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diff --git a/old/alaed10.txt b/old/alaed10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..405a4d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/alaed10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7670 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp, by John Payne + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp + +Author: John Payne + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5100] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 25, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, ALAEDDIN AND THE ENCHANTED LAMP *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by JC Byers. + + + + ALAEDDIN and the ENCHANTED LAMP; + + Zein Ul Asnam and the King of the Jinn: + Two Stories Done into English from the Recently + Discovered Arabic Text + + by John Payne + + London 1901 + + + + + To + Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, K.C.M.G., + H.B.M. CONSUL, TRIESTE. + +My Dear Burton, + +I give myself the pleasure of placing your name in the forefront +of another and final volume of my translation of the Thousand and +One Nights, which, if it have brought me no other good, has at +least been the means of procuring me your friendship. + +Believe me, + +Yours always, + +John Payne. + + + + + + Twelve years this day,--a day of winter, dreary + With drifting snows, when all the world seemed dead + To Spring and hope,--it is since, worn and weary + Of doubt within and strife without, I fled + + From the mean workday miseries of existence, + From spites that slander and from hates that lie, + Into the dreamland of the Orient distance + Under the splendours of the Syrian sky, + + And in the enchanted realms of Eastern story, + Far from the lovelessness of modern times, + + Garnered the rainbow-remnants of old glory + That linger yet in those ancestral climes; + + And now, the tong task done, the journey over, + From that far home of immemorial calms, + Where, as a mirage, on the sky-marge hover + The desert and its oases of palms, + + Lingering, I turn me back, with eyes reverted + To this stepmother world of daily life, + As one by some long pleasant dream deserted, + That wakes anew to dull unlovely strife: + + Yet, if non' other weal the quest have wrought me. + The long beloved labour now at end, + This gift of gifts the untravelled East hath brought me, + The knowledge of a new and valued friend. + +5th Feb. 1889. + + + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +I. + +The readers of my translation of the Book of the Thousand Nights +and One Night will remember that, in the terminal essay (1884) on +the history and character of the collection, I expressed my +conviction that the eleven (so-called) "interpolated" +tales, [FN#1] though, in my judgment, genuine Oriental stories, +had (with the exception of the Sleeper Awakened and Aladdin) no +connection with the original work, but had been procured by +Galland from various (as yet) unidentified sources, for the +purpose of supplying the deficiencies of the imperfect MS. of the +Nights from which he made his version. [FN#2] My opinion as to +these talcs has now been completely confirmed by the recent +discovery (by M. Zotenberg, Keeper of Oriental MSS. in the +Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris) of two Arabic MSS. of the +Nights, both containing three of the missing stories, i.e. (1) +Zeyn Alasnam, (3) The Sleeper Awakened and (4) Aladdin, and by +the publication (also by M. Zotenberg) of certain extracts from +Galland's diary, giving particulars of the circumstances under +which the "interpolated" tales were incorporated with his +translation of the Arabian Nights. The Arabic text of the Story +of Aladdin, as given by the completer and more authentic of the +newly-discovered MSS., has recently been made by M. Zotenberg the +subject of a special publication, [FN#3] in the preface to which +(an exhaustive bibliographical essay upon the various Texts of +the Thousand and One Nights, considered in relation to Galland's +translation) he gives, in addition to the extracts in question +from Galland's Diary, a detailed description of the two MSS. +aforesaid, the more interesting particulars of which I now +proceed to abstract for the benefit of my readers. + + + + II. + + + +The first MS. commences precisely where the third volume of +Galland's MS. ends, to wit, (see my Terminal essay, p. 265, +note1) with the 281st Night, in the middle of the story of +Camaralzaman [FN#4] and contains, (inter alia) besides the +continuation of this latter (which ends with Night CCCXXIX), the +stories of the Sleeper Awakened (Nights CCCXXX-CCCC), Ganem +(Nights CCCCXXVIII-CCCCLXX1V), Zeyn Alasnam (Nights CCCCLXXV- +CCCCXCI), Aladdin (Nights CCCCXCII-DLXIX) and three others not +found in Galland's version. The MS. ends in the middle of the +631st night with the well-known Story of King Bekhtzad +(Azadbekht) and his son or the Ten Viziers, (which will be found +translated in my " Tales from the Arabic," Vol. I. pp. 61 et +seq.) and contains, immediately after Night CCCCXXVII and before +the story of Ganem, a note in Arabic, of which the following is a +translation: + +"The fourth volume of the wonders and marvels of the stories of +the Thousand Nights and One Night was finished by the hand of the +humblest of His' servants in the habit of a minister of religion +(Kahin, lit. a diviner, Cohen), the [Christian] priest Dionysius +Shawish, a scion (selil) of the College of the Romans (Greeks, +Europeans or Franks, er Roum), by name St. Athanasius, in Rome +the Greatest (or Greater, utsma, fem. of aatsem, qu re +Constantinople ?) on the seven-and-twentieth of the month Shubat +(February) of the year one thousand seven hundred fourscore and +seven, [he being] then teacher of the Arabic tongue in the +Library of the Sultan, King of France, at Paris the Greatest." + +From this somewhat incoherent note we may assume that the MS. was +written in the course of the year 1787 by the notorious Syrian +ecclesiastic Dom Denis Chavis, the accomplice of Cazotte in the +extraordinary literary atrocity shortly afterward perpetrated by +the latter under the name of a sequel or continuation of the +Thousand and One Nights [FN#6] (v. Cabinet des Fees, vols. +xxxviii--xli), [FN#7] and in all probability (cf. the mention in +the above note of the first part, i.e. Nights CCLXXXI-CCCCXXVII, +as the fourth volume) to supply the place of Galland's missing +fourth volume for the Bibliotheque Royale; but there. is nothing, +except a general similarity of style and the occurrence in the +former of the rest of Camaralzaman and (though not in the same +order) of four of the tales supposed to have been contained in +the latter, to show that Dom Chavis made his copy from a text +identical with that used by the French savant. In the notes to +his edition of the Arabic text of Aladdin, M. Zotenberg gives a +number of extracts from this MS., from which it appears that it +is written in a very vulgar modern Syrian style and abounds in +grammatical errors, inconsistencies and incoherences of every +description, to say nothing of the fact that the Syrian +ecclesiastic seems, with the characteristic want of taste and +presumption which might be expected from the joint-author of "Les +Veillees Persanes," to have, to a considerable extent, garbled +the original text by the introduction of modern European phrases +and turns of speech a la Galland. For the rest, the MS. contains +no note or other indication, on which we can found any opinion as +to the source from which the transcriber (or arranger) drew his +materials; but it can hardly be doubted, from internal evidence, +that he had the command of some genuine text of the Nights, +similar to, if not identical with, that of Galland, which he +probably "arranged" to suit his own (and his century's) distorted +ideas of literary fitness. The discovery of the interpolated +tales contained in this MS. (which has thus presumably lain +unnoticed for a whole century, under, as one may say, the very +noses of the many students of Arabic literature who would have +rejoiced in such a find) has, by a curious freak of fortune, been +delayed until our own day in consequence of a singular mistake +made by a former conservator of the Paris Bibliotheque, the +well-known Orientalist, M. Reinaud, who, in drawing up the +Catalogue of the Arabic MSS. in the collection described (or +rather misdescribed) it under the following heading: + +"Supplement Arabe 1716. Thousand and One Nights, 3rd and 4th +parts. This volume begins with Night CCLXXXII and ends with Night +DCXXXI. A copy in the handwriting of Chavis. It is from this copy +and in accordance with the instructions (d'apres la indications) +of this Syrian monk that Cazotte composed (redigea) the Sequel to +the Thousand and One Nights, Cabinet des Fees, " xxxvii et xl +(should be tt. xxxviii-xli)." + +It is of course evident that M. Reinaud had never read the MS. in +question nor that numbered 1723 in the Supplement Arabe, or he +would at once have recognized that the latter, though not in the +handwriting of the Syrian ecclesiastic, was that which served for +the production of the "Sequel" in question; but, superficial as +was the mistake, it sufficed to prevent the examination by +students of the MS. No. 1716 and so retarded the discovery of the +Arabic originals of Aladdin and its fellows till the acquisition +(some two years ago) by the Bibliotheque Nationale of another +(and complete) MS. of the Thousand and One Nights, which appears +to have belonged to the celebrated Orientalist M. Caussin de +Perceval, although the latter could not have been acquainted with +it at the time (1806) he published his well-known edition and +continuation of Galland's translation, in the eighth and ninth +volumes of which, by the by, he gives a correct version of the +tales so fearfully garbled by Chavis and Cazotte in their +so-called translation as well nigh to defy recognition and to +cause Orientalists in general to deny the possibility of their +having been derived from an Oriental source until the discovery +of the actual Arabic originals so barbarously maltreated [FN#8] + +This MS. is in the handwriting of of Sebbagh, the well-known +Syrian collaborator of Silvestre de Sacy, and is supposed to have +been copied by him at Paris between the years 1805 and 1810 for +some European Orientalist (probably de Perceval himself) from a +Baghdad MS. of the early part of the 18th century, of which it +professes to be an exact reproduction, as appears from a terminal +note, of which the following is a translation: + +"And the finishing of it was in the first tenth (decade) of +Jumada the Latter [in the] year one thousand one hundred and +fifteen of the Hegira (October, 1703) in the handwriting of the +neediest of the faithful [FN#9] unto God [FN#10] the Most High, +Ahmed ibn Mohammed et Teradi, in the city of Baghdad, and he the +Shafiy by sect and the Mosuli by birth and the Baghdadi by +sojourn, and indeed he wrote it for himself and set upon it his +seal, and God bless and keep our lord Mohammed and his +companions! Kebikej [FN#11] (ter)." + +This MS. contains the three "interpolated" tales aforesaid, i.e. +the Sleeper Awakened (Nights CCCXXXVII-LXXXVI), Zeyn Alasnam +(Nights CCCCXCVII-DXIII) and Aladdin (Nights DXIV-XCI), the last +two bearing traces of a Syrian origin, especially Aladdin, which +is written in a much commoner and looser style than Zeyn Alasnam. +The two tales are evidently the work of different authors, Zeyn +Alasnam being incomparably superior in style and correctness to +Aladdin, which is defaced by all kinds of vulgarisms and +solecisms and seems, moreover, to have been less correctly copied +than the other. Nevertheless, the Sebbagh text is in every +respect preferable to that of Shawish (which appears to abound in +faults and errors of every kind, general and particular,) and M. +Zotenberg has, therefore, exercised a wise discretion in +selecting the former for publication. + + + + + III. + + + +Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of M. Zorenberg's long and +interesting introduction is a series of extracts from the (as yet +unpublished) MS. Diary regularly kept by Galland, the last four +volumes (1708-15) of which are preserved in the Bibliotheque +Nationale. These extracts effectually settle the question of the +origin of the interpolated tales, as will be seen from the +following abstract. + +On the 25th March, 1709, Galland records having that day made the +acquaintance of a Maronite scholar, by name Youhenna Diab, [FN#12] +who had been brought from Aleppo to Paris by Paul Lucas, the +celebrated traveller, and with whom he evidently at once broached +the question of the Nights, [FN#13] probably complaining to him of +the difficulty (or rather impossibility) of obtaining a perfect +copy of the work; whereupon Hanna (as he always calls him) +appears to have volunteered to help him to fill the lacune by +furnishing him with suitable Oriental stories for translation in +the same style as those already rendered by him and then and +there (says Galland) "told me some very fine Arabian tales, which +he promised to put into writing for me." There is no fresh entry +on the subject till May 5 following, when (says Galland) "The +Maronite Hanna finished telling me the tale of the Lamp." [FN#14] + +Hanna appears to have remained in Paris till the autumn of the +year 1709 and during his stay, Galland's Diary records the +communication by him to the French savant of the following +stories, afterwards included in the ninth, tenth, eleventh and +twelfth volumes of the latter's translation, (as well as of +several others which he probably intended to translate, had he +lived,) [FN#15] i.e. (May 10, 1709) "Babe Abdalla" and "Sidi +Nouman," (May 13, 1709) "The Enchanted Horse," (May 22, 1709) " +Prince Ahmed and Pari Banou," (May 25, 1709) " The Two Sisters +who envied their younger Sister," (May 27, 1709) "All Baba and +the Forty Thieves," (May 29, 1709) "Cogia Hassan Alhabbal" and +(May 31, 1709) "Ali Cogia." The Maronite seems to have left for +the East in October, 1709, (Galland says under date October 25, +"Received this evening a letter from Hanna, who writes me from +Marseilles, under date the 17th, in Arabic, to the effect that he +had arrived there in good health,") but not without having at +least in part fulfilled his promise to put in writing the tales +communicated by him to Galland, as appears by the entry of +November 3, 1710, "Began yesterday to read the Arabian story of +the Lamp, which had been written me in Arabic more than a year +ago by the Maronite of Damascus [FN#16] whom M. Lucas brought with +him, with a view to putting it into French. Finished reading it +this morning. Here is the title of this tale, 'Story of Aladdin, +son of a tailor, and that which befell him with an African +Magician on account of (or through) a lamp.'" (The Diary adds +that he began that evening to put his translation into writing +and finished it in the course of the ensuing fortnight.) And that +of January 10, 1711, "Finished the translation of the tenth +volume of the 1001 Nights after the Arabic text which I had from +the hand (de la main) of Hanna or Jean Dipi, [FN#17] whom M. Lucas +brought to France on his return from his last journey in the +Levant." The only other entry bearing upon the question is that +of August 24, 1711, in which Galland says, "Being quit of my +labours upon the translation etc. of the Koran, I read a part of +the Arabian Tales which the Maronite Hanna had told me and which +I had summarily reduced to writing, to see which of them I should +select to make up the eleventh volume of the Thousand and One +Nights." + +From these entries it appears beyond question that Galland +received from the Maronite Hanna, in the Spring and Summer of +1709, the Arabic text of the stories of Aladdin, Baba Abdalla, +Sidi Nouman and Cogia Hassan Alhabbal, i.e. the whole of the +tales included in his ninth and tenth volumes (with the exception +of The Sleeper Awakened, of which he does not speak) and that he +composed the five remaining tales contained in his eleventh and +twelfth volumes (i.e. Ali Baba, Ali Cogia, The Enchanted Horse, +Prince Ahmed and Pari Banou and The Two Sisters who envied their +younger Sister,) upon the details thereof taken down from Hanna's +lips and by the aid of copious summaries made at the time. These +entries in Galland's diary dispose, therefore, of the question of +the origin of the "interpolated" tales, with the exception (1) of +The Sleeper Awakened (with which we need not, for the present, +concern ourselves farther) and (2) of Nos. 1 and 2a and b, i.e. +Zeyn Alasnam, Codadad and his brothers and The Princess of +Deryabar (forming, with Ganem, his eighth volume), as to which +Galland, as I pointed out in my terminal essay (p. 264), cautions +us, in a prefatory note to his ninth volume, that these two +stories form no part of the Thousand and One Nights and that they +had been inserted and printed without the cognizance of the +translator, who was unaware of the trick that had been played him +till after the actual publication of the volume, adding that care +would be taken to expunge the intrusive tales from the second +edition (which, however, was never done, Galland dying before the +republication and it being probably found that the stranger tales +had taken too firm a hold upon public favour to be sacrificed, as +originally proposed); and the invaluable Diary supplies the +necessary supplemental information as to their origin. "M. Petis +de la Croix," says Galland under date of January 17, 1710, +"Professor and King's Reader of the Arabic tongue, who did me the +honour to visit me this morning, was extremely surprised to see +two of the Turkish [FN#18] Tales of his translation printed in the +eighth volume of the 1001 Nights, which I showed him, and that +this should have been done without his participation." + +Petis de la Croix, a well-known Orientalist and traveller of the +time, published in the course of the same year (1710) the first +volume of a collection of Oriental stories, similar in form and +character to the 1001 Nights, but divided into "Days" instead of +"Nights" and called "The Thousand and One Days, Persian Tales," +the preface to which (ascribed to Cazotte) alleges him to have +translated the tales from a Persian work called Hezar [o] Yek +Roz, i.e. "The Thousand and One Days," the MS. of which had in +1675 been communicated to the translator by a friend of his, by +name Mukhlis, (Cazotte styles him "the celebrated Dervish Mocles, +chief of the Soufis of Ispahan") during his sojourn in the +Persian capital. The preface goes on to state that Mukhlis had, +in his youth, translated into Persian certain Indian plays, which +had been translated into all the Oriental languages and of which +a Turkish version existed in the Bibliotheque Royale, under the +title of Alfaraga Badal-Schidda (i.e. El Ferej bad esh Shiddeh), +which signified "Joy after Affliction"; but that, wishing to give +his work an original air, he converted the aforesaid plays into +tales. Cazotte's story of the Indian plays savours somewhat of +the cock and the bull and it is probable that the Hezar o Yek Roz +(which is not, to my knowledge, extant) was not derived from so +recondite a source, but was itself either the original of the +well-known Turkish collection or (perhaps) a translation of the +latter. At all events, Zeyn Alasnam, Codadad and the Princess of +Deryabar occur in a copy (cited by M. Zotenberg), belonging to +the Bibliotheque Nationale, of El Ferej bad esh Shidded (of which +they form the eighth, ninth and sixth stories respectively) and +in a practically identical form, except that in Galland's vol. +viii. the two latter stories are fused into one. Sir William +Ouseley is said to have brought from Persia a MS. copy of a +portion of the Hezar o Yek Roz which he describes as agreeing +with the French version, but, in the absence of documentary proof +and in view of the fact that, notwithstanding the unauthorized +incorporation of three of the tales of his original with +Galland's Vol. viii, the published version of the Thousand and +One Days is apparently complete and shows no trace of the +omission, I am inclined to suspect Petis de la Croix of having +invented the division into Days, in order to imitate (and profit +by the popularity of) his fellow savant's version of the Thousand +and One Nights. Galland's publisher was doubtless also that of +Petis de la Croix and in the latter capacity had in hand a +portion of the MS. of the 1001 Days, from which, no doubt weary +of waiting till Galland (who was now come to the end of his +genuine Arabic MS. of the 1001 Nights and was accordingly at a +standstill, till he met with Hanna,) should have procured fresh +material to complete the copy for his eighth volume, of which +Ganem only was then ready for publication, he seems to have +selected (apparently on his own responsibility, but, it must be +admitted, with considerable taste and judgment,) the three tales +in question from the MS. of the 1001 Days, to fill up the lacune. +It does not appear whether he found Codadad and the Princess of +Deryabar arranged as one story ready to his hand or himself +performed (or procured to be performed) the process of fusion, +which, in any case, was executed by no unskilful hand. Be this as +it may, Galland was naturally excessively annoyed at the +publisher's unceremonious proceeding, so much so indeed as for a +time to contemplate renouncing the publication of the rest of the +work, to spare himself (as he says in his Diary, under date of +Dec. 12, 1709) similar annoyances (mortifications) to that which +the printing of the eighth volume had caused him. Indeed, the +effect of this incident was to induce him, not only to change his +publisher, but to delay the publication of the next volume +(which, as we learn from the Diary, was ready for the press at +the end of November or the beginning of December, 1709) for a +whole year, at the end of which time (Diary, November 21, 1710) +he made arrangements with a new (and presumably more trustworthy) +publisher, M. Florentin de Laune, for the printing of Vol. ix. + + + + + IV. + + + +Notwithstanding the discovery, as above set out, of three of the +doubtful tales, Zeyn Alasnam, Aladdin and The Sleeper Awakened, +in two MSS. (one at least undoubtedly authentic) of the Thousand +Nights and One Night, I am more than ever of opinion that none of +the eleven "interpolated" stories properly belongs to the +original work, that is to say, to the collection as first put +into definite form somewhere about the fourteenth century. [FN#19] +"The Sleeper Awakened" was identified by the late Mr. Lane as a +historical anecdote given by the historian El Ishaki, who wrote +in the first quarter of the seventeenth century, and the frequent +mention of coffee in both MSS. of Aladdin justifies us in +attributing the composition of the story to (at earliest) the +sixteenth century, whilst the modern vulgarisms in which they +abound point to a still later date. Zeyn Alasnam (in the Sebbagh +MS. at least) is written in a much purer and more scholarly style +than Aladdin, but its pre-existence in El Ferej bad esh Shiddeh +(even if we treat as apocryphal Petis de la Croix's account of +the Hezar o Yek Roz) is sufficient, in the absence of contrary +evidence, to justify us in refusing to consider it as belonging +to the Thousand Nights and One Night proper. As shown by +Galland's own experience, complete copies of the genuine work +were rarely to be met with, collections of "silly stories" (as +the Oriental savant, who inclines to regard nothing in the way of +literature save theology, grammar and poetry, would style them), +being generally considered by the Arab bibliographer undeserving +of record or preservation, and the fragmentary copies which +existed were mostly in the hands of professional story-tellers, +who were extremely unwilling to part with them, looking upon them +as their stock in trade, and were in the habit of incorporating +with the genuine text all kinds of stories and anecdotes from +other sources, to fill the place of the missing portions of the +original work. This process of addition and incorporation, which +has been in progress ever since the first collection of the +Nights into one distinct work and is doubtless still going on in +Oriental countries, (especially such as are least in contact with +European influence,) may account for the heterogeneous character +of the various modern MSS. of the Nights and for the immense +difference which exists between the several texts, as well in +actual contents as in the details and diction of such stories as +are common to all. The Tunis MS. of the 1001 Nights (which is +preserved in the Breslau University Library and which formed the +principal foundation of Habicht's Edition of the Arabic text) +affords a striking example of this process, which we are here +enabled to see in mid-operation, the greater part of the tales of +which it consists having not yet been adapted to the framework of +the Nights. It is dated A.H. 1144 (A.D. 1732) and of the ten +volumes of which it consists, i, ii (Nights I--CCL) and x (Nights +DCCCLXXXV-MI) are alone divided into Nights, the division of the +remaining seven volumes (i.e. iii--ix, containing, inter alia, the +Story of the Sleeper Awakened) being the work of the German +editor. It is my belief, therefore, that the three "interpolated" +tales identified as forming part of the Baghdad MS. of 1703 are +comparatively modern stories added to the genuine text by Rawis +(story-tellers) or professional writers employed by them, and I +see no reason to doubt that we shall yet discover the Arabic text +of the remaining eight, either in Hanna's version (as written +down for Galland) or in some as yet unexamined MS. of the Nights +or other work of like character. + + + + + V. + + + +M. Zotenberg has, with great judgment, taken as his standard for +publication the text of Aladdin given by the Sebbagh MS., +inasmuch as the Shawish MS. (besides being, as appears from the +extracts given. [FN#20] far inferior both in style and general +correctness,) is shown by the editor to be full of modern +European phrases and turns of speech and to present so many +suspicious peculiarities that it would be difficult, having +regard, moreover, to the doubtful character and reputation of the +Syrian monkish adventurer who styled himself Dom Denis Chavis, to +resist the conviction that his MS. was a forgery, i.e. +professedly a copy of a genuine Arabic text, but in reality only +a translation or paraphrase in that language of Galland's +version,--were it not that the Baghdad MS. (dated before the +commencement, in 1704, of Galland's publication and transcribed +by a man--Mikhail Sebbagh--whose reputation, as a collaborator of +Silvestre de Sacy and other distinguished Orientalists, is a +sufficient voucher for the authenticity of the copy in the +Bibliotheque Nationale,) contains a text essentially identical +with that of Shawish. Moreover, it is evident, from a comparison +with Galland's rendering and making allowance for the latter's +system of translation, that the Arabic version of Aladdin given +him by Hanna must either have been derived from the Baghdad text +or from some other practically identical source, and it is +therefore probable that Shawish, having apparently been employed +to make up the missing portion of Galland's Arabic text and not +having the Hanna MS. at his command, had (with the execrable +taste and want of literary morality which distinguished Cazotte's +monkish coadjutor) endeavoured to bring his available text up to +what he considered the requisite standard by modernizing and +Gallicizing its wording and (in particular) introducing numerous +European phrases and turns of speech in imitation of the French +translator. The whole question is, of course, as yet a matter of +more or less probable hypothesis, and so it must remain until +further discoveries and especially until the reappearance of +Galland's missing text, which I am convinced must exist in some +shape or other and cannot much longer, in the face of the revived +interest awakened in the matter and the systematic process of +investigation now likely to be employed, elude research. + +M. Zotenberg's publication having been confined to the text of +Aladdin, I have to thank my friend Sir R. F. Burton for the loan +of his MS. copy of Zeyn Alasnam, (the Arabic text of which still +remains unpublished) as transcribed by M. Houdas from the Sebbagh +MS. + + + + + + + ZEIN UL ASNAM AND THE KING OF THE JINN. + + + +There [FN#21] was [once] in the city of Bassora a mighty Sultan +and he was exceeding rich, but he had no child who should be his +successor [FN#22] after him. For this he grieved sore and fell to +bestowing alms galore upon the poor and the needy and upon the +friends [FN#23] of God and the devout, seeking their intercession +with God the Most High, so He to whom belong might and majesty +should of His favour vouchsafe him a son. And God accepted his +prayer, for his fostering of the poor, and answered his petition; +so that one night of the nights he lay with the queen and she +went from him with child. When the Sultan knew this, he rejoiced +with an exceeding joy, and as the time of her child-bearing drew +nigh, he assembled all the astrologers and those who smote the +sand [FN#24] and said to them, "It is my will that ye enquire +concerning the child that shall be born to me this month, whether +it will be male or female, and tell me what will betide it of +chances and what will proceed from it." [FN#25] So the geomancers +smote their [tables of] sand and the astrologers took their +altitudes [FN#26] and observed the star of the babe [un]born and +said to the Sultan, "O King of the age and lord of the time and +the tide, the child that shall be born to thee of the queen is a +male and it beseemeth that thou name him Zein ul Asnam." [FN#27] +And as for those who smote upon the sand, they said to him, +"Know, O King, that this babe will become a renowned +brave, [FN#28] but he shall happen in his time upon certain +travail and tribulation; yet, an he endure with fortitude against +that which shall befall him, he shall become the richest of the +kings of the world." And the King said to them, "Since the babe +shall become valiant as ye avouch, the toil and travail which +will befall him are nought, for that tribulations teach the sons +of kings." + +Accordingly, after a few days, the queen gave birth to a male +child, extolled be the perfection of Him who created him +surpassing in grace and goodliness! His father named him Zein ul +Asnam, and he was as say of him certain of his praisers [FN#29] in +verse: [FN#30] + +He shows and "Now Allah be blessed!" men say: "Extol we his Maker + and Fashioner aye! +The king of the fair [FN#31] this is, sure, one and all; Ay, his +thralls, every one, and his liegemen are they." + +The boy grew and flourished till he came to the age of +five [FN#32] years, when his father the Sultan assigned him a +governor skilled and versed in all sciences and philosophies, and +he proceeded to teach him till he excelled in all manner of +knowledge and became a young man. [FN#33] Then the Sultan bade +bring him before himself, and assembling all the grandees of his +realm and the chiefs of his subjects, proceeded to admonish him +before them, saying to him, "O my son Zein ul Asnam, behold, I am +grown stricken in years and am presently sick; and belike this +sickness will be the last of my life in this world and thou shalt +sit in my stead; [wherefore I desire to admonish thee]. Beware, O +my son, lest thou oppress any or turn a deaf ear to the +complaining of the poor; but do thou justify the oppressed after +the measure of thy might. And look thou believe not all that +shall be said to thee by the great ones of the people, but trust +thou still for the most part to the voice of the common folk; for +the great will deceive thee, seeing they seek that which +befitteth themselves, not that which befitteth the subject." +Then, after a few days, the Sultan's sickness redoubled on him +and he accomplished his term and died; and as for his son Zein ul +Asnam, he arose and donning the raiment of woe, [mourned] for his +father the space of six days. On the seventh day he arose and +going forth to the Divan, sat down on the throne of the sultanate +and held a court, wherein was a great assemblage of the +folk, [FN#34] and the viziers came forward and the grandees of the +realm and condoled with him for his father and called down +blessings upon him and gave him joy of the kingship and the +sultanate, beseeching God to grant him continuance of glory and +prosperity without end. + +When [FN#35] Zein ul Asnam saw himself in this great might and +wealth, and he young in years, he inclined unto prodigality and +to the converse of springalds like himself and fell to +squandering vast sums upon his pleasures and left governance and +concern for his subjects. The queen his mother proceeded to +admonish him and to forbid him from his ill fashions, bidding him +leave that manner of life and apply himself governance and +administration and the ordinance of the realm, lest the folk +reject him and rise up against him and expel [FN#36] hira; but he +would hear not a word from her and abode in his ignorance and +folly. At this the people murmured, for that the grandees of the +realm put out their hands unto oppression, whenas they saw the +king's lack of concern for his subjects; so they rose up in +rebellion against Zein ul Asnam and would have laid violent hands +upon him, had not the queen his mother been a woman of wit and +judgment and address, and the people loved her; so she appeased +the folk and promised them good. Then she called her son Zein ul +Asnam to her and said to him, "See, O my son; said I not to thee +that thou wouldest lose thy kingship and eke thy life, an thou +persistedst in this thine ignorance and folly, in that thou +givest the ordinance of the sultanate into the hands of raw +youths and eschewest the old and wastest thy substance and that +of the realm, squandering it all upon lewdness and the lust of +thy soul?" + +Zein ul Asnam hearkened to his mother's rede and going out +forthright to the Divan, committed the manage of the realm into +the hands of certain old men of understanding and experience; +save that he did this only after Bassora had been ruined, +inasmuch as he turned not from his folly till he had spent and +squandered all the treasures of the sultanate and was become +exceeding poor. Then he betook himself to repentance and to +sorrowing over that which he had done, [FN#37] so that he lost the +solace of sleep and eschewed meat and drink, till one night of +the nights,--and indeed he had spent it in mourning and +lamentation and melancholy thought until the last of the night,-- +his eyes closed for a little and there appeared to him in his +sleep a venerable old man, who said to him, "O Zein ul Asnam, +grieve not, for that nought followeth after grief save relief +from stress, and an thou desire to be delivered from this thine +affliction, arise and betake thee to Cairo, where thou wilt find +treasuries of wealth which shall stand thee in stead of that thou +hast squandered, ay, and twofold the sum thereof." When he awoke +from his sleep, he acquainted his mother with all that he had +seen in his dream, and she fell to laughing at him; but he said +to her, "Laugh not, for needs must I journey to Cairo." "O my +son," answered she, "put not thy trust in dreams, for that they +are all vain fancies and lying imaginations." And he said to her, +"Nay, my dream was a true one and the man whom I saw is of the +Friends of God [FN#38] and his speech is very sooth." + +Accordingly, he left the sultanate and going forth a-journeying +one night of the nights, took the road to Egypt [and fared on] +days and nights till he came to the city of Cairo. So he entered +it and saw it a great and magnificent city; then, being perished +for weariness, he took shelter in one of its mosques. When he had +rested awhile, he went forth and bought him somewhat to eat; and +after he had eaten, he fell asleep in the mosque, of the excess +of his weariness, nor had he slept but a little when the old man +appeared to him in his sleep and said to him, "O Zein ul +Assam, [FN#39] thou hast done as I said to thee, and indeed I made +proof of thee, that I might see an thou wert valiant or not; but +now I know thee, inasmuch as thou hast put faith in my rede and +hast done according thereto. So now return to thine own city and +I will make thee a king rich after such a measure that neither +before thee nor after thee shall [any] of the kings be like unto +thee." So Zein ul Asnam arose from his sleep and said, "In the +name of God. the Compassionate, the Merciful! What is this old +man who hath wearier me, so that I came to Cairo, [FN#40] and I +trusted in him and deemed of him that he was the Prophet (whom +God bless and keep) or one of the pious Friends of God? But there +is no power and no virtue save in God the Most High, the Supreme. +By Allah. I did well in that I acquainted none with my sallying +forth neither related my dream unto any! [FN#41] Indeed. I +believed in this old man and meseemed. by that which appeared to +me, he was none of mankind, [FN#42] extolled be His perfection and +magnified be He who [alone] knoweth the truth! By Allah, I will +leave trusting in this old man [neither will I comply with him] +in that which he would have me do!" Accordingly, he lay [the rest +of] that night [in the mosque] and at daybreak he arose and +mounting his courser, set out on his return to Bassora, [the seat +of] his kingship, where, after a few days, he arrived and went in +that same night to his mother, who asked him if aught had +befallen him of that which the old man had promised him. He +acquainted her with that which he had seen [in his sleep] and she +fell to condoling with him and comforting him, saying, "Grieve +not, O my son, for, an God the Most High have appointed thee +aught of [good] fortune, thou wilt attain thereto without either +travail or toil; but I would have thee be understanding and +discreet and leave these things which have brought thee to +poverty, O my son, and eschew singing-wenches and the commerce of +youths and women; all this is for the baser sort, not for kings' +sons like thee." And he swore to her that he would never more +gainsay her commandment, but would observe all that she should +say to him and would turn his mind to the governance and the +kingship and leave that wherefrom she forbade him. Then he slept +that night and what while he was on sleep, the old man appeared +to him and said to him, "O Zein ul Asnam, O valiant one, whenas +thou arisest from thy sleep this day, I will accomplish my +promise to thee; wherefore take thou a pickaxe and go to the +palace of thy father Such-an-one [FN#43] in such a place and dig +there in the earth and thou wilt find that which shall enrich +thee." + +When Zein ul Asnam awoke from his sleep, he hastened to his +mother, rejoicing, and acquainted her with his dream; whereupon +she fell again to laughing at him and said to him, "O my son, +indeed this old man laugheth at thee, nought else; wherefore do +thou turn thy thought from him." But he said to her, "Nay, mother +mine, indeed he is soothfast and lieth not; for that, in the +first of his dealing, he tried me and now his intent is to +accomplish unto me his promise." "In any case," rejoined she, +"the thing is not toilsome; [FN#44] so do that which thou wilt, +even as he said to thee, and make proof of the matter, and God +willing, thou shalt [FN#45] return to me rejoicing; but methinketh +thou wilt return to me and say, 'Thou saidst sooth, O my mother, +in thy rede."' The prince accordingly took a pickaxe and going +down to the palace where his father was buried, fell a-delving in +the earth; nor had he dug long when, behold, there appeared to +him a ring fixed in a slab of marble. He raised the slab and +seeing a stair, descended thereby and found a great vault, all +builded with columns of marble and alabaster; then, proceeding +innerward, he found within the vault a hall which ravished the +wit, and therein eight jars of green jasper; [FN#46] and he said, +"What be these jars and what is in them?" So [FN#47] he went up +and uncovering them, found them all full of old gold ; [FN#48] +whereupon he took a little in his hand and going to his mother, +gave her thereof and said to her, "Thou seest, O my mother." She +marvelled at this thing and said to him, "Beware, O my son, lest +thou squander it, like as thou squanderedst other than this." And +he swore to her, saying, "Be not concerned, O my mother, and let +not thy heart be other than easy on my account, for I would fain +have thee also content with me." [FN#49] + +Then she arose and went with him, and they descended into the +vault and entered the [underground] hall, [FN#50] where she beheld +that which ravished the wit and saw the jars of gold. What while +they diverted themselves with gazing upon these latter, behold, +they espied a little jar of fine jade; so Zein ul Asnam opened it +and found in it a golden key. Whereupon quoth his mother to him, +"O my son, needs must there be a door here which this key will +open." Accordingly they sought in all parts of the vault and the +hall, so they might see an there were a door or what not else to +be found there, and presently espied a bolted lock, to which they +knew that this must be the key. So Zein ul Asnam went up and +putting the key in the lock, turned it and opened a door which +admitted them into a second hall, [FN#51] more magnificent than +the first; and it was all full of a light which dazzled the +sight, yet was there no flambeau kindled therein, no, nor any +window [FN#52] there, whereat they marvelled and looking farther, +saw eight images of jewels, each one piece, and that of noble +jewels, pure and precious. + +Zein ul Asnam was amazed at this and said to his mother, "How +came my father by these things?" And they fell to looking and +considering, till presently the queen espied a curtain of silk, +whereon were these words written: "O my son, marvel not at these +great riches, whereto I have won by dint of sore travail; but +know that there existeth also another image whose worth is more +than that of these [eight] images twenty times told. Wherefore, +an thou wouldst come thereby, get thee to Cairo, where thou wilt +find a slave of mine, by name Mubarek, who will take thee and +bring thee in company [FN#53] with the ninth image. When thou +enterest Cairo, the first man whom thou encounterest will direct +thee to Mubarek's house, for he is known in all Egypt." [FN#54] +When Zein ul Asnam read this inscription, he said, "O my mother, +it is my wish to journey to Cairo, so I may make search for the +ninth image. Tell me, how deemest thou of my dream? Was it true +or was it not? Wilt thou still say [FN#55] to me, 'These be idle +tales'? But I, O my mother, needs must I journey to Cairo." "O my +son," answered the queen, "since thou art under the safeguard of +the Apostle of God [FN#56] (whom God bless and keep), go thou in +peace, and I [and] thy Vizier, we will govern the realm in thine +absence, against thou shalt return." + +So Zein ul Asnam went forth and equipping himself [for travel, +set out] and journeyed till he came to Cairo, where he enquired +for Mubarek's house and the folk said to him, "O my lord, this is +a man than whom there is none richer in [all Cairo]; no, nor is +there a more abounding than he in bounty and beneficence, and his +house is [still] open to the stranger." So they directed him +thither and he went till he came to the house and knocked at the +door; whereupon there came out to him one of Mubarek's slaves +and [FN#57] opening the door, said to him, "Who art thou and what +wiliest thou?" Quoth Zein ul Asnam, "I am a stranger, a man from +a far country, and I heard tell of your lord, Mubarek, and how he +is renowned for hospitality and beneficence; so I came to him, +that I may be a guest with him." The slave entered and told his +lord Mubarek; then returned and said to Zein ul Asnam, " O my +lord, blessing hath descended upon us in thy coming. [FN#58] +Enter, for my lord Mubarek awaiteth thee." So Zein ul Asnam +entered into a courtyard, exceeding spacious and all [full] of +trees and waters, and the slave brought him into the +pavilion [FN#59] where Mubarek sat. When he entered, the latter +arose forthright and coming to meet him, received him with +cordiality and said to him, "Blessing hath descended upon us and +this night is the most auspicious of nights in thy coming to us! +But who art thou, O youth, and whence comest thou and whither art +thou bound?" The prince answered him, saying, "I am Zein ul Asnam +and I seek Mubarek, slave to the Sultan of Bassora, who died a +year agone and whose son I am." "What sayst thou? " cried +Mubarek. "Art thou the king's son of Bassora?" "Yea, verily," +replied Zein ul Asnam; "I am his son." Quoth Mubarek, "Nay, my +lord the king of Bassora left no son; but what is thine age, O +youth?" "About twenty years," replied Zein ul Asnam. "And thou," +added he, "how long is it since thou wentest out from my father's +house?" "I went out eighteen years agone," answered Mubarek. +"But, O my son Zein ul Asnam, by what token canst thou certify me +that thou art the son of my lord the king of Bassora?" Quoth Zein +ul Asnam, "Thou knowest that my father builded under his palace a +vault and therein [a hall in which] he set forty [FN#60] jars of +fine jade and filled them with ancient gold; [FN#61] and within +this hall he made a second hall, wherein he placed eight images +of precious stones, each wroughten of a single jewel and seated +upon a throne of virgin gold. [FN#62] Moreover, he wrote upon a +curtain of silk there and I read the writ, whereby I found that +he bade me come to thee, saying that thou wouldst acquaint me of +the ninth image and where it is, the which, said he, was worth +the eight, all of them." + +When Mubarek heard these words, he threw himself at Zein ul +Asnam's feet and fell to kissing them and saying, "Pardon me, O +my lord! Verily, thou art the son of my lord." Then said he to +the prince, "O my lord, I make to-day a banquet unto all the +chief men of Cairo and I would fain have thy highness honour me +[with thy presence] thereat." And Zein ul Asnam said, "With all +my heart." [FN#63] So Mubarek arose and foregoing Zein ul Asnam, +brought him into the saloon, which was full of the chief men of +Cairo, assembled therein. There he sat down and seating the +prince in the place of honour, called for the evening-meal. So +they laid the tables and Mubarek stood to serve Zein ul Asnam, +with his hands clasped behind him [FN#64] and whiles seated upon +his knees [and heels]. [FN#65] The notables of Cairo marvelled at +this, how Mubarek, the chiefest of them, should serve the youth, +and [FN#66] were sore amazed thereat, knowing not [who or] whence +he was. But, after they had eaten and drunken and supped and were +of good cheer, Mubarek turned to the company and said to them, "O +folk, marvel not that I serve this youth with all worship and +assiduity, for that he is the son of my lord the Sultan of +Bassora, whose slave I was, for that he bought me with his money +and died without setting me free; wherefore it behoveth me serve +my lord, and all that my hand possesseth of monies and gear is +his, nor is anywhit thereof mine." When the notables of Cairo +heard this speech, they arose to Zein ul Asnam and did him +exceeding great worship and saluted him with all reverence and +prayed for him; [FN#67] and he said, "O company, I am before your +presence and ye are witnesses [of that which I am about to do." +Then, turning to his host,] "O Mubarek, [quoth he,] thou art free +and all that is with thee of monies and gear appertaining unto us +shall henceforth be thine and thou art altogether acquitted +thereof [FN#68] and of every part thereof. Moreover, do thou ask +of me whatsoever thou desirest by way of boon, [FN#69] for that I +will nowise gainsay thee in aught thou mayst seek." [FN#70] +Thereupon Mubarek arose and kissed the prince's hand and thanked +him, saying, "O my lord, I will nought of thee save that thou be +well; for indeed the wealth that I have is exceeding abundant +upon me." + +So Zein ul Asnam abode with Mubarek four days and every day the +chief men of Cairo came to salute him, whenas it reached them +that this was Mubarek's lord, the Sultan of Bassora; then, after +he was rested, he said to his host, "O Mubarek, indeed the time +is long upon me;" [FN#71] and Mubarek said to him, ``Thou must +know, O my lord, that this whereof thou art come in quest is a +hard [FN#72] matter, nay, even unto danger of death, and I know +not if thy fortitude may suffice thee for the achievement +thereof." [FN#73] "Know, O Mubarek," rejoined Zein ul Asnam, "that +wealth [is gotten] by blood [FN#74] and there betideth a man +nought except by the will and foreordinance of the Creator (to +whom belong might and majesty ); so do thou take heart and +concern not thyself on my account." Accordingly Mubarek +forthright commended his slaves equip them for travel; so they +made all ready and taking horse, journeyed days and nights in the +foulest of deserts, [FN#75] witnessing daily things and matters +which confounded their wits,--things such as never in their time +had they seen,--until they drew near the place [of their +destination]; whereupon they lighted down from their steeds and +Mubarek bade the slaves and servants abide there, saying to them, +"Keep watch over the beasts of burden and the horses till we +return to you." + +Then the twain set out together afoot and Mubarek said to Zein ul +Asnam, "O my lord, now behoveth fortitude, for that thou art in +the land of the image whereof thou comest in quest." And they +gave not over walking till they drew near a great lake and a +wide, whereupon quoth Mubarek to Zein ul Asnam, "Know, O my lord, +that there will presently come to us a little boat, bearing a +blue flag and builded all with planks of sandal and Comorin +aloes-wood of price; and [thereanent] I have a charge to give +thee, which it behoveth thee observe." "What is this charge?" +asked the prince and Mubarek said to him, "In this boat thou wilt +see a boatman, [FN#76] but his make is monstrous; [FN#77] wherefore +be thou ware and again, I say, beware lest thou speak aught, for +that he will incontinent drown us; and know that this place +appertaineth to the King of the Jinn and that all thou seest is +their handiwork." Then [FN#78] they came to the lake and behold, a +little boat with planks of sandal and Comorin aloes-wood and in +it a boatman, whose head was [as] the head of an elephant and the +rest of his body [as that of] a wild beast. [FN#79] When he drew +near them, he wrapped his trunk about them both and taking them +with him into the boat, rowed out with them to the midst of the +lake, then fared on with them [FN#80] till he brought them to the +other shore, where they landed and walking on, saw there trees of +ambergris [FN#81] and aloes and sandal-wood and cloves and +jessamine, [FN#82] full-grown and laden with ripe fruits and +flowers [FN#83] whose fragrance dilated the breast and cheered the +spright; and there [they heard] the voices of the birds +twittering their various notes and ravishing the wit with their +warblings. So Mubarek turned to Zein ul Asnam and said to him, +"How deemest thou of this place, O my lord?" And the prince +answered him, saying, "Methinketh, O Mubarek, this is the +paradise which the Prophet (whom God bless and keep) promised us +withal." + +Then they fared on till they came to a magnificent palace, +builded all with stones of emerald and rubies, and its doors were +of sheer gold. Before it was a bridge, the length whereof was an +hundred and fifty cubits and its breadth fifty cubits, and it was +[wroughten] of the rib of a fish; whilst at the other end of the +bridge were many warriors [FN#84] of the Jinn, gruesome and +terrible of aspect, and all of them bore in their hands javelins +of steel that flashed in the sun like winter lightning. [FN#85] +Quoth Zein ul Asnam to Mubarek, "This is a thing that taketh the +wits;" and Mubarek said to him, "It behoveth us abide in our +place neither fare forward, lest a mischance betide us. O God, +[vouchsafe us] safety!" Therewith he brought out of his pocket +four pieces of yellow silken stuff and girded himself with one +thereof; the second he laid on his shoulders and gave Zein ul +Asnam other two pieces, with which he girded himself [and covered +his shoulders] on like wise. Moreover, he spread before each of +them a sash of white silk and bringing forth of his pocket +precious stones and perfumes, such as ambergris and aloes-wood, +[set them on the edges thereof ; [FN#86]] after which they sat +down, each on his sash, and Mubarek taught Zein ul Asnam these +words, which he should say to the King of the Jinn, to wit: "O my +lord King of the Jinn, we are in thy safeguard." And Zein ul +Asnam said to him, "And I will instantly conjure him that he +accept of us." + +Then said Mubarek, "O my lord, by Allah, I am exceeding fearful. +But now hearken; an he be minded to accept of us without hurt, he +will come to us in the semblance of a man accomplished in grace +and goodliness; but, an he have no mind to us, he will come to us +in a gruesome and a frightful aspect. An thou see him surpassing +in beauty, arise forthright and salute him, but beware lest thou +overpass thy sash." And Zein ul Asnam said to him, "Hearkening +and obedience." "And be this thy salutation to him," continued +Mubarek; "thou shalt say, 'O King of the Jinn and lord of the +earth, my father, the Sultan of Bassora, the angel of death hath +removed, as indeed is not hidden from thee. Now Thy Grace was +still wont to take my father under thy protection, and I come to +thee likewise to put myself under thy safeguard, even as did he.' +Moreover, [FN#87] O my lord Zein ul Asnam," added he, "an the King +of the Jinn receive us with a cheerful favour, he will without +fail ask thee and say to thee, 'Seek of me that which thou +wiliest and thou shalt forthright be given [it].' [FN#88] So do +thou seek of him and say to him, 'O my lord, I crave of Thy Grace +the ninth image, than which there is not the world a more +precious; and indeed Thy Grace promised my father that thou +wouldst give it to me."' + +Having thus taught his lord how he should speak with the King of +the Jinn and seek of him the ninth image and how he should make +his speech seemly and pleasant, Mubarek fell to conjuring and +fumigating and reciting words that might not be understanded; and +no great while passed ere the world lightened [FN#89] and rain +fell in torrents [FN#90] and it thundered and darkness covered the +face of the earth; and after this there came a tempestuous wind +and a voice like an earthquake of the earthquakes [FN#91] of the +Day of Resurrection. When Zein ul Asnam saw these portents, his +joints trembled and he was sore affrighted, for that he beheld a +thing he had never in all his life seen nor heard. But Mubarek +laughed at him and said to him, "Fear not, O my lord; this +whereat thou art affrighted is that which we seek; nay, it is a +presage of good to-us. So take heart and be of good cheer." After +this there came a great clearness and serenity and there breathed +pure and fragrant breezes; then, presently, behold, there +appeared the King of the Jinn in the semblance of a man comely of +favour, there was none like unto him in his goodliness, save He +who hath no like and to whom belong might and majesty. He looked +on Zein ul Asnam and Mubarek with a cheerful, smiling +countenance; whereupon the prince arose forthright and proffered +him his petition in the words which Mubarek had taught him. + +The King of the Jinn turned to him, smiling, and said to him, "O +Zein ul Asnam, indeed I loved thy father the Sultan of Bassora, +and I used, whenassoever he came to me, to give him an image of +those which thou hast seen, each wroughten of a single jewel, and +thou also shalt stand in thy father's stead with me and shalt +find favour in mine eyes, even as did he, ay, and more. Before he +died, I caused him write the writ which thou sawest on the +curtain of silk and promised him that I would take thee under my +protection, even as himself, and would give thee the ninth image, +which is more of worth than those which thou hast seen. Now it is +my intent to perform the promise which I made to thy father, that +I would take thee under my protection, and [FN#92] [know that] I +was the old man whom thou sawest in thy sleep and it was I bade +thee dig in the palace for the vault wherein thou foundest the +jars of gold and the images of jewels. I know also wherefore thou +art come hither; nay, I am he that was the cause of thy coming, +and I will give thee that which thou seekest, albeit I had not +given it to thy father; but on condition that thou swear to me a +solemn oath and abide me constant thereto, to wit, that thou wilt +return and bring me a girl of the age of fifteen years, with whom +there shall be none to match in loveliness, and she must be a +clean maid, who shall never have lusted after man, nor shall man +have lusted after her. Moreover, thou must swear to me that thou +wilt keep faith with her, coming, and beware lest thou play me +false with her by the way." + +So Zein ul Asnam swore a solemn oath to him of this and said to +him, "O my lord, indeed, thou honourest me with this service; but +methinketh it will be hard to find a girl like this. Nay, +supposing I find a damsel fifteen years of age and beautiful +exceedingly, according to Thy Grace's requirement, how shall I +know that she hath never in her time lusted after man nor hath +man lusted after her?" "O Zein ul Asnam," replied the King of the +Jinn, "thou art in the right and certain it is that this +knowledge is a thing unto which the sons of man may not avail; +but I will give thee a mirror of my fashion, and when thou seest +a girl and her beauty pleaseth thee and her grace, do thou open +this mirror that I shall give thee, and if thou find her image +therein clear and bright, thou shalt know forthright that she is +pure without default and that all good qualities are in her; so +do thou take her for me. If thou find her image in the mirror +other than this, to wit, an it be troubled and clothed with +uncleanness, know that the girl is sullied and beware of her; +but, an thou find one such as she whose qualities I have set out +to thee, bring her to me and watch over her [by the way;] yet +beware and again I say, beware of treason and bethink thee that, +an thou keep not faith with me, thou wilt assuredly lose thy +life." + +So Zein ul Asnam made with him a stable and abiding covenant, the +covenant of the sons of kings, that he would keep the plighted +faith and never play him false, but [FN#93] would bring him the +damsel with all continence. Then the King of the Jinn delivered +him the mirror and said to him, "O my son, take this mirror +whereof I bespoke thee, and now depart." Accordingly Zein ul +Asnam and Mubarek arose and calling down blessings upon the King, +returned upon their steps till they came to the lake, where they +sat a little and behold, up came the boat which had brought them +and the genie rowing therein, whose head was as [FN#94] the head +of an elephant. Now this was by the commandment of the King of +the Jinn; so they embarked with the genie and crossed with him to +the other shore; after which they returned to Cairo and entering +Mubarek's house, abode there awhile till they were rested from +the fatigue of the journey. + +Then Zein ul Asnam turned to Mubarek and said to him, "Come, let +us go to the city of Baghdad, so we may seek for a girl who shall +be according to the requirement of the King of the Jinn." And +Mubarek said to him, "O my lord, we are in Cairo, the city of +cities and the wonder of the world. [FN#95] I shall without fail +find a girl here and it needeth not that we go to a far city." +"Thou sayst sooth, O Mubarek," rejoined the prince; "but how +shall we set about the matter and how shall we do to come +by [FN#96] a girl like this and who shall go seeking her for us?" +"O my lord," replied Mubarek, "concern not thyself [FN#97] for +that, for I have with me here an old woman (upon her, [to speak] +figuratively, [FN#98] be the malediction [of God] [FN#99]) who is a +mistress of wiles and craft and guile and not to be baulked by +any hindrance, however great." Then he sent to fetch the old +woman and telling her that he wanted a damsel fifteen years old +and fair exceedingly, so he might marry her to the son of his +lord, promised her largesse galore, an she did her utmost +endeavour in the matter; whereupon, "O my lord," answered she, +"be easy; I will accomplish unto thee thy desire beyond thy wish; +for that under my hand are damsels unpeered in grace and +goodliness and all of them daughters of men of condition." But, O +King of the time, [FN#100] the old woman had no knowledge of the +affair of the mirror. + +Then she arose and went out to go round about in the city and to +run along its ways, [FN#101] seeking [FN#102] the girl for Prince +Zein ul Asnam, and whenassoever she saw a fair damsel, +accomplished in beauty, she proceeded to bring her to Mubarek; +but, when he looked at her in the mirror, he would see her image +troubled exceedingly and would leave her; so that the old woman +brought him all the damsels of Cairo, but there was not found +among them one whose image in the mirror was clear; wherefore he +bethought him to go to Baghdad, since he found not one in Cairo +who pleased him [or] who was a clean maid, like as the King of +the Jinn had enjoined him. So he arose and equipping himself, +[set out and] journeyed, he and Zein ul Asnam, till they came to +the city of Baghdad, where they hired them a magnificent palace +amiddleward the city and took up their abode therein. There the +chief men of the city used to come to them every day and sat at +their table, even to the comer and goer by night and by +day. [FN#103] Moreover, when there remained aught from their +table, they distributed it to the poor and the afflicted and all +the strangers in the mosques [FN#104] would come and eat with +them. So the report was noised abroad in the land of their +generosity and bounty and they became in high repute and fair +fame throughout all Baghdad, nor did any talk but of Zein ul +Asnam and his bounty and wealth. + +Now it chanced that in one of the mosques was an Imam, [FN#105] +corrupt, envious and despiteful in the extreme, and his lodging +was near the palace wherein Mubatek and Zein ul Asnam had taken +up their abode. When he heard of their bounty and generosity and +of the goodliness of their repute, envy get hold upon him and +jealousy of them, and he fell to bethinking himself how he should +do, so he might bring some calamity upon them and despoil them of +that their fair fortune, for it is of the wont of envy that it +falleth not but upon the rich. So, one day of the days, as he +stood in the mosque, after the mid-afternoon prayer, he came +forward into the midst of the folk and said, "O my brethren, O ye +of the True Faith, ye who ascribe unity to God, know that in this +our quarter there be two men dwelling, strangers, and most like +you are acquainted with them. Now these twain spend and squander +wealth galore, passing all measure, and in my belief they are +none other than thieves and highwaymen and are come hither with +that which they stole from their own country, so they may +squander it." Then [FN#106] "O people of Mohammed," added he, "I +rede you for God's sake keep yourselves from these +tricksters, [FN#107] lest belike the Khalif come presently to know +of these two men and ye also fall with them into calamity. Now I +have warned you and I wash my hands of your affair, for that I +have forewarned and awakened you; so do that which you deem +well." And they said to him, all who were present, with one +voice, "We will do whatsoever thou wiliest, O Aboubekr!" When the +Imam heard this from them, he arose and taking inkhorn and pen +and paper, fell to writing a letter to the Commander of the +Faithful, setting forth to him [the case] against Zein ul Asnam +and Mubarek. + +Now, as destiny willed it, the latter chanced to be in the mosque +among the folk and heard the accursed Imam's discourse and that +which he did by way of writing the letter to the Khalif; +whereupon he tarried not, but, returning home forthwith, took an +hundred diners and made him a parcel of price, all of silken +clothes, [FN#108] wherewith he betook himself in haste to +Aboubekr's house and knocked at the door. The Imam came out to +him and opened the door; and when he saw him, he asked him +surlily who he was and what he would; whereupon quoth the other, +"O my lord the Imam Aboubekr, I am thy slave Mubarek and I come +to thee on the part of my lord the Amir Zein ul Asnam. He hath +heard of thy learning and of the excellence of thy repute in the +city and would fain become acquainted with thee and do that which +behoveth unto thee; wherefore he hath presently sent me with +these things and this money for thine expenses and hopeth of thee +that thou wilt not blame him, inasmuch as this is little for thy +worth, but hereafter, God willing, he will not fail of that which +is due unto thee." Aboubekr looked at [the coins and] at their +impress and yellowness [FN#109] and at the parcel of clothes and +said to Mubarek, "O my lord, [I crave] pardon of thy lord the +Amir, for that I am presently abashed before him [FN#110] and it +irketh me sore that I have not done my duty towards him; [FN#111] +but I hope of thee that thou wilt intercede with him on my +behalf, so he may of his favour pardon me my default; and (the +Creator willing) I will to-morrow do that which behoveth me and +will go do my service to him [FN#112] and proffer him the respect +which is due from me to him." "O my lord Aboubekr," replied +Mubarek, "the extreme of my lord's desire is to look upon thy +worship, so he may be honoured by thy presence and get of thee a +blessing." So saying, he kissed the Imam's hand and returned to +his lodging. + +On the morrow, whilst Aboubekr was [engaged] in the Friday +prayers at dawn, he stood up amongst the folk, in the midst of +the mosque, and said, "O our brethren of the Muslims and people +of Mohammed, all of you, verily envy falleth not save upon the +rich and the noble and passeth by the poor and those of low +estate. Know that of the two stranger men against whom I spoke +yesterday one is an Amir, a man of great rank and noble birth, +and the case is not as certain of the envious [FN#113] informed me +concerning him, to wit, that he was a thief and a robber; for I +have enquired into the matter and find that the report lieth. So +beware lest any of you missay of the Amir or speak aught of evil +against him, such as that which I heard yesterday, or you will +cause me and yourselves fall into the gravest of calamities with +the Commander of the Faithful; for that a man of high degree like +this cannot sojourn in the city of Baghdad without the Khalif's +knowledge." On [FN#114] this wise, then, the Imam Aboubekr did +away from the minds of the folk the ill thought [FN#115] which he +had planted [there] by his speech concerning Zein ul Asnam. + +Moreover, when he had made an end of the prayers, he returned to +his own house and donned his gabardine; then, weightening his +skirts and lengthening his sleeves, [FN#116] he went forth and +took his way to the prince's house. When he came in to Zein ul +Asnam, the latter rose to him and received him with the utmost +reverence. Now he was by nature religious, [FN#117] for all he was +a youth of tender age; so he proffered the Imam all manner of +honour and seating him by his side on a high divan, let bring him +coffee with ambergris. Then the servants spread the table for +breakfast and they took their sufficiency of meat and drink, and +when they had finished, they fell to talking and making merry +together. Presently the Imam asked the prince and said to him, +.'O my lord Zein ul Asnam, doth your highness purpose to sojourn +long here in Baghdad?" "Yea, verily, O our Lord the Imam," +answered Zein ul Asnam; "my intent is to sojourn here awhile, +till such time as my requirement be accomplished." "And what," +asked Aboubekr, "is the requirement of my lord the Amir? Belike, +an I know it, I may avail to further him to his wish, though I +sacrifice my life for him." [FN#118] And the prince said to him, +"I seek a damsel fifteen years of age and fair exceedingly, that +I may marry her; but she must be pure and chaste and a clean +maid, whom no man hath anywise defiled nor in all her life hath +she thought upon a man; [FN#119] and she must be unique in grace +and goodliness." + +"O my lord," rejoined the Imam, "this is a thing exceeding hard +to find; but I know a damsel unique in her loveliness and her age +is fifteen years. Her father was a Vizier, who resigned office of +his own motion, and he abideth presently at home in his palace +and is exceeding jealous over his daughter and her bringing +up. [FN#120] Methinketh this damsel will suit your Highness's +mind, and she will rejoice in an Amir like your Highness, as also +will her parents." Quoth Zein ul Asnam, "God willing, this damsel +whereof thou speakest will answer my requirement and the +accomplishment of our desire shall be at thy hands; [FN#121] but, +O our lord the Imam, before all things my wish is to see her, so +I may know an she be chaste or not. As for her beauty, I am +assured of [FN#122] your worship's sufficiency and am content to +trust to your word concerning her loveliness, to wit, that she is +surpassing; but, for her chastity, you cannot avail to testify +with certitude of her case." "And how," asked the Imam, "can it +be possible unto you, O my lord the Amir, to know from her face +that she is pure? An this be so, your highness is skilled in +physiognomy. However, an your highness will vouchsafe to +accompany me, I will carry you to her father's palace and make +you known to the latter, and he shall bring her before you." + +Accordingly, [FN#123] the Imam Aboubekr took Zein ul Asnam and +carried him to the Vizier's house; and when they went in to him, +the Vizier rose and welcomed the prince, especially when he knew +that he was an Amir and understood from the Imam that he wished +to marry his daughter. So he let bring the damsel before him, and +when she came, he bade her raise the veil from her face. +Accordingly she unveiled herself and Zein ul Asnam, looking upon +her, was amazed at her grace and goodliness, for that never had +he seen one to match with her in beauty; and he said in himself, +"I wonder if I shall [FN#124] happen upon one like this damsel, +since it is forbidden that she should be mine!" Then he brought +out the mirror from his pocket and looked thereon; when, behold, +its crystal was clear exceedingly, as it were virgin silver; and +he observed her image in the mirror and saw it like a white dove. +So he forthright concluded the match and sent for the Cadi and +the witnesses, who wrote the writ [FN#125] and enthroned the +bride; [FN#126] after which Zein ul Asnam took the Vizier, the +bride's father, home with him to his house and sent the young +lady jewels of great price. Then they celebrated the wedding and +held high festival, never was the like thereof, whilst Zein ul +Asnam proceeded to entertain the folk and made them banquets for +the space of eight days. Moreover, he honoured Aboubekr the Imam +and gave him gifts galore and brought the Vizier, the bride's +father, presents and great rarities. + +Then, the wedding festivities being ended, Mubarek said to Zein +ul Asnam, "Come, O my lord, let us set out on our way, lest we +waste the time in sloth, now we have found that whereof we were +in search." And the prince answered him, saying, "Thou art in the +right." So Mubarek arose and fell to equipping them for the +journey; moreover, he let make the young lady a +camel-litter [FN#127] with a travelling couch, [FN#128] and they +set out. But Mubarek knew that Zein ul Asnam was sunken deep in +love of the damsel; so he took him and said to him, "O my lord +Zein ul Asnam, I would fain remind thee to watch over thyself; +nay, again I say, have a care and keep the faith which thou +plightedst to the King of the Jinn." "O Mubarek," answered the +prince, "an thou knewest the transport which possesseth me for +the love of this young lady [FN#129] and how I still think of +nothing but of taking her to Bassora and going in [to her]!" And +Mubarek said to him, "Nay, O my lord; keep thy troth and play not +the traitor to thine oath, lest there befall thee a sore calamity +and thou lose thy life and the young lady lose hers also. Bethink +thee of the oath which thou sworest and let not lust get the +mastery over thine understanding, lest thou lose guerdan [FN#130] +and honour and life." "O Mubarek," rejoined Zein ul Asnam, "keep +thou watch over her thyself and let me not see her." So [FN#131] +Mubarek fell to keeping watch and ward over the bride in the +prince's stead and guarded the latter also, lest he should look +on her; and so they journeyed on past the road leading unto Egypt +and fared on their way to the Island of the Jinn. + +When the bride beheld the journey (and indeed it was long upon +her) and saw not her husband in all this time since the night of +the bridal, she turned to Mubarek and said to him, "God upon +thee, O Mubarek, tell me, I conjure thee by the life of thy lord +the Amir, are we yet far from the dominions [FN#132] of my +bridegroom, the Amir Zein ul Asnam?" And he said to her, "Alack, +O my lady, it irketh me for thee and I will discover to thee that +which is hidden. To wit, thou deemest that Zein ul Asnam, King of +Bassora, is thy bridegroom. Far be it! [FN#133] He is not thy +bridegroom. The writing of the writ of his marriage with +thee [FN#134] was but a pretext before thy parents and the folk; +and now thou art going for a bride to the King of the Jinn, who +sought thee from the Amir Zein ul Asnam." When the young lady +heard these words, she fell a-weeping and Zein ul Asnam heard her +and fell a-weeping also, a sore weeping, of the excess of his +love for her. And she said to them, "Is there no pity in you and +no clemency and have you no fear of God, that I, a stranger maid, +you cast me into a calamity like this? What answer will you give +unto God [FN#135] concerning this treason that you have wroughten +with me?" + +But her weeping and her words availed her nothing, and they +ceased not to fare on with her till they came to the King of the +Jinn, to whom they straightway presented her. When he beheld her, +she pleased him and he turned to Zein ul Asnam and said to him. +"Verily, the girl whom thou hast brought me is exceeding in +beauty and surpassing in loveliness; but the goodliness of thy +loyalty and shine overmastering of thyself for my sake is fairer +than she in mine eyes. So return now to thy place and the ninth +image that thou seekest of me thou shalt find, on thy return, +beside the other images; for I will send it to thee by one of my +slaves of the Jinn." Accordingly, Zein ul Asnam kissed the King's +hand and returned with Mubarek to Cairo; but, when they came +thither, he chose not to abide with Mubarek longer than a +resting-while, of the excess of his longing and his yearning to +see the ninth image. Withal he ceased not from mourning, +bethinking him of the young lady and her grace and goodliness; +and he fell to lamenting and saying, "Alas for the loss of my +delights that were because of thee, O pearl of beauty and +loveliness, thou whom I took from thy parents and presented to +the King of the Jinn! Alack, the pity of it!" And [FN#136] he chid +himself for the deceit and the perfidy which he had practised +upon the young lady's parents and how he had brought her to the +King of the Jinn. + +Then he set out and gave not over journeying till he came to +Bassora and entering his palace, saluted his mother and told her +all that had befallen him; whereupon quoth she to him, "Arise, O +my son, so thou mayst [FN#137] see this ninth image, for that I am +exceeding rejoiced at its presence with us." So they both +descended into the underground hall, wherein were the eight +images, and found there a great marvel; to wit, instead of the +ninth image, they beheld the young lady, resembling the sun in +her loveliness. The prince knew her, when he saw her, and she +said to him, "Marvel not to find me here in place of that which +thou soughtest; methinketh thou wilt not repent thee an thou take +me in the stead of the ninth image." "No, by Allah, oh my +beloved!" replied Zein ul Asnam, "For that thou art the end of my +seeking and I would not exchange thee for all the jewels in the +world. Didst thou but know the grief which possessed me for thy +separation, thou whom I took from thy parents by fraud and +brought thee to the King of the Jinn!" [FN#138] + +Scarce had the prince made an end of his speech when they heard a +noise of thunder rending the mountains and shaking the earth and +fear get hold upon the queen, the mother of Zein ul Asnam, yea, +and sore trembling; but, after a little, the King of the Jinn +appeared and said to her, "O lady, fear not, it is I who am thy +son's protector and I love him with an exceeding love for the +love his father bore me. Nay, I am he who appeared to him in his +sleep and in this I purposed to try his fortitude, whether or not +he might avail to subdue himself for loyalty's sake. Indeed the +beauty of this young lady beguiled him and he could not avail to +keep his covenant with me so strictly but [FN#139] that he desired +her for his bride. However, I know the frailty of human nature +and withal I think greatly of him that he guarded her and kept +her unsullied and withdrew himself from her; [FN#140] wherefore I +accept this his constancy and bestow her on him as a bride. She +is the ninth image, which I promised him should be with him, and +certes she is fairer than all these images of jewels, inasmuch as +her like is rarely found in the world." Then the King of the Jinn +turned to Zein ul Asnam and said to him, "O Prince Zein ul Asnam, +this is thy bride; take her and go in to her, on condition that +thou love her and take not unto her a second [wife]; and I +warrant thee of the goodliness of her fidelity to-thee-ward." +Therewithal he vanished from them and Zein ul Asnam went out, +glad and rejoicing in the young lady; [FN#141] and of [the excess +of] his love for her he went in to her that night and let +celebrate the bridal and hold high festival in all the kingdom. +Then he abode upon the throne of his kingship, judging and +commanding and forbidding, whilst his bride became queen of +Bassora; and after a little his mother died. So he made her +funeral obsequies [FN#142] and mourned for her; after which he +lived with his bride in all content till there came to them the +Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Societies. + + + + + + + ALAEDDIN AND THE ENCHANTED LAMP. [FN#143] + + + +There [FN#144] was [once] in a city of the cities of China a man, +a tailor and poor, and he had a son by name Alaeddin, who was +perverse and graceless from his earliest childhood. When he came +to ten years of age, his father would fain have taught him his +own craft, for that, because he was poor, he could not spend +money upon him to have him taught [another] trade or art [FN#145] +or the like; [FN#146] so he carried him to his shop, that he might +teach him his craft of tailoring; but, forasmuch as the lad was +perverse and wont still to play with the boys of the +quarter, [FN#147] he would not sit one day in the shop; nay, he +would watch his father till such time as he went forth the place +to meet a customer [FN#147] or on some other occasion, when he +would flee forth incontinent and go out to the gardens with the +good-for-nothing lads like himself. This, then, was his +case, [FN#148] and he would not obey his parents, nor would he +learn a craft. His father sickened of his grief and chagrin for +his son's perversity and died, whilst A]aeddin abode on that his +wise. When his mother saw that her husband had departed this +life [FN#149] and that her son was a scapegrace and a good-for- +nought, she sold the shop and all she found therein and fell to +spinning cotton and feeding herself and her graceless son +Alaeddin with her toil. The latter, seeing himself quit of his +father's danger, [FN#150] redoubled in his gracelessness and his +perversity and would not abide in their house save eating-whiles; +and his poor wretched mother supported him [FN#151] by the +spinning of her hands till he came to fifteen years of age. + +One [FN#152] day of the days, as he sat in the street, playing +with the vagabond boys, behold, a Maugrabin [FN#153] dervish came +up and stopping to look at the lads, singled out Alaeddin from +his comrades and fell to gazing upon him and straitly considering +his favour. Now this dervish was from the land of Hither +Barbary [FN#154] and he was an enchanter who would cast mountain +upon mountain with his sorcery and was skilled to boot in +physiognomy. [FN#155] When he had well considered Alaeddin, he +said in himself, "Certes, this boy is he whom I seek and he it is +in quest of whom I came forth from my country." So he took one of +the lads apart and asked him of Alaeddin, whose son he was, and +questioned him of all his affairs; after which he went up to +Alaeddin and taking him aside, said to him, "Harkye, boy, art +thou not the son of such an one the tailor?" And he answered him, +saying "Yes, O my lord; but my father died awhile agone." When +the Maugrabin magician heard this, he threw himself upon Alaeddin +and embracing him, fell to kissing him and weeping, that his +tears ran down upon his cheek. + +Alaeddin was astonished at the Maugrabin's behaviour; so he asked +him and said to him, "What is the cause of thy weeping, O my +lord, and whence knewest thou my father?" The Maugrabin answered +him, in a mournful, broken voice, [FN#156] saying, "How, O my son, +canst thou ask me this question, after telling me that thy +father, my brother, is dead, for thy father was [indeed] my +brother [FN#157] and I am newly come from my country and was +rejoicing exceedingly, after this my strangerhood, of my +expectation that I should see him and solace myself with +him; [FN#158] and now thou tellest me that he is dead! Marry, +blood discovered unto me that [FN#159] thou wast the son of my +brother, and indeed I knew thee from amongst all the lads; +although thy father, when I left him, was not yet married. +And [FN#160] now, O my son Alaeddin," continued he, "I have lost +my consolation [FN#161] and my joy in thy father, my brother, whom +I had hoped, after my strangerhood, to see ere I died; but +separation hath afflicted me in him [FN#162] and there is no +fleeing from that which is [FN#163] nor is there any resource +against the ordinance of God the Most High." + +Then he took Alaeddin and said to him, "O my son, I have no +comfort [FN#163] but in thee [FN#164] and thou art [to me] in the +stead of thy father, since thou art his successor and whoso +leaveth [a successor] is not dead, O my son." With this he put +his hand [to his pocket] and bringing out ten diners, gave them +to Alaeddin, saying, "O my son, where is your house and where is +thy mother, my brother's wife?" So Alaeddin took him and showed +him the way to their house; and the magician said to him, "O my +son, take these monies and give them to thy mother and salute her +on my behalf and tell her that thine uncle is come back from his +strangerhood; and God willing, to-morrow I will come visit you, +so I may salute her and look upon the house wherein my brother +dwelt and see where his tomb is." Alaeddin kissed his hand and +hastened home, running in his joy, to his mother and entered, +contrary to his wont, for that he was not used to go in to her +save at eating-times. So he went in to her, rejoicing, and said +to her, "O my mother, I bring thee glad news of my uncle, in that +he is come back from his absence, and he saluteth thee." "O my +son," quoth she, meseemeth thou makest mock of me. Who is thine +uncle and whence hast thou an uncle on life?" And he said to her, +"O my mother, why didst thou tell me that I had no uncles and no +kinsfolk on life? Indeed, this man is my uncle and he embraced me +and kissed me, weeping, and bade me tell thee of this." And she +answered him, saying, "Yes, O my son, I knew thou hadst an uncle, +but he is dead and I know not that thou hast a second uncle." + +As [FN#166] for the Maugrabin enchanter, he went forth at dawn and +fell to searching for [FN#167] Alaeddin, for that he might not +brook parting from him; [FN#168] and as he went about in the +thoroughfares of the city, he came upon the lad, who was playing +with the vagabonds, as of his wont. So he went up to him and +taking him by the hand, embraced him and kissed him; then he +brought out of his purse two diners and said to Alaeddin, "Go to +thy mother and give her these two diners and say to her, 'My +uncle would fain sup with us; so take these two diners and make a +good supper.' But first show me once more the way to your house." +"On my head and eyes, O my uncle," answered Alaeddin and +foregoing him, showed him the way to the house. Then the +Maugrabin left him and went his way, whilst Alaeddin returned +home and telling his mother [what had passed], gave her the two +diners and said to her, " My uncle would fain sup with us." So +she arose forthright and went out to the market, where she bought +all that was needful and returning home, borrowed of her +neighbours that which she required of platters and the like and +proceeded to make ready for supper. + +When the time of the evening-meal came, she said to Alaeddin, " O +my son, the supper [FN#169] is ready and maybe shine uncle knoweth +not the way to the house. Go thou and meet him." And he answered +her with "Hearkening and obedience." But, whilst they were in +talk, behold, there came a knocking at the door; whereupon +Alaeddin went out and opening, found the Maugrabin enchanter, and +with him a slave bearing wine and fruits. So he brought them in +and the slave went his way, whilst the Maugrabin entered and +saluted Alaeddin's mother; then he fell a-weeping and said to +her, "Where is the place in which my brother was wont to sit?" +She pointed him to her husband's sitting-place, whereupon he went +thither and prostrating himself, fell to kissing the earth and +saying, "Alas, how scant is my delight and how sorry my fortune, +since I have lost thee, O my brother and apple [FN#170] of mine +eye!" And the abode on this wise, weeping and lamenting, till +Alaeddin's mother was certified that he was in earnest and that +he was like to swoon of the excess of his wailing and his +lamentation. So she came to him and raised him from the ground, +saying, "What profiteth it that thou shouldst kill thyself?" +And [FN#171] she proceeded to comfort him and made him sit down. + +Then, before she laid the table, the Maugrabin fell to relating +to her [his history] and said to her, "O wife of my brother, let +it not amaze thee that in all thy days thou never sawest me +neither knewest of me in my late brother's lifetime, for that I +left this country forty years agone and became an exile from my +native land. I journeyed to the lands of Hind and Sind and all +the country of the Arabs and coming presently into Egypt, +sojourned awhile in the magnificent city [of Cairo], which is the +wonder of the world. [FN#172] Ultimately I betook myself to the +land of Hither Barbary [FN#173] and sojourned there thirty years' +space, [FN#174] till one day of the days, as I sat, [FN#175] O wife +of my brother, I bethought me of my country and my native place +and of my late brother and longing waxed on me to see him and I +fell a-weeping and lamenting over my strangerhood and distance +from him. In fine, my yearning for him importuned me till I +resolved to journey to this country, the which was the falling- +place of my head [FN#176] and my native land, that I might see my +brother. And I said in myself, "O man, how long wilt thou be an +exile [FN#177] from thy country and thy native place, whenas thou +hast an only brother and no more? Arise and journey and look upon +him ere thou die. Who knoweth the calamities of fate and the +vicissitudes of the days? Sore pity 'twere that thou shouldst die +and not see thy brother. Moreover, Allah (praised be He) hath +given thee abundant wealth and it may be thy brother is in poor +case and straitened, and thou wilt help him, an [FN#178] thou see +him." So I arose forthright and equipped myself for travel; then, +reciting the Fatiheh [FN#179], I took horse, after the Friday +prayer, and came, after many hardships and fatigues,--which I +suffered, till the Lord (to whom belong might and majesty) +protected [me],--to this city. I entered it and as I went about +its thoroughfares the day before yesterday, I saw my brother's +son Alaeddin playing with the boys; and by Allah the Great, O +wife of my brother, when I saw him, my heart crave to him, for +that blood yearneth unto blood, and my soul foreboded me he was +my brother's son. At his sight I forgot all my toils and troubles +and was like to fly for joy; then, when he told me that my late +brother had departed to the mercy of God the Most High, I swooned +away for stress of grief and chagrin; and most like he hath told +thee of that which overcame me. [FN#180] But I comforted myself +somewhat with Alaeddin, who standeth in stead of [FN#181] the +departed, for that whoso leaveth [a successor] [FN#182] dieth +not." + +Then, [FN#183] when he saw her weeping at this speech, he turned +to Alaeddin, by way of making her forget the mention of her +husband and feigning to comfort her, so he might the better +accomplish his device upon her, and said to him, "O my son +Alaeddin, what hast thou learned of crafts and what is thy +business? Hast thou learned thee a trade whereby thou mayst live, +thou and thy mother?" At this Alaeddin was confounded and abashed +and hung down his head, bowing it to the ground, whilst his +mother said to the Maugrabin, "How? By Allah, he knoweth nought +at all! So graceless a lad I never saw. All day long he goeth +about with the vagabond boys of the quarter like himself; nay, +his father, woe is me, died not but of his chagrin concerning +him; and now, as for me, my case is woeful. I spin cotton and +toil night and day, to earn two cakes of bread, that we may eat +them together. This, then, is his condition, O my brother-in-law, +and by thy life, he cometh not in to me save at eating-times, and +I am thinking to bolt the door of my house and not open to him +and let him go seek his living for himself, for that I am grown +an old woman and have no strength left to toil and provide for +the maintenance of a fellow like this. [FN#184] By Allah, I get +mine own livelihood, I that need one who shall maintain +me." [FN#185] + +Therewithal the Maugrabin turned to Alaeddin and said to him, +"How is this, O son of my brother? It is a disgrace to thee to go +vagabonding about in this abjection. This befitteth not men like +thee. Thou art gifted with understanding, O my son, and the child +of [reputable] folk; [FN#186] I and it is a shame upon thee that +thy mother, who is an old woman, should toil for thy maintenance, +now thou art grown a man. Nay, it behoveth thee get thee some +means whereby thou mayst maintain thyself, O my son. See, by +God's grace, (praised be He) here in our city be masters of +crafts, nowhere is there a place more abounding in them: choose, +then, the craft which pleaseth thee and I will establish thee +therein, so that, when thou growest up, O my son, thou mayst find +thee thy craft whereby thou shalt live. Belike thou hast no mind +to thy father's trade; so choose other than it. Tell me the craft +which pleaseth thee and I will help thee in all that is possible, +O son of my brother." Then, seeing that Alaeddin was silent and +answered him nothing, he knew that he had no mind to any craft at +all and recked of nothing but vagabondage and said to him, "O son +of my brother, be not abashed at me; [FN#187] if so be +withal [FN#188] thou caress not to learn a trade, I will open thee +a merchant's shop of the costliest stuffs and thou shalt make +thyself acquainted with [FN#189] the folk [FN#190] and shalt give +and take and sell and buy and become known in the city." + +When Alaeddin heard these words of his uncle the Maugrabin, to +wit, that it was his intent to make him a merchant, [FN#191] a +trader, [FN#192] he rejoiced exceedingly, well knowing that all +merchants' apparel is neat and elegant; [FN#193] so he looked at +the Maugrabin and smiled and bowed his head, as who should say, +"I am content." The [FN#194] magician, seeing him smile, knew that +he was content to be a merchant and said to him, "Since thou art +content that I should make thee a merchant and open thee a shop, +be a man, O son of my brother, and to-morrow, God willing, I will +take thee first to the market and let cut thee an elegant suit of +clothes such as merchants wear; and after that I will look thee +out a shop and perform my promise to thee." Now Alaeddin's mother +was in some little doubt as to the Maugrabin; but, when she heard +his promise to her son that he would open him a shop as a +merchant with stuffs and capital and what not else, she concluded +that he was in very deed her brother-in-law, inasmuch as a +stranger would not do thus with her son. So she fell to +admonishing her son and exhorting him to put away ignorance and +folly from his head and be a man, and bade him still yield +obedience to his uncle, as he were his father, and apply himself +to make up the time which he had wasted in idleness [with] those +who were like him, after which she arose and laying the table, +spread the evening-meal and they all sat down and fell to eating +and drinking, whilst the Maugrabin talked with Alaeddin upon +matters of merchandry and the like. Then, when he saw that the +night was far spent, [FN#195] he arose and went to his lodging, +promising to return in the morning and take Alaeddin, so he might +let cut him a merchant's suit. + +Alaeddin slept not that night for joy and when it was morning, +behold, the Maugrabin knocked at the door. The lad's mother arose +and opened to him; however, he would not enter, but sought +Alaeddin, that he might take him with him to the market. So +Alaeddin went out to him and gave him good-morning and kissed his +hand; whereupon the Maugrabin took him by the hand and going with +him to the market, entered the shop of a seller of all manner of +clothes and demanded a suit of costly stuffs. The merchant +brought him what he sought, all sewn and ready, and the Maugrabin +said to Alaeddin, "Choose that which pleaseth thee, O my son." +Alaeddin rejoiced exceedingly, when he saw that his uncle gave +him his choice, and chose clothes to his mind, such as pleased +him. The Maugrabin at once paid the merchant their price and +going out, carried Alaeddin to the bath, where they bathed and +came forth and drank wine. [FN#196] Then Alaeddin arose and donned +the new suit; whereat he rejoiced and was glad and coming up to +his uncle, kissed his hand and thanked him for his bounties. +After [FN#197] this the Maugrabin carried him to the bazaar of the +merchants and showed him the market and the selling and buying +and said to him, " O my son, it behoveth thee consort with the +folk, especially with the merchants, so thou mayst learn of them +merchandry, since this is become thy craft." + +Then he took him again and showed him the city and the mosques +and all the sights of the place; after which he carried him to a +cook's shop, where the morning-meal was set before them in silver +platters. So they ate and drank till they had enough and going +forth, fared on, whilst the Maugrabin proceeded to show Alaeddin +the pleasaunces and fine buildings, [FN#198] going in with him to +the Sultan's palace and showing him all the fair and fine +quarters [FN#199] [of the city]; after which he carried him to the +Khan of the stranger merchants, where he himself lodged. and +invited certain of the merchants who were in the Khan. +Accordingly they came and sat down to supper, and he informed +them that this was his brother's son and that his name was +Alaeddin. Then, after they had eaten and drunken, the night being +now come, the Maugrabin arose and taking Alaeddin, carried him +back to his mother. + +When she saw her son as he were one of the merchants, her wit +fled [and she waxed] sorrowful for gladness and fell to extolling +the Maugrabin's bounty and saying to him, "O my brother-in-law, I +might not suffice [to thy deserts,] though I thanked thee all my +life long and praised thee for the good thou hast done with my +son." "O wife of my brother," answered he, "this is no manner of +kindness in me, [FN#200] for that this is my son and it behoveth +me stand in the stead of my brother his father; so be thou easy." +Quoth she, "I pray God, by the glory of the ancients [FN#201] and +the moderns, that He let thee [live] and continue thee, O my +brother-in-law, and prolong me thy life, so thou mayst be [as] a +wing [FN#202] to this orphan boy; and he shall still be under +thine obedience and thy commandment and shall do nought but that +which thou biddest him." "O wife of my brother," rejoined the +Maugrabin, "Alaeddin is a man of understanding and [the son of] +decent folk, and my hope is in God that he will follow in his +father's footsteps and be the solace of shine eyes; [FN#203] but +it irketh me that, to-morrow being Friday, I cannot open him a +shop. It being congregation day, all the merchants will go out +after prayers to the gardens and pleasaunces; but, God willing, +on Saturday, an it please the Creator, we will do our business. +Tomorrow I will come to you and take Alaeddin, that I may show +him the gardens and pleasaunces without the city,--it may be he +hath not yet seen them,--and he shall see the merchant-folk and +the notables a-pleasuring there, so he may become acquainted with +them and they with him." [FN#204] + +The [FN#205] Maugrabin lay the night in his lodging; and on the +morrow he came to the tailor's house and knocked at the door. +Alaeddin--of the excess of his joy in the clothes he had donned +and of the pleasures he had enjoyed on the past day, what with +the bath and eating and drinking and viewing the folk and the +thought that his uncle was coming in the morning to take him and +show him the gardens--slept not that night neither closed an eye +and thought the day would never break. [FN#206] So, when he heard +a knocking at the door, he went out at once in haste, like a +spark of fire, and opening, found his uncle the Maugrabin. The +latter embraced him and kissed him and took him by the hand, +saying, "O son of my brother, to-day I will show thee a thing +such as thou never sawest in thy life." Then they went off +together and the Maugrabin fell to making merry with [FN#207] +Alaeddin and amusing him with familiar talk. They went forth the +gate of the city and the Maugrabin proceeded to walk with him +among the gardens and to show him the fine pleasaunces and +marvellous high-builded palaces; and whenassoever they looked +upon a garden or a palace [FN#208] or a pavilion, [FN#209] he would +stand and say to Alaeddin, "Doth this please thee, O my son +Alaeddin?" + +Alaeddin was like to fly for joy, inasmuch as he saw that which +he had never in his life seen, and they gave not over walking and +gazing till they were weary, when they entered a fine garden +there, that cheered the heart and brightened the eye with its +springs [FN#210] welling up among flowers and its waters issuing +from the mouths of lions of brass like unto gold, and sitting +down by a lake, rested awhile. As for Alaeddin, he rejoiced and +was exceeding glad and fell a-jesting with the Mangrabin and +making merry with him, as he were his uncle in very deed. Then +the latter arose and loosing his girdle, brought out therefrom a +bag full of victual and fruit and the like and said to Alaeddin, +"O son of my brother, thou art maybe anhungred; come, eat what +thou wilt." So Alaeddin proceeded to eat and the Maugrabin with +him and they were gladdened and refreshed and their souls were +cheered. Then said the Maugrabin, "Rise, O my son, an thou be +rested, so we may walk a little and fare onward." [FN#211] So +Alaeddin arose and the Maugrabin walked on with him from garden +to garden till they had passed them all and came to a high +mountain. [FN#212] + +Now Alaeddin had never gone forth the gate of the city nor in all +his life had he walked the like of that walk; so he said to the +Maugrabin, "O my uncle, whither are we going? See, we have left +all the gardens behind us and are come to the foot of a +mountain. [FN#213] If the way be [yet] far, I have no strength +left me for walking, for that I am worn out with fatigue and +there remain no more gardens before us; so let us turn back and +return to the city." "O my son," replied the Maugrabin, "this is +the way and the gardens are not yet at an end, for we are +going [FN#214] to view a garden, whose like is not with the kings +and compared with which all these which thou hast seen are as +nothing. So gird up thy loins [FN#215] for walking; praised be +God, thou art a man." And he fell to amusing him with fair words +and telling him rare stories, true and false, till they reached +the place at which this Maugrabin enchanter aimed and in quest +whereof he was come from Barbary [FN#216] to the land of China; +whereupon, "O son of my brother," quoth he to Alaeddin, "sit and +rest thee; this is the place for which we were making; and now, +please God, I will show thee marvellous things, the like whereof +no one in the world hath seen, nor hath any looked upon that +which thou art about to behold. But [FN#217] do thou, after thou +art rested, arise and seek sticks and grass and reeds and such +like matters as are small and dry, so we may kindle a fire, and I +will cause thee look, O son of my brother, upon a thing which +passeth understanding." [FN#218] + +When Alaeddin heard this, he yearned to see what his uncle was +about to do; so he forgot his fatigue and rising forthright, fell +to gathering brushwood and dry sticks and gathered till the +Maugrabin said to him, "Enough, O son of my brother." Then he +brought out of his pocket a casket, from which he took what he +needed of perfumes, and proceeded to make fumigations and +conjurations, speaking words that might not be understanded; and +straightway it darkened and thundered and the earth quaked and +opened. At this Alaeddin was sore affrighted and would have fled; +which when the Maugrabin enchanter saw, he was exceeding, +incensed at him, for that without Alaeddin his labour was of none +avail, since the treasure whereat he sought to come might not be +opened save by means of the lad. So, when he saw him offer to +flee, he rose to him and lifting his hand, smote him on his head, +that he came nigh to knock out his teeth; whereupon Alaeddin +swooned away and fell upon the earth; but, after a little, he +recovered his senses, by the virtue of the Maugrabin's +enchantments, and falling a-weeping, said to him, "O my uncle, +what have I done to deserve from thee this blow?" The Maugrabin +proceeded to soothe him and said to him, "O my son, it is my +desire to make thee a man; so cross me not, for that I am thine +uncle and as it were thy father; wherefore do thou obey me in +that which I shall say to thee, and after a little thou shalt +forget all this travail and annoy, whenas thou lookest upon +things marvellous." + +Now, when the earth clove in sunder before the enchanter, there +appeared to him an alabaster slab and in it a ring of molten +brass; [FN#219] so he turned to Alaeddin and said to him, "An thou +do that which I shall tell thee, thou shalt become richer than +all the kings; and on this account, O my son, I beat thee, for +that here is a treasure and it is in thy name, and thou, thou +wouldst fain have passed it by and fled. But now collect thy +wits [FN#220] and see how I have opened the earth by my +conjurations and incantations. Under [FN#221] yonder stone, +wherein is the ring, is the treasure whereof I have told thee; so +do thou put thy hand to the ring and lift the slab, for that none +of mankind can open it but thou and none but thou can set his +foot within this treasure, since it is guarded for thee. But +needs must thou hearken from me that which I shall teach thee and +lose not [FN#222] a syllable of my speech. Marry, all this, O my +son, is for thy good, for that this is an exceeding great +treasure, the kings of the world possess not its like, and it is +thine and mine." So poor Alaeddin forgot fatigue and beating and +weeping, of his amazement at the Maugrabin's speech and joy that +he should become rich after such a measure that even the kings +would be no wealthier than he, and said to him, "O my uncle, +command me all thou wilt, for I will be obedient unto thy +commandment." And the Maugrabin said to him, "O son of my +brother, thou art as my very son, nay, dearer, for being my +brother's son. I have no kindred other than thyself and thou art +my natural heir and successor, O my son." + +Therewith he came up to Alaeddin and kissed him. saying, "All +these my toils, whom do they concern? [FN#223] They are all for +thy sake, O my son, that I may make [FN#224] thee a man rich and +great [FN#225] exceedingly; so gainsay me not in aught that I +shall tell thee; but go up to yonder ring and raise it, as I bade +thee." "O my uncle," quoth Alaeddin, "this stone is heavy; I +cannot raise it of myself, [FN#226] so come thou also and help me +raise it, for I am little of years." "O son of my brother," +replied the Maugrabin, "it will not be possible for us to do +aught, an I help thee, and our toil will be wasted in vain; but +do thou put thy hand to the ring and raise it and it will +immediately come up with thee; for, as I said to thee, none may +handle it but thou. But, when thou raisest it, name thine own +name and those of thy father and mother and it will straightway +rise with thee, nor shalt thou feel its weight." + +Accordingly, Alaeddin took courage and summoning his resolution, +did as the Maugrabin bade him and raised the slab with all ease, +whenas he pronounced his own name and those of his father and his +mother. So the stone came up and he threw it aside; +whereupon [FN#227] there appeared to him an underground place and +its door, whereas one entered by a stair of some dozen steps, and +the Maugrabin said to him, "O Alaeddin, give heed [FN#228] and do +punctually that which I shall tell thee, neither fail of aught +thereof. Go down with all circumspection into yonder vault till +thou come to the bottom thereof and thou wilt find there a place +divided into four chambers, [FN#229] in each of which thou wilt +see four jars of gold and others of native ore and silver. Beware +lest thou handle them or take aught therefrom, but pass them by +till thou come to the fourth chamber, and let not thy clothes or +thy skirts touch the jars, no, nor the walls, and stay not one +moment; for, an thou do contrary to this, thou wilt forthright be +transformed and wilt become a black stone. When thou comest to +the fourth chamber, thou wilt find there a door; open it and +speak the names which thou spokest over the slab; then enter and +thou wilt find thyself in a garden, all adorned with trees and +fruits. Thence do thou fare on some fifty cubits in the path thou +wilt find before thee and thou wilt come to a dais, [FN#230] +with [FN#231] a stair of some thirty steps. Above the dais +thou [FN#232] wilt find a lamp hung up; take it and pour out the +oil that is therein and put it in thy sleeve; [FN#233] and fear +not for thy clothes therefrom, for that it [FN#234] is not oil. +And as thou returnest, thou mayst pluck from the trees what thou +wilt, for that it is thine, what while the lamp abideth in thy +hand." + +When the Maugrabin had made an end of his speech, he drew from +his finger a ring and putting it on Alaeddin's finger, said to +him, "And this ring, O, my son, shall deliver thee from all hurt +and all fear that may betide thee, provided thou observe all that +I have said to thee. So now arise and go down; gird thy loins and +summon up thy resolution and fear not, for that thou art a man +and not a child; and after this, O my son, thou shalt in a little +time become the richest of mankind." So Alaeddin arose and going +down into the underground, found the four chambers and in each +four jars of gold. He passed them by with all care and +precaution, even as the Maugrabin had bidden him, and entering +the garden, fared on there through till he came to the dais and +mounting the stair, entered [FN#235] and found the lamp. So he +quenched it and pouring out the oil that was therein, put it in +his sleeve; then, going down into the garden, he fell to gazing +upon its trees, whereon were birds extolling with their +songs [FN#236] the perfection of the Great Creator, and he had not +seen them as he entered. Now the fruits of these trees were all +precious stones, each tree bearing fruit of one colour and kind +of jewel, and these fruits were of all colours, green and white +and yellow and red and what not else of colours. Their +glitterance outshone the rays of the sun in its forenoon +splendour and the bigness of each jewel overpassed description; +suffice it that not one of them might be found with the greatest +of the kings of the world, [FN#237] no, nor a gem half the bigness +of the smallest that was there. + +Alaeddin [FN#238] entered among the trees and proceeded to gaze +upon them and upon these things which amazed the sight and +ravished the sense and observing them, saw that, instead of +fruits, they bore magnificent jewels from the mines, emeralds and +diamonds and rubies and pearls and topazes [FN#239] and the like +of precious stones, such as confounded the wit. Now, for that +this was a thing Alaeddin had never in his life seen, neither was +he of ripe age, so he should know the value of these jewels, by +reason of his being yet a young lad, he thought that they were +all glass or crystal; so he gathered of them what filled his +sleeves [FN#240] and fell to looking an they were grapes or figs +and the like of fruits that might be eaten or not; but, finding +them like glass, he proceeded to gather in his sleeve [FN#241] of +every kind that was upon the trees, albeit he knew not jewels nor +their worth, saying in himself, since he had been baulked in his +intent of eating, "I will gather of these fruits of glass and +will play with them at home." Accordingly he proceeded to pluck +and put in his pockets [FN#242] and his sleeves [FN#243] till he +filled them; after which he filled his girdle with the fruits and +girt himself withal; in fine, he carried off as much as he might, +purposing to lay them up with him in the house by way of +ornament, for that he thought them glass, as I have said. Then he +quickened his pace, of his fear of his uncle the Maugrabin, and +hastened through the four chambers and the [outer] vault nor +looked, as he returned, at the jars of gold, albeit he might now +have taken of them. [FN#244] + +When he came to the stair [FN#245] and ascended it and there +remained to him but a small matter, to wit, the last step, which +was much higher than the others, he could not avail to mount it +of himself, having regard to that which he was carrying; so he +said to the Maugrabin, "O my uncle, give me thy hand and help me +up." Quoth he, "O my son, give me the lamp and lighten thyself; +maybe it is that which hindereth thee." "Nay, O my uncle," +answered Alaeddin, "the lamp hindereth me nought; but do thou +give me thy hand and when I am up, I will give thee the lamp." +The enchanter, who wanted the lamp and that only, fell to urging +Alaeddin to give it him; but the latter, having wrapped it within +his clothes, with purses [FN#246] of jewel-fruits atop of +it, [FN#247] could not reach it with his hand, so he might give it +him. [FN#248] The [FN#249] Maugrabin was instant with him to give +him the lamp and was like to lose his wits for rage, seeing he +attained not his object, albeit Alaeddin still promised him that +he would give it him as soon as he was forth of the vault, [and +that] without lying thought or ill intent. Then, when he saw that +Alaeddin would not give it him, he was angry with an exceeding +anger and abandoning all hope of the lamp, conjured and enchanted +and cast perfumes into the midst of the fire; whereupon the slab +immediately turned over [FN#250] and shut [FN#251] of itself by the +might of his enchantments; the earth covered it like as it was +before and Alaeddin abode under the ground, unable to come forth. + +Thus the enchanter--forasmuch as he was a stranger and no uncle of +Alaeddin, as he said, but had counterfeited himself and avouched +leasing, so he might get the lamp by means of the lad, unto whom +that treasure was fortuned by the stars-shut up [FN#252] the earth +upon him and left him to die of hunger. Now this accursed +Maugrabin wizard was from the city of Africa [FN#253] in Hither +Barbary and had from his childhood been addicted to magic and all +the occult arts, for which the city in question is renowned. He +ceased not from his tenderest years to study and learn in his +native land Africa till he became versed in all sciences, and of +the much skill and proficiency which he acquired, by dint of +study and application for the space of forty years, in the matter +of incantations and conjurations, it was discovered to +him, [FN#254] one day of the days, that among the uttermost of the +cities of China was a city called El Kelaas and in this city a +vast treasure, the like whereof no king of the kings of the world +ever possessed; but the rarest [was] that in this treasure +[was] [FN#255] a wonderful lamp, [FN#256] whereat if one should +come, there might no man be found on earth richer than he, +whether in might or in wealth, nor might the greatest king in the +world avail unto aught of the riches of this lamp and its +puissance and virtue. Moreover [FN#257] he saw that this treasure +was to be achieved by means of a lad of mean birth, by name +Alaeddin, who was of the city aforesaid, and that it was eath to +take and unarduous: so he tarried not, but equipped himself +forthright for the voyage to China, as we have said, and did that +which he did with Alaeddin, thinking to come by the lamp. But his +endeavour was baffled and his expectation baulked and his toil +wasted in vain; whereupon he sought to kill Alaeddin and closed +up the earth upon him by his sorcery, so he might die (and the +live hath no slayer [FN#258]); moreover, he purposed by this that +Alaeddin should not come forth and that the lamp should not be +brought up from under the earth. Then he went his ways and +returned to his country Africa, woeful and despairing of his +hope. + +So much for the enchanter and as for what came of Alaeddin, after +the earth closed over him, he fell to calling upon the Maugrabin, +whom he thought his uncle, to give him his hand, so he might come +forth the underground to the surface of the earth; but, when he +found that none returned him an answer, he was ware of the cheat +which the Maugrabin had put upon him and knew that he was none of +his uncle, but a liar and a sorcerer. Therewith he despaired of +his life and knew, to his woe, that there was no more going forth +for him upon the face of the earth; so he fell to weeping and +lamenting over that which had befallen him. Then, after a little, +he arose and went down, that he might see if God the Most High +had vouchsafed him a door whereby he might go forth; and he went +seeking right and left, but saw nought save darkness and four +walls shut upon him; for that the Maugrabin sorcerer had by his +enchantments locked all the doors and had even shut up the +garden, so he might leave him no door whereby he should come +forth upon the face of the earth and so hasten his death upon +him. Alaeddin's weeping redoubled and his lamentation waxed when +he saw all the doors shut and eke the garden, for that he thought +to solace himself with them [FN#259] a little; but he found them +locked, so he fell to crying out and weeping, as he whose hope is +cut off, and returning, sat down upon the steps of the stair +whereby he had entered the vault, weeping [FN#260] and wailing; +and indeed he had lost hope. + +But it is a small matter for God (extolled be His perfection and +exalted be He) whenas He willeth a thing, to say to it "Be," and +it is; for that He createth relief out of the midst of stress; by +token that, when the Maugrabin enchanter sent Alaeddin down into +the vault, he gave him a ring and put it on his finger, saying, +"This ring will deliver thee from all stress, an thou be in +calamities or vicissitudes, and will remove from thee troubles; +yea, it will be thy helper whereassoever thou art;" and this was +by the foreordinance of God the Most High, so it might be the +means of Alaeddin's deliverance. So, as he sat weeping and +bewailing his case and indeed his hope was cut off of life and +despair was heavy upon him, he fell, of the excess of his +anguish, to wringing [FN#261] his hands, after the wont of the +woeful; then, raising them [to heaven], he made supplication to +God, saying, "I testify that there is no God but Thou alone, the +Mighty, the Powerful, the Conquering, the Giver of Life and +Death, [FN#262] Creator and Accomplisher [FN#263] of necessities, +Resolver of difficulties and perplexities and Dispeller +thereof, [FN#264] Thou my sufficiency, Thou the most excellent +Guardian, and I testify that Mohammed is Thy servant and Thine +apostle. O my God, I conjure Thee, by his [FN#265] glory with +Thee, deliver me from my extremity." + +Whilst he was thus supplicating God and wringing his hands in the +excess of his affliction for that which had befallen him of +calamity, he chanced to rub upon the ring, and immediately, +behold, a genie [FN#266] rose up before him and said to him, "Here +am I; thy slave is before thee. Seek whatsoever thou wilt, for +that I am his slave who hath the ring in hand, the ring of my +lord." [FN#267] Alaeddin looked and saw a Marid, [FN#268] as he +were of the Jinn of our lord Solomon, standing before him, and +shuddered at his frightful aspect; but, when he heard the genie +say to him, "Seek whatsoever thou wilt, for that I am thy slave, +since the ring of my lord is on thy hand," he took heart and +bethought him of the Maugrabin's speech to him, whenas he gave +him the ring. So he rejoiced exceedingly and took courage and +said to him, "O slave of the lord of the ring, I will of thee +that thou bring me out upon the face of the earth." Hardly had he +made an end of that his speech when, behold, the earth opened and +he found himself without, at the door of the treasure, to wit, +upon the surface of the earth. + +Now, he had been three days under the earth, sitting in the +treasure in the dark; so, when the light of day smote on his face +and the rays of the sun, he might not unclose his eyes, but took +to opening them little by little and shutting them again. till +they became stronger and grew used to the light and were cleared +of the darkness. Then, [FN#269] seeing himself upon the surface of +the earth, he rejoiced exceedingly, but marvelled to find himself +overagainst the entrance of the treasure, whereby he went down, +whenas the Maugrabin enchanter opened it; and now the stone was +shut down and the earth levelled, nor was there any sign therein +of a door. So he redoubled in wonderment and thought himself +otherwhere; nor was he assured that he was in the very place, +till he saw whereas they had kindled the fire of sticks and +brushwood and whereas the Maugrabin enchanter had made his +fumigations and conjurations. Then he turned right and left and +saw the gardens afar off and looked at the way and knew it for +that by which they had come. So he gave thanks to God the Most +High, who had brought him out on the earth's face and had +delivered him from death, after he had given up hope of life. +Then he arose and fared homeward, by the way which he knew, till +he came to the city and entering, betook himself to their house +and went in to his mother. When he saw her, he fell down before +her, of the greatness of the joy which possessed him for his +deliverance, and swooned away for the affright and the weariness +which he had suffered, more by token that he was weak with +hunger. + +Now his mother had been woebegone since he left her and sat +wailing and weeping for him; so, when she saw him come in to her, +she rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy, but grief overwhelmed +her, whenas she saw him fall aswoon upon the earth. However, she +wasted no time in vain lamentation, but hastened to sprinkle +water on his face and sought of her neighbours somewhat of +perfumes, to which she made him smell. When he was a little +recovered, he prayed her bring him somewhat to eat, saying to +her, "O my mother, these three days past I have eaten nothing." +So she arose and setting before him that which she had ready, +said to him, " Rise, O my son, eat and restore thyself; and when +thou art rested, tell me what hath happened to thee and what +calamity hath befallen thee. I will not question thee now, +because thou art weary." So, [FN#270] when he had eaten and +drunken and had refreshed himself and was rested and restored, he +said to her, "Alack, mother mine, I have a sore grief against +thee in that thou leftest me to yonder accursed man, who strove +for my destruction. Indeed, he sought to kill me; nay, I saw +death face to face from that accursed wretch, whom thou deemedst +mine uncle, and but for God the Most High, who delivered me from +him, [I had perished]. Marry, both I and thou, O my mother, +suffered ourselves to be deluded by him after the measure of that +which the accursed promised to do with me of good and of the love +which he professed for me. Know, then, O my mother, that this man +is an accursed Maugrabin enchanter, a liar, a deceiver, an +impostor and a hypocrite; methinketh the devils that be under the +earth are not his match, may God put him to shame in every +book! [FN#271] Hear, O my mother, what this accursed did; nay, all +I shall tell thee is truth and soothfastness. Do but see the +villain's duplicity; bethink thee of the promises he made me that +he would do me all manner of good [FN#272] and the love he +professed to me, and how he did all this that he might accomplish +his purpose; nay, his intent was to kill me, and praised be God +for my deliverance! Hearken, O my mother, and learn what this +accursed one did." + +Then he told her all that had befallen him from the time of his +leaving her, weeping the while for excess of joy; how the +Maugrabin brought him to the hill, wherein was the treasure, and +how he conjured and fumigated. "And indeed. O my mother," said +he, "there overcame me exceeding fear, whenas the hill clove in +sunder and the earth opened before me by his enchantments; and I +quaked with terror at the voice of the thunder which I heard and +the darkness which befell of his spells and fumigations, and of +my dismay at these portents, I would have fled. When he saw me +offer to flee, he reviled me and smote me, dealing me a buffet +which caused me swoon for pain [FN#273] but, inasmuch as the +treasure was opened and he could not go down into it himself, +seeing he had opened it by my means and that it was in name and +not for him, he knew, being a foul sorcerer, that it might [only] +be achieved through me and that this adventure was [reserved] for +me. [FN#274] Accordingly [FN#275] he applied himself to make his +peace with me, that he might send me down into the treasure, now +it was opened, and attain his object by my means; and when he +sent me down, he gave me a ring, which he had on his hand, and +put it on my finger. So I descended into the treasure and found +four chambers, all full of gold and silver and the like; but this +all was nothing and the accursed one charged me take nought +thereof. Thence I entered a magnificent garden, [FN#276] all full +of high trees, whose fruits ravished the wits, O my mother, for +that they were all of various-coloured crystal, [FN#277] and I +fared on till I came to the pavilion [FN#278] wherein was this +lamp; whereupon I took it forthright and quenching it, poured out +that which was therein." + +[So saying,] he pulled out the lamp from his sleeve and showed it +to his mother. Moreover, he showed her the jewels which he had +brought from the garden. Now there were two great purses [FN#279] +full of these jewels, whereof not one was to be found with the +kings of mankind; and Alaeddin knew not their value, but thought +that they were glass or crystal. "Then, O my mother," continued +he, "after I had fetched the lamp and had gone forth [the garden] +and came to the door of the treasure, I cried out to the accursed +Maugrabin, who feigned himself my uncle, to give me his hand and +pull me up, for I was laden with things which weighed me down, so +that it was not possible for me to mount alone. However, he would +not give me his hand, but said to me, 'Reach me the lamp that is +with thee, and after I will give thee my hand and pull thee up.' +I, seeing that I had put the lamp within my sleeve and the purses +atop [FN#280] of it, could not reach it to give it to him and said +to him, 'O my-uncle, I cannot give thee the lamp. When I come up, +I will give it to thee.' But he would not help me up; nay, he +would e'en have the lamp, and his intent was to take it from me +and turn back the earth over me and destroy me, even as he did +with me in the end. This, then, O my mother, was what befell me +from that foul wizard." And he told her all that had passed +between them from first to last and fell to reviling the +Maugrabin with all rancour and heat of heart, saying, "Out on +this accursed one, this foul sorcerer, this hard-hearted +oppressor, this inhuman, perfidious, hypocritical villain, +lacking [FN#281] all mercy and ruth!" + +When [FN#282] Alaeddin's mother heard her son's speech and that +which the accursed Maugrabin did with him, she said to him, "Yea, +verily, O my son, he is a misbeliever and a hypocrite, who +destroyeth folk with his sorcery; but glory [FN#283] to God the +Most High, who hath delivered thee from the perfidy and guile of +this accursed sorcerer, of whom I thought that he was in very +deed thine uncle." Now, Alaeddin had passed three days without +sleep and found himself drowsy; so he [withdrew to his chamber +and] slept. His mother did likewise and Alaeddin ceased not to +sleep till next day, [FN#284] near noontide, when he awoke and +immediately sought somewhat to eat, for that he was anhungred; +and his mother said to him, "O my son, I have nought to give thee +to eat, for that all I had by me thou atest yesterday. But wait +awhile; I have here a little yarn by me and I am going down to +the market, so I may sell it and buy thee withal somewhat thou +mayst eat." "O my mother," rejoined Alaeddin, "keep the yarn and +sell it not; but give me the lamp which I brought home, so I may +arise and sell it and with its price buy somewhat we may eat. +Methinketh it will fetch more than the yarn." So she arose and +fetched the lamp; but, finding it exceeding dirty, she said to +him, "O my son, this lamp is dirty, and if we wash it and furbish +it, it will sell for a better price." Accordingly she took a +little sand and fell to scouring the lamp withal; but scarce had +she begun to rub it when there appeared to her one of the Jinn, +foul of favour and monstrous of make as he were of the giants, +and said to her, "Say what thou wilt of me. Here am I, thy slave +and the slave of whoso hath in his hand the lamp; and not I +alone, but all the slaves of the wonderful lamp that is in thy +hand." When she saw his frightful aspect, she trembled and fear +get hold upon her and her tongue was tied, nor could she return +an answer, for that she was not used to look upon apparitions +like unto this; so [FN#285] she fell down aswoon of her terror. + +Now Alaeddin her son was standing afar off and he had seen the +slave of the ring which he had rubbed in the treasure; so, when +he heard the genie's speech to his mother, he hastened to take +the lamp from her hand and said to him, "O slave of the lamp, I +am hungry; my will is that thou bring me somewhat I may eat, and +be it somewhat good past conceit." [FN#286] The genie was absent +the twinkling of an eye and [returning,] brought him a great +costly tray of sheer silver, whereon were twelve platters of +various kinds and colours [FN#287] of rich meats and two silver +cups and two flagons [FN#288] of clarified old wine and bread +whiter than snow; all which he set before him and disappeared. So +Alaeddin arose and sprinkled rosewater on his mother's face and +made her smell to strong [FN#289] perfumes; whereupon she revived +and he said to her, "Rise, O my mother, so we may eat of this +food that God the Most High hath vouchsafed us." [FN#290] When she +saw the great silver tray, she marvelled and said to Alaeddin, "O +my son, who is the generous, the bountiful one that hath sought +out our hunger [FN#291] and our poverty? Indeed, we are beholden +to him. [FN#292] Apparently the Sultan hath heard of our case and +our wretchedness and hath sent us this tray." "O my mother," +answered Alaeddin, "this is no time for questioning; rise, so we +may eat, for we are anhungred." + +So they arose and sitting down to the tray, proceeded to eat, +whilst Alaeddin's mother tasted food such as she had never in all +her life eaten. And they ate diligently [FN#293] with all +appetite, for stress of hunger, more by token that the food [was +such as] is given to kings, nor knew they if the tray were +precious or not, for that never in their lives had they seen the +like of these things. When they had made an end of eating and +were full (and there was left them, over and above what sufficed +them, [enough] for the evening-meal and for the next day also), +they arose and washing their hands, sat down to talk; whereupon +Alaeddin's mother turned to her son and said to him, "O my son, +tell me what befell of [FN#294] the genie, now that, praised be +God, we have eaten of His bounty and are satisfied and thou hast +no pretext for saying to me, 'I am anhungred.'" So he told her +all that had passed between himself and the genie, whenas she +fell down aswoon of her affright; whereat exceeding wonderment +took her and she said to him, "It is true, then, [FN#295] that the +Jinn appear to the sons of Adam, though I, O my son, in all my +days, I have never seen them, and methinketh this is he who +delivered thee, whenas thou west in the treasure." "Nay, O my +mother," answered he, "this was not he; he who appeared to thee +is the slave of the lamp." "How so, [FN#296] O my son?" asked she; +and he said, "This slave is other of make than that. That was the +servant of the ring and this thou sawest is the slave of the lamp +which was in thy hand." When [FN#297] his mother heard this, +"Well, well!" cried she. "Then the accursed who appeared to me +and came nigh to kill me for affright is of the lamp?" "Ay is +he," answered Alaeddin; and she said to him, "I conjure thee, O +my son, by the milk thou suckedst of me, that thou cast away from +thee both lamp and ring, for that they will be to us a cause of +exceeding fear and I could not endure to see them [FN#298] a +second time; nay, their commerce is forbidden unto us, for that +the prophet (whom God bless and keep) warneth us against +them." [FN#299] "O my mother," answered Alaeddin, "thy speech is +on my head and eyes; [FN#300] but, as for this that thou sayest, +it may not be that I should cast away either the lamp or the +ring; nay, thou seest that which it [FN#301] did with us of good, +whenas we were anhungred, and know, O my mother, that the lying +Maugrabin enchanter, what time I went down into the treasure, +sought nought of gold nor of silver, whereof the four places were +full, but charged me bring him the lamp and that only, for that +he knew the greatness of its virtues; [FN#302] and except he knew +it to be exceeding of might, he had not toiled and travailed and +come from his land to this in quest of it, nor had he shut the +treasure on me, whenas he failed of the lamp, seeing I gave it +him not. Wherefore, O my mother, it behoveth us keep this lamp +and guard it with all care, for that this is our support and this +it is shall enrich us; and it behoveth us show it not unto any. +On like wise, as for the ring, it may not be that I should put it +off from my finger, forasmuch as, but for this ring, thou hadst +not seen me again on life; nay, I had died under the earth within +the treasure; so how can I put it off from my hand and who +knoweth what may happen to me in time to come of error or +calamity or shift of the shifts of mischance, from which the ring +might deliver me? However, of regard for thy wish, I will lay up +the lamp and let thee not see it henceforth." When his mother +heard his words and pondered them, she saw them to be just and +true and said to him, "O my son, do what thou wilt. For my part, +I wish never to see them nor ever again to behold that loathsome +aspect [FN#303] which I saw [but now]." + +Alaeddin [FN#304] and his mother abode two days eating of the food +which the genie had brought, and when it was finished and he knew +that there was left them nothing to eat, he arose and taking a +platter of those which the slave had brought on the tray (now +they were of fine gold, but Alaeddin knew it not) went with it to +the market, where a Jew, a man viler than devils themselves, +accosted [FN#305] him and he gave him the platter. When the Jew +saw it, he took Alaeddin aside, so none might see him, and +examining the platter, found it of fine gold, [FN#306] but knew +not if Alaeddin was ware of its worth or if he was ignorant +thereof; so he said to him, "How much, O my lord, for this +platter?" And Alaeddin answered him, saying, "Thou knowest how +much it is worth." The Jew was perplexed how much he should give +Alaeddin for the platter, by reason of his having made him an +adroit answer, and bethought himself to give him little, but +feared lest he should be aware of its value and debated with +himself if he should give him much. Then said he in himself, +"Most like he knoweth not its value;" so he brought out of his +pocket a gold diner and gave it to him. When Alaeddin saw the +diner in his hand, he took it and went off in haste, whereby the +Jew knew that the lad was unaware of the value of the plate and +repented him sore that he had given him a gold diner and not a +carat of three-score: [FN#307] + +Meanwhile Alaeddin tarried not, but went forthright to the baker +and bought of him bread and changed the diner; then, returning to +his mother, he gave her the bread and the rest of the money and +said to her, "O my mother, go and buy us what we need." So she +arose and going to the market, bought all that they needed and +they ate and were cheered. Then, whenassoever the price of a +platter was spent, Alaeddin would take another and carry it to +the Jew; on which wise the accursed Jew bought them all of him +for a small matter and would fain also have reduced the price; +but, since he had given him a diner the first time, he feared to +offer him less, lest the lad should go and sell to +another [FN#308] and he lose that excessive profit. Accordingly, +Alaeddin ceased not to sell him platter after platter till he had +sold them all and there was left him only the tray whereon they +had been; then, for that it was big and heavy, he went and +fetched the Jew to the house and brought out to him the tray. +When he saw it and noted its bigness, he gave Alaeddin ten +diners, which he took, and the Jew went his way. + +Alaeddin and his mother lived upon the ten diners till they came +to an end; then he arose and bringing out the lamp, rubbed it, +whereupon the slave of the lamp, to wit, the genie whom he had +seen before, appeared to him and [FN#309] said to him, "Seek what +thou wilt, O my lord, for that I am thy slave and the slave of +whoso hath with him the lamp." Quoth Alaeddin, "It is my will +that thou bring me a tray of food like unto that which thou +broughtest me erewhen, for that I am hungry;" and the slave +brought him, in the twinkling of an eye, a tray like unto that +which he had brought him before, and on it twelve magnificent +platters full of rich meats, together with flagons [FN#310] of +clarified wine and bread of the finest. Now Alaeddin's mother, +when she knew that her son was minded to rub the lamp, had gone +out, so she might not see the genie again; but, after a little, +she came in to him and seeing the tray full of silver platters, +whilst the whole house reeked with the fragrance of the rich +meats, marvelled and rejoiced; and Alaeddin said to her, "O my +mother, thou badest me throw away the lamp. See now its uses." "O +my son," answered she, "may God prosper him; [FN#311] but fain +would I not see him." Then they sat down to the tray and ate and +drank till they were satisfied, laying up that which remained +with them against the morrow. + +Then, when that which was with them of food was finished, +Alaeddin arose and taking one of the platters under his clothes, +went in quest of the Jew, so he might sell it to him; but, as +chance willed it, he passed by the shop of a goldsmith, an +honest, pious man, who feared God. When the latter saw Alaeddin, +he accosted him and said to him, "O my son, what wilt thou? This +many a time have I seen thee pass hereby and betake thyself to +such an one, a Jew, and I have seen thee give him certain things. +Nay, methinketh even now thou hast somewhat with thee and art +seeking him, so thou mayst sell it to him. But thou knowest not, +O my son, that the good of the Muslims, believers in the unity of +God the Most High, is lawful spoil in the eyes of Jews; nay, they +still cheat the Muslims and especially this accursed one with +whom thou dealest and into whose hands thou hast fallen. +Wherefore, O my son, an thou have with thee aught thou wouldst +sell, show it to me and fear nothing, for that, by the truth of +God the Most High, I will give thee its price." Accordingly, +Alaeddin brought out the platter to the old man, who took it and +weighing it in his scales, said to him, "Was it the like of this +thou usest to sell to the Jew?" "Ay," replied Alaeddin, "its like +and its brother." "And how much," asked the goldsmith, "useth he +to give thee to its price?" And Alaeddin said, "He useth to give +me a diner." + +When [FN#312] the goldsmith heard this, "Out on this accursed +one," cried he, "who fleeceth the servants of God the Most High!" +Then he looked at Alaeddin and said to him, "O my son, this Jew +is a cheat, who hath cheated thee and laughed at thee, for that +the silver of this thy platter is pure and fine; and I have +weighed it and find its worth threescore diners and ten; so, an +it please thee take its price, take [it]." Accordingly, he +counted out to him seventy diners and he took them and thanked +him for his kindness, in that he had shown him the Jew's +trickery. Thenceforward, whenassoever the price of one platter +was spent, he would carry another to the old goldsmith, and on +this wise he and his mother increased in substance; but they +ceased not to live at their sufficiency, [FN#313] midwise [betwixt +rich and poor], [FN#314] without excessive spending [FN#315] or +squandering. As for Alaeddin, he left idleness and the commerce +of striplings and took to consorting with grown men; [FN#316] nay, +he would go every day to the market of the merchants and sit with +the great and the small of them and question of the ways and +fashions of commerce and the prices of articles of +merchandise [FN#317] and otherwhat. He used also to go to the +market of the goldsmiths and the market of the jewellers, and +there he would sit and look upon the different kinds of jewels +and see them bought and sold; whereby he became aware that the +fruits of the trees, wherewith he had filled the purses, [FN#318] +whenas he was in the treasure, were neither glass nor crystal, +but jewels, and knew that he had happened upon great wealth, such +as kings might nowise compass. Moreover, he noted all the jewels +that were in the jewellers' market, but saw not [among] the +biggest [of them] one to match with the smallest of those he had +at home. + +He ceased not to go daily to the market of the jewellers and to +clap up acquaintance with the folk, making friends with them and +questioning them of buying and selling and giving and taking and +dear and cheap, till, one day of the days, he arose in the +morning and donning his clothes, went forth, intending, as of +wont, for the jewellers' market; but, as he went, he heard the +crier proclaiming aloud on this wise, "By commandment of the Lord +of Beneficence, the king of the age and monarch of the time and +the tide, let all the folk shut their shops and stores and enter +their houses, for that the Lady Bedrulbudour, daughter of the +Sultan, purposeth to go to the bath, and whoso transgresseth the +commandment, his punishment shall be death and his blood be on +his own head." [FN#319] When Alaeddin heard this proclamation, he +longed to look upon the Sultan's daughter and said in himself, +"All the folk talk of her grace and goodliness, and the uttermost +of my desire is to see her." So [FN#320] he cast about for a +device how he might contrive to see the Lady Bedrulbudour and +him-seemed he were best stand behind the door of the bath, that +he might see her face, as she entered. Accordingly he betook +himself to the bath, awhile in advance, and posted himself behind +the door, whereas none of the folk might see him. + +Presently, the Sultan's daughter came forth and went round about +the city and its thoroughfares and diverted herself by viewing +it; then she repaired to the bath and when she came thither, she +lifted her face-veil, as she entered; whereupon her face shone +out, as it were the resplendent sun or a precious pearl, and she +was as saith of her one of her describers: + +Who sprinkled the kohl of enchantment upon her eyes + And gathered the bloom of the rose from her cheeks, +fruit-wise? +And who was it let down the curtained night of her hair + And eke through its glooms made the light of her forehead +rise? + +When she raised the veil from her face and Alaeddin saw her, he +said, "Verily, her fashion glorifieth the Great Creator and +extolled be the perfection of Him who made her and graced her +with this beauty and goodliness!" And his back was cloven in +sunder, [FN#321] when he saw her; his thought was confounded and +his understanding [FN#322] dazed and the love of her gat hold upon +his whole heart; so he turned back and returning home, went in to +his mother, like one distraught. She bespoke him and he answered +her neither yea nor nay; then she brought him the morning-meal, +as he abode on this wise, and said to him, "O my son, what hath +betided thee? Doth there ail thee aught? Tell me what hath +befallen thee, for that, against thy wont, I bespeak thee and +thou answerest me not." + +Now Alaeddin had been used to think that women were all like his +mother and he had heard of the beauty of the Lady Bedrulbudour, +daughter of the Sultan, but had not known what beauty and grace +were; so he turned to his mother and said to her, "Leave me;" but +she was instant with him to come and eat. Accordingly, he came +forward and ate a little; then, rising, he threw himself on his +bed and lay musing till break of morn; and on this wise he abode +all next day. His mother was perplexed at his case, unknowing +what had befallen him, and bethought herself that belike he was +sick; so she came up to him and questioned him, saying, "O my +son, an thou feel aught of pain or otherwhat, tell me, that I may +go fetch thee a physician, more by token there is presently in +the city a physician from the land of the Arabs, whom the Sultan +hath sent to bring hither, and report saith of him that he is +exceeding skilful; so [tell me] if thou art sick, that I may go +and call him to thee." + +When [FN#323] Alaeddin heard his mother offer to fetch him the +physician, he said to her, "O my mother, I am well and not sick, +but I had thought that women were all like unto thee. However, +yesterday, I saw the Lady Bedrulbudour, the Sultan's daughter, as +she went to the bath;" and he told her all that had happened to +him, adding, "And most like thou heardest the crier proclaiming +that none should open his shop nor stand in the road, so the Lady +Bedrulbudour might pass to the bath; but I saw her even as she +is, for that, when she came to the door of the bath, she lifted +her veil, and when I noted her favour and viewed that noble form +of hers, there befell me, O my mother, a passion of yearning for +love of her and desire of her [FN#324] usurped mine every part; +nor can I ever more have ease, except I get her, and I purpose, +therefore, to demand her of the Sultan her father in the way of +law and righteousness." + +When Alaeddin's mother heard her son's speech, she thought little +of his wit and said to him, "O my son, the name of God encompass +thee! Meseemeth thou hast lost thy wit; return to thy +senses, [FN#325] O my son, and be not like the madmen!" "Nay, O my +mother," replied he, "I have not lost my wits nor am I mad; and +this thy speech shall not change that which is in my mind, nor is +rest possible to me except I get the darling of my heart, the +lovely Lady Bedrulbudour. And my intent is to demand her of her +father the Sultan." So she said to him, "O my son, my life upon +thee, speak not thus, lest one hear thee and say of thee that +thou art mad. Put away from thee this extravagance: [FN#326] who +shall undertake an affair like this and demand it of the Sultan? +Meknoweth not how thou wilt do to make this request of the +Sultan, and if thou speak sooth, [FN#327] by whom wilt thou make +it?" "O my mother," rejoined Alaeddin, "by whom [should I make] a +request like this, when thou art at hand, and whom have I +trustier [FN#328] than thyself? Wherefore my intent is that thou +shalt make this request for me." "O my son," quoth she, "God +deliver me from this! What, have I lost my wits like thee? Put +away this thought from thy mind and bethink thee who thou art, O +my son,--the son of a tailor, the poorest and least of the +tailors in this city, and I also am thy mother and my folk are +exceeding poor; so how wilt thou dare to demand the Sultan's +daughter, whom her father would not vouchsafe to marry with +kings' sons and Sultans, except they were his peers in puissance +and rank and noblesse; nay, were they one degree less than he, he +would not give them his daughter." + +Alaeddin [FN#329] waited till his mother had made an end of her +speech and said to her, "O my mother, all that thou thinkest I +know; marry, I know full well that I am the son of poor folk, nor +may all this thy talk anywise avail to move me from my purpose; +but I beseech thee, an I be thy very son and thou love me, do me +this kindness; else wilt thou lose me, for death hasteneth upon +me, an I attain not my wish of the beloved of my heart. In any +case, O my mother, I am thy son." When his mother heard his +speech, she wept of her concern for him and said to him, "Yes, O +my son, I am thy mother and thou art my son and the darling of my +heart; [FN#330] I have none other than thee and the extreme of my +desire is to rejoice in thee and marry thee. So, an thou wilt, I +will seek thee a bride of our own rank. But suppose [I do this], +they [FN#331] [will] ask at once an thou have craft or land or +trade or garden, so thou mayst live, and what shall I answer them +" And if I cannot answer poor folk like ourselves, how, O my son, +shall I dare to seek the King's daughter of China, who hath none +before him and none after him? Wherefore do thou ponder this +matter in thine understanding. And who seeketh her? The son of a +tailor. [FN#332] Indeed, I know that, an I speak of this, it will +but be for the increase of our ill luck, for that this affair +will bring us in great danger with the Sultan and belike there +will be death therein for thee and for me. As for me, how can I +adventure upon this danger and this effrontery? Moreover, O my +son, on what wise shall I demand thee his daughter of the Sultan +and how shall I avail to go in to him? Nay, if they question me, +what shall I answer them? Most like they will deem me a madwoman. +And suppose I gain admission to the presence, what shall I take +by way of offering to the Sultan's highness? It [FN#333] is true, +O my son, that the Sultan is clement and rejecteth none that +cometh to him for protection or craveth a boon of him, for that +he is bountiful and beneficent unto all, great and small; [FN#334] +but he bestoweth his favours upon those who are deserving thereof +or who have done some feat of arms before him or have wrought for +the service or defence of the realm; and thou, O my son, tell me, +what hast thou done for [FN#335] the Sultan or the realm, that +thou shouldst merit of him this boon? Again, this that thou +cravest is beyond thy condition; [FN#336] so it cannot be that the +king will grant thee that which thou seekest. Moreover, whoso +presenteth himself before the Sultan and craveth favours of him, +it behoveth him take in his hand somewhat that sorteth with the +royal dignity; and as I said to thee, how canst thou presume to +present thyself before the Sultan and seek of him his daughter, +without aught thou mayst proffer him of that which sorteth with +his rank?" + +"O my mother," replied Alaeddin, "thou speakest justly and +deemest that which is true, [FN#337] and it behoveth me consider +all that whereof thou mindest me; but, O my mother, the love of +the Sultan's daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour, hath entered into +the innermost of my heart; and there can be no rest for me, +except I obtain her. Moreover, thou mindest me of somewhat I had +forgotten, and that a thing which emboldeneth me to seek of him +his daughter by thee. Thou sayst, O my mother, that I have no +gift to present to the Sultan, according to the wont of the folk, +whilst in fact I have by me a gift and an offering, the like +whereof methinketh no king ever possessed, no, nor aught to match +therewith; for [FN#338] thou must know, O my mother, that the +fruits, which I brought in the purses [FN#339] from the treasure +and which I deemed glass or crystal, are very jewels, methinketh +all the kings of the world may not compass the least of them, and +I, of my companying with the jewellers, know that they are +precious stones. Wherefore, an thou please, have the goodness to +rise and bring me such a China dish which we have by us, [FN#340] +that I may fill it with these jewels, and thou shalt take it as a +present to the Sultan. By this means I am assured that the thing +will be easy to thee, and do thou stand before the Sultan and +seek of him my desire; but, O my mother, an thou refuse to +further me with thine endeavour for the attainment of my wish of +the Lady Bedrulbudour, know that I am a dead man. Be not +concerned for the gift, for these be exceeding precious jewels, +and know, O my mother, that I have gone many a time to the market +of the jewellers and have seen them sell jewels, that had not an +hundredth part [FN#341] of the beauty of these of ours, at +exceeding high prices such as man's wit cannot conceive. When, +therefore, I saw this, I said [in myself], 'Verily, the jewels +that are with us are exceeding precious.' So now, O my mother, +arise, as I bade thee, and fetch me the China dish whereof I +bespoke thee, that we may range of these jewels therein and see +how they show." + +Accordingly, she arose and brought the China dish, saying in +herself, "Let us see if my son's speech be true concerning these +jewels or not." So she set the dish before Alaeddin and he +brought out jewels of all kinds from the purses and proceeded to +range them in the dish till he filled it. When it was full, his +mother looked at the dish, but could not gaze fixedly thereon, +for the radiance of the jewels and their lustre and the excess of +their flashing; so she shut her eyes and her wit was confounded +at them; yet was she not certified that their value was in very +deed so great as her son had said, but bethought her that his +speech might be true in that their like was not found with kings. +Then Alaeddin turned to her and said, "See, O my mother, this is +a magnificent present for the Sultan and I am assured that thou +wilt get of him exceeding honour and that he will receive thee +with all consideration. And now, O my mother, there remaineth to +thee no excuse; so be good enough [FN#342] to take this dish and +go with it to the palace." + + +"O my son," replied she, " true it is that the present is +exceedingly costly and precious and as thou sayest, none hath the +like thereof; but who shall dare to come forward and seek of the +Sultan his daughter Bedrulbudour? Nay, I dare not adventure +myself and say to him, 'I want thy daughter,' whenas he asketh +me, 'What wouldst thou?' Marry, O my son,, my tongue will be +tied. And grant that Allah make [the thing] possible and I take +courage and say to him, 'I desire to ally myself to thee by +[marrying] thy daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour with my son +Alaeddin,' they will straightway deem me mad and will put me out +with ignominy and reproach; nay, I need not tell thee that by +this I shall fall into danger of death, and not I only, but thou +also. Withal, O my son, of regard for thy wish, needs must I take +courage and go; but, O my son, if the King receive me and honour +me for the gift's sake and I seek of him that which thou wilt +in [FN#343] the matter of marrying his daughter and he ask me, +after the wont of the folk, what are thy possessions and thy +revenues, what shall I say to him? And most like, O my son, he +will ask me of this ere he ask me of thyself." And Alaeddin said +to her, "Nay, it cannot be that the Sultan will ask this, whenas +he seeth the jewels and their magnificence, and it booteth not to +think of a thing that will not happen. Do thou but rise and seek +me his daughter of him and proffer him these jewels and sit not +magnifying the affair in thy thought beforehand. Moreover, O my +mother, thou knowest of the lamp which is with me and which +presently provideth for our livelihood; [FN#344] nay, all that I +seek of it it will bring me, and I trust by its means I shall +know how to answer the Sultan, an he ask me of this." + +They abode in talk of the matter all that night and when the +morning morrowed, Alaeddin's mother arose and fortified her +heart, more by token that her son expounded to her somewhat of +the properties of the lamp and its uses, in that it would bring +them all they sought. But, when he saw that she heartened herself +for that which he set forth to her of its virtues, he feared lest +she should talk of this to the folk, so he said to her, " O my +mother, beware lest thou bespeak any of the lamp and its uses, +for that this is our fortune; be careful [FN#345] and exceed not +in speech thereof to any one, lest we lose it and lose this our +present prosperity, for that it is from it." [FN#346] "Have no +fear for that, O my son," answered she and rising, took the dish +wherein were the jewels and wrapping it in a fine handkerchief, +went forth betimes, so she might reach the Divan and enter, ere +it became crowded. When she came to the palace, the Divan was not +yet assembled [FN#347] and she saw the Vizier and certain of the +chiefs of the state entering the presence-chamber. After a while, +the Divan being complete with the Viziers and the chiefs of the +state and officers and Amirs and grandees, the Sultan appeared +and the Viziers and other the officials and notables ranged +themselves before him, whilst he sat down on the throne of his +kingship and all who were present in the Divan stood before him, +with hands clasped behind them, [FN#348] awaiting his commandment +to sit. So he bade them be seated and they all sat down, each in +his several room; then the petitioners [FN#349] presented +themselves before the Sultan and each affair was decided in its +course, [FN#350] till the Divan came to an end, when the King rose +and entered the palace and each went his way. + +As [FN#351] for Alaeddin's mother, having come before all, she +found room to enter, but withal none bespoke her, so he should +bring her in before the Sultan; wherefore she ceased not standing +till the Divan broke up and the Sultan rose and entered the +palace and all went their ways. When she saw the Sultan rise from +his throne and enter the harem, she took her way homeward and +returning on her steps, entered her house. Alaeddin, seeing her +with the dish in her hand, knew that most like some mischance had +betided her, but cared not to question her till she entered and +setting down the dish, told him what had passed and finally said +to him, "God be praised, O my son, I mustered courage to find +myself a place in the Divan, albeit I could not win to speak with +the Sultan to day; but to-morrow, an it please God the Most High, +I will bespeak him. To-day there were many other folk, like +myself, unable to get speech of the Sultan; but be easy, O my +son; to-morrow I will without fail bespeak him on thy behalf, and +what happened not shall happen." When Alaeddin heard his mother's +words, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy, albeit, of the excess +of his love and longing for the Lady Bedrulbudour, he had looked +for the matter to be accomplished then and there; nevertheless, +he used patience. + +They slept that night and on the morrow Alaeddin's mother arose +and went with the dish to the Sultan's Divan, but found it +closed; so she asked the folk and they said to her, "The Sultan +holdeth a Divan but thrice a week;" wherefore she was +compelled [FN#352] to return home. Then she proceeded to go every +day, and whenas she found the Divan open, she would stand before +the door, [FN#353] till it broke up, when she would return home; +and whiles she went and found the Divan closed. [FN#354] On this +wise she abode a week's space [FN#355] and the Sultan saw her at +each Divan; so, when she went on the last day [of the week] and +stood, according to her wont, before the Divan, till it was +ended, but could not muster courage to enter [FN#356] or say +aught, the Sultan arose and entering the harem, turned to his +chief Vizier, who was with him, and said to him, " O Vizier, +these six or seven days [FN#357] past I have seen yonder old woman +come hither at every Divan and I note that she still carrieth +somewhat under her veil. [FN#358] Hast thou any knowledge of her, +O Vizier, and knowest thou what is her want?" "O our lord the +Sultan," replied the Vizier, "verily women are little of wit; and +most like this woman cometh to complain to thee of her husband or +one of her folk," The Sultan was not content with the Vizier's +reply, but bade him, an she came again to the Divan, bring her +before him forthright; [FN#359] whereupon the Vizier laid his hand +on his head and answered, "Hearkening and obedience, O our lord +the Sultan." + +Meanwhile, [FN#360] Alaeddin's mother, albeit she was grown +exceeding weary and dejected, yet made light of all weariness, +for her son's sake, and continued, as of her wont, to go every +court-day and stand in the Divan before the Sultan. [FN#361] +Accordingly, one day of the days, she went to the Divan, as of +her wont, and stood before the Sultan; and when he saw her, he +called his Vizier and said to him, "Yonder is the woman of whom I +bespoke thee yesterday; bring her now before me, so I may see +what her suit is and accomplish unto her her occasion." So the +Vizier arose forthright and let bring Alaeddin's mother in before +the Sultan. When she came into the latter's presence, she made +her obeisance to him and did him reverence, wishing him glory and +continuance and eternity of prosperity and kissing the ground +before him. Then said he to her, "O woman, I see thee come every +day to the Divan and thou speakest not of aught. Tell me an thou +have a want, that I may accomplish it unto thee;" whereupon she +kissed the earth a second time and called down blessings upon +him, then answered, "Ay, O King of the Age, as thy head liveth, I +have indeed a want; but before all things do thou give me thine +assurance, [FN#362] so I may make bold to prefer my suit to the +hearing of our lord the Sultan, for that belike Thy Grace will +find it a strange one." + +The Sultan, that he might learn what her suit was and for that he +was of his nature exceeding clement, gave her his assurance and +bidding all who were with him go out forthright, abode alone +[with her], he and the Grand Vizier. Then he turned to her and +said, "Tell me thy suit, and the assurance [FN#363] of God the +Most High be upon thee." Quoth she, "O King of the Age, I wish +thy pardon also." And he said to her, "God pardon thee!" [FN#364] +Then said she to him, "O our lord the Sultan, I have a son, whose +name is Alaeddin, and one day of the days he heard the crier +proclaim that none should open his shop nor show himself in the +thoroughfares of the city, [FN#365] for that the Lady +Bedrulbudour, the daughter of our lord the Sultan, was going to +the bath. When my son heard this, he wished. to see her; so he +hid himself in a place, whence he might see her well, and this +was behind the door of the bath. Accordingly, when she came up, +he saw her and viewed her well, beyond his wish; and from that +time till now, O King of the Age, life hath not been pleasant to +him [FN#366] and he will e'en have me seek her of Thy +Grace, [FN#367] so thou mayst marry her with him, and I cannot do +away this conceit from his wit, for that the love of her hath +gotten possession of his vitals, so that he saith to me, 'Know, O +mother mine, that, except I attain my desire, assuredly I am a +dead man.' Wherefore I crave Thy Grace's clemency and hope that +thou wilt pardon me and my son this effrontery neither be wroth +with us therefor." + +When the King heard her story, he fell a-laughing, of his +clemency, [FN#368] and asked her, "What is that thou hast with +thee and what is that bundle?" [FN#369] Whereupon she, seeing that +he was not angered at her words, but laughed, opened the +handkerchief forthright and proffered him the dish of jewels. +When the Sultan saw the jewels (and indeed, whenas she raised the +handkerchief from them, the Divan became as it were all illumined +with lamp-clusters and candlesticks), he was amazed and +confounded at their radiance and fell a-marvelling at their +lustre and bigness and beauty; and [FN#370] he said, "Never saw I +the like of these jewels for beauty and bigness and perfection, +nor methinketh is one of them found in my treasuries." Then he +turned to his Vizier and said to him, "How sayst thou, O Vizier? +Sawest thou ever in thy life the like of these magnificent +jewels?" "Never, O our lord the Sultan," replied the Vizier, +"nor, methinketh, is the least of those which be here found in +the treasuries of our lord the King." Quoth the Sultan, "Doth not +he who giveth me these jewels deserve to be bridegroom to my +daughter Bedrulbudour? Marry, by what I see, meseemeth none is +worthier of her than he." + +When the Vizier heard the Sultan's words, his tongue was tied for +despite and he was overcome with exceeding chagrin, forasmuch as +the King had promised him that he would marry his daughter to his +son; so, after a little, he said to him, "O King of the age, Thy +Grace condescended to promise me [FN#371] that the Lady +Bedrulbudour should be my son's; wherefore it behoveth thine +exalted highness appoint a delay of three months, [FN#372] and God +willing, my son's present shall be greater than this." The King, +for all he knew that this was a thing whereto the Vizier might +not avail, no, nor the greatest King, [FN#373] nevertheless +exercised his clemency [FN#374] and granted him the delay he +sought; then, turning to the old woman, he said to her, "Go to +thy son and tell him I give him [my] word that my daughter shall +be in his name; [FN#375] but needs must I take order for her +equipment; [FN#376] wherefore it behoveth him grant us a delay of +three months." + +Alaeddin's mother took the answer and thanked the Sultan and +prayed for him, then went forth and fared homeward in haste, +flying of her joy, till she came to the house and entered. Her +son saw her laughing-faced and foreboded good news; more by token +that she returned forthright and tarried not, as on each day +past, neither brought back the dish. Accordingly he asked her and +said to her, "God willing, O my mother, thou bringest me good +news; the jewels and their value have wrought their work and thou +wilt have found acceptance with the Sultan; yea, he will have +shown thee favour and given ear unto thy suit." So she told him +all that had passed and how the Sultan had received her and had +marvelled, both he and his Vizier, at the size and beauty of the +jewels, and how he had promised her that [quoth she] "his +daughter shall be in thy name. But, O my son, ere he promised me, +the Vizier whispered [FN#377] him somewhat, whereupon he appointed +me for three months hence; and I am fearful lest the Vizier be a +man of evil disposition, [FN#378] who will change the King's +mind." + +When [FN#379] Alaeddin heard his mother's words and how the Sultan +had appointed her for [FN#380] three months [thence], his heart +was lightened and he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and said, +"Since the Sultan hath promised for [FN#381] three months [hence], +true, it [FN#382] is long, but in any case my joy is great." Then +he thanked her for her kindness and the pains she had +taken [FN#383] and said to her, "By Allah, O my mother, it is as I +were in a tomb and now thou hast raised me up therefrom; and I +praise God the Most High, for I am presently certified that there +is none richer or happier than I in the world." Then he waited +till two of the three months were past, when his mother went out +one day of the days, at sundown, to buy oil, and saw the markets +closed and the city all decorated and the folk setting candles +and flowers in their windows and saw troops, horse and foot, and +mounted eunuchs drawn up in state, with cressets and lustres +burning. At this wonder took her; [FN#384]he went to an oilman's +shop there open and buying oil of him, said to him, "[I conjure +thee] by thy life, O uncle, tell me what is toward to-day in this +city, that the folk are making this decoration and the markets +[are shut] and the houses all adorned and the troops drawn up in +state?" Quoth he, "O woman, methinketh thou art a stranger and +art not of this city." "Nay," answered she, "but I am of this +city;" and he said to her, "Thou art of this city and knowest not +that this is the night of the going in of the Grand Vizier's son +to the Lady Bedrulbudour, the Sultan's daughter? Nay, he is +presently in the bath and yonder Amirs and troops are drawn up +awaiting him, against he come forth, so they may carry him in +procession to the palace of the Sultan's daughter." + +When Alaeddin's mother heard this, she was troubled and perplexed +in her wit how she should do to acquaint her son with this woeful +news, for that the poor wretch was counting the hours till the +three months should be ended. So she returned home forthright and +going in to Alaeddin, said to him, "O my son, I have news to tell +thee, but it irketh me for thy chagrin therefrom." Quoth he, +"Speak; what is the news?" And she said to him, "The Sultan hath +gone from his promise to thee in the matter of his daughter, the +Lady Bedrulbudour, for that this very night the Vizier's son +goeth in to her; and indeed methought at the time, [FN#385] O my +son, the Vizier would change the Sultan's mind, even as I told +thee that he bespoke him privily before me." "How knewest thou +this," asked Alaeddin, "that the Vizier's son goeth in this night +to the Lady Bedrulbudour?" So she told him all she had seen of +the decorations in the city, whenas she went to buy the oil, and +how the eunuchs and chiefs of the state were drawn up awaiting +the Vizier's son, against he should come forth of the bath, for +that this was the night of his going in. When Alaeddin heard +this, he fell into a fever of chagrin; [FN#386] but presently he +bethought him of the lamp and rejoiced and said to his mother, +"By thy life, O my mother, methinketh the Vizier's son shall not +rejoice in her, as thou deemest. But now leave us be with this +talk and go lay us the evening-meal, so we may sup; then, when I +shall have passed a while in my chamber, all shall yet be well." + +Accordingly, [FN#387] after he had supped, he went into his +chamber and locking the door on himself, fetched the lamp and +rubbed it; whereupon the genie at once appeared to him and said, +"Seek what thou wilt, for I am thy slave and the slave of whoso +hath in his hand the lamp, I and all the slaves of the lamp." And +Alaeddin said to him, "Harkye, I sought of the Sultan to marry +his daughter, and he appointed me for [FN#388] three months' time; +however, he abode not by his promise, but gave her to the +Vizier's son, and the latter purposeth to go in [to her] this +night. Wherefore I do presently command thee, as thou art a loyal +servant of the lamp, that this night, whenas thou seest the bride +and bridegroom abed together, thou take them up in their bed [and +bring them] hither. This is what I seek of thee." "Hearkening and +obedience," answered the genie, "and if thou have a service [to +require of me] other than this, command me whatsoever thou +seekest." And Alaeddin said to him, "I have no present +requirement save that whereof I have bespoken thee." So the slave +disappeared and Alaeddin returned to finish his supper [FN#389] +with his mother. + +When he deemed it time for the genie's coming, he arose and +entered his chamber; and after a little, the Marid appeared with +the bridal pair in their bed; whereat Alaeddin rejoiced with +exceeding great joy and said to the slave, "Bear this gallowsbird +hence and couch him in the house of easance." [FN#390] The genie +accordingly took up the bridegroom and couched him in the +draught-house; moreover, ere he left him, he blew on him a blast +wherewith he dried him up, and the Vizier's son abode in woeful +case. Then he returned to Alaeddin and said to him, "An thou need +otherwhat, tell me." And Alaeddin said to him, "Return in the +morning, so thou mayst take them [back] to their place." +"Hearkening and obedience," answered the genie and was gone; +whereupon Alaeddin arose,--and indeed he had scarce believed that +the thing should succeed with him,--and when he saw the Lady +Bedrulbudour in his house, he entreated her with respect, albeit +he had long burned for love of her, and said to her, "O princess +of the fair, think not that I have brought thee hither to soil +shine honour. God forbid! Nay, it was that I might not let +others [FN#391] enjoy thee, for that thy father the Sultan gave me +his word upon thee; so be thou in peace and assurance." +As [FN#392] for the princess, when she found herself in that mean +dark; house and heard Alaeddin's words, fear and trembling get +hold upon her and she was confounded and could return him no +answer. Then he arose and putting off his clothes, placed a sword +between himself and her and lay down by her side in the bed, +without treason; [FN#393] it sufficed him to prevent [the +consummation of] her marriage with the Vizier's son. +Nevertheless, the Lady Bedrulbudour passed the sorriest of +nights, never in her life had she known a worse; whilst the +Vizier's son lay in the draught-house and dared not stir for fear +of the genie. + +When it was morning, the genie presented himself before Alaeddin, +without his rubbing the lamp, and said to him, "O my lord, an +thou wish aught, command me withal, so I may do it on my head and +eyes." And Alaeddin bade him go carry the bride and bridegroom to +their own place. The genie did his bidding in the twinkling of an +eye and laying the Vizier's son with the Lady Bedrulbudour, took +them up and set them down in their place in the palace, without +their seeing any one; but they were like to die of fright, when +they felt themselves carried from place to place. Hardly had the +genie set them down and gone out when the Sultan came to visit +his daughter; and when the Vizier's son heard the door open, he +straightway sprang out of bed, knowing that none might enter but +the Sultan, and donned his clothes, [FN#394] albeit this irked him +sore, for that he would fain have warmed himself a little, having +had no time [to do so] since he left the draught-house. +The [FN#395] Sultan came in to his daughter and kissing her +between the eyes, gave her good-morrow and asked her of her +bridegroom and if she was content with him; but she returned him +no answer and looked at him with a dejected air. [FN#396] He +bespoke her several times, but she was silent and answered him +not a word; so he went out from her and going in to the Queen, +told her what had passed between himself and the Lady +Bedrulbudour. + +The Queen, so she might not leave the Sultan angry with the Lady +Bedrulbudour, said to him, `'O King of the Age, this is the wont +of most brides, on their wedding-day, to be shamefast and show +somewhat of coyness. So be not vexed with her and after a day or +two she will return to herself and proceed to speak with the +folk; but now, O King of the Age, shame hindereth her from +speaking. However, I purpose to go to her and see her." +Accordingly she arose and donning her clothes, repaired to her +daughter's apartment. Then, going up to her, she gave her +good-morrow and kissed her between the eyes; but the Lady +Bedrulbudour returned her no manner of answer and the Queen said +in herself, "Needs must some strange thing have befallen her, to +trouble her thus." So she asked her, saying, "O my daughter, what +is the cause of this thy behaviour? Tell me what aileth thee, +that I come to thee and give thee good-morrow and thou returnest +me no answer." + +The Lady Bedrulbudour raised her head and said to her, "Blame me +not, O my mother; indeed, it behoved me receive thee with all +reverence and worship, since thou honourest me by coming to me; +but I beseech thee hear the cause of this my case and see how +this night I have passed hath been for me the sorriest of nights. +Hardly had we lain down, O my mother, when one, whose fashion I +know not, took up the bed and transported us to a place dark, +foul [FN#397] and mean." Then she told her mother the queen all +that had betided her that night and how they had taken her +bridegroom, leaving her alone, and how after a little there came +another youth and lay down in the place of her bridegroom, +putting a sword between himself and her; "and in the morning" +[quoth she] "he who had brought us thither returned and taking us +up, carried us back to our place here: and hardly had he brought +us hither and left us when my father the Sultan entered and I had +neither heart nor tongue to answer him for stress of fright and +trembling which possessed me. And belike my father is vexed with +me; wherefore I prithee, O my mother, tell him the cause of this +my case, so he be not wroth with me for my failure to answer him +neither blame me, but excuse me." + +When [FN#398] the queen heard the princess's story, she said to +her, "O my daughter, beware of [FN#399] telling this tale before +any, lest they [FN#400] say, 'Verily the Sultan's daughter hath +lost her wits.' Marry, thou diddest well in that thou +acquaintedst not thy father with this; and beware, yea [again I +say,] beware, O my daughter, of telling him thereof." "O my +mother," rejoined the Lady Bedrulbudour, "indeed, I bespoke thee +in sober earnest and have not lost my wits; nay, this is what +happened to me, and an thou believe it not from me, ask my +bridegroom." Quoth the queen, "Rise, O my daughter, and put away +these illusions from thy thought; nay, don thy clothes and see +the rejoicing that is toward in the town on thine account and the +festivities that they celebrate in the kingdom for thy sake and +hear the drums and the singing and look upon the decorations, all +in honour of thy nuptials, O my daughter." Accordingly, she +summoned the tirewomen, who dressed the Lady Bedrulbudour and +busked her; whilst the Queen went in to the Sultan and told him +that there had that night betided the princess a dream and +illusions, saying, "BIame her not for her failure to answer +thee." Moreover, she sent for the Vizier's son privily and +questioned him of the affair, whether the Lady Bedrulbudour's +speech was true or not; but he, of his fear to lose his bride, +lest she should go from his hand, said to her, "O my lady, I know +nothing of that which thou sayest;" wherefore the queen was +certified that there had betided her daughter illusions and a +dream. + +The wedding rejoicings continued all that day, with dancing-women +and singing-women, and all the instruments of mirth and +minstrelsy were smitten, whilst the queen and the Vizier and his +son were exceeding assiduous in keeping up the festivities, so +the Lady Bedrulbudour should rejoice and her chagrin be +dispelled; nay, they left nought that day of that which exciteth +unto liesse but they did it before her, so she should leave what +was in her mind and be cheered. But all this had no effect on her +and she was silent and thoughtful and confounded at that which +had befallen her that night. True, the Vizier's son had fared +worse than she, for that he was couched in the draught-house; but +he belied [FN#401] the matter and put away that tribulation from +his thought, of his fear lest he should lose his bride and his +rank, [FN#402] more by token that all the folk envied him his lot, +for the much increase of honour it brought him, as also for the +exceeding beauty and loveliness of the Lady Bedrulbudour. + +As for Alaeddin, he went out that day and saw the rejoicings +toward in the city and the palace and fell a-laughing, especially +when he heard the folk speak of the honour which had betided the +Vizier's son and the greatness of his good luck, in that he was +become the Sultan's son-in-law, and the exceeding pomp used in +his marriage and bridal festivities; and he said in himself, "Ye +know not, good simple folk that ye are, [FN#403] what befell him +last night, that ye envy him." Then, when the night came in and +it was the season of sleep, Alaeddin arose and entering his +chamber, rubbed the lamp, whereupon the genie appeared to him +forthright and [FN#404] he bade him bring the princess and her +bridegroom, as on the past night, ere the Vizier's son should +take her maidenhead. The genie delayed not, but was absent a +little while; and when it was the appointed time, he returned +with the bed and therein the Lady Bedrulbudour and the Vizier's +son. With the latter he did as he had done the past night, to +wit, he took him and couched him in the draught- house, where he +deft him parched for excess of fright and dismay; whilst Alaeddin +arose and placing the sword between himself and the Lady +Bedrulbudour, lay down and slept till the morning, when the genie +appeared and restored the twain to their place, leaving Alaeddin +full of joy at [the discomfiture of] the Vizier's son. + +When the Sultan arose in the morning, he bethought himself to +visit his daughter Bedrulbudour and see an she should do with him +as she had done on the past day; so, as soon as he awoke from his +sleep, he rose and donning his clothes, went to his daughter's +chamber and opened the door. Whereupon the Vizier's son arose +forthright and coming down from the bed, fell to donning his +clothes, with ribs cracking for cold; for that, when the Sultan +entered, it was no great while since the genie had brought them +back. The Sultan went up to his daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour, +as she lay abed, and raising the curtain, gave her good morning +and kissed her between the eyes and asked her how she did. She +frowned and returned him no answer, but looked at him sullenly, +as she were in sorry case. He was wroth with her, for that she +made him no answer, and thought that something had betided her; +so he drew the sword and said to her, "What hath befallen thee? +Either thou shalt tell me what aileth thee or I will do away thy +life this very moment. Is this the respect that is due to my rank +and the honour in which thou holdest me, that I bespeak thee and +thou answerest me not a word?" + +When the Lady Bedrulbudour knew that her father was angry and saw +the naked sword in his hand, she was like to swoon for +fear; [FN#405] so she raised her head and said to him, +"Dear [FN#406] my father, be not wroth with me, neither be thou +hasty in thine anger, for that I am excusable in that which thou +hast seen from me. [FN#407] Do but hearken what hath betided me +and I am well assured that, whenas thou hearest my story of that +which hath happened to me these two nights past, thou wilt excuse +me and Thy Grace will be moved to compassion upon me, as I know +from thy love for me." [FN#408] Then she acquainted him with all +that had befallen her and said to him, "O my father, an thou +believe me not, ask my bridegroom and he will resolve Thy Grace +of everything, albeit I know not what they did with him, when +they took him from my side, nor where they set him." When [FN#409] +the Sultan heard his daughter's story, he was sore concerned and +his eyes brimmed with tears; then, sheathing the sword and coming +up to her, he kissed her and said to her, "O my daughter, why +didst thou not tell me yesterday, so I might have warded off from +thee the torment and affright which have befallen thee this +night? But no matter; arise and put away from thee this thought, +and to-night I will set over thee those who shall guard thee, so +there shall not again befall thee that which befell yesternight." +Then he returned to his pavilion and sent at once for the Vizier, +who came and stood before him, awaiting his commands; and the +Sultan said to him, "O Vizier, how deemest thou of this affair? +Most like thy son hath told thee what happened to him and to my +daughter." "O King of the Age," answered the Vizier, "I have not +seen my son or yesterday or to-day." Whereupon the Sultan +acquainted him with all that his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour +had told him and said to him, "It is now my will that thou +enquire of thy son the truth of the case, for it may be my +daughter knoweth not for fright what happened to her, though +methinketh her tale is all true." So the Vizier arose and sending +for his son, asked him of all that the Sultan had told him, if it +were true or not. Whereupon, "O my father the Vizier," replied +the youth, "[God] preserve the Lady Bedrulbudour from +leasing! [FN#410] Indeed, all she saith is true and these two +nights past have been for us the sorriest of nights, instead of +being nights of pleasance and delight. Marry, that which befell +me was yet worse, for that, instead of sleeping with my bride in +bed, I lay in the draught-house, a place dark and frightful, +noisome of smell and accursed, and my ribs were straitened +[FN#411] with cold." Brief, he told the Vizier all that had +befallen him and ultimately said to him; "Dear [FN#412] my father, +I beseech thee speak with the Sultan that he release me from this +marriage. True, it is great honour for me to be the Sultan's +son-in-law, more by token that the love of the Lady Bedrulbudour +hath gotten possession of my vitals, but I cannot avail to endure +one more night like the two that are past." + +When [FN#413] the Vizier heard his son's words, he grieved and was +exceeding chagrined, for that he had thought to greaten his son +and advance him by making him the King's son-in-law; so he +bethought himself and was perplexed anent the matter and what was +to do therein; [FN#414] and indeed it irked him sore that the +marriage should be dissolved, for that he had long +besought [FN#415] the Ten [FN#416] that he might compass the like +of that affair; [FN#417] so he said to his son, "Have patience, O +my son, so we may see [how it will be] to-night, and we will set +over you guards to guard you; but do not thou let slip this great +honour, for that it hath fallen to none other than thyself." +Therewith he left him and returning to the Sultan, told him that +the Lady Bedrulbudour's story was true; whereupon quoth the +Sultan, "Since the case is thus, we need no +wedding-festivities." [FN#418] And he bade forthright break off +the rejoicings and the marriage was dissolved. The folk and the +people of the city marvelled at this strange thing, especially +when they saw the Vizier and his son go forth the palace in a +pitiable plight for stress of chagrin and despite, and they fell +to asking, "What hath happened and why is the marriage avoided +and the rejoicings broken off?" But none knew what was to do save +Alaeddin, the suitor, [FN#419] who laughed in his sleeve. So the +marriage was annulled; but the Sultan had forgotten his promise +to Alaeddin's mother and never again bethought him thereof, +neither he nor the Vizier; nor knew they whence came that which +had happened. + +Alaeddin waited till the three months had elapsed, after which +the Sultan had promised that he would marry him to his daughter, +the Lady Bedrulbudour, then despatched his mother to the Sultan +to require him of the performance of his promise. So she repaired +to the palace and when the Sultan came to the Divan and saw her +standing before him, he remembered his promise to her, that after +three months he would marry his daughter to her son, and turning +to the Vizier, said to him, "O Vizier, yonder is the woman who +presented us with the jewels and we gave her our word that after +three months [we would marry our daughter to her son]. Bring her +before me forthright." So the Vizier went and brought Alaeddin's +mother before the Sultan; and when she came into the presence, +she made her obeisance to him and prayed God to vouchsafe him +glory and endurance of prosperity. The Sultan asked her if she +had a need, and she said to him, "O King of the Age, the three +months are ended, after which thou didst promise me thou wouldst +marry my son Alaeddin to thy daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour." The +Sultan was perplexed at this her claim, more by token that he saw +her in poor case, as she were the meanest of the folk; but the +present which she had made him was exceeding magnificent [and +indeed] beyond price; [FN#420] so he turned to the Vizier and said +to him, "How deemest thou? What shall we do? [FN#421] It is true I +gave her my word, but meseemeth they are poor folk and not of the +chiefs of the people." + +The [FN#422] Vizier, who was like to die of envy and chagrin for +that which had befallen his son, said in himself, "How shall one +like this marry the Sultan's daughter and my son lose this +honour?" So he said to the Sultan, [FN#423] "O my lord, it is an +easy matter to rid ourselves of [FN#424] this vagabond, [FN#425] +for that it would not beseem Thy Grace to give thy daughter to a +man like this, of whom it is not known what he is." Quoth the +Sultan, "On what wise shall we rid ourselves of this man, seeing +I have given him my word and a King's word is his bond?" "O my +lord," answered the Vizier, "my counsel is that thou require of +him forty dishes of pure virgin gold, full of jewels, such as +she [FN#426] brought thee the other day, [FN#427] and forty +slave-girls to bear the dishes and forty black slaves." "By +Allah, O Vizier," rejoined the Sultan, "'thou speakest rightly; +for that this is a thing to which he may not avail and so we +shall be rid of him by [fair] means." [FN#428] So he said to +Alaeddin's mother, "Go and tell thy son that I abide by the +promise which I made him, but an if he avail unto my daughter's +dowry; to wit, I require of him forty dishes of pure gold, which +must all be full of jewels [such as] thou broughtest me [erst], +together with forty slave-girls to carry them and forty male +slaves to escort and attend them. If, then; thy son avail unto +this, I will marry him to my daughter." + +Alaeddin's mother returned home, shaking her head and saying, +"Whence shall my poor son get these dishes of jewels? Supposing, +for the jewels and the dishes, that he return to the treasure and +gather the whole from the trees,--and withal methinketh not it is +possible to him; but say that he fetch them,--whence [shall he +get] the slaves and slave-girls?" And she gave not over talking +to herself till she reached the house, where Alaeddin awaited +her, and when she came in to him, she said to him, "O my son, +said I not to thee, 'Think not to attain to the Lady +Bedrulbudour'? Indeed, this is a thing that is not possible unto +folk like ourselves." Quoth he, "Tell me what is the news." And +she said to him, "O my son, the Sultan received me with all +courtesy, according to his wont, and meseemeth he meant fairly by +us, but [for] thine accursed enemy the Vizier; for that, after I +had bespoken the Sultan in thy name, even as thou badest me, +reminding him that the term for which he had appointed us was +past and saying to him, 'If Thy Grace would vouchsafe to give +commandment for the marriage of thy daughter the Lady +Bedrulbudour with my son Alaeddin,'--he turned to the Vizier and +spoke to him. The Vizier replied to him in a whisper and after +that the Sultan returned me an answer." Then she told him what +the Sultan required of him and added, "O my son, he would fain +have present answer of thee; but methinketh we have no answer to +give him." + +When [FN#429] Alaeddin heard his mother's speech, he laughed and +said, "O my mother, thou sayest we have no answer to make him and +deemest the thing exceeding hard; but now be good enough to +rise [FN#430] and fetch us somewhat to eat, and after we have +dined, thou shalt (an it please the Compassionate) see the +answer. The Sultan like thyself, thinketh he hath sought of me an +extraordinary matter, so he may divert me from the Lady +Bedrulbudour; but the fact is that he seeketh a thing less than I +had looked for. But go now and buy us somewhat we may eat and +leave me to fetch thee the answer." Accordingly, she arose and +went out to buy her need from the market, so she might make ready +the morning-meal; whilst Alaeddin entered his chamber and taking +the lamp, rubbed it. The genie immediately appeared to him and +said, "Seek what thou wilt, O my lord;" whereupon quoth Alaeddin, +"I seek the Sultan's daughter in marriage and he requireth of me +forty dishes of pure gold, each ten pounds in weight and full of +the jewels which be in the garden of the treasure, the forty +dishes to be borne by forty slave girls and each slave-girl to be +accompanied by a male slave; wherefore I will have thee bring me +this, all of it." "Hearkening and obedience, O my lord," replied +the genie and disappearing, was absent awhile, then returned with +the forty slave-girls, each attended by a male slave and bearing +on her head a dish of pure gold, full of precious jewels. So he +brought them before Alaeddin and said to him, "Here is that which +thou soughtest. Tell me an thou need thing or service other than +this." Quoth Alaeddin, "I need nothing [more]; if I need aught, I +will summon thee and tell thee." + +Accordingly, the genie vanished and after a little, Alaeddin's +mother returned and entering the house, saw the slaves and +slave-girls; whereat she marvelled and said, "All this is of the +Lamp; God continue it unto my son!" Then, before she put off her +veil, Alaeddin said to her, "O my mother, this is thy time, ere +the Sultan enter his palace [and withdraw] to his harem. Take him +what he seeketh, and that forthright, so he may know that I can +avail unto that which he requireth, ay, and more, and that he was +deluded by the Vizier; albeit he thought to baffle me, he and his +Vizier." Then he arose and opening the house-door, let out the +damsels and the slaves, pair by pair, each damsel with a slave by +her side, so that they filled the street. His mother forewent +them and the people of the quarter, when they saw that rare and +magnificent sight, stood looking and marvelling and gazing upon +the faces of the slave-girls and their grace and goodliness [and +their apparel], for that they were clad in clothes all inwoven +with gold and studded with jewels; nay, the least one's clothes +of them were worth thousands. Moreover they looked at the +dishes [FN#431] and saw flashing therefrom a radiance that +outshone the light of the sun, albeit each dish was covered with +a piece of brocade, gold-inwrought and studded eke with precious +jewels. Alaeddin's [FN#432] mother fared on and the damsels and +slaves followed after her, in all fair ordinance and disposition, +whilst the folk stood to gaze on the beauty of the slave-girls +and extolled the perfection of the Almighty Creator, till she +reached the palace and entered it with them. + +When the eunuchs and chamberlains and captains of the guard saw +them, wonder took them and they were breathless for amaze at this +sight, the like whereof they had never in their lives seen, and +especially at the slave girls, each one of whom would ravish the +wit of an anchorite. Withal, the chamberlains and captains of the +Sultan's guards were all of them sons of grandees and Amirs; and +they marvelled yet more at the damsels' costly raiment and the +dishes which they bore on their heads and on which they might not +open their eyes, [FN#433] for the excess of their flashing and +radiance. Then the guards [FN#434] entered and told the Sultan, +who bade bring them before him forthright into the Divan. So +Alaeddin's mother entered with them and when they came before the +Sultan, they all did obeisance to him with the utmost courtliness +and gravity and invoked on him glory and prosperity; then, +raising the dishes from their heads, they set them down before +him and stood with their hands clasped behind them, after they +had removed the covers. + +The Sultan wondered with an exceeding wonderment and was +confounded at the beauty of the girls and their loveliness, which +overpassed description; his wit was bewildered, when he saw the +golden dishes, full of jewels that dazzled the sight, and he was +amazed at this marvel, so that he became as one dumb, unable to +speak aught, of the excess of his wonderment; nay, his wit was +the more perplexed, forasmuch as this had all been accomplished +in an hour's time. Then he bade carry the slave-girls and their +burdens to the pavilion of the Lady Bedrulbudour; so the damsels +took up the dishes and entered; whereupon Alaeddin's mother came +forward and said to the Sultan, "O my lord, this is no great +matter for the Lady Bedrulbudour's exalted rank; nay, she +deserveth manifold this." So the Sultan turned to the Vizier and +said to him, "How sayst thou, O Vizier? He that can in so short a +time avail unto riches like these, is he not worthy to be the +Sultan's son-in-law and to have his daughter to bride?" Now the +Vizier marvelled at the greatness of these riches yet more than +the Sultan, but envy was killing him and waxed on him more and +more, when he saw that the Sultan was content with the +bride-gift [FN#435] and the dowry; withal he could not gainstand +the [manifest] truth and say to the Sultan, "He is not worthy;" +so he cast about to work upon him by practice, that he might +hinder him from giving his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour to +Alaeddin, and accordingly said to him, [FN#436] "O my lord, all +the treasures of the world were not worth a paring of thy +daughter Bedrulbudour's nails; indeed, Thy Highness overrateth +this upon her." [FN#437] + +When [FN#438] the Sultan heard the Vizier's words, he knew that +this his speech arose from the excess of his envy; so he turned +to Alaeddin's mother and said to her, "O woman, go to thy son and +tell him that I accept of him the marriage-gift and abide by my +promise to him and that my daughter is his bride and he my +son-in-law; so bid him come hither, that I may make acquaintance +with him. There shall betide him from me nought but all honour +and consideration and this night shall be the beginning of the +bridal festivities. But, as I said to thee, let him come hither +to me without delay." So she returned home swiftlier than the +wind, [FN#439] of her haste to bring her son the good news; and +she was like to fly for joy at the thought that her son was to +become the Sultan's son-in-law. As soon as she had taken her +leave, the Sultan bade break up the Divan and entering the Lady +Bedrulbudour's pavilion, commanded to bring the damsels and the +dishes before his daughter and himself, so she should see them. +So they brought them and when the Lady Bedrulbudour saw the +jewels, she was amazed and said, " Methinketh there is not one of +these jewels found in the treasuries of the world." Then she +looked at the damsels and marvelled at their beauty and grace and +knew that this was all from her new bridegroom and that he had +proffered it to her service. So she rejoiced, albeit she had been +sad and sorry for her [whilom] bridegroom the Vizier's son,--she +rejoiced, [I say], with an exceeding joy, when she saw the jewels +and the beauty of the damsels, and was cheered; whilst her father +rejoiced exceedingly in her joy, in that he saw her put off +chagrin and dejection. Then he said to her, "O my daughter +Bedrulbudour, doth this please thee? Indeed, methinketh this thy +bridegroom is goodlier [FN#440] than the Vizier's son, and God +willing, O my daughter, thou shalt rejoice with him +abundantly." [FN#441] + +So much for the Sultan and as for Alaeddin, when his mother came +to the house and entered and he saw her laughing of the excess of +her joy, he foreboded good news and said, " To God +Everlasting [FN#442] be praise! Accomplished is that which I +sought." And she said to him, "Glad tidings, O my son! Let thy +heart rejoice and thine eye be solaced in the attainment of thy +desire, for that the Sultan accepteth thine offering, to wit, the +bride gift and the dowry of the Lady Bedrulbudour, and she is thy +bride and this, O my son, is the night of your [FN#443] bridal and +thy going in to the Lady Bedrulbudour. Nay, the Sultan, that he +might certify me of his word, proclaimed thee his son-in-law +before the folk and declared that this should be the +wedding-night; but he said to me, 'Let thy son come hither to me, +so I may make acquaintance with him, and I will receive him with +all honour and worship.' And now, O my son, my office [FN#444] is +ended, whatsoever remaineth is a matter for thee." [FN#445] + +Alaeddin kissed his mother's hand and thanked her amain for her +kindness; [FN#446] then he arose and entering his chamber, took +the lamp and rubbed it; whereupon the genie presented himself and +said to him, "Here am I; seek what thou wilt." Quoth Alaeddin, +"My will is that thou take me to a bath, whose like is not in the +world, and fetch me a suit of royal raiment and exceeding costly, +such as no king can boast." "Hearkening and obedience," replied +the Marid and taking him up, brought him intro a bath, never saw +King nor Kisra [FN#447] its like, for it was of alabaster and +agate and full of marvellous limnings that ravished the sight, +and therein was a saloon all embossed with precious jewels. None +was there; but, when Alaeddin entered, there came in to him one +of the Jinn in human semblance and washed him and bathed him to +the utmost of the wish: after [FN#448] which he went forth the +bath to the outer saloon, where he found his clothes taken away +and in their stead a suit of the richest royal apparel. Then +sherbets were brought him and coffee with ambergris and he drank +and arose; whereupon there came to him a troop of slaves and clad +him in those [FN#449] sumptuous clothes [FN#450] and he dressed and +perfumed himself with essences and sweet-scented smoke. [FN#451] +Now thou knowest [FN#452] that Alaeddin was the son of a poor man, +a tailor: yet now none had thought it, [FN#453] but had said, +"This is the chiefest of the sons of the kings," extolled be the +perfection of Him who changeth and is not changed! + +Then the slave of the lamp came to him and taking him up, set him +down in his house and said to him, "O my lord, dost thou need +aught?" "Yes," answered Alaeddin; "I will have thee bring me +eight-and-forty mamelukes, [FN#454] four-and-twenty to walk before +me and four-and-twenty to walk behind me, with their horses and +clothes and arms, and let all that is upon them and their horses +be of stuffs costly and precious exceedingly, such as are not +found in kings' treasuries. Then bring me a stallion fit for the +riding of the Chosroes and be his trappings all of gold, embossed +with noble jewels; and bring me eight-and-forty thousand diners, +in each mameluke's hand a thousand, for that I purpose presently +to visit the Sultan; wherefore delay thou not on me, since I +cannot go thither without all that whereof I have bespoken thee. +Bring me also twelve slave-girls, who must be unique in +loveliness and clad in the richest of raiment, so they may attend +my mother to the Sultan's palace, and let each slave-girl have +with her a suit of apparel fit for the wearing of kings' +wives." [FN#455] + +"Hearkening and obedience," replied the genie and disappearing, +brought him in the twinkling of an eye all that he had commanded +him withal, whilst in his hand he held a stallion, whose like is +not among the horses of the Arabs of the Arabs, [FN#456] with +housings of the richest stuffs brocaded with gold; whereupon +Alaeddin called his mother forthright and delivered her the +twelve slave-girls and gave her the [twelve] suits, [FN#457] so +she might dress herself [FN#458] and go with them to the Sultan's +palace. Then he despatched one of the mamelukes thither, to see +an the Sultan were come forth of the harem or not; so he went and +returning, swiftlier than lightning, said to him, "O my lord, the +Sultan awaiteth thee." Accordingly he arose and mounting, [set +forth], whilst the mamelukes rode before him and after him, +(extolled be the perfection of the Lord who created them +with [FN#459] that which clothed them of beauty and grace!), +strewing gold upon the folk before their lord Alaeddin, who +overpassed them all of his grace and goodliness, and ask thou not +of kings' sons, [FN#460] extolled be the perfection of the Giver, +the Eternal! Now all this was of the virtue of the wonderful +lamp, [FN#461] which gifted whoso possessed it with goodliness and +grace and wealth and wisdom. + +The folk marvelled at Alaeddin's bounty and at the excess of his +munificence and were amazed when they saw that which graced him +of beauty and goodliness and his courtliness and dignity; yea, +they extolled the perfection of the Compassionate One for this +His noble creature and all of them great and small [FN#462] called +down blessings on him, albeit they knew him for the son of such +an one the tailor; yet none envied him, but all said, "He is +deserving." So [FN#463] he fared on his way, with the mamelukes +before him and behind him, scattering gold upon the folk, till he +came to the palace. + +Now the Sultan had summoned to his presence the chiefs of his +state and telling them that he had passed his word for the +marriage of his daughter to Alaeddin, bade them await the latter, +commanding them that, when he came, they should all go out to +meet him; moreover, he assembled the amirs and viziers and +chamberlains and guards and captains of the troops and they were +all awaiting Alaeddin at the door of the palace. When he arrived, +he would have dismounted at the door, but there came up to him +one of the Amirs, whom the Sultan had deputed to that office, and +said to him, "O my lord, the commandment is that thou enter, +riding on thy charger, so thou mayst alight at the door of the +Divan." So they all forewent him and he entered till they brought +him to the door of the Divan. There sundry of them came forward +and held his stirrup, whilst some supported him on both sides and +other some took him by the hand, and so they dismounted him. Then +the Amirs and officers of state forewent him and brought him into +the Divan, till he drew near the Sultan's throne; whereupon the +latter came down forthright from his seat and embracing him, +hindered him from kissing the carpet and seated him beside +himself on his right hand. Alaeddin did that which behoveth and +befitteth unto kings of obeisance and invocation and said to him, +"O our lord the Sultan, thy Grace's munificence hath +vouchsafed [FN#464] to accord me the Lady Bedrulbudour thy +daughter, albeit I am unworthy of this great favour, for that I +am of the lowliest of thy slaves; wherefore I beseech God that He +keep and continue thee. Indeed, O King, my tongue faileth to +thank thee [as were behoving] for the greatness of this boon, +overpassing its competence, [FN#465] wherewith thou hast favoured +me, and I beseech Thy Grace to vouchsafe me ground, such as is +meet, so I may build thereon a palace that shall be fit for the +Lady Bedrulbudour." + +The Sultan was amazed when he saw Alaeddin in this regal array +and beheld his grace and goodliness and the mamelukes standing in +attendance upon him in all their comeliness and fair favour; yea, +and his wonderment redoubled when Alaeddin's mother came up +attired in rich and costly raiment, as she were a queen, and he +saw twelve slave-girls in her service, preceding her, their hands +clasped behind their backs, with all worship and observance. +Moreover, he noted Alaeddin's eloquence and the elegance of his +speech and was amazed thereat, he and all who were present with +him in the Divan, whilst fire was kindled in the Vizier's heart +for envy of Alaeddin, so that he was like to die. Then, after the +Sultan had heard Alaeddin's compliment and had seen the greatness +of his quality and his modesty and eloquence, he strained him to +his bosom and kissed him, saying, "It irketh me, O my son, that I +have not known thee [FN#466] before to-day." So, [FN#467] when he +saw Alaeddin on this fashion, he rejoiced in him with an +exceeding joy and at once bade the music [FN#468] and the +drums [FN#469] strike up; then, rising, he took him by the hand +and carried him into the palace, where the evening-meal had been +made ready and the servants set the tables. There he sat down and +seated Alaeddin on his right hand; whereupon the viziers and +chiefs of the state and the grandees of the realm sat also, each +in his several room, whilst the drums beat and they held high +festival in the palace. [FN#470] + +The Sultan proceeded to make familiar with Alaeddin and to talk +with him, and Alaeddin answered him with all courtliness and +fluency, as he had been bred in kings' palaces or as he were +their constant associate; [FN#471] and the more the talk was +prolonged between them, the more gladness and joy redoubled on +the Sultan for that which he heard of the goodliness of +Alaeddin's answers and the sweetness of his speech. Then, when +they had eaten and drunken and the tables were removed, the +Sultan bade fetch the Cadis and the witnesses; so they came and +knotted the knot and wrote the writ [of marriage] between +Alaeddin and the Lady Bedrulbudour. Therewith Alaeddin arose and +would have taken leave; but the Sultan laid hold on him and said +to him, "Whither away, O my son? The bride-feast is toward and +the bride present; the knot is knotted and the writ written." "O +my lord the king," answered Alaeddin, "I would fain build the +Lady Bedrulbudour a palace, besorting her rank and station, and +it may not be that I should go in to her without this; but, God +willing, the building shall, by the diligent endeavour of thy +slave and by Thy Grace's auspice, [FN#472] be right speedily +despatched. Indeed, I long for present enjoyment of the Lady +Bedrulbudour; but it behoveth me [first] apply myself to that +which is incumbent on me for her service." [FN#473] Quoth the +Sultan, "O my son, look thyself out the ground which thou deemest +apt to thine end and take it. All is in thy hand; [FN#474], but +here before my palace is a spacious piece of ground, which +meseemeth were best; so, if it please thee, build thou the palace +thereon." And Alaeddin answered him, saying, "Indeed, it is my +utmost desire to be near Thy Grace." + +Then he took leave of the Sultan and going forth, mounted and +rode, with his mamelukes before him and behind him, whilst the +folk all prayed for him and said, "By Allah, he is deserving!" +till he came to his house and alighting from his stallion, +entered his chamber and rubbed the lamp; whereupon the genie +stood before him and said to him, "Seek what thou wilt, O my +lord" Quoth Alaeddin, "I desire of thee an important service, to +wit, that thou build me with all speed a palace before that of +the Sultan, which shall be marvellous in its building, never saw +kings its like, and be it complete with all its requisites of +kingly and magnificent furniture and so forth." "Hearkening and +obedience," replied the genie and [FN#475] disappeared; but, +before the dawn broke, he came to Alaeddin and said to him, "O my +lord, the palace is finished to the utmost of the wish; +wherefore, an thou wouldst see it, arise forthright and look on +it." So Alaeddin arose and the genie carried him, in the +twinkling of an eye, to the palace, which when he saw, he was +amazed at its building, for that all its stones were of jade and +alabaster and porphyry and mosaic. The genie carried him into a +treasury full of all manner of gold and silver and precious +jewels past count or reckoning, price or estimation; then he +brought him into another place, where he saw all the requisites +of the table, platters and spoons and ewers and basins and cups, +of gold and silver, and thence to the kitchen, where he found +cooks, [FN#476] with their cooking-gear and utensils, all on like +wise of gold and silver. Moreover, he brought him into a place, +which he found full of coffers overflowing with royal raiment, +such as ravished the wit, gold-inwoven stuffs, Indian and +Chinese, and brocades, and he showed him also many other places, +all full of that which beggareth description, till at last he +brought him into a stable, wherein were horses whose like is not +found with the kings of the world; and therewithin he showed him +a storehouse, full of housings and saddles of price, all +broidered with pearls and precious stones and so forth. + +Alaeddin was amazed and bewildered at the greatness of these +riches, whereunto the mightiest king in the world might not +avail, and all the work of one night; more by token that the +palace was full of slaves and slave girls such as would bewitch a +saint with their loveliness. But the most marvellous of all was +that he saw in the palace an upper hall [FN#477] and [FN#478] a +belvedere [FN#479] with four-and-twenty oriels, all wroughten of +emeralds and rubies and other jewels, and of one of these oriels +the lattice-work was by his desire left unfinished, [FN#480] so +the Sultan should fail of its completion. When he had viewed the +palace, all of it, he rejoiced and was exceeding glad; then he +turned to the genie and said to him, "I desire of thee one thing +which is lacking and whereof I had forgotten to bespeak thee." +Quoth the slave, " Seek what thou wilt, O my lord;" and Alaeddin +said to him, "I will have thee bring me a carpet Of fine brocade, +all inwoven with gold, and spread it from my palace to that of +the Sultan, so the Lady Bedrulbudour, whenas she cometh hither, +may walk thereon and not upon the earth." So the genie was absent +a little and returning, said to him, ''O my lord, that which thou +soughtest Of me is here." Therewithal he took him and showed him +the carpet, which ravished the wit, and it was spread from the +Sultan's palace to that of Alaeddin; then taking him up, he set +him down in his own house. + +It [FN#481] was now grown high day; so the Sultan arose from sleep +and opening a window of his pavilion, looked forth and saw +buildings [FN#482] before his palace; whereupon he fell to rubbing +his eyes and opening them wide and looking farther, saw a +magnificent palace, that bewildered the wits, and a carpet spread +therefrom to his own palace; as on like wise did the doorkeepers +and all who were in the palace, and their wits were bewildered at +the sight. At this juncture the Vizier presented himself and as +he entered, he espied the new palace and the carpet and marvelled +also; so, when he came in to the Sultan, the twain fell to +talking of this strange matter and marvelling, for that they saw +a thing which amazed the beholder and dilated the heart; and they +said, "Verily, methinketh kings may not avail unto the building +of the like of this palace." Then the Sultan turned to the Vizier +and said to him, "How now? Deemest thou Alaeddin worthy to be +bridegroom to my daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour? Hast thou seen +and considered this royal building and all these riches which +man's wit cannot comprehend?" The Vizier, of his envy of +Alaeddin, answered him, saying, "O King of the Age, indeed this +palace and its building and all these riches may not be but by +means of enchantment, for that no man among men, no, not the +mightiest of them in dominion or the greatest in wealth, might +avail to upraise and stablish [the like of] this building in one +night." Quoth the Sultan, "I marvel at thee how thou still +deemest evil of Alaeddin; but methinketh it ariseth from thine +envy of him, for that thou wast present when he sought of me a +place whereon to build a palace for my daughter and I accorded +him, before thee, [leave to build] a palace on this ground; and +he who brought me, to my daughter's dower, jewels such that no +kings possess one thereof, shall he lack ableness to build a +palace like this?" When [FN#483] the Vizier heard the Sultan's +speech and understood that he loved Alaeddin greatly, his envy of +him increased; withal he availed not to do aught against him, so +he was dumb and could make the Sultan no answer. + +Meanwhile Alaeddin--seeing that it was high day and that the time +was come when he should go to the palace, for that his +wedding-festivities were toward and the Amirs and Viziers and +chiefs of the state were all with the Sultan, so they might be +present at the bridal--arose and rubbed the lamp; whereupon the +genie presented himself and said to him, "O my lord, seek what +thou wilt, for that I am before thee, at thy service." Quoth +Alaeddin, "I purpose presently to go to the Sultan's palace, and +to-day is the wedding; wherefore I have occasion for ten thousand +diners, which I will have thee bring me." The slave was absent +the twinkling of an eye and returned to him with the money; +whereupon Alaeddin arose and taking horse, with his mamelukes +behind him and before him, rode to the palace, scattering gold +upon the folk, as he passed, so that they were fulfilled with the +love of him and the greatness of his munificence. [FN#484] When he +came to the palace and the Amirs and eunuchs and soldiers, who +were standing awaiting him, saw him, they hastened forthright to +the Sultan and told him; whereupon he arose and coming to meet +him, embraced him and kissed him; then he took him by the hand +and carried him into the palace. where he sat down and seated him +on his right hand. + +Now the city was all adorned and the instruments [of music] were +smiting in the palace and the singing-women singing. Then the +Sultan trade serve the morning-meal; so the slaves and mamelukes +hastened to spread the table and it was such as kings might take +example by. [FN#485] The Sultan sat with Alaeddin and the officers +of state and the chiefs of the realm and they ate and drank till +they were satisfied; and great was the rejoicing in the palace +and the city. Glad were all the chiefs of the state and the folk +rejoiced in all the realm, whilst there came from far regions the +notables of the provinces and the governors of the cities, so +they might see Alaeddin's wedding and his bride-feast. The Sultan +still marvelled in himself at Alaeddin's mother, how she had come +to him in poor clothes, whilst her son had command of this +exceeding wealth; and as for the folk, who came to the Sultan's +palace, to gaze upon the wedding-festivities, when they saw +Alaeddin's palace and the goodliness of its building, there took +them great wonderment how so magnificent a building had been +upreared in one night and they fell all to praying for Alaeddin +and saying, "God prosper him! By Allah, he is deserving. God's +blessing on his days!" + +Meanwhile [FN#486] Alaeddin, having made an end of the +morning-meal, arose and taking leave of the Sultan, mounted with +his mamelukes and rode to his palace, so he might prepare for the +reception of his bride, the Lady Bedrulbudour. As he passed, all +the folk cried out to him with one voice, saying, " God gladden +thee! God increase thee in glory! God continue thee!" And so they +brought him home in great procession, what while he showered gold +on them. When he came to his palace, he alighted and entering, +sat down in the Divan, whilst the mamelukes stood before him with +clasped hands. After a little they brought him sherbets and he +gave commandment to his mamelukes and slave-girls and eunuchs and +all who were in his palace that they should make ready to receive +the Lady Bedrulbudour, his bride. Then, when it was the time of +the midafternoon prayer [FN#487] and the air grew cool and the +heat of the sun abated, [FN#488] the Sultan bade the troops and +the Amirs and the Viziers go down to the horse-course. So they +all repaired thither and with them the Sultan himself; whereupon +Alaeddin also arose and mounting with his mamelukes, went down +into the plain and showed his horsemanship; then he fell to +playing [FN#489] in the tilting-ground and there was none could +stand before him. Now he was riding a stallion whose like is not +among the horses of the Arabs of the Arabs [FN#490] and his bride +the Lady Bedrulbudour was looking upon him from the window of her +pavilion, and when she saw his grace and goodliness and knightly +prowess, she was overcome with his love and was like to fly for +joy in him. Then, after they had played [some] bouts [FN#491] in +the plain and each had shown what was in him of horsemanship, +(but Alaeddin overpassed them all,) the Sultan went to his palace +and Alaeddin on like wise returned home. + +When it was eventide, the chiefs of the state and the Viziers +went and taking Alaeddin, carried him in procession to the Royal +Bath, the Renowned ; [FN#492] so he entered and bathed and +perfumed himself, then, coming forth, he donned a suit yet richer +than the first and mounted, whilst the troops rode before him and +the Amirs and Viziers. So they fared on with him in great state, +with four of the Viziers for his sword-bearers, whilst all the +troops and people of the city, both townsfolk and strangers, +walked in procession before him, carrying flambeaux and drums and +flutes and instruments of mirth and music, till they brought him +to his palace, when he alighted and entering, sat down, as did +also the Viziers and Amirs who were in his company, whilst the +mamelukes brought sherbets and sweetmeats [FN#493] and gave all +who were with him in the procession to drink, albeit they were a +multitude of folk whose number might not be told. Moreover, he +gave commandment unto his mamelukes, and they went out to the +door of the palace and fell to showering gold upon the folk. + +Meanwhile, [FN#494] when the Sultan returned from the horse-course +and entered his palace, he bade forthright carry his daughter the +Lady Bedrulbudour in procession to the palace of her bridegroom +Alaeddin. So the troops forthright mounted with the officers of +state, who had been in Alaeddin's procession, and the slave-girls +and eunuchs went out with flambeaux and carried the Lady +Bedrulhudour in great state to her bridegroom's palace, +Alaeddin's mother by her side and before her the women of the +Viziers and Amirs and grandees and notables. Moreover, she had +with her eight and-forty slave-girls, whom Alaeddin had presented +to her, in each one's hand a great candle of camphor and +ambergris, set in a candlestick of gold, studded with jewels; and +all the men and women in the palace went out with her and fared +on before her, till they brought her to her bridegroom's palace +and carrying her up to her pavilion, [FN#495] attired her in +various robes [FN#496] and displayed her. Then, after they had +made an end of displaying her, they carried her to the pavilion +of her groom Alaeddin and he went in to her. Now his mother was +with the Lady Bedrulbudour, and when he came up and did off her +veil, she fell to gazing upon the bride's beauty and grace and +looked at the pavilion, the which was all wroughten [FN#497] of +gold and jewels and therein were golden lustres, all embossed +with emeralds and rubies; and she said in herself, "Methought the +Sultan's palace was magnificent; but, for this pavilion [FN#498] +alone, I doubt me the greatest of the Chosroes and the kings +never owned its match; nor, methinketh, might all mankind avail +to make the like thereof." And the Lady Bedrulbudour also fell to +looking and marvelling at the palace [FN#499] and its +magnificence. Then the table was laid and they ate and drank and +made merry; and presently there appeared before them fourscore +slave-girls, each with an instrument in her hand of the +instruments of mirth and music. So they plied their finger-tips +and touching their strings, struck up with plaintive airs, till +they clove in sunder the hearts of the listeners, whilst the Lady +Bedrulbudour redoubled in wonderment and said in herself, "Never +in my life heard I the like of these songs;" so that she forgot +to eat and fell to listening. As for Alaeddin, he proceeded to +pour to her the wine and give her to drink with his own hand, and +mirth and good cheer and delight went round among them and it was +a rare night, such as Iskender of the Horns [FN#500] never in his +time spent. Then, after they had made an end of eating and +drinking, the tables were removed from before them and Alaeddin +arose and went in to his bride. + +When it was the morning, Alaeddin arose and his treasurer brought +him a costly suit of the richest of kings' raiment; so he donned +it and sat down; whereupon coffee was brought him with ambergris +and he drank thereof and called for the horses. Accordingly, they +were saddled and he mounted and rode, with his mamelukes behind +him and before him, to the Sultan's palace. When he reached it +and entered, the eunuchs went in and acquainted the Sultan with +his presence; which [FN#501] when he heard, he arose forthwith and +coming to meet Alaeddin, embraced him and kissing him, as he were +his son, seated him on his right hand. Moreover the Viziers and +Amirs and officers of state and grandees of the realm invoked +blessings on him and the Sultan gave him joy [FN#502] and prayed +God prosper him. Then he bade lay breakfast; [FN#503] so they laid +[it] and they all broke their fast; and after they had eaten and +drunken their sufficiency and had finished and the servants had +removed the tables from before them, Alaeddin turned to the +Sultan and said to him, "O my lord, [belike] Thy Grace will +vouchsafe to honour me this day at the morning-meal [FN#503] with +the Lady Bedrulbudour, thy precious daughter, and be Thy Grace's +company all thy viziers and the chief officers of thy state." +Quoth the Sultan, (and indeed he rejoiced in him), +"Gladly, [FN#504] O my son," and bidding the Viziers and officers +of state and grandees attend him, arose forthright and mounted; +whereupon Alaeddin and the others mounted also and they all rode +till they came to Alaeddin's palace. + +When the Sultan entered the palace and viewed its building and +ordinance and saw its stones, which were of jade and agate, he +was amazed [FN#505] and his wit was bewildered at that affluence +and wealth and magnificence; so he turned to the Vizier and said +to him, "How sayst thou, O Vizier? Hast thou in all thy days seen +aught like this? Are there found with the greatest of the kings +of the world riches and gold and jewels such as these we see in +this palace?" "O my lord the King," answered the Vizier, "this is +a thing beyond the competence of a king of the sons of Adam, nor +might all the people of the earth together avail to build a +palace like this; nay, there are no craftsmen living able to do +work like this, except ;it be, as I said to Thy Grace, by might +of magic." The Sultan knew that the Vizier, in seeking to +convince him that this was not by might of men, but all of it +enchantment, still spoke not but of his envy of Alaeddin; so he +said to him, "Enough, O Vizier; let us have no more of thy talk. +I know the cause which maketh thee speak on this wise." + +Then Alaeddin forewent the Sultan till he brought him to the high +pavilion [FN#507] and he looked at the belvedere [FN#508] and its +oriols [FN#509] and lattices, [FN#510] all wroughten of emeralds +and rubies and other precious stones, and was amazed and +astonied; his wit was bewildered and he abode perplexed in his +thought. Then he fell to going round about the pavilion and +viewing these things that ravished the sight, till presently he +espied the casement [FN#511] which Alaeddin had purposely left +wanting and unfinished. When the Sultan examined it and saw that +it was unfinished, he said, "Woe is me for thee, O casement, that +thou art not perfect!" Then, turning to the Vizier, he said to +him, "Knowest thou the reason of the lack of completion of this +casement and its lattices?" "O [FN#512] my lord," answered the +Vizier, "methinketh it is because Thy Grace hastened upon +Alaeddin with the wedding and he had no time to complete it." Now +Alaeddin had meanwhile gone in to his bride, the Lady +Bedrulbudour, to acquaint her with the coming of her father the +Sultan; and when he returned, the Sultan said to him, "O my son +Alaeddin, what is the reason that the lattice[-work] of yonder +oriel [FN#513] is not completed?" "O King of the Age," replied +Alaeddin, "by reason of the haste made with the bridal, the +craftsmen might not avail to [FN#514] finish it." Quoth the Sultan +to him, "It is my wish to finish it myself." And Alaeddin +answered, saying, "God prolong thy glory, O King; so shall there +remain unto thee a remembrance [FN#515] in thy daughter's palace." + +Accordingly the Sultan bade straightway fetch jewellers and +goldsmiths and commanded to give them from the treasury all that +they needed of gold and jewels and [precious] metals; so they +came and he bade them do that which was wanting of the +lattice-work of the [unfinished] oriel. [FN#516] Meanwhile, the +Lady Bedrulbudour came out to receive her father the Sultan, and +when she came up to him and he saw her smiling-faced he embraced +her and kissed her and taking her [by the hand], went in with her +to her pavilion. So they entered all, for that it was the +appointed time of the morning-meal and they had set one table for +the Sultan and the Lady Bedrulbudour and Alaeddin and another for +the Vizier and the officers of state and grandees of the realm +and captains and chamberlains and deputies. The Sultan sat +between his daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour, and his son-in- law +Alaeddin, and when he put his hand to the food and tasted it, +wonder took him at the richness of the meats and the +exquisiteness of their seasonings. [FN#517] Now there stood before +them fourscore damsels, each as it were she said to the full +moon, "Rise, so I may sit in thy place;" and in each one's hand +was an instrument of mirth and music. So they tuned their +instruments and touched their strings and struck up with +plaintive [FN#518] airs that dilated the mourning heart. [FN#519] +The Sultan was cheered and the time was pleasant to him and he +rejoiced and said, " Verily, Kings and Kaisers would fail +of [FN#520] this thing;" + +Then they fell to eating and drinking and the cup went round +among them till they had taken their sufficiency, when there came +sweetmeats [FN#521] and various kinds of fruits and so forth; and +these were laid in another saloon. So they removed thither and +took their fill of those dainties; after which the Sultan arose, +that he might see if the work of the jewellers and goldsmiths +likened that of the palace. So he went up to them and viewed +their work and how they wrought and saw that they were far from +availing to do work like that [of the rest] of Alaeddin's +palace. [FN#522] Moreover [FN#523] they told him that all they +found in his treasury they had brought and it sufficed not; +whereupon he bade open the Great Treasury and give them what they +needed and that, if it sufficed not, they should take that which +Alaeddin had given him. So they took all the jewels assigned them +by the Sultan and wrought with them, but found that these also +sufficed them not, nor might they complete withal the half of +that which lacked of the lattice work of the oriel; [FN#524] +whereupon the Sultan bade take all the jewels which should be +found with the Viziers and chiefs of the state; and accordingly +they took them all and wrought therewith; but this also sufficed +not. + +When it was morning, Alaeddin went up to view the jewelers' work +and saw that they had not completed half the lacking +lattice-work; whereupon he bade them incontinent undo all that +they had wrought and restore the jewels to their owners. +Accordingly, they undid it all and sent to the Sultan that which +was his and to the Viziers [and others] that which was theirs. +Then they went to the Sultan and told him that Alaeddin had +commanded them of this; whereupon he asked them, "What said he to +you and why would he not have the lattice-work finished and why +undid he that which you had done?" And they said to him, "O my +lord, we know nothing, save that he bade us undo all that we had +done." Whereupon the Sultan immediately called for the horses and +arising, mounted and rode to Alaeddin's palace. + +Meanwhile Alaeddin, after dismissing the goldsmiths and the +jewellers, entered his closet and rubbed the lamp; whereupon the +genie forthwith appeared and said to him, "Seek what thou wilt; +thy slave is before thee." And Alaeddin said to him, "It is my +will that thou complete the lacking lattice-work of the +oriel." [FN#525] "On my head and eyes [be it]," replied the slave +and disappearing, returned after a little and said to him, "O my +lord, that whereof thou commandedst me I have performed." So +Alaeddin went up to the belvedere [FN#526] and found all its +lattices [FN#527] perfect; and whilst he was viewing them, behold +the [chief] eunuch [FN#528] came in to him and said to him, "O my +lord, the Sultan cometh to visit thee and is at the palace-door." +So he came down forthright and went to meet the Sultan, +who [FN#529] said to him, when he saw him, "Wherefore, O my son, +hast thou done thus, and why sufferedst thou not the jewellers +complete the lattice-work of the oriel, [FN#530] so there might +not remain a place in thy palace [FN#531] defective?" "O King of +the Age," answered Alaeddin, "I left it not imperfect but of my +free will, nor did I lack of ableness to complete it. However, I +could not brook that Thy Grace should honour me [with thy +presence] in a palace [FN#532] wherein there was somewhat lacking; +wherefore, so thou mayst know that it was not for lack of +ableness that I left it uncomplete, [FN#533] let Thy Grace go up +and see the lattice-work of the kiosk, [FN#534] an there be aught +lacking thereto." + +The Sultan accordingly went up to the pavilion [FN#535] and +entering the kiosk, [FN#536] viewed it right and left and saw no +manner defect in its lattices, but found them all perfect; +whereat he was astounded and embracing Alaeddin, fell a-kissing +him and saying, "O my son, what is this extraordinary thing? In +one night thou dost a work wherefrom the jewellers would fail in +months! By Allah, methinketh thou hast not thy fellow [FN#536] in +the world!" Quoth Alaeddin, "God prolong thy life and perpetuate +thy continuance! Thy slave is not worthy of this praise." "By +Allah, O my son," rejoined the Sultan, "thou deservest all +praise, in that thou hast done a thing wherefrom [all the] +craftsmen of the world would fail." Then he went down and +entering the pavilion of his daughter, the Lady Bedrulbudour, +found her rejoicing exceedingly over this great magnificence +wherein she was; and after he had rested with her awhile, he +returned to his palace. + +Now Alaeddin used every day to mount and ride through the town, +with his mamelukes behind him and before him, strewing gold upon +the people, right and left, and the folk, stranger and neighbour, +near and far, were fulfilled with the love of him for the excess +of his munificence and his bounty. Moreover he exceeded in +benefaction of the poor and the indigent [FN#538] and used himself +to distribute his alms to them with his own hand. After this +fashion he won himself great renown in all the realm and the most +of the chiefs of the state and the Amirs used to eat at his table +and swore not but by his precious life. Moreover, he fell to +going everywhile [FN#539] to the chase and the horse course and to +practicing horsemanship and archery [FN#540] before the Sultan, +whilst the Lady Bedrulbudour redoubled in love of him, +whenassoever she saw him disporting himself a horseback, and +thought in herself that God had wrought exceeding graciously by +her in that there had befallen her what befell with the Vizier's +son, so He might keep her for her true bridegroom Alaeddin. +So [FN#541] he went daily waxing in goodliness of repute and in +praise and the love of him redoubled in the hearts of the common +folk and he was magnified in men's eyes. + +Now in those days certain of the Sultan's enemies took horse +against him; so he levied troops to repel them and made Alaeddin +chief thereof. Alaeddin set out with his host and fared on till +he drew near the enemy, whose troops were exceeding many; where +upon he drew his sword and fell upon them and there befell battle +and slaughter and sore was the stress of the mellay; but Alaeddin +broke them and routed them and slew the most part of them. +Moreover, he plundered their goods and possessions and gat him +spoil beyond count or reckoning, wherewith he returned in +triumph, [having gained] a great victory, and entered the city, +which had adorned itself for him of its joy in him. The Sultan +came out to meet him and give him joy and embraced him and kissed +him, and there was high festival holden in the kingdom and great +rejoicing. Then the Sultan and Alaeddin betook themselves to the +latter's palace; [FN#542] whereupon his bride, the Lady +Bedrulbudour, came out to meet him, rejoicing in him, and kissed +him between the eyes, and he went in with her to her +pavilion; [FN#543] whither after a little came the Sultan and they +sat down and the slave-girls brought sherbets. [FN#544] So they +drank and the Sultan commanded that all the realm should be +decorated for Alaeddin's victory over the enemy; whilst it became +[a saying] with the commons and the troops and the folk, all of +them, "Allah in heaven and Alaeddin on earth." and they loved him +yet more, having regard not only to the excess of his bounty and +munificence, but to his knightly prowess, in that he had done +battle for the kingdom and had routed the enemy. + +So much for Alaeddin, and now to return to the Mangrabin +enchanter. When he returned to his country, he abode all this +time, bewailing that which he had endured of toil and stress, so +he might compass the lamp, yet had his travail all been wasted +and the morsel had escaped from his hand, after it had reached +his mouth; and he still thought upon all this, bemoaning himself +and reviling Alaeddin of the excess of his anger against him; and +whiles he said in himself, "Since yonder whoreson is dead under +the earth, I am content withal and I have hopes of the lamp, that +I may yet achieve it, inasmuch as it is still safeguarded." Then, +one day of the days, he smote the sand and extracting the +figures, set them down after the most approved fashion [FN#545] +and adjusted [FN#546] them, so he might see and certify himself of +the death of Alaeddin and the safe keeping of the lamp under the +earth; and he looked well into [FN#547] the figures, both mothers +and daughters, [FN#548] but saw not the lamp, whereupon rage +overrode him and he smote the sand a second time, that he might +certify himself of Alaeddin's death, but saw him not in the +treasure; whereat he redoubled in wrath, and yet more when it was +certified to him that the lad was alive upon the surface of the +earth and he knew that he had come forth from under the ground +and had gotten the lamp, on account whereof he himself had +suffered toil and torment such as passeth man's power to endure. +So he said in himself, "I have suffered many hardships for the +sake of the lamp and have endured fatigues such as none but I +might brook, [FN#549] and now yonder accursed one taketh it +without stress and it is evident [FN#550] [that], an he have +learned the use thereof, there will be none in the world richer +than he." + +Then, [FN#551] when he saw and was certified that Alaeddin had +come forth from under the earth and had happened upon the good of +the Lamp, [FN#552] he said in himself, "Needs must I go about to +kill him." So he smote the sand once more and examining its +figures, saw that Alaeddin had gotten him exceeding wealth and +had married the Sultan's daughter; whereat he was all afire for +rage and envy and arising then and there, equipped himself for +travel and set out for the land of China. When he came to the +city of the sultanate, [FN#553] wherein was Alaeddin, he entered +and alighting at one of the khans, heard the folk talking of +nought but the magnificence of Alaeddin's palace; then, after he +was rested from his journey, he changed [FN#554] his clothes and +went down to go round about in the thoroughfares of the city. He +passed no folk but they were descanting upon the palace and its +magnificence and talking of Alaeddin's grace and comeliness and +his bounty and munificence and the goodliness of his manners and +disposition; so [FN#555] he went up to one of those who were +extolling Alaeddin on this wise and said to him, "Prithee, fair +youth, who is this whom you describe and praise? "O man," replied +the other, "meseemeth thou art a stranger and comest from afar; +but, granting thou art from a far country, hast thou not heard of +the Amir Alaeddin, whose repute, methought, filled the earth, and +of his palace, a wonder of the world, whereof both far and near +have heard? How is it thou hast heard nought of this nor of the +name of Alaeddin, whom Our Lord increase in glory and prosper?" +Quoth the Maugrabin, " Marry, it is the utmost of my wish to look +upon the palace; so, an thou wouldst do me a kindness, direct me +thither, for that I am a stranger." "Hearkening and obedience," +replied the other and going before him, guided him to Alaeddin's +palace. + +The Maugrabin fell to examining it and knew that this all of it +was the work of the Lamp; so he said, "Alack! Alack! Needs must I +dig a pit for this accursed one, this tailor's son, who could not +come by a night's supper; but, an destiny enable me, I will send +his mother back to spin at her wheel, like as she did erst, and +as for him, it shall cost him [FN#556] his life." Then he returned +to the khan in a woeful state of chagrin and colour and despite, +for envy of Alaeddin, and [FN#557] taking his geomantic +instruments, [FN#558] smote his [tablet of] sand, so he might +learn where the lamp was, and found that it was in the palace and +not with Alaeddin; [FN#559] whereat he rejoiced with an exceeding +joy and said, "Now it will be an easy matter for me to bereave +this accursed of his life and I have a way to come at the lamp." +Accordingly he went to a coppersmith and said to him, "Make me so +many [FN#560] lamps [FN#561] and take of me their worth in +full; [FN#562] but I will have thee despatch them quickly." +"Hearkening and obedience," replied the smith and falling to work +on them, speedily despatched them for him. When they were +finished, the Maugrabin paid him their price, even that which he +sought, and taking the lamps, carried them to the khan, where he +laid them in a basket and fell to going round about in the +markets and thoroughfares of the city and crying out, "Ho! who +will barter an old lamp for a new lamp?" When the folk heard him +crying this, they laughed at him and said, "Certes, this man is +mad, since he goeth about, bartering new lamps for old." +Moreover, people [FN#563] followed him and the street-boys caught +him up from place to place [FN#564] and laughed at him. However, +he fended not himself neither took heed of this, but ceased not +to go round about the city till he came under Alaeddin's palace, +where he fell to crying his loudest, whilst the children called +after him, "Madman! Madman!" + +Now as fate willed it, the Lady Bedrulbudour was in the kiosk and +hearing one crying out and the boys calling after him and +understanding not what was toward, bade one of the slave-girls +"Go see what is this man who crieth out and what he crieth." So +the girl went and looking, saw one crying out, "Ho, who will +barter an old lamp for a new lamp?" with the boys after him, +laughing at him; so she returned and told her mistress, saying, +"O my lady, this man crieth, 'Ho! who will barter an old lamp for +a new lamp?' and the boys are following him and laughing at him;" +and the Lady Bedrulbudour laughed also at this marvel. Now +Alaeddin had forgotten the lamp in his pavilion, [FN#565] without +locking it up in his treasury [as was his wont], and one of the +girls had seen it; so she said to the princess, "O my lady, +methinketh I have seen an old lamp in my lord Alaeddin's +pavilion; let us barter it with this man for a new one, so we may +see an his speech be true or leasing." And [FN#566] the princess +said to her, "fetch the lamp whereof thou speakest." Now the Lady +Bedrulbudour had no knowledge of the lamp and its properties, +neither knew she that this it was which had brought Alaeddin her +husband to that great estate, and it was the utmost of her desire +to prove and see the wit of this man who bartered new for old, +nor was any one aware of the Maugrabin enchanter's craft and +trickery. So the slave-girl went up into Alaeddin's pavilion and +returned with the lamp to the Lady Bedrulbudour, who bade the Aga +of the eunuchs [FN#567] go down and exchange it for a new one; so +he took it and going down, gave it to the Maugrabin and took of +him a new lamp, with which he returned to the princess, who +examined it and finding it new and real, fell to laughing at the +Maugrabin's [lack of] wit. Meanwhile, when the enchanter had +gotten the lamp and knew it for that of the Treasure, he thrust +it forthwith into his sleeve [FN#568] and leaving the rest of the +lamps to the folk who were in act to barter of him, set off +running, till he came without the city, and walked about the +waste places, awaiting the coming of the night. Then, when he saw +himself alone in the open country, he brought out the lamp from +his sleeve and rubbed it; whereupon the Marid immediately +appeared to him and said, "Here am I; thy slave [is] before thee. +Seek of me what thou wilt." Quoth the Maugrabin, "My will is that +thou take up Alaeddin's palace from its place, with its +inhabitants and all that [FN#569] is therein and myself also, and +set it down in my country of Africa. [FN#570] Thou knowest my town +and I will have this palace be thereby among the gardens." +"Hearkening and obedience," replied the Marid. "Shut [thine] eye +and open [thine] eye, and thou wilt find thyself in thine own +country with the palace." And immediately this befell in the +twinkling of an eye and the Maugrabin was transported, with +Alaeddin's palace and all that was therein, to the land of +Africa. + +So much for the enchanter, and now let us return to the Sultan +and Alaeddin. The Sultan, of his love and affection for his +daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour, was wont, every day, when he +awoke from his sleep, to open the window and look at her +therefrom; so he arose on the morrow, according to his wont, and +opened his chamber-window, so he might see his daughter; +but [FN#571] when he put out his head and looked for Alaeddin's +palace, he beheld nothing but a place swept [and level], like as +it was aforetime, and saw neither palace nor inhabitants; [FN#572] +whereat amazement clad him and his wit was bewildered and he fell +to rubbing his eyes, so haply they were bleared or dimmed. Then +he proceeded to look closely till at last he was certified that +there was neither trace nor sign left of the palace and knew not +what was come of it; whereupon he redoubled in perplexity and +smote hand upon hand and his tears ran down upon his beard, for +that he knew not what had befallen his daughter. So he sent +forthright to fetch the Vizier, who came in to him and seeing him +in that woeful state, said to him, "Pardon, O King of the Age +(God keep thee from harm!) why art thou woeful?" Quoth the +Sultan, "Meseemeth thou knowest not of my affair." And the Vizier +said to him, "By Allah, O my lord, I have no knowledge of aught +whatsoever." "Then," rejoined the Sultan, "thou hast not looked +towards Alaeddin's palace." "Nay, O my lord," replied the Vizier, +"it is yet shut." And the Sultan said to him, "Since thou hast no +news of aught, rise and look at it from the window and see where +it is, this palace of Alaeddin's, whereof thou sayest that it is +yet shut." The Vizier arose and looked from the window towards +Alaeddin's palace, but could see nothing, neither palace nor +aught else; so his wit was bewildered and he was amazed and +returned to the Sultan, who said to him, "Now knowest thou the +cause of my distress and seest Alaeddin his palace, whereof thou +saddest that it was shut." "O King of the Age," rejoined the +Vizier, "I told Thy Grace aforetime that this palace and these +affairs were all of them [the work of] enchantment." + +At this the Sultan was fired with wrath and said to him, "Where +is Alaeddin?" And he answered, "He is at the chase." Whereupon +the Sultan bade sundry of his eunuchs and officers go straightway +fetch him bound and shackled. So they went till they came to +Alaeddin and said to him, "O our lord Alaeddin, blame us not, for +that the Sultan hath bidden us carry thee to him, bound and +shackled; wherefore we beseech thee of excusement, for that we +are under a royal commandment and may not gainsay it." When +Alaeddin heard their speech, wonderment took him and his tongue +was tied, for that he knew not the cause; then he turned to the +eunuchs and officers and said, "Prithee, sirs, [FN#573] have you +no knowledge of the cause of this commandment of the Sultan? I +know myself guiltless, forasmuch as I have done no sin against +the Sultan nor against his realm." And they said to him, "O our +lord, we have no manner of knowledge thereof." So Alaeddin +lighted down from his stallion and said to them, "Do with me that +which the Sultan biddeth you, for that his commandment is upon +the head and eyes." Accordingly [FN#574] the officers shackled him +and pinioning him, haled him along in irons and entered the city +with him. + +The folk, seeing Alaeddin pinioned and shackled with iron, knew +that the Sultan was minded to cut off his head, and forasmuch as +he was extraordinarily beloved of them, they all gathered +together and taking up arms, came forth their houses and followed +the troops, so they might see what was to do. When the officers +came with Alaeddin to the palace, they entered and told the +Sultan, who immediately bade the headsman go and cut off his +head. But the commons, hearing of this his commandment, shut the +gates of the palace and sent to say to the Sultan, "This very +moment we will overthrow the palace upon thee and all who are +therein, an the least harm happen to Alaeddin." So the Vizier +went and told the Sultan and said to him, "O King of the Age, all +will be over with us forthright; [FN#575] wherefore thou wert best +pardon Alaeddin, lest some calamity befall us, for that the +commons love him more than us." Now the headsman had spread the +carpet of blood and seating Alaeddin thereon, had bound his eyes +and gone round him three times, [FN#576] awaiting the King's final +commandment. The Sultan looked at his subjects and seeing them +swarming upon him and climbing up to the palace, that they might +overthrow it, commanded the headsman to hold his hand from +Alaeddin and bade the crier go forth among the people and +proclaim that he pardoned Alaeddin and took him [again] into +favour. + +When Alaeddin found himself released and saw the Sultan sitting, +he went up to him and said to him, "O my lord, since Thy Grace +hath bountifully vouchsafed me my life, [FN#577] favour me [yet +farther] and tell me the manner of my offence." "O traitor," +replied the Sultan, "till [but] now I knew not thine offence;" +then, turning to the Vizier, he said to him, "Take him, that he +may see from the windows where his palace is." Accordingly the +Vizier took him and Alaeddin looked from the windows in the +direction of his palace and finding the place swept and clear, +like as it was before he built the palace thereon, neither seeing +any trace of the latter, he was amazed and bewildered, unknowing +what had happened. When he returned, the King said to him, "What +hast thou seen? Where is thy palace and where is my daughter, my +heart's darling and mine only one, than whom I have none other?" +And Alaeddin answered him, saying, "O King of the Age, I have no +knowledge thereof, neither know I what hath befallen." And the +Sultan said to him, "Know, O Alaeddin, that I have pardoned thee, +so thou mayst go and look into this affair and make me search for +my daughter; and do not thou present thyself but with her; nay, +an thou bring her not back to me, as my head liveth, I will cut +off thine." "Hearkening and obedience, O King of the Age," +replied Alaeddin. "Grant me but forty days' grace, and an I bring +her not after that time, cut off my head and do what thou wilt." +Quoth [FN#578] the Sultan to him, "I grant thee, according to thy +request, the space of forty days; but think not to flee from my +hand, for that I will fetch thee back, though thou wert above the +clouds, not to say upon the face of the earth." "O my lord the +Sultan," rejoined Alaeddin, "as I said to Thy Grace, an I bring +her not to thee in this space of time, I will present myself +before thee, that thou mayst cut off my head." + +Now the commons and the folk, one and all, when they saw +Alaeddin, rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy and were glad for +his deliverance; but the ignominy which had befallen him and +shame and the exultation of the envious had bowed down his head; +so he went forth and fell to going round about the city, +perplexed anent his case and unknowing how all this had happened. +He abode in the city two days in the woefullest of case, knowing +not how he should do to find his palace and the Lady +Bedrulbudour, his bride, what while certain of the folk used to +come to him privily with meat and drink. Then he went forth, +wandering in the deserts and knowing not whitherward he should +aim, and ceased not going till he came to a river; whereupon, his +hope being cut off for stress of chagrin that possessed him, he +thought to cast himself into the stream; but, for that he was a +pious Muslim, professing the unity of God, he feared God in +himself and stood on the bank; of the stream to perform the +ablution. [FN#579] So he took of the water in his hands and +proceeded to rub between his fingers; and in doing this, his +rubbing chanced upon the ring, whereupon a Marid appeared to him +and said to him, "Here am I; thy slave is before thee. Seek what +thou wilt." + +When Alaeddin saw the Marid, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy +and said to him, "O slave, I will have thee bring me my palace, +with my bride, the Lady Bedrulbudour, and all that is therein." +"O my lord," replied the Marid, "it irketh me sore that what thou +seekest of me is a thing unto which I cannot avail, for that it +pertaineth unto the slaves of the Lamp and I may not adventure +upon it." "Then," said Alaeddin, "since this is not possible unto +thee, take me and set me down beside my palace, in what land +soever it is." "Hearkening and obedience, O my lord," replied the +Marid and taking. him up, set him down, in the twinkling of an +eye, beside his palace in the land of Africa and before his +wife's pavilion. By this time, the night was come; so he looked +at his palace and his cares and sorrows were dispelled from him +and he trusted in God, after he had forsworn hope, that he should +see his bride once again. Then he fell to thinking upon the +hidden mercies of God (glorified be His might!) and how He had +vouchsafed [FN#580] him the ring and how his hope had been cut +off, except God had provided him with the slave of the Ring. So +he rejoiced and all chagrin ceased from him; then, for that he +had been four days without sleeping, of the stress of his chagrin +and his trouble and his grief and the excess of his melancholy, +he went to the side of the palace and lay down under a tree; for +that, as I have said, the palace was among the gardens of Africa +without the city. [FN#581] He [FN#582] lay that night under the +tree in all ease; but he whose head is in the headsman's hand +sleepeth not anights. [FN#583] However, fatigue and lack of sleep +for four days past caused slumber get the mastery over +him; [FN#584] so he slept till break of morn, when he awoke at the +chirp [FN#585] of the sparrows. He arose and going to a stream +there which flowed into the city, washed his hands and face; +then, making the ablution, he prayed the morning-prayer and after +returned and sat under the windows of the Lady Bedrulbudour's +pavilion. + +Now the princess, of the excess of her grief for her separation +from her husband and the Sultan her father and of her sore +distress at that which had betided her with the accursed +Maugrabin enchanter, used every day to arise, at the first peep +of dawn, [FN#586] and sit weeping; nay, she slept not anights and +forswore meat and drink. Her handmaid used to go in to her at the +time of the Salutation, [FN#587] so she might dress her, and that +morning, by the decree of destiny, the damsel opened the window +at that time, thinking to solace her mistress with the sight of +the trees and streams. So she looked out and seeing her lord +Alaeddin sitting under the windows of the pavilion, said to the +princess, "O my lady, my lady, here is my lord Alaeddin sitting +under the pavilion!" Whereupon the Lady Bedrulbudour arose in +haste and looking from the window, saw Alaeddin, and he raised +his head and saw her; so she saluted him and he her and they were +both like to fly for joy. Then said she to him, "Arise and come +in to me by the privy door, for that the accursed one [FN#588] is +not now here;" and she bade her handmaid go down and open the +door. So the damsel went down and opened to Alaeddin, who arose +and entered thereby. His wife, [FN#589] the Lady Bedrulbudour, met +him at the door and they embraced and kissed each other with all +joyance, till they fell a-weeping of the excess of their +gladness. + + +Then they sat down and Alaeddin said to her, "O Lady +Bedrulbudour, there is somewhat whereof I would ask thee, before +all things. I used to lay an old copper lamp in such a place in +my pavilion . . ." When the princess heard this, she sighed and +answered him, saying, "O my beloved, it was that which was the +cause of our falling into this calamity." [FN#590] Quoth he, "How +came this about?" So she acquainted him with the whole matter +from first to last, telling him how they had bartered the old +lamp for a new one; "and next morning," added she, "we found +ourselves in this country and he who had cozened me and changed +the lamp told me that he had wroughten these tricks upon us of +the might of his magic, by means of the lamp and that he is a +Maugrabin from Africa [FN#591] and that we are now in his native +land." When [FN#592] she had made an end of her story, Alaeddin +said to her, "Tell me, what does this accursed one purpose with +thee; what saith he to thee and of what doth he bespeak thee and +what is his will of thee?" "Every day," answered the princess, +"he cometh to me once and no more and seeketh to draw me to his +love, willing me take him in thy stead and forget and renounce +thee; nay, he told me that my father the Sultan had cut off thy +head. Moreover, he useth to say to me of thee that thou art the +son of poor folk and that he was the cause of thine enrichment +and seeketh to cajole me with talk, but never hath he seen of me +aught but tears and weeping or heard from me one soft +word." [FN#593] Quoth Alaeddin, "Tell me where he layeth the lamp, +an thou knowest." And she said, "He still carrieth it [about him] +nor will part with it a moment; nay, when he acquainted me with +that whereof I have told thee, he brought out the lamp from his +sleeve and showed it to me" + +When Alaeddin heard this, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and +said to her, "Harkye, Lady Bedrulbudour; it is my present intent +to go out and return in disguise. [FN#594] Marvel thou not at this +and let one of thy slave-girls abide await at the privy door, to +open to me forthright, when she seeth me coming; and I will cast +about for a device whereby I may slay this accursed one." Then he +rose and going forth the [privy] door of his palace, walked on +till he encountered a peasant by the way and said to him, +"Harkye, sirrah, take my clothes and give me thine." The man +demurred, but Alaeddin enforced him and taking his clothes from +him, donned them and gave him his own costly apparel. Then he +fared on in the high road till he came to the city and entering, +betook himself to the drug-market, where for two diners he bought +of [one of] the druggists two drachms of rare strong henbane, the +son of its minute, [FN#595] and retracing his steps, returned to +the palace. When the damsel saw him, she opened him the privy +door and he went in to the Lady Bedrulbudour [FN#596] and said to +her, "Harkye, I will have thee dress and tire thyself and put +away melancholy from thee; and when the accursed Maugrabin cometh +to thee, do thou receive him with 'Welcome and fair welcome' and +go to meet him with a smiling face and bid him come sup with thee +and profess to him that thou hast forgotten thy beloved Alaeddin +and thy father and that thou lovest him with an exceeding love. +Moreover, do thou seek of him wine, and that red, [FN#597] and +make him a show of all joy and gladness and drink to his +health. [FN#598] Then, when thou hast filled him two or three cups +of wine, [FN#599] [watch] till thou take him off his guard; then +put him this powder [FN#600] in the cup and fill it up with wine, +and an he drink it, he will straightway turn over on his back, +like a dead man." When the Lady Bedrulbudour heard Alaeddin's +words, she said! to him, "This is a thing exceeding hard on me to +do; but it is lawful to slay this accursed, so we may be +delivered from his uncleanness who hath made me rue thy +separation and that of my father." Then Alaeddin ate and drank +with his wife that which stayed his hunger and rising at once, +went forth the palace; whereupon the Lady Bedrulbudour summoned +her tirewoman, who busked her and adorned her, and she rose and +donned fine clothes and perfumed herself. Whilst she was thus +engaged, the accursed Maugrabin presented himself and was +exceeding rejoiced to see her on this wise, more by token that +she received him with a smiling face, contrary to her wont; so he +redoubled in distraction for her love and longing for her. Then +she took him and seating him by her side, said to him, "O my +beloved, an thou wilt, come hither to me this night and we will +sup together. Enough of mourning; for that, an I sat grieving a +thousand years, what were the profit? Alaeddin cannot return from +the tomb and I have considered and believe [FN#601] that which +thou saidst to me yesterday, to wit, that most like my father the +Sultan hath slain him, in the excess of his grief for my loss. +Nay, marvel not at me to-day, that I am changed since yesterday, +for that I have bethought me to take thee to beloved and +companion in Alaeddin's stead, seeing there is left me no man +other than thou. Wherefore it is my hope that thou wilt come +to-night, so we may sup together and drink somewhat of wine with +each other, and I will have thee let me taste of the wine of thy +country Africa, for that belike it is better [than ours]. Wine, +indeed, I have by me; but it is that of our country, and I desire +exceedingly to taste the wine of your country." + +When [FN#602] the Maugrabin saw the love which the Lady +Bedrulbudour professed to him and that she was changed from her +whilom plight of grief, he thought that she had given up her hope +of Alaeddin; so he rejoiced greatly and said to her, "O my soul, +hearkening and obedience unto all that which thou wiliest and +biddest me withal. I have with me in my house a jar of the wine +of our country, the which I have kept stored these eight years +under the earth; so I go now to fill from it our sufficiency and +will return to thee forthright." Therewithal the Lady +Bedrulbudour, that she might beguile him more and more, said to +him, "O my beloved, do not thou go thyself and leave me. Send one +of thy servants to fill us from the jar and abide thou sitting +with me, that I may take comfort in thee." "O my lady," answered +he, "none knoweth the place of the jar save myself; but I will +not keep thee waiting." [FN#603] So saying, he went out and +returned after a little with their sufficiency of wine; and the +Lady Bedrulbudour said to him, "Thou hast been at pains [FN#604] +[for me], and I have put thee to unease, [FN#605] O my beloved." +"Nay," answered he, "O [thou that art dear to me as] mine eyes, I +am honoured by thy service." Then she sat down with him at table +and they both fell to eating. Presently, the princess called for +drink and the handmaid immediately filled her the cup; then she +filled for the Maugrabin and the Lady Bedrulbudour proceeded to +drink to his life and health, [FN#606] and he also drank to her +life and she fell to carousing [FN#607] with him. Now she was +unique in eloquence and sweetness of speech and she proceeded to +beguile him and bespeak him with words significant [FN#608] and +sweet, so she might entangle him yet straitlier in the toils of +her love. The Maugrabin thought that all this was true [FN#609] +and knew not that the love she professed to him was a snare set +for him to slay him. So he redoubled in desire for her and was +like to die for love of her, when he saw from her that which she +showed him of sweetness of speech and coquetry; [FN#610] his head +swam with ecstasy [FN#611] and the world became changed [FN#612] in +his eyes. + +When they came to the last of the supper and the princess knew +that the wine had gotten the mastery in his head, she said to +him, "We have in our country a custom, meknoweth not if you in +this country use it or not." "And what is this custom?" asked the +Maugrabin. "It is," answered she, "that, at the end of supper, +each lover taketh the other's cup and drinketh it." So saying, +she took his cup and filling it for herself with wine, bade the +handmaid give him her cup, wherein was wine mingled with henbane, +even as she had taught her how she should do, for that all the +slaves and slave-girls in the palace wished his death and were at +one against him with the Lady Bedrulbudour. So the damsel gave +him the cup, and he, hearing the princess's words and seeing her +drink in his cup and give him to drink in hers, deemed himself +Iskender of the Horns, whenas he saw from her all this love. Then +she bent towards him, swaying gracefully from side to side, and +laying her hand on his, said, "O my life, here is thy cup with me +and mine is with thee; thus do lovers drink one from other's +cup." Then she kissed [FN#613] his cup and drinking it off, set it +down and came up to him and kissed him on the cheek; [FN#614] +whereat he was like to fly for joy and purposing to do even as +she had done, raised the cup to his mouth and drank it all off, +without looking if there were aught therein or not; but no sooner +had he done this than he turned over on his back, like a dead +man, and the cup fell from his hand. + +The Lady Bedrulbudour rejoiced at this and the damsels ran, vying +with each other in their haste, [FN#615] and opened the +palace-door [FN#616] to Alaeddin, their lord; whereupon he entered +and [FN#617] going up to his wife's pavilion, [FN#618] found her +sitting at the table and the Maugrabin before her, as one slain. +So he went up to the princess and kissed her and thanked her for +this [that she had done] and rejoiced with an exceeding joy. Then +said he to her, "Get thee now into thine inner chamber, thou and +thy damsels, and leave me alone, so I may consider of that which +I have to do." Accordingly, the Lady Bedrulbudour tarried not, +but entered the inner pavilion, she and her women; whereupon +Alaeddin arose and locked the door on them and going up to the +Maugrabin, put his hand to his sleeve and pulled out the lamp; +after which he drew his sword and cut off the sorcerer's head. +Then he rubbed the lamp and the Marid, its slave, appeared to him +and said, "Here am I, O my lord; what wiliest thou?" Quoth +Alaeddin, "I will of thee that thou take up this palace from this +country and carry it to the land of China and set it in the place +where it was erst, before the Sultan's palace." "Hearkening and +obedience, O my lord," replied the Marid [and disappeared], +whilst Alaeddin went in and sat with the Lady Bedrulbudour his +bride and embraced her and kissed her and she him; and they sat +talking and making merry, what while the Marid took up the palace +with [FN#619] them and set it down in its place before the +Sultan's palace. + +Presently Alaeddin called for food; so the slave-girls set the +tray before him and he sat, he and the Lady Bedrulbudour his +wife, and ate and drank in all joy and gladness till they had +taken their sufficiency. Then they removed to the chamber of wine +and carousel, where they sat drinking and making merry and +kissing one another with all eagerness, for that it was long +since they had had easance together; and they ceased not from +this till the sun of wine rose in their heads and sleep took +them; whereupon they arose and lay down on their bed in all rest +and delight. In the morning Alaeddin arose and aroused his wife, +whereupon her women came to her and dressed her and busked her +and adorned her; whilst he, on his part, donned the richest of +raiment, [FN#620] and both were like to fly for joy at their +reunion with each other, after their separation, whilst the Lady +Bedrulbudour was especially glad, for that she looked to see her +father that day. + +So much for Alaeddin and the Lady Bedrulbudour; and as for the +Sultan, after he had released Alaeddin, he ceased not to mourn +for the loss of his daughter and to sit and weep for her, like a +woman, at every time and tide; for that she was his only one and +he had none other than her. And every day, whenas he arose from +his sleep in the morning, he would go hastily to the window and +opening it, look towards the place where Alaeddin's palace was +erst and weep till his eyes were dried up and their lids ulcered. +He arose that day at dawn, according to his wont, and opening the +window, looked out and saw before him a building; so he fell to +rubbing his eyes and looking closelier, was certified that it was +Alaeddin's palace; whereupon he immediately called for the +horses. Accordingly, they saddled them and he went down and +mounting, rode to Alaeddin's palace. When the latter saw him +coming, he went down and meeting him half-way, took him by the +hand and carried him up to the pavilion of the Lady Bedrulbudour, +his daughter. Now she also longed sore for her father; so she +came down and met him at the stair-foot door, over against the +lower hall; whereupon he embraced her and fell to kissing her and +weeping and on this wise did she also. Then Alaeddin brought them +up to the upper pavilion, [FN#621] where they sat down and the +Sultan proceeded to question the princess of her case and of that +which had befallen her, whilst [FN#622] she acquainted him with +all that had happened to her and said to him, "O my father, I +breathed not till yesterday, when I saw my husband, and he it is +who delivered me from the bondage of a Maugrabin, an accursed +sorcerer, methinketh there is not a filthier than he on the face +of the earth; and but for my beloved Alaeddin, I had not won free +of him and thou hadst not seen me all thy life. Indeed, O my +father, there possessed me grief and sore chagrin, not only for +my severance from thee, but also for the loss of my husband, to +whom I shall be beholden all the days of my life, seeing he +delivered me from that accursed enchanter." + +Then she went on to acquaint her father with all that had +befallen her and to tell him of the Maugrabin's dealings and what +he did with her and how he feigned himself a lampseller, who +bartered new for old. "And when," [quoth she]; "I saw this +[seeming] lack of wit in him, I fell to laughing at him, +unknowing his perfidy and his intent; so I took an old lamp that +was in my husband's pavilion and sent it by the eunuch, who +exchanged it with him for a new lamp; and next day, O my father, +at daybreak, we found ourselves in Africa, with the palace and +all that was therein; and I knew not the properties of the lamp +which I had exchanged, till my husband Alaeddin came to us and +contrived against the Maugrabin a device whereby he delivered us +from him. Now, except my husband had won to us, it was the +accursed one's intent to go in to me perforce; but Alaeddin, my +husband. gave me a powder, the which I put for him in a cup of +wine and gave it him to drink. So he drank it and fell-back as +one dead; whereupon my husband Alaeddin came in to me and +meknoweth not how he wrought, so that he transported us back from +the land of Africa to our place here." And Alaeddin said to the +Sultan, "O my lord, when I came up and saw him cast down like one +slain and sleeping for the henbane, I said to the Lady +Bedrulbudour, 'Go in, thou and thy women, to the inner pavilion.' +So she arose and went in, she and her damsels, from that +loathsome sight; whilst I went up to the accursed Maugrabin and +putting my hand to his sleeve, pulled out the lamp, for that the +Lady Bedrulbudour had told me he still carried it there. Then, +when I had gotten it, I drew my sword and cut [off] the +accursed's [head] and making use of the lamp, bade its servants +take us up, with the palace and all that was therein, and set us +down here in our place. And if Thy Grace be in doubt of my words, +do thou come with me and see the accursed Maugrabin." + +So the King arose and going in with Alaeddin to the pavilion, saw +the Maugrabin [Iying ]: whereupon he bade forthright take the +carcase and burn it and scatter its ashes [to the winds]. Then he +embraced Alaeddin and fell to kissing him and said to him, +"Excuse me, O my son, for that I was going [FN#623] to bereave +thee of thy life, through the wickedness of yonder accursed +sorcerer who cast thee into this pit; and indeed, O my son, I was +excusable in that which I did with thee, inasmuch as I saw myself +bereft of my daughter and mine only one, who is dearer to me than +my kingdom, and thou knowest how fathers' hearts yearn upon their +children, more by token that I have but the Lady Bedrulbudour." +And he went on to excuse himself to him and kiss him; and [FN#624] +Alaeddin said to him, "O Lord of the Age, thou didst with me +nothing contrary to the law and I also was guiltless of offence; +but the thing came all of that vile Maugrabin enchanter." Then +the Sultan bade decorate the city and hold festival and +rejoicings and commanded the crier to cry in the city that that +day was a great festival, wherefore rejoicings should be holden +in all the realm during the space of a month, [to wit,] thirty +days' time, for the return of the Lady Bedrulbudour his daughter +and her husband Alaeddin. + +This, then, is what befell Alaeddin with the Maugrabin; but +Alaeddin, for all this, was not altogether [FN#625] quit of the +accursed enchanter, withal his body had been burned and given to +the winds; for that the accursed one had a brother viler than he +[and yet more skilled] in magic and geomancy and astrology; [nay, +they were even] as saith the proverb, "A bean and it was cloven +in twain;" [FN#626] and each dwelt in one quarter of the world, so +they might fill it [FN#627] with their sorcery and craft and +guile. It chanced one day that the Maugrabin's brother was minded +to know how it was with his brother; so he fetched his sand-board +and smote it and extracted its figures; then he considered them +and examining them throughly, found his brother in the house of +the tomb; [FN#628] whereat he mourned and was certified that he +was indeed dead. Then he smote the sand a second time, so he +might learn how and where he died, and found that he had died in +the land of China and by the foulest of deaths and knew that he +who slew him was a youth by name Alaeddin. So he rose at once and +equipping himself for travel, set out and traversed plains and +deserts and mountains months and months, till he came to the land +of China [and entering] the city of the sultanate, wherein was +Alaeddin, repaired to the Strangers' Khan, where he hired him a +lodging and rested there a little. + +Then he arose to go round about the thoroughfares of the city, +that he might spy him out a means of compassing his fell purpose, +the which was to take vengeance of his brother on Alaeddin. So he +entered a coffee-house in the market, a mighty fine place whither +there resorted great plenty of folk, some to play tables, [FN#629] +some draughts [FN#630] and other some chess and what not else. +There he sat down and heard those who sat beside him talk of an +old woman, an anchoress, by name Fatimeh, who still abode in her +place without the city, serving [God], and came not down into the +town but two days in the month, avouching her to be possessed of +divine gifts galore. [FN#631] When the Maugrabin enchanter heard +this, he said in himself, "Now have I found that which I sought. +An it please God the Most High, I shall achieve my quest by means +of this woman." So [FN#632] he went up to the folk who were +speaking of the devout old woman's supernatural powers and said +to one of them, "O uncle, I hear you talk of the divine gifts of +one she-saint, [FN#633] by name Fatimeh. Who [FN#634] is she and +where is her place?" "Wonderful!" cried the man. "What, thou art +in our city and hast not heard of the divine gifts of my +Lady [FN#635] Fatimeh? Apparently, good man, [FN#636] thou art a +stranger, since thou hast never chanced to hear of the fasts of +this holy woman and her abhorrence of the world and the +goodliness of her piety." "Ay, my lord," replied the Maugrabin, +"I am indeed a stranger and arrived but yesternight in this your +town; wherefore I beseech thee tell me of the divine gifts of +this holy woman and where her place is, for that I have fallen +into a calamity and would fain go to her and crave her of prayer, +so haply God (to whom belong might and majesty) may deliver me +from my stress, by means of her intercession." The man +accordingly told him of the divine gifts of the holy woman +Fatimeh and her piety and the excellence of her devotion; then, +taking him by the hand, he carried him without the city and +showed him the way to her abiding-place, which was in a cavern on +the top of a little hill; whereupon the Maugrabin thanked him +amain for his kindness [FN#636] and returned to his place in the +Khan. + +Now, by the decree of destiny, Fatimeh came down on the morrow to +the city and the enchanter, going forth the Khan in the morning, +saw the folk crowding together; so he went up, to see what was +toward, and found Fatimeh standing, whilst every one who had a +pain or an ache came to her, seeking her blessing and soliciting +her prayers, and whenas she stroked him, he was made whole of his +ailment. The Maugrabin followed her, till she returned to her +cavern, and waited till nightfall, when he arose and entering a +sherbet-sellers [FN#637] shop, drank a cup of liquor, [FN#638] then +went forth the city, intending for the cavern of Fatimeh the +recluse. When he came thither, he entered and saw her sleeping on +her back on a piece of matting; so he went up to her and sitting +down [FN#639] on her breast, [FN#640] drew his dagger and cried out +at her; whereupon she awoke and opening her eyes, saw a man, a +Maugrabin, with a drawn dagger, sitting on her breast [FN#641] and +offering to kill her. So she feared and trembled and he said to +her, "Harkye, an thou say aught or cry out, I will kill thee on +the spot. Arise now and do all that I shall bid thee." And he +swore an oath to her that, if she did for him that which he +should bid her, he would not kill her. + +Then he rose from her and she rose also, and he said to her, +"Give me thy clothes and take mine." So she gave him her clothes +and head-bands and her kerchief and veil; and he said to her, +"Now must thou anoint me, to boot, with somewhat, so my face may +become like unto shine in colour." Accordingly Fatimeh went +within the cavern and bringing out a vial of ointment, took +thereof in her palm and anointed his face withal, whereupon it +became like unto hers in colour. Then she gave him her staff and +taught him how he should walk and how he should do, whenas he +went down into the city; moreover, she put her rosary on his neck +and finally giving him the mirror, said to him, "Look now; thou +differest not from me in aught." So he looked and saw himself as +he were Fatimeh herself. [FN#642] Then, when he had gotten his +desire, he broke his oath and sought of her a rope; so she +brought him a rope and he took her and strangled her therewith in +the cavern. When she was dead, he dragged her forth and cast her +into a pit therewithout; then, [FN#643] returning to her cavern, +he slept there till the day broke, when he arose and going down +into the city, came under Alaeddin's pavilion. [FN#644] + +The folk gathered about him, believing him to be Fatimeh the +Recluse, and he proceeded to do like as she had been used to do, +laying hands on those in pain and reciting for this one the +Fatiheh [FN#645] and for that a[nother] chapter of the Koran and +praying for a third. Then, for the much crowding upon him and the +clamour of the folk, the Lady Bedrulbudour heard and said to her +women, "See what is to do and what is the cause of this noise." +So the Ada of the eunuchs went to see what was toward and +returning, said to her, "O my lady, this clamour is because of +the Lady Fatimeh. An it please thee bid me fetch her to thee, so +thou mayst ask a blessing of her ...." And the Lady Bedrulbudour +said to him, "Go and bring her to me; marry, this long while past +I have still heard of her gifts and excellences and have yearned +to see her, so I may ask a blessing of her, for that the folk are +beyond measure abundant [in talk] of her [FN#646] virtues." So the +Aga went and brought the enchanter, disguised as Fatimeh, before +the Lady Bedrulbudour; whereupon the Maugrabin offered up +abundance of prayers for her, and none misdoubted of him but that +he was Fatimeh the recluse. The princess rose and saluting him, +seated him by her side and said to him, "O my Lady Fatimeh, I +will have thee with me alway, that I may be blessed in thee and +eke that I may learn of thee the ways of God-service and piety +and model myself on thee." + +Now this was what the accursed sorcerer aimed at; however, the +better to accomplish his perfidious intent, [FN#647] he +[dissembled and] said to her, "O my lady, I am a poor woman +sitting in the desert and it beseemeth not that the like of me +should abide in kings' palaces." Quoth the Lady Bedrulbudour, +"Have no manner of care, O my lady Fatimeh; I will give thee a +place in my house, where thou shalt do thy devotions, and none +shall ever go in to thee; nay, here shalt thou serve God better +than in thy cavern." And the Maugrabin said to her, "Hearkening +and obedience, O my lady; I will not gainsay thy commandment, for +that the speech of princes may not be crossed neither disputed; +but I beg of thee that my eating and drinking and sitting may be +in my closet alone [and] that none may come in upon me. Moreover, +I need no rich viands, but every day do thou favour me and send +me by thy handmaid a piece of bread and a draught of water to my +closet; and when I am minded to eat, I will eat in my closet +alone." (Now this the accursed did, of his fear lest his chin +veil should be raised, when he ate, and so his case be exposed +and they know him for a man by his beard and moustaches.) "O my +lady Fatimeh," rejoined the princess, "be easy; nothing shall +betide save that which thou wiliest; so rise now [and come] with +me, that I may show thee the pavilion [FN#648] which I purpose to +order for thine inhabitance with us." So [FN#649] saying, she +arose and carrying the sorcerer to the place which she had +appointed him wherein to abide, said to him, "O my lady Fatimeh, +here shalt thou dwell; this pavilion is in thy name and thou +shalt abide therein in all quiet and ease of privacy." And the +Maugrabin thanked her for her bounty and prayed for her. + +Then the Lady Bedrulbudour took him and showed him the +belvedere [FN#650] and the kiosk of jewels, with the four-and- +twenty oriels, [FN#651] and said to him, "How deemest thou, O my +Lady Fatimeh, of this wonderful pavilion?" [FN#652] "By Allah, O +my daughter," replied he, "it is indeed marvellous in the +extreme, [FN#653] nor methinketh is its like found in the world; +nay, it is magnificent exceedingly; but oh, for one thing which +would far increase it in beauty and adornment!" And the princess +said to him, "O my Lady Fatimeh, what is lacking to it and what +is this thing which would adorn it? Tell me of it; I had thought +that it was altogether perfect." "O my lady," answered the +sorcerer, "that which lacketh to it is the egg of the bird Roc, +which being hung in its dome, there were no like unto this +pavilion in all the world." "What is this bird." asked the +princess, "and where shall we find its egg?" And the Moor said to +her, "O my lady, this is a great bird that taketh up camels and +elephants in its talons and flieth with them, of its bigness and +greatness; it is mostly to be found in the mountain Caf and the +craftsman who builded this palace [FN#654] is able to bring its +egg." Then they left that talk and it was the time of the +morning-meal. So the slave-girls laid the table and the Lady +Bedrulbudour sat down and sought of the accursed sorcerer that he +should eat with her; but he refused and rising, entered the +pavilion which she had given him, whither the slave-girls carried +him the morning-meal. + +When it was eventide and Alaeddin returned from the chase, the +Lady Bedrulbudour met him and saluted him: whereupon he embraced +her and kissed her and looking in her face, saw that she was +somewhat troubled and smiled not, against her wont. So he said to +her, "What aileth thee, O my beloved? Tell me, hath there +befallen thee aught to trouble thee?" And she answered him, +saying, "There aileth me nothing; but, O my beloved, I had +thought that our palace [FN#655] lacked of nought; however, O my +eyes [FN#656] Alaeddin, were there hung in the dome of the upper +pavilion [FN#657] an egg of the bird Roc, there were not its like +in the world." "And wast thou concerned anent this?" rejoined +Alaeddin. "This is to me the easiest of all things; so be easy, +for it is enough that thou tell me of that which thou wishest and +I will fetch it thee from the abysses of the world on the +speediest wise." Then [FN#658] after he had comforted the princess +and promised her all she sought, he went straight to his closet +and taking the lamp rubbed it; whereupon the Marid at once +appeared and said to him, "Seek what thou wilt;" and Alaeddin, "I +will have thee bring me a Roc's egg and hang it in the dome of +the [upper] pavilion." [FN#659] + +When the Marid heard Alaeddin's words, his face frowned and he +was wroth and cried out with a terrible great voice, saying, "O +denier of benefits, doth it not suffice thee that I and all the +slaves of the Lamp are at thy service and wouldst thou eke have +me bring thee our liege lady, for thy pleasure, and hang her in +the dome of thy pavilion, to divert thee and thy wife? By Allah, +ye deserve that I should forthright reduce you both to ashes and +scatter you to the winds! But, inasmuch as ye are ignorant, thou +and she, concerning this matter and know not its inward from its +outward, [FN#660] I excuse you, for that ye are innocent. As for +the guilt, it lieth with the accursed one, the surviving [FN#661] +brother of the Maugrabin enchanter, who feigneth himself to be +Fatimeh the Recluse; for lo, he hath slain Fatimeh in her cavern +and hath donned her dress and disguised himself after her favour +and fashion and is come hither, seeking thy destruction, so he +may take vengeance on thee for his brother; and he it is who +taught thy wife to seek this of thee." [FN#662] Therewith he +disappeared, and as for Alaeddin, when he heard this, his wit +fled from his head and his joints trembled at the cry wherewith +the Marid cried out at him; but he took heart and leaving his +closet, went in straightway to his wife and feigned to her that +his head irked him, of his knowledge that Fatimeh was renowned +for the secret of healing [FN#663] all aches and pains. When the +Lady Bedrulbudour saw him put his hand to his head and complain +of its aching, [FN#664] she asked him what was the cause and he +said, "I know not, except that my head irketh me sore." +Accordingly she sent forthwith to fetch Fatimeh, so she might lay +her hand on his head; whereupon quoth Alaeddin, "Who is this +Fatimeh?" And the princess told him how she had lodged Fatimeh +the recluse with her in the palace. [FN#665] + +Meanwhile the slave-girls went and fetched the accursed +Maugrabin, and Alaeddin arose to him, feigning ignorance of his +case, and saluted him, as he had been the true Fatimeh. Moreover +he kissed the hem of his sleeve and welcomed him, [FN#666] saying, +"O my Lady Fatimeh, I beseech thee do me a kindness, since I know +thy usances in the matter of the healing of pains, for that there +hath betided me a sore pain in my head." The Maugrabin could +scarce believe his ears of this speech, [FN#667] for that this was +what he sought; so he went up to Alaeddin, as he would lay his +hand on his head, after the fashion of Fatimeh the recluse, and +heal him of his pain. When he drew near-him, he laid one hand on +his head and putting the other under his clothes, drew a dagger, +so [FN#668] he might slay him withal. But Alaeddin was watching +him and waited till he had all to-drawn the dagger, when he +gripped him by the hand and taking the knife from him, +planted [FN#669] it in his heart. + +When the Lady Bedrulbudour saw this, she cried out and said to +him, "What hath this holy anchoress done, that thou burthenest +thyself with the sore burden of her blood? Hast thou no fear of +God, that thou dost this and hast slain Fatimeh, who was a holy +woman and whose divine gifts were renowned?" Quoth he to her, "I +have not slain Fatimeh; nay, I have slain him who slew her; for +that this is the brother of the accursed Maugrabin enchanter, who +took thee and by his sorcery transported the palace with thee to +the land of Africa. Yea, this accursed one was his brother and +came to this country and wrought these frauds, slaying Fatimeh +and donning her clothes and coming hither, so he might take +vengeance on me for his brother. Moreover, it was he who taught +thee to seek of me a Roc's egg, so my destruction should ensue +thereof; and if thou misdoubt of my word, come and see whom I +have slain." So saying, he did off the Maugrabin's chin veil and +the Lady Bedrulbudour looked and saw a man whose beard covered +his face; whereupon she at once knew the truth and said to +Alaeddin, "O my beloved, twice have I cast thee into danger of +death;" and he said to her, "O Lady Bedrulbudour, thanks to thine +eyes, [FN#670] no harm [hath betided me thereof; nay,] I accept +with all joy everything that cometh to me through thee." When the +princess heard this, she hastened to embrace him and kissed him, +saying, "O my beloved, all this was of my love for thee and I +knew not what I did; [FN#671] nor indeed am I negligent of thy +love." [FN#672] Whereupon Alaeddin kissed her and strained her to +his breast and love redoubled between them. + +Presently, in came the Sultan; so they told him of all that had +passed with the Maugrabin enchanter's brother and showed him the +latter, as he lay dead; whereupon he bade burn him and scatter +his ashes to the winds. Thenceforward Alaeddin abode with his +wife the Lady Bedrulbudour in all peace and pleasure and was +delivered from all perils. Then, after a while, the Sultan died +and Alaeddin sat down on the throne of the kingdom and ruled and +did justice among the people; and all the folk loved him and he +lived with his wife, the Lady Bedrulbudour, in all cheer and +solace and contentment till there came to them the Destroyer of +Delights and the Sunderer of Societies. + + + + + + + Footnotes + + +[FN#1] i.e. (1) Zeyn Alasnam, (2) Codadad. (3) The Sleeper +Awakened. (4) Aladdin. (5) Baba Abdallah. (6) Sidi Nouman. (7) +Cogia Hassan Alhabbah (8) Ali Baba. (9) Ali Cogia. (10) Prince +Ahmed and Pari-Banou. (11) The Sisters who envied their younger +Sister. + +[FN#2] "M. Galland was aware of the imperfection of the MS. used +by him and (unable to obtain a more perfect copy) he seems to +have endeavoured to supply the place of the missing portions by +incorporating in his translation a number of Persian, Turkish and +Arabic Tales, which had no connection with his original and for +which it is generally supposed that he probably had recourse to +Oriental MSS. (as yet unidentified) contained in the Royal +Libraries of Paris." Vol. IX. p. 263. "Of these the Story of the +Sleeper Awakened is the only one which has been traced to an +Arabic original and is found in the Breslau edition of the +complete work, printed by Dr. Habicht from a MS. of Tunisian +origin, apparently of much later date than the other known +copies.....Galland himself cautions us that the Stories of Zeyn +Alasnam and Codadad do not belong to the Thousand and One Nights +and were published (how he does not explain) without his +authority." p. 264. " It is possible that an exhaustive +examination of the various MS. copies of the Thousand and One +Nights known to exist in the public libraries of Europe Might yet +cast some light upon the origin of the interpolated tales; but, +in view of the strong presumption afforded by internal evidence +that they are of modern composition and form no part of the +authentic text, it can hardly be expected, where the result and +the value of that result are alike so doubtful, that any +competent person will be found to undertake so heavy a task, +except as incidental to some more general enquiry. The only one +of the eleven which seems to me to bear any trace of possible +connection with the Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night is +Aladdin, and it may be that an examination of the MS. copies of +the original work within my reach will yet enable me to trace the +origin of that favourite story." pp. 268-9. + +[FN#3] Histoire d' 'Ala Al-Din ou la Lampe Merveilleuse. Texte +Arabe, Publie avec une notice de quelques Manuscrits des Mille et +Une Nuits et la traduction de Galland. Par H. Zotenberg. Paris, +Imprimerie Nationale, 1888. + +[FN#4] For the sake of uniformity and convenience of reference, +I use, throughout this Introduction, Galland's spelling of the +names which occur in his translation, returning to my own system +of transliteration in my rendering of the stories themselves. + +[FN#5] i.e. God's. + +[FN#6] "La suite des Mille et une Nuits, Contes Arabes trafluits +par Dom Chavis et M. Cazotte. Paris 1788." The Edinburgh Review +(July, 1886) gives the date of the first edition as 1785; but +this is an error, probably founded upon the antedating of a copy +of the Cabinet des Fees, certain sets of which (though not +actually completed till 1793) are dated, for some publisher's +reason, 1785. See also following note. + +[FN#7] These four (supplemental) vols. of the Cabinet des Fees +(printed in 1793, though antedated 1788 and 1789) do not form the +first edition of Chavis and Cazotte's so-called Sequel, which was +in 1793 added, by way of supplement, to the Cabinet des Fees, +having been first published in 1788 (two years after the +completion-in thirty-seven volumes-of that great storehouse of +supernatural fiction) under the title of "Les Veillees Persanes" +or "Les Veillees du Sultan Schahriar avec la Sultane +Scheherazade, histoires incroyables, amusantes et morales, +traduites par M. Cazotte et D. Chavis, faisant suite aux Mille et +Une Nuits." + +[FN#8] I cannot agree with my friend Sir R. F. Burton in his +estimate of these tales, which seem to me, even in Caussin de +Perceval's corrector rendering and in his own brilliant and +masterly version, very inferior, in style, conduct and diction, +to those of "the old Arabian Nights," whilst I think "Chavis and +Cazotte's Continuation" utterly unworthy of republication, +whether in part or "in its entirety." Indeed, I confess the +latter version seems to me so curiously and perversely and +unutterably bad that I cannot conceive how Cazotte can have +perpetrated it and can only regard it as a bad joke on his part. +As Caussin de Perceval remarks, it is evident that Shawish +(whether from ignorance or carelessness) must, in many instances, +have utterly misled his French coadjutor (who had no knowledge of +Arabic) as to the meaning of the original, whilst it is much to +be regretted that a writer of exquisite genius and one of the +first stylists of the 18th century, such as the author of the +Diable Amoureux, (a masterpiece to be ranked with Manon Lescaut +and Le Neveu de Rameau,) should have stooped to the commission of +the flagrant offences against good taste and artistic morality +which disfigure well nigh every line of the so-called "Sequel to +the 1001 Nights." "Far be it" (as the Arabs say) that we should +do so cruel a wrong to so well and justly beloved a memory as +that of Jacques Cazotte as to attempt to perpetuate the +remembrance of a literary crime which one can hardly believe him +to have committed in sober earnest! Rather let us seek to bury in +oblivion this his one offence and suffer kind Lethe with its +beneficent waters to wash this "adulterous blot " from his else +unsullied name. + +[FN#9] Lit. "Servants" (ibad) i.e. of God. + +[FN#10] i.e. he who most stands in need of God's mercy. + +[FN#11] Kebikej is the name of the genie set over the insect +kingdom. Scribes occasionally invoke him to preserve their +manuscripts from worms.-Note by M. Zotenberg. + +[FN#12] Galland calls him "Hanna, c'est ... dire Jean Baptiste," +the Arabic Christian equivalent of which is Youhenna and the +Muslim Yehya, "surnomme Diab." Diary, October 25, 1709. + +[FN#13] At this date Galland had already published the first six +(of twelve) volumes of his translation (1704-5) and as far as I +can ascertain, in the absence of a reference copy (the British +Museum possessing no copy of the original edition), the 7th and +8th volumes were either published or in the press. Vol. viii. was +certainly published before the end of the year 1709, by which +time the whole of vol. ix. was ready for printing. + +[FN#14] i.e. Aladdin. + +[FN#15] Galland died in 1715, leaving the last two volumes of +his translation (which appear by the Diary to have been ready for +the prep on the 8th June, 1713) to be published in 1717. + +[FN#16] Aleppo. + +[FN#17] i.e. Yonhenna Diab. + +[FN#18] For "Persian." Galland evidently supposed, in error, +that Petis de la Croix's forthcoming work was a continuation of +his "Contes Turcs" published in 1707, a partial translation +(never completed) of the Turkish version of "The Forty Viziers," +otherwise "The Malice of Women," for which see Le Cabinet des +Fees, vol. xvi. where the work is, curiously enough, attributed +(by the Table of Contents) to Galland himself. + +[FN#19] See my terminal essay. My conclusions there stated as to +the probable date of the original work have since been completely +confirmed by the fact that experts assign Galland's original +(imperfect) copy of the Arabic text to the latter part of the +fourteenth century, on the evidence of the handwriting, etc. + +[FN#20] In M. Zotenberg's notes to Aladdin. + +[FN#21] Night CCCCXCVII. + +[FN#22] Khelifeh. + +[FN#23] Or 'favourites" (auliya), i.e. holy men, devotees, +saints. + +[FN#24] i.e. the geomancers. For a detailed description of this +magical process, (which is known as "sand-tracing," Kharu 'r +reml,) see posl, p. 199, note 2.{see FN#548} + +[FN#25] i.e. "What it will do in the course of its life" + +[FN#26] Or "ascendants" (tewali). + +[FN#27] i.e. "Adornment of the Images." This is an evident +mistake (due to some ignorant copyist or reciter of the story) of +the same kind as that to be found at the commencement of the +story of Ghanim ben Eyoub, (see my Book of the Thousand Nights +and One Night, Vol I. p. 363 et seq.), where the hero is absurdly +stated to have been surnamed at birth the "Slave of Love," a +sobriquet which could only have attached itself to him in +after-life and as a consequence of his passion for Fitoeh. Sir R. +F. Burton suggests, with great probability, that the name, as it +stands in the text, is a contraction, by a common elliptical +process, of the more acceptable, form Zein-ud-din ul Asnam, i.e. +Zein-ud-din (Adornment of the Faith) [he] of the Images, Zein +(adornment) not being a name used by the Arabic-speaking races, +unless with some such addition as ud-Din ("of the Faith"), and +the affix ul Asnam ( "[He] of the Images") being a sobriquet +arising from the circumstances of the hero's after-life, unless +its addition, as recommended by the astrologers, is meant as an +indication of the latter's fore-knowledge of what was to befall +him thereafter. This noted, I leave the name as I find it in the +Arabic MS. + +[FN#28] Sheji nebih. Burton, "Valiant and intelligent." + +[FN#29] Syn. "his describers" (wasifihi). + +[FN#30] Wa huwa hema caiou fihi bads wasifihi shiran. Burton +(apparently from a different text), "and presently he became even +as the poets sang of one of his fellows in semblance." + +[FN#31] Milah, plural of melih, a fair one. + +[FN#32] Khemseh senin. Burton, "fifteen." + +[FN#33] Shabb, adult, man between sixteen and thirty. + +[FN#34] Femu ghefir min el aalem. Burton, "All the defenders of +the realm." + +[FN#35] Night CCCCXCVIII. + +[FN#36] Syn. "depose." + +[FN#37] Lit. "that which proceeded from him." + +[FN#38] See ante, p. 3, note.{see FN#23} + +[FN#39] Night CCCCXCIX. + +[FN#40] i.e. imposed on me the toil, caused me undertake the +weariness, of coming to Cairo for nothing. + +[FN#41] Forgetting his mother. + +[FN#42] i.e. no mortal. + +[FN#43] Keszr abouka 'l fulani (vulg. for abika'l fulan). +Burton, "Such a palace of thy sire." + +[FN#44] i.e. it is not like the journey to Cairo and back. + +[FN#45] i.e. in God grant thou mayst. + +[FN#46] Or "jade" (yeshm). + +[FN#47] Night D. + +[FN#48] "Edh dheheb el atic. Burton, "antique golden pieces"; +but there is nothing to show that the gold was coined. + +[FN#49] The "also" in this clause seems to refer to the old man +of the dream. + +[FN#50] Keszr, lit. palace, but commonly meaning, in modem +Arabic, an upper story or detached corps de logis (pavilion in +the French sense, an evident misnomer in the present case). + +[FN#51] Lit. "put the key in the lock and opened it and behold, +the door of a palace (hall) opened." + +[FN#52] Takeli, sing. form of tac, a window. Burton, "recess for +lamps." + +[FN#53] Lit. "till he join thee with." + +[FN#54] Or "Cairo," the name Misr being common to the country +and its capital. + +[FN#55] Badki tecouli[na]. Badki (lit. after thee) is here used +in the modern sense of "still" or "yet." The interrogative prefix +A appears to have dropped out, as is not uncommon in manuscripts +of this kind. Burton, "After thou assuredst me, saying, &c." + +[FN#56] Here she adopts her son's previous idea that the old man +of the dream was the Prophet in person. + +[FN#57] Night DI. + +[FN#58] Cudoum. The common form of welcome to a guest. + +[FN#59] Or "upper room" (keszr). + +[FN#60] Eight; see ante, p. 14. {see FN#46} + +[FN#61] Edh dheheb el kedim. + +[FN#62] Edh dhelieb er yemli, lit. sand. (i.e. alluvial) gold, +gold in its native state, needing no smelting to extract it. +This, by the way, is the first mention of the thrones or +pedestals of the images. + +[FN#63] Lit. "[With] love and honour" (hubban wa kerametan). a +familar phrase implying complete assent to any request. It is by +some lexicologists supposed to have arisen from the circumstance +of a man answering another, who begged of him a wine-jar (hubb), +with the words, "Ay, I will give thee a jar and a cover (kerameh) +also," and to have thus become a tropical expression of ready +compliance with a petition, as who should say, "I will give thee +what thou askest and more." + +[FN#64] The slave's attitude before his master. + +[FN#65] The like. + +[FN#66] Night DII. + +[FN#67] i.e. invoked blessings upon him in the manner familiar +to readers of the Nights. + +[FN#68] Lit. thou [art] indulged therein (ent musamih fiha). + +[FN#69] Mehmy (vulg. for mehma, whatsoever) telebtaha minni min +en miam. Burton, "whatso of importance thou wouldst have of me." + +[FN#70] Lit. "in a seeking (request) ever or at all" (fi tilbeti +abdan). Burton, "in thy requiring it." + +[FN#71] Tal aleyya " wect, i.e. I am weary of waiting. Burton, +"My tarrying with thee hath been long." + +[FN#72] Or "difficult" (aziz); Burton, "singular-fare." + +[FN#73] Lit. "If the achievement thereof (or attainment +thereunto) will be possible unto thee [by or by dint of] +fortitude," + +[FN#74] Lit. "Wealth [is] in (or by) blood." + +[FN#75] El berr el atfer. Burton translates, "the wildest of +wolds," apparently supposing atfer to be a mistranscription for +aefer, which is very possible. + +[FN#76] Kewaribji, a word formed by adding the Turkish affix ji +to the Arabic kewarib, plural of carib, a small boat. The common +form of the word is caribji. Burton reads it, "Kewariji, one who +uses the paddle." + +[FN#77] Lit "inverted " (mecloubeh). Burton, "the reverse of +man's." + +[FN#78] Night DIII. + +[FN#79] Wehsh. Burton, "a lion." + +[FN#80] Lit. "then they passed on till" (thumma fatou ila [an]). + +[FN#81] Sic (ashjar anber); though what the Arabic author meant +by "trees of ambergris" is more than I can say. The word anber +(pro. pounced amber) signifies also "saffron"; but the obbligato +juxtaposition of aloes and sandal-wood tends to show that what is +meant is the well- known product of the sperm-whale. It is +possible that the mention of this latter may be an interpolation +by some ignorant copyist, who, seeing two only of the three +favourite Oriental scents named, took upon himself to complete +the odoriferous trinity, so dear to Arab writers, by the addition +of ambergris. + +[FN#82] Yas, Persian form of yasm, yasmin or yasimin. Sir R. F. +Burton reads yamin and supposes it to be a copyist's error for +yasmin, but this is a mistake; the word in the text is clearly +yas, though the final s, being somewhat carelessly written in the +Arabic MS, might easily be mistaken for mn with an undotted noun. + +[FN#83] Lit. "perfect or complete (kamil) of fruits and +flowers." + +[FN#84] Lit. "many armies" (asakir, pl. of asker, an army), but +asker is constantly used in post-classical Arabic (and notably in +the Nights) for "a single soldier," and still more generally the +plural (asakir), as here, for "soldiers." + +[FN#85] Syn. "the gleaming of a brasier" (berc kanoun). Kanoun +is the Syrian name of two winter months, December (Kanoun el +awwal or first) and January (Kanoun eth thani or second). + +[FN#86] So as to form a magic barrier against the Jinn, after +the fashion of the mystical circles used by European +necromancers. + +[FN#87] Night DIV. + +[FN#88] Fe-halan tuata, the time-honoured "Ask and it shall be +given unto thee." + +[FN#89] Sic (berec ed dunya); but dunya (the world) is perhaps +meant to be taken here by synecdoche m the sense of "sky." + +[FN#90] Syn. "darkness was let down like a curtain." + +[FN#91] Lit. "like an earthquake like the earthquakes"; but the +second "like " (mithl) is certainly a mistranscription for "of" +(min). + +[FN#92] Night DV. + +[FN#93] Night DVI. + +[FN#94] Here we have the word mithl (as or like) which I +supplied upon conjecture in the former description of the genie; +see ante, p. 24, note. + +[FN#95] Medinetu 'l meda<n wa ujoubetu 'l aalem. It is well known +(see the Nights passim) that the Egyptians considered Cairo the +city of cities and the wonder of the world. + +[FN#96] Lit. "How [is] the contrivance and the way the which we +shall attain by (or with) it to. . . ." + +[FN#97] I.a tehtenim; but the text may also be read la tehettem +and this latter reading is adopted by Burton, who translates, "Be +not beaten and broken down." + +[FN#98] Or "in brief" (bi-tejewwuz). Burton translates, "who +maketh marriages," apparently reading bi-tejewwuz as a +mistranscription for tetejewwez, a vulgar Syrian corruption of +tetezewwej. + +[FN#99] Said in a quasi-complimentary sense, as we say, +"Confound him, what a clever rascal he is!" See the Nights passim +for numerous instances of this. + +[FN#100] Quoth Shehrzad to Shehriyar. + +[FN#101] Syn. "to work upon her traces or course" (tesaa ala +menakibiha). + +[FN#102] Night DVII. + +[FN#103] Lit. "the thirsty one (es szadi) and the goer-forth by +day or in the morning,, (el ghadi); but this is most probably a +mistranscription for the common phrase es sari (the goer by +night) wa 'l ghadi, often used in the sense of "comers and goers" +simply. This would be quite in character with the style of our +present manuscript, which constantly substitutes sz (sad) for s +(sin), e.g. szerai for serai (palace), szufreh, for sufreh +(meal-tray), for hheresza for hheresa(he guarded), etc., etc., +whilst no one acquainted with the Arabic written character need +be reminded how easy it is to mistake a carelessly written-r (ra) +for d (dal) or vice-versa + +[FN#104] The mosque being the caravanserai of the penniless +stranger. + +[FN#105] The person specially appointed to lead the prayers of +the congregation and paid out of the endowed revenues of the +mosque to which he is attached. + +[FN#106] Night DVIII. + +[FN#107] Burton translates, "these accurseds," reading melaa<n +(pl. of melaoun, accursed); but the word in the text is plainly +mulaa<bein (objective dual of mulaa<b, a trickster, malicious +joker, hence, by analogy, sharper). + +[FN#108] Eth thiyab el heririyeh. Burton "silver-wrought." + +[FN#109] Netser ila necshetihim (lit. their image, cf. +Scriptural "image and presentment") wa szufretihim, i.e. he +satisfied himself by the impress and the colour that they were +diners, i.e. gold. + +[FN#110] Lit. I am now become in confusion of or at him +(lianneni alan szirtu fi khejaleh (properly khejleh) minhu). +Burton, "for that I have been ashamed of waiting upon him." + +[FN#111] Lit. "That which was incumbent on me to him." + +[FN#112] Lit. "go to (or for) his service," or, as we should +say, "attend him." + +[FN#113] Burton, "one of the envious;" but the verb is in the +plural. + +[FN#114] Night DIX. + +[FN#115] Et tsenn er redi. Burton, "the evil." + +[FN#116] So that they might hang down and hide his feet and +hands, it being a point of Arab etiquette for an inferior +scrupulously to avoid showing either of these members in +presenting himself (especially for the first time) before his +superior. + +[FN#117] Lit., "religiousness or devoutness (diyaneh) was by +nature in him," i.e. he was naturally inclined to respect +religion and honour its professors. Burton, "He was by nature +conscientious," which does not quite express the meaning of the +text; conscientiousness being hardly an Oriental virtue. + +[FN#118] Lit, "I may (or shall) ransom him with m' life till I +(or so that I may) unite him therewith." + +[FN#119] Iftekeret fi rejul. + +[FN#120] Terbiyeh. This word is not sufficiently rendered by +"education," which modern use has practically restricted to +scholastic teaching, though the good old English phrase "to bring +up" is of course a literal translation of the Latin educare. + +[FN#121] i.e. "I shall owe it to thee." + +[FN#122] Lit. "It is certain to me," Constat mihi, fe-meikeni +(vulg. for fe-yekin) indi. + +[FN#123] Night DX. + +[FN#124] Or perhaps "Would I might." + +[FN#125] i.e. the contract of marriage. + +[FN#126] See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night" +passim, especially Vol. I pp. 190 et seq. + +[FN#127] Miheffeh, a kind of howdah with a flat roof or top. + +[FN#128] Tekht-rewan, a sort of palanquin drawn or carried by +mules or camels wherein she could recline at length. Burton +renders Miheffeh bi-tekhtrewan "a covered litter to be carried by +camels." + +[FN#129] Burton adds here, "Thou wouldst feel ruth for me." + +[FN#130] Lit. profit, gain (meksib), i.e. the ninth image, which +he was to receive as a reward for the faithful execution of his +commission. + +[FN#131] Night DXI. + +[FN#132] [A] nehnu bedna baud an hukm. The word hukm, which +commonly signifies the exercise of government or judicial power, +is here used metonymically in the sense of the place of dominion, +the seat of government. Burton, "Have we fared this far distance +by commandment of my bridegroom?" + +[FN#133] Or "God forbid!" (Hhasha), a common interjection, +implying unconditional denial. + +[FN#134] Lit. "The writing of (or he wrote) his writ upon thee" +(ketb kitabiki aleiki). + +[FN#135] i.e.. at the Last Day, when men will be questioned of +their actions. + +[FN#136] Night DXII. + +[FN#137] Sic (tentsur), but this is probably a copyist's error +for "we may see" (nentsur), the difference being only a question +of one or two diacritical points over the initial letter. + +[FN#138] Here Burton adds, "Indeed I had well nigh determined to +forfeit all my profit of the Ninth Statue and to bear thee away +to Bassorah as my own bride, when my comrade and councillor +dissuaded me from so doing, lest I should bring about my death." + +[FN#139] Night DXIII. + +[FN#140] Or (vulg.) "I thank him, etc." (istekthertu aleihi +elladhi hefitsaha wa sanaha wa hejeba rouhaku anha). Burton, +"Albeit I repeatedly enjoined him to defend and protect her until +he concealed from her his face." + +[FN#141] Or we may read "went out, glad and rejoicing, with (bi) +the young lady;" but the reading in the test is more consonant +with the general style of the Nights. + +[FN#142] Azaa, strictly the formal sitting in state to receive +visits of condolence for the death of a relation, but in modern +parlance commonly applied, by extension, to the funeral +ceremonies themselves. + +[FN#143] El kendil el meshhour. The lamp is however more than +once mentioned in the course of the tale by the name of +"wonderful" (ajib, see post, p. 88, note 4) so familiar to the +readers of the old version. + +[FN#144] Night DXIV. + +[FN#145] Khilafahu, lit. "the contrary thereof;" but the +expression is constantly used (instead of the more correct +gheirahu) in the sense of "other than it," "the take," etc. + +[FN#146] Or "street-boys" (auladu 'l hhareh). + +[FN#147] Zeboun. + +[FN#148] Burton adds here, "Counsel and castigation were of no +avail." + +[FN#149] Lit. "had been recalled" (tuwouffia), i.e. by God to +Himself. + +[FN#150] This old English and Shakspearean expression is the +exact equivalent of the Arabic phrase Khelesza min sherr +walidihi. Burton, "freed from [bearing] the severities of his +sire." + +[FN#151] Kanet wayyishuhu. Burton, "lived only by." + +[FN#152] Night DXV. + +[FN#153] I prefer this old English form of the Arabic word +Meghrebiy (a native of El Meghreb or North-Western Africa) to +"Moor," as the latter conveys a false impression to the modern +reader, who would naturally suppose him to be a native of +Morocco, whereas the enchanter came, as will presently appear, +from biladu 'l gherbi 'l jewwaniy, otherwise Ifrikiyeh, i.e. "the +land of the Inner West" or Africa proper, comprising Tunis, +Tripoli and part of A]geria. + +[FN#154] Min biladi 'l gherbi 'l jewwaniy. The Muslim provinces +of North-Western Africa, extending from the north-western +boundary of Egypt to Cape Nun on the Mogador Coast, were known +under the general name of El Meghreb (modern Barbary) and were +divided into three parts, to wit (1) El Meghreb el Jewwaniy, +Inner, i.e. Hither or Nearer (to Egypt) Barbary or Ifrikiyeh, +comprising Tripoli, Tunis and Constantine (part of Algeria), (2) +El Meghreb el Aouset, Central Barbary. comprising the rest of +Algeria, and (3) El Meghreb el Acszaa, Farther or Outer Barbary, +comprising the modern empire of Morocco. + +[FN#155] El hieh. Burton translates, "astrology," and astrology +(or astronomy);) is the classical meaning of the word; but the +common meaning in modern Arabic is "the science of physiognomy," +cf. the Nights passim. See especially ante, p. 42. {see FN# + +[FN#156] Bi-szaut hezin meksour. Burton, "in a soft voice +saddened by emotion." + +[FN#157] Burton, "brother- german." + +[FN#158] Or "comfort myself in him" (ateazza bihi). Burton +"condole with him [over the past]." + +[FN#159] Lit. "hid not unto me that" (ma ekhfa aleyya an). + +[FN#160] Night DXVI. + +[FN#161] Teaziyeti. Burton, "I have now railed in the mourning +ceremonies." + +[FN#162] El bein ked efjaani fihi, i e. "I have been stricken +with separation from him." Burton, "Far distance wrought me this +trouble." + +[FN#163] Lit. "the being (el ka<n, i.e. that which is, the +accomplished fact) there is not from it a refuge or place of +fleeing" (mehreb). Burton, "nor hath the creature aught of asylum +from the Creator." + +[FN#164] Or "consolation" (azaa). + +[FN#165] Burton, "I have none to condole with now save thyself" + +[FN#166] Night DXVII. + +[FN#167] Burton, "finding out." + +[FN#168] Lit. "He had no longer a heart to part with him," i.e.. +he could not bear him out of his sight, Alaeddin being necessary +for the achievement of the adventure of the lamp. See post. + +[FN#169] El asha. Burton, "the meat." + +[FN#170] Lit. "vein" (irc). + +[FN#171] Night DXVIII. + +[FN#172] Ujoubetu 'l aalem. See ante, p. 32, note. {see FN#95} + +[FN#173] Ila biladi 'l gherbi 'l jewwaniy. + +[FN#174] Burton, "to the regions of the Setting Sun and abode +for a space of thirty years in the Moroccan interior." See ante, +p. 57, notes. {see FN#154} + +[FN#175] Burton adds, "Alone at home." + +[FN#176] i.e. birthplace, a child being bow head-foremost. + +[FN#177] Burton, "wander like a wild Arab." + +[FN#178] Lit. "and "; but this is the error of some copyist, +who, by leaving out an initial l, has turned lau (if) into wa +(and). + +[FN#179] The first chapter of the Koran; a common usage in +anticipation of travel or indeed before commencing any enterprise +of moment. + +[FN#180] Istehhweda (vulg. for istehhwedha) aleyya. Burton, "of +the pains which prevailed upon me." + +[FN#181] Or "succeedeth" (yekklufu). Burton, "the legacy +bequeathed to us by." + +[FN#182] Khellefa. + +[FN#183] Night DXIX. + +[FN#184] Lit. "abide in the subsistence of the like of this one +" (acoumu fi ma"sh mithl hadha). Burton, "go about for a +maintenance after this fashion." + +[FN#185] Uhheszszilu ana ma"ski ana buddi men yuayyishani. +Burton, "I am compelled to provide him with daily bread when I +require to be provided." + +[FN#186] Ibn nas generally signifies "a man of good family" (Fr. +fils de famille), but here the sense seems to be as in the text. + +[FN#187] Or "constrain not thyself for me," in do not be ashamed +to say what thou wishes", lit. "let it not be hard or grievous +upon thee from or on account of me" (la yesubu aleika minni). +Burton, "Let not my words seem hard and harsh to thee." + +[FN#188] Fe-in kana keman (vulg. for kema anna). Burton, "if +despite all I say." + +[FN#189] Fi, lit. "in," but here used, as is common in Syria, +instead of bi "with." + +[FN#190] Burton, "Shalt become famous among the folk." + +[FN#191] Khwaja (Persian). + +[FN#192] Tajir (Arabic equivalent of khwaja). + +[FN#193] Burton, "that such folk dress handsomely and fare +delicately." + +[FN#194] Night DXX. + +[FN#195] Lit. "was past" (fata). Burton, "the dark hours were +passing by and the wine was drunken." + +[FN#196] Sherab. Burton, "sherbets." + +[FN#197] Night DXXI. + +[FN#198] Or "places" (amakin). + +[FN#199] Or "streets" (mehellat). Burton, "apartments." + +[FN#200] i.e. "It is no merit in me that I do what I have done." + +[FN#201] Bi-jahi 'l awwelin. Burton, "by the honour of the +Hallows." + +[FN#202] i.e.. "a protection." + +[FN#203] Lit. "that thine eye will be cooled with (or by) him." + +[FN#204] Likai yetearrefa fihim wa yetearrefou fihi. This +passage confirms my reading of a former one; see ante, p. 68, +note 3. {see FN#189} + +[FN#205] Nighs DXXII. + +[FN#206] Lit. "believed not what time (ayyumetn) the day broke;" +but ayyumeta (of which ayyumeta is a vulgar corruption) supposes +the future and should be used with the aorist. The phrase, as I +have translated common in the Nights. + +[FN#207] Or, "laughing at" (yudsahiku).. Burton, "he began to +make the lad laugh." + +[FN#208] Szeraya (for seraya). + +[FN#209] Keszr. + +[FN#210] Newafir, an evident mistranscription, probably for some +such word as fewawir, irregular form of fewwarat, pl. of +fewwareh, a spring or jet of water. + +[FN#211] Burton adds, "and reach the end of our walk." + +[FN#212] Jebel aali. Burton, "the base of a high and naked hill." + +[FN#213] Lit. "before or in front of a mountain." Burton, "we +have reached the barren hill-country." + +[FN#214] Ra<hhin, a vulgarism of frequent occurrence in this +story. + +[FN#215] Shudd heilek. + +[FN#216] Lit. the land of the West (biladu 'l gherb); see ante, +p. 57, notes. {see FN#153} + +[FN#217] Night DXXIII. + +[FN#218] Lit. "without aught " (bilash), i e. without [visible] +cause or reason. Burton, "beyond the range of matter." + +[FN#219] Nuhhas szebb (for szebeb min er) reml, lit. "brass +poured [forth from] sand," i.e. cast in a mould of sand. Cf. 1 +Kings, vii 16, "two chapiters of molten brass." + +[FN#220] Dir balek, lit. "turn thy thought (i.e. be attentive) +[to that which I shall say to thee]." + +[FN#221] Night DXXIV. + +[FN#222] Lit. "pass not by" (la tuferwwit). Burton, "nor +gainsay." + +[FN#223] Yani li-min (vulg. for tani li-men), i.e. on whose +behalf do I undertake all these my toils? + +[FN#224] Lit. "leave"; but the verb khella (II. of khela is +constantly used in the present text in the sense of "he made." + +[FN#225] There is some mistake here in the text. The word which +I translate "great" is akabir (pl. of akber, most great), +apparently inserted by mistake for kebir, great. But that akabir +is followed by jiddan (exceedingly), I should be inclined to read +the phrase [kebiru 'l] akabir, greatest of the great. + +[FN#226] Wehdi, lit. "my lone," a Scotch expression, which might +be usefully acclimatized in English prose and verse. + +[FN#227] Night DXXV. + +[FN#228] Or "pay attention," dir (vulg. for adir) balek. See +ante, p. 78, note. {see FN#220} + +[FN#229] Lit. "a place divided into four places" I take the +variant aweds, chambers. from Chavis's copy of the MS., as quoted +by M. Zotenberg. + +[FN#230] Liwan, i.e. an estrade or recessed room, raised above +the level of the ground and open in front. + +[FN#231] Lit. "in it" (fihi); but the meaning is as in the text, +i.e. connected with it or leading thereto. This reading is +confirmed by the terms in which the stair is afterwards +mentioned, q.v. post, p. 83, and note. {see FN#235} + +[FN#232] Night DXXVI. + +[FN#233] Ubb. Burton, "breast-pocket," the usual word for which +is jeib. Ubb is occasionally used in this sense; but it is +evident from what follows (see post, p. 85. {see FN#243} +"Alaeddin proceeded to pluck and put in his pockets (ajyab, pl. +of jeib), and his sleeves " (ibab), and note) that ubb is here +used in the common sense of "sleeve." + +[FN#234] i.e. "that which is in the lamp." + +[FN#235] Burton transposes, "where he entered the saloon and +mounted the ladder;" but the context shows that the stair was a +flight of steps leading up to the dais and not a ladder in it. +The word fihi in the magician's instructions might indeed be +taken in this latter sense, but may just as well be read +"thereto" or "pertaining thereto" as "therein." See also below, +where Alaeddin is made to descend from the dais into the garden. + +[FN#236] Lit. voices (aswat). Burton, "fond voices" + +[FN#237] Burton, "Furthermore the size of each stone so far +surpassed description that no king of the kings of the world +owned a single gem of the larger sort." + +[FN#238] Night DXXVII. + +[FN#239] Toubasi. I insert this from the Chavis MS. Burton adds, +"spinels and balasses." + +[FN#240] Ibab. + +[FN#241] Ubb. + +[FN#242] Ajyab, pl. of jeib, the bosom of a shirt, hence a +breast or other pocket. + +[FN#243] Ibab. Burton, "pokes and breast-pockets." + +[FN#244] The possession of the lamp rendering him superior to +the spells by which they were enchanted. + +[FN#245] Burton says here, "The text creates some confusion by +applying sullem to staircase and ladder; hence probably the +latter is not mentioned by Galland and Co., who speak only of an +'escalier de cinquante marches.'" As far as I can see, Galland +was quite right, a staircase (and not a ladder) being, in my +judgment, meant in each case, and Sir Richard Burton's +translation of sullem min thelathin derejeh as "a ladder of +thirty rungs" (see ante p. 82, note {see FN#231}) seems to me +founded on a misconception, he being misled by the word "fihi" +(see my note ante, p. 83 {see FN#235}). He adds, "sullem in +modern Egyptian is used for a flight of steps;" but it signifies +both "ladder" and "flight of steps" in the classic tongue; see +Lane, p. 1416, colt 2, "sullem, a ladder or a series of stairs or +steps, either of wood or clay, etc." His remark would apply +better to derej (class. "a way," but in modern parlance "a +ladder" or "staircase" which the story-teller uses +interchangeably with sullem, in speaking of the stair leading +down into the underground, thus showing that he considered the +two words synonymous. + +[FN#246] Akyas. This is the first mention of purses. + +[FN#247] Lit. "without" (kharijan). + +[FN#248] Burton, "Forasmuch as he had placed it at the bottom of +his breast-pocket and his other pockets being full of gems bulged +outwards." + +[FN#249] Night DXXVIII. + +[FN#250] Lit. "was locked," inkefelet, but I take this to be a +mistranscription of inkelebet, "was turned over." + +[FN#251] Lit. "was covered over, shut like a lid" (intebeket). + +[FN#252] Tebbeca, i.e. caused (by his enchantments) to become +covered or closed up like a lid. + +[FN#253] Ifrikiyeh, see ante, p. 57, note 1. {see FN#153} Here +the story-teller takes the province for a city. + +[FN#254] Burton adds, "by devilish inspiration." + +[FN#255] Wa [kan] el aghreb an fi hadha 'l kenz [kana]. Burton +"the most marvellous article in this treasure was, etc." + +[FN#256] Kendil ajib. + +[FN#257] Night DXXIX. + +[FN#258] A proverbial expression, meaning that, as he did not +absolutely kill Alaeddin, though doing what was (barring a +miracle) certain to cause his death, he could not be said to be +his slayer; a piece of casuistry not peculiar to the East, cf. +the hypocritical show of tenderness with which the Spanish +Inquisition was wont, when handing over a victim to the secular +power for execution by burning alive, to recommend that there +should be "no effusion of blood." It is possible, however, that +the proverb is to be read in the sense of "He who is destined to +live cannot be slain." + +[FN#259] i.e. with the contents of the chambers and the garden. + +[FN#260] Night DXXX. + +[FN#261] Lit. rubbing in or upon. + +[FN#262] Lit. "The Quickener, the Deadener" (el muhheyyi, el +mumit), two of the ninety-nine names of God. + +[FN#263] Or "Judge" (cadsi). + +[FN#264] Farijuha. Burton, "Bringer of joy not of annoy." + +[FN#265] i.e. Mohammed's. + +[FN#266] Lit. a servant or slave, i.e. that of the ring. Burton, +"its Familiar." + +[FN#267] i.e. Solomon. + +[FN#268] See my Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Vol. +1. p 33, note. {see Payne's Book of the Thousand Nights and One +Night, Vol. 1 FN#16} + +[FN#269] Night DXXXI. + +[FN#270] Night DXXXII. + +[FN#271] i.e.. in all the registers of men's actions fabled to +be kept in heaven. + +[FN#272] Lit. "see the accursed his duplicity and his promises +that he promised me withal in that he would do all good with me." +Burton, "see how the dammed villain broke every promise he made, +certifying that be would soon work all good with me." + +[FN#273] Lit. "on account of my pain therefrom when I was absent +from the world." + +[FN#274] Hatha 'l metleb li, lit. "this quest (or object of +quest) [was] mine (or for me)." Metleb is often used in the +special technical sense of "buried treasure." + +[FN#275] Night DXXXIII. + +[FN#276] Bustan. + +[FN#277] Bilaur. + +[FN#278] Keszr, instead of liwan (dais), as in previous +description. + +[FN#279] Keisan. Burton, "bag-pockets." + +[FN#280] Lit. "without" (kharij). + +[FN#281] Aadim, present participle of adima, he lacked. + +[FN#282] Night DXXXIV. + +[FN#283] Lit. the pre-eminence (el fedsl). + +[FN#284] Thani youm, Burton, "the second day," which, though +literal, conveys a false impression. + +[FN#285] Night DXXXV. + +[FN#286] Or "beyond desire" (fauca 'l khatir), i.e. +inconceivably good. Burton, "beyond our means." + +[FN#287] It is a favourite device with Oriental cooks to colour +dishes (especially those which contain rice) in various ways, so +as to please the eye as well as the palate. + +[FN#288] Lit. "black bottles" (museunvedetein). Burton, "black +jacks." + +[FN#289] Zekiyyeh (pure) for dhekiyyeh (strong, sharp, pungent), +a common vulgar corruption. + +[FN#290] Burton, "wherewith Allah Almighty hath eased our +poverty." + +[FN#291] Elladhi iftekeda juana. Burton, "who hath abated our +hunger pains." + +[FN#292] Lit. "we are under his benefit." + +[FN#293] Hhizana for hhezzaza? + +[FN#294] Lit. "whet proceeded from." + +[FN#295] Lit. "but" (lakin for Iekan, "then"). + +[FN#296] Keif dhalik. Lit. "How this?" Burton, " Who may this +be? + +[FN#297] Night DXXXVI. + +[FN#298] i.e. the Jinn of the lamp and the ring. + +[FNE299] Apparently referring to chap. xxiii, verses 99, l00, of +the Koran, "Say, 'Lord, I take refuge in Thee from the +suggestions of the devils, and I take refuge in thee, Lord, that +(i.e. Iest) they appear!'" Mohammed is fabled by Muslim +theologians to have made a compact with the Jinn that they should +not enter the houses of the faithful unless expressly summoned.. + +[FN#300] i.e. "I am, in general, ready to obey all thy +commandments" + +[FN#301] i.e. the lamp. + +[FN#302] Lit. "uses," "advantages " (menafi). + +[FN#303] Referring, of course, to the slave of the lamp. + +[FN#304] Night DXXXVII. + +[FN#305] Lit. "saw." + +[FN#306] Afterwards "silver"; see pp. 108 and l10. + +[FN#307] A carat is generally a twenty-fourth part of a diner, +i.e. about 5d.; but here it appears to be a sixtieth part or +about 2d. Burton, "A copper carat, a bright polished groat." + +[FN#308] Lit. "to the contrary of him" (ila khilafihi). See +ante, p. 55, note 4. {see FN#145} + +[FN#309] Night DXXXVIII. + +[FN#310] Kenani, pl. of kinnineh, a bottle or phial. + +[FN#311] i.e. the genie. + +[FN#312] Night DXXXIX. + +[FN#313] Ala kedhum. Burton, "after their olden fashion." + +[FN#314] Lit. "[in] middling case" (halet[an] +mustewessitet[an]). Burton translates, "as middle-class folk," +adding in a note, "a phrase that has a European touch." + +[FN#315] Burton adds, "on diet." + +[FN#316] "Er rijal el kamiloun, lit. "complete men." Burton, +"good men and true." + +[FN#317] Bedsa<a. Burton, "investments," + +[FN#318] Keisein. Burton, "his pockets." + +[FN#319] Lit. "neck." The Muslims fable that all will appear at +the Day of Resurrection with their good and evil actions in +visible form fastened about their necks. "And each man, we +constrain him to carry his actions (ta<r, lit. bird, i.e. fortune +as told by augury from the flight of birds, according to the +method so much in favour with the ancients, but interpreted by +the scholiasts as 'actions,' each man's actions being, according +to them, the cause of his good and evil fortune, happiness or +misery), on (or about,.fi) his neck."--Koran, xvii, 14. + +[FN#320] Night DXL + +[FN#321] An idiomatic expression, equivalent to our vulgar +English phrase, "He was struck all of a heap." + +[FN#322] Beszireh, mental (as opposed to bodily) vision. + +[FN#323] Night DXLI. + +[FN#324] Gheramuha. + +[FN#325] Lit. "be rightly guided," "return to the right way." + +[FN#326] Heds, Syrian for hheds. + +[FN#327] i.e.. if thou be in earnest. + +[FN#328] Aamin. Burton, "fonder and more faithful." + +[FN#329] Night DXLII. + +[FN#330] Lit. "blood of my liver." + +[FN#331] i.e. the bride's parents. + +[FN#332] Burton, "Also who shall ask her to wife for the son of +a snip?" + +[FN#333] Night DXLIII. + +[FN#334] Lit. "near and far," the great being near to the king's +dignity, and the small far from it. + +[FN#335] Lit. "before" (cuddam). + +[FN#336] Lit. "thou art not of its measure or proportion" +(kedd). + +[FN#337] Ijreker ti bi 'l hhecc. Burton. "thou hast reminded me +aright." + +[FN#338] Night DXLIV. + +[FN#339] Kiyas, a mistake for akyas, pl.of keis, a purse. + +[FN#340] Lit. "So, an thou wilt, burden thy mind (i.e. give +thyself the trouble, kellifi khatiraki,) and with us [is] a China +dish; rise and come to me with it." Kellifi (fem.) khatiraki is +an idiomatic expression equivalent to the French, "donnez-vous +(or prenez) la peine" and must be taken in connection with what +follows, i.e. give yourself the trouble to rise and bring me, +etc. (prenez la peine de vous lever et de m'apporter, etc.). +Burton, "Whereupon, an-thou please, compose thy mind. We have in +our house a bowl of china porcelain: so arise thou and fetch it." + +[FN#341] Lit. "were not equal to one quarter of a carat," i.e. a +ninety-sixth part, "carat" being here used in its technical sense +of a twenty-fourth part of anything. + +[FN#342] Kellifi khatiraki (prenez la peine) as before. Burton, +"Compose thy thoughts." + +[FN#343] Night DXLV. + +[FN#344] Elladhi hu alan ca<m bi maashina. Burton, "Ere this +thou hast learned, O mother mine, that the Lamp which we possess +hath become to us a stable income." + +[FN#345] Or "pay attention" (diri balek); see ante, pp. 78 and +81. {see FN#220 and FN#228} + +[FN#346] Minhu. Burton translates, "for that 'tis of him," and +says, in a note, "Here the MS. text is defective, the allusion +is, I suppose, to the Slave of the Lamp." I confess I do not see +the defect of which he speaks. Alaeddin of course refers to the +lamp and reminds his mother that the prosperity they enjoy "is +(i.e. arises) from it." + +[FN#347] Lit. "completed," "fully constituted." + +[FN#348] The attitude implied in the word mutekettif and +obligatory in presence of a superior, i.e. that of a schoolboy in +class. + +[FN#349] Or "complainants," "claimants." + +[FN#350] Fi teriketihi, apparently meaning "in its turn." +Burton, "Who (i.e. the Sultan) delivered sentence after his +wonted way." + +[FN#351] Night DXLVI. + +[FN#352] Illezemet. Burton, "she determined." + +[FN#353] Lit. "the Divan;" but the door of the presence-chamber +is meant, as appears by the sequel. + +[FN#354] Burton, "and when it was shut, she would go to make +sure thereof." + +[FN#355] Muddeh jumah. Burton, "the whole month." + +[FN#356] Burton, "come forward." + +[FN#357] Burton, "levee days" + +[FN#358] Izar. Burton, "mantilla." + +[FN#359] Here the copyist, by the mistaken addition of fe (so), +transfers the "forthright" to the Vizier's action of submission +to the Sultan's order. + +[FN#360] Night DXLVII. + +[FN#361] I have arranged this passage a little, to make it read +intelligibly. In the original it runs thus, "Alaeddin's mother, +whenas she took a wont and became every Divan-day going and +standing in the Divan before the Sultan, withal that she was +dejected, wearying exceedingly, but for Alaeddin's sake, her son, +she used to make light of all weariness." + +[FN#361] Aman; i.e. promise or assurance of indemnity, +permission to speak freely, without fear of consequences. + +[FN#362] Aman in secondary sense of "protection" or "safeguard." + +[FN#363] i.e. I pardon thee, under God, ("then I" being +understood). The right of pardon residing with God, the pious +Muslim can only say, "God pardon thee first and then I pardon +thee." + +[FN#364] Burton, "shun the streets." + +[FN#365] Arad. Burton, "felt an uncontrollable longing." + +[FN#366] Or "food (aish, bread) hath not been pleasant (or had +any savour) for him." + +[FN#367] Seadetuk, lit. "thy felicity;" this and jenabuk (lit. +"thy side"), "thine excellence" or "thy highness," and hhedsretuk +"thy highness," (lit. "thy presence") are the titles commonly +given to kings in Arabic-speaking countries, although hhedsretuk +is strictly applicable only to the Prophet and other high +spiritual dignitaries. They are often, but erroneously, rendered +"thy majesty"; a title which does not exist in the East and which +is, as is well known to students of history, of comparatively +recent use in Europe. + +[FN#368] Lit, "having regard to his clemency, he took to +laughing and asked her." Burton, "He regarded her with kindness, +and laughing cloud, asked her." + +[FN#369] Surreh, lit. purse and by extension, as here, anything +tied up in bag-shape. + +[FN#370] Night DXLVIII. + +[FN#371] Lit. "Be clement unto me, Thy Grace promised me." + +[FN#372] Lit. "Forbearance (hhilm, clemency, longanimity, delay +in requiting an evil-doer) is incumbent from thine exalted +highness unto (ila) three months' + +[FN#373] Aatsem melik, an ungrammatical construction of common +occurrence in the present MS., properly aatsemu 'l mulouk. + +[FN#374] Syn. "his clemency required." + +[FN#375] i.e. shall he reserved for him alone. + +[FN#376] i.e. the marriage trousseau. + +[FN#377] Lit. "Except that, O my son, the Vizier bespoke him a +privy word (kelam sirriyy) ere he promised me; then, after the +Vizier bespoke him a word privily (sirran), he promised me to +(ila) three months." + + +[FN#378] Lit. an ill presence (mehhdser sau). This expression has +occurred before in the Nights, where I have, in deference to the +authority of the late M. Dozy (the greatest Arabic scholar since +Silvestre de Sacy) translated it "a compend of ill," reading the +second word as pointed with dsemmeh (i.e. sou, evil, sub.) +instead of with fetheh (i.e. sau, evil, adj.), although in such a +case the strict rules of Arabic grammar require sou to be +preceded by the definite article (i.e. mehhdseru's sou). However, +the context and the construction of the phrase, in which the +present example of the expression occurs, seem to show that it is +not here used in this sense. + +[FN#379] Night DXLIX. + +[FN#380] Lit. (as before) "promised her to" (ila). + +[FN#381] Lit. "to" (ila), as before. + +[FN#382] i.e. the delay. + +[FN#383] Lit. "he thanked his mother and thought (or made) much +of her goodness (istekthera bi-kheiriha, a common modern +expression, signifying simply 'he thanked her') for her toil." +Burton, "Then he thanked his parent, showing her how her good +work had exceeded her toil and travail " + +[FN#384] Lit. "Wonder took her at this wonder and the +decoration." Burton amplifies, "She wondered at the marvellous +sight and the glamour of the scene." Me judice, to put it in the +vernacular, she simply wondered what the dickens it was all +about. + +[FN#385] Min wectiha. Burton, "And for some time, O my son, I +have suspected." See ante, p. 134. {see FN#378} + +[FN#386] Lit. "fever seized him of his chagrin." + +[FN#387] Night DL. + +[FN#388] Lit. "promised me to" (ila), as before. + +[FN#389] Eshaa; or, if we take the word as pointed with kesreh +(i.e. ishaa), we may read, with Burton, "to pass the rest of the +evening," though this expression seems to me hardly in character +with the general tone of the MS. + +[FN#390] Musterah. + +[FN#391] Sic (el gheir). + +[FN#392] Night DLI. + +[FN#393] Min doun khiyaneh i.e. without offering her any +affront. Burton, "and he did no villain deed." + +[FN#394] Galland adds, "et passe dans une garde-robe o-- il +s'etoit deshabille le soir." Something of the kind appears to +have dropped out of the present MS. + +[FN#395} Night DLII. + +[FN#396] Lit. "with the eye of anger." Ghedseb (anger) and its +synonym ghaits are frequently used in the Nights in this sense; +see especially Vol. II. of my translation, p. 234, " she smiled a +sad smile," lit. a "smile of anger," (twice) and p. 258, "my +anguish redoubled," lit. "I redoubled in anger." + +[FN#397] Wesikh. Burton, "fulsome." + +[FN#398] Night DLIII. + +[FN#399] Diri balek an [la]. Burton, "compose thy thoughts. If, +etc." See ante, passim. + +[FN#400] Sic. + +[FN#401] Kedhebaka. + +[FN#402] i.e. that which he derived from such an alliance. + +[FN#403] Lit. "Wretches" (mesakin). + +[FN#404] Night DLIV. + +[FN#405] Inketaet (lit. "she was cut or broken") min el khauf. +Burton, "She was freed from her fear of the past." + +[FN#406] Or "honoured" (azlz) + +[FN#407] i.e. "in my behaviour to thee." + +[FN#408] Kema akedu min mehebbetika li. Burton, "even as I +claim of thee affection for thy child." + +[FN#409] Night DLV. + +[FN#410] Hhashaha min el kidhb; lit. "Except her from lying!" +Hhasha (which commonly signifies, "Far be it," "God forbid!") is +here used in a somewhat unusual manner. The sense seems to be, +"God forbid that the Lady Bedrulbudour should be suspected of +lying! " + +[FN#411] Or "shrunken" (kusziret). Burton, "bursten." + +[FN#412] Or "honoured" (aziz). + +[FN#413] Night DLVI. + +[FN#414] Lit. "how [was] the device therein;" i.e how he should +do for an expedient thereanent. Burton, "the device whereby he +should manage it." + +[FN#415] Or "called upon" (nedeh). + +[FN#416] El ashreh [mubeshshereh understood], "the ten [who were +rejoiced with glad tidings]," i.e. ten of Mohammed's companions +(Abou Bekr, Omar, Othman, Ali, Telheh, Zubeir, Saad ibn Abi +Weccas, Abdurrehman ibn Auf, Abou Ubeideh ibnu'l Jerrah and Said +ibn Zeid), to whom (and to whom alone) he is said to have +promised certain entrance into Paradise. They are accordingly +considered to have pre-eminence over the Prophet's other +disciples and are consequently often invoked by the less orthodox +Muslims as intercessors with him, much after the fashion of the +Quatuordecim Adjutores, the Fourteen Helpers [in time of need], +(i.e. Saints Catherine, Margaret, Barbara, Pantaleon, Vitus, +Eustace, Blase, Gregory, Nicholas, Erasmus, Giles, George, +Leonard and Christopher) of Romish hagiology. + +[FN#417] i.e the marriage of his son to the Sultan's daughter. +Burton, "it having been a rare enjoyment to him that he had +fallen upon such high good fortune." + +[FN#418] Lit. "marriage," i.e. "wedding festivities are out of +place." The word (zijeh) here used is a dialectic (Syrian) +variant of zewaj, marriage. Burton, "we require no delay," + +[FN#419] Lit. "the lord (i.e. he) of the suit or claim" (sahibu +'d dewat). + +[FN#420] Or "inestimable," lit. "might not be measured by (or +appraised at) a price or value." Burton, "far beyond his power to +pay the price." + +[FN#421] Lit. "How is the management or contrivance (tedbir) +with thee?" i.e. "canst thou suggest to us any expedient?" + +[FN#422] Night DLVII. + +[FN#423] Burton adds, "speaking privily." + +[FN#424] Or perhaps, "we may with impunity rebut," etc. + +[FN#425] Gherib, lit. a stranger, an exile, but vulg. by +extension, a poor, homeless wretch. + +[FN#426] i.e Alaeddin's mother. + +[FN#427] Lit. "that day." + +[FN#428] Fr. "... l'aimable." Lit. "by a way or means" +(bi-terikeh). It may be we should read bi [hatheti'l]] terikeh, " +by [this] means; " but the rendering in the text seems the more +probable one, the Sultan meaning that he would thus get rid of +Alaeddin's importunity by practice, without open breach of faith +or violence. + +[FN#429] Night DLVIII. + +[FN#430] Lit. "Burden thyself (prenez la peine) and rise", +(kellifi khatiraki, etc., as before). + +[FN#431] Here szewani (trays) instead of, as before, szuhoun +(dishes). + +[FN#432] Night DLIX. + +[FN#433] i.e. "look with open eyes" + +[FN#434] En nuwwab, i.e. those whose turn it was to be on guard. + +[FN#435] Need (lit. coin), a vulgar Syrian corruption of neket, +customary gift of money or otherwhat to a bride on the +marriage-day. + +[FN#436] The whole of the foregoing passage is so confused that +I think it well to add here (l) a literal translation, as I read +it: " So the Vizier, yea, indeed, he marvelled at the greatness +of that wealth more than the Sultan, but envy was killing him and +waxed on him more and more when he saw the Sultan that he was +satisfied with (or accepted of) the bride-gift and the dowry; +however, it was not possible to him that he should gainsay the +truth and should say to the Sultan, 'He is not worthy;' only, he +practised with a device upon the Sultan so he should not let him +give his daughter the Lady Bedrulbudour to Alaeddin, and this +[was] that he said to him, etc ,"--and also (2)) the version given +by Sir K. F. Burton, who takes a different view of the passage: " +Then the Minister (although he marvelled at these riches even +more than did the Sultan), whose envy was killing him and growing +greater hour by hour, seeing his liege lord satisfied with the +moneys and the dower and yet being unable to fight against fact, +made answer, 'Tis not worthy of her.' Withal he fell to devising +a device against the King, that he might withhold the Lady +Badr-al-Budur from Alaeddin, and accordingly he continued, etc." + +[FN#437] Or "in comparison with her" (ent hhedsretuk istatsemet +hatha aleiha). This is an ambiguous passage and should perhaps be +read, " Thou magnifiest this (i.e. the gift) over her." + +[FN#438] Night DLX. + +[FN#439] Lit. "swiftly, the winds overtook her not." + +[FN#440] Aksen. Burton, "more suitable to thee." + +[FN#441] Kethir[an]. Burton, "And right soon (Inshallah !) O my +daughter, thou shalt have fuller joy with him." + +[FN#442] Muebbed. Burton, "alone." + +[FN#443] Sic (kum), + +[FN#444] Or "commission" (mishwar). + +{FN#445] Bekia ma bekia hatha shey aleik, lit. "remaineth what +remaineth this is a thing upon (or for) thee." Burton, "Happen +whatso may happen; the rest is upon thy shoulders." The first +bekia is perhaps used in the common colloquial sense of "then." + +[FN#446] Shekeraha wa istekthera bi-kheiriha. See ante, p. 155, +note 3. Burton, "enhancing her kindly service." + +[FN#447] Surname of the ancient Kings of Persia, vulg. Chosroes. + +[FN#448] Night DLXI. + +[FN#449] Lit. "the." + +[FN#450] Burton, "the costliest of clothes. + +[FN#451] Generally that of aloes-wood. + +[FN#452] Quoth Shehrzad to Shehriyar. + +[FN#453] Yetsunnuhu; quare a clerical error for yentsuruku ("had +seen him" )? + +[FN#454] i.e. male white slaves (memlouk, whence our "mameluke," +sing. for plural memalik). + +[FN#455] Lit. "and let there be with each slave-girl a suit, +etc." Burton "And let every handmaid be robed in raiment that +befitteth queens wearing." The twelve suits of clothes to be +brought by the slave-girls were of course intended for the +wearing of Alaeddin's mother; see post, p. 167. {see FN#457 in +text} + +[FN#456] i.e. the genuine Arabs of the unmixed blood. + +[FN#457] See ante, p. 166, note 2. {see FN#455} + +[FN#458] Likai telbesa (tetelebbesa ?) hiya. Burton, "she should +wear." + +[FN#459] Sic, the meaning seeming to be that kings' sons were +out of comparison with Alaeddin, as who should say (in Cockney +parlance, "Don't talk to me about kings' sons." + +[FN#460] Lit. "upon." + +[FN#461] El kendil el ajib. + +[FN#462] Syn. "old and young." + +[FN#463] Night DLXII. + +[FN#464] Ictedsa an tesmuha li bi, lit. "decided (or demanded) +that thou be bountiful to (or grace) me with;" but icledsa is +here used in the colloquial sense of "willed, vouchsafed." + +[FN#465] i.e. that of his tongue, lit. "its bounds or reach" +(kheddahu). Burton, "passing all measure." + +[FN#466] Lit. "acquired, gotten, come by thee" (khetsitu bika). + +[FN#467] Night DLXIII. + +[FN#468] Nuweb (properly naubat). + +[FN#469] Musica. + +[FN#470] Acamou el fereh el atsim. Burton, "a mighty fine +marriage-feast was dispread in the palace." + +[FN#471] Muashir. + +[FN#472] Netser. + +[FN#473] Lit. "but the behoving on me for her service engageth +(or enforceth) me to apply myself "hereunto." + +[FN#474] i.e. at thy disposition. + +[FN#475] Night DLXIV. + +[FN#476] Tebakhin. Burton, "kitcheners." + +[FN#477] Keszr. + +[FN#478] Wa, but quaere au ("or")? + +[FN#479] Kushk. + +[FN#480] The description of the famous upper hall with the +four-and- twenty windows is one of the most contused and +incoherent parts of the Nights and well-nigh defies the efforts +of the translator to define the exact nature of the building +described by the various and contradictory passages which refer +to it. The following is a literal rendering of the above passage: +"An upper chamber (keszr) and (or?) a kiosk (kushk, a word +explained by a modern Syrian dictionary as meaning '[a building] +like a balcony projecting from the level of the rest of the +house,' but by others as an isolated building or pavilion erected +on the top of a house, i.e. a keszr, in its classical meaning of +'upper chamber,' in which sense Lane indeed gives it as +synonymous with the Turkish koushk, variant kushk,) with +four-and-twenty estrades (liwan, a raised recess, generally a +square-shaped room, large or small, open on the side facing the +main saloon), all of it of emeralds and rubies and other jewels, +and one estrade its kiosk was not finished." Later on, when the +Sultan visits the enchanted palace for the first time, Alaeddin +"brought him to the high kiosk and he looked at the belvedere +(teyyareh, a square or round erection on the top of a house, +either open at the sides or pierced with windows, =our +architectural term 'lantern') and its casements (shebabik,, pl. +of shubbak, a window formed of grating or lattice-work) and their +lattices (she"ri for she"rir, pl. of sheriyyeh, a lattice), all +wroughten of emeralds and rubies and other than it of precious +jewels." The Sultan "goes round in the kiosk" and seeing "the +casement (shubbak), which Alaeddin had purposely left defective, +without completion," said to the Vizier, "Knowest thou the reason +(or cause) of the lack of completion of this casement and its +lattices?" (shearihi, or quaere, "[this] lattice," the copyist +having probably omitted by mistake the diacritical points over +the final ha). Then he asked Alaeddin, "What is the cause that +the lattice of yonder kiosk (kushk) is not complete?" The +defective part is soon after referred to, no less than four +times, as "the lattice of the kiosk" (sheriyyetu 'l kushk), thus +showing that, in the writer's mind, kushk, liwan and shubbak were +synonymous terms for the common Arab projecting square-sided +window, made of latticework, and I have therefore rendered the +three words, when they occur in this sense, by our English +"oriel," to whose modern meaning (a window that juts out, so as +to form a small apartment), they exactly correspond. Again, in +the episode of the Maugrabin's brother, the princess shows the +latter (disguised as Fatimeh) "the belvedere (teyyarrh) and the +kiosk (kushk) of jewels, the which [was] with (i.e. had) the +four-and-twenty portals" (mejouz, apparently a Syrian variant of +mejaz, lit. a place of passage, but by extension a porch, a +gallery, an opening, here (and here only) used by synecdoche for +the oriel itself), and the famous roe's egg is proposed to be +suspended from "the dome (cubbeh) of the upper chamber" (el keszr +el faucaniyy), thus showing that the latter was crowned with a +dome or cupola. It is difficult to extricate the author's exact +meaning from the above tangle of confused references; but, as far +as can be gathered. in the face of the carelessness with which +the text treats kushk as synonymous now with keszr or teyyareh +and now with liwan or shubbak, it would seem that what is +intended to be described is a lofty hall (or sorer), erected on +the roof of the palace, whether round or square we cannot tell, +but crowned with a dome or cupola and having four-and-twenty deep +projecting windows or oriels, the lattice or trellis-work of +which latter was formed (instead of the usual wood) of emeralds, +rubies and other jewels, strung, we may suppose, upon rods of +gold or other metal I have, at the risk of wearying my reader, +treated this point at some length, as well because it is an +important one as to show the almost insuperable difficulties that +beset the. conscientious translator at well-nigh every page of +such works as the "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night." + +[FN#481] Night DLXV. + +[FN#482] The text has imar (an inhabited country), an evident +mistake for emair (buildings). + +[FN#483] Night DLXVI. + +[FN#484] Atsm sekhahu. Burton. "his dignity was enhanced." + +[FN#485] Or "imitate" (yetemathelou bihi). Burton, "which are +such as are served to the kings." + +[FN#486] Night DLXVII. + +[FN#487] Wectu 'l asr, i.e. midway between noon and nightfall. + +[FN#488] Lit. "was broken" (inkeseret). + +[FN#489] Burton, "with the jerid," but I find no mention of this +in the text. The word used (le<ba, lit. "he played") applies to +all kinds of martial exercises; it may also mean simply, +"caracoling." + +[FN#490] See ante, p. 167, note 1. {see FN#456} + +[FN#491] Or "turns" (adwar). + +[FN#492] El hemmam a sultaniyy el meshhour. Burton, "the royal +Hammam (known as the Sult ni)." + +[N#493] Muhliyat. Burton, "sugared drinks." + +[FN#494] Night DLXVIII. + +[FN#495] Keszriha. Burton, "her bower in the upper story." + +[FN#496] Lit. "changed the robes (khila) upon her." For the +ceremony of displaying (or unveiling) the bride, see my "Book of +the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. I. pp. 192 et seq., and +"Tales from the Arabic," Vol. III. pp. 189 et seq. + +[FN#497] Meshghoul. + +[FN#498] Keszr. + +[FN#499] Szeraya, properly serayeh. + +[FN#500] i.e. Alexander the Great; see my "Book of the Thousand +Nights and One Night," Vol. V. p. 6, note. + +[FN#501] Night DLXIX. + +[FN#502] Henahu. + +[FN#503] Fetour, the slight meal eaten immediately on rising, +answering to the French "premier dejeuner," not the +"morning-meal" (gheda), eaten towards noon and answering to the +French "dejeuner ... la fourchette." + +[FN#504] Gheda. + +[FN#505] Tekerrum (inf. of V of kerem), lit. "being liberal to +any one." here an idiomatic form of assent expressing +condescension on the part of a superior. Such at least is the +explanation of the late Prof. Dozy; but I should myself incline +to read tukremu (second person sing. aorist passive of IV), i.e. +" Thou art accorded [that which thou seekest]." + +[FN#506] Indhehela. + +[FN#507] Or "upper hall, gallery." Lit. "kiosk." See ante, +p.l75, note 4. {see FN#480} + +[FN#508] Teyyareh. See ante, l.c. The etymology of this word is +probably [caah] teyyareh, "a flying [saloon]." + +[FN#509] Shebabik, pl. of shubbak; see ante, l.c. + +[FN#510] Sheari, see ante, l.c. + +[FN#511] Shubbak. + +[FN#512] Night DLXX. + +[FN#513] Lit. "kiosk" (kushk); see ante, p. 175, note 4.{see +FN#480} + +[FN#514] Ma lehiket el muallimin (objective for nom. muallimoun, +as usual in this text) an. + +[FN#515] Yebca lika dhikra. Burton, "So shall thy memory +endure." + +[FN#516] Lit. "kiosk." + +[FN#517] ? (teba<kh). + +[FN#518] Or "melodious." + +[FN#519] El kelb el hhezin. + +[FN#520] i.e. "might not avail unto." + +[FN#521] Muhlivat, as before; see ante. p. 183, note 2. {see +FN#493} + +[FN#522] Szeraya. + +[FN#523] Night DLXXI. + +[FN#524] Sheriyyetu 'l kushk. + +[FN#525] Lit. "the lattice of the kiosk which (i.e. the lattice) +is lacking or imperfect." The adjective (nakiszeh) is put in the +feminine, to agree with "lattice" (sheriyyeh), which is +femminine, kiosk (kushk) being masculine. + +[FN#526] Kushk. + +[FN#527] She"rihi. + +[FN#528] Et tewashiyy, a term here used for the first time in +the present text, where we generally find the Turkish Aga in this +sense. + +[FN#529] Night DLXXII. + +[FN#530] Lit. "kiosk" (kushk). + +[FN#531] Fi szerayyetika. + +[FN#532] Szeraya. + +[FN#533] Lit. "that I was not lacking in ableness to complete +it." + +[FN#534] Kushk, here used in sense of "belvedere." + +[FN#535] Or "upper chamber" (keszr). + +[FN#536] Kushk. From this passage it would seem as if the +belvedere actually projected from the side of the upper story or +soler (keszr), instead of being built on the roof, lantern-wise, +or being (as would appear from earlier passages) identical with +the hall itself, but the whole description is as before remarked. +so full of incoherence and confusion of terms that it is +impossible to reconcile its inconsistencies. + +[FN#537] Lit. "a brother resembling thee." + +[FN#538] Lit. "he increased (or exceeded) in the salaries (or +allowances) of the poor and the indigent " (zada fi jewanicki 'l +fukera wa 'l mesakin). Jewamek is an Arabicized Persian word, +here signifying systematic or regular almsgivings. + +[FN#539] Kull muddeh. + +[FN#540] Labu 'l andab, lit. "arrow-play." + +[FN#541] Night DLXXIII. + +[FN#542] Szerayeh. + +[FN#543] Keszr. + +[FN#544] Burton adds, "and confections." + +[FN#545] Lit. "he set them down the stablest or skilfullest +(mustehhkem) setting down." + +[FN#546] Hherrem, i.e. arranged them, according to the rules of +the geomantic art. + +[FN#547] Netsera jeyyidan fi. Burton, "He firmly established the +sequence of." + +[FN#548] Technical names of the primary and secondary figures. +The following account of the geomantic process, as described by +Arabic writers de re magicf, is mainly derived from the +Mukeddimat or Prolegomena of Abdurrehman ibn Aboubekr Mohammed +(better known as Ibn Khaldoun) to his great work of universal +history. Those (says he) who seek to discover hidden things and +know the future have invented an art which they call tracing or +smiting the sand; to wit, they take paper or sand or flour and +trace thereon at hazard four rows of points, which operation, +three times repeated (i.e. four times performed), gives sixteen +rows. These points they eliminate two by two, all but the last +(if the number of the points of a row be odd) or the last two (if +it he even) of each row. by which means they obtain sixteen +points, single or double. These they divide into four figures, +each representing the residual points of four lines, set one +under another, and these four figures, which are called the +mothers or primaries, they place side by side in one line. From +these primaries they extract four fresh figures by confronting +each point with the corresponding point in the next figure, and +counting for each pair a single or double point, according to one +of two rules, i.e. (1) setting down a single point for each +single point being on the same line with another point, whether +single or double, and a double point for. each pair of double +points in line with each other, or (2) reckoning a double point +for each pair of like points (single or double), corresponding +one with another on the same line' and a single point for each, +unlike pair. These new figures (as well as those that follow) are +called the daughters or secondaries and are placed beside the +primaries, by confrontation with which (i,e, 5 with 1, 6 with 2, +7 with 3 and " with 4) four fresh figures are obtained after the +same fashion and placed side by side below the first eight. From +this second row a thirteenth and fourteenth figure are obtained +in the same way (confronting 9 with lo and 1 l with 12)) and +placed beneath them, as a third row. The two new figures, +confronted with each other, in like manner, furnish a fifteenth +figure, which, being confronted with the first of the primaries, +gives a sixteenth and last figure, completing the series. Then +(says our author), the geomant proceeds to examine the sixteen +figures thus obtained (each of which has its name and its +mansion, corresponding to one of the twelve signs of the zodiac +or the four cardinal points, as well as its signification, good +or bad, and indicates also, in a special way, a certain part of +the elemental world) and to note each figure according to its +presage of weal or ill; and so, with the aid of an astrological +table giving the explanations of the various signs and +combinations, according to the nature of the figure, its aspect, +influence and temperament (astrologically considered) and the +natural object it indicates, a judgment is formed upon the +question for a solution of which the operation was undertaken. I +may add that the board or table of sand (tekht reml), so +frequently mentioned in the Nights, is a shallow box filled with +fine sand, carefully levelled, on which the points of the +geomantic operation are made with a style of wood or metal. (The +name tekht reml is however now commonly applied to a mere board +or tablet of wood on which the necessary dots are made with ink +or chalk. ) The following scheme of a geomantic operation will +show the application of the above rules. Supposing the first +haphazard dotting to produce these sixteen rows of points, + + 1 ......... (9) 5 ..... (6) 9 ......... (9) 13 ...... (6) + 2 ......... (9) 6 .... (4) 10 ........ (8) 14 .... (4) + 3 ........ (8) 7 ....... (7) 11 ......... (9) 15 ........ (8) + 4 ....... (7) 8 ..... (5) 12 ....... (7) 16 ..... (5) + +By the process of elimination we get the following four primaries: + +Fig. 1 x Fig. 2 x x Fig. 3 x Fig. 4 x x + x x x x x x x + x x x x x x + x x x x + +The process of confrontation of the corresponding points of these +four figures (according to rule 2) gives the following four +secondaries: + +Fig. 5 x Fig. 6 x Fig. 7 x Fig. 8 x + x x x x x x + x x x x x x + x x x x x x x x + +By confrontation of the points of each secondary with those of +its corresponding primary, the following four fresh figures are +obtained: + +Fig. 9 x x Fig. 10 x Fig. 11 x x Fig. 12 x + x x x x x x x + x x x x x x + x x x x + + Fig. 9, confronted with Fig. 10 gives a thirteenth figure x + x x + x x + x x + + And Fig. 11 confronted with Fig. 12, a fourteenth x + x + x x + x x + + Figures 13 and 14, similarly treated, yield a fifteenth figure + + + x x + x + x x + x x + + Which, in its turn, confronted with Fig. 1, gives a sixteenth +and last figure, x + x x + x x + x + +Completing the scheme, which shows the result of the operation as +follows: + +(1) x (2) x x (3) x (4) x x (5) x (6) x (7) x (8) x + x x x x x x x x x x x x x + x x x x x x x x x x x x + x x x x x x x x x x x x + + (9) x x (10) x (11) x x (12) x + x x x x x x x + x x x x x x + x x x x + + (13) x (14) x + x x x + x x x x + x x x x + + (15) x x + x + x x + x x + + + (16) x + x x + x x + x + +[FN#549] Burton adds here, "in order that other than I may carry +it off." + +[FN#550] Min el meloum, lit. "[it is] of the known (i.e. that +which is known)." Burton, "who knoweth an he wot, etc." + +[FN#551] Night DLXXIV. + +[FN#552] Sic, meaning of course that he had discovered its +properties and availed himself thereof. + +[FN#553] Medinetu 's seltaneh, i e. the seat of government or +capital. + +[FN#554] Lit. "donned " (lebesa). + +[FN#555] Here Galland says, " Il entra dans le lien le plus +fameux et le plus frequente par les personnel de grande +distinction, ou l'on s'assembloit pour boire d'une certaine +boisson chance qui luy etoit connue des son premier voyage. Il +n'y e-t pas plust"t pris place qu'on lay versa de cette boisson +dans une tasse et qu'on la luy presenta. En la prenant, comme il +prestoit l'oreille ... droite et ... gauche, il entendit qu'on +s'entretenoit du palais d'Aladdin." The Chavis MS. says, "He +entered a coffee-house (kehweh, Syrian for kehawi), and there +used to go in thereto all the notables of the city, and he heard +a company, all of them engaged in (ammalin bi, a very vulgar +expression) talking of the Amir Alaeddin's palace, etc." This (or +a similar text) is evidently the original of Galland's +translation of this episode and it is probable, therefore, that +the French translator inserted the mention "of a certain warm +drink"(tea), out of that mistaken desire for local colouring at +all costs which has led so many French authors (especially those +of our own immediate day) astray. The circumstance was apparently +evolved (alla tedesca) from his inner consciousness, as, although +China is a favourite location with the authors of the Nights, we +find no single mention of or allusion to tea in the rest of the +work. + +[FN#556] Lit. "I will make him lose." + +[FN#557] Night DLXXV. + +[FN#558] Lit. "Instruments of astronomy or astrology" (tenjim); +but tenjim is also used in the sense of geomancy, in which +operation, as before explained, astrology plays an important +part, and the context shows that the word is here intended to +bear this meaning. Again, the implements of a geomancer of the +higher order would include certain astrological instruments, such +as an astrolabe, star-table, etc., necessary, as I have before +explained, for the elucidation of the scheme obtained by the +sand-smiting proper. + +[FN#559] He had apparently learned (though the Arabic author +omits, with characteristic carelessness, to tell us so) that +Alaeddin was absent a. hunting. + +[FN#560] Akemm, vulg. for kemm, a quantity. + +[FN#561] Minareh, lit. "alight-stand," i.e. either a lamp-stand +or a candlestick. + +[FN#562] Bi-ziyadeh, which generally means "in excess, to boot," +but is here used in the sense of "in abundance." + +[FN#563] Aalem. + +[FN#564] After the wont of "the natural enemy of mankind' in all +ages. + +[FN#565] Keszr. + +[FN#566] Night DLXXVI. + +[FN#567] Aghatu 't tuwashiyeh. + +[FN#568] Ubb. + +[FN#569] Lit. "who" (men), but this is probably a mistake for ma +(that which). + +[FN#570] Ifrikiyeh. + +[FN#571] Night DLXXVII. + +[FN#572] Ummar. This may, however, be a mistake (as before, see +ante p. 177, note 2 {see FN#482}) for ema<r (buildings). + +[FN#573] Lit. "O company" (ya jema"t), a polite formula of +address, equivalent to our "Gentlemen." + +[FN#574] Night DLXXVIII. + +[FN#575] Lit. "the affair (or commandment, amr) is going to be +sealed upon us." + +[FN#576] Sic (dara haulahu thelatheta dauratin); but qu're +should it not rather be, "gave three sweeps or whirls with his +sword round his head"? See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and +One Night," Vol. VI. p. 355. + +[FN#577] Lit. "hath been bountiful unto me ;" [the matter of] my +life." + +[FN#578] Night DLXXIX. + +[FN#579] Previous to prayer. + +[FN#580] Lit. made easy to (yessera li). + +[FN#581] The name of the province is here applied to an +imaginary city. + +[FN#582] Night DLXXX. + +[FN#583] Lit. "who hath a head with the head-seller or dealer in +heads, etc." The word here employed (rewwas) commonly signifies +"a man who cooks and sells sheepsheads, oxheads, etc." M. +Zotenberg makes the following note on this passage in. his +edition of Alaeddin; "Rewwas (for raa"s) signifies not only 'he +who sells cooked heads,' but also 'he who makes a business of +cooking heads.' Consequently whoso entrusteth a head to the +rewwas is preoccupied and sleeps not." M. Zotenberg's note is +unintelligible, in consequence of his having neglected to explain +that the passage in question is a common Egyptian proverb, +meaning (says Burckhardt), "the person whose fortune is entrusted +to the hands of strangers cannot enjoy repose." "The poor," adds +he, "at Cairo buy sheepsheads and for a trifle have them boiled +in the bazaar by persons who are not only cooks, but sellers of +sheepsheads, and are therefore called raa"s, or in the Egyptian +dialect rewwas." The proverb is in the present case evidently +meant as a play upon the literal meaning ("headsman," hence by +implication "executioner") of the word rewwas, although I cannot +find an instance of the word being employed in this sense. It is, +however, abundantly evident from the general context that this is +the author's intention in the passage in question, Alaeddin's +head being metaphorically in the hands of (or pledged to) the +headsman, inasmuch as he had engaged to return and suffer +decapitation in case he should not succeed in recovering the +princess within forty days. + +[FN#584] I suppose the verb which I render "caused [sleep] get +the mastery," to be ghelleba, II of gheleba, as the only way of +making sense of this passage, though this reading involves some +irregularity from a grammatical point of view. This, however, is +no novelty in the present text. Burton, "But whoso weareth head +hard by the headsman may not sleep o'nights save whenas slumber +prevail over him." + +[FN#585] Zeczekeh, a word which exactly renders the sparrow's +dawn-cheep. + +[FN#586] Lit. "From (as Fr. des) the deep or remote dawn" (min +el fejri 'l ghemic, Syr. for emic), cf. Matthew Arnold's +"Resignation ;" "The cockoo, loud on some high lawn, Is answered +from the depth of dawn.." + +[FN#587] The terminal formula of the dawn-prayer. + +[FN#588] i.e. the magician + +[FN#589] Lit. "bride'' (arouseh). She is always, to the end of +the tale, spoken of as Alaeddin's " bride," never as his "wife," +whilst he, in like manner, is called her "bridegroom" (arous). + +[FN#590] This, at first sight, appears a contradiction, as we +are distinctly told (see ante, p. 207) that the princess was +unaware of the properties of the lamp; but the sequel shows that +she had learned them, in the mean time. from the magician +himself. See post. + +[FN#591] Ifrikiyeh. + +[FN#592] Night DLXXXI. + +[FN#593] Lit. "a spit (ric) of sweet." We may also read reic or +reyyic, "the first part of anything" (especially "the first drop +of rain"). + +[FN#594] Lit. "having changed the clothes of this my dress." + +[FN#595] i.e. taking effect the moment of its administration. + +[FN#596] Night DLXXXII. + +[FN#597] Because white wine would have been visibly troubled by +the drug. + +[FN#598] Ishebi bi-surrihi (lit. "drink by his pleasure or +gladness;" surr or surour). Burton, "Pledge him to his secret in +a significant draught." + +[FN#599] Kasein thelatheh, lit. two cups three (unusual way of +putting it). + +[FN#600] Reshoush (for reshash), "anything sprinkled," i.e. +powder or drops. I translate "powder," as I find no mention in +the Nights of the use of this narcotic in a liquid form. + +[FN#601] Takkeltu, lit. "I have conceived in my mind." Sir R. +Burton is apparently inclined to read tallectu by transposition, +as he translates, "I depend upon thy say." + +[FN#602] Night DLXXXIII. + +[FN#603] Lit. "I will not delay upon thee." + +[FN#604] Lit. "Thou hast burdened or incommoded thyself" +(kellefta khatiraka), see previous note, p. 120, {see FN#340} on +this idiomatic expression. + +[FN#605] Ana atebtu mizajaka, lit. "I have wearied thy +temperament." + +[FN#606] Lit. "pleasure" (surr), see ante, p. 223, note 2. {see +FN#598} + +[FN#607] Or "playing the boon-companion." + +[FN#608] Syn. "equivocal, a double entente." + +[FN#609] Lit. "proceeded from her in truth." + +[FN#610] Tih, lit. pride, haughtiness, but, by analogy, +"coquetry." + +[FN#611] Lit. "Gaiety, ecstasy or intoxication (keif) whirled +(dara) in his head." + +[FN#612] Lit. "not itself exactly with him" (ma hiya bi-eimhi +indahu.) + +[FN#613] Lit. "turned over" (kelebet, a clerical error for +kebbelel). + +[FN#614] Tekeddemet lihi wa basethu fi kheddihi. Burton, "again +she kissed its lip and offered it to him." + +[FN#615] Terakedsou, lit. raced with one another. + +[FN#616] Babu 'sz szeray. + +[FN#617] Night DLXXXIV. + +[FN#618] Keszr. + +[FN#619] Lit. "in" (fi); but fi is evidently used here in +mistake for bi, the two prepositions being practically +interchangeable in modern Arabic of the style of our present +text. + +[FN#620] Burton, "his costliest raiment." + +[FN#621] Or chamber (keszr). + +[FN#622] Night DLXXXV. + +[FN#623] Sic (raihh), a common vulgarism in this text. + +[FN#624] Night DLXXXVI. + +[FN#625] Lit. "also" (eidsan). + +[FN#626] i.e. the two were as like as two halves of a bean. + +[FN#627] i.e. the world. + +[FN#628] Or death (Saturn), the eighth division of the common +astrological figure. + +[FN#629] Menkeleh. See my Book of the Thousand Nights and One +Night, Vol. I. p. 129, note 1. {see Vol. 1 of Payne's Book of the +Thousand Nights and One Night, FN#41} + +[FN#630] Dsameh. + +[FN#631] Liha keramat kethireh. Kerameh (sing. of keramat), +properly a favour or mark of grace, a supernatural gift bestowed +by God upon His pious servants, by virtue whereof they perform +miracles, which latter are also by derivation called keramat. Cf. +Acts viii. 28: "Thou hast thought that the gift of God," i.e. the +power of performing miracles, "may be purchased with money." + +[FN#632] Night DLXXXVII. + +[FN#633] Weliyeh. + +[FN#634] Fe-ain (where), probably a mistranscription for fe-men +(who). + +[FN#635] Sitti, fem. of Sidi, "my lord," the common title of a +saint among modern Arabic-speaking peoples. + +[FN#635] Meskin, lit. "poor wretch," but used as our "good man" +and the French "bonhomme," in a sense of somewhat contemptuous +familiarity. + +[FN#636] Lit. "wished the man increase of his good (istekthera +bi-kheirihi, for which idiomatic expression= "he thanked him," +see ante, p. 135, note 3 {see FN#383}), and thanked his +excellence" (favour or kindness, fedsl). + +[FN#637] Sherabati. Burton, "vintner." + +[FN#638] Keniz, a word which I cannot find in any dictionary, +but which appears to be the past participle (in the secondary +form for mecnouz, as ketil, slain, for mertoul,) of keneza, a +lost verb of which only the fourth form acneza, he drank from a +cup (kinz), survives, and to mean "something drunk from a cup." +Burton, "wine." + +[FN#639] Ca"da. Burton translates "he mounted," apparently +reading szfida for ca"da. + +[FN#640] Lit. "belly " (betn); but that "breast" is meant is +shown by the next line, which describes Fatimeh as finding the +enchanter seated on her heart. + +[FN#641] Lit. "heart" (kelb). + +[FN#642] The text adds here, "she went not and came not" (la +rahet wa la jaet). Burton translates, "as though she had never +gone or come" and adds, in a note, by way of gloss, "i.e. as she +was in her own home;" but I confess that his explanation seems to +me as obscure as the text. + +[FN#643] Night DLXXXVIll. + +[FN#644] Keszr. + +[FN#645] The first or "opening" chapter of the Koran. + +[FN#646] En nas bi 'l ghewali kethir an, lit. "The folk in +[things] precious (or dear or high-priced, ghewali, pl. of +ghalin, also of ghaliyeh, a kind of perfume) are abundant anent." +This is a hopelessly obscure passage, and I can only guess at its +meaning. Bi 'l ghewali may be a clerical error for bi 'l ghalibi, +"for the most part, in general," in which case we may read, "Folk +in general abound [in talk] anent her virtues;" or bi 'l ghewali +may perhaps be used in the sense (of which use, however, I know +no instance) of " in excessive estimation,' in which latter case +the passage might be rendered, "Folk abound in setting a high +value on (or extolling) her virtues." Burton boldly amplifies, +"the folk recount her manifestations in many cases of +difficulty." + +[FN#647] Lit. "That he might complete his deceit the more." The +meaning is that he dissembled his satisfaction at the princess's +proposal and made a show of refusal, so he might hoodwink her the +more effectually. + +[FN#648] Keszr. + + +[FN#649] Night DLXXXIX. + +[FN#650] Teyyareh. + +[FN#651] Lit. "openings for passage" (mejous). See ante, p. 176, +note. {see FN#480} + +[FN#652] Keszr. + +[FN#653] Lit. "an extreme" (ghayeh). + +[FN#654] Szeraya. + +[FN#655] Szeraya. + +[FN#656] i.e. "O thou that art dear to me as mine eyes." + +[FN#657] Keszr. + +[FN#658] Night DLXC. + +[FN#659] Keszr. + +[FN#660] i.e. its apparent from its real import. + +[FN#661] Mustekim. + +[FN#662] Minka. Burton, "of me." + +[FN#663] Lit. "for that secret that she healed." Burton, "for +the art and mystery of healing." + +[FN#664] Min wejaihi. + +[FN#665] Szeraya. + +[FN#666] Terehhhheba bihi. + +[FN#667] Lit. "believed not in." + +[FN#668] Night DLXCI. + +[FN#669] Ghereza (i.q.. gheresa). + +[FN#670] Lit. "Out of regard to or respect for thine eyes." +(Keramet[an] li-uyouniki), i.e. "Thanks to the favourable +influence of thine eyes." When "the eye" is spoken of without +qualification, the "evil eye" is commonly meant; here, however, +it is evident that the reverse is intended. + +[FN#671] Lit. "I had no news or information (ma indi kkeber) [of +the matter]." + +[FN#672] Lit. "neglectful of the love of thee." This is a +difficult passage to translate, owing to its elliptical form; but +the meaning is that the princess wished to assure Alaeddin that +what had happened was not due to any slackening in the warmth of +her affection for him. + + + + + + +End of Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, ALAEDDIN AND THE ENCHANTED LAMP *** + +This file should be named alaed10.txt or alaed10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, alaed11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, alaed10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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