summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/3435-h/3435-h.htm
blob: 34be3df97d3b97834fd8752d3942a96e46a0ce7c (plain) 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1147
1148
1149
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1162
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178
1179
1180
1181
1182
1183
1184
1185
1186
1187
1188
1189
1190
1191
1192
1193
1194
1195
1196
1197
1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244
1245
1246
1247
1248
1249
1250
1251
1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263
1264
1265
1266
1267
1268
1269
1270
1271
1272
1273
1274
1275
1276
1277
1278
1279
1280
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290
1291
1292
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297
1298
1299
1300
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
1314
1315
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350
1351
1352
1353
1354
1355
1356
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361
1362
1363
1364
1365
1366
1367
1368
1369
1370
1371
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385
1386
1387
1388
1389
1390
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406
1407
1408
1409
1410
1411
1412
1413
1414
1415
1416
1417
1418
1419
1420
1421
1422
1423
1424
1425
1426
1427
1428
1429
1430
1431
1432
1433
1434
1435
1436
1437
1438
1439
1440
1441
1442
1443
1444
1445
1446
1447
1448
1449
1450
1451
1452
1453
1454
1455
1456
1457
1458
1459
1460
1461
1462
1463
1464
1465
1466
1467
1468
1469
1470
1471
1472
1473
1474
1475
1476
1477
1478
1479
1480
1481
1482
1483
1484
1485
1486
1487
1488
1489
1490
1491
1492
1493
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499
1500
1501
1502
1503
1504
1505
1506
1507
1508
1509
1510
1511
1512
1513
1514
1515
1516
1517
1518
1519
1520
1521
1522
1523
1524
1525
1526
1527
1528
1529
1530
1531
1532
1533
1534
1535
1536
1537
1538
1539
1540
1541
1542
1543
1544
1545
1546
1547
1548
1549
1550
1551
1552
1553
1554
1555
1556
1557
1558
1559
1560
1561
1562
1563
1564
1565
1566
1567
1568
1569
1570
1571
1572
1573
1574
1575
1576
1577
1578
1579
1580
1581
1582
1583
1584
1585
1586
1587
1588
1589
1590
1591
1592
1593
1594
1595
1596
1597
1598
1599
1600
1601
1602
1603
1604
1605
1606
1607
1608
1609
1610
1611
1612
1613
1614
1615
1616
1617
1618
1619
1620
1621
1622
1623
1624
1625
1626
1627
1628
1629
1630
1631
1632
1633
1634
1635
1636
1637
1638
1639
1640
1641
1642
1643
1644
1645
1646
1647
1648
1649
1650
1651
1652
1653
1654
1655
1656
1657
1658
1659
1660
1661
1662
1663
1664
1665
1666
1667
1668
1669
1670
1671
1672
1673
1674
1675
1676
1677
1678
1679
1680
1681
1682
1683
1684
1685
1686
1687
1688
1689
1690
1691
1692
1693
1694
1695
1696
1697
1698
1699
1700
1701
1702
1703
1704
1705
1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1717
1718
1719
1720
1721
1722
1723
1724
1725
1726
1727
1728
1729
1730
1731
1732
1733
1734
1735
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742
1743
1744
1745
1746
1747
1748
1749
1750
1751
1752
1753
1754
1755
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760
1761
1762
1763
1764
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
1771
1772
1773
1774
1775
1776
1777
1778
1779
1780
1781
1782
1783
1784
1785
1786
1787
1788
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
1800
1801
1802
1803
1804
1805
1806
1807
1808
1809
1810
1811
1812
1813
1814
1815
1816
1817
1818
1819
1820
1821
1822
1823
1824
1825
1826
1827
1828
1829
1830
1831
1832
1833
1834
1835
1836
1837
1838
1839
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2037
2038
2039
2040
2041
2042
2043
2044
2045
2046
2047
2048
2049
2050
2051
2052
2053
2054
2055
2056
2057
2058
2059
2060
2061
2062
2063
2064
2065
2066
2067
2068
2069
2070
2071
2072
2073
2074
2075
2076
2077
2078
2079
2080
2081
2082
2083
2084
2085
2086
2087
2088
2089
2090
2091
2092
2093
2094
2095
2096
2097
2098
2099
2100
2101
2102
2103
2104
2105
2106
2107
2108
2109
2110
2111
2112
2113
2114
2115
2116
2117
2118
2119
2120
2121
2122
2123
2124
2125
2126
2127
2128
2129
2130
2131
2132
2133
2134
2135
2136
2137
2138
2139
2140
2141
2142
2143
2144
2145
2146
2147
2148
2149
2150
2151
2152
2153
2154
2155
2156
2157
2158
2159
2160
2161
2162
2163
2164
2165
2166
2167
2168
2169
2170
2171
2172
2173
2174
2175
2176
2177
2178
2179
2180
2181
2182
2183
2184
2185
2186
2187
2188
2189
2190
2191
2192
2193
2194
2195
2196
2197
2198
2199
2200
2201
2202
2203
2204
2205
2206
2207
2208
2209
2210
2211
2212
2213
2214
2215
2216
2217
2218
2219
2220
2221
2222
2223
2224
2225
2226
2227
2228
2229
2230
2231
2232
2233
2234
2235
2236
2237
2238
2239
2240
2241
2242
2243
2244
2245
2246
2247
2248
2249
2250
2251
2252
2253
2254
2255
2256
2257
2258
2259
2260
2261
2262
2263
2264
2265
2266
2267
2268
2269
2270
2271
2272
2273
2274
2275
2276
2277
2278
2279
2280
2281
2282
2283
2284
2285
2286
2287
2288
2289
2290
2291
2292
2293
2294
2295
2296
2297
2298
2299
2300
2301
2302
2303
2304
2305
2306
2307
2308
2309
2310
2311
2312
2313
2314
2315
2316
2317
2318
2319
2320
2321
2322
2323
2324
2325
2326
2327
2328
2329
2330
2331
2332
2333
2334
2335
2336
2337
2338
2339
2340
2341
2342
2343
2344
2345
2346
2347
2348
2349
2350
2351
2352
2353
2354
2355
2356
2357
2358
2359
2360
2361
2362
2363
2364
2365
2366
2367
2368
2369
2370
2371
2372
2373
2374
2375
2376
2377
2378
2379
2380
2381
2382
2383
2384
2385
2386
2387
2388
2389
2390
2391
2392
2393
2394
2395
2396
2397
2398
2399
2400
2401
2402
2403
2404
2405
2406
2407
2408
2409
2410
2411
2412
2413
2414
2415
2416
2417
2418
2419
2420
2421
2422
2423
2424
2425
2426
2427
2428
2429
2430
2431
2432
2433
2434
2435
2436
2437
2438
2439
2440
2441
2442
2443
2444
2445
2446
2447
2448
2449
2450
2451
2452
2453
2454
2455
2456
2457
2458
2459
2460
2461
2462
2463
2464
2465
2466
2467
2468
2469
2470
2471
2472
2473
2474
2475
2476
2477
2478
2479
2480
2481
2482
2483
2484
2485
2486
2487
2488
2489
2490
2491
2492
2493
2494
2495
2496
2497
2498
2499
2500
2501
2502
2503
2504
2505
2506
2507
2508
2509
2510
2511
2512
2513
2514
2515
2516
2517
2518
2519
2520
2521
2522
2523
2524
2525
2526
2527
2528
2529
2530
2531
2532
2533
2534
2535
2536
2537
2538
2539
2540
2541
2542
2543
2544
2545
2546
2547
2548
2549
2550
2551
2552
2553
2554
2555
2556
2557
2558
2559
2560
2561
2562
2563
2564
2565
2566
2567
2568
2569
2570
2571
2572
2573
2574
2575
2576
2577
2578
2579
2580
2581
2582
2583
2584
2585
2586
2587
2588
2589
2590
2591
2592
2593
2594
2595
2596
2597
2598
2599
2600
2601
2602
2603
2604
2605
2606
2607
2608
2609
2610
2611
2612
2613
2614
2615
2616
2617
2618
2619
2620
2621
2622
2623
2624
2625
2626
2627
2628
2629
2630
2631
2632
2633
2634
2635
2636
2637
2638
2639
2640
2641
2642
2643
2644
2645
2646
2647
2648
2649
2650
2651
2652
2653
2654
2655
2656
2657
2658
2659
2660
2661
2662
2663
2664
2665
2666
2667
2668
2669
2670
2671
2672
2673
2674
2675
2676
2677
2678
2679
2680
2681
2682
2683
2684
2685
2686
2687
2688
2689
2690
2691
2692
2693
2694
2695
2696
2697
2698
2699
2700
2701
2702
2703
2704
2705
2706
2707
2708
2709
2710
2711
2712
2713
2714
2715
2716
2717
2718
2719
2720
2721
2722
2723
2724
2725
2726
2727
2728
2729
2730
2731
2732
2733
2734
2735
2736
2737
2738
2739
2740
2741
2742
2743
2744
2745
2746
2747
2748
2749
2750
2751
2752
2753
2754
2755
2756
2757
2758
2759
2760
2761
2762
2763
2764
2765
2766
2767
2768
2769
2770
2771
2772
2773
2774
2775
2776
2777
2778
2779
2780
2781
2782
2783
2784
2785
2786
2787
2788
2789
2790
2791
2792
2793
2794
2795
2796
2797
2798
2799
2800
2801
2802
2803
2804
2805
2806
2807
2808
2809
2810
2811
2812
2813
2814
2815
2816
2817
2818
2819
2820
2821
2822
2823
2824
2825
2826
2827
2828
2829
2830
2831
2832
2833
2834
2835
2836
2837
2838
2839
2840
2841
2842
2843
2844
2845
2846
2847
2848
2849
2850
2851
2852
2853
2854
2855
2856
2857
2858
2859
2860
2861
2862
2863
2864
2865
2866
2867
2868
2869
2870
2871
2872
2873
2874
2875
2876
2877
2878
2879
2880
2881
2882
2883
2884
2885
2886
2887
2888
2889
2890
2891
2892
2893
2894
2895
2896
2897
2898
2899
2900
2901
2902
2903
2904
2905
2906
2907
2908
2909
2910
2911
2912
2913
2914
2915
2916
2917
2918
2919
2920
2921
2922
2923
2924
2925
2926
2927
2928
2929
2930
2931
2932
2933
2934
2935
2936
2937
2938
2939
2940
2941
2942
2943
2944
2945
2946
2947
2948
2949
2950
2951
2952
2953
2954
2955
2956
2957
2958
2959
2960
2961
2962
2963
2964
2965
2966
2967
2968
2969
2970
2971
2972
2973
2974
2975
2976
2977
2978
2979
2980
2981
2982
2983
2984
2985
2986
2987
2988
2989
2990
2991
2992
2993
2994
2995
2996
2997
2998
2999
3000
3001
3002
3003
3004
3005
3006
3007
3008
3009
3010
3011
3012
3013
3014
3015
3016
3017
3018
3019
3020
3021
3022
3023
3024
3025
3026
3027
3028
3029
3030
3031
3032
3033
3034
3035
3036
3037
3038
3039
3040
3041
3042
3043
3044
3045
3046
3047
3048
3049
3050
3051
3052
3053
3054
3055
3056
3057
3058
3059
3060
3061
3062
3063
3064
3065
3066
3067
3068
3069
3070
3071
3072
3073
3074
3075
3076
3077
3078
3079
3080
3081
3082
3083
3084
3085
3086
3087
3088
3089
3090
3091
3092
3093
3094
3095
3096
3097
3098
3099
3100
3101
3102
3103
3104
3105
3106
3107
3108
3109
3110
3111
3112
3113
3114
3115
3116
3117
3118
3119
3120
3121
3122
3123
3124
3125
3126
3127
3128
3129
3130
3131
3132
3133
3134
3135
3136
3137
3138
3139
3140
3141
3142
3143
3144
3145
3146
3147
3148
3149
3150
3151
3152
3153
3154
3155
3156
3157
3158
3159
3160
3161
3162
3163
3164
3165
3166
3167
3168
3169
3170
3171
3172
3173
3174
3175
3176
3177
3178
3179
3180
3181
3182
3183
3184
3185
3186
3187
3188
3189
3190
3191
3192
3193
3194
3195
3196
3197
3198
3199
3200
3201
3202
3203
3204
3205
3206
3207
3208
3209
3210
3211
3212
3213
3214
3215
3216
3217
3218
3219
3220
3221
3222
3223
3224
3225
3226
3227
3228
3229
3230
3231
3232
3233
3234
3235
3236
3237
3238
3239
3240
3241
3242
3243
3244
3245
3246
3247
3248
3249
3250
3251
3252
3253
3254
3255
3256
3257
3258
3259
3260
3261
3262
3263
3264
3265
3266
3267
3268
3269
3270
3271
3272
3273
3274
3275
3276
3277
3278
3279
3280
3281
3282
3283
3284
3285
3286
3287
3288
3289
3290
3291
3292
3293
3294
3295
3296
3297
3298
3299
3300
3301
3302
3303
3304
3305
3306
3307
3308
3309
3310
3311
3312
3313
3314
3315
3316
3317
3318
3319
3320
3321
3322
3323
3324
3325
3326
3327
3328
3329
3330
3331
3332
3333
3334
3335
3336
3337
3338
3339
3340
3341
3342
3343
3344
3345
3346
3347
3348
3349
3350
3351
3352
3353
3354
3355
3356
3357
3358
3359
3360
3361
3362
3363
3364
3365
3366
3367
3368
3369
3370
3371
3372
3373
3374
3375
3376
3377
3378
3379
3380
3381
3382
3383
3384
3385
3386
3387
3388
3389
3390
3391
3392
3393
3394
3395
3396
3397
3398
3399
3400
3401
3402
3403
3404
3405
3406
3407
3408
3409
3410
3411
3412
3413
3414
3415
3416
3417
3418
3419
3420
3421
3422
3423
3424
3425
3426
3427
3428
3429
3430
3431
3432
3433
3434
3435
3436
3437
3438
3439
3440
3441
3442
3443
3444
3445
3446
3447
3448
3449
3450
3451
3452
3453
3454
3455
3456
3457
3458
3459
3460
3461
3462
3463
3464
3465
3466
3467
3468
3469
3470
3471
3472
3473
3474
3475
3476
3477
3478
3479
3480
3481
3482
3483
3484
3485
3486
3487
3488
3489
3490
3491
3492
3493
3494
3495
3496
3497
3498
3499
3500
3501
3502
3503
3504
3505
3506
3507
3508
3509
3510
3511
3512
3513
3514
3515
3516
3517
3518
3519
3520
3521
3522
3523
3524
3525
3526
3527
3528
3529
3530
3531
3532
3533
3534
3535
3536
3537
3538
3539
3540
3541
3542
3543
3544
3545
3546
3547
3548
3549
3550
3551
3552
3553
3554
3555
3556
3557
3558
3559
3560
3561
3562
3563
3564
3565
3566
3567
3568
3569
3570
3571
3572
3573
3574
3575
3576
3577
3578
3579
3580
3581
3582
3583
3584
3585
3586
3587
3588
3589
3590
3591
3592
3593
3594
3595
3596
3597
3598
3599
3600
3601
3602
3603
3604
3605
3606
3607
3608
3609
3610
3611
3612
3613
3614
3615
3616
3617
3618
3619
3620
3621
3622
3623
3624
3625
3626
3627
3628
3629
3630
3631
3632
3633
3634
3635
3636
3637
3638
3639
3640
3641
3642
3643
3644
3645
3646
3647
3648
3649
3650
3651
3652
3653
3654
3655
3656
3657
3658
3659
3660
3661
3662
3663
3664
3665
3666
3667
3668
3669
3670
3671
3672
3673
3674
3675
3676
3677
3678
3679
3680
3681
3682
3683
3684
3685
3686
3687
3688
3689
3690
3691
3692
3693
3694
3695
3696
3697
3698
3699
3700
3701
3702
3703
3704
3705
3706
3707
3708
3709
3710
3711
3712
3713
3714
3715
3716
3717
3718
3719
3720
3721
3722
3723
3724
3725
3726
3727
3728
3729
3730
3731
3732
3733
3734
3735
3736
3737
3738
3739
3740
3741
3742
3743
3744
3745
3746
3747
3748
3749
3750
3751
3752
3753
3754
3755
3756
3757
3758
3759
3760
3761
3762
3763
3764
3765
3766
3767
3768
3769
3770
3771
3772
3773
3774
3775
3776
3777
3778
3779
3780
3781
3782
3783
3784
3785
3786
3787
3788
3789
3790
3791
3792
3793
3794
3795
3796
3797
3798
3799
3800
3801
3802
3803
3804
3805
3806
3807
3808
3809
3810
3811
3812
3813
3814
3815
3816
3817
3818
3819
3820
3821
3822
3823
3824
3825
3826
3827
3828
3829
3830
3831
3832
3833
3834
3835
3836
3837
3838
3839
3840
3841
3842
3843
3844
3845
3846
3847
3848
3849
3850
3851
3852
3853
3854
3855
3856
3857
3858
3859
3860
3861
3862
3863
3864
3865
3866
3867
3868
3869
3870
3871
3872
3873
3874
3875
3876
3877
3878
3879
3880
3881
3882
3883
3884
3885
3886
3887
3888
3889
3890
3891
3892
3893
3894
3895
3896
3897
3898
3899
3900
3901
3902
3903
3904
3905
3906
3907
3908
3909
3910
3911
3912
3913
3914
3915
3916
3917
3918
3919
3920
3921
3922
3923
3924
3925
3926
3927
3928
3929
3930
3931
3932
3933
3934
3935
3936
3937
3938
3939
3940
3941
3942
3943
3944
3945
3946
3947
3948
3949
3950
3951
3952
3953
3954
3955
3956
3957
3958
3959
3960
3961
3962
3963
3964
3965
3966
3967
3968
3969
3970
3971
3972
3973
3974
3975
3976
3977
3978
3979
3980
3981
3982
3983
3984
3985
3986
3987
3988
3989
3990
3991
3992
3993
3994
3995
3996
3997
3998
3999
4000
4001
4002
4003
4004
4005
4006
4007
4008
4009
4010
4011
4012
4013
4014
4015
4016
4017
4018
4019
4020
4021
4022
4023
4024
4025
4026
4027
4028
4029
4030
4031
4032
4033
4034
4035
4036
4037
4038
4039
4040
4041
4042
4043
4044
4045
4046
4047
4048
4049
4050
4051
4052
4053
4054
4055
4056
4057
4058
4059
4060
4061
4062
4063
4064
4065
4066
4067
4068
4069
4070
4071
4072
4073
4074
4075
4076
4077
4078
4079
4080
4081
4082
4083
4084
4085
4086
4087
4088
4089
4090
4091
4092
4093
4094
4095
4096
4097
4098
4099
4100
4101
4102
4103
4104
4105
4106
4107
4108
4109
4110
4111
4112
4113
4114
4115
4116
4117
4118
4119
4120
4121
4122
4123
4124
4125
4126
4127
4128
4129
4130
4131
4132
4133
4134
4135
4136
4137
4138
4139
4140
4141
4142
4143
4144
4145
4146
4147
4148
4149
4150
4151
4152
4153
4154
4155
4156
4157
4158
4159
4160
4161
4162
4163
4164
4165
4166
4167
4168
4169
4170
4171
4172
4173
4174
4175
4176
4177
4178
4179
4180
4181
4182
4183
4184
4185
4186
4187
4188
4189
4190
4191
4192
4193
4194
4195
4196
4197
4198
4199
4200
4201
4202
4203
4204
4205
4206
4207
4208
4209
4210
4211
4212
4213
4214
4215
4216
4217
4218
4219
4220
4221
4222
4223
4224
4225
4226
4227
4228
4229
4230
4231
4232
4233
4234
4235
4236
4237
4238
4239
4240
4241
4242
4243
4244
4245
4246
4247
4248
4249
4250
4251
4252
4253
4254
4255
4256
4257
4258
4259
4260
4261
4262
4263
4264
4265
4266
4267
4268
4269
4270
4271
4272
4273
4274
4275
4276
4277
4278
4279
4280
4281
4282
4283
4284
4285
4286
4287
4288
4289
4290
4291
4292
4293
4294
4295
4296
4297
4298
4299
4300
4301
4302
4303
4304
4305
4306
4307
4308
4309
4310
4311
4312
4313
4314
4315
4316
4317
4318
4319
4320
4321
4322
4323
4324
4325
4326
4327
4328
4329
4330
4331
4332
4333
4334
4335
4336
4337
4338
4339
4340
4341
4342
4343
4344
4345
4346
4347
4348
4349
4350
4351
4352
4353
4354
4355
4356
4357
4358
4359
4360
4361
4362
4363
4364
4365
4366
4367
4368
4369
4370
4371
4372
4373
4374
4375
4376
4377
4378
4379
4380
4381
4382
4383
4384
4385
4386
4387
4388
4389
4390
4391
4392
4393
4394
4395
4396
4397
4398
4399
4400
4401
4402
4403
4404
4405
4406
4407
4408
4409
4410
4411
4412
4413
4414
4415
4416
4417
4418
4419
4420
4421
4422
4423
4424
4425
4426
4427
4428
4429
4430
4431
4432
4433
4434
4435
4436
4437
4438
4439
4440
4441
4442
4443
4444
4445
4446
4447
4448
4449
4450
4451
4452
4453
4454
4455
4456
4457
4458
4459
4460
4461
4462
4463
4464
4465
4466
4467
4468
4469
4470
4471
4472
4473
4474
4475
4476
4477
4478
4479
4480
4481
4482
4483
4484
4485
4486
4487
4488
4489
4490
4491
4492
4493
4494
4495
4496
4497
4498
4499
4500
4501
4502
4503
4504
4505
4506
4507
4508
4509
4510
4511
4512
4513
4514
4515
4516
4517
4518
4519
4520
4521
4522
4523
4524
4525
4526
4527
4528
4529
4530
4531
4532
4533
4534
4535
4536
4537
4538
4539
4540
4541
4542
4543
4544
4545
4546
4547
4548
4549
4550
4551
4552
4553
4554
4555
4556
4557
4558
4559
4560
4561
4562
4563
4564
4565
4566
4567
4568
4569
4570
4571
4572
4573
4574
4575
4576
4577
4578
4579
4580
4581
4582
4583
4584
4585
4586
4587
4588
4589
4590
4591
4592
4593
4594
4595
4596
4597
4598
4599
4600
4601
4602
4603
4604
4605
4606
4607
4608
4609
4610
4611
4612
4613
4614
4615
4616
4617
4618
4619
4620
4621
4622
4623
4624
4625
4626
4627
4628
4629
4630
4631
4632
4633
4634
4635
4636
4637
4638
4639
4640
4641
4642
4643
4644
4645
4646
4647
4648
4649
4650
4651
4652
4653
4654
4655
4656
4657
4658
4659
4660
4661
4662
4663
4664
4665
4666
4667
4668
4669
4670
4671
4672
4673
4674
4675
4676
4677
4678
4679
4680
4681
4682
4683
4684
4685
4686
4687
4688
4689
4690
4691
4692
4693
4694
4695
4696
4697
4698
4699
4700
4701
4702
4703
4704
4705
4706
4707
4708
4709
4710
4711
4712
4713
4714
4715
4716
4717
4718
4719
4720
4721
4722
4723
4724
4725
4726
4727
4728
4729
4730
4731
4732
4733
4734
4735
4736
4737
4738
4739
4740
4741
4742
4743
4744
4745
4746
4747
4748
4749
4750
4751
4752
4753
4754
4755
4756
4757
4758
4759
4760
4761
4762
4763
4764
4765
4766
4767
4768
4769
4770
4771
4772
4773
4774
4775
4776
4777
4778
4779
4780
4781
4782
4783
4784
4785
4786
4787
4788
4789
4790
4791
4792
4793
4794
4795
4796
4797
4798
4799
4800
4801
4802
4803
4804
4805
4806
4807
4808
4809
4810
4811
4812
4813
4814
4815
4816
4817
4818
4819
4820
4821
4822
4823
4824
4825
4826
4827
4828
4829
4830
4831
4832
4833
4834
4835
4836
4837
4838
4839
4840
4841
4842
4843
4844
4845
4846
4847
4848
4849
4850
4851
4852
4853
4854
4855
4856
4857
4858
4859
4860
4861
4862
4863
4864
4865
4866
4867
4868
4869
4870
4871
4872
4873
4874
4875
4876
4877
4878
4879
4880
4881
4882
4883
4884
4885
4886
4887
4888
4889
4890
4891
4892
4893
4894
4895
4896
4897
4898
4899
4900
4901
4902
4903
4904
4905
4906
4907
4908
4909
4910
4911
4912
4913
4914
4915
4916
4917
4918
4919
4920
4921
4922
4923
4924
4925
4926
4927
4928
4929
4930
4931
4932
4933
4934
4935
4936
4937
4938
4939
4940
4941
4942
4943
4944
4945
4946
4947
4948
4949
4950
4951
4952
4953
4954
4955
4956
4957
4958
4959
4960
4961
4962
4963
4964
4965
4966
4967
4968
4969
4970
4971
4972
4973
4974
4975
4976
4977
4978
4979
4980
4981
4982
4983
4984
4985
4986
4987
4988
4989
4990
4991
4992
4993
4994
4995
4996
4997
4998
4999
5000
5001
5002
5003
5004
5005
5006
5007
5008
5009
5010
5011
5012
5013
5014
5015
5016
5017
5018
5019
5020
5021
5022
5023
5024
5025
5026
5027
5028
5029
5030
5031
5032
5033
5034
5035
5036
5037
5038
5039
5040
5041
5042
5043
5044
5045
5046
5047
5048
5049
5050
5051
5052
5053
5054
5055
5056
5057
5058
5059
5060
5061
5062
5063
5064
5065
5066
5067
5068
5069
5070
5071
5072
5073
5074
5075
5076
5077
5078
5079
5080
5081
5082
5083
5084
5085
5086
5087
5088
5089
5090
5091
5092
5093
5094
5095
5096
5097
5098
5099
5100
5101
5102
5103
5104
5105
5106
5107
5108
5109
5110
5111
5112
5113
5114
5115
5116
5117
5118
5119
5120
5121
5122
5123
5124
5125
5126
5127
5128
5129
5130
5131
5132
5133
5134
5135
5136
5137
5138
5139
5140
5141
5142
5143
5144
5145
5146
5147
5148
5149
5150
5151
5152
5153
5154
5155
5156
5157
5158
5159
5160
5161
5162
5163
5164
5165
5166
5167
5168
5169
5170
5171
5172
5173
5174
5175
5176
5177
5178
5179
5180
5181
5182
5183
5184
5185
5186
5187
5188
5189
5190
5191
5192
5193
5194
5195
5196
5197
5198
5199
5200
5201
5202
5203
5204
5205
5206
5207
5208
5209
5210
5211
5212
5213
5214
5215
5216
5217
5218
5219
5220
5221
5222
5223
5224
5225
5226
5227
5228
5229
5230
5231
5232
5233
5234
5235
5236
5237
5238
5239
5240
5241
5242
5243
5244
5245
5246
5247
5248
5249
5250
5251
5252
5253
5254
5255
5256
5257
5258
5259
5260
5261
5262
5263
5264
5265
5266
5267
5268
5269
5270
5271
5272
5273
5274
5275
5276
5277
5278
5279
5280
5281
5282
5283
5284
5285
5286
5287
5288
5289
5290
5291
5292
5293
5294
5295
5296
5297
5298
5299
5300
5301
5302
5303
5304
5305
5306
5307
5308
5309
5310
5311
5312
5313
5314
5315
5316
5317
5318
5319
5320
5321
5322
5323
5324
5325
5326
5327
5328
5329
5330
5331
5332
5333
5334
5335
5336
5337
5338
5339
5340
5341
5342
5343
5344
5345
5346
5347
5348
5349
5350
5351
5352
5353
5354
5355
5356
5357
5358
5359
5360
5361
5362
5363
5364
5365
5366
5367
5368
5369
5370
5371
5372
5373
5374
5375
5376
5377
5378
5379
5380
5381
5382
5383
5384
5385
5386
5387
5388
5389
5390
5391
5392
5393
5394
5395
5396
5397
5398
5399
5400
5401
5402
5403
5404
5405
5406
5407
5408
5409
5410
5411
5412
5413
5414
5415
5416
5417
5418
5419
5420
5421
5422
5423
5424
5425
5426
5427
5428
5429
5430
5431
5432
5433
5434
5435
5436
5437
5438
5439
5440
5441
5442
5443
5444
5445
5446
5447
5448
5449
5450
5451
5452
5453
5454
5455
5456
5457
5458
5459
5460
5461
5462
5463
5464
5465
5466
5467
5468
5469
5470
5471
5472
5473
5474
5475
5476
5477
5478
5479
5480
5481
5482
5483
5484
5485
5486
5487
5488
5489
5490
5491
5492
5493
5494
5495
5496
5497
5498
5499
5500
5501
5502
5503
5504
5505
5506
5507
5508
5509
5510
5511
5512
5513
5514
5515
5516
5517
5518
5519
5520
5521
5522
5523
5524
5525
5526
5527
5528
5529
5530
5531
5532
5533
5534
5535
5536
5537
5538
5539
5540
5541
5542
5543
5544
5545
5546
5547
5548
5549
5550
5551
5552
5553
5554
5555
5556
5557
5558
5559
5560
5561
5562
5563
5564
5565
5566
5567
5568
5569
5570
5571
5572
5573
5574
5575
5576
5577
5578
5579
5580
5581
5582
5583
5584
5585
5586
5587
5588
5589
5590
5591
5592
5593
5594
5595
5596
5597
5598
5599
5600
5601
5602
5603
5604
5605
5606
5607
5608
5609
5610
5611
5612
5613
5614
5615
5616
5617
5618
5619
5620
5621
5622
5623
5624
5625
5626
5627
5628
5629
5630
5631
5632
5633
5634
5635
5636
5637
5638
5639
5640
5641
5642
5643
5644
5645
5646
5647
5648
5649
5650
5651
5652
5653
5654
5655
5656
5657
5658
5659
5660
5661
5662
5663
5664
5665
5666
5667
5668
5669
5670
5671
5672
5673
5674
5675
5676
5677
5678
5679
5680
5681
5682
5683
5684
5685
5686
5687
5688
5689
5690
5691
5692
5693
5694
5695
5696
5697
5698
5699
5700
5701
5702
5703
5704
5705
5706
5707
5708
5709
5710
5711
5712
5713
5714
5715
5716
5717
5718
5719
5720
5721
5722
5723
5724
5725
5726
5727
5728
5729
5730
5731
5732
5733
5734
5735
5736
5737
5738
5739
5740
5741
5742
5743
5744
5745
5746
5747
5748
5749
5750
5751
5752
5753
5754
5755
5756
5757
5758
5759
5760
5761
5762
5763
5764
5765
5766
5767
5768
5769
5770
5771
5772
5773
5774
5775
5776
5777
5778
5779
5780
5781
5782
5783
5784
5785
5786
5787
5788
5789
5790
5791
5792
5793
5794
5795
5796
5797
5798
5799
5800
5801
5802
5803
5804
5805
5806
5807
5808
5809
5810
5811
5812
5813
5814
5815
5816
5817
5818
5819
5820
5821
5822
5823
5824
5825
5826
5827
5828
5829
5830
5831
5832
5833
5834
5835
5836
5837
5838
5839
5840
5841
5842
5843
5844
5845
5846
5847
5848
5849
5850
5851
5852
5853
5854
5855
5856
5857
5858
5859
5860
5861
5862
5863
5864
5865
5866
5867
5868
5869
5870
5871
5872
5873
5874
5875
5876
5877
5878
5879
5880
5881
5882
5883
5884
5885
5886
5887
5888
5889
5890
5891
5892
5893
5894
5895
5896
5897
5898
5899
5900
5901
5902
5903
5904
5905
5906
5907
5908
5909
5910
5911
5912
5913
5914
5915
5916
5917
5918
5919
5920
5921
5922
5923
5924
5925
5926
5927
5928
5929
5930
5931
5932
5933
5934
5935
5936
5937
5938
5939
5940
5941
5942
5943
5944
5945
5946
5947
5948
5949
5950
5951
5952
5953
5954
5955
5956
5957
5958
5959
5960
5961
5962
5963
5964
5965
5966
5967
5968
5969
5970
5971
5972
5973
5974
5975
5976
5977
5978
5979
5980
5981
5982
5983
5984
5985
5986
5987
5988
5989
5990
5991
5992
5993
5994
5995
5996
5997
5998
5999
6000
6001
6002
6003
6004
6005
6006
6007
6008
6009
6010
6011
6012
6013
6014
6015
6016
6017
6018
6019
6020
6021
6022
6023
6024
6025
6026
6027
6028
6029
6030
6031
6032
6033
6034
6035
6036
6037
6038
6039
6040
6041
6042
6043
6044
6045
6046
6047
6048
6049
6050
6051
6052
6053
6054
6055
6056
6057
6058
6059
6060
6061
6062
6063
6064
6065
6066
6067
6068
6069
6070
6071
6072
6073
6074
6075
6076
6077
6078
6079
6080
6081
6082
6083
6084
6085
6086
6087
6088
6089
6090
6091
6092
6093
6094
6095
6096
6097
6098
6099
6100
6101
6102
6103
6104
6105
6106
6107
6108
6109
6110
6111
6112
6113
6114
6115
6116
6117
6118
6119
6120
6121
6122
6123
6124
6125
6126
6127
6128
6129
6130
6131
6132
6133
6134
6135
6136
6137
6138
6139
6140
6141
6142
6143
6144
6145
6146
6147
6148
6149
6150
6151
6152
6153
6154
6155
6156
6157
6158
6159
6160
6161
6162
6163
6164
6165
6166
6167
6168
6169
6170
6171
6172
6173
6174
6175
6176
6177
6178
6179
6180
6181
6182
6183
6184
6185
6186
6187
6188
6189
6190
6191
6192
6193
6194
6195
6196
6197
6198
6199
6200
6201
6202
6203
6204
6205
6206
6207
6208
6209
6210
6211
6212
6213
6214
6215
6216
6217
6218
6219
6220
6221
6222
6223
6224
6225
6226
6227
6228
6229
6230
6231
6232
6233
6234
6235
6236
6237
6238
6239
6240
6241
6242
6243
6244
6245
6246
6247
6248
6249
6250
6251
6252
6253
6254
6255
6256
6257
6258
6259
6260
6261
6262
6263
6264
6265
6266
6267
6268
6269
6270
6271
6272
6273
6274
6275
6276
6277
6278
6279
6280
6281
6282
6283
6284
6285
6286
6287
6288
6289
6290
6291
6292
6293
6294
6295
6296
6297
6298
6299
6300
6301
6302
6303
6304
6305
6306
6307
6308
6309
6310
6311
6312
6313
6314
6315
6316
6317
6318
6319
6320
6321
6322
6323
6324
6325
6326
6327
6328
6329
6330
6331
6332
6333
6334
6335
6336
6337
6338
6339
6340
6341
6342
6343
6344
6345
6346
6347
6348
6349
6350
6351
6352
6353
6354
6355
6356
6357
6358
6359
6360
6361
6362
6363
6364
6365
6366
6367
6368
6369
6370
6371
6372
6373
6374
6375
6376
6377
6378
6379
6380
6381
6382
6383
6384
6385
6386
6387
6388
6389
6390
6391
6392
6393
6394
6395
6396
6397
6398
6399
6400
6401
6402
6403
6404
6405
6406
6407
6408
6409
6410
6411
6412
6413
6414
6415
6416
6417
6418
6419
6420
6421
6422
6423
6424
6425
6426
6427
6428
6429
6430
6431
6432
6433
6434
6435
6436
6437
6438
6439
6440
6441
6442
6443
6444
6445
6446
6447
6448
6449
6450
6451
6452
6453
6454
6455
6456
6457
6458
6459
6460
6461
6462
6463
6464
6465
6466
6467
6468
6469
6470
6471
6472
6473
6474
6475
6476
6477
6478
6479
6480
6481
6482
6483
6484
6485
6486
6487
6488
6489
6490
6491
6492
6493
6494
6495
6496
6497
6498
6499
6500
6501
6502
6503
6504
6505
6506
6507
6508
6509
6510
6511
6512
6513
6514
6515
6516
6517
6518
6519
6520
6521
6522
6523
6524
6525
6526
6527
6528
6529
6530
6531
6532
6533
6534
6535
6536
6537
6538
6539
6540
6541
6542
6543
6544
6545
6546
6547
6548
6549
6550
6551
6552
6553
6554
6555
6556
6557
6558
6559
6560
6561
6562
6563
6564
6565
6566
6567
6568
6569
6570
6571
6572
6573
6574
6575
6576
6577
6578
6579
6580
6581
6582
6583
6584
6585
6586
6587
6588
6589
6590
6591
6592
6593
6594
6595
6596
6597
6598
6599
6600
6601
6602
6603
6604
6605
6606
6607
6608
6609
6610
6611
6612
6613
6614
6615
6616
6617
6618
6619
6620
6621
6622
6623
6624
6625
6626
6627
6628
6629
6630
6631
6632
6633
6634
6635
6636
6637
6638
6639
6640
6641
6642
6643
6644
6645
6646
6647
6648
6649
6650
6651
6652
6653
6654
6655
6656
6657
6658
6659
6660
6661
6662
6663
6664
6665
6666
6667
6668
6669
6670
6671
6672
6673
6674
6675
6676
6677
6678
6679
6680
6681
6682
6683
6684
6685
6686
6687
6688
6689
6690
6691
6692
6693
6694
6695
6696
6697
6698
6699
6700
6701
6702
6703
6704
6705
6706
6707
6708
6709
6710
6711
6712
6713
6714
6715
6716
6717
6718
6719
6720
6721
6722
6723
6724
6725
6726
6727
6728
6729
6730
6731
6732
6733
6734
6735
6736
6737
6738
6739
6740
6741
6742
6743
6744
6745
6746
6747
6748
6749
6750
6751
6752
6753
6754
6755
6756
6757
6758
6759
6760
6761
6762
6763
6764
6765
6766
6767
6768
6769
6770
6771
6772
6773
6774
6775
6776
6777
6778
6779
6780
6781
6782
6783
6784
6785
6786
6787
6788
6789
6790
6791
6792
6793
6794
6795
6796
6797
6798
6799
6800
6801
6802
6803
6804
6805
6806
6807
6808
6809
6810
6811
6812
6813
6814
6815
6816
6817
6818
6819
6820
6821
6822
6823
6824
6825
6826
6827
6828
6829
6830
6831
6832
6833
6834
6835
6836
6837
6838
6839
6840
6841
6842
6843
6844
6845
6846
6847
6848
6849
6850
6851
6852
6853
6854
6855
6856
6857
6858
6859
6860
6861
6862
6863
6864
6865
6866
6867
6868
6869
6870
6871
6872
6873
6874
6875
6876
6877
6878
6879
6880
6881
6882
6883
6884
6885
6886
6887
6888
6889
6890
6891
6892
6893
6894
6895
6896
6897
6898
6899
6900
6901
6902
6903
6904
6905
6906
6907
6908
6909
6910
6911
6912
6913
6914
6915
6916
6917
6918
6919
6920
6921
6922
6923
6924
6925
6926
6927
6928
6929
6930
6931
6932
6933
6934
6935
6936
6937
6938
6939
6940
6941
6942
6943
6944
6945
6946
6947
6948
6949
6950
6951
6952
6953
6954
6955
6956
6957
6958
6959
6960
6961
6962
6963
6964
6965
6966
6967
6968
6969
6970
6971
6972
6973
6974
6975
6976
6977
6978
6979
6980
6981
6982
6983
6984
6985
6986
6987
6988
6989
6990
6991
6992
6993
6994
6995
6996
6997
6998
6999
7000
7001
7002
7003
7004
7005
7006
7007
7008
7009
7010
7011
7012
7013
7014
7015
7016
7017
7018
7019
7020
7021
7022
7023
7024
7025
7026
7027
7028
7029
7030
7031
7032
7033
7034
7035
7036
7037
7038
7039
7040
7041
7042
7043
7044
7045
7046
7047
7048
7049
7050
7051
7052
7053
7054
7055
7056
7057
7058
7059
7060
7061
7062
7063
7064
7065
7066
7067
7068
7069
7070
7071
7072
7073
7074
7075
7076
7077
7078
7079
7080
7081
7082
7083
7084
7085
7086
7087
7088
7089
7090
7091
7092
7093
7094
7095
7096
7097
7098
7099
7100
7101
7102
7103
7104
7105
7106
7107
7108
7109
7110
7111
7112
7113
7114
7115
7116
7117
7118
7119
7120
7121
7122
7123
7124
7125
7126
7127
7128
7129
7130
7131
7132
7133
7134
7135
7136
7137
7138
7139
7140
7141
7142
7143
7144
7145
7146
7147
7148
7149
7150
7151
7152
7153
7154
7155
7156
7157
7158
7159
7160
7161
7162
7163
7164
7165
7166
7167
7168
7169
7170
7171
7172
7173
7174
7175
7176
7177
7178
7179
7180
7181
7182
7183
7184
7185
7186
7187
7188
7189
7190
7191
7192
7193
7194
7195
7196
7197
7198
7199
7200
7201
7202
7203
7204
7205
7206
7207
7208
7209
7210
7211
7212
7213
7214
7215
7216
7217
7218
7219
7220
7221
7222
7223
7224
7225
7226
7227
7228
7229
7230
7231
7232
7233
7234
7235
7236
7237
7238
7239
7240
7241
7242
7243
7244
7245
7246
7247
7248
7249
7250
7251
7252
7253
7254
7255
7256
7257
7258
7259
7260
7261
7262
7263
7264
7265
7266
7267
7268
7269
7270
7271
7272
7273
7274
7275
7276
7277
7278
7279
7280
7281
7282
7283
7284
7285
7286
7287
7288
7289
7290
7291
7292
7293
7294
7295
7296
7297
7298
7299
7300
7301
7302
7303
7304
7305
7306
7307
7308
7309
7310
7311
7312
7313
7314
7315
7316
7317
7318
7319
7320
7321
7322
7323
7324
7325
7326
7327
7328
7329
7330
7331
7332
7333
7334
7335
7336
7337
7338
7339
7340
7341
7342
7343
7344
7345
7346
7347
7348
7349
7350
7351
7352
7353
7354
7355
7356
7357
7358
7359
7360
7361
7362
7363
7364
7365
7366
7367
7368
7369
7370
7371
7372
7373
7374
7375
7376
7377
7378
7379
7380
7381
7382
7383
7384
7385
7386
7387
7388
7389
7390
7391
7392
7393
7394
7395
7396
7397
7398
7399
7400
7401
7402
7403
7404
7405
7406
7407
7408
7409
7410
7411
7412
7413
7414
7415
7416
7417
7418
7419
7420
7421
7422
7423
7424
7425
7426
7427
7428
7429
7430
7431
7432
7433
7434
7435
7436
7437
7438
7439
7440
7441
7442
7443
7444
7445
7446
7447
7448
7449
7450
7451
7452
7453
7454
7455
7456
7457
7458
7459
7460
7461
7462
7463
7464
7465
7466
7467
7468
7469
7470
7471
7472
7473
7474
7475
7476
7477
7478
7479
7480
7481
7482
7483
7484
7485
7486
7487
7488
7489
7490
7491
7492
7493
7494
7495
7496
7497
7498
7499
7500
7501
7502
7503
7504
7505
7506
7507
7508
7509
7510
7511
7512
7513
7514
7515
7516
7517
7518
7519
7520
7521
7522
7523
7524
7525
7526
7527
7528
7529
7530
7531
7532
7533
7534
7535
7536
7537
7538
7539
7540
7541
7542
7543
7544
7545
7546
7547
7548
7549
7550
7551
7552
7553
7554
7555
7556
7557
7558
7559
7560
7561
7562
7563
7564
7565
7566
7567
7568
7569
7570
7571
7572
7573
7574
7575
7576
7577
7578
7579
7580
7581
7582
7583
7584
7585
7586
7587
7588
7589
7590
7591
7592
7593
7594
7595
7596
7597
7598
7599
7600
7601
7602
7603
7604
7605
7606
7607
7608
7609
7610
7611
7612
7613
7614
7615
7616
7617
7618
7619
7620
7621
7622
7623
7624
7625
7626
7627
7628
7629
7630
7631
7632
7633
7634
7635
7636
7637
7638
7639
7640
7641
7642
7643
7644
7645
7646
7647
7648
7649
7650
7651
7652
7653
7654
7655
7656
7657
7658
7659
7660
7661
7662
7663
7664
7665
7666
7667
7668
7669
7670
7671
7672
7673
7674
7675
7676
7677
7678
7679
7680
7681
7682
7683
7684
7685
7686
7687
7688
7689
7690
7691
7692
7693
7694
7695
7696
7697
7698
7699
7700
7701
7702
7703
7704
7705
7706
7707
7708
7709
7710
7711
7712
7713
7714
7715
7716
7717
7718
7719
7720
7721
7722
7723
7724
7725
7726
7727
7728
7729
7730
7731
7732
7733
7734
7735
7736
7737
7738
7739
7740
7741
7742
7743
7744
7745
7746
7747
7748
7749
7750
7751
7752
7753
7754
7755
7756
7757
7758
7759
7760
7761
7762
7763
7764
7765
7766
7767
7768
7769
7770
7771
7772
7773
7774
7775
7776
7777
7778
7779
7780
7781
7782
7783
7784
7785
7786
7787
7788
7789
7790
7791
7792
7793
7794
7795
7796
7797
7798
7799
7800
7801
7802
7803
7804
7805
7806
7807
7808
7809
7810
7811
7812
7813
7814
7815
7816
7817
7818
7819
7820
7821
7822
7823
7824
7825
7826
7827
7828
7829
7830
7831
7832
7833
7834
7835
7836
7837
7838
7839
7840
7841
7842
7843
7844
7845
7846
7847
7848
7849
7850
7851
7852
7853
7854
7855
7856
7857
7858
7859
7860
7861
7862
7863
7864
7865
7866
7867
7868
7869
7870
7871
7872
7873
7874
7875
7876
7877
7878
7879
7880
7881
7882
7883
7884
7885
7886
7887
7888
7889
7890
7891
7892
7893
7894
7895
7896
7897
7898
7899
7900
7901
7902
7903
7904
7905
7906
7907
7908
7909
7910
7911
7912
7913
7914
7915
7916
7917
7918
7919
7920
7921
7922
7923
7924
7925
7926
7927
7928
7929
7930
7931
7932
7933
7934
7935
7936
7937
7938
7939
7940
7941
7942
7943
7944
7945
7946
7947
7948
7949
7950
7951
7952
7953
7954
7955
7956
7957
7958
7959
7960
7961
7962
7963
7964
7965
7966
7967
7968
7969
7970
7971
7972
7973
7974
7975
7976
7977
7978
7979
7980
7981
7982
7983
7984
7985
7986
7987
7988
7989
7990
7991
7992
7993
7994
7995
7996
7997
7998
7999
8000
8001
8002
8003
8004
8005
8006
8007
8008
8009
8010
8011
8012
8013
8014
8015
8016
8017
8018
8019
8020
8021
8022
8023
8024
8025
8026
8027
8028
8029
8030
8031
8032
8033
8034
8035
8036
8037
8038
8039
8040
8041
8042
8043
8044
8045
8046
8047
8048
8049
8050
8051
8052
8053
8054
8055
8056
8057
8058
8059
8060
8061
8062
8063
8064
8065
8066
8067
8068
8069
8070
8071
8072
8073
8074
8075
8076
8077
8078
8079
8080
8081
8082
8083
8084
8085
8086
8087
8088
8089
8090
8091
8092
8093
8094
8095
8096
8097
8098
8099
8100
8101
8102
8103
8104
8105
8106
8107
8108
8109
8110
8111
8112
8113
8114
8115
8116
8117
8118
8119
8120
8121
8122
8123
8124
8125
8126
8127
8128
8129
8130
8131
8132
8133
8134
8135
8136
8137
8138
8139
8140
8141
8142
8143
8144
8145
8146
8147
8148
8149
8150
8151
8152
8153
8154
8155
8156
8157
8158
8159
8160
8161
8162
8163
8164
8165
8166
8167
8168
8169
8170
8171
8172
8173
8174
8175
8176
8177
8178
8179
8180
8181
8182
8183
8184
8185
8186
8187
8188
8189
8190
8191
8192
8193
8194
8195
8196
8197
8198
8199
8200
8201
8202
8203
8204
8205
8206
8207
8208
8209
8210
8211
8212
8213
8214
8215
8216
8217
8218
8219
8220
8221
8222
8223
8224
8225
8226
8227
8228
8229
8230
8231
8232
8233
8234
8235
8236
8237
8238
8239
8240
8241
8242
8243
8244
8245
8246
8247
8248
8249
8250
8251
8252
8253
8254
8255
8256
8257
8258
8259
8260
8261
8262
8263
8264
8265
8266
8267
8268
8269
8270
8271
8272
8273
8274
8275
8276
8277
8278
8279
8280
8281
8282
8283
8284
8285
8286
8287
8288
8289
8290
8291
8292
8293
8294
8295
8296
8297
8298
8299
8300
8301
8302
8303
8304
8305
8306
8307
8308
8309
8310
8311
8312
8313
8314
8315
8316
8317
8318
8319
8320
8321
8322
8323
8324
8325
8326
8327
8328
8329
8330
8331
8332
8333
8334
8335
8336
8337
8338
8339
8340
8341
8342
8343
8344
8345
8346
8347
8348
8349
8350
8351
8352
8353
8354
8355
8356
8357
8358
8359
8360
8361
8362
8363
8364
8365
8366
8367
8368
8369
8370
8371
8372
8373
8374
8375
8376
8377
8378
8379
8380
8381
8382
8383
8384
8385
8386
8387
8388
8389
8390
8391
8392
8393
8394
8395
8396
8397
8398
8399
8400
8401
8402
8403
8404
8405
8406
8407
8408
8409
8410
8411
8412
8413
8414
8415
8416
8417
8418
8419
8420
8421
8422
8423
8424
8425
8426
8427
8428
8429
8430
8431
8432
8433
8434
8435
8436
8437
8438
8439
8440
8441
8442
8443
8444
8445
8446
8447
8448
8449
8450
8451
8452
8453
8454
8455
8456
8457
8458
8459
8460
8461
8462
8463
8464
8465
8466
8467
8468
8469
8470
8471
8472
8473
8474
8475
8476
8477
8478
8479
8480
8481
8482
8483
8484
8485
8486
8487
8488
8489
8490
8491
8492
8493
8494
8495
8496
8497
8498
8499
8500
8501
8502
8503
8504
8505
8506
8507
8508
8509
8510
8511
8512
8513
8514
8515
8516
8517
8518
8519
8520
8521
8522
8523
8524
8525
8526
8527
8528
8529
8530
8531
8532
8533
8534
8535
8536
8537
8538
8539
8540
8541
8542
8543
8544
8545
8546
8547
8548
8549
8550
8551
8552
8553
8554
8555
8556
8557
8558
8559
8560
8561
8562
8563
8564
8565
8566
8567
8568
8569
8570
8571
8572
8573
8574
8575
8576
8577
8578
8579
8580
8581
8582
8583
8584
8585
8586
8587
8588
8589
8590
8591
8592
8593
8594
8595
8596
8597
8598
8599
8600
8601
8602
8603
8604
8605
8606
8607
8608
8609
8610
8611
8612
8613
8614
8615
8616
8617
8618
8619
8620
8621
8622
8623
8624
8625
8626
8627
8628
8629
8630
8631
8632
8633
8634
8635
8636
8637
8638
8639
8640
8641
8642
8643
8644
8645
8646
8647
8648
8649
8650
8651
8652
8653
8654
8655
8656
8657
8658
8659
8660
8661
8662
8663
8664
8665
8666
8667
8668
8669
8670
8671
8672
8673
8674
8675
8676
8677
8678
8679
8680
8681
8682
8683
8684
8685
8686
8687
8688
8689
8690
8691
8692
8693
8694
8695
8696
8697
8698
8699
8700
8701
8702
8703
8704
8705
8706
8707
8708
8709
8710
8711
8712
8713
8714
8715
8716
8717
8718
8719
8720
8721
8722
8723
8724
8725
8726
8727
8728
8729
8730
8731
8732
8733
8734
8735
8736
8737
8738
8739
8740
8741
8742
8743
8744
8745
8746
8747
8748
8749
8750
8751
8752
8753
8754
8755
8756
8757
8758
8759
8760
8761
8762
8763
8764
8765
8766
8767
8768
8769
8770
8771
8772
8773
8774
8775
8776
8777
8778
8779
8780
8781
8782
8783
8784
8785
8786
8787
8788
8789
8790
8791
8792
8793
8794
8795
8796
8797
8798
8799
8800
8801
8802
8803
8804
8805
8806
8807
8808
8809
8810
8811
8812
8813
8814
8815
8816
8817
8818
8819
8820
8821
8822
8823
8824
8825
8826
8827
8828
8829
8830
8831
8832
8833
8834
8835
8836
8837
8838
8839
8840
8841
8842
8843
8844
8845
8846
8847
8848
8849
8850
8851
8852
8853
8854
8855
8856
8857
8858
8859
8860
8861
8862
8863
8864
8865
8866
8867
8868
8869
8870
8871
8872
8873
8874
8875
8876
8877
8878
8879
8880
8881
8882
8883
8884
8885
8886
8887
8888
8889
8890
8891
8892
8893
8894
8895
8896
8897
8898
8899
8900
8901
8902
8903
8904
8905
8906
8907
8908
8909
8910
8911
8912
8913
8914
8915
8916
8917
8918
8919
8920
8921
8922
8923
8924
8925
8926
8927
8928
8929
8930
8931
8932
8933
8934
8935
8936
8937
8938
8939
8940
8941
8942
8943
8944
8945
8946
8947
8948
8949
8950
8951
8952
8953
8954
8955
8956
8957
8958
8959
8960
8961
8962
8963
8964
8965
8966
8967
8968
8969
8970
8971
8972
8973
8974
8975
8976
8977
8978
8979
8980
8981
8982
8983
8984
8985
8986
8987
8988
8989
8990
8991
8992
8993
8994
8995
8996
8997
8998
8999
9000
9001
9002
9003
9004
9005
9006
9007
9008
9009
9010
9011
9012
9013
9014
9015
9016
9017
9018
9019
9020
9021
9022
9023
9024
9025
9026
9027
9028
9029
9030
9031
9032
9033
9034
9035
9036
9037
9038
9039
9040
9041
9042
9043
9044
9045
9046
9047
9048
9049
9050
9051
9052
9053
9054
9055
9056
9057
9058
9059
9060
9061
9062
9063
9064
9065
9066
9067
9068
9069
9070
9071
9072
9073
9074
9075
9076
9077
9078
9079
9080
9081
9082
9083
9084
9085
9086
9087
9088
9089
9090
9091
9092
9093
9094
9095
9096
9097
9098
9099
9100
9101
9102
9103
9104
9105
9106
9107
9108
9109
9110
9111
9112
9113
9114
9115
9116
9117
9118
9119
9120
9121
9122
9123
9124
9125
9126
9127
9128
9129
9130
9131
9132
9133
9134
9135
9136
9137
9138
9139
9140
9141
9142
9143
9144
9145
9146
9147
9148
9149
9150
9151
9152
9153
9154
9155
9156
9157
9158
9159
9160
9161
9162
9163
9164
9165
9166
9167
9168
9169
9170
9171
9172
9173
9174
9175
9176
9177
9178
9179
9180
9181
9182
9183
9184
9185
9186
9187
9188
9189
9190
9191
9192
9193
9194
9195
9196
9197
9198
9199
9200
9201
9202
9203
9204
9205
9206
9207
9208
9209
9210
9211
9212
9213
9214
9215
9216
9217
9218
9219
9220
9221
9222
9223
9224
9225
9226
9227
9228
9229
9230
9231
9232
9233
9234
9235
9236
9237
9238
9239
9240
9241
9242
9243
9244
9245
9246
9247
9248
9249
9250
9251
9252
9253
9254
9255
9256
9257
9258
9259
9260
9261
9262
9263
9264
9265
9266
9267
9268
9269
9270
9271
9272
9273
9274
9275
9276
9277
9278
9279
9280
9281
9282
9283
9284
9285
9286
9287
9288
9289
9290
9291
9292
9293
9294
9295
9296
9297
9298
9299
9300
9301
9302
9303
9304
9305
9306
9307
9308
9309
9310
9311
9312
9313
9314
9315
9316
9317
9318
9319
9320
9321
9322
9323
9324
9325
9326
9327
9328
9329
9330
9331
9332
9333
9334
9335
9336
9337
9338
9339
9340
9341
9342
9343
9344
9345
9346
9347
9348
9349
9350
9351
9352
9353
9354
9355
9356
9357
9358
9359
9360
9361
9362
9363
9364
9365
9366
9367
9368
9369
9370
9371
9372
9373
9374
9375
9376
9377
9378
9379
9380
9381
9382
9383
9384
9385
9386
9387
9388
9389
9390
9391
9392
9393
9394
9395
9396
9397
9398
9399
9400
9401
9402
9403
9404
9405
9406
9407
9408
9409
9410
9411
9412
9413
9414
9415
9416
9417
9418
9419
9420
9421
9422
9423
9424
9425
9426
9427
9428
9429
9430
9431
9432
9433
9434
9435
9436
9437
9438
9439
9440
9441
9442
9443
9444
9445
9446
9447
9448
9449
9450
9451
9452
9453
9454
9455
9456
9457
9458
9459
9460
9461
9462
9463
9464
9465
9466
9467
9468
9469
9470
9471
9472
9473
9474
9475
9476
9477
9478
9479
9480
9481
9482
9483
9484
9485
9486
9487
9488
9489
9490
9491
9492
9493
9494
9495
9496
9497
9498
9499
9500
9501
9502
9503
9504
9505
9506
9507
9508
9509
9510
9511
9512
9513
9514
9515
9516
9517
9518
9519
9520
9521
9522
9523
9524
9525
9526
9527
9528
9529
9530
9531
9532
9533
9534
9535
9536
9537
9538
9539
9540
9541
9542
9543
9544
9545
9546
9547
9548
9549
9550
9551
9552
9553
9554
9555
9556
9557
9558
9559
9560
9561
9562
9563
9564
9565
9566
9567
9568
9569
9570
9571
9572
9573
9574
9575
9576
9577
9578
9579
9580
9581
9582
9583
9584
9585
9586
9587
9588
9589
9590
9591
9592
9593
9594
9595
9596
9597
9598
9599
9600
9601
9602
9603
9604
9605
9606
9607
9608
9609
9610
9611
9612
9613
9614
9615
9616
9617
9618
9619
9620
9621
9622
9623
9624
9625
9626
9627
9628
9629
9630
9631
9632
9633
9634
9635
9636
9637
9638
9639
9640
9641
9642
9643
9644
9645
9646
9647
9648
9649
9650
9651
9652
9653
9654
9655
9656
9657
9658
9659
9660
9661
9662
9663
9664
9665
9666
9667
9668
9669
9670
9671
9672
9673
9674
9675
9676
9677
9678
9679
9680
9681
9682
9683
9684
9685
9686
9687
9688
9689
9690
9691
9692
9693
9694
9695
9696
9697
9698
9699
9700
9701
9702
9703
9704
9705
9706
9707
9708
9709
9710
9711
9712
9713
9714
9715
9716
9717
9718
9719
9720
9721
9722
9723
9724
9725
9726
9727
9728
9729
9730
9731
9732
9733
9734
9735
9736
9737
9738
9739
9740
9741
9742
9743
9744
9745
9746
9747
9748
9749
9750
9751
9752
9753
9754
9755
9756
9757
9758
9759
9760
9761
9762
9763
9764
9765
9766
9767
9768
9769
9770
9771
9772
9773
9774
9775
9776
9777
9778
9779
9780
9781
9782
9783
9784
9785
9786
9787
9788
9789
9790
9791
9792
9793
9794
9795
9796
9797
9798
9799
9800
9801
9802
9803
9804
9805
9806
9807
9808
9809
9810
9811
9812
9813
9814
9815
9816
9817
9818
9819
9820
9821
9822
9823
9824
9825
9826
9827
9828
9829
9830
9831
9832
9833
9834
9835
9836
9837
9838
9839
9840
9841
9842
9843
9844
9845
9846
9847
9848
9849
9850
9851
9852
9853
9854
9855
9856
9857
9858
9859
9860
9861
9862
9863
9864
9865
9866
9867
9868
9869
9870
9871
9872
9873
9874
9875
9876
9877
9878
9879
9880
9881
9882
9883
9884
9885
9886
9887
9888
9889
9890
9891
9892
9893
9894
9895
9896
9897
9898
9899
9900
9901
9902
9903
9904
9905
9906
9907
9908
9909
9910
9911
9912
9913
9914
9915
9916
9917
9918
9919
9920
9921
9922
9923
9924
9925
9926
9927
9928
9929
9930
9931
9932
9933
9934
9935
9936
9937
9938
9939
9940
9941
9942
9943
9944
9945
9946
9947
9948
9949
9950
9951
9952
9953
9954
9955
9956
9957
9958
9959
9960
9961
9962
9963
9964
9965
9966
9967
9968
9969
9970
9971
9972
9973
9974
9975
9976
9977
9978
9979
9980
9981
9982
9983
9984
9985
9986
9987
9988
9989
9990
9991
9992
9993
9994
9995
9996
9997
9998
9999
10000
10001
10002
10003
10004
10005
10006
10007
10008
10009
10010
10011
10012
10013
10014
10015
10016
10017
10018
10019
10020
10021
10022
10023
10024
10025
10026
10027
10028
10029
10030
10031
10032
10033
10034
10035
10036
10037
10038
10039
10040
10041
10042
10043
10044
10045
10046
10047
10048
10049
10050
10051
10052
10053
10054
10055
10056
10057
10058
10059
10060
10061
10062
10063
10064
10065
10066
10067
10068
10069
10070
10071
10072
10073
10074
10075
10076
10077
10078
10079
10080
10081
10082
10083
10084
10085
10086
10087
10088
10089
10090
10091
10092
10093
10094
10095
10096
10097
10098
10099
10100
10101
10102
10103
10104
10105
10106
10107
10108
10109
10110
10111
10112
10113
10114
10115
10116
10117
10118
10119
10120
10121
10122
10123
10124
10125
10126
10127
10128
10129
10130
10131
10132
10133
10134
10135
10136
10137
10138
10139
10140
10141
10142
10143
10144
10145
10146
10147
10148
10149
10150
10151
10152
10153
10154
10155
10156
10157
10158
10159
10160
10161
10162
10163
10164
10165
10166
10167
10168
10169
10170
10171
10172
10173
10174
10175
10176
10177
10178
10179
10180
10181
10182
10183
10184
10185
10186
10187
10188
10189
10190
10191
10192
10193
10194
10195
10196
10197
10198
10199
10200
10201
10202
10203
10204
10205
10206
10207
10208
10209
10210
10211
10212
10213
10214
10215
10216
10217
10218
10219
10220
10221
10222
10223
10224
10225
10226
10227
10228
10229
10230
10231
10232
10233
10234
10235
10236
10237
10238
10239
10240
10241
10242
10243
10244
10245
10246
10247
10248
10249
10250
10251
10252
10253
10254
10255
10256
10257
10258
10259
10260
10261
10262
10263
10264
10265
10266
10267
10268
10269
10270
10271
10272
10273
10274
10275
10276
10277
10278
10279
10280
10281
10282
10283
10284
10285
10286
10287
10288
10289
10290
10291
10292
10293
10294
10295
10296
10297
10298
10299
10300
10301
10302
10303
10304
10305
10306
10307
10308
10309
10310
10311
10312
10313
10314
10315
10316
10317
10318
10319
10320
10321
10322
10323
10324
10325
10326
10327
10328
10329
10330
10331
10332
10333
10334
10335
10336
10337
10338
10339
10340
10341
10342
10343
10344
10345
10346
10347
10348
10349
10350
10351
10352
10353
10354
10355
10356
10357
10358
10359
10360
10361
10362
10363
10364
10365
10366
10367
10368
10369
10370
10371
10372
10373
10374
10375
10376
10377
10378
10379
10380
10381
10382
10383
10384
10385
10386
10387
10388
10389
10390
10391
10392
10393
10394
10395
10396
10397
10398
10399
10400
10401
10402
10403
10404
10405
10406
10407
10408
10409
10410
10411
10412
10413
10414
10415
10416
10417
10418
10419
10420
10421
10422
10423
10424
10425
10426
10427
10428
10429
10430
10431
10432
10433
10434
10435
10436
10437
10438
10439
10440
10441
10442
10443
10444
10445
10446
10447
10448
10449
10450
10451
10452
10453
10454
10455
10456
10457
10458
10459
10460
10461
10462
10463
10464
10465
10466
10467
10468
10469
10470
10471
10472
10473
10474
10475
10476
10477
10478
10479
10480
10481
10482
10483
10484
10485
10486
10487
10488
10489
10490
10491
10492
10493
10494
10495
10496
10497
10498
10499
10500
10501
10502
10503
10504
10505
10506
10507
10508
10509
10510
10511
10512
10513
10514
10515
10516
10517
10518
10519
10520
10521
10522
10523
10524
10525
10526
10527
10528
10529
10530
10531
10532
10533
10534
10535
10536
10537
10538
10539
10540
10541
10542
10543
10544
10545
10546
10547
10548
10549
10550
10551
10552
10553
10554
10555
10556
10557
10558
10559
10560
10561
10562
10563
10564
10565
10566
10567
10568
10569
10570
10571
10572
10573
10574
10575
10576
10577
10578
10579
10580
10581
10582
10583
10584
10585
10586
10587
10588
10589
10590
10591
10592
10593
10594
10595
10596
10597
10598
10599
10600
10601
10602
10603
10604
10605
10606
10607
10608
10609
10610
10611
10612
10613
10614
10615
10616
10617
10618
10619
10620
10621
10622
10623
10624
10625
10626
10627
10628
10629
10630
10631
10632
10633
10634
10635
10636
10637
10638
10639
10640
10641
10642
10643
10644
10645
10646
10647
10648
10649
10650
10651
10652
10653
10654
10655
10656
10657
10658
10659
10660
10661
10662
10663
10664
10665
10666
10667
10668
10669
10670
10671
10672
10673
10674
10675
10676
10677
10678
10679
10680
10681
10682
10683
10684
10685
10686
10687
10688
10689
10690
10691
10692
10693
10694
10695
10696
10697
10698
10699
10700
10701
10702
10703
10704
10705
10706
10707
10708
10709
10710
10711
10712
10713
10714
10715
10716
10717
10718
10719
10720
10721
10722
10723
10724
10725
10726
10727
10728
10729
10730
10731
10732
10733
10734
10735
10736
10737
10738
10739
10740
10741
10742
10743
10744
10745
10746
10747
10748
10749
10750
10751
10752
10753
10754
10755
10756
10757
10758
10759
10760
10761
10762
10763
10764
10765
10766
10767
10768
10769
10770
10771
10772
10773
10774
10775
10776
10777
10778
10779
10780
10781
10782
10783
10784
10785
10786
10787
10788
10789
10790
10791
10792
10793
10794
10795
10796
10797
10798
10799
10800
10801
10802
10803
10804
10805
10806
10807
10808
10809
10810
10811
10812
10813
10814
10815
10816
10817
10818
10819
10820
10821
10822
10823
10824
10825
10826
10827
10828
10829
10830
10831
10832
10833
10834
10835
10836
10837
10838
10839
10840
10841
10842
10843
10844
10845
10846
10847
10848
10849
10850
10851
10852
10853
10854
10855
10856
10857
10858
10859
10860
10861
10862
10863
10864
10865
10866
10867
10868
10869
10870
10871
10872
10873
10874
10875
10876
10877
10878
10879
10880
10881
10882
10883
10884
10885
10886
10887
10888
10889
10890
10891
10892
10893
10894
10895
10896
10897
10898
10899
10900
10901
10902
10903
10904
10905
10906
10907
10908
10909
10910
10911
10912
10913
10914
10915
10916
10917
10918
10919
10920
10921
10922
10923
10924
10925
10926
10927
10928
10929
10930
10931
10932
10933
10934
10935
10936
10937
10938
10939
10940
10941
10942
10943
10944
10945
10946
10947
10948
10949
10950
10951
10952
10953
10954
10955
10956
10957
10958
10959
10960
10961
10962
10963
10964
10965
10966
10967
10968
10969
10970
10971
10972
10973
10974
10975
10976
10977
10978
10979
10980
10981
10982
10983
10984
10985
10986
10987
10988
10989
10990
10991
10992
10993
10994
10995
10996
10997
10998
10999
11000
11001
11002
11003
11004
11005
11006
11007
11008
11009
11010
11011
11012
11013
11014
11015
11016
11017
11018
11019
11020
11021
11022
11023
11024
11025
11026
11027
11028
11029
11030
11031
11032
11033
11034
11035
11036
11037
11038
11039
11040
11041
11042
11043
11044
11045
11046
11047
11048
11049
11050
11051
11052
11053
11054
11055
11056
11057
11058
11059
11060
11061
11062
11063
11064
11065
11066
11067
11068
11069
11070
11071
11072
11073
11074
11075
11076
11077
11078
11079
11080
11081
11082
11083
11084
11085
11086
11087
11088
11089
11090
11091
11092
11093
11094
11095
11096
11097
11098
11099
11100
11101
11102
11103
11104
11105
11106
11107
11108
11109
11110
11111
11112
11113
11114
11115
11116
11117
11118
11119
11120
11121
11122
11123
11124
11125
11126
11127
11128
11129
11130
11131
11132
11133
11134
11135
11136
11137
11138
11139
11140
11141
11142
11143
11144
11145
11146
11147
11148
11149
11150
11151
11152
11153
11154
11155
11156
11157
11158
11159
11160
11161
11162
11163
11164
11165
11166
11167
11168
11169
11170
11171
11172
11173
11174
11175
11176
11177
11178
11179
11180
11181
11182
11183
11184
11185
11186
11187
11188
11189
11190
11191
11192
11193
11194
11195
11196
11197
11198
11199
11200
11201
11202
11203
11204
11205
11206
11207
11208
11209
11210
11211
11212
11213
11214
11215
11216
11217
11218
11219
11220
11221
11222
11223
11224
11225
11226
11227
11228
11229
11230
11231
11232
11233
11234
11235
11236
11237
11238
11239
11240
11241
11242
11243
11244
11245
11246
11247
11248
11249
11250
11251
11252
11253
11254
11255
11256
11257
11258
11259
11260
11261
11262
11263
11264
11265
11266
11267
11268
11269
11270
11271
11272
11273
11274
11275
11276
11277
11278
11279
11280
11281
11282
11283
11284
11285
11286
11287
11288
11289
11290
11291
11292
11293
11294
11295
11296
11297
11298
11299
11300
11301
11302
11303
11304
11305
11306
11307
11308
11309
11310
11311
11312
11313
11314
11315
11316
11317
11318
11319
11320
11321
11322
11323
11324
11325
11326
11327
11328
11329
11330
11331
11332
11333
11334
11335
11336
11337
11338
11339
11340
11341
11342
11343
11344
11345
11346
11347
11348
11349
11350
11351
11352
11353
11354
11355
11356
11357
11358
11359
11360
11361
11362
11363
11364
11365
11366
11367
11368
11369
11370
11371
11372
11373
11374
11375
11376
11377
11378
11379
11380
11381
11382
11383
11384
11385
11386
11387
11388
11389
11390
11391
11392
11393
11394
11395
11396
11397
11398
11399
11400
11401
11402
11403
11404
11405
11406
11407
11408
11409
11410
11411
11412
11413
11414
11415
11416
11417
11418
11419
11420
11421
11422
11423
11424
11425
11426
11427
11428
11429
11430
11431
11432
11433
11434
11435
11436
11437
11438
11439
11440
11441
11442
11443
11444
11445
11446
11447
11448
11449
11450
11451
11452
11453
11454
11455
11456
11457
11458
11459
11460
11461
11462
11463
11464
11465
11466
11467
11468
11469
11470
11471
11472
11473
11474
11475
11476
11477
11478
11479
11480
11481
11482
11483
11484
11485
11486
11487
11488
11489
11490
11491
11492
11493
11494
11495
11496
11497
11498
11499
11500
11501
11502
11503
11504
11505
11506
11507
11508
11509
11510
11511
11512
11513
11514
11515
11516
11517
11518
11519
11520
11521
11522
11523
11524
11525
11526
11527
11528
11529
11530
11531
11532
11533
11534
11535
11536
11537
11538
11539
11540
11541
11542
11543
11544
11545
11546
11547
11548
11549
11550
11551
11552
11553
11554
11555
11556
11557
11558
11559
11560
11561
11562
11563
11564
11565
11566
11567
11568
11569
11570
11571
11572
11573
11574
11575
11576
11577
11578
11579
11580
11581
11582
11583
11584
11585
11586
11587
11588
11589
11590
11591
11592
11593
11594
11595
11596
11597
11598
11599
11600
11601
11602
11603
11604
11605
11606
11607
11608
11609
11610
11611
11612
11613
11614
11615
11616
11617
11618
11619
11620
11621
11622
11623
11624
11625
11626
11627
11628
11629
11630
11631
11632
11633
11634
11635
11636
11637
11638
11639
11640
11641
11642
11643
11644
11645
11646
11647
11648
11649
11650
11651
11652
11653
11654
11655
11656
11657
11658
11659
11660
11661
11662
11663
11664
11665
11666
11667
11668
11669
11670
11671
11672
11673
11674
11675
11676
11677
11678
11679
11680
11681
11682
11683
11684
11685
11686
11687
11688
11689
11690
11691
11692
11693
11694
11695
11696
11697
11698
11699
11700
11701
11702
11703
11704
11705
11706
11707
11708
11709
11710
11711
11712
11713
11714
11715
11716
11717
11718
11719
11720
11721
11722
11723
11724
11725
11726
11727
11728
11729
11730
11731
11732
11733
11734
11735
11736
11737
11738
11739
11740
11741
11742
11743
11744
11745
11746
11747
11748
11749
11750
11751
11752
11753
11754
11755
11756
11757
11758
11759
11760
11761
11762
11763
11764
11765
11766
11767
11768
11769
11770
11771
11772
11773
11774
11775
11776
11777
11778
11779
11780
11781
11782
11783
11784
11785
11786
11787
11788
11789
11790
11791
11792
11793
11794
11795
11796
11797
11798
11799
11800
11801
11802
11803
11804
11805
11806
11807
11808
11809
11810
11811
11812
11813
11814
11815
11816
11817
11818
11819
11820
11821
11822
11823
11824
11825
11826
11827
11828
11829
11830
11831
11832
11833
11834
11835
11836
11837
11838
11839
11840
11841
11842
11843
11844
11845
11846
11847
11848
11849
11850
11851
11852
11853
11854
11855
11856
11857
11858
11859
11860
11861
11862
11863
11864
11865
11866
11867
11868
11869
11870
11871
11872
11873
11874
11875
11876
11877
11878
11879
11880
11881
11882
11883
11884
11885
11886
11887
11888
11889
11890
11891
11892
11893
11894
11895
11896
11897
11898
11899
11900
11901
11902
11903
11904
11905
11906
11907
11908
11909
11910
11911
11912
11913
11914
11915
11916
11917
11918
11919
11920
11921
11922
11923
11924
11925
11926
11927
11928
11929
11930
11931
11932
11933
11934
11935
11936
11937
11938
11939
11940
11941
11942
11943
11944
11945
11946
11947
11948
11949
11950
11951
11952
11953
11954
11955
11956
11957
11958
11959
11960
11961
11962
11963
11964
11965
11966
11967
11968
11969
11970
11971
11972
11973
11974
11975
11976
11977
11978
11979
11980
11981
11982
11983
11984
11985
11986
11987
11988
11989
11990
11991
11992
11993
11994
11995
11996
11997
11998
11999
12000
12001
12002
12003
12004
12005
12006
12007
12008
12009
12010
12011
12012
12013
12014
12015
12016
12017
12018
12019
12020
12021
12022
12023
12024
12025
12026
12027
12028
12029
12030
12031
12032
12033
12034
12035
12036
12037
12038
12039
12040
12041
12042
12043
12044
12045
12046
12047
12048
12049
12050
12051
12052
12053
12054
12055
12056
12057
12058
12059
12060
12061
12062
12063
12064
12065
12066
12067
12068
12069
12070
12071
12072
12073
12074
12075
12076
12077
12078
12079
12080
12081
12082
12083
12084
12085
12086
12087
12088
12089
12090
12091
12092
12093
12094
12095
12096
12097
12098
12099
12100
12101
12102
12103
12104
12105
12106
12107
12108
12109
12110
12111
12112
12113
12114
12115
12116
12117
12118
12119
12120
12121
12122
12123
12124
12125
12126
12127
12128
12129
12130
12131
12132
12133
12134
12135
12136
12137
12138
12139
12140
12141
12142
12143
12144
12145
12146
12147
12148
12149
12150
12151
12152
12153
12154
12155
12156
12157
12158
12159
12160
12161
12162
12163
12164
12165
12166
12167
12168
12169
12170
12171
12172
12173
12174
12175
12176
12177
12178
12179
12180
12181
12182
12183
12184
12185
12186
12187
12188
12189
12190
12191
12192
12193
12194
12195
12196
12197
12198
12199
12200
12201
12202
12203
12204
12205
12206
12207
12208
12209
12210
12211
12212
12213
12214
12215
12216
12217
12218
12219
12220
12221
12222
12223
12224
12225
12226
12227
12228
12229
12230
12231
12232
12233
12234
12235
12236
12237
12238
12239
12240
12241
12242
12243
12244
12245
12246
12247
12248
12249
12250
12251
12252
12253
12254
12255
12256
12257
12258
12259
12260
12261
12262
12263
12264
12265
12266
12267
12268
12269
12270
12271
12272
12273
12274
12275
12276
12277
12278
12279
12280
12281
12282
12283
12284
12285
12286
12287
12288
12289
12290
12291
12292
12293
12294
12295
12296
12297
12298
12299
12300
12301
12302
12303
12304
12305
12306
12307
12308
12309
12310
12311
12312
12313
12314
12315
12316
12317
12318
12319
12320
12321
12322
12323
12324
12325
12326
12327
12328
12329
12330
12331
12332
12333
12334
12335
12336
12337
12338
12339
12340
12341
12342
12343
12344
12345
12346
12347
12348
12349
12350
12351
12352
12353
12354
12355
12356
12357
12358
12359
12360
12361
12362
12363
12364
12365
12366
12367
12368
12369
12370
12371
12372
12373
12374
12375
12376
12377
12378
12379
12380
12381
12382
12383
12384
12385
12386
12387
12388
12389
12390
12391
12392
12393
12394
12395
12396
12397
12398
12399
12400
12401
12402
12403
12404
12405
12406
12407
12408
12409
12410
12411
12412
12413
12414
12415
12416
12417
12418
12419
12420
12421
12422
12423
12424
12425
12426
12427
12428
12429
12430
12431
12432
12433
12434
12435
12436
12437
12438
12439
12440
12441
12442
12443
12444
12445
12446
12447
12448
12449
12450
12451
12452
12453
12454
12455
12456
12457
12458
12459
12460
12461
12462
12463
12464
12465
12466
12467
12468
12469
12470
12471
12472
12473
12474
12475
12476
12477
12478
12479
12480
12481
12482
12483
12484
12485
12486
12487
12488
12489
12490
12491
12492
12493
12494
12495
12496
12497
12498
12499
12500
12501
12502
12503
12504
12505
12506
12507
12508
12509
12510
12511
12512
12513
12514
12515
12516
12517
12518
12519
12520
12521
12522
12523
12524
12525
12526
12527
12528
12529
12530
12531
12532
12533
12534
12535
12536
12537
12538
12539
12540
12541
12542
12543
12544
12545
12546
12547
12548
12549
12550
12551
12552
12553
12554
12555
12556
12557
12558
12559
12560
12561
12562
12563
12564
12565
12566
12567
12568
12569
12570
12571
12572
12573
12574
12575
12576
12577
12578
12579
12580
12581
12582
12583
12584
12585
12586
12587
12588
12589
12590
12591
12592
12593
12594
12595
12596
12597
12598
12599
12600
12601
12602
12603
12604
12605
12606
12607
12608
12609
12610
12611
12612
12613
12614
12615
12616
12617
12618
12619
12620
12621
12622
12623
12624
12625
12626
12627
12628
12629
12630
12631
12632
12633
12634
12635
12636
12637
12638
12639
12640
12641
12642
12643
12644
12645
12646
12647
12648
12649
12650
12651
12652
12653
12654
12655
12656
12657
12658
12659
12660
12661
12662
12663
12664
12665
12666
12667
12668
12669
12670
12671
12672
12673
12674
12675
12676
12677
12678
12679
12680
12681
12682
12683
12684
12685
12686
12687
12688
12689
12690
12691
12692
12693
12694
12695
12696
12697
12698
12699
12700
12701
12702
12703
12704
12705
12706
12707
12708
12709
12710
12711
12712
12713
12714
12715
12716
12717
12718
12719
12720
12721
12722
12723
12724
12725
12726
12727
12728
12729
12730
12731
12732
12733
12734
12735
12736
12737
12738
12739
12740
12741
12742
12743
12744
12745
12746
12747
12748
12749
12750
12751
12752
12753
12754
12755
12756
12757
12758
12759
12760
12761
12762
12763
12764
12765
12766
12767
12768
12769
12770
12771
12772
12773
12774
12775
12776
12777
12778
12779
12780
12781
12782
12783
12784
12785
12786
12787
12788
12789
12790
12791
12792
12793
12794
12795
12796
12797
12798
12799
12800
12801
12802
12803
12804
12805
12806
12807
12808
12809
12810
12811
12812
12813
12814
12815
12816
12817
12818
12819
12820
12821
12822
12823
12824
12825
12826
12827
12828
12829
12830
12831
12832
12833
12834
12835
12836
12837
12838
12839
12840
12841
12842
12843
12844
12845
12846
12847
12848
12849
12850
12851
12852
12853
12854
12855
12856
12857
12858
12859
12860
12861
12862
12863
12864
12865
12866
12867
12868
12869
12870
12871
12872
12873
12874
12875
12876
12877
12878
12879
12880
12881
12882
12883
12884
12885
12886
12887
12888
12889
12890
12891
12892
12893
12894
12895
12896
12897
12898
12899
12900
12901
12902
12903
12904
12905
12906
12907
12908
12909
12910
12911
12912
12913
12914
12915
12916
12917
12918
12919
12920
12921
12922
12923
12924
12925
12926
12927
12928
12929
12930
12931
12932
12933
12934
12935
12936
12937
12938
12939
12940
12941
12942
12943
12944
12945
12946
12947
12948
12949
12950
12951
12952
12953
12954
12955
12956
12957
12958
12959
12960
12961
12962
12963
12964
12965
12966
12967
12968
12969
12970
12971
12972
12973
12974
12975
12976
12977
12978
12979
12980
12981
12982
12983
12984
12985
12986
12987
12988
12989
12990
12991
12992
12993
12994
12995
12996
12997
12998
12999
13000
13001
13002
13003
13004
13005
13006
13007
13008
13009
13010
13011
13012
13013
13014
13015
13016
13017
13018
13019
13020
13021
13022
13023
13024
13025
13026
13027
13028
13029
13030
13031
13032
13033
13034
13035
13036
13037
13038
13039
13040
13041
13042
13043
13044
13045
13046
13047
13048
13049
13050
13051
13052
13053
13054
13055
13056
13057
13058
13059
13060
13061
13062
13063
13064
13065
13066
13067
13068
13069
13070
13071
13072
13073
13074
13075
13076
13077
13078
13079
13080
13081
13082
13083
13084
13085
13086
13087
13088
13089
13090
13091
13092
13093
13094
13095
13096
13097
13098
13099
13100
13101
13102
13103
13104
13105
13106
13107
13108
13109
13110
13111
13112
13113
13114
13115
13116
13117
13118
13119
13120
13121
13122
13123
13124
13125
13126
13127
13128
13129
13130
13131
13132
13133
13134
13135
13136
13137
13138
13139
13140
13141
13142
13143
13144
13145
13146
13147
13148
13149
13150
13151
13152
13153
13154
13155
13156
13157
13158
13159
13160
13161
13162
13163
13164
13165
13166
13167
13168
13169
13170
13171
13172
13173
13174
13175
13176
13177
13178
13179
13180
13181
13182
13183
13184
13185
13186
13187
13188
13189
13190
13191
13192
13193
13194
13195
13196
13197
13198
13199
13200
13201
13202
13203
13204
13205
13206
13207
13208
13209
13210
13211
13212
13213
13214
13215
13216
13217
13218
13219
13220
13221
13222
13223
13224
13225
13226
13227
13228
13229
13230
13231
13232
13233
13234
13235
13236
13237
13238
13239
13240
13241
13242
13243
13244
13245
13246
13247
13248
13249
13250
13251
13252
13253
13254
13255
13256
13257
13258
13259
13260
13261
13262
13263
13264
13265
13266
13267
13268
13269
13270
13271
13272
13273
13274
13275
13276
13277
13278
13279
13280
13281
13282
13283
13284
13285
13286
13287
13288
13289
13290
13291
13292
13293
13294
13295
13296
13297
13298
13299
13300
13301
13302
13303
13304
13305
13306
13307
13308
13309
13310
13311
13312
13313
13314
13315
13316
13317
13318
13319
13320
13321
13322
13323
13324
13325
13326
13327
13328
13329
13330
13331
13332
13333
13334
13335
13336
13337
13338
13339
13340
13341
13342
13343
13344
13345
13346
13347
13348
13349
13350
13351
13352
13353
13354
13355
13356
13357
13358
13359
13360
13361
13362
13363
13364
13365
13366
13367
13368
13369
13370
13371
13372
13373
13374
13375
13376
13377
13378
13379
13380
13381
13382
13383
13384
13385
13386
13387
13388
13389
13390
13391
13392
13393
13394
13395
13396
13397
13398
13399
13400
13401
13402
13403
13404
13405
13406
13407
13408
13409
13410
13411
13412
13413
13414
13415
13416
13417
13418
13419
13420
13421
13422
13423
13424
13425
13426
13427
13428
13429
13430
13431
13432
13433
13434
13435
13436
13437
13438
13439
13440
13441
13442
13443
13444
13445
13446
13447
13448
13449
13450
13451
13452
13453
13454
13455
13456
13457
13458
13459
13460
13461
13462
13463
13464
13465
13466
13467
13468
13469
13470
13471
13472
13473
13474
13475
13476
13477
13478
13479
13480
13481
13482
13483
13484
13485
13486
13487
13488
13489
13490
13491
13492
13493
13494
13495
13496
13497
13498
13499
13500
13501
13502
13503
13504
13505
13506
13507
13508
13509
13510
13511
13512
13513
13514
13515
13516
13517
13518
13519
13520
13521
13522
13523
13524
13525
13526
13527
13528
13529
13530
13531
13532
13533
13534
13535
13536
13537
13538
13539
13540
13541
13542
13543
13544
13545
13546
13547
13548
13549
13550
13551
13552
13553
13554
13555
13556
13557
13558
13559
13560
13561
13562
13563
13564
13565
13566
13567
13568
13569
13570
13571
13572
13573
13574
13575
13576
13577
13578
13579
13580
13581
13582
13583
13584
13585
13586
13587
13588
13589
13590
13591
13592
13593
13594
13595
13596
13597
13598
13599
13600
13601
13602
13603
13604
13605
13606
13607
13608
13609
13610
13611
13612
13613
13614
13615
13616
13617
13618
13619
13620
13621
13622
13623
13624
13625
13626
13627
13628
13629
13630
13631
13632
13633
13634
13635
13636
13637
13638
13639
13640
13641
13642
13643
13644
13645
13646
13647
13648
13649
13650
13651
13652
13653
13654
13655
13656
13657
13658
13659
13660
13661
13662
13663
13664
13665
13666
13667
13668
13669
13670
13671
13672
13673
13674
13675
13676
13677
13678
13679
13680
13681
13682
13683
13684
13685
13686
13687
13688
13689
13690
13691
13692
13693
13694
13695
13696
13697
13698
13699
13700
13701
13702
13703
13704
13705
13706
13707
13708
13709
13710
13711
13712
13713
13714
13715
13716
13717
13718
13719
13720
13721
13722
13723
13724
13725
13726
13727
13728
13729
13730
13731
13732
13733
13734
13735
13736
13737
13738
13739
13740
13741
13742
13743
13744
13745
13746
13747
13748
13749
13750
13751
13752
13753
13754
13755
13756
13757
13758
13759
13760
13761
13762
13763
13764
13765
13766
13767
13768
13769
13770
13771
13772
13773
13774
13775
13776
13777
13778
13779
13780
13781
13782
13783
13784
13785
13786
13787
13788
13789
13790
13791
13792
13793
13794
13795
13796
13797
13798
13799
13800
13801
13802
13803
13804
13805
13806
13807
13808
13809
13810
13811
13812
13813
13814
13815
13816
13817
13818
13819
13820
13821
13822
13823
13824
13825
13826
13827
13828
13829
13830
13831
13832
13833
13834
13835
13836
13837
13838
13839
13840
13841
13842
13843
13844
13845
13846
13847
13848
13849
13850
13851
13852
13853
13854
13855
13856
13857
13858
13859
13860
13861
13862
13863
13864
13865
13866
13867
13868
13869
13870
13871
13872
13873
13874
13875
13876
13877
13878
13879
13880
13881
13882
13883
13884
13885
13886
13887
13888
13889
13890
13891
13892
13893
13894
13895
13896
13897
13898
13899
13900
13901
13902
13903
13904
13905
13906
13907
13908
13909
13910
13911
13912
13913
13914
13915
13916
13917
13918
13919
13920
13921
13922
13923
13924
13925
13926
13927
13928
13929
13930
13931
13932
13933
13934
13935
13936
13937
13938
13939
13940
13941
13942
13943
13944
13945
13946
13947
13948
13949
13950
13951
13952
13953
13954
13955
13956
13957
13958
13959
13960
13961
13962
13963
13964
13965
13966
13967
13968
13969
13970
13971
13972
13973
13974
13975
13976
13977
13978
13979
13980
13981
13982
13983
13984
13985
13986
13987
13988
13989
13990
13991
13992
13993
13994
13995
13996
13997
13998
13999
14000
14001
14002
14003
14004
14005
14006
14007
14008
14009
14010
14011
14012
14013
14014
14015
14016
14017
14018
14019
14020
14021
14022
14023
14024
14025
14026
14027
14028
14029
14030
14031
14032
14033
14034
14035
14036
14037
14038
14039
14040
14041
14042
14043
14044
14045
14046
14047
14048
14049
14050
14051
14052
14053
14054
14055
14056
14057
14058
14059
14060
14061
14062
14063
14064
14065
14066
14067
14068
14069
14070
14071
14072
14073
14074
14075
14076
14077
14078
14079
14080
14081
14082
14083
14084
14085
14086
14087
14088
14089
14090
14091
14092
14093
14094
14095
14096
14097
14098
14099
14100
14101
14102
14103
14104
14105
14106
14107
14108
14109
14110
14111
14112
14113
14114
14115
14116
14117
14118
14119
14120
14121
14122
14123
14124
14125
14126
14127
14128
14129
14130
14131
14132
14133
14134
14135
14136
14137
14138
14139
14140
14141
14142
14143
14144
14145
14146
14147
14148
14149
14150
14151
14152
14153
14154
14155
14156
14157
14158
14159
14160
14161
14162
14163
14164
14165
14166
14167
14168
14169
14170
14171
14172
14173
14174
14175
14176
14177
14178
14179
14180
14181
14182
14183
14184
14185
14186
14187
14188
14189
14190
14191
14192
14193
14194
14195
14196
14197
14198
14199
14200
14201
14202
14203
14204
14205
14206
14207
14208
14209
14210
14211
14212
14213
14214
14215
14216
14217
14218
14219
14220
14221
14222
14223
14224
14225
14226
14227
14228
14229
14230
14231
14232
14233
14234
14235
14236
14237
14238
14239
14240
14241
14242
14243
14244
14245
14246
14247
14248
14249
14250
14251
14252
14253
14254
14255
14256
14257
14258
14259
14260
14261
14262
14263
14264
14265
14266
14267
14268
14269
14270
14271
14272
14273
14274
14275
14276
14277
14278
14279
14280
14281
14282
14283
14284
14285
14286
14287
14288
14289
14290
14291
14292
14293
14294
14295
14296
14297
14298
14299
14300
14301
14302
14303
14304
14305
14306
14307
14308
14309
14310
14311
14312
14313
14314
14315
14316
14317
14318
14319
14320
14321
14322
14323
14324
14325
14326
14327
14328
14329
14330
14331
14332
14333
14334
14335
14336
14337
14338
14339
14340
14341
14342
14343
14344
14345
14346
14347
14348
14349
14350
14351
14352
14353
14354
14355
14356
14357
14358
14359
14360
14361
14362
14363
14364
14365
14366
14367
14368
14369
14370
14371
14372
14373
14374
14375
14376
14377
14378
14379
14380
14381
14382
14383
14384
14385
14386
14387
14388
14389
14390
14391
14392
14393
14394
14395
14396
14397
14398
14399
14400
14401
14402
14403
14404
14405
14406
14407
14408
14409
14410
14411
14412
14413
14414
14415
14416
14417
14418
14419
14420
14421
14422
14423
14424
14425
14426
14427
14428
14429
14430
14431
14432
14433
14434
14435
14436
14437
14438
14439
14440
14441
14442
14443
14444
14445
14446
14447
14448
14449
14450
14451
14452
14453
14454
14455
14456
14457
14458
14459
14460
14461
14462
14463
14464
14465
14466
14467
14468
14469
14470
14471
14472
14473
14474
14475
14476
14477
14478
14479
14480
14481
14482
14483
14484
14485
14486
14487
14488
14489
14490
14491
14492
14493
14494
14495
14496
14497
14498
14499
14500
14501
14502
14503
14504
14505
14506
14507
14508
14509
14510
14511
14512
14513
14514
14515
14516
14517
14518
14519
14520
14521
14522
14523
14524
14525
14526
14527
14528
14529
14530
14531
14532
14533
14534
14535
14536
14537
14538
14539
14540
14541
14542
14543
14544
14545
14546
14547
14548
14549
14550
14551
14552
14553
14554
14555
14556
14557
14558
14559
14560
14561
14562
14563
14564
14565
14566
14567
14568
14569
14570
14571
14572
14573
14574
14575
14576
14577
14578
14579
14580
14581
14582
14583
14584
14585
14586
14587
14588
14589
14590
14591
14592
14593
14594
14595
14596
14597
14598
14599
14600
14601
14602
14603
14604
14605
14606
14607
14608
14609
14610
14611
14612
14613
14614
14615
14616
14617
14618
14619
14620
14621
14622
14623
14624
14625
14626
14627
14628
14629
14630
14631
14632
14633
14634
14635
14636
14637
14638
14639
14640
14641
14642
14643
14644
14645
14646
14647
14648
14649
14650
14651
14652
14653
14654
14655
14656
14657
14658
14659
14660
14661
14662
14663
14664
14665
14666
14667
14668
14669
14670
14671
14672
14673
14674
14675
14676
14677
14678
14679
14680
14681
14682
14683
14684
14685
14686
14687
14688
14689
14690
14691
14692
14693
14694
14695
14696
14697
14698
14699
14700
14701
14702
14703
14704
14705
14706
14707
14708
14709
14710
14711
14712
14713
14714
14715
14716
14717
14718
14719
14720
14721
14722
14723
14724
14725
14726
14727
14728
14729
14730
14731
14732
14733
14734
14735
14736
14737
14738
14739
14740
14741
14742
14743
14744
14745
14746
14747
14748
14749
14750
14751
14752
14753
14754
14755
14756
14757
14758
14759
14760
14761
14762
14763
14764
14765
14766
14767
14768
14769
14770
14771
14772
14773
14774
14775
14776
14777
14778
14779
14780
14781
14782
14783
14784
14785
14786
14787
14788
14789
14790
14791
14792
14793
14794
14795
14796
14797
14798
14799
14800
14801
14802
14803
14804
14805
14806
14807
14808
14809
14810
14811
14812
14813
14814
14815
14816
14817
14818
14819
14820
14821
14822
14823
14824
14825
14826
14827
14828
14829
14830
14831
14832
14833
14834
14835
14836
14837
14838
14839
14840
14841
14842
14843
14844
14845
14846
14847
14848
14849
14850
14851
14852
14853
14854
14855
14856
14857
14858
14859
14860
14861
14862
14863
14864
14865
14866
14867
14868
14869
14870
14871
14872
14873
14874
14875
14876
14877
14878
14879
14880
14881
14882
14883
14884
14885
14886
14887
14888
14889
14890
14891
14892
14893
14894
14895
14896
14897
14898
14899
14900
14901
14902
14903
14904
14905
14906
14907
14908
14909
14910
14911
14912
14913
14914
14915
14916
14917
14918
14919
14920
14921
14922
14923
14924
14925
14926
14927
14928
14929
14930
14931
14932
14933
14934
14935
14936
14937
14938
14939
14940
14941
14942
14943
14944
14945
14946
14947
14948
14949
14950
14951
14952
14953
14954
14955
14956
14957
14958
14959
14960
14961
14962
14963
14964
14965
14966
14967
14968
14969
14970
14971
14972
14973
14974
14975
14976
14977
14978
14979
14980
14981
14982
14983
14984
14985
14986
14987
14988
14989
14990
14991
14992
14993
14994
14995
14996
14997
14998
14999
15000
15001
15002
15003
15004
15005
15006
15007
15008
15009
15010
15011
15012
15013
15014
15015
15016
15017
15018
15019
15020
15021
15022
15023
15024
15025
15026
15027
15028
15029
15030
15031
15032
15033
15034
15035
15036
15037
15038
15039
15040
15041
15042
15043
15044
15045
15046
15047
15048
15049
15050
15051
15052
15053
15054
15055
15056
15057
15058
15059
15060
15061
15062
15063
15064
15065
15066
15067
15068
15069
15070
15071
15072
15073
15074
15075
15076
15077
15078
15079
15080
15081
15082
15083
15084
15085
15086
15087
15088
15089
15090
15091
15092
15093
15094
15095
15096
15097
15098
15099
15100
15101
15102
15103
15104
15105
15106
15107
15108
15109
15110
15111
15112
15113
15114
15115
15116
15117
15118
15119
15120
15121
15122
15123
15124
15125
15126
15127
15128
15129
15130
15131
15132
15133
15134
15135
15136
15137
15138
15139
15140
15141
15142
15143
15144
15145
15146
15147
15148
15149
15150
15151
15152
15153
15154
15155
15156
15157
15158
15159
15160
15161
15162
15163
15164
15165
15166
15167
15168
15169
15170
15171
15172
15173
15174
15175
15176
15177
15178
15179
15180
15181
15182
15183
15184
15185
15186
15187
15188
15189
15190
15191
15192
15193
15194
15195
15196
15197
15198
15199
15200
15201
15202
15203
15204
15205
15206
15207
15208
15209
15210
15211
15212
15213
15214
15215
15216
15217
15218
15219
15220
15221
15222
15223
15224
15225
15226
15227
15228
15229
15230
15231
15232
15233
15234
15235
15236
15237
15238
15239
15240
15241
15242
15243
15244
15245
15246
15247
15248
15249
15250
15251
15252
15253
15254
15255
15256
15257
15258
15259
15260
15261
15262
15263
15264
15265
15266
15267
15268
15269
15270
15271
15272
15273
15274
15275
15276
15277
15278
15279
15280
15281
15282
15283
15284
15285
15286
15287
15288
15289
15290
15291
15292
15293
15294
15295
15296
15297
15298
15299
15300
15301
15302
15303
15304
15305
15306
15307
15308
15309
15310
15311
15312
15313
15314
15315
15316
15317
15318
15319
15320
15321
15322
15323
15324
15325
15326
15327
15328
15329
15330
15331
15332
15333
15334
15335
15336
15337
15338
15339
15340
15341
15342
15343
15344
15345
15346
15347
15348
15349
15350
15351
15352
15353
15354
15355
15356
15357
15358
15359
15360
15361
15362
15363
15364
15365
15366
15367
15368
15369
15370
15371
15372
15373
15374
15375
15376
15377
15378
15379
15380
15381
15382
15383
15384
15385
15386
15387
15388
15389
15390
15391
15392
15393
15394
15395
15396
15397
15398
15399
15400
15401
15402
15403
15404
15405
15406
15407
15408
15409
15410
15411
15412
15413
15414
15415
15416
15417
15418
15419
15420
15421
15422
15423
15424
15425
15426
15427
15428
15429
15430
15431
15432
15433
15434
15435
15436
15437
15438
15439
15440
15441
15442
15443
15444
15445
15446
15447
15448
15449
15450
15451
15452
15453
15454
15455
15456
15457
15458
15459
15460
15461
15462
15463
15464
15465
15466
15467
15468
15469
15470
15471
15472
15473
15474
15475
15476
15477
15478
15479
15480
15481
15482
15483
15484
15485
15486
15487
15488
15489
15490
15491
15492
15493
15494
15495
15496
15497
15498
15499
15500
15501
15502
15503
15504
15505
15506
15507
15508
15509
15510
15511
15512
15513
15514
15515
15516
15517
15518
15519
15520
15521
15522
15523
15524
15525
15526
15527
15528
15529
15530
15531
15532
15533
15534
15535
15536
15537
15538
15539
15540
15541
15542
15543
15544
15545
15546
15547
15548
15549
15550
15551
15552
15553
15554
15555
15556
15557
15558
15559
15560
15561
15562
15563
15564
15565
15566
15567
15568
15569
15570
15571
15572
15573
15574
15575
15576
15577
15578
15579
15580
15581
15582
15583
15584
15585
15586
15587
15588
15589
15590
15591
15592
15593
15594
15595
15596
15597
15598
15599
15600
15601
15602
15603
15604
15605
15606
15607
15608
15609
15610
15611
15612
15613
15614
15615
15616
15617
15618
15619
15620
15621
15622
15623
15624
15625
15626
15627
15628
15629
15630
15631
15632
15633
15634
15635
15636
15637
15638
15639
15640
15641
15642
15643
15644
15645
15646
15647
15648
15649
15650
15651
15652
15653
15654
15655
15656
15657
15658
15659
15660
15661
15662
15663
15664
15665
15666
15667
15668
15669
15670
15671
15672
15673
15674
15675
15676
15677
15678
15679
15680
15681
15682
15683
15684
15685
15686
15687
15688
15689
15690
15691
15692
15693
15694
15695
15696
15697
15698
15699
15700
15701
15702
15703
15704
15705
15706
15707
15708
15709
15710
15711
15712
15713
15714
15715
15716
15717
15718
15719
15720
15721
15722
15723
15724
15725
15726
15727
15728
15729
15730
15731
15732
15733
15734
15735
15736
15737
15738
15739
15740
15741
15742
15743
15744
15745
15746
15747
15748
15749
15750
15751
15752
15753
15754
15755
15756
15757
15758
15759
15760
15761
15762
15763
15764
15765
15766
15767
15768
15769
15770
15771
15772
15773
15774
15775
15776
15777
15778
15779
15780
15781
15782
15783
15784
15785
15786
15787
15788
15789
15790
15791
15792
15793
15794
15795
15796
15797
15798
15799
15800
15801
15802
15803
15804
15805
15806
15807
15808
15809
15810
15811
15812
15813
15814
15815
15816
15817
15818
15819
15820
15821
15822
15823
15824
15825
15826
15827
15828
15829
15830
15831
15832
15833
15834
15835
15836
15837
15838
15839
15840
15841
15842
15843
15844
15845
15846
15847
15848
15849
15850
15851
15852
15853
15854
15855
15856
15857
15858
15859
15860
15861
15862
15863
15864
15865
15866
15867
15868
15869
15870
15871
15872
15873
15874
15875
15876
15877
15878
15879
15880
15881
15882
15883
15884
15885
15886
15887
15888
15889
15890
15891
15892
15893
15894
15895
15896
15897
15898
15899
15900
15901
15902
15903
15904
15905
15906
15907
15908
15909
15910
15911
15912
15913
15914
15915
15916
15917
15918
15919
15920
15921
15922
15923
15924
15925
15926
15927
15928
15929
15930
15931
15932
15933
15934
15935
15936
15937
15938
15939
15940
15941
15942
15943
15944
15945
15946
15947
15948
15949
15950
15951
15952
15953
15954
15955
15956
15957
15958
15959
15960
15961
15962
15963
15964
15965
15966
15967
15968
15969
15970
15971
15972
15973
15974
15975
15976
15977
15978
15979
15980
15981
15982
15983
15984
15985
15986
15987
15988
15989
15990
15991
15992
15993
15994
15995
15996
15997
15998
15999
16000
16001
16002
16003
16004
16005
16006
16007
16008
16009
16010
16011
16012
16013
16014
16015
16016
16017
16018
16019
16020
16021
16022
16023
16024
16025
16026
16027
16028
16029
16030
16031
16032
16033
16034
16035
16036
16037
16038
16039
16040
16041
16042
16043
16044
16045
16046
16047
16048
16049
16050
16051
16052
16053
16054
16055
16056
16057
16058
16059
16060
16061
16062
16063
16064
16065
16066
16067
16068
16069
16070
16071
16072
16073
16074
16075
16076
16077
16078
16079
16080
16081
16082
16083
16084
16085
16086
16087
16088
16089
16090
16091
16092
16093
16094
16095
16096
16097
16098
16099
16100
16101
16102
16103
16104
16105
16106
16107
16108
16109
16110
16111
16112
16113
16114
16115
16116
16117
16118
16119
16120
16121
16122
16123
16124
16125
16126
16127
16128
16129
16130
16131
16132
16133
16134
16135
16136
16137
16138
16139
16140
16141
16142
16143
16144
16145
16146
16147
16148
16149
16150
16151
16152
16153
16154
16155
16156
16157
16158
16159
16160
16161
16162
16163
16164
16165
16166
16167
16168
16169
16170
16171
16172
16173
16174
16175
16176
16177
16178
16179
16180
16181
16182
16183
16184
16185
16186
16187
16188
16189
16190
16191
16192
16193
16194
16195
16196
16197
16198
16199
16200
16201
16202
16203
16204
16205
16206
16207
16208
16209
16210
16211
16212
16213
16214
16215
16216
16217
16218
16219
16220
16221
16222
16223
16224
16225
16226
16227
16228
16229
16230
16231
16232
16233
16234
16235
16236
16237
16238
16239
16240
16241
16242
16243
16244
16245
16246
16247
16248
16249
16250
16251
16252
16253
16254
16255
16256
16257
16258
16259
16260
16261
16262
16263
16264
16265
16266
16267
16268
16269
16270
16271
16272
16273
16274
16275
16276
16277
16278
16279
16280
16281
16282
16283
16284
16285
16286
16287
16288
16289
16290
16291
16292
16293
16294
16295
16296
16297
16298
16299
16300
16301
16302
16303
16304
16305
16306
16307
16308
16309
16310
16311
16312
16313
16314
16315
16316
16317
16318
16319
16320
16321
16322
16323
16324
16325
16326
16327
16328
16329
16330
16331
16332
16333
16334
16335
16336
16337
16338
16339
16340
16341
16342
16343
16344
16345
16346
16347
16348
16349
16350
16351
16352
16353
16354
16355
16356
16357
16358
16359
16360
16361
16362
16363
16364
16365
16366
16367
16368
16369
16370
16371
16372
16373
16374
16375
16376
16377
16378
16379
16380
16381
16382
16383
16384
16385
16386
16387
16388
16389
16390
16391
16392
16393
16394
16395
16396
16397
16398
16399
16400
16401
16402
16403
16404
16405
16406
16407
16408
16409
16410
16411
16412
16413
16414
16415
16416
16417
16418
16419
16420
16421
16422
16423
16424
16425
16426
16427
16428
16429
16430
16431
16432
16433
16434
16435
16436
16437
16438
16439
16440
16441
16442
16443
16444
16445
16446
16447
16448
16449
16450
16451
16452
16453
16454
16455
16456
16457
16458
16459
16460
16461
16462
16463
16464
16465
16466
16467
16468
16469
16470
16471
16472
16473
16474
16475
16476
16477
16478
16479
16480
16481
16482
16483
16484
16485
16486
16487
16488
16489
16490
16491
16492
16493
16494
16495
16496
16497
16498
16499
16500
16501
16502
16503
16504
16505
16506
16507
16508
16509
16510
16511
16512
16513
16514
16515
16516
16517
16518
16519
16520
16521
16522
16523
16524
16525
16526
16527
16528
16529
16530
16531
16532
16533
16534
16535
16536
16537
16538
16539
16540
16541
16542
16543
16544
16545
16546
16547
16548
16549
16550
16551
16552
16553
16554
16555
16556
16557
16558
16559
16560
16561
16562
16563
16564
16565
16566
16567
16568
16569
16570
16571
16572
16573
16574
16575
16576
16577
16578
16579
16580
16581
16582
16583
16584
16585
16586
16587
16588
16589
16590
16591
16592
16593
16594
16595
16596
16597
16598
16599
16600
16601
16602
16603
16604
16605
16606
16607
16608
16609
16610
16611
16612
16613
16614
16615
16616
16617
16618
16619
16620
16621
16622
16623
16624
16625
16626
16627
16628
16629
16630
16631
16632
16633
16634
16635
16636
16637
16638
16639
16640
16641
16642
16643
16644
16645
16646
16647
16648
16649
16650
16651
16652
16653
16654
16655
16656
16657
16658
16659
16660
16661
16662
16663
16664
16665
16666
16667
16668
16669
16670
16671
16672
16673
16674
16675
16676
16677
16678
16679
16680
16681
16682
16683
16684
16685
16686
16687
16688
16689
16690
16691
16692
16693
16694
16695
16696
16697
16698
16699
16700
16701
16702
16703
16704
16705
16706
16707
16708
16709
16710
16711
16712
16713
16714
16715
16716
16717
16718
16719
16720
16721
16722
16723
16724
16725
16726
16727
16728
16729
16730
16731
16732
16733
16734
16735
16736
16737
16738
16739
16740
16741
16742
16743
16744
16745
16746
16747
16748
16749
16750
16751
16752
16753
16754
16755
16756
16757
16758
16759
16760
16761
16762
16763
16764
16765
16766
16767
16768
16769
16770
16771
16772
16773
16774
16775
16776
16777
16778
16779
16780
16781
16782
16783
16784
16785
16786
16787
16788
16789
16790
16791
16792
16793
16794
16795
16796
16797
16798
16799
16800
16801
16802
16803
16804
16805
16806
16807
16808
16809
16810
16811
16812
16813
16814
16815
16816
16817
16818
16819
16820
16821
16822
16823
16824
16825
16826
16827
16828
16829
16830
16831
16832
16833
16834
16835
16836
16837
16838
16839
16840
16841
16842
16843
16844
16845
16846
16847
16848
16849
16850
16851
16852
16853
16854
16855
16856
16857
16858
16859
16860
16861
16862
16863
16864
16865
16866
16867
16868
16869
16870
16871
16872
16873
16874
16875
16876
16877
16878
16879
16880
16881
16882
16883
16884
16885
16886
16887
16888
16889
16890
16891
16892
16893
16894
16895
16896
16897
16898
16899
16900
16901
16902
16903
16904
16905
16906
16907
16908
16909
16910
16911
16912
16913
16914
16915
16916
16917
16918
16919
16920
16921
16922
16923
16924
16925
16926
16927
16928
16929
16930
16931
16932
16933
16934
16935
16936
16937
16938
16939
16940
16941
16942
16943
16944
16945
16946
16947
16948
16949
16950
16951
16952
16953
16954
16955
16956
16957
16958
16959
16960
16961
16962
16963
16964
16965
16966
16967
16968
16969
16970
16971
16972
16973
16974
16975
16976
16977
16978
16979
16980
16981
16982
16983
16984
16985
16986
16987
16988
16989
16990
16991
16992
16993
16994
16995
16996
16997
16998
16999
17000
17001
17002
17003
17004
17005
17006
17007
17008
17009
17010
17011
17012
17013
17014
17015
17016
17017
17018
17019
17020
17021
17022
17023
17024
17025
17026
17027
17028
17029
17030
17031
17032
17033
17034
17035
17036
17037
17038
17039
17040
17041
17042
17043
17044
17045
17046
17047
17048
17049
17050
17051
17052
17053
17054
17055
17056
17057
17058
17059
17060
17061
17062
17063
17064
17065
17066
17067
17068
17069
17070
17071
17072
17073
17074
17075
17076
17077
17078
17079
17080
17081
17082
17083
17084
17085
17086
17087
17088
17089
17090
17091
17092
17093
17094
17095
17096
17097
17098
17099
17100
17101
17102
17103
17104
17105
17106
17107
17108
17109
17110
17111
17112
17113
17114
17115
17116
17117
17118
17119
17120
17121
17122
17123
17124
17125
17126
17127
17128
17129
17130
17131
17132
17133
17134
17135
17136
17137
17138
17139
17140
17141
17142
17143
17144
17145
17146
17147
17148
17149
17150
17151
17152
17153
17154
17155
17156
17157
17158
17159
17160
17161
17162
17163
17164
17165
17166
17167
17168
17169
17170
17171
17172
17173
17174
17175
17176
17177
17178
17179
17180
17181
17182
17183
17184
17185
17186
17187
17188
17189
17190
17191
17192
17193
17194
17195
17196
17197
17198
17199
17200
17201
17202
17203
17204
17205
17206
17207
17208
17209
17210
17211
17212
17213
17214
17215
17216
17217
17218
17219
17220
17221
17222
17223
17224
17225
17226
17227
17228
17229
17230
17231
17232
17233
17234
17235
17236
17237
17238
17239
17240
17241
17242
17243
17244
17245
17246
17247
17248
17249
17250
17251
17252
17253
17254
17255
17256
17257
17258
17259
17260
17261
17262
17263
17264
17265
17266
17267
17268
17269
17270
17271
17272
17273
17274
17275
17276
17277
17278
17279
17280
17281
17282
17283
17284
17285
17286
17287
17288
17289
17290
17291
17292
17293
17294
17295
17296
17297
17298
17299
17300
17301
17302
17303
17304
17305
17306
17307
17308
17309
17310
17311
17312
17313
17314
17315
17316
17317
17318
17319
17320
17321
17322
17323
17324
17325
17326
17327
17328
17329
17330
17331
17332
17333
17334
17335
17336
17337
17338
17339
17340
17341
17342
17343
17344
17345
17346
17347
17348
17349
17350
17351
17352
17353
17354
17355
17356
17357
17358
17359
17360
17361
17362
17363
17364
17365
17366
17367
17368
17369
17370
17371
17372
17373
17374
17375
17376
17377
17378
17379
17380
17381
17382
17383
17384
17385
17386
17387
17388
17389
17390
17391
17392
17393
17394
17395
17396
17397
17398
17399
17400
17401
17402
17403
17404
17405
17406
17407
17408
17409
17410
17411
17412
17413
17414
17415
17416
17417
17418
17419
17420
17421
17422
17423
17424
17425
17426
17427
17428
17429
17430
17431
17432
17433
17434
17435
17436
17437
17438
17439
17440
17441
17442
17443
17444
17445
17446
17447
17448
17449
17450
17451
17452
17453
17454
17455
17456
17457
17458
17459
17460
17461
17462
17463
17464
17465
17466
17467
17468
17469
17470
17471
17472
17473
17474
17475
17476
17477
17478
17479
17480
17481
17482
17483
17484
17485
17486
17487
17488
17489
17490
17491
17492
17493
17494
17495
17496
17497
17498
17499
17500
17501
17502
17503
17504
17505
17506
17507
17508
17509
17510
17511
17512
17513
17514
17515
17516
17517
17518
17519
17520
17521
17522
17523
17524
17525
17526
17527
17528
17529
17530
17531
17532
17533
17534
17535
17536
17537
17538
17539
17540
17541
17542
17543
17544
17545
17546
17547
17548
17549
17550
17551
17552
17553
17554
17555
17556
17557
17558
17559
17560
17561
17562
17563
17564
17565
17566
17567
17568
17569
17570
17571
17572
17573
17574
17575
17576
17577
17578
17579
17580
17581
17582
17583
17584
17585
17586
17587
17588
17589
17590
17591
17592
17593
17594
17595
17596
17597
17598
17599
17600
17601
17602
17603
17604
17605
17606
17607
17608
17609
17610
17611
17612
17613
17614
17615
17616
17617
17618
17619
17620
17621
17622
17623
17624
17625
17626
17627
17628
17629
17630
17631
17632
17633
17634
17635
17636
17637
17638
17639
17640
17641
17642
17643
17644
17645
17646
17647
17648
17649
17650
17651
17652
17653
17654
17655
17656
17657
17658
17659
17660
17661
17662
17663
17664
17665
17666
17667
17668
17669
17670
17671
17672
17673
17674
17675
17676
17677
17678
17679
17680
17681
17682
17683
17684
17685
17686
17687
17688
17689
17690
17691
17692
17693
17694
17695
17696
17697
17698
17699
17700
17701
17702
17703
17704
17705
17706
17707
17708
17709
17710
17711
17712
17713
17714
17715
17716
17717
17718
17719
17720
17721
17722
17723
17724
17725
17726
17727
17728
17729
17730
17731
17732
17733
17734
17735
17736
17737
17738
17739
17740
17741
17742
17743
17744

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1, by Richard F. Burton</title>

<style type="text/css">

body { margin-left: 20%;
       margin-right: 20%;
       text-align: justify }

h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight:
normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;}

h1 {font-size: 300%;
    margin-top: 0.6em;
    margin-bottom: 0.6em;
    letter-spacing: 0.12em;
    word-spacing: 0.2em;
    text-indent: 0em;}
h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;}
h3 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em;}
h4 {font-size: 120%;}
h5 {font-size: 110%;}

hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;}

div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;}

p {text-indent: 1em;
   margin-top: 0.25em;
   margin-bottom: 0.25em; }

p.poem {text-indent: 0%;
        margin-left: 10%;
        font-size: 90%;
        margin-top: 1em;
        margin-bottom: 1em; }

p.noindent {text-indent: 0% }

p.center  {text-align: center;
           text-indent: 0em;
           margin-top: 1em;
           margin-bottom: 1em; }

p.right {text-align: right;
         margin-right: 10%;
         margin-top: 1em;
         margin-bottom: 1em; }

a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none}
a:hover {color:red}

</style>

</head>

<body>

<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1, by Richard F. Burton</div>
<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
country where you are located before using this eBook.
</div>
<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 1</div>
<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Richard F. Burton</div>
<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 20, 2001 [eBook #3435]<br />
[Most recently updated: January 8, 2021]</div>
<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: J.C. Byers. Proofreaders were: J.C. Byers, Norm Wolcott, Dianne Doefler and Charles Wilson</div>
<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS ***</div>

<h1>THE BOOK OF THE<br/> THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT</h1>

<h4>A Plain and Literal Translation<br/>
of the Arabian Nights Entertainments<br/></h4>

<h2>Translated and Annotated by<br/> Richard F. Burton </h2>

<h2>VOLUME ONE</h2>

<p class="center">
Inscribed to the Memory<br/>
of<br/>
My Lamented Friend<br/>
John Frederick Steinhaeuser,<br/>
(Civil Surgeon, Aden)<br/>
who<br/>
A Quarter of a Century Ago<br/>
Assisted Me in this Translation.
</p>

<div class="chapter">

<p class="center">
&ldquo;TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE&rdquo;<br />
(Puris omnia pura)
</p>

<p class="right">
&mdash;<i>Arab Proverb.</i>
</p>

<p class="center">
&ldquo;Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole.&rdquo;
</p>

<p class="right">
&mdash;&ldquo;<i>Decameron</i>&rdquo;&mdash;<i>conclusion</i>.
</p>

<p class="center">
&ldquo;Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum<br />
Sed coram Bruto. Brute! recede, leget.&rdquo;
</p>

<p class="right">
&mdash;M<small>ARTIAL</small>.
</p>

<p class="center">
&ldquo;Mieulx est de ris que de larmes escripre,<br />
Pour ce que rire est le propre des hommes.&rdquo;
</p>

<p class="right">
&mdash;R<small>ABELAIS</small>.
</p>

<p class="center">
&ldquo;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.&rdquo;
</p>

<p class="right">
&mdash;C<small>RICHTON&rsquo;S</small> &ldquo;<i>History of Arabia</i>.&rdquo;
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2>Contents of the First Volume</h2>

<table summary="" style="margin-left: 0em; margin-right: auto">

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap01">Introduction</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap02">Story Of King Shahryar and His Brother</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap03">a. Tale of the Bull and the Ass</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap04">1. Tale of the Trader and the Jinni</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap05">a. The First Shaykh&rsquo;s Story</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap06">b. The Second Shaykh&rsquo;s Story</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap07">c. The Third Shaykh&rsquo;s Story</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap08">2. The Fisherman and the Jinni</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap09">a. Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap10">ab. Story of King Sindibad and His Falcon</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap11">ac. Tale of the Husband and the Parrot</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap12">ad. Tale of the Prince and the Ogress</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap13">b. Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap14">3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap15">a. The First Kalandar&rsquo;s Tale</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap16">b. The Second Kalandar&rsquo;s Tale</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap17">ba. Tale of the Envier and the Envied</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap18">c. The Third Kalandar&rsquo;s Tale</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap19">d. The Eldest Lady&rsquo;s Tale</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap20">e. Tale of the Portress</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap21">Conclusion of the Story of the Porter and the Three Ladies</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap22">4. Tale of the Three Apples</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap23">5. Tale of Nur Al-din Ali and his Son</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap24">6. The Hunchback&rsquo;s Tale</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap25">a. The Nazarene Broker&rsquo;s Story</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap26">b. The Reeve&rsquo;s Tale</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap27">c. Tale of the Jewish Doctor</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap28">d. Tale of the Tailor</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap29">e. The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of Himself</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap30">ea. The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his First Brother</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap31">eb. The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Second Brother</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap32">ec. The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Third Brother</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap33">ed. The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Fourth Brother</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap34">ee. The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Fifth Brother</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap35">ef. The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Sixth Brother</a></td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td> <a href="#chap36">The End of the Tailor&rsquo;s Tale</a></td>
</tr>

</table>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2>The Translator&rsquo;s Foreword.</h2>

<p>
This work, labourious as it may appear, has been to me a labour of love, an
unfailing source of solace and satisfaction. During my long years of official
banishment to the luxuriant and deadly deserts of Western Africa, and to the
dull and dreary half clearings of South America, it proved itself a charm, a
talisman against ennui and despondency. Impossible even to open the pages
without a vision starting into view; with out drawing a picture from the
pinacothek of the brain; without reviving a host of memories and reminiscences
which are not the common property of travellers, however widely they may have
travelled. From my dull and commonplace and "respectable" surroundings, the
Jinn bore me at once to the land of my pre-dilection, Arabia, a region so
familiar to my mind that even at first sight, it seemed a reminiscence of some
by gone metem-psychic life in the distant Past. Again I stood under the
diaphanous skies, in air glorious as aether, whose every breath raises men's
spirits like sparkling wine. Once more I saw the evening star hanging like a
solitaire from the pure front of the western firmament; and the after glow
transfiguring and transforming, as by magic, the homely and rugged features of
the scene into a fairy land lit with a light which never shines on other soils
or seas. Then would appear the woollen tents, low and black, of the true
Badawin, mere dots in the boundless waste of lion tawny clays and gazelle brown
gravels, and the camp fire dotting like a glow worm the village centre.
Presently, sweetened by distance, would be heard the wild weird song of lads
and lasses, driving or rather pelting, through the gloaming their sheep and
goats; and the measured chant of the spearsmen gravely stalking behind their
charge, the camels; mingled with bleating of the flocks and the bellowing of
the humpy herds; while the reremouse flitted overhead with his tiny shriek, and
the rave of the jackal resounded through deepening glooms, and—most musical of
music—the palm trees answered the whispers of the night breeze with the softest
tones of falling water.
</p>

<p>
And then a shift of scene. The Shaykhs and "white beards" of the tribe gravely
take their places, sitting with outspread skirts like hillocks on the plain, as
the Arabs say, around the camp fire, whilst I reward their hospitality and
secure its continuance by reading or reciting a few pages of their favourite
tales. The women and children stand motionless as silhouettes outside the ring;
and all are breathless with attention; they seem to drink in the words with
eyes and mouths as well as with ears. The most fantastic flights of fancy, the
wildest improbabilities, the most impossible of impossibilities, appear to them
utterly natural, mere matters of every day occurrence. They enter thoroughly
into each phase of feeling touched upon by the author: they take a personal
pride in the chivalrous nature and knightly prowess of Taj al-Mulúk; they are
touched with tenderness by the self sacrificing love of Azízah; their mouths
water as they hear of heaps of untold gold given away in largesse like clay;
they chuckle with delight every time a Kázi or a Fakír—a judge or a reverend—is
scurvily entreated by some Pantagruelist of the Wilderness; and, despite their
normal solemnity and impassibility, all roar with laughter, sometimes rolling
upon the ground till the reader's gravity is sorely tried, at the tales of the
garrulous Barber and of Ali and the Kurdish Sharper. To this magnetising mood
the sole exception is when a Badawi of superior accomplishments, who sometimes
says his prayers, ejaculates a startling "Astagh-faru'llah"—I pray Allah's
pardon!—for listening, not to Carlyle's "downright lies," but to light mention
of the sex whose name is never heard amongst the nobility of the Desert.
</p>

<p>
Nor was it only in Arabia that the immortal Nights did me such notable service:
I found the wildlings of Somali land equally amenable to its discipline; no one
was deaf to the charm and the two women cooks of my caravan, on its way to
Harar, were in continently dubbed by my men "Shahrazad" and "Dinazad."
</p>

<p>
It may be permitted me also to note that this translation is a natural outcome
of my Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah. Arriving at Aden in the (so called)
winter of 1852, I put up with my old and dear friend, Steinhaeuser, to whose
memory this volume is inscribed; and, when talking over Arabia and the Arabs,
we at once came to the same conclusion that, while the name of this wondrous
treasury of Moslem folk lore is familiar to almost every English child, no
general reader is aware of the valuables it contains, nor indeed will the door
open to any but Arabists. Before parting we agreed to "collaborate" and produce
a full, complete, unvarnished, uncastrated copy of the great original, my
friend taking the prose and I the metrical part; and we corresponded upon the
subject for years. But whilst I was in the Brazil, Steinhaeuser died suddenly
of apoplexy at Berne in Switzerland and, after the fashion of Anglo India, his
valuable MSS. left at Aden were dispersed, and very little of his labours came
into my hands.
</p>

<p>
Thus I was left alone to my work, which progressed fitfully amid a host of
obstructions. At length, in the spring of 1879, the tedious process of copying
began and the book commenced to take finished form. But, during the winter of
1881-82, I saw in the literary journals a notice of a new version by Mr. John
Payne, well known to scholars for his prowess in English verse, especially for
his translation of "The Poems of Master Francis Villon, of Paris." Being then
engaged on an expedition to the Gold Coast (for gold), which seemed likely to
cover some months, I wrote to the "Athenæum" (Nov. 13, 1881) and to Mr. Payne,
who was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same work, and freely
offered him precedence and possession of the field till no longer wanted. He
accepted my offer as frankly, and his priority entailed another delay lasting
till the spring of 1885. These details will partly account for the lateness of
my appearing, but there is yet another cause. Professional ambition suggested
that literary labours, unpopular with the vulgar and the half educated, are not
likely to help a man up the ladder of promotion. But common sense presently
suggested to me that, professionally speaking, I was not a success, and, at the
same time, that I had no cause to be ashamed of my failure. In our day, when we
live under a despotism of the lower "middle class" Philister who can pardon
anything but superiority, the prizes of competitive services are monopolized by
certain "pets" of the <i>Médiocratie</i>, and prime favourites of that jealous
and potent majority—the Mediocrities who know "no nonsense about merit." It is
hard for an outsider to realise how perfect is the monopoly of common place,
and to comprehend how fatal a stumbling stone that man sets in the way of his
own advancement who dares to think for himself, or who knows more or who does
more than the mob of gentlemen-employés who know very little and who do even
less.
</p>

<p>
Yet, however behindhand I may be, there is still ample room and verge for an
English version of the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments."
</p>

<p>
Our century of translations, popular and vernacular, from (Professor Antoine)
Galland's delightful abbreviation and adaptation (A.D. 1704), in no wise
represent the eastern original. The best and latest, the Rev. Mr. Foster's,
which is diffuse and verbose, and Mr. G. Moir Bussey's, which is a
re-correction, abound in gallicisms of style and idiom; and one and all degrade
a chef d'oeuvre of the highest anthropological and ethnographical interest and
importance to a mere fairy book, a nice present for little boys.
</p>

<p>
After nearly a century had elapsed, Dr. Jonathan Scott (LL.D. H.E.I.C.'s S.,
Persian Secretary to the G. G. Bengal; Oriental Professor, etc., etc.), printed
his "Tales, Anecdotes, and Letters, translated from the Arabic and Persian,"
(Cadell and Davies, London, A.D. 1800); and followed in 1811 with an edition of
"The Arabian Nights' Entertainments" from the MS. of Edward Wortley Montague
(in 6 vols., small 8vo, London: Longmans, etc.). This work he (and he only)
describes as "Carefully revised and occasionally corrected from the Arabic."
The reading public did not wholly reject it, sundry texts were founded upon the
Scott version and it has been imperfectly reprinted (4 vole., 8vo, Nimmo and
Bain, London, 1883). But most men, little recking what a small portion of the
original they were reading, satisfied themselves with the Anglo French epitome
and metaphrase. At length in 1838, Mr. Henry Torrens, B.A., Irishman, lawyer
("of the Inner Temple") and Bengal Civilian, took a step in the right
direction; and began to translate, "The Book of the Thousand Nights and One
Night," (1 vol., 8vo, Calcutta: W. Thacker and Co.) from the Arabic of the
Ægyptian (!) MS. edited by Mr. (afterwards Sir)William H. Macnaghten. The
attempt, or rather the intention, was highly creditable; the copy was carefully
moulded upon the model and offered the best example of the <i>verbatim et
literatim</i> style. But the plucky author knew little of Arabic, and least of
what is most wanted, the dialect of Egypt and Syria. His prose is so
conscientious as to offer up spirit at the shrine of letter; and his verse,
always whimsical, has at times a manner of Hibernian whoop which is comical
when it should be pathetic. Lastly he printed only one volume of a series which
completed would have contained nine or ten.
</p>

<p>
That amiable and devoted Arabist, the late Edward William Lane does not score a
success in his "New Translation of the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights"
(London: Charles Knight and Co., MDCCCXXXIX.) of which there have been four
English editions, besides American, two edited by E. S. Poole. He chose the
abbreviating Bulak Edition; and, of its two hundred tales, he has omitted about
half and by far the more characteristic half: the work was intended for "the
drawing room table;" and, consequently, the workman was compelled to avoid the
"objectionable" and aught "approaching to licentiousness." He converts the
Arabian Nights into the Arabian Chapters, arbitrarily changing the division
and, worse still, he converts some chapters into notes. He renders poetry by
prose and apologises for not omitting it altogether: he neglects assonance and
he is at once too Oriental and not Oriental enough. He had small store of
Arabic at the time—Lane of the Nights is not Lane of the Dictionary—and his
pages are disfigured by many childish mistakes. Worst of all, the three
handsome volumes are rendered unreadable as Sale's Koran by their anglicised
Latin, their sesquipedalian un English words, and the stiff and stilted style
of half a century ago when our prose was, perhaps, the worst in Europe. Their
cargo of Moslem learning was most valuable to the student, but utterly out of
place for readers of "The Nights;" re-published, as these notes have been
separately (London, Chatto, 1883), they are an ethnological text book.
</p>

<p>
Mr. John Payne has printed, for the Villon Society and for private circulation
only, the first and sole complete translation of the great compendium,
"comprising about four times as much matter as that of Galland, and three times
as much as that of any other translator;" and I cannot but feel proud that he
has honoured me with the dedication of "The Book of The Thousand Nights and One
Night." His version is most readable: his English, with a sub-flavour of the
Mabinogionic archaicism, is admirable; and his style gives life and light to
the nine volumes whose matter is frequently heavy enough. He succeeds admirably
in the most difficult passages and he often hits upon choice and special terms
and the exact vernacular equivalent of the foreign word, so happily and so
picturesquely that all future translators must perforce use the same expression
under pain of falling far short. But the learned and versatile author bound
himself to issue only five hundred copies, and "not to reproduce the work in
its complete and uncastrated form." Consequently his excellent version is
caviaire to the general—practically unprocurable.
</p>

<p>
And here I hasten to confess that ample use has been made of the three versions
above noted, the whole being blended by a <i>callida junctura</i> into a
homogeneous mass. But in the presence of so many predecessors a writer is bound
to show some <i>raison d'être</i> for making a fresh attempt and this I proceed
to do with due reserve.
</p>

<p>
Briefly, the object of this version is to show what "The Thousand Nights and a
Night" really is. Not, however, for reasons to be more fully stated in the
Terminal Essay, by straining <i>verbum reddere verbo</i>, but by writing as the
Arab would have written in English. On this point I am all with Saint Jerome
(Pref. in Jobum) "Vel verbum e verbo, vel sensum e sensu, vel ex utroque
commixtum, et medie temperatum genus translationis." My work claims to be a
faithful copy of the great Eastern Saga book, by preserving intact, not only
the spirit, but even the <i>mécanique</i>, the manner and the matter. Hence,
however prosy and long drawn out be the formula, it retains the scheme of The
Nights because they are a prime feature in the original. The Ráwí or reciter,
to whose wits the task of supplying details is left, well knows their value:
the openings carefully repeat the names of the <i>dramatis personæ</i> and thus
fix them in the hearer's memory. Without the Nights no Arabian Nights! Moreover
it is necessary to retain the whole apparatus: nothing more ill advised than
Dr. Jonathan Scott's strange device of garnishing The Nights with fancy head
pieces and tail pieces or the splitting up of Galland's narrative by merely
prefixing "Nuit," etc., ending moreover, with the ccxxxivth Night: yet this has
been done, apparently with the consent of the great Arabist Sylvestre de Sacy
(Paris, Ernest Bourdin). Moreover, holding that the translator's glory is to
add something to his native tongue, while avoiding the hideous hag like
nakedness of Torrens and the bald literalism of Lane, I have carefully
Englished the picturesque turns and novel expressions of the original in all
their outlandishness; for instance, when the dust cloud raised by a tramping
host is described as "walling the horizon." Hence peculiar attention has been
paid to the tropes and figures which the Arabic language often packs into a
single term; and I have never hesitated to coin a word when wanted, such as
"she snorted and snarked," fully to represent the original. These, like many in
Rabelais, are mere barbarisms unless generally adopted; in which case they
become civilised and common currency.
</p>

<p>
Despite objections manifold and manifest, I have preserved the balance of
sentences and the prose rhyme and rhythm which Easterns look upon as mere
music. This "Saj'a," or cadence of the cooing dove, has in Arabic its special
duties. It adds a sparkle to description and a point to proverb, epigram and
dialogue; it corresponds with our "artful alliteration" (which in places I have
substituted for it) and, generally, it defines the boundaries between the
classical and the popular styles which jostle each other in The Nights. If at
times it appear strained and forced, after the wont of rhymed prose, the
scholar will observe that, despite the immense copiousness of assonants and
consonants in Arabic, the strain is often put upon it intentionally, like the
<i>Rims cars</i> of Dante and the Troubadours. This rhymed prose may be "un
English" and unpleasant, even irritating to the British ear; still I look upon
it as a <i>sine quâ non</i> for a complete reproduction of the original. In the
Terminal Essay I shall revert to the subject.
</p>

<p>
On the other hand when treating the versical portion, which may represent a
total of ten thousand lines, I have not always bound myself by the metrical
bonds of the Arabic, which are artificial in the extreme, and which in English
can be made bearable only by a tour de force. I allude especially to the
monorhyme, <i>Rim continuat or tirade monorime</i>, whose monotonous simplicity
was preferred by the Troubadours for threnodies. It may serve well for three or
four couplets but, when it extends, as in the Ghazal-canzon, to eighteen, and
in the Kasidah, elegy or ode, to more, it must either satisfy itself with banal
rhyme words, when the assonants should as a rule be expressive and emphatic;
or, it must display an ingenuity, a smell of the oil, which assuredly does not
add to the reader's pleasure. It can perhaps be done and it should be done; but
for me the task has no attractions: I can fence better in shoes than in sabots.
Finally I print the couplets in Arab form separating the hemistichs by
asterisks.
</p>

<p>
And now to consider one matter of special importance in the book—its
<i>turpiloquium</i>. This stumbling-block is of two kinds, completely distinct.
One is the simple, naïve and child like indecency which, from Tangiers to
Japan, occurs throughout general conversation of high and low in the present
day. It uses, like the holy books of the Hebrews, expressions "plainly
descriptive of natural situations;" and it treats in an unconventionally free
and naked manner of subjects and matters which are usually, by common consent,
left undescribed. As Sir William Jones observed long ago, "that anything
natural can be offensively obscene never seems to have occurred to the Indians
or to their legislators; a singularity (?) pervading their writings and
conversation, but no proof of moral depravity." Another justly observes, <i>Les
peuples primitifs n'y entendent pas malice: ils appellent les choses par leurs
noms et ne trouvent pas condamnable ce qui est naturel</i>. And they are prying
as children. For instance the European novelist marries off his hero and
heroine and leaves them to consummate marriage in privacy; even Tom Jones has
the decency to bolt the door. But the Eastern story teller, especially this
unknown "prose Shakespeare," must usher you, with a flourish, into the bridal
chamber and narrate to you, with infinite gusto, everything he sees and hears.
Again we must remember that grossness and indecency, in fact <i>les
turpitudes</i>, are matters of time and place; what is offensive in England is
not so in Egypt; what scandalises us now would have been a tame joke <i>tempore
Elisæ</i>. Withal The Nights will not be found in this matter coarser than many
passages of Shakespeare, Sterne, and Swift, and their uncleanness rarely
attains the perfection of Alcofribas Nasier, "divin maître et atroce cochon."
The other element is absolute obscenity, sometimes, but not always, tempered by
wit, humour and drollery; here we have an exaggeration of Petronius Arbiter,
the handiwork of writers whose ancestry, the most religious and the most
debauched of mankind, practised every abomination before the shrine of the
Canopic Gods.
</p>

<p>
In accordance with my purpose of reproducing the Nights, not <i>virginibus
puerisque</i>, but in as perfect a picture as my powers permit, I have
carefully sought out the English equivalent of every Arabic word, however low
it may be or "shocking" to ears polite; preserving, on the other hand, all
possible delicacy where the indecency is not intentional; and, as a friend
advises me to state, not exaggerating the vulgarities and the indecencies
which, indeed, can hardly be exaggerated. For the coarseness and crassness are
but the shades of a picture which would otherwise be all lights. The general
tone of The Nights is exceptionally high and pure. The devotional fervour often
rises to the boiling point of fanaticism. The pathos is sweet, deep and
genuine; tender, simple and true, utterly unlike much of our modern tinsel. Its
life, strong, splendid and multitudinous, is everywhere flavoured with that
unaffected pessimism and constitutional melancholy which strike deepest root
under the brightest skies and which sigh in the face of heaven:&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
Vita quid est hominis? Viridis floriscula mortis;<br/>
Sole Oriente oriens, sole cadente cadens.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Poetical justice is administered by the literary Kází with exemplary
impartiality and severity; "denouncing evil doers and eulogising deeds
admirably achieved." The morale is sound and healthy; and at times we descry,
through the voluptuous and libertine picture, vistas of a transcendental
morality, the morality of Socrates in Plato. Subtle corruption and covert
licentiousness are utterly absent; we find more real"vice" in many a short
French roman, say La Dame aux Camélias, and in not a few English novels of our
day than in the thousands of pages of the Arab. Here we have nothing of that
most immodest modern modesty which sees covert implication where nothing is
implied, and "improper" allusion when propriety is not outraged; nor do we meet
with the Nineteenth Century refinement; innocence of the word not of the
thought; morality of the tongue not of the heart, and the sincere homage paid
to virtue in guise of perfect hypocrisy. It is, indeed, this unique contrast of
a quaint element, childish crudities and nursery indecencies and "vain and
amatorious" phrase jostling the finest and highest views of life and character,
shown in the kaleidoscopic shiftings of the marvellous picture with many a
"rich truth in a tale's pretence", pointed by a rough dry humour which compares
well with "wut; "the alternations of strength and weakness, of pathos and
bathos, of the boldest poetry (the diction of Job) and the baldest prose (the
Egyptian of today); the contact of religion and morality with the orgies of
African Apuleius and Petronius Arbiter—at times taking away the reader's
breath—and, finally, the whole dominated everywhere by that marvellous Oriental
fancy, wherein the spiritual and the supernatural are as common as the material
and the natural; it is this contrast, I say, which forms the chiefest charm of
The Nights, which gives it the most striking originality and which makes it a
perfect expositor of the medieval Moslem mind.
</p>

<p>
Explanatory notes did not enter into Mr. Payne's plan. They do with mine: I can
hardly imagine The Nights being read to any profit by men of the West without
commentary. My annotations avoid only one subject, parallels of European
folklore and fabliaux which, however interesting, would overswell the bulk of a
book whose speciality is anthropology. The accidents of my life, it may be said
without undue presumption, my long dealings with Arabs and other Mahommedans,
and my familiarity not only with their idiom but with their turn of thought,
and with that racial individuality which baffles description, have given me
certain advantages over the average student, however deeply he may have
studied. These volumes, moreover, afford me a long sought opportunity of
noticing practices and customs which interest all mankind and which "Society"
will not hear mentioned. Grote, the historian, and Thackeray, the novelist,
both lamented that the bégueulerie of their countrymen condemned them to keep
silence where publicity was required; and that they could not even claim the
partial licence of a Fielding and a Smollett. Hence a score of years ago I lent
my best help to the late Dr. James Hunt in founding the Anthropological
Society, whose presidential chair I first occupied (pp. 2-4 Anthropologia;
London, Balliere, vol. i., No. I, 1873). My motive was to supply travellers
with an organ which would rescue their observations from the outer darkness of
manuscript, and print their curious information on social and sexual matters
out of place in the popular book intended for the Nipptisch and indeed better
kept from public view. But, hardly had we begun when "Respectability," that
whited sepulchre full of all uncleanness, rose up against us. "Propriety" cried
us down with her brazen blatant voice, and the weak kneed brethren fell away.
Yet the organ was much wanted and is wanted still. All now known barbarous
tribes in Inner Africa, America and Australia, whose instincts have not been
overlaid by reason, have a ceremony which they call "making men." As soon as
the boy shows proofs of puberty, he and his coevals are taken in hand by the
mediciner and the Fetisheer; and, under priestly tuition, they spend months in
the "bush," enduring hardships and tortures which impress the memory till they
have mastered the "theorick and practick" of social and sexual relations.
Amongst the civilised this fruit of the knowledge tree must be bought at the
price of the bitterest experience, and the consequences of ignorance are
peculiarly cruel. Here, then, I find at last an opportunity of noticing in
explanatory notes many details of the text which would escape the reader's
observation, and I am confident that they will form a repertory of Eastern
knowledge in its esoteric phase. The student who adds the notes of Lane
("Arabian Society," etc., before quoted) to mine will know as much of the
Moslem East and more than many Europeans who have spent half their lives in
Orient lands. For facility of reference an index of anthropological notes is
appended to each volume.
</p>

<p>
The reader will kindly bear with the following technical details. Steinhaeuser
and I began and ended our work with the first Bulak ("Bul.") Edition printed at
the port of Cairo in A.H. 1251 = A.D. 1835. But when preparing my MSS. for
print I found the text incomplete, many of the stories being given in epitome
and not a few ruthlessly mutilated with head or feet wanting. Like most Eastern
scribes the Editor could not refrain from "improvements," which only debased
the book; and his sole title to excuse is that the second Bulak Edition (4
vols. A.H. 1279 = A.D. 1863), despite its being "revised and corrected by Sheik
Mahommed Qotch Al-Adewi," is even worse; and the same may be said of the Cairo
Edit. (4 vols. A.H. 1297 = A. D. 1881). The Calcutta ("Calc.") Edition, with
ten lines of Persian preface by the Editor, Ahmed al-Shirwani (A.D. 1814), was
cut short at the end of the first two hundred Nights, and thus made room for
Sir William Hay Macnaghten's Edition (4 vols. royal 4to) of 1839-42. This
("Mac."), as by far the least corrupt and the most complete, has been assumed
for my basis with occasional reference to the Breslau Edition ("Bres.")
wretchedly edited from a hideous Egyptian MS. by Dr. Maximilian Habicht
(1825-43). The Bayrut Text "Alif-Leila we Leila" (4 vols. gt. 8vo, Beirut,
1881-83) is a melancholy specimen of The Nights taken entirely from the Bulak
Edition by one Khalil Sarkis and converted to Christianity; beginning without
Bismillah, continued with scrupulous castration and ending in ennui and
disappointment. I have not used this missionary production.
</p>

<p>
As regards the transliteration of Arabic words I deliberately reject the artful
and complicated system, ugly and clumsy withal, affected by scientific modern
Orientalists. Nor is my sympathy with their prime object, namely to fit the
Roman alphabet for supplanting all others. Those who learn languages, and many
do so, by the eye as well as by the ear, well know the advantages of a special
character to distinguish, for instance, Syriac from Arabic, Gujrati from
Marathi. Again this Roman hand bewitched may have its use in purely scientific
and literary works; but it would be wholly out of place in one whose purpose is
that of the novel, to amuse rather than to instruct. Moreover the devices
perplex the simple and teach nothing to the learned. Either the reader knows
Arabic, in which case Greek letters, italics and "upper case," diacritical
points and similar typographic oddities are, as a rule with some exceptions,
unnecessary; or he does not know Arabic, when none of these expedients will be
of the least use to him. Indeed it is a matter of secondary consideration what
system we prefer, provided that we mostly adhere to one and the same, for the
sake of a consistency which saves confusion to the reader. I have especially
avoided that of Mr. Lane, adopted by Mr. Payne, for special reasons against
which it was vain to protest: it represents the debased brogue of Egypt or
rather of Cairo; and such a word as Kemer (ez-Zeman) would be utterly
un-pronounceable to a Badawi. Nor have I followed the practice of my learned
friend, Reverend G. P. Badger, in mixing bars and acute accents; the former
unpleasantly remind man of those hateful dactyls and spondees, and the latter
should, in my humble opinion, be applied to long vowels which in Arabic double,
or should double, the length of the shorts. Dr. Badger uses the acute symbol to
denote accent or stress of voice; but such appoggio is unknown to those who
speak with purest articulation; for instance whilst the European pronounces
Mus-cat', and the Arab villager Mas&#x2032;-kat; the Children of the Waste, "on
whose tongues Allah descended," articulate Mas-kat. I have therefore followed
the simple system adopted in my "Pilgrimage," and have accented Arabic words
only when first used, thinking it unnecessary to preserve throughout what is an
eyesore to the reader and a distress to the printer. In the main I follow
"Johnson on Richardson," a work known to every Anglo-Orientalist as the old and
trusty companion of his studies early and late; but even here I have made
sundry deviations for reasons which will be explained in the Terminal Essay. As
words are the embodiment of ideas and writing is of words, so the word is the
spoken word; and we should write it as pronounced. Strictly speaking, the
e-sound and the o-sound (viz. the Italian o-sound not the English which is
peculiar to us and unknown to any other tongue) are not found in Arabic, except
when the figure Imálah obliges: hence they are called "Yá al-Majhúl" and "Waw
al-Majhúl" the unknown y (í) and u. But in all tongues vowel-sounds, the flesh
which clothes the bones (consonants) of language, are affected by the
consonants which precede and more especially which follow them, hardening and
softening the articulation; and deeper sounds accompany certain letters as the
sád ( ) compared with the sín ( ). None save a defective ear would hold, as
Lane does, "Maulid" ( = birth-festival) "more properly pronounced 'Molid.'" Yet
I prefer Khokh (peach) and Jokh (broad cloth) to Khukh and Jukh; Ohod (mount)
to Uhud; Obayd (a little slave) to Ubayd; and Hosayn (a fortlet, not the P. N.
Al-Husayn) to Husayn. As for the short e in such words as "Memlúk" for "Mamluk"
(a white slave), "Eshe" for "Asha" (supper), and "Yemen" for "Al-Yaman," I
consider it a flat Egyptianism, insufferable to an ear which admires the Badawi
pronunciation. Yet I prefer "Shelebi" (a dandy) from the Turkish Chelebi, to
"Shalabi;" "Zebdani" (the Syrian village) to "Zabdani," and "Fes and Miknes"
(by the figure Imálah) to "Fas and Miknás,", our "Fez and Mequinez."
</p>

<p>
With respect to proper names and untranslated Arabic words I have rejected all
system in favour of common sense. When a term is incorporated in our tongue, I
refuse to follow the purist and mortify the reader by startling innovation. For
instance, Aleppo, Cairo and Bassorah are preferred to Halab, Kahirah and
Al-Basrah; when a word is half naturalised, like Alcoran or Koran, Bashaw or
Pasha, which the French write Pacha; and Mahomet or Mohammed (for Muhammad),
the modern form is adopted because the more familiar. But I see no advantage in
retaining,, simply because they are the mistakes of a past generation, such
words as "Roc" (for Rukh),), Khalif (a pretentious blunder for Khalífah and
better written Caliph) and "genie" ( = Jinn) a mere Gallic corruption not so
terrible, however, as "a Bedouin" ( = Badawi).). As little too would I follow
Mr. Lane in foisting upon the public such Arabisms as "Khuff" (a riding boot),
"Mikra'ah" (a palm rod) and a host of others for which we have good English
equivalents. On the other hand I would use, but use sparingly, certain Arabic
exclamations, as "Bismillah" ( = in the name of Allah!) and "Inshallah" ( = if
Allah please!), (= which have special applications and which have been made
familiar to English ears by the genius of Fraser and Morier.
</p>

<p>
I here end these desultory but necessary details to address the reader in a few
final words. He will not think lightly of my work when I repeat to him that
with the aid of my annotations supplementing Lane's, the student will readily
and pleasantly learn more of the Moslem's manners and customs, laws and
religion than is known to the average Orientalist; and, if my labours induce
him to attack the text of The Nights he will become master of much more Arabic
than the ordinary Arab owns. This book is indeed a legacy which I bequeath to
my fellow countrymen in their hour of need. Over devotion to Hindu, and
especially to Sanskrit literature, has led them astray from those (so called)
"Semitic" studies, which are the more requisite for us as they teach us to deal
successfully with a race more powerful than any pagans—the Moslem. Apparently
England is ever forgetting that she is at present the greatest Mohammedan
empire in the world. Of late years she has systematically neglected Arabism
and, indeed, actively discouraged it in examinations for the Indian Civil
Service, where it is incomparably more valuable than Greek and Latin. Hence,
when suddenly compelled to assume the reins of government in Moslem lands, as
Afghanistan in times past and Egypt at present, she fails after a fashion which
scandalises her few (very few) friends; and her crass ignorance concerning the
Oriental peoples which should most interest her, exposes her to the contempt of
Europe as well as of the Eastern world. When the regrettable raids of 1883-84,
culminating in the miserable affairs of Tokar, Teb and Tamasi, were made upon
the gallant Sudani negroids, the Bisharin outlying Sawakin, who were battling
for the holy cause of liberty and religion and for escape from Turkish
task-masters and Egyptian tax-gatherers, not an English official in camp, after
the death of the gallant and lamented Major Morice, was capable of speaking
Arabic. Now Moslems are not to be ruled by raw youths who should be at school
and college instead of holding positions of trust and emolument. He who would
deal with them successfully must be, firstly, honest and truthful and,
secondly, familiar with and favourably inclined to their manners and customs if
not to their law and religion. We may, perhaps, find it hard to restore to
England those pristine virtues, that tone and temper, which made her what she
is; but at any rate we (myself and a host of others) can offer her the means of
dispelling her ignorance concerning the Eastern races with whom she is
continually in contact.
</p>

<p>
In conclusion I must not forget to notice that the Arabic ornamentations of
these volumes were designed by my excellent friend Yacoub Artin Pasha, of the
Ministry of Instruction, Cairo, with the aid of the well-known writing artist,
Shaykh Mohammed Muunis the Cairene. My name, Al-Hajj Abdullah ( = the Pilgrim
Abdallah) was written by an English calligrapher, the lamented Professor Palmer
who found a premature death almost within sight of Suez.
</p>

<p class="right">
RICHARD F. BURTON
</p>

<p>
Wanderers&rsquo; Club, <i>August</i> 15, 1885.
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<a name="chap01"></a>
<h2>The Book Of The<br/>
THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT
</h2>

<h5>(ALF LAYLAH WA LAYLAH.)</h5>

<p class="center">
In the Name of Allah,<br/>
the Compassionating, the Compassionate!
</p>

<p class="center">
PRAISE BE TO ALLAH * THE BENEFICENT KING * THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE *
LORD OF THE THREE WORLDS * WHO SET UP THE FIRMAMENT WITHOUT PILLARS IN ITS
STEAD * AND WHO STRETCHED OUT THE EARTH EVEN AS A BED * AND GRACE, AND
PRAYER-BLESSING BE UPON OUR LORD MOHAMMED * LORD OF APOSTOLIC MEN * AND UPON
HIS FAMILY AND COMPANION TRAIN * PRAYER AND BLESSINGS ENDURING AND GRACE WHICH
UNTO THE DAY OF DOOM SHALL REMAIN * AMEN! * O THOU OF THE THREE WORLDS
SOVEREIGN!
</p>

<a name="chap02"></a>
<p>
And afterwards. Verily the works and words of those gone before us have become
instances and examples to men of our modern day, that folk may view what
admonishing chances befel other folk and may therefrom take warning; and that
they may peruse the annals of antique peoples and all that hath betided them,
and be thereby ruled and restrained:—Praise, therefore, be to Him who hath made
the histories of the Past an admonition unto the Present! Now of such instances
are the tales called "A Thousand Nights and a Night," together with their far
famed legends and wonders. Therein it is related (but Allah is All knowing of
His hidden things and All ruling and All honoured and All giving and All
gracious and All merciful [FN#1]) that, in tide of yore and in time long gone
before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu Sásán in the Islands of India
and China, a Lord of armies and guards and servants and dependents.[FN#2] He
left only two sons, one in the prime of manhood and the other yet a youth,
while both were Knights and Braves, albeit the elder was a doughtier horseman
than the younger. So he succeeded to the empire; when he ruled the land and
lorded it over his lieges with justice so exemplary that he was beloved by all
the peoples of his capital and of his kingdom. His name was King
Shahryár[FN#3], and he made his younger brother, Shah Zamán hight, King of
Samarcand in Barbarian land. These two ceased not to abide in their several
realms and the law was ever carried out in their dominions; and each ruled his
own kingdom, with equity and fair dealing to his subjects, in extreme solace
and enjoyment; and this condition continually endured for a score of years. But
at the end of the twentieth twelvemonth the elder King yearned for a sight of
his younger brother and felt that he must look upon him once more. So he took
counsel with his Wazír[FN#4] about visiting him, but the Minister, finding the
project unadvisable, recommended that a letter be written and a present be sent
under his charge to the younger brother with an invitation to visit the elder.
Having accepted this advice the King forthwith bade prepare handsome gifts,
such as horses with saddles of gem encrusted gold; Mamelukes, or white slaves;
beautiful handmaids, high breasted virgins, and splendid stuffs and costly. He
then wrote a letter to Shah Zaman expressing his warm love and great wish to
see him, ending with these words, "We therefore hope of the favour and
affection of the beloved brother that he will condescend to bestir himself and
turn his face us wards. Furthermore we have sent our Wazir to make all
ordinance for the march, and our one and only desire is to see thee ere we die;
but if thou delay or disappoint us we shall not survive the blow. Wherewith
peace be upon thee!" Then King Shahryar, having sealed the missive and given it
to the Wazir with the offerings aforementioned, commanded him to shorten his
skirts and strain his strength and make all expedition in going and returning.
"Harkening and obedience!" quoth the Minister, who fell to making ready without
stay and packed up his loads and prepared all his requisites without delay.
This occupied him three days, and on the dawn of the fourth he took leave of
his King and marched right away, over desert and hill' way, stony waste and
pleasant lea without halting by night or by day. But whenever he entered a
realm whose ruler was subject to his Suzerain, where he was greeted with
magnificent gifts of gold and silver and all manner of presents fair and rare,
he would tarry there three days,[FN#5] the term of the guest rite; and, when he
left on the fourth, he would be honourably escorted for a whole day's march. As
soon as the Wazir drew near Shah Zaman's court in Samarcand he despatched to
report his arrival one of his high officials, who presented himself before the
King; and, kissing ground between his hands, delivered his message. Hereupon
the King commanded sundry of his Grandees and Lords of his realm to fare forth
and meet his brother's Wazir at the distance of a full day's journey; which
they did, greeting him respectfully and wishing him all prosperity and forming
an escort and a procession. When he entered the city he proceeded straightway
to the palace, where he presented himself in the royal presence; and, after
kissing ground and praying for the King's health and happiness and for victory
over all his enemies, he informed him that his brother was yearning to see him,
and prayed for the pleasure of a visit. He then delivered the letter which Shah
Zaman took from his hand and read: it contained sundry hints and allusions
which required thought; but, when the King had fully comprehended its import,
he said, "I hear and I obey the commands of the beloved brother!" adding to the
Wazir, "But we will not march till after the third day's hospitality." He
appointed for the Minister fitting quarters of the palace; and, pitching tents
for the troops, rationed them with whatever they might require of meat and
drink and other necessaries. On the fourth day he made ready for wayfare and
got together sumptuous presents befitting his elder brother's majesty, and
stablished his chief Wazir viceroy of the land during his absence. Then he
caused his tents and camels and mules to be brought forth and encamped, with
their bales and loads, attendants and guards, within sight of the city, in
readiness to set out next morning for his brother's capital. But when the night
was half spent he bethought him that he had forgotten in his palace somewhat
which he should have brought with him, so he re turned privily and entered his
apartments, where he found the Queen, his wife, asleep on his own carpet bed,
embracing with both arms a black cook of loathsome aspect and foul with kitchen
grease and grime. When he saw this the world waxed black before his sight and
he said, "If such case happen while I am yet within sight of the city what will
be the doings of this damned whore during my long absence at my brother's
court?" So he drew his scymitar and, cutting the two in four pieces with a
single blow, left them on the carpet and returned presently to his camp without
letting anyone know of what had happened. Then he gave orders for immediate
departure and set out at once and began his travel; but he could not help
thinking over his wife's treason and he kept ever saying to himself, "How could
she do this deed by me? How could she work her own death?," till excessive
grief seized him, his colour changed to yellow, his body waxed weak and he was
threatened with a dangerous malady, such an one as bringeth men to die. So the
Wazir shortened his stages and tarried long at the watering stations and did
his best to solace the King. Now when Shah Zaman drew near the capital of his
brother he despatched vaunt couriers and messengers of glad tidings to announce
his arrival, and Shahryar came forth to meet him with his Wazirs and Emirs and
Lords and Grandees of his realm; and saluted him and joyed with exceeding joy
and caused the city to be decorated in his honour. When, however, the brothers
met, the elder could not but see the change of complexion in the younger and
questioned him of his case whereto he replied, "Tis caused by the travails of
wayfare and my case needs care, for I have suffered from the change of water
and air! but Allah be praised for reuniting me with a brother so dear and so
rare!" On this wise he dissembled and kept his secret, adding, "O King of the
time and Caliph of the tide, only toil and moil have tinged my face yellow with
bile and hath made my eyes sink deep in my head." Then the two entered the
capital in all honour; and the elder brother lodged the younger in a palace
overhanging the pleasure garden; and, after a time, seeing his condition still
unchanged, he attributed it to his separation from his country and kingdom. So
he let him wend his own ways and asked no questions of him till one day when he
again said, "O my brother, I see thou art grown weaker of body and yellower of
colour." "O my brother," replied Shah Zaman "I have an internal wound:"[FN#6]
still he would not tell him what he had witnessed in his wife. Thereupon
Shahryar summoned doctors and surgeons and bade them treat his brother
according to the rules of art, which they did for a whole month; but their
sherbets and potions naught availed, for he would dwell upon the deed of his
wife, and despondency, instead of diminishing, prevailed, and leach craft
treatment utterly failed. One day his elder brother said to him, "I am going
forth to hunt and course and to take my pleasure and pastime; maybe this would
lighten thy heart." Shah Zaman, however, refused, saying, "O my brother, my
soul yearneth for naught of this sort and I entreat thy favour to suffer me
tarry quietly in this place, being wholly taken up with my malady." So King
Shah Zaman passed his night in the palace and, next morning, when his brother
had fared forth, he removed from his room and sat him down at one of the
lattice windows overlooking the pleasure grounds; and there he abode thinking
with saddest thought over his wife's betrayal and burning sighs issued from his
tortured breast. And as he continued in this case lo! a postern of the palace,
which was carefully kept private, swung open and out of it came twenty slave
girls surrounding his bother's wife who was wondrous fair, a model of beauty
and comeliness and symmetry and perfect loveliness and who paced with the grace
of a gazelle which panteth for the cooling stream. Thereupon Shah Zaman drew
back from the window, but he kept the bevy in sight espying them from a place
whence he could not be espied. They walked under the very lattice and advanced
a little way into the garden till they came to a jetting fountain amiddlemost a
great basin of water; then they stripped off their clothes and behold, ten of
them were women, concubines of the King, and the other ten were white slaves.
Then they all paired off, each with each: but the Queen, who was left alone,
presently cried out in a loud voice, "Here to me, O my lord Saeed!" and then
sprang with a drop leap from one of the trees a big slobbering blackamoor with
rolling eyes which showed the whites, a truly hideous sight.[FN#7] He walked
boldly up to her and threw his arms round her neck while she embraced him as
warmly; then he bussed her and winding his legs round hers, as a button loop
clasps a button, he threw her and enjoyed her. On like wise did the other
slaves with the girls till all had satisfied their passions, and they ceased
not from kissing and clipping, coupling and carousing till day began to wane;
when the Mamelukes rose from the damsels' bosoms and the blackamoor slave
dismounted from the Queen's breast; the men resumed their disguises and all,
except the negro who swarmed up the tree, entered the palace and closed the
postern door as before. Now, when Shah Zaman saw this conduct of his sister in
law he said in himself, "By Allah, my calamity is lighter than this! My brother
is a greater King among the kings than I am, yet this infamy goeth on in his
very palace, and his wife is in love with that filthiest of filthy slaves. But
this only showeth that they all do it[FN#8] and that there is no woman but who
cuckoldeth her husband, then the curse of Allah upon one and all and upon the
fools who lean against them for support or who place the reins of conduct in
their hands." So he put away his melancholy and despondency, regret and repine,
and allayed his sorrow by constantly repeating those words, adding, " 'Tis my
conviction that no man in this world is safe from their malice!" When supper
time came they brought him the trays and he ate with voracious appetite, for he
had long refrained from meat, feeling unable to touch any dish however dainty.
Then he returned grateful thanks to Almighty Allah, praising Him and blessing
Him, and he spent a most restful night, it having been long since he had
savoured the sweet food of sleep. Next day he broke his fast heartily and began
to recover health and strength, and presently regained excellent condition. His
brother came back from the chase ten days after, when he rode out to meet him
and they saluted each other; and when King Shahryar looked at King Shah Zaman
he saw how the hue of health had returned to him, how his face had waxed ruddy
and how he ate with an appetite after his late scanty diet. He wondered much
and said, "O my brother, I was so anxious that thou wouldst join me in hunting
and chasing, and wouldst take thy pleasure and pastime in my dominion!" He
thanked him and excused himself; then the two took horse and rode into the city
and, when they were seated at their ease in the palace, the food trays were set
before them and they ate their sufficiency. After the meats were removed and
they had washed their hands, King Shahryar turned to his brother and said, "My
mind is overcome with wonderment at thy condition. I was desirous to carry thee
with me to the chase but I saw thee changed in hue, pale and wan to view, and
in sore trouble of mind too. But now Alham-dolillah—glory be to God!—I see thy
natural colour hath returned to thy face and that thou art again in the best of
case. It was my belief that thy sickness came of severance from thy family and
friends, and absence from capital and country, so I refrained from troubling
thee with further questions. But now I beseech thee to expound to me the cause
of thy complaint and thy change of colour, and to explain the reason of thy
recovery and the return to the ruddy hue of health which I am wont to view. So
speak out and hide naught!" When Shah Zaman heard this he bowed groundwards
awhile his head, then raised it and said, "I will tell thee what caused my
complaint and my loss of colour; but excuse my acquainting thee with the cause
of its return to me and the reason of my complete recovery: indeed I pray thee
not to press me for a reply." Said Shahryar, who was much surprised by these
words, "Let me hear first what produced thy pallor and thy poor condition."
"Know, then, O my brother," rejoined Shah Zaman, "that when thou sentest thy
Wazir with the invitation to place myself between thy hands, I made ready and
marched out of my city; but presently I minded me having left behind me in the
palace a string of jewels intended as a gift to thee. I returned for it alone
and found my wife on my carpet bed and in the arms of a hideous black cook. So
I slew the twain and came to thee, yet my thoughts brooded over this business
and I lost my bloom and became weak. But excuse me if I still refuse to tell
thee what was the reason of my complexion returning." Shahryar shook his head,
marvelling with extreme marvel, and with the fire of wrath flaming up from his
heart, he cried, "Indeed, the malice of woman is mighty!" Then he took refuge
from them with Allah and said, "In very sooth, O my brother, thou hast escaped
many an evil by putting thy wife to death,[FN#9] and right excusable were thy
wrath and grief for such mishap which never yet befel crowned King like thee.
By Allah, had the case been mine, I would not have been satisfied without
slaying a thousand women and that way madness lies! But now praise be to Allah
who hath tempered to thee thy tribulation, and needs must thou acquaint me with
that which so suddenly restored to thee complexion and health, and explain to
me what causeth this concealment." "O King of the Age, again I pray thee excuse
my so doing!" "Nay, but thou must." "I fear, O my brother, lest the recital
cause thee more anger and sorrow than afflicted me." "That were but a better
reason," quoth Shahryar, "for telling me the whole history, and I conjure thee
by Allah not to keep back aught from me." Thereupon Shah Zaman told him all he
had seen, from commencement to conclusion, ending with these words, "When I
beheld thy calamity and the treason of thy wife, O my brother, and I reflected
that thou art in years my senior and in sovereignty my superior, mine own
sorrow was belittled by the comparison, and my mind recovered tone and temper:
so throwing off melancholy and despondency, I was able to eat and drink and
sleep, and thus I speedily regained health and strength. Such is the truth and
the whole truth." When King Shahryar heard this he waxed wroth with exceeding
wrath, and rage was like to strangle him; but presently he recovered himself
and said, "O my brother, I would not give thee the lie in this matter, but I
cannot credit it till I see it with mine own eyes." "An thou wouldst look upon
thy calamity," quoth Shah Zaman, "rise at once and make ready again for hunting
and coursing.[FN#10] and then hide thyself with me, so shalt thou witness it
and thine eyes shall verify it." "True," quoth the King; whereupon he let make
proclamation of his intent to travel, and the troops and tents fared forth
without the city, camping within sight, and Shahryar sallied out with them and
took seat amidmost his host, bidding the slaves admit no man to him. When night
came on he summoned his Wazir and said to him, "Sit thou in my stead and let
none wot of my absence till the term of three days." Then the brothers
disguised themselves and returned by night with all secrecy to the palace,
where they passed the dark hours: and at dawn they seated themselves at the
lattice overlooking the pleasure grounds, when presently the Queen and her
handmaids came out as before, and passing under the windows made for the
fountain. Here they stripped, ten of them being men to ten women, and the
King's wife cried out, "Where art thou, O Saeed?" The hideous blackamoor
dropped from the tree straightway; and, rushing into her arms without stay or
delay, cried out, "I am Sa'ad al Din Saood!"[FN#11] The lady laughed heartily,
and all fell to satisfying their lusts, and remained so occupied for a couple
of hours, when the white slaves rose up from the handmaidens' breasts and the
blackamoor dismounted from the Queen's bosom: then they went into the basin
and, after performing the Ghusl, or complete ablution, donned their dresses and
retired as they had done before. When King Shahryar saw this infamy of his wife
and concubines he became as one distraught and he cried out, "Only in utter
solitude can man be safe from the doings of this vile world! By Allah, life is
naught but one great wrong." Presently he added, "Do not thwart me, O my
brother, in what I propose;" and the other answered, "I will not." So he said,
"Let us up as we are and depart forthright hence, for we have no concern with
Kingship, and let us overwander Allah's earth, worshipping the Almighty till we
find some one to whom the like calamity hath happened; and if we find none then
will death be more welcome to us than life." So the two brothers issued from a
second private postern of the palace; and they never stinted wayfaring by day
and by night, until they reached a tree a middle of a meadow hard by a spring
of sweet water on the shore of the salt sea. Both drank of it and sat down to
take their rest; and when an hour of the day had gone by: lo! they heard a
mighty roar and uproar in the middle of the main as though the heavens were
falling upon the earth; and the sea brake with waves before them, and from it
towered a black pillar, which grew and grew till it rose skywards and began
making for that meadow. Seeing it, they waxed fearful exceedingly and climbed
to the top of the tree, which was a lofty; whence they gazed to see what might
be the matter. And behold, it was a Jinni,[FN#12] huge of height and burly of
breast and bulk, broad of brow and black of blee, bearing on his head a coffer
of crystal. He strode to land, wading through the deep, and coming to the tree
whereupon were the two Kings, seated himself beneath it. He then set down the
coffer on its bottom and out it drew a casket, with seven padlocks of steel,
which he unlocked with seven keys of steel he took from beside his thigh, and
out of it a young lady to come was seen, white-skinned and of winsomest mien,
of stature fine and thin, and bright as though a moon of the fourteenth night
she had been, or the sun raining lively sheen. Even so the poet Utayyah hath
excellently said:&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
She rose like the morn as she shone through the night * And she gilded the
grove with her gracious sight:<br/>
From her radiance the sun taketh increase when * She unveileth and shameth the
moonshine bright.<br/>
Bow down all beings between her hands * As she showeth charms with her veil
undight.<br/>
And she floodeth cities[FN#13] with torrent tears * When she flasheth her look
of leven-light.
</p>

<p>
The Jinni seated her under the tree by his side and looking at her said, "O
choicest love of this heart of mine! O dame of noblest line, whom I snatched
away on thy bride night that none might prevent me taking thy maidenhead or
tumble thee before I did, and whom none save myself hath loved or hath enjoyed:
O my sweetheart! I would lief sleep a little while." He then laid his head upon
the lady's thighs; and, stretching out his legs which extended down to the sea,
slept and snored and snarked like the roll of thunder. Presently she raised her
head towards the tree top and saw the two Kings perched near the summit; then
she softly lifted off her lap the Jinni's pate which she was tired of
supporting and placed it upon the ground; then standing upright under the tree
signed to the Kings, "Come ye down, ye two, and fear naught from this
Ifrit."[FN#14] They were in a terrible fright when they found that she had seen
them and answered her in the same manner, "Allah upon thee[FN#15] and by thy
modesty, O lady, excuse us from coming down!" But she rejoined by saying,
"Allah upon you both, that ye come down forthright, and if ye come not, I will
rouse upon you my husband, this Ifrit, and he shall do you to die by the illest
of deaths;" and she continued making signals to them. So, being afraid, they
came down to her and she rose be fore them and said, "Stroke me a strong
stroke, without stay or delay, otherwise will I arouse and set upon you this
Ifrit who shall slay you straightway." They said to her, "O our lady, we
conjure thee by Allah, let us off this work, for we are fugitives from such and
in extreme dread and terror of this thy husband. How then can we do it in such
a way as thou desirest"?" "Leave this talk: it needs must be so;" quoth she,
and she swore them by Him[FN#16] who raised the skies on high, without prop or
pillar, that, if they worked not her will, she would cause them to be slain and
cast into the sea. Whereupon out of fear King Shahryar said to King Shah Zaman,
"O my brother, do thou what she biddeth thee do;" but he replied, "I will not
do it till thou do it before I do." And they began disputing about futtering
her. Then quoth she to the twain, "How is it I see you disputing and demurring;
if ye do not come forward like men and do the deed of kind ye two, I will
arouse upon you the Ifrit." At this, by reason of their sore dread of the
Jinni, both did by her what she bade them do; and, when they had dismounted
from her, she said, "Well done!" She then took from her pocket a purse and drew
out a knotted string, whereon were strung five hundred and seventy[FN#17] seal
rings, and asked, "Know ye what be these?" They answered her saying, "We know
not!" Then quoth she; "These be the signets of five hundred and seventy men who
have all futtered me upon the horns of this foul, this foolish, this filthy
Ifrit; so give me also your two seal rings, ye pair of brothers." When they had
drawn their two rings from their hands and given them to her, she said to them,
"Of a truth this Ifrit bore me off on my bride night, and put me into a casket
and set the casket in a coffer and to the coffer he affixed seven strong
padlocks of steel and deposited me on the deep bottom of the sea that raves,
dashing and clashing with waves; and guarded me so that I might remain chaste
and honest, quotha! that none save himself might have connexion with me. But I
have lain under as many of my kind as I please, and this wretched Jinni wotteth
not that Des tiny may not be averted nor hindered by aught, and that whatso
woman willeth the same she fulfilleth however man nilleth. Even so saith one of
them.&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
Rely not on women; * Trust not to their hearts,<br/>
Whose joys and whose sorrows * Are hung to their parts!<br/>
Lying love they will swear thee * Whence guile ne'er departs:<br/>
Take Yusuf[FN#18] for sample * 'Ware sleights and 'ware smarts!<br/>
Iblis[FN#19] ousted Adam * (See ye not?) thro' their arts.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And another saith:&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
Stint thy blame, man! 'Twill drive to a passion without bound; * My fault is
not so heavy as fault in it hast found.<br/>
If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not * Save what happened unto
many in the bygone stound.<br/>
For wonderful is he and right worthy of our praise * Who fromwiles of female
wits kept him safe and kept him sound."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Hearing these words they marvelled with exceeding marvel, and she went from
them to the Ifrit and, taking up his head on her thigh as before, said to them
softly, "Now wend your ways and bear yourselves beyond the bounds of his
malice." So they fared forth saying either to other, "Allah! Allah!" and,
"There be no Majesty and there be no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great; and with Him we seek refuge from women's malice and sleight, for of a
truth it hath no mate in might. Consider, O my brother, the ways of this
marvellous lady with an Ifrit who is so much more powerful than we are. Now
since there hath happened to him a greater mishap than that which befel us and
which should bear us abundant consolation, so return we to our countries and
capitals, and let us decide never to intermarry with womankind and presently we
will show them what will be our action." Thereupon they rode back to the tents
of King Shahryar, which they reached on the morning of the third day; and,
having mustered the Wazirs and Emirs, the Chamberlains and high officials, he
gave a robe of honour to his Viceroy and issued orders for an immediate return
to the city. There he sat him upon his throne and sending for the Chief
Minister, the father of the two damsels who (Inshallah!) will presently be
mentioned, he said, "I command thee to take my wife and smite her to death; for
she hath broken her plight and her faith." So he carried her to the place of
execution and did her die. Then King Shahryar took brand in hand and repairing
to the Serraglio slew all the concubines and their Mamelukes.[FN#20] He also
sware himself by a binding oath that whatever wife he married he would abate
her maidenhead at night and slay her next morning to make sure of his honour;
"For," said he, "there never was nor is there one chaste woman upon the face of
earth." Then Shah Zaman prayed for permission to fare homewards; and he went
forth equipped and escorted and travelled till he reached his own country. Mean
while Shahryar commanded his Wazir to bring him the bride of the night that he
might go in to her; so he produced a most beautiful girl, the daughter of one
of the Emirs and the King went in unto her at eventide and when morning dawned
he bade his Minister strike off her head; and the Wazir did accordingly for
fear of the Sultan. On this wise he continued for the space of three years;
marrying a maiden every night and killing her the next morning, till folk
raised an outcry against him and cursed him, praying Allah utterly to destroy
him and his rule; and women made an uproar and mothers wept and parents fled
with their daughters till there remained not in the city a young person fit for
carnal copulation. Presently the King ordered his Chief Wazir, the same who was
charged with the executions, to bring him a virgin as was his wont; and the
Minister went forth and searched and found none; so he returned home in sorrow
and anxiety fearing for his life from the King. Now he had two daughters,
Shahrazad and Dunyazad hight,[FN#21] of whom the elder had perused the books,
annals and legends of preceding Kings, and the stories, examples and instances
of by gone men and things; indeed it was said that she had collected a thousand
books of histories relating to antique races and departed rulers. She had
perused the works of the poets and knew them by heart; she had studied
philosophy and the sciences, arts and accomplishments; and she was pleasant
and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred. Now on that day she said
to her father, "Why do I see thee thus changed and laden with cark and care?
Concerning this matter quoth one of the poets.&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
Tell whoso hath sorrow * Grief never shall last:<br/>
E'en as joy hath no morrow * So woe shall go past."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the Wazir heard from his daughter these words he related to her, from
first to last, all that had happened between him and the King. Thereupon said
she, "By Allah, O my father, how long shall this slaughter of women endure?
Shall I tell thee what is in my mind in order to save both sides from
destruction?" "Say on, O my daughter," quoth he, and quoth she, "I wish thou
wouldst give me in marriage to this King Shahryar; either I shall live or I
shall be a ransom for the virgin daughters of Moslems and the cause of their
deliverance from his hands and thine."[FN#22] "Allah upon thee!" cried he in
wrath exceeding that lacked no feeding, "O scanty of wit, expose not thy life
to such peril! How durst thou address me in words so wide from wisdom and un
far from foolishness? Know that one who lacketh experience in worldly matters
readily falleth into misfortune; and whoso considereth not the end keepeth not
the world to friend, and the vulgar say:&mdash;I was lying at mine ease: nought
but my officiousness brought me unease." "Needs must thou," she broke in, "make
me a doer of this good deed, and let him kill me an he will: I shall only die a
ransom for others." "O my daughter," asked he, "and how shall that profit thee
when thou shalt have thrown away thy life?" and she answered, "O my father it
must be, come of it what will!" The Wazir was again moved to fury and blamed
and reproached her, ending with, "In very deed—I fear lest the same befal thee
which befel the Bull and the Ass with the Husband man." "And what," asked she,
"befel them, O my father?" Whereupon the Wazir began the
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap03"></a>Tale of the Bull[FN#23] and the Ass.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Know, O my daughter, that there was once a merchant who owned much money and
many men, and who was rich in cattle and camels; he had also a wife and family
and he dwelt in the country, being experienced in husbandry and devoted to
agriculture. Now Allah Most High had endowed him with understanding the tongues
of beasts and birds of every kind, but under pain of death if he divulged the
gift to any. So he kept it secret for very fear. He had in his cow house a Bull
and an Ass each tethered in his own stall one hard by the other. As the
merchant was sitting near hand one day with his servants and his children were
playing about him, he heard the Bull say to the Ass, "Hail and health to thee O
Father of Waking![FN#24] for that thou enjoyest rest and good ministering; all
under thee is clean swept and fresh sprinkled; men wait upon thee and feed
thee, and thy provaunt is sifted barley and thy drink pure spring water, while
I (unhappy creature!) am led forth in the middle of the night, when they set on
my neck the plough and a something called Yoke; and I tire at cleaving the
earth from dawn of day till set of sun. I am forced to do more than I can and
to bear all manner of ill treatment from night to night; after which they take
me back with my sides torn, my neck flayed, my legs aching and mine eyelids
sored with tears. Then they shut me up in the byre and throw me beans and
crushed straw,[FN#25] mixed with dirt and chaff; and I lie in dung and filth
and foul stinks through the livelong night. But thou art ever in a place swept
and sprinkled and cleansed, and thou art always lying at ease, save when it
happens (and seldom enough!) that the master hath some business, when he mounts
thee and rides thee to town and returns with thee forthright. So it happens
that I am toiling and distrest while thou takest thine ease and thy rest; thou
sleepest while I am sleepless; I hunger still while thou eatest thy fill, and I
win contempt while thou winnest good will." When the Bull ceased speaking, the
Ass turned towards him and said, "O Broad o' Brow,[FN#26] O thou lost one! he
lied not who dubbed thee Bull head, for thou, O father of a Bull, hast neither
forethought nor contrivance; thou art the simplest of simpletons,[FN#27] and
thou knowest naught of good advisers. Hast thou not heard the saying of the
wise:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
For others these hardships and labours I bear * And theirs is the pleasure and
mine is the care;<br/>
As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun * To whiten the raiment which
other men wear.[FN#28]
</p>

<p>
But thou, O fool, art full of zeal and thou toilest and moilest before the
master; and thou tearest and wearest and slayest thy self for the comfort of
another. Hast thou never heard the saw that saith, None to guide and from the
way go wide? Thou wendest forth at the call to dawn prayer and thou returnest
not till sundown; and through the livelong day thou endurest all manner
hardships; to wit, beating and belabouring and bad language. Now hearken to me,
Sir Bull! when they tie thee to thy stinking manger, thou pawest the ground
with thy forehand and lashest out with thy hind hoofs and pushest with thy
horns and bellowest aloud, so they deem thee contented. And when they throw
thee thy fodder thou fallest on it with greed and hastenest to line thy fair
fat paunch. But if thou accept my advice it will be better for thee and thou
wilt lead an easier life even than mine. When thou goest a field and they lay
the thing called Yoke on thy neck, lie down and rise not again though haply
they swinge thee; and, if thou rise, lie down a second time; and when they
bring thee home and offer thee thy beans, fall backwards and only sniff at thy
meat and withdraw thee and taste it not, and be satis fied with thy crushed
straw and chaff; and on this wise feign thou art sick, and cease not doing thus
for a day or two days or even three days, so shalt thou have rest from toil and
moil." When the Bull heard these words he knew the Ass to be his friend and
thanked him, saying, "Right is thy rede;" and prayed that all blessings might
requite him, and cried, "O Father Wakener![FN#29] thou hast made up for my
failings." (Now[FN#30] the merchant, O my daughter, understood all that passed
between them.) Next day the driver took the Bull, and settling the plough on
his neck,[FN#31] made him work as wont; but the Bull began to shirk his
ploughing, according to the advice of the Ass, and the ploughman drubbed him
till he broke the yoke and made off; but the man caught him up and leathered
him till he despaired of his life. Not the less, however, would he do nothing
but stand still and drop down till the evening. Then the herd led him home and
stabled him in his stall: but he drew back from his manger and neither stamped
nor ramped nor butted nor bellowed as he was wont to do; whereat the man
wondered. He brought him the beans and husks, but he sniffed at them and left
them and lay down as far from them as he could and passed the whole night
fasting. The peasant came next morning; and, seeing the manger full of beans,
the crushed straw untasted and the ox lying on his back in sorriest plight,
with legs outstretched and swollen belly, he was concerned for him, and said to
himself, "By Allah, he hath assuredly sickened and this is the cause why he
would not plough yesterday." Then he went to the merchant and reported, "O my
master, the Bull is ailing; he refused his fodder last night; nay more, he hath
not tasted a scrap of it this morning." Now the merchant farmer understood what
all this meant, because he had overheard the talk between the Bull and the Ass,
so quoth he, "Take that rascal donkey, and set the yoke on his neck, and bind
him to the plough and make him do Bull's work." Thereupon the ploughman took
the Ass, and worked him through the livelong day at the Bull's task; and, when
he failed for weakness, he made him eat stick till his ribs were sore and his
sides were sunken and his neck was flayed by the yoke; and when he came home in
the evening he could hardly drag his limbs along, either forehand or hind
legs. But as for the Bull, he had passed the day lying at full length and had
eaten his fodder with an excellent appetite, and he ceased not calling down
blessings on the Ass for his good advice, unknowing what had come to him on his
account. So when night set in and the Ass returned to the byre the Bull rose
up before him in honour, and said, "May good tidings gladden thy heart, O
Father Wakener! through thee I have rested all this day and I have eaten my
meat in peace and quiet." But the Ass returned no reply, for wrath and heart
burning and fatigue and the beating he had gotten; and he repented with the
most grievous of repentance; and quoth he to himself: "This cometh of my folly
in giving good counsel; as the saw saith, I was in joy and gladness, nought
save my officiousness brought me this sadness. But I will bear in mind my
innate worth and the nobility of my nature; for what saith the poet?
</p>

<p class="poem">
Shall the beautiful hue of the Basil[FN#32] fail * Tho' the beetle's foot o'er
the Basil crawl?<br/>
And though spider and fly be its denizens * Shall disgrace attach to the royal
hall?<br/>
The cowrie,[FN#33] I ken, shall have currency * But the pearl's clear drop,
shall its value fall?
</p>

<p>
And now I must take thought and put a trick upon him and return him to his
place, else I die." Then he went aweary to his manger, while the Bull thanked
him and blessed him. And even so, O my daughter, said the Wazir, thou wilt die
for lack of wits; therefore sit thee still and say naught and expose not thy
life to such stress; for, by Allah, I offer thee the best advice, which cometh
of my affection and kindly solicitude for thee." "O my father," she answered,
"needs must I go up to this King and be married to him." Quoth he, "Do not this
deed;" and quoth she, "Of a truth I will:" whereat he rejoined, "If thou be not
silent and bide still, I will do with thee even what the merchant did with his
wife." "And what did he?" asked she. "Know then, answered the Wazir, that after
the return of the Ass the merchant came out on the terrace roof with his wife
and family, for it was a moonlit night and the moon at its full. Now the ter
race overlooked the cowhouse and presently, as he sat there with his children
playing about him, the trader heard the Ass say to the Bull, "Tell me, O Father
Broad o' Brow, what thou purposest to do to morrow?" The Bull answered, "What
but continue to follow thy counsel, O Aliboron? Indeed it was as good as good
could be and it hath given me rest and repose; nor will I now depart from it
one tittle: so, when they bring me my meat, I will refuse it and blow out my
belly and counterfeit crank." The Ass shook his head and said, "Beware of so
doing, O Father of a Bull!" The Bull asked, "Why," and the Ass answered, "Know
that I am about to give thee the best of counsel, for verily I heard our owner
say to the herd, If the Bull rise not from his place to do his work this
morning and if he retire from his fodder this day, make him over to the butcher
that he may slaughter him and give his flesh to the poor, and fashion a bit of
leather[FN#34] from his hide. Now I fear for thee on account of this. So take
my advice ere a calamity befal thee; and when they bring thee thy fodder eat it
and rise up and bellow and paw the ground, or our master will assuredly slay
thee: and peace be with thee!" Thereupon the Bull arose and lowed aloud and
thanked the Ass, and said, "To morrow I will readily go forth with them;" and
he at once ate up all his meat and even licked the manger. (All this took place
and the owner was listening to their talk.) Next morning the trader and his
wife went to the Bull's crib and sat down, and the driver came and led forth
the Bull who, seeing his owner, whisked his tail and brake wind, and frisked
about so lustily that the merchant laughed a loud laugh and kept laughing till
he fell on his back. His wife asked him, "Whereat laughest thou with such loud
laughter as this?"; and he answered her, "I laughed at a secret something which
I have heard and seen but cannot say lest I die my death." She returned,
"Perforce thou must discover it to me, and disclose the cause of thy laughing
even if thou come by thy death!" But he rejoined, "I cannot reveal what beasts
and birds say in their lingo for fear I die." Then quoth she, "By Allah, thou
liest! this is a mere pretext: thou laughest at none save me, and now thou
wouldest hide somewhat from me. But by the Lord of the Heavens! an thou
disclose not the cause I will no longer cohabit with thee: I will leave thee at
once." And she sat down and cried. Whereupon quoth the merchant, "Woe betide
thee! what means thy weeping? Fear Allah and leave these words and query me no
more questions." "Needs must thou tell me the cause of that laugh," said she,
and he replied, "Thou wottest that when I prayed Allah to vouchsafe me
understanding of the tongues of beasts and birds, I made a vow never to
disclose the secret to any under pain of dying on the spot." "No matter," cried
she, "tell me what secret passed between the Bull and the Ass and die this very
hour an thou be so minded;" and she ceased not to importune him till he was
worn out and clean distraught. So at last he said, "Summon thy father and thy
mother and our kith and kin and sundry of our neighbours," which she did; and
he sent for the Kazi[FN#35] and his assessors, intending to make his will and
reveal to her his secret and die the death; for he loved her with love
exceeding because she was his cousin, the daughter of his father's brother, and
the mother of his children, and he had lived with her a life of an hundred and
twenty years. Then, having assembled all the family and the folk of his
neighbourhood, he said to them, "By me there hangeth a strange story, and 'tis
such that if I discover the secret to any, I am a dead man." Therefore quoth
every one of those present to the woman, "Allah upon thee, leave this sinful
obstinacy and recognise the right of this matter, lest haply thy husband and
the father of thy children die." But she rejoined, "I will not turn from it
till he tell me, even though he come by his death." So they ceased to urge her;
and the trader rose from amongst them and repaired to an out-house to perform
Wuzu-ablution,[FN#36] and he purposed thereafter to return and to tell them his
secret and to die. Now, daughter Shahrazad, that mer chant had in his
out-houses some fifty hens under one cock, and whilst making ready to farewell
his folk he heard one of his many farm dogs thus address in his own tongue the
Cock, who was flapping his wings and crowing lustily and jumping from one hen's
back to another and treading all in turn, saying "O Chanticleer! how mean is
thy wit and how shameless is thy conduct! Be he disappointed who brought thee
up![FN#37] Art thou not ashamed of thy doings on such a day as this!" "And
what," asked the Rooster, "hath occurred this day?" when the Dog answered,
"Dost thou not know that our master is this day making ready for his death? His
wife is resolved that he shall disclose the secret taught to him by Allah, and
the moment he so doeth he shall surely die. We dogs are all a mourning; but
thou clappest thy wings and clarionest thy loudest and treadest hen after hen.
Is this an hour for pastime and pleasuring? Art thou not ashamed of
thyself?"[FN#38] "Then by Allah," quoth the Cock, "is our master a lack wit and
a man scanty of sense: if he cannot manage matters with a single wife, his life
is not worth prolonging. Now I have some fifty Dame Partlets; and I please this
and provoke that and starve one and stuff another; and through my good
governance they are all well under my control. This our master pretendeth to
wit and wisdom, and he hath but one wife, and yet knoweth not how to manage
her." Asked the Dog, "What then, O Cock, should the master do to win clear of
his strait?" "He should arise forthright," answered the Cock, "and take some
twigs from yon mulberry tree and give her a regular back basting and rib
roasting till she cry:—I repent, O my lord! I will never ask thee a question as
long as I live! Then let him beat her once more and soundly, and when he shall
have done this he shall sleep free from care and enjoy life. But this master of
ours owns neither sense nor judgment." "Now, daughter Shahrazad," continued the
Wazir, "I will do to thee as did that husband to that wife." Said Shahrazad,
"And what did he do?" He replied, "When the merchant heard the wise words
spoken by his Cock to his Dog, he arose in haste and sought his wife's chamber,
after cutting for her some mulberry twigs and hiding them there; and then he
called to her, "Come into the closet that I may tell thee the secret while no
one seeth me and then die." She entered with him and he locked the door and
came down upon her with so sound a beating of back and shoulders, ribs, arms
and legs, saying the while, "Wilt thou ever be asking questions about what
concerneth thee not?" that she was well nigh senseless. Presently she cried
out, "I am of the repentant! By Allah, I will ask thee no more questions, and
indeed I repent sincerely and wholesomely." Then she kissed his hand and feet
and he led her out of the room submissive as a wife should be. Her parents and
all the company rejoiced and sadness and mourning were changed into joy and
gladness. Thus the merchant learnt family discipline from his Cock and he and
his wife lived together the happiest of lives until death. And thou also, O my
daughter!" continued the Wazir, "Unless thou turn from this matter I will do by
thee what that trader did to his wife." But she answered him with much
decision, "I will never desist, O my father, nor shall this tale change my
purpose. Leave such talk and tattle. I will not listen to thy words and, if
thou deny me, I will marry myself to him despite the nose of thee. And first I
will go up to the King myself and alone and I will say to him:—I prayed my
father to wive me with thee, but he refused being resolved to disappoint his
lord, grudging the like of me to the like of thee." Her father asked, "Must
this needs be?" and she answered, "Even so." Hereupon the Wazir being weary of
lamenting and contending, persuading and dissuading her, all to no purpose,
went up to King Shahryar and after blessing him and kissing the ground before
him, told him all about his dispute with his daughter from first to last and
how he designed to bring her to him that night. The King wondered with
exceeding wonder; for he had made an especial exception of the Wazir's
daughter, and said to him, "O most faithful of Counsellors, how is this? Thou
wottest that I have sworn by the Raiser of the Heavens that after I have gone
in to her this night I shall say to thee on the morrow's morning:—Take her and
slay her! and, if thou slay her not, I will slay thee in her stead without
fail." "Allah guide thee to glory and lengthen thy life, O King of the age,"
answered the Wazir, "it is she that hath so determined: all this have I told
her and more; but she will not hearken to me and she persisteth in passing this
coming night with the King's Majesty." So Shahryar rejoiced greatly and said,
"'Tis well; go get her ready and this night bring her to me." The Wazir
returned to his daughter and reported to her the command saying, "Allah make
not thy father desolate by thy loss!" But Shahrazad rejoiced with exceeding
joy and gat ready all she required and said to her younger sister, Dunyazad,
"Note well what directions I entrust to thee! When I have gone into the King I
will send for thee and when thou comest to me and seest that he hath had his
carnal will of me, do thou say to me:—O my sister, an thou be not sleepy,
relate to me some new story, delectable and delightsome, the better to speed
our waking hours;" and I will tell thee a tale which shall be our deliverance,
if so Allah please, and which shall turn the King from his blood thirsty
custom." Dunyazad answered "With love and gladness." So when it was night their
father the Wazir carried Shahrazad to the King who was gladdened at the sight
and asked, "Hast thou brought me my need?" and he answered, "I have." But when
the King took her to his bed and fell to toying with her and wished to go in to
her she wept; which made him ask, "What aileth thee?" She replied, "O King of
the age, I have a younger sister and lief would I take leave of her this night
before I see the dawn." So he sent at once for Dunyazad and she came and kissed
the ground between his hands, when he permitted her to take her seat near the
foot of the couch. Then the King arose and did away with his bride's maidenhead
and the three fell asleep. But when it was midnight Shahrazad awoke and
signalled to her sister Dunyazad who sat up and said, "Allah upon thee, O my
sister, recite to us some new story, delightsome and delectable, wherewith to
while away the waking hours of our latter night."[FN#39] "With joy and goodly
gree," answered Shahrazad, "if this pious and auspicious King permit me." "Tell
on," quoth the King who chanced to be sleepless and restless and therefore was
pleased with the prospect of hearing her story. So Shahrazad rejoiced; and
thus, on the first night of the Thousand Nights and a Night, she began with the
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap04"></a>TALE OF THE TRADER AND THE JINNI.</h2>

<p>
It is related, O auspicious King, that there was a merchant of the merchants
who had much wealth, and business in various cities. Now on a day he mounted
horse and went forth to recover monies in certain towns, and the heat sore
oppressed him; so he sat beneath a tree and, putting his hand into his saddle
bags, took thence some broken bread and dry dates and began to break his fast.
When he had ended eating the dates he threw away the stones with force and lo!
an Ifrit appeared, huge of stature and brandishing a drawn sword, wherewith he
approached the merchant and said, "Stand up that I may slay thee, even as thou
slewest my son!" Asked the merchant, "How have I slain thy son?" and he
answered, "When thou atest dates and threwest away the stones they struck my
son full in the breast as he was walking by, so that he died forthwith."[FN#40]
Quoth the merchant, "Verily from Allah we proceeded and unto Allah are we
returning. There is no Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah, the
Glorious, the Great! If I slew thy son, I slew him by chance medley. I pray
thee now pardon me." Rejoined the Jinni, "There is no help but I must slay
thee." Then he seized him and dragged him along and, casting him to the earth,
raised the sword to strike him; whereupon the merchant wept, and said, "I
commit my case to Allah," and began repeating these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Containeth Time a twain of days, this of blessing that of bane * And holdeth
Life a twain of halves, this of pleasure that of pain.<br/>
See'st not when blows the hurricane, sweeping stark and striking strong * None
save the forest giant feels the suffering of the strain?<br/>
How many trees earth nourisheth of the dry and of the green * Yet none but
those which bear the fruits for cast of stone complain.<br/>
See'st not how corpses rise and float on the surface of the tide * While pearls
o'price lie hidden in the deepest of the main!<br/>
In Heaven are unnumbered the many of the stars * Yet ne'er a star but Sun and
Moon by eclipse is overta'en.<br/>
Well judgedst thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well * And countedst
not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever fain.<br/>
The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride * But bliss
and blessings of the night are 'genderers of bane!
</p>

<p>
When the merchant ceased repeating his verses the Jinni said to him, "Cut thy
words short, by Allah! needs must I slay thee." But the merchant spake him
thus, "Know, O thou Ifrit, that I have debts due to me and much wealth and
children and a wife and many pledges in hand; so permit me to go home and
discharge to every claimant his claim; and I will come back to thee at the head
of the new year. Allah be my testimony and surety that I will return to thee;
and then thou mayest do with me as thou wilt and Allah is witness to what I
say." The Jinni took sure promise of him and let him go; so he returned to his
own city and transacted his business and rendered to all men their dues and
after informing his wife and children of what had betided him, he appointed a
guardian and dwelt with them for a full year. Then he arose, and made the Wuzu
ablution to purify himself before death and took his shroud under his arm and
bade farewell to his people, his neighbours and all his kith and kin, and went
forth despite his own nose.[FN#41] They then began weeping and wailing and
beating their breasts over him; but he travelled until he arrived at the same
garden, and the day of his arrival was the head of the New Year. As he sat
weeping over what had befallen him, behold, a Shaykh,[FN#42] a very ancient
man, drew near leading a chained gazelle; and he saluted that merchant and
wishing him long life said, "What is the cause of thy sitting in this place and
thou alone and this be a resort of evil spirits?" The merchant related to him
what had come to pass with the Ifrit, and the old man, the owner of the
gazelle, wondered and said, "By Allah, O brother, thy faith is none other than
exceeding faith and thy story right strange; were it graven with gravers on the
eye corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned." Then seating himself
near the merchant he said, "By Allah, O my brother, I will not leave thee until
I see what may come to pass with thee and this Ifrit." And presently as he sat
and the two were at talk the merchant began to feel fear and terror and
exceeding grief and sorrow beyond relief and ever growing care and extreme
despair. And the owner of the gazelle was hard by his side; when behold, a
second Shaykh approached them, and with him were two dogs both of greyhound
breed and both black. The second old man after saluting them with the salam,
also asked them of their tidings and said "What causeth you to sit in this
place, a dwelling of the Jann?"[FN#43] So they told him the tale from beginning
to end, and their stay there had not lasted long before there came up a third
Shaykh, and with him a she mule of bright bay coat; and he saluted them and
asked them why they were seated in that place. So they told him the story from
first to last: and of no avail, O my master, is a twice told tale! There he sat
down with them, and lo! a dust cloud advanced and a mighty sand-devil appeared
amidmost of the waste. Presently the cloud opened and behold, within it was
that Jinni hending in hand a drawn sword, while his eyes were shooting fire
sparks of rage. He came up to them and, haling away the merchant from among
them, cried to him, "Arise that I may slay thee, as thou slewest my son, the
life stuff of my liver."[FN#44] The merchant wailed and wept, and the three old
men began sighing and crying and weeping and wailing with their companion.
Presently the first old man (the owner of the gazelle) came out from among them
and kissed the hand of the Ifrit and said, "O Jinni, thou Crown of the Kings of
the Jann! were I to tell thee the story of me and this gazelle and thou
shouldst consider it wondrous wouldst thou give me a third part of this
merchant's blood?" Then quoth the Jinni "Even so, O Shaykh ! if thou tell me
this tale, and I hold it a marvellous, then will I give thee a third of his
blood." Thereupon the old man began to tell
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap05"></a>The First Shaykh&rsquo;s Story.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Know O Jinni! that this gazelle is the daughter of my paternal uncle, my own
flesh and blood, and I married her when she was a young maid, and I lived with
her well nigh thirty years, yet was I not blessed with issue by her. So I took
me a concubine[FN#45] who brought to me the boon of a male child fair as the
full moon, with eyes of lovely shine and eyebrows which formed one line, and
limbs of perfect design. Little by little he grew in stature and waxed tall;
and when he was a lad fifteen years old, it became needful I should journey to
certain cities and I travelled with great store of goods. But the daughter of
my uncle (this gazelle) had learned gramarye and egromancy and clerkly
craft[FN#46] from her childhood; so she bewitched that son of mine to a calf,
and my handmaid (his mother) to a heifer, and made them over to the herdsman's
care. Now when I returned after a long time from my journey and asked for my
son and his mother, she answered me, saying "Thy slave girl is dead, and thy
son hath fled and I know not whither he is sped." So I remained for a whole
year with grieving heart, and streaming eyes until the time came for the Great
Festival of Allah.[FN#47] Then sent I to my herdsman bidding him choose for me
a fat heifer; and he brought me one which was the damsel, my handmaid, whom
this gazelle had ensorcelled. I tucked up my sleeves and skirt and, taking a
knife, proceeded to cut her throat, but she lowed aloud and wept bitter tears.
Thereat I marvelled and pity seized me and I held my hand, saying to the herd,
"Bring me other than this." Then cried my cousin, "Slay her, for I have not a
fatter nor a fairer!" Once more I went forward to sacrifice her, but she again
lowed aloud upon which in ruth I refrained and commanded the herdsman to slay
her and flay her. He killed her and skinned her but found in her neither fat
nor flesh, only hide and bone; and I repented when penitence availed me naught.
I gave her to the herdsman and said to him, "Fetch me a fat calf;" so he
brought my son ensorcelled. When the calf saw me, he brake his tether and ran
to me, and fawned upon me and wailed and shed tears; so that I took pity on him
and said to the herdsman, "Bring me a heifer and let this calf go!" Thereupon
my cousin (this gazelle) called aloud at me, saying, "Needs must thou kill this
calf; this is a holy day and a blessed, whereon naught is slain save what be
perfect pure; and we have not amongst our calves any fatter or fairer than
this!" Quoth I, "Look thou upon the condition of the heifer which I slaughtered
at thy bidding and how we turn from her in disappointment and she profited us
on no wise; and I repent with an exceeding repentance of having killed her: so
this time I will not obey thy bidding for the sacrifice of this calf." Quoth
she, "By Allah the Most Great, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! there is
no help for it; thou must kill him on this holy day, and if thou kill him not
to me thou art no man and I to thee am no wife." Now when I heard those hard
words, not knowing her object I went up to the calf, knife in hand—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.[FN#48]
Then quoth her sister to her, "How fair is thy tale, and how grateful, and how
sweet and how tasteful!" And Shahrazad answered her, "What is this to that I
could tell thee on the coming night, were I to live and the King would spare
me?" Then said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay her, until I
shall have heard the rest of her tale." So they slept the rest of that night in
mutual embrace till day fully brake. Then the King went forth to his audience
hall[FN#49] and the Wazir went up with his daughter's shroud under his arm. The
King issued his orders, and promoted this and deposed that, until the end of
the day; and he told the Wazir no whit of what had happened. But the Minister
wondered thereat with exceeding wonder; and when the Court broke up King
Shahryar entered his palace.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Second Night,
</p>

<p>
said Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, "O my sister, finish for us that story
of the Merchant and the Jinni;" and she answered "With joy and goodly gree, if
the King permit me." Then quoth the King, "Tell thy tale;" and Shahrazad began
in these words: It hath reached me, O auspicious King and Heaven directed
Ruler! that when the merchant purposed the sacrifice of the calf but saw it
weeping, his heart relented and he said to the herdsman, "Keep the calf among
my cattle." All this the old Shaykh told the Jinni who marvelled much at these
strange words. Then the owner of the gazelle continued:—O Lord of the Kings of
the Jann, this much took place and my uncle's daughter, this gazelle, looked on
and saw it, and said, "Butcher me this calf, for surely it is a fat one;" but I
bade the herdsman take it away and he took it and turned his face homewards. On
the next day as I was sitting in my own house, lo! the herdsman came and,
standing before me said, "O my master, I will tell thee a thing which shall
gladden thy soul, and shall gain me the gift of good tidings."[FN#50] I
answered, "Even so." Then said he, "O merchant, I have a daughter, and she
learned magic in her childhood from an old woman who lived with us. Yesterday
when thou gavest me the calf, I went into the house to her, and she looked upon
it and veiled her face; then she wept and laughed alternately and at last she
said:—O my father, hath mine honour become so cheap to thee that thou bringest
in to me strange men? I asked her:—Where be these strange men and why wast thou
laughing, and crying?; and she answered, Of a truth this calf which is with
thee is the son of our master, the merchant; but he is ensorcelled by his
stepdame who bewitched both him and his mother: such is the cause of my
laughing; now the reason of his weeping is his mother, for that his father slew
her unawares. Then I marvelled at this with exceeding marvel and hardly made
sure that day had dawned before I came to tell thee." When I heard, O Jinni, my
herdsman's words, I went out with him, and I was drunken without wine, from the
excess of joy and gladness which came upon me, until I reached his house. There
his daughter welcomed me and kissed my hand, and forthwith the calf came and
fawned upon me as before. Quoth I to the herdsman's daughter, "Is this true
that thou sayest of this calf?" Quoth she, "Yea, O my master, he is thy son,
the very core of thy heart." I rejoiced and said to her, "O maiden, if thou
wilt release him thine shall be whatever cattle and property of mine are under
thy father's hand." She smiled and answered, "O my master, I have no greed for
the goods nor will I take them save on two conditions; the first that thou
marry me to thy son and the second that I may bewitch her who bewitched him and
imprison her, otherwise I cannot be safe from her malice and malpractices." Now
when I heard, O Jinni, these, the words of the herdsman's daughter, I replied,
"Beside what thou askest all the cattle and the household stuff in thy
father's charge are thine and, as for the daughter of my uncle, her blood is
lawful to thee." When I had spoken, she took a cup and filled it with water:
then she recited a spell over it and sprinkled it upon the calf, saying, "If
Almighty Allah created thee a calf, remain so shaped, and change not; but if
thou be enchanted, return to thy whilom form, by command of Allah Most
Highest!" and lo! he trembled and became a man. Then I fell on his neck and
said, "Allah upon thee, tell me all that the daughter of my uncle did by thee
and by thy mother." And when he told me what had come to pass between them I
said, " O my son, Allah favoured thee with one to restore thee, and thy right
hath returned to thee." Then, O Jinni, I married the herdsman's daughter to
him, and she transformed my wife into this gazelle, saying:—Her shape is a
comely and by no means loathsome. After this she abode with us night and day,
day and night, till the Almighty took her to Himself. When she deceased, my son
fared forth to the cities of Hind, even to the city of this man who hath done
to thee what hath been done;[FN#51] and I also took this gazelle (my cousin)
and wandered with her from town to town seeking tidings of my son, till Destiny
drove me to this place where I saw the merchant sitting in tears. Such is my
tale! Quoth the Jinni, "This story is indeed strange, and therefore I grant
thee the third part of his blood." Thereupon the second old man, who owned the
two greyhounds, came up and said, " O Jinni, if I recount to thee what befel me
from my brothers, these two hounds, and thou see that it is a tale even more
wondrous and marvellous than what thou hast heard, wilt thou grant to me also
the third of this man's blood?" Replied the Jinni, "Thou hast my word for it,
if thine adventures be more marvellous and wondrous." Thereupon he thus began
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap06"></a>The Second Shaykh&rsquo;s Story.</h2>

<p>
Know, O lord of the Kings of the Jann! that these two dogs are my brothers and
I am the third. Now when our father died and left us a capital of three
thousand gold pieces,[FN#52] I opened a shop with my share, and bought and sold
therein, and in like guise did my two brothers, each setting up a shop. But I
had been in business no long while before the elder sold his stock for a
thousand dinars, and after buying outfit and merchandise, went his ways to
foreign parts. He was absent one whole year with the caravan; but one day as I
sat in my shop, behold, a beggar stood before me asking alms, and I said to
him, "Allah open thee another door!"[FN#53] Whereupon he answered, weeping the
while, "Am I so changed that thou knowest me not?" Then I looked at him
narrowly, and lo! it was my brother, so I rose to him and welcomed him; then I
seated him in my shop and put questions concerning his case. "Ask me not,"
answered he; "my wealth is awaste and my state hath waxed unstated!" So I took
him to the Hammam bath[FN#54] and clad him in a suit of my own and gave him
lodging in my house. Moreover, after looking over the accounts of my stock in
trade and the profits of my business, I found that industry had gained me one
thousand dinars, while my principal, the head of my wealth, amounted to two
thousand. So I shared the whole with him saying, "Assume that thou hast made no
journey abroad but hast remained at home; and be not cast down by thine ill
luck." He took the share in great glee and opened for himself a shop; and
matters went on quietly for a few nights and days. But presently my second
brother (yon other dog), also setting his heart upon travel, sold off what
goods and stock in trade he had, and albeit we tried to stay him he would not
be stayed: he laid in an outfit for the journey and fared forth with certain
wayfarers. After an absence of a whole year he came back to me, even as my
elder brother had come back; and when I said to him, "O my brother, did I not
dissuade thee from travel?" he shed tears and cried, "O my brother, this be
destiny's decree: here I am a mere beggar, penniless[FN#55] and without a shirt
to my back." So I led him to the bath, O Jinni, and clothing him in new clothes
of my own wear, I went with him to my shop and served him with meat and drink.
Furthermore I said to him, "O my brother, I am wont to cast up my shop accounts
at the head of every year, and whatso I shall find of surplusage is between me
and thee."[FN#56] So I proceeded, O Ifrit, to strike a balance and, finding two
thousand dinars of profit, I returned praises to the Creator (be He extolled
and exalted!) and made over one half to my brother, keeping the other to
myself. Thereupon he busied himself with opening a shop and on this wise we
abode many days. After a time my brothers began pressing me to travel with
them; but I refused saying, "What gained ye by travel voyage that I should gain
thereby?" As I would not give ear to them we went back each to his own shop
where we bought and sold as before. They kept urging me to travel for a whole
twelvemonth, but I refused to do so till full six years were past and gone when
I consented with these words, "O my brothers, here am I, your companion of
travel: now let me see what monies you have by you." I found, however, that
they had not a doit, having squandered their substance in high diet and
drinking and carnal delights. Yet I spoke not a word of reproach; so far from
it I looked over my shop accounts once more, and sold what goods and stock in
trade were mine; and, finding myself the owner of six thousand ducats, I gladly
proceeded to divide that sum in halves, saying to my brothers, "These three
thousand gold pieces are for me and for you to trade withal," adding, "Let us
bury the other moiety underground that it may be of service in case any harm
befal us, in which case each shall take a thousand wherewith to open shops."
Both replied, "Right is thy recking;" and I gave to each one his thousand gold
pieces, keeping the same sum for myself, to wit, a thousand dinars. We then got
ready suitable goods and hired a ship and, having embarked our merchandise,
proceeded on our voyage, day following day, a full month, after which we
arrived at a city, where we sold our venture; and for every piece of gold we
gained ten. And as we turned again to our voyage we found on the shore of the
sea a maiden clad in worn and ragged gear, and she kissed my hand and said, "O
master, is there kindness in thee and charity? I can make thee a fitting return
for them." I answered, "Even so; truly in me are benevolence and good works,
even though thou render me no return." Then she said, "Take me to wife, O my
master, and carry me to thy city, for I have given myself to thee; so do me a
kindness and I am of those who be meet for good works and charity: I will make
thee a fitting return for these and be thou not shamed by my condition." When I
heard her words, my heart yearned towards her, in such sort as willed it Allah
(be He extolled and exalted!); and took her and clothed her and made ready for
her a fair resting place in the vessel, and honourably entreated her. So we
voyaged on, and my heart became attached to her with exceeding attachment, and
I was separated from her neither night nor day, and I paid more regard to her
than to my brothers. Then they were estranged from me, and waxed jealous of my
wealth and the quantity of merchandise I had, and their eyes were opened
covetously upon all my property. So they took counsel to murder me and seize my
wealth, saying, "Let us slay our brother and all his monies will be ours;" and
Satan made this deed seem fair in their sight; so when they found me in privacy
(and I sleeping by my wife's side) they took us both up and cast us into the
sea. My wife awoke startled from her sleep and, forthright becoming an
Ifritah,[FN#57] she bore me up and carried me to an island and disappeared for
a short time; but she returned in the morning and said, "Here am I, thy
faithful slave, who hath made thee due recompense; for I bore thee up in the
waters and saved thee from death by command of the Almighty. Know—that I am a
Jinniyah, and as I saw thee my heart loved thee by will of the Lord, for I am a
believer in Allah and in His Apostle (whom Heaven bless and preserve!).
Thereupon I came to thee conditioned as thou sawest me and thou didst marry me,
and see now I have saved thee from sinking. But I am angered against thy
brothers and assuredly I must slay them." When I heard her story I was
surprised and, thanking her for all she had done, I said, "But as to slaying my
brothers this must not be." Then I told her the tale of what had come to pass
with them from the beginning of our lives to the end, and on hearing it quoth
she, "This night will I fly as a bird over them and will sink their ship and
slay them." Quoth I, "Allah upon thee, do not thus, for the proverb saith, O
thou who doest good to him that doth evil, leave the evil doer to his evil
deeds. Moreover they are still my brothers." But she rejoined, "By Allah, there
is no help for it but I slay them." I humbled myself before her for their
pardon, whereupon she bore me up and flew away with me till at last she set me
down on the terrace roof of my own house. I opened the doors and took up what I
had hidden in the ground; and after I had saluted the folk I opened my shop and
bought me merchandise. Now when night came on I went home, and there I saw
these two hounds tied up; and, when they sighted me, they arose and whined and
fawned upon me; but ere I knew what happened my wife said, "These two dogs be
thy brothers!" I answered, "And who hath done this thing by them?" and she
rejoined, "I sent a message to my sister and she entreated them on this wise,
nor shall these two be released from their present shape till ten years shall
have passed." And now I have arrived at this place on my way to my wife's
sister that she may deliver them from this condition, after their having
endured it for half a score of years. As I was wending onwards I saw this young
man, who acquainted me with what had befallen him, and I determined not to fare
hence until I should see what might occur between thee and him. Such is my
tale! Then said the Jinni, "Surely this is a strange story and therefor I give
thee the third portion of his blood and his crime." Thereupon quoth the third
Shaykh, the master of the mare mule, to the Jinni, "I can tell thee a tale more
wondrous than these two, so thou grant me the remainder of his blood and of his
offense," and the Jinni answered, "So be it!" Then the old man began
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap07"></a>The Third Shaykh&rsquo;s Story.</h2>

<p>
Know, O Sultan and head of the Jann, that this mule was my wife. Now it so
happened that I went forth and was absent one whole year; and when I returned
from my journey I came to her by night, and saw a black slave lying with her on
the carpet bed and they were talking, and dallying, and laughing, and kissing
and playing the close buttock game. When she saw me, she rose and came
hurriedly at me with a gugglet[FN#58] of water; and, muttering spells over it,
she besprinkled me and said, "Come forth from this thy shape into the shape of
a dog;" and I became on the instant a dog. She drove me out of the house, and I
ran through the doorway nor ceased running until I came to a butcher's stall,
where I stopped and began to eat what bones were there. When the stall owner
saw me, he took me and led me into his house, but as soon as his daughter had
sight of me she veiled her face from me, crying out, "Dost thou bring men to me
and dost thou come in with them to me?" Her father asked, "Where is the man?";
and she answered, "This dog is a man whom his wife hath ensorcelled and I am
able to release him." When her father heard her words, he said, "Allah upon
thee, O my daughter, release him." So she took a gugglet of water and, after
uttering words over it, sprinkled upon me a few drops, saying, "Come forth from
that form into thy former form." And I returned to my natural shape. Then I
kissed her hand and said, "I wish thou wouldest transform my wife even as she
transformed me." Thereupon she gave me some water, saying, "As soon as thou see
her asleep, sprinkle this liquid upon her and speak what words thou heardest me
utter, so shall she become whatsoever thou desirest." I went to my wife and
found her fast asleep; and, while sprinkling the water upon her, I said, "Come
forth from that form into the form of a mare mule." So she became on the
instant a she mule, and she it is whom thou seest with thine eyes, O Sultan and
head of the Kings of the Jann! Then the Jinni turned towards her and said, "Is
this sooth?" And she nodded her head and replied by signs, "Indeed, 'tis the
truth: for such is my tale and this is what hath befallen me." Now when the
old man had ceased speaking the Jinni shook with pleasure and gave him the
third of the merchant's blood. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth Dunyazad, "O. my sister, how
pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful; how sweet and how grateful!" She
replied, "And what is this compared with that I could tell thee, the night to
come, if I live and the King spare me?"[FN#59] Then thought the King, "By
Allah, I will not slay her until I hear the rest of her tale, for truly it is
wondrous." So they rested that night in mutual embrace until the dawn. After
this the King went forth to his Hall of Estate, and the Wazir and the troops
came in and the court was crowded, and the King gave orders and judged and
appointed and deposed, bidding and forbidding during the rest of the day. Then
the Divan broke up, and King Shahryar entered his palace.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Third Night,
</p>

<p>
And the King had had his will of the Wazir's daughter, Dunyazad, her sister,
said to her, "Finish for us that tale of thine;" and she replied, "With joy and
goodly gree! It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the third old man
told a tale to the Jinni more wondrous than the two preceding, the Jinni
marvelled with exceeding marvel, and, shaking with delight, cried, Lo! I have
given thee the remainder of the merchant's punishment and for thy sake have I
released him." Thereupon the merchant embraced the old men and thanked them,
and these Shaykhs wished him joy on being saved and fared forth each one for
his own city. Yet this tale is not more wondrous than the fisherman's story."
Asked the King, "What is the fisherman's story?" And she answered by relating
the tale of
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap08"></a>THE FISHERMAN AND THE JINNI.</h2>

<p>
It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was a Fisher man well
stricken in years who had a wife and three children, and withal was of poor
condition. Now it was his custom to cast his net every day four times, and no
more. On a day he went forth about noontide to the sea shore, where he laid
down his basket; and, tucking up his shirt and plunging into the water, made a
cast with his net and waited till it settled to the bottom. Then he gathered
the cords together and haled away at it, but found it weighty; and however much
he drew it landwards, he could not pull it up; so he carried the ends ashore
and drove a stake into the ground and made the net fast to it. Then he stripped
and dived into the water all about the net, and left not off working hard until
he had brought it up. He rejoiced thereat and, donning his clothes, went to the
net, when he found in it a dead jackass which had torn the meshes. Now when he
saw it, he exclaimed in his grief, "There is no Majesty, and there is no Might
save in Allah the Glorious, the Great!" Then quoth he, "This is a strange
manner of daily bread;" and he began re citing in extempore verse:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
O toiler through the glooms of night in peril and in pain * Thy toiling stint
for daily bread comes not by might and main!<br/>
Seest thou not the fisher seek afloat upon the sea * His bread, while glimmer
stars of night as set in tangled skein.<br/>
Anon he plungeth in despite the buffet of the waves * The while to sight the
bellying net his eager glances strain;<br/>
Till joying at the night's success, a fish he bringeth home * Whose gullet by
the hook of Fate was caught and cut in twain.<br/>
When buys that fish of him a man who spent the hours of night * Reckless of
cold and wet and gloom in ease and comfort fain,<br/>
Laud to the Lord who gives to this, to that denies his wishes * And dooms one
toil and catch the prey and other eat the fishes.[FN#60]
</p>

<p>
Then quoth he, "Up and to it; I am sure of His beneficence,<br/>
Inshallah!" So he continued:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
When thou art seized of Evil Fate, assume * The noble soul's long suffering:
'tis thy best:<br/>
Complain not to the creature; this be plaint * From one most Ruthful to the
ruthlessest.
</p>

<p>
The Fisherman, when he had looked at the dead ass, got it free of the toils and
wrung out and spread his net; then he plunged into the sea, saying, "In Allah's
name!" and made a cast and pulled at it, but it grew heavy and settled down
more firmly than the first time. Now he thought that there were fish in it, and
he made it fast, and doffing his clothes went into the water, and dived and
haled until he drew it up upon dry land. Then found he in it a large earthen
pitcher which was full of sand and mud; and seeing this he was greatly troubled
and began repeating these verses[FN#61]:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Forbear, O troubles of the world, * And pardon an ye nill forbear:<br/>
I went to seek my daily bread * I find that breadless I must fare:<br/>
For neither handcraft brings me aught * Nor Fate allots to me a share:<br/>
How many fools the Pleiads reach * While darkness whelms the wise and ware.
</p>

<p>
So he prayed pardon of Allah and, throwing away the jar, wrung his net and
cleansed it and returned to the sea the third time to cast his net and waited
till it had sunk. Then he pulled at it and found therein potsherds and broken
glass; whereupon he began to speak these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
He is to thee that daily bread thou canst nor loose nor bind * Nor pen nor writ
avail thee aught thy daily bread to find:<br/>
For joy and daily bread are what Fate deigneth to allow; * This soil is sad and
sterile ground, while that makes glad the hind.<br/>
The shafts of Time and Life bear down full many a man of worth * While bearing
up to high degree wights of ignoble mind.<br/>
So come thou, Death! for verily life is not worth a straw * When low the falcon
falls withal the mallard wings the wind:<br/>
No wonder 'tis thou seest how the great of soul and mind * Are poor, and many a
losel carle to height of luck designed.<br/>
This bird shall overfly the world from east to furthest west * And that shall
win her every wish though ne'er she leave the nest.
</p>

<p>
Then raising his eyes heavenwards he said, "O my God![FN#62] verily Thou
wottest that I cast not my net each day save four times[FN#63]; the third is
done and as yet Thou hast vouchsafed me nothing. So this time, O my God, deign
give me my daily bread." Then, having called on Allah's name,[FN#64] he again
threw his net and waited its sinking and settling; whereupon he haled at it but
could not draw it in for that it was entangled at the bottom. He cried out in
his vexation "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!" and he
began reciting:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Fie on this wretched world, an so it be * I must be whelmed by grief and
misery:<br/>
Tho' gladsome be man's lot when dawns the morn * He drains the cup of woe ere
eve he see:<br/>
Yet was I one of whom the world when asked * "Whose lot is happiest?" oft would
say "'Tis he!"
</p>

<p>
Thereupon he stripped and, diving down to the net, busied himself with it till
it came to land. Then he opened the meshes and found therein a cucumber shaped
jar of yellow copper,[FN#65] evidently full of something, whose mouth was made
fast with a leaden cap, stamped with the seal ring of our Lord Sulayman son of
David (Allah accept the twain!). Seeing this the Fisherman rejoiced and said,
"If I sell it in the brass bazar 'tis worth ten golden dinars." He shook it and
finding it heavy continued, "Would to Heaven I knew what is herein. But I must
and will open it and look to its contents and store it in my bag and sell it in
the brass market." And taking out a knife he worked at the lead till he had
loosened it from the jar; then he laid the cup on the ground and shook the vase
to pour out whatever might be inside. He found nothing in it; whereat he
marvelled with an exceeding marvel. But presently there came forth from the jar
a smoke which spired heavenwards into aether (whereat he again marvelled with
mighty marvel), and which trailed along earth's surface till presently, having
reached its full height, the thick vapour condensed, and became an Ifrit, huge
of bulk, whose crest touched the clouds while his feet were on the ground. His
head was as a dome, his hands like pitchforks, his legs long as masts and his
mouth big as a cave; his teeth were like large stones, his nostrils ewers, his
eyes two lamps and his look was fierce and lowering. Now when the Fisherman saw
the Ifrit his side muscles quivered, his teeth chattered, his spittle dried up
and he became blind about what to do. Upon this the Ifrit looked at him and
cried, "There is no god but the God, and Sulayman is the prophet of God;"
presently adding, "O Apostle of Allah, slay me not; never again will I gainsay
thee in word nor sin against thee in deed."[FN#66] Quoth the Fisherman, "O
Marid,[FN#67] diddest thou say, Sulayman the Apostle of Allah; and Sulayman is
dead some thousand and eight hundred years ago,[FN#68] and we are now in the
last days of the world! What is thy story, and what is thy account of thyself,
and what is the cause of thy entering into this cucurbit?" Now when the Evil
Spirit heard the words of the Fisher man, quoth he; "There is no god but the
God: be of good cheer, O Fisherman!" Quoth the Fisherman, "Why biddest thou me
to be of good cheer?" and he replied, "Because of thy having to die an ill
death in this very hour." Said the Fisherman, "Thou deservest for thy good
tidings the withdrawal of Heaven's protection, O thou distant one![FN#69]
Wherefore shouldest thou kill me and what thing have I done to deserve death, I
who freed thee from the jar, and saved thee from the depths of the sea, and
brought thee up on the dry land?" Replied the Ifrit, "Ask of me only what mode
of death thou wilt die, and by what manner of slaughter shall I slay thee."
Rejoined the Fisherman, "What is my crime and wherefore such retribution?"
Quoth the Ifrit, "Hear my story, O Fisherman!" and he answered, "Say on, and be
brief in thy saying, for of very sooth my life breath is in my
nostrils."[FN#70] Thereupon quoth the Jinni, "Know, that I am one among the
heretical Jann and I sinned against Sulayman, David son (on the twain be
peace!) I together with the famous Sakhr al Jinni;"[FN#71] whereupon the
Prophet sent his minister, Asaf son of Barkhiya, to seize me; and this Wazir
brought me against my will and led me in bonds to him (I being downcast despite
my nose) and he placed me standing before him like a suppliant. When Sulayman
saw me, he took refuge with Allah and bade me embrace the True Faith and obey
his behests; but I refused, so sending for this cucurbit[FN#72] he shut me up
therein, and stopped it over with lead whereon he impressed the Most High Name,
and gave his orders to the Jann who carried me off, and cast me into the
midmost of the ocean. There I abode an hundred years, during which I said in my
heart, "Whoso shall release me, him will I enrich for ever and ever." But the
full century went by and, when no one set me free, I entered upon the second
five score saying, "Whoso shall release me, for him I will open the hoards of
the earth." Still no one set me free and thus four hundred years passed away.
Then quoth I, "Whoso shall release me, for him will I fulfil three wishes." Yet
no one set me free. Thereupon I waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and said to
myself, "Whoso shall release me from this time forth, him will I slay and I
will give him choice of what death he will die; and now, as thou hast released
me, I give thee full choice of deaths." The Fisherman, hearing the words of the
Ifrit, said, "O Allah! the wonder of it that I have not come to free thee save
in these days!" adding, "Spare my life, so Allah spare thine; and slay me not,
lest Allah set one to slay thee." Replied the Contumacious One, "There is no
help for it; die thou must; so ask me by way of boon what manner of death thou
wilt die." Albeit thus certified the Fisherman again addressed the Ifrit
saying, "Forgive me this my death as a generous reward for having freed thee;"
and the Ifrit, "Surely I would not slay thee save on account of that same
release." "O Chief of the Ifrits," said the Fisherman, "I do thee good and thou
requitest me with evil! in very sooth the old saw lieth not when it saith:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
We wrought them weal, they met our weal with ill; * Such, by my life! is every
bad man's labour:<br/>
To him who benefits unworthy wights * Shall hap what inapt to Ummi Amir's
neighbor.[FN#73]"
</p>

<p>
Now when the Ifrit heard these words he answered, "No more of this talk, needs
must I kill thee." Upon this the Fisherman said to himself, "This is a Jinni;
and I am a man to whom Allah hath given a passably cunning wit, so I will now
cast about to compass his destruction by my contrivance and by mine
intelligence; even as he took counsel only of his malice and his
frowardness."[FN#74] He began by asking the Ifrit, "Hast thou indeed resolved
to kill me?" and, receiving for all answer, "Even so," he cried, "Now in the
Most Great Name, graven on the seal ring of Sulayman the Son of David (peace be
with the holy twain!), an I question thee on a certain matter wilt thou give me
a true answer?" The Ifrit replied "Yea;" but, hearing mention of the Most Great
Name, his wits were troubled and he said with trembling, "Ask and be brief."
Quoth the Fisherman, "How didst thou fit into this bottle which would not hold
thy hand; no, nor even thy foot, and how came it to be large enough to contain
the whole of thee?" Replied the Ifrit, "What! dost not believe that I was all
there?" and the Fisherman rejoined, "Nay! I will never believe it until I see
thee inside with my own eyes." And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Fourth Night,
</p>

<p>
Her sister said to her, "Please finish us this tale, an thou be not sleepy!" so
she resumed:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Fisherman
said to the Ifrit, "I will never and nowise believe thee until I see thee
inside it with mine own eyes;" the Evil Spirit on the instant shook[FN#75] and
became a vapour, which condensed, and entered the jar little and little, till
all was well inside when lo! the Fisherman in hot haste took the leaden cap
with the seal and stoppered therewith the mouth of the jar and called out to
the Ifrit, saying, "Ask me by way of boon what death thou wilt die! By Allah, I
will throw thee into the sea[FN#76] before us and here will I build me a
lodge; and whoso cometh hither I will warn him against fishing and will say:—In
these waters abideth an Ifrit who giveth as a last favour a choice of deaths
and fashion of slaughter to the man who saveth him!" Now when the Ifrit heard
this from the Fisherman and saw him self in limbo, he was minded to escape, but
this was prevented by Solomon's seal; so he knew that the Fisherman had cozened
and outwitted him, and he waxed lowly and submissive and began humbly to say,
"I did but jest with thee." But the other answered, "Thou liest, O vilest of
the Ifrits, and meanest and filthiest!" and he set off with the bottle for the
sea side; the Ifrit calling out "Nay! Nay!" and he calling out "Aye! Aye !"
There upon the Evil Spirit softened his voice and smoothed his speech and
abased himself, saying, "What wouldest thou do with me, O Fisherman?" "I will
throw thee back into the sea," he answered; "where thou hast been housed and
homed for a thousand and eight hundred years; and now I will leave thee therein
till Judgment day: did I not say to thee:—Spare me and Allah shall spare thee;
and slay me not lest Allah slay thee? yet thou spurnedst my supplication and
hadst no intention save to deal ungraciously by me, and Allah hath now thrown
thee into my hands and I am cunninger than thou." Quoth the Ifrit, "Open for me
and I may bring thee weal." Quoth the Fisherman, "Thou liest, thou accursed! my
case with thee is that of the Wazir of King Yunan with the sage Duban."[FN#77]
"And who was the Wazir of King Yunan and who was the sage Duban; and what was
the story about them?" quoth the Ifrit, whereupon the Fisherman began to tell
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap09"></a>The Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban.</h2>

<p>
Know, O thou Ifrit, that in days of yore and in ages long gone before, a King
called Yunan reigned over the city of Fars of the land of the Roum.[FN#78] He
was a powerful ruler and a wealthy, who had armies and guards and allies of all
nations of men; but his body was afflicted with a leprosy which leaches and men
of science failed to heal. He drank potions and he swallowed pow ders and he
used unguents, but naught did him good and none among the host of physicians
availed to procure him a cure. At last there came to his city a mighty healer
of men and one well stricken in years, the sage Duban hight. This man was a
reader of books, Greek, Persian, Roman, Arabian, and Syrian; and he was skilled
in astronomy and in leechcraft, the theorick as well as the practick; he was
experienced in all that healeth and that hurteth the body; conversant with the
virtues of every plant, grass and herb, and their benefit and bane; and he
understood philosophy and had compassed the whole range of medical science and
other branches of the knowledge tree. Now this physician passed but few days in
the city, ere he heard of the King's malady and all his bodily sufferings
through the leprosy with which Allah had smitten him; and how all the doctors
and wise men had failed to heal him. Upon this he sat up through the night in
deep thought and, when broke the dawn and appeared the morn and light was again
born, and the Sun greeted the Good whose beauties the world adorn,[FN#79] he
donned his handsomest dress and going in to King Yunan, he kissed the ground
before him: then he prayed for the endurance of his honour and prosperity in
fairest language and made himself known saying, "O King, tidings have reached I
me of what befel thee through that which is in thy person; and how the host of
physicians have proved themselves unavailing to abate it; and lo! I can cure
thee, O King; and yet will I not make thee drink of draught or anoint thee with
ointment." Now when King Yunan heard his words he said in huge surprise, "How
wilt thou do this? By Allah, if thou make me whole I will enrich thee even to
thy son's son and I will give thee sumptuous gifts; and whatso thou wishest
shall be thine and thou shalt be to me a cup companion[FN#80] and a friend."
The King then robed him with a dress of honour and entreated him graciously and
asked him, "Canst thou indeed cure me of this complaint without drug and
unguent?" and he answered, "Yes! I will heal I thee without the pains and
penalties of medicine." The King marvelled with exceeding marvel and said, "O
physician, when shall be this whereof thou speakest, and in how many days shall
it take place? Haste thee, O my son!" He replied,"I hear and I obey; the cure
shall begin tomorrow." So saying he went forth from the presence, and hired
himself a house in the city for the better storage of his books and scrolls,
his medicines and his aromatic roots. Then he set to work at choosing the
fittest drugs and simples and he fashioned a bat hollow within, and furnished
with a handle without, for which he made a ball; the two being prepared with
consummate art. On the next day when both were ready for use and wanted nothing
more, he went up to the King; and, kissing the ground between his hands bade
him ride forth on the parade ground[FN#81] there to play at pall and mall. He
was accompanied by his suite, Emirs and Chamberlains, Wazirs and Lords of the
realm and, ere he was seated, the sage Duban came up to him, and handing him
the bat said, "Take this mall and grip it as I do; so! and now push for the
plain and leaning well over thy horse drive the ball with all thy might until
thy palm be moist and thy body perspire: then the medicine will penetrate
through thy palm and will permeate thy person. When thou hast done with playing
and thou feelest the effects of the medicine, return to thy palace, and make
the Ghusl-ablution[FN#82] in the Hammam bath, and lay thee down to sleep; so
shalt thou become whole; and now peace be with thee!" Thereupon King Yunan
took the bat from the Sage and grasped it firmly; then, mounting steed, he
drove the ball before him and gallopped after it till he reached it, when he
struck it with all his might, his palm gripping the bat handle the while; and
he ceased not malling the ball till his hand waxed moist and his skin,
perspiring, imbibed the medicine from the wood. Then the sage Duban knew that
the drugs had penetrated his person and bade him return to the palace and enter
the Hammam without stay or delay; so King Yunan forthright returned and ordered
them to clear for him the bath. They did so, the carpet spreaders making all
haste, and the slaves all hurry and got ready a change of raiment for the King.
He entered the bath and made the total ablution long and thoroughly; then
donned his clothes within the Hammam and rode therefrom to his palace where he
lay him down and slept. Such was the case with King Yunan, but as regards the
sage Duban, he returned home and slept as usual and when morning dawned he
repaired to the palace and craved audience. The King ordered him to be
admitted; then, having kissed the ground between his hands, in allusion to the
King he recited these couplets with solemn intonation:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Happy is Eloquence when thou art named her sire * But mourns she whenas other
man the title claimed.<br/>
O Lord of fairest presence, whose illuming rays * Clear off the fogs of doubt
aye veiling deeds high famed,<br/>
Ne'er cease thy face to shine like Dawn and rise of Morn * And never show
Time's face with heat of ire inflamed!<br/>
Thy grace hath favoured us with gifts that worked such wise * As rain clouds
raining on the hills by wolds enframed:<br/>
Freely thou lavishedst thy wealth to rise on high * Till won from Time the
heights whereat thy grandeur aimed.
</p>

<p>
Now when the Sage ceased reciting, the King rose quickly to his feet and fell
on his neck; then, seating him by his side he bade dress him in a sumptuous
dress; for it had so happened that when the King left the Hammam he looked on
his body and saw no trace of leprosy: the skin was all clean as virgin silver.
He joyed thereat with exceeding joy, his breast broadened[FN#83] with delight
and he felt thoroughly happy. Presently, when it was full day he entered his
audience hall and sat upon the throne of his kingship whereupon his
Chamberlains and Grandees flocked to the presence and with them the Sage Duban.
Seeing the leach the King rose to him in honour and seated him by his side;
then the food trays furnished with the daintiest viands were brought and the
physician ate with the King, nor did he cease companying him all that day.
Moreover, at nightfall he gave the physician Duban two thousand gold pieces,
besides the usual dress of honour and other gifts galore, and sent him home on
his own steed. After the Sage had fared forth King Yunan again expressed his
amazement at the leach's art, saying, "This man medicined my body from without
nor anointed me with aught of ointments: by Allah, surely this is none other
than consummate skill! I am bound to honour such a man with rewards and
distinction, and take him to my companion and my friend during the remainder of
my days." So King Yunan passed the night in joy and gladness for that his body
had been made whole and had thrown off so pernicious a malady. On the morrow
the King went forth from his Serraglio and sat upon his throne, and the Lords
of Estate stood about him, and the Emirs and Wazirs sat as was their wont on
his right hand and on his left. Then he asked for the Sage Duban, who came in
and kissed the ground before him, when the King rose to greet him and, seating
him by his side, ate with him and wished him long life. Moreover he robed him
and gave him gifts, and ceased not conversing with him until night approached.
Then the King ordered him, by way of salary, five dresses of honour and a
thousand dinars.[FN#84] The physician returned to his own house full of
gratitude to the King. Now when next morning dawned the King repaired to his
audience hall, and his Lords and Nobles surrounded him and his Chamberlains and
his Ministers, as the white encloseth the black of the eye.[FN#85] Now the King
had a Wazir among his Wazirs, unsightly to look upon, an ill omened spectacle;
sordid, ungenerous, full of envy and evil will. When this Minister saw the King
place the physician near him and give him all these gifts, he jaloused him and
planned to do him a harm, as in the saying on such subject, "Envy lurks in
every body;" and the saying, "Oppression hideth in every heart: power revealeth
it and weakness concealeth it." Then the Minister came before the King and,
kissing the ground between his hands, said, "O King of the age and of all time,
thou in whose benefits I have grown to manhood, I have weighty advice to offer
thee, and if I withhold it I were a son of adultery and no true born man;
wherefore an thou order me to disclose it I will so do forthwith." Quoth the
King (and he was troubled at the words of the Minister), "And what is this
counsel of thine?" Quoth he, "O glorious monarch, the wise of old have
said:—Whoso regardeth not the end, hath not Fortune to friend; and indeed I
have lately seen the King on far other than the right way; for he lavisheth
largesse on his enemy, on one whose object is the decline and fall of his
kingship: to this man he hath shown favour, honouring him with over honour and
making of him an intimate. Wherefore I fear for the King's life." The King, who
was much troubled and changed colour, asked, "Whom dost thou suspect and anent
whom doest thou hint?" and the Minister answered, "O King, an thou be asleep,
wake up! I point to the physician Duban." Rejoined the King, "Fie upon thee!
This is a true friend who is favoured by me above all men, because he cured me
with something which I held in my hand, and he healed my leprosy which had
baffled all physicians; indeed he is one whose like may not be found in these
days—no, not in the whole world from furthest east to utmost west! And it is of
such a man thou sayest such hard sayings. Now from this day forward I allot him
a settled solde and allowances, every month a thousand gold pieces; and, were I
to share with him my realm 'twere but a little matter. Perforce I must suspect
that thou speakest on this wise from mere envy and jealousy as they relate of
the King Sindibad."&mdash;And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased
saying her permitted say. Then quoth Dunyazad, "O my sister, how pleasant is
thy tale, and how tasteful, how sweet, and how grateful!" She replied, "And
where is this compared with what I could tell thee on the coming night if the
King deign spare my life?" Then said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not
slay her until I hear the rest of her tale, for truly it is wondrous." So they
rested that night in mutual embrace until the dawn. Then the King went forth to
his Hall of Rule, and the Wazir and the troops came in, and the audience
chamber was thronged and the King gave orders and judged and appointed and
deposed and bade and forbade during the rest of that day till the Court broke
up, and King Shahryar returned to his palace.
</p>

<p class="center">
When It Was The Fifth Night,
</p>

<p>
Her sister said, "Do you finish for us thy story if thou be not sleepy," and
she resumed:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King and mighty Monarch, that
King Yunan said to his Minister, "O Wazir, thou art one whom the evil spirit of
envy hath possessed because of this physician, and thou plottest for my putting
him to death, after which I should repent me full sorely, even as repented King
Sindibad for killing his falcon." Quoth the Wazir, Pardon me, O King of the
age, how was that?" So the King began the story of
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap10"></a>King Sindibad and his Falcon.</h2>

<p>
It is said (but Allah is All knowing![FN#86]) that there was a King of the
Kings of Fars, who was fond of pleasuring and diversion, especially coursing
end hunting. He had reared a falcon which he carried all night on his fist, and
whenever he went a chasing he took with him this bird; and he bade make for her
a golden cuplet hung around her neck to give her drink therefrom. One day as
the King was sitting quietly in his palace, behold, the high falconer of the
household suddenly addressed him, "O King of the age, this is indeed a day fit
for birding." The King gave orders accordingly and set out taking the hawk on
fist; and they fared merrily forwards till they made a Wady[FN#87] where they
planted a circle of nets for the chase; when lo! a gazelle came within the
toils and the King cried, "Whoso alloweth yon gazelle to spring over his head
and loseth her, that man will I surely slay." They narrowed the nets about the
gazelle when she drew near the King's station; and, planting herself on her
hind quarter, crossed her forehand over her breast, as if about to kiss the
earth before the King. He bowed his brow low in acknowledgment to the beast;
when she bounded high over his head and took the way of the waste. Thereupon
the King turned towards his troops and seeing them winking and pointing at him,
he asked, "O Wazir, what are my men saying?" and the Minister answered, "They
say thou didst proclaim that whoso alloweth the gazelle to spring over his
head, that man shall be put to death." Quoth the King, "Now, by the life of my
head! I will follow her up till I bring her back." So he set off gallopping on
the gazelle's trail and gave not over tracking till he reached the foot hills
of a mountain chain where the quarry made for a cave. Then the King cast off at
it the falcon which presently caught it up and, swooping down, drove her talons
into its eyes, bewildering and blinding it;[FN#88] and the King drew his mace
and struck a blow which rolled the game over. He then dismounted; and, after
cutting the antelope's throat and flaying the body, hung it to the pommel of
his saddle. Now the time was that of the siesta[FN#89] and the wold was parched
and dry, nor was any water to be found anywhere; and the King thirsted and his
horse also; so he went about searching till he saw a tree dropping water, as it
were melted butter, from its boughs. Thereupon the King who wore gauntlets of
skin to guard him against poisons took the cup from the hawk's neck, and
filling it with the water set it before the bird, and lo! the falcon struck it
with her pounces and upset the liquid. The King filled it a second time with
the dripping drops, thinking his hawk was thirsty; but the bird again struck at
the cup with her talons and overturned it. Then the King waxed wroth with the
hawk and filling the cup a third time offered it to his horse: but the hawk
upset it with a flirt of wings. Quoth the King, "Allah confound thee, thou
unluckiest of flying things! thou keepest me from drinking, and thou deprivest
thyself also, and the horse." So he struck the falcon with his sword and cut
off her wing; but the bird raised her head and said by signs, "Look at that
which hangeth on the tree!" The King lifted up his eyes accordingly and caught
sight of a brood of vipers, whose poison drops he mistook for water; thereupon
he repented him of having struck off his falcon's wing, and mounting horse,
fared on with the dead gazelle, till he arrived at the camp, his starting
place. He threw the quarry to the cook saying, Take and broil it," and sat down
on his chair, the falcon being still on his fist when suddenly the bird gasped
and died; whereupon the King cried out in sorrow and remorse for having slain
that falcon which had saved his life. Now this is what occurred in the case of
King Sindibad; and I am assured that were I to do as thou desirest I should
repent even as the man who killed his parrot." Quoth the Wazir, "And how was
that?" And the King began to tell
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap11"></a>The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot.[FN#90]</h2>

<p>
A certain man and a merchant to boot had married a fair wife, a woman of
perfect beauty and grace, symmetry and loveliness, of whom he was mad-jealous,
and who contrived successfully to keep him from travel. At last an occasion
compelling him to leave her, he went to the bird market and bought him for one
hundred gold pieces a she parrot which he set in his house to act as duenna,
expecting her to acquaint him on his return with what had passed during the
whole time of his absence; for the bird was kenning and cunning and never
forgot what she had seen and heard. Now his fair wife had fallen in love with a
young Turk, [FN#91] who used to visit her, and she feasted him by day and lay
with him by night. When the man had made his journey and won his wish he came
home; and, at once causing the Parrot be brought to him, questioned her
concerning the conduct of his consort whilst he was in foreign parts. Quoth
she, "Thy wife hath a man friend who passed every night with her during thine
absence." Thereupon the husband went to his wife in a violent rage and bashed
her with a bashing severe enough to satisfy any body. The woman, suspecting
that one of the slave girls had been tattling to the master, called them
together and questioned them upon their oaths, when all swore that they had
kept the secret, but that the Parrot had not, adding, "And we heard her with
our own ears." Upon this the woman bade one of the girls to set a hand mill
under the cage and grind therewith and a second to sprinkle water through the
cage roof and a third to run about, right and left, flashing a mirror of bright
steel through the livelong night. Next morning when the husband returned home
after being entertained by one of his friends, he bade bring the Parrot before
him and asked what had taken place whilst he was away. "Pardon me, O my
master," quoth the bird, "I could neither hear nor see aught by reason of the
exceeding murk and the thunder and lightning which lasted throughout the
night." As it happened to be the summer tide the master was astounded and
cried, "But we are now in mid Tammuz,[FN#92] and this is not the time for rains
and storms." "Ay, by Allah," rejoined the bird, "I saw with these eyes what my
tongue hath told thee." Upon this the man, not knowing the case nor smoking the
plot, waxed exceeding wroth; and, holding that his wife had been wrongously
accused, put forth his hand and pulling the Parrot from her cage dashed her
upon the ground with such force that he killed her on the spot. Some days
afterwards one of his slave girls confessed to him the whole truth,[FN#93] yet
would he not believe it till he saw the young Turk, his wife's lover, coming
out of her chamber, when he bared his blade [FN#94] and slew him by a blow on
the back of the neck; and he did the same by the adulteress; and thus the
twain, laden with mortal sin, went straightways to Eternal Fire. Then the
merchant knew that the Parrot had told him the truth anent all she had seen and
he mourned grievously for her loss, when mourning availed him not. The
Minister, hearing the words of King Yunan, rejoined, 'O Monarch, high in
dignity, and what harm have I done him, or what evil have I seen from him that
I should compass his death? I would not do this thing, save to serve thee, and
soon shalt thou sight that it is right; and if thou accept my advice thou shalt
be saved, otherwise thou shalt be destroyed even as a certain Wazir who acted
treacherously by the young Prince." Asked the King, "How was that?" and the
Minister thus began
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap12"></a>The Tale of the Prince and the Ogress.</h2>

<p>
A certain King, who had a son over much given to hunting and coursing, ordered
one of his Wazirs to be in attendance upon him whithersoever he might wend. One
day the youth set out for the chase accompanied by his father's Minister; and,
as they jogged on together, a big wild beast came in sight. Cried the Wazir to
the King's son, "Up and at yon noble quarry!" So the Prince followed it until
he was lost to every eye and the chase got away from him in the waste; whereby
he was confused and he knew not which way to turn, when lo! a damsel appeared
ahead and she was in tears. The King's son asked, "Who art thou?" and she
answered, "I am daughter to a King among the Kings of Hind, and I was
travelling with a caravan in the desert when drowsiness overcame me, and I fell
from my beast unwittingly whereby I am cut off from my people and sore
bewildered." The Prince, hearing these words, pitied her case and, mounting her
on his horse's crupper, travelled until he passed by an old ruin [FN#95], when
the damsel said to him, "O my master, I wish to obey a call of nature": he
therefore set her down at the ruin where she delayed so long that the King's
son thought that she was only wasting time; so he followed her without her
knowledge and behold, she was a Ghulah,[FN#96] a wicked Ogress, who was saying
to her brood, "O my children, this day I bring you a fine fat youth, [FN#97]
for dinner;" whereto they answered, "Bring him quick to us, O our mother, that
we may browse upon him our bellies full." The Prince hearing their talk, made
sure of death and his side muscles quivered in fear for his life, so he turned
away and was about to fly. The Ghulah came out and seeing him in sore affright
(for he was trembling in every limb? cried, "Wherefore art thou afraid?" and he
replied, "I have hit upon an enemy whom I greatly fear." Asked the Ghulah,
"Diddest thou not say:&mdash;I am a King's son?" and he answered, "Even so."
Then quoth she, "Why dost not give thine enemy something of money and so
satisfy him?" Quoth he, "He will not be satisfied with my purse but only with
my life, and I mortally fear him and am a man under oppression." She replied,
"If thou be so distressed, as thou deemest, ask aid against him from Allah, who
will surely protect thee from his ill doing and from the evil whereof thou art
afraid." Then the Prince raised his eyes heavenwards and cried, "O Thou who
answerest the necessitous when he calleth upon Thee and dispellest his
distress; O my God ! grant me victory over my foe and turn him from me, for
Thou over all things art Almighty." The Ghulah, hearing his prayer, turned away
from him, and the Prince returned to his father, and told him the tale of the
Wazir; whereupon the King summoned the Minister to his presence and then and
there slew him. Thou likewise, O King, if thou continue to trust this leach,
shalt be made to die the worst of deaths. He verily thou madest much of and
whom thou entreatedest as an intimate, will work thy destruction. Seest thou
not how he healed the disease from outside thy body by something grasped in thy
hand? Be not assured that he will not destroy thee by something held in like
manner! Replied King Yunan, "Thou hast spoken sooth, O Wazir, it may well be as
thou hintest O my well advising Minister; and belike this Sage hath come as a
spy searching to put me to death; for assuredly if he cured me by a something
held in my hand, he can kill me by a something given me to smell." Then asked
King Yunan, "O Minister, what must be done with him?" and the Wazir answered,
"Send after him this very instant and summon him to thy presence; and when he
shall come strike him across the neck; and thus shalt thou rid thyself of him
and his wickedness, and deceive him ere he can deceive thee." 'Thou hast again
spoken sooth, O Wazir," said the King and sent one to call the Sage who came in
joyful mood for he knew not what had appointed for him the Compassionate; as a
certain poet saith by way of illustration:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
O Thou who fearest Fate, confiding fare * Trust all to Him who built the world
and wait:<br/>
What Fate saith "Be" perforce must be, my lord! * And safe art thou from
th&rsquo; undecreed of Fate.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
As Duban the physician entered he addressed the King in these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
An fail I of my thanks to thee nor thank thee day by day * For whom composed I
prose and verse, for whom my say and lay?<br/>
Thou lavishedst thy generous gifts ere they were craved by me * Thou lavishedst
thy boons unsought sans pretext or delay:<br/>
How shall I stint my praise of thee, how shall I cease to laud * The grace of
thee in secresy and patentest display?<br/>
Nay; I will thank thy benefits, for aye thy favours lie * Light on my thought
and tongue, though heavy on my back they weigh.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And he said further on the same theme:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Turn thee from grief nor care a jot! * Commit thy needs to Fate and Lot!<br/>
Enjoy the Present passing well * And let the Past be clean forgot<br/>
For whatso haply seemeth worse * Shall work thy weal as Allah wot<br/>
Allah shall do whate'er He wills * And in His will oppose Him not.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And further still.—
</p>

<p class="poem">
To th' All wise Subtle One trust worldly things * Rest thee from all whereto
the worldling clings:<br/>
Learn wisely well naught cometh by thy will * But e'en as willeth Allah, King
of Kings.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And lastly.—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Gladsome and gay forget thine every grief * Full often grief the wisest hearts
outwore:<br/>
Thought is but folly in the feeble slave * Shun it and so be saved evermore.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Said the King for sole return, "Knowest thou why I have summoned thee?" and the
Sage replied, "Allah Most Highest alone kenneth hidden things!" But the King
rejoined, "I summoned thee only to take thy life and utterly to destroy thee."
Duban the Wise wondered at this strange address with exceeding wonder and
asked, "O King, and wherefore wouldest thou slay me, and what ill have I done
thee?" and the King answered, "Men tell me thou art a spy sent hither with
intent to slay me; and lo! I will kill thee ere I be killed by thee;" then he
called to his Sworder, and said, "Strike me off the head of this traitor and
deliver us from his evil practices." Quoth the Sage, "Spare me and Allah will
spare thee; slay me not or Allah shall slay thee." And he repeated to him these
very words, even as I to thee, O Ifrit, and yet thou wouldst not let me go,
being bent upon my death. King Yunan only rejoined, "I shall not be safe
without slaying thee; for, as thou healedst me by something held in hand, so am
I not secure against thy killing me by something given me to smell or
otherwise." Said the physician, "This then, O King, is thy requital and reward;
thou returnest only evil for good." The King replied, "There is no help for it;
die thou must and without delay." Now when the physician was certified that the
King would slay him without waiting, he wept and regretted the good he had done
to other than the good. As one hath said on this subject:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Of wit and wisdom is Maymunah[FN#98] bare * Whose sire in wisdom all the wits
outstrippeth:<br/>
Man may not tread on mud or dust or clay * Save by good sense, else trippeth he
and slippeth.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Hereupon the Sworder stepped forward and bound the Sage Duban's eyes and bared
his blade, saying to the King, "By thy leave;" while the physician wept and
cried, "Spare me and Allah will spare thee, and slay me not or Allah shall slay
thee," and began repeating:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
I was kind and 'scaped not, they were cruel and escaped; * And my kindness only
led me to Ruination Hall,<br/>
If I live I'll ne'er be kind; if I die, then all be damned * Who follow me, and
curses their kindliness befal.
</p>

<p>
"Is this," continued Duban, "the return I meet from thee? Thou givest me,
meseems, but crocodile boon." Quoth the King,"What is the tale of the
crocodile?", and quoth the physician, "Impossible for me to tell it in this my
state; Allah upon thee, spare me, as thou hopest Allah shall spare thee." And
he wept with exceeding weeping. Then one of the King's favourites stood up and
said, "O King! grant me the blood of this physician; we have never seen him sin
against thee, or doing aught save healing thee from a disease which baffled
every leach and man of science." Said the King, "Ye wot not the cause of my
putting to death this physician, and this it is. If I spare him, I doom myself
to certain death; for one who healed me of such a malady by something held in
my hand, surely can slay me by something held to my nose; and I fear lest he
kill me for a price, since haply he is some spy whose sole purpose in coming
hither was to compass my destruction. So there is no help for it; die he must,
and then only shall I be sure of my own life." Again cried Duban, "Spare me and
Allah shall spare thee; and slay me not or Allah shall slay thee." But it was
in vain. Now when the physician, O Ifrit, knew for certain that the King would
kill him, he said, "O King, if there be no help but I must die, grant me some
little delay that I may go down to my house and release myself from mine
obligations and direct my folk and my neighbours where to bury me and
distribute my books of medicine. Amongst these I have one, the rarest of
rarities, which I would present to thee as an offering: keep it as a treasure
in thy treasury." "And what is in the book?" asked the King and the Sage
answered, "Things beyond compt; and the least of secrets is that if, directly
after thou hast cut off my head, thou open three leaves and read three lines of
the page to thy left hand, my head shall speak and answer every question thou
deignest ask of it." The King wondered with exceeding wonder and shaking[FN#99]
with delight at the novelty, said, "O physician, dost thou really tell me that
when I cut off thy head it will speak to me?" He replied, "Yes, O King!" Quoth
the King, "This is indeed a strange matter!" and forthwith sent him closely
guarded to his house, and Duban then and there settled all his obligations.
Next day he went up to the King's audience hall, where Emirs and Wazirs,
Chamberlains and Nabobs, Grandees and Lords of Estate were gathered together,
making the presence chamber gay as a garden of flower beds. And lo! the
physician came up and stood before the King, bearing a worn old volume and a
little etui of metal full of powder, like that used for the eyes.[FN#100] Then
he sat down and said, "Give me a tray." So they brought him one and he poured
the powder upon it and levelled it and lastly spake as follows: "O King, take
this book but do not open it till my head falls; then set it upon this tray,
and bid press it down upon the powder, when forthright the blood will cease
flowing. That is the time to open the book." The King thereupon took the book
and made a sign to the Sworder, who arose and struck off the physician's head,
and placing it on the middle of the tray, pressed it down upon the powder. The
blood stopped flowing, and the Sage Duban unclosed his eyes and said, "Now open
the book, O King!" The King opened the book, and found the leaves stuck
together; so he put his finger to his mouth and, by moistening it, he easily
turned over the first leaf, and in like way the second, and the third, each
leaf opening with much trouble; and when he had unstuck six leaves he looked
over them and, finding nothing written thereon, said, "O physician, there is no
writing here!" Duban re plied, "Turn over yet more;" and he turned over three
others in the same way. Now the book was poisoned; and before long the venom
penetrated his system, and he fell into strong convulsions and he cried out,
"The poison hath done its work!" Whereupon the Sage Duban's head began to
improvise:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
There be rulers who have ruled with a foul tyrannic sway * But they soon became
as though they had never, never been:<br/>
Just, they had won justice: they oppressed and were opprest * By Fortune, who
requited them with ban and bane and teen:<br/>
So they faded like the morn, and the tongue of things repeats * "Take this for
that, nor vent upon Fortune's ways thy spleen."
</p>

<p>
No sooner had the head ceased speaking than the King rolled over dead. Now I
would have thee know, O Ifrit, that if King Yunan had spared the Sage Duban,
Allah would have spared him, but he refused so to do and decreed to do him
dead, wherefore Allah slew him; and thou too, O Ifrit, if thou hadst spared me,
Allah would have spared thee. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say: then quoth Dunyazad, "O my sister, how
pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful; how sweet, and how grateful!" She
replied, "And where is this compared with what I could tell thee this coming
night, if I live and the King spare me?" Said the King in himself, "By Allah, I
will not slay her until I hear the rest of her story, for truly it is
wondrous." They rested that night in mutual embrace until dawn: then the King
went forth to his Darbar; the Wazirs and troops came in and the audience hall
was crowded; so the King gave orders and judged and appointed and deposed and
bade and forbade the rest of that day, when the court broke up, and King
Shahryar entered his palace,
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Sixth Night,
</p>

<p>
Her sister, Dunyazad, said to her,"Pray finish for us thy story;" and she
answered, "I will if the King give me leave." "Say on," quoth the King. And she
continued:—It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Fisherman said
to the Ifrit, "If thou hadst spared me I would have spared thee, but nothing
would satisfy thee save my death; so now I will do thee die by jailing thee in
this jar and I will hurl thee into this sea." Then the Marid roared aloud and
cried, "Allah upon thee, O Fisherman, don't! Spare me, and pardon my past
doings; and, as I have been tyrannous, so be thou generous, for it is said
among sayings that go current:—O thou who doest good to him who hath done thee
evil, suffice for the ill doer his ill deeds, and do not deal with me as did
Umamah to 'Atikah."[FN#101] Asked the Fisherman, "And what was their case?" and
the Ifrit answered, "This is not the time for story telling and I in this
prison; but set me free and I will tell thee the tale." Quoth the Fisherman,
"Leave this language: there is no help but that thou be thrown back into the
sea nor is there any way for thy getting out of it for ever and ever. Vainly I
placed myself under thy protection,[FN#102] and I humbled myself to thee with
weeping, while thou soughtest only to slay me, who had done thee no injury
deserving this at thy hands; nay, so far from injuring thee by any evil act, I
worked thee nought but weal in releasing thee from that jail of thine. Now I
knew thee to be an evil doer when thou diddest to me what thou didst, and know,
that when I have cast thee back into the sea, I will warn whomsoever may fish
thee up of what hath befallen me with thee, and I will advise him to toss thee
back again; so shalt thou abide here under these waters till the End of Time
shall make an end of thee." But the Ifrit cried aloud, "Set me free; this is a
noble occasion for generosity and I make covenant with thee and vow never to do
thee hurt and harm; nay, I will help thee to what shall put thee out of want."
The Fisherman accepted his promises on both conditions, not to trouble him as
before, but on the contrary to do him service; and, after making firm the
plight and swearing him a solemn oath by Allah Most Highest he opened the
cucurbit. Thereupon the pillar of smoke rose up till all of it was fully out;
then it thickened and once more became an Ifrit of hideous presence, who
forthright administered a kick to the bottle and sent it flying into the sea.
The Fisherman, seeing how the cucurbit was treated and making sure of his own
death, piddled in his clothes and said to himself, "This promiseth badly;" but
he fortified his heart, and cried, "O Ifrit, Allah hath
said[FN#103]:&mdash;Perform your covenant; for the performance of your covenant
shall be inquired into hereafter. Thou hast made a vow to me and hast sworn an
oath not to play me false lest Allah play thee false, for verily he is a
jealous God who respiteth the sinner, but letteth him not escape. I say to thee
as said the Sage Duban to King Yunan, "Spare me so Allah may spare thee!" The
Ifrit burst into laughter and stalked away, saying to the Fisherman, "Follow
me;" and the man paced after him at a safe distance (for he was not assured of
escape) till they had passed round the suburbs of the city. Thence they struck
into the uncultivated grounds, and crossing them descended into a broad
wilderness, and lo! in the midst of it stood a mountain tarn. The Ifrit waded
in to the middle and again cried, "Follow me;" and when this was done he took
his stand in the centre and bade the man cast his net and catch his fish. The
Fisherman looked into the water and was much astonished to see therein vari
coloured fishes, white and red, blue and yellow; however he cast his net and,
hauling it in, saw that he had netted four fishes, one of each colour. Thereat
he rejoiced greatly and more when the Ifrit said to him, "Carry these to the
Sultan and set them in his presence; then he will give thee what shall make
thee a wealthy man; and now accept my excuse, for by Allah at this time I wot
none other way of benefiting thee, inasmuch I have lain in this sea eighteen
hundred years and have not seen the face of the world save within this hour.
But I would not have thee fish here save once a day." The Ifrit then gave him
Godspeed, saying, Allah grant we meet again;"[FN#104] and struck the earth with
one foot, whereupon the ground clove asunder and swallowed him up. The
Fisherman, much marvelling at what had happened to him with the Ifrit, took the
fish and made for the city; and as soon as he reached home he filled an earthen
bowl with water and therein threw the fish which began to struggle and wriggle
about. Then he bore off the bowl upon his head and repairing to the King's
palace (even as the Ifrit had bidden him) laid the fish before the presence;
and the King wondered with exceeding wonder at the sight, for never in his
lifetime had' he seen fishes like these in quality or in conformation. So he
said, "Give those fish to the stranger slave girl who now cooketh for us,"
meaning the bond maiden whom the King of Roum had sent to him only three days
before, so that he had not yet made trial of her talents in the dressing of
meat. Thereupon the Wazir carried the fish to the cook and bade her fry
them[FN#105] saying, "O damsel, the King sendeth this say to thee:—I have not
treasured thee, O tear o' me! save for stress time of me; approve, then, to us
this day thy delicate handiwork and thy savoury cooking; for this dish of fish
is a present sent to the Sultan and evidently a rarity." The Wazir, after he
had carefully charged her, returned to the King, who commanded him to give the
Fisherman four hundred dinars: he gave them accordingly, and the man took them
to his bosom and ran off home stumbling and falling and rising again and
deeming the whole thing to be a dream. However, he bought for his family all
they wanted and lastly he went to his wife in huge joy and gladness. So far
concerning him; but as regards the cookmaid, she took the fish and cleansed
them and set them in the frying pan, basting them with oil till one side was
dressed. Then she turned them over and, behold, the kitchen wall crave asunder,
and therefrom came a young lady, fair of form, oval of face, perfect in grace,
with eyelids which Kohl lines enchase.[FN#106] Her dress was a silken head
kerchief fringed and tasseled with blue: a large ring hung from either ear; a
pair of bracelets adorned her wrists; rings with bezels of priceless gems were
on her fingers; and she hent in hand a long rod of rattan cane which she thrust
into the frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! be ye constant to your covenant?"
When the cookmaiden saw this apparition she swooned away. The young lady
repeated her words a second time and a third time, and at last the fishes
raised their heads from the pan, and saying in articulate speech "Yes! Yes!"
began with one voice to recite:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * And if ye fain forsake,
I'll requite till quits we cry!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
After this the young lady upset the frying pan and went forth by the way she
came in and the kitchen wall closed upon her. When the cook maiden recovered
from her fainting fit, she saw the four fishes charred black as charcoal, and
crying out, "His staff brake in his first bout,"[FN#107] she again fell
swooning to the ground. Whilst she was in this case the Wazir came for the fish
and looking upon her as insensible she lay, not knowing Sunday from Thursday,
shoved her with his foot and said, "Bring the fish for the Sultan!" Thereupon
recovering from her fainting fit she wept and informed him of her case and all
that had befallen her. The Wazir marvelled greatly and exclaiming, "This is
none other than a right strange matter!", he sent after the Fisherman and said
to him, "Thou, O Fisherman, must needs fetch us four fishes like those thou
broughtest before." Thereupon the man repaired to the tarn and cast his net;
and when he landed it, lo! four fishes were therein exactly like the first.
These he at once carried to the Wazir, who went in with them to the cook maiden
and said, "Up with thee and fry these in my presence, that I may see this
business." The damsel arose and cleansed the fish, and set them in the frying
pan over the fire; however they remained there but a little while ere the wall
clave asunder and the young lady appeared, clad as before and holding in hand
the wand which she again thrust into the frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish!
be ye constant to your olden covenant?" And behold, the fish lifted their
heads, and repeated "Yes! Yes!" and recited this couplet:
</p>

<p class="poem">
Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye fain forsake,
I'll requite till quits we cry!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Seventh Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the fishes
spoke, and the young lady upset the frying pan with her rod, and went forth by
the way she came and the wall closed up, the Wazir cried out, "This is a thing
not to be hidden from the King." So he went and told him what had happened,
where upon quoth the King, "There is no help for it but that I see this with
mine own eyes." Then he sent for the Fisherman and commanded him to bring four
other fish like the first and to take with him three men as witnesses. The
Fisherman at once brought the fish: and the King, after ordering them to give
him four hundred gold pieces, turned to the Wazir and said, "Up and fry me the
fishes here before me!" The Minister, replying "To hear is to obey," bade bring
the frying pan, threw therein the cleansed fish and set it over the fire; when
lo! the wall clave asunder, and out burst a black slave like a huge rock or a
remnant of the tribe Ad[FN#108] bearing in hand a branch of a green tree; and
he cried in loud and terrible tones, "O fish! O fish! be ye all constant to
your antique covenant?" whereupon the fishes lifted their heads from the frying
pan and said, "Yes! Yes ! we be true to our vow;" and they again recited the
couplet:
</p>

<p class="poem">
Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye fain forsake,
I'll requite till quits we cry!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then the huge blackamoor approached the frying pan and upset it with the branch
and went forth by the way he came in. When he vanished from their sight the
King inspected the fish; and finding them all charred black as charcoal, was
utterly bewildered and said to the Wazir, "Verily this is a matter whereanent
silence cannot be kept, and as for the fishes, assuredly some marvellous
adventure connects with them." So he bade bring the Fisherman and asked him,
saying "Fie on thee, fellow! whence came these fishes?" and he answered, "From
a tarn between four heights lying behind this mountain which is in sight of thy
city." Quoth the King, "How many days' march?" Quoth he, "O our lord the
Sultan, a walk of half hour." The King wondered and, straight way ordering his
men to march and horsemen to mount, led off the Fisherman who went before as
guide, privily damning the Ifrit. They fared on till they had climbed the
mountain and descended unto a great desert which they had never seen during all
their lives; and the Sultan and his merry men marvelled much at the wold set in
the midst of four mountains, and the tarn and its fishes of four colours, red
and white, yellow and blue. The King stood fixed to the spot in wonderment and
asked his troops and all present, "Hath any one among you ever seen this piece
of water before now?" and all made answer, "O King of the age never did we set
eyes upon it during all our days." They also questioned the oldest inhabitants
they met, men well stricken in years, but they replied, each and every, "A
lakelet like this we never saw in this place." Thereupon quoth the King, "By
Allah I will neither return to my capital nor sit upon the throne of my
forbears till I learn the truth about this tarn and the fish therein." He then
ordered his men to dismount and bivouac all around the mountain; which they
did; and summoning his Wazir, a Minister of much experience, sagacious, of
penetrating wit and well versed in affairs, said to him, "'Tis in my mind to do
a certain thing whereof I will inform thee; my heart telleth me to fare forth
alone this night and root out the mystery of this tarn and its fishes. Do thou
take thy seat at my tent door, and say to the Emirs and Wazirs, the Nabobs and
the Chamberlains, in fine to all who ask thee:—The Sultan is ill at ease, and
he hath ordered me to refuse all admittance;[FN#109] and be careful thou let
none know my design." And the Wazir could not oppose him. Then the King changed
his dress and ornaments and, slinging his sword over his shoulder, took a path
which led up one of the mountains and marched for the rest of the night till
morning dawned; nor did he cease wayfaring till the heat was too much for him.
After his long walk he rested for a while, and then resumed his march and fared
on through the second night till dawn, when suddenly there appeared a black
point in the far distance. Hereat he rejoiced and said to himself, "Haply some
one here shall acquaint me with the mystery of the tarn and its fishes."
Presently drawing near the dark object he found it a palace built of swart
stone plated with iron; and, while one leaf of the gate stood wide open, the
other was shut, The King's spirits rose high as he stood before the gate and
rapped a light rap; but hearing no answer he knocked a second knock and a
third; yet there came no sign. Then he knocked his loudest but still no answer,
so he said, "Doubtless 'tis empty." Thereupon he mustered up resolution and
boldly walked through the main gate into the great hall and there cried out
aloud, "Holla, ye people of the palace! I am a stranger and a wayfarer; have
you aught here of victual?" He repeated his cry a second time and a third but
still there came no reply; so strengthening his heart and making up his mind he
stalked through the vestibule into the very middle of the palace and found no
man in it. Yet it was furnished with silken stuffs gold starred; and the
hangings were let down over the door ways. In the midst was a spacious court
off which set four open saloons each with its raised dais, saloon facing
saloon; a canopy shaded the court and in the centre was a jetting fount with
four figures of lions made of red gold, spouting from their mouths water clear
as pearls and diaphanous gems. Round about the palace birds were let loose and
over it stretched a net of golden wire, hindering them from flying off; in
brief there was everything but human beings. The King marvelled mightily
thereat, yet felt he sad at heart for that he saw no one to give him account of
the waste and its tarn, the fishes, the mountains and the palace itself.
Presently as he sat between the doors in deep thought behold, there came a
voice of lament, as from a heart grief spent and he heard the voice chanting
these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
I hid what I endured of him[FN#110] and yet it came to light, * And nightly
sleep mine eyelids fled and changed to sleepless night:<br/>
Oh world! Oh Fate! withhold thy hand and cease thy hurt and harm * Look and
behold my hapless sprite in colour and affright:<br/>
Wilt ne'er show ruth to highborn youth who lost him on the way * Of Love, and
fell from wealth and fame to lowest basest wight.<br/>
Jealous of Zephyr's breath was I as on your form he breathed * But whenas
Destiny descends she blindeth human sight[FN#111]<br/>
What shall the hapless archer do who when he fronts his foe * And bends his bow
to shoot the shaft shall find his string undight?<br/>
When cark and care so heavy bear on youth[FN#112] of generous soul * How shall
he 'scape his lot and where from Fate his place of flight?
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Now when the Sultan heard the mournful voice he sprang to his feet; and,
following the sound, found a curtain let down over a chamber door. He raised it
and saw behind it a young man sitting upon a couch about a cubit above the
ground; and he fair to the sight, a well shaped wight, with eloquence dight;
his forehead was flower white, his cheek rosy bright, and a mole on his cheek
breadth like an ambergris mite; even as the poet doth indite:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
A youth slim waisted from whose locks and brow * The world in blackness and in
light is set.<br/>
Throughout Creation's round no fairer show * No rarer sight thine eye hath ever
met:<br/>
A nut brown mole sits throned upon a cheek * Of rosiest red beneath an eye of
jet.[FN#113]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The King rejoiced and saluted him, but he remained sitting in his caftan of
silken stuff purfled with Egyptian gold and his crown studded with gems of
sorts; but his face was sad with the traces of sorrow. He returned the royal
salute in most courteous wise adding, "O my lord, thy dignity demandeth my
rising to thee; and my sole excuse is to crave thy pardon."[FN#114] Quoth the
King, "Thou art excused, O youth; so look upon me as thy guest come hither on
an especial object. I would thou acquaint me with the secrets of this tarn and
its fishes and of this palace and thy loneliness therein and the cause of thy
groaning and wailing." When the young man heard these words he wept with sore
weeping;[FN#115] till his bosom was drenched with tears and began reciting—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Say him who careless sleeps what while the shaft of Fortune flies * How many
cloth this shifting world lay low and raise to rise?<br/>
Although thine eye be sealed in sleep, sleep not th' Almighty's eyes * And who
hath found Time ever fair, or Fate in constant guise?
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then he sighed a long fetched sigh and recited:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Confide thy case to Him, the Lord who made mankind; * Quit cark and care and
cultivate content of mind;<br/>
Ask not the Past or how or why it came to pass: * All human things by Fate and
Destiny were designed!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The King marvelled and asked him, "What maketh thee weep, O young man?" and he
answered, "How should I not weep, when this is my case!" Thereupon he put out
his hand and raised the skirt of his garment, when lo! the lower half of him
appeared stone down to his feet while from his navel to the hair of his head he
was man. The King, seeing this his plight, grieved with sore grief and of his
compassion cried, "Alack and well away! in very sooth, O youth, thou heapest
sorrow upon my sorrow. I was minded to ask thee the mystery of the fishes only:
whereas now I am concerned to learn thy story as well as theirs. But there is
no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great![FN#116] Lose no time, O youth, but tell me forthright thy whole tale."
Quoth he, "Lend me thine ears, thy sight and thine insight;" and quoth the
King, "All are at thy service!" Thereupon the youth began, "Right wondrous and
marvellous is my case and that of these fishes; and were it graven with gravers
upon the eye corners it were a warner to whoso would be warned." "How is that?"
asked the King, and the young man began to tell
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap13"></a>The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince.</h2>

<p>
Know then, O my lord, that whilome my sire was King of this city, and his name
was Mahmud, entitled Lord of the Black Islands, and owner of what are now these
four mountains. He ruled three score and ten years, after which he went to the
mercy of the Lord and I reigned as Sultan in his stead. I took to wife my
cousin, the daughter of my paternal uncle,[FN#117] and she loved me with such
abounding love that whenever I was absent she ate not and she drank not until
she saw me again. She cohabited with me for five years till a certain day when
she went forth to the Hammam bath; and I bade the cook hasten to get ready all
requisites for our supper. And I entered this palace and lay down on the bed
where I was wont to sleep and bade two damsels to fan my face, one sitting by
my head and the other at my feet. But I was troubled and made restless by my
wife's absence and could not sleep; for although my eyes were closed my mind
and thoughts were wide awake. Presently I heard the slave girl at my head say
to her at my feet, "O Mas'udah, how miserable is our master and how wasted in
his youth and oh! the pity of his being so betrayed by our mistress, the
accursed whore!"[FN#118] The other replied, "Yes indeed: Allah curse all
faithless women and adulterous; but the like of our master, with his fair
gifts, deserveth something better than this harlot who lieth abroad every
night." Then quoth she who sat by my head, "Is our lord dumb or fit only for
bubbling that he questioneth her not!" and quoth the other, "Fie on thee! doth
our lord know her ways or doth she allow him his choice? Nay, more, doth she
not drug every night the cup she giveth him to drink before sleep time, and put
Bhang[FN#119] into it? So he sleepeth and wotteth not whither she goeth, nor
what she doeth; but we know that after giving him the drugged wine, she donneth
her richest raiment and perfumeth herself and then she fareth out from him to
be away till break of day; then she cometh to him, and burneth a pastile under
his nose and he awaketh from his deathlike sleep." When I heard the slave
girl's words, the light became black before my sight and I thought night would
never-fall. Presently the daughter of my uncle came from the baths; and they
set the table for us and we ate and sat together a fair half hour quaffing our
wine as was ever our wont. Then she called for the particular wine I used to
drink before sleeping and reached me the cup; but, seeming to drink it
according to my wont, I poured the contents into my bosom; and, lying down, let
her hear that I was asleep. Then, behold, she cried, "Sleep out the night, and
never wake again: by Allah, I loathe thee and I loathe thy whole body, and my
soul turneth in disgust from cohabiting with thee; and I see not the moment
when Allah shall snatch away thy life!" Then she rose and donned her fairest
dress and perfumed her person and slung my sword over her shoulder; and,
opening the gates of the palace, went her ill way. I rose and followed her as
she left the palace and she threaded the streets until she came to the city
gate, where she spoke words I understood not, and the padlocks dropped of
themselves as if broken and the gate leaves opened. She went forth (and I after
her without her noticing aught) till she came at last to the outlying
mounds[FN#120] and a reed fence built about a round roofed hut of mud bricks.
As she entered the door, I climbed upon the roof which commanded a view of the
interior, and lo! my fair cousin had gone in to a hideous negro slave with his
upper lip like the cover of a pot, and his lower like an open pot; lips which
might sweep up sand from the gravel-floor of the cot. He was to boot a leper
and a paralytic, lying upon a strew of sugar cane trash and wrapped in an old
blanket and the foulest rags and tatters. She kissed the earth before him, and
he raised his head so as to see her and said, "Woe to thee! what call hadst
thou to stay away all this time? Here have been with me sundry of the black
brethren, who drank their wine and each had his young lady, and I was not
content to drink because of thine absence." Then she, "O my lord, my heart's
love and coolth of my eyes,[FN#121] knowest thou not that I am married to my
cousin whose very look I loathe, and hate myself when in his company? And did
not I fear for thy sake, I would not let a single sun arise before making his
city a ruined heap wherein raven should croak and howlet hoot, and jackal and
wolf harbour and loot; nay I had removed its very stones to the back side of
Mount Kaf." [FN#122] Rejoined the slave, Thou liest, damn thee! Now I swear an
oath by the valour and honour of blackamoor men (and deem not our manliness to
be ; the poor manliness of white men), from today forth if thou stay away till
this hour, I will not keep company with thee nor will I glue my body with thy
body and strum and belly bump Dost play fast and loose with us, thou cracked
pot, that we may satisfy thy dirty lusts? stinkard! bitch! vilest of the vile
whites!" When I heard his words, and saw with my own eyes what passed between
these two wretches, the world waxed dark before my face and my soul knew not
in what place it was. But , my wife humbly stood up weeping before and
wheedling the slave, and saying, O my beloved, and very fruit of my heart,
there is none left to cheer me but thy dear self; and, if thou cast me off who
shall take me in, O my beloved, O light of my eyes?" And she ceased not weeping
and abasing herself to him until he deigned be reconciled with her. Then was
she right glad and stood up and doffed her clothes, even to her petticoat
trousers, and said, "0 my master what hast thou here for thy handmaiden to eat?
Uncover the basin," he grumbled, "and thou shalt find at the bottom the broiled
bones of some rats we dined on, pick at them, and then go to that slop pot
where thou shalt find some leavings of beer [FN#123] which thou mayest drink."
So she ate and drank and washed her hands, and went and lay down by the side of
the slave, upon the cane trash and, stripping herself stark naked, she crept in
with him under his foul coverlet and his rags and tatters. When I saw my wife,
my cousin, the daughter of my uncle, do this deed[FN#124] I clean lost my wits,
and climbing down from the roof, I entered and took the sword which she had
with her and drew it, determined to cut down the twain. I first struck at the
slave's neck and thought that the death decree had fallen on him:"And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Eighth Night,
</p>

<p>
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young
ensorcelled Prince said to the King, "When I smote the slave with intent to
strike off his head, I thought that I had slain him; for he groaned a loud
hissing groan, but I had cut only the skin and flesh of the gullet and the two
arteries! It awoke the daughter of my uncle, so I sheathed the sword and fared
forth for the city; and, entering the palace, lay upon my bed and slept till
morning when my wife aroused me and I saw that she had cut off her hair and had
donned mourning garments. Quoth she:—O son of my uncle, blame me not for what I
do; it hath just reached me that my mother is dead, and my father hath been
killed in holy war, and of my brothers one hath lost his life by a snake sting
and the other by falling down some precipice; and I can and should do naught
save weep and lament. When I heard her words I refrained from all reproach and
said only:—Do as thou list; I certainly will not thwart thee. She continued
sorrowing, weeping and wailing one whole year from the beginning of its circle
to the end, and when it was finished she said to me.—I wish to build me in thy
palace a tomb with a cupola, which I will set apart for my mourning and will
name the House of Lamentations.[FN#125] Quoth I again:—Do as thou list! Then
she builded for herself a cenotaph wherein to mourn, and set on its centre a
dome under which showed a tomb like a Santon's sepulchre. Thither she carried
the slave and lodged him; but he was exceeding weak by reason of his wound, and
unable to do her love service; he could only drink wine and from the day of his
hurt he spake not a word, yet he lived on because his appointed hour[FN#126]
was not come. Every day, morning and evening, my wife went to him and wept and
wailed over him and gave him wine and strong soups, and left not off doing
after this manner a second year; and I bore with her patiently and paid no heed
to her. One day, however, I went in to her unawares; and I found her weeping
and beating her face and crying:—Why art thou absent from my sight, O my
heart's delight? Speak to me, O my life; talk with me, O my love? Then she
recited these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
For your love my patience fails and albeit you forget * I may not, nor to other
love my heart can make reply:<br/>
Bear my body, bear my soul wheresoever you may fare * And where you pitch the
camp let my body buried lie:<br/>
Cry my name above my grave, and an answer shall return * The moaning of my
bones responsive to your cry.[FN#127]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then she recited, weeping bitterly the while:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
The day of my delight is the day when draw you near * And the day of mine
affright is the day you turn away:<br/>
Though I tremble through the night in my bitter dread of death * When I hold
you in my arms I am free from all affray
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Once more she began reciting:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Though a morn I may awake with all happiness in hand * Though the world all be
mine and like Kisra-kings[FN#128] I reign;<br/>
To me they had the worth of the winglet of the gnat * When I fail to see thy
form, when I look for thee in vain
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When she had ended for a time her words and her weeping I said to her—O my
cousin, let this thy mourning suffice, for in pouring forth tears there is
little profit! Thwart me not, answered she, in aught I do, or I will lay
violent hands on myself! So I held my peace and left her to go her own way; and
she ceased not to cry and keen and indulge her affliction for yet another year.
At the end of the third year I waxed aweary of this longsome mourning, and one
day I happened to enter the cenotaph when vexed and angry with some matter
which had thwarted me, and suddenly I heard her say:—O my lord, I never hear
thee vouch safe a single word to me! Why dost thou not answer me, O my master?
and she began reciting:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
O thou tomb! O, thou tomb! be his beauty set in shade? * Hast thou darkened
that countenance all sheeny as the noon?<br/>
O thou tomb! neither earth nor yet heaven art to me * Then how cometh it in
thee are conjoined my sun and moon?
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When I heard such verses as these rage was heaped upon my rage I cried
out:—Well away! how long is this sorrow to last? and I began repeating:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
O thou tomb! O thou tomb! be his horrors set in blight? * Hast thou darkenèd
his countenance that sickeneth the soul?<br/>
O thou tomb! neither cess pool nor pipkin art to me * Then how cometh it in
thee are conjoined soil and coal?
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When she heard my words she sprang to her feet crying.—Fie upon thee, thou cur!
all this is of thy doings; thou hast wounded my heart s darling and thereby
worked me sore woe and thou hast wasted his youth so that these three years he
hath lain abed more dead than alive! In my wrath I cried:—O thou foulest of
harlots and filthiest of whores ever futtered by negro slaves who are hired to
have at thee![FN#129] Yes indeed it was I who did this good deed; and snatching
up my sword I drew it and made at her to cut her down. But she laughed my words
and mine intent to scorn crying: To heel, hound that thou art! Alas[FN#130] for
the past which shall no more come to pass nor shall any one avail the dead to
raise. Allah hath indeed now given into my hand him who did to me this thing, a
deed that hath burned my heart with a fire which died not and a flame which
might not be quenched! Then she stood up; and, pronouncing some words to me
unintelligible, she said:— By virtue of my egromancy become thou half stone and
half man; whereupon I became what thou seest, unable to rise or to sit, and
neither dead nor alive. Moreover she ensorcelled the city with all its streets
and garths, and she turned by her gramarye the four islands into four mountains
around the tarn whereof thou questionest me; and the citizens, who were of four
different faiths, Moslem, Nazarene, Jew and Magian, she transformed by her
enchantments into fishes; the Moslems are the white, the Magians red, the
Christians blue and the Jews yellow.[FN#131] And every day she tortureth me and
scourgeth me with an hundred stripes, each of which draweth floods of blood and
cutteth the skin of my shoulders to strips; and lastly she clotheth my upper
half with a hair cloth and then throweth over them these robes." Hereupon the
young man again shed tears and began reciting:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
In patience, O my God, I endure my lot and fate; * I will bear at will of Thee
whatsoever be my state:<br/>
They oppress me; they torture me; they make my life a woe * Yet haply Heaven's
happiness shall compensate my strait:<br/>
Yea, straitened is my life by the bane and hate o' foes * But Mustafa and
Murtaza[FN#132] shall ope me Heaven's gate.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
After this the Sultan turned towards the young Prince and said, "O youth, thou
hast removed one grief only to add another grief; but now, O my friend, where
is she; and where is the mausoleum wherein lieth the wounded slave?" "The slave
lieth under yon dome," quoth the young man, "and she sitteth in the chamber
fronting yonder door. And every day at sunrise she cometh forth, and first
strippeth me, and whippeth me with an hundred strokes of the leathern scourge,
and I weep and shriek; but there is no power of motion in my lower limbs to
keep her off me. After ending her tormenting me she visiteth the slave,
bringing him wine and boiled meats. And to morrow at an early hour she will be
here." Quoth the King, "By Allah, O youth, I will assuredly do thee a good
deed which the world shall not willingly let die, and an act of derring do
which shall be chronicled long after I am dead and gone by." Then the King sat
him by the side of the young Prince and talked till nightfall, when he lay down
and slept; but, as soon as the false dawn[FN#133] showed, he arose and doffing
his outer garments[FN#134] bared his blade and hastened to the place wherein
lay the slave. Then was he ware of lighted candles and lamps, and the perfume
of incenses and unguents, and directed by these, he made for the slave and
struck him one stroke killing him on the spot: after which he lifted him on his
back and threw him into a well that was in the palace. Presentry he returned
and, donning the slave's gear, lay down at length within the mausoleum with the
drawn sword laid close to and along his side. After an hour or so the accursed
witch came; and, first going to her husband, she stripped off his clothes and,
taking a whip, flogged him cruelly while he cried out, "Ah! enough for me the
case I am in! take pity on me, O my cousin!' But she replied, "Didst thou take
pity on me and spare the life of my true love on whom I coated?" Then she drew
the cilice over his raw and bleeding skin and threw the robe upon all and went
down to the slave with a goblet of wine and a bowl of meat broth in her hands.
She entered under the dome weeping and wailing, "Well-away!" and crying, "O my
lord! speak a word to me! O my master! talk awhile with me!" and began to
recite these couplets.—
</p>

<p class="poem">
How long this harshness, this unlove, shall bide? * Suffice thee not tear
floods thou hast espied?<br/>
Thou dost prolong our parting purposely * And if wouldst please my foe, thou'rt
satisfied!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then she wept again and said, "O my lord! speak to me, talk with me!" The King
lowered his voice and, twisting his tongue, spoke after the fashion of the
blackamoors and said "'lack! 'lack! there be no Ma'esty and there be no Might
save in Allauh, the Gloriose, the Great!" Now when she heard these words she
shouted for joy, and fell to the ground fainting; and when her senses returned
she asked, "O my lord, can it be true that thou hast power of speech?" and the
King making his voice small and faint answered, "O my cuss! dost thou deserve
that I talk to thee and speak with thee?" "Why and wherefore?" rejoined she;
and he replied "The why is that all the livelong day thou tormentest thy hubby;
and he keeps calling on 'eaven for aid until sleep is strange to me even from
evenin' till mawnin', and he prays and damns, cussing us two, me and thee,
causing me disquiet and much bother: were this not so, I should long ago have
got my health; and it is this which prevents my answering thee." Quoth she,
"With thy leave I will release him from what spell is on him;"and quoth the
King, "Release him and let's have some rest!" She cried, "To hear is to obey;"
and, going from the cenotaph to the palace, she took a metal bowl and filled it
with water and spake over it certain words which made the contents bubble and
boil as a cauldron seetheth over the fire. With this she sprinkled her husband
saying, "By virtue of the dread words I have spoken, if thou becamest thus by
my spells, come forth out of that form into thine own former form." And lo and
behold! the young man shook and trembled; then he rose to his feet and,
rejoicing at his deliverance, cried aloud, "I testify that there is no god but
the God, and in very truth Mohammed is His Apostle, whom Allah bless and keep!"
Then she said to him, "Go forth and return not hither, for if thou do I will
surely slay thee;" screaming these words in his face. So he went from between
her hands; and she returned to the dome and, going down to the sepulchre, she
said, "O my lord, come forth to me that I may look upon thee and thy
goodliness!" The King replied in faint low words, "What[FN#135] thing hast thou
done? Thou hast rid me of the branch but not of the root." She asked, "O my
darling! O my negroling! what is the root?" And he answered, "Fie on thee, O my
cuss! The people of this city and of the four islands every night when it's
half passed lift their heads from the tank in which thou hast turned them to
fishes and cry to Heaven and call down its anger on me and thee; and this is
the reason why my body's baulked from health. Go at once and set them free then
come to me and take my hand, and raise me up, for a little strength is already
back in me." When she heard the King's words (and she still supposed him to be
the slave) she cried joyously, &ldquo;O my master, on my head and on my eyes be
thy command, Bismillah[FN#136]!&rdquo; So she sprang to her feet and, full of
joy and gladness, ran down to the tarn and took a little of its water in the
palm of her hand—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it Was the Ninth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the young woman, the
sorceress, took in hand some of the tarn water and spake over it words not to
be understood, the fishes lifted their heads and stood up on the instant like
men, the spell on the people of the city having been removed. What was the lake
again became a crowded capital; the bazars were thronged with folk who bought
and sold; each citizen was occupied with his own calling and the four hills
became islands as they were whilome. Then the young woman, that wicked
sorceress, returned to the King and (still thinking he was the negro) said to
him, O my love! stretch forth thy honoured hand that I may assist thee to
rise." "Nearer to me," quoth the King in a faint and feigned tone. She came
close as to embrace him when he took up the sword lying hid by his side and
smote her across the breast, so that the point showed gleaming behind her back.
Then he smote her a second time and cut her in twain and cast her to the ground
in two halves. After which he fared forth and found the young man, now freed
from the spell, awaiting him and gave him joy of his happy release while the
Prince kissed his hand with abundant thanks. Quoth the King, "Wilt thou abide
in this city or go with me to my capital?" Quoth the youth, "O King of the age,
wottest thou not what journey is between thee and thy city?" "Two days and a
half," answered he, whereupon said the other, "An thou be sleeping, O King,
awake! Between thee and thy city is a year's march for a well girt walker, and
thou haddest not come hither in two days and a half save that the city was
under enchantment. And I, O King, will never part from thee; no, not even for
the twinkling of an eye." The King rejoiced at his words and said, "Thanks be
to Allah who hath bestowed thee upon me! From this hour thou art my son and my
only son, for that in all my life I have never been blessed with issue."
Thereupon they embraced and joyed with exceeding great joy; and, reaching the
palace, the Prince who had been spell bound informed his lords and his grandees
that he was about to visit the Holy Places as a pilgrim, and bade them get
ready all things necessary for the occasion. The preparations lasted ten days,
after which he set out with the Sultan, whose heart burned in yearning for his
city whence he had been absent a whole twelvemonth. They journeyed with an
escort of Mamelukes[FN#137] carrying all manners of precious gifts and
rarities, nor stinted they wayfaring day and night for a full year until they
approached the Sultan's capital, and sent on messengers to announce their
coming. Then the Wazir and the whole army came out to meet him in joy and
gladness, for they had given up all hope of ever seeing their King; and the
troops kissed the ground before him and wished him joy of his safety. He
entered and took seat upon his throne and the Minister came before him and,
when acquainted with all that had befallen the young Prince, he congratulated
him on his narrow escape. When order was restored throughout the land the King
gave largesse to many of his people, and said to the Wazir, "Hither the
Fisherman who brought us the fishes!" So he sent for the man who had been the
first cause of the city and the citizens being delivered from enchantment and,
when he came into the presence, the Sultan bestowed upon him a dress of
honour, and questioned him of his condition and whether he had children. The
Fisherman gave him to know that he had two daughters and a son, so the King
sent for them and, taking one daughter to wife, gave the other to the young
Prince and made the son his head treasurer. Furthermore he invested his Wazir
with the Sultanate of the City in the Black Islands whilome belonging to the
young Prince, and dispatched with him the escort of fifty armed slaves together
with dresses of honour for all the Emirs and Grandees. The Wazir kissed hands
and fared forth on his way; while the Sultan and the Prince abode at home in
all the solace and the delight of life; and the Fisherman became the richest
man of his age, and his daughters wived with the Kings, until death came to
them. And yet, O King! this is not more wondrous than the story of
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap14"></a>The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Once upon a time there was a Porter in Baghdad, who was a bachelor and who
would remain unmarried. It came to pass on a certain day, as he stood about the
street leaning idly upon his crate, behold, there stood before him an
honourable woman in a mantilla of Mosul[FN#138] silk, broidered with gold and
bordered with brocade; her walking shoes were also purfled with gold and her
hair floated in long plaits. She raised her face veil[FN#139] and, showing two
black eyes fringed with jetty lashes, whose glances were soft and languishing
and whose perfect beauty was ever blandishing, she accosted the Porter and said
in the suavest tones and choicest language, "Take up thy crate and follow me."
The Porter was so dazzled he could hardly believe that he heard her aright, but
he shouldered his basket in hot haste saying in himself, "O day of good luck! O
day of Allah's grace!" and walked after her till she stopped at the door of a
house. There she rapped, and presently came out to her an old man, a Nazarene,
to whom she gave a gold piece, receiving from him in return what she required
of strained wine clear as olive oil; and she set it safely in the hamper,
saying "Lift and follow." Quoth the Porter, "This, by Allah, is indeed an
auspicious day, a day propitious for the granting of all a man wisheth." He
again hoisted up the crate and followed her; till she stopped at a fruiterer's
shop and bought from him Shami[FN#140] apples and Osmani quinces and
Omani[FN#141] peaches, and cucumbers of Nile growth, and Egyptian limes and
Sultani oranges and citrons; besides Aleppine jasmine, scented myrtle berries,
Damascene nenuphars, flower of privet[FN#142] and camomile, blood red anemones,
violets, and pomegranate bloom, eglantine and narcissus, and set the whole in
the Porter's crate, saying, "Up with it." So he lifted and followed her till
she stopped at a butcher's booth and said, "Cut me off ten pounds of mutton."
She paid him his price and he wrapped it in a banana leaf, whereupon she laid
it in the crate and said "Hoist, O Porter." He hoisted accordingly, and
followed her as she walked on till she stopped at a grocer's, where she bought
dry fruits and pistachio kernels, Tihamah raisins, shelled almonds and all
wanted for dessert, and said to the Porter, "Lift and follow me." So he up with
his hamper and after her till she stayed at the confectioner's, and she bought
an earthen platter, and piled it with all kinds of sweetmeats in his shop, open
worked tarts and fritters scented with musk and "soap cakes," and lemon loaves
and melon preserves,[FN#143] and "Zaynab's combs," and "ladies' fingers," and
"Kazi's tit-bits" and goodies of every description; and placed the platter in
the Porter's crate. Thereupon quoth he (being a merry man), "Thou shouldest
have told me, and I would have brought with me a pony or a she camel to carry
all this market stuff." She smiled and gave him a little cuff on the nape
saying, "Step out and exceed not in words for (Allah willing!) thy wage will
not be wanting." Then she stopped at a perfumer's and took from him ten sorts
of waters, rose scented with musk, orange-flower, water-lily, willow-flower,
violet and five others; and she also bought two loaves of sugar, a bottle for
perfume spraying, a lump of male incense, aloe-wood, ambergris and musk, with
candles of Alexandria wax; and she put the whole into the basket, saying, "Up
with thy crate and after me." He did so and followed until she stood before the
greengrocer's, of whom she bought pickled safflower and olives, in brine and in
oil; with tarragon and cream cheese and hard Syrian cheese; and she stowed them
away in the crate saying to the Porter, "Take up thy basket and follow me." He
did so and went after her till she came to a fair mansion fronted by a spacious
court, a tall, fine place to which columns gave strength and grace: and the
gate thereof had two leaves of ebony inlaid with plates of red gold. The lady
stopped at the door and, turning her face veil sideways, knocked softly with
her knuckles whilst the Porter stood behind her, thinking of naught save her
beauty and loveliness. Presently the door swung back and both leaves were
opened, whereupon he looked to see who had opened it; and behold, it was a lady
of tall figure, some five feet high; a model of beauty and loveliness,
brilliance and symmetry and perfect grace. Her forehead was flower white; her
cheeks like the anemone ruddy bright; her eyes were those of the wild heifer or
the gazelle, with eyebrows like the crescent moon which ends Sha'aban and
begins Ramazan;[FN#144] her mouth was the ring of Sulayman,[FN#145] her lips
coral red, and her teeth like a line of strung pearls or of camomile petals.
Her throat recalled the antelope's, and her breasts, like two pomegranates of
even size, stood at bay as it were,[FN#146] her body rose and fell in waves
below her dress like the rolls of a piece of brocade, and her navel[FN#147]
would hold an ounce of benzoin ointment. In fine she was like her of whom the
poet said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
On Sun and Moon of palace cast thy sight * Enjoy her flower like face, her
fragrant light:<br/>
Thine eyes shall never see in hair so black * Beauty encase a brow so purely
white:<br/>
The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim * Though fail her name whose beauties
we indite:<br/>
As sways her gait I smile at hips so big * And weep to see the waist they bear
so slight.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the Porter looked upon her his wits were waylaid, and his senses were
stormed so that his crate went nigh to fall from his head, and he said to
himself, "Never have I in my life seen a day more blessed than this day!" Then
quoth the lady portress to the lady cateress, "Come in from the gate and
relieve this poor man of his load." So the provisioner went in followed by the
portress and the Porter and went on till they reached a spacious ground floor
hall,[FN#148] built with admirable skill and beautified with all manner colours
and carvings; with upper balconies and groined arches and galleries and
cupboards and recesses whose curtains hung before them. In the midst stood a
great basin full of water surrounding a fine fountain, and at the upper end on
the raised dais was a couch of juniper wood set with gems and pearls, with a
canopy like mosquito curtains of red satin silk looped up with pearls as big as
filberts and bigger. Thereupon sat a lady bright of blee, with brow beaming
brilliancy, the dream of philosophy, whose eyes were fraught with Babel's
gramarye[FN#149] and her eye brows were arched as for archery; her breath
breathed ambergris and perfumery and her lips were sugar to taste and carnelian
to see. Her stature was straight as the letter I[FN#150] and her face shamed
the noon sun's radiancy; and she was even as a galaxy, or a dome with golden
marquetry or a bride displayed in choicest finery or a noble maid of
Araby.[FN#151] Right well of her sang the bard when he said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Her smiles twin rows of pearls display * Chamomile-buds or rimey spray<br/>
Her tresses stray as night let down * And shames her light the dawn o' day.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
[FN#152]The third lady rising from the couch stepped forward with grace ful
swaying gait till she reached the middle of the saloon, when she said to her
sisters, "Why stand ye here? take it down from this poor man's head!" Then the
cateress went and stood before him, and the portress behind him while the third
helped them, and they lifted the load from the Porter's head; and, emptying it
of all that was therein, set everything in its place. Lastly they gave him two
gold pieces, saying, "Wend thy ways, O Porter." But he went not, for he stood
looking at the ladies and admiring what uncommon beauty was theirs, and their
pleasant manners and kindly dispositions (never had he seen goodlier); and he
gazed wistfully at that good store of wines and sweet scented flowers and
fruits and other matters. Also he marvelled with exceeding marvel, especially
to see no man in the place and delayed his going; whereupon quoth the eldest
lady, "What aileth thee that goest not; haply thy wage be too little?" And,
turning to her sister the cateress, she said, "Give him another diner!" But the
Porter answered, "By Allah, my lady, it is not for the wage; my hire is never
more than two dirhams; but in very sooth my heart and my soul are taken up with
you and your condition. I wonder to see you single with ne'er a man about you
and not a soul to bear you company; and well you wot that the minaret toppleth
o'er unless it stand upon four, and you want this same fourth; and women's
pleasure without man is short of measure, even as the poet said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Seest not we want for joy four things all told * The harp and<br/> lute, the
flute and flageolet;<br/>
And be they companied with scents four fold * Rose, myrtle, anemone and
violet<br/>
Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withhold * Good wine and youth and
gold and pretty pet.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
You be three and want a fourth who shall be a person of good sense and
prudence; smart witted, and one apt to keep careful counsel." His words pleased
and amused them much; and they laughed at him and said, "And who is to assure
us of that? We are maidens and we fear to entrust our secret where it may not
be kept, for we have read in a certain chronicle the lines of one Ibn
al-Sumam:&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
Hold fast thy secret and to none unfold * Lost is a secret when that secret's
told<br/>
An fail thy breast thy secret to conceal * How canst thou hope another's breast
shall hold?
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And Abu Nowás[FN#153] said well on the same subject:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Who trusteth secret to another's hand * Upon his brow deserveth burn of brand!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the Porter heard their words he rejoined, "By your lives! I am a man of
sense and a discreet, who hath read books and perused chronicles; I reveal the
fair and conceal the foul and I act as the poet adviseth:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
None but the good a secret keep * And good men keep it unrevealed:<br/>
It is to me a well shut house * With keyless locks and door ensealed"[FN#154]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application addressed to them
they said, "Thou knowest that we have laid out all our monies on this place.
Now say, hast thou aught to offer us in return for entertainment? For surely we
will not suffer thee to sit in our company and be our cup companion, and gaze
upon our faces so fair and so rare without paying a round sum.[FN#155] Wottest
thou not the saying:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Sans hope of gain<br/>
Love's not worth a grain?"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Whereto the lady portress added, "If thou bring anything thou art a something;
if no thing, be off with thee, thou art a nothing;" but the procuratrix
interposed, saying, "Nay, O my sisters, leave teasing him for by Allah he hath
not failed us this day, and had he been other he never had kept patience with
me, so whatever be his shot and scot I will take it upon myself." The Porter,
over joyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her saying, "By Allah,
these monies are the first fruits this day hath given me." Hearing this they
said, "Sit thee down and welcome to thee," and the eldest lady added, "By
Allah, we may not suffer thee to join us save on one condition, and this it is,
that no questions be asked as to what concerneth thee not, and frowardness
shall be soundly flogged." Answered the Porter, "I agree to this, O my lady, on
my head and my eyes be it! Lookye, I am dumb, I have no tongue. Then arose the
provisioneress and tightening her girdle set the table by the fountain and put
the flowers and sweet herbs in their jars, and strained the wine and ranged the
flasks in row and made ready every requisite. Then sat she down, she and her
sisters, placing amidst them the Porter who kept deeming himself in a dream;
and she took up the wine flagon, and poured out the first cup and drank it off,
and likewise a second and a third.[FN#156] After this she filled a fourth cup
which she handed to one of her sisters; and, lastly, she crowned a goblet and
passed it to the Porter, saying:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Drink the dear draught, drink free and fain * What healeth every grief and
pain."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best thanks and
improvised:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
&ldquo;Drain not the bowl save with a trusty friend * A man of worth whose good
old blood all know:<br/>
For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet * And stinks when over
stench it haply blow:&rdquo;
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Adding:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Drain not the bowl; save from dear hand like thine * The cup recall thy gifts;
thou, gifts of wine."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and was drunk and
sat swaying from side to side and pursued:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"All drinks wherein is blood the Law unclean * Doth hold save one, the blood
shed of the vine:<br/>
Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won * Thou fawn! a willing ransom
for those eyne."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then the cateress crowned a cup and gave it to the portress, who took it from
her hand and thanked her and drank. Thereupon she poured again and passed to
the eldest lady who sat on the couch, and filled yet another and handed it to
the Porter. He kissed the ground before them; and, after drinking and thanking
them, he again began to recite :
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Here! Here! by Allah, here! * Cups of the sweet, the dear'<br/>
Fill me a brimming bowl * The Fount o' Life I speer
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and said, "O lady, I
am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall, thy very bondsman;" and he began
reciting:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door * Lauding thy generous boons and
gifts galore<br/>
Beauty! may he come in awhile to 'joy * Thy charms? for Love and I part
nevermore!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said to him, "Drink; and health and happiness attend thy drink." So he took
the cup and kissed her hand and recited these lines in sing song:
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks * Blushed red or flame from
furnace flaring up:<br/>
She bussed the brim and said with many a smile * How durst thou deal folk's
cheek for folk to sup?<br/>
"Drink!" (said I) "these are tears of mine whose tinct * Is heart blood sighs
have boiled in the cup."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She answered him in the following couplet:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"An tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed * Suffer me sup them, by thy
head and eyes!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then the lady took the cup, and drank it off to her sisters' health, and they
ceased not drinking (the Porter being in the midst of them), and dancing and
laughing and reciting verses and singing ballads and ritornellos. All this time
the Porter was carrying on with them, kissing, toying, biting, handling,
groping, fingering; whilst one thrust a dainty morsel in his mouth, and another
slapped him; and this cuffed his cheeks, and that threw sweet flowers at him;
and he was in the very paradise of pleasure, as though he were sitting in the
seventh sphere among the Houris[FN#157] of Heaven. They ceased not doing after
this fashion until the wine played tricks in their heads and worsted their
wits; and, when the drink got the better of them, the portress stood up and
doffed her clothes till she was mother naked. However, she let down her hair
about her body by way of shift, and throwing herself into the basin disported
herself and dived like a duck and swam up and down, and took water in her
mouth, and spurted it all over the Porter, and washed her limbs, and between
her breasts, and inside her thighs and all around her navel. Then she came up
out of the cistern and throwing herself on the Porter's lap said, "O my lord, O
my love, what callest thou this article?" pointing to her slit, her solution of
continuity. "I call that thy cleft," quoth the Porter, and she rejoined, Wah!
wah, art thou not ashamed to use such a word?" and she caught him by the collar
and soundly cuffed him. Said he again, Thy womb, thy vulva;" and she struck him
a second slap crying, "O fie, O fie, this is another ugly word; is there no
shame in thee?" Quoth he, "Thy coynte;" and she cried, O thou! art wholly
destitute of modesty?" and thumped him and bashed him. Then cried the Porter,
"Thy clitoris,"[FN#158] whereat the eldest lady came down upon him with a yet
sorer beating, and said, "No;" and he said, " 'Tis so," and the Porter went on
calling the same commodity by sundry other names, but whatever he said they
beat him more and more till his neck ached and swelled with the blows he had
gotten; and on this wise they made him a butt and a laughing stock. At last he
turned upon them asking, And what do you women call this article?" Whereto the
damsel made answer, "The basil of the bridges."[FN#159] Cried the Porter,
"Thank Allah for my safety: aid me and be thou propitious, O basil of the
bridges!" They passed round the cup and tossed off the bowl again, when the
second lady stood up; and, stripping off all her clothes, cast herself into the
cistern and did as the first had done; then she came out of the water and
throwing her naked form on the Porter's lap pointed to her machine and said, "O
light of mine eyes, do tell me what is the name of this concern?" He replied as
before, "Thy slit;" and she rejoined, "Hath such term no shame for thee?" and
cuffed him and buffeted him till the saloon rang with the blows. Then quoth
she, "O fie! O fie! how canst thou say this without blushing?" He suggested,
"The basil of the bridges;" but she would not have it and she said, "No! no!"
and struck him and slapped him on the back of the neck. Then he began calling
out all the names he knew, "Thy slit, thy womb, thy coynte, thy clitoris;" and
the girls kept on saying, "No! no!" So he said, "I stick to the basil of the
bridges;" and all the three laughed till they fell on their backs and laid
slaps on his neck and said, "No! no! that's not its proper name." Thereupon he
cried, "O my sisters, what is its name?" and they replied, "What sayest thou to
the husked sesame seed?" Then the cateress donned her clothes and they fell
again to carousing, but the Porter kept moaning, "Oh! and Oh!" for his neck and
shoulders, and the cup passed merrily round and round again for a full hour.
After that time the eldest and handsomest lady stood up and stripped off her
garments, whereupon the Porter took his neck in hand, and rubbed and shampoo'd
it, saying, "My neck and shoulders are on the way of Allah!"[FN#160] Then she
threw herself into the basin, and swam and dived, sported and washed; and the
Porter looked at her naked figure as though she had been a slice of the
moon[FN#161] and at her face with the sheen of Luna when at full, or like the
dawn when it brighteneth, and he noted her noble stature and shape, and those
glorious forms that quivered as she went; for she was naked as the Lord made
her. Then he cried "Alack! Alack!"and began to address her, versifying in these
couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"If I liken thy shape to the bough when green * My likeness errs and I sore
mistake it;<br/>
For the bough is fairest when clad the most * And thou art fairest when mother
naked."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the lady heard his verses she came up out of the basin and, seating
herself upon his lap and knees, pointed to her genitory and said, "O my
lordling, what be the name of this?" Quoth he, "The basil of the bridges;" but
she said, "Bah, bah!" Quoth he, "The husked sesame;" quoth she, "Pooh, pooh!"
Then said he, "Thy womb;" and she cried, "Fie, Fie! art thou not ashamed of
thyself?" and cuffed him on the nape of the neck. And whatever name he gave
declaring " 'Tis so," she beat him and cried "No! no!" till at last he said, "O
my sisters, and what is its name?" She replied, "It is entitled the
Khan[FN#162] of Abu Mansur;" whereupon the Porter replied, "Ha! ha! O Allah be
praised for safe deliverance! O Khan of Abu Mansur!" Then she came forth and
dressed and the cup went round a full hour. At last the Porter rose up, and
stripping off all his clothes, jumped into the tank and swam about and washed
under his bearded chin and armpits, even as they had done. Then he came out and
threw himself into the first lady's lap and rested his arms upon the lap of the
portress, and reposed his legs in the lap of the cateress and pointed to his
prickle[FN#163] and said, "O my mistresses, what is the name of this article?"
All laughed at his words till they fell on their backs, and one said, "Thy
pintle!" But he replied, "No!" and gave each one of them a bite by way of
forfeit. Then said they, "Thy pizzle!" but he cried "No," and gave each of them
a hug; And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Tenth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Quoth her sister Dunyazad, "Finish for us thy story;" and she answered, "With
joy and goodly gree." It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsels
stinted not saying to the Porter "Thy prickle, thy pintle, thy pizzle," and he
ceased not kissing and biting and hugging until his heart was satisfied, and
they laughed on till they could no more. At last one said, "O our brother,
what, then, is it called?" Quoth he, "Know ye not?" Quoth they, "No!" "Its
veritable name," said he, "is mule Burst all, which browseth on the basil of
the bridges, and muncheth the husked sesame, and nighteth in the Khan of Abu
Mansur." Then laughed they till they fell on their backs, and returned to their
carousel, and ceased not to be after this fashion till night began to fall.
Thereupon said they to the Porter, &ldquo;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!&rdquo; Said he, "By Allah, to part with my soul would
be easier for me than departing from you: come let us join night to day, and
tomorrow morning we will each wend our own way." "My life on you," said the
procuratrix, "suffer him to tarry with us, that we may laugh at him: we may
live out our lives and never meet with his like, for surely he is a right merry
rogue and a witty."[FN#165] So they said, "Thou must not remain with us this
night save on condition that thou submit to our commands, and that whatso thou
seest, thou ask no questions there anent, nor enquire of its cause." "All
right," rejoined he, and they said, "Go read the writing over the door." So he
rose and went to the entrance and there found written in letters of gold wash;
<small>WHOSO SPEAKETH OF WHAT CONCERNETH HIM NOT, SHALL HEAR WHAT PLEASETH HIM
NOT!</small>[FN#166] The Porter said, Be ye witnesses against me that I will
not speak on whatso concerneth me not." Then the cateress arose, and set food
before them and they ate; after which they changed their drinking-place for
another, and she lighted the lamps and candles and burned ambergris and aloes
wood, and set on fresh fruit and the wine service, when they fell to carousing
and talking of their lovers. And they ceased not to eat and drink and chat,
nibbling dry fruits and laughing and playing tricks for the space of a full
hour when lo! a knock was heard at the gate. The knocking in no wise disturbed
the seance, but one of them rose and went to see what it was and presently
returned, saying, "Truly our pleasure for this night is to be perfect." "How is
that?" asked they; and she answered, "At the gate be three Persian
Kalandars[FN#167] with their beards and heads and eyebrows shaven; and all
three blind of the left eye—which is surely a strange chance. They are
foreigners from Roum-land with the mark of travel plain upon them; they have
just entered Baghdad, this being their first visit to our city; and the cause
of their knocking at our door is simply because they cannot find a lodging.
Indeed one of them said to me:—Haply the owner of this mansion will let us have
the key of his stable or some old out house wherein we may pass this night; for
evening had surprised them and, being strangers in the land, they knew none who
would give them shelter. And, O my sisters, each of them is a figure o' fun
after his own fashion; and if we let them in we shall have matter to make sport
of." She gave not over persuading them till they said to her, "Let them in, and
make thou the usual condition with them that they speak not of what concerneth
them not, lest they hear what pleaseth them not." So she rejoiced and going to
the door presently returned with the three monoculars whose beards and
mustachios were clean shaven.[FN#168] They salam'd and stood afar off by way of
respect; but the three ladies rose up to them and welcomed them and wished them
joy of their safe arrival and made them sit down. The Kalandars looked at the
room and saw that it was a pleasant place, clean swept and garnished with
flowers; and the lamps were burning and the smoke of perfumes was spireing in
air; and beside the dessert and fruits and wine, there were three fair girls
who might be maidens; so they exclaimed with one voice, "By Allah, 'tis good!"
Then they turned to the Porter and saw that he was a merry faced wight, albeit
he was by no means sober and was sore after his slappings. So they thought that
he was one of themselves and said, "A mendicant like us! whether Arab or
foreigner."[FN#169] But when the Porter heard these words, he rose up, and
fixing his eyes fiercely upon them, said, "Sit ye here without exceeding in
talk! Have you not read what is writ over the door? surely it befitteth not
fellows who come to us like paupers to wag your tongues at us." "We crave thy
pardon, O Fakír,"[FN#170] rejoined they, "and our heads are between thy hands."
The ladies laughed consumedly at the squabble; and, making peace between the
Kalandars and the Porter, seated the new guests before meat and they ate. Then
they sat together, and the portress served them with drink; and, as the cup
went round merrily, quoth the Porter to the askers, "And you, O brothers mine,
have ye no story or rare adventure to amuse us withal?" Now the warmth of wine
having mounted to their heads they called for musical instruments; and the
portress brought them a tambourine of Mosul, and a lute of Irák, and a Persian
harp; and each mendicant took one and tuned it; this the tambourine and those
the lute and the harp, and struck up a merry tune while the ladies sang so
lustily that there was a great noise.[FN#171] And whilst they were carrying on,
behold, some one knocked at the gate, and the portress went to see what was the
matter there. Now the cause of that knocking, O King (quoth Shahrazad) was
this, the Caliph, Harun al-Rashid, had gone forth from the palace, as was his
wont now and then, to solace himself in the city that night, and to see and
hear what new thing was stirring; he was in merchant's gear, and he was
attended by Ja'afar, his Wazir, and by Masrur his Sworder of Vengeance.[FN#172]
As they walked about the city, their way led them towards the house of the
three ladies; where they heard the loud noise of musical instruments and
singing and merriment; so quoth the Caliph to Ja'afar, "I long to enter this
house and hear those songs and see who sing them." Quoth Ja'afar, "O Prince of
the Faithful; these folk are surely drunken with wine, and I fear some mischief
betide us if we get amongst them." "There is no help but that I go in there,"
replied the Caliph, "and I desire thee to contrive some pretext for our
appearing among them." Ja'afar replied, "I hear and I obey;"[FN#173] and
knocked at the door, whereupon the portress came out and opened. Then Ja'afar
came forward and kissing the ground before her said, "O my lady, we be
merchants from Tiberias town: we arrived at Baghdad ten days ago; and,
alighting at the merchants' caravanserai, we sold all our merchandise. Now a
certain trader invited us to an entertainment this night; so we went to his
house and he set food before us and we ate: then we sat at wine and wassail
with him for an hour or so when he gave us leave to depart; and we went out
from him in the shadow of the night and, being strangers, we could not find our
way back to our Khan. So haply of your kindness and courtesy you will suffer us
to tarry with you this night, and Heaven will reward you!"[FN#174] The portress
looked upon them and seeing them dressed like merchants and men of grave looks
and solid, she returned to her sisters and repeated to them Ja'afar's story;
and they took compassion upon the strangers and said to her, "Let them enter."
She opened the door to them, when said they to her, "Have we thy leave to come
in?" "Come in," quoth she; and the Caliph entered followed by Ja'afar and
Masrur; and when the girls saw them they stood up to them in respect and made
them sit down and looked to their wants, saying, "Welcome, and well come and
good cheer to the guests, but with one condition!" "What is that?" asked they,
and one of the ladies answered, "Speak not of what concerneth you not, lest ye
hear what pleaseth you not." "Even so," said they; and sat down to their wine
and drank deep. Presently the Caliph looked on the three Kalandars and, seeing
them each and every blind of the left eye, wondered at the sight; then he gazed
upon the girls and he was startled and he marvelled with exceeding marvel at
their beauty and loveliness. They continued to carouse and to converse and said
to the Caliph, "Drink!" but he replied, "I am vowed to Pilgrimage;"[FN#175] and
drew back from the wine. Thereupon the portress rose and spreading before him a
table cloth worked with gold, set thereon a porcelain bowl into which she
poured willow flower water with a lump of snow and a spoonful of sugar candy.
The Caliph thanked her and said in himself,"By Allah, I will recompense her
tomorrow for the kind deed she hath done." The others again addressed
themselves to conversing and carousing; and, when the wine gat the better of
them, the eldest lady who ruled the house rose and making obeisance to them
took the cateress by the hand, and said, "Rise, O my sister and let us do what
is our devoir." Both answered "Even so!" Then the portress stood up and
proceeded to remove the table service and the remnants of the banquet; and
renewed the pastiles and cleared the middle of the saloon. Then she made the
Kalandars sit upon a sofa at the side of the estrade, and seated the Caliph and
Ja'afar and Masrur on the other side of the saloon; after which she called the
Porter, and said, "How scanty is thy courtesy! now thou art no stranger; nay,
thou art one of the household." So he stood up and, tightening his waist cloth,
asked, "What would ye I do?" and she answered, "Stand in thy place." Then the
procuratrix rose and set in the midst of the saloon a low chair and, opening a
closet, cried to the Porter, "Come help me." So he went to help her and saw two
black bitches with chains round their necks; and she said to him, "Take hold of
them;" and he took them and led them into the middle of the saloon. Then the
lady of the house arose and tucked up her sleeves above her wrists and, seizing
a scourge, said to the Porter, "Bring forward one of the bitches." He brought
her forward, dragging her by the chain, while the bitch wept, and shook her
head at the lady who, however, came down upon her with blows on the sconce; and
the bitch howled and the lady ceased not beating her till her forearm failed
her. Then, casting the scourge from her hand, she pressed the bitch to her
bosom and, wiping away her tears with her hands, kissed her head. Then she said
to the Porter, "Take her away and bring the second;" and, when he brought her,
she did with her as she had done with the first. Now the heart of the Caliph,
was touched at these cruel doings; his chest straitened and he lost all
patience in his desire to know why the two bitches were so beaten. He threw a
wink at Ja'afar wishing him to ask, but; the Minister turning towards him said
by signs, "Be silent!" Then quoth the portress to the mistress of the house, "O
my lady, arise and go to thy place that I in turn may do my devoir."[FN#176]
She answered, "Even so"; and, taking her seat upon the couch of juniper wood,
pargetted with gold and silver, said to the portress and cateress, "Now do ye
what ye have to do." Thereupon the portress sat upon a low seat by the couch
side; but the procuratrix, entering a closet, brought out of it a bag of satin
with green fringes and two tassels of gold. She stood up before the lady of the
house and shaking the bag drew out from it a lute which she tuned by tightening
its pegs; and when it was in perfect order, she began to sing these quatrains:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Ye are the wish, the aim of me *And when, O Love, thy sight I see[FN#177]<br/>
The heavenly mansion openeth;[FN#178] * But Hell I see when lost thy
sight.<br/>
From thee comes madness; nor the less * Comes highest joy, comes ecstasy:<br/>
Nor in my love for thee I fear * Or shame and blame, or hate and spite.<br/>
When Love was throned within my heart * I rent the veil of modesty;<br/>
And stints not Love to rend that veil * Garring disgrace on grace to
alight;<br/>
The robe of sickness then I donned * But rent to rags was secrecy:<br/>
Wherefore my love and longing heart * Proclaim your high supremest might;<br/>
The tear drop railing adown my cheek * Telleth my tale of ignomy:<br/>
And all the hid was seen by all * And all my riddle ree'd aright.
</p>

<p class="poem">
Heal then my malady, for thou * Art malady and remedy!<br/>
But she whose cure is in thy hand * Shall ne'er be free of bane and
blight;<br/>
Burn me those eyne that radiance rain * Slay me the swords of phantasy;<br/>
How many hath the sword of Love * Laid low, their high degree despite?<br/>
Yet will I never cease to pine * Nor to oblivion will I flee.<br/>
Love is my health, my faith, my joy * Public and private, wrong or right.<br/>
O happy eyes that sight thy charms * That gaze upon thee at their gree!<br/>
Yea, of my purest wish and will * The slave of Love I'll aye be hight."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the damsel heard this elegy in quatrains she cried out "Alas! Alas!" and
rent her raiment, and fell to the ground fainting; and the Caliph saw scars of
the palm rod[FN#179] on her back and welts of the whip; and marvelled with
exceeding wonder. Then the portress arose and sprinkled water on her and
brought her a fresh and very fine dress and put it on her. But when the company
beheld these doings their minds were troubled, for they had no inkling of the
case nor knew the story thereof; so the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "Didst thou not
see the scars upon the damsel's body? I cannot keep silence or be at rest till
I learn the truth of her condition and the story of this other maiden and the
secret of the two black bitches." But Ja'afar answered, "O our lord, they made
it a condition with us that we speak not of what concerneth us not, lest we
come to hear what pleaseth us not." Then said the portress "By Allah, O my
sister, come to me and complete this service for me." Replied the procuratrix,
"With joy and goodly gree;" so she took the lute; and leaned it against her
breasts and swept the strings with her finger tips, and began singing:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Give back mine eyes their sleep long ravished * And say me whither be my
reason fled:<br/>
I learnt that lending to thy love a place * Sleep to mine eyelids mortal foe
was made.<br/>
They said, "We held thee righteous, who waylaid * Thy soul?" "Go ask his
glorious eyes," I said.<br/>
I pardon all my blood he pleased to spill * Owning his troubles drove him blood
to shed.<br/>
On my mind's mirror sun like sheen he cast * Whose keen reflection fire in
vitals bred<br/>
Waters of Life let Allah waste at will * Suffice my wage those lips of dewy
red:<br/>
An thou address my love thou'lt find a cause * For plaint and tears or ruth or
lustihed.<br/>
In water pure his form shall greet your eyne * When fails the bowl nor need ye
drink of wine.[FN#180]"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then she quoted from the same ode:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wine, * And his swaying gait
swayed to sleep these eyne:<br/>
'Twas not grape juice grips me but grasp of Past * 'Twas not bowl o'erbowled me
but gifts divine:<br/>
His coiling curl-lets my soul ennetted * And his cruel will all my wits
outwitted.[FN#181]"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
After a pause she resumed:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"If we 'plain of absence what shall we say? * Or if pain afflict us where wend
our way?<br/>
An I hire a truchman[FN#182] to tell my tale * The lover's plaint is not told
for pay:<br/>
If I put on patience, a lover's life * After loss of love will not last a
day:<br/>
Naught is left me now but regret, repine * And tears flooding cheeks for ever
and aye:<br/>
O thou who the babes of these eyes[FN#183] hast fled * Thou art homed in heart
that shall never stray<br/>
Would heaven I wot hast thou kept our pact * Long as stream shall flow, to have
firmest fay?<br/>
Or hast forgotten the weeping slave * Whom groans afflict and whom griefs
waylay?<br/>
Ah, when severance ends and we side by side * Couch, I'll blame thy rigours and
chide thy pride!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Now when the portress heard her second ode she shrieked aloud and said, "By
Allah! 'tis right good!"; and laying hands on her garments tore them, as she
did the first time, and fell to the ground fainting. Thereupon the procuratrix
rose end brought her a second change of clothes after she had sprinkled water
on her. She recovered and sat upright and said to her sister the cateress,
"Onwards, and help me in my duty, for there remains but this one song." So the
provisioneress again brought out the lute and began to sing these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"How long shall last, how long this rigour rife of woe * May not suffice thee
all these tears thou seest flow?<br/>
Our parting thus with purpose fell thou dost prolong * Is't not enough to glad
the heart of envious foe?<br/>
Were but this lying world once true to lover heart * He had not watched the
weary night in tears of woe:<br/>
Oh pity me whom overwhelmed thy cruel will * My lord, my king, 'tis time some
ruth to me thou show:<br/>
To whom reveal my wrongs, O thou who murdered me? * Sad, who of broken troth
the pangs must undergo!<br/>
Increase wild love for thee and phrenzy hour by hour * And days of exile minute
by so long, so slow;<br/>
O Moslems, claim vendetta[FN#184] for this slave of Love * Whose sleep Love
ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low:<br/>
Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish! to lie * Lapt in another's arms and
unto me cry Go!?<br/>
Yet in thy presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy * When he I love but works my
love to overthrow?"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the portress heard the third song she cried aloud; and, laying hands on
her garments, rent them down to the very skirt and fell to the ground fainting
a third time, again showing the scars of the scourge. Then said the three
Kalandars, "Would Heaven we had never entered this house, but had rather
nighted on the mounds and heaps outside the city! for verily our visit hath
been troubled by sights which cut to the heart." The Caliph turned to them and
asked, "Why so?" and they made answer, "Our minds are sore troubled by this
matter." Quoth the Caliph, "Are ye not of the household?" and quoth they, "No;
nor indeed did we ever set eyes on the place till within this hour." Hereat the
Caliph marvelled and rejoined, "This man who sitteth by you, would he not know
the secret of the matter?" and so saying he winked and made signs at the
Porter. So they questioned the man but he replied, "By the All might of Allah,
in love all are alike![FN#185] I am the growth of Baghdad, yet never in my born
days did I darken these doors till to day and my companying with them was a
curious matter." "By Allah," they rejoined, "we took thee for one of them and
now we see thou art one like ourselves." Then said the Caliph, "We be seven
men, and they only three women without even a fourth to help them; so let us
question them of their case; and, if they answer us not, fain we will be
answered by force." All of them agreed to this except Ja'afar who said,[FN#186]
"This is not my recking; let them be; for we are their guests and, as ye know,
they made a compact and condition with us which we accepted and promised to
keep: wherefore it is better that we be silent concerning this matter; and, as
but little of the night remaineth, let each and every of us gang his own gait."
Then he winked at the Caliph and whispered to him, "There is but one hour of
darkness left and I can bring them before thee to morrow, when thou canst
freely question them all concerning their story." But the Caliph raised his
head haughtily and cried out at him in wrath, saying, "I have no patience left
for my longing to hear of them: let the Kalandars question them forthright."
Quoth Ja'afar, "This is not my rede." Then words ran high and talk answered
talk, and they disputed as to who should first put the question, but at last
all fixed upon the Porter. And as the jingle increased the house mistress could
not but notice it and asked them, "O ye folk! on what matter are ye talking so
loudly?" Then the Porter stood up respectfully before her and said, "O my lady,
this company earnestly desire that thou acquaint them with the story of the two
bitches and what maketh thee punish them so cruelly; and then thou fallest to
weeping over them and kissing them; and lastly they want to hear the tale of
thy sister and why she hath been bastinado'd with palm sticks like a man. These
are the questions they charge me to put, and peace be with thee."[FN#187]
Thereupon quoth she who was the lady of the house to the guests, "Is this true
that he saith on your part?" and all replied, "Yes!" save Ja'afar who kept
silence. When she heard these words she cried, "By Allah, ye have wronged us, O
our guests. with grievous wronging; for when you came before us we made compact
and condition with you, that whoso should speak of what concerneth him not
should hear what pleaseth him not. Sufficeth ye not that we took you into our
house and fed you with our best food? But the fault is not so much yours as
hers who let you in." Then she tucked up her sleeves from her wrists and struck
the floor thrice with her hand crying, "Come ye quickly;" and lo! a closet door
opened and out of it came seven negro slaves with drawn swords in hand to whom
she said, "Pinion me those praters' elbows and bind them each to each." They
did her bidding and asked her, "O veiled and virtuous! is it thy high command
that we strike off their heads?"; but she answered, "Leave them awhile that I
question them of their condition, before their necks feel the sword." "By
Allah, O my lady!" cried the Porter, "slay me not for other's sin; all these
men offended and deserve the penalty of crime save myself. Now by Allah, our
night had been charming had we escaped the mortification of those monocular
Kalandars whose entrance into a populous city would convert it into a howling
wilderness." Then he repeated these verses :
</p>

<p class="poem">
"How fair is ruth the strong man deigns not smother! * And fairest fair when
shown to weakest brother:<br/>
By Love's own holy tie between us twain, * Let one not suffer for the sin of
other."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed. And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When It was the Eleventh Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lady, after laughing
at the Porter despite her wrath, came up to the party and spake thus, "Tell me
who ye be, for ye have but an hour of life; and were ye not men of rank and,
perhaps, notables of your tribes, you had not been so froward and I had
hastened your doom." Then said the Caliph, "Woe to thee, O Ja'afar, tell her
who we are lest we be slain by mistake; and speak her fair before some horror
befal us." "'Tis part of thy deserts,"replied he; whereupon the Caliph cried
out at him saying, "There is a time for witty words and there is a time for
serious work." Then the lady accosted the three Kalandars and asked them, "Are
ye brothers?"; when they answered, "No, by Allah, we be naught but Fakirs and
foreigners." Then quoth she to one among them, "Wast thou born blind of one
eye?"; and quoth he, "No, by Allah, 'twas a marvellous matter and a wondrous
mischance which caused my eye to be torn out, and mine is a tale which, if it
were written upon the eye corners with needle gravers, were a warner to whoso
would be warned."[FN#188] She questioned the second and third Kalandar; but all
replied like the first, "By Allah, O our mistress, each one of us cometh from a
different country, and we are all three the sons of Kings, sovereign Princes
ruling over suzerains and capital cities." Thereupon she turned towards them
and said, "Let each and every of you tell me his tale in due order and explain
the cause of his coming to our place; and if his story please us let him stroke
his head[FN#189] and wend his way." The first to come forward was the Hammal,
the Porter, who said, "O my lady, I am a man and a porter. This dame, the
cateress, hired me to carry a load and took me first to the shop of a vintner,
then to the booth of a butcher; thence to the stall of a fruiterer; thence to a
grocer who also sold dry fruits; thence to a confectioner and a perfumer cum
druggist and from him to this place where there happened to me with you what
happened. Such is my story and peace be on us all!" At this the lady laughed
and said, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways!"; but he cried, "By Allah, I will
not stump it till I hear the stories of my companions." Then came forward one
of the Monoculars and began to tell her
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap15"></a>The First Kalandar&rsquo;s Tale.</h2>

<p>
Know, O my lady, that the cause of my beard being shorn and my eye being out
torn was as follows. My father was a King and he had a brother who was a King
over another city; and it came to pass that I and my cousin, the son of my
paternal uncle, were both born on one and the same day. And years and days
rolled on; and, as we grew up, I used to visit my uncle every now and then and
to spend a certain number of months with him. Now my cousin and I were sworn
friends; for he ever entreated me with exceeding kindness; he killed for me the
fattest sheep and strained the best of his wines, and we enjoyed long
conversing and carousing. One day when the wine had gotten the better of us,
the son of my uncle said to me, "O my cousin, I have a great service to ask of
thee; and I desire that thou stay me not in whatso I desire to do!" And I
replied, "With joy and goodly will." Then he made me swear the most binding
oaths and left me; but after a little while he returned leading a lady veiled
and richly apparelled with ornaments worth a large sum of money. Presently he
turned to me (the woman being still behind him) and said, "Take this lady with
thee and go before me to such a burial ground" (describing it, so that I knew
the place), "and enter with her into such a sepulchre[FN#190] and there await
my coming." The oaths I swore to him made me keep silence and suffered me not
to oppose him; so I led the woman to the cemetery and both I and she took our
seats in the sepulchre; and hardly had we sat down when in came my uncle's son,
with a bowl of water, a bag of mortar and an adze somewhat like a hoe. He went
straight to the tomb in the midst of the sepulchre and, breaking it open with
the adze set the stones on one side; then he fell to digging into the earth of
the tomb till he came upon a large iron plate, the size of a wicket door; and
on raising it there appeared below it a staircase vaulted and winding. Then he
turned to the lady and said to her, "Come now and take thy final choice!" She
at once went down by the staircase and disappeared; then quoth he to me, "O son
of my uncle, by way of completing thy kindness, when I shall have descended
into this place, restore the trap door to where it was, and heap back the earth
upon it as it lay before; and then of thy great goodness mix this unslaked lime
which is in the bag with this water which is in the bowl and, after building up
the stones, plaster the outside so that none looking upon it shall say:—This is
a new opening in an old tomb. For a whole year have I worked at this place
whereof none knoweth but Allah, and this is the need I have of thee;" presently
adding, "May Allah never bereave thy friends of thee nor make them desolate by
thine absence, O son of my uncle, O my dear cousin!" And he went down the
stairs and disappeared for ever. When he was lost to sight I replaced the iron
plate and did all his bidding till the tomb became as it was before and I
worked almost unconsciously for my head was heated with wine. Returning to the
palace of my uncle, I was told that he had gone forth a-sporting and hunting;
so I slept that night without seeing him; and, when the morning dawned, I
remembered the scenes of the past evening and what happened between me and my
cousin; I repented of having obeyed him when penitence was of no avail, I still
thought, however, that it was a dream. So I fell to asking for the son of my
uncle; but there was none to answer me concerning him; and I went out to the
grave-yard and the sepulchres, and sought for the tomb under which he was, but
could not find it; and I ceased not wandering about from sepulchre to
sepulchre, and tomb to tomb, all without success, till night set in. So I
returned to the city, yet I could neither eat nor drink; my thoughts being
engrossed with my cousin, for that I knew not what was become of him; and I
grieved with exceeding grief and passed another sorrowful night, watching until
the morning. Then went I a second time to the cemetery, pondering over what the
son of mine uncle had done; and, sorely repenting my hearkening to him, went
round among all the tombs, but could not find the tomb I sought. I mourned over
the past, and remained in my mourning seven days, seeking the place and ever
missing the path. Then my torture of scruples[FN#191] grew upon me till I well
nigh went mad, and I found no way to dispel my grief save travel and return to
my father. So I set out and journeyed homeward; but as I was entering my
father's capital a crowd of rioters sprang upon me and pinioned me.[FN#192] I
wondered thereat with all wonderment, seeing that I was the son of the Sultan,
and these men were my father's subjects and amongst them were some of my own
slaves. A great fear fell upon me, and I said to my soul,[FN#193] "Would heaven
I knew what hath happened to my father!" I questioned those that bound me of
the cause of their doing, but they returned me no answer. However, after a
while one of them said to me (and he had been a hired servant of our house),
"Fortune hath been false to thy father; his troops betrayed him and the Wazir
who slew him now reigneth in his stead and we lay in wait to seize thee by the
bidding of him." I was well nigh distraught and felt ready to faint on hearing
of my father's death; when they carried me off and placed me in presence of the
usurper. Now between me and him there was an olden grudge, the cause of which
was this. I was fond of shooting with the stone bow,[FN#194] and it befel one
day as I was standing on the terrace roof of the palace, that a bird lighted on
the top of the Wazir's house when he happened to be there. I shot at the bird
and missed the mark; but I hit the Wazir's eye and knocked it out as fate and
fortune decreed. Even so saith the poet:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
We tread the path where Fate hath led * The path Fate writ we fain must
tread:<br/>
And man in one land doomed to die * Death no where else shall do him dead.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And on like wise saith another:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Let Fortune have her wanton way * Take heart and all her words obey:<br/>
Nor joy nor mourn at anything * For all things pass and no things stay.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Now when I knocked out the Wazir's eye he could not say a single word, for that
my father was King of the city; but he hated me ever after and dire was the
grudge thus caused between us twain. So when I was set before him hand bound
and pinioned, he straightway gave orders for me to be beheaded. I asked, "For
what crime wilt thou put me to death?"; whereupon he answered, "What crime is
greater than this?" pointing the while to the place where his eye had been
Quoth I, "This I did by accident not of malice prepense;" and quoth he,
&ldquo;If thou didst it by accident, I will do the like by thee with
intention.&rdquo;[FN#195] Then cried he, "Bring him forward," and they brought
me up to him, when he thrust his finger into my left eye and gouged it out;
whereupon I became one eyed as ye see me. Then he bade bind me hand and foot,
and put me into a chest and said to the sworder, "Take charge of this fellow,
and go off with him to the waste lands about the city; then draw thy scymitar
and slay him, and leave him to feed the beasts and birds." So the headsman
fared forth with me and when he was in the midst of the desert, he took me out
of the chest (and I with both hands pinioned and both feet fettered) and was
about to bandage my eyes before striking off my head. But I wept with exceeding
weeping until I made him weep with me and, looking at him I began to recite
these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I deemed you coat o' mail that should withstand * The foeman's shafts, and you
proved foeman's brand<br/>
I hoped your aidance in mine every chance * Though fail my left to aid my
dexter hand:<br/>
Aloof you stand and hear the railer's gibe * While rain their shafts on me the
giber-band:<br/>
But an ye will not guard me from my foes * Stand clear, and succour neither
these nor those!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And I also quoted:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I deemed my brethren mail of strongest steel * And so they were—from foes to
fend my dart!<br/>
I deemed their arrows surest of their aim; * And so they were—when aiming at my
heart!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the headsman heard my lines (he had been sworder to my sire and he owed me
a debt of gratitude) he cried, "O my lord, what can I do, being but a slave
under orders?" presently adding, "Fly for thy life and nevermore return to this
land, or they will slay thee and slay me with thee, even as the poet said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Take thy life and fly whenas evils threat; * Let the ruined house tell its
owner's fate:<br/>
New land for the old thou shalt seek and find * But to find new life thou must
not await.<br/>
Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, * When Allah's world is so
wide and great!<br/>
And trust not other, in matters grave * Life itself must act for a life
beset:<br/>
Ne'er would prowl the lion with maned neck, * Did he reckon on aid or of others
reck."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Hardly believing in my escape, I kissed his hand and thought the loss of my eye
a light matter in consideration of my escaping from being slain. I arrived at
my uncle's capital; and, going in to him, told him of what had befallen my
father and myself; whereat he wept with sore weeping and said, "Verily thou
addest grief to my grief, and woe to my woe; for thy cousin hath been missing
these many days; I wot not what hath happened to him, and none can give me news
of him." And he wept till he fainted. I sorrowed and condoled with him; and he
would have applied certain medicaments to my eye, but he saw that it was become
as a walnut with the shell empty. Then said he, "O my son, better to lose eye
and keep life!" After that I could no longer remain silent about my cousin, who
was his only son and one dearly loved, so I told him all that had happened. He
rejoiced with extreme joyance to hear news of his son and said, "Come now and
show me the tomb;" but I replied, "By Allah, O my uncle, I know not its place,
though I sought it carefully full many times, yet could not find the site."
However, I and my uncle went to the graveyard and looked right and left, till
at last I recognised the tomb and we both rejoiced with exceeding joy. We
entered the sepulchre and loosened the earth about the grave; then, upraising
the trap door, descended some fifty steps till we came to the foot of the
staircase when lo! we were stopped by a blinding smoke. Thereupon said my uncle
that saying whose sayer shall never come to shame, "There is no Majesty and
there is no Might, save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" and we advanced
till we suddenly came upon a saloon, whose floor was strewed with flour and
grain and provisions and all manner necessaries; and in the midst of it stood a
canopy sheltering a couch. Thereupon my uncle went up to the couch and
inspecting it found his son and the lady who had gone down with him into the
tomb, lying in each other's embrace; but the twain had become black as charred
wood; it was as if they had been cast into a pit of fire. When my uncle saw
this spectacle, he spat in his son's face and said, "Thou hast thy deserts, O
thou hog![FN#196] this is thy judgment in the transitory world, and yet
remaineth the judgment in the world to come, a durer and a more enduring "— And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twelfth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kalandar thus
went on with his story before the lady and the Caliph and Ja'afar:—My uncle
struck his son with his slipper[FN#197] as he lay there a black heap of coal. I
marvelled at his hardness of heart, and grieving for my cousin and the lady,
said, "By Allah, O my uncle, calm thy wrath: dost thou not see that all my
thoughts are occupied with this misfortune, and how sorrowful I am for what
hath befallen thy son, and how horrible it is that naught of him remaineth but
a black heap of charcoal? And is not that enough, but thou must smite him with
thy slipper?" Answered he,"O son of my brother, this youth from his boyhood was
madly in love with his own sister;[FN#198] and often and often I forbade him
from her, saying to myself:—They are but little ones. However, when they grew
up sin befel between them; and, although I could hardly believe it, I confined
him and chided him and threatened him with the severest threats; and the
eunuchs and servants said to him:—Beware of so foul a thing which none before
thee ever did, and which none after thee will ever do; and have a care lest
thou be dishonoured and disgraced among the Kings of the day, even to the end
of time. And I added:—Such a report as this will be spread abroad by caravans,
and take heed not to give them cause to talk or I will assuredly curse thee and
do thee to death. After that I lodged them apart and shut her up; but the
accursed girl loved him with passionate love, for Satan had got the mastery of
her as well as of him and made their foul sin seem fair in their sight. Now
when my son saw that I separated them, he secretly built this souterrain and
furnished it and transported to it victuals, even as thou seest; and, when I
had gone out a-sporting, came here with his sister and hid from me. Then His
righteous judgment fell upon the twain and consumed them with fire from Heaven;
and verily the last judgment will deal them durer pains and more enduring!"
Then he wept and I wept with him; and he looked at me and said, "Thou art my
son in his stead." And I bethought me awhile of the world and of its chances,
how the Wazir had slain my father and had taken his place and had put out my
eye; and how my cousin had come to his death by the strangest chance: and I
wept again and my uncle wept with me. Then we mounted the steps and let down
the iron plate and heaped up the earth over it; and, after restoring the tomb
to its former condition, we returned to the palace. But hardly had we sat down
ere we heard the tomtoming of the kettle drum and tantara of trumpets and clash
of cymbals; and the rattling of war men's lances; and the clamours of
assailants and the clanking of bits and the neighing of steeds; while the world
was canopied with dense dust and sand clouds raised by the horses'
hoofs.[FN#199] We were amazed at sight and sound, knowing not what could be the
matter; so we asked and were told us that the Wazir who usurped my father's
kingdom had marched his men; and that after levying his soldiery and taking a
host of wild Arabs[FN#200] into service, he had come down upon us with armies
like the sands of the sea; their number none could tell and against them none
could prevail. They attacked the city unawares; and the citizens, being
powerless to oppose them, surrendered the place: my uncle was slain and I made
for the suburbs saying to myself, "If thou fall into this villain's hands he
will assuredly kill thee." On this wise all my troubles were renewed; and I
pondered all that had betided my father and my uncle and I knew not what to do;
for if the city people or my father's troops had recognised me they would have
done their best to win favour by destroying me; and I could think of no way to
escape save by shaving off my beard and my eyebrows. So I shore them off and,
changing my fine clothes for a Kalandar's rags, I fared forth from my uncle's
capital and made for this city; hoping that peradventure some one would assist
me to the presence of the Prince of the Faithful,[FN#201] and the Caliph who is
the Viceregent of Allah upon earth. Thus have I come hither that I might tell
him my tale and lay my case before him. I arrived here this very night, and was
standing in doubt whither I should go, when suddenly I saw this second
Kalandar; so I salam'd to him saying—"I am a stranger!" and he answered:—"I too
am a stranger!" And as we were conversing behold, up came our companion, this
third Kalandar, and saluted us saying:—"I am a stranger!" And we answered:—"We
too be strangers!" Then we three walked on and together till darkness overtook
us and Destiny crave us to your house. Such, then, is the cause of the shaving
of my beard and mustachios and eyebrows; and the manner of my losing my right
eye. They marvelled much at this tale and the Caliph said to Ja'afar, "By
Allah, I have not seen nor have I heard the like of what hath happened to this
Kalandar!" Quoth the lady of the house, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but
he replied, "I will not go, till I hear the history of the two others."
Thereupon the second Kalandar came forward; and, kissing the ground, began to
tell
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap16"></a>The Second Kalandar&rsquo;s Tale.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Know, O my lady, that I was not born one eyed and mine is a strange story; an
it were graven with needle graver on the eye corners, it were a warner to whoso
would be warned. I am a King, son of a King, and was brought up like a Prince.
I learned intoning the Koran according the seven schools;[FN#202] and I read
all manner books, and held disputations on their contents with the doctors and
men of science; moreover I studied star lore and the fair sayings of poets and
I exercised myself in all branches of learning until I surpassed the people of
my time; my skill in calligraphy exceeded that of all the scribes; and my fame
was bruited abroad over all climes and cities, and all the kings learned to
know my name. Amongst others the King of Hind heard of me and sent to my father
to invite me to his court, with offerings and presents and rarities such as
befit royalties. So my father fitted out six ships for me and my people; and we
put to sea and sailed for the space of a full month till we made the land. Then
we brought out the horses that were with us in the ships; and, after loading
the camels with our presents for the Prince, we set forth inland. But we had
marched only a little way, when behold, a dust cloud up flew, and grew until it
walled[FN#203] the horizon from view. After an hour or so the veil lifted and
discovered beneath it fifty horsemen, ravening lions to the sight, in steel
armour dight. We observed them straightly and lo! they were cutters off of the
highway, wild as wild Arabs. When they saw that we were only four and had with
us but the ten camels carrying the presents, they dashed down upon us with
lances at rest. We signed to them, with our fingers, as it were saying, "We be
messengers of the great King of Hind, so harm us not!" but they answered on
like wise, "We are not in his dominions to obey nor are we subject to his
sway." Then they set upon us and slew some of my slaves and put the lave to
flight; and I also fled after I had gotten a wound, a grievous hurt, whilst the
Arabs were taken up with the money and the presents which were with us. I went
forth unknowing whither I went, having become mean as I was mighty; and I fared
on until I came to the crest of a mountain where I took shelter for the night
in a cave. When day arose I set out again, nor ceased after this fashion till I
arrived at a fair city and a well filled. Now it was the season when Winter was
turning away with his rime and to greet the world with his flowers came Prime,
and the young blooms were springing and the streams flowed ringing, and the
birds were sweetly singing, as saith the poet concerning a certain city when
describing it:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
A place secure from every thought of fear * Safety and peace for ever lord it
here:<br/>
Its beauties seem to beautify its sons * And as in Heaven its happy folk
appear.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
I was glad of my arrival for I was wearied with the way, and yellow of face for
weakness and want; but my plight was pitiable and I knew not whither to betake
me. So I accosted a Tailor sitting in his little shop and saluted him; he
returned my salam, and bade me kindly welcome and wished me well and entreated
me gently and asked me of the cause of my strangerhood. I told him all my past
from first to last; and he was concerned on my account and said, "O youth,
disclose not thy secret to any: the King of this city is the greatest enemy thy
father hath, and there is blood wit[FN#204] between them and thou hast cause to
fear for thy life." Then he set meat and drink before me; and I ate and drank
and he with me; and we conversed freely till night fall, when he cleared me a
place in a corner of his shop and brought me a carpet and a coverlet. I tarried
with him three days; at the end of which time he said to me, "Knowest thou no
calling whereby to win thy living, O my son?" "I am learned in the law," I
replied, "and a doctor of doctrine; an adept in art and science, a
mathematician and a notable penman." He rejoined, "Thy calling is of no account
in our city, where not a soul understandeth science or even writing or aught
save money making." Then said I, "By Allah, I know nothing but what I have
mentioned;" and he answered, "Gird thy middle and take thee a hatchet and a
cord, and go and hew wood in the wold for thy daily bread, till Allah send thee
relief; and tell none who thou art lest they slay thee." Then he bought me an
axe and a rope and gave me in charge to certain wood cutters; and with these
guardians I went forth into the forest, where I cut fuel wood the whole of my
day and came back in the evening bearing my bundle on my head. I sold it for
half a diner, with part of which I bought provision and laid by the rest. In
such work I spent a whole year and when this was ended I went out one day, as
was my wont, into the wilderness; and, wandering away from my companions, I
chanced on a thickly grown lowland[FN#205] in which there was an abundance of
wood. So I entered and I found the gnarled stump of a great tree and loosened
the ground about it and shovelled away the earth. Presently my hatchet rang
upon a copper ring; so I cleared away the soil and behold, the ring was
attached to a wooden trap door. This I raised and there appeared beneath it a
staircase. I descended the steps to the bottom and came to a door, which I
opened and found myself in a noble hall strong of structure and beautifully
built, where was a damsel like a pearl of great price, whose favour banished
from my heart all grief and cark and care; and whose soft speech healed the
soul in despair and captivated the wise and ware. Her figure measured five feet
in height; her breasts were firm and upright; her cheek a very garden of
delight; her colour lively bright; her face gleamed like dawn through curly
tresses which gloomed like night, and above the snows of her bosom glittered
teeth of a pearly white.[FN#206] As the poet said of one like her:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Slim waisted loveling jetty hair encrowned * A wand of willow on a sandy mound:
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And as saith another.—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Four things that meet not, save they here unite * To shed my heart blood and to
rape my sprite:<br/>
Brilliantest forehead; tresses jetty bright; * Cheeks rosy red and stature
beauty dight.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When I looked upon her I prostrated myself before Him who had created her, for
the beauty and loveliness He had shaped in her, and she looked at me and said,
"Art thou man or Jinni?" "I am a man," answered I, and she, "Now who brought
thee to this place where I have abided five and twenty years without even yet
seeing man in it?" Quoth I (and indeed I found her words wonder sweet, and my
heart was melted to the core by them), "O my lady, my good fortune led me
hither for the dispelling of my cark and care." Then I related to her all my
mishap from first to last, and my case appeared to her exceeding grievous; so
she wept and said, "I will tell thee my story in my turn. I am the daughter of
the King Ifitamus, lord of the Islands of Abnus,[FN#207] who married me to my
cousin, the son of my paternal uncle; but on my wedding night an Ifrit named
Jirjís[FN#208] bin Rajmús, first cousin that is, mother's sister's son, of
Iblís, the Foul Fiend, snatched me up and, flying away with me like a bird, set
me down in this place, whither he conveyed all I needed of fine stuffs, raiment
and jewels and furniture, and meat and drink and other else. Once in every ten
days he comes here and lies a single night with me, and then wends his way, for
he took me without the consent of his family; and he hath agreed with me that
if ever I need him by night or by day, I have only to pass my hand over yonder
two lines engraved upon the alcove, and he will appear to me before my fingers
cease touching. Four days have now passed since he was here; and, as there
remain six days before he come again, say me, wilt thou abide with me five
days, and go hence the day before his coming?" I replied "Yes, and yes again! O
rare, if all this be not a dream!" Hereat she was glad and, springing to her
feet, seized my hand and carried me through an arched doorway to a Hammam bath,
a fair hall and richly decorate. I doffed my clothes, and she doffed hers; then
we bathed and she washed me; and when this was done we left the bath, and she
seated me by her side upon a high divan, and brought me sherbet scented with
musk. When we felt cool after the bath, she set food before me and we ate and
fell to talking; but presently she said to me, "Lay thee down and take thy
rest, for surely thou must be weary." So I thanked her, my lady, and lay down
and slept soundly, forgetting all that had happened to me. When I awoke I found
her rubbing and shampooing my feet;[FN#209] so I again thanked her and blessed
her and we sat for awhile talking. Said she, "By Allah, I was sad at heart, for
that I have dwelt alone underground for these five and twenty years; and praise
be to Allah, who hath sent me some one with whom I can converse!" Then she
asked, "O youth, what sayest thou to wine?" and I answered, "Do as thou wilt."
Whereupon she went to a cupboard and took out a sealed flask of right old
wine and set off the table with flowers and scented herbs and began to sing
these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Had we known of thy coming we fain had dispread * The cores of our hearts or
the balls of our eyes;<br/>
Our cheeks as a carpet to greet thee had thrown * And our eyelids had strown
for thy feet to betread."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Now when she finished her verse I thanked her, for indeed love of her had
gotten hold of my heart and my grief and anguish were gone. We sat at converse
and carousel till nightfall, and with her I spent the night—such night never
spent I in all my life! On the morrow delight followed delight till midday, by
which time I had drunken wine so freely that I had lost my wits, and stood up,
staggering to the right and to the left, and said "Come, O my charmer, and I
will carry thee up from this underground vault and deliver thee from the spell
of thy Jinni." She laughed and replied "Content thee and hold thy peace: of
every ten days one is for the Ifrit and the other nine are thine." Quoth I (and
in good sooth drink had got the better of me), "This very instant will I break
down the alcove whereon is graven the talisman and summon the Ifrit that I may
slay him, for it is a practice of mine to slay Ifrits!" When she heard my words
her colour waxed wan and she said, "By Allah, do not!" and she began
repeating:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"This is a thing wherein destruction lies * I rede thee shun it an thy wits be
wise."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And these also:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"O thou who seekest severance, draw the rein * Of thy swift steed nor seek
o'ermuch t' advance;<br/>
Ah stay! for treachery is the rule of life, * And sweets of meeting end in
severance."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
I heard her verse but paid no heed to her words, nay, I raised my foot and
administered to the alcove a mighty kick. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Thirteenth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the second Kalandar thus
continued his tale to the lady:—But when, O my mistress, I kicked that alcove
with a mighty kick, behold, the air starkened and darkened and thundered and
lightened; the earth trembled and quaked and the world became invisible. At
once the fumes of wine left my head: I cried to her, "What is the matter?" and
she replied, "The Ifrit is upon us! did I not warn thee of this? By Allah, thou
hast brought ruin upon me; but fly for thy life and go up by the way thou
camest down!" So I fled up the staircase; but, in the excess of my fear, I
forgot sandals and hatchet. And when I had mounted two steps I turned to look
for them, and lo! I saw the earth cleave asunder, and there arose from it an
Ifrit, a monster of hideousness, who said to the damsel "What trouble and
pother be this wherewith thou disturbest me? What mishap hath betided thee?"
"No mishap hath befallen me" she answered, "save that my breast was
straitened[FN#210] and my heart heavy with sadness! so I drank a little wine to
broaden it and to hearten myself; then I rose to obey a call of Nature, but the
wine had gotten into my head and I fell against the alcove." "Thou liest, like
the whore thou art!" shrieked the Ifrit; and he looked around the hall right
and left till he caught sight of my axe and sandals and said to her, "What be
these but the belongings of some mortal who hath been in thy society?" She
answered, "I never set eyes upon them till this moment: they must have been
brought by thee hither cleaving to thy garments." Quoth the Ifrit, "These words
are absurd; thou harlot! thou strumpet!" Then he stripped her stark naked and,
stretching her upon the floor, bound her hands and feet to four stakes, like
one crucified;[FN#211] and set about torturing and trying to make her confess.
I could not bear to stand listening to her cries and groans; so I climbed the
stair on the quake with fear; and when I reached the top I replaced the trap
door and covered it with earth. Then repented I of what I had done with
penitence exceeding; and thought of the lady and her beauty and loveliness, and
the tortures she was suffering at the hands of the accursed Ifrit, after her
quiet life of five and twenty years; and how all that had happened to her was
for the cause of me. I bethought me of my father and his kingly estate and how
I had become a woodcutter; and how, after my time had been awhile serene, the
world had again waxed turbid and troubled to me. So I wept bitterly and
repeated this couplet:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
What time Fate's tyranny shall most oppress thee * Perpend! one day shall joy
thee, one distress thee!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then I walked till I reached the home of my friend, the Tailor, whom I found
most anxiously expecting me; indeed he was, as the saying goes, on coals of
fire for my account. And when he saw me he said, "All night long my heart hath
been heavy, fearing for thee from wild beasts or other mischances. Now praise
be to Allah for thy safety!" I thanked him for his friendly solicitude and,
retiring to my corner, sat pondering and musing on what had befallen me; and I
blamed and chided myself for my meddlesome folly and my frowardness in kicking
the alcove. I was calling myself to account when behold, my friend, the Tailor,
came to me and said, "O youth, in the shop there is an old man, a
Persian,[FN#212] who seeketh thee: he hath thy hatchet and thy sandals which he
had taken to the woodcutters,[FN#213] saying, "I was going out at what time the
Mu'azzin began the call to dawn prayer, when I chanced upon these things and
know not whose they are; so direct me to their owner." The woodcutters
recognised thy hatchet and directed him to thee: he is sitting in my shop, so
fare forth to him and thank him and take thine axe and sandals." When I heard
these words I turned yellow with fear and felt stunned as by a blow; and,
before I could recover myself, lo! the floor of my private room clove asunder,
and out of it rose the Persian who was the Ifrit. He had tortured the lady with
exceeding tortures, natheless she would not confess to him aught; so he took
the hatchet and sandals and said to her, "As surely as I am Jirjis of the seed
of Iblis, I will bring thee back the owner of this and these!"[FN#214] Then he
went to the woodcutters with the pretence aforesaid and, being directed to me,
after waiting a while in the shop till the fact was confirmed, he suddenly
snatched me up as a hawk snatcheth a mouse and flew high in air; but presently
descended and plunged with me under the earth (I being aswoon the while), and
lastly set me down in the subterranean palace wherein I had passed that
blissful night. And there I saw the lady stripped to the skin, her limbs bound
to four stakes and blood welling from her sides. At the sight my eyes ran over
with tears; but the Ifrit covered her person and said, "O wanton, is not this
man thy lover?" She looked upon me and replied, "I wot him not nor have I ever
seen him before this hour!" Quoth the Ifrit, "What! this torture and yet no
confessing;" and quoth she,"I never saw this man in my born days, and it is not
lawful in Allah's sight to tell lies on him." "If thou know him not," said the
Ifrit to her, &ldquo;take this sword and strike off his head.&rdquo;[FN#215]
She hent the sword in hand and came close up to me; and I signalled to her with
my eyebrows, my tears the while flowing adown my cheeks. She understood me and
made answer, also by signs, "How couldest thou bring all this evil upon me?"
and I rejoined after the same fashion, "This is the time for mercy and
forgiveness." And the mute tongue of my case[FN#216] spake aloud saying:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Mine eyes were dragomans for my tongue betied * And told full clear the love I
fain would hide:<br/>
When last we met and tears in torrents railed * For tongue struck dumb my
glances testified:<br/>
She signed with eye glance while her lips were mute * I signed with fingers and
she kenned th' implied:<br/>
Our eyebrows did all duty 'twixt us twain; * And we being speechless Love spake
loud and plain.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then, O my mistress, the lady threw away the sword and said, "How shall I
strike the neck of one I wot not, and who hath done me no evil? Such deed were
not lawful in my law!" and she held her hand. Said the Ifrit, "'Tis grievous to
thee to slay thy lover; and, because he hath lain with thee, thou endurest
these torments and obstinately refusest to confess. After this it is clear to
me that only like loveth and pitieth like." Then he turned to me and asked me,
"O man, haply thou also dost not know this woman;" whereto I answered, "And
pray who may she be? assuredly I never saw her till this instant." "Then take
the sword," said he "and strike off her head and I will believe that thou
wottest her not and will leave thee free to go, and will not deaf 'hardly with
thee." I replied, "That will I do;" and, taking the sword went forward sharply
and raised my hand to smite. But she signed to me with her eyebrows, "Have I
failed thee in aught of love; and is it thus that thou requitest me?" I
understood what her looks implied and answered her with an eye-glance, "I will
sacrifice my soul for thee." And the tongue of the case wrote in our hearts
these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
How many a lover with his eyebrows speaketh * To his beloved, as his passion
pleadeth:<br/>
With flashing eyne his passion he inspireth * And well she seeth what kits
pleading needeth.<br/>
How sweet the look when each on other gazeth; * And with what swiftness and how
sure it speedeth:<br/>
And this with eyebrows all his passion writeth; * And that with eyeballs all
his passion readeth.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then my eyes filled with tears to overflowing and I cast the sword from my hand
saying, "O mighty Ifrit and hero, if a woman lacking wits and faith deem it
unlawful to strike off my head, how can it be lawful for me, a man, to smite
her neck whom I never saw in my whole life. I cannot do such misdeed though
thou cause me drink the cup of death and perdition." Then said the Ifrit, "Ye
twain show the good understanding between you; but I will let you see how such
doings end." He took the sword, and struck off the lady's hands first, with
four strokes, and then her feet; whilst I looked on and made sure of death and
she farewelled me with her dying eyes. So the Ifrit cried at her, "Thou whorest
and makest me a wittol with thine eyes;" and struck her so that her head went
flying. Then he turned to me and said, "O mortal, we have it in our law that,
when the wife committeth advowtry it is lawful for us to slay her. As for this
damsel I snatched her away on her bride-night when she was a girl of twelve and
she knew no one but myself. I used to come to her once every ten days and lie
with her the night, under the semblance of a man, a Persian; and when I was
well assured that she had cuckolded me, I slew her. But as for thee I am not
well satisfied that thou hast wronged me in her; nevertheless I must not let
thee go unharmed; so ask a boon of me and I will grant it." Then I rejoiced, O
my lady, with exceeding joy and said, "What boon shall I crave of thee?" He
replied, "Ask me this boon; into what shape I shall bewitch thee; wilt thou be
a dog, or an ass or an ape?" I rejoined (and indeed I had hoped that mercy
might be shown me), "By Allah, spare me, that Allah spare thee for sparing a
Moslem and a man who never wronged thee." And I humbled myself before him with
exceeding humility, and remained standing in his presence, saying, "I am sore
oppressed by circumstance." He replied "Talk me no long talk, it is in my power
to slay thee; but I give thee instead thy choice." Quoth I, "O thou Ifrit, it
would besit thee to pardon me even as the Envied pardoned the Envier." Quoth
he, "And how was that?" and I began to tell him
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap17"></a>The Tale of the Envier and the Envied.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
They relate, O Ifrit, that in a certain city were two men who dwelt in
adjoining houses, having a common party wall; and one of them envied the other
and looked on him with an evil eye,[FN#217] and did his utmost endeavour to
injure him; and, albeit at all times he was jealous of his neighbour, his
malice at last grew on him till he could hardly eat or enjoy the sweet
pleasures of sleep. But the Envied did nothing save prosper; and the more the
other strove to injure him, the more he got and gained and throve. At last the
malice of his neighbour and the man's constant endeavour to work him a harm
came to his knowledge; so he said, "By Allah! God's earth is wide enough for
its people;" and, leaving the neighbourhood, he repaired to another city where
he bought himself a piece of land in which was a dried up draw well,[FN#218]
old and in ruinous condition. Here he built him an oratory and, furnishing it
with a few necessaries, took up his abode therein, and devoted himself to
prayer and worshipping Allah Almighty; and Fakirs and holy mendicants flocked
to him from all quarters; and his fame went abroad through the city and that
country side. Presently the news reached his envious neighbour, of what good
fortune had befallen him and how the city notables had become his disciples; so
he travelled to the place and presented himself at the holy man's hermitage,
and was met by the Envied with welcome and greeting and all honour. Then quoth
the Envier, "I have a word to say to thee; and this is the cause of my faring
hither, and I wish to give thee a piece of good news; so come with me to thy
cell." Thereupon the Envied arose and took the Envier by the hand, and they
went in to the inmost part of the hermitage; but the Envier said, "Bid thy
Fakirs retire to their cells, for I will not tell thee what I have to say, save
in secret where none may hear us." Accordingly the Envied said to his Fakirs,
"Retire to your private cells;" and, when all had done as he bade them, he set
out with his visitor and walked a little way until the twain reached the
ruinous old well. And as they stood upon the brink the Envier gave the Envied a
push which tumbled him headlong into it, unseen of any; whereupon he fared
forth, and went his ways, thinking to have had slain him. Now this well
happened to be haunted by the Jann who, seeing the case, bore him up and let
him down little by little, till he reached the bottom, when they seated him
upon a large stone. Then one of them asked his fellows, "Wot ye who be this
man?" and they answered, "Nay." "This man," continued the speaker, "is the
Envied hight who, flying from the Envier, came to dwell in our city, and here
founded this holy house, and he hath edified us by his litanies[FN#219] and his
lections of the Koran; but the Envier set out and journeyed till he rejoined
him, and cunningly contrived to deceive him and cast him into the well where we
now are. But the fame of this good man hath this very night come to the Sultan
of our city who designeth to visit him on the morrow on account of his
daughter." "What aileth his daughter?" asked one, and another answered "She is
possessed of a spirit; for Maymun, son of Damdam, is madly in love with her;
but, if this pious man knew the remedy, her cure would be as easy as could be."
Hereupon one of them inquired, "And what is the medicine?" and he replied, "The
black tom cat which is with him in the oratory hath, on the end of his tail, a
white spot, the size of a dirham; let him pluck seven white hairs from the
spot, then let him fumigate her therewith and the Marid will flee from her and
not return; so she shall be sane for the rest of her life." All this took
place, O Ifrit, within earshot of the Envied who listened readily. When dawn
broke and morn arose in sheen and shone, the Fakirs went to seek the Shaykh and
found him climbing up the wall of the well; whereby he was magnified in their
eyes.[FN#220] Then, knowing that naught save the black tomcat could supply him
with the remedy required, he plucked the seven tail hairs from the white spot
and laid them by him; and hardly had the sun risen ere the Sultan entered the
hermitage, with the great lords of his estate, bidding the rest of his retinue
to remain standing outside. The Envied gave him a hearty welcome, and seating
him by his side asked him, "Shall I tell thee the cause of thy coming?" The
King answered, "Yes." He continued, "Thou hast come upon pretext of a
visitation;[FN#221] but it is in thy heart to question me of thy daughter."
Replied the King, " 'Tis even so, O thou holy Shaykh;" and the Envied
continued, "Send and fetch her, and I trust to heal her forthright (an such it
be the will of Allah!)" The King in great joy sent for his daughter, and they
brought her pinioned and fettered. The Envied made her sit down behind a
curtain and taking out the hairs fumigated her therewith; whereupon that which
was in her head cried out and departed from her. The girl was at once restored
to her right mind and veiling her face, said, "What hath happened and who
brought me hither?" The Sultan rejoiced with a joy that nothing could exceed,
and kissed his daughter's eyes,[FN#222] and the holy man's hand; then, turning
to his great lords, he asked, "How say ye! What fee deserveth he who hath made
my daughter whole?" and all answered, "He deserveth her to wife;" and the King
said, "Ye speak sooth!" So he married him to her and the Envied thus became son
in law to the King. And after a little the Wazir died and the King said, "Whom
can I make Minister in his stead?" "Thy son in law," replied the courtiers. So
the Envied became a Wazir; and after a while the Sultan also died and the
lieges said, "Whom shall we make King?" and all cried, "The Wazir." So the
Wazir was forthright made Sultan, and he became King regnant, a true ruler of
men. One day as he had mounted his horse; and, in the eminence of his
kinglihood, was riding amidst his Emirs and Wazirs and the Grandees of his
realm his eye fell upon his old neighbour, the Envier, who stood afoot on his
path; so he turned to one of his Ministers, and said, "Bring hither that man
and cause him no affright." The Wazir brought him and the King said, "Give him
a thousand miskals[FN#223] of gold from the treasury, and load him ten camels
with goods for trade, and send him under escort to his own town." Then he bade
his enemy farewell and sent him away and forbore to punish him for the many and
great evils he had done. See, O Ifrit, the mercy of the Envied to the Envier,
who had hated him from the beginning and had borne him such bitter malice and
never met him without causing him trouble; and had driven him from house and
home, and then had journeyed for the sole purpose of taking his life by
throwing him into the well. Yet he did not requite his injurious dealing, but
forgave him and was bountiful to him.[FN#224] Then I wept before him, O my
lady, with sore weeping, never was there sorer, and I recited:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Pardon my fault, for 'tis the wise man's wont * All faults to pardon and
revenge forgo:<br/>
In sooth all manner faults in me contain * Then deign of goodness mercy grace
to show:<br/>
Whoso imploreth pardon from on High * Should hold his hand<br/> from sinners
here below."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Said the Ifrit, "Lengthen not thy words! As to my slaying thee fear it not, and
as to my pardoning thee hope it not; but from my bewitching thee there is no
escape." Then he tore me from the ground which closed under my feet and flew
with me into the firmament till I saw the earth as a large white cloud or a
saucer[FN#225] in the midst of the waters. Presently he set me down on a
mountain, and taking a little dust, over which he muttered some magical words,
sprinkled me therewith, saying, "Quit that shape and take thou the shape of an
ape!" And on the instant I became an ape, a tailless baboon, the son of a
century[FN#226]. Now when he had left me and I saw myself in this ugly and
hateful shape, I wept for myself, but resigned my soul to the tyranny of Time
and Circumstance, well weeting that Fortune is fair and constant to no man. I
descended the mountain and found at the foot a desert plain, long and broad,
over which I travelled for the space of a month till my course brought me to
the brink of the briny sea.[FN#227] After standing there awhile, I was ware of
a ship in the offing which ran before a fair wind making for the shore. I hid
myself behind a rock on the beach and waited till the ship drew near, when I
leaped on board. I found her full of merchants and passengers and one of them
cried, "O Captain, this ill omened brute will bring us ill luck!" and another
said, "Turn this ill omened beast out from among us;" the Captain said, "Let us
kill it!" another said, "Slay it with the sword;" a third, "Drown it;" and a
fourth, "Shoot it with an arrow." But I sprang up and laid hold of the
Rais's[FN#228] skirt, and shed tears which poured down my chops. The Captain
took pity on me, and said, "O merchants! this ape hath appealed to me for
protection and I will protect him; henceforth he is under my charge: so let
none do him aught hurt or harm, otherwise there will be bad blood between us."
Then he entreated me kindly and whatsoever he said I understood and ministered
to his every want and served him as a servant, albeit my tongue would not obey
my wishes; so that he came to love me. The vessel sailed on, the wind being
fair, for the space of fifty days; at the end of which we cast anchor under the
walls of a great city wherein was a world of people, especially learned men,
none could tell their number save Allah. No sooner had we arrived than we were
visited by certain Mameluke officials from the King of that city; who, after
boarding us, greeted the merchants and giving them joy of safe arrival said,
"Our King welcometh you, and sendeth you this roll of paper, whereupon each and
every of you must write a line. For ye shall know that the King's Minister, a
calligrapher of renown, is dead, and the King hath sworn a solemn oath that he
will make none Wazir in his stead who cannot write as well as he could." He
then gave us the scroll which measured ten cubits long by a breadth of one, and
each of the merchants who knew how to write wrote a line thereon, even to the
last of them; after which I stood up (still in the shape of an ape) and
snatched the roll out of their hands. They feared lest I should tear it or
throw it overboard; so they tried to stay me and scare me, but I signed to them
that i could write, whereat all marvelled, saying, "We never yet saw an, ape
write." And the Captain cried, "Let him write; and if he scribble and scrabble
we will kick him out and kill him; but if he; write fair and scholarly I will
adopt him as my son; for surely I never yet saw a more intelligent and well
mannered monkey than he. Would Heaven my real son were his match in morals and
manners." I took the reed, and stretching out my paw, dipped it in ink and
wrote, in the hand used for letters,[FN#229] these two couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Time hath recorded gifts she gave the great; * But none recorded thine which be
far higher<br/>
Allah ne'er orphan men by loss of thee * Who be of Goodness mother. Bounty's
sire.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And I wrote in Rayháni or larger letters elegantly curved[FN#230]:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Thou hast a reed[FN#231] of rede to every land, * Whose driving causeth all the
world to thrive;<br/>
Nil is the Nile of Misraim by thy boons * Who makest misery smile with fingers
five
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then I wrote in the Suls[FN#232] character:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
There be no writer who from Death shall fleet, * But what his hand hath writ
men shall repeat:<br/>
Write, therefore, naught save what shall serve thee when * Thou see't on
Judgment-Day an so thou see't!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then I wrote in the character Naskh[FN#233]:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
When to sore parting Fate our love shall doom, * To distant life by Destiny
decreed,<br/>
We cause the inkhorn's lips to 'plain our pains, * And tongue our utterance
with the talking reed.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And I wrote in the Túmár character[FN#234]:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Kingdom with none endures; if thou deny * This truth, where be the Kings of
earlier earth?<br/>
Set trees of goodliness while rule endures, * And when thou art fallen they
shall tell thy worth.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And I wrote in the character Muhakkak[FN#235]:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
When oped the inkhorn of thy wealth and fame * Take ink of generous heart and
gracious hand;<br/>
Write brave and noble deeds while write thou can * And win thee praise from
point of pen and brand.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then I gave the scroll to the officials and, after we all had written our line,
they carried it before the King. When he saw the paper no writing pleased him
save my writing; and he said to the assembled courtiers, "Go seek the writer of
these lines and dress him in a splendid robe of honour; then mount him on a she
mule,[FN#236] let a band of music precede him and bring him to the presence."
At these words they smiled and the King was wroth with them and cried, "O
accursed! I give you an order and you laugh at me?" "O King," replied they, "if
we laugh 'tis not at thee and not without a cause." "And what is it?" asked he;
and they answered, "O King, thou orderest us to bring to thy presence the man
who wrote these lines; now the truth is that he who wrote them is not of the
sons of Adam,[FN#237] but an ape, a tail-less baboon, belonging to the ship
captain." Quoth he, "Is this true that you say?" Quoth they, "Yea! by the
rights of thy munificence!" The King marvelled at their words and shook with
mirth and said, "I am minded to buy this ape of the Captain." Then he sent
messengers to the ship with the mule, the dress, the guard and the state drums,
saying, "Not the less do you clothe him in the robe of honour and mount him on
the mule and let him be surrounded by the guards and preceded by the band of
music." They came to the ship and took me from the Captain and robed me in the
robe of honour and, mounting me on the she mule, carried me in state procession
through the streets', whilst the people were amazed and amused. And folk said
to one another, "Halloo! is our Sultan about to make an ape his Minister?"; and
came all agog crowding to gaze at me, and the town was astir and turned topsy
turvy on my account. When they brought me up to the King and set me in his
presence, I kissed the ground before him three times, and once before the High
Chamberlain and great officers, and he bade me be seated, and I sat
respectfully on shins and knees,[FN#238] and all who were present marvelled at
my fine manners, and the King most of all. Thereupon he ordered the lieges to
retire; and, when none remained save the King's majesty, the Eunuch on duty and
a little white slave, he bade them set before me the table of food, containing
all manner of birds, whatever hoppeth and flieth and treadeth in nest, such as
quail and sand grouse. Then he signed me to eat with him; so I rose and kissed
ground before him, then sat me down and ate with him. And when the table was
removed I washed my hands in seven waters and took the reed-case and reed; and
wrote instead of speaking these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Wail for the little partridges on porringer and plate; * Cry for the ruin of
the fries and stews well marinate:<br/>
Keen as I keen for loved, lost daughters of the Katá-grouse,[FN#239] * And
omelette round the fair enbrowned fowls agglomerate:<br/>
O fire in heart of me for fish, those deux poissons I saw, * Bedded on new made
scones[FN#240] and cakes in piles to laniate.<br/>
For thee, O vermicelli! aches my very maw! I hold * Without thee every taste
and joy are clean annihilate<br/>
Those eggs have rolled their yellow eyes in torturing pains of fire * Ere
served with hash and fritters hot, that delicatest cate.<br/>
Praised be Allah for His baked and roast and ah! how good * This pulse, these
pot-herbs steeped in oil with eysill combinate!<br/>
When hunger sated was, I elbow-propt fell back upon * Meat pudding[FN#241]
wherein gleamed the bangles that my wits amate.<br/>
Then woke I sleeping appetite to eat as though in sport * Sweets from broceded
trays and kickshaws most elaborate.<br/>
Be patient, soul of me! Time is a haughty, jealous wight; * Today he seems
dark-lowering and tomorrow fair to sight.[FN#242]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then I rose and seated myself at a respectful distance while the King read what
I had written, and marvelled, exclaiming, "O the miracle, that an ape should be
gifted with this graceful style and this power of penmanship! By Allah, 'tis a
wonder of wonders!" Presently they set before the King choice wines in flagons
of glass and he drank: then he passed on the cup to me; and I kissed the ground
and drank and wrote on it:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
With fire they boiled me to loose my tongue,[FN#243] * And pain and patience
gave for fellowship:<br/>
Hence comes it hands of men upbear me high * And honey dew from lips of maid I
sip!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And these also:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Morn saith to Night, "withdraw and let me shine;" * So drain we draughts that
dull all pain and pine:[FN#244]<br/>
I doubt, so fine the glass, the wine so clear, * If 'tis the wine in glass or
glass in wine.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The King read my verse and said with a sigh, "Were these gifts[FN#245] in a
man, he would excel all the folk of his time and age!" Then he called for the
chess board, and said, "Say, wilt thou play with me?"; and I signed with my
head, "Yes." Then I came forward and ordered the pieces and played with him two
games, both of which I won. He was speechless with surprise; so I took the pen
case and, drawing forth a reed, wrote on the board these two couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Two hosts fare fighting thro' the livelong day * Nor is their battling ever
finished,<br/>
Until, when darkness girdeth them about, * The twain go sleeping in a single
bed.[FN#246]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The King read these lines with wonder and delight and said to his
Eunuch,[FN#247] "O Mukbil, go to thy mistress, Sitt al-Husn,[FN#248] and say
her, 'Come, speak the King who biddeth thee hither to take thy solace in seeing
this right wondrous ape!"' So the Eunuch went out and presently returned with
the lady who, when she saw me veiled her face and said, "O my father! hast thou
lost all sense of honour? How cometh it thou art pleased to send for me and
show me to strange men?" "O Sitt al-Husn," said he, "no man is here save this
little foot page and the Eunuch who reared thee and I, thy father. From whom,
then, dost thou veil thy face?" She answered, "This whom thou deemest an ape is
a young man, a clever and polite, a wise and learned and the son of a King; but
he is ensorcelled and the Ifrit Jirjaris, who is of the seed of Iblis, cast a
spell upon him, after putting to death his own wife the daughter of King
Ifitamus lord of the Islands of Abnus." The King marvelled at his daughter's
words and, turning to me, said, "Is this true that she saith of thee?"; and I
signed by a nod of my head the answer, "Yea, verily;" and wept sore. Then he
asked his daughter, "Whence knewest thou that he is ensorcelled?"; and she
answered, "O my dear papa, there was with me in my childhood an old woman, a
wily one and a wise and a witch to boot, and she taught me the theory of magic
and its practice; and I took notes in writing and therein waxed perfect, and
have committed to memory an hundred and seventy chapters of egromantic
formulas, by the least of which I could transport the stones of thy city behind
the Mountain Kaf and the Circumambient Main,[FN#249] or make its site an abyss
of the sea and its people fishes swimming in the midst of it." "O my daughter,"
said her father, "I conjure thee, by my life, disenchant this young man, that I
may make him my Wazir and marry thee to him, for indeed he is an ingenious
youth and a deeply learned." "With joy and goodly gree," she replied and,
hending in hand an iron knife whereon was inscribed the name of Allah in Hebrew
characters, she described a wide circle—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Fourteenth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kalandar continued
his tale thus:—O my lady, the King's daughter hent in hand a knife whereon were
inscribed Hebrew characters and described a wide circle in the midst of the
palace hall, and therein wrote in Cufic letters mysterious names and talismans;
and she uttered words and muttered charms, some of which we understood and
others we understood not. Presently the world waxed dark before our sight till
we thought that the sky was falling upon our heads, and lo! the Ifrit presented
himself in his own shape and aspect. His hands were like many pronged pitch
forks, his legs like the masts of great ships, and his eyes like cressets of
gleaming fire. We were in terrible fear of him but the King's daughter cried at
him, "No welcome to thee and no greeting, O dog!" whereupon he changed to the
form of a lion and said, "O traitress, how is it thou hast broken the oath we
sware that neither should contraire other!" "O accursed one," answered she,
"how could there be a compact between me and the like of thee?" Then said he,
"Take what thou has brought on thyself;" and the lion opened his jaws and
rushed upon her; but she was too quick for him; and, plucking a hair from her
head, waved it in the air muttering over it the while; and the hair straightway
became a trenchant sword blade, wherewith she smote the lion and cut him in
twain. Then the two halves flew away in air and the head changed to a scorpion
and the Princess became a huge serpent and set upon the accursed scorpion, and
the two fought, coiling and uncoiling, a stiff fight for an hour at least. Then
the scorpion changed to a vulture and the serpent became an eagle which set
upon the vulture, and hunted him for an hour's time, till he became a black tom
cat, which miauled and grinned and spat. Thereupon the eagle changed into a
piebald wolf and these two battled in the palace for a long time, when the cat,
seeing himself overcome, changed into a worm and crept into a huge red
pomegranate,[FN#250] which lay beside the jetting fountain in the midst of the
palace hall. Whereupon the pomegranate swelled to the size of a water melon in
air; and, falling upon the marble pavement of the palace, broke to pieces, and
all the grains fell out and were scattered about till they covered the whole
floor. Then the wolf shook himself and became a snow white cock, which fell to
picking up the grains purposing not to leave one; but by doom of destiny one
seed rolled to the fountain edge and there lay hid. The cock fell to crowing
and clapping his wings and signing to us with his beak as if to ask, ' Are any
grains left?" But we understood not what he meant, and he cried to us with so
loud a cry that we thought the palace would fall upon us. Then he ran over all
the floor till he saw the grain which had rolled to the fountain edge, and
rushed eagerly to pick it up when behold, it sprang into the midst of the water
and became a fish and dived to the bottom of the basin. Thereupon the cock
changed to a big fish, and plunged in after the other, and the two disappeared
for a while and lo! we heard loud shrieks and cries of pain which made us
tremble. After this the Ifrit rose out of the water, and he was as a burning
flame; casting fire and smoke from his mouth and eyes and nostrils. And
immediately the Princess likewise came forth from the basin and she was one
live coal of flaming lowe; and these two, she and he, battled for the space of
an hour, until their fires entirely compassed them about and their thick smoke
filled the palace. As for us we panted for breath, being well nigh suffocated,
and we longed to plunge into the water fearing lest we be burnt up and utterly
destroyed; and the King said, There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah the Glorious, the Great! Verily we are Allah's and unto Him are we
returning! Would Heaven I had not urged my daughter to attempt the
disenchantment of this ape fellow, whereby I have imposed upon her the terrible
task of fighting yon accursed Ifrit against whom all the Ifrits in the world
could not prevail. And would Heaven we had never seen this ape, Allah never
assain nor bless the day of his coming! We thought to do a good deed by him
before the face of Allah,[FN#251] and to release him from enchantment, and now
we have brought this trouble and travail upon our heart." But I, O my lady, was
tongue tied and powerless to say a word to him. Suddenly, ere we were ware of
aught, the Ifrit yelled out from under the flames and, coming up to us as we
stood on the estrade, blew fire in our faces. The damsel overtook him and
breathed blasts of fire at his face and the sparks from her and from him rained
down upon us, and her sparks did us no harm, but one of his sparks alighted
upon my eye and destroyed it making me a monocular ape; and another fell on the
King's face scorching the lower half, burning off his beard and mustachios and
causing his under teeth to fall out; while a third alighted on the Castrato's
breast, killing him on the spot. So we despaired of life and made sure of death
when lo! a voice repeated the saying, "Allah is most Highest! Allah is most
Highest! Aidance and victory to all who the Truth believe; and disappointment
and disgrace to all who the religion of Mohammed, the Moon of Faith,
unbelieve." The speaker was the Princess who had burnt the Ifrit, and he was
become a heap of ashes. Then she came up to us and said, "Reach me a cup of
water." They brought it to her and she spoke over it words we understood not,
and sprinkling me with it cried, "By virtue of the Truth, and by the Most Great
name of Allah, I charge thee return to thy former shape." And behold, I shook,
and became a man as before, save that I had utterly lost an eye. Then she cried
out, "The fire! The fire! O my dear papa an arrow from the accursed hath
wounded me to the death, for I am not used to fight with the Jann; had he been
a man I had slain him in the beginning. I had no trouble till the time when the
pomegranate burst and the grains scattered, but I overlooked the seed wherein
was the very life of the Jinni. Had I picked it up he had died on the spot, but
as Fate and Fortune decreed, I saw it not; so he came upon me all unawares and
there befel between him and me a sore struggle under the earth and high in air
and in the water; and, as often as I opened on him a gate,[FN#252] he opened on
me another gate and a stronger, till at last he opened on me the gate of fire,
and few are saved upon whom the door of fire openeth. But Destiny willed that
my cunning prevail over his cunning; and I burned him to death after I vainly
exhorted him to embrace the religion of al-Islam. As for me I am a dead woman;
Allah supply my place to you!" Then she called upon Heaven for help and ceased
not to implore relief from the fire; when lo! a black spark shot up from her
robed feet to her thighs; then it flew to her bosom and thence to her face.
When it reached her face she wept and said, "I testify that there is no god but
the God and that Mahommed is the Apostle of God!" And we looked at her and saw
naught but a heap of ashes by the side of the heap that had been the Ifrit. We
mourned for her and I wished I had been in her place, so had I not seen her
lovely face who had worked me such weal become ashes; but there is no
gainsaying the will of Allah. When the King saw his daughter's terrible death,
he plucked out what was left of his beard and beat his face and rent his
raiment; and I did as he did and we both wept over her. Then came in the
Chamberlains and Grandees and were amazed to find two heaps of ashes and the
Sultan in a fainting fit; so they stood round him till he revived and told them
what had befallen his daughter from the Ifrit; whereat their grief was right
grievous and the women and the slave girls shrieked and keened,[FN#253] and
they continued their lamentations for the space of seven days. Moreover the
King bade build over his daughter's ashes a vast vaulted tomb, and burn therein
wax tapers and sepulchral lamps: but as for the Ifrit's ashes they scattered
them on the winds, speeding them to the curse of Allah. Then the Sultan fell
sick of a sickness that well nigh brought him to his death for a month's space;
and, when health returned to him and his beard grew again and he had been
converted by the mercy of Allah to al-Islam, he sent for me and said, "O youth,
Fate had decreed for us the happiest of lives, safe from all the chances and
changes of Time, till thou camest to us, when troubles fell upon us. Would to
Heaven we had never seen thee and the foul face of thee! For we took pity on
thee and thereby we have lost our all. I have on thy account first lost my
daughter who to me was well worth an hundred men, secondly I have suffered that
which befel me by reason of the fire and the loss of my teeth, and my Eunuch
also was slain. I blame thee not, for it was out of thy power to prevent this:
the doom of Allah was on thee as well as on us and thanks be to the Almighty
for that my daughter delivered thee, albeit thereby she lost her own life! Go
forth now, O my son, from this my city, and suffice thee what hath befallen us
through thee, even although 'twas decreed for us. Go forth in peace; and if I
ever see thee again I will surely slay thee." And he cried out at me. So I went
forth from his presence, O my lady, weeping bitterly and hardly believing in my
escape and knowing not whither I should wend. And I recalled all that had
befallen me, my meeting the tailor, my love for the damsel in the palace
beneath the earth, and my narrow escape from the Ifrit, even after he had
determined to do me die; and how I had entered the city as an ape and was now
leaving it a man once more. Then I gave thanks to Allah and said, "My eye and
not my life!" and before leaving the place I entered the bath and shaved my
poll and beard and mustachios and eyebrows; and cast ashes on my head and
donned the coarse black woollen robe of a Kalandar. Then I fared forth, O my
lady, and every day I pondered all the calamities which had betided me, and I
wept and repeated these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I am distraught, yet verily His ruth abides with me, * Tho' round me gather
hosts of ills, whence come I cannot see:<br/>
Patient I'll be till Patience self with me impatient wax; * Patient for ever
till the Lord fulfil my destiny:<br/>
Patient I'll bide without complaint, a wronged and vanquisht man; * Patient as
sunparcht wight that spans the desert's sandy sea:<br/>
Patient I'll be till Aloe's[FN#254] self unwittingly allow * I'm patient under
bitterer things than bitterest aloë:<br/>
No bitterer things than aloes or than patience for mankind, * Yet bitterer than
the twain to me were Patience' treachery:<br/>
My sere and seamed and seared brow would dragoman my sore * If soul could
search my sprite and there unsecret secrecy:<br/>
Were hills to bear the load I bear they'd crumble 'neath the weight, * 'Twould
still the roaring wind, 'twould quench the flame-tongue's flagrancy,<br/>
And whoso saith the world is sweet certès a day he'll see * With more than
aloes' bitterness and aloes' pungency."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then I journeyed through many regions and saw many a city intending for
Baghdad, that I might seek audience, in the House of Peace,[FN#255] with the
Commander of the Faithful and tell him all that had befallen me. I arrived here
this very night and found my brother in Allah, this first Kalandar, standing
about as one perplexed; so I saluted him with "Peace be upon thee," and entered
into discourse with him. Presently up came our brother, this third Kalandar,
and said to us, "Peace be with you! I am a stranger;" whereto we replied, "And
we too be strangers, who have come hither this blessed night." So we all three
walked on together, none of us knowing the other's history, till Destiny drave
us to this door and we came in to you. Such then is my story and my reason for
shaving my beard and mustachios, and this is what caused the loss of my eye.
Said the house mistress, "Thy tale is indeed a rare; so rub thy head and wend
thy ways;" but he replied, "I will not budge till I hear my companions'
stories." Then came forward the third Kalandar, and said, "O illustrious lady!
my history is not like that of these my comrades, but more wondrous and far
more marvellous. In their case Fate and Fortune came down on them unawares; but
I drew down destiny upon my own head and brought sorrow on mine own soul, and
shaved my own beard and lost my own eye. Hear then
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap18"></a>The Third Kalandar&rsquo;s Tale.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Know, O my lady, that I also am a King and the son of a King and my name is
Ajíb son of Kazíb. When my father died I succeeded him; and I ruled and did
justice and dealt fairly by all my lieges. I delighted in sea trips, for my
capital stood on the shore, before which the ocean stretched far and wide; and
near hand were many great islands with sconces and garrisons in the midst of
the main. My fleet numbered fifty merchantmen, and as many yachts for
pleasance, and an hundred and fifty sail ready fitted for holy war with the
Unbelievers. It fortuned that I had a mind to enjoy myself on the islands
aforesaid, so I took ship with my people in ten keel; and, carrying with me a
month's victual, I set out on a twenty days' voyage. But one night a head wind
struck us, and the sea rose against us with huge waves; the billows sorely
buffetted us and a dense darkness settled round us. We gave ourselves up for
lost and I said, "Whoso endangereth his days, e'en an he 'scape deserveth no
praise." Then we prayed to Allah and besought Him; but the storm blasts ceased
not to blow against us nor the surges to strike us till morning broke when the
gale fell, the seas sank to mirrory stillness and the sun shone upon us kindly
clear. Presently we made an island where we landed and cooked somewhat of food,
and ate heartily and took our rest for a couple of days. Then we set out again
and sailed other twenty days, the seas broadening and the land shrinking.
Presently the current ran counter to us, and we found ourselves in strange
waters, where the Captain had lost his reckoning, and was wholly bewildered in
this sea; so said we to the look out man,[FN#256] "Get thee to the mast head
and keep thine eyes open." He swarmed up the mast and looked out and cried
aloud, "O Rais, I espy to starboard something dark, very like a fish floating
on the face of the sea, and to larboard there is a loom in the midst of the
main, now black and now bright." When the Captain heard the look out's words he
dashed his turband on the deck and plucked out his beard and beat his face
saying, "Good news indeed! we be all dead men; not one of us can be saved." And
he fell to weeping and all of us wept for his weeping and also for our lives;
and I said, "O Captain, tell us what it is the look out saw." "O my Prince,"
answered he, "know that we lost our course on the night of the storm, which was
followed on the morrow by a two days' calm during which we made no way; and we
have gone astray eleven days reckoning from that night, with ne'er a wind to
bring us back to our true course. Tomorrow by the end of the day we shall come
to a mountain of black stone, hight the Magnet Mountain;[FN#257] for thither
the currents carry us willy-nilly. As soon as we are under its lea, the ship's
sides will open and every nail in plank will fly out and cleave fast to the
mountain; for that Almighty Allah hath gifted the loadstone with a mysterious
virtue and a love for iron, by reason whereof all which is iron travelleth
towards it; and on this mountain is much iron, how much none knoweth save the
Most High, from the many vessels which have been lost there since the days of
yore. The bright spot upon its summit is a dome of yellow laton from Andalusia,
vaulted upon ten columns; and on its crown is a horseman who rideth a horse of
brass and holdeth in hand a lance of laton; and there hangeth on his bosom a
tablet of lead graven with names and talismans." And he presently added,
&ldquo;And, O King, none destroyeth folk save the rider on that steed, nor will
the egromancy be dispelled till he fall from his horse.&rdquo;[FN#258] Then, O
my lady, the Captain wept with exceeding weeping and we all made sure of death
doom and each and every one of us farewelled his friend and charged him with
his last will and testament in case he might be saved. We slept not that night
and in the morning we found ourselves much nearer the Loadstone Mountain,
whither the waters drave us with a violent send. When the ships were close
under its lea they opened and the nails flew out and all the iron in them
sought the Magnet Mountain and clove to it like a network; so that by the end
of the day we were all struggling in the waves round about the mountain. Some
of us were saved, but more were drowned and even those who had escaped knew not
one another, so stupefied were they by the beating of the billows and the
raving of the winds. As for me, O my lady, Allah (be His name exalted!)
preserved my life that I might suffer whatso He willed to me of hardship,
misfortune and calamity; for I scrambled upon a plank from one of the ships,
and the wind and waters threw it at the feet of the Mountain. There I found a
practicable path leading by steps carven out of the rock to the summit, and I
called on the name of Allah Almighty"[FN#259]—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Fifteenth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the third Kalandar
said to the lady (the rest of the party sitting fast bound and the slaves
standing with swords drawn over their heads):—And after calling on the name of
Almighty Allah and passionately beseeching Him, I breasted the ascent, clinging
to the steps and notches hewn in the stone, and mounted little by little. And
the Lord stilled the wind and aided me in the ascent, so that I succeeded in
reaching the summit. There I found no resting place save the dome, which I
entered, joying with exceeding joy at my escape; and made the
Wuzu-ablution[FN#260] and prayed a two bow prayer,[FN#261] a thanksgiving to
God for my preservation. Then I fell asleep under the dome, and heard in my
dream a mysterious Voice[FN#262] saying, "O son of Khazib! when thou wakest
from thy sleep dig under thy feet and thou shalt find a bow of brass and three
leaden arrows, inscribed with talismans and characts. Take the bow and shoot
the arrows at the horseman on the dome top and free mankind from this sore
calamity. When thou hast shot him he shall fall into the sea, and the horse
will also drop at thy feet: then bury it in the place of the bow. This done,
the main will swell and rise till it is level with the mountain head, and there
will appear on it a skiff carrying a man of laton (other than he thou shalt
have shot) holding in his hand a pair of paddles. He will come to thee and do
thou embark with him but beware of saying Bismillah or of otherwise naming
Allah Almighty. He will row thee for a space of ten days, till he bring thee to
certain Islands called the Islands of Safety, and thence thou shalt easily
reach a port and find those who will convey thee to thy native land; and all
this shall be fulfilled to thee so thou call not on the name of Allah." Then I
started up from my sleep in joy and gladness and, hastening to do the bidding
of the mysterious Voice, found the bow and arrows and shot at the horseman and
tumbled him into the main, whilst the horse dropped at my feet; so I took it
and buried it. Presently the sea surged up and rose till it reached the top of
the mountain; nor had I long to wait ere I saw a skiff in the offing coming
towards me. I gave thanks to Allah; and, when the skiff came up to me, I saw
therein a man of brass with a tablet of lead on his breast inscribed with
talismans and characts; and I embarked without uttering a word. The boatman
rowed on with me through the first day and the second and the third, in all ten
whole days, till I caught sight of the Islands of Safety; whereat I joyed with
exceeding joy and for stress of gladness exclaimed, &ldquo;Allah! Allah! In the
name of Allah! There is no god but the God and Allah is
Almighty.&rdquo;[FN#263] Thereupon the skiff forthwith upset and cast me upon
the sea; then it righted and sank deep into the depths. Now I am a fair
swimmer, so I swam the whole day till nightfall, when my forearms and shoulders
were numbed with fatigue and I felt like to die; so I testified to my faith,
expecting naught but death. The sea was still surging under the violence of the
winds, and presently there came a billow like a hillock; and, bearing me up
high in air, threw me with a long cast on dry land, that His will might be
fulfilled. I crawled up the beach and doffing my raiment wrung it out to dry
and spread it in the sunshine: then I lay me down and slept the whole night. As
soon as it was day, I donned my clothes and rose to look whither I should walk.
Presently I came to a thicket of low trees; and, making a cast round it, found
that the spot whereon I stood was an islet, a mere holm, girt on all sides by
the ocean; whereupon I said to myself, "Whatso freeth me from one great
calamity casteth me into a greater!" But while I was pondering my case and
longing for death behold, I saw afar off a ship making for the island; so I
clomb a tree and hid myself among the branches. Presently the ship anchored and
landed ten slaves, blackamoors, bearing iron hoes and baskets, who walked on
till they reached the middle of the island. Here they dug deep into the ground,
until they uncovered a plate of metal which they lifted, thereby opening a trap
door. After this they returned to the ship and thence brought bread and flour,
honey and fruits, clarified butter,[FN#264] leather bottles containing liquors
and many household stuffs; also furniture, table service and mirrors rugs,
carpets and in fact all needed to furnish a dwelling; and they kept going to
and fro, and descending by the trap door, till they had transported into the
dwelling all that was in the ship. After this the slaves again went on board
and brought back with them garments as rich as may be, and in the midst of them
came an old, old man, of whom very little was left, for Time had dealt hardly
and harshly with him, and all that remained of him was a bone wrapped in a rag
of blue stuff through which the winds whistled west and east. As saith the poet
of him:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Time gars me tremble Ah, how sore the baulk! * While Time in pride of strength
doth ever stalk:<br/>
Time was I walked nor ever felt I tired, * Now am I tired albe I never walk!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And the Shaykh held by the hand a youth cast in beauty's mould, all elegance
and perfect grace; so fair that his comeliness deserved to be proverbial; for
he was as a green bough or the tender young of the roe, ravishing every heart
with his loveliness and subduing every soul with his coquetry and amorous
ways.[FN#265] It was of him the poet spake when he said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Beauty they brought with him to make compare, * But Beauty hung her head in
shame and care:<br/>
Quoth' they, "O Beauty, hast thou seen his like?" * And Beauty cried, "His
like? not anywhere!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
They stinted not their going, O my lady, till all went down by the trap door
and did not reappear for an hour, or rather more; at the end of which time the
slaves and the old man came up without the youth and, replacing the iron plate
and carefully closing the door slab as it was before, they returned to the ship
and made sail and were lost to my sight. When they turned away to depart, I
came down from the tree and, going to the place I had seen them fill up,
scraped off and removed the earth; and in patience possessed my soul till I had
cleared the whole of it away. Then appeared the trap door which was of wood, in
shape and size like a millstone; and when I lifted it up it disclosed a winding
staircase of stone. At this I marvelled and, descending the steps till I
reached the last, found a fair hall, spread with various kinds of carpets and
silk stuffs, wherein was a youth sitting upon a raised couch and leaning back
on a round cushion with a fan in his hand and nosegays and posies of sweet
scented herbs and flowers before him;[FN#266] but he was alone and not a soul
near him in the great vault. When he saw me he turned pale; but I saluted him
courteously and said, "Set thy mind at ease and calm thy fears; no harm shall
come near thee; I am a man like thyself and the son of a King to boot; whom the
decrees of Destiny have sent to bear thee company and cheer thee in thy
loneliness. But now tell me, what is thy story and what causeth thee to dwell
thus in solitude under the ground?" When he was assured that I was of his kind
and no Jinni, he rejoiced and his fine colour returned; and, making me draw
near to him he said, "O my brother, my story is a strange story and 'tis this.
My father is a merchant-jeweller possessed of great wealth, who hath white and
black slaves travelling and trading on his account in ships and on camels, and
trafficking with the most distant cities; but he was not blessed with a child,
not even one. Now on a certain night he dreamed a dream that he should be
favoured with a son, who would be short lived; so the morning dawned on my
father bringing him woe and weeping. On the following night my mother conceived
and my father noted down the date of her becoming pregnant.[FN#267] Her time
being fulfilled she bare me; whereat my father rejoiced and made banquets and
called together the neighbours and fed the Fakirs and the poor, for that he had
been blessed with issue near the end of his days. Then he assembled the
astrologers and astronomers who knew the places of the planets, and the wizards
and wise ones of the time, and men learned in horoscopes and
nativities,[FN#268] and they drew out my birth scheme and said to my father,
"Thy son shall live to fifteen years, but in his fifteenth there is a sinister
aspect; an he safely tide it over he shall attain a great age. And the cause
that threateneth him with death is this. In the Sea of Peril standeth the
Mountain Magnet hight; on whose summit is a horseman of yellow laton seated on
a horse also of brass and bearing on his breast a tablet of lead. Fifty days
after this rider shall fall from his steed thy son will die and his slayer will
be he who shoots down the horseman, a Prince named Ajib son of King Khazib." My
father grieved with exceeding grief to hear these words; but reared me in
tenderest fashion and educated me excellently well until my fifteenth year was
told. Ten days ago news came to him that the horseman had fallen into the sea
and he who shot him down was named Ajib son of King Khazib. My father thereupon
wept bitter tears at the need of parting with me and became like one possessed
of a Jinni. However, being in mortal fear for me, he built me this place under
the earth; and, stocking it with all required for the few days still remaining,
he brought me hither in a ship and left me here. Ten are already past and, when
the forty shall have gone by without danger to me, he will come and take me
away; for he hath done all this only in fear of Prince Ajib. Such, then, is my
story and the cause of my loneliness." When I heard his history I marvelled and
said in my mind, "I am the Prince Ajib who hath done all this; but as Allah is
with me I will surely not slay him!" So said I to him, "O my lord, far from
thee be this hurt and harm and then, please Allah, thou shalt not suffer cark
nor care nor aught disquietude, for I will tarry with thee and serve thee as a
servant, and then wend my ways; and after having borne thee company during the
forty days, I will go with thee to thy home where thou shalt give me an escort
of some of thy Mamelukes with whom I may journey back to my own city; and the
Almighty shall requite thee for me." He was glad to hear these words, when I
rose and lighted a large wax candle and trimmed the ramps and the three
lanterns; and I set on meat and drink and sweetmeats. We ate and drank and sat
talking over various matters till the greater part of the night was gone; when
he lay down to rest and I covered him up and went to sleep myself. Next morning
I arose and warmed a little water, then lifted him gently so as to awake him
and brought him the warm water wherewith he washed his face[FN#269] and said to
me, "Heaven requite thee for me with every blessing, O youth! By Allah, if I
get quit of this danger and am saved from him whose name is Ajib bin Khazib, I
will make my father reward thee and send thee home healthy and wealthy; and, if
I die, then my blessing be upon thee." I answered, "May the day never dawn on
which evil shall betide thee; and may Allah make my last day before thy last
day!" Then I set before him somewhat of food and we ate; and I got ready
perfumes for fumigating the hall, wherewith he was pleased. Moreover I made him
a Mankalah-cloth;[FN#270] and we played and ate sweetmeats and we played again
and took our pleasure till nightfall, when I rose and lighted the lamps, and
set before him somewhat to eat, and sat telling him stories till the hours of
darkness were far spent. Then he lay down to rest and I covered him up and
rested also. And thus I continued to do, O my lady, for days and nights and
affection for him took root in my heart and my sorrow was eased, and I said to
myself, "The astrologers lied[FN#271] when they predicted that he should be
slain by Ajib bin Khazib: by Allah, I will not slay him." I ceased not
ministering to him and conversing and carousing with him and telling him all
manner tales for thirty nine days. On the fortieth night[FN#272] the youth
rejoiced and said, "O my brother, Alhamdo, lillah!—praise be to Allah—who hath
preserved me from death and this is by thy blessing and the blessing of thy
coming to me and I pray God that He restore thee to thy native land. But now, O
my brother, I would thou warm me some water for the Ghusl ablution and do thou
kindly bathe me and change my clothes." I replied, "With love and gladness;"
and I heated water in plenty and carrying it in to him washed his body all over
the washing of health,[FN#273] with meal of lupins[FN#274] and rubbed him well
and changed his clothes and spread him a high bed whereon he lay down to rest,
being drowsy after bathing. Then said he, "O my brother, cut me up a water
melon, and sweeten it with a little sugar candy."[FN#275] So I went to the
store room and bringing out a fine water melon I found there, set it on a
platter and laid it before him saying, "O my master hast thou not a knife?"
"Here it is," answered he, "over my head upon the high shelf." So I got up in
haste and taking the knife drew it from its sheath; but my foot slipped in
stepping down and I fell heavily upon the youth holding in my hand the knife
which hastened to fulfil what had been written on the Day that decided the
destinies of man, and buried itself, as if planted, in the youth's heart. He
died on the instant. When I saw that he was slain and knew that I had slain
him, maugre myself, I cried out with an exceeding loud and bitter cry and beat
my face and rent my raiment and said, &ldquo;Verily we be Allah's and unto Him
we be returning, O Moslems! O folk fain of Allah! there remained for this youth
but one day of the forty dangerous days which the astrologers and the learned
had foretold for him; and the predestined death of this beautiful one was to be
at my hand. Would Heaven I had not tried to cut the watermelon. What dire
misfortune is this I must bear lief or loath? What a disaster! What an
affliction! O Allah mine, I implore thy pardon and declare to Thee my innocence
of his death. But what God willeth let that come to pass.&rdquo;[FN#276]—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Sixteenth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ajib thus continued his
tale to the lady:—When I was certified that I had slain him, I arose and
ascending the stairs replaced the trapdoor and covered it with earth as
before. Then I looked out seawards and saw the ship cleaving the waters and
making for the island, wherefore I was afeard and said, "The moment they come
and see the youth done to death, they will know 'twas I who slew him and will
slay me without respite." So I climbed up into a high tree and concealed myself
among its leaves; and hardly had I done so when the ship anchored and the
slaves landed with the ancient man, the youth's father, and made direct for the
place and when they removed the earth they were surprised to see it
soft.[FN#277] Then they raised the trap door and went down and found the youth
lying at full length, clothed in fair new garments, with a face beaming after
the bath, and the knife deep in his heart. At the sight they shrieked and wept
and beat their faces, loudly cursing the murderer; whilst a swoon came over the
Shaykh so that the slaves deemed him dead, unable to survive his son. At last
they wrapped the slain youth in his clothes and carried him up and laid him on
the ground covering him with a shroud of silk. Whilst they were making for the
ship the old man revived; and, gazing on his son who was stretched out, fell on
the ground and strewed dust over his head and smote his face and plucked out
his beard; and his weeping redoubled as he thought of his murdered son and he
swooned away once more. After awhile a slave went and fetched a strip of silk
whereupon they lay the old man and sat down at his head. All this took place
and I was on the tree above them watching everything that came to pass; and my
heart became hoary before my head waxed grey, for the hard lot which was mine,
and for the distress and anguish I had undergone, and I fell to reciting:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"How many a joy by Allah's will hath fled * With flight escaping sight of
wisest head!<br/>
How many a sadness shall begin the day, * Yet grow right gladsome ere the day
is sped!<br/>
How many a weal trips on the heels of ill, * Causing the mourner's heart with
joy to thrill!"[FN#278]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
But the old man, O my lady, ceased not from his swoon till near sunset, when he
came to himself and, looking upon his dead son, he recalled what had happened,
and how what he had dreaded had come to pass; and he beat his face and head and
recited these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Racked is my heart by parting fro' my friends * And two rills ever fro' my
eyelids flow:<br/>
With them[FN#279] went forth my hopes, Ah, well away! * What shift remaineth me
to say or do?<br/>
Would I had never looked upon their sight, * What shift, fair sirs, when paths
e'er strainer grow?<br/>
What charm shall calm my pangs when this wise burn * Longings of love which in
my vitals glow?<br/>
Would I had trod with them the road of Death! * Ne'er had befel us twain this
parting blow:<br/>
Allah: I pray the Ruthful show me ruth * And mix our lives nor part them
evermo'e!<br/>
How blest were we as 'neath one roof we dwelt * Conjoined in joys nor recking
aught of woe;<br/>
Till Fortune shot us with the severance shaft; * Ah who shall patient bear such
parting throe?<br/>
And dart of Death struck down amid the tribe * The age's pearl that Morn saw
brightest show:<br/>
I cried the while his case took speech and said:—* Would Heaven, my son, Death
mote his doom foreslow!<br/>
Which be the readiest road wi' thee to meet * My Son! for whom I would my soul
bestow?<br/>
If sun I call him no! the sun doth set; * If moon I call him, wane the moons;
Ah no!<br/>
O sad mischance o' thee, O doom of days, * Thy place none other love shall ever
know:<br/>
Thy sire distracted sees thee, but despairs * By wit or wisdom Fate to
overthrow:<br/>
Some evil eye this day hath cast its spell * And foul befal him as it foul
befel!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then he sobbed a single sob and his soul fled his flesh. The slaves shrieked
aloud, "Alas, our lord!" and showered dust on their heads and redoubled their
weeping and wailing. Presently they carried their dead master to the ship side
by side with his dead son and, having transported all the stuff from the
dwelling to the vessel, set sail and disappeared from mine eyes. I descended
from the tree and, raising the trap-door, went down into the underground
dwelling where everything reminded me of the youth; and I looked upon the poor
remains of him and began repeating these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
&ldquo;Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang * And on deserted
hearths I weep and yearn:<br/>
And Him I pray who doomed them depart * Some day vouchsafe the boon of safe
return.&rdquo;[FN#280]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then, O my lady, I went up again by the trap-door, and every day I used to
wander round about the island and every night I returned to the underground
hall. Thus I lived for a month, till at last, looking at the western side of
the island, I observed that every day the tides ebbed, leaving shallow water
for which the flow did not compensate; and by the end of the month the sea
showed dry land in that direction. At this I rejoiced making certain of my
safety; so I arose and fording what little was left of the water got me to the
mainland, where I fell in with great heaps of loose sand in which even a
camel's hoof would sink up to the knee.[FN#281] However I emboldened my soul
and wading through the sand behold, a fire shone from afar burning with a
blazing light.[FN#282] So I made for it hoping haply to find succour, and broke
out into these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Belike my Fortune may her bridle turn * And Time bring weal although he's
jealous hight;<br/>
Forward my hopes, and further all my needs, * And passed ills with present
weals requite."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And when I drew near the fire aforesaid lo! it was a palace with gates of
copper burnished red which, when the rising sun shone thereon, gleamed and
glistened from afar showing what had seemed to me a fire. I rejoiced in the
sight, and sat down over against the gate, but I was hardly settled in my seat
before there met me ten young men clothed in sumptuous gear and all were blind
of the left eye which appeared as plucked out. They were accompanied by a
Shaykh, an old, old man, and much I marvelled at their appearance, and their
all being blind of the same eye. When they saw me, they saluted me with the
Salam and asked me of my case and my history; whereupon I related to them all
what had befallen me, and what full measure of misfortune was mine. Marvelling
at my tale they took me to the mansion, where I saw ranged round the hall ten
couches each with its blue bedding and coverlet of blue stuff[FN#283] and
amiddlemost stood a smaller couch furnished like them with blue and nothing
else. As we entered each of the youths took his seat on his own couch and the
old man seated himself upon the smaller one in the middle saying to me, "O
youth, sit thee down on the floor and ask not of our case nor of the loss of
our eyes." Presently he rose up and set before each young man some meat in a
charger and drink in a large mazer, treating me in like manner; and after that
they sat questioning me concerning my adventures and what had betided me: and I
kept telling them my tale till the night was far spent. Then said the young
men, "O our Shaykh, wilt not thou set before us our ordinary? The time is
come." He replied, "With love and gladness," and rose and entering a closet
disappeared, but presently returned bearing on his head ten trays each covered
with a strip of blue stuff. He set a tray before each youth and, lighting ten
wax candles, he stuck one upon each tray, and drew off the covers and lo! under
them was naught but ashes and powdered charcoal and kettle soot. Then all the
young men tucked up their sleeves to the elbows and fell a weeping and wailing
and they blackened their faces and smeared their clothes and buffetted their
brows and beat their breasts, continually exclaiming, "We were sitting at our
ease but our frowardness brought us unease! " They ceased not to do this till
dawn drew nigh, when the old man rose and heated water for them; and they
washed their faces, and donned other and clean clothes. Now when I saw this, O
my lady, for very wonderment my senses left me and my wits went wild and heart
and head were full of thought, till I forgot what had betided me and I could
not keep silence feeling I fain must speak out and question them of these
strangenesses; so I said to them, "How come ye to do this after we have been so
open hearted and frolicksome? Thanks be to Allah ye be all sound and sane, yet
actions such as these befit none but mad men or those possessed of an evil
spirit. I conjure you by all that is dearest to you, why stint ye to tell me
your history, and the cause of your losing your eyes and your blackening your
faces with ashes and soot?" Hereupon they turned to me and said, "O young man,
hearken not to thy youthtide's suggestions and question us no questions." Then
they slept and I with them and when they awoke the old man brought us somewhat
of food; and, after we had eaten and the plates and goblets had been removed,
they sat conversing till night fall when the old man rose and lit the wax
candles and lamps and set meat and drink before us. After we had eaten and
drunken we sat conversing and carousing in companionage till the noon of night,
when they said to the old man, "Bring us our ordinary, for the hour of sleep is
at hand!" So he rose and brought them the trays of soot and ashes; and they did
as they had done on the preceding night, nor more, nor less. I abode with them
after this fashion for the space of a month during which time they used to
blacken their faces with ashes every night, and to wash and change their
raiment when the morn was young; and I but marvelled the more and my scruples
and curiosity increased to such a point that I had to forego even food and
drink. At last, I lost command of myself, for my heart was aflame with fire
unquenchable and lowe unconcealable and I said, "O young men, will ye not
relieve my trouble and acquaint me with the reason of thus blackening your
faces and the meaning of your words:—We were sitting at our ease but our
frowardness brought us unease?" Quoth they "'Twere better to keep these things
secret." Still I was bewildered by their doings to the point of abstaining from
eating and drinking and, at last wholly losing patience, quoth I to them, There
is no help for it: ye must acquaint me with what is the reason of these
doings." They replied, "We kept our secret only for thy good: to gratify thee
will bring down evil upon thee and thou wilt become a monocular even as we
are." I repeated "There is no help for it and, if ye will not, let me leave you
and return to mine own people and be at rest from seeing these things, for the
proverb saith:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Better ye 'bide and I take my leave: * For what eye sees not heart shall never
grieve."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Thereupon they said to me, "Remember, O youth, that should ill befal thee we
will not again harbour thee nor suffer thee to abide amongst us;" and bringing
a ram they slaughtered it and skinned it. Lastly they gave me a knife saying,
"Take this skin and stretch thyself upon it and we will sew it around thee,
presently there shall come to thee a certain bird, hight Rukh,[FN#284] that
will catch thee up in his pounces and tower high in air and then set thee down
on a mountain. When thou feelest he is no longer flying, rip open the pelt with
this blade and come out of it; the bird will be scared and will fly away and
leave thee free. After this fare for half a day, and the march will place thee
at a palace wondrous fair to behold, towering high in air and builded of
Khalanj[FN#285], lign-aloes and sandal-wood, plated with red gold, and studded
with all manner emeralds and costly gems fit for seal rings. Enter it and thou
shalt win to thy wish for we have all entered that palace; and such is the
cause of our losing our eyes and of our blackening our faces. Were we now to
tell thee our stories it would take too long a time; for each and every of us
lost his left eye by an adventure of his own." I rejoiced at their words and
they did with me as they said; and the bird Rukh bore me off end set me down on
the mountain. Then I came out of the skin and walked on till I reached the
palace. The door stood open as I entered and found myself in a spacious and
goodly hall, wide exceedingly, even as a horse-course; and around it were an
hundred chambers with doors of sandal and aloes woods plated with red gold and
furnished with silver rings by way of knockers.[FN#286] At the head or upper
end[FN#287] of the hall I saw forty damsels, sumptuously dressed and ornamented
and one and all bright as moons; none could ever tire of gazing upon them and
all so lovely that the most ascetic devotee on seeing them would become their
slave and obey their will. When they saw me the whole bevy came up to me and
said "Welcome and well come and good cheer[FN#288] to thee, O our lord! This
whole month have we been expecting thee. Praised be Allah who hath sent us one
who is worthy of us, even as we are worthy of him!" Then they made me sit down
upon a high divan and said to me, "This day thou art our lord and master, and
we are thy servants and thy hand-maids, so order us as thou wilt." And I
marvelled at their case. Presently one of them arose and set meat before me and
I ate and they ate with me; whilst others warmed water and washed my hands and
feet and changed my clothes and others made ready sherbets and gave us to
drink; and all gathered around me being full of joy and gladness at my coming.
Then they sat down and conversed with me till nightfall, when five of them
arose and laid the trays and spread them with flowers and fragrant herbs and
fruits, fresh and dried, and confections in profusion. At last they brought out
a fine wine service with rich old wine; and we sat down to drink and some sang
songs and others played the lute and psaltery and recorders and other
instruments, and the bowl went merrily round. Hereupon such gladness possessed
me that I forgot the sorrows of the world one and all and said, "This is indeed
life; O sad that 'tis fleeting!" I enjoyed their company till the time came for
rest; and our heads were all warm with wine, when they said, "O our lord,
choose from amongst us her who shall be thy bed-fellow this night and not lie
with thee again till forty days be past." So I chose a girl fair of face and
perfect in shape, with eyes Kohl-edged by nature's hand;[FN#289] hair long and
jet black with slightly parted teeth[FN#290] and joining brows: 'twas as if she
were some limber graceful branchlet or the slender stalk of sweet basil to
amaze and to bewilder man's fancy, even as the poet said of such an one—
</p>

<p class="poem">
To even her with greeny bough were vain * Fool he who finds her beauties in the
roe:<br/>
When hath the roe those lively lovely limbs * Or honey dews those lips alone
bestow?<br/>
Those eyne, soul piercing eyne, which slay with love, * Which bind the victim
by their shafts laid low?<br/>
My heart to second childhood they beguiled * No wonder: love sick-man again is
child!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And I repeated to her the maker's words who said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"None other charms but thine shall greet mine eyes, * Nor other image can my
heart surprise:<br/>
Thy love, my lady, captives all my thoughts * And on that love I'll die and
I'll arise.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
So I lay with her that night; none fairer I ever knew; and, when it was
morning, the damsels carried me to the Hammam bath and bathed me and robed me
in fairest apparel. Then they served up food, and we ate and drank and the cup
went round till nightfall when I chose from among them one fair of form and
face, soft-sided and a model of grace, such an one as the poet described when
he said.—
</p>

<p class="poem">
On her fair bosom caskets twain I scanned, * Sealed fast with musk seals lovers
to withstand<br/>
With arrowy glances stand on guard her eyes, * Whose shafts would shoot who
dares put forth a hand.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
With her I spent a most goodly night; and, to be brief, O my mistress, I
remained with them in all solace and delight of life, eating and drinking,
conversing and carousing and every night lying with one or other of them. But
at the head of the new year they came to me in tears and bade me farewell,
weeping and crying out and clinging about me: whereat I wondered and said,
"What may be the matter? verily you break my heart!" They exclaimed, "Would
Heaven we had never known thee; for, though we have companied with many, yet
never saw we a pleasanter than thou or a more courteous." And they wept again.
"But tell me more clearly," asked I, "what causeth this weeping which maketh my
gall-bladder[FN#291] like to burst;" and they answered, "O our lord and master,
it is severance which maketh us weep; and thou, and thou only, art the cause of
our tears. If thou hearken to us we need never be parted and if thou hearken
not we part for ever; but our hearts tell us that thou wilt not listen to our
words and this is the cause of our tears and cries." "Tell me how the case
standeth?" "Know, O our lord, that we are the daughters of Kings who have met
here and have lived together for years; and once in every year we are perforce
absent for forty days; and afterwards we return and abide here for the rest of
the twelve month eating and drinking and taking our pleasure and enjoying
delights: we are about to depart according to our custom; and we fear lest
after we be gone thou contraire our charge and disobey our injunctions. Here
now we commit to thee the keys of the palace which containeth forty chambers
and thou mayest open of these thirty and nine, but beware (and we conjure thee
by Allah and by the lives of us!) lest thou open the fortieth door, for therein
is that which shall separate us for ever."[FN#292] Quoth I, "Assuredly I will
not open it, if it contain the cause of severance from you." Then one among
them came up to me and falling on my neck wept and recited these verses.—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"If Time unite us after absent while, * The world harsh frowning on our lot
shall smile<br/>
And if thy semblance deign adorn mine eyes,[FN#293] * I'll pardon Time past
wrongs and by gone guile."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And I recited the following:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"When drew she near to bid adieu with heart unstrung, * While care and longing
on that day her bosom wrung<br/>
Wet pearls she wept and mine like red carnelians rolled * And, joined in sad
rivière, around her neck they hung."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When I saw her weeping I said, "By Allah I will never open that fortieth door,
never and no wise!" and I bade her farewell. Thereupon all departed flying away
like birds; signalling with their hands farewells as they went and leaving me
alone in the palace. When evening drew near I opened the door of the first
chamber and entering it found myself in a place like one of the pleasaunces of
Paradise. It was a garden with trees of freshest green and ripe fruits of
yellow sheen; and its birds were singing clear and keen and rills ran wimpling
through the fair terrene. The sight and sounds brought solace to my sprite; and
I walked among the trees, and I smelt the breath of the flowers on the breeze;
and heard the birdies sing their melodies hymning the One, the Almighty in
sweetest litanies; and I looked upon the apple whose hue is parcel red and
parcel yellow; as said the poet:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Apple whose hue combines in union mellow * My fair's red cheek, her hapless
lover's yellow.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then I looked upon the quince, and inhaled its fragrance which putteth to shame
musk and ambergris, even as the poet hath said :
</p>

<p class="poem">
Quince every taste conjoins; in her are found * Gifts which for queen of fruits
the Quince have crowned<br/>
Her taste is wine, her scent the waft of musk; * Pure gold her hue, her shape
the Moon's fair round.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then I looked upon the pear whose taste surpasseth sherbet and sugar; and the
apricot[FN#294] whose beauty striketh the eye with admiration, as if she were a
polished ruby. Then I went out of the place and locked the door as it was
before. When it was the morrow I opened the second door; and entering found
myself in a spacious plain set with tall date palms and watered by a running
stream whose banks were shrubbed with bushes of rose and jasmine, while privet
and eglantine, oxe-eye, violet and lily, narcissus, origane and the winter
gilliflower carpeted the borders; and the breath of the breeze swept over these
sweet smelling growths diffusing their delicious odours right and left,
perfuming the world and filling my soul with delight. After taking my pleasure
there awhile I went from it and, having closed the door as it was before,
opened the third door wherein I saw a high open hall pargetted with
parti-coloured marbles and pietra dura of price and other precious stones, and
hung with cages of sandal-wood and eagle-wood; full of birds which made sweet
music, such as the Thousand voiced,[FN#295] and the cushat, the merle, the
turtle-dove and the Nubian ring dove. My heart was filled with pleasure
thereby; my grief was dispelled and I slept in that aviary till dawn. Then I
undocked the door of the fourth chamber and therein found a grand saloon with
forty smaller chambers giving upon it. All their doors stood open: so I entered
and found them full of pearls and jacinths and beryls and emeralds and corals
and car buncles, and all manner precious gems and jewels, such as tongue of man
may not describe. My thought was stunned at the sight and I said to myself,
"These be things methinks united which could not be found save in the
treasuries of a King of Kings, nor could the monarchs of the world have
collected the like of these!" And my heart dilated and my sorrows ceased,
"For," quoth I, "now verily am I the monarch of the age, since by Allah's grace
this enormous wealth is mine; and I have forty damsels under my hand nor is
there any to claim them save myself." Then I gave not over opening place after
place until nine and thirty days were passed and in that time I had entered
every chamber except that one whose door the Princesses had charged me not to
open. But my thoughts, O my mistress, ever ran on that forbidden
fortieth[FN#296] and Satan urged me to open it for my own undoing; nor had I
patience to forbear, albeit there wanted of the trysting time but a single day.
So I stood before the chamber aforesaid and, after a moment's hesitation,
opened the door which was plated with red gold, and entered. I was met by a
perfume whose like I had never before smelt; and so sharp and subtle was the
odour that it made my senses drunken as with strong wine, and I fell to the
ground in a fainting fit which lasted a full hour. When I came to myself I
strengthened my heart and, entering, found myself in a chamber whose floor was
bespread with saffron and blazing with light from branched candelabra of gold
and lamps fed with costly oils, which diffused the scent of musk and ambergris.
I saw there also two great censers each big as a mazer-bowl,[FN#297] flaming
with lign-aloes, nadd-perfume,[FN#298] ambergris and honied scents; and the
place was full of their fragrance. Presently, O my lady, I espied a noble
steed, black as the murks of night when murkiest, standing, ready saddled and
bridled (and his saddle was of red gold) before two mangers, one of clear
crystal wherein was husked sesame, and the other also of crystal containing
water of the rose scented with musk. When I saw this I marvelled and said to
myself, "Doubtless in this animal must be some wondrous mystery;" and Satan
cozened me, so I led him without the palace end mounted him, but he would not
stir from his place. So I hammered his sides with my heels, but he moved not,
and then I took the rein whip,[FN#299] and struck him withal. When he felt the
blow, he neighed a neigh with a sound like deafening thunder and, opening a
pair of wings[FN#300] flew up with me in the firmament of heaven far beyond the
eyesight of man. After a full hour of flight he descended and alighted on a
terrace roof and shaking me off his back lashed me on the face with his tail
and gouged out my left eye causing it roll along my cheek. Then he flew away. I
went down from the terrace and found myself again amongst the ten one eyed
youths sitting upon their ten couches with blue covers; and they cried out when
they saw me, "No welcome to thee, nor aught of good cheer! We all lived of
lives the happiest and we ate and drank of the best; upon brocades and cloths
of gold we took our rest and we slept with our heads on beauty's breast, but we
could not await one day to gain the delights of a year!" Quoth I, "Behold I
have become one like unto you and now I would have you bring me a tray full of
blackness, wherewith to blacken my face, and receive me into your society."
"No, by Allah," quoth they, "thou shalt not sojourn with us and now get thee
hence!" So they drove me away. Finding them reject me thus I foresaw that
matters would go hard with me, and I remembered the many miseries which Destiny
had written upon my forehead; and I fared forth from among them heavy hearted
and tearful eyed, repeating to myself these words, "I was sitting at mine ease
but my frowardness brought me to unease." Then I shaved beard and mustachios
and eye brows, renouncing the world, and wandered in Kalandar garb about
Allah's earth; and the Almighty decreed safety for me till I arrived at
Baghdad, which was on the evening of this very night. Here I met these two
other Kalandars standing bewildered; so I saluted them saying, "I am a
stranger!" and they answered, "And we likewise be strangers!" By the freak of
Fortune we were like to like, three Kalandars and three monoculars all blind of
the left eye. Such, O my lady, is the cause of the shearing of my beard and the
manner of my losing an eye. Said the lady to him, "Rub thy head and wend thy
ways;" but he answered, "By Allah, I will not go until I hear the stories of
these others." Then the lady, turning towards the Caliph and Ja'afar and
Masrur, said to them, "Do ye also give an account of yourselves, you men!"
Whereupon Ja'afar stood forth and told her what he had told the portress as
they were entering the house; and when she heard his story of their being
merchants and Mosul men who had outrun the watch, she said, "I grant you your
lives each for each sake, and now away with you all." So they all went out and
when they were in the street, quoth the Caliph to the Kalandars, "O company,
whither go ye now, seeing that the morning hath not yet dawned?" Quoth they,
"By Allah, O our lord, we know not where to go." "Come and pass the rest of the
night with us," said the Caliph and, turning to Ja'afar, "Take them home with
thee and tomorrow bring them to my presence that we may chronicle their
adventures." Ja'afar did as the Caliph bade him and the Commander of the
Faithful returned to his palace; but sleep gave no sign of visiting him that
night and he lay awake pondering the mishaps of the three Kalandar princes and
impatient to know the history of the ladies and the two black bitches. No
sooner had morning dawned than he went forth and sat upon the throne of his
sovereignty; and, turning to Ja'afar, after all his Grandees and Officers of
state were gathered together, he said, "Bring me the three ladies and the two
bitches and the three Kalandars." So Ja'afar fared forth and brought them all
before him (and the ladies were veiled); then the Minister turned to them and
said in the Caliph's name, "We pardon you your maltreatment of us and your want
of courtesy, in consideration of the kindness which forewent it, and for that
ye knew us not: now however I would have you to know that ye stand in presence
of the fifth[FN#301] of the sons of Abbas, Harun al-Rashid, brother of Caliph
Músá al-Hádi, son of Al-Mansúr; son of Mohammed the brother of Al-Saffáh bin
Mohammed who was first of the royal house. Speak ye therefore before him the
truth and the whole truth!" When the ladies heard Ja afar's words touching the
Commander of the Faithful, the eldest came forward and said, "O Prince of True
Believers, my story is one which, were it graven with needle-gravers upon the
eye corners were a warner for whoso would be warned and an example for whoso
can take profit from example."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Seventeenth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that she stood forth before
the Commander of the Faithful and began to tell
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap19"></a>The Eldest Lady&rsquo;s Tale.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Verily a strange tale is mine and 'tis this:—Yon two black bitches are my
eldest sisters by one mother and father; and these two others, she who beareth
upon her the signs of stripes and the third our procuratrix are my sisters by
another mother. When my father died, each took her share of the heritage and,
after a while my mother also deceased, leaving me and my sisters german three
thousand dinars; so each daughter received her portion of a thousand dinars and
I the same, albe the youngest. In due course of time my sisters married with
the usual festivities and lived with their husbands, who bought merchandise
with their wives monies and set out on their travels together. Thus they threw
me off. My brothers in law were absent with their wives five years, during
which period they spent all the money they had and, becoming bankrupt, deserted
my sisters in foreign parts amid stranger folk. After five years my eldest
sister returned to me in beggar's gear with her clothes in rags and
tatters[FN#302] and a dirty old mantilla;[FN#303] and truly she was in the
foulest and sorriest plight. At first sight I did not know my own sister; but
presently I recognised her and said "What state is this?" "O our sister," she
replied, "Words cannot undo the done; and the reed of Destiny hath run through
what Allah decreed." Then I sent her to the bath and dressed her in a suit of
mine own, and boiled for her a bouillon and brought her some good wine and said
to her, "O my sister, thou art the eldest, who still standest to us in the
stead of father and mother; and, as for the inheritance which came to me as to
you twain, Allah hath blessed it and prospered it to me with increase; and my
circumstances are easy, for I have made much money by spinning and cleaning
silk; and I and you will share my wealth alike." I entreated her with all
kindliness and she abode with me a whole year, during which our thoughts and
fancies were always full of our other sister. Shortly after she too came home
in yet fouler and sorrier plight than that of my eldest sister; and I dealt by
her still more honorably than I had done by the first, and each of them had a
share of my substance. After a time they said to me, 'O our sister, we desire
to marry again, for indeed we have not patience to drag on our days without
husbands and to lead the lives of widows bewitched;" and I replied, "O eyes of
me![FN#304] ye have hitherto seen scanty weal in wedlock, for now-a-days good
men and true are become rarities and curiosities; nor do I deem your projects
advisable, as ye have already made trial of matrimony and have failed." But
they would not accept my advice and married without my consent: nevertheless I
gave them outfit and dowries out of my money; and they fared forth with their
mates. In a mighty little time their husbands played them false and, taking
whatever they could lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch.
Thereupon they came to me ashamed and in abject case and made their excuses to
me, saying, Pardon our fault and be not wroth with us;[FN#305] for although
thou art younger in years yet art thou older in wit; henceforth we will never
make mention of marriage; so take us back as thy hand maidens that we may eat
our mouthful." Quoth I, "Welcome to you, O my sisters, there is naught dearer
to me than you." And I took them in and redoubled my kindness to them. We
ceased not to live after this loving fashion for a full year, when I resolved
to sell my wares abroad and first to fit me a conveyance for Bassorah; so I
equipped a large ship, and loaded her with merchandise and valuable goods for
traffic, and with provaunt and all needful for a voyage, and said to my
sisters, "Will ye abide at home whilst I travel, or would ye prefer to
accompany me on the voyage?" "We will travel with thee," answered they, "for we
cannot bear to be parted from thee." So I divided my monies into two parts, one
to accompany me and the other to be left in charge of a trusty person, for, as
I said to myself, "Haply some accident may happen to the ship and yet we remain
alive; in which case we shall find on our return what may stand us in good
stead." I took my two sisters and we went a voyaging some days and nights; but
the master was careless enough to miss his course, and the ship went astray
with us and entered a sea other than the sea we sought. For a time we knew
naught of this; and the wind blew fair for us ten days, after which the look
out man went aloft to see about him and cried, "Good news!" Then he came down
rejoicing and said, "I have seen what seemeth to be a city as 'twere a pigeon."
Hereat we rejoiced and, ere an hour of the day had passed, the buildings showed
plain in the offing and we asked the Captain, "What is the name of yonder
city?" and he answered By Allah I wot not, for I never saw it before and never
sailed these seas in my life: but, since our troubles have ended in safety,
remains for you only to land there with your merchandise and, if you find
selling profitable, sell and make your market of what is there; and if not, we
will rest here two days and provision ourselves and fare away." So we entered
the port and the Captain went up town and was absent awhile, after which he
returned to us and said, "Arise; go up into the city and marvel at the works of
Allah with His creatures and pray to be preserved from His righteous wrath!" So
we landed and going up into the city, saw at the gate men hending staves in
hand; but when we drew near them, behold, they had been translated[FN#306] by
the anger of Allah and had become stones. Then we entered the city and found
all who therein woned into black stones enstoned: not an inhabited house
appeared to the espier, nor was there a blower of fire.[FN#307] We were awe
struck at the sight and threaded the market streets where we found the goods
and gold and silver left lying in their places; and we were glad and said,
"Doubtless there is some mystery in all this." Then we dispersed about the
thorough-fares and each busied himself with collecting the wealth and money and
rich stuffs, taking scanty heed of friend or comrade. As for myself I went up
to the castle which was strongly fortified; and, entering the King's palace by
its gate of red gold, found all the vaiselle of gold and silver, and the King
himself seated in the midst of his Chamberlains and Nabobs and Emirs and
Wazirs; all clad in raiment which confounded man's art. I drew nearer and saw
him sitting on a throne incrusted and inlaid with pearls and gems; and his
robes were of gold-cloth adorned with jewels of every kind, each one flashing
like a star. Around him stood fifty Mamelukes, white slaves, clothed in silks
of divers sorts holding their drawn swords in their hands; but when I drew near
to them lo! all were black stones. My understanding was confounded at the
sight, but I walked on and entered the great hall of the Harim,[FN#308] whose
walls I found hung with tapestries of gold striped silk and spread with silken
carpets embroidered with golden cowers. Here I saw the Queen lying at full
length arrayed in robes purfled with fresh young[FN#309] pearls; on her head
was a diadem set with many sorts of gems each fit for a ring[FN#310] and around
her neck hung collars and necklaces. All her raiment and her ornaments were in
natural state but she had been turned into a black stone by Allah's wrath.
Presently I espied an open door for which I made straight and found leading to
it a flight of seven steps. So I walked up and came upon a place pargetted with
marble and spread and hung with gold-worked carpets and tapestry, amiddlemostof
which stood a throne of juniper wood inlaid with pearls and precious stones and
set with bosses of emeralds. In the further wall was an alcove whose curtains,
bestrung with pearls, were let down and I saw a light issuing therefrom; so I
drew near and perceived that the light came from a precious stone as big as an
ostrich egg, set at the upper end of the alcove upon a little chryselephantine
couch of ivory and gold; and this jewel, blazing like the sun, cast its rays
wide and side. The couch also was spread with all manner of silken stuffs
amazing the gazer with their richness and beauty. I marvelled much at all this,
especially when seeing in that place candles ready lighted; and I said in my
mind, "Needs must some one have lighted these candles." Then I went forth and
came to the kitchen and thence to the buttery and the King's treasure chambers;
and continued to explore the palace and to pace from place to place; I forgot
myself in my awe and marvel at these matters and I was drowned in thought till
the night came on. Then I would have gone forth, but knowing not the gate I
lost my way, so I returned to the alcove whither the lighted candles directed
me and sat down upon the couch; and wrapping myself in a coverlet, after I had
repeated somewhat from the Koran, I would have slept but could not, for
restlessness possessed me. When night was at its noon I heard a voice chanting
the Koran in sweetest accents; but the tone thereof was weak; so I rose, glad
to hear the silence broken, and followed the sound until I reached a closet
whose door stood ajar. Then peeping through a chink I considered the place and
lo! it was an oratory wherein was a prayer niche[FN#311] with two wax candles
burning and lamps hanging from the ceiling. In it too was spread a prayer
carpet whereupon sat a youth fair to see; and before him on its stand[FN#312]
was a copy of the Koran, from which he was reading. I marvelled to see him
alone alive amongst the people of the city and entering saluted him; whereupon
he raised his eyes and returned my salam. Quoth I, "Now by the Truth of what
thou readest in Allah's Holy Book, I conjure thee to answer my question." He
looked upon me with a smile and said, "O handmaid of Allah, first tell me the
cause of thy coming hither, and I in turn will tell what hath befallen both me
and the people of this city, and what was the reason of my escaping their
doom." So I told him my story whereat he wondered; and I questioned him of the
people of the city, when he replied, "Have patience with me for a while, O my
sister!" and, reverently closing the Holy Book, he laid it up in a satin bag.
Then he seated me by his side; and I looked at him and behold, he was as the
moon at its full, fair of face and rare of form, soft sided and slight, of well
proportioned height, and cheek smoothly bright and diffusing light; in brief a
sweet, a sugar stick,[FN#313]. even as saith the poet of the like of him in
these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
That night th' astrologer a scheme of planets drew, * And lo! a graceful shape
of youth appeared in view:<br/>
Saturn had stained his locks with Saturninest jet, * And spots of nut brown
musk on rosy side face blew:[FN#314]<br/>
Mars tinctured either cheek with tinct of martial red; * Sagittal shots from
eyelids Sagittarius threw:<br/>
Dowered him Mercury with bright mercurial wit; * Bore off the Bear[FN#315] what
all man's evil glances grew:<br/>
Amazed stood Astrophil to sight the marvel birth * When louted low the Moon at
full to buss the Earth.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And of a truth Allah the Most High had robed him in the raiment of perfect
grace and had purfled and fringed it with a cheek all beauty and loveliness,
even as the poet saith of such an one:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
By his eyelids shedding perfume and his fine slim waist I swear, * By the
shooting of his shafts barbed with sorcery passing rare;<br/>
By the softness of his sides,[FN#316] and glances' lingering light, * And brow
of dazzling day-tide ray and night within his hair;<br/>
By his eyebrows which deny to who look upon them rest, * Now bidding now
forbidding, ever dealing joy and care;<br/>
By the rose that decks his cheek, and the myrtle of its moss,[FN#317] * By
jacinths bedded in his lips and pearl his smile lays bare;<br/>
By his graceful bending neck and the curving of his breast, * Whose polished
surface beareth those granados, lovely pair;<br/>
By his heavy hips that quiver as he passeth in his pride, * Or he resteth with
that waist which is slim beyond compare;<br/>
By the satin of his skin, by that fine unsullied sprite; * By the beauty that
containeth all things bright and debonnair;<br/>
By that ever open hand; by the candour of his tongue; * By noble blood and high
degree whereof he's hope and heir;<br/>
Musk from him borrows muskiness she loveth to exhale * And all the airs of
ambergris through him perfume the air;<br/>
The sun, methinks, the broad bright sun, before my love would pale * And sans
his splendour would appear a paring of his nail.[FN#318]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
I glanced at him with one glance of eyes which caused me a thousand sighs; and
my heart was at once taken captive wise, so I asked him, "O my lord and my
love, tell me that whereof I questioned thee;" and he answered, "Hearing is
obeying! Know O handmaid of Allah, that this city was the capital of my father
who is the King thou sawest on the throne transfigured by Allah's wrath to a
black stone, and the Queen thou foundest in the alcove is my mother. They and
all the people of the city were Magians who fire adored in lieu of the
Omnipotent Lord[FN#319] and were wont to swear by lowe and heat and shade and
light and the spheres revolving day and night. My father had ne'er a son till
he was blest with me near the last of his days; and he reared me till I grew up
and prosperity anticipated me in all things. Now it so fortuned that there was
with us an old woman well stricken in years, a Moslemah who, inwardly believing
in Allah and His Apostle, conformed outwardly with the religion of my people;
and my father placed thorough confidence in her for that he knew her to be
trustworthy and virtuous; and he treated her with ever increasing kindness
believing her to be of his own belief. So when I was well nigh grown up my
father committed me to her charge saying:—Take him and educate him and teach
him the rules of our faith; let him have the best instructions and cease not
thy fostering care of him. So she took me and taught me the tenets of Al-Islam
with the divine ordinances[FN#320] of the Wuzu ablution and the five daily
prayers and she made me learn the Koran by rote, often repeating:—Serve none
save Allah Almighty! When I had mastered this much of knowledge she said to
me:—O my son, keep this matter concealed from thy sire and reveal naught to him
lest he slay thee. So I hid it from him and I abode on this wise for a term of
days when the old woman died, and the people of the city redoubled in their
impiety[FN#321] and arrogance and the error of their ways. One day, while they
were as wont, behold, they heard a loud and terrible sound and a crier crying
out with a voice like roaring thunder so every ear could hear, far and near, "O
folk of this city, leave ye your fire worshipping and adore Allah the
All-compassionate King!" At this, fear and terror fell upon the citizens and
they crowded to my father (he being King of the city) and asked him, "What is
this awesome voice we have heard, for it hath confounded us with the excess of
its terror?" and he answered, "Let not a voice fright you nor shake your
steadfast sprite nor turn you back from the faith which is right." Their hearts
inclined to his words and they ceased not to worship the fire and they
persisted in rebellion for a full year from the time they heard the first
voice; and on the anniversary came a second cry, and a third at the head of the
third year, each year once Still they persisted in their malpractises till one
day at break of dawn, judgment and the wrath of Heaven descended upon them with
all suddenness, and by the visitation of Allah all were metamorphosed into
black stones,[FN#322] they and their beasts and their cattle; and none was
saved save myself who at the time was engaged in my devotions. From that day to
this I am in the case thou seest, constant in prayer and fasting and reading
and reciting the Koran; but I am indeed grown weary by reason of my loneliness,
having none to bear me company." Then said I to him (for in very sooth he had
won my heart and was the lord of my life and soul), "O youth, wilt thou fare
with me to Baghdad city and visit the Olema and men learned in the law and
doctors of divinity and get thee increase of wisdom and understanding and
theology? And know that she who standeth in thy presence will be thy handmaid,
albeit she be head of her family and mistress over men and eunuchs and servants
and slaves Indeed my life was no life before it fell in with thy youth. I have
here a ship laden with merchandise; and in very truth Destiny drove me to this
city that I might come to the knowledge of these matters, for it was fated that
we should meet." And I ceased not to persuade him and speak him fair and use
every art till he consented.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Eighteenth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lady ceased not
persuading with soft speech the youth to depart with her till he consented and
said "Yes." She slept that night lying at his feet and hardly knowing where she
was for excess of joy. As soon as the next morning dawned (she pursued,
addressing the Caliph), I arose and we entered the treasuries and took thence
whatever was light in weight and great in worth; then we went down side by side
from the castle to the city, where we were met by the Captain and my sisters
and slaves who had been seeking for me. When they saw me they rejoiced and
asked what had stayed me, and I told them all I had seen and related to them
the story of the young Prince and the transformation wherewith the citizens had
been justly visited. Hereat all marvelled, but when my two sisters (these two
bitches, O Commander of the Faithful!) saw me by the side of my young lover
they jaloused me on his account and were wroth and plotted mischief against me.
We awaited a fair wind and went on board rejoicing and ready to fly for joy by
reason of the goods we had gotten, but my own greatest joyance was in the
youth; and we waited awhile till the wind blew fair for us and then we set sail
and fared forth. Now as we sat talking, my sisters asked me, "And what wilt
thou do with this handsome young man?"; and I answered, "I purpose to make him
my husband!" Then I turned to him and said, "O my lord, I have that to propose
to thee wherein thou must not cross me; and this it is that, when we reach
Baghdad, my native city, I offer thee my life as thy handmaiden in holy
matrimony, and thou shalt be to me baron and I will be femme to thee." He
answered, "I hear and I obey!; thou art my lady and my mistress and whatso thou
doest I will not gainsay." Then I turned to my sisters and said, "This is my
gain; I content me with this youth and those who have gotten aught of my
property let them keep it as their gain with my good will." "Thou sayest and
doest well," answered the twain, but they imagined mischief against me. We
ceased not spooning before a fair wind till we had exchanged the sea of peril
for the seas of safety and, in a few days, we made Bassorah city, whose
buildings loomed clear before us as evening fell. But after we had retired to
rest and were sound alseep, my two sisters arose and took me up, bed and all,
and threw me into the sea: they did the same with the young Prince who, as he
could not swim, sank and was drowned and Allah enrolled him in the noble army
of Martyrs.[FN#323] As for me would Heaven I had been drowned with him, but
Allah deemed that I should be of the saved; so when I awoke and found myself in
the sea and saw the ship making off like a dash of lightning, He threw in my
way a piece of timber which I bestrided, and the waves tossed me to and fro
till they cast me upon an island coast, a high land and an uninhabited. I
landed and walked about the island the rest of the night and, when morning
dawned, I saw a rough track barely fit for child of Adam to tread, leading to
what proved a shallow ford connecting island and mainland. As soon as the sun
had risen I spread my garments to dry in its rays; and ate of the fruits of the
island and drank of its waters; then I set out along the foot track and ceased
not walking till I reached the mainland. Now when there remained between me and
the city but a two hours' journey behold, a great serpent, the bigness of a
date palm, came fleeing towards me in all haste, gliding along now to the right
then to the left till she was close upon me, whilst her tongue lolled ground
wards a span long and swept the dust as she went. She was pursued by a
Dragon[FN#324] who was not longer than two lances, and of slender build about
the bulk of a spear and, although her terror lent her speed, and she kept
wriggling from side to side, he overtook her and seized her by the tail,
whereat her tears streamed down and her tongue was thrust out in her agony. I
took pity on her and, picking up a stone and calling upon Allah for aid, threw
it at the Dragon's head with such force that he died then and there; and the
serpent opening a pair of wings flew into the lift and disappeared from before
my eyes. I sat down marvelling over that adventure, but I was weary and,
drowsiness overcoming me, I slept where I was for a while. When I awoke I found
a jet black damsel sitting at my feet shampooing them; and by her side stood
two black bitches (my sisters, O Commander of the Faithful!). I was ashamed
before her[FN#325] and, sitting up, asked her, "O my sister, who and what art
thou?"; and she answered, "How soon hast thou forgotten me! I am she for whom
thou wroughtest a good deed and sowedest the seed of gratitude and slewest her
foe; for I am the serpent whom by Allah's aidance thou didst just now deliver
from the Dragon. I am a Jinniyah and he was a Jinn who hated me, and none saved
my life from him save thou. As soon as thou freedest me from him I flew on the
wind to the ship whence thy sisters threw thee, and removed all that was
therein to thy house. Then I ordered my attendant Marids to sink the ship and I
transformed thy two sisters into these black bitches; for I know all that hath
passed between them and thee; but as for the youth, of a truth he is drowned."
So saying, she flew up with me and the bitches, and presently set us down on
the terrace roof of my house, wherein I found ready stored the whole of what
property was in my ship, nor was aught of it missing. "Now (continued the
serpent that was), I swear by all engraven on the seal-ring of Solomon[FN#326]
(with whom be peace!) unless thou deal to each of these bitches three hundred
stripes every day I will come and imprison thee forever under the earth." I
answered, "Hearkening and obedience!"; and away she flew. But before going she
again charged me saying, "I again swear by Him who made the two seas
flow[FN#327] (and this be my second oath) if thou gainsay me I will come and
transform thee like thy sisters." Since then I have never failed, O Commander
of the Faithful, to beat them with that number of blows till their blood flows
with my tears, I pitying them the while, and well they wot that their being
scourged is no fault of mine and they accept my excuses. And this is my tale
and my history! The Caliph marvelled at her adventures and then signed to
Ja'afar who said to the second lady, the Portress, "And thou, how camest thou
by the welts and wheals upon thy body?" So she began the
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap20"></a>Tale of the Portress.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that I had a father who, after fulfilling
his time, deceased and left me great store of wealth. I remained single for a
short time and presently married one of the richest of his day. I abode with
him a year when he also died, and my share of his property amounted to eighty
thousand dinars in gold according to the holy law of inheritance.[FN#328] Thus
I became passing rich and my reputation spread far and wide, for I had made me
ten changes of raiment, each worth a thousand dinars One day as I was sitting
at home, behold, there came in to me an old woman[FN#329] with lantern jaws and
cheeks sucked in, and eyes rucked up, and eyebrows scant and scald, and head
bare and bald; and teeth broken by time and mauled, and back bending and neck
nape nodding, and face blotched, and rheum running, and hair like a snake black
and white speckled, in complexion a very fright, even as saith the poet of the
like of her:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Ill-omened hag! unshriven be her sins * Nor mercy visit her on dying bed:<br/>
Thousand head strongest he mules would her guiles, * Despite their bolting lead
with spider thread.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And as saith another:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
A hag to whom th' unlawful lawfullest * And witchcraft wisdom in her sight are
grown:<br/>
A mischief making brat, a demon maid, * A whorish woman and a pimping
crone.[FN#330]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the old woman entered she salamed to me and kissing the ground before me,
said, "I have at home an orphan daughter and this night are her wedding and her
displaying.[FN#331] We be poor folks and strangers in this city knowing none
inhabitant and we are broken hearted. So do thou earn for thyself a recompense
and a reward in Heaven by being present at her displaying and, when the ladies
of this city shall hear that thou art to make act of presence, they also will
present themselves; so shalt thou comfort her affliction, for she is sore
bruised in spirit and she hath none to look to save Allah the Most High." Then
she wept and kissed my feet reciting these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Thy presence bringeth us a grace * We own before thy winsome face:<br/>
And wert thou absent ne'er an one * Could stand in stead or take thy place."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
So pity get hold on me and compassion and I said, "Hearing is consenting and,
please Allah, I will do somewhat more for her; nor shall she be shown to her
bridegroom save in my raiment and ornaments and jewelry." At this the old woman
rejoiced and bowed her head to my feet and kissed them, saying, "Allah requite
thee weal, and comfort thy heart even as thou hast comforted mine! But, O my
lady, do not trouble thyself to do me this service at this hour; be thou ready
by supper time,[FN#332] when I will come and fetch thee." So saying she kissed
my hand and went her ways. I set about stringing my pearls and donning my
brocades and making my toilette. Little recking what Fortune had in womb for
me, when suddenly the old woman stood before me, simpering and smiling till she
showed every tooth stump, and quoth she, "O my mistress, the city madams have
arrived and when I apprized them that thou promisedst to be present, they were
glad and they are now awaiting thee and looking eagerly for thy coming and for
the honour of meeting thee." So I threw on my mantilla and, making the old
crone walk before me and my handmaidens behind me, I fared till we came to a
street well watered and swept neat, where the winnowing breeze blew cool and
sweet. Here we were stopped by a gate arched over with a dome of marble stone
firmly seated on solidest foundation, and leading to a Palace whose walls from
earth rose tall and proud, and whose pinnacle was crowned by the
clouds,[FN#333] and over the doorway were writ these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
I am the wone where Mirth shall ever smile; * The home of Joyance through my
lasting while:<br/>
And 'mid my court a fountain jets and flows, * Nor tears nor troubles shall
that fount defile:<br/>
The marge with royal Nu'uman's[FN#334] bloom is dight, * Myrtle,
Narcissus-flower and Chamomile.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Arrived at the gate, before which hung a black curtain, the old woman knocked
and it was opened to us; when we entered and found a vestibule spread with
carpets and hung around with lamps all alight and wax candles in candelabra
adorned with pendants of precious gems and noble ores. We passed on through
this passage till we entered a saloon, whose like for grandeur and beauty is
not to be found in this world. It was hung and carpeted with silken stuffs, and
was illuminated with branches sconces and tapers ranged in double row, an
avenue abutting on the upper or noble end of the saloon, where stood a couch of
juniper wood encrusted with pearls and gems and surmounted by a baldaquin with
mosquito curtains of satin looped up with margaritas. And hardly had we taken
note of this when there came forth from the baldaquin a young lady and I
looked, O Commander of the Faithful, upon a face and form more perfect than the
moon when fullest, with a favour brighter than the dawn gleaming with
saffron-hued light, even as the poet sang when he said—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Thou pacest the palace a marvel sight, * A bride for a Kisra's or Kaisar's
night!<br/>
Wantons the rose on thy roseate cheek, * O cheek as the blood of the
dragon[FN#335] bright!<br/>
Slim waisted, languorous, sleepy eyed, * With charms which promise all
love-delight:<br/>
And the tire which attires thy tiara'd brow * Is a night of woe on a morn's
glad light.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The fair young girl came down from the estrade and said to me, "Welcome and
well come and good cheer to my sister, the dearly beloved, the illustrious, and
a thousand greetings!" Then she recited these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"An but the house could know who cometh 'twould rejoice, * And kiss the very
dust whereon thy foot was placed<br/>
And with the tongue of circumstance the walls would say, * "Welcome and hail to
one with generous gifts engraced!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then sat she down and said to me, "O my sister, I have a brother who hath had
sight of thee at sundry wedding feasts and festive seasons: he is a youth
handsomer than I, and he hath fallen desperately in love with thee, for that
bounteous Destiny hath garnered in thee all beauty and perfection; and he hath
given silver to this old woman that she might visit thee; and she hath
contrived on this wise to foregather us twain. He hath heard that thou art one
of the nobles of thy tribe nor is he aught less in his; and, being desirous to
ally his lot with thy lot, he hath practised this device to bring me in company
with thee; for he is fain to marry thee after the ordinance of Allah and his
Apostle; and in what is lawful and right there is no shame." When I heard these
words and saw myself fairly entrapped in the house, I said, "Hearing is
consenting." She was delighted at this and clapped her hands;[FN#336] whereupon
a door opened and out of it came a young man blooming in the prime of life,
exquisitely dressed, a model of beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect
grace, with gentle winning manners and eyebrows like a bended bow and shaft on
cord, and eyes which bewitched all hearts with sorcery lawful in the sight of
the Lord; even as saith some rhymer describing the like of him:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
His face as the face of the young moon shines * And Fortune stamps him with
pearls for signs.[FN#337]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And Allah favour him who said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Blest be his beauty; blest the Lord's decree * Who cast and shaped a thing so
bright of blee:<br/>
All gifts of beauty he conjoins in one; * Lost in his love is all
humanity;<br/>
For Beauty's self inscribed on his brow * "I testify there be no Good but
he!"[FN#338]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When I looked at him my heart inclined to him and I loved him; and he sat by my
side and talked with me a while, when the young lady again clapped her hands
and behold, a side door opened and out of it came the Kazi with his four
assessors as witnesses; and they saluted us and, sitting down, drew up and
wrote out the marriage contract between me and the youth and retired. Then he
turned to me and said, "Be our night blessed," presently adding, "O my lady, I
have a condition to lay on thee." Quoth I, "O my lord, what is that?" Whereupon
he arose and fetching a copy of the Holy Book presented it to me saying "Swear
hereon thou wilt never look at any other than myself nor incline thy body or
thy heart to him." I swore readily enough to this and he joyed with exceeding
joy and embraced me round the neck while love for him possessed my whole heart.
Then they set the table[FN#339] before us and we ate and drank till we were
satisfied, but I was dying for the coming of the night. And when night did come
he led me to the bride chamber and slept with me on the bed and continued to
kiss and embrace me till the morning—such a night I had never seen in my
dreams. I lived with him a life of happiness and delight for a full month, at
the end of which I asked his leave[FN#340] to go on foot to the bazar and buy
me certain especial stuffs and he gave me permission. So I donned my mantilla
and, taking with me the old woman and a slave-girl,[FN#341] I went to the khan
of the silk-mercers, where I seated myself in the shop front of a young
merchant whom the old woman recommended, saying to me, "This youth's father
died when he was a boy and left him great store of wealth: he hath by him a
mighty fine[FN#342] stock of goods and thou wilt find what thou seekest with
him, for none in the bazar hath better stuffs than he. Then she said to him,
"Show this lady the most costly stuffs thou hast by thee;" and he replied,
"Hearkening and obedience!" Then she whispered me, "Say a civil word to him!";
but I replied, "I am pledged to address no man save my lord. And as she began
to sound his praise I said sharply to her, We want nought of thy sweet
speeches; our wish is to buy of him whatsoever we need, and return home." So he
brought me all I sought and I offered him his money, but he refused to take it
saying, "Let it be a gift offered to my guest this day!" Then quoth I to the
old woman, "If he will not take the money, give him back his stuff." "By
Allah," cried he, "not a thing will I take from thee: I sell it not for gold or
for silver, but I give it all as a gift for a single kiss; a kiss more precious
to me than everything the shop containeth." Asked the old woman, "What will the
kiss profit thee?"; and, turning to me, whispered, "O my daughter, thou hearest
what this young fellow saith? What harm will it do thee if he get a kiss from
thee and thou gettest what thou seekest at that price?" Replied I, &ldquo;I
take refuge with Allah from such action! Knowest thou not that I am bound by an
oath?&rdquo;[FN#343] But she answered, "Now whist! just let him kiss thee and
neither speak to him nor lean over him, so shalt thou keep thine oath and thy
silver, and no harm whatever shall befal thee." And she ceased not to persuade
me and importune me and make light of the matter till evil entered into my mind
and I put my head in the poke[FN#344] and, declaring I would ne'er consent,
consented. So I veiled my eyes and held up the edge of my mantilla between me
and the people passing and he put his mouth to my cheek under the veil. But
while kissing me he bit me so hard a bite that it tore the flesh from my
cheek,[FN#345] and blood flowed fast and faintness came over me. The old woman
caught me in her arms and, when I came to myself, I found the shop shut up and
her sorrowing over me and saying, "Thank Allah for averting which might have
been worse!" Then she said to me, "Come, take heart and let us go home before
the matter become public and thou be dishonoured. And when thou art safe inside
the house feign sickness and lie down and cover thyself up; and I will bring
thee powders and plasters to cure this bite withal, and thy wound will be
healed at the latest in three days." So after a while I arose and I was in
extreme distress and terror came full upon me; but I went on little by little
till I reached the house when I pleaded illness and lay me down. When it was
night my husband came in to me and said, "What hath befallen thee, O my
darling, in this excursion of thine?"; and I replied, "I am not well: my head
acheth badly." Then he lighted a candle and drew near me and looked hard at me
and asked, "What is that wound I see on thy cheek and in the tenderest part
too?" And I answered, When I went out to day with thy leave to buy stuffs, a
camel laden with firewood jostled me and one of the pieces tore my veil and
wounded my cheek as thou seest; for indeed the ways of this city are strait."
"Tomorrow," cried he, "I will go complain to the Governor, so shall he gibbet
every fuel seller in Baghdad." "Allah upon thee," said I, "burden not thy soul
with such sin against any man. The fact is I was riding on an ass and it
stumbled, throwing me to the ground; and my cheek lighted upon a stick or a bit
of glass and got this wound." "Then," said he, "tomorrow I will go up to
Ja'afar the Barmaki and tell him the story, so shall he kill every donkey boy
in Baghdad." "Wouldst thou destroy all these men because of my wound," said I,
"when this which befel me was by decree of Allah and His destiny?" But he
answered, "There is no help for it;" and, springing to his feet, plied me with
words and pressed me till I was perplexed and frightened; and I stuttered and
stammered and my speech waxed thick and I said, "This is a mere accident by
decree of Allah." Then, O Commander of the Faithful, he guessed my case and
said, "Thou hast been false to thine oath." He at once cried out with a loud
cry, whereupon a door opened and in came seven black slaves whom he commanded
to drag me from my bed and throw me down in the middle of the room.
Furthermore, he ordered one of them to pinion my elbows and squat upon my head;
and a second to sit upon my knees and secure my feet; and drawing his sword he
gave it to a third and said, "Strike her, O Sa'ad, and cut her in twain and let
each one take half and cast it into the Tigris[FN#346] that the fish may eat
her; for such is the retribution due to those who violate their vows and are
unfaithful to their love." And he redoubled in wrath and recited these
couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"An there be one who shares with me her love, * I'd strangle Love tho' life by
Love were slain<br/>
Saying, O Soul, Death were the nobler choice, * For ill is Love when shared
'twixt partners twain."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then he repeated to the slave, "Smite her, O Sa'ad!" And when the slave who was
sitting upon me made sure of the command he bent down to me and said, "O my
mistress, repeat the profession of Faith and bethink thee if there be any thing
thou wouldst have done; for verily this is the last hour of thy life." "O good
slave," said I, "wait but a little while and get off my head that I may charge
thee with my last injunctions." Then I raised my head and saw the state I was
in, how I had fallen from high degree into lowest disgrace; and into death
after life (and such life!) and how I had brought my punishment on myself by my
own sin; where upon the tears streamed from mine eyes and I wept with exceed
ing weeping. But he looked on me with eyes of wrath, and began repeating:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Tell her who turneth from our love to work it injury sore, * And taketh her a
fine new love the old love tossing o'er:<br/>
We cry enough o' thee ere thou enough of us shalt cry! * What past between us
doth suffice and haply something more."[FN#347]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I wept and looked at him and
began repeating these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"To severance you doom my love and all unmoved remain; * My tear sore lids you
sleepless make and sleep while I complain:<br/>
You make firm friendship reign between mine eyes and insomny; * Yet can my
heart forget you not, nor tears can I restrain:<br/>
You made me swear with many an oath my troth to hold for aye; * But when you
reigned my bosom's lord you wrought me traitor bane:<br/>
I loved you like a silly child who wots not what is Love; * Then spare the
learner, let her not be by the master slain!<br/>
By Allah's name I pray you write, when I am dead and gone, * Upon my tomb, This
died of Love whose senses Love had ta'en:<br/>
Then haply one shall pass that way who fire of Love hath felt, * And treading
on a lover's heart with ruth and woe shall melt."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When I ended my verses tears came again; but the poetry and the weeping only
added fury to his fury, and he recited:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"'Twas not satiety bade me leave the dearling of my soul, * But that she sinned
a mortal sin which clipt me in its clip:<br/>
She sought to let another share the love between us twain, * But my True Faith
of Unity refuseth partnership."[FN#348]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When he ceased reciting I wept again and prayed his pardon and humbled myself
before him and spoke him softly, saying to myself, "I will work on him with
words; so haply he will refrain from slaying me, even though he take all I
have." So I complained of my sufferings and began to repeat these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Now, by thy life and wert thou just my life thou hadst not ta'en, * But who
can break the severance law which parteth lovers twain!<br/>
Thou loadest me with heavy weight of longing love, when I * Can hardly bear my
chemisette for weakness and for pain:<br/>
I marvel not to see my life and soul in ruin lain: * I marvel much to see my
frame such severance pangs sustain."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When I ended my verse I wept again; and he looked at me and reviled me in
abusive language,[FN#349] repeating these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Thou wast all taken up with love of other man, not me; * 'Twas thine to show
me severance face, &rsquo;twas only mine to see:<br/>
I'll leave thee for that first thou wast of me to take thy leave * And patient
bear that parting blow thou borest so patiently:<br/>
E'en as thou soughtest other love, so other love I'll seek, * And make the
crime of murdering love thine own atrocity."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When he had ended his verses he again cried out to the slave, "Cut her in half
and free us from her, for we have no profit of her. So the slave drew near me,
O Commander of the Faithful and I ceased bandying verses and made sure of death
and, despairing of life, committed my affairs to Almighty Allah, when behold,
the old woman rushed in and threw herself at my husband's feet and kissed them
and wept and said, "O my son, by the rights of my fosterage and by my long
service to thee, I conjure thee pardon this young lady, for indeed she hath
done nothing deserving such doom. Thou art a very young man and I fear lest her
death be laid at thy door; for it is said:—Whoso slayeth shall be slain. As for
this wanton (since thou deemest her such) drive her out from thy doors, from
thy love and from thy heart." And she ceased not to weep and importune him till
he relented and said, 'I pardon her, but needs must I set on her my mark which
shall show upon her all her life." Then he bade the slaves drag me along the
ground and lay me out at full length, after stripping me of all my
clothes;[FN#350] and when the slaves had so sat upon me that I could not move,
he fetched in a rod of quince tree and came down with it upon my body, and
continued beating me on the back and sides till I lost consciousness from
excess of pain, and I despaired of life. Then he commanded the slaves to take
me away as soon as it was dark, together with the old woman to show them the
way and throw me upon the floor of the house wherein I dwelt before my
marriage. They did their lord's bidding and cast me down in my old home and
went their ways. I did not revive from my swoon till dawn appeared, when I
applied myself to the dressing of my wounds with ointments and other
medicaments; and I medicined myself, but my sides and ribs still showed signs
of the rod as thou hast seen. I lay in weakly case and confined to my bed for
four months before I was able to rise and health returned to me. At the end of
that time I went to the house where all this had happened and found it a ruin;
the street had been pulled down endlong and rubbish heaps rose where the
building erst was; nor could I learn how this had come about. Then I betook
myself to this my sister on my father's side and found her with these two black
bitches. I saluted her and told her what had betided me and the whole of my
story and she said, "O my sister, who is safe from the despite of Time and
secure? Thanks be to Allah who has brought thee off safely;" and she began to
say:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Such is the World, so bear a patient heart * When riches leave thee and when
friends depart!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then she told me her own story, and what had happened to her with her two
sisters and how matters had ended; so we abode together and the subject of
marriage was never on our tongues for all these years. After a while we were
joined by our other sister, the procuratrix, who goeth out every morning and
buyeth all we require for the day and night; and we continued in such condition
till this last night. In the morning our sister went out, as usual, to make her
market and then befel us what befel from bringing the Porter into the house and
admitting these three Kalandar men.
</p>

<a name="chap21"></a>

<p>
We entreated them kindly and honourably and a quarter of the night had not
passed ere three grave and respectable merchants from Mosul joined us and told
us their adventures. We sat talking with them but on one condition which they
violated, whereupon we treated them as sorted with their breach of promise, and
made them repeat the account they had given of themselves. They did our bidding
and we forgave their offence; so they departed from us and this morning we were
unexpectedly summoned to thy presence. And such is our story! The Caliph
wondered at her words and bade the tale be recorded and chronicled and laid up
in his muniment-chambers.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Nineteenth Night,
</p>

<p>
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph commanded
this story and those of the sister and the Kalandars to be recorded in the
archives and be set in the royal muniment-chambers. Then he asked the eldest
lady, the mistress of the house, "Knowest thou the whereabouts of the Ifritah
who spelled thy sisters?"; and she answered, "O Commander of the Faithful, she
gave me a ringlet of her hair saying: —Whenas thou wouldest see me, burn a
couple of these hairs and I will be with thee forthright, even though I were
beyond Caucasus-mountain." Quoth the Caliph, "Bring me hither the hair." So she
brought it and he threw the whole lock upon the fire. As soon as the odour of
the burning hair dispread itself, the palace shook and trembled, and all
present heard a rumbling and rolling of thunder and a noise as of wings and lo!
the Jinniyah who had been a serpent stood in the Caliph's presence. Now she was
a Moslemah, so she saluted him and said, "Peace be with thee O Vicar[FN#351] of
Allah;" whereto he replied, "And with thee also be peace and the mercy of Allah
and His blessing." Then she continued, "Know that this damsel sowed for me the
seed of kindness, wherefor I cannot enough requite her, in that she delivered
me from death and destroyed mine enemy. Now I had seen how her sisters dealt
with her and felt myself bound to avenge her on them. At first I was minded to
slay them, but I feared it would be grievous to her, so I transformed them to
bitches; but if thou desire their release, O Commander of the Faithful, I will
release them to pleasure thee and her for I am of the Moslems." Quoth the
Caliph, "Release them and after we will look into the affair of the beaten lady
and consider her case carefully; and if the truth of her story be evidenced I
will exact retaliation[FN#352] from him who wronged her." Said the Ifritah, "O
Commander of the Faithful, I will forthwith release them and will discover to
thee the man who did that deed by this lady and wronged her and took her
property, and he is the nearest of all men to thee!" So saying she took a cup
of water and muttered a spell over it and uttered words there was no
understanding; then she sprinkled some of the water over the faces of the two
bitches, saying, "Return to your former human shape!" whereupon they were
restored to their natural forms and fell to praising their Creator. Then said
the Ifritah, "O Commander of the Faithful, of a truth he who scourged this lady
with rods is thy son Al-Amin brother of Al-Maamun ;[FN#353] for he had heard of
her beauty and love liness and he played a lover's stratagem with her and
married her according to the law and committed the crime (such as it is) of
scourging her. Yet indeed he is not to be blamed for beating her, for he laid a
condition on her and swore her by a solemn oath not to do a certain thing;
however, she was false to her vow and he was minded to put her to death, but he
feared Almighty Allah and contented himself with scourging her, as thou hast
seen, and with sending her back to her own place. Such is the story of the
second lady and the Lord knoweth all." When the Caliph heard these words of the
Ifritah, and knew who had beaten the damsel, he marvelled with mighty marvel
and said, "Praise be to Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, who hath shown his
exceeding mercy towards me, enabling me to deliver these two damsels from
sorcery and torture, and vouchsafing to let me know the secret of this lady's
history! And now by Allah, we will do a deed which shall be recorded of us
after we are no more." Then he summoned his son Al-Amin and questioned him of
the story of the second lady, the portress; and he told it in the face of
truth; whereupon the Caliph bade call into presence the Kazis and their
witnesses and the three Kalandars and the first lady with her sisters german
who had been ensorcelled; and he married the three to the three Kalandars whom
he knew to be princes and sons of Kings and he appointed them chamberlains
about his person, assigning to them stipends and allowances and all that they
required, and lodging them in his palace at Baghdad. He returned the beaten
lady to his son, Al-Amin, renewing the marriage contract between them and gave
her great wealth and bade rebuild the house fairer than it was before. As for
himself he took to wife the procuratrix and lay with her that night: and next
day he set apart for her an apartment in his Serraglio, with handmaidens for
her service and a fixed daily allowance. And the people marvelled at their
Caliph's generosity and natural beneficence and princely widsom; nor did he
forget to send all these histories to be recorded in his annals. When Shahrazad
ceased speaking Dunyazad exclaimed, "O my own sister, by Allah in very sooth
this is a right pleasant tale and a delectable; never was heard the like of it,
but prithee tell me now another story to while away what yet remaineth of the
waking hours of this our night." She replied, "With love and gladness if the
King give me leave;" and he said, "Tell thy tale and tell it quickly." So she
began, in these words,
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap22"></a>THE TALE OF THE THREE APPLES</h2>

<p>
They relate, O King of the age and lord of the time and of these days, that the
Caliph Harun al-Rashid summoned his Wazir Ja'afar one night and said to him, 'I
desire to go down into the city and question the common folk concerning the
conduct of those charged with its governance; and those of whom they complain
we will depose from office and those whom they commend we will promote." Quoth
Ja'afar, "Hearkening and obedience!" So the Caliph went down with Ja'afar and
Eunuch Masrur to the town and walked about the streets and markets and, as they
were threading a narrow alley, they came upon a very old man with a fishing-net
and crate to carry small fish on his head, and in his hand a staff; and, as he
walked at a leisurely pace, he repeated these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"They say me: —Thou shinest a light to mankind * With thy lore as the night
which the Moon doth uplight!<br/>
I answer, "A truce to your jests and your gibes; * Without luck what is
learning?—a poor-devil wight!<br/>
If they take me to pawn with my lore in my pouch, * With my volumes to read and
my ink-case to write,<br/>
For one day's provision they never could pledge me; * As likely on Doomsday to
draw bill at sight:"<br/>
How poorly, indeed, doth it fare wi' the poor, * With his pauper existence and
beggarly plight:<br/>
In summer he faileth provision to find; * In winter the fire-pot's his only
delight:<br/>
The street-dogs with bite and with bark to him rise, * And each losel receives
him with bark and with bite:<br/>
If he lift up his voice and complain of his wrong, * None pities or heeds him,
however he's right;<br/>
And when sorrows and evils like these he must brave * His happiest homestead
were down in the grave."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When the Caliph heard his verses he said to Ja'afar, "See this poor man and
note his verses, for surely they point to his necessities." Then he accosted
him and asked, "O Shaykh, what be thine occupation?" and the poor man answered,
"O my lord, I am a fisherman with a family to keep and I have been out between
mid-day and this time; and not a thing hath Allah made my portion wherewithal
to feed my family. I cannot even pawn myself to buy them a supper and I hate
and disgust my life and I hanker after death." Quoth the Caliph, "Say me, wilt
thou return with us to Tigris' bank and cast thy net on my luck, and whatsoever
turneth up I will buy of thee for an hundred gold pieces?" The man rejoiced
when he heard these words and said, "On my head be it! I will go back with
you;" and, returning with them river-wards, made a cast and waited a while;
then he hauled in the rope and dragged the net ashore and there appeared in it
a chest padlocked and heavy. The Caliph examined it and lifted it finding it
weighty; so he gave the fisherman two hundred dinars and sent him about his
business; whilst Masrur, aided by the Caliph, carried the chest to the palace
and set it down and lighted the candles. Ja'afar and Masrur then broke it open
and found therein a basket of palm-leaves corded with red worsted. This they
cut open and saw within it a piece of carpet which they lifted out, and under
it was a woman's mantilla folded in four, which they pulled out; and at the
bottom of the chest they came upon a young lady, fair as a silver ingot, slain
and cut into nineteen pieces. When the Caliph looked upon her he cried, "Alas!"
and tears ran down his cheeks and turning to Ja'afar he said, "O dog of Wazirs,
[FN#354] shall folk be murdered in our reign and be cast into the river to be a
burden and a responsibility for us on the Day of Doom? By Allah, we must avenge
this woman on her murderer and he shall be made die the worst of deaths!" And
presently he added, " Now, as surely as we are descended from the Sons of
Abbas, [FN#355] if thou bring us not him who slew her, that we do her justice
on him, I will hang thee at the gate of my palace, thee and forty of thy kith
and kin by thy side." And the: Caliph was wroth with exceeding rage. Quoth
Ja'afar, "Grant me three days' delay;" and quoth the Caliph, "We grant thee
this." So Ja'afar went out from before him and returned to his own house, full
of sorrow and saying to himself, "How shall I find him who murdered this
damsel, that I may bring him before the Caliph? If I bring other than the
murderer, it will be laid to my charge by the Lord: in very sooth I wot not
what to do." He kept his house three days and on the fourth day the Caliph sent
one of the Chamberlains for him and, as he came into the presence, asked him,
"Where is the murderer of the damsel?" to which answered Ja'afar, "O Commander
of the Faithful, am I inspector of " murdered folk that I should ken who killed
her?" The Caliph was furious at his answer and bade hang him before the
palace-gate and commanded that a crier cry through the streets of Baghdad,
"Whoso would see the hanging of Ja'afar, the Barmaki, Wazir of the Caliph, with
forty of the Barmecides, [FN#356] his cousins and kinsmen, before the
palace-gate, let him come and let him look!" The people flocked out from all
the quarters of the city to witness the execution of Ja'afar and his kinsmen,
not knowing the cause. Then they set up the gallows and made Ja'afar and the
others stand underneath in readiness for execution, but whilst every eye was
looking for the Caliph's signal, and the crowd wept for Ja'afar and his cousins
of the Barmecides, lo and behold! a young man fair of face and neat of dress
and of favour like the moon raining light, with eyes black and bright, and brow
flower-white, and cheeks red as rose and young down where the beard grows, and
a mole like a grain of ambergris, pushed his way through the people till he
stood immediately before the Wazir and said to him, "Safety to thee from this
strait, O Prince of the Emirs and Asylum of the poor! I am the man who slew the
woman ye found in the chest, so hang me for her and do her justice on me!" When
Ja'afar heard the youth's confession he rejoiced at his own deliverance. but
grieved and sorrowed for the fair youth; and whilst they were yet talking
behold, another man well stricken in years pressed forwards through the people
and thrust his way amid the populace till he came to Ja'afar and the youth,
whom he saluted saying, "Ho thou the Wazir and Prince sans-peer! believe not
the words of this youth. Of a surety none murdered the damsel but I; take her
wreak on me this moment; for, an thou do not thus, I will require it of thee
before Almighty Allah." Then quoth the young man, "O Wazir, this is an old man
in his dotage who wotteth not whatso he saith ever, and I am he who murdered
her, so do thou avenge her on me!" Quoth the old man, "O my son, thou art young
and desirest the joys of the world and I am old and weary and surfeited with
the world: I will offer my life as a ransom for thee and for the Wazir and his
cousins. No one murdered the damsel but I, so Allah upon thee, make haste to
hang me, for no life is left in me now that hers is gone." The Wazir marvelled
much at all this strangeness and, taking the young man and the old man, carried
them before the Caliph, where, after kissing the ground seven times between his
hands, he said, "O Commander of the Faithful, I bring thee the murderer of the
damsel!" "Where is he?" asked the Caliph and Ja'afar answered, "This young man
saith, I am the murderer, and this old man giving him the lie saith, I am the
murderer, and behold, here are the twain standing before thee." The Caliph
looked at the old man and the young man and asked, "Which of you killed the
girl?" The young man replied, "No one slew her save I;" and the old man
answered, "Indeed none killed her but myself." Then said the Caliph to Ja'afar,
"Take the twain and hang them both;" but Ja'afar rejoined, "Since one of them
was the murderer, to hang the other were mere injustice."[FN#357] "By Him who
raised the firmament and dispread the earth like a carpet," cried the youth, "I
am he who slew the damsel;" and he went on to describe the manner of her murder
and the basket, the mantilla and the bit of carpet, in fact all that the Caliph
had found upon her. So the Caliph was certified that the young man was the
murderer; whereat he wondered and asked him, 'What was the cause of thy
wrongfully doing this damsel to die and what made thee confess the murder
without the bastinado, and what brought thee here to yield up thy life, and
what made thee say Do her wreak upon me?" The youth answered, "Know, O
Commander of the Faithful, that this woman was my wife and the mother of my
children; also my first cousin and the daughter of my paternal uncle, this old
man who is my father's own brother. When I married her she was a maid [FN#358]
and Allah blessed me with three male children by her; she loved me and served
me and I saw no evil in her, for I also loved her with fondest love. Now on the
first day of this month she fell ill with grievous sickness and I fetched in
physicians to her; but recovery came to her little by little. and, when I
wished her to go to the Hammam-bath, she said, "There is a something I long for
before I go to the bath and I long for it with an exceeding longing." To hear
is to comply," said I. "And what is it?" Quoth she, "I have a queasy craving
for an apple, to smell it and bite a bit of it." I replied, "Hadst thou a
thousand longings I would try to satisfy them!" So I went on the instant into
the city and sought for apples but could find none; yet, had they cost a gold
piece each, would I have bought them. I was vexed at this and went home and
said, "O daughter of my uncle. by Allah I can find none!" She was distressed,
being yet very weakly, and her weakness increased greatly on her that night
and I felt anxious and alarmed on her account. As soon as morning dawned I went
out again and made the round of the gardens, one by one, but found no apples
anywhere. At last there met me an old gardener. of whom I asked about them and
he answered, "O my son, this fruit is a rarity with us and is not now to be
found save in the garden of the Commander of the Faithful at Bassorah, where
the gardener keepeth it for the Caliph's eating." I returned to my house
troubled by my ill-success; and my love for my wife and my affection moved me
to undertake the journey. So I gat me ready and set out and travelled fifteen
days and nights, going and coming, and brought her three apples which I bought
from the gardener for three dinars. But when I went in to my wife and set them
before her, she took no pleasure in them and let them lie by her side; for her
weakness and fever had increased on her and her malady lasted without abating
ten days, after which time she began to recover health. So I left my house and
betaking me to my shop sat there buying and selling; and about midday behold, a
great ugly black slave, long as a lance and broad as a bench, passed by my shop
holding in hand one of the three apples wherewith he was playing. Quoth I, "O
my good slave, tell me whence thou tookest that apple, that I may get the like
of it?" He laughed and answered, "I got it from my mistress, for I had been
absent and on my return I found her lying ill with three apples by her side,
and she said to me, 'My horned wittol of a husband made a journey for them to
Bassorah and bought them for three dinars.' So I ate and drank with her and
took this one from her." [FN#359] When I heard such words from the slave, O
Commander of the Faithful, the world grew black before my face, and I arose and
locked up my shop and went home beside myself for excess of rage. I looked for
the apples and finding only two of the three asked my wife, "O my cousin, where
is the third apple?"; and raising her head languidly she answered, "I wot not,
O son of my uncle, where 'tis gone!" This convinced me that the slave had
spoken the truth, so I took a knife and coming behind her got upon her breast
without a word said and cut her throat. Then I hewed off her head and her limbs
in pieces and, wrapping her in her mantilla and a rag of carpet, hurriedly
sewed up the whole which I set in a chest and, locking it tight, loaded it on
my he-mule and threw it into the Tigris with my own hands. So Allah upon thee,
O Commander of the Faithful, make haste to hang me, as I fear lest she appeal
for vengeance on Resurrection Day. For, when I had thrown her into the river
and none knew aught of it, as I went back home I found my eldest son crying and
yet he knew naught of what I had done with his mother. I asked him, "What hath
made thee weep, my boy?" and he answered, "I took one of the three apples which
were by my mammy and went down into the lane to play with my brethren when
behold, a big long black slave snatched it from my hand and said. 'Whence hadst
thou this?' Quoth I, 'My father travelled far for it, and brought it from
Bassorah for my mother who was ill and two other apples for which he paid three
ducats.' He took no heed of my words and I asked for the apple a second and a
third time, but he cuffed me and kicked me and went off with it. I was afraid
lest my mother should swinge me on account of the apple, so for fear of her I
went with my brother outside the city and stayed there till evening closed in
upon us; and indeed I am in fear of her; and now by Allah, O my father, say
nothing to her of this or it may add to her ailment!" When I heard what-my
child said I knew that the slave was he who had foully slandered my wife, the
daughter of my uncle, and was certified that I had slain her wrong. fully. So I
wept with exceeding weeping and presently this old man, my paternal uncle and
her father, came in; and I told him what had happened and he sat down by my
side and wept and we ceased not weeping till midnight. We have kept up mourning
for her these last five days and we lamented her in the deepest sorrow for that
she was unjustly done to die. This came from the gratuitous lying of the slave,
the blackamoor, and this was the manner of my killing her; so I conjure thee,
by the honour of thine ancestors, make haste to kill me and do her justice upon
me, as there is no living for me after her!" The Caliph marvelled at his words
and said, "By Allah, the young man is excusable: I will hang none but the
accursed slave and I will do a deed which shall comfort the ill-at-ease and
suffering, and which shall please the All-glorious King."—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say,
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twentieth Night,
</p>

<p>
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph swore he would
hang none but the slave, for the youth was excusable. Then he turned to Ja'afar
and said to him, "Bring before me this accursed slave who was the sole cause of
this calamity; and, if thou bring him not before me within three days, thou
shalt be slain in his stead." So Ja'afar fared forth weeping and saying. "Two
deaths have already beset me, nor shall the crock come of safe from every
shock.' [FN#360] In this matter craft and cunning are of no avail; but He who
preserved my life the first time can preserve it a second time. By Allah, I
will not leave my house during the three days of life which remain to me and
let the Truth (whose perfection be praised!) do e'en as He will." So he kept
his house three days, and on the fourth day he summoned the Kazis and legal
witnesses and made his last will and testament, and took leave of his children
weeping. Presently in came a messenger from the Caliph and said to him, "The
Commander of the Faithful is in the most violent rage that can be, and he
sendeth to seek thee and he sweareth that the day shall certainly not pass
without thy being hanged unless the slave be forth-coming." When Ja'afar heard
this he wept, and his children and slaves and all who were in the house wept
with him. After he had bidden adieu to everybody except his youngest daughter,
he proceeded to farewell her; for he loved this wee one, who was a beautiful
child, more than all his other children; and he pressed her to his breast and
kissed her and wept bitterly at parting from her; when he felt something round
inside the bosom of her dress and asked her, "O my little maid, what is in thy
bosom pocket?"; "O my father," she replied, "it is an apple with the name of
our Lord the Caliph written upon it. Rayhán our slave brought it to me four
days ago and would not let me have it till I gave him two dinars for it." When
Ja'afar heard speak of the slave and the apple, he was glad and put his hand
into his child's pocket [FN#361] and drew out the apple and knew it and
rejoiced saying, "O ready Dispeller of trouble " [FN#362] Then he bade them
bring the slave and said to him, "Fie upon thee, Rayhan! whence haddest thou
this apple?" "By Allah, O my master," he replied, "though a lie may get a man
once off, yet may truth get him off, and well off, again and again. I did not
steal this apple from thy palace nor from the gardens of the Commander of the
Faithful. The fact is that five days ago, as I was walking along one of the
alleys of this city, I saw some little ones at play and this apple in hand of
one of them. So I snatched it from him and beat him and he cried and said, 'O
youth this apple is my mother's and she is ill. She told my father how she
longed for an apple, so he travelled to Bassorah and bought her three apples
for three gold pieces, and I took one of them to play withal.' He wept again,
but I paid no heed to what he said and carried it off and brought it here, and
my little lady bought it of me for two dinars of gold. And this is the whole
story." When Ja'afar heard his words he marvelled that the murder of the damsel
and all this misery should have been caused by his slave; he grieved for the
relation of the slave to himself, while rejoicing over his own deliverance, and
he repeated these lines: —
</p>

<p class="poem">
"If ill betide thee through thy slave, * Make him forthright thy
sacrifice:<br/>
A many serviles thou shalt find, * But life comes once and never twice."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then he took the slave's hand and, leading him to the Caliph, related the story
from first to last and the Caliph marvelled with extreme astonishment, and
laughed till he fell on his back and ordered that the story be recorded and be
made public amongst the people. But Ja'afar said, "Marvel not, O Commander of
the Faithful, at this adventure, for it is not more wondrous than the History
of the Wazir Núr al-Dín Ali of Egypt and his brother Shams al-Dín Mohammed. —
Quoth the Caliph, "Out with it; but what can be stranger than this story?" And
Ja'afar answered, "O Commander of the Faithful, I will not tell it thee, save
on condition that thou pardon my slave;" and the Caliph rejoined, "If it be
indeed more wondrous than that of the three apples, I grant thee his blood, and
if not I will surely slay thy slave." So Ja'afar began in these words the
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap23"></a>TALE OF NUR AL-DIN AND HIS SON.</h2>

<p>Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that in times of
yore the land of Egypt was ruled by a Sultan endowed with justice and
generosity, one who loved the pious poor and companied with the Olema and
learned men; and he had a Wazir, a wise and an experienced, well versed in
affairs and in the art of government. This Minister, who was a very old man,
had two sons, as they were two moons; never man saw the like of them for beauty
and grace, the elder called Shams al-Din Mohammed and the younger Nur al-Din
Ali; but the younger excelled the elder in seemliness and pleasing semblance,
so that folk heard his fame in far countries and men flocked to Egypt for the
purpose of seeing him. In course of time their father, the Wazir, died and was
deeply regretted and mourned by the Sultan, who sent for his two sons and,
investing them with dresses of honour, [FN#363] said to them, "Let not your
hearts be troubled, for ye shall stand in your father's stead and be joint
Ministers of Egypt." At this they rejoiced and kissed the ground before him and
performed the ceremonial mourning [FN#364] for their father during a full
month; after which time they entered upon the Wazirate, and the power passed
into their hands as it had been in the hands of their father, each doing duty
for a week at a time. They lived under the same roof and their word was one;
and whenever the Sultan desired to travel they took it by turns to be in
attendance on him. It fortuned one night that the Sultan purposed setting out
on a journey next morning, and the elder, whose turn it was to accompany him,
was sitting conversing with his brother and said to him, "O my brother, it is
my wish that we both marry, I and thou, two sisters; and go in to our wives on
one and the same night." "Do, O my brother, as thou desirest," the younger
replied, "for right is thy recking and surely I will comply with thee in whatso
thou sayest." So they agreed upon this and quoth Shams al-Din, "If Allah decree
that we marry two damsels and go in to them on the same night, and they shall
conceive on their bridenights and bear children to us on the same day, and by
Allah's will thy wife bear thee a son and my wife bear me a daughter, let us
wed them either to other, for they will be cousins." Quoth Nur al-Din, "O my
brother, Shams al-Din, what dower [FN#365] wilt thou require from my son for
thy daughter?" Quoth Shams al-Din, "I will take three thousand dinars and three
pleasure gardens and three farms; and it would not be seemly that the youth
make contract for less than this." When Nur al-Din heard such demand he said,
"What manner of dower is this thou wouldest impose upon my son? Wottest thou not
that we are brothers and both by Allah's grace Wazirs and equal in office? It
behoveth thee to offer thy daughter to my son without marriage settlement; or
if one need be, it should represent a mere nominal value by way of show to the
world: for thou knowest that the masculine is worthier than the feminine, and
my son is a male and our memory will be preserved by him, not by thy daughter."
"But what," said Shams al-Din, "is she to have?"; and Nur al-Din continued,
"Through her we shall not be remembered among the Emirs of the earth; but I see
thou wouldest do with me according to the saying:—An thou wouldst bluff off a
buyer, ask him high price and higher; or as did a man who, they say, went to a
friend and asked something of him being in necessity and was answered,
'Bismillah, [FN#366] in the name of Allah, I will do all what thou requirest
but come to-morrow!' Whereupon the other replied in this verse:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
'When he who is asked a favour saith "To-morrow," * The wise man wots 'tis vain
to beg or borrow.'"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Quoth Shams al-Din, "Basta! [FN#367] I see thee fail in respect to me by making
thy son of more account than my daughter; and 'tis plain that thine
understanding is of the meanest and that thou lackest manners. Thou remindest
me of thy partnership in the Wazirate, when I admitted thee to share with me
only in pity for thee, and not wishing to mortify thee; and that thou mightest
help me as a manner of assistant. But since thou talkest on this wise, by
Allah, I will never marry my daughter to thy son; no, not for her weight in
gold!" When Nur al-Din heard his brother's words he waxed wroth and said, "And
I too, I will never, never marry my son to thy daughter; no, not to keep from
my lips the cup of death." Shams al-Din replied, "I would not accept him as a
husband for her, and he is not worth a paring of her nail. Were I not about to
travel I would make an example of thee; however when I return thou shalt see,
and I will show thee, how I can assert my dignity and vindicate my honour. But
Allah doeth whatso He willeth."[FN#368] When Nur al-Din heard this speech from
his brother, he was filled with fury and lost his wits for rage; but he hid
what he felt and held his peace; and each of the brothers passed the night in a
place far apart, wild with wrath against the other. As soon as morning dawned
the Sultan fared forth in state and crossed over from Cairo [FN#369] to Jizah
[FN#370] and made for the pyramids, accompanied by the Wazir Shams al-Din,
whose turn of duty it was, whilst his brother Nur al-din, who passed the night
in sore rage, rose with the light and prayed the dawn-prayer. Then he betook
himself to his treasury and, taking a small pair of saddle-bags, filled them
with gold; and he called to mind his brother's threats and the contempt
wherewith he had treated him, and he repeated these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Travel! and thou shalt find new friends for old ones left behind; * Toil! for
the sweets of human life by toil and moil are found:<br/>
The stay-at-home no honour wins nor aught attains but want; * So leave thy
place of birth [FN#371] and wander all the world around!<br/>
I've seen, and very oft I've seen, how standing water stinks, * And only
flowing sweetens it and trotting makes it sound:<br/>
And were the moon forever full and ne'er to wax or wane, * Man would not strain
his watchful eyes to see its gladsome round:<br/>
Except the lion leave his lair he ne'er would fell his game, * Except the arrow
leave the bow ne'er had it reached its bound:<br/>
Gold-dust is dust the while it lies untravelled in the mine, * And aloes-wood
mere fuel is upon its native ground:<br/>
And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoal'd; * And aloes
sent to foreign parts grows costlier than gold."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When he ended his verse he bade one of his pages saddle him his Nubian
mare-mule with her padded selle. Now she was a dapple-grey, [FN#372] with ears
like reed-pens and legs like columns and a back high and strong as a dome
builded on pillars; her saddle was of gold-cloth and her stirrups of Indian
steel, and her housing of Ispahan velvet; she had trappings which would serve
the Chosroës, and she was like a bride adorned for her wedding night. Moreover
he bade lay on her back a piece of silk for a seat, and a prayer-carpet under
which were his saddle-bags. When this was done he said to his pages and slaves,
"I purpose going forth a-pleasuring outside the city on the road to
Kalyub-town, [FN#373] and I shall lie three nights abroad; so let none of you
follow me, for there is something straiteneth my breast." Then he mounted the
mule in haste; and, taking with him some provaunt for the way, set out from
Cairo and faced the open and uncultivated country lying around it. [FN#374]
About noontide he entered Bilbays-city, [FN#375] where he dismounted and stayed
awhile to rest himself and his mule and ate some of his victual. He bought at
Bilbays all he wanted for himself and forage for his mule and then fared on the
way of the waste. Towards night-fall he entered a town called Sa'adiyah
[FN#376] where he alighted and took out somewhat of his viaticum and ate; then
he spread his strip of silk on the sand and set the saddle-bags under his head
and slept in the open air; for he was still overcome with anger. When morning
dawned he mounted and rode onward till he reached the Holy City, [FN#377]
Jerusalem, and thence he made Aleppo, where he dismounted at one of the
caravanserais and abode three days to rest himself and the mule and to smell
the air. [FN#378] Then, being determined to travel afar and Allah having
written safety in his fate, he set out again, wending without wotting whither
he was going; and, having fallen in with certain couriers, he stinted not
travelling till he had reached Bassorah-city albeit he knew not what the place
was. It was dark night when he alighted at the Khan, so he spread out his
prayer-carpet and took down the saddle-bags from the back of the mule and gave
her with her furniture in charge of the door-keeper that he might walk her
about. The man took her and did as he was bid. Now it so happened that the
Wazir of Bassorah, a man shot in years, was sitting at the lattice-window of
his palace opposite the Khan and he saw the porter walking the mule up and
down. He was struck by her trappings of price and thought her a nice beast fit
for the riding of Wazirs or even of royalties; and the more he looked the more
was he perplexed till at last he said to one of his pages, "Bring hither yon
door-keeper," The page went and returned to the Wazir with the porter who
kissed the ground between his hands, and the Minister asked him, "Who is the
owner of yonder mule and what manner of man is he?"; and he answered, "O my
lord, the owner of this mule is a comely young man of pleasant manners, withal
grave and dignified, and doubtless one of the sons of the merchants." When the
Wazir heard the door-keeper's words he arose forthright; and, mounting his
horse, rode to the Khan [FN#379] and went in to Nur al-Din who, seeing the
minister making towards him, rose to his feet and advanced to meet him and
saluted him. The Wazir welcomed him to Bassorah and dismounting, embraced him
and made him sit down by his side and said, "O my son, whence comest thou and
what dost thou seek?" "O my lord," Nur al-Din replied, "I have come from
Cairo-city of which my father was whilome Wazir; but he hath been removed to
the grace of Allah;" and he informed him of all that had befallen him from
beginning to end, adding, "I am resolved never to return home before I have
seen all the cities and countries of the world." When the Wazir heard this, he
said to him, "O my son, hearken not to the voice of passion lest it cast thee
into the pit; for indeed many regions be waste places and I fear for thee the
turns of Time." Then he let load the saddle-bags and the silk and
prayer-carpets on the mule and carried Nur al-Din to his own house, where he
lodged him in a pleasant place and entreated him honourably and made much of
him, for he inclined to love him with exceeding love. After a while he said to
him, "O my son, here am I left a man in years and have no male children, but
Allah hath blessed me with a daughter who eventh thee in beauty; and I have
rejected all her many suitors, men of rank and substance. But affection for
thee hath entered into my heart; say me, then, wilt thou be to her a husband?
If thou accept this, I will go up with thee to the Sultan of Bassorah [FN#380]
and will tell him that thou art my nephew, the son of my brother, and bring
thee to be appointed Wazir in my place that I may keep the house for, by Allah,
O my son, I am stricken in years and aweary." When Nur al-Din heard the Wazir's
words, he bowed his head in modesty and said, "To hear is to obey!" At this the
Wazir rejoiced and bade his servants prepare a feast and decorate the great
assembly-hall, wherein they were wont to celebrate the marriages of Emirs and
Grandees. Then he assembled his friends and the notables of the reign and the
merchants of Bassorah and when all stood before him he said to them, "I had a
brother who was Wazir in the land of Egypt, and Allah Almighty blessed him with
two sons, whilst to me, as well ye wot, He hath given a daughter. My brother
charged me to marry my daughter to one of his sons, whereto I assented; and,
when my daughter was of age to marry, he sent me one of his sons, the young man
now present, to whom I purpose marrying her, drawing up the contract and
celebrating the night of unveiling with due ceremony; for he is nearer and
dearer to me than a stranger and, after the wedding, if he please he shall
abide with me, or if he desire to travel I will forward him and his wife to his
father's home." Hereat one and all replied, "Right is thy recking;" and they
all looked at the bridegroom and were pleased with him. So the Wazir sent for
the Kazi and legal witnesses and they wrote out the marriage-contract, after
which the slaves perfumed the guests with incense, [FN#381] and served them
with sherbet of sugar and sprinkled rose-water on them and all went their ways.
Then the Wazir bade his servants take Nur al-Din to the Hammam-baths and sent
him a suit of the best of his own especial raiment, and napkins and towelry and
bowls and perfume-burners and all else that was required. After the bath, when
he came out and donned the dress, he was even as the full moon on the
fourteenth night; and he mounted his mule and stayed not till he reached the
Wazir's palace. There he dismounted and went in to the Minister and kissed his
hands, and the Wazir bade him welcome.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twenty-first Night,
</p>

<p>
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir stood up to him
and welcoming him said, "Arise and go in to thy wife this night, and on the
morrow I will carry thee to the Sultan, and pray Allah bless thee with all
manner of weal." So Nur al-Din left him and went in to his wife the Wazir's
daughter. Thus far concerning him, but as regards his elder brother, Shams
al-Din, he was absent with the Sultan a long time and when he returned from his
journey he found not his brother; and he asked of his servants and slaves who
answered, "On the day of thy departure with the Sultan, thy brother mounted his
mule fully caparisoned as for state procession saying, 'I am going towards
Kalyub-town and I shall be absent one day or at most two days; for my breast is
straitened, and let none of you follow me.' Then he fared forth and from that
time to this we have heard no tidings of him." Shams al-Din was greatly
troubled at the sudden disappearance of his brother and grieved with exceeding
grief at the loss and said to himself, "This is only because I chided and
upbraided him the night before my departure with the Sultan; haply his feelings
were hurt and he fared forth a-travelling; but I must send after him." Then he
went in to the Sultan and acquainted him with what had happened and wrote
letters and dispatches, which he sent by running footmen to his deputies in
every province. But during the twenty days of his brother's absence Nur al-Din
had travelled far and had reached Bassorah; so after diligent search the
messengers failed to come at any news of him and returned. Thereupon Shams
al-Din despaired of finding his brother and said, "Indeed I went beyond all
bounds in what I said to him with reference to the marriage of our children.
Would that I had not done so! This all cometh of my lack of wit and want of
caution." Soon after this he sought in marriage the daughter of a Cairene
merchant, [FN#382] and drew up the marriage contract and went in to her. And it
so chanced that, on the very same night when Shams al-Din went in to his wife,
Nur al-Din also went in to his wife the daughter of the Wazir of Bassorah; this
being in accordance with the will of Almighty Allah, that He might deal the
decrees of Destiny to His creatures. Furthermore, it was as the two brothers
had said; for their two wives became pregnant by them on the same night and
both were brought to bed on the same day; the wife of Shams al-Din, Wazir of
Egypt, of a daughter, never in Cairo was seen a fairer; and the wife of Nur
al-Din of a son, none more beautiful was ever seen in his time, as one of the
poets said concerning the like of him:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
That jetty hair, that glossy brow,<br/>
     My slender-waisted youth, of thine,<br/>
Can darkness round creation throw,<br/>
     Or make it brightly shine.<br/>
The dusky mole that faintly shows<br/>
     Upon his cheek, ah! blame it not:<br/>
The tulip-flower never blows<br/>
     Undarkened by its spot [FN#383]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And as another also said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
His scent was musk and his cheek was rose; * His teeth are pearls and his lips
drop wine;<br/>
His form is a brand and his hips a hill; * His hair is night and his face
moon-shine.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
They named the boy Badr al-Din Hasan and his grandfather, the Wazir of
Bassorah, rejoiced in him and, on the seventh day after his birth, made
entertainments and spread banquets which would befit the birth of Kings' sons
and heirs. Then he took Nur al-Din and went up with him to the Sultan, and his
son-in-law, when he came before the presence of the King, kissed the ground
between his hands and repeated these verses, for he was ready of speech, firm
of sprite and good in heart as he was goodly in form:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"The world's best joys long be thy lot, my lord! * And last while darkness and
the dawn o'erlap:<br/>
O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts, * The world to dance and Time his
palms to clap."[FN#384]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then the Sultan rose up to honour them, and thanking Nur al-Din for his fine
compliment, asked the Wazir, "Who may be this young man?"; and the Minister
answered, "This is my brother's son," and related his tale from first to last.
Quoth the Sultan, "And how comes he to be thy nephew and we have never heard
speak of him?" Quoth the Minister, "O our lord the Sultan, I had a brother who
was Wazir in the land of Egypt and he died, leaving two sons, whereof the elder
hath taken his father's place and the younger, whom thou seest, came to me. I
had sworn I would not marry my daughter to any but to him; so when he came I
married him to her. [FN#385] Now he is young and I am old; my hearing is dulled
and my judgement is easily fooled; wherefore I would solicit our lord the
Sultan [FN#386] to set him in my stead, for he is my brother's son and my
daughter's husband; and he is fit for the Wazirate, being a man of good counsel
and ready contrivance." The Sultan looked at Nur al-Din and liked him, so he
stablished him in office as the Wazir had requested and formally appointed him,
presenting him with a splendid dress of honour and a she-mule from his private
stud; and assigning to him solde, stipends and supplies. Nur al-Din kissed the
Sultan's hand and went home, he and his father-in-law, joying with exceeding
joy and saying, "All this followeth on the heels of the boy Hasan's birth!"
Next day he presented himself before the King and, kissing the ground, began
repeating:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Grow thy weal and thy welfare day by day: * And thy luck prevail o'er the
envier's spite;<br/>
And ne'er cease thy days to be white as day, * And thy foeman's day to be black
as night!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The Sultan bade him be seated on the Wazir's seat, so he sat down and applied
himself to the business of his office and went into the cases of the lieges and
their suits, as is the wont of Ministers; while the Sultan watched him and
wondered at his wit and good sense, judgement and insight. Wherefor he loved
him and took him into intimacy. When the Divan was dismissed Nur al-Din
returned to his house and related what had passed to his father-in-law who
rejoiced. And thenceforward Nur al-Din ceased not so to administer the Wazirate
that the Sultan would not be parted from him night or day; and increased his
stipend and supplies until his means were ample and he became the owner of
ships that made trading voyages at his command, as well as of Mamelukes and
blackamoor slaves; and he laid out many estates and set up Persian wheels and
planted gardens. When his son Hasan was four years of age, the old Wazir
deceased and he made for his father-in-law a sumptuous funeral ceremony ere he
was laid in the dust. Then he occupied himself with the education of this son
and, when the boy waxed strong and came to the age of seven, he brought him a
Fakih, a doctor of law and religion, to teach him in his own house and charged
him to give him a good education and instruct him in politeness and good
manners. So the tutor made the boy read and retain all varieties of useful
knowledge, after he had spent some years in learning the Koran by heart;
[FN#387] and he ceased not to grow in beauty and stature and symmetry, even as
saith the poet:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
In his face-sky shines the fullest moon; * In his cheeks' anemone glows the
sun:<br/>
He so conquered Beauty that he hath won * All charms of humanity one by one.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The professor brought him up in his father's palace teaching him reading,
writing and cyphering, theology and belles lettres. His grandfather the old
Wazir had bequeathed to him the whole of his property when he was but four
years of age. Now during all the time of his earliest youth he had never left
the house, till on a certain day his father, the Wazir Nur al-Din, clad him in
his best clothes and, mounting him on a she-mule of the finest, went up with
him to the Sultan. The King gazed at Badr al-Din Hasan and marvelled at his
comeliness and loved him. As for the city-folk, when he first passed before
them with his father, they marvelled at his exceeding beauty and sat down on
the road expecting his return, that they might look their fill on his beauty
and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace; even as the poet said in these
verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
As the sage watched the stars, the semblance clear<br/>
Of a fair youth on 's scroll he saw appear.<br/>
Those jetty locks Canopus o'er him threw,<br/>
And tinged his temple curls a musky hue;<br/>
Mars dyed his ruddy cheek; and from his eyes<br/>
The Archer-star his glittering arrow flies;<br/>
His wit from Hermes came; and Soha's care,<br/>
(The half-seen star that dimly haunts the Bear)<br/>
Kept off all evil eyes that threaten and ensnare,<br/>
The sage stood mazed to see such fortunes meet,<br/>
And Luna kissed the earth beneath his feet. [FN#388]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And they blessed him aloud as he passed and called upon Almighty Allah to bless
him. [FN#389] The Sultan entreated the lad with especial favour and said to his
father, "O Wazir, thou must needs bring him daily to my presence;" whereupon he
replied, "I hear and I obey." Then the Wazir returned home with his son and
ceased not to carry him to court till he reached the age of twenty. At that
time the Minister sickened and, sending for Badr al-Din Hasan, said to him,
"Know, O my son, that the world of the Present is but a house of mortality,
while that of the Future is a house of eternity. I wish, before I die, to
bequeath thee certain charges and do thou take heed of what I say and incline
thy heart to my words." Then he gave him his last instructions as to the
properest way of dealing with his neighbours and the due management of his
affairs; after which he called to mind his brother and his home and his native
land and wept over his separation from those he had first loved. Then he wiped
away his tears and, turning to his son, said to him, "Before I proceed, O my
son, to my last charges and injunctions, know that I have a brother, and thou
hast an uncle, Shams al-Din hight, the Wazir of Cairo, which whom I parted,
leaving him against his will. Now take thee a sheet of paper and write upon it
whatso I say to thee." Badr al-Din took a fair leaf and set about doing his
father's bidding and he wrote thereon a full account of what had happened to
his sire first and last; the dates of his arrival at Bassorah and of his
foregathering with the Wazir; of his marriage, of his going in to the
Minister's daughter and of the birth of his son; brief, his life of forty years
from the date of his dispute with his brother, adding the words, "And this is
written at my dictation and may Almighty Allah be with him when I am gone!"
Then he folded the paper and sealed it and said, "O Hasan, O my son, keep this
paper with all care; for it will enable thee to stablish thine origin and rank
and lineage and, if anything contrary befal thee, set out for Cairo and ask for
thine uncle and show him this paper and say to him that I died a stranger far
from mine own people and full of yearning to see him and them." So Badr al-Din
Hasan took the document and folded it; and, wrapping it up in a piece of waxed
cloth, sewed it like a talisman between the inner and outer cloth of his
skull-cap and wound his light turband [FN#390] round it. And he fell to weeping
over his father and at parting with him, and he but a boy. Then Nur al-Din
lapsed into a swoon, the forerunner of death; but presently recovering himself
he said, "O Hasan, O my son, I will now bequeath to thee five last behests. The
F<small>IRST</small> B<small>EHEST</small> is, Be over-intimate with none, nor
frequent any, nor be familiar with any; so shalt thou be safe from his
mischief; [FN#391] for security lieth in seclusion of thought and a certain
retirement from the society of thy fellows; and I have heard it said by a
poet:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
In this world there is none thou mayst count upon * To befriend thy case in the
nick of need:<br/>
So live for thyself nursing hope of none * Such counsel I give thee: enow, take
heed!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The SECOND BEHEST is, O my son: Deal harshly with none lest fortune with thee
deal hardly; for the fortune of this world is one day with thee and another day
against thee and all worldly goods are but a loan to be repaid. And I have
heard a poet say:&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
Take thought nor haste to win the thing thou wilt; * Have ruth on man for ruth
thou may'st require:<br/>
No hand is there but Allah's hand is higher; * No tyrant but shall rue worse
tyrant's ire!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The THIRD BEHEST is, Learn to be silent in society and let thine own faults
distract thine attention from the faults of other men: for it is said:—In
silence dwelleth safety, and thereon I have heard the lines that tell us:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Reserve's a jewel, Silence safety is; * Whenas thou speakest many a word
withhold;<br/>
For an of Silence thou repent thee once, * Of speech thou shalt repent times
manifold.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The FOURTH BEHEST, O my son, is Beware of wine-bibbing, for wine is the head of
all frowardness and a fine solvent of human wits. So shun, and again I say,
shun mixing strong liquor; for I have heard a poet say [FN#392]:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
From wine [FN#393] I turn and whoso wine-cups swill; * Becoming one of those
who deem it ill:<br/>
Wine driveth man to miss salvation-way, [FN#394] * And opes the gateway wide to
sins that kill.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The FIFTH BEHEST, O my son, is Keep thy wealth and it will keep thee; guard thy
money and it will guard thee; and waste not thy substance lest haply thou come
to want and must fare a-begging from the meanest of mankind. Save thy dirhams
and deem them the sovereignest salve for the wounds of the world. And here
again I have heard that one of the poets said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
When fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend: * When wealth abounds all
friends their friendship tender:<br/>
How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend; * But friends to lack of wealth
no friendship render.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
On this wise Nur al-Din ceased not to counsel his son Badr al-Din Hasan till
his hour came and, sighing one sobbing sigh, his life went forth. Then the
voice of mourning and keening rose high in his house and the Sultan and all the
grandees grieved for him and buried him; but his son ceased not lamenting his
loss for two months, during which he never mounted horse, nor attended the
Divan nor presented himself before the Sultan. At last the King, being wroth
with him, stablished in his stead one of his Chamberlains and made him Wazir,
giving orders to seize and set seals on all Nur al-Din's houses and goods and
domains. So the new Wazir went forth with a mighty posse of Chamberlains and
people of the Divan, and watchmen and a host of idlers to do this and to seize
Badr al-Din Hasan and carry him before the King, who would deal with him as he
deemed fit. Now there was among the crowd of followers a Mameluke of the
deceased Wazir who, when he heard this order, urged his horse and rode at full
speed to the house of Badr al-Din Hasan; for he cold not endure to see the ruin
of his old master's son. He found him sitting at the gate with head hung down
and sorrowing, as was his wont, for the loss of his father; so he dismounted
and kissing his hand said to him, "O my lord and son of my lord, haste ere ruin
come and lay waste!" When Hasan heard this he trembled and asked, "What may be
the matter?; and the man answered, "The Sultan is angered with thee and hath
issued a warrant against thee, and evil cometh hard upon my track; so flee with
thy life!" At these words Hasan's heart flamed with the fire of bale, and his
rose-red cheek turned pale, and he said to the "Mameluke, "O my brother, is
there time for me to go in and get me some worldly gear which may stand me in
stead during my strangerhood?" But the slave replied, "O my lord, up at once
and save thyself and leave this house, while it is yet time." And he quoted
these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Escape with thy life, if oppression betide thee, * And let the house of its
builder's fate!<br/>
Country for country thou'lt find, if thou seek it; * Life for life never, early
or late.<br/>
It is strange men should dwell in the house of abjection, * When the plain of
God's earth is so wide and so great!" [FN#395]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
At these words of the Mameluke, Badr al-Din covered his head with the skirt of
his garment and went forth on foot till he stood outside of the city, where he
heard folk saying, "The Sultan hath sent his new Wazir to the house of the old
Wazir, now no more, to seal his property and seize his son Badr al-Din Hasan
and take him before the presence, that he may put him to death; " and all
cried, "Alas for his beauty and his loveliness!" When he heard this he fled
forth at hazard, knowing not whither he was going, and gave not over hurrying
onwards till Destiny drove him to his father's tomb. So he entered the cemetery
and, threading his way through the graves, at last he reached the sepulchre
where he sat down and let fall from his head the skirt of his long robe
[FN#396] which was made of brocade with a gold-embroidered hem whereon were
worked these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
O thou whose forehead, like the radiant East, * Tells of the stars of Heaven
and bounteous dews:<br/>
Endure thine honour to the latest day, * And Time thy growth of glory ne'er
refuse!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
While he was sitting by his father's tomb behold, there came to him a Jew as he
were a Shroff, [FN#397] a money-changer, with a pair of saddle-bags containing
much gold, who accosted him and kissed his hand, saying, "Whither bound, O my
lord; 'tis late in the day and thou art clad but lightly, and I read signs of
trouble in thy face?" "I was sleeping within this very hour," answered Hasan,
"when my father appeared to me and chid me for not having visited his tomb; so
I awoke trembling and came hither forthright lest the day should go by without
my visiting him, which would have been grievous to me." "O my lord," rejoined
the Jew, [FN#398] "thy father had many merchantmen at sea and, as some of them
are now due, it is my wish to buy of thee the cargo of the first ship that
cometh into port with this thousand dinars of gold." "I consent," quoth Hasan,
whereupon the Jew took out a bag full of gold and counted out a thousand
sequins which he gave to Hasan, the son of the Wazir, saying, "Write me a
letter of sale and seal it." So Hasan took a pen and paper and wrote these
words in duplicate, "The writer, Hasan Badr al-Din, son of Wazir Nur al-Din,
hath sold to Isaac the Jew all the cargo of the first of his father's ships
which cometh into port, for a thousand dinars, and he hath received the price
in advance." And after he had taken one copy the Jew put it into his pouch and
went away; but Hasan fell a-weeping as he thought of the dignity and prosperity
which had erst been his and he began reciting:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"This house, my lady, since you left is now a home no more * For me, nor
neighbours, since you left, prove kind and neighbourly:<br/>
The friend, whilere I took to heart, alas! no more to me * Is friend; and even
Luna's self displayeth lunacy:<br/>
You left and by your going left the world a waste, a wold, * And lies a gloomy
murk upon the face of hill and lea:<br/>
O may the raven-bird whose cry our hapless parting croaked * Find ne'er a nesty
home and eke shed all his plumery!<br/>
At length my patience fails me; and this absence wastes my flesh; * How many a
veil by severance rent our eyes are doomed see:<br/>
Ah! shall I ever sight again our fair past nights of yore; * And shall a single
house become a home for me once more?"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then he wept with exceeding weeping and night came upon him; so he leant his
head against his father's grave and sleep overcame him: Glory to him who
sleepeth not! He ceased not slumbering till the moon rose, when his head
slipped from off the tomb and he lay on his back, with limbs outstretched, his
face shining bright in the moonlight. Now the cemetery was haunted day and
night by Jinns who were of the True Believers, and presently came out a
Jinniyah who, seeing Hasan asleep, marvelled at his beauty and loveliness and
cried, "Glory to God! This youth can be none other than one of the Wuldan of
Paradise.[FN#399] Then she flew firmament-wards to circle it, as was her
custom, and met an Ifrit on the wing who saluted her and she said to him,
"Whence comest thou?" "From Cairo," he replied. "Wilt thou come with me and
look upon the beauty of a youth who sleepeth in yonder burial place?" she asked
and he answered, "I will." So they flew till they lighted at the tomb and she
showed him the youth and said, "Now diddest thou ever in thy born days see
aught like this?" The Ifrit looked upon him and exclaimed, "Praise be to Him
that hath no equal! But, O my sister, shall I tell thee what I have seen this
day?" Asked she, "What is that?" and he answered, "I have seen the counterpart
of this youth in the land of Egypt. She is the daughter of the Wazir Shams
al-Din and she is a model of beauty and loveliness, of fairest favour and
formous form, and dight with symmetry and perfect grace. When she had reached
the age of nineteen, [FN#400] the Sultan of Egypt heard of her and, sending for
the Wazir her father, said to him, 'Hear me, O Wazir: it hath reached mine ear
that thou hast a daughter and I wish to demand her of thee in marriage." The
Wazir replied, "O our lord the Sultan, deign accept my excuses and take
compassion on my sorrows, for thou knowest that my brother, who was partner
with me in the Wazirate, disappeared from amongst us many years ago and we wot
not where he is. Now the cause of his departure was that one night, as we were
sitting together and talking of wives and children to come, we had words on the
matter and he went off in high dudgeon. But I swore that I would marry my
daughter to none save to the son of my brother on the day her mother gave her
birth, which was nigh upon nineteen years ago. I have lately heard that my
brother died at Bassorah, where he had married the daughter of the Wazir and
that she bare him a son; and I will not marry my daughter but to him in honour
of my brother's memory. I recorded the date of my marriage and the conception
of my wife and the birth of my daughter; and from her horoscope I find that her
name is conjoined with that of her cousin; [FN#401] and there are damsels in
foison for our lord the Sultan.' The King, hearing his Minister's answer and
refusal, waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and cried, 'When the like of me
asketh a girl in marriage of the like of thee, he conferreth an honour, and
thou rejectest me and puttest me off with cold [FN#402] excuses! Now, by the
life of my head I will marry her to the meanest of my men in spite of the nose
of thee! [FN#403] There was in the palace a horse-groom which was a Gobbo with
a bunch to his breast and a hunch to his back; and the Sultan sent for him and
married him to the daughter of the Wazir, lief or loath, and hath ordered a
pompous marriage procession for him and that he go in to his bride this very
night. I have now just flown hither from Cairo, where I left the Hunchback at
the door of the Hammam-bath amidst the Sultan's white slaves who were waving
lighted flambeaux about him. As for the Minister's daughter she sitteth among
her nurses and tirewomen, weeping and wailing; for they have forbidden her
father to come near her. Never have I seen, O my sister, more hideous being
than this Hunchback [FN#404] whilst the young lady is the likest of all folk
to this young man, albeit even fairer than he,"—And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twenty-second Night,
</p>

<p>
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Jinni narrated
to the Jinniyah how the King had caused the wedding contract to be drawn up
between the hunchbacked groom and the lovely young lady who was heart-broken
for sorrow; and how she was the fairest of created things and even more
beautiful than this youth, the Jinniyah cried at him "Thou liest! this youth is
handsomer than any one of his day." The Ifrit gave her the lie again, adding,
"By Allah, O my sister, the damsel I speak of is fairer than this; yet none but
he deserveth her, for they resemble each other like brother and sister or at
least cousins. And, well-away! how she is wasted upon that Hunchback!" Then
said she, "O my brother, let us get under him and lift him up and carry him to
Cairo, that we may compare him with the damsel of whom thou speakest and so
determine whether of the twain is the fairer." "To hear is to obey!" replied
he, "thou speakest to the point; nor is there a righter recking than this of
thine, and I myself will carry him." So he raised him from the ground and flew
with him like a bird soaring in upper air, the Ifritah keeping close by his
side at equal speed, till he alighted with him in the city of Cairo and set him
down on a stone bench and woke him up. He roused himself and finding that he
was no longer at his father's tomb in Bassorah-city he looked right and left
and saw that he was in a strange place; and he would have cried out; but the
Ifrit gave him a cuff which persuaded him to keep silence. Then he brought him
rich raiment and clothed him therein and, giving him a lighted flambeau, said,
"Know that I have brought thee hither, meaning to do thee a good turn for the
love of Allah: so take this torch and mingle with the people at the Hammam-door
and walk on with them without stopping till thou reach the house of the
wedding-festival; then go boldly forward and enter the great saloon; and fear
none, but take thy stand at the right hand of the Hunchback bridegroom; and, as
often as any of the nurses and tirewomen and singing-girls come up to thee,
[FN#405] put thy hand into thy pocket which thou wilt find filled with gold.
Take it out and throw it to them and spare not; for as often as thou thrustest
fingers in pouch thou shalt find it full of coin. Give largesse by handsful and
fear nothing, but set thy trust upon Him who created thee, for this is not by
thine own strength but by that of Allah Almighty, that His decrees may take
effect upon his creatures." When Badr al-Din Hasan heard these words from the
Ifrit he said to himself, "Would Heaven I knew what all this means and what is
the cause of such kindness!" However, he mingled with the people and, lighting
his flambeau, moved on with the bridal procession till he came to the bath
where he found the Hunchback already on horseback. Then he pushed his way in
among the crowd, a veritable beauty of a man in the finest apparel, wearing
tarbush [FN#406] and turband and a long-sleeved robe purfled with gold; and, as
often as the singing-women stopped for the people to give them largesse, he
thrust his hand into his pocket and, finding it full of gold, took out a
handful and threw it on the tambourine [FN#407] till he had filled it with gold
pieces for the music-girls and the tirewomen. The singers were amazed by his
bounty and the people marvelled at his beauty and loveliness and the splendour
of his dress. He ceased not to do thus till he reached the mansion of the Wazir
(who was his uncle), where the Chamberlains drove back the people and forbade
them to go forward; but the singing-girls and the tirewomen said, "By Allah we
will not enter unless this young man enter with us, for he hath given us length
o' life with his largesse and we will not display the bride unless he be
present." Therewith they carried him into the bridal hall and made him sit down
defying the evil glances of the hunchbacked bridegroom. The wives of the Emirs
and Wazirs and Chamberlains and Courtiers all stood in double line, each
holding a massy cierge ready lighted; all wore thin face-veils and the two rows
right and left extended from the bride's throne [FN#408] to the head of the
hall adjoining the chamber whence she was to come forth. When the ladies saw
Badr al-Din Hasan and noted his beauty and loveliness and his face that shone
like the new moon, their hearts inclined to him and the singing-girls said to
all that were present, "Know that this beauty crossed our hands with naught but
red gold; so be not chary to do him womanly service and comply with all he
says, no matter what he ask. [FN#409] So all the women crowded around Hasan
with their torches and gazed on his loveliness and envied him his beauty; and
one and all would gladly have lain on his bosom an hour or rather a year. Their
hearts were so troubled that they let fall their veils from before their faces
and said, "Happy she who belongeth to this youth or to whom he belongeth!"; and
they called down curses on the crooked groom and on him who was the cause of
his marriage to the girl-beauty; and as often as they blessed Badr al-Din Hasan
they damned the Hunchback, saying, "Verily this youth and none else deserveth
our Bride: Ah, well-away for such a lovely one with this hideous Quasimodo;
Allah's curse light on his head and on the Sultan who commanded the marriage!"
Then the singing-girls beat their tabrets and lulliloo'd with joy, announcing
the appearing of the bride; and the Wazir's daughter came in surrounded by her
tirewomen who had made her goodly to look upon; for they had perfumed her and
incensed her and adorned her hair; and they had robed her in raiment and
ornaments befitting the mighty Chosroes Kings. The most notable part of her
dress was a loose robe worn over her other garments; it was diapered in red
gold with figures of wild beasts, and birds whose eyes and beaks were of gems,
and claws of red rubies and green beryl; and her neck was graced with a
necklace of Yamani work, worth thousands of gold pieces, whose bezels were
great round jewels of sorts, the like of which was never owned by Kaysar or by
Tobba King. [FN#410] And the bride was as the full moon when at fullest on
fourteenth night; and as she paced into the hall she was like one of the Houris
of Heaven—praise be to Him who created her in such splendour of beauty! The
ladies encompassed her as the white contains the black of the eye, they
clustering like stars whilst she shone amongst them like the moon when it eats
up the clouds. Now Badr al-Din Hasan of Bassorah was sitting in full gaze of
the folk, when the bride came forward with her graceful swaying and swimming
gait, and her hunchbacked groom stood up to meet [FN#411] and receive her: she,
however, turned away from the wight and walked forward till she stood before
her cousin Hasan, the son of her uncle. Whereat the people laughed. But when
the wedding-guests saw her thus attracted towards Badr al-Din they made a
mighty clamour and the singing-women shouted their loudest; whereupon he put
his hand into his pocket and, pulling out a handful of gold, cast it into their
tambourines and the girls rejoiced and said, "Could we win our wish this bride
were thine!" At this he smiled and the folk came round him, flambeaux in hand
like the eyeball round the pupil, while the Gobbo bridegroom was left sitting
alone much like a tail-less baboon; for every time they lighted a candle for
him it went out willy-nilly, so he was left in darkness and silence and
looking at naught but himself. [FN#412] When Badr al-Din Hasan saw the
bridegroom sitting lonesome in the dark, and all the wedding-guests with their
flambeaux and wax candles crowding around himself, he was bewildered and
marvelled much; but when he looked at his cousin, the daughter of his uncle, he
rejoiced and felt an inward delight: he longed to greet her and gazed intently
on her face which was radiant with light and brilliancy. Then the tirewomen
took off her veil and displayed her in the first bridal dress which was of
scarlet satin; and Hasan had a view of her which dazzled his sight and dazed
his wits, as she moved to and fro, swaying with graceful gait; [FN#413] and she
turned the heads of all the guests, women as well as men, for she was even as
saith the surpassing poet:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
A sun on wand in knoll of sand she showed * Clad in her cramoisy-hued
chemisette:<br/>
Of her lips honey-dew she gave me drink, * And with her rosy cheeks quencht
fire she set.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then they changed that dress and displayed her in a robe of azure; and she
reappeared like the full moon when it riseth over the horizon, with her
coal-black hair and cheeks delicately fair; and teeth shown in sweet smiling
and breasts firm rising and crowning sides of the softest and waist of the
roundest. And in this second suit she was as a certain master of high conceits
saith of the like of her:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
She came apparelled in an azure vest, * Ultramarine, as skies are deckt and
dight;<br/>
I view'd th' unparellel'd sight, which show'd my eyes * A moon of Summer on a
Winter-night.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then they changed that suit for another and, veiling her face in the luxuriance
of her hair, loosed her lovelocks, so dark, so long that their darkness and
length outvied the darkest nights, and she shot through all hearts with the
magical shaft of her eye-babes. They displayed her in the third dress and she
was as said of her the sayer:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Veiling her cheeks with hair a-morn she comes, * And I her mischiefs with the
cloud compare:<br/>
Saying, "Thou veilest morn with night!" "Ah, no!" * Quoth she, "I shroud full
moon with darkling air!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then they displayed her in the fourth bridal dress and she came forward shining
like the rising sun and swaying to and fro with lovesome grace and supple ease
like a gazelle-fawn. And she clave all hearts with the arrows of her eyelashes,
even as saith one who described a charmer like her:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
The sun of beauty she to sight appears * And, lovely-coy, she mocks all
loveliness;<br/>
And when he fronts her favour and her smile * A-morn, the Sun of day in clouds
must dress.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then she came forth in the fifth dress, a very light of loveliness like a wand
of waving willow or a gazelle of the thirsty wold. Those locks which stung like
scorpions along her cheeks were bent, and her neck was bowed in blandishment,
and her hips quivered as she went. As saith one of the poets describing her in
verse:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
She comes like fullest moon on happy night; * Taper of waist, with shape of
magic might:<br/>
She hath an eye whose glances quell mankind, * And Ruby on her cheeks reflects
his light:<br/>
Enveils her hips the blackness of her hair; *Beware of curls that bite with
viper-bite!<br/>
Her sides are silken-soft, the while the heart * Mere rock behind that surface
lurks from sight:<br/>
From the fringed curtains of her eyne she shoots * Shafts which at farthest
range on mark alight:<br/>
When round her neck or waist I throw my arms * Her breasts repel me with their
hardened height.<br/>
Ah, how her beauty all excels! ah how * That shape transcends the graceful
waving bough!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then they adorned her with the sixth toilette, a dress which was green. And now
she shamed in her slender straightness the nut-brown spear; her radiant face
dimmed the brightest beams of full moon and she outdid the bending branches in
gentle movement and flexile grace. Her loveliness exalted the beauties of
earth's four quarters and she broke men's hearts by the significance of her
semblance; for she was even as saith one of the poets in these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
A damsel 'twas the tirer's art had decked with snares and sleight.[FN#414] *
And robed in rays as though the sun from her had borrowed light:<br/>
She came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green, * As veiled by its
leafy screen pomegranate hides from sight:<br/>
And when he said "How callest thou the manner of thy dress?" * She answered us
in pleasant way with double meaning dight;<br/>
"We call this garment creve-coeur; and rightly is it hight, * For many a heart
wi' this we broke [FN#415] and conquered many a sprite!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then they displayed her in the seventh dress, coloured between safflower
[FN#416] and saffron, even as one of the poets saith:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
In vest of saffron pale and safflower red * Musk'd, sandal'd ambergris'd, she
came to front:<br/>
"Rise!" cried her youth, "go forth and show thyself!" * "Sit!" said her hips,
"we cannot bear the brunt!"<br/>
And when I craved a bout, her Beauty said * "Do, do!" and said her pretty
shame, "Don't, don't!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Thus they displayed the bride in all her seven toilettes before Hasan al-Basri,
wholly neglecting the Gobbo who sat moping alone; and, when she opened her eyes
[FN#417] she said, "O Allah make this man my goodman and deliver me from the
evil of this hunchbacked groom." As soon as they had made an end of this part
of the ceremony they dismissed the wedding guests who went forth, women,
children and all, and none remained save Hasan and the Hunchback, whilst the
tirewomen led the bride into an inner room to change her garb and gear and get
her ready for the bridegroom. Thereupon Quasimodo came up to Badr al-Din Hasan
and said, "O my lord, thou hast cheered us this night with thy good company and
overwhelmed us with thy kindness and courtesy; but now why not get thee up and
go?" "Bismallah," he answered, "In Allah's name so be it!" and rising, he went
forth by the door, where the Ifrit met him and said, "Stay in thy stead, O Badr
al-Din, and when the Hunchback goes out to the closet of ease go in without
losing time and seat thyself in the alcove; and when the bride comes say to
her, "'Tis I am thy husband, for the King devised this trick only fearing for
thee the evil eye, and he whom thou sawest is but a Syce, a groom, one of our
stablemen.' Then walk boldly up to her and unveil her face; for jealousy hath
taken us of this matter." While Hasan was still talking with the Ifrit behold,
the groom fared forth from the hall and entering the closet of ease sat down on
the stool. Hardly had he done this when the Ifrit came out of the tank,
[FN#418] wherein the water was, in semblance of a mouse and squeaked out
"Zeek!" Quoth the Hunchback, "What ails thee?"; and the mouse grew and grew
till it became a coal-black cat and caterwauled "Meeao! Meeao!"[FN#419] Then it
grew still more and more till it became a dog and barked out "Owh! Owh!" When
the bridegroom saw this he was frightened and exclaimed "Out with thee, O
unlucky one!" [FN#420] But the dog grew and swelled till it became an ass-colt
that brayed and snorted in his face "Hauk! Hauk!" [FN#421] Whereupon the
Hunchback quaked and cried, "Come to my aid, O people of the house!" But
behold, the ass-colt grew and became big as a buffalo and walled the way before
him and spake with the voice of the sons of Adam, saying, "Woe to thee, O thou
Bunch-back, thou stinkard, O thou filthiest of grooms!" Hearing this the groom
was seized with a colic and he sat down on the jakes in his clothes with teeth
chattering and knocking together. Quoth the Ifrit, "Is the world so strait to
thee thou findest none to marry save my lady-love?" But as he was silent the
Ifrit continued, "Answer me or I will do thee dwell in the dust!" "By Allah,"
replied the Gobbo, "O King of the Buffaloes, this is no fault of mine, for they
forced me to wed her; and verily I wot not that she had a lover amongst the
buffaloes; but now I repent, first before Allah and then before thee." Said the
Ifrit to him, "I swear to thee that if thou fare forth from this place, or thou
utter a word before sunrise, I assuredly will wring thy neck. When the sun
rises wend thy went and never more return to this house." So saying, the Ifrit
took up the Gobbo bridegroom and set him head downwards and feet upwards in the
slit of the privy, [FN#422] and said to him, "I will leave thee here but I
shall be on the look-out for thee till sunrise; and, if thou stir before then,
I will seize thee by the feet and dash out thy brains against the wall: so look
out for thy life!" Thus far concerning the Hunchback, but as regards Badr
al-Din Hasan of Bassorah he left the Gobbo and the Ifrit jangling and wrangling
and, going into the house, sat him down in the very middle of the alcove; and
behold, in came the bride attended by an old woman who stood at the door and
said, "O Father of Uprightness, [FN#423] arise and take what God giveth thee."
Then the old woman went away and the bride, Sitt al-Husn or the Lady of Beauty
hight, entered the inner part of the alcove broken-hearted and saying in
herself, "By Allah I will never yield my person to him; no, not even were he to
take my life!" But as she came to the further end she saw Badr al-Din Hasan and
she said, "Dearling! Art thou still sitting here? By Allah I was wishing that
thou wert my bridegroom or, at least, that thou and the hunchbacked horse-groom
were partners in me." He replied, "O beautiful lady, how should the Syce have
access to thee, and how should he share in thee with me?" "Then," quoth she,
"who is my husband, thou or he?" "Sitt al-Husn," rejoined Hasan, "we have not
done this for mere fun, [FN#424] but only as a device to ward off the evil eye
from thee; for when the tirewomen and singers and wedding guests saw thy
beauty being displayed to me, they feared fascination and thy father hired the
horse-groom for ten dinars and a porringer of meat to take the evil eye off us;
and now he hath received his hire and gone his gait." When the Lady of Beauty
heard these words she smiled and rejoiced and laughed a pleasant laugh. Then
she whispered him, "By the Lord thou hast quenched a fire which tortured me and
now, by Allah, O my little dark-haired darling, take me to thee and press me to
thy bosom!" Then she began singing:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"By Allah, set thy foot upon my soul; * Since long, long years      for this
alone I long:<br/>
And whisper tale of love in ear of me; * To me 'tis sweeter than      the
sweetest song!<br/>
No other youth upon my heart shall lie; * So do it often, dear,      and do it
long."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then she stripped off her outer gear and she threw open her chemise from the
neck downwards and showed her parts genital and all the rondure of her hips.
When Badr al-Din saw the glorious sight his desires were roused, and he arose
and doffed his clothes, and wrapping up in his bag-trousers [FN#425] the purse
of gold which he had taken from the Jew and which contained the thousand
dinars, he laid it under the edge of the bedding. Then he took off his turband
and set it upon the settle [FN#426] atop of his other clothes, remaining in his
skull-cap and fine shirt of blue silk laced with gold. Whereupon the Lady of
Beauty drew him to her and he did likewise. Then he took her to his embrace and
set her legs round his waist and point-blanked that cannon [FN#427] placed
where it battereth down the bulwark of maidenhead and layeth it waste. And he
found her a pearl unpierced and unthridden and a filly by all men save himself
unridden; and he abated her virginity and had joyance of her youth in his
virility and presently he withdrew sword from sheath; and then returned to the
fray right eath; and when the battle and the siege had finished, some fifteen
assaults he had furnished and she conceived by him that very night. Then he
laid his hand under her head and she did the same and they embraced and fell
asleep in each other's arms, as a certain poet said of such lovers in these
couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Visit thy lover, spurn what envy told; * No envious churl shall smile on love
ensoul'd.<br/>
Merciful Allah made no fairer sight * Than coupled lovers single couch doth
hold;<br/>
Breast pressing breast and robed in joys their own, * With pillowed forearms
cast in finest mould:<br/>
And when heart speaks to heart with tongue of love, * Folk who would part them
hammer steel ice-cold:<br/>
If a fair friend[FN#428] thou find who cleaves to thee, * Live for that friend,
that friend in heart enfold.<br/>
O ye who blame for love us lover kind * Say, can ye minister to diseasèd mind?
</p>

<p class="noindent">
This much concerning Badr al-Hasan and Sitt al-Husn his cousin; but as regards
the Ifrit, as soon as he saw the twain asleep, he said to the Ifritah, "Arise,
slip thee under the youth and let us carry him back to his place ere dawn
overtake us; for the day is nearhand." Thereupon she came forward and, getting
under him as he lay asleep, took him up clad only in his fine blue shirt,
leaving the rest of his garments; and ceased not flying (and the Ifrit vying
with her in flight) till the dawn advised them that it had come upon them
mid-way, and the Muezzin began his call from the Minaret, "Haste ye to
salvation! Haste ye to salvation!" [FN#429] Then Allah suffered his angelic
host to shoot down the Ifrit with a shooting star, [FN#430] so he was consumed,
but the Ifritah escaped and she descended with Badr al-Din at the place where
the Ifrit was burnt, and did not carry him back to Bassorah, fearing lest he
come to harm. Now by the order of Him who predestineth all things, they
alighted at Damascus of Syria, and the Ifritah set down her burden at one of
the city-gates and flew away. When day arose and the doors were opened, the
folks who came forth saw a handsome youth, with no other raiment but his blue
shirt of gold-embroidered silk and skull-cap,[FN#431] lying upon the ground
drowned in sleep after the hard labour of the night which had not suffered him
to take his rest. So the folk looking at him said, "O her luck with whom this
one spent the night! but would he had waited to don his garments." Quoth
another, "A sorry lot are the sons of great families! Haply he but now came
forth of the tavern on some occasion of his own and his wine flew to his
head,[FN#432] whereby he hath missed the place he was making for and strayed
till he came to the gate of the city; and finding it shut lay him down and went
to by-by!" As the people were bandying guesses about him suddenly the morning
breeze blew upon Badr al-Din and raising his shirt to his middle showed a
stomach and navel with something below it, [FN#433] and legs and thighs clear
as crystal and smooth as cream. Cried the people, "By Allah he is a pretty
fellow!"; and at the cry Badr al-din awoke and found himself lying at a
city-gate with a crowd gathered around him. At this he greatly marvelled and
asked, "Where am I, O good folk; and what causeth you thus to gather round me,
and what have I had to do with you?"; and they answered, "We found thee lying
here asleep during the call to dawn-prayer and this is all we know of the
matter, but where diddest thou lie last night?" [FN#434] "By Allah, O good
people," replied he, "I lay last night in Cairo." Said somebody, "Thou hast
surely been eating Hashish," [FN#435] and another, "He is a fool;" and a third,
"He is a citrouille;" and a fourth asked him, "Art thou out of thy mind? thou
sleepest in Cairo and thou wakest in the morning at the gate of Damascus-city!"
[FN#436] Cried he, "By Allah, my good people, one and all, I lie not to you:
indeed I lay yesternight in the land of Egypt and yesternoon I was at
Bassorah." Quoth one, "Well! well!"; and quoth another, "Ho! ho!"; and a third,
"So! so!"; and a fourth cried, "This youth is mad, is possessed of the Jinni!"
So they clapped hands at him and said to one another, "Alas, the pity of it for
his youth: by Allah a madman! and madness is no respecter of persons." Then
they said to him, "Collect thy wits and return to thy reason! How couldest thou
be in Bassorah yesterday and Cairo yesternight and withal awake in Damascus
this morning?" But he persisted, "Indeed I was a bridegroom in Cairo last
night." "Belike thou hast been dreaming," rejoined they, "and sawest all this
in thy sleep." So Hasan took thought for a while and said to them, "By Allah,
this is no dream; nor vision-like doth it seem! I certainly was in Cairo where
they displayed the bride before me, in presence of a third person, the
Hunchback groom who was sitting hard by. By Allah, O my brother, this be no
dream, and if it were a dream, where is the bag of gold I bore with me and
where are my turband and my robe, and my trousers?" Then he rose and entered
the city, threading its highways and by-ways and bazar-streets; and the people
pressed upon him and jeered at him, crying out "Madman! madman!" till he,
beside himself with rage, took refuge in a cook's shop. Now that Cook had been
a trifle too clever, that is, a rogue and thief; but Allah had made him repent
and turn from his evil ways and open a cook-shop; and all the people of
Damascus stood in fear of his boldness and his mischief. So when the crowd saw
the youth enter his shop, they dispersed being afraid of him, and went their
ways. The Cook looked at Badr al-Din and, noting his beauty and loveliness,
fell in love with him forthright and said, "Whence comest thou, O youth? Tell
me at once thy tale, for thou art become dearer to me than my soul." So Hasan
recounted to him all that had befallen him from beginning to end (but in
repetition there is no fruition) and the Cook said, "O my lord Badr al-Din,
doubtless thou knowest that this case is wondrous and this story marvellous;
therefore, O my son, hide what hath betided thee, till Allah dispel what ills
be thine; and tarry with me here the meanwhile, for I have no child and I will
adopt thee." Badr al-Din replied, "Be it as thou wilt, O my uncle!" Whereupon
the Cook went to the bazar and bought him a fine suit of clothes and made him
don it; then fared with him to the Kazi, and formally declared that he was his
son. So Badr al-Din Hasan became known in Damascus-city as the Cook's son and
he sat with him in the shop to take the silver, and on this wise he sojourned
there for a time. Thus far concerning him; but as regards his cousin, the Lady
of Beauty, when morning dawned she awoke and missed Badr al-Din Hasan from her
side; but she thought that he had gone to the privy and she sat expecting him
for an hour or so; when behold, entered her father Shams al-Din Mohammed, Wazir
of Egypt. Now he was disconsolate by reason of what had befallen him through
the Sultan, who had entreated him harshly and had married his daughter by force
to the lowest of his menials and he too a lump of a groom bunch-backed withal,
and he said to himself, "I will slay this daughter of mine if of her own free
will she have yielded her person to this accursed carle." So he came to the door
of the bride's private chamber and said, "Ho! Sitt al-Husn." She answered him,
"Here am I! here am I!" [FN#437] O my lord," and came out unsteady of gait
after the pains and pleasures of the night; and she kissed his hand, her face
showing redoubled brightness and beauty for having lain in the arms of that
gazelle, her cousin. When her father, the Wazir, saw her in such case, he asked
her, "O thou accursed, art thou rejoicing because of this horse-groom?", and
Sitt al-Husn smiled sweetly and answered, "By Allah, don't ridicule me: enough
of what passed yesterday when folk laughed at me, and evened me with that
groom-fellow who is not worthy to bring my husband's shoes or slippers; nay
who is not worth the paring of my husband's nails! By the Lord, never in my
life have I nighted a night so sweet as yesternight!, so don't mock by
reminding me of the Gobbo." When her parent heard her words he was filled with
fury, and his eyes glared and stared, so that little of them showed save the
whites and he cried, "Fie upon thee! What words are these? 'Twas the
hunchbacked horse-groom who passed the night with thee!" "Allah upon thee,"
replied the Lady of Beauty, "do not worry me about the Gobbo, Allah damn his
father; [FN#438] and leave jesting with me; for this groom was only hired for
ten dinars and a porringer of meat and he took his wage and went his way. As
for me I entered the bridal-chamber, where I found my true bridegroom sitting,
after the singer-women had displayed me to him; the same who had crossed their
hands with red gold, till every pauper that was present waxed wealthy; and I
passed the night on the breast of my bonny man, a most lively darling, with his
black eyes and joined eyebrows." [FN#439] When her parent heard these words the
light before his face became night, and he cried out at her saying, "O thou
whore! What is this thou tellest me? Where be thy wits?" "O my father," she
rejoined, "thou breakest my heart; enough for thee that thou hast been so hard
upon me! Indeed my husband who took my virginity is but just now gone to the
draught-house and I feel that I have conceived by him." [FN#440] The Wazir rose
in much marvel and entered the privy where he found the hunchbacked groom with
his head in the hole, and his heels in the air. At this sight he was confounded
and said, "This is none other than he, the rascal Hunchback!" So he called to
him, "Ho Hunchback!" The Gobbo grunted out, "Taghum! Taghum!" [FN#441] thinking
it was the Ifrit spoke to him; so the Wazir shouted at him and said, "Speak
out, or I'll strike off thy pate with this sword." Then quoth the Hunchback,
"By Allah, O Shaykh of the Ifrits, ever since thou settest me in this place, I
have not lifted my head; so Allah upon thee, take pity and entreat me kindly!"
When the Wazir heard this he asked, "What is this thou sayest? I'm the bride's
father and no Ifrit." "Enough for thee that thou hast well nigh done me die, "
answered Quasimodo; "now go thy ways before he come upon thee who hath served
me thus. Could ye not marry me to any save the lady-love of buffaloes and the
beloved of Ifrits? Allah curse her and curse him who married me to her and was
the cause of this my case,"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased
to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twenty-third Night,
</p>

<p>
Said she, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the hunchbacked groom
spake to the bride's father saying, "Allah curse him who was the cause of this
my case!" Then said the Wazir to him, "Up and out of this place!" "Am I mad,"
cried the groom, "that I should go with thee without leave of the Ifrit whose
last words to me were:—"When the sun rises, arise and go thy gait." So hath the
sun risen or no?; for I dare not budge from this place till then." Asked the
Wazir, "Who brought thee hither?"; and he answered "I came here yesternight for
a call of nature and to do what none can do for me, when lo! a mouse came out
of the water, and squeaked at me and swelled and waxed gross till it was big as
a buffalo, and spoke to me words that entered my ears. Then he left me here and
went away, Allah curse the bride and him who married me to her!" The Wazir
walked up to him and lifted his head out of the cesspool hole; and he fared
forth running for dear life and hardly crediting that the sun had risen; and
repaired to the Sultan to whom he told all that had befallen him with the
Ifrit. But the Wazir returned to the bride's private chamber, sore troubled in
spirit about her, and said to her, "O my daughter, explain this strange matter
to me!" Quoth she, "Tis simply this. The bridegroom to whom they displayed me
yestereve lay with me all night, and took my virginity and I am with child by
him. He is my husband and if thou believe me not, there are his turband,
twisted as it was, lying on the settle and his dagger and his trousers beneath
the bed with a something, I wot not what, wrapped up in them." When her father
heard this he entered the private chamber and found the turband which had been
left there by Badr al-Din Hasan, his brother's son, and he took it in hand and
turned it over, saying, "This is the turband worn by Wazirs, save that it is of
Mosul stuff." [FN#442] So he opened it and, finding what seemed to be an amulet
sewn up in the Fez, he unsewed the lining and took it out; then he lifted up
the trousers wherein was the purse of the thousand gold pieces and, opening
that also, found in it a written paper. This he read and it was the
sale-receipt of the Jew in the name of Badr al-Din Hasan, son of Nur al-Din
Ali, the Egyptian; and the thousand dinars were also there. No sooner had Shams
al-Din read this than he cried out with a loud cry and fell to the ground
fainting; and as soon as he revived and understood the gist of the matter he
marvelled and said, "There is no God, but <i>the</i> God, whose All-might is
over all things! Knowest thou, O my daughter, who it was that became the
husband of thy virginity?" "No," answered she, and he said, "Verily he is the
son of my brother, thy cousin, and this thousand dinars is thy dowry. Praise be
to Allah! and would I wot how this matter came about!" then opened he the
amulet which was sewn up and found therein a paper in the handwriting of his
deceased brother, Nur al-Din the Egyptian, father of Badr al-Din Hasan; and,
when he saw the hand-writing, he kissed it again and again; and he wept and
wailed over his dead brother and improvised this lines:&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I see their traces and with pain I melt, * And on their whilome homes I weep
and yearn:<br/>
And Him I pray who dealt this parting-blow * Some day he deign vouchsafe a safe
return." [FN#443]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When he ceased versifying, he read the scroll and found in it recorded the
dates of his brother's marriage with the daughter of the Wazir of Bassorah, and
of his going in to her, and her conception, and the birth of Badr al-Din Hasan
and all his brother's history and doings up to his dying day. So he marvelled
much and shook with joy and, comparing the dates with his own marriage and
going in to his wife and the birth of their daughter, Sitt al-Husn, he found
that they perfectly agreed. So he took the document and, repairing with it to
the Sultan, acquainted him with what had passed, from first to last; whereat
the King marvelled and commanded the case to be at once recorded. [FN#444] The
Wazir abode that day expecting to see his brother's son but he came not; and he
waited a second day, a third day and so on to the seventh day, without any
tidings of him. So he said, "By Allah, I will do a deed such as none hath ever
done before me!"; and he took reed-pen and ink and drew upon a sheet of paper
the plan of the whole house, showing whereabouts was the private chamber with
the curtain in such a place and the furniture in such another and so on with
all that was in the room. Then he folded up the sketch and, causing all the
furniture to be collected, he took Badr al-Din's garments and the turband and
Fez and robe and purse, and carried the whole to his house and locked them up,
against the coming of his nephew, Badr al-Din Hasan, the son of his lost
brother, with an iron padlock on which he set his seal. As for the Wazir's
daughter, when her tale of months was fulfilled, she bare a son like the full
moon, the image of his father in beauty and loveliness and fair proportions and
perfect grace. They cut his navel-string [FN#445] and Kohl'd his eyelids to
strengthen his eyes, and gave him over to the nurses and nursery governesses,
[FN#446] naming him Ajib, the Wonderful. His day was as a month and his month
was as a year; [FN#447] and, when seven years had passed over him, his
grandfather sent him to school, enjoining the master to teach him
Koran-reading, and to educate him well. he remained at the school four years,
till he began to bully his schoolfellows and abuse them and bash them and
thrash them and say, "Who among you is like me? I am the son of Wazir of
Egypt!" At last the boys came in a body to complain to the Monitor [FN#448] of
what hard usage they were wont to have from Ajib, and he said to them, "I will
tell you somewhat you may do to him so that he shall leave off coming to the
school, and it is this. When he enters to-morrow, sit ye down about him and say
some one of you to some other, 'By Allah none shall play with us at this game
except he tell us the names of his mamma and his papa; for he who knows not the
names of his mother and his father is a bastard, a son of adultery, [FN#449]
and he shall not play with us.'" When morning dawned the boys came to school,
Ajib being one of them, and all flocked around him saying, "We will play a game
wherein none can join save he can tell the name of his mamma and his papa." And
they all cried, "By Allah, good!" Then quoth one of them, "My name is Majid and
my mammy's name is Alawiyah and my daddy's Izz al-Din." Another spoke in like
guise and yet a third, till Ajid's turn came, and he said, "MY name is Ajib,
and my mother's is Sitt al-Husn, and my father's Shams al-Din, the Wazir of
Cairo." "By Allah," cried they, "the Wazir is not thy true father." Ajib
answered, "The Wazir is my father in very deed." Then the boys all laughed and
clapped their hands at him, saying "He does not know who is his papa: get out
from among us, for none shall play with us except he know his father's name."
Thereupon they dispersed from around him and laughed him to scorn; so his
breast was straitened and he well nigh choked with tears and hurt feelings.
Then said the Monitor to him, "We know that the Wazir is thy grandfather, the
father of thy mother, Sitt al-Husn, and not thy father. As for thy father,
neither dost thou know him nor yet do we; for the Sultan married thy mother to
the hunchbacked horse-groom; but the Jinni came and slept with her and thou
hast no known father. Leave, then, comparing thyself too advantageously with
the little ones of the school, till thou know that thou hast a lawful father;
for until then thou wilt pass for a child of adultery amongst them. Seest thou
not that even a huckster's son knoweth his own sire? Thy grandfather is the
Wazir of Egypt; but as for thy father we wot him not and we say indeed that
thou hast none. So return to thy sound senses!" When Ajib heard these insulting
words from the Monitor and the school boys and understood the reproach they put
upon him, he went out at once and ran to his mother, Sitt al-Husn, to complain;
but he was crying so bitterly that his tears prevented his speech for a while.
When she heard his sobs and saw his tears her heart burned as though with fire
for him, and she said, "O my son, why dost thou weep? Allah keep the tears from
thine eyes! Tell me what hath betided thee?" So he told her all that he heard
from the boys and from the Monitor and ended with asking, "And who, O my
mother, is my father?" She answered, "Thy father is the Wazir of Egypt;" but he
said, "Do not lie to me. The Wazir is thy father, not mine! who then is my
father? Except thou tell me the very truth I will kill myself with this
hanger." [FN#450] When his mother heard him speak of his father she wept,
remembering her cousin and her bridal night with him and all that occurred
there and then, and she repeated these couplets:&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Love in my heart they lit and went their ways, * And all I love to furthest
lands withdrew;<br/>
And when they left me sufferance also left, * And when we parted Patience bade
adieu:<br/>
They fled and flying with my joys they fled, * In very constancy my spirit
flew:<br/>
They made my eyelids flow with severance tears * And to the parting-pang these
drops are due:<br/>
And when I long to see reunion-day, * My groans prolonging sore for ruth I
sue:<br/>
Then in my heart of hearts their shapes I trace, * And love and longing care
and cark renew:<br/>
O ye, whose names cling round me like a cloak, * Whose love yet closer than a
shirt I drew,<br/>
Beloved ones! how long this hard despite? * How long this severance and this
coy shy flight?"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then she wailed and shrieked aloud and her son did the like; and behold, in
came the Wazir whose heart burnt within him at the sight of their lamentations,
and he said, "What makes you weep?" So the Lady of Beauty acquainted him with
what had happened between her son and the school boys; and he also wept,
calling to mind his brother and what had past between them and what had betided
his daughter and how he had failed to find out what mystery there was in the
matter. Then he rose at once and, repairing to the audience-hall, went straight
to the King and told his tale and craved his permission [FN#451] to travel
eastward to the city of Bassorah and ask after his brother's son. Furthermore,
he besought the Sultan to write for him letters patent, authorising him to
seize upon Badr al-Din, his nephew and son-in-law, wheresoever he might find
him. And he wept before the King, who had pity on him and wrote royal
autographs to his deputies in all climes [FN#452] and countries and cities;
whereat the Wazir rejoiced and prayed for blessings on him. Then, taking leave
of his Sovereign, he returned to his house, where he equipped himself and his
daughter and his adopted child Ajib, with all things meet for a long march; and
set out and travelled the first day and the second and the third and so forth
till he arrived at Damascus-city. He found it a fair place abounding in trees
and streams, even as the poet said of it:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
When I nighted and dayed in Damascus town, * Time sware such another he ne'er
should view:<br/>
And careless we slept under wing of night, * Till dappled Morn 'gan her smiles
renew:<br/>
And dew-drops on branch in their beauty hung, * Like pearls to be dropt when
the Zephyr blew:<br/>
And the Lake [FN#453] was the page where birds read and note, * And the clouds
set points to what breezes wrote.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The Wazir encamped on the open space called Al-Hasa; [FN#454] and, after
pitching tents, said to his servants, "A halt here for two days!" So they went
into the city upon their several occasions, this to sell and that to buy; this
to go to the Hammam and that to visit the Cathedral-mosque of the Banu Umayyah,
the Ommiades, whose like is not in this world. [FN#455] Ajib also went, with
his attendant eunuch, for solace and diversion to the city and the servant
followed with a quarter-staff [FN#456] of almond-wood so heavy that if he
struck a camel therewith the beast would never rise again. [FN#457] When the
people of Damascus saw Ajib's beauty and brilliancy and perfect grace and
symmetry (for he was a marvel of comeliness and winning loveliness, softer than
the cool breeze of the North, sweeter than limpid waters to a man in drowth,
and pleasanter than the health for which sick man sueth), a mighty many
followed him, whilst others ran on before, and sat down on the road until he
should come up, that they might gaze on him, till, as Destiny had decreed, the
Eunuch stopped opposite the shop of Ajib's father, Badr al-Din Hasan. Now his
beard had grown long and thick and his wits had ripened during the twelve years
which had passed over him, and the Cook and ex-rogue having died, the so-called
Hasan of Bassorah had succeeded to his goods and shop, for that he had been
formally adopted before the Kazi and witnesses. When his son and the Eunuch
stepped before him he gazed on Ajib and, seeing how very beautiful he was, his
heart fluttered and throbbed, and blood drew to blood and natural affection
spake out and his bowels yearned over him. He had just dressed a conserve of
pomegranate-grains with sugar, and Heaven-implanted love wrought within him; so
he called to his son Ajib and said, "O my lord, O thou who hast gotten the
mastery of my heart and my very vitals and to whom my bowels yearn; say me,
wilt thou enter my house and solace my soul by eating of my meat?" Then his
eyes streamed with tears which he could not stay, for he bethought him of what
he had been and what he had become. When Ajib heard his father's words his
heart also yearned himwards and he looked at the Eunuch and said to him, "Of a
truth, O my good guard, my heart yearns to this cook; he is as one that hath a
son far away from him: so let us enter and gladden his heart by tasting of his
hospitality. Perchance for our so doing Allah may reunite me with my father."
When the Eunuch heard these words he cried, "A fine thing this, by Allah! Shall
the sons of Wazirs be seen eating in a common cook-shop? Indeed I keep off the
folk from thee with this quarter-staff lest they even look upon thee; and I
dare not suffer thee to enter this shop at all." When Hasan of Bassorah heard
his speech he marvelled and turned to the Eunuch with the tears pouring down
his cheeks; and Ajib said, "Verily my heart loves him!" But he answered, "Leave
this talk, thou shalt not go in." Thereupon the father turned to the Eunuch and
said, "O worthy sir, why wilt thou not gladden my soul by entering my shop? O
thou who art like a chestnut, dark without but white of heart within! O thou of
the like of whom a certain poet said * * *" The Eunuch burst out a-laughing and
asked—"Said what? Speak out by Allah and be quick about it." So Hasan the
Bassorite began reciting these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"If not master of manners or aught but discreet * In the household of Kings no
trust could he take:<br/>
And then for the Harem! what Eunuch [FN#458] is he * Whom angels would serve
for his service sake."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The Eunuch marvelled and was pleased at these words, so he took Ajib by the
hand and went into the cook's shop: whereupon Hasan the Bassorite ladled into a
saucer some conserve of pomegranate-grains wonderfully good, dressed with
almonds and sugar, saying, "You have honoured me with your company: eat then
and health and happiness to you!" Thereupon Ajib said to his father, "Sit thee
down and eat with us; so perchance Allah may unite us with him we long for."
Quoth Hasan, "O my son, hast thou then been afflicted in thy tender years with
parting from those thou lovest?" Quoth Ajib, "Even so, O nuncle mine; my heart
burns for the loss of a beloved one who is none other than my father; and
indeed I come forth, I and my grandfather, [FN#459] to circle and search the
world for him. Oh, the pity of it, and how I long to meet him!" Then he wept
with exceeding weeping, and his father also wept seeing him weep and for his
own bereavement, which recalled to him his long separation from dear friends
and from his mother; and the Eunuch was moved to pity for him. Then they ate
together till they were satisfied; and Ajib and the slave rose and left the
shop. Hereat Hasan the Bassorite felt as though his soul had departed his body
and had gone with them; for he could not lose sight of the boy during the
twinkling of an eye, albeit he knew not that Ajib was his son. So he locked up
his shop and hastened after them; and he walked so fast that he came up with
them before they had gone out of the western gate. The Eunuch turned and asked
him, "What ails the?"; and Badr al-Din answered, "When ye went from me,
meseemed my soul had gone with you; and, as I had business without the
city-gate, I purposed to bear you company till my matter was ordered and so
return." The Eunuch was angered and said to Ajib, "This is just what I feared!
we ate that unlucky mouthful (which we are bound to respect), and here is the
fellow following us from place to place; for the vulgar are ever the vulgar."
Ajib, turning and seeing the Cook just behind him, was wroth and his face
reddened with rage and he said to the servant; "Let him walk the highway of the
Moslems; but, when we turn off it to our tents, and find that he still follows
us, we will send him about his business with a flea in his ear." Then he bowed
his head and walked on, the Eunuch walking behind him. But Hasan of Bassorah
followed them to the plain Al-Hasa; and, as they drew near to the tents, they
turned round and saw him close on their heels; so Ajib was very angry, fearing
that the Eunuch might tell his grandfather what had happened. His indignation
was the hotter for apprehension lest any say that after he had entered a
cook-shop the cook had followed him. So he turned and looked at Hasan of
Bassorah and found his eyes fixed on his own, for the father had become a body
without a soul; and it seemed to Ajib that his eye was a treacherous eye or
that he was some lewd fellow. So his rage redoubled and, stooping down, he took
up a stone weighing half a pound and threw it at his father. It struck him on
the forehead, cutting it open from eye-brow to eye-brow and causing the blood
to stream down: and Hasan fell to the ground in a swoon whilst Ajib and the
Eunuch made for the tents. When the father came to himself he wiped away the
blood and tore off a strip from his turband and bound up his head, blaming
himself the while, and saying, "I wronged the lad by shutting up my shop and
following, so that he thought I was some evil-minded fellow." Then he returned
to his place where he busied himself with the sale of his sweetmeats; and he
yearned after his mother at Bassorah, and wept over her and broke out
repeating:&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Unjust it were to bid the World [FN#460] be just * And blame her not: She
ne'er was made for justice:<br/>
Take what she gives thee, leave all grief aside, * For now to fair and then to
foul her lust is."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
So Hasan of Bassorah set himself steadily to sell his sweetmeats; but the
Wazir, his uncle, halted in Damascus three days and then marched upon Emesa,
and passing through that town he made enquiry there and at every place where he
rested. Thence he fared on by way of Hamah and Aleppo and thence through Diyár
Bakr and Maridin and Mosul, still enquiring, till he arrived at Bassorah-city.
Here, as soon as he had secured a lodging, he presented himself before the
Sultan, who entreated him with high honour and the respect due to his rank, and
asked the cause of his coming. The Wazir acquainted him with his history and
told him that the Minister Nur al-Din was his brother; whereupon the Sultan
exclaimed, "Allah have mercy upon him!" and added, "My good Sahib!" [FN#461];
he was my Wazir for fifteen years and I loved him exceedingly. Then he died
leaving a son who abode only a single month after his father's death; since
which time he has disappeared and we could gain no tidings of him. But his
mother, who is the daughter of my former Minister, is still among us." When the
Wazir Shams al-Din heard that his nephew's mother was alive and well, he
rejoiced and said, "O King I much desire to meet her." The King on the instant
gave him leave to visit her; so he betook himself to the mansion of his
brother, Nur al-Din, and cast sorrowful glances on all things in and around it
and kissed the threshold. Then he bethought him of his brother, Nur al-Din Ali,
and how he had died in a strange land far from kith and kin and friends; and he
wept and repeated these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I wander 'mid these walls, my Layla's walls, * And kissing this and other wall
I roam:<br/>
'Tis not the walls or roof my heart so loves, * But those who in this house had
made their home."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then he passed through the gate into a courtyard and found a vaulted doorway
builded of hardest syenite [FN#462] inlaid with sundry kinds of multi-coloured
marble. Into this he walked and wandered about the house and, throwing many a
glance around, saw the name of his brother, Nur al-Din, written in gold wash
upon the walls. So he went up to the inscription and kissed it and wept and
thought of how he had been separated from his brother and had now lost him for
ever, and he recited these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I ask of you from every rising sun, * And eke I ask when flasheth
levenlight:<br/>
Restless I pass my nights in passion-pain, * Yet ne'er I 'plain me of my
painful plight;<br/>
My love! if longer last this parting throe * Little by little shall it waste my
sprite.<br/>
An thou wouldst bless these eyne with sight of thee * One day on earth, I crave
none other sight:<br/>
Think not another could possess my mind * Nor length nor breadth for other love
I find."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then he walked on till he came to the apartment of his brother's widow, the
mother of Badr al-Din Hasan, the Egyptian. Now from the time of her son's
disappearance she had never ceased weeping and wailing through the light hours
and the dark; and, when the years grew longsome with her, she built for him a
tomb of marble in the midst of the saloon and there used to weep for him day
and night, never sleeping save thereby. When the Wazir drew near her apartment,
he heard her voice and stood behind the door while she addressed the sepulchre
in verse and said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Answer, by Allah! Sepulchre, are all his beauties gone? * Hath change the
power to blight his charms, that Beauty's paragon?<br/>
Thou art not earth, O Sepulchre! nor art thou sky to me; * How comes it, then,
in thee I see conjoint the branch and moon?"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
While she was bemoaning herself after this fashion, behold, the Wazir went in
to her and saluted her and informed her that he was her husband's brother; and,
telling her all that had passed between them, laid open before her the whole
story, how her son Badr al-Din Hasan had spent a whole night with his daughter
full ten years ago but had disappeared in the morning. And he ended with
saying, "My daughter conceived by thy son and bare a male child who is now with
me, and he is thy son and thy son's son by my daughter." When she heard the
tidings that her boy, Badr al-Din, was still alive and saw her brother-in-law,
she rose up to him and threw herself at his feet and kissed them, reciting
these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Allah be good to him that gives glad tidings of thy steps; * In very sooth for
better news mine ears would never sue:<br/>
Were he content with worn-out robe, upon his back I'd throw * A heart to pieces
rent and torn when heard the word Adieu."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then the Wazir sent for Ajib and his grandmother stood up and fell on his neck
and wept; but Shams al-Din said to her, "This is no time for weeping; this is
the time to get thee ready for travelling with us to the land of Egypt; haply
Allah will reunite me and thee with thy son and my nephew." Replied she,
"Hearkening and obedience;" and, rising at once, collected her baggage and
treasures and her jewels, and equipped herself and her slave-girls for the
march, whilst the Wazir went to take his leave of the Sultan of Bassorah, who
sent by him presents and rarities for the Soldan of Egypt. Then he set out at
once upon his homeward march and journeyed till he came to Damascus-city where
he alighted in the usual place and pitched tents, and said to his suite, "We
will halt a se'nnight here to buy presents and rare things for the Soldan." Now
Ajib bethought him of the past so he said to the Eunuch, "O Laik, I want a
little diversion; come, let us go down to the great bazar of Damascus, [FN#463]
and see what hath become of the cook whose sweetmeats we ate and whose head we
broke, for indeed he was kind to us and we entreated him scurvily." The Eunuch
answered, "Hearing is obeying!" So they went forth from the tents; and the tie
of blood drew Ajib towards his father, and forthwith they passed through the
gateway, Bab al-Faradis [FN#464] hight, and entered the city and ceased not
walking through the streets till they reached the cookshop, where they found
Hasan of Bassorah standing at the door. It was near the time of mid-afternoon
prayer [FN#465] and it so fortuned that he had just dressed a confection of
pomegranate-grains. When the twain drew near to him and Ajib saw him, his heart
yearned towards him, and noticing the scar of the blow, which time had darkened
on his brow, he said to him, "Peace be on thee, O man!" [FN#466] know that my
heart is with thee." But when Badr al-Din looked upon his son his vitals
yearned and his heart fluttered, and he hung his head earthwards and sought to
make his tongue give utterance to his words, but he could not. Then he raised
his head humbly and suppliant-wise towards his boy and repeated these
couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I longed for my beloved but when I saw his face, * Abashed I held my tongue
and stood with downcast eye;<br/>
And hung my head in dread and would have hid my love, * But do whatso I would
hidden it would not lie;<br/>
Volumes of plaints I had prepared, reproach and blame, * But when we met, no
single word remembered I."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And then said he to them, "Heal my broken heart and eat of my sweetmeats; for,
by Allah, I cannot look at thee but my heart flutters. Indeed I should not have
followed thee the other day, but that I was beside myself." "By Allah,"
answered Ajib, "thou dost indeed love us! We ate in thy house a mouthful when
we were here before and thou madest us repent of it, for that thou followedst
us and wouldst have disgraced us; so now we will not eat aught with thee save
on condition that thou make oath not to go out after us nor dog us. Otherwise
we will not visit thee again during our present stay; for we shall halt a week
here, whilst my grandfather buys certain presents for the King." Quoth Hasan of
Bassorah, "I promise you this." So Ajib and the Eunuch entered the shop, and
his father set before them a saucer-full of conserve of pomegranate-grains.
Said Ajib, "Sit thee down and eat with us, so haply shall Allah dispel our
sorrows." Hasan the Bassorite was joyful and sat down and ate with them; but
his eyes kept gazing fixedly on Ajib's face, for his very heart and vitals
clove to him; and at last the boy said to him, "Did I not tell thee thou art a
most noyous dotard?; so do stint thy staring in my face!" But when Hasan of
Bassorah heard his son's words he repeated these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Thou hast some art the hearts of men to clip; * Close-veiled, far-hidden
mystery dark and deep:<br/>
O thou whose beauties shame the lustrous moon, * Wherewith the saffron Morn
fears rivalship!<br/>
Thy beauty is a shrine shall ne'er decay; * Whose signs shall grow until they
all outstrip; [FN#467]<br/>
Must I be thirst-burnt by that Eden-brow * And die of pine to taste that
Kausar-lip?" [FN#468]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Hasan kept putting morsels into Ajib's mouth at one time and at another time
did the same by the Eunuch and they ate till they were satisfied and could no
more. Then all rose up and the cook poured water on their hands; [FN#469] and,
loosing a silken waist-shawl, dried them and sprinkled them with rose-water
from a casting-bottle he had by him. Then he went out and presently returned
with a gugglet of sherbet flavoured with rose-water, scented with musk and
cooled with snow; and he set this before them saying, "Complete your kindness
to me!" So Ajib took the gugglet and drank and passed it to the Eunuch; and it
went round till their stomachs were full and they were surfeited with a meal
larger than their wont. Then they went away and made haste in walking till they
reached the tents, and Ajib went in to his grandmother, who kissed him and,
thinking of her son, Badr al-Din Hasan, groaned aloud and wept and recited
these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I still had hoped to see thee and enjoy thy sight, * For in thine absence life
has lost its kindly light:<br/>
I swear my vitals wot none other love but thine * By Allah, who can read the
secrets of the sprite!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then she asked Ajib, "O my son! where hast thou been?"; and he answered, "In
Damascus-city;" Whereupon she rose and set before him a bit of scone and a
saucer of conserve of pomegranate-grains (which was too little sweetened), and
she said to the Eunuch, "Sit down with thy master!" Said the servant to
himself, "By Allah, we have no mind to eat: I cannot bear the smell of bread;"
but he sat down and so did Ajib, though his stomach was full of what he had
eaten already and drunken. Nevertheless he took a bit of the bread and dipped
it in the pomegranate-conserve and made shift to eat it, but he found it too
little sweetened, for he was cloyed and surfeited, so he said, "Faugh; what be
this wild-beast [FN#470] stuff?" "O my son," cried his grandmother, "dost thou
find fault with my cookery? I cooked this myself and none can cook it as nicely
as I can save thy father, Badr al-Din Hasan." "By Allah, O my lady, Ajib
answered, "this dish is nasty stuff; for we saw but now in the city of Bassorah
a cook who so dresseth pomegranate-grains that the very smell openeth a way to
the heart and the taste would make a full man long to eat; and, as for this
mess compared with his, 'tis not worth either much or little." When his
grandmother heard his words she waxed wroth with exceeding wrath and looked at
the servant—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twenty-fourth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ajib's grandmother
heard his words, she waxed wroth and looked at the servant and said, "Woe to
thee! dost thou spoil my son, [FN#471] and dost take him into common
cookshops?" The Eunuch was frightened and denied, saying, "We did not go into
the shop; we only passed by it." "By Allah," cried Ajib, "but we did go in and
we ate till it came out of our nostrils, and the dish was better than thy
dish!" Then his grandmother rose and went and told her brother-in-law, who was
incensed against the Eunuch, and sending for him asked him, "Why didst thou
take my son into a cookshop?"; and the Eunuch being frightened answered, "We
did not go in." But Ajib said, "We did go inside and ate conserve of
pomegranate-grains till we were full; and the cook gave us to drink of iced and
sugared sherbet." At this the Wazir's indignation redoubled and he questioned
the Castrato but, as he still denied, the Wazir said to him, "If thou speak
sooth, sit down and eat before us." So he came forward and tried to eat, but
could not and threw away the mouthful crying "O my lord! I am surfeited since
yesterday." By this the Wazir was certified that he had eaten at the cook's and
bade the slaves throw him [FN#472] which they did. Then they came down on him
with a rib-basting which burned him till he cried for mercy and help from
Allah, saying, "O my master, beat me no more and I will tell thee the truth;"
whereupon the Wazir stopped the bastinado and said, "Now speak thou sooth."
Quoth the Eunuch, "Know then that we did enter the shop of a cook while he was
dressing conserve of pomegranate-grains and he set some of it before us: by
Allah! I never ate in my life its like, nor tasted aught nastier than this
stuff which is now before us."[FN#473] Badr al-Din Hasan's mother was angry at
this and said, "Needs thou must go back to the cook and bring me a saucer of
conserved pomegranate-grains from that which is in his shop and show it to thy
master, that he may say which be the better and the nicer, mine or his." Said
the unsexed, "I will." So on the instant she gave him a saucer and a half dinar
and he returned to the shop and said to the cook, "O Shaykh of all Cooks,
[FN#474] we have laid a wager concerning thy cookery in my lord's house, for
they have conserve of pomegranate-grains there also; so give me this
half-dinar's worth and look to it; for I have eaten a full meal of stick on
account of thy cookery, and so do not let me eat aught more thereof." Hasan of
Bassorah laughed and answered, "By Allah, none can dress this dish as it should
be dressed save myself and my mother, and she at this time is in a far
country." Then he ladled out a saucer-full; and, finishing it off with musk and
rose-water, put it in a cloth which he sealed [FN#475] and gave it to the
Eunuch, who hastened back with it. No sooner had Badr al-Din Hasan's mother
tasted it and perceived its fine flavour and the excellence of the cookery,
than she knew who had dressed it, and she screamed and fell down fainting. The
Wazir, sorely started, sprinkled rose-water upon her and after a time she
recovered and said, "If my son be yet of this world, none dressed this conserve
of pomegranate-grains but he; and this Cook is my very son Badr al-Din Hasan;
there is no doubt of it nor can there be any mistake, for only I and he knew
how to prepare it and I taught him." When the Wazir heard her words he joyed
with exceeding joy and said, "O the longing of me for a sight of my brother's
son! I wonder if the days will ever unite us with him! Yet it is to Almighty
Allah alone that we look for bringing about this meeting." Then he rose without
stay or delay and, going to his suite said to them, "Be off, some fifty of you
with sticks and staves to the Cook's shop and demolish it; then pinion his arms
behind him with his own turband, saying, 'It was thou madest that foul mess of
pomegranate-grains!' and drag him here perforce but without doing him a harm."
And they replied, "It is well." Then the Wazir rode off without losing an
instant to the Palace and, foregathering with the Viceroy of Damascus, showed
him the Sultan's orders. After careful perusal he kissed the letter, and
placing it upon his head said to his visitor, "Who is this offender of thine?"
Quoth the Wazir, "A man who is a cook." So the Viceroy at once sent his
apparitors to the shop; which they found demolished and everything in it broken
to pieces; for whilst the Wazir was riding to the palace his men had done his
bidding. Then they awaited his return from the audience, and Hasan of Bassorah
who was their prisoner kept saying, "I wonder what they have found in the
conserve of pomegranate-grains to bring things to this pass!" [FN#476] When the
Wazir returned to them, after his visit to the Viceroy who had given him formal
permission to take up his debtor and depart with him, on entering the tents he
called for the Cook. They brought him forward pinioned with his turband; and,
when Badr al-Din Hasan saw his uncle, he wept with excessive weeping and said,
"O my lord, what is my offence against thee?" "Art thou the man who dressed
that conserve of pomegranate-grains?"; asked the Wazir, and he answered "Yes!
didst thou find in it aught to call for the cutting off of my head?" Quoth the
Wazir, "That were the least of thy deserts!" Quoth the cook, "O my lord, wilt
thou not tell me my crime and what aileth the conserve of pomegranate-grains?"
"Presently," replied the Wazir and called aloud to his men, saying "Bring
hither the camels." So they struck the tents and by the Wazir's orders the
servants took Badr al-Din Hasan, and set him in a chest which they padlocked
and put on a camel. Then they departed and stinted not journeying till
nightfall, when they halted and ate some victual, and took Badr al-Din Hasan
out of his chest and gave him a meal and locked him up again. They set out once
more and travelled till they reached Kimrah, where they took him out of the box
and brought him before the Wazir who asked him, "Art thou he who dressed that
conserve of pomegranate-grains?" He answered "Yes, O my lord!"; and the Wazir
said "Fetter him!" So they fettered him and returned him to the chest and fared
on again till they reached Cairo and lighted at the quarter called
Al-Raydaniyah.[FN#477] Then the Wazir gave order to take Badr al-Din Hasan out
of the chest and sent for a carpenter and said to him, "Make me a cross of wood
[FN#478] for this fellow!" Cried Badr al-Din Hasan "And what wilt thou do with
it?"; and the Wazir replied, "I mean to crucify thee thereon, and nail thee
thereto and parade thee all about the city." "And why wilt thou use me after
this fashion?" "Because of thy villanous cookery of conserved
pomegranate-grains; how durst thou dress it and sell it lacking pepper?" "And
for that it lacked pepper wilt thou do all this to me? Is it not enough that
thou hast broken my shop and smashed my gear and boxed me up in a chest and fed
me only once a day?" "Too little pepper! too little pepper! this is a crime
which can be expiated only upon the cross!" Then Badr al-Din Hasan marvelled
and fell a-mourning for his life; whereupon the Wazir asked him, "Of what
thinkest thou?"; and he answered him, "Of maggoty heads like thine; [FN#479]
for an thou had one ounce of sense thou hadst not treated me thus." Quoth the
Wazir, "It is our duty to punish thee lest thou do the like again." Quoth Badr
al-Din Hasan, "Of a truth my offense were over-punished by the least of what
thou hast already done to me; and Allah damn all conserve of pomegranate-grains
and curse the hour when I cooked it and would I had died ere this!" But the
Wazir rejoined, "There is no help for it; I must crucify a man who sells
conserve of pomegranate-grains lacking pepper." All this time the carpenter was
shaping the wood and Badr al-Din looked on; and thus they did till night, when
his uncle took him and clapped him into the chest, saying, "The thing shall be
done to-morrow!" Then he waited until he knew Badr al-Din "Hasan to be asleep,
when he mounted; and taking the chest up before him, entered the city and rode
on to his own house, where he alighted and said to his daughter, Sitt al-Husn,
"Praised be Allah who hath reunited thee with thy husband, the son of thine
uncle! Up now, and order the house as it was on thy bridal night." So the
servants arose and lit the candles; and the Wazir took out his plan of the
nuptial chamber, and directed them what to do till they had set everything in
its stead, so that whoever saw it would have no doubt but it was the very night
of the marriage. Then he bade them put down Badr al-Din Hasan's turband on the
settle, as he had deposited it with his own hand, and in like manner his
bag-trousers and the purse which were under the mattress: and told daughter to
undress herself and go to bed in the private chamber as on her wedding-night,
adding, "When the son of thine uncle comes in to thee, say to him:—Thou hast
loitered while going to the privy; and call him to lie by thy side and keep him
in converse till daybreak, when we will explain the whole matter to him." Then
he bade take Badr al-Din Hasan out of the chest, after loosing the fetters from
his feet and stripping off all that was on him save the fine shirt of blue silk
in which he had slept on his wedding-night; so that he was well-nigh naked and
trouserless. All this was done whilst he was sleeping on utterly unconscious.
Then, by doom of Destiny, Badr al-Din Hasan turned over and awoke; and, finding
himself in a lighted vestibule, said to himself, "Surely I am in the mazes of
some dream." So he rose and went on a little to an inner door and looked in and
lo! he was in the very chamber wherein the bride had been displayed to him; and
there he saw the bridal alcove and the settle and his turband and all his
clothes. When he saw this he was confounded and kept advancing with one foot,
and retiring with the other, saying, "Am I sleeping or waking?" And he began
rubbing his forehead and saying (for indeed he was thoroughly astounded), "By
Allah, verily this is the chamber of the bride who was displayed before me!
Where am I then? I was surely but now in a box!" Whilst he was talking with
himself, Sitt al-Husn suddenly lifted the corner of the chamber-curtain and
said, "O my lord, wilt thou not come in? Indeed thou hast loitered long in the
water-closet." When he heard her words and saw her face he burst out laughing
and said, "Of a truth this is a very nightmare among dreams!" Then he went in
sighing, and pondered what had come to pass with him and was perplexed about
his case, and his affair became yet more obscure to him when he saw his turband
and bag-trousers and when, feeling the pocket, he found the purse containing
the thousand gold pieces. So he stood still and muttered, "Allah is all
knowing! Assuredly I am dreaming a wild waking dream!" Then said the Lady of
Beauty to him, "What ails thee to look puzzled and perplexed?"; adding, "Thou
wast a very different man during the first of the night!" He laughed and asked
her, "How long have I been away from thee?"; and she answered him, "Allah
preserve thee and His Holy Name be about thee! Thou didst but go out an hour
ago for an occasion and return. Are thy wits clean gone?" When Badr al-Din
Hasan heard this, he laughed, [FN#480] and said, "Thou hast spoken truth; but,
when I went out from thee, I forgot myself awhile in the draught-house and
dreamed that I was a cook at Damascus and abode there ten years; and there came
to me a boy who was of the sons of the great, and with him an Eunuch." Here he
passed his hand over his forehead and, feeling the scar, cried, "By Allah, O my
lady, it must have been true, for he struck my forehead with a stone and cut it
open from eye-brow to eye-brow; and here is the mark: so it must have been on
wake." Then he added, "But perhaps I dreamt it when we fell asleep, I and thou,
in each other's arms, for meseems it was as though I travelled to Damascus
without tarbush and trousers and set up as a cook there." Then he was perplexed
and considered for awhile, and said, "By Allah, I also fancied that I dressed a
conserve of pomegranate-grains and put too little pepper in it. By Allah, I
must have slept in the numerocent and have seen the whole of this in a dream;
but how long was that dream!" "Allah upon thee," said Sitt al-Husn, "and what
more sawest thou?" So he related all to her; and presently said, "By Allah had
I not woke up they would have nailed me to a cross of wood!" "Wherefore?" asked
she; and he answered, "For putting too little pepper in the conserve of
pomegranate-grains, and meseemed they demolished my shop and dashed to pieces
my pots and pans, destroyed all my stuff and put me in a box; they then sent
for the carpenter to fashion a cross for me and would have crucified me
thereon. Now Alham-dolillah! thanks be to Allah, for that all this happened to
me in sleep, and not on wake." Sitt al-Husn laughed and clasped him to her
bosom and he her to his: then he thought again and said, "By Allah, it could
not be save while I was awake: truly I know not what to think of it." Then he
lay him down and all the night he was bewildered about his case, now saying, "I
was dreaming!" and then saying, "I was awake!", till morning, when his uncle
Shams al-Din, the Wazir, came to him and saluted him. When Badr al-Din Hasan
saw him he said, "By Allah, art thou not he who bade bind my hands behind me
and smash my shop and nail me to a cross on a matter of conserved
pomegranate-grains because the dish lacked a sufficiency of pepper?" Whereupon
the Wazir said to him, "Know, O my son, that truth hath shown it soothfast and
the concealed hath been revealed! [FN#481] Thou art the son of my brother, and
I did all this with thee to certify myself that thou wast indeed he who went in
unto my daughter that night. I could not be sure of this, till I saw that thou
knewest the chamber and thy turband and thy trousers and thy gold and the
papers in thy writing and in that of thy father, my brother; for I had never
seen thee afore that and knew thee not; and as to thy mother I have prevailed
upon her to come with me from Bassorah." So saying, he threw himself on his
nephew's breast and wept for joy; and Badr al-Din Hasan, hearing these words
from his uncle, marvelled with exceeding marvel and fell on his neck and also
shed tears for excess of delight. Then said the Wazir to him, "O my son, the
sole cause of all this is what passed between me and thy sire;" and he told him
the manner of his father wayfaring to Bassorah and all that had occurred to
part them. Lastly the Wazir sent for Ajib; and when his father saw him he
cried, "And this is he who struck me with the stone!" Quoth the Wazir, "This is
thy son!" And Badr al-Din Hasan threw himself upon his boy and began
repeating:&mdash;
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Long have I wept o'er severance ban and bane, * Long from mine eyelids
tear-rills rail and rain:<br/>
And vowed I if Time re-union bring * My tongue from name of "Severance" I'll
restrain:<br/>
Joy hath o'ercome me to this stress that I * From joy's revulsion to shed tears
am fain:<br/>
Ye are so trained to tears, O eyne of me! * You weep with pleasure as you weep
with pain." [FN#482]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When he had ended his verse his mother came in and threw herself upon him and
began reciting:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"When we met we complained, * Our hearts were sore wrung:<br/>
But plaint is not pleasant * Fro' messenger's tongue."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then she wept and related to him what had befallen her since his departure, and
he told her what he had suffered, and they thanked Allah Almighty for their
reunion. Two days after his arrival the Wazir Shams al-din went in to the
Sultan and, kissing the ground between his hands, greeted him with the greeting
due to Kings. The Sultan rejoiced at his return and his face brightened and,
placing him hard by his side, [FN#483] asked him to relate all he had seen in
his wayfaring and whatso had betided him in his going and coming. So the Wazir
told him all that had passed from first to last and the Sultan said, "Thanks be
to Allah for thy victory [FN#484] and the winning of thy wish and thy safe
return to thy children and thy people! And now I needs must see the son of thy
brother, Hasan of Bassorah, so bring him to the audience-hall to-morrow."
Shams al-Din replied, "Thy slave shall stand in thy presence to-morrow,
Inshallah, if it be God's will." Then he saluted him and, returning to his own
house, informed his nephew of the Sultan's desire to see him, whereto replied
Hasan, whilome the Bassorite, "The slave is obedient to the orders of his
lord." And the result was that next day he accompanied his uncle, Shams al-Din,
to the Divan; and, after saluting the Sultan and doing him reverence in most
ceremonious obeisance and with most courtly obsequiousness, he began
improvising these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"The first in rank to kiss the ground shall deign * Before you,<br/>
     and all ends and aims attain:<br/>
You are Honour's fount; and all that hope of you, * Shall gain<br/>
     more honour than Hope hoped to gain."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The Sultan smiled and signed to him to sit down. So he took a seat close to his
uncle, Shams al-Din, and the King asked him his name. Quoth Badr al-Din Hasan,
"The meanest of thy slaves is known as Hasan the Bassorite, who is instant in
prayer for thee day and night." The Sultan was pleased at his words and, being
minded to test his learning and prove his good breeding, asked him, "Dost thou
remember any verses in praise of the mole on the cheek?" He answered, "I do,"
and began reciting:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"When I think of my love and our parting-smart, * My groans go forth and my
tears upstart:<br/>
He's a mole that reminds me in colour and charms * O' the black o' the eye and
the grain [FN#485] of the heart."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The King admired and praised the two couplets and said to him, "Quote something
else; Allah bless thy sire and may thy tongue never tire!" So he began:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"That cheek-mole's spot they evened with a grain * Of musk, nor did they here
the simile strain:<br/>
Nay, marvel at the face comprising all * Beauty, nor falling short by single
grain."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The King shook with pleasure [FN#486] and said to him, "Say more:<br/>
Allah bless thy days!" So he began:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"O you whose mole on cheek enthroned recalls * A dot of musk upon a stone of
ruby,<br/>
Grant me your favours! Be not stone at heart! * Core of my heart whose only
sustenance you be!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Quoth the King, "Fair comparison, O Hasan! [FN#487] thou hast spoken
excellently well and hast proved thyself accomplished in every accomplishment!
Now explain to me how many meanings be there in the Arabic language [FN#488]
for the word Khal or mole." He replied, "Allah keep the King! Seven and fifty
and some by tradition say fifty." Said the Sultan, "Thou sayest sooth,"
presently adding, "Hast thou knowledge as to the points of excellence in
beauty?" "Yes," answered Badr al-Din Hasan, "Beauty consisteth in brightness of
face, clearness of complexion, shapeliness of nose, gentleness of eyes,
sweetness of mouth, cleverness of speech, slenderness of shape and seemliness
of all attributes. But the acme of beauty is in the hair and, indeed, al-Shihab
the Hijazi hath brought together all these items in his doggrel verse of the
metre Rajaz, [FN#489] and it is this:
</p>

<p class="poem">
Say thou to skin "Be soft," to face "Be fair," * And gaze, nor shall they blame
howso thou stare:<br/>
Fine nose in Beauty's list is high esteemed; * Nor less an eye full, bright and
debonnair:<br/>
Eke did they well to laud the lovely lips * (Which e'en the sleep of me will
never spare);<br/>
A winning tongue, a stature tall and straight; [FN#490] * A seemly union of
gifts rarest rare:<br/>
But Beauty's acme in the hair one views it; * So hear my strain and with some
few excuse it!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The Sultan was captivated by his converse and, regarding him as a friend,
asked, "What meaning is there in the saw 'Shurayh is foxier than the fox'?" And
he answered, "Know, O King (whom Almighty Allah keep!) that the legist Shurayh
[FN#491] was wont, during the days of the plague, to make a visitation to
Al-Najaf; and, whenever he stood up to pray, there came a fox which would plant
himself facing him and which, by mimicking his movements, distracted him from
his devotions. Now when this became longsome to him, one day he doffed his
shirt and set it upon a cane and shook out the sleeves; then placing his
turband on the top and girding its middle with a shawl, he stuck it up in the
place where he used to pray. Presently up trotted the fox according to his
custom and stood over against the figure, whereupon Shurayh came behind him,
and took him. Hence the sayer saith, 'Shurayh foxier than the fox.'" When the
Sultan heard Badr al-Din Hasan's explanation he said to his uncle, Shams
al-Din, "Truly this the son of thy brother is perfect in courtly breeding and I
do not think that his like can be found in Cairo." At this Hasan arose and
kissed the ground before him and sat down again as a Mameluke should sit before
his master. When the Sultan had thus assured himself of his courtly breeding
and bearing and his knowledge of the liberal arts and belles-lettres, he joyed
with exceeding joy and invested him with a splendid robe of honour and promoted
him to an office whereby he might better his condition. [FN#492] Then Badr
al-Din Hasan arose and, kissing the ground before the King, wished him
continuance of glory and asked leave to retire with his uncle, the Wazir Shams
al-Din. The Sultan gave him leave and he issued forth and the two returned
home, where food was set before them and they ate what Allah had given them.
After finishing his meal Hasan repaired to the sitting-chamber of his wife, the
Lady of Beauty, and told her what had past between him and the Sultan;
whereupon quoth she, "He cannot fail to make thee a cup-companion and give thee
largess in excess and load thee with favours and bounties; so shalt thou, by
Allah's blessing, dispread, like the greater light, the rays of thy perfection
wherever thou be, on shore or on sea." Said he to her, "I purpose to recite a
Kasidah, an ode, in his praise, that he may redouble in affection for me."
"Thou art right in thine intent," she answered, "so gather thy wits together
and weigh thy words, and I shall surely see my husband favoured with his
highest favour." Thereupon Hasan shut himself up and composed these couplets on
a solid base and abounding in inner grace and copies them out in a hand-writing
of the nicest taste. They are as follows:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Mine is a Chief who reached most haught estate, * Treading the pathways of the
good and great:<br/>
His justice makes all regions safe and sure, * And against froward foes bars
every gate:<br/>
Bold lion, hero, saint, e'en if you call * Seraph or Sovran [FN#493] he with
all may rate!<br/>
The poorest suppliant rich from him returns, * All words to praise him were
inadequate.<br/>
He to the day of peace is saffron Morn, * And murky Night in furious warfare's
bate.<br/>
Bow 'neath his gifts our necks, and by his deeds * As King of freeborn [FN#494]
souls he 'joys his state:<br/>
Allah increase for us his term of years, * And from his lot avert all risks and
fears!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When he had finished transcribing the lines, he despatched them, in charge of
one of his uncle's slaves, to the Sultan, who perused them and his fancy was
pleased; so he read them to those present and all praised them with the highest
praise. Thereupon he sent for the writer to his sitting-chamber and said to
him, "Thou art from this day forth my boon-companion and I appoint to thee a
monthly solde of a thousand dirhams, over and above that I bestowed on thee
aforetime." So Hasan rose and, kissing the ground before the King several
times, prayed for the continuance of his greatness and glory and length of life
and strength. Thus Badr al-Din Hasan the Bassorite waxed high in honour and his
fame flew forth to many regions and he abode in all comfort and solace and
delight of life with his uncle and his own folk till Death overtook him. When
the Caliph Harun al-Rashid heard this story from the mouth of his Wazir,
Ja'afar the Barmecide, he marvelled much and said, "It behoves that these
stories be written in letters of liquid gold." Then he set the slave at liberty
and assigned to the youth who had slain his wife such a monthly stipend as
sufficed to make his life easy; he also gave him a concubine from amongst his
own slave-girls and the young man became one of his cup-companions. "Yet this
story," (continued Shahrazad) "is in no wise stranger than the tale of the
Tailor and the Hunchback and the Jew and the Reeve and the Nazarene, and what
betided them." Quoth the King, "And what may that be?" So Shahrazad began, in
these words,[FN#495]
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap24"></a>THE HUNCHBACK&rsquo;S TALE.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there dwelt during times of yore,
and years and ages long gone before, in a certain city of China,[FN#496] a
Tailor who was an open handed man that loved pleasuring and merry making; and
who was wont, he and his wife, to solace themselves from time to time with
public diversions and amusements. One day they went out with the first of the
light and were returning in the evening when they fell in with a Hunchback,
whose semblance would draw a laugh from care and dispel the horrors of despair.
So they went up to enjoy looking at him and invited him to go home with them
and converse and carouse with them that night. He consented and accompanied
them afoot to their home; whereupon the Tailor fared forth to the bazar (night
having just set in) and bought a fried fish and bread and lemons and dry
sweetmeats for dessert; and set the victuals before the Hunchback and they ate.
Presently the Tailor's wife took a great fid of fish and gave it in a gobbet to
the Gobbo, stopping his mouth with her hand and saying, "By Allah, thou must
down with it at a single gulp; and I will not give thee time to chew it." So he
bolted it; but therein was a stiff bone which stuck in his gullet and, his hour
being come, he died.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twenty-fifth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Tailor's wife
gave the Hunchback that mouthful of fish which ended his term of days he died
on the instant. Seeing this the Tailor cried aloud, "There is no Majesty and
there is no Might save in Allah! Alas, that this poor wretch should have died
in so foolish fashion at our hands!" and the woman rejoined, "Why this idle
talk? Hast thou not heard his saying who said:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Why then waste I my time in grief, until I * find no friend to bear my weight
of woe<br/>
How sleep upon a fire that flames unquenched? * Upon the flames to rest were
hard enow!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Asked her husband, "And what shall I do with him?"; and she answered, "Rise and
take him in thine arms and spread a silken kerchief over him; then I will fare
forth, with thee following me this very night and if thou meet any one say,
'This is my son, and his mother and I are carrying him to the doctor that he
may look at him.'" So he rose and taking the Hunchback in his arms bore him
along the streets, preceded by his wife who kept crying, "O my son, Allah keep
thee! what part paineth thee and where hath this small-pox[FN#497] attacked
thee?" So all who saw them said "'Tis a child sick of small-pox." [FN#498] They
went along asking for the physician's house till folk directed them to that of
a leach which was a Jew. They knocked at the door, and there came down to them
a black slave girl who opened and, seeing a man bearing a babe, and a woman
with him, said to them, "What is the matter?" "We have a little one with us,"
answered the Tailor's wife, "and we wish to show him to the physician: so take
this quarter dinar and give it to thy master and let him come down and see my
son who is sore sick." The girl went up to tell her master, whereupon the
Tailor's wife walked into the vestibule and said to her husband, "Leave the
Hunchback here and let us fly for our lives." So the Tailor carried the dead
man to the top of the stairs and propped him upright against the wall and ran
away, he and his wife. Meanwhile the girl went in to the Jew and said to him,
"At the door are a man and a woman with a sick child and they have given me a
quarter dinar for thee, that thou mayest go down and look at the little one and
prescribe for it." As soon as the Jew saw the quarter dinar he rejoiced and
rose quickly in his greed of gain and went forth hurriedly in the dark; but
hardly had he made a step when he stumbled on the corpse and threw it over,
when it rolled to the bottom of the staircase. So he cried out to the girl to
hurry up with the light, and she brought it, whereupon he went down and
examining the Hunchback found that he was stone dead. So he cried out, "O for
Esdras![FN#499] O for Moses! O for Aaron! O for Joshua, son of Nun! O the Ten
Commandments! I have stumbled against the sick one and he hath fallen
downstairs and he is dead! How shall I get this man I have killed out of my
house? O by the hoofs of the ass of Esdras!" Then he took up the body and,
carrying it into the house, told his wife what had happened and she said to
him, "Why dost thou sit still? If thou keep him here till day break we shall
both lose our lives. Let us two carry him to the terrace roof and throw him
over into the house of our neighbour, the Moslem, for if he abide there a night
the dogs will come down on him from the adjoining terraces and eat him up." Now
his neighbour was a Reeve, the controller of the Sultan's kitchen, and was wont
to bring back great store of oil and fat and broken meats; but the cats and
rats used to eat it, or, if the dogs scented a fat sheep's tail they would come
down from the nearest roofs and tear at it; and on this wise the beasts had
already damaged much of what he brought home. So the Jew and his wife carried
the Hunchback up to the roof; and, letting him down by his hands and feet
through the wind-shaft[FN#500] into the Reeve's house, propped him up against
the wall and went their ways. Hardly had they done this when the Reeve, who had
been passing an evening with his friends hearing a recitation of the Koran,
came home and opened the door and, going up with a lighted candle, found a son
of Adam standing in the corner under the ventilator. When he saw this, he said,
"Wah! by Allah, very good forsooth! He who robbeth my stuff is none other than
a man." Then he turned to the Hunchback and said, "So 'tis thou that stealest
the meat and the fat! I thought it was the cats and dogs, and I kill the dogs
and cats of the quarter and sin against them by killing them. And all the while
'tis thou comest down from the house terrace through the wind shaft. But I will
avenge myself upon thee with my own hand!" So he snatched up a heavy hammer and
set upon him and smote him full on the breast and he fell down. Then he
examined him and, finding that he was dead, cried out in horror, thinking that
he had killed him, and said, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" And he feared for his life, and added "Allah
curse the oil and the meat and the grease and the sheep's tails to boot! How
hath fate given this man his quietus at my hand!" Then he looked at the body
and seeing it was that of a Gobbo, said, "Was it not enough for thee to be a
hunchback,[FN#501] but thou must likewise be a thief and prig flesh and fat! O
thou Veiler,[FN#502] deign to veil me with Thy curtain of concealment!" So he
took him up on his shoulders and, going forth with him from his house about the
latter end of the night, carried him to the nearest end of the bazar, where he
set him up on his feet against the wall of a shop at the head of a dark lane,
and left him and went away. After a while up came a Nazarene,[FN#503] the
Sultan's broker who, much bemused with liquor, was purposing for the Hammam
bath as his drunkenness whispered in his ear, "Verily the call to
matins[FN#504] is nigh." He came plodding along and staggering about till he
drew near the Hunchback and squatted down to make water[FN#505] over against
him; when he happened to glance around and saw a man standing against the wall.
Now some person had snatched off the Christian's turband[FN#506] in the first
of the night; so when he saw the Hunchback hard by he fancied that he also
meant to steal his headdress. Thereupon he clenched his fist and struck him on
the neck, felling him to the ground, and called aloud to the watchman of the
bazar, and came down on the body in his drunken fury and kept on belabouring
and throttling the corpse. Presently the Charley came up and, finding a
Nazarene kneeling on a Moslem and frapping him, asked, "What harm hath this one
done?"; and the Broker answered, "The fellow meant to snatch off my turband."
"Get up from him," quoth the watch man. So he arose and the Charley went up to
the Hunchback and finding him dead, exclaimed, "By Allah, good indeed! A
Christian killing a Mahometan!" Then he seized the Broker and, tying his hands
behind his back, carried him to the Governor's house,[FN#507] and all the while
the Nazarene kept saying to himself, "O Messiah! O Virgin! how came I to kill
this fellow? And in what a hurry he must have been to depart this life when he
died of a single blow!" Presently, as his drunkenness fled, came dolour in its
stead. So the Broker and the body were kept in the Governor's place till
morning morrowed, when the Wali came out and gave order to hang the supposed
murderer and commanded the executioner[FN#508] make proclamation of the
sentence. Forthwith they set up a gallows under which they made the Nazarene
stand and the torch bearer, who was hangman, threw the rope round his neck and
passed one end through the pulley, and was about to hoist him up[FN#509] when
lo! the Reeve, who was passing by, saw the Broker about to be hanged; and,
making his way through the people, cried out to the executioner, "Hold! Hold! I
am he who killed the Hunchback!" Asked the Governor, "What made thee kill
him?"; and he answered, "I went home last night and there found this man who
had come down the ventilator to steal my property; so I smote him with a hammer
on the breast and he died forthright. Then I took him up and carried him to the
bazar and set him up against the wall in such a place near such a lane;"
adding, "Is it not enough for me to have killed a Moslem without also killing a
Christian? So hang none other but me." When the Governor heard these words he
released the Broker and said to the torch bearer, "Hang up this man on his own
confession." So he loosed the cord from the Nazarene's neck and threw it round
that of the Reeve and, making him stand under the gallows tree, was about to
string him up when behold, the Jewish physician pushed through the people and
shouted to the executioner, "Hold! Hold! It was I and none else killed the
Hunchback! Last night I was sitting at home when a man and a woman knocked at
the door carrying this Gobbo who was sick, and gave my handmaid a quarter
dinar, bidding her hand me the fee and tell me to come down and see him. Whilst
she was gone the man and the woman brought him into the house and, setting him
on the stairs, went away; and presently I came down and not seeing him, for I
was in the dark, stumbled over him and he fell to the foot of the staircase and
died on the moment. Then we took him up, I and my wife, and carried him on to
the top terrace; and, the house of this Reeve being next door to mine, we let
the body down through the ventilator. When he came home and found the Hunchback
in his house, he fancied he was a thief and struck him with a hammer, so that
he fell to the ground, and our neighbour made certain that he had slain him.
Now is it not enough for me to have killed one Moslem unwittingly, without
burdening myself with taking the life of another Moslem wittingly?" When the
Governor heard this he said to the hangman, "Set free the Reeve and hang the
Jew." Thereupon the torch bearer took him and slung the cord round his neck
when behold, the Tailor pushed through the people, and shouted to the
executioner, "Hold! Hold! It was I and none else killed the Hunchback; and this
was the fashion thereof. I had been out a pleasuring yesterday and, coming back
to supper, fell in with this Gobbo, who was drunk and drumming away and singing
lustily to his tambourine. So I accosted him and carried him to my house and
bought a fish, and we sat down to eat. Presently my wife took a fid of fish
and, making a gobbet of it,[FN#510] crammed it into his mouth; but some of it
went down the wrong way or stuck in his gullet and he died on the instant. So
we lifted him up, I and my wife, and carried him to the Jew's house where the
slave girl came down and opened the door to us and I said to her, 'Tell thy
master that there are a man and a woman and a sick person for thee to see!' I
gave her a quarter dinar and she went up to tell her master; and, whilst she
was gone, I carried the Hunchback to the head of the staircase and propped him
up against the wall, and went off with my wife. When the Jew came down he
stumbled over him and thought that he had killed him." Then he asked the Jew,
"Is this the truth?"; and the Jew answered, "Yes." Thereupon the Tailor turned
to the Governor, and said, "Leave go the Jew and hang me." When the Governor
heard the Tailor's tale he marvelled at the matter of this Hunchback and
exclaimed. "Verily this is an adventure which should be recorded in books!"
Then he said to the hangman, "Let the Jew go and hang the Tailor on his own
confession." The executioner took the Tailor and put the rope around his neck
and said, "I am tired of such slow work: we bring out this one and change him
for that other, and no one is hanged after all!" Now the Hunchback in question
was, they relate, jester to the Sultan of China who could not bear him out of
his sight; so when the fellow got drunk and did not make his appearance that
night or the next day till noon, the Sultan asked some of his courtiers about
him and they answered, "O our lord, the Governor hath come upon him dead and
hath ordered his murderer to be hanged; but, as the hangman was about to hoist
him up there came a second and a third and a fourth and each one said, 'It is
I, and none else killed the Hunchback!' and each gave a full and circumstantial
account of the manner of the jester being killed." When the King heard this he
cried aloud to the Chamberlain in waiting, "Go down to the Governor and bring
me all four of them." So the Chamberlain went down at once to the place of
execution, where he found the torch bearer on the point of hanging the Tailor
and shouted to him, "Hold! Hold!" Then he gave the King's command to the
Governor who took the Tailor, the Jew, the Nazarene and the Reeve (the
Hunchback's body being borne on men's shoulders) and went up with one and all
of them to the King. When he came into the presence, he kissed the ground and
acquainted the ruler with the whole story which it is needless to relate for,
as they say, There is no avail in a thrice told tale. The Sultan hearing it
marvelled and was moved to mirth and commanded the story to be written in
letters of liquid gold, saying to those present, "Did ye ever hear a more
wondrous tale than that of my Hunchback?" Thereupon the Nazarene broker came
forward and said, "O King of the age, with thy leave I will tell thee a thing
which happened to myself and which is still more wondrous and marvellous and
pleasurable and delectable than the tale of the Hunchback." Quoth the King
"Tell us what thou hast to say!" So he began in these words
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap25"></a>The Nazarene Broker&rsquo;s Story.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
O King of the age, I came to this thy country with merchandise and Destiny
stayed me here with you: but my place of birth was Cairo, in Egypt, where I
also was brought up, for I am one of the Copts and my father was a broker
before me. When I came to man's estate he departed this life and I succeeded to
his business. One day, as I was sitting in my shop, behold, there came up to me
a youth as handsome as could be, wearing sumptuous raiment and riding a fine
ass.[FN#511] When he saw me he saluted me, and I stood up to do him honour:
then he took out a kerchief containing a sample of sesame and asked, "How much
is this worth per Ardabb?";[FN#512] whereto I answered, "An hundred dirhams."
Quoth he, "Take porters and gaugers and metesmen and come tomorrow to the Khan
al-Jawáli,[FN#513] by the Gate of Victory quarter where thou wilt find me."
Then he fared forth leaving with me the sample of sesame in his kerchief; and I
went the round of my customers and ascertained that every Ardabb would fetch an
hundred and twenty dirhams. Next day I took four metesmen and walked with them
to the Khan, where I found him awaiting me. As soon as he saw me he rose and
opened his magazine, when we measured the grain till the store was empty; and
we found the contents fifty Ardabbs, making five thousand pieces of silver.
Then said he, "Let ten dirhams on every Ardabb be thy brokerage; so take the
price and keep in deposit four thousand and five hundred dirhams for me; and,
when I have made an end of selling the other wares in my warehouses, I will
come to thee and receive the amount." "I will well," replied I and kissing his
hand went away, having made that day a profit of a thousand dirhams. He was
absent a month, at the end of which he came to me and asked, "Where be the
dirhams?" I rose and saluted him and answered to him, "Wilt thou not eat
somewhat in my house?" But he refused with the remark, "Get the monies ready
and I will presently return and take them." Then he rode away. So I brought out
the dirhams and sat down to await him, but he stayed away for another month,
when he came back and said to me, "Where be the dirhams?" I rose and saluting
him asked, "Wilt thou not eat some thing in my house?" But he again refused
adding, "Get me the monies ready and I will presently return and take them."
Then he rode off. So I brought out the dirhams and sat down to await his
return; but he stayed away from me a third month, and I said, "Verily this
young man is liberality in incarnate form." At the end of the month he came up,
riding a mare mule and wearing a suit of sumptuous raiment; he was as the moon
on the night of fullness, and he seemed as if fresh from the baths, with his
cheeks rosy bright, and his brow flower white, and a mole spot like a grain of
ambergris delighting the sight; even as was said of such an one by the poet:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Full moon with sun in single mansion * In brightest sheen and fortune rose and
shone,<br/>
With happy splendour changing every sprite: * Hail to what guerdons prayer with
blissfull boon!<br/>
Their charms and grace have gained perfection's height, * All hearts have
conquered and all wits have won.<br/>
Laud to the Lord for works so wonder strange, * And what th' Almighty wills His
hand hath done!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When I saw him I rose to him and invoking blessings on him asked, O my lord,
wilt thou not take thy monies?" "Whence the hurry?"[FN#514] quoth he, "Wait
till I have made an end of my business and then I will come and take them."
Again he rode away and I said to myself, "By Allah, when he comes next time
needs must I make him my guest; for I have traded with his dirhams and have
gotten large gains thereby." At the end of the year he came again, habited in a
suit of clothes more sumptuous than the former; and, when I conjured him by the
Evangel to alight at my house and eat of my guest food, he said, "I consent, on
condition that what thou expendest on me shall be of my monies still in thy
hands. I answered, "So be it," and made him sit down whilst I got ready what
was needful of meat and drink and else besides; and set the tray before him,
with the invitation "Bismillah"![FN#515] Then he drew near the tray and put out
his left hand[FN#516] and ate with me; and I marvelled at his not using the
right hand. When we had done eating, I poured water on his hand and gave him
wherewith to wipe it. Upon this we sat down to converse after I had set before
him some sweetmeats; and I said to him, "O my master, prithee relieve me by
telling me why thou eatest with thy left hand? Perchance something aileth thy
other hand?" When he heard my words, he repeated these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Dear friend, ask not what burneth in my breast, * Lest thou see fiery pangs
eye never saw:<br/>
Wills not my heart to harbour Salma in stead * Of Layla's[FN#517] love, but
need hath ne'er a law!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And he put out his right arm from his sleeve and behold, the hand was cut off,
a wrist without a fist. I was astounded at this but he said, "Marvel not, and
think not that I ate with my left hand for conceit and insolence, but from
necessity; and the cutting off my right hand was caused by an adventure of the
strangest." Asked I, "And what caused it?"; and he answered:—"Know that I am of
the sons of Baghdad and my father was of notables of that city. When I came to
man's estate I heard the pilgrims and wayfarers, travellers and merchants talk
of the land of Egypt and their words sank deep into my mind till my parent
died, when I took a large sum of money and furnished myself for trade with
stuffs of Baghdad and Mosul and, packing them up in bales, set out on my
wanderings; and Allah decreed me safety till I entered this your city. Then he
wept and began repeating:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
The blear eyed 'scapes the pits * Wherein the lynx eyed fall:<br/>
A word the wise man slays * And saves the natural:<br/>
The Moslem fails of food * The Kafir feasts in hall:<br/>
What art or act is man's? * God's will obligeth all!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Now when he had ended his verse he said, So I entered Cairo and took off my
loads and stored my stuffs in the Khan "Al-Masrúr."[FN#518] Then I gave the
servant a few silvers wherewith to buy me some food and lay down to sleep
awhile. When I awoke I went to the street called "Bayn al-Kasrayn"—Between the
two Palaces—and presently returned and rested my night in the Khan. When it was
morning I opened a bale and took out some stuff saying to myself, "I will be
off and go through some of the bazars and see the state of the market." So I
loaded the stuff on some of my slaves and fared forth till I reached the
Kaysariyah or Exchange of Jaharkas;[FN#519] where the brokers who knew of my
coming came to meet me. They took the stuffs and cried them for sale, but could
not get the prime cost of them. I was vexed at this, however the Shaykh of the
brokers said to me, "O my lord, I will tell thee how thou mayest make a profit
of thy goods. Thou shouldest do as the merchants do and sell thy merchandise at
credit for a fixed period, on a contract drawn up by a notary and duly
witnessed; and employ a Shroff to take thy dues every Monday and Thursday. So
shalt thou gain two dirhams and more, for every one; and thou shalt solace and
divert thyself by seeing Cairo and the Nile." Quoth I, "This is sound advice,"
and carried the brokers to the Khan. They took my stuffs and went with them on
'Change where I sold them well taking bonds for the value. These bonds I
deposited with a Shroff, a banker, who gave me a receipt with which I returned
to the Khan. Here I stayed a whole month, every morning breaking my fast with a
cup of wine and making my meals on pigeon's meat, mutton and sweetmeats, till
the time came when my receipts began to fall due. So, every Monday and Thursday
I used to go on 'Change and sit in the shop of one or other of the merchants,
whilst the notary and money changer went round to recover the monies from the
traders, till after the time of mid afternoon prayer, when they brought me the
amount, and I counted it and, sealing the bags, returned with them to the Khan.
On a certain day which happened to be a Monday,[FN#520] I went to the Hammam
and thence back to my Khan, and sitting in my own room[FN#521] broke my fast
with a cup of wine, after which I slept a little. When I awoke I ate a chicken
and, perfuming my person, repaired to the shop of a merchant hight Badr al-Din
al-Bostáni, or the Gardener,[FN#522] who welcomed me; and we sat talking awhile
till the bazar should open. Presently, behold, up came a lady of stately
figure wearing a head-dress of the most magnificent, perfumed with the sweetest
of scents and walking with graceful swaying gait; and seeing me she raised her
mantilla allowing me a glimpse of her beautiful black eyes. She saluted Badr
al-Din who returned her salutation and stood up, and talked with her; and the
moment I heard her speak, the love of her got hold of my heart. Presently she
said to Badr al-Din, "Hast thou by thee a cut piece of stuff woven with thread
of pure gold?" So he brought out to her a piece from those he had bought of me
and sold it to her for one thousand two hundred dirhams; when she said, "I will
take the piece home with me and send thee its price." "That is impossible, O my
lady," the merchant replied, "for here is the owner of the stuff and I owe him
a share of profit." "Fie upon thee!" she cried, "Do I not use to take from thee
entire rolls of costly stuff, and give thee a greater profit than thou
expectest, and send thee the money?" "Yes," rejoined he; "but I stand in
pressing need of the price this very day." Hereupon she took up the piece and
threw it back upon his lap, saying "Out on thee! Allah confound the tribe of
you which estimates none at the right value;" and she turned to go. I felt my
very soul going with her; so I stood up and stayed her, saying, "I conjure thee
by the Lord, O my lady, favour me by retracing thy gracious steps." She turned
back with a smile and said, "For thy sake I return," and took a seat opposite
me in the shop. Then quoth I to Badr al-Din, "What is the price they asked thee
for this piece?"; and quoth he, "Eleven hundred dirhams." I rejoined, "The odd
hundred shall be thy profit: bring me a sheet of paper and I will write thee a
discharge for it." Then I wrote him a receipt in my own handwriting and gave
the piece to the lady, saying, "Take it away with thee and, if thou wilt, bring
me its price next bazar day; or better still, accept it as my guest gift to
thee." "Allah requite thee with good," answered she, "and make thee my husband
and lord and master of all I have!"[FN#523] And Allah favoured her prayer. I
saw the Gates of Paradise swing open before me and said, "O my lady, let this
piece of stuff be now thine and another like it is ready for thee, only let me
have one look at thy face." So she raised her veil and I saw a face the sight
of which bequeathed to me a thousand sighs, and my heart was so captivated by
her love that I was no longer ruler of my reason. Then she let fall her face
veil and taking up the piece of stuff said, "O my lord make me not desolate by
thine absence!" and turned away and disappeared from my sight. I remained
sitting on 'Change till past the hour of after noon prayer, lost to the world
by the love which had mastered me, and the violence of my passion compelled me
to make enquiries concerning her of the merchant, who answered me, "This is a
lady and a rich: she is the daughter of a certain Emir who lately died and left
her a large fortune." Then I took leave of him and returned home to the Khan
where they set supper before me; but I could not eat for thinking of her and
when I lay down to sleep, sleep came not near me. So I watched till morning,
when I arose and donned a change of raiment and drank a cup of wine and, after
breaking my fast on some slight matter, I went to the merchant's shop where I
saluted him and sat down by him. Presently up came the lady as usual, followed
by a slave girl and wearing a dress more sumptuous than before; and she saluted
me without noticing Badr al-Din and said in fluent graceful speech (never heard
I voice softer or sweeter), "Send one with me to take the thousand and two
hundred dirhams, the price of the piece." "Why this hurry?" asked I and she
answered, "May we never lose thee!"[FN#524] and handed me the money. Then I sat
talking with her and presently I signed to her in dumb show, whereby she
understood that I longed to enjoy her person,[FN#525] and she rose up in haste
with a show of displeasure. My heart clung to her and I went forth from the
bazar and followed on her track. As I was walking suddenly a black slave girl
stopped me and said, "O my master, come speak with my mistress."[FN#526] At
this I was surprised and replied, "There is none who knows me here;" but she
rejoined, "O my lord, how soon hast thou forgotten her! My lady is the same who
was this day at the shop of such a merchant." Then I went with her to the
Shroff's, where I found the lady who drew me to her side and said, "O my
beloved, thine image is firmly stamped upon my fancy, and love of thee hath
gotten hold of my heart: from the hour I first saw thee nor sleep nor food nor
drink hath given me aught of pleasure." I replied, "The double of that
suffering is mine and my state dispenseth me from complaint." Then said she, "O
my beloved, at thy house, or at mine?" "I am a stranger here and have no place
of reception save the Khan, so by thy favour it shall be at thy house." "So be
it; but this is Friday[FN#527] night and nothing can be done till tomorrow
after public prayers; go to the Mosque and pray; then mount thine ass, and ask
for the Habbániyah[FN#528] quarter; and, when there, look out for the mansion
of Al-Nakib[FN#529] Barakát, popularly known as Abu Shámah the Syndic; for I
live there: so do not delay as I shall be expecting thee." I rejoiced with
still greater joy at this; and took leave of her and returned to my Khan, where
I passed a sleepless night. Hardly was I assured that morning had dawned when I
rose, changed my dress, perfumed myself with essences and sweet scents and,
taking fifty dinars in a kerchief, went from the Khan Masrúr to the
Zuwaylah[FN#530] gate, where I mounted an ass and said to its owner, "Take me
to the Habbaniyah." So he set off with me and brought up in the twinkling of an
eye at a street known as Darb al-Munkari, where I said to him, "Go in and ask
for the Syndic's mansion." He was absent a while and then returned and said,
"Alight." "Go thou before me to the house," quoth I, adding, "Come back with
the earliest light and bring me home;" and he answered, "In Allah's name;"
whereupon I gave him a quarter dinar of gold, and he took it and went his ways.
Then I knocked at the door and out came two white slave girls, both young;
high-bosomed virgins, as they were moons, and said to me, "Enter, for our
mistress is expecting thee and she hath not slept the night long for her
delight in thee." I passed through the vestibule into a saloon with seven
doors, floored with parti-coloured marbles and furnished with curtains and
hangings of coloured silks: the ceiling was cloisonné with gold and corniced
with inscriptions[FN#531] emblazoned in lapis lazuli; and the walls were
stuccoed with Sultání gypsum[FN#532] which mirrored the beholder's face. Around
the saloon were latticed windows overlooking a garden full of all manner of
fruits; whose streams were railing and rilling and whose birds were trilling
and shrilling; and in the heart of the hall was a jetting fountain at whose
corners stood birds fashioned in red gold crusted with pearls and gems and
spouting water crystal clear. When I entered and took a seat.—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twenty-sixth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant
continued, When I entered and took a seat, the lady at once came in crowned
with a diadem[FN#533] of pearls and jewels; her face dotted with artificial
moles in indigo,[FN#534] her eyebrows pencilled with Kohl and her hands and
feet reddened with Henna. When she saw me she smiled in my face and took me to
her embrace and clasped me to her breast; then she put her mouth to my mouth
and sucked my tongue[FN#535] (and I did likewise) and said, "Can it be true, O
my little darkling, thou art come to me?" adding, "Welcome and good cheer to
thee! By Allah, from the day I saw thee sleep hath not been sweet to me nor
hath food been pleasant." Quoth I, "Such hath also been my case: and I am thy
slave, thy negro slave." Then we sat down to converse and I hung my head
earthwards in bashfulness, but she delayed not long ere she set before me a
tray of the most exquisite viands, marinated meats, fritters soaked in
bee's[FN#536] honeys and chickens stuffed with sugar and pistachio nuts,
whereof we ate till we were satisfied. Then they brought basin and ewer and I
washed my hands and we scented ourselves with rose water musk'd and sat down
again to converse. So she began repeating these couplets[FN#537]:
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Had we wist of thy coming, thy way had been strown<br/>
       With the blood of our heart and the balls of our sight:<br/>
Our cheek as a foot cloth to greet thee been thrown,<br/>
       That thy step on our eyelids should softly alight."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And she kept plaining of what had befallen her and I of what had betided me;
and love of her gat so firm hold of my heart that all my wealth seemed a thing
of naught in comparison with her. Then we fell to toying and groping and
kissing till night fall, when the handmaidens set before us meats and a
complete wine service, and we sat carousing till the noon of night, when we lay
down and I lay with her; never in my life saw I a night like that night. When
morning morrowed I arose and took leave of her, throwing under the carpet bed
the kerchief wherein were the dinars[FN#538] and as I went out she wept and
said, "O my lord, when shall I look upon that lovely face again?" "I will be
with thee at sunset," answered I, and going out found the donkey boy, who had
brought me the day before, awaiting at the door. So I mounted ass and rode to
the Khan of Masrur where I alighted and gave the man a half dinar, saying,
"Return at sunset;" and he said "I will." Then I breakfasted and went out to
seek the price of my stuffs; after which I returned, and taking a roast lamb
and some sweetmeats, called a porter and put the provision in his crate, and
sent it to the lady paying the man his hire.[FN#539] I went back to my business
till sunset, when the ass driver came to me and I took fifty dinars in a
kerchief and rode to her house where I found the marble floor swept, the
brasses burnisht, the branch lights burning, the wax candles ready lighted, the
meat served up and the wine strained.[FN#540] When my lady saw me she threw her
arms about my neck, and cried, "Thou hast desolated me by thine absence." Then
she set the tables before me and we ate till we were satisfied, when the slave
girls carried off the trays and served up wine. We gave not over drinking till
half the night was past; and, being well warmed with drink, we went to the
sleeping chamber and lay there till morning. I then arose and fared forth from
her leaving the fifty dinars with her as before; and, finding the donkey boy at
the door, rode to the Khan and slept awhile. After that I went out to make
ready the evening meal and took a brace of geese with gravy on two platters of
dressed and peppered rice, and got ready colocasia[FN#541]-roots fried and
soaked in honey, and wax candles and fruits and conserves and nuts and almonds
and sweet scented flowers; and I sent them all to her. As soon as it was night
I again tied up fifty dinars in a kerchief and, mounting the ass as usual, rode
to the mansion where we ate and drank and lay together till morning when I
threw the kerchief and dinars to her[FN#542] and rode back to the Khan. I
ceased not doing after that fashion till, after a sweet night, I woke one fine
morning and found myself beggared, dinar-less and dirhamless. So said I to
myself "All this be Satan's work;" and began to recite these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Poverty dims the sheen of man whate'er his wealth has been, * E'en as the sun
about to set shines with a yellowing light<br/>
Absent he falls from memory, forgotten by his friends; * Present he shareth not
their joys for none in him delight<br/>
He walks the market shunned of all, too glad to hide his head, * In desert
places tears he sheds and moans his bitter plight<br/>
By Allah, 'mid his kith and kin a man, however good, * Waylaid by want and
penury is but a stranger wight!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
I fared forth from the Khan and walked down "Between the Palaces" street till I
came to the Zuwaylah Porte, where I found the people crowding and the gateway
blocked for the much folk. And by the decree of Destiny I saw there a trooper
against whom I pressed unintentionally, so that my hand came upon his bosom
pocket and I felt a purse inside it. I looked and seeing a string of green silk
hanging from the pocket knew it for a purse; and the crush grew greater every
minute and just then, a camel laden with a load of fuel happened to jostle the
trooper on the opposite side, and he turned round to fend it off from him, lest
it tear his clothes; and Satan tempted me, so I pulled the string and drew out
a little bag of blue silk, containing something which chinked like coin. But
the soldier, feeling his pocket suddenly lightened, put his hand to it and
found it empty; whereupon he turned to me and, snatching up his mace from his
saddle bow, struck me with it on the head. I fell to the ground, whilst the
people came round us and seizing the trooper's mare by the bridle said to him,
"Strikest thou this youth such a blow as this for a mere push!" But the trooper
cried out at them, "This fellow is an accursed thief!" Whereupon I came to
myself and stood up, and the people looked at me and said, "Nay, he is a comely
youth: he would not steal anything;" and some of them took my part and others
were against me and question and answer waxed loud and warm. The people pulled
at me and would have rescued me from his clutches; but as fate decreed behold,
the Governor, the Chief of Police, and the watch[FN#543] entered the Zuwaylah
Gate at this moment and, seeing the people gathered together around me and the
soldier, the Governor asked, "What is the matter?" "By Allah! O Emir," answered
the trooper, "this is a thief! I had in my pocket a purse of blue silk lined
with twenty good gold pieces and he took it, whilst I was in the crush." Quoth
the Governor, "Was any one by thee at the time?"; and quoth the soldier, "No."
Thereupon the Governor cried out to the Chief of Police who seized me, and on
this wise the curtain of the Lord's. protection was withdrawn from me. Then he
said "Strip him;" and, when they stripped me, they found the purse in my
clothes. The Wali took it, opened it and counted it; and, finding in it twenty
dinars as the soldier had said, waxed exceeding wroth and bade his guard bring
me before him. Then said he to me, "Now, O youth, speak truly: didst thou steal
this purse?"[FN#544] At this I hung my head to the ground and said to myself,
"If I deny having stolen it, I shall get myself into terrible trouble." So I
raised my head and said, "Yes, I took it." When the Governor heard these words
he wondered and summoned witnesses who came forward and attested my confession.
All this happened at the Zuwaylah Gate. Then the Governor ordered the link
bearer to cut off my right hand, and he did so; after which he would have
struck off my left foot also; but the heart of the soldier softened and he took
pity on me and interceded for me with the Governor that I should not be
slain.[FN#545] Thereupon the Wali left me, and went away and the folk remained
round me and gave me a cup of wine to drink. As for the trooper he pressed the
purse upon me, and said, "Thou art a comely youth and it befitteth not thou be
a thief." So I repeated these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I swear by Allah's name, fair sir! no thief was I, * Nor, O thou best of men!
was I a bandit bred:<br/>
But Fortune's change and chance o'erthrew me suddenly, * And cark and care and
penury my course misled:<br/>
I shot it not, indeed, 'twas Allah shot the shaft * That rolled in dust the
Kingly diadem from my head."[FN#546]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The soldier turned away after giving me the purse; and I also went my ways
having wrapped my hand in a piece of rag and thrust it into my bosom. My whole
semblance had changed, and my colour had waxed yellow from the shame and pain
which had befallen me. Yet I went on to my mistress's house where, in extreme
perturbation of spirit I threw myself down on the carpet bed. She saw me in
this state and asked me, "What aileth thee and why do I see thee so changed in
looks?"; and I answered, "My head paineth me and I am far from well." Whereupon
she was vexed and was concerned on my account and said, "Burn not my heart, O
my lord, but sit up and raise thy head and recount to me what hath happened to
thee today, for thy face tells me a tale." "Leave this talk," replied I. But
she wept and said, "Me seems thou art tired of me, for I see thee contrary to
thy wont." But I was silent; and she kept on talking to me albeit I gave her no
answer, till night came on. Then she set food before me, but I refused it
fearing lest she see me eating with my left hand and said to her, "I have no
stomach to eat at present." Quoth she, "Tell me what hath befallen thee to day,
and why art thou so sorrowful and broken in spirit and heart?" Quoth I, "Wait
awhile; I will tell thee all at my leisure." Then she brought me wine, saying,
"Down with it, this will dispel thy grief: thou must indeed drink and tell me
of thy tidings." I asked her, "Perforce must I tell thee?"; and she answered,
"Yes." Then said I, "If it needs must be so, then give me to drink with thine
own hand." She filled and drank,[FN#547] and filled again and gave me the cup
which I took from her with my left hand and wiped the tears from my eyelids and
began repeating:
</p>

<p class="poem">
"When Allah willeth aught befall a man * Who hath of ears and eyes and wits
full share:<br/>
His ears He deafens and his eyes He blinds * And draws his wits e'en as we draw
a hair[FN#548]<br/>
Till, having wrought His purpose, He restores * Man's wits, that warned more
circumspect he fare."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When I ended my verses I wept, and she cried out with an exceeding loud cry,
"What is the cause of thy tears? Thou burnest my heart! What makes thee take
the cup with thy left hand?" Quoth I, "Truly I have on my right hand a boil;"
and quoth she, "Put it out and I will open it for thee."[FN#549] "It is not yet
time to open it," I replied, "so worry me not with thy words, for I will not
take it out of the bandage at this hour." Then I drank off the cup, and she
gave not over plying me with drink until drunkenness overcame me and I fell
asleep in the place where I was sitting; whereupon she looked at my right hand
and saw a wrist without a fist. So she searched me closely and found with me
the purse of gold and my severed hand wrapped up in the bit of rag.[FN#550]
With this such sorrow came upon her as never overcame any and she ceased not
lamenting on my account till the morning. When I awoke I found that she had
dressed me a dish of broth of four boiled chickens, which she brought to me
together with a cup of wine. I ate and drank and laying down the purse, would
have gone out; but she said to me, "Whither away?"; and I answered, "Where my
business calleth me;" and said she, "Thou shalt not go: sit thee down." So I
sat down and she resumed, "Hath thy love for me so overpowered thee that thou
hast wasted all thy wealth and hast lost thine hand on my account? I take thee
to witness against me and also Allah be my witness that I will never part with
thee, but will die under thy feet; and soon thou shalt see that my words are
true." Then she sent for the Kazi and witnesses and said to them, "Write my
contract of marriage with this young man, and bear ye witness that I have
received the marriage settlement."[FN#551] When they had drawn up the document
she said, "Be witness that all my monies which are in this chest and all I have
in slaves and handmaidens and other property is given in free gift to this
young man." So they took act of this statement enabling me to assume possession
in right of marriage; and then withdrew, after receiving their fees. Thereupon
she took me by the hand and, leading me to a closet, opened a large chest and
said to me, "See what is herein;" and I looked and behold, it was full of
kerchiefs. Quoth she, "This is the money I had from thee and every kerchief
thou gavest me, containing fifty dinars, I wrapped up and cast into this chest;
so now take thine own, for it returns to thee, and this day thou art become of
high estate. Fortune and Fate afflicted thee so that thou didst lose thy right
hand for my sake; and I can never requite thee; nay, although I gave my life
'twere but little and I should still remain thy debtor." Then she added, "Take
charge of thy property."; so I transferred the contents of her chest to my
chest, and added my wealth to her wealth which I had given her, and my heart
was eased and my sorrow ceased. I stood up and kissed her and thanked her; and
she said, "Thou hast given thy hand for love of me and how am I able to give
thee an equivalent? By Allah, if I offered my life for thy love, it were indeed
but little and would not do justice to thy claim upon me." Then she made over
to me by deed all that she possessed in clothes and ornaments of gold and
pearls, and goods and farms and chattels, and lay not down to sleep that night,
being sorely grieved for my grief, till I told her the whole of what had
befallen me. I passed the night with her. But before we had lived together a
month's time she fell sorely sick and illness increased upon her, by reason of
her grief for the loss of my hand, and she endured but fifty days before she
was numbered among the folk of futurity and heirs of immortality. So I laid her
out and buried her body in mother earth and let make a pious perlection of the
Koran[FN#552] for the health of her soul, and gave much money in alms for her;
after which I turned me from the grave and returned to the house. There I found
that she had left much substance in ready money and slaves, mansions, lands and
domains, and among her store houses was a granary of sesame seed, whereof I
sold part to thee; and I had neither time nor inclination to take count with
thee till I had sold the rest of the stock in store; nor, indeed, even now have
I made an end of receiving the price. So I desire thou baulk me not in what I
am about to say to thee: twice have I eaten of thy food and I wish to give thee
as a present the monies for the sesame which are by thee. Such is the cause of
the cutting off my right hand and my eating with my left." "Indeed," said I,
"thou hast shown me the utmost kindness and liberality." Then he asked me, "Why
shouldst thou not travel with me to my native country whither I am about to
return with Cairene and Alexandrian stuffs? Say me, wilt thou accompany me?";
and I answered "I will." So I agreed to go with him at the head of the month,
and I sold all I had and bought other merchandise; then we set out and
travelled, I and the young man, to this country of yours, where he sold his
venture and bought other investment of country stuffs and continued his journey
to Egypt But it was my lot to abide here, so that these things befell me in my
strangerhood which befell last night, and is not this tale, O King of the age,
more wondrous and marvellous than the story of the Hunchback? "Not so," quoth
the King, "I cannot accept it: there is no help for it but that you be hanged,
every one of you."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased saying
her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twenty-seventh Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the King of China
declared "There is no help for it but that you be hanged," the Reeve of the
Sultan's Kitchen came forward and said, "If thou permit me I will tell thee a
tale of what befell me just before I found this Gobbo, and, if it be more
wondrous than his story, do thou grant us our lives." And when the King
answered "Yes" he began to recount
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap26"></a>The Reeve&rsquo;s Tale.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Know, O King, that last night I was at a party where they made a perlection of
the Koran and got together doctors of law and religion skilled in recitation
and intoning; and, when the readers ended, the table was spread and amongst
other things they set before us was a marinated ragout[FN#553] flavoured with
cumin seed. So we sat down, but one of our number held back and refused to
touch it. We conjured him to eat of it but he swore he would not; and, when we
again pressed him, he said, "Be not instant with me; sufficeth me that which
hath already befallen me through eating it", and he began reciting:
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Shoulder thy tray and go straight to thy goal; * And, if suit thee this Kohl
why,-use this Kohl!"[FN#554]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When he ended his verse we said to him, "Allah upon thee, tell us thy reason
for refusing to eat of the cumin ragout?" &ldquo;If so it be,&rdquo; he
replied, "and needs must I eat of it, I will not do so except I wash my hand
forty times with soap, forty times with potash and forty times with
galangale,[FN#555] the total being one hundred and twenty washings." Thereupon
the hospitable host bade his slaves bring water and whatso he required; and the
young man washed his hand as afore mentioned. Then he sat down, as if disgusted
and frightened withal, and dipping his hand in the ragout, began eating and at
the same time showing signs of anger. And we wondered at him with extreme
wonderment, for his hand trembled and the morsel in it shook and we saw that
his thumb had been cut off and he ate with his four fingers only. So we said to
him, "Allah upon thee, what happened to thy thumb? Is thy hand thus by the
creation of God or hath some accident befallen it?" "O my brothers," he
answered, "it is not only thus with this thumb, but also with my other thumb
and with both my great toes, as you shall see." So saying he uncovered his left
hand and his feet, and we saw that the left hand was even as the right and in
like manner that each of his feet lacked its great toe. When we saw him after
this fashion, our amazement waxed still greater and we said to him, "We have
hardly patience enough to await thy history and to hear the manner of the
cutting off of thy thumbs, and the reason of thy washing both hands one hundred
and twenty times." Know then, said he, that my father was chief of the
merchants and the wealthiest of them all in Baghdad city during the reign of
the Caliph Harun al Rashid; and he was much given to wine drinking and
listening to the lute and the other instruments of pleasaunce; so that when he
died he left nothing. I buried him and had perlections of the Koran made for
him, and mourned for him days and nights: then I opened his shop and found that
he had left in it few goods, while his debts were many. However I compounded
with his creditors for time to settle their demands and betook myself to buying
and selling, paying them something from week to week on account; and I gave not
over doing this till I had cleared off his obligations in full and began adding
to my principal. One day, as I sat in my shop, suddenly and unexpectedly there
appeared before me a young lady, than whom I never saw a fairer, wearing the
richest raiment and ornaments and riding a she mule, with one negro slave
walking before her and another behind her. She drew rein at the head of the
exchange bazar and entered followed by an eunuch who said to her, "O my lady
come out and away without telling anyone, lest thou light a fire which will
burn us all up." Moreover he stood before her guarding her from view whilst she
looked at the merchants' shops. She found none open but mine; so she came up
with the eunuch behind her and sitting down in my shop saluted me; never heard
I aught fairer than her speech or sweeter than her voice. Then she unveiled her
face, and I saw that she was like the moon and I stole a glance at her whose
sight caused me a thousand sighs, and my heart was captivated with love of her,
and I kept looking again and again upon her face repeating these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Say to the charmer in the dove hued veil, * Death would be welcome to abate
thy bale!<br/>
Favour me with thy favours that I live: * See, I stretch forth my palm to take
thy vail!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When she heard my verse she answered me saying:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I've lost all patience by despite of you; * My heart knows nothing save love
plight to you!<br/>
If aught I sight save charms so bright of you; * My parting end not in the
sight of you!<br/>
I swear I'll ne'er forget the right of you; * And fain this breast would soar
to height of you:<br/>
You made me drain the love cup, and I lief * A love cup tender for delight of
you:<br/>
Take this my form where'er you go, and when * You die, entomb me in the site of
you:<br/>
Call on me in my grave, and hear my bones * Sigh their responses to the shright
of you:<br/>
And were I asked 'Of God what wouldst thou see?' * I answer, 'first His will
then Thy decree!'
</p>

<p class="noindent">
When she ended her verse she asked me, "O youth, hast thou any fair stuffs by
thee?"; and I answered, "O my lady, thy slave is poor; but have patience till
the merchants open their shops, and I will suit thee with what thou wilt." Then
we sat talking, I and she (and I was drowned in the sea of her love, dazed in
the desert[FN#556] of my passion for her), till the merchants opened their
shops; when I rose and fetched her all she sought to the tune of five thousand
dirhams. She gave the stuff to the eunuch and, going forth by the door of the
Exchange, she mounted mule and went away, without telling me whence she came,
and I was ashamed to speak of such trifle. When the merchants dunned me for the
price, I made myself answerable for five thousand dirhams and went home,
drunken with the love of her. They set supper before me and I ate a mouthful,
thinking only of her beauty and loveliness, and sought to sleep, but sleep came
not to me. And such was my condition for a whole week, when the merchants
required their monies of me, but I persuaded them to have patience for another
week, at the end of which time she again appeared mounted on a she mule and
attended by her eunuch and two slaves. She saluted me and said, "O my master,
we have been long in bringing thee the price of the stuffs; but now fetch the
Shroff and take thy monies." So I sent for the money changer and the eunuch
counted out the coin before him and made it over to me. Then we sat talking, I
and she, till the market opened, when she said to me, "Get me this and that."
So I got her from the merchants whatso she wanted, and she took it and went
away without saying a word to me about the price. As soon as she was out of
sight, I repented me of what I had done; for the worth of the stuffs bought for
her amounted to a thousand dinars, and I said in my soul, "What manner of love
is this? She hath brought me five thousand dirhams, and hath taken goods for a
thousand dinars."[FN#557] I feared lest I should be beggared through having to
pay the merchants their money, and I said, "They know none other but me; this
lovely lady is naught but a cheat and a swindler, who hath diddled me with her
beauty and grace; for she saw that I was a mere youth and laughed at me for not
asking her address." I ceased not to be troubled by these doubts and fears, as
she was absent more than a month, till the merchants pestered me for their
money and were so hard upon me that I put up my property for sale and stood on
the very brink of ruin. However, as I was sitting in my shop one day, drowned
in melancholy musings, she suddenly rode up and, dismounting at the bazar
gate, came straight towards me. When I saw her all my cares fell from me and I
forgot every trouble. She came close up to me and greeted me with her sweet
voice and pleasant speech and presently said, "Fetch me the Shroff and weigh
thy money."[FN#558] So she gave me the price of what goods I had gotten for her
and more, and fell to talking freely with me, till I was like to die of joy and
delight. Presently she asked me, "Hast thou a wife?"; and I answered "No,
indeed: I have never known woman"; and began to shed tears. Quoth she "Why
weepest thou?" Quoth I "It is nothing!" Then giving the eunuch some of the gold
pieces, I begged him to be go between[FN#559] in the matter; but he laughed and
said, "She is more in love with thee than thou with her: she hath no occasion
for the stuffs she hath bought of thee and did all this only for the love of
thee; so ask of her what thou wilt and she will deny thee nothing." When she
saw me giving the dinars to the eunuch, she returned and sat down again; and I
said to her, "Be charitable to thy slave and pardon him what he is about to
say." Then I told her what was in my mind and she assented and said to the
eunuch, "Thou shalt carry my message to him," adding to me, "And do thou whatso
the eunuch biddeth thee." Then she got up and went away, and I paid the
merchants their monies and they all profited; but as for me, regret at the
breaking off of our intercourse was all my gain; and I slept not the whole of
that night. However, before many days passed her eunuch came to me, and I
entreated him honourably and asked him after his mistress. "Truly she is sick
with love of thee," he replied and I rejoined, "Tell me who and what she is."
Quoth he, "The Lady Zubaydah, queen consort of Harun al-Rashid, brought her up
as a rearling[FN#560] and hath advanced her to be stewardess of the Harim, and
gave her the right of going in and out of her own sweet will. She spoke to her
lady of thee and begged her to marry her to thee; but she said, 'I will not do
this, till I see the young man; and, if he be worthy of thee, I will marry thee
to him.' So now we look for the moment to smuggle thee into the Palace and if
thou succeed in entering privily thou wilt win thy wish to wed her; but if the
affair get wind, the Lady Zubaydah will strike off thy head.[FN#561] What
sayest thou to this?" I answered, "I will go with thee and abide the risk
whereof thou speakest." Then said he, "As soon as it is night, go to the Mosque
built by the Lady Zubaydah on the Tigris and pray the night prayers and sleep
there." "With love and gladness," cried I. So at nightfall I repaired to the
Mosque, where I prayed and passed the night. With earliest dawn, behold, came
sundry eunuchs in a skiff with a number of empty chests which they deposited in
the Mosque; then all of them went their ways but one, and looking curiously at
him, I saw he was our go between. Presently in came the handmaiden, my
mistress, walking straight up to us; and I rose to her and embraced her while
she kissed me and shed tears.[FN#562] We talked awhile; after which she made me
get into one of the chests which she locked upon me. Presently the other
eunuchs came back with a quantity of packages and she fell to stowing them in
the chests, which she locked down, one by one, till all were shut. When all was
done the eunuchs embarked the chests in the boat and made for the Lady
Zubaydah's palace. With this, thought began to beset me and I said to myself,
"Verily thy lust and wantonness will be the death of thee; and the question is
after all shalt thou win to thy wish or not?" And I began to weep, boxed up as
I was in the box and suffering from cramp; and I prayed Allah that He deliver
me from the dangerous strait I was in, whilst the boat gave not over going on
till it reached the Palace gate where they lifted out the chests and amongst
them that in which I was. Then they carried them in, passing through a troop of
eunuchs, guardians of the Harim and of the ladies behind the curtain, till they
came to the post of the Eunuch in Chief[FN#563] who started up from his
slumbers and shouted to the damsel "What is in those chests?" "They are full of
wares for the Lady Zubaydah!" "Open them, one by one, that I may see what is in
them." "And wherefore wouldst thou open them?" "Give me no words and exceed not
in talk! These chests must and shall be opened." So saying, he sprang to his
feet, and the first which they brought to him to open was that wherein I was;
and, when I felt his hands upon it, my senses failed me and I bepissed myself
in my funk, the water running out of the box. Then said she to the Eunuch in
Chief, "O steward! thou wilt cause me to be killed and thyself too, for thou
hast damaged goods worth ten thousand dinars. This chest contains coloured
dresses, and four gallon flasks of Zemzem water;[FN#564] and now one of them
hath got unstoppered and the water is running out over the clothes and it will
spoil their colours." The eunuch answered, "Take up thy boxes and get thee gone
to the curse of God!" So the slaves carried off all the chests, including mine;
and hastened on with them till suddenly I heard the voice of one saying,
"Alack, and alack! the Caliph! the Caliph !" When that cry struck mine ears I
died in my skin and said a saying which never yet shamed the sayer, "There is
no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! I and
only I have brought this calamity upon myself." Presently I heard the Caliph
say to my mistress, "A plague on thee, what is in those boxes?"; and she
answered, "Dresses for the Lady Zubaydah";[FN#565] whereupon he, "Open them
before me!" When I heard this I died my death outright and said to myself, "By
Allah, today is the very last of my days in this world: if I come safe out of
this I am to marry her and no more words, but detection stares me in the face
and my head is as good as stricken off." Then I repeated the profession of
Faith, saying, "There is no god but the God, and Mohammed is the Apostle of
God!"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twenty-eighth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant
continued as follows: Now when I testified, "I bear witness that there is no
god save the God," I heard my mistress the handmaid declare to the Caliph,
"These chests, O Commander of the Faithful, have been committed to my charge by
the Lady Zubaydah, and she doth not wish their contents to be seen by any one."
"No matter!" quoth the Caliph, "needs must they be opened, I will see what is
in them"; and he cried aloud to the eunuchs, "Bring the chests here before me."
At this I made sure of death (without benefit of a doubt) and swooned away.
Then the eunuchs brought the chests up to him one after another and he fell to
inspecting the contents, but he saw in them only ottars and stuffs and fine
dresses; and they ceased not opening the chests and he ceased not looking to
see what was in them, finding only clothes and such matters, till none remained
unopened but the box in which I was boxed. They put forth their hands to open
it, but my mistress the handmaid made haste and said to the Caliph, "This one
thou shalt see only in the presence of the Lady Zubaydah, for that which is in
it is her secret." When he heard this he gave orders to carry in the chests; so
they took up that wherein I was and bore it with the rest into the Harim and
set it down in the midst of the saloon; and indeed my spittle was dried up for
very fear.[FN#566] Then my mistress opened the box and took me out, saying,
"Fear not: no harm shall betide thee now nor dread; but broaden thy breast and
strengthen thy heart and sit thee down till the Lady Zubaydah come, and surely
thou shalt win thy wish of me." So I sat down and, after a while, in came ten
hand maidens, virgins like moons, and ranged themselves in two rows, five
facing five; and after them twenty other damsels, high bosomed virginity,
surrounding the Lady Zubaydah who could hardly walk for the weight of her
raiment and ornaments. As she drew near, the slave girls dispersed from around
her, and I advanced and kissed the ground between her hands. She signed to me
to sit and, when I sat down before her chair, she began questioning me of my
forbears and family and condition, to which I made such answers that pleased
her, and she said to my mistress, "Our nurturing of thee, O damsel, hath not
disappointed us." Then she said to me, "Know that this handmaiden is to us even
as our own child and she is a trust committed to thee by Allah." I again kissed
the ground before her, well pleased that I should marry my mistress, and she
bade me abide ten days in the palace. So I abode there ten days, during which
time I saw not my mistress nor anybody save one of the concubines, who brought
me the morning and evening meals. After this the Lady Zubaydah took counsel
with the Caliph on the marriage of her favourite handmaid, and he gave leave
and assigned to her a wedding portion of ten thousand gold pieces. So the Lady
Zubaydah sent for the Kazi and witnesses who wrote our marriage contract, after
which the women made ready sweetmeats and rich viands and distributed them
among all the Odahs[FN#567] of the Harim. Thus they did other ten days, at the
end of which time my mistress went to the baths.[FN#568] Meanwhile, they set
before me a tray of food where on were various meats and among those dishes,
which were enough to daze the wits, was a bowl of cumin ragout containing
chickens breasts, fricandoed[FN#569] and flavoured with sugar, pistachios, musk
and rose water. Then, by Allah, fair sirs, I did not long hesitate; but took my
seat before the ragout and fell to and ate of it till I could no more. After
this I wiped my hands, but forgot to wash them; and sat till it grew dark, when
the wax candles were lighted and the singing women came in with their
tambourines and proceeded to display the bride in various dresses and to carry
her in procession from room to room all round the palace, getting their palms
crossed with gold. Then they brought her to me and disrobed her. When I found
myself alone with her on the bed I embraced her, hardly believing in our union;
but she smelt the strong odours of the ragout upon my hands and forth with
cried out with an exceeding loud cry, at which the slave girls came running to
her from all sides. I trembled with alarm, unknowing what was the matter, and
the girls asked her, "What aileth thee, O our sister?" She answered them, "Take
this mad man away from me: I had thought he was a man of sense!" Quoth I to
her, "What makes thee think me mad?" Quoth she, "Thou madman' what made thee
eat of cumin ragout and forget to wash thy hand? By Allah, I will requite thee
for thy misconduct. Shall the like of thee come to bed with the like of me with
unclean hands?"[FN#570] Then she took from her side a plaited scourge and came
down with it on my back and the place where I sit till her forearms were
benumbed and I fainted away from the much beating; when she said to the
handmaids, "Take him and carry him to the Chief of Police, that he may strike
off the hand wherewith he ate of the cumin ragout, and which he did not wash."
When I heard this I said, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah! Wilt thou cut off my hand, because I ate of a cumin ragout and did not
wash?" The handmaidens also interceded with her and kissed her hand saying, "O
our sister, this man is a simpleton, punish him not for what he hath done this
nonce;" but she answered, "By Allah, there is no help but that I dock him of
somewhat, especially the offending member." Then she went away and I saw no
more of her for ten days, during which time she sent me meat and drink by a
slave girl who told me that she had fallen sick from the smell of the cumin
ragout. After that time she came to me and said, "O black of face![FN#571] I
will teach thee how to eat cumin ragout without washing thy hands!" Then she
cried out to the handmaids, who pinioned me; and she took a sharp razor and cut
off my thumbs and great toes; even as you see, O fair assembly! Thereupon I
swooned away, and she sprinkled some powder of healing herbs upon the stumps
and when the blood was staunched, I said, "Never again will I eat of cumin
ragout without washing my hands forty times with potash and forty times with
galangale and forty times with soap!" And she took of me an oath and bound me
by a covenant to that effect. When, therefore, you brought me the cumin ragout
my colour changed and I said to myself, "It was this very dish that caused the
cutting off of my thumbs and great toes;" and, when you forced me, I said,
"Needs must I fulfil the oath I have sworn." "And what befell thee after this?"
asked those present; and he answered, "When I swore to her, her anger was
appeased and I slept with her that night. We abode thus awhile till she said to
me one day, "Verily the Palace of the Caliph is not a pleasant place for us to
live in, and none ever entered it save thyself; and thou only by grace of the
Lady Zubaydah. Now she hath given me fifty thousand dinars," adding, "Take this
money and go out and buy us a fair dwelling house." So I fared forth and bought
a fine and spacious mansion, whither she removed all the wealth she owned and
what riches I had gained in stuffs and costly rarities. Such is the cause of
the cutting off of my thumbs and great toes. We ate (continued the Reeve), and
were returning to our homes when there befell me with the Hunchback that thou
wottest of. This then is my story, and peace be with thee! Quoth the King;
"This story is on no wise more delectable than the story of the Hunchback; nay,
it is even less so, and there is no help for the hanging of the whole of you."
Then came forward the Jewish physician and kissing the ground said, "O King of
the age, I will tell thee an history more wonderful than that of the
Hunchback." "Tell on," said the King of China; so he began the
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap27"></a>Tale of the Jewish Doctor.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Right marvellous was a matter which came to pass to me in my youth. I lived in
Damascus of Syria studying my art and, one day, as I was sitting at home
behold, there came to me a Mameluke from the household of the Sahib and said to
me, "Speak with my lord!" So I followed him to the Viceroy's house and,
entering the great hall, saw at its head a couch of cedar plated with gold
whereon lay a sickly youth beautiful withal; fairer than he one could not see.
I sat down by his head and prayed to Heaven for a cure; and he made me a sign
with his eyes, so I said to him, "O my lord! favour me with thy hand, and
safety be with thee!"[FN#572] Then he put forth his left hand and I marvelled
thereat and said, "By Allah, strange that this handsome youth, the son of a
great house, should so lack good manners. This can be nothing but pride and
conceit!" However I felt his pulse and wrote him a prescription and continued
to visit him for ten days, at the end of which time he recovered and went to
the Hammam,[FN#573] whereupon the Viceroy gave me a handsome dress of honour
and appointed me superintendent of the hospital which is in Damascus.[FN#574] I
accompanied him to the baths, the whole of which they had kept private for his
accommodation; and the servants came in with him and took off his clothes
within the bath, and when he was stripped I saw that his right hand had been
newly cut off, and this was the cause of his weakliness. At this I was amazed
and grieved for him: then, looking at his body, I saw on it the scars of
scourge stripes whereto he had applied unguents. I was troubled at the sight
and my concern appeared in my face. The young man looked at me and,
comprehending the matter, said, "O Physician of the age, marvel not at my case;
I will tell thee my story as soon as we quit the baths." Then we washed and,
returning to his house, ate somewhat of food and took rest awhile; after which
he asked me, "What sayest thou to solacing thee by inspecting the supper
hall?"; and I answered "So let it be." Thereupon he ordered the slaves to carry
out the carpets and cushions required and roast a lamb and bring us some fruit.
They did his bidding and we ate together, he using the left hand for the
purpose. After a while I said to him, "Now tell me thy tale." "O Physician of
the age," replied he, "hear what befell me. Know that I am of the sons of
Mosul, where my grandfather died leaving nine children of whom my father was
the eldest. All grew up and took to them wives, but none of them was blessed
with offspring except my father, to whom Providence vouchsafed me. So I grew up
amongst my uncles who rejoiced in me with exceeding joy, till I came to man's
estate. One day which happened to be a Friday, I went to the Cathedral mosque
of Mosul with my father and my uncles, and we prayed the congregational
prayers, after which the folk went forth, except my father and uncles, who sat
talking of wondrous things in foreign parts and the marvellous sights of
strange cities. At last they mentioned Egypt, and one of my uncles said,
"Travellers tell us that there is not on earth's face aught fairer than Cairo
and her Nile;" and these words made me long to see Cairo. Quoth my father,
"Whoso hath not seen Cairo hath not seen the world. Her dust is golden and her
Nile a miracle holden; and her women are as Houris fair; puppets, beautiful
pictures; her houses are palaces rare; her water is sweet and light[FN#575] and
her mud a commodity and a medicine beyond compare, even as said the poet in
this his poetry:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
The Nile[FN#576] flood this day is the gain you own; * You alone in such gain
and bounties wone:<br/>
The Nile is my tear flood of severance, * And here none is forlorn but I alone.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Moreover temperate is her air, and with fragrance blent, Which surpasseth aloes
wood in scent; and how should it be otherwise, she being the Mother of the
World? And Allah favour him who wrote these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
An I quit Cairo and her pleasaunces, * Where can I wend to find so gladsome
ways?<br/>
Shall I desert that site, whose grateful scents * Joy every soul and call for
loudest praise?<br/>
Where every palace, as another Eden, * Carpets and cushions richly wrought
displays;<br/>
A city wooing sight and sprite to glee, * Where Saint meets Sinner and each
'joys his craze;<br/>
Where friend meets friend, by Providence united * In greeny garden and in palmy
maze:<br/>
People of Cairo, and by Allah's doom * I fare, with you in thoughts I wone
always!<br/>
Whisper not Cairo in the ear of Zephyr, * Lest for her like of garden scents he
reave her.[FN#577]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And if your eyes saw her earth, and the adornment thereof with bloom, and the
purfling of it with all manner blossoms, and the islands of the Nile and how
much is therein of wide spread and goodly prospect, and if you bent your sight
upon the Abyssinian Pond,[FN#578] your glance would not revert from the scene
quit of wonder; for nowhere would you behold the fellow of that lovely view;
and, indeed, the two arms of the Nile embrace most luxuriant verdure,[FN#579]
as the white of the eye encompasseth its black or like filagree'd silver
surrounding chrysolites. And divinely gifted was the poet who there anent said
these couplets:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
By th' Abyssinian Pond, O day divine!* In morning twilight and in sunny
shine:<br/>
The water prisoned in its verdurous walls, * Like sabre flashes before
shrinking eyne:<br/>
And in The Garden sat we while it drains * Slow draught, with purfled sides
dyed finest fine:<br/>
The stream is rippled by the hands of clouds; * We too, a-rippling, on our rugs
recline,<br/>
Passing pure wine, and whoso leaves us there * Shall ne'er arise from fall his
woes design:<br/>
Draining long draughts from large and brimming bowls, * Administ'ring thirst's
only medicine—wine.
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And what is there to compare with the Rasad, the Observatory, and its charms
whereof every viewer as he approacheth saith, 'Verily this spot is specialised
with all manner of excellence!' And if thou speak of the Night of Nile
full,[FN#580] give the rainbow and distribute it![FN#581] And if thou behold
The Garden at eventide, with the cool shades sloping far and wide, a marvel
thou wouldst see and wouldst incline to Egypt in ecstasy. And wert thou by
Cairo's river side,[FN#582] when the sun is sinking and the stream dons mail
coat and habergeon[FN#583] over its other vestments, thou wouldst be quickened
to new life by its gentle zephyrs and by its all sufficient shade." So spake he
and the rest fell to describing Egypt and her Nile. As I heard their accounts,
my thoughts dwelt upon the subject and when, after talking their fill, all
arose and went their ways, I lay down to sleep that night, but sleep came not
because of my violent longing for Egypt; and neither meat pleased me nor drink.
After a few days my uncles equipped themselves for a trade journey to Egypt;
and I wept before my father till he made ready for me fitting merchandise, and
he consented to my going with them, saying however, "Let him not enter Cairo,
but leave him to sell his wares at Damascus." So I took leave of my father and
we fared forth from Mosul and gave not over travelling till we reached
Aleppo[FN#584] where we halted certain days. Then we marched onwards till we
made Damascus and we found her a city as though she were a Paradise, abounding
in trees and streams and birds and fruits of all kinds. We alighted at one of
the Khans, where my uncles tarried awhile selling and buying; and they bought
and sold also on my account, each dirham turning a profit of five on prime
cost, which pleased me mightily. After this they left me alone and set their
faces Egyptwards; whilst I abode at Damascus, where I had hired from a
jeweller, for two dinars a month, a mansion[FN#585] whose beauties would beggar
the tongue. Here I remained, eating and drinking and spending what monies I had
in hand till, one day, as I was sitting at the door of my house be hold, there
came up a young lady clad in costliest raiment never saw my eyes richer. I
winked[FN#5886 at her and she stepped inside without hesitation and stood
within. I entered with her and shut the door upon myself and her; whereupon she
raised her face veil and threw off her mantilla, when I found her like a
pictured moon of rare and marvellous loveliness; and love of her gat hold of my
heart. So I rose and brought a tray of the most delicate eatables and fruits
and whatso befitted the occasion, and we ate and played and after that we drank
till the wine turned our heads. Then I lay with her the sweetest of nights and
in the morning I offered her ten gold pieces; when her face lowered and her eye
brows wrinkled and shaking with wrath she cried, "Fie upon thee, O my sweet
companion! dost thou deem that I covet thy money?" Then she took out from the
bosom of her shift[FN#587] fifteen dinars and, laying them before me, said, "By
Allah! unless thou take them I will never come back to thee." So I accepted
them and she said to me, "O my beloved! expect me again in three days' time,
when I will be with thee between sunset and supper tide; and do thou prepare
for us with these dinars the same entertainment as yesternight." So saying, she
took leave of me and went away and all my senses went with her. On the third
day she came again, clad in stuff weft with gold wire, and wearing raiment and
ornaments finer than before. I had prepared the place for her ere she arrived
and the repast was ready; so we ate and drank and lay together, as we had done,
till the morning, when she gave me other fifteen gold pieces and promised to
come again after three days. Accordingly, I made ready for her and, at the
appointed time, she presented herself more richly dressed than on the first and
second occasions, and said to me, "O my lord, am I not beautiful?" "Yea, by
Allah thou art!" answered I, and she went on, "Wilt thou allow me to bring with
me a young lady fairer than I, and younger in years, that she may play with us
and thou and she may laugh and make merry and rejoice her heart, for she hath
been very sad this long time past, and hath asked me to take her out and let
her spend the night abroad with me?" "Yea, by Allah!" I replied; and we drank
till the wine turned our heads and slept till the morning, when she gave me
other fifteen dinars, saying, "Add something to thy usual provision on account
of the young lady who will come with me." Then she went away, and on the fourth
day I made ready the house as usual, and soon after sunset behold, she came,
accompanied by another damsel carefully wrapped in her mantilla. They entered
and sat down; and when I saw them I repeated these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"How dear is our day and how lucky our lot, * When the cynic's away with his
tongue malign!<br/>
When love and delight and the swimming of head * Send cleverness trotting, the
best boon of wine.<br/>
When the full moon shines from the cloudy veil, * And the branchlet sways in
her greens that shine:<br/>
When the red rose mantles in freshest cheek, * And Narcissus[FN#588] opeth his
love sick eyne:<br/>
When pleasure with those I love is so sweet, * When friendship with those I
love is complete!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
I rejoiced to see them, and lighted the candles after receiving them with
gladness and delight. They doffed their heavy outer dresses and the new damsel
uncovered her face when I saw that she was like the moon at its full never
beheld I aught more beautiful. Then I rose and set meat and drink before them,
and we ate and drank; and I kept giving mouthfuls to the new comer, crowning
her cup and drinking with her till the first damsel, waxing inwardly jealous,
asked me, "By Allah, is she not more delicious than I?"; whereto I answered,
"Ay, by the Lord!" "It is my wish that thou lie with her this night; for I am
thy mistress but she is our visitor. Upon my head be it, and my eyes." Then she
rose and spread the carpets for our bed[FN#589] and I took the young lady and
lay with her that night till morning, when I awoke and found myself wet, as I
thought, with sweat. I sat up and tried to arouse the damsel; but when I shook
her by the shoulders my hand became crimson with blood and her head rolled off
the pillow. Thereupon my senses fled and I cried aloud, saying, "O All powerful
Protector, grant me Thy protection!" Then finding her neck had been severed, I
sprung up and the world waxed black before my eyes, and I looked for the lady,
my former love, but could not find her. So I knew that it was she who had
murdered the damsel in her jealousy,[FN#590] and said, "There is no Majesty and
there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! What is to be done
now?" I considered awhile then, doffing my clothes, dug a hole in the middle of
the court yard, wherein I laid the murdered girl with her jewellery and golden
ornaments; and, throwing back the earth on her, replaced the slabs of the
marble[FN#591] pavement. After this I made the Ghusl or total ablution,[FN#592]
and put on pure clothes; then, taking what money I had left, locked up the
house and summoned courage and went to its owner to whom I paid a year's rent,
saying, "I am about to join my uncles in Cairo." Presently I set out and,
journeying to Egypt, foregathered with my uncles who rejoiced in me, and I
found that they had made an end of selling their merchandise. They asked me,
"What is the cause of thy coming?"; and I answered "I longed for a sight of
you;" but did not let them know that I had any money with me. I abode with them
a year, enjoying the pleasures of Cairo and her Nile,[FN#593] and squandering
the rest of my money in feasting and carousing till the time drew near for the
departure of my uncles, when I fled from them and hid myself. They made
enquiries and sought for me, but hearing no tidings they said, "He will have
gone back to Damascus." When they departed I came forth from my hiding place
and abode in Cairo three years, until naught remained of my money. Now every
year I used to send the rent of the Damascus house to its owner, until at last
I had nothing left but enough to pay him for one year's rent and my breast was
straitened. So I travelled to Damascus and alighted at the house whose owner,
the jeweller, was glad to see me and I found everything locked up as I had left
it. I opened the closets and took out my clothes and necessaries and came upon,
beneath the carpet bed whereon I had lain that night with the girl who had been
beheaded, a golden necklace set with ten gems of passing beauty. I took it up
and, cleansing it of the blood, sat gazing upon it and wept awhile. Then I
abode in the house two days and on the third I entered the Hammam and changed
my clothes. I had no money by me now; so Satan whispered temptation to me that
the Decree of Destiny be carried out. Next day I took the jewelled necklace to
the bazar and handed it to a broker who made me sit down in the shop of the
jeweller, my landlord, and bade me have patience till the market was
full,[FN#594] when he carried off the ornament and proclaimed it for sale,
privily and without my knowledge. The necklet was priced as worth two thousand
dinars, but the broker returned to me and said, "This collar is of copper, a
mere counterfeit after the fashion of the Franks[FN#595] and a thousand dirhams
have been bidden for it." "Yes," I answered, "I knew it to be copper, as we had
it made for a certain person that we might mock her: now my wife hath inherited
it and we wish to sell it; so go and take over the thousand dirhams."—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Twenty-ninth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the beautiful youth said
to the broker, "Take over the thousand dirhams;" and when the broker heard
this, he knew that the case was suspicious. So he carried the collar to the
Syndic of the bazar, and the Syndic took it to the Governor who was also
prefect of police, and said to him falsely enough, "This necklet was stolen
from my house, and we have found the thief in traders' dress." So before I was
aware of it the watch got round me and, making me their prisoner, carried me
before the Governor who questioned me of the collar. I told him the tale I had
told to the broker; but he laughed and said, "These words are not true." Then,
before I knew what was doing, the guard stripped off my clothes and came down
with palm rods upon my ribs, till for the smart of the stick I confessed, "It
was I who stole it;" saying to myself, "'Tis better for thee to say, I stole
it, than to let them know that its owner was murdered in thy house, for then
would they slay thee to avenge her." So they wrote down that I had stolen it
and they cut off my hand and scalded the stump in oil,[FN#596] when I swooned
away for pain; but they gave me wine to drink and I recovered and, taking up my
hand, was going to my fine house, when my landlord said to me, "Inasmuch, O my
son, as this hath befallen thee, thou must leave my house and look out for
another lodging for thee, since thou art convicted of theft. Thou art a
handsome youth, but who will pity thee after this?" "O my master" said I, "bear
with me but two days or three, till I find me another place." He answered, "So
be it." and went away and left me. I returned to the house where I sat weeping
and saying, How shall I go back to my own people with my hand lopped off and
they know not that I am innocent? Perchance even after this Allah may order
some matter for me." And I wept with exceeding weeping, grief beset me and I
remained in sore trouble for two days; but on the third day my landlord came
suddenly in to me, and with him some of the guard and the Syndic of the bazar,
who had falsely charged me with stealing the necklet. I went up to them and
asked, "What is the matter?" however, they pinioned me with out further parley
and threw a chain about my neck, saying, "The necklet which was with thee hath
proved to be the property of the Wazir of Damascus who is also her Viceroy;"
and they added, "It was missing from his house three years ago at the same time
as his younger daughter." When I heard these words, my heart sank within me and
I said to myself, "Thy life is gone beyond a doubt! By Allah, needs must I tell
the Chief my story; and, if he will, let him kill me, and if he please, let him
pardon me." So they carried me to the Wazir's house and made me stand between
his hands. When he saw me, he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and
said to those present, "Why did ye lop off his hand? This man is unfortunate,
and there is no fault in him; indeed ye have wronged him in cutting off his
hand." When I heard this, I took heart and, my soul presaging good, I said to
him, "By Allah, O my lord, I am no thief; but they calumniated me with a vile
calumny, and they scourged me midmost the market, bidding me confess till, for
the pain of the rods, I lied against myself and confessed the theft, albeit I
am altogether innocent of it." "Fear not," quoth the Viceroy, "no harm shall
come to thee." Then he ordered the Syndic of the bazar to be imprisoned and
said to him, "Give this man the blood money for his hand; and, if thou delay I
will hang thee and seize all thy property." Moreover he called to his guards
who took him and dragged him away, leaving me with the Chief. Then they loosed
by his command the chain from my neck and unbound my arms; and he looked at me,
and said, "O my son, be true with me, and tell me how this necklace came to
thee." And he repeated these verses:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Truth best befits thee, albeit truth * Shall bring thee to burn on the
threatened fire."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
"By Allah, O my lord," answered I, "I will tell thee nothing but the truth."
Then I related to him all that had passed between me and the first lady, and
how she had brought me the second and had slain her out of jealousy, and I
detailed for him the tale to its full. When he heard my story, he shook his
head and struck his right hand upon the left,[FN#597] and putting his kerchief
over his face wept awhile and then repeated:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"I see the woes of the world abound, * And worldings sick with spleen and
teen;<br/>
There's One who the meeting of two shall part, * And who part not are few and
far between!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then he turned to me and said, "Know, O my son, that the elder damsel who first
came to thee was my daughter whom I used to keep closely guarded. When she grew
up, I sent her to Cairo and married her to her cousin, my brother's son. After
a while he died and she came back: but she had learnt wantonness and
ungraciousness from the people of Cairo;[FN#598] so she visited thee four times
and at last brought her younger sister. Now they were sisters-german and much
attached to each other; and, when that adventure happened to the elder, she
disclosed her secret to her sister who desired to go out with her. So she asked
thy leave and carried her to thee; after which she returned alone and, finding
her weeping, I questioned her of her sister, but she said, 'I know nothing of
her.' However, she presently told her mother privily of what had happened and
how she had cut off her sister's head and her mother told me. Then she ceased
not to weep and say, 'By Allah! I shall cry for her till I die.' Nor did she
give over mourning till her heart broke and she died; and things fell out after
that fashion. See then, O my son, what hath come to pass; and now I desire thee
not to thwart me in what I am about to offer thee, and it is that I purpose to
marry thee to my youngest daughter; for she is a virgin and born of another
mother;[FN#599] and I will take no dower of thee but, on the contrary, will
appoint thee an allowance, and thou shalt abide with me in my house in the
stead of my son." "So be it," I answered, "and how could I hope for such good
fortune?" Then he sent at once for the Kazi and witnesses, and let write my
marriage contract with his daughter and I went in to her. Moreover, he got me
from the Syndic of the bazar a large sum of money and I became in high favour
with him. During this year news came to me that my father was dead and the
Wazir despatched a courier, with letters bearing the royal sign manual, to
fetch me the money which my father had left behind him, and now I am living in
all the solace of life. Such was the manner of the cutting off my right hand."
I marvelled at his story (continued the Jew), and I abode with him three days
after which he gave me much wealth, and I set out and travelled Eastward till I
reached this your city and the sojourn suited me right well; so I took up my
abode here and there befell me what thou knowest with the Hunchback. There upon
the King of China shook his head[FN#600] and said, "This story of thine is not
stranger and more wondrous and marvellous and delectable than the tale of the
Hunchback; and so needs must I hang the whole number of you. However there yet
remains the Tailor who is the head of all the offence;" and he added, "O
Tailor, if thou canst tell me any thing more wonderful than the story of the
Hunchback, I will pardon you all your offences." Thereupon the man came forward
and began to tell the
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap28"></a>Tale of the Tailor.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Know, O King of the age, that most marvellous was that which befell me but
yesterday, before I foregathered with the Hunch back. It so chanced that in the
early day I was at the marriage feast of one of my companions, who had gotten
together in his house some twenty of the handicraftsmen of this city, amongst
them tailors and silk spinners and carpenters and others of the same kidney. As
soon as the sun had risen, they set food[FN#601] before us that we might eat
when behold, the master of the house entered, and with him a foreign youth and
a well favoured of the people of Baghdad, wearing clothes as handsome as
handsome could be; and he was of right comely presence save that he was lame of
one leg. He came and saluted us and we stood up to receive him; but when he was
about to sit down he espied amongst us a certain man which was a Barber;
whereupon he refused to be seated and would have gone away. But we stopped him
and our host also stayed him, making oath that he should not leave us and asked
him, "What is the reason of thy coming in and going out again at once?";
whereto he answered, "By Allah, O my lord, do not hinder me; for the cause of
my turning back is yon Barber of bad omen,[FN#602] yon black o'face, yon ne'er
do well!" When the housemaster heard these words he marvelled with extreme
marvel and said, "How cometh this young man, who haileth from Baghdad, to be so
troubled and perplexed about this Barber?" Then we looked at the stranger and
said, "Explain the cause of thine anger against the Barber." "O fair company,"
quoth the youth, "there befell me a strange adventure with this Barber in
Baghdad (which is my native city); he was the cause of the breaking of my leg
and of my lameness, and I have sworn never to sit in the same place with him,
nor even tarry in any town where he happens to abide; and I have bidden adieu
to Baghdad and travelled far from it and came to stay in this your city; yet I
have hardly passed one night before I meet him again. But not another day shall
go by ere I fare forth from here." Said we to him, "Allah upon thee, tell us
the tale;" and the youth replied (the Barber changing colour from brown to
yellow as he spoke): Know, O fair company, that my father was one of the chief
merchants of Baghdad, and Almighty Allah had blessed him with no son but
myself. When I grew up and reached man's estate, my father was received into
the mercy of Allah (whose Name be exalted!) and left me money and eunuchs,
servants and slaves; and I used to dress well and diet well. Now Allah had made
me a hater of women kind and one day, as I was walking along a street in
Baghdad, a party of females met me face to face in the footway; so I fled from
them and, entering an alley which was no thoroughfare, sat down upon a stone
bench at its other end. I had not sat there long before the latticed window of
one of the houses opposite was thrown open, and there appeared at it a young
lady, as she were the full moon at its fullest; never in my life saw I her
like; and she began to water some flowers on the window sill.[FN#603] She
turned right and left and, seeing me watching her, shut the window and went
away. Thereupon fire was suddenly enkindled in my heart; my mind was possessed
with her and my woman hate turned to woman love. I continued sitting there,
lost to the world, till sunset when lo! the Kazi of the city came riding by
with his slaves before him and his eunuchs behind him, and dismounting entered
the house in which the damsel had appeared. By this I knew that he was her
father; so I went home sorrowful and cast myself upon my carpet bed in grief.
Then my handmaids flocked in and sat about me, unknowing what ailed me; but I
addressed no speech to them, and they wept and wailed over me. Presently in
came an old woman who looked at me and saw with a glance what was the matter
with me: so she sat down by my head and spoke me fair, saying, "O my son, tell
me all about it and I will be the means of thy union with her."[FN#604] So I
related to her what had happened and she answered, "O my son, this one is the
daughter of the Kazi of Baghdad who keepeth her in the closest seclusion; and
the window where thou sawest her is her floor, whilst her father occupies the
large saloon in the lower story. She is often there alone and I am wont to
visit at the house; so thou shalt not win to her save through me. Now set thy
wits to work and be of good cheer." With these words she went away and I took
heart at what she said and my people rejoiced that day, seeing me rise in the
morning safe and sound. By and by the old woman returned looking
chopfallen,[FN#605] and said, "O my son, do not ask me how I fared with her!
When I told her that, she cried at me, 'If thou hold not thy peace, O hag of
ill omen, and leave not such talk, I will entreat thee as thou deservest and do
thee die by the foulest of deaths.' But needs must I have at her a second
time."[FN#606] When I heard this it added ailment to my ailment and the
neighbours visited me and judged that I was not long for this world; but after
some days, the old woman came to me and, putting her mouth close to my ear,
whispered, "O my son; I claim from thee the gift of good news." With this my
soul returned to me and I said, "Whatever thou wilt shall be thine." Thereupon
she began, "Yesterday I went to the young lady who, seeing me broken in spirit
and shedding tears from reddened eyes, asked me, 'O naunty[FN#607] mine, what
ails thee, that I see thy breast so straitened?'; and I answered her, weeping
bitterly, 'O my lady, I am just come from the house of a youth who loves thee
and who is about to die for sake of thee!' Quoth she (and her heart was
softened), 'And who is this youth of whom thou speakest?'; and quoth I, 'He is
to me as a son and the fruit of my vitals. He saw thee, some days ago, at the
window watering thy flowers and espying thy face and wrists he fell in love at
first sight. I let him know what happened to me the last time I was with thee,
whereupon his ailment increased, he took to the pillow and he is naught now but
a dead man, and no doubt what ever of it.' At this she turned pale and asked,
'All this for my sake?'; and I answered, 'Ay, by Allah![FN#608] what wouldst
thou have me do?' Said she, 'Go back to him and greet him for me and tell him
that I am twice more heartsick than he is. And on Friday, before the hour of
public prayer, bid him here to the house, and I will come down and open the
door for him. Then I will carry him up to my chamber and foregather with him
for a while, and let him depart before my father return from the Mosque.'" When
I heard the old woman's words, all my sickness suddenly fell from me, my
anguish ceased and my heart was comforted; I took off what clothes were on me
and gave them to her and, as she turned to go, she said, "Keep a good heart!"
"I have not a jot of sorrow left." I replied. My household and intimates
rejoiced in my recovery and I abode thus till Friday, when behold, the old
woman came in and asked me how I did, to which I answered that I was well and
in good case. Then I donned my clothes and perfumed myself and sat down to
await the congregation going in to prayers, that I might betake myself to her.
But the old woman said to me, "Thou hast time and to spare: so thou wouldst do
well to go to the Hammam and have thy hair shaven off (especially after thy
ailment), so as not to show traces of sickness." "This were the best way,"
answered I, "I have just now bathed in hot water, but I will have my head
shaved." Then I said to my page, "Go to the bazar and bring me a barber, a
discreet fellow and one not inclined to meddling or impertinent curiosity or
likely to split my head with his excessive talk."[FN#609] The boy went out at
once and brought back with him this wretched old man, this Shaykh of ill omen.
When he came in he saluted me and I returned his salutation; then quoth he, "Of
a truth I see thee thin of body;" and quoth I, "I have been ailing." He
continued, "Allah drive far away from thee thy woe and thy sorrow and thy
trouble and thy distress." "Allah grant thy prayer!" said I. He pursued, "All
gladness to thee, O my master, for indeed recovery is come to thee. Dost thou
wish to be polled or to be blooded? Indeed it was a tradition of Ibn
Abbas[FN#610] (Allah accept of him!) that the Apostle said, 'Whoso cutteth his
hair on a Friday, the Lord shall avert from him threescore and ten calamities;'
and again is related of him also that he said, 'Cupping on a Friday keepeth
from loss of sight and a host of diseases.'" "Leave this talk," I cried; "come,
shave me my head at once for I can't stand it." So he rose and put forth his
hand in most leisurely way and took out a kerchief and unfolded it, and lo! it
contained an astrolabe[FN#611] with seven parallel plates mounted in silver.
Then he went to the middle of the court and raised head and instrument towards
the sun's rays and looked for a long while. When this was over, he came back
and said to me, "Know that there have elapsed of this our day, which be Friday,
and this Friday be the tenth of the month Safar in the six hundred and
fifty-third year since the Hegira or Flight of the Apostle (on whom be the
bestest of blessings and peace!) and the seven thousand three hundred and
twentieth year of the era of Alexander, eight degrees and six minutes.
Furthermore the ascendant of this our day is, according to the exactest science
of computation, the planet Mars; and it so happeneth that Mercury is in
conjunction with him, denoting an auspicious moment for hair cutting; and this
also maketh manifest to me that thou desires union with a certain person and
that your intercourse will not be propitious. But after this there occurreth a
sign respecting a matter which will befall thee and whereof I will not speak."
"O thou," cried I, "by Allah, thou weariest me and scatterest my wits and thy
forecast is other than good; I sent for thee to poll my head and naught else:
so up and shave me and prolong not thy speech." "By Allah," replied he, "if
thou but knew what is about to befall thee, thou wouldst do nothing this day,
and I counsel thee to act as I tell thee by computation of the constellations."
"By Allah," said I, "never did I see a barber who excelled in judicial
astrology save thyself: but I think and I know that thou art most prodigal of
frivolous talk. I sent for thee only to shave my head, but thou comest and
pesterest me with this sorry prattle." "What more wouldst thou have?" replied
he. "Allah hath bounteously bestowed on thee a Barber who is an astrologer, one
learned in alchemy and white magic;[FN#612] syntax, grammar, and lexicology;
the arts of logic, rhetoric and elocution; mathematics, arithmetic and algebra;
astronomy, astromancy and geometry; theology, the Traditions of the Apostle and
the Commentaries on the Koran. Furthermore, I have read books galore and
digested them and have had experience of affairs and comprehended them. In
short I have learned the theorick and the practick of all the arts and
sciences; I know everything of them by rote and I am a past master in tota re
scibili. Thy father loved me for my lack of officiousness, argal, to serve thee
is a religious duty incumbent on me. I am no busy body as thou seemest to
suppose, and on this account I am known as The Silent Man, also, The Modest
Man. Wherefore it behoveth thee to render thanks to Allah Almighty and not
cross me, for I am a true counsellor to thee and benevolently minded towards
thee. Would that I were in thy service a whole year that thou mightest do me
justice; and I would ask thee no wage for all this." When I heard his flow of
words, I said to him, "Doubtless thou wilt be my death this day!"—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Thirtieth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young man said to the
Barber, "Thou certainly wilt be the death of me this very day!" "O master
mine," replied he, "I am he, The Silent Man hight, by reason of the fewness of
my words, to distinguish me from my six brothers. For the eldest is called
Al-Bakbúk, the prattler; the second Al-Haddár, the babbler; the third Al-Fakík,
the gabbler; the fourth, his name is Al-Kuz al-aswáni, the long necked Gugglet,
from his eternal chattering; the fifth is Al-Nashshár, the tattler and tale
teller; the sixth Shakáshik, or many clamours; and the seventh is famous as
Al-Sámit, The Silent Man, and this is my noble self!" Whilst he redoubled his
talk, I thought my gall bladder would have burst; so I said to the servant,
"Give him a quarter dinar and dismiss him and let him go from me in the name of
God who made him. I won't have my head shaved to day." "What words be these, O
my lord?" cried he. "By Allah! I will accept no hire of thee till I have served
thee and have ministered to thy wants; and I care not if I never take money of
thee. If thou know not my quality, I know thine; and I owe thy father, an
honest man, on whom Allah Almighty have mercy! many a kindness, for he was a
liberal soul and a generous. By Allah, he sent for me one day, as it were this
blessed day, and I went in to him and found a party of his intimates about him.
Quoth he to me, 'Let me blood;' so I pulled out my astrolabe and, taking the
sun's altitude for him, I ascertained that the ascendant was inauspicious and
the hour unfavourable for blooding. I told him of this, and he did according to
my bidding and awaited a better opportunity. So I made these lines in honour of
him:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
I went to my patron some blood to let him, * But found that the moment was far
from good:<br/>
So I sat and I talked of all strangenesses, * And with jests and jokes his good
will I wooed:<br/>
They pleased him and cried he, 'O man of wit, * Thou hast proved thee perfect
in merry mood!'<br/>
Quoth I, 'O thou Lord of men, save thou * Lend me art and wisdom I'm fou and
wood<br/>
In thee gather grace, boon, bounty, suavity, * And I guerdon the world with
lore, science and gravity.'
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Thy father was delighted and cried out to the servant, 'Give him an hundred and
three gold pieces with a robe of honour!' The man obeyed his orders, and I
awaited an auspicious moment, when I blooded him; and he did not baulk me; nay
he thanked me and I was also thanked and praised by all present. When the
blood-letting was over I had no power to keep silence and asked him, 'By Allah,
O my lord, what made thee say to the servant, Give him an hundred and three
dinars?'; and he answered, 'One dinar was for the astrological observation,
another for thy pleasant conversation, the third for the phlebotomisation, and
the remaining hundred and the dress were for thy verses in my commendation.'"
"May Allah show small mercy to my father," exclaimed I, "for knowing the like
of thee." He laughed and ejaculated, "There is no god but the God and Mohammed
is the Apostle of God! Glory to Him that changeth and is changed not! I took
thee for a man of sense, but I see thou babblest and dotest for illness. Allah
hath said in the Blessed Book,[FN#613] 'Paradise is prepared for the goodly who
bridle their anger and forgive men.' and so forth; and in any case thou art
excused. Yet I cannot conceive the cause of thy hurry and flurry; and thou must
know that thy father and thy grandfather did nothing without consulting me, and
indeed it hath been said truly enough, 'Let the adviser be prized'; and, 'There
is no vice in advice'; and it is also said in certain saws, 'Whoso hath no
counsellor elder than he, will never himself an elder be';[FN#614] and the poet
says:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
Whatever needful thing thou undertake, * Consult th' experienced and contraire
him not!
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And indeed thou shalt never find a man better versed in affairs than I, and I
am here standing on my feet to serve thee. I am not vexed with thee: why
shouldest thou be vexed with me? But whatever happen I will bear patiently with
thee in memory of the much kindness thy father shewed me." "By Allah," cried I,
"O thou with tongue long as the tail of a jackass, thou persistest in pestering
me with thy prate and thou becomest more longsome in thy long speeches, when
all I want of thee is to shave my head and wend thy way!" Then he lathered my
head saying, "I perceive thou art vexed with me, but I will not take it ill of
thee, for thy wit is weak and thou art but a laddy: it was only yesterday I
used to take thee on my shoulder[FN#615] and carry thee to school.' "O my
brother," said I, "for Allah's sake do what I want and go thy gait!" And I rent
my garments.[FN#616] When he saw me do this he took the razor and fell to
sharpening it and gave not over stropping it until my senses were well nigh
leaving me. Then he came up to me and shaved part of my head; then he held his
hand and then he said, "O my lord, haste is Satan's gait whilst patience is of
Allah the Compassionate. But thou, O my master, I ken thou knowest not my rank;
for verily this hand alighteth upon the heads of Kings and Emirs and Wazirs,
and sages and doctors learned in the law, and the poet said of one like me:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
All crafts are like necklaces strung on a string, * But this Barber's the union
pearl of the band:<br/>
High over all craftsmen he ranketh, and why? * The heads of the Kings are under
his hand!"[FN#617]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then said I, "Do leave off talking about what concerneth thee not: indeed thou
hast straitened my breast and distracted my mind." Quoth he, "Meseems thou art
a hasty man;" and quoth I, "Yes ! yes! yes!" and he, "I rede thee practice
restraint of self, for haste is Satan's pelf which bequeatheth only repentance
and ban and bane, and He (upon whom be blessings and peace!) hath said, 'The
best of works is that wherein deliberation lurks;' but I, by Allah! have some
doubt about thine affair; and so I should like thee to let me know what it is
thou art in such haste to do, for I fear me it is other than good." Then he
continued, "It wanteth three hours yet to prayer time; but I do not wish to be
in doubt upon this matter; nay, I must know the moment exactly, for truly, 'A
guess shot in times of doubt, oft brings harm about;' especially in the like of
me, a superior person whose merits are famous amongst mankind at large; and it
doth not befit me to talk at random, as do the common sort of astrologers." So
saying, he threw down the razor and taking up the astrolabe, went forth under
the sun and stood there a long time; after which he returned and counting on
his fingers said to me, "There remain still to prayer time three full hours and
complete, neither more nor yet less, according to the most learned
astronomicals and the wisest makers of almanacks." "Allah upon thee," cried I,
"hold thy tongue with me, for thou breakest my liver in pieces." So he took the
razor and, after sharpening it as before and shaving other two hairs of my
head, he again held his hand and said, "I am concerned about thy hastiness and
indeed thou wouldst do well to let me into the cause of it; 't were the better
for thee, as thou knowest that neither thy father nor thy grandfather ever did
a single thing save by my advice." When I saw that there was no escape from him
I said to myself, "The time for prayer draws near and I wish to go to her
before the folk come out of the mosque. If I am delayed much longer, I know not
how to come at her." Then said I aloud, "Be quick and stint this talk and
impertinence, for I have to go to a party at the house of some of my
intimates." When he heard me speak of the party, he said, "This thy day is a
blessed day for me! In very sooth it was but yesterday I invited a company of
my friends and I have forgotten to provide anything for them to eat. This very
moment I was thinking of it: Alas, how I shall be disgraced in their eyes!" "Be
not distressed about this matter," answered I; "have I not told thee that I am
bidden to an entertainment this day? So every thing in my house, eatable and
drinkable, shall be thine, if thou wilt only get through thy work and make
haste to shave my head." He replied, "Allah requite thee with good! Specify to
me what is in thy house for my guests that I may be ware of it." Quoth I, "Five
dishes of meat and ten chickens with reddened breasts[FN#618] and a roasted
lamb." "Set them before me," quoth he "that I may see them." So I told my
people to buy, borrow or steal them and bring them in anywise, And had all this
set before him. When he saw it he cried, "The wine is wanting," and I replied,
"I have a flagon or two of good old grape-juice in the house," and he said,
"Have it brought out!" So I sent for it and he exclaimed, "Allah bless thee for
a generous disposition! But there are still the essences and perfumes." So I
bade them set before him a box containing Nadd,[FN#619] the best of compound
perfumes, together with fine lign-aloes, ambergris and musk unmixed, the whole
worth fifty dinars. Now the time waxed strait and my heart straitened with it;
so I said to him, "Take it all and finish shaving my head by the life of
Mohammed (whom Allah bless and keep!)." "By Allah," said he, "I will not take
it till I see all that is in it." So I bade the page open the box and the
Barber laid down the astrolabe, leaving the greater part of my head unpolled;
and, sitting on the ground, turned over the scents and incense and aloes wood
and essences till I was well nigh distraught. Then he took the razor and coming
up to me shaved off some few hairs and repeated these lines:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
"The boy like his father shall surely show, * As the tree from its parent root
shall grow."[FN#620]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then said he, "By Allah, O my son, I know not whether to thank thee or thy
father; for my entertainment this day is all due to thy bounty and beneficence;
and, although none of my company be worthy of it, yet I have a set of
honourable men, to wit Zantut the bath-keeper and Sali'a the corn-chandler; and
Silat the bean-seller; and Akrashah the greengrocer; and Humayd the scavenger;
and Sa'id the camel-man; and Suwayd the porter; and Abu Makarish the
bathman;[FN#621] and Kasim the watchman; and Karim the groom. There is not
among the whole of them a bore or a bully in his cups; nor a meddler nor a
miser of his money, and each and every hath some dance which he danceth and
some of his own couplets which he caroleth; and the best of them is that, like
thy servant, thy slave here, they know not what much talking is nor what
forwardness means. The bath keeper sings to the tom-tom[FN#622] a song which
enchants; and he stands up and dances and chants,
</p>

<p class="poem">
'I am going, O mammy, to fill up my pot.'
</p>

<p class="noindent">
As for the corn-chandler he brings more skill to it than any; he dances and
sings,
</p>

<p class="poem">
'O Keener,[FN#623] O sweetheart, thou fallest not short'
</p>

<p class="noindent">
and he leaves no one's vitals sound for laughing at him. But the scavenger
sings so that the birds stop to listen to him and dances and sings,
</p>

<p class="poem">
'News my wife wots is not locked in a box!'[FN#624]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And he hath privilege, for 'tis a shrewd rogue[FN#625] and a witty; and
speaking of his excellence I am wont to say,
</p>

<p class="poem">
My life for the scavenger! right well I love him, * Like a waving bough he is
sweet to my sight:<br/>
Fate joined us one night, when to him quoth I * (The while I grew weak and love
gained more might)<br/>
'Thy love burns my heart!' 'And no wonder,' quoth he * 'When the drawer of dung
turns a stoker wight.'[FN#626]
</p>

<p class="noindent">
And indeed each is perfect in whatso can charm the wit with joy and jollity;"
adding presently, "But hearing is not seeing; and indeed if thou make up thy
mind to join us and put off going to thy friends, 'twill be better for us and
for thee. The traces of illness are yet upon thee and haply thou art going
among folk who be mighty talkers, men who commune together of what concerneth
them not; or there may be amongst them some forward fellow who will split thy
head, and thou half thy size from sickness." "This shall be for some other
day," answered I, and laughed with heart angered: "finish thy work and go, in
Allah Almighty's guard, to thy friends, for they will be expecting thy coming."
"O my lord," replied he, "I seek only to introduce thee to these fellows of
infinite mirth, the sons of men of worth, amongst whom there is neither
procacity nor dicacity nor loquacity; for never, since I grew to years of
discretion, could I endure to consort with one who asketh questions concerning
what concerneth him not, nor have I ever frequented any save those who are,
like myself, men of few words. In sooth if thou were to company with them or
even to see them once, thou wouldst forsake all thy intimates." "Allah fulfil
thy joyance with them," said I, "needs must I come amongst them some day or
other." But he said, "Would it were this very day, for I had set my heart upon
thy making one of us; yet if thou must go to thy friends to day, I will take
these good things, wherewith thou hast honoured and favoured me, to my guests
and leave them to eat and drink and not wait for me; whilst I will return to
thee in haste and accompany thee to thy little party; for there is no ceremony
between me and my intimates to prevent my leaving them. Fear not, I will soon
be back with thee and wend with thee whithersoever thou wendest. There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" I
shouted, "Go thou to thy friends and make merry with them; and do let me go to
mine and be with them this day, for they expect me." But the Barber cried, "I
will not let thee go alone;" and I replied, "The truth is none can enter where
I am going save myself." He rejoined, "I suspect that to day thou art for an
assignation with some woman, else thou hadst taken me with thee; yet am I the
right man to take, one who could aid thee to the end thou wishest. But I fear
me thou art running after strange women and thou wilt lose thy life; for in
this our city of Baghdad one cannot do any thing in this line, especially on a
day like Friday: our Governor is an angry man and a mighty sharp blade." "Shame
on thee, thou wicked, bad, old man!" cried I, "Be off! what words are these
thou givest me?" "O cold of wit,"[FN#627] cried he, "thou sayest to me what is
not true and thou hidest thy mind from me, but I know the whole business for
certain and I seek only to help thee this day with my best endeavour." I was
fearful lest my people or my neighbours should hear the Barber's talk, so I
kept silence for a long time whilst he finished shaving my head; by which time
the hour of prayer was come and the Khutbah, or sermon, was about to follow.
When he had done, I said to him, "Go to thy friends with their meat and drink,
and I will await thy return. Then we will fare together." In this way I hoped
to pour oil on troubled waters and to trick the accursed loon, so haply I might
get quit of him; but he said, "Thou art cozening me and thou wouldst go alone
to thy appointment and cast thyself into jeopardy, whence there will be no
escape for thee. Now by Allah! and again by Allah! do not go till I return,
that I may accompany thee and watch the issue of thine affair." "So be it," I
replied, "do not be long absent." Then he took all the meat and drink I had
given him and the rest of it and went out of my house; but the accursed carle
gave it in charge of a porter to carry to his home but hid himself in one of
the alleys. As for me I rose on the instant, for the Muezzins had already
called the Salam of Friday, the salutation to the Apostle;[FN#628] and I
dressed in haste and went out alone and, hurrying to the street, took my stand
by the house wherein I had seen the young lady. I found the old woman on guard
at the door awaiting me, and went up with her to the upper story, the damsel's
apartment. Hardly had I reached it when behold, the master of the house
returned from prayers and entering the great saloon, closed the door. I looked
down from the window and saw this Barber (Allah's curse upon him!) sitting over
against the door and said, "How did this devil find me out?" At this very
moment, as Allah had decreed it for rending my veil of secrecy, it so happened
that a handmaid of the house master committed some offence for which he beat
her. She shrieked out and his slave ran in to intercede for her, whereupon the
Kazi beat him to boot, and he also roared out. The damned Barber fancied that
it was I who was being beaten; so he also fell to shouting and tore his
garments and scattered dust on his head and kept on shrieking and crying "Help
! Help !" So the people came round about him and he went on yelling, "My master
is being murdered in the Kazi's house!" Then he ran clamouring to my place with
the folk after him, and told my people and servants and slaves; and, before I
knew what was doing, up they came tearing their clothes and letting loose their
hair[FN#629] and shouting, "Alas, our master!"; and this Barber leading the
rout with his clothes rent and in sorriest plight; and he also shouting like a
madman and saying, "Alas for our murdered master!" And they all made an assault
upon the house in which I was. The Kazi, hearing the yells and the uproar at
his door, said to one of his servants, "See what is the matter"; and the man
went forth and returned and said, "O my master, at the gate there are more than
ten thousand souls what with men and women, and all crying out, 'Alas for our
murdered master!'; and they keep pointing to our house." When the Kazi heard
this, the matter seemed serious and he waxed wroth; so he rose and opening the
door saw a great crowd of people; whereat he was astounded and said, "O folk!
what is there to do?" "O accursed! O dog! O hog!" my servants replied; "'Tis
thou who hast killed our master!" Quoth he, "O good folk, and what hath your
master done to me that I should kill him?"— And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased saying her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Thirty-first Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Kazi said to the
servants, "What hath your master done to me that I should kill him? This is my
house and it is open to you all." Then quoth the Barber, "Thou didst beat him
and I heard him cry out;" and quoth the Kazi, "But what was he doing that I
should beat him, and what brought him in to my house; and whence came he and
whither went he?" "Be not a wicked, perverse old man!" cried the Barber, "for I
know the whole story; and the long and short of it is that thy daughter is in
love with him and he loves her; and when thou knewest that he had entered the
house, thou badest thy servants beat him and they did so: by Allah, none shall
judge between us and thee but the Caliph; or else do thou bring out our master
that his folk may take him, before they go in and save him perforce from thy
house, and thou be put to shame." Then said the Kazi (and his tongue was
bridled and his mouth was stopped by confusion before the people), "An thou say
sooth, do thou come in and fetch him out." Whereupon the Barber pushed forward
and entered the house. When I saw this I looked about for a means of escape and
flight, but saw no hiding place except a great chest in the upper chamber where
I was. So I got into it and pulled the lid down upon myself and held my breath.
The Barber was hardly in the room before he began to look about for me, then
turned him right and left and came straight to the place where I was, and
stepped up to the chest and, lifting it on his head, made off as fast as he
could. At this, my reason forsook me, for I knew that he would not let me be;
so I took courage and opening the chest threw myself to the ground. My leg was
broken in the fall, and the door being open I saw a great concourse of people
looking in. Now I carried in my sleeve much gold and some silver, which I had
provided for an ill day like this and the like of such occasion; so I kept
scattering it amongst the folk to divert their attention from me and, whilst
they were busy scrambling for it, I set off, hopping as fast as I could,
through the by streets of Baghdad, shifting and turning right and left. But
whithersoever I went this damned Barber would go in after me, crying aloud,
"They would have bereft me of my maa-a-ster! They would have slain him who was
a benefactor to me and my family and my friends! Praised be Allah who made me
prevail against them and delivered my lord from their hands!" Then to me,
"Where wilt thou go now? Thou wouldst persist in following thine own evil
devices, till thou broughtest thyself to this ill pass; and, had not Allah
vouchsafed me to thee, ne'er hadst thou escaped this strait into which thou
hast fallen, for they would have cast thee into a calamity whence thou never
couldest have won free. But I will not call thee to account for thine
ignorance, as thou art so little of wit and inconsequential and addicted to
hastiness!" Said I to him, "Doth not what thou hast brought upon me suffice
thee, but thou must run after me and talk me such talk in the bazar streets?"
And I well nigh gave up the ghost for excess of rage against him. Then I took
refuge in the shop of a weaver amiddlemost of the market and sought protection
of the owner who drove the Barber away; and, sitting in the back room,[FN#630]
I said to myself, "If I return home I shall never be able to get rid of this
curse of a Barber, who will be with me night and day; and I cannot endure the
sight of him even for a breathing space." So I sent out at once for witnesses
and made a will, dividing the greater part of my property among my people, and
appointed a guardian over them, to whom I committed the charge of great and
small, directing him to sell my houses and domains. Then I set out on my
travels that I might be free of this pimp;[FN#631] and I came to settle in your
town where I have lived some time. When you invited me and I came hither, the
first thing I saw was this accursed pander seated in the place of honour. How
then can my heart be glad and my stay be pleasant in company with this fellow
who brought all this upon me, and who was the cause of the breaking of my leg
and of my exile from home and native land. And the youth refused to sit down
and went away. When we heard his story (continued the Tailor) we were amazed
beyond measure and amused and said to the Barber, "By Allah, is it true what
this young man saith of thee?" "By Allah," replied he, "I dealt thus by him of
my courtesy and sound sense and generosity. Had it not been for me he had
perished and none but I was the cause of his escape. Well it was for him that
he suffered in his leg and not in his life! Had I been a man of many words, a
meddler, a busy body, I had not acted thus kindly by him; but now I will tell
you a tale which befell me, that you may be well assured I am a man sparing of
speech in whom is no forwardness and a very different person from those six
Brothers of mine; and this it is."
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap29"></a>The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of Himself.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
I was living in Baghdad during the times of Al-Mustansir bi'llah,[FN#632] Son
of Al-Mustazi bi'llah the then Caliph, a prince who loved the poor and needy
and companied with the learned and pious. One day it happened to him that he
was wroth with ten persons, highwaymen who robbed on the Caliph's highway, and
he ordered the Prefect of Baghdad to bring them into the presence on the
anniversary of the Great Festival.[FN#633] So the Prefect sallied out and,
making them His prisoners, embarked with them in a boat. I caught sight of them
as they were embarking and said to myself, "These are surely assembled for a
marriage feast; methinks they are spending their day in that boat eating and
drinking, and none shall be companion of their cups but I myself." So I rose, O
fair assembly; and, of the excess of my courtesy and the gravity of my
understanding, I embarked with them and entered into conversation with them.
They rowed across to the opposite bank, where they landed and there came up the
watch and guardians of the peace with chains, which they put round the robbers'
necks. They chained me among the rest of them; and, O people, is it not a proof
of my courtesy and spareness of speech, that I held my peace and did not please
to speak? Then they took us away in bilbos and next morning carried us all
before Al-Mustansir bi'llah, Commander of the Faithful, who bade smite the
necks of the ten robbers. So the Sworder came forward after they were seated on
the leather of blood;[FN#634] then drawing his blade, struck off one head after
another until he had smitten the neck of the tenth; and I alone remained. The
Caliph looked at me and asked the Heads man, saying, "What ails thee that thou
hast struck off only nine heads?"; and he answered, "Allah forbid that I should
behead only nine, when thou biddest me behead ten!" Quoth the Caliph, "Meseems
thou hast smitten the necks of only nine, and this man before thee is the
tenth." "By thy beneficence!" replied the Headsman, "I have beheaded ten."
"Count them!" cried the Caliph and whenas they counted heads, lo! there were
ten. The Caliph looked at me and said, "What made thee keep silence at a time
like this and how camest thou to company with these men of blood? Tell me the
cause of all this, for albeit thou art a very old man, assuredly thy wits are
weak." Now when I heard these words from the Caliph I sprang to my feet and
replied, "Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that I am the Silent Shaykh and am
thus called to distinguish me from my six brothers. I am a man of immense
learning whilst, as for the gravity of my understanding, the wiliness of my
wits and the spareness of my speech, there is no end of them; and my calling is
that of a barber. I went out early on yesterday morning and saw these men
making for a skiff; and, fancying they were bound for a marriage feast, I
joined them and mixed with them. After a while up came the watch and guardians
of the peace, who put chains round their necks and round mine with the rest;
but, in the excess of my courtesy, I held my peace and spake not a word; nor
was this other but generosity on my part. They brought us into thy presence,
and thou gavest an order to smite the necks of the ten; yet did I not make
myself known to thee and remained silent before the Sworder, purely of my great
generosity and courtesy which led me to share with them in their death. But all
my life long have I dealt thus nobly with mankind, and they requite me the
foulest and evillest requital!" When the Caliph heard my words and knew that I
was a man of exceeding generosity and of very few words, one in whom is no
forwardness (as this youth would have it whom I rescued from mortal risk and
who hath so scurvily repaid me), he laughed with excessive laughter till he
fell upon his back. Then said he to me, "O Silent Man, do thy six brothers
favour thee in wisdom and knowledge and spareness of speech?" I replied, "Never
were they like me! Thou puttest reproach upon me, O Commander of the Faithful,
and it becomes thee not to even my brothers with me; for, of the abundance of
their speech and their deficiency of courtesy and gravity, each one of them
hath gotten some maim or other. One is a monocular, another palsied, a third
stone blind, a fourth cropped of ears and nose and a fifth shorn of both lips,
while the sixth is a hunchback and a cripple. And conceive not, O Commander of
the Faithful, that I am prodigal of speech; but I must perforce explain to thee
that I am a man of greater worth and fewer words than any of them. From each
one of my brothers hangs a tale of how he came by his bodily defect and these I
will relate to thee." So the Caliph gave ear to
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap30"></a>The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his First Brother.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Know then, O Commander of the Faithful, that my first brother, Al Bakbuk, the
Prattler, is a Hunchback who took to tailoring in Baghdad, and he used to sew
in a shop hired from a man of much wealth, who dwelt over the shop,[FN#635] and
there was also a flour-mill in the basement. One day as my brother, the
Hunchback, was sitting in his shop a tailoring, he chanced to raise his head
and saw a lady like the rising full moon at a balconied window of his
landlord's house, engaged in looking out at the passers by.[FN#636] When my
brother beheld her, his heart was taken with love of her and he passed his
whole day gazing at her and neglected his tailoring till eventide. Next morning
he opened his shop and sat him down to sew; but, as often as he stitched a
stitch, he looked to the window and saw her as before; and his passion and
infatuation for her increased. On the third day as he was sitting in his usual
place gazing on her, she caught sight of him and, perceiving that he had been
captivated with love of her, laughed in his face[FN#637] and he smiled back at
her. Then she disappeared and presently sent her slave girl to him with a
bundle containing a piece of red flowered silk. The handmaid accosted him and
said, "My lady salameth to thee and desireth thee, of thy skill and good will,
to fashion for her a shift of this piece and to sew it handsomely with thy best
sewing. He replied, "Hearkening and obedience"; and shaped for her a chemise
and finished sewing it the same day. When the morning morrowed the girl came
back and said to him, "My lady salameth to thee and asks how thou hast passed
yesternight; for she hath not tasted sleep by reason of her heart being taken
up with thee. Then she laid before him a piece of yellow satin and said, My
lady biddeth thee cut her two pair of petticoat trousers out of this piece and
sew them this very day." "Hearkening and obedience!' replied he, "greet her for
me with many greetings and say to her, Thy slave is obedient to thine order; so
command him as thou wilt." Then he applied himself to cutting out and worked
hard at sewing the trousers; and after an hour the lady appeared at the lattice
and saluted him by signs, now casting down her eyes, then smiling in his face,
and he began to assure himself that he would soon make a conquest. She did not
let him stir till he had finished the two pair of trousers, when she with drew
and sent the handmaid to whom he delivered them; and she took them and went her
ways. When it was night, he threw himself on his carpet bed, and lay tossing
about from side to side till morning, when he rose and sat down in his place.
Presently the damsel came to him and said, "My master calleth for thee."
Hearing these words he feared with exceeding fear; but the slave girl, seeing
his affright, said to him, "No evil is meant to thee: naught but good awaiteth
thee. My lady would have thee make acquaintance with my lord." So my brother
the tailor, rejoicing with great joy, went with her; and when he came into the
presence of his landlord, the lady's husband, he kissed the ground before him,
and the master of the house returned his greeting and gave him a great piece of
linen saying, "Shape me shirts out of this stuff and sew them well;" and my
brother answered, "To hear is to obey." Thereupon he fell to work at once,
snipping, shaping and sewing till he had finished twenty shirts by supper time,
without stopping to taste food. The house master asked him, "How much the wage
for this?"; and he answered, "Twenty dirhams." So the gentleman cried out to
the slave girl, "Bring me twenty dirhams," and my brother spake not a word; but
the lady signed, "Take nothing from him;' whereupon my brother said, "By Allah
I will take naught from thy hand. And he carried off his tailor's gear and
returned to his shop, although he was destitute even to a red cent.[FN#638]
Then he applied himself to do their work; eating, in his zeal and diligence,
but a bit of bread and drinking only a little water for three days. At the end
of this time came the handmaid and said to him, "What hast thou done?" Quoth
he, "They are finished," and carried the shirts to the lady's husband, who
would have paid him his hire: but he said, "I will take nothing," for fear of
her and, returning to his shop, passed the night without sleep because of his
hunger. Now the dame had informed her husband how the case stood (my brother
knowing naught of this); and the two had agreed to make him tailor for nothing,
the better to mock and laugh at him. Next morning he went to his shop, and, as
he sat there, the handmaid came to him and said, "Speak with my master." So he
accompanied her to the husband who said to him, "I wish thee to cut out for me
five long sleeved robes."[FN#639] So he cut them out[FN#640] and took the stuff
and went away. Then he sewed them and carried them to the gentleman, who
praised his sewing and offered him a purse of silver. He put out his hand to
take it, but the lady signed to him from behind her husband not to do so, and
he replied, "O my lord, there is no hurry, we have time enough for this." Then
he went forth from the house meaner and meeker than a donkey, for verily five
things were gathered together in him viz.: love, beggary, hunger, nakedness and
hard labour. Nevertheless he heartened himself with the hope of gaining the
lady's favours. When he had made an end of all their jobs, they played him
another trick and married him to their slave girl; but, on the night when he
thought to go in to her, they said to him, "Lie this night in the mill; and to
morrow all will go well." My brother concluded that there was some good cause
for this and nighted alone in the mill. Now the husband had set on the miller
to make the tailor turn the mill: so when night was half spent the man came in
to him and began to say, "This bull of ours hath be come useless and standeth
still instead of going round: he will not turn the mill this night, and yet we
have great store of corn to be ground. However, I'll yoke him perforce and make
him finish grinding it before morning, as the folk are impatient for their
flour." So he filled the hoppers with grain and, going up to my brother with a
rope in his hand, tied it round his neck and said to him, "Gee up! Round with
the mill! thou, O bull, wouldst do nothing but grub and stale and dung!" Then
he took a whip and laid it on the shoulders and calves of my brother, who began
to howl and bellow; but none came to help him; and he was forced to grind the
wheat till hard upon dawn, when the house master came in and, seeing my brother
still tethered to the yoke and the man flogging him, went away. At day break
the miller returned home and left him still yoked and half dead; and soon after
in came the slave girl who unbound him, and said to him, "I and my lady are
right sorry for what hath happened and we have borne thy grief with thee." But
he had no tongue wherewith to answer her from excess of beating and mill
turning. Then he retired to his lodging and behold, the clerk who had drawn up
the marriage deed came to him[FN#641] and saluted him, saying, "Allah give thee
long life! May thy espousal be blessed! This face telleth of pleasant doings
and dalliance and kissing and clipping from dusk to dawn." "Allah grant the
liar no peace, O thou thousandfold cuckold!", my brother replied, "by Allah, I
did nothing but turn the mill in the place of the bull all night till morning!"
"Tell me thy tale," quoth he; and my brother recounted what had befallen him
and he said, "Thy star agrees not with her star; but an thou wilt I can alter
the contract for thee," adding, "'Ware lest another cheat be not in store for
thee." And my brother answered him, "See if thou have not another contrivance."
Then the clerk left him and he sat in his shop, looking for some one to bring
him a job whereby he might earn his day's bread. Presently the handmaid came to
him and said, "Speak with my lady." "Begone, O my good girl," replied he,
"there shall be no more dealings between me and thy lady." The handmaid
returned to her mistress and told her what my brother had said and presently
she put her head out of the window, weeping and saying, "Why, O my beloved, are
there to be no more dealings 'twixt me and thee?" But he made her no answer.
Then she wept and conjured him, swearing that all which had befallen him in the
mill was not sanctioned by her and that she was innocent of the whole matter.
When he looked upon her beauty and loveliness and heard the sweetness of her
speech, the sorrow which had possessed him passed from his heart; he accepted
her excuse and he rejoiced in her sight. So he saluted her and talked with her
and sat tailoring awhile, after which the handmaid came to him and said, "My
mistress greeteth thee and informeth thee that her husband purposeth to lie
abroad this night in the house of some intimate friends of his; so, when he is
gone, do thou come to us and spend the night with my lady in delightsomest
joyance till the morning." Now her husband had asked her, "How shall we manage
to turn him away from thee?"; and she answered, "Leave me to play him another
trick and make him a laughing stock for all the town." But my brother knew
naught of the malice of women. As soon as it was dusk, the slave girl came to
him and carried him to the house, and when the lady saw him she said to him,
"By Allah, O my lord, I have been longing exceedingly for thee." "By Allah,"
cried he, "kiss me quick before thou give me aught else."[FN#642] Hardly had he
spoken, when the lady's husband came in from the next room[FN#643] and seized
him, saying, "By Allah, I will not let thee go, till I deliver thee to the
chief of the town watch." My brother humbled himself to him; but he would not
listen to him and carried him before the Prefect who gave him an hundred lashes
with a whip and, mounting him on a camel, promenaded him round about the city,
whilst the guards proclaimed aloud, "This is his reward who violateth the
Harims of honourable men!" Moreover, he fell off the camel and broke his leg
and so became lame. Then the Prefect banished him from the city; and he went
forth unknowing whither he should wend; but I heard of him and fearing for him
went out after him and brought him back secretly to the city and restored him
to health and took him into my house where he still liveth. The Caliph laughed
at my story and said, "Thou hast done well, O Samit, O Silent Man, O spare of
speech!"; and he bade me take a present and go away. But I said, "I will accept
naught of thee except I tell thee what befell all my other brothers; and do not
think me a man of many words." So the Caliph gave ear to
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap31"></a>The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Second Brother.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that my second brother's name was Al-Haddar,
that is the Babbler, and he was the paralytic. Now it happened to him one day,
as he was going about his business, that an old woman accosted him and said,
"Stop a little, my good man, that I may tell thee of somewhat which, if it be
to thy liking, thou shalt do for me and I will pray Allah to give thee good of
it!" My brother stopped and she went on, "I will put thee in the way of a
certain thing, so thou not be prodigal of speech." "On with thy talk," quoth
he; and she, "What sayest thou to handsome quarters and a fair garden with
flowing waters, flowers blooming, and fruit growing, and old wine going and a
pretty young face whose owner thou mayest embrace from dark till dawn? If thou
do whatso I bid thee thou shalt see something greatly to thy advantage." "And
is all this in the world?" asked my brother; and she answered, "Yes, and it
shall be thine, so thou be reasonable and leave idle curiosity and many words,
and do my bidding." "I will indeed, O my lady," said he, "how is it thou hast
preferred me in this matter before all men and what is it that so much pleaseth
thee in me?" Quoth she, "Did I not bid thee be spare of speech? Hold thy peace
and follow me. Know, that the young lady, to whom I shall carry thee, loveth to
have her own way and hateth being thwarted and all who gainsay; so, if thou
humour her, thou shalt come to thy desire of her." And my brother said, "I will
not cross her in anything." Then she went on and my brother followed her, an
hungering after what she described to him till they entered a fine large house,
handsome and choicely furnished, full of eunuchs and servants and showing signs
of prosperity from top to bottom. And she was carrying him to the upper story
when the people of the house said to him, "What dost thou here?" But the old
woman answered them, "Hold your peace and trouble him not: he is a workman and
we have occasion for him." Then she brought him into a fine great pavilion,
with a garden in its midst, never eyes saw a fairer; and made him sit upon a
handsome couch. He had not sat long, be fore he heard a loud noise and in came
a troop of slave girls surrounding a lady like the moon on the night of its
fullest. When he saw her, he rose up and made an obeisance to her, whereupon
she welcomed him and bade him be seated. So he sat down and she said to him,
"Allah advance thee to honour! Is all well with thee?" "O my lady," he
answered, "all with me is right well." Then she bade bring in food, and they
set before her delicate viands; so she sat down to eat, making a show of
affection to my brother and jesting with him, though all the while she could
not refrain from laughing; but as often as he looked at her, she signed towards
her handmaidens as though she were laughing at them. My brother (the ass!)
understood nothing; but, in the excess of his ridiculous passion, he fancied
that the lady was in love with him and that she would soon grant him his
desire. When they had done eating, they set on the wine and there came in ten
maidens like moons, with lutes ready strung in their hands, and fell to singing
with full voices, sweet and sad, whereupon delight gat hold upon him and he
took the cup from the lady's hands and drank it standing. Then she drank a cup
of wine and my brother (still standing) said to her "Health," and bowed to her.
She handed him another cup and he drank it off, when she slapped him hard on
the nape of his neck.[FN#644] Upon this my brother would have gone out of the
house in anger; but the old woman followed him and winked to him to return. So
he came back and the lady bade him sit and he sat down without a word. Then she
again slapped him on the nape of his neck; and the second slapping did not
suffice her, she must needs make all her handmaidens also slap and cuff him,
while he kept saying to the old woman, "I never saw aught nicer than this." She
on her side ceased not exclaiming, "Enough, enough, I conjure thee, O my
mistress!"; but the women slapped him till he well nigh swooned away. Presently
my brother rose and went out to obey a call of nature, but the old woman
overtook him, and said, "Be patient a little and thou shalt win to thy wish."
"How much longer have I to wait," my brother replied, "this slapping hath made
me feel faint." "As soon as she is warm with wine," answered she, "thou shalt
have thy desire." So he returned to his place and sat down, where upon all the
handmaidens stood up and the lady bade them perfume him with pastiles and
besprinkle his face with rose-water. Then said she to him, "Allah advance thee
to honour! Thou hast entered my house and hast borne with my conditions, for
whoso thwarteth me I turn him away, and whoso is patient hath his desire." "O
mistress mine," said he, "I am thy slave and in the hollow of thine hand!"
"Know, then," continued she, "that Allah hath made me passionately fond of
frolic; and whoso falleth in with my humour cometh by whatso he wisheth." Then
she ordered her maidens to sing with loud voices till the whole company was
delighted; after which she said to one of them, "Take thy lord, and do what is
needful for him and bring him back to me forthright." So the damsel took my
brother (and he not knowing what she would do with him); but the old woman
overtook him and said, "Be patient; there remaineth but little to do." At this
his face brightened and he stood up before the lady while the old woman kept
saying, "Be patient; thou wilt now at once win to thy wish!"; till he said,
"Tell me what she would have the maiden do with me?" "Nothing but good,"
replied she, "as I am thy sacrifice! She wisheth only to dye thy eyebrows and
pluck out thy mustachios." Quoth he, "As for the dyeing of my eye brows, that
will come off with washing,[FN#645] but for the plucking out of my mustachios,
that indeed is a somewhat painful process." "Be cautious how thou cross her,"
cried the old woman; "for she hath set her heart on thee." So my brother
patiently suffered her to dye his eyebrows and pluck out his mustachios, after
which the maiden returned to her mistress and told her. Quoth she "Remaineth
now only one other thing to be done; thou must shave his beard and make him a
smooth o' face."[FN#646] So the maiden went back and told him what her mistress
had bidden her do; and my brother (the blockhead!) said to her, "How shall I do
what will disgrace me before the folk?" But the old woman said, "She would do
on this wise only that thou mayst be as a beardless youth and that no hair be
left on thy face to scratch and prick her delicate cheeks; for indeed she is
passionately in love with thee. So be patient and thou shalt attain thine
object." My brother was patient and did her bidding and let shave off his beard
and, when he was brought back to the lady, lo! he appeared dyed red as to his
eyebrows, plucked of both mustachios, shorn of his beard, rouged on both
cheeks. At first she was affrighted at him; then she made mockery of him and,
laughing till she fell upon her back, said, "O my lord, thou hast indeed won my
heart by thy good nature!" Then she conjured him, by her life, to stand up and
dance, and he arose, and capered about, and there was not a cushion in the
house but she threw it at his head, and in like manner did all her women who
also kept pelting him with oranges and lemons and citrons till he fell down
senseless from the cuffing on the nape of the neck, the pillowing and the fruit
pelting. "Now thou hast attained thy wish," said the old woman when he came
round; "there are no more blows in store for thee and there remaineth but one
little thing to do. It is her wont, when she is in her cups, to let no one have
her until she put off her dress and trousers and remain stark naked.[FN#647]
Then she will bid thee doff thy clothes and run; and she will run before thee
as if she were flying from thee; and do thou follow her from place to place
till thy prickle stands at fullest point, when she will yield to thee;"[FN#648]
adding, "Strip off thy clothes at once." So he rose, well nigh lost in ecstasy
and, doffing his raiment, showed himself mother naked.—And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Thirty-second Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old woman said
to the Barber's second brother, "Doff thy clothes," he rose, well nigh lost in
ecstasy; and, stripping off his raiment, showed himself mother naked. Whereupon
the lady stripped also and said to my brother, "If thou want anything run after
me till thou catch me." Then she set out at a run and he ran after her while
she rushed into room after room and rushed out of room after room, my brother
scampering after her in a rage of desire like a veritable madman, with yard
standing terribly tall. After much of this kind she dashed into a darkened
place, and he dashed after her; but suddenly he trod upon a yielding spot,
which gave way under his weight; and, before he was aware where he was, he
found himself in the midst of a crowded market, part of the bazar of the
leather sellers who were crying the prices of skins and hides and buying and
selling. When they saw him in his plight, naked, with standing yard, shorn of
beard and mustachios, with eyebrows dyed red, and cheeks ruddied with rouge,
they shouted and clapped their hands at him, and set to flogging him with skins
upon his bare body till a swoon came over him. Then they threw him on the back
of an ass and carried him to the Chief of Police. Quoth the Chief, "What is
this?" Quoth they, "This fellow fell suddenly upon us out of the Wazir's
house[FN#649] in this state." So the Prefect gave him an hundred lashes and
then banished him from Baghdad. However I went out after him and brought him
back secretly into the city and made him a daily allowance for his living:
although, were it not for my generous humour, I could not have put up with the
like of him. Then the Caliph gave ear to
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap32"></a>The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Third Brother.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
My third brother's name was Al-Fakík, the Gabbler, who was blind. One day Fate
and Fortune drove him to a fine large house, and he knocked at the door,
desiring speech of its owner that he might beg somewhat of him. Quoth the
master of the house, "Who is at the door?" But my brother spake not a word and
presently he heard him repeat with a loud voice, "Who is this?" Still he made
no answer and immediately heard the master walk to the door and open it and
say, "What dost thou want?" My brother answered "Something for Allah Almighty's
sake."[FN#650] "Art thou blind?" asked the man, and my brother answered "Yes."
Quoth the other, "Stretch me out thy hand." So my brother put out his hand
thinking that he would give him something; but he took it and, drawing him into
the house, carried him up from stair to stair till they reached the terrace on
the house top, my brother thinking the while that he would surely give him
something of food or money. Then he asked my brother, "What dost thou want, O
blind man?" and he answered, "Something for the Almighty's sake." "Allah open
for thee some other door!" "O thou! why not say so when I was below stairs?" "O
cadger, why not answer me when I first called to thee?" "And what meanest thou
to do for me now?" "There is nothing in the house to give thee." "Then take me
down the stair." "The path is before thee." So my brother rose and made his way
downstairs, till he came within twenty steps of the door, when his foot slipped
and he rolled to the bottom and broke his head. Then he went out, unknowing
whither to turn, and presently fell in with two other blind men, companions of
his, who said to him, "What didst thou gain to day?" He told them what had
befallen him and added, "O my brothers, I wish to take some of the money in my
hands and provide myself with it." Now the master of the house had followed him
and was listening to what they said; but neither my brother nor his comrades
knew of this. So my brother went to his lodging and sat down to await his
companions, and the house owner entered after him without being perceived. When
the other blind men arrived, my brother said to them, "Bolt the door and search
the house lest any stranger have followed us." The man, hearing this, caught
hold of a cord that hung from the ceiling and clung to it, whilst they went
round about the house and searched but found no one. So they came back, and,
sitting beside my brother, brought out their money which they counted and lo!
it was twelve thousand dirhams. Each took what he wanted and they buried the
rest in a corner of the room. Then they set on food and sat down, to eat.
Presently my brother, hearing a strange pair of jaws munching by his
side,[FN#651] said to his friends, "There is a stranger amongst us;" and,
putting forth his hand, caught hold of that of the house master. Thereupon all
fell on him and beat him;[FN#652] and when tired of belabouring him they
shouted, "O ye Moslems! a thief is come in to us, seeking to take our money!" A
crowd gathered around them, whereupon the intruder hung on to them; and
complained with them as they complained, and, shutting his eyes like them, so
that none might doubt his blindness, cried out, "O Moslems, I take refuge with
Allah and the Governor, for I have a matter to make known to him!" Suddenly up
came the watch and, laying hands on the whole lot (my brother being amongst
them), drove them[FN#653] to the Governor's who set them before him and asked,
"What news with you?" Quoth the intruder, "Look and find out for thyself, not a
word shall be wrung from us save by torture, so begin by beating me and after
me beat this man our leader."[FN#654] And he pointed to my brother. So they
threw the man at full length and gave him four hundred sticks on his backside.
The beating pained him, whereupon he opened one eye and, as they redoubled
their blows, he opened the other eye. When the Governor saw this he said to
him, "What have we here, O accursed?"; whereto he replied, "Give me the
seal-ring of pardon! We four have shammed blind, and we impose upon people that
we may enter houses and look upon the unveiled faces of the women and contrive
for their corruption. In this way we have gotten great gain and our store
amounts to twelve thousand dirhams. Said I to my company, 'Give me my share,
three thousand;' but they rose and beat me and took away my money, and I seek
refuge with Allah and with thee; better thou have my share than they. So, if
thou wouldst know the truth of my words, beat one and every of the others more
than thou hast beaten me, and he will surely open his eyes." The Governor gave
orders for the question to begin with my brother, and they bound him to the
whipping post,[FN#655] and the Governor said, "O scum of the earth, do ye abuse
the gracious gifts of Allah and make as if ye were blind!" "Allah! Allah!"
cried my brother, "by Allah, there is none among us who can see." Then they
beat him till he swooned away and the Governor cried, "Leave him till he come
to and then beat him again." After this he caused each of the companions to
receive more than three hundred sticks, whilst the sham-abraham kept saying to
them "Open your eyes or you will be beaten afresh." At last the man said to the
Governor, "Dispatch some one with me to bring thee the money; for these fellows
will not open their eyes, lest they incur disgrace before the folk." So the
Governor sent to fetch the money and gave the man his pretended share, three
thousand dirhams; and, keeping the rest for himself, banished the three blind
men from the city. But I, O Commander of the Faithful, went out and overtaking
my brother questioned him of his case; whereupon he told me of what I have told
thee; so I brought him secretly into the city, and appointed him (in the
strictest privacy) an allowance for meat and drink! The Caliph laughed at my
story and said, "Give him a gift and let him go;" but I said, "By Allah! I will
take naught till I have made known to the Commander of the Faithful what came
to pass with the rest of my brothers; for truly I am a man of few words and
spare of speech." Then the Caliph gave ear to
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap33"></a>The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Fourth Brother.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Now as for my fourth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Al-Kuz al-aswáni, or
the long necked Gugglet hight, from his brimming over with words, the same who
was blind of one eye, he became a butcher in Baghdad and he sold flesh and
fattened rams; and great men and rich bought their meat of him, so that he
amassed much wealth and got him cattle and houses. He fared thus a long while,
till one day, as he was sitting in his shop, there came up an old man and long
o' the beard, who laid down some silver and said, "Give me meat for this." He
gave him his money s worth of flesh and the oldster went his ways. My brother
examined the Shaykh's silver, and, seeing that the dirhams were white and
bright, he set them in a place apart. The greybeard continued to return to the
shop regularly for five months, and my brother ceased not to lay up all the
coin he received from him in its own box. At last he thought to take out the
money to buy sheep; so he opened the box and found in it nothing, save bits of
white paper cut round to look like coin;[FN#656] so he buffeted his face and
cried aloud till the folk gathered about him, whereupon he told them his tale
which made them marvel exceedingly. Then he rose as was his wont, and
slaughtering a ram hung it up inside his shop; after which he cut off some of
the flesh, and hanging it outside kept saying to himself, "O Allah, would the
ill omened old fellow but come!" And an hour had not passed before the Shaykh
came with his silver in hand; where upon my brother rose and caught hold of him
calling out, "Come aid me, O Moslems, and learn my story with this villain!"
When the old man heard this, he quietly said to him, "Which will be the better
for thee, to let go of me or to be disgraced by me amidst the folk?" "In what
wilt thou disgrace me?" "In that thou sellest man's flesh for mutton!" "Thou
liest, thou accursed!" "Nay, he is the accursed who hath a man hanging up by
way of meat in his shop. If the matter be as thou sayest, I give thee lawful
leave to take my money and my life." Then the old man cried out aloud, "Ho, ye
people! if you would prove the truth of my words, enter this man's shop." The
folk rushed in and found that the ram was become a dead man[FN#657] hung up for
sale. So they set upon my brother crying out, "O Infidel! O villain!"; and his
best friends fell to cuffing and kicking him and kept saying, "Dost thou make
us eat flesh of the sons of Adam?" Furthermore, the old man struck him on the
eye and put it out. Then they carried the carcass, with the throat cut, before
the Chief of the city watch, to whom the old man said, "O Emir, this fellow
butchers men and sells their flesh for mutton and we have brought him to thee;
so arise and execute the judgments of Allah (to whom be honour and glory!)." My
brother would have defended himself, but the Chief refused to hear him and
sentenced him to receive five hundred sticks and to forfeit the whole of his
property. And, indeed, had it not been for that same property which he expended
in bribes, they would have surely slain him. Then the Chief banished him from
Baghdad; and my brother fared forth at a venture, till he came to a great town,
where he thought it best to set up as a cobbler; so he opened a shop and sat
there doing what he could for his livelihood. One day, as he went forth on his
business, he heard the distant tramp of horses and, asking the cause, was told
that the King was going out to hunt and course; so my brother stopped to look
at the fine suite. It so fortuned that the King's eye met my brother's;
whereupon the King hung down his head and said, "I seek refuge with Allah from
the evil of this day!";[FN#658] and turned the reins of his steed and returned
home with all his retinue. Then he gave orders to his guards, who seized my
brother and beat him with a beating so painful that he was well nigh dead; and
my brother knew not what could be the cause of his maltreatment, after which he
returned to his place in sorriest plight. Soon afterwards he went to one of the
King's household and related what had happened to him; and the man laughed till
he fell upon his back and cried, "O brother mine, know that the King cannot
bear to look at a monocular, especially if he be blind of the right eye, in
which case he doth not let him go without killing him." When my brother heard
this, he resolved to fly from that city; so he went forth from it to another
wherein none knew him and there he abode a long while. One day, being full of
sorrowful thought for what had befallen him, he sallied out to solace himself;
and, as he was walking along, he heard the distant tramp of horses behind him
and said, "The judgement of Allah is upon me!" and looked about for a hiding
place but found none. At last he saw a closed door which he pushed hard: it
yielded. and he entered a long gallery in which he took refuge, but hardly had
he done so, when two men set upon him crying out, "Allah be thanked for having
delivered thee into our hands, O enemy of God! These three nights thou hast
robbed us of our rest and sleep, and verily thou hast made us taste of the
death cup." My brother asked, "O folk, what ails you?"; and they answered,
"Thou givest us the change and goest about to disgrace us and plannest some
plot to cut the throat of the house master! Is it not enough that thou hast
brought him to beggary, thou and thy fellows? But now give us up the knife
wherewith thou threatenest us every night." Then they searched him and found in
his waist belt the knife used for his shoe leather; and he said, "O people,
have the fear of Allah before your eyes and maltreat me not, for know that my
story is a right strange!" "And what is thy story?" said they: so he told them
what had befallen him, hoping they would let him go; however they paid no heed
to what he said and, instead of showing some regard, beat him grievously and
tore off his clothes: then, finding on his sides the scars of beating with
rods, they said, "O accursed! these marks are the manifest signs of thy guilt!"
They carried him before the Governor, whilst he said to himself, "I am now
punished for my sins and none can deliver me save Allah Almighty!" The Governor
addressing my brother asked him, "O villain, what led thee to enter their house
with intention to murther?"; and my brother answered, "I conjure thee by Allah,
O Emir, hear my words and be not hasty in condemning me!" But the Governor
cried, "Shall we listen to the words of a robber who hath beggared these
people, and who beareth on his back the scar of his stripes?" adding, "They
surely had not done this to thee, save for some great crime." So he sentenced
him to receive an hundred cuts with the scourge, after which they set him on a
camel and paraded him about the city, proclaiming, "This is the requital and
only too little to requite him who breaketh into people's houses." Then they
thrust him out of the city, and my brother wandered at random, till I heard
what had befallen him; and, going in search of him, questioned him of his case;
so he acquainted me with his story and all his mischances, and I carried him
secretly to the city where I made him an allowance for his meat and drink. Then
the Caliph gave ear to
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap34"></a>The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Fifth Brother.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
My fifth brother, Al-Nashshár,[FN#659] the Babbler, the same who was cropped of
both ears, O Commander of the Faithful, was an asker wont to beg of folk by
night and live on their alms by day. Now when our father, who was an old man
well stricken in years sickened and died, he left us seven hundred dirhams
whereof each son took his hundred; but, as my fifth brother received his
portion, he was perplexed and knew not what to do with it. While in this
uncertainty he bethought him to lay it out on glass ware of all sorts and turn
an honest penny on its price. So he bought an hundred dirhams worth of
verroterie and, putting it into a big tray, sat down to sell it on a bench at
the foot of a wall against which he leant back. As he sat with the tray before
him he fell to musing and said to himself, "Know, O my good Self, that the head
of my wealth, my principal invested in this glass ware, is an hundred dirhams.
I will assuredly sell it for two hundred with which I will forthright buy other
glass and make by it four hundred; nor will I cease to sell and buy on this
wise, till I have gotten four thousand and soon find myself the master of much
money. With these coins I will buy merchandise and jewels and ottars[FN#660]
and gain great profit on them; till, Allah willing, I will make my capital an
hundred thousand dirhams. Then I will purchase a fine house with white slaves
and eunuchs and horses; and I will eat and drink and disport myself; nor will I
leave a singing man or a singing woman in the city, but I will summon them to
my palace and make them perform before me." All this he counted over in his
mind, while the tray of glass ware,: worth an hundred dirhams, stood on the
bench before him, and, after looking at it, he continued, "And when, Inshallah!
my capital shall have become one hundred thousand[FN#661] dinars, I will send
out marriage brokeresses to require for me in wedlock the daughters of Kings
and Wazirs; and I will demand to wife the eldest daughter of the Prime
Minister; for it hath reached me that she is perfect in beauty and prime in
loveliness and rare in accomplishments. I will give a marriage settlement of
one thousand dinars; and, if her father consent, well: but if not I will take
her by force from under his very nose. When she is safely homed in my house, I
will buy ten little eunuchs[FN#662] and for myself a robe of the robes of Kings
and Sultans; and get me a saddle of gold and a bridle set thick with gems of
price. Then I will mount with the Mamelukes preceding me and surrounding me,
and I will make the round of the city whilst the folk salute me and bless me;
after which I will repair to the Wazir (he that is father of the girl) with
armed white slaves before and behind me and on my right and on my left. When he
sees me, the Wazir stands up, and seating me in his own place sits down much
below me; for that I am to be his son in law. Now I have with me two eunuchs
carrying purses, each containing a thousand dinars; and of these I deliver to
him the thousand, his daughter's marriage settlement, and make him a free gift
of the other thousand, that he may have reason to know my generosity and
liberality and my greatness of spirit and the littleness of the world in my
eyes. And for ten words he addresses to me I answer him two. Then back I go to
my house, and if one come to me on the bride's part, I make him a present of
money and throw on him a dress of honour; but if he bring me a gift, I give it
back to him and refuse to accept it,[FN#663] that they may learn what a proud
spirit is mine which never condescends to derogate. Thus I establish my rank
and status. When this is done I appoint her wedding night and adorn my house
showily! gloriously! And as the time for parading the bride is come, I don my
finest attire and sit down on a mattress of gold brocade, propping up my elbow
with a pillow, and turning neither to the right nor to the left; but looking
only straight in front for the haughtiness of my mind and the gravity of my
understanding. And there before me stands my wife in her raiment and ornaments,
lovely as the full moon; and I, in my loftiness and dread lordliness,[FN#664]
will not glance at her till those present say to me, 'O our lord and our
master, thy wife, thy handmaid, standeth before thee; vouchsafe her one look,
for standing wearieth her.' Then they kiss the ground before me many times;
whereupon I raise my eyes and cast at her one single glance and turn my face
earthwards again. Then they bear her off to the bride chamber,[FN#665] and I
arise and change my clothes for a far finer suit; and, when they bring in the
bride a second time, I deign not to throw her a look till they have begged me
many times; after which I glance at her out of the corner of one eye, and then
bend down my head. I continue acting after this fashion till the parading and
displaying are completed[FN#666]"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When It was the Thirty-third Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Barber's fifth
brother proceeded:&mdash;"Then I bend down my head and continue acting after
this fashion till her parading and displaying are completed. Thereupon I order
one of my eunuchs to bring me a bag of five hundred dinars which I give as
largesse to the tire women present and bid them one and all lead me to the
bride chamber. When they leave me alone with her I neither look at her nor
speak to her, but lie[FN#667] by her side with my face to the wall showing my
contempt, that each and every may again remark how high and haughty I am.
Presently her mother comes in to me, and kissing[FN#668] my head and hand, says
to me, 'O my lord, look upon thine handmaid who longs for thy favour; so heal
her broken spirit!' I give her no answer; and when she sees this she rises and
busses my feet many times and says, 'O my lord, in very sooth my daughter is a
beautiful maid, who hath never known man; and if thou show her this
backwardness and aversion, her heart will break; so do thou incline to her and
speak to her and soothe her mind and spirit.' Then she rises and fetches a cup
of wine; and says to her daughter, 'Take it and hand it to thy lord.' But as
she approaches me I leave her standing between my hands and sit, propping my
elbow on a round cushion purfled with gold thread, leaning lazily back, and
without looking at her in the majesty of my spirit, so that she may deem me
indeed a Sultan and a mighty man. Then she says to me, 'O my lord, Allah upon
thee, do not refuse to take the cup from the hand of thine hand maid, for
verily I am thy bondswoman.' But I do not speak to her and she presses me,
saying, 'There is no help but that thou drink it;' and she puts it to my lips.
Then I shake my fist in her face and kick her with my foot thus." So he let out
with his toe and knocked over the tray of glass ware which fell to the ground
and, falling from the bench, all that was on it was broken to bits. 'O foulest
of pimps,[FN#669] this comes from the pride of my spirit'" cried my brother;
and then, O Commander of the Faithful, he buffeted his face and rent his
garments and kept on weeping and beating himself. The folk who were flocking to
their Friday prayers saw him; and some of them looked at him and pitied him,
whilst others paid no heed to him, and in this way my brother lost both capital
and profit. He remained weeping a long while, and at last up came a beautiful
lady, the scent of musk exhaling from her, who was going to Friday prayers
riding a mule with a gold saddle and followed by several eunuchs. When she saw
the broken glass and my brother weeping, her kind heart was moved to pity for
him, and she asked what ailed him and was told that he had a tray full of glass
ware by the sale of which he hoped to gain his living, but it was broken, and
(said they), "there befell him what thou seest." Thereupon she called up one of
her eunuchs and said to him, Give what thou hast with thee to this poor
fellow!". And he gave my brother a purse in which he found five hundred dinars;
and when it touched his hand he was well nigh dying for excess of joy and he
offered up blessings for her. Then he returned to his abode a substantial man;
and, as he sat considering, some one rapped at the door. So he rose and opened
and saw an old woman whom he had never seen. "O my son," said she, "know that
prayer tide is near and I have not yet made my Wuzu-ablution;[FN#670] so kindly
allow me the use of thy lodging for the purpose." My brother answered, "To hear
is to comply;" and going in bade her follow him. So she entered and he brought
her an ewer wherewith to wash, and sat down like to fly with joy because of the
dinars which he had tied up in his belt for a purse. When the old woman had
made an end of her ablution, she came up to where he sat, and prayed a two bow
prayer; after which she blessed my brother with a godly benediction, and he
while thanking her put his hand to the dinars and gave her two, saying to
himself "These are my voluntaries."[FN#671] When she saw the gold she cried,
"Praise be to Allah! why dost thou look on one who loveth thee as if she were a
beggar? Take back thy money: I have no need of it; or, if thou want it not,
return it to her who gave it thee when thy glass ware was broken. Moreover, if
thou wish to be united with her, I can manage the matter, for she is my
mistress." "O my mother," asked my brother, "by what manner of means can I get
at her?"; and she answered, "O my son! she hath an inclination for thee, but
she is the wife of a wealthy man; so take the whole of thy money with thee and
follow me, that I may guide thee to thy desire: and when thou art in her
company spare neither persuasion nor fair words, but bring them all to bear
upon her; so shalt thou enjoy her beauty and wealth to thy heart's content." My
brother took all his gold and rose and followed the old woman, hardly believing
in his luck. She ceased not faring on, and my brother following her, till they
came to a tall gate at which she knocked and a Roumi slave-girl[FN#672] came
out and opened to them. Then the old woman led my brother into a great sitting
room spread with wondrous fine carpets and hung with curtains, where he sat
down with his gold before him, and his turband on his knee.[FN#673] He had
scarcely taken seat before there came to him a young lady (never eye saw
fairer) clad in garments of the most sumptuous; whereupon my brother rose to
his feet, and she smiled in his face and welcomed him, signing to him to be
seated. Then she bade shut the door and, when it was shut, she turned to my
brother, and taking his hand conducted him to a private chamber furnished with
various kinds of brocades and gold cloths. Here he sat down and she sat by his
side and toyed with him awhile; after which she rose and saying, "Stir not from
thy seat till I come back to thee;" disappeared. Meanwhile as he was on this
wise, lo! there came in to him a black slave big of body and bulk and holding a
drawn sword in hand, who said to him, "Woe to thee! Who brought thee hither and
what dost thou want here?" My brother could not return him a reply, being
tongue tied for terror; so the blackamoor seized him and stripped him of his
clothes and bashed him with the flat of his sword blade till he fell to the
ground, swooning from excess of belabouring. The ill omened nigger fancied that
there was an end of him and my brother heard him cry, "Where is the salt
wench?"[FN#674] Where upon in came a handmaid holding in hand a large tray of
salt, and the slave kept rubbing it into my brother's wounds;[FN#675] but he
did not stir fearing lest the slave might find out that he was not dead and
kill him outright. Then the salt girl went away, and the slave cried Where is
the souterrain[FN#676] guardianess?" Hereupon in came the old woman and dragged
my brother by his feet to a souterrain and threw him down upon a heap of dead
bodies. In this place he lay two full days, but Allah made the salt the means
of preserving his life by staunching the blood and staying its flow Presently,
feeling himself able to move, Al-Nashshar rose and opened the trap door in fear
and trembling and crept out into the open; and Allah protected him, so that he
went on in the darkness and hid himself in the vestibule till dawn, when he saw
the accursed beldam sally forth in quest of other quarry. He followed in her
wake without her knowing it, and made for his own lodging where he dressed his
wounds and medicined himself till he was whole. Meanwhile he used to watch the
old woman, tracking her at all times and seasons, and saw her accost one man
after another and carry them to the house. However he uttered not a word; but,
as soon as he waxed hale and hearty, he took a piece of stuff and made it into
a bag which he filled with broken glass and bound about his middle. He also
disguised himself as a Persian that none might know him, and hid a sword under
his clothes of foreign cut. Then he went out and presently, falling in with the
old woman, said to her, speaking Arabic with a Persian accent, "Venerable
lady,[FN#677] I am a stranger arrived but this day here where I know no one.
Hast thou a pair of scales wherein I may weigh eleven hundred dinars? I will
give thee somewhat of them for thy pains." "I have a son, a money changer, who
keepeth all kinds of scales," she answered, "so come with me to him before he
goeth out and he will weigh thy gold." My brother answered "Lead the way!" She
led him to the house and the young lady herself came out and opened it,
whereupon the old woman smiled in her face and said, "I bring thee fat meat
today."[FN#678] Then the damsel took my brother by the hand, and led him to the
same chamber as before; where she sat with him awhile then rose and went forth
saying, "Stir not from thy seat till I come back to thee." Presently in came
the accursed slave with the drawn sword and cried to my brother, "Up and be
damned to thee." So he rose, and as the slave walked on before him he drew the
sword from under his clothes and smote him with it, making head fly from body.
Then he dragged the corpse by the feet to the souterrain and called out, "Where
is the salt wench?" Up came the girl carrying the tray of salt and, seeing my
brother sword in hand, turned to fly; but he followed her and struck off her
head. Then he called out, "Where is the souterrain guardianess? , and in came
the old woman to whom he said, "Dost know me again, ill omened hag?" "No my
lord," she replied, and he said, "I am the owner of the five hundred gold
pieces, whose house thou enteredst to make the ablution and to pray, and whom
thou didst snare hither and betray." "Fear Allah and spare me," cried she; but
he regarded her not and struck her with the sword till he had cut her in four.
Then he went to look for the young lady; and when she saw him her reason fled
and she cried out piteously "Aman![FN#679] Mercy!" So he spared her and asked,
"What made thee consort with this blackamoor?", and she answered, "I was slave
to a certain merchant, and the old woman used to visit me till I took a liking
to her. One day she said to me, 'We have a marriage festival at our house the
like of which was never seen and I wish thee to enjoy the sight.' 'To hear is
to obey,' answered I, and rising arrayed myself in my finest raiment and
ornaments, and took with me a purse containing an hundred gold pieces. Then she
brought me hither and hardly had I entered the house when the black seized on
me, and I have remained in this case three whole years through the perfidy of
the accursed beldam." Then my brother asked her, "Is there anything of his in
the house?"; whereto she answered, "Great store of wealth, and if thou art able
to carry it away, do so and Allah give thee good of it" My brother went with
her and she opened to him sundry chests wherein were money bags, at which he
was astounded; then she said to him, "Go now and leave me here, and fetch men
to remove the money.", He went out and hired ten men, but when he returned he
found the door wide open, the damsel gone and nothing left but some small
matter of coin and the household stuffs.[FN#680] By this he knew that the girl
had overreached him; so he opened the store rooms and seized what was in them,
together with the rest of the money, leaving nothing in the house. He passed
the night rejoicing, but when morning dawned he found at the door some twenty
troopers who laid hands on him saying, "The Governor wants thee!" My brother
implored them hard to let him return to his house; and even offered them a
large sum of money; but they refused and, binding him fast with cords, carried
him off. On the way they met a friend of my brother who clung to his skirt and
implored his protection, begging him to stand by him and help to deliver him
out of their hands. The man stopped, and asked them what was the matter, and
they answered, "The Governor hath ordered us to bring this fellow before him
and, look ye, we are doing so." My brother's friend urged them to release him,
and offered them five hundred dinars to let him go, saying, "When ye return to
the Governor tell him that you were unable to find him." But they would not
listen to his words and took my brother, dragging him along on his face, and
set him before the Governor who asked him, "Whence gottest thou these stuffs
and monies?"; and he answered, "I pray for mercy!" So the Governor gave him the
kerchief of mercy;[FN#681] and he told him all that had befallen him from first
to last with the old woman and the flight of the damsel; ending with, "Whatso I
have taken, take of it what thou wilt, so thou leave me sufficient to support
life."[FN#682] But the Governor took the whole of the stuffs and all the money
for himself; and, fearing lest the affair come to the Sultan's ears, he
summoned my brother and said, "Depart from this city, else I will hang thee."
"Hearing and obedience" quoth my brother and set out for another town. On the
way thieves fell foul of him and stripped and beat him and docked his ears; but
I heard tidings of his misfortunes and went out after him taking him clothes;
and brought him secretly into the city where I assigned to him an allowance for
meat and drink. And presently the Caliph gave ear to
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap35"></a>The Barber&rsquo;s Tale of his Sixth Brother.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
My sixth brother, O Commander of the Faithful, Shakashik,[FN#683] or Many
clamours, the shorn of both lips, was once rich and became poor, so one day he
went out to beg somewhat to keep life in him. As he was on the road he suddenly
caught sight of a large and handsome mansion, with a detached building wide and
lofty at the entrance, where sat sundry eunuchs bidding and forbidding.[FN#684]
My brother enquired of one of those idling there and he replied "The palace
belongs to a scion of the Barmaki house;" so he stepped up to the door keepers
and asked an alms of them "Enter," said they, "by the great gate and thou shalt
get what thou seekest from the Wazir our master." Accordingly he went in and,
passing through the outer entrance, walked on a while and presently came to a
mansion of the utmost beauty and elegance, paved with marble, hung with
curtains and having in the midst of it a flower garden whose like he had never
seen.[FN#685] My brother stood awhile as one bewildered not knowing whither to
turn his steps; then, seeing the farther end of the sitting chamber tenanted,
he walked up to it and there found a man of handsome presence and comely beard.
When this personage saw my brother he stood up to him and welcomed him and
asked him of his case; whereto he replied that he was in want and needed
charity. Hearing these words the grandee showed great concern and, putting his
hand to his fine robe, rent it exclaiming, "What! am I in a City, and thou here
an hungered? I have not patience to bear such disgrace!" Then he promised him
all manner of good cheer and said, "There is no help but that thou stay with me
and eat of my salt."[FN#686] "O my lord," answered my brother, "I can wait no
longer; for I am indeed dying of hunger." So he cried, "Ho boy! bring basin and
ewer;" and, turning to my brother, said, "O my guest come forward and wash thy
hands." My brother rose to do so but he saw neither ewer nor basin; yet his
host kept washing his hands with invisible soap in imperceptible water and
cried, "Bring the table!" But my brother again saw nothing. Then said the host,
"Honour me by eating of this meat and be not ashamed." And he kept moving his
hand to and fro as if he ate and saying to my brother, "I wonder to see thee
eating thus sparely: do not stint thyself for I am sure thou art famished." So
my brother began to make as though he were eating whilst his host kept saying
to him, "Fall to, and note especially the excellence of this bread and its
whiteness!" But still my brother saw nothing. Then said he to himself, "This
man is fond of poking fun at people;" and replied, "O my lord, in all my days I
never knew aught more winsome than its whiteness or sweeter than its savour."
The Barmecide said, "This bread was baked by a hand maid of mine whom I bought
for five hundred dinars." Then he called out, "Ho boy, bring in the meat
pudding[FN#687] for our first dish, and let there be plenty of fat in it;" and,
turning to my brother said, "O my guest, Allah upon thee, hast ever seen
anything better than this meat pudding? Now by my life, eat and be not
abashed." Presently he cried out again, "Ho boy, serve up the marinated
stew[FN#688] with the fatted sand grouse in it;" and he said to my brother, "Up
and eat, O my guest, for truly thou art hungry and needest food." So my brother
began wagging his jaws and made as if champing and chewing,[FN#689] whilst the
host continued calling for one dish after another and yet produced nothing save
orders to eat. Presently he cried out, "Ho boy, bring us the chickens stuffed
with pistachio nuts;" and said to my brother, "By thy life, O my guest, I have
fattened these chickens upon pistachios; eat, for thou hast never eaten their
like." "O my lord," replied my brother, "they are indeed first rate." Then the
host began motioning with his hand as though he were giving my brother a
mouthful; and ceased not to enumerate and expatiate upon the various dishes to
the hungry man whose hunger waxt still more violent, so that his soul lusted
after a bit of bread, even a barley scone.[FN#690] Quoth the Barmecide, "Didst
thou ever taste anything more delicious than the seasoning of these dishes?";
and quoth my brother, "Never, O my lord!" "Eat heartily and be not ashamed,"
said the host, and the guest, "I have eaten my fill of meat;" So the
entertainer cried, "Take away and bring in the sweets;" and turning to my
brother said, "Eat of this almond conserve for it is prime and of these honey
fritters; take this one, by my life, the syrup runs out of it." "May I never be
bereaved of thee, O my lord," replied the hungry one and began to ask him about
the abundance of musk in the fritters. "Such is my custom," he answered: "they
put me a dinar weight of musk in every honey fritter and half that quantity of
ambergris." All this time my brother kept wagging head and jaws till the master
cried, "Enough of this. Bring us the dessert!" Then said he to him,' "Eat of
these almonds and walnuts and raisins; and of this and that (naming divers
kinds of dried fruits), and be not abashed." But my brother replied, "O my
lord, indeed I am full: I can eat no more." "O my guest," repeated the host,
"if thou have a mind to these good things eat: Allah! Allah![FN#691] do not
remain hungry;" but my brother rejoined, "O my lord, he who hath eaten of all
these dishes how can he be hungry?" Then he considered and said to himself, "I
will do that shall make him repent of these pranks." Presently the entertainer
called out "Bring me the wine;" and, moving his hands in the air, as though
they had set it before them, he gave my brother a cup and said, "Take this cup
and, if it please thee, let me know." "O my lord," he replied, "it is notable
good as to nose but I am wont to drink wine some twenty years old." "Knock then
at this door,"[FN#692] quoth the host "for thou canst not drink of aught
better." "By thy kindness," said my brother, motioning with his hand as though
he were drinking. "Health and joy to thee," exclaimed the house master and
feigned to fill a cup and drink it off; then he handed another to my brother
who quaffed it and made as if he were drunken. Presently he took the host
unawares; and, raising his arm till the white of his armpit appeared, dealt him
such a cuff on the nape of his neck that the palace echoed to it. Then he came
down upon him with a second cuff and the entertainer cried aloud "What is this,
O thou scum of the earth?" "O my lord," replied my brother, "thou hast shown
much kindness to thy slave, and admitted him into thine abode and given him to
eat of thy victual; then thou madest him drink of thine old wine till he became
drunken and boisterous; but thou art too noble not to bear with his ignorance
and pardon his offence." When the Barmaki heard my brother's words he laughed
his loudest and said, "Long have I been wont to make mock of men and play the
madcap among my intimates, but never yet have I come across a single one who
had the patience and the wit to enter into all my humours save thyself: so I
forgive thee, and thou shalt be my boon companion in very sooth and never leave
me." Then he ordered the servants to lay the table in earnest and they set on
all the dishes of which he had spoken in sport; and he and my brother ate till
they were satisfied; after which they removed to the drinking chamber, where
they found damsels like moons who sang all manner songs and played on all
manner instruments. There they remained drinking till their wine got the better
of them and the host treated my brother like a familiar friend, so that he
became as it were his brother, and bestowed on him a robe of honour and loved
him with exceeding love. Next morning the two fell again to feasting and
carousing, and ceased not to lead this life for a term of twenty years; at the
end of which the Barmecide died and the Sultan took possession of all his
wealth and squeezed my brother of his savings, till he was left a pauper
without a penny to handle. So he quitted the city and fled forth following his
face;[FN#693] but, when he was half way between two towns, the wild Arabs fell
on him and bound him and carried him to their camp, where his captor proceeded
to torture him, saying, "Buy thy life of me with thy money, else I will slay
thee!" My brother began to weep and replied, "By Allah, I have nothing, neither
gold nor silver; but I am thy prisoner; so do with me what thou wilt." Then the
Badawi drew a knife, broad bladed and so sharp grinded that if plunged into a
camel's throat it would sever it clean across from one jugular to the
other,[FN#694] and cut off my brother's lips and waxed more instant in
requiring money. Now this Badawi had a fair wife who in her husband's absence
used to make advances to my brother and offer him her favours, but he held off
from her. One day she began to tempt him as usual and he played with her and
made her sit on his lap, when behold, in came the Badawi who, seeing this,
cried out, "Woe to thee, O accursed villain, wouldest thou debauch my wife for
me?" Then he took out a knife and cut off my brother's yard, after which he
bound him on the back of a camel and, carrying him to a mountain, left him
there. He was at last found by some who recognised him and gave him meat and
drink and acquainted me with his condition; whereupon I went forth to him and
brought him back to Baghdad where I made him an allowance sufficient to live
on. This, then, O Commander of the Faithful, is the history of my six brothers,
and I feared to go away without relating it all to thee and leave thee in the
error of judging me to be like them. And now thou knowest that I have six
brothers upon my hands and, being more upright than they, I support the whole
family. When the Caliph heard my story and all I told him concerning my
brothers, he laughed and said, "Thou sayest sooth, O Silent Man! thou art
indeed spare of speech nor is there aught of forwardness in thee; but now go
forth out of this city and settle in some other." And he banished me under
edict. I left Baghdad and travelled in foreign parts till I heard of his death
and the accession of another to the Caliphate. Then I returned to Baghdad where
I found all my brothers dead and chanced upon this young man, to whom I
rendered the kindliest service, for without me he had surely been killed.
Indeed he slanders me and accuses me of a fault which is not in my nature; and
what he reports concerning impudence and meddling and forwardness is idle and
false; for verily on his account I left Baghdad and travelled about full many a
country till I came to this city and met him here in your company. And was not
this, O worthy assemblage, of the generosity of my nature?
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2><a name="chap36"></a>The End of the Tailor&rsquo;s Tale.</h2>

<p class="noindent">
Then quoth the Tailor to the King of China: When we heard the Barber's tale and
saw the excess of his loquacity and the way in which he had wronged this young
man, we laid hands on him and shut him up, after which we sat down in peace,
and ate and drank and enjoyed the good things of the marriage feast till the
time of the call to mid afternoon prayer, when I left the party and returned
home. My wife received me with sour looks and said, "Thou goest a pleasuring
among thy friends and thou leavest me to sit sorrowing here alone. So now,
unless thou take me abroad and let me have some amusement for the rest of the
day, I will cut the rope[FN#695] and it will be the cause of my separation from
thee." So I took her out and we amused ourselves till supper time, when we
returned home and fell in with this Hunchback who was brimful of drink and
trolling out these rhymes:
</p>

<p class="poem">
"Clear's the wine, the cup's fine; * Like to like they combine:<br/>
It is wine and not cup! * 'Tis a cup and not wine!"
</p>

<p class="noindent">
So I invited him to sup with us and went out to buy fried fish; after which we
sat down to eat; and presently my wife took a piece of bread and a fid of fish
and stuffed them into his mouth and he choked; and, though I slapped him long
and hard between the shoulders, he died. Then I carried him off and contrived
to throw him into the house of this leach, the Jew; and the leach contrived to
throw him into the house of the Reeve; and the Reeve contrived to throw him on
the way of the Nazarene broker. This, then, is my adventure which befell me but
yesterday. Is not it more wondrous than the story of the Hunchback? When the
King of China heard the Tailor's tale he shook his head for pleasure; and,
showing great surprise, said, "This that passed between the young man and the
busy-body of a Barber is indeed more pleasant and wonderful than the story of
my lying knave of a Hunchback." Then he bade one of his Chamberlains go with
the Tailor and bring the Barber out of jail, saying, "I wish to hear the talk
of this Silent Man and it shall be the cause of your deliverance one and all:
then we will bury the Hunchback, for that he is dead since yesterday, and set
up a tomb over him."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
</p>

<p class="center">
When it was the Thirty-fourth Night,
</p>

<p class="noindent">
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King of China bade,
"Bring me the Barber who shall be the cause of your deliverance; then we will
bury this Hunchback, for that he is dead since yesterday and set up a tomb over
him." So the Chamberlain and the Tailor went to the jail and, releasing the
Barber, presently returned with him to the King. The Sultan of China looked at
him and considered him carefully and lo and behold! he was an ancient man, past
his ninetieth year; swart of face, white of beard, and hoar of eyebrows; lop
eared and proboscis-nosed,[FN#696] with a vacant, silly and conceited
expression of countenance. The King laughed at this figure o' fun and said to
him, "O Silent Man, I desire thee to tell me somewhat of thy history." Quoth
the Barber, "O King of the age, allow me first to ask thee what is the tale of
this Nazarene and this Jew and this Moslem and this Hunchback (the corpse) I
see among you? And prithee what may be the object of this assemblage?" Quoth
the King of China, "And why dost thou ask?" "I ask," he replied, "in order that
the King's majesty may know that I am no forward fellow or busy body or
impertinent meddler; and that I am innocent of their calumnious charges of
overmuch talk; for I am he whose name is the Silent Man, and indeed peculiarly
happy is my sobriquet, as saith the poet:
</p>

<p class="poem">
When a nickname or little name men design, * Know that nature with name shall
full oft combine."
</p>

<p class="noindent">
Then said the King, "Explain to the Barber the case of this Hunchback and what
befell him at supper time; also repeat to him the stories told by the Nazarene,
the Jew, the Reeve, and the Tailor; and of no avail to me is a twice told
tale." They did his bidding, and the Barber shook his head and said, "By Allah,
this is a marvel of marvels! Now uncover me the corpse of yonder Hunchback.
They undid the winding sheet and he sat down and, taking the Hunchback's head
in his lap, looked at his face and laughed and guffaw'd[FN#697] till he fell
upon his back and said, "There is wonder in every death,[FN#698] but the death
of this Hunchback is worthy to be written and recorded in letters of liquid
gold!" The bystanders were astounded at his words and the King marvelled and
said to him, "What ails thee, O Silent Man? Explain to us thy words !" "O King
of the age," said the Barber, "I swear by thy beneficence that there is still
life in this Gobbo Golightly!" Thereupon he pulled out of his waist belt a
barber's budget, whence he took a pot of ointment and anointed therewith the
neck of the Hunchback and its arteries. Then he took a pair of iron tweezers
and, inserting them into the Hunchback's throat, drew out the fid of fish with
its bone; and, when it came to sight, behold, it was soaked in blood. Thereupon
the Hunchback sneezed a hearty sneeze and jumped up as if nothing had happened
and passing his hand over his face said, "I testify that there is no god, but
the God, and I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of God." At this sight all
present wondered; the King of China laughed till he fainted and in like manner
did the others. Then said the Sultan, "By Allah, of a truth this is the most
marvellous thing I ever saw! O Moslems, O soldiers all, did you ever in the
lives of you see a man die and be quickened again? Verily had not Allah
vouchsafed to him this Barber, he had been a dead man!" Quoth they, "By Allah,
'tis a marvel of marvels." Then the King of China bade record this tale, so
they recorded it and placed it in the royal muniment-rooms; after which he
bestowed costly robes of honour upon the Jew, the Nazarene and the Reeve, and
bade them depart in all esteem. Then he gave the Tailor a sumptuous dress and
appointed him his own tailor, with suitable pay and allowances; and made peace
between him and the Hunchback, to whom also he presented a splendid and
expensive suit with a suitable stipend. He did as generously with the Barber,
giving him a gift and a dress of honour; moreover he settled on him a handsome
solde and created him Barber surgeon[FN#699] of state and made him one of his
cup companions. So they ceased not to live the most pleasurable life and the
most delectable, till there came to them the Destroyer of all delights and the
Sunderer of all societies, the Depopulator of palaces and the Garnerer for
graves. Yet, O most auspicious King! (continued Shahrazad) this tale is by no
means more wonderful than that of the two Wazirs and Anís al-Jalís. Quoth her
sister Dunyazad, "And what may that be?", whereupon she began to relate the
following tale of
</p>

<h5>End of Vol. 1.</h5>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div class="chapter">

<h2>Footnotes</h2>

<p>[FN#1] Allaho A'alam, a deprecatory formula, used
because the writer is going to indulge in a series of what may possibly be
untruths.
</p>

<p>
[FN#2] The "Sons of Sásán" are the famous Sassanides whose dynasty ended with
the Arabian Conquest (A.D. 641). "Island" Jazírah) in Arabic also means
"Peninsula," and causes much confusion in geographical matters.
</p>

<p>
[FN#3] Shahryár not Shahriyar (Persian) = "City-friend." The Bulak edition
corrupts it to Shahrbáz (City-hawk), and the Breslau to Shahrbán or "Defender
of the City," like Marz-ban=Warden of the Marshes. Shah Zamán (Persian)="King
of the Age:" Galland prefers Shah Zenan, or "King of women," and the Bul. edit.
changes it to Shah Rummán, "Pomegranate King." Al-Ajam denotes all regions not
Arab (Gentiles opposed to Jews, Mlechchhas to Hindus, Tajiks to Turks, etc.,
etc.), and especially Persia; Ajami (a man of Ajam) being an equivalent of the
Gr. Βάρβαρος. See Vol. ii., p. 1.
</p>

<p>
[FN#4] Galland writes "Vizier," a wretched frenchification of a mincing Turkish
mispronunciation; Torrens, "Wuzeer" (Anglo-Indian and Gilchristian); Lane,
"Wezeer"; (Egyptian or rather Cairene); Payne, "Vizier," according to his
system; Burckhardt (Proverbs), "Vizír;" and Mr. Keith-Falconer, "Vizir." The
root is popularly supposed to be "wizr" (burden) and the meaning "Minister;"
Wazir al-Wuzará being "Premier." In the Koran (chapt. xx., 30) Moses says,
"Give me a Wazir of my family, Harun (Aaron) my brother." Sale, followed by the
excellent version of the Rev. J. M. Rodwell, translates a "Counsellor," and
explains by "One who has the chief administration of affairs under a prince."
But both learned Koranists learnt their Orientalism in London, and, like such
students generally, fail only upon the easiest points, familiar to all old
dwellers in the East.
</p>

<p>
[FN#5] This three-days term (rest-day, drest-day and departure day) seems to be
an instinct-made rule in hospitality. Among Moslems it is a Sunnat or practice
of the Prophet.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#6] <i>i.e.</i>, I am sick at heart.
</p>

<p>
[FN#7] Debauched women prefer negroes on account of the size of their parts. I
measured one man in Somali-land who, when quiescent, numbered nearly six
inches. This is a characteristic of the negro race and of African animals;
<i>e.g.</i> the horse; whereas the pure Arab, man and beast, is below the
average of Europe; one of the best proofs by the by, that the Egyptian is not
an Asiatic, but a negro partially white-washed. Moreover, these imposing parts
do not increase proportionally during erection; consequently, the "deed of
kind" takes a much longer time and adds greatly to the woman's enjoyment. In my
time no honest Hindi Moslem would take his women-folk to Zanzibar on account of
the huge attractions and enormous temptations there and thereby offered to
them. Upon the subject of Imsák = retention of semen and "prolongation of
pleasure," I shall find it necessary to say more.
</p>

<p>
[FN#8] The very same words were lately spoken in England proving the eternal
truth of The Nights which the ignorant call "downright lies."
</p>

<p>
[FN#9] The Arab's <i>Tue la!</i>
</p>

<p>
[FN#10] Arab. "Sayd wa kanas": the former usually applied to fishing; hence
Sayda (Sidon) = fish-town. But noble Arabs (except the Caliph Al-Amin) do not
fish; so here it means simply "sport," chasing, coursing, birding (oiseler),
and so forth.
</p>

<p>
[FN#11] In the Mac. Edit. the negro is called "Mas'úd"; here he utters a kind
of war-cry and plays upon the name, "Sa'ád, Sa'íd, Sa'úd," and "Mas'ud", all
being derived from one root, "Sa'ad" = auspiciousness, prosperity.
</p>

<p>
[FN#12] The Arab. singular (whence the French "génie"), fem. Jinniyah; the Div
and Rakshah of old Guebre-land and the "Rakshasa," or "Yaksha," of Hinduism. It
would be interesting to trace the evident connection, by no means "accidental,"
of "Jinn" with the "Genius" who came to the Romans through the Asiatic
Etruscans, and whose name I cannot derive from "gignomai" or "genitus." He was
unknown to the Greeks, who had the Daimon {Greek Letters}, a family which
separated, like the Jinn and the Genius, into two categories, the good
(Agatho-dæmons) and the bad (Kako-dæmons). We know nothing concerning the
status of the Jinn amongst the pre-Moslemitic or pagan Arabs: the Moslems made
him a supernatural anthropoid being, created of subtile fire (Koran chapts. xv.
27; lv. 14), not of earth like man, propagating his kind, ruled by mighty
kings, the last being Ján bin Ján, missionarised by Prophets and subject to
death and Judgment. From the same root are "Junún" = madness (<i>i.e.</i>,
possession or obsession by the Jinn) and "Majnún"=a madman. According to R.
Jeremiah bin Eliazar in Psalm xii. 5, Adam was excommunicated for one hundred
and thirty years, during which he begat children in his own image (Gen. v. 3)
and these were Mazikeen or Shedeem&mdash;Jinns. Further details anent the Jinn
will presently occur.
</p>

<p>
[FN#13] Arab. "Amsár" (cities): in Bul. Edit. "Amtár" (rains), as in Mac. Edit.
So Mr. Payne (I., 5) translates: And when she flashes forth the lightning of
her glance, She maketh eyes to rain, like showers, with many a tear. I would
render it, "She makes whole cities shed tears," and prefer it for a reason
which will generally influence me&mdash;its superior exaggeration and
impossibility.
</p>

<p>
[FN#14] Not "A-frit," pronounced Aye-frit, as our poets have it. This variety
of the Jinn, who, as will be shown, are divided into two races like mankind, is
generally, but not always, a malignant being, hostile and injurious to mankind
(Koran xxvii. 39).
</p>

<p>
[FN#15] <i>i.e.</i>, "I conjure thee by Allah;" the formula is technically
called "Inshád."
</p>

<p>
[FN#16] This introducing the name of Allah into an indecent tale is essentially
Egyptian and Cairene. But see Boccaccio ii. 6, and vii. 9.
</p>

<p>
[FN#17] So in the Mac. Edit.; in others "ninety." I prefer the greater number
as exaggeration is a part of the humour. In the Hindu "Kathá Sárit Ságara" (Sea
of the Streams of Story), the rings are one hundred and the catastrophe is more
moral, the good youth Yashodhara rejects the wicked one's advances; she awakes
the water-sprite, who is about to slay him, but the rings are brought as
testimony and the improper young person's nose is duly cut off. (Chap. Ixiii.;
p. 80, of the excellent translation by Prof. C. H. Tawney: for the Bibliotheca
Indica: Calcutta, 1881.) The Kathá, etc., by Somadeva (century xi), is a
poetical version of the prose compendium, the "Vrihat Kathá" (Great Story) by
Gunadhya (cent. vi).
</p>

<p>
[FN#18] The Joseph of the Koran, very different from him of Genesis. We shall
meet him often enough in The Nights.
</p>

<p>
[FN#19] "Iblis," vulgarly written "Eblis," from a root meaning The Despairer,
with a suspicious likeness to Diabolos; possibly from "Balas," a profligate.
Some translate it The Calumniator, as Satan is the Hater. Iblis (who appears in
the Arab. version of the N. Testament) succeeded another revolting angel
Al-Haris; and his story of pride refusing to worship Adam, is told four times
in the Koran from the Talmud (Sanhedrim 29). He caused Adam and Eve to lose
Paradise (ii. 34); he still betrays mankind (xxv. 31), and at the end of time
he, with the other devils, will be "gathered together on their knees round
Hell" (xix. 69). He has evidently had the worst of the game, and we wonder,
with Origen, Tillotson, Burns and many others, that he does not throw up the
cards.
</p>

<p>
[FN#20] A similar tale is still told at Akká (St. John d'Acre) concerning the
terrible "butcher"—Jazzár (Djezzar) Pasha. One can hardly pity women who are
fools enough to run such risks. According to Frizzi, Niccolò, Marquis of Este,
after beheading Parisina, ordered all the faithless wives of Ferrara to be
treated in like manner.
</p>

<p>
[FN#21] "Shahrázád" (Persian) = City-freer, in the older version Scheherazade
(probably both from Shirzád=lion-born). "Dunyázád"=World-freer. The Bres. Edit.
corrupts theformer to Sháhrzád or Sháhrazád, and the Mac. and Calc. to Shahrzád
or Shehrzád. I have ventured to restore the name as it should be. Galland for
the second prefers Dinarzade (?) and Richardson Dinazade (Dinázád =
Religion-freer): here I have followed Lane and Payne; though in "First
Footsteps" I was misled by Galland. See Vol. ii. p. 1.
</p>

<p>
[FN#22] Probably she proposed to "Judith" the King. These learned and clever
young ladies are very dangerous in the East.
</p>

<p>
[FN#23] In Egypt, etc., the bull takes the place of the Western ox. The Arab.
word is "Taur" (Thaur, Saur); in old Persian "Tora" and Lat. "Taurus," a
venerable remnant of the days before the "Semitic" and "Aryan" families of
speech had split into two distinct growths. "Taur" ends in the Saxon "Steor"
and the English "Steer "
</p>

<p>
[FN#24] Arab. "Abú Yakzán" = the Wakener, because the ass brays at dawn.
</p>

<p>
[FN#25] Arab. "Tibn"; straw crushed under the sledge: the hay of Egypt, Arabia,
Syria, etc. The old country custom is to pull up the corn by handfuls from the
roots, leaving the land perfectly bare: hence the "plucking up" of Hebrew Holy
Writ. The object is to preserve every atom of "Tibn."
</p>

<p>
[FN#26] Arab. "Yá Aftah": Al-Aftah is an epithet of the bull, also of the
chameleon.
</p>

<p>
[FN#27] Arab. "Balíd," a favourite Egyptianism often pleasantly confounded with
"Wali" (a Santon), hence the latter comes to mean "an innocent," a "ninny."
</p>

<p>
[FN#28] From the Calc. Edit., Vol. 1., p. 29.
</p>

<p>
[FN#29] Arab. "Abu Yakzán" is hardly equivalent with "Père l'Eveillé."
</p>

<p>
[FN#30] In Arab. the wa (x) is the sign of parenthesis.
</p>

<p>
[FN#31] In the nearer East the light little plough is carried afield by the
bull or ass.
</p>

<p>
[FN#32] Ocymum basilicum, the "royal herb," so much prized all over the East,
especially in India, where, under the name of "Tulsi," it is a shrub sacred to
the merry god Krishna. I found the verses in a MS. copy of The Nights.
</p>

<p>
[FN#33] Arab. "Sadaf," the Kauri, or cowrie, brought from the Maldive and
Lakdive Archipelago. The Kámús describes this "Wada'" or Concha Veneris as "a
white shell (whence to "shell out") which is taken out of the sea, the fissure
of which is white like that of the date-stone. It is hung about the neck to
avert the evil eye." The pearl in Arab. is "Murwarid," hence evidently
"Margarita" and Margaris (woman's name).
</p>

<p>
[FN#34] Arab. "Kat'a" (bit of leather): some read "Nat'a;" a leather used by
way of table-cloth, and forming a bag for victuals; but it is never made of
bull's hide.
</p>

<p>
[FN#35] The older "Cadi," a judge in religious matters. The Shuhúd, or
Assessors, are officers of the Mahkamah or Kazi's Court.
</p>

<p>
[FN#36] Of which more in a future page. He thus purified himself ceremonially
before death.
</p>

<p>
[FN#37] This is Christian rather than Moslem: a favourite Maltese curse is
"Yahrak Kiddisak man rabba-k!" = burn the Saint who brought thee up!
</p>

<p>
[FN#38] A popular Egyptian phrase: the dog and the cock speak like Fellahs.
</p>

<p>
[FN#39] i. e. between the last sleep and dawn when they would rise to wash and
pray.
</p>

<p>
[FN#40] Travellers tell of a peculiar knack of jerking the date-stone, which
makes it strike with great force: I never saw this "Inwá" practised, but it
reminds me of the water splashing with one hand in the German baths.
</p>

<p>
[FN#41] i.e., sorely against his will.
</p>

<p>
[FN#42] Arab. "Shaykh"=an old man (primarily), an elder, a chief (of the tribe,
guild, etc.), and honourably addressed to any man. Comp. among the neo Latins
"Sieur," "Signore," "Señor," "Senhor," etc. from Lat. "Senior," which gave our
"Sire" and "Sir." Like many in Arabic the word has a host of different meanings
and most of them will occur in the course of The Nights. Ibrahim (Abraham) was
the first Shaykh or man who became grey. Seeing his hairs whiten he cried, "O
Allah what is this?" and the answer came that it was a sign of dignified
gravity. Hereupon he exclaimed, "O Lord increase this to me!" and so it
happened till his locks waxed snowy white at the age of one hundred and fifty.
He was the first who parted his hair, trimmed his mustachios, cleaned his teeth
with the Miswák (tooth-stick), pared his nails, shaved his pecten, snuffed up
water, used ablution after stool and wore a shirt (Tabari).
</p>

<p>
[FN#43] The word is mostly plural = Jinnís: it is also singular = a demon; and
Ján bin Ján has been noticed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#44] With us moderns "liver" suggests nothing but malady: in Arabic and
Persian as in the classic literature of Europe it is the seat of passion, the
heart being that of affection. Of this more presently.
</p>

<p>
[FN#45] Originally in Al-Islam the concubine (Surriyat, etc.) was a captive
taken in war and the Koran says nothing about buying slave-girls. But if the
captives were true believers the Moslem was ordered to marry not to keep them.
In modern days concubinage has become an extensive subject. Practically the
disadvantage is that the slave-girls, knowing themselves to be the master's
property, consider him bound to sleep with them; which is by no means the
mistress's view. Some wives, however, when old and childless, insist, after the
fashion of Sarah, upon the husband taking a young concubine and treating her
like a daughter&mdash;which is rare. The Nights abound in tales of concubines,
but these are chiefly owned by the Caliphs and high officials who did much as
they pleased. The only redeeming point in the system is that it obviated the
necessity of prostitution which is, perhaps, the greatest evil known to modern
society.
</p>

<p>
[FN#46] Arab. "Al-Kahánah"=the craft of a "Káhin" (Heb. Cohen) a diviner,
soothsayer, etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#47] Arab. "Id al-kabír = The Great Festival; the Turkish Bayrám and Indian
Bakar-eed (Kine-fête), the pilgrimage-time, also termed "Festival of the
Kurbán" (sacrifice) because victims are slain, Al-Zuha (of Undurn or forenoon),
Al-Azhá (of serene night) and Al-Nahr (of throat-cutting). For full details I
must refer readers to my "Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and
Meccah" (3 vols. 8vo, London, Longmans, 1855). I shall have often to refer to
it.
</p>

<p>
[FN#48] Arab. "Kalám al-mubáh," i.e., that allowed or permitted to her by the
King, her husband.
</p>

<p>
[FN#49] Moslem Kings are expected, like the old Gabble Monarchs, to hold
"Darbar" (i.e., give public audience) at least twice a day, morning and
evening. Neglect of this practice caused the ruin of the Caliphate and of the
Persian and Moghul Empires: the great lords were left uncontrolled and the
lieges revolted to obtain justice. The Guebre Kings had two levée places, the
Rozistan (day station) and the Shabistan (night-station&mdash;istán or stán
being a nominal form of istádan, to stand, as Hindo-stán). Moreover one day in
the week the sovereign acted as "Mufti" or Supreme Judge.
</p>

<p>
[FN#50] Arab. "Al-Bashárah," the gift everywhere claimed in the East and in
Boccaccio's Italy by one who brings good news. Those who do the reverse expose
themselves to a sound strappado.
</p>

<p>
[FN#51] A euphemistic formula, to avoid mentioning unpleasant matters. I shall
note these for the benefit of students who would honestly prepare for the
public service in Moslem lands.
</p>

<p>
[FN#52] Arab. "Dínár," from the Latin denarius (a silver coin worth ten ounces
of brass) through the Greek δηνάριον: it is a Koranic word (chapt. iii.) though
its Arab equivalent is "Miskál." It also occurs in the Kathá before quoted,
clearly showing the derivation. In the "Book of Kalilah and Dimnah" it is
represented by the Daric or Persian Dinár, δαρεικός, from Dárá= a King (whence
Darius). The Dinar, sequin or ducat, contained at different times from 10 and
12 (Abu Hanifah's day) to 20 and even 25 dirhams or drachmas, and, as a weight,
represented a drachma and a half. Its value greatly varied, but we may assume
it here at nine shillings or ten francs to half a sovereign. For an elaborate
article on the Dinar see Yule's "Cathay and the Way Thither" (ii., pp.
439-443).
</p>

<p>
[FN#53] The formula used in refusing alms to an "asker" or in rejecting an
insufficient offer: "Allah will open to thee!" (some door of gain&mdash;not
mine)! Another favourite ejaculation is "Allah Karim" (which Turks pronounce
"Kyereem") = Allah is All-beneficent! meaning Ask Him, not me.
</p>

<p>
[FN#54] The public bath. London knows the word through "The Hummums."
</p>

<p>
[FN#55] Arab. "Dirham" (Plur. diráhim, also used in the sense of money,
"siller"),the Gr. δραχμή and the drachuma of Plautus (Trin. 2, 4, 23). The word
occurs in the Panchatantra also showing the derivation; and in the Syriac
Kalilah wa Dimnah it is "Zúz." This silver piece was = 6 obols (9 3/4d.) and as
a weight = 66 1/2 grains. The Dirham of The Nights was worth six "Dánik," each
of these being a fraction over a penny. The modern Greek Drachma is=one franc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#56] In Arabic the speaker always puts himself first, even if he address the
King, without intending incivility.
</p>

<p>
[FN#57] A she-Ifrit, not necessarily an evil spirit.
</p>

<p>
[FN#58] Arab. "Kullah" (in Egypt pron. "gulleh"), the wide mouthed jug, called
in the Hijaz "baradiyah;" "daurak" being the narrow. They are used either for
water or sherbet and, being made of porous clay, "sweat," and keep the contents
cool; hence all old Anglo Egyptians drink from them, not from bottles.
Sometimes they are perfumed with smoke of incense, mastich or Kafal (Amyris
Kafal). For their graceful shapes see Lane's "Account of the Manners and
Customs of the Modern Egyptians" (chapt. v) I quote, here and elsewhere, from
the fifth edition, London, Murray, 1860.
</p>

<p>
[FN#59] "And what is?" etc. A popular way of expressing great difference. So in
India:&mdash;"Where is Rajah Bhoj (the great King) and where is Gangá the
oilman?"
</p>

<p>
[FN#60] Here, as in other places, I have not preserved the monorhyme, but have
ended like the English sonnet with a couplet; as a rule the last two lines
contain a "Husn makta'" or climax.
</p>

<p>
[FN#61] Lit. "he began to say (or speak) poetry," such improvising being still
common amongst the Badawin as I shall afterwards note. And although Mohammed
severely censured profane poets, who "rove as bereft of their senses through
every valley" and were directly inspired by devils (Koran xxvi.), it is not a
little curious to note that he himself spoke in "Rajaz" (which see) and that
the four first Caliphs all "spoke poetry." In early ages the verse would not be
written, if written at all, till after the maker's death. I translate "inshád"
by "versifying" or "repeating" or "reciting," leaving it doubtful if the
composition be or be not original. In places, however, it is clearly improvised
and then as a rule it is model doggrel.
</p>

<p>
[FN#62] Arab. "Allahumma"=Yá Allah (O Allah) but with emphasis the Fath being a
substitute for the voc. part. Some connect it with the Heb. "Alihím," but that
fancy is not Arab. In Al-Hariri and the rhetoricians it sometimes means to be
sure; of course; unless indeed; unless possibly= Greek νὴ δία.
</p>

<p>
[FN#63] Probably in consequence of a vow. These superstitious practices, which
have many a parallel amongst ourselves, are not confined to the lower orders in
the East.
</p>

<p>
[FN#64] i.e., saying "Bismillah!" the pious ejaculation which should precede
every act. In Boccaccio (viii., 9) it is "remembering Iddio e' Santi."
</p>

<p>
[FN#65] Arab. Nahás asfar = brass, opposed to "Nahás" and "Nahás ahmar," =
copper.
</p>

<p>
[FN#66] This alludes to the legend of Sakhr al-Jinni, a famous fiend cast by
Solomon David son into Lake Tiberias whose storms make it a suitable place.
Hence the "Bottle imp," a world-wide fiction of folk-lore: we shall find it in
the "Book of Sindibad," and I need hardly remind the reader of Le Sage's
"Diable Boiteux," borrowed from "El Diablo Cojuelo," the Spanish novel by Luiz
Velez de Guevara.
</p>

<p>
[FN#67] Márid (lit. "contumacious" from the Heb. root Marad to rebel, whence
"Nimrod" in late Semitic) is one of the tribes of the Jinn, generally but not
always hostile to man. His female is "Máridah."
</p>

<p>
[FN#68] As Solomon began to reign (according to vulgar chronometry) in B.C.
1015, the text would place the tale circ. A.D. 785, = A.H. 169. But we can lay
no stress on this date which may be merely fanciful. Professor Tawney very
justly compares this Moslem Solomon with the Hindu King, Vikramáditya, who
ruled over the seven divisions of the world and who had as many devils to serve
him as he wanted.
</p>

<p>
[FN#69] Arab. "Yá Ba'íd:" a euphemism here adopted to prevent using grossly
abusive language. Others will occur in the course of these pages.
</p>

<p>
[FN#70] i. e. about to fly out; "My heart is in my mouth." The Fisherman speaks
with the dry humour of a Fellah.
</p>

<p>
[FN#71] "Sulayman," when going out to ease himself, entrusted his seal-ring
upon which his kingdom depended to a concubine "Amínah" (the "Faithful"), when
Sakhr, transformed to the King's likeness, came in and took it. The prophet was
reduced to beggary, but after forty days the demon fled throwing into the sea
the ring which was swallowed by a fish and eventually returned to Sulayman.
This Talmudic fable is hinted at in the Koran (chapt. xxxviii.), and
commentators have extensively embroidered it. Asaf, son of Barkhiya, was Wazir
to Sulayman and is supposed to be the "one with whom was the knowledge of the
Scriptures" (Koran, chapt. xxxvii.), i.e. who knew the Ineffable Name of Allah.
See the manifest descendant of the Talmudic Koranic fiction in the "Tale of the
Emperor Jovinian" (No. lix.) of the Gesta Romanorum, the most popular book of
mediæval Europe composed in England (or Germany) about the end of the
thirteenth century.
</p>

<p>
[FN#72] Arab. "Kumkum," a gourd-shaped bottle of metal, china or glass, still
used for sprinkling scents. Lane gives an illustration (chapt. viii., Mod.
Egypt.).
</p>

<p>
[FN#73] Arab. meaning "the Mother of Amir," a nickname for the hyena, which
bites the hand that feeds it.
</p>

<p>
[FN#74] The intellect of man is stronger than that of the Jinni; the Ifrit,
however, enters the jar because he has been adjured by the Most Great Name and
not from mere stupidity. The seal-ring of Solomon according to the Rabbis
contained a chased stone which told him everything he wanted to know.
</p>

<p>
[FN#75] The Mesmerist will notice this shudder which is familiar to him as
preceding the "magnetic" trance.
</p>

<p>
[FN#76] Arab. "Bahr" which means a sea, a large river, a sheet of water, etc.,
lit. water cut or trenched in the earth. Bahri in Egypt means Northern; so Yamm
(Sea, Mediterranean) in Hebrew is West.
</p>

<p>
[FN#77] In the Bul. Edit. "Ruyán," evidently a clerical error. The name is
fanciful not significant.
</p>

<p>
[FN#78] The geography is ultra-Shakespearean. "Fárs" (whence "Persia") is the
central Province of the grand old Empire now a mere wreck, "Rúm" (which I write
Roum, in order to avoid Jamaica) is the neo-Roman or Byzantine Empire, while
"Yunan" is the classical Arab term for Greece (Ionia) which unlearned Moslems
believe to be now under water.
</p>

<p>
[FN#79] The Sun greets Mohammed every morning even as it dances on Easter Day
for Christendom. Risum teneatis?
</p>

<p>
[FN#80] Arab. "Nadím," a term often occurring. It denotes one who was intimate
enough to drink with the Caliph, a very high honour and a dangerous. The last
who sat with "Nudamá" was Al-Razi bi'llah A.H. 329 = 940. See Al-Siyuti's
famous "History of the Caliphs" translated and admirably annotated by Major H.
S. Jarrett, for the Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1880.
</p>

<p>
[FN#81]Arab. Maydán (from Persian); Lane generally translates it "horse course
' and Payne "tilting yard." It is both and something more; an open space, in or
near the city, used for reviewing troops, races, playing the Jeríd (cane-spear)
and other sports and exercises: thus Al-Maydan=Gr. hippodrome. The game here
alluded to is our -'polo," or hockey on horseback, a favourite with the Persian
Kings, as all old illustrations of the Shahnamah show. Maydan is also a natural
plain for which copious Arabic has many terms, Fayhah or Sath (a plain
generally), Khabt (a low-lying plain), Bat'há (a low sandy flat), Mahattah (a
plain fit for halting) and so forth. (Pilgrimage iii., 11.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#82] For details concerning the "Ghusl" see Night xliv.
</p>

<p>
[FN#83] A popular idiom and highly expressive, contrasting the upright bearing
of the self-satisfied man with the slouch of the miserable and the
skirt-trailing of the woman in grief. I do not see the necessity of such
Latinisms as "dilated" or "expanded."
</p>

<p>
[FN#84] All these highest signs of favour foreshow, in Eastern tales and in
Eastern life, an approaching downfall of the heaviest; they are so great that
they arouse general jealousy. Many of us have seen this at native courts.
</p>

<p>
[FN#85] This phrase is contained in the word "ihdák" =encompassing, as the
conjunctiva does the pupil.
</p>

<p>
[FN#86] I have noted this formula, which is used even in conversation when
about to relate some great unfact.
</p>

<p>
[FN#87] We are obliged to English the word by "valley," which is about as
correct as the "brook Kedron," applied to the grisliest of ravines. The Wady
(in old Coptic wah, oah, whence "Oasis") is the bed of a watercourse which
flows only after rains. I have rendered it by "Fiumara" (Pilgrimage i., 5, and
ii., 196, etc.), an Italian or rather a Sicilian word which exactly describes
the "wady."
</p>

<p>
[FN#88] I have described this scene which Mr. T. Wolf illustrated by an
excellent lithograph in "Falconry, etc." (London, Van Voorst, MDCCCLII.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#89] Arab. "Kaylúlah," mid-day sleep; called siesta from the sixth canonical
hour.
</p>

<p>
[FN#90] This parrot-story is world-wide in folk-lore and the belief in
metempsychosis, which prevails more or less over all the East, there lends it
probability. The "Book of Sindibad" (see Night dlxxix. and "The Academy," Sept.
20, 1884, No. 646) converts it into the "Story of the Confectioner, his Wife
and the Parrot," and it is the base of the Hindostani text-book, "Tota-Kaháni"
(Parrot-chat), an abridgement of the Tutinámah (Parrot-book) of Nakhshabi
(circ. A.D. 1300), a congener of the Sanskrit "Suka Saptati," or Seventy
Parrot-stories. The tale is not in the Bul. or Mac. Edits. but occurs in the
Bresl. (i., pp. 90, 91) much mutilated; and better in the Calc. Edit I cannot
here refrain from noticing how vilely the twelve vols. of the Breslau Edit have
been edited; even a table of contents being absent from the first four volumes.
</p>

<p>
[FN#91] The young "Turk" is probably a late addition, as it does not appear in
many of the MSS., e. g. the Bresl. Edit. The wife usually spreads a cloth over
the cage; this in the Turkish translation becomes a piece of leather.
</p>

<p>
[FN#92] The Hebrew-Syrian month July used to express the height of summer. As
Herodotus tells us (ii. 4) the Egyptians claimed to be the discoverers of the
solar year and the portioners of its course into twelve parts.
</p>

<p>
[FN#93] This proceeding is thoroughly characteristic of the servile class; they
conscientiously conceal everything from the master till he finds a clew; after
which they tell him everything and something more.
</p>

<p>
[FN#94] Until late years, merchants and shopkeepers in the nearer East all
carried swords, and held it a disgrace to leave the house unarmed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#95] The Bresl. Edit. absurdly has Jazírah (an island).
</p>

<p>
[FN#96] The Ghúlah (fem. of Ghúl) is the Heb. Lilith or Lilis; the classical
Lamia; the Hindu Yogini and Dákini; the Chaldean Utug and Gigim (desert-demons)
as opposed to the Mas (hill-demon) and Telal (who steal into towns); the Ogress
of our tales and the Ba{l}a yaga {Баба Яга} (Granny-witch) of Russian
folk-lore. Etymologically "Ghul" is a calamity, a panic fear; and the monster
is evidently the embodied horror of the grave and the graveyard.
</p>

<p>
[FN#97] Arab. "Shább" (Lat. juvenis) between puberty and forty or according to
some fifty; when the patient becomes a "Rajul ikhtiyár" (man of free will)
politely termed, and then a Shaykh or Shaybah (grey-beard, oldster).
</p>

<p>
[FN#98] Some proverbial name now forgotten. Torrens (p. 48) translates it "the
giglot" (Fortune?) but "cannot discover the drift."
</p>

<p>
[FN#99] Arab. "Ihtizáz," that natural and instinctive movement caused by good
news suddenly given, etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#100] Arab. "Kohl," in India, Surmah, not a "collyrium," but powdered
antimony for the eyelids. That sold in the bazars is not the real grey ore of
antimony but a galena or sulphuret of lead. Its use arose as follows. When
Allah showed Himself to Moses on Sinai through an opening the size of a needle,
the Prophet fainted and the Mount took fire: thereupon Allah said, "Henceforth
shalt thou and thy seed grind the earth of this mountain and apply it to your
eyes!" The powder is kept in an étui called Makhalah and applied with a thick
blunt needle to the inside of the eyelid, drawing it along the rim; hence etui
and probe denote the sexual rem in re and in cases of adultery the question
will be asked, "Didst thou see the needle in the Kohl-pot ?" Women mostly use a
preparation of soot or lamp-black (Hind. Kajala, Kajjal) whose colour is easily
distinguished from that of Kohl. The latter word, with the article (Al-Kohl) is
the origin of our "alcohol;" though even M. Littré fails to show how "fine
powder" became "spirits of wine." I found this powder (wherewith Jezebel
"painted" her eyes) a great preservative from ophthalmia in desert-travelling:
the use in India was universal, but now European example is gradually
abolishing it.
</p>

<p>
[FN#101] The tale of these two women is now forgotten.
</p>

<p>
[FN#102] Arab. "Atadakhkhal." When danger threatens it is customary to seize a
man's skirt and cry "Dakhíl-ak!" ( = under thy protection). Among noble tribes
the Badawi thus invoked will defend the stranger with his life. Foreigners have
brought themselves into contempt by thus applying to women or to mere youths.
</p>

<p>
[FN#103] The formula of quoting from the Koran.
</p>

<p>
[FN#104] Lit. "Allah not desolate me" (by thine absence). This is still a
popular phrase&mdash;Lá tawáhishná = Do not make me desolate, i.e. by staying
away too long, and friends meeting after a term of days exclaim
"Auhashtani!"=thou hast made me desolate, Je suis desole.
</p>

<p>
[FN#105] Charming simplicity of manners when the Prime Minister carries the
fish (shade of Vattel!)!) to the cookmaid. The "Gesta Romanorum" is nowhere
more naïve.
</p>

<p>
[FN#106] Arab. "Kahílat al-taraf" = lit. eyelids lined with Kohl; and
figuratively "with black lashes and languorous look." This is a phrase which
frequently occurs in The Nights and which, as will appear, applies to the
"lower animals" as well as to men. Moslems in Central Africa apply Kohl not to
the thickness of the eyelid but upon both outer lids, fixing it with some
greasy substance. The peculiar Egyptian (and Syrian) eye with its thick fringes
of jet-black lashes, looking like lines of black drawn with soot, easily
suggests the simile. In England I have seen the same appearance amongst miners
fresh from the colliery.
</p>

<p>
[FN#107] Of course applying to her own case.
</p>

<p>
[FN#108] Prehistoric Arabs who measured from 60 to 100 cubits high: Koran,
chapt. xxvi., etc. They will often be mentioned in The Nights.
</p>

<p>
[FN#109] I Arab. "Dastúr" (from Persian) = leave, permission. The word has two
meanings (see Burckhardt, Arab. Prov. No. 609) and is much used, ea. before
walking up stairs or entering a room where strange women might be met. So
"Tarík" = Clear the way (Pilgrimage, iii., 319). The old Persian occupation of
Egypt, not to speak of the Persian speaking Circassians and other rulers has
left many such traces in popular language. One of them is that horror of
travelers&mdash;"Bakhshísh" pron. bakh-sheesh and shortened to shísh from the
Pers. "bakhshish." Our "Christmas box" has been most unnecessarily derived from
the same, despite our reading:—
</p>

<p>
Gladly the boy, with Christmas box in hand.
</p>

<p>
And, as will be seen, Persians have bequeathed to the outer world worse things
than bad language, e.g. heresy and sodomy.
</p>

<p>
[FN#110] He speaks of his wife but euphemistically in the masculine.
</p>

<p>
[FN#111] A popular saying throughout Al-Islam.
</p>

<p>
[FN#112] Arab. "Fata": lit.=a youth; a generous man, one of noble mind (as
youth-tide should be). It corresponds with the Lat. "vir," and has much the
meaning of the Ital. "Giovane," the Germ. "Junker" and our "gentleman."
</p>

<p>
[FN#113] From the Bul. Edit.
</p>

<p>
[FN#114] The vagueness of his statement is euphemistic.
</p>

<p>
[FN#115] This readiness of shedding tears contrasts strongly with the external
stoicism of modern civilization; but it is true to Arab character, and
Easterns, like the heroes of Homer and Italians of Boccacio, are not ashamed of
what we look upon as the result of feminine hysteria&mdash;"a good cry."
</p>

<p>
[FN#116] The formula (constantly used by Moslems) here denotes displeasure,
doubt how to act and so forth. Pronounce, "Lá haula wa lá kuwwata illá bi
'lláhi 'I-Aliyyi 'I-Azim." As a rule mistakes are marvellous: Mandeville
(chapt. xii.) for "Lá iláha illa 'lláhu wa Muhammadun Rasúlu 'llah" writes "La
ellec sila, Machomete rores alla." The former (lá haula, etc.), on account of
the four peculiar Arabic letters, is everywhere pronounced differently. and the
exclamation is called "Haulak" or "Haukal."
</p>

<p>
[FN#117] An Arab holds that he has a right to marry his first cousin, the
daughter of his father's brother, and if any win her from him a death and a
blood-feud may result. It was the same in a modified form amongst the Jews and
in both races the consanguineous marriage was not attended by the evil results
(idiotcy, congenital deafness, etc.) observed in mixed races like the English
and the Anglo-American. When a Badawi speaks of "the daughter of my uncle" he
means wife; and the former is the dearer title, as a wife can be divorced, but
blood is thicker than water.
</p>

<p>
[FN#118] Arab. "Kahbah;" the coarsest possible term. Hence the unhappy "Cava"
of Don Roderick the Goth, which simply means The Whore.
</p>

<p>
[FN#119] The Arab "Banj" and Hindú "Bhang" (which I use as most familiar) both
derive from the old Coptic "Nibanj" meaning a preparation of hemp (Cannabis
sativa seu Indica); and here it is easy to recognise the Homeric "Nepenthe."
Al-Kazwini explains the term by "garden hemp (Kinnab bostáni or Sháhdánaj). On
the other hand not a few apply the word to the henbane (hyoscyamus niger) so
much used in mediæval Europe. The Kámús evidently means henbane distinguishing
it from Hashish al haráfísh" = rascals' grass, i.e. the herb Pantagruelion. The
"Alfáz Adwiya" (French translation) explains "Tabannuj" by "Endormir quelqu'un
en lui faisant avaler de la jusquiame." In modern parlance Tabannuj is = our
anæsthetic administered before an operation, a deadener of pain like myrrh and
a number of other drugs. For this purpose hemp is always used (at least I never
heard of henbane); and various preparations of the drug are sold at an especial
bazar in Cairo. See the "powder of marvellous virtue" in Boccaccio, iii., 8;
and iv., 10. Of these intoxicants, properly so termed, I shall have something
to say in a future page.
</p>

<p>
The use of Bhang doubtless dates from the dawn of civilisation, whose earliest
social pleasures would be inebriants. Herodotus (iv. c. 75) shows the Scythians
burning the seeds (leaves and capsules) in worship and becoming drunken with
the fumes, as do the S. African Bushmen of the present day. This would be the
earliest form of smoking: it is still doubtful whether the pipe was used or
not. Galen also mentions intoxication by hemp. Amongst Moslems, the Persians
adopted the drink as an ecstatic, and about our thirteenth century Egypt, which
began the practice, introduced a number of preparations to be noticed in the
course of The Nights.
</p>

<p>
[FN#120] The rubbish heaps which outlie Eastern cities, some (near Cairo) are
over a hundred feet high.
</p>

<p>
[FN#121] Arab. "Kurrat al-ayn;" coolness of eyes as opposed to a hot eye
("sakhin") one red with tears. The term is true and picturesque so I translate
it literally. All coolness is pleasant to dwellers in burning lands: thus in
Al-Hariri Abu Zayd says of Bassorah, "I found there whatever could fill the eye
with coolness." And a "cool booty" (or prize) is one which has been secured
without plunging into the flames of war, or simply a pleasant prize.
</p>

<p>
[FN#122] Popularly rendered Caucasus (see Night cdxcvi): it corresponds so far
with the Hindu "Udaya" that the sun rises behind it; and the "false dawn" is
caused by a hole or gap. It is also the Persian Alborz, the Indian Meru
(Sumeru), the Greek Olympus and the Rhiphæan Range (Veliki Camenypoys) or great
starry girdle of the world, etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#123] Arab. "Mizr" or "Mizar;" vulg. Búzah; hence the medical Lat. Buza, the
Russian Buza (millet beer), our booze, the O. Dutch "buyzen" and the German
"busen." This is the old of negro and negroid Africa, the beer of Osiris, of
which dried remains have been found in jars amongst Egyptian tombs. In
Equatorial Africa it known as Pombe; on the Upper Nile "Merissa" or "Mirisi"
and amongst the Kafirs (Caffers) "Tshuala," "Oala" or "Boyala:" I have also
heard of "Buswa"in Central Africa which may be the origin of "Buzah." In the
West it became, (Romaic ), Xythum and cerevisia or cervisia, the humor ex
hordeo, long before the days of King Gambrinus. Central Africans drink it in
immense quantities: in Unyamwezi the standing bedsteads, covered with
bark-slabs, are all made sloping so as to drain off the liquor. A chief lives
wholly on beef and Pombe which is thick as gruel below. Hops are unknown: the
grain, mostly Holcus, is made to germinate, then pounded, boiled and left to
ferment. In Egypt the drink is affected chiefly by Berbers, Nubians and slaves
from the Upper Nile, but it is a superior article and more like that of Europe
than the "Pombe." I have given an account of the manufacture in The Lake
Regions of Central Africa, vol. ii., p. 286. There are other preparations,
Umm-bulbul (mother nightingale), Dinzáyah and Súbiyah, for which I must refer
to the Shaykh El-Tounsy.
</p>

<p>
[FN#124] There is a terrible truth in this satire, which reminds us of the
noble dame who preferred to her handsome husband the palefrenier laid, ord et
infâme of Queen Margaret of Navarre (Heptameron No. xx.). We have all known
women who sacrificed everything despite themselves, as it were, for the most
worthless of men. The world stares and scoffs and blames and understands
nothing. There is for every woman one man and one only in whose slavery she is
"ready to sweep the floor." Fate is mostly opposed to her meeting him but, when
she does, adieu husband and children, honour and religion, life and "soul."
Moreover Nature (human) commands the union of contrasts, such as fair and foul,
dark and light, tall and short; otherwise mankind would be like the canines, a
race of extremes, dwarf as toy-terriers, giants like mastiffs, bald as Chinese
"remedy dogs," or hairy as Newfoundlands. The famous Wilkes said only a half
truth when he backed himself, with an hour s start, against the handsomest man
in England; his uncommon and remarkable ugliness (he was, as the Italians say,
un bel brutto) was the highest recommendation in the eyes of very beautiful
women.
</p>

<p>
[FN#125] Every Moslem burial-ground has a place of the kind where honourable
women may sit and weep unseen by the multitude. These visits are enjoined by
the Apostle:—Frequent the cemetery, 'twill make you think of futurity!
Also:—Whoever visiteth the graves of his parents (or one of them) every Friday,
he shall be written a pious son, even though he might have been in the world,
before that, a disobedient. (Pilgrimage, ii., 71.) The buildings resemble our
European "mortuary chapels." Said, Pasha of Egypt, was kind enough to erect one
on the island off Suez, for the "use of English ladies who would like shelter
whilst weeping and wailing for their dead." But I never heard that any of the
ladies went there.
</p>

<p>
[FN#126] Arab. "Ajal"=the period of life, the appointed time of death: the word
is of constant recurrence and is also applied to sudden death. See Lane's
Dictionary, s.v.
</p>

<p>
[FN#127] "The dying Badawi to his tribe" (and lover) appears to me highly
pathetic. The wild people love to be buried upon hill slopes whence they can
look down upon the camp; and they still call out the names of kinsmen and
friends as they pass by the grave-yards. A similar piece occurs in Wetzstein
(p. 27, "Reisebericht ueber Hauran," etc.):—
</p>

<p>
     O bear with you my bones where the camel bears his load<br/>
       And bury me before you, if buried I must be;<br/>
     And let me not be burled 'neath the burden of the vine<br/>
       But high upon the hill whence your sight I ever see!<br/>
     As you pass along my grave cry aloud and name your names<br/>
       The crying of your names shall revive the bones of me:<br/>
     I have fasted through my life with my friends, and in my<br/>
       death, I will feast when we meet, on that day of joy and<br/>
       glee.
</p>

<p>
[FN#128] The Akásirah (plur. of Kasrá=Chosroës) is here a title of the four
great dynasties of Persian Kings. 1. The Peshdadian or Assyrian race,
proto-historics for whom dates fail, 2. The Káyánián (Medes and Persians) who
ended with the Alexandrian invasion in B. C. 331. 3. The Ashkánián (Parthenians
or Arsacides) who ruled till A. D. 202; and 4. The Sassanides which have
already been mentioned. But strictly speaking "Kisri" and "Kasra" are titles
applied only to the latter dynasty and especially to the great King Anushirwan.
They must not be confounded with "Khusrau" (P. N. Cyrus, Ahasuerus? Chosroës?),
and yet the three seem to have combined in "Cæsar," Kaysar and Czar. For
details especially connected with Zoroaster see vol. I, p. 380 of the Dabistan
or School of Manners, translated by David Shea and Anthony Troyer, Paris, 1843.
The book is most valuable, but the proper names are so carelessly and
incorrectly printed that the student is led into perpetual error.
</p>

<p>
[FN#129] The words are the very lowest and coarsest; but the scene is true to
Arab life.
</p>

<p>
[FN#130] Arab."Hayhát:" the word, written in a variety of ways is
onomatopoetic, like our "heigh-ho!" it sometimes means "far from me (or you) be
it!" but in popular usage it is simply "Alas."
</p>

<p>
[FN#131] Lane (i., 134) finds a date for the book in this passage. The Soldan
of Egypt, Mohammed ibn Kala'ún, in the early eighth century (Hijrah = our
fourteenth), issued a sumptuary law compelling Christians and Jews to wear
indigo-blue and saffron-yellow turbans, the white being reserved for Moslems.
But the custom was much older and Mandeville (chapt. ix.) describes it in A. D.
1322 when it had become the rule. And it still endures; although abolished in
the cities it is the rule for Christians, at least in the country parts of
Egypt and Syria. I may here remark that such detached passages as these are
absolutely useless for chronology: they may be simply the additions of editors
or mere copyists.
</p>

<p>
[FN#132] The ancient "Mustaphá" = the Chosen (prophet, i. e. Mohammed), also
titled Al-Mujtaba, the Accepted (Pilgrimage, ii., 309). "Murtaza"=the Elect,
i.e. the Caliph Ali is the older "Mortada" or "Mortadi" of Ockley and his day,
meaning "one pleasing to (or acceptable to) Allah." Still older writers
corrupted it to "Mortis Ali" and readers supposed this to be the Caliph's name.
</p>

<p>
[FN#133] The gleam (zodiacal light) preceding the true dawn; the Persians call
the former Subh-i-kázib (false or lying dawn) opposed to Subh-i-sádik (true
dawn) and suppose that it is caused by the sun shining through a hole in the
world-encircling Mount Kaf.
</p>

<p>
[FN#134] So the Heb. "Arún" = naked, means wearing the lower robe only; = our
"in his shirt."
</p>

<p>
[FN#135] Here we have the vulgar Egyptian colloquialism "Aysh" (—Ayyu shayyin)
for the classical "Má" = what.
</p>

<p>
[FN#136] "In the name of Allah!" here said before taking action.
</p>

<p>
[FN#137] Arab. "Mamlúk" (plur. Mamálik) lit. a chattel; and in The Nights a
white slave trained to arms. The "Mameluke Beys" of Egypt were locally called
the "Ghuzz," I use the convenient word in its old popular sense;
</p>

<p>
     'Tis sung, there's a valiant Mameluke<br/>
     In foreign lands ycleped (Sir Luke)-<br/>
                      HUDIBRAS.
</p>

<p>
And hence, probably, Molière's "Mamamouchi"; and the modern French use
"Mamaluc." See Savary's Letters, No. xl.
</p>

<p>
[FN#138] The name of this celebrated successor of Nineveh, where some suppose
The Nights were written, is orig. Μεσοπύλαι (middle-gates) because it stood on
the way where four great highways meet. The Arab. form "Mausil" (the vulgar
"Mosul") is also significant, alluding to the "junction" of Assyria and
Babylonia. Hence our "muslin."
</p>

<p>
[FN#139] This is Mr. Thackeray's "nose-bag." I translate by "walking-shoes" the
Arab "Khuff" which are a manner of loose boot covering the ankle; they are not
usually embroidered, the ornament being reserved for the inner shoe.
</p>

<p>
[FN#140] <i>i.e.</i> Syria (says Abulfeda) the "land on the left" (of one
facing the east) as opposed to Al-Yaman the "land on the right." Osmani would
mean Turkish, Ottoman. When Bernard the Wise (Bohn, p. 24) speaks of "Bagada
and Axiam" (Mabillon's text) or "Axinarri" (still worse), he means Baghdad and
Ash-Shám (Syria, Damascus), the latter word puzzling his Editor. Richardson
(Dissert, lxxii.) seems to support a hideous attempt to derive Shám from
Shámat, a mole or wart, because the country is studded with hillocks! Al-Shám
is often applied to Damascus-city whose proper name Dimishk belongs to books:
this term is generally derived from Dimáshik b. Káli b. Málik b. Sham (Shem).
Lee (Ibn Batùtah, 29) denies that ha-Dimishki means "Eliezer of Damascus."
</p>

<p>
[FN#141] From Oman = Eastern Arabia.
</p>

<p>
[FN#142] Arab. "Tamar Hannà" lit. date of Henna, but applied to the flower of
the eastern privet (Lawsonia inermis) which has the sweet scent of freshly mown
hay. The use of Henna as a dye is known even in England. The "myrtle" alluded
to may either have been for a perfume (as it is held an anti-intoxicant) or for
eating, the bitter aromatic berries of the "Ás" being supposed to flavour wine
and especially Raki (raw brandy).
</p>

<p>
[FN#143] Lane. (i. 211) pleasantly remarks, "A list of these sweets is given in
my original, but I have thought it better to omit the names" (!) Dozy does not
shirk his duty, but he is not much more satisfactory in explaining words
interesting to students because they are unfound in dictionaries and forgotten
by the people. "Akrás (cakes) Laymunìyah (of limes) wa Maymunìyah" appears in
the Bresl. Edit. as "Ma'amuniyah" which may mean "Ma'amun's cakes" or
"delectable cakes." "Amshát" = (combs) perhaps refers to a fine kind of Kunàfah
(vermicelli) known in Egypt and Syria as "Ghazl al-banát" = girl's spinning.
</p>

<p>
[FN#144] The new moon carefully looked for by all Moslems because it begins the
Ramazán-fast.
</p>

<p>
[FN#145] Solomon's signet ring has before been noticed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#146] The "high-bosomed" damsel, with breasts firm as a cube, is a favourite
with Arab tale tellers. Fanno baruffa is the Italian term for hard breasts
pointing outwards.
</p>

<p>
[FN#147] A large hollow navel is looked upon not only as a beauty, but in
children it is held a promise of good growth.
</p>

<p>
[FN#148] Arab. "Ka'ah," a high hall opening upon the central court: we shall
find the word used for a mansion, barrack, men's quarters, etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#149] Babel = Gate of God (El), or Gate of Ilu (P. N. of God), which the
Jews ironically interpreted "Confusion." The tradition of Babylonia being the
very centre of witchcraft and enchantment by means of its Seven Deadly Spirits,
has survived in Al-Islam; the two fallen angels (whose names will occur) being
confined in a well; Nimrod attempting to reach Heaven from the Tower in a
magical car drawn by monstrous birds and so forth. See p. 114, François
Lenormant's "Chaldean Magic," London, Bagsters.
</p>

<p>
[FN#150] Arab. "Kámat Alfíyyah" = like the letter Alif, a straight
perpendicular stroke. In the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the origin of every alphabet
(not syllabarium) known to man, one form was a flag or leaf of water-plant
standing upright. Hence probably the Arabic Alif-shape; while other nations
preferred other modifications of the letter (ox's head, etc), which in Egyptian
number some thirty-six varieties, simple and compound.
</p>

<p>
[FN#151] I have not attempted to order this marvellous confusion of metaphors
so characteristic of The Nights and the exigencies of Al-Saj'a = rhymed prose.
</p>

<p>
[FN#152] Here and elsewhere I omit the "kála (dice Turpino)" of the original:
Torrens preserves "Thus goes the tale" (which it only interrupts). This is
simply letter-wise and sense-foolish.
</p>

<p>
[FN#153] Of this worthy more at a future time.
</p>

<p>
[FN#154] i.e., sealed with the Kazi or legal authority's seal of office.
</p>

<p>
[FN#155] "Nothing for nothing" is a fixed idea with the Eastern woman: not so
much for greed as for a sexual point d' honneur when dealing with the
adversary—man.
</p>

<p>
[FN#156] She drinks first, the custom of the universal East, to show that the
wine she had bought was unpoisoned. Easterns, who utterly ignore the "social
glass" of Western civilisation drink honestly to get drunk; and, when far gone
are addicted to horse-play (in Pers. "Badmasti" = le vin mauvais) which leads
to quarrels and bloodshed. Hence it is held highly irreverent to assert of
patriarchs, prophets and saints that they "drank wine;" and Moslems agree with
our "Teatotallers" in denying that, except in the case of Noah, inebriatives
are anywhere mentioned in Holy Writ.
</p>

<p>
[FN#157] Arab. "Húr al-Ayn," lit. (maids) with eyes of lively white and black,
applied to the virgins of Paradise who will wive with the happy Faithful. I
retain our vulgar "Houri," warning the reader that it is a masc. for a fem.
("Huríyah") in Arab, although accepted in Persian, a genderless speach.
</p>

<p>
[FN#158] Arab. "Zambúr," whose head is amputated in female circumcision. See
Night cccclxxiv.
</p>

<p>
[FN#159] Ocymum basilicum noticed in Introduction, the bassilico of Boccaccio
iv. 5. The Book of Kalilah and Dimnah represents it as "sprouting with
something also whose smell is foul and disgusting and the sower at once sets to
gather it and burn it with fire." (The Fables of Bidpai translated from the
later Syriac version by I. G. N. Keith-Falconer, etc., etc., etc., Cambridge
University Press, 1885). Here, however, Habk is a pennyroyal (mentha puligium),
and probably alludes to the pecten.
</p>

<p>
[FN#160] i. e. common property for all to beat.
</p>

<p>
[FN#161] "A digit of the moon" is the Hindú equivalent.
</p>

<p>
[FN#162] Better known to us as Caravanserai, the "Travellers' Bungalow" of
India: in the Khan, however, shelter is to be had, but neither bed nor board.
</p>

<p>
[FN#163] Arab. "Zubb." I would again note that this and its synonyms are the
equivalents of the Arabic, which is of the lowest. The tale-teller's evident
object is to accentuate the contrast with the tragical stories to follow.
</p>

<p>
[FN#164] "ln the name of Allah," is here a civil form of dismissal.
</p>

<p>
[FN#165] Lane (i. 124) is scandalised and naturally enough by this scene, which
is the only blot in an admirable tale admirably told. Yet even here the
grossness is but little more pronounced than what we find in our old drama
(<i>e. g.</i>, Shakespeare's King Henry V.) written for the stage, whereas
tales like The Nights are not read or recited before both sexes. Lastly
"nothing follows all this palming work:" in Europe the orgie would end very
differently. These "nuns of Theleme" are physically pure: their debauchery is
of the mind, not the body. Galland makes them five, including the two
doggesses.
</p>

<p>
[FN#166] So Sir Francis Walsingham's "They which do that they should not,
should hear that they would not."
</p>

<p>
[FN#167] The old "Calendar," pleasantly associated with that form of almanac.
The Mac. Edit. has Karandaliyah," a vile corruption, like Ibn Batutah's
"Karandar" and Torrens' "Kurundul:" so in English we have the accepted
vulgarism of "Kernel" for Colonel. The Bul. Edit. uses for synonym "Su'ulúk"=an
asker, a beggar. Of these mendicant monks, for such they are, much like the
Sarabaites of mediæval Europe, I have treated and of their institutions and its
founder, Shaykh Sharif Bu Ali Kalandar (ob. A. H. 724 =1323-24), at some length
in my "History of Sindh," chapt. viii. See also the Dabistan (i. 136) where the
good Kalandar exclaims:—
</p>

<p>
     If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain!<br/>
     But how sorely I feel for the poor broken thorn!
</p>

<p>
D'Herbelot is right when he says that the Kalandar is not generally approved by
Moslems: he labours to win free from every form and observance and he
approaches the Malámati who conceals all his good deeds and boasts of his evil
doings—our "Devil's hypocrite."
</p>

<p>
[FN#168] The "Kalandar" disfigures himself in this manner to show
"mortification."
</p>

<p>
[FN#169] Arab. "Gharíb:" the porter is offended because the word implies "poor
devil;" esp. one out of his own country.
</p>

<p>
[FN#170] A religious mendicant generally.
</p>

<p>
[FN#171] Very scandalous to Moslem "respectability" Mohammed said the house was
accursed when the voices of women could be heard out of doors. Moreover the
neighbours have a right to interfere and abate the scandal.
</p>

<p>
[FN#172] I need hardly say that these are both historical personages; they will
often be mentioned, and Ja'afar will be noticed in the Terminal Essay.
</p>

<p>
[FN#173] Arab. "Sama &rsquo;an wa tá&rsquo;atan"; a popular phrase of assent
generally translated "to hear is to obey;" but this formula may be and must be
greatly varied. In places it means "Hearing (the word of Allah) and obeying"
(His prophet, viceregent, etc.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#174] Arab. "Sawáb"=reward in Heaven. This word for which we have no
equivalent has been naturalized in all tongues (e. g. Hindostani) spoken by
Moslems.
</p>

<p>
[FN#175] Wine-drinking, at all times forbidden to Moslems, vitiates the
Pilgrimage rite: the Pilgrim is vowed to a strict observance of the ceremonial
law and many men date their "reformation" from the "Hajj." Pilgrimage, iii.,
126.
</p>

<p>
[FN#176] Here some change has been necessary; as the original text confuses the
three "ladies."
</p>

<p>
[FN#177] In Arab. the plural masc. is used by way of modesty when a girl
addresses her lover and for the same reason she speaks of herself as a man.
</p>

<p>
[FN#178] Arab. "Al-Na'ím", in full "Jannat-al-Na'ím" = the Garden of Delights,
i.e. the fifth Heaven made of white silver. The generic name of Heaven (the
place of reward) is "Jannat," lit. a garden; "Firdaus" being evidently derived
from the Persian through the Greek παράδεισος, and meaning a chase, a hunting
park. Writers on this subject should bear in mind Mandeville's modesty, "Of
Paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not there."
</p>

<p>
[FN#179] Arab. "Mikra'ah," the dried mid-rib of a date-frond used for many
purposes, especially the bastinado.
</p>

<p>
[FN#180] According to Lane (i., 229) these and the immediately following verses
are from an ode by Ibn Sahl al-Ishbili. They are in the Bul. Edit. not the Mac.
Edit.
</p>

<p>
[FN#181] The original is full of conceits and plays on words which are not
easily rendered in English.
</p>

<p>
[FN#182] Arab. "Tarjumán," same root as Chald. Targum ( = a translation), the
old "Truchman," and through the Ital. "tergomano" our "Dragoman," here a
messenger.
</p>

<p>
[FN#183] Lit. the "person of the eyes," our "babe of the eyes," a favourite
poetical conceit in all tongues; much used by the Elizabethans, but now
neglected as a silly kind of conceit. See Night ccix.
</p>

<p>
[FN#184] Arab. "Sár" (Thár) the revenge-right recognised by law and custom
(Pilgrimage, iii., 69).
</p>

<p>
[FN#185] That is "We all swim in the same boat."
</p>

<p>
[FN#186] Ja'afar ever acts, on such occasions, the part of a wise and sensible
man compelled to join in a foolish frolic. He contrasts strongly with the
Caliph, a headstrong despot who will not be gainsaid, whatever be the whim of
the moment. But Easterns would look upon this as a proof of his "kingliness."
</p>

<p>
[FN#187] Arab. "Wa'l-Salám" (pronounced Was-Salám); meaning "and here ends the
matter." In our slang we say "All right, and the child's name is Antony."
</p>

<p>
[FN#188] This is a favourite jingle, the play being upon "ibrat" (a
needle-graver) and " 'ibrat" (an example, a warning).
</p>

<p>
[FN#189] That is "make his bow," as the English peasant pulls his forelock.
Lane (i., 249) suggests, as an afterthought, that it means:—"Recover thy
senses; in allusion to a person's drawing his hand over his head after sleep or
a fit." But it occurs elsewhere in the sense of "cut thy stick."
</p>

<p>
[FN#190] This would be a separate building like our family tomb and probably
domed, resembling that mentioned in "The King of the Black Islands." Europeans
usually call it "a little Wali;" or, as they write it, "Wely," the contained
for the container; the "Santon" for the "Santon's tomb." I have noticed this
curious confusion (which begins with Robinson, i. 322) in "Unexplored Syria,"
i. 161.
</p>

<p>
[FN#191] Arab. "Wiswás," = diabolical temptation or suggestion. The "Wiswásí"
is a man with scruples (scrupulus, a pebble in the shoe), e.g. one who fears
that his ablutions were deficient, etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#192] Arab. "Katf" = pinioning by tying the arms behind the back and
shoulders (Kitf) a dire disgrace to free-born men.
</p>

<p>
[FN#193] Arab. "Nafs."=Hebr. Nephesh (Nafash) =soul, life as opposed to
"Ruach"= spirit and breath. In these places it is equivalent to "I said to
myself." Another form of the root is "Nafas," breath, with an idea of
inspiration: so 'Sáhib Nafas" (=master of breath) is a minor saint who heals by
expiration, a matter familiar to mesmerists (Pilgrimage, i., 86).
</p>

<p>
[FN#194] Arab. "Kaus al-Banduk;" the "pellet bow" of modern India; with two
strings joined by a bit of cloth which supports a ball of dry clay or stone. It
is chiefly used for birding.
</p>

<p>
[FN#195] In the East blinding was a common practice, especially in the case of
junior princes not required as heirs. A deep perpendicular incision was made
down each corner of the eyes; the lids were lifted and the balls removed by
cutting the optic nerve and the muscles. The later Caliphs blinded their
victims by passing a red-hot sword blade close to the orbit or a needle over
the eye-ball. About the same time in Europe the operation was performed with a
heated metal basin—the well known bacinare (used by Ariosto), as happened to
Pier delle Vigne (Petrus de Vineâ), the "godfather of modern Italian."
</p>

<p>
[FN#196] Arab. "Khinzír" (by Europeans pronounced "Hanzír"), prop. a wild-boar,
but popularly used like our "you pig!"
</p>

<p>
[FN#197] Striking with the shoe, the pipe-stick and similar articles is highly
insulting, because they are not made, like whips and scourges, for such
purpose. Here the East and the West differ diametrically. "Wounds which are
given by instruments which are in one's hands by chance do not disgrace a man,"
says Cervantes (D. Q. i., chapt. 15), and goes on to prove that if a Zapatero
(cobbler) cudgel another with his form or last, the latter must not consider
himself cudgelled. The reverse in the East where a blow of a pipe stick cost
Mahommed Ali Pasha's son his life: Ishmail Pasha was burned to death by Malik
Nimr, chief of Shendy (Pilgrimage, i., 203). Moreover, the actual wound is less
considered in Moslem law than the instrument which caused it: so sticks and
stones are venial weapons, whilst sword and dagger, gun and pistol are
felonious. See ibid. (i., 336) for a note upon the weapons with which nations
are policed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#198] Incest is now abominable everywhere except amongst the overcrowded
poor of great and civilised cities. Yet such unions were common and lawful
amongst ancient and highly cultivated peoples, as the Egyptians (Isis and
Osiris), Assyrians and ancient Persians. Physiologically they are injurious
only when the parents have constitutional defects: if both are sound, the
issue, as amongst the so-called "lower animals " is viable and healthy.
</p>

<p>
[FN#199] Dwellers in the Northern Temperates can hardly imagine what a
dust-storm is in sun parched tropical lands. In Sind we were often obliged to
use candles at mid-day, while above the dust was a sun that would roast an egg.
</p>

<p>
[FN#200] Arab. &ldquo;&rsquo;Urban,&rdquo; now always used of the wild people,
whom the French have taught us to call <i>les Bedouins</i>; "Badw" being a
waste or desert, and Badawi (fem. Badawíyah, plur. Badáwi and Bidwán), a man of
the waste. Europeans have also learnt to miscall the Egyptians "Arabs": the
difference is as great as between an Englishman and a Spaniard. Arabs proper
divide their race into sundry successive families. "The Arab al-Arabá" (or
al-Aribah, or al-Urubíyat) are the autochthones, prehistoric, proto-historic
and extinct tribes; for instance, a few of the Adites who being at Meccah
escaped the destruction of their wicked nation, but mingled with other classes.
The "Arab al-Muta'arribah," (Arabised Arabs) are the first advenæ represented
by such noble strains as the Koraysh (Koreish), some still surviving. The "Arab
al-Musta'aribah" (insititious, naturalized or instituted Arabs, men who claim
to be Arabs) are Arabs like the Sinaites, the Egyptians and the Maroccans
descended by intermarriage with other races. Hence our "Mosarabians" and the
"Marrabais" of Rabelais (not, "a word compounded of Maurus and Arabs"). Some
genealogists, however, make the Muta'arribah descendants of Kahtan (possibly
the Joktan of Genesis x., a comparatively modern document, B.C. 700?); and the
Musta'aribah those descended from Adnán the origin of Arab genealogy. And,
lastly, are the "Arab al-Musta'ajimah," barbarised Arabs, like the present
population of Meccah and Al-Medinah. Besides these there are other tribes whose
origin is still unknown, such as the Mahrah tribes of Hazramaut, the "Akhdám"
(=serviles) of Oman (Maskat); and the "Ebná" of Al-Yaman: Ibn Ishak supposes
the latter to be descended from the Persian soldiers of Anushirwan who expelled
the Abyssinian invader from Southern Arabia. (Pilgrimage, iii., 31, etc.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#201] Arab. "Amír al-Muuminín." The title was assumed by the Caliph Omar to
obviate the inconvenience of calling himself "Khalífah" (successor) of the
Khalífah of the Apostle of Allah (i.e. Abu Bakr); which after a few generations
would become impossible. It means "Emir (chief or prince) of the Muumins," men
who hold to the (true Moslem) Faith, the "Imán" (theory, fundamental articles)
as opposed to the "Dín," ordinance or practice of the religion. It once became
a Wazirial time conferred by Sultan Malikshah (King King-king) on his Nizám
al-Mulk. (Richardson's Dissert. lviii.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#202] This may also mean "according to the seven editions of the Koran " the
old revisions and so forth (Sale, Sect. iii. and D'Herbelot "Alcoran.") The
schools of the "Mukri," who teach the right pronunciation wherein a mistake
might be sinful, are seven, Harnzah, Ibn Katír, Ya'akúb, Ibn Amir, Kisái, Asim
and Hafs, the latter being the favourite with the Hanafis and the only one now
generally known in Al-Islam.
</p>

<p>
[FN#203] Arab. "Sadd"=wall, dyke, etc. the "bund" or "band" of Anglo-India.
Hence the "Sadd" on the Nile, the banks of grass and floating islands which
"wall" the stream. There are few sights more appalling than a sandstorm in the
desert, the "Zauba'ah" as the Arabs call it. Devils, or pillars of sand,
vertical and inclined, measuring a thousand feet high, rush over the plain
lashing the sand at their base like a sea surging under a furious whirlwind;
shearing the grass clean away from the roots, tearing up trees, which are
whirled like leaves and sticks in air and sweeping away tents and houses as if
they were bits of paper. At last the columns join at the top and form, perhaps
three thousand feet above the earth, a gigantic cloud of yellow sand which
obliterates not only the horizon but even the mid-day sun. These sand-spouts
are the terror of travellers. In Sind and the Punjab we have the dust-storm
which for darkness, I have said, beats the blackest London fog.
</p>

<p>
[FN#204] Arab. Sár = the vendetta, before mentioned, as dreaded in Arabia as in
Corsica.
</p>

<p>
[FN#205] Arab. "Ghútah," usually a place where irrigation is abundant. It
especially applies (in books) to the Damascus-plain because "it abounds with
water and fruit trees." Bochart (Geog. Sacra, p. 90) derives ﬠיטה (utah) from
ﬠוץ Uz, son of Arab, who (he says) founded Damascus. The Ghutah is one of the
four earthly paradises, the others being Basrah (Bassorah), Shiraz and
Samarcand. Its peculiarity is the likeness to a seaport; the Desert which rolls
up almost to its doors being the sea and its ships being the camels. The first
Arab to whom we owe this admirable term for the "Companion of Job" is "Tarafah"
one of the poets of the Suspended Poems: he likens (v. v. 3, 4) the camels
which bore away his beloved to ships sailing from Aduli. But "ships of the
desert" is doubtless a term of the highest antiquity.
</p>

<p>
[FN#206] The exigencies of the "Saj'a," or rhymed prose, disjoint this and many
similar passages.
</p>

<p>
[FN#207] The "Ebony" Islands; Scott's "Isle of Ebene," i., 217.
</p>

<p>
[FN#208] "Jarjarís" in the Bul. Edit.
</p>

<p>
[FN#209] Arab. "Takbís." Many Easterns can hardly sleep without this kneading
of the muscles, this "rubbing" whose hygienic properties England is now
learning.
</p>

<p>
[FN#210] The converse of the breast being broadened, the drooping,
"draggle-tail" gait compared with the head held high and the chest inflated.
</p>

<p>
[FN#211] This penalty is mentioned in the Koran (chapt. v.) as fit for those
who fight against Allah and his Apostle, but commentators are not agreed if the
sinners are first to be put to death or to hang on the cross till they die.
Pharaoh (chapt. xx.) threatens to crucify his magicians on palm-trees, and is
held to be the first crucifier.
</p>

<p>
[FN#212] Arab. "'Ajami"=foreigner, esp. a Persian: the latter in The Nights is
mostly a villain. I must here remark that the contemptible condition of
Persians in Al-Hijáz (which I noted in 1852, Pilgrimage, i., 327) has
completely changed. They are no longer, "The slippers of Ali and hounds of
Omar:" they have learned the force of union and now, instead of being bullied,
they bully.
</p>

<p>
[FN#213] The Calc. Edit. turns them into Tailors (Khayyátín) and Torrens does
not see the misprint.
</p>

<p>
[FN#214] i.e. Axe and sandals.
</p>

<p>
[FN#215] Lit. "Strike his neck."
</p>

<p>
[FN#216] A phrase which will frequently recur; meaning the situation suggested
such words a these.
</p>

<p>
[FN#217] The smiter with the evil eye is called &ldquo;A&rsquo;in&rdquo; and
the person smitten &ldquo;Ma&rsquo;ín&rdquo; or &ldquo;Ma&rsquo;ún.&rdquo;
</p>

<p>
[FN#218] Arab. "Sákiyah," the well-known Persian wheel with pots and buckets
attached to the tire. It is of many kinds, the boxed, etc., etc., and it is
possibly alluded to in the "pitcher broken at the fountain" (Ecclesiastes xii.
6) an accident often occurring to the modern "Noria." Travellers mostly abuse
its "dismal creaking" and "mournful monotony": I have defended the music of the
water-wheel in Pilgrimage ii. 198.
</p>

<p>
[FN#219] Arab. "Zikr" lit. remembering, mentioning (i. c. the names of Allah),
here refers to the meetings of religious for devotional exercises; the
"Zikkirs," as they are called, mostly standing or sitting in a circle while
they ejaculate the Holy Name. These "rogations" are much affected by
Darwayshes, or begging friars, whom Europe politely divides into "dancing" and
"howling"; and, on one occasion, greatly to the scandal of certain
Engländerinns to whom I was showing the Ezbekiyah I joined the ring of
"howlers." Lane (Mod. Egypt, see index) is profuse upon the subject of "Zikrs"
and Zikkírs. It must not be supposed that they are uneducated men: the better
class, however, prefers more privacy.
</p>

<p>
[FN#220] As they thought he had been there for prayer or penance.
</p>

<p>
[FN#221] Arab. "Ziyárat," a visit to a pious person or place.
</p>

<p>
[FN#222] This is a paternal salute in the East where they are particular about
the part kissed. A witty and not unusually gross Persian book, called the
"Al-Námah" because all questions begin with "Al" (the Arab article) contains
one "Al-Wajib al-busidan?" (what best deserves bussing?) and the answer is
"Kus-i-nau-pashm," (a bobadilla with a young bush).
</p>

<p>
[FN#223] A weight of 71-72 English grains in gold; here equivalent to the
diner.
</p>

<p>
[FN#224] Compare the tale of The Three Crows in Gammer Grethel, Evening ix.
</p>

<p>
[FN#225] The comparison is peculiarly apposite; the earth seen from above
appears hollow with a raised rim.
</p>

<p>
[FN#226] A hundred years old.
</p>

<p>
[FN#227] "Bahr" in Arab. means sea, river, piece of water; hence the adjective
is needed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#228] The Captain or Master of the ship (not the owner). In Al-Yaman the
word also means a "barber," in virtue of the root, Raas, a head.
</p>

<p>
[FN#229] The text has "in the character Ruká'í,"," or Riká'í,, the
correspondence-hand.
</p>

<p>
[FN#230] A curved character supposed to be like the basil-leaf (rayhán).
Richardson calls it "Rohani."
</p>

<p>
[FN#231] I need hardly say that Easterns use a reed, a Calamus (Kalam applied
only to the cut reed) for our quills and steel pens.
</p>

<p>
[FN#232] Famous for being inscribed on the Kiswah (cover) of Mohammed's tomb; a
large and more formal hand still used for engrossing and for mural
inscriptions. Only seventy two varieties of it are known (Pilgrimage, ii., 82).
</p>

<p>
[FN#233] The copying and transcribing hand which is either Arabi or Ajami. A
great discovery has been lately made which upsets all our old ideas of Cufic,
etc. Mr. Löytved of Bayrut has found, amongst the Hauranic inscriptions, one in
pure Naskhi, dating A. D. 568, or fifty years before the Hijrah; and it is
accepted as authentic by my learned friend M. Ch. Clermont-Ganneau (p. 193,
Pal. Explor. Fund. July 1884). In D'Herbelot and Sale's day the Koran was
supposed to have been written in rude characters, like those subsequently
called "Cufic," invented shortly before Mohammed's birth by Murámir ibn Murrah
of Anbar in Irák, introduced into Meccah by Bashar the Kindian, and perfected
by Ibn Muklah (Al-Wazir, ob. A. H. 328=940). We must now change all that. See
Catalogue of Oriental Caligraphs, etc., by G. P, Badger, London, Whiteley,
1885.
</p>

<p>
[FN#234] Capital and uncial letters; the hand in which the Ka'abah veil is
inscribed (Pilgrimage iii. 299, 300).
</p>

<p>
[FN#235] A "Court hand" says Mr. Payne (i. 112): I know nothing of it. Other
hands are: the Ta'alík; hanging or oblique, used for finer MSS. and having,
according to Richardson, "the same analogy to the Naskhi as our Italic has to
the Roman." The Nasta' lík (not Naskh-Ta'alik) much used in India, is, as the
name suggests, a mixture of the Naskhi (writing of transactions) and the
Ta'alik. The Shikastah (broken hand) everywhere represents our running hand and
becomes a hard task to the reader. The Kirmá is another cursive character,
mostly confined to the receipts and disbursements of the Turkish treasury. The
Diváni, or Court (of Justice) is the official hand, bold and round. a business
character, the lines often rising with a sweep or curve towards the (left) end.
The Jáli or polished has a variety, the Jali-Ta'alik: the Sulsi (known in many
books) is adopted for titles of volumes, royal edicts, diplomas and so forth;
"answering much the same purpose as capitals with us, or the flourished letters
in illuminated manuscripts" (Richardson) The Tughrái is that of the Tughrá, the
Prince's cypher or flourishing signature in ceremonial writings, and containing
some such sentence as: Let this be executed. There are others e. g. Yákuti and
Sirenkil known only by name. Finally the Maghribi (Moorish) hand differs in
form and diacritical points from the characters used further east almost as
much as German running hand does from English. It is curious that Richardson
omits the Jali (intricate and convoluted) and the divisions of the Sulusí,
Sulsi or Sulus (Thuluth) character, the Sulus al-Khafíf, etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#236] Arab. "Baghlah"; the male (Baghl) is used only for loads. This is
everywhere the rule: nothing is more unmanageable than a restive "Macho", and
he knows that he can always get you off his back when so minded. From "Baghlah"
is derived the name of the native craft Anglo-Indicè a "Buggalow."
</p>

<p>
[FN#237] In Heb. ""Ben-Adam" is any man opp. to "Beni ish" (Psalm iv. 3) =filii
viri, not homines.
</p>

<p>
[FN#238] This posture is terribly trying to European legs; and few white men
(unless brought up to it) can squat for any time on their heels. The
&ldquo;tailor-fashion,&rdquo; with crossed legs, is held to be free and easy.
</p>

<p>
[FN#239] Arab. "Katá"=Pterocles Alchata, the well-known sand-grouse of the
desert. It is very poor white flesh.
</p>

<p>
[FN#240] Arab. &ldquo;Khubz&rdquo; which I do not translate &ldquo;cake&rdquo;
or &ldquo;bread,&rdquo; as that would suggest the idea of our loaf. The staff
of life in the East is a thin flat circle of dough baked in the oven or on the
griddle, and corresponding with the Scotch &ldquo;scone,&rdquo; the Spanish
tortilla and the Australian &ldquo;flap-jack.&rdquo;
</p>

<p>
[FN#241] Arab. "Harísah," a favourite dish of wheat (or rice) boiled and
reduced to a paste with shredded meat, spices and condiments. The "bangles" is
a pretty girl eating with him.
</p>

<p>
[FN#242] These lines are repeated with a difference in Night cccxxx. They
affect Rims cars, out of the way, heavy rhymes: e. g. here Sakáríj (plur. of
Sakrúj, platters, porringers); Tayáhíj (plur. of Tayhúj, the smaller
caccabis-partridge); Tabáhíj (Persian Tabahjah, an omelet or a stew of meat,
onions, eggs, etc.) Ma'áríj ("in stepped piles" like the pyramids; which Lane
ii. 495, renders "on the stairs"); Makáríj (plur. of Makraj, a small pot);
Damálíj (plur. of dumlúj, a bracelet, a bangle); Dayábíj (brocades) and Tafáríj
(openings, enjoyments). In Night cccxxx. we find also Sikábíj (plur. of Sikbáj,
marinated meat elsewhere explained); Faráríj (plur. of farrúj, a chicken, vulg.
farkh) and Dakákíj (plur. of dakújah, a small jar). In the first line we have
also (though not a rhyme) Gharánik Gr. Γερανὸς, a crane, preserved in Romaic.
The weeping and wailing are caused by the remembrance that all these delicacies
have been demolished like a Badawi camp.
</p>

<p>
[FN#243] This is the vinum coctum, the boiled wine, still a favourite in
Southern Italy and Greece.
</p>

<p>
[FN#244] Eastern topers delight in drinking at dawn: upon this subject I shall
have more to say in other Nights.
</p>

<p>
[FN#245] Arab. "Adab," a crux to translators, meaning anything between good
education and good manners. In mod. Turk. "Edibiyyet" (Adabiyat) = belles
lettres and "Edebi' or "Edíb" = a littérateur.
</p>

<p>
[FN#246] The Caliph Al-Maamún, who was a bad player, used to say, "I have the
administration of the world and am equal to it, whereas I am straitened in the
ordering of a space of two spans by two spans." The "board" was then "a square
field of well-dressed leather."
</p>

<p>
[FN#247] The Rabbis (after Matth. xix. 12) count three kinds of Eunuchs; (1)
Seris chammah=of the sun, i.e. natural, (2) Seris Adam=manufactured per
homines; and (3) Seris Chammayim—of God (i.e.. religious abstainer). Seris
(castrated) or Abd (slave) is the general Hebrew name.
</p>

<p>
[FN#248] The "Lady of Beauty."
</p>

<p>
[FN#249] "Káf" has been noticed as the mountain which surrounds earth as a ring
does the finger:: it is popularly used like our Alp and Alpine. The
"circumambient Ocean" (Bahr al-muhit) is the Homeric Ocean-stream.
</p>

<p>
[FN#250] The pomegranate is probably chosen here because each fruit is supposed
to contain one seed from Eden-garden. Hence a host of superstitions (Pilgrimage
iii., 104) possibly connected with the Chaldaic-Babylonian god Rimmon or
Ramanu. Hence Persephone or Ishtar tasted the "rich pomegranate's seed."
Lenormant, loc. cit. pp. 166, 182.
</p>

<p>
[FN#251] i.e. for the love of God—a favourite Moslem phrase.
</p>

<p>
[FN#252] Arab. "Báb," also meaning a chapter (of magic, of war, etc.),
corresponding with the Persian "Dar" as in Sad-dar, the Hundred Doors. Here,
however, it is figurative "I tried a new mode." This scene is in the
Mabinogion.
</p>

<p>
[FN#253] I use this Irish term = crying for the dead, as English wants the word
for the præfica, or myrialogist. The practice is not encouraged in Al-Islam;
and Caliph Abu Bakr said, ; "Verily a corpse is sprinkled with boiling water by
reason of the lamentations of the living, i.e. punished for not having taken
measures to prevent their profitless lamentations. But the practice is from
Negroland whence it reached Egypt, and the people have there developed a
curious system in the "weeping-song" I have noted this in "The Lake Regions of
Central Africa." In Zoroastrianism (Dabistan, chapt. xcvii.) tears shed for the
dead form a river in hell, black and frigid.
</p>

<p>
[FN#254] These lines are hardly translatable. Arab. "Sabr" means "patience" as
well as "aloes," hereby lending itself to a host of puns and double entendres
more or less vile. The aloe, according to Burckhardt, is planted in graveyards
as a lesson of patience: it is also slung, like the dried crocodile, over house
doors to prevent evil spirits entering: "thus hung without earth and water,"
says Lane (M.E., chapt. xi.), "it will live for several years and even blossom.
Hence (?) it is called Sabr, which signifies patience. But Sibr as well as Sabr
(a root) means "long sufferance." I hold the practice to be one of the many
Inner African superstitions. The wild Gallas to the present day plant aloes on
graves, and suppose that when the plant sprouts the deceased has been admitted
to the gardens of Wák, the Creator. (Pilgrimage iii. 350.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#255] Every city in the East has its specific title: this was given to
Baghdad either on account of its superior police or simply because it was the
Capital of the Caliphate. The Tigris was also called the "River of Peace (or
Security)."
</p>

<p>
[FN#256] This is very characteristic: the passengers finding themselves in
difficulties at once take command. See in my Pilgrimage (I. chapt. xi.) how we
beat and otherwise maltreated the Captain of the "Golden Wire."
</p>

<p>
[FN#257] The fable is probably based on the currents which, as in Eastern
Africa, will carry a ship fifty miles a day out of her course. We first find it
in Ptolemy (vii. 2) whose Maniólai Islands, of India extra Gangem, cause iron
nails to fly out of ships, the effect of the Lapis Herculeus (Loadstone).
Rabelais (v. c. 37) alludes to it and to the vulgar idea of magnetism being
counteracted by Skordon (Scordon or garlic). Hence too the Adamant (Loadstone)
Mountains of Mandeville (chapt. xxvii.) and the "Magnetic Rock" in Mr Puttock's
clever "Peter Wilkins." I presume that the myth also arose from seeing craft
built, as on the East African Coast, without iron nails. We shall meet with the
legend again. The word Jabal ("Jebel" in Egypt) often occurs in these pages.
The Arabs apply it to any rising ground or heap of rocks; so it is not always =
our mountain. It has found its way to Europe e. g. Gibraltar and Monte Gibello
(or Mongibel in poetry) "Mt. Ethne that men clepen Mounte Gybelle." Other
special senses of Jabal will occur.
</p>

<p>
[FN#258] As we learn from the Nubian Geographer the Arabs in early ages
explored the Fortunate Islands (Jazírát al-Khálidát=Eternal Isles), or
Canaries, on one of which were reported a horse and horseman in bronze with his
spear pointing west. Ibn al-Wardi notes two images of hard stone, each an
hundred cubits high, and upon the top of each a figure of copper pointing with
its hand backwards, as though it would say:—Return for there is nothing behind
me!" But this legend attaches to older doings. The 23rd Tobba (who succeeded
Bilkis), Malik bin Sharhabíl, (or Sharabíl or Sharahíl) surnamed Náshir
al-Ní'am=scatterer of blessings, lost an army in attempting the Western sands
and set up a statue of copper upon whose breast was inscribed in antique
characters:—
</p>

<p>
     There is no access behind me,<br/>
     Nothing beyond,<br/>
     (Saith) The Son of Sharabíl.
</p>

<p>
[FN#259] i.e. I exclaimed "Bismillah!"
</p>

<p>
[FN#260] The lesser ablution of hands, face and feet; a kind of "washing the
points." More in Night ccccxl.
</p>

<p>
[FN#261] Arab. "Ruka'tayn"; the number of these bows which are followed by the
prostrations distinguishes the five daily prayers.
</p>

<p>
[FN#262] The "Beth Kol" of the Hebrews; also called by the Moslems "Hátif"; for
which ask the Spiritualists. It is the Hindu "voice divine" or "voice from
heaven."
</p>

<p>
[FN#263] These formulae are technically called Tasmiyah, Tahlil (before noted)
and Takbír: the "testifying" is Tashhíd.
</p>

<p>
[FN#264] Arab. "Samn," (Pers. "Raughan" Hind. "Ghi") the "single sauce" of the
East; fresh butter set upon the fire, skimmed and kept (for a century if
required) in leather bottles and demijohns. Then it becomes a hard black mass,
considered a panacea for wounds and diseases. It is very "filling": you say
jocosely to an Eastern threatened with a sudden inroad of guests, "Go, swamp
thy rice with Raughan." I once tried training, like a Hindu Pahlawan or
athlete, on Gur (raw sugar), milk and Ghi; and the result was being blinded by
bile before the week ended.
</p>

<p>
[FN#265] These handsome youths are always described in the terms we should
apply to women.
</p>

<p>
[FN#266] The Bul. Edit. (i. 43) reads otherwise:—I found a garden and a second
and a third and so on till they numbered thirty and nine; and, in each garden,
I saw what praise will not express, of trees and rills and fruits and
treasures. At the end of the last I sighted a door and said to myself, "What
may be in this place?; needs must I open it and look in!" I did so accordingly
and saw a courser ready saddled and bridled and picketed; so I loosed and
mounted him, and he flew with me like a bird till he set me down on a
terrace-roof; and, having landed me, he struck me a whisk with his tail and put
out mine eye and fled from me. Thereupon I descended from the roof and found
ten youths all blind of one eye who, when they saw me exclaimed, "No welcome to
thee, and no good cheer!" I asked them, "Do ye admit me to your home and
society?" and they answered, "No, by Allah' thou shalt not live amongst us." So
I went forth with weeping eyes and grieving heart, but Allah had written my
safety on the Guarded Tablet so I reached Baghdad in safety, etc. This is a
fair specimen of how the work has been curtailed in that issue.
</p>

<p>
[FN#267] Arabs date pregnancy from the stopping of the menses, upon which the
foetus is supposed to feed. Kalilah wa Dimnah says, "The child's navel adheres
to that of his mother and thereby he sucks" (i. 263).
</p>

<p>
[FN#268] This is contrary to the commands of Al-Islam, Mohammed expressly said
"The Astrologers are liars, by the Lord of the Ka'abah!"; and his saying is
known to almost all Moslems, lettered or unlettered. Yet, the further we go
East (Indiawards) the more we find these practices held in honour. Turning
westwards we have:
</p>

<p>
     Iuridicis, Erebo, Fisco, fas vivere rapto:<br/>
     Militibus, Medicis, Tortori occidere ludo est;<br/>
     Mentiri Astronomis, Pictoribus atque Poetis.
</p>

<p>
[FN#269] He does not perform the Wuzu or lesser ablution because he neglects
his dawn prayers.
</p>

<p>
[FN#270] For this game see Lane (M. E. Chapt. xvii.) It is usually played on a
checked cloth not on a board like our draughts; and Easterns are fond of
eating, drinking and smoking between and even during the games. Torrens (p.
142) translates "I made up some dessert," confounding "Mankalah" with "Nukl"
(dried fruit, quatre-mendiants).
</p>

<p>
[FN#271] Quoted from Mohammed whose saying has been given.
</p>

<p>
[FN#272] We should say "the night of the thirty-ninth."
</p>

<p>
[FN#273] The bath first taken after sickness.
</p>

<p>
[FN#274] Arab. "Dikák" used by way of soap or rather to soften the skin: the
meal is usually of lupins, "Adas"="Revalenta Arabica," which costs a penny in
Egypt and half-a-crown in England.
</p>

<p>
[FN#275] Arab. "Sukkar-nabát." During my day (1842-49) we had no other sugar in
the Bombay Presidency.
</p>

<p>
[FN#276] This is one of the myriad Arab instances that the decrees of "Anagké,"
Fate, Destiny, Weird, are inevitable. The situation is highly dramatic; and
indeed The Nights, as will appear in the Terminal Essay, have already suggested
a national drama.
</p>

<p>
[FN#277] Having lately been moved by Ajib.
</p>

<p>
[FN#278] Mr. Payne (i. 131) omits these lines which appear out of place; but
this mode of inappropriate quotation is a characteristic of Eastern tales.
</p>

<p>
[FN#279] Anglicè "him."
</p>

<p>
[FN#280] This march of the tribe is a lieu commun of Arab verse e.g. the poet
Labid's noble elegy on the "Deserted Camp." We shall find scores of instances
in The Nights.
</p>

<p>
[FN#281] I have heard of such sands in the Desert east of Damascus which can be
crossed only on boards or camel furniture; and the same is reported of the
infamous Region "Al-Ahkáf" ("Unexplored Syria").
</p>

<p>
[FN#282] Hence the Arab. saying "The bark of a dog and not the gleam of a
fire;" the tired traveller knows from the former that the camp is near, whereas
the latter shows from great distances.
</p>

<p>
[FN#283] Dark blue is the colour of mourning in Egypt as it was of the Roman
Republic. The Persians hold that this tint was introduced by Kay Kawús (B. C.
600) when mourning for his son Siyáwush. It was continued till the death of
Husayn on the 10th of Muharram (the first month, then representing the vernal
equinox) when it was changed for black. As a rule Moslems do not adopt this
symbol of sorrow (called "Hidád") looking upon the practice as somewhat
idolatrous and foreign to Arab manners. In Egypt and especially on the Upper
Nile women dye their hands with indigo and stain their faces black or blacker.
</p>

<p>
[FN#284] The older Roc, of which more in the Tale of Sindbad. Meanwhile the
reader curious about the Persian Símurgh (thirty bird) will consult the
Dabistan, i., 55,191 and iii., 237, and Richardson's Diss. p. xlviii. For the
Anka (Enka or Unka—long necked bird) see Dab. iii., 249 and for the Humá (bird
of Paradise) Richardson lxix. We still lack details concerning the Ben or Bennu
(nycticorax) of Egypt which with the Article pi gave rise to the Greek
"phoenix."
</p>

<p>
[FN#285] Probably the Haledj of Forskal (p. xcvi. Flor. Ægypt. Arab.), "lignum
tenax, durum, obscuri generis." The Bres. Edit. has "ákúl"=teak wood, vulg.
"Sáj."
</p>

<p>
[FN#286] The knocker ring is an invention well known to the Romans.
</p>

<p>
[FN#287] Arab. "Sadr"; the place of honour; hence the "Sudder Adawlut" (Supreme
Court) in the Anglo-Indian jargon.
</p>

<p>
[FN#288] Arab. "Ahlan wa sahlan wa marhabá," the words still popularly
addressed to a guest.
</p>

<p>
[FN#289] This may mean "liquid black eyes"; but also, as I have noticed, that
the lashes were long and thick enough to make the eyelids appear as if
Kohl-powder had been applied to the inner rims.
</p>

<p>
[FN#290] A slight parting between the two front incisors, the upper only, is
considered a beauty by Arabs; why it as hard to say except for the racial love
of variety. "Sughr" (Thugr) in the text means, primarily, the opening of the
mouth, the gape: hence the front teeth.
</p>

<p>
[FN#291] i.e. makes me taste the bitterness of death, "bursting the
gall-bladder" (Marárah) being our "breaking the heart."
</p>

<p>
[FN#292] Almost needless to say that forbidden doors and rooms form a
lieu-commun in Fairie: they are found in the Hindu Katha Sarit Sagara and
became familiar to our childhood by "Bluebeard."
</p>

<p>
[FN#293] Lit. "apply Kohl to my eyes," even as Jezebel "painted her face," in
Heb. put her eyes in painting (2 Kings ix. 30).
</p>

<p>
[FN#294] Arab. "Al-Barkúk," whence our older "Apricock." Classically it is
"Burkúk" and Pers. for Arab. "Mishrnish," and it also denotes a small plum or
damson. In Syria the side next the sun" shows a glowing red flush.
</p>

<p>
[FN#295] Arab. "Hazár" (in Persian, a thousand) = a kind of mocking bird.
</p>

<p>
[FN#296] Some Edits. make the doors number a hundred, but the Princesses were
forty and these coincidences, which seem to have significance and have none
save for Arab symmetromania, are common in Arab stories.
</p>

<p>
[FN#297] Arab. "Májur": hence possibly our "mazer," which is popularly derived
from Masarn, a maple.
</p>

<p>
[FN#298] A compound scent of ambergris, musk and aloes.
</p>

<p>
[FN#299] The ends of the bridle-reins forming the whip.
</p>

<p>
[FN#300] The flying horse is Pegasus which is a Greek travesty of an Egyptian
myth developed India.
</p>

<p>
[FN#301] The Bres. Edit. wrongly says "the seventh."
</p>

<p>
[FN#302] Arab. "Sharmutah" (plur. Sharámít) from the root Sharmat, to shred, a
favourite Egyptian word also applied in vulgar speech to a strumpet, a punk, a
piece. It is also the popular term for strips of jerked or boucaned meat hung
up m the sun to dry, and classically called "Kadíd."
</p>

<p>
[FN#303] Arab. "Izár," the man's waistcloth opposed to the Ridá or
shoulder-cloth, is also the sheet of white calico worn by the poorer Egyptian
women out of doors and covering head and hands. See Lane (M. E., chapt. i.).
The rich prefer a "Habárah" of black silk, and the poor, when they have nothing
else, use a bed-sheet.
</p>

<p>
[FN#304] i.e. "My dears."
</p>

<p>
[FN#305] Arab. "Lá tawákhizná:" lit. "do not chastise (or blame) us;" the pop.
expression for, "excuse (or pardon) us."
</p>

<p>
[FN#306] Arab. "Maskhút," mostly applied to change of shape as man enchanted to
monkey, and in vulgar parlance applied to a statue (of stone, etc.). The list
of metamorphoses in Al-Islam is longer than that known to Ovid. Those who have
seen Petra, the Greek town of the Haurán and the Roman ruins in Northern Africa
will readily detect the basis upon which these stories are built. I shall
return to this subject in The City of Iram (Night cclxxvi.) and The City of
Brass (dlxvii.).
</p>

<p>
[FN#307] A picturesque phrase enough to express a deserted site, a spectacle
familiar to the Nomades and always abounding in pathos to the citizens.
</p>

<p>
[FN#308] The olden "Harem" (or gynæceum, Pers. Zenanah, Serraglio): Harím is
also used by synecdoche for the inmates; especially the wife.
</p>

<p>
[FN#309] The pearl is supposed in the East to lose 1% per ann. of its splendour
and value.
</p>

<p>
[FN#310] Arab. "Fass," properly the bezel of a ring; also a gem cut en cabochon
and generally the contenant for the contenu.
</p>

<p>
[FN#311] Arab. "Mihráb" = the arch-headed niche in the Mosque-wall facing
Meccah-wards. Here, with his back to the people and fronting the Ka'abah or
Square House of Meccah (hence called the "Kiblah" = direction of prayer),
stations himself the Imám, antistes or fugleman, lit. "one who stands before
others;" and his bows and prostrations give the time to the congregation. I
have derived the Mihrab from the niche in which the Egyptian God was shrined:
the Jews ignored it, but the Christians preserved it for their statues and
altars. Maundrell suggests that the empty niche denotes an invisible God. As
the niche (symbol of Venus) and the minaret (symbol of Priapus) date only from
the days of the tenth Caliph, Al-Walid (A.H. 86-96=105-115), the Hindus charge
the Moslems with having borrowed the two from their favourite idols—The
Linga-Yoni or Cunnus phallus (Pilgrimage ii. 140), and plainly call the Mihrab
a Bhaga= Cunnus (Dabistan ii. 152). The Guebres further term Meccah "Mah-gah,"
locus Lunæ, and Al-Medinah, "Mahdinah," = Moon of religion. See Dabistan i.,
49, etc.
</p>

<p>[FN#312] Arab "Kursi," a stool of palm-fronds, etc.,
X-shaped (see Lane's illustration, Nights i., 197), before which the reader
sits. Good Moslems will not hold the Holy Volume below the waist nor open it
except when ceremonially pure. Englishmen in the East should remember this, for
to neglect the "Adab al-Kúran" (respect due to Holy Writ) gives great scandal.
</p>

<p>
[FN#313] Mr. Payne (i. 148) quotes the German Zuckerpüppchen.
</p>

<p>
[FN#314] The Persian poets have a thousand conceits in praise of the "mole,"
(Khál or Shámah) for which Hafiz offered "Samarkand and Bokhara" (they not
being his, as his friends remarked). Another "topic" is the flight of arrows
shot by eyelashes.
</p>

<p>
[FN#315] Arab. "Suhá" a star in the Great Bear introduced only to balance
"wushát" = spies, enviers, enemies, whose "evil eye" it will ward off.
</p>

<p>
[FN#316] In Arab tales beauty is always "soft-sided," and a smooth skin is
valued in proportion to its rarity.
</p>

<p>
[FN#317] The myrtle is the young hair upon the side face
</p>

<p>
[FN#318] In other copies of these verses the fourth couplet swears "by the
scorpions of his brow" <i>i.e.</i> the <i>accroche-cœurs</i>, the
beau-catchers, bell-ropes or aggravators," as the B.P. calls them. In couplet
eight the poet alludes to his love's "Unsur," or element his nature made up of
the four classicals, and in the last couplet he makes the nail paring refer to
the moon not the sun.
</p>

<p>
[FN#319] This is regular formula when speaking of Guebres.
</p>

<p>
[FN#320] Arab. "Faráiz"; the orders expressly given in the Koran which the
reader will remember, is Uncreate and Eternal. In India "Farz" is applied to
injunctions thrice repeated; and "Wájíb" to those given twice over. Elsewhere
scanty difference is made between them.
</p>

<p>
[FN#321] Arab. "Kufr" = rejecting the True Religion, i.e. Al-Islam, such
rejection being "Tughyán" or rebellion against the Lord. The "terrible sound"
is taken from the legend of the prophet Sálih and the proto-historic tribe of
Thámúd which for its impiety was struck dead by an earthquake and a noise from
heaven. The latter, according to some commentators, was the voice of the
Archangel Gabriel crying "Die all of you" (Koran, chapts. vii., xviii., etc.).
We shall hear more of it in the "City of many-coloured Iram." According to
some, Salih, a mysterious Badawi prophet, is buried in the Wady al-Shaykh of
the so-called Sinaitic Peninsula.
</p>

<p>
[FN#322] Yet they kept the semblance of man, showing that the idea arose from
the basaltic statues found in Hauranic ruins. Mohammed in his various marches
to Syria must have seen remnants of Greek and Roman settlements; and as has
been noticed "Sesostris" left his mark near Meccah. (Pilgrimage iii. 137).
</p>

<p>
[FN#323] Arab. "Shuhadá"; highly respected by Moslems as by other religionists;
although their principal if not only merit seems as a rule to have been intense
obstinacy and devotion to one idea for which they were ready to sacrifice even
life. The Martyrs-category is extensive including those killed by falling
walls; victims to the plague, pleurisy and pregnancy, travellers drowned or
otherwise lost when journeying honestly, and chaste lovers who die of "broken
hearts" i.e. impaired digestion. Their souls are at once stowed away in the
crops of green birds where they remain till Resurrection Day, "eating of the
fruits and drinking of the streams of Paradise," a place however, whose
topography is wholly uncertain. Thus the young Prince was rewarded with a
manner of anti-Purgatory, a preparatory heaven.
</p>

<p>
[FN#324] Arab. "Su'ubán:" the Badawin give the name to a variety of serpents
all held to be venomous; but in tales the word, like "Tannín," expresses our
"dragon" or "cockatrice."
</p>

<p>
[FN#325] She was ashamed to see the lady doing servile duty by rubbing her
feet. This massage, which B. de la Brocquière describes in 1452 as "kneading
and pinching," has already been noticed. The French term is apparently derived
from the Arab. "Mas-h."
</p>

<p>
[FN#326] Alluding to the Most High Name, the hundredth name of God, the Heb.
Shem hamphorash, unknown save to a favoured few who by using it perform all
manner of miracles.
</p>

<p>
[FN#327] i e. the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.
</p>

<p>
[FN#328] i.e. Settled by the Koran.
</p>

<p>
[FN#329] The uglier the old woman the better procuress she is supposed to make.
See the Santa Verdiana in Boccaccio v., 10. In Arab. "Ajuz" (old woman) is
highly insulting and if addressed to an Egyptian, whatever be her age she will
turn fiercely and resent it. The polite term is Shaybah (Pilgrimage hi., 200).
</p>

<p>
[FN#330] The four ages of woman, considered after Demosthenes in her three-fold
character, prostitute for pleasure, concubine for service and wife for
breeding.
</p>

<p>
[FN#331] Arab. "Jilá" (the Hindostani Julwa) = the displaying of the bride
before the bridegroom for the first time, in different dresses, to the number
of seven which are often borrowed for the occasion. The happy man must pay a
fee called "the tax of face-unveiling" before he can see her features. Amongst
Syrian Christians he sometimes tries to lift the veil by a sharp movement of
the sword which is parried by the women present, and the blade remains
entangled in the cloth. At last he succeeds, the bride sinks to the ground
covering her face with her hands and the robes of her friends: presently she is
raised up, her veil is readjusted and her face is left bare.
</p>

<p>
[FN#332] Arab. "Ishá"= the first watch of the night, twilight, supper-time,
supper. Moslems have borrowed the four watches of the Romans from 6 (a.m. or
p.m.) to 6, and ignore the three original watches of the Jews, even, midnight
and cockcrow (Sam. ii. 19, Judges vii. 19, and Exodus xiv. 24).
</p>

<p>
[FN#333] A popular Arab hyperbole.
</p>

<p>
[FN#334] Arab. "Shakáik al-Nu'uman," lit. the fissures of Nu'uman, the
beautiful anemone, which a tyrannical King of Hirah, Nu'uman ibn Al-Munzir, a
contemporary of Mohammed, attempted to monopolize.
</p>

<p>
[FN#335] Arab. "Andam"=here the gum called dragon's blood; in other places the
dye-wood known as brazil.
</p>

<p>
[FN#336] I need hardly say that in the East, where bells are unused, clapping
the hands summons the servants. In India men cry "Quy hye" (Koi hái?) and in
Brazil whistle "Pst!" after the fashion of Spain and Portugal.
</p>

<p>
[FN#337] The moles are here compared with pearls; a simile by no means common
or appropriate.
</p>

<p>
[FN#338] A parody on the testification of Allah's Unity.
</p>

<p>
[FN#339] Arab. "Simát" (prop. "Sumát"); the "dinner-table," composed of a round
wooden stool supporting a large metal tray, the two being called "Sufrah" (or
"Simat"): thus "Sufrah házirah!" means dinner is on the table. After the meal
they are at once removed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#340] In the text "Dastúr," the Persian word before noticed; "Izn" would be
the proper Arabic equivalent.
</p>

<p>
[FN#341] In the Moslem East a young woman, single or married, is not allowed to
appear alone in the streets; and the police have a right to arrest delinquents.
As a preventive of intrigues the precaution is excellent. During the Crimean
war hundreds of officers, English, French and Italian, became familiar with
Constantinople; and not a few flattered themselves on their success with
Turkish women. I do not believe that a single bona fide case occurred: the
"conquests" were all Greeks, Wallachians, Armenians or Jewesses.
</p>

<p>
[FN#342] Arab. "Azím": translators do not seem to know that this word in The
Nights often bears its Egyptian and slang sense, somewhat equivalent to our
"deuced" or "mighty" or "awfully fine."
</p>

<p>
[FN#343] This is a very serious thing amongst Moslems and scrupulous men often
make great sacrifices to avoid taking an oath.
</p>

<p>
[FN#344] We should say "into the noose."
</p>

<p>
[FN#345] The man had fallen in love with her and determined to mark her so that
she might be his.
</p>

<p>
[FN#346] Arab. "Dajlah," in which we find the Heb. Hid-dekel.
</p>

<p>
[FN#347] Such an execution would be contrary to Moslem law: but people would
look leniently upon the peccadillo of beheading or sacking a faithless wife.
Moreover the youth was of the blood royal and <i>A quoi bon être prince?</i> as
was said by a boy of viceroyal family in Egypt to his tutor who reproached him
for unnecessarily shooting down a poor old man.
</p>

<p>
[FN#348] Arab. "Shirk," partnership, evening or associating gods with God;
polytheism: especially levelled at the Hindu triadism, Guebre dualism and
Christian Trinitarianism.
</p>

<p>
[FN#349] Arab. "Shatm"—abuse, generally couched in foulest language with
especial reference to the privy parts of female relatives.
</p>

<p>
[FN#350] When a woman is bastinadoed in the East they leave her some portion of
dress and pour over her sundry buckets of water for a delicate consideration.
When the hands are beaten they are passed through holes in the curtain
separating the sufferer from mankind, and made fast to a "falakah" or pole.
</p>

<p>
[FN#351] Arab. "Khalifah," Caliph. The word is also used for the successor of a
Santon or holy man.
</p>

<p>
[FN#352] Arab. "Sár," here the Koranic word for carrying out the venerable and
undying lex talionis the original basis of all criminal jurisprudence. Its main
fault is that justice repeats the offence.
</p>

<p>
[FN#353] Both these sons of Harun became Caliphs, as we shall see in The
Nights.
</p>

<p>
[FN#354] "Dog" and "hog" are still highly popular terms of abuse. The Rabbis
will not defile their lips with "pig;" but say "Dabhar akhir"="another thing."
</p>

<p>
[FN#355] The "hero eponymus" of the Abbaside dynasty, Abbas having been the
brother of Abdullah the father of Mohammed. He is a famous personage in
AI-Islam (D'Herbelot).
</p>

<p>
[FN#356] Europe translates the word "Barmecides. It is Persian from bar (up)
and makidan (to suck). The vulgar legend is that Ja'afar, the first of the
name, appeared before the Caliph Abd al-Malik with a ring poisoned for his own
need; and that the Caliph, warned of it by the clapping of two stones which he
wore ad hoc, charged the visitor with intention to murder him. He excused
himself and in his speech occurred the Persian word "Barmakam," which may mean
"I shall sup it up," or "I am a Barmak," that is, a high priest among the
Guebres. See D'Herbelot s.v.
</p>

<p>
[FN#357] Arab."Zulm," the deadliest of monarch's sins. One of the sayings of
Mohammed, popularly quoted, is, "Kingdom endureth with Kufr or infidelity (i.
e. without accepting AI-Islam) but endureth not with Zulm or injustice." Hence
the good Moslem will not complain of the rule of Kafirs or Unbelievers, like
the English, so long as they rule him righteously and according to his own
law.]
</p>

<p>
[FN#358] All this aggravates his crime: had she been a widow she would not have
had upon him "the claims of maidenhead," the premio della verginita of
Boccaccio, x. 10.
</p>

<p>
[FN#359] It is supposed that slaves cannot help telling these fatal lies. Arab
story-books are full of ancient and modern instances and some have become "Joe
Millers." Moreover it is held unworthy of a free-born man to take over-notice
of these servile villanies; hence the scoundrel in the story escapes
unpunished. I have already noticed the predilection of debauched women for
these "skunks of the human race;" and the young man in the text evidently
suspected that his wife had passed herself this "little caprice." The excuse
which the Caliph would find for him is the pundonor shown in killing one he
loved so fondly.
</p>

<p>
[FN#360] The Arab equivalent of our pitcher and well.
</p>

<p>
[FN#361] i.e. Where the dress sits loosely about the bust.
</p>

<p>
[FN#362] He had trusted in Allah and his trust was justified.
</p>

<p>
[FN#363] Arab. "Khila'ah" prop. what a man strips from his person: gen. an
honorary gift. It is something more than the "robe of honour" of our chivalrous
romances, as it includes a horse, a sword (often gold-hilted), a black turban
(amongst the Abbasides) embroidered with gold, a violet-coloured mantle, a
waist-shawl and a gold neck-chain and shoe-buckles.
</p>

<p>
[FN#364] Arab. "Izá," i.e. the visits of condolence and so forth which are long
and terribly wearisome in the Moslem East.
</p>

<p>
[FN#365] Arab. "Mahr," the money settled by the man before marriage on the
woman and without which the contract is not valid. Usually half of it is paid
down on the marriage-day and the other half when the husband dies or divorces
his wife. But if she take a divorce she forfeits her right to it, and obscene
fellows, especially Persians, often compel her to demand divorce by unnatural
and preposterous use of her person.
</p>

<p>
[FN#366] Bismillah here means "Thou art welcome to it."
</p>

<p>
[FN#367] Arab. "Bassak," half Pers. (bas = enough) and—ak = thou; for thee.
"Bas" sounds like our "buss" (to kiss) and there are sundry good old
Anglo-Indian jokes of feminine mistakes on the subject.
</p>

<p>
[FN#368] This saving clause makes the threat worse. The scene between the two
brothers is written with characteristic Arab humour; and it is true to nature.
In England we have heard of a man who separated from his wife because he wished
to dine at six and she preferred half-past six.
</p>

<p>
[FN#369] Arab. "Misr." (vulg. Masr). The word, which comes of a very ancient
house, was applied to the present capital about the time of its conquest by the
Osmanli Turks A.H. 923 = 1517.
</p>

<p>
[FN#370] The Arab. "Jízah," = skirt, edge; the modern village is the site of an
ancient Egyptian city, as the "Ghizah inscription" proves (Brugsch, History of
Egypt, ii. 415)
</p>

<p>
[FN#371] Arab. "Watan" literally meaning "birth-place" but also used for
"patria, native country"; thus "Hubb al-Watan" = patriotism. The Turks
pronounce it "Vatan," which the French have turned into Va-t'en!
</p>

<p>
[FN#372] Arab. "Zarzariyah" = the colour of a stare or starling (Zurzúr).
</p>

<p>
[FN#373] Now a Railway Station on the Alexandria-Cairo line.
</p>

<p>
[FN#374] Even as late as 1852, when I first saw Cairo, the city was girt by
waste lands and the climate was excellent. Now cultivation comes up to the
house walls; while the Mahmudiyah Canal, the planting the streets with avenues
and over-watering have seriously injured it; those who want the air of former
Cairo must go to Thebes. Gout, rheumatism and hydrophobia (before unknown) have
become common of late years.
</p>

<p>
[FN#375] This is the popular pronunciation: Yakút calls it "Bilbís."
</p>

<p>
[FN#376] An outlying village on the "Long Desert," between Cairo and Palestine.
</p>

<p>
[FN#377] Arab. "Al-Kuds" = holiness. There are few cities which in our day have
less claim to this title than Jerusalem; and, curious to say, the "Holy Land"
shows Jews, Christians and Moslems all in their worst form. The only religion
(if it can be called one) which produces men in Syria is the Druse.
"Heiligen-landes Jüden" are proverbial and nothing can be meaner than the
Christians while the Moslems are famed for treachery.
</p>

<p>
[FN#378] Arab. "Shamm al-hawá." In vulgar parlance to "smell the air" is to
take a walk, especially out of town. There is a peculiar Egyptian festival
called "Shamm al-Nasím" (smelling the Zephyr) which begins on Easter-Monday
(O.S.), thus corresponding with the Persian Nau-roz, vernal equinox and
introducing the fifty days of "Khammasín" or "Mirísi" (hot desert winds). On
awakening, the people smell and bathe their temples with vinegar in which an
onion has been soaked and break their fast with a "fisikh" or dried "búri" =
mullet from Lake Menzalah: the late Hekekiyan Bey had the fish-heads counted in
one public garden and found 70,000. The rest of the day is spent out of doors
"Gypsying," and families greatly enjoy themselves on these occasions. For a
longer description, see a paper by my excellent friend Yacoub Artin Pasha, in
the Bulletin de l'Institut Égyptien, 2nd series, No. 4, Cairo, 1884. I have
noticed the Mirísi (south-wester) and other winds in the Land of Midian, i.,
23.
</p>

<p>
[FN#379] So in the days of the "Mameluke Beys" in Egypt a man of rank would not
cross the street on foot.
</p>

<p>
[FN#380] Arab. Basrah. The city is now in decay and not to flourish again till
the advent of the Euphrates Valley R.R., is a modern place, founded in A.H. 15,
by the Caliph Omar upon the Aylah, a feeder of the Tigris. Here, according to
Al-Haríri, the "whales and the lizards meet," and, as the tide affects the
river,
</p>

<p>
Its stream shows prodigy, ebbing and flowing.
</p>

<p>
In its far-famed market-place, Al-Marbad, poems used to be recited; and the
city was famous for its mosques and Saint-shrines, fair women and school of
Grammar which rivalled that of Kúfah. But already in Al-Hariri's day (nat. A.H.
446 = A.D. 1030) Baghdad had drawn off much of its population.
</p>

<p>
[FN#381] This fumigation (Bukhúr) is still used. A little incense or perfumed
wood is burnt upon an open censor (Mibkharah) of earthenware or metal, and
passed round, each guest holding it for a few moments under his beard. In the
Somali Country, the very home of incense, both sexes fumigate the whole person
after carnal intercourse. Lane (Mod. Egypt, chapt. viii) gives an illustration
of the Mibkharah.
</p>

<p>
[FN#382] The reader of The Nights will remark that the merchant is often a
merchant-prince, consorting and mating with the highest dignitaries. Even
amongst the Romans, a race of soldiers, statesmen and lawyers, "mercatura" on a
large scale was "not to be vituperated." In Boccacio (x. 19) they are netti e
delicati uomini. England is perhaps the only country which has made her fortune
by trade, and much of it illicit trade, like that in slaves which built
Liverpool and Bristol, and which yet disdains or affects to disdain the trader.
But the unworthy prejudice is disappearing with the last generation, and men
who formerly would have half starved as curates and ensigns, barristers and
carabins are now only too glad to become merchants.
</p>

<p>
[FN#383] These lines in the Calc. and Bul. Edits. Have already occurred (Night
vii.) but such carelessness is characteristic despite the proverb, "In
repetition is no fruition." I quote Torrens (p. 60) by way of variety. As
regards the anemone (here called a tulip) being named "Shakík" = fissure, I
would conjecture that it derives from the flower often forming long lines of
red like stripes of blood in the landscape. Travellers in Syria always observe
this.
</p>

<p>
[FN#384] Such an address to a royalty (Eastern) even in the present day, would
be a passport to future favours.
</p>

<p>
[FN#385] In England the man marries and the woman is married: there is no such
distinction in Arabia.
</p>

<p>
[FN#386] "Sultan" (and its corruption "Soldan") etymologically means lord,
victorious, ruler, ruling over. In Arabia it is a not uncommon proper name; and
as a title it is taken by a host of petty kinglets. The Abbaside Caliphs (as
Al-Wásik who has been noticed) formally created these Sultans as their regents.
Al-Tá'i bi'llah (regn. A.H. 363 = 974), invested the famous Sabuktagin with the
office; and as Alexander-Sikandar was wont to do, fashioned for him two flags,
one of silver, after the fashion of nobles, and the other of gold, as
Viceroy-designate. Sabuktagin's son, the famous Mahmúd of the Ghaznavite
dynasty in A.H. 393 = 1002, was the first to adopt "Sultan" as an independent
title some two hundred years after the death of Harun al-Rashid. In old writers
we have the Soldan of Egypt, the Soudan of Persia, and the Sowdan of Babylon;
three modifications of one word.
</p>

<p>
[FN#387] i.e. he was a "Háfiz," one who commits to memory the whole of the
Koran. It is a serious task and must be begun early. I learnt by rote the last
"Juzw" (or thirtieth part) and found that quite enough. This is the vulgar use
of "Hafiz": technically and theologically it means the third order of
Traditionists (the total being five) who know by heart 300,000 traditions of
the Prophet with their ascriptions. A curious "spiritualist" book calls itself
"Hafed, Prince of Persia," proving by the very title that the Spirits are
equally ignorant of Arabic and Persian.
</p>

<p>
[FN#388] Here again the Cairo Edit. repeats the six couplets already given in
Night xvii. I take them from Torrens (p. 163).
</p>

<p>
[FN#389] This naïve admiration of beauty in either sex characterised our
chivalrous times. Now it is mostly confined to "professional beauties" or what
is conventionally called the "fair sex"; as if there could be any comparison
between the beauty of man and the beauty of woman, the Apollo Belvidere with
the Venus de Medici.
</p>

<p>
[FN#390] Arab. "Shásh" (in Pers. urine) a light turband generally of muslin.
</p>

<p>
[FN#391] This is a <i>lieu commun</i> of Eastern worldly wisdom. Quite true!
Very unadvisable to dive below the surface of one's acquaintances, but such
intimacy is like marriage of which Johnson said, "Without it there is no
pleasure in life."
</p>

<p>
[FN#392] The lines are attributed to the famous Al-Mutanabbi = the claimant to
"Prophecy," of whom I have given a few details in my Pilgrimage iii. 60, 62. He
led the life of a true poet, somewhat Chauvinistic withal; and, rather than run
away, was killed in A.H. 354 = 965.
</p>

<p>
[FN#393] Arab. "Nabíz" = wine of raisins or dates; any fermented liquor; from a
root to "press out" in Syriac, like the word "Talmiz" (or Tilmiz says the Kashf
al-Ghurrah) a pupil, student. Date-wine (fermented from the fruit, not the
Tádi, or juice of the stem, our "toddy") is called Fazikh. Hence the Masjid
al-Fazikh at Al-Medinah where the Ansar or Auxiliaries of that city were
sitting cup in hand when they heard of the revelation forbidding inebriants and
poured the liquor upon the ground (Pilgrimage ii. 322).
</p>

<p>
[FN#394] Arab. "Huda" = direction (to the right way), salvation, a word
occurring in the Opening Chapter of the Koran. Hence to a Kafir who offers the
Salam-salutation many Moslems reply "Allah-yahdík" = Allah direct thee! (i.e.
make thee a Moslem), instead of Allah yusallimak = Allah lead thee to
salvation. It is the root word of the Mahdi and Mohdi.
</p>

<p>
[FN#395] These lines have already occurred in The First Kalandar's Story (Night
xi.) I quote by way of change and with permission Mr. Payne's version (i. 93).
</p>

<p>
[FN#396] Arab. "Farajíyah," a long-sleeved robe worn by the learned (Lane,
M.E., chapt. i.).
</p>

<p>
[FN#397] Arab. "Sarráf" (vulg. Sayrafi), whence the Anglo-Indian "Shroff," a
familiar corruption.
</p>

<p>
[FN#398] Arab. "Yahúdi" which is less polite than "Banú Isráil" = Children of
Israel. So in Christendom "Israelite" when in favour and "Jew" (with an
adjective or a participle) when nothing is wanted of him.
</p>

<p>
[FN#399] Also called "Ghilmán" = the beautiful youths appointed to serve the
True Believers in Paradise. The Koran says (chapt. lvi. 9 etc.) "Youths, which
shall continue in their bloom for ever, shall go round about to attend them,
with goblets, and beakers, and a cup of flowing wine," etc. Mohammed was an
Arab (not a Persian, a born pederast) and he was too fond of women to be
charged with love of boys: even Tristam Shandy (vol. vii. chapt. 7; "No, quoth
a third; the gentleman has been committing——") knew that the two tastes are
incompatibles. But this and other passages in the Koran have given the
Chevaliers de la Paille a hint that the use of boys, like that of wine, here
forbidden, will be permitted in Paradise.
</p>

<p>
[FN#400] Which, by the by, is the age of an oldish old maid in Egypt. I much
doubt puberty being there earlier than in England where our grandmothers
married at fourteen. But Orientals are aware that the period of especial
feminine devilry is between the first menstruation and twenty when, according
to some, every girl is a "possible murderess." So they wisely marry her and get
rid of what is called the "lump of grief," the "domestic calamity"—a daughter.
Amongst them we never hear of the abominable egotism and cruelty of the English
mother, who disappoints her daughter's womanly cravings in order to keep her at
home for her own comfort; and an "old maid" in the house, especially a stout,
plump old maid, is considered not "respectable." The ancient virgin is known by
being lean and scraggy; and perhaps this diagnosis is correct.
</p>

<p>
[FN#401] This prognostication of destiny by the stars and a host of follies
that end in -mancy is an intricate and extensive subject. Those who would study
it are referred to chapt. xiv. of the "Qanoon-e-Islam, or the Customs of the
Mussulmans of India; etc., etc., by Jaffur Shurreeff and translated by G. A.
Herklots, M. D. of Madras." This excellent work first appeared in 1832 (Allen
and Co., London) and thus it showed the way to Lane's "Modern Egyptians"
(1833-35). The name was unfortunate as "Kuzzilbash" (which rhymed to guzzle and
hash), and kept the book back till a second edition appeared in 1863 (Madras:
J. Higginbotham).
</p>

<p>
[FN#402] Arab. "Bárid," lit. cold: metaph. vain, foolish, insipid.
</p>

<p>
[FN#403] Not to "spite thee" but "in spite of thee." The phrase is still used
by high and low.
</p>

<p>
[FN#404] Arab. "Ahdab," the common hunchback; in classical language the Gobbo
in the text would be termed "Ak'as" from "Ka'as," one with protruding back and
breast; sometimes used for hollow back and protruding breast.
</p>

<p>
[FN#405] This is the custom with such gentry, who, when they see a likely man
sitting, are allowed by custom to ride astraddle upon his knees with most
suggestive movements, till he buys them off. These Ghawázi are mostly Gypsies
who pretend to be Moslems; and they have been confused with the Almahs or
Moslem dancing-girls proper (Awálim, plur. of Alimah, a learned feminine) by a
host of travellers. They call themselves Barámikah or Barmecides only to affect
Persian origin. Under native rule they were perpetually being banished from and
returning to Cairo (Pilgrimage i., 202). Lane (M.E., chapts. xviii. and xix.)
discusses the subject, and would derive Al'mah, often so pronounced, from Heb.
Almah, girl, virgin, singing-girl, hence he would translate Al-Alamoth shir
(Psalm xlvi.) and Nebalim al-alamoth (I. Chron., xv. 20) by a "song for
singing-girls" and "harps for singing-girls." He quotes also St. Jerome as
authority that Alma in Punic (Phoenician) signified a virgin, not a common
article, I may observe, amongst singing-girls. I shall notice in a future page
Burckhardt's description of the Ghawazi, p. 173, "Arabic Proverbs;" etc., etc.
Second Edition. London: Quaritch, 1875.
</p>

<p>
[FN#406] I need hardly describe the tarbúsh, a corruption of the Per.
"Sar-púsh" (headcover) also called "Fez" from its old home; and "tarbrush" by
the travelling Briton. In old days it was a calotte worn under the turban; and
it was protected from scalp-perspiration by an "Arakiyah" (Pers. Arak-chin) a
white skull-cap. Now it is worn without either and as a head-dress nothing can
be worse (Pilgrimage ii. 275).
</p>

<p>
[FN#407] Arab. "Tár.": the custom still prevails. Lane (M.E., chapt. xviii.)
describes and figures this hoop-drum.
</p>

<p>
[FN#408] The couch on which she sits while being displayed. It is her throne,
for she is the Queen of the occasion, with all the Majesty of Virginity.
</p>

<p>
[FN#409] This is a solemn "chaff;" such liberties being permitted at weddings
and festive occasions.
</p>

<p>
[FN#410] The pre-Islamític dynasty of Al-Yaman in Arabia Felix, a region
formerly famed for wealth and luxury. Hence the mention of Yamani work. The
caravans from Sana'á, the capital, used to carry patterns of vases to be made
in China and bring back the porcelains at the end of the third year: these are
the Arabic inscriptions which have puzzled so many collectors. The Tobba, or
Successors, were the old Himyarite Kings, a dynastic name like Pharaoh, Kisra
(Persia), Negush (Abyssinia), Khakan or Khan (Tartary), etc., who claimed to
have extended their conquests to Samarcand and made war on China. Any history
of Arabia (as Crichton I., chapt. iv.) may be consulted for their names and
annals. I have been told by Arabs that "Tobba" (or Tubba) is still used in the
old Himyar-land = the Great or the Chief.
</p>

<p>
[FN#411] Lane and Payne (as well as the Bres. Edit.) both render the word "to
kiss her," but this would be clean contrary to Moslem usage.
</p>

<p>
[FN#412] i.e. he was full of rage which he concealed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#413] The Hindus (as the Katha shows) compare this swimming gait with an
elephant's roll.
</p>

<p>
[FN#414] Arab. "Fitnah," a word almost as troublesome as "Adab." Primarily,
revolt, seduction, mischief: then a beautiful girl (or boy), and lastly a
certain aphrodisiac perfume extracted from mimosa-flowers (Pilgrimage i., 118).
</p>

<p>
[FN#415] Lit. burst the "gall-bladder:" In this and in the "liver" allusions I
dare not be baldly literal.
</p>

<p>
[FN#416] Arab. "Usfur" the seeds of Carthamus tinctorius = Safflower (Forskal,
Flora, etc. lv.). The seeds are crushed for oil and the flowers, which must be
gathered by virgins or the colour will fail, are extensively used for dying in
Southern Arabia and Eastern Africa.
</p>

<p>
[FN#417] On such occasions Miss Modesty shuts her eye and looks as if about to
faint.
</p>

<p>
[FN#418] After either evacuation the Moslem is bound to wash or sand the part;
first however he should apply three pebbles, or potsherds or clods of earth.
Hence the allusion in the Koran (chapt. ix), "men who love to be purified."
When the Prophet was questioning the men of Kuba, where he founded a mosque
(Pilgrimage ii., 215), he asked them about their legal ablutions, especially
after evacuation; and they told him that they used three stones before washing.
Moslems and Hindus (who prefer water mixed with earth) abhor the unclean and
unhealthy use of paper without ablution; and the people of India call European
draught-houses, by way of opprobrium, "Kághaz-khánah" = paper closets. Most
old Anglo-Indians, however, learn to use water.
</p>

<p>
[FN#419] "Miao" or "Mau" is the generic name of the cat in the Egyptian of the
hieroglyphs.
</p>

<p>
[FN#420] Arab. "Ya Mash'úm" addressed to an evil spirit.
</p>

<p>
[FN#421] "Heehaw!" as we should say. The Bresl. Edit. makes the cat cry "Nauh!
Nauh!" and the ass-colt "Manu! Manu!" I leave these onomatopoeics as they are
in Arabic; they are curious, showing the unity in variety of hearing
inarticulate sounds. The bird which is called "Whip poor Will" in the U.S. is
known to the Brazilians as "Joam corta páo" (John cut wood); so differently do
they hear the same notes.
</p>

<p>
[FN#422] It is usually a slab of marble with a long slit in front and a round
hole behind. The text speaks of a Kursi (= stool); but this is now unknown to
native houses which have not adopted European fashions.
</p>

<p>
[FN#423] This again is chaff as she addresses the Hunchback. The Bul. Edit. has
"O Abu Shiháb" (Father of the shooting-star = evil spirit); the Bresl. Edit. "O
son of a heap! O son of a Something!" (al-afsh, a vulgarism).
</p>

<p>
[FN#424] As the reader will see, Arab ideas of "fun" and practical jokes are of
the largest, putting the Hibernian to utter rout, and comparing favourably with
those recorded in Don Quixote.
</p>

<p>
[FN#425] Arab. "Saráwil" a corruption of the Pers. "Sharwál"; popularly called
"libás" which, however, may also mean clothing in general and especially
outer-clothing. I translate "bag-trousers" and "petticoat-trousers," the
latter being the divided skirt of our future. In the East, where Common Sense,
not Fashion, rules dress, men, who have a protuberance to be concealed, wear
petticoats and women wear trousers. The feminine article is mostly baggy but
sometimes, as in India, collant-tight. A quasi-sacred part of it is the inkle,
tape or string, often a most magnificent affair, with tassels of pearl and
precious stones; and "laxity in the trouser-string" is equivalent to the
loosest conduct. Upon the subject of "libás," "sarwál" and its variants the
curious reader will consult Dr. Dozy's "Dictionnaire Détaillé des Noms des
Vêtements chez les Arabes," a most valuable work.
</p>

<p>
[FN#426] The turban out of respect is not put upon the ground (Lane, M. E.,
chapt. i.).
</p>

<p>
[FN#427] Arab. "Madfa" showing the modern date or the modernization of the
tale. In Lebid "Madáfi" (plur. of Madfa') means water-courses or leats.
</p>

<p>
[FN#428] In Arab. the "he" is a "she;" and Habíb ("friend") is the Attic {Greek
Letters}, a euphemism for lover. This will occur throughout The Nights. So the
Arabs use a phrase corresponding with the Stoic {Greek Letters}, i.e. is wont,
is fain.
</p>

<p>
[FN#429] Part of the Azán, or call to prayer.
</p>

<p>
[FN#430] Arab. "Shiháb," these meteors being the flying shafts shot at evil
spirits who approach too near heaven. The idea doubtless arose from the showers
of August and November meteors (The Perseides and Taurides) which suggest a
battle raging in upper air. Christendom also has its superstition concerning
these and called those of August the "fiery tears of Saint Lawrence," whose
festival was on August 10.
</p>

<p>
[FN#431] Arab. "Tákiyah" = Pers. Arak-chin; the calotte worn under the Fez. It
is, I have said, now obsolete and the red woollen cap (mostly made in Europe)
is worn over the hair; an unclean practice.
</p>

<p>
[FN#432] Often the effect of cold air after a heated room.
</p>

<p>
[FN#433] i.e. He was not a Eunuch, as the people guessed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#434] In Arab. "this night" for the reason before given.
</p>

<p>
[FN#435] Meaning especially the drink prepared of the young leaves and florets
of Cannabis Sativa. The word literally means "day grass" or "herbage." This
intoxicant was much used by magicians to produce ecstasy and thus to "deify
themselves and receive the homage of the genii and spirits of nature."
</p>

<p>
[FN#436] Torrens, being an Irishman, translates "and woke in the morning
sleeping at Damascus."
</p>

<p>
[FN#437] Arab. "Labbayka," the cry technically called "Talbiyah" and used by
those entering Meccah (Pilgrimage iii. 125-232). I shall also translate it by
"Adsum." The full cry is:—
</p>

<p>
     Here am I, O Allah, here am I!<br/>
     No partner hast Thou, here am I:<br/>
     Verily the praise and the grace and the kingdom are thine:<br/>
     No partner hast Thou: here am I!
</p>

<p>
A single Talbiyah is a "Shart" or positive condition: and its repetition is a
Sunnat or Custom of the Prophet. See Night xci.
</p>

<p>
[FN#438] The staple abuse of the vulgar is cursing parents and relatives,
especially feminine, with specific allusions to their "shame." And when dames
of high degree are angry, Nature, in the East as in the West, sometimes speaks
out clearly enough, despite Mistress Chapone and all artificial restrictions.
</p>

<p>
[FN#439] A great beauty in Arabia and the reverse in Denmark, Germany and
Slav-land, where it is a sign of being a were-wolf or a vampire. In Greece also
it denotes a "Brukolak" or vampire.
</p>

<p>
[FN#440] This is not physiologically true: a bride rarely conceives the first
night, and certainly would not know that she had conceived. Moreover the number
of courses furnished by the bridegroom would be against conception. It is
popularly said that a young couple often undoes in the morning what it has done
during the night.
</p>

<p>
[FN#441] Torrens (Notes, xxiv.) quotes "Fleisher" upon the word "Ghamghama"
(Diss. Crit. De Glossis Habichtionis), which he compares with "Dumduma" and
Humbuma," determining them to be onomatopoeics, "an incomplete and an obscure
murmur of a sentence as it were lingering between the teeth and lips and
therefore difficult to be understood." Of this family is "Taghúm"; not used in
modern days. In my Pilgrimage (i. 313) I have noticed another, "Khyas',
Khyas'!" occurring in a Hizb al-Bahr (Spell of the Sea). Herklots gives a host
of them; and their sole characteristics are harshness and strangeness of sound,
uniting consonants which are not joined in Arabic. The old Egyptians and
Chaldeans had many such words composed at will for theurgic operations.
</p>

<p>
[FN#442] This may mean either "it is of Mosul fashion" or, it is of muslin.
</p>

<p>
[FN#443] To the English reader these lines would appear the reverse of
apposite; but Orientals have their own ways of application, and all allusions
to Badawi partings are effective and affecting. The civilised poets of Arab
cities throw the charm of the Desert over their verse by images borrowed from
its scenery, the dromedary, the mirage and the well as naturally as certain of
our bards who hated the country, babbled of purling rills, etc. thoroughly to
feel Arabic poetry one must know the Desert (Pilgrimage iii., 63).
</p>

<p>
[FN#444] In those days the Arabs and the Portuguese recorded everything which
struck them, as the Chinese and Japanese in our times. And yet we complain of
the amount of our modern writing!
</p>

<p>
[FN#445] This is mentioned because it is the act preliminary to naming the
babe.
</p>

<p>
[FN#446] Arab. "Kahramánát" from Kahramán, an old Persian hero who conversed
with the Simurgh-Griffon. Usually the word is applied to women-at-arms who
defend the Harem, like the Urdu-begani of India, whose services were lately
offered to England (1885), or the "Amazons" of Dahome.
</p>

<p>
[FN#447] Meaning he grew as fast in one day as other children in a month.
</p>

<p>
[FN#448] Arab. Al-Aríf; the tutor, the assistant-master.
</p>

<p>
[FN#449] Arab. "Ibn harám," a common term of abuse; and not a factual
reflection on the parent. I have heard a mother apply the term to her own son.
</p>

<p>
[FN#450] Arab. "Khanjar" from the Persian, a syn. with the Arab. "Jambiyah." It
is noticed in my Pilgrimage iii., pp. 72,75. To "silver the dagger" means to
become a rich man. From "Khanjar," not from its fringed loop or strap, I derive
our silly word "hanger." Dr. Steingass would connect it with Germ. Fänger, e.g.
Hirschfänger.
</p>

<p>
[FN#451] Again we have "Dastur" for Izn."
</p>

<p>
[FN#452] Arab. "Iklím"; the seven climates of Ptolemy.
</p>

<p>
[FN#453] Arab. "Al-Ghadir," lit. a place where water sinks, a lowland: here the
drainage-lakes east of Damascus into which the Baradah (Abana?) discharges. The
higher eastern plain is "Al-Ghutah" before noticed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#454] The "Plain of Pebbles" still so termed at Damascus; an open space west
of the city.
</p>

<p>
[FN#455] Every Guide-book, even the Reverend Porter's "Murray," gives a long
account of this Christian Church 'verted to a Mosque.
</p>

<p>
[FN#456] Arab. "Nabút"; Pilgrimage i. 336.
</p>

<p>
[FN#457] The Bres. Edit. says, "would have knocked him into Al-Yaman,"
(Southern Arabia), something like our slang phrase "into the middle of next
week."
</p>

<p>
[FN#458] Arab. "Khádim": lit. a servant, politely applied (like Aghá = master)
to a castrato. These gentry wax furious if baldly called "Tawáshi" = Eunuch. A
mauvais plaisant in Egypt used to call me The Agha because a friend had placed
his wife under my charge.
</p>

<p>
[FN#459] This sounds absurd enough in English, but Easterns always put
themselves first for respect.
</p>

<p>
[FN#460] In Arabic the World is feminine.
</p>

<p>
[FN#461] Arab. "Sáhib" = lit. a companion; also a friend and especially applied
to the Companions of Mohammed. Hence the Sunnis claim for them the honour of
"friendship" with the Apostle; but the Shia'hs reply that the Arab says
"Sahaba-hu'l-himár" (the Ass was his Sahib or companion). In the text it is a
Wazirial title, in modern India it is = gentleman, e.g. "Sahib log" (the Sahib
people) means their white conquerors, who, by the by, mostly mispronounce the
word "Sáb."
</p>

<p>
[FN#462] Arab. "Suwán," prop. Syenite, from Syene (Al-Suwan) but applied to
flint and any hard stone.
</p>

<p>
[FN#463] It was famous in the middle ages, and even now it is, perhaps, the
most interesting to travellers after that "Sentina Gentium," the "Bhendi Bazar"
of unromantic Bombay.
</p>

<p>
[FN#464] "The Gate of the Gardens," in the northern wall, a Roman archway of
the usual solid construction shaming not only our modern shams, but our finest
masonry.
</p>

<p>
[FN#465] Arab. "Al-Asr," which may mean either the hour or the prayer. It is
also the moment at which the Guardian Angels relieve each other (Sale's Koran,
chapt. v.).
</p>

<p>
[FN#466] Arab. "Ya házá" = O this (one)! a somewhat slighting address
equivalent to "Heus tu! O thou, whoever thou art." Another form is "Yá hú" = O
he! Can this have originated Swift's "Yahoo"?
</p>

<p>
[FN#467] Alluding to the τήρατα ("minor miracles which cause surprise")
performed by Saints' tombs, the mildest form of thaumaturgy. One of them
gravely recorded in the Dabistan (ii. 226) is that of the holy Jamen, who
opened the Sámran or bead- bracelet from the arm of the beautiful Chistápá with
member erect, "thus evincing his manly strength and his command over
himself"(!)
</p>

<p>
[FN#468] The River of Paradise, a lieu commun of poets (Koran, chapt. cviii.):
the water is whiter than milk or silver, sweeter than honey, smoother than
cream, more odorous than musk; its banks are of chrysolite and it is drunk out
of silver cups set around it thick as stars. Two pipes conduct it to the
Prophet's Pond which is an exact square, one month's journey in compass. Kausar
is spirituous like wine; Salsabil sweet like clarified honey; the Fount of
Mildness is like milk and the Fount of Mercy like liquid crystal.
</p>

<p>
[FN#469] The Moslem does not use the European basin because water which has
touched an impure skin becomes impure. Hence it is poured out from a ewer
("ibrík" Pers. Abríz) upon the hands and falls into a basin ("tisht") with an
open-worked cover.
</p>

<p>
[FN#470] Arab. "Wahsh," a word of many meanings; nasty, insipid, savage, etc.
The offside of a horse is called Wahshi opposed to Insi, the near side. The
Amir Taymur ("Lord Iron") whom Europeans unwittingly call after his Persian
enemies' nickname, "Tamerlane," i.e. Taymur-I-lang, or limping Taymur, is still
known as "Al-Wahsh" (the wild beast) at Damascus, where his Tartars used to
bury men up to their necks and play at bowls with their heads for ninepins.
</p>

<p>
[FN#471] For "grandson" as being more affectionate. Easterns have not yet
learned that clever Western saying:—The enemies of our enemies are our friends.
</p>

<p>
[FN#472] This was a simple bastinado on the back, not the more ceremonious
affair of beating the feet-soles. But it is surprising what the Egyptians can
bear; some of the rods used in the time of the Mameluke Beys are nearly as
thick as a man's wrist.
</p>

<p>
[FN#473] The woman-like spite of the eunuch intended to hurt the grandmother's
feelings.
</p>

<p>
[FN#474] The usual Cairene "chaff."
</p>

<p>
[FN#475] A necessary precaution against poison (Pilgrimage i. 84, and iii. 43).
</p>

<p>
[FN#476] The Bresl. Edit. (ii. 108) describes the scene at greater length.
</p>

<p>
[FN#477] The Bul. Edit. gives by mistake of diacritical points, "Zabdaniyah:"
Raydaniyah is or rather was a camping ground to the North of Cairo.
</p>

<p>
[FN#478] Arab. "La'abat" = a plaything, a puppet, a lay figure. Lane (i. 326)
conjectures that the cross is so called because it resembles a man with arms
extended. But Moslems never heard of the fanciful ideas of mediæval Christian
divines who saw the cross everywhere and in everything. The former hold that
Pharaoh invented the painful and ignominious punishment. (Koran, chapt. vii.).
</p>

<p>
[FN#479] Here good blood, driven to bay, speaks out boldly. But, as a rule, the
humblest and mildest Eastern when in despair turns round upon his oppressors
like a wild cat. Some of the criminals whom Fath Ali Shah of Persia put to
death by chopping down the fork, beginning at the scrotum, abused his mother
till the knife reached their vitals and they could no longer speak.
</p>

<p>
[FN#480] These repeated "laughs" prove the trouble of his spirit. Noble Arabs
"show their back-teeth" so rarely that their laughter is held worthy of being
recorded by their biographers.
</p>

<p>
[FN#481] A popular phrase, derived from the Koranic "Truth is come, and
falsehood is vanished: for falsehood is of short continuance" (chapt. xvii.).
It is an equivalent of our adaptation from 1 Esdras iv. 41, "Magna est veritas
et prævalebit." But the great question still remains, What is Truth?
</p>

<p>
[FN#482] In Night lxxv. these lines will occur with variants.
</p>

<p>
[FN#483] This is always mentioned: the nearer seat the higher the honour.
</p>

<p>
[FN#484] Alluding to the phrase "Al-safar zafar" = voyaging is victory
(Pilgrimage i., 127).
</p>

<p>
[FN#485] Arab. "Habb;" alluding to the black drop in the human heart which the
Archangel Gabriel removed from Mohammed by opening his breast.
</p>

<p>
[FN#486] This phrase, I have said, often occurs: it alludes to the
horripilation (Arab. Kush'arírah), horror or gooseflesh which, in Arab as in
Hindu fables, is a symptom of great joy. So Boccaccio's "pelo arriciato" v., 8:
Germ. Gänsehaut.
</p>

<p>
[FN#487] Arab. "Hasanta ya Hasan" = Bene detto, Benedetto! the usual word-play
vulgarly called "pun": Hasan (not Hassan, as we will write it) meaning
"beautiful."
</p>

<p>
[FN#488] Arab. "Loghah" also = a vocabulary, a dictionary; the Arabs had them
by camel-loads.
</p>

<p>
[FN#489] The seventh of the sixteen "Bahr" (metres) in Arabic prosody; the
easiest because allowing the most license and, consequently, a favourite for
didactic, homiletic and gnomic themes. It means literally "agitated" and was
originally applied to the rude song of the Cameleer. De Sacy calls this doggrel
"the poet's ass" (Torrens, Notes xxvi.). It was the only metre in which
Mohammed the Apostle ever spoke: he was no poet (Koran xxxvi., 69) but he
occasionally recited a verse and recited it wrongly (Dabistan iii., 212). In
Persian prosody Rajaz is the seventh of nineteen and has six distinct varieties
(pp. 79-81), "Gladwin's Dissertations on Rhetoric," etc. Calcutta, 1801). I
shall have more to say about it in the Terminal Essay.
</p>

<p>
[FN#490] "Her stature tall—I hate a dumpy woman" (Don Juan).
</p>

<p>
[FN#491] A worthy who was Kazi of Kufah (Cufa) in the seventh century.
Al-Najaf, generally entitled "Najaf al-Ashraf" (the Venerand) is the place
where Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, lies or is supposed to lie buried, and
has ever been a holy place to the Shi'ahs. I am not certain whether to
translate "Sa'alab" by fox or jackal; the Arabs make scant distinction between
them. "Abu Hosayn" (Father of the Fortlet) is certainly the fox, and as
certainly "Sha'arhar" is the jackal from the Pehlevi Shagál or Shaghál.
</p>

<p>
[FN#492] Usually by all manner of extortions and robbery, corruption and
bribery, the ruler's motto being
</p>

<p>
Fiat injustitia ruat Coelum.
</p>

<p>
There is no more honest man than the Turkish peasant or the private soldier;
but the process of deterioration begins when he is made a corporal and
culminates in the Pasha. Moreover official dishonesty is permitted by public
opinion, because it belongs to the condition of society. A man buys a place (as
in England two centuries ago) and retains it by presents to the heads of
offices. Consequently he must recoup himself in some way, and he mostly does so
by grinding the faces of the poor and by spoiling the widow and the orphan. The
radical cure is high pay; but that phase of society refuses to afford it.
</p>

<p>
[FN#493] Arab. "Malik" (King) and "Malak" (angel) the words being written the
same when lacking vowels and justifying the jingle.
</p>

<p>
[FN #494] Arab. "Hurr"; the Latin "ingenuus," lit. freeborn; metaph. noble as
opp. to a slave who is not expected to do great or good deeds. In pop. use it
corresponds, like "Fatá," with our "gentleman."
</p>

<p>
[FN#495] This is one of the best tales for humour and movement, and Douce and
Madden show what a rich crop of fabliaux, whose leading incident was the
disposal of a dead body, it produced.
</p>

<p>
[FN#496] Other editions read, "at Bassorah" and the Bresl. (ii. 123) "at
Bassorah and Kájkár" (Káshghár): somewhat like in Dover and Sebastopol. I
prefer China because further off and making the improbabilities more notable.
</p>

<p>
[FN#497] Arab. "Judri," lit. "small stones" from the hard gravelly feeling of
the pustules (Rodwell, p. 20). The disease is generally supposed to be the
growth of Central Africa where it is still a plague and passed over to Arabia
about the birth-time of Mohammed. Thus is usually explained the "war of the
elephant" (Koran, chapt. cv.) when the Abyssinian army of Abrahah, the
Christian, was destroyed by swallows (Abábíl which Major Price makes the plural
of Abilah = a vesicle) which dropped upon them "stones of baked clay," like
vetches (Pilgrimage ii. 175). See for details Sale (in loco) who seems to
accept the miraculous defence of the Ka'abah. For the horrors of small-pox in
Central Intertropical Africa the inoculation, known also to the Badawin of
Al-Hijáz and other details, readers will consult "The Lake Regions of Central
Africa" (ii. 318). The Hindus "take the bull by the horns" and boldly make
"Sítlá" (small-pox) a goddess, an incarnation of Bhawáni, deëss of
destruction-reproduction. In China small-pox is believed to date from B.C.
1200; but the chronology of the Middle Kingdom still awaits the sceptic.
</p>

<p>
[FN#498] In Europe we should add "and all fled, especially the women." But the
fatalism inherent in the Eastern mind makes the great difference.
</p>

<p>
[FN#499] Arab. "Uzayr." Esdras was a manner of Ripp van Winkle. He was riding
over the ruins of Jerusalem when it had been destroyed by the Chaldeans and he
doubted by what means Allah would restore it; whereupon he died and at the end
of a hundred years he revived. He found his basket of figs and cruse of wine as
they were; but of his ass only the bones remained. These were raised to life as
Ezra looked on and the ass began at once to bray. Which was a lesson to Esdras.
(Koran, chapt. ii.) The oath by the ass's hoofs is to ridicule the Jew.
Mohammed seems to have had an idée fixe that "the Jews say, Ezra is the son of
God" (Koran ix.); it may have arisen from the heterodox Jewish belief that
Ezra, when the Law was utterly lost, dictated the whole anew to the scribes of
his own memory. His tomb with the huge green dome is still visited by the Jews
of Baghdad.
</p>

<p>
[FN#500] Arab. "Bádhanj," the Pers. Bád. (wind) -gír (catcher): a wooden
pent-house on the terrace-roof universal in the nearer East.
</p>

<p>
[FN#501] The hunchback, in Arabia as in Southern Europe, is looked upon by the
vulgar with fear and aversion. The reason is that he is usually sharper-witted
than his neighbours.
</p>

<p>
[FN#502]Arab. "Yá Sattár" = Thou who veilest the discreditable secrets of Thy
creatures.
</p>

<p>
[FN#503] Arab. "Nasráni," a follower of Him of Nazareth and an older name than
"Christian" which (Acts xi., 26) was first given at Antioch about A.D. 43. The
cry in Alexandria used to be "Ya Nasráni, Kalb awáni!"=O Nazarene! O dog
obscene! (Pilgrimage i., 160).). "Christian" in Arabic can be expressed only by
"Masíhi" = follower of the Messiah.
</p>

<p>
[FN#504] Arab. "Tasbíh," = Saluting in the Subh (morning).
</p>

<p>
[FN#505] In the East women stand on minor occasions while men squat on their
hunkers in a way hardly possible to an untrained European. The custom is old.
Herodotus (ii., 35) says, "The women stand up when they make water, but the men
sit down." Will it be believed that Canon Rawlinson was too modest to leave
this passage in his translation? The custom was perpetuated by Al-Islam because
the position prevents the ejection touching the clothes and making them
ceremonially impure; possibly they borrowed it from the Guebres. Dabistan, Gate
xvi. says, "It is improper, whilst in an erect posture, to make water, it is
therefore necessary to sit at squat and force it to some distance, repeating
the Avesta mentally."
</p>

<p>
[FN#506] This is still a popular form of the "Kinchin lay," and as the turbands
are often of fine stuff, the petite industrie pays well.
</p>

<p>
[FN#507]Arab. "Wali" = Governor; the term still in use for the Governor General
of a Province as opposed to the "Muháfiz," or district-governor. In Eastern
Arabia the Wali is the Civil Governor opposed to the Amir or Military
Commandant. Under the Caliphate the Wali acted also as Prefect of Police (the
Indian Faujdár), who is now called "Zábit." The older name for the latter was
"Sáhib al-Shartah" (= chief of the watch) or "Mutawalli"; and it was his duty
to go the rounds in person. The old "Charley," with his lantern and cudgel,
still guards the bazars in Damascus.
</p>

<p>
[FN#508] Arab. "Al-Mashá ilí" = the bearer of a cresset (Mash'al) who was also
Jack Ketch. In Anglo-India the name is given to a lower body-servant. The
"Mash'al" which Lane (M. E., chapt. vi.) calls "Mesh'al" and illustrates, must
not be confounded with its congener the "Sha'ilah" or link (also lamp, wick,
etc.).
</p>

<p>
[FN#509] I need hardly say that the civilised "drop" is unknown to the East
where men are strung up as to a yardarm. This greatly prolongs the suffering.
</p>

<p>
[FN#510] Arab. "Lukmah"; = a mouthful. It is still the fashion amongst Easterns
of primitive manners to take up a handful of rice, etc., ball it and put it
into a friend's mouth honoris causâ. When the friend is a European the
expression of his face is generally a study.
</p>

<p>
[FN#511] I need hardly note that this is an old Biblical practice. The ass is
used for city-work as the horse for fighting and travelling, the mule for
burdens and the dromedary for the desert. But the Badawi, like the Indian,
despises the monture and sings:—
</p>

<p>
     The back of the steed is a noble place<br/>
     But the mule's dishonour, the ass disgrace!
</p>

<p>
The fine white asses, often thirteen hands high, sold by the Banu Salíb and
other Badawi tribes, will fetch £100, and more. I rode a little brute from
Meccah to Jedda (42 miles) in one night and it came in with me cantering.
</p>

<p>
[FN#512] A dry measure of about five bushels (Cairo). The classical
pronunciation is Irdabb and it measured 24 sa'a (gallons) each filling four
outstretched hands.
</p>

<p>
[FN#513] "Al-Jawáli" should be Al-Jáwali (Al-Makrizi) and the Bab al-Nasr (Gate
of Victory) is that leading to Suez. I lived in that quarter as shown by my
Pilgrimage (i. 62).
</p>

<p>
[FN#514] Arab. "Al-'ajalah," referring to a saying in every Moslem mouth,
"Patience is from the Protector (Allah): Hurry is from Hell." That and
"Inshallah bukra!" (Please God tomorrow.) are the traveller's bêtes noires.
</p>

<p>
[FN#515] Here it is a polite equivalent for "fall to!"
</p>

<p>
[FN#516] The left hand is used throughout the East for purposes of ablution and
is considered unclean. To offer the left hand would be most insulting and no
man ever strokes his beard with it or eats with it: hence, probably, one never
sees a left handed man throughout the Moslem east. In the Brazil for the same
reason old-fashioned people will not take snuff with the right hand. And it is
related of the Khataians that they prefer the left hand, "Because the heart,
which is the Sultan of the city of the Body, hath his mansion on that side"
(Rauzat al-Safá).
</p>

<p>
[FN#517] Two feminine names as we might say Mary and Martha.
</p>

<p>
[FN#518] It was near the Caliph's two Palaces (Al Kasrayn); and was famous in
the 15th century A. D. The Kazi's Mahkamah (Court house) now occupies the place
of the Two Palaces
</p>

<p>
[FN#519] A Kaysariah is a superior kind of bazar, a "bezestein." That in the
text stood to the east of the principal street in Cairo and was built in A. H.
502 (=1108-9) by a Circassian Emir, known as Fakhr al-Din Jahárkas, a
corruption of the Persian "Chehárkas" = four persons (Lane, i. 422, from
Al-Makrizi and Ibn Khallikan). For Jahárkas the Mac. Edit. has Jirjís (George)
a common Christian name. I once lodged in a 'Wakálah (the modern Khan) Jirjis."
Pilgrimage, i. 255.
</p>

<p>
[FN#520]Arab. "Second Day," i.e. after Saturday, the true Sabbath, so
marvellously ignored by Christendom.
</p>

<p>
[FN#521] Readers who wish to know how a traveller is lodged in a Wakálah, Khan,
or Caravanserai, will consult my Pilgrimage, i. 60.
</p>

<p>
[FN#522] The original occupation of the family had given it a name, as amongst
us.
</p>

<p>
[FN#523] The usual "chaff" or banter allowed even to modest women when
shopping, and—many a true word is spoken in jest.
</p>

<p>
[FN#524] "La adamnák" = Heaven deprive us not of thee, i.e. grant I see thee
often!
</p>

<p>
[FN#525] This is a somewhat cavalier style of advance; but Easterns under such
circumstances go straight to the point, hating to filer the parfait amour.
</p>

<p>
[FN#526] The peremptory formula of a slave delivering such a message.
</p>

<p>
[FN#527] This would be our Thursday night, preceding the day of public prayers
which can be performed only when in a state of ceremonial purity. Hence many
Moslems go to the Hammam on Thursday and have no connection with their wives
till Friday night.
</p>

<p>
[FN#528] Lane (i. 423) gives ample details concerning the Habbániyah, or
grain-sellers' quarter in the southern part of Cairo; and shows that when this
tale was written (or transcribed?) the city was almost as extensive as it is
now.
</p>

<p>
[FN#529] Nakíb is a caravan-leader, a chief, a syndic; and "Abú Shámah"= Father
of a cheek mole, while "Abú Shámmah" = Father of a smeller, a nose, a snout.
The "Kuniyah," bye-name, patronymic or matronymic, is necessary amongst Moslems
whose list of names, all connected more or less with religion, is so scanty.
Hence Buckingham the traveller was known as Abu Kidr, the Father of a
Cooking-pot and Hajj Abdullah as Abu Shawárib, Father of Mustachios
(Pilgrimage, iii., 263).
</p>

<p>
[FN#530] More correctly Bab Zawilah from the name of a tribe in Northern
Africa. This gate dates from the same age as the Eastern or Desert gate, Bab
al-Nasr (A.D. 1087) and is still much admired. M. Jomard describes it
(Description, etc., ii. 670) and lately my good friend Yacoub Artin Pasha has
drawn attention to it in the Bulletin de l'Inst. Egypt., Deuxième Série, No. 4,
1883.
</p>

<p>
[FN#531] This ornament is still seen in the older saloons of Damascus: the
inscriptions are usually religious sentences, extracts from the Koran, etc., in
uncial characters. They take the place of our frescos; and, as a work of art,
are generally far superior.
</p>

<p>
[FN#532] Arab. "Bayáz al-Sultání," the best kind of gypsum which shines like
polished marble. The stucco on the walls of Alexandria, built by Alexander of
the two Horns, was so exquisitely tempered and beautifully polished that men
had to wear masks for fear of blindness.
</p>

<p>
[FN#533] This Iklíl, a complicated affair, is now obsolete, its place having
been taken by the "Kurs," a gold plate, some five inches in diameter, set with
jewels, etc. Lane (M. E. Appendix A) figures it.
</p>

<p>
[FN#534] The woman-artist who applies the dye is called "Munakkishah."
</p>

<p>
[FN#535] "Kissing with th' inner lip," as Shakespeare calls it; the French
<i>langue fourrée:</i> and Sanskrit "Samputa." The subject of kissing is
extensive in the East. Ten different varieties are duly enumerated in the
"Ananga-Ranga;" or, The Hindu Art of Love (Ars Amoris Indica) translated from
the Sanskrit, and annotated by A. F. F. and B. F. R It is also connected with
unguiculation, or impressing the nails, of which there are seven kinds;
morsication (seven kinds); handling the hair and tappings or pattings with the
fingers and palm (eight kinds).
</p>

<p>
[FN#536] Arab. "asal-nahl," to distinguish it from "honey" i.e. syrup of
sugar-cane and fruits
</p>

<p>
[FN#537] The lines have occurred in Night xii. By way of variety I give
Torrens' version p. 273.
</p>

<p>
[FN#538] The way of carrying money in the corner of a pocket-handkerchief is
still common.
</p>

<p>
[FN#539] He sent the provisions not to be under an obligation to her in this
matter. And she received them to judge thereby of his liberality
</p>

<p>
[FN#540] Those who have seen the process of wine-making in the Libanus will
readily understand why it is always strained.
</p>

<p>
[FN#541] Arab. "Kulkasá," a kind of arum or yam, eaten boiled like our
potatoes.
</p>

<p>
[FN#542]At first he slipped the money into the bed-clothes: now he gives it
openly and she accepts it for a reason.
</p>

<p>
[FN#543] Arab. Al-Zalamah lit. = tyrants, oppressors, applied to the police and
generally to employés of Government. It is a word which tells a history.
</p>

<p>
[FN#544] Moslem law is never completely satisfied till the criminal confess. It
also utterly ignores circumstantial evidence and for the best of reasons:
amongst so sharp-witted a people the admission would lead to endless abuses. I
greatly surprised a certain Governor-General of India by giving him this simple
information
</p>

<p>
[FN#545] Cutting off the right hand is the Koranic punishment (chapt. v.) for
one who robs an article worth four dinars, about forty francs to shillings. The
left foot is to be cut off at the ankle for a second offence and so on; but
death is reserved for a hardened criminal. The practice is now obsolete and
theft is punished by the bastinado, fine or imprisonment. The old Guebres were
as severe. For stealing one dirham's worth they took a fine of two, cut off the
ear-lobes, gave ten stick-blows and dismissed the criminal who had been
subjected to an hour's imprisonment. A second theft caused the penalties to be
doubled; and after that the right hand was cut off or death was inflicted
according to the proportion stolen.
</p>

<p>
[FN#546] Koran viii. 17.
</p>

<p>
[FN#547] A universal custom in the East, the object being originally to show
that the draught was not poisoned.
</p>

<p>
[FN#548] Out of paste or pudding.
</p>

<p>
[FN#549] Boils and pimples are supposed to be caused by broken hair-roots and
in Hindostani are called Bál-tor.
</p>

<p>
[FN#550] He intended to bury it decently, a respect which Moslems always show
even to the exuviæ of the body, as hair and nail parings. Amongst Guebres the
latter were collected and carried to some mountain. The practice was
intensified by fear of demons or wizards getting possession of the spoils.
</p>

<p>
[FN#551] Without which the marriage was not valid. The minimum is ten dirhams
(drachmas) now valued at about five francs to shillings; and if a man marry
without naming the sum, the woman, after consummation, can compel him to pay
this minimum.
</p>

<p>
[FN#552] Arab. "Khatmah" = reading or reciting the whole Koran, by one or more
persons, usually in the house, not over the tomb. Like the "Zikr," Litany or
Rogation, it is a pious act confined to certain occasions.
</p>

<p>
[FN#553] Arab. "Zirbájah" = meat dressed with vinegar, cumin-seed (Pers. Zír)
and hot spices. More of it in the sequel of the tale.
</p>

<p>
[FN#554] A saying not uncommon meaning, let each man do as he seems fit; also =
"age quad agis": and at times corresponding with our saw about the cap fitting.
</p>

<p>
[FN#555] Arab. "Su'úd," an Alpinia with pungent rhizome like ginger; here used
as a counter-odour.
</p>

<p>
[FN#556] Arab. "Tá'ih" = lost in the "Tíh," a desert wherein man may lose
himself, translated in our maps 'The Desert of the Wanderings," scil. of the
children of Israel. "Credat Judæus."
</p>

<p>
[FN#557] <i>i.e.</i> £125 and £500.
</p>

<p>
[FN#558] A large sum was weighed by a professional instead of being counted,
the reason being that the coin is mostly old and worn: hence our words "pound"
and "pension" (or what is weighed out).
</p>

<p>
[FN#559] The eunuch is the best possible go-between on account of his almost
unlimited power over the Harem.
</p>

<p>
[FN#560] i.e., a slave-girl brought up in the house and never sold except for
some especial reason, as habitual drunkenness, etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#561] Smuggling men into the Harem is a stock "topic" of eastern tales. "By
means of their female attendants, the ladies of the royal harem generally get
men into their apartments in the disguise of women," says Vatsyayana in The
Kama Sutra, Part V. London: Printed for the Hindoo Kamashastra Society. 1883.
For private circulation only.
</p>

<p>
[FN#562] These tears are shed over past separation. So the "Indians" of the New
World never meet after long parting without beweeping mutual friends they have
lost.
</p>

<p>
[FN#563] A most important Jack in office whom one can see with his smooth chin
and blubber lips, starting up from his lazy snooze in the shade and delivering
his orders more peremptorily than any Dogberry. These epicenes are as curious
and exceptional in character as in external conformation. Disconnected, after a
fashion, with humanity, they are brave, fierce and capable of any villany or
barbarity (as Agha Mohammed Khan in Persia 1795-98). The frame is unnaturally
long and lean, especially the arms and legs; with high, flat, thin shoulders,
big protruding joints and a face by contrast extraordinarily large, a veritable
mask; the Castrato is expert in the use of weapons and sits his horse
admirably, riding well "home" in the saddle for the best of reasons; and his
hoarse, thick voice, which apparently does not break, as in the European
"Cáppone," invests him with all the circumstance of command.
</p>

<p>
[FN#564] From the Meccan well used by Moslems much like Eau de Lourdes by
Christians: the water is saltish, hence the touch of Arab humour (Pilgrimage
iii., 201-202).
</p>

<p>
[FN#565] Such articles would be sacred from Moslem eyes.
</p>

<p>
[FN#566] Physiologically true, but not generally mentioned in describing the
emotions.
</p>

<p>
[FN#567] Properly "Uta," the different rooms, each "Odalisque," or concubine,
having her own.
</p>

<p>
[FN#568] Showing that her monthly ailment was over.
</p>

<p>
[FN#569] Arab "Muhammarah" = either browned before the fire or artificially
reddened.
</p>

<p>
[FN#570] The insolence and licence of these palace-girls was (and is)
unlimited, especially when, as in the present case, they have to deal with a
"softy." On this subject numberless stories are current throughout the East.
</p>

<p>
[FN#571] i.e., blackened by the fires of Jehannam.
</p>

<p>
[FN#572] Arab. "Bi'l-Salámah" = in safety (to avert the evil eye). When
visiting the sick it is usual to say something civil; "The Lord heal thee! No
evil befall thee!" etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#573] Washing during sickness is held dangerous by Arabs; and "going to the
Hammam" is, I have said, equivalent to convalescence.
</p>

<p>
[FN#574] Arab. "Máristán" (pronounced Múristan) a corruption of the Pers.
"Bímáristán" = place of sickness, a hospital much affected by the old Guebres
(Dabistan, i., 165, 166). That of Damascus was the first Moslem hospital,
founded by Al-Walid Son of Abd al-Malik the Ommiade in A. H. 88 = 706-7.
Benjamin of Tudela (A. D. 1164) calls it "Dar-al Maraphtan" which his latest
Editor explains by "Dar-al-Morabittan" (abode of those who require being
chained). Al-Makrizi (Khitat) ascribes the invention of "Spitals" to
Hippocrates; another historian to an early Pharaoh "Manákiyush;" thus ignoring
the Persian Kings, Saint Ephrem (or Ephraim), Syru, etc. In modern parlance
"Maristan" is a madhouse where the maniacs are treated with all the horrors
which were universal in Europe till within a few years and of which occasional
traces occur to this day. In A.D. 1399 Katherine de la Court held a "hospital
in the Court called Robert de Paris," but the first madhouse in Christendom was
built by the legate Ortiz in Toledo A. D. 1483, and was therefore called Casa
del Nuncio. The Damascus "Maristan" was described by every traveller of the
last century: and it showed a curious contrast between the treatment of the
maniac and the idiot or omadhaun, who is humanely allowed to wander about
unharmed, if not held a Saint. When I saw it last (1870) it was all but empty
and mostly in ruins. As far as my experience goes, the United States is the
only country where the insane are rationally treated by the sane.
</p>

<p>
[FN#575] Hence the trite saying "Whoso drinks the water of the Nile will ever
long to drink it again." "Light" means easily digested water; and the great
test is being able to drink it at night between the sleeps, without indigestion
</p>

<p>
[FN#576] "Níl" in popular parlance is the Nile in flood; although also used for
the River as a proper name. Egyptians (modern as well as ancient) have three
seasons, Al-Shitá (winter), Al-Sayf (summer) and Al-Níl (the Nile i.e. flood
season' our mid-summer); corresponding with the Growth months; Housing (or
granary)-months and Flood-months of the older race.
</p>

<p>
[FN#577] These lines are in the Mac. Edit.
</p>

<p>
[FN#578] Arab. "Birkat al-Habash," a tank formerly existing in Southern Cairo:
Galland (Night 128) says "en remontant vers l'Ethiopie."
</p>

<p>
[FN#579] The Bres. Edit. (ii., 190), from which I borrow this description, here
alludes to the well-known Island, Al-Rauzah (Rodah) = The Garden.
</p>

<p>
[FN#580] Arab. "Laylat al-Wafá," the night of the completion or abundance of
the Nile (-flood), usually between August 6th and 16th, when the government
proclaims that the Nilometer shows a rise of 16 cubits. Of course it is a great
festival and a high ceremony, for Egypt is still the gift of the Nile (Lane M.
E. chapt. xxvi—a work which would be much improved by a better index).
</p>

<p>
[FN#581] i.e., admiration will be complete.
</p>

<p>
[FN#582] Arab. "Sáhil Masr" (Misr): hence I suppose Galland's villes maritimes.
</p>

<p>
[FN#583] A favourite simile, suggested by the broken glitter and shimmer of the
stream under the level rays and the breeze of eventide.
</p>

<p>
[FN#584] Arab. "Halab," derived by Moslems from "He (Abraham) milked (halaba)
the white and dun cow." But the name of the city occurs in the Cuneiforms as
Halbun or Khalbun, and the classics knew it as {Greek Letters}, Beroca, written
with variants.
</p>

<p>
[FN#585] Arab. "Ká'ah," usually a saloon; but also applied to a fine house here
and elsewhere in The Nights.
</p>

<p>
[FN#586] Arab. "Ghamz" = winking, signing with the eye which, amongst Moslems,
is not held "vulgar."
</p>

<p>
[FN#587] Arab. "Kamís" from low Lat. "Camicia," first found in St. Jerome:—
"Solent militantes habere lineas, quas Camicias vocant." Our shirt, chemise,
chemisette, etc., was unknown to the Ancients of Europe.
</p>

<p>
[FN#588] Arab. "Narjís." The Arabs borrowed nothing, but the Persians much,
from Greek Mythology. Hence the eye of Narcissus, an idea hardly suggested by
the look of the daffodil (or asphodel)-flower, is at times the glance of a spy
and at times the die-away look of a mistress. Some scholars explain it by the
form of the flower, the internal calyx resembling the iris, and the stalk being
bent just below the petals suggesting drooping eyelids and languid eyes. Hence
a poet addresses the Narcissus:—
</p>

<p class="poem">
O Narjis, look away! Before those eyes * I may not kiss her as a-breast she
lies.<br />
What! Shall the lover close his eyes in sleep * While thine watch all things
between earth and skies?
</p>

<p class="noindent">
The fashionable lover in the East must affect a frantic jealousy if he does not
feel it.
</p>

<p>
[FN#589] In Egypt there are neither bedsteads nor bedrooms: the carpets and
mattresses, pillows and cushions (sheets being unknown), are spread out when
wanted, and during the day are put into chests or cupboards, or only rolled up
in a corner of the room (Pilgrimage i. 53).
</p>

<p>
[FN#590] The women of Damascus have always been famed for the sanguinary
jealousy with which European story-books and novels credit the "Spanish lady."
The men were as celebrated for intolerance and fanaticism, which we first read
of in the days of Bertrandon de la Brocquière and which culminated in the
massacre of 1860. Yet they are a notoriously timid race and make, physically
and morally, the worst of soldiers: we proved that under my late friend Fred.
Walpole in the Bashi-Buzuks during the old Crimean war. The men looked very
fine fellows and after a month in camp fell off to the condition of old women.
</p>

<p>
[FN#591] Arab. "Rukhám," properly = alabaster and "Marmar" = marble; but the
two are often confounded.
</p>

<p>
[FN#592] He was ceremonially impure after touching a corpse.
</p>

<p>
[FN#593] The phrase is perfectly appropriate: Cairo without "her Nile" would be
nothing.
</p>

<p>
[FN#594] "The market was hot" say the Hindustanis. This would begin between 7
and 8 a.m.
</p>

<p>
[FN#595] Arab. Al-Faranj, Europeans generally. It is derived from "Gens
Francorum," and dates from Crusading days when the French played the leading
part. Hence the Lingua Franca, the Levantine jargon, of which Molière has left
such a witty specimen.
</p>

<p>
[FN#596] A process familiar to European surgery of the same date.
</p>

<p>
[FN#597] In sign of disappointment, regret, vexation; a gesture still common
amongst Moslems and corresponding in significance to a certain extent with our
stamping, wringing the hands and so forth. It is not mentioned in the Koran
where, however, we find "biting fingers' ends out of wrath" against a man
(chapt. iii.).
</p>

<p>
[FN#598] This is no unmerited scandal. The Cairenes, especially the feminine
half (for reasons elsewhere given), have always been held exceedingly
debauched. Even the modest Lane gives a "shocking" story of a woman enjoying
her lover under the nose of her husband and confining the latter in a madhouse
(chapt. xiii.). With civilisation, which objects to the good old remedy, the
sword, they become worse: and the Kazi's court is crowded with would-be
divorcees. Under English rule the evil has reached its acme because it goes
unpunished: in the avenues of the new Isma'iliyah Quarter, inhabited by
Europeans, women, even young women, will threaten to expose their persons
unless they receive "bakhshísh." It was the same in Sind when husbands were
assured that they would be hanged for cutting down adulterous wives: at once
after its conquest the women broke loose; and in 1843-50, if a young officer
sent to the bazar for a girl, half-a-dozen would troop to his quarters. Indeed
more than once the professional prostitutes threatened to memorialise Sir
Charles Napier because the "modest women," the "ladies" were taking the bread
out of their mouths. The same was the case at Kabul (Caboul) of Afghanistan in
the old war of 1840; and here the women had more excuse, the husbands being
notable sodomites as the song has it.
</p>

<p>
     The worth of slit the Afghan knows;<br/>
     The worth of hole the Kábul-man.
</p>

<p>
[FN#599] So that he might not have to do with three sisters-german. Moreover
amongst Moslems a girl's conduct is presaged by that of her mother; and if one
sister go wrong, the other is expected to follow suit. Practically the rule
applies everywhere, "like mother like daughter."
</p>

<p>
[FN#600] In sign of dissent; as opposed to nodding the head which signifies
assent. These are two items, apparently instinctive and universal, of man's
gesture-language which has been so highly cultivated by sundry North American
tribes and by the surdo-mute establishments of Europe.
</p>

<p>
[FN#601] This "Futur" is the real "breakfast" of the East, the "Chhoti házri"
(petit déjeûner) of India, a bit of bread, a cup of coffee or tea and a pipe on
rising. In the text, however, it is a ceremonious affair.
</p>

<p>
[FN#602] Arab. "Nahs," a word of many meanings; a sinister aspect of the stars
(as in Hebr. and Aram.) or, adjectivally, sinister, of ill-omen. Vulgarly it is
used as the reverse of nice and corresponds, after a fashion, with our "nasty."
</p>

<p>
[FN#603] "Window-gardening," new in England, is an old practice in the East.
</p>

<p>
[FN#604] Her pimping instinct at once revealed the case to her.
</p>

<p>
[FN#605] The usual "pander-dodge" to get more money.
</p>

<p>
[FN#606] The writer means that the old woman's account was all false, to
increase apparent difficulties and pour se faire valoir.
</p>

<p>
[FN#607] Arab. "Yá Khálati" =mother's sister; a familiar address to the old, as
uncle or nuncle (father's brother) to a man. The Arabs also hold that as a girl
resembles her mother so a boy follows his uncle (mother's brother): hence the
address "Ya tayyib al-Khál!" = O thou nephew of a good uncle. I have noted that
physically this is often fact.
</p>

<p>
[FN#608] "Ay w' Alláhi," contracted popularly to Aywa, a word in every Moslem
mouth and shunned by Christians because against orders Hebrew and Christian.
The better educated Turks now eschew that eternal reference to Allah which
appears in The Nights and which is still the custom of the vulgar throughout
the world of Al-Islam.
</p>

<p>
[FN#609] The "Muzayyin" or barber in the East brings his basin and budget under
his arm: he is not content only to shave, he must scrape the forehead, trim the
eyebrows, pass the blade lightly over the nose and correct the upper and lower
lines of the mustachios, opening the central parting and so forth. He is not a
whit less a tattler and a scandal monger than the old Roman tonsor or Figaro,
his confrère in Southern Europe. The whole scene of the Barber is admirable, an
excellent specimen of Arab humour and not over-caricatured. We all have met
him.
</p>

<p>
[FN#610] Abdullah ibn Abbas was a cousin and a companion of the Apostle, also a
well known Commentator on the Koran and conserver of the traditions of
Mohammed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#611] I have noticed the antiquity of this father of our sextant, a fragment
of which was found in the Palace of Sennacherib. More concerning the "Arstable"
(as Chaucer calls it) is given in my "Camoens: his Life and his Lusiads," p.
381.
</p>

<p>
[FN#612] Arab. "Simiyá" to rhyme with Kímiyá (alchemy proper). It is a
subordinate branch of the Ilm al-Ruháni which I would translate "Spiritualism,"
and which is divided into two great branches, "Ilwí or Rahmáni" (the high or
related to the Deity) and Siflí or Shaytáni (low, Satanic). To the latter
belongs Al-Sahr, magic or the black art proper, gramarye, egromancy, while
Al-Simiyá is white magic, electro-biology, a kind of natural and deceptive
magic, in which drugs and perfumes exercise an important action. One of its
principal branches is the Darb al-Mandal or magic mirror, of which more in a
future page. See Boccaccio's Day x. Novel 5.
</p>

<p>
[FN#613] Chap. iii., 128. See Sale (in loco) for the noble application of this
text by the Imam Hasan, son of the Caliph Ali.
</p>

<p>
[FN#614] These proverbs at once remind us of our old friend Sancho Panza and
are equally true to nature in the mouth of the Arab and of the Spaniard.
</p>

<p>
[FN#615] Our nurses always carry in the arms: Arabs place the children
astraddle upon the hip and when older on the shoulder.
</p>

<p>
[FN#616] Eastern clothes allow this biblical display of sorrow and vexation,
which with our European garb would look absurd: we must satisfy ourselves with
maltreating our hats
</p>

<p>
[FN#617] Koran xlviii., 8. It may be observed that according to the Ahádis
(sayings of the Prophet) and the Sunnat (sayings and doings of Mahommed), all
the hair should be allowed to grow or the whole head be clean shaven. Hence the
"Shúshah," or topknot, supposed to be left as a handle for drawing the wearer
into Paradise, and the Zulf, or side-locks, somewhat like the ringlets of the
Polish Jews, are both vain "Bida'at," or innovations, and therefore technically
termed "Makrúh," a practice not laudable, neither "Halál" (perfectly lawful)
nor "Harám" (forbidden by the law). When boys are first shaved generally in the
second or third year, a tuft is left on the crown and another over the
forehead; but this is not the fashion amongst adults. Abu Hanifah, if I am
rightly informed, wrote a treatise on the Shushah or long lock growing from the
Násiyah (head-poll) which is also a precaution lest the decapitated Moslem's
mouth be defiled by an impure hand; and thus it would resemble the chivalry
lock by which the Redskin brave (and even the "cowboy" of better times)
facilitated the removal of his own scalp. Possibly the Turks had learned the
practice from the Chinese and introduced it into Baghdad (Pilgrimage i., 240).
The Badawi plait their locks in Kurún (horns) or Jadáil (ringlets) which are
undone only to be washed with the water of the she-camel. The wild Sherifs wear
Haffah, long elf-locks hanging down both sides of the throat, and shaved away
about a finger's breadth round the forehead and behind the neck (Pilgrimage
iii., 35-36). I have elsewhere noted the accroche-coeurs, the "idiot fringe,"
etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#618] Meats are rarely coloured in modern days; but Persian cooks are great
adepts in staining rice for the "Puláo (which we call after its Turkish
corruption "pilaff"): it sometimes appears in rainbow-colours, red, yellow and
blue; and in India is covered with gold and silver leaf. Europe retains the
practice in tinting Pasch (Easter) eggs, the survival of the mundane ovum which
was hatched at Easter-tide; and they are dyed red in allusion to the Blood of
Redemption.
</p>

<p>
[FN#619] As I have noticed, this is a mixture.
</p>

<p>
[FN#620] We say:—
</p>

<p>
     Tis rare the father in the son we see:<br/>
     He sometimes rises in the third degree.
</p>

<p>
[FN#621] Arab. "Ballán" i.e. the body-servant: "Ballánah" is a tire-woman.
</p>

<p>
[FN#622] Arab. "Darabukkah" a drum made of wood or earthen-ware (Lane, M. E.,
xviii.), and used by all in Egypt.
</p>

<p>
[FN#623] Arab. "Naihah" more generally "Naddábah" Lat. præfica or carina, a
hired mourner, the Irish "Keener" at the conclamatio or coronach, where the
Hullabaloo, Hulululu or Ululoo showed the survivors' sorrow.
</p>

<p>
[FN#624] These doggerels, which are like our street melodies, are now forgotten
and others have taken their place. A few years ago one often heard, "Dus ya
lalli" (Tread, O my joy) and "Názil il'al-Ganínah" (Down into the garden) and
these in due turn became obsolete. Lane (M. E. chapt. xviii.) gives the former
e.g.
</p>

<p>
     Tread, O my joy! Tread, O my joy!<br/>
     Love of my love brings sore annoy,
</p>

<p>
A chorus to such stanzas as:—
</p>

<p>
Alexandrian damsels rare! * Daintily o'er the floor ye fare: Your lips are
sweet, are sugar-sweet, * And purfled Cashmere shawls ye wear!
</p>

<p>
It may be noted that "humming" is not a favourite practice with Moslems; if one
of the company begin, another will say, "Go to the Kahwah" (the coffee-house,
the proper music-hall) "and sing there!" I have elsewhere observed their
dislike to Al-sifr or whistling.
</p>

<p>
[FN#625] Arab. Khalí'a = worn out, crafty, an outlaw; used like Span.
"Perdido."
</p>

<p>
[FN#626] "Zabbál" is the scavenger, lit. a dung-drawer, especially for the use
of the Hammam which is heated with the droppings of animals. "Wakkád" (stoker)
is the servant who turns the fire. The verses are mere nonsense to suit the
Barber's humour.
</p>

<p>
[FN#627] Arab. "Yá bárid" = O fool.
</p>

<p>
[FN#628] This form of blessing is chanted from the Minaret about half-an-hour
before midday, when the worshippers take their places in the mosque. At noon
there is the usual Azán or prayer-call, and each man performs a two-bow, in
honour of the mosque and its gathering, as it were. The Prophet is then blessed
and a second Salám is called from the raised ambo or platform (dikkah) by the
divines who repeat the midday-call. Then an Imam recites the first Khutbah, or
sermon "of praise"; and the congregation worships in silence. This is followed
by the second exhortation "of Wa'az," dispensing the words of wisdom. The Imam
now stands up before the Mihráb (prayer niche) and recites the Ikámah which is
the common Azan with one only difference: after "Hie ye to salvation" it adds
"Come is the time of supplication;" whence the name, "causing" (prayer) "to
stand" (i.e., to begin). Hereupon the worshippers recite the Farz or Koran
commanded noon-prayer of Friday; and the unco' guid add a host of
superogatories Those who would study the subject may consult Lane (M. E. chapt.
iii. and its abstract in his "Arabian Nights," I, p. 430, or note 69 to chapt.
v.).
</p>

<p>
[FN#629] i.e., the women loosed their hair; an immodesty sanctioned only by a
great calamity.
</p>

<p>
[FN#630] These small shops are composed of a "but" and a "ben." (Pilgrimage i.,
99.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#631] Arab. "Kawwád," a popular term of abuse; hence the Span. and Port.
"Alco-viteiro." The Italian "Galeotto" is from Galahalt, not Galahad.
</p>

<p>
[FN#632] i.e., "one seeking assistance in Allah." He was the son of Al-Záhir
bi'lláh (one pre-eminent by the decree of Allah). Lane says (i. 430),
"great-grandson of Harun al-Rashid," alluding to the first Mustansir son of
Al-Mutawakkil (regn. A.H. 247-248 =861-862). But this is the 56th Abbaside and
regn. A. H. 623-640 (= 1226-1242).
</p>

<p>
[FN#633] Arab. "Yaum al-Id," the Kurban Bairam of the Turks, the Pilgrimage
festival. The story is historical. In the "Akd," a miscellany compiled by Ibn
Abd Rabbuh (vulg. Rabbi-hi) of Cordova, who ob. A. H. 328 = 940 we read:—A
sponger found ten criminals and followed them, imagining they were going to a
feast; but lo, they were going to their deaths! And when they were slain and he
remained, he was brought before the Khalifah (Al Maamun) and Ibrahim son of
Al-Mahdi related a tale to procure pardon for the man, whereupon the Khalifah
pardoned him. (Lane ii., 506.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#634] Arab. "Nata' al-Dam"; the former word was noticed in the Tale of the
Bull and the Ass. The leather of blood was not unlike the Sufrah and could be
folded into a bag by a string running through rings round the edges. Moslem
executioners were very expert and seldom failed to strike off the head with a
single blow of the thin narrow blade with razor-edge, hard as diamond withal,
which contrasted so strongly with the great coarse chopper of the European
headsman.
</p>

<p>
[FN#635] The ground floor, which in all hot countries is held, and rightly so,
unwholesome during sleep, is usually let for shops. This is also the case
throughout Southern Europe, and extends to the Canary Islands and the Brazil.
</p>

<p>
[FN#636] This serious contemplation of street-scenery is one of the pleasures
of the Harems.
</p>

<p>
[FN#637] We should say "smiled at him": the laugh was not intended as an
affront.
</p>

<p>
[FN#638] Arab. "Fals ahmar." Fals is a fish-scale, also the smaller coin and
the plural "Fulús" is the vulgar term for money (= Ital. quattrini ) without
specifying the coin. It must not be confounded with the "Fazzah," alias "Nuss,"
alias "Páráh" (Turk.); the latter being made, not of "red copper" but of a vile
alloy containing, like the Greek "Asper," some silver; and representing, when
at par, the fortieth of a piastre, the latter=2d. 2/5ths.
</p>

<p>
[FN#639] Arab "Farajiyah " a long-sleeved robe; Lane's "Farageeyeh," (M. E.,
chapt. i)
</p>

<p>
[FN#640] The tailor in the East, as in Southern Europe, is made to cut out the
cloth in presence of its owner, to prevent "cabbaging."
</p>

<p>
[FN#641] Expecting a present.
</p>

<p>
[FN#642] Alluding to the saying, "Kiss is the key to Kitty."
</p>

<p>
[FN#643] The "panel-dodge" is fatally common throughout the East, where a man
found in the house of another is helpless.
</p>

<p>
[FN#644] This was the beginning of horseplay which often ends in a bastinado.
</p>

<p>
[FN#645] Hair-dyes, in the East, are all of vegetable matter, henna,
indigo-leaves, galls, etc.: our mineral dyes are, happily for them, unknown.
Herklots will supply a host of recipes The Egyptian mixture which I quoted in
Pilgrimage (ii., 274) is sulphate of iron and ammoniure of iron one part and
gall nuts two parts, infused in eight parts of distilled water. It is innocuous
but very poor as a dye.
</p>

<p>
[FN#646] Arab. Amrad, etymologically "beardless and handsome," but often used
in a bad sense, to denote an effeminate, a catamite.
</p>

<p>
[FN#647] The Hindus prefer "having the cardinal points as her sole garment."
"Vêtu de climat," says Madame de Stael. In Paris nude statues are "draped in
cerulean blue." Rabelais (iv.,29) robes King Shrovetide in grey and gold of a
comical cut, nothing before, nothing behind, with sleeves of the same.
</p>

<p>
[FN#648] This scene used to be enacted a few years ago in Paris for the benefit
of concealed spectators, a young American being the victim. It was put down
when one of the lookers-on lost his eye by a pen-knife thrust into the
"crevice."
</p>

<p>
[FN#649] Meaning that the trick had been played by the Wazir's wife or
daughter. I could mention sundry names at Cairo whose charming owners have done
worse things than this unseemly frolic.
</p>

<p>
[FN#650] Arab. "Shayyun li'lláhi," a beggar's formula = per amor di Dio.
</p>

<p>
[FN#651] Noting how sharp-eared the blind become.
</p>

<p>
[FN#652] The blind in Egypt are notorious for insolence and violence,
fanaticism and rapacity. Not a few foreigners have suffered from them
(Pilgrimage i., 148). In former times many were blinded in infancy by their
mothers, and others blinded themselves to escape conscription or honest hard
work. They could always obtain food, especially as Mu'ezzins and were preferred
because they could not take advantage of the minaret by spying into their
neighbours' households. The Egyptian race is chronically weak-eyed, the effect
of the damp hot climate of the valley, where ophthalmia prevailed even during
the pre-Pharaohnic days. The great Sesostris died stone-blind and his successor
lost his sight for ten years (Pilgrimage ii., 176). That the Fellahs are now
congenitally weak-eyed, may be seen by comparing them with negroes imported
from Central Africa. Ophthalmia rages, especially during the damp season, in
the lower Nile-valley; and the best cure for it is a fortnight's trip to the
Desert where, despite glare, sand and wind, the eye readily recovers tone.
</p>

<p>
[FN#653] i.e., with kicks and cuffs and blows, as is the custom. (Pilgrimage
i., 174.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#654] Arab. Káid (whence "Alcayde") a word still much used in North Western
Africa.
</p>

<p>
[FN#655] Arab. "Sullam" = lit. a ladder; a frame-work of sticks, used by way of
our triangles or whipping-posts.
</p>

<p>
[FN#656] This is one of the feats of Al-Símiyá = white magic; fascinating the
eyes. In Europe it has lately taken the name of "Electro-biology."
</p>

<p>
[FN#657] again by means of the "Símiyá" or power of fascination possessed by
the old scoundrel.
</p>

<p>
[FN#658] A formula for averting "Al-Ayn," the evil eye. It is always unlucky to
meet a one-eyed man, especially the first thing in the morning and when setting
out on any errand. The idea is that the fascinated one will suffer from some
action of the physical eye. Monoculars also are held to be rogues: so the
Sanskrit saying "Few one-eyed men be honest men."
</p>

<p>
[FN#659] Al-Nashshár from Nashr = sawing: so the fiddler in Italian is called
the "village-saw" (Sega del villaggio). He is the Alnaschar of the Englished
Galland and Richardson. The tale is very old. It appears as the Brahman and the
Pot of Rice in the Panchatantra; and Professor Benfey believes (as usual with
him) that this, with many others, derives from a Buddhist source. But I would
distinctly derive it from Æsop's market-woman who kicked over her eggs, whence
the Lat. prov. Ante victoriam canere triumphum = to sell the skin before you
have caught the bear. In the "Kalilah and Dimnah" and its numerous offspring it
is the "Ascetic with his Jar of oil and honey;" in Rabelais (i., 33)
Echephron's shoemaker spills his milk, and so La Perette in La Fontaine. See M.
Max Muller's "Chips," (vol. iii., appendix) The curious reader will compare my
version with that which appears at the end of Richardson's Arabic Grammar
(Edit. Of 1811): he had a better, or rather a fuller MS. (p. 199) than any yet
printed.
</p>

<p>
[FN#660] Arab. "Atr" = any perfume, especially oil of roses; whence our word
"Ottar,' through the Turkish corruption.
</p>

<p>
[FN#661] The texts give "dirhams" (100,000 = 5,000 dinars) for "dinars," a
clerical error as the sequel shows.
</p>

<p>
[FN#662] "Young slaves," says Richardson, losing "colour."
</p>

<p>
[FN#663] Nothing more calculated to give affront than such a refusal.
Richardson (p. 204) who, however, doubts his own version (p. 208), here
translates, "and I will not give liberty to my soul (spouse) but in her
apartments." The Arabic, or rather Cairene, is, "wa lá akhalli rúhi" I will not
let myself go, i.e., be my everyday self, etc.
</p>

<p>
[FN#664] "Whilst she is in astonishment and terror." (Richardson.)
</p>

<p>
[FN#665] "Chamber of robes," Richardson, whose text has "Nám" for "Manám."
</p>

<p>
[FN#666] "Till I compleat her distress," Richardson, whose text is corrupt.
</p>

<p>
[FN#667] "Sleep by her side," R. the word "Náma" bearing both senses.
</p>

<p>
[FN#668] "Will take my hand," R. "takabbal" being also ambiguous.
</p>

<p>
[FN#669] Arab. "Mu'arras" one who brings about "'Ars," marriages, etc. So the
Germ. = "Kupplerinn" a Coupleress. It is one of the many synonyms for a pimp,
and a word in general use (Pilgrimage i., 276).The most insulting term, like
Dayyús, insinuates that the man panders for his own wife.
</p>

<p>
[FN#670] Of hands and face, etc. See Night cccclxiv.
</p>

<p>
[FN#671] Arab. "Sadakah" (sincerity), voluntary or superogatory alms, opposed
to "Zakát" (purification), legal alms which are indispensable. "Prayer carries
us half way to Allah, fasting brings us to the door of His palace and alms
deeds (Sadakah) cause us to enter." For "Zakát" no especial rate is fixed, but
it should not be less than one-fortieth of property or two and a half per cent.
Thus Al-lslam is, as far as I know, the only faith which makes a poor-rate
(Zakát) obligatory and which has invented a property-tax, as opposed the unjust
and unfair income-tax upon which England prides herself.
</p>

<p>
[FN#672] A Greek girl.
</p>

<p>
[FN#673] This was making himself very easy; and the idea is that the gold in
the pouch caused him to be so bold. Lane's explanation (in loco) is all wrong.
The pride engendered by sudden possession of money is a lieu commun amongst
Eastern story tellers; even in the beast-fables the mouse which has stolen a
few gold pieces becomes confident and stout-hearted.
</p>

<p>
[FN#674] Arab. "al-Málihah" also means the beautiful (fem.) from Milh=salt,
splendour, etc., the Mac edit. has "Mumallihah" = a salt-vessel.
</p>

<p>
[FN#675] i.e., to see if he felt the smart.
</p>

<p>
[FN#676] Arab. "Sardábeh" (Persian)=an underground room used for coolness in
the hot season. It is unknown in Cairo but every house in Baghdad, in fact
throughout the Mesopotamian cities, has one. It is on the principle of the
underground cellar without which wine will not keep: Lane (i., 406) calls it a
"vault".
</p>

<p>
[FN#677] In the orig. "O old woman!" which is insulting.
</p>

<p>
[FN#678] So the Italians say "a quail to skin."
</p>

<p>
[FN#679] "Amán" is the word used for quarter on the battle-field; and there are
Joe Millers about our soldiers in India mistaking it for "a man" or (Scottice)
"a mon."
</p>

<p>
[FN#680] Illustrating the Persian saying "Allah himself cannot help a fool."
</p>

<p>
[FN#681] Any article taken from the person and given to a criminal is a promise
of pardon, of course on the implied condition of plenary confession and of
becoming "King's evidence."
</p>

<p>
[FN#682] A naïve proposal to share the plunder.
</p>

<p>
[FN#683] In popular literature "Schacabac.", And from this tale comes our
saying "A Barmecide's Feast," i.e., an illusion.
</p>

<p>
[FN#684] The Castrato at the door is still (I have said) the fashion of Cairo
and he acts "Suisse" with a witness.
</p>

<p>
[FN#685] As usual in the East, the mansion was a hollow square surrounding what
in Spain is called Patio: the outer entrance was far from the inner, showing
the extent of the grounds.
</p>

<p>
[FN#686] "Nahnu málihín" = we are on terms of salt, said and say the Arabs. But
the traveller must not trust in these days to the once sacred tie; there are
tribes which will give bread with one hand and stab with the other. The Eastern
use of salt is a curious contrast with that of Westerns, who made it an
invidious and inhospitable distinction, e.g., to sit above the salt-cellar and
below the salt. Amongst the ancients, however, "he took bread and salt" means
he swore, the food being eaten when an oath was taken. Hence the "Bride cake"
of salt, water and flour.
</p>

<p>
[FN#687] Arab. "Harísah," the meat-pudding before explained.
</p>

<p>
[FN#688] Arab. "Sikbáj," before explained; it is held to be a lordly dish,
invented by Khusraw Parwiz. "Fatted duck" says the Bresl. Edit. ii., 308, with
more reason.
</p>

<p>
[FN#689] I was reproved in Southern Abyssinia for eating without this champing,
"Thou feedest like a beggar who muncheth silently in his corner;" and presently
found that it was a sign of good breeding to eat as noisily as possible.
</p>

<p>
[FN#690] Barley in Arabia is, like our oats, food for horses: it fattens at the
same time that it cools them. Had this been known to our cavalry when we first
occupied Egypt in 1883-4 our losses in horse-flesh would have been far less;
but official ignorance persisted in feeding the cattle upon heating oats and
the riders upon beef, which is indigestible, instead of mutton, which is
wholesome.
</p>

<p>
[FN#691] i.e. "I conjure thee by God."
</p>

<p>
[FN#692] i.e. "This is the very thing for thee."
</p>

<p>
[FN#693] i.e., at random.
</p>

<p>
[FN#694] This is the way of slaughtering the camel, whose throat is never cut
on account of the thickness of the muscles. "Égorger un chameau" is a mistake
often made in French books.
</p>

<p>
[FN#695] i.e. I will break bounds.
</p>

<p>
[FN#696] The Arabs have a saying corresponding with the dictum of the
Salernitan school:—
</p>

<p>
     Noscitur a labiis quantum sit virginis antrum:<br/>
     Noscitur a naso quanta sit hasta viro;<br/>
     (A maiden's mouth shows what's the make of her <i>chose;</i><br/>
     And man's mentule one knows by the length of his nose.)
</p>

<p>
Whereto I would add:—
</p>

<p>
     And the eyebrows disclose how the lower wig grows.
</p>

<p>
The observations are purely empirical but, as far as my experience extends,
correct.
</p>

<p>
[FN#697] Arab. "Kahkahah," a very low proceeding.
</p>

<p>
[FN#698] Or "for every death there is a cause;" but the older Arabs had a
saying corresponding with "Deus non fecit mortem."
</p>

<p>
[FN#699] The King's barber is usually a man of rank for the best of reasons,
that he holds his Sovereign's life between his fingers. One of these noble
Figaros in India married an English lady who was, they say, unpleasantly
surprised to find out what were her husband's official duties.
</p>

</div><!--end chapter-->

<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS ***</div>
<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 3435-h.htm or 3435-h.zip</div>
<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/3/3435/</div>
<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
Updated editions will replace the previous one&mdash;the old editions will
be renamed.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg&trade; electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG&trade;
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
away&mdash;you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
</div>

<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br />
<span style='font-size:smaller;'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br />
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span>
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
To protect the Project Gutenberg&trade; mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase &ldquo;Project
Gutenberg&rdquo;), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg&trade; License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
</div>

<div style='display:block;font-size:1.1em;margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic works
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg&trade;
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.B. &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg&trade; electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg&trade;
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (&ldquo;the
Foundation&rdquo; or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg&trade; mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg&trade;
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg&trade; name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg&trade; License when
you share it without charge with others.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg&trade; work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country outside the United States.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg&trade; License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg&trade; work (any work
on which the phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; appears, or with which the
phrase &ldquo;Project Gutenberg&rdquo; is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
</div>

<blockquote>
  <div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
    other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
    whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
    of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
    at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
    are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
    of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
  </div>
</blockquote>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase &ldquo;Project
Gutenberg&rdquo; associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg&trade;
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg&trade; License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg&trade;
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg&trade;.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg&trade; License.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg&trade; work in a format
other than &ldquo;Plain Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg&trade; web site
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original &ldquo;Plain
Vanilla ASCII&rdquo; or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg&trade; License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg&trade; works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic works
provided that
</div>

<ul style='display: block;list-style-type: disc;margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom: 1em;margin-left: 0;margin-right: 0;padding-left: 40px;'>
    <li style='display: list-item;'>
        You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
        the use of Project Gutenberg&trade; works calculated using the method
        you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
        to the owner of the Project Gutenberg&trade; trademark, but he has
        agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
        Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
        within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
        legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
        payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
        Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
        Section 4, &ldquo;Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
        Literary Archive Foundation.&rdquo;
    </li>

    <li style='display: list-item;'>
        You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
        you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
        does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg&trade;
        License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
        copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
        all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg&trade;
        works.
    </li>

    <li style='display: list-item;'>
        You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
        any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
        electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
        receipt of the work.
    </li>

    <li style='display: list-item;'>
        You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
        distribution of Project Gutenberg&trade; works.
    </li>
</ul>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg&trade; electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg&trade;
trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.F.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg&trade; collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg&trade;
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain &ldquo;Defects,&rdquo; such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the &ldquo;Right
of Replacement or Refund&rdquo; described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg&trade; trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg&trade; electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you &lsquo;AS-IS&rsquo;, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg&trade;
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg&trade; work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg&trade; work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
</div>

<div style='display:block;font-size:1.1em;margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg&trade;
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
Project Gutenberg&trade; is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg&trade;&rsquo;s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg&trade; collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg&trade; and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
</div>

<div style='display:block;font-size:1.1em;margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation&rsquo;s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state&rsquo;s laws.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
The Foundation&rsquo;s principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
date contact information can be found at the Foundation&rsquo;s web site and
official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
For additional contact information:
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em;'>
Dr. Gregory B. Newby<br />
Chief Executive and Director<br />
gbnewby@pglaf.org
</div>

<div style='display:block;font-size:1.1em;margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
Project Gutenberg&trade; depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
</div>

<div style='display:block;font-size:1.1em;margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'>
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg&trade; electronic works.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg&trade; concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg&trade; eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
Project Gutenberg&trade; eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>.
</div>

<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>
This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg&trade;,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
</div>

</body>
</html>
generated by cgit v1.2.3 (git 2.25.1) at 2026-06-18 06:58:31 +0000