and, when all had +done as he bade them, he set out with his visitor and walked a +little way until the twain reached the ruinous old well. And as +they stood upon the brink the Envier gave the Envied a push which +tumbled him headlong into it, unseen of any; whereupon he fared +forth, and went his ways, thinking to have had slain him. Now +this well happened to be haunted by the Jann who, seeing the +case, bore him up and let him down little by little, till he +reached the bottom, when they seated him upon a large stone. Then +one of them asked his fellows, "Wot ye who be this man?" and they +answered, "Nay." "This man," continued the speaker, "is the +Envied hight who, flying from the Envier, came to dwell in our +city, and here founded this holy house, and he hath edified us by +his litanies[FN#219] and his lections of the Koran; but the +Envier set out and journeyed till he rejoined him, and cunningly +contrived to deceive him and cast him into the well where we now +are. But the fame of this good man hath this very night come to +the Sultan of our city who designeth to visit him on the morrow +on account of his daughter." "What aileth his daughter?" asked +one, and another answered "She is possessed of a spirit; for +Maymun, son of Damdam, is madly in love with her; but, if this +pious man knew the remedy, her cure would be as easy as could +be." Hereupon one of them inquired, "And what is the medicine?" +and he replied, "The black tom cat which is with him in the +oratory hath, on the end of his tail, a white spot, the size of a +dirham; let him pluck seven white hairs from the spot, then let +him fumigate her therewith and the Marid will flee from her and +not return; so she shall be sane for the rest of her life." All +this took place, O Ifrit, within earshot of the Envied who +listened readily. When dawn broke and morn arose in sheen and +shone, the Fakirs went to seek the Shaykh and found him climbing +up the wall of the well; whereby he was magnified in their +eyes.[FN#220] Then, knowing that naught save the black tomcat +could supply him with the remedy required, he plucked the seven +tail hairs from the white spot and laid them by him; and hardly +had the sun risen ere the Sultan entered the hermitage, with the +great lords of his estate, bidding the rest of his retinue to +remain standing outside. The Envied gave him a hearty welcome, +and seating him by his side asked him, "Shall I tell thee the +cause of thy coming?" The King answered, "Yes." He continued, +"Thou hast come upon pretext of a visitation;[FN#221] but it is +in thy heart to question me of thy daughter." Replied the King, " +'Tis even so, O thou holy Shaykh;" and the Envied continued, +"Send and fetch her, and I trust to heal her forthright (an such +it be the will of Allah!)" The King in great joy sent for his +daughter, and they brought her pinioned and fettered. The Envied +made her sit down behind a curtain and taking out the hairs +fumigated her therewith; whereupon that which was in her head +cried out and departed from her. The girl was at once restored to +her right mind and veiling her face, said, "What hath happened +and who brought me hither?" The Sultan rejoiced with a joy that +nothing could exceed, and kissed his daughter's eyes,[FN#222] and +the holy man's hand; then, turning to his great lords, he asked, +"How say ye! What fee deserveth he who hath made my daughter +whole?" and all answered, "He deserveth her to wife;" and the +King said, "Ye speak sooth!" So he married him to her and the +Envied thus became son in law to the King. And after a little the +Wazir died and the King said, "Whom can I make Minister in his +stead?" "Thy son in law," replied the courtiers. So the Envied +became a Wazir; and after a while the Sultan also died and the +lieges said, "Whom shall we make King?" and all cried, "The +Wazir." So the Wazir was forthright made Sultan, and he became +King regnant, a true ruler of men. One day as he had mounted his +horse; and, in the eminence of his kinglihood, was riding amidst +his Emirs and Wazirs and the Grandees of his realm his eye fell +upon his old neighbour, the Envier, who stood afoot on his path; +so he turned to one of his Ministers, and said, "Bring hither +that man and cause him no affright." The Wazir brought him and +the King said, "Give him a thousand miskals[FN#223] of gold from +the treasury, and load him ten camels with goods for trade, and +send him under escort to his own town." Then he bade his enemy +farewell and sent him away and forbore to punish him for the many +and great evils he had done. See, O Ifrit, the mercy of the +Envied to the Envier, who had hated him from the beginning and +had borne him such bitter malice and never met him without +causing him trouble; and had driven him from house and home, and +then had journeyed for the sole purpose of taking his life by +throwing him into the well. Yet he did not requite his injurious +dealing, but forgave him and was bountiful to him.[FN#224] Then I +wept before him, O my lady, with sore weeping, never was there +sorer, and I recited:-- + +"Pardon my fault, for 'tis the wise man's wont * All faults to + pardon and revenge forgo: +In sooth all manner faults in me contain * Then deign of goodness + mercy grace to show: +Whoso imploreth pardon from on High * Should hold his hand + from sinners here below." + +Said the Ifrit, "Lengthen not thy words! As to my slaying thee +fear it not, and as to my pardoning thee hope it not; but from my +bewitching thee there is no escape." Then he tore me from the +ground which closed under my feet and hew with me into the +firmament till I saw the earth as a large white cloud or a +saucer[FN#225] in the midst of the waters. Presently he set me +down on a mountain, and taking a little dust, over which he +muttered some magical words, sprinkled me therewith, saying, +"Quit that shape and take thou the shape of an ape!" And on the +instant I became an ape, a tailless baboon, the son of a +century[FN#226]. Now when he had left me and I saw myself in this +ugly and hateful shape, I wept for myself, but resigned my soul +to the tyranny of Time and Circumstance, well weeting that +Fortune is fair and constant to no man. I descended the mountain +and found at the foot a desert plain, long and broad, over which +I travelled for the space of a month till my course brought me to +the brink of the briny sea.[FN#227] After standing there awhile, +I was ware of a ship in the offing which ran before a fair wind +making for the shore. I hid myself behind a rock on the beach and +waited till the ship drew near, when I leaped on board. I found +her full of merchants and passengers and one of them cried, "O +Captain, this ill omened brute will bring us ill luck!" and +another said, "Turn this ill omened beast out from among us;" the +Captain said, "Let us kill it!" another said, "Slay it with the +sword;" a third, "Drown it;" and a fourth, "Shoot it with an +arrow." But I sprang up and laid hold of the Rais's[FN#228] +skirt, and shed tears which poured down my chops. The Captain +took pity on me, and said, "O merchants! this ape hath appealed +to me for protection and I will protect him; henceforth he is +under my charge: so let none do him aught hurt or harm, otherwise +there will be bad blood between us." Then he entreated me kindly +and whatsoever he said I understood and ministered to his every +want and served him as a servant, albeit my tongue would not obey +my wishes; so that he came to love me. The vessel sailed on, the +wind being fair, for the space of fifty days; at the end of which +we cast anchor under the walls of a great city wherein was a +world of people, especially learned men, none could tell their +number save Allah. No sooner had we arrived than we were visited +by certain Mameluke officials from the King of that city; who, +after boarding us, greeted the merchants and giving them joy of +safe arrival said, "Our King welcometh you, and sendeth you this +roll of paper, whereupon each and every of you must write a line. +For ye shall know that the King's Minister, a calligrapher of +renown, is dead, and the King hath sworn a solemn oath that he +will make none Wazir in his stead who cannot write as well as he +could." He then gave us the scroll which measured ten cubits long +by a breadth of one, and each of the merchants who knew how to +write wrote a line thereon, even to the last of them; after which +I stood up (still in the shape of an ape) and snatched the roll +out of their hands. They feared lest I should tear it or throw it +overboard; so they tried to stay me and scare me, but I signed to +them that i could write, whereat all marvelled, saying, "We never +yet saw an, ape write." And the Captain cried, "Let him write; +and if he scribble and scrabble we will kick him out and kill +him; but if he; write fair and scholarly I will adopt him as my +son; for surely I never yet saw a more intelligent and well +mannered monkey than he. Would Heaven my real son were his match +in morals and manners." I took the reed, and stretching out my +paw, dipped it in ink and wrote, in the hand used for +letters,[FN#229] these two couplets:-- + +Time hath recorded gifts she gave the great; * But none recorded + thine which be far higher +Allah ne'er orphan men by loss of thee * Who be of Goodness + mother. Bounty's sire. + +And I wrote in Rayháni or larger letters elegantly +curved[FN#230]:-- + +Thou hast a reed[FN#231] of rede to every land, * Whose driving + causeth all the world to thrive; +Nil is the Nile of Misraim by thy boons * Who makest misery + smile with fingers five + +Then I wrote in the Suls[FN#232] character:-- + +There be no writer who from Death shall fleet, * But what his + hand hath writ men shall repeat: +Write, therefore, naught save what shall serve thee when * Thou + see's on Judgment-Day an so thou see's! + +Then I wrote in the character Naskh[FN#233]:-- + +When to sore parting Fate our love shall doom, * To distant life + by Destiny decreed, +We cause the inkhorn's lips to 'plain our pains, * And tongue our + utterance with the talking reed. + +And I wrote in the Túmár character[FN#234]:-- + +Kingdom with none endures; if thou deny * This truth, where be + the Kings of earlier earth? +Set trees of goodliness while rule endures, * And when thou art + fallen they shall tell thy worth. + +And I wrote in the character Muhakkak[FN#235]:-- + +When oped the inkhorn of thy wealth and fame * Take ink of + generous heart and gracious hand; +Write brave and noble deeds while write thou can * And win thee + praise from point of pen and brand. + +Then I gave the scroll to the officials and, after we all had +written our line, they carried it before the King. When he saw +the paper no writing pleased him save my writing; and he said to +the assembled courtiers, "Go seek the writer of these lines and +dress him in a splendid robe of honour; then mount him on a she +mule,[FN#236] let a band of music precede him and bring him to +the presence." At these words they smiled and the King was wroth +with them and cried, "O accursed! I give you an order and you +laugh at me?" "O King," replied they, "if we laugh 'tis not at +thee and not without a cause." "And what is it?" asked he; and +they answered, "O King, thou orderest us to bring to thy presence +the man who wrote these lines; now the truth is that he who wrote +them is not of the sons of Adam,[FN#237] but an ape, a tail-less +baboon, belonging to the ship captain." Quoth he, "Is this true +that you say?" Quoth they, "Yea! by the rights of thy +munificence!" The King marvelled at their words and shook with +mirth and said, "I am minded to buy this ape of the Captain." +Then he sent messengers to the ship with the mule, the dress, the +guard and the state drums, saying, "Not the less do you clothe +him in the robe of honour and mount him on the mule and let him +be surrounded by the guards and preceded by the band of music." +They came to the ship and took me from the Captain and robed me +in the robe of honour and, mounting me on the she mule, carried +me in state procession through the streets', whilst the people +were amazed and amused. And folk said to one another, "Halloo! is +our Sultan about to make an ape his Minister?"; and came all agog +crowding to gaze at me, and the town was astir and turned topsy +turvy on my account. When they brought me up to the King and set +me in his presence, I kissed the ground before him three times, +and once before the High Chamberlain and great officers, and he +bade me be seated, and I sat respectfully on shins and +knees,[FN#238] and all who were present marvelled at my fine +manners, and the King most of all. Thereupon he ordered the +lieges to retire; and, when none remained save the King's +majesty, the Eunuch on duty and a little white slave, he bade +them set before me the table of food, containing all manner of +birds, whatever hoppeth and flieth and treadeth in nest, such as +quail and sand grouse. Then he signed me to eat with him; so I +rose and kissed ground before him, then sat me down and ate with +him. And when the table was removed I washed my hands in seven +waters and took the reed-case and reed; and wrote instead of +speaking these couplets:-- + +Wail for the little partridges on porringer and plate; * Cry for + the ruin of the fries and stews well marinate: +Keen as I keen for loved, lost daughters of the + Katá-grouse,[FN#239] * And omelette round the fair + enbrowned fowls agglomerate: +O fire in heart of me for fish, those deux poissons I saw, * + Bedded on new made scones[FN#240] and cakes in piles to + laniate. +For thee, O vermicelli! aches my very maw! I hold * Without thee + every taste and joy are clean annihilate +Those eggs have rolled their yellow eyes in torturing pains of + fire * Ere served with hash and fritters hot, that + delicatest cate. +Praised be Allah for His baked and roast and ah! how good * This + pulse, these pot-herbs steeped in oil with eysill combinate! +When hunger sated was, I elbow-propt fell back upon * Meat + pudding[FN#241] wherein gleamed the bangles that my wits + amate. +Then woke I sleeping appetite to eat as though in sport * Sweets + from broceded trays and kickshaws most elaborate. +Be patient, soul of me! Time is a haughty, jealous wight; * Today + he seems dark-lowering and tomorrow fair to sight.[FN#242] + +Then I rose and seated myself at a respectful distance while the +King read what I had written, and marvelled, exclaiming, "O the +miracle, that an ape should be gifted with this graceful style +and this power of penmanship! By Allah, 'tis a wonder of +wonders!" Presently they set before the King choice wines in +flagons of glass and he drank: then he passed on the cup to me; +and I kissed the ground and drank and wrote on it:-- + +With fire they boiled me to loose my tongue,[FN#243] * And pain + and patience gave for fellowship: +Hence comes it hands of men upbear me high * And honey dew + from lips of maid I sip! + +And these also:-- + +Morn saith to Night, "withdraw and let me shine;" * So drain we + draughts that dull all pain and pine:[FN#244] +I doubt, so fine the glass, the wine so clear, * If 'tis the wine + in glass or glass in twine. + +The King read my verse and said with a sigh, "Were these +gifts[FN#245] in a man, he would excel all the folk of his time +and age!" Then he called for the chess board, and said, "Say, +wilt thou play with me?"; and I signed with my head, "Yes." Then +I came forward and ordered the pieces and played with him two +games, both of which I won. He was speechless with surprise; so I +took the pen case and, drawing forth a reed, wrote on the board +these two couplets:-- + +Two hosts fare fighting thro' the livelong day * Nor is their + battling ever finished, +Until, when darkness girdeth them about, * The twain go sleeping + in a single bed.[FN#246] + +The King read these lines with wonder and delight and said to his +Eunuch,[FN#247] "O Mukbil, go to thy mistress, Sitt al- +Husn,[FN#248] and say her, 'Come, speak the King who biddeth thee +hither to take thy solace in seeing this right wondrous ape!"' So +the Eunuch went out and presently returned with the lady who, +when she saw me veiled her face and said, "O my father! hast thou +lost all sense of honour? How cometh it thou art pleased to send +for me and show me to strange men?" "O Sitt al-Husn," said he, +"no man is here save this little foot page and the Eunuch who +reared thee and I, thy father. From whom, then, cost thou veil +thy face?" She answered, "This whom thou deemest an ape is a +young man, a clever and polite, a wise and learned and the son of +a King; but he is ensorcelled and the Ifrit Jirjaris, who is of +the seed of Iblis, cast a spell upon him, after putting to death +his own wife the daughter of King Ifitamus lord of the Islands of +Abnus." The King marvelled at his daughter's words and, turning +to me, said, "Is this true that she saith of thee?"; and I signed +by a nod of my head the answer, "Yea, verily;" and wept sore. +Then he asked his daughter, "Whence knewest thou that he is +ensorcelled?"; and she answered, "O my dear papa, there was with +me in my childhood an old woman, a wily one and a wise and a +witch to boot, and she taught me the theory of magic and its +practice; and I took notes in writing and therein waxed perfect, +and have committed to memory an hundred and seventy chapters of +egromantic formulas, by the least of which I could transport the +stones of thy city behind the Mountain Kaf and the Circumambient +Main,[FN#249] or make its site an abyss of the sea and its people +fishes swimming in the midst of it." "O my daughter," said her +father, "I conjure thee, by my life, disenchant this young man, +that I may make him my Wazir and marry thee to him, for indeed he +is an ingenious youth and a deeply learned." "With joy and goodly +gree," she replied and, hending in hand an iron knife whereon was +inscribed the name of Allah in Hebrew characters, she described a +wide circle--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased +saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Fourteenth Night, + + She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +Kalandar continued his tale thus:--O my lady, the King's daughter +hent in hand a knife whereon were inscribed Hebrew characters and +described a wide circle in the midst of the palace hall, and +therein wrote in Cufic letters mysterious names and talismans; +and she uttered words and muttered charms, some of which we +understood and others we understood not. Presently the world waxed +dark before our sight till we thought that the sky was falling +upon our heads, and lo! the Ifrit presented himself in his own +shape and aspect. His hands were like many pronged pitch forks, +his legs like the masts of great ships, and his eyes like +cressets of gleaming fire. We were in terrible fear of him but +the King's daughter cried at him, "No welcome to thee and no +greeting, O dog!" whereupon he changed to the form of a lion and +said, "O traitress, how is it thou hast broken the oath we sware +that neither should contraire other!" "O accursed one," answered +she, "how could there be a compact between me and the like of +thee?" Then said he, "Take what thou has brought on thy self;" +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 eye brows; and cast ashes on my head +and donned the coarse black woollen robe of a Kalandar. Then I +fared forth, O my lady, and every day I pondered all the +calamities which had betided me, and I wept and repeated these +couplets:-- + +"I am distraught, yet verily His ruth abides with me, * Tho' + round me gather hosts of ills, whence come I cannot see: +Patient I'll be till Patience self with me impatient wax; * + Patient for ever till the Lord fulfil my destiny: +Patient I'll bide without complaint, a wronged and vanquish" man; + * Patient as sunparcht wight that spans the desert's sandy + sea: +Patient I'll be till Aloe's[FN#254] self unwittingly allow * I'm + patient under bitterer things than bitterest aloë: +No bitterer things than aloes or than patience for mankind, * Yet + bitterer than the twain to me were Patience' treachery: +My sere and seamed and seared brow would dragoman my sore * + If soul could search my sprite and there unsecret secrecy: +Were hills to bear the load I bear they'd crumble 'neath the + weight, * 'Twould still the roaring wind, 'twould quench the + flame-tongue's flagrancy, +And whoso saith the world is sweet certès a day he'll see * With + more than aloes' bitterness and aloes' pungency." + +Then I journeyed through many regions and saw many a city +intending for Baghdad, that I might seek audience, in the House +of Peace,[FN#255] with the Commander of the Faithful and tell him +all that had befallen me. I arrived here this very night and +found my brother in Allah, this first Kalandar, standing about as +one perplexed; so I saluted him with "Peace be upon thee," and +entered into discourse with him. Presently up came our brother, +this third Kalandar, and said to us, "Peace be with you! I am a +stranger;" whereto we replied, "And we too be strangers, who have +come hither this blessed night." So we all three walked on +together, none of us knowing the other's history, till Destiny +crave us to this door and we came in to you. Such then is my +story and my reason for shaving my beard and mustachios, and this +is what caused the loss of my eye. Said the house mistress, "Thy +tale is indeed a rare; so rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he +replied, "I will not budge till I hear my companions' stories." +Then came forward the third Kalandar, and said, "O illustrious +lady! my history is not like that of these my comrades, but more +wondrous and far more marvellous. In their case Fate and Fortune +came down on them unawares; but I drew down destiny upon my own +head and brought sorrow on mine own soul, and shaved my own beard +and lost my own eye. Hear then + + + + + +The Third Kalandar's Tale. + + +Know, O my lady, that I also am a King and the son of a King and +my name is Ajíb son of Kazíb. When my father died I succeeded +him; and I ruled and did justice and dealt fairly by all my +lieges. I delighted in sea trips, for my capital stood on the +shore, before which the ocean stretched far and wide; and near +hand were many great islands with sconces and garrisons in the +midst of the main. My fleet numbered fifty merchantmen, and as +many yachts for pleasance, and an hundred and fifty sail ready +fitted for holy war with the Unbelievers. It fortuned that I had +a mind to enjoy myself on the islands aforesaid, so I took ship +with my people in ten keel; and, carrying with me a month's +victual, I set out on a twenty days' voyage. But one night a head +wind struck us, and the sea rose against us with huge waves; the +billows sorely buffetted us and a dense darkness settled round +us. We gave ourselves up for lost and I said, "Whoso endangereth +his days, e'en an he 'scape deserveth no praise." Then we prayed +to Allah and besought Him; but the storm blasts ceased not to +blow against us nor the surges to strike us till morning broke +when the gale fell, the seas sank to mirrory stillness and the +sun shone upon us kindly clear. Presently we made an island where +we landed and cooked somewhat of food, and ate heartily and took +our rest for a couple of days. Then we set out again and sailed +other twenty days, the seas broadening and the land shrinking. +Presently the current ran counter to us, and we found ourselves +in strange waters, where the Captain had lost his reckoning, and +was wholly bewildered in this sea; so said we to the look out +man,[FN#256] "Get thee to the mast head and keep thine eyes +open." He swarmed up the mast and looked out and cried aloud, "O +Rais, I espy to starboard something dark, very like a fish +floating on the face of the sea, and to larboard there is a loom +in the midst of the main, now black and now bright." When the +Captain heard the look out's words he dashed his turband on the +deck and plucked out his beard and beat his face saying, "Good +news indeed! we be all dead men; not one of us can be saved." And +he fell to weeping and all of us wept for his weeping and also +for our lives; and I said, "O Captain, tell us what it is the +look out saw." "O my Prince," answered he, "know that we lost our +course on the night of the storm, which was followed on the +morrow by a two days' calm during which we made no way; and we +have gone astray eleven days reckoning from that night, with +ne'er a wind to bring us back to our true course. Tomorrow by +the end of the day we shall come to a mountain of black stone, +highs 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 crave us with a violent send. When +the ships were close under its lea they opened and the nails flew +out and all the iron in them sought the Magnet Mountain and clove +to it like a network; so that by the end of the day we were all +struggling in the waves round about the mountain. Some of us were +saved, but more were drowned and even those who had escaped knew +not one another, so stupefied were they by the beating of the +billows and the raving of the winds. As for me, O my lady, Allah +(be His name exalted!) preserved my life that I might suffer +whatso He willed to me of hardship, misfortune and calamity; for +I scrambled upon a plank from one of the ships, and the wind and +waters threw it at the feet of the Mountain. There I found a +practicable path leading by steps carven out of the rock to the +summit, and I called on the name of Allah Almighty"[FN#259]--And +Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her +permitted say. + + When it was the Fifteenth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +third Kalandar said to the lady (the rest of the party sitting +fast bound and the slaves standing with swords drawn over their +heads):--And after calling on the name of Almighty Allah and +passionately beseeching Him, I breasted the ascent, clinging to +the steps and notches hewn in the stone, and mounted little by +little. And the Lord stilled the wind and aided me in the ascent, +so that I succeeded in reaching the summit. There I found no +resting place save the dome, which I entered, joying with +exceeding joy at my escape; and made the Wuzu-ablution[FN#260] +and prayed a two bow prayer,[FN#261] a thanksgiving to God for my +preservation. Then I fell asleep under the dome, and heard in my +dream a mysterious Voice[FN#262] saying, "O son of Khazib! when +thou wakest from thy sleep dig under thy feet and thou shalt find +a bow of brass and three leaden arrows, inscribed with talismans +and characts. Take the bow and shoot the arrows at the horseman +on the dome top and free mankind from this sore calamity. When +thou hast shot him he shall fall into the sea, and the horse will +also drop at thy feet: then bury it in the place of the bow. This +done, the main will swell and rise till it is level with the +mountain head, and there will appear on it a skiff carrying a man +of laton (other than he thou shalt have shot) holding in his hand +a pair of paddles. He will come to thee and do thou embark with +him but beware of saying Bismillah or of otherwise naming Allah +Almighty. He will row thee for a space of ten days, till he bring +thee to certain Islands called the Islands of Safety, and thence +thou shalt easily reach a port and find those who will convey +thee to thy native land; and all this shall be fulfilled to thee +so thou call not on the name of Allah." Then I started up from my +sleep in joy and gladness and, hastening to do the bidding of the +mysterious Voice, found the bow and arrows and shot at the +horseman and tumbled him into the main, whilst the horse dropped +at my feet; so I took it and buried it. Presently the sea surged +up and rose till it reached the top of the mountain; nor had I +long to wait ere I saw a skiff in the offing coming towards me. I +gave thanks to Allah; and, when the skiff came up to me, I saw +therein a man of brass with a tablet of lead on his breast +inscribed with talismans and characts; and I embarked without +uttering a word. The boatman rowed on with me through the first +day and the second and the third, in all ten whole days, till I +caught sight of the Islands of Safety; whereat I joyed with +exceeding joy and for stress of gladness exclaimed, "Allah! +Allah! In the name of Allah! There is no god but the God and +Allah is Almighty.''[FN#263] Thereupon the skiff forthwith upset +and cast me upon the sea; then it righted and sank deep into the +depths. Now I am a fair swimmer, so I swam the whole day till +nightfall, when my forearms and shoulders were numbed with +fatigue and I felt like to die; so I testified to my faith, +expecting naught but death. The sea was still surging under the +violence of the winds, and presently there came a billow like a +hillock; and, bearing me up high in air, threw me with a long +cast on dry land, that His will might be fulfilled. I crawled up +the beach and doffing my raiment wrung it out to dry and spread +it in the sunshine: then I lay me down and slept the whole night. +As soon as it was day, I donned my clothes and rose to look +whither I should walk. Presently I came to a thicket of low +trees; and, making a cast round it, found that the spot whereon I +stood was an islet, a mere holm, girt on all sides by the ocean; +whereupon I said to myself, "Whatso freeth me from one great +calamity casteth me into a greater!" But while I was pondering my +case and longing for death behold, I saw afar off a ship making +for the island; so I clomb a tree and hid myself among the +branches. Presently the ship anchored and landed ten slaves, +blackamoors, bearing iron hoes and baskets, who walked on till +they reached the middle of the island. Here they dug deep into +the ground, until they uncovered a plate of metal which they +lifted, thereby opening a trap door. After this they returned to +the ship and thence brought bread and flour, honey and fruits, +clarified butter,[FN#264] leather bottles containing liquors and +many household stuffs; also furniture, table service and mirrors +rugs, carpets and in fact all needed to furnish a dwelling; and +they kept going to and fro, and descending by the trap door, till +they had transported into the dwelling all that was in the ship. +After this the slaves again went on board and brought back with +them garments as rich as may be, and in the midst of them came an +old, old man, of whom very little was left, for Time had dealt +hardly and harshly with him, and all that remained of him was a +bone wrapped in a rag of blue stuff through which the winds +whistled west and east. As saith the poet of him:-- + +Time gars me tremble Ah, how sore the baulk! * While Time in + pride of strength cloth ever stalk: +Time was I walked nor ever felt I tired, * Now am I tired albe I + never walk! + +And the Shaykh held by the hand a youth cast in beauty's mould, +all elegance and perfect grace; so fair that his comeliness +deserved to be proverbial; for he was as a green bough or the +tender young of the roe, ravishing every heart with his +loveliness and subduing every soul with his coquetry and amorous +ways.[FN#265] It was of him the poet spake when he said:-- + +Beauty they brought with him to make compare, * But Beauty + hung her head in shame and care: +Quoth' they, "O Beauty, hast thou seen his like?" * And Beauty + cried, "His like? not anywhere!" + +They stinted not their going, O my lady, till all went down by +the trap door and did not reappear for an hour, or rather more; +at the end of which time the slaves and the old man came up +without the youth and, replacing the iron plate and carefully +closing the door slab as it was before, they returned to the ship +and made sail and were lost to my sight. When they turned away to +depart, I came down from the tree and, going to the place I had +seen them fill up, scraped off and removed the earth; and in +patience possessed my soul till I had cleared the whole of it +away. Then appeared the trap door which was of wood, in shape and +size like a millstone; and when I lifted it up it disclosed a +winding staircase of stone. At this I marvelled and, descending +the steps till I reached the last, found a fair hall, spread with +various kinds of carpets and silk stuffs, wherein was a youth +sitting upon a raised couch and leaning back on a round cushion +with a fan in his hand and nosegays and posies of sweet scented +herbs and flowers before him;[FN#266] but he was alone and not a +soul near him in the great vault. When he saw me he turned pale; +but I saluted him courteously and said, "Set thy mind at ease and +calm thy fears; no harm shall come near thee; I am a man like +thyself and the son of a King to boot; whom the decrees of +Destiny have sent to bear thee company and cheer thee in thy +loneliness. But now tell me, what is thy story and what causeth +thee to dwell thus in solitude under the ground?" When he was +assured that I was of his kind and no Jinni, he rejoiced and his +fine colour returned; and, making me draw near to him he said, "O +my brother, my story is a strange story and 'tis this. My father +is a merchant-jeweller possessed of great wealth, who hath white +and black slaves travelling and trading on his account in ships +and on camels, and trafficking with the most distant cities; but +he was not blessed with a child, not even one. Now on a certain +night he dreamed a dream that he should be favoured with a son, +who would be short lived; so the morning dawned on my father +bringing him woe and weeping. On the following night my mother +conceived and my father noted down the date of her becoming +pregnant.[FN#267] Her time being fulfilled she bare me; whereat +my father rejoiced and made banquets and called together the +neighbors 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 end 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 fief or loath? What a +disaster! What an affliction! O Allah mine, I implore thy pardon +and declare to Thee my innocence of his death. But what God +willeth let that come to pass.''[FN#276]--And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Sixteenth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ajib thus +continued his tale to the lady:--When I was certified that I had +slain him, I arose and ascending the stairs replaced the trap- +door and covered it with earth as before. Then I looked out +seawards and saw the ship cleaving the waters and making for the +island, wherefore I was afeard and said, "The moment they come +and see the youth done to death, they will know 'twas I who slew +him and will slay me without respite." So I climbed up into a +high tree and concealed myself among its leaves; and hardly had I +done so when the ship anchored and the slaves landed with the +ancient man, the youth's father, and made direct for the place +and when they removed the earth they were surprised to see it +soft.[FN#277] Then they raised the trap door and went down and +found the youth lying at full length, clothed in fair new +garments, with a face beaming after the bath, and the knife deep +in his heart. At the sight they shrieked and wept and beat their +faces, loudly cursing the murderer; whilst a swoon came over the +Shaykh so that the slaves deemed him dead, unable to survive his +son. At last they wrapped the slain youth in his clothes and +carried him up and laid him on the ground covering him with a +shroud of silk. Whilst they were making for the ship the old man +revived; and, gazing on his son who was stretched out, fell on +the ground and strewed dust over his head and smote his face and +plucked out his beard; and his weeping redoubled as he thought of +his murdered son and he swooned away once more. After awhile a +slave went and fetched a strip of silk whereupon they lay the old +man and sat down at his head. All this took place and I was on +the tree above them watching everything that came to pass; and my +heart became hoary before my head waxed grey, for the hard lot +which was mine, and for the distress and anguish I had undergone, +and I fell to reciting:-- + +"How many a joy by Allah's will hath fled * With flight escaping + sight of wisest head! +How many a sadness shall begin the day, * Yet grow right + gladsome ere the day is sped! +How many a weal trips on the heels of ill, * Causing the + mourner's heart with joy to thrill!"[FN#278] + +But the old man, O my lady, ceased not from his swoon till near +sunset, when he came to himself and, looking upon his dead son, +he recalled what had happened, and how what he had dreaded had +come to pass; and he beat his face and head and recited these +couplets:-- + +"Racked is my heart by parting fro' my friends * And two rills + ever fro' my eyelids flow: +With them[FN#279] went forth my hopes, Ah, well away! * What + shift remaineth me to say or do? +Would I had never looked upon their sight, * What shift, fair + sirs, when paths e'er strainer grow? +What charm shall calm my pangs when this wise burn * Longings + of love which in my vitals glow? +Would I had trod with them the road of Death! * Ne'er had befel + us twain this parting blow: +Allah: I pray the Truthful show me Roth * And mix our lives nor + part them evermo'e! +How blest were we as 'death one roof we dwelt * Conjoined in + joys nor recking aught of woe; +Till Fortune shot us pith the severance shaft; * Ah who shall + patient bear such parting throe? +And dart of Death struck down amid the tribe * The age's pearl + that Morn saw brightest show: +I cried the while his case took speech and said:--* Would Heaven, + my son, Death mote his doom foreslow! +Which be the readiest road wi' thee to meet * My Son! for whom I + would my soul bestow? +If sun I call him no! the sun cloth set; * If moon I call him, + wane the moons; Ah no! +O sad mischance o' thee, O doom of days, * Thy place none other + love shall ever know: +Thy sire distracted sees thee, but despairs * By wit or wisdom + Fate to overthrow: +Some evil eye this day hath cast its spell * And foul befal him + as it foul befel!" + +Then he sobbed a single sob and his soul fled his flesh. The +slaves shrieked aloud, "Alas, our lord!" and showered dust on +their heads and redoubled their weeping and wailing. Presently +they carried their dead master to the ship side by side with his +dead son and, having transported all the stuff from the dwelling +to the vessel, set sail and disappeared from mine eyes. I +descended from the tree and, raising the trap-door, went down +into the underground dwelling where everything reminded me of the +youth; and I looked upon the poor remains of him and began +repeating these verses:-- + +"Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang * And on + deserted hearths I weep and yearn: +And Him I pray who doomed them depart * Some day vouchsafe + the boon of safe return.''[FN#280] + +Then, O my lady, I went up again by the trap-door, and every day +I used to wander round about the island and every night I +returned to the underground hall. Thus I lived for a month, till +at last, looking at the western side of the island, I observed +that every day the tides ebbed, leaving shallow water for which +the flow did not compensate; and by the end of the month the sea +showed dry land in that direction. At this I rejoiced making +certain of my safety; so I arose and fording what little was left +of the water got me to the mainland, where I fell in with great +heaps of loose sand in which even a camel's hoof would sink up to +the knee.[FN#281] However I emboldened my soul and wading through +the sand behold, a fire shone from afar burning with a brazing +light.[FN#282] So I made for it hoping haply to find succour, and +broke out into these verses:-- + +"Belike Fortune may her bridle turn * And Time bring weal + although he's jealous hight; +Forward my hopes, and further all my needs, * And passed ills + with present weals requite." + +And when I drew near the fire aforesaid lo! it was a palace with +gates of copper burnished red which, when the rising sun shone +thereon, gleamed and glistened from afar showing what had seemed +to me a fire. I rejoiced in the sight, and sat down over against +the gate, but I was hardly settled in my seat before there met me +ten young men clothed in sumptuous gear and all were blind of the +left eye which appeared as plucked out. They were accompanied by +a Shaykh, an old, old man, and much I marvelled at their +appearance, and their all being blind of the same eye. When they +saw me, they saluted me with the Salam and asked me of my case +and my history; whereupon I related to them all what had befallen +me, and what full measure of misfortune was mine. Marvelling at +my tale they took me to the mansion, where I saw ranged round the +hall ten couches each with its blue bedding and coverlet of blue +stuff[FN#283] and amiddlemost stood a smaller couch furnished +like them with blue and nothing else. As we entered each of the +youths took his seat on his own couch and the old man seated +himself upon the smaller one in the middle saying to me, "O +youth, sit thee down on the floor and ask not of our case nor of +the loss of our eyes." Presently he rose up and set before each +young man some meat in a charger and drink in a large mazer, +treating me in like manner; and after that they sat questioning +me concerning my adventures and what had betided me: and I kept +telling them my tale till the night was far spent. Then said the +young men, "O our Shaykh, wilt not thou set before us our +ordinary? The time is come." He replied, "With love and +gladness," and rose and entering a closet disappeared, but +presently returned bearing on his head ten trays each covered +with a strip of blue stuff. He set a tray before each youth and, +lighting ten wax candles, he stuck one upon each tray, and drew +off the covers and lo! under them was naught but ashes and +powdered charcoal and kettle soot. Then all the young men tucked +up their sleeves to the elbows and fell a weeping and wailing and +they blackened their faces and smeared their clothes and +buffetted their brows and beat their breasts, continually +exclaiming, "We were sitting at our ease but our frowardness +brought us unease! " They ceased not to do this till dawn drew +nigh, when the old man rose and heated water for them; and they +washed their faces, and donned other and clean clothes. Now when +I saw this, O my lady, for very wonderment my senses left me and +my wits went wild and heart and head were full of thought, till I +forgot what had betided me and I could not keep silence feeling I +fain must speak out and question them of these strangenesses; so +I said to them, "How come ye to do this after we have been so +open hearted and frolicksome? Thanks be to Allah ye be all sound +and sane, yet actions such as these befit none but mad men or +those possessed of an evil spirit. I conjure you by all that is +dearest to you, why stint ye to tell me your history, and the +cause of your losing your eyes and your blackening your faces +with ashes and soot?" Hereupon they turned to me and said, "O +young man, hearken not to thy youthtide's suggestions and +question us no questions." Then they slept and I with them and +when they awoke the old man brought us somewhat of food; and, +after we had eaten and the plates and goblets had been removed, +they sat conversing till night fall when the old man rose and lit +the wax candles and lamps and set meat and drink before us. After +we had eaten and drunken we sat conversing and carousing in +companionage till the noon of night, when they said to the old +man, "Bring us our ordinary, for the hour of sleep is at hand!" +So he rose and brought them the trays of soot and ashes; and they +did as they had done on the preceding night, nor more, nor less. +I abode with them after this fashion for the space of a month +during which time they used to blacken their faces with ashes +every night, and to wash and change their raiment when the morn +was young; and I but marvelled the more and my scruples and +curiosity increased to such a point that I had to forego even +food and drink. At last, I lost command of myself, for my heart +was aflame with fire unquenchable and lowe unconcealable and I +said, "O young men, will ye not relieve my trouble and acquaint +me with the reason of thus blackening your faces and the meaning +of your words:--We were sitting at our ease but our frowardness +brought us unease?" Quoth they "'Twere better to keep these +things secret." Still I was bewildered by their doings to the +point of abstaining from eating and drinking and, at last wholly +losing patience, quoth I to them, There is no help for it: ye +must acquaint me with what is the reason of these doings." They +replied, "We kept our secret only for thy good: to gratify thee +will bring down evil upon thee and thou wilt become a monocular +even as we are." I repeated "There is no help for it and, if ye +will not, let me leave you and return to mine own people and be +at rest from seeing these things, for the proverb saith:-- + +Better ye 'bide and I take my leave: * For what eye sees not + heart shall never grieve." + +Thereupon they said to me, "Remember, O youth, that should ill +befal thee we will not again harbour thee nor suffer thee to +abide amongst us;" and bringing a ram they slaughtered it and +skinned it. Lastly they gave me a knife saying, "Take this skin +and stretch thyself upon it and we will sew it around thee, +presently there shall come to thee a certain bird, hight +Rukh,[FN#284] that will catch thee up in his pounces and tower +high in air and then set thee down on a mountain. When thou +feelest he is no longer flying, rip open the pelt with this blade +and come out of it; the bird will be scared and will fly away and +leave thee free. After this fare for half a day, and the march +will place thee at a palace wondrous fair to behold, towering +high in air and builded of Khalanj[FN#285], lign-aloes and +sandal-wood, plated with red gold, and studded with all manner +emeralds and costly gems fit for seal rings. Enter it and thou +shalt win to thy wish for we have all entered that palace; and +such is the cause of our losing our eyes and of our blackening +our faces. Were we now to tell thee our stories it would take too +long a time; for each and every of us lost his left eye by an +adventure of his own." I rejoiced at their words and they did +with me as they said; and the bird Rukh bore me off end set me +down on the mountain. Then I came out of the skin and walked on +till I reached the palace. The door stood open as I entered and +found myself in a spacious and goodly hall, wide exceedingly, +even as a horse-course; and around it were an hundred chambers +with doors of sandal and aloes woods plated with red gold and +furnished with silver rings by way of knockers.[FN#286] At the +head or upper end[FN#287] of the hall I saw forty damsels, +sumptuously dressed and ornamented and one and all bright as +moons; none could ever tire of gazing upon them and all so lovely +that the most ascetic devotee on seeing them would become their +slave and obey their will. When they saw me the whole bevy came +up to me and said "Welcome and well come and good cheer[FN#288] +to thee, O our lord! This whole month have we been expecting +thee. Praised be Allah who hath sent us one who is worthy of us, +even as we are worthy of him!" Then they made me sit down upon a +high divan and said to me, "This day thou art our lord and +master, and we are thy servants and thy hand-maids, so order us +as thou wilt." And I marvelled at their case. Presently one of +them arose and set meat before me and I ate and they ate with me; +whilst others warmed water and washed my hands and feet and +changed my clothes and others made ready sherbets and gave us to +drink; and all gathered around me being full of joy and gladness +at my coming. Then they sat down and conversed with me till +nightfall, when five of them arose and laid the trays and spread +them with flowers and fragrant herbs and fruits, fresh and dried, +and confections in profusion. At last they brought out a fine +wine service with rich old wine; and we sat down to drink and +some sang songs and others played the lute and psaltery and +recorders and other instruments, and the bowl went merrily round. +Hereupon such gladness possessed me that I forgot the sorrows of +the world one and all and said, "This is indeed life; O sad that +'tis fleeting!" I enjoyed their company till the time came for +rest; and our heads were all warm with wine, when they said, "O +our lord, choose from amongst us her who shall be thy bed-fellow +this night and not lie with thee again till forty days be past." +So I chose a girl fair of face and perfect in shape, with eyes +Kohl-edged by nature's hand;[FN#289] hair long and jet black with +slightly parted teeth[FN#290] and joining brows: 'twas as if she +were some limber graceful branchlet or the slender stalk of sweet +basil to amaze and to bewilder man's fancy, even as the poet said +of such an one-- + +To even her with greeny bough were vain * Fool he who finds her + beauties in the roe: +When hath the roe those lively lovely limbs * Or honey dews those + lips alone bestow? +Those eyne, soul piercing eyne, which slay with love, * Which + bind the victim by their shafts laid low? +My heart to second childhood they beguiled * No wonder: love + sick-man again is child! + +And I repeated to her the maker's words who said:-- + +"None other charms but thine shall greet mine eyes, * Nor other + image can my heart surprise: +Thy love, my lady, captives all my thoughts * And on that love + I'll die and I'll arise. + +So I lay with her that night; none fairer I ever knew; and, when +it was morning, the damsels carried me to the Hammam bath and +bathed me and robed me in fairest apparel. Then they served up +food, and we ate and drank and the cup went round till nightfall +when I chose from among them one fair of form and face, soft- +sided and a model of grace, such an one as the poet described +when he said.-- + +On her fair bosom caskets twain I scanned, * Sealed fast with + musk seals lovers to withstand +With arrowy glances stand on guard her eyes, * Whose shafts + would shoot who dares put forth a hand. + +With her I spent a most goodly night; and, to be brief, O my +mistress, I remained with them in all solace and delight of life, +eating and drinking, conversing and carousing and every night +lying with one or other of them. But at the head of the new year +they came to me in tears and bade me farewell, weeping and crying +out and clinging about me: whereat I wondered and said, "What may +be the matter? verily you break my heart!" They exclaimed, "Would +Heaven we had never known thee; for, though we have companies +with many, yet never saw we a pleasanter than thou or a more +courteous." And they wept again. "But tell me more clearly," +asked I, "what causeth this weeping which maketh my +gall-bladder[FN#291] like to burst;" and they answered, "O our +lord and master, it is severance which maketh us weep; and thou, +and thou only, art the cause of our tears. If thou hearken to us +we need never be parted and if thou hearken not we part for ever; +but our hearts tell us that thou wilt not listen to our words and +this is the cause of our tears and cries." "Tell me how the case +standeth?" "Know, O our lord, that we are the daughters of Kings +who have met here and have lived together for years; and once in +every year we are perforce absent for forty days; and afterwards +we return and abide here for the rest of the twelve month eating +and drinking and taking our pleasure and enjoying delights: we +are about to depart according to our custom; and we fear lest +after we be gone thou contraire our charge and disobey our +injunctions. Here now we commit to thee the keys of the palace +which containeth forty chambers and thou mayest open of these +thirty and nine, but beware (and we conjure thee by Allah and by +the lives of us!) lest thou open the fortieth door, for therein +is that which shall separate us for ever."[FN#292] Quoth I, +"Assuredly I will not open it, if it contain the cause of +severance from you." Then one among them came up to me and +falling on my neck wept and recited these verses.-- + +"If Time unite us after absent while, * The world harsh frowning + on our lot shall smile +And if thy semblance deign adorn mine eyes,[FN#293] * I'll + pardon Time past wrongs and by gone guile." + +And I recited the following:-- + +"When drew she near to bid adieu with heart unstrung, * While + care and longing on that day her bosom wrung +Wet pearls she wept and mine like red carnelians rolled * And, + joined in sad rivière, around her neck they hung." + +When I saw her weeping I said, "By Allah I will never open that +fortieth door, never and no wise!" and I bade her farewell. +Thereupon all departed flying away like birds; signalling with +their hands farewells as they went and leaving me alone in the +palace. When evening drew near I opened the door of the first +chamber and entering it found myself in a place like one of the +pleasaunces of Paradise. It was a garden with trees of freshest +green and ripe fruits of yellow sheen; and its birds were singing +clear and keen and rills ran wimpling through the fair terrene. +The sight and sounds brought solace to my sprite; and I walked +among the trees, and I smelt the breath of the flowers on the +breeze; and heard the birdies sing their melodies hymning the +One, the Almighty in sweetest litanies; and I looked upon the +apple whose hue is parcel red and parcel yellow; as said the +poet:-- + +Apple whose hue combines in union mellow * My fair's red cheek, + her hapless lover's yellow. + +Then I looked upon the quince, and inhaled its fragrance which to +shame musk and ambergris, even as the poet hath said : + +Quince every taste conjoins; in her are found * Gifts which for + queen of fruits the Quince have crowned +Her taste is wine, her scent the waft of musk; * Pure gold her + hue, her shape the Moon's fair round. + +Then I looked upon the pear whose taste surpasseth sherbet and +sugar; and the apricot[FN#294] whose beauty striketh the eye with +admiration, as if she were a polished ruby. Then I went out of +the place and locked the door as it was before. When it was the +morrow I opened the second door; and entering found myself in a +spacious plain set with tall date palms and watered by a running +stream whose banks were shrubbed with bushes of rose and jasmine, +while privet and eglantine, oxe-eye, violet and lily, narcissus, +origane and the winter gilliflower carpeted the borders; and the +breath of the breeze swept over these sweet smelling growths +diffusing their delicious odours right and left, perfuming the +world and filling my soul with delight. After taking my pleasure +there awhile I went from it and, having closed the door as it was +before, opened the third door wherein I saw a high open hall +pargetted with parti-coloured marbles and pietra dura of price +and other precious stones, and hung with cages of sandal-wood and +eagle-wood; full of birds which made sweet music, such as the +Thousand voiced,[FN#295] and the cushat, the merle, the turtle- +dove and the Nubian ring dove. My heart was filled with pleasure +thereby; my grief was dispelled and I slept in that aviary till +dawn. Then I undocked the door of the fourth chamber and therein +found a grand saloon with forty smaller chambers giving upon it. +All their doors stood open: so I entered and found them full of +pearls and jacinths and beryls and emeralds and corals and car +buncles, and all manner precious gems and jewels, such as tongue +of man may not describe. My thought was stunned at the sight and +I said to myself, "These be things methinks united which could +not be found save in the treasuries of a King of Kings, nor could +the monarchs of the world have collected the like of these!" And +my heart dilated and my sorrows ceased, "For," quoth I, "now +verily am I the monarch of the age, since by Allah's grace this +enormous wealth is mine; and I have forty damsels under my hand +nor is there any to claim them save myself." Then I gave not over +opening place after place until nine and thirty days were passed +and in that time I had entered every chamber except that one +whose door the Princesses had charged me not to open. But my +thoughts, O my mistress, ever ran on that forbidden +fortieth[FN#296] and Satan urged me to open it for my own +undoing; nor had I patience to forbear, albeit there wanted of +the trysting time but a single day. So I stood before the chamber +aforesaid and, after a moment's hesitation, opened the door which +was plated with red gold, and entered. I was met by a perfume +whose like I had never before smelt; and so sharp and subtle was +the odour that it made my senses drunken as with strong wine, and +I fell to the ground in a fainting fit which lasted a full hour. +When I came to myself I strengthened my heart and, entering, +found myself in a chamber whose floor was bespread with saffron +and blazing with light from branched candelabra of gold and lamps +fed with costly oils, which diffused the scent of musk and +ambergris. I saw there also two great censers each big as a +mazer-bowl,[FN#297] flaming with lign-aloes, nadd- +perfume,[FN#298] ambergris and honied scents; and the place was +full of their fragrance. Presently, O my lady, I espied a noble +steed, black as the murks of night when murkiest, standing, ready +saddled and bridled (and his saddle was of red gold) before two +mangers, one of clear crystal wherein was husked sesame, and the +other also of crystal containing water of the rose scented with +musk. When I saw this I marvelled and said to myself, "Doubtless +in this animal must be some wondrous mystery;" and Satan cozened +me, so I led him without the palace end mounted him, but he would +not stir from his place. So I hammered his sides with my heels, +but he moved not, and then I took the rein whip,[FN#299] and +struck him withal. When he felt the blow, he neighed a neigh with +a sound like deafening thunder and, opening a pair of +wings[FN#300] flew up with me in the firmament of heaven far +beyond the eyesight of man. After a full hour of flight he +descended and alighted on a terrace roof and shaking me off his +back lashed me on the face with his tail and gouged out my left +eye causing it roll along my cheek. Then he flew away. I went +down from the terrace and found myself again amongst the ten one +eyed youths sitting upon their ten couches with blue covers; and +they cried out when they saw me, "No welcome to thee, nor aught +of good cheer! We all lived of lives the happiest and we ate and +drank of the best; upon brocades and cloths of gold we took rest +and we slept with our heads on beauty's breast, but we could not +await one day to gain the delights of a year!" Quoth I, "Behold I +have become one like unto you and now I would have you bring me a +tray full of blackness, wherewith to blacken my face, and receive +me into your society." "No, by Allah," quoth they, "thou shalt +not sojourn with us and now get thee hence!" So they drove me +away. Finding them reject me thus I foresaw that matters would go +hard with me, and I remembered the many miseries which Destiny +had written upon my forehead; and I fared forth from among them +heavy hearted and tearful eyed, repeating to myself these words, +"I was sitting at mine ease but my frowardness brought me to +unease." Then I shaved beard and mustachios and eye brows, +renouncing the world, and wandered in Kalandar garb about +Allah's earth; and the Almighty decreed safety for me till I +arrived at Baghdad, which was on the evening of this very night. +Here I met these two other Kalandars standing bewildered; so I +saluted them saying, "I am a stranger!" and they answered, "And +we likewise be strangers!" By the freak of Fortune we were like +to like, three Kalandars and three monoculars all blind of the +left eye. Such, O my lady, is the cause of the shearing of my +beard and the manner of my losing an eye. Said the lady to him, +"Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he answered, "By Allah, I +will not go until I hear the stories of these others." Then the +lady, turning towards the Caliph and Ja'afar and Masrur, said to +them, "Do ye also give an account of yourselves, you men!" +Whereupon Ja'afar stood forth and told her what he had told the +portress as they were entering the house; and when she heard his +story of their being merchants and Mosul men who had outrun the +watch, she said, "I grant you your lives each for each sake, and +now away with you all." So they all went out and when they were +in the street, quoth the Caliph to the Kalandars, "O company, +whither go ye now, seeing that the morning hath not yet dawned?" +Quoth they, "By Allah, O our lord, we know not where to go." +"Come and pass the rest of the night with us," said the Caliph +and, turning to Ja'afar, "Take them home with thee and tomorrow +bring them to my presence that we may chronicle their +adventures." Ja'afar did as the Caliph bade him and the Commander +of the Faithful returned to his palace; but sleep gave no sign of +visiting him that night and he lay awake pondering the mishaps of +the three Kalandar princes and impatient to know the history of +the ladies and the two black bitches. No sooner had morning +dawned than he went forth and sat upon the throne of his +sovereignty; and, turning to Ja'afar, after all his Grandees and +Officers of state were gathered together, he said, "Bring me the +three ladies and the two bitches and the three Kalandars." So +Ja'afar fared forth and brought them all before him (and the +ladies were veiled); then the Minister turned to them and said in +the Caliph's name, "We pardon you your maltreatment of us and +your want of courtesy, in consideration of the kindness which +forewent it, and for that ye knew us not: now however I would +have you to know that ye stand in presence of the fifth[FN#301] +of the sons of Abbas, Harun al-Rashid, brother of Caliph Músá al- +Hádi, son of Al-Mansúr; son of Mohammed the brother of Al-Saffáh +bin Mohammed who was first of the royal house. Speak ye therefore +before him the truth and the whole truth!" When the ladies heard +Ja afar's words touching the Commander of the Faithful, the +eldest came forward and said, "O Prince of True Believers, my +story is one which, were it graven with needle-gravers upon the +eye corners were a warner for whoso would be warned and an +example for whoso can take profit from example."--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Seventeenth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that she stood +forth before the Commander of the Faithful and began to tell + + + + + +The Eldest Lady's Tale. + + +Verily a strange tale is mine and 'tis this:--Yon two black +bitches are my eldest sisters by one mother and father; and these +two others, she who beareth upon her the signs of stripes and the +third our procuratrix are my sisters by another mother. When my +father died, each took her share of the heritage and, after a +while my mother also deceased, leaving me and my sisters german +three thousand diners; so each daughter received her portion of a +thousand diners and I the same, albe the youngest. In due course +of time my sisters married with the usual festivities and lived +with their husbands, who bought merchandise with their wives +monies and set out on their travels together. Thus they threw me +off. My brothers in law were absent with their wives five years, +during which period they spent all the money they had and, +becoming bankrupt, deserted my sisters in foreign parts amid +stranger folk. After five years my eldest sister returned to me +in beggar's gear with her clothes in rags and tatters[FN#302] and +a dirty old mantilla;[FN#303] and truly she was in the foulest +and sorriest plight. At first sight I did not know my own sister; +but presently I recognised her and said "What state is this?" "O +our sister," she replied, "Words cannot undo the done; and the +reed of Destiny hath run through what Allah decreed." Then I sent +her to the bath and dressed her in a suit of mine own, and boiled +for her a bouillon and brought her some good wine and said to +her, "O my sister, thou art the eldest, who still standest to us +in the stead of father and mother; and, as for the inheritance +which came to me as to you twain, Allah hath blessed it and +prospered it to me with increase; and my circumstances are easy, +for I have made much money by spinning and cleaning silk; and I +and you will share my wealth alike." I entreated her with all +kindliness and she abode with me a whole year, during which our +thoughts and fancies were always full of our other sister. Shortly +after she too came home in yet fouler and sorrier plight than +that of my eldest sister; and I dealt by her still more honorably +than I had done by the first, and each of them had a share of my +substance. After a time they said to me, 'O our sister, we desire +to marry again, for indeed we have not patience to drag on our +days without husbands and to lead the lives of widows bewitched;" +and I replied, "O eyes of me![FN#304] ye have hitherto seen +scanty weal in wedlock, for now-a-days good men and true are +become rarities and curiosities; nor do I deem your projects +advisable, as ye have already made trial of matrimony and have +failed." But they would not accept my advice and married without +my consent: nevertheless I gave them outfit and dowries out of my +money; and they fared forth with their mates. In a mighty little +time their husbands played them false and, taking whatever they +could lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch. +Thereupon they came to me ashamed and in abject case and made +their excuses to me, saying, Pardon our fault and be not wroth +with us;[FN#305] for although thou art younger in years yet art +thou older in wit; henceforth we will never make mention of +marriage; so take us back as thy hand maidens that we may eat our +mouthful." Quoth I, "Welcome to you, O my sisters, there is +naught dearer to me than you." And I took them in and redoubled +my kindness to them. We ceased not to live after this loving +fashion for a full year, when I resolved to sell my wares abroad +and first to fit me a conveyance for Bassorah; so I equipped a +large ship, and loaded her with merchandise and valuable goods +for traffic, and with provaunt and all needful for a voyage, and +said to my sisters, "Will ye abide at home whilst I travel, or +would ye prefer to accompany me on the voyage?" "We will travel +with thee," answered they, "for we cannot bear to be parted from +thee." So I divided my monies into two parts, one to accompany me +and the other to be left in charge of a trusty person, for, as I +said to myself, "Haply some accident may happen to the ship and +yet we remain alive; in which case we shall find on our return +what may stand us in good stead." I took my two sisters and we +went a voyaging some days and nights; but the master was careless +enough to miss his course, and the ship went astray with us and +entered a sea other than the sea we sought. For a time we knew +naught of this; and the wind blew fair for us ten days, after +which the look out man went aloft to see about him and cried, +"Good news!" Then he came down rejoicing and said, "I have seen +what seemeth to be a city as 'twere a pigeon." Hereat we rejoiced +and, ere an hour of the day had passed, the buildings showed +plain in the offing and we asked the Captain, "What is the name +of yonder city?" and he answered By Allah I wot not, for I never +saw it before and never sailed these seas in my life: but, since +our troubles have ended in safety, remains for you only to land +there with your merchandise and, if you find selling profitable, +sell and make your market of what is there; and if not, we will +rest here two days and provision ourselves and fare away." So we +entered the port and the Captain went up town and was absent +awhile, after which he returned to us and said, "Arise; go up +into the city and marvel at the works of Allah with His creatures +and pray to be preserved from His righteous wrath!" So we landed +and going up into the city, saw at the gate men hending staves in +hand; but when we drew near them, behold, they had been +translated[FN#306] by the anger of Allah and had become stones. +Then we entered the city and found all who therein woned into +black stones enstoned: not an inhabited house appeared to the +espier, nor was there a blower of fire.[FN#307] We were awe +struck at the sight and threaded the market streets where we +found the goods and gold and silver left lying in their places; +and we were glad and said, "Doubtless there is some mystery in +all this." Then we dispersed about the thorough-fares and each +busied himself with collecting the wealth and money and rich +stuffs, taking scanty heed of friend or comrade. As for myself I +went up to the castle which was strongly fortified; and, entering +the King's palace by its gate of red gold, found all the vaiselle +of gold and silver, and the King himself seated in the midst of +his Chamberlains and Nabobs and Emirs and Wazirs; all clad in +raiment which confounded man's art. I drew nearer and saw him +sitting on a throne incrusted and inlaid with pearls and gems; +and his robes were of gold-cloth adorned with jewels of every +kind, each one flashing like a star. Around him stood fifty +Mamelukes, white slaves, clothed in silks of divers sorts holding +their drawn swords in their hands; but when I drew near to them +lo! all were black stones. My understanding was confounded at the +sight, but I walked on and entered the great hall of the +Harim,[FN#308] whose walls I found hung with tapestries of gold +striped silk and spread with silken carpets embroidered with +golden cowers. Here I saw the Queen lying at full length arrayed +in robes purfled with fresh young[FN#309] pearls; on her head was +a diadem set with many sorts of gems each fit for a ring[FN#310] +and around her neck hung collars and necklaces. All her raiment +and her ornaments were in natural state but she had been turned +into a black stone by Allah's wrath. Presently I espied an open +door for which I made straight and found leading to it a flight +of seven steps. So I walked up and came upon a place pargetted +with marble and spread and hung with gold-worked carpets and +tapestry, amiddlemostof which stood a throne of juniper wood +inlaid with pearls and precious stones and set with bosses of +emeralds. In the further wall was an alcove whose curtains, +bestrung with pearls, were let down and I saw a light issuing +therefrom; so I drew near and perceived that the light came from +a precious stone as big as an ostrich egg, set at the upper end +of the alcove upon a little chryselephantine couch of ivory and +gold; and this jewel, blazing like the sun, cast its rays wide +and side. The couch also was spread with all manner of silken +stuffs amazing the gazer with their richness and beauty. I +marvelled much at all this, especially when seeing in that place +candles ready lighted; and I said in my mind, "Needs must some +one have lighted these candles." Then I went forth and came to +the kitchen and thence to the buttery and the King's treasure +chambers; and continued to explore the palace and to pace from +place to place; I forgot myself in my awe and marvel at these +matters and I was drowned in thought till the night came on. Then +I would have gone forth, but knowing not the gate I lost my way, +so I returned to the alcove whither the lighted candles directed +me and sat down upon the couch; and wrapping myself in a +coverlet, after I had repeated somewhat from the Koran, I would +have slept but could not, for restlessness possessed me. When +night was at its noon I heard a voice chanting the Koran in +sweetest accents; but the tone thereof was weak; so I rose, glad +to hear the silence broken, and followed the sound until I +reached a closet whose door stood ajar. Then peeping through a +chink I considered the place and lo! it was an oratory wherein +was a prayer niche[FN#311] with two wax candles burning and lamps +hanging from the ceiling. In it too was spread a prayer carpet +whereupon sat a youth fair to see; and before him on its +stand[FN#312] was a copy of the Koran, from which he was reading. +I marvelled to see him alone alive amongst the people of the city +and entering saluted him; whereupon he raised his eyes and +returned my salam. Quoth I, "Now by the Truth of what thou +readest in Allah's Holy Book, I conjure thee to answer my +question." He looked upon me with a smile and said, "O handmaid +of Allah, first tell me the cause of thy coming hither, and I in +turn will tell what hath befallen both me and the people of this +city, and what was the reason of my escaping their doom." So I +told him my story whereat he wondered; and I questioned him of +the people of the city, when he replied, "Have patience with me +for a while, O my sister!" and, reverently closing the Holy Book, +he laid it up in a satin bag. Then he seated me by his side; and +I looked at him and behold, he was as the moon at its full, fair +of face and rare of form, soft sided and slight, of well +proportioned height, and cheek smoothly bright and diffusing +light; in brief a sweet, a sugar stick,[FN#313]. even as saith +the poet of the like of him in these couplets:-- + +That night th' astrologer a scheme of planets drew, * And lo! a + graceful shape of youth appeared in view: +Saturn had stained his locks with Saturninest jet, * And spots of + nut brown musk on rosy side face blew:[FN#314] +Mars tinctured either cheek with tinct of martial red; * Sagittal + shots from eyelids Sagittarius threw: +Dowered him Mercury with bright mercurial wit; * Bore off the + Bear[FN#315] what all man's evil glances grew: +Amazed stood Astrophil to sight the marvel birth * When louted + low the Moon at full to buss the Earth. + +And of a truth Allah the Most High had robed him in the raiment +of perfect grace and had purfled and fringed it with a cheek all +beauty and loveliness, even as the poet saith of such an one:-- + +By his eyelids shedding perfume and his fine slim waist I swear, + * By the shooting of his shafts barbed with sorcery passing + rare; +By the softness of his sides,[FN#316] and glances' lingering + light, * And brow of dazzling day-tide ray and night within + his hair; +By his eyebrows which deny to who look upon them rest, * Now + bidding now forbidding, ever dealing joy and care; +By the rose that decks his cheek, and the myrtle of its + moss,[FN#317] * By jacinths bedded in his lips and pearl his + smile lays bare; +By his graceful bending neck and the curving of his breast, * + Whose polished surface beareth those granados, lovely pair; +By his heavy hips that quiver as he passeth in his pride, * Or he + resteth with that waist which is slim beyond compare; +By the satin of his skin, by that fine unsullied sprite; * By the + beauty that containeth all things bright and debonnair; +By that ever open hand; by the candour of his tongue; * By noble + blood and high degree whereof he's hope and heir; +Musk from him borrows muskiness she loveth to exhale * And all + the airs of ambergris through him perfume the air; +The sun, methinks, the broad bright sun, before my love would + pale * And sans his splendour would appear a paring of his + nail.[FN#318] + +I glanced at him with one glance of eyes which caused me a +thousand sighs; and my heart was at once taken captive wise, so I +asked him, "O my lord and my love, tell me that whereof I +questioned thee;" and he answered, "Hearing is obeying! Know O +handmaid of Allah, that this city was the capital of my father +who is the King thou sawest on the throne transfigured by Allah's +wrath to a black stone, and the Queen thou foundest in the alcove +is my mother. They and all the people of the city were Magians +who fire adored in lieu of the Omnipotent Lord[FN#319] and were +wont to swear by lowe and heat and shade and light and the +spheres revolving day and night. My father had ne'er a son till +he was blest with me near the last of his days; and he reared me +till I grew up and prosperity anticipated me in all things. Now +it so fortuned that there was with us an old woman well stricken +in years, a Moslemah who, inwardly believing in Allah and His +Apostle, conformed outwardly with the religion of my people; and +my father placed thorough confidence in her for that he knew her +to be trustworthy and virtuous; and he treated her with ever +increasing kindness believing her to be of his own belief. So +when I was well nigh grown up my father committed me to her +charge saying:--Take him and educate him and teach him the rules +of our faith; let him have the best in structions and cease not +thy fostering care of him. So she took me and taught me the +tenets of Al-Islam with the divine ordinances[FN#320] of the Wuzu +ablution and the five daily prayers and she made me learn the +Koran by rote, often repeating:--Serve none save Allah Almighty! +When I had mastered this much of knowledge she said to me:--O my +son, keep this matter concealed from thy sire and reveal naught +to him lest he slay thee. So I hid it from him and I abode on +this wise for a term of days when the old woman died, and the +people of the city redoubled in their impiety[FN#321] and +arrogance and the error of their ways. One day, while they were +as wont, behold, they heard a loud and terrible sound and a crier +crying out with a voice like roaring thunder so every ear could +hear, far and near, "O folk of this city, leave ye your fire +worshipping and adore Allah the All-compassionate King!" At this, +fear and terror fell upon the citizens and they crowded to my +father (he being King of the city) and asked him, "What is this +awesome voice we have heard, for it hath confounded us with the +excess of its terror?" and he answered, "Let not a voice fright +you nor shake your steadfast sprite nor turn you back from the +faith which is right." Their hearts inclined to his words and +they ceased not to worship the fire and they persisted in +rebellion for a full year from the time they heard the first +voice; and on the anniversary came a second cry, and a third at +the head of the third year, each year once Still they persisted +in their malpractises till one day at break of dawn, judgment and +the wrath of Heaven descended upon them with all suddenness, and +by the visitation of Allah all were metamorphosed into black +stones,[FN#322] they and their beasts and their cattle; and none +was saved save myself who at the time was engaged in my +devotions. From that day to this I am in the case thou seest, +constant in prayer and fasting and reading and reciting the +Koran; but I am indeed grown weary by reason of my loneliness, +having none to bear me company." Then said I to him (for in very +sooth he had won my heart and was the lord of my life and soul), +"O youth, wilt thou fare with me to Baghdad city and visit the +Olema and men learned in the law and doctors of divinity and get +thee increase of wisdom and understanding and theology? And know +that she who standeth in thy presence will be thy handmaid, +albeit she be head of her family and mistress over men and +eunuchs and servants and slaves Indeed my life was no life before +it fell in with thy youth. I have here a ship laden with +merchandise; and in very truth Destiny drove me to this city that +I might come to the knowledge of these matters, for it was fated +that we should meet." And I ceased not to persuade him and speak +him fair and use every art till he consented.--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Eighteenth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +lady ceased not persuading with soft speech the youth to depart +with her till he consented and said "Yes." She slept that night +lying at his feet and hardly knowing where she was for excess of +joy. As soon as the next morning dawned (she pursued, addressing +the Caliph), I arose and we entered the treasuries and took +thence whatever was light in weight and great in worth; then we +went down side by side from the castle to the city, where we were +met by the Captain and my sisters and slaves who had been seeking +for me. When they saw me they rejoiced and asked what had stayed +me, and I told them all I had seen and related to them the story +of the young Prince and the transformation wherewith the citizens +had been justly visited. Hereat all marvelled, but when my two +sisters (these two bitches, O Commander of the Faithful!) saw me +by the side of my young lover they jaloused me on his account and +were wroth and plotted mischief against me. We awaited a fair +wind and went on board rejoicing and ready to fly for joy by +reason of the goods we had gotten, but my own greatest joyance +was in the youth; and we waited awhile till the wind blew fair for +us and then we set sail and fared forth. Now as we sat talking, +my sisters asked me, "And what wilt thou do with this handsome +young man?"; and I answered, "I purpose to make him my husband!" +Then I turned to him and said, "O my lord, I have that to propose +to thee wherein thou must not cross me; and this it is that, when +we reach Baghdad, my native city, I offer thee my life as thy +handmaiden in holy matrimony, and thou shalt be to me baron and I +will be femme to thee." He answered, "I hear and I obey!; thou +art my lady and my mistress and whatso thou doest I will not +gainsay." Then I turned to my sisters and said, "This is my gain; +I content me with this youth and those who have gotten aught of +my property let them keep it as their gain with my good will." +"Thou sayest and doest well," answered the twain, but they +imagined mischief against me. We ceased not spooning before a +fair wind till we had exchanged the sea of peril for the seas of +safety and, in a few days, we made Bassorah city, whose buildings +loomed clear before us as evening fell. But after we had retired +to rest and were sound alseep, my two sisters arose and took me +up, bed and all, and threw me into the sea: they did the same +with the young Prince who, as he could not swim, sank and was +drowned and Allah enrolled him in the noble army of +Martyrs.[FN#323] As for me would Heaven I had been drowned with +him, but Allah deemed that I should be of the saved; so when I +awoke and found myself in the sea and saw the ship making off +like a dash of lightning, He threw in my way a piece of timber +which I bestrided, and the waves tossed me to and fro till they +cast me upon an island coast, a high land and an uninhabited. I +landed and walked about the island the rest of the night and, +when morning dawned, I saw a rough track barely fit for child of +Adam to tread, leading to what proved a shallow ford connecting +island and mainland. As soon as the sun had risen I spread my +garments to dry in its rays; and ate of the fruits of the island +and drank of its waters; then I set out along the foot track and +ceased not walking till I reached the mainland. Now when there +remained between me and the city but a two hours' journey behold, +a great serpent, the bigness of a date palm, came fleeing towards +me in all haste, gliding along now to the right then to the left +till she was close upon me, whilst her tongue lolled ground wards +a span long and swept the dust as she went. She was pursued by a +Dragon[FN#324] who was not longer than two lances, and of slender +build about the bulk of a spear and, although her terror lent her +speed, and she kept wriggling from side to side, he overtook her +and seized her by the tail, whereat her tears streamed down and +her tongue was thrust out in her agony. I took pity on her and, +picking up a stone and calling upon Allah for aid, threw it at +the Dragon's head with such force that he died then and there; +and the serpent opening a pair of wings flew into the lift and +disappeared from before my eyes. I sat down marvelling over that +adventure, but I was weary and, drowsiness overcoming me, I slept +where I was for a while. When I awoke I found a jet black damsel +sitting at my feet shampooing them; and by her side stood two +black bitches (my sisters, O Commander of the Faithful!). I was +ashamed before her[FN#325] and, sitting up, asked her, "O my +sister, who and what art thou?"; and she answered, "How soon hast +thou forgotten me! I am she for whom thou wroughtest a good deed +and sowedest the seed of gratitude and slewest her foe; for I am +the serpent whom by Allah's aidance thou didst just now deliver +from the Dragon. I am a Jinniyah and he was a Jinn who hated me, +and none saved my life from him save thou. As soon as thou +freedest me from him I flew on the wind to the ship whence thy +sisters threw thee, and removed all that was therein to thy +house. Then I ordered my attendant Marids to sink the ship and I +transformed thy two sisters into these black bitches; for I know +all that hath passed between them and thee; but as for the youth, +of a truth he is drowned." So saying, she flew up with me and the +bitches, and presently set us down on the terrace roof of my +house, wherein I found ready stored the whole of what property +was in my ship, nor was aught of it missing. "Now (continued the +serpent that was), I swear by all engraver 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 wheels upon thy body?" So +she began the + + + + + +Tale of the Portress. + + +Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that I had a father who, after +fulfilling his time, deceased and left me great store of wealth. +I remained single for a short time and presently married one of +the richest of his day. I abode with him a year when he also +died, and my share of his property amounted to eighty thousand +diners in gold according to the holy law of inheritance.[FN#328] +Thus I became passing rich an my reputation spread far and wide, +for I had made me ten changes of raiment, each worth a thousand +diners One day as I was sitting at home, behold, there came in to +me an old woman[FN#329] with lantern jaws and cheeks sucked in, +and eyes rucked up, and eyebrows scant and scald, and head bare +and bald; and teeth broken by time and mauled, and back bending +and neck nape nodding, and face blotched, and rheum running, and +hair like a snake black and white speckled, in complexion a very +fright, even as saith the poet of the like of her:-- + +Ill-omened hag! unshriven be her sins * Nor mercy visit her on + dying bed: +Thousand head strongest he mules would her guiles, * Despite + their bolting lead with spider thread. + +And as saith another:-- + +A hag to whom th' unlawful lawfullest * And witchcraft wisdom in + her sight are grown: +A mischief making brat, a demon maid, * A whorish woman and a + pimping crone.[FN#330] + +When the old woman entered she salamed to me and kissing the +ground before me, said, "I have at home an orphan daughter and +this night are her wedding and her displaying.[FN#331] We be poor +folks and strangers in this city knowing none inhabitant and we +are broken hearted. So do thou earn for thyself a recompense and +a reward in Heaven by being present at her displaying and, when +the ladies of this city shall hear that thou art to make act of +presence, they also will present themselves; so shalt thou +comfort her affliction, for she is sore bruised in spirit and she +hath none to look to save Allah the Most High." Then she wept and +kissed my feet reciting these couplets:-- + +"Thy presence bringeth us a grace * We own before thy winsome + face: +And wert thou absent ne'er an one * Could stand in stead or take + thy place." + +So pity get hold on me and compassion and I said, "Hearing is +consenting and, please Allah, I will do somewhat more for her; +nor shall she be shown to her bridegroom save in my raiment and +ornaments and jewelry." At this the old woman rejoiced and bowed +her head to my feet and kissed them, saying, "Allah requite thee +weal, and comfort thy heart even as thou hast comforted mine! +But, O my lady, do not trouble thyself to do me this service at +this hour; be thou ready by supper time,[FN#332] when I will come +and fetch thee." So saying she kissed my hand and went her ways. +I set about stringing my pearls and donning my brocades and +making my toilette. Little recking what Fortune had in womb for +me, when suddenly the old woman stood before me, simpering and +smiling till she showed every tooth stump, and quoth she, "O my +mistress, the city madams have arrived and when I apprized them +that thou promisedst to be present, they were glad and they are +now awaiting thee and looking eagerly for thy coming and for the +honour of meeting thee." So I threw on my mantilla and, making +the old crone walk before me and my handmaidens behind me, I +fared till we came to a street well watered and swept neat, where +the winnowing breeze blew cool and sweet. Here we were stopped by +a gate arched over with a dome of marble stone firmly seated on +solidest foundation, and leading to a Palace whose walls from +earth rose tall and proud, and whose pinnacle was crowned by the +clouds,[FN#333] and over the doorway were writ these couplets:-- + +I am the wone where Mirth shall ever smile; * The home of + Joyance through my lasting while: +And 'mid my court a fountain jets and flows, * Nor tears nor + troubles shall that fount defile: +The merge with royal Nu'uman's[FN#334] bloom is dight, * + Myrtle, Narcissus-flower and Chamomile. + +Arrived at the gate, before which hung a black curtain, the old +woman knocked and it was opened to us; when we entered and found +a vestibule spread with carpets and hung around with lamps all +alight and wax candles in candelabra adorned with pendants of +precious gems and noble ores. We passed on through this passage +till we entered a saloon, whose like for grandeur and beauty is +not to be found in this world. It was hung and carpeted with +silken stuffs, and was illuminated with branches sconces and +tapers ranged in double row, an avenue abutting on the upper or +noble end of the saloon, where stood a couch of juniper wood +encrusted with pearls and gems and surmounted by a baldaquin with +mosquito curtains of satin looped up with margaritas. And hardly +had we taken note of this when there came forth from the +baldaquin a young lady and I looked, O Commander of the Faithful, +upon a face and form more perfect than the moon when fullest, +with a favour brighter than the dawn gleaming with saffron-hued +light, even as the poet sang when he said-- + +Thou pacest the palace a marvel sight, * A bride for a Kisra's or + Kaisar's night! +Wantons the rose on thy roseate cheek, * O cheek as the blood of + the dragon[FN#335] bright! +Slim waisted, languorous, sleepy eyed, * With charms which + promise all love +And the tire which attires thy tiara'd brow * Is a night of woe + on a morn's glad light. + +The fair young girl came down from the estrade and said to me, +"Welcome and well come and good cheer to my sister, the dearly +beloved, the illustrious, and a thousand greetings!" Then she +recited these couplets:-- + +"An but the house could know who cometh 'twould rejoice, * And + kiss the very dust whereon thy foot was placed +And with the tongue of circumstance the walls would say, * + "Welcome and hail to one with generous gifts engraced!" + +Then sat she down and said to me, "O my sister, I have a brother +who hath had sight of thee at sundry wedding feasts and festive +seasons: he is a youth handsomer than I, and he hath fallen +desperately in love with thee, for that bounteous Destiny hath +garnered in thee all beauty and perfection; and he hath given +silver to this old woman that she might visit thee; and she hath +contrived on this wise to foregather us twain. He hath heard that +thou art one of the nobles of thy tribe nor is he aught less in +his; and, being desirous to ally his lot with thy lot, he hath +practiced this device to bring me in company with thee; for he is +fain to marry thee after the ordinance of Allah and his Apostle; +and in what is lawful and right there is no shame." When I heard +these words and saw myself fairly entrapped in the house, I said, +"Hearing is consenting." She was delighted at this and clapped +her hands;[FN#336] whereupon a door opened and out of it came a +young man blooming in the prime of life, exquisitely dressed, a +model of beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace, +with gentle winning manners and eyebrows like a bended bow and +shaft on cord, and eyes which bewitched all hearts with sorcery +lawful in the sight of the Lord; even as saith some rhymer +describing the like of him:-- + +His face as the face of the young moon shines * And Fortune + stamps him with pearls for signs.[FN#337] + +And Allah favour him who said:-- + +Blest be his beauty; blest the Lord's decree * Who cast and + shaped a thing so bright of blee: +All gifts of beauty he conjoins in one; * Lost in his love is all + humanity; +For Beauty's self inscribed on his brow * "I testify there be no + Good but he!"[FN#338] + +When I looked at him my heart inclined to him and I loved him; +and he sat by my side and talked with me a while, when the young +lady again clapped her hands and behold, a side door opened and +out of it came the Kazi with his four assessors as witnesses; and +they saluted us and, sitting down, drew up and wrote out the +marriage contract between me and the youth and retired. Then he +turned to me and said, "Be our night blessed," presently adding, +"O my lady, I have a condition to lay on thee." Quoth I, "O my +lord, what is that?" Whereupon he arose and fetching a copy of +the Holy Book presented it to me saying "Swear hereon thou wilt +never look at any other than myself nor incline thy body or thy +heart to him." I swore readily enough to this and he joyed with +exceeding joy and embraced me round the neck while love for him +possessed my whole heart. Then they set the table[FN#339] before +us and we ate and drank till we were satisfied, but I was dying +for the coming of the night. And when night did come he led me to +the bride chamber and slept with me on the bed and continued to +kiss and embrace me till the morning--such a night I had never +seen in my dreams. I lived with him a life of happiness and +delight for a full month, at the end of which I asked his +leave[FN#340] to go on foot to the bazar and buy me certain +especial stuffs and he gave me permission. So I donned my +mantilla and, taking with me the old woman and a +slave-girl,[FN#341] I went to the khan of the silk-mercers, where +I seated myself in the shop front of a young merchant whom the +old woman recommended, saying to me, "This youth's father died +when he was a boy and left him great store of wealth: he hath by +him a mighty fine[FN#342] stock of goods and thou wilt find what +thou seekest with him, for none in the bazar hath better stuffs +than he. Then she said to him, "Show this lady the most costly +stuffs thou hast by thee;" and he replied, "Hearkening and +obedience!" Then she whispered me, "Say a civil word to him!"; +but I replied, "I am pledged to address no man save my lord. And +as she began to sound his praise I said sharply to her, We want +nought of thy sweet speeches; our wish is to buy of him +whatsoever we need, and return home." So he brought me all I +sought and I offered him his money, but he refused to take it +saying, "Let it be a gift offered to my guest this day!" Then +quoth I to the old woman, "If he will not take the money, give +him back his stuff." "By Allah," cried he, "not a thing will I +take from thee: I sell it not for gold or for silver, but I give +it all as a gift for a single kiss; a kiss more precious to me +than everything the shop containeth." Asked the old woman, "What +will the kiss profit thee?"; and, turning to me, whispered, "O my +daughter, thou hearest what this young fellow saith? What harm +will it do thee if he get a kiss from thee and thou gettest what +thou seekest at that price?" Replied I, "I take refuge with Allah +from such action! Knowest thou not that I am bound by an +oath?''[FN#343] But she answered, "Now whist! just let him kiss +thee and neither speak to him nor lean over him, so shalt thou +keep thine oath and thy silver, and no harm whatever shall befal +thee." And she ceased not to persuade me and importune me and +make light of the matter till evil entered into my mind and I put +my head in the poke[FN#344] and, declaring I would ne'er consent, +consented. So I veiled my eyes and held up the edge of my +mantilla between me and the people passing and he put his mouth +to my cheek under the veil. But while kissing me he bit me so +hard a bite that it tore the flesh from my cheek,[FN#345] and +blood flowed fast and faintness came over me. The old woman +caught me in her arms and, when I came to myself, I found the +shop shut up and her sorrowing over me and saying, "Thank Allah +for averting what might have been worse!" Then she said to me, +"Come, take heart and let us go home before the matter become +public and thou be dishonoured. And when thou art safe inside the +house feign sickness and lie down and cover thyself up; and I +will bring thee powders and plasters to cure this bite withal, +and thy wound will be healed at the latest in three days." So +after a while I arose and I was in extreme distress and terror +came full upon me; but I went on little by little till I reached +the house when I pleaded illness and lay me down. When it was +night my husband came in to me and said, "What hath befallen +thee, O my darling, in this excursion of thine?"; and I replied, +"I am not well: my head acheth badly." Then he lighted a candle +and drew near me and looked hard at me and asked, "What is that +wound I see on thy cheek and in the tenderest part too?" And I +answered, When I went out to day with thy leave to buy stuffs, a +camel laden with firewood jostled me and one of the pieces tore +my veil and wounded my cheek as thou seest; for indeed the ways +of this city are strait." "Tomorrow," cried he, "I will go +complain to the Governor, so shall he gibbet every fuel seller in +Baghdad." "Allah upon thee," said I, "burden not thy soul with +such sin against any man. The fact is I was riding on an ass and +it stumbled, throwing me to the ground; and my cheek lighted upon +a stick or a bit of glass and got this wound." "Then," said he, +"tomorrow I will go up to Ja'afar the Barmaki and tell him the +story, so shall he kill every donkey boy in Baghdad." "Wouldst +thou destroy all these men because of my wound," said I, "when +this which befel me was by decree of Allah and His destiny?" But +he answered, "There is no help for it;" and, springing to his +feet, plied me with words and pressed me till I was perplexed and +frightened; and I stuttered and stammered and my speech waxed +thick and I said, "This is a mere accident by decree of Allah." +Then, O Commander of the Faithful, he guessed my case and said, +"Thou hast been false to thine oath." He at once cried out with a +loud cry, whereupon a door opened and in came seven black slaves +whom he commanded to drag me from my bed and throw me down in the +middle of the room. Furthermore, he ordered one of them to pinion +my elbows and squat upon my head; and a second to sit upon my +knees and secure my feet; and drawing his sword he gave it to a +third and said, "Strike her, O Sa'ad, and cut her in twain and +let each one take half and cast it into the Tigris[FN#346] that +the fish may eat her; for such is the retribution due to those +who violate their vows and are unfaithful to their love." And he +redoubled in wrath and recited these couplets:-- + +"An there be one who shares with me her love, * I'd strangle Love + tho' life by Love were slain +Saying, O Soul, Death were the nobler choice, * For ill is Love + when shared 'twixt partners twain." + +Then he repeated to the slave, "Smite her, O Sa'ad!" And when the +slave who was sitting upon me made sure of the command he bent +down to me and said, "O my mistress, repeat the profession of +Faith and bethink thee if there be any thing thou wouldst have +done; for verily this is the last hour of thy life." "O good +slave," said I, "wait but a little while and get off my head that +I may charge thee with my last injunctions." Then I raised my +head and saw the state I was in, how I had fallen from high +degree into lowest disgrace; and into death after life (and such +life!) and how I had brought my punishment on myself by my own +sin; where upon the tears streamed from mine eyes and I wept with +exceed ing weeping. But he looked on me with eyes of wrath, and +began repeating:-- + +"Tell her who turneth from our love to work it injury sore, * And + taketh her a fine new love the old love tossing o'er: +We cry enough o' thee ere thou enough of us shalt cry! * What + past between us cloth suffice and haply something + more."[FN#347] + +When I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I wept and looked +at him and began repeating these couplets:-- + +"To severance you doom my love and all unmoved remain; * My + tear sore lids you sleepless make and sleep while I + complain: +You make firm friendship reign between mine eyes and + insomny; * Yet can my heart forget you not, nor tears can I + restrain: +You made me swear with many an oath my troth to hold for aye; * + But when you reigned my bosom's lord you wrought me traitor + bane: +I loved you like a silly child who wots not what is Love; * Then + spare the learner, let her not be by the master slain! +By Allah's name I pray you write, when I am dead and gone, * + Upon my tomb, This died of Love whose senses Love had ta'en: +Then haply one shall pass that way who fire of Love hath felt, * + And treading on a lover's heart with ruth and woe shall + melt." + +When I ended my verses tears came again; but the poetry and the +weeping only added fury to his fury, and he recited:-- + +"'Twas not satiety bade me leave the dearling of my soul, * But + that she sinned a mortal sin which clips me in its clip: +She sought to let another share the love between us twain, * But + my True Faith of Unity refuseth partnership."[FN#348] + +When he ceased reciting I wept again and prayed his pardon and +humbled myself before him and spoke him softly, saying to myself, +"I will work on him with words; so haply he will refrain from +slaying me, even though he take all I have." So I complained of +my sufferings and began to repeat these couplets:-- + +"Now, by thy life and wert thou just my life thou hadst not + ta'en, * But who can break the severance law which parteth + lovers twain! +Thou loadest me with heavy weight of longing love, when I * Can + hardly bear my chemisette for weakness and for pain: +I marvel not to see my life and soul in ruin lain: * I marvel + much to see my frame such severance pangs sustain." + +When I ended my verse I wept again; and he looked at me and +reviled me in abusive language,[FN#349] repeating these +couplets:-- + +"Thou wast all taken up with love of other man, not me; * 'Twas + thine to show me severance face, ''twas only mine to see: +I'll leave thee for that first thou wert of me to take thy leave + * And patient bear that parting blow thou borest so + patiently: +E'en as thou soughtest other love, so other love I'll seek, * And + make the crime of murdering love thine own atrocity." + +When he had ended his verses he again cried out to the slave, +"Cut her in half and free us from her, for we have no profit of +her. So the slave drew near me, O Commander of the Faithful and I +ceased bandying verses and made sure of death and, despairing of +life, committed my affairs to Almighty Allah, when behold, the +old woman rushed in and threw herself at my husband's feet and +kissed them and wept and said, "O my son, by the rights of my +fosterage and by my long service to thee, I conjure thee pardon +this young lady, for indeed she hath done nothing deserving such +doom. Thou art a very young man and I fear lest her death be laid +at thy door; for it is said:--Whoso slayeth shall be slain. As +for this wanton (since thou deemest her such) drive her out from +thy doors, from thy love and from thy heart." And she ceased not +to weep and importune him till he relented and said, 'I pardon +her, but needs must I set on her my mark which shall show upon +her all my life." Then he bade the slaves drag me along the +ground and lay me out at full length, after stripping me of all +my clothes;[FN#350] and when the slaves had so sat upon me that I +could not move, he fetched in a rod of quince tree and came down +with it upon my body, and continued beating me on the back and +sides till I lost consciousness from excess of pain, and I +despaired of life. Then he commanded the slaves to take me away +as soon as it was dark, together with the old woman to show them +the way and throw me upon the floor of the house wherein I dwelt +before my marriage. They did their lord's bidding and cast me +down in my old home and went their ways. I did not revive from my +swoon till dawn appeared, when I applied myself to the dressing +of my wounds with ointments and other medicaments; and I +medicined myself, but my sides and ribs still showed signs of the +rod as thou hast seen. I lay in weakly case and confined to my +bed for four months before I was able to rise and health returned +to me. At the end of that time I went to the house where all this +had happened and found it a ruin; the street had been pulled down +endlong and rubbish heaps rose where the building erst was; nor +could I learn how this had come about. Then I betook myself to +this my sister on my father's side and found her with these two +black bitches. I saluted her and told her what had betided me and +the whole of my story and she said, "O my sister, who is safe +from the despite of Time and secure? Thanks be to Allah who has +brought thee off safely;" and she began to say:-- + +"Such is the World, so bear a patient heart * When riches leave + thee and when friends depart!" + +Then she told me her own story, and what had happened to her with +her two sisters and how matters had ended; so we abode together +and the subject of marriage was never on our tongues for all +these years. After a while we were joined by our other sister, +the procuratrix, who goeth out every morning and buyeth all we +require for the day and night; and we continued in such condition +till this last night. In the morning our sister went out, as +usual, to make her market and then befel us what befel from +bringing the Porter into the house and admitting these three +Kalandar men., We entreated them kindly and honourably and a +quarter of the night had not passed ere three grave and +respectable merchants from Mosul joined us and told us their +adventures. We sat talking with them but on one condition which +they violated, whereupon we treated them as sorted with their +breach of promise, and made them repeat the account they had +given of themselves. They did our bidding and we forgave their +offence; so they departed from us and this morning we were +unexpectedly summoned to thy presence. And such is our story! The +Caliph wondered at her words and bade the tale be recorded and +chronicled and laid up in his muniment-chambers.--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Nineteenth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +Caliph commanded this story and those of the sister and the +Kalandars to be recorded in the archives and be set in the royal +muniment-chambers. Then he asked the eldest lady, the mistress of +the house, "Knowest thou the whereabouts of the Ifritah who +spelled thy sisters?"; and she answered, "O Commander of the +Faithful, she gave me a ringlet of her hair saying: --Whenas thou +wouldest see me, burn a couple of these hairs and I will be with +thee forthright, even though I were beyond Caucasus-mountain." +Quoth the Caliph, "Bring me hither the hair." So she brought it +and he threw the whole lock upon the fire. As soon as the odour of +the burning hair dispread itself, the palace shook and trembled, +and all present heard a rumbling and rolling of thunder and a +noise as of wings and lo! the Jinniyah who had been a serpent +stood in the Caliph's presence. Now she was a Moslemah, so she +saluted him and said, "Peace be with thee O Vicar[FN#351] of +Allah;" whereto he replied, "And with thee also be peace and the +mercy of Allah and His blessing." Then she continued, "Know that +this damsel sowed for me the seed of kindness, wherefor I cannot +enough requite her, in that she delivered me from death and +destroyed mine enemy. Now I had seen how her sisters dealt with +her and felt myself bound to avenge her on them. At first I was +minded to slay them, but I feared it would be grievous to her, so +I transformed them to bitches; but if thou desire their release, +O Commander of the Faithful, I will release them to pleasure thee +and her for I am of the Moslems." Quoth the Caliph, "Release them +and after we will look into the affair of the beaten lady and +consider her case carefully; and if the truth of her story be +evidenced I will exact retaliation[FN#352] from him who wronged +her." Said the Ifritah, "O Commander of the Faithful, I will +forthwith release them and will discover to thee the man who did +that deed by this lady and wronged her and took her property, and +he is the nearest of all men to thee!" So saying she took a cup +of water and muttered a spell over it and uttered words there was +no understanding; then she sprinkled some of the water over the +faces of the two bitches, saying, "Return to your former human +shape!" whereupon they were restored to their natural forms and +fell to praising their Creator. Then said the Ifritah, "O +Commander of the Faithful, of a truth he who scourged this lady +with rods is thy son Al-Amin brother of Al-Maamun ;[FN#353] for +he had heard of her beauty and love liness and he played a +lover's stratagem with her and married her according to the law +and committed the crime (such as it is) of scourging her. Yet +indeed he is not to be blamed for beating her, for he laid a +condition on her and swore her by a solemn oath not to do a +certain thing; however, she was false to her vow and he was +minded to put her to death, but he feared Almighty Allah and +contented himself with scourging her, as thou hast seen, and with +sending her back to her own place. Such is the story of the +second lady and the Lord knoweth all." When the Caliph heard +these words of the Ifritah, and knew who had beaten the damsel, +he marvelled with mighty marvel and said, "Praise be to Allah, +the Most High, the Almighty, who hath shown his exceeding mercy +towards me, enabling me to deliver these two damsels from sorcery +and torture, and vouchsafing to let me know the secret of this +lady's history! And now by Allah, we will do a deed which shall +be recorded of us after we are no more." Then he summoned his son +Al-Amin and questioned him of the story of the second lady, the +portress; and he told it in the face of truth; whereupon the +Caliph bade call into presence the Kazis and their witnesses and +the three Kalandars and the first lady with her sisters german +who had been ensorcelled; and he married the three to the three +Kalandars whom he knew to be princes and sons of Kings and he +appointed them chamberlains about his person, assigning to them +stipends and allowances and all that they required, and lodging +them in his palace at Baghdad. He returned the beaten lady to his +son, Al-Amin, renewing the marriage contract between them and +gave her great wealth and bade rebuild the house fairer than it +was before. As for himself he took to wife the procuratrix and +lay with her that night: and next day he set apart for her an +apartment in his Serraglio, with handmaidens for her service and +a fixed daily allowance. And the people marvelled at their +Caliph's generosity and natural beneficence and princely widsom; +nor did he forget to send all these histories to be recorded in +his annals. When Shahrazad ceased speaking Dunyazad exclaimed, "O +my own sister, by Allah in very sooth this is a right pleasant +tale and a delectable; never was heard the like of it, but +prithee tell me now another story to while away what yet +remaineth of the waking hours of this our night." She replied, +"With love and gladness if the King give me leave;" and he said, +"Tell thy tale and tell it quickly." So she began, in these +words, + + + + + + THE TALE OF THE THREE APPLES + + +They relate, O King of the age and lord of the time and of these +days, that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid summoned his Wazir Ja'afar +one night and said to him, 'I desire to go down into the city and +question the common folk concerning the conduct of those charged +with its governance; and those of whom they complain we will +depose from office and those whom they commend we will promote." +Quoth Ja'afar, "Hearkening and obedience!" So the Caliph went +down with Ja'afar and Eunuch Masrur to the town and walked about +the streets and markets and, as they were threading a narrow +alley, they came upon a very old man with a fishing-net and crate +to carry small fish on his head, and in his hand a staff; and, as +he walked at a leisurely pace, he repeated these lines:-- + +"They say me: --Thou shinest a light to mankind * With thy lore + as the night which the Moon doth uplight! +I answer, "A truce to your jests and your gibes; * Without luck + what is learning?--a poor-devil wight! +If they take me to pawn with my lore in my pouch, * With my + volumes to read and my ink-case to write, +For one day's provision they never could pledge me; * As likely + on Doomsday to draw bill at sight:" +How poorly, indeed, doth it fare wi' the poor, * With his pauper + existence and beggarly plight: +In summer he faileth provision to find; * In winter the + fire-pot's his only delight: +The street-dogs with bite and with bark to him rise, * And each + losel receives him with bark and with bite: +If he lift up his voice and complain of his wrong, * None pities + or heeds him, however he's right; +And when sorrows and evils like these he must brave * His + happiest homestead were down in the grave." + +When the Caliph heard his verses he said to Ja'afar, "See this +poor man and note his verses, for surely they point to his +necessities." Then he accosted him and asked, "O Shaykh, what be +thine occupation?" and the poor man answered, "O my lord, I am a +fisherman with a family to keep and I have been out between +mid-day and this time; and not a thing hath Allah made my portion +wherewithal to feed my family. I cannot even pawn myself to buy +them a supper and I hate and disgust my life and I hanker after +death." Quoth the Caliph, "Say me, wilt thou return with us to +Tigris' bank and cast thy net on my luck, and whatsoever turneth +up I will buy of thee for an hundred gold pieces?" The man +rejoiced when he heard these words and said, "On my head be it! I +will go back with you;" and, returning with them river-wards, +made a cast and waited a while; then he hauled in the rope and +dragged the net ashore and there appeared in it a chest padlocked +and heavy. The Caliph examined it and lifted it finding it +weighty; so he gave the fisherman two hundred dinars and sent him +about his business; whilst Masrur, aided by the Caliph, carried +the chest to the palace and set it down and lighted the candles. +Ja'afar and Masrur then broke it open and found therein a basket +of palm-leaves corded with red worsted. This they cut open and +saw within it a piece of carpet which they lifted out, and under +it was a woman's mantilla folded in four, which they pulled out; +and at the bottom of the chest they came upon a young lady, fair +as a silver ingot, slain and cut into nineteen pieces. When the +Caliph looked upon her he cried, "Alas!" and tears ran down his +cheeks and turning to Ja'afar he said, "O dog of Wazirs, [FN#354] +shall folk be murdered in our reign and be cast into the river to +be a burden and a responsibility for us on the Day of Doom? By +Allah, we must avenge this woman on her murderer and he shall be +made die the worst of deaths!" And presently he added, " Now, as +surely as we are descended from the Sons of Abbas, [FN#355] if +thou bring us not him who slew her, that we do her justice on +him, I will hang thee at the gate of my palace, thee and forty of +thy kith and kin by thy side." And the: Caliph was wroth with +exceeding rage. Quoth Ja'afar, "Grant me three days' delay;" and +quoth the Caliph, "We grant thee this." So Ja'afar went out from +before him and returned to his own house, full of sorrow and +saying to himself, "How shall I find him who murdered this +damsel, that I may bring him before the Caliph? If I bring other +than the murderer, it will be laid to my charge by the Lord: in +very sooth I wot not what to do." He kept his house three days +and on the fourth day the Caliph sent one of the Chamberlains for +him and, as he came into the presence, asked him, "Where is the +murderer of the damsel?" to which answered Ja'afar, "O Commander +of the Faithful, am I inspector of " murdered folk that I should +ken who killed her?" The Caliph was furious at his answer and +bade hang him before the palace-gate and commanded that a crier +cry through the streets of Baghdad, "Whoso would see the hanging +of Ja'afar, the Barmaki, Wazir of the Caliph, with forty of the +Barmecides, [FN#356] his cousins and kinsmen, before the +palace-gate, let him come and let him look!" The people flocked +out from all the quarters of the city to witness the execution of +Ja'afar and his kinsmen, not knowing the cause. Then they set up +the gallows and made Ja'afar and the others stand underneath in +readiness for execution, but whilst every eye was looking for the +Caliph's signal, and the crowd wept for Ja'afar and his cousins +of the Barmecides, lo and behold! a young man fair of face and +neat of dress and of favour like the moon raining light, with +eyes black and bright, and brow flower-white, and cheeks red as +rose and young down where the beard grows, and a mole like a +grain of ambergris, pushed his way through the people till he +stood immediately before the Wazir and said to him, "Safety to +thee from this strait, O Prince of the Emirs and Asylum of the +poor! I am the man who slew the woman ye found in the chest, so +hang me for her and do her justice on me!" When Ja'afar heard the +youth's confession he rejoiced at his own deliverance. but +grieved and sorrowed for the fair youth; and whilst they were yet +talking behold, another man well stricken in years pressed +forwards through the people and thrust his way amid the populace +till he came to Ja'afar and the youth, whom he saluted saying, +"Ho thou the Wazir and Prince sans-peer! believe not the words of +this youth. Of a surety none murdered the damsel but I; take her +wreak on me this moment; for, an thou do not thus, I will require +it of thee before Almighty Allah." Then quoth the young man, "O +Wazir, this is an old man in his dotage who wotteth not whatso he +saith ever, and I am he who murdered her, so do thou avenge her +on me!" Quoth the old man, "O my son, thou art young and desirest +the joys of the world and I am old and weary and surfeited with +the world: I will offer my life as a ransom for thee and for the +Wazir and his cousins. No one murdered the damsel but I, so Allah +upon thee, make haste to hang me, for no life is left in me now +that hers is gone." The Wazir marvelled much at all this +strangeness and, taking the young man and the old man, carried +them before the Caliph, where, after kissing the ground seven +times between his hands, he said, "O Commander of the Faithful, I +bring thee the murderer of the damsel!" "Where is he?" asked the +Caliph and Ja'afar answered, "This young man saith, I am the +murderer, and this old man giving him the lie saith, I am the +murderer, and behold, here are the twain standing before thee." +The Caliph looked at the old man and the young man and asked, +"Which of you killed the girl?" The young man replied, "No one +slew her save I;" and the old man answered, "Indeed none killed +her but myself." Then said the Caliph to Ja'afar, "Take the twain +and hang them both;" but Ja'afar rejoined, "Since one of them was +the murderer, to hang the other were mere injustice."[FN#357] "By +Him who raised the firmament and dispread the earth like a +carpet," cried the youth, "I am he who slew the damsel;" and he +went on to describe the manner of her murder and the basket, the +mantilla and the bit of carpet, in fact all that the Caliph had +found upon her. So the Caliph was certified that the young man +was the murderer; whereat he wondered and asked him, 'What was +the cause of thy wrongfully doing this damsel to die and what +made thee confess the murder without the bastinado, and what +brought thee here to yield up thy life, and what made thee say Do +her wreak upon me?" The youth answered, "Know, O Commander of the +Faithful, that this woman was my wife and the mother of my +children; also my first cousin and the daughter of my paternal +uncle, this old man who is my father's own brother. When I +married her she was a maid [FN#358] and Allah blessed me with +three male children by her; she loved me and served me and I saw +no evil in her, for I also loved her with fondest love. Now on +the first day of this month she fell ill with grievous sickness +and I fetched in physicians to her; but recovery came to her +little by little. and, when I wished her to go to the Hammam-bath, +she said, "There is a something I long for before I go to +the bath and I long for it with an exceeding longing." To hear is +to comply," said I. "And what is it?" Quoth she, "I have a queasy +craving for an apple, to smell it and bite a bit of it." I +replied, "Hadst thou a thousand longings I would try to satisfy +them!" So I went on the instant into the city and sought for +apples but could find none; yet, had they cost a gold piece each, +would I have bought them. I was vexed at this and went home and +said, "O daughter of my uncle. by Allah I can find none!" She was +distressed, being yet very weakly, and her weakness in. creased +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 wet not, O son of my uncle, where 'tis +gone!" This convinced me that the slave had spoken the truth, so +I took a knife and coming behind her got upon her breast without +a word said and cut her throat. Then I hewed off her head and her +limbs in pieces and, wrapping her in her mantilla and a rag of +carpet, hurriedly sewed up the whole which I set in a chest and, +locking it tight, loaded it on my he-mule and threw it into the +Tigris with my own hands. So Allah upon thee, O Commander of the +Faithful, make haste to hang me, as I fear lest she appeal for +vengeance on Resurrection Day. For, when I had thrown her into +the river and none knew aught of it, as I went back home I found +my eldest son crying and yet he knew naught of what I had done +with his mother. I asked him, "What hath made thee weep, my boy?" +and he answered, "I took one of the three apples which were by my +mammy and went down into the lane to play with my brethren when +behold, a big long black slave snatched it from my hand and said. +'Whence hadst thou this?' Quoth I, 'My father travelled far for +it, and brought it from Bassorah for my mother who was ill and +two other apples for which he paid three ducats.' He took no heed +of my words and I asked for the apple a second and a third time, +but he cuffed me and kicked me and went off with it. I was afraid +lest my mother should swinge me on account of the apple, so for +fear of her I went with my brother outside the city and stayed +there till evening closed in upon us; and indeed I am in fear of +her; and now by Allah, O my father, say nothing to her of this or +it may add to her ailment!" When I heard what-my child said I +knew that the slave was he who had foully slandered my wife, the +daughter of my uncle, and was certified that I had slain her +wrong. fully. So I wept with exceeding weeping and presently this +old man, my paternal uncle and her father, came in; and I told +him what had happened and he sat down by my side and wept and we +ceased not weeping till midnight. We have kept up mourning for +her these last five days and we lamented her in the deepest +sorrow for that she was unjustly done to die. This came from the +gratuitous lying of the slave, the blackamoor, and this was the +manner of my killing her; so I conjure thee, by the honour of +thine ancestors, make haste to kill me and do her justice upon +me, as there is no living for me after her!" The Caliph marvelled +at his words and said, "By Allah, the young man is excusable: I +will hang none but the accursed slave and I will do a deed which +shall comfort the ill-at-ease and suffering, and which shall +please the All-glorious King."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn +of day and ceased saying her permitted say, + + When it was the Twentieth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph +swore he would hang none but the slave, for the youth was +excusable. Then he turned to Ja'afar and said to him, "Bring +before me this accursed slave who was the sole cause of this +calamity; and, if thou bring him not before me within three days, +thou shalt be slain in his stead." So Ja'afar fared forth weeping +and saying. "Two deaths have already beset me, nor shall the +crock come of safe from every shock.' [FN#360] In this matter +craft and cunning are of no avail; but He who preserved my life +the first time can preserve it a second time. By Allah, I will +not leave my house during the three days of life which remain to +me and let the Truth (whose perfection be praised!) do e'en as He +will." So he kept his house three days, and on the fourth day he +summoned the Kazis and legal witnesses and made his last will and +testament, and took leave of his children weeping. Presently in +came a messenger from the Caliph and said to him, "The Commander +of the Faithful is in the most violent rage that can be, and he +sendeth to seek thee and he sweareth that the day shall certainly +not pass without thy being hanged unless the slave be forth-coming." +When Ja'afar heard this he wept, and his children and +slaves and all who were in the house wept with him. After he had +bidden adieu to everybody except his youngest daughter, he +proceeded to farewell her; for he loved this wee one, who was a +beautiful child, more than all his other children; and he pressed +her to his breast and kissed her and wept bitterly at parting +from her; when he felt something round inside the bosom of her +dress and asked her, "O my little maid, what is in thy bosom +pocket?"; "O my father," she replied, "it is an apple with the +name of our Lord the Caliph written upon it. Rayhán our slave +brought it to me four days ago and would not let me have it till +I gave him two dinars for it." When Ja'afar heard speak of the +slave and the apple, he was glad and put his hand into his +child's pocket [FN#361] and drew out the apple and knew it and +rejoiced saying, "O ready Dispeller of trouble " [FN#362] Then he +bade them bring the slave and said to him, "Fie upon thee, +Rayhan! whence haddest thou this apple?" "By Allah, O my master," +he replied, "though a lie may get a man once off, yet may truth +get him off, and well off, again and again. I did not steal this +apple from thy palace nor from the gardens of the Commander of +the Faithful. The fact is that five days ago, as I was walking +along one of the alleys of this city, I saw some little ones at +play and this apple in hand of one of them. So I snatched it from +him and beat him and he cried and said, 'O youth this apple is my +mother's and she is ill. She told my father how she longed for an +apple, so he travelled to Bassorah and bought her three apples +for three gold pieces, and I took one of them to play withal.' He +wept again, but I paid no heed to what he said and carried it off +and brought it here, and my little lady bought it of me for two +dinars of gold. And this is the whole story." When Ja'afar heard +his words he marvelled that the murder of the damsel and all this +misery should have been caused by his slave; he grieved for the +relation of the slave to himself, while rejoicing over his own +deliverance, and he repeated these lines: -- + +"If ill betide thee through thy slave, * Make him forthright thy + sacrifice: +A many serviles thou shalt find, * But life comes once and never + twice." + +Then he took the slave's hand and, leading him to the Caliph, +related the story from first to last and the Caliph marvelled +with extreme astonishment, and laughed till he fell on his back +and ordered that the story be recorded and be made public amongst +the people. But Ja'afar said, "Marvel not, O Commander of the +Faithful, at this adventure, for it is not more wondrous than the +History of the Wazir Núr al-Dín Ali of Egypt and his brother +Shams al-Dín Mohammed. -- Quoth the Caliph, "Out with it; but +what can be stranger than this story?" And Ja'afar answered, "O +Commander of the Faithful, I will not tell it thee, save on +condition that thou pardon my slave;" and the Caliph rejoined, +"If it be indeed more wondrous than that of the three apples, I +grant thee his blood, and if not I will surely slay thy slave." +So Ja'afar began in these words the + + + + + + TALE OF NUR AL-DIN AND HIS SON. + + +Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that in times of yore the land +of Egypt was ruled by a Sultan endowed with justice and +generosity, one who loved the pious poor and companied with the +Olema and learned men; and he had a Wazir, a wise and an +experienced, well versed in affairs and in the art of government. +This Minister, who was a very old man, had two sons, as they were +two moons; never man saw the like of them for beauty and grace, +the elder called Shams al-Din Mohammed and the younger Nur al-Din +Ali; but the younger excelled the elder in seemliness and +pleasing semblance, so that folk heard his fame in far countries +and men flocked to Egypt for the purpose of seeing him. In +course of time their father, the Wazir, died and was deeply +regretted and mourned by the Sultan, who sent for his two sons +and, investing them with dresses of honour, [FN#363] said to +them, "Let not your hearts be troubled, for ye shall stand in +your father's stead and be joint Ministers of Egypt." At this +they rejoiced and kissed the ground before him and performed the +ceremonial mourning [FN#364] for their father during a full +month; after which time they entered upon the Wazirate, and the +power passed into their hands as it had been in the hands of +their father, each doing duty for a week at a time. They lived +under the same roof and their word was one; and whenever the +Sultan desired to travel they took it by turns to be in +attendance on him. It fortuned one night that the Sultan +purposed setting out on a journey next morning, and the elder, +whose turn it was to accompany him, was sitting conversing with +his brother and said to him, "O my brother, it is my wish that we +both marry, I and thou, two sisters; and go in to our wives on +one and the same night." "Do, O my brother, as thou desirest," +the younger replied, "for right is thy recking and surely I will +comply with thee in whatso thou sayest." So they agreed upon +this and quoth Shams al-Din, "If Allah decree that we marry two +damsels and go in to them on the same night, and they shall +conceive on their bridenights and bear children to us on the same +day, and by Allah's will they 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 wouldst 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, 'Bismallah, [FN#366] in the name of Allah, I will do +all what thou requirest but come to-morrow!' Whereupon the other +replied in this verse:-- + +'When he who is asked a favour saith "To-morrow," * The wise man +wots 'tis vain to beg or borrow.'" + +Quoth Shams al-Din, "Basta! [FN#367] I see thee fail in respect +to me by making thy son of more account than my daughter; and +'tis plain that thine understanding is of the meanest and that +thou lackest manners. Thou remindest me of thy partnership in +the Wazirate, when I admitted thee to share with me only in pity +for thee, and not wishing to mortify thee; and that thou mightest +help me as a manner of assistant. But since thou talkest on this +wise, by Allah, I will never marry my daughter to thy son; no, +not for her weight in gold!" When Nur al-Din heard his brother's +words he waxed wroth and said, "And I too, I will never, never +marry my son to thy daughter; no, not to keep from my lips the +cup of death." Shams al-Din replied, "I would not accept him as +a husband for her, and he is not worth a paring of her nail. +Were I not about to travel I would make an example of thee; +however when I return thou shalt see, and I will show thee, how I +can assert my dignity and vindicate my honour. But Allah doeth +whatso He willeth."[FN#368] When Nur al-Din heard this speech +from his brother, he was filled with fury and lost his wits for +rage; but he hid what he felt and held his peace; and each of the +brothers passed the night in a place far apart, wild with wrath +against the other. As soon as morning dawned the Sultan fared +forth in state and crossed over from Cairo [FN#369] to Jizah +[FN#370] and made for the pyramids, accompanied by the Wazir +Shams al-Din, whose turn of duty it was, whilst his brother Nur +al-din, who passed the night in sore rage, rose with the light +and prayed the dawn-prayer. Then he betook himself to his +treasury and, taking a small pair of saddle-bags, filled them +with gold; and he called to mind his brother's threats and the +contempt wherewith he had treated him, and he repeated these +couplets:-- + +"Travel! and thou shalt find new friends for old ones left + behind; * Toil! for the sweets of human life by toil and + moil are found: +The stay-at-home no honour wins nor aught attains but want; * So + leave thy place of birth [FN#371] and wander all the world + around! +I've seen, and very oft I've seen, how standing water stinks, * + And only flowing sweetens it and trotting makes it sound: +And were the moon forever full and ne'er to wax or wane, * Man + would not strain his watchful eyes to see its gladsome + round: +Except the lion leave his lair he ne'er would fell his game, * + Except the arrow leave the bow ne'er had it reached its + bound: +Gold-dust is dust the while it lies untravelled in the mine, * + And aloes-wood mere fuel is upon its native ground: +And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoal'd; + * And aloes sent to foreign parts grows costlier than gold." + +When he ended his verse he bade one of his pages saddle him his +Nubian mare-mule with her padded selle. Now she was a dapple- +grey, [FN#372] with ears like reed-pens and legs like columns and +a back high and strong as a dome builded on pillars; her saddle +was of gold-cloth and her stirrups of Indian steel, and her +housing of Ispahan velvet; she had trappings which would serve +the Chosroes, 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 his 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 dis- +mounting, embraced him and made him sit down by his side and +said, "O my son, whence comest thou and what dost thou seek?" "O +my lord," Nur al-Din replied, "I have come from Cairo-city of +which my father was whilome Wazir; but he hath been removed to +the grace of Allah;" and he informed him of all that had befallen +him from beginning to end, adding, "I am resolved never to return +home before I have seen all the cities and countries of the +world." When the Wazir heard this, he said to him, "O my son, +hearken not to the voice of passion lest it cast thee into the +pit; for indeed many regions be waste places and I fear for thee +the turns of Time." Then he let load the saddle-bags and the +silk and prayer-carpets on the mule and carried Nur al-Din to his +own house, where he lodged him in a pleasant place and entreated +him honourably and made much of him, for he inclined to love him +with exceeding love. After a while he said to him, "O my son, +here am I left a man in years and have no male children, but +Allah hath blessed me with a daughter who eventh thee in beauty; +and I have rejected all her many suitors, men of rank and +substance. But affection for thee hath entered into my heart; +say me, then, wilt thou be to her a husband? If thou accept +this, I will go up with thee to the Sultan of Bassorah [FN#380] +and will tell him that thou art my nephew, the son of my brother, +and bring thee to be appointed Wazir in my place that I may keep +the house for, by Allah, O my son, I am stricken in years and +aweary." When Nur al-Din heard the Wazir's words, he bowed his +head in modesty and said, "To hear is to obey!" At this the +Wazir rejoiced and bade his servants prepare a feast and decorate +the great assembly-hall, wherein they were wont to celebrate the +marriages of Emirs and Grandees. Then he assembled his friends +and the notables of the reign and the merchants of Bassorah and +when all stood before him he said to them, "I had a brother who +was Wazir in the land of Egypt, and Allah Almighty blessed him +with two sons, whilst to me, as well ye wot, He hath given a +daughter. My brother charged me to marry my daughter to one of +his sons, whereto I assented; and, when my daughter was of age to +marry, he sent me one of his sons, the young man now present, to +whom I purpose marrying her, drawing up the contract and +celebrating the night of unveiling with due ceremony; for he is +nearer and dearer to me than a stranger and, after the wedding, +if he please he shall abide with me, or if he desire to travel I +will forward him and his wife to his father's home." Hereat one +and all replied, "Right is thy recking;" and they all looked at +the bridegroom and were pleased with him. So the Wazir sent for +the Kazi and legal witnesses and they wrote out the marriage- +contract, after which the slaves perfumed the guests with +incense, [FN#381] and served them with sherbet of sugar and +sprinkled rose-water on them and all went their ways. Then the +Wazir bade his servants take Nur al-Din to the Hammam-baths and +sent him a suit of the best of his own especial raiment, and +napkins and towelry and bowls and perfume-burners and all else +that was required. After the bath, when he came out and donned +the dress, he was even as the full moon on the fourteenth night; +and he mounted his mule and stayed not till he reached the +Wazir's palace. There he dismounted and went in to the Minister +and kissed his hands, and the Wazir bade him welcome.--And +Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her +permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-first Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir +stood up to him and welcoming him said, "Arise and go in to thy +wife this night, and on the morrow I will carry thee to the +Sultan, and pray Allah bless thee with all manner of weal." So +Nur al-Din left him and went into his wife the Wazir's daughter. +Thus far concerning him, but as regards his eldest brother, Shams +al-Din, he was absent with the Sultan a long time and when he +returned from his journey he found not his brother; and he asked +of his servants and slaves who answered, "On the day of thy +departure with the Sultan, thy brother mounted his mule fully +caparisoned as for state procession saying, 'I am going towards +Kalyub-town and I shall be absent one day or at most two days; +for my breast is straitened, and let none of you follow me.' +Then he fared forth and from that time to this we have heard no +tidings of him." Shams al-Din was greatly troubled at the sudden +disappearance of his brother and grieved with exceeding grief at +the loss and said to himself, "This is only because I chided and +upbraided him the night before my departure with the Sultan; +haply his feelings were hurt and he fared forth a-travelling; but +I must send after him." Then he went in to the Sultan and +acquainted him with what had happened and wrote letters and +dispatches, which he sent by running footmen to his deputies in +every province. But during the twenty days of his brother's +absence Nur al-Din had travelled far and had reached Bassorah; so +after diligent search the messengers failed to come at any news +of him and returned. Thereupon Shams al-Din despaired of finding +his brother and said, "Indeed I went beyond all bounds in what I +said to him with reference to the marriage of our children. +Would that I had not done so! This all cometh of my lack of wit +and want of caution." Soon after this he sought in marriage the +daughter of a Cairene merchant, [FN#382] and drew up the marriage +contract and went in to her. And it so chanced that, on the very +same night when Shams al-Din went in to his wife, Nur al-Din also +went in to his wife the daughter of the Wazir of Bassorah; this +being in accordance with the will of Almighty Allah, that He +might deal the decrees of Destiny to His creatures. Furthermore, +it was as the two brothers had said; for their two wives became +pregnant by them on the same night and both were brought to bed +on the same day; the wife of Shams al-Din, Wazir of Egypt, of a +daughter, never in Cairo was seen a fairer; and the wife of Nur +al-Din of a son, none more beautiful was ever seen in his time, +as one of the poets said concerning the like of him:-- + +That jetty hair, that glossy brow, + My slender-waisted youth, of thine, +Can darkness round creation throw, + Or make it brightly shine. +The dusky mole that faintly shows + Upon his cheek, ah! blame it not: +The tulip-flower never blows + Undarkened by its spot [FN#383] + +And as another also said:-- + +His scent was musk and his cheek was rose; * His teeth are pearls + and his lips drop wine; +His form is a brand and his hips a hill; * His hair is night and + his face moon-shine. + +They named the boy Badr al-Din Hasan and his grandfather, the +Wazir of Bassorah, rejoiced in him and, on the seventh day after +his birth, made entertainments and spread banquets which would +befit the birth of Kings' sons and heirs. Then he took Nur al- +Din and went up with him to the Sultan, and his son-in-law, when +he came before the presence of the King, kissed the ground +between his hands and repeated these verses, for he was ready of +speech, firm of sprite and good in heart as he was goodly in +form:-- + +"The world's best joys long be thy lot, my lord! * And last while + darkness and the dawn o'erlap: +O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts, * The world to dance + and Time his palms to clap." [FN#384] + +Then the Sultan rose up to honour them, and thanking Nur al-Din +for his fine compliment, asked the Wazir, "Who may be this young +man?"; and the Minister answered, "This is my brother's son," and +related his tale from first to last. Quoth the Sultan, "And how +comes he to be thy nephew and we have never heard speak of him?" +Quoth the Minister, "O our lord the Sultan, I had a brother who +was Wazir in the land of Egypt and he died, leaving two sons, +whereof the elder hath taken his father's place and the younger, +whom thou seest, came to me. I had sworn I would not marry my +daughter to any but to him; so when he came I married him to her. +[FN#385] Now he is young and I am old; my hearing is dulled and +my judgement is easily fooled; wherefore I would solicit our lord +the Sultan [FN#386] to set him in my stead, for he is my +brother's son and my daughter's husband; and he is fit for the +Wazirate, being a man of good counsel and ready contrivance." +The Sultan looked at Nur al-Din and liked him, so he stablished +him in office as the Wazir had requested and formally appointed +him, presenting him with a splendid dress of honour and a she- +mule from his private stud; and assigning to him solde, stipends +and supplies. Nur al-Din kissed the Sultan's hand and went home, +he and his father-in-law, joying with exceeding joy and saying, +"All this followeth on the heels of the boy Hasan's birth!" Next +day he presented himself before the King and, kissing the ground, +began repeating:-- + +"Grow thy weal and thy welfare day by day: * And thy luck + prevail o'er the envier's spite; +And ne'er cease thy days to be white as day, * And thy foeman's + day to be black as night!" + +The Sultan bade him be seated on the Wazir's seat, so he sat down +and applied himself to the business of his office and went into +the cases of the lieges and their suits, as is the wont of +Ministers; while the Sultan watched him and wondered at his wit +and good sense, judgement and insight. Wherefor he loved him and +took him into intimacy. When the Divan was dismissed Nur al-Din +returned to his house and related what had passed to his father- +in-law who rejoiced. And thenceforward Nur al-Din ceased not so +to administer the Wazirate that the Sultan would not be parted +from him night or day; and increased his stipend and supplies +until his means were ample and he became the owner of ships that +made trading voyages at his command, as well as of Mamelukes and +blackamoor slaves; and he laid out many estates and set up +Persian wheels and planted gardens. When his son Hasan was four +years of age, the old Wazir deceased and he made for his father- +in-law a sumptuous funeral ceremony ere he was laid in the dust. +Then he occupied himself with the education of this son and, when +the boy waxed strong and came to the age of seven, he brought him +a Fakih, a doctor of law and religion, to teach him in his own +house and charged him to give him a good education and instruct +him in politeness and manners. So the tutor made the boy read +and retain all varieties of useful knowledge, after he had spent +some years in learning the Koran by heart; [FN#387] and he ceased +not to grow in beauty and stature and symmetry, even as saith the +poet:-- + +In his face-sky shines the fullest moon; * In his cheeks' anemone + glows the sun: +He so conquered Beauty that he hath won * All charms of + humanity one by one. + +The professor brought him up in his father's palace teaching him +reading, writing and cyphering, theology and belles lettres. His +grandfather the old Wazir had bequeathed to him the whole of his +property when he was but four years of age. Now during all the +time of his earliest youth he had never left the house, till on a +certain day his father, the Wazir Nur al-Din, clad him in his +best clothes and, mounting him on a she-mule of the finest, went +up with him to the Sultan. The King gazed at Badr al-Din Hasan +and marvelled at his comeliness and loved him. As for the city- +folk, when he first passed before them with his father, they +marvelled at his exceeding beauty and sat down on the road +expecting his return, that they might look their fill on his +beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace; even as the +poet said in these verses:-- + +As the sage watched the stars, the semblance clear +Of a fair youth on 's scroll he saw appear. +Those jetty locks Canopus o'er him threw, +And tinged his temple curls a musky hue; +Mars dyed his ruddy cheek; and from his eyes +The Archer-star his glittering arrow flies; +His wit from Hermes came; and Soha's care, +(The half-seen star that dimly haunts the Bear) +Kept off all evil eyes that threaten and ensnare, +The sage stood mazed to see such fortunes meet, +And Luna kissed the earth beneath his feet. [FN#388] + +And they blessed him aloud as he passed and called upon Almighty +Allah to bless him. [FN#389] The Sultan entreated the lad with +especial favour and said to his father, "O Wazir, thou must needs +bring him daily to my presence;" whereupon he replied, "I hear +and I obey." Then the Wazir returned home with his son and +ceased not to carry him to court till he reached the age of +twenty. At that time the Minister sickened and, sending for Badr +al-Din Hasan, said to him, "Know, O my son, that the world of the +Present is but a house of mortality, while that of the Future is +a house of eternity. I wish, before I die, to bequeath thee +certain charges and do thou take heed of what I say and incline +thy heart to my words." Then he gave him 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 of his skull-cap +and wound his light turband [FN#390] round it. And he fell to +weeping over his father and at parting with him, and he but a +boy. Then Nur al-Din lapsed into a swoon, the forerunner of +death; but presently recovering himself he said, "O Hasan, O my +son, I will now bequeath to thee five last behests. The FIRST +BEHEST is, Be over-intimate with none, nor frequent any, nor be +familiar with any; so shalt thou be safe from his mischief; +[FN#391] for security lieth in seclusion of thought and a certain +retirement from the society of thy fellows; and I have heard it +said by a poet:-- + +In this world there is none thou mayst count upon * To befriend + thy case in the nick of need: +So live for thyself nursing hope of none * Such counsel I give + thee: enow, take heed! + +The SECOND BEHEST is, O my son: Deal harshly with none lest +fortune with thee deal hardly; for the fortune of this world is +one day with thee and another day against thee and all worldly +goods are but a loan to be repaid. And I have heard a poet say:- +- + +Take thought nor hast to win the thing thou wilt; * Have ruth on + man for ruth thou may'st require: +No hand is there but Allah's hand is higher; * No tyrant but + shall rue worse tyrant's ire! + +The THIRD BEHEST is, Learn to be silent in society and let thine +own faults distract thine attention from the faults of other men: +for it is said:--In silence dwelleth safety, and thereon I have +heard the lines that tell us:-- + +Reserve's a jewel, Silence safety is; * Whenas thou speakest many + a word withhold; +For an of Silence thou repent thee once, * Of speech thou shalt + repent times manifold. + +The FOURTH BEHEST, O my son, is Beware of wine-bibbing, for wine +is the head of all frowardness and a fine solvent of human wits. +So shun, and again I say, shun mixing strong liquor; for I have +heard a poet say [FN#392]:-- + +From wine [FN#393] I turn and whoso wine-cups swill; * + Becoming one of those who deem it ill: +Wine driveth man to miss salvation-way, [FN#394] * And opes the + gateway wide to sins that kill. + +The FIFTH BEHEST, O my son, is Keep thy wealth and it will keep +thee; guard thy money and it will guard thee; and waste not thy +substance lest haply thou come to want and must fare a-begging +from the meanest of mankind. Save thy dirhams and deem them the +sovereignest salve for the wounds of the world. And here again I +have heard that one of the poets said:-- + +When fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend: * When + wealth abounds all friends their friendship tender: +How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend; * But friends to + lack of wealth no friendship render. + +On this wise Nur al-Din ceased not to counsel his son Badr al-Din +Hasan till his hour came and, sighing one sobbing sigh, his life +went forth. Then the voice of mourning and keening rose high in +his house and the Sultan and all the grandees grieved for him and +buried him; but his son ceased not lamenting his loss for two +months, during which he never mounted horse, nor attended the +Divan nor presented himself before the Sultan. At last the King, +being wroth with him, stablished in his stead one of the +Chamberlains and made him Wazir, giving orders to seize and set +seals on all Nur al-Din's houses and goods and domains. So the +new Wazir went forth with a mighty posse of Chamberlains and +people of the Divan, and watchmen and a host of idlers to do this +and to seize Badr al-Din Hasan and carry him before the King, who +would deal with him as he deemed fit. Now there was among the +crowd of followers a Mameluke of the deceased Wazir who, when he +heard this order, urged his horse and rode at full speed to the +house of Badr al-Din Hasan; for he cold not endure to see the +ruin of his old master's son. He found him sitting at the gate +with head hung down and sorrowing, as was his wont, for the loss +of his father; so he dismounted and kissing his hand said to him, +"O my lord and son of my lord, haste ere ruin come and lay +waste!" When Hasan heard this he trembled and asked, "What may +be the matter?; and the man answered, "The Sultan is angered with +thee and hath issued a warrant against thee, and evil cometh hard +upon my track; so flee with thy life!" At these words Hasan's +heart flamed with the fire of bale, and his rose-red cheek turned +pale, and he said to the "Mameluke, "O my brother, is there time +for me to go in and get me some worldly gear which may stand me +in stead during my strangerhood?" But the slave replied, "O my +lord, up at once and save thyself and leave this house, while it +is yet time." And he quoted these lines:-- + +"Escape with thy life, if oppression betide thee, * And let the + house of its builder's fate! +Country for country thou'lt find, if thou seek it; * Life for + life never, early or late. +It is strange men should dwell in the house of abjection, * When + the plain of God's earth is so wide and so great!" [FN#395] + +At these words of the Mameluke, Badr al-Din covered his head with +the skirt of his garment and went forth on foot till he stood +outside of the city, where he heard folk saying, "The Sultan hath +sent his new Wazir to the house of the old Wazir, now no more, to +seal his property and seize his son Badr al-Din Hasan and take +him before the presence, that he may put him to death; " and all +cried, "Alas for his beauty and his loveliness!" When he heard +this he fled forth at hazard, knowing not whither he was going, +and gave not over hurrying onwards till Destiny drove him to his +father's tomb. So he entered the cemetery and, threading his way +through the graves, at last he reached the sepulchre where he sat +down and let fall from his head the skirt of his long robe +[FN#396] which was made of brocade with a gold-embroidered hem +whereon were worked these couplets:-- + +O thou whose forehead, like the radiant East, * Tells of the + stars of Heaven and bounteous dews: +Endure thine honour to the latest day, * And Time thy growth of + glory ne'er refuse! + +While he was sitting by his father's tomb behold, there came to +him a Jew as he were a Shroff, [FN#397] a money-changer, with a +pair of saddle-bags containing much gold, who accosted him and +kissed his hand, saying, "Whither bound, O my lord; 'tis late in +the day and thou art clad but lightly, and I read signs of +trouble in thy face?" "I was sleeping within this very hour," +answered Hasan, "when my father appeared to me and chid me for +not having visited his tomb; so I awoke trembling and came hither +forthright lest the day should go by without my visiting him, +which would have been grievous to me." "O my lord," rejoined the +Jew, [FN#398] "thy father had many merchantmen at sea and, as +some of them are now due, it is my wish to buy of thee the cargo +of the first ship that cometh into port with this thousand dinars +of gold." "I consent," quoth Hasan, whereupon the Jew took out a +bag 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 to Isaac the Jew all the cargo of the first of +his father's ships which cometh into port, for a thousand dinars, +and he hath received the price in advance." And after he had +taken one copy the Jew put it into his pouch and went away; but +Hasan fell a-weeping as he thought of the dignity and prosperity +which had erst been his and he began reciting:-- + +"This house, my lady, since you left is now a home no more * For + me, not neighbours, since you left, prove kind and + neighbourly: +The friend, whilere I took to heart, alas! no more to me * Is + friend; and even Luna's self displayeth lunacy: +You left and by your going left the world a waste, a wolf, * And + lies a gloomy murk upon the face of hill and lea: +O may the raven-bird whose cry our hapless parting croaked * + Find ne'er a nesty home and eke shed all his plumery! +At length my patience fails me; and this absence wastes my + flesh; * How many a veil by severance rent our eyes are + doomed see: +Ah! shall I ever sight again our fair past nights of your; * And + shall a single house become a home for me once more?" + +Then he wept with exceeding weeping and night came upon him; so +he leant his head against his father's grave and sleep overcame +him: Glory to him who sleepeth not! He ceased not slumbering +till the moon rose, when his head slipped from off the tomb and +he lay on his back, with limbs outstretched, his face shining +bright in the moonlight. Now the cemetery was haunted day and +night by Jinns who were of the True Believers, and presently came +out a Jinniyah who, seeing Hasan asleep, marvelled at his beauty +and loveliness and cried, "Glory to God! This youth can be none +other than one of the Wuldan of Paradise.[FN#399] Then she flew +firmament-wards to circle it, as was her custom, and met an Ifrit +on the wing who saluted her and she said to him, "Whence comest +thou?" "From Cairo," he replied. "Wilt thou come with me and +look upon the beauty of a youth who sleepeth in yonder burial +place?" she asked and he answered, "I will." So they flew till +they lighted at the tomb and she showed him the youth and said, +"Now diddest thou ever in thy born days see aught like this?" +The Ifrit looked upon him and exclaimed, "Praise be to Him that +hath no equal! But, O my sister, shall I tell thee what I have +seen this day?" Asked she, "What is that?" and he answered, "I +have seen the counterpart of this youth in the land of Egypt. +She is the daughter of the Wazir Shams al-Din and she is a model +of beauty and loveliness, of fairest favour and formous form, and +dight with symmetry and perfect grace. When she had reached the +age of nineteen, [FN#400] the Sultan of Egypt heard of her and, +sending for the Wazir her father, said to him, 'Hear me, O Wazir: +it hath reached mine ear that thou hast a daughter and I wish to +demand her of thee in marriage." The Wazir replied, "O our lord +the Sultan, deign accept my excuses and take compassion on my +sorrows, for thou knowest that my brother, who was partner with +me in the Wazirate, disappeared from amongst us many years ago +and we wot not where he is. Now the cause of his departure was +that one night, as we were sitting together and talking of wives +and children to come, we had words on the matter and he went off +in high dudgeon. But I swore that I would marry my daughter to +none save to the son of my brother on the day her mother gave her +birth, which was nigh upon nineteen years ago. I have lately +heard that my brother died at Bassorah, where he 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] whilest 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 her +permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-second Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +Jinni narrated to the Jinniyah how the King had caused the +wedding contract to be drawn up between the hunchbacked groom and +the lovely young lady who was heart-broken for sorrow; and how +she was the fairest of created things and even more beautiful +than this youth, the Jinniyah cried at him "Thou liest! this +youth is handsomer than any one of his day." The Ifrit gave her +the lie again, adding, "By Allah, O my sister, the damsel I speak +of is fairer than this; yet none but he deserveth her, for they +resemble each other like brother and sister or at least cousins. +And, well-away! how she is wasted upon that Hunchback!" Then +said she, "O my brother, let us get under him and lift him up and +carry him to Cairo, that we may compare him with the damsel of +whom thou speakest and so determine whether of the twain is the +fairer." "To hear is to obey!" replied he, "thou speakest to the +point; nor is there a righter recking than this of thine, and I +myself will carry him." So he raised him from the ground and +flew with him like a bird soaring in upper air, the Ifritah +keeping close by his side at equal speed, till he alighted with +him in the city of Cairo and set him down on a stone bench and +woke him up. He roused himself and finding that he was no longer +at his father's tomb in Bassorah-city he looked right and left +and saw that he was in a strange place; and he would have cried +out; but the Ifrit gave him a cuff which persuaded him to keep +silence. Then he brought him rich raiment and clothed him +therein and, giving him a lighted flambeau, said, "Know that I +have brought thee hither, meaning to do thee a good turn for the +love of Allah: so take this torch and mingle with the people at +the Hammam-door and walk on with them without stopping till thou +reach the house of the wedding-festival; then go boldly forward +and enter the great saloon; and fear none, but take thy stand at +the right hand of the Hunchback bridegroom; and, as often as any +of the nurses and tirewomen and singing-girls come up to thee, +[FN#405] put thy hand into thy pocket which thou wilt find filled +with gold. Take it out and throw it to them and spare not; for +as often as thou thrustest fingers in pouch thou shalt find it +full of coin. Give largesse by handsful and fear nothing, but +set thy trust upon Him who created thee, for this is not by thine +own strength but by that of Allah Almighty, that His decrees may +take effect upon his creatures." When Badr al-Din Hasan heard +these words from the Ifrit he said to himself, "Would Heaven I +knew what all this means and what is the cause of such kindness!" +However, he mingled with the people and, lighting his flambeau, +moved on with the bridal procession till he came to the bath +where he found the Hunchback already on horseback. Then he +pushed his way in among the crowd, a veritable beauty of a man in +the finest apparel, wearing tarbush [FN#406] and turband and a +long-sleeved robe purfled with gold; and, as often as the +singing-women stopped for the people to give them largesse, he +thrust his hand into his pocket and, finding it full of gold, +took out a handful and threw it on the tambourine [FN#407] till +he had filled it with gold pieces for the music-girls and the +tirewomen. The singers were amazed by his bounty and the people +marvelled at his beauty and loveliness and the splendour of his +dress. He ceased not to do thus till he reached the mansion of +the Wazir (who was his uncle), where the Chamberlains drove back +the people and forbade them to go forward; but the singing-girls +and the tirewomen said, "By Allah we will not enter unless this +young man enter with us, for he hath given us length o' life with +his largesse and we will not display the bride unless he be +present." Therewith they carried him into the bridal hall and +made him sit down defying the evil glances of the hunchbacked +bridegroom. The wives of the Emirs and Wazirs and Chamberlains +and Courtiers all stood in double line, each holding a massy +cierge ready lighted; all wore thin face-veils and the two rows +right and left extended from the bride's throne [FN#408] to the +head of the hall adjoining the chamber whence she was to come +forth. When the ladies saw Badr al-Din Hasan and noted his +beauty and loveliness and his face that shone like the new moon, +their hearts inclined to him and the singing-girls said to all +that were present, "Know that this beauty crossed our hands with +naught but red gold; so be not chary to do him womanly service +and comply with all he says, no matter what he ask. [FN#409] So +all the women crowded around Hasan with their torches and gazed +upon his loveliness and envied him his beauty; and one and all +would gladly have lain on his bosom an hour or rather a year. +Their hearts were so troubled that they let fall their veils from +before their faces and said, "Happy she who belongeth to this +youth or to whom he belongeth!"; and they called down curses on +the crooked groom and on him who was the cause of his marriage to +the girl-beauty; and as often as they blessed Badr al-Din Hasan +they damned the Hunchback, saying, "Verily this youth and none +else deserveth our Bride: Ah, well-away for such a lovely one +with this hideous Quasimodo; Allah's curse light on his head and +on the Sultan who commanded the marriage!" Then the singing- +girls beat their tabrets and lulliloo'd with joy, announcing the +appearing of the bride; and the Wazir's daughter came in +surrounded by her tirewomen who had made her goodly to look upon; +for they had perfumed her and incensed her and adorned her hair; +and they had robed her in raiment and ornaments befitting the +mighty Chosroes Kings. The most notable part of her dress was a +loose robe worn over her other garments; it was diapered in red +gold with figures of wild beasts, and birds whose eyes and beaks +were of gems, and claws of red rubies and green beryl; and her +neck was graced with a necklace of Yamani work, worth thousands +of gold pieces, whose bezels were great round jewels of sorts, +the like of which was never owned by Kaysar or by Tobba King. +[FN#410] And the bride was as the full moon when at fullest on +fourteenth night; and as she paced into the hall she was like one +of the Houris of Heaven--praise be to Him who created her in such +splendour of beauty! The ladies encompassed her as the white +contains the black of the eye, they clustering like stars whilst +she shone amongst them like the moon when it eats up the clouds. +Now Badr al-Din Hasan of Bassorah was sitting in full gaze of the +folk, when the bride came forward with her graceful swaying and +swimming gait, and her hunchbacked groom stood up to meet +[FN#411] and receive her: she, however, turned away from the +wight and walked forward till she stood before her cousin Hasan, +the son of her uncle. Whereat the people laughed. But when the +wedding-guests saw her thus attracted towards Badr al-Din they +made a mighty clamour and the singing-women shouted their +loudest; whereupon he put his hand into his pocket and, pulling +out a handful of gold, cast it into their tambourines and the +girls rejoiced and said, "Could we win our wish this bride were +thine!" At this he smiled and the folk came round him, flambeaux +in hand like the eyeball round the pupil, while the Gobbo +bridegroom was left sitting alone much like a tail-less baboon; +for every time they lighted a candle for him it went out willy- +nilly, so he was left in darkness and silence and looking at +naught but himself. [FN#412] When Badr al-Din Hasan saw the +bridegroom sitting lonesome in the dark, and all the wedding- +guests with their flambeaux and wax candles crowding around +himself, he was bewildered and marvelled much; but when he looked +at his cousin, the daughter of his uncle, he rejoiced and felt an +inward delight: he longed to greet her and gazed intently on her +face which was radiant with light and brilliancy. Then the +tirewomen took off her veil and displayed her in the first bridal +dress which was of scarlet satin; and Hasan had a view of her +which dazzled his sight and dazed his wits, as she moved to and +fro, swaying with graceful gait; [FN#413] and she turned the +heads of all the guests, women as well as men, for she was even +as saith the surpassing poet:-- + +A sun on wand in knoll of sand she showed * Clad in her + cramoisy-hued chemisette: +Of her lips honey-dew she gave me drink, * And with her rosy + cheeks quencht fire she set. + +Then they changed that dress and displayed her in a robe of +azure; and she reappeared like the full moon when it riseth over +the horizon, with her coal-black hair and cheeks delicately fair; +and teeth shown in sweet smiling and breasts firm rising and +crowning sides of the softest and waist of the roundest. And in +this second suit she was as a certain master of high conceits +saith of the like of her:-- + +She came apparrelled in an azure vest, * Ultramarine, as skies + are deckt and dight; +I view'd th' unparrellel'd sight, which show'd my eyes * A moon + of Summer on a Winter-night. + +Then they changed that suit for another and, veiling her face in +the luxuriance of her hair, loosed her lovelocks, so dark, so +long that their darkness and length outvied the darkest nights, +and she shot through all hearts with the magical shaft of her +eye-babes. They displayed her in the third dress and she was as +said of her the sayer:-- + +Veiling her cheeks with hair a-morn she comes, * And I her + mischiefs with the cloud compare: +Saying, "Thou veilest morn with night!" "Ah, no!" * Quoth she, + "I shroud full moon with darkling air!" + +Then they displayed her in the fourth bridal dress and she came +forward shining like the rising sun and swaying to and fro with +lovesome grace and supple ease like a gazelle-fawn. And she +clave all hearts with the arrows of her eyelashes, even as saith +one who described a charmer like her:-- + +The sun of beauty she to sight appears * And, lovely-coy, she + mocks all loveliness; +And when he fronts her favour and her smile * A-morn, the Sun of + day in clouds must dress. + +Then she came forth in the fifth dress, a very light of +loveliness like a wand of waving willow or a gazelle of the +thirsty wold. Those locks which stung like scorpions along her +cheeks were bent, and her neck was bowed in blandishment, and her +hips quivered as she went. As saith one of the poets describing +her in verse:-- + +She comes like fullest moon on happy night; * Taper of waist, + with shape of magic might: +She hath an eye whose glances quell mankind, * And Ruby on her + cheeks reflects his light: +Enveils her hips the blackness of her hair; *Beware of curls that + bite with viper-bite! +Her sides are silken-soft, the while the heart * Mere rock behind + that surface lurks from sight: +From the fringed curtains of her eyne she shoots * Shafts which + at farthest range on mark alight: +When round her neck or waist I throw my arms * Her breasts repel + me with their hardened height. +Ah, how her beauty all excels! ah how * That shape transcends the + graceful waving bough! + +Then they adorned her with the sixth toilette, a dress which was +green. And now she shamed 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 +flexible grace. Her loveliness exalted the beauties of earth's +four quarters and she broke men's hearts by the significance of +her semblance; for she was even as saith one of the poets in +these lines:-- + +A damsel 'twas the tirer's art had decked with snares and + sleight.[FN#414] * And robed in rays as though the sun from + her had borrowed light: +She came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green, * As + veiled by its leafy screen pomegranate hides from sight: +And when he said "How callest thou the manner of thy dress?" * + She answered us in pleasant way with double meaning dight; +"We call this garment creve-coeur; and rightly is it hight, * For + many a heart wi' this we broke [FN#415] and conquered many + a sprite!" + +Then they displayed her in the seventh dress, coloured between +safflower [FN#416] and saffron, even as one of the poets saith:-- + +In vest of saffron pale and safflower red * Musk'd, sandal'd + ambergris'd, she came to front: +"Rise!" cried her youth, "go forth and show thyself!" * "Sit!" + said her hips, "we cannot bear the brunt!" +And when I craved a bout, her Beauty said * "Do, do!" and said + her pretty shame, "Don't, don't!" + +Thus they displayed the bride in all her seven toilettes before +Hasan al-Basri, wholly neglecting the Gobbo who sat moping alone; +and, when she opened her eyes [FN#417] she said, "O Allah make +this man my goodman and deliver me from the evil of this +hunchbacked groom." As soon as they had made an end of this part +of the ceremony they dismissed the wedding guests who went forth, +women, children and all, and none remained save Hasan and the +Hunchback, whilst the tirewomen led the bride into an inner room +to change her garb and gear and get her ready for the bridegroom. +Thereupon Quasimodo came up to Badr al-Din Hasan and said, "O my +lord, thou hast cheered us this night with thy good company and +overwhelmed us with thy kindness and courtesy; but now why not +get thee up and go?" "Bismallah," he answered, "In Allah's name +so be it!" and rising, he went forth by the door, where the Ifrit +met him and said, "Stay in thy stead, O Badr al-Din, and when the +Hunchback goes out to the closet of ease go in without losing +time and seat thyself in the alcove; and when the bride comes say +to her, "'Tis I am thy husband, for the King devised this trick +only fearing for thee the evil eye, and he whom thou sawest is +but a Syce, a groom, one of our stablemen.' Then walk boldly up +to her and unveil her face; for jealousy hath taken us of this +matter." While Hasan was still talking with the Ifrit behold, +the groom fared forth from the hall and entering the closet of +ease sat down on the stool. Hardly had he done this when the +Ifrit came out of the tank, [FN#418] wherein the water was, in +semblance of a mouse and squeaked out "Zeek!" Quoth the +Hunchback, "What ails thee?"; and the mouse grew and grew till it +became a coal-black cat and caterwauled "Meeao! Meeao!"[FN#419] +Then it grew still more and more till it became a dog and barked +out "Owh! Owh!" When the bridegroom saw this he was frightened +and exclaimed "Out with thee, O unlucky one!" [FN#420] But the +dog grew and swelled till it became an ass-colt that brayed and +snorted in his face "Hauk! Hauk!" [FN#421] Whereupon the +Hunchback quaked and cried, "Come to my aid, O people of the +house!" But behold, the ass-colt grew and became big as a +buffalo and walled the way before him and spake with the voice of +the sons of Adam, saying, "Woe to thee, O thou Bunch-back, thou +stinkard, O thou filthiest of grooms!" Hearing this the groom +was seized with a colic and he sat down on the jakes in his +clothes with teeth chattering and knocking together. Quoth the +Ifrit, "Is the world so strait to thee thou findest none to marry +save my lady-love?" But as he was silent the Ifrit continued, +"Answer me or I will do thee dwell in the dust!" "By Allah," +replied the Gobbo, "O King of the Buffaloes, this is no fault of +mine, for they forced me to wed her; and verily I wot not that +she had a lover among 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 they +beauty being displayed to me, they feared fascination and thy +father hired the horse-groom for ten dinars and a porringer of +meat to take the evil eye off us; and now he hath received his +hire and gone his gait." When the Lady of Beauty heard these +words she smiled and rejoiced and laughed a pleasant laugh. Then +she whispered him, "By the Lord thou hast quenched a fire which +tortured me and now, by Allah, O my little dark-haired darling, +take me to thee and press me to thy bosom!" Then she began +singing:-- + +"By Allah, set thy foot upon my soul; * Since long, long years + for this alone I long: +And whisper tale of love in ear of me; * To me 'tis sweeter than + the sweetest song! +No other youth upon my heart shall lie; * So do it often, dear, + and do it long." + +Then she stripped off her outer gear and she threw open her +chemise from the neck downwards and showed her parts genital and +all the rondure of her hips. When Badr al-Din saw the glorious +sight his desires were roused, and he arose and doffed her +clothes, and wrapping up in his bag-trousers [FN#425] the purse +of gold which he had taken from the Jew and which contained the +thousand dinars, he laid it under the edge of the bedding. Then +he took off his turband and set it upon the settle [FN#426] atop +of his other clothes, remaining in his skull-cap and fine shirt +of blue silk laced with gold. Whereupon the Lady of Beauty drew +him to her and he did likewise. Then he took her to his embrace +and set her legs round his waist and point-blanked that cannon +[FN#427] placed where it battereth down the bulwark of maidenhead +and layeth it waste. And he found her a pearl unpierced and +unthridden and a filly by all men save himself unridden; and he +abated her virginity and had joyance of her youth in his virility +and presently he withdrew sword from sheath; and then returned to +the fray right eath; and when the battle and the siege had +finished, some fifteen assaults he had furnished and she +conceived by him that very night. Then he laid his hand under +her head and she did the same and they embraced and fell asleep +in each other's arms, as a certain poet said of such lovers in +these couplets:-- + +Visit thy lover, spurn what envy told; * No envious churl shall + smile on love ensoul'd. +Merciful Allah made no fairer sight * Than coupled lovers single + couch doth hold; +Breast pressing breast and robed in joys their own, * With + pillowed forearms cast in finest mould: +And when heart speaks to heart with tongue of love, * Folk who + would part them hammer steel ice-cold: +If a fair friend[FN#428] thou find who cleaves to thee, * Live + for that friend, that friend in heart enfold. +O ye who blame for love us lover kind * Say, can ye minister to + diseasèd mind? + +This much concerning Badr al-Hasan and Sitt al-Husn his cousin; +but as regards the Ifrit, as soon as he saw the twain asleep, he +said to the Ifritah, "Arise, slip thee under the youth and let us +carry him back to his place ere dawn overtake us; for the day is +nearhand." Thereupon she came forward and, getting under him as +he lay asleep, took him up clad only in his fine blue shirt, +leaving the rest of his garments; and ceased not flying (and the +Ifrit vying with her in flight) till the dawn advised them that +it had come upon them mid-way, and the Muezzin began his call +from the Minaret, "Haste ye to salvation! Haste ye to +salvation!" [FN#429] Then Allah suffered his angelic host to +shoot down the Ifrit with a shooting star, [FN#430] so he was +consumed, but the Ifritah escaped and she descended with Badr al- +Din at the place where the Ifrit was burnt, and did not carry him +back to Bassorah, fearing lest he come to harm. Now by the order +of Him who predestineth all things, they alighted at Damascus of +Syria, and the Ifritah set down her burden at one of the city- +gates and flew away. When day arose and the doors were opened, +the folks who came forth saw a handsome youth, with no other +raiment but his blue shirt of gold-embroidered silk and skull- +cap,[FN#431] lying upon the ground drowned in sleep after the +hard labour of the night which had not suffered him to take his +rest. So the folk looking at him said, "O her luck with whom +this one spent the night! but would he had waited to don his +garments." Quoth another, "A sorry lot are the sons of great +families! Haply he but now came forth of the tavern on some +occasion of his own and his wine flew to his head,[FN#432] +whereby he hath missed the place he was making for and strayed +till he came to the gate of the city; and finding it shut lay him +down and 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 acursed 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 bride's father and no Ifrit." "Enough for thee that +thou hast well nigh done me die, " answered Quasimodo; "now go +thy ways before he come upon thee who hath served me thus. Could +ye not marry me to any save the lady-love of buffaloes and the +beloved of Ifrits? Allah curse her and curse him who married me +to her and was the cause of this my case,"--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day, and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-third Night, + +Said she, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +hunchbacked groom spake to the bride's father saying, "Allah +curse him who was the cause of this my case!" Then said the +Wazir to him, "Up and out of this place!" "Am I mad," cried the +groom, "that I should go with thee without leave of the Ifrit +whose last words to me were:--"When the sun rises, arise and go +they gait." So hath the sun risen or no?; for I dare not budge +from this place till then." Asked the Wazir, "Who brought thee +hither?"; and he answered "I came here yesternight for a call of +nature and to do what none can do for me, when lo! a mouse came +out of the water, and squeaked at me and swelled and waxed gross +till it was big as a buffalo, and spoke to me words that entered +my ears. Then he left me here and went away, Allah curse the +bride and him who married me to her!" The Wazir walked up to him +and lifted his head out of the cesspool hole; and he fared forth +running for dear life and hardly crediting that the sun had +risen; and repaired to the Sultan to whom he told all that had +befallen him with the Ifrit. But the Wazir returned to the +bride's private chamber, sore troubled in spirit about her, and +said to her, "O my daughter, explain this strange matter to me!" +Quoth she, "Tis simply this. The bridegroom to whom they +displayed me yestereve lay with me all night, and took my +virginity and I am with child by him. He is my husband and if +thou believe me not, there are his turband, twisted as it was, +lying on the settle and his dagger and his trousers beneath the +bed with a something, I wot not what, wrapped up in them." When +her father heard this he entered the private chamber and found +the turband which had been left there by Badr al-Din Hasan, his +brother's son, and he took it in hand and turned it over, saying, +"This is the turband worn by Wazirs, save that it is of Mosul +stuff." [FN#442] So he opened it and, finding what seemed to be +an amulet sewn up in the Fez, he unsewed the lining and took it +out; then he lifted up the trousers wherein was the purse of the +thousand gold pieces and, opening that also, found in it a +written paper. This he read and it was the sale-receipt of the +Jew in the name of Badr al-Din Hasan, son of Nur al-Din Ali, the +Egyptian; and the thousand dinars were also there. No sooner had +Shams al-Din read this than he cried out with a loud cry and fell +to the ground fainting; and as soon as he revived and understood +the gist of the matter he marvelled and said, "There is no God, +but the God, who All-might is over all things! Knowest thou, O +my daughter, who it was that became the husband of thy +virginity?" "No," answered she, and he said, "Verily he is the +son of my brother, thy cousin, and this thousand dinars is thy +dowry. Praise be to Allah! and would I wot how this matter came +about!" then opened he the amulet which was sewn up and found +therein a paper in the handwriting of his deceased brother, Nur +al-Din the Egyptian, father of Badr al-Din Hasan; and, when he +saw the hand-writing, he kissed it again and again; and he wept +and wailed over his dead brother and improvised this lines:-- + +"I see their traces and with pain I melt, * And on their whilome + homes I weep and yearn: +And Him I pray who dealt this parting-blow * Some day he deign + vouchsafe a safe return." [FN#443] + +When he ceased versifying, he read the scroll and found in it +recorded the dates of his brother's marriage with the daughter of +the Wazir of Bassorah, and of his going in to her, and her +conception, and the birth of Badr al-Din Hasan and all his +brother's history and doings up to his dying day. So he +marvelled much and shook with joy and, comparing the dates with +his own marriage and going in to his wife and the birth of their +daughter, Sitt al-Husn, he found that they perfectly agreed. So +he took the document and, repairing with it to the Sultan, +acquainted him with what had passed, from first to last; whereat +the King marvelled and commanded the case to be at once recorded. +[FN#444] The Wazir abode that day expecting to see his brother's +son but he came not; and he waited a second day, a third day and +so on to the seventh day, without any tidings of him. So he +said, "By Allah, I will do a deed such as none hath ever done +before me!"; and he took reed-pen and ink and drew upon a sheet +of paper the plan of the whole house, showing whereabouts was the +private chamber with the curtain in such a place and the +furniture in such another and so on with all that was in the +room. Then he folded up the sketch and, causing all the +furniture to be collected, he took Badr al-Din's garments and the +turband and Fez and robe and purse, and carried the whole to his +house and locked them up, against the coming of his nephew, Badr +al-Din Hasan, the son of his lost brother, with an iron padlock +on which he set his seal. As for the Wazir's daughter, when her +tale of months was fulfilled, she bare a son like the full moon, +the image of his father in beauty and loveliness and fair +proportions and perfect grace. They cut his navel-string +[FN#445] and Kohl'd his eyelids to strengthen his eyes, and gave +him over to the nurses and nursery governesses, [FN#446] naming +him Ajib, the Wonderful. His day was as a month and his month +was as a year; [FN#447] and, when seven years had passed over +him, his grandfather sent him to school, enjoining the master to +teach him Koran-reading, and to educate him well. he remained at +the school four years, till he began to bully his schoolfellows +and abuse them and bash them and thrash them and say, "Who among +you is like me? I am the son of Wazir of Egypt!" At last the +boys came in a body to 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 that not +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 thereon and then, and she repeated these couplets:-- + +"Love in my heart they lit and went their ways, * And all I + love to furthest lands withdrew; +And when they left me sufferance also left, * And when we parted + Patience bade adieu: +They fled and flying with my joys they fled, * In very + consistency my spirit flew: +They made my eyelids flow with severance tears * And to the + parting-pang these drops are due: +And when I long to see reunion-day, * My groans prolonging sore + for ruth I sue: +Then in my heart of hearts their shapes I trace, * And love and + longing care and cark renew: +O ye, whose names cling round me like a cloak, * Whose love yet + closer than a shirt I drew, +Beloved ones! how long this hard despite? * How long this + severance and this coy shy flight?" + +Then she wailed and shrieked aloud and her son did the like; and +behold, in came the Wazir whose heart burnt within him at the +sight of their lamentations, and he said, "What makes you weep?" +So the Lady of Beauty acquainted him with what had happened +between her son and the school boys; and he also wept, calling to +mind his brother and what had past between them and what had +betided his daughter and how he had failed to find out what +mystery there was in the matter. Then he rose at once and, +repairing to the audience-hall, went straight to the King and +told his tale and craved his permission [FN#451] to travel +eastward to the city of Bassorah and ask after his brother's son. +Furthermore, he besought the Sultan to write for him letters +patent, authorising him to seize upon Badr al-Din, his nephew and +son-in-law, wheresoever he might find him. And he wept before +the King, who had pity on him and wrote royal autographs to his +deputies in all climes [FN#452] and countries and cities; whereat +the Wazir rejoiced and prayed for blessings on him. Then, taking +leave of his Sovereign, he returned to his house, where he +equipped himself and his daughter and his adopted child Ajib, +with all things meet for a long march; and set out and travelled +the first day and the second and the third and so forth till he +arrived at Damascus-city. He found it a fair place abounding in +trees and streams, even as the poet said of it:-- + +When I nighted and dayed in Damascus town, * Time sware such + another he ne'er should view: +And careless we slept under wing of night, * Till dappled Morn + 'gan her smiles renew: +And dew-drops on branch in their beauty hung, * Like pearls to be + dropt when the Zephyr blew: +And the Lake [FN#453] was the page where birds read and note, * + And the clouds set points to what breezes wrote. + +The Wazir encamped on the open space called Al-Hasa; [FN#454] +and, after pitching tents, said to his servants, "A halt here for +two days!" So they went into the city upon their several +occasions, this to sell and this 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, +whilest others ran on before, and sat down on the road until he +should come up, that they might gaze on him, till, as Destiny had +decreed, the Eunuch stopped opposite the shop of Ajib's father, +Badr al-Din Hasan. Now his beard had grown long and thick and +his wits had ripened during the twelve years which had passed +over him, and the Cook and ex-rogue having died, the so-called +Hasan of Bassorah had succeeded to his goods and shop, for that +he had been formally adopted before the Kazi and witnesses. When +his son and the Eunuch stepped before him he gazed on Ajib and, +seeing how very beautiful he was, his heart fluttered and +throbbed, and blood drew to blood and natural affection spake out +and his bowels yearned over him. He had just dressed a conserve +of pomegranate-grains with sugar, and Heaven-implanted love +wrought within him; so he called to his son Ajib and said, "O my +lord, O thou who hast gotten the mastery of my heart and my very +vitals and to whom my bowels yearn; say me, wilt thou enter my +house and solace my soul by eating of my meat?" Then his eyes +streamed with tears which he could not stay, for he bethought him +of what he had been and what he had become. When Ajib heard his +father's words his heart also yearned himwards and he looked at +the Eunuch and said to him, "Of a truth, O my good guard, my +heart yearns to this cook; he is as one that hath a son far away +from him: so let us enter and gladden his heart by tasting of his +hospitality. Perchance for our so doing Allah may reunite me +with my father." When the Eunuch heard these words he cried, "A +fine thing this, by Allah! Shall the sons of Wazirs be seen +eating in a common cook-shop? Indeed I keep off the folk from +thee with this quarter-staff lest they even look upon thee; and I +dare not suffer thee to enter this shop at all." When Hasan of +Bassorah heard his speech he marvelled and turned to the Eunuch +with the tears pouring down his cheeks; and Ajib said, "Verily my +heart loves him!" But he answered, "Leave this talk, thou shalt +not go in." Thereupon the father turned to the Eunuch and said, +"O worthy sir, why wilt thou not gladden my soul by entering my +shop? O thou who art like a chestnut, dark without but white of +heart within! O thou of the like of whom a certain poet said * * +*" The Eunuch burst out a-laughing and asked--"Said what? Speak +out by Allah and be quick about it." So Hasan the Bassorite +began reciting these couplets:-- + +"If not master of manners or aught but discreet * In the + household of Kings no trust could he take: +And then for the Harem! what Eunuch [FN#458] is he * Whom + angels would serve for his service sake." + +The Eunuch marvelled and was pleased at these words, so he took +Ajib by the hand and went into the cook's shop: whereupon Hasan +the Bassorite ladled into a saucer some conserve of pomegranate- +grains wonderfully good, dressed with almonds and sugar, saying, +"You have honoured me with your company: eat then and health and +happiness to you!" Thereupon Ajib said to his father, "Sit thee +down and eat with us; so perchance Allah may unite us with him we +long for." Quoth Hasan, "O my son, hast thou then been afflicted +in thy tender years with parting from those thou lovest?" Quoth +Ajib, "Even so, O nuncle mine; my heart burns for the loss of a +beloved one who is non 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 for his own bereavement, which +recalled to him his long separation from dear friends and from +his mother; and the Eunuch was moved to pity for him. Then they +ate together till they were satisfied; and Ajib and the slave +rose and left the shop. Hereat Hasan the Bassorite felt as +though his soul had departed his body and had gone with them; for +he could not lose sight of the boy during the twinkling of an +eye, albeit he knew not that Ajib was his son. So he locked up +his shop and hastened after them; and he walked so fast that he +came up with them before they had gone out of the western gate. +The Eunuch turned and asked him, "What ails the?"; and Badr al- +Din answered, "When ye went from me, meseemed my soul had gone +with you; and, as I had business without the city-gate, I +purposed to bear you company till my matter was ordered and so +return." The Eunuch was angered and said to Ajib, "This is just +what I feared! we ate that unlucky mouthful (which we are bound +to respect), and here is the fellow following us from place to +place; for the vulgar are ever the vulgar." Ajib, turning and +seeing the Cook just behind him, was wroth and his face reddened +with rage and he said to the servant; "Let him walk the highway +of the Moslems; but, when we turn off it to our tents, and find +that he still follows us, we will send him about his business +with a flea in his ear." Then he bowed his head and walked on, +the Eunuch walking behind him. But Hasan of Bassorah followed +them to the plain Al-Hasa; and, as they drew near to the tents, +they turned round and saw him close on their heels; so Ajib was +very angry, fearing that the Eunuch might tell his grandfather +what had happened. His indignation was the hotter for +apprehension lest any say that after he had entered a cook-shop +the cook had followed him. So he turned and looked at Hasan of +Bassorah and found his eyes fixed on his own, for the father had +become a body without a soul; and it seemed to Ajib that his eye +was a treacherous eye or that he was some lewd fellow. So his +rage redoubled and, stooping down, he took up a stone weighing +half a pound and threw it at his father. It struck him on the +forehead, cutting it open from eye-brow to eye-brow and causing +the blood to stream down: and Hasan fell to the ground in a swoon +whilst Ajib and the Eunuch made for the tents. When the father +came to himself he wiped away the blood and tore off a strip from +his turband and bound up his head, blaming himself the while, and +saying, "I wronged the lad by shutting up my shop and following, +so that he thought I was some evil-minded fellow." Then he +returned to his place where he busied himself with the sale of +his sweetmeats; and he yearned after his mother at Bassorah, and +wept over her and broke out repeating:-- + +"Unjust it were to bid the World [FN#460] be just * And blame + her not: She ne'er was made for justice: +Take what she gives thee, leave all grief aside, * For now to + fair and then to foul her lust is." + +So Hasan of Bassorah set himself steadily to sell his sweetmeats; +but the Wazir, his uncle, halted in Damascus three days and then +marched upon Emesa, and passing through that town he made enquiry +there and at every place where he rested. Thence he fared on by +way of Hamah and Aleppo and thence to Diyar Bakr and Maridin and +Mosul, still enquiring, till he arrived at Bassorah-city. Here, +as soon as he had secured a lodging, he presented himself before +the Sultan, who entreated him with high honour and the respect +due to his rank, and asked the cause of his coming. The Wazir +acquainted him with his history and told him that the Minister +Nur al-Din was his brother; whereupon the Sultan exclaimed, +"Allah have mercy upon him!" and added, "My good Sahib!" +[FN#461]; he was my Wazir for fifteen years and I loved him +exceedingly. Then he died leaving a son who abode only a single +month after his father's death; since which time he has +disappeared and we could gain no tidings of him. But his mother, +who is the daughter of my former Minister, is still among us." +When the Wazir Shams al-Din heard that his nephew's mother was +alive and well, he rejoiced and said, "O King I much desire to +meet her." The King on the instant gave him leave to visit her; +so he betook himself to the mansion of his brother, Nur al-Din, +and cast sorrowful glances on all things in and around it and +kissed the threshold. Then he bethought him of his brother, Nur +al-Din Ali, and how he had died in a strange land far from kith +and kin and friends; and he wept and repeated these lines:-- + +"I wander 'mid these walls, my Layla's walls, * And kissing this + and other wall I roam: +'Tis not the walls or roof my heart so loves, * But those who in + this house had made their home." + +Then he passed through the gate into a courtyard and found a +vaulted doorway builded of hardest syenite [FN#462] inlaid with +sundry kinds of multi-coloured marble. Into this he walked and +wandered about the house and, throwing many a glance around, saw +the name of his brother, Nur al-Din, written in gold wash upon +the walls. So he went up to the inscription and kissed it and +wept and thought of how he had been separated from his brother +and had now lost him for ever, and he recited these couplets:-- + +"I ask of you from every rising sun, * And eke I ask when + flasheth levenlight: +When I pass my nights in passion-pain, * Yet ne'er I 'plain me + of my painful plight; +My love! if longer last this parting throe * Little by little + shall it waste my sprite. +An thou wouldst bless these eyne with sight of thee * One day on + earth, I crave none other sight: +Think not another could possess my mind * Nor length nor breadth + for other love I find." + +Then he walked on till he came to the apartment of his brother's +widow, the mother of Badr al-Din Hasan, the Egyptian. Now from +the time of her son's disappearance she had never ceased weeping +and wailing through the light hours and the dark; and, when the +years grew longsome with her, she built for him a tomb of marble +in the midst of the saloon and there used to weep for him day and +night, never sleeping save thereby. When the Wazir drew near her +apartment, he heard her voice and stood behind the door while she +addressed the sepulchre in verse and said:-- + +"Answer, by Allah! Sepulchre, are all his beauties gone? * Hath + change the power to blight his charms, that Beauty's + paragon? +Thou art not earth, O Sepulchre! nor art thou sky to me; * How + comes it, then, in thee I see conjoint the branch and moon?" + +While she was bemoaning herself after this fashion, behold, the +Wazir went in to her and saluted her and informed her that he was +her husband's brother; and, telling her all that had passed +between them, laid open before her the whole story, how her son +Badr al-Din Hasan had spent a whole night with his daughter full +ten years ago but had disappeared in the morning. And he ended +with saying, "My daughter conceived by thy son and bare a male +child who is now with me, and he is thy son and thy son's son by +my daughter." When she heard the tidings that her boy, Badr al- +Din, was still alive and saw her brother-in-law, she rose up to +him and threw herself at his feet and kissed them, reciting these +lines:-- + +"Allah be good to him that gives glad tidings of thy steps; * In + very sooth for better news mine ears would never sue: +Were he content with worn-out robe, upon his back I'd throw * A + heart to pieces rent and torn when heard the word Adieu." + +Then the Wazir sent for Ajib and his grandmother stood up and +fell on his neck and wept; but Shams al-Din said to her, "This is +no time for weeping; this is the time to get thee ready for +travelling with us to the land of Egypt; haply Allah will reunite +me and thee with thy son and my nephew." Replied she, +"Hearkening and obedience;" and, rising at once, collected her +baggage and treasures and her jewels, and equipped herself and +her slave-girls for the march, whilst the Wazir went to take his +leave of the Sultan of Bassorah, who sent by him presents and +rarities for the Soldan of Egypt. Then he set out at once upon +his homeward march and journeyed till he came to Damascus-city +where he alighted in the usual place and pitched tents, and said +to his suite, "We will halt a se'nnight here to buy presents and +rare things for the Soldan." Now Ajib bethought him of the past +so he said to the Eunuch, "O Laik, I want a little diversion; +come, let us go down to the great bazar of Damascus, [FN#463] and +see what hath become of the cook whose sweetmeats we ate and +whose head we broke, for indeed he was kind to us and we +entreated him scurvily." The Eunuch answered, "Hearing is +obeying!" So they went forth from the tents; and the tie of +blood drew Ajib towards his father, and forthwith they passed +through the gateway, Bab al-Faradis [FN#464] hight, and entered +the city and ceased not walking through the streets till they +reached the cookshop, where they found Hasan of Bassorah standing +at the door. It was near the time of mid-afternoon prayer +[FN#465] and it so fortuned that he had just dressed a confection +of pomegranate-grains. When the twain drew near to him and Ajib +saw him, his heart yearned towards him, and noticing the scar of +the blow, which time had darkened on his brow, he said to him, +"Peace be on thee, O man!" [FN#466] know that my heart is with +thee." But when Badr al-Din looked upon his son his vitals +yearned and his heart fluttered, and he hung his head earthwards +and sought to make his tongue give utterance to his words, but he +could not. Then he raised his head humbly and suppliant-wise +towards his boy and repeated these couplets:-- + +"I longed for my beloved but when I saw his face, * Abashed I + held my tongue and stood with downcast eye; +And hung my head in dread and would have hid my love, * But do + whatso I would hidden it would not lie; +Volumes of plaints I had prepared, reproach and blame, * But + when we met, no single word remembered I." + +And then said he to them, "Heal my broken heart and eat of my +sweetmeats; for, by Allah, I cannot look at thee but my heart +flutters. Indeed I should not have followed thee the other day, +but that I was beside myself." "By Allah," answered Ajib, "thou +dost indeed love us! We ate in thy house a mouthful when we were +here before and thou madest us repent of it, for that thou +followedst us and wouldst have disgraced us; so now we will not +eat aught with thee save on condition that thou make oath not to +go out after us nor dog us. Otherwise we will not visit thee +again during our present stay; for we shall halt a week here, +whilst my grandfather buys certain presents for the King." Quoth +Hasan of Bassorah, "I promise you this." So Ajib and the Eunuch +entered the shop, and his father set before them a saucer-full of +conserve of pomegranate-grains. Said Ajib, "Sit thee down and +eat with us, so haply shall Allah dispel our sorrows." Hasan the +Bassorite was joyful and sat down and ate with them; but his eyes +kept gazing fixedly on Ajib's face, for his very heart and vitals +clove to him; and at last the boy said to him, "Did I not tell +thee thou art a most noyous dotard?; so do stint thy staring in +my face!" But when Hasan of Bassorah heard his son's words he +repeated these lines:-- + +"Thou hast some art the hearts of men to clip; * Close-veiled, + far-hidden mystery dark and deep: +O thou whose beauties sham the lustrous moon, * Wherewith the + saffron Morn fears rivalship! +Thy beauty is a shrine shall ne'er decay; * Whose signs shall + grow until they all outstrip; [FN#467] +Must I be thirst-burnt by that Eden-brow * And die of pine to + taste that Kausar-lip?" [FN#468] + +Hasan kept putting morsels into Ajib's mouth at one time and at +another time did the same by the Eunuch and they ate till they +were satisfied and could no more. Then all rose up and the cook +poured water on their hands; [FN#469] and, loosing a silken +waist-shawl, dried them and sprinkled them with rose-water from a +casting-bottle he had by him. Then he went out and presently +returned with a gugglet of sherbet flavoured with rose-water, +scented with musk and cooled with snow; and he set this before +them saying, "Complete your kindness to me!" So Ajib took the +gugglet and drank and passed it to the Eunuch; and it went round +till their stomachs were full and they were surfeited with a meal +larger than their wont. Then they went away and made haste in +walking till they reached the tents, and Ajib went in to his +grandmother, who kissed him and, thinking of her son, Badr al-Din +Hasan, groaned aloud and wept and recited these lines:-- + +"I still had hoped to see thee and enjoy thy sight, * For in + thine absence life has lost its kindly light: +I swear my vitals wot none other love but thine * By Allah, who + can read the secrets of the sprite!" + +Then she asked Ajib, "O my son! where hast thou been?"; and he +answered, "In Damascus-city;" Whereupon she rose and set before +him a bit of scone and a saucer of conserve of pomegranate-grains +(which was too little sweetened), and she said to the Eunuch, +"Sit down with thy master!" Said the servant to himself, "By +Allah, we have no mind to eat: I cannot bear the smell of bread;" +but he sat down and so did Ajib, though his stomach was full of +what he had eaten already and drunken. Nevertheless he took a +bit of the bread and dipped it in the pomegranate-conserve and +made shift to eat it, but he found it too little sweetened, for +he was cloyed and surfeited, so he said, "Faugh; what be this +wild-beast [FN#470] stuff?" "O my son," cried his grandmother, +"dost thou find fault with my cookery? I cooked this myself and +none can cook it as nicely as I can save thy father, Badr al-Din +Hasan." "By Allah, O my lady, Ajib answered, "this dish is nasty +stuff; for we saw but now in the city of Bassorah a cook who so +dresseth pomegranate-grains that the very smell openeth a way to +the heart and the taste would make a full man long to eat; and, +as for this mess compared with his, 'tis not worth either much or +little." When his grandmother heard his words she waxed wroth +with exceeding wrath and looked at the servant--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-fourth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ajib's +grandmother heard his words, she waxed wroth and looked at the +servant and said, "Woe to thee! dost thou spoil my son, [FN#471] +and dost take him into common cookshops?" The Eunuch was +frightened and denied, saying, "We did not go into the shop; we +only passed by it." "By Allah," cried Ajib, "but we did go in +and we ate till it came out of our nostrils, and the dish was +better than thy dish!" Then his grandmother rose and went and +told her brother-in-law, who was incensed against the Eunuch, and +sending for him asked him, "Why didst thou take my son into a +cookshop?"; and the Eunuch being frightened answered, "We did not +go in." But Ajib said, "We did go inside and ate conserve of +pomegranate-grains till we were full; and the cook gave us to +drink of iced and sugared sherbet." At this the Wazir's +indignation redoubled and he questioned the Castrato but, as he +still denied, the Wazir said to him, "If thou speak sooth, sit +down and eat before us." So he came forward and tried to eat, +but could not eat 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, +"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 to 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 thing 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 all that had occurred to part them. Lastly the Wazir sent +for Ajib; and when his father saw him he cried, "And this is he +who struck me with the stone!" Quoth the Wazir, "This is thy +son!" And Badr al-Din Hasan threw himself upon his boy and began +repeating:-- + +"Long have I wept o'er severance ban and bane, * Long from mine + eyelids tear-rills rail and rain: +And vowed I if Time re-union bring * My tongue from name of + "Severance" I'll restrain: +Joy hath o'ercome me to this stress that I * From joy's revulsion + to shed tears am fain: +Ye are so trained to tears, O eyne of me! * You weep with + pleasure as you weep with pain." [FN#482] + +When he had ended his verse his mother came in and threw herself +upon him and began reciting:-- + +"When we met we complained, * Our hearts were sore wrung: +But plaint is not pleasant * Fro' messenger's tongue." + +Then she wept and related to him what had befallen her since his +departure, and he told her what he had suffered, and they thanked +Allah Almighty for their reunion. Two days after his arrival the +Wazir Shams al-din went in to the Sultan and, kissing the ground +between his hands, greeted him with the greeting due to Kings. +The Sultan rejoiced at his return and his face brightened and, +placing him hard by his side, [FN#483] asked him to relate all he +had seen in his wayfaring and whatso had betided him in his going +and coming. So the Wazir told him all that had passed from first +to last and the Sultan said, "Thanks be to Allah for thy victory +[FN#484] and the winning of thy wish and thy safe return to thy +children and thy people! And now I needs must see the son of thy +brother, Hasan of Bassorah, so bring him to the audience-hall to- +morrow." Shams al-Din replied, "Thy slave shall stand in thy +presence to-morrow, Inshallah, if it be God's will." Then he +saluted him and, returning to his own house, informed his nephew +of the Sultan's desire to see him, whereto replied Hasan, whilome +the Bassorite, "The slave is obedient to the orders of his lord." +And the result was that next day he accompanied his uncle, Shams +al-Din, to the Divan; and, after saluting the Sultan and doing +him reverence in most ceremonious obeisance and with most courtly +obsequiousness, he began improvising these verses:-- + +"The first in rank to kiss the ground shall deign * Before you, + and all ends and aims attain: +You are Honour's fount; and all that hope of you, * Shall gain + more honour than Hope hoped to gain." + +The Sultan smiled and signed to him to sit down. So he took a +seat close to his uncle, Shams al-Din, and the King asked him his +name. Quoth Badr al-Din Hasan, "The meanest of thy slaves is +known as Hasan the Bassorite, who is instant in prayer for thee +day and night." The Sultan was pleased at his words and, being +minded to test his learning and prove his good breeding, asked +him, "Dost thou remember any verses in praise of the mole on the +cheek?" He answered, "I do," and began reciting:-- + +"When I think of my love and our parting-smart, * My groans go + forth and my tears upstart: +He's a mole that reminds me in colour and charms * O' the black + o' the eye and the grain [FN#485] of the heart." + +The King admired and praised the two couplets and said to him, +"Quote something else; Allah bless thy sire and may thy tongue +never tire!" So he began:-- + +"That cheek-mole's spot they evened with a grain * Of musk, nor + did they here the simile strain: +Nay, marvel at the face comprising all * Beauty, nor falling + short by single grain." + +The King shook with pleasure [FN#486] and said to him, "Say more: +Allah bless thy days!" So he began:-- + +"O you whose mole on cheek enthroned recalls * A dot of musk + upon a stone of ruby, +Grant me your favours! Be not stone at heart! * Core of my heart + whose only sustenance you be!" + +Quoth the King, "Fair comparison, O Hasan! [FN#487] thou hast +spoken excellently well and hast proved thyself accomplished in +every accomplishment! Now explain to me how many meanings be +there in the Arabic language [FN#488] for the word Khal or mole." +He replied, "Allah keep the King! Seven and fifty and some by +tradition say fifty." Said the Sultan, "Thou sayest sooth," +presently adding, "Hast thou knowledge as to the points of +excellence in beauty?" "Yes," answered Badr al-Din Hasan, +"Beauty consisteth in brightness of face, clearness of +complexion, shapeliness of nose, gentleness of eyes, sweetness of +mouth, cleverness of speech, slenderness of shape and seemliness +of all attributes. But the acme of beauty is in the hair and, +indeed, al-Shihab the Hijazi hath brought together all these +items in his doggrel verse of the metre Rajaz, [FN#489] and it is +this: + +Say thou to skin "Be soft," to face "Be fair," * And gaze, nor + shall they blame howso thou stare: +Fine nose in Beauty's list is high esteemed; * Nor less an eye + full, bright and debonnair: +Eke did they well to laud the lovely lips * (Which e'en the sleep + of me will never spare); +A winning tongue, a stature tall and straight; [FN#490] * A + seemly union of gifts rarest rare: +But Beauty's acme in the hair one views it; * So hear my strain + and with some few excuse it!" + +The Sultan was captivated by his converse and, regarding him as a +friend, asked, "What meaning is there in the saw 'Shurayh is +foxier than the fox'?" And he answered, "Know, O King (whom +Almighty Allah keep!) that the legist Shurayh [FN#491] was wont, +during the days of the plague, to make a visitation to Al-Najaf; +and, whenever he stood up to pray, there came a fox which would +plant himself facing him and which, by mimicking his movements, +distracted him from his devotions. Now when this became longsome +to him, one day he doffed his shirt and set it upon a cane and +shook out the sleeves; then placing his turband on the top and +girding its middle with a shawl, he stuck it up in the place +where he used to pray. Presently up trotted the fox according to +his custom and stood over against the figure, whereupon Shurayh +came behind him, and took him. Hence the sayer saith, 'Shurayh +foxier than the fox.'" When the Sultan heard Badr al-Din Hasan's +explanation he said to his uncle, Shams al-Din, "Truly this the +son of thy brother is perfect in courtly breeding and I do not +think that his like can be found in Cairo." At this Hasan arose +and kissed the ground before him and sat down again as a Mameluke +should sit before his master. When the Sultan had thus assured +himself of his courtly breeding and bearing and his knowledge of +the liberal arts and belles-lettres, he joyed with exceeding joy +and invested him with a splendid robe of honour and promoted him +to an office whereby he might better his condition. [FN#492] +Then Badr al-Din Hasan arose and, kissing the ground before the +King, wished him continuance of glory and asked leave to retire +with his uncle, the Wazir Shams al-Din. The Sultan gave him +leave and he issued forth and the two returned home, where food +was set before them and they ate what Allah had given them. +After finishing his meal Hasan repaired to the sitting-chamber of +his wife, the Lady of Beauty, and told her what had past between +him and the Sultan; whereupon quoth she, "He cannot fail to make +thee a cup-companion and give thee largess in excess and load +thee with favours and bounties; so shalt thou, by Allah's +blessing, dispread, like the greater light, the rays of thy +perfection wherever thou be, on shore or on sea." Said he to +her, "I purpose to recite a Kasidah, an ode, in his praise, that +he may redouble in affection for me." "Thou art right in thine +intent," she answered, "so gather thy wits together and weigh thy +words, and I shall surely see my husband favoured with his +highest favour." Thereupon Hasan shut himself up and composed +these couplets on a solid base and abounding in inner grace and +copies them out in a hand-writing of the nicest taste. They are +as follows:-- + +Mine is a Chief who reached most haught estate, * Treading the + pathways of the good and great: +His justice makes all regions safe and sure, * And against + froward foes bars every gate: +Bold lion, hero, saint, e'en if you call * Seraph or Sovran + [FN#493] he with all may rate! +The poorest supplicant rich from him returns, * All words to + praise him were inadequate. +He to the day of peace is saffron Morn, * And murky Night in + furious warfare's bate. +Bow 'neath his gifts our necks, and by his deeds * As King of + freeborn [FN#494] souls he 'joys his state: +Allah increase for us his term of years, * And from his lot avert + all risks and fears! + +When he had finished transcribing the lines, he despatched them, +in charge of one of his uncle's slaves, to the Sultan, who +perused them and his fancy was pleased; so he read them to those +present and all praised them with the highest praise. Thereupon +he sent for the writer to his sitting-chamber and said to him, +"Thou art from this day forth my boon-companion and I appoint to +thee a monthly solde of a thousand dirhams, over and above that I +bestowed on thee aforetime." So Hasan rose and, kissing the +ground before the King several times, prayed for the continuance +of his greatness and glory and length of life and strength. Thus +Badr al-Din Hasan the Bassorite waxed high in honour and his fame +flew forth to many regions and he abode in all comfort and solace +and delight of life with his uncle and his own folk till Death +overtook him. When the Caliph Harun al-Rashid heard this story +from the mouth of his Wazir, Ja'afar the Barmecide, he marvelled +much and said, "It behoves that these stories be written in +letters of liquid gold." Then he set the slave at liberty and +assigned to the youth who had slain his wife such a monthly +stipend as sufficed to make his life easy; he also gave him a +concubine from amongst his own slave-girls and the young man +became one of his cup-companions. "Yet this story," (continued +Shahrazad) "is in no wise stranger than the tale of the Tailor +and the Hunchback and the Jew and the Reeve and the Nazarene, and +what betided them." Quoth the King, "And what may that be?" So +Shahrazad began, in these words,[FN#495] + + + + + + THE HUNCHBACK'S TALE. + + +It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there dwelt during +times of yore, and years and ages long gone before, in a certain +city of China,[FN#496] a Tailor who was an open handed man that +loved pleasuring and merry making; and who was wont, he and his +wife, to solace themselves from time to time with public +diversions and amusements. One day they went out with the first +of the light and were returning in the evening when they fell in +with a Hunchback, whose semblance would draw a laugh from care +and dispel the horrors of despair. So they went up to enjoy +looking at him and invited him to go home with them and converse +and carouse with them that night. He consented and accompanied +them afoot to their home; whereupon the Tailor fared forth to the +bazaar (night having just set in) and bought a fried fish and +bread and lemons and dry sweetmeats for dessert; and set the +victuals before the Hunchback and they ate. Presently the +Tailor's wife took a great fid of fish and gave it in a gobbet to +the Gobbo, stopping his mouth with her hand and saying, "By +Allah, thou must down with it at a single gulp; and I will not +give thee time to chew it." So he bolted it; but therein was a +stiff bone which stuck in his gullet and, his hour being come, he +died.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying +her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-fifth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +Tailor's wife gave the Hunchback that mouthful of fish which +ended his term of days he died on the instant. Seeing this the +Tailor cried aloud, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might +save in Allah! Alas, that this poor wretch should have died in so +foolish fashion at our hands!" and the woman rejoined, "Why this +idle talk? Hast thou not heard his saying who said:-- + +Why then waste I my time in grief, until I * find no friend to + bear my weight of woe +How sleep upon a fire that flames unquenched? * Upon the flames + to rest were hard enow!" + +Asked her husband, "And what shall I do with him?"; and she +answered, "Rise and take him in thine arms and spread a silken +kerchief over him; then I will fare forth, with thee following me +this very night and if thou meet any one say, 'This is my son, +and his mother and I are carrying him to the doctor that he may +look at him.'" So he rose and taking the Hunchback in his arms +bore him along the streets, preceded by his wife who kept crying, +"O my son, Allah keep thee! what part paineth thee and where hath +this small-pox[FN#497] attacked thee?" So all who saw them said +"'Tis a child sick of small-pox." [FN#498] They went along asking +for the physician's house till folk directed them to that of a +leach which was a Jew. They knocked at the door, and there came +down to them a black slave girl who opened and, seeing a man +bearing a babe, and a woman with him, said to them, "What is the +matter?" "We have a little one with us," answered the Tailor's +wife, "and we wish to show him to the physician: so take this +quarter dinar and give it to thy master and let him come down and +see my son who is sore sick." The girl went up to tell her +master, whereupon the Tailor's wife walked into the vestibule and +said to her husband, "Leave the Hunchback here and let us fly for +our lives." So the Tailor carried the dead man to the top of the +stairs and propped him upright against the wall and ran away, he +and his wife. Meanwhile the girl went in to the Jew and said to +him, "At the door are a man and a woman with a sick child and +they have given me a quarter dinar for thee, that thou mayest go +down and look at the little one and prescribe for it." As soon as +the Jew saw the quarter dinar he rejoiced and rose quickly in his +greed of gain and went forth hurriedly in the dark; but hardly +had he made a step when he stumbled on the corpse and threw it +over, when it rolled to the bottom of the staircase. So he cried +out to the girl to hurry up with the light, and she brought it, +whereupon he went down and examining the Hunchback found that he +was stone dead. So he cried out, "O for Esdras![FN#499] O for +Moses! O for Aaron! O for Joshua, son of Nun! O the Ten +Commandments! I have stumbled against the sick one and he hath +fallen downstairs and he is dead! How shall I get this man I have +killed out of my house? O by the hoofs of the ass of Esdras!" +Then he took up the body and, carrying it into the house, told +his wife what had happened and she said to him, "Why dost thou +sit still? If thou keep him here till day break we shall both +lose our lives. Let us two carry him to the terrace roof and +throw him over into the house of our neighbour, the Moslem, for +if he abide there a night the dogs will come down on him from the +adjoining terraces and eat him up." Now his neighbour was a +Reeve, the controller of the Sultan's kitchen, and was wont to +bring back great store of oil and fat and broken meats; but the +cats and rats used to eat it, or, if the dogs scented a fat +sheep's tail they would come down from the nearest roofs and tear +at it; and on this wise the beasts had already damaged much of +what he brought home. So the Jew and his wife carried the +Hunchback up to the roof; and, letting him down by his hands and +feet through the wind-shaft[FN#500] into the Reeve's house, +propped him up against the wall and went their ways. Hardly had +they done this when the Reeve, who had been passing an evening +with his friends hearing a recitation of the Koran, came home and +opened the door and, going up with a lighted candle, found a son +of Adam standing in the corner under the ventilator. When he saw +this, he said, "Wah! by Allah, very good forsooth! He who robbeth +my stuff is none other than a man." Then he turned to the +Hunchback and said, "So 'tis thou that stealest the meat and the +fat! I thought it was the cats and dogs, and I kill the dogs and +cats of the quarter and sin against them by killing them. And all +the while 'tis thou comest down from the house terrace through +the wind shaft. But I will avenge myself upon thee with my own +hand!" So he snatched up a heavy hammer and set upon him and +smote him full on the breast and he fell down. Then he examined +him and, finding that he was dead, cried out in horror, thinking +that he had killed him, and said, "There is no Majesty and there +is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" And he +feared for his life, and added "Allah curse the oil and the meat +and the grease and the sheep's tails to boot! How hath fate given +this man his quietus at my hand!" Then he looked at the body and +seeing it was that of a Gobbo, said, "Was it not enough for thee +to be a hunchback,[FN#501] but thou must likewise be a thief and +prig flesh and fat! O thou Veiler,[FN#502] deign to veil me with +Thy curtain of concealment!" So he took him up on his shoulders +and, going forth with him from his house about the latter end of +the night, carried him to the nearest end of the bazaar, 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 bazaar, 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 bazaar and set him up against the wall in such a place +near such a lane;" adding, "Is it not enough for me to have +killed a Moslem without also killing a Christian? So hang none +other but me." When the Governor heard these words he released +the Broker and said to the torch bearer, "Hang up this man on his +own confession." So he loosed the cord from the Nazarene's neck +and threw it round that of the Reeve and, making him stand under +the gallows tree, was about to string him up when behold, the +Jewish physician pushed through the people and shouted to the +executioner, "Hold! Hold! It was I and none else killed the +Hunchback! Last night I was sitting at home when a man and a +woman knocked at the door carrying this Gobbo who was sick, and +gave my handmaid a quarter dinar, bidding her hand me the fee and +tell me to come down and see him. Whilst she was gone the man and +the woman brought him into the house and, setting him on the +stairs, went away; and presently I came down and not seeing him, +for I was in the dark, stumbled over him and he fell to the foot +of the staircase and died on the moment. Then we took him up, I +and my wife, and carried him on to the top terrace; and, the +house of this Reeve being next door to mine, we let the body down +through the ventilator. When he came home and found the Hunchback +in his house, he fancied he was a thief and struck him with a +hammer, so that he fell to the ground, and our neighbour made +certain that he had slain him. Now is it not enough for me to +have killed one Moslem unwittingly, without burdening myself with +taking the life of another Moslem wittingly?" When the Governor +heard this he said to the hangman, "Set free the Reeve and hang +the Jew." Thereupon the torch bearer took him and slung the cord +round his neck when behold, the Tailor pushed through the people, +and shouted to the executioner, "Hold! Hold! It was I and none +else killed the Hunchback; and this was the fashion thereof. I +had been out a pleasuring yesterday and, coming back to supper, +fell in with this Gobbo, who was drunk and drumming away and +singing lustily to his tambourine. So I accosted him and carried +him to my house and bought a fish, and we sat down to eat. +Presently my wife took a fid of fish and, making a gobbet of +it,[FN#510] crammed it into his mouth; but some of it went down +the wrong way or stuck in his gullet and he died on the instant. +So we lifted him up, I and my wife, and carried him to the Jew's +house where the slave girl came down and opened the door to us +and I said to her, 'Tell thy master that there are a man and a +woman and a sick person for thee to see!' I gave her a quarter +dinar and she went up to tell her master; and, whilst she was +gone, I carried the Hunchback to the head of the staircase and +propped him up against the wall, and went off with my wife. When +the Jew came down he stumbled over him and thought that he had +killed him." Then he asked the Jew, "Is this the truth?"; and the +Jew answered, "Yes." Thereupon the Tailor turned to the Governor, +and said, "Leave go the Jew and hang me." When the Governor heard +the Tailor's tale he marvelled at the matter of this Hunchback +and exclaimed. "Verily this is an adventure which should be +recorded in books!" Then he said to the hangman, "Let the Jew go +and hang the Tailor on his own confession." The executioner took +the Tailor and put the rope around his neck and said, "I am tired +of such slow work: we bring out this one and change him for that +other, and no one is hanged after all!" Now the Hunchback in +question was, they relate, jester to the Sultan of China who +could not bear him out of his sight; so when the fellow got drunk +and did not make his appearance that night or the next day till +noon, the Sultan asked some of his courtiers about him and they +answered, "O our lord, the Governor hath come upon him dead and +hath ordered his murderer to be hanged; but, as the hangman was +about to hoist him up there came a second and a third and a +fourth and each one said, 'It is I, and none else killed the +Hunchback!' and each gave a full and circumstantial account of +the manner of the jester being killed." When the King heard this +he cried aloud to the Chamberlain in waiting, "Go down to the +Governor and bring me all four of them." So the Chamberlain went +down at once to the place of execution, where he found the torch +bearer on the point of hanging the Tailor and shouted to him, +"Hold! Hold!" Then he gave the King's command to the Governor who +took the Tailor, the Jew, the Nazarene and the Reeve (the +Hunchback's body being borne on men's shoulders) and went up with +one and all of them to the King. When he came into the presence, +he kissed the ground and acquainted the ruler with the whole +story which it is needless to relate for, as they say, There is +no avail in a thrice told tale. The Sultan hearing it marvelled +and was moved to mirth and commanded the story to be written in +letters of liquid gold, saying to those present, "Did ye ever +hear a more wondrous tale than that of my Hunchback?" Thereupon +the Nazarene broker came forward and said, "O King of the age, +with thy leave I will tell thee a thing which happened to myself +and which is still more wondrous and marvellous and pleasurable +and delectable than the tale of the Hunchback." Quoth the King +"Tell us what thou hast to say!" So he began in these words + + + + + +The Nazarene Broker's Story. + + +O King of the age, I came to this thy country with merchandise +and Destiny stayed me here with you: but my place of birth was +Cairo, in Egypt, where I also was brought up, for I am one of the +Copts and my father was a broker before me. When I came to man's +estate he departed this life and I succeeded to his business. One +day, as I was sitting in my shop, behold, there came up to me a +youth as handsome as could be, wearing sumptuous raiment and +riding a fine ass.[FN#511] When he saw me he saluted me, and I +stood up to do him honour: then he took out a kerchief containing +a sample of sesame and asked, "How much is this worth per +Ardabb?";[FN#512] whereto I answered, "An hundred dirhams." Quoth +he, "Take porters and gaugers and metesmen and come tomorrow to +the Khan al-Jawáli,[FN#513] by the Gate of Victory quarter where +thou wilt find me." Then he fared forth leaving with me the +sample of sesame in his kerchief; and I went the round of my +customers and ascertained that every Ardabb would fetch an +hundred and twenty dirhams. Next day I took four metesmen and +walked with them to the Khan, where I found him awaiting me. As +soon as he saw me he rose and opened his magazine, when we +measured the grain till the store was empty; and we found the +contents fifty Ardabbs, making five thousand pieces of silver. +Then said he, "Let ten dirhams on every Ardabb be thy brokerage; +so take the price and keep in deposit four thousand and five +hundred dirhams for me; and, when I have made an end of selling +the other wares in my warehouses, I will come to thee and receive +the amount." "I will well," replied I and kissing his hand went +away, having made that day a profit of a thousand dirhams. He was +absent a month, at the end of which he came to me and asked, +"Where be the dirhams?" I rose and saluted him and answered to +him, "Wilt thou not eat somewhat in my house?" But he refused +with the remark, "Get the monies ready and I will presently +return and take them." Then he rode away. So I brought out the +dirhams and sat down to await him, but he stayed away for another +month, when he came back and said to me, "Where be the dirhams?" +I rose and saluting him asked, "Wilt thou not eat some thing in +my house?" But he again refused adding, "Get me the monies ready +and I will presently return and take them." Then he rode off. So +I brought out the dirhams and sat down to await his return; but +he stayed away from me a third month, and I said, "Verily this +young man is liberality in incarnate form." At the end of the +month he came up, riding a mare mule and wearing a suit of +sumptuous raiment; he was as the moon on the night of fullness, +and he seemed as if fresh from the baths, with his cheeks rosy +bright, and his brow flower white, and a mole spot like a grain +of ambergris delighting the sight; even as was said of such an +one by the poet:-- + +Full moon with sun in single mansion * In brightest sheen and + fortune rose and shone, +With happy splendour changing every sprite: * Hail to what + guerdons prayer with blissful! boon! +Their charms and grace have gained perfection's height, * All + hearts have conquered and all wits have won. +Laud to the Lord for works so wonder strange, * And what th' + Almighty wills His hand hath done! + +When I saw him I rose to him and invoking blessings on him asked, +O my lord, wilt thou not take thy monies?" "Whence the +hurry?"[FN#514] quoth he, "Wait till I have made an end of my +business and then I will come and take them." Again he rode away +and I said to myself, "By Allah, when he comes next time needs +must I make him my guest; for I have traded with his dirhams and +have gotten large gains thereby." At the end of the year he came +again, habited in a suit of clothes more sumptuous than the +former; and, when I conjured him by the Evangel to alight at my +house and eat of my guest food, he said, "I consent, on condition +that what thou expendest on me shall be of my monies still in thy +hands. I answered, "So be it," and made him sit down whilst I got +ready what was needful of meat and drink and else besides; and +set the tray before him, with the invitation "Bismillah"![FN#515] +Then he drew near the tray and put out his left hand[FN#516] and +ate with me; and I marvelled at his not using the right hand. +When we had done eating, I poured water on his hand and gave him +wherewith to wipe it. Upon this we sat down to converse after I +had set before him some sweetmeats; and I said to him, "O my +master, prithee relieve me by telling me why thou eatest with thy +left hand? Perchance something aileth thy other hand?" When he +heard my words, he repeated these verses:-- + +"Dear friend, ask not what burneth in my breast, * Lest thou see + fiery pangs eye never saw: +Wills not my heart to harbour Salma in stead * Of + Layla's[FN#517] love, but need hath ne'er a law!" + +And he put out his right arm from his sleeve and behold, the hand +was cut off, a wrist without a fist. I was astounded at this but +he said, "Marvel not, and think not that I ate with my left hand +for conceit and insolence, but from necessity; and the cutting +off my right hand was caused by an adventure of the strangest." +Asked I, "And what caused it?"; and he answered:--"Know that I am +of the sons of Baghdad and my father was of notables of that +city. When I came to man's estate I heard the pilgrims and +wayfarers, travellers and merchants talk of the land of Egypt and +their words sank deep into my mind till my parent died, when I +took a large sum of money and furnished myself for trade with +stuffs of Baghdad and Mosul and, packing them up in bales, set +out on my wanderings; and Allah decreed me safety till I entered +this your city. Then he wept and began repeating:-- + + The blear eyed 'scapes the pits * Wherein the lynx eyed fall: + A word the wise man slays * And saves the natural: + The Moslem fails of food * The Kafir feasts in hall: + What art or act is man's? * God's will obligeth all! + +Now when he had ended his verse he said, So I entered Cairo and +took off my loads and stored my stuffs in the Khan "Al- +Masrúr."[FN#518] Then I gave the servant a few silvers wherewith +to buy me some food and lay down to sleep awhile. When I awoke I +went to the street called "Bayn al-Kasrayn"--Between the two +Palaces--and presently returned and rested my night in the Khan. +When it was morning I opened a bale and took out some stuff +saying to myself, "I will be off and go through some of the +bazaars 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 bazaar 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 bazaar 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 bazaar 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, "0 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 riffling and whose birds +were trilling and shrilling; and in the heart of the hall was a +jetting fountain at whose corners stood birds fashioned in red +gold crusted with pearls and gems and spouting water crystal +clear. When I entered and took a seat.--And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-sixth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young +merchant continued, When I entered and took a seat, the lady at +once came in crowned with a diadem[FN#533] of pearls and jewels; +her face dotted with artificial moles in indigo,[FN#534] her +eyebrows pencilled with Kohl and her hands and feet reddened with +Henna. When she saw me she smiled in my face and took me to her +embrace and clasped me to her breast; then she put her mouth to +my mouth and sucked my tongue[FN#535] (and I did likewise) and +said, "Can it be true, O my little darkling, thou art come to +me?" adding, "Welcome and good cheer to thee! By Allah, from the +day I saw thee sleep hath not been sweet to me nor hath food been +pleasant." Quoth I, "Such hath also been my case: and I am thy +slave, thy negro slave." Then we sat down to converse and I hung +my head earthwards in bashfulness, but she delayed not long ere +she set before me a tray of the most exquisite viands, marinated +meats, fritters soaked in bee's[FN#536] honeys and chickens +stuffed with sugar and pistachio nuts, whereof we ate till we +were satisfied. Then they brought basin and ewer and I washed my +hands and we scented ourselves with rose water musk'd and sat +down again to converse. So she began repeating these +couplets[FN#537]: + +"Had we wist of thy coming, thy way had been strewn + With the blood of our heart and the balls of our sight: +Our cheek as a foot cloth to greet thee been thrown, + That thy step on our eyelids should softly alight." + +And she kept plaining of what had befallen her and I of what had +betided me; and love of her got 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 cowers; and I sent them all to +her. As soon as it was night I again tied up fifty dinars in a +kerchief and, mounting the ass as usual, rode to the mansion +where we ate and drank and lay together till morning when I threw +the kerchief and dinars to her[FN#542] and rode back to the Khan. +I ceased not doing after that fashion till, after a sweet night, +I woke one fine morning and found myself beggared, dinar-less and +dirhamless. So said I to myself "All this be Satan's work;" and +began to recite these couplets:-- + +"Poverty dims the sheen of man whate'er his wealth has been, * + E'en as the sun about to set shines with a yellowing light +Absent he falls from memory, forgotten by his friends; * Present + he shareth not their joys for none in him delight +He walks the market shunned of all, too glad to hide his head, * + In desert places tears he sheds and moans his bitter plight +By Allah, 'mid his kith and kin a man, however good, * Waylaid + by want and penury is but a stranger wight!" + +I fared forth from the Khan and walked down "Between the Palaces" +street till I came to the Zuwaylah Porte, where I found the +people crowding and the gateway blocked for the much folk. And by +the decree of Destiny I saw there a trooper against whom I +pressed unintentionally, so that my hand came upon his bosom +pocket and I felt a purse inside it. I looked and seeing a string +of green silk hanging from the pocket knew it for a purse; and +the crush grew greater every minute and just then, a camel laden +with a load of fuel happened to jostle the trooper on the +opposite side, and he turned round to fend it off from him, lest +it tear his clothes; and Satan tempted me, so I pulled the string +and drew out a little bag of blue silk, containing something +which chinked like coin. But the soldier, feeling his pocket +suddenly lightened, put his hand to it and found it empty; +whereupon he turned to me and, snatching up his mace from his +saddle bow, struck me with it on the head. I fell to the ground, +whilst the people came round us and seizing the trooper's mare by +the bridle said to him, "Strikest thou this youth such a blow as +this for a mere push!" But the trooper cried out at them, "This +fellow is an accursed thief!" Whereupon I came to myself and +stood up, and the people looked at me and said, "Nay, he is a +comely youth: he would not steal anything;" and some of them took +my part and others were against me and question and answer waxed +loud and warm. The people pulled at me and would have rescued me +from his clutches; but as fate decreed behold, the Governor, the +Chief of Police, and the watch[FN#543] entered the Zuwaylah Gate +at this moment and, seeing the people gathered together around me +and the soldier, the Governor asked, "What is the matter?" "By +Allah! O Emir," answered the trooper, "this is a thief! I had in +my pocket a purse of blue silk lined with twenty good gold pieces +and he took it, whilst I was in the crush." Quoth the Governor, +"Was any one by thee at the time?"; and quoth the soldier, "No." +Thereupon the Governor cried out to the Chief of Police who +seized me, and on this wise the curtain of the Lord's. protection +was withdrawn from me. Then he said "Strip him;" and, when they +stripped me, they found the purse in my clothes. The Wali took +it, opened it and counted it; and, finding in it twenty dinars as +the soldier had said, waxed exceeding wroth and bade his guard +bring me before him. Then said he to me, "Now, O youth, speak +truly: didst thou steal this purse?"[FN#544] At this I hung my +head to the ground and said to myself, "If I deny having stolen +it, I shall get myself into terrible trouble." So I raised my +head and said, "Yes, I took it." When the Governor heard these +words he wondered and summoned witnesses who came forward and +attested my confession. All this happened at the Zuwaylah Gate. +Then the Governor ordered the link bearer to cut off my right +hand, and he did so; after which he would have struck off my left +foot also; but the heart of the soldier softened and he took pity +on me and interceded for me with the Governor that I should not +be slain.[FN#545] Thereupon the Wali left me, and went away and +the folk remained round me and gave me a cup of wine to drink. As +for the trooper he pressed the purse upon me, and said, "Thou art +a comely youth and it befitteth not thou be a thief." So I +repeated these verses:-- + +"I swear by Allah's name, fair sir! no thief was I, * Nor, O thou + best of men! was I a bandit bred: +But Fortune's change and chance o'erthrew me suddenly, * And + cark and care and penury my course misled: +I shot it not, indeed, 'twas Allah shot the shaft * That rolled + in dust the Kingly diadem from my head."[FN#546] + +The soldier turned away after giving me the purse; and I also +went my ways having wrapped my hand in a piece of rag and thrust +it into my bosom. My whole semblance had changed, and my colour +had waxed yellow from the shame and pain which had befallen me. +Yet I went on to my mistress's house where, in extreme +perturbation of spirit I threw myself down on the carpet bed. She +saw me in this state and asked me, "What aileth thee and why do I +see thee so changed in looks?"; and I answered, "My head paineth +me and I am far from well." Whereupon she was vexed and was +concerned on my account and said, "Burn not my heart, O my lord, +but sit up and raise thy head and recount to me what hath +happened to thee today, for thy face tells me a tale." "Leave +this talk," replied I. But she wept and said, "Me seems thou art +tired of me, for I see thee contrary to thy wont." But I was +silent; and she kept on talking to me albeit I gave her no +answer, till night came on. Then she set food before me, but I +refused it fearing lest she see me eating with my left hand and +said to her, "I have no stomach to eat at present." Quoth she, +"Tell me what hath befallen thee to day, and why art thou so +sorrowful and broken in spirit and heart?" Quoth I, "Wait awhile; +I will tell thee all at my leisure." Then she brought me wine, +saying, "Down with it, this will dispel thy grief: thou must +indeed drink and tell me of thy tidings." I asked her, "Perforce +must I tell thee?"; and she answered, "Yes." Then said I, "If it +needs must be so, then give me to drink with thine own hand." She +filled and drank,[FN#547] and filled again and gave me the cup +which I took from her with my left hand and wiped the tears from +my eyelids and began repeating: + +"When Allah willeth aught befall a man * Who hath of ears and + eyes and wits full share: +His ears He deafens and his eyes He blinds * And draws his wits + e'en as we draw a hair[FN#548] +Till, having wrought His purpose, He restores * Man's wits, that + warned more circumspect he fare." + +When I ended my verses I wept, and she cried out with an +exceeding loud cry, "What is the cause of thy tears? Thou burnest +my heart! What makes thee take the cup with thy left hand?" Quoth +I, "Truly I have on my right hand a boil;" and quoth she, "Put it +out and I will open it for thee."[FN#549] "It is not yet time to +open it," I replied, "so worry me not with thy words, for I will +not take it out of the bandage at this hour." Then I drank off +the cup, and she gave not over plying me with drink until +drunkenness overcame me and I fell asleep in the place where I +was sitting; whereupon she looked at my right hand and saw a +wrist without a fist. So she searched me closely and found with +me the purse of gold and my severed hand wrapped up in the bit of +rag.[FN#550] With this such sorrow came upon her as never +overcame any and she ceased not lamenting on my account till the +morning. When I awoke I found that she had dressed me a dish of +broth of four boiled chickens, which she brought to me together +with a cup of wine. I ate and drank and laying down the purse, +would have gone out; but she said to me, "Whither away?"; and I +answered, "Where my business calleth me;" and said she, "Thou +shalt not go: sit thee down." So I sat down and she resumed, +"Hath thy love for me so overpowered thee that thou hast wasted +all thy wealth and hast lost thine hand on my account? I take +thee to witness against me and also Allah be my witness that I +will never part with thee, but will die under thy feet; and soon +thou shalt see that my words are true." Then she sent for the +Kazi and witnesses and said to them, "Write my contract of +marriage with this young man, and bear ye witness that I have +received the marriage settlement."[FN#551] When they had drawn up +the document she said, "Be witness that all my monies which are +in this chest and all I have in slaves and handmaidens and other +property is given in free gift to this young man." So they took +act of this statement enabling me to assume possession in right +of marriage; and then withdrew, after receiving their fees. +Thereupon she took me by the hand and, leading me to a closet, +opened a large chest and said to me, "See what is herein;" and I +looked and behold, it was full of kerchiefs. Quoth she, "This is +the money I had from thee and every kerchief thou gavest me, +containing fifty dinars, I wrapped up and cast into this chest; +so now take thine own, for it returns to thee, and this day thou +art become of high estate. Fortune and Fate afflicted thee so +that thou didst lose thy right hand for my sake; and I can never +requite thee; nay, although I gave my life 'twere but little and +I should still remain thy debtor." Then she added, "Take charge +of thy property."; so I transferred the contents of her chest to +my chest, and added my wealth to her wealth which I had given +her, and my heart was eased and my sorrow ceased. I stood up and +kissed her and thanked her; and she said, "Thou hast given thy +hand for love of me and how am I able to give thee an equivalent? +By Allah, if I offered my life for thy love, it were indeed but +little and would not do justice to thy claim upon me." Then she +made over to me by deed all that she possessed in clothes and +ornaments of gold and pearls, and goods and farms and chattels, +and lay not down to sleep that night, being sorely grieved for my +grief, till I told her the whole of what had befallen me. I +passed the night with her. But before we had lived together a +month's time she fell sorely sick and illness increased upon her, +by reason of her grief for the loss of my hand, and she endured +but fifty days before she was numbered among the folk of futurity +and heirs of immortality. So I laid her out and buried her body +in mother earth and let make a pious perfection of the +Koran[FN#552] for the health of her soul, and gave much money in +alms for her; after which I turned me from the grave and returned +to the house. There I found that she had left much substance in +ready money and slaves, mansions, lands and domains, and among +her store houses was a granary of sesame seed, whereof I sold +part to thee; and I had neither time nor inclination to take +count with thee till I had sold the rest of the stock in store; +nor, indeed, even now have I made an end of receiving the price. +So I desire thou baulk me not in what I am about to say to thee: +twice have I eaten of thy food and I wish to give thee as a +present the monies for the sesame which are by thee. Such is the +cause of the cutting off my right hand and my eating with my +left." "Indeed," said I, "thou hast shown me the utmost kindness +and liberality." Then he asked me, "Why shouldst thou not travel +with me to my native country whither I am about to return with +Cairene and Alexandrian stuffs? Say me, wilt thou accompany me?"; +and I answered "I will." So I agreed to go with him at the head +of the month, and I sold all I had and bought other merchandise; +then we set out and travelled, I and the young man, to this +country of yours, where he sold his venture and bought other +investment of country stuffs and continued his journey to Egypt +But it was my lot to abide here, so that these things befell me +in my strangerhood which befell last night, and is not this tale, +O King of the age, more wondrous and marvellous than the story of +the Hunchback? "Not so," quoth the King, "I cannot accept it: +there is no help for it but that you be hanged, every one of +you."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased saying +her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-seventh Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +King of China declared "There is no help for it but that you be +hanged," the Reeve of the Sultan's Kitchen came forward and said, +"If thou permit me I will tell thee a tale of what befell me just +before I found this Gobbo, and, if it be more wondrous than his +story, do thou grant us our lives." And when the King answered +"Yes" he began to recount + + + + + +The Reeve's Tale. + + +Know, O King, that last night I was at a party where they made a +perfection of the Koran and got together doctors of law and +religion skilled in recitation and intoning; and, when the +readers ended, the table was spread and amongst other things they +set before us was a marinated ragout[FN#553] flavoured with cumin +seed. So we sat down, but one of our number held back and refused +to touch it. We conjured him to eat of it but he swore he would +not; and, when we again pressed him, he said, "Be not instant +with me; sufficeth me that which hath already befallen me through +eating it", and he began reciting: + +"Shoulder thy tray and go straight to thy goal; * And, if suit + thee this Kohl why,-use this Kohl!"[FN#554] + +When he ended his verse we said to him, "Allah upon thee, tell us +thy reason for refusing to eat of the cumin ragout?" `'If so it +be," he replied, "and needs must I eat of it, I will not do so +except I wash my hand forty times with soap, forty times with +potash and forty times with galangale,[FN#555] the total being +one hundred and twenty washings." Thereupon the hospitable host +bade his slaves bring water and whatso he required; and the young +man washed his hand as afore mentioned. Then he sat down, as if +disgusted and frightened withal, and dipping his hand in the +ragout, began eating and at the same time showing signs of anger. +And we wondered at him with extreme wonderment, for his hand +trembled and the morsel in it shook and we saw that his thumb had +been cut off and he ate with his four fingers only. So we said to +him, "Allah upon thee, what happened to thy thumb? Is thy hand +thus by the creation of God or hath some accident befallen it?" +"O my brothers," he answered, "it is not only thus with this +thumb, but also with my other thumb and with both my great toes, +as you shall see." So saying he uncovered his left hand and his +feet, and we saw that the left hand was even as the right and in +like manner that each of his feet lacked its great toe. When we +saw him after this fashion, our amazement waxed still greater and +we said to him, "We have hardly patience enough to await thy +history and to hear the manner of the cutting off of thy thumbs, +and the reason of thy washing both hands one hundred and twenty +times." Know then, said he, that my father was chief of the +merchants and the wealthiest of them all in Baghdad city during +the reign of the Caliph Harun al Rashid; and he was much given to +wine drinking and listening to the lute and the other instruments +of pleasaunce; so that when he died he left nothing. I buried him +and had perlections of the Koran made for him, and mourned for +him days and nights: then I opened his shop and found that he had +left in it few goods, while his debts were many. However I +compounded with his creditors for time to settle their demands +and betook myself to buying and selling, paying them something +from week to week on account; and I gave not over doing this till +I had cleared off his obligations in full and began adding to my +principal. One day, as I sat in my shop, suddenly and +unexpectedly there appeared before me a young lady, than whom I +never saw a fairer, wearing the richest raiment and ornaments and +riding a she mule, with one negro slave walking before her and +another behind her. She drew rein at the head of the exchange +bazaar and entered followed by an eunuch who said to her, "O my +lady come out and away without telling anyone, lest thou light a +fire which will burn us all up." Moreover he stood before her +guarding her from view whilst she looked at the merchants' shops. +She found none open but mine; so she came up with the eunuch +behind her and sitting down in my shop saluted me; never heard I +aught fairer than her speech or sweeter than her voice. Then she +unveiled her face, and I saw that she was like the moon and I +stole a glance at her whose sight caused me a thousand sighs, and +my heart was captivated with love of her, and I kept looking +again and again upon her face repeating these verses:-- + +"Say to the charmer in the dove hued veil, * Death would be + welcome to abate thy bale! +Favour me with thy favours that I live: * See, I stretch forth my + palm to take thy vail! + +When she heard my verse she answered me saying:-- + +"I've lost all patience by despite of you; * My heart knows + nothing save love plight to you! +If aught I sight save charms so bright of you; * My parting end + not in the sight of you! +I swear I'll ne'er forget the right of you; * And fain this + breast would soar to height of you: +You made me drain the love cup, and I lief * A love cup tender + for delight of you: +Take this my form where'er you go, and when * You die, entomb + me in the site of you: +Call on me in my grave, and hear my bones * Sigh their responses + to the shright of you: +And were I asked 'Of God what wouldst thou see?' * I answer, + 'first His will then Thy decree!' + +When she ended her verse she asked me, "O youth, hast thou any +fair stuffs by thee?"; and I answered, "O my lady, thy slave is +poor; but have patience till the merchants open their shops, and +I will suit thee with what thou wilt." Then we sat talking, I and +she (and I was drowned in the sea of her love, dazed in the +desert[FN#556] of my passion for her), till the merchants opened +their shops; when I rose and fetched her all she sought to the +tune of five thousand dirhams. She gave the stuff to the eunuch +and, going forth by the door of the Exchange, she mounted mule +and went away, without telling me whence she came, and I was +ashamed to speak of such trifle. When the merchants dunned me for +the price, I made myself answerable for five thousand dirhams and +went home, drunken with the love of her. They set supper before +me and I ate a mouthful, thinking only of her beauty and +loveliness, and sought to sleep, but sleep came not to me. And +such was my condition for a whole week, when the merchants +required their monies of me, but I persuaded them to have +patience for another week, at the end of which time she again +appeared mounted on a she mule and attended by her eunuch and two +slaves. She saluted me and said, "O my master, we have been long +in bringing thee the price of the stuffs; but now fetch the +Shroff and take thy monies." So I sent for the money changer and +the eunuch counted out the coin before him and made it over to +me. Then we sat talking, I and she, till the market opened, when +she said to me, "Get me this and that." So I got her from the +merchants whatso she wanted, and she took it and went away +without saying a word to me about the price. As soon as she was +out of sight, I repented me of what I had done; for the worth of +the stuffs bought for her amounted to a thousand dinars, and I +said in my soul, "What manner of love is this? She hath brought +me five thousand dirhams, and hath taken goods for a thousand +dinars."[FN#557] I feared lest I should be beggared through +having to pay the merchants their money, and I said, "They know +none other but me; this lovely lady is naught but a cheat and a +swindler, who hath diddled me with her beauty and grace; for she +saw that I was a mere youth and laughed at me for not asking her +address." I ceased not to be troubled by these doubts and fears, +as she was absent more than a month, till the merchants pestered +me for their money and were so hard upon me that I put up my +property for sale and stood on the very brink of ruin. However, +as I was sitting in my shop one day, drowned in melancholy +musings, she suddenly rode up and, dismounting at the bazaar +gate, came straight towards me. When I saw her all my cares fell +from me and I forgot every trouble. She came close up to me and +greeted me with her sweet voice and pleasant speech and presently +said, "Fetch me the Shroff and weigh thy money."[FN#558] So she +gave me the price of what goods I had gotten for her and more, +and fell to talking freely with me, till I was like to die of joy +and delight. Presently she asked me, "Hast thou a wife?"; and I +answered "No, indeed: I have never known woman"; and began to +shed tears. Quoth she "Why weepest thou?" Quoth I "It is +nothing!" Then giving the eunuch some of the gold pieces, I +begged him to be go between[FN#559] in the matter; but he laughed +and said, "She is more in love with thee than thou with her: she +hath no occasion for the stuffs she hath bought of thee and did +all this only for the love of thee; so ask of her what thou wilt +and she will deny thee nothing." When she saw me giving the +dinars to the eunuch, she returned and sat down again; and I said +to her, "Be charitable to thy slave and pardon him what he is +about to say." Then I told her what was in my mind and she +assented and said to the eunuch, "Thou shalt carry my message to +him," adding to me, "And do thou whatso the eunuch biddeth thee." +Then she got up and went away, and I paid the merchants their +monies and they all profited; but as for me, regret at the +breaking off of our intercourse was all my gain; and I slept not +the whole of that night. However, before many days passed her +eunuch came to me, and I entreated him honourably and asked him +after his mistress. "Truly she is sick with love of thee," he +replied and I rejoined, "Tell me who and what she is." Quoth he, +"The Lady Zubaydah, queen consort of Harun al-Rashid, brought her +up as a rearling[FN#560] and hath advanced her to be stewardess +of the Harim, and gave her the right of going in and out of her +own sweet will. She spoke to her lady of thee and begged her to +marry her to thee; but she said, 'I will not do this, till I see +the young man; and, if he be worthy of thee, I will marry thee to +him.' So now we look for the moment to smuggle thee into the +Palace and if thou succeed in entering privily thou wilt win thy +wish to wed her; but if the affair get wind, the Lady Zubaydah +will strike off thy head.[FN#561] What sayest thou to this?" I +answered, "I will go with thee and abide the risk whereof thou +speakest." Then said he, "As soon as it is night, go to the +Mosque built by the Lady Zubaydah on the Tigris and pray the +night prayers and sleep there." "With love and gladness," cried +I. So at nightfall I repaired to the Mosque, where I prayed and +passed the night. With earliest dawn, behold, came sundry eunuchs +in a skiff with a number of empty chests which they deposited in +the Mosque; then all of them went their ways but one, and looking +curiously at him, I saw he was our go between. Presently in came +the handmaiden, my mistress, walking straight up to us; and I +rose to her and embraced her while she kissed me and shed +tears.[FN#562] We talked awhile; after which she made me get into +one of the chests which she locked upon me. Presently the other +eunuchs came back with a quantity of packages and she fell to +stowing them in the chests, which she locked down, one by one, +till all were shut. When all was done the eunuchs embarked the +chests in the boat and made for the Lady Zubaydah's palace. With +this, thought began to beset me and I said to myself, "Verily thy +lust and wantonness will be the death of thee; and the question +is after all shalt thou win to thy wish or not?" And I began to +weep, boxed up as I was in the box and suffering from cramp; and +I prayed Allah that He deliver me from the dangerous strait I was +in, whilst the boat gave not over going on till it reached the +Palace gate where they lifted out the chests and amongst them +that in which I was. Then they carried them in, passing through a +troop of eunuchs, guardians of the Harim and of the ladies behind +the curtain, till they came to the post of the Eunuch in +Chief[FN#563] who started up from his slumbers and shouted to the +damsel "What is in those chests?" "They are full of wares for the +Lady Zubaydah!" "Open them, one by one, that I may see what is in +them." "And wherefore wouldst thou open them?" "Give me no words +and exceed not in talk! These chests must and shall be opened." +So saying, he sprang to his feet, and the first which they +brought to him to open was that wherein I was; and, when I felt +his hands upon it, my senses failed me and I bepissed myself in +my funk, the water running out of the box. Then said she to the +Eunuch in Chief, "O steward! thou wilt cause me to be killed and +thyself too, for thou hast damaged goods worth ten thousand +dinars. This chest contains coloured dresses, and four gallon +flasks of Zemzem water;[FN#564] and now one of them hath got +unstoppered and the water is running out over the clothes and it +will spoil their colours." The eunuch answered, "Take up thy +boxes and get thee gone to the curse of God!" So the slaves +carried off all the chests, including mine; and hastened on with +them till suddenly I heard the voice of one saying, "Alack, and +alack! the Caliph! the Caliph !" When that cry struck mine ears I +died in my skin and said a saying which never yet shamed the +sayer, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, +the Glorious, the Great! I and only I have brought this calamity +upon myself." Presently I heard the Caliph say to my mistress, "A +plague on thee, what is in those boxes?"; and she answered, +"Dresses for the Lady Zubaydah";[FN#565] whereupon he, "Open them +before me!" When I heard this I died my death outright and said +to myself, "By Allah, today is the very last of my days in this +world: if I come safe out of this I am to marry her and no more +words, but detection stares me in the face and my head is as good +as stricken off." Then I repeated the profession of Faith, +saying, "There is no god but the God, and Mohammed is the Apostle +of God!"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to +say her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-eighth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young +merchant continued as follows: Now when I testified, "I bear +witness that there is no god save the God," I heard my mistress +the handmaid declare to the Caliph, "These chests, O Commander of +the Faithful, have been committed to my charge by the Lady +Zubaydah, and she doth not wish their contents to be seen by any +one." "No matter!" quoth the Caliph, "needs must they be opened, +I will see what is in them"; and he cried aloud to the eunuchs, +"Bring the chests here before me." At this I made sure of death +(without benefit of a doubt) and swooned away. Then the eunuchs +brought the chests up to him one after another and he fell to +inspecting the contents, but he saw in them only otters 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 stanched, I said, "Never again +will I eat of cumin ragout without washing my hands forty times +with potash and forty times with galangale and forty times with +soap!" And she took of me an oath and bound me by a covenant to +that effect. When, therefore, you brought me the cumin ragout my +colour changed and I said to myself, "It was this very dish that +caused the cutting off of my thumbs and great toes;" and, when +you forced me, I said, "Needs must I fulfil the oath I have +sworn." "And what befell thee after this?" asked those present; +and he answered, "When I swore to her, her anger was appeased and +I slept with her that night. We abode thus awhile till she said +to me one day, "Verily the Palace of the Caliph is not a pleasant +place for us to live in, and none ever entered it save thyself; +and thou only by grace of the Lady Zubaydah. Now she hath given +me fifty thousand dinars," adding, "Take this money and go out +and buy us a fair dwelling house." So I fared forth and bought a +fine and spacious mansion, whither she removed all the wealth she +owned and what riches I had gained in stuffs and costly rarities. +Such is the cause of the cutting off of my thumbs and great toes. +We ate (continued the Reeve), and were returning to our homes +when there befell me with the Hunchback that thou wottest of. +This then is my story, and peace be with thee! Quoth the King; +"This story is on no wise more delectable than the story of the +Hunchback; nay, it is even less so, and there is no help for the +hanging of the whole of you." Then came forward the Jewish +physician and kissing the ground said, "O King of the age, I will +tell thee an history more wonderful than that of the Hunchback." +"Tell on," said the King of China; so he began the + + + + + +Tale of the Jewish Doctor. + + +Right marvellous was a matter which came to pass to me in my +youth. I lived in Damascus of Syria studying my art and, one day, +as I was sitting at home behold, there came to me a Mameluke from +the household of the Sahib and said to me, "Speak with my lord!" +So I followed him to the Viceroy's house and, entering the great +hall, saw at its head a couch of cedar plated with gold whereon +lay a sickly youth beautiful withal; fairer than he one could not +see. I sat down by his head and prayed to Heaven for a cure; and +he made me a sign with his eyes, so I said to him, "O my lord! +favour me with thy hand, and safety be with thee!"[FN#572] Then +he put forth his left hand and I marvelled thereat and said, "By +Allah, strange that this handsome youth, the son of a great +house, should so lack good manners. This can be nothing but pride +and conceit!" However I felt his pulse and wrote him a +prescription and continued to visit him for ten days, at the end +of which time he recovered and went to the Hammam,[FN#573] +whereupon the Viceroy gave me a handsome dress of honour and +appointed me superintendent of the hospital which is in +Damascus.[FN#574] I accompanied him to the baths, the whole of +which they had kept private for his accommodation; and the +servants came in with him and took off his clothes within the +bath, and when he was stripped I saw that his right hand had been +newly cut off, and this was the cause of his weakliness. At this I +was amazed and grieved for him: then, looking at his body, I saw +on it the scars of scourge stripes whereto he had applied +unguents. I was troubled at the sight and my concern appeared in +my face. The young man looked at me and, comprehending the +matter, said, "O Physician of the age, marvel not at my case; I +will tell thee my story as soon as we quit the baths." Then we +washed and, returning to his house, ate somewhat of food and took +rest awhile; after which he asked me, "What sayest thou to +solacing thee by inspecting the supper hall?"; and I answered "So +let it be." Thereupon he ordered the slaves to carry out the +carpets and cushions required and roast a lamb and bring us some +fruit. They did his bidding and we ate together, he using the +left hand for the purpose. After a while I said to him, "Now tell +me thy tale." "O Physician of the age," replied he, "hear what +befell me. Know that I am of the sons of Mosul, where my +grandfather died leaving nine children of whom my father was the +eldest. All grew up and took to them wives, but none of them was +blessed with offspring except my father, to whom Providence +vouchsafed me. So I grew up amongst my uncles who rejoiced in me +with exceeding joy, till I came to man's estate. One day which +happened to be a Friday, I went to the Cathedral mosque of Mosul +with my father and my uncles, and we prayed the congregational +prayers, after which the folk went forth, except my father and +uncles, who sat talking of wondrous things in foreign parts and +the marvellous sights of strange cities. At last they mentioned +Egypt, and one of my uncles said, "Travellers tell us that there +is not on earth's face aught fairer than Cairo and her Nile;" and +these words made me long to see Cairo. Quoth my father, "Whoso +hath not seen Cairo hath not seen the world. Her dust is golden +and her Nile a miracle holden; and her women are as Houris fair; +puppets, beautiful pictures; her houses are palaces rare; her +water is sweet and light[FN#575] and her mud a commodity and a +medicine beyond compare, even as said the poet in this his +poetry:-- + +The Nile[FN#576] flood this day is the gain you own; * You alone + in such gain and bounties wone: +The Nile is my tear flood of severance, * And here none is + forlorn but I alone. + +Moreover temperate is her air, and with fragrance blent, Which +surpasseth aloes wood in scent; and how should it be otherwise, +she being the Mother of the World? And Allah favour him who wrote +these lines:-- + +An I quit Cairo and her pleasaunces, * Where can I wend to find + so gladsome ways? +Shall I desert that site, whose grateful scents * Joy every soul + and call for loudest praise? +Where every palace, as another Eden, * Carpets and cushions + richly wrought displays; +A city wooing sight and sprite to glee, * Where Saint meets + Sinner and each 'joys his craze; +Where friend meets friend, by Providence united * In greeny + garden and in palmy maze: +People of Cairo, and by Allah's doom * I fare, with you in + thoughts I wone always! +Whisper not Cairo in the ear of Zephyr, * Lest for her like of + garden scents he reave her,[FN#577] + +And if your eyes saw her earth, and the adornment thereof with +bloom, and the purfling of it with all manner blossoms, and the +islands of the Nile and how much is therein of wide spread and +goodly prospect, and if you bent your sight upon the Abyssinian +Pond,[FN#578] your glance would not revert from the scene quit of +wonder; for nowhere would you behold the fellow of that lovely +view; and, indeed, the two arms of the Nile embrace most +luxuriant verdure,[FN#579] as the white of the eye encompasseth +its black or like filigreed silver surrounding chrysolites. And +divinely gifted was the poet who there anent said these +couplets:-- + +By th' Abyssinian Pond, O day divine!* In morning twilight and + in sunny shine: +The water prisoned in its verdurous walls, * Like sabre flashes + before shrinking eyne: +And in The Garden sat we while it drains * Slow draught, with + purfled sides dyed finest fine: +The stream is rippled by the hands of clouds; * We too, + a-rippling, on our rugs recline, +Passing pure wine, and whoso leaves us there * Shall ne'er arise + from fall his woes design: +Draining long draughts from large and brimming bowls, * + Administ'ring thirst's only medicine--wine. + +And what is there to compare with the Rasad, the Observatory, and +its charms whereof every viewer as he approacheth saith, 'Verily +this spot is specialised with all manner of excellence!' And if +thou speak of the Night of Nile full,[FN#580] give the rainbow +and distribute it![FN#581] And if thou behold The Garden at +eventide, with the cool shades sloping far and wide, a marvel +thou wouldst see and wouldst incline to Egypt in ecstasy. And +wert thou by Cairo's river side,[FN#582] when the sun is sinking +and the stream dons mail coat and habergeon[FN#583] over its +other vestments, thou wouldst be quickened to new life by its +gentle zephyrs and by its all sufficient shade." So spake he and +the rest fell to describing Egypt and her Nile. As I heard their +accounts, my thoughts dwelt upon the subject and when, after +talking their fill, all arose and went their ways, I lay down to +sleep that night, but sleep came not because of my violent +longing for Egypt; and neither meat pleased me nor drink. After a +few days my uncles equipped themselves for a trade journey to +Egypt; and I wept before my father till he made ready for me +fitting merchandise, and he consented to my going with them, +saying however, "Let him not enter Cairo, but leave him to sell +his wares at Damascus." So I took leave of my father and we fared +forth from Mosul and gave not over travelling till we reached +Aleppo[FN#584] where we halted certain days. Then we marched +onwards till we made Damascus and we found her a city as though +she were a Paradise, abounding in trees and streams and birds and +fruits of all kinds. We alighted at one of the Khans, where my +uncles tarried awhile selling and buying; and they bought and +sold also on my account, each dirham turning a profit of five on +prime cost, which pleased me mightily. After this they left me +alone and set their faces Egyptwards; whilst I abode at Damascus, +where I had hired from a jeweller, for two dinars a month, a +mansion[FN#585] whose beauties would beggar the tongue. Here I +remained, eating and drinking and spending what monies I had in +hand till, one day, as I was sitting at the door of my house be +hold, there came up a young lady clad in costliest raiment never +saw my eyes richer. I winked[FN#5886 at her and she stepped +inside without hesitation and stood within. I entered with her +and shut the door upon myself and her; whereupon she raised her +face veil and threw off her mantilla, when I found her like a +pictured moon of rare and marvellous loveliness; and love of her +gat hold of my heart. So I rose and brought a tray of the most +delicate eatables and fruits and whatso befitted the occasion, +and we ate and played and after that we drank till the wine +turned our heads. Then I lay with her the sweetest of nights and +in the morning I offered her ten gold pieces; when her face +lowered and her eye brows wrinkled and shaking with wrath she +cried, "Fie upon thee, O my sweet companion! dost thou deem that +I covet thy money?" Then she took out from the bosom of her +shift[FN#587] fifteen dinars and, laying them before me, said, +"By Allah! unless thou take them I will never come back to thee." +So I accepted them and she said to me, "O my beloved! expect me +again in three days' time, when I will be with thee between +sunset and supper tide; and do thou prepare for us with these +dinars the same entertainment as yesternight." So saying, she +took leave of me and went away and all my senses went with her. +On the third day she came again, clad in stuff weft with gold +wire, and wearing raiment and ornaments finer than before. I had +prepared the place for her ere she arrived and the repast was +ready; so we ate and drank and lay together, as we had done, till +the morning, when she gave me other fifteen gold pieces and +promised to come again after three days. Accordingly, I made +ready for her and, at the appointed time, she presented herself +more richly dressed than on the first and second occasions, and +said to me, "O my lord, am I not beautiful?" "Yea, by Allah thou +art!" answered I, and she went on, "Wilt thou allow me to bring +with me a young lady fairer than I, and younger in years, that +she may play with us and thou and she may laugh and make merry +and rejoice her heart, for she hath been very sad this long time +past, and hath asked me to take her out and let her spend the +night abroad with me?" "Yea, by Allah!" I replied; and we drank +till the wine turned our heads and slept till the morning, when +she gave me other fifteen dinars, saying, "Add something to thy +usual provision on account of the young lady who will come with +me." Then she went away, and on the fourth day I made ready the +house as usual, and soon after sunset behold, she came, +accompanied by another damsel carefully wrapped in her mantilla. +They entered and sat down; and when I saw them I repeated these +verses:-- + +"How dear is our day and how lucky our lot, * When the cynic's + away with his tongue malign! +When love and delight and the swimming of head * Send + cleverness trotting, the best boon of wine. +When the full moon shines from the cloudy veil, * And the + branchlet sways in her greens that shine: +When the red rose mantles in freshest cheek, * And + Narcissus[FN#588] opeth his love sick eyne: +When pleasure with those I love is so sweet, * When friendship + with those I love is complete!" + +I rejoiced to see them, and lighted the candles after receiving +them with gladness and delight. They doffed their heavy outer +dresses and the new damsel uncovered her face when I saw that she +was like the moon at its full never beheld I aught more +beautiful. Then I rose and set meat and drink before them, and we +ate and drank; and I kept giving mouthfuls to the new comer, +crowning her cup and drinking with her till the first damsel, +waxing inwardly jealous, asked me, "By Allah, is she not more +delicious than I?"; whereto I answered, "Ay, by the Lord!" "It is +my wish that thou lie with her this night; for I am thy mistress +but she is our visitor. Upon my head be it, and my eyes." Then +she rose and spread the carpets for our bed[FN#589] and I took +the young lady and lay with her that night till morning, when I +awoke and found myself wet, as I thought, with sweat. I sat up +and tried to arouse the damsel; but when I shook her by the +shoulders my hand became crimson with blood and her head rolled +off the pillow. Thereupon my senses fled and I cried aloud, +saying, "O All powerful Protector, grant me Thy protection!" Then +finding her neck had been severed, I sprung up and the world +waxed black before my eyes, and I looked for the lady, my former +love, but could not find her. So I knew that it was she who had +murdered the damsel in her jealousy,[FN#590] and said, "There is +no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the +Great! What is to be done now?" I considered awhile then, doffing +my clothes, dug a hole in the middle of the court yard, wherein I +laid the murdered girl with her jewellery and golden ornaments; +and, throwing back the earth on her, replaced the slabs of the +marble[FN#591] pavement. After this I made the Ghusl or total +ablution,[FN#592] and put on pure clothes; then, taking what +money I had left, locked up the house and summoned courage and +went to its owner to whom I paid a year's rent, saying, "I am +about to join my uncles in Cairo." Presently I set out and, +journeying to Egypt, foregathered with my uncles who rejoiced in +me, and I found that they had made an end of selling their +merchandise. They asked me, "What is the cause of thy coming?"; +and I answered "I longed for a sight of you;" but did not let +them know that I had any money with me. I abode with them a year, +enjoying the pleasures of Cairo and her Nile,[FN#593] and +squandering the rest of my money in feasting and carousing till +the time drew near for the departure of my uncles, when I fled +from them and hid myself. They made enquiries and sought for me, +but hearing no tidings they said, "He will have gone back to +Damascus." When they departed I came forth from my hiding place +and abode in Cairo three years, until naught remained of my +money. Now every year I used to send the rent of the Damascus +house to its owner, until at last I had nothing left but enough +to pay him for one year's rent and my breast was straitened. So I +travelled to Damascus and alighted at the house whose owner, the +jeweller, was glad to see me and I found everything locked up as +I had left it. I opened the closets and took out my clothes and +necessaries and came upon, beneath the carpet bed whereon I had +lain that night with the girl who had been beheaded, a golden +necklace set with ten gems of passing beauty. I took it up and, +cleansing it of the blood, sat gazing upon it and wept awhile. +Then I abode in the house two days and on the third I entered the +Hammam and changed my clothes. I had no money by me now; so Satan +whispered temptation to me that the Decree of Destiny be carried +out. Next day I took the jewelled necklace to the bazaar and +handed it to a broker who made me sit down in the shop of the +jeweller, my landlord, and bade me have patience till the market +was full,[FN#594] when he carried off the ornament and proclaimed +it for sale, privily and without my knowledge. The necklet was +priced as worth two thousand dinars, but the broker returned to +me and said, "This collar is of copper, a mere counterfeit after +the fashion of the Franks[FN#595] and a thousand dirhams have +been bidden for it." "Yes," I answered, "I knew it to be copper, +as we had it made for a certain person that we might mock her: +now my wife hath inherited it and we wish to sell it; so go and +take over the thousand dirhams."--And Shahrazad perceived the +dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-ninth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +beautiful youth said to the broker, "Take over the thousand +dirhams;" and when the broker heard this, he knew that the case +was suspicious. So he carried the collar to the Syndic of the +bazaar, 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 +bazaar, 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 bazaar to be imprisoned +and said to him, "Give this man the blood money for his hand; +and, if thou delay I will hang thee and seize all thy property." +Moreover he called to his guards who took him and dragged him +away, leaving me with the Chief. Then they loosed by his command +the chain from my neck and unbound my arms; and he looked at me, +and said, "O my son, be true with me, and tell me how this +necklace came to thee." And he repeated these verses:-- + +"Truth best befits thee, albeit truth * Shall bring thee to burn + on the threatened fire." + +"By Allah, O my lord," answered I, "I will tell thee nothing but +the truth." Then I related to him all that had passed between me +and the first lady, and how she had brought me the second and had +slain her out of jealousy, and I detailed for him the tale to its +full. When he heard my story, he shook his head and struck his +right hand upon the left,[FN#597] and putting his kerchief over +his face wept awhile and then repeated:-- + +"I see the woes of the world abound, * And worldings sick with + spleen and teen; +There's One who the meeting of two shall part, * And who part not + are few and far between!" + +Then he turned to me and said, "Know, O my son, that the elder +damsel who first came to thee was my daughter whom I used to keep +closely guarded. When she grew up, I sent her to Cairo and +married her to her cousin, my brother's son. After a while he +died and she came back: but she had learnt wantonness and +ungraciousness from the people of Cairo;[FN#598] so she visited +thee four times and at last brought her younger sister. Now they +were sisters-german and much attached to each other; and, when +that adventure happened to the elder, she disclosed her secret to +her sister who desired to go out with her. So she asked thy leave +and carried her to thee; after which she returned alone and, +finding her weeping, I questioned her of her sister, but she +said, 'I know nothing of her.' However, she presently told her +mother privily of what had happened and how she had cut off her +sister's head and her mother told me. Then she ceased not to weep +and say, 'By Allah! I shall cry for her till I die.' Nor did she +give over mourning till her heart broke and she died; and things +fell out after that fashion. See then, O my son, what hath come +to pass; and now I desire thee not to thwart me in what I am +about to offer thee, and it is that I purpose to marry thee to my +youngest daughter; for she is a virgin and born of another +mother;[FN#599] and I will take no dower of thee but, on the +contrary, will appoint thee an allowance, and thou shalt abide +with me in my house in the stead of my son." "So be it," I +answered, "and how could I hope for such good fortune?" Then he +sent at once for the Kazi and witnesses, and let write my +marriage contract with his daughter and I went in to her. +Moreover, he got me from the Syndic of the bazaar a large sum of +money and I became in high favour with him. During this year news +came to me that my father was dead and the Wazir despatched a +courier, with letters bearing the royal sign manual, to fetch me +the money which my father had left behind him, and now I am +living in all the solace of life. Such was the manner of the +cutting off my right hand." I marvelled at his story (continued +the Jew), and I abode with him three days after which he gave me +much wealth, and I set out and travelled Eastward till I reached +this your city and the sojourn suited me right well; so I took up +my abode here and there befell me what thou knowest with the +Hunchback. There upon the King of China shook his head[FN#600] +and said, "This story of thine is not stranger and more wondrous +and marvellous and delectable than the tale of the Hunchback; and +so needs must I hang the whole number of you. However there yet +remains the Tailor who is the head of all the offence;" and he +added, "O Tailor, if thou canst tell me any thing more wonderful +than the story of the Hunchback, I will pardon you all your +offences." Thereupon the man came forward and began to tell the + + + + + +Tale of the Tailor. + + +Know, O King of the age, that most marvellous was that which +befell me but yesterday, before I foregathered with the Hunch +back. It so chanced that in the early day I was at the marriage +feast of one of my companions, who had gotten together in his +house some twenty of the handicraftsmen of this city, amongst +them tailors and silk spinners and carpenters and others of the +same kidney. As soon as the sun had risen, they set food[FN#601] +before us that we might eat when behold, the master of the house +entered, and with him a foreign youth and a well favoured of the +people of Baghdad, wearing clothes as handsome as handsome could +be; and he was of right comely presence save that he was lame of +one leg. He came and saluted us and we stood up to receive him; +but when he was about to sit down he espied amongst us a certain +man which was a Barber; whereupon he refused to be seated and +would have gone away. But we stopped him and our host also stayed +him, making oath that he should not leave us and asked him, "What +is the reason of thy coming in and going out again at once?"; +whereto he answered, "By Allah, O my lord, do not hinder me; for +the cause of my turning back is yon Barber of bad omen,[FN#602] +yon black o'face, yon ne'er do well!" When the housemaster heard +these words he marvelled with extreme marvel and said, "How +cometh this young man, who haileth from Baghdad, to be so +troubled and perplexed about this Barber?" Then we looked at the +stranger and said, "Explain the cause of thine anger against the +Barber." "O fair company," quoth the youth, "there befell me a +strange adventure with this Barber in Baghdad (which is my native +city); he was the cause of the breaking of my leg and of my +lameness, and I have sworn never to sit in the same place with +him, nor even tarry in any town where he happens to abide; and I +have bidden adieu to Baghdad and travelled far from it and came +to stay in this your city; yet I have hardly passed one night +before I meet him again. But not another day shall go by ere I +fare forth from here." Said we to him, "Allah upon thee, tell us +the tale;" and the youth replied (the Barber changing colour from +brown to yellow as he spoke): Know, O fair company, that my +father was one of the chief merchants of Baghdad, and Almighty +Allah had blessed him with no son but myself. When I grew up and +reached man's estate, my father was received into the mercy of +Allah (whose Name be exalted!) and left me money and eunuchs, +servants and slaves; and I used to dress well and diet well. Now +Allah had made me a hater of women kind and one day, as I was +walking along a street in Baghdad, a party of females met me face +to face in the footway; so I fled from them and, entering an +alley which was no thoroughfare, sat down upon a stone bench at +its other end. I had not sat there long before the latticed +window of one of the houses opposite was thrown open, and there +appeared at it a young lady, as she were the full moon at its +fullest; never in my life saw I her like; and she began to water +some flowers on the window sill.[FN#603] She turned right and +left and, seeing me watching her, shut the window and went away. +Thereupon fire was suddenly enkindled in my heart; my mind was +possessed with her and my woman hate turned to woman love. I +continued sitting there, lost to the world, till sunset when lo! +the Kazi of the city came riding by with his slaves before him +and his eunuchs behind him, and dismounting entered the house in +which the damsel had appeared. By this I knew that he was her +father; so I went home sorrowful and cast myself upon my carpet +bed in grief. Then my handmaids flocked in and sat about me, +unknowing what ailed me; but I addressed no speech to them, and +they wept and wailed over me. Presently in came an old woman who +looked at me and saw with a glance what was the matter with me: +so she by my head 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 bazaar and bring me a +barber, a discreet fellow and one not inclined to meddling or +impertinent curiosity or likely to split my head with his +excessive talk."[FN#609] The boy went out at once and brought +back with him this wretched old man, this Shaykh of ill omen. +When he came in he saluted me and I returned his salutation; then +quoth he, "Of a truth I see thee thin of body;" and quoth I, "I +have been ailing." He continued, "Allah drive far away from thee +thy woe and thy sorrow and thy trouble and thy distress." "Allah +grant thy prayer!" said I. He pursued, "All gladness to thee, O +my master, for indeed recovery is come to thee. Dost thou wish to +be polled or to be blooded? Indeed it was a tradition of Ibn +Abbas[FN#610] (Allah accept of him!) that the Apostle said, +'Whoso cutteth his hair on a Friday, the Lord shall avert from +him threescore and ten calamities;' and again is related of him +also that he said, 'Cupping on a Friday keepeth from loss of +sight and a host of diseases.'" "Leave this talk," I cried; +"come, shave me my head at once for I can't stand it." So he rose +and put forth his hand in most leisurely way and took out a +kerchief and unfolded it, and lo! it contained an +astrolabe[FN#611] with seven parallel plates mounted in silver. +Then he went to the middle of the court and raised head and +instrument towards the sun's rays and looked for a long while. +When this was over, he came back and said to me, "Know that there +have elapsed of this our day, which be Friday, and this Friday be +the tenth of the month Safar in the six hundred and fifty- third +year since the Hegira or Flight of the Apostle (on whom be the +bestest of blessings and peace!) and the seven thousand three +hundred and twentieth year of the era of Alexander, eight degrees +and six minutes. Furthermore the ascendant of this our day is, +according to the exactest science of computation, the planet +Mars; and it so happeneth that Mercury is in conjunction with +him, denoting an auspicious moment for hair cutting; and this +also maketh manifest to me that thou desires union with a certain +person and that your intercourse will not be propitious. But +after this there occurreth a sign respecting a matter which will +befall thee and whereof I will not speak." "O thou," cried I, "by +Allah, thou weariest me and scatterest my wits and thy forecast +is other than good; I sent for thee to poll my head and naught +else: so up and shave me and prolong not thy speech." "By Allah," +replied he, "if thou but knew what is about to befall thee, thou +wouldst do nothing this day, and I counsel thee to act as I tell +thee by computation of the constellations." "By Allah," said I, +"never did I see a barber who excelled in judicial astrology save +thyself: but I think and I know that thou art most prodigal of +frivolous talk. I sent for thee only to shave my head, but thou +comest and pesterest me with this sorry prattle." "What more +wouldst thou have?" replied he. "Allah hath bounteously bestowed +on thee a Barber who is an astrologer, one learned in alchemy and +white magic;[FN#612] syntax, grammar, and lexicology; the arts of +logic, rhetoric and elocution; mathematics, arithmetic and +algebra; astronomy, astromancy and geometry; theology, the +Traditions of the Apostle and the Commentaries on the Koran. +Furthermore, I have read books galore and digested them and have +had experience of affairs and comprehended them. In short I have +learned the theorick and the practick of all the arts and +sciences; I know everything of them by rote and I am a past +master in tota re scibili. Thy father loved me for my lack of +officiousness, argal, to serve thee is a religious duty incumbent +on me. I am no busy body as thou seemest to suppose, and on this +account I am known as The Silent Man, also, The Modest Man. +Wherefore it behoveth thee to render thanks to Allah Almighty and +not cross me, for I am a true counsellor to thee and benevolently +minded towards thee. Would that I were in thy service a whole +year that thou mightest do me justice; and I would ask thee no +wage for all this." When I heard his flow of words, I said to +him, "Doubtless thou wilt be my death this day!"--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Thirtieth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young +man said to the Barber, "Thou certainly will 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 +brooding. I told him of this, and he did according to my bidding +and awaited a better opportunity. So I made these lines in honour +of him:-- + +I went to my patron some blood to let him, * But found that the + moment was far from good: +So I sat and I talked of all strangenesses, * And with jests and + jokes his good will I wooed: +They pleased him and cried he, 'O man of wit, * Thou hast proved + thee perfect in merry mood!' +Quoth I, 'O thou Lord of men, save thou * Lend me art and + wisdom I'm fou and wood +In thee gather grace, boon, bounty, suavity, * And I guerdon the + world with lore, science and gravity.' + +Thy father was delighted and cried out to the servant, 'Give him +an hundred and three gold pieces with a robe of honour!' The man +obeyed his orders, and I awaited an auspicious moment, when I +blooded him; and he did not baulk me; nay he thanked me and I was +also thanked and praised by all present. When the blood-letting +was over I had no power to keep silence and asked him, 'By Allah, +O my lord, what made thee say to the servant, Give him an hundred +and three dinars?'; and he answered, 'One dinar was for the +astrological observation, another for thy pleasant conversation, +the third for the phlebotomisation, and the remaining hundred and +the dress were for thy verses in my commendation.'" "May Allah +show small mercy to my father," exclaimed I, "for knowing the +like of thee." He laughed and ejaculated, "There is no god but +the God and Mohammed is the Apostle of God! Glory to Him that +changeth and is changed not! I took thee for a man of sense, but +I see thou babblest and dotest for illness. Allah hath said in +the Blessed Book,[FN#613] 'Paradise is prepared for the goodly +who bridle their anger and forgive men.' and so forth; and in any +case thou art excused. Yet I cannot conceive the cause of thy +hurry and flurry; and thou must know that thy father and thy +grandfather did nothing without consulting me, and indeed it hath +been said truly enough, 'Let the adviser be prized'; and, 'There +is no vice in advice'; and it is also said in certain saws, +'Whoso hath no counsellor elder than he, will never himself an +elder be';[FN#614] and the poet says:-- + +Whatever needful thing thou undertake, * Consult th' experienced + and contraire him not! + +And indeed thou shalt never find a man better versed in affairs +than I, and I am here standing on my feet to serve thee. I am not +vexed with thee: why shouldest thou be vexed with me? But +whatever happen I will bear patiently with thee in memory of the +much kindness thy father shewed me." "By Allah," cried I, "O thou +with tongue long as the tail of a jackass, thou persistest in +pestering me with thy prate and thou becomest more longsome in +thy long speeches, when all I want of thee is to shave my head +and wend thy way!" Then he lathered my head saying, "I perceive +thou art vexed with me, but I will not take it ill of thee, for +thy wit is weak and thou art but a laddy: it was only yesterday I +used to take thee on my shoulder[FN#615] and carry thee to +school.' "O my brother," said I, "for Allah's sake do what I want +and go thy gait!" And I rent my garments.[FN#616] When he saw me +do this he took the razor and fell to sharpening it and gave not +over stropping it until my senses were well nigh leaving me. Then +he came up to me and shaved part of my head; then he held his +hand and then he said, "O my lord, haste is Satan's gait whilst +patience is of Allah the Compassionate. But thou, O my master, I +ken thou knowest not my rank; for verily this hand alighteth upon +the heads of Kings and Emirs and Wazirs, and sages and doctors +learned in the law, and the poet said of one like me:-- + +All crafts are like necklaces strung on a string, * But this + Barber's the union pear of the band: +High over all craftsmen he ranketh, and why? * The heads of the + Kings are under his hand!"[FN#617] + +Then said I, "Do leave off talking about what concerneth thee +not: indeed thou hast straitened my breast and distracted my +mind." Quoth he, "Meseems thou art a hasty man;" and quoth I, +"Yes ! yes! yes!" and he, "I rede thee practice restraint of +self, for haste is Satan's pelf which bequeatheth only repentance +and ban and bane, and He (upon whom be blessings and peace!) hath +said, 'The best of works is that wherein deliberation lurks;' but +I, by Allah! have some doubt about thine affair; and so I should +like thee to let me know what it is thou art in such haste to do, +for I fear me it is other than good." Then he continued, "It +wanteth three hours yet to prayer time; but I do not wish to be +in doubt upon this matter; nay, I must know the moment exactly, +for truly, 'A guess shot in times of doubt, oft brings harm +about;' especially in the like of me, a superior person whose +merits are famous amongst mankind at large; and it doth not befit +me to talk at random, as do the common sort of astrologers." So +saying, he threw down the razor and taking up the astrolabe, went +forth under the sun and stood there a long time; after which he +returned and counting on his fingers said to me, "There remain +still to prayer time three full hours and complete, neither more +nor yet less, according to the most learned astronomicals and the +wisest makers of almanacks." "Allah upon thee," cried I, "hold +thy tongue with me, for thou breakest my liver in pieces." So he +took the razor and, after sharpening it as before and shaving +other two hairs of my head, he again held his hand and said, "I +am concerned about thy hastiness and indeed thou wouldst do well +to let me into the cause of it; 't were the better for thee, as +thou knowest that neither thy father nor thy grandfather ever did +a single thing save by my advice." When I saw that there was no +escape from him I said to myself, "The time for prayer draws near +and I wish to go to her before the folk come out of the mosque. +If I am delayed much longer, I know not how to come at her." Then +said I aloud, "Be quick and stint this talk and impertinence, for +I have to go to a party at the house of some of my intimates." +When he heard me speak of the party, he said, "This thy day is a +blessed day for me! In very sooth it was but yesterday I invited +a company of my friends and I have forgotten to provide anything +for them to eat. This very moment I was thinking of it: Alas, how +I shall be disgraced in their eyes!" "Be not distressed about +this matter," answered I; "have I not told thee that I am bidden +to an entertainment this day? So every thing in my house, eatable +and drinkable, shall be thine, if thou wilt only get through thy +work and make haste to shave my head." He replied, "Allah requite +thee with good! Specify to me what is in thy house for my guests +that I may be ware of it." Quoth I, "Five dishes of meat and ten +chickens with reddened breasts[FN#618] and a roasted lamb." "Set +them before me," quoth he "that I may see them." So I told my +people to buy, borrow or steal them and bring them in anywise, +And had all this set before him. When he saw it he cried, "The +wine is wanting," and I replied, "I have a flagon or two of good +old grape- juice in the house," and he said, "Have it brought +out!" So I sent for it and he exclaimed, "Allah bless thee for a +generous disposition! But there are still the essences and +perfumes." So I bade them set before him a box containing +Nadd,[FN#619] the best of compound perfumes, together with fine +lign-aloes, ambergris and musk unmixed, the whole worth fifty +dinars. Now the time waxed strait and my heart straitened with +it; so I said to him, "Take it all and finish shaving my head by +the life of Mohammed (whom Allah bless and keep!)." "By Allah," +said he, "I will not take it till I see all that is in it." So I +bade the page open the box and the Barber laid down the +astrolabe, leaving the greater part of my head unpolled; and, +sitting on the ground, turned over the scents and incense and +aloes wood and essences till I was well nigh distraught. Then he +took the razor and coming up to me shaved off some few hairs and +repeated these lines:-- + +"The boy like his father shall surely show, * As the tree from + its parent root shall grow."[FN#620] + +Then said he, "By Allah, O my son, I know not whether to thank +thee or thy father; for my entertainment this day is all due to +thy bounty and beneficence; and, although none of my company be +worthy of it, yet I have a set of honourable men, to wit Zantut +the bath-keeper and Sali'a the corn-chandler; and Silat the bean- +seller; and Akrashah the greengrocer; and Humayd the scavenger; +and Sa'id the camel-man; and Suwayd the porter; and Abu Makarish +the bathman;[FN#621] and Kasim the watchman; and Karim the groom. +There is not among the whole of them a bore or a bully in his +cups; nor a meddler nor a miser of his money, and each and every +hath some dance which he danceth and some of his own couplets +which he caroleth; and the best of them is that, like thy +servant, thy slave here, they know not what much talking is nor +what forwardness means. The bath keeper sings to the tom- +tom[FN#622] a song which enchants; and he stands up and dances +and chants, + + 'I am going, O mammy, to fill up my pot.' + +As for the corn-chandler he brings more skill to it than any; he +dances and sings, + + 'O Keener,[FN#623] 0 sweetheart, thou fallest not short' + +and he leaves no one's vitals sound for laughing at him. But the +scavenger sings so that the birds stop to listen to him and +dances and sings, + + 'News my wife wots is not locked in a box!'[FN#624] + +And he hath privilege, for 'tis a shrewd rogue[FN#625] and a +witty; and speaking of his excellence I am wont to say, + +My life for the scavenger! right well I love him, * Like a waving + bough he is sweet to my sight: +Fate joined us one night, when to him quoth I * (The while I grew + weak and love gained more might) +'Thy love burns my heart!' 'And no wonder,' quoth he * 'When the + drawer of dung turns a stoker wight.'[FN#626] + +And indeed each is perfect in whatso can charm the wit with joy +and jollity;" adding presently, "But hearing is not seeing; and +indeed if thou make up thy mind to join us and put off going to +thy friends, 'twill be better for us and for thee. The traces of +illness are yet upon thee and haply thou art going among folk who +be mighty talkers, men who commune together of what concerneth +them not; or there may be amongst them some forward fellow who +will split thy head, and thou half thy size from sickness." "This +shall be for some other day," answered I, and laughed with heart +angered: "finish thy work and go, in Allah Almighty's guard, to +thy friends, for they will be expecting thy coming." "O my lord," +replied he, "I seek only to introduce thee to these fellows of +infinite mirth, the sons of men of worth, amongst whom there is +neither procacity nor dicacity nor loquacity; for never, since I +grew to years of discretion, could I endure to consort with one +who asketh questions concerning what concerneth him not, nor have +I ever frequented any save those who are, like myself, men of few +words. In sooth if thou were to company with them or even to see +them once, thou wouldst forsake all thy intimates." "Allah fulfil +thy joyance with them," said I, "needs must I come amongst them +some day or other." But he said, "Would it were this very day, +for I had set my heart upon thy making one of us; yet if thou +must go to thy friends to day, I will take these good things, +wherewith thou hast honoured and favoured me, to my guests and +leave them to eat and drink and not wait for me; whilst I will +return to thee in haste and accompany thee to thy little party; +for there is no ceremony between me and my intimates to prevent +my leaving them. Fear not, I will soon be back with thee and wend +with thee whithersoever thou wendest. There is no Majesty and +there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" I +shouted, "Go thou to thy friends and make merry with them; and do +let me go to mine and be with them this day, for they expect me." +But the Barber cried, "I will not let thee go alone;" and I +replied, "The truth is none can enter where I am going save +myself." He rejoined, "I suspect that to day thou art for an +assignation with some woman, else thou hadst taken me with thee; +yet am I the right man to take, one who could aid thee to the end +thou wishest. But I fear me thou art running after strange women +and thou wilt lose thy life; for in this our city of Baghdad one +cannot do any thing in this line, especially on a day like +Friday: our Governor is an angry man and a mighty sharp blade." +"Shame on thee, thou wicked, bad, old man!" cried I, "Be off! +what words are these thou givest me?" "O cold of wit,"[FN#627] +cried he, "thou sayest to me what is not true and thou hidest thy +mind from me, but I know the whole business for certain and I +seek only to help thee this day with my best endeavour." I was +fearful lest my people or my neighbours should hear the Barber's +talk, so I kept silence for a long time whilst he finished +shaving my head; by which time the hour of prayer was come and +the Khutbah, or sermon, was about to follow. When he had done, I +said to him, "Go to thy friends with their meat and drink, and I +will await thy return. Then we will fare together." In this way I +hoped to pour oil on troubled waters and to trick the accursed +loon, so haply I might get quit of him; but he said, "Thou art +cozening me and thou wouldst go alone to thy appointment and cast +thyself into jeopardy, whence there will be no escape for thee. +Now by Allah! and again by Allah! do not go till I return, that I +may accompany thee and watch the issue of thine affair." "So be +it," I replied, "do not be long absent." Then he took all the +meat and drink I had given him and the rest of it and went out of +my house; but the accursed carle gave it in charge of a porter to +carry to his home but hid himself in one of the alleys. As for me +I rose on the instant, for the Muezzins had already called the +Salam of Friday, the salute to the Apostle;[FN#628] and I dressed +in haste and went out alone and, hurrying to the street, took my +stand by the house wherein I had seen the young lady. I found the +old woman on guard at the door awaiting me, and went up with her +to the upper story, the damsel's apartment. Hardly had I reached +it when behold, the master of the house returned from prayers and +entering the great saloon, closed the door. I looked down from +the window and saw this Barber (Allah's curse upon him!) sitting +over against the door and said, "How did this devil find me out?" +At this very moment, as Allah had decreed it for rending my veil +of secrecy, it so happened that a handmaid of the house master +committed some offence for which he beat her. She shrieked out +and his slave ran in to intercede for her, whereupon the Kazi +beat him to boot, and he also roared out. The damned Barber +fancied that it was I who was being beaten; so he also fell to +shouting and tore his garments and scattered dust on his head and +kept on shrieking and crying "Help ! Help !" So the people came +round about him and he went on yelling, "My master is being +murdered in the Kazi's house!" Then he ran clamouring to my place +with the folk after him, and told my people and servants and +slaves; and, before I knew what was doing, up they came tearing +their clothes and letting loose their hair[FN#629] and shouting, +"Alas, our master!"; and this Barber leading the rout with his +clothes rent and in sorriest plight; and he also shouting like a +madman and saying, "Alas for our murdered master!" And they all +made an assault upon the house in which I was. The Kazi, hearing +the yells and the uproar at his door, said to one of his +servants, "See what is the matter"; and the man went forth and +returned and said, "O my master, at the gate there are more than +ten thousand souls what with men and women, and all crying out, +'Alas for our murdered master!'; and they keep pointing to our +house." When the Kazi heard this, the matter seemed serious and +he waxed wroth; so he rose and opening the door saw a great crowd +of people; whereat he was astounded and said, "O folk! what is +there to do?" "O accursed! O dog! O hog!" my servants replied; +"'Tis thou who hast killed our master!" Quoth he, "O good folk, +and what hath your master done to me that I should kill him?"-- +And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her +permitted say. + + When it was the Thirty-first Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kazi +said to the servants, "What hath your master done to me that I +should kill him? This is my house and it is open to you all." +Then quoth the Barber, "Thou didst beat him and I heard him cry +out;" and quoth the Kazi, "But what was he doing that I should +beat him, and what brought him in to my house; and whence came he +and whither went he?" "Be not a wicked, perverse old man!" cried +the Barber, "for I know the whole story; and the long and short +of it is that thy daughter is in love with him and he loves her; +and when thou knewest that he had entered the house, thou badest +thy servants beat him and they did so: by Allah, none shall judge +between us and thee but the Caliph; or else do thou bring out our +master that his folk may take him, before they go in and save him +perforce from thy house, and thou be put to shame." Then said the +Kazi (and his tongue was bridled and his mouth was stopped by +confusion before the people), "An thou say sooth, do thou come in +and fetch him out." Whereupon the Barber pushed forward and +entered the house. When I saw this I looked about for a means of +escape and flight, but saw no hiding place except a great chest +in the upper chamber where I was. So I got into it and pulled the +lid down upon myself and held my breath. The Barber was hardly in +the room before he began to look about for me, then turned him +right and left and came straight to the place where I was, and +stepped up to the chest and, lifting it on his head, made off as +fast as he could. At this, my reason forsook me, for I knew that +he would not let me be; so I took courage and opening the chest +threw myself to the ground. My leg was broken in the fall, and +the door being open I saw a great concourse of people looking in. +Now I carried in my sleeve much gold and some silver, which I had +provided for an ill day like this and the like of such occasion; +so I kept scattering it amongst the folk to divert their +attention from me and, whilst they were busy scrambling for it, I +set off, hopping as fast as I could, through the by streets of +Baghdad, shifting and turning right and left. But whithersoever I +went this damned Barber would go in after me, crying aloud, "They +would have bereft me of my master! 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 bazaar streets?" And I +well nigh gave up the ghost for excess of rage against him. Then +I took refuge in the shop of a weaver amiddlemost of the market +and sought protection of the owner who drove the Barber away; +and, sitting in the back room,[FN#630] I said to myself, "If I +return home I shall never be able to get rid of this curse of a +Barber, who will be with me night and day; and I cannot endure +the sight of him even for a breathing space." So I sent out at +once for witnesses and made a will, dividing the greater part of +my property among my people, and appointed a guardian over them, +to whom I committed the charge of great and small, directing him +to sell my houses and domains. Then I set out on my travels that +I might be free of this pimp;[FN#631] and I came to settle in +your town where I have lived some time. When you invited me and I +came hither, the first thing I saw was this accursed pander +seated in the place of honour. How then can my heart be glad and +my stay be pleasant in company with this fellow who brought all +this upon me, and who was the cause of the breaking of my leg and +of my exile from home and native land. And the youth refused to +sit down and went away. When we heard his story (continued the +Tailor) we were amazed beyond measure and amused and said to the +Barber, "By Allah, is it true what this young man saith of thee?" +"By Allah," replied he, "I dealt thus by him of my courtesy and +sound sense and generosity. Had it not been for me he had +perished and none but I was the cause of his escape. Well it was +for him that he suffered in his leg and not in his life! Had I +been a man of many words, a meddler, a busy body, I had not acted +thus kindly by him; but now I will tell you a tale which befell +me, that you may be well assured I am a man sparing of speech in +whom is no forwardness and a very different person from those six +Brothers of mine; and this it is." + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of Himself. + + +I was living in Baghdad during the times of Al-Mustansir +bi'llah,[FN#632] Son of Al-Mustazi bi'llah the then Caliph, a +prince who loved the poor and needy and companied with the +learned and pious. One day it happened to him that he was wroth +with ten persons, highwaymen who robbed on the Caliph's highway, +and he ordered the Prefect of Baghdad to bring them into the +presence on the anniversary of the Great Festival.[FN#633] So the +Prefect sallied out and, making them His prisoners, embarked with +them in a boat. I caught sight of them as they were embarking and +said to myself, "These are surely assembled for a marriage feast; +methinks they are spending their day in that boat eating and +drinking, and none shall be companion of their cups but I +myself." So I rose, O fair assembly; and, of the excess of my +courtesy and the gravity of my understanding, I embarked with +them and entered into conversation with them. They rowed across +to the opposite bank, where they landed and there came up the +watch and guardians of the peace with chains, which they put +round the robbers' necks. They chained me among the rest of them; +and, O people, is it not a proof of my courtesy and spareness of +speech, that I held my peace and did not please to speak? Then +they took us away in bilbos and next morning carried us all +before Al- Mustansir bi'llah, Commander of the Faithful, who bade +smite the necks of the ten robbers. So the Sworder came forward +after they were seated on the leather of blood;[FN#634] then +drawing his blade, struck off one head after another until he had +smitten the neck of the tenth; and I alone remained. The Caliph +looked at me and asked the Heads man, saying, "What ails thee +that thou hast struck off only nine heads?"; and he answered, +"Allah forbid that I should behead only nine, when thou biddest +me behead ten!" Quoth the Caliph, "Meseems thou hast smitten the +necks of only nine, and this man before thee is the tenth." "By +thy beneficence!" replied the Headsman, "I have beheaded ten." +"Count them!" cried the Caliph and whenas they counted heads, lo! +there were ten. The Caliph looked at me and said, "What made thee +keep silence at a time like this and how camest thou to company +with these men of blood? Tell me the cause of all this, for +albeit thou art a very old man, assuredly thy wits are weak." Now +when I heard these words from the Caliph I sprang to my feet and +replied, "Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that I am the Silent +Shaykh and am thus called to distinguish me from my six brothers. +I am a man of immense learning whilst, as for the gravity of my +understanding, the wiliness of my wits and the spareness of my +speech, there is no end of them; and my calling is that of a +barber. I went out early on yesterday morning and saw these men +making for a skiff; and, fancying they were bound for a marriage +feast, I joined them and mixed with them. After a while up came +the watch and guardians of the peace, who put chains round their +necks and round mine with the rest; but, in the excess of my +courtesy, I held my peace and spake not a word; nor was this +other but generosity on my part. They brought us into thy +presence, and thou gavest an order to smite the necks of the ten; +yet did I not make myself known to thee and remained silent +before the Sworder, purely of my great generosity and courtesy +which led me to share with them in their death. But all my life +long have I dealt thus nobly with mankind, and they requite me +the foulest and evillest requital!" When the Caliph heard my +words and knew that I was a man of exceeding generosity and of +very few words, one in whom is no forwardness (as this youth +would have it whom I rescued from mortal risk and who hath so +scurvily repaid me), he laughed with excessive laughter till he +fell upon his back. Then said he to me, "O Silent Man, do thy six +brothers favour thee in wisdom and knowledge and spareness of +speech?" I replied, "Never were they like me! Thou puttest +reproach upon me, O Commander of the Faithful, and it becomes +thee not to even my brothers with me; for, of the abundance of +their speech and their deficiency of courtesy and gravity, each +one of them hath gotten some maim or other. One is a monocular, +another palsied, a third stone blind, a fourth cropped of ears +and nose and a fifth shorn of both lips, while the sixth is a +hunchback and a cripple. And conceive not, O Commander of the +Faithful, that I am prodigal of speech; but I must perforce +explain to thee that I am a man of greater worth and fewer words +than any of them. From each one of my brothers hangs a tale of +how he came by his bodily defect and these I will relate to +thee." So the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his First Brother. + + +Know then, O Commander of the Faithful, that my first brother, Al +Bakbuk, the Prattler, is a Hunchback who took to tailoring in +Baghdad, and he used to sew in a shop hired from a man of much +wealth, who dwelt over the shop,[FN#635] and there was also a +flour-mill in the basement. One day as my brother, the Hunchback, +was sitting in his shop a tailoring, he chanced to raise his head +and saw a lady like the rising full moon at a balconied window of +his landlord's house, engaged in looking out at the passers +by.[FN#636] When my brother beheld her, his heart was taken with +love of her and he passed his whole day gazing at her and +neglected his tailoring till eventide. Next morning he opened his +shop and sat him down to sew; but, as often as he stitched a +stitch, he looked to the window and saw her as before; and his +passion and infatuation for her increased. On the third day as he +was sitting in his usual place gazing on her, she caught sight of +him and, perceiving that he had been captivated with love of her, +laughed in his face[FN#637] and he smiled back at her. Then she +disappeared and presently sent her slave girl to him with a +bundle containing a piece of red cowered silk. The handmaid +accosted him and said, "My lady salameth to thee and desireth +thee, of thy skill and good will, to fashion for her a shift of +this piece and to sew it handsomely with thy best sewing. He +replied, "Hearkening and obedience"; and shaped for her a chemise +and finished sewing it the same day. When the morning morrowed +the girl came back and said to him, "My lady salameth to thee and +asks how thou hast passed yesternight; for she hath not tasted +sleep by reason of her heart being taken up with thee. Then she +laid before him a piece of yellow satin and said, My lady biddeth +thee cut her two pair of petticoat trousers out of this piece and +sew them this very day." "Hearkening and obedience!' replied he, +"greet her for me with many greetings and say to her, Thy slave +is obedient to thine order; so command him as thou wilt." Then he +applied himself to cutting out and worked hard at sewing the +trousers; and after an hour the lady appeared at the lattice and +saluted him by signs, now casting down her eyes, then smiling in +his face, and he began to assure himself that he would soon make +a conquest. She did not let him stir till he had finished the two +pair of trousers, when she with drew and sent the handmaid to +whom he delivered them; and she took them and went her ways. When +it was night, he threw himself on his carpet bed, and lay tossing +about from side to side till morning, when he rose and sat down +in his place. Presently the damsel came to him and said, "My +master calleth for thee." Hearing these words he feared with +exceeding fear; but the slave girl, seeing his affright, said to +him, "No evil is meant to thee: naught but good awaiteth thee. My +lady would have thee make acquaintance with my lord." So my +brother the tailor, rejoicing with great joy, went with her; and +when he came into the presence of his landlord, the lady's +husband, he kissed the ground before him, and the master of the +house returned his greeting and gave him a great piece of linen +saying, "Shape me shirts out of this stuff and sew them well;" +and my brother answered, "To hear is to obey." Thereupon he fell +to work at once, snipping, shaping and sewing till he had +finished twenty shirts by supper time, without stopping to taste +food. The house master asked him, "How much the wage for this?"; +and he answered, "Twenty dirhams." So the gentleman cried out to +the slave girl, "Bring me twenty dirhams," and my brother spake +not a word; but the lady signed, "Take nothing from him;' +whereupon my brother said, "By Allah I will take naught from thy +hand. And he carried off his tailor's gear and returned to his +shop, although he was destitute even to a red cent.[FN#638] Then +he applied himself to do their work; eating, in his zeal and +diligence, but a bit of bread and drinking only a little water +for three days. At the end of this time came the handmaid and +said to him, "What hast thou done?" Quoth he, "They are +finished," and carried the shirts to the lady's husband, who +would have paid him his hire: but he said, "I will take nothing," +for fear of her and, returning to his shop, passed the night +without sleep because of his hunger. Now the dame had informed +her husband how the case stood (my brother knowing naught of +this); and the two had agreed to make him tailor for nothing, the +better to mock and laugh at him. Next morning he went to his +shop, and, as he sat there, the handmaid came to him and said, +"Speak with my master." So he accompanied her to the husband who +said to him, "I wish thee to cut out for me five long sleeved +robes."[FN#639] So he cut them out[FN#640] and took the stuff and +went away. Then he sewed them and carried them to the gentleman, +who praised his sewing and offered him a purse of silver. He put +out his hand to take it, but the lady signed to him from behind +her husband not to do so, and he replied, "O my lord, there is no +hurry, we have time enough for this." Then he went forth from the +house meaner and meeker than a donkey, for verily five things +were gathered together in him viz.: love, beggary, hunger, +nakedness and hard labour. Nevertheless he heartened himself with +the hope of gaining the lady's favours. When he had made an end +of all their jobs, they played him another trick and married him +to their slave girl; but, on the night when he thought to go in +to her, they said to him, "Lie this night in the mill; and to +morrow all will go well." My brother concluded that there was +some good cause for this and nighted alone in the mill. Now the +husband had set on the miller to make the tailor turn the mill: +so when night was half spent the man came in to him and began to +say, "This bull of ours hath be come useless and standeth still +instead of going round: he will not turn the mill this night, and +yet we have great store of corn to be ground. However, I'll yoke +him perforce and make him finish grinding it before morning, as +the folk are impatient for their flour." So he filled the hoppers +with grain and, going up to my brother with a rope in his hand, +tied it round his neck and said to him, "Gee up! Round with the +mill! thou, O bull, wouldst do nothing but grub and stale and +dung!" Then he took a whip and laid it on the shoulders and +calves of my brother, who began to howl and bellow; but none came +to help him; and he was forced to grind the wheat till hard upon +dawn, when the house master came in and, seeing my brother still +tethered to the yoke and the man flogging him, went away. At day +break the miller returned home and left him still yoked and half +dead; and soon after in came the slave girl who unbound him, and +said to him, "I and my lady are right sorry for what hath +happened and we have borne thy grief with thee." But he had no +tongue wherewith to answer her from excess of beating and mill +turning. Then he retired to his lodging and behold, the clerk who +had drawn up the marriage deed came to him[FN#641] and saluted +him, saying, "Allah give thee long life! May thy espousal be +blessed! This face telleth of pleasant doings and dalliance and +kissing and clipping from dusk to dawn." "Allah grant the liar no +peace, O thou thousandfold cuckold!", my brother replied, "by +Allah, I did nothing but turn the mill in the place of the bull +all night till morning!" "Tell me thy tale," quoth he; and my +brother recounted what had befallen him and he said, "Thy star +agrees not with her star; but an thou wilt I can alter the +contract for thee," adding, "'Ware lest another cheat be not in +store for thee." And my brother answered him, "See if thou have +not another contrivance." Then the clerk left him and he sat in +his shop, looking for some one to bring him a job whereby he +might earn his day's bread. Presently the handmaid came to him +and said, "Speak with my lady." "Begone, O my good girl," replied +he, "there shall be no more dealings between me and thy lady." +The handmaid returned to her mistress and told her what my +brother had said and presently she put her head out of the +window, weeping and saying, "Why, O my beloved, are there to be +no more dealings 'twixt me and thee?" But he made her no answer. +Then she wept and conjured him, swearing that all which had +befallen him in the mill was not sanctioned by her and that she +was innocent of the whole matter. When he looked upon her beauty +and loveliness and heard the sweetness of her speech, the sorrow +which had possessed him passed from his heart; he accepted her +excuse and he rejoiced in her sight. So he saluted her and talked +with her and sat tailoring awhile, after which the handmaid came +to him and said, "My mistress greeteth thee and informeth thee +that her husband purposeth to lie abroad this night in the house +of some intimate friends of his; so, when he is gone, do thou +come to us and spend the night with my lady in delightsomest +joyance till the morning." Now her husband had asked her, "How +shall we manage to turn him away from thee?"; and she answered, +"Leave me to play him another trick and make him a laughing stock +for all the town." But my brother knew naught of the malice of +women. As soon as it was dusk, the slave girl came to him and +carried him to the house, and when the lady saw him she said to +him, "By Allah, O my lord, I have been longing exceedingly for +thee." "By Allah," cried he, "kiss me quick before thou give me +aught else."[FN#642] Hardly had he spoken, when the lady's +husband came in from the next room[FN#643] and seized him, +saying, "By Allah, I will not let thee go, till I deliver thee to +the chief of the town watch." My brother humbled himself to him; +but he would not listen to him and carried him before the Prefect +who gave him an hundred lashes with a whip and, mounting him on a +camel, promenaded him round about the city, whilst the guards +proclaimed aloud, "This is his reward who violateth the Harims of +honourable men!" Moreover, he fell off the camel and broke his +leg and so became lame. Then the Prefect banished him from the +city; and he went forth unknowing whither he should wend; but I +heard of him and fearing for him went out after him and brought +him back secretly to the city and restored him to health and took +him into my house where he still liveth. The Caliph laughed at my +story and said, "Thou hast done well, O Samit, O Silent Man, O +spare of speech!"; and he bade me take a present and go away. But +I said, "I will accept naught of thee except I tell thee what +befell all my other brothers; and do not think me a man of many +words." So the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Second Brother. + + +Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that my second brother's name +was Al-Haddar, that is the Babbler, and he was the paralytic. Now +it happened to him one day, as he was going about his business, +that an old woman accosted him and said, "Stop a little, my good +man, that I may tell thee of somewhat which, if it be to thy +liking, thou shalt do for me and I will pray Allah to give thee +good of it!" My brother stopped and she went on, "I will put thee +in the way of a certain thing, so thou not be prodigal of +speech." "On with thy talk," quoth he; and she, "What sayest thou +to handsome quarters and a fair garden with flowing waters, +flowers blooming, and fruit growing, and old wine going and a +pretty young face whose owner thou mayest embrace from dark till +dawn? If thou do whatso I bid thee thou shalt see something +greatly to thy advantage." "And is all this in the world?" asked +my brother; and she answered, "Yes, and it shall be thine, so +thou be reasonable and leave idle curiosity and many words, and +do my bidding." "I will indeed, O my lady," said he, "how is it +thou hast preferred me in this matter before all men and what is +it that so much pleaseth thee in me?" Quoth she, "Did I not bid +thee be spare of speech? Hold thy peace and follow me. Know, that +the young lady, to whom I shall carry thee, loveth to have her +own way and hateth being thwarted and all who gainsay; so, if +thou humour her, thou shalt come to thy desire of her." And my +brother said, "I will not cross her in anything." Then she went +on and my brother followed her, an hungering after what she +described to him till they entered a fine large house, handsome +and choicely furnished, full of eunuchs and servants and showing +signs of prosperity from top to bottom. And she was carrying him +to the upper story when the people of the house said to him, +"What dost thou here?" But the old woman answered them, "Hold +your peace and trouble him not: he is a workman and we have +occasion for him." Then she brought him into a fine great +pavilion, with a garden in its midst, never eyes saw a fairer; +and made him sit upon a handsome couch. He had not sat long, be +fore he heard a loud noise and in came a troop of slave girls +surrounding a lady like the moon on the night of its fullest. +When he saw her, he rose up and made an obeisance to her, +whereupon she welcomed him and bade him be seated. So he sat down +and she said to him, "Allah advance thee to honour! Is all well +with thee?" "O my lady," he answered, "all with me is right +well." Then she bade bring in food, and they set before her +delicate viands; so she sat down to eat, making a show of +affection to my brother and jesting with him, though all the +while she could not refrain from laughing; but as often as he +looked at her, she signed towards her handmaidens as though she +were laughing at them. My brother (the ass!) understood nothing; +but, in the excess of his ridiculous passion, he fancied that the +lady was in love with him and that she would soon grant him his +desire. When they had done eating, they set on the wine and there +came in ten maidens like moons, with lutes ready strung in their +hands, and fell to singing with full voices, sweet and sad, +whereupon delight gat hold upon him and he took the cup from the +lady's hands and drank it standing. Then she drank a cup of wine +and my brother (still standing) said to her "Health," and bowed +to her. She handed him another cup and he drank it off, when she +slapped him hard on the nape of his neck.[FN#644] Upon this my +brother would have gone out of the house in anger; but the old +woman followed him and winked to him to return. So he came back +and the lady bade him sit and he sat down without a word. Then +she again slapped him on the nape of his neck; and the second +slapping did not suffice her, she must needs make all her +handmaidens also slap and cuff him, while he kept saying to the +old woman, "I never saw aught nicer than this." She on her side +ceased not exclaiming, "Enough, enough, I conjure thee, O my +mistress!"; but the women slapped him till he well nigh swooned +away. Presently my brother rose and went out to obey a call of +nature, but the old woman overtook him, and said, "Be patient a +little and thou shalt win to thy wish." "How much longer have I +to wait," my brother replied, "this slapping hath made me feel +faint." "As soon as she is warm with wine," answered she, "thou +shalt have thy desire." So he returned to his place and sat down, +where upon all the handmaidens stood up and the lady bade them +perfume him with pastiles and besprinkle his face with rose- +water. Then said she to him, "Allah advance thee to honour! Thou +hast entered my house and hast borne with my conditions, for +whoso thwarteth me I turn him away, and whoso is patient hath his +desire." "O mistress mine," said he, "I am thy slave and in the +hollow of thine hand!" "Know, then," continued she, "that Allah +hath made me passionately fond of frolic; and whoso falleth in +with my humour cometh by whatso he wisheth." Then she ordered her +maidens to sing with loud voices till the whole company was +delighted; after which she said to one of them, "Take thy lord, +and do what is needful for him and bring him back to me +forthright." So the damsel took my brother (and he not knowing +what she would do with him); but the old woman overtook him and +said, "Be patient; there remaineth but little to do." At this his +face brightened and he stood up before the lady while the old +woman kept saying, "Be patient; thou wilt now at once win to thy +wish!"; till he said, "Tell me what she would have the maiden do +with me?" "Nothing but good," replied she, "as I am thy +sacrifice! She wisheth only to dye thy eyebrows and pluck out thy +mustachios." Quoth he, "As for the dyeing of my eye brows, that +will come off with washing,[FN#645] but for the plucking out of +my mustachios, that indeed is a somewhat painful process." "Be +cautious how thou cross her," cried the old woman; "for she hath +set her heart on thee." So my brother patiently suffered her to +dye his eyebrows and pluck out his mustachios, after which the +maiden returned to her mistress and told her. Quoth she +"Remaineth now only one other thing to be done; thou must shave +his beard and make him a smooth o' face."[FN#646] So the maiden +went back and told him what her mistress had bidden her do; and +my brother (the blockhead!) said to her, "How shall I do what +will disgrace me before the folk?" But the old woman said, "She +would do on this wise only that thou mayst be as a beardless +youth and that no hair be left on thy face to scratch and prick +her delicate cheeks; for indeed she is passionately in love with +thee. So be patient and thou shalt attain thine object." My +brother was patient and did her bidding and let shave off his +beard and, when he was brought back to the lady, lo! he appeared +dyed red as to his eyebrows, plucked of both mustachios, shorn of +his beard, rouged on both cheeks. At first she was affrighted at +him; then she made mockery of him and, laughing till she fell +upon her back, said, "O my lord, thou hast indeed won my heart by +thy good nature!" Then she conjured him, by her life, to stand up +and dance, and he arose, and capered about, and there was not a +cushion in the house but she threw it at his head, and in like +manner did all her women who also kept pelting him with oranges +and lemons and citrons till he fell down senseless from the +cuffing on the nape of the neck, the pillowing and the fruit +pelting. "Now thou hast attained thy wish," said the old woman +when he came round; "there are no more blows in store for thee +and there remaineth but one little thing to do. It is her wont, +when she is in her cups, to let no one have her until she put off +her dress and trousers and remain stark naked.[FN#647] Then she +will bid thee doff thy clothes and run; and she will run before +thee as if she were flying from thee; and do thou follow her from +place to place till thy prickle stands at fullest point, when she +will yield to thee;"[FN#648] adding, "Strip off thy clothes at +once." So he rose, well nigh lost in ecstasy and, doffing his +raiment, showed himself mother naked.--And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Thirty-second Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +old woman said to the Barber's second brother, "Doff thy +clothes," he rose, well nigh lost in ecstasy; and, stripping off +his raiment, showed himself mother naked. Whereupon the lady +stripped also and said to my brother, "If thou want anything run +after me till thou catch me." Then she set out at a run and he +ran after her while she rushed into room after room and rushed +out of room after room, my brother scampering after her in a rage +of desire like a veritable madman, with yard standing terribly +tall. After much of this kind she dashed into a darkened place, +and he dashed after her; but suddenly he trod upon a yielding +spot, which gave way under his weight; and, before he was aware +where he was, he found himself in the midst of a crowded market, +part of the bazaar of the leather sellers who were crying the +prices of skins and hides and buying and selling. When they saw +him in his plight, naked, with standing yard, shorn of beard and +mustachios, with eyebrows dyed red, and cheeks ruddied with +rouge, they shouted and clapped their hands at him, and set to +flogging him with skins upon his bare body till a swoon came over +him. Then they threw him on the back of an ass and carried him to +the Chief of Police. Quoth the Chief, "What is this?" Quoth they, +"This fellow fell suddenly upon us out of the Wazir's +house[FN#649] in this state." So the Prefect gave him an hundred +lashes and then banished him from Baghdad. However I went out +after him and brought him back secretly into the city and made +him a daily allowance for his living: although, were it not for +my generous humour, I could not have put up with the like of him. +Then the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Third Brother. + + +My third brother's name was Al-Fakík, the Gabbler, who was blind. +One day Fate and Fortune drove him to a fine large house, and he +knocked at the door, desiring speech of its owner that he might +beg somewhat of him. Quoth the master of the house, "Who is at +the door?" But my brother spake not a word and presently he heard +him repeat with a loud voice, "Who is this?" Still he made no +answer and immediately heard the master walk to the door and open +it and say, "What dost thou want?" My brother answered "Something +for Allah Almighty's sake."[FN#650] "Art thou blind?" asked the +man, and my brother answered "Yes." Quoth the other, "Stretch me +out thy hand." So my brother put out his hand thinking that he +would give him something; but he took it and, drawing him into +the house, carried him up from stair to stair till they reached +the terrace on the house top, my brother thinking the while that +he would surely give him something of food or money. Then he +asked my brother, "What dost thou want, O blind man?" and he +answered, "Something for the Almighty's sake." "Allah open for +thee some other door!" "O thou! why not say so when I was below +stairs?" "O cadger, why not answer me when I first called to +thee?" "And what meanest thou to do for me now?" "There is +nothing in the house to give thee." "Then take me down the +stair." "The path is before thee." So my brother rose and made +his way downstairs, till he came within twenty steps of the door, +when his foot slipped and he rolled to the bottom and broke his +head. Then he went out, unknowing whither to turn, and presently +fell in with two other blind men, companions of his, who said to +him, "What didst thou gain to day?" He told them what had +befallen him and added, "O my brothers, I wish to take some of +the money in my hands and provide myself with it." Now the master +of the house had followed him and was listening to what they +said; but neither my brother nor his comrades knew of this. So my +brother went to his lodging and sat down to await his companions, +and the house owner entered after him without being perceived. +When the other blind men arrived, my brother said to them, "Bolt +the door and search the house lest any stranger have followed +us." The man, hearing this, caught hold of a cord that hung from +the ceiling and clung to it, whilst they went round about the +house and searched but found no one. So they came back, and, +sitting beside my brother, brought out their money which they +counted and lo! it was twelve thousand dirhams. Each took what he +wanted and they buried the rest in a corner of the room. Then +they set on food and sat down, to eat. Presently my brother, +hearing a strange pair of jaws munching by his side,[FN#651] said +to his friends, "There is a stranger amongst us;" and, putting +forth his hand, caught hold of that of the house master. +Thereupon all fell on him and beat him;[FN#652] and when tired of +belabouring him they shouted, "O ye Moslems! a thief is come in +to us, seeking to take our money!" A crowd gathered around them, +whereupon the intruder hung on to them; and complained with them +as they complained, and, shutting his eyes like them, so that +none might doubt his blindness, cried out, "O Moslems, I take +refuge with Allah and the Governor, for I have a matter to make +known to him!" Suddenly up came the watch and, laying hands on +the whole lot (my brother being amongst them), drove them[FN#653] +to the Governor's who set them before him and asked, "What news +with you?" Quoth the intruder, "Look and find out for thyself, +not a word shall be wrung from us save by torture, so begin by +beating me and after me beat this man our leader."[FN#654] And he +pointed to my brother. So they threw the man at full length and +gave him four hundred sticks on his backside. The beating pained +him, whereupon he opened one eye and, as they redoubled their +blows, he opened the other eye. When the Governor saw this he +said to him, "What have we here, O accursed?"; whereto he +replied, "Give me the seal-ring of pardon! We four have shammed +blind, and we impose upon people that we may enter houses and +look upon the unveiled faces of the women and contrive for their +corruption. In this way we have gotten great gain and our store +amounts to twelve thousand dirhams. Said I to my company, 'Give +me my share, three thousand;' but they rose and beat me and took +away my money, and I seek refuge with Allah and with thee; better +thou have my share than they. So, if thou wouldst know the truth +of my words, beat one and every of the others more than thou hast +beaten me, and he will surely open his eyes." The Governor gave +orders for the question to begin with my brother, and they bound +him to the whipping post,[FN#655] and the Governor said, "O scum +of the earth, do ye abuse the gracious gifts of Allah and make as +if ye were blind!" "Allah! Allah!" cried my brother, "by Allah, +there is none among us who can see." Then they beat him till he +swooned away and the Governor cried, "Leave him till he come to +and then beat him again." After this he caused each of the +companions to receive more than three hundred sticks, whilst the +sham Abraham kept saying to them "Open your eyes or you will be +beaten afresh." At last the man said to the Governor, "Dispatch +some one with me to bring thee the money; for these fellows will +not open their eyes, lest they incur disgrace before the folk." +So the Governor sent to fetch the money and gave the man his +pretended share, three thousand dirhams; and, keeping the rest +for himself, banished the three blind men from the city. But I, O +Commander of the Faithful, went out and overtaking my brother +questioned him of his case; whereupon he told me of what I have +told thee; so I brought him secretly into the city, and appointed +him (in the strictest privacy) an allowance for meat and drink! +The Caliph laughed at my story and said, "Give him a gift and let +him go;" but I said, "By Allah! I will take naught till I have +made known to the Commander of the Faithful what came to pass +with the rest of my brothers; for truly I am a man of few words +and spare of speech." Then the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Fourth Brother. + + +Now as for my fourth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Al-Kuz +al-aswáni, or the long necked Gugglet hight, from his brimming +over with words, the same who was blind of one eye, he became a +butcher in Baghdad and he sold flesh and fattened rams; and great +men and rich bought their meat of him, so that he amassed much +wealth and got him cattle and houses. He fared thus a long while, +till one day, as he was sitting in his shop, there came up an old +man and long o' the beard, who laid down some silver and said, +"Give me meat for this." He gave him his money s worth of flesh +and the oldster went his ways. My brother examined the Shaykh's +silver, and, seeing that the dirhams were white and bright, he +set them in a place apart. The greybeard continued to return to +the shop regularly for five months, and my brother ceased not to +lay up all the coin he received from him in its own box. At last +he thought to take out the money to buy sheep; so he opened the +box and found in it nothing, save bits of white paper cut round +to look like coin;[FN#656] so he buffeted his face and cried +aloud till the folk gathered about him, whereupon he told them +his tale which made them marvel exceedingly. Then he rose as was +his wont, and slaughtering a ram hung it up inside his shop; +after which he cut off some of the flesh, and hanging it outside +kept saying to himself, "O Allah, would the ill omened old fellow +but come!" And an hour had not passed before the Shaykh came with +his silver in hand; where upon my brother rose and caught hold of +him calling out, "Come aid me, O Moslems, and learn my story with +this villain!" When the old man heard this, he quietly said to +him, "Which will be the better for thee, to let go of me or to be +disgraced by me amidst the folk?" "In what wilt thou disgrace +me?" "In that thou sellest man's flesh for mutton!" "Thou liest, +thou accursed!" "Nay, he is the accursed who hath a man hanging +up by way of meat in his shop. If the matter be as thou sayest, I +give thee lawful leave to take my money and my life." Then the +old man cried out aloud, "Ho, ye people! if you would prove the +truth of my words, enter this man's shop." The folk rushed in and +found that the ram was become a dead man[FN#657] hung up for +sale. So they set upon my brother crying out, "O Infidel! O +villain!"; and his best friends fell to cuffing and kicking him +and kept saying, "Dost thou make us eat flesh of the sons of +Adam?" Furthermore, the old man struck him on the eye and put it +out. Then they carried the carcass, with the throat cut, before +the Chief of the city watch, to whom the old man said, "O Emir, +this fellow butchers men and sells their flesh for mutton and we +have brought him to thee; so arise and execute the judgments of +Allah (to whom be honour and glory!)." My brother would have +defended himself, but the Chief refused to hear him and sentenced +him to receive five hundred sticks and to forfeit the whole of +his property. And, indeed, had it not been for that same property +which he expended in bribes, they would have surely slain him. +Then the Chief banished him from Baghdad; and my brother fared +forth at a venture, till he came to a great town, where he +thought it best to set up as a cobbler; so he opened a shop and +sat there doing what he could for his livelihood. One day, as he +went forth on his business, he heard the distant tramp of horses +and, asking the cause, was told that the King was going out to +hunt and course; so my brother stopped to look at the fine suite. +It so fortuned that the King's eye met my brother's; whereupon +the King hung down his head and said, "I seek refuge with Allah +from the evil of this day!";[FN#658] and turned the reins of his +steed and returned home with all his retinue. Then he gave orders +to his guards, who seized my brother and beat him with a beating +so painful that he was well nigh dead; and my brother knew not +what could be the cause of his maltreatment, after which he +returned to his place in sorriest plight. Soon afterwards he went +to one of the King's household and related what had happened to +him; and the man laughed till he fell upon his back and cried, "O +brother mine, know that the King cannot bear to look at a +monocular, especially if he be blind of the right eye, in which +case he doth not let him go without killing him." When my brother +heard this, he resolved to fly from that city; so he went forth +from it to another wherein none knew him and there he abode a +long while. One day, being full of sorrowful thought for what had +befallen him, he sallied out to solace himself; and, as he was +walking along, he heard the distant tramp of horses behind him +and said, "The judgement of Allah is upon me!" and looked about +for a hiding place but found none. At last he saw a closed door +which he pushed hard: it yielded. and he entered a long gallery +in which he took refuge, but hardly had he done so, when two men +set upon him crying out, "Allah be thanked for having delivered +thee into our hands, O enemy of God! These three nights thou hast +robbed us of our rest and sleep, and verily thou hast made us +taste of the death cup." My brother asked, "O folk, what ails +you?"; and they answered, "Thou givest us the change and goest +about to disgrace us and plannest some plot to cut the throat of +the house master! Is it not enough that thou hast brought him to +beggary, thou and thy fellows? But now give us up the knife +wherewith thou threatenest us every night." Then they searched +him and found in his waist belt the knife used for his shoe +leather; and he said, "O people, have the fear of Allah before +your eyes and maltreat me not, for know that my story is a right +strange!" "And what is thy story?" said they: so he told them +what had befallen him, hoping they would let him go; however they +paid no heed to what he said and, instead of showing some regard, +beat him grievously and tore off his clothes: then, finding on +his sides the scars of beating with rods, they said, "O accursed! +these marks are the manifest signs of thy guilt!" They carried +him before the Governor, whilst he said to himself, "I am now +punished for my sins and none can deliver me save Allah +Almighty!" The Governor addressing my brother asked him, "O +villain, what led thee to enter their house with intention to +murther?"; and my brother answered, "I conjure thee by Allah, O +Emir, hear my words and be not hasty in condemning me!" But the +Governor cried, "Shall we listen to the words of a robber who +hath beggared these people, and who beareth on his back the scar +of his stripes?" adding, "They surely had not done this to thee, +save for some great crime." So he sentenced him to receive an +hundred cuts with the scourge, after which they set him on a +camel and paraded him about the city, proclaiming, "This is the +requital and only too little to requite him who breaketh into +people's houses." Then they thrust him out of the city, and my +brother wandered at random, till I heard what had befallen him; +and, going in search of him, questioned him of his case; so he +acquainted me with his story and all his mischances, and I +carried him secretly to the city where I made him an allowance +for his meat and drink. Then the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Fifth Brother. + + +My fifth brother, Al-Nashshár,[FN#659] the Babbler, the same who +was cropped of both ears, O Commander of the Faithful, was an +asker wont to beg of folk by night and live on their alms by day. +Now when our father, who was an old man well stricken in years +sickened and died, he left us seven hundred dirhams whereof each +son took his hundred; but, as my fifth brother received his +portion, he was perplexed and knew not what to do with it. While +in this uncertainty he bethought him to lay it out on glass ware +of all sorts and turn an honest penny on its price. So he bought +an hundred dirhams worth of verroterie and, putting it into a big +tray, sat down to sell it on a bench at the foot of a wall +against which he leant back. As he sat with the tray before him +he fell to musing and said to himself, "Know, O my good Self, +that the head of my wealth, my principal invested in this glass +ware, is an hundred dirhams. I will assuredly sell it for two +hundred with which I will forthright buy other glass and make by +it four hundred; nor will I cease to sell and buy on this wise, +till I have gotten four thousand and soon find myself the master +of much money. With these coins I will buy merchandise and jewels +and ottars[FN#660] and gain great profit on them; till, Allah +willing, I will make my capital an hundred thousand dirhams. Then +I will purchase a fine house with white slaves and eunuchs and +horses; and I will eat and drink and disport myself; nor will I +leave a singing man or a singing woman in the city, but I will +summon them to my palace and make them perform before me." All +this he counted over in his mind, while the tray of glass ware,: +worth an hundred dirhams, stood on the bench before him, and, +after looking at it, he continued, "And when, Inshallah! my +capital shall have become one hundred thousand[FN#661] dinars, I +will send out marriage brokeresses to require for me in wedlock +the daughters of Kings and Wazirs; and I will demand to wife the +eldest daughter of the Prime Minister; for it hath reached me +that she is perfect in beauty and prime in loveliness and rare in +accomplishments. I will give a marriage settlement of one +thousand dinars; and, if her father consent, well: but if not I +will take her by force from under his very nose. When she is +safely homed in my house, I will buy ten little eunuchs[FN#662] +and for myself a robe of the robes of Kings and Sultans; and get +me a saddle of gold and a bridle set thick with gems of price. +Then I will mount with the Mamelukes preceding me and surrounding +me, and I will make the round of the city whilst the folk salute +me and bless me; after which I will repair to the Wazir (he that +is father of the girl) with armed white slaves before and behind +me and on my right and on my left. When he sees me, the Wazir +stands up, and seating me in his own place sits down much below +me; for that I am to be his son in law. Now I have with me two +eunuchs carrying purses, each containing a thousand dinars; and +of these I deliver to him the thousand, his daughter's marriage +settlement, and make him a free gift of the other thousand, that +he may have reason to know my generosity and liberality and my +greatness of spirit and the littleness of the world in my eyes. +And for ten words he addresses to me I answer him two. Then back +I go to my house, and if one come to me on the bride's part, I +make him a present of money and throw on him a dress of honour; +but if he bring me a gift, I give it back to him and refuse to +accept it,[FN#663] that they may learn what a proud spirit is +mine which never condescends to derogate. Thus I establish my +rank and status. When this is done I appoint her wedding night +and adorn my house showily! gloriously! And as the time for +parading the bride is come, I don my finest attire and sit down +on a mattress of gold brocade, propping up my elbow with a +pillow, and turning neither to the right nor to the left; but +looking only straight in front for the haughtiness of my mind and +the gravity of my understanding. And there before me stands my +wife in her raiment and ornaments, lovely as the full moon; and +I, in my loftiness and dread lordliness,[FN#664] will not glance +at her till those present say to me, 'O our lord and our master, +thy wife, thy handmaid, standeth before thee; vouchsafe her one +look, for standing wearieth her.' Then they kiss the ground +before me many times; whereupon I raise my eyes and cast at her +one single glance and turn my face earthwards again. Then they +bear her off to the bride chamber,[FN#665] and I arise and change +my clothes for a far finer suit; and, when they bring in the +bride a second time, I deign not to throw her a look till they +have begged me many times; after which I glance at her out of the +corner of one eye, and then bend down my head. I continue acting +after this fashion till the parading and displaying are +completed[FN#666]"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and +ceased saying her per misted say. + + When It was the Thirty-third Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +Barber's fifth brother proceeded: - "Then I bend down my head and +continue acting after this fashion till her parading and +displaying are completed. Thereupon I order one of my eunuchs to +bring me a bag of five hundred dinars which I give as largesse to +the tire women present and bid them one and all lead me to the +bride chamber. When they leave me alone with her I neither look +at her nor speak to her, but lie[FN#667] by her side with my face +to the wall showing my contempt, that each and every may again +remark how high and haughty I am. Presently her mother comes in +to me, and kissing[FN#668] my head and hand, says to me, 'O my +lord, look upon thine handmaid who longs for thy favour; so heal +her broken spirit!' I give her no answer; and when she sees this +she rises and busses my feet many times and says, 'O my lord, in +very sooth my daughter is a beautiful maid, who hath never known +man; and if thou show her this backwardness and aversion, her +heart will break; so do thou incline to her and speak to her and +soothe her mind and spirit.' Then she rises and fetches a cup of +wine; and says to her daughter, 'Take it and hand it to thy +lord.' But as e 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 an +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 bother lost +both capital and profit. He remained weeping a long while, and at +last up came a beautiful lady, the scent of musk exhaling from +her, who was going to Friday prayers riding a mule with a gold +saddle and followed by several eunuchs. When she saw the broken +glass and my brother weeping, her kind heart was moved to pity +for him, and she asked what ailed him and was told that he had a +tray full of glass ware by the sale of which he hoped to gain his +living, but it was broken, and (said they), "there befell him +what thou seest." Thereupon she called up one of her eunuchs and +said to him, Give what thou hast with thee to this poor fellow!". +And he gave my brother a purse in which he found five hundred +dinars; and when it touched his hand he was well nigh dying for +excess of joy and he offered up blessings for her. Then he +returned to his abode a substantial man; and, as he sat +considering, some one rapped at the door. So he rose and opened +and saw an old woman whom he had never seen. "O my son," said +she, "know that prayer tide is near and I have not yet made my +Wuzu-ablution;[FN#670] so kindly allow me the use of thy lodging +for the purpose." My brother answered, "To hear is to comply;" +and going in bade her follow him. So she entered and he brought +her an ewer wherewith to wash, and sat down like to fly with joy +because of the dinars which he had tied up in his belt for a +purse. When the old woman had made an end of her ablution, she +came up to where he sat, and prayed a two bow prayer; after which +she blessed my brother with a godly benediction, and he while +thanking her put his hand to the dinars and gave her two, saying +to himself "These are my voluntaries."[FN#671] When she saw the +gold she cried, "Praise be to Allah! why dost thou look on one +who loveth thee as if she were a beggar? Take back thy money: I +have no need of it; or, if thou want it not, return it to her who +gave it thee when thy glass ware was broken. Moreover, if thou +wish to be united with her, I can manage the matter, for she is +my mistress." "O my mother," asked my brother, "by what manner of +means can I get at her?"; and she answered, "O my son! she hath +an inclination for thee, but she is the wife of a wealthy man; so +take the whole of thy money with thee and follow me, that I may +guide thee to thy desire: and when thou art in her company spare +neither persuasion nor fair words, but bring them all to bear +upon her; so shalt thou enjoy her beauty and wealth to thy +heart's content." My brother took all his gold and rose and +followed the old woman, hardly believing in his luck. She ceased +not faring on, and my brother following her, till they came to a +tall gate at which she knocked and a Roumi slave-girl[FN#672] +came out and opened to them. Then the old woman led my brother +into a great sitting room spread with wondrous fine carpets and +hung with curtains, where he sat down with his gold before him, +and his turband on his knee.[FN#673] He had scarcely taken seat +before there came to him a young lady (never eye saw fairer) clad +in garments of the most sumptuous; whereupon my brother rose to +his feet, and she smiled in his face and welcomed him, signing to +him to be seated. Then she bade shut the door and, when it was +shut, she turned to my brother, and taking his hand conducted him +to a private chamber furnished with various kinds of brocades and +gold cloths. Here he sat down and she sat by his side and toyed +with him awhile; after which she rose and saying, "Stir not from +thy seat till I come back to thee;" disappeared. Meanwhile as he +was on this wise, lo! there came in to him a black slave big of +body and bulk and holding a drawn sword in hand, who said to him, +"Woe to thee! Who brought thee hither and what dost thou want +here?" My brother could not return him a reply, being tongue tied +for terror; so the blackamoor seized him and stripped him of his +clothes and bashed him with the flat of his sword blade till he +fell to the ground, swooning from excess of belabouring. The ill +omened nigger fancied that there was an end of him and my brother +heard him cry, "Where is the salt wench?"[FN#674] Where upon in +came a handmaid holding in hand a large tray of salt, and the +slave kept rubbing it into my brother's wounds;[FN#675] but he +did not stir fearing lest the slave might find out that he was +not dead and kill him outright. Then the salt girl went away, and +the slave cried Where is the souterrain[FN#676] guardianess?" +Hereupon in came the old woman and dragged my brother by his feet +to a souterrain and threw him down upon a heap of dead bodies. In +this place he lay two full days, but Allah made the salt the +means of preserving his life by staunching the blood and staying +its flow Presently, feeling himself able to move, Al-Nashshar +rose and opened the trap door in fear and trembling and crept out +into the open; and Allah protected him, so that he went on in the +darkness and hid himself in the vestibule till dawn, when he saw +the accursed beldam sally forth in quest of other quarry. He +followed in her wake without her knowing it, and made for his own +lodging where he dressed his wounds and medicined himself till he +was whole. Meanwhile he used to watch the old woman, tracking her +at all times and seasons, and saw her accost one man after +another and carry them to the house. However he uttered not a +word; but, as soon as he waxed hale and hearty, he took a piece +of stuff and made it into a bag which he filled with broken glass +and bound about his middle. He also disguised himself as a +Persian that none might know him, and hid a sword under his +clothes of foreign cut. Then he went out and presently, falling +in with the old woman, said to her, speaking Arabic with a +Persian accent, "Venerable lady,[FN#677] I am a stranger arrived +but this day here where I know no one. Hast thou a pair of scales +wherein I may weigh eleven hundred dinars? I will give thee +somewhat of them for thy pains." "I have a son, a money changer, +who keepeth all kinds of scales," she answered, "so come with me +to him before he goeth out and he will weigh thy gold." My +brother answered "Lead the way!" She led him to the house and the +young lady herself came out and opened it, whereupon the old +woman smiled in her face and said, "I bring thee fat meat +today."[FN#678] Then the damsel took my brother by the hand, and +led him to the same chamber as before; where she sat with him +awhile then rose and went forth saying, "Stir not from thy seat +till I come back to thee." Presently in came the accursed slave +with the drawn sword and cried to my brother, "Up and be damned +to thee." So he rose, and as the slave walked on before him he +drew the sword from under his clothes and smote him with it, +making head fly from body. Then he dragged the corpse by the feet +to the souterrain and called out, "Where is the salt wench?" Up +came the girl carrying the tray of salt and, seeing my brother +sword in hand, turned to fly; but he followed her and struck off +her head. Then he called out, "Where is the souterrain +guardianess? , and in came the old woman to whom he said, "Dost +know me again, ill omened hag?" "No my lord," she replied, and he +said, "I am the owner of the five hundred gold pieces, whose +house thou enteredst to make the ablution and to pray, and whom +thou didst snare hither and betray." "Fear Allah and spare me," +cried she; but he regarded her not and struck her with the sword +till he had cut her in four. Then he went to look for the young +lady; and when she saw him her reason fled and she cried out +piteously "Aman![FN#679] Mercy!" So he spared her and asked, +"What made thee consort with this blackamoor?", and she answered, +"I was slave to a certain merchant, and the old woman used to +visit me till I took a liking to her. One day she said to me, 'We +have a marriage festival at our house the like of which was never +seen and I wish thee to enjoy the sight.' 'To hear is to obey,' +answered I, and rising arrayed myself in my finest raiment and +ornaments, and took with me a purse containing an hundred gold +pieces. Then she brought me hither and hardly had I entered the +house when the black seized on me, and I have remained in this +case three whole years through the perfidy of the accursed +beldam." Then my brother asked her, "Is there anything of his in +the house?"; whereto she answered, "Great store of wealth, and if +thou art able to carry it away, do so and Allah give thee good of +it" My brother went with her and she opened to him sundry chests +wherein were money bags, at which he was astounded; then she said +to him, "Go now and leave me here, and fetch men to remove the +money.", He went out and hired ten men, but when he returned he +found the door wide open, the damsel gone and nothing left but +some small matter of coin and the household stuffs.[FN#680] By +this he knew that the girl had overreached him; so he opened the +store rooms and seized what was in them, together with the rest +of the money, leaving nothing in the house. He passed the night +rejoicing, but when morning dawned he found at the door some +twenty troopers who laid hands on him saying, "The Governor wants +thee!" My brother implored them hard to let him return to his +house; and even offered them a large sum of money; but they +refused and, binding him fast with cords, carried him off. On the +way they met a friend of my brother who clung to his skirt and +implored his protection, begging him to stand by him and help to +deliver him out of their hands. The man stopped, and asked them +what was the matter, and they answered, "The Governor hath +ordered us to bring this fellow before him and, look ye, we are +doing so." My brother's friend urged them to release him, and +offered them five hundred dinars to let him go, saying, "When ye +return to the Governor tell him that you were unable to find +him." But they would not listen to his words and took my brother, +dragging him along on his face, and set him before the Governor +who asked him, "Whence gottest thou these stuffs and monies?"; +and he answered, "I pray for mercy!" So the Governor gave him the +kerchief of mercy;[FN#681] and he told him all that had befallen +him from first to last with the old woman and the flight of the +damsel; ending with, "Whatso I have taken, take of it what thou +wilt, so thou leave me sufficient to support life."[FN#682] But +the Governor took the whole of the stuffs and all the money for +himself; and, fearing lest the affair come to the Sultan's ears, +he summoned my brother and said, "Depart from this city, else I +will hang thee." "Hearing and obedience" quoth my brother and set +out for another town. On the way thieves fell foul of him and +stripped and beat him and docked his ears; but I heard tidings of +his misfortunes and went out after him taking him clothes; and +brought him secretly into the city where I assigned to him an +allowance for meat and drink. And presently the Caliph gave ear +to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Sixth Brother. + + +My sixth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Shakashik,[FN#683] +or Many clamours, the shorn of both lips, was once rich and +became poor, so one day he went out to beg somewhat to keep life +in him. As he was on the road he suddenly caught sight of a large +and handsome mansion, with a detached building wide and lofty at +the entrance, where sat sundry eunuchs bidding and +forbidding.[FN#684] My brother enquired of one of those idling +there and he replied "The palace belongs to a scion of the +Barmaki house;" so he stepped up to the door keepers and asked an +alms of them "Enter," said they, "by the great gate and thou +shalt get what thou seekest from the Wazir our master." +Accordingly he went in and, passing through the outer entrance, +walked on a while and presently came to a mansion of the utmost +beauty and elegance, paved with marble, hung with curtains and +having in the midst of it a flower garden whose like he had never +seen.[FN#685] My brother stood awhile as one bewildered not +knowing whither to turn his steps; then, seeing the farther end +of the sitting chamber tenanted, he walked up to it and there +found a man of handsome presence and comely beard. When this +personage saw my brother he stood up to him and welcomed him and +asked him of his case; whereto he replied that he was in want and +needed charity. Hearing these words the grandee showed great +concern and, putting his hand to his fine robe, rent it +exclaiming, "What! am I in a City, and thou here an hungered? I +have not patience to bear such disgrace!" Then he promised him +all manner of good cheer and said, "There is no help but that +thou stay with me and eat of my salt."[FN#686] "O my lord," +answered my brother, "I can wait no longer; for I am indeed dying +of hunger." So he cried, "Ho boy! bring basin and ewer;" and, +turning to my brother, said, "O my guest come forward and wash +thy hands." My brother rose to do so but he saw neither ewer nor +basin; yet his host kept washing his hands with invisible soap in +imperceptible water and cried, "Bring the table!" But my brother +again saw nothing. Then said the host, "Honour me by eating of +this meat and be not ashamed." And he kept moving his hand to and +fro as if he ate and saying to my brother, "I wonder to see thee +eating thus sparely: do not stint thyself for I am sure thou art +famished." So my brother began to make as though he were eating +whilst his host kept saying to him, "Fall to, and note especially +the excellence of this bread and its whiteness!" But still my +brother saw nothing. Then said he to himself, "This man is fond +of poking fun at people;" and replied, "O my lord, in all my days +I never knew aught more winsome than its whiteness or sweeter +than its savour." The Barmecide said, "This bread was baked by a +hand maid of mine whom I bought for five hundred dinars." Then he +called out, "Ho boy, bring in the meat pudding[FN#687] for our +first dish, and let there be plenty of fat in it;" and, turning +to my brother said, "O my guest, Allah upon thee, hast ever seen +anything better than this meat pudding? Now by my life, eat and +be not abashed." Presently he cried out again, "Ho boy, serve up +the marinated stew[FN#688] with the fatted sand grouse in it;" +and he said to my brother, "Up and eat, O my guest, for truly +thou art hungry and needest food." So my brother began wagging +his jaws and made as if champing and chewing,[FN#689] whilst the +host continued calling for one dish after another and yet +produced nothing save orders to eat. Presently he cried out, "Ho +boy, bring us the chickens stuffed with pistachio nuts;" and said +to my brother, "By thy life, O my guest, I have fattened these +chickens upon pistachios; eat, for thou hast never eaten their +like." "O my lord," replied my brother, "they are indeed first +rate." Then the host began motioning with his hand as though he +were giving my brother a mouthful; and ceased not to enumerate +and expatiate upon the various dishes to the hungry man whose +hunger waxt still more violent, so that his soul lusted after a +bit of bread, even a barley scone.[FN#690] Quoth the Barmecide, +"Didst thou ever taste anything more delicious than the seasoning +of these dishes?"; and quoth my brother, "Never, O my lord!" "Eat +heartily and be not ashamed," said the host, and the guest, "I +have eaten my fill of meat;" So the entertainer cried, "Take away +and bring in the sweets;" and turning to my brother said, "Eat of +this almond conserve for it is prime and of these honey fritters; +take this one, by my life, the syrup runs out of it." "May I +never be bereaved of thee, O my lord," replied the hungry one and +began to ask him about the abundance of musk in the fritters. +"Such is my custom," he answered: "they put me a dinar weight of +musk in every honey fritter and half that quantity of ambergris." +All this time my brother kept wagging head and jaws till the +master cried, "Enough of this. Bring us the dessert!" Then said +he to him,' "Eat of these almonds and walnuts and raisins; and of +this and that (naming divers kinds of dried fruits), and be not +abashed." But my brother replied, "O my lord, indeed I am full: I +can eat no more." "O my guest," repeated the host, "if thou have +a mind to these good things eat: Allah! Allah![FN#691] do not +remain hungry;" but my brother rejoined, "O my lord, he who hath +eaten of all these dishes how can he be hungry?" Then he +considered and said to himself, "I will do that shall make him +repent of these pranks." Presently the entertainer called out +"Bring me the wine;" and, moving his hands in the air, as though +they had set it before them, he gave my brother a cup and said, +"Take this cup and, if it please thee, let me know." "O my lord," +he replied, "it is notable good as to nose but I am wont to drink +wine some twenty years old." "Knock then at this door,"[FN#692] +quoth the host "for thou canst not drink of aught better." "By +thy kindness," said my brother, motioning with his hand as though +he were drinking. "Health and joy to thee," exclaimed the house +master and feigned to fill a cup and drink it off; then he handed +another to my brother who quaffed it and made as if he were +drunken. Presently he took the host unawares; and, raising his +arm till the white of his armpit appeared, dealt him such a cuff +on the nape of his neck that the palace echoed to it. Then he +came down upon him with a second cuff and the entertainer cried +aloud "What is this, O thou scum of the earth?" "O my lord," +replied my brother, "thou hast shown much kindness to thy slave, +and admitted him into thine abode and given him to eat of thy +victual; then thou madest him drink of thine old wine till he +became drunken and boisterous; but thou art too noble not to bear +with his ignorance and pardon his offence." When the Barmaki +heard my brother's words he laughed his loudest and said, "Long +have I been wont to make mock of men and play the madcap among my +intimates, but never yet have I come across a single one who had +the patience and the wit to enter into all my humours save +thyself: so I forgive thee, and thou shalt be my boon companion +in very sooth and never leave me." Then he ordered the servants +to lay the table in earnest and they set on all the dishes of +which he had spoken in sport; and he and my brother ate till they +were satisfied; after which they removed to the drinking chamber, +where they found damsels like moons who sang all manner songs and +played on all manner instruments. There they remained drinking +till their wine got the better of them and the host treated my +brother like a familiar friend, so that he became as it were his +brother, and bestowed on him a robe of honour and loved him with +exceeding love. Next morning the two fell again to feasting and +carousing, and ceased not to lead this life for a term of twenty +years; at the end of which the Barmecide died and the Sultan took +possession of all his wealth and squeezed my brother of his +savings, till he was left a pauper without a penny to handle. So +he quitted the city and fled forth following his face;[FN#693] +but, when he was half way between two towns, the wild Arabs fell +on him and bound him and carried him to their camp, where his +captor proceeded to torture him, saying, "Buy thy life of me with +thy money, else I will slay thee!" My brother began to weep and +replied, "By Allah, I have nothing, neither gold nor silver; but +I am thy prisoner; so do with me what thou wilt." Then the Badawi +drew a knife, broad bladed and so sharp grinded that if plunged +into a camel's throat it would sever it clean across from one +jugular to the other,[FN#694] and cut off my brother's lips and +waxed more instant in requiring money. Now this Badawi had a fair +wife who in her husband's absence used to make advances to my +brother and offer him her favours, but he held off from her. One +day she began to tempt him as usual and he played with her and +made her sit on his lap, when behold, in came the Badawi who, +seeing this, cried out, "Woe to thee, O accursed villain, +wouldest thou debauch my wife for me?" Then he took out a knife +and cut off my brother's yard, after which he bound him on the +back of a camel and, carrying him to a mountain, left him there. +He was at last found by some who recognised him and gave him meat +and drink and acquainted me with his condition; whereupon I went +forth to him and brought him back to Baghdad where I made him an +allowance sufficient to live on. This, then, O Commander of the +Faithful, is the history of my six brothers, and I feared to go +away without relating it all to thee and leave thee in the error +of judging me to be like them. And now thou knowest that I have +six brothers upon my hands and, being more upright than they, I +support the whole family. When the Caliph heard my story and all +I told him concerning my brothers, he laughed and said, "Thou +sayest sooth, O Silent Man! thou art indeed spare of speech nor +is there aught of forwardness in thee; but now go forth out of +this city and settle in some other." And he banished me under +edict. I left Baghdad and travelled in foreign parts till I heard +of his death and the accession of another to the Caliphate. Then +I returned to Baghdad where I found all my brothers dead and +chanced upon this young man, to whom I rendered the kindliest +service, for without me he had surely been killed. Indeed he +slanders me and accuses me of a fault which is not in my nature; +and what he reports concerning impudence and meddling and +forwardness is idle and false; for verily on his account I left +Baghdad and travelled about full many a country till I came to +this city and met him here in your company. And was not this, O +worthy assemblage, of the generosity of my nature? + + + + + +The End of the Tailor's Tale. + + +Then quoth the Tailor to the King of China: When we heard the +Barber's tale and saw the excess of his loquacity and the way in +which he had wronged this young man, we laid hands on him and +shut him up, after which we sat down in peace, and ate and drank +and enjoyed the good things of the marriage feast till the time +of the call to mid afternoon prayer, when I left the party and +returned home. My wife received me with sour looks and said, +"Thou goest a pleasuring among thy friends and thou leavest me to +sit sorrowing here alone. So now, unless thou take me abroad and +let me have some amusement for the rest of the day, I will cut +the rope[FN#695] and it will be the cause of my separation from +thee." So I took her out and we amused ourselves till supper +time, when we returned home and fell in with this Hunchback who +was brimful of drink and trolling out these rhymes: + +"Clear's the wine, the cup's fine; * Like to like they combine: +It is wine and not cup! * 'Tis a cup and not wine!" + +So I invited him to sup with us and went out to buy fried fish; +after which we sat down to eat; and presently my wife took a +piece of bread and a fid of fish and stuffed them into his mouth +and he choked; and, though I slapped him long and hard between +the shoulders, he died. Then I carried him off and contrived to +throw him into the house of this leach, the Jew; and the leach +contrived to throw him into the house of the Reeve; and the Reeve +contrived to throw him on the way of the Nazarene broker. This, +then, is my adventure which befell me but yesterday. Is not it +more wondrous than the story of the Hunchback? When the King of +China heard the Tailor's tale he shook his head for pleasure; +and, showing great surprise, said, "This that passed between the +young man and the busy-body of a Barber is indeed more pleasant +and wonderful than the story of my lying knave of a Hunchback." +Then he bade one of his Chamberlains go with the Tailor and bring +the Barber out of jail, saying, "I wish to hear the talk of this +Silent Man and it shall be the cause of your deliverance one and +all: then we will bury the Hunchback, for that he is dead since +yesterday, and set up a tomb over him."--And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased to say her per misted say. + + When it was the Thirty-fourth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King of +China bade, "Bring me the Barber who shall be the cause of your +deliverance; then we will bury this Hunchback, for that he is +dead since yesterday and set up a tomb over him." So the +Chamberlain and the Tailor went to the jail and, releasing the +Barber, presently returned with him to the King. The Sultan of +China looked at him and considered him carefully and lo and +behold! he was an ancient man, past his ninetieth year; swart of +face, white of beard, and hoar of eyebrows; lop eared and +proboscis-nosed,[FN#696] with a vacant, silly and conceited +expression of countenance. The King laughed at this figure o' fun +and said to him, "O Silent Man, I desire thee to tell me somewhat +of thy history." Quoth the Barber, "O King of the age, allow me +first to ask thee what is the tale of this Nazarene and this Jew +and this Moslem and this Hunchback (the corpse) I see among you? +And prithee what may be the object of this assemblage?" Quoth the +King of China, "And why dost thou ask?" "I ask," he replied, "in +order that the King's majesty may know that I am no forward +fellow or busy body or impertinent meddler; and that I am +innocent of their calumnious charges of overmuch talk; for I am +he whose name is the Silent Man, and indeed peculiarly happy is +my sobriquet, as saith the poet: + +When a nickname or little name men design, * Know that nature + with name shall full oft combine." + +Then said the King, "Explain to the Barber the case of this +Hunchback and what befell him at supper time; also repeat to him +the stories told by the Nazarene, the Jew, the Reeve, and the +Tailor; and of no avail to me is a twice told tale." They did his +bidding, and the Barber shook his head and said, "By Allah, this +is a marvel of marvels! Now uncover me the corpse of yonder +Hunchback. They undid the winding sheet and he sat down and, +taking the Hunchback's head in his lap, looked at his face and +laughed and guffaw'd[FN#697] till he fell upon his back and said, +"There is wonder in every death,[FN#698] but the death of this +Hunchback is worthy to be written and recorded in letters of +liquid gold!" The bystanders were astounded at his words and the +King marvelled and said to him, "What ails thee, O Silent Man? +Explain to us thy words !" "O King of the age," said the Barber, +"I swear by thy beneficence that there is still life in this +Gobbo Golightly!" Thereupon he pulled out of his waist belt a +barber's budget, whence he took a pot of ointment and anointed +therewith the neck of the Hunchback and its arteries. Then he +took a pair of iron tweezers and, inserting them into the +Hunchback's throat, drew out the fid of fish with its bone; and, +when it came to sight, behold, it was soaked in blood. Thereupon +the Hunchback sneezed a hearty sneeze and jumped up as if nothing +had happened and passing his hand over his face said, "I testify +that there is no god, but the God, and I testify that Mohammed is +the Apostle of God." At this sight all present wondered; the King +of China laughed till he fainted and in like manner did the +others. Then said the Sultan, "By Allah, of a truth this is the +most marvellous thing I ever saw! O Moslems, O soldiers all, did +you ever in the lives of you see a man die and be quickened +again? Verily had not Allah vouchsafed to him this Barber, he had +been a dead man!" Quoth they, "By Allah, 'tis a marvel of +marvels." Then the King of China bade record this tale, so they +recorded it and placed it in the royal muniment-rooms; after +which he bestowed costly robes of honour upon the Jew, the +Nazarene and the Reeve, and bade them depart in all esteem. Then +he gave the Tailor a sumptuous dress and appointed him his own +tailor, with suitable pay and allowances; and made peace between +him and the Hunchback, to whom also he presented a splendid and +expensive suit with a suitable stipend. He did as generously with +the Barber, giving him a gift and a dress of honour; moreover he +settled on him a handsome solde and created him Barber +surgeon[FN#699] of state and made him one of his cup companions. +So they ceased not to live the most pleasurable life and the most +delectable, till there came to them the Destroyer of all delights +and the Sunderer of all societies, the Depopulator of palaces and +the Garnerer for graves. Yet, O most auspicious King! (continued +Shahrazad) this tale is by no means more wonderful than that of +the two Wazirs and Anís al-Jalís. Quoth her sister Dunyazad, "And +what may that be?", whereupon she began to relate the following +tale of + +End of Vol. 1. + + + + Arabian Nights, Volume 1 + Footnotes + + +[FN#1] Allaho A'alam, a deprecatory formula, used because the +writer is going to indulge in a series of what may possibly be +untruths. + +[FN#2] The "Sons of Sásán" are the famous Sassanides whose +dynasty ended with the Arabian Conquest (A.D. 641). "Island" +Jazírah) in Arabic also means "Peninsula," and causes much +confusion in geographical matters. + +[FN#3] Shahryár not Shahriyar (Persian) = "City-friend." The +Bulak edition corrupts it to Shahrbáz (City-hawk), and the +Breslau to Shahrbán or "Defender of the City," like +Marz-ban=Warden of the Marshes. Shah Zamán (Persian)="King of the +Age:" Galland prefers Shah Zenan, or "King of women," and the +Bull 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. {Greek Letters}. See Vol.. ii., p. 1. + +[FN#4] Galland writes "Vizier," a wretched frenchification of a +mincing Turkish mispronunciation; Torrens, "Wuzeer" (Anglo- +Indian and Gilchristian); Lane, "Wezeer"; (Egyptian or rather +Cairene); Payne, "Vizier," according to his system; Burckhardt +(Proverbs), "Vizír;" and Mr. Keith-Falconer, "Vizir." The root is +popularly supposed to be "wizr" (burden) and the meaning +"Minister;" Wazir al-Wuzará being "Premier." In the Koran (chaps. +xx., 30) Moses says, "Give me a Wazir of my family, Harun (Aaron) +my brother." Sale, followed by the excellent version of the Rev. +J. M. Rodwell, translates a "Counsellor," and explains by "One +who has the chief administration of affairs under a prince." But +both learned Koranists learnt their Orientalism in London, and, +like such students generally, fail only upon the easiest points, +familiar to all old dwellers in the East. + +[FN#5] This three-days term (rest-day, drest-day and departure +day) seems to be an instinct-made rule in hospitality. Among +Moslems it is a Sunnat or practice of the Prophet.) + +[FN#6] i.e., I am sick at heart. + +[FN#7] Debauched women prefer negroes on account of the size of +their parts. I measured one man in Somali-land who, when +quiescent, numbered nearly six inches. This is a characteristic +of the negro race and of African animals; e.g. the horse; whereas +the pure Arab, man and beast, is below the average of Europe; one +of the best proofs by the by, that the Egyptian is not an +Asiatic, but a negro partially white-washed. Moreover, these +imposing parts do not increase proportionally during erection; +consequently, the "deed of kind" takes a much longer time and +adds greatly to the woman's enjoyment. In my time no honest Hindi +Moslem would take his women-folk to Zanzibar on account of the +huge attractions and enormous temptations there and thereby +offered to them. Upon the subject of Imsák = retention of semen +and "prolongation of pleasure," I shall find it necessary to say +more. + +[FN#8] The very same words were lately spoken in England proving +the eternal truth of The Nights which the ignorant call +"downright lies." + +[FN#9] The Arab's Tue la! + +[FN#10] Arab. "Sayd wa kanas": the former usually applied to +fishing; hence Sayda (Sidon) = fish-town. But noble Arabs (except +the Caliph Al-Amin) do not fish; so here it means simply "sport," +chasing, coursing, birding (oiseler), and so forth. + +[FN#11] In the Mac. Edit. the negro is called "Mas'úd"; here he +utters a kind of war-cry and plays upon the name, "Sa'ád, Sa'íd, +Sa'úd," and "Mas'ud", all being derived from one root, "Sa'ad" = +auspiciousness, prosperity. + +[FN#12] The Arab. singular (whence the French "génie"), fem. +Jinniyah; the Div and Rakshah of old Guebre-land and the +"Rakshasa," or "Yaksha," of Hinduism. It would be interesting to +trace the evident connection, by no means "accidental," of "Jinn" +with the "Genius" who came to the Romans through the Asiatic +Etruscans, and whose name I cannot derive from "gignomai" or +"genitus." He was unknown to the Greeks, who had the Daimon +{Greek Letters}, a family which separated, like the Jinn and the +Genius, into two categories, the good (Agatho-dæmons) and the bad +(Kako-dæmons). We know nothing concerning the status of the Jinn +amongst the pre-Moslemitic or pagan Arabs: the Moslems made him a +supernatural anthropoid being, created of subtile fire (Koran +chapts. xv. 27; lv. 14), not of earth like man, propagating his +kind, ruled by mighty kings, the last being Ján bin Ján, +missionarised by Prophets and subject to death and Judgment. From +the same root are "Junún" = madness (i.e., possession or +obsession by the Jinn) and "Majnún"=a madman. According to R. +Jeremiah bin Eliazar in Psalm xii. 5, Adam was excommunicated for +one hundred and thirty years, during which he begat children in +his own image (Gen. v. 3) and these were Mazikeen or Shedeem- +Jinns. Further details anent the Jinn will presently occur. + +[FN#13] Arab. "Amsár" (cities): in Bull 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 merits superior exaggeration and +impossibility. + +[FN#14] Not "A-frit," pronounced Aye-frit, as our poets have it. +This variety of the Jinn, who, as will be shown, are divided into +two races like mankind, is generally, but not always, a malignant +being, hostile and injurious to mankind (Koran xxvii. 39). + +[FN#15] i.e., "I conjure thee by Allah;" the formula is +technically called "Inshád." + +[FN#16] This introducing the name of Allah into an indecent tale +is essentially Egyptian and Cairene. But see Boccaccio ii. 6, and +vii. 9. + +[FN#17] So in the Mac. Edit.; in others "ninety." I prefer the +greater number as exaggeration is a part of the humour. In the +Hindu "Kathá Sárit Ságara" (Sea of the Streams of Story), the +rings are one hundred and the catastrophe is more moral, the good +youth Yashodhara rejects the wicked one's advances; she awakes +the water-sprite, who is about to slay him, but the rings are +brought as testimony and the improper young person's nose is duly +cut off. (Chap. Ixiii.; p. 80, of the excellent translation by +Prof. C. H. Tawney: for the Bibliotheca Indica: Calcutta, 1881.) +The Kathá, etc., by Somadeva (century xi), is a poetical version +of the prose compendium, the "Vrihat Kathá" (Great Story) by +Gunadhya (cent. vi). + +[FN#18] The Joseph of the Koran, very different from him of +Genesis. We shall meet him often enough in The Nights. + +[FN#19] "Iblis," vulgarly written "Eblis," from a root meaning +The Despairer, with a suspicious likeness to Diabolos; possibly +from "Bales," a profligate. Some translate it The Calumniator, as +Satan is the Hater. Iblis (who appears in the Arab. version of +the N. Testament) succeeded another revolting angel Al-Haris; and +his story of pride refusing to worship Adam, is told four times +in the Koran from the Talmud (Sanhedrim 29). He caused Adam and +Eve to lose Paradise (ii. 34); he still betrays mankind (xxv. +31), and at the end of time he, with the other devils, will be +"gathered together on their knees round Hell" (xix. 69). He has +evidently had the worst of the game, and we wonder, with Origen, +Tillotson, Burns and many others, that he does not throw up the +cards. + +[FN#20] A similar tale is still told at Akká (St. John d'Acre) +concerning the terrible "butcher"--Jazzár (Djezzar) Pasha. One +can hardly pity women who are fools enough to run such risks. +According to Frizzi, Niccolò, Marquis of Este, after beheading +Parisina, ordered all the faithless wives of Ferrara to be +treated in like manner. + +[FN#21] "Shahrázád" (Persian) = City-freer, in the older version +Scheherazade (probably both from Shirzád=lion-born). +"Dunyázád"=World-freer. The Bres. Edit. corrupts former to +Sháhrzád or Sháhrazád, and the Mac. and Calc. to Shahrzád or +Shehrzád. I have ventured to restore the name as it should be. +Galland for the second prefers Dinarzade (?) and Richardson +Dinazade (Dinázád = Religion-freer): here I have followed Lane +and Payne; though in "First Footsteps" I was misled by Galland. +See Vol. ii. p. 1. + +[FN#22] Probably she proposed to "Judith" the King. These learned +and clever young ladies are very dangerous in the East. + +[FN#23] In Egypt, etc., the bull takes the place of the Western +ox. The Arab. word is "Taur" (Thaur, Saur); in old Persian "Tore" +and Lat. "Taurus," a venerable remnant of the days before the +"Semitic" and "Aryan" families of speech had split into two +distinct growths. "Taur" ends in the Saxon "Steor" and the +English "Steer " + +[FN#24] Arab. "Abú Yakzán" = the Wakener, because the ass brays +at dawn. + +[FN#25] Arab. "Tibn"; straw crushed under the sledge: the hay of +Egypt, Arabia, Syria, etc. The old country custom is to pull up +the corn by handfuls from the roots, leaving the land perfectly +bare: hence the "plucking up" of Hebrew Holy Writ. The object is +to preserve every atom of "Tibn." + +[FN#26] Arab. "Yá Aftah": Al-Aftah is an epithet of the bull, +also of the chameleon. + +[FN#27] Arab. "Balíd," a favourite Egyptianism often pleasantly +confounded with "Wali" (a Santon), hence the latter comes to mean +"an innocent," a "ninny." + +[FN#28] From the Calc. Edit., Vol. 1., p. 29. + +[FN#29] Arab. "Abu Yakzán" is hardly equivalent with "Père +l'Eveillé." + +[FN#30] In Arab. the wa (x) is the sign of parenthesis. + +[FN#31] In the nearer East the light little plough is carried +afield by the bull or ass. + +[FN#32] Ocymum basilicum, the "royal herb," so much prized all +over the East, especially in India, where, under the name of +"Tulsi," it is a shrub sacred to the merry god Krishna. I found +the verses in a MS. copy of The Nights. + +[FN#33] Arab. "Sadaf," the Kauri, or cowrie, brought from the +Maldive and Lakdive Archipelago. The Kámús describes this "Wada'" +or Concha Veneris as "a white shell (whence to "shell out") which +is taken out of the sea, the fissure of which is white like that +of the date-stone. It is hung about the neck to avert the evil +eye." The pearl in Arab. is "Murwarid," hence evidently +"Margarita" and Margaris (woman's name). + +[FN#34] Arab. "Kat'a" (bit of leather): some read "Nat'a;" a +leather used by way of table-cloth, and forming a bag for +victuals; but it is never made of bull's hide. + +[FN#35] The older "Cadi," a judge in religious matters. The +Shuhúd, or Assessors, are officers of the Mahkamah or Kazi's +Court. + +[FN#36] Of which more in a future page. He thus purified himself +ceremonially before death. + +[FN#37] This is Christian rather than Moslem: a favourite Maltese +curse is "Yahrak Kiddisak man rabba-k!" = burn the Saint who +brought thee up! + +[FN#38] A popular Egyptian phrase: the dog and the cock speak +like Fellahs. + +[FN#39] i. e. between the last sleep and dawn when they would +rise to wash and pray. + +[FN#40] Travellers tell of a peculiar knack of jerking the +date-stone, which makes it strike with great force: I never saw +this "Inwá" practised, but it reminds me of the water splashing +with one hand in the German baths. + +[FN#41] i.e., sorely against his will. + +[FN#42] Arab. "Shaykh"=an old man (primarily), an elder, a chief +(of the tribe, guild, etc.), and honourably addressed to any man. +Comp. among the neo Latins "Sieur," "Signora," "Señor," "Senhor," +etc. from Lat. "Senior," which gave our "Sire" and "Sir." Like +many in Arabic the word has a host of different meanings and most +of them will occur in the course of The Nights. Ibrahim (Abraham) +was the first Shaykh or man who became grey. Seeing his hairs +whiten he cried, "O Allah what is this?" and the answer came that +it was a sign of dignified gravity. Hereupon he exclaimed, "O +Lord increase this to me!" and so it happened till his locks +waxed snowy white at the age of one hundred and fifty. He was the +first who parted his hair, trimmed his mustachios, cleaned his +teeth with the Miswák (tooth-stick), pared his nails, shaved his +pecten, snuffed up water, used ablution after stool and wore a +shirt (Tabari). + +[FN#43] The word is mostly plural = Jinnís: it is also singular = +a demon; and Ján bin Ján has been noticed. + +[FN#44] With us moderns "liver" suggests nothing but malady: in +Arabic and Persian as in the classic literature of Europe it is +the seat of passion, the heart being that of affection. Of this +more presently. + +[FN#45] Originally in Al-Islam the concubine (Surriyat, etc.) was +a captive taken in war and the Koran says nothing about buying +slave-girls. But if the captives were true believers the Moslem +was ordered to marry not to keep them. In modern days concubinage +has become an extensive subject. Practically the disadvantage is +that the slave-girls, knowing themselves to be the master's +property, consider him bound to sleep with them; which is by no +means the mistress's view. Some wives, however, when old and +childless, insist, after the fashion of Sarah, upon the husband +taking a young concubine and treating her like a daughter--which +is rare. The Nights abound in tales of concubines, but these are +chiefly owned by the Caliphs and high officials who did much as +they pleased. The only redeeming point in the system is that it +obviated the necessity of prostitution which is, perhaps, the +greatest evil known to modern society. + +[FN#46] Arab. "Al-Kahánah"=the craft of a "Káhin" (Heb. Cohen) a +diviner, soothsayer, etc. + +[FN#47] Arab. "Id al-kabír = The Great Festival; the Turkish +Bayrám and Indian Bakar-eed (Kine-fête), the pilgrimage-time, +also termed "Festival of the Kurbán" (sacrifice) because victims +are slain, Al-Zuha (of Undurn or forenoon), Al-Azhá (of serene +night) and Al-Nahr (of throat-cutting). For full details I must +refer readers to my "Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to +El-Medinah and Meccah" (3 vols. 8vo, London, Longmans, 1855). I +shall have often to refer to it. + +[FN#48] Arab. "Kalám al-mubáh," i.e., that allowed or permitted +to her by the King, her husband. + +[FN#49] Moslem Kings are expected, like the old Gabble Monarchs, +to hold "Darbar" (i.e., give public audience) at least twice a +day, morning and evening. Neglect of this practice caused the +ruin of the Caliphate and of the Persian and Moghul Empires: the +great lords were left uncontrolled and the lieges revolted to +obtain justice. The Guebre Kings had two levée places, the +Rozistan (day station) and the Shabistan (night-station - istán +or stán being a nominal form of istádan, to stand, as +Hindo-stán). Moreover one day in the week the sovereign acted as +"Mufti" or Supreme Judge. + +[FN#50] Arab. "Al-Bashárah," the gift everywhere claimed in the +East and in Boccaccio's Italy by one who brings good news. Those +who do the reverse expose themselves to a sound strappado. + +[FN#51] A euphemistic formula, to avoid mentioning unpleasant +matters. I shall note these for the benefit of students who would +honestly prepare for the public service in Moslem lands. + +[FN#52] Arab. "Dínár," from the Latin denarius (a silver coin +worth ten ounces of brass) through the Greek {Greek Letters}: it +is a Koranic word (chaps. 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, {Greek Letters}, from +Dárá= a King (whence Darius). The Dinar, sequin or ducat, +contained at different times from 10 and 12 (Abu Hanifah's day) +to 20 and even 25 dirhams or drachmas, and, as a weight, +represented a drachma and a half. Its value greatly varied, but +we may assume it here at nine shillings or ten francs to half a +sovereign. For an elaborate article on the Dinar see Yule's +"Cathay and the Way Thither" (ii., pp. 439-443). + +[FN#53] The formula used in refusing alms to an "asker" or in +rejecting an insufficient offer: "Allah will open to thee!" (some +door of gain - not mine)! Another favourite ejaculation is "Allah +Karim" (which Turks pronounce "Kyereem") = Allah is +All-beneficent! meaning Ask Him, not me. + +[FN#54] The public bath. London knows the word through "The +Hummums." + +[FN#55] Arab. "Dirham" (Plur. diráhim, also used in the sense of +money, "siller"), the drachuma of Plautus (Trin. 2, 4, 23). The +word occurs in the Panchatantra also showing the derivation; and +in the Syriac Kalilah wa Dimnah it is "Zúz." This silver piece +was = 6 obols (9 3/4d.) and as a weight = 66 1/2 grains. The +Dirham of The Nights was worth six "Dánik," each of these being a +fraction over a penny. The modern Greek Drachma is=one franc. + +[FN#56] In Arabic the speaker always puts himself first, even if +he address the King, without intending incivility. + +[FN#57] A she-Ifrit, not necessarily an evil spirit. + +[FN#58] Arab. "Kullah" (in Egypt pron. "gulleh"), the wide +mouthed jug, called in the Hijaz "baradlyah," "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" (chaps. v) I quote, +here and elsewhere, from the fifth edition, London, Murray, 1860. + +[FN#59] "And what is?" etc. A popular way of expressing great +difference. So in India: - "Where is Rajah Bhoj (the great King) +and where is Gangá the oilman?" + +[FN#60] Here, as in other places, I have not preserved the +monorhyme, but have ended like the English sonnet with a couplet; +as a rule the last two lines contain a "Husn makta'" or climax. + +[FN#61] Lit. "he began to say (or speak) poetry," such +improvising being still common amongst the Badawin as I shall +afterwards note. And although Mohammed severely censured profane +poets, who "rove as bereft of their senses through every valley" +and were directly inspired by devils (Koran xxvi.), it is not a +little curious to note that he himself spoke in "Rajaz" (which +see) and that the four first Caliphs all "spoke poetry." In early +ages the verse would not be written, if written at all, till +after the maker's death. I translate "inshád" by "versifying" or +"repeating" or "reciting," leaving it doubtful if the composition +be or be not original. In places, however, it is clearly +improvised and then as a rule it is model doggrel. + +[FN#62] Arab. "Allahumma"=Yá Allah (O Allah) but with emphasis +the Fath being a substitute for the voc. part. Some connect it +with the Heb. "Alihím," but that fancy is not Arab. In Al-Hariri +and the rhetoricians it sometimes means to be sure; of course; +unless indeed; unless possibly. + +[FN#63] Probably in consequence of a vow. These superstitious +practices, which have many a parallel amongst ourselves, are not +confined to the lower orders in the East. + +[FN#64] i.e., saying "Bismillah!" the pious ejaculation which +should precede every act. In Boccaccio (viii., 9) it is +"remembering Iddio e' Santi." + +[FN#65] Arab. Nahás asfar = brass, opposed to "Nahás" and "Nahás +ahmar," = copper. + +[FN#66] This alludes to the legend of Sakhr al-Jinn), a famous +fiend cast by Solomon David son into Lake Tiberias whose storms +make it a suitable place. Hence the "Bottle imp," a world-wide +fiction of folk-lore: we shall find it in the "Book of Sindibad," +and I need hardly remind the reader of Le Sage's "Diable +Boiteux," borrowed from "El Diablo Cojuelo," the Spanish novel by +Luiz Velez de Guevara. + +[FN#67] Márid (lit. "contumacious" from the Heb. root Marad to +rebel, whence "Nimrod" in late Semitic) is one of the tribes of +the Jinn, generally but not always hostile to man. His female is +"Máridah." + +[FN#68] As Solomon began to reign (according to vulgar +chronometry) in B.C. 1015, the text would place the tale circ. +A.D. 785, = A.H. 169. But we can lay no stress on this date which +may be merely fanciful. Professor Tawney very justly compares +this Moslem Solomon with the Hindu King, Vikramáditya, who ruled +over the seven divisions of the world and who had as many devils +to serve him as he wanted. + +[FN#69] Arab. "Yá Ba'íd:" a euphemism here adopted to prevent +using grossly abusive language. Others will occur in the course +of these pages. + +[FN#70] i. e. about to fly out; "My heart is in my mouth." The +Fisherman speaks with the dry humour of a Fellah. + +[FN#71] "Sulayman," when going out to ease himself, entrusted his +seal-ring upon which his kingdom depended to a concubine "Amínah" +(the "Faithful"), when Sakhr, transformed to the King's likeness, +came in and took it. The prophet was reduced to beggary, but +after forty days the demon fled throwing into the sea the ring +which was swallowed by a fish and eventually returned to +Sulayman. This Talmudic fable is hinted at in the Koran (chaps. +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, chaps. xxxvii.), i.e. who knew the Ineffable Name of +Allah. See the manifest descendant of the Talmudic Koranic +fiction in the "Tale of the Emperor Jovinian" (No. lix.) of the +Gesta Romanorum, the most popular book of mediæval Europe +composed in England (or Germany) about the end of the thirteenth +century. + +[FN#72] Arab. "Kumkam," a gourd-shaped bottle of metal, china or +glass, still used for sprinkling scents. Lane gives an +illustration (chaps. viii., Mod. Egypt.). + +[FN#73] Arab. meaning "the Mother of Amir," a nickname for the +hyena, which bites the hand that feeds it. + +[FN#74] The intellect of man is stronger than that of the Jinni; +the Ifrit, however, enters the jar because he has been adjured by +the Most Great Name and not from mere stupidity. The seal-ring of +Solomon according to the Rabbis contained a chased stone which +told him everything he wanted to know. + +[FN#75] The Mesmerist will notice this shudder which is familiar +to him as preceding the "magnetic" trance. + +[FN#76] Arab. "Bahr" which means a sea, a large river, a sheet of +water, etc., lit. water cut or trenched in the earth. Bahri in +Egypt means Northern; so Yamm (Sea, Mediterranean) in Hebrew is +West. + +[FN#77] In the Bull Edit. "Ruyán," evidently a clerical error. +The name is fanciful not significant. + +[FN#78] The geography is ultra-Shakespearean. "Fárs" (whence +"Persia") is the central Province of the grand old Empire now a +mere wreck, "Rúm" (which I write Roum, in order to avoid Jamaica) +is the neo-Roman or Byzantine Empire, while "Yunan" is the +classical Arab term for Greece (Ionia) which unlearned Moslems +believe to be now under water. + +[FN#79] The Sun greets Mohammed every morning even as it dances +on Easter Day for Christendom. Risum teneatis? + +[FN#80] Arab. "Nadím," a term often occurring. It denotes one who +was intimate enough to drink with the Caliph, a very high honour +and a dangerous. The last who sat with "Nudamá" was Al-Razi +bi'llah A.H. 329 = 940. See Al-Siyuti's famous "History of the +Caliphs" translated and admirably annotated by Major H. S. +Jarrett, for the Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1880. + +[FN#81]Arab. Maydán (from Persian); Lane generally translates it +"horse course ' and Payne "tilting yard." It is both and +something more; an open space, in or near the city, used for +reviewing troops, races, playing the Jeríd (cane-spear) and other +sports and exercises: thus Al-Maydan=Gr. hippodrome. The game +here alluded to is our -'polo," or hockey on horseback, a +favourite with the Persian Kings, as all old illustrations of the +Shahnamah show. Maydan is also a natural plain for which copious +Arabic has many terms, Fayhah or Sath (a plain generally), Khabt +(a low-lying plain), Bat'há (a low sandy flat), Mahattah (a plain +fit for halting) and so forth. (Pilgrimage iii., 11.) + +[FN#82] For details concerning the "Ghusl" see Night xliv. + +[FN#83] A popular idiom and highly expressive, contrasting the +upright bearing of the self-satisfied man with the slouch of the +miserable and the skirt-trailing of the woman in grief. I do not +see the necessity of such Latinisms as "dilated" or "expanded." + +[FN#84] All these highest signs of favour foreshow, in Eastern +tales and in Eastern life, an approaching downfall of the +heaviest; they are so great that they arouse general jealousy. +Many of us have seen this at native courts. + +[FN#85] This phrase is contained in the word "ihdák" +=encompassing, as the conjunctive does the pupil. + +[FN#86] I have noted this formula, which is used even in +conversation when about to relate some great unfact. + +[FN#87] We are obliged to English the word by "valley," which is +about as correct as the "brook Kedron," applied to the grisliest +of ravines. The Wady (in old Coptic wah, oah, whence "Oasis") is +the bed of a watercourse which flows only after rains. I have +rendered it by "Fiumara" (Pilgrimage i., 5, and ii., 196, etc.), +an Italian or rather a Sicilian word which exactly describes the +"wady." + +[FN#88] I have described this scene which Mr. T. Wolf illustrated +by an excellent lithograph in "Falconry, etc." (London, Van +Voorst, MDCCCLII.) + +[FN#89] Arab. "Kaylúlah," mid-day sleep; called siesta from the +sixth canonical hour. + +[FN#90] This parrot-story is world-wide in folk-lore and the +belief in metempsychosis, which prevails more or less over all +the East, there lends it probability. The "Book of Sindibad" (see +Night dlxxix. and "The Academy," Sept. 20, 1884, No. 646) +converts it into the "Story of the Confectioner, his Wife and the +Parrot," and it is the base of the Hindostani text- book, +"Tota-Kaháni" (Parrot-chat), an abridgement of the Tutinámah +(Parrot-book) of Nakhshabi (circ. A.D. 1300), a congener of the +Sanskrit "Suka Saptati," or Seventy Parrot-stories. The tale is +not in the Bull. or Mac. Edits. but occurs in the Bresl. (i., pp. +90, 91) much mutilated; and better in the Calc. Edit I cannot +here refrain from noticing how vilely the twelve vols. of the +Breslau Edit have been edited; even a table of contents being +absent from the first four volumes. + +[FN#91] The young "Turk" is probably a late addition, as it does +not appear in many of the MSS., e. g. the Bresl. Edit. The wife +usually spreads a cloth over the cage; this in the Turkish +translation becomes a piece of leather. + +[FN#92] The Hebrew-Syrian month July used to express the height +of summer. As Herodotus tells us (ii. 4) the Egyptians claimed to +be the discoverers of the solar year and the portioners of its +course into twelve parts. + +[FN#93] This proceeding is thoroughly characteristic of the +servile class; they conscientiously conceal everything from the +master till he finds a clew; after which they tell him everything +and something more. + +[FN#94] Until late years, merchants and shopkeepers in the nearer +East all carried and held it a disgrace to leave the house +unarmed. + +[FN#95] The Bresl. Edit. absurdly has Jazírah (an island). + +[FN#96] The Ghúlah (fem. of Ghúl) is the Heb. Lilith or Lilis; +the classical Lamia; the Hindu Yogini and Dakini, 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 +Bala yaga (Granny-witch) of Russian folk-lore. Etymologically +"Ghul" is a calamity, a panic fear; and the monster is evidently +the embodied horror of the grave and the graveyard. + +[FN#97] Arab. "Shább" (Lat. juvenis) between puberty and forty or +according to some fifty; when the patient becomes a "Rajul +ikhtiyár" (man of free will) politely termed, and then a Shaykh +or Shaybah (gray-beard, oldster). + +[FN#98] Some proverbial name now forgotten. Torrens (p. 48) +translates it "the giglot" (Fortune?) but "cannot discover the +drift." + +[FN#99] Arab. "Ihtizáz," that natural and instinctive movement +caused by good news suddenly given, etc. + +[FN#100] Arab. "Kohl," in India, Surmah, not a "collyrium," but +powdered antimony for the eyelids. That sold in the bazars is not +the real grey ore of antimony but a galena or sulphuret of lead. +Its use arose as follows. When Allah showed Himself to Moses on +Sinai through an opening the size of a needle, the Prophet +fainted and the Mount took fire: thereupon Allah said, +"Henceforth shalt thou and thy seed grind the earth of this +mountain and apply it to your eyes!" The powder is kept in an +étui called Makhalah and applied with a thick blunt needle to the +inside of the eyelid, drawing it along the rim; hence etui and +probe denote the sexual rem in re and in cases of adultery the +question will be asked, "Didst thou see the needle in the +Kohl-pot ?" Women mostly use a preparation of soot or lamp-black +(Hind. Kajala, Kajjal) whose colour is easily distinguished from +that of Kohl. The latter word, with the article (Al-Kohl) is the +origin of our "alcohol;" though even M. Littré fails to show how +"fine powder" became "spirits of wine." I found this powder +(wherewith Jezebel "painted" her eyes) a great preservative from +ophthalmia in desert-travelling: the use in India was universal, +but now European example is gradually abolishing it. + +[FN#101] The tale of these two women is now forgotten. + +[FN#102] Arab. "Atadakhkhal." When danger threatens it is +customary to seize a man's skirt and cry "Dakhíl-ak!" ( = under +thy protection). Among noble tribes the Badawi thus invoked will +defend the stranger with his life. Foreigners have brought +themselves into contempt by thus applying to women or to mere +youths. + +[FN#103] The formula of quoting from the Koran. + +[FN#104] Lit. "Allah not desolate me" (by thine absence). This is +still a popular phrase - Lá tawáhishná = Do not make me desolate, +i.e. by staying away too long, and friends meeting after a term +of days exclaim "Auhashtani!"=thou hast made me desolate, Je suis +desole. + +[FN#105] Charming simplicity of manners when the Prime Minister +carries the fish (shade of Vattel!)!) to the cookmaid. The "Gesta +Romanorum" is nowhere more naïve. + +[FN#106] Arab. "Kahílat al-taraf" = lit. eyelids lined with Kohl; +and figuratively "with black lashes and languorous look." This is +a phrase which frequently occurs in The Nights and which, as will +appear, applies to the "lower animals" as well as to men. Moslems +in Central Africa apply Kohl not to the thickness of the eyelid +but upon both outer lids, fixing it with some greasy substance. +The peculiar Egyptian (and Syrian) eye with its thick fringes of +jet-black lashes, looking like lines of black drawn with soot, +easily suggests the simile. In England I have seen the same +appearance amongst miners fresh from the colliery. + +[FN#107] Of course applying to her own case. + +[FN#108] Prehistoric Arabs who measured from 60 to 100 cubits +high: Koran, chaps. xxvi., etc. They will often be mentioned in +The Nights. + +[FN#109] I Arab. "Dastúr" (from Persian) = leave, permission. The +word has two meanings (see Burckhardt, Arab. Prov. No. 609) and +is much used, ea. before walking up stairs or entering a room +where strange women might be met. So "Tarík" = Clear the way +(Pilgrimage, iii., 319). The old Persian occupation of Egypt, not +to speak of the Persian speaking Circassians and other rulers has +left many such traces in popular language. One of them is that +horror of travelers - "Bakhshísh" pron. bakh-sheesh and shortened +to shísh from the Pers. "bakhshish." Our "Christmas box" has been +most unnecessarily derived from the same, despite our reading:-- + + Gladly the boy, with Christmas box in hand. + +And, as will be seen, Persians have bequeathed to the outer world +worse things than bad language, e.g. heresy and sodomy. + +[FN#110] He speaks of his wife but euphemistically in the +masculine. + +[FN#111] A popular saying throughout Al-Islam. + +[FN#112] Arab. "Fata": lit.=a youth; a generous man, one of noble +mind (as youth-tide should be). It corresponds with the Lat. +"vir," and has much the meaning of the Ital. "Giovane," the Germ. +"Junker" and our "gentleman." + +[FN#113] From the Bul. Edit. + +[FN#114] The vagueness of his statement is euphemistic. + +[FN#115] This readiness of shedding tears contrasts strongly with +the external stoicism of modern civilization; but it is true to +Arab character, and Easterns, like the heroes of Homer and +Italians of Boccacio, are not ashamed of what we look upon as the +result of feminine hysteria - "a good cry." + +[FN#116] The formula (constantly used by Moslems) here denotes +displeasure, doubt how to act and so forth. Pronounce, "Lá haula +wa lá kuwwata illá bi 'lláhi 'I-Aliyyi 'I-Azim." As a rule +mistakes are marvellous: Mandeville (chaps. xii.) for "Lá iláha +illa 'lláhu wa Muhammadun Rasúlu 'llah" writes "La ellec sila, +Machomete rores alla." The former (lá haula, etc.), on account of +the four peculiar Arabic letters, is everywhere pronounced +differently. and the exclamation is called "Haulak" or "Haukal." + +[FN#117] An Arab holds that he has a right to marry his first +cousin, the daughter of his father's brother, and if any win her +from him a death and a blood-feud may result. It was the same in +a modified form amongst the Jews and in both races the +consanguineous marriage was not attended by the evil results +(idiotcy, congenital deafness, etc.) observed in mixed races like +the English and the Anglo-American. When a Badawi speaks of "the +daughter of my uncle" he means wife; and the former is the dearer +title, as a wife can be divorced, but blood is thicker than +water. + +[FN#118] Arab. "Kahbah;" the coarsest possible term. Hence the +unhappy "Cave" of Don Roderick the Goth, which simply means The +Whore. + +[FN#119] The Arab "Banj" and Hindú "Bhang" (which I use as most +familiar) both derive from the old Coptic "Nibanj" meaning a +preparation of hemp (Cannabis sativa seu Indica); and here it is +easy to recognise the Homeric "Nepenthe." Al- Kazwini explains +the term by "garden hemp (Kinnab bostáni or Sháhdánaj). On the +other hand not a few apply the word to the henbane (hyoscyamus +niger) so much used in mediæval Europe. The Kámús evidently means +henbane distinguishing it from Hashish al haráfísh" = rascals' +grass, i.e. the herb Pantagruelion. The "Alfáz Adwiya" (French +translation) explains "Tabannuj" by "Endormir quelqu'un en lui +faisant avaler de la jusquiame." In modern parlance Tabannuj is = +our anæsthetic administered before an operation, a deadener of +pain like myrrh and a number of other drugs. For this purpose +hemp is always used (at least I never heard of henbane); and +various preparations of the drug are sold at an especial bazar in +Cairo. See the "powder of marvellous virtue" in Boccaccio, iii., +8; and iv., 10. Of these intoxicants, properly so termed, I shall +have something to say in a future page. + +The use of Bhang doubtless dates from the dawn of civilisation, +whose earliest social pleasures would be inebriants. Herodotus +(iv. c. 75) shows the Scythians burning the seeds (leaves and +capsules) in worship and becoming drunken with the fumes, as do +the S. African Bushmen of the present day. This would be the +earliest form of smoking: it is still doubtful whether the pipe +was used or not. Galen also mentions intoxication by hemp. +Amongst Moslems, the Persians adopted the drink as an ecstatic, +and about our thirteenth century Egypt, which began the practice, +introduced a number of preparations to be noticed in the course +of The Nights. + +[FN#120] The rubbish heaps which outlie Eastern cities, some +(near Cairo) are over a hundred feet high. + +[FN#121] Arab. "Kurrat al-aye;" 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 Z yd 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 imply a +pleasant prize. + +[FN#122] Popularly rendered Caucasus (see Night cdxcvi): it +corresponds so far with the Hindu "Udaya" that the sun rises +behind it; and the "false dawn" is caused by a hole or gap. It is +also the Persian Alborz, the Indian Meru (Sumeru), the Greek +Olympus and the Rhiphæan Range (Veliki Camenypoys) or great +starry girdle of the world, etc. + +[FN#123] Arab. "Mizr" or "Mizar;" vulg. Búzah; hence the medical +Lat. Buza, the Russian Buza (millet beer), our booze, the O. +Dutch "buyzen" and the German "busen." This is the old +of negro and negroid Africa, the beer of Osiris, of which dried +remains have been found in jars amongst Egyptian tombs. In +Equatorial Africa it known as Pombe; on the Upper Nile "Merissa" +or "Mirisi" and amongst the Kafirs (Caffers) "Tshuala," "Oala" or +"Boyala:" I have also heard of "Buswa"in Central Africa which may +be the origin of "Buzah." In the West it became , (Romaic + ), Xythum and cerevisia or cervisia, the humor ex hordeo, +long before the days of King Gambrinus. Central Africans drink it +in immense quantities: in Unyamwezi the standing bedsteads, +covered with bark-slabs, are all made sloping so as to drain off +the liquor. A chief lives wholly on beef and Pombe which is thick +as gruel below. Hops are unknown: the grain, mostly Holcus, is +made to germinate, then pounded, boiled and left to ferment. In +Egypt the drink is affected chiefly by Berbers, Nubians and +slaves from the Upper Nile, but it is a superior article and more +like that of Europe than the "Pombe." I have given an account of +the manufacture in The Lake Regions of Central Africa, vol. ii., +p. 286. There are other preparations, Umm-bulbul (mother nightie +gale), Dinzáyah and Súbiyah, for which I must refer to the Shaykh +El-Tounsy. + +[FN#124] There is a terrible truth in this satire, which reminds +us of the noble dame who preferred to her handsome husband the +palefrenier laid, ord et infâme of Queen Margaret of Navarre +(Heptameron No. xx.). We have all known women who sacrificed +everything despite themselves, as it were, for the most worthless +of men. The world stares and scoffs and blames and understands +nothing. There is for every woman one man and one only in whose +slavery she is "ready to sweep the floor." Fate is mostly opposed +to her meeting him but, when she does, adieu husband and +children, honour and religion, life and "soul." Moreover Nature +(human) commands the union of contrasts, such as fair and foul, +dark and light, tall and short; otherwise mankind would be like +the canines, a race of extremes, dwarf as toy-terriers, giants +like mastiffs, bald as Chinese "remedy dogs," or hairy as +Newfoundlands. The famous Wilkes said only a half truth when he +backed himself, with an hour s start, against the handsomest man +in England; his uncommon and remarkable ugliness (he was, as the +Italians say, un bel brutto) was the highest recommendation in +the eyes of very beautiful women. + +[FN#125] Every Moslem burial-ground has a place of the kind where +honourable women may sit and weep unseen by the multitude. These +visits are enjoined by the Apostle:--Frequent the cemetery, +'twill make you think of futurity! Also:--Whoever visiteth the +graves of his parents (or one of them) every Friday, he shall be +written a pious son, even though he might have been in the world, +before that, a disobedient. (Pilgrimage, ii., 71.) The buildings +resemble our European "mortuary chapels." Said, Pasha of Egypt, +was kind enough to erect one on the island off Suez, for the "use +of English ladies who would like shelter whilst weeping and +wailing for their dead." But I never heard that any of the ladles +went there. + +[FN#126] Arab. "Ajal"=the period of life, the appointed time of +death: the word is of constant recurrence and is also applied to +sudden death. See Lane's Dictionary, s.v. + +[FN#127] "The dying Badawi to his tribe" (and lover) appears to +me highly pathetic. The wild people love to be buried upon hill +slopes whence they can look down upon the camp; and they still +call out the names of kinsmen and friends as they pass by the +grave-yards. A similar piece occurs in Wetzstein (p. 27, +"Reisebericht ueber Hauran," etc.):-- + + O bear with you my bones where the camel bears his load + And bury me before you, if buried I must be; + And let me not be burled 'neath the burden of the vine + But high upon the hill whence your sight I ever see! + As you pass along my grave cry aloud and name your names + The crying of your names shall revive the bones of me: + I have fasted through my life with my friends, and in my + death, I will feast when we meet, on that day of joy and + glee. + +[FN#128] The Akásirah (plur. of Kasrá=Chosroës) is here a title +of the four great dynasties of Persian Kings. 1. The Peshdadian +or Assyrian race, proto-historics for whom dates fail, 2. The +Káyánián (Medes and Persians) who ended with the Alexandrian +invasion in B. C. 331. 3. The Ashkánián (Parthenians or +Arsacides) who ruled till A. D. 202; and 4. The Sassanides which +have already been mentioned. But strictly speaking "Kisri" and +"Kasra" are titles applied only to the latter dynasty and +especially to the great King Anushirwan. They must not be +confounded with "Khusrau" (P. N. Cyrus, Ahasuerus? Chosroës?), +and yet the three seem to have combined in "Cæsar," Kaysar and +Czar. For details especially connected with Zoroaster see vol. I, +p. 380 of the Dabistan or School of Manners, translated by David +Shea and Anthony Troyer, Paris, 1843. The book is most valuable, +but the proper names are so carelessly and incorrectly printed +that the student is led into perpetual error. + +[FN#129] The words are the very lowest and coarsest; but the +scene is true to Arab life. + +[FN#130] Arab."Hayhát:" the word, written in a variety of ways is +onomatopoetic, like our "heigh-ho!" it sometimes means "far from +me (or you) be it!" but in popular usage it is simply "Alas." + +[FN#131] Lane (i., 134) finds a date for the book in this +passage. The Soldan of Egypt, Mohammed ibn Kala'ún, in the early +eighth century (Hijrah = our fourteenth), issued a sumptuary law +compelling Christians and Jews to wear indigo-blue and +saffron-yellow turbans, the white being reserved for Moslems. But +the custom was much older and Mandeville (chaps. ix.) describes +it in A. D. 1322 when it had become the rule. And it still +endures; although abolished in the cities it is the rule for +Christians, at least in the country parts of Egypt and Syria. I +may here remark that such detached passages as these are +absolutely useless for chronology: they may be simply the +additions of editors or mere copyists. + +[FN#132] The ancient "Mustaphá" = the Chosen (prophet, i. e. +Mohammed), also titled Al-Mujtaba, the Accepted (Pilgrimage, ii., +309). "Murtaza"=the Elect, i.e. the Caliph Ali is the older +"Mortada" or "Mortadi" of Ockley and his day, meaning "one +pleasing to (or acceptable to) Allah." Still older writers +corrupted it to "Mortis Ali" and readers supposed this to be the +Caliph's name. + +[FN#133] The gleam (zodiacal light) preceding the true dawn; the +Persians call the former Subh-i-kázib (false or lying dawn) +opposed to Subh-i-sádik (true dawn) and suppose that it is caused +by the sun shining through a hole in the world- encircling Mount +Kaf. + +[FN#134] So the Heb. "Arún" = naked, means wearing the lower robe +only; = our "in his shirt." + +[FN#135] Here we have the vulgar Egyptian colloquialism "Aysh" +(--Ayyu shayyin) for the classical "Má" = what. + +[FN#136] "In the name of Allah!" here said before taking action. + +[FN#137] Arab. "Mamlúk" (plur. Mamálik) lit. a chattel; and in +The Nights a white slave trained to arms. The "Mameluke Beys" of +Egypt were locally called the "Ghuzz," I use the convenient word +in its old popular sense; + + 'Tis sung, there's a valiant Mameluke + In foreign lands ycleped (Sir Luke)- + HUDIBRAS. + +And hence, probably, Molière's "Mamamouchi"; and the modern +French use "Mamalue." See Savary's Letters, No. xl. + +[FN#138] The name of this celebrated succesor of Nineveh, where +some suppose The Nights were written, is orig. (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 Babylonis. +Hence our "muslin." + +[FN#139] This is Mr. Thackeray's "nose-bag." I translate by +"walking-shoes" the Arab "Khuff" which are a manner of loose boot +covering the ankle; they are not usually embroidered, the +ornament being reserved for the inner shoe. + +[FN#140] i.e. Syria (says Abulfeda) the "land on the left" (of +one facing the east) as opposed to Al-Yaman the "land on the +right." Osmani would mean Turkish, Ottoman. When Bernard the Wise +(Bohn, p. 24) speaks of "Bagada and Axiam" (Mabillon's text) or +"Axinarri" (still worse), he means Baghdad and Ash-Shám (Syria, +Damascus), the latter word puzzling his Editor. Richardson +(Dissert, lxxii.) seems to support a hideous attempt to derive +Shám from Shámat, a mole or wart, because the country is studded +with hillocks! Al-Shám is often applied to Damascus-city whose +proper name Dimishk belongs to books: this term is generally +derived from Damáshik b. Káli b. Málik b. Sham (Shem). Lee (Ibn +Batùtah, 29) denies that ha-Dimishki means "Eliezer of Damascus." + +[FN#141] From Oman = Eastern Arabia. + +[FN#142] Arab. "Tamar Hannà" lit. date of Henna, but applied to +the flower of the eastern privet (Lawsonia inermis) which has the +sweet scent of freshly mown hay. The use of Henna as a dye is +known even in Enland. The "myrtle" alluded to may either have +been for a perfume (as it is held an anti-intoxicant) or for +eating, the bitter aromatic berries of the "Ás" being supposed to +flavour wine and especially Raki (raw brandy). + +[FN#143] Lane. (i. 211) pleasantly remarks, "A list of these +sweets is given in my original, but I have thought it better to +omit the names" (!) Dozy does not shirk his duty, but he is not +much more satisfactory in explaining words interesting to +students because they are unfound in dictionaries and forgotten +by the people. "Akrás (cakes) Laymunìyah (of limes) wa +Maymunìyah" appears in the Bresl. Edit. as "Ma'amuniyah" which +may mean "Ma'amun's cakes" or "delectable cakes." "Amshát" = +(combs) perhaps refers to a fine kind of Kunàfah (vermicelli) +known in Egypt and Syria as "Ghazl al-banát" = girl's spinning. + +[FN#144] The new moon carefully looked for by all Moslems because +it begins the Ramazán-fast. + +[FN#145] Solomon's signet ring has before been noticed. + +[FN#146] The "high-bosomed" damsel, with breasts firm as a cube, +is a favourite with Arab tale tellers. Fanno baruffa is the +Italian term for hard breasts pointing outwards. + +[FN#147] A large hollow navel is looked upon not only as a +beauty, but in children it is held a promise of good growth. + +[FN#148] Arab. "Ka'ah," a high hall opening upon the central +court: we shall find the word used for a mansion, barrack, men's +quarters, etc. + +[FN#149] Babel = Gate of God (El), or Gate of Ilu (P. N. of God), +which the Jews ironically interpreted "Confusion." The tradition +of Babylonia being the very centre of witchcraft and enchantment +by means of its Seven Deadly Spirits, has survived in Al-Islam; +the two fallen angels (whose names will occur) being confined in +a well; Nimrod attempting to reach Heaven from the Tower in a +magical car drawn by monstrous birds and so forth. See p. 114, +Francois Fenormant's "Chaldean Magic," London, Bagsters. + +[FN#150] Arab. "Kámat Alfíyyah" = like the letter Alif, a +straight perpendicular stroke. In the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the +origin of every alphabet (not syllabarium) known to man, one form +was a flag or leaf of water-plant standing upright. Hence +probably the Arabic Alif-shape; while other nations preferred +other modifications of the letter (ox's head, etc), which in +Egyptian number some thirty-six varieties, simple and compound. + +[FN#151] I have not attempted to order this marvellous confusion of +metaphors so characteristic of The Nights and the exigencies of Al- +Saj'a = rhymed prose. + +[FN#152] Here and elsewhere I omit the "kála (dice Turpino)" of the +original: Torrens preserves "Thus goes the tale" (which it only +interrupts). This is simply letter-wise and sense-foolish. + +[FN#153] Of this worthy more at a future time. + +[FN#154] i.e., sealed with the Kazi or legal authority's seal of +office. + +[FN#155] "Nothing for nothing" is a fixed idea with the Eastern +woman: not so much for greed as for a sexual point d' honneur when +dealing with the adversary--man. + +[FN#156] She drinks first, the custom of the universal East, to +show that the wine she had bought was unpoisoned. Easterns, who +utterly ignore the "social glass" of Western civilisation drink +honestly to get drunk; and, when far gone are addicted to horse- +play (in Pers. "Badmasti" = le vin mauvais) which leads to quarrels +and bloodshed. Hence it is held highly irreverent to assert of +patriarchs, prophets and saints that they "drank wine;" and Moslems +agree with our "Teatotallers" in denying that, except in the case +of Noah, inebriatives are anywhere mentioned in Holy Writ. + +[FN#157] Arab. "Húr al-Ayn," lit. (maids) with eyes of lively white +and black, applied to the virgins of Paradise who will wive with +the happy Faithful. I retain our vulgar "Houri," warning the reader +that it is a masc. for a fem. ("Huríyah") in Arab, although +accepted in Persian, a genderless speach. + +[FN#158] Arab. "Zambúr," whose head is amputated in female +circumcision. See Night cccclxxiv. + +[FN#159] Ocymum basilicum noticed in Introduction, the bassilico of +Boccaccio iv. 5. The Book of Kalilah and Dimnah represents it as +"sprouting with something also whose smell is foul and disgusting +and the sower at once sets to gather it and burn it with fire." +(The Fables of Bidpai translated from the later Syriac version by +I. G. N. Keith-Falconer, etc., etc., etc., Cambridge University +Press, 1885). Here, however, Habk is a pennyroyal (mentha +puligium), and probably alludes to the pecten. + +[FN#160] i. e. common property for all to beat. + +[FN#161] "A digit of the moon" is the Hindú equivalent. + +[FN#162] Better known to us as Caravanserai, the "Travellers' +Bungalow" of India: in the Khan, however, shelter is to be had, but +neither bed nor board. + +[FN#163] Arab. "Zubb." I would again note that this and its +synonyms are the equivalents of the Arabic, which is of the lowest. +The tale-teller's evident object is to accentuate the contrast with +the tragical stories to follow. + +[FN#164] "ln the name of Allah," is here a civil form of +dismissal. + +[FN#165] Lane (i. 124) is scandalised and naturally enough by this +scene, which is the only blot in an admirable tale admirably told. +Yet even here the grossness is but little more pronounced than what +we find in our old drama (e. g., Shakespeare's King Henry V.) +written for the stage, whereas tales like The Nights are not read +or recited before both sexes. Lastly "nothing follows all this +palming work:" in Europe the orgie would end very differently. +These "nuns of Theleme" are physically pure: their debauchery is of +the mind, not the body. Galland makes them five, including the two +doggesses. + +[FN#166] So Sir Francis Walsingham's "They which do that they +should not, should hear that they would not." + +[FN#167] The old "Calendar," pleasantly associated with that form +of almanac. The Mac. Edit. has Karandaliyah," a vile corruption, +like Ibn Batutah's "Karandar" and Torrens' "Kurundul:" so in +English we have the accepted vulgarism of "Kernel" for Colonel. The +Bull 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," chaps. viii. See also the +Dabistan (i. 136) where the good Kalandar exclaims:-- + + If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain! + But how sorely I feel for the poor broken thorn! + +D'Herbelot is right when he says that the Kalandar is not generally +approved by Moslems: he labours to win free from every form and +observance and he approaches the Malámati who conceals all his +good +deeds and boasts of his evil doings--our "Devil's hypocrite." + +[FN#168] The "Kalandar" disfigures himself in this manner to show +"mortification." + +[FN#169] Arab. "Gharíb:" the porter is offended because the word +implies "poor devil;" esp. one out of his own country. + +[FN#170] A religious mendicant generally. + +[FN#171] Very scandalous to Moslem "respectability" Mohammed said +the house was accursed when the voices of women could be heard out +of doors. Moreover the neighbours have a right to interfere and +abate the scandal. + +[FN#172] I need hardly say that these are both historical +personages; they will often be mentioned, and Ja'afar will be +noticed in the Terminal Essay. + +[FN#173] Arab. "Same 'an wa tá'atan"; a popular phrase of assent +generally translated "to hear is to obey;" but this formula may be +and must be greatly varied. In places it means "Hearing (the word +of Allah) and obeying" (His prophet, viceregent, etc.) + +[FN#174] Arab. "Sawáb"=reward in Heaven. This word for which we +have no equivalent has been naturalized in all tongues (e. g. +Hindostani) spoken by Moslems. + +[FN#175] Wine-drinking, at all times forbidden to Moslems, vitiates +the Pilgrimage rite: the Pilgrim is vowed to a strict observance of +the ceremonial law and many men date their "reformation" from the +"Hajj." Pilgrimage, iii., 126. + +[FN#176] Here some change has been necessary; as the original text +confuses the three "ladies." + +[FN#177] In Arab. the plural masc. is used by way of modesty when +a girl addresses her lover and for the same reason she speaks of +herself as a man. + +[FN#178] Arab. "Al-Na'ím", in ful "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 {Greek Letters}, and meaning a chase, a hunting park. Writers +on this subject should bear in mind Mandeville's modesty, "Of +Paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not there." + +[FN#179] Arab. "Mikra'ah," the dried mid-rib of a date-frond used +for many purposes, especially the bastinado. + +[FN#180] According to Lane (i., 229) these and the immediately +following verses are from an ode by Ibn Sahl al-Ishbili. They are +in the Bull Edit. not the Mac. Edit. + +[FN#181] The original is full of conceits and plays on words which +are not easily rendered in English. + +[FN#182] Arab. "Tarjumán," same root as Chald. Targum ( = a +translation), the old "Truchman," and through the Ital. "tergomano" +our "Dragoman," here a messenger. + +[FN#183] Lit. the "person of the eyes," our "babe of the eyes," a +favourite poetical conceit in all tongues; much used by the +Elizabethans, but now neglected as a silly kind of conceit. See +Night ccix. + +[FN#184] Arab. "Sár" (Thár) the revenge-right recognised by law and +custom (Pilgrimage, iii., 69). + +[FN#185] That is "We all swim in the same boat." + +[FN#186] Ja'afar ever acts, on such occasions, the part of a wise +and sensible man compelled to join in a foolish frolic. He +contrasts strongly with the Caliph, a headstrong despot who will +not be gainsaid, whatever be the whim of the moment. But Easterns +would look upon this as a proof of his "kingliness." + +[FN#187] Arab. "Wa'l- Salám" (pronounced Was-Salám); meaning "and +here ends the matter." In our slang we say "All right, and the +child's name is Antony." + +[FN#188] This is a favourite jingle, the play being upon "ibrat" (a +needle-graver) and " 'ibrat" (an example, a warning). + +[FN#189] That is "make his bow," as the English peasant pulls his +forelock. Lane (i., 249) suggests, as an afterthought, that it +means:--"Recover thy senses; in allusion to a person's drawing his +hand over his head after sleep or a fit." But it occurs elsewhere +in the sense of "cut thy stick." + +[FN#190] This would be a separate building like our family tomb and +probably domed, resembling that mentioned in "The King of the Black +Islands." Europeans usually call it "a little Wali;" or, as they +write it, "Wely," the contained for the container; the "Santon" for +the "Santon's tomb." I have noticed this curious confusion (which +begins with Robinson, i. 322) in "Unexplored Syria," i. 161. + +[FN#191] Arab. "Wiswás," = diabolical temptation or suggestion. The +"Wiswásí" is a man with scruples (scrupulus, a pebble in the shoe), +e.g. one who fears that his ablutions were deficient, etc. + +[FN#192] Arab. "Katf" = pinioning by tying the arms behind the back +and shoulders (Kitf) a dire disgrace to free-born men. + +[FN#193] Arab. "Nafs."=Hebr. Nephesh (Nafash) =soul, life as +opposed to "Ruach"= spirit and breath. In these places it is +equivalent to "I said to myself." Another form of the root is +"Nafas," breath, with an idea of inspiration: so 'Sáhib Nafas" +(=master of breath) is a minor saint who heals by expiration, a +matter familiar to mesmerists (Pilgrimage, i., 86). + +[FN#194] Arab. "Kaus al-Banduk;" the "pellet bow" of modern India; +with two strings joined by a bit of cloth which supports a ball of +dry clay or stone. It is chiefly used for birding. + +[FN#195] In the East blinding was a common practice, especially in +the case of junior princes not required as heirs. A deep +perpendicular incision was made down each corner of the eyes; the +lids were lifted and the balls removed by cutting the optic nerve +and the muscles. The later Caliphs blinded their victims by passing +a red-hot sword blade close to the orbit or a needle over the +eye-ball. About the same time in Europe the operation was performed +with a heated metal basin--the well known bacinare (used by +Ariosto), as happened to Pier delle Vigne (Petrus de Vineâ), the +"godfather of modern Italian." + +[FN#196] Arab. "Khinzír" (by Europeans pronounced "Hanzír"), prop. +a wild-boar, but popularly used like our "you pig!" + +[FN#197] Striking with the shoe, the pipe-stick and similar +articles is highly insulting, because they are not made, like whips +and scourges, for such purpose. Here the East and the West differ +diametrically. "Wounds which are given by instruments which are in +one's hands by chance do not disgrace a man," says Cervantes (D. Q. +i., chaps. 15), and goes on to prove that if a Zapatero (cobbler) +cudgel another with his form or last, the latter must not consider +himself cudgelled. The reverse in the East where a blow of a pipe +stick cost Mahommed Ali Pasha's son his life: Ishmail Pasha was +burned to death by Malik Nimr, chief of Shendy (Pilgrimage, i., +203). Moreover, the actual wound is less considered in Moslem law +than the instrument which caused it: so sticks and stones are +venial weapons, whilst sword and dagger, gun and pistol are +felonious. See ibid. (i., 336) for a note upon the weapons with +which nations are policed. + +[FN#198] Incest is now abominable everywhere except amongst the +overcrowded poor of great and civilised cities. Yet such unions +were common and lawful amongst ancient and highly cultivated +peoples, as the Egyptians (Isis and Osiris), Assyrians and ancient +Persians. Physiologically they are injurious only when the parents +have constitutional defects: if both are sound, the issue, as +amongst the so-called "lower animals " is viable and healthy. + +[FN#199] Dwellers in the Northern Temperates can hardly imagine +what a dust-storm is in sun parched tropical lands. In Sind we were +often obliged to use candles at mid-day, while above the dust was +a sun that would roast an egg. + +[FN#200] Arab. " 'Urban," now always used of the wild people, whom +the French have taught us to call les Bedouins; "Badw" being a +waste or desert, and Badawi (fem. Badawíyah, plur. Badáwi and +Bidwán), a man of the waste. Europeans have also learnt to miscall +the Egyptians "Arabs": the difference is as great as between an +Englishman and a Spaniard. Arabs proper divide their race into +sundry successive families. "The Arab al-Arabá" (or al- Aribah, or +al-Urubíyat) are the autochthones, prehistoric, proto-historic and +extinct tribes; for instance, a few of the Adites who being at +Meccah escaped the destruction of their wicked nation, but mingled +with other classes. The "Arab al-Muta'arribah," (Arabised Arabs) +are the first advenæ represented by such noble strains as the +Koraysh (Koreish), some still surviving. The "Arab al-Musta'aribah" +(insititious, naturalized or instituted Arabs, men who claim to be +Arabs) are Arabs like the Sinaites, the Egyptians and the Maroccans +descended by intermarriage with other races. Hence our +"Mosarabians" and the "Marrabais" of Rabelais (not, "a word +compounded of Maurus and Arabs"). Some genealogists, however, make +the Muta'arribah descendants of Kahtan (possibly the Joktan of +Genesis x., a comparatively modern document, B.C. 700?); and the +Musta'aribah those descended from Adnán the origin of Arab +genealogy. And, lastly, are the "Arab al-Musta'ajimah," barbarised +Arabs, like the present population of Meccah and Al-Medinah. +Besides these there are other tribes whose origin is still unknown, +such as the Mahrah tribes of Hazramaut, the "Akhdám" (=serviles) of +Oman (Maskat); and the "Ebná" of Al-Yaman: Ibn Ishak supposes the +latter to be descended from the Persian soldiers of Anushirwan who +expelled the Abyssinian invader from Southern Arabia. +(Pilgrimage, m., 31, etc.) + +[FN#201] Arab. "Amír al-Muuminín." The title was assumed by the +Caliph Omar to obviate the inconvenience of calling himself +"Khalífah" (successor) of the Khalífah of the Apostle of Allah +(i.e. Abu Bakr); which after a few generations would become +impossible. It means "Emir (chief or prince) of the Muumins," men +who hold to the (true Moslem) Faith, the "Imán" (theory, +fundamental articles) as opposed to the "Dín," ordinance or +practice of the religion. It once became a Wazirial time conferred +by Sultan Malikshah (King King- king) on his Nizám al-Murk. +(Richardson's Dissert. [viii.) + +[FN#202] This may also mean "according to the seven editions of the +Koran " the old revisions and so forth (Sale, Sect. iii. and +D'Herbelot "Alcoran.") The schools of the "Mukri," who teach the +right pronunciation wherein a mistake might be sinful, are seven, +Harnzah, Ibn Katír, Ya'akúb, Ibn Amir, Kisái, Asim and Hafs, the +latter being the favourite with the Hanafis and the only one now +generally known in Al-Islam. + +[FN#203] Arab. "Sadd"=wall, dyke, etc. the "bund" or "band" of +Anglo-India. Hence the "Sadd" on the Nile, the banks of grass and +floating islands which "wall" the stream. There are few sights more +appalling than a sandstorm in the desert, the "Zauba'ah" as the +Arabs call it. Devils, or pillars of sand, vertical and inclined, +measuring a thousand feet high, rush over the plain lashing the +sand at their base like a sea surging under a furious whirlwind; +shearing the grass clean away from the roots, tearing up trees, +which are whirled like leaves and sticks in air and sweeping away +tents and houses as if they were bits of paper. At last the columns +join at the top and form, perhaps three thousand feet above the +earth, a gigantic cloud of yellow sand which obliterates not only +the horizon but even the mid-day sun. These sand-spouts are the +terror of travellers. In Sind and the Punjab we have the dust- +storm which for darkness, I have said, beats the blackest London +fog. + +[FN#204] Arab. Sár = the vendetta, before mentioned, as dreaded in +Arabia as in Corsica. + +[FN#205] Arab. "Ghútah," usually a place where irrigation is +abundant. It especially applies (in books) to the Damascus-plain +because "it abounds with water and fruit trees." The Ghutah is one +of the four earthly paradises, the others being Basrah (Bassorah), +Shiraz and Samarcand. Its peculiarity is the likeness to a seaport +the Desert which rolls up almost to its doors being the sea and its +ships being the camels. The first Arab to whom we owe this +admirable term for the "Companion of Job" is "Tarafah" one of the +poets of the Suspended Poems: he likens (v. v. 3, 4) the camels +which bore away his beloved to ships sailing from Aduli. But "ships +of the desert" is doubtless a term of the highest antiquity. + +[FN#206] The exigencies of the "Saj'a," or rhymed prose, disjoint +this and many similar pas. sages. + +[FN#207] The "Ebony" Islands; Scott's "Isle of Ebene," i., 217. + +[FN#208] "Jarjarís" in the Bul. Edit. + +[FN#209] Arab. "Takbís." Many Easterns can hardly sleep without +this kneading of the muscles, this "rubbing" whose hygienic +properties England is now learning. + +[FN#210] The converse of the breast being broadened, the drooping, +"draggle-tail" gait compared with the head held high and the +chest inflated. + +[FN#211] This penalty is mentioned in the Koran (chaps. 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 (chaps. xx.) threatens to +crucify his magicians on palm-trees, and is held to be the first +crucifier. + +[FN#212] Arab. "'Ajami"=foreigner, esp. a Persian: the latter in +The Nights is mostly a villain. I must here remark that the +contemptible condition of Persians in Al-Hijáz (which I noted in +1852, Pilgrimage, i., 327) has completely changed. They are no +longer, "The slippers of All and hounds of Omar:" they have learned +the force of union and now, instead of being bullied, they bully. + +[FN#213] The Calc. Edit. turns into Tailors (Khayyátín) and +Torrens +does not see the misprint. + +[FN#214] i.e. Axe and sandals. + +[FN#215] Lit. "Strike his neck." + +[FN#216] A phrase which will frequently recur; meaning the +situation suggested such words a these. + +[FN#217] The smiter with the evil eye is called "A'in" and the +person smitten "Ma'ím" or "Ma'ún." + +[FN#218] Arab. "Sákiyah," the well-known Persian wheel with pots +and buckets attached to the tire. It is of many kinds, the boxed, +etc., etc., and it is possibly alluded to in the "pitcher broken at +the fountain" (Eccleslastes xii. 6) an accident often occurring to +the modern "Noria." Travellers mostly abuse its "dismal creaking" +and "mournful monotony": I have defended the music of the +water-wheel in Pilgrimage ii. 198. + +[FN#219] Arab. "Zikr" lit. remembering, mentioning (i. c. the names +of Allah), here refers to the meetings of religious for devotional +exercises; the "Zikkirs," as they are called, mostly standing or +sitting in a circle while they ejaculate the Holy Name. These +"rogations" are much affected by Darwayshes, or begging friars, +whom Europe politely divides Unto "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 Zikkíts. It must not be supposed that they are uneducated men: +the better class, however, prefers more privacy. + +[FN#220] As they thought he had been there for prayer or penance. + +[FN#221] Arab. "Ziyárat," a visit to a pious person or place. + +[FN#222] This is a paternal salute in the East where they are +particular about the part kissed. A witty and not unusually gross +Persian book, called the "Al-Námah" because all questions begin +with "Al" (the Arab article) contains one "Al-Wajib al-busidan?" +(what best deserves bussing?) and the answer is "Kus-i-nau-pashm," +(a bobadilla with a young bush). + +[FN#223] A weight of 71-72 English grains in gold; here equivalent +to the diner. + +[FN#224] Compare the tale of The Three Crows in Gammer Grethel, +Evening ix. + +[FN#225] The comparison is peculiarly apposite; the earth seen from +above appears hollow with a raised rim. + +[FN#226] A hundred years old. + +[FN#227] "Bahr" in Arab. means sea, river, piece of water; hence +the adjective is needed. + +[FN#228] The Captain or Master of the ship (not the owner). In +Al-Yaman the word also means a "barber," in virtue of the root, +Rass, a head. + +[FN#229] The text has "in the character Ruká'í,"," or Riká'í,, the +correspondence-hand. + +[FN#230] A curved character supposed to be like the basil-leaf +(rayhán). Richardson calls it "Rohani." + +[FN#231] I need hardly say that Easterns use a reed, a Calamus +(Kalam applied only to the cut reed) for our quills and steel +pens. + +[FN#232] Famous for being inscribed on the Kiswah (cover) of +Mohammed's tomb; a large and more formal hand still used for +engrossing and for mural inscriptions. Only seventy two varieties +of it are known (Pilgrimage, ii., 82). + +[FN#233] The copying and transcribing hand which is either Arabi or +Ajami. A great discovery has been lately made which upsets all our +old ideas of Cufic, etc. Mr. Löytved of Bayrut has found, amongst +the Hauranic inscriptions, one in pure Naskhi, dating A. D. 568, or +fifty years before the Hijrah; and it is accepted as authentic by +my learned friend M. Ch. Clermont-Ganneau (p. 193, Pal. Explor. +Fund. July 1884). In D'Herbelot and Sale's day the Koran was +supposed to have been written in rude characters, like those +subsequently called "Cufic," invented shortly before Mohammed's +birth by Murámir ibn Murrah of Anbar in Irák, introduced into +Meccah by Bashar the Kindian, and perfected by Ibn Muklah +(Al-Wazir, ob. A. H. 328=940). We must now change all that. See +Catalogue of Oriental Caligraphs, etc., by G. P, Badger, London, +Whiteley, 1885. + +[FN#234] Capital and uncial letters; the hand in which the Ka'abah +veil is inscribed (Pilgrimage iii. 299, 300). + +[FN#235] A "Court hand" says Mr. Payne (i. 112): I know nothing of +it. Other hands are: the Ta'alík; hanging or oblique, used for +finer MSS. and having, according to Richardson, "the same analogy +to the Naskhi as our Italic has to the Roman." The Nasta' lík (not +Naskh-Ta'alik) much used in India, is, as the name suggests, a +mixture of the Naskhi (writing of transactions) and the Ta'alik. +The Shikastah (broken hand) everywhere represents our running hand +and becomes a hard task to the reader. The Kirmá is another cursive +character, mostly confined to the receipts and disbursements of the +Turkish treasury. The Diváni, or Court (of Justice) is the official +hand, bold and round. a business character, the lines often rising +with a sweep or curve towards the (left) end. The Jáli or polished +has a variety, the Jali-Ta'alik: the Sulsi (known in many books) is +adopted for titles of volumes, royal edicts, diplomas and so forth; +"answering much the same purpose as capitals with us, or the +flourished letters in illuminated manuscripts" (Richardson) The +Tughrái is that of the Tughrá, the Prince's cypher or flourishing +signature in ceremonial writings, and containing some such sentence +as: Let this be executed. There are others e. g. Yákuti and +Sirenkil known only by name. Finally the Maghribi (Moorish) hand +differs in form and diacritical points from the characters used +further east almost as much as German running hand does from +English. It is curious that Richardson omits the Jali (intricate +and convoluted) and the divisions of the Sulusí, Sulsi or Sulus +(Thuluth) character, the Sulus al-Khafíf, etc. + +[FN#236] Arab. "Baghlah"; the male (Bagful) is used only for loads. +This is everywhere the rule: nothing is more unmanageable than a +restive "Macho", and he knows that he can always get you off his +back when so minded. From "Baghlah" is derived the name of the +native craft Anglo-Indicè a "Buggalow." + +[FN#237] In Heb. ""Ben-Adam" is any man opp. to "Beni ish" +(Psalm iv. 3) =filii viri, not homines. + +[FN#238] This posture is terribly trying to European legs; and few +white men (unless brought up to it) can squat for any time on their +heels. The ``tailor-fashion," with crossed legs, is held to be free +and easy. + +[FN#239] Arab. "Katá"=Pterocles Alchata, the well-known sand-grouse +of the desert. It is very poor white flesh. + +[FN#240] Arab. "Khubz" which I do not translate "cake" or +``bread,'' as thee would suggest the idea of our loaf. The staff of +life in the East is a thin flat circle of dough baked in the oven +or on the griddle, and corresponding with the Scotch "scone," the +Spanish tortilla and the Australian "flap-jack." + +[FN#241] Arab. "Harísah," a favourite dish of wheat (or rice) +boiled and reduced to a paste with shredded meat, spices and +condiments. The "bangles" is a pretty girl eating with him. + +[FN#242] These lines are repeated with a difference in Night +cccxxx. They affect Rims cars, out of the way, heavy rhymes: e. g. +here Sakáríj (plur. of Sakrúj, platters, porringers); Tayáhíj +(plur. of Tayhúj, the smaller caccabis-partridge); Tabáhíj (Persian +Tabahjah, an me et or a stew of meat, onions, eggs, etc.) Ma'áríj +("in stepped piles" like the pyramids 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 Gr. +dakújah,, a small Jar). In the first line we have also (though not +a rhyme) Gharánik Gr. , a crane, preserved in Romaic. The +weeping and wailing are caused by the remembrance that all these +delicacies have been demolished like a Badawi camp. + +[FN#243] This is the vinum coctum, the boiled wine, still a +favourite in Southern Italy and Greece. + +[FN#244] Eastern topers delight in drinking at dawn: upon this +subject I shall have more to say in other Nights. + +[FN#245] Arab. "Adab," a crux to translators, meaning anything +between good education and good manners. In mod. Turk. "Edibiyyet" +(Adabiyat) = belles lettres and "Edebi' or "Edíb" = a littérateur. + +[FN#246] The Caliph Al-Maamún, who was a bad player, used to say, +"I have the administration of the world and am equal to it, whereas +I am straitened in the ordering of a space of two spans by two +spans." The "board" was then "a square field of well-dressed +leather." + +[FN#247] The Rabbis (after Matth. xix. 12) count three kinds of +Eunuchs; (1) Seris chammah=of the sun, i.e. natural, (2) Seris +Adam=manufactured per homines; and (3) Seris Chammayim--of God +(i.e.. religious abstainer). Seris (castrated) or Abd (slave) is +the general Hebrew name. + +[FN#248] The "Lady of Beauty." + +[FN#249] "Káf" has been noticed as the mountain which surrounds +earth as a ring does the finger:: it is popularly used like our Alp +and Alpine. The "circumambient Ocean" (Bahr al-muhit) is the +Homeric Ocean-stream. + +[FN#250] The pomegranate is probably chosen here because each fruit +is supposed to contain one seed from Eden-garden. Hence a host of +superstitions (Pilgrimage iii., 104) possibly connected with the +Chaldaic-Babylonian god Rimmon or Ramanu. Hence Persephone or +Ishtar tasted the "rich pomegranate's seed." Lenormant, loc. cit. +pp. 166, 182. + +[FN#251] i.e. for the love of God--a favourite Moslem phrase. + +[FN#252] Arab. "Báb," also meaning a chapter (of magic, of war, +etc.), corresponding with the Persian "Dar" as in Sad-dar, the +Hundred Doors. Here, however, it is figurative "I tried a new +mode." This scene is in the Mabinogion. + +[FN#253] I use this Irish term = crying for the dead, as English +wants the word for the præfica, or myrialogist. The practice is not +encouraged in Al-Islam; and Caliph Abu Bakr said, ; "Verily a +corpse is sprinkled with boiling water by reason of the +lamentations of the living, i.e. punished for not having taken +measures to prevent their profitless lamentations. But the practice +is from Negroland whence it reached Egypt, and the people have +there developed a curious system in the "weeping-song" I have noted +this in "The Lake Regions of Central Africa." In Zoroastrianism +(Dabistan, chaps. xcvii.) tears shed for the dead form a river in +hell, black and frigid. + +[FN#254] These lines are hardly translatable. Arab. "Sabr" means +"patience" as well as "aloes," hereby lending itself to a host of +puns and double entendres more or less vile. The aloe, according to +Burckhardt, is planted in graveyards as a lesson of patience: it is +also slung, like the dried crocodile, over house doors to prevent +evil spirits entering: "thus hung without earth and water," says +Lane (M.E., chaps. xi.), "it will live for several years and even +blossom. Hence (?) it is called Sabr, which signifies patience. But +Sibr as well as Sabr (a root) means "long sufferance." I hold the +practice to be one of the many Inner African superstitions. The +wild Gallas to the present day plant aloes on graves, and suppose +that when the plant sprouts the deceased has been admitted to the +gardens of Wák, the Creator. (Pilgrimage iii. 350.) + +[FN#255] Every city in the East has its specific title: this was +given to Baghdad either on account of its superior police or simply +because it was the Capital of the Caliphate. The Tigris was also +called the "River of Peace (or Security)." + +[FN#256] This is very characteristic: the passengers finding +themselves in difficulties at once take command. See in my +Pilgrimage (I. chaps. xi.) how we beat and otherwise maltreated the +Captain of the "Golden Wire." + +[FN#257] The fable is probably based on the currents which, as in +Eastern Africa, will carry a ship fifty miles a day out of her +course. We first find it in Ptolemy (vii. 2) whose Maniólai +Islands, of India extra Gangem, cause iron nails to fly out of +ships, the effect of the Lapis Herculeus (Loadstone). Rabelais (v. +c. 37) alludes to it and to the vulgar idea of magnetism being +counteracted by Skordon (Scordon or garlic). Hence too the Adamant +(Loadstone) Mountains of Mandeville (chaps. xxvii.) and the +"Magnetic Rock" in Mr Puttock's clever "Peter Wilkins." I presume +that the myth also arose from seeing craft built, as on the East +African Coast, without iron nails. We shall meet with the legend +again. The word Jabal ("Jebel" in Egypt) often occurs in these +pages. The Arabs apply it to any rising ground or heap of rocks; so +it is not always = our mountain. It has found its way to Europe +e. g. Gibraltar and Monte Gibello (or Mongibel in poetry) "Mt. Ethne +that men clepen Mounte Gybelle." Other special senses of Jabal +will occur. + +[FN#258] As we learn from the Nubian Geographer the Arabs in early +ages explored the Fortunate Islands (Jazírát al-Khálidát=Eternal +Isles), or Canaries, on one of which were reported a horse and +horseman in bronze with his spear pointing west. Ibn al-Ward) notes +two images of hard stone, each an hundred cubits high, and upon the +top of each a figure of copper pointing with its hand backwards, as +though it would say:--Return for there is nothing behind me!" But +this legend attaches to older doings. The 23rd Tobba (who succeeded +Bilkis), Malik bin Sharhabíl, (or Sharabíl or Sharahíl) surnamed +Náshir al-Ní'am=scatterer of blessings, lost an army in attempting +the Western sands and set up a statue of copper upon whose breast +was inscribed in antique characters:-- + + There is no access behind me, + Nothing beyond, + (Saith) The Son of Sharabíl. + +[FN#259] i.e. I exclaimed "Bismillah!" + +[FN#260] The lesser ablution of hands, face and feet; a kind of +"washing the points." More in Night ccccxl. + +[FN#261] Arab. "Ruka'tayn"; the number of these bows which are +followed by the prostrations distinguishes the five daily +prayers. + +[FN#262] The "Beth Kol" of the Hebrews; also called by the Moslems +"Hátif"; for which ask the Spiritualists. It is the Hindu "voice +divine" or "voice from heaven." + +[FN#263] These formulae are technically called Tasmiyah, Tahlil +(before noted) and Takbír: i.e. "testifying" is Tashhíd. + +[FN#264] Arab. "Samn," (Pers. "Raughan" Hind. "Ghi") the "single +sauce" of the East; fresh butter set upon the fire, skimmed and +kept (for a century if required) in leather bottles and demijohns. +Then it becomes a hard black mass, considered a panacea for wounds +and diseases. It is very "filling": you say jocosely to an Eastern +threatened with a sudden inroad of guests, "Go, swamp thy rice with +Raughan." I once tried training, like a Hindu Pahlawan or athlete, +on Gur (raw sugar), milk and Ghi; and the result was being blinded +by bile before the week ended. + +[FN#265] These handsome youths are always described in the terms we +should apply to women. + +[FN#266] The Bull Edit. (i. 43) reads otherwise:--I found a garden +and a second and a third and so on till they numbered thirty and +nine; and, in each garden, I saw what praise will not express, of +trees and rills and fruits and treasures. At the end of the last I +sighted a door and said to myself, "What may be in this place?; +needs must I open it and look in!" I did so accordingly and saw a +courser ready saddled and bridled and picketed; so I loosed and +mounted him, and he flew with me like a bird till he set me down on +a terrace-roof; and, having landed me, he struck me a whisk with +his tail and put out mine eye and fled from me. Thereupon I +descended from the roof and found ten youths all blind of one eye +who, when they saw me exclaimed, "No welcome to thee, and no good +cheer!" I asked them, "Do ye admit me to your home and society?" +and they answered, "No, by Allah' thou shalt not live amongst us." +So I went forth with weeping eyes and grieving heart, but Allah had +written my safety on the Guarded Tablet so I reached Baghdad in +safety, etc. This is a fair specimen of how the work has been +curtailed in that issue. + +[FN#267] Arabs date pregnancy from the stopping of the menses, upon +which the foetus is supposed to feed. Kalilah wa Dimnah says, "The +child's navel adheres to that of his mother and thereby he sucks" +(i. 263). + +[FN#268] This is contrary to the commands of Al-Islam, Mohammed +expressly said "The Astrologers are liars, by the Lord of the +Ka'abah!"; and his saying is known to almost all Moslems, lettered +or unlettered. Yet, the further we go East (Indiawards) the more we +find these practices held in honour. Turning westwards we have: + + Iuridicis, Erebo, Fisco, fas vivere rapto: + Militibus, Medicis, Tortori occidere ludo est; + Mentiri Astronomis, Pictoribus atque Poetis. + +[FN#269] He does not perform the Wuzu or lesser ablution because he +neglects his dawn prayers. + +[FN#270] For this game see Lane (M. E. Chapt. xvii.) It is usually +played on a checked cloth not on a board like our draughts; and +Easterns are fond of eating, drinking and smoking between and even +during the games. Torrens (p. 142) translates "I made up some +dessert," confounding "Mankalah" with "Nukl" (dried fruit, +quatre-mendiants). + +[FN#271] Quoted from Mohammed whose saying has been given. + +[FN#272] We should say "the night of the thirty-ninth." + +[FN#273] The bath first taken after sickness. + +[FN#274] Arab. "Dikák" used by way of soap or rather to soften the +skin: the meal is usually of lupins, "Adas"="Revalenta Arabica," +which costs a penny in Egypt and half-a-crown in England. + +[FN#275] Arab. "Sukkar-nabát." During my day (1842-49) we had no +other sugar in the Bombay Presidency. + +[FN#276] This is one of the myriad Arab instances that the decrees +of "Anagké," Fate, Destiny, Weird, are inevitable. The situation is +highly dramatic; and indeed The Nights, as will appear in the +Terminal Essay, have already suggested a national drama. + +[FN#277] Having lately been moved by Ajib. + +[FN#278] Mr. Payne (i. 131) omits these lines which appear out of +place; but this mode of inappropriate quotation is a characteristic +of Eastern tales. + +[FN#279] Anglicè "him." + +[FN#280] This march of the tribe is a lieu commun of Arab verse +e.g. the poet Labid's noble elegy on the "Deserted Camp." We shall +find scores of instances in The Nights. + +[FN#281] I have heard of such sands in the Desert east of Damascus +which can be crossed only on boards or camel furniture; and the +same is reported of the infamous Region "Al-Ahkláf" ("Unexplored +Syria"). + +[FN#282] Hence the Arab. saying "The bark of a dog and not the +gleam of a fire;" the tired traveller knows from the former that +the camp is near, whereas the latter shows from great distances. + +[FN#283] Dark blue is the colour of mourning in Egypt as it was of +the Roman Republic. The Persians hold that this tint was introduced +by Kay Kawús (B. C. 600) when mourning for his son Siyáwush. It was +continued till the death of Husayn on the 10th of Muharram (the +first month, then representing the vernal equinox) when it was +changed for black. As a rule Moslems do not adopt this symbol of +sorrow (called "Hidád") looking upon the practice as somewhat +idolatrous and foreign to Arab manners. In Egypt and especially on +the Upper Nile women dye their hands with indigo and stair. their +faces black or blacker. + +[FN#284] The older Roc, of which more in the Tale of Sindbad. +Meanwhile the reader curious about the Persian Símurgh (thirty +bird) will consult the Dabistan, i., 55,191 and iii., 237, and +Richardson's Diss. p. xlviii. For the Anka (Enka or Unka--long +necked bird) see Dab. iii., 249 and for the Humá (bird of Paradise) +Richardson lxix. We still lack details concerning the Ben or Bennu +(nycticorax) of Egypt which with the Article pi gave rise to the +Greek "phoenix." + +[FN#285] Probably the Haledj of Forskal (p. xcvi. Flor. Ægypt. +Arab.), "lignum tenax, durum, obscuri generic." The Bres. Edit. has +"ákúl"=teak wood, vulg. "Sáj." + +[FN#286] The knocker ring is an invention well known to the +Romans. + +[FN#287] Arab. "Sadr"; the place of honour; hence the "Sudder +Adawlut" (Supreme Court) in the Anglo-Indian jargon. + +[FN#288] Arab. "Ahlan wa sahlan wa marhabá," the words still +popularly addressed to a guest. + +[FN#289] This may mean "liquid black eyes"; but also, as I have +noticed, that the lashes were long and thick enough to make the +eyelids appear as if Kohl-powder had been applied to the inner +rims. + +[FN#290] A slight parting between the two front incisors, the upper +only, is considered a beauty by Arabs; why it as hard to say except +for the racial love of variety. "Sugar" (Thug) in the text means, +primarily, the opening of the mouth, the gape: hence the front +teeth. + +[FN#291] i.e. makes me taste the bitterness of death, "bursting the +gall-bladder" (Marárah) being our "breaking the heart." + +[FN#292] Almost needless to say that forbidden doors and rooms form +a lieu-commun in Fairie: they are found in the Hindu Katha Sarit +Sagara and became familiar to our childhood by "Bluebeard." + +[FN#293] Lit. "apply Kohl to my eyes," even as Jezebel "painted her +face," in Heb. put her eyes in painting (2 Kings ix. 30). + +[FN#294] Arab. "Al-Barkúk," whence our older "Apricock." +Classically it is "Burkúk" and Pers. for Arab. "Mishrnish," and it +also denotes a small plum or damson. In Syria the side next the +sun" shows a glowing red flush. + +[FN#295] Arab. "Hazár" (in Persian, a thousand) = a kind of +mocking bird. + +[FN#296] Some Edits. make the doors number a hundred, but the +Princesses were forty and these coincidences, which seem to have +significance and have none save for Arab symmetromania, are +common in Arab stories. + +[FN#297] Arab. "Májur": hence possibly our "mazer," which is +popularly derived from Masarn, a maple. + +[FN#298] A compound scent of ambergris, musk and aloes. + +[FN#299] The ends of the bridle-reins forming the whip. + +[FN#300] The flying horse is Pegasus which is a Greek travesty of +an Egyptian myth developed India. + +[FN#301] The Bres. Edit. wrongly says "the seventh." + +[FN#302] Arab. "Sharmutah" (plur. Sharámít) from the root Sharmat, +to shred, a favourite Egyptian word also applied in vulgar speech +to a strumpet, a punk, a piece. It is also the popular term for +strips of jerked or boucaned meat hung up m the sun to dry, and +classically called "Kadíd." + +[FN#303] Arab. "Izár," the man's waistcloth opposed to the Ridá or +shoulder-cloth, is also the sheet of white calico worn by the +poorer Egyptian women out of doors and covering head and hands. See +Lane (M. E., chaps. i.). The rich prefer a "Habárah" of black silk, +and the poor, when they have nothing else, use a bed-sheet. + +[FN#304] i.e. "My clears." + +[FN#305] Arab. "Lá tawákhizná:" lit. "do not chastise (or blame) +us;" the pop. expression for, "excuse (or pardon) us." + +[FN#306] Arab. "Maskhút," mostly applied to change of shape as man +enchanted to monkey, and in vulgar parlance applied to a statue (of +stone, etc.). The list of metamorphoses in Al-Islam is longer than +that known to Ovid. Those who have seen Petra, the Greek town of +the Haurán and the Roman ruins in Northern Africa will readily +detect the bests upon which these stories are built. I shall return +to this subject in The City of Iram (Night cclxxvi.) and The City +of Brass (dlxvii.). + +[FN#307] A picturesque phrase enough to express a deserted site, a +spectacle familiar to the Nomades and always abounding in pathos to +the citizens. + +[FN#308] The olden "Harem" (or gynæceum, Pers. Zenanah, Serraglio): +Harím is also used by synecdoche for the inmates; especially the +wife. + +[FN#309] The pearl is supposed in the East to lose 1% per ann. of +its splendour and value. + +[FN#310] Arab. "Fass," properly the bezel of a ring; also a gem cut +en cabochon and generally the contenant for the contenu. + +[FN#311] Arab. "Mihráb" = the arch-headed niche in the Mosque-wall +facing Meccah-wards. Here, with his back to the people and fronting +the Ka'abah or Square House of Meccah (hence called the "Kiblah" = +direction of prayer), stations himself the Imám, artistes or +fugleman, lit. "one who stands before others;" and his bows and +prostrations give the time to the congregation. I have derived the +Mihrab from the niche in which the Egyptian God was shrined: the +Jews ignored it, but the Christians preserved it for their statues +and altars. Maundrell suggests that the empty niche denotes an +invisible God. As the niche (symbol of Venus) and the minaret +(symbol of Priapus) date only from the days of the tenth Caliph, +Al-Walid (A.H. 86-96=105-115), the Hindus charge the Moslems with +having borrowed the two from their favourite idols--The Linga-Yoni +or Cunnus phallus (Pilgrimage ii. 140), and plainly call the Mihrab +a Bhaga= Cunnus (Dabistan ii. 152). The Guebres further term Meccah +"Mah-gah," locus Lunæ, and Al-Medinah, "Mahdinah," = Moon of +religion. See Dabistan i., 49, etc. + + +[FN#312] Arab "Kursi," a stool of palm-fronds, etc., X-shaped (see +Lane's illustration, Nights i., 197), before which the reader sits. +Good Moslems will not hold the Holy Volume below the waist nor open +it except when ceremonially pure. Englishmen in the East should +remember this, for to neglect the "Adab al-Kúran" (respect due to +Holy Writ) gives great scandal. + +[FN#313] Mr. Payne (i. 148) quotes the German Zuckerpüppchen. + +[FN#314] The Persian poets have a thousand conceits in praise of +the "mole," (Khál or Shámah) for which Hafiz offered "Samarkand and +Bokhara" (they not being his, as his friends remarked). Another +"topic" is the flight of arrows shot by eyelashes. + +[FN#315] Arab. "Suhá" a star in the Great Bear introduced only to +balance "wushát" = spies, enviers, enemies, whose "evil eye" it +will ward off. + +[FN#316] In Arab tales beauty is always "soft-sided," and a smooth +skin is valued in proportion to its rarity. + +[FN#317] The myrtle is the young hair upon the side face + +[FN#318] In other copies of these verses the fourth couplet swears +"by the scorpions of his brow" i.e. the accroche-cæurs, the +beau-catchers, bell-ropes or aggravators," as the B.P. calls them. +In couplet eight the poet alludes to his love's "Unsur," or element +his nature made up of the four classicals, and in the last couplet +he makes the nail paring refer to the moon not the sun. + +[FN#319] This is regular formula when speaking of Guebres. + +[FN#320] Arab. "Faráiz"; the orders expressly given in the Koran +which the reader will remember, is Uncreate and Eternal. In India +"Farz" is applied to injunctions thrice repeated; and "Wájíb" to +those given twice over. Elsewhere scanty difference is made between +them. + +[FN#321] Arab. "Kufr" = rejecting the True Religion, i.e. Al-Islam, +such rejection being "Tughyán" or rebellion against the Lord. The +"terrible sound" is taken from the legend of the prophet Sálih and +the proto-historic tribe of Thámúd which for its impiety was struck +dead by an earthquake and a noise from heaven. The latter, +according to some commentators, was the voice of the Archangel +Gabriel crying "Die all of you" (Koran, chapts. vii., xviii., +etc.). We shall hear more of it in the "City of many-columned +Iram." According to some, Salih, a mysterious Badawi prophet, is +buried in the Wady al-Shaykh of the so-called Sinaitic Peninsula. + +[FN#322] Yet they kept the semblance of man, showing that the idea +arose from the basaltic statues found in Hauranic ruins. Mohammed +in his various marches to Syria must have seen remnants of Greek +and Roman settlements; and as has been noticed "Sesostris" + +[FN#323] Arab. "Shuhadá"; highly respected by Moslems as by other +religionists; although their principal if not only merit seems as +a rule to have been intense obstinacy and devotion to one idea for +which they were ready to sacrifice even life. The Martyrs-category +is extensive including those killed by falling walls; victims to +the plague, pleurisy and pregnancy, travellers drowned or otherwise +lost when journeying honestly, and chaste lovers who die of "broken +hearts" i.e. impaired digestion. Their souls are at once stowed +away in the crops of green birds where they remain till +Resurrection Day, "eating of the fruits and drinking of the streams +of Paradise," a place however, whose topography is wholly +uncertain. Thus the young Prince was rewarded with a manner of +anti-Purgatory, a preparatory heaven. + +[FN#324] Arab. "Su'ubán:" the Badawin give the name to a variety of +serpents all held to be venomous; but m tales the word, like +"Tannín," expresses our "dragon" or "cockatrice." + +[FN#325] She was ashamed to see the lady doing servile duty by +rubbing her feet. This massage, which B. de la Brocquière describes +in 1452 as "kneading and pinching," has already been noticed. The +French term is apparently derived from the Arab. "Mas-h." + +[FN#326] Alluding to the Most High Name, the hundredth name of God, +the Heb. Shem hamphorash, unknown save to a favoured few who by +using it perform all manner of miracles. + +[FN#327] i e. the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. + +[FN#328] i.e. Settled by the Koran. + +[FN#329] The uglier the old woman the better procuress she is +supposed to make. See the Santa Verdiana in Boccaccio v., 10. In +Arab. "Ajuz" (old woman) is highly insulting and if addressed to an +Egyptian, whatever be her age she will turn fiercely and resent it. +The polite term is Shaybah (Pilgrimage hi., 200). + +[FN#330] The four ages of woman, considered after Demosthenes in +her three-fold character, prostitute for pleasure, concubine for +service and wife for breeding. + +[FN#331] Arab. "Jilá" (the Hindostani Julwa) = the displaying of +the bride before the bridegroom for the first time, in different +dresses, to the number of seven which are often borrowed for the +occasion. The happy man must pay a fee called "the tax of +face-unveiling" before he can see her features. Amongst Syrian +Christians he sometimes tries to lift the veil by a sharp movement +of the sword which is parried by the women present, and the blade +remains entangled in the cloth. At last he succeeds, the bride +sinks to the ground covering her face with her hands and the robes +of her friends: presently she is raised up, her veil is readjusted +and her face is left bare. + +[FN#332] Arab. "Ishá"= the first watch of the night, twilight, +supper-time, supper. Moslems have borrowed the four watches of the +Romans from 6 (a.m. or p.m.) to 6, and ignore the three original +watches of the Jews, even, midnight and cockcrow (Sam. ii. 19, +Judges vii. 19, and Exodus xiv. 24). + +[FN#333] A popular Arab hyperbole. + +[FN#334] Arab. "Shakáik al-Nu'uman," lit. the fissures of Nu'uman, +the beautiful anemone, which a tyrannical King of Hirah, Nu'uman +Al-Munzir, a contemporary of Mohammed, attempted to monopolize. + +[FN#335] Arab. "Andam"=here the gum called dragon's blood; in other +places the dye-wood known as brazil. + +[FN#336] I need hardly say that in the East, where bells are +unused, clapping the hands summons the servants. In India men cry +"Quy hye" (Koi hái?) and in Brazil whistle "Pst!" after the fashion +of Spain and Portugal. + +[FN#337] The moles are here compared with pearls; a simile by no +means common or appropriate. + +[FN#338] A parody on the testification of Allah's Unity. + +[FN#339] Arab. "Simát" (prop. "Sumát"); the "dinner-table," +composed of a round wooden stool supporting a large metal tray, the +two being called "Sufrah" (or "Simat"): thus "Sufrah házirah!" +means dinner is on the table. After the meal they are at once +removed. + +[FN#340] In the text "Dastúr," the Persian word before noticed; +"Izn" would be the proper Arabic equivalent. + +[FN#341] In the Moslem East a young woman, single or married, is +not allowed to appear alone in the streets; and the police have a +right to arrest delinquents. As a preventive of intrigues the +precaution is excellent. During the Crimean war hundreds of +officers, English, French and Italian, became familiar with +Constantinople; and not a few flattered themselves on their success +with Turkish women. I do not believe that a single bona fide case +occurred: the "conquests" were all Greeks, Wallachians, Armenians +or Jewesses. + +[FN#342] Arab. "Azím": translators do not seem to know that this +word in The Nights often bears its Egyptian and slang sense, +somewhat equivalent to our "deuced" or "mighty" or "awfully +fine." + +[FN#343] This is a very serious thing amongst Moslems and +scrupulous men often make great sacrifices to avoid taking an +oath. + +[FN#344] We should say "into the noose." + +[FN#345] The man had fallen in love with her and determined to mark +her so that she might be his. + +[FN#346] Arab. "Dajlah," in which we find the Heb. Hid-dekel. + +[FN#347] Such an execution would be contrary to Moslem law: but +people would look leniently upon the peccadillo of beheading or +sacking a faithless wife. Moreover the youth was of the blood royal +and A quoi bon être prince? as was said by a boy of viceroyal +family in Egypt to his tutor who reproached him for unnecessarily +shooting down a poor old man. + +[FN#348] Arab. "Shirk," partnership, evening or associating gods +with God; polytheism: especially levelled at the Hindu triadism, +Guebre dualism and Christian Trinitarianism. + +[FN#349] Arab. "Shatm"--abuse, generally couched in foulest +language with especial reference to the privy parts of female +relatives. + +[FN#350] When a woman is bastinadoed in the East they leave her +some portion of dress and pour over her sundry buckets of water for +a delicate consideration. When the hands are beaten they are passed +through holes in the curtain separating the sufferer from mankind, +and made fast to a "falakah" or pole. + +[FN#351] Arab. "Khalifah," Caliph. The word is also used for the +successor of a Santon or holy man. + +[FN#352] Arab. "Sár," here the Koranic word for carrying out the +venerable and undying lex talionis the original basis of all +criminal jurisprudence. Its main fault is that justice repeats the +offence. + +[FN#353] Both these sons of Harun became Caliphs, as we shall see +in The Nights. + +[FN#354] "Dog" and "hog" are still highly popular terms of abuse. +The Rabbis will not defile their lips with "pig;" but say "Dabhar +akhir"="another thing." + +[FN#355] The "hero eponymus" of the Abbaside dynasty, Abbas having +been the brother of Abdullah the father of Mohammed. He is a famous +personage in AI-Islam (D'Herbelot). + +[FN#356] Europe translates the word "Barmecides. It is Persian from +bar (up) and makidan (to suck). The vulgar legend is that Ja'afar, +the first of the name, appeared before the Caliph Abd al-Malik with +a ring poisoned for his own need; and that the Caliph, warned of it +by the clapping of two stones which he wore ad hoc, charged the +visitor with intention to murder him. He excused himself and in his +speech occurred the Persian word "Barmakam," which may mean "I +shall sup it up," or "I am a Barmak," that is, a high priest among +the Guebres. See D'Herbelot s.v. + +[FN#357] Arab."Zulm," the deadliest of monarch's sins. One of the +sayings of Mohammed, popularly quoted, is, "Kingdom endureth with +Kufr or infidelity (i. e. without accepting AI-Islam) but endureth +not with Zulm or injustice." Hence the good Moslem will not +complain of the rule of Kafirs or Unbelievers, like the English, so +long as they rule him righteously and according to his own law.] + +[FN#358] All this aggravates his crime: had she been a widow she +would not have had upon him "the claims of maidenhead," the premio +della verginita of Boccaccio, x. 10. + +[FN#359] It is supposed that slaves cannot help telling these fatal +lies. Arab story-books are full of ancient and modern instances and +some have become "Joe Millers." Moreover it is held unworthy of a +free-born man to take over-notice of these servile villanies; hence +the scoundrel in the story escapes unpunished. I have already +noticed the predilection of debauched women for these "skunks of +the human race;" and the young man in the text evidently suspected +that his wife had passed herself this "little caprice." The excuse +which the Caliph would find for him is the pundonor shown in +killing one he loved so fondly. + +[FN#360] The Arab equivalent of our pitcher and well. + +[FN#361] i.e. Where the dress sits loosely about the bust. + +[FN#362] He had trusted in Allah and his trust was justified. + +[FN#363] Arab. "Khila'ah" prop. What a man strips from his +person: gen. An honorary gift. It is something more than the +"robe of honour" of our chivalrous romances, as it includes a +horse, a sword (often gold-hilted), a black turban (amongst the +Abbasides) embroidered with gold, a violet-mantle, a waist-shawl +and a gold neck-chain and shoe-buckles. + +[FN#364] Arab. "Izá," i.e. the visits of condolence and so forth +which are long and terribly wearisome in the Moslem East. + +[FN#365] Arab. "Mahr," the money settled by the man before +marriage on the woman and without which the contract is not +valid. Usually half of it is paid down on the marriage-day and +the other half when the husband dies or divorces his wife. But if +she take a divorce she forfeits her right to it, and obscene +fellows, especially Persians, often compel her to demand divorce +by unnatural and preposterous use of her person. + +[FN#366] Bismillah here means "Thou art welcome to it." + +[FN#367] Arab. "Bassak," half Pers. (bas = enough) and--ak = +thou; for thee. "Bas" sounds like our "buss" (to kiss) and there +are sundry good old Anglo-Indian jokes of feminine mistakes on +the subject. + +[FN#368] This saving clause makes the threat worse. The scene +between the two brothers is written with characteristic Arab +humour; and it is true to nature. In England we have heard of a +man who separated from his wife because he wished to dine at six +and she preferred half-past six. + +[FN#369] Arab. "Misr." (vulg. Masr). The word, which comes of a +very ancient house, was applied to the present capital about the +time of its conquest by the Osmanli Turks A.H. 923 = 1517. + +[FN#370] The Arab. "Jízah," = skirt, edge; the modern village is +the site of an ancient Egyptian city, as the "Ghizah inscription" +proves (Brugsch, History of Egypt, ii. 415) + +[FN#371] Arab. "Watan" literally meaning "birth-place" but also +used for "patria, native country"; thus "Hubb al-Watan" = +patriotism. The Turks pronounce it "Vatan," which the French have +turned it into Va-t'en! + +[FN#372] Arab. "Zarzariyah" = the colour of a stare or starling +(Zurzúr). + +[FN#373] Now a Railway Station on the Alexandria-Cairo line. + +[FN#374] Even as late as 1852, when I first saw Cairo, the city +was girt by waste lands and the climate was excellent. Now +cultivation comes up to the house walls; while the Mahmudiyah +Canal, the planting the streets with avenues and over-watering +have seriously injured it; those who want the air of former Cairo +must go to Thebes. Gout, rheumatism and hydrophobia (before +unknown) have become common of late years. + +[FN#375] This is the popular pronunciation: Yakút calls it +"Bilbís." + +[FN#376] An outlying village on the "Long Desert," between Cairo +and Palestine. + +[FN#377] Arab. "Al-Kuds" = holiness. There are few cities which +in our day have less claim to this title than Jerusalem; and, +curious to say, the "Holy Land" shows Jews, Christians and +Moslems all in their worst form. The only religion (if it can be +called one) which produces men in Syria is the Druse. "Heiligen- +landes Jüden" are proverbial and nothing can be meaner than the +Christians while the Moslems are famed for treachery. + +[FN#378] Arab. "Shamm al-hawá." In vulgar parlance to "smell the +air" is to take a walk, especially out of town. There is a +peculiar Egyptian festival called "Shamm al-Nasím" (smelling the +Zephyr) which begins on Easter-Monday (O.S.), thus corresponding +with the Persian Nau-roz, vernal equinox and introducing the +fifty days of "Khammasín" or "Mirísi" (hot desert winds). On +awakening, the people smell and bathe their temples with vinegar +in which an onion has been soaked and break their fast with a +"fisikh" or dried "búri" = mullet from Lake Menzalah: the late +Hekekiyan Bey had the fish-heads counted in one public garden and +found 70,000. The rest of the day is spent out of doors +"Gypsying," and families greatly enjoy themselves on these +occasions. For a longer description, see a paper by my excellent +friend Yacoub Artin Pasha, in the Bulletin de l'Institut +Égyptien, 2nd series, No. 4, Cairo, 1884. I have noticed the +Mirísi (south-wester) and other winds in the Land of Midian, i., +23. + +[FN#379] So in the days of the "Mameluke Beys" in Egypt a man of +rank would not cross the street on foot. + +[FN#380] Arab. Basrah. The city is now in decay and not to +flourish again till the advent of the Euphrates Valley R.R., is a +modern place, founded in A.H. 15, by the Caliph Omar upon the +Aylah, a feeder of the Tigris. Here, according to Al-Haríri, the +"whales and the lizards meet," and, as the tide affects the +river, + + Its stream shows prodigy, ebbing and flowing. + +In its far-famed market-place, Al-Marbad, poems used to be +recited; and the city was famous for its mosques and Saint- +shrines, fair women and school of Grammar which rivalled that of +Kúfah. But already in Al-Hariri's day (nat. A.H. 446 = A.D. 1030) +Baghdad had drawn off much of its population. + +[FN#381] This fumigation (Bukhúr) is still used. A little incense +or perfumed wood is burnt upon an open censor (Mibkharah) of +earthenware or metal, and passed round, each guest holding it for +a few moments under his beard. In the Somali County, the very +home of incense, both sexes fumigate the whole person after +carnal intercourse. Lane (Mod. Egypt, chapt. viii) gives an +illustration of the Mibkharah). + +[FN#382] The reader of The Nights will remark that the merchant +is often a merchant-prince, consorting and mating with the +highest dignitaries. Even amongst the Romans, a race of soldiers, +statesmen and lawyers, "mercatura" on a large scale was "not to +be vituperated." In Boccacio (x. 19) they are netti e delicati +uomini. England is perhaps the only country which has made her +fortune by trade, and much of it illicit trade, like that in +slaves which built Liverpool and Bristol, and which yet disdains +or affects to disdain the trader. But the unworthy prejudice is +disappearing with the last generation, and men who formerly would +have half starved as curates and ensigns, barristers and carabins +are now only too glad to become merchants. + +[FN#383] These lines in the Calc. And Bul. Edits. Have already +occurred (Night vii.) but such carelessness is characteristic +despite the proverb, "In repetition is no fruition." I quote +Torrens (p. 60) by way of variety. As regards the anemone (here +called a tulip) being named "Shakík" = fissure, I would +conjecture that it derives from the flower often forming long +lines of red like stripes of blood in the landscape. Travellers +in Syria always observe this. + +[FN#384] Such an address to a royalty (Eastern) even in the +present day, would be a passport to future favours. + +[FN#385] In England the man marries and the woman is married: +there is no such distinction in Arabia. + +[FN#386] "Sultan" (and its corruption "Soldan") etymologically +means lord, victorious, ruler, ruling over. In Arabia it is a not +uncommon proper name; and as a title it is taken by a host of +petty kinglets. The Abbaside Caliphs (as Al-Wásik who has been +noticed) formally created these Sultans as their regents. Al-Tá'i +bi'llah (regn. A.H. 363 = 974), invested the famous Sabuktagin +with the office; and as Alexander-Sikander was wont to do, +fashioned for him two flags, one of silver, after the fashion of +nobles, and the other of gold, as Viceroy-designate. Sabuktagin's +son, the famous Mahmúd of the Ghaznavite dynasty in A.H. 393 = +1002, was the first to adopt "Sultan" as an independent title +some two hundred years after the death of Harun al-Rashid. In old +writers we have the Soldan of Egypt, the Soudan of Persia, and +the Sowdan of Babylon; three modifications of one word. + +[FN#387] i.e. he was a "Háfiz," one who commits to memory the +whole of the Koran. It is a serious task and must be begun early. +I learnt by rote the last "Juzw" (or thirtieth part) and found +that quite enough. This is the vulgar use of "Hafiz": technically +and theologically it means the third order of Traditionists (the +total being five) who know by heart 300,000 traditions of the +Prophet with their ascriptions. A curious "spiritualist" book +calls itself "Hafed, Prince of Persia," proving by the very title +that the Spirits are equally ignorant of Arabic and Persian. + +[FN#388] Here again the Cairo Edit. repeats the six couplets +already given in Night xvii. I take them from Torrens (p. 163). + +[FN#389] This naïve admiration of beauty in either sex +characterised our chivalrous times. Now it is mostly confined to +"professional beauties" or what is conventionally called the +"fair sex"; as if there could be any comparison between the +beauty of man and the beauty of woman, the Apollo Belvidere with +the Venus de Medici. + +[FN#390] Arab. "Shásh" (in Pers. urine) a light turband generally +of muslin. + +[FN#391] This is a lieu commun of Eastern worldly wisdom. Quite +true! Very unadvisable to dive below the surface of one's +acquaintances, but such intimacy is like marriage of which +Johnson said, "Without it there is no pleasure in life." + +[FN#392] The lines are attributed to the famous Al-Mutanabbi = +the claimant to "Prophecy," of whom I have given a few details in +my Pilgrimage iii. 60, 62. He led the life of a true poet, +somewhat Chauvinistic withal; and, rather than run away, was +killed in A.H. 354 = 965. + +[FN#393] Arab. "Nabíz" = wine of raisins or dates; any fermented +liquor; from a root to "press out" in Syriac, like the word +"Talmiz" (or Tilmiz says the Kashf al-Ghurrah) a pupil, student. +Date-wine (ferment from the fruit, not the Tádi, or juice of the +stem, our "toddy") is called Fazikh. Hence the Masjid al-Fazikh +at Al-Medinah where the Ansar or Auxiliaries of that city were +sitting cup in hand when they heard of the revelation forbidding +inebriants and poured the liquor upon the ground (Pilgrimage ii. +322). + +[FN#394] Arab. "Huda" = direction (to the right way), salvation, +a word occurring in the Opening Chapter of the Koran. Hence to a +Kafir who offers the Salam-salutation many Moslems reply "Allah- +yahdík" = Allah direct thee! (i.e. make thee a Moslem), instead +of Allah yusallimak = Allah lead thee to salvation. It is the +root word of the Mahdi and Mohdi. + +[FN#395] These lines have already occurred in The First +Kalandar's Story (Night xi.) I quote by way of change and with +permission Mr. Payne's version (i. 93). + +[FN#396] Arab. "Farajíyah," a long-sleeved robe worn by the +learned (Lane, M.E., chapt. i.). + +[FN#397] Arab. "Sarráf" (vulg. Sayrafi), whence the Anglo-Indian +"Shroff," a familiar corruption. + +[FN#398] Arab. "Yahúdi" which is less polite than "Banú Isráil" = +Children of Israel. So in Christendom "Israelite" when in favour +and "Jew" (with an adjective or a participle) when nothing is +wanted of him. + +[FN#399] Also called "Ghilmán" = the beautiful youths appointed +to serve the True Believers in Paradise. The Koran says (chapt. +lvi. 9 etc.) "Youths, which shall continue in their bloom for +ever, shall go round about to attend them, with goblets, and +beakers, and a cup of flowing wine," etc. Mohammed was an Arab +(not a Persian, a born pederast) and he was too fond of women to +be charged with love of boys: even Tristam Shandy (vol. vii. +chapt. 7; "No, quoth a third; the gentleman has been committing-- +--") knew that the two tastes are incompatibles. But this and +other passages in the Koran have given the Chevaliers de la +Pallie a hint that the use of boys, like that of wine, here +forbidden, will be permitted in Paradise. + +[FN#400] Which, by the by, is the age of an oldish old maid in +Egypt. I much doubt puberty being there earlier than in England +where our grandmothers married at fourteen. But Orientals are +aware that the period of especial feminine devilry is between the +first menstruation and twenty when, according to some, every girl +is a "possible murderess." So they wisely marry her and get rid +of what is called the "lump of grief," the "domestic calamity"--a +daughter. Amongst them we never hear of the abominable egotism +and cruelty of the English mother, who disappoints her daughter's +womanly cravings in order to keep her at home for her own +comfort; and an "old maid" in the house, especially a stout, +plump old maid, is considered not "respectable." The ancient +virgin is known by being lean and scraggy; and perhaps this +diagnosis is correct. + +[FN#401] This prognostication of destiny by the stars and a host +of follies that end in -mancy is an intricate and extensive +subject. Those who would study it are referred to chapt. xiv. of +the "Qanoon-e-Islam, or the Customs of the Mussulmans of India; +etc., etc., by Jaffur Shurreeff and translated by G. A. Herklots, +M. D. of Madras." This excellent work first appeared in 1832 +(Allen and Co., London) and thus it showed the way to Lane's +"Modern Egyptians" (1833-35). The name was unfortunate as +"Kuzzilbash" (which rhymed to guzzle and hash), and kept the book +back till a second edition appeared in 1863 (Madras: J. +Higginbotham). + +[FN#402] Arab. "Bárid," lit. cold: metaph. vain, foolish, +insipid. + +[FN#403] Not to "spite thee" but "in spite of thee." The phrase +is still used by high and low. + +[FN#404] Arab. "Ahdab," the common hunchback; in classical +language the Gobbo in the text would be termed "Ak'as" from +"Ka'as," one with protruding back and breast; sometimes used for +hollow back and protruding breast. + +[FN#405] This is the custom with such gentry, who, when they see +a likely man sitting, are allowed by custom to ride astraddle +upon his knees with most suggestive movements, till he buys them +off. These Ghawázi are mostly Gypsies who pretend to be Moslems; +and they have been confused with the Almahs or Moslem dancing- +girls proper (Awálim, plur. of Alimah, a learned feminine) by a +host of travellers. They call themselves Barámikah or Barmecides +only to affect Persian origin. Under native rule they were +perpetually being banished from and returning to Cairo +(Pilgrimage i., 202). Lane (M.E., chapts. xviii. and xix.) +discusses the subject, and would derive Al'mah, often so +pronounced, from Heb. Almah, girl, virgin, singing-girl, hence he +would translate Al-Alamoth shir (Psalm xlvi.) and Nebalim al- +alamoth (I. Chron., xv. 20) by a "song for singing-girls" and +"harps for singing-girls." He quotes also St. Jerome as authority +that Alma in Punic (Phoenician) signified a virgin, not a common +article, I may observe, amongst singing-girls. I shall notice in +a future page Burckhardt's description of the Ghawazi, p. 173, +"Arabic Proverbs;" etc., etc. Second Edition. London: Quaritch, +1875. + +[FN#406] I need hardly describe the tarbúsh, a corruption of the +Per. "Sar-púsh" (headcover) also called "Fez" from its old home; +and "tarbrush" by the travelling Briton. In old days it was a +calotte worn under the turban; and it was protected by scalp- +perspiration by an "Arakiyah" (Pers. Arak-chin) a white skull- +cap. Now it is worn without either and as a head-dress nothing +can be worse (Pilgrimage ii. 275). + +[FN#407] Arab. "Tár.": the custom still prevails. Lane (M.E., +chapt. xviii.) describes and figures this hoop-drum. + +[FN#408] The couch on which she sits while being displayed. It is +her throne, for she is the Queen of the occasion, with all the +Majesty of Virginity. + +[FN#409] This is a solemn "chaff;" such liberties being permitted +at weddings and festive occasions. + +[FN#410] The pre-Islamític dynasty of Al-Yaman in Arabia Felix, a +region formerly famed for wealth and luxury. Hence the mention of +Yamani work. The caravans from Sana'á, the capital, used to carry +patterns of vases to be made in China and bring back the +porcelains at the end of the third year: these are the Arabic +inscriptions which have puzzled so many collectors. The Tobba, or +Successors, were the old Himyarite Kings, a dynastic name like +Pharaoh, Kisra (Persia), Negush (Abyssinia), Khakan or Khan +(Tartary), etc., who claimed to have extended their conquests to +Samarcand and made war on China. Any history of Arabia (as +Crichton I., chapt. iv.) may be consulted for their names and +annals. I have been told by Arabs that "Tobba" (or Tubba) is +still used in the old Himvarland = the Great or the Chief. + +[FN#411] Lane and Payne (as well as the Bres. Edit.) both render +the word "to kiss her," but this would be clean contrary to +Moslem usage. + +[FN#412] i.e. he was full of rage which he concealed. + +[FN#413] The Hindus (as the Katha shows) compare this swimming +gait with an elephant's roll. + +[FN#414] Arab. "Fitnah," a word almost as troublesome as "Adab." +Primarily, revolt, seduction, mischief: then a beautiful girl (or +boy), and lastly a certain aphrodisiac perfume extracted from +mimosa-flowers (Pilgrimage i., 118). + +[FN#415] Lit. burst the "gall-bladder:" In this and in the +"liver" allusions I dare not be baldly literal. + +[FN#416] Arab. "Usfur" the seeds of Carthamus tinctorius = +Safflower (Forskal, Flora, etc. lv.). The seeds are crushed for +oil and the flowers, which must be gathered by virgins or the +colour will fail, are extensively used for dying in Southern +Arabia and Eastern Africa. + +[FN#417] On such occasions Miss Modesty shuts her eye and looks +as if about to faint. + +[FN#418] After either evacuation the Moslem is bound to wash or +sand the part; first however he should apply three pebbles, or +potsherds or clods of earth. Hence the allusion in the Koran +(chapt. ix), "men who love to be purified." When the Prophet was +questioning the men of Kuba, where he founded a mosque +(Pilgrimage ii., 215), he asked them about their legal ablutions, +especially after evacuation; and they told him that they used +three stones before washing. Moslems and Hindus (who prefer water +mixed with earth) abhor the unclean and unhealthy use of paper +without ablution; and the people of India call European draught- +houses, by way of opprobrium, "Kághaz-khánah" = paper closets. +Most old Anglo-Indians, however, learn to use water. + +[FN#419] "Miao" or "Mau" is the generic name of the cat in the +Egyptian of the hieroglyphs. + +[FN#420] Arab. "Ya Mah'úm" addressed to an evil spirit. + +[FN#421] "Heehaw!" as we should say. The Bresl. Edit. makes the +cat cry "Nauh! Nauh!" and the ass-colt "Manu! Manu!" I leave +these onomatopoeics as they are in Arabic; they are curious, +showing the unity in variety of hearing inarticulate sounds. The +bird which is called "Whip poor Will" in the U.S. is known to the +Brazilians as "Joam corta páo" (John cut wood); so differently do +they hear the same notes. + +[FN#422] It is usually a slab of marble with a long slit in front +and a round hole behind. The text speaks of a Kursi (= stool); +but this is now unknown to native houses which have not adopted +European fashions. + +[FN#423] This again is chaff as she addresses the Hunchback. The +Bul. Edit. has "O Abu Shiháb" (Father of the shooting-star = evil +spirit); the Bresl. Edit. "O son of a heap! O son of a +Something!" (al-afsh, a vulgarism). + +[FN#424] As the reader will see, Arab ideas of "fun" and +practical jokes are of the largest, putting the Hibernian to +utter rout, and comparing favourably with those recorded in Don +Quixote. + +[FN#425] Arab. "Saráwil" a corruption of the Pers. "Sharwál"; +popularly called "libás" which, however, may also mean clothing +in general and especially outer-clothing. I translate "bag- +trousers" and "petticoat-trousers," the latter being the divided +skirt of our future. In the East, where Common Sense, not +Fashion, rules dress, men, who have a protuberance to be +concealed, wear petticoats and women wear trousers. The feminine +article is mostly baggy but sometimes, as in India, collant- +tight. A quasi-sacred part of it is the inkle, tape or string, +often a most magnificent affair, with tassels of pearl and +precious stones; and "laxity in the trouser-string" is equivalent +to the loosest conduct. Upon the subject of "libás," "sarwál" and +its variants the curious reader will consult Dr. Dozy's +"Dictionnaire Détaillé des Noms des Vêtements chez les Arabes," a +most valuable work. + +[FN#426] The turban out of respect is not put upon the ground +(Lane, M. E., chapt. i.). + +[FN#427] Arab. "Madfa" showing the modern date or the +modernization of the tale. In Lebid "Madáfi" (plur. of Madfa') +means water-courses or leats. + +[FN#428] In Arab. the "he" is a "she;" and Habíb ("friend") is +the Attic {Greek Letters}, a euphemism for lover. This will occur +throughout The Nights. So the Arabs use a phrase corresponding +with the Stoic {Greek Letters}, i.e. is wont, is fain. + +[FN#429] Part of the Azán, or call to prayer. + +[FN#430] Arab. "Shiháb," these mentors being the flying shafts +shot at evil spirits who approach too near heaven. The idea +doubtless arose from the showers of August and November meteors +(The Perseides and Taurides) which suggest a battle raging in +upper air. Christendom also has its superstition concerning these +and called those of August the "fiery tears of Saint Lawrence," +whose festival was on August 10. + +[FN#431] Arab. "Tákiyah" = Pers. Arak-chin; the calotte worn +under the Fez. It is, I have said, now obsolete and the red +woollen cap (mostly made in Europe) is worn over the hair; an +unclean practice. + +[FN#432] Often the effect of cold air after a heated room. + +[FN#433] i.e. He was not a Eunuch, as the people guessed. + +[FN#434] In Arab. "this night" for the reason before given. + +[FN#435] Meaning especially the drink prepared of the young +leaves and florets of Cannabis Sativa. The word literally means +"day grass" or "herbage." This intoxicant was much used by +magicians to produce ecstasy and thus to "deify themselves and +receive the homage of the genii and spirits of nature." + +[FN#436] Torrens, being an Irishman, translates "and woke in the +morning sleeping at Damascus." + +[FN#437] Arab. "Labbayka," the cry technically called "Talbiyah" +and used by those entering Meccah (Pilgrimage iii. 125-232). I +shall also translate it by "Adsum." The full cry is:-- + + Here am I, O Allah, here am I! + No partner hast Thou, here am I: + Verily the praise and the grace and the kingdom are thine: + No partner hast Thou: here am I! + +A single Talbiyah is a "Shart" or positive condition: and its +repetition is a Sunnat or Custom of the Prophet. See Night xci. + +[FN#438] The staple abuse of the vulgar is curing parents and +relatives, especially feminine, with specific allusions to their +"shame." And when dames of high degree are angry, Nature, in the +East as in the West, sometimes speaks out clearly enough, despite +Mistress Chapone and all artificial restrictions. + +[FN#439] A great beauty in Arabia and the reverse in Denmark, +Germany and Slav-land, where it is a sign of being a were-wolf or +a vampire. In Greece also it denotes a "Brukolak" or vampire. + +[FN#440] This is not physiologically true: a bride rarely +conceives the first night, and certainly would not know that she +had conceived. Moreover the number of courses furnished by the +bridegroom would be against conception. It is popularly said that +a young couple often undoes in the morning what it has done +during the night. + +[FN#441] Torrens (Notes, xxiv.) quotes "Fleisher" upon the word +"Ghamghama" (Diss. Crit. De Glossis Habichtionis), which he +compares with "Dumbuma" and Humbuma," determining them to be +onomatopoeics, "an incomplete and an obscure murmur of a sentence +as it were lingering between the teeth and lips and therefore +difficult to be understood." Of this family is "Taghúm"; not used +in modern days. In my Pilgrimage (i. 313) I have noticed another, +"Khyas', Khyas'!" occurring in a Hizb al-Bahr (Spell of the Sea). +Herklots gives a host of them; and their sole characteristics are +harshness and strangeness of sound, uniting consonants which are +not joined in Arabic. The old Egyptians and Chaldeans had many +such words composed at will for theurgic operations. + +[FN#442] This may mean either "it is of Mosul fashion" or, it is +of muslin. + +[FN#443] To the English reader these lines would appear the +reverse of apposite; but Orientals have their own ways of +application, and all allusions to Badawi partings are effective +and affecting. The civilised poets of Arab cities throw the charm +of the Desert over their verse by images borrowed from its +scenery, the dromedary, the mirage and the well as naturally as +certain of our bards who hated the country, babbled of purling +rills, etc. thoroughly to feel Arabic poetry one must know the +Desert (Pilgrimage iii., 63). + +[FN#444] In those days the Arabs and the Portuguese recorded +everything which struck them, as the Chinese and Japanese in our +times. And yet we complain of the amount of our modern writing! + +[FN#445] This is mentioned because it is the act preliminary to +naming the babe. + +[FN#446] Arab. "Kahramánát" from Kahramán, an old Persian hero +who conversed with the Simurgh-Griffon. Usually the word is +applied to women-at-arms who defend the Harem, like the Urdu- +begani of India, whose services were lately offered to England +(1885), or the "Amazons" of Dahome. + +[FN#447] Meaning he grew as fast in one day as other children in +a month. + +[FN#448] Arab. Al-Aríf; the tutor, the assistant-master. + +[FN#449] Arab. "Ibn harám," a common term of abuse; and not a +factual reflection on the parent. I have heard a mother apply the +term to her own son. + +[FN#450] Arab. "Khanjar" from the Persian, a syn. with the Arab. +"Jambiyah." It is noted in my Pilgrimage iii., pp. 72,75. To +"silver the dagger" means to become a rich man. From "Khanjar," +not from its fringed loop or strap, I derive our silly word +"hanger." Dr. Steingass would connect it with Germ. Fänger, e.g. +Hirschfänger. + +[FN#451] Again we have "Dastur" for Izn." + +[FN#452] Arab. "Iklím"; the seven climates of Ptolemy. + +[FN#453] Arab. "Al-Ghadir," lit. a place where water sinks, a +lowland: here the drainage-lakes east of Damascus into which the +Baradah (Abana?) discharges. The higher eastern plain is "Al- +Ghutah" before noticed. + +[FN#454] The "Plain of Pebbles" still so termed at Damascus; an +open space west of the city. + +[FN#455] Every Guide-book, even the Reverend Porter's "Murray," +gives a long account of this Christian Church 'verted to a +Mosque. + +[FN#456] Arab. "Nabút"; Pilgrimage i. 336. + +[FN#457] The Bres. Edit. says, "would have knocked him into Al- +Yaman," (Southern Arabia), something like our slang phrase "into +the middle of next week." + +[FN#458] Arab. "Khádim": lit. a servant, politely applied (like +Aghá = master) to a castrato. These gentry wax furious if baldly +called "Tawáshi" = Eunuch. A mauvais plaisant in Egypt used to +call me The Agha because a friend had placed his wife under my +charge. + +[FN#459] This sounds absurd enough in English, but Easterns +always put themselves first for respect. + +[FN#460] In Arabic the World is feminine. + +[FN#461] Arab. "Sáhib" = lit. a companion; also a friend and +especially applied to the Companions of Mohammed. Hence the +Sunnis claim for them the honour of "friendship" with the +Apostle; but the Shia'hs reply that the Arab says "Sahaba-hu'l- +himár" (the Ass was his Sahib or companion). In the text it is a +Wazirial title, in modern India it is = gentleman, e.g. "Sahib +log" (the Sahib people) means their white conquerors, who, by the +by, mostly mispronounce the word "Sáb." + +[FN#462] Arab. "Suwán," prop. Syenite, from Syene (Al-Suwan) but +applied to flint and any hard stone. + +[FN#463] It was famous in the middle ages, and even now it is, +perhaps, the most interesting to travellers after that "Sentina +Gentium," the "Bhendi Bazar" of unromantic Bombay. + +[FN#464] "The Gate of the Gardens," in the northern wall, a Roman +archway of the usual solid construction shaming not only our +modern shams, but our finest masonry. + +[FN#465] Arab. "Al-Asr," which may mean either the hour or the +prayer. It is also the moment at which the Guardian Angels +relieve each other (Sale's Koran, chapt. v.). + +[FN#466] Arab. "Ya házá" = O this (one)! a somewhat slighting +address equivalent to "Heus tu! O thou, whoever thou art." +Another form is "Yá hú" = O he! Can this have originated Swift's +"Yahoo"? + +[FN#467] Alluding to the {Greek Letters} ("minor miracles which +cause surprise") performed by Saints' tombs, the mildest form of +thaumaturgy. One of them gravely recorded in the Dabistan (ii. +226) is that of the holy Jamen, who opened the Sámran or bead- +bracelet from the arm of the beautiful Chistápá with member +erect, "thus evincing his manly strength and his command over +himself"(!) + +[FN#468] The River of Paradise, a lieu commun of poets (Koran, +chapt. cviii.): the water is whiter than milk or silver, sweeter +than honey, smoother than cream, more odorous than musk; its +banks are of chrysolite and it is drunk out of silver cups set +around it thick as stars. Two pipes conduct it to the Prophet's +Pond which is an exact square, one month's journey in compass. +Kausar is spirituous like wine; Salsabil sweet like clarified +honey; the Fount of Mildness is like milk and the Fount of Mercy +like liquid crystal. + +[FN#469] The Moslem does not use the European basin because water +which has touched an impure skin becomes impure. Hence it is +poured out from a ewer ("ibrík" Pers. Abríz) upon the hands and +falls into a basin ("tisht") with an open-worked cover. + +[FN#470] Arab. "Wahsh," a word of many meanings; nasty, insipid, +savage, etc. The offside of a horse is called Wahshi opposed to +Insi, the near side. The Amir Taymur ("Lord Iron") whom Europeans +unwittingly call after his Persian enemies' nickname, +"Tamerlane," i.e. Taymur-I-lang, or limping Taymur, is still +known as "Al-Wahsh" (the wild beast) at Damascus, where his +Tartars used to bury men up to their necks and play at bowls with +their heads for ninepins. + +[FN#471] For "grandson" as being more affectionate. Easterns have +not yet learned that clever Western saying:--The enemies of our +enemies are our friends. + +[FN#472] This was a simple bastinado on the back, not the more +ceremonious affair of beating the feet-soles. But it is +surprising what the Egyptians can bear; some of the rods used in +the time of the Mameluke Beys are nearly as thick as a man's +wrist. + +[FN#473] The woman-like spite of the eunuch intended to hurt the +grandmother's feelings. + +[FN#474] The usual Cairene "chaff." + +[FN#475] A necessary precaution against poison (Pilgrimage i. 84, +and iii. 43). + +[FN#476] The Bresl. Edit. (ii. 108) describes the scene at +greater length. + +[FN#477] The Bul. Edit. gives by mistake of diacritical points, +"Zabdaniyah:" Raydaniyah is or rather was a camping ground to the +North of Cairo. + +[FN#478] Arab. "La'abat" = a plaything, a puppet, a lay figure. +Lane (i. 326) conjectures that the cross is so called because it +resembles a man with arms extended. But Moslems never heard of +the fanciful ideas of mediæval Christian divines who saw the +cross everywhere and in everything. The former hold that Pharaoh +invented the painful and ignominious punishment. (Koran, chapt. +vii.). + +[FN#479] Here good blood, driven to bay, speaks out boldly. But, +as a rule, the humblest and mildest Eastern when in despair turns +round upon his oppressors like a wild cat. Some of the criminals +whom Fath Ali Shah of Persia put to death by chopping down the +fork, beginning at the scrotum, abused his mother till the knife +reached their vitals and they could no longer speak. + +[FN#480] These repeated "laughs" prove the trouble of his spirit. +Noble Arabs "show their back-teeth" so rarely that their laughter +is held worthy of being recorded by their biographers. + +[FN#481] A popular phrase, derived from the Koranic "Truth is +come, and falsehood is vanished: for falsehood is of short +continuance" (chapt. xvii.). It is an equivalent of our +adaptation from 1 Esdras iv. 41, "Magna est veritas et +prævalebit." But the great question still remains, What is Truth? + +[FN#482] In Night lxxv. these lines will occur with variants. + +[FN#483] This is always mentioned: the nearer seat the higher the +honour. + +[FN#484] Alluding to the phrase "Al-safar zafar" = voyaging is +victory (Pilgrimage i., 127). + +[FN#485] Arab. "Habb;" alluding to the black drop in the human +heart which the Archangel Gabriel removed from Mohammed by +opening his breast. + +[FN#486] This phrase, I have said, often occurs: it alludes to +the horripilation (Arab. Kush'arírah), horror or gooseflesh +which, in Arab as in Hindu fables, is a symptom of great joy. So +Boccaccio's "pelo arriciato" v., 8: Germ. Gänsehaut. + +[FN#487] Arab. "Hasanta ya Hasan" = Bene detto, Benedetto! the +usual word-play vulgarly called "pun": Hasan (not Hassan, as we +will write it) meaning "beautiful." + +[FN#488] Arab. "Loghah" also = a vocabulary, a dictionary; the +Arabs had them by camel-loads. + +[FN#489] The seventh of the sixteen "Bahr" (metres) in Arabic +prosody; the easiest because allowing the most license and, +consequently, a favourite for didactic, homiletic and gnomic +themes. It means literally "agitated" and was originally applied +to the rude song of the Cameleer. De Sacy calls this doggrel "the +poet's ass" (Torrens, Notes xxvi.). It was the only metre in +which Mohammed the Apostle ever spoke: he was no poet (Koran +xxxvi., 69) but he occasionally recited a verse and recited it +wrongly (Dabistan iii., 212). In Persian prosody Rajaz is the +seventh of nineteen and has six distinct varieties (pp. 79-81), +"Gladwin's Dissertations on Rhetoric," etc. Calcutta, 1801). I +shall have more to say about it in the Terminal Essay. + +[FN#490] "Her stature tall--I hate a dumpy woman" (Don Juan). + +[FN#491] A worthy who was Kazi of Kufah (Cufa) in the seventh +century. Al-Najaf, generally entitled "Najaf al-Ashraf" (the +Venerand) is the place where Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, +lies or is supposed to lie buried, and has ever been a holy place +to the Shi'ahs. I am not certain whether to translate "Sa'alab" +by fox or jackal; the Arabs make scant distinction between them. +"Abu Hosayn" (Father of the Fortlet) is certainly the fox, and as +certainly "Sha'arhar" is the jackal from the Pehlevi Shagál or +Shaghál. + +[FN#492] Usually by all manner of extortions and robbery, +corruption and bribery, the ruler's motto being + + Fiat injustitia ruat Coelum. + +There is no more honest man than the Turkish peasant or the +private soldier; but the process of deterioration begins when he +is made a corporal and culminates in the Pasha. Moreover official +dishonesty is permitted by public opinion, because it belongs to +the condition of society. A man buys a place (as in England two +centuries ago) and retains it by presents to the heads of +offices. Consequently he must recoup himself in some way, and he +mostly does so by grinding the faces of the poor and by spoiling +the widow and the orphan. The radical cure is high pay; but that +phase of society refuses to afford it. + +[FN#493] Arab. "Malik" (King) and "Malak" (angel) the words being +written the same when lacking vowels and justifying the jingle. + +[FN #494] Arab. "Hurr"; the Latin "ingenuus," lit. freeborn; +metaph. noble as opp. to a slave who is not expected to do great +or good deeds. In pop. use it corresponds, like "Fatá," with our +"gentleman." + +[FN#495] This is one of the best tales for humour and movement, +and Douce and Madden show what a rich crop of fabliaux, whose +leading incident was the disposal of a dead body, it produced. + +[FN#496] Other editions read, "at Bassorah" and the Bresl. (ii. +123) "at Bassorah and Kájkár" (Káshghár): somewhat like in Dover +and Sebastopol. I prefer China because further off and making the +improbabilities more notable. + +[FN#497] Arab. "Judri," lit. "small stones" from the hard +gravelly feeling of the pustules (Rodwell, p. 20). The disease is +generally supposed to be the growth of Central Africa where it is +still a plague and passed over to Arabia about the birth-time of +Mohammed. Thus is usually explained the "war of the elephant" +(Koran, chaps. cv.) when the Abyssinian army of Abrahah, the +Christian, was destroyed by swallows (Abábíl which Major Price +makes the plural of Abilah = a vesicle) which dropped upon them +"stones of baked clay," like vetches (Pilgrimage ii. 175). See +for details Sale (in loco) who seems to accept the miraculous +defence of the Ka'abah. For the horrors of small-pox in Central +Intertropical Africa the inoculation, known also to the Badawin +of Al-Hijáz and other details, readers will consult "The Lake +Regions of Central Africa" (ii. 318). The Hindus "take the bull +by the horns" and boldly make "Sítlá" (small-pox) a goddess, an +incarnation of Bhawáni, deëss of destruction-reproduction. In +China small-pox is believed to date from B.C. 1200; but the +chronology of the Middle Kingdom still awaits the sceptic. + +[FN#498] In Europe we should add "and all fled, especially the +women." But the fatalism inherent in the Eastern mind makes the +great difference. + +[FN#499] Arab. "Uzayr." Esdras was a manner of Ripp van Winkle. +He was riding over the ruins of Jerusalem when it had been +destroyed by the Chaldeans and he doubted by what means Allah +would restore it; whereupon he died and at the end of a hundred +years he revived. He found his basket of figs and cruse of wine +as they were; but of his ass only the bones remained. These were +raised to life as Ezra looked on and the ass began at once to +bray. Which was a lesson to Esdras. (Koran, chaps. ii.) The oath +by the ass's hoofs is to ridicule the Jew. Mohammed seems to have +had an idée fixe that "the Jews say, Ezra is the son of God" +(Koran ix.); it may have arisen from the heterodox Jewish belief +that Ezra, when the Law was utterly lost, dictated the whole anew +to the scribes of his own memory. His tomb with the huge green +dome is still visited by the Jews of Baghdad. + +[FN#500] Arab. "Bádhanj," the Pers. Bád. (wind) -gír (catcher): a +wooden pent-house on the terrace-roof universal in the nearer +East. + +[FN#501] The hunchback, in Arabia as in Southern Europe, is +looked upon by the vulgar with fear and aversion. The reason is +that he is usually sharper-witted than his neighbours. + +[FN#502]Arab. "Yá Sattár" = Thou who veilest the discreditable +secrets of Thy creatures. + +[FN#503] Arab. "Nasráni," a follower of Him of Nazareth and an +older name than "Christian" which (Acts xi., 26) was first given +at Antioch about A.D. 43. The cry in Alexandria used to be "Ya +Nasráni, Kalb awáni!"=O Nazarene! O dog obscene! (Pilgrimage i., +160).). "Christian" in Arabic can be expressed only by "Masíhi" = +follower of the Messiah. + +[FN#504] Arab. "Tasbíh," = Saluting in the Subh (morning). + +[FN#505] In the East women stand on minor occasions while men +squat on their hunkers in a way hardly possible to an untrained +European. The custom is old. Herodotus (ii., 35) says, "The women +stand up when they make water, but the men sit down." Will it be +believed that Canon Rawlinson was too modest to leave this +passage in his translation? The custom was perpetuated by +Al-Islam because the position prevents the ejection touching the +clothes and making them ceremonially impure; possibly they +borrowed it from the Guebres. Dabistan, Gate xvi. says, "It is +improper, whilst in an erect posture, to make water, it is +therefore necessary to sit at squat and force it to some +distance, repeating the Avesta mentally." + +[FN#506] This is still a popular form of the "Kinchin lay," and +as the turbands are often of fine stuff, the petite industrie +pays well. + +[FN#507]Arab. "Wali" =Governor; the term still in use for the +Governor General of a Province as opposed to the "Muháfiz," or +district-governor. In Eastern Arabia the Wali is the Civil +Governor opposed to the Amir or Military Commandant. Under the +Caliphate the Wali acted also as Prefect of Police (the Indian +Fanjdár), 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 +bazaars in Damascus. + +[FN#508] Arab. "Al-Mashá ilí" = the bearer of a cresses (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., chaps. vi.) +calls "Mesh'al" and illustrates, must not be confounded with its +congener the "Sha'ilah" or link (also lamp, wick, etc.). + +[FN#509] I need hardly say that the civilised "drop" is unknown +to the East where men are strung up as to a yardarm. This greatly +prolongs the suffering. + +[FN#510] Arab. "Lukmah"; = a mouthful. It is still the fashion +amongst Easterns of primitive manners to take up a handful of +rice, etc., ball it and put it into a friend's mouth honoris +causâ. When the friend is a European the expression of his face +is generally a study. + +[FN#511] I need hardly note that this is an old Biblical +practice. The ass is used for city-work as the horse for fighting +and travelling, the mule for burdens and the dromedary for the +desert. But the Badawi, like the Indian, despises the monture and +sings:-- + + The back of the steed is a noble place + But the mule's dishonour, the ass disgrace! + +The fine white asses, often thirteen hands high, sold by the Banu +Salíb and other Badawi tribes, will fetch £100, and more. I rode +a little brute from Meccah to Jedda (42 miles) in one night and +it came in with me cantering. + +[FN#512] A dry measure of about five bushels (Cairo). The +classical pronunciation is Irdabb and it measured 24 sa'a +(gallons) each filling four outstretched hands. + +[FN#513] "Al-Jawáli" should be Al-Jáwali (Al-Makrizi) and the Bab +al-Nasr (Gate of Victory) is that leading to Suez. I lived in +that quarter as shown by my Pilgrimage (i. 62). + +[FN#514] Arab. "Al-'ajalah," referring to a saying in every +Moslem mouth, "Patience is from the Protector (Allah): Hurry is +from Hell." That and "Inshallah bukra!" (Please God tomorrow.) +are the traveller's bêtes noires. + +[FN#515] Here it is a polite equivalent for "fall to!" + +[FN#516] The left hand is used throughout the East for purposes +of ablution and is considered unclean. To offer the left hand +would be most insulting and no man ever strokes his beard with it +or eats with it: hence, probably, one never sees a left handed +man throughout the Moslem east. In the Brazil for the same reason +old-fashioned people will not take snuff with the right hand. And +it is related of the Khataians that they prefer the left hand, +"Because the heart, which is the Sultan of the city of the Body, +hath his mansion on that side" (Rauzat al-Safá). + +[FN#517] Two feminine names as we might say Mary and Martha. + +[FN#518] It was near the Caliph's two Palaces (Al Kasrayn); and +was famous in the 15th century A. D. The Kazi's Mahkamah (Court +house) now occupies the place of the Two Palaces + +[FN#519] A Kaysariah is a superior kind of bazaar, a "bezestein." +That in the text stood to the east of the principal street in +Cairo and was built in A. H. 502 (=1108-9) by a Circassian Emir, +known as Fakhr al-Din Jahárkas, a corruption of the Persian +"Chehárkas" = four persons (Lane, i. 422, from Al-Makrizi and Ibn +Khallikan). For Jahárkas the Mac. Edit. has Jirjís (George) a +common Christian name. I once lodged in a 'Wakálah (the modern +Khan) Jirjis." Pilgrimage, i. 255. + +[FN#520]Arab. "Second Day," i.e. after Saturday, the true +Sabbath, so marvellously ignored by Christendom. + +[FN#521] Readers who wish to know how a traveller is lodged in a +Wakálah, Khan, or Caravanserai, will consult my Pilgrimage, i. +60. + +[FN#522] The original occupation of the family had given it a +name, as amongst us. + +[FN#523] The usual "chaff" or banter allowed even to modest women +when shopping, and--many a true word is spoken in jest. + +[FN#524] "La adamnák" = Heaven deprive us not of thee, i.e. grant +I see thee often! + +[FN#525] This is a somewhat cavalier style of advance; but +Easterns under such circumstances go straight to the point, +hating to filer the parfait amour. + +[FN#526] The peremptory formula of a slave delivering such a +message. + +[FN#527] This would be our Thursday night, preceding the day of +public prayers which can be performed only when in a state of +ceremonial purity. Hence many Moslems go to the Hammam on +Thursday and have no connection with their wives. + +[FN#528] Lane (i. 423) gives ample details concerning the +Habbániyah, or grain-sellers' quarter in the southern part of +Cairo; and shows that when this tale was written (or +transcribed?) the city was almost as extensive as it is now. + +[FN#529] Nakíb is a caravan-leader, a chief, a syndic; and "Abú +Shámah"= Father of a cheek mole, while "Abú Shámmah" = Father of +a smeller, a nose, a snout. The "Kuniyah," bye-name, patronymic +or matronymic, is necessary amongst Moslems whose list of names, +all connected more or less with religion, is so scanty. Hence +Buckingham the traveller was known as Abu Kidr, the Father of a +Cooking-pot and Haj Abdullah as Abu Shawárib, Father of +Mustachios (Pilgrimage, iii., 263). + +[FN#530] More correctly Bab Zawilah from the name of a tribe in +Northern Africa. This gate dates from the same age as the Eastern +or Desert gate, Bab al-Nasr (A.D. 1087) and is still much +admired. M. Jomard describes it (Description, etc., ii. 670) and +lately my good friend Yacoub Artin Pasha has drawn attention to +it in the Bulletin de l'Inst. Egypt., Deuxième Série, No. 4, +1883. + +[FN#531] This ornament is still seen in the older saloons of +Damascus: the inscriptions are usually religious sentences, +extracts from the Koran, etc., in uncial characters. They take +the place of our frescos; and, as a work of art, are generally +far superior. + +[FN#532] Arab. "Bayáz al-Sultání," the best kind of gypsum which +shines like polished marble. The stucco on the walls of +Alexandria, built by Alexander of the two Horns, was so +exquisitely tempered and beautifully polished that men had to +wear masks for fear of blindness. + +[FN#533] This Iklíl, a complicated affair, is now obsolete, its +place having been taken by the "Kurs," a gold plate, some five +inches in diameter, set with jewels, etc. Lane (M. E. Appendix A) +figures it. + +[FN#534] The woman-artist who applies the dye is called +"Munakkishah." + +[FN#535] "Kissing with th' inner lip," as Shakespeare calls it; +the French langue fourrée: and Sanskrit "Samputa." The subject of +kissing is extensive in the East. Ten different varieties are +duly enumerated in the "Ananga-Ranga;" or, The Hindu Art of Love +(Ars Amoris Indica) translated from the Sanskrit, and annotated +by A. F. F. and B. F. R It is also connected with unguiculation, +or impressing the nails, of which there are seven kinds; +morsication (seven kinds); handling the hair and lappings or +pattings with the fingers and palm (eight kinds). + +[FN#536] Arab. "asal-nahl," to distinguish it from "honey" i.e. +syrup of sugar-cane and fruits + +[FN#537] The lines have occurred in Night xii. By way of variety +I give Torrens' version p. 273. + +[FN#538] The way of carrying money in the corner of a +pocket-handkerchief is still common. + +[FN#539] He sent the provisions not to be under an obligation to +her in this matter. And she received them to judge thereby of his +liberality + +[FN#540] Those who have seen the process of wine-making in the +Libanus will readily understand why it is always strained. + +[FN#541] Arab. "Kulkasá," a kind of arum or yam, eaten boiled +like our potatoes. + +[FN#542]At first he slipped the money into the bed-clothes: now +he gives it openly and she accepts it for a reason. + +[FN#543] Arab. Al-Zalamah lit. = tyrants, oppressors, applied to +the police and generally to employés of Government. It is a word +which tells a history. + +[FN#544] Moslem law is never completely satisfied till the +criminal confess. It also utterly ignores circumstantial evidence +and for the best of reasons: amongst so sharp-witted a people the +admission would lead to endless abuses. I greatly surprised a +certain Governor-General of India by giving him this simple +information + +[FN#545] Cutting off the right hand is the Koranic punishment +(chaps. v.) for one who robs an article worth four dinars, about +forty francs to shillings. The left foot is to be cut off at the +ankle for a second offence and so on; but death is reserved for a +hardened criminal. The practice is now obsolete and theft is +punished by the bastinado, fine or imprisonment. The old Guebres +were as severe. For stealing one dirham's worth they took a fine +of two, cut off the ear-lobes, gave ten stick-blows and dismissed +the criminal who had been subjected to an hour's imprisonment. A +second theft caused the penalties to be doubled; and after that +the right hand was cut off or death was inflicted according to +the proportion stolen. + +[FN#546] Koran viii. 17. + +[FN#547] A universal custom in the East, the object being +originally to show that the draught was not poisoned. + +[FN#548] Out of paste or pudding. + +[FN#549] Boils and pimples are supposed to be caused by broken +hair-roots and in Hindostani are called Bál-tor. + +[FN#550] He intended to bury it decently, a respect which Moslems +always show even to the exuviæ of the body, as hair and nail +parings. Amongst Guebres the latter were collected and carried to +some mountain. The practice was intensified by fear of demons or +wizards getting possession of the spoils. + +[FN#551] Without which the marriage was not valid. The minimum is +ten dirhams (drachmas) now valued at about five francs to +shillings; and if a man marry without naming the sum, the woman, +after consummation, can compel him to pay this minimum. + +[FN#552] Arab. "Khatmah" = reading or reciting the whole Koran, +by one or more persons, usually in the house, not over the tomb. +Like the "Zikr," Litany or Rogation, it is a pious act confined +to certain occasions. + +[FN#553] Arab. "Zirbájah" = meat dressed with vinegar, cumin-seed +(Pers. Zír) and hot spices. More of it in the sequel of the tale. + +[FN#554] A saying not uncommon meaning, let each man do as he +seems fit; also = "age quad agis": and at times corresponding +with our saw about the cap fitting. + + [FN#555] Arab. "Su'úd," an Alpinia with pungent rhizome like +ginger; here used as a counter-odour. + +[FN#556] Arab. "Tá'ih" = lost in the "Tíh," a desert wherein man +may lose himself, translated in our maps 'The Desert of the +Wanderings," scil. of the children of Israel. "Credat Judæus." + +[FN#557] ie. £125 and £500. + +[FN#558] A large sum was weighed by a professional instead of +being counted, the reason being that the coin is mostly old and +worn: hence our words "pound" and "pension" (or what is weighed +out). + +[FN#559] The eunuch is the best possible go-between on account of +his almost unlimited power over the Harem. + +[FN#560] i.e., a slave-girl brought up in the house and never +sold except for some especial reason, as habitual drunkenness, +etc. + +[FN#561] Smuggling men into the Harem is a stock "topic" of +eastern tales. "By means of their female attendants, the ladies +of the royal harem generally get men into their apartments in the +disguise of women," says Vatsyayana in The Kama Sutra, Part V. +London: Printed for the Hindoo Kamashastra Society. 1883. For +private circulation. + +[FN#562] These tears are shed over past separation. So the +"Indians" of the New World never meet after long parting without +beweeping mutual friends they have lost. + +[FN#563] A most important Jack in office whom one can see with +his smooth chin and blubber lips, starting up from his lazy +snooze in the shade and delivering his orders more peremptorily +than any Dogberry. These epicenes are as curious and exceptional +in character as in external conformation. Disconnected, after a +fashion, with humanity, they are brave, fierce and capable of any +villainy or barbarity (as Agha Mohammed Khan in Persia 1795-98). +The frame is unnaturally long and lean, especially the arms and +legs; with high, flat, thin shoulders, big protruding joints and +a face by contrast extraordinarily large, a veritable mask; the +Castrato is expert in the use of weapons and sits his horse +admirably, riding well "home" in the saddle for the best of +reasons; and his hoarse, thick voice, which apparently does not +break, as in the European "Cáppone," invests him with all the +circumstance of command. + +[FN#564] From the Meccan well used by Moslems much like Eau de +Lourdes by Christians: the water is saltish, hence the touch of +Arab humour (Pilgrimage iii., 201-202). + +[FN#565] Such articles would be sacred from Moslem eyes. + +[FN#566] Physiologically true, but not generally mentioned in +describing the emotions. + +[FN#567] Properly "Uta," the different rooms, each "Odalisque," +or concubine, having her own. + +[FN#568] Showing that her monthly ailment was over. + +[FN#569] Arab "Muhammarah" = either browned before the fire or +artificially reddened. + +[FN#570] The insolence and licence of these palace-girls was (and +is) unlimited, especially when, as in the present case, they have +to deal with a "lofty." On this subject numberless stories are +current throughout the East. + +[FN#571] i.e., blackened by the fires of Jehannam. + +[FN#572] Arab. "Bi'l-Salámah" = in safety (to avert the evil +eye). When visiting the sick it is usual to say something civil; +"The Lord heal thee! No evil befall thee!" etc. + +[FN#573] Washing during sickness is held dangerous by Arabs; and +"going to the Hammam" is, I have said, equivalent to +convalescence. + +[FN#574] Arab. "Máristán" (pronounced Múristan) a corruption of +the Pers. "Bímáristán" = place of sickness, a hospital much +affected by the old Guebres (Dabistan, i., 165, 166). That of +Damascus was the first Moslem hospital, founded by Al-Walid Son +of Abd al-Malik the Ommiade in A. H. 88 = 706-7. Benjamin of +Tudela (A. D. 1164) calls it "Dar-al Maraphtan" which his latest +Editor explains by "Dar-al-Morabittan" (abode of those who +require being chained). Al-Makrizi (Khitat) ascribes the +invention of "Spitals" to Hippocrates; another historian to an +early Pharaoh "Manákiyush;" thus ignoring the Persian Kings, +Saint Ephrem (or Ephraim), Syru, etc. In modern parlance +"Maristan" is a madhouse where the maniacs are treated with all +the horrors which were universal in Europe till within a few +years and of which occasional traces occur to this day. In A.D. +1399 Katherine de la Court held a "hospital in the Court called +Robert de Paris," but the first madhouse in Christendom was built +by the legate Ortiz in Toledo A. D. 1483, and was therefore +called Casa del Nuncio. The Damascus "Maristan" was described by +every traveller of the last century: and it showed a curious +contrast between the treatment of the maniac and the idiot or +omadhaun, who is humanely allowed to wander about unharmed, if +not held a Saint. When I saw it last (1870) it was all but empty +and mostly in ruins. As far as my experience goes, the United +States is the only country where the insane are rationally +treated by the sane. + +[FN#575] Hence the trite saying "Whoso drinks the water of the +Nile will ever long to drink it again." "Light" means easily +digested water; and the great test is being able to drink it at +night between the sleeps, without indigestion + +[FN#576] "Níl" in popular parlance is the Nile in flood; although +also used for the River as a proper name. Egyptians (modern as +well as ancient) have three seasons, Al-Shitá (winter), Al-Sayf +(summer) and Al-Níl (the Nile i.e. flood season' our mid-summer); +corresponding with the Growth months; Housing (or granary)-months +and Flood-months of the older race. + +[FN#577] These lines are in the Mac. Edit. + +[FN#587] Arab. "Birkat al-Habash," a tank formerly existing in +Southern Cairo: Galland (Night 128) says "en remontant vers +l'Ethiopie." + +[FN#579] The Bres. Edit. (ii., 190), from which I borrow this +description, here alludes to the well-known Island, Al-Rauzah +(Rodah) = The Garden. + +[FN#580] Arab. "Laylat al-Wafá," the night of the completion or +abundance of the Nile (-flood), usually between August 6th and +16th, when the government proclaims that the Nilometer shows a +rise of 16 cubits. Of course it is a great festival and a high +ceremony, for Egypt is still the gift of the Nile (Lane M. E. +chaps. xxvi--a work which would be much improved by a better +index). + +[FN#581] i.e., admiration will be complete. + +[FN#582] Arab. "Sáhil Masr" (Misr): hence I suppose Galland's +villes maritimes. + +[FN#583] A favourite simile, suggested by the broken glitter and +shimmer of the stream under the level rays and the breeze of +eventide. + +[FN#584] Arab. "Halab," derived by Moslems from "He (Abraham) +milked (halaba) the white and dun cow." But the name of the city +occurs in the Cuneiforms as Halbun or Khalbun, and the classics +knew it as {Greek Letters}, Beroca, written with variants. + +[FN#585] Arab. "Ká'ah," usually a saloon; but also applied to a +fine house here and elsewhere in The Nights. + +[FN#586] Arab. "Ghamz" = winking, signing with the eye which, +amongst Moslems, is not held "vulgar." + +[FN#587] Arab. "Kamís" from low Lat. "Camicia," first found in +St. Jerome:-- "Solent militantes habere lineas, quas Camicias +vocant." Our shirt, chemise, chemisette, etc., was unknown to the +Ancients of Europe. + +[FN#588] Arab. "Narjís." The Arabs borrowed nothing, but the +Persians much, from Greek Mythology. Hence the eye of Narcissus, +an idea hardly suggested by the look of the daffodil (or +asphodel)-flower, is at times the glance of a spy and at times +the die-away look of a mistress. Some scholars explain it by the +form of the flower, the internal calyx resembling the iris, and +the stalk being bent just below the petals suggesting drooping +eyelids and languid eyes. Hence a poet addresses the Narcissus:-- + +O Narjis, look away! Before those eyes * I may not kiss her +as + a-breast she lies. +What! Shall the lover close his eyes in sleep * While thine watch + all things between earth and skies? + +The fashionable lover in the East must affect a frantic jealousy +if he does not feel it. + +[FN#589] In Egypt there are neither bedsteads nor bedrooms: the +carpets and mattresses, pillows and cushions (sheets being +unknown), are spread out when wanted, and during the day are put +into chests or cupboards, or only rolled up in a corner of the +room (Pilgrimage i. 53). + +[FN#590] The women of Damascus have always been famed for the +sanguinary jealousy with which European story-books and novels +credit the "Spanish lady." The men were as celebrated for +intolerance and fanaticism, which we first read of in the days of +Bertrandon de la Brocquière and which culminated in the massacre +of 1860. Yet they are a notoriously timid race and make, +physically and morally, the worst of soldiers: we proved that +under my late friend Fred. Walpole in the Bashi-Buzuks during the +old Crimean war. The men looked very fine fellows and after a +month in camp fell off to the condition of old women. + +[FN#591] Arab. "Rukhám," properly = alabaster and "Marmar" = +marble; but the two are often confounded. + +[FN#592] He was ceremonially impure after touching a corpse. + +[FN#593] The phrase is perfectly appropriate: Cairo without "her +Nile" would be nothing. + +[FN#594] "The market was hot" say the Hindustanis. This would +begin between 7 and 8 a.m. + +[FN#595] Arab. Al-Faranj, Europeans generally. It is derived from +"Gens Francorum," and dates from Crusading days when the French +played the leading part. Hence the Lingua Franca, the Levantine +jargon, of which Molière has left such a witty specimen. + +[FN#596] A process familiar to European surgery of the same date. + +[FN#597] In sign of disappointment, regret, vexation; a gesture +still common amongst Moslems and corresponding in significance to +a certain extent with our stamping, wringing the hands and so +forth. It is not mentioned in the Koran where, however, we find +"biting fingers' ends out of wrath" against a man (chaps. iii.). + +[FN#598] This is no unmerited scandal. The Cairenes, especially +the feminine half (for reasons elsewhere given), have always been +held exceedingly debauched. Even the modest Lane gives a +"shocking" story of a woman enjoying her lover under the nose of +her husband and confining the latter in a madhouse (chaps. +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 bazaar for a girl, half-a-dozen would +troop to his quarters. Indeed more than once the professional +prostitutes threatened to memorialise Sir Charles Napier because +the "modest women," the "ladies" were taking the bread out of +their mouths. The same was the case at Kabul (Caboul) of +Afghanistan in the old war of 1840; and here the women had more +excuse, the husbands being notable sodomites as the song has it. + + The worth of slit the Afghan knows; + The worth of hole the Kábul-man. + +[FN#599] So that he might not have to do with three +sisters-german. Moreover amongst Moslems a girl's conduct is +presaged by that of her mother; and if one sister go wrong, the +other is expected to follow suit. Practically the rule applies +everywhere, "like mother like daughter." + +[FN#600] In sign of dissent; as opposed to nodding the head which +signifies assent. These are two items, apparently instinctive and +universal, of man's gesture-language which has been so highly +cultivated by sundry North American tribes and by the surdo-mute +establishments of Europe. + +[FN#601] This "Futur" is the real "breakfast" of the East, the +"Chhoti házri" (petit déjeûner) of India, a bit of bread, a cup +of coffee or tea and a pipe on rising. In the text, however, it +is a ceremonious affair. + +[FN#602] Arab. "Nahs," a word of many meanings; a sinister aspect +of the stars (as in Hebr. end Aram.) or, adjectivally, sinister, +of ill-omen. Vulgarly it is used as the reverse of nice and +corresponds, after a fashion, with our "nasty." + +[FN#603] "Window-gardening," new in England, is an old practice +in the East. + +[FN#604] Her pimping instinct at once revealed the case to her. + +[FN#605] The usual "pander-dodge" to get more money. + +[FN#606] The writer means that the old woman's account was all +false, to increase apparent difficulties and pour se faire +valoir. + +[FN#607] Arab. "Yá Khálati" =mother's sister; a familiar address +to the old, as uncle or nuncle (father's brother) to a man. The +Arabs also hold that as a girl resembles her mother so a boy +follows his uncle (mother's brother): hence the address "Ya +tayyib al-Khál!" = 0 thou nephew of a good uncle. I have noted +that physically this is often fact. + +[FN#608] "Ay w' Alláhi," contracted popularly to Aywa, a word in +every Moslem mouth and shunned by Christians because against +orders Hebrew and Christian. The better educated Turks now eschew +that eternal reference to Allah which appears in The Nights and +which is still the custom of the vulgar throughout the world of +Al-Islam. + +[FN#609] The "Muzayyin" or barber in the East brings his basin +and budget under his arm: he is not content only to shave, he +must scrape the forehead, trim the eyebrows, pass the blade +lightly over the nose and correct the upper and lower lines of +the mustachios, opening the central parting and so forth. He is +not a whit less a tattler and a scandal monger than the old Roman +tonsor or Figaro, his confrère in Southern Europe. The whole +scene of the Barber is admirable, an excellent specimen of Arab +humour and not over-caricatured. We all have met him. + +[FN#610] Abdullah ibn Abbas was a cousin and a companion of the +Apostle, also a well known Commentator on the Koran and conserver +of the traditions of Mohammed. + +[FN#611] I have noticed the antiquity of this father of our +sextant, a fragment of which was found in the Palace of +Sennacherib. More concerning the "Arstable" (as Chaucer calls it) +is given in my "Camoens: his Life and his Lusiads," p. 381. + +[FN#612] Arab. "Simiyá" to rhyme with Kímiyá (alchemy proper). It +is a subordinate branch of the Ilm al-Ruháni which I would +translate "Spiritualism," and which is divided into two great +branches, "Ilwí or Rahmáni" (the high or related to the Deity) +and Siflí or Shaytáni (low, Satanic). To the latter belongs +Al-Sahr, magic or the black art proper, gramarye, egromancy, +while Al- Simiyá is white magic, electro-biology, a kind of +natural and deceptive magic, in which drugs and perfumes exercise +an important action. One of its principal branches is the Darb +al-Mandal or magic mirror, of which more in a future page. See +Boccaccio's Day x. Novel 5. + +[FN#613] Chap. iii., 128. See Sale (in loco) for the noble +application of this text by the Imam Hasan, son of the Caliph +Ali. + +[FN#614] These proverbs at once remind us of our old friend +Sancho Panza and are equally true to nature in the mouth of the +Arab and of the Spaniard. + +[FN#615] Our nurses always carry in the arms: Arabs place the +children astraddle upon the hip and when older on the shoulder. + +[FN#616] Eastern clothes allow this biblical display of sorrow +and vexation, which with our European garb would look absurd: we +must satisfy ourselves with maltreating our hats + +[FN#617] Koran xlviii., 8. It may be observed that according to +the Ahádis (sayings of the Prophet) and the Sunnat (sayings and +doings of Mahommed), all the hair should be allowed to grow or +the whole head be clean shaven. Hence the "Shúshah," or topknot, +supposed to be left as a handle for drawing the wearer into +Paradise, and the Zulf, or side-locks, somewhat like the ringlets +of the Polish Jews, are both vain "Bida'at," or innovations, and +therefore technically termed "Makrúh," a practice not laudable, +neither "Halál" (perfectly lawful) nor "Harám" (forbidden by the +law). When boys are first shaved generally in the second or third +year, a tuft is left on the crown and another over the forehead; +but this is not the fashion amongst adults. Abu Hanifah, if I am +rightly informed, wrote a treatise on the Shushah or long lock +growing from the Násiyah (head-poll) which is also a precaution +lest the decapitated Moslem's mouth be defiled by an impure hand; +and thus it would resemble the chivalry lock by which the Redskin +brave (and even the "cowboy" of better times) facilitated the +removal of his own scalp. Possibly the Turks had learned the +practice from the Chinese and introduced it into Baghdad +(Pilgrimage i., 240). The Badawi plait their locks in Kurún +(horns) or Jadáil (ringlets) which are undone only to be washed +with the water of the she-camel. The wild Sherifs wear Haffah, +long elf-locks hanging down both sides of the throat, and shaved +away about a finger's breadth round the forehead and behind the +neck (Pilgrimage iii., 35-36). I have elsewhere noted the +accroche-coeurs, the "idiot fringe," etc. + +[FN#618] Meats are rarely coloured in modern days; but Persian +cooks are great adepts in staining rice for the "Puláo (which we +call after its Turkish corruption "pilaff"): it sometimes appears +in rainbow-colours, red, yellow and blue; and in India is covered +with gold and silver leaf. Europe retains the practice in tinting +Pasch (Easter) eggs, the survival of the mundane ovum which was +hatched at Easter-tide; and they are dyed red in allusion to the +Blood of Redemption. + +[FN#619] As I have noticed, this is a mixture. + +[FN#620] We say:-- + + Tis rare the father in the son we see: + He sometimes rises in the third degree. + +[FN#621] Arab. "Ballán" i.e. the body-servant: "Ballánah" is a +tire-woman. + +[FN#622] Arab. "Darabukkah" a drum made of wood or earthen-ware +(Lane, M. E., xviii.), and used by all in Egypt. + +[FN#623] Arab. "Naihah" more generally "Naddábah" Lat. præfica or +carina, a hired mourner, the Irish "Keener" at the conclamatio or +coronach, where the Hullabaloo, Hulululu or Ululoo showed the +survivors' sorrow. + +[FN#624] These doggerels, which are like our street melodies, are +now forgotten and others have taken their place. A few years ago +one often heard, "Dus ya lalli" (Tread, O my joy) and "Názil +il'al-Ganínah" (Down into the garden) and these in due turn +became obsolete. Lane (M. E. chaps. xviii.) gives the former e.g. + + Tread, O my joy! Tread, O my joy! + Love of my love brings sore annoy, + +A chorus to such stanzas as:-- + +Alexandrian damsels rare! * Daintily o'er the floor ye fare: +Your lips are sweet, are sugar-sweet, * And purfled Cashmere + shawls ye wear! + +It may be noted that "humming" is not a favourite practice with +Moslems; if one of the company begin, another will say, "Go to +the Kahwah" (the coffee-house, the proper music-hall) "and sing +there!" I have elsewhere observed their dislike to Al-sifr or +whistling. + +[FN#625] Arab. Khalí'a = worn out, crafty, an outlaw; used like +Span. "Perdido." + +[FN#626] "Zabbál" is the scavenger, lit. a dung-drawer, +especially for the use of the Hammam which is heated with the +droppings of animals. "Wakkád" (stoker) is the servant who turns +the fire. The verses are mere nonsense to suit the Barber's +humour. + +[FN#627] Arab. "Yá bárid" = O fool. + +[FN#628] This form of blessing is chanted from the Minaret about +half-an-hour before midday, when the worshippers take their +places in the mosque. At noon there is the usual Azán or +prayer-call, and each man performs a two-bow, in honour of the +mosque and its gathering, as it were. The Prophet is then blessed +and a second Salám is called from the raised ambo or platform +(dikkah) by the divines who repeat the midday-call. Then an Imam +recites the first Khutbah, or sermon "of praise"; and the +congregation worships in silence. This is followed by the second +exhortation "of Wa'az," dispensing the words of wisdom. The Imam +now stands up before the Mihráb (prayer niche) and recites the +Ikámah which is the common Azan with one only difference: after +"Hie ye to salvation" it adds "Come is the time of supplication;" +whence the name, "causing" (prayer) "to stand" (i.e., to begin). +Hereupon the worshippers recite the Farz or Koran commanded +noon-prayer of Friday; and the unco' guid add a host of +superogatories Those who would study the subject may consult Lane +(M. E. chaps. iii. and its abstract in his "Arabian Nights," I, +p. 430, or note 69 to chaps. v.). + +[FN#629] i.e., the women loosed their hair; an immodesty +sanctioned only by a great calamity. + +[FN#630] These small shops are composed of a "but" and a "ben." +(Pilgrimage i., 99.) + +[FN#631] Arab. "Kawwád," a popular term of abuse; hence the Span. +and Port. "Alco-viteiro." The Italian "Galeotto" is from +Galahalt, not Galahad. + +[FN#632] i.e., "one seeking assistance in Allah." He was the son +of Al-Záhir bi'lláh (one pre-eminent by the decree of Allah). +Lane says (i. 430), "great- grandson of Harun al-Rashid," +alluding to the first Mustansir son of Al-Mutawakkil (regn. A.H. +247-248 =861-862). But this is the 56th Abbaside and regn. A. H. +623-640 (= 1226-1242). + +[FN#633] Arab. "Yaum al-Id," the Kurban Bairam of the Turks, the +Pilgrimage festival. The story is historical. In the "Akd," a +miscellany compiled by Ibn Abd Rabbuh (vulg. Rabbi-hi) of +Cordova, who ob. A. H. 328 = 940 we read:--A sponger found ten +criminals and followed them, imagining they were going to a +feast; but lo, they were going to their deaths! And when they +were slain and he remained, he was brought before the Khalifah +(Al Maamun) and Ibrahim son of Al- Mahdi related a tale to +procure pardon for the man, whereupon the Khalifah pardoned him. +(Lane ii., 506.) + +[FN#634] Arab. "Nate' al-Dam"; the former word was noticed in the +Tale of the Bull and the Ass. The leather of blood was not unlike +the Sufrah and could be folded into a bag by a string running +through rings round the edges. Moslem executioners were very +expert and seldom failed to strike off the head with a single +blow of the thin narrow blade with razor-edge, hard as diamond +withal, which contrasted so strongly with the great coarse +chopper of the European headsman. + +[FN#635] The ground floor, which in all hot countries is held, +and rightly so, unwholesome during sleep, is usually let for +shops. This is also the case throughout Southern Europe, and +extends to the Canary Islands and the Brazil. + +[FN#636] This serious contemplation of street-scenery is one of +the pleasures of the Harems. + +[FN#637] We should say "smiled at him": the laugh was not +intended as an affront. + +[FN#638] Arab. "Fals ahmar." Fals is a fish-scale, also the +smaller coin and the plural "Fulús" is the vulgar term for money +(= Ital. quattrini ) without specifying the coin. It must not be +confounded with the "Fazzah," alias "Nuss," alias "Páráh" +(Turk.); the latter being made, not of "red copper" but of a vile +alloy containing, like the Greek "Asper," some silver; and +representing, when at par, the fortieth of a piastre, the +latter=2d. 2/5ths. + +[FN#639] Arab "Farajiyah " a long-sleeved robe; Lane's +"Farageeyeh," (M. E., chaps. i) + +[FN#640] The tailor in the East, as in Southern Europe, is made +to cut out the cloth in presence of its owner, to prevent +"cabbaging." + +[FN#641] Expecting a present. + +[FN#642] Alluding to the saying, "Kiss is the key to Kitty." + +[FN#643] The "panel-dodge" is fatally common throughout the East, +where a man found in the house of another is helpless. + +[FN#644] This was the beginning of horseplay which often ends in +a bastinado. + +[FN#645] Hair-dyes, in the East, are all of vegetable matter, +henna, indigo-leaves, galls, etc.: our mineral dyes are, happily +for them, unknown. Herklots will supply a host of recipes The +Egyptian mixture which I quoted in Pilgrimage (ii., 274) is +sulphate of iron and ammoniure of iron one part and gall nuts two +parts, infused in eight parts of distilled water. It is innocuous +but very poor as a dye. + +[FN#646] Arab. Amrad, etymologically "beardless and handsome," +but often used in a bad sense, to denote an effeminate, a +catamite. + +[FN#647] The Hindus prefer "having the cardinal points as her +sole garment." "Vêtu de climat," says Madame de Stael. In Paris +nude statues are "draped in cerulean blue." Rabelais (iv.,29) +robes King Shrovetide in grey and gold of a comical cut, nothing +before, nothing behind, with sleeves of the same. + +[FN#648] This scene used to be enacted a few years ago in Paris +for the benefit of concealed spectators, a young American being +the victim. It was put down when one of the lookers-on lost his +eye by a pen-knife thrust into the "crevice." + +[FN#649] Meaning that the trick had been played by the Wazir's +wife or daughter. I could mention sundry names at Cairo whose +charming owners have done worse things than this unseemly frolic. + +[FN#650] Arab. "Shayyun li'lláhi," a beggar's formula = per amor +di Dio. + +[FN#651] Noting how sharp-eared the blind become. + +[FN#652] The blind in Egypt are notorious for insolence and +violence, fanaticism and rapacity. Not a few foreigners have +suffered from them (Pilgrimage i., 148). In former times many +were blinded in infancy by their mothers, and others blinded +themselves to escape conscription or honest hard work. They could +always obtain food, especially as Mu'ezzins and were preferred +because they could not take advantage of the minaret by spying +into their neighbours' households. The Egyptian race is +chronically weak-eyed, the effect of the damp hot climate of the +valley, where ophthalmia prevailed even during the pre-Pharaohnic +days. The great Sesostris died stone-blind and his successor lost +his sight for ten years (Pilgrimage ii., 176). That the Fellahs +are now congenitally weak-eyed, may be seen by comparing them +with negroes imported from Central Africa. Ophthalmia rages, +especially during the damp season, in the lower Nile-valley; and +the best cure for it is a fortnight's trip to the Desert where, +despite glare, sand and wind, the eye readily recovers tone. + +[FN#653] i.e., with kicks and cuffs and blows, as is the custom. +(Pilgrimage i., 174.) + +[FN#654] Arab. Káid (whence "Alcayde") a word still much used in +North Western Africa. + +[FN#655] Arab. "Sullam" = lit. a ladder; a frame-work of sticks, +used by way of our triangles or whipping-posts. + +[FN#656] This is one of the feats of Al-Símiyá = white magic; +fascinating the eyes. In Europe it has lately taken the name of +"Electro-biology." + +[FN#657] again by means of the "Símiyá" or power of fascination +possessed by the old scoundrel. + +[FN#658] A formula for averting "Al-Ayn," the evil eye. It is +always unlucky to meet a one-eyed man, especially the first thing +in the morning and when setting out on any errand. The idea is +that the fascinated one will suffer from some action of the +physical eye. Monoculars also are held to be rogues: so the +Sanskrit saying "Few one-eyed men be honest men." + +[FN#659] Al-Nashshár from Nashr = sawing: so the fiddler in +Italian is called the "village-saw" (Sega del villaggio). He is +the Alnaschar of the Englished Galland and Richardson. The tale +is very old. It appears as the Brahman and the Pot of Rice in the +Panchatantra; and Professor Benfey believes (as usual with him) +that this, with many others, derives from a Buddhist source. But +I would distinctly derive it from Æsop's market-woman who kicked +over her eggs, whence the Lat. prov. Ante victoriam canere +triumphum = to sell the skin before you have caught the bear. In +the "Kalilah and Dimnah" and its numerous offspring it is the +"Ascetic with his Jar of oil and honey;" in Rabelais (i., 33) +Echephron's shoemaker spills his milk, and so La Perette in La +Fontaine. See M. Max Muller's "Chips," (vol. iii., appendix) The +curious reader will compare my version with that which appears at +the end of Richardson's Arabic Grammar (Edit. Of 1811): he had a +better, or rather a fuller MS. (p. 199) than any yet printed. + +[FN#660] Arab. "Atr" = any perfume, especially oil of roses; +whence our word "Otter,' through the Turkish corruption. + +[FN#661] The texts give "dirhams" (100,000 = 5,000 dinars) for +"dinars," a clerical error as the sequel shows. + +[FN#662] "Young slaves," says Richardson, losing "colour." + +[FN#663] Nothing more calculated to give affront than such a +refusal. Richardson (p. 204) who, however, doubts his own version +(p. 208), here translates, "and I will not give liberty to my +soul (spouse) but in her apartments." The Arabic, or rather +Cairene, is, "wa lá akhalli rúhi" I will not let myself go, i.e., +be my everyday self, etc. + +[FN#664] "Whilst she is in astonishment and terror." +(Richardson.) + +[FN#665] "Chamber of robes," Richardson, whose text has "Nám" for +"Manám." + +[FN#666] "Till I compleat her distress," Richardson, whose text +is corrupt. + +[FN#667] "Sleep by her side," R. the word "Name" bearing both +senses. + +[FN#668] "Will take my hand," R. "takabbal" being also ambiguous. + +[FN#669] Arab. "Mu'arras" one who brings about "'Ars," marriages, +etc. So the Germ. = "Kupplerinn" a Coupleress. It is one of the +many synonyms for a pimp, and a word in general use (Pilgrimage +i., 276).The most insulting term, like Dayyús, insinuates that +the man panders for his own wife. + +[FN#670] Of hands and face, etc. See Night cccclxiv. + +[FN#671] Arab. "Sadakah" (sincerity), voluntary or superogatory +alms, opposed to "Zakát" (purification), legal alms which are +indispensable. "Prayer carries us half way to Allah, fasting +brings us to the door of His palace and alms deeds (Sadakah) +cause us to enter." For "Zakát" no especial rate is fixed, but it +should not be less than one-fortieth of property or two and a +half per cent. Thus Al-lslam is, as far as I know, the only faith +which makes a poor-rate (Zakát) obligatory and which has invented +a property-tax, as opposed the unjust and unfair income-tax upon +which England prides herself. + +[FN#672] A Greek girl. + +[FN#673] This was making himself very easy; and the idea is the +gold in the pouch caused him to be so bold. Lane's explanation +(in loco) is all wrong. The pride engendered by sudden possession +of money is a lieu commun amongst Eastern story tellers; even in +the beast-fables the mouse which has stolen a few gold pieces +becomes confident and stout-hearted. + +[FN#674] Arab. "al-Málihah" also means the beautiful (fem.) from +Milh=salt, splendour, etc., the Mac edit. has "Mumallihah" = a +salt-vessel. + +[FN#675] i.e., to see if he felt the smart. + +[FN#676] Arab. "Sardábeh" (Persian)=an underground room used for +coolness in the hot season. It is unknown in Cairo but every +house in Baghdad, in fact throughout the Mesopotamian cities, has +one. It is on the principle of the underground cellar without +which wine will not keep: Lane (i., 406) calls it a "vault". + +[FN#677] In the orig. "O old woman!" which is insulting. + +[FN#678] So the Italians say "a quail to skin." + +[FN#679] "Amen" is the word used for quarter on the battle-field; +and there are Joe Millers about our soldiers in India mistaking +it for "a man" or (Scottice) "a mon." + +[FN#680] Illustrating the Persian saying "Allah himself cannot +help a fool." + +[FN#681] Any article taken from the person and given to a +criminal is a promise of pardon, of course on the implied +condition of plenary confession and of becoming "King's +evidence." + +[FN#682] A naïve proposal to share the plunder. + +[FN#683] In popular literature "Schacabac.", And from this tale +comes our saying "A Barmecide's Feast," i.e., an illusion. + +[FN#684] The Castrato at the door is still (I have said) the +fashion of Cairo and he acts "Suisse" with a witness. + +[FN#685] As usual in the East, the mansion was a hollow square +surrounding what in Spain is called Patio: the outer entrance was +far from the inner, showing the extent of the grounds. + +[FN#686] "Nahnu málihín" = we are on terms of salt, said and say +the Arabs. But the traveller must not trust in these days to the +once sacred tie; there are tribes which will give bread with one +hand and stab with the other. The Eastern use of salt is a +curious contrast with that of Westerns, who made it an invidious +and inhospitable distinction, e.g., to sit above the salt-cellar +and below the salt. Amongst the ancients, however, "he took bread +and salt" means he swore, the food being eaten when an oath was +taken. Hence the "Bride cake" of salt, water and flour. + +[FN#687] Arab. "Harísah," the meat-pudding before explained. + +[FN#688] Arab. "Sikbáj," before explained; it is held to be a +lordly dish, invented by Khusraw Parwiz. "Fatted duck" says the +Bresl. Edit. ii., 308, with more reason. + +[FN#689] I was reproved in Southern Abyssinia for eating without +this champing, "Thou feedest like a beggar who muncheth silently +in his corner;" and presently found that it was a sign of good +breeding to eat as noisily as possible. + +[FN#690] Barley in Arabia is, like our oats, food for horses: it +fattens at the same time that it cools them. Had this been known +to our cavalry when we first occupied Egypt in 1883-4 our losses +in horse-flesh would have been far less; but official ignorance +persisted in feeding the cattle upon heating oats and the riders +upon beef, which is indigestible, instead of mutton, which is +wholesome. + +[FN#691] i.e. "I conjure thee by God." + +[FN#692] i.e. "This is the very thing for thee." + +[FN#693] i.e., at random. + +[FN#694] This is the way of slaughtering the camel, whose throat +is never cut on account of the thickness of the muscles. "Égorger +un chameau" is a mistake often made in French books. + +[FN#695] i.e. I will break bounds. + +[FN#696] The Arabs have a saying corresponding with the dictum of +the Salernitan school:-- + + Noscitur a labiis quantum sit virginis antrum: + Noscitur a naso quanta sit haste viro; + (A maiden's mouth shows what's the make of her chose; + And man's mentule one knows by the length of his nose.) + +Whereto I would add:-- + + And the eyebrows disclose how the lower wig grows. + +The observations are purely empirical but, as far as my +experience extends, correct. + +[FN#697] Arab. "Kahkahah," a very low proceeding. + +[FN#698] Or "for every death there is a cause;" but the older +Arabs had a saying corresponding with "Deus non fecit mortem." + +[FN#699] The King's barber is usually a man of rank for the best +of reasons, that he holds his Sovereign's life between his +fingers. One of these noble Figaros in India married an English +lady who was, they say, unpleasantly surprised to find out what +were her husband's official duties. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a +Night, Volume 1, by Richard F. Burton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS *** + +***** This file should be named 3435-8.txt or 3435-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/3/3435/ + +Produced by J.C. Byers at jcbyers@capitalnet.com. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1 + +Author: Richard F. Burton + +Posting Date: December 3, 2010 [EBook #3435] +Release Date: September, 2003 +[This file was first posted on March 20, 2001] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS *** + + + + +Produced by J.C. Byers at jcbyers@capitalnet.com. +Proofreaders were: J.C. Byers, Norm Wolcott, Dianne +Doefler and Charles Wilson. + + + + + + + + + THE BOOK OF THE + THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT + A Plain and Literal Translation + of the Arabian Nights Entertainments + + Translated and Annotated by + Richard F. Burton + + VOLUME ONE + + + + + + + + + + Inscribed to the Memory + of + My Lamented Friend + John Frederick Steinhaeuser, + (Civil Surgeon, Aden) + who + A Quarter of a Century Ago + Assisted Me in this Translation. + + + + +"To the pure all things are pure" (Puris omnia pura) + - Arab Proverb. + +"Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole." + - "Decameron" - conclusion. + +"Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum Sed coram Bruto. Brute! +reced, leget. + - Martial. + +"Miculx est de ris que de larmes escripre, Pour ce que rire est +le propre des hommes." + - Rabelais. + +"The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand and One +Stories makes us regret that we possess only a comparatively +small part of these truly enchanting fictions." + - Crichton's "History of Arabia." + + + + Contents of the First Volume + + +Introduction +Story Of King Shahryar and His Brother + a. Tale of the Bull and the Ass +1. Tale of the Trader and the Jinni + a. The First Shaykh's Story + b. The Second Shaykh's Story + c. The Third Shaykh's Story +2. The Fisherman and the Jinni + a. Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban + ab. Story of King Sindibad and His Falcon + ac. Tale of the Husband and the Parrot + ad. Tale of the Prince and the Ogress + b. Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince +3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad + a. The First Kalandar's Tale + b. The Second Kalandar's Tale + ba. Tale of the Envier and the Envied + c. The Third Kalandar's Tale + d. The Eldest Lady's Tale + e. Tale of the Portress + Conclusion of the Story of the Porter and the Three Ladies +4. Tale of the Three Apples +5. Tale of Nur Al-din Ali and his Son +6. The Hunchback's Tale + a. The Nazarene Broker's Story + b. The Reeve's Tale + c. Tale of the Jewish Doctor + d. Tale of the Tailor + e. The Barber's Tale of Himself + ea. The Barber's Tale of his First Brother + eb. The Barber's Tale of his Second Brother + ec. The Barber's Tale of his Third Brother + ed. The Barber's Tale of his Fourth Brother + ee. The Barber's Tale of his Fifth Brother + ef. The Barber's Tale of his Sixth Brother + The End of the Tailor's Tale + + + + + + + The Translator's Foreword. + + +This work, labourious as it may appear, has been to me a labour +of love, an unfailing source of solace and satisfaction. During +my long years of official banishment to the luxuriant and deadly +deserts of Western Africa, and to the dull and dreary half +clearings of South America, it proved itself a charm, a talisman +against ennui and despondency. Impossible even to open the pages +without a vision starting into view; with out drawing a picture +from the pinacothek of the brain; without reviving a host of +memories and reminiscences which are not the common property of +travellers, however widely they may have travelled. From my dull +and commonplace and "respectable" surroundings, the Jinn bore me +at once to the land of my pre-direction, Arabia, a region so +familiar to my mind that even at first sight, it seemed a +reminiscence of some by gone metem-psychic life in the distant +Past. Again I stood under the diaphanous skies, in air glorious +as aether, whose every breath raises men's spirits like sparkling +wine. Once more I saw the evening star hanging like a solitaire +from the pure front of the western firmament; and the after glow +transfiguring and transforming, as by magic, the homely and +rugged features of the scene into a fairy land lit with a light +which never shines on other soils or seas. Then would appear the +woollen tents, low and black, of the true Badawin, mere dots in +the boundless waste of lion tawny clays and gazelle brown +gravels, and the camp fire dotting like a glow worm the village +centre. Presently, sweetened by distance, would be heard the wild +weird song of lads and lasses, driving or rather pelting, through +the gloaming their sheep and goats; and the measured chant of the +spearsmen gravely stalking behind their charge, the camels; +mingled with bleating of the flocks and the bellowing of the +humpy herds; while the reremouse flitted overhead with his tiny +shriek, and the rave of the jackal resounded through deepening +glooms, and--most musical of music--the palm trees answered the +whispers of the night breeze with the softest tones of falling +water. + +And then a shift of scene. The Shaykhs and "white beards" of the +tribe gravely take their places, sitting with outspread skirts +like hillocks on the plain, as the Arabs say, around the camp +fire, whilst I reward their hospitality and secure its +continuance by reading or reciting a few pages of their favourite +tales. The women and children stand motionless as silhouettes +outside the ring; and all are breathless with attention; they +seem to drink in the words with eyes and mouths as well as with +ears. The most fantastic flights of fancy, the wildest +improbabilities, the most impossible of impossibilities, appear +to them utterly natural, mere matters of every day occurrence. +They enter thoroughly into each phase of feeling touched upon by +the author: they take a personal pride in the chivalrous nature +and knightly prowess of Taj al-Muluk; they are touched with +tenderness by the self sacrificing love of Azizah; their mouths +water as they hear of heaps of untold gold given away in largesse +like clay; they chuckle with delight every time a Kazi or a +Fakir--a judge or a reverend--is scurvily entreated by some +Pantagruelist of the Wilderness; and, despite their normal +solemnity and impassibility, all roar with laughter, sometimes +rolling upon the ground till the reader's gravity is sorely +tried, at the tales of the garrulous Barber and of Ali and the +Kurdish Sharper. To this magnetising mood the sole exception is +when a Badawi of superior accomplishments, who sometimes says his +prayers, ejaculates a startling "Astagh-faru'llah"--I pray +Allah's pardon!--for listening, not to Carlyle's "downright +lies," but to light mention of the sex whose name is never heard +amongst the nobility of the Desert. + +Nor was it only in Arabia that the immortal Nights did me such +notable service: I found the wildlings of Somali land equally +amenable to its discipline; no one was deaf to the charm and the +two women cooks of my caravan, on its way to Harar, were in +continently dubbed by my men "Shahrazad" and "Dinazad." + +It may be permitted me also to note that this translation is a +natural outcome of my Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah. +Arriving at Aden in the (so called) winter of 1852, I put up with +my old and dear friend, Steinhaeuser, to whose memory this volume +is inscribed; and, when talking over Arabia and the Arabs, we at +once came to the same conclusion that, while the name of this +wondrous treasury of Moslem folk lore is familiar to almost every +English child, no general reader is aware of the valuables it +contains, nor indeed will the door open to any but Arabists. +Before parting we agreed to "collaborate" and produce a full, +complete, unvarnished, uncastrated copy of the great original, my +friend taking the prose and I the metrical part; and we +corresponded upon the subject for years. But whilst I was in the +Brazil, Steinhaeuser died suddenly of apoplexy at Berne in +Switzerland and, after the fashion of Anglo India, his valuable +MSS. left at Aden were dispersed, and very little of his labours +came into my hands. + +Thus I was left alone to my work, which progressed fitfully amid +a host of obstructions. At length, in the spring of 1879, the +tedious process of copying began and the book commenced to take +finished form. But, during the winter of 1881-82, I saw in the +literary journals a notice of a new version by Mr. John Payne, +well known to scholars for his prowess in English verse, +especially for his translation of "The Poems of Master Francis +Villon, of Paris." Being then engaged on an expedition to the +Gold Coast (for gold), which seemed likely to cover some months, +I wrote to the "Athenaeum" (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 +Mediocratie, 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 employee who know very little and who do even less. + +Yet, however behindhand I may be, there is still ample room and +verge for an English version of the "Arabian Nights' +Entertainments." + +Our century of translations, popular and vernacular, from +(Professor Antoine) Galland's delightful abbreviation and +adaptation (A.D. 1704), in no wise represent the eastern +original. The best and latest, the Rev. Mr. Foster's, which is +diffuse and verbose, and Mr. G. Moir Bussey's, which is a re- +correction, abound in gallicisms of style and idiom; and one and +all degrade a chef d'oeuvre of the highest anthropological and +ethnographical interest and importance to a mere fairy book, a +nice present for little boys. + +After nearly a century had elapsed, Dr. Jonathan Scott (LL.D. +H.E.I.C.'s S., Persian Secretary to the G. G. Bengal; Oriental +Professor, etc., etc.), printed his "Tales, Anecdotes, and +Letters, translated from the Arabic and Persian," (Cadell and +Davies, London, A.D. 1800); and followed in 1811 with an edition +of "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments" from the MS. of Edward +Wortley Montague (in 6 vols., small 8vo, London: Longmans, etc.). +This work he (and he only) describes as "Carefully revised and +occasionally corrected from the Arabic." The reading public did +not wholly reject it, sundry texts were founded upon the Scott +version and it has been imperfectly reprinted (4 vole., 8vo, +Nimmo and Bain, London, 1883). But most men, little recking what +a small portion of the original they were reading, satisfied +themselves with the Anglo French epitome and metaphrase. At +length in 1838, Mr. Henry Torrens, B.A., Irishman, lawyer ("of +the Inner Temple") and Bengal Civilian, took a step in the right +direction; and began to translate, "The Book of the Thousand +Nights and One Night," (1 vol., 8vo, Calcutta: W. Thacker and +Co.) from the Arabic of the AEgyptian (!) MS. edited by Mr. +(afterwards Sir)William H. Macnaghten. The attempt, or rather the +intention, was highly creditable; the copy was carefully moulded +upon the model and offered the best example of the verbatim et +literatim style. But the plucky author knew little of Arabic, and +least of what is most wanted, the dialect of Egypt and Syria. His +prose is so conscientious as to offer up spirit at the shrine of +letter; and his verse, always whimsical, has at times a manner of +Hibernian whoop which is comical when it should be pathetic. +Lastly he printed only one volume of a series which completed +would have contained nine or ten. + +That amiable and devoted Arabist, the late Edward William Lane +does not score a success in his "New Translation of the Tales of +a Thousand and One Nights" (London: Charles Knight and Co., +MDCCCXXXIX.) of which there have been four English editions, +besides American, two edited by E. S. Poole. He chose the +abbreviating Bulak Edition; and, of its two hundred tales, he has +omitted about half and by far the more characteristic half: the +work was intended for "the drawing room table;" and, +consequently, the workman was compelled to avoid the +"objectionable" and aught "approaching to licentiousness." He +converts the Arabian Nights into the Arabian Chapters, +arbitrarily changing the division and, worse still, he converts +some chapters into notes. He renders poetry by prose and +apologises for not omitting it altogether: he neglects assonance +and he is at once too Oriental and not Oriental enough. He had +small store of Arabic at the time--Lane of the Nights is not Lane +of the Dictionary--and his pages are disfigured by many childish +mistakes. Worst of all, the three handsome volumes are rendered +unreadable as Sale's Koran by their anglicised Latin, their +sesquipedalian un English words, and the stiff and stilted style +of half a century ago when our prose was, perhaps, the worst in +Europe. Their cargo of Moslem learning was most valuable to the +student, but utterly out of place for readers of "The Nights;" +re-published, as these notes have been separately (London, +Chatto, 1883), they are an ethnological text book. + +Mr. John Payne has printed, for the Villon Society and for +private circulation only, the first and sole complete translation +of the great compendium, "comprising about four times as much +matter as that of Galland, and three times as much as that of any +other translator;" and I cannot but feel proud that he has +honoured me with the dedication of "The Book of The Thousand +Nights and One Night." His version is most readable: his English, +with a sub-flavour of the Mabinogionic archaicism, is admirable; +and his style gives life and light to the nine volumes whose +matter is frequently heavy enough. He succeeds admirably in the +most difficult passages and he often hits upon choice and special +terms and the exact vernacular equivalent of the foreign word, so +happily and so picturesquely that all future translators must +perforce use the same expression under pain of falling far short. +But the learned and versatile author bound himself to issue only +five hundred copies, and "not to reproduce the work in its +complete and uncastrated form." Consequently his excellent +version is caviaire to the general--practically unprocurable. + +And here I hasten to confess that ample use has been made of the +three versions above noted, the whole being blended by a callida +junctura into a homogeneous mass. But in the presence of so many +predecessors a writer is bound to show some raison d'etre for +making a fresh attempt and this I proceed to do with due reserve. + +Briefly, the object of this version is to show what "The Thousand +Nights and a Night" really is. Not, however, for reasons to be +more fully stated in the Terminal Essay, by straining verbum +reddere verbo, but by writing as the Arab would have written in +English. On this point I am all with Saint Jerome (Pref. in +Jobum) "Vel verbum e verbo, vel sensum e sensu, vel ex utroque +commixtum, et medic 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 mecanique, +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 Rawi or reciter, to +whose wits the task of supplying details is left, well knows +their value: the openings carefully repeat the names of the +dramatic personae 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 sparked," fully to represent the original. These, like many +in Rabelais, are mere barbarisms unless generally adopted; in +which case they become civilised and common currency. + +Despite objections manifold and manifest, I have preserved the +balance of sentences and the prose rhyme and rhythm which +Easterns look upon as mere music. This "Saj'a," or cadence of the +cooing dove, has in Arabic its special duties. It adds a sparkle +to description and a point to proverb, epigram and dialogue; it +corresponds with our "artful alliteration" (which in places I +have substituted for it) and, generally, it defines the +boundaries between the classical and the popular styles which +jostle each other in The Nights. If at times it appear strained +and forced, after the wont of rhymed prose, the scholar will +observe that, despite the immense copiousness of assonants and +consonants in Arabic, the strain is often put upon it +intentionally, like the Rims cars of Dante and the Troubadours. +This rhymed prose may be "un English" and unpleasant, even +irritating to the British ear; still I look upon it as a sine qua +non for a complete reproduction of the original. In the Terminal +Essay I shall revert to the subject. + +On the other hand when treating the versical portion, which may +represent a total of ten thousand lines, I have not always bound +myself by the metrical bonds of the Arabic, which are artificial +in the extreme, and which in English can be made bearable only by +a tour de force. I allude especially to the monorhyme, Rim +continuat or tirade monorime, whose monotonous simplicity was +preferred by the Troubadours for threnodies. It may serve well +for three or four couplets but, when it extends, as in the +Ghazal-cannon, to eighteen, and in the Kasidah, elegy or ode, to +more, it must either satisfy itself with banal rhyme words, when +the assonants should as a rule be expressive and emphatic; or, it +must display an ingenuity, a smell of the oil, which assuredly +does not add to the reader's pleasure. It can perhaps be done and +it should be done; but for me the task has no attractions: I can +fence better in shoes than in sabots. Finally I print the +couplets in Arab form separating the hemistichs by asterisks. + +And now to consider one matter of special importance in the book--its +turpiloquium. This stumbling-block is of two kinds, +completely distinct. One is the simple, naive and child like +indecency which, from Tangiers to Japan, occurs throughout +general conversation of high and low in the present day. It uses, +like the holy books of the Hebrews, expressions "plainly +descriptive of natural situations;" and it treats in an +unconventionally free and naked manner of subjects and matters +which are usually, by common consent, left undescribed. As Sir +William Jones observed long ago, "that anything natural can be +offensively obscene never seems to have occurred to the Indians +or to their legislators; a singularity (?) pervading their +writings and conversation, but no proof of moral depravity." +Another justly observes, Les peuples primitifs n'y entendent pas +malice: ils appellent les choses par leurs noms et ne trouvent +pas condamnable ce qui est naturel. And they are prying as +children. For instance the European novelist marries off his hero +and heroine and leaves them to consummate marriage in privacy; +even Tom Jones has the decency to bolt the door. But the Eastern +story teller, especially this unknown "prose Shakespeare," must +usher you, with a flourish, into the bridal chamber and narrate +to you, with infinite gusto, everything he sees and hears. Again +we must remember that grossness and indecency, in fact les +turpitudes, are matters of time and place; what is offensive in +England is not so in Egypt; what scandalises us now would have +been a tame joke tempore Elisoe. 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 Naiser, "divin maitre et atroce cochon." +The other element is absolute obscenity, sometimes, but not +always, tempered by wit, humour and drollery; here we have an +exaggeration of Petronius Arbiter, the handiwork of writers whose +ancestry, the most religious and the most debauched of mankind, +practised every abomination before the shrine of the Canopic +Gods. + +In accordance with my purpose of reproducing the Nights, not +virginibus puerisque, but in as perfect a picture as my powers +permit, I have carefully sought out the English equivalent of +every Arabic word, however low it may be or "shocking" to ears +polite; preserving, on the other hand, all possible delicacy +where the indecency is not intentional; and, as a friend advises +me to state, not exaggerating the vulgarities and the indecencies +which, indeed, can hardly be exaggerated. For the coarseness and +crassness are but the shades of a picture which would otherwise +be all lights. The general tone of The Nights is exceptionally +high and pure. The devotional fervour often rises to the boiling +point of fanaticism. The pathos is sweet, deep and genuine; +tender, simple and true, utterly unlike much of our modern +tinsel. Its life, strong, splendid and multitudinous, is +everywhere flavoured with that unaffected pessimism and +constitutional melancholy which strike deepest root under the +brightest skies and which sigh in the face of heaven: -- + + Vita quid est hominis? Viridis floriscula mortis; + Sole Oriente oriens, sole cadente cadens. + +Poetical justice is administered by the literary Kazi 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 Camelias, 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 presence", +pointed by a rough dry humour which compares well with "wut; "the +alternations of strength and weakness, of pathos and bathos, of +the boldest poetry (the diction of Job) and the baldest prose +(the Egyptian of today); the contact of religion and morality +with the orgies of African Apuleius and Petronius Arbiter--at +times taking away the reader's breath--and, finally, the whole +dominated everywhere by that marvellous Oriental fancy, wherein +the spiritual and the supernatural are as common as the material +and the natural; it is this contrast, I say, which forms the +chiefest charm of The Nights, which gives it the most striking +originality and which makes it a perfect expositor of the +medieval Moslem mind. + +Explanatory notes did not enter into Mr. Payne's plan. They do +with mine: I can hardly imagine The Nights being read to any +profit by men of the West without commentary. My annotations +avoid only one subject, parallels of European folklore and +fabliaux which, however interesting, would overswell the bulk of +a book whose speciality is anthropology. The accidents of my +life, it may be said without undue presumption, my long dealings +with Arabs and other Mahommedans, and my familiarity not only +with their idiom but with their turn of thought, and with that +racial individuality which baffles description, have given me +certain advantages over the average student, however deeply he +may have studied. These volumes, moreover, afford me a long +sought opportunity of noticing practices and customs which +interest all mankind and which "Society" will not hear mentioned. +Grate, the historian, and Thackeray, the novelist, both lamented +that the begueulerie of their countrymen condemned them to keep +silence where publicity was required; and that they could not +even claim the partial licence of a Fielding and a Smollett. +Hence a score of years ago I lent my best help to the late Dr. +James Hunt in founding the Anthropological Society, whose +presidential chair I first occupied (pp. 2-4 Anthropologia; +London, Balliere, vol. i., No. I, 1873). My motive was to supply +travellers with an organ which would rescue their observations +from the outer darkness of manuscript, and print their curious +information on social and sexual matters out of place in the +popular book intended for the Nipptisch and indeed better kept +from public view. But, hardly had we begun when "Respectability," +that whited sepulchre full of all uncleanness, rose up against +us. "Propriety" cried us down with her brazen blatant voice, and +the weak kneed brethren fell away. Yet the organ was much wanted +and is wanted still. All now known barbarous tribes in Inner +Africa, America and Australia, whose instincts have not been +overlaid by reason, have a ceremony which they call "making men." +As soon as the boy shows proofs of puberty, he and his coevals +are taken in hand by the mediciner and the Fetisheer; and, under +priestly tuition, they spend months in the "bush," enduring +hardships and tortures which impress the memory till they have +mastered the "theorick and practick" of social and sexual +relations. Amongst the civilised this fruit of the knowledge tree +must be bought at the price of the bitterest experience, and the +consequences of ignorance are peculiarly cruel. Here, then, I +find at last an opportunity of noticing in explanatory notes many +details of the text which would escape the reader's observation, +and I am confident that they will form a repertory of Eastern +knowledge in its esoteric phase. The student who adds the notes +of Lane ("Arabian Society," etc., before quoted) to mine will +know as much of the Moslem East and more than many Europeans who +have spent half their lives in Orient lands. For facility of +reference an index of anthropological notes is appended to each +volume. + +The reader will kindly bear with the following technical details. +Steinhaeuser and I began and ended our work with the first Bulak +("Bul.") Edition printed at the port of Cairo in A.H. 1251 = A.D. +1835. But when preparing my MSS. for print I found the text +incomplete, many of the stories being given in epitome and not a +few ruthlessly mutilated with head or feet wanting. Like most +Eastern scribes the Editor could not refrain from "improvements," +which only debased the book; and his sole title to excuse is that +the second Bulak Edition (4 vols. A.H. 1279 = A.D. 1863), despite +its being "revised and corrected by Sheik Mahommed Qotch Al- +Adewi," is even worse; and the same may be said of the Cairo +Edit. (4 vols. A.H. 1297 = A. D. 1881). The Calcutta ("Calc.") +Edition, with ten lines of Persian preface by the Editor, Ahmed +al-Shirwani (A.D. 1814), was cut short at the end of the first +two hundred Nights, and thus made room for Sir William Hay +Macnaghten's Edition (4 vols. royal 4to) of 1839-42. This +("Mac."), as by far the least corrupt and the most complete, has +been assumed for my basis with occasional reference to the +Breslau Edition ("Bres.") wretchedly edited from a hideous +Egyptian MS. by Dr. Maximilian Habicht (1825-43). The Bayrut Text +"Alif-Leila we Leila" (4 vols. at. 8vo, Beirut, 1881-83) is a +melancholy specimen of The Nights taken entirely from the Bulak +Edition by one Khalil Sarkis and converted to Christianity; +beginning without Bismillah, continued with scrupulous castration +and ending in ennui and disappointment. I have not used this +missionary production. + +As regards the transliteration of Arabic words I deliberately +reject the artful and complicated system, ugly and clumsy withal, +affected by scientific modern Orientalists. Nor is my sympathy +with their prime object, namely to fit the Roman alphabet for +supplanting all others. Those who learn languages, and many do +so, by the eye as well as by the ear, well know the advantages of +a special character to distinguish, for instance, Syriac from +Arabic, Gujrati from Marathi. Again this Roman hand bewitched may +have its use in purely scientific and literary works; but it +would be wholly out of place in one whose purpose is that of the +novel, to amuse rather than to instruct. Moreover the devices +perplex the simple and teach nothing to the learned. Either the +reader knows Arabic, in which case Greek letters, italics and +"upper case," diacritical points and similar typographic oddities +are, as a rule with some exceptions, unnecessary; or he does not +know Arabic, when none of these expedients will be of the least +use to him. Indeed it is a matter of secondary consideration what +system we prefer, provided that we mostly adhere to one and the +same, for the sake of a consistency which saves confusion to the +reader. I have especially avoided that of Mr. Lane, adopted by +Mr. Payne, for special reasons against which it was vain to +protest: it represents the debased brogue of Egypt or rather of +Cairo; and such a word as Kemer (ez-Zeman) would be utterly un- +pronounceable to a Badawi. Nor have I followed the practice of my +learned friend, Reverend G. P. Badger, in mixing bars and acute +accents; the former unpleasantly remind man of those hateful +dactyls and spondees, and the latter should, in my humble +opinion, be applied to long vowels which in Arabic double, or +should double, the length of the shorts. Dr. Badger uses the +acute symbol to denote accent or stress of voice; but such +appoggio is unknown to those who speak with purest articulation; +for instance whilst the European pronounces Mus-cat', and the +Arab villager Mas'-kat; the Children of the Waste, "on whose +tongues Allah descended," articulate Mas-kat. I have therefore +followed the simple system adopted in my "Pilgrimage," and have +accented Arabic words only when first used, thinking it +unnecessary to preserve throughout what is an eyesore to the +reader and a distress to the printer. In the main I follow +"Johnson on Richardson," a work known to every Anglo-Orientalist +as the old and trusty companion of his studies early and late; +but even here I have made sundry deviations for reasons which +will be explained in the Terminal Essay. As words are the +embodiment of ideas and writing is of words, so the word is the +spoken word; and we should write it as pronounced. Strictly +speaking, the e-sound and the o-sound (viz. the Italian o-sound +not the English which is peculiar to us and unknown to any other +tongue) are not found in Arabic, except when the figure Imalah +obliges: hence they are called "Ya al-Majhul" and "Waw al-Majhul" +the unknown y (i) 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 sad ( ) compared +with the sin ( ). 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 "Memluk" 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 +Imalah) to "Fas and Miknas,", our "Fez and Mequinez." + +With respect to proper names and untranslated Arabic words I have +rejected all system in favour of common sense. When a term is +incorporated in our tongue, I refuse to follow the purist and +mortify the reader by startling innovation. For instance, Aleppo, +Cairo and Bassorah are preferred to Halab, Kahirah and Al-Basrah; +when a word is half naturalised, like Alcoran or Koran, Bashaw or +Pasha, which the French write Pacha; and Mahomet or Mohammed (for +Muhammad), the modern form is adopted because the more familiar. +But I see no advantage in retaining,, simply because they are the +mistakes of a past generation, such words as "Roc" (for Rikh),), +Khalif (a pretentious blunder for Kalifah and better written +Caliph) and "genie" ( = Jinn) a mere Gallic corruption not so +terrible, however, as "a Bedouin" ( = Badawi).). As little too +would I follow Mr. Lane in foisting upon the public such Arabisms +as "Khuff" (a riding boot), "Mikra'ah" (a palm rod) and a host of +others for which we have good English equivalents. On the other +hand I would use, but use sparingly, certain Arabic exclamations, +as "Bismillah" ( = in the name of Allah!) and "Inshallah" ( = if +Allah please!), (= which have special applications and which have +been made familiar to English ears by the genius of Fraser and +Morier. + +I here end these desultory but necessary details to address the +reader in a few final words. He will not think lightly of my work +when I repeat to him that with the aid of my annotations +supplementing Lane's, the student will readily and pleasantly +learn more of the Moslem's manners and customs, laws and religion +than is known to the average Orientalist; and, if my labours +induce him to attack the text of The Nights he will become master +of much more Arabic than the ordinary Arab owns. This book is +indeed a legacy which I bequeath to my fellow countrymen in their +hour of need. Over devotion to Hindu, and especially to Sanskrit +literature, has led them astray from those (so called) "Semitic" +studies, which are the more requisite for us as they teach us to +deal successfully with a race more powerful than any pagans--the +Moslem. Apparently England is ever forgetting that she is at +present the greatest Mohammedan empire in the world. Of late +years she has systematically neglected Arabism and, indeed, +actively discouraged it in examinations for the Indian Civil +Service, where it is incomparably more valuable than Greek and +Latin. Hence, when suddenly compelled to assume the reins of +government in Moslem lands, as Afghanistan in times past and +Egypt at present, she fails after a fashion which scandalises her +few (very few) friends; and her crass ignorance concerning the +Oriental peoples which should most interest her, exposes her to +the contempt of Europe as well as of the Eastern world. When the +regrettable raids of 1883-84, culminating in the miserable +affairs of Tokar, Teb and Tamasi, were made upon the gallant +Sudani negroids, the Bisharin outlying Sawakin, who were battling +for the holy cause of liberty and religion and for escape from +Turkish task-masters and Egyptian tax-gatherers, not an English +official in camp, after the death of the gallant and lamented +Major Morice, was capable of speaking Arabic. Now Moslems are not +to be ruled by raw youths who should be at school and college +instead of holding positions of trust and emolument. He who would +deal with them successfully must be, firstly, honest and truthful +and, secondly, familiar with and favourably inclined to their +manners and customs if not to their law and religion. We may, +perhaps, find it hard to restore to England those pristine +virtues, that tone and temper, which made her what she is; but at +any rate we (myself and a host of others) can offer her the means +of dispelling her ignorance concerning the Eastern races with +whom she is continually in contact. + +In conclusion I must not forget to notice that the Arabic +ornamentations of these volumes were designed by my excellent +friend Yacoub Artin Pasha, of the Ministry of Instruction, Cairo, +with the aid of the well-known writing artist, Shayth Mohammed +Muunis the Cairene. My name, Al-Hajj Abdullah ( = the Pilgrim +Abdallah) was written by an English calligrapher, the lamented +Professor Palmer who found a premature death almost within sight +of Suez. + +RICHARD F. BURTON + +Wanderers' Club, August 15, 1885. + + + + + The Book Of The + THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT + + (ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAH.) + + + In the Name of Allah, + the Compassionating, the Compassionate! + +PRAISE BE TO ALLAH * THE BENEFICENT KING * THE CREATOR OF THE +UNIVERSE * LORD OF THE THREE WORLDS * WHO SET UP THE FIRMAMENT +WITHOUT PILLARS IN ITS STEAD * AND WHO STRETCHED OUT THE EARTH +EVEN AS A BED * AND GRACE, AND PRAYER-BLESSING BE UPON OUR LORD +MOHAMMED * LORD OF APOSTOLIC MEN * AND UPON HIS FAMILY AND +COMPANION TRAIN * PRAYER AND BLESSINGS ENDURING AND GRACE WHICH +UNTO THE DAY OF DOOM SHALL REMAIN * AMEN! * O THOU OF THE THREE +WORLDS SOVEREIGN! + +And afterwards. Verily the works and words of those gone before +us have become instances and examples to men of our modern day, +that folk may view what admonishing chances befel other folk and +may therefrom take warning; and that they may peruse the annals +of antique peoples and all that hath betided them, and be thereby +ruled and restrained:--Praise, therefore, be to Him who hath made +the histories of the Past an admonition unto the Present! Now of +such instances are the tales called "A Thousand Nights and a +Night," together with their far famed legends and wonders. +Therein it is related (but Allah is All knowing of His hidden +things and All ruling and All honoured and All giving and All +gracious and All merciful [FN#1]) that, in tide of yore and in +time long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu +Sasan 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 forded 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 Shahryar[FN#3], and he made +his younger brother, Shah Zaman 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 Wazir[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, attend ants 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 pastern 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 con elusion, +ending with these words, "When I beheld thy calamity and the +treason of thy wife, O my brother, and I resected 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 in tent to travel, and the troops and +tents fared forth without the city, camping within sight, and +Shahryar sallied out with them and took seat amidmost his host, +bidding the slaves admit no man to him. When night came on he +summoned his Wazir and said to him, "Sit thou in my stead and let +none wot of my absence till the term of three days." Then the +brothers disguised themselves and returned by night with all +secrecy to the palace, where they passed the dark hours: and at +dawn they seated themselves at the lattice overlooking the +pleasure grounds, when presently the Queen and her handmaids came +out as before, and passing under the windows made for the +fountain. Here they stripped, ten of them being men to ten women, +and the King's wife cried out, "Where art thou, O Saeed?" The +hideous blackamoor dropped from the tree straightway; and, +rushing into her arms without stay or delay, cried out, "I am +Sa'ad al Din Saood!"[FN#11] The lady laughed heartily, and all +fell to satisfying their lusts, and remained so occupied for a +couple of hours, when the white slaves rose up from the +handmaidens' breasts and the blackamoor dismounted from the +Queen's bosom: then they went into the basin and, after +performing the Ghusl, or complete ablution, donned their dresses +and retired as they had done before. When King Shahryar saw this +infamy of his wife and concubines he became as one distraught and +he cried out, "Only in utter solitude can man be safe from the +doings of this vile world! By Allah, life is naught but one great +wrong." Presently he added, "Do not thwart me, O my brother, in +what I propose;" and the other answered, "I will not." So he +said, "Let us up as we are and depart forthright hence, for we +have no concern with Kingship, and let us overwander Allah's +earth, worshipping the Almighty till we find some one to whom the +like calamity hath happened; and if we find none then will death +be more welcome to us than life." So the two brothers issued from +a second private postern of the palace; and they never stinted +wayfaring by day and by night, until they reached a tree a middle +of a meadow hard by a spring of sweet water on the shore of the +salt sea. Both drank of it and sat down to take their rest; and +when an hour of the day had gone by: lo! they heard a mighty roar +and uproar in the middle of the main as though the heavens were +falling upon the earth; and the sea brake with waves before them, +and from it towered a black pillar, which grew and grew till it +rose skywards and began making for that meadow. Seeing it, they +waxed fearful exceedingly and climbed to the top of the tree, +which was a lofty; whence they gazed to see what might be the +matter. And behold, it was a Jinni,[FN#12] huge of height and +burly of breast and bulk, broad of brow and black of blee, +bearing on his head a coffer of crystal. He strode to land, +wading through the deep, and coming to the tree whereupon were +the two Kings, seated himself beneath it. He then set down the +coffer on its bottom and out it drew a casket, with seven +padlocks of steel, which he unlocked with seven keys of steel he +took from beside his thigh, and out of it a young lady to come +was seen, white-skinned and of winsomest mien, of stature fine +and thin, and bright as though a moon of the fourteenth night she +had been, or the sun raining lively sheen. Even so the poet +Utayyah hath excellently said:-- + +She rose like the morn as she shone through the night * And she + gilded the grove with her gracious sight: +From her radiance the sun taketh increase when * She unveileth + and shameth the moonshine bright. +Bow down all beings between her hands * As she showeth charms + with her veil undight. +And she foodeth cities[FN#13] with torrent tears * When she + flasheth her look of levee light. + +The Jinni seated her under the tree by his side and looking at +her said, "O choicest love of this heart of mine! O dame of +noblest line, whom I snatched away on thy bride night that none +might prevent me taking thy maidenhead or tumble thee before I +did, and whom none save myself hath loved or hath enjoyed: O my +sweetheart! I would fief 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 sparked 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 +desires"?" "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 If rit." +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 If rit +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! none save himself +might have connexion with me. But I have lain under as many of my +kind as I please, and this wretched Jinni wotteth not that Des +tiny may not be averted nor hindered by aught, and that whatso +woman willeth the same she fulfilleth however man nilleth. Even +so saith one of them.-- + +Rely not on women; * Trust not to their hearts, +Whose joys and whose sorrows * Are hung to their parts! +Lying love they will swear thee * Whence guile ne'er departs: +Take Yusuf[FN#18] for sample * 'Ware sleights and 'ware smarts! +Iblis[FN#19] ousted Adam * (See ye not?) thro' their arts. + +And another saith:-- + +Stint thy blame, man! 'Twill drive to a passion without bound; * + My fault is not so heavy as fault in it hast found. +If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not * Save what + happened unto many in the bygone stound. +For wonderful is he and right worthy of our praise * Who from + wiles of female wits kept him safe and kept him sound." + +Hearing these words they marvelled with exceeding marvel, and she +went from them to the Ifrit and, taking up his head on her thigh +as before, said to them softly, "Now wend your ways and bear +yourselves beyond the bounds of his malice." So they fared forth +saying either to other, "Allah! Allah!" and, "There be no Majesty +and there be no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great; and +with Him we seek refuge from women's malice and sleight, for of a +truth it hath no mate in might. Consider, O my brother, the ways +of this marvellous lady with an Ifrit who is so much more +powerful than we are. Now since there hath hap pened 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 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 accomplish meets; +and she was pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and +well bred. Now on that day she said to her father, "Why do I see +thee thus changed and laden with cark and care? Concerning this +matter quoth one of the poets.-- + + Tell whoso hath sorrow * Grief never shall last: + E'en as joy hath no morrow * So woe shall go past." + +When the Wazir heard from his daughter these words he related to +her, from first to last, all that had happened between him and +the King. Thereupon said she, "By Allah, O my father, how long +shall this slaughter of women endure? Shall I tell thee what is +in my mind in order to save both sides from destruction?" "Say +on, O my daughter," quoth he, and quoth she, "I wish thou wouldst +give me in marriage to this King Shahryar; either I shall live or +I shall be a ransom for the virgin daughters of Moslems and the +cause of their deliverance from his hands and thine."[FN#22] +"Allah upon thee!" cried he in wrath exceeding that lacked no +feeding, "O scanty of wit, expose not thy life to such peril! How +durst thou address me in words so wide from wisdom and un far +from foolishness? Know that one who lacketh experience in worldly +matters readily falleth into misfortune; and whoso considereth +not the end keepeth not the world to friend, and the vulgar say:- +-I was lying at mine ease: nought but my officiousness brought me +unease." "Needs must thou," she broke in, "make me a doer of this +good deed, and let him kill me an he will: I shall only die a +ransom for others." "O my daughter," asked he, "and how shall +that profit thee when thou shalt have thrown away thy life?" and +she answered, "O my father it must be, come of it what will!" The +Wazir was again moved to fury and blamed and reproached her, +ending with, "In very deed--I fear lest the same befal thee which +befel the Bull and the Ass with the Husband man." "And what," +asked she, "befel them, O my father?" Whereupon the Wazir began +the + + + + + + Tale of the Bull[FN#23] and the Ass. + + +Know, O my daughter, that there was once a merchant who owned +much money and many men, and who was rich in cattle and camels; +he had also a wife and family and he dwelt in the country, being +experienced in husbandry and devoted to agriculture. Now Allah +Most High had endowed him with under standing 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 distress 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 +to wards him and said, "O Broad o' Brow,[FN#26] 0 thou lost one! +he lied not who dubbed thee Bull head, for thou, O father of a +Bull, hast neither forethought nor contrivance; thou art the +simplest of simpletons,[FN#27] and thou knowest naught of good +advisers. Hast thou not heard the saying of the wise:-- + +For others these hardships and labours I bear * And theirs is the + pleasure and mine is the care; +As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun * To whiten the + raiment which other men wear.[FN#28] + +But thou, O fool, art full of zeal and thou toilest and moilest +before the master; and thou tearest and wearest and slayest thy +self for the comfort of another. Hast thou never heard the saw +that saith, None to guide and from the way go wide? Thou wendest +forth at the call to dawn prayer and thou returnest not till +sundown; and through the livelong day thou endurest all manner +hardships; to wit, beating and belabouring and bad language. Now +hearken to me, Sir Bull! when they tie thee to thy stinking +manger, thou pawest the ground with thy forehand and rashest 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 live long 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 hayed by the yoke; and when he came home in the +evening he could hardly drag his limbs along, either fore hand 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 ac count. So when +night set in and the Ass returned to the byte the Bull rose up +before him in honour, and said, "May good tidings gladden thy +heart, O Father Wakener! through thee I have rested all this day +and I have eaten my meat in peace and quiet." But the Ass +returned no reply, for wrath and heart burning and fatigue and +the beating he had gotten; and he repented with the most grievous +of repentance; and quoth he to himself: "This cometh of my folly +in giving good counsel; as the saw saith, I was in joy and +gladness, nought save my officiousness brought me this sadness. +But I will bear in mind my innate worth and the nobility of my +nature; for what saith the poet? + +Shall the beautiful hue of the Basil[FN#32] fail * Tho' the + beetle's foot o'er the Basil crawl? +And though spider and fly be its denizens * Shall disgrace attach + to the royal hall? +The cowrie,[FN#33] I ken, shall have currency * But the pearl's + clear drop, shall its value fall? + +And now I must take thought and put a trick upon him and return +him to his place, else I die." Then he went aweary to his manger, +while the Bull thanked him and blessed him. And even so, O my +daughter, said the Wazir, thou wilt die for lack of wits; +therefore sit thee still and say naught and expose not thy life +to such stress; for, by Allah, I offer thee the best advice, +which cometh of my affection and kindly solicitude for thee." "O +my father," she answered, "needs must I go up to this King and be +married to him." Quoth he, "Do not this deed;" and quoth she, "Of +a truth I will:" whereat he rejoined, "If thou be not silent and +bide still, I will do with thee even what the merchant did with +his wife." "And what did he?" asked she. "Know then, answered the +Wazir, that after the return of the Ass the merchant came out on +the terrace roof with his wife and family, for it was a moonlit +night and the moon at its full. Now the ter race overlooked the +cowhouse and presently, as he sat there with his children playing +about him, the trader heard the Ass say to the Bull, "Tell me, O +Father Broad o' Brow, what thou purposest to do to morrow?" The +Bull answered, "What but continue to follow thy counsel, O +Aliboron? Indeed it was as good as good could be and it hath +given me rest and repose; nor will I now depart from it one +little: 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 re veal 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? Bear 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 per form 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 Chanti clear! 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, "Doss 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 mourn ing 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 Shah razed rejoiced with +exceeding joy and get ready all she required and said to her +younger sister, Dunyazad, "Note well what directions I entrust to +thee! When I have gone in to 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 fief would I take leave of +her this night before I see the dawn." So he sent at once for +Dunyazad and she came and kissed the ground between his hands, +when he permitted her to take her seat near the foot of the +couch. Then the King arose and did away with his bride's +maidenhead and the three fell asleep. But when it was midnight +Shahrazad awoke and signalled to her sister Dunyazad who sat up +and said, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, recite to us some new +story, delightsome and delectable, wherewith to while away the +waking hours of our latter night."[FN#39] "With joy and goodly +gree," answered Shahrazad, "if this pious and auspicious King +permit me." "Tell on," quoth the King who chanced to be sleepless +and restless and therefore was pleased with the prospect of +hearing her story. So Shahrazad rejoiced; and thus, on the first +night of the Thousand Nights and a Night, she began with the + + + + + + TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI. + + +It is related, O auspicious King, that there was a merchant of +the merchants who had much wealth, and business in various +cities. Now on a day he mounted horse and went forth to re cover +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 mer chant +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 re turning. There is no +Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the +Great! If I slew thy son, I slew him by chance medley. I pray +thee now pardon me." Rejoined the Jinni, "There is no help but I +must slay thee." Then he seized him and dragged him along and, +casting him to the earth, raised the sword to strike him; +whereupon the merchant wept, and said, "I commit my case to +Allah," and began repeating these couplets:-- + +Containeth Time a twain of days, this of blessing that of bane * + And holdeth Life a twain of halves, this of pleasure that of + pain. +See'st not when blows the hurricane, sweeping stark and striking + strong * None save the forest giant feels the suffering of + the strain? +How many trees earth nourisheth of the dry and of the green * + Yet none but those which bear the fruits for cast of stone + complain. +See'st not how corpses rise and float on the surface of the tide + * While pearls o'price lie hidden in the deepest of the + main! +In Heaven are unnumbered the many of the stars * Yet ne'er a star + but Sun and Moon by eclipse is overta'en. +Well judgedst thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well * + And countedst not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever + fain. +The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride + * But bliss and blessings of the night are 'genderers of + bane! + +When the merchant ceased repeating his verses the Jinni said to +him, "Cut thy words short, by Allah! needs must I slay thee." But +the merchant spake him thus, "Know, O thou Ifrit, that I have +debts due to me and much wealth and children and a wife and many +pledges in hand; so permit me to go home and dis charge 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 send devil appeared amidmost of the +waste. Presently the cloud opened and behold, within it was that +Jinni hending in hand a drawn sword, while his eyes were shooting +fire sparks of rage. He came up to them and, haling away the +merchant from among them, cried to him, "Arise that I may slay +thee, as thou slewest my son, the life stuff of my liver."[FN#44] +The merchant wailed and wept, and the three old men began sighing +and crying and weeping and wailing with their companion. +Presently the first old man (the owner of the gazelle) came out +from among them and kissed the hand of the Ifrit and said, "O +Jinni, thou Crown of the Kings of the Jann! were I to tell thee +the story of me and this gazelle and thou shouldst consider it +wondrous wouldst thou give me a third part of this merchant's +blood?" Then quoth the Jinni "Even so, O Shaykh ! if thou tell me +this tale, and I hold it a marvellous, then will I give thee a +third of his blood." Thereupon the old man began to tell + + + + + +The First Shaykh's Story. + + +Know O Jinni! that this gazelle is the daughter of my paternal +uncle, my own flesh and blood, and I married her when she was a +young maid, and I lived with her well nigh thirty years, yet was +I not blessed with issue by her. So I took me a concubine[FN#45] +who brought to me the boon of a male child fair as the full moon, +with eyes of lovely shine and eyebrows which formed one line, and +limbs of perfect design. Little by little he grew in stature and +waxed tall; and when he was a lad fifteen years old, it became +needful I should journey to certain cities and I travelled with +great store of goods. But the daughter of my uncle (this gazelle) +had learned gramarye and egromancy and clerkly craft[FN#46] from +her childhood; so she bewitched that son of mine to a calf, and +my handmaid (his mother) to a heifer, and made them over to the +herdsman's care. Now when I returned after a long time from my +journey and asked for my son and his mother, she answered me, +saying "Thy slave girl is dead, and thy son hath fled and I know +not whither he is sped." So I remained for a whole year with +grieving heart, and streaming eyes until the time came for the +Great Festival of Allah.[FN#47] Then sent I to my herdsman bidding +him choose for me a fat heifer; and he brought me one which +was the damsel, my handmaid, whom this gazelle had ensorcelled. I +tucked up my sleeves and skirt and, taking a knife, proceeded to +cut her throat, but she lowed aloud and wept bitter tears. +Thereat I marvelled and pity seized me and I held my hand, saying +to the herd, "Bring me other than this." Then cried my cousin, +"Slay her, for I have not a fatter nor a fairer!" Once more I +went forward to sacrifice her, but she again lowed aloud upon +which in ruth I refrained and commanded the herdsman to slay her +and flay her. He killed her and skinned her but found in her +neither fat nor flesh, only hide and bone; and I repented when +penitence availed me naught. I gave her to the herdsman and said +to him, "Fetch me a fat calf;" so he brought my son ensorcelled. +When the calf saw me, he brake his tether and ran to me, and +fawned upon me and wailed and shed tears; so that I took pity on +him and said to the herdsman, "Bring me a heifer and let this +calf go!" Thereupon my cousin (this gazelle) called aloud at me, +saying, "Needs must thou kill this calf; this is a holy day and a +blessed, whereon naught is slain save what be perfect pure; and +we have not amongst our calves any fatter or fairer than this!" +Quoth I, "Look thou upon the condition of the heifer which I +slaughtered at thy bidding and how we turn from her in +disappointment and she profited us on no wise; and I repent with +an exceeding repentance of having killed her: so this time I will +not obey thy bidding for the sacrifice of this calf." Quoth she, +"By Allah the Most Great, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! +there is no help for it; thou must kill him on this holy day, and +if thou kill him not to me thou art no man and I to thee am no +wife." Now when I heard those hard words, not knowing her object +I went up to the calf, knife in hand--And Shahrazad perceived the +dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.[FN#48] Then +quoth her sister to her, "How fair is thy tale, and how grateful, +and how sweet and how tasteful!" And Shahrazad answered her, +"What is this to that I could tell thee on the coming night, were +I to live and the King would spare me?" Then said the King in +himself, "By Allah, I will not slay her, until I shall have heard +the rest of her tale." So they slept the rest of that night in +mutual em brace till day fully brake. Then the King went forth to +his audience hall[FN#49] and the Wazir went up with his +daughter's shroud under his arm. The King issued his orders, and +promoted this and deposed that, until the end of the day; and he +told the Wazir no whit of what had happened. But the Minister +wondered thereat with exceeding wonder; and when the Court broke +up King Shahryar entered his palace. + + When it was the Second Night, + +said Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, "O my sister, finish for +us that story of the Merchant and the Jinni;" and she answered +"With joy and goodly gree, if the King permit me." Then quoth the +King, "Tell thy tale;" and Shahrazad began in these words: It +hath reached me, O auspicious King and Heaven directed Ruler! +that when the merchant purposed the sacrifice of the calf but saw +it weeping, his heart relented and he said to the herdsman, "Keep +the calf among my cattle." All this the old Shaykh told the Jinni +who marvelled much at these strange words. Then the owner of the +gazelle continued:--O Lord of the Kings of the Jann, this much +took place and my uncle's daughter, this gazelle, looked on and +saw it, and said, "Butcher me this calf, for surely it is a fat +one;" but I bade the herdsman take it away and he took it and +turned his face homewards. On the next day as I was sitting in my +own house, lo! the herdsman came and, standing before me said, "O +my master, I will tell thee a thing which shall gladden thy soul, +and shall gain me the gift of good tidings."[FN#50] I answered, +"Even so." Then said he, "O merchant, I have a daughter, and she +learned magic in her childhood from an old woman who lived with +us. Yesterday when thou gavest me the calf, I went into the house +to her, and she looked upon it and veiled her face; then she wept +and laughed alternately and at last she said:--O my father, hath +mine honour become so cheap to thee that thou bringest in to me +strange men? I asked her:--Where be these strange men and why +wast thou laughing, and crying?; and she answered, Of a truth +this calf which is with thee is the son of our master, the +merchant; but he is ensorcelled by his stepdame who bewitched +both him and his mother: such is the cause of my laughing; now +the reason of his weeping is his mother, for that his father slew +her unawares. Then I marvelled at this with exceeding marvel and +hardly made sure that day had dawned before I came to tell thee." +When I heard, O Jinni, my herdsman's words, I went out with him, +and I was drunken without wine, from the excess of joy and +gladness which came upon me, until I reached his house. There his +daughter welcomed me and kissed my hand, and forthwith the calf +came and fawned upon me as before. Quoth I to the herdsman's +daughter, "Is this true that thou sayest of this calf?" Quoth +she, "Yea, O my master, he is thy son, the very core of thy +heart." I rejoiced and said to her, "O maiden, if thou wilt +release him thine shall be whatever cattle and property of mine +are under thy father's hand." She smiled and answered, "O my +master, I have no greed for the goods nor will I take them save +on two conditions; the first that thou marry me to thy son and +the second that I may bewitch her who bewitched him and imprison +her, otherwise I cannot be safe from her malice and +malpractices." Now when I heard, O Jinni, these, the words of the +herdsman's daughter, I replied, "Beside what thou askest all the +cattle and the house hold 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." There upon the second old man, who owned the two +greyhounds, came up and said, " O Jinni, if I recount to thee +what befel me from my brothers, these two hounds, and thou see +that it is a tale even more wondrous and marvellous than what +thou hast heard, wilt thou grant to me also the third of this +man's blood?" Replied the Jinni, "Thou hast my word for it, if +thine adventures be more marvellous and wondrous." Thereupon he +thus began + + + + + +The Second Shaykh's Story. + + +Know, O lord of the Kings of the Jann! that these two dogs are my +brothers and I am the third. Now when our father died and left us +a capital of three thousand gold pieces,[FN#52] I opened a shop +with my share, and bought and sold therein, and in like guise did +my two brothers, each setting up a shop. But I had been in +business no long while before the elder sold his stock for a +thousand diners, 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 diners, 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 diners 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 my self. 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 diners. 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 cloth evil, leave the evil doer to his +evil deeds. Moreover they are still my brothers." But she +rejoined, "By Allah, there is no help for it but I slay them." I +humbled myself before her for their pardon, whereupon she bore me +up and flew away with me till at last she set me down on the +terrace roof of my own house. I opened the doors and took up what +I had hidden in the ground; and after I had saluted the folk I +opened my shop and bought me merchandise. Now when night came on +I went home, and there I saw these two hounds tied up; and, when +they sighted me, they arose and whined and fawned upon me; but +ere I knew what happened my wife said, "These two dogs be thy +brothers!" I answered, "And who hath done this thing by them?" +and she rejoined, "I sent a message to my sister and she +entreated them on this wise, nor shall these two be released from +their present shape till ten years shall have passed." And now I +have arrived at this place on my way to my wife's sister that she +may deliver them from this condition, after their having endured +it for half a score of years. As I was wending onwards I saw this +young man, who acquainted me with what had befallen him, and I +determined not to fare hence until I should see what might occur +between thee and him. Such is my tale! Then said the Jinni, +"Surely this is a strange story and therefor I give thee the +third portion of his blood and his crime." Thereupon quoth the +third Shaykh, the master of the mare mule, to the Jinni, "I can +tell thee a tale more wondrous than these two, so thou grant me +the remainder of his blood and of his offense," and the Jinni +answered, "So be it!" Then the old man began + + + + + +The Third Shaykh's Story. + + +Know, O Sultan and head of the Jann, that this mule was my wife. +Now it so happened that I went forth and was absent one whole +year; and when I returned from my journey I came to her by night, +and saw a black slave lying with her on the carpet bed and they +were talking, and dallying, and laughing, and kissing and playing +the close buttock game. When she saw me, she rose and came +hurriedly at me with a gugglet[FN#58] of water; and, muttering +spells over it, she besprinkled me and said, "Come forth from +this thy shape into the shape of a dog;" and I became on the +instant a dog. She drove me out of the house, and I ran through +the doorway nor ceased running until I came to a butcher's stall, +where I stopped and began to eat what bones were there. When the +stall owner saw me, he took me and led me into his house, but as +soon as his daughter had sight of me she veiled her face from me, +crying out, "Doss 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 bans formed 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 be fallen me." Now when +the old man had ceased speaking the Jinni shook with pleasure and +gave him the third of the merchant's blood. And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. +Then quoth Dunyazad, "O. my sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and +how tasteful; how sweet and how grateful!" She replied, "And what +is this compared with that I could tell thee, the night to come, +if I live and the King spare me?"[FN#59] Then thought the King, +"By Allah, I will not slay her until I hear the rest of her tale, +for truly it is wondrous." So they rested that night in mutual +embrace until the dawn. After this the King went forth to his +Hall of Estate, and the Wazir and the troops came in and the +court was crowded, and the King gave orders and judged and +appointed and deposed, bidding and forbidding during the rest of +the day. Then the Divan broke up, and King Shahryar entered his +palace. + + When it was the Third Night, + +And the King had had his will of the Wazir's daughter, Dunyazad, +her sister, said to her, "Finish for us that tale of thine;" and +she replied, "With joy and goodly gree! It hath reached me, O +auspicious King, that when the third old man told a tale to the +Jinni more wondrous than the two preceding, the Jinni marvelled +with exceeding marvel, and, shaking with delight, cried, Lo! I +have given thee the remainder of the merchant's punishment and +for thy sake have I released him." Thereupon the merchant +embraced the old men and thanked them, and these Shaykhs wished +him joy on being saved and fared forth each one for his own city. +Yet this tale is not more wondrous than the fisherman's story." +Asked the King, "What is the fisherman's story?" And she answered +by relating the tale of + + + + + + THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI. + + +It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was a Fisher +man well stricken in years who had a wife and three children, and +withal was of poor condition. Now it was his custom to cast his +net every day four times, and no more. On a day he went forth +about noontide to the sea shore, where he laid down his basket; +and, tucking up his shirt and plunging into the water, made a +cast with his net and waited till it settled to the bottom. Then +he gathered the cords together and haled away at it, but found it +weighty; and however much he drew it landwards, he could not pull +it up; so he carried the ends ashore and drove a stake into the +ground and made the net fast to it. Then he stripped and dived +into the water all about the net, and left not off working hard +until he had brought it up. He rejoiced thereat and, donning his +clothes, went to the net, when he found in it a dead jackass +which had torn the meshes. Now when he saw it, he exclaimed in +his grief, "There is no Majesty, and there is no Might save in +Allah the Glorious, the Great!" Then quoth he, "This is a strange +manner of daily bread;" and he began re citing in extempore +verse:-- + +O toiler through the glooms of night in peril and in pain * Thy + toiling stint for daily bread comes not by might and main! +Seest thou not the fisher seek afloat upon the sea * His bread, + while glimmer stars of night as set in tangled skein. +Anon he plungeth in despite the buffet of the waves * The while + to sight the bellying net his eager glances strain; +Till joying at the night's success, a fish he bringeth home * + Whose gullet by the hook of Fate was caught and cut in + twain. +When buys that fish of him a man who spent the hours of night * + Reckless of cold and wet and gloom in ease and comfort fain, +Laud to the Lord who gives to this, to that denies his wishes * + And dooms one toil and catch the prey and other eat the + fishes.[FN#60] + +Then quoth he, "Up and to it; I am sure of His beneficence, +Inshallah!" So he continued:-- + +When thou art seized of Evil Fate, assume * The noble soul's long + suffering: 'tis thy best: +Complain not to the creature; this be plaint * From one most + Ruthful to the ruthlessest. + +The Fisherman, when he had looked at the dead ass, got it free of +the toils and wrung out and spread his net; then he plunged into +the sea, saying, "In Allah's name!" and made a cast and pulled at +it, but it grew heavy and settled down more firmly than the first +time. Now he thought that there were fish in it, and he made it +fast, and doffing his clothes went into the water, and dived and +haled until he drew it up upon dry land. Then found he in it a +large earthen pitcher which was full of sand and mud; and seeing +this he was greatly troubled and began repeating these +verses[FN#61]:-- + +Forbear, O troubles of the world, * And pardon an ye nill + forbear: +I went to seek my daily bread * I find that breadless I must + fare: +For neither handcraft brings me aught * Nor Fate allots to me a + share: +How many fools the Pleiads reach * While darkness whelms the + wise and ware. + +So he prayed pardon of Allah and, throwing away the jar, wrung +his net and cleansed it and returned to the sea the third time to +cast his net and waited till it had sunk. Then he pulled at it +and found therein potsherds and broken glass; whereupon he began +to speak these verses:-- + +He is to thee that daily bread thou canst nor loose nor bind * + Nor pen nor writ avail thee aught thy daily bread to find: +For joy and daily bread are what Fate deigneth to allow; * This + soil is sad and sterile ground, while that makes glad the + hind. +The shafts of Time and Life bear down full many a man of worth * + While bearing up to high degree wights of ignoble mind. +So come thou, Death! for verily life is not worth a straw * When + low the falcon falls withal the mallard wings the wind: +No wonder 'tis thou seest how the great of soul and mind * Are + poor, and many a loser carle to height of luck designed. +This bird shall overfly the world from east to furthest west * + And that shall win her every wish though ne'er she leave the + nest. + +Then raising his eyes heavenwards he said, "O my God![FN#62] +verily Thou wottest that I cast not my net each day save four +times[FN#63]; the third is done and as yet Thou hast vouchsafed +me nothing. So this time, O my God, deign give me my daily +bread." Then, having called on Allah's name,[FN#64] he again +threw his net and waited its sinking and settling; whereupon he +haled at it but could not draw it in for that it was entangled at +the bottom. He cried out in his vexation "There is no Majesty and +there is no Might save in Allah!" and he began reciting:-- + + Fie on this wretched world, an so it be * I must be whelmed by + grief and misery: + Tho' gladsome be man's lot when dawns the morn * He drains the + cup of woe ere eve he see: + Yet was I one of whom the world when asked * "Whose lot is + happiest?" oft would say "'Tis he!" + +Thereupon he stripped and, diving down to the net, busied him +self 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 diners." 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 +thou sand 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 cucur bit?" Now when the Evil Spirit heard the words of the +Fisher man, quoth he; "There is no god but the God: be of good +cheer, O Fisherman!" Quoth the Fisherman, "Why biddest thou me to +be of good cheer?" and he replied, "Because of thy having to die +an ill death in this very hour." Said the Fisherman, "Thou +deservest for thy good tidings the withdrawal of Heaven's +protection, O thou distant one![FN#69] Wherefore shouldest thou kill +me and what thing have I done to deserve death, I who freed thee +from the jar, and saved thee from the depths of the sea, and +brought thee up on the dry land?" Replied the Ifrit, "Ask of me +only what mode of death thou wilt die, and by what manner of +slaughter shall I slay thee." Rejoined the Fisherman, "What is my +crime and wherefore such retribution?" Quoth the Ifrit, "Hear my +story, O Fisherman!" and he answered, "Say on, and be brief in +thy saying, for of very sooth my life breath is in my +nostrils."[FN#70] Thereupon quoth the Jinni, "Know, that I am one +among the heretical Jann and I sinned against Sulayman, David son +(on the twain be peace!) I together with the famous Sakhr al +Jinni;"[FN#71] whereupon the Prophet sent his minister, Asaf son +of Barkhiya, to seize me; and this Wazir brought me against my +will and led me in bonds to him (I being downcast despite my +nose) and he placed me standing before him like a suppliant. When +Sulayman saw me, he took refuge with Allah and bade me embrace +the True Faith and obey his behests; but I refused, so sending +for this cucurbit[FN#72] he shut me up therein, and stopped it +over with lead whereon he impressed the Most High Name, and gave +his orders to the Jann who carried me off, and cast me into the +midmost of the ocean. There I abode an hundred years, during +which I said in my heart, "Whoso shall release me, him will I +enrich for ever and ever." But the full century went by and, when +no one set me free, I entered upon the second five score saying, +"Whoso shall release me, for him I will open the hoards of the +earth." Still no one set me free and thus four hundred years +passed away. Then quoth I, "Whoso shall release me, for him will +I fulfil three wishes." Yet no one set me free. Thereupon I waxed +wroth with exceeding wrath and said to myself, "Whoso shall +release me from this time forth, him will I slay and I will give +him choice of what death he will die; and now, as thou hast +released me, I give thee full choice of deaths." The Fisherman, +hearing the words of the Ifrit, said, "O Allah! the wonder of it +that I have not come to free thee save in these days!" adding, +"Spare my life, so Allah spare thine; and slay me not, lest Allah +set one to slay thee." Replied the Contumacious One, "There is no +help for it; die thou must; so ask me by way of boon what manner +of death thou wilt die." Albeit thus certified the Fisherman +again addressed the Ifrit saying, "Forgive me this my death as a +generous reward for having freed thee;" and the Ifrit, "Surely I +would not slay thee save on account of that same release." "O +Chief of the Ifrits," said the Fisherman, "I do thee good and +thou requitest me with evil! in very sooth the old saw lieth not +when it saith:-- + +We wrought them weal, they met our weal with ill; * Such, by my + life! is every bad man's labour: +To him who benefits unworthy wights * Shall hap what inapt to + Ummi Amir's neighbor.[FN#73]" + +Now when the Ifrit heard these words he answered, "No more of +this talk, needs must I kill thee." Upon this the Fisherman said +to himself, "This is a Jinni; and I am a man to whom Allah hath +given a passably cunning wit, so I will now cast about to com +pass 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! cost 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 per ceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her +permitted say. + + When it was the Fourth Night, + +Her sister said to her, "Please finish us this tale, an thou be +not sleepy!" so she resumed:--It hath reached me, O auspicious +King, that when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, "I will never +and nowise believe thee until I see thee inside it with mine own +eyes;" the Evil Spirit on the instant shook[FN#75] and became a +vapour, which condensed, and entered the jar little and little, +till all was well inside when lo! the Fisherman in hot haste took +the leaden cap with the seal and stoppered therewith the mouth of +the jar and called out to the Ifrit, saying, "Ask me by way of +boon what death thou wilt die! By Allah, I will throw thee into +the sea[FN#76] be fore 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 an +swered, "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 spurn +east my supplication and hadst no intention save to deal un +graciously by me, and Allah hath now thrown thee into my hands +and I am cunninger than thou." Quoth the Ifrit, "Open for me and +I may bring thee weal." Quoth the Fisherman, "Thou liest, thou +accursed! my case with thee is that of the Wazir of King Yunan +with the sage Duban."[FN#77] "And who was the Wazir of King Yunan +and who was the sage Duban; and what was the story about them?" +quoth the Ifrit, whereupon the Fisherman began to tell + + + + + +The Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban. + + +Know, O thou Ifrit, that in days of yore and in ages long gone +before, a King called Yunan reigned over the city of Fars of the +land of the Roum.[FN#78] He was a powerful ruler and a wealthy, +who had armies and guards and allies of all nations of men; but +his body was afflicted with a leprosy which leaches and men of +science failed to heal. He drank potions and he swallowed pow +ders and he used unguents, but naught did him good and none among +the host of physicians availed to procure him a cure. At last +there came to his city a mighty healer of men and one well +stricken in years, the sage Duban highs. 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 ablation[FN#82] in the +Hammam bath, and lay thee down to sleep; so shalt thou be come +whole; and now peace be with thee!" Thereupon King Yunan took the +bat from the Sage and grasped it firmly; then, mounting steed, he +drove the ball before him and gallopped after it till he reached +it, when he struck it with all his might, his palm gripping the +bat handle the while; and he ceased not malling the ball till his +hand waxed moist and his skin, perspiring, imbibed the medicine +from the wood. Then the sage Duban knew that the drugs had +penetrated his person and bade him return to the palace and enter +the Hammam without stay or delay; so King Yunan forthright +returned and ordered them to clear for him the bath. They did so, +the carpet spreaders making all haste, and the slaves all hurry +and got ready a change of raiment for the King. He entered the +bath and made the total ablution long and thoroughly; then donned +his clothes within the Hammam and rode therefrom to his palace +where he lay him down and slept. Such was the case with King +Yunan, but as regards the sage Duban, he returned home and slept +as usual and when morning dawned he repaired to the palace and +craved audience. The King ordered him to be admitted; then, +having kissed the ground between his hands, in allusion to the +King he recited these couplets with solemn intonation:-- + +Happy is Eloquence when thou art named her sire * But mourns + she whenas other man the title claimed. +O Lord of fairest presence, whose illuming rays * Clear off the + fogs of doubt aye veiling deeds high famed, +Ne'er cease thy face to shine like Dawn and rise of Morn * And + never show Time's face with heat of ire inflamed! +Thy grace hath favoured us with gifts that worked such wise * As + rain clouds raining on the hills by words enframed: +Freely thou lavishedst thy wealth to rise on high * Till won from + Time the heights whereat thy grandeur aimed. + +Now when the Sage ceased reciting, the King rose quickly to his +feet and fell on his neck; then, seating him by his side he bade +dress him in a sumptuous dress; for it had so happened that when +the King left the Hammam he looked on his body and saw no trace +of leprosy: the skin was all clean as virgin silver. He joyed +thereat with exceeding joy, his breast broadened[FN#83] with +delight and he felt thoroughly happy. Presently, when it was full +day he entered his audience hall and sat upon the throne of his +kingship whereupon his Chamberlains and Grandees flocked to the +presence and with them the Sage Duban. Seeing the leach the King +rose to him in honour and seated him by his side; then the food +trays furnished with the daintiest viands were brought and the +physician ate with the King, nor did he cease companying him all +that day. Moreover, at nightfall he gave the physician Duban two +thousand gold pieces, besides the usual dress of honour and other +gifts galore, and sent him home on his own steed. After the Sage +had fared forth King Yunan again expressed his amazement at the +leach's art, saying, "This man medicined my body from without nor +anointed me with aught of ointments: by Allah, surely this is +none other than consummate skill! I am bound to honour such a man +with re wards 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 con versing 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 en closeth the black +of the eye.[FN#85] Now the King had a Wazir among his Wazirs, +unsightly to look upon, an ill omened spectacle; sor did, +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 say +ing, "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 king ship: 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 +cost 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 some thing which I held in my hand, and he healed +my leprosy which had baffled all physicians; indeed he is one +whose like may not be found in these days--no, not in the whole +world from furthest east to utmost west! And it is of such a man +thou sayest such hard sayings. Now from this day forward I allot +him a settled solde and allowances, every month a thousand gold +pieces; and, were I to share with him my realm 'twere but a +little matter. Perforce I must suspect that thou speakest on this +wise from mere envy and jealousy as they relate of the King +Sindibad."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased +saying her permitted say. Then quoth Dunyazad, "O my sister, how +pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful, how sweet, and how +grateful!" She replied, "And where is this compared with what I +could tell thee on the coming night if the King deign spare my +life?" Then said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay +her until I hear the rest of her tale, for truly it is wondrous." +So they rested that night in mutual embrace until the dawn. Then +the King went forth to his Hall of Rule, and the Wazir and the +troops came in, and the audience chamber was thronged and the +King gave orders and judged and appointed and deposed and bade +and forbade during the rest of that day till the Court broke up, +and King Shahryar returned to his palace. + + When It Was The Fifth Night, + +Her sister said, "Do you finish for us thy story if thou be not +sleepy," and she resumed:--It hath reached me, O auspicious King +and mighty Monarch, that King Yunan said to his Minister, "O +Wazir, thou art one whom the evil spirit of envy hath possessed +because of this physician, and thou plottest for my putting him +to death, after which I should repent me full sorely, even as +repented King Sindibad for killing his falcon." Quoth the Wazir, +Pardon me, O King of the age, how was that?" So the King began +the story of + + + + + +King Sindibad and his Falcon. + + +It is said (but Allah is All knowing![FN#86]) that there was a +King of the Kings of Fars, who was fond of pleasuring and +diversion, especially coursing end hunting. He had reared a +falcon which he carried all night on his fist, and whenever he +went a chasing he took with him this bird; and he bade make for +her a golden cuplet hung around her neck to give her drink +therefrom. One day as the King was sitting quietly in his palace, +behold, the high falcaner of the household suddenly addressed +him, "O King of the age, this is indeed a day fit for birding." +The King gave orders accordingly and set out taking the hawk on +fist; and they fared merrily forwards till they made a +Wady[FN#87] where they planted a circle of nets for the chase; +when lo! a gazelle came within the toils and the King cried, +"Whoso alloweth yon gazelle to spring over his head and loseth +her, that man will I surely slay." They narrowed the nets about +the gazelle when she drew near the King's station; and, planting +herself on her hind quarter, crossed her forehand over her +breast, as if about to kiss the earth before the King. He bowed +his brow low in acknowledgment to the beast; when she bounded +high over his head and took the way of the waste. Thereupon the +King turned towards his troops and seeing them winking and +pointing at him, he asked, "O Wazir, what are my men saying?" and +the Minister answered, "They say thou didst proclaim that whoso +alloweth the gazelle to spring over his head, that man shall be +put to death." Quoth the King, "Now, by the life of my head! I +will follow her up till I bring her back." So he set off +gallopping on the gazelle's trail and gave not over tracking till +he reached the foot hills of a mountain chain where the quarry +made for a cave. Then the King cast off at it the falcon which +presently caught it up and, swooping down, drove her talons into +its eyes, bewildering and blinding it;[FN#88] and the King drew +his mace and struck a blow which rolled the game over. He then +dismounted; and, after cutting the antelope's throat and flaying +the body, hung it to the pommel of his saddle. Now the time was +that of the siesta[FN#89] and the wold was parched and dry, nor +was any water to be found anywhere; and the King thirsted and his +horse also; so he went about searching till he saw a tree +dropping water, as it were melted butter, from its boughs. +Thereupon the King who wore gauntlets of skin to guard him +against poisons took the cup from the hawk's neck, and filling it +with the water set it before the bird, and lo! the falcon struck +it with her pounces and upset the liquid. The King filled it a +second time with the dripping drops, thinking his hawk was +thirsty; but the bird again struck at the cup with her talons and +overturned it. Then the King waxed wroth with the hawk and +filling the cup a third time offered it to his horse: but the +hawk upset it with a flirt of wings. Quoth the King, "Allah +confound thee, thou unluckiest of flying things! thou keepest me +from drinking, and thou deprivest thyself also, and the horse." +So he struck the falcon with his sword and cut off her wing; but +the bird raised her head and said by signs, "Look at that which +hangeth on the tree!" The King lifted up his eyes accordingly and +caught sight of a brood of vipers, whose poison drops he mistook +for water; thereupon he repented him of having struck off his +falcon's wing, and mounting horse, fared on with the dead +gazelle, till he arrived at the camp, his starting place. He +threw the quarry to the cook saying, Take and broil it," and sat +down on his chair, the falcon being still on his fist when +suddenly the bird gasped and died; whereupon the King cried out +in sorrow and remorse for having slain that falcon which had +saved his life. Now this is what occurred in the case of King +Sindibad; and I am assured that were I to do as thou desirest I +should repent even as the man who killed his parrot." Quoth the +Wazir, "And how was that?" And the King began to tell + + + + + +The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot.[FN#90] + + +A certain man and a merchant to boot had married a fair wife, a +woman of perfect beauty and grace, symmetry and loveliness, of +whom he was mad-jealous, and who contrived successfully to keep +him from travel. At last an occasion compelling him to leave her, +he went to the bird market and bought him for one hundred gold +pieces a she parrot which he set in his house to act as duenna, +expecting her to acquaint him on his return with what had passed +during the whole time of his absence; for the bird was kenning +and cunning and never forgot what she had seen and heard. Now his +fair wife had fallen in love with a young Turk, [FN#91] who used +to visit her, and she feasted him by day and lay with him by +night. When the man had made his journey and won his wish he came +home; and, at once causing the Parrot be brought to him, +questioned her concerning the conduct of his consort whilst he +was in foreign parts. Quoth she, "Thy wife hath a man friend who +passed every night with her during thine absence." Thereupon the +husband went to his wife in a violent rage and bashed her with a +bashing severe enough to satisfy any body. The woman, suspecting +that one of the slave girls had been tattling to the master, +called them together and questioned them upon their oaths, when +all swore that they had kept the secret, but that the Parrot had +not, adding, "And we heard her with our own ears." Upon this the +woman bade one of the girls to set a hand mill under the cage and +grind therewith and a second to sprinkle water through the cage +roof and a third to run about, right and left, dashing 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 after wards +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 Yu nan, +rejoined, 'O Monarch, high in dignity, and what harm have I done +him, or what evil have I seen from him that I should compass his +death? I would not do this thing, save to serve thee, and soon +shalt thou sight that it is right; and if thou accept my advice +thou shalt be saved, otherwise thou shalt be destroyed even as a +certain Wazir who acted treacherously by the young Prince." Asked +the King, "How was that?" and the Minister thus began + + + + + +The Tale of the Prince and the Ogress. + + +A certain King, who had a son over much given to hunting and +coursing, ordered one of his Wazirs to be in attendance upon him +whithersoever he might wend. One day the youth set out for the +chase accompanied by his father's Minister; and, as they jogged +on together, a big wild beast came in sight. Cried the Wazir to +the King's son, "Up and at yon noble quarry!" So the Prince +followed it until he was lost to every eye and the chase got away +from him in the waste; whereby he was confused and he knew not +which way to turn, when lo! a damsel appeared ahead and she was +in tears. The King's son asked, "Who art thou?" and she answered, +"I am daughter to a King among the Kings of Hind, and I was +travelling with a caravan in the desert when drowsiness overcame +me, and I fell from my beast unwittingly whereby I am cut off +from my people and sore bewildered." The Prince, hearing these +words, pitied her case and, mounting her on his horse's crupper, +travelled until he passed by an old ruin [FN#95], when the damsel +said to him, "O my master, I wish to obey a call of nature": he +therefore set her down at the ruin where she delayed so long that +the King's son thought that she was only wasting time; so he +followed her without her knowledge and behold, she was a +Ghulah,[FN#96] a wicked Ogress, who was saying to her brood, "O +my children, this day I bring you a fine fat youth, [FN#97] for +dinner;" whereto they answered, "Bring him quick to us, O our +mother, that we may browse upon him our bellies full." The Prince +hearing their talk, made sure of death and his side muscles +quivered in fear for his life, so he turned away and was about to +fly. The Ghulah came out and seeing him in sore affright (for he +was trembling in every limb? cried, "Wherefore art thou afraid?" +and he replied, "I have hit upon an enemy whom I greatly fear." +Asked the Ghulah, "Diddest thou not say: - I am a King's son?" +and he answered, "Even so." Then quoth she, "Why cost not give +shine 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 I deceive thee." 'Thou hast again spoken +sooth, O Wazir," said the King and sent one to call the Sage who +came in joyful mood for he knew not what had appointed for him +the Compassionate; as a certain poet saith by way of +illustration:-- + +O Thou who fearest Fate, confiding fare * Trust all to Him who + built the world and wait: +What Fate saith "Be" perforce must be, my lord! * And safe art + thou from th undecreed of Fate. + +As Duban the physician entered he addressed the King in these +lines:-- + +An fail I of my thanks to thee nor thank thee day by day * For + whom com posed I prose and verse, for whom my say and lay? +Thou lavishedst thy generous gifts ere they were craved by me * + Thou lavishedst thy boons unsought sans pretext or delay: +How shall I stint my praise of thee, how shall I cease to laud * + The grace of thee in secresy and patentest display? +Nay; I will thank thy benefits, for aye thy favours lie * Light + on my thought and tongue, though heavy on my back they + weigh. + +And he said further on the same theme:-- + +Turn thee from grief nor care a jot! * Commit thy needs to Fate + and Lot! +Enjoy the Present passing well * And let the Past be clean forgot +For whatso haply seemeth worse * Shall work thy weal as Allah + wot +Allah shall do whate'er He wills * And in His will oppose Him + not. + +And further still.-- + +To th' All wise Subtle One trust worldly things * Rest thee from + all whereto the worldling clings: +Learn wisely well naught cometh by thy will * But e'en as willeth + Allah, King of Kings. + +And lastly.-- + +Gladsome and gay forget thine every grief * Full often grief the + wisest hearts outwore: +Thought is but folly in the feeble slave * Shun it and so be + saved evermore. + +Said the King for sole return, "Knowest thou why I have summoned +thee?" and the Sage replied, "Allah Most Highest alone kenneth +hidden things!" But the King rejoined, "I summoned thee only to +take thy life and utterly to destroy thee." Duban the Wise +wondered at this strange address with exceeding wonder and asked, +"O King, and wherefore wouldest thou slay me, and what ill have I +done thee?" and the King answered, "Men tell me thou art a spy +sent hither with intent to slay me; and lo! I will kill thee ere +I be killed by thee;" then he called to his Sworder, and said, +"Strike me off the head of this traitor and deliver us from his +evil practices." Quoth the Sage, "Spare me and Allah will spare +thee; slay me not or Allah shall slay thee." And he repeated to +him these very words, even as I to thee, O Ifrit, and yet thou +wouldst not let me go, being bent upon my death. King Yunan only +rejoined, "I shall not be safe without slaying thee; for, as thou +healedst me by something held in hand, so am I not secure against +thy killing me by something given me to smell or otherwise." Said +the physician, "This then, O King, is thy requital and reward; +thou returnest only evil for good." The King replied, "There is +no help for it; die thou must and without delay." Now when the +physician was certified that the King would slay him without +waiting, he wept and regretted the good he had done to other than +the good. As one hath said on this subject:-- + +Of wit and wisdom is Maymunah[FN#98] bare * Whose sire in + wisdom all the wits outstrippeth: +Man may not tread on mud or dust or clay * Save by good sense, + else trippeth he and slippeth. + +Hereupon the Sworder stepped forward and bound the Sage Duban's +eyes and bared his blade, saying to the King, "By thy leave;" +while the physician wept and cried, "Spare me and Allah will +spare thee, and slay me not or Allah shall slay thee," and began +repeating:-- + +I was kind and 'scaped not, they were cruel and escaped; * And my + kindness only led me to Ruination Hall, +If I live I'll ne'er be kind; if I die, then all be damned * Who + follow me, and curses their kindliness befal. + +"Is this," continued Duban, "the return I meet from thee? Thou +givest me, meseems, but crocodile boon." Quoth the King,"What is +the tale of the crocodile?", and quoth the physician, "Impossible +for me to tell it in this my state; Allah upon thee, spare me, as +thou hopest Allah shall spare thee." And he wept with ex ceeding +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, cost 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 un stuck six leaves he looked over them +and, finding nothing written thereon, said, "O physician, there +is no writing here!" Duban re plied, "Turn over yet more;" and he +turned over three others in the same way. Now the book was +poisoned; and before long the venom penetrated his system, and he +fell into strong convulsions and he cried out, "The poison hath +done its work!" Whereupon the Sage Duban's head began to +improvise:-- + +There be rulers who have ruled with a foul tyrannic sway * + But they soon became as though they had never, never been: +Just, they had won justice: they oppressed and were oppress * + By Fortune, who requited them with ban and bane and teen: +So they faded like the morn, and the tongue of things repeats * + "Take this far that, nor vent upon Fortune's ways thy + spleen." + +No sooner had the head ceased speaking than the King rolled over +dead. Now I would have thee know, O Ifrit, that if King Yunan had +spared the Sage Duban, Allah would have spared him, but he +refused so to do and decreed to do him dead, wherefore Allah slew +him; and thou too, O Ifrit, if thou hadst spared me, Allah would +have spared thee. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and +ceased saying her permitted say: then quoth Dunyazad, "O my +sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful; how sweet, +and how grateful!" She replied, "And where is this compared with +what I could tell thee this coming night, if I live and the King +spare me?" Said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay +her until I hear the rest of her story, for truly it is +wondrous." They rested that night in mutual embrace until dawn: +then the King went forth to his Darbar; the Wazirs and troops +came in and the audience hall was crowded; so the King gave +orders and judged and appointed and deposed and bade and forbade +the rest of that day, when the court broke up, and King Shahryar +entered his palace, + + When it was the Sixth Night, + +Her sister, Dunyazad, said to her,"Pray finish for us thy story;" +and she answered, "I will if the King give me leave." "Say on," +quoth the King. And she continued:--It hath reached me, O +auspicious King, that when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, "If +thou hadst spared me I would have spared thee, but nothing would +satisfy thee save my death; so now I will do thee die by jailing +thee in this jar and I will hurl thee into this sea." Then the +Marid roared aloud and cried, "Allah upon thee, O Fisher man, +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 my self 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 ad +ministered 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 +God speed, 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 +diners: he gave them accordingly, and the man took them to his +bosom and ran off home stumbling and falling and rising again and +deeming the whole thing to be a dream. However, he bought for his +family all they wanted and lastly he went to his wife in huge joy +and gladness. So far concerning him; but as regards the cookmaid, +she took the fish and cleansed them and set them in the frying +pan, basting them with oil till one side was dressed. Then she +turned them over and, behold, the kitchen wall crave asunder, and +therefrom came a young lady, fair of form, oval of face, perfect +in grace, with eyelids which Kohl lines enchase.[FN#106] Her +dress was a silken head kerchief fringed and tasseled with blue: +a large ring hung from either ear; a pair of bracelets adorned +her wrists; rings with bezels of priceless gems were on her +fingers; and she hent in hand a long rod of rattan cane which she +thrust into the frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! be ye +constant to your covenant?" When the cookmaiden saw this +apparition she swooned away. The young lady repeated her words a +second time and a third time, and at last the fishes raised their +heads from the pan, and saying in articulate speech "Yes! Yes!" +began with one voice to recite:-- + +Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * And if ye + fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry! + +After this the young lady upset the frying pan and went forth by +the way she came in and the kitchen wall closed upon her. When +the cook maiden recovered from her fainting fit, she saw the four +fishes charred black as charcoal, and crying out, "His staff +brake in his first bout,"[FN#107] she again fell swooning to the +ground. Whilst she was in this case the Wazir came for the fish +and looking upon her as insensible she lay, not knowing Sunday +from Thursday, shoved her with his foot and said, "Bring the fish +for the Sultan!" Thereupon recovering from her fainting fit she +wept and in formed 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 crave asunder and the young lady +appeared, clad as before and holding in hand the wand which she +again thrust into the frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! be ye +constant to your olden covenant?" And behold, the fish lifted +their heads, and repeated "Yes! Yes!" and recited this couplet: + +Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye + fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry! + +And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her +permitted say. + + When it was the Seventh Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when +the fishes spoke, and the young lady upset the frying pan with +her rod, and went forth by the way she came and the wall closed +up, the Wazir cried out, "This is a thing not to be hidden from +the King." So he went and told him what had happened, where upon +quoth the King, "There is no help for it but that I see this with +mine own eyes." Then he sent for the Fisherman and commended 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 crave asunder, and out +burst a black slave like a huge rock or a remnant of the tribe +Ad[FN#108] bearing in hand a branch of a green tree; and he cried +in loud and terrible tones, "O fish! O fish! be ye all constant +to your antique covenant?" whereupon the fishes lifted their +heads from the frying pan and said, "Yes! Yes ! we be true to our +vow;" and they again recited the couplet: + +Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye + fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry! + +Then the huge blackamoor approached the frying pan and upset it +with the branch and went forth by the way he came in. When he +vanished from their sight the King inspected the fish; and +finding them all charred black as charcoal, was utterly +bewildered and said to the Wazir, "Verily this is a matter +whereanent silence cannot be kept, and as for the fishes, +assuredly some marvellous adventure connects with them." So he +bade bring the Fisherman and asked him, saying "Fie on thee, +fellow! whence came these fishes?" and he answered, "From a tarn +between four heights lying behind this mountain which is in sight +of thy city." Quoth the King, "How many days' march?" Quoth he, +"O our lord the Sultan, a walk of half hour." The King wondered +and, straight way ordering his men to march and horsemen to +mount, led off the Fisherman who went before as guide, privily +damning the Ifrit. They fared on till they had climbed the +mountain and descended unto a great desert which they had never +seen during all their lives; and the Sultan and his merry men +marvelled much at the wold set in the midst of four mountains, +and the tarn and its fishes of four colours, red and white, +yellow and blue. The King stood fixed to the spot in wonderment +and asked his troops and all present, "Hath any one among you +ever seen this piece of water before now?" and all made answer, +"O King of the age never did we set eyes upon it during all our +days." They also questioned the oldest inhabitants they met, men +well stricken in years, but they replied, each and every, "A +lakelet this we never saw in this place." Thereupon quoth the +King, "By Allah I will neither return to my capital nor sit upon +the throne of my forbears till I learn the truth about this tarn +and the fish therein." He then ordered his men to dismount and +bivouac all around the mountain; which they did; and summoning +his Wazir, a Minister of much experience, sagacious, of +penetrating wit and well versed in affairs, said to him, "'Tis in +my mind to do a certain thing whereof I will inform thee; my +heart telleth me to fare forth alone this night and root out the +mystery of this tarn and its fishes. Do thou take thy seat at my +tent door, and say to the Emirs and Wazirs, the Nabobs and the +Chamberlains, in fine to all who ask thee:--The Sultan is ill at +ease, and he hath ordered me to refuse all admittance;[FN#109] +and be careful thou let none know my design." And the Wazir could +not oppose him. Then the King changed his dress and ornaments +and, slinging his sword over his shoulder, took a path which led +up one of the mountains and marched for the rest of the night +till morning dawned; nor did he cease wayfaring till the heat was +too much for him. After his long walk he rested for a while, and +then resumed his march and fared on through the second night till +dawn, when suddenly there appeared a black point in the far +distance. Hereat he rejoiced and said to himself, "Haply some one +here shall acquaint me with the mystery of the tarn and its +fishes." Presently drawing near the dark object he found it a +palace built of swart stone plated with iron; and, while one leaf +of the gate stood wide open, the other was shut, The King's +spirits rose high as he stood before the gate and rapped a light +rap; but hearing no answer he knocked a second knock and a third; +yet there came no sign. Then he knocked his loudest but still no +answer, so he said, "Doubtless 'tis empty." Thereupon he mustered +up resolution and boldly walked through the main gate into the +great hall and there cried out aloud, "Holla, ye people of the +palace! I am a stranger and a wayfarer; have you aught here of +victual?" He repeated his cry a second time and a third but still +there came no reply; so strengthening his heart and making up his +mind he stalked through the vestibule into the very middle of the +palace and found no man in it. Yet it was furnished with silken +stuffs gold starred; and the hangings were let down over the door +ways. In the midst was a spacious court off which set four open +saloons each with its raised dais, saloon facing saloon; a canopy +shaded the court and in the centre was a jetting fount with four +figures of lions made of red gold, spouting from their mouths +water clear as pearls and diaphanous gems. Round about the palace +birds were let loose and over it stretched a net of golden wire, +hindering them from flying off; in brief there was everything but +human beings. The King marvelled mightily thereat, yet felt he +sad at heart for that he saw no one to give him account of the +waste and its tarn, the fishes, the mountains and the palace +itself. Presently as he sat between the doors in deep thought +behold, there came a voice of lament, as from a heart grief spent +and he heard the voice chanting these verses:-- + +I hid what I endured of him[FN#110] and yet it came to light, * + And nightly sleep mine eyelids fled and changed to sleepless + night: +Oh world! Oh Fate! withhold thy hand and cease thy hurt and + harm * Look and behold my hapless sprite in colour and + affright: +Wilt ne'er show ruth to highborn youth who lost him on the way * + Of Love, and fell from wealth and fame to lowest basest + wight. +Jealous of Zephyr's breath was I as on your form he breathed * + But whenas Destiny descends she blindeth human sight[FN#111] +What shall the hapless archer do who when he fronts his foe * And + bends his bow to shoot the shaft shall find his string + undight? +When cark and care so heavy bear on youth[FN#112] of generous + soul * How shall he 'scape his lot and where from Fate his + place of flight? + +Now when the Sultan heard the mournful voice he sprang to his +feet; and, following the sound, found a curtain let down over a +chamber door. He raised it and saw behind it a young man sitting +upon a couch about a cubit above the ground; and he fair to the +sight, a well shaped wight, with eloquence dight; his forehead +was flower white, his cheek rosy bright, and a mole on his cheek +breadth like an ambergris mite; even as the poet cloth indite:-- + +A youth slim waisted from whose locks and brow * The world in + blackness and in light is set. +Throughout Creation's round no fairer show * No rarer sight thine + eye hath ever met: +A nut brown mole sits throned upon a cheek * Of rosiest red + beneath an eye of jet.[FN#113] + +The King rejoiced and saluted him, but he remained sitting in his +caftan of silken stuff pureed with Egyptian gold and his crown +studded with gems of sorts; but his face was sad with the traces +of sorrow. He returned the royal salute in most courteous wise +adding, "O my lord, thy dignity demandeth my rising to thee; and +my sole excuse is to crave thy pardon."[FN#114] Quoth the King, +"Thou art excused, O youth; so look upon me as thy guest come +hither on an especial object. I would thou acquaint me with the +secrets of this tarn and its fishes and of this palace and thy +loneliness therein and the cause of thy groaning and wailing." +When the young man heard these words he wept with sore +weeping;[FN#115] till his bosom was drenched with tears and began +reciting-- + +Say him who careless sleeps what while the shaft of Fortune flies + * How many cloth this shifting world lay low and raise to + rise? +Although thine eye be sealed in sleep, sleep not th' Almighty's + eyes * And who hath found Time ever fair, or Fate in + constant guise? + +Then he sighed a long fetched sigh and recited:-- + +Confide thy case to Him, the Lord who made mankind; * Quit cark + and care and cultivate content of mind; +Ask not the Past or how or why it came to pass: * All human + things by Fate and Destiny were designed! + +The King marvelled and asked him, "What maketh thee weep, O young +man?" and he answered, "How should I not weep, when this is my +case!" Thereupon he put out his hand and raised the skirt of his +garment, when lo! the lower half of him appeared stone down to +his feet while from his navel to the hair of his head he was man. +The King, seeing this his plight, grieved with sore grief and of +his compassion cried, "Alack and well away! in very sooth, O +youth, thou heapest sorrow upon my sorrow. I was minded to ask +thee the mystery of the fishes only: whereas now I am concerned +to learn thy story as well as theirs. But there is no Majesty and +there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great![FN#116] +Lose no time, O youth, but tell me forthright thy whole tale." +Quoth he, "Lend me thine ears, thy sight and thine insight;" and +quoth the King, "All are at thy service!" Thereupon the youth +began, "Right wondrous and marvellous is my case and that of +these fishes; and were it graven with gravers upon the eye +corners it were a warner to whoso would be warned." "How is +that?" asked the King, and the young man began to tell + + + + + +The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince. + + +Know then, O my lord, that whilome my sire was King of this city, +and his name was Mahmud, entitled Lord of the Black Islands, and +owner of what are now these four mountains. He ruled three score +and ten years, after which he went to the mercy of the Lord and I +reigned as Sultan in his stead. I took to wife my cousin, the +daughter of my paternal uncle,[FN#117] and she loved me with such +abounding love that whenever I was absent she ate not and she +drank not until she saw me again. She cohabited with me for five +years till a certain day when she went forth to the Hammam bath; +and I bade the cook hasten to get ready all requisites for our +supper. And I entered this palace and lay down on the bed where I +was wont to sleep and bade two damsels to fan my face, one +sitting by my head and the other at my feet. But I was troubled +and made restless by my wife's absence and could not sleep; for +although my eyes were closed my mind and thoughts were wide +awake. Presently I heard the slave girl at my head say to her at +my feet, "O Mas'udah, how miserable is our master and how wasted +in his youth and oh! the pity of his being so be trayed 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! cloth our lord know her ways or cloth she allow him his +choice? Nay, more, cloth 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 velour +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 be fore 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 t the bottom the broiled bones of some rats +we dined on, pick at them, and then go to that slop pot where +thou shalt find some leavings of beer [FN#123] which thou mayest +drink." So she ate and drank and washed her hands, and went and +lay down by the side of the slave, upon the cane trash and, +stripping herself stark naked, she crept in with him under his +foul coverlet and his rags and tatters. When I saw my wife, my +cousin, the daughter of my uncle, do this deed[FN#124] I clean +lost my wits, and climbing down from the roof, I entered and took +the sword which she had with her and drew it, determined to cut +down the twain. I first struck at the slave's neck and thought +that the death decree had fallen on him:"And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Eighth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +young ensorcelled Prince said to the King, "When I smote the +slave with intent to strike off his head, I thought that I had +slain him; for he groaned a loud hissing groan, but I had cut +only the skin and flesh of the gullet and the two arteries! It +awoke the daughter of my uncle, so I sheathed the sword and fared +forth for the city; and, entering the palace, lay upon my bed and +slept till morning when my wife aroused me and I saw that she had +cut off her hair and had donned mourning garments. Quoth she:--O +son of my uncle, blame me not for what I do; it hath just reached +me that my mother is dead, and my father hath been killed in holy +war, and of my brothers one hath lost his life by a snake sting +and the other by falling down some precipice; and I can and +should do naught save weep and lament. When I heard her words I +refrained from all reproach and said only:--Do as thou list; I +certainly will not thwart thee. She continued sorrowing, weeping +and wailing one whole year from the beginning of its circle to +the end, and when it was finished she said to me.--I wish to +build me in thy palace a tomb with a cupola, which I will set +apart for my mourning and will name the House of +Lamentations.[FN#125] Quoth I again:--Do as thou list! Then she +builded for herself a cenotaph wherein to mourn, and set on its +centre a dome under which showed a tomb like a Santon's +sepulchre. Thither she carried the slave and lodged him; but he +was exceeding weak by reason of his wound, and unable to do her +love service; he could only drink wine and from the day of his +hurt he spake not a word, yet he lived on because his appointed +hour[FN#126] was not come. Every day, morning and evening, my +wife went to him and wept and wailed over him and gave him wine +and strong soups, and left not off doing after this manner a +second year; and I bore with her patiently and paid no heed to +her. One day, however, I went in to her unawares; and I found her +weeping and beating her face and crying:--Why art thou absent +from my sight, O my heart's delight? Speak to me, O my life; talk +with me, O my love? Then she recited these verses:-- + +For your love my patience fails and albeit you forget * I may + not, nor to other love my heart can make reply: +Bear my body, bear my soul wheresoever you may fare * And + where you pitch the camp let my body buried lie: +Cry my name above my grave, and an answer shall return * The + moaning of my bones responsive to your cry.[FN#127] + +Then she recited, weeping bitterly the while:-- + +The day of my delight is the day when draw you near * And the + day of mine affright is the day you turn away: +Though I tremble through the night in my bitter dread of death * + When I hold you in my arms I am free from all affray + +Once more she began reciting:-- + +Though a morn I may awake with all happiness in hand * + Though the world all be mine and like Kisra-kings[FN#128] I + reign; +To me they had the worth of the winglet of the gnat * When I fail + to see thy form, when I look for thee in vain + +When she had ended for a time her words and her weeping I said to +her--O my cousin, let this thy mourning suffice, for in pouring +forth tears there is little profit! Thwart me not, answered she, +in aught I do, or I will lay violent hands on myself! So I held +my peace and left her to go her own way; and she ceased not to +cry and keen and indulge her affliction for yet another year. At +the end of the third year I waxed aweary of this lonesome +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 cost thou not answer me, O my master? and she +began reciting:-- + +O thou tomb! O, thou tomb! be his beauty set in shade? * Hast + thou darkened that countenance all sheeny as the noon? +O thou tomb! neither earth nor yet heaven art to me * Then how + cometh it in thee are conjoined my sun and moon? + +When I heard such verses as these rage was heaped upon my rage I +cried out:--Well away! how long is this sorrow to last? and I +began repeating:-- + +O thou tomb! O thou tomb! be his horrors set in blight? * Hast + thou dark ened his countenance that sickeneth the soul? +O thou tomb! neither cess pool nor pipkin art to me * Then how + cometh it in thee are conjoined soil and coal? + +When she heard my words she sprang to her feet crying.--Fie upon +thee, thou cur! all this is of thy doings; thou hast wounded my +heart s darling and thereby worked me sore woe and thou hast +wasted his youth so that these three years he hath lain abed more +dead than alive! In my wrath I cried:--O thou foulest of harlots +and filthiest of whores ever futtered by negro slaves who are +hired to have at thee![FN#129] Yes indeed it was I who did this +good deed; and snatching up my sword I drew it and made at her to +cut her down. But she laughed my words and mine intent to scorn +crying: To heel, hound that thou art! Alas[FN#130] for the past +which shall no more come to pass nor shall any one avail the dead +to raise. Allah hath indeed now given into my hand him who did to +me this thing, a deed that hath burned my heart with a fire which +died not and a flame which might not be quenched! Then she stood +up; and, pronouncing some words to me unintelligible, she said:-- +By virtue of my egromancy become thou half stone and half man; +whereupon I became what thou seest, unable to rise or to sit, and +neither dead nor alive. Moreover she ensorcelled the city with +all its streets and garths, and she turned by her gramarye the +four islands into four mountains around the tarn whereof thou +questionest me; and the citizens, who were of four different +faiths, Moslem, Nazarene, Jew and Magian, she transformed by her +enchantments into fishes; the Moslems are the white, the Magians +red, the Christians blue and the Jews yellow.[FN#131] And every +day she tortureth me and scourgeth me with an hundred stripes, +each of which draweth floods of blood and cutteth the skin of my +shoulders to strips; and lastly she clotheth my upper half with a +hair cloth and then throweth over them these robes." Hereupon the +young man again shed tears and began reciting:-- + +In patience, O my God, I endure my lot and fate; * I will bear at + will of Thee whatsoever be my state: +They oppress me; they torture me; they make my life a woe * Yet + haply Heaven's happiness shall compensate my strait: +Yea, straitened is my life by the bane and hate o' foes * But + Mustafa and Murtaza[FN#132] shall ope me Heaven's gate. + +After this the Sultan turned towards the young Prince and said, +"O youth, thou hast removed one grief only to add another grief; +but now, O my friend, where is she; and where is the mausoleum +wherein lieth the wounded slave?" "The slave lieth under yon +dome," quoth the young man, "and she sitteth in the chamber +fronting yonder door. And every day at sunrise she cometh forth, +and first strippeth me, and whippeth me with an hundred strokes +of the leathern scourge, and I weep and shriek; but there is no +power of motion in my lower limbs to keep her off me. After +ending her tormenting me she visiteth the slave, bringing him +wine and boiled meats. And to morrow at an early hour she will be +here." Quoth the King, "By Allah, O youth, I will as suredly do +thee a good deed which the world shall not willingly let die, and +an act of derring do which shall be chronicled long after I am +dead and gone by." Then the King sat him by the side of the young +Prince and talked till nightfall, when he lay down and slept; +but, as soon as the false dawn[FN#133] showed, he arose and +doffing his outer garments[FN#134] bared his blade and hastened +to the place wherein lay the slave. Then was he ware of lighted +candles and lamps, and the perfume of incenses and unguents, and +directed by these, he made for the slave and struck him one +stroke killing him on the spot: after which he lifted him on his +back and threw him into a well that was in the palace. Presentry +he returned and, donning the slave's gear, lay down at length +within the mausoleum with the drawn sword laid close to and along +his side. After an hour or so the accursed witch came; and, first +going to her husband, she stripped off his clothes and, taking a +whip, flogged him cruelly while he cried out, "Ah! enough for me +the case I am in! take pity on me, O my cousin!' But she replied, +"Didst thou take pity on me and spare the life of my true love on +whom I coated?" Then she drew the cilice over his raw and +bleeding skin and threw the robe upon all and went down to the +slave with a goblet of wine and a bowl of meat broth in her +hands. She entered under the dome weeping and wailing, +"Well-away!" and crying, "O my lord! speak a word to me! O my +master! talk awhile with me!" and began to recite these +couplets.-- + +How long this harshness, this unlove, shall bide? * Suffice thee + not tear floods thou hast espied? +Thou cost prolong our parting purposely * And if wouldst please + my foe, thou'rt satisfied! + +Then she wept again and said, "O my lord! speak to me, talk with +me!" The King lowered his voice and, twisting his tongue, spoke +after the fashion of the blackamoors and said "'lack! 'lack! +there be no Ma'esty and there be no Might save in Allauh, the +Gloriose, the Great!" Now when she heard these words she shouted +for joy, and fell to the ground fainting; and when her senses +returned she asked, "O my lord, can it be true that thou hast +power of speech?" and the King making his voice small and faint +answered, "O my cuss! cost 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 +shine 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 negro ring! 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 +commend, 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 n the palm of her hand--And Shahrazad perceived the +dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it Was the Ninth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +young woman, the sorceress, took in hand some of the tarn water +and spake over it words not to be understood, the fishes lifted +their heads and stood up on the instant like men, the spell on +the people of the city having been removed. What was the lake +again became a crowded capital; the bazars were thronged with +folk who bought and sold; each citizen was occupied with his own +calling and the four hills became islands as they were whilome. +Then the young woman, that wicked sorceress, returned to the King +and (still thinking he was the negro) said to him, O my love! +stretch forth thy honoured hand that I may assist thee to rise." +"Nearer to me," quoth the King in a faint and feigned tone. She +came close as to embrace him when he took up the sword lying hid +by his side and smote her across the breast, so that the point +showed gleaming behind her back. Then he smote her a second time +and cut her in twain and cast her to the ground in two halves. +After which he fared forth and found the young man, now freed +from the spell, awaiting him and gave him joy of his happy +release while the Prince kissed his hand with abundant thanks. +Quoth the King, "Wilt thou abide in this city or go with me to my +capital?" Quoth the youth, "O King of the age, wottest thou not +what journey is between thee and thy city?" "Two days and a +half," answered he, whereupon said the other, "An thou be +sleeping, O King, awake! Between thee and thy city is a year's +march for a well girt walker, and thou haddest not come hither in +two days and a half save that the city was under enchantment. And +I, O King, will never part from thee; no, not even for the +twinkling of an eye." The King rejoiced at his words and said, +"Thanks be to Allah who hath bestowed thee upon me! From this +hour thou art my son and my only son, for that in all my life I +have never been blessed with issue." Thereupon they embraced and +joyed with exceeding great joy; and, reaching the palace, the +Prince who had been spell bound informed his lords and his +grandees that he was about to visit the Holy Places as a pilgrim, +and bade them get ready all things necessary for the occasion. +The preparations lasted ten days, after which he set out with the +Sultan, whose heart burned in yearning for his city whence he had +been absent a whole twelvemonth. They journeyed with an escort of +Mamelukes[FN#137] carrying all manners of precious gifts and +rarities, nor stinted they wayfaring day and night for a full +year until they approached the Sultan's capital, and sent on +messengers to announce their coming. Then the Wazir and the whole +army came out to meet him in joy and gladness, for they had given +up all hope of ever seeing their King; and the troops kissed the +ground before him and wished him joy of his safety. He entered +and took seat upon his throne and the Minister came before him +and, when acquainted with all that had be fallen 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 in to 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 Kings, until death came to them. And yet, O King! +this is not more wondrous than the story of + + + + + + The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. + + +Once upon a time there was a Porter in Baghdad, who was a +bachelor and who would remain unmarried. It came to pass on a +certain day, as he stood about the street leaning idly upon his +crate, behold, there stood before him an honourable woman in a +mantilla of Mosul[FN#138] silk, broidered with gold and bordered +with brocade; her walking shoes were also purfled with gold and +her hair floated in long plaits. She raised her face veil[FN#139] +and, showing two black eyes fringed with jetty lashes, whose +glances were soft and languishing and whose perfect beauty was +ever blandishing, she accosted the Porter and said in the suavest +tones and choicest language, "Take up thy crate and follow me." +The Porter was so dazzled he could hardly believe that he heard +her aright, but he shouldered his basket in hot haste saying in +himself, "O day of good luck! O day of Allah's grace!" and walked +after her till she stopped at the door of a house. There she +rapped, and presently came out to her an old man, a Nazarene, to +whom she gave a gold piece, receiving from him in return what she +required of strained wine clear as olive oil; and she set it +safely in the hamper, saying "Lift and follow." Quoth the Porter, +"This, by Allah, is indeed an auspicious day, a day propitious +for the granting of all a man wisheth." He again hoisted up the +crate and followed her; till she stopped at a fruiterer's shop +and bought from him Shami[FN#140] apples and Osmani quinces and +Omani[FN#141] peaches, and cucumbers of Nile growth, and Egyptian +limes and Sultani oranges and citrons; besides Aleppine jasmine, +scented myrtle berries, Damascene nenuphars, flower of +privet[FN#142] and camomile, blood red anemones, violets, and +pomegranate bloom, eglantine and narcissus, and set the whole in +the Porter's crate, saying, "Up with it." So he lifted and +followed her till she stopped at a butcher's booth and said, "Cut +me off ten pounds of mutton." She paid him his price and he +wrapped it in a banana leaf, whereupon she laid it in the crate +and said "Hoist, O Porter." He hoisted accordingly, and followed +her as she walked on till she stopped at a grocer's, where she +bought dry fruits and pistachio kernels, Tihamah raisins, shelled +almonds and all wanted for dessert, and said to the Porter, "Lift +and follow me." So he up with his hamper and after her till she +stayed at the confectioner's, and she bought an earthen platter, +and piled it with all kinds of sweetmeats in his shop, open +worked tarts and fritters scented with musk and "soap cakes," and +lemon loaves and melon preserves,[FN#143] and "Zaynab's combs," +and "ladies' fingers," and "Kazi's tit-bits" and goodies of every +description; and placed the platter in the Porter's crate. +Thereupon quoth he (being a merry man), "Thou shouldest have told +me, and I would have brought with me a pony or a she camel to +carry all this market stuff." She smiled and gave him a little +cuff on the nape saying, "Step out and exceed not in words for +(Allah willing!) thy wage will not be wanting." Then she stopped +at a perfumer's and took from him ten sorts of waters, rose +scented with musk, grange Lower, waterlily, willow flower, violet +and five others; and she also bought two loaves of sugar, a +bottle for perfume spraying, a lump of male in cense, aloe wood, +ambergris and musk, with candles of Alex' andria wax; and she put +the whole into the basket, saying, "Up with thy crate and after +me." He did so and followed until she stood before the +greengrocer's, of whom she bought pickled safflower and olives, +in brine and in oil; with tarragon and cream cheese and hard +Syrian cheese; and she stowed them away in the crate saying to +the Porter, "Take up thy basket and follow me." He did so and +went after her till she came to a fair mansion fronted by a +spacious court, a tall, fine place to which columns gave strength +and grace: and the gate thereof had two leaves of ebony inlaid +with plates of red gold. The lady stopped at the door and, +turning her face veil sideways, knocked softly with her knuckles +whilst the Porter stood behind her, thinking of naught save her +beauty and loveliness. Presently the door swung back and both +leaves were opened, whereupon he looked to see who had opened it; +and behold, it was a lady of tall figure, some five feet high; a +model of beauty and loveliness, brilliance and symmetry and +perfect grace. Her forehead was flower white; her cheeks like the +anemone ruddy bright; her eyes were those of the wild heifer or +the gazelle, with eyebrows like the crescent moon which ends +Sha'aban and begins Ramazan;[FN#144] her mouth was the ring of +Sulayman,[FN#145] her lips coral red, and her teeth like a line +of strung pearls or of camomile petals. Her throat recalled the +antelope's, and her breasts, like two pomegranates of even size, +stood at bay as it were,[FN#146] her body rose and fell in waves +below her dress like the rolls of a piece of brocade, and her +navel[FN#147] would hold an ounce of benzoin ointment. In fine +she was like her of whom the poet said:-- + +On Sun and Moon of palace cast thy sight * Enjoy her flower like + face, her fragrant light: +Thine eyes shall never see in hair so black * Beauty encase a + brow so purely white: +The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim * Though fail her name + whose beauties we indite: +As sways her gait I smile at hips so big * And weep to see the + waist they bear so slight. + +When the Porter looked upon her his wits were waylaid, and his +senses were stormed so that his crate went nigh to fall from his +head, and he said to himself, "Never have I in my life seen a day +more blessed than this day!" Then quoth the lady portress to the +lady cateress, "Come in from the gate and relieve this poor man +of his load." So the provisioner went in followed by the portress +and the Porter and went on till they reached a spacious ground +floor hall,[FN#148] built with admirable skill and beautified +with all manner colours and carvings; with upper balconies and +groined arches and galleries and cupboards and recesses whose +curtains hung before them. In the midst stood a great basin full +of water surrounding a fine fountain, and at the upper end on the +raised dais was a couch of juniper wood set with gems and pearls, +with a canopy like mosquito curtains of red satin silk looped up +with pearls as big as filberts and bigger. Thereupon sat a lady +bright of blee, with brow beaming brilliancy, the dream of +philosophy, whose eyes were fraught with Babel's gramarye[FN#149] +and her eye brows were arched as for archery; her breath breathed +ambergris and perfumery and her lips were sugar to taste and +carnelian to see. Her stature was straight as the letter +I[FN#150] and her face shamed the noon sun's radiancy; and she +was even as a galaxy, or a dome with golden marquetry or a bride +displayed in choicest finery or a noble maid of Araby.[FN#151] +Right well of her sang the bard when he said:-- + +Her smiles twin rows of pearls display * Chamomile-buds or rimey + spray +Her tresses stray as night let down * And shames her light the + dawn o' day. + +[FN#152]The third lady rising from the couch stepped forward with +grace ful swaying gait till she reached the middle of the saloon, +when she said to her sisters, "Why stand ye here? take it down +from this poor man's head!" Then the cateress went and stood +before him, and the portress behind him while the third helped +them, and they lifted the load from the Porter's head; and, +emptying it of all that was therein, set everything in its place. +Lastly they gave him two gold pieces, saying, "Wend thy ways, O +Porter." But he went not, for he stood looking at the ladies and +admiring what uncommon beauty was theirs, and their pleasant +manners and kindly dispositions (never had he seen goodlier); and +he gazed wistfully at that good store of wines and sweet scented +flowers and fruits and other matters. Also he marvelled with +exceeding marvel, especially to see no man in the place and +delayed his going; whereupon quoth the eldest lady, "What aileth +thee that goest not; haply thy wage be too little?" And, turning +to her sister the cateress, she said, "Give him another diner!" +But the Porter answered, "By Allah, my lady, it is not for the +wage; my hire is never more than two dirhams; but in very sooth +my heart and my soul are taken up with you and your condition. I +wonder to see you single with ne'er a man about you and not a +soul to bear you company; and well you wot that the minaret +toppleth o'er unless it stand upon four, and you want this same +fourth; and women's pleasure without man is short of measure, +even as the poet said:-- + +Seest not we want for joy four things all told * The harp and + lute, the flute and flageolet; +And be they companied with scents four fold * Rose, myrtle, + anemone and violet +Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withold * Good wine and + youth and gold and pretty pet. + +You be there and want a fourth who shall be a person of good +sense and prudence; smart witted, and one apt to keep careful +counsel." His words pleased and amused them much; and they +laughed at him and said, "And who is to assure us of that? We are +maidens and we fear to entrust our secret where it may not be +kept, for we have read in a certain chronicle the lines of one +Ibn al-Sumam:- + +Hold fast thy secret and to none unfold * Lost is a secret when + that secret's told +An fail thy breast thy secret to conceal * How canst thou hope + another's breast shall hold? + +And Abu Nowas[FN#153] said well on the same subject:-- + +Who trusteth secret to another's hand * Upon his brow deserveth + burn of brand!" + +When the Porter heard their words he rejoined, "By your lives! I +am a man of sense and a discreet, who hath read books and perused +chronicles; I reveal the fair and conceal the foul and I act as +the poet adviseth:-- + +None but the good a secret keep * And good men keep it + unrevealed: +It is to me a well shut house * With keyless locks and door + ensealed"[FN#154] + +When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application +addressed to them they said, "Thou knowest that we have laid out +all our monies on this place. Now say, hast thou aught to offer +us in return for entertainment? For surely we will not suf fer +thee to sit in our company and be our cup companion, and gaze +upon our faces so fair and so rare without paying a round +sum.[FN#155] Wottest thou not the saying:-- + + Sans hope of gain + Love's not worth a grain?" + +Whereto the lady portress added, "If thou bring anything thou art +a something; if no thing, be off with thee, thou art a nothing;" +but the procuratrix interposed, saying, "Nay, O my sisters, leave +teasing him for by Allah he hath not failed us this day, and had +he been other he never had kept patience with me, so whatever be +his shot and scot I will take it upon myself." The Porter, over +joyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her saying, "By +Allah, these monies are the first fruits this day hath given me." +Hearing this they said, "Sit thee down and welcome to thee," and +the eldest lady added, "By Allah, we may not suffer thee to join +us save on one condition, and this it is, that no questions be +asked as to what concerneth thee not, and frowardness shall be +soundly flogged." Answered the Porter, "I agree to this, O my +lady, on my head and my eyes be it! Lookye, I am dumb, I have no +tongue. Then arose the provisioneress and tightening her girdle +set the table by the fountain and put the flowers and sweet herbs +in their jars, and strained the wine and ranged the flasks in row +and made ready every requisite. Then sat she down, she and her +sisters, placing amidst them the Porter who kept deeming himself +in a dream; and she took up the wine flagon, and poured out the +first cup and drank it off, and likewise a second and a +third.[FN#156] After this she filled a fourth cup which she +handed to one of her sisters; and, lastly, she crowned a goblet +and passed it to the Porter, saying:-- + +"Drink the dear draught, drink free and fain * What healeth every + grief and pain." + +He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best +thanks and improvised:-- + +Drain not the bowl save with a trusty friend * A man of worth + whose good old +For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet * And stinks + when over stench it haply blow:" + +Adding:-- + +Drain not the bowl; save from dear hand like thine * The cup + recall thy gifts; thou, gifts of wine." + +After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and +was drunk and sat swaying from side to side and pursued:-- + +"All drinks wherein is blood the Law unclean * Doth hold save + one, the blood shed of the vine: +Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won * Thou fawn! a + willing ransom for those eyne." + +Then the cateress crowned a cup and gave it to the portress, who +took it from her hand and thanked her and drank. Thereupon she +poured again and passed to the eldest lady who sat on the couch, +and filled yet another and handed it to the Porter. He kissed the +ground before them; and, after drinking and thanking them, he +again began to recite : + +"Here! Here! by Allah, here! * Cups of the sweet, the dear' + Fill me a brimming bowl * The Fount o' Life I speer + +Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and +said, "O lady, I am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall, a, +thy very bondsman;" and he began reciting:-- + +"A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door * Lauding thy + generous boons and gifts galore +Beauty! may he come in awhile to 'joy * Thy charms? for Love + and I part nevermore!" + +She said to him, "Drink; and health and happiness attend thy +drink." So he took the cup and kissed her hand and recited these +lines in sing song: + +"I gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks * Blushed red or + flame from furnace flaring up: +She bussed the brim and said with many a smile * How durst thou + deal folk's cheek for folk to sup? +"Drink!" (said I) "these are tears of mine whose tinct * Is heart + blood sighs have boiled in the cup." + +She answered him in the following couplet:-- + +"An tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed * Suffer me sup + them, by thy head and eyes!" + +Then the lady took the cup, and drank it off to her sisters' +health, and they ceased not drinking (the Porter being in the +midst of them), and dancing and laughing and reciting verses and +singing ballads and ritornellos. All this time the Porter was +carrying on with them, kissing, toying, biting, handling, +groping, fingering; whilst one thrust a dainty morsel in his +mouth, and another slapped him; and this cuffed his cheeks, and +that threw sweet flowers at him; and he was in the very paradise +of pleasure, as though he were sitting in the seventh sphere +among the Houris[FN#157] of Heaven. They ceased not doing after +this fashion until the wine played tucks 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 here no +shame in thee?" Quoth he, "Thy coynte;" and she cried, O thou! +art wholly destitute of modesty?" and thumped 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 stuck him and slapped him on the back of the neck. Then +he began calling out all the names he knew, "Thy slit, thy womb, +thy coynte, thy clitoris;" and the girls kept on saying, "No! +no!" So he said, "I stick to the basil of the bridges;" and all +the three laughed till they fell on their backs and laid slaps on +his neck and said, "No! no! that's not its proper name." +Thereupon he cried, "O my sisters, what is its name?" and they +replied, "What sayest thou to the husked sesame seed?" Then the +cateress donned her clothes and they fell again to carousing, but +the Porter kept moaning, "Oh! and Oh!" for his neck and +shoulders, and the cup passed merrily round and round again for a +full hour. After that time the eldest and handsomest lady stood +up and stripped off her garments, whereupon the Porter took his +neck in hand, and rubbed and shampoo'd it, saying, "My neck and +shoulders are on the way of Allah!"[FN#160] Then she threw +herself into the basin, and swam and dived, sported and washed; +and the Porter looked at her naked figure as though she had been +a slice of the moon[FN#161] and at her face with the sheen of +Luna when at full, or like the dawn when it brighteneth, and he +noted her noble stature and shape, and those glorious forms that +quivered as she went; for she was naked as the Lord made her. +Then he cried "Alack! Alack!"and began to address her, versifying +in these couplets:-- + +"If I liken thy shape to the bough when green * My likeness errs + and I sore mistake it; +For the bough is fairest when clad the most * And thou art + fairest when mother naked." + +When the lady heard his verses she came up out of the basin and, +seating herself upon his lap and knees, pointed to her genitory +and said, "O my lordling, what be the name of this?" Quoth he, +"The basil of the bridges;" but she said, "Bah, bah!" Quoth he, +"The husked sesame;" quoth she, "Pooh, pooh!" Then said he, "Thy +womb;" and she cried, "Fie, Fie! art thou not ashamed of +thyself?" and cuffed him on the nape of the neck. And whatever +name he gave declaring " 'Tis so," she beat him and cried "No! +no!" till at last he said, "O my sisters, and what is its name?" +She replied, "It is entitled the Khan[FN#162] of Abu Mansur;" +whereupon the Porter replied, "Ha! ha! O Allah be praised for +safe deliverance! O Khan of Abu Mansur!" Then she came forth and +dressed and the cup went round a full hour. At last the Porter +rose up, and stripping off all his clothes, jumped into the tank +and swam about and washed under his bearded chin and armpits, +even as they had done. Then he came out and threw himself into +the first lady's lap and rested his arms upon the lap of the +portress, and reposed his legs in the lap of the cateress and +pointed to his prickle[FN#163] and said, "O my mistresses, what +is the name of this article?" All laughed at his words till they +fell on their backs, and one said, "Thy pintle!" But he replied, +"No!" and gave each one of them a bite by way of forfeit. Then +said they, "Thy pizzle!" but he cried "No," and gave each of them +a hug; And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying +her permitted say. + + When it was the Tenth Night, + +Quoth her sister Dunyazad, "Finish for us thy story;" and she +answered, "With joy and goodly greet" It hath reached me, O +auspicious King, that the damsels stinted not saying to the +Porter "Thy prickle, thy pintle, thy pizzle," and he ceased not +kissing and biting and hugging until his heart was satisfied, and +they laughed on till they could no more. At last one said, "O our +brother, what, then, is it called?" Quoth he, "Know ye not?" +Quoth they, "No!" "Its veritable name," said he, "is mule Burst +all, which browseth on the basil of the bridges, and muncheth the +husked sesame, and nighteth in the Khan of Abu Mansur." Then +laughed they till they fell on their backs, and returned to their +carousel, and ceased not to be after this fashion till night +began to fall. Thereupon said they to the Porter, +''Bismillah,[FN#164] O our master, up and on with those sorry old +shoes of thine and turn thy face and show us the breadth of thy +shoulders!" Said he, "By Allah, to part with my soul would be +easier for me than departing from you: come let us join night to +day, and tomorrow morning we will each wend our own way." "My +life on you," said the procuratrix, "suffer him to tarry with us, +that we may laugh at him: we may live out our lives and never +meet with his like, for surely he is a right merry rogue and a +witty."[FN#165] So they said, "Thou must not remain with us this +night save on condition that thou submit to our commands, and +that whatso thou seest, thou ask no questions there anent, nor +enquire of its cause." "All right," rejoined he, and they said, +"Go read the writing over the door." So he rose and went to the +entrance and there found written in letters of gold wash; WHOSO +SPEAKETH OF WHAT CONCERNETH HIM NOT, SHALL HEAR WHAT PLEASETH HIM +NOT! [FN#166] The Porter said, Be ye witnesses against me that I +will not speak on whatso concerneth me not." Then the cateress +arose, and set food before them and they ate; after which they +changed their drinking place for an other, and she lighted the +lamps and candles and burned amber gris 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 dis turbed 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 cowers; 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 Fakir,"[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 +Irak, 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 to morrow 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 procuretrix, +entering a closet, brought out of it a bag of satin with green +fringes and two tassels of gold. She stood up before the lady of +the house and shaking the bag drew out from it a lute which she +tuned by tightening its pegs; and when it was in perfect order, +she began to sing these quatrains:-- + +"Ye are the wish, the aim of me *And when, O Love, thy sight I + see[FN#177] +The heavenly mansion openeth;[FN#178] * But Hell I see when + lost thy sight. +From thee comes madness; nor the less * Comes highest joy, + comes ecstasy: +Nor in my love for thee I fear * Or shame and blame, or hate and + spite. +When Love was throned within my heart * I rent the veil of + modesty; +And stints not Love to rend that veil * Garring disgrace on grace + to alight; +The robe of sickness then I donned * But rent to rags was + secrecy: +Wherefore my love and longing heart * Proclaim your high + supremest might; +The tear drop railing adown my cheek * Telleth my tale of + ignomy: +And all the hid was seen by all * And all my riddle ree'd aright. + +Heal then my malady, for thou * Art malady and remedy! +But she whose cure is in thy hand * Shall ne'er be free of bane + and blight; +Burn me those eyne that radiance rain * Slay me the swords of + phantasy; +How many hath the sword of Love * Laid low, their high degree + despite? +Yet will I never cease to pine * Nor to oblivion will I flee. +Love is my health, my faith, my joy * Public and private, wrong + or right. +O happy eyes that sight thy charms * That gaze upon thee at their + gree! +Yea, of my purest wish and will * The slave of Love I'll aye be + hight." + +When the damsel heard this elegy in quatrains she cried out +"Alas! Alas!" and rent her raiment, and fell to the ground +fainting; and the Caliph saw scars of the palm rod[FN#179] on her +back and welts of the whip; and marvelled with exceeding wonder. +Then the portress arose and sprinkled water on her and brought +her a fresh and very fine dress and put it on her. But when the +company beheld these doings their minds were troubled, for they +had no inkling of the case nor knew the story thereof; so the +Caliph said to Ja'afar, "Didst thou not see the scars upon the +damsel's body? I cannot keep silence or be at rest till I learn +the truth of her condition and the story of this other maiden and +the secret of the two black bitches." But Ja'afar answered, "O +our lord, they made it a condition with us that we speak not of +what concerneth us not, lest we come to hear what pleaseth us +not." Then said the portress "By Allah, O my sister, come to me +and complete this service for me." Replied the procuratrix, "With +joy and goodly gree;" so she took the lute; and leaned it against +her breasts and swept the strings with her finger tips, and began +singing:-- + +"Give back mine eyes their sleep long ravished * And say me + whither be my reason fled: +I learnt that lending to thy love a place * Sleep to mine eyelids + mortal foe was made. +They said, "We held thee righteous, who waylaid * Thy soul?" "Go + ask his glorious eyes," I said. +I pardon all my blood he pleased to spill * Owning his troubles + drove him blood to shed. +On my mind's mirror sun like sheen he cast * Whose keen + reflection fire in vitals bred +Waters of Life let Allah waste at will * Suffice my wage those + lips of dewy red: +An thou address my love thou'lt find a cause * For plaint and + tears or ruth or lustihed. +In water pure his form shall greet your eyne * When fails the + bowl nor need ye drink of wine.[FN#180]" + +Then she quoted from the same ode:-- + + +"I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wine, * And his + swaying gait swayed to sleep these eyne: +'Twas not grape juice grips me but grasp of Past * 'Twas not bowl + o'erbowled me but gifts divine: +His coiling curl-lets my soul ennetted * And his cruel will all + my wits outwitted.[FN#181]" + +After a pause she resumed:-- + +"If we 'plain of absence what shall we say? * Or if pain afflict + us where wend our way? +An I hire a truchman[FN#182] to tell my tale * The lover's plaint + is not told for pay: +If I put on patience, a lover's life * After loss of love will + not last a day: +Naught is left me now but regret, repine * And tears flooding + cheeks for ever and aye: +O thou who the babes of these eyes[FN#183] hast fled * Thou art + homed in heart that shall never stray +Would heaven I wot hast thou kept our pact * Long as stream shall + flow, to have firmest fey? +Or hast forgotten the weeping slave * Whom groans afflict and + whom griefs waylay? +Ah, when severance ends and we side by side * Couch, I'll blame + thy rigours and chide thy pride!" + +Now when the portress heard her second ode she shrieked aloud and +said, "By Allah! 'tis right good!"; and laying hands on her +garments tore them, as she did the first time, and fell to the +ground fainting. Thereupon the procuratrix rose end brought her a +second change of clothes after she had sprinkled water on her. +She recovered and sat upright and said to her sister the +cateress, "Onwards, and help me in my duty, for there remains but +this one song." So the provisioneress again brought out the lute +and began to sing these verses:-- + +"How long shall last, how long this rigour rife of woe * May not + suffice thee all these tears thou seest flow? +Our parting thus with purpose fell thou dost prolong * Is't not + enough to glad the heart of envious foe? +Were but this lying world once true to lover heart * He had not + watched the weary night in tears of woe: +Oh pity me whom overwhelmed thy cruel will * My lord, my king, + 'tis time some ruth to me thou show: +To whom reveal my wrongs, O thou who murdered me? * Sad, + who of broken troth the pangs must undergo! +Increase wild love for thee and phrenzy hour by hour * And days + of exile minute by so long, so slow; +O Moslems, claim vendetta[FN#184] for this slave of Love * + Whose sleep Love ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low: +Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish! to lie * Lapt in + another's arms and unto me cry Go!? +Yet in thy presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy * When he I + love but works my love to overthrow?" + +When the portress heard the third song she cried aloud; and, +laying hands on her garments, rent them down to the very skirt +and fell to the ground fainting a third time, again showing the +scars of the scourge. Then said the three Kalandars, "Would +Heaven we had never entered this house, but had rather righted on +the mounds and heaps outside the city! for verily our visit hath +been troubled by sights which cut to the heart." The Caliph +turned to them and asked, "Why so?" and they made answer, "Our +minds are sore troubled by this matter." Quoth the Caliph, "Are +ye not of the household?" and quoth they, "No; nor indeed did we +ever set eyes on the place till within this hour." Hereat the +Caliph marvelled and rejoined, "This man who sitteth by you, +would he not know the secret of the matter?" and so saying he +winked and made signs at the Porter. So they questioned the man +but he replied, "By the All might of Allah, in love all are +alike![FN#185] I am the growth of Baghdad, yet never in my born +days did I darken these doors till to day and my companying with +them was a curious matter." "By Allah," they rejoined, "we took +thee for one of them and now we see thou art one like ourselves." +Then said the Caliph, "We be seven men, and they only three women +without even a fourth to help them; so let us question them of +their case; and, if they answer us not, fain we will be answered +by force." All of them agreed to this except Ja'afar who +said,[FN#186] "This is not my recking; let them be; for we are +their guests and, as ye know, they made a compact and condition +with us which we accepted and promised to keep: wherefore it is +better that we be silent concerning this matter; and, as but +little of the night remaineth, let each and every of us gang his +own gait." Then he winked at the Caliph and whispered to him, +"There is but one hour of darkness left and I can bring them +before thee to morrow, when thou canst freely question them all +concerning their story." But the Caliph raised his head haughtily +and cried out at him in wrath, saying, "I have no patience left +for my longing to hear of them: let the Kalandars question them +forthright." Quoth Ja'afar, "This is not my rede." Then words ran +high and talk answered talk, and they disputed as to who should +first put the question, but at last all fixed upon the Porter. +And as the jingle increased the house mistress could not but +notice it and asked them, "O ye folk! on what matter are ye +talking so loudly?" Then the Porter stood up respectfully before +her and said, "O my lady, this company earnestly desire that thou +acquaint them with the story of the two bitches and what maketh +thee punish them so cruelly; and then thou fallest to weeping +over them and kissing them; and lastly they want to hear the tale +of thy sister and why she hath been bastinado'd with palm sticks +like a man. These are the questions they charge me to put, and +peace be with thee."[FN#187] Thereupon quoth she who was the lady +of the house to the guests, "Is this true that he saith on your +part?" and all replied, "Yes!" save Ja'afar who kept silence. +When she heard these words she cried, "By Allah, ye have wronged +us, O our guests. with grievous wronging; for when you came +before us we made compact and condition with you, that whoso +should speak of what concerneth him not should hear what pleaseth +him not. Sufficeth ye not that we took you into our house and fed +you with our best food? But the fault is not so much yours as +hers who let you in." Then she tucked up her sleeves from her +wrists and struck the floor thrice with her hand crying, "Come ye +quickly;" and lo! a closet door opened and out of it came seven +negro slaves with drawn swords in hand to whom she said, "Pinion +me those praters' elbows and bind them each to each." They did +her bidding and asked her, "O veiled and virtuous! is it thy high +command that we strike off their heads?"; but she answered, +"Leave them awhile that I question them of their condition, +before their necks feel the sword." "By Allah, O my lady!" cried +the Porter, "slay me not for other's sin; all these men offended +and deserve the penalty of crime save myself. Now by Allah, our +night had been charming had we escaped the mortification of those +monocular Kalandars whose entrance into a populous city would +convert it into a howling wilderness." Then he repeated these +verses : + +"How fair is ruth the strong man deigns not smother! * And + fairest fair when shown to weakest brother: +By Love's own holy tie between us twain, * Let one not suffer for + the sin of other." + +When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed. And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When It was the Eleventh Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lady, +after laughing at the Porter despite her wrath, came up to the +party and spake thus, "Tell me who ye be, for ye have but an hour +of life; and were ye not men of rank and, perhaps, notables of +your tribes, you had not been so froward and I had hastened your +doom." Then said the Caliph, "Woe to thee, O Ja'afar, tell her +who we are lest we be slain by mistake; and speak her fair be +fore some horror befal us." "'Tis part of thy deserts,"replied +he; whereupon the Caliph cried out at him saying, "There is a +time for witty words and there is a time for serious work." Then +the lady accosted the three Kalandars and asked them, "Are ye +brothers?"; when they answered, "No, by Allah, we be naught but +Fakirs and foreigners." Then quoth she to one among them, "Wast +thou born blind of one eye?"; and quoth he, "No, by Allah, 'twas +a marvellous matter and a wondrous mischance which caused my eye +to be torn out, and mine is a tale which, if it were written upon +the eye corners with needle gravers, were a warner to whoso would +be warned."[FN#188] She questioned the second and third Kalandar; +but all replied like the first, "By Allah, O our mistress, each +one of us cometh from a different country, and we are all three +the sons of Kings, sovereign Princes ruling over suzerains and +capital cities." Thereupon she turned towards them and said, "Let +each and every of you tell me his tale in due order and explain +the cause of his coming to our place; and if his story please us +let him stroke his head[FN#189] and wend his way." The first to +come forward was the Hammal, the Porter, who said, "O my lady, I +am a man and a porter. This dame, the cateress, hired me to carry +a load and took me first to the shop of a vintner, then to the +booth of a butcher; thence to the stall of a fruiterer; thence to +a grocer who also sold dry fruits; thence to a confectioner and a +perfumer cum druggist and from him to this place where there +happened to me with you what happened. Such is my story and peace +be on us all!" At this the lady laughed and said, "Rub thy head +and wend thy ways!"; but he cried, "By Allah, I will not stump it +till I hear the stories of my companions." Then came forward one +of the Monoculars and began to tell her + + + + + +The First Kalandar's Tale. + + +Know, O my lady, that the cause of my beard being shorn and my +eye being out torn was as follows. My father was a King and he +had a brother who was a King over another city; and it came to +pass that I and my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle, were +both born on one and the same day. And years and days rolled on; +and, as we grew up, I used to visit my uncle every now and then +and to spend a certain number of months with him. Now my cousin +and I were sworn friends; for he ever entreated me with exceeding +kindness; he killed for me the fattest sheep and strained the +best of his wines, and we enjoyed long conversing and carousing. +One day when the wine had gotten the better of us, the son of my +uncle said to me, "O my cousin, I have a great service to ask of +thee; and I desire that thou stay me not in whatso I desire to +do!" And I replied, "With joy and goodly will." Then he made me +swear the most binding oaths and left me; but after a little +while he returned leading a lady veiled and richly apparelled +with ornaments worth a large sum of money. Presently he turned to +me (the woman being still behind him) and said, "Take this lady +with thee and go before me to such a burial ground" (describing +it, so that I knew the place), "and enter with her into such a +sepulchre[FN#190] and there await my coming." The oaths I swore +to him made me keep silence and suffered me not to oppose him; so +I led the woman to the cemetery and both I and she took our seats +in the sepulchre; and hardly had we sat down when in came my +uncle's son, with a bowl of water, a bag of mortar and an adze +somewhat like a hoe. He went straight to the tomb in the midst of +the sepulchre and, breaking it open with the adze set the stones +on one side; then he fell to digging into the earth of the tomb +till he came upon a large iron plate, the size of a wicket door; +and on raising it there appeared below it a staircase vaulted and +winding. Then he turned to the lady and said to her, "Come now +and take thy final choice!" She at once went down by the +staircase and disappeared; then quoth he to me, "O son of my +uncle, by way of completing thy kindness, when I shall have +descended into this place, restore the trap door to where it was, +and heap back the earth upon it as it lay before; and then of thy +goodness mix this unslaked lime which is in the bag with this +water which is in the bowl and, after building up the stones, +plaster the outside so that none looking upon it shall say:--This +is a new opening in an old tomb. For a whole year have I worked +at this place whereof none knoweth but Allah, and this is the +need I have of thee;" presently adding, "May Allah never bereave +thy friends of thee nor make them desolate by thine absence, O +son of my uncle, O my dear cousin!" And he went down the stairs +and disappeared for ever. When he was lost to sight I replaced +the iron plate and did all his bidding till the tomb became as it +was before and I worked almost unconsciously for my head was +heated with wine. Returning to the palace of my uncle, I was told +that he had gone forth a-sporting and hunting; so I slept that +night without seeing him; and, when the morning dawned, I +remembered the scenes of the past evening and what happened +between me and my cousin; I repented of having obeyed him when +penitence was of no avail, I still thought, however, that it was +a dream. So I fell to asking for the son of my uncle; but there +was none to answer me concerning him; and I went out to the +grave-yard and the sepulchres, and sought for the tomb under +which he was, but could not find it; and I ceased not wandering +about from sepulchre to sepulchre, and tomb to tomb, all without +success, till night set in. So I returned to the city, yet I +could neither eat nor drink; my thoughts being engrossed with my +cousin, for that I knew not what was become of him; and I grieved +with exceeding grief and passed another sorrowful night, watching +until the morning. Then went I a second time to the cemetery, +pondering over what the son of mine uncle had done; and, sorely +repenting my hearkening to him, went round among all the tombs, +but could not find the tomb I sought. I mourned over the past, +and remained in my mourning seven days, seeking the place and +ever missing the path. Then my torture of scruples[FN#191] grew +upon me till I well nigh went mad, and I found no way to dispel +my grief save travel and return to my father. So I set out and +journeyed homeward; but as I was entering my father's capital a +crowd of rioters sprang upon me and pinioned me.[FN#192] I +wondered thereat with all wonderment, seeing that I was the son +of the Sultan, and these men were my father's subjects and +amongst them were some of my own slaves. A great fear fell upon +me, and I said to my soul,[FN#193] "Would heaven I knew what hath +happened to my father!" I questioned those that bound me of the +cause of their doing, but they returned me no answer. However, +after a while one of them said to me (and he had been a hired +servant of our house), "Fortune hath been false to thy father; +his troops betrayed him and the Wazir who slew him now reigneth +in his stead and we lay in wait to seize thee by the bidding of +him." I was well nigh distraught and felt ready to faint on +hearing of my father's death; when they carried me off and placed +me in presence of the usurper. Now between me and him there was +an olden grudge, the cause of which was this. I was fond of +shooting with the stone bow,[FN#194] and it befel one day as I +was standing on the terrace roof of the palace, that a bird +lighted on the top of the Wazir's house when he happened to be +there. I shot at the bird and missed the mark; but I hit the +Wazir's eye and knocked it out as fate and fortune decreed. Even +so saith the poet:-- + +We tread the path where Fate hath led * The path Fate writ we + fain must tread: +And man in one land doomed to die * Death no where else shall do + him dead. + +And on like wise saith another:-- + +Let Fortune have her wanton way * Take heart and all her words + obey: +Nor joy nor mourn at anything * For all things pass and no things + stay. + +Now when I knocked out the Wazir's eye he could not say a single +word, for that my father was King of the city; but he hated me +everafter and dire was the grudge thus caused between us twain. +So when I was set before him hand bound and pinioned, he +straightway gave orders for me to be beheaded. I asked, "For what +crime wilt thou put me to death?"; whereupon he answered, "What +crime is greater than this?" pointing the while to the place +where his eye had been Quoth I, "This I did by accident not of +malice prepense;" and quoth he, "If thou didst it by accident, I +will do the like by thee with intention.''[FN#195] Then cried he, +"Bring him forward," and they brought me up to him, when he +thrust his finger into my left eye and gouged it out; whereupon I +became one eyed as ye see me. Then he bade bind me hand and foot, +and put me into a chest and said to the sworder, "Take charge of +this fellow, and go off with him to the waste lands about the +city; then draw thy scymitar and slay him, and leave him to feed +the beasts and birds." So the headsman fared forth with me and +when he was in the midst of the desert, he took me out of the +chest (and I with both hands pinioned and both feet fettered) and +was about to bandage my eyes before striking off my head. But I +wept with exceeding weeping until I made him weep with me and, +looking at him I began to recite these couplets:-- + +"I deemed you coat o' mail that should withstand * The foeman's + shafts, and you proved foeman's brand +I hoped your aidance in mine every chance * Though fail my left + to aid my dexter hand: +Aloof you stand and hear the railer's gibe * While rain their + shafts on me the giber-band: +But an ye will not guard me from my foes * Stand clear, and + succour neither these nor those!" + +And I also quoted:-- + +"I deemed my brethren mail of strongest steel * And so they were-- + from foes I to fend my dart! +I deemed their arrows surest of their aim; * And so they were-- + when aiming at my heart!" + +When the headsman heard my lines (he had been sworder to my sire +and he owed me a debt of gratitude) he cried, "O my lord, what +can I do, being but a slave under orders?" presently adding, "Fly +for thy life and nevermore return to this land, or they will slay +thee and slay me with thee, even as the poet said:-- + +Take thy life and fly whenas evils threat; * Let the ruined house + tell its owner's fate: +New land for the old thou shalt seek and find * But to find new + life thou must not await. +Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, * When Allah's + world is so wide and great! +And trust not other, in matters grave * Life itself must act for + a life beset: +Ne'er would prowl the lion with maned neck, * Did he reckon on + aid or of others reck." + +Hardly believing in my escape, I kissed his hand and thought the +loss of my eye a light matter in consideration of my escaping +from being slain. I arrived at my uncle's capital; and, going in +to him, told him of what had befallen my father and myself; +whereat he wept with sore weeping and said, "Verily thou addest +grief to my grief, and woe to my woe; for thy cousin hath been +missing these many days; I wot not what hath happened to him, and +none can give me news of him." And he wept till he fainted. I +sorrowed and condoled with him; and he would have applied certain +medicaments to my eye, but he saw that it was become as a walnut +with the shell empty. Then said he, "O my son, better to lose eye +and keep life!" After that I could no longer remain silent about +my cousin, who was his only son and one dearly loved, so I told +him all that had happened. He rejoiced with extreme joyance to +hear news of his son and said, "Come now and show me the tomb;" +but I replied, "By Allah, O my uncle, I know not its place, +though I sought it carefully full many times, yet could not find +the site." However, I and my uncle went to the grave yard 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, up raising the trap +door, descended some fifty steps till we came to the foot of the +staircase when lo! we were stopped by a blinding smoke. Thereupon +said my uncle that saying whose sayer shall never come to shame, +"There is no Majesty and there is no Might, save in Allah, the +Glorious, the Great!" and we advanced till we suddenly came upon +a saloon, whose floor was strewed with flour and grain and +provisions and all manner necessaries; and in the midst of it +stood a canopy sheltering a couch. Thereupon my uncle went up to +the couch and inspecting it found his son and the lady who had +gone down with him into the tomb, lying in each other's embrace; +but the twain had become black as charred wood; it was as if they +had been cast into a pit of fire. When my uncle saw this +spectacle, he spat in his son's face and said, "Thou hast thy +deserts, O thou hog![FN#196] this is thy judgment in the +transitory world, and yet remaineth the judgment in the world to +come, a durer and a more enduring "-- And Shahrazad perceived the +dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Twelfth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +Kalandar thus went on with his story before the lady and the +Caliph and Ja'afar:--My uncle struck his son with his +slipper[FN#197] as he lay there a black heap of coal. I marvelled +at his hardness of heart, and grieving for my cousin and the +lady, said, "By Allah, O my uncle, calm thy wrath: dost thou not +see that all my thoughts are occupied with this misfortune, and +how sorrowful I am for what hath befallen thy son, and how +horrible it is that naught of him remaineth but a black heap of +charcoal? And is not that enough, but thou must smite him with +thy slipper?" Answered he,"O son of my brother, this youth from +his boyhood was madly in love with his own sister;[FN#198] and +often and often I forbade him from her, saying to myself:--They +are but little ones. However, when they grew up sin befel between +them; and, although I could hardly believe it, I confined him and +chided him and threatened him with the severest threats; and the +eunuchs and servants said to him:--Beware of so foul a thing +which none before thee ever did, and which none after thee will +ever do; and have a care lest thou be dishonoured and disgraced +among the Kings of the day, even to the end of time. And I +added:--Such a report as this will be spread abroad by caravans, +and take heed not to give them cause to talk or I will assuredly +curse thee and do thee to death. After that I lodged them apart +and shut her up; but the accursed girl loved him with passionate +love, for Satan had got the mastery of her as well as of him and +made their foul sin seem fair in their sight. Now when my son saw +that I separated them, he secretly built this souterrain and +furnished it and transported to it victuals, even as thou seest; +and, when I had gone out a-sporting, came here with his sister +and hid from me. Then His righteous judgment fell upon the twain +and consumed them with fire from Heaven; and verily the last +judgment will deal them durer pains and more enduring!" Then he +wept and I wept with him; and he looked at me and said, "Thou art +my son in his stead." And I bethought me awhile of the world and +of its chances, how the Wazir had slain my father and had taken +his place and had put out my eye; and how my cousin had come to +his death by the strangest chance: and I wept again and my uncle +wept with me. Then we mounted the steps and let down the iron +plate and heaped up the earth over it; and, after restoring the +tomb to its former condition, we returned to the palace. But +hardly had we sat down ere we heard the tomtoming of the kettle +drum and tantara of trumpets and clash of cymbals; and the +rattling of war men's lances; and the clamours of assailants and +the clanking of bits and the neighing of steeds; while the world +was canopied with dense dust and sand clouds raised by the +horses' hoofs.[FN#199] We were amazed at sight and sound, knowing +not what could be the matter; so we asked and were told us that +the Wazir who usurped my father's kingdom had marched his men; +and that after levying his soldiery and taking a host of wild +Arabs[FN#200] into service, he had come down upon us with armies +like the sands of the sea; their number none could tell and +against them none could prevail. They attacked the city unawares; +and the citizens, being powerless to oppose them, surrendered the +place: my uncle was slain and I made for the suburbs saying to +myself, "If thou fall into this villain's hands he will assuredly +kill thee." On this wise all my troubles were renewed; and I +pondered all that had betided my father and my uncle and I knew +not what to do; for if the city people or my father's troops had +recognised me they would have done their best to win favour by +destroying me; and I could think of no way to escape save by +shaving off my beard and my eyebrows. So I shore them off and, +changing my fine clothes for a Kalandar's rags, I fared forth +from my uncle's capital and made for this city; hoping that +peradventure some one would assist me to the presence of the +Prince of the Faithful,[FN#201] and the Caliph who is the +Viceregent of Allah upon earth. Thus have I come hither that I +might tell him my tale and lay my case before him. I arrived here +this very night, and was standing in doubt whither I should go, +when suddenly I saw this second Kalandar; so I salam'd to him +saying--"I am a stranger!" and he answered:--"I too am a +stranger!" And as we were conversing behold, up came our +companion, this third Kalandar, and saluted us saying:--"I am a +stranger!" And we answered:--"We too be strangers!" Then we three +walked on and together till darkness overtook us and Destiny +crave us to your house. Such, then, is the cause of the shaving +of my beard and mustachios and eyebrows; and the manner of my +losing my right eye. They marvelled much at this tale and the +Caliph said to Ja'afar, "By Allah, I have not seen nor have I +heard the like of what hath happened to this Kalandar!" Quoth the +lady of the house, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he +replied, "I will not go, till I hear the history of the two +others." Thereupon the second Kalandar came forward; and, kissing +the ground, began to tell + + + + + +The Second Kalandar's Tale. + + +Know, O my lady, that I was not born one eyed and mine is a +strange story; an it were graven with needle graver on the eye +corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned. I am a King, +son of a King, and was brought up like a Prince. I learned +intoning the Koran according the seven schools;[FN#202] and I +read all manner books, and held disputations on their contents +with the doctors and men of science; moreover I studied star lore +and the fair sayings of poets and I exercised myself in all +branches of learning until I surpassed the people of my time; my +skill in calligraphy exceeded that of all the scribes; and my +fame was bruited abroad over all climes and cities, and all the +kings learned to know my name. Amongst others the King of Hind +heard of me and sent to my father to invite me to his court, with +offerings and presents and rarities such as befit royalties. So +my father fitted out six ships for me and my people; and we put +to sea and sailed for the space of a full month till we made the +land. Then we brought out the horses that were with us in the +ships; and, after loading the camels with our presents for the +Prince, we set forth inland. But we had marched only a little +way, when behold, a dust cloud up flew, and grew until it +walled[FN#203] the horizon from view. After an hour or so the +veil lifted and discovered beneath it fifty horsemen, ravening +lions to the sight, in steel armour dight. We observed them +straightly and lo! they were cutters off of the highway, wild as +wild Arabs. When they saw that we were only four and had with us +but the ten camels carrying the presents, they dashed down upon +us with lances at rest. We signed to them, with our fingers, as +it were saying, "We be messengers of the great King of Hind, so +harm us not!" but they answered on like wise, "We are not in his +dominions to obey nor are we subject to his sway." Then they set +upon us and slew some of my slaves and put the lave to flight; +and I also fled after I had gotten a wound, a grievous hurt, +whilst the Arabs were taken up with the money and the presents +which were with us. I went forth unknowing whither I went, having +become mean as I was mighty; and I fared on until I came to the +crest of a mountain where I took shelter for the night in a cave. +When day arose I set out again, nor ceased after this fashion +till I arrived at a fair city and a well filled. Now it was the +season when Winter was turning away with his rime and to greet +the world with his flowers came Prime, and the young blooms were +springing and the streams flowed ringing, and the birds were +sweetly singing, as saith the poet concerning a certain city when +describing it:-- + +A place secure from every thought of fear * Safety and peace for + ever lord it here: +Its beauties seem to beautify its sons * And as in Heaven its + happy folk appear. + +I was glad of my arrival for I was wearied with the way, and +yellow of face for weakness and want; but my plight was pitiable +and I knew not whither to betake me. So I accosted a Tailor +sitting in his little shop and saluted him; he returned my salam, +and bade me kindly welcome and wished me well and entreated me +gently and asked me of the cause of my strangerhood. I told him +all my past from first to last; and he was concerned on my +account and said, "O youth, disclose not thy secret to any: the +King of this city is the greatest enemy thy father hath, and +there is blood wit[FN#204] between them and thou hast cause to +fear for thy life." Then he set meat and drink before me; and I +ate and drank and he with me; and we conversed freely till night +fall, when he cleared me a place in a corner of his shop and +brought me a carpet and a coverlet. I tarried with him three +days; at the end of which time he said to me, "Knowest thou no +calling whereby to win thy living, O my son?" "I am learned in +the law," I replied, "and a doctor of doctrine; an adept in art +and science, a mathematician and a notable penman." He rejoined, +"Thy calling is of no account in our city, where not a soul under +standeth science or even writing or aught save money making." +Then said I, "By Allah, I know nothing but what I have +mentioned;" and he answered, "Gird thy middle and take thee a +hatchet and a cord, and go and hew wood in the wold for thy daily +bread, till Allah send thee relief; and tell none who thou art +lest they slay thee." Then he bought me an axe and a rope and +gave me in charge to certain wood cutters; and with these +guardians I went forth into the forest, where I cut fuel wood the +whole of my day and came back in the evening bearing my bundle on +my head. I sold it for half a diner, with part of which I bought +provision and laid by the rest. In such work I spent a whole year +and when this was ended I went out one day, as was my wont, into +the wilderness; and, wandering away from my companions, I chanced +on a thickly grown lowland[FN#205] in which there was an +abundance of wood. So I entered and I found the gnarled stump of +a great tree and loosened the ground about it and shovelled away +the earth. Presently my hatchet rang upon a copper ring; so I +cleared away the soil and behold, the ring was attached to a +wooden trap door. This I raised and there appeared beneath it a +staircase. I descended the steps to the bottom and came to a +door, which I opened and found myself in a noble hall strong of +structure and beautifully built, where was a damsel like a pearl +of great price, whose favour banished from my heart all grief and +cark and care; and whose soft speech healed the soul in despair +and captivated the wise and ware. Her figure measured five feet +in height; her breasts were firm and upright; her cheek a very +garden of delight; her colour lively bright; her face gleamed +like dawn through curly tresses which gloomed like night, and +above the snows of her bosom glittered teeth of a pearly +white.[FN#206] As the poet said of one like her:-- + +Slim waisted loveling jetty hair encrowned * A wand of willow on + a sandy mound: + +And as saith another.-- + +Four things that meet not, save they here unite * To shed my + heart blood and to rape my sprite: +Brilliantest forehead; tresses jetty bright; * Cheeks rosy red + and stature beauty dight. + +When I looked upon her I prostrated myself before Him who had +created her, for the beauty and loveliness He had shaped in her, +and she looked at me and said, "Art thou man or Jinni?" "I am a +man," answered I, and she, "Now who brought thee to this place +where I have abided five and twenty years without even yet seeing +man in it?" Quoth I (and indeed I found her words wonder sweet, +and my heart was melted to the core by them), "O my lady, my good +fortune led me hither for the dispelling of my cark and care." +Then I related to her all my mishap from first to last, and my +case appeared to her exceeding grievous; so she wept and said, "I +will tell thee my story in my turn. I am the daughter of the King +Ifitamus, lord of the Islands of Abnus,[FN#207] who married me to +my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle; but on my wedding night +an Ifrit named Jirjis[FN#208] bin Rajmus, first cousin that is, +mother's sister's son, of Iblis, 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." Where- +upon she went to a cupboard and took out a sealed flask of right +old wine and set off the table with flowers and scented herbs and +began to sing these lines:-- + +"Had we known of thy coming we fain had dispread * The cores of + our hearts or the balls of our eyes; +Our cheeks as a carpet to greet thee had thrown * And our eyelids + had strown for thy feet to betread." + + Now when she finished her verse I thanked her, for indeed love +of her had gotten hold of my heart and my grief and anguish were +gone. We sat at converse and carousel till nightfall, and with +her I spent the night--such night never spent I in all my life! +On the morrow delight followed delight till midday, by which time +I had drunken wine so freely that I had lost my wits, and stood +up, staggering to the right and to the left, and said "Come, O my +charmer, and I will carry thee up from this underground vault and +deliver thee from the spell of thy Jinni." She laughed and +replied "Content thee and hold thy peace: of every ten days one +is for the Ifrit and the other nine are thine." Quoth I (and in +good sooth drink had got the better of me), "This very instant +will I break down the alcove whereon is graven the talisman and +summon the Ifrit that I may slay him, for it is a practice of +mine to slay Ifrits!" When she heard my words her colour waxed +wan and she said, "By Allah, do not!" and she began repeating:-- + +"This is a thing wherein destruction lies * I rede thee shun it + an thy wits be wise." + +And these also:-- + +"O thou who seekest severance, draw the rein * Of thy swift steed + nor seek o'ermuch t' advance; +Ah stay! for treachery is the rule of life, * And sweets of + meeting end in severance." + +I heard her verse but paid no heed to her words, nay, I raised my +foot and administered to the alcove a mighty kick. And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permisted say. + + When it was the Thirteenth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the second +Kalandar thus continued his tale to the lady:--But when, O my +mistress, I kicked that alcove with a mighty kick, behold, the +air starkened and darkened and thundered and lightened; the earth +trembled and quaked and the world became invisible. At once the +fumes of wine left my head: I cried to her, "What is the matter?" +and she replied, "The Ifrit is upon us! did I not warn thee of +this? By Allah, thou hast brought ruin upon me; but fly for thy +life and go up by the way thou camest down!" So I fled up the +staircase; but, in the excess of my fear, I forgot sandals and +hatchet. And when I had mounted two steps I turned to look for +them, and lo! I saw the earth cleave asunder, and there arose +from it an Ifrit, a monster of hideousness, who said to the +damsel "What trouble and posher be this wherewith thou disturbest +me? What mishap hath betided thee?" "No mishap hath befallen me" +she answered, "save that my breast was straitened[FN#210] and my +heart heavy with sadness! so I drank a little wine to broaden it +and to hearten myself; then I rose to obey a call of Nature, but +the wine had gotten into my head and I fell against the alcove." +"Thou liest, like the whore thou art!" shrieked the Ifrit; and he +looked around the hall right and left till he caught sight of my +axe and sandals and said to her, "What be these but the +belongings of some mortal who hath been in thy society?" She +answered, "I never set eyes upon them till this moment: they must +have been brought by thee hither cleaving to thy garments." Quoth +the Ifrit, "These words are absurd; thou harlot! thou strumpet!" +Then he stripped her stark naked and, stretching her upon the +floor, bound her hands and feet to four stakes, like one +crucified;[FN#211] and set about torturing and trying to make her +confess. I could not bear to stand listening to her cries and +groans; so I climbed the stair on the quake with fear; and when I +reached the top I replaced the trap door and covered it with +earth. Then repented I of what I had done with penitence +exceeding; and thought of the lady and her beauty and loveliness, +and the tortures she was suffering at the hands of the accursed +Ifrit, after her quiet life of five and twenty years; and how all +that had happened to her was for the cause of me. I bethought me +of my father and his kingly estate and how I had become a +woodcutter; and how, after my time had been awhile serene, the +world had again waxed turbid and troubled to me. So I wept +bitterly and repeated this couplet:-- + + What time Fate's tyranny shall most oppress thee * Perpend! one + day shall joy thee, one distress thee! + +Then I walked till I reached the home of my friend, the Tailor, +whom I found most anxiously expecting me; indeed he was, as the +saying goes, on coals of fire for my account. And when he saw me +he said, "All night long my heart hath been heavy, fearing for +thee from wild beasts or other mischances. Now praise be to Allah +for thy safety!" I thanked him for his friendly solicitude and, +retiring to my corner, sat pondering and musing on what had +befallen me; and I blamed and chided myself for my meddlesome +folly and my frowardness in kicking the alcove. I was calling +myself to account when behold, my friend, the Tailor, came to me +and said, "O youth, in the shop there is an old man, a +Persian,[FN#212] who seeketh thee: he hath thy hatchet and thy +sandals which he had taken to the woodcutters,[FN#213] saying, "I +was going out at what time the Mu'azzin began the call to dawn +prayer, when I chanced upon these things and know not whose they +are; so direct me to their owner." The woodcutters recognised thy +hatchet and directed him to thee: he is sitting in my shop, so +fare forth to him and thank him and take thine axe and sandals." +When I heard these words I turned yellow with fear and felt +stunned as by a blow; and, before I could recover myself, lo! the +floor of my private room clove asunder, and out of it rose the +Persian who was the Ifrit. He had tortured the lady with +exceeding tortures, natheless she would not confess to him aught; +so he took the hatchet and sandals and said to her, "As surely as +I am Jirjis of the seed of Iblis, I will bring thee back the +owner of this and these!"[FN#214] Then he went to the woodcutters +with the presence 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 dew high +in air; but presently descended and plunged with me under the +earth (I being aswoon the while), and lastly set me down in the +subterranean palace wherein I had passed that blissful night. And +there I saw the lady stripped to the skin, her limbs bound to +four stakes and blood welling from her sides. At the sight my +eyes ran over with tears; but the Ifrit covered her person and +said, "O wanton, is not this man thy lover?" She looked upon me +and replied, "I wot him not nor have I ever seen him before this +hour!" Quoth the Ifrit, "What! this torture and yet no +confessing;" and quoth she,"I never saw this man in my born days, +and it is not lawful in Allah's sight to tell lies on him." "If +thou know him not," said the Ifrit to her, "take this sword and +strike off his head.''[FN#215] She hent the sword in hand and +came close up to me; and I signalled to her with my eyebrows, my +tears the while flowing adown my cheeks. She understood me and +made answer, also by signs, "How couldest thou bring all this +evil upon me?" and I rejoined after the same fashion, "This is +the time for mercy and forgiveness." And the mute tongue of my +case[FN#216] spake aloud saying:-- + +Mine eyes were dragomans for my tongue betted * And told full + clear the love I fain would hide: +When last we met and tears in torrents railed * For tongue struck + dumb my glances testified: +She signed with eye glance while her lips were mute * I signed + with fingers and she kenned th' implied: +Our eyebrows did all duty 'twixt us twain; * And we being + speechless Love spake loud and plain. + +Then, O my mistress, the lady threw away the sword and said, "How +shall I strike the neck of one I wot not, and who hath done me no +evil? Such deed were not lawful in my law!" and she held her +hand. Said the Ifrit, "'Tis grievous to thee to slay thy lover; +and, because he hath lain with thee, thou endurest these torments +and obstinately refusest to confess. After this it is clear to me +that only like loveth and pitieth like." Then he turned to me and +asked me, "O man, haply thou also dost not know this woman;" +whereto I answered, "And pray who may she be? assuredly I never +saw her till this instant." "Then take the sword," said he "and +strike off her head and I will believe that thou wottest her not +and will leave thee free to go, and will not deaf 'hardly with +thee." I replied, "That will I do;" and, taking the sword went +forward sharply and raised my hand to smite. But she signed to me +with her eyebrows, "Have I failed thee in aught of love; and is +it thus that thou requirest me?" I understood what her looks +implied and answered her with an eye-glance, "I will sacrifice my +soul for thee." And the tongue of the case wrote in our hearts +these lines:-- + +How many a lover with his eyebrows speaketh * To his beloved, as + his passion pleadeth: +With flashing eyne his passion he inspireth * And well she seeth + what kits pleading needeth. +How sweet the look when each on other gazeth; * And with what + swiftness and how sure it speedeth: +And this with eyebrows all his passion writeth; * And that with + eyeballs all his passion readeth. + +Then my eyes filled with tears to overflowing and I cast the +sword from my hand saying, "O mighty Ifrit and hero, if a woman +lacking wits and faith deem it unlawful to strike off my head, +how can it be lawful for me, a man, to smite her neck whom I +never saw in my whole life. I cannot do such misdeed though thou +cause me drink the cup of death and perdition." Then said the +Ifrit, "Ye twain show the good understanding between you; but I +will let you see how such doings end." He took the sword, and +struck off the lady's hands first, with four strokes, and then +her feet; whilst I looked on and made sure of death and she +farewelled me with her dying eyes. So the Ifrit cried at her, +"Thou whorest and makest me a wittol with thine eyes;" and struck +her so that her head went flying. Then he turned to me and said, +"O mortal, we have it in our law that, when the wife committeth +advowtry it is lawful for us to slay her. As for this damsel I +snatched her away on her bride-night when she was a girl of +twelve and she knew no one but myself. I used to come to her once +every ten days and lie with her the night, under the semblance of +a man, a Persian; and when I was well assured that she had +cuckolded me, I slew her. But as for thee I am not well satisfied +that thou hast wronged me in her; nevertheless I must not let +thee go unharmed; so ask a boon of me and I will grant it." Then +I rejoiced, O my lady, with ex ceeding joy and said, "What boon +shall I crave of thee?" He replied, "Ask me this boon; into what +shape I shall bewitch thee; wilt thou be a dog, or an ass or an +ape?" I rejoined (and indeed I had hoped that mercy might be +shown me), "By Allah, spare me, that Allah spare thee for sparing +a Moslem and a man who never wronged thee." And I humbled myself +before him with exceeding humility, and remained standing in his +presence, saying, "I am sore oppressed by circumstance." He +replied "Talk me no long talk, it is in my power to slay thee; +but I give thee instead thy choice." Quoth I, "O thou Ifrit, it +would besit thee to pardon me even as the Envied pardoned the +Envier." Quoth he, "And how was that?" and I began to tell him + + + + + +The Tale of the Envier and the Envied. + + +They relate, O Ifrit, that in a certain city were two men who +dwelt in adjoining houses, having a common party wall; and one of +them envied the other and looked on him with an evil eye,[FN#217] +and did his utmost endeavour to injure him; and, albeit at all +times he was jealous of his neighbour, his malice at last grew on +him till he could hardly eat or enjoy the sweet pleasures of +sleep. But the Envied did nothing save prosper; and the more the +other strove to injure him, the more he got and gained and +throve. At last the malice of his neighbour and the man's +constant endeavour to work him a harm came to his knowledge; so +he said, "By Allah! God's earth is wide enough for its people;" +and, leaving the neighbourhood, he repaired to another city where +he bought himself a piece of land in which was a dried up draw +well,[FN#218] old and in ruinous condition. Here he built him an +oratory and, furnishing it with a few necessaries, took up his +abode therein, and devoted himself to prayer and worshipping +Allah Almighty; and Fakirs and holy mendicants docked to him from +all quarters; and his fame went abroad through the city and that +country side. Presently the news reached his envious neighbour, +of what good fortune had befallen him and how the city notables +had become his disciples; so he travelled to the place and +presented himself at the holy man's hermitage, and was met by the +Envied with welcome and greeting and all honour. Then quoth the +Envier, "I have a word to say to thee; and this is the cause of +my faring hither, and I wish to give thee a piece of good news; +so come with me to thy cell." Thereupon the Envied arose and took +the Envier by the hand, and they went in to the inmost part of +the hermitage; but the Envier said, "Bid thy Fakirs retire to +their cells, for I will not tell thee what I have to say, save in +secret where none may hear us." Accordingly the Envied said to +his Fakirs, "Retire to your private cells;" and, when all had +done as he bade them, he set out with his visitor and walked a +little way until the twain reached the ruinous old well. And as +they stood upon the brink the Envier gave the Envied a push which +tumbled him headlong into it, unseen of any; whereupon he fared +forth, and went his ways, thinking to have had slain him. Now +this well happened to be haunted by the Jann who, seeing the +case, bore him up and let him down little by little, till he +reached the bottom, when they seated him upon a large stone. Then +one of them asked his fellows, "Wot ye who be this man?" and they +answered, "Nay." "This man," continued the speaker, "is the +Envied hight who, flying from the Envier, came to dwell in our +city, and here founded this holy house, and he hath edified us by +his litanies[FN#219] and his lections of the Koran; but the +Envier set out and journeyed till he rejoined him, and cunningly +contrived to deceive him and cast him into the well where we now +are. But the fame of this good man hath this very night come to +the Sultan of our city who designeth to visit him on the morrow +on account of his daughter." "What aileth his daughter?" asked +one, and another answered "She is possessed of a spirit; for +Maymun, son of Damdam, is madly in love with her; but, if this +pious man knew the remedy, her cure would be as easy as could +be." Hereupon one of them inquired, "And what is the medicine?" +and he replied, "The black tom cat which is with him in the +oratory hath, on the end of his tail, a white spot, the size of a +dirham; let him pluck seven white hairs from the spot, then let +him fumigate her therewith and the Marid will flee from her and +not return; so she shall be sane for the rest of her life." All +this took place, O Ifrit, within earshot of the Envied who +listened readily. When dawn broke and morn arose in sheen and +shone, the Fakirs went to seek the Shaykh and found him climbing +up the wall of the well; whereby he was magnified in their +eyes.[FN#220] Then, knowing that naught save the black tomcat +could supply him with the remedy required, he plucked the seven +tail hairs from the white spot and laid them by him; and hardly +had the sun risen ere the Sultan entered the hermitage, with the +great lords of his estate, bidding the rest of his retinue to +remain standing outside. The Envied gave him a hearty welcome, +and seating him by his side asked him, "Shall I tell thee the +cause of thy coming?" The King answered, "Yes." He continued, +"Thou hast come upon pretext of a visitation;[FN#221] but it is +in thy heart to question me of thy daughter." Replied the King, " +'Tis even so, O thou holy Shaykh;" and the Envied continued, +"Send and fetch her, and I trust to heal her forthright (an such +it be the will of Allah!)" The King in great joy sent for his +daughter, and they brought her pinioned and fettered. The Envied +made her sit down behind a curtain and taking out the hairs +fumigated her therewith; whereupon that which was in her head +cried out and departed from her. The girl was at once restored to +her right mind and veiling her face, said, "What hath happened +and who brought me hither?" The Sultan rejoiced with a joy that +nothing could exceed, and kissed his daughter's eyes,[FN#222] and +the holy man's hand; then, turning to his great lords, he asked, +"How say ye! What fee deserveth he who hath made my daughter +whole?" and all answered, "He deserveth her to wife;" and the +King said, "Ye speak sooth!" So he married him to her and the +Envied thus became son in law to the King. And after a little the +Wazir died and the King said, "Whom can I make Minister in his +stead?" "Thy son in law," replied the courtiers. So the Envied +became a Wazir; and after a while the Sultan also died and the +lieges said, "Whom shall we make King?" and all cried, "The +Wazir." So the Wazir was forthright made Sultan, and he became +King regnant, a true ruler of men. One day as he had mounted his +horse; and, in the eminence of his kinglihood, was riding amidst +his Emirs and Wazirs and the Grandees of his realm his eye fell +upon his old neighbour, the Envier, who stood afoot on his path; +so he turned to one of his Ministers, and said, "Bring hither +that man and cause him no affright." The Wazir brought him and +the King said, "Give him a thousand miskals[FN#223] of gold from +the treasury, and load him ten camels with goods for trade, and +send him under escort to his own town." Then he bade his enemy +farewell and sent him away and forbore to punish him for the many +and great evils he had done. See, O Ifrit, the mercy of the +Envied to the Envier, who had hated him from the beginning and +had borne him such bitter malice and never met him without +causing him trouble; and had driven him from house and home, and +then had journeyed for the sole purpose of taking his life by +throwing him into the well. Yet he did not requite his injurious +dealing, but forgave him and was bountiful to him.[FN#224] Then I +wept before him, O my lady, with sore weeping, never was there +sorer, and I recited:-- + +"Pardon my fault, for 'tis the wise man's wont * All faults to + pardon and revenge forgo: +In sooth all manner faults in me contain * Then deign of goodness + mercy grace to show: +Whoso imploreth pardon from on High * Should hold his hand + from sinners here below." + +Said the Ifrit, "Lengthen not thy words! As to my slaying thee +fear it not, and as to my pardoning thee hope it not; but from my +bewitching thee there is no escape." Then he tore me from the +ground which closed under my feet and hew with me into the +firmament till I saw the earth as a large white cloud or a +saucer[FN#225] in the midst of the waters. Presently he set me +down on a mountain, and taking a little dust, over which he +muttered some magical words, sprinkled me therewith, saying, +"Quit that shape and take thou the shape of an ape!" And on the +instant I became an ape, a tailless baboon, the son of a +century[FN#226]. Now when he had left me and I saw myself in this +ugly and hateful shape, I wept for myself, but resigned my soul +to the tyranny of Time and Circumstance, well weeting that +Fortune is fair and constant to no man. I descended the mountain +and found at the foot a desert plain, long and broad, over which +I travelled for the space of a month till my course brought me to +the brink of the briny sea.[FN#227] After standing there awhile, +I was ware of a ship in the offing which ran before a fair wind +making for the shore. I hid myself behind a rock on the beach and +waited till the ship drew near, when I leaped on board. I found +her full of merchants and passengers and one of them cried, "O +Captain, this ill omened brute will bring us ill luck!" and +another said, "Turn this ill omened beast out from among us;" the +Captain said, "Let us kill it!" another said, "Slay it with the +sword;" a third, "Drown it;" and a fourth, "Shoot it with an +arrow." But I sprang up and laid hold of the Rais's[FN#228] +skirt, and shed tears which poured down my chops. The Captain +took pity on me, and said, "O merchants! this ape hath appealed +to me for protection and I will protect him; henceforth he is +under my charge: so let none do him aught hurt or harm, otherwise +there will be bad blood between us." Then he entreated me kindly +and whatsoever he said I understood and ministered to his every +want and served him as a servant, albeit my tongue would not obey +my wishes; so that he came to love me. The vessel sailed on, the +wind being fair, for the space of fifty days; at the end of which +we cast anchor under the walls of a great city wherein was a +world of people, especially learned men, none could tell their +number save Allah. No sooner had we arrived than we were visited +by certain Mameluke officials from the King of that city; who, +after boarding us, greeted the merchants and giving them joy of +safe arrival said, "Our King welcometh you, and sendeth you this +roll of paper, whereupon each and every of you must write a line. +For ye shall know that the King's Minister, a calligrapher of +renown, is dead, and the King hath sworn a solemn oath that he +will make none Wazir in his stead who cannot write as well as he +could." He then gave us the scroll which measured ten cubits long +by a breadth of one, and each of the merchants who knew how to +write wrote a line thereon, even to the last of them; after which +I stood up (still in the shape of an ape) and snatched the roll +out of their hands. They feared lest I should tear it or throw it +overboard; so they tried to stay me and scare me, but I signed to +them that i could write, whereat all marvelled, saying, "We never +yet saw an, ape write." And the Captain cried, "Let him write; +and if he scribble and scrabble we will kick him out and kill +him; but if he; write fair and scholarly I will adopt him as my +son; for surely I never yet saw a more intelligent and well +mannered monkey than he. Would Heaven my real son were his match +in morals and manners." I took the reed, and stretching out my +paw, dipped it in ink and wrote, in the hand used for +letters,[FN#229] these two couplets:-- + +Time hath recorded gifts she gave the great; * But none recorded + thine which be far higher +Allah ne'er orphan men by loss of thee * Who be of Goodness + mother. Bounty's sire. + +And I wrote in Rayhani or larger letters elegantly +curved[FN#230]:-- + +Thou hast a reed[FN#231] of rede to every land, * Whose driving + causeth all the world to thrive; +Nil is the Nile of Misraim by thy boons * Who makest misery + smile with fingers five + +Then I wrote in the Suls[FN#232] character:-- + +There be no writer who from Death shall fleet, * But what his + hand hath writ men shall repeat: +Write, therefore, naught save what shall serve thee when * Thou + see's on Judgment-Day an so thou see's! + +Then I wrote in the character Naskh[FN#233]:-- + +When to sore parting Fate our love shall doom, * To distant life + by Destiny decreed, +We cause the inkhorn's lips to 'plain our pains, * And tongue our + utterance with the talking reed. + +And I wrote in the Tumar character[FN#234]:-- + +Kingdom with none endures; if thou deny * This truth, where be + the Kings of earlier earth? +Set trees of goodliness while rule endures, * And when thou art + fallen they shall tell thy worth. + +And I wrote in the character Muhakkak[FN#235]:-- + +When oped the inkhorn of thy wealth and fame * Take ink of + generous heart and gracious hand; +Write brave and noble deeds while write thou can * And win thee + praise from point of pen and brand. + +Then I gave the scroll to the officials and, after we all had +written our line, they carried it before the King. When he saw +the paper no writing pleased him save my writing; and he said to +the assembled courtiers, "Go seek the writer of these lines and +dress him in a splendid robe of honour; then mount him on a she +mule,[FN#236] let a band of music precede him and bring him to +the presence." At these words they smiled and the King was wroth +with them and cried, "O accursed! I give you an order and you +laugh at me?" "O King," replied they, "if we laugh 'tis not at +thee and not without a cause." "And what is it?" asked he; and +they answered, "O King, thou orderest us to bring to thy presence +the man who wrote these lines; now the truth is that he who wrote +them is not of the sons of Adam,[FN#237] but an ape, a tail-less +baboon, belonging to the ship captain." Quoth he, "Is this true +that you say?" Quoth they, "Yea! by the rights of thy +munificence!" The King marvelled at their words and shook with +mirth and said, "I am minded to buy this ape of the Captain." +Then he sent messengers to the ship with the mule, the dress, the +guard and the state drums, saying, "Not the less do you clothe +him in the robe of honour and mount him on the mule and let him +be surrounded by the guards and preceded by the band of music." +They came to the ship and took me from the Captain and robed me +in the robe of honour and, mounting me on the she mule, carried +me in state procession through the streets', whilst the people +were amazed and amused. And folk said to one another, "Halloo! is +our Sultan about to make an ape his Minister?"; and came all agog +crowding to gaze at me, and the town was astir and turned topsy +turvy on my account. When they brought me up to the King and set +me in his presence, I kissed the ground before him three times, +and once before the High Chamberlain and great officers, and he +bade me be seated, and I sat respectfully on shins and +knees,[FN#238] and all who were present marvelled at my fine +manners, and the King most of all. Thereupon he ordered the +lieges to retire; and, when none remained save the King's +majesty, the Eunuch on duty and a little white slave, he bade +them set before me the table of food, containing all manner of +birds, whatever hoppeth and flieth and treadeth in nest, such as +quail and sand grouse. Then he signed me to eat with him; so I +rose and kissed ground before him, then sat me down and ate with +him. And when the table was removed I washed my hands in seven +waters and took the reed-case and reed; and wrote instead of +speaking these couplets:-- + +Wail for the little partridges on porringer and plate; * Cry for + the ruin of the fries and stews well marinate: +Keen as I keen for loved, lost daughters of the + Kata-grouse,[FN#239] * And omelette round the fair + enbrowned fowls agglomerate: +O fire in heart of me for fish, those deux poissons I saw, * + Bedded on new made scones[FN#240] and cakes in piles to + laniate. +For thee, O vermicelli! aches my very maw! I hold * Without thee + every taste and joy are clean annihilate +Those eggs have rolled their yellow eyes in torturing pains of + fire * Ere served with hash and fritters hot, that + delicatest cate. +Praised be Allah for His baked and roast and ah! how good * This + pulse, these pot-herbs steeped in oil with eysill combinate! +When hunger sated was, I elbow-propt fell back upon * Meat + pudding[FN#241] wherein gleamed the bangles that my wits + amate. +Then woke I sleeping appetite to eat as though in sport * Sweets + from broceded trays and kickshaws most elaborate. +Be patient, soul of me! Time is a haughty, jealous wight; * Today + he seems dark-lowering and tomorrow fair to sight.[FN#242] + +Then I rose and seated myself at a respectful distance while the +King read what I had written, and marvelled, exclaiming, "O the +miracle, that an ape should be gifted with this graceful style +and this power of penmanship! By Allah, 'tis a wonder of +wonders!" Presently they set before the King choice wines in +flagons of glass and he drank: then he passed on the cup to me; +and I kissed the ground and drank and wrote on it:-- + +With fire they boiled me to loose my tongue,[FN#243] * And pain + and patience gave for fellowship: +Hence comes it hands of men upbear me high * And honey dew + from lips of maid I sip! + +And these also:-- + +Morn saith to Night, "withdraw and let me shine;" * So drain we + draughts that dull all pain and pine:[FN#244] +I doubt, so fine the glass, the wine so clear, * If 'tis the wine + in glass or glass in twine. + +The King read my verse and said with a sigh, "Were these +gifts[FN#245] in a man, he would excel all the folk of his time +and age!" Then he called for the chess board, and said, "Say, +wilt thou play with me?"; and I signed with my head, "Yes." Then +I came forward and ordered the pieces and played with him two +games, both of which I won. He was speechless with surprise; so I +took the pen case and, drawing forth a reed, wrote on the board +these two couplets:-- + +Two hosts fare fighting thro' the livelong day * Nor is their + battling ever finished, +Until, when darkness girdeth them about, * The twain go sleeping + in a single bed.[FN#246] + +The King read these lines with wonder and delight and said to his +Eunuch,[FN#247] "O Mukbil, go to thy mistress, Sitt al- +Husn,[FN#248] and say her, 'Come, speak the King who biddeth thee +hither to take thy solace in seeing this right wondrous ape!"' So +the Eunuch went out and presently returned with the lady who, +when she saw me veiled her face and said, "O my father! hast thou +lost all sense of honour? How cometh it thou art pleased to send +for me and show me to strange men?" "O Sitt al-Husn," said he, +"no man is here save this little foot page and the Eunuch who +reared thee and I, thy father. From whom, then, cost thou veil +thy face?" She answered, "This whom thou deemest an ape is a +young man, a clever and polite, a wise and learned and the son of +a King; but he is ensorcelled and the Ifrit Jirjaris, who is of +the seed of Iblis, cast a spell upon him, after putting to death +his own wife the daughter of King Ifitamus lord of the Islands of +Abnus." The King marvelled at his daughter's words and, turning +to me, said, "Is this true that she saith of thee?"; and I signed +by a nod of my head the answer, "Yea, verily;" and wept sore. +Then he asked his daughter, "Whence knewest thou that he is +ensorcelled?"; and she answered, "O my dear papa, there was with +me in my childhood an old woman, a wily one and a wise and a +witch to boot, and she taught me the theory of magic and its +practice; and I took notes in writing and therein waxed perfect, +and have committed to memory an hundred and seventy chapters of +egromantic formulas, by the least of which I could transport the +stones of thy city behind the Mountain Kaf and the Circumambient +Main,[FN#249] or make its site an abyss of the sea and its people +fishes swimming in the midst of it." "O my daughter," said her +father, "I conjure thee, by my life, disenchant this young man, +that I may make him my Wazir and marry thee to him, for indeed he +is an ingenious youth and a deeply learned." "With joy and goodly +gree," she replied and, hending in hand an iron knife whereon was +inscribed the name of Allah in Hebrew characters, she described a +wide circle--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased +saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Fourteenth Night, + + She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +Kalandar continued his tale thus:--O my lady, the King's daughter +hent in hand a knife whereon were inscribed Hebrew characters and +described a wide circle in the midst of the palace hall, and +therein wrote in Cufic letters mysterious names and talismans; +and she uttered words and muttered charms, some of which we +understood and others we understood not. Presently the world waxed +dark before our sight till we thought that the sky was falling +upon our heads, and lo! the Ifrit presented himself in his own +shape and aspect. His hands were like many pronged pitch forks, +his legs like the masts of great ships, and his eyes like +cressets of gleaming fire. We were in terrible fear of him but +the King's daughter cried at him, "No welcome to thee and no +greeting, O dog!" whereupon he changed to the form of a lion and +said, "O traitress, how is it thou hast broken the oath we sware +that neither should contraire other!" "O accursed one," answered +she, "how could there be a compact between me and the like of +thee?" Then said he, "Take what thou has brought on thy self;" +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 eye brows; and cast ashes on my head +and donned the coarse black woollen robe of a Kalandar. Then I +fared forth, O my lady, and every day I pondered all the +calamities which had betided me, and I wept and repeated these +couplets:-- + +"I am distraught, yet verily His ruth abides with me, * Tho' + round me gather hosts of ills, whence come I cannot see: +Patient I'll be till Patience self with me impatient wax; * + Patient for ever till the Lord fulfil my destiny: +Patient I'll bide without complaint, a wronged and vanquish" man; + * Patient as sunparcht wight that spans the desert's sandy + sea: +Patient I'll be till Aloe's[FN#254] self unwittingly allow * I'm + patient under bitterer things than bitterest aloe: +No bitterer things than aloes or than patience for mankind, * Yet + bitterer than the twain to me were Patience' treachery: +My sere and seamed and seared brow would dragoman my sore * + If soul could search my sprite and there unsecret secrecy: +Were hills to bear the load I bear they'd crumble 'neath the + weight, * 'Twould still the roaring wind, 'twould quench the + flame-tongue's flagrancy, +And whoso saith the world is sweet certes a day he'll see * With + more than aloes' bitterness and aloes' pungency." + +Then I journeyed through many regions and saw many a city +intending for Baghdad, that I might seek audience, in the House +of Peace,[FN#255] with the Commander of the Faithful and tell him +all that had befallen me. I arrived here this very night and +found my brother in Allah, this first Kalandar, standing about as +one perplexed; so I saluted him with "Peace be upon thee," and +entered into discourse with him. Presently up came our brother, +this third Kalandar, and said to us, "Peace be with you! I am a +stranger;" whereto we replied, "And we too be strangers, who have +come hither this blessed night." So we all three walked on +together, none of us knowing the other's history, till Destiny +crave us to this door and we came in to you. Such then is my +story and my reason for shaving my beard and mustachios, and this +is what caused the loss of my eye. Said the house mistress, "Thy +tale is indeed a rare; so rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he +replied, "I will not budge till I hear my companions' stories." +Then came forward the third Kalandar, and said, "O illustrious +lady! my history is not like that of these my comrades, but more +wondrous and far more marvellous. In their case Fate and Fortune +came down on them unawares; but I drew down destiny upon my own +head and brought sorrow on mine own soul, and shaved my own beard +and lost my own eye. Hear then + + + + + +The Third Kalandar's Tale. + + +Know, O my lady, that I also am a King and the son of a King and +my name is Ajib son of Kazib. 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, +highs 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 crave us with a violent send. When +the ships were close under its lea they opened and the nails flew +out and all the iron in them sought the Magnet Mountain and clove +to it like a network; so that by the end of the day we were all +struggling in the waves round about the mountain. Some of us were +saved, but more were drowned and even those who had escaped knew +not one another, so stupefied were they by the beating of the +billows and the raving of the winds. As for me, O my lady, Allah +(be His name exalted!) preserved my life that I might suffer +whatso He willed to me of hardship, misfortune and calamity; for +I scrambled upon a plank from one of the ships, and the wind and +waters threw it at the feet of the Mountain. There I found a +practicable path leading by steps carven out of the rock to the +summit, and I called on the name of Allah Almighty"[FN#259]--And +Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her +permitted say. + + When it was the Fifteenth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +third Kalandar said to the lady (the rest of the party sitting +fast bound and the slaves standing with swords drawn over their +heads):--And after calling on the name of Almighty Allah and +passionately beseeching Him, I breasted the ascent, clinging to +the steps and notches hewn in the stone, and mounted little by +little. And the Lord stilled the wind and aided me in the ascent, +so that I succeeded in reaching the summit. There I found no +resting place save the dome, which I entered, joying with +exceeding joy at my escape; and made the Wuzu-ablution[FN#260] +and prayed a two bow prayer,[FN#261] a thanksgiving to God for my +preservation. Then I fell asleep under the dome, and heard in my +dream a mysterious Voice[FN#262] saying, "O son of Khazib! when +thou wakest from thy sleep dig under thy feet and thou shalt find +a bow of brass and three leaden arrows, inscribed with talismans +and characts. Take the bow and shoot the arrows at the horseman +on the dome top and free mankind from this sore calamity. When +thou hast shot him he shall fall into the sea, and the horse will +also drop at thy feet: then bury it in the place of the bow. This +done, the main will swell and rise till it is level with the +mountain head, and there will appear on it a skiff carrying a man +of laton (other than he thou shalt have shot) holding in his hand +a pair of paddles. He will come to thee and do thou embark with +him but beware of saying Bismillah or of otherwise naming Allah +Almighty. He will row thee for a space of ten days, till he bring +thee to certain Islands called the Islands of Safety, and thence +thou shalt easily reach a port and find those who will convey +thee to thy native land; and all this shall be fulfilled to thee +so thou call not on the name of Allah." Then I started up from my +sleep in joy and gladness and, hastening to do the bidding of the +mysterious Voice, found the bow and arrows and shot at the +horseman and tumbled him into the main, whilst the horse dropped +at my feet; so I took it and buried it. Presently the sea surged +up and rose till it reached the top of the mountain; nor had I +long to wait ere I saw a skiff in the offing coming towards me. I +gave thanks to Allah; and, when the skiff came up to me, I saw +therein a man of brass with a tablet of lead on his breast +inscribed with talismans and characts; and I embarked without +uttering a word. The boatman rowed on with me through the first +day and the second and the third, in all ten whole days, till I +caught sight of the Islands of Safety; whereat I joyed with +exceeding joy and for stress of gladness exclaimed, "Allah! +Allah! In the name of Allah! There is no god but the God and +Allah is Almighty.''[FN#263] Thereupon the skiff forthwith upset +and cast me upon the sea; then it righted and sank deep into the +depths. Now I am a fair swimmer, so I swam the whole day till +nightfall, when my forearms and shoulders were numbed with +fatigue and I felt like to die; so I testified to my faith, +expecting naught but death. The sea was still surging under the +violence of the winds, and presently there came a billow like a +hillock; and, bearing me up high in air, threw me with a long +cast on dry land, that His will might be fulfilled. I crawled up +the beach and doffing my raiment wrung it out to dry and spread +it in the sunshine: then I lay me down and slept the whole night. +As soon as it was day, I donned my clothes and rose to look +whither I should walk. Presently I came to a thicket of low +trees; and, making a cast round it, found that the spot whereon I +stood was an islet, a mere holm, girt on all sides by the ocean; +whereupon I said to myself, "Whatso freeth me from one great +calamity casteth me into a greater!" But while I was pondering my +case and longing for death behold, I saw afar off a ship making +for the island; so I clomb a tree and hid myself among the +branches. Presently the ship anchored and landed ten slaves, +blackamoors, bearing iron hoes and baskets, who walked on till +they reached the middle of the island. Here they dug deep into +the ground, until they uncovered a plate of metal which they +lifted, thereby opening a trap door. After this they returned to +the ship and thence brought bread and flour, honey and fruits, +clarified butter,[FN#264] leather bottles containing liquors and +many household stuffs; also furniture, table service and mirrors +rugs, carpets and in fact all needed to furnish a dwelling; and +they kept going to and fro, and descending by the trap door, till +they had transported into the dwelling all that was in the ship. +After this the slaves again went on board and brought back with +them garments as rich as may be, and in the midst of them came an +old, old man, of whom very little was left, for Time had dealt +hardly and harshly with him, and all that remained of him was a +bone wrapped in a rag of blue stuff through which the winds +whistled west and east. As saith the poet of him:-- + +Time gars me tremble Ah, how sore the baulk! * While Time in + pride of strength cloth ever stalk: +Time was I walked nor ever felt I tired, * Now am I tired albe I + never walk! + +And the Shaykh held by the hand a youth cast in beauty's mould, +all elegance and perfect grace; so fair that his comeliness +deserved to be proverbial; for he was as a green bough or the +tender young of the roe, ravishing every heart with his +loveliness and subduing every soul with his coquetry and amorous +ways.[FN#265] It was of him the poet spake when he said:-- + +Beauty they brought with him to make compare, * But Beauty + hung her head in shame and care: +Quoth' they, "O Beauty, hast thou seen his like?" * And Beauty + cried, "His like? not anywhere!" + +They stinted not their going, O my lady, till all went down by +the trap door and did not reappear for an hour, or rather more; +at the end of which time the slaves and the old man came up +without the youth and, replacing the iron plate and carefully +closing the door slab as it was before, they returned to the ship +and made sail and were lost to my sight. When they turned away to +depart, I came down from the tree and, going to the place I had +seen them fill up, scraped off and removed the earth; and in +patience possessed my soul till I had cleared the whole of it +away. Then appeared the trap door which was of wood, in shape and +size like a millstone; and when I lifted it up it disclosed a +winding staircase of stone. At this I marvelled and, descending +the steps till I reached the last, found a fair hall, spread with +various kinds of carpets and silk stuffs, wherein was a youth +sitting upon a raised couch and leaning back on a round cushion +with a fan in his hand and nosegays and posies of sweet scented +herbs and flowers before him;[FN#266] but he was alone and not a +soul near him in the great vault. When he saw me he turned pale; +but I saluted him courteously and said, "Set thy mind at ease and +calm thy fears; no harm shall come near thee; I am a man like +thyself and the son of a King to boot; whom the decrees of +Destiny have sent to bear thee company and cheer thee in thy +loneliness. But now tell me, what is thy story and what causeth +thee to dwell thus in solitude under the ground?" When he was +assured that I was of his kind and no Jinni, he rejoiced and his +fine colour returned; and, making me draw near to him he said, "O +my brother, my story is a strange story and 'tis this. My father +is a merchant-jeweller possessed of great wealth, who hath white +and black slaves travelling and trading on his account in ships +and on camels, and trafficking with the most distant cities; but +he was not blessed with a child, not even one. Now on a certain +night he dreamed a dream that he should be favoured with a son, +who would be short lived; so the morning dawned on my father +bringing him woe and weeping. On the following night my mother +conceived and my father noted down the date of her becoming +pregnant.[FN#267] Her time being fulfilled she bare me; whereat +my father rejoiced and made banquets and called together the +neighbors 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 end 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 fief or loath? What a +disaster! What an affliction! O Allah mine, I implore thy pardon +and declare to Thee my innocence of his death. But what God +willeth let that come to pass.''[FN#276]--And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Sixteenth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ajib thus +continued his tale to the lady:--When I was certified that I had +slain him, I arose and ascending the stairs replaced the trap- +door and covered it with earth as before. Then I looked out +seawards and saw the ship cleaving the waters and making for the +island, wherefore I was afeard and said, "The moment they come +and see the youth done to death, they will know 'twas I who slew +him and will slay me without respite." So I climbed up into a +high tree and concealed myself among its leaves; and hardly had I +done so when the ship anchored and the slaves landed with the +ancient man, the youth's father, and made direct for the place +and when they removed the earth they were surprised to see it +soft.[FN#277] Then they raised the trap door and went down and +found the youth lying at full length, clothed in fair new +garments, with a face beaming after the bath, and the knife deep +in his heart. At the sight they shrieked and wept and beat their +faces, loudly cursing the murderer; whilst a swoon came over the +Shaykh so that the slaves deemed him dead, unable to survive his +son. At last they wrapped the slain youth in his clothes and +carried him up and laid him on the ground covering him with a +shroud of silk. Whilst they were making for the ship the old man +revived; and, gazing on his son who was stretched out, fell on +the ground and strewed dust over his head and smote his face and +plucked out his beard; and his weeping redoubled as he thought of +his murdered son and he swooned away once more. After awhile a +slave went and fetched a strip of silk whereupon they lay the old +man and sat down at his head. All this took place and I was on +the tree above them watching everything that came to pass; and my +heart became hoary before my head waxed grey, for the hard lot +which was mine, and for the distress and anguish I had undergone, +and I fell to reciting:-- + +"How many a joy by Allah's will hath fled * With flight escaping + sight of wisest head! +How many a sadness shall begin the day, * Yet grow right + gladsome ere the day is sped! +How many a weal trips on the heels of ill, * Causing the + mourner's heart with joy to thrill!"[FN#278] + +But the old man, O my lady, ceased not from his swoon till near +sunset, when he came to himself and, looking upon his dead son, +he recalled what had happened, and how what he had dreaded had +come to pass; and he beat his face and head and recited these +couplets:-- + +"Racked is my heart by parting fro' my friends * And two rills + ever fro' my eyelids flow: +With them[FN#279] went forth my hopes, Ah, well away! * What + shift remaineth me to say or do? +Would I had never looked upon their sight, * What shift, fair + sirs, when paths e'er strainer grow? +What charm shall calm my pangs when this wise burn * Longings + of love which in my vitals glow? +Would I had trod with them the road of Death! * Ne'er had befel + us twain this parting blow: +Allah: I pray the Truthful show me Roth * And mix our lives nor + part them evermo'e! +How blest were we as 'death one roof we dwelt * Conjoined in + joys nor recking aught of woe; +Till Fortune shot us pith the severance shaft; * Ah who shall + patient bear such parting throe? +And dart of Death struck down amid the tribe * The age's pearl + that Morn saw brightest show: +I cried the while his case took speech and said:--* Would Heaven, + my son, Death mote his doom foreslow! +Which be the readiest road wi' thee to meet * My Son! for whom I + would my soul bestow? +If sun I call him no! the sun cloth set; * If moon I call him, + wane the moons; Ah no! +O sad mischance o' thee, O doom of days, * Thy place none other + love shall ever know: +Thy sire distracted sees thee, but despairs * By wit or wisdom + Fate to overthrow: +Some evil eye this day hath cast its spell * And foul befal him + as it foul befel!" + +Then he sobbed a single sob and his soul fled his flesh. The +slaves shrieked aloud, "Alas, our lord!" and showered dust on +their heads and redoubled their weeping and wailing. Presently +they carried their dead master to the ship side by side with his +dead son and, having transported all the stuff from the dwelling +to the vessel, set sail and disappeared from mine eyes. I +descended from the tree and, raising the trap-door, went down +into the underground dwelling where everything reminded me of the +youth; and I looked upon the poor remains of him and began +repeating these verses:-- + +"Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang * And on + deserted hearths I weep and yearn: +And Him I pray who doomed them depart * Some day vouchsafe + the boon of safe return.''[FN#280] + +Then, O my lady, I went up again by the trap-door, and every day +I used to wander round about the island and every night I +returned to the underground hall. Thus I lived for a month, till +at last, looking at the western side of the island, I observed +that every day the tides ebbed, leaving shallow water for which +the flow did not compensate; and by the end of the month the sea +showed dry land in that direction. At this I rejoiced making +certain of my safety; so I arose and fording what little was left +of the water got me to the mainland, where I fell in with great +heaps of loose sand in which even a camel's hoof would sink up to +the knee.[FN#281] However I emboldened my soul and wading through +the sand behold, a fire shone from afar burning with a brazing +light.[FN#282] So I made for it hoping haply to find succour, and +broke out into these verses:-- + +"Belike Fortune may her bridle turn * And Time bring weal + although he's jealous hight; +Forward my hopes, and further all my needs, * And passed ills + with present weals requite." + +And when I drew near the fire aforesaid lo! it was a palace with +gates of copper burnished red which, when the rising sun shone +thereon, gleamed and glistened from afar showing what had seemed +to me a fire. I rejoiced in the sight, and sat down over against +the gate, but I was hardly settled in my seat before there met me +ten young men clothed in sumptuous gear and all were blind of the +left eye which appeared as plucked out. They were accompanied by +a Shaykh, an old, old man, and much I marvelled at their +appearance, and their all being blind of the same eye. When they +saw me, they saluted me with the Salam and asked me of my case +and my history; whereupon I related to them all what had befallen +me, and what full measure of misfortune was mine. Marvelling at +my tale they took me to the mansion, where I saw ranged round the +hall ten couches each with its blue bedding and coverlet of blue +stuff[FN#283] and amiddlemost stood a smaller couch furnished +like them with blue and nothing else. As we entered each of the +youths took his seat on his own couch and the old man seated +himself upon the smaller one in the middle saying to me, "O +youth, sit thee down on the floor and ask not of our case nor of +the loss of our eyes." Presently he rose up and set before each +young man some meat in a charger and drink in a large mazer, +treating me in like manner; and after that they sat questioning +me concerning my adventures and what had betided me: and I kept +telling them my tale till the night was far spent. Then said the +young men, "O our Shaykh, wilt not thou set before us our +ordinary? The time is come." He replied, "With love and +gladness," and rose and entering a closet disappeared, but +presently returned bearing on his head ten trays each covered +with a strip of blue stuff. He set a tray before each youth and, +lighting ten wax candles, he stuck one upon each tray, and drew +off the covers and lo! under them was naught but ashes and +powdered charcoal and kettle soot. Then all the young men tucked +up their sleeves to the elbows and fell a weeping and wailing and +they blackened their faces and smeared their clothes and +buffetted their brows and beat their breasts, continually +exclaiming, "We were sitting at our ease but our frowardness +brought us unease! " They ceased not to do this till dawn drew +nigh, when the old man rose and heated water for them; and they +washed their faces, and donned other and clean clothes. Now when +I saw this, O my lady, for very wonderment my senses left me and +my wits went wild and heart and head were full of thought, till I +forgot what had betided me and I could not keep silence feeling I +fain must speak out and question them of these strangenesses; so +I said to them, "How come ye to do this after we have been so +open hearted and frolicksome? Thanks be to Allah ye be all sound +and sane, yet actions such as these befit none but mad men or +those possessed of an evil spirit. I conjure you by all that is +dearest to you, why stint ye to tell me your history, and the +cause of your losing your eyes and your blackening your faces +with ashes and soot?" Hereupon they turned to me and said, "O +young man, hearken not to thy youthtide's suggestions and +question us no questions." Then they slept and I with them and +when they awoke the old man brought us somewhat of food; and, +after we had eaten and the plates and goblets had been removed, +they sat conversing till night fall when the old man rose and lit +the wax candles and lamps and set meat and drink before us. After +we had eaten and drunken we sat conversing and carousing in +companionage till the noon of night, when they said to the old +man, "Bring us our ordinary, for the hour of sleep is at hand!" +So he rose and brought them the trays of soot and ashes; and they +did as they had done on the preceding night, nor more, nor less. +I abode with them after this fashion for the space of a month +during which time they used to blacken their faces with ashes +every night, and to wash and change their raiment when the morn +was young; and I but marvelled the more and my scruples and +curiosity increased to such a point that I had to forego even +food and drink. At last, I lost command of myself, for my heart +was aflame with fire unquenchable and lowe unconcealable and I +said, "O young men, will ye not relieve my trouble and acquaint +me with the reason of thus blackening your faces and the meaning +of your words:--We were sitting at our ease but our frowardness +brought us unease?" Quoth they "'Twere better to keep these +things secret." Still I was bewildered by their doings to the +point of abstaining from eating and drinking and, at last wholly +losing patience, quoth I to them, There is no help for it: ye +must acquaint me with what is the reason of these doings." They +replied, "We kept our secret only for thy good: to gratify thee +will bring down evil upon thee and thou wilt become a monocular +even as we are." I repeated "There is no help for it and, if ye +will not, let me leave you and return to mine own people and be +at rest from seeing these things, for the proverb saith:-- + +Better ye 'bide and I take my leave: * For what eye sees not + heart shall never grieve." + +Thereupon they said to me, "Remember, O youth, that should ill +befal thee we will not again harbour thee nor suffer thee to +abide amongst us;" and bringing a ram they slaughtered it and +skinned it. Lastly they gave me a knife saying, "Take this skin +and stretch thyself upon it and we will sew it around thee, +presently there shall come to thee a certain bird, hight +Rukh,[FN#284] that will catch thee up in his pounces and tower +high in air and then set thee down on a mountain. When thou +feelest he is no longer flying, rip open the pelt with this blade +and come out of it; the bird will be scared and will fly away and +leave thee free. After this fare for half a day, and the march +will place thee at a palace wondrous fair to behold, towering +high in air and builded of Khalanj[FN#285], lign-aloes and +sandal-wood, plated with red gold, and studded with all manner +emeralds and costly gems fit for seal rings. Enter it and thou +shalt win to thy wish for we have all entered that palace; and +such is the cause of our losing our eyes and of our blackening +our faces. Were we now to tell thee our stories it would take too +long a time; for each and every of us lost his left eye by an +adventure of his own." I rejoiced at their words and they did +with me as they said; and the bird Rukh bore me off end set me +down on the mountain. Then I came out of the skin and walked on +till I reached the palace. The door stood open as I entered and +found myself in a spacious and goodly hall, wide exceedingly, +even as a horse-course; and around it were an hundred chambers +with doors of sandal and aloes woods plated with red gold and +furnished with silver rings by way of knockers.[FN#286] At the +head or upper end[FN#287] of the hall I saw forty damsels, +sumptuously dressed and ornamented and one and all bright as +moons; none could ever tire of gazing upon them and all so lovely +that the most ascetic devotee on seeing them would become their +slave and obey their will. When they saw me the whole bevy came +up to me and said "Welcome and well come and good cheer[FN#288] +to thee, O our lord! This whole month have we been expecting +thee. Praised be Allah who hath sent us one who is worthy of us, +even as we are worthy of him!" Then they made me sit down upon a +high divan and said to me, "This day thou art our lord and +master, and we are thy servants and thy hand-maids, so order us +as thou wilt." And I marvelled at their case. Presently one of +them arose and set meat before me and I ate and they ate with me; +whilst others warmed water and washed my hands and feet and +changed my clothes and others made ready sherbets and gave us to +drink; and all gathered around me being full of joy and gladness +at my coming. Then they sat down and conversed with me till +nightfall, when five of them arose and laid the trays and spread +them with flowers and fragrant herbs and fruits, fresh and dried, +and confections in profusion. At last they brought out a fine +wine service with rich old wine; and we sat down to drink and +some sang songs and others played the lute and psaltery and +recorders and other instruments, and the bowl went merrily round. +Hereupon such gladness possessed me that I forgot the sorrows of +the world one and all and said, "This is indeed life; O sad that +'tis fleeting!" I enjoyed their company till the time came for +rest; and our heads were all warm with wine, when they said, "O +our lord, choose from amongst us her who shall be thy bed-fellow +this night and not lie with thee again till forty days be past." +So I chose a girl fair of face and perfect in shape, with eyes +Kohl-edged by nature's hand;[FN#289] hair long and jet black with +slightly parted teeth[FN#290] and joining brows: 'twas as if she +were some limber graceful branchlet or the slender stalk of sweet +basil to amaze and to bewilder man's fancy, even as the poet said +of such an one-- + +To even her with greeny bough were vain * Fool he who finds her + beauties in the roe: +When hath the roe those lively lovely limbs * Or honey dews those + lips alone bestow? +Those eyne, soul piercing eyne, which slay with love, * Which + bind the victim by their shafts laid low? +My heart to second childhood they beguiled * No wonder: love + sick-man again is child! + +And I repeated to her the maker's words who said:-- + +"None other charms but thine shall greet mine eyes, * Nor other + image can my heart surprise: +Thy love, my lady, captives all my thoughts * And on that love + I'll die and I'll arise. + +So I lay with her that night; none fairer I ever knew; and, when +it was morning, the damsels carried me to the Hammam bath and +bathed me and robed me in fairest apparel. Then they served up +food, and we ate and drank and the cup went round till nightfall +when I chose from among them one fair of form and face, soft- +sided and a model of grace, such an one as the poet described +when he said.-- + +On her fair bosom caskets twain I scanned, * Sealed fast with + musk seals lovers to withstand +With arrowy glances stand on guard her eyes, * Whose shafts + would shoot who dares put forth a hand. + +With her I spent a most goodly night; and, to be brief, O my +mistress, I remained with them in all solace and delight of life, +eating and drinking, conversing and carousing and every night +lying with one or other of them. But at the head of the new year +they came to me in tears and bade me farewell, weeping and crying +out and clinging about me: whereat I wondered and said, "What may +be the matter? verily you break my heart!" They exclaimed, "Would +Heaven we had never known thee; for, though we have companies +with many, yet never saw we a pleasanter than thou or a more +courteous." And they wept again. "But tell me more clearly," +asked I, "what causeth this weeping which maketh my +gall-bladder[FN#291] like to burst;" and they answered, "O our +lord and master, it is severance which maketh us weep; and thou, +and thou only, art the cause of our tears. If thou hearken to us +we need never be parted and if thou hearken not we part for ever; +but our hearts tell us that thou wilt not listen to our words and +this is the cause of our tears and cries." "Tell me how the case +standeth?" "Know, O our lord, that we are the daughters of Kings +who have met here and have lived together for years; and once in +every year we are perforce absent for forty days; and afterwards +we return and abide here for the rest of the twelve month eating +and drinking and taking our pleasure and enjoying delights: we +are about to depart according to our custom; and we fear lest +after we be gone thou contraire our charge and disobey our +injunctions. Here now we commit to thee the keys of the palace +which containeth forty chambers and thou mayest open of these +thirty and nine, but beware (and we conjure thee by Allah and by +the lives of us!) lest thou open the fortieth door, for therein +is that which shall separate us for ever."[FN#292] Quoth I, +"Assuredly I will not open it, if it contain the cause of +severance from you." Then one among them came up to me and +falling on my neck wept and recited these verses.-- + +"If Time unite us after absent while, * The world harsh frowning + on our lot shall smile +And if thy semblance deign adorn mine eyes,[FN#293] * I'll + pardon Time past wrongs and by gone guile." + +And I recited the following:-- + +"When drew she near to bid adieu with heart unstrung, * While + care and longing on that day her bosom wrung +Wet pearls she wept and mine like red carnelians rolled * And, + joined in sad riviere, around her neck they hung." + +When I saw her weeping I said, "By Allah I will never open that +fortieth door, never and no wise!" and I bade her farewell. +Thereupon all departed flying away like birds; signalling with +their hands farewells as they went and leaving me alone in the +palace. When evening drew near I opened the door of the first +chamber and entering it found myself in a place like one of the +pleasaunces of Paradise. It was a garden with trees of freshest +green and ripe fruits of yellow sheen; and its birds were singing +clear and keen and rills ran wimpling through the fair terrene. +The sight and sounds brought solace to my sprite; and I walked +among the trees, and I smelt the breath of the flowers on the +breeze; and heard the birdies sing their melodies hymning the +One, the Almighty in sweetest litanies; and I looked upon the +apple whose hue is parcel red and parcel yellow; as said the +poet:-- + +Apple whose hue combines in union mellow * My fair's red cheek, + her hapless lover's yellow. + +Then I looked upon the quince, and inhaled its fragrance which to +shame musk and ambergris, even as the poet hath said : + +Quince every taste conjoins; in her are found * Gifts which for + queen of fruits the Quince have crowned +Her taste is wine, her scent the waft of musk; * Pure gold her + hue, her shape the Moon's fair round. + +Then I looked upon the pear whose taste surpasseth sherbet and +sugar; and the apricot[FN#294] whose beauty striketh the eye with +admiration, as if she were a polished ruby. Then I went out of +the place and locked the door as it was before. When it was the +morrow I opened the second door; and entering found myself in a +spacious plain set with tall date palms and watered by a running +stream whose banks were shrubbed with bushes of rose and jasmine, +while privet and eglantine, oxe-eye, violet and lily, narcissus, +origane and the winter gilliflower carpeted the borders; and the +breath of the breeze swept over these sweet smelling growths +diffusing their delicious odours right and left, perfuming the +world and filling my soul with delight. After taking my pleasure +there awhile I went from it and, having closed the door as it was +before, opened the third door wherein I saw a high open hall +pargetted with parti-coloured marbles and pietra dura of price +and other precious stones, and hung with cages of sandal-wood and +eagle-wood; full of birds which made sweet music, such as the +Thousand voiced,[FN#295] and the cushat, the merle, the turtle- +dove and the Nubian ring dove. My heart was filled with pleasure +thereby; my grief was dispelled and I slept in that aviary till +dawn. Then I undocked the door of the fourth chamber and therein +found a grand saloon with forty smaller chambers giving upon it. +All their doors stood open: so I entered and found them full of +pearls and jacinths and beryls and emeralds and corals and car +buncles, and all manner precious gems and jewels, such as tongue +of man may not describe. My thought was stunned at the sight and +I said to myself, "These be things methinks united which could +not be found save in the treasuries of a King of Kings, nor could +the monarchs of the world have collected the like of these!" And +my heart dilated and my sorrows ceased, "For," quoth I, "now +verily am I the monarch of the age, since by Allah's grace this +enormous wealth is mine; and I have forty damsels under my hand +nor is there any to claim them save myself." Then I gave not over +opening place after place until nine and thirty days were passed +and in that time I had entered every chamber except that one +whose door the Princesses had charged me not to open. But my +thoughts, O my mistress, ever ran on that forbidden +fortieth[FN#296] and Satan urged me to open it for my own +undoing; nor had I patience to forbear, albeit there wanted of +the trysting time but a single day. So I stood before the chamber +aforesaid and, after a moment's hesitation, opened the door which +was plated with red gold, and entered. I was met by a perfume +whose like I had never before smelt; and so sharp and subtle was +the odour that it made my senses drunken as with strong wine, and +I fell to the ground in a fainting fit which lasted a full hour. +When I came to myself I strengthened my heart and, entering, +found myself in a chamber whose floor was bespread with saffron +and blazing with light from branched candelabra of gold and lamps +fed with costly oils, which diffused the scent of musk and +ambergris. I saw there also two great censers each big as a +mazer-bowl,[FN#297] flaming with lign-aloes, nadd- +perfume,[FN#298] ambergris and honied scents; and the place was +full of their fragrance. Presently, O my lady, I espied a noble +steed, black as the murks of night when murkiest, standing, ready +saddled and bridled (and his saddle was of red gold) before two +mangers, one of clear crystal wherein was husked sesame, and the +other also of crystal containing water of the rose scented with +musk. When I saw this I marvelled and said to myself, "Doubtless +in this animal must be some wondrous mystery;" and Satan cozened +me, so I led him without the palace end mounted him, but he would +not stir from his place. So I hammered his sides with my heels, +but he moved not, and then I took the rein whip,[FN#299] and +struck him withal. When he felt the blow, he neighed a neigh with +a sound like deafening thunder and, opening a pair of +wings[FN#300] flew up with me in the firmament of heaven far +beyond the eyesight of man. After a full hour of flight he +descended and alighted on a terrace roof and shaking me off his +back lashed me on the face with his tail and gouged out my left +eye causing it roll along my cheek. Then he flew away. I went +down from the terrace and found myself again amongst the ten one +eyed youths sitting upon their ten couches with blue covers; and +they cried out when they saw me, "No welcome to thee, nor aught +of good cheer! We all lived of lives the happiest and we ate and +drank of the best; upon brocades and cloths of gold we took 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 Musa al- +Hadi, son of Al-Mansur; son of Mohammed the brother of Al-Saffah +bin Mohammed who was first of the royal house. Speak ye therefore +before him the truth and the whole truth!" When the ladies heard +Ja afar's words touching the Commander of the Faithful, the +eldest came forward and said, "O Prince of True Believers, my +story is one which, were it graven with needle-gravers upon the +eye corners were a warner for whoso would be warned and an +example for whoso can take profit from example."--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Seventeenth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that she stood +forth before the Commander of the Faithful and began to tell + + + + + +The Eldest Lady's Tale. + + +Verily a strange tale is mine and 'tis this:--Yon two black +bitches are my eldest sisters by one mother and father; and these +two others, she who beareth upon her the signs of stripes and the +third our procuratrix are my sisters by another mother. When my +father died, each took her share of the heritage and, after a +while my mother also deceased, leaving me and my sisters german +three thousand diners; so each daughter received her portion of a +thousand diners and I the same, albe the youngest. In due course +of time my sisters married with the usual festivities and lived +with their husbands, who bought merchandise with their wives +monies and set out on their travels together. Thus they threw me +off. My brothers in law were absent with their wives five years, +during which period they spent all the money they had and, +becoming bankrupt, deserted my sisters in foreign parts amid +stranger folk. After five years my eldest sister returned to me +in beggar's gear with her clothes in rags and tatters[FN#302] and +a dirty old mantilla;[FN#303] and truly she was in the foulest +and sorriest plight. At first sight I did not know my own sister; +but presently I recognised her and said "What state is this?" "O +our sister," she replied, "Words cannot undo the done; and the +reed of Destiny hath run through what Allah decreed." Then I sent +her to the bath and dressed her in a suit of mine own, and boiled +for her a bouillon and brought her some good wine and said to +her, "O my sister, thou art the eldest, who still standest to us +in the stead of father and mother; and, as for the inheritance +which came to me as to you twain, Allah hath blessed it and +prospered it to me with increase; and my circumstances are easy, +for I have made much money by spinning and cleaning silk; and I +and you will share my wealth alike." I entreated her with all +kindliness and she abode with me a whole year, during which our +thoughts and fancies were always full of our other sister. Shortly +after she too came home in yet fouler and sorrier plight than +that of my eldest sister; and I dealt by her still more honorably +than I had done by the first, and each of them had a share of my +substance. After a time they said to me, 'O our sister, we desire +to marry again, for indeed we have not patience to drag on our +days without husbands and to lead the lives of widows bewitched;" +and I replied, "O eyes of me![FN#304] ye have hitherto seen +scanty weal in wedlock, for now-a-days good men and true are +become rarities and curiosities; nor do I deem your projects +advisable, as ye have already made trial of matrimony and have +failed." But they would not accept my advice and married without +my consent: nevertheless I gave them outfit and dowries out of my +money; and they fared forth with their mates. In a mighty little +time their husbands played them false and, taking whatever they +could lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch. +Thereupon they came to me ashamed and in abject case and made +their excuses to me, saying, Pardon our fault and be not wroth +with us;[FN#305] for although thou art younger in years yet art +thou older in wit; henceforth we will never make mention of +marriage; so take us back as thy hand maidens that we may eat our +mouthful." Quoth I, "Welcome to you, O my sisters, there is +naught dearer to me than you." And I took them in and redoubled +my kindness to them. We ceased not to live after this loving +fashion for a full year, when I resolved to sell my wares abroad +and first to fit me a conveyance for Bassorah; so I equipped a +large ship, and loaded her with merchandise and valuable goods +for traffic, and with provaunt and all needful for a voyage, and +said to my sisters, "Will ye abide at home whilst I travel, or +would ye prefer to accompany me on the voyage?" "We will travel +with thee," answered they, "for we cannot bear to be parted from +thee." So I divided my monies into two parts, one to accompany me +and the other to be left in charge of a trusty person, for, as I +said to myself, "Haply some accident may happen to the ship and +yet we remain alive; in which case we shall find on our return +what may stand us in good stead." I took my two sisters and we +went a voyaging some days and nights; but the master was careless +enough to miss his course, and the ship went astray with us and +entered a sea other than the sea we sought. For a time we knew +naught of this; and the wind blew fair for us ten days, after +which the look out man went aloft to see about him and cried, +"Good news!" Then he came down rejoicing and said, "I have seen +what seemeth to be a city as 'twere a pigeon." Hereat we rejoiced +and, ere an hour of the day had passed, the buildings showed +plain in the offing and we asked the Captain, "What is the name +of yonder city?" and he answered By Allah I wot not, for I never +saw it before and never sailed these seas in my life: but, since +our troubles have ended in safety, remains for you only to land +there with your merchandise and, if you find selling profitable, +sell and make your market of what is there; and if not, we will +rest here two days and provision ourselves and fare away." So we +entered the port and the Captain went up town and was absent +awhile, after which he returned to us and said, "Arise; go up +into the city and marvel at the works of Allah with His creatures +and pray to be preserved from His righteous wrath!" So we landed +and going up into the city, saw at the gate men hending staves in +hand; but when we drew near them, behold, they had been +translated[FN#306] by the anger of Allah and had become stones. +Then we entered the city and found all who therein woned into +black stones enstoned: not an inhabited house appeared to the +espier, nor was there a blower of fire.[FN#307] We were awe +struck at the sight and threaded the market streets where we +found the goods and gold and silver left lying in their places; +and we were glad and said, "Doubtless there is some mystery in +all this." Then we dispersed about the thorough-fares and each +busied himself with collecting the wealth and money and rich +stuffs, taking scanty heed of friend or comrade. As for myself I +went up to the castle which was strongly fortified; and, entering +the King's palace by its gate of red gold, found all the vaiselle +of gold and silver, and the King himself seated in the midst of +his Chamberlains and Nabobs and Emirs and Wazirs; all clad in +raiment which confounded man's art. I drew nearer and saw him +sitting on a throne incrusted and inlaid with pearls and gems; +and his robes were of gold-cloth adorned with jewels of every +kind, each one flashing like a star. Around him stood fifty +Mamelukes, white slaves, clothed in silks of divers sorts holding +their drawn swords in their hands; but when I drew near to them +lo! all were black stones. My understanding was confounded at the +sight, but I walked on and entered the great hall of the +Harim,[FN#308] whose walls I found hung with tapestries of gold +striped silk and spread with silken carpets embroidered with +golden cowers. Here I saw the Queen lying at full length arrayed +in robes purfled with fresh young[FN#309] pearls; on her head was +a diadem set with many sorts of gems each fit for a ring[FN#310] +and around her neck hung collars and necklaces. All her raiment +and her ornaments were in natural state but she had been turned +into a black stone by Allah's wrath. Presently I espied an open +door for which I made straight and found leading to it a flight +of seven steps. So I walked up and came upon a place pargetted +with marble and spread and hung with gold-worked carpets and +tapestry, amiddlemostof which stood a throne of juniper wood +inlaid with pearls and precious stones and set with bosses of +emeralds. In the further wall was an alcove whose curtains, +bestrung with pearls, were let down and I saw a light issuing +therefrom; so I drew near and perceived that the light came from +a precious stone as big as an ostrich egg, set at the upper end +of the alcove upon a little chryselephantine couch of ivory and +gold; and this jewel, blazing like the sun, cast its rays wide +and side. The couch also was spread with all manner of silken +stuffs amazing the gazer with their richness and beauty. I +marvelled much at all this, especially when seeing in that place +candles ready lighted; and I said in my mind, "Needs must some +one have lighted these candles." Then I went forth and came to +the kitchen and thence to the buttery and the King's treasure +chambers; and continued to explore the palace and to pace from +place to place; I forgot myself in my awe and marvel at these +matters and I was drowned in thought till the night came on. Then +I would have gone forth, but knowing not the gate I lost my way, +so I returned to the alcove whither the lighted candles directed +me and sat down upon the couch; and wrapping myself in a +coverlet, after I had repeated somewhat from the Koran, I would +have slept but could not, for restlessness possessed me. When +night was at its noon I heard a voice chanting the Koran in +sweetest accents; but the tone thereof was weak; so I rose, glad +to hear the silence broken, and followed the sound until I +reached a closet whose door stood ajar. Then peeping through a +chink I considered the place and lo! it was an oratory wherein +was a prayer niche[FN#311] with two wax candles burning and lamps +hanging from the ceiling. In it too was spread a prayer carpet +whereupon sat a youth fair to see; and before him on its +stand[FN#312] was a copy of the Koran, from which he was reading. +I marvelled to see him alone alive amongst the people of the city +and entering saluted him; whereupon he raised his eyes and +returned my salam. Quoth I, "Now by the Truth of what thou +readest in Allah's Holy Book, I conjure thee to answer my +question." He looked upon me with a smile and said, "O handmaid +of Allah, first tell me the cause of thy coming hither, and I in +turn will tell what hath befallen both me and the people of this +city, and what was the reason of my escaping their doom." So I +told him my story whereat he wondered; and I questioned him of +the people of the city, when he replied, "Have patience with me +for a while, O my sister!" and, reverently closing the Holy Book, +he laid it up in a satin bag. Then he seated me by his side; and +I looked at him and behold, he was as the moon at its full, fair +of face and rare of form, soft sided and slight, of well +proportioned height, and cheek smoothly bright and diffusing +light; in brief a sweet, a sugar stick,[FN#313]. even as saith +the poet of the like of him in these couplets:-- + +That night th' astrologer a scheme of planets drew, * And lo! a + graceful shape of youth appeared in view: +Saturn had stained his locks with Saturninest jet, * And spots of + nut brown musk on rosy side face blew:[FN#314] +Mars tinctured either cheek with tinct of martial red; * Sagittal + shots from eyelids Sagittarius threw: +Dowered him Mercury with bright mercurial wit; * Bore off the + Bear[FN#315] what all man's evil glances grew: +Amazed stood Astrophil to sight the marvel birth * When louted + low the Moon at full to buss the Earth. + +And of a truth Allah the Most High had robed him in the raiment +of perfect grace and had purfled and fringed it with a cheek all +beauty and loveliness, even as the poet saith of such an one:-- + +By his eyelids shedding perfume and his fine slim waist I swear, + * By the shooting of his shafts barbed with sorcery passing + rare; +By the softness of his sides,[FN#316] and glances' lingering + light, * And brow of dazzling day-tide ray and night within + his hair; +By his eyebrows which deny to who look upon them rest, * Now + bidding now forbidding, ever dealing joy and care; +By the rose that decks his cheek, and the myrtle of its + moss,[FN#317] * By jacinths bedded in his lips and pearl his + smile lays bare; +By his graceful bending neck and the curving of his breast, * + Whose polished surface beareth those granados, lovely pair; +By his heavy hips that quiver as he passeth in his pride, * Or he + resteth with that waist which is slim beyond compare; +By the satin of his skin, by that fine unsullied sprite; * By the + beauty that containeth all things bright and debonnair; +By that ever open hand; by the candour of his tongue; * By noble + blood and high degree whereof he's hope and heir; +Musk from him borrows muskiness she loveth to exhale * And all + the airs of ambergris through him perfume the air; +The sun, methinks, the broad bright sun, before my love would + pale * And sans his splendour would appear a paring of his + nail.[FN#318] + +I glanced at him with one glance of eyes which caused me a +thousand sighs; and my heart was at once taken captive wise, so I +asked him, "O my lord and my love, tell me that whereof I +questioned thee;" and he answered, "Hearing is obeying! Know O +handmaid of Allah, that this city was the capital of my father +who is the King thou sawest on the throne transfigured by Allah's +wrath to a black stone, and the Queen thou foundest in the alcove +is my mother. They and all the people of the city were Magians +who fire adored in lieu of the Omnipotent Lord[FN#319] and were +wont to swear by lowe and heat and shade and light and the +spheres revolving day and night. My father had ne'er a son till +he was blest with me near the last of his days; and he reared me +till I grew up and prosperity anticipated me in all things. Now +it so fortuned that there was with us an old woman well stricken +in years, a Moslemah who, inwardly believing in Allah and His +Apostle, conformed outwardly with the religion of my people; and +my father placed thorough confidence in her for that he knew her +to be trustworthy and virtuous; and he treated her with ever +increasing kindness believing her to be of his own belief. So +when I was well nigh grown up my father committed me to her +charge saying:--Take him and educate him and teach him the rules +of our faith; let him have the best in structions and cease not +thy fostering care of him. So she took me and taught me the +tenets of Al-Islam with the divine ordinances[FN#320] of the Wuzu +ablution and the five daily prayers and she made me learn the +Koran by rote, often repeating:--Serve none save Allah Almighty! +When I had mastered this much of knowledge she said to me:--O my +son, keep this matter concealed from thy sire and reveal naught +to him lest he slay thee. So I hid it from him and I abode on +this wise for a term of days when the old woman died, and the +people of the city redoubled in their impiety[FN#321] and +arrogance and the error of their ways. One day, while they were +as wont, behold, they heard a loud and terrible sound and a crier +crying out with a voice like roaring thunder so every ear could +hear, far and near, "O folk of this city, leave ye your fire +worshipping and adore Allah the All-compassionate King!" At this, +fear and terror fell upon the citizens and they crowded to my +father (he being King of the city) and asked him, "What is this +awesome voice we have heard, for it hath confounded us with the +excess of its terror?" and he answered, "Let not a voice fright +you nor shake your steadfast sprite nor turn you back from the +faith which is right." Their hearts inclined to his words and +they ceased not to worship the fire and they persisted in +rebellion for a full year from the time they heard the first +voice; and on the anniversary came a second cry, and a third at +the head of the third year, each year once Still they persisted +in their malpractises till one day at break of dawn, judgment and +the wrath of Heaven descended upon them with all suddenness, and +by the visitation of Allah all were metamorphosed into black +stones,[FN#322] they and their beasts and their cattle; and none +was saved save myself who at the time was engaged in my +devotions. From that day to this I am in the case thou seest, +constant in prayer and fasting and reading and reciting the +Koran; but I am indeed grown weary by reason of my loneliness, +having none to bear me company." Then said I to him (for in very +sooth he had won my heart and was the lord of my life and soul), +"O youth, wilt thou fare with me to Baghdad city and visit the +Olema and men learned in the law and doctors of divinity and get +thee increase of wisdom and understanding and theology? And know +that she who standeth in thy presence will be thy handmaid, +albeit she be head of her family and mistress over men and +eunuchs and servants and slaves Indeed my life was no life before +it fell in with thy youth. I have here a ship laden with +merchandise; and in very truth Destiny drove me to this city that +I might come to the knowledge of these matters, for it was fated +that we should meet." And I ceased not to persuade him and speak +him fair and use every art till he consented.--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Eighteenth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +lady ceased not persuading with soft speech the youth to depart +with her till he consented and said "Yes." She slept that night +lying at his feet and hardly knowing where she was for excess of +joy. As soon as the next morning dawned (she pursued, addressing +the Caliph), I arose and we entered the treasuries and took +thence whatever was light in weight and great in worth; then we +went down side by side from the castle to the city, where we were +met by the Captain and my sisters and slaves who had been seeking +for me. When they saw me they rejoiced and asked what had stayed +me, and I told them all I had seen and related to them the story +of the young Prince and the transformation wherewith the citizens +had been justly visited. Hereat all marvelled, but when my two +sisters (these two bitches, O Commander of the Faithful!) saw me +by the side of my young lover they jaloused me on his account and +were wroth and plotted mischief against me. We awaited a fair +wind and went on board rejoicing and ready to fly for joy by +reason of the goods we had gotten, but my own greatest joyance +was in the youth; and we waited awhile till the wind blew fair for +us and then we set sail and fared forth. Now as we sat talking, +my sisters asked me, "And what wilt thou do with this handsome +young man?"; and I answered, "I purpose to make him my husband!" +Then I turned to him and said, "O my lord, I have that to propose +to thee wherein thou must not cross me; and this it is that, when +we reach Baghdad, my native city, I offer thee my life as thy +handmaiden in holy matrimony, and thou shalt be to me baron and I +will be femme to thee." He answered, "I hear and I obey!; thou +art my lady and my mistress and whatso thou doest I will not +gainsay." Then I turned to my sisters and said, "This is my gain; +I content me with this youth and those who have gotten aught of +my property let them keep it as their gain with my good will." +"Thou sayest and doest well," answered the twain, but they +imagined mischief against me. We ceased not spooning before a +fair wind till we had exchanged the sea of peril for the seas of +safety and, in a few days, we made Bassorah city, whose buildings +loomed clear before us as evening fell. But after we had retired +to rest and were sound alseep, my two sisters arose and took me +up, bed and all, and threw me into the sea: they did the same +with the young Prince who, as he could not swim, sank and was +drowned and Allah enrolled him in the noble army of +Martyrs.[FN#323] As for me would Heaven I had been drowned with +him, but Allah deemed that I should be of the saved; so when I +awoke and found myself in the sea and saw the ship making off +like a dash of lightning, He threw in my way a piece of timber +which I bestrided, and the waves tossed me to and fro till they +cast me upon an island coast, a high land and an uninhabited. I +landed and walked about the island the rest of the night and, +when morning dawned, I saw a rough track barely fit for child of +Adam to tread, leading to what proved a shallow ford connecting +island and mainland. As soon as the sun had risen I spread my +garments to dry in its rays; and ate of the fruits of the island +and drank of its waters; then I set out along the foot track and +ceased not walking till I reached the mainland. Now when there +remained between me and the city but a two hours' journey behold, +a great serpent, the bigness of a date palm, came fleeing towards +me in all haste, gliding along now to the right then to the left +till she was close upon me, whilst her tongue lolled ground wards +a span long and swept the dust as she went. She was pursued by a +Dragon[FN#324] who was not longer than two lances, and of slender +build about the bulk of a spear and, although her terror lent her +speed, and she kept wriggling from side to side, he overtook her +and seized her by the tail, whereat her tears streamed down and +her tongue was thrust out in her agony. I took pity on her and, +picking up a stone and calling upon Allah for aid, threw it at +the Dragon's head with such force that he died then and there; +and the serpent opening a pair of wings flew into the lift and +disappeared from before my eyes. I sat down marvelling over that +adventure, but I was weary and, drowsiness overcoming me, I slept +where I was for a while. When I awoke I found a jet black damsel +sitting at my feet shampooing them; and by her side stood two +black bitches (my sisters, O Commander of the Faithful!). I was +ashamed before her[FN#325] and, sitting up, asked her, "O my +sister, who and what art thou?"; and she answered, "How soon hast +thou forgotten me! I am she for whom thou wroughtest a good deed +and sowedest the seed of gratitude and slewest her foe; for I am +the serpent whom by Allah's aidance thou didst just now deliver +from the Dragon. I am a Jinniyah and he was a Jinn who hated me, +and none saved my life from him save thou. As soon as thou +freedest me from him I flew on the wind to the ship whence thy +sisters threw thee, and removed all that was therein to thy +house. Then I ordered my attendant Marids to sink the ship and I +transformed thy two sisters into these black bitches; for I know +all that hath passed between them and thee; but as for the youth, +of a truth he is drowned." So saying, she flew up with me and the +bitches, and presently set us down on the terrace roof of my +house, wherein I found ready stored the whole of what property +was in my ship, nor was aught of it missing. "Now (continued the +serpent that was), I swear by all engraver 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 wheels upon thy body?" So +she began the + + + + + +Tale of the Portress. + + +Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that I had a father who, after +fulfilling his time, deceased and left me great store of wealth. +I remained single for a short time and presently married one of +the richest of his day. I abode with him a year when he also +died, and my share of his property amounted to eighty thousand +diners in gold according to the holy law of inheritance.[FN#328] +Thus I became passing rich an my reputation spread far and wide, +for I had made me ten changes of raiment, each worth a thousand +diners One day as I was sitting at home, behold, there came in to +me an old woman[FN#329] with lantern jaws and cheeks sucked in, +and eyes rucked up, and eyebrows scant and scald, and head bare +and bald; and teeth broken by time and mauled, and back bending +and neck nape nodding, and face blotched, and rheum running, and +hair like a snake black and white speckled, in complexion a very +fright, even as saith the poet of the like of her:-- + +Ill-omened hag! unshriven be her sins * Nor mercy visit her on + dying bed: +Thousand head strongest he mules would her guiles, * Despite + their bolting lead with spider thread. + +And as saith another:-- + +A hag to whom th' unlawful lawfullest * And witchcraft wisdom in + her sight are grown: +A mischief making brat, a demon maid, * A whorish woman and a + pimping crone.[FN#330] + +When the old woman entered she salamed to me and kissing the +ground before me, said, "I have at home an orphan daughter and +this night are her wedding and her displaying.[FN#331] We be poor +folks and strangers in this city knowing none inhabitant and we +are broken hearted. So do thou earn for thyself a recompense and +a reward in Heaven by being present at her displaying and, when +the ladies of this city shall hear that thou art to make act of +presence, they also will present themselves; so shalt thou +comfort her affliction, for she is sore bruised in spirit and she +hath none to look to save Allah the Most High." Then she wept and +kissed my feet reciting these couplets:-- + +"Thy presence bringeth us a grace * We own before thy winsome + face: +And wert thou absent ne'er an one * Could stand in stead or take + thy place." + +So pity get hold on me and compassion and I said, "Hearing is +consenting and, please Allah, I will do somewhat more for her; +nor shall she be shown to her bridegroom save in my raiment and +ornaments and jewelry." At this the old woman rejoiced and bowed +her head to my feet and kissed them, saying, "Allah requite thee +weal, and comfort thy heart even as thou hast comforted mine! +But, O my lady, do not trouble thyself to do me this service at +this hour; be thou ready by supper time,[FN#332] when I will come +and fetch thee." So saying she kissed my hand and went her ways. +I set about stringing my pearls and donning my brocades and +making my toilette. Little recking what Fortune had in womb for +me, when suddenly the old woman stood before me, simpering and +smiling till she showed every tooth stump, and quoth she, "O my +mistress, the city madams have arrived and when I apprized them +that thou promisedst to be present, they were glad and they are +now awaiting thee and looking eagerly for thy coming and for the +honour of meeting thee." So I threw on my mantilla and, making +the old crone walk before me and my handmaidens behind me, I +fared till we came to a street well watered and swept neat, where +the winnowing breeze blew cool and sweet. Here we were stopped by +a gate arched over with a dome of marble stone firmly seated on +solidest foundation, and leading to a Palace whose walls from +earth rose tall and proud, and whose pinnacle was crowned by the +clouds,[FN#333] and over the doorway were writ these couplets:-- + +I am the wone where Mirth shall ever smile; * The home of + Joyance through my lasting while: +And 'mid my court a fountain jets and flows, * Nor tears nor + troubles shall that fount defile: +The merge with royal Nu'uman's[FN#334] bloom is dight, * + Myrtle, Narcissus-flower and Chamomile. + +Arrived at the gate, before which hung a black curtain, the old +woman knocked and it was opened to us; when we entered and found +a vestibule spread with carpets and hung around with lamps all +alight and wax candles in candelabra adorned with pendants of +precious gems and noble ores. We passed on through this passage +till we entered a saloon, whose like for grandeur and beauty is +not to be found in this world. It was hung and carpeted with +silken stuffs, and was illuminated with branches sconces and +tapers ranged in double row, an avenue abutting on the upper or +noble end of the saloon, where stood a couch of juniper wood +encrusted with pearls and gems and surmounted by a baldaquin with +mosquito curtains of satin looped up with margaritas. And hardly +had we taken note of this when there came forth from the +baldaquin a young lady and I looked, O Commander of the Faithful, +upon a face and form more perfect than the moon when fullest, +with a favour brighter than the dawn gleaming with saffron-hued +light, even as the poet sang when he said-- + +Thou pacest the palace a marvel sight, * A bride for a Kisra's or + Kaisar's night! +Wantons the rose on thy roseate cheek, * O cheek as the blood of + the dragon[FN#335] bright! +Slim waisted, languorous, sleepy eyed, * With charms which + promise all love +And the tire which attires thy tiara'd brow * Is a night of woe + on a morn's glad light. + +The fair young girl came down from the estrade and said to me, +"Welcome and well come and good cheer to my sister, the dearly +beloved, the illustrious, and a thousand greetings!" Then she +recited these couplets:-- + +"An but the house could know who cometh 'twould rejoice, * And + kiss the very dust whereon thy foot was placed +And with the tongue of circumstance the walls would say, * + "Welcome and hail to one with generous gifts engraced!" + +Then sat she down and said to me, "O my sister, I have a brother +who hath had sight of thee at sundry wedding feasts and festive +seasons: he is a youth handsomer than I, and he hath fallen +desperately in love with thee, for that bounteous Destiny hath +garnered in thee all beauty and perfection; and he hath given +silver to this old woman that she might visit thee; and she hath +contrived on this wise to foregather us twain. He hath heard that +thou art one of the nobles of thy tribe nor is he aught less in +his; and, being desirous to ally his lot with thy lot, he hath +practiced this device to bring me in company with thee; for he is +fain to marry thee after the ordinance of Allah and his Apostle; +and in what is lawful and right there is no shame." When I heard +these words and saw myself fairly entrapped in the house, I said, +"Hearing is consenting." She was delighted at this and clapped +her hands;[FN#336] whereupon a door opened and out of it came a +young man blooming in the prime of life, exquisitely dressed, a +model of beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace, +with gentle winning manners and eyebrows like a bended bow and +shaft on cord, and eyes which bewitched all hearts with sorcery +lawful in the sight of the Lord; even as saith some rhymer +describing the like of him:-- + +His face as the face of the young moon shines * And Fortune + stamps him with pearls for signs.[FN#337] + +And Allah favour him who said:-- + +Blest be his beauty; blest the Lord's decree * Who cast and + shaped a thing so bright of blee: +All gifts of beauty he conjoins in one; * Lost in his love is all + humanity; +For Beauty's self inscribed on his brow * "I testify there be no + Good but he!"[FN#338] + +When I looked at him my heart inclined to him and I loved him; +and he sat by my side and talked with me a while, when the young +lady again clapped her hands and behold, a side door opened and +out of it came the Kazi with his four assessors as witnesses; and +they saluted us and, sitting down, drew up and wrote out the +marriage contract between me and the youth and retired. Then he +turned to me and said, "Be our night blessed," presently adding, +"O my lady, I have a condition to lay on thee." Quoth I, "O my +lord, what is that?" Whereupon he arose and fetching a copy of +the Holy Book presented it to me saying "Swear hereon thou wilt +never look at any other than myself nor incline thy body or thy +heart to him." I swore readily enough to this and he joyed with +exceeding joy and embraced me round the neck while love for him +possessed my whole heart. Then they set the table[FN#339] before +us and we ate and drank till we were satisfied, but I was dying +for the coming of the night. And when night did come he led me to +the bride chamber and slept with me on the bed and continued to +kiss and embrace me till the morning--such a night I had never +seen in my dreams. I lived with him a life of happiness and +delight for a full month, at the end of which I asked his +leave[FN#340] to go on foot to the bazar and buy me certain +especial stuffs and he gave me permission. So I donned my +mantilla and, taking with me the old woman and a +slave-girl,[FN#341] I went to the khan of the silk-mercers, where +I seated myself in the shop front of a young merchant whom the +old woman recommended, saying to me, "This youth's father died +when he was a boy and left him great store of wealth: he hath by +him a mighty fine[FN#342] stock of goods and thou wilt find what +thou seekest with him, for none in the bazar hath better stuffs +than he. Then she said to him, "Show this lady the most costly +stuffs thou hast by thee;" and he replied, "Hearkening and +obedience!" Then she whispered me, "Say a civil word to him!"; +but I replied, "I am pledged to address no man save my lord. And +as she began to sound his praise I said sharply to her, We want +nought of thy sweet speeches; our wish is to buy of him +whatsoever we need, and return home." So he brought me all I +sought and I offered him his money, but he refused to take it +saying, "Let it be a gift offered to my guest this day!" Then +quoth I to the old woman, "If he will not take the money, give +him back his stuff." "By Allah," cried he, "not a thing will I +take from thee: I sell it not for gold or for silver, but I give +it all as a gift for a single kiss; a kiss more precious to me +than everything the shop containeth." Asked the old woman, "What +will the kiss profit thee?"; and, turning to me, whispered, "O my +daughter, thou hearest what this young fellow saith? What harm +will it do thee if he get a kiss from thee and thou gettest what +thou seekest at that price?" Replied I, "I take refuge with Allah +from such action! Knowest thou not that I am bound by an +oath?''[FN#343] But she answered, "Now whist! just let him kiss +thee and neither speak to him nor lean over him, so shalt thou +keep thine oath and thy silver, and no harm whatever shall befal +thee." And she ceased not to persuade me and importune me and +make light of the matter till evil entered into my mind and I put +my head in the poke[FN#344] and, declaring I would ne'er consent, +consented. So I veiled my eyes and held up the edge of my +mantilla between me and the people passing and he put his mouth +to my cheek under the veil. But while kissing me he bit me so +hard a bite that it tore the flesh from my cheek,[FN#345] and +blood flowed fast and faintness came over me. The old woman +caught me in her arms and, when I came to myself, I found the +shop shut up and her sorrowing over me and saying, "Thank Allah +for averting what might have been worse!" Then she said to me, +"Come, take heart and let us go home before the matter become +public and thou be dishonoured. And when thou art safe inside the +house feign sickness and lie down and cover thyself up; and I +will bring thee powders and plasters to cure this bite withal, +and thy wound will be healed at the latest in three days." So +after a while I arose and I was in extreme distress and terror +came full upon me; but I went on little by little till I reached +the house when I pleaded illness and lay me down. When it was +night my husband came in to me and said, "What hath befallen +thee, O my darling, in this excursion of thine?"; and I replied, +"I am not well: my head acheth badly." Then he lighted a candle +and drew near me and looked hard at me and asked, "What is that +wound I see on thy cheek and in the tenderest part too?" And I +answered, When I went out to day with thy leave to buy stuffs, a +camel laden with firewood jostled me and one of the pieces tore +my veil and wounded my cheek as thou seest; for indeed the ways +of this city are strait." "Tomorrow," cried he, "I will go +complain to the Governor, so shall he gibbet every fuel seller in +Baghdad." "Allah upon thee," said I, "burden not thy soul with +such sin against any man. The fact is I was riding on an ass and +it stumbled, throwing me to the ground; and my cheek lighted upon +a stick or a bit of glass and got this wound." "Then," said he, +"tomorrow I will go up to Ja'afar the Barmaki and tell him the +story, so shall he kill every donkey boy in Baghdad." "Wouldst +thou destroy all these men because of my wound," said I, "when +this which befel me was by decree of Allah and His destiny?" But +he answered, "There is no help for it;" and, springing to his +feet, plied me with words and pressed me till I was perplexed and +frightened; and I stuttered and stammered and my speech waxed +thick and I said, "This is a mere accident by decree of Allah." +Then, O Commander of the Faithful, he guessed my case and said, +"Thou hast been false to thine oath." He at once cried out with a +loud cry, whereupon a door opened and in came seven black slaves +whom he commanded to drag me from my bed and throw me down in the +middle of the room. Furthermore, he ordered one of them to pinion +my elbows and squat upon my head; and a second to sit upon my +knees and secure my feet; and drawing his sword he gave it to a +third and said, "Strike her, O Sa'ad, and cut her in twain and +let each one take half and cast it into the Tigris[FN#346] that +the fish may eat her; for such is the retribution due to those +who violate their vows and are unfaithful to their love." And he +redoubled in wrath and recited these couplets:-- + +"An there be one who shares with me her love, * I'd strangle Love + tho' life by Love were slain +Saying, O Soul, Death were the nobler choice, * For ill is Love + when shared 'twixt partners twain." + +Then he repeated to the slave, "Smite her, O Sa'ad!" And when the +slave who was sitting upon me made sure of the command he bent +down to me and said, "O my mistress, repeat the profession of +Faith and bethink thee if there be any thing thou wouldst have +done; for verily this is the last hour of thy life." "O good +slave," said I, "wait but a little while and get off my head that +I may charge thee with my last injunctions." Then I raised my +head and saw the state I was in, how I had fallen from high +degree into lowest disgrace; and into death after life (and such +life!) and how I had brought my punishment on myself by my own +sin; where upon the tears streamed from mine eyes and I wept with +exceed ing weeping. But he looked on me with eyes of wrath, and +began repeating:-- + +"Tell her who turneth from our love to work it injury sore, * And + taketh her a fine new love the old love tossing o'er: +We cry enough o' thee ere thou enough of us shalt cry! * What + past between us cloth suffice and haply something + more."[FN#347] + +When I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I wept and looked +at him and began repeating these couplets:-- + +"To severance you doom my love and all unmoved remain; * My + tear sore lids you sleepless make and sleep while I + complain: +You make firm friendship reign between mine eyes and + insomny; * Yet can my heart forget you not, nor tears can I + restrain: +You made me swear with many an oath my troth to hold for aye; * + But when you reigned my bosom's lord you wrought me traitor + bane: +I loved you like a silly child who wots not what is Love; * Then + spare the learner, let her not be by the master slain! +By Allah's name I pray you write, when I am dead and gone, * + Upon my tomb, This died of Love whose senses Love had ta'en: +Then haply one shall pass that way who fire of Love hath felt, * + And treading on a lover's heart with ruth and woe shall + melt." + +When I ended my verses tears came again; but the poetry and the +weeping only added fury to his fury, and he recited:-- + +"'Twas not satiety bade me leave the dearling of my soul, * But + that she sinned a mortal sin which clips me in its clip: +She sought to let another share the love between us twain, * But + my True Faith of Unity refuseth partnership."[FN#348] + +When he ceased reciting I wept again and prayed his pardon and +humbled myself before him and spoke him softly, saying to myself, +"I will work on him with words; so haply he will refrain from +slaying me, even though he take all I have." So I complained of +my sufferings and began to repeat these couplets:-- + +"Now, by thy life and wert thou just my life thou hadst not + ta'en, * But who can break the severance law which parteth + lovers twain! +Thou loadest me with heavy weight of longing love, when I * Can + hardly bear my chemisette for weakness and for pain: +I marvel not to see my life and soul in ruin lain: * I marvel + much to see my frame such severance pangs sustain." + +When I ended my verse I wept again; and he looked at me and +reviled me in abusive language,[FN#349] repeating these +couplets:-- + +"Thou wast all taken up with love of other man, not me; * 'Twas + thine to show me severance face, ''twas only mine to see: +I'll leave thee for that first thou wert of me to take thy leave + * And patient bear that parting blow thou borest so + patiently: +E'en as thou soughtest other love, so other love I'll seek, * And + make the crime of murdering love thine own atrocity." + +When he had ended his verses he again cried out to the slave, +"Cut her in half and free us from her, for we have no profit of +her. So the slave drew near me, O Commander of the Faithful and I +ceased bandying verses and made sure of death and, despairing of +life, committed my affairs to Almighty Allah, when behold, the +old woman rushed in and threw herself at my husband's feet and +kissed them and wept and said, "O my son, by the rights of my +fosterage and by my long service to thee, I conjure thee pardon +this young lady, for indeed she hath done nothing deserving such +doom. Thou art a very young man and I fear lest her death be laid +at thy door; for it is said:--Whoso slayeth shall be slain. As +for this wanton (since thou deemest her such) drive her out from +thy doors, from thy love and from thy heart." And she ceased not +to weep and importune him till he relented and said, 'I pardon +her, but needs must I set on her my mark which shall show upon +her all my life." Then he bade the slaves drag me along the +ground and lay me out at full length, after stripping me of all +my clothes;[FN#350] and when the slaves had so sat upon me that I +could not move, he fetched in a rod of quince tree and came down +with it upon my body, and continued beating me on the back and +sides till I lost consciousness from excess of pain, and I +despaired of life. Then he commanded the slaves to take me away +as soon as it was dark, together with the old woman to show them +the way and throw me upon the floor of the house wherein I dwelt +before my marriage. They did their lord's bidding and cast me +down in my old home and went their ways. I did not revive from my +swoon till dawn appeared, when I applied myself to the dressing +of my wounds with ointments and other medicaments; and I +medicined myself, but my sides and ribs still showed signs of the +rod as thou hast seen. I lay in weakly case and confined to my +bed for four months before I was able to rise and health returned +to me. At the end of that time I went to the house where all this +had happened and found it a ruin; the street had been pulled down +endlong and rubbish heaps rose where the building erst was; nor +could I learn how this had come about. Then I betook myself to +this my sister on my father's side and found her with these two +black bitches. I saluted her and told her what had betided me and +the whole of my story and she said, "O my sister, who is safe +from the despite of Time and secure? Thanks be to Allah who has +brought thee off safely;" and she began to say:-- + +"Such is the World, so bear a patient heart * When riches leave + thee and when friends depart!" + +Then she told me her own story, and what had happened to her with +her two sisters and how matters had ended; so we abode together +and the subject of marriage was never on our tongues for all +these years. After a while we were joined by our other sister, +the procuratrix, who goeth out every morning and buyeth all we +require for the day and night; and we continued in such condition +till this last night. In the morning our sister went out, as +usual, to make her market and then befel us what befel from +bringing the Porter into the house and admitting these three +Kalandar men., We entreated them kindly and honourably and a +quarter of the night had not passed ere three grave and +respectable merchants from Mosul joined us and told us their +adventures. We sat talking with them but on one condition which +they violated, whereupon we treated them as sorted with their +breach of promise, and made them repeat the account they had +given of themselves. They did our bidding and we forgave their +offence; so they departed from us and this morning we were +unexpectedly summoned to thy presence. And such is our story! The +Caliph wondered at her words and bade the tale be recorded and +chronicled and laid up in his muniment-chambers.--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Nineteenth Night, + +She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +Caliph commanded this story and those of the sister and the +Kalandars to be recorded in the archives and be set in the royal +muniment-chambers. Then he asked the eldest lady, the mistress of +the house, "Knowest thou the whereabouts of the Ifritah who +spelled thy sisters?"; and she answered, "O Commander of the +Faithful, she gave me a ringlet of her hair saying: --Whenas thou +wouldest see me, burn a couple of these hairs and I will be with +thee forthright, even though I were beyond Caucasus-mountain." +Quoth the Caliph, "Bring me hither the hair." So she brought it +and he threw the whole lock upon the fire. As soon as the odour of +the burning hair dispread itself, the palace shook and trembled, +and all present heard a rumbling and rolling of thunder and a +noise as of wings and lo! the Jinniyah who had been a serpent +stood in the Caliph's presence. Now she was a Moslemah, so she +saluted him and said, "Peace be with thee O Vicar[FN#351] of +Allah;" whereto he replied, "And with thee also be peace and the +mercy of Allah and His blessing." Then she continued, "Know that +this damsel sowed for me the seed of kindness, wherefor I cannot +enough requite her, in that she delivered me from death and +destroyed mine enemy. Now I had seen how her sisters dealt with +her and felt myself bound to avenge her on them. At first I was +minded to slay them, but I feared it would be grievous to her, so +I transformed them to bitches; but if thou desire their release, +O Commander of the Faithful, I will release them to pleasure thee +and her for I am of the Moslems." Quoth the Caliph, "Release them +and after we will look into the affair of the beaten lady and +consider her case carefully; and if the truth of her story be +evidenced I will exact retaliation[FN#352] from him who wronged +her." Said the Ifritah, "O Commander of the Faithful, I will +forthwith release them and will discover to thee the man who did +that deed by this lady and wronged her and took her property, and +he is the nearest of all men to thee!" So saying she took a cup +of water and muttered a spell over it and uttered words there was +no understanding; then she sprinkled some of the water over the +faces of the two bitches, saying, "Return to your former human +shape!" whereupon they were restored to their natural forms and +fell to praising their Creator. Then said the Ifritah, "O +Commander of the Faithful, of a truth he who scourged this lady +with rods is thy son Al-Amin brother of Al-Maamun ;[FN#353] for +he had heard of her beauty and love liness and he played a +lover's stratagem with her and married her according to the law +and committed the crime (such as it is) of scourging her. Yet +indeed he is not to be blamed for beating her, for he laid a +condition on her and swore her by a solemn oath not to do a +certain thing; however, she was false to her vow and he was +minded to put her to death, but he feared Almighty Allah and +contented himself with scourging her, as thou hast seen, and with +sending her back to her own place. Such is the story of the +second lady and the Lord knoweth all." When the Caliph heard +these words of the Ifritah, and knew who had beaten the damsel, +he marvelled with mighty marvel and said, "Praise be to Allah, +the Most High, the Almighty, who hath shown his exceeding mercy +towards me, enabling me to deliver these two damsels from sorcery +and torture, and vouchsafing to let me know the secret of this +lady's history! And now by Allah, we will do a deed which shall +be recorded of us after we are no more." Then he summoned his son +Al-Amin and questioned him of the story of the second lady, the +portress; and he told it in the face of truth; whereupon the +Caliph bade call into presence the Kazis and their witnesses and +the three Kalandars and the first lady with her sisters german +who had been ensorcelled; and he married the three to the three +Kalandars whom he knew to be princes and sons of Kings and he +appointed them chamberlains about his person, assigning to them +stipends and allowances and all that they required, and lodging +them in his palace at Baghdad. He returned the beaten lady to his +son, Al-Amin, renewing the marriage contract between them and +gave her great wealth and bade rebuild the house fairer than it +was before. As for himself he took to wife the procuratrix and +lay with her that night: and next day he set apart for her an +apartment in his Serraglio, with handmaidens for her service and +a fixed daily allowance. And the people marvelled at their +Caliph's generosity and natural beneficence and princely widsom; +nor did he forget to send all these histories to be recorded in +his annals. When Shahrazad ceased speaking Dunyazad exclaimed, "O +my own sister, by Allah in very sooth this is a right pleasant +tale and a delectable; never was heard the like of it, but +prithee tell me now another story to while away what yet +remaineth of the waking hours of this our night." She replied, +"With love and gladness if the King give me leave;" and he said, +"Tell thy tale and tell it quickly." So she began, in these +words, + + + + + + THE TALE OF THE THREE APPLES + + +They relate, O King of the age and lord of the time and of these +days, that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid summoned his Wazir Ja'afar +one night and said to him, 'I desire to go down into the city and +question the common folk concerning the conduct of those charged +with its governance; and those of whom they complain we will +depose from office and those whom they commend we will promote." +Quoth Ja'afar, "Hearkening and obedience!" So the Caliph went +down with Ja'afar and Eunuch Masrur to the town and walked about +the streets and markets and, as they were threading a narrow +alley, they came upon a very old man with a fishing-net and crate +to carry small fish on his head, and in his hand a staff; and, as +he walked at a leisurely pace, he repeated these lines:-- + +"They say me: --Thou shinest a light to mankind * With thy lore + as the night which the Moon doth uplight! +I answer, "A truce to your jests and your gibes; * Without luck + what is learning?--a poor-devil wight! +If they take me to pawn with my lore in my pouch, * With my + volumes to read and my ink-case to write, +For one day's provision they never could pledge me; * As likely + on Doomsday to draw bill at sight:" +How poorly, indeed, doth it fare wi' the poor, * With his pauper + existence and beggarly plight: +In summer he faileth provision to find; * In winter the + fire-pot's his only delight: +The street-dogs with bite and with bark to him rise, * And each + losel receives him with bark and with bite: +If he lift up his voice and complain of his wrong, * None pities + or heeds him, however he's right; +And when sorrows and evils like these he must brave * His + happiest homestead were down in the grave." + +When the Caliph heard his verses he said to Ja'afar, "See this +poor man and note his verses, for surely they point to his +necessities." Then he accosted him and asked, "O Shaykh, what be +thine occupation?" and the poor man answered, "O my lord, I am a +fisherman with a family to keep and I have been out between +mid-day and this time; and not a thing hath Allah made my portion +wherewithal to feed my family. I cannot even pawn myself to buy +them a supper and I hate and disgust my life and I hanker after +death." Quoth the Caliph, "Say me, wilt thou return with us to +Tigris' bank and cast thy net on my luck, and whatsoever turneth +up I will buy of thee for an hundred gold pieces?" The man +rejoiced when he heard these words and said, "On my head be it! I +will go back with you;" and, returning with them river-wards, +made a cast and waited a while; then he hauled in the rope and +dragged the net ashore and there appeared in it a chest padlocked +and heavy. The Caliph examined it and lifted it finding it +weighty; so he gave the fisherman two hundred dinars and sent him +about his business; whilst Masrur, aided by the Caliph, carried +the chest to the palace and set it down and lighted the candles. +Ja'afar and Masrur then broke it open and found therein a basket +of palm-leaves corded with red worsted. This they cut open and +saw within it a piece of carpet which they lifted out, and under +it was a woman's mantilla folded in four, which they pulled out; +and at the bottom of the chest they came upon a young lady, fair +as a silver ingot, slain and cut into nineteen pieces. When the +Caliph looked upon her he cried, "Alas!" and tears ran down his +cheeks and turning to Ja'afar he said, "O dog of Wazirs, [FN#354] +shall folk be murdered in our reign and be cast into the river to +be a burden and a responsibility for us on the Day of Doom? By +Allah, we must avenge this woman on her murderer and he shall be +made die the worst of deaths!" And presently he added, " Now, as +surely as we are descended from the Sons of Abbas, [FN#355] if +thou bring us not him who slew her, that we do her justice on +him, I will hang thee at the gate of my palace, thee and forty of +thy kith and kin by thy side." And the: Caliph was wroth with +exceeding rage. Quoth Ja'afar, "Grant me three days' delay;" and +quoth the Caliph, "We grant thee this." So Ja'afar went out from +before him and returned to his own house, full of sorrow and +saying to himself, "How shall I find him who murdered this +damsel, that I may bring him before the Caliph? If I bring other +than the murderer, it will be laid to my charge by the Lord: in +very sooth I wot not what to do." He kept his house three days +and on the fourth day the Caliph sent one of the Chamberlains for +him and, as he came into the presence, asked him, "Where is the +murderer of the damsel?" to which answered Ja'afar, "O Commander +of the Faithful, am I inspector of " murdered folk that I should +ken who killed her?" The Caliph was furious at his answer and +bade hang him before the palace-gate and commanded that a crier +cry through the streets of Baghdad, "Whoso would see the hanging +of Ja'afar, the Barmaki, Wazir of the Caliph, with forty of the +Barmecides, [FN#356] his cousins and kinsmen, before the +palace-gate, let him come and let him look!" The people flocked +out from all the quarters of the city to witness the execution of +Ja'afar and his kinsmen, not knowing the cause. Then they set up +the gallows and made Ja'afar and the others stand underneath in +readiness for execution, but whilst every eye was looking for the +Caliph's signal, and the crowd wept for Ja'afar and his cousins +of the Barmecides, lo and behold! a young man fair of face and +neat of dress and of favour like the moon raining light, with +eyes black and bright, and brow flower-white, and cheeks red as +rose and young down where the beard grows, and a mole like a +grain of ambergris, pushed his way through the people till he +stood immediately before the Wazir and said to him, "Safety to +thee from this strait, O Prince of the Emirs and Asylum of the +poor! I am the man who slew the woman ye found in the chest, so +hang me for her and do her justice on me!" When Ja'afar heard the +youth's confession he rejoiced at his own deliverance. but +grieved and sorrowed for the fair youth; and whilst they were yet +talking behold, another man well stricken in years pressed +forwards through the people and thrust his way amid the populace +till he came to Ja'afar and the youth, whom he saluted saying, +"Ho thou the Wazir and Prince sans-peer! believe not the words of +this youth. Of a surety none murdered the damsel but I; take her +wreak on me this moment; for, an thou do not thus, I will require +it of thee before Almighty Allah." Then quoth the young man, "O +Wazir, this is an old man in his dotage who wotteth not whatso he +saith ever, and I am he who murdered her, so do thou avenge her +on me!" Quoth the old man, "O my son, thou art young and desirest +the joys of the world and I am old and weary and surfeited with +the world: I will offer my life as a ransom for thee and for the +Wazir and his cousins. No one murdered the damsel but I, so Allah +upon thee, make haste to hang me, for no life is left in me now +that hers is gone." The Wazir marvelled much at all this +strangeness and, taking the young man and the old man, carried +them before the Caliph, where, after kissing the ground seven +times between his hands, he said, "O Commander of the Faithful, I +bring thee the murderer of the damsel!" "Where is he?" asked the +Caliph and Ja'afar answered, "This young man saith, I am the +murderer, and this old man giving him the lie saith, I am the +murderer, and behold, here are the twain standing before thee." +The Caliph looked at the old man and the young man and asked, +"Which of you killed the girl?" The young man replied, "No one +slew her save I;" and the old man answered, "Indeed none killed +her but myself." Then said the Caliph to Ja'afar, "Take the twain +and hang them both;" but Ja'afar rejoined, "Since one of them was +the murderer, to hang the other were mere injustice."[FN#357] "By +Him who raised the firmament and dispread the earth like a +carpet," cried the youth, "I am he who slew the damsel;" and he +went on to describe the manner of her murder and the basket, the +mantilla and the bit of carpet, in fact all that the Caliph had +found upon her. So the Caliph was certified that the young man +was the murderer; whereat he wondered and asked him, 'What was +the cause of thy wrongfully doing this damsel to die and what +made thee confess the murder without the bastinado, and what +brought thee here to yield up thy life, and what made thee say Do +her wreak upon me?" The youth answered, "Know, O Commander of the +Faithful, that this woman was my wife and the mother of my +children; also my first cousin and the daughter of my paternal +uncle, this old man who is my father's own brother. When I +married her she was a maid [FN#358] and Allah blessed me with +three male children by her; she loved me and served me and I saw +no evil in her, for I also loved her with fondest love. Now on +the first day of this month she fell ill with grievous sickness +and I fetched in physicians to her; but recovery came to her +little by little. and, when I wished her to go to the Hammam-bath, +she said, "There is a something I long for before I go to +the bath and I long for it with an exceeding longing." To hear is +to comply," said I. "And what is it?" Quoth she, "I have a queasy +craving for an apple, to smell it and bite a bit of it." I +replied, "Hadst thou a thousand longings I would try to satisfy +them!" So I went on the instant into the city and sought for +apples but could find none; yet, had they cost a gold piece each, +would I have bought them. I was vexed at this and went home and +said, "O daughter of my uncle. by Allah I can find none!" She was +distressed, being yet very weakly, and her weakness in. creased +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 wet not, O son of my uncle, where 'tis +gone!" This convinced me that the slave had spoken the truth, so +I took a knife and coming behind her got upon her breast without +a word said and cut her throat. Then I hewed off her head and her +limbs in pieces and, wrapping her in her mantilla and a rag of +carpet, hurriedly sewed up the whole which I set in a chest and, +locking it tight, loaded it on my he-mule and threw it into the +Tigris with my own hands. So Allah upon thee, O Commander of the +Faithful, make haste to hang me, as I fear lest she appeal for +vengeance on Resurrection Day. For, when I had thrown her into +the river and none knew aught of it, as I went back home I found +my eldest son crying and yet he knew naught of what I had done +with his mother. I asked him, "What hath made thee weep, my boy?" +and he answered, "I took one of the three apples which were by my +mammy and went down into the lane to play with my brethren when +behold, a big long black slave snatched it from my hand and said. +'Whence hadst thou this?' Quoth I, 'My father travelled far for +it, and brought it from Bassorah for my mother who was ill and +two other apples for which he paid three ducats.' He took no heed +of my words and I asked for the apple a second and a third time, +but he cuffed me and kicked me and went off with it. I was afraid +lest my mother should swinge me on account of the apple, so for +fear of her I went with my brother outside the city and stayed +there till evening closed in upon us; and indeed I am in fear of +her; and now by Allah, O my father, say nothing to her of this or +it may add to her ailment!" When I heard what-my child said I +knew that the slave was he who had foully slandered my wife, the +daughter of my uncle, and was certified that I had slain her +wrong. fully. So I wept with exceeding weeping and presently this +old man, my paternal uncle and her father, came in; and I told +him what had happened and he sat down by my side and wept and we +ceased not weeping till midnight. We have kept up mourning for +her these last five days and we lamented her in the deepest +sorrow for that she was unjustly done to die. This came from the +gratuitous lying of the slave, the blackamoor, and this was the +manner of my killing her; so I conjure thee, by the honour of +thine ancestors, make haste to kill me and do her justice upon +me, as there is no living for me after her!" The Caliph marvelled +at his words and said, "By Allah, the young man is excusable: I +will hang none but the accursed slave and I will do a deed which +shall comfort the ill-at-ease and suffering, and which shall +please the All-glorious King."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn +of day and ceased saying her permitted say, + + When it was the Twentieth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph +swore he would hang none but the slave, for the youth was +excusable. Then he turned to Ja'afar and said to him, "Bring +before me this accursed slave who was the sole cause of this +calamity; and, if thou bring him not before me within three days, +thou shalt be slain in his stead." So Ja'afar fared forth weeping +and saying. "Two deaths have already beset me, nor shall the +crock come of safe from every shock.' [FN#360] In this matter +craft and cunning are of no avail; but He who preserved my life +the first time can preserve it a second time. By Allah, I will +not leave my house during the three days of life which remain to +me and let the Truth (whose perfection be praised!) do e'en as He +will." So he kept his house three days, and on the fourth day he +summoned the Kazis and legal witnesses and made his last will and +testament, and took leave of his children weeping. Presently in +came a messenger from the Caliph and said to him, "The Commander +of the Faithful is in the most violent rage that can be, and he +sendeth to seek thee and he sweareth that the day shall certainly +not pass without thy being hanged unless the slave be forth-coming." +When Ja'afar heard this he wept, and his children and +slaves and all who were in the house wept with him. After he had +bidden adieu to everybody except his youngest daughter, he +proceeded to farewell her; for he loved this wee one, who was a +beautiful child, more than all his other children; and he pressed +her to his breast and kissed her and wept bitterly at parting +from her; when he felt something round inside the bosom of her +dress and asked her, "O my little maid, what is in thy bosom +pocket?"; "O my father," she replied, "it is an apple with the +name of our Lord the Caliph written upon it. Rayhan our slave +brought it to me four days ago and would not let me have it till +I gave him two dinars for it." When Ja'afar heard speak of the +slave and the apple, he was glad and put his hand into his +child's pocket [FN#361] and drew out the apple and knew it and +rejoiced saying, "O ready Dispeller of trouble " [FN#362] Then he +bade them bring the slave and said to him, "Fie upon thee, +Rayhan! whence haddest thou this apple?" "By Allah, O my master," +he replied, "though a lie may get a man once off, yet may truth +get him off, and well off, again and again. I did not steal this +apple from thy palace nor from the gardens of the Commander of +the Faithful. The fact is that five days ago, as I was walking +along one of the alleys of this city, I saw some little ones at +play and this apple in hand of one of them. So I snatched it from +him and beat him and he cried and said, 'O youth this apple is my +mother's and she is ill. She told my father how she longed for an +apple, so he travelled to Bassorah and bought her three apples +for three gold pieces, and I took one of them to play withal.' He +wept again, but I paid no heed to what he said and carried it off +and brought it here, and my little lady bought it of me for two +dinars of gold. And this is the whole story." When Ja'afar heard +his words he marvelled that the murder of the damsel and all this +misery should have been caused by his slave; he grieved for the +relation of the slave to himself, while rejoicing over his own +deliverance, and he repeated these lines: -- + +"If ill betide thee through thy slave, * Make him forthright thy + sacrifice: +A many serviles thou shalt find, * But life comes once and never + twice." + +Then he took the slave's hand and, leading him to the Caliph, +related the story from first to last and the Caliph marvelled +with extreme astonishment, and laughed till he fell on his back +and ordered that the story be recorded and be made public amongst +the people. But Ja'afar said, "Marvel not, O Commander of the +Faithful, at this adventure, for it is not more wondrous than the +History of the Wazir Nur al-Din Ali of Egypt and his brother +Shams al-Din Mohammed. -- Quoth the Caliph, "Out with it; but +what can be stranger than this story?" And Ja'afar answered, "O +Commander of the Faithful, I will not tell it thee, save on +condition that thou pardon my slave;" and the Caliph rejoined, +"If it be indeed more wondrous than that of the three apples, I +grant thee his blood, and if not I will surely slay thy slave." +So Ja'afar began in these words the + + + + + + TALE OF NUR AL-DIN AND HIS SON. + + +Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that in times of yore the land +of Egypt was ruled by a Sultan endowed with justice and +generosity, one who loved the pious poor and companied with the +Olema and learned men; and he had a Wazir, a wise and an +experienced, well versed in affairs and in the art of government. +This Minister, who was a very old man, had two sons, as they were +two moons; never man saw the like of them for beauty and grace, +the elder called Shams al-Din Mohammed and the younger Nur al-Din +Ali; but the younger excelled the elder in seemliness and +pleasing semblance, so that folk heard his fame in far countries +and men flocked to Egypt for the purpose of seeing him. In +course of time their father, the Wazir, died and was deeply +regretted and mourned by the Sultan, who sent for his two sons +and, investing them with dresses of honour, [FN#363] said to +them, "Let not your hearts be troubled, for ye shall stand in +your father's stead and be joint Ministers of Egypt." At this +they rejoiced and kissed the ground before him and performed the +ceremonial mourning [FN#364] for their father during a full +month; after which time they entered upon the Wazirate, and the +power passed into their hands as it had been in the hands of +their father, each doing duty for a week at a time. They lived +under the same roof and their word was one; and whenever the +Sultan desired to travel they took it by turns to be in +attendance on him. It fortuned one night that the Sultan +purposed setting out on a journey next morning, and the elder, +whose turn it was to accompany him, was sitting conversing with +his brother and said to him, "O my brother, it is my wish that we +both marry, I and thou, two sisters; and go in to our wives on +one and the same night." "Do, O my brother, as thou desirest," +the younger replied, "for right is thy recking and surely I will +comply with thee in whatso thou sayest." So they agreed upon +this and quoth Shams al-Din, "If Allah decree that we marry two +damsels and go in to them on the same night, and they shall +conceive on their bridenights and bear children to us on the same +day, and by Allah's will they 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 wouldst 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, 'Bismallah, [FN#366] in the name of Allah, I will do +all what thou requirest but come to-morrow!' Whereupon the other +replied in this verse:-- + +'When he who is asked a favour saith "To-morrow," * The wise man +wots 'tis vain to beg or borrow.'" + +Quoth Shams al-Din, "Basta! [FN#367] I see thee fail in respect +to me by making thy son of more account than my daughter; and +'tis plain that thine understanding is of the meanest and that +thou lackest manners. Thou remindest me of thy partnership in +the Wazirate, when I admitted thee to share with me only in pity +for thee, and not wishing to mortify thee; and that thou mightest +help me as a manner of assistant. But since thou talkest on this +wise, by Allah, I will never marry my daughter to thy son; no, +not for her weight in gold!" When Nur al-Din heard his brother's +words he waxed wroth and said, "And I too, I will never, never +marry my son to thy daughter; no, not to keep from my lips the +cup of death." Shams al-Din replied, "I would not accept him as +a husband for her, and he is not worth a paring of her nail. +Were I not about to travel I would make an example of thee; +however when I return thou shalt see, and I will show thee, how I +can assert my dignity and vindicate my honour. But Allah doeth +whatso He willeth."[FN#368] When Nur al-Din heard this speech +from his brother, he was filled with fury and lost his wits for +rage; but he hid what he felt and held his peace; and each of the +brothers passed the night in a place far apart, wild with wrath +against the other. As soon as morning dawned the Sultan fared +forth in state and crossed over from Cairo [FN#369] to Jizah +[FN#370] and made for the pyramids, accompanied by the Wazir +Shams al-Din, whose turn of duty it was, whilst his brother Nur +al-din, who passed the night in sore rage, rose with the light +and prayed the dawn-prayer. Then he betook himself to his +treasury and, taking a small pair of saddle-bags, filled them +with gold; and he called to mind his brother's threats and the +contempt wherewith he had treated him, and he repeated these +couplets:-- + +"Travel! and thou shalt find new friends for old ones left + behind; * Toil! for the sweets of human life by toil and + moil are found: +The stay-at-home no honour wins nor aught attains but want; * So + leave thy place of birth [FN#371] and wander all the world + around! +I've seen, and very oft I've seen, how standing water stinks, * + And only flowing sweetens it and trotting makes it sound: +And were the moon forever full and ne'er to wax or wane, * Man + would not strain his watchful eyes to see its gladsome + round: +Except the lion leave his lair he ne'er would fell his game, * + Except the arrow leave the bow ne'er had it reached its + bound: +Gold-dust is dust the while it lies untravelled in the mine, * + And aloes-wood mere fuel is upon its native ground: +And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoal'd; + * And aloes sent to foreign parts grows costlier than gold." + +When he ended his verse he bade one of his pages saddle him his +Nubian mare-mule with her padded selle. Now she was a dapple- +grey, [FN#372] with ears like reed-pens and legs like columns and +a back high and strong as a dome builded on pillars; her saddle +was of gold-cloth and her stirrups of Indian steel, and her +housing of Ispahan velvet; she had trappings which would serve +the Chosroes, 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 his 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 dis- +mounting, embraced him and made him sit down by his side and +said, "O my son, whence comest thou and what dost thou seek?" "O +my lord," Nur al-Din replied, "I have come from Cairo-city of +which my father was whilome Wazir; but he hath been removed to +the grace of Allah;" and he informed him of all that had befallen +him from beginning to end, adding, "I am resolved never to return +home before I have seen all the cities and countries of the +world." When the Wazir heard this, he said to him, "O my son, +hearken not to the voice of passion lest it cast thee into the +pit; for indeed many regions be waste places and I fear for thee +the turns of Time." Then he let load the saddle-bags and the +silk and prayer-carpets on the mule and carried Nur al-Din to his +own house, where he lodged him in a pleasant place and entreated +him honourably and made much of him, for he inclined to love him +with exceeding love. After a while he said to him, "O my son, +here am I left a man in years and have no male children, but +Allah hath blessed me with a daughter who eventh thee in beauty; +and I have rejected all her many suitors, men of rank and +substance. But affection for thee hath entered into my heart; +say me, then, wilt thou be to her a husband? If thou accept +this, I will go up with thee to the Sultan of Bassorah [FN#380] +and will tell him that thou art my nephew, the son of my brother, +and bring thee to be appointed Wazir in my place that I may keep +the house for, by Allah, O my son, I am stricken in years and +aweary." When Nur al-Din heard the Wazir's words, he bowed his +head in modesty and said, "To hear is to obey!" At this the +Wazir rejoiced and bade his servants prepare a feast and decorate +the great assembly-hall, wherein they were wont to celebrate the +marriages of Emirs and Grandees. Then he assembled his friends +and the notables of the reign and the merchants of Bassorah and +when all stood before him he said to them, "I had a brother who +was Wazir in the land of Egypt, and Allah Almighty blessed him +with two sons, whilst to me, as well ye wot, He hath given a +daughter. My brother charged me to marry my daughter to one of +his sons, whereto I assented; and, when my daughter was of age to +marry, he sent me one of his sons, the young man now present, to +whom I purpose marrying her, drawing up the contract and +celebrating the night of unveiling with due ceremony; for he is +nearer and dearer to me than a stranger and, after the wedding, +if he please he shall abide with me, or if he desire to travel I +will forward him and his wife to his father's home." Hereat one +and all replied, "Right is thy recking;" and they all looked at +the bridegroom and were pleased with him. So the Wazir sent for +the Kazi and legal witnesses and they wrote out the marriage- +contract, after which the slaves perfumed the guests with +incense, [FN#381] and served them with sherbet of sugar and +sprinkled rose-water on them and all went their ways. Then the +Wazir bade his servants take Nur al-Din to the Hammam-baths and +sent him a suit of the best of his own especial raiment, and +napkins and towelry and bowls and perfume-burners and all else +that was required. After the bath, when he came out and donned +the dress, he was even as the full moon on the fourteenth night; +and he mounted his mule and stayed not till he reached the +Wazir's palace. There he dismounted and went in to the Minister +and kissed his hands, and the Wazir bade him welcome.--And +Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her +permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-first Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir +stood up to him and welcoming him said, "Arise and go in to thy +wife this night, and on the morrow I will carry thee to the +Sultan, and pray Allah bless thee with all manner of weal." So +Nur al-Din left him and went into his wife the Wazir's daughter. +Thus far concerning him, but as regards his eldest brother, Shams +al-Din, he was absent with the Sultan a long time and when he +returned from his journey he found not his brother; and he asked +of his servants and slaves who answered, "On the day of thy +departure with the Sultan, thy brother mounted his mule fully +caparisoned as for state procession saying, 'I am going towards +Kalyub-town and I shall be absent one day or at most two days; +for my breast is straitened, and let none of you follow me.' +Then he fared forth and from that time to this we have heard no +tidings of him." Shams al-Din was greatly troubled at the sudden +disappearance of his brother and grieved with exceeding grief at +the loss and said to himself, "This is only because I chided and +upbraided him the night before my departure with the Sultan; +haply his feelings were hurt and he fared forth a-travelling; but +I must send after him." Then he went in to the Sultan and +acquainted him with what had happened and wrote letters and +dispatches, which he sent by running footmen to his deputies in +every province. But during the twenty days of his brother's +absence Nur al-Din had travelled far and had reached Bassorah; so +after diligent search the messengers failed to come at any news +of him and returned. Thereupon Shams al-Din despaired of finding +his brother and said, "Indeed I went beyond all bounds in what I +said to him with reference to the marriage of our children. +Would that I had not done so! This all cometh of my lack of wit +and want of caution." Soon after this he sought in marriage the +daughter of a Cairene merchant, [FN#382] and drew up the marriage +contract and went in to her. And it so chanced that, on the very +same night when Shams al-Din went in to his wife, Nur al-Din also +went in to his wife the daughter of the Wazir of Bassorah; this +being in accordance with the will of Almighty Allah, that He +might deal the decrees of Destiny to His creatures. Furthermore, +it was as the two brothers had said; for their two wives became +pregnant by them on the same night and both were brought to bed +on the same day; the wife of Shams al-Din, Wazir of Egypt, of a +daughter, never in Cairo was seen a fairer; and the wife of Nur +al-Din of a son, none more beautiful was ever seen in his time, +as one of the poets said concerning the like of him:-- + +That jetty hair, that glossy brow, + My slender-waisted youth, of thine, +Can darkness round creation throw, + Or make it brightly shine. +The dusky mole that faintly shows + Upon his cheek, ah! blame it not: +The tulip-flower never blows + Undarkened by its spot [FN#383] + +And as another also said:-- + +His scent was musk and his cheek was rose; * His teeth are pearls + and his lips drop wine; +His form is a brand and his hips a hill; * His hair is night and + his face moon-shine. + +They named the boy Badr al-Din Hasan and his grandfather, the +Wazir of Bassorah, rejoiced in him and, on the seventh day after +his birth, made entertainments and spread banquets which would +befit the birth of Kings' sons and heirs. Then he took Nur al- +Din and went up with him to the Sultan, and his son-in-law, when +he came before the presence of the King, kissed the ground +between his hands and repeated these verses, for he was ready of +speech, firm of sprite and good in heart as he was goodly in +form:-- + +"The world's best joys long be thy lot, my lord! * And last while + darkness and the dawn o'erlap: +O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts, * The world to dance + and Time his palms to clap." [FN#384] + +Then the Sultan rose up to honour them, and thanking Nur al-Din +for his fine compliment, asked the Wazir, "Who may be this young +man?"; and the Minister answered, "This is my brother's son," and +related his tale from first to last. Quoth the Sultan, "And how +comes he to be thy nephew and we have never heard speak of him?" +Quoth the Minister, "O our lord the Sultan, I had a brother who +was Wazir in the land of Egypt and he died, leaving two sons, +whereof the elder hath taken his father's place and the younger, +whom thou seest, came to me. I had sworn I would not marry my +daughter to any but to him; so when he came I married him to her. +[FN#385] Now he is young and I am old; my hearing is dulled and +my judgement is easily fooled; wherefore I would solicit our lord +the Sultan [FN#386] to set him in my stead, for he is my +brother's son and my daughter's husband; and he is fit for the +Wazirate, being a man of good counsel and ready contrivance." +The Sultan looked at Nur al-Din and liked him, so he stablished +him in office as the Wazir had requested and formally appointed +him, presenting him with a splendid dress of honour and a she- +mule from his private stud; and assigning to him solde, stipends +and supplies. Nur al-Din kissed the Sultan's hand and went home, +he and his father-in-law, joying with exceeding joy and saying, +"All this followeth on the heels of the boy Hasan's birth!" Next +day he presented himself before the King and, kissing the ground, +began repeating:-- + +"Grow thy weal and thy welfare day by day: * And thy luck + prevail o'er the envier's spite; +And ne'er cease thy days to be white as day, * And thy foeman's + day to be black as night!" + +The Sultan bade him be seated on the Wazir's seat, so he sat down +and applied himself to the business of his office and went into +the cases of the lieges and their suits, as is the wont of +Ministers; while the Sultan watched him and wondered at his wit +and good sense, judgement and insight. Wherefor he loved him and +took him into intimacy. When the Divan was dismissed Nur al-Din +returned to his house and related what had passed to his father- +in-law who rejoiced. And thenceforward Nur al-Din ceased not so +to administer the Wazirate that the Sultan would not be parted +from him night or day; and increased his stipend and supplies +until his means were ample and he became the owner of ships that +made trading voyages at his command, as well as of Mamelukes and +blackamoor slaves; and he laid out many estates and set up +Persian wheels and planted gardens. When his son Hasan was four +years of age, the old Wazir deceased and he made for his father- +in-law a sumptuous funeral ceremony ere he was laid in the dust. +Then he occupied himself with the education of this son and, when +the boy waxed strong and came to the age of seven, he brought him +a Fakih, a doctor of law and religion, to teach him in his own +house and charged him to give him a good education and instruct +him in politeness and manners. So the tutor made the boy read +and retain all varieties of useful knowledge, after he had spent +some years in learning the Koran by heart; [FN#387] and he ceased +not to grow in beauty and stature and symmetry, even as saith the +poet:-- + +In his face-sky shines the fullest moon; * In his cheeks' anemone + glows the sun: +He so conquered Beauty that he hath won * All charms of + humanity one by one. + +The professor brought him up in his father's palace teaching him +reading, writing and cyphering, theology and belles lettres. His +grandfather the old Wazir had bequeathed to him the whole of his +property when he was but four years of age. Now during all the +time of his earliest youth he had never left the house, till on a +certain day his father, the Wazir Nur al-Din, clad him in his +best clothes and, mounting him on a she-mule of the finest, went +up with him to the Sultan. The King gazed at Badr al-Din Hasan +and marvelled at his comeliness and loved him. As for the city- +folk, when he first passed before them with his father, they +marvelled at his exceeding beauty and sat down on the road +expecting his return, that they might look their fill on his +beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace; even as the +poet said in these verses:-- + +As the sage watched the stars, the semblance clear +Of a fair youth on 's scroll he saw appear. +Those jetty locks Canopus o'er him threw, +And tinged his temple curls a musky hue; +Mars dyed his ruddy cheek; and from his eyes +The Archer-star his glittering arrow flies; +His wit from Hermes came; and Soha's care, +(The half-seen star that dimly haunts the Bear) +Kept off all evil eyes that threaten and ensnare, +The sage stood mazed to see such fortunes meet, +And Luna kissed the earth beneath his feet. [FN#388] + +And they blessed him aloud as he passed and called upon Almighty +Allah to bless him. [FN#389] The Sultan entreated the lad with +especial favour and said to his father, "O Wazir, thou must needs +bring him daily to my presence;" whereupon he replied, "I hear +and I obey." Then the Wazir returned home with his son and +ceased not to carry him to court till he reached the age of +twenty. At that time the Minister sickened and, sending for Badr +al-Din Hasan, said to him, "Know, O my son, that the world of the +Present is but a house of mortality, while that of the Future is +a house of eternity. I wish, before I die, to bequeath thee +certain charges and do thou take heed of what I say and incline +thy heart to my words." Then he gave him 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 of his skull-cap +and wound his light turband [FN#390] round it. And he fell to +weeping over his father and at parting with him, and he but a +boy. Then Nur al-Din lapsed into a swoon, the forerunner of +death; but presently recovering himself he said, "O Hasan, O my +son, I will now bequeath to thee five last behests. The FIRST +BEHEST is, Be over-intimate with none, nor frequent any, nor be +familiar with any; so shalt thou be safe from his mischief; +[FN#391] for security lieth in seclusion of thought and a certain +retirement from the society of thy fellows; and I have heard it +said by a poet:-- + +In this world there is none thou mayst count upon * To befriend + thy case in the nick of need: +So live for thyself nursing hope of none * Such counsel I give + thee: enow, take heed! + +The SECOND BEHEST is, O my son: Deal harshly with none lest +fortune with thee deal hardly; for the fortune of this world is +one day with thee and another day against thee and all worldly +goods are but a loan to be repaid. And I have heard a poet say:- +- + +Take thought nor hast to win the thing thou wilt; * Have ruth on + man for ruth thou may'st require: +No hand is there but Allah's hand is higher; * No tyrant but + shall rue worse tyrant's ire! + +The THIRD BEHEST is, Learn to be silent in society and let thine +own faults distract thine attention from the faults of other men: +for it is said:--In silence dwelleth safety, and thereon I have +heard the lines that tell us:-- + +Reserve's a jewel, Silence safety is; * Whenas thou speakest many + a word withhold; +For an of Silence thou repent thee once, * Of speech thou shalt + repent times manifold. + +The FOURTH BEHEST, O my son, is Beware of wine-bibbing, for wine +is the head of all frowardness and a fine solvent of human wits. +So shun, and again I say, shun mixing strong liquor; for I have +heard a poet say [FN#392]:-- + +From wine [FN#393] I turn and whoso wine-cups swill; * + Becoming one of those who deem it ill: +Wine driveth man to miss salvation-way, [FN#394] * And opes the + gateway wide to sins that kill. + +The FIFTH BEHEST, O my son, is Keep thy wealth and it will keep +thee; guard thy money and it will guard thee; and waste not thy +substance lest haply thou come to want and must fare a-begging +from the meanest of mankind. Save thy dirhams and deem them the +sovereignest salve for the wounds of the world. And here again I +have heard that one of the poets said:-- + +When fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend: * When + wealth abounds all friends their friendship tender: +How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend; * But friends to + lack of wealth no friendship render. + +On this wise Nur al-Din ceased not to counsel his son Badr al-Din +Hasan till his hour came and, sighing one sobbing sigh, his life +went forth. Then the voice of mourning and keening rose high in +his house and the Sultan and all the grandees grieved for him and +buried him; but his son ceased not lamenting his loss for two +months, during which he never mounted horse, nor attended the +Divan nor presented himself before the Sultan. At last the King, +being wroth with him, stablished in his stead one of the +Chamberlains and made him Wazir, giving orders to seize and set +seals on all Nur al-Din's houses and goods and domains. So the +new Wazir went forth with a mighty posse of Chamberlains and +people of the Divan, and watchmen and a host of idlers to do this +and to seize Badr al-Din Hasan and carry him before the King, who +would deal with him as he deemed fit. Now there was among the +crowd of followers a Mameluke of the deceased Wazir who, when he +heard this order, urged his horse and rode at full speed to the +house of Badr al-Din Hasan; for he cold not endure to see the +ruin of his old master's son. He found him sitting at the gate +with head hung down and sorrowing, as was his wont, for the loss +of his father; so he dismounted and kissing his hand said to him, +"O my lord and son of my lord, haste ere ruin come and lay +waste!" When Hasan heard this he trembled and asked, "What may +be the matter?; and the man answered, "The Sultan is angered with +thee and hath issued a warrant against thee, and evil cometh hard +upon my track; so flee with thy life!" At these words Hasan's +heart flamed with the fire of bale, and his rose-red cheek turned +pale, and he said to the "Mameluke, "O my brother, is there time +for me to go in and get me some worldly gear which may stand me +in stead during my strangerhood?" But the slave replied, "O my +lord, up at once and save thyself and leave this house, while it +is yet time." And he quoted these lines:-- + +"Escape with thy life, if oppression betide thee, * And let the + house of its builder's fate! +Country for country thou'lt find, if thou seek it; * Life for + life never, early or late. +It is strange men should dwell in the house of abjection, * When + the plain of God's earth is so wide and so great!" [FN#395] + +At these words of the Mameluke, Badr al-Din covered his head with +the skirt of his garment and went forth on foot till he stood +outside of the city, where he heard folk saying, "The Sultan hath +sent his new Wazir to the house of the old Wazir, now no more, to +seal his property and seize his son Badr al-Din Hasan and take +him before the presence, that he may put him to death; " and all +cried, "Alas for his beauty and his loveliness!" When he heard +this he fled forth at hazard, knowing not whither he was going, +and gave not over hurrying onwards till Destiny drove him to his +father's tomb. So he entered the cemetery and, threading his way +through the graves, at last he reached the sepulchre where he sat +down and let fall from his head the skirt of his long robe +[FN#396] which was made of brocade with a gold-embroidered hem +whereon were worked these couplets:-- + +O thou whose forehead, like the radiant East, * Tells of the + stars of Heaven and bounteous dews: +Endure thine honour to the latest day, * And Time thy growth of + glory ne'er refuse! + +While he was sitting by his father's tomb behold, there came to +him a Jew as he were a Shroff, [FN#397] a money-changer, with a +pair of saddle-bags containing much gold, who accosted him and +kissed his hand, saying, "Whither bound, O my lord; 'tis late in +the day and thou art clad but lightly, and I read signs of +trouble in thy face?" "I was sleeping within this very hour," +answered Hasan, "when my father appeared to me and chid me for +not having visited his tomb; so I awoke trembling and came hither +forthright lest the day should go by without my visiting him, +which would have been grievous to me." "O my lord," rejoined the +Jew, [FN#398] "thy father had many merchantmen at sea and, as +some of them are now due, it is my wish to buy of thee the cargo +of the first ship that cometh into port with this thousand dinars +of gold." "I consent," quoth Hasan, whereupon the Jew took out a +bag 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 to Isaac the Jew all the cargo of the first of +his father's ships which cometh into port, for a thousand dinars, +and he hath received the price in advance." And after he had +taken one copy the Jew put it into his pouch and went away; but +Hasan fell a-weeping as he thought of the dignity and prosperity +which had erst been his and he began reciting:-- + +"This house, my lady, since you left is now a home no more * For + me, not neighbours, since you left, prove kind and + neighbourly: +The friend, whilere I took to heart, alas! no more to me * Is + friend; and even Luna's self displayeth lunacy: +You left and by your going left the world a waste, a wolf, * And + lies a gloomy murk upon the face of hill and lea: +O may the raven-bird whose cry our hapless parting croaked * + Find ne'er a nesty home and eke shed all his plumery! +At length my patience fails me; and this absence wastes my + flesh; * How many a veil by severance rent our eyes are + doomed see: +Ah! shall I ever sight again our fair past nights of your; * And + shall a single house become a home for me once more?" + +Then he wept with exceeding weeping and night came upon him; so +he leant his head against his father's grave and sleep overcame +him: Glory to him who sleepeth not! He ceased not slumbering +till the moon rose, when his head slipped from off the tomb and +he lay on his back, with limbs outstretched, his face shining +bright in the moonlight. Now the cemetery was haunted day and +night by Jinns who were of the True Believers, and presently came +out a Jinniyah who, seeing Hasan asleep, marvelled at his beauty +and loveliness and cried, "Glory to God! This youth can be none +other than one of the Wuldan of Paradise.[FN#399] Then she flew +firmament-wards to circle it, as was her custom, and met an Ifrit +on the wing who saluted her and she said to him, "Whence comest +thou?" "From Cairo," he replied. "Wilt thou come with me and +look upon the beauty of a youth who sleepeth in yonder burial +place?" she asked and he answered, "I will." So they flew till +they lighted at the tomb and she showed him the youth and said, +"Now diddest thou ever in thy born days see aught like this?" +The Ifrit looked upon him and exclaimed, "Praise be to Him that +hath no equal! But, O my sister, shall I tell thee what I have +seen this day?" Asked she, "What is that?" and he answered, "I +have seen the counterpart of this youth in the land of Egypt. +She is the daughter of the Wazir Shams al-Din and she is a model +of beauty and loveliness, of fairest favour and formous form, and +dight with symmetry and perfect grace. When she had reached the +age of nineteen, [FN#400] the Sultan of Egypt heard of her and, +sending for the Wazir her father, said to him, 'Hear me, O Wazir: +it hath reached mine ear that thou hast a daughter and I wish to +demand her of thee in marriage." The Wazir replied, "O our lord +the Sultan, deign accept my excuses and take compassion on my +sorrows, for thou knowest that my brother, who was partner with +me in the Wazirate, disappeared from amongst us many years ago +and we wot not where he is. Now the cause of his departure was +that one night, as we were sitting together and talking of wives +and children to come, we had words on the matter and he went off +in high dudgeon. But I swore that I would marry my daughter to +none save to the son of my brother on the day her mother gave her +birth, which was nigh upon nineteen years ago. I have lately +heard that my brother died at Bassorah, where he 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] whilest 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 her +permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-second Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +Jinni narrated to the Jinniyah how the King had caused the +wedding contract to be drawn up between the hunchbacked groom and +the lovely young lady who was heart-broken for sorrow; and how +she was the fairest of created things and even more beautiful +than this youth, the Jinniyah cried at him "Thou liest! this +youth is handsomer than any one of his day." The Ifrit gave her +the lie again, adding, "By Allah, O my sister, the damsel I speak +of is fairer than this; yet none but he deserveth her, for they +resemble each other like brother and sister or at least cousins. +And, well-away! how she is wasted upon that Hunchback!" Then +said she, "O my brother, let us get under him and lift him up and +carry him to Cairo, that we may compare him with the damsel of +whom thou speakest and so determine whether of the twain is the +fairer." "To hear is to obey!" replied he, "thou speakest to the +point; nor is there a righter recking than this of thine, and I +myself will carry him." So he raised him from the ground and +flew with him like a bird soaring in upper air, the Ifritah +keeping close by his side at equal speed, till he alighted with +him in the city of Cairo and set him down on a stone bench and +woke him up. He roused himself and finding that he was no longer +at his father's tomb in Bassorah-city he looked right and left +and saw that he was in a strange place; and he would have cried +out; but the Ifrit gave him a cuff which persuaded him to keep +silence. Then he brought him rich raiment and clothed him +therein and, giving him a lighted flambeau, said, "Know that I +have brought thee hither, meaning to do thee a good turn for the +love of Allah: so take this torch and mingle with the people at +the Hammam-door and walk on with them without stopping till thou +reach the house of the wedding-festival; then go boldly forward +and enter the great saloon; and fear none, but take thy stand at +the right hand of the Hunchback bridegroom; and, as often as any +of the nurses and tirewomen and singing-girls come up to thee, +[FN#405] put thy hand into thy pocket which thou wilt find filled +with gold. Take it out and throw it to them and spare not; for +as often as thou thrustest fingers in pouch thou shalt find it +full of coin. Give largesse by handsful and fear nothing, but +set thy trust upon Him who created thee, for this is not by thine +own strength but by that of Allah Almighty, that His decrees may +take effect upon his creatures." When Badr al-Din Hasan heard +these words from the Ifrit he said to himself, "Would Heaven I +knew what all this means and what is the cause of such kindness!" +However, he mingled with the people and, lighting his flambeau, +moved on with the bridal procession till he came to the bath +where he found the Hunchback already on horseback. Then he +pushed his way in among the crowd, a veritable beauty of a man in +the finest apparel, wearing tarbush [FN#406] and turband and a +long-sleeved robe purfled with gold; and, as often as the +singing-women stopped for the people to give them largesse, he +thrust his hand into his pocket and, finding it full of gold, +took out a handful and threw it on the tambourine [FN#407] till +he had filled it with gold pieces for the music-girls and the +tirewomen. The singers were amazed by his bounty and the people +marvelled at his beauty and loveliness and the splendour of his +dress. He ceased not to do thus till he reached the mansion of +the Wazir (who was his uncle), where the Chamberlains drove back +the people and forbade them to go forward; but the singing-girls +and the tirewomen said, "By Allah we will not enter unless this +young man enter with us, for he hath given us length o' life with +his largesse and we will not display the bride unless he be +present." Therewith they carried him into the bridal hall and +made him sit down defying the evil glances of the hunchbacked +bridegroom. The wives of the Emirs and Wazirs and Chamberlains +and Courtiers all stood in double line, each holding a massy +cierge ready lighted; all wore thin face-veils and the two rows +right and left extended from the bride's throne [FN#408] to the +head of the hall adjoining the chamber whence she was to come +forth. When the ladies saw Badr al-Din Hasan and noted his +beauty and loveliness and his face that shone like the new moon, +their hearts inclined to him and the singing-girls said to all +that were present, "Know that this beauty crossed our hands with +naught but red gold; so be not chary to do him womanly service +and comply with all he says, no matter what he ask. [FN#409] So +all the women crowded around Hasan with their torches and gazed +upon his loveliness and envied him his beauty; and one and all +would gladly have lain on his bosom an hour or rather a year. +Their hearts were so troubled that they let fall their veils from +before their faces and said, "Happy she who belongeth to this +youth or to whom he belongeth!"; and they called down curses on +the crooked groom and on him who was the cause of his marriage to +the girl-beauty; and as often as they blessed Badr al-Din Hasan +they damned the Hunchback, saying, "Verily this youth and none +else deserveth our Bride: Ah, well-away for such a lovely one +with this hideous Quasimodo; Allah's curse light on his head and +on the Sultan who commanded the marriage!" Then the singing- +girls beat their tabrets and lulliloo'd with joy, announcing the +appearing of the bride; and the Wazir's daughter came in +surrounded by her tirewomen who had made her goodly to look upon; +for they had perfumed her and incensed her and adorned her hair; +and they had robed her in raiment and ornaments befitting the +mighty Chosroes Kings. The most notable part of her dress was a +loose robe worn over her other garments; it was diapered in red +gold with figures of wild beasts, and birds whose eyes and beaks +were of gems, and claws of red rubies and green beryl; and her +neck was graced with a necklace of Yamani work, worth thousands +of gold pieces, whose bezels were great round jewels of sorts, +the like of which was never owned by Kaysar or by Tobba King. +[FN#410] And the bride was as the full moon when at fullest on +fourteenth night; and as she paced into the hall she was like one +of the Houris of Heaven--praise be to Him who created her in such +splendour of beauty! The ladies encompassed her as the white +contains the black of the eye, they clustering like stars whilst +she shone amongst them like the moon when it eats up the clouds. +Now Badr al-Din Hasan of Bassorah was sitting in full gaze of the +folk, when the bride came forward with her graceful swaying and +swimming gait, and her hunchbacked groom stood up to meet +[FN#411] and receive her: she, however, turned away from the +wight and walked forward till she stood before her cousin Hasan, +the son of her uncle. Whereat the people laughed. But when the +wedding-guests saw her thus attracted towards Badr al-Din they +made a mighty clamour and the singing-women shouted their +loudest; whereupon he put his hand into his pocket and, pulling +out a handful of gold, cast it into their tambourines and the +girls rejoiced and said, "Could we win our wish this bride were +thine!" At this he smiled and the folk came round him, flambeaux +in hand like the eyeball round the pupil, while the Gobbo +bridegroom was left sitting alone much like a tail-less baboon; +for every time they lighted a candle for him it went out willy- +nilly, so he was left in darkness and silence and looking at +naught but himself. [FN#412] When Badr al-Din Hasan saw the +bridegroom sitting lonesome in the dark, and all the wedding- +guests with their flambeaux and wax candles crowding around +himself, he was bewildered and marvelled much; but when he looked +at his cousin, the daughter of his uncle, he rejoiced and felt an +inward delight: he longed to greet her and gazed intently on her +face which was radiant with light and brilliancy. Then the +tirewomen took off her veil and displayed her in the first bridal +dress which was of scarlet satin; and Hasan had a view of her +which dazzled his sight and dazed his wits, as she moved to and +fro, swaying with graceful gait; [FN#413] and she turned the +heads of all the guests, women as well as men, for she was even +as saith the surpassing poet:-- + +A sun on wand in knoll of sand she showed * Clad in her + cramoisy-hued chemisette: +Of her lips honey-dew she gave me drink, * And with her rosy + cheeks quencht fire she set. + +Then they changed that dress and displayed her in a robe of +azure; and she reappeared like the full moon when it riseth over +the horizon, with her coal-black hair and cheeks delicately fair; +and teeth shown in sweet smiling and breasts firm rising and +crowning sides of the softest and waist of the roundest. And in +this second suit she was as a certain master of high conceits +saith of the like of her:-- + +She came apparrelled in an azure vest, * Ultramarine, as skies + are deckt and dight; +I view'd th' unparrellel'd sight, which show'd my eyes * A moon + of Summer on a Winter-night. + +Then they changed that suit for another and, veiling her face in +the luxuriance of her hair, loosed her lovelocks, so dark, so +long that their darkness and length outvied the darkest nights, +and she shot through all hearts with the magical shaft of her +eye-babes. They displayed her in the third dress and she was as +said of her the sayer:-- + +Veiling her cheeks with hair a-morn she comes, * And I her + mischiefs with the cloud compare: +Saying, "Thou veilest morn with night!" "Ah, no!" * Quoth she, + "I shroud full moon with darkling air!" + +Then they displayed her in the fourth bridal dress and she came +forward shining like the rising sun and swaying to and fro with +lovesome grace and supple ease like a gazelle-fawn. And she +clave all hearts with the arrows of her eyelashes, even as saith +one who described a charmer like her:-- + +The sun of beauty she to sight appears * And, lovely-coy, she + mocks all loveliness; +And when he fronts her favour and her smile * A-morn, the Sun of + day in clouds must dress. + +Then she came forth in the fifth dress, a very light of +loveliness like a wand of waving willow or a gazelle of the +thirsty wold. Those locks which stung like scorpions along her +cheeks were bent, and her neck was bowed in blandishment, and her +hips quivered as she went. As saith one of the poets describing +her in verse:-- + +She comes like fullest moon on happy night; * Taper of waist, + with shape of magic might: +She hath an eye whose glances quell mankind, * And Ruby on her + cheeks reflects his light: +Enveils her hips the blackness of her hair; *Beware of curls that + bite with viper-bite! +Her sides are silken-soft, the while the heart * Mere rock behind + that surface lurks from sight: +From the fringed curtains of her eyne she shoots * Shafts which + at farthest range on mark alight: +When round her neck or waist I throw my arms * Her breasts repel + me with their hardened height. +Ah, how her beauty all excels! ah how * That shape transcends the + graceful waving bough! + +Then they adorned her with the sixth toilette, a dress which was +green. And now she shamed 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 +flexible grace. Her loveliness exalted the beauties of earth's +four quarters and she broke men's hearts by the significance of +her semblance; for she was even as saith one of the poets in +these lines:-- + +A damsel 'twas the tirer's art had decked with snares and + sleight.[FN#414] * And robed in rays as though the sun from + her had borrowed light: +She came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green, * As + veiled by its leafy screen pomegranate hides from sight: +And when he said "How callest thou the manner of thy dress?" * + She answered us in pleasant way with double meaning dight; +"We call this garment creve-coeur; and rightly is it hight, * For + many a heart wi' this we broke [FN#415] and conquered many + a sprite!" + +Then they displayed her in the seventh dress, coloured between +safflower [FN#416] and saffron, even as one of the poets saith:-- + +In vest of saffron pale and safflower red * Musk'd, sandal'd + ambergris'd, she came to front: +"Rise!" cried her youth, "go forth and show thyself!" * "Sit!" + said her hips, "we cannot bear the brunt!" +And when I craved a bout, her Beauty said * "Do, do!" and said + her pretty shame, "Don't, don't!" + +Thus they displayed the bride in all her seven toilettes before +Hasan al-Basri, wholly neglecting the Gobbo who sat moping alone; +and, when she opened her eyes [FN#417] she said, "O Allah make +this man my goodman and deliver me from the evil of this +hunchbacked groom." As soon as they had made an end of this part +of the ceremony they dismissed the wedding guests who went forth, +women, children and all, and none remained save Hasan and the +Hunchback, whilst the tirewomen led the bride into an inner room +to change her garb and gear and get her ready for the bridegroom. +Thereupon Quasimodo came up to Badr al-Din Hasan and said, "O my +lord, thou hast cheered us this night with thy good company and +overwhelmed us with thy kindness and courtesy; but now why not +get thee up and go?" "Bismallah," he answered, "In Allah's name +so be it!" and rising, he went forth by the door, where the Ifrit +met him and said, "Stay in thy stead, O Badr al-Din, and when the +Hunchback goes out to the closet of ease go in without losing +time and seat thyself in the alcove; and when the bride comes say +to her, "'Tis I am thy husband, for the King devised this trick +only fearing for thee the evil eye, and he whom thou sawest is +but a Syce, a groom, one of our stablemen.' Then walk boldly up +to her and unveil her face; for jealousy hath taken us of this +matter." While Hasan was still talking with the Ifrit behold, +the groom fared forth from the hall and entering the closet of +ease sat down on the stool. Hardly had he done this when the +Ifrit came out of the tank, [FN#418] wherein the water was, in +semblance of a mouse and squeaked out "Zeek!" Quoth the +Hunchback, "What ails thee?"; and the mouse grew and grew till it +became a coal-black cat and caterwauled "Meeao! Meeao!"[FN#419] +Then it grew still more and more till it became a dog and barked +out "Owh! Owh!" When the bridegroom saw this he was frightened +and exclaimed "Out with thee, O unlucky one!" [FN#420] But the +dog grew and swelled till it became an ass-colt that brayed and +snorted in his face "Hauk! Hauk!" [FN#421] Whereupon the +Hunchback quaked and cried, "Come to my aid, O people of the +house!" But behold, the ass-colt grew and became big as a +buffalo and walled the way before him and spake with the voice of +the sons of Adam, saying, "Woe to thee, O thou Bunch-back, thou +stinkard, O thou filthiest of grooms!" Hearing this the groom +was seized with a colic and he sat down on the jakes in his +clothes with teeth chattering and knocking together. Quoth the +Ifrit, "Is the world so strait to thee thou findest none to marry +save my lady-love?" But as he was silent the Ifrit continued, +"Answer me or I will do thee dwell in the dust!" "By Allah," +replied the Gobbo, "O King of the Buffaloes, this is no fault of +mine, for they forced me to wed her; and verily I wot not that +she had a lover among 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 they +beauty being displayed to me, they feared fascination and thy +father hired the horse-groom for ten dinars and a porringer of +meat to take the evil eye off us; and now he hath received his +hire and gone his gait." When the Lady of Beauty heard these +words she smiled and rejoiced and laughed a pleasant laugh. Then +she whispered him, "By the Lord thou hast quenched a fire which +tortured me and now, by Allah, O my little dark-haired darling, +take me to thee and press me to thy bosom!" Then she began +singing:-- + +"By Allah, set thy foot upon my soul; * Since long, long years + for this alone I long: +And whisper tale of love in ear of me; * To me 'tis sweeter than + the sweetest song! +No other youth upon my heart shall lie; * So do it often, dear, + and do it long." + +Then she stripped off her outer gear and she threw open her +chemise from the neck downwards and showed her parts genital and +all the rondure of her hips. When Badr al-Din saw the glorious +sight his desires were roused, and he arose and doffed her +clothes, and wrapping up in his bag-trousers [FN#425] the purse +of gold which he had taken from the Jew and which contained the +thousand dinars, he laid it under the edge of the bedding. Then +he took off his turband and set it upon the settle [FN#426] atop +of his other clothes, remaining in his skull-cap and fine shirt +of blue silk laced with gold. Whereupon the Lady of Beauty drew +him to her and he did likewise. Then he took her to his embrace +and set her legs round his waist and point-blanked that cannon +[FN#427] placed where it battereth down the bulwark of maidenhead +and layeth it waste. And he found her a pearl unpierced and +unthridden and a filly by all men save himself unridden; and he +abated her virginity and had joyance of her youth in his virility +and presently he withdrew sword from sheath; and then returned to +the fray right eath; and when the battle and the siege had +finished, some fifteen assaults he had furnished and she +conceived by him that very night. Then he laid his hand under +her head and she did the same and they embraced and fell asleep +in each other's arms, as a certain poet said of such lovers in +these couplets:-- + +Visit thy lover, spurn what envy told; * No envious churl shall + smile on love ensoul'd. +Merciful Allah made no fairer sight * Than coupled lovers single + couch doth hold; +Breast pressing breast and robed in joys their own, * With + pillowed forearms cast in finest mould: +And when heart speaks to heart with tongue of love, * Folk who + would part them hammer steel ice-cold: +If a fair friend[FN#428] thou find who cleaves to thee, * Live + for that friend, that friend in heart enfold. +O ye who blame for love us lover kind * Say, can ye minister to + diseased mind? + +This much concerning Badr al-Hasan and Sitt al-Husn his cousin; +but as regards the Ifrit, as soon as he saw the twain asleep, he +said to the Ifritah, "Arise, slip thee under the youth and let us +carry him back to his place ere dawn overtake us; for the day is +nearhand." Thereupon she came forward and, getting under him as +he lay asleep, took him up clad only in his fine blue shirt, +leaving the rest of his garments; and ceased not flying (and the +Ifrit vying with her in flight) till the dawn advised them that +it had come upon them mid-way, and the Muezzin began his call +from the Minaret, "Haste ye to salvation! Haste ye to +salvation!" [FN#429] Then Allah suffered his angelic host to +shoot down the Ifrit with a shooting star, [FN#430] so he was +consumed, but the Ifritah escaped and she descended with Badr al- +Din at the place where the Ifrit was burnt, and did not carry him +back to Bassorah, fearing lest he come to harm. Now by the order +of Him who predestineth all things, they alighted at Damascus of +Syria, and the Ifritah set down her burden at one of the city- +gates and flew away. When day arose and the doors were opened, +the folks who came forth saw a handsome youth, with no other +raiment but his blue shirt of gold-embroidered silk and skull- +cap,[FN#431] lying upon the ground drowned in sleep after the +hard labour of the night which had not suffered him to take his +rest. So the folk looking at him said, "O her luck with whom +this one spent the night! but would he had waited to don his +garments." Quoth another, "A sorry lot are the sons of great +families! Haply he but now came forth of the tavern on some +occasion of his own and his wine flew to his head,[FN#432] +whereby he hath missed the place he was making for and strayed +till he came to the gate of the city; and finding it shut lay him +down and 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 acursed 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 bride's father and no Ifrit." "Enough for thee that +thou hast well nigh done me die, " answered Quasimodo; "now go +thy ways before he come upon thee who hath served me thus. Could +ye not marry me to any save the lady-love of buffaloes and the +beloved of Ifrits? Allah curse her and curse him who married me +to her and was the cause of this my case,"--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day, and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-third Night, + +Said she, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +hunchbacked groom spake to the bride's father saying, "Allah +curse him who was the cause of this my case!" Then said the +Wazir to him, "Up and out of this place!" "Am I mad," cried the +groom, "that I should go with thee without leave of the Ifrit +whose last words to me were:--"When the sun rises, arise and go +they gait." So hath the sun risen or no?; for I dare not budge +from this place till then." Asked the Wazir, "Who brought thee +hither?"; and he answered "I came here yesternight for a call of +nature and to do what none can do for me, when lo! a mouse came +out of the water, and squeaked at me and swelled and waxed gross +till it was big as a buffalo, and spoke to me words that entered +my ears. Then he left me here and went away, Allah curse the +bride and him who married me to her!" The Wazir walked up to him +and lifted his head out of the cesspool hole; and he fared forth +running for dear life and hardly crediting that the sun had +risen; and repaired to the Sultan to whom he told all that had +befallen him with the Ifrit. But the Wazir returned to the +bride's private chamber, sore troubled in spirit about her, and +said to her, "O my daughter, explain this strange matter to me!" +Quoth she, "Tis simply this. The bridegroom to whom they +displayed me yestereve lay with me all night, and took my +virginity and I am with child by him. He is my husband and if +thou believe me not, there are his turband, twisted as it was, +lying on the settle and his dagger and his trousers beneath the +bed with a something, I wot not what, wrapped up in them." When +her father heard this he entered the private chamber and found +the turband which had been left there by Badr al-Din Hasan, his +brother's son, and he took it in hand and turned it over, saying, +"This is the turband worn by Wazirs, save that it is of Mosul +stuff." [FN#442] So he opened it and, finding what seemed to be +an amulet sewn up in the Fez, he unsewed the lining and took it +out; then he lifted up the trousers wherein was the purse of the +thousand gold pieces and, opening that also, found in it a +written paper. This he read and it was the sale-receipt of the +Jew in the name of Badr al-Din Hasan, son of Nur al-Din Ali, the +Egyptian; and the thousand dinars were also there. No sooner had +Shams al-Din read this than he cried out with a loud cry and fell +to the ground fainting; and as soon as he revived and understood +the gist of the matter he marvelled and said, "There is no God, +but the God, who All-might is over all things! Knowest thou, O +my daughter, who it was that became the husband of thy +virginity?" "No," answered she, and he said, "Verily he is the +son of my brother, thy cousin, and this thousand dinars is thy +dowry. Praise be to Allah! and would I wot how this matter came +about!" then opened he the amulet which was sewn up and found +therein a paper in the handwriting of his deceased brother, Nur +al-Din the Egyptian, father of Badr al-Din Hasan; and, when he +saw the hand-writing, he kissed it again and again; and he wept +and wailed over his dead brother and improvised this lines:-- + +"I see their traces and with pain I melt, * And on their whilome + homes I weep and yearn: +And Him I pray who dealt this parting-blow * Some day he deign + vouchsafe a safe return." [FN#443] + +When he ceased versifying, he read the scroll and found in it +recorded the dates of his brother's marriage with the daughter of +the Wazir of Bassorah, and of his going in to her, and her +conception, and the birth of Badr al-Din Hasan and all his +brother's history and doings up to his dying day. So he +marvelled much and shook with joy and, comparing the dates with +his own marriage and going in to his wife and the birth of their +daughter, Sitt al-Husn, he found that they perfectly agreed. So +he took the document and, repairing with it to the Sultan, +acquainted him with what had passed, from first to last; whereat +the King marvelled and commanded the case to be at once recorded. +[FN#444] The Wazir abode that day expecting to see his brother's +son but he came not; and he waited a second day, a third day and +so on to the seventh day, without any tidings of him. So he +said, "By Allah, I will do a deed such as none hath ever done +before me!"; and he took reed-pen and ink and drew upon a sheet +of paper the plan of the whole house, showing whereabouts was the +private chamber with the curtain in such a place and the +furniture in such another and so on with all that was in the +room. Then he folded up the sketch and, causing all the +furniture to be collected, he took Badr al-Din's garments and the +turband and Fez and robe and purse, and carried the whole to his +house and locked them up, against the coming of his nephew, Badr +al-Din Hasan, the son of his lost brother, with an iron padlock +on which he set his seal. As for the Wazir's daughter, when her +tale of months was fulfilled, she bare a son like the full moon, +the image of his father in beauty and loveliness and fair +proportions and perfect grace. They cut his navel-string +[FN#445] and Kohl'd his eyelids to strengthen his eyes, and gave +him over to the nurses and nursery governesses, [FN#446] naming +him Ajib, the Wonderful. His day was as a month and his month +was as a year; [FN#447] and, when seven years had passed over +him, his grandfather sent him to school, enjoining the master to +teach him Koran-reading, and to educate him well. he remained at +the school four years, till he began to bully his schoolfellows +and abuse them and bash them and thrash them and say, "Who among +you is like me? I am the son of Wazir of Egypt!" At last the +boys came in a body to 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 that not +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 thereon and then, and she repeated these couplets:-- + +"Love in my heart they lit and went their ways, * And all I + love to furthest lands withdrew; +And when they left me sufferance also left, * And when we parted + Patience bade adieu: +They fled and flying with my joys they fled, * In very + consistency my spirit flew: +They made my eyelids flow with severance tears * And to the + parting-pang these drops are due: +And when I long to see reunion-day, * My groans prolonging sore + for ruth I sue: +Then in my heart of hearts their shapes I trace, * And love and + longing care and cark renew: +O ye, whose names cling round me like a cloak, * Whose love yet + closer than a shirt I drew, +Beloved ones! how long this hard despite? * How long this + severance and this coy shy flight?" + +Then she wailed and shrieked aloud and her son did the like; and +behold, in came the Wazir whose heart burnt within him at the +sight of their lamentations, and he said, "What makes you weep?" +So the Lady of Beauty acquainted him with what had happened +between her son and the school boys; and he also wept, calling to +mind his brother and what had past between them and what had +betided his daughter and how he had failed to find out what +mystery there was in the matter. Then he rose at once and, +repairing to the audience-hall, went straight to the King and +told his tale and craved his permission [FN#451] to travel +eastward to the city of Bassorah and ask after his brother's son. +Furthermore, he besought the Sultan to write for him letters +patent, authorising him to seize upon Badr al-Din, his nephew and +son-in-law, wheresoever he might find him. And he wept before +the King, who had pity on him and wrote royal autographs to his +deputies in all climes [FN#452] and countries and cities; whereat +the Wazir rejoiced and prayed for blessings on him. Then, taking +leave of his Sovereign, he returned to his house, where he +equipped himself and his daughter and his adopted child Ajib, +with all things meet for a long march; and set out and travelled +the first day and the second and the third and so forth till he +arrived at Damascus-city. He found it a fair place abounding in +trees and streams, even as the poet said of it:-- + +When I nighted and dayed in Damascus town, * Time sware such + another he ne'er should view: +And careless we slept under wing of night, * Till dappled Morn + 'gan her smiles renew: +And dew-drops on branch in their beauty hung, * Like pearls to be + dropt when the Zephyr blew: +And the Lake [FN#453] was the page where birds read and note, * + And the clouds set points to what breezes wrote. + +The Wazir encamped on the open space called Al-Hasa; [FN#454] +and, after pitching tents, said to his servants, "A halt here for +two days!" So they went into the city upon their several +occasions, this to sell and this 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, +whilest others ran on before, and sat down on the road until he +should come up, that they might gaze on him, till, as Destiny had +decreed, the Eunuch stopped opposite the shop of Ajib's father, +Badr al-Din Hasan. Now his beard had grown long and thick and +his wits had ripened during the twelve years which had passed +over him, and the Cook and ex-rogue having died, the so-called +Hasan of Bassorah had succeeded to his goods and shop, for that +he had been formally adopted before the Kazi and witnesses. When +his son and the Eunuch stepped before him he gazed on Ajib and, +seeing how very beautiful he was, his heart fluttered and +throbbed, and blood drew to blood and natural affection spake out +and his bowels yearned over him. He had just dressed a conserve +of pomegranate-grains with sugar, and Heaven-implanted love +wrought within him; so he called to his son Ajib and said, "O my +lord, O thou who hast gotten the mastery of my heart and my very +vitals and to whom my bowels yearn; say me, wilt thou enter my +house and solace my soul by eating of my meat?" Then his eyes +streamed with tears which he could not stay, for he bethought him +of what he had been and what he had become. When Ajib heard his +father's words his heart also yearned himwards and he looked at +the Eunuch and said to him, "Of a truth, O my good guard, my +heart yearns to this cook; he is as one that hath a son far away +from him: so let us enter and gladden his heart by tasting of his +hospitality. Perchance for our so doing Allah may reunite me +with my father." When the Eunuch heard these words he cried, "A +fine thing this, by Allah! Shall the sons of Wazirs be seen +eating in a common cook-shop? Indeed I keep off the folk from +thee with this quarter-staff lest they even look upon thee; and I +dare not suffer thee to enter this shop at all." When Hasan of +Bassorah heard his speech he marvelled and turned to the Eunuch +with the tears pouring down his cheeks; and Ajib said, "Verily my +heart loves him!" But he answered, "Leave this talk, thou shalt +not go in." Thereupon the father turned to the Eunuch and said, +"O worthy sir, why wilt thou not gladden my soul by entering my +shop? O thou who art like a chestnut, dark without but white of +heart within! O thou of the like of whom a certain poet said * * +*" The Eunuch burst out a-laughing and asked--"Said what? Speak +out by Allah and be quick about it." So Hasan the Bassorite +began reciting these couplets:-- + +"If not master of manners or aught but discreet * In the + household of Kings no trust could he take: +And then for the Harem! what Eunuch [FN#458] is he * Whom + angels would serve for his service sake." + +The Eunuch marvelled and was pleased at these words, so he took +Ajib by the hand and went into the cook's shop: whereupon Hasan +the Bassorite ladled into a saucer some conserve of pomegranate- +grains wonderfully good, dressed with almonds and sugar, saying, +"You have honoured me with your company: eat then and health and +happiness to you!" Thereupon Ajib said to his father, "Sit thee +down and eat with us; so perchance Allah may unite us with him we +long for." Quoth Hasan, "O my son, hast thou then been afflicted +in thy tender years with parting from those thou lovest?" Quoth +Ajib, "Even so, O nuncle mine; my heart burns for the loss of a +beloved one who is non 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 for his own bereavement, which +recalled to him his long separation from dear friends and from +his mother; and the Eunuch was moved to pity for him. Then they +ate together till they were satisfied; and Ajib and the slave +rose and left the shop. Hereat Hasan the Bassorite felt as +though his soul had departed his body and had gone with them; for +he could not lose sight of the boy during the twinkling of an +eye, albeit he knew not that Ajib was his son. So he locked up +his shop and hastened after them; and he walked so fast that he +came up with them before they had gone out of the western gate. +The Eunuch turned and asked him, "What ails the?"; and Badr al- +Din answered, "When ye went from me, meseemed my soul had gone +with you; and, as I had business without the city-gate, I +purposed to bear you company till my matter was ordered and so +return." The Eunuch was angered and said to Ajib, "This is just +what I feared! we ate that unlucky mouthful (which we are bound +to respect), and here is the fellow following us from place to +place; for the vulgar are ever the vulgar." Ajib, turning and +seeing the Cook just behind him, was wroth and his face reddened +with rage and he said to the servant; "Let him walk the highway +of the Moslems; but, when we turn off it to our tents, and find +that he still follows us, we will send him about his business +with a flea in his ear." Then he bowed his head and walked on, +the Eunuch walking behind him. But Hasan of Bassorah followed +them to the plain Al-Hasa; and, as they drew near to the tents, +they turned round and saw him close on their heels; so Ajib was +very angry, fearing that the Eunuch might tell his grandfather +what had happened. His indignation was the hotter for +apprehension lest any say that after he had entered a cook-shop +the cook had followed him. So he turned and looked at Hasan of +Bassorah and found his eyes fixed on his own, for the father had +become a body without a soul; and it seemed to Ajib that his eye +was a treacherous eye or that he was some lewd fellow. So his +rage redoubled and, stooping down, he took up a stone weighing +half a pound and threw it at his father. It struck him on the +forehead, cutting it open from eye-brow to eye-brow and causing +the blood to stream down: and Hasan fell to the ground in a swoon +whilst Ajib and the Eunuch made for the tents. When the father +came to himself he wiped away the blood and tore off a strip from +his turband and bound up his head, blaming himself the while, and +saying, "I wronged the lad by shutting up my shop and following, +so that he thought I was some evil-minded fellow." Then he +returned to his place where he busied himself with the sale of +his sweetmeats; and he yearned after his mother at Bassorah, and +wept over her and broke out repeating:-- + +"Unjust it were to bid the World [FN#460] be just * And blame + her not: She ne'er was made for justice: +Take what she gives thee, leave all grief aside, * For now to + fair and then to foul her lust is." + +So Hasan of Bassorah set himself steadily to sell his sweetmeats; +but the Wazir, his uncle, halted in Damascus three days and then +marched upon Emesa, and passing through that town he made enquiry +there and at every place where he rested. Thence he fared on by +way of Hamah and Aleppo and thence to Diyar Bakr and Maridin and +Mosul, still enquiring, till he arrived at Bassorah-city. Here, +as soon as he had secured a lodging, he presented himself before +the Sultan, who entreated him with high honour and the respect +due to his rank, and asked the cause of his coming. The Wazir +acquainted him with his history and told him that the Minister +Nur al-Din was his brother; whereupon the Sultan exclaimed, +"Allah have mercy upon him!" and added, "My good Sahib!" +[FN#461]; he was my Wazir for fifteen years and I loved him +exceedingly. Then he died leaving a son who abode only a single +month after his father's death; since which time he has +disappeared and we could gain no tidings of him. But his mother, +who is the daughter of my former Minister, is still among us." +When the Wazir Shams al-Din heard that his nephew's mother was +alive and well, he rejoiced and said, "O King I much desire to +meet her." The King on the instant gave him leave to visit her; +so he betook himself to the mansion of his brother, Nur al-Din, +and cast sorrowful glances on all things in and around it and +kissed the threshold. Then he bethought him of his brother, Nur +al-Din Ali, and how he had died in a strange land far from kith +and kin and friends; and he wept and repeated these lines:-- + +"I wander 'mid these walls, my Layla's walls, * And kissing this + and other wall I roam: +'Tis not the walls or roof my heart so loves, * But those who in + this house had made their home." + +Then he passed through the gate into a courtyard and found a +vaulted doorway builded of hardest syenite [FN#462] inlaid with +sundry kinds of multi-coloured marble. Into this he walked and +wandered about the house and, throwing many a glance around, saw +the name of his brother, Nur al-Din, written in gold wash upon +the walls. So he went up to the inscription and kissed it and +wept and thought of how he had been separated from his brother +and had now lost him for ever, and he recited these couplets:-- + +"I ask of you from every rising sun, * And eke I ask when + flasheth levenlight: +When I pass my nights in passion-pain, * Yet ne'er I 'plain me + of my painful plight; +My love! if longer last this parting throe * Little by little + shall it waste my sprite. +An thou wouldst bless these eyne with sight of thee * One day on + earth, I crave none other sight: +Think not another could possess my mind * Nor length nor breadth + for other love I find." + +Then he walked on till he came to the apartment of his brother's +widow, the mother of Badr al-Din Hasan, the Egyptian. Now from +the time of her son's disappearance she had never ceased weeping +and wailing through the light hours and the dark; and, when the +years grew longsome with her, she built for him a tomb of marble +in the midst of the saloon and there used to weep for him day and +night, never sleeping save thereby. When the Wazir drew near her +apartment, he heard her voice and stood behind the door while she +addressed the sepulchre in verse and said:-- + +"Answer, by Allah! Sepulchre, are all his beauties gone? * Hath + change the power to blight his charms, that Beauty's + paragon? +Thou art not earth, O Sepulchre! nor art thou sky to me; * How + comes it, then, in thee I see conjoint the branch and moon?" + +While she was bemoaning herself after this fashion, behold, the +Wazir went in to her and saluted her and informed her that he was +her husband's brother; and, telling her all that had passed +between them, laid open before her the whole story, how her son +Badr al-Din Hasan had spent a whole night with his daughter full +ten years ago but had disappeared in the morning. And he ended +with saying, "My daughter conceived by thy son and bare a male +child who is now with me, and he is thy son and thy son's son by +my daughter." When she heard the tidings that her boy, Badr al- +Din, was still alive and saw her brother-in-law, she rose up to +him and threw herself at his feet and kissed them, reciting these +lines:-- + +"Allah be good to him that gives glad tidings of thy steps; * In + very sooth for better news mine ears would never sue: +Were he content with worn-out robe, upon his back I'd throw * A + heart to pieces rent and torn when heard the word Adieu." + +Then the Wazir sent for Ajib and his grandmother stood up and +fell on his neck and wept; but Shams al-Din said to her, "This is +no time for weeping; this is the time to get thee ready for +travelling with us to the land of Egypt; haply Allah will reunite +me and thee with thy son and my nephew." Replied she, +"Hearkening and obedience;" and, rising at once, collected her +baggage and treasures and her jewels, and equipped herself and +her slave-girls for the march, whilst the Wazir went to take his +leave of the Sultan of Bassorah, who sent by him presents and +rarities for the Soldan of Egypt. Then he set out at once upon +his homeward march and journeyed till he came to Damascus-city +where he alighted in the usual place and pitched tents, and said +to his suite, "We will halt a se'nnight here to buy presents and +rare things for the Soldan." Now Ajib bethought him of the past +so he said to the Eunuch, "O Laik, I want a little diversion; +come, let us go down to the great bazar of Damascus, [FN#463] and +see what hath become of the cook whose sweetmeats we ate and +whose head we broke, for indeed he was kind to us and we +entreated him scurvily." The Eunuch answered, "Hearing is +obeying!" So they went forth from the tents; and the tie of +blood drew Ajib towards his father, and forthwith they passed +through the gateway, Bab al-Faradis [FN#464] hight, and entered +the city and ceased not walking through the streets till they +reached the cookshop, where they found Hasan of Bassorah standing +at the door. It was near the time of mid-afternoon prayer +[FN#465] and it so fortuned that he had just dressed a confection +of pomegranate-grains. When the twain drew near to him and Ajib +saw him, his heart yearned towards him, and noticing the scar of +the blow, which time had darkened on his brow, he said to him, +"Peace be on thee, O man!" [FN#466] know that my heart is with +thee." But when Badr al-Din looked upon his son his vitals +yearned and his heart fluttered, and he hung his head earthwards +and sought to make his tongue give utterance to his words, but he +could not. Then he raised his head humbly and suppliant-wise +towards his boy and repeated these couplets:-- + +"I longed for my beloved but when I saw his face, * Abashed I + held my tongue and stood with downcast eye; +And hung my head in dread and would have hid my love, * But do + whatso I would hidden it would not lie; +Volumes of plaints I had prepared, reproach and blame, * But + when we met, no single word remembered I." + +And then said he to them, "Heal my broken heart and eat of my +sweetmeats; for, by Allah, I cannot look at thee but my heart +flutters. Indeed I should not have followed thee the other day, +but that I was beside myself." "By Allah," answered Ajib, "thou +dost indeed love us! We ate in thy house a mouthful when we were +here before and thou madest us repent of it, for that thou +followedst us and wouldst have disgraced us; so now we will not +eat aught with thee save on condition that thou make oath not to +go out after us nor dog us. Otherwise we will not visit thee +again during our present stay; for we shall halt a week here, +whilst my grandfather buys certain presents for the King." Quoth +Hasan of Bassorah, "I promise you this." So Ajib and the Eunuch +entered the shop, and his father set before them a saucer-full of +conserve of pomegranate-grains. Said Ajib, "Sit thee down and +eat with us, so haply shall Allah dispel our sorrows." Hasan the +Bassorite was joyful and sat down and ate with them; but his eyes +kept gazing fixedly on Ajib's face, for his very heart and vitals +clove to him; and at last the boy said to him, "Did I not tell +thee thou art a most noyous dotard?; so do stint thy staring in +my face!" But when Hasan of Bassorah heard his son's words he +repeated these lines:-- + +"Thou hast some art the hearts of men to clip; * Close-veiled, + far-hidden mystery dark and deep: +O thou whose beauties sham the lustrous moon, * Wherewith the + saffron Morn fears rivalship! +Thy beauty is a shrine shall ne'er decay; * Whose signs shall + grow until they all outstrip; [FN#467] +Must I be thirst-burnt by that Eden-brow * And die of pine to + taste that Kausar-lip?" [FN#468] + +Hasan kept putting morsels into Ajib's mouth at one time and at +another time did the same by the Eunuch and they ate till they +were satisfied and could no more. Then all rose up and the cook +poured water on their hands; [FN#469] and, loosing a silken +waist-shawl, dried them and sprinkled them with rose-water from a +casting-bottle he had by him. Then he went out and presently +returned with a gugglet of sherbet flavoured with rose-water, +scented with musk and cooled with snow; and he set this before +them saying, "Complete your kindness to me!" So Ajib took the +gugglet and drank and passed it to the Eunuch; and it went round +till their stomachs were full and they were surfeited with a meal +larger than their wont. Then they went away and made haste in +walking till they reached the tents, and Ajib went in to his +grandmother, who kissed him and, thinking of her son, Badr al-Din +Hasan, groaned aloud and wept and recited these lines:-- + +"I still had hoped to see thee and enjoy thy sight, * For in + thine absence life has lost its kindly light: +I swear my vitals wot none other love but thine * By Allah, who + can read the secrets of the sprite!" + +Then she asked Ajib, "O my son! where hast thou been?"; and he +answered, "In Damascus-city;" Whereupon she rose and set before +him a bit of scone and a saucer of conserve of pomegranate-grains +(which was too little sweetened), and she said to the Eunuch, +"Sit down with thy master!" Said the servant to himself, "By +Allah, we have no mind to eat: I cannot bear the smell of bread;" +but he sat down and so did Ajib, though his stomach was full of +what he had eaten already and drunken. Nevertheless he took a +bit of the bread and dipped it in the pomegranate-conserve and +made shift to eat it, but he found it too little sweetened, for +he was cloyed and surfeited, so he said, "Faugh; what be this +wild-beast [FN#470] stuff?" "O my son," cried his grandmother, +"dost thou find fault with my cookery? I cooked this myself and +none can cook it as nicely as I can save thy father, Badr al-Din +Hasan." "By Allah, O my lady, Ajib answered, "this dish is nasty +stuff; for we saw but now in the city of Bassorah a cook who so +dresseth pomegranate-grains that the very smell openeth a way to +the heart and the taste would make a full man long to eat; and, +as for this mess compared with his, 'tis not worth either much or +little." When his grandmother heard his words she waxed wroth +with exceeding wrath and looked at the servant--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-fourth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ajib's +grandmother heard his words, she waxed wroth and looked at the +servant and said, "Woe to thee! dost thou spoil my son, [FN#471] +and dost take him into common cookshops?" The Eunuch was +frightened and denied, saying, "We did not go into the shop; we +only passed by it." "By Allah," cried Ajib, "but we did go in +and we ate till it came out of our nostrils, and the dish was +better than thy dish!" Then his grandmother rose and went and +told her brother-in-law, who was incensed against the Eunuch, and +sending for him asked him, "Why didst thou take my son into a +cookshop?"; and the Eunuch being frightened answered, "We did not +go in." But Ajib said, "We did go inside and ate conserve of +pomegranate-grains till we were full; and the cook gave us to +drink of iced and sugared sherbet." At this the Wazir's +indignation redoubled and he questioned the Castrato but, as he +still denied, the Wazir said to him, "If thou speak sooth, sit +down and eat before us." So he came forward and tried to eat, +but could not eat 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, +"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 to 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 thing 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 all that had occurred to part them. Lastly the Wazir sent +for Ajib; and when his father saw him he cried, "And this is he +who struck me with the stone!" Quoth the Wazir, "This is thy +son!" And Badr al-Din Hasan threw himself upon his boy and began +repeating:-- + +"Long have I wept o'er severance ban and bane, * Long from mine + eyelids tear-rills rail and rain: +And vowed I if Time re-union bring * My tongue from name of + "Severance" I'll restrain: +Joy hath o'ercome me to this stress that I * From joy's revulsion + to shed tears am fain: +Ye are so trained to tears, O eyne of me! * You weep with + pleasure as you weep with pain." [FN#482] + +When he had ended his verse his mother came in and threw herself +upon him and began reciting:-- + +"When we met we complained, * Our hearts were sore wrung: +But plaint is not pleasant * Fro' messenger's tongue." + +Then she wept and related to him what had befallen her since his +departure, and he told her what he had suffered, and they thanked +Allah Almighty for their reunion. Two days after his arrival the +Wazir Shams al-din went in to the Sultan and, kissing the ground +between his hands, greeted him with the greeting due to Kings. +The Sultan rejoiced at his return and his face brightened and, +placing him hard by his side, [FN#483] asked him to relate all he +had seen in his wayfaring and whatso had betided him in his going +and coming. So the Wazir told him all that had passed from first +to last and the Sultan said, "Thanks be to Allah for thy victory +[FN#484] and the winning of thy wish and thy safe return to thy +children and thy people! And now I needs must see the son of thy +brother, Hasan of Bassorah, so bring him to the audience-hall to- +morrow." Shams al-Din replied, "Thy slave shall stand in thy +presence to-morrow, Inshallah, if it be God's will." Then he +saluted him and, returning to his own house, informed his nephew +of the Sultan's desire to see him, whereto replied Hasan, whilome +the Bassorite, "The slave is obedient to the orders of his lord." +And the result was that next day he accompanied his uncle, Shams +al-Din, to the Divan; and, after saluting the Sultan and doing +him reverence in most ceremonious obeisance and with most courtly +obsequiousness, he began improvising these verses:-- + +"The first in rank to kiss the ground shall deign * Before you, + and all ends and aims attain: +You are Honour's fount; and all that hope of you, * Shall gain + more honour than Hope hoped to gain." + +The Sultan smiled and signed to him to sit down. So he took a +seat close to his uncle, Shams al-Din, and the King asked him his +name. Quoth Badr al-Din Hasan, "The meanest of thy slaves is +known as Hasan the Bassorite, who is instant in prayer for thee +day and night." The Sultan was pleased at his words and, being +minded to test his learning and prove his good breeding, asked +him, "Dost thou remember any verses in praise of the mole on the +cheek?" He answered, "I do," and began reciting:-- + +"When I think of my love and our parting-smart, * My groans go + forth and my tears upstart: +He's a mole that reminds me in colour and charms * O' the black + o' the eye and the grain [FN#485] of the heart." + +The King admired and praised the two couplets and said to him, +"Quote something else; Allah bless thy sire and may thy tongue +never tire!" So he began:-- + +"That cheek-mole's spot they evened with a grain * Of musk, nor + did they here the simile strain: +Nay, marvel at the face comprising all * Beauty, nor falling + short by single grain." + +The King shook with pleasure [FN#486] and said to him, "Say more: +Allah bless thy days!" So he began:-- + +"O you whose mole on cheek enthroned recalls * A dot of musk + upon a stone of ruby, +Grant me your favours! Be not stone at heart! * Core of my heart + whose only sustenance you be!" + +Quoth the King, "Fair comparison, O Hasan! [FN#487] thou hast +spoken excellently well and hast proved thyself accomplished in +every accomplishment! Now explain to me how many meanings be +there in the Arabic language [FN#488] for the word Khal or mole." +He replied, "Allah keep the King! Seven and fifty and some by +tradition say fifty." Said the Sultan, "Thou sayest sooth," +presently adding, "Hast thou knowledge as to the points of +excellence in beauty?" "Yes," answered Badr al-Din Hasan, +"Beauty consisteth in brightness of face, clearness of +complexion, shapeliness of nose, gentleness of eyes, sweetness of +mouth, cleverness of speech, slenderness of shape and seemliness +of all attributes. But the acme of beauty is in the hair and, +indeed, al-Shihab the Hijazi hath brought together all these +items in his doggrel verse of the metre Rajaz, [FN#489] and it is +this: + +Say thou to skin "Be soft," to face "Be fair," * And gaze, nor + shall they blame howso thou stare: +Fine nose in Beauty's list is high esteemed; * Nor less an eye + full, bright and debonnair: +Eke did they well to laud the lovely lips * (Which e'en the sleep + of me will never spare); +A winning tongue, a stature tall and straight; [FN#490] * A + seemly union of gifts rarest rare: +But Beauty's acme in the hair one views it; * So hear my strain + and with some few excuse it!" + +The Sultan was captivated by his converse and, regarding him as a +friend, asked, "What meaning is there in the saw 'Shurayh is +foxier than the fox'?" And he answered, "Know, O King (whom +Almighty Allah keep!) that the legist Shurayh [FN#491] was wont, +during the days of the plague, to make a visitation to Al-Najaf; +and, whenever he stood up to pray, there came a fox which would +plant himself facing him and which, by mimicking his movements, +distracted him from his devotions. Now when this became longsome +to him, one day he doffed his shirt and set it upon a cane and +shook out the sleeves; then placing his turband on the top and +girding its middle with a shawl, he stuck it up in the place +where he used to pray. Presently up trotted the fox according to +his custom and stood over against the figure, whereupon Shurayh +came behind him, and took him. Hence the sayer saith, 'Shurayh +foxier than the fox.'" When the Sultan heard Badr al-Din Hasan's +explanation he said to his uncle, Shams al-Din, "Truly this the +son of thy brother is perfect in courtly breeding and I do not +think that his like can be found in Cairo." At this Hasan arose +and kissed the ground before him and sat down again as a Mameluke +should sit before his master. When the Sultan had thus assured +himself of his courtly breeding and bearing and his knowledge of +the liberal arts and belles-lettres, he joyed with exceeding joy +and invested him with a splendid robe of honour and promoted him +to an office whereby he might better his condition. [FN#492] +Then Badr al-Din Hasan arose and, kissing the ground before the +King, wished him continuance of glory and asked leave to retire +with his uncle, the Wazir Shams al-Din. The Sultan gave him +leave and he issued forth and the two returned home, where food +was set before them and they ate what Allah had given them. +After finishing his meal Hasan repaired to the sitting-chamber of +his wife, the Lady of Beauty, and told her what had past between +him and the Sultan; whereupon quoth she, "He cannot fail to make +thee a cup-companion and give thee largess in excess and load +thee with favours and bounties; so shalt thou, by Allah's +blessing, dispread, like the greater light, the rays of thy +perfection wherever thou be, on shore or on sea." Said he to +her, "I purpose to recite a Kasidah, an ode, in his praise, that +he may redouble in affection for me." "Thou art right in thine +intent," she answered, "so gather thy wits together and weigh thy +words, and I shall surely see my husband favoured with his +highest favour." Thereupon Hasan shut himself up and composed +these couplets on a solid base and abounding in inner grace and +copies them out in a hand-writing of the nicest taste. They are +as follows:-- + +Mine is a Chief who reached most haught estate, * Treading the + pathways of the good and great: +His justice makes all regions safe and sure, * And against + froward foes bars every gate: +Bold lion, hero, saint, e'en if you call * Seraph or Sovran + [FN#493] he with all may rate! +The poorest supplicant rich from him returns, * All words to + praise him were inadequate. +He to the day of peace is saffron Morn, * And murky Night in + furious warfare's bate. +Bow 'neath his gifts our necks, and by his deeds * As King of + freeborn [FN#494] souls he 'joys his state: +Allah increase for us his term of years, * And from his lot avert + all risks and fears! + +When he had finished transcribing the lines, he despatched them, +in charge of one of his uncle's slaves, to the Sultan, who +perused them and his fancy was pleased; so he read them to those +present and all praised them with the highest praise. Thereupon +he sent for the writer to his sitting-chamber and said to him, +"Thou art from this day forth my boon-companion and I appoint to +thee a monthly solde of a thousand dirhams, over and above that I +bestowed on thee aforetime." So Hasan rose and, kissing the +ground before the King several times, prayed for the continuance +of his greatness and glory and length of life and strength. Thus +Badr al-Din Hasan the Bassorite waxed high in honour and his fame +flew forth to many regions and he abode in all comfort and solace +and delight of life with his uncle and his own folk till Death +overtook him. When the Caliph Harun al-Rashid heard this story +from the mouth of his Wazir, Ja'afar the Barmecide, he marvelled +much and said, "It behoves that these stories be written in +letters of liquid gold." Then he set the slave at liberty and +assigned to the youth who had slain his wife such a monthly +stipend as sufficed to make his life easy; he also gave him a +concubine from amongst his own slave-girls and the young man +became one of his cup-companions. "Yet this story," (continued +Shahrazad) "is in no wise stranger than the tale of the Tailor +and the Hunchback and the Jew and the Reeve and the Nazarene, and +what betided them." Quoth the King, "And what may that be?" So +Shahrazad began, in these words,[FN#495] + + + + + + THE HUNCHBACK'S TALE. + + +It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there dwelt during +times of yore, and years and ages long gone before, in a certain +city of China,[FN#496] a Tailor who was an open handed man that +loved pleasuring and merry making; and who was wont, he and his +wife, to solace themselves from time to time with public +diversions and amusements. One day they went out with the first +of the light and were returning in the evening when they fell in +with a Hunchback, whose semblance would draw a laugh from care +and dispel the horrors of despair. So they went up to enjoy +looking at him and invited him to go home with them and converse +and carouse with them that night. He consented and accompanied +them afoot to their home; whereupon the Tailor fared forth to the +bazaar (night having just set in) and bought a fried fish and +bread and lemons and dry sweetmeats for dessert; and set the +victuals before the Hunchback and they ate. Presently the +Tailor's wife took a great fid of fish and gave it in a gobbet to +the Gobbo, stopping his mouth with her hand and saying, "By +Allah, thou must down with it at a single gulp; and I will not +give thee time to chew it." So he bolted it; but therein was a +stiff bone which stuck in his gullet and, his hour being come, he +died.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying +her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-fifth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +Tailor's wife gave the Hunchback that mouthful of fish which +ended his term of days he died on the instant. Seeing this the +Tailor cried aloud, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might +save in Allah! Alas, that this poor wretch should have died in so +foolish fashion at our hands!" and the woman rejoined, "Why this +idle talk? Hast thou not heard his saying who said:-- + +Why then waste I my time in grief, until I * find no friend to + bear my weight of woe +How sleep upon a fire that flames unquenched? * Upon the flames + to rest were hard enow!" + +Asked her husband, "And what shall I do with him?"; and she +answered, "Rise and take him in thine arms and spread a silken +kerchief over him; then I will fare forth, with thee following me +this very night and if thou meet any one say, 'This is my son, +and his mother and I are carrying him to the doctor that he may +look at him.'" So he rose and taking the Hunchback in his arms +bore him along the streets, preceded by his wife who kept crying, +"O my son, Allah keep thee! what part paineth thee and where hath +this small-pox[FN#497] attacked thee?" So all who saw them said +"'Tis a child sick of small-pox." [FN#498] They went along asking +for the physician's house till folk directed them to that of a +leach which was a Jew. They knocked at the door, and there came +down to them a black slave girl who opened and, seeing a man +bearing a babe, and a woman with him, said to them, "What is the +matter?" "We have a little one with us," answered the Tailor's +wife, "and we wish to show him to the physician: so take this +quarter dinar and give it to thy master and let him come down and +see my son who is sore sick." The girl went up to tell her +master, whereupon the Tailor's wife walked into the vestibule and +said to her husband, "Leave the Hunchback here and let us fly for +our lives." So the Tailor carried the dead man to the top of the +stairs and propped him upright against the wall and ran away, he +and his wife. Meanwhile the girl went in to the Jew and said to +him, "At the door are a man and a woman with a sick child and +they have given me a quarter dinar for thee, that thou mayest go +down and look at the little one and prescribe for it." As soon as +the Jew saw the quarter dinar he rejoiced and rose quickly in his +greed of gain and went forth hurriedly in the dark; but hardly +had he made a step when he stumbled on the corpse and threw it +over, when it rolled to the bottom of the staircase. So he cried +out to the girl to hurry up with the light, and she brought it, +whereupon he went down and examining the Hunchback found that he +was stone dead. So he cried out, "O for Esdras![FN#499] O for +Moses! O for Aaron! O for Joshua, son of Nun! O the Ten +Commandments! I have stumbled against the sick one and he hath +fallen downstairs and he is dead! How shall I get this man I have +killed out of my house? O by the hoofs of the ass of Esdras!" +Then he took up the body and, carrying it into the house, told +his wife what had happened and she said to him, "Why dost thou +sit still? If thou keep him here till day break we shall both +lose our lives. Let us two carry him to the terrace roof and +throw him over into the house of our neighbour, the Moslem, for +if he abide there a night the dogs will come down on him from the +adjoining terraces and eat him up." Now his neighbour was a +Reeve, the controller of the Sultan's kitchen, and was wont to +bring back great store of oil and fat and broken meats; but the +cats and rats used to eat it, or, if the dogs scented a fat +sheep's tail they would come down from the nearest roofs and tear +at it; and on this wise the beasts had already damaged much of +what he brought home. So the Jew and his wife carried the +Hunchback up to the roof; and, letting him down by his hands and +feet through the wind-shaft[FN#500] into the Reeve's house, +propped him up against the wall and went their ways. Hardly had +they done this when the Reeve, who had been passing an evening +with his friends hearing a recitation of the Koran, came home and +opened the door and, going up with a lighted candle, found a son +of Adam standing in the corner under the ventilator. When he saw +this, he said, "Wah! by Allah, very good forsooth! He who robbeth +my stuff is none other than a man." Then he turned to the +Hunchback and said, "So 'tis thou that stealest the meat and the +fat! I thought it was the cats and dogs, and I kill the dogs and +cats of the quarter and sin against them by killing them. And all +the while 'tis thou comest down from the house terrace through +the wind shaft. But I will avenge myself upon thee with my own +hand!" So he snatched up a heavy hammer and set upon him and +smote him full on the breast and he fell down. Then he examined +him and, finding that he was dead, cried out in horror, thinking +that he had killed him, and said, "There is no Majesty and there +is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" And he +feared for his life, and added "Allah curse the oil and the meat +and the grease and the sheep's tails to boot! How hath fate given +this man his quietus at my hand!" Then he looked at the body and +seeing it was that of a Gobbo, said, "Was it not enough for thee +to be a hunchback,[FN#501] but thou must likewise be a thief and +prig flesh and fat! O thou Veiler,[FN#502] deign to veil me with +Thy curtain of concealment!" So he took him up on his shoulders +and, going forth with him from his house about the latter end of +the night, carried him to the nearest end of the bazaar, 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 bazaar, 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 bazaar and set him up against the wall in such a place +near such a lane;" adding, "Is it not enough for me to have +killed a Moslem without also killing a Christian? So hang none +other but me." When the Governor heard these words he released +the Broker and said to the torch bearer, "Hang up this man on his +own confession." So he loosed the cord from the Nazarene's neck +and threw it round that of the Reeve and, making him stand under +the gallows tree, was about to string him up when behold, the +Jewish physician pushed through the people and shouted to the +executioner, "Hold! Hold! It was I and none else killed the +Hunchback! Last night I was sitting at home when a man and a +woman knocked at the door carrying this Gobbo who was sick, and +gave my handmaid a quarter dinar, bidding her hand me the fee and +tell me to come down and see him. Whilst she was gone the man and +the woman brought him into the house and, setting him on the +stairs, went away; and presently I came down and not seeing him, +for I was in the dark, stumbled over him and he fell to the foot +of the staircase and died on the moment. Then we took him up, I +and my wife, and carried him on to the top terrace; and, the +house of this Reeve being next door to mine, we let the body down +through the ventilator. When he came home and found the Hunchback +in his house, he fancied he was a thief and struck him with a +hammer, so that he fell to the ground, and our neighbour made +certain that he had slain him. Now is it not enough for me to +have killed one Moslem unwittingly, without burdening myself with +taking the life of another Moslem wittingly?" When the Governor +heard this he said to the hangman, "Set free the Reeve and hang +the Jew." Thereupon the torch bearer took him and slung the cord +round his neck when behold, the Tailor pushed through the people, +and shouted to the executioner, "Hold! Hold! It was I and none +else killed the Hunchback; and this was the fashion thereof. I +had been out a pleasuring yesterday and, coming back to supper, +fell in with this Gobbo, who was drunk and drumming away and +singing lustily to his tambourine. So I accosted him and carried +him to my house and bought a fish, and we sat down to eat. +Presently my wife took a fid of fish and, making a gobbet of +it,[FN#510] crammed it into his mouth; but some of it went down +the wrong way or stuck in his gullet and he died on the instant. +So we lifted him up, I and my wife, and carried him to the Jew's +house where the slave girl came down and opened the door to us +and I said to her, 'Tell thy master that there are a man and a +woman and a sick person for thee to see!' I gave her a quarter +dinar and she went up to tell her master; and, whilst she was +gone, I carried the Hunchback to the head of the staircase and +propped him up against the wall, and went off with my wife. When +the Jew came down he stumbled over him and thought that he had +killed him." Then he asked the Jew, "Is this the truth?"; and the +Jew answered, "Yes." Thereupon the Tailor turned to the Governor, +and said, "Leave go the Jew and hang me." When the Governor heard +the Tailor's tale he marvelled at the matter of this Hunchback +and exclaimed. "Verily this is an adventure which should be +recorded in books!" Then he said to the hangman, "Let the Jew go +and hang the Tailor on his own confession." The executioner took +the Tailor and put the rope around his neck and said, "I am tired +of such slow work: we bring out this one and change him for that +other, and no one is hanged after all!" Now the Hunchback in +question was, they relate, jester to the Sultan of China who +could not bear him out of his sight; so when the fellow got drunk +and did not make his appearance that night or the next day till +noon, the Sultan asked some of his courtiers about him and they +answered, "O our lord, the Governor hath come upon him dead and +hath ordered his murderer to be hanged; but, as the hangman was +about to hoist him up there came a second and a third and a +fourth and each one said, 'It is I, and none else killed the +Hunchback!' and each gave a full and circumstantial account of +the manner of the jester being killed." When the King heard this +he cried aloud to the Chamberlain in waiting, "Go down to the +Governor and bring me all four of them." So the Chamberlain went +down at once to the place of execution, where he found the torch +bearer on the point of hanging the Tailor and shouted to him, +"Hold! Hold!" Then he gave the King's command to the Governor who +took the Tailor, the Jew, the Nazarene and the Reeve (the +Hunchback's body being borne on men's shoulders) and went up with +one and all of them to the King. When he came into the presence, +he kissed the ground and acquainted the ruler with the whole +story which it is needless to relate for, as they say, There is +no avail in a thrice told tale. The Sultan hearing it marvelled +and was moved to mirth and commanded the story to be written in +letters of liquid gold, saying to those present, "Did ye ever +hear a more wondrous tale than that of my Hunchback?" Thereupon +the Nazarene broker came forward and said, "O King of the age, +with thy leave I will tell thee a thing which happened to myself +and which is still more wondrous and marvellous and pleasurable +and delectable than the tale of the Hunchback." Quoth the King +"Tell us what thou hast to say!" So he began in these words + + + + + +The Nazarene Broker's Story. + + +O King of the age, I came to this thy country with merchandise +and Destiny stayed me here with you: but my place of birth was +Cairo, in Egypt, where I also was brought up, for I am one of the +Copts and my father was a broker before me. When I came to man's +estate he departed this life and I succeeded to his business. One +day, as I was sitting in my shop, behold, there came up to me a +youth as handsome as could be, wearing sumptuous raiment and +riding a fine ass.[FN#511] When he saw me he saluted me, and I +stood up to do him honour: then he took out a kerchief containing +a sample of sesame and asked, "How much is this worth per +Ardabb?";[FN#512] whereto I answered, "An hundred dirhams." Quoth +he, "Take porters and gaugers and metesmen and come tomorrow to +the Khan al-Jawali,[FN#513] by the Gate of Victory quarter where +thou wilt find me." Then he fared forth leaving with me the +sample of sesame in his kerchief; and I went the round of my +customers and ascertained that every Ardabb would fetch an +hundred and twenty dirhams. Next day I took four metesmen and +walked with them to the Khan, where I found him awaiting me. As +soon as he saw me he rose and opened his magazine, when we +measured the grain till the store was empty; and we found the +contents fifty Ardabbs, making five thousand pieces of silver. +Then said he, "Let ten dirhams on every Ardabb be thy brokerage; +so take the price and keep in deposit four thousand and five +hundred dirhams for me; and, when I have made an end of selling +the other wares in my warehouses, I will come to thee and receive +the amount." "I will well," replied I and kissing his hand went +away, having made that day a profit of a thousand dirhams. He was +absent a month, at the end of which he came to me and asked, +"Where be the dirhams?" I rose and saluted him and answered to +him, "Wilt thou not eat somewhat in my house?" But he refused +with the remark, "Get the monies ready and I will presently +return and take them." Then he rode away. So I brought out the +dirhams and sat down to await him, but he stayed away for another +month, when he came back and said to me, "Where be the dirhams?" +I rose and saluting him asked, "Wilt thou not eat some thing in +my house?" But he again refused adding, "Get me the monies ready +and I will presently return and take them." Then he rode off. So +I brought out the dirhams and sat down to await his return; but +he stayed away from me a third month, and I said, "Verily this +young man is liberality in incarnate form." At the end of the +month he came up, riding a mare mule and wearing a suit of +sumptuous raiment; he was as the moon on the night of fullness, +and he seemed as if fresh from the baths, with his cheeks rosy +bright, and his brow flower white, and a mole spot like a grain +of ambergris delighting the sight; even as was said of such an +one by the poet:-- + +Full moon with sun in single mansion * In brightest sheen and + fortune rose and shone, +With happy splendour changing every sprite: * Hail to what + guerdons prayer with blissful! boon! +Their charms and grace have gained perfection's height, * All + hearts have conquered and all wits have won. +Laud to the Lord for works so wonder strange, * And what th' + Almighty wills His hand hath done! + +When I saw him I rose to him and invoking blessings on him asked, +O my lord, wilt thou not take thy monies?" "Whence the +hurry?"[FN#514] quoth he, "Wait till I have made an end of my +business and then I will come and take them." Again he rode away +and I said to myself, "By Allah, when he comes next time needs +must I make him my guest; for I have traded with his dirhams and +have gotten large gains thereby." At the end of the year he came +again, habited in a suit of clothes more sumptuous than the +former; and, when I conjured him by the Evangel to alight at my +house and eat of my guest food, he said, "I consent, on condition +that what thou expendest on me shall be of my monies still in thy +hands. I answered, "So be it," and made him sit down whilst I got +ready what was needful of meat and drink and else besides; and +set the tray before him, with the invitation "Bismillah"![FN#515] +Then he drew near the tray and put out his left hand[FN#516] and +ate with me; and I marvelled at his not using the right hand. +When we had done eating, I poured water on his hand and gave him +wherewith to wipe it. Upon this we sat down to converse after I +had set before him some sweetmeats; and I said to him, "O my +master, prithee relieve me by telling me why thou eatest with thy +left hand? Perchance something aileth thy other hand?" When he +heard my words, he repeated these verses:-- + +"Dear friend, ask not what burneth in my breast, * Lest thou see + fiery pangs eye never saw: +Wills not my heart to harbour Salma in stead * Of + Layla's[FN#517] love, but need hath ne'er a law!" + +And he put out his right arm from his sleeve and behold, the hand +was cut off, a wrist without a fist. I was astounded at this but +he said, "Marvel not, and think not that I ate with my left hand +for conceit and insolence, but from necessity; and the cutting +off my right hand was caused by an adventure of the strangest." +Asked I, "And what caused it?"; and he answered:--"Know that I am +of the sons of Baghdad and my father was of notables of that +city. When I came to man's estate I heard the pilgrims and +wayfarers, travellers and merchants talk of the land of Egypt and +their words sank deep into my mind till my parent died, when I +took a large sum of money and furnished myself for trade with +stuffs of Baghdad and Mosul and, packing them up in bales, set +out on my wanderings; and Allah decreed me safety till I entered +this your city. Then he wept and began repeating:-- + + The blear eyed 'scapes the pits * Wherein the lynx eyed fall: + A word the wise man slays * And saves the natural: + The Moslem fails of food * The Kafir feasts in hall: + What art or act is man's? * God's will obligeth all! + +Now when he had ended his verse he said, So I entered Cairo and +took off my loads and stored my stuffs in the Khan "Al- +Masrur."[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 +bazaars 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-Bostani, or the Gardener,[FN#522] who +welcomed me; and we sat talking awhile till the bazaar 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 bazaar 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 bazaar 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, "0 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 Habbaniyah[FN#528] quarter; and, +when there, look out for the mansion of Al-Nakib[FN#529] Barakat, +popularly known as Abu Shamah 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 Masrur 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 cloisonne with +gold and corniced with inscriptions[FN#531] emblazoned in lapis +lazuli; and the walls were stuccoed with Sultani 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 riffling and whose birds +were trilling and shrilling; and in the heart of the hall was a +jetting fountain at whose corners stood birds fashioned in red +gold crusted with pearls and gems and spouting water crystal +clear. When I entered and took a seat.--And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-sixth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young +merchant continued, When I entered and took a seat, the lady at +once came in crowned with a diadem[FN#533] of pearls and jewels; +her face dotted with artificial moles in indigo,[FN#534] her +eyebrows pencilled with Kohl and her hands and feet reddened with +Henna. When she saw me she smiled in my face and took me to her +embrace and clasped me to her breast; then she put her mouth to +my mouth and sucked my tongue[FN#535] (and I did likewise) and +said, "Can it be true, O my little darkling, thou art come to +me?" adding, "Welcome and good cheer to thee! By Allah, from the +day I saw thee sleep hath not been sweet to me nor hath food been +pleasant." Quoth I, "Such hath also been my case: and I am thy +slave, thy negro slave." Then we sat down to converse and I hung +my head earthwards in bashfulness, but she delayed not long ere +she set before me a tray of the most exquisite viands, marinated +meats, fritters soaked in bee's[FN#536] honeys and chickens +stuffed with sugar and pistachio nuts, whereof we ate till we +were satisfied. Then they brought basin and ewer and I washed my +hands and we scented ourselves with rose water musk'd and sat +down again to converse. So she began repeating these +couplets[FN#537]: + +"Had we wist of thy coming, thy way had been strewn + With the blood of our heart and the balls of our sight: +Our cheek as a foot cloth to greet thee been thrown, + That thy step on our eyelids should softly alight." + +And she kept plaining of what had befallen her and I of what had +betided me; and love of her got 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 cowers; and I sent them all to +her. As soon as it was night I again tied up fifty dinars in a +kerchief and, mounting the ass as usual, rode to the mansion +where we ate and drank and lay together till morning when I threw +the kerchief and dinars to her[FN#542] and rode back to the Khan. +I ceased not doing after that fashion till, after a sweet night, +I woke one fine morning and found myself beggared, dinar-less and +dirhamless. So said I to myself "All this be Satan's work;" and +began to recite these couplets:-- + +"Poverty dims the sheen of man whate'er his wealth has been, * + E'en as the sun about to set shines with a yellowing light +Absent he falls from memory, forgotten by his friends; * Present + he shareth not their joys for none in him delight +He walks the market shunned of all, too glad to hide his head, * + In desert places tears he sheds and moans his bitter plight +By Allah, 'mid his kith and kin a man, however good, * Waylaid + by want and penury is but a stranger wight!" + +I fared forth from the Khan and walked down "Between the Palaces" +street till I came to the Zuwaylah Porte, where I found the +people crowding and the gateway blocked for the much folk. And by +the decree of Destiny I saw there a trooper against whom I +pressed unintentionally, so that my hand came upon his bosom +pocket and I felt a purse inside it. I looked and seeing a string +of green silk hanging from the pocket knew it for a purse; and +the crush grew greater every minute and just then, a camel laden +with a load of fuel happened to jostle the trooper on the +opposite side, and he turned round to fend it off from him, lest +it tear his clothes; and Satan tempted me, so I pulled the string +and drew out a little bag of blue silk, containing something +which chinked like coin. But the soldier, feeling his pocket +suddenly lightened, put his hand to it and found it empty; +whereupon he turned to me and, snatching up his mace from his +saddle bow, struck me with it on the head. I fell to the ground, +whilst the people came round us and seizing the trooper's mare by +the bridle said to him, "Strikest thou this youth such a blow as +this for a mere push!" But the trooper cried out at them, "This +fellow is an accursed thief!" Whereupon I came to myself and +stood up, and the people looked at me and said, "Nay, he is a +comely youth: he would not steal anything;" and some of them took +my part and others were against me and question and answer waxed +loud and warm. The people pulled at me and would have rescued me +from his clutches; but as fate decreed behold, the Governor, the +Chief of Police, and the watch[FN#543] entered the Zuwaylah Gate +at this moment and, seeing the people gathered together around me +and the soldier, the Governor asked, "What is the matter?" "By +Allah! O Emir," answered the trooper, "this is a thief! I had in +my pocket a purse of blue silk lined with twenty good gold pieces +and he took it, whilst I was in the crush." Quoth the Governor, +"Was any one by thee at the time?"; and quoth the soldier, "No." +Thereupon the Governor cried out to the Chief of Police who +seized me, and on this wise the curtain of the Lord's. protection +was withdrawn from me. Then he said "Strip him;" and, when they +stripped me, they found the purse in my clothes. The Wali took +it, opened it and counted it; and, finding in it twenty dinars as +the soldier had said, waxed exceeding wroth and bade his guard +bring me before him. Then said he to me, "Now, O youth, speak +truly: didst thou steal this purse?"[FN#544] At this I hung my +head to the ground and said to myself, "If I deny having stolen +it, I shall get myself into terrible trouble." So I raised my +head and said, "Yes, I took it." When the Governor heard these +words he wondered and summoned witnesses who came forward and +attested my confession. All this happened at the Zuwaylah Gate. +Then the Governor ordered the link bearer to cut off my right +hand, and he did so; after which he would have struck off my left +foot also; but the heart of the soldier softened and he took pity +on me and interceded for me with the Governor that I should not +be slain.[FN#545] Thereupon the Wali left me, and went away and +the folk remained round me and gave me a cup of wine to drink. As +for the trooper he pressed the purse upon me, and said, "Thou art +a comely youth and it befitteth not thou be a thief." So I +repeated these verses:-- + +"I swear by Allah's name, fair sir! no thief was I, * Nor, O thou + best of men! was I a bandit bred: +But Fortune's change and chance o'erthrew me suddenly, * And + cark and care and penury my course misled: +I shot it not, indeed, 'twas Allah shot the shaft * That rolled + in dust the Kingly diadem from my head."[FN#546] + +The soldier turned away after giving me the purse; and I also +went my ways having wrapped my hand in a piece of rag and thrust +it into my bosom. My whole semblance had changed, and my colour +had waxed yellow from the shame and pain which had befallen me. +Yet I went on to my mistress's house where, in extreme +perturbation of spirit I threw myself down on the carpet bed. She +saw me in this state and asked me, "What aileth thee and why do I +see thee so changed in looks?"; and I answered, "My head paineth +me and I am far from well." Whereupon she was vexed and was +concerned on my account and said, "Burn not my heart, O my lord, +but sit up and raise thy head and recount to me what hath +happened to thee today, for thy face tells me a tale." "Leave +this talk," replied I. But she wept and said, "Me seems thou art +tired of me, for I see thee contrary to thy wont." But I was +silent; and she kept on talking to me albeit I gave her no +answer, till night came on. Then she set food before me, but I +refused it fearing lest she see me eating with my left hand and +said to her, "I have no stomach to eat at present." Quoth she, +"Tell me what hath befallen thee to day, and why art thou so +sorrowful and broken in spirit and heart?" Quoth I, "Wait awhile; +I will tell thee all at my leisure." Then she brought me wine, +saying, "Down with it, this will dispel thy grief: thou must +indeed drink and tell me of thy tidings." I asked her, "Perforce +must I tell thee?"; and she answered, "Yes." Then said I, "If it +needs must be so, then give me to drink with thine own hand." She +filled and drank,[FN#547] and filled again and gave me the cup +which I took from her with my left hand and wiped the tears from +my eyelids and began repeating: + +"When Allah willeth aught befall a man * Who hath of ears and + eyes and wits full share: +His ears He deafens and his eyes He blinds * And draws his wits + e'en as we draw a hair[FN#548] +Till, having wrought His purpose, He restores * Man's wits, that + warned more circumspect he fare." + +When I ended my verses I wept, and she cried out with an +exceeding loud cry, "What is the cause of thy tears? Thou burnest +my heart! What makes thee take the cup with thy left hand?" Quoth +I, "Truly I have on my right hand a boil;" and quoth she, "Put it +out and I will open it for thee."[FN#549] "It is not yet time to +open it," I replied, "so worry me not with thy words, for I will +not take it out of the bandage at this hour." Then I drank off +the cup, and she gave not over plying me with drink until +drunkenness overcame me and I fell asleep in the place where I +was sitting; whereupon she looked at my right hand and saw a +wrist without a fist. So she searched me closely and found with +me the purse of gold and my severed hand wrapped up in the bit of +rag.[FN#550] With this such sorrow came upon her as never +overcame any and she ceased not lamenting on my account till the +morning. When I awoke I found that she had dressed me a dish of +broth of four boiled chickens, which she brought to me together +with a cup of wine. I ate and drank and laying down the purse, +would have gone out; but she said to me, "Whither away?"; and I +answered, "Where my business calleth me;" and said she, "Thou +shalt not go: sit thee down." So I sat down and she resumed, +"Hath thy love for me so overpowered thee that thou hast wasted +all thy wealth and hast lost thine hand on my account? I take +thee to witness against me and also Allah be my witness that I +will never part with thee, but will die under thy feet; and soon +thou shalt see that my words are true." Then she sent for the +Kazi and witnesses and said to them, "Write my contract of +marriage with this young man, and bear ye witness that I have +received the marriage settlement."[FN#551] When they had drawn up +the document she said, "Be witness that all my monies which are +in this chest and all I have in slaves and handmaidens and other +property is given in free gift to this young man." So they took +act of this statement enabling me to assume possession in right +of marriage; and then withdrew, after receiving their fees. +Thereupon she took me by the hand and, leading me to a closet, +opened a large chest and said to me, "See what is herein;" and I +looked and behold, it was full of kerchiefs. Quoth she, "This is +the money I had from thee and every kerchief thou gavest me, +containing fifty dinars, I wrapped up and cast into this chest; +so now take thine own, for it returns to thee, and this day thou +art become of high estate. Fortune and Fate afflicted thee so +that thou didst lose thy right hand for my sake; and I can never +requite thee; nay, although I gave my life 'twere but little and +I should still remain thy debtor." Then she added, "Take charge +of thy property."; so I transferred the contents of her chest to +my chest, and added my wealth to her wealth which I had given +her, and my heart was eased and my sorrow ceased. I stood up and +kissed her and thanked her; and she said, "Thou hast given thy +hand for love of me and how am I able to give thee an equivalent? +By Allah, if I offered my life for thy love, it were indeed but +little and would not do justice to thy claim upon me." Then she +made over to me by deed all that she possessed in clothes and +ornaments of gold and pearls, and goods and farms and chattels, +and lay not down to sleep that night, being sorely grieved for my +grief, till I told her the whole of what had befallen me. I +passed the night with her. But before we had lived together a +month's time she fell sorely sick and illness increased upon her, +by reason of her grief for the loss of my hand, and she endured +but fifty days before she was numbered among the folk of futurity +and heirs of immortality. So I laid her out and buried her body +in mother earth and let make a pious perfection of the +Koran[FN#552] for the health of her soul, and gave much money in +alms for her; after which I turned me from the grave and returned +to the house. There I found that she had left much substance in +ready money and slaves, mansions, lands and domains, and among +her store houses was a granary of sesame seed, whereof I sold +part to thee; and I had neither time nor inclination to take +count with thee till I had sold the rest of the stock in store; +nor, indeed, even now have I made an end of receiving the price. +So I desire thou baulk me not in what I am about to say to thee: +twice have I eaten of thy food and I wish to give thee as a +present the monies for the sesame which are by thee. Such is the +cause of the cutting off my right hand and my eating with my +left." "Indeed," said I, "thou hast shown me the utmost kindness +and liberality." Then he asked me, "Why shouldst thou not travel +with me to my native country whither I am about to return with +Cairene and Alexandrian stuffs? Say me, wilt thou accompany me?"; +and I answered "I will." So I agreed to go with him at the head +of the month, and I sold all I had and bought other merchandise; +then we set out and travelled, I and the young man, to this +country of yours, where he sold his venture and bought other +investment of country stuffs and continued his journey to Egypt +But it was my lot to abide here, so that these things befell me +in my strangerhood which befell last night, and is not this tale, +O King of the age, more wondrous and marvellous than the story of +the Hunchback? "Not so," quoth the King, "I cannot accept it: +there is no help for it but that you be hanged, every one of +you."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased saying +her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-seventh Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +King of China declared "There is no help for it but that you be +hanged," the Reeve of the Sultan's Kitchen came forward and said, +"If thou permit me I will tell thee a tale of what befell me just +before I found this Gobbo, and, if it be more wondrous than his +story, do thou grant us our lives." And when the King answered +"Yes" he began to recount + + + + + +The Reeve's Tale. + + +Know, O King, that last night I was at a party where they made a +perfection of the Koran and got together doctors of law and +religion skilled in recitation and intoning; and, when the +readers ended, the table was spread and amongst other things they +set before us was a marinated ragout[FN#553] flavoured with cumin +seed. So we sat down, but one of our number held back and refused +to touch it. We conjured him to eat of it but he swore he would +not; and, when we again pressed him, he said, "Be not instant +with me; sufficeth me that which hath already befallen me through +eating it", and he began reciting: + +"Shoulder thy tray and go straight to thy goal; * And, if suit + thee this Kohl why,-use this Kohl!"[FN#554] + +When he ended his verse we said to him, "Allah upon thee, tell us +thy reason for refusing to eat of the cumin ragout?" `'If so it +be," he replied, "and needs must I eat of it, I will not do so +except I wash my hand forty times with soap, forty times with +potash and forty times with galangale,[FN#555] the total being +one hundred and twenty washings." Thereupon the hospitable host +bade his slaves bring water and whatso he required; and the young +man washed his hand as afore mentioned. Then he sat down, as if +disgusted and frightened withal, and dipping his hand in the +ragout, began eating and at the same time showing signs of anger. +And we wondered at him with extreme wonderment, for his hand +trembled and the morsel in it shook and we saw that his thumb had +been cut off and he ate with his four fingers only. So we said to +him, "Allah upon thee, what happened to thy thumb? Is thy hand +thus by the creation of God or hath some accident befallen it?" +"O my brothers," he answered, "it is not only thus with this +thumb, but also with my other thumb and with both my great toes, +as you shall see." So saying he uncovered his left hand and his +feet, and we saw that the left hand was even as the right and in +like manner that each of his feet lacked its great toe. When we +saw him after this fashion, our amazement waxed still greater and +we said to him, "We have hardly patience enough to await thy +history and to hear the manner of the cutting off of thy thumbs, +and the reason of thy washing both hands one hundred and twenty +times." Know then, said he, that my father was chief of the +merchants and the wealthiest of them all in Baghdad city during +the reign of the Caliph Harun al Rashid; and he was much given to +wine drinking and listening to the lute and the other instruments +of pleasaunce; so that when he died he left nothing. I buried him +and had perlections of the Koran made for him, and mourned for +him days and nights: then I opened his shop and found that he had +left in it few goods, while his debts were many. However I +compounded with his creditors for time to settle their demands +and betook myself to buying and selling, paying them something +from week to week on account; and I gave not over doing this till +I had cleared off his obligations in full and began adding to my +principal. One day, as I sat in my shop, suddenly and +unexpectedly there appeared before me a young lady, than whom I +never saw a fairer, wearing the richest raiment and ornaments and +riding a she mule, with one negro slave walking before her and +another behind her. She drew rein at the head of the exchange +bazaar and entered followed by an eunuch who said to her, "O my +lady come out and away without telling anyone, lest thou light a +fire which will burn us all up." Moreover he stood before her +guarding her from view whilst she looked at the merchants' shops. +She found none open but mine; so she came up with the eunuch +behind her and sitting down in my shop saluted me; never heard I +aught fairer than her speech or sweeter than her voice. Then she +unveiled her face, and I saw that she was like the moon and I +stole a glance at her whose sight caused me a thousand sighs, and +my heart was captivated with love of her, and I kept looking +again and again upon her face repeating these verses:-- + +"Say to the charmer in the dove hued veil, * Death would be + welcome to abate thy bale! +Favour me with thy favours that I live: * See, I stretch forth my + palm to take thy vail! + +When she heard my verse she answered me saying:-- + +"I've lost all patience by despite of you; * My heart knows + nothing save love plight to you! +If aught I sight save charms so bright of you; * My parting end + not in the sight of you! +I swear I'll ne'er forget the right of you; * And fain this + breast would soar to height of you: +You made me drain the love cup, and I lief * A love cup tender + for delight of you: +Take this my form where'er you go, and when * You die, entomb + me in the site of you: +Call on me in my grave, and hear my bones * Sigh their responses + to the shright of you: +And were I asked 'Of God what wouldst thou see?' * I answer, + 'first His will then Thy decree!' + +When she ended her verse she asked me, "O youth, hast thou any +fair stuffs by thee?"; and I answered, "O my lady, thy slave is +poor; but have patience till the merchants open their shops, and +I will suit thee with what thou wilt." Then we sat talking, I and +she (and I was drowned in the sea of her love, dazed in the +desert[FN#556] of my passion for her), till the merchants opened +their shops; when I rose and fetched her all she sought to the +tune of five thousand dirhams. She gave the stuff to the eunuch +and, going forth by the door of the Exchange, she mounted mule +and went away, without telling me whence she came, and I was +ashamed to speak of such trifle. When the merchants dunned me for +the price, I made myself answerable for five thousand dirhams and +went home, drunken with the love of her. They set supper before +me and I ate a mouthful, thinking only of her beauty and +loveliness, and sought to sleep, but sleep came not to me. And +such was my condition for a whole week, when the merchants +required their monies of me, but I persuaded them to have +patience for another week, at the end of which time she again +appeared mounted on a she mule and attended by her eunuch and two +slaves. She saluted me and said, "O my master, we have been long +in bringing thee the price of the stuffs; but now fetch the +Shroff and take thy monies." So I sent for the money changer and +the eunuch counted out the coin before him and made it over to +me. Then we sat talking, I and she, till the market opened, when +she said to me, "Get me this and that." So I got her from the +merchants whatso she wanted, and she took it and went away +without saying a word to me about the price. As soon as she was +out of sight, I repented me of what I had done; for the worth of +the stuffs bought for her amounted to a thousand dinars, and I +said in my soul, "What manner of love is this? She hath brought +me five thousand dirhams, and hath taken goods for a thousand +dinars."[FN#557] I feared lest I should be beggared through +having to pay the merchants their money, and I said, "They know +none other but me; this lovely lady is naught but a cheat and a +swindler, who hath diddled me with her beauty and grace; for she +saw that I was a mere youth and laughed at me for not asking her +address." I ceased not to be troubled by these doubts and fears, +as she was absent more than a month, till the merchants pestered +me for their money and were so hard upon me that I put up my +property for sale and stood on the very brink of ruin. However, +as I was sitting in my shop one day, drowned in melancholy +musings, she suddenly rode up and, dismounting at the bazaar +gate, came straight towards me. When I saw her all my cares fell +from me and I forgot every trouble. She came close up to me and +greeted me with her sweet voice and pleasant speech and presently +said, "Fetch me the Shroff and weigh thy money."[FN#558] So she +gave me the price of what goods I had gotten for her and more, +and fell to talking freely with me, till I was like to die of joy +and delight. Presently she asked me, "Hast thou a wife?"; and I +answered "No, indeed: I have never known woman"; and began to +shed tears. Quoth she "Why weepest thou?" Quoth I "It is +nothing!" Then giving the eunuch some of the gold pieces, I +begged him to be go between[FN#559] in the matter; but he laughed +and said, "She is more in love with thee than thou with her: she +hath no occasion for the stuffs she hath bought of thee and did +all this only for the love of thee; so ask of her what thou wilt +and she will deny thee nothing." When she saw me giving the +dinars to the eunuch, she returned and sat down again; and I said +to her, "Be charitable to thy slave and pardon him what he is +about to say." Then I told her what was in my mind and she +assented and said to the eunuch, "Thou shalt carry my message to +him," adding to me, "And do thou whatso the eunuch biddeth thee." +Then she got up and went away, and I paid the merchants their +monies and they all profited; but as for me, regret at the +breaking off of our intercourse was all my gain; and I slept not +the whole of that night. However, before many days passed her +eunuch came to me, and I entreated him honourably and asked him +after his mistress. "Truly she is sick with love of thee," he +replied and I rejoined, "Tell me who and what she is." Quoth he, +"The Lady Zubaydah, queen consort of Harun al-Rashid, brought her +up as a rearling[FN#560] and hath advanced her to be stewardess +of the Harim, and gave her the right of going in and out of her +own sweet will. She spoke to her lady of thee and begged her to +marry her to thee; but she said, 'I will not do this, till I see +the young man; and, if he be worthy of thee, I will marry thee to +him.' So now we look for the moment to smuggle thee into the +Palace and if thou succeed in entering privily thou wilt win thy +wish to wed her; but if the affair get wind, the Lady Zubaydah +will strike off thy head.[FN#561] What sayest thou to this?" I +answered, "I will go with thee and abide the risk whereof thou +speakest." Then said he, "As soon as it is night, go to the +Mosque built by the Lady Zubaydah on the Tigris and pray the +night prayers and sleep there." "With love and gladness," cried +I. So at nightfall I repaired to the Mosque, where I prayed and +passed the night. With earliest dawn, behold, came sundry eunuchs +in a skiff with a number of empty chests which they deposited in +the Mosque; then all of them went their ways but one, and looking +curiously at him, I saw he was our go between. Presently in came +the handmaiden, my mistress, walking straight up to us; and I +rose to her and embraced her while she kissed me and shed +tears.[FN#562] We talked awhile; after which she made me get into +one of the chests which she locked upon me. Presently the other +eunuchs came back with a quantity of packages and she fell to +stowing them in the chests, which she locked down, one by one, +till all were shut. When all was done the eunuchs embarked the +chests in the boat and made for the Lady Zubaydah's palace. With +this, thought began to beset me and I said to myself, "Verily thy +lust and wantonness will be the death of thee; and the question +is after all shalt thou win to thy wish or not?" And I began to +weep, boxed up as I was in the box and suffering from cramp; and +I prayed Allah that He deliver me from the dangerous strait I was +in, whilst the boat gave not over going on till it reached the +Palace gate where they lifted out the chests and amongst them +that in which I was. Then they carried them in, passing through a +troop of eunuchs, guardians of the Harim and of the ladies behind +the curtain, till they came to the post of the Eunuch in +Chief[FN#563] who started up from his slumbers and shouted to the +damsel "What is in those chests?" "They are full of wares for the +Lady Zubaydah!" "Open them, one by one, that I may see what is in +them." "And wherefore wouldst thou open them?" "Give me no words +and exceed not in talk! These chests must and shall be opened." +So saying, he sprang to his feet, and the first which they +brought to him to open was that wherein I was; and, when I felt +his hands upon it, my senses failed me and I bepissed myself in +my funk, the water running out of the box. Then said she to the +Eunuch in Chief, "O steward! thou wilt cause me to be killed and +thyself too, for thou hast damaged goods worth ten thousand +dinars. This chest contains coloured dresses, and four gallon +flasks of Zemzem water;[FN#564] and now one of them hath got +unstoppered and the water is running out over the clothes and it +will spoil their colours." The eunuch answered, "Take up thy +boxes and get thee gone to the curse of God!" So the slaves +carried off all the chests, including mine; and hastened on with +them till suddenly I heard the voice of one saying, "Alack, and +alack! the Caliph! the Caliph !" When that cry struck mine ears I +died in my skin and said a saying which never yet shamed the +sayer, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, +the Glorious, the Great! I and only I have brought this calamity +upon myself." Presently I heard the Caliph say to my mistress, "A +plague on thee, what is in those boxes?"; and she answered, +"Dresses for the Lady Zubaydah";[FN#565] whereupon he, "Open them +before me!" When I heard this I died my death outright and said +to myself, "By Allah, today is the very last of my days in this +world: if I come safe out of this I am to marry her and no more +words, but detection stares me in the face and my head is as good +as stricken off." Then I repeated the profession of Faith, +saying, "There is no god but the God, and Mohammed is the Apostle +of God!"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to +say her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-eighth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young +merchant continued as follows: Now when I testified, "I bear +witness that there is no god save the God," I heard my mistress +the handmaid declare to the Caliph, "These chests, O Commander of +the Faithful, have been committed to my charge by the Lady +Zubaydah, and she doth not wish their contents to be seen by any +one." "No matter!" quoth the Caliph, "needs must they be opened, +I will see what is in them"; and he cried aloud to the eunuchs, +"Bring the chests here before me." At this I made sure of death +(without benefit of a doubt) and swooned away. Then the eunuchs +brought the chests up to him one after another and he fell to +inspecting the contents, but he saw in them only otters 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 stanched, I said, "Never again +will I eat of cumin ragout without washing my hands forty times +with potash and forty times with galangale and forty times with +soap!" And she took of me an oath and bound me by a covenant to +that effect. When, therefore, you brought me the cumin ragout my +colour changed and I said to myself, "It was this very dish that +caused the cutting off of my thumbs and great toes;" and, when +you forced me, I said, "Needs must I fulfil the oath I have +sworn." "And what befell thee after this?" asked those present; +and he answered, "When I swore to her, her anger was appeased and +I slept with her that night. We abode thus awhile till she said +to me one day, "Verily the Palace of the Caliph is not a pleasant +place for us to live in, and none ever entered it save thyself; +and thou only by grace of the Lady Zubaydah. Now she hath given +me fifty thousand dinars," adding, "Take this money and go out +and buy us a fair dwelling house." So I fared forth and bought a +fine and spacious mansion, whither she removed all the wealth she +owned and what riches I had gained in stuffs and costly rarities. +Such is the cause of the cutting off of my thumbs and great toes. +We ate (continued the Reeve), and were returning to our homes +when there befell me with the Hunchback that thou wottest of. +This then is my story, and peace be with thee! Quoth the King; +"This story is on no wise more delectable than the story of the +Hunchback; nay, it is even less so, and there is no help for the +hanging of the whole of you." Then came forward the Jewish +physician and kissing the ground said, "O King of the age, I will +tell thee an history more wonderful than that of the Hunchback." +"Tell on," said the King of China; so he began the + + + + + +Tale of the Jewish Doctor. + + +Right marvellous was a matter which came to pass to me in my +youth. I lived in Damascus of Syria studying my art and, one day, +as I was sitting at home behold, there came to me a Mameluke from +the household of the Sahib and said to me, "Speak with my lord!" +So I followed him to the Viceroy's house and, entering the great +hall, saw at its head a couch of cedar plated with gold whereon +lay a sickly youth beautiful withal; fairer than he one could not +see. I sat down by his head and prayed to Heaven for a cure; and +he made me a sign with his eyes, so I said to him, "O my lord! +favour me with thy hand, and safety be with thee!"[FN#572] Then +he put forth his left hand and I marvelled thereat and said, "By +Allah, strange that this handsome youth, the son of a great +house, should so lack good manners. This can be nothing but pride +and conceit!" However I felt his pulse and wrote him a +prescription and continued to visit him for ten days, at the end +of which time he recovered and went to the Hammam,[FN#573] +whereupon the Viceroy gave me a handsome dress of honour and +appointed me superintendent of the hospital which is in +Damascus.[FN#574] I accompanied him to the baths, the whole of +which they had kept private for his accommodation; and the +servants came in with him and took off his clothes within the +bath, and when he was stripped I saw that his right hand had been +newly cut off, and this was the cause of his weakliness. At this I +was amazed and grieved for him: then, looking at his body, I saw +on it the scars of scourge stripes whereto he had applied +unguents. I was troubled at the sight and my concern appeared in +my face. The young man looked at me and, comprehending the +matter, said, "O Physician of the age, marvel not at my case; I +will tell thee my story as soon as we quit the baths." Then we +washed and, returning to his house, ate somewhat of food and took +rest awhile; after which he asked me, "What sayest thou to +solacing thee by inspecting the supper hall?"; and I answered "So +let it be." Thereupon he ordered the slaves to carry out the +carpets and cushions required and roast a lamb and bring us some +fruit. They did his bidding and we ate together, he using the +left hand for the purpose. After a while I said to him, "Now tell +me thy tale." "O Physician of the age," replied he, "hear what +befell me. Know that I am of the sons of Mosul, where my +grandfather died leaving nine children of whom my father was the +eldest. All grew up and took to them wives, but none of them was +blessed with offspring except my father, to whom Providence +vouchsafed me. So I grew up amongst my uncles who rejoiced in me +with exceeding joy, till I came to man's estate. One day which +happened to be a Friday, I went to the Cathedral mosque of Mosul +with my father and my uncles, and we prayed the congregational +prayers, after which the folk went forth, except my father and +uncles, who sat talking of wondrous things in foreign parts and +the marvellous sights of strange cities. At last they mentioned +Egypt, and one of my uncles said, "Travellers tell us that there +is not on earth's face aught fairer than Cairo and her Nile;" and +these words made me long to see Cairo. Quoth my father, "Whoso +hath not seen Cairo hath not seen the world. Her dust is golden +and her Nile a miracle holden; and her women are as Houris fair; +puppets, beautiful pictures; her houses are palaces rare; her +water is sweet and light[FN#575] and her mud a commodity and a +medicine beyond compare, even as said the poet in this his +poetry:-- + +The Nile[FN#576] flood this day is the gain you own; * You alone + in such gain and bounties wone: +The Nile is my tear flood of severance, * And here none is + forlorn but I alone. + +Moreover temperate is her air, and with fragrance blent, Which +surpasseth aloes wood in scent; and how should it be otherwise, +she being the Mother of the World? And Allah favour him who wrote +these lines:-- + +An I quit Cairo and her pleasaunces, * Where can I wend to find + so gladsome ways? +Shall I desert that site, whose grateful scents * Joy every soul + and call for loudest praise? +Where every palace, as another Eden, * Carpets and cushions + richly wrought displays; +A city wooing sight and sprite to glee, * Where Saint meets + Sinner and each 'joys his craze; +Where friend meets friend, by Providence united * In greeny + garden and in palmy maze: +People of Cairo, and by Allah's doom * I fare, with you in + thoughts I wone always! +Whisper not Cairo in the ear of Zephyr, * Lest for her like of + garden scents he reave her,[FN#577] + +And if your eyes saw her earth, and the adornment thereof with +bloom, and the purfling of it with all manner blossoms, and the +islands of the Nile and how much is therein of wide spread and +goodly prospect, and if you bent your sight upon the Abyssinian +Pond,[FN#578] your glance would not revert from the scene quit of +wonder; for nowhere would you behold the fellow of that lovely +view; and, indeed, the two arms of the Nile embrace most +luxuriant verdure,[FN#579] as the white of the eye encompasseth +its black or like filigreed silver surrounding chrysolites. And +divinely gifted was the poet who there anent said these +couplets:-- + +By th' Abyssinian Pond, O day divine!* In morning twilight and + in sunny shine: +The water prisoned in its verdurous walls, * Like sabre flashes + before shrinking eyne: +And in The Garden sat we while it drains * Slow draught, with + purfled sides dyed finest fine: +The stream is rippled by the hands of clouds; * We too, + a-rippling, on our rugs recline, +Passing pure wine, and whoso leaves us there * Shall ne'er arise + from fall his woes design: +Draining long draughts from large and brimming bowls, * + Administ'ring thirst's only medicine--wine. + +And what is there to compare with the Rasad, the Observatory, and +its charms whereof every viewer as he approacheth saith, 'Verily +this spot is specialised with all manner of excellence!' And if +thou speak of the Night of Nile full,[FN#580] give the rainbow +and distribute it![FN#581] And if thou behold The Garden at +eventide, with the cool shades sloping far and wide, a marvel +thou wouldst see and wouldst incline to Egypt in ecstasy. And +wert thou by Cairo's river side,[FN#582] when the sun is sinking +and the stream dons mail coat and habergeon[FN#583] over its +other vestments, thou wouldst be quickened to new life by its +gentle zephyrs and by its all sufficient shade." So spake he and +the rest fell to describing Egypt and her Nile. As I heard their +accounts, my thoughts dwelt upon the subject and when, after +talking their fill, all arose and went their ways, I lay down to +sleep that night, but sleep came not because of my violent +longing for Egypt; and neither meat pleased me nor drink. After a +few days my uncles equipped themselves for a trade journey to +Egypt; and I wept before my father till he made ready for me +fitting merchandise, and he consented to my going with them, +saying however, "Let him not enter Cairo, but leave him to sell +his wares at Damascus." So I took leave of my father and we fared +forth from Mosul and gave not over travelling till we reached +Aleppo[FN#584] where we halted certain days. Then we marched +onwards till we made Damascus and we found her a city as though +she were a Paradise, abounding in trees and streams and birds and +fruits of all kinds. We alighted at one of the Khans, where my +uncles tarried awhile selling and buying; and they bought and +sold also on my account, each dirham turning a profit of five on +prime cost, which pleased me mightily. After this they left me +alone and set their faces Egyptwards; whilst I abode at Damascus, +where I had hired from a jeweller, for two dinars a month, a +mansion[FN#585] whose beauties would beggar the tongue. Here I +remained, eating and drinking and spending what monies I had in +hand till, one day, as I was sitting at the door of my house be +hold, there came up a young lady clad in costliest raiment never +saw my eyes richer. I winked[FN#5886 at her and she stepped +inside without hesitation and stood within. I entered with her +and shut the door upon myself and her; whereupon she raised her +face veil and threw off her mantilla, when I found her like a +pictured moon of rare and marvellous loveliness; and love of her +gat hold of my heart. So I rose and brought a tray of the most +delicate eatables and fruits and whatso befitted the occasion, +and we ate and played and after that we drank till the wine +turned our heads. Then I lay with her the sweetest of nights and +in the morning I offered her ten gold pieces; when her face +lowered and her eye brows wrinkled and shaking with wrath she +cried, "Fie upon thee, O my sweet companion! dost thou deem that +I covet thy money?" Then she took out from the bosom of her +shift[FN#587] fifteen dinars and, laying them before me, said, +"By Allah! unless thou take them I will never come back to thee." +So I accepted them and she said to me, "O my beloved! expect me +again in three days' time, when I will be with thee between +sunset and supper tide; and do thou prepare for us with these +dinars the same entertainment as yesternight." So saying, she +took leave of me and went away and all my senses went with her. +On the third day she came again, clad in stuff weft with gold +wire, and wearing raiment and ornaments finer than before. I had +prepared the place for her ere she arrived and the repast was +ready; so we ate and drank and lay together, as we had done, till +the morning, when she gave me other fifteen gold pieces and +promised to come again after three days. Accordingly, I made +ready for her and, at the appointed time, she presented herself +more richly dressed than on the first and second occasions, and +said to me, "O my lord, am I not beautiful?" "Yea, by Allah thou +art!" answered I, and she went on, "Wilt thou allow me to bring +with me a young lady fairer than I, and younger in years, that +she may play with us and thou and she may laugh and make merry +and rejoice her heart, for she hath been very sad this long time +past, and hath asked me to take her out and let her spend the +night abroad with me?" "Yea, by Allah!" I replied; and we drank +till the wine turned our heads and slept till the morning, when +she gave me other fifteen dinars, saying, "Add something to thy +usual provision on account of the young lady who will come with +me." Then she went away, and on the fourth day I made ready the +house as usual, and soon after sunset behold, she came, +accompanied by another damsel carefully wrapped in her mantilla. +They entered and sat down; and when I saw them I repeated these +verses:-- + +"How dear is our day and how lucky our lot, * When the cynic's + away with his tongue malign! +When love and delight and the swimming of head * Send + cleverness trotting, the best boon of wine. +When the full moon shines from the cloudy veil, * And the + branchlet sways in her greens that shine: +When the red rose mantles in freshest cheek, * And + Narcissus[FN#588] opeth his love sick eyne: +When pleasure with those I love is so sweet, * When friendship + with those I love is complete!" + +I rejoiced to see them, and lighted the candles after receiving +them with gladness and delight. They doffed their heavy outer +dresses and the new damsel uncovered her face when I saw that she +was like the moon at its full never beheld I aught more +beautiful. Then I rose and set meat and drink before them, and we +ate and drank; and I kept giving mouthfuls to the new comer, +crowning her cup and drinking with her till the first damsel, +waxing inwardly jealous, asked me, "By Allah, is she not more +delicious than I?"; whereto I answered, "Ay, by the Lord!" "It is +my wish that thou lie with her this night; for I am thy mistress +but she is our visitor. Upon my head be it, and my eyes." Then +she rose and spread the carpets for our bed[FN#589] and I took +the young lady and lay with her that night till morning, when I +awoke and found myself wet, as I thought, with sweat. I sat up +and tried to arouse the damsel; but when I shook her by the +shoulders my hand became crimson with blood and her head rolled +off the pillow. Thereupon my senses fled and I cried aloud, +saying, "O All powerful Protector, grant me Thy protection!" Then +finding her neck had been severed, I sprung up and the world +waxed black before my eyes, and I looked for the lady, my former +love, but could not find her. So I knew that it was she who had +murdered the damsel in her jealousy,[FN#590] and said, "There is +no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the +Great! What is to be done now?" I considered awhile then, doffing +my clothes, dug a hole in the middle of the court yard, wherein I +laid the murdered girl with her jewellery and golden ornaments; +and, throwing back the earth on her, replaced the slabs of the +marble[FN#591] pavement. After this I made the Ghusl or total +ablution,[FN#592] and put on pure clothes; then, taking what +money I had left, locked up the house and summoned courage and +went to its owner to whom I paid a year's rent, saying, "I am +about to join my uncles in Cairo." Presently I set out and, +journeying to Egypt, foregathered with my uncles who rejoiced in +me, and I found that they had made an end of selling their +merchandise. They asked me, "What is the cause of thy coming?"; +and I answered "I longed for a sight of you;" but did not let +them know that I had any money with me. I abode with them a year, +enjoying the pleasures of Cairo and her Nile,[FN#593] and +squandering the rest of my money in feasting and carousing till +the time drew near for the departure of my uncles, when I fled +from them and hid myself. They made enquiries and sought for me, +but hearing no tidings they said, "He will have gone back to +Damascus." When they departed I came forth from my hiding place +and abode in Cairo three years, until naught remained of my +money. Now every year I used to send the rent of the Damascus +house to its owner, until at last I had nothing left but enough +to pay him for one year's rent and my breast was straitened. So I +travelled to Damascus and alighted at the house whose owner, the +jeweller, was glad to see me and I found everything locked up as +I had left it. I opened the closets and took out my clothes and +necessaries and came upon, beneath the carpet bed whereon I had +lain that night with the girl who had been beheaded, a golden +necklace set with ten gems of passing beauty. I took it up and, +cleansing it of the blood, sat gazing upon it and wept awhile. +Then I abode in the house two days and on the third I entered the +Hammam and changed my clothes. I had no money by me now; so Satan +whispered temptation to me that the Decree of Destiny be carried +out. Next day I took the jewelled necklace to the bazaar and +handed it to a broker who made me sit down in the shop of the +jeweller, my landlord, and bade me have patience till the market +was full,[FN#594] when he carried off the ornament and proclaimed +it for sale, privily and without my knowledge. The necklet was +priced as worth two thousand dinars, but the broker returned to +me and said, "This collar is of copper, a mere counterfeit after +the fashion of the Franks[FN#595] and a thousand dirhams have +been bidden for it." "Yes," I answered, "I knew it to be copper, +as we had it made for a certain person that we might mock her: +now my wife hath inherited it and we wish to sell it; so go and +take over the thousand dirhams."--And Shahrazad perceived the +dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Twenty-ninth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +beautiful youth said to the broker, "Take over the thousand +dirhams;" and when the broker heard this, he knew that the case +was suspicious. So he carried the collar to the Syndic of the +bazaar, 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 +bazaar, 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 bazaar to be imprisoned +and said to him, "Give this man the blood money for his hand; +and, if thou delay I will hang thee and seize all thy property." +Moreover he called to his guards who took him and dragged him +away, leaving me with the Chief. Then they loosed by his command +the chain from my neck and unbound my arms; and he looked at me, +and said, "O my son, be true with me, and tell me how this +necklace came to thee." And he repeated these verses:-- + +"Truth best befits thee, albeit truth * Shall bring thee to burn + on the threatened fire." + +"By Allah, O my lord," answered I, "I will tell thee nothing but +the truth." Then I related to him all that had passed between me +and the first lady, and how she had brought me the second and had +slain her out of jealousy, and I detailed for him the tale to its +full. When he heard my story, he shook his head and struck his +right hand upon the left,[FN#597] and putting his kerchief over +his face wept awhile and then repeated:-- + +"I see the woes of the world abound, * And worldings sick with + spleen and teen; +There's One who the meeting of two shall part, * And who part not + are few and far between!" + +Then he turned to me and said, "Know, O my son, that the elder +damsel who first came to thee was my daughter whom I used to keep +closely guarded. When she grew up, I sent her to Cairo and +married her to her cousin, my brother's son. After a while he +died and she came back: but she had learnt wantonness and +ungraciousness from the people of Cairo;[FN#598] so she visited +thee four times and at last brought her younger sister. Now they +were sisters-german and much attached to each other; and, when +that adventure happened to the elder, she disclosed her secret to +her sister who desired to go out with her. So she asked thy leave +and carried her to thee; after which she returned alone and, +finding her weeping, I questioned her of her sister, but she +said, 'I know nothing of her.' However, she presently told her +mother privily of what had happened and how she had cut off her +sister's head and her mother told me. Then she ceased not to weep +and say, 'By Allah! I shall cry for her till I die.' Nor did she +give over mourning till her heart broke and she died; and things +fell out after that fashion. See then, O my son, what hath come +to pass; and now I desire thee not to thwart me in what I am +about to offer thee, and it is that I purpose to marry thee to my +youngest daughter; for she is a virgin and born of another +mother;[FN#599] and I will take no dower of thee but, on the +contrary, will appoint thee an allowance, and thou shalt abide +with me in my house in the stead of my son." "So be it," I +answered, "and how could I hope for such good fortune?" Then he +sent at once for the Kazi and witnesses, and let write my +marriage contract with his daughter and I went in to her. +Moreover, he got me from the Syndic of the bazaar a large sum of +money and I became in high favour with him. During this year news +came to me that my father was dead and the Wazir despatched a +courier, with letters bearing the royal sign manual, to fetch me +the money which my father had left behind him, and now I am +living in all the solace of life. Such was the manner of the +cutting off my right hand." I marvelled at his story (continued +the Jew), and I abode with him three days after which he gave me +much wealth, and I set out and travelled Eastward till I reached +this your city and the sojourn suited me right well; so I took up +my abode here and there befell me what thou knowest with the +Hunchback. There upon the King of China shook his head[FN#600] +and said, "This story of thine is not stranger and more wondrous +and marvellous and delectable than the tale of the Hunchback; and +so needs must I hang the whole number of you. However there yet +remains the Tailor who is the head of all the offence;" and he +added, "O Tailor, if thou canst tell me any thing more wonderful +than the story of the Hunchback, I will pardon you all your +offences." Thereupon the man came forward and began to tell the + + + + + +Tale of the Tailor. + + +Know, O King of the age, that most marvellous was that which +befell me but yesterday, before I foregathered with the Hunch +back. It so chanced that in the early day I was at the marriage +feast of one of my companions, who had gotten together in his +house some twenty of the handicraftsmen of this city, amongst +them tailors and silk spinners and carpenters and others of the +same kidney. As soon as the sun had risen, they set food[FN#601] +before us that we might eat when behold, the master of the house +entered, and with him a foreign youth and a well favoured of the +people of Baghdad, wearing clothes as handsome as handsome could +be; and he was of right comely presence save that he was lame of +one leg. He came and saluted us and we stood up to receive him; +but when he was about to sit down he espied amongst us a certain +man which was a Barber; whereupon he refused to be seated and +would have gone away. But we stopped him and our host also stayed +him, making oath that he should not leave us and asked him, "What +is the reason of thy coming in and going out again at once?"; +whereto he answered, "By Allah, O my lord, do not hinder me; for +the cause of my turning back is yon Barber of bad omen,[FN#602] +yon black o'face, yon ne'er do well!" When the housemaster heard +these words he marvelled with extreme marvel and said, "How +cometh this young man, who haileth from Baghdad, to be so +troubled and perplexed about this Barber?" Then we looked at the +stranger and said, "Explain the cause of thine anger against the +Barber." "O fair company," quoth the youth, "there befell me a +strange adventure with this Barber in Baghdad (which is my native +city); he was the cause of the breaking of my leg and of my +lameness, and I have sworn never to sit in the same place with +him, nor even tarry in any town where he happens to abide; and I +have bidden adieu to Baghdad and travelled far from it and came +to stay in this your city; yet I have hardly passed one night +before I meet him again. But not another day shall go by ere I +fare forth from here." Said we to him, "Allah upon thee, tell us +the tale;" and the youth replied (the Barber changing colour from +brown to yellow as he spoke): Know, O fair company, that my +father was one of the chief merchants of Baghdad, and Almighty +Allah had blessed him with no son but myself. When I grew up and +reached man's estate, my father was received into the mercy of +Allah (whose Name be exalted!) and left me money and eunuchs, +servants and slaves; and I used to dress well and diet well. Now +Allah had made me a hater of women kind and one day, as I was +walking along a street in Baghdad, a party of females met me face +to face in the footway; so I fled from them and, entering an +alley which was no thoroughfare, sat down upon a stone bench at +its other end. I had not sat there long before the latticed +window of one of the houses opposite was thrown open, and there +appeared at it a young lady, as she were the full moon at its +fullest; never in my life saw I her like; and she began to water +some flowers on the window sill.[FN#603] She turned right and +left and, seeing me watching her, shut the window and went away. +Thereupon fire was suddenly enkindled in my heart; my mind was +possessed with her and my woman hate turned to woman love. I +continued sitting there, lost to the world, till sunset when lo! +the Kazi of the city came riding by with his slaves before him +and his eunuchs behind him, and dismounting entered the house in +which the damsel had appeared. By this I knew that he was her +father; so I went home sorrowful and cast myself upon my carpet +bed in grief. Then my handmaids flocked in and sat about me, +unknowing what ailed me; but I addressed no speech to them, and +they wept and wailed over me. Presently in came an old woman who +looked at me and saw with a glance what was the matter with me: +so she by my head 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 bazaar and bring me a +barber, a discreet fellow and one not inclined to meddling or +impertinent curiosity or likely to split my head with his +excessive talk."[FN#609] The boy went out at once and brought +back with him this wretched old man, this Shaykh of ill omen. +When he came in he saluted me and I returned his salutation; then +quoth he, "Of a truth I see thee thin of body;" and quoth I, "I +have been ailing." He continued, "Allah drive far away from thee +thy woe and thy sorrow and thy trouble and thy distress." "Allah +grant thy prayer!" said I. He pursued, "All gladness to thee, O +my master, for indeed recovery is come to thee. Dost thou wish to +be polled or to be blooded? Indeed it was a tradition of Ibn +Abbas[FN#610] (Allah accept of him!) that the Apostle said, +'Whoso cutteth his hair on a Friday, the Lord shall avert from +him threescore and ten calamities;' and again is related of him +also that he said, 'Cupping on a Friday keepeth from loss of +sight and a host of diseases.'" "Leave this talk," I cried; +"come, shave me my head at once for I can't stand it." So he rose +and put forth his hand in most leisurely way and took out a +kerchief and unfolded it, and lo! it contained an +astrolabe[FN#611] with seven parallel plates mounted in silver. +Then he went to the middle of the court and raised head and +instrument towards the sun's rays and looked for a long while. +When this was over, he came back and said to me, "Know that there +have elapsed of this our day, which be Friday, and this Friday be +the tenth of the month Safar in the six hundred and fifty- third +year since the Hegira or Flight of the Apostle (on whom be the +bestest of blessings and peace!) and the seven thousand three +hundred and twentieth year of the era of Alexander, eight degrees +and six minutes. Furthermore the ascendant of this our day is, +according to the exactest science of computation, the planet +Mars; and it so happeneth that Mercury is in conjunction with +him, denoting an auspicious moment for hair cutting; and this +also maketh manifest to me that thou desires union with a certain +person and that your intercourse will not be propitious. But +after this there occurreth a sign respecting a matter which will +befall thee and whereof I will not speak." "O thou," cried I, "by +Allah, thou weariest me and scatterest my wits and thy forecast +is other than good; I sent for thee to poll my head and naught +else: so up and shave me and prolong not thy speech." "By Allah," +replied he, "if thou but knew what is about to befall thee, thou +wouldst do nothing this day, and I counsel thee to act as I tell +thee by computation of the constellations." "By Allah," said I, +"never did I see a barber who excelled in judicial astrology save +thyself: but I think and I know that thou art most prodigal of +frivolous talk. I sent for thee only to shave my head, but thou +comest and pesterest me with this sorry prattle." "What more +wouldst thou have?" replied he. "Allah hath bounteously bestowed +on thee a Barber who is an astrologer, one learned in alchemy and +white magic;[FN#612] syntax, grammar, and lexicology; the arts of +logic, rhetoric and elocution; mathematics, arithmetic and +algebra; astronomy, astromancy and geometry; theology, the +Traditions of the Apostle and the Commentaries on the Koran. +Furthermore, I have read books galore and digested them and have +had experience of affairs and comprehended them. In short I have +learned the theorick and the practick of all the arts and +sciences; I know everything of them by rote and I am a past +master in tota re scibili. Thy father loved me for my lack of +officiousness, argal, to serve thee is a religious duty incumbent +on me. I am no busy body as thou seemest to suppose, and on this +account I am known as The Silent Man, also, The Modest Man. +Wherefore it behoveth thee to render thanks to Allah Almighty and +not cross me, for I am a true counsellor to thee and benevolently +minded towards thee. Would that I were in thy service a whole +year that thou mightest do me justice; and I would ask thee no +wage for all this." When I heard his flow of words, I said to +him, "Doubtless thou wilt be my death this day!"--And Shahrazad +perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. + + When it was the Thirtieth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young +man said to the Barber, "Thou certainly will 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-Bakbuk, the +prattler; the second Al-Haddar, the babbler; the third Al-Fakik, +the gabbler; the fourth, his name is Al-Kuz al-aswani, the long +necked Gugglet, from his eternal chattering; the fifth is Al- +Nashshar, the tattler and tale teller; the sixth Shakashik, or +many clamours; and the seventh is famous as Al-Samit, 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 +brooding. I told him of this, and he did according to my bidding +and awaited a better opportunity. So I made these lines in honour +of him:-- + +I went to my patron some blood to let him, * But found that the + moment was far from good: +So I sat and I talked of all strangenesses, * And with jests and + jokes his good will I wooed: +They pleased him and cried he, 'O man of wit, * Thou hast proved + thee perfect in merry mood!' +Quoth I, 'O thou Lord of men, save thou * Lend me art and + wisdom I'm fou and wood +In thee gather grace, boon, bounty, suavity, * And I guerdon the + world with lore, science and gravity.' + +Thy father was delighted and cried out to the servant, 'Give him +an hundred and three gold pieces with a robe of honour!' The man +obeyed his orders, and I awaited an auspicious moment, when I +blooded him; and he did not baulk me; nay he thanked me and I was +also thanked and praised by all present. When the blood-letting +was over I had no power to keep silence and asked him, 'By Allah, +O my lord, what made thee say to the servant, Give him an hundred +and three dinars?'; and he answered, 'One dinar was for the +astrological observation, another for thy pleasant conversation, +the third for the phlebotomisation, and the remaining hundred and +the dress were for thy verses in my commendation.'" "May Allah +show small mercy to my father," exclaimed I, "for knowing the +like of thee." He laughed and ejaculated, "There is no god but +the God and Mohammed is the Apostle of God! Glory to Him that +changeth and is changed not! I took thee for a man of sense, but +I see thou babblest and dotest for illness. Allah hath said in +the Blessed Book,[FN#613] 'Paradise is prepared for the goodly +who bridle their anger and forgive men.' and so forth; and in any +case thou art excused. Yet I cannot conceive the cause of thy +hurry and flurry; and thou must know that thy father and thy +grandfather did nothing without consulting me, and indeed it hath +been said truly enough, 'Let the adviser be prized'; and, 'There +is no vice in advice'; and it is also said in certain saws, +'Whoso hath no counsellor elder than he, will never himself an +elder be';[FN#614] and the poet says:-- + +Whatever needful thing thou undertake, * Consult th' experienced + and contraire him not! + +And indeed thou shalt never find a man better versed in affairs +than I, and I am here standing on my feet to serve thee. I am not +vexed with thee: why shouldest thou be vexed with me? But +whatever happen I will bear patiently with thee in memory of the +much kindness thy father shewed me." "By Allah," cried I, "O thou +with tongue long as the tail of a jackass, thou persistest in +pestering me with thy prate and thou becomest more longsome in +thy long speeches, when all I want of thee is to shave my head +and wend thy way!" Then he lathered my head saying, "I perceive +thou art vexed with me, but I will not take it ill of thee, for +thy wit is weak and thou art but a laddy: it was only yesterday I +used to take thee on my shoulder[FN#615] and carry thee to +school.' "O my brother," said I, "for Allah's sake do what I want +and go thy gait!" And I rent my garments.[FN#616] When he saw me +do this he took the razor and fell to sharpening it and gave not +over stropping it until my senses were well nigh leaving me. Then +he came up to me and shaved part of my head; then he held his +hand and then he said, "O my lord, haste is Satan's gait whilst +patience is of Allah the Compassionate. But thou, O my master, I +ken thou knowest not my rank; for verily this hand alighteth upon +the heads of Kings and Emirs and Wazirs, and sages and doctors +learned in the law, and the poet said of one like me:-- + +All crafts are like necklaces strung on a string, * But this + Barber's the union pear of the band: +High over all craftsmen he ranketh, and why? * The heads of the + Kings are under his hand!"[FN#617] + +Then said I, "Do leave off talking about what concerneth thee +not: indeed thou hast straitened my breast and distracted my +mind." Quoth he, "Meseems thou art a hasty man;" and quoth I, +"Yes ! yes! yes!" and he, "I rede thee practice restraint of +self, for haste is Satan's pelf which bequeatheth only repentance +and ban and bane, and He (upon whom be blessings and peace!) hath +said, 'The best of works is that wherein deliberation lurks;' but +I, by Allah! have some doubt about thine affair; and so I should +like thee to let me know what it is thou art in such haste to do, +for I fear me it is other than good." Then he continued, "It +wanteth three hours yet to prayer time; but I do not wish to be +in doubt upon this matter; nay, I must know the moment exactly, +for truly, 'A guess shot in times of doubt, oft brings harm +about;' especially in the like of me, a superior person whose +merits are famous amongst mankind at large; and it doth not befit +me to talk at random, as do the common sort of astrologers." So +saying, he threw down the razor and taking up the astrolabe, went +forth under the sun and stood there a long time; after which he +returned and counting on his fingers said to me, "There remain +still to prayer time three full hours and complete, neither more +nor yet less, according to the most learned astronomicals and the +wisest makers of almanacks." "Allah upon thee," cried I, "hold +thy tongue with me, for thou breakest my liver in pieces." So he +took the razor and, after sharpening it as before and shaving +other two hairs of my head, he again held his hand and said, "I +am concerned about thy hastiness and indeed thou wouldst do well +to let me into the cause of it; 't were the better for thee, as +thou knowest that neither thy father nor thy grandfather ever did +a single thing save by my advice." When I saw that there was no +escape from him I said to myself, "The time for prayer draws near +and I wish to go to her before the folk come out of the mosque. +If I am delayed much longer, I know not how to come at her." Then +said I aloud, "Be quick and stint this talk and impertinence, for +I have to go to a party at the house of some of my intimates." +When he heard me speak of the party, he said, "This thy day is a +blessed day for me! In very sooth it was but yesterday I invited +a company of my friends and I have forgotten to provide anything +for them to eat. This very moment I was thinking of it: Alas, how +I shall be disgraced in their eyes!" "Be not distressed about +this matter," answered I; "have I not told thee that I am bidden +to an entertainment this day? So every thing in my house, eatable +and drinkable, shall be thine, if thou wilt only get through thy +work and make haste to shave my head." He replied, "Allah requite +thee with good! Specify to me what is in thy house for my guests +that I may be ware of it." Quoth I, "Five dishes of meat and ten +chickens with reddened breasts[FN#618] and a roasted lamb." "Set +them before me," quoth he "that I may see them." So I told my +people to buy, borrow or steal them and bring them in anywise, +And had all this set before him. When he saw it he cried, "The +wine is wanting," and I replied, "I have a flagon or two of good +old grape- juice in the house," and he said, "Have it brought +out!" So I sent for it and he exclaimed, "Allah bless thee for a +generous disposition! But there are still the essences and +perfumes." So I bade them set before him a box containing +Nadd,[FN#619] the best of compound perfumes, together with fine +lign-aloes, ambergris and musk unmixed, the whole worth fifty +dinars. Now the time waxed strait and my heart straitened with +it; so I said to him, "Take it all and finish shaving my head by +the life of Mohammed (whom Allah bless and keep!)." "By Allah," +said he, "I will not take it till I see all that is in it." So I +bade the page open the box and the Barber laid down the +astrolabe, leaving the greater part of my head unpolled; and, +sitting on the ground, turned over the scents and incense and +aloes wood and essences till I was well nigh distraught. Then he +took the razor and coming up to me shaved off some few hairs and +repeated these lines:-- + +"The boy like his father shall surely show, * As the tree from + its parent root shall grow."[FN#620] + +Then said he, "By Allah, O my son, I know not whether to thank +thee or thy father; for my entertainment this day is all due to +thy bounty and beneficence; and, although none of my company be +worthy of it, yet I have a set of honourable men, to wit Zantut +the bath-keeper and Sali'a the corn-chandler; and Silat the bean- +seller; and Akrashah the greengrocer; and Humayd the scavenger; +and Sa'id the camel-man; and Suwayd the porter; and Abu Makarish +the bathman;[FN#621] and Kasim the watchman; and Karim the groom. +There is not among the whole of them a bore or a bully in his +cups; nor a meddler nor a miser of his money, and each and every +hath some dance which he danceth and some of his own couplets +which he caroleth; and the best of them is that, like thy +servant, thy slave here, they know not what much talking is nor +what forwardness means. The bath keeper sings to the tom- +tom[FN#622] a song which enchants; and he stands up and dances +and chants, + + 'I am going, O mammy, to fill up my pot.' + +As for the corn-chandler he brings more skill to it than any; he +dances and sings, + + 'O Keener,[FN#623] 0 sweetheart, thou fallest not short' + +and he leaves no one's vitals sound for laughing at him. But the +scavenger sings so that the birds stop to listen to him and +dances and sings, + + 'News my wife wots is not locked in a box!'[FN#624] + +And he hath privilege, for 'tis a shrewd rogue[FN#625] and a +witty; and speaking of his excellence I am wont to say, + +My life for the scavenger! right well I love him, * Like a waving + bough he is sweet to my sight: +Fate joined us one night, when to him quoth I * (The while I grew + weak and love gained more might) +'Thy love burns my heart!' 'And no wonder,' quoth he * 'When the + drawer of dung turns a stoker wight.'[FN#626] + +And indeed each is perfect in whatso can charm the wit with joy +and jollity;" adding presently, "But hearing is not seeing; and +indeed if thou make up thy mind to join us and put off going to +thy friends, 'twill be better for us and for thee. The traces of +illness are yet upon thee and haply thou art going among folk who +be mighty talkers, men who commune together of what concerneth +them not; or there may be amongst them some forward fellow who +will split thy head, and thou half thy size from sickness." "This +shall be for some other day," answered I, and laughed with heart +angered: "finish thy work and go, in Allah Almighty's guard, to +thy friends, for they will be expecting thy coming." "O my lord," +replied he, "I seek only to introduce thee to these fellows of +infinite mirth, the sons of men of worth, amongst whom there is +neither procacity nor dicacity nor loquacity; for never, since I +grew to years of discretion, could I endure to consort with one +who asketh questions concerning what concerneth him not, nor have +I ever frequented any save those who are, like myself, men of few +words. In sooth if thou were to company with them or even to see +them once, thou wouldst forsake all thy intimates." "Allah fulfil +thy joyance with them," said I, "needs must I come amongst them +some day or other." But he said, "Would it were this very day, +for I had set my heart upon thy making one of us; yet if thou +must go to thy friends to day, I will take these good things, +wherewith thou hast honoured and favoured me, to my guests and +leave them to eat and drink and not wait for me; whilst I will +return to thee in haste and accompany thee to thy little party; +for there is no ceremony between me and my intimates to prevent +my leaving them. Fear not, I will soon be back with thee and wend +with thee whithersoever thou wendest. There is no Majesty and +there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" I +shouted, "Go thou to thy friends and make merry with them; and do +let me go to mine and be with them this day, for they expect me." +But the Barber cried, "I will not let thee go alone;" and I +replied, "The truth is none can enter where I am going save +myself." He rejoined, "I suspect that to day thou art for an +assignation with some woman, else thou hadst taken me with thee; +yet am I the right man to take, one who could aid thee to the end +thou wishest. But I fear me thou art running after strange women +and thou wilt lose thy life; for in this our city of Baghdad one +cannot do any thing in this line, especially on a day like +Friday: our Governor is an angry man and a mighty sharp blade." +"Shame on thee, thou wicked, bad, old man!" cried I, "Be off! +what words are these thou givest me?" "O cold of wit,"[FN#627] +cried he, "thou sayest to me what is not true and thou hidest thy +mind from me, but I know the whole business for certain and I +seek only to help thee this day with my best endeavour." I was +fearful lest my people or my neighbours should hear the Barber's +talk, so I kept silence for a long time whilst he finished +shaving my head; by which time the hour of prayer was come and +the Khutbah, or sermon, was about to follow. When he had done, I +said to him, "Go to thy friends with their meat and drink, and I +will await thy return. Then we will fare together." In this way I +hoped to pour oil on troubled waters and to trick the accursed +loon, so haply I might get quit of him; but he said, "Thou art +cozening me and thou wouldst go alone to thy appointment and cast +thyself into jeopardy, whence there will be no escape for thee. +Now by Allah! and again by Allah! do not go till I return, that I +may accompany thee and watch the issue of thine affair." "So be +it," I replied, "do not be long absent." Then he took all the +meat and drink I had given him and the rest of it and went out of +my house; but the accursed carle gave it in charge of a porter to +carry to his home but hid himself in one of the alleys. As for me +I rose on the instant, for the Muezzins had already called the +Salam of Friday, the salute to the Apostle;[FN#628] and I dressed +in haste and went out alone and, hurrying to the street, took my +stand by the house wherein I had seen the young lady. I found the +old woman on guard at the door awaiting me, and went up with her +to the upper story, the damsel's apartment. Hardly had I reached +it when behold, the master of the house returned from prayers and +entering the great saloon, closed the door. I looked down from +the window and saw this Barber (Allah's curse upon him!) sitting +over against the door and said, "How did this devil find me out?" +At this very moment, as Allah had decreed it for rending my veil +of secrecy, it so happened that a handmaid of the house master +committed some offence for which he beat her. She shrieked out +and his slave ran in to intercede for her, whereupon the Kazi +beat him to boot, and he also roared out. The damned Barber +fancied that it was I who was being beaten; so he also fell to +shouting and tore his garments and scattered dust on his head and +kept on shrieking and crying "Help ! Help !" So the people came +round about him and he went on yelling, "My master is being +murdered in the Kazi's house!" Then he ran clamouring to my place +with the folk after him, and told my people and servants and +slaves; and, before I knew what was doing, up they came tearing +their clothes and letting loose their hair[FN#629] and shouting, +"Alas, our master!"; and this Barber leading the rout with his +clothes rent and in sorriest plight; and he also shouting like a +madman and saying, "Alas for our murdered master!" And they all +made an assault upon the house in which I was. The Kazi, hearing +the yells and the uproar at his door, said to one of his +servants, "See what is the matter"; and the man went forth and +returned and said, "O my master, at the gate there are more than +ten thousand souls what with men and women, and all crying out, +'Alas for our murdered master!'; and they keep pointing to our +house." When the Kazi heard this, the matter seemed serious and +he waxed wroth; so he rose and opening the door saw a great crowd +of people; whereat he was astounded and said, "O folk! what is +there to do?" "O accursed! O dog! O hog!" my servants replied; +"'Tis thou who hast killed our master!" Quoth he, "O good folk, +and what hath your master done to me that I should kill him?"-- +And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her +permitted say. + + When it was the Thirty-first Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kazi +said to the servants, "What hath your master done to me that I +should kill him? This is my house and it is open to you all." +Then quoth the Barber, "Thou didst beat him and I heard him cry +out;" and quoth the Kazi, "But what was he doing that I should +beat him, and what brought him in to my house; and whence came he +and whither went he?" "Be not a wicked, perverse old man!" cried +the Barber, "for I know the whole story; and the long and short +of it is that thy daughter is in love with him and he loves her; +and when thou knewest that he had entered the house, thou badest +thy servants beat him and they did so: by Allah, none shall judge +between us and thee but the Caliph; or else do thou bring out our +master that his folk may take him, before they go in and save him +perforce from thy house, and thou be put to shame." Then said the +Kazi (and his tongue was bridled and his mouth was stopped by +confusion before the people), "An thou say sooth, do thou come in +and fetch him out." Whereupon the Barber pushed forward and +entered the house. When I saw this I looked about for a means of +escape and flight, but saw no hiding place except a great chest +in the upper chamber where I was. So I got into it and pulled the +lid down upon myself and held my breath. The Barber was hardly in +the room before he began to look about for me, then turned him +right and left and came straight to the place where I was, and +stepped up to the chest and, lifting it on his head, made off as +fast as he could. At this, my reason forsook me, for I knew that +he would not let me be; so I took courage and opening the chest +threw myself to the ground. My leg was broken in the fall, and +the door being open I saw a great concourse of people looking in. +Now I carried in my sleeve much gold and some silver, which I had +provided for an ill day like this and the like of such occasion; +so I kept scattering it amongst the folk to divert their +attention from me and, whilst they were busy scrambling for it, I +set off, hopping as fast as I could, through the by streets of +Baghdad, shifting and turning right and left. But whithersoever I +went this damned Barber would go in after me, crying aloud, "They +would have bereft me of my master! 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 bazaar streets?" And I +well nigh gave up the ghost for excess of rage against him. Then +I took refuge in the shop of a weaver amiddlemost of the market +and sought protection of the owner who drove the Barber away; +and, sitting in the back room,[FN#630] I said to myself, "If I +return home I shall never be able to get rid of this curse of a +Barber, who will be with me night and day; and I cannot endure +the sight of him even for a breathing space." So I sent out at +once for witnesses and made a will, dividing the greater part of +my property among my people, and appointed a guardian over them, +to whom I committed the charge of great and small, directing him +to sell my houses and domains. Then I set out on my travels that +I might be free of this pimp;[FN#631] and I came to settle in +your town where I have lived some time. When you invited me and I +came hither, the first thing I saw was this accursed pander +seated in the place of honour. How then can my heart be glad and +my stay be pleasant in company with this fellow who brought all +this upon me, and who was the cause of the breaking of my leg and +of my exile from home and native land. And the youth refused to +sit down and went away. When we heard his story (continued the +Tailor) we were amazed beyond measure and amused and said to the +Barber, "By Allah, is it true what this young man saith of thee?" +"By Allah," replied he, "I dealt thus by him of my courtesy and +sound sense and generosity. Had it not been for me he had +perished and none but I was the cause of his escape. Well it was +for him that he suffered in his leg and not in his life! Had I +been a man of many words, a meddler, a busy body, I had not acted +thus kindly by him; but now I will tell you a tale which befell +me, that you may be well assured I am a man sparing of speech in +whom is no forwardness and a very different person from those six +Brothers of mine; and this it is." + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of Himself. + + +I was living in Baghdad during the times of Al-Mustansir +bi'llah,[FN#632] Son of Al-Mustazi bi'llah the then Caliph, a +prince who loved the poor and needy and companied with the +learned and pious. One day it happened to him that he was wroth +with ten persons, highwaymen who robbed on the Caliph's highway, +and he ordered the Prefect of Baghdad to bring them into the +presence on the anniversary of the Great Festival.[FN#633] So the +Prefect sallied out and, making them His prisoners, embarked with +them in a boat. I caught sight of them as they were embarking and +said to myself, "These are surely assembled for a marriage feast; +methinks they are spending their day in that boat eating and +drinking, and none shall be companion of their cups but I +myself." So I rose, O fair assembly; and, of the excess of my +courtesy and the gravity of my understanding, I embarked with +them and entered into conversation with them. They rowed across +to the opposite bank, where they landed and there came up the +watch and guardians of the peace with chains, which they put +round the robbers' necks. They chained me among the rest of them; +and, O people, is it not a proof of my courtesy and spareness of +speech, that I held my peace and did not please to speak? Then +they took us away in bilbos and next morning carried us all +before Al- Mustansir bi'llah, Commander of the Faithful, who bade +smite the necks of the ten robbers. So the Sworder came forward +after they were seated on the leather of blood;[FN#634] then +drawing his blade, struck off one head after another until he had +smitten the neck of the tenth; and I alone remained. The Caliph +looked at me and asked the Heads man, saying, "What ails thee +that thou hast struck off only nine heads?"; and he answered, +"Allah forbid that I should behead only nine, when thou biddest +me behead ten!" Quoth the Caliph, "Meseems thou hast smitten the +necks of only nine, and this man before thee is the tenth." "By +thy beneficence!" replied the Headsman, "I have beheaded ten." +"Count them!" cried the Caliph and whenas they counted heads, lo! +there were ten. The Caliph looked at me and said, "What made thee +keep silence at a time like this and how camest thou to company +with these men of blood? Tell me the cause of all this, for +albeit thou art a very old man, assuredly thy wits are weak." Now +when I heard these words from the Caliph I sprang to my feet and +replied, "Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that I am the Silent +Shaykh and am thus called to distinguish me from my six brothers. +I am a man of immense learning whilst, as for the gravity of my +understanding, the wiliness of my wits and the spareness of my +speech, there is no end of them; and my calling is that of a +barber. I went out early on yesterday morning and saw these men +making for a skiff; and, fancying they were bound for a marriage +feast, I joined them and mixed with them. After a while up came +the watch and guardians of the peace, who put chains round their +necks and round mine with the rest; but, in the excess of my +courtesy, I held my peace and spake not a word; nor was this +other but generosity on my part. They brought us into thy +presence, and thou gavest an order to smite the necks of the ten; +yet did I not make myself known to thee and remained silent +before the Sworder, purely of my great generosity and courtesy +which led me to share with them in their death. But all my life +long have I dealt thus nobly with mankind, and they requite me +the foulest and evillest requital!" When the Caliph heard my +words and knew that I was a man of exceeding generosity and of +very few words, one in whom is no forwardness (as this youth +would have it whom I rescued from mortal risk and who hath so +scurvily repaid me), he laughed with excessive laughter till he +fell upon his back. Then said he to me, "O Silent Man, do thy six +brothers favour thee in wisdom and knowledge and spareness of +speech?" I replied, "Never were they like me! Thou puttest +reproach upon me, O Commander of the Faithful, and it becomes +thee not to even my brothers with me; for, of the abundance of +their speech and their deficiency of courtesy and gravity, each +one of them hath gotten some maim or other. One is a monocular, +another palsied, a third stone blind, a fourth cropped of ears +and nose and a fifth shorn of both lips, while the sixth is a +hunchback and a cripple. And conceive not, O Commander of the +Faithful, that I am prodigal of speech; but I must perforce +explain to thee that I am a man of greater worth and fewer words +than any of them. From each one of my brothers hangs a tale of +how he came by his bodily defect and these I will relate to +thee." So the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his First Brother. + + +Know then, O Commander of the Faithful, that my first brother, Al +Bakbuk, the Prattler, is a Hunchback who took to tailoring in +Baghdad, and he used to sew in a shop hired from a man of much +wealth, who dwelt over the shop,[FN#635] and there was also a +flour-mill in the basement. One day as my brother, the Hunchback, +was sitting in his shop a tailoring, he chanced to raise his head +and saw a lady like the rising full moon at a balconied window of +his landlord's house, engaged in looking out at the passers +by.[FN#636] When my brother beheld her, his heart was taken with +love of her and he passed his whole day gazing at her and +neglected his tailoring till eventide. Next morning he opened his +shop and sat him down to sew; but, as often as he stitched a +stitch, he looked to the window and saw her as before; and his +passion and infatuation for her increased. On the third day as he +was sitting in his usual place gazing on her, she caught sight of +him and, perceiving that he had been captivated with love of her, +laughed in his face[FN#637] and he smiled back at her. Then she +disappeared and presently sent her slave girl to him with a +bundle containing a piece of red cowered silk. The handmaid +accosted him and said, "My lady salameth to thee and desireth +thee, of thy skill and good will, to fashion for her a shift of +this piece and to sew it handsomely with thy best sewing. He +replied, "Hearkening and obedience"; and shaped for her a chemise +and finished sewing it the same day. When the morning morrowed +the girl came back and said to him, "My lady salameth to thee and +asks how thou hast passed yesternight; for she hath not tasted +sleep by reason of her heart being taken up with thee. Then she +laid before him a piece of yellow satin and said, My lady biddeth +thee cut her two pair of petticoat trousers out of this piece and +sew them this very day." "Hearkening and obedience!' replied he, +"greet her for me with many greetings and say to her, Thy slave +is obedient to thine order; so command him as thou wilt." Then he +applied himself to cutting out and worked hard at sewing the +trousers; and after an hour the lady appeared at the lattice and +saluted him by signs, now casting down her eyes, then smiling in +his face, and he began to assure himself that he would soon make +a conquest. She did not let him stir till he had finished the two +pair of trousers, when she with drew and sent the handmaid to +whom he delivered them; and she took them and went her ways. When +it was night, he threw himself on his carpet bed, and lay tossing +about from side to side till morning, when he rose and sat down +in his place. Presently the damsel came to him and said, "My +master calleth for thee." Hearing these words he feared with +exceeding fear; but the slave girl, seeing his affright, said to +him, "No evil is meant to thee: naught but good awaiteth thee. My +lady would have thee make acquaintance with my lord." So my +brother the tailor, rejoicing with great joy, went with her; and +when he came into the presence of his landlord, the lady's +husband, he kissed the ground before him, and the master of the +house returned his greeting and gave him a great piece of linen +saying, "Shape me shirts out of this stuff and sew them well;" +and my brother answered, "To hear is to obey." Thereupon he fell +to work at once, snipping, shaping and sewing till he had +finished twenty shirts by supper time, without stopping to taste +food. The house master asked him, "How much the wage for this?"; +and he answered, "Twenty dirhams." So the gentleman cried out to +the slave girl, "Bring me twenty dirhams," and my brother spake +not a word; but the lady signed, "Take nothing from him;' +whereupon my brother said, "By Allah I will take naught from thy +hand. And he carried off his tailor's gear and returned to his +shop, although he was destitute even to a red cent.[FN#638] Then +he applied himself to do their work; eating, in his zeal and +diligence, but a bit of bread and drinking only a little water +for three days. At the end of this time came the handmaid and +said to him, "What hast thou done?" Quoth he, "They are +finished," and carried the shirts to the lady's husband, who +would have paid him his hire: but he said, "I will take nothing," +for fear of her and, returning to his shop, passed the night +without sleep because of his hunger. Now the dame had informed +her husband how the case stood (my brother knowing naught of +this); and the two had agreed to make him tailor for nothing, the +better to mock and laugh at him. Next morning he went to his +shop, and, as he sat there, the handmaid came to him and said, +"Speak with my master." So he accompanied her to the husband who +said to him, "I wish thee to cut out for me five long sleeved +robes."[FN#639] So he cut them out[FN#640] and took the stuff and +went away. Then he sewed them and carried them to the gentleman, +who praised his sewing and offered him a purse of silver. He put +out his hand to take it, but the lady signed to him from behind +her husband not to do so, and he replied, "O my lord, there is no +hurry, we have time enough for this." Then he went forth from the +house meaner and meeker than a donkey, for verily five things +were gathered together in him viz.: love, beggary, hunger, +nakedness and hard labour. Nevertheless he heartened himself with +the hope of gaining the lady's favours. When he had made an end +of all their jobs, they played him another trick and married him +to their slave girl; but, on the night when he thought to go in +to her, they said to him, "Lie this night in the mill; and to +morrow all will go well." My brother concluded that there was +some good cause for this and nighted alone in the mill. Now the +husband had set on the miller to make the tailor turn the mill: +so when night was half spent the man came in to him and began to +say, "This bull of ours hath be come useless and standeth still +instead of going round: he will not turn the mill this night, and +yet we have great store of corn to be ground. However, I'll yoke +him perforce and make him finish grinding it before morning, as +the folk are impatient for their flour." So he filled the hoppers +with grain and, going up to my brother with a rope in his hand, +tied it round his neck and said to him, "Gee up! Round with the +mill! thou, O bull, wouldst do nothing but grub and stale and +dung!" Then he took a whip and laid it on the shoulders and +calves of my brother, who began to howl and bellow; but none came +to help him; and he was forced to grind the wheat till hard upon +dawn, when the house master came in and, seeing my brother still +tethered to the yoke and the man flogging him, went away. At day +break the miller returned home and left him still yoked and half +dead; and soon after in came the slave girl who unbound him, and +said to him, "I and my lady are right sorry for what hath +happened and we have borne thy grief with thee." But he had no +tongue wherewith to answer her from excess of beating and mill +turning. Then he retired to his lodging and behold, the clerk who +had drawn up the marriage deed came to him[FN#641] and saluted +him, saying, "Allah give thee long life! May thy espousal be +blessed! This face telleth of pleasant doings and dalliance and +kissing and clipping from dusk to dawn." "Allah grant the liar no +peace, O thou thousandfold cuckold!", my brother replied, "by +Allah, I did nothing but turn the mill in the place of the bull +all night till morning!" "Tell me thy tale," quoth he; and my +brother recounted what had befallen him and he said, "Thy star +agrees not with her star; but an thou wilt I can alter the +contract for thee," adding, "'Ware lest another cheat be not in +store for thee." And my brother answered him, "See if thou have +not another contrivance." Then the clerk left him and he sat in +his shop, looking for some one to bring him a job whereby he +might earn his day's bread. Presently the handmaid came to him +and said, "Speak with my lady." "Begone, O my good girl," replied +he, "there shall be no more dealings between me and thy lady." +The handmaid returned to her mistress and told her what my +brother had said and presently she put her head out of the +window, weeping and saying, "Why, O my beloved, are there to be +no more dealings 'twixt me and thee?" But he made her no answer. +Then she wept and conjured him, swearing that all which had +befallen him in the mill was not sanctioned by her and that she +was innocent of the whole matter. When he looked upon her beauty +and loveliness and heard the sweetness of her speech, the sorrow +which had possessed him passed from his heart; he accepted her +excuse and he rejoiced in her sight. So he saluted her and talked +with her and sat tailoring awhile, after which the handmaid came +to him and said, "My mistress greeteth thee and informeth thee +that her husband purposeth to lie abroad this night in the house +of some intimate friends of his; so, when he is gone, do thou +come to us and spend the night with my lady in delightsomest +joyance till the morning." Now her husband had asked her, "How +shall we manage to turn him away from thee?"; and she answered, +"Leave me to play him another trick and make him a laughing stock +for all the town." But my brother knew naught of the malice of +women. As soon as it was dusk, the slave girl came to him and +carried him to the house, and when the lady saw him she said to +him, "By Allah, O my lord, I have been longing exceedingly for +thee." "By Allah," cried he, "kiss me quick before thou give me +aught else."[FN#642] Hardly had he spoken, when the lady's +husband came in from the next room[FN#643] and seized him, +saying, "By Allah, I will not let thee go, till I deliver thee to +the chief of the town watch." My brother humbled himself to him; +but he would not listen to him and carried him before the Prefect +who gave him an hundred lashes with a whip and, mounting him on a +camel, promenaded him round about the city, whilst the guards +proclaimed aloud, "This is his reward who violateth the Harims of +honourable men!" Moreover, he fell off the camel and broke his +leg and so became lame. Then the Prefect banished him from the +city; and he went forth unknowing whither he should wend; but I +heard of him and fearing for him went out after him and brought +him back secretly to the city and restored him to health and took +him into my house where he still liveth. The Caliph laughed at my +story and said, "Thou hast done well, O Samit, O Silent Man, O +spare of speech!"; and he bade me take a present and go away. But +I said, "I will accept naught of thee except I tell thee what +befell all my other brothers; and do not think me a man of many +words." So the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Second Brother. + + +Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that my second brother's name +was Al-Haddar, that is the Babbler, and he was the paralytic. Now +it happened to him one day, as he was going about his business, +that an old woman accosted him and said, "Stop a little, my good +man, that I may tell thee of somewhat which, if it be to thy +liking, thou shalt do for me and I will pray Allah to give thee +good of it!" My brother stopped and she went on, "I will put thee +in the way of a certain thing, so thou not be prodigal of +speech." "On with thy talk," quoth he; and she, "What sayest thou +to handsome quarters and a fair garden with flowing waters, +flowers blooming, and fruit growing, and old wine going and a +pretty young face whose owner thou mayest embrace from dark till +dawn? If thou do whatso I bid thee thou shalt see something +greatly to thy advantage." "And is all this in the world?" asked +my brother; and she answered, "Yes, and it shall be thine, so +thou be reasonable and leave idle curiosity and many words, and +do my bidding." "I will indeed, O my lady," said he, "how is it +thou hast preferred me in this matter before all men and what is +it that so much pleaseth thee in me?" Quoth she, "Did I not bid +thee be spare of speech? Hold thy peace and follow me. Know, that +the young lady, to whom I shall carry thee, loveth to have her +own way and hateth being thwarted and all who gainsay; so, if +thou humour her, thou shalt come to thy desire of her." And my +brother said, "I will not cross her in anything." Then she went +on and my brother followed her, an hungering after what she +described to him till they entered a fine large house, handsome +and choicely furnished, full of eunuchs and servants and showing +signs of prosperity from top to bottom. And she was carrying him +to the upper story when the people of the house said to him, +"What dost thou here?" But the old woman answered them, "Hold +your peace and trouble him not: he is a workman and we have +occasion for him." Then she brought him into a fine great +pavilion, with a garden in its midst, never eyes saw a fairer; +and made him sit upon a handsome couch. He had not sat long, be +fore he heard a loud noise and in came a troop of slave girls +surrounding a lady like the moon on the night of its fullest. +When he saw her, he rose up and made an obeisance to her, +whereupon she welcomed him and bade him be seated. So he sat down +and she said to him, "Allah advance thee to honour! Is all well +with thee?" "O my lady," he answered, "all with me is right +well." Then she bade bring in food, and they set before her +delicate viands; so she sat down to eat, making a show of +affection to my brother and jesting with him, though all the +while she could not refrain from laughing; but as often as he +looked at her, she signed towards her handmaidens as though she +were laughing at them. My brother (the ass!) understood nothing; +but, in the excess of his ridiculous passion, he fancied that the +lady was in love with him and that she would soon grant him his +desire. When they had done eating, they set on the wine and there +came in ten maidens like moons, with lutes ready strung in their +hands, and fell to singing with full voices, sweet and sad, +whereupon delight gat hold upon him and he took the cup from the +lady's hands and drank it standing. Then she drank a cup of wine +and my brother (still standing) said to her "Health," and bowed +to her. She handed him another cup and he drank it off, when she +slapped him hard on the nape of his neck.[FN#644] Upon this my +brother would have gone out of the house in anger; but the old +woman followed him and winked to him to return. So he came back +and the lady bade him sit and he sat down without a word. Then +she again slapped him on the nape of his neck; and the second +slapping did not suffice her, she must needs make all her +handmaidens also slap and cuff him, while he kept saying to the +old woman, "I never saw aught nicer than this." She on her side +ceased not exclaiming, "Enough, enough, I conjure thee, O my +mistress!"; but the women slapped him till he well nigh swooned +away. Presently my brother rose and went out to obey a call of +nature, but the old woman overtook him, and said, "Be patient a +little and thou shalt win to thy wish." "How much longer have I +to wait," my brother replied, "this slapping hath made me feel +faint." "As soon as she is warm with wine," answered she, "thou +shalt have thy desire." So he returned to his place and sat down, +where upon all the handmaidens stood up and the lady bade them +perfume him with pastiles and besprinkle his face with rose- +water. Then said she to him, "Allah advance thee to honour! Thou +hast entered my house and hast borne with my conditions, for +whoso thwarteth me I turn him away, and whoso is patient hath his +desire." "O mistress mine," said he, "I am thy slave and in the +hollow of thine hand!" "Know, then," continued she, "that Allah +hath made me passionately fond of frolic; and whoso falleth in +with my humour cometh by whatso he wisheth." Then she ordered her +maidens to sing with loud voices till the whole company was +delighted; after which she said to one of them, "Take thy lord, +and do what is needful for him and bring him back to me +forthright." So the damsel took my brother (and he not knowing +what she would do with him); but the old woman overtook him and +said, "Be patient; there remaineth but little to do." At this his +face brightened and he stood up before the lady while the old +woman kept saying, "Be patient; thou wilt now at once win to thy +wish!"; till he said, "Tell me what she would have the maiden do +with me?" "Nothing but good," replied she, "as I am thy +sacrifice! She wisheth only to dye thy eyebrows and pluck out thy +mustachios." Quoth he, "As for the dyeing of my eye brows, that +will come off with washing,[FN#645] but for the plucking out of +my mustachios, that indeed is a somewhat painful process." "Be +cautious how thou cross her," cried the old woman; "for she hath +set her heart on thee." So my brother patiently suffered her to +dye his eyebrows and pluck out his mustachios, after which the +maiden returned to her mistress and told her. Quoth she +"Remaineth now only one other thing to be done; thou must shave +his beard and make him a smooth o' face."[FN#646] So the maiden +went back and told him what her mistress had bidden her do; and +my brother (the blockhead!) said to her, "How shall I do what +will disgrace me before the folk?" But the old woman said, "She +would do on this wise only that thou mayst be as a beardless +youth and that no hair be left on thy face to scratch and prick +her delicate cheeks; for indeed she is passionately in love with +thee. So be patient and thou shalt attain thine object." My +brother was patient and did her bidding and let shave off his +beard and, when he was brought back to the lady, lo! he appeared +dyed red as to his eyebrows, plucked of both mustachios, shorn of +his beard, rouged on both cheeks. At first she was affrighted at +him; then she made mockery of him and, laughing till she fell +upon her back, said, "O my lord, thou hast indeed won my heart by +thy good nature!" Then she conjured him, by her life, to stand up +and dance, and he arose, and capered about, and there was not a +cushion in the house but she threw it at his head, and in like +manner did all her women who also kept pelting him with oranges +and lemons and citrons till he fell down senseless from the +cuffing on the nape of the neck, the pillowing and the fruit +pelting. "Now thou hast attained thy wish," said the old woman +when he came round; "there are no more blows in store for thee +and there remaineth but one little thing to do. It is her wont, +when she is in her cups, to let no one have her until she put off +her dress and trousers and remain stark naked.[FN#647] Then she +will bid thee doff thy clothes and run; and she will run before +thee as if she were flying from thee; and do thou follow her from +place to place till thy prickle stands at fullest point, when she +will yield to thee;"[FN#648] adding, "Strip off thy clothes at +once." So he rose, well nigh lost in ecstasy and, doffing his +raiment, showed himself mother naked.--And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say. + + When it was the Thirty-second Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the +old woman said to the Barber's second brother, "Doff thy +clothes," he rose, well nigh lost in ecstasy; and, stripping off +his raiment, showed himself mother naked. Whereupon the lady +stripped also and said to my brother, "If thou want anything run +after me till thou catch me." Then she set out at a run and he +ran after her while she rushed into room after room and rushed +out of room after room, my brother scampering after her in a rage +of desire like a veritable madman, with yard standing terribly +tall. After much of this kind she dashed into a darkened place, +and he dashed after her; but suddenly he trod upon a yielding +spot, which gave way under his weight; and, before he was aware +where he was, he found himself in the midst of a crowded market, +part of the bazaar of the leather sellers who were crying the +prices of skins and hides and buying and selling. When they saw +him in his plight, naked, with standing yard, shorn of beard and +mustachios, with eyebrows dyed red, and cheeks ruddied with +rouge, they shouted and clapped their hands at him, and set to +flogging him with skins upon his bare body till a swoon came over +him. Then they threw him on the back of an ass and carried him to +the Chief of Police. Quoth the Chief, "What is this?" Quoth they, +"This fellow fell suddenly upon us out of the Wazir's +house[FN#649] in this state." So the Prefect gave him an hundred +lashes and then banished him from Baghdad. However I went out +after him and brought him back secretly into the city and made +him a daily allowance for his living: although, were it not for +my generous humour, I could not have put up with the like of him. +Then the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Third Brother. + + +My third brother's name was Al-Fakik, the Gabbler, who was blind. +One day Fate and Fortune drove him to a fine large house, and he +knocked at the door, desiring speech of its owner that he might +beg somewhat of him. Quoth the master of the house, "Who is at +the door?" But my brother spake not a word and presently he heard +him repeat with a loud voice, "Who is this?" Still he made no +answer and immediately heard the master walk to the door and open +it and say, "What dost thou want?" My brother answered "Something +for Allah Almighty's sake."[FN#650] "Art thou blind?" asked the +man, and my brother answered "Yes." Quoth the other, "Stretch me +out thy hand." So my brother put out his hand thinking that he +would give him something; but he took it and, drawing him into +the house, carried him up from stair to stair till they reached +the terrace on the house top, my brother thinking the while that +he would surely give him something of food or money. Then he +asked my brother, "What dost thou want, O blind man?" and he +answered, "Something for the Almighty's sake." "Allah open for +thee some other door!" "O thou! why not say so when I was below +stairs?" "O cadger, why not answer me when I first called to +thee?" "And what meanest thou to do for me now?" "There is +nothing in the house to give thee." "Then take me down the +stair." "The path is before thee." So my brother rose and made +his way downstairs, till he came within twenty steps of the door, +when his foot slipped and he rolled to the bottom and broke his +head. Then he went out, unknowing whither to turn, and presently +fell in with two other blind men, companions of his, who said to +him, "What didst thou gain to day?" He told them what had +befallen him and added, "O my brothers, I wish to take some of +the money in my hands and provide myself with it." Now the master +of the house had followed him and was listening to what they +said; but neither my brother nor his comrades knew of this. So my +brother went to his lodging and sat down to await his companions, +and the house owner entered after him without being perceived. +When the other blind men arrived, my brother said to them, "Bolt +the door and search the house lest any stranger have followed +us." The man, hearing this, caught hold of a cord that hung from +the ceiling and clung to it, whilst they went round about the +house and searched but found no one. So they came back, and, +sitting beside my brother, brought out their money which they +counted and lo! it was twelve thousand dirhams. Each took what he +wanted and they buried the rest in a corner of the room. Then +they set on food and sat down, to eat. Presently my brother, +hearing a strange pair of jaws munching by his side,[FN#651] said +to his friends, "There is a stranger amongst us;" and, putting +forth his hand, caught hold of that of the house master. +Thereupon all fell on him and beat him;[FN#652] and when tired of +belabouring him they shouted, "O ye Moslems! a thief is come in +to us, seeking to take our money!" A crowd gathered around them, +whereupon the intruder hung on to them; and complained with them +as they complained, and, shutting his eyes like them, so that +none might doubt his blindness, cried out, "O Moslems, I take +refuge with Allah and the Governor, for I have a matter to make +known to him!" Suddenly up came the watch and, laying hands on +the whole lot (my brother being amongst them), drove them[FN#653] +to the Governor's who set them before him and asked, "What news +with you?" Quoth the intruder, "Look and find out for thyself, +not a word shall be wrung from us save by torture, so begin by +beating me and after me beat this man our leader."[FN#654] And he +pointed to my brother. So they threw the man at full length and +gave him four hundred sticks on his backside. The beating pained +him, whereupon he opened one eye and, as they redoubled their +blows, he opened the other eye. When the Governor saw this he +said to him, "What have we here, O accursed?"; whereto he +replied, "Give me the seal-ring of pardon! We four have shammed +blind, and we impose upon people that we may enter houses and +look upon the unveiled faces of the women and contrive for their +corruption. In this way we have gotten great gain and our store +amounts to twelve thousand dirhams. Said I to my company, 'Give +me my share, three thousand;' but they rose and beat me and took +away my money, and I seek refuge with Allah and with thee; better +thou have my share than they. So, if thou wouldst know the truth +of my words, beat one and every of the others more than thou hast +beaten me, and he will surely open his eyes." The Governor gave +orders for the question to begin with my brother, and they bound +him to the whipping post,[FN#655] and the Governor said, "O scum +of the earth, do ye abuse the gracious gifts of Allah and make as +if ye were blind!" "Allah! Allah!" cried my brother, "by Allah, +there is none among us who can see." Then they beat him till he +swooned away and the Governor cried, "Leave him till he come to +and then beat him again." After this he caused each of the +companions to receive more than three hundred sticks, whilst the +sham Abraham kept saying to them "Open your eyes or you will be +beaten afresh." At last the man said to the Governor, "Dispatch +some one with me to bring thee the money; for these fellows will +not open their eyes, lest they incur disgrace before the folk." +So the Governor sent to fetch the money and gave the man his +pretended share, three thousand dirhams; and, keeping the rest +for himself, banished the three blind men from the city. But I, O +Commander of the Faithful, went out and overtaking my brother +questioned him of his case; whereupon he told me of what I have +told thee; so I brought him secretly into the city, and appointed +him (in the strictest privacy) an allowance for meat and drink! +The Caliph laughed at my story and said, "Give him a gift and let +him go;" but I said, "By Allah! I will take naught till I have +made known to the Commander of the Faithful what came to pass +with the rest of my brothers; for truly I am a man of few words +and spare of speech." Then the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Fourth Brother. + + +Now as for my fourth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Al-Kuz +al-aswani, or the long necked Gugglet hight, from his brimming +over with words, the same who was blind of one eye, he became a +butcher in Baghdad and he sold flesh and fattened rams; and great +men and rich bought their meat of him, so that he amassed much +wealth and got him cattle and houses. He fared thus a long while, +till one day, as he was sitting in his shop, there came up an old +man and long o' the beard, who laid down some silver and said, +"Give me meat for this." He gave him his money s worth of flesh +and the oldster went his ways. My brother examined the Shaykh's +silver, and, seeing that the dirhams were white and bright, he +set them in a place apart. The greybeard continued to return to +the shop regularly for five months, and my brother ceased not to +lay up all the coin he received from him in its own box. At last +he thought to take out the money to buy sheep; so he opened the +box and found in it nothing, save bits of white paper cut round +to look like coin;[FN#656] so he buffeted his face and cried +aloud till the folk gathered about him, whereupon he told them +his tale which made them marvel exceedingly. Then he rose as was +his wont, and slaughtering a ram hung it up inside his shop; +after which he cut off some of the flesh, and hanging it outside +kept saying to himself, "O Allah, would the ill omened old fellow +but come!" And an hour had not passed before the Shaykh came with +his silver in hand; where upon my brother rose and caught hold of +him calling out, "Come aid me, O Moslems, and learn my story with +this villain!" When the old man heard this, he quietly said to +him, "Which will be the better for thee, to let go of me or to be +disgraced by me amidst the folk?" "In what wilt thou disgrace +me?" "In that thou sellest man's flesh for mutton!" "Thou liest, +thou accursed!" "Nay, he is the accursed who hath a man hanging +up by way of meat in his shop. If the matter be as thou sayest, I +give thee lawful leave to take my money and my life." Then the +old man cried out aloud, "Ho, ye people! if you would prove the +truth of my words, enter this man's shop." The folk rushed in and +found that the ram was become a dead man[FN#657] hung up for +sale. So they set upon my brother crying out, "O Infidel! O +villain!"; and his best friends fell to cuffing and kicking him +and kept saying, "Dost thou make us eat flesh of the sons of +Adam?" Furthermore, the old man struck him on the eye and put it +out. Then they carried the carcass, with the throat cut, before +the Chief of the city watch, to whom the old man said, "O Emir, +this fellow butchers men and sells their flesh for mutton and we +have brought him to thee; so arise and execute the judgments of +Allah (to whom be honour and glory!)." My brother would have +defended himself, but the Chief refused to hear him and sentenced +him to receive five hundred sticks and to forfeit the whole of +his property. And, indeed, had it not been for that same property +which he expended in bribes, they would have surely slain him. +Then the Chief banished him from Baghdad; and my brother fared +forth at a venture, till he came to a great town, where he +thought it best to set up as a cobbler; so he opened a shop and +sat there doing what he could for his livelihood. One day, as he +went forth on his business, he heard the distant tramp of horses +and, asking the cause, was told that the King was going out to +hunt and course; so my brother stopped to look at the fine suite. +It so fortuned that the King's eye met my brother's; whereupon +the King hung down his head and said, "I seek refuge with Allah +from the evil of this day!";[FN#658] and turned the reins of his +steed and returned home with all his retinue. Then he gave orders +to his guards, who seized my brother and beat him with a beating +so painful that he was well nigh dead; and my brother knew not +what could be the cause of his maltreatment, after which he +returned to his place in sorriest plight. Soon afterwards he went +to one of the King's household and related what had happened to +him; and the man laughed till he fell upon his back and cried, "O +brother mine, know that the King cannot bear to look at a +monocular, especially if he be blind of the right eye, in which +case he doth not let him go without killing him." When my brother +heard this, he resolved to fly from that city; so he went forth +from it to another wherein none knew him and there he abode a +long while. One day, being full of sorrowful thought for what had +befallen him, he sallied out to solace himself; and, as he was +walking along, he heard the distant tramp of horses behind him +and said, "The judgement of Allah is upon me!" and looked about +for a hiding place but found none. At last he saw a closed door +which he pushed hard: it yielded. and he entered a long gallery +in which he took refuge, but hardly had he done so, when two men +set upon him crying out, "Allah be thanked for having delivered +thee into our hands, O enemy of God! These three nights thou hast +robbed us of our rest and sleep, and verily thou hast made us +taste of the death cup." My brother asked, "O folk, what ails +you?"; and they answered, "Thou givest us the change and goest +about to disgrace us and plannest some plot to cut the throat of +the house master! Is it not enough that thou hast brought him to +beggary, thou and thy fellows? But now give us up the knife +wherewith thou threatenest us every night." Then they searched +him and found in his waist belt the knife used for his shoe +leather; and he said, "O people, have the fear of Allah before +your eyes and maltreat me not, for know that my story is a right +strange!" "And what is thy story?" said they: so he told them +what had befallen him, hoping they would let him go; however they +paid no heed to what he said and, instead of showing some regard, +beat him grievously and tore off his clothes: then, finding on +his sides the scars of beating with rods, they said, "O accursed! +these marks are the manifest signs of thy guilt!" They carried +him before the Governor, whilst he said to himself, "I am now +punished for my sins and none can deliver me save Allah +Almighty!" The Governor addressing my brother asked him, "O +villain, what led thee to enter their house with intention to +murther?"; and my brother answered, "I conjure thee by Allah, O +Emir, hear my words and be not hasty in condemning me!" But the +Governor cried, "Shall we listen to the words of a robber who +hath beggared these people, and who beareth on his back the scar +of his stripes?" adding, "They surely had not done this to thee, +save for some great crime." So he sentenced him to receive an +hundred cuts with the scourge, after which they set him on a +camel and paraded him about the city, proclaiming, "This is the +requital and only too little to requite him who breaketh into +people's houses." Then they thrust him out of the city, and my +brother wandered at random, till I heard what had befallen him; +and, going in search of him, questioned him of his case; so he +acquainted me with his story and all his mischances, and I +carried him secretly to the city where I made him an allowance +for his meat and drink. Then the Caliph gave ear to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Fifth Brother. + + +My fifth brother, Al-Nashshar,[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 per misted say. + + When It was the Thirty-third Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the +Barber's fifth brother proceeded: - "Then I bend down my head and +continue acting after this fashion till her parading and +displaying are completed. Thereupon I order one of my eunuchs to +bring me a bag of five hundred dinars which I give as largesse to +the tire women present and bid them one and all lead me to the +bride chamber. When they leave me alone with her I neither look +at her nor speak to her, but lie[FN#667] by her side with my face +to the wall showing my contempt, that each and every may again +remark how high and haughty I am. Presently her mother comes in +to me, and kissing[FN#668] my head and hand, says to me, 'O my +lord, look upon thine handmaid who longs for thy favour; so heal +her broken spirit!' I give her no answer; and when she sees this +she rises and busses my feet many times and says, 'O my lord, in +very sooth my daughter is a beautiful maid, who hath never known +man; and if thou show her this backwardness and aversion, her +heart will break; so do thou incline to her and speak to her and +soothe her mind and spirit.' Then she rises and fetches a cup of +wine; and says to her daughter, 'Take it and hand it to thy +lord.' But as e 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 an +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 bother lost +both capital and profit. He remained weeping a long while, and at +last up came a beautiful lady, the scent of musk exhaling from +her, who was going to Friday prayers riding a mule with a gold +saddle and followed by several eunuchs. When she saw the broken +glass and my brother weeping, her kind heart was moved to pity +for him, and she asked what ailed him and was told that he had a +tray full of glass ware by the sale of which he hoped to gain his +living, but it was broken, and (said they), "there befell him +what thou seest." Thereupon she called up one of her eunuchs and +said to him, Give what thou hast with thee to this poor fellow!". +And he gave my brother a purse in which he found five hundred +dinars; and when it touched his hand he was well nigh dying for +excess of joy and he offered up blessings for her. Then he +returned to his abode a substantial man; and, as he sat +considering, some one rapped at the door. So he rose and opened +and saw an old woman whom he had never seen. "O my son," said +she, "know that prayer tide is near and I have not yet made my +Wuzu-ablution;[FN#670] so kindly allow me the use of thy lodging +for the purpose." My brother answered, "To hear is to comply;" +and going in bade her follow him. So she entered and he brought +her an ewer wherewith to wash, and sat down like to fly with joy +because of the dinars which he had tied up in his belt for a +purse. When the old woman had made an end of her ablution, she +came up to where he sat, and prayed a two bow prayer; after which +she blessed my brother with a godly benediction, and he while +thanking her put his hand to the dinars and gave her two, saying +to himself "These are my voluntaries."[FN#671] When she saw the +gold she cried, "Praise be to Allah! why dost thou look on one +who loveth thee as if she were a beggar? Take back thy money: I +have no need of it; or, if thou want it not, return it to her who +gave it thee when thy glass ware was broken. Moreover, if thou +wish to be united with her, I can manage the matter, for she is +my mistress." "O my mother," asked my brother, "by what manner of +means can I get at her?"; and she answered, "O my son! she hath +an inclination for thee, but she is the wife of a wealthy man; so +take the whole of thy money with thee and follow me, that I may +guide thee to thy desire: and when thou art in her company spare +neither persuasion nor fair words, but bring them all to bear +upon her; so shalt thou enjoy her beauty and wealth to thy +heart's content." My brother took all his gold and rose and +followed the old woman, hardly believing in his luck. She ceased +not faring on, and my brother following her, till they came to a +tall gate at which she knocked and a Roumi slave-girl[FN#672] +came out and opened to them. Then the old woman led my brother +into a great sitting room spread with wondrous fine carpets and +hung with curtains, where he sat down with his gold before him, +and his turband on his knee.[FN#673] He had scarcely taken seat +before there came to him a young lady (never eye saw fairer) clad +in garments of the most sumptuous; whereupon my brother rose to +his feet, and she smiled in his face and welcomed him, signing to +him to be seated. Then she bade shut the door and, when it was +shut, she turned to my brother, and taking his hand conducted him +to a private chamber furnished with various kinds of brocades and +gold cloths. Here he sat down and she sat by his side and toyed +with him awhile; after which she rose and saying, "Stir not from +thy seat till I come back to thee;" disappeared. Meanwhile as he +was on this wise, lo! there came in to him a black slave big of +body and bulk and holding a drawn sword in hand, who said to him, +"Woe to thee! Who brought thee hither and what dost thou want +here?" My brother could not return him a reply, being tongue tied +for terror; so the blackamoor seized him and stripped him of his +clothes and bashed him with the flat of his sword blade till he +fell to the ground, swooning from excess of belabouring. The ill +omened nigger fancied that there was an end of him and my brother +heard him cry, "Where is the salt wench?"[FN#674] Where upon in +came a handmaid holding in hand a large tray of salt, and the +slave kept rubbing it into my brother's wounds;[FN#675] but he +did not stir fearing lest the slave might find out that he was +not dead and kill him outright. Then the salt girl went away, and +the slave cried Where is the souterrain[FN#676] guardianess?" +Hereupon in came the old woman and dragged my brother by his feet +to a souterrain and threw him down upon a heap of dead bodies. In +this place he lay two full days, but Allah made the salt the +means of preserving his life by staunching the blood and staying +its flow Presently, feeling himself able to move, Al-Nashshar +rose and opened the trap door in fear and trembling and crept out +into the open; and Allah protected him, so that he went on in the +darkness and hid himself in the vestibule till dawn, when he saw +the accursed beldam sally forth in quest of other quarry. He +followed in her wake without her knowing it, and made for his own +lodging where he dressed his wounds and medicined himself till he +was whole. Meanwhile he used to watch the old woman, tracking her +at all times and seasons, and saw her accost one man after +another and carry them to the house. However he uttered not a +word; but, as soon as he waxed hale and hearty, he took a piece +of stuff and made it into a bag which he filled with broken glass +and bound about his middle. He also disguised himself as a +Persian that none might know him, and hid a sword under his +clothes of foreign cut. Then he went out and presently, falling +in with the old woman, said to her, speaking Arabic with a +Persian accent, "Venerable lady,[FN#677] I am a stranger arrived +but this day here where I know no one. Hast thou a pair of scales +wherein I may weigh eleven hundred dinars? I will give thee +somewhat of them for thy pains." "I have a son, a money changer, +who keepeth all kinds of scales," she answered, "so come with me +to him before he goeth out and he will weigh thy gold." My +brother answered "Lead the way!" She led him to the house and the +young lady herself came out and opened it, whereupon the old +woman smiled in her face and said, "I bring thee fat meat +today."[FN#678] Then the damsel took my brother by the hand, and +led him to the same chamber as before; where she sat with him +awhile then rose and went forth saying, "Stir not from thy seat +till I come back to thee." Presently in came the accursed slave +with the drawn sword and cried to my brother, "Up and be damned +to thee." So he rose, and as the slave walked on before him he +drew the sword from under his clothes and smote him with it, +making head fly from body. Then he dragged the corpse by the feet +to the souterrain and called out, "Where is the salt wench?" Up +came the girl carrying the tray of salt and, seeing my brother +sword in hand, turned to fly; but he followed her and struck off +her head. Then he called out, "Where is the souterrain +guardianess? , and in came the old woman to whom he said, "Dost +know me again, ill omened hag?" "No my lord," she replied, and he +said, "I am the owner of the five hundred gold pieces, whose +house thou enteredst to make the ablution and to pray, and whom +thou didst snare hither and betray." "Fear Allah and spare me," +cried she; but he regarded her not and struck her with the sword +till he had cut her in four. Then he went to look for the young +lady; and when she saw him her reason fled and she cried out +piteously "Aman![FN#679] Mercy!" So he spared her and asked, +"What made thee consort with this blackamoor?", and she answered, +"I was slave to a certain merchant, and the old woman used to +visit me till I took a liking to her. One day she said to me, 'We +have a marriage festival at our house the like of which was never +seen and I wish thee to enjoy the sight.' 'To hear is to obey,' +answered I, and rising arrayed myself in my finest raiment and +ornaments, and took with me a purse containing an hundred gold +pieces. Then she brought me hither and hardly had I entered the +house when the black seized on me, and I have remained in this +case three whole years through the perfidy of the accursed +beldam." Then my brother asked her, "Is there anything of his in +the house?"; whereto she answered, "Great store of wealth, and if +thou art able to carry it away, do so and Allah give thee good of +it" My brother went with her and she opened to him sundry chests +wherein were money bags, at which he was astounded; then she said +to him, "Go now and leave me here, and fetch men to remove the +money.", He went out and hired ten men, but when he returned he +found the door wide open, the damsel gone and nothing left but +some small matter of coin and the household stuffs.[FN#680] By +this he knew that the girl had overreached him; so he opened the +store rooms and seized what was in them, together with the rest +of the money, leaving nothing in the house. He passed the night +rejoicing, but when morning dawned he found at the door some +twenty troopers who laid hands on him saying, "The Governor wants +thee!" My brother implored them hard to let him return to his +house; and even offered them a large sum of money; but they +refused and, binding him fast with cords, carried him off. On the +way they met a friend of my brother who clung to his skirt and +implored his protection, begging him to stand by him and help to +deliver him out of their hands. The man stopped, and asked them +what was the matter, and they answered, "The Governor hath +ordered us to bring this fellow before him and, look ye, we are +doing so." My brother's friend urged them to release him, and +offered them five hundred dinars to let him go, saying, "When ye +return to the Governor tell him that you were unable to find +him." But they would not listen to his words and took my brother, +dragging him along on his face, and set him before the Governor +who asked him, "Whence gottest thou these stuffs and monies?"; +and he answered, "I pray for mercy!" So the Governor gave him the +kerchief of mercy;[FN#681] and he told him all that had befallen +him from first to last with the old woman and the flight of the +damsel; ending with, "Whatso I have taken, take of it what thou +wilt, so thou leave me sufficient to support life."[FN#682] But +the Governor took the whole of the stuffs and all the money for +himself; and, fearing lest the affair come to the Sultan's ears, +he summoned my brother and said, "Depart from this city, else I +will hang thee." "Hearing and obedience" quoth my brother and set +out for another town. On the way thieves fell foul of him and +stripped and beat him and docked his ears; but I heard tidings of +his misfortunes and went out after him taking him clothes; and +brought him secretly into the city where I assigned to him an +allowance for meat and drink. And presently the Caliph gave ear +to + + + + + +The Barber's Tale of his Sixth Brother. + + +My sixth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Shakashik,[FN#683] +or Many clamours, the shorn of both lips, was once rich and +became poor, so one day he went out to beg somewhat to keep life +in him. As he was on the road he suddenly caught sight of a large +and handsome mansion, with a detached building wide and lofty at +the entrance, where sat sundry eunuchs bidding and +forbidding.[FN#684] My brother enquired of one of those idling +there and he replied "The palace belongs to a scion of the +Barmaki house;" so he stepped up to the door keepers and asked an +alms of them "Enter," said they, "by the great gate and thou +shalt get what thou seekest from the Wazir our master." +Accordingly he went in and, passing through the outer entrance, +walked on a while and presently came to a mansion of the utmost +beauty and elegance, paved with marble, hung with curtains and +having in the midst of it a flower garden whose like he had never +seen.[FN#685] My brother stood awhile as one bewildered not +knowing whither to turn his steps; then, seeing the farther end +of the sitting chamber tenanted, he walked up to it and there +found a man of handsome presence and comely beard. When this +personage saw my brother he stood up to him and welcomed him and +asked him of his case; whereto he replied that he was in want and +needed charity. Hearing these words the grandee showed great +concern and, putting his hand to his fine robe, rent it +exclaiming, "What! am I in a City, and thou here an hungered? I +have not patience to bear such disgrace!" Then he promised him +all manner of good cheer and said, "There is no help but that +thou stay with me and eat of my salt."[FN#686] "O my lord," +answered my brother, "I can wait no longer; for I am indeed dying +of hunger." So he cried, "Ho boy! bring basin and ewer;" and, +turning to my brother, said, "O my guest come forward and wash +thy hands." My brother rose to do so but he saw neither ewer nor +basin; yet his host kept washing his hands with invisible soap in +imperceptible water and cried, "Bring the table!" But my brother +again saw nothing. Then said the host, "Honour me by eating of +this meat and be not ashamed." And he kept moving his hand to and +fro as if he ate and saying to my brother, "I wonder to see thee +eating thus sparely: do not stint thyself for I am sure thou art +famished." So my brother began to make as though he were eating +whilst his host kept saying to him, "Fall to, and note especially +the excellence of this bread and its whiteness!" But still my +brother saw nothing. Then said he to himself, "This man is fond +of poking fun at people;" and replied, "O my lord, in all my days +I never knew aught more winsome than its whiteness or sweeter +than its savour." The Barmecide said, "This bread was baked by a +hand maid of mine whom I bought for five hundred dinars." Then he +called out, "Ho boy, bring in the meat pudding[FN#687] for our +first dish, and let there be plenty of fat in it;" and, turning +to my brother said, "O my guest, Allah upon thee, hast ever seen +anything better than this meat pudding? Now by my life, eat and +be not abashed." Presently he cried out again, "Ho boy, serve up +the marinated stew[FN#688] with the fatted sand grouse in it;" +and he said to my brother, "Up and eat, O my guest, for truly +thou art hungry and needest food." So my brother began wagging +his jaws and made as if champing and chewing,[FN#689] whilst the +host continued calling for one dish after another and yet +produced nothing save orders to eat. Presently he cried out, "Ho +boy, bring us the chickens stuffed with pistachio nuts;" and said +to my brother, "By thy life, O my guest, I have fattened these +chickens upon pistachios; eat, for thou hast never eaten their +like." "O my lord," replied my brother, "they are indeed first +rate." Then the host began motioning with his hand as though he +were giving my brother a mouthful; and ceased not to enumerate +and expatiate upon the various dishes to the hungry man whose +hunger waxt still more violent, so that his soul lusted after a +bit of bread, even a barley scone.[FN#690] Quoth the Barmecide, +"Didst thou ever taste anything more delicious than the seasoning +of these dishes?"; and quoth my brother, "Never, O my lord!" "Eat +heartily and be not ashamed," said the host, and the guest, "I +have eaten my fill of meat;" So the entertainer cried, "Take away +and bring in the sweets;" and turning to my brother said, "Eat of +this almond conserve for it is prime and of these honey fritters; +take this one, by my life, the syrup runs out of it." "May I +never be bereaved of thee, O my lord," replied the hungry one and +began to ask him about the abundance of musk in the fritters. +"Such is my custom," he answered: "they put me a dinar weight of +musk in every honey fritter and half that quantity of ambergris." +All this time my brother kept wagging head and jaws till the +master cried, "Enough of this. Bring us the dessert!" Then said +he to him,' "Eat of these almonds and walnuts and raisins; and of +this and that (naming divers kinds of dried fruits), and be not +abashed." But my brother replied, "O my lord, indeed I am full: I +can eat no more." "O my guest," repeated the host, "if thou have +a mind to these good things eat: Allah! Allah![FN#691] do not +remain hungry;" but my brother rejoined, "O my lord, he who hath +eaten of all these dishes how can he be hungry?" Then he +considered and said to himself, "I will do that shall make him +repent of these pranks." Presently the entertainer called out +"Bring me the wine;" and, moving his hands in the air, as though +they had set it before them, he gave my brother a cup and said, +"Take this cup and, if it please thee, let me know." "O my lord," +he replied, "it is notable good as to nose but I am wont to drink +wine some twenty years old." "Knock then at this door,"[FN#692] +quoth the host "for thou canst not drink of aught better." "By +thy kindness," said my brother, motioning with his hand as though +he were drinking. "Health and joy to thee," exclaimed the house +master and feigned to fill a cup and drink it off; then he handed +another to my brother who quaffed it and made as if he were +drunken. Presently he took the host unawares; and, raising his +arm till the white of his armpit appeared, dealt him such a cuff +on the nape of his neck that the palace echoed to it. Then he +came down upon him with a second cuff and the entertainer cried +aloud "What is this, O thou scum of the earth?" "O my lord," +replied my brother, "thou hast shown much kindness to thy slave, +and admitted him into thine abode and given him to eat of thy +victual; then thou madest him drink of thine old wine till he +became drunken and boisterous; but thou art too noble not to bear +with his ignorance and pardon his offence." When the Barmaki +heard my brother's words he laughed his loudest and said, "Long +have I been wont to make mock of men and play the madcap among my +intimates, but never yet have I come across a single one who had +the patience and the wit to enter into all my humours save +thyself: so I forgive thee, and thou shalt be my boon companion +in very sooth and never leave me." Then he ordered the servants +to lay the table in earnest and they set on all the dishes of +which he had spoken in sport; and he and my brother ate till they +were satisfied; after which they removed to the drinking chamber, +where they found damsels like moons who sang all manner songs and +played on all manner instruments. There they remained drinking +till their wine got the better of them and the host treated my +brother like a familiar friend, so that he became as it were his +brother, and bestowed on him a robe of honour and loved him with +exceeding love. Next morning the two fell again to feasting and +carousing, and ceased not to lead this life for a term of twenty +years; at the end of which the Barmecide died and the Sultan took +possession of all his wealth and squeezed my brother of his +savings, till he was left a pauper without a penny to handle. So +he quitted the city and fled forth following his face;[FN#693] +but, when he was half way between two towns, the wild Arabs fell +on him and bound him and carried him to their camp, where his +captor proceeded to torture him, saying, "Buy thy life of me with +thy money, else I will slay thee!" My brother began to weep and +replied, "By Allah, I have nothing, neither gold nor silver; but +I am thy prisoner; so do with me what thou wilt." Then the Badawi +drew a knife, broad bladed and so sharp grinded that if plunged +into a camel's throat it would sever it clean across from one +jugular to the other,[FN#694] and cut off my brother's lips and +waxed more instant in requiring money. Now this Badawi had a fair +wife who in her husband's absence used to make advances to my +brother and offer him her favours, but he held off from her. One +day she began to tempt him as usual and he played with her and +made her sit on his lap, when behold, in came the Badawi who, +seeing this, cried out, "Woe to thee, O accursed villain, +wouldest thou debauch my wife for me?" Then he took out a knife +and cut off my brother's yard, after which he bound him on the +back of a camel and, carrying him to a mountain, left him there. +He was at last found by some who recognised him and gave him meat +and drink and acquainted me with his condition; whereupon I went +forth to him and brought him back to Baghdad where I made him an +allowance sufficient to live on. This, then, O Commander of the +Faithful, is the history of my six brothers, and I feared to go +away without relating it all to thee and leave thee in the error +of judging me to be like them. And now thou knowest that I have +six brothers upon my hands and, being more upright than they, I +support the whole family. When the Caliph heard my story and all +I told him concerning my brothers, he laughed and said, "Thou +sayest sooth, O Silent Man! thou art indeed spare of speech nor +is there aught of forwardness in thee; but now go forth out of +this city and settle in some other." And he banished me under +edict. I left Baghdad and travelled in foreign parts till I heard +of his death and the accession of another to the Caliphate. Then +I returned to Baghdad where I found all my brothers dead and +chanced upon this young man, to whom I rendered the kindliest +service, for without me he had surely been killed. Indeed he +slanders me and accuses me of a fault which is not in my nature; +and what he reports concerning impudence and meddling and +forwardness is idle and false; for verily on his account I left +Baghdad and travelled about full many a country till I came to +this city and met him here in your company. And was not this, O +worthy assemblage, of the generosity of my nature? + + + + + +The End of the Tailor's Tale. + + +Then quoth the Tailor to the King of China: When we heard the +Barber's tale and saw the excess of his loquacity and the way in +which he had wronged this young man, we laid hands on him and +shut him up, after which we sat down in peace, and ate and drank +and enjoyed the good things of the marriage feast till the time +of the call to mid afternoon prayer, when I left the party and +returned home. My wife received me with sour looks and said, +"Thou goest a pleasuring among thy friends and thou leavest me to +sit sorrowing here alone. So now, unless thou take me abroad and +let me have some amusement for the rest of the day, I will cut +the rope[FN#695] and it will be the cause of my separation from +thee." So I took her out and we amused ourselves till supper +time, when we returned home and fell in with this Hunchback who +was brimful of drink and trolling out these rhymes: + +"Clear's the wine, the cup's fine; * Like to like they combine: +It is wine and not cup! * 'Tis a cup and not wine!" + +So I invited him to sup with us and went out to buy fried fish; +after which we sat down to eat; and presently my wife took a +piece of bread and a fid of fish and stuffed them into his mouth +and he choked; and, though I slapped him long and hard between +the shoulders, he died. Then I carried him off and contrived to +throw him into the house of this leach, the Jew; and the leach +contrived to throw him into the house of the Reeve; and the Reeve +contrived to throw him on the way of the Nazarene broker. This, +then, is my adventure which befell me but yesterday. Is not it +more wondrous than the story of the Hunchback? When the King of +China heard the Tailor's tale he shook his head for pleasure; +and, showing great surprise, said, "This that passed between the +young man and the busy-body of a Barber is indeed more pleasant +and wonderful than the story of my lying knave of a Hunchback." +Then he bade one of his Chamberlains go with the Tailor and bring +the Barber out of jail, saying, "I wish to hear the talk of this +Silent Man and it shall be the cause of your deliverance one and +all: then we will bury the Hunchback, for that he is dead since +yesterday, and set up a tomb over him."--And Shahrazad perceived +the dawn of day and ceased to say her per misted say. + + When it was the Thirty-fourth Night, + +She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King of +China bade, "Bring me the Barber who shall be the cause of your +deliverance; then we will bury this Hunchback, for that he is +dead since yesterday and set up a tomb over him." So the +Chamberlain and the Tailor went to the jail and, releasing the +Barber, presently returned with him to the King. The Sultan of +China looked at him and considered him carefully and lo and +behold! he was an ancient man, past his ninetieth year; swart of +face, white of beard, and hoar of eyebrows; lop eared and +proboscis-nosed,[FN#696] with a vacant, silly and conceited +expression of countenance. The King laughed at this figure o' fun +and said to him, "O Silent Man, I desire thee to tell me somewhat +of thy history." Quoth the Barber, "O King of the age, allow me +first to ask thee what is the tale of this Nazarene and this Jew +and this Moslem and this Hunchback (the corpse) I see among you? +And prithee what may be the object of this assemblage?" Quoth the +King of China, "And why dost thou ask?" "I ask," he replied, "in +order that the King's majesty may know that I am no forward +fellow or busy body or impertinent meddler; and that I am +innocent of their calumnious charges of overmuch talk; for I am +he whose name is the Silent Man, and indeed peculiarly happy is +my sobriquet, as saith the poet: + +When a nickname or little name men design, * Know that nature + with name shall full oft combine." + +Then said the King, "Explain to the Barber the case of this +Hunchback and what befell him at supper time; also repeat to him +the stories told by the Nazarene, the Jew, the Reeve, and the +Tailor; and of no avail to me is a twice told tale." They did his +bidding, and the Barber shook his head and said, "By Allah, this +is a marvel of marvels! Now uncover me the corpse of yonder +Hunchback. They undid the winding sheet and he sat down and, +taking the Hunchback's head in his lap, looked at his face and +laughed and guffaw'd[FN#697] till he fell upon his back and said, +"There is wonder in every death,[FN#698] but the death of this +Hunchback is worthy to be written and recorded in letters of +liquid gold!" The bystanders were astounded at his words and the +King marvelled and said to him, "What ails thee, O Silent Man? +Explain to us thy words !" "O King of the age," said the Barber, +"I swear by thy beneficence that there is still life in this +Gobbo Golightly!" Thereupon he pulled out of his waist belt a +barber's budget, whence he took a pot of ointment and anointed +therewith the neck of the Hunchback and its arteries. Then he +took a pair of iron tweezers and, inserting them into the +Hunchback's throat, drew out the fid of fish with its bone; and, +when it came to sight, behold, it was soaked in blood. Thereupon +the Hunchback sneezed a hearty sneeze and jumped up as if nothing +had happened and passing his hand over his face said, "I testify +that there is no god, but the God, and I testify that Mohammed is +the Apostle of God." At this sight all present wondered; the King +of China laughed till he fainted and in like manner did the +others. Then said the Sultan, "By Allah, of a truth this is the +most marvellous thing I ever saw! O Moslems, O soldiers all, did +you ever in the lives of you see a man die and be quickened +again? Verily had not Allah vouchsafed to him this Barber, he had +been a dead man!" Quoth they, "By Allah, 'tis a marvel of +marvels." Then the King of China bade record this tale, so they +recorded it and placed it in the royal muniment-rooms; after +which he bestowed costly robes of honour upon the Jew, the +Nazarene and the Reeve, and bade them depart in all esteem. Then +he gave the Tailor a sumptuous dress and appointed him his own +tailor, with suitable pay and allowances; and made peace between +him and the Hunchback, to whom also he presented a splendid and +expensive suit with a suitable stipend. He did as generously with +the Barber, giving him a gift and a dress of honour; moreover he +settled on him a handsome solde and created him Barber +surgeon[FN#699] of state and made him one of his cup companions. +So they ceased not to live the most pleasurable life and the most +delectable, till there came to them the Destroyer of all delights +and the Sunderer of all societies, the Depopulator of palaces and +the Garnerer for graves. Yet, O most auspicious King! (continued +Shahrazad) this tale is by no means more wonderful than that of +the two Wazirs and Anis al-Jalis. Quoth her sister Dunyazad, "And +what may that be?", whereupon she began to relate the following +tale of + +End of Vol. 1. + + + + Arabian Nights, Volume 1 + Footnotes + + +[FN#1] Allaho A'alam, a deprecatory formula, used because the +writer is going to indulge in a series of what may possibly be +untruths. + +[FN#2] The "Sons of Sasan" are the famous Sassanides whose +dynasty ended with the Arabian Conquest (A.D. 641). "Island" +Jazirah) in Arabic also means "Peninsula," and causes much +confusion in geographical matters. + +[FN#3] Shahryar not Shahriyar (Persian) = "City-friend." The +Bulak edition corrupts it to Shahrbaz (City-hawk), and the +Breslau to Shahrban or "Defender of the City," like +Marz-ban=Warden of the Marshes. Shah Zaman (Persian)="King of the +Age:" Galland prefers Shah Zenan, or "King of women," and the +Bull edit. changes it to Shah Rumman, "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. {Greek Letters}. See Vol.. ii., p. 1. + +[FN#4] Galland writes "Vizier," a wretched frenchification of a +mincing Turkish mispronunciation; Torrens, "Wuzeer" (Anglo- +Indian and Gilchristian); Lane, "Wezeer"; (Egyptian or rather +Cairene); Payne, "Vizier," according to his system; Burckhardt +(Proverbs), "Vizir;" and Mr. Keith-Falconer, "Vizir." The root is +popularly supposed to be "wizr" (burden) and the meaning +"Minister;" Wazir al-Wuzara being "Premier." In the Koran (chaps. +xx., 30) Moses says, "Give me a Wazir of my family, Harun (Aaron) +my brother." Sale, followed by the excellent version of the Rev. +J. M. Rodwell, translates a "Counsellor," and explains by "One +who has the chief administration of affairs under a prince." But +both learned Koranists learnt their Orientalism in London, and, +like such students generally, fail only upon the easiest points, +familiar to all old dwellers in the East. + +[FN#5] This three-days term (rest-day, drest-day and departure +day) seems to be an instinct-made rule in hospitality. Among +Moslems it is a Sunnat or practice of the Prophet.) + +[FN#6] i.e., I am sick at heart. + +[FN#7] Debauched women prefer negroes on account of the size of +their parts. I measured one man in Somali-land who, when +quiescent, numbered nearly six inches. This is a characteristic +of the negro race and of African animals; e.g. the horse; whereas +the pure Arab, man and beast, is below the average of Europe; one +of the best proofs by the by, that the Egyptian is not an +Asiatic, but a negro partially white-washed. Moreover, these +imposing parts do not increase proportionally during erection; +consequently, the "deed of kind" takes a much longer time and +adds greatly to the woman's enjoyment. In my time no honest Hindi +Moslem would take his women-folk to Zanzibar on account of the +huge attractions and enormous temptations there and thereby +offered to them. Upon the subject of Imsak = retention of semen +and "prolongation of pleasure," I shall find it necessary to say +more. + +[FN#8] The very same words were lately spoken in England proving +the eternal truth of The Nights which the ignorant call +"downright lies." + +[FN#9] The Arab's Tue la! + +[FN#10] Arab. "Sayd wa kanas": the former usually applied to +fishing; hence Sayda (Sidon) = fish-town. But noble Arabs (except +the Caliph Al-Amin) do not fish; so here it means simply "sport," +chasing, coursing, birding (oiseler), and so forth. + +[FN#11] In the Mac. Edit. the negro is called "Mas'ud"; here he +utters a kind of war-cry and plays upon the name, "Sa'ad, Sa'id, +Sa'ud," and "Mas'ud", all being derived from one root, "Sa'ad" = +auspiciousness, prosperity. + +[FN#12] The Arab. singular (whence the French "genie"), 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-daemons) and the bad +(Kako-daemons). 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 Jan bin Jan, +missionarised by Prophets and subject to death and Judgment. From +the same root are "Junun" = madness (i.e., possession or +obsession by the Jinn) and "Majnun"=a madman. According to R. +Jeremiah bin Eliazar in Psalm xii. 5, Adam was excommunicated for +one hundred and thirty years, during which he begat children in +his own image (Gen. v. 3) and these were Mazikeen or Shedeem- +Jinns. Further details anent the Jinn will presently occur. + +[FN#13] Arab. "Amsar" (cities): in Bull Edit. "Amtar" (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 merits superior exaggeration and +impossibility. + +[FN#14] Not "A-frit," pronounced Aye-frit, as our poets have it. +This variety of the Jinn, who, as will be shown, are divided into +two races like mankind, is generally, but not always, a malignant +being, hostile and injurious to mankind (Koran xxvii. 39). + +[FN#15] i.e., "I conjure thee by Allah;" the formula is +technically called "Inshad." + +[FN#16] This introducing the name of Allah into an indecent tale +is essentially Egyptian and Cairene. But see Boccaccio ii. 6, and +vii. 9. + +[FN#17] So in the Mac. Edit.; in others "ninety." I prefer the +greater number as exaggeration is a part of the humour. In the +Hindu "Katha Sarit Sagara" (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 Katha, etc., by Somadeva (century xi), is a poetical version +of the prose compendium, the "Vrihat Katha" (Great Story) by +Gunadhya (cent. vi). + +[FN#18] The Joseph of the Koran, very different from him of +Genesis. We shall meet him often enough in The Nights. + +[FN#19] "Iblis," vulgarly written "Eblis," from a root meaning +The Despairer, with a suspicious likeness to Diabolos; possibly +from "Bales," a profligate. Some translate it The Calumniator, as +Satan is the Hater. Iblis (who appears in the Arab. version of +the N. Testament) succeeded another revolting angel Al-Haris; and +his story of pride refusing to worship Adam, is told four times +in the Koran from the Talmud (Sanhedrim 29). He caused Adam and +Eve to lose Paradise (ii. 34); he still betrays mankind (xxv. +31), and at the end of time he, with the other devils, will be +"gathered together on their knees round Hell" (xix. 69). He has +evidently had the worst of the game, and we wonder, with Origen, +Tillotson, Burns and many others, that he does not throw up the +cards. + +[FN#20] A similar tale is still told at Akka (St. John d'Acre) +concerning the terrible "butcher"--Jazzar (Djezzar) Pasha. One +can hardly pity women who are fools enough to run such risks. +According to Frizzi, Niccolo, Marquis of Este, after beheading +Parisina, ordered all the faithless wives of Ferrara to be +treated in like manner. + +[FN#21] "Shahrazad" (Persian) = City-freer, in the older version +Scheherazade (probably both from Shirzad=lion-born). +"Dunyazad"=World-freer. The Bres. Edit. corrupts former to +Shahrzad or Shahrazad, and the Mac. and Calc. to Shahrzad or +Shehrzad. I have ventured to restore the name as it should be. +Galland for the second prefers Dinarzade (?) and Richardson +Dinazade (Dinazad = Religion-freer): here I have followed Lane +and Payne; though in "First Footsteps" I was misled by Galland. +See Vol. ii. p. 1. + +[FN#22] Probably she proposed to "Judith" the King. These learned +and clever young ladies are very dangerous in the East. + +[FN#23] In Egypt, etc., the bull takes the place of the Western +ox. The Arab. word is "Taur" (Thaur, Saur); in old Persian "Tore" +and Lat. "Taurus," a venerable remnant of the days before the +"Semitic" and "Aryan" families of speech had split into two +distinct growths. "Taur" ends in the Saxon "Steor" and the +English "Steer " + +[FN#24] Arab. "Abu Yakzan" = the Wakener, because the ass brays +at dawn. + +[FN#25] Arab. "Tibn"; straw crushed under the sledge: the hay of +Egypt, Arabia, Syria, etc. The old country custom is to pull up +the corn by handfuls from the roots, leaving the land perfectly +bare: hence the "plucking up" of Hebrew Holy Writ. The object is +to preserve every atom of "Tibn." + +[FN#26] Arab. "Ya Aftah": Al-Aftah is an epithet of the bull, +also of the chameleon. + +[FN#27] Arab. "Balid," a favourite Egyptianism often pleasantly +confounded with "Wali" (a Santon), hence the latter comes to mean +"an innocent," a "ninny." + +[FN#28] From the Calc. Edit., Vol. 1., p. 29. + +[FN#29] Arab. "Abu Yakzan" is hardly equivalent with "Pere +l'Eveille." + +[FN#30] In Arab. the wa (x) is the sign of parenthesis. + +[FN#31] In the nearer East the light little plough is carried +afield by the bull or ass. + +[FN#32] Ocymum basilicum, the "royal herb," so much prized all +over the East, especially in India, where, under the name of +"Tulsi," it is a shrub sacred to the merry god Krishna. I found +the verses in a MS. copy of The Nights. + +[FN#33] Arab. "Sadaf," the Kauri, or cowrie, brought from the +Maldive and Lakdive Archipelago. The Kamus describes this "Wada'" +or Concha Veneris as "a white shell (whence to "shell out") which +is taken out of the sea, the fissure of which is white like that +of the date-stone. It is hung about the neck to avert the evil +eye." The pearl in Arab. is "Murwarid," hence evidently +"Margarita" and Margaris (woman's name). + +[FN#34] Arab. "Kat'a" (bit of leather): some read "Nat'a;" a +leather used by way of table-cloth, and forming a bag for +victuals; but it is never made of bull's hide. + +[FN#35] The older "Cadi," a judge in religious matters. The +Shuhud, or Assessors, are officers of the Mahkamah or Kazi's +Court. + +[FN#36] Of which more in a future page. He thus purified himself +ceremonially before death. + +[FN#37] This is Christian rather than Moslem: a favourite Maltese +curse is "Yahrak Kiddisak man rabba-k!" = burn the Saint who +brought thee up! + +[FN#38] A popular Egyptian phrase: the dog and the cock speak +like Fellahs. + +[FN#39] i. e. between the last sleep and dawn when they would +rise to wash and pray. + +[FN#40] Travellers tell of a peculiar knack of jerking the +date-stone, which makes it strike with great force: I never saw +this "Inwa" practised, but it reminds me of the water splashing +with one hand in the German baths. + +[FN#41] i.e., sorely against his will. + +[FN#42] Arab. "Shaykh"=an old man (primarily), an elder, a chief +(of the tribe, guild, etc.), and honourably addressed to any man. +Comp. among the neo Latins "Sieur," "Signora," "Senor," "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 Miswak (tooth-stick), pared his nails, shaved his +pecten, snuffed up water, used ablution after stool and wore a +shirt (Tabari). + +[FN#43] The word is mostly plural = Jinnis: it is also singular = +a demon; and Jan bin Jan has been noticed. + +[FN#44] With us moderns "liver" suggests nothing but malady: in +Arabic and Persian as in the classic literature of Europe it is +the seat of passion, the heart being that of affection. Of this +more presently. + +[FN#45] Originally in Al-Islam the concubine (Surriyat, etc.) was +a captive taken in war and the Koran says nothing about buying +slave-girls. But if the captives were true believers the Moslem +was ordered to marry not to keep them. In modern days concubinage +has become an extensive subject. Practically the disadvantage is +that the slave-girls, knowing themselves to be the master's +property, consider him bound to sleep with them; which is by no +means the mistress's view. Some wives, however, when old and +childless, insist, after the fashion of Sarah, upon the husband +taking a young concubine and treating her like a daughter--which +is rare. The Nights abound in tales of concubines, but these are +chiefly owned by the Caliphs and high officials who did much as +they pleased. The only redeeming point in the system is that it +obviated the necessity of prostitution which is, perhaps, the +greatest evil known to modern society. + +[FN#46] Arab. "Al-Kahanah"=the craft of a "Kahin" (Heb. Cohen) a +diviner, soothsayer, etc. + +[FN#47] Arab. "Id al-kabir = The Great Festival; the Turkish +Bayram and Indian Bakar-eed (Kine-fete), the pilgrimage-time, +also termed "Festival of the Kurban" (sacrifice) because victims +are slain, Al-Zuha (of Undurn or forenoon), Al-Azha (of serene +night) and Al-Nahr (of throat-cutting). For full details I must +refer readers to my "Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to +El-Medinah and Meccah" (3 vols. 8vo, London, Longmans, 1855). I +shall have often to refer to it. + +[FN#48] Arab. "Kalam al-mubah," i.e., that allowed or permitted +to her by the King, her husband. + +[FN#49] Moslem Kings are expected, like the old Gabble Monarchs, +to hold "Darbar" (i.e., give public audience) at least twice a +day, morning and evening. Neglect of this practice caused the +ruin of the Caliphate and of the Persian and Moghul Empires: the +great lords were left uncontrolled and the lieges revolted to +obtain justice. The Guebre Kings had two levee places, the +Rozistan (day station) and the Shabistan (night-station - istan +or stan being a nominal form of istadan, to stand, as +Hindo-stan). Moreover one day in the week the sovereign acted as +"Mufti" or Supreme Judge. + +[FN#50] Arab. "Al-Basharah," the gift everywhere claimed in the +East and in Boccaccio's Italy by one who brings good news. Those +who do the reverse expose themselves to a sound strappado. + +[FN#51] A euphemistic formula, to avoid mentioning unpleasant +matters. I shall note these for the benefit of students who would +honestly prepare for the public service in Moslem lands. + +[FN#52] Arab. "Dinar," from the Latin denarius (a silver coin +worth ten ounces of brass) through the Greek {Greek Letters}: it +is a Koranic word (chaps. iii.) though its Arab equivalent is +"Miskal." It also occurs in the Katha before quoted, clearly +showing the derivation. In the "Book of Kalilah and Dimnah" it is +represented by the Daric or Persian Dinar, {Greek Letters}, from +Dara= a King (whence Darius). The Dinar, sequin or ducat, +contained at different times from 10 and 12 (Abu Hanifah's day) +to 20 and even 25 dirhams or drachmas, and, as a weight, +represented a drachma and a half. Its value greatly varied, but +we may assume it here at nine shillings or ten francs to half a +sovereign. For an elaborate article on the Dinar see Yule's +"Cathay and the Way Thither" (ii., pp. 439-443). + +[FN#53] The formula used in refusing alms to an "asker" or in +rejecting an insufficient offer: "Allah will open to thee!" (some +door of gain - not mine)! Another favourite ejaculation is "Allah +Karim" (which Turks pronounce "Kyereem") = Allah is +All-beneficent! meaning Ask Him, not me. + +[FN#54] The public bath. London knows the word through "The +Hummums." + +[FN#55] Arab. "Dirham" (Plur. dirahim, also used in the sense of +money, "siller"), 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 "Zuz." 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 "Danik," each of these being a +fraction over a penny. The modern Greek Drachma is=one franc. + +[FN#56] In Arabic the speaker always puts himself first, even if +he address the King, without intending incivility. + +[FN#57] A she-Ifrit, not necessarily an evil spirit. + +[FN#58] Arab. "Kullah" (in Egypt pron. "gulleh"), the wide +mouthed jug, called in the Hijaz "baradlyah," "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" (chaps. v) I quote, +here and elsewhere, from the fifth edition, London, Murray, 1860. + +[FN#59] "And what is?" etc. A popular way of expressing great +difference. So in India: - "Where is Rajah Bhoj (the great King) +and where is Ganga the oilman?" + +[FN#60] Here, as in other places, I have not preserved the +monorhyme, but have ended like the English sonnet with a couplet; +as a rule the last two lines contain a "Husn makta'" or climax. + +[FN#61] Lit. "he began to say (or speak) poetry," such +improvising being still common amongst the Badawin as I shall +afterwards note. And although Mohammed severely censured profane +poets, who "rove as bereft of their senses through every valley" +and were directly inspired by devils (Koran xxvi.), it is not a +little curious to note that he himself spoke in "Rajaz" (which +see) and that the four first Caliphs all "spoke poetry." In early +ages the verse would not be written, if written at all, till +after the maker's death. I translate "inshad" by "versifying" or +"repeating" or "reciting," leaving it doubtful if the composition +be or be not original. In places, however, it is clearly +improvised and then as a rule it is model doggrel. + +[FN#62] Arab. "Allahumma"=Ya Allah (O Allah) but with emphasis +the Fath being a substitute for the voc. part. Some connect it +with the Heb. "Alihim," but that fancy is not Arab. In Al-Hariri +and the rhetoricians it sometimes means to be sure; of course; +unless indeed; unless possibly. + +[FN#63] Probably in consequence of a vow. These superstitious +practices, which have many a parallel amongst ourselves, are not +confined to the lower orders in the East. + +[FN#64] i.e., saying "Bismillah!" the pious ejaculation which +should precede every act. In Boccaccio (viii., 9) it is +"remembering Iddio e' Santi." + +[FN#65] Arab. Nahas asfar = brass, opposed to "Nahas" and "Nahas +ahmar," = copper. + +[FN#66] This alludes to the legend of Sakhr al-Jinn), a famous +fiend cast by Solomon David son into Lake Tiberias whose storms +make it a suitable place. Hence the "Bottle imp," a world-wide +fiction of folk-lore: we shall find it in the "Book of Sindibad," +and I need hardly remind the reader of Le Sage's "Diable +Boiteux," borrowed from "El Diablo Cojuelo," the Spanish novel by +Luiz Velez de Guevara. + +[FN#67] Marid (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 +"Maridah." + +[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, Vikramaditya, who ruled +over the seven divisions of the world and who had as many devils +to serve him as he wanted. + +[FN#69] Arab. "Ya Ba'id:" a euphemism here adopted to prevent +using grossly abusive language. Others will occur in the course +of these pages. + +[FN#70] i. e. about to fly out; "My heart is in my mouth." The +Fisherman speaks with the dry humour of a Fellah. + +[FN#71] "Sulayman," when going out to ease himself, entrusted his +seal-ring upon which his kingdom depended to a concubine "Aminah" +(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 (chaps. +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, chaps. 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 mediaeval Europe +composed in England (or Germany) about the end of the thirteenth +century. + +[FN#72] Arab. "Kumkam," a gourd-shaped bottle of metal, china or +glass, still used for sprinkling scents. Lane gives an +illustration (chaps. viii., Mod. Egypt.). + +[FN#73] Arab. meaning "the Mother of Amir," a nickname for the +hyena, which bites the hand that feeds it. + +[FN#74] The intellect of man is stronger than that of the Jinni; +the Ifrit, however, enters the jar because he has been adjured by +the Most Great Name and not from mere stupidity. The seal-ring of +Solomon according to the Rabbis contained a chased stone which +told him everything he wanted to know. + +[FN#75] The Mesmerist will notice this shudder which is familiar +to him as preceding the "magnetic" trance. + +[FN#76] Arab. "Bahr" which means a sea, a large river, a sheet of +water, etc., lit. water cut or trenched in the earth. Bahri in +Egypt means Northern; so Yamm (Sea, Mediterranean) in Hebrew is +West. + +[FN#77] In the Bull Edit. "Ruyan," evidently a clerical error. +The name is fanciful not significant. + +[FN#78] The geography is ultra-Shakespearean. "Fars" (whence +"Persia") is the central Province of the grand old Empire now a +mere wreck, "Rum" (which I write Roum, in order to avoid Jamaica) +is the neo-Roman or Byzantine Empire, while "Yunan" is the +classical Arab term for Greece (Ionia) which unlearned Moslems +believe to be now under water. + +[FN#79] The Sun greets Mohammed every morning even as it dances +on Easter Day for Christendom. Risum teneatis? + +[FN#80] Arab. "Nadim," 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 "Nudama" was Al-Razi +bi'llah A.H. 329 = 940. See Al-Siyuti's famous "History of the +Caliphs" translated and admirably annotated by Major H. S. +Jarrett, for the Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1880. + +[FN#81]Arab. Maydan (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 Jerid (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'ha (a low sandy flat), Mahattah (a plain +fit for halting) and so forth. (Pilgrimage iii., 11.) + +[FN#82] For details concerning the "Ghusl" see Night xliv. + +[FN#83] A popular idiom and highly expressive, contrasting the +upright bearing of the self-satisfied man with the slouch of the +miserable and the skirt-trailing of the woman in grief. I do not +see the necessity of such Latinisms as "dilated" or "expanded." + +[FN#84] All these highest signs of favour foreshow, in Eastern +tales and in Eastern life, an approaching downfall of the +heaviest; they are so great that they arouse general jealousy. +Many of us have seen this at native courts. + +[FN#85] This phrase is contained in the word "ihdak" +=encompassing, as the conjunctive does the pupil. + +[FN#86] I have noted this formula, which is used even in +conversation when about to relate some great unfact. + +[FN#87] We are obliged to English the word by "valley," which is +about as correct as the "brook Kedron," applied to the grisliest +of ravines. The Wady (in old Coptic wah, oah, whence "Oasis") is +the bed of a watercourse which flows only after rains. I have +rendered it by "Fiumara" (Pilgrimage i., 5, and ii., 196, etc.), +an Italian or rather a Sicilian word which exactly describes the +"wady." + +[FN#88] I have described this scene which Mr. T. Wolf illustrated +by an excellent lithograph in "Falconry, etc." (London, Van +Voorst, MDCCCLII.) + +[FN#89] Arab. "Kaylulah," mid-day sleep; called siesta from the +sixth canonical hour. + +[FN#90] This parrot-story is world-wide in folk-lore and the +belief in metempsychosis, which prevails more or less over all +the East, there lends it probability. The "Book of Sindibad" (see +Night dlxxix. and "The Academy," Sept. 20, 1884, No. 646) +converts it into the "Story of the Confectioner, his Wife and the +Parrot," and it is the base of the Hindostani text- book, +"Tota-Kahani" (Parrot-chat), an abridgement of the Tutinamah +(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 Bull. or Mac. Edits. but occurs in the Bresl. (i., pp. +90, 91) much mutilated; and better in the Calc. Edit I cannot +here refrain from noticing how vilely the twelve vols. of the +Breslau Edit have been edited; even a table of contents being +absent from the first four volumes. + +[FN#91] The young "Turk" is probably a late addition, as it does +not appear in many of the MSS., e. g. the Bresl. Edit. The wife +usually spreads a cloth over the cage; this in the Turkish +translation becomes a piece of leather. + +[FN#92] The Hebrew-Syrian month July used to express the height +of summer. As Herodotus tells us (ii. 4) the Egyptians claimed to +be the discoverers of the solar year and the portioners of its +course into twelve parts. + +[FN#93] This proceeding is thoroughly characteristic of the +servile class; they conscientiously conceal everything from the +master till he finds a clew; after which they tell him everything +and something more. + +[FN#94] Until late years, merchants and shopkeepers in the nearer +East all carried and held it a disgrace to leave the house +unarmed. + +[FN#95] The Bresl. Edit. absurdly has Jazirah (an island). + +[FN#96] The Ghulah (fem. of Ghul) is the Heb. Lilith or Lilis; +the classical Lamia; the Hindu Yogini and Dakini, 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 +Bala yaga (Granny-witch) of Russian folk-lore. Etymologically +"Ghul" is a calamity, a panic fear; and the monster is evidently +the embodied horror of the grave and the graveyard. + +[FN#97] Arab. "Shabb" (Lat. juvenis) between puberty and forty or +according to some fifty; when the patient becomes a "Rajul +ikhtiyar" (man of free will) politely termed, and then a Shaykh +or Shaybah (gray-beard, oldster). + +[FN#98] Some proverbial name now forgotten. Torrens (p. 48) +translates it "the giglot" (Fortune?) but "cannot discover the +drift." + +[FN#99] Arab. "Ihtizaz," that natural and instinctive movement +caused by good news suddenly given, etc. + +[FN#100] Arab. "Kohl," in India, Surmah, not a "collyrium," but +powdered antimony for the eyelids. That sold in the bazars is not +the real grey ore of antimony but a galena or sulphuret of lead. +Its use arose as follows. When Allah showed Himself to Moses on +Sinai through an opening the size of a needle, the Prophet +fainted and the Mount took fire: thereupon Allah said, +"Henceforth shalt thou and thy seed grind the earth of this +mountain and apply it to your eyes!" The powder is kept in an +etui 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. Littre fails to show how +"fine powder" became "spirits of wine." I found this powder +(wherewith Jezebel "painted" her eyes) a great preservative from +ophthalmia in desert-travelling: the use in India was universal, +but now European example is gradually abolishing it. + +[FN#101] The tale of these two women is now forgotten. + +[FN#102] Arab. "Atadakhkhal." When danger threatens it is +customary to seize a man's skirt and cry "Dakhil-ak!" ( = under +thy protection). Among noble tribes the Badawi thus invoked will +defend the stranger with his life. Foreigners have brought +themselves into contempt by thus applying to women or to mere +youths. + +[FN#103] The formula of quoting from the Koran. + +[FN#104] Lit. "Allah not desolate me" (by thine absence). This is +still a popular phrase - La tawahishna = Do not make me desolate, +i.e. by staying away too long, and friends meeting after a term +of days exclaim "Auhashtani!"=thou hast made me desolate, Je suis +desole. + +[FN#105] Charming simplicity of manners when the Prime Minister +carries the fish (shade of Vattel!)!) to the cookmaid. The "Gesta +Romanorum" is nowhere more naive. + +[FN#106] Arab. "Kahilat al-taraf" = lit. eyelids lined with Kohl; +and figuratively "with black lashes and languorous look." This is +a phrase which frequently occurs in The Nights and which, as will +appear, applies to the "lower animals" as well as to men. Moslems +in Central Africa apply Kohl not to the thickness of the eyelid +but upon both outer lids, fixing it with some greasy substance. +The peculiar Egyptian (and Syrian) eye with its thick fringes of +jet-black lashes, looking like lines of black drawn with soot, +easily suggests the simile. In England I have seen the same +appearance amongst miners fresh from the colliery. + +[FN#107] Of course applying to her own case. + +[FN#108] Prehistoric Arabs who measured from 60 to 100 cubits +high: Koran, chaps. xxvi., etc. They will often be mentioned in +The Nights. + +[FN#109] I Arab. "Dastur" (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 "Tarik" = 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 - "Bakhshish" pron. bakh-sheesh and shortened +to shish from the Pers. "bakhshish." Our "Christmas box" has been +most unnecessarily derived from the same, despite our reading:-- + + Gladly the boy, with Christmas box in hand. + +And, as will be seen, Persians have bequeathed to the outer world +worse things than bad language, e.g. heresy and sodomy. + +[FN#110] He speaks of his wife but euphemistically in the +masculine. + +[FN#111] A popular saying throughout Al-Islam. + +[FN#112] Arab. "Fata": lit.=a youth; a generous man, one of noble +mind (as youth-tide should be). It corresponds with the Lat. +"vir," and has much the meaning of the Ital. "Giovane," the Germ. +"Junker" and our "gentleman." + +[FN#113] From the Bul. Edit. + +[FN#114] The vagueness of his statement is euphemistic. + +[FN#115] This readiness of shedding tears contrasts strongly with +the external stoicism of modern civilization; but it is true to +Arab character, and Easterns, like the heroes of Homer and +Italians of Boccacio, are not ashamed of what we look upon as the +result of feminine hysteria - "a good cry." + +[FN#116] The formula (constantly used by Moslems) here denotes +displeasure, doubt how to act and so forth. Pronounce, "La haula +wa la kuwwata illa bi 'llahi 'I-Aliyyi 'I-Azim." As a rule +mistakes are marvellous: Mandeville (chaps. xii.) for "La ilaha +illa 'llahu wa Muhammadun Rasulu 'llah" writes "La ellec sila, +Machomete rores alla." The former (la haula, etc.), on account of +the four peculiar Arabic letters, is everywhere pronounced +differently. and the exclamation is called "Haulak" or "Haukal." + +[FN#117] An Arab holds that he has a right to marry his first +cousin, the daughter of his father's brother, and if any win her +from him a death and a blood-feud may result. It was the same in +a modified form amongst the Jews and in both races the +consanguineous marriage was not attended by the evil results +(idiotcy, congenital deafness, etc.) observed in mixed races like +the English and the Anglo-American. When a Badawi speaks of "the +daughter of my uncle" he means wife; and the former is the dearer +title, as a wife can be divorced, but blood is thicker than +water. + +[FN#118] Arab. "Kahbah;" the coarsest possible term. Hence the +unhappy "Cave" of Don Roderick the Goth, which simply means The +Whore. + +[FN#119] The Arab "Banj" and Hindu "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 bostani or Shahdanaj). On the +other hand not a few apply the word to the henbane (hyoscyamus +niger) so much used in mediaeval Europe. The Kamus evidently means +henbane distinguishing it from Hashish al harafish" = rascals' +grass, i.e. the herb Pantagruelion. The "Alfaz Adwiya" (French +translation) explains "Tabannuj" by "Endormir quelqu'un en lui +faisant avaler de la jusquiame." In modern parlance Tabannuj is = +our anaesthetic administered before an operation, a deadener of +pain like myrrh and a number of other drugs. For this purpose +hemp is always used (at least I never heard of henbane); and +various preparations of the drug are sold at an especial bazar in +Cairo. See the "powder of marvellous virtue" in Boccaccio, iii., +8; and iv., 10. Of these intoxicants, properly so termed, I shall +have something to say in a future page. + +The use of Bhang doubtless dates from the dawn of civilisation, +whose earliest social pleasures would be inebriants. Herodotus +(iv. c. 75) shows the Scythians burning the seeds (leaves and +capsules) in worship and becoming drunken with the fumes, as do +the S. African Bushmen of the present day. This would be the +earliest form of smoking: it is still doubtful whether the pipe +was used or not. Galen also mentions intoxication by hemp. +Amongst Moslems, the Persians adopted the drink as an ecstatic, +and about our thirteenth century Egypt, which began the practice, +introduced a number of preparations to be noticed in the course +of The Nights. + +[FN#120] The rubbish heaps which outlie Eastern cities, some +(near Cairo) are over a hundred feet high. + +[FN#121] Arab. "Kurrat al-aye;" 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 Z yd 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 imply a +pleasant prize. + +[FN#122] Popularly rendered Caucasus (see Night cdxcvi): it +corresponds so far with the Hindu "Udaya" that the sun rises +behind it; and the "false dawn" is caused by a hole or gap. It is +also the Persian Alborz, the Indian Meru (Sumeru), the Greek +Olympus and the Rhiphaean Range (Veliki Camenypoys) or great +starry girdle of the world, etc. + +[FN#123] Arab. "Mizr" or "Mizar;" vulg. Buzah; 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 nightie +gale), Dinzayah and Subiyah, for which I must refer to the Shaykh +El-Tounsy. + +[FN#124] There is a terrible truth in this satire, which reminds +us of the noble dame who preferred to her handsome husband the +palefrenier laid, ord et infame of Queen Margaret of Navarre +(Heptameron No. xx.). We have all known women who sacrificed +everything despite themselves, as it were, for the most worthless +of men. The world stares and scoffs and blames and understands +nothing. There is for every woman one man and one only in whose +slavery she is "ready to sweep the floor." Fate is mostly opposed +to her meeting him but, when she does, adieu husband and +children, honour and religion, life and "soul." Moreover Nature +(human) commands the union of contrasts, such as fair and foul, +dark and light, tall and short; otherwise mankind would be like +the canines, a race of extremes, dwarf as toy-terriers, giants +like mastiffs, bald as Chinese "remedy dogs," or hairy as +Newfoundlands. The famous Wilkes said only a half truth when he +backed himself, with an hour s start, against the handsomest man +in England; his uncommon and remarkable ugliness (he was, as the +Italians say, un bel brutto) was the highest recommendation in +the eyes of very beautiful women. + +[FN#125] Every Moslem burial-ground has a place of the kind where +honourable women may sit and weep unseen by the multitude. These +visits are enjoined by the Apostle:--Frequent the cemetery, +'twill make you think of futurity! Also:--Whoever visiteth the +graves of his parents (or one of them) every Friday, he shall be +written a pious son, even though he might have been in the world, +before that, a disobedient. (Pilgrimage, ii., 71.) The buildings +resemble our European "mortuary chapels." Said, Pasha of Egypt, +was kind enough to erect one on the island off Suez, for the "use +of English ladies who would like shelter whilst weeping and +wailing for their dead." But I never heard that any of the ladles +went there. + +[FN#126] Arab. "Ajal"=the period of life, the appointed time of +death: the word is of constant recurrence and is also applied to +sudden death. See Lane's Dictionary, s.v. + +[FN#127] "The dying Badawi to his tribe" (and lover) appears to +me highly pathetic. The wild people love to be buried upon hill +slopes whence they can look down upon the camp; and they still +call out the names of kinsmen and friends as they pass by the +grave-yards. A similar piece occurs in Wetzstein (p. 27, +"Reisebericht ueber Hauran," etc.):-- + + O bear with you my bones where the camel bears his load + And bury me before you, if buried I must be; + And let me not be burled 'neath the burden of the vine + But high upon the hill whence your sight I ever see! + As you pass along my grave cry aloud and name your names + The crying of your names shall revive the bones of me: + I have fasted through my life with my friends, and in my + death, I will feast when we meet, on that day of joy and + glee. + +[FN#128] The Akasirah (plur. of Kasra=Chosroes) 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 +Kayanian (Medes and Persians) who ended with the Alexandrian +invasion in B. C. 331. 3. The Ashkanian (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? Chosroes?), +and yet the three seem to have combined in "Caesar," Kaysar and +Czar. For details especially connected with Zoroaster see vol. I, +p. 380 of the Dabistan or School of Manners, translated by David +Shea and Anthony Troyer, Paris, 1843. The book is most valuable, +but the proper names are so carelessly and incorrectly printed +that the student is led into perpetual error. + +[FN#129] The words are the very lowest and coarsest; but the +scene is true to Arab life. + +[FN#130] Arab."Hayhat:" the word, written in a variety of ways is +onomatopoetic, like our "heigh-ho!" it sometimes means "far from +me (or you) be it!" but in popular usage it is simply "Alas." + +[FN#131] Lane (i., 134) finds a date for the book in this +passage. The Soldan of Egypt, Mohammed ibn Kala'un, 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 (chaps. ix.) describes +it in A. D. 1322 when it had become the rule. And it still +endures; although abolished in the cities it is the rule for +Christians, at least in the country parts of Egypt and Syria. I +may here remark that such detached passages as these are +absolutely useless for chronology: they may be simply the +additions of editors or mere copyists. + +[FN#132] The ancient "Mustapha" = the Chosen (prophet, i. e. +Mohammed), also titled Al-Mujtaba, the Accepted (Pilgrimage, ii., +309). "Murtaza"=the Elect, i.e. the Caliph Ali is the older +"Mortada" or "Mortadi" of Ockley and his day, meaning "one +pleasing to (or acceptable to) Allah." Still older writers +corrupted it to "Mortis Ali" and readers supposed this to be the +Caliph's name. + +[FN#133] The gleam (zodiacal light) preceding the true dawn; the +Persians call the former Subh-i-kazib (false or lying dawn) +opposed to Subh-i-sadik (true dawn) and suppose that it is caused +by the sun shining through a hole in the world- encircling Mount +Kaf. + +[FN#134] So the Heb. "Arun" = naked, means wearing the lower robe +only; = our "in his shirt." + +[FN#135] Here we have the vulgar Egyptian colloquialism "Aysh" +(--Ayyu shayyin) for the classical "Ma" = what. + +[FN#136] "In the name of Allah!" here said before taking action. + +[FN#137] Arab. "Mamluk" (plur. Mamalik) lit. a chattel; and in +The Nights a white slave trained to arms. The "Mameluke Beys" of +Egypt were locally called the "Ghuzz," I use the convenient word +in its old popular sense; + + 'Tis sung, there's a valiant Mameluke + In foreign lands ycleped (Sir Luke)- + HUDIBRAS. + +And hence, probably, Moliere's "Mamamouchi"; and the modern +French use "Mamalue." See Savary's Letters, No. xl. + +[FN#138] The name of this celebrated succesor of Nineveh, where +some suppose The Nights were written, is orig. (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 Babylonis. +Hence our "muslin." + +[FN#139] This is Mr. Thackeray's "nose-bag." I translate by +"walking-shoes" the Arab "Khuff" which are a manner of loose boot +covering the ankle; they are not usually embroidered, the +ornament being reserved for the inner shoe. + +[FN#140] i.e. Syria (says Abulfeda) the "land on the left" (of +one facing the east) as opposed to Al-Yaman the "land on the +right." Osmani would mean Turkish, Ottoman. When Bernard the Wise +(Bohn, p. 24) speaks of "Bagada and Axiam" (Mabillon's text) or +"Axinarri" (still worse), he means Baghdad and Ash-Sham (Syria, +Damascus), the latter word puzzling his Editor. Richardson +(Dissert, lxxii.) seems to support a hideous attempt to derive +Sham from Shamat, a mole or wart, because the country is studded +with hillocks! Al-Sham is often applied to Damascus-city whose +proper name Dimishk belongs to books: this term is generally +derived from Damashik b. Kali b. Malik b. Sham (Shem). Lee (Ibn +Batutah, 29) denies that ha-Dimishki means "Eliezer of Damascus." + +[FN#141] From Oman = Eastern Arabia. + +[FN#142] Arab. "Tamar Hanna" 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 Enland. 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 "As" being supposed to +flavour wine and especially Raki (raw brandy). + +[FN#143] Lane. (i. 211) pleasantly remarks, "A list of these +sweets is given in my original, but I have thought it better to +omit the names" (!) Dozy does not shirk his duty, but he is not +much more satisfactory in explaining words interesting to +students because they are unfound in dictionaries and forgotten +by the people. "Akras (cakes) Laymuniyah (of limes) wa +Maymuniyah" appears in the Bresl. Edit. as "Ma'amuniyah" which +may mean "Ma'amun's cakes" or "delectable cakes." "Amshat" = +(combs) perhaps refers to a fine kind of Kunafah (vermicelli) +known in Egypt and Syria as "Ghazl al-banat" = girl's spinning. + +[FN#144] The new moon carefully looked for by all Moslems because +it begins the Ramazan-fast. + +[FN#145] Solomon's signet ring has before been noticed. + +[FN#146] The "high-bosomed" damsel, with breasts firm as a cube, +is a favourite with Arab tale tellers. Fanno baruffa is the +Italian term for hard breasts pointing outwards. + +[FN#147] A large hollow navel is looked upon not only as a +beauty, but in children it is held a promise of good growth. + +[FN#148] Arab. "Ka'ah," a high hall opening upon the central +court: we shall find the word used for a mansion, barrack, men's +quarters, etc. + +[FN#149] Babel = Gate of God (El), or Gate of Ilu (P. N. of God), +which the Jews ironically interpreted "Confusion." The tradition +of Babylonia being the very centre of witchcraft and enchantment +by means of its Seven Deadly Spirits, has survived in Al-Islam; +the two fallen angels (whose names will occur) being confined in +a well; Nimrod attempting to reach Heaven from the Tower in a +magical car drawn by monstrous birds and so forth. See p. 114, +Francois Fenormant's "Chaldean Magic," London, Bagsters. + +[FN#150] Arab. "Kamat Alfiyyah" = like the letter Alif, a +straight perpendicular stroke. In the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the +origin of every alphabet (not syllabarium) known to man, one form +was a flag or leaf of water-plant standing upright. Hence +probably the Arabic Alif-shape; while other nations preferred +other modifications of the letter (ox's head, etc), which in +Egyptian number some thirty-six varieties, simple and compound. + +[FN#151] I have not attempted to order this marvellous confusion of +metaphors so characteristic of The Nights and the exigencies of Al- +Saj'a = rhymed prose. + +[FN#152] Here and elsewhere I omit the "kala (dice Turpino)" of the +original: Torrens preserves "Thus goes the tale" (which it only +interrupts). This is simply letter-wise and sense-foolish. + +[FN#153] Of this worthy more at a future time. + +[FN#154] i.e., sealed with the Kazi or legal authority's seal of +office. + +[FN#155] "Nothing for nothing" is a fixed idea with the Eastern +woman: not so much for greed as for a sexual point d' honneur when +dealing with the adversary--man. + +[FN#156] She drinks first, the custom of the universal East, to +show that the wine she had bought was unpoisoned. Easterns, who +utterly ignore the "social glass" of Western civilisation drink +honestly to get drunk; and, when far gone are addicted to horse- +play (in Pers. "Badmasti" = le vin mauvais) which leads to quarrels +and bloodshed. Hence it is held highly irreverent to assert of +patriarchs, prophets and saints that they "drank wine;" and Moslems +agree with our "Teatotallers" in denying that, except in the case +of Noah, inebriatives are anywhere mentioned in Holy Writ. + +[FN#157] Arab. "Hur 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. ("Huriyah") in Arab, although +accepted in Persian, a genderless speach. + +[FN#158] Arab. "Zambur," whose head is amputated in female +circumcision. See Night cccclxxiv. + +[FN#159] Ocymum basilicum noticed in Introduction, the bassilico of +Boccaccio iv. 5. The Book of Kalilah and Dimnah represents it as +"sprouting with something also whose smell is foul and disgusting +and the sower at once sets to gather it and burn it with fire." +(The Fables of Bidpai translated from the later Syriac version by +I. G. N. Keith-Falconer, etc., etc., etc., Cambridge University +Press, 1885). Here, however, Habk is a pennyroyal (mentha +puligium), and probably alludes to the pecten. + +[FN#160] i. e. common property for all to beat. + +[FN#161] "A digit of the moon" is the Hindu equivalent. + +[FN#162] Better known to us as Caravanserai, the "Travellers' +Bungalow" of India: in the Khan, however, shelter is to be had, but +neither bed nor board. + +[FN#163] Arab. "Zubb." I would again note that this and its +synonyms are the equivalents of the Arabic, which is of the lowest. +The tale-teller's evident object is to accentuate the contrast with +the tragical stories to follow. + +[FN#164] "ln the name of Allah," is here a civil form of +dismissal. + +[FN#165] Lane (i. 124) is scandalised and naturally enough by this +scene, which is the only blot in an admirable tale admirably told. +Yet even here the grossness is but little more pronounced than what +we find in our old drama (e. g., Shakespeare's King Henry V.) +written for the stage, whereas tales like The Nights are not read +or recited before both sexes. Lastly "nothing follows all this +palming work:" in Europe the orgie would end very differently. +These "nuns of Theleme" are physically pure: their debauchery is of +the mind, not the body. Galland makes them five, including the two +doggesses. + +[FN#166] So Sir Francis Walsingham's "They which do that they +should not, should hear that they would not." + +[FN#167] The old "Calendar," pleasantly associated with that form +of almanac. The Mac. Edit. has Karandaliyah," a vile corruption, +like Ibn Batutah's "Karandar" and Torrens' "Kurundul:" so in +English we have the accepted vulgarism of "Kernel" for Colonel. The +Bull Edit. uses for synonym "Su'uluk"=an asker, a beggar. Of these +mendicant monks, for such they are, much like the Sarabaites of +mediaeval 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," chaps. viii. See also the +Dabistan (i. 136) where the good Kalandar exclaims:-- + + If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain! + But how sorely I feel for the poor broken thorn! + +D'Herbelot is right when he says that the Kalandar is not generally +approved by Moslems: he labours to win free from every form and +observance and he approaches the Malamati who conceals all his +good +deeds and boasts of his evil doings--our "Devil's hypocrite." + +[FN#168] The "Kalandar" disfigures himself in this manner to show +"mortification." + +[FN#169] Arab. "Gharib:" the porter is offended because the word +implies "poor devil;" esp. one out of his own country. + +[FN#170] A religious mendicant generally. + +[FN#171] Very scandalous to Moslem "respectability" Mohammed said +the house was accursed when the voices of women could be heard out +of doors. Moreover the neighbours have a right to interfere and +abate the scandal. + +[FN#172] I need hardly say that these are both historical +personages; they will often be mentioned, and Ja'afar will be +noticed in the Terminal Essay. + +[FN#173] Arab. "Same 'an wa ta'atan"; a popular phrase of assent +generally translated "to hear is to obey;" but this formula may be +and must be greatly varied. In places it means "Hearing (the word +of Allah) and obeying" (His prophet, viceregent, etc.) + +[FN#174] Arab. "Sawab"=reward in Heaven. This word for which we +have no equivalent has been naturalized in all tongues (e. g. +Hindostani) spoken by Moslems. + +[FN#175] Wine-drinking, at all times forbidden to Moslems, vitiates +the Pilgrimage rite: the Pilgrim is vowed to a strict observance of +the ceremonial law and many men date their "reformation" from the +"Hajj." Pilgrimage, iii., 126. + +[FN#176] Here some change has been necessary; as the original text +confuses the three "ladies." + +[FN#177] In Arab. the plural masc. is used by way of modesty when +a girl addresses her lover and for the same reason she speaks of +herself as a man. + +[FN#178] Arab. "Al-Na'im", in ful "Jannat-al-Na'im" = 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 {Greek Letters}, and meaning a chase, a hunting park. Writers +on this subject should bear in mind Mandeville's modesty, "Of +Paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not there." + +[FN#179] Arab. "Mikra'ah," the dried mid-rib of a date-frond used +for many purposes, especially the bastinado. + +[FN#180] According to Lane (i., 229) these and the immediately +following verses are from an ode by Ibn Sahl al-Ishbili. They are +in the Bull Edit. not the Mac. Edit. + +[FN#181] The original is full of conceits and plays on words which +are not easily rendered in English. + +[FN#182] Arab. "Tarjuman," same root as Chald. Targum ( = a +translation), the old "Truchman," and through the Ital. "tergomano" +our "Dragoman," here a messenger. + +[FN#183] Lit. the "person of the eyes," our "babe of the eyes," a +favourite poetical conceit in all tongues; much used by the +Elizabethans, but now neglected as a silly kind of conceit. See +Night ccix. + +[FN#184] Arab. "Sar" (Thar) the revenge-right recognised by law and +custom (Pilgrimage, iii., 69). + +[FN#185] That is "We all swim in the same boat." + +[FN#186] Ja'afar ever acts, on such occasions, the part of a wise +and sensible man compelled to join in a foolish frolic. He +contrasts strongly with the Caliph, a headstrong despot who will +not be gainsaid, whatever be the whim of the moment. But Easterns +would look upon this as a proof of his "kingliness." + +[FN#187] Arab. "Wa'l- Salam" (pronounced Was-Salam); meaning "and +here ends the matter." In our slang we say "All right, and the +child's name is Antony." + +[FN#188] This is a favourite jingle, the play being upon "ibrat" (a +needle-graver) and " 'ibrat" (an example, a warning). + +[FN#189] That is "make his bow," as the English peasant pulls his +forelock. Lane (i., 249) suggests, as an afterthought, that it +means:--"Recover thy senses; in allusion to a person's drawing his +hand over his head after sleep or a fit." But it occurs elsewhere +in the sense of "cut thy stick." + +[FN#190] This would be a separate building like our family tomb and +probably domed, resembling that mentioned in "The King of the Black +Islands." Europeans usually call it "a little Wali;" or, as they +write it, "Wely," the contained for the container; the "Santon" for +the "Santon's tomb." I have noticed this curious confusion (which +begins with Robinson, i. 322) in "Unexplored Syria," i. 161. + +[FN#191] Arab. "Wiswas," = diabolical temptation or suggestion. The +"Wiswasi" is a man with scruples (scrupulus, a pebble in the shoe), +e.g. one who fears that his ablutions were deficient, etc. + +[FN#192] Arab. "Katf" = pinioning by tying the arms behind the back +and shoulders (Kitf) a dire disgrace to free-born men. + +[FN#193] Arab. "Nafs."=Hebr. Nephesh (Nafash) =soul, life as +opposed to "Ruach"= spirit and breath. In these places it is +equivalent to "I said to myself." Another form of the root is +"Nafas," breath, with an idea of inspiration: so 'Sahib Nafas" +(=master of breath) is a minor saint who heals by expiration, a +matter familiar to mesmerists (Pilgrimage, i., 86). + +[FN#194] Arab. "Kaus al-Banduk;" the "pellet bow" of modern India; +with two strings joined by a bit of cloth which supports a ball of +dry clay or stone. It is chiefly used for birding. + +[FN#195] In the East blinding was a common practice, especially in +the case of junior princes not required as heirs. A deep +perpendicular incision was made down each corner of the eyes; the +lids were lifted and the balls removed by cutting the optic nerve +and the muscles. The later Caliphs blinded their victims by passing +a red-hot sword blade close to the orbit or a needle over the +eye-ball. About the same time in Europe the operation was performed +with a heated metal basin--the well known bacinare (used by +Ariosto), as happened to Pier delle Vigne (Petrus de Vinea), the +"godfather of modern Italian." + +[FN#196] Arab. "Khinzir" (by Europeans pronounced "Hanzir"), prop. +a wild-boar, but popularly used like our "you pig!" + +[FN#197] Striking with the shoe, the pipe-stick and similar +articles is highly insulting, because they are not made, like whips +and scourges, for such purpose. Here the East and the West differ +diametrically. "Wounds which are given by instruments which are in +one's hands by chance do not disgrace a man," says Cervantes (D. Q. +i., chaps. 15), and goes on to prove that if a Zapatero (cobbler) +cudgel another with his form or last, the latter must not consider +himself cudgelled. The reverse in the East where a blow of a pipe +stick cost Mahommed Ali Pasha's son his life: Ishmail Pasha was +burned to death by Malik Nimr, chief of Shendy (Pilgrimage, i., +203). Moreover, the actual wound is less considered in Moslem law +than the instrument which caused it: so sticks and stones are +venial weapons, whilst sword and dagger, gun and pistol are +felonious. See ibid. (i., 336) for a note upon the weapons with +which nations are policed. + +[FN#198] Incest is now abominable everywhere except amongst the +overcrowded poor of great and civilised cities. Yet such unions +were common and lawful amongst ancient and highly cultivated +peoples, as the Egyptians (Isis and Osiris), Assyrians and ancient +Persians. Physiologically they are injurious only when the parents +have constitutional defects: if both are sound, the issue, as +amongst the so-called "lower animals " is viable and healthy. + +[FN#199] Dwellers in the Northern Temperates can hardly imagine +what a dust-storm is in sun parched tropical lands. In Sind we were +often obliged to use candles at mid-day, while above the dust was +a sun that would roast an egg. + +[FN#200] Arab. " 'Urban," now always used of the wild people, whom +the French have taught us to call les Bedouins; "Badw" being a +waste or desert, and Badawi (fem. Badawiyah, plur. Badawi and +Bidwan), 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-Araba" (or al- Aribah, or +al-Urubiyat) 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 advenae 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 Adnan 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 "Akhdam" (=serviles) of +Oman (Maskat); and the "Ebna" 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, m., 31, etc.) + +[FN#201] Arab. "Amir al-Muuminin." The title was assumed by the +Caliph Omar to obviate the inconvenience of calling himself +"Khalifah" (successor) of the Khalifah 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 "Iman" (theory, +fundamental articles) as opposed to the "Din," ordinance or +practice of the religion. It once became a Wazirial time conferred +by Sultan Malikshah (King King- king) on his Nizam al-Murk. +(Richardson's Dissert. [viii.) + +[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 Katir, Ya'akub, Ibn Amir, Kisai, Asim and Hafs, the +latter being the favourite with the Hanafis and the only one now +generally known in Al-Islam. + +[FN#203] Arab. "Sadd"=wall, dyke, etc. the "bund" or "band" of +Anglo-India. Hence the "Sadd" on the Nile, the banks of grass and +floating islands which "wall" the stream. There are few sights more +appalling than a sandstorm in the desert, the "Zauba'ah" as the +Arabs call it. Devils, or pillars of sand, vertical and inclined, +measuring a thousand feet high, rush over the plain lashing the +sand at their base like a sea surging under a furious whirlwind; +shearing the grass clean away from the roots, tearing up trees, +which are whirled like leaves and sticks in air and sweeping away +tents and houses as if they were bits of paper. At last the columns +join at the top and form, perhaps three thousand feet above the +earth, a gigantic cloud of yellow sand which obliterates not only +the horizon but even the mid-day sun. These sand-spouts are the +terror of travellers. In Sind and the Punjab we have the dust- +storm which for darkness, I have said, beats the blackest London +fog. + +[FN#204] Arab. Sar = the vendetta, before mentioned, as dreaded in +Arabia as in Corsica. + +[FN#205] Arab. "Ghutah," usually a place where irrigation is +abundant. It especially applies (in books) to the Damascus-plain +because "it abounds with water and fruit trees." The Ghutah is one +of the four earthly paradises, the others being Basrah (Bassorah), +Shiraz and Samarcand. Its peculiarity is the likeness to a seaport +the Desert which rolls up almost to its doors being the sea and its +ships being the camels. The first Arab to whom we owe this +admirable term for the "Companion of Job" is "Tarafah" one of the +poets of the Suspended Poems: he likens (v. v. 3, 4) the camels +which bore away his beloved to ships sailing from Aduli. But "ships +of the desert" is doubtless a term of the highest antiquity. + +[FN#206] The exigencies of the "Saj'a," or rhymed prose, disjoint +this and many similar pas. sages. + +[FN#207] The "Ebony" Islands; Scott's "Isle of Ebene," i., 217. + +[FN#208] "Jarjaris" in the Bul. Edit. + +[FN#209] Arab. "Takbis." Many Easterns can hardly sleep without +this kneading of the muscles, this "rubbing" whose hygienic +properties England is now learning. + +[FN#210] The converse of the breast being broadened, the drooping, +"draggle-tail" gait compared with the head held high and the +chest inflated. + +[FN#211] This penalty is mentioned in the Koran (chaps. 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 (chaps. xx.) threatens to +crucify his magicians on palm-trees, and is held to be the first +crucifier. + +[FN#212] Arab. "'Ajami"=foreigner, esp. a Persian: the latter in +The Nights is mostly a villain. I must here remark that the +contemptible condition of Persians in Al-Hijaz (which I noted in +1852, Pilgrimage, i., 327) has completely changed. They are no +longer, "The slippers of All and hounds of Omar:" they have learned +the force of union and now, instead of being bullied, they bully. + +[FN#213] The Calc. Edit. turns into Tailors (Khayyatin) and +Torrens +does not see the misprint. + +[FN#214] i.e. Axe and sandals. + +[FN#215] Lit. "Strike his neck." + +[FN#216] A phrase which will frequently recur; meaning the +situation suggested such words a these. + +[FN#217] The smiter with the evil eye is called "A'in" and the +person smitten "Ma'im" or "Ma'un." + +[FN#218] Arab. "Sakiyah," 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" (Eccleslastes xii. 6) an accident often occurring to +the modern "Noria." Travellers mostly abuse its "dismal creaking" +and "mournful monotony": I have defended the music of the +water-wheel in Pilgrimage ii. 198. + +[FN#219] Arab. "Zikr" lit. remembering, mentioning (i. c. the names +of Allah), here refers to the meetings of religious for devotional +exercises; the "Zikkirs," as they are called, mostly standing or +sitting in a circle while they ejaculate the Holy Name. These +"rogations" are much affected by Darwayshes, or begging friars, +whom Europe politely divides Unto "dancing" and "howling"; and, on +one occasion, greatly to the scandal of certain Englaenderinns 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 Zikkits. It must not be supposed that they are uneducated men: +the better class, however, prefers more privacy. + +[FN#220] As they thought he had been there for prayer or penance. + +[FN#221] Arab. "Ziyarat," a visit to a pious person or place. + +[FN#222] This is a paternal salute in the East where they are +particular about the part kissed. A witty and not unusually gross +Persian book, called the "Al-Namah" because all questions begin +with "Al" (the Arab article) contains one "Al-Wajib al-busidan?" +(what best deserves bussing?) and the answer is "Kus-i-nau-pashm," +(a bobadilla with a young bush). + +[FN#223] A weight of 71-72 English grains in gold; here equivalent +to the diner. + +[FN#224] Compare the tale of The Three Crows in Gammer Grethel, +Evening ix. + +[FN#225] The comparison is peculiarly apposite; the earth seen from +above appears hollow with a raised rim. + +[FN#226] A hundred years old. + +[FN#227] "Bahr" in Arab. means sea, river, piece of water; hence +the adjective is needed. + +[FN#228] The Captain or Master of the ship (not the owner). In +Al-Yaman the word also means a "barber," in virtue of the root, +Rass, a head. + +[FN#229] The text has "in the character Ruka'i,"," or Rika'i,, the +correspondence-hand. + +[FN#230] A curved character supposed to be like the basil-leaf +(rayhan). Richardson calls it "Rohani." + +[FN#231] I need hardly say that Easterns use a reed, a Calamus +(Kalam applied only to the cut reed) for our quills and steel +pens. + +[FN#232] Famous for being inscribed on the Kiswah (cover) of +Mohammed's tomb; a large and more formal hand still used for +engrossing and for mural inscriptions. Only seventy two varieties +of it are known (Pilgrimage, ii., 82). + +[FN#233] The copying and transcribing hand which is either Arabi or +Ajami. A great discovery has been lately made which upsets all our +old ideas of Cufic, etc. Mr. Loeytved 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 Muramir ibn Murrah of Anbar in Irak, introduced into +Meccah by Bashar the Kindian, and perfected by Ibn Muklah +(Al-Wazir, ob. A. H. 328=940). We must now change all that. See +Catalogue of Oriental Caligraphs, etc., by G. P, Badger, London, +Whiteley, 1885. + +[FN#234] Capital and uncial letters; the hand in which the Ka'abah +veil is inscribed (Pilgrimage iii. 299, 300). + +[FN#235] A "Court hand" says Mr. Payne (i. 112): I know nothing of +it. Other hands are: the Ta'alik; 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' lik (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 Kirma is another cursive +character, mostly confined to the receipts and disbursements of the +Turkish treasury. The Divani, 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 Jali 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 +Tughrai is that of the Tughra, 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. Yakuti 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 Sulusi, Sulsi or Sulus +(Thuluth) character, the Sulus al-Khafif, etc. + +[FN#236] Arab. "Baghlah"; the male (Bagful) 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-Indice a "Buggalow." + +[FN#237] In Heb. ""Ben-Adam" is any man opp. to "Beni ish" +(Psalm iv. 3) =filii viri, not homines. + +[FN#238] This posture is terribly trying to European legs; and few +white men (unless brought up to it) can squat for any time on their +heels. The ``tailor-fashion," with crossed legs, is held to be free +and easy. + +[FN#239] Arab. "Kata"=Pterocles Alchata, the well-known sand-grouse +of the desert. It is very poor white flesh. + +[FN#240] Arab. "Khubz" which I do not translate "cake" or +``bread,'' as thee would suggest the idea of our loaf. The staff of +life in the East is a thin flat circle of dough baked in the oven +or on the griddle, and corresponding with the Scotch "scone," the +Spanish tortilla and the Australian "flap-jack." + +[FN#241] Arab. "Harisah," a favourite dish of wheat (or rice) +boiled and reduced to a paste with shredded meat, spices and +condiments. The "bangles" is a pretty girl eating with him. + +[FN#242] These lines are repeated with a difference in Night +cccxxx. They affect Rims cars, out of the way, heavy rhymes: e. g. +here Sakarij (plur. of Sakruj, platters, porringers); Tayahij +(plur. of Tayhuj, the smaller caccabis-partridge); Tabahij (Persian +Tabahjah, an me et or a stew of meat, onions, eggs, etc.) Ma'arij +("in stepped piles" like the pyramids Lane ii 495, renders "on the +stairs"); Makarij (plur. of Makraj, a small pot); Damalij (plur. of +dumluj, a bracelet, a bangle); Dayabij (brocades) and Tafarij +(openings, enjoyments). In Night cccxxx. we find also Sikabij +(plur. of Sikbaj, marinated meat elsewhere explained); Fararij +(plur. of farruj, a chicken, vulg. farkh) and Dakakij (plur. of Gr. +dakujah,, a small Jar). In the first line we have also (though not +a rhyme) Gharanik Gr. , a crane, preserved in Romaic. The +weeping and wailing are caused by the remembrance that all these +delicacies have been demolished like a Badawi camp. + +[FN#243] This is the vinum coctum, the boiled wine, still a +favourite in Southern Italy and Greece. + +[FN#244] Eastern topers delight in drinking at dawn: upon this +subject I shall have more to say in other Nights. + +[FN#245] Arab. "Adab," a crux to translators, meaning anything +between good education and good manners. In mod. Turk. "Edibiyyet" +(Adabiyat) = belles lettres and "Edebi' or "Edib" = a litterateur. + +[FN#246] The Caliph Al-Maamun, who was a bad player, used to say, +"I have the administration of the world and am equal to it, whereas +I am straitened in the ordering of a space of two spans by two +spans." The "board" was then "a square field of well-dressed +leather." + +[FN#247] The Rabbis (after Matth. xix. 12) count three kinds of +Eunuchs; (1) Seris chammah=of the sun, i.e. natural, (2) Seris +Adam=manufactured per homines; and (3) Seris Chammayim--of God +(i.e.. religious abstainer). Seris (castrated) or Abd (slave) is +the general Hebrew name. + +[FN#248] The "Lady of Beauty." + +[FN#249] "Kaf" has been noticed as the mountain which surrounds +earth as a ring does the finger:: it is popularly used like our Alp +and Alpine. The "circumambient Ocean" (Bahr al-muhit) is the +Homeric Ocean-stream. + +[FN#250] The pomegranate is probably chosen here because each fruit +is supposed to contain one seed from Eden-garden. Hence a host of +superstitions (Pilgrimage iii., 104) possibly connected with the +Chaldaic-Babylonian god Rimmon or Ramanu. Hence Persephone or +Ishtar tasted the "rich pomegranate's seed." Lenormant, loc. cit. +pp. 166, 182. + +[FN#251] i.e. for the love of God--a favourite Moslem phrase. + +[FN#252] Arab. "Bab," also meaning a chapter (of magic, of war, +etc.), corresponding with the Persian "Dar" as in Sad-dar, the +Hundred Doors. Here, however, it is figurative "I tried a new +mode." This scene is in the Mabinogion. + +[FN#253] I use this Irish term = crying for the dead, as English +wants the word for the praefica, 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, chaps. xcvii.) tears shed for the dead form a river in +hell, black and frigid. + +[FN#254] These lines are hardly translatable. Arab. "Sabr" means +"patience" as well as "aloes," hereby lending itself to a host of +puns and double entendres more or less vile. The aloe, according to +Burckhardt, is planted in graveyards as a lesson of patience: it is +also slung, like the dried crocodile, over house doors to prevent +evil spirits entering: "thus hung without earth and water," says +Lane (M.E., chaps. 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 Wak, the Creator. (Pilgrimage iii. 350.) + +[FN#255] Every city in the East has its specific title: this was +given to Baghdad either on account of its superior police or simply +because it was the Capital of the Caliphate. The Tigris was also +called the "River of Peace (or Security)." + +[FN#256] This is very characteristic: the passengers finding +themselves in difficulties at once take command. See in my +Pilgrimage (I. chaps. xi.) how we beat and otherwise maltreated the +Captain of the "Golden Wire." + +[FN#257] The fable is probably based on the currents which, as in +Eastern Africa, will carry a ship fifty miles a day out of her +course. We first find it in Ptolemy (vii. 2) whose Maniolai +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 (chaps. xxvii.) and the +"Magnetic Rock" in Mr Puttock's clever "Peter Wilkins." I presume +that the myth also arose from seeing craft built, as on the East +African Coast, without iron nails. We shall meet with the legend +again. The word Jabal ("Jebel" in Egypt) often occurs in these +pages. The Arabs apply it to any rising ground or heap of rocks; so +it is not always = our mountain. It has found its way to Europe +e. g. Gibraltar and Monte Gibello (or Mongibel in poetry) "Mt. Ethne +that men clepen Mounte Gybelle." Other special senses of Jabal +will occur. + +[FN#258] As we learn from the Nubian Geographer the Arabs in early +ages explored the Fortunate Islands (Jazirat al-Khalidat=Eternal +Isles), or Canaries, on one of which were reported a horse and +horseman in bronze with his spear pointing west. Ibn al-Ward) 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 Sharhabil, (or Sharabil or Sharahil) surnamed +Nashir al-Ni'am=scatterer of blessings, lost an army in attempting +the Western sands and set up a statue of copper upon whose breast +was inscribed in antique characters:-- + + There is no access behind me, + Nothing beyond, + (Saith) The Son of Sharabil. + +[FN#259] i.e. I exclaimed "Bismillah!" + +[FN#260] The lesser ablution of hands, face and feet; a kind of +"washing the points." More in Night ccccxl. + +[FN#261] Arab. "Ruka'tayn"; the number of these bows which are +followed by the prostrations distinguishes the five daily +prayers. + +[FN#262] The "Beth Kol" of the Hebrews; also called by the Moslems +"Hatif"; for which ask the Spiritualists. It is the Hindu "voice +divine" or "voice from heaven." + +[FN#263] These formulae are technically called Tasmiyah, Tahlil +(before noted) and Takbir: i.e. "testifying" is Tashhid. + +[FN#264] Arab. "Samn," (Pers. "Raughan" Hind. "Ghi") the "single +sauce" of the East; fresh butter set upon the fire, skimmed and +kept (for a century if required) in leather bottles and demijohns. +Then it becomes a hard black mass, considered a panacea for wounds +and diseases. It is very "filling": you say jocosely to an Eastern +threatened with a sudden inroad of guests, "Go, swamp thy rice with +Raughan." I once tried training, like a Hindu Pahlawan or athlete, +on Gur (raw sugar), milk and Ghi; and the result was being blinded +by bile before the week ended. + +[FN#265] These handsome youths are always described in the terms we +should apply to women. + +[FN#266] The Bull Edit. (i. 43) reads otherwise:--I found a garden +and a second and a third and so on till they numbered thirty and +nine; and, in each garden, I saw what praise will not express, of +trees and rills and fruits and treasures. At the end of the last I +sighted a door and said to myself, "What may be in this place?; +needs must I open it and look in!" I did so accordingly and saw a +courser ready saddled and bridled and picketed; so I loosed and +mounted him, and he flew with me like a bird till he set me down on +a terrace-roof; and, having landed me, he struck me a whisk with +his tail and put out mine eye and fled from me. Thereupon I +descended from the roof and found ten youths all blind of one eye +who, when they saw me exclaimed, "No welcome to thee, and no good +cheer!" I asked them, "Do ye admit me to your home and society?" +and they answered, "No, by Allah' thou shalt not live amongst us." +So I went forth with weeping eyes and grieving heart, but Allah had +written my safety on the Guarded Tablet so I reached Baghdad in +safety, etc. This is a fair specimen of how the work has been +curtailed in that issue. + +[FN#267] Arabs date pregnancy from the stopping of the menses, upon +which the foetus is supposed to feed. Kalilah wa Dimnah says, "The +child's navel adheres to that of his mother and thereby he sucks" +(i. 263). + +[FN#268] This is contrary to the commands of Al-Islam, Mohammed +expressly said "The Astrologers are liars, by the Lord of the +Ka'abah!"; and his saying is known to almost all Moslems, lettered +or unlettered. Yet, the further we go East (Indiawards) the more we +find these practices held in honour. Turning westwards we have: + + Iuridicis, Erebo, Fisco, fas vivere rapto: + Militibus, Medicis, Tortori occidere ludo est; + Mentiri Astronomis, Pictoribus atque Poetis. + +[FN#269] He does not perform the Wuzu or lesser ablution because he +neglects his dawn prayers. + +[FN#270] For this game see Lane (M. E. Chapt. xvii.) It is usually +played on a checked cloth not on a board like our draughts; and +Easterns are fond of eating, drinking and smoking between and even +during the games. Torrens (p. 142) translates "I made up some +dessert," confounding "Mankalah" with "Nukl" (dried fruit, +quatre-mendiants). + +[FN#271] Quoted from Mohammed whose saying has been given. + +[FN#272] We should say "the night of the thirty-ninth." + +[FN#273] The bath first taken after sickness. + +[FN#274] Arab. "Dikak" used by way of soap or rather to soften the +skin: the meal is usually of lupins, "Adas"="Revalenta Arabica," +which costs a penny in Egypt and half-a-crown in England. + +[FN#275] Arab. "Sukkar-nabat." During my day (1842-49) we had no +other sugar in the Bombay Presidency. + +[FN#276] This is one of the myriad Arab instances that the decrees +of "Anagke," Fate, Destiny, Weird, are inevitable. The situation is +highly dramatic; and indeed The Nights, as will appear in the +Terminal Essay, have already suggested a national drama. + +[FN#277] Having lately been moved by Ajib. + +[FN#278] Mr. Payne (i. 131) omits these lines which appear out of +place; but this mode of inappropriate quotation is a characteristic +of Eastern tales. + +[FN#279] Anglice "him." + +[FN#280] This march of the tribe is a lieu commun of Arab verse +e.g. the poet Labid's noble elegy on the "Deserted Camp." We shall +find scores of instances in The Nights. + +[FN#281] I have heard of such sands in the Desert east of Damascus +which can be crossed only on boards or camel furniture; and the +same is reported of the infamous Region "Al-Ahklaf" ("Unexplored +Syria"). + +[FN#282] Hence the Arab. saying "The bark of a dog and not the +gleam of a fire;" the tired traveller knows from the former that +the camp is near, whereas the latter shows from great distances. + +[FN#283] Dark blue is the colour of mourning in Egypt as it was of +the Roman Republic. The Persians hold that this tint was introduced +by Kay Kawus (B. C. 600) when mourning for his son Siyawush. 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 "Hidad") 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 stair. their +faces black or blacker. + +[FN#284] The older Roc, of which more in the Tale of Sindbad. +Meanwhile the reader curious about the Persian Simurgh (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 Huma (bird of Paradise) +Richardson lxix. We still lack details concerning the Ben or Bennu +(nycticorax) of Egypt which with the Article pi gave rise to the +Greek "phoenix." + +[FN#285] Probably the Haledj of Forskal (p. xcvi. Flor. AEgypt. +Arab.), "lignum tenax, durum, obscuri generic." The Bres. Edit. has +"akul"=teak wood, vulg. "Saj." + +[FN#286] The knocker ring is an invention well known to the +Romans. + +[FN#287] Arab. "Sadr"; the place of honour; hence the "Sudder +Adawlut" (Supreme Court) in the Anglo-Indian jargon. + +[FN#288] Arab. "Ahlan wa sahlan wa marhaba," the words still +popularly addressed to a guest. + +[FN#289] This may mean "liquid black eyes"; but also, as I have +noticed, that the lashes were long and thick enough to make the +eyelids appear as if Kohl-powder had been applied to the inner +rims. + +[FN#290] A slight parting between the two front incisors, the upper +only, is considered a beauty by Arabs; why it as hard to say except +for the racial love of variety. "Sugar" (Thug) in the text means, +primarily, the opening of the mouth, the gape: hence the front +teeth. + +[FN#291] i.e. makes me taste the bitterness of death, "bursting the +gall-bladder" (Mararah) being our "breaking the heart." + +[FN#292] Almost needless to say that forbidden doors and rooms form +a lieu-commun in Fairie: they are found in the Hindu Katha Sarit +Sagara and became familiar to our childhood by "Bluebeard." + +[FN#293] Lit. "apply Kohl to my eyes," even as Jezebel "painted her +face," in Heb. put her eyes in painting (2 Kings ix. 30). + +[FN#294] Arab. "Al-Barkuk," whence our older "Apricock." +Classically it is "Burkuk" and Pers. for Arab. "Mishrnish," and it +also denotes a small plum or damson. In Syria the side next the +sun" shows a glowing red flush. + +[FN#295] Arab. "Hazar" (in Persian, a thousand) = a kind of +mocking bird. + +[FN#296] Some Edits. make the doors number a hundred, but the +Princesses were forty and these coincidences, which seem to have +significance and have none save for Arab symmetromania, are +common in Arab stories. + +[FN#297] Arab. "Majur": hence possibly our "mazer," which is +popularly derived from Masarn, a maple. + +[FN#298] A compound scent of ambergris, musk and aloes. + +[FN#299] The ends of the bridle-reins forming the whip. + +[FN#300] The flying horse is Pegasus which is a Greek travesty of +an Egyptian myth developed India. + +[FN#301] The Bres. Edit. wrongly says "the seventh." + +[FN#302] Arab. "Sharmutah" (plur. Sharamit) 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 "Kadid." + +[FN#303] Arab. "Izar," the man's waistcloth opposed to the Rida 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., chaps. i.). The rich prefer a "Habarah" of black silk, +and the poor, when they have nothing else, use a bed-sheet. + +[FN#304] i.e. "My clears." + +[FN#305] Arab. "La tawakhizna:" lit. "do not chastise (or blame) +us;" the pop. expression for, "excuse (or pardon) us." + +[FN#306] Arab. "Maskhut," 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 Hauran and the Roman ruins in Northern Africa will readily +detect the bests upon which these stories are built. I shall return +to this subject in The City of Iram (Night cclxxvi.) and The City +of Brass (dlxvii.). + +[FN#307] A picturesque phrase enough to express a deserted site, a +spectacle familiar to the Nomades and always abounding in pathos to +the citizens. + +[FN#308] The olden "Harem" (or gynaeceum, Pers. Zenanah, Serraglio): +Harim is also used by synecdoche for the inmates; especially the +wife. + +[FN#309] The pearl is supposed in the East to lose 1% per ann. of +its splendour and value. + +[FN#310] Arab. "Fass," properly the bezel of a ring; also a gem cut +en cabochon and generally the contenant for the contenu. + +[FN#311] Arab. "Mihrab" = 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 Imam, artistes 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 Lunae, and Al-Medinah, "Mahdinah," = Moon of +religion. See Dabistan i., 49, etc. + + +[FN#312] Arab "Kursi," a stool of palm-fronds, etc., X-shaped (see +Lane's illustration, Nights i., 197), before which the reader sits. +Good Moslems will not hold the Holy Volume below the waist nor open +it except when ceremonially pure. Englishmen in the East should +remember this, for to neglect the "Adab al-Kuran" (respect due to +Holy Writ) gives great scandal. + +[FN#313] Mr. Payne (i. 148) quotes the German Zuckerpueppchen. + +[FN#314] The Persian poets have a thousand conceits in praise of +the "mole," (Khal or Shamah) for which Hafiz offered "Samarkand and +Bokhara" (they not being his, as his friends remarked). Another +"topic" is the flight of arrows shot by eyelashes. + +[FN#315] Arab. "Suha" a star in the Great Bear introduced only to +balance "wushat" = spies, enviers, enemies, whose "evil eye" it +will ward off. + +[FN#316] In Arab tales beauty is always "soft-sided," and a smooth +skin is valued in proportion to its rarity. + +[FN#317] The myrtle is the young hair upon the side face + +[FN#318] In other copies of these verses the fourth couplet swears +"by the scorpions of his brow" i.e. the accroche-caeurs, the +beau-catchers, bell-ropes or aggravators," as the B.P. calls them. +In couplet eight the poet alludes to his love's "Unsur," or element +his nature made up of the four classicals, and in the last couplet +he makes the nail paring refer to the moon not the sun. + +[FN#319] This is regular formula when speaking of Guebres. + +[FN#320] Arab. "Faraiz"; 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 "Wajib" to +those given twice over. Elsewhere scanty difference is made between +them. + +[FN#321] Arab. "Kufr" = rejecting the True Religion, i.e. Al-Islam, +such rejection being "Tughyan" or rebellion against the Lord. The +"terrible sound" is taken from the legend of the prophet Salih and +the proto-historic tribe of Thamud 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-columned +Iram." According to some, Salih, a mysterious Badawi prophet, is +buried in the Wady al-Shaykh of the so-called Sinaitic Peninsula. + +[FN#322] Yet they kept the semblance of man, showing that the idea +arose from the basaltic statues found in Hauranic ruins. Mohammed +in his various marches to Syria must have seen remnants of Greek +and Roman settlements; and as has been noticed "Sesostris" + +[FN#323] Arab. "Shuhada"; highly respected by Moslems as by other +religionists; although their principal if not only merit seems as +a rule to have been intense obstinacy and devotion to one idea for +which they were ready to sacrifice even life. The Martyrs-category +is extensive including those killed by falling walls; victims to +the plague, pleurisy and pregnancy, travellers drowned or otherwise +lost when journeying honestly, and chaste lovers who die of "broken +hearts" i.e. impaired digestion. Their souls are at once stowed +away in the crops of green birds where they remain till +Resurrection Day, "eating of the fruits and drinking of the streams +of Paradise," a place however, whose topography is wholly +uncertain. Thus the young Prince was rewarded with a manner of +anti-Purgatory, a preparatory heaven. + +[FN#324] Arab. "Su'uban:" the Badawin give the name to a variety of +serpents all held to be venomous; but m tales the word, like +"Tannin," expresses our "dragon" or "cockatrice." + +[FN#325] She was ashamed to see the lady doing servile duty by +rubbing her feet. This massage, which B. de la Brocquiere describes +in 1452 as "kneading and pinching," has already been noticed. The +French term is apparently derived from the Arab. "Mas-h." + +[FN#326] Alluding to the Most High Name, the hundredth name of God, +the Heb. Shem hamphorash, unknown save to a favoured few who by +using it perform all manner of miracles. + +[FN#327] i e. the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. + +[FN#328] i.e. Settled by the Koran. + +[FN#329] The uglier the old woman the better procuress she is +supposed to make. See the Santa Verdiana in Boccaccio v., 10. In +Arab. "Ajuz" (old woman) is highly insulting and if addressed to an +Egyptian, whatever be her age she will turn fiercely and resent it. +The polite term is Shaybah (Pilgrimage hi., 200). + +[FN#330] The four ages of woman, considered after Demosthenes in +her three-fold character, prostitute for pleasure, concubine for +service and wife for breeding. + +[FN#331] Arab. "Jila" (the Hindostani Julwa) = the displaying of +the bride before the bridegroom for the first time, in different +dresses, to the number of seven which are often borrowed for the +occasion. The happy man must pay a fee called "the tax of +face-unveiling" before he can see her features. Amongst Syrian +Christians he sometimes tries to lift the veil by a sharp movement +of the sword which is parried by the women present, and the blade +remains entangled in the cloth. At last he succeeds, the bride +sinks to the ground covering her face with her hands and the robes +of her friends: presently she is raised up, her veil is readjusted +and her face is left bare. + +[FN#332] Arab. "Isha"= the first watch of the night, twilight, +supper-time, supper. Moslems have borrowed the four watches of the +Romans from 6 (a.m. or p.m.) to 6, and ignore the three original +watches of the Jews, even, midnight and cockcrow (Sam. ii. 19, +Judges vii. 19, and Exodus xiv. 24). + +[FN#333] A popular Arab hyperbole. + +[FN#334] Arab. "Shakaik al-Nu'uman," lit. the fissures of Nu'uman, +the beautiful anemone, which a tyrannical King of Hirah, Nu'uman +Al-Munzir, a contemporary of Mohammed, attempted to monopolize. + +[FN#335] Arab. "Andam"=here the gum called dragon's blood; in other +places the dye-wood known as brazil. + +[FN#336] I need hardly say that in the East, where bells are +unused, clapping the hands summons the servants. In India men cry +"Quy hye" (Koi hai?) and in Brazil whistle "Pst!" after the fashion +of Spain and Portugal. + +[FN#337] The moles are here compared with pearls; a simile by no +means common or appropriate. + +[FN#338] A parody on the testification of Allah's Unity. + +[FN#339] Arab. "Simat" (prop. "Sumat"); the "dinner-table," +composed of a round wooden stool supporting a large metal tray, the +two being called "Sufrah" (or "Simat"): thus "Sufrah hazirah!" +means dinner is on the table. After the meal they are at once +removed. + +[FN#340] In the text "Dastur," the Persian word before noticed; +"Izn" would be the proper Arabic equivalent. + +[FN#341] In the Moslem East a young woman, single or married, is +not allowed to appear alone in the streets; and the police have a +right to arrest delinquents. As a preventive of intrigues the +precaution is excellent. During the Crimean war hundreds of +officers, English, French and Italian, became familiar with +Constantinople; and not a few flattered themselves on their success +with Turkish women. I do not believe that a single bona fide case +occurred: the "conquests" were all Greeks, Wallachians, Armenians +or Jewesses. + +[FN#342] Arab. "Azim": translators do not seem to know that this +word in The Nights often bears its Egyptian and slang sense, +somewhat equivalent to our "deuced" or "mighty" or "awfully +fine." + +[FN#343] This is a very serious thing amongst Moslems and +scrupulous men often make great sacrifices to avoid taking an +oath. + +[FN#344] We should say "into the noose." + +[FN#345] The man had fallen in love with her and determined to mark +her so that she might be his. + +[FN#346] Arab. "Dajlah," in which we find the Heb. Hid-dekel. + +[FN#347] Such an execution would be contrary to Moslem law: but +people would look leniently upon the peccadillo of beheading or +sacking a faithless wife. Moreover the youth was of the blood royal +and A quoi bon etre prince? as was said by a boy of viceroyal +family in Egypt to his tutor who reproached him for unnecessarily +shooting down a poor old man. + +[FN#348] Arab. "Shirk," partnership, evening or associating gods +with God; polytheism: especially levelled at the Hindu triadism, +Guebre dualism and Christian Trinitarianism. + +[FN#349] Arab. "Shatm"--abuse, generally couched in foulest +language with especial reference to the privy parts of female +relatives. + +[FN#350] When a woman is bastinadoed in the East they leave her +some portion of dress and pour over her sundry buckets of water for +a delicate consideration. When the hands are beaten they are passed +through holes in the curtain separating the sufferer from mankind, +and made fast to a "falakah" or pole. + +[FN#351] Arab. "Khalifah," Caliph. The word is also used for the +successor of a Santon or holy man. + +[FN#352] Arab. "Sar," here the Koranic word for carrying out the +venerable and undying lex talionis the original basis of all +criminal jurisprudence. Its main fault is that justice repeats the +offence. + +[FN#353] Both these sons of Harun became Caliphs, as we shall see +in The Nights. + +[FN#354] "Dog" and "hog" are still highly popular terms of abuse. +The Rabbis will not defile their lips with "pig;" but say "Dabhar +akhir"="another thing." + +[FN#355] The "hero eponymus" of the Abbaside dynasty, Abbas having +been the brother of Abdullah the father of Mohammed. He is a famous +personage in AI-Islam (D'Herbelot). + +[FN#356] Europe translates the word "Barmecides. It is Persian from +bar (up) and makidan (to suck). The vulgar legend is that Ja'afar, +the first of the name, appeared before the Caliph Abd al-Malik with +a ring poisoned for his own need; and that the Caliph, warned of it +by the clapping of two stones which he wore ad hoc, charged the +visitor with intention to murder him. He excused himself and in his +speech occurred the Persian word "Barmakam," which may mean "I +shall sup it up," or "I am a Barmak," that is, a high priest among +the Guebres. See D'Herbelot s.v. + +[FN#357] Arab."Zulm," the deadliest of monarch's sins. One of the +sayings of Mohammed, popularly quoted, is, "Kingdom endureth with +Kufr or infidelity (i. e. without accepting AI-Islam) but endureth +not with Zulm or injustice." Hence the good Moslem will not +complain of the rule of Kafirs or Unbelievers, like the English, so +long as they rule him righteously and according to his own law.] + +[FN#358] All this aggravates his crime: had she been a widow she +would not have had upon him "the claims of maidenhead," the premio +della verginita of Boccaccio, x. 10. + +[FN#359] It is supposed that slaves cannot help telling these fatal +lies. Arab story-books are full of ancient and modern instances and +some have become "Joe Millers." Moreover it is held unworthy of a +free-born man to take over-notice of these servile villanies; hence +the scoundrel in the story escapes unpunished. I have already +noticed the predilection of debauched women for these "skunks of +the human race;" and the young man in the text evidently suspected +that his wife had passed herself this "little caprice." The excuse +which the Caliph would find for him is the pundonor shown in +killing one he loved so fondly. + +[FN#360] The Arab equivalent of our pitcher and well. + +[FN#361] i.e. Where the dress sits loosely about the bust. + +[FN#362] He had trusted in Allah and his trust was justified. + +[FN#363] Arab. "Khila'ah" prop. What a man strips from his +person: gen. An honorary gift. It is something more than the +"robe of honour" of our chivalrous romances, as it includes a +horse, a sword (often gold-hilted), a black turban (amongst the +Abbasides) embroidered with gold, a violet-mantle, a waist-shawl +and a gold neck-chain and shoe-buckles. + +[FN#364] Arab. "Iza," i.e. the visits of condolence and so forth +which are long and terribly wearisome in the Moslem East. + +[FN#365] Arab. "Mahr," the money settled by the man before +marriage on the woman and without which the contract is not +valid. Usually half of it is paid down on the marriage-day and +the other half when the husband dies or divorces his wife. But if +she take a divorce she forfeits her right to it, and obscene +fellows, especially Persians, often compel her to demand divorce +by unnatural and preposterous use of her person. + +[FN#366] Bismillah here means "Thou art welcome to it." + +[FN#367] Arab. "Bassak," half Pers. (bas = enough) and--ak = +thou; for thee. "Bas" sounds like our "buss" (to kiss) and there +are sundry good old Anglo-Indian jokes of feminine mistakes on +the subject. + +[FN#368] This saving clause makes the threat worse. The scene +between the two brothers is written with characteristic Arab +humour; and it is true to nature. In England we have heard of a +man who separated from his wife because he wished to dine at six +and she preferred half-past six. + +[FN#369] Arab. "Misr." (vulg. Masr). The word, which comes of a +very ancient house, was applied to the present capital about the +time of its conquest by the Osmanli Turks A.H. 923 = 1517. + +[FN#370] The Arab. "Jizah," = skirt, edge; the modern village is +the site of an ancient Egyptian city, as the "Ghizah inscription" +proves (Brugsch, History of Egypt, ii. 415) + +[FN#371] Arab. "Watan" literally meaning "birth-place" but also +used for "patria, native country"; thus "Hubb al-Watan" = +patriotism. The Turks pronounce it "Vatan," which the French have +turned it into Va-t'en! + +[FN#372] Arab. "Zarzariyah" = the colour of a stare or starling +(Zurzur). + +[FN#373] Now a Railway Station on the Alexandria-Cairo line. + +[FN#374] Even as late as 1852, when I first saw Cairo, the city +was girt by waste lands and the climate was excellent. Now +cultivation comes up to the house walls; while the Mahmudiyah +Canal, the planting the streets with avenues and over-watering +have seriously injured it; those who want the air of former Cairo +must go to Thebes. Gout, rheumatism and hydrophobia (before +unknown) have become common of late years. + +[FN#375] This is the popular pronunciation: Yakut calls it +"Bilbis." + +[FN#376] An outlying village on the "Long Desert," between Cairo +and Palestine. + +[FN#377] Arab. "Al-Kuds" = holiness. There are few cities which +in our day have less claim to this title than Jerusalem; and, +curious to say, the "Holy Land" shows Jews, Christians and +Moslems all in their worst form. The only religion (if it can be +called one) which produces men in Syria is the Druse. "Heiligen- +landes Jueden" are proverbial and nothing can be meaner than the +Christians while the Moslems are famed for treachery. + +[FN#378] Arab. "Shamm al-hawa." 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-Nasim" (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 "Khammasin" or "Mirisi" (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 "buri" = 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 +Egyptien, 2nd series, No. 4, Cairo, 1884. I have noticed the +Mirisi (south-wester) and other winds in the Land of Midian, i., +23. + +[FN#379] So in the days of the "Mameluke Beys" in Egypt a man of +rank would not cross the street on foot. + +[FN#380] Arab. Basrah. The city is now in decay and not to +flourish again till the advent of the Euphrates Valley R.R., is a +modern place, founded in A.H. 15, by the Caliph Omar upon the +Aylah, a feeder of the Tigris. Here, according to Al-Hariri, the +"whales and the lizards meet," and, as the tide affects the +river, + + Its stream shows prodigy, ebbing and flowing. + +In its far-famed market-place, Al-Marbad, poems used to be +recited; and the city was famous for its mosques and Saint- +shrines, fair women and school of Grammar which rivalled that of +Kufah. But already in Al-Hariri's day (nat. A.H. 446 = A.D. 1030) +Baghdad had drawn off much of its population. + +[FN#381] This fumigation (Bukhur) 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 County, the very +home of incense, both sexes fumigate the whole person after +carnal intercourse. Lane (Mod. Egypt, chapt. viii) gives an +illustration of the Mibkharah). + +[FN#382] The reader of The Nights will remark that the merchant +is often a merchant-prince, consorting and mating with the +highest dignitaries. Even amongst the Romans, a race of soldiers, +statesmen and lawyers, "mercatura" on a large scale was "not to +be vituperated." In Boccacio (x. 19) they are netti e delicati +uomini. England is perhaps the only country which has made her +fortune by trade, and much of it illicit trade, like that in +slaves which built Liverpool and Bristol, and which yet disdains +or affects to disdain the trader. But the unworthy prejudice is +disappearing with the last generation, and men who formerly would +have half starved as curates and ensigns, barristers and carabins +are now only too glad to become merchants. + +[FN#383] These lines in the Calc. And Bul. Edits. Have already +occurred (Night vii.) but such carelessness is characteristic +despite the proverb, "In repetition is no fruition." I quote +Torrens (p. 60) by way of variety. As regards the anemone (here +called a tulip) being named "Shakik" = fissure, I would +conjecture that it derives from the flower often forming long +lines of red like stripes of blood in the landscape. Travellers +in Syria always observe this. + +[FN#384] Such an address to a royalty (Eastern) even in the +present day, would be a passport to future favours. + +[FN#385] In England the man marries and the woman is married: +there is no such distinction in Arabia. + +[FN#386] "Sultan" (and its corruption "Soldan") etymologically +means lord, victorious, ruler, ruling over. In Arabia it is a not +uncommon proper name; and as a title it is taken by a host of +petty kinglets. The Abbaside Caliphs (as Al-Wasik who has been +noticed) formally created these Sultans as their regents. Al-Ta'i +bi'llah (regn. A.H. 363 = 974), invested the famous Sabuktagin +with the office; and as Alexander-Sikander 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 Mahmud of the Ghaznavite dynasty in A.H. 393 = +1002, was the first to adopt "Sultan" as an independent title +some two hundred years after the death of Harun al-Rashid. In old +writers we have the Soldan of Egypt, the Soudan of Persia, and +the Sowdan of Babylon; three modifications of one word. + +[FN#387] i.e. he was a "Hafiz," one who commits to memory the +whole of the Koran. It is a serious task and must be begun early. +I learnt by rote the last "Juzw" (or thirtieth part) and found +that quite enough. This is the vulgar use of "Hafiz": technically +and theologically it means the third order of Traditionists (the +total being five) who know by heart 300,000 traditions of the +Prophet with their ascriptions. A curious "spiritualist" book +calls itself "Hafed, Prince of Persia," proving by the very title +that the Spirits are equally ignorant of Arabic and Persian. + +[FN#388] Here again the Cairo Edit. repeats the six couplets +already given in Night xvii. I take them from Torrens (p. 163). + +[FN#389] This naive admiration of beauty in either sex +characterised our chivalrous times. Now it is mostly confined to +"professional beauties" or what is conventionally called the +"fair sex"; as if there could be any comparison between the +beauty of man and the beauty of woman, the Apollo Belvidere with +the Venus de Medici. + +[FN#390] Arab. "Shash" (in Pers. urine) a light turband generally +of muslin. + +[FN#391] This is a lieu commun of Eastern worldly wisdom. Quite +true! Very unadvisable to dive below the surface of one's +acquaintances, but such intimacy is like marriage of which +Johnson said, "Without it there is no pleasure in life." + +[FN#392] The lines are attributed to the famous Al-Mutanabbi = +the claimant to "Prophecy," of whom I have given a few details in +my Pilgrimage iii. 60, 62. He led the life of a true poet, +somewhat Chauvinistic withal; and, rather than run away, was +killed in A.H. 354 = 965. + +[FN#393] Arab. "Nabiz" = 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 (ferment from the fruit, not the Tadi, or juice of the +stem, our "toddy") is called Fazikh. Hence the Masjid al-Fazikh +at Al-Medinah where the Ansar or Auxiliaries of that city were +sitting cup in hand when they heard of the revelation forbidding +inebriants and poured the liquor upon the ground (Pilgrimage ii. +322). + +[FN#394] Arab. "Huda" = direction (to the right way), salvation, +a word occurring in the Opening Chapter of the Koran. Hence to a +Kafir who offers the Salam-salutation many Moslems reply "Allah- +yahdik" = Allah direct thee! (i.e. make thee a Moslem), instead +of Allah yusallimak = Allah lead thee to salvation. It is the +root word of the Mahdi and Mohdi. + +[FN#395] These lines have already occurred in The First +Kalandar's Story (Night xi.) I quote by way of change and with +permission Mr. Payne's version (i. 93). + +[FN#396] Arab. "Farajiyah," a long-sleeved robe worn by the +learned (Lane, M.E., chapt. i.). + +[FN#397] Arab. "Sarraf" (vulg. Sayrafi), whence the Anglo-Indian +"Shroff," a familiar corruption. + +[FN#398] Arab. "Yahudi" which is less polite than "Banu Israil" = +Children of Israel. So in Christendom "Israelite" when in favour +and "Jew" (with an adjective or a participle) when nothing is +wanted of him. + +[FN#399] Also called "Ghilman" = 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 +Pallie a hint that the use of boys, like that of wine, here +forbidden, will be permitted in Paradise. + +[FN#400] Which, by the by, is the age of an oldish old maid in +Egypt. I much doubt puberty being there earlier than in England +where our grandmothers married at fourteen. But Orientals are +aware that the period of especial feminine devilry is between the +first menstruation and twenty when, according to some, every girl +is a "possible murderess." So they wisely marry her and get rid +of what is called the "lump of grief," the "domestic calamity"--a +daughter. Amongst them we never hear of the abominable egotism +and cruelty of the English mother, who disappoints her daughter's +womanly cravings in order to keep her at home for her own +comfort; and an "old maid" in the house, especially a stout, +plump old maid, is considered not "respectable." The ancient +virgin is known by being lean and scraggy; and perhaps this +diagnosis is correct. + +[FN#401] This prognostication of destiny by the stars and a host +of follies that end in -mancy is an intricate and extensive +subject. Those who would study it are referred to chapt. xiv. of +the "Qanoon-e-Islam, or the Customs of the Mussulmans of India; +etc., etc., by Jaffur Shurreeff and translated by G. A. Herklots, +M. D. of Madras." This excellent work first appeared in 1832 +(Allen and Co., London) and thus it showed the way to Lane's +"Modern Egyptians" (1833-35). The name was unfortunate as +"Kuzzilbash" (which rhymed to guzzle and hash), and kept the book +back till a second edition appeared in 1863 (Madras: J. +Higginbotham). + +[FN#402] Arab. "Barid," lit. cold: metaph. vain, foolish, +insipid. + +[FN#403] Not to "spite thee" but "in spite of thee." The phrase +is still used by high and low. + +[FN#404] Arab. "Ahdab," the common hunchback; in classical +language the Gobbo in the text would be termed "Ak'as" from +"Ka'as," one with protruding back and breast; sometimes used for +hollow back and protruding breast. + +[FN#405] This is the custom with such gentry, who, when they see +a likely man sitting, are allowed by custom to ride astraddle +upon his knees with most suggestive movements, till he buys them +off. These Ghawazi are mostly Gypsies who pretend to be Moslems; +and they have been confused with the Almahs or Moslem dancing- +girls proper (Awalim, plur. of Alimah, a learned feminine) by a +host of travellers. They call themselves Baramikah or Barmecides +only to affect Persian origin. Under native rule they were +perpetually being banished from and returning to Cairo +(Pilgrimage i., 202). Lane (M.E., chapts. xviii. and xix.) +discusses the subject, and would derive Al'mah, often so +pronounced, from Heb. Almah, girl, virgin, singing-girl, hence he +would translate Al-Alamoth shir (Psalm xlvi.) and Nebalim al- +alamoth (I. Chron., xv. 20) by a "song for singing-girls" and +"harps for singing-girls." He quotes also St. Jerome as authority +that Alma in Punic (Phoenician) signified a virgin, not a common +article, I may observe, amongst singing-girls. I shall notice in +a future page Burckhardt's description of the Ghawazi, p. 173, +"Arabic Proverbs;" etc., etc. Second Edition. London: Quaritch, +1875. + +[FN#406] I need hardly describe the tarbush, a corruption of the +Per. "Sar-push" (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 by scalp- +perspiration by an "Arakiyah" (Pers. Arak-chin) a white skull- +cap. Now it is worn without either and as a head-dress nothing +can be worse (Pilgrimage ii. 275). + +[FN#407] Arab. "Tar.": the custom still prevails. Lane (M.E., +chapt. xviii.) describes and figures this hoop-drum. + +[FN#408] The couch on which she sits while being displayed. It is +her throne, for she is the Queen of the occasion, with all the +Majesty of Virginity. + +[FN#409] This is a solemn "chaff;" such liberties being permitted +at weddings and festive occasions. + +[FN#410] The pre-Islamitic 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'a, 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 Himvarland = the Great or the Chief. + +[FN#411] Lane and Payne (as well as the Bres. Edit.) both render +the word "to kiss her," but this would be clean contrary to +Moslem usage. + +[FN#412] i.e. he was full of rage which he concealed. + +[FN#413] The Hindus (as the Katha shows) compare this swimming +gait with an elephant's roll. + +[FN#414] Arab. "Fitnah," a word almost as troublesome as "Adab." +Primarily, revolt, seduction, mischief: then a beautiful girl (or +boy), and lastly a certain aphrodisiac perfume extracted from +mimosa-flowers (Pilgrimage i., 118). + +[FN#415] Lit. burst the "gall-bladder:" In this and in the +"liver" allusions I dare not be baldly literal. + +[FN#416] Arab. "Usfur" the seeds of Carthamus tinctorius = +Safflower (Forskal, Flora, etc. lv.). The seeds are crushed for +oil and the flowers, which must be gathered by virgins or the +colour will fail, are extensively used for dying in Southern +Arabia and Eastern Africa. + +[FN#417] On such occasions Miss Modesty shuts her eye and looks +as if about to faint. + +[FN#418] After either evacuation the Moslem is bound to wash or +sand the part; first however he should apply three pebbles, or +potsherds or clods of earth. Hence the allusion in the Koran +(chapt. ix), "men who love to be purified." When the Prophet was +questioning the men of Kuba, where he founded a mosque +(Pilgrimage ii., 215), he asked them about their legal ablutions, +especially after evacuation; and they told him that they used +three stones before washing. Moslems and Hindus (who prefer water +mixed with earth) abhor the unclean and unhealthy use of paper +without ablution; and the people of India call European draught- +houses, by way of opprobrium, "Kaghaz-khanah" = paper closets. +Most old Anglo-Indians, however, learn to use water. + +[FN#419] "Miao" or "Mau" is the generic name of the cat in the +Egyptian of the hieroglyphs. + +[FN#420] Arab. "Ya Mah'um" addressed to an evil spirit. + +[FN#421] "Heehaw!" as we should say. The Bresl. Edit. makes the +cat cry "Nauh! Nauh!" and the ass-colt "Manu! Manu!" I leave +these onomatopoeics as they are in Arabic; they are curious, +showing the unity in variety of hearing inarticulate sounds. The +bird which is called "Whip poor Will" in the U.S. is known to the +Brazilians as "Joam corta pao" (John cut wood); so differently do +they hear the same notes. + +[FN#422] It is usually a slab of marble with a long slit in front +and a round hole behind. The text speaks of a Kursi (= stool); +but this is now unknown to native houses which have not adopted +European fashions. + +[FN#423] This again is chaff as she addresses the Hunchback. The +Bul. Edit. has "O Abu Shihab" (Father of the shooting-star = evil +spirit); the Bresl. Edit. "O son of a heap! O son of a +Something!" (al-afsh, a vulgarism). + +[FN#424] As the reader will see, Arab ideas of "fun" and +practical jokes are of the largest, putting the Hibernian to +utter rout, and comparing favourably with those recorded in Don +Quixote. + +[FN#425] Arab. "Sarawil" a corruption of the Pers. "Sharwal"; +popularly called "libas" 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 "libas," "sarwal" and +its variants the curious reader will consult Dr. Dozy's +"Dictionnaire Detaille des Noms des Vetements chez les Arabes," a +most valuable work. + +[FN#426] The turban out of respect is not put upon the ground +(Lane, M. E., chapt. i.). + +[FN#427] Arab. "Madfa" showing the modern date or the +modernization of the tale. In Lebid "Madafi" (plur. of Madfa') +means water-courses or leats. + +[FN#428] In Arab. the "he" is a "she;" and Habib ("friend") is +the Attic {Greek Letters}, a euphemism for lover. This will occur +throughout The Nights. So the Arabs use a phrase corresponding +with the Stoic {Greek Letters}, i.e. is wont, is fain. + +[FN#429] Part of the Azan, or call to prayer. + +[FN#430] Arab. "Shihab," these mentors being the flying shafts +shot at evil spirits who approach too near heaven. The idea +doubtless arose from the showers of August and November meteors +(The Perseides and Taurides) which suggest a battle raging in +upper air. Christendom also has its superstition concerning these +and called those of August the "fiery tears of Saint Lawrence," +whose festival was on August 10. + +[FN#431] Arab. "Takiyah" = Pers. Arak-chin; the calotte worn +under the Fez. It is, I have said, now obsolete and the red +woollen cap (mostly made in Europe) is worn over the hair; an +unclean practice. + +[FN#432] Often the effect of cold air after a heated room. + +[FN#433] i.e. He was not a Eunuch, as the people guessed. + +[FN#434] In Arab. "this night" for the reason before given. + +[FN#435] Meaning especially the drink prepared of the young +leaves and florets of Cannabis Sativa. The word literally means +"day grass" or "herbage." This intoxicant was much used by +magicians to produce ecstasy and thus to "deify themselves and +receive the homage of the genii and spirits of nature." + +[FN#436] Torrens, being an Irishman, translates "and woke in the +morning sleeping at Damascus." + +[FN#437] Arab. "Labbayka," the cry technically called "Talbiyah" +and used by those entering Meccah (Pilgrimage iii. 125-232). I +shall also translate it by "Adsum." The full cry is:-- + + Here am I, O Allah, here am I! + No partner hast Thou, here am I: + Verily the praise and the grace and the kingdom are thine: + No partner hast Thou: here am I! + +A single Talbiyah is a "Shart" or positive condition: and its +repetition is a Sunnat or Custom of the Prophet. See Night xci. + +[FN#438] The staple abuse of the vulgar is curing parents and +relatives, especially feminine, with specific allusions to their +"shame." And when dames of high degree are angry, Nature, in the +East as in the West, sometimes speaks out clearly enough, despite +Mistress Chapone and all artificial restrictions. + +[FN#439] A great beauty in Arabia and the reverse in Denmark, +Germany and Slav-land, where it is a sign of being a were-wolf or +a vampire. In Greece also it denotes a "Brukolak" or vampire. + +[FN#440] This is not physiologically true: a bride rarely +conceives the first night, and certainly would not know that she +had conceived. Moreover the number of courses furnished by the +bridegroom would be against conception. It is popularly said that +a young couple often undoes in the morning what it has done +during the night. + +[FN#441] Torrens (Notes, xxiv.) quotes "Fleisher" upon the word +"Ghamghama" (Diss. Crit. De Glossis Habichtionis), which he +compares with "Dumbuma" 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 "Taghum"; not used +in modern days. In my Pilgrimage (i. 313) I have noticed another, +"Khyas', Khyas'!" occurring in a Hizb al-Bahr (Spell of the Sea). +Herklots gives a host of them; and their sole characteristics are +harshness and strangeness of sound, uniting consonants which are +not joined in Arabic. The old Egyptians and Chaldeans had many +such words composed at will for theurgic operations. + +[FN#442] This may mean either "it is of Mosul fashion" or, it is +of muslin. + +[FN#443] To the English reader these lines would appear the +reverse of apposite; but Orientals have their own ways of +application, and all allusions to Badawi partings are effective +and affecting. The civilised poets of Arab cities throw the charm +of the Desert over their verse by images borrowed from its +scenery, the dromedary, the mirage and the well as naturally as +certain of our bards who hated the country, babbled of purling +rills, etc. thoroughly to feel Arabic poetry one must know the +Desert (Pilgrimage iii., 63). + +[FN#444] In those days the Arabs and the Portuguese recorded +everything which struck them, as the Chinese and Japanese in our +times. And yet we complain of the amount of our modern writing! + +[FN#445] This is mentioned because it is the act preliminary to +naming the babe. + +[FN#446] Arab. "Kahramanat" from Kahraman, an old Persian hero +who conversed with the Simurgh-Griffon. Usually the word is +applied to women-at-arms who defend the Harem, like the Urdu- +begani of India, whose services were lately offered to England +(1885), or the "Amazons" of Dahome. + +[FN#447] Meaning he grew as fast in one day as other children in +a month. + +[FN#448] Arab. Al-Arif; the tutor, the assistant-master. + +[FN#449] Arab. "Ibn haram," a common term of abuse; and not a +factual reflection on the parent. I have heard a mother apply the +term to her own son. + +[FN#450] Arab. "Khanjar" from the Persian, a syn. with the Arab. +"Jambiyah." It is noted 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. Faenger, e.g. +Hirschfaenger. + +[FN#451] Again we have "Dastur" for Izn." + +[FN#452] Arab. "Iklim"; the seven climates of Ptolemy. + +[FN#453] Arab. "Al-Ghadir," lit. a place where water sinks, a +lowland: here the drainage-lakes east of Damascus into which the +Baradah (Abana?) discharges. The higher eastern plain is "Al- +Ghutah" before noticed. + +[FN#454] The "Plain of Pebbles" still so termed at Damascus; an +open space west of the city. + +[FN#455] Every Guide-book, even the Reverend Porter's "Murray," +gives a long account of this Christian Church 'verted to a +Mosque. + +[FN#456] Arab. "Nabut"; Pilgrimage i. 336. + +[FN#457] The Bres. Edit. says, "would have knocked him into Al- +Yaman," (Southern Arabia), something like our slang phrase "into +the middle of next week." + +[FN#458] Arab. "Khadim": lit. a servant, politely applied (like +Agha = master) to a castrato. These gentry wax furious if baldly +called "Tawashi" = Eunuch. A mauvais plaisant in Egypt used to +call me The Agha because a friend had placed his wife under my +charge. + +[FN#459] This sounds absurd enough in English, but Easterns +always put themselves first for respect. + +[FN#460] In Arabic the World is feminine. + +[FN#461] Arab. "Sahib" = 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- +himar" (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 "Sab." + +[FN#462] Arab. "Suwan," prop. Syenite, from Syene (Al-Suwan) but +applied to flint and any hard stone. + +[FN#463] It was famous in the middle ages, and even now it is, +perhaps, the most interesting to travellers after that "Sentina +Gentium," the "Bhendi Bazar" of unromantic Bombay. + +[FN#464] "The Gate of the Gardens," in the northern wall, a Roman +archway of the usual solid construction shaming not only our +modern shams, but our finest masonry. + +[FN#465] Arab. "Al-Asr," which may mean either the hour or the +prayer. It is also the moment at which the Guardian Angels +relieve each other (Sale's Koran, chapt. v.). + +[FN#466] Arab. "Ya haza" = O this (one)! a somewhat slighting +address equivalent to "Heus tu! O thou, whoever thou art." +Another form is "Ya hu" = O he! Can this have originated Swift's +"Yahoo"? + +[FN#467] Alluding to the {Greek Letters} ("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 Samran or bead- +bracelet from the arm of the beautiful Chistapa with member +erect, "thus evincing his manly strength and his command over +himself"(!) + +[FN#468] The River of Paradise, a lieu commun of poets (Koran, +chapt. cviii.): the water is whiter than milk or silver, sweeter +than honey, smoother than cream, more odorous than musk; its +banks are of chrysolite and it is drunk out of silver cups set +around it thick as stars. Two pipes conduct it to the Prophet's +Pond which is an exact square, one month's journey in compass. +Kausar is spirituous like wine; Salsabil sweet like clarified +honey; the Fount of Mildness is like milk and the Fount of Mercy +like liquid crystal. + +[FN#469] The Moslem does not use the European basin because water +which has touched an impure skin becomes impure. Hence it is +poured out from a ewer ("ibrik" Pers. Abriz) upon the hands and +falls into a basin ("tisht") with an open-worked cover. + +[FN#470] Arab. "Wahsh," a word of many meanings; nasty, insipid, +savage, etc. The offside of a horse is called Wahshi opposed to +Insi, the near side. The Amir Taymur ("Lord Iron") whom Europeans +unwittingly call after his Persian enemies' nickname, +"Tamerlane," i.e. Taymur-I-lang, or limping Taymur, is still +known as "Al-Wahsh" (the wild beast) at Damascus, where his +Tartars used to bury men up to their necks and play at bowls with +their heads for ninepins. + +[FN#471] For "grandson" as being more affectionate. Easterns have +not yet learned that clever Western saying:--The enemies of our +enemies are our friends. + +[FN#472] This was a simple bastinado on the back, not the more +ceremonious affair of beating the feet-soles. But it is +surprising what the Egyptians can bear; some of the rods used in +the time of the Mameluke Beys are nearly as thick as a man's +wrist. + +[FN#473] The woman-like spite of the eunuch intended to hurt the +grandmother's feelings. + +[FN#474] The usual Cairene "chaff." + +[FN#475] A necessary precaution against poison (Pilgrimage i. 84, +and iii. 43). + +[FN#476] The Bresl. Edit. (ii. 108) describes the scene at +greater length. + +[FN#477] The Bul. Edit. gives by mistake of diacritical points, +"Zabdaniyah:" Raydaniyah is or rather was a camping ground to the +North of Cairo. + +[FN#478] Arab. "La'abat" = a plaything, a puppet, a lay figure. +Lane (i. 326) conjectures that the cross is so called because it +resembles a man with arms extended. But Moslems never heard of +the fanciful ideas of mediaeval Christian divines who saw the +cross everywhere and in everything. The former hold that Pharaoh +invented the painful and ignominious punishment. (Koran, chapt. +vii.). + +[FN#479] Here good blood, driven to bay, speaks out boldly. But, +as a rule, the humblest and mildest Eastern when in despair turns +round upon his oppressors like a wild cat. Some of the criminals +whom Fath Ali Shah of Persia put to death by chopping down the +fork, beginning at the scrotum, abused his mother till the knife +reached their vitals and they could no longer speak. + +[FN#480] These repeated "laughs" prove the trouble of his spirit. +Noble Arabs "show their back-teeth" so rarely that their laughter +is held worthy of being recorded by their biographers. + +[FN#481] A popular phrase, derived from the Koranic "Truth is +come, and falsehood is vanished: for falsehood is of short +continuance" (chapt. xvii.). It is an equivalent of our +adaptation from 1 Esdras iv. 41, "Magna est veritas et +praevalebit." But the great question still remains, What is Truth? + +[FN#482] In Night lxxv. these lines will occur with variants. + +[FN#483] This is always mentioned: the nearer seat the higher the +honour. + +[FN#484] Alluding to the phrase "Al-safar zafar" = voyaging is +victory (Pilgrimage i., 127). + +[FN#485] Arab. "Habb;" alluding to the black drop in the human +heart which the Archangel Gabriel removed from Mohammed by +opening his breast. + +[FN#486] This phrase, I have said, often occurs: it alludes to +the horripilation (Arab. Kush'arirah), horror or gooseflesh +which, in Arab as in Hindu fables, is a symptom of great joy. So +Boccaccio's "pelo arriciato" v., 8: Germ. Gaensehaut. + +[FN#487] Arab. "Hasanta ya Hasan" = Bene detto, Benedetto! the +usual word-play vulgarly called "pun": Hasan (not Hassan, as we +will write it) meaning "beautiful." + +[FN#488] Arab. "Loghah" also = a vocabulary, a dictionary; the +Arabs had them by camel-loads. + +[FN#489] The seventh of the sixteen "Bahr" (metres) in Arabic +prosody; the easiest because allowing the most license and, +consequently, a favourite for didactic, homiletic and gnomic +themes. It means literally "agitated" and was originally applied +to the rude song of the Cameleer. De Sacy calls this doggrel "the +poet's ass" (Torrens, Notes xxvi.). It was the only metre in +which Mohammed the Apostle ever spoke: he was no poet (Koran +xxxvi., 69) but he occasionally recited a verse and recited it +wrongly (Dabistan iii., 212). In Persian prosody Rajaz is the +seventh of nineteen and has six distinct varieties (pp. 79-81), +"Gladwin's Dissertations on Rhetoric," etc. Calcutta, 1801). I +shall have more to say about it in the Terminal Essay. + +[FN#490] "Her stature tall--I hate a dumpy woman" (Don Juan). + +[FN#491] A worthy who was Kazi of Kufah (Cufa) in the seventh +century. Al-Najaf, generally entitled "Najaf al-Ashraf" (the +Venerand) is the place where Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, +lies or is supposed to lie buried, and has ever been a holy place +to the Shi'ahs. I am not certain whether to translate "Sa'alab" +by fox or jackal; the Arabs make scant distinction between them. +"Abu Hosayn" (Father of the Fortlet) is certainly the fox, and as +certainly "Sha'arhar" is the jackal from the Pehlevi Shagal or +Shaghal. + +[FN#492] Usually by all manner of extortions and robbery, +corruption and bribery, the ruler's motto being + + Fiat injustitia ruat Coelum. + +There is no more honest man than the Turkish peasant or the +private soldier; but the process of deterioration begins when he +is made a corporal and culminates in the Pasha. Moreover official +dishonesty is permitted by public opinion, because it belongs to +the condition of society. A man buys a place (as in England two +centuries ago) and retains it by presents to the heads of +offices. Consequently he must recoup himself in some way, and he +mostly does so by grinding the faces of the poor and by spoiling +the widow and the orphan. The radical cure is high pay; but that +phase of society refuses to afford it. + +[FN#493] Arab. "Malik" (King) and "Malak" (angel) the words being +written the same when lacking vowels and justifying the jingle. + +[FN #494] Arab. "Hurr"; the Latin "ingenuus," lit. freeborn; +metaph. noble as opp. to a slave who is not expected to do great +or good deeds. In pop. use it corresponds, like "Fata," with our +"gentleman." + +[FN#495] This is one of the best tales for humour and movement, +and Douce and Madden show what a rich crop of fabliaux, whose +leading incident was the disposal of a dead body, it produced. + +[FN#496] Other editions read, "at Bassorah" and the Bresl. (ii. +123) "at Bassorah and Kajkar" (Kashghar): somewhat like in Dover +and Sebastopol. I prefer China because further off and making the +improbabilities more notable. + +[FN#497] Arab. "Judri," lit. "small stones" from the hard +gravelly feeling of the pustules (Rodwell, p. 20). The disease is +generally supposed to be the growth of Central Africa where it is +still a plague and passed over to Arabia about the birth-time of +Mohammed. Thus is usually explained the "war of the elephant" +(Koran, chaps. cv.) when the Abyssinian army of Abrahah, the +Christian, was destroyed by swallows (Ababil 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-Hijaz 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 "Sitla" (small-pox) a goddess, an +incarnation of Bhawani, deess of destruction-reproduction. In +China small-pox is believed to date from B.C. 1200; but the +chronology of the Middle Kingdom still awaits the sceptic. + +[FN#498] In Europe we should add "and all fled, especially the +women." But the fatalism inherent in the Eastern mind makes the +great difference. + +[FN#499] Arab. "Uzayr." Esdras was a manner of Ripp van Winkle. +He was riding over the ruins of Jerusalem when it had been +destroyed by the Chaldeans and he doubted by what means Allah +would restore it; whereupon he died and at the end of a hundred +years he revived. He found his basket of figs and cruse of wine +as they were; but of his ass only the bones remained. These were +raised to life as Ezra looked on and the ass began at once to +bray. Which was a lesson to Esdras. (Koran, chaps. ii.) The oath +by the ass's hoofs is to ridicule the Jew. Mohammed seems to have +had an idee fixe that "the Jews say, Ezra is the son of God" +(Koran ix.); it may have arisen from the heterodox Jewish belief +that Ezra, when the Law was utterly lost, dictated the whole anew +to the scribes of his own memory. His tomb with the huge green +dome is still visited by the Jews of Baghdad. + +[FN#500] Arab. "Badhanj," the Pers. Bad. (wind) -gir (catcher): a +wooden pent-house on the terrace-roof universal in the nearer +East. + +[FN#501] The hunchback, in Arabia as in Southern Europe, is +looked upon by the vulgar with fear and aversion. The reason is +that he is usually sharper-witted than his neighbours. + +[FN#502]Arab. "Ya Sattar" = Thou who veilest the discreditable +secrets of Thy creatures. + +[FN#503] Arab. "Nasrani," 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 +Nasrani, Kalb awani!"=O Nazarene! O dog obscene! (Pilgrimage i., +160).). "Christian" in Arabic can be expressed only by "Masihi" = +follower of the Messiah. + +[FN#504] Arab. "Tasbih," = Saluting in the Subh (morning). + +[FN#505] In the East women stand on minor occasions while men +squat on their hunkers in a way hardly possible to an untrained +European. The custom is old. Herodotus (ii., 35) says, "The women +stand up when they make water, but the men sit down." Will it be +believed that Canon Rawlinson was too modest to leave this +passage in his translation? The custom was perpetuated by +Al-Islam because the position prevents the ejection touching the +clothes and making them ceremonially impure; possibly they +borrowed it from the Guebres. Dabistan, Gate xvi. says, "It is +improper, whilst in an erect posture, to make water, it is +therefore necessary to sit at squat and force it to some +distance, repeating the Avesta mentally." + +[FN#506] This is still a popular form of the "Kinchin lay," and +as the turbands are often of fine stuff, the petite industrie +pays well. + +[FN#507]Arab. "Wali" =Governor; the term still in use for the +Governor General of a Province as opposed to the "Muhafiz," 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 +Fanjdar), who is now called "Zabit." The older name for the +latter was "Sahib 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 +bazaars in Damascus. + +[FN#508] Arab. "Al-Masha ili" = the bearer of a cresses (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., chaps. vi.) +calls "Mesh'al" and illustrates, must not be confounded with its +congener the "Sha'ilah" or link (also lamp, wick, etc.). + +[FN#509] I need hardly say that the civilised "drop" is unknown +to the East where men are strung up as to a yardarm. This greatly +prolongs the suffering. + +[FN#510] Arab. "Lukmah"; = a mouthful. It is still the fashion +amongst Easterns of primitive manners to take up a handful of +rice, etc., ball it and put it into a friend's mouth honoris +causa. When the friend is a European the expression of his face +is generally a study. + +[FN#511] I need hardly note that this is an old Biblical +practice. The ass is used for city-work as the horse for fighting +and travelling, the mule for burdens and the dromedary for the +desert. But the Badawi, like the Indian, despises the monture and +sings:-- + + The back of the steed is a noble place + But the mule's dishonour, the ass disgrace! + +The fine white asses, often thirteen hands high, sold by the Banu +Salib and other Badawi tribes, will fetch L100, and more. I rode +a little brute from Meccah to Jedda (42 miles) in one night and +it came in with me cantering. + +[FN#512] A dry measure of about five bushels (Cairo). The +classical pronunciation is Irdabb and it measured 24 sa'a +(gallons) each filling four outstretched hands. + +[FN#513] "Al-Jawali" should be Al-Jawali (Al-Makrizi) and the Bab +al-Nasr (Gate of Victory) is that leading to Suez. I lived in +that quarter as shown by my Pilgrimage (i. 62). + +[FN#514] Arab. "Al-'ajalah," referring to a saying in every +Moslem mouth, "Patience is from the Protector (Allah): Hurry is +from Hell." That and "Inshallah bukra!" (Please God tomorrow.) +are the traveller's betes noires. + +[FN#515] Here it is a polite equivalent for "fall to!" + +[FN#516] The left hand is used throughout the East for purposes +of ablution and is considered unclean. To offer the left hand +would be most insulting and no man ever strokes his beard with it +or eats with it: hence, probably, one never sees a left handed +man throughout the Moslem east. In the Brazil for the same reason +old-fashioned people will not take snuff with the right hand. And +it is related of the Khataians that they prefer the left hand, +"Because the heart, which is the Sultan of the city of the Body, +hath his mansion on that side" (Rauzat al-Safa). + +[FN#517] Two feminine names as we might say Mary and Martha. + +[FN#518] It was near the Caliph's two Palaces (Al Kasrayn); and +was famous in the 15th century A. D. The Kazi's Mahkamah (Court +house) now occupies the place of the Two Palaces + +[FN#519] A Kaysariah is a superior kind of bazaar, 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 Jaharkas, a corruption of the Persian +"Cheharkas" = four persons (Lane, i. 422, from Al-Makrizi and Ibn +Khallikan). For Jaharkas the Mac. Edit. has Jirjis (George) a +common Christian name. I once lodged in a 'Wakalah (the modern +Khan) Jirjis." Pilgrimage, i. 255. + +[FN#520]Arab. "Second Day," i.e. after Saturday, the true +Sabbath, so marvellously ignored by Christendom. + +[FN#521] Readers who wish to know how a traveller is lodged in a +Wakalah, Khan, or Caravanserai, will consult my Pilgrimage, i. +60. + +[FN#522] The original occupation of the family had given it a +name, as amongst us. + +[FN#523] The usual "chaff" or banter allowed even to modest women +when shopping, and--many a true word is spoken in jest. + +[FN#524] "La adamnak" = Heaven deprive us not of thee, i.e. grant +I see thee often! + +[FN#525] This is a somewhat cavalier style of advance; but +Easterns under such circumstances go straight to the point, +hating to filer the parfait amour. + +[FN#526] The peremptory formula of a slave delivering such a +message. + +[FN#527] This would be our Thursday night, preceding the day of +public prayers which can be performed only when in a state of +ceremonial purity. Hence many Moslems go to the Hammam on +Thursday and have no connection with their wives. + +[FN#528] Lane (i. 423) gives ample details concerning the +Habbaniyah, or grain-sellers' quarter in the southern part of +Cairo; and shows that when this tale was written (or +transcribed?) the city was almost as extensive as it is now. + +[FN#529] Nakib is a caravan-leader, a chief, a syndic; and "Abu +Shamah"= Father of a cheek mole, while "Abu Shammah" = 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 Haj Abdullah as Abu Shawarib, Father of +Mustachios (Pilgrimage, iii., 263). + +[FN#530] More correctly Bab Zawilah from the name of a tribe in +Northern Africa. This gate dates from the same age as the Eastern +or Desert gate, Bab al-Nasr (A.D. 1087) and is still much +admired. M. Jomard describes it (Description, etc., ii. 670) and +lately my good friend Yacoub Artin Pasha has drawn attention to +it in the Bulletin de l'Inst. Egypt., Deuxieme Serie, No. 4, +1883. + +[FN#531] This ornament is still seen in the older saloons of +Damascus: the inscriptions are usually religious sentences, +extracts from the Koran, etc., in uncial characters. They take +the place of our frescos; and, as a work of art, are generally +far superior. + +[FN#532] Arab. "Bayaz al-Sultani," the best kind of gypsum which +shines like polished marble. The stucco on the walls of +Alexandria, built by Alexander of the two Horns, was so +exquisitely tempered and beautifully polished that men had to +wear masks for fear of blindness. + +[FN#533] This Iklil, a complicated affair, is now obsolete, its +place having been taken by the "Kurs," a gold plate, some five +inches in diameter, set with jewels, etc. Lane (M. E. Appendix A) +figures it. + +[FN#534] The woman-artist who applies the dye is called +"Munakkishah." + +[FN#535] "Kissing with th' inner lip," as Shakespeare calls it; +the French langue fourree: 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 lappings or +pattings with the fingers and palm (eight kinds). + +[FN#536] Arab. "asal-nahl," to distinguish it from "honey" i.e. +syrup of sugar-cane and fruits + +[FN#537] The lines have occurred in Night xii. By way of variety +I give Torrens' version p. 273. + +[FN#538] The way of carrying money in the corner of a +pocket-handkerchief is still common. + +[FN#539] He sent the provisions not to be under an obligation to +her in this matter. And she received them to judge thereby of his +liberality + +[FN#540] Those who have seen the process of wine-making in the +Libanus will readily understand why it is always strained. + +[FN#541] Arab. "Kulkasa," a kind of arum or yam, eaten boiled +like our potatoes. + +[FN#542]At first he slipped the money into the bed-clothes: now +he gives it openly and she accepts it for a reason. + +[FN#543] Arab. Al-Zalamah lit. = tyrants, oppressors, applied to +the police and generally to employes of Government. It is a word +which tells a history. + +[FN#544] Moslem law is never completely satisfied till the +criminal confess. It also utterly ignores circumstantial evidence +and for the best of reasons: amongst so sharp-witted a people the +admission would lead to endless abuses. I greatly surprised a +certain Governor-General of India by giving him this simple +information + +[FN#545] Cutting off the right hand is the Koranic punishment +(chaps. v.) for one who robs an article worth four dinars, about +forty francs to shillings. The left foot is to be cut off at the +ankle for a second offence and so on; but death is reserved for a +hardened criminal. The practice is now obsolete and theft is +punished by the bastinado, fine or imprisonment. The old Guebres +were as severe. For stealing one dirham's worth they took a fine +of two, cut off the ear-lobes, gave ten stick-blows and dismissed +the criminal who had been subjected to an hour's imprisonment. A +second theft caused the penalties to be doubled; and after that +the right hand was cut off or death was inflicted according to +the proportion stolen. + +[FN#546] Koran viii. 17. + +[FN#547] A universal custom in the East, the object being +originally to show that the draught was not poisoned. + +[FN#548] Out of paste or pudding. + +[FN#549] Boils and pimples are supposed to be caused by broken +hair-roots and in Hindostani are called Bal-tor. + +[FN#550] He intended to bury it decently, a respect which Moslems +always show even to the exuviae of the body, as hair and nail +parings. Amongst Guebres the latter were collected and carried to +some mountain. The practice was intensified by fear of demons or +wizards getting possession of the spoils. + +[FN#551] Without which the marriage was not valid. The minimum is +ten dirhams (drachmas) now valued at about five francs to +shillings; and if a man marry without naming the sum, the woman, +after consummation, can compel him to pay this minimum. + +[FN#552] Arab. "Khatmah" = reading or reciting the whole Koran, +by one or more persons, usually in the house, not over the tomb. +Like the "Zikr," Litany or Rogation, it is a pious act confined +to certain occasions. + +[FN#553] Arab. "Zirbajah" = meat dressed with vinegar, cumin-seed +(Pers. Zir) and hot spices. More of it in the sequel of the tale. + +[FN#554] A saying not uncommon meaning, let each man do as he +seems fit; also = "age quad agis": and at times corresponding +with our saw about the cap fitting. + + [FN#555] Arab. "Su'ud," an Alpinia with pungent rhizome like +ginger; here used as a counter-odour. + +[FN#556] Arab. "Ta'ih" = lost in the "Tih," a desert wherein man +may lose himself, translated in our maps 'The Desert of the +Wanderings," scil. of the children of Israel. "Credat Judaeus." + +[FN#557] ie. L125 and L500. + +[FN#558] A large sum was weighed by a professional instead of +being counted, the reason being that the coin is mostly old and +worn: hence our words "pound" and "pension" (or what is weighed +out). + +[FN#559] The eunuch is the best possible go-between on account of +his almost unlimited power over the Harem. + +[FN#560] i.e., a slave-girl brought up in the house and never +sold except for some especial reason, as habitual drunkenness, +etc. + +[FN#561] Smuggling men into the Harem is a stock "topic" of +eastern tales. "By means of their female attendants, the ladies +of the royal harem generally get men into their apartments in the +disguise of women," says Vatsyayana in The Kama Sutra, Part V. +London: Printed for the Hindoo Kamashastra Society. 1883. For +private circulation. + +[FN#562] These tears are shed over past separation. So the +"Indians" of the New World never meet after long parting without +beweeping mutual friends they have lost. + +[FN#563] A most important Jack in office whom one can see with +his smooth chin and blubber lips, starting up from his lazy +snooze in the shade and delivering his orders more peremptorily +than any Dogberry. These epicenes are as curious and exceptional +in character as in external conformation. Disconnected, after a +fashion, with humanity, they are brave, fierce and capable of any +villainy 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 "Cappone," invests him with all the +circumstance of command. + +[FN#564] From the Meccan well used by Moslems much like Eau de +Lourdes by Christians: the water is saltish, hence the touch of +Arab humour (Pilgrimage iii., 201-202). + +[FN#565] Such articles would be sacred from Moslem eyes. + +[FN#566] Physiologically true, but not generally mentioned in +describing the emotions. + +[FN#567] Properly "Uta," the different rooms, each "Odalisque," +or concubine, having her own. + +[FN#568] Showing that her monthly ailment was over. + +[FN#569] Arab "Muhammarah" = either browned before the fire or +artificially reddened. + +[FN#570] The insolence and licence of these palace-girls was (and +is) unlimited, especially when, as in the present case, they have +to deal with a "lofty." On this subject numberless stories are +current throughout the East. + +[FN#571] i.e., blackened by the fires of Jehannam. + +[FN#572] Arab. "Bi'l-Salamah" = in safety (to avert the evil +eye). When visiting the sick it is usual to say something civil; +"The Lord heal thee! No evil befall thee!" etc. + +[FN#573] Washing during sickness is held dangerous by Arabs; and +"going to the Hammam" is, I have said, equivalent to +convalescence. + +[FN#574] Arab. "Maristan" (pronounced Muristan) a corruption of +the Pers. "Bimaristan" = 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 "Manakiyush;" thus ignoring the Persian Kings, +Saint Ephrem (or Ephraim), Syru, etc. In modern parlance +"Maristan" is a madhouse where the maniacs are treated with all +the horrors which were universal in Europe till within a few +years and of which occasional traces occur to this day. In A.D. +1399 Katherine de la Court held a "hospital in the Court called +Robert de Paris," but the first madhouse in Christendom was built +by the legate Ortiz in Toledo A. D. 1483, and was therefore +called Casa del Nuncio. The Damascus "Maristan" was described by +every traveller of the last century: and it showed a curious +contrast between the treatment of the maniac and the idiot or +omadhaun, who is humanely allowed to wander about unharmed, if +not held a Saint. When I saw it last (1870) it was all but empty +and mostly in ruins. As far as my experience goes, the United +States is the only country where the insane are rationally +treated by the sane. + +[FN#575] Hence the trite saying "Whoso drinks the water of the +Nile will ever long to drink it again." "Light" means easily +digested water; and the great test is being able to drink it at +night between the sleeps, without indigestion + +[FN#576] "Nil" 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-Shita (winter), Al-Sayf +(summer) and Al-Nil (the Nile i.e. flood season' our mid-summer); +corresponding with the Growth months; Housing (or granary)-months +and Flood-months of the older race. + +[FN#577] These lines are in the Mac. Edit. + +[FN#587] Arab. "Birkat al-Habash," a tank formerly existing in +Southern Cairo: Galland (Night 128) says "en remontant vers +l'Ethiopie." + +[FN#579] The Bres. Edit. (ii., 190), from which I borrow this +description, here alludes to the well-known Island, Al-Rauzah +(Rodah) = The Garden. + +[FN#580] Arab. "Laylat al-Wafa," 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. +chaps. xxvi--a work which would be much improved by a better +index). + +[FN#581] i.e., admiration will be complete. + +[FN#582] Arab. "Sahil Masr" (Misr): hence I suppose Galland's +villes maritimes. + +[FN#583] A favourite simile, suggested by the broken glitter and +shimmer of the stream under the level rays and the breeze of +eventide. + +[FN#584] Arab. "Halab," derived by Moslems from "He (Abraham) +milked (halaba) the white and dun cow." But the name of the city +occurs in the Cuneiforms as Halbun or Khalbun, and the classics +knew it as {Greek Letters}, Beroca, written with variants. + +[FN#585] Arab. "Ka'ah," usually a saloon; but also applied to a +fine house here and elsewhere in The Nights. + +[FN#586] Arab. "Ghamz" = winking, signing with the eye which, +amongst Moslems, is not held "vulgar." + +[FN#587] Arab. "Kamis" from low Lat. "Camicia," first found in +St. Jerome:-- "Solent militantes habere lineas, quas Camicias +vocant." Our shirt, chemise, chemisette, etc., was unknown to the +Ancients of Europe. + +[FN#588] Arab. "Narjis." The Arabs borrowed nothing, but the +Persians much, from Greek Mythology. Hence the eye of Narcissus, +an idea hardly suggested by the look of the daffodil (or +asphodel)-flower, is at times the glance of a spy and at times +the die-away look of a mistress. Some scholars explain it by the +form of the flower, the internal calyx resembling the iris, and +the stalk being bent just below the petals suggesting drooping +eyelids and languid eyes. Hence a poet addresses the Narcissus:-- + +O Narjis, look away! Before those eyes * I may not kiss her +as + a-breast she lies. +What! Shall the lover close his eyes in sleep * While thine watch + all things between earth and skies? + +The fashionable lover in the East must affect a frantic jealousy +if he does not feel it. + +[FN#589] In Egypt there are neither bedsteads nor bedrooms: the +carpets and mattresses, pillows and cushions (sheets being +unknown), are spread out when wanted, and during the day are put +into chests or cupboards, or only rolled up in a corner of the +room (Pilgrimage i. 53). + +[FN#590] The women of Damascus have always been famed for the +sanguinary jealousy with which European story-books and novels +credit the "Spanish lady." The men were as celebrated for +intolerance and fanaticism, which we first read of in the days of +Bertrandon de la Brocquiere and which culminated in the massacre +of 1860. Yet they are a notoriously timid race and make, +physically and morally, the worst of soldiers: we proved that +under my late friend Fred. Walpole in the Bashi-Buzuks during the +old Crimean war. The men looked very fine fellows and after a +month in camp fell off to the condition of old women. + +[FN#591] Arab. "Rukham," properly = alabaster and "Marmar" = +marble; but the two are often confounded. + +[FN#592] He was ceremonially impure after touching a corpse. + +[FN#593] The phrase is perfectly appropriate: Cairo without "her +Nile" would be nothing. + +[FN#594] "The market was hot" say the Hindustanis. This would +begin between 7 and 8 a.m. + +[FN#595] Arab. Al-Faranj, Europeans generally. It is derived from +"Gens Francorum," and dates from Crusading days when the French +played the leading part. Hence the Lingua Franca, the Levantine +jargon, of which Moliere has left such a witty specimen. + +[FN#596] A process familiar to European surgery of the same date. + +[FN#597] In sign of disappointment, regret, vexation; a gesture +still common amongst Moslems and corresponding in significance to +a certain extent with our stamping, wringing the hands and so +forth. It is not mentioned in the Koran where, however, we find +"biting fingers' ends out of wrath" against a man (chaps. iii.). + +[FN#598] This is no unmerited scandal. The Cairenes, especially +the feminine half (for reasons elsewhere given), have always been +held exceedingly debauched. Even the modest Lane gives a +"shocking" story of a woman enjoying her lover under the nose of +her husband and confining the latter in a madhouse (chaps. +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 +"bakhshish." 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 bazaar for a girl, half-a-dozen would +troop to his quarters. Indeed more than once the professional +prostitutes threatened to memorialise Sir Charles Napier because +the "modest women," the "ladies" were taking the bread out of +their mouths. The same was the case at Kabul (Caboul) of +Afghanistan in the old war of 1840; and here the women had more +excuse, the husbands being notable sodomites as the song has it. + + The worth of slit the Afghan knows; + The worth of hole the Kabul-man. + +[FN#599] So that he might not have to do with three +sisters-german. Moreover amongst Moslems a girl's conduct is +presaged by that of her mother; and if one sister go wrong, the +other is expected to follow suit. Practically the rule applies +everywhere, "like mother like daughter." + +[FN#600] In sign of dissent; as opposed to nodding the head which +signifies assent. These are two items, apparently instinctive and +universal, of man's gesture-language which has been so highly +cultivated by sundry North American tribes and by the surdo-mute +establishments of Europe. + +[FN#601] This "Futur" is the real "breakfast" of the East, the +"Chhoti hazri" (petit dejeuner) of India, a bit of bread, a cup +of coffee or tea and a pipe on rising. In the text, however, it +is a ceremonious affair. + +[FN#602] Arab. "Nahs," a word of many meanings; a sinister aspect +of the stars (as in Hebr. end Aram.) or, adjectivally, sinister, +of ill-omen. Vulgarly it is used as the reverse of nice and +corresponds, after a fashion, with our "nasty." + +[FN#603] "Window-gardening," new in England, is an old practice +in the East. + +[FN#604] Her pimping instinct at once revealed the case to her. + +[FN#605] The usual "pander-dodge" to get more money. + +[FN#606] The writer means that the old woman's account was all +false, to increase apparent difficulties and pour se faire +valoir. + +[FN#607] Arab. "Ya Khalati" =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-Khal!" = 0 thou nephew of a good uncle. I have noted +that physically this is often fact. + +[FN#608] "Ay w' Allahi," contracted popularly to Aywa, a word in +every Moslem mouth and shunned by Christians because against +orders Hebrew and Christian. The better educated Turks now eschew +that eternal reference to Allah which appears in The Nights and +which is still the custom of the vulgar throughout the world of +Al-Islam. + +[FN#609] The "Muzayyin" or barber in the East brings his basin +and budget under his arm: he is not content only to shave, he +must scrape the forehead, trim the eyebrows, pass the blade +lightly over the nose and correct the upper and lower lines of +the mustachios, opening the central parting and so forth. He is +not a whit less a tattler and a scandal monger than the old Roman +tonsor or Figaro, his confrere in Southern Europe. The whole +scene of the Barber is admirable, an excellent specimen of Arab +humour and not over-caricatured. We all have met him. + +[FN#610] Abdullah ibn Abbas was a cousin and a companion of the +Apostle, also a well known Commentator on the Koran and conserver +of the traditions of Mohammed. + +[FN#611] I have noticed the antiquity of this father of our +sextant, a fragment of which was found in the Palace of +Sennacherib. More concerning the "Arstable" (as Chaucer calls it) +is given in my "Camoens: his Life and his Lusiads," p. 381. + +[FN#612] Arab. "Simiya" to rhyme with Kimiya (alchemy proper). It +is a subordinate branch of the Ilm al-Ruhani which I would +translate "Spiritualism," and which is divided into two great +branches, "Ilwi or Rahmani" (the high or related to the Deity) +and Sifli or Shaytani (low, Satanic). To the latter belongs +Al-Sahr, magic or the black art proper, gramarye, egromancy, +while Al- Simiya is white magic, electro-biology, a kind of +natural and deceptive magic, in which drugs and perfumes exercise +an important action. One of its principal branches is the Darb +al-Mandal or magic mirror, of which more in a future page. See +Boccaccio's Day x. Novel 5. + +[FN#613] Chap. iii., 128. See Sale (in loco) for the noble +application of this text by the Imam Hasan, son of the Caliph +Ali. + +[FN#614] These proverbs at once remind us of our old friend +Sancho Panza and are equally true to nature in the mouth of the +Arab and of the Spaniard. + +[FN#615] Our nurses always carry in the arms: Arabs place the +children astraddle upon the hip and when older on the shoulder. + +[FN#616] Eastern clothes allow this biblical display of sorrow +and vexation, which with our European garb would look absurd: we +must satisfy ourselves with maltreating our hats + +[FN#617] Koran xlviii., 8. It may be observed that according to +the Ahadis (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 "Shushah," 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 "Makruh," a practice not laudable, +neither "Halal" (perfectly lawful) nor "Haram" (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 Nasiyah (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 Kurun +(horns) or Jadail (ringlets) which are undone only to be washed +with the water of the she-camel. The wild Sherifs wear Haffah, +long elf-locks hanging down both sides of the throat, and shaved +away about a finger's breadth round the forehead and behind the +neck (Pilgrimage iii., 35-36). I have elsewhere noted the +accroche-coeurs, the "idiot fringe," etc. + +[FN#618] Meats are rarely coloured in modern days; but Persian +cooks are great adepts in staining rice for the "Pulao (which we +call after its Turkish corruption "pilaff"): it sometimes appears +in rainbow-colours, red, yellow and blue; and in India is covered +with gold and silver leaf. Europe retains the practice in tinting +Pasch (Easter) eggs, the survival of the mundane ovum which was +hatched at Easter-tide; and they are dyed red in allusion to the +Blood of Redemption. + +[FN#619] As I have noticed, this is a mixture. + +[FN#620] We say:-- + + Tis rare the father in the son we see: + He sometimes rises in the third degree. + +[FN#621] Arab. "Ballan" i.e. the body-servant: "Ballanah" is a +tire-woman. + +[FN#622] Arab. "Darabukkah" a drum made of wood or earthen-ware +(Lane, M. E., xviii.), and used by all in Egypt. + +[FN#623] Arab. "Naihah" more generally "Naddabah" Lat. praefica or +carina, a hired mourner, the Irish "Keener" at the conclamatio or +coronach, where the Hullabaloo, Hulululu or Ululoo showed the +survivors' sorrow. + +[FN#624] These doggerels, which are like our street melodies, are +now forgotten and others have taken their place. A few years ago +one often heard, "Dus ya lalli" (Tread, O my joy) and "Nazil +il'al-Ganinah" (Down into the garden) and these in due turn +became obsolete. Lane (M. E. chaps. xviii.) gives the former e.g. + + Tread, O my joy! Tread, O my joy! + Love of my love brings sore annoy, + +A chorus to such stanzas as:-- + +Alexandrian damsels rare! * Daintily o'er the floor ye fare: +Your lips are sweet, are sugar-sweet, * And purfled Cashmere + shawls ye wear! + +It may be noted that "humming" is not a favourite practice with +Moslems; if one of the company begin, another will say, "Go to +the Kahwah" (the coffee-house, the proper music-hall) "and sing +there!" I have elsewhere observed their dislike to Al-sifr or +whistling. + +[FN#625] Arab. Khali'a = worn out, crafty, an outlaw; used like +Span. "Perdido." + +[FN#626] "Zabbal" is the scavenger, lit. a dung-drawer, +especially for the use of the Hammam which is heated with the +droppings of animals. "Wakkad" (stoker) is the servant who turns +the fire. The verses are mere nonsense to suit the Barber's +humour. + +[FN#627] Arab. "Ya barid" = O fool. + +[FN#628] This form of blessing is chanted from the Minaret about +half-an-hour before midday, when the worshippers take their +places in the mosque. At noon there is the usual Azan 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 Salam 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 Mihrab (prayer niche) and recites the +Ikamah 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. chaps. iii. and its abstract in his "Arabian Nights," I, +p. 430, or note 69 to chaps. v.). + +[FN#629] i.e., the women loosed their hair; an immodesty +sanctioned only by a great calamity. + +[FN#630] These small shops are composed of a "but" and a "ben." +(Pilgrimage i., 99.) + +[FN#631] Arab. "Kawwad," a popular term of abuse; hence the Span. +and Port. "Alco-viteiro." The Italian "Galeotto" is from +Galahalt, not Galahad. + +[FN#632] i.e., "one seeking assistance in Allah." He was the son +of Al-Zahir bi'llah (one pre-eminent by the decree of Allah). +Lane says (i. 430), "great- grandson of Harun al-Rashid," +alluding to the first Mustansir son of Al-Mutawakkil (regn. A.H. +247-248 =861-862). But this is the 56th Abbaside and regn. A. H. +623-640 (= 1226-1242). + +[FN#633] Arab. "Yaum al-Id," the Kurban Bairam of the Turks, the +Pilgrimage festival. The story is historical. In the "Akd," a +miscellany compiled by Ibn Abd Rabbuh (vulg. Rabbi-hi) of +Cordova, who ob. A. H. 328 = 940 we read:--A sponger found ten +criminals and followed them, imagining they were going to a +feast; but lo, they were going to their deaths! And when they +were slain and he remained, he was brought before the Khalifah +(Al Maamun) and Ibrahim son of Al- Mahdi related a tale to +procure pardon for the man, whereupon the Khalifah pardoned him. +(Lane ii., 506.) + +[FN#634] Arab. "Nate' al-Dam"; the former word was noticed in the +Tale of the Bull and the Ass. The leather of blood was not unlike +the Sufrah and could be folded into a bag by a string running +through rings round the edges. Moslem executioners were very +expert and seldom failed to strike off the head with a single +blow of the thin narrow blade with razor-edge, hard as diamond +withal, which contrasted so strongly with the great coarse +chopper of the European headsman. + +[FN#635] The ground floor, which in all hot countries is held, +and rightly so, unwholesome during sleep, is usually let for +shops. This is also the case throughout Southern Europe, and +extends to the Canary Islands and the Brazil. + +[FN#636] This serious contemplation of street-scenery is one of +the pleasures of the Harems. + +[FN#637] We should say "smiled at him": the laugh was not +intended as an affront. + +[FN#638] Arab. "Fals ahmar." Fals is a fish-scale, also the +smaller coin and the plural "Fulus" is the vulgar term for money +(= Ital. quattrini ) without specifying the coin. It must not be +confounded with the "Fazzah," alias "Nuss," alias "Parah" +(Turk.); the latter being made, not of "red copper" but of a vile +alloy containing, like the Greek "Asper," some silver; and +representing, when at par, the fortieth of a piastre, the +latter=2d. 2/5ths. + +[FN#639] Arab "Farajiyah " a long-sleeved robe; Lane's +"Farageeyeh," (M. E., chaps. i) + +[FN#640] The tailor in the East, as in Southern Europe, is made +to cut out the cloth in presence of its owner, to prevent +"cabbaging." + +[FN#641] Expecting a present. + +[FN#642] Alluding to the saying, "Kiss is the key to Kitty." + +[FN#643] The "panel-dodge" is fatally common throughout the East, +where a man found in the house of another is helpless. + +[FN#644] This was the beginning of horseplay which often ends in +a bastinado. + +[FN#645] Hair-dyes, in the East, are all of vegetable matter, +henna, indigo-leaves, galls, etc.: our mineral dyes are, happily +for them, unknown. Herklots will supply a host of recipes The +Egyptian mixture which I quoted in Pilgrimage (ii., 274) is +sulphate of iron and ammoniure of iron one part and gall nuts two +parts, infused in eight parts of distilled water. It is innocuous +but very poor as a dye. + +[FN#646] Arab. Amrad, etymologically "beardless and handsome," +but often used in a bad sense, to denote an effeminate, a +catamite. + +[FN#647] The Hindus prefer "having the cardinal points as her +sole garment." "Vetu de climat," says Madame de Stael. In Paris +nude statues are "draped in cerulean blue." Rabelais (iv.,29) +robes King Shrovetide in grey and gold of a comical cut, nothing +before, nothing behind, with sleeves of the same. + +[FN#648] This scene used to be enacted a few years ago in Paris +for the benefit of concealed spectators, a young American being +the victim. It was put down when one of the lookers-on lost his +eye by a pen-knife thrust into the "crevice." + +[FN#649] Meaning that the trick had been played by the Wazir's +wife or daughter. I could mention sundry names at Cairo whose +charming owners have done worse things than this unseemly frolic. + +[FN#650] Arab. "Shayyun li'llahi," a beggar's formula = per amor +di Dio. + +[FN#651] Noting how sharp-eared the blind become. + +[FN#652] The blind in Egypt are notorious for insolence and +violence, fanaticism and rapacity. Not a few foreigners have +suffered from them (Pilgrimage i., 148). In former times many +were blinded in infancy by their mothers, and others blinded +themselves to escape conscription or honest hard work. They could +always obtain food, especially as Mu'ezzins and were preferred +because they could not take advantage of the minaret by spying +into their neighbours' households. The Egyptian race is +chronically weak-eyed, the effect of the damp hot climate of the +valley, where ophthalmia prevailed even during the pre-Pharaohnic +days. The great Sesostris died stone-blind and his successor lost +his sight for ten years (Pilgrimage ii., 176). That the Fellahs +are now congenitally weak-eyed, may be seen by comparing them +with negroes imported from Central Africa. Ophthalmia rages, +especially during the damp season, in the lower Nile-valley; and +the best cure for it is a fortnight's trip to the Desert where, +despite glare, sand and wind, the eye readily recovers tone. + +[FN#653] i.e., with kicks and cuffs and blows, as is the custom. +(Pilgrimage i., 174.) + +[FN#654] Arab. Kaid (whence "Alcayde") a word still much used in +North Western Africa. + +[FN#655] Arab. "Sullam" = lit. a ladder; a frame-work of sticks, +used by way of our triangles or whipping-posts. + +[FN#656] This is one of the feats of Al-Simiya = white magic; +fascinating the eyes. In Europe it has lately taken the name of +"Electro-biology." + +[FN#657] again by means of the "Simiya" or power of fascination +possessed by the old scoundrel. + +[FN#658] A formula for averting "Al-Ayn," the evil eye. It is +always unlucky to meet a one-eyed man, especially the first thing +in the morning and when setting out on any errand. The idea is +that the fascinated one will suffer from some action of the +physical eye. Monoculars also are held to be rogues: so the +Sanskrit saying "Few one-eyed men be honest men." + +[FN#659] Al-Nashshar 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 AEsop's market-woman who kicked +over her eggs, whence the Lat. prov. Ante victoriam canere +triumphum = to sell the skin before you have caught the bear. In +the "Kalilah and Dimnah" and its numerous offspring it is the +"Ascetic with his Jar of oil and honey;" in Rabelais (i., 33) +Echephron's shoemaker spills his milk, and so La Perette in La +Fontaine. See M. Max Muller's "Chips," (vol. iii., appendix) The +curious reader will compare my version with that which appears at +the end of Richardson's Arabic Grammar (Edit. Of 1811): he had a +better, or rather a fuller MS. (p. 199) than any yet printed. + +[FN#660] Arab. "Atr" = any perfume, especially oil of roses; +whence our word "Otter,' through the Turkish corruption. + +[FN#661] The texts give "dirhams" (100,000 = 5,000 dinars) for +"dinars," a clerical error as the sequel shows. + +[FN#662] "Young slaves," says Richardson, losing "colour." + +[FN#663] Nothing more calculated to give affront than such a +refusal. Richardson (p. 204) who, however, doubts his own version +(p. 208), here translates, "and I will not give liberty to my +soul (spouse) but in her apartments." The Arabic, or rather +Cairene, is, "wa la akhalli ruhi" I will not let myself go, i.e., +be my everyday self, etc. + +[FN#664] "Whilst she is in astonishment and terror." +(Richardson.) + +[FN#665] "Chamber of robes," Richardson, whose text has "Nam" for +"Manam." + +[FN#666] "Till I compleat her distress," Richardson, whose text +is corrupt. + +[FN#667] "Sleep by her side," R. the word "Name" bearing both +senses. + +[FN#668] "Will take my hand," R. "takabbal" being also ambiguous. + +[FN#669] Arab. "Mu'arras" one who brings about "'Ars," marriages, +etc. So the Germ. = "Kupplerinn" a Coupleress. It is one of the +many synonyms for a pimp, and a word in general use (Pilgrimage +i., 276).The most insulting term, like Dayyus, insinuates that +the man panders for his own wife. + +[FN#670] Of hands and face, etc. See Night cccclxiv. + +[FN#671] Arab. "Sadakah" (sincerity), voluntary or superogatory +alms, opposed to "Zakat" (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 "Zakat" 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 (Zakat) obligatory and which has invented +a property-tax, as opposed the unjust and unfair income-tax upon +which England prides herself. + +[FN#672] A Greek girl. + +[FN#673] This was making himself very easy; and the idea is the +gold in the pouch caused him to be so bold. Lane's explanation +(in loco) is all wrong. The pride engendered by sudden possession +of money is a lieu commun amongst Eastern story tellers; even in +the beast-fables the mouse which has stolen a few gold pieces +becomes confident and stout-hearted. + +[FN#674] Arab. "al-Malihah" also means the beautiful (fem.) from +Milh=salt, splendour, etc., the Mac edit. has "Mumallihah" = a +salt-vessel. + +[FN#675] i.e., to see if he felt the smart. + +[FN#676] Arab. "Sardabeh" (Persian)=an underground room used for +coolness in the hot season. It is unknown in Cairo but every +house in Baghdad, in fact throughout the Mesopotamian cities, has +one. It is on the principle of the underground cellar without +which wine will not keep: Lane (i., 406) calls it a "vault". + +[FN#677] In the orig. "O old woman!" which is insulting. + +[FN#678] So the Italians say "a quail to skin." + +[FN#679] "Amen" is the word used for quarter on the battle-field; +and there are Joe Millers about our soldiers in India mistaking +it for "a man" or (Scottice) "a mon." + +[FN#680] Illustrating the Persian saying "Allah himself cannot +help a fool." + +[FN#681] Any article taken from the person and given to a +criminal is a promise of pardon, of course on the implied +condition of plenary confession and of becoming "King's +evidence." + +[FN#682] A naive proposal to share the plunder. + +[FN#683] In popular literature "Schacabac.", And from this tale +comes our saying "A Barmecide's Feast," i.e., an illusion. + +[FN#684] The Castrato at the door is still (I have said) the +fashion of Cairo and he acts "Suisse" with a witness. + +[FN#685] As usual in the East, the mansion was a hollow square +surrounding what in Spain is called Patio: the outer entrance was +far from the inner, showing the extent of the grounds. + +[FN#686] "Nahnu malihin" = we are on terms of salt, said and say +the Arabs. But the traveller must not trust in these days to the +once sacred tie; there are tribes which will give bread with one +hand and stab with the other. The Eastern use of salt is a +curious contrast with that of Westerns, who made it an invidious +and inhospitable distinction, e.g., to sit above the salt-cellar +and below the salt. Amongst the ancients, however, "he took bread +and salt" means he swore, the food being eaten when an oath was +taken. Hence the "Bride cake" of salt, water and flour. + +[FN#687] Arab. "Harisah," the meat-pudding before explained. + +[FN#688] Arab. "Sikbaj," before explained; it is held to be a +lordly dish, invented by Khusraw Parwiz. "Fatted duck" says the +Bresl. Edit. ii., 308, with more reason. + +[FN#689] I was reproved in Southern Abyssinia for eating without +this champing, "Thou feedest like a beggar who muncheth silently +in his corner;" and presently found that it was a sign of good +breeding to eat as noisily as possible. + +[FN#690] Barley in Arabia is, like our oats, food for horses: it +fattens at the same time that it cools them. Had this been known +to our cavalry when we first occupied Egypt in 1883-4 our losses +in horse-flesh would have been far less; but official ignorance +persisted in feeding the cattle upon heating oats and the riders +upon beef, which is indigestible, instead of mutton, which is +wholesome. + +[FN#691] i.e. "I conjure thee by God." + +[FN#692] i.e. "This is the very thing for thee." + +[FN#693] i.e., at random. + +[FN#694] This is the way of slaughtering the camel, whose throat +is never cut on account of the thickness of the muscles. "Egorger +un chameau" is a mistake often made in French books. + +[FN#695] i.e. I will break bounds. + +[FN#696] The Arabs have a saying corresponding with the dictum of +the Salernitan school:-- + + Noscitur a labiis quantum sit virginis antrum: + Noscitur a naso quanta sit haste viro; + (A maiden's mouth shows what's the make of her chose; + And man's mentule one knows by the length of his nose.) + +Whereto I would add:-- + + And the eyebrows disclose how the lower wig grows. + +The observations are purely empirical but, as far as my +experience extends, correct. + +[FN#697] Arab. "Kahkahah," a very low proceeding. + +[FN#698] Or "for every death there is a cause;" but the older +Arabs had a saying corresponding with "Deus non fecit mortem." + +[FN#699] The King's barber is usually a man of rank for the best +of reasons, that he holds his Sovereign's life between his +fingers. One of these noble Figaros in India married an English +lady who was, they say, unpleasantly surprised to find out what +were her husband's official duties. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a +Night, Volume 1, by Richard F. Burton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS *** + +***** This file should be named 3435.txt or 3435.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/3/3435/ + +Produced by J.C. Byers at jcbyers@capitalnet.com. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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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