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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book Of The Thousand Nights And One Night, Volume III
+by  Anonymous
+
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+**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
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+
+Title: The Book Of The Thousand Nights And One Night, Volume III
+
+Author:  Anonymous
+
+Translator: John Payne
+
+Release Date: August, 2005  [EBook #8657]
+[This file was first posted on July 30, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT, VOLUME III ***
+
+
+
+
+Text scanned by JC Byers (www.wollamshram.ca/1001) and proofread by Ralph
+Zimmerman, Renate Preuss, JC Byers, Anne Soulard, and Coralee Sheehan
+
+
+Editorial Note: Project Gutenberg also has the translation of this work by
+                Richard F. Burton in 16 volumes.
+
+
+
+
+         THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT:
+
+             Now First Completely Done Into English
+           Prose and Verse, From The Original Arabic,
+
+                         By John Payne
+(Author of "The Masque of Shadows," "Intaglios: Sonnets," "Songs
+                      of Life and Death,"
+ "Lautrec," "The Poems of Master Francis Villon of Paris," "New
+                      Poems," Etc, Etc.).
+
+                        In Nine Volumes:
+
+
+
+                       VOLUME THE THIRD.
+
+
+                             London
+                  Printed For Subscribers Only
+                              1901
+
+                         Delhi Edition
+
+
+                 Contents of The Third Volume.
+
+
+1.   The Birds and Beasts and the Son of Adam
+2.   The Hermits
+3.   The Water-Foul and the Tortoise
+4.   The Wolf and the Fox
+     a.   The Hawk and the Partridge
+5.   The Mouse and the Weasel
+6.   The Cat and the Crow
+7.   The Fox and the Crow
+     a.   The Mouse and the Flea
+     b.   The Falcon and the Birds
+     c.   The Sparrow and the Eagle
+8.   The Hedgehog and the Pigeons
+     a.   The Merchant and the Two Sharpers
+9.   The Thief and his Monkey
+     a.   The Foolish Weaver
+10.  The Sparrow and the Peacock
+11.  Ali Ben Bekkar and Shemsennehar
+12.  Kemeezzeman and Boudour
+     a.   Nimeh Ben er Rebya and Num his Slave Girl
+13.  Alaeddin Abou Esh Shamat
+14.  Hatim et Yai: His Generosity After Death
+15.  Maan Ben Zaideh and the Three Girls
+16.  Maan Ben Zaideh and the Bedouin
+17.  The City of Lebtait
+18.  The Khalif Hisham and the Arab Youth
+19.  Ibrahim Ben el Mehdi and the Barber-surgeon
+20.  The City of Irem
+21.  Isaac of Mosul's Story of Khedijeh and the Khalif Mamoun
+22.  The Scavenger and the Noble Lady of Baghdad
+23.  The Mock Khalif
+24.  Ali the Persian and the Kurd Sharper
+
+
+
+
+
+                THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS
+                         AND ONE NIGHT
+
+
+
+When Shehrzad had made an end of the history of King Omar teen
+Ennuman and his sons, Shehriyar said to her, "I desire that thou
+tell me some story about birds;" and Dunyazad, hearing this, said
+to her sister, "All this while I have never seen the Sultan light
+at heart till this night; and this gives me hope that the issue
+may be a happy one for thee with him." Then drowsiness overcame
+the Sultan; so he slept and Shehrzad, perceiving the approach of
+day, was silent.
+
+When it was the hundred and forty-sixth night, Shehrzad began as
+follows: "I have heard tell, O august King, that
+
+
+
+
+           STORY OF THE BIRDS AND BEASTS AND THE SON
+                            OF ADAM.
+
+
+
+A peacock once abode with his mate on the sea-shore, in a place
+that abounded in trees and streams, but was infested with lions
+and all manner other wild beasts, and for fear of these latter,
+the two birds were wont to roost by night upon a tree, going
+forth by day in quest of food. They abode thus awhile, till,
+their fear increasing on them, they cast about for some other
+place wherein to dwell, and in the course of their search, they
+happened on an island abounding in trees and streams. So they
+alighted there and ate of its fruits and drank of its waters.
+Whilst they were thus engaged, up came a duck, in a state of
+great affright, and stayed not till she reached the tree on which
+the two peacocks were perched, when she seemed reassured. The
+peacock doubted not but that she had some rare story; so he asked
+her of her case and the cause of her alarm, to which she replied,
+'I am sick for sorrow and my fear of the son of Adam: beware, O
+beware of the sons of Adam!' 'Fear not,' rejoined the peacock,
+'now that thou hast won to us.' 'Praised be God,' cried the
+duck, 'who hath done away my trouble and my concern with your
+neigbourhood! For indeed I come, desiring your friendship.'
+Thereupon the peahen came down to her and said, 'Welcome and fair
+welcome! No harm shall befall thee: how can the son of Adam come
+at us and we in this island midmost the sea? From the land he
+cannot win to us, neither can he come up to us out of the sea. So
+be of good cheer and tell us what hath betided thee from him.
+'Know then, O peahen,' answered the duck, 'that I have dwelt all
+my life in this island in peace and safety and have seen no
+disquieting thing, till one night, as I was asleep, I saw in a
+dream the semblance of a son of Adam, who talked with me and I
+with him. Then I heard one say to me, "O duck, beware of the son
+of Adam and be not beguiled by his words nor by that he may
+suggest to thee; for he aboundeth in wiles and deceit; so beware
+with all wariness of his perfidy, for he is crafty and guileful,
+even as saith of him the poet:
+
+He giveth thee honeyed words with the tip of his tongue, galore.
+     But sure he will cozen thee, as the fox cloth, evermore.
+
+For know that the son of Adam beguileth the fish and draweth them
+forth of the waters and shooteth the birds with a pellet of clay
+and entrappeth the elephant with his craft. None is safe from his
+mischief, and neither beast nor bird escapeth him. Thus have I
+told thee what I have heard concerning the son of Adam." I awoke,
+fearful and trembling (continued the duck), and from that time to
+this my heart hath not known gladness, for fear of the son of
+Adam, lest he take me unawares by his craft or trap me in his
+snares. By the time the end of the day overtook me, I was grown
+weak and my strength and courage failed me; so, desiring to eat
+and drink, I went forth, troubled in spirit and with a heart ill
+at ease. I walked on, till I reached yonder mountain, where I saw
+a tawny lion-whelp at the door of a cave. When he saw me, he
+rejoiced greatly in me, for my colour pleased him and my elegant
+shape: so he cried out to me, saying "Draw nigh unto me." So I
+went up to him and he said to me, "What is thy name and thy
+kind?" Quoth I, "My name is 'duck,' and I am of the bird-kind;
+but thou, why tarriest thou in this place till now?" "My father
+the lion," answered he, "has bidden me many a day beware of the
+son of Adam, and it befell this night that I saw in my sleep the
+semblance of a son of Adam." And he went on to tell me the like
+of that I have told you. When I heard this, I said to him, "O
+lion, I resort to thee, that thou mayst kill the son of Adam and
+steadfastly address thy thought to his slaughter; for I am
+greatly in fear for myself of him, and fear is added to my fear,
+for that thou also fearest the son of Adam, and thou the Sultan
+of the beasts. Then, O my sister, I ceased not to bid him beware
+of the son of Adam and urge him to slay him, till he rose of a
+sudden from his stead and went out, lashing his flanks with his
+tail. He fared on, and I after him, till we came to a place,
+where several roads met, and saw cloud of dust arise, which,
+presently clearing away, discovered a naked runaway ass, and now
+running and galloping and now rolling in the dust. When the
+lion saw the ass, he cried out to him, and he came up to him
+submissively. Then said the lion, "Harkye, crack-brain! What is
+thy kind and what brings thee hither?" "O, son of the Sultan,"
+answered the ass, "I am by kind an ass, and the cause of my
+coming hither is that I am fleeing from the son of Adam." "Dost
+thou fear then that he will kill thee?" asked the lion-whelp.
+"Not so, O son of the Sultan," replied the ass; "but I fear lest
+he put a cheat on me; for he hath a thing called the pad, that he
+sets on my back, and a thing called the girth, that he binds
+about my belly, and a thing called the crupper, that he puts
+under my tail, and a thing called the bit, that he places in my
+mouth; and he fashions me a goad and goads me with it and makes
+me run more than my strength. If I stumble, he curses me, and
+if I bray, he reviles me; and when I grow old and can no longer
+run, he puts a wooden pannel on me and delivers me to the
+water-carriers, who load my back with water from the river, in
+skins and other vessels, such as jars, and I wear out my life in
+misery and abasement and fatigue till I die, when they cast me on
+the rubbish-heaps to the dogs. So what misery can surpass this,
+and what calamities can be greater than these?" When, O peahen, I
+heard the ass's words, my skin shuddered at the son of Adam and I
+said to the lion-whelp, "Of a verity, O my lord, the ass hath
+excuse, and his words add terror to my terror." Then said the
+lion to the ass, "Whither goest thou?" "Before the rising of the
+sun" answered he, "I espied the son of Adam afar off and fled
+from him, and now I am minded to flee forth and run without
+ceasing, for the greatness of my fear of him, so haply I may find
+a place to shelter me from the perfidious son of Adam." Whilst he
+was thus discoursing, seeking the while to take leave of us and
+go away, behold, another cloud of dust arose, at sight of which
+the ass brayed and cried out and let fly a great crack of wind.
+Presently, the dust lifted and discovered a handsome black horse
+of elegant shape, with white feet and fine legs and a brow-star
+like a dirhem, which made towards us, neighing, and stayed not
+till he stood before the whelp, the son of the lion, who, when he
+saw him, marvelled at his beauty and said to him, "What is thy
+kind, O noble wild beast, and wherefore fleest thou into this
+vast and wide desert?" "O lord of the beasts," answered he, "I am
+of the horse-kind, and I am fleeing from the son of Adam." The
+whelp wondered at the horse's words and said to him, "Say not
+thus; for it is shame for thee, seeing that thou art tall and
+stout. How comes it that thou fearest the son of Adam, thou, with
+thy bulk of body and thy swiftness of running, when I, for all my
+littleness of body, am resolved to find out the son of Adam, and
+rushing on him, eat his flesh, that I may allay the affright of
+this poor duck and make her to dwell in peace in her own place.
+But now thou hast wrung my heart with thy talk and turned me back
+from what I had resolved to do, in that, for all thy bulk, the
+son of Adam hath mastered thee and feared neither thy height nor
+thy breadth, though, wert thou to kick him with thy foot, thou
+wouldst kill him, nor could he prevail against thee, but thou
+wouldst make him drink the cup of death." The horse laughed, when
+he heard the whelp's words, and replied, "Far, far is it from my
+power to overcome him, O king's son! Let not my length and my
+breadth nor yet my bulk delude thee, with respect to the son
+of Adam; for he, of the excess of his guile and his cunning,
+fashions for me a thing called a hobble and hobbles my four legs
+with ropes of palm-fibres, bound with felt, and makes me fast by
+the head to a high picket, so that I remain standing and can
+neither sit nor lie down, being tied up. When he hath a mind to
+ride me, he binds on his feet a thing of iron called a stirrup
+and lays on my back another thing called a saddle, which he
+fastens by two girths, passed under my armpits. Then he sets in
+my mouth a thing of iron he calls a bit, to which he ties a thing
+of leather called a rein; and when he mounts on the saddle on
+my back, he takes the rein in his hand and guides me with it,
+goading my flanks the while with the stirrups[FN#1], till he
+makes them bleed: so do not ask, O king's son, what I endure from
+the son of Adam. When I grow old and lean and can no longer run
+swiftly, he sells me to the miller, who makes me turn in the
+mill, and I cease not from turning night and day, till I grow
+decrepit. Then he in turn sells me to the knacker, who slaughters
+me and flays off my hide, after which he plucks out my tail,
+which he sells to the sieve-makers, and melts down my fat for
+tallow." At this, the young lion's anger and vexation redoubled,
+and he said to the horse, "When didst thou leave the son of
+Adam?" "At mid-day," replied the horse; "and he is now on my
+track." Whilst the whelp was thus conversing with the horse,
+there arose a cloud of dust and presently subsiding, discovered a
+furious camel, which made toward us, braying and pawing the earth
+with his feet. When the whelp saw how great and lusty he was, he
+took him to be the son of Adam and was about to spring at him,
+when I said to him, "O king's son, this is not the son of Adam,
+but a camel, and me seems he is fleeing from the son of Adam."
+As I spoke, O my sister, the camel came up and saluted the
+lion-whelp, who returned his greeting and said to him, "What
+brings thee hither?" Quoth he, "I am fleeing from the son of
+Adam." "And thou," said the whelp, "with thy huge frame and
+length and breadth, how comes it that thou fearest the son of
+Adam, seeing that one kick of thy foot would kill him?" "O son of
+the Sultan," answered the camel, "know that the son of Adam has
+wiles, which none can withstand, nor can any but Death prevail
+against him; for he puts in my nostrils a twine of goat's-hair he
+calls a nose-ring and over my head a thing he calls a halter;
+then he delivers me to the least of his children, and the
+youngling draws me along by the nose-ring, for all my size and
+strength. Then they load me with the heaviest of burdens and go
+long journeys with me and put me to hard labours all hours of the
+day and night. When I grow old and feeble, my master keeps me not
+with him, but sells me to the knacker, who slaughters me and
+sells my hide to the tanners and my flesh to the cooks: so do not
+ask what I suffer from the son of Adam." "When didst thou leave
+the son of Adam?" asked the young lion. "At sundown," replied the
+camel; "and I doubt not but that, having missed me, he is now in
+search of me: wherefore, O son of the Sultan, let me go, that I
+may flee into the deserts and the wilds." "Wait awhile, O camel,"
+said the whelp, "till thou see how I will rend him in pieces and
+give thee to eat of his flesh, whilst I crunch his bones and
+drink his blood." "O king's son," rejoined the camel, "I fear for
+thee from the son of Adam, for he is wily and perfidious." And he
+repeated the following verse:
+
+Whenas on any land the oppressor cloth alight, There's nothing
+     left for those, that dwell therein, but flight.
+
+Whilst the camel was speaking, there arose a cloud of dust,
+which opened and showed a short thin old man, with a basket of
+carpenters' tools on his shoulder and a branch of a tree and
+eight planks on his head. He had little children in his hand, and
+came on at a brisk pace, till he drew near us. When I saw him, O
+my sister, I fell down for excess of affright; but the young lion
+rose and went to meet the carpenter, who smiled in his face and
+said to him, with a glib tongue, "O illustrious king and lord of
+the long arm, may God prosper shine evening and shine endeavour
+and increase thy velour and strengthen thee! Protect me from that
+which hath betided me and smitten me with its mischief, for I
+have found no helper save only thee." And he stood before him,
+weeping and groaning and lamenting. When the whelp heard his
+weeping and wailing, he said, "I will succour thee from that thou
+fearest. Who hath done thee wrong and what art thou, O wild
+beast, whose like I never saw in my life nor saw I ever one
+goodlier of form or more eloquent of tongue than thou? What is
+thy case?" "O lord of the beasts," answered the man, "I am a
+carpenter; he who hath wronged me is a son of Adam, and by break
+of dawn he will be with thee in this place." When the lion heard
+this, the light in his face was changed to darkness and he roared
+and snorted and his eyes cast forth sparks. Then he said, "By
+Allah, I will watch this night till the dawn, nor will I return
+to my father till I have compassed my intent. But thou,"
+continued he, addressing the carpenter, "I see thou art short of
+step, and I would not wound thy feelings, for that I am generous
+of heart; yet do I deem thee unable to keep pace with the wild
+beasts: tell me then whither thou goest." "Know," answered the
+carpenter, "that I am on my way to thy father's Vizier, the Lynx;
+for when he heard that the son of Adam had set foot in this
+country, he feared greatly for himself and sent one of the beasts
+for me, to make him a house, wherein he should dwell, that it
+might shelter him and hold his enemy from him, so not one of the
+sons of Adam should come at him." When the young lion heard this,
+he envied the lynx and said to the carpenter, "By my life, thou
+must make me a house with these planks, ere thou make one for the
+lynx! When thou hast done my work, go to the lynx and make him
+what he wishes." "O lord of the beasts," answered the carpenter,
+"I cannot make thee aught, till I have made the lynx what he
+desires: then will I return to thy service and make thee a house,
+to ward thee from shine enemy." "By Allah," exclaimed the whelp,
+"I will not let thee go hence, till thou make me a house of these
+planks!" So saying, he sprang upon the carpenter, thinking to
+jest with him, and gave him a cuff with his paw. The blow knocked
+the basket off the man's shoulder and he fell down in a swoon,
+whereupon the young lion laughed at him and said, "Out on thee, O
+carpenter! Of a truth thou art weak and hast no strength; so it
+is excusable in thee to fear the son of Adam." Now the carpenter
+was exceeding wroth; but he dissembled his anger, for fear of the
+whelp, and sat up and smiled in his face, saying, "Well, I will
+make thee the house." With this, he took the planks, and nailing
+them together, made a house in the form of a chest, after the
+measure of the young lion. In this he cut a large opening, to
+which he made a stout cover and bored many holes therein, leaving
+the door open. Then he took out some nails of wrought iron and a
+hammer and said to the young lion, "Enter this opening, that I
+may fit it to thy measure." The whelp was glad and went up to the
+opening, but saw that it was strait; and the carpenter said to
+him, "Crouch down and so enter." So the whelp crouched down and
+entered the chest, but his tail remained outside. Then he would
+have drawn back and come out; but the carpenter said to him,
+"Wait till I see if there be room for thy tail with thee." So
+saying, he twisted up the young lion's tail, and stuffing it into
+the chest, whipped the lid on to the opening and nailed it down;
+whereat the whelp cried out and said, "O carpenter, what is this
+narrow house thou hast made me? Let me out." But the carpenter
+laughed and answered, "God forbid! Repentance avails nothing for
+what is passed, and indeed thou shalt not come out of this place.
+Verily thou art fallen into the trap and there is no escape for
+thee from duresse, O vilest of wild beasts!" "O my brother,"
+rejoined the whelp, "what manner of words are these?" "Know, O
+dog of the desert," answered the man, "that thou hast fallen into
+that which thou fearedst; Fate hath overthrown thee, nor did
+thought-taking profit thee." When the whelp heard these words, he
+knew that this was indeed the very son of Adam, against whom he
+had been warned by his father on wake and by the mysterious voice
+in sleep; and I also, O my sister, was certified that this was
+indeed he without doubt; wherefore there took me great fear of
+him for myself and I withdrew a little apart and waited to see
+what he would do with the young lion. Then I saw the son of Adam
+dig a pit hard by the chest and throwing the latter therein, heap
+brushwood upon it and burn the young lion with fire. At this
+sight, my fear of the son of Adam redoubled, and in my affright I
+have been these two days fleeing from him.'"
+
+When the peahen heard the duck's story, she wondered exceedingly
+and said to her, 'O my sister, thou art safe here from the son of
+Adam, for we are in one of the islands of the sea, whither there
+is no way for him; so do thou take up shine abode with us, till
+God make easy shine and our affair.' Quoth the duck, 'I fear lest
+some calamity come upon me by night, for no runaway can rid him
+of fate.' 'Abide with us,' rejoined the peahen, 'and be even as
+we;' and ceased not to persuade her, till she yielded, saying, 'O
+my sister, thou knowest how little is my fortitude: had I not
+seen thee here, I had not remained.' 'That which is written on
+our foreheads,' said the peahen, 'we must indeed fulfil, and when
+our appointed day draws near, who shall deliver us? But not a
+soul passes away except it have accomplished its predestined term
+and fortune.' As they talked, a cloud of dust appeared, at sight
+of which the duck shrieked aloud and ran down into the sea,
+crying out, 'Beware, beware, albeit there is no fleeing from Fate
+and Fortune!' After awhile, the dust subsided and discovered an
+antelope; whereat the duck and the peahen were reassured and the
+latter said to her companion, 'O my sister, this thou seest and
+wouldst have me beware of is an antelope, and he is making for
+us. He will do us no hurt, for the antelope feeds upon the herbs
+of the earth, and even as thou art of the bird-kind, so is he of
+the beast-kind. So be of good cheer and leave care-taking; for
+care-taking wasteth the body.' Hardly had the peahen done
+speaking, when the antelope came up to them, thinking to shelter
+under the shade of the tree, and seeing the two birds, saluted
+them and said, 'I came to this island to-day, and I have seen
+none richer in herbage nor more pleasant of habitance.' Then he
+besought them of company and amity, and they, seeing his friendly
+behaviour to them, welcomed him and gladly accepted his offer. So
+they swore friendship one to another and abode in the island in
+peace and safety, eating and drinking and sleeping in common,
+till one day there came thither a ship, that had strayed from its
+course in the sea. It cast anchor near them, and the crew
+landing, dispersed about the island. They soon caught sight of
+the three animals and made for them, whereupon the peahen flew up
+into the tree and the antelope fled into the desert, but the duck
+abode paralysed (by fear). So they chased her, till they caught
+her and carried her with them to the ship, whilst she cried out
+and said, 'Caution availed me nothing against Fate and destiny!'
+When the peahen saw what had betided the duck, she came down from
+the tree, saying, 'I see that misfortunes lie in wait for all.
+But for yonder ship, parting had not befallen between me and this
+duck, for she was one of the best of friends. Then she flew off
+and rejoined the antelope, who saluted her and gave her joy of
+her safety and enquired for the duck, to which she replied, 'The
+enemy hath taken her, and I loathe the sojourn of this island
+after her.' Then she wept for the loss of the duck and repeated
+the following verses:
+
+The day of severance broke my heart in tway. God do the like unto
+     the severance-day!
+
+And also these:
+
+I pray that we may yet foregather once again. That I may tell her
+     all that parting wrought of pain.
+
+The antelope was greatly moved at hearing of their comrade's
+fate, but dissuaded the peahen from her resolve to leave the
+island. So they abode there together, eating and drinking in
+peace and safety, save that they ceased not to mourn for the loss
+of the duck, and the antelope said to the peahen, 'Thou seest, O
+my sister, how the folk who came forth of the ship were the means
+of our severance from the duck and of her destruction; so do thou
+beware of them and guard thyself from them and from the craft of
+the son of Adam and his perfidy.' But the peahen replied, 'I am
+assured that nought caused her death but her neglect to celebrate
+the praises of God, and indeed I said to her, "Verily I fear for
+thee, because thou art not careful to praise God; for all things
+that He hath made do glorify Him, and if any neglect to do so, it
+leadeth to their destruction."' When the antelope heard the
+peahen's words, he exclaimed, 'May God make fair thy face!' and
+betook himself to the celebration of the praises of the Almighty,
+never after slackening therefrom. And it is said that his form of
+adoration was as follows: 'Glory be to the Requiter of good and
+evil, the Lord of glory and dominion!'
+
+
+
+
+                          THE HERMITS.
+
+
+
+There was once a hermit, who served God on a certain mountain,
+whither resorted a pair of pigeons; and he was wont to make two
+parts of his daily bread, eating one half himself and giving the
+other to the pigeons. He prayed also for them, that they might be
+blest with increase; so they increased and multiplied greatly.
+Now they resorted only to that mountain, and the reason of
+their foregathering with the holy man was their assiduity in
+celebrating the praises of God; for it is said that the pigeons'
+formula of praise is, 'Glory be to the Creator of all things,
+Who appointeth to every one his daily bread, Who builded the
+heavens and spread out the earth like a carpet!' They dwelt thus
+together, in the happiest of life, they and their brood, till the
+holy man died, when the company of the pigeons was broken up, and
+they all dispersed among the towns and villages and mountains.
+
+Now in a certain other mountain there dwelt a shepherd, a man of
+piety and chastity and understanding; and he had flocks of sheep,
+which he tended, and made his living by their milk and wool. The
+mountain aforesaid abounded in trees and pasturage and wild
+beasts, but the latter had no power over the peasant nor over his
+flocks; so he continued to dwell therein, in security, taking no
+thought to the things of the world, by reason of his happiness
+and assiduity in prayer and devotion, till God ordained that he
+should fall exceeding sick. So he betook himself to a cavern in
+the mountain, and his sheep used to go out in the morning to the
+pasturage and take refuge at night in the cave. Now God was
+minded to try him and prove his obedience and constancy; so He
+sent him one of His angels, who came in to him in the semblance
+of a fair woman and sat down before him. When the shepherd saw
+the woman seated before him, his flesh shuddered with horror of
+her and he said to her, 'O woman, what brings thee hither? I have
+no need of thee, nor is there aught betwixt thee and me that
+calls for thy coming in to me.' 'O man,' answered she, 'dost thou
+not note my beauty and grace and the fragrance of my breath and
+knowest thou not the need women have of men and men of women?
+Behold, I have chosen to be near thee and desire to enjoy thy
+company; so who shall forbid thee from me? Indeed, I come to thee
+willingly and do not withhold myself from thee: there is none
+with us whom we need fear; and I wish to abide with thee as long
+as thou sojournest in this mountain and be thy companion. I offer
+myself to thee, for thou needest the service of women; and if
+thou know me, thy sickness will leave thee and health return to
+thee and thou wilt repent thee of having forsworn the company of
+women during thy past life. Indeed, I give thee good advice: so
+give ear to my counsel and draw near unto me.' Quoth he, 'Go out
+from me, O deceitful and perfidious woman! I will not incline to
+thee nor approach thee. I want not thy company; he who coveteth
+thee renounceth the future life, and he who coveteth the future
+life renounceth thee, for thou seduces the first and the last.
+God the Most High lieth in wait for His servants and woe unto him
+who is afflicted with thy company!' 'O thou that errest from the
+truth and wanderest from the path of reason,' answered she, 'turn
+thy face to me and look upon my charms and profit by my nearness,
+as did the wise who have gone before thee. Indeed, they were
+richer than thou in experience and greater of wit; yet they
+rejected not the society of women, as thou dost, but took their
+pleasure of them and their company, and it did them no hurt, in
+body or in soul. Wherefore do thou turn from thy resolve and thou
+shalt praise the issue of shine affair.' 'All thou sayest I deny
+and abhor,' rejoined the shepherd, 'and reject all thou offerest;
+for thou art cunning and perfidious and there is no faith in
+thee, neither honour. How much foulness cost thou hide under thy
+beauty and how many a pious man hast thou seduced, whose end was
+repentance and perdition! Avaunt from me, O thou who devotes
+thyself to corrupt others!' So saying, he threw his goat's-hair
+cloak over his eyes, that he might not see her face, and betook
+himself to calling upon the name of his Lord. When the angel saw
+the excellence of his obedience (to God), he went out from him
+and ascended to heaven.
+
+Now hard by the mountain was a village wherein dwelt a pious man,
+who knew not the other's stead, till one night he saw in a dream
+one who said to him, 'In such a place near to thee is a pious
+man: go to him and be at his command.' So when it was day, he set
+out afoot to go thither, and at the time when the heat was
+grievous upon him, he came to a tree, which grew beside a spring
+of running water. He sat down to rest in the shadow of the tree,
+and birds and beasts came to the spring to drink; but when they
+saw him, they took fright and fled. Then said he, 'There is no
+power and no virtue save in God the Most High! I am resting here,
+to the hurt of the beasts and fowls.' So he rose and went on,
+blaming himself and saying, 'My tarrying here hath wronged these
+beasts and birds, and what excuse have I towards my Creator and
+the Creator of these creatures, for that I was the cause of their
+flight from their watering-place and their pasture? Alas, my
+confusion before my Lord on the day when He shall avenge the
+sheep of the goats!' And he wept and repeated the following
+verses:
+
+By Allah, if men knew for what they are create, They would not go
+     and sleep, unheeding of their fate!
+Soon cometh death, then wake and resurrection come; Then judgment
+     and reproof and terrors passing great.
+Obey me or command, the most of us are like. The dwellers in the
+     cave, [FN#2] asleep early and late.
+
+Then he fared on, weeping for that he had driven the birds and
+beasts from the spring by sitting down under the tree, till he
+came to the shepherd's dwelling and going in, saluted him. The
+shepherd returned his greeting and embraced him, weeping and
+saying, 'What brings thee hither, where no man hath ever come in
+to me?' Quoth the other, 'I saw in my sleep one who described to
+me this thy stead and bade me repair to thee and salute thee: so
+I came, in obedience to the commandment.' The shepherd welcomed
+him, rejoicing in his company, and they both abode in the cavern,
+doing fair service to their Lord and living upon the flesh and
+milk of their sheep, having put away from them wealth and
+children and other the goods of this world, till there came to
+them Death, the Certain, the Inevitable. And this is the end of
+their story."
+
+"O Shehrzad," said King Shehriyar, "thou puttest me out of
+conceit with my kingdom and makest me repent of having slain so
+many women and maidens. Hast thou any stories of birds?" "Yes,"
+answered she, and began as follows:
+
+
+
+
+                THE WATER-FOWL AND THE TORTOISE
+
+
+
+"A water-fowl flew high up into the air and alighted on rock in
+the midst of a running water. As it sat, behold, the water
+floated up a carcase, that was swollen and rose high out of the
+water, and lodged it against the rock. The bird drew near and
+examining it, found that it was the dead body of a man and saw in
+it spear and sword wounds. So he said in himself, 'Belike, this
+was some evil-doer, and a company of men joined themselves
+together against him and slew him and were at peace from him and
+his mischief.' Whilst he was marvelling at this, vultures and
+eagles came down upon the carcase from all sides; which when the
+water-fowl saw, he was sore affrighted and said, 'I cannot endure
+to abide here longer.' So he flew away in quest of a place where
+he might harbour, till the carcase should come to an end and the
+birds of prey leave it, and stayed not in his flight, till he
+came to a river with a tree in its midst. He alighted on the
+tree, troubled and distraught and grieved for his separation from
+his native place, and said to himself, 'Verily grief and vexation
+cease not to follow me: I was at my ease, when I saw the carcase,
+and rejoiced therein exceedingly, saying, "This is a gift of God
+to me;" but my joy became sorrow and my gladness mourning, for
+the lions of the birds[FN#3] took it and made prize of it and
+came between it and me. How can I trust in this world or hope to
+be secure from misfortune therein? Indeed, the proverb says, "The
+world is the dwelling of him who hath no dwelling: he who hath no
+understanding is deceived by it and trusteth in it with his
+wealth and his child and his family and his folk; nor doth he who
+is deluded by it leave to rely upon it, walking proudly upon the
+earth, till he is laid under it and the dust is cast over him by
+him who was dearest and nearest to him of all men; but nought is
+better for the noble than patience under its cares and miseries."
+I have left my native place, and it is abhorrent to me to quit my
+brethren and friends and loved ones.' Whilst he was thus devising
+with himself, behold, a tortoise descended into the water and
+approaching the bird, saluted him, saying, 'O my lord, what hath
+exiled thee and driven thee afar from thy place?' 'The descent of
+enemies thereon,' replied the water-fowl; 'for the understanding
+cannot brook the neighbourhood of his enemy; even as well says
+the poet:
+
+Whenas on any land the oppressor doth alight, There's nothing
+     left for those, that dwell therein, but flight.'
+
+Quoth the tortoise, 'If the case be as thou sayest, I will not
+leave thee nor cease to be before thee, that I may do thy need
+and fulfil thy service; for it is said that there is no sorer
+desolation than that of him who is an exile, cut off from friends
+and country; and also that no calamity equals that of severance
+from virtuous folk; but the best solace for the understanding is
+to seek companionship in his strangerhood and be patient under
+adversity. Wherefore I hope that thou wilt find thine account
+in my company, for I will be to thee a servant and a helper.'
+'Verily, thou art right in what thou sayest,' answered the
+water-fowl; 'for, by my life, I have found grief and pain in
+separation, what while I have been absent from my stead and
+sundered from my friends and brethren, seeing that in severance
+is an admonition to him who will be admonished and matter of
+thought for him who will take thought. If one find not a
+companion to console him, good is cut off from him for ever and
+evil stablished with him eternally; and there is nothing for the
+wise but to solace himself in every event with brethren and be
+instant in patience and constancy; for indeed these two are
+praiseworthy qualities, that uphold one under calamities and
+shifts of fortune and ward off affliction and consternation, come
+what will.' 'Beware of sorrow,' rejoined the tortoise, 'for it
+will corrupt thy life to thee and do away thy fortitude.' And
+they gave not over converse, till the bird said, 'Never shall I
+leave to fear the strokes of fortune and the vicissitudes of
+events.' When the tortoise heard this, he came up to him and
+kissing him between the eyes, said to him, 'Never may the company
+of the birds cease to be blest in thee and find good in thy
+counsel! How shalt thou be burdened with inquietude and harm?'
+And he went on to comfort the water-fowl and soothe his disquiet,
+till he became reassured. Then he flew to the place, where the
+carcase was, and found the birds of prey gone and nothing left of
+the body but bones; whereupon he returned to the tortoise and
+acquainted him with this, saying, 'I wish to return to my stead
+and enjoy the society of my friends; for the wise cannot endure
+separation from his native place.' So they both went thither and
+found nought to affright them; whereupon the water-fowl repeated
+the following verses:
+
+Full many a sorry chance doth light upon a man and fill His life
+     with trouble, yet with God the issue bideth still.
+His case is sore on him, but when its meshes straitened are To
+     att'rest, they relax, although he deem they never will.
+
+So they abode there in peace and gladness, till one day fate led
+thither a hungry hawk, which drove its talons into the bird's
+belly and killed him, nor did caution stand him in stead seeing
+that his hour was come. Now the cause of his death was that he
+neglected to praise God, and it is said that his form of
+adoration was as follows, 'Glory be to our Lord in that He
+ordereth and ordaineth, and glory be to our Lord in that He
+maketh rich and maketh poor!'"
+
+"O Shehrzad," said the Sultan, "verily, thou overwhelmest me with
+admonitions and salutary instances! Hast thou any stories of
+beasts?" "Yes," answered she. "Know, O King, that
+
+
+
+
+                     THE WOLF AND THE FOX.
+
+
+
+A fox and a wolf once dwelt in the same den, harbouring therein
+together day and night; but the wolf was cruel and oppressive to
+the fox. They abode thus awhile, till one day the fox exhorted
+the wolf to use gentle dealing and leave evil-doing, saying, 'If
+thou persist in thine arrogance, belike God will give the son of
+Adam power over thee, for he is past master in guile and craft
+and knavery. By his devices he brings down the birds from the air
+and draws the fish forth of the waters and sunders mountains in
+twain and transports them from place to place. All this is of his
+craft and wiliness; wherefore do thou betake thyself to equity
+and fair dealing and leave evil and tyranny; and thou shalt fare
+the better for it.' But the wolf rejected his counsel and
+answered him roughly, saying, 'Thou hast no call to speak of
+matters of weight and stress.' And he dealt the fox a buffet that
+laid him senseless; but, when he revived, he smiled in the wolf's
+face and excused himself for his unseemly speech, repeating the
+following verses:
+
+If I have sinned in aught that's worthy of reproach Or if I've
+     made default against the love of you,
+Lo, I repent my fault; so let thy clemency The sinner comprehend,
+     that doth for pardon sue.
+
+The wolf accepted his excuse and held his hand from him, saying,
+'Speak not of that which concerns thee not, or thou shalt hear
+what will not please thee.' 'I hear and obey,' answered the fox;
+'henceforth I will abstain from what pleaseth thee not; for the
+sage says, "Speak thou not of that whereof thou art not asked;
+answer not, when thou art not called upon; leave that which
+concerns thee not for that which does concern thee and lavish not
+good counsel on the wicked, for they will repay thee therefor
+with evil."' And he smiled in the wolf's face, but in his heart
+he meditated treachery against him and said in himself, 'Needs
+must I compass the destruction of this wolf.' So he bore with his
+ill usage, saying in himself, 'Verily arrogance and falsehood
+lead to perdition and cast into confusion, and it is said, "He
+who is arrogant suffers and he who is ignorant repents and he who
+fears is safe: fair dealing is a characteristic of the noble, and
+gentle manners are the noblest of gains." It behoves me to
+dissemble with this tyrant, and needs must he be cast down.' Then
+said he to the wolf, 'Verily, the Lord pardons his erring servant
+and relents towards him, if he confess his sins; and I am a weak
+slave and have sinned in presuming to counsel thee. If thou
+knewest the pain that befell me by thy buffet, thou wouldst see
+that an elephant could not stand against it nor endure it: but I
+complain not of the pain of the blow, because of the contentment
+that hath betided me through it; for though it was exceeding
+grievous to me, yet its issue was gladness. As saith the sage,
+"The blow of the teacher is at first exceeding grievous, but the
+end of it is sweeter than clarified honey."' Quoth the wolf, 'I
+pardon thine offence and pass over thy fault; but be thou ware of
+my strength and avow thyself my slave; for thou knowest how
+rigorously I deal with those that transgress against me.'
+Thereupon the fox prostrated himself to the wolf, saying, 'May
+God prolong thy life and mayst thou cease never to subdue thine
+enemies!' And he abode in fear of the wolf and ceased not to
+wheedle him and dissemble with him.
+
+One day, the fox came to a vineyard and saw a breach in its wall;
+but he mistrusted it and said in himself, 'Verily, there must be
+some reason for this breach and the adage says, "He who sees a
+cleft in the earth and doth not shun it or be wary in going up to
+it, is self-deluded and exposes himself to destruction." Indeed,
+it is well known that some folk make a semblant of a fox in their
+vineyards, even to setting before it grapes in dishes, that foxes
+may see it and come to it and fall into destruction. Meseems,
+this breach is a snare and the proverb says, "Prudence is the
+half of cleverness." Now prudence requires that I examine this
+breach and see if there be ought therein that may lead to
+perdition; and covetise shall not make me cast myself into
+destruction.' So he went up to the breach and examining it
+warily, discovered a deep pit, lightly covered (with boughs and
+earth), which the owner of the vineyard had dug, thinking to trap
+therein the wild beasts that laid waste his vines. Then he drew
+back from it, saying in himself, 'I have found it as I expected.
+Praised be God that I was wary of it! I hope that my enemy the
+wolf, who makes my life miserable, will fall into it; so will the
+vineyard be left to me and I shall enjoy it alone and dwell
+therein in peace.' So saying, he shook his head and laughed
+aloud, repeating the following verses:
+
+Would God I might see, even now, A wolf fallen into yon pit,
+That this long time hath tortured my heart And made me quaff
+     bitters, God wit!
+God grant I may live and be spared And eke of the wolf be made
+     quit!
+So the vineyard of him shall be rid And I find my purchase in it.
+
+Then he returned in haste to the wolf and said to him, 'God hath
+made plain the way for thee into the vineyard, without toil. This
+is of thy good luck; so mayst thou enjoy the easy booty and the
+plentiful provant that God hath opened up to thee without
+trouble!' 'What proof hast thou of what thou sayest?' asked the
+wolf; and the fox answered, 'I went up to the vineyard and found
+that the owner was dead, having been devoured by wolves: so I
+entered and saw the fruit shining on the trees.' The wolf
+misdoubted not of the fox's report and gluttony got hold on him;
+so he rose and repaired to the breach, blinded by greed; whilst
+the fox stopped short and lay as one dead, applying to the case
+the following verse:
+
+Lustest after Leila's favours? Look thou rather bear in mind That
+     'tis covetise plays havoc with the necks of human kind.
+
+Then said he to the wolf, 'Enter the vineyard: thou art spared
+the trouble of climbing, for the wall is broken down, and with
+God be the rest of the benefit.' So the wolf went on, thinking to
+enter the vineyard; but when he came to the middle of the
+covering (of the pit), he fell in; whereupon the fox shook for
+delight and gladness; his care and concern left him and he sang
+out for joy and recited the following verses:
+
+Fortune hath taken ruth on my case; Yea, she hath pitied the
+     length of my pain,
+Doing away from me that which I feared And granting me that
+     whereto I was fain.
+So I will pardon her all the sins She sinned against me once and
+     again;
+Since for the wolf there is no escape From certain ruin and
+     bitter bane,
+And now the vineyard is all my own And no fool sharer in my
+     domain.
+
+Then he looked into the pit, and seeing the wolf weeping for
+sorrow and repentance over himself, wept with him; whereupon the
+wolf raised his head to him and said, 'Is it of pity for me thou
+weepest, O Aboulhussein?' [FN#4] 'Not so,' answered the fox, 'by
+Him who cast thee into the pit! I weep for the length of thy past
+life and for regret that thou didst not sooner fall into the pit;
+for hadst thou done so before I met with thee, I had been at
+peace: but thou wast spared till the fulfilment of thine allotted
+term.' The wolf thought he was jesting and said, 'O sinner, go to
+my mother and tell her what has befallen me, so haply she may
+make shift for my release.' 'Verily,' answered the fox, 'the
+excess of thy gluttony and thy much greed have brought thee to
+destruction, since thou art fallen into a pit whence thou wilt
+never escape. O witless wolf, knowest thou not the proverb, "He
+who taketh no thought to results, Fate is no friend to him, nor
+shall he be safe from perils?"' 'O Aboulhussein,' said the wolf,
+'thou wast wont to show me affection and covet my friendship and
+fear the greatness of my strength. Bear me not malice for that I
+did with thee, for he who hath power and forgiveth, his reward is
+with God; even as saith the poet:
+
+
+Sow benefits aye, though in other than fitting soil. A benefit's
+     never lost, wherever it may be sown;
+And though time tarry full long to bring it to harvest-tide, Yet
+     no man reapeth its fruit, save he who sowed it alone.'
+
+'O most witless of beasts of prey and stupidest of the wildings
+of the earth,' rejoined the fox, 'hast thou forgotten thine
+arrogance and pride and tyranny and how thou disregardedst the
+due of comradeship and wouldst not take counsel by what the poet
+says:
+
+Do no oppression, whilst the power thereto is in thine hand, For
+     still in danger of revenge the sad oppressor goes.
+Thine eyes will sleep anon, what while the opprest, on wake, call
+     down Curses upon thee, and God's eye shuts never in repose.'
+
+'O Aboulhussein,' replied the wolf, 'reproach me not for past
+offences; for forgiveness is expected of the noble, and the
+practice of kindness is the best of treasures. How well says the
+poet:
+
+Hasten to do good works, whenever thou hast the power, For thou
+     art not able thereto at every season and hour.'
+
+And he went on to humble himself to the fox and say to him,
+'Haply, thou canst do somewhat to deliver me from destruction.'
+'O witless, deluded, perfidious, crafty wolf,' answered the fox,
+'hope not for deliverance, for this is but the just reward of thy
+foul dealing.' Then he laughed from ear to ear and repeated the
+following verses:
+
+A truce to thy strife to beguile me! For nothing of me shalt thou
+     gain. Thy prayers are but idle; thou sowedst Vexation; so
+     reap it amain.
+
+'O gentlest of beasts of prey,' said the wolf, 'I deem thee too
+faithful to leave me in this pit.' Then he wept and sighed and
+recited the following verses, whilst the tears streamed from his
+eyes:
+
+O thou, whose kindnesses to me are more than one, I trow, Whose
+     bounties unto me vouchsafed are countless as the sand,
+No shift of fortune in my time has ever fall'n on me, But I have
+     found thee ready still to take me by the hand.
+
+'O stupid enemy,' said the fox, 'how art thou reduced to humility
+and obsequiousness and abjection and submission, after disdain
+and pride and tyranny and arrogance! Verily, I companied with
+thee and cajoled thee but for fear of thy violence and not in
+hope of fair treatment from thee: but now trembling is come upon
+thee and vengeance hath overtaken thee.' And he repeated the
+following verses:
+
+O thou that for aye on beguiling art bent, Thou'rt fall'n in the
+     snare of thine evil intent.
+So taste of the anguish that knows no relent And be with the rest
+     of the wolven forspent!
+
+'O clement one,' replied the wolf, 'speak not with the tongue of
+despite nor look with its eyes; but fulfil the covenant of
+fellowship with me, ere the time for action pass away. Rise, make
+shift to get me a rope and tie one end of it to a tree; then let
+the other end down to me, that I may lay hold of it, so haply I
+may escape from this my strait, and I will give thee all my hand
+possesseth of treasures.' Quoth the fox, 'Thou persistest in talk
+of that wherein thy deliverance is not. Hope not for this, for
+thou shalt not get of me wherewithal to save thyself; but call to
+mind thy past ill deeds and the craft and perfidy thou didst
+imagine against me and bethink thee how near thou art to being
+stoned to death. For know that thy soul is about to leave the
+world and cease and depart from it; so shalt thou come to
+destruction and evil is the abiding-place to which thou goest!'
+'O Aboulhussein,' rejoined the wolf, 'hasten to return to
+friendliness and persist not in this rancour. Know that he, who
+saves a soul from perdition, is as if he had restored it to life,
+and he, who saves a soul alive, is as if he had saved all
+mankind. Do not ensue wickedness, for the wise forbid it: and it
+were indeed the most manifest wickedness to leave me in this pit
+to drink the agony of death and look upon destruction, whenas it
+lies in thy power to deliver me from my strait. Wherefore go thou
+about to release me and deal benevolently with me.' 'O thou
+barbarous wretch,' answered the fox, 'I liken thee, because of
+the fairness of thy professions and the foulness of thine intent
+and thy practice, to the hawk with the partridge.' 'How so ?'
+asked the wolf; and the fox said,
+
+
+
+
+The Hawk and the Partridge.
+
+
+
+'I entered a vineyard one day and saw a hawk stoop upon a
+partridge and seize it: but the partridge escaped from him and
+entering its nest, hid itself there. The hawk followed and called
+out to it, saying, "O wittol, I saw thee in the desert, hungry,
+and took pity on thee; so I gathered grain for thee and took hold
+of thee that thou mightest eat; but thou fledst, wherefore I know
+not, except it were to slight me. So come out and take the grain
+I have brought thee to eat, and much good may it do thee!" The
+partridge believed what he said and came out, whereupon the hawk
+stuck his talons into him and seized him. "Is this that which
+thou saidst thou hadst brought me from the desert," cried the
+partridge, "and of which thou badest me eat, saying, 'Much good
+may it do thee?' Thou hast lied to me and may God make what thou
+eatest of my flesh to be a deadly poison in thy maw!" So when the
+hawk had eaten the partridge, his feathers fell off and his
+strength failed and he died on the spot. Know, then, O wolf, that
+he, who digs a pit for his brother, soon falls into it himself,
+and thou first dealtest perfidiously with me.' 'Spare me this
+talk and these moral instances,' said the wolf, 'and remind me
+not of my former ill deeds, for the sorry plight I am in suffices
+me, seeing that I am fallen into a place, in which even my enemy
+would pity me, to say nothing of my friend. So make thou some
+shift to deliver me and be thou thereby my saviour. If this cause
+thee aught of hardship, think that a true friend will endure the
+sorest travail for his friend's sake and risk his life to deliver
+him from perdition; and indeed it hath been said, "A tender
+friend is better than an own brother." So if thou bestir thyself
+and help me and deliver me, I will gather thee such store of
+gear, as shall be a provision for thee against the time of want,
+and teach thee rare tricks to gain access to fruitful vineyards
+and strip the fruit-laden trees.' 'How excellent,' rejoined the
+fox, laughing, 'is what the learned say of those who are past
+measure ignorant, like unto thee!' 'What do they say?' asked the
+wolf; and the fox answered, 'They say that the gross of body are
+gross of nature, far from understanding and nigh unto ignorance.
+As for thy saying, O perfidious, stupid self-deceiver, that a
+friend should suffer hardship to succour his friend, it is true,
+as thou sayest: but tell me, of thine ignorance and poverty of
+wit, how can I be a true friend to thee, considering thy
+treachery? Dost thou count me thy friend? Behold, I am thine
+enemy, that exulteth in thy misfortune; and couldst thou
+understand it, this word were sorer to thee than slaughter and
+arrow-shot. As for thy promise to provide me a store against the
+time of want and teach me tricks to enter vineyards and spoil
+fruit-trees, how comes it, O crafty traitor, that thou knowest
+not a trick to save thyself from destruction? How far art thou
+from profiting thyself and how far am I from lending ear to thy
+speech! If thou have any tricks, make shift for thyself to save
+thee from this peril, wherefrom I pray God to make thine escape
+distant! So look, O idiot, if there be any trick with thee and
+save thyself from death therewith, before thou lavish instruction
+on others. But thou art like a certain sick man, who went to
+another, suffering from the same disease, and said to him, "Shall
+I heal thee of thy disease?" "Why dost thou not begin by healing
+thyself?" answered the other; so he left him and went his way.
+And thou, O ignorant wolf, art like this; so stay where thou art
+and be patient under what hath befallen thee.' When the wolf
+heard what the fox said, he knew he had no hope from him; so he
+wept for himself, saying, 'Verily, I have been heedless of mine
+affair; but if God deliver me from this scrape, I will assuredly
+repent of my arrogance towards those who are weaker than I and
+will put on wool and go upon the mountains, celebrating the
+praises of God the Most High and fearing His wrath. Yea, I will
+sunder myself from all the other wild beasts and feed the poor
+and those who fight for the Faith.' Then he wept and lamented,
+till the heart of the fox was softened and he took pity on him,
+whenas he heard his humble words and his professions of
+repentance for his past arrogance and tyranny. So he sprang up
+joyfully and going to the brink of the pit, sat down on his hind
+quarters and let his tail fall therein; whereupon the wolf arose
+and putting out his paw, pulled the fox's tail, so that he fell
+down into the pit with him. Then said the wolf, 'O fox of little
+ruth, why didst thou exult over me, thou that wast my companion
+and under my dominion? Now thou art fallen into the pit with me
+and retribution hath soon overtaken thee. Verily, the wise have
+said, "If one of you reproach his brother with sucking the teats
+of a bitch, he also shall suck her," and how well saith the poet:
+
+When fortune's blows on some fall hard and heavily, With others
+     of our kind as friend encampeth she.
+So say to those who joy in our distress, "Awake; For those who
+     mock our woes shall suffer even as we."
+
+And death in company is the best of things; wherefore I will make
+haste to kill thee, ere thou see me killed.' 'Alas! Alas!' said
+the fox in himself. 'I am fallen in with this tyrant, and my case
+calls for the use of craft and cunning; for indeed it is said
+that a woman fashions her ornaments for the festival day, and
+quoth the proverb, "I have kept thee, O my tear, against the time
+of my distress!" Except I make shift to circumvent this
+overbearing beast, I am lost without recourse; and how well says
+the poet:
+
+Provide thee by craft, for thou liv'st in a time Whose folk are
+     as lions that lurk in a wood,
+And set thou the mill-stream of knavery abroach, That the mill of
+     subsistence may grind for thy food,
+And pluck the fruits boldly; but if they escape From thy grasp,
+     then content thee with hay to thy food.'
+
+Then said he to the wolf, 'Hasten not to slay me, for that is not
+my desert and thou wouldst repent it, O valiant beast, lord of
+might and exceeding prowess! If thou hold thy hand and consider
+what I shall tell thee, thou wilt know that which I purpose; but
+if thou hasten to kill me, it will profit thee nothing and we
+shall both die here.' 'O wily deceiver,' answered the wolf, 'how
+hopest thou to work my deliverance and thine own, that thou
+wouldst have me grant thee time? Speak and let me know thy
+purpose.' 'As for my purpose,' replied the fox, 'it was such as
+deserves that thou reward me handsomely for it; for when I heard
+thy promises and thy confession of thy past ill conduct and
+regrets for not having earlier repented and done good and thy
+vows, shouldst thou escape from this thy stress, to leave harming
+thy fellows and others and forswear eating grapes and other
+fruits and devote thyself to humility and cut thy claws and break
+thy teeth and don wool and offer thyself as a sacrifice to God
+the Most High,--when (I say), I heard thy repentance and vows of
+amendment, compassion took me for thee, though before I was
+anxious for thy destruction, and I felt bound to save thee from
+this thy present plight. So I let down my tail, that thou
+mightest grasp it and make thine escape. Yet wouldst thou not put
+off thy wonted violence and brutality nor soughtest to save
+thyself by fair means, but gavest me such a tug that I thought my
+soul would depart my body, so that thou and I are become involved
+in the same stead of ruin and death. There is but one thing can
+deliver us, to which if thou agree, we shall both escape; and
+after it behoves thee to keep the vows thou hast made, and I will
+be thy friend.' 'What is it thou hast to propose?' asked the
+wolf. 'It is,' answered the fox, 'that thou stand up, and I will
+climb up on to thy head and so bring myself nigh on a level with
+the surface of the earth. Then will I give a spring and as soon
+as I reach the ground, I will fetch thee what thou mayst lay hold
+of and make thine escape.' 'I have no faith in thy word,'
+rejoined the wolf, 'for the wise have said, "He who practices
+trust in the place of hate, errs," and "He who trusts in the
+faithless is a dupe; he who tries those that have been [already]
+tried (and found wanting) shall reap repentance and his days
+shall pass away without profit; and he who cannot distinguish
+between cases, giving each its due part, his good fortune will be
+small and his afflictions many." How well saith the poet:
+
+Be thy thought ever ill and of all men beware; Suspicion of good
+     parts the helpfullest was e'er.
+For nothing brings a man to peril and distress As doth the doing
+     good (to men) and thinking fair.
+
+And another:
+
+Be constant ever in suspect; 'twill save thee aye anew; For he
+     who lives a wakeful life, his troubles are but few.
+Meet thou the foeman in thy way with open, smiling face; But in
+     thy heart set up a host shall battle with him do.
+
+And yet another:
+
+Thy worst of foes is thy nearest friend, in whom thou puttest
+     trust; So look thou be on thy guard with men and use them
+     warily aye.
+'Tis weakness to augur well of fate; think rather ill of it. And
+     be in fear of its shifts and tricks, lest it should thee
+     bewray.'
+
+'Verily,' said the fox, 'distrust is not to be commended in
+every case; on the contrary, a confiding disposition is the
+characteristic of a noble nature and its issue is freedom from
+terrors. Now it behoves thee, O wolf, to put in practice some
+device for thy deliverance from this thou art in and the escape
+of us both will be better than our death: so leave thy distrust
+and rancour; for if thou trust in me, one of two things will
+happen; either I shall bring thee whereof to lay hold and escape,
+or I shall play thee false and save myself and leave thee; and
+this latter may not be, for I am not safe from falling into
+some such strait as this thou art in, which would be fitting
+punishment of perfidy. Indeed the adage saith, "Faith is fair and
+perfidy foul." It behoves thee, therefore, to trust in me, for I
+am not ignorant of the vicissitudes of Fortune: so delay not to
+contrive some device for our deliverance, for the case is too
+urgent for further talk.' 'To tell thee the truth,' replied the
+wolf, 'for all my want of confidence in thy fidelity, I knew what
+was in thy mind and that thou wast minded to deliver me, whenas
+thou heardest my repentance, and I said in myself, "If what he
+asserts be true, he will have repaired the ill he did: and if
+false, it rests with God to requite him." So, behold, I accept
+thy proposal, and if thou betray me, may thy perfidy be the cause
+of thy destruction!' Then he stood upright in the pit and taking
+the fox upon his shoulders, raised him to the level of the
+ground, whereupon the latter gave a spring and lighted on the
+surface of the earth. When he found himself in safety, he fell
+down senseless, and the wolf said to him, 'O my friend, neglect
+not my case and delay not to deliver me.' The fox laughed
+derisively and replied, 'O dupe, it was but my laughing at thee
+and making mock of thee that threw me into thy hands: for when I
+heard thee profess repentance, mirth and gladness seized me and I
+frisked about and danced and made merry, so that my tail fell
+down into the pit and thou caughtest hold of it and draggedst me
+down with thee. Why should I be other than a helper in thy
+destruction, seeing that thou art of the host of the devil! I
+dreamt yesterday that I danced at thy wedding and related my
+dream to an interpreter, who told me that I should fall into a
+great danger and escape from it. So now I know that my falling
+into thy hand and my escape are the fulfilment of my dream, and
+thou, O ignorant dupe, knowest me for thine enemy; so how canst
+thou, of thine ignorance and lack of wit, hope for deliverance at
+my hands, after all thou hast heard of harsh words from me, and
+wherefore should I endeavour for thy deliverance, whenas the wise
+have said, "In the death of the wicked is peace for mankind and
+purgation for the earth?" Yet, but that I fear to reap more
+affliction by keeping faith with thee than could follow perfidy,
+I would do my endeavour to save thee.' When the wolf heard this,
+he bit his paws for despite and was at his wit's end what to do.
+Then he gave the fox fair words, but this availed nought; so he
+said to him softly, 'Verily, you foxes are the most pleasant
+spoken of folk and the subtlest in jest, and this is but a jest
+of thine; but all times are not good for sport and jesting.' 'O
+dolt,' answered the fox, 'jesting hath a limit, that the jester
+overpasses not, and deem not that God will again give thee power
+over me, after having once delivered me from thee.' Quoth the
+wolf, 'It behoves thee to endeavour for my release, by reason of
+our brotherhood and fellowship, and if thou deliver me, I will
+assuredly make fair thy reward.' 'The wise say,' rejoined the
+fox,' "Fraternize not with the ignorant and wicked, for he will
+shame thee and not adorn thee,--nor with the liar, for if thou do
+good, he will hide it, and if evil, he will publish it;" and
+again, "There is help for everything but death: all may be
+mended, save natural depravity, and everything may be warded off,
+except Fate." As for the reward thou promisest me, I liken thee
+therein to the serpent that fled from the charmer. A man saw her
+affrighted and said to her, "What ails thee, O serpent?" Quoth
+she, "I am fleeing from the serpent-charmer, who is in chase of
+me, and if thou wilt save me and hide me with thee, I will make
+fair thy recompense and do thee all manner of kindness." So he
+took her, moved both by desire of the promised recompense and a
+wish to find favour with God, and hid her in his bosom. When the
+charmer had passed and gone his way and the serpent had no longer
+any reason to fear, he said to her, "Where is the recompense thou
+didst promise me? Behold, I have saved thee from that thou
+dreadest." "Tell me where I shall bite thee," replied she, "for
+thou knowest we overpass not that recompense." So saying, she
+gave him a bite, of which he died. And I liken thee, O dullard,
+to the serpent in her dealings with the man. Hast thou not heard
+what the poet says?
+
+Trust not in one in whose heart thou hast made wrath to abide And
+     thinkest his anger at last is over and pacified.
+Verily vipers, though smooth and soft to the feel and the eye And
+     graceful of movements they be, yet death-dealing venom they
+     hide.'
+
+'O glib-tongue, lord of the fair face,' said the wolf, 'thou art
+not ignorant of my case and of men's fear of me and knowest how I
+assault the strong places and root up the vines. Wherefore, do as
+I bid thee and bear thyself to me as a servant to his lord.' 'O
+stupid dullard,' answered the fox, 'that seekest a vain thing, I
+marvel at thy stupidity and effrontery, in that thou biddest me
+serve thee and order myself towards thee as I were a slave bought
+with thy money; but thou shalt see what is in store for thee, in
+the way of breaking thy head with stones and knocking out thy
+traitor's teeth.' So saying, he went up to a hill that gave upon
+the vineyard and standing there, called out to the people of the
+place, nor did he give over crying, till he woke them and they,
+seeing him, came up to him in haste. He held his ground till they
+drew near him and near the pit, when he turned and fled. So they
+looked into the pit and spying the wolf, fell to pelting him with
+heavy stones, nor did they leave smiting him with sticks and
+stones and piercing him with lances, till they killed him and
+went away; whereupon the fox returned to the pit and looking
+down, saw the wolf dead: so he wagged his head for excess of joy
+and chanted the following verses:
+
+Fate took the soul o' the wolf and snatched it far away; Foul
+     fall it for a soul that's lost and perished aye!
+How oft, O Gaffer Grim, my ruin hast thou sought! But unrelenting
+     bale is fallen on thee this day.
+Thou fellst into a pit, wherein there's none may fall Except the
+     blasts of death blow on him for a prey.
+
+Then he abode alone in the vineyard, secure and fearing no hurt.
+
+
+
+
+                   THE MOUSE AND THE WEASEL.
+
+
+
+A mouse and a weasel once dwelt in the house of a poor peasant,
+one of whose friends fell sick and the doctor prescribed him
+husked sesame. So he sought of one of his comrades sesame and
+gave the peasant a measure thereof to husk for him; and he
+carried it home to his wife and bade her dress it. So she steeped
+it and husked it and spread it out to dry. When the weasel saw
+the grain, he came up to it and fell to carrying it away to his
+hole, nor stinted all day, till he had borne off the most of it.
+Presently, in came the peasant's wife, and seeing great part of
+the sesame gone, stood awhile wondering; after which she sat down
+to watch and find out the cause. After awhile, out came the
+weasel to carry off more of the grain, but spying the woman
+seated there, knew that she was on the watch for him and said to
+himself, 'Verily, this affair is like to end ill. I fear me this
+woman is on the watch for me and Fortune is no friend to those
+who look not to the issues: so I must do a fair deed, whereby I
+may manifest my innocence and wash out all the ill I have done.'
+So saying, he began to take of the sesame in his hole and carry
+it out and lay it back upon the rest. The woman stood by and
+seeing the weasel do thus, said in herself, 'Verily, this is not
+the thief, for he brings it back from the hole of him that stole
+it and returns it to its place. Indeed, he hath done us a
+kindness in restoring us the sesame and the reward of those that
+do us good is that we do them the like. It is clear that this is
+not he who stole the grain. But I will not leave watching till I
+find out who is the thief.' The weasel guessed what was in her
+mind, so he went to the mouse and said to her, 'O my sister,
+there is no good in him who does not observe the claims of
+neighbourship and shows no constancy in friendship.' 'True, O my
+friend,' answered the mouse, 'and I delight in thee and in thy
+neighbourhood; but what is the motive of thy speech?' Quoth the
+weasel, 'The master of the house has brought home sesame and has
+eaten his fill of it, he and his family, and left much; every
+living soul has eaten of it, and if thou take of it in thy turn,
+thou art worthier thereof than any other.' This pleased the mouse
+and she chirped and danced and frisked her ears and tail, and
+greed for the grain deluded her; so she rose at once and issuing
+forth of her hole, saw the sesame peeled and dry, shining with
+whiteness, and the woman sitting watching, armed with a stick.
+The mouse could not contain herself, but taking no thought to the
+issue of the affair, ran up to the sesame and fell to messing it
+and eating of it; whereupon the woman smote her with the stick
+and cleft her head in twain: so her greed and heedlessness of the
+issue of her actions led to her destruction."
+
+"By Allah," said the Sultan to Shehrzad, "this is a goodly story!
+Hast thou any story bearing upon the beauty of true friendship
+and the observance of its obligations in time of distress and
+rescuing from destruction?" "Yes, answered she; "it hath teached
+me that
+
+
+
+
+                     THE CAT AND THE CROW.
+
+
+
+A crow and a cat once lived in brotherhood. One day, as they were
+together under a tree, they spied a leopard making towards them,
+of which they had not been ware, till he was close upon them. The
+crow at once flew up to the top of the tree; but the cat abode
+confounded and said to the crow, 'O my friend, hast thou no
+device to save me? All my hope is in thee.' 'Indeed,' answered
+the crow, 'it behoveth brethren, in case of need, to cast about
+for a device, whenas any peril overtakes them, and right well
+saith the poet:
+
+He is a right true friend who is with thee indeed And will
+     himself undo, to help thee in thy need,
+Who, when love's severance is by evil fate decreed, To join your
+     sundered lives will risk his own and bleed.'
+
+Now hard by the tree were shepherds with their dogs; so the crow
+flew towards them and smote the face of the earth with his wings,
+cawing and crying out, to draw their attention. Then he went up
+to one of the dogs and flapped his wings in his eyes and flew up
+a little way, whilst the dog ran after him, thinking to catch
+him. Presently, one of the shepherds raised his head and saw the
+bird flying near the ground and lighting now and then; so he
+followed him, and the crow gave not over flying just out of the
+dogs' reach and tempting them to pursue and snap at him: but as
+soon as they came near him, he would fly up a little; and so he
+brought them to the tree. When they saw the leopard, they rushed
+upon it, and it turned and fled. Now the leopard thought to eat
+the cat, but the latter was saved by the craft of its friend the
+crow. This story, O King, shows that the friendship of the
+virtuous saves and delivers from difficulties and dangers.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE FOX AND THE CROW.
+
+
+
+A fox once dwelt in a cave of a certain mountain, and as often as
+a cub was born to him and grew stout, he would eat it, for,
+except he did so, he had died of hunger; and this was grievous to
+him. Now on the top of the same mountain a crow had made his
+nest, and the fox said to himself, 'I have a mind to strike up a
+friendship with this crow and make a comrade of him, that he may
+help me to my day's meat, for he can do what I cannot.' So he
+made for the crow's stead, and when he came within earshot, he
+saluted him, saying, 'O my neighbour, verily a true-believer
+hath two claims upon his true-believing neighbour, that of
+neighbourliness and that of community of faith; and know, O my
+friend, that thou art my neighbour and hast a claim upon me,
+which it behoves me to observe, the more that I have been long
+thy neighbour. Moreover, God hath set in my breast a store of
+love to thee, that bids me speak thee fair and solicit thy
+friendship. What sayst thou?' 'Verily,' answered the crow, 'the
+best speech is that which is soothest, and most like thou
+speakest with thy tongue that which is not in thy heart. I fear
+lest thy friendship be but of the tongue, outward, and shine
+enmity of the heart, inward; for that thou art the Eater and I
+the Eaten, and to hold aloof one from the other were more apt to
+us than friendship and fellowship. What, then, maketh thee seek
+that thou mayst not come at and desire what may not be, seeing
+that thou art of the beast and I of the bird kind? Verily, this
+brotherhood [thou profferest] may not be, neither were it
+seemly.' He who knoweth the abiding-place of excellent things,'
+rejoined the fox, 'betters choice in what he chooses therefrom,
+so haply he may win to advantage his brethren; and indeed I
+should love to be near thee and I have chosen thy companionship,
+to the end that we may help one another to our several desires;
+and success shall surely wait upon our loves. I have store of
+tales of the goodliness of friendship, which, an it like thee, I
+will relate to thee.' 'Thou hast my leave,' answered the crow;
+'let me hear thy story and weigh it and judge of thine intent
+thereby.' 'Hear then, O my friend,' rejoined the fox, 'that which
+is told of a mouse and a flea and which bears out what I have
+said to thee.' 'How so?' asked the crow. 'It is said,' answered
+the fox, 'that
+
+
+
+
+The Mouse and the Flea.
+
+
+
+A mouse once dwelt in the house of a rich and busy merchant. One
+night, a flea took shelter in the merchant's bed and finding his
+body soft and being athirst, drank of his blood. The smart of the
+bite awoke the merchant, who sat up and called to his serving men
+and maids. So they hastened to him and tucking up their sleeves,
+fell to searching for the flea. As soon as the latter was ware of
+the search, he turned to flee and happening on the mouse's hole,
+entered it. When the mouse saw him, she said to him, "What brings
+thee in to me, seeing that thou art not of my kind and canst not
+therefore be assured of safety from violence or ill-usage?"
+"Verily," answered the flea, "I took refuge in thy dwelling from
+slaughter and come to thee, seeking thy protection and not
+anywise coveting thy house, nor shall aught of mischief betide
+thee from me nor aught to make thee leave it. Nay, I hope to
+repay thy favours to me with all good, and thou shalt assuredly
+see and praise the issue of my words." "If the case be as thou
+sayest," answered the mouse, "be at thine ease here; for nought
+shall betide thee, save what may pleasure thee; there shall fall
+on thee rain of peace alone nor shall aught befall thee, but what
+befalls me. I will give thee my love without stint and do not
+thou regret thy loss of the merchant's blood nor lament for thy
+subsistence from him, but be content with what little of
+sufficient sustenance thou canst lightly come by; for indeed this
+is the safer for thee, and I have heard that one of the moral
+poets saith as follows:
+
+I have trodden the road of content and retirement And lived out
+     my life with whatever betided;
+With a morsel of bread and a draught of cold water, Coarse salt
+     and patched garments content I abided.
+If God willed it, He made my life easy of living; Else, I was
+     contented with what He provided."
+
+"O my sister," rejoined the flea, "I hearken to thine injunction
+and submit myself to yield thee obedience, nor have I power to
+gainsay thee, till life be fulfilled, in this fair intent."
+"Purity of intent suffices to sincere affection," replied the
+mouse. So love befell and was contracted between them and after
+this, the flea used (by night) to go to the merchant's bed and
+not exceed moderation (in sucking his blood) and harbour with the
+mouse by day in the latter's hole. One night, the merchant
+brought home great store of dinars and began to turn them over.
+When the mouse heard the chink of the coin, she put her head out
+of her hole and gazed at it, till the merchant laid it under his
+pillow and went to sleep, when she said to the flea, "Seest thou
+not the favourable opportunity and the great good fortune! Hast
+thou any device to bring us to our desire of yonder dinars?"
+"Verily," answered the flea, "it is not good for one to strive
+for aught, but if he be able to compass his desire; for if he
+lack of ableness thereto, he falls into that of which he should
+be ware and attains not his wish for weakness, though he use all
+possible cunning, like the sparrow that picks up grain and falls
+into the net and is caught by the fowler. Thou hast no strength
+to take the dinars and carry them into thy hole, nor can I do
+this; on the contrary, I could not lift a single dinar; so what
+hast thou to do with them?" Quoth the mouse, "I have made me
+these seventy openings, whence I may go out, and set apart a
+place for things of price, strong and safe; and if thou canst
+contrive to get the merchant out of the house, I doubt not of
+success, so Fate aid me." "I will engage to get him out of the
+house for thee," answered the flea and going to the merchant's
+bed, gave him a terrible bite, such as he had never before felt,
+then fled to a place of safety. The merchant awoke and sought for
+the flea, but finding it not, lay down again on his other side.
+Then came the flea and bit him again, more sharply than before.
+So he lost patience and leaving his bed, went out and lay down on
+the bench before the door and slept there and awoke not till the
+morning. Meanwhile the mouse came out and fell to carrying the
+dinars into her hole, till not one was left; and when it was day,
+the merchant began to accuse the folk and imagine all manner of
+things. And know, O wise, clear-sighted and experienced crow
+(continued the fox), that I only tell thee this to the intent
+that thou mayst reap the recompense of thy goodness to me, even
+as the mouse reaped the reward of her kindness to the flea; for
+see how he repaid her and requited her with the goodliest of
+requitals.' Quoth the crow, 'It lies with the benefactor to show
+benevolence or not; nor is it incumbent on us to behave kindly to
+whoso seeks an impossible connection. If I show thee favour, who
+art by nature my enemy, I am the cause of my own destruction, and
+thou, O fox, art full of craft and cunning. Now those, whose
+characteristics these are, are not to be trusted upon oath, and
+he who is not to be trusted upon oath, there is no good faith in
+him. I heard but late of thy perfidious dealing with thy comrade
+the wolf and how thou leddest him into destruction by thy perfidy
+and guile, and this though he was of thine own kind and thou
+hadst long companied with him; yet didst thou not spare him; and
+if thou didst thus with thy fellow, that was of thine own kind,
+how can I have confidence in thy fidelity and what would be thy
+dealing with thine enemy of other than thy kind? Nor can I liken
+thee and me but to the Falcon and the Birds.' 'How so?' asked the
+fox. 'They say,' answered the crow, 'that
+
+
+
+
+The Falcon and the Birds.
+
+
+
+There was once a falcon who was a cruel tyrant in the days of his
+youth, so that the beasts of prey of the air and of the earth
+feared him and none was safe from his mischief; and many were the
+instances of his tyranny, for he did nothing but oppress and
+injure all the other birds. As the years passed over him, he grew
+weak and his strength failed, so that he was oppressed with
+hunger; but his cunning increased with the waning of his strength
+and he redoubled in his endeavour and determined to go to the
+general rendezvous of the birds, that he might eat their
+leavings, and in this manner he gained his living by cunning,
+whenas he could do so no longer by strength and violence. And
+thou, O fox, art like this: if thy strength fail thee, thy
+cunning fails not; and I doubt not that thy seeking my friendship
+is a device to get thy subsistence; but I am none of those who
+put themselves at thy mercy, for God hath given me strength in my
+wings and caution in my heart and sight in my eyes, and I know
+that he who apeth a stronger than he, wearieth himself and is
+often destroyed, wherefore I fear for thee lest, if thou ape a
+stronger than thou, there befall thee what befell the sparrow.'
+'What befell the sparrow?' asked the fox. 'I conjure thee, by
+Allah, to tell me his story.' 'I have heard,' replied the crow,
+'that
+
+
+
+
+The Sparrow and the Eagle.
+
+
+
+A sparrow was once hovering over a sheep-fold, when he saw a
+great eagle swoop down upon a lamb and carry it off in his claws.
+Thereupon the sparrow clapped his wings and said, "I will do even
+as the eagle hath done;" and he conceited himself and aped a
+greater than he. So he flew down forthright and lighted on the
+back of a fat ram, with a thick fleece that was become matted, by
+his lying in his dung and stale, till it was like felt. As soon
+as the sparrow lighted on the sheep's back, he clapped his wings
+and would have flown away, but his feet became tangled in the
+wool and he could not win free. All this while the shepherd was
+looking on, having seen as well what happened with the eagle as
+with the sparrow; so he came up to the latter in a rage and
+seized him. Then he plucked out his wing-feathers and tying his
+feet with a twine, carried him to his children and threw him to
+them. "What is this?" asked they and he answered, "This is one
+that aped a greater than himself and came to grief." Now thou, O
+fox,' continued the crow, 'art like this and I would have thee
+beware of aping a greater than thou, lest thou perish. This is
+all I have to say to thee; so go from me in peace.' When the fox
+despaired of the crow's friendship, he turned away, groaning and
+gnashing his teeth for sorrow and disappointment, which when the
+crow heard, he said to him, 'O fox, why dost thou gnash thy
+teeth?' 'Because I find thee wilier than myself,' answered the
+fox and made off to his den."
+
+"O Shehrzad," said the Sultan, "how excellent and delightful are
+these thy stories! Hast thou more of the like edifying tales?"
+"It is said," answered she, "that
+
+
+
+
+                 THE HEDGEHOG AND THE PIGEONS.
+
+
+
+A hedgehog once took up his abode under a palm-tree, on which
+roosted a pair of wood-pigeons, that had made their nest there
+and lived an easy life, and he said to himself, 'These pigeons
+eat of the fruit of the palm-tree, and I have no means of getting
+at it; but needs must I go about with them.' So he dug a hole at
+the foot of the palm-tree and took up his lodging there, he and
+his wife. Moreover, he made a place of prayer beside the hole, in
+which he shut himself and made a show of piety and abstinence and
+renunciation of the world. The male pigeon saw him praying and
+worshipping and inclined to him for his much devoutness and said
+to him, 'How long hast thou been thus?' 'Thirty years,' replied
+the hedgehog. 'What is thy food?' asked the bird and the other
+answered, 'What falls from the palm-tree.' 'And what is thy
+clothing?' asked the pigeon. 'Prickles,' replied the hedgehog; 'I
+profit by their roughness.' 'And why,' continued the bird, 'hast
+thou chosen this place rather than another?' 'I chose it,'
+answered the hedgehog, 'that I might guide the erring into
+the right way and teach the ignorant.' 'I had thought thee
+other-guise than this,' rejoined the pigeon; but now I feel a
+yearning for that which is with thee.' Quoth the hedgehog, 'I
+fear lest thy deed belie thy speech and thou be even as the
+husbandman, who neglected to sow in season, saying, "I fear lest
+the days bring me not to my desire, and I shall only waste my
+substance by making haste to sow." When the time of harvest came
+and he saw the folk gathering in their crops, he repented him of
+what he had lost by his tardiness and died of chagrin and
+vexation.' 'What then shall I do,' asked the pigeon, 'that I
+may be freed from the bonds of the world and give myself up
+altogether to the service of my Lord?' 'Betake thee to preparing
+for the next world,' answered the hedgehog, 'and content thyself
+with a pittance of food.' 'How can I do this,' said the pigeon,
+'I that am a bird and may not go beyond the palm-tree whereon is
+my food? Nor, could I do so, do I know another place, wherein I
+may abide.' Quoth the hedgehog, 'Thou canst shake down of the
+fruit of the palm what shall suffice thee and thy wife for a
+year's victual; then do ye take up your abode in a nest under the
+tree, that ye may seek to be guided in the right way, and do ye
+turn to what ye have shaken down and store it up against the time
+of need; and when the fruits are spent and the time is long upon
+you, address yourselves to abstinence from food.' 'May God
+requite thee with good,' exclaimed the pigeon, 'for the fair
+intent with which thou hast reminded me of the world to come and
+hast directed me into the right way!' Then he and his wife busied
+themselves in knocking down the dates, till nothing was left on
+the palm-tree, whilst the hedgehog, finding whereof to eat,
+rejoiced and filled his den with the dates, storing them up for
+his subsistence and saying in himself, 'When the pigeon and his
+wife have need of their provant, they will seek it of me,
+trusting in my devoutness and abstinence; and from what they have
+heard of my pious counsels and admonitions, they will draw near
+unto me. Then will I seize them and eat them, after which I shall
+have the place and all that drops from the palm-tree, to suffice
+me.' Presently the pigeon and his wife came down and finding that
+the hedgehog had carried off all the dates, said to him, 'O pious
+and devout-spoken hedgehog of good counsel, we can find no sign
+of the dates and know not on what else we shall feed.' 'Belike,'
+replied the hedgehog, 'the winds have carried them away; but the
+turning from the provision to the Provider is of the essence of
+prosperity, and He who cut the corners of the mouth will not
+leave it without victual.' And he gave not over preaching to them
+thus and making a show of piety and cozening them with fine
+words, till they put faith in him and entered his den, without
+suspicion, where-upon he sprang to the door and gnashed his
+tusks, and the pigeon, seeing his perfidy manifested, said to
+him, 'What has to-night to do with yester-night? Knowest thou not
+that there is a Helper for the oppressed? Beware of treachery and
+craft, lest there befall thee what befell the sharpers who
+plotted against the merchant.' 'What was that?' asked the
+hedgehog. 'I have heard tell,' answered the pigeon, 'that
+
+
+
+
+The Merchant and the Two Sharpers.
+
+
+
+There was once in a city called Sendeh a very wealthy merchant,
+who made ready merchandise and set out with it for such a city,
+thinking to sell it there. There followed him two sharpers, who
+had made up into bales what goods they could get and giving out
+to him that they also were merchants, companied with him by the
+way. At the first halting-place, they agreed to play him false
+and take his goods; but, at the same time, each purposed inwardly
+foul play to the other, saying in himself, "If I can cheat my
+comrade, it will be well for me and I shall have all to myself."
+So each took food and putting therein poison, brought it to his
+fellow; and they both ate of the poisoned mess and died. Now they
+had been sitting talking with the merchant; so when they left him
+and were long absent from him, he sought for them and found them
+both dead; whereby he knew that they were sharpers, who had
+plotted to play him foul, but their treachery had recoiled upon
+themselves; so the merchant was preserved and took what they
+had.'"
+
+"O Shehrzad," said the Sultan, "verily thou hast aroused me to
+all whereof I was negligent! Continue to edify me with these
+fables." Quoth she, "It has come to my knowledge, O King, that
+
+
+
+
+                   THE THIEF AND HIS MONKEY.
+
+
+
+A certain man had a monkey and was a thief, who never entered one
+of the markets of the city in which he dwelt, but he made off
+with great purchase. One day, he saw a man offering for sale worn
+clothes, and he went calling them in the market, but none bid for
+them, and all to whom he showed them refused to buy of him.
+Presently, the thief saw him put the clothes in a wrapper and sit
+down to rest for weariness; so he made the ape sport before him,
+and whilst he was busy gazing at it, stole the parcel from him.
+Then he took the ape and made off to a lonely place, where he
+opened the wrapper and taking out the old clothes, wrapped them
+in a piece of costly stuff. This he carried to another market and
+exposed it for sale with what was therein, making it a condition
+that it should not be opened and tempting the folk with the
+lowness of the price he set on it. A certain man saw the wrapper
+and it pleased him; so he bought the parcel on these terms and
+carried it home, doubting not but he had gotten a prize. When his
+wife saw it, she said, 'What is this?' And he answered, 'It is
+precious stuff, that I have bought below its worth, meaning to
+sell it again and take the profit.' 'O dupe,' rejoined she,
+'would this stuff be sold under its value, except it were stolen?
+Dost thou not know that he who buys a ware, without examining it,
+erreth? And indeed he is like unto the weaver.' 'What is the
+story of the weaver?' asked he; and she said, 'I have heard tell
+that
+
+
+
+
+The Foolish Weaver.
+
+
+
+There was once in a certain village a weaver who could not earn
+his living save by excessive toil. One day, it chanced that a
+rich man of the neighbourhood made a feast and bade the folk
+thereto. The weaver was present and saw such as were richly clad
+served with delicate meats and made much of by the master of the
+house, for what he saw of their gallant array. So he said in
+himself, "If I change this my craft for another, easier and
+better considered and paid, I shall amass store of wealth and
+buy rich clothes, that so I may rise in rank and be exalted in
+men's eyes and become like unto these." Presently, one of the
+mountebanks there climbed up to the top of a steep and lofty wall
+and threw himself down, alighting on his feet; which when the
+weaver saw, he said to himself, "Needs must I do as this fellow
+hath done, for surely I shall not fail of it." So he climbed up
+on to the wall and casting himself down to the ground, broke his
+neck and died forthright. I tell thee this (continued the woman)
+that thou mayst get thy living by that fashion thou knowest and
+throughly understandest, lest greed enter into thee and thou lust
+after what is not of thy competence.' Quoth he, 'Not every wise
+man is saved by his wisdom nor is every fool lost by his folly. I
+have seen a skilful charmer versed in the ways of serpents,
+bitten by a snake and killed, and I have known others prevail
+over serpents, who had no skill in them and no knowledge of their
+ways.' And he hearkened not to his wife, but went on buying
+stolen goods below their value, till he fell under suspicion and
+perished.
+
+
+
+
+                  THE SPARROW AND THE PEACOCK.
+
+
+
+There was once a sparrow, that used every day to visit a certain
+king of the birds and was the first to go in to him and the last
+to leave him. One day, a company of birds assembled on a high
+mountain, and one of them said to another, 'Verily, we are waxed
+many and many are the differences between us, and needs must we
+have a king to order our affairs, so shall we be at one and our
+differences will cease.' Thereupon up came the sparrow and
+counselled them to make the peacock,--that is, the prince he used
+to visit,--king over them. So they chose the peacock to their
+king and he bestowed largesse on them and made the sparrow his
+secretary and vizier. Now the sparrow was wont bytimes to leave
+his assiduity [in the personal service of the king] and look into
+affairs [in general]. One day, he came not at the usual time,
+whereat the peacock was sore troubled; but presently, he returned
+and the peacock said to him, 'What hath delayed thee, that art
+the nearest to me of all my servants and the dearest?' Quoth the
+sparrow, 'I have seen a thing that is doubtful to me and at which
+I am affrighted.' 'What was it thou sawest?' asked the king; and
+the sparrow answered, 'I saw a man set up a net, hard by my nest,
+and drive its pegs fast into the ground. Then he strewed grain in
+its midst and withdrew afar off. As I sat watching what he would
+do, behold, fate and destiny drove thither a crane and his wife,
+which fell into the midst of the net and began to cry out;
+whereupon the fowler came up and took them. This troubled me, and
+this is the reason of my absence from thee, O king of the age;
+but never again will I abide in that nest, for fear of the net.'
+'Depart not thy dwelling,' rejoined the peacock; 'for precaution
+will avail thee nothing against destiny.' And the sparrow obeyed
+his commandment, saying, 'I will take patience and not depart, in
+obedience to the king.' So he continued to visit the king and
+carry him food and water, taking care for himself, till one day
+he saw two sparrows fighting on the ground and said in himself,
+'How can I, who am the king's vizier, look on and see sparrows
+fighting in my neighbourhood? By Allah, I must make peace between
+them!' So he flew down to them, to reconcile them; but the fowler
+cast the net over them and taking the sparrow in question, gave
+him to his fellow, saying, 'Take care of him, for he is the
+fattest and finest I ever saw.' But the sparrow said in himself,
+'I have fallen into that which I feared and it was none but the
+peacock that inspired me with a false security. It availed me
+nothing to beware of the stroke of fate, since for him who taketh
+precaution there is no fleeing from destiny; and how well says
+the poet:
+
+That which is not to be shall by no means be brought To pass, and
+     that which is to be shall come, unsought,
+Even at the time ordained; but he that knoweth not The truth is
+     still deceived and finds his hopes grown nought.'
+
+
+
+
+           STORY OF ALI BEN BEKKAR AND SHEMSENNEHAR.
+
+
+
+There lived once [at Baghdad] in the days of the Khalif Haroun er
+Reshid a merchant named Aboulhusn Ali ben Tahir, who was great of
+goods and grace, handsome and pleasant-mannered, beloved of all.
+He used to enter the royal palace without asking leave, for all
+the Khalif's concubines and slave-girls loved him, and he was
+wont to company with Er Reshid and recite verses to him and tell
+him witty stories. Withal he sold and bought in the merchants'
+bazaar, and there used to sit in his shop a youth named Ali ben
+Bekkar, a descendant of the ancient kings of Persia, who was fair
+of face and elegant of shape, with rosy cheeks and joined
+eyebrows, sweet of speech and laughing-lipped, a lover of mirth
+and gaiety. It chanced one day, as they sat laughing and talking,
+there came up ten damsels like moons, every one of them
+accomplished in beauty and symmetry, and amongst them a young
+lady riding on a mule with housings of brocade and golden
+stirrups. She was swathed in a veil of fine stuff, with a girdle
+of gold-embroidered silk, and was even as says the poet:
+
+She hath a skin like very silk and a soft speech and sweet;
+     Gracious to all, her words are nor too many nor too few.
+Two eyes she hath, quoth God Most High, "Be," and forthright they
+     were; They work as wine upon the hearts of those whom they
+     ensue.
+Add to my passion, love of her, each night; and, solacement Of
+     loves, the Resurrection be thy day of rendezvous!
+
+The lady alighted at Aboulhusn's shop and sitting down there,
+saluted him, and he returned her salute. When Ali ben Bekkar saw
+her, she ravished his understanding and he rose to go away; but
+she said to him, 'Sit in thy place. We came to thee and thou
+goest away: this is not fair.' 'O my lady,' answered he, 'by
+Allah, I flee from what I see; for the tongue of the case saith:
+
+She's the sun and her dwelling's in heaven on high; Look, then,
+     to thine heart thou fair patience commend.
+Thou mayst not climb up to her place in the sky, Nor may she to
+     thee from her heaven descend.'
+
+When she heard this, she smiled and said to Aboulhusn, 'What is
+the name of this young man?' 'He is a stranger,' answered he.
+'What countryman is he?' asked she, and the merchant replied, 'He
+is a descendant of the (ancient) kings of Persia; his name is Ali
+ben Bekkar, and indeed it behoves us to use strangers with
+honour.' 'When my damsel comes to thee,' rejoined she, 'come thou
+at once to us and bring him with thee, that we may entertain him
+in our abode, lest he blame us and say, "There is no hospitality
+in the people of Baghdad:" for niggardliness is the worst fault
+that a man can have. Thou hearest what I say to thee and if thou
+disobey me, thou wilt incur my displeasure and I will never again
+visit thee or salute thee.' 'On my head and eyes,' answered
+Aboulhusn; 'God preserve me from thy displeasure, fair lady!'
+Then she rose and went away, leaving Ali ben Bekkar in a state
+of bewilderment. Presently, the damsel came and said to the
+merchant, 'O my lord Aboulhusn, my lady Shemsennehar, the
+favourite of the Commander of the Faithful Haroun er Reshid, bids
+thee to her, thee and thy friend, my lord Ali ben Bekkar.' So he
+rose and taking Ali with him, followed the girl to the Khalif's
+palace, where she carried them into a chamber and made them sit
+down. They talked together awhile, till she set trays of food
+before them, and they ate and washed their hands. Then she
+brought them wine, and they drank and made merry; after which she
+bade them rise and carried them into another chamber, vaulted
+upon four columns and adorned and furnished after the goodliest
+fashion with various kinds of furniture and decorations, as it
+were one of the pavilions of Paradise. They were amazed at the
+rarities they saw and as they were gazing at these marvels, up
+came ten damsels, like moons, with a proud and graceful gait,
+dazzling the sight and confounding the wit, and ranged themselves
+in two ranks, as they were of the houris of Paradise. After
+awhile, in came ten other damsels, with lutes and other
+instruments of mirth and music in their hands, who saluted the
+two guests and sitting down, fell to tuning their instruments.
+Then they rose and standing before them, played and sang and
+recited verses: and indeed each one of them was a seduction to
+the faithful. Whilst they were thus occupied, there entered other
+ten damsels like unto them, high-bosomed and of an equal age,
+with black eyes and rosy cheeks, joined eyebrows and languorous
+looks, a seduction to the faithful and a delight to all who
+looked upon them, clad in various kinds of coloured silks, with
+ornaments that amazed the wit. They took up their station at the
+door, and there succeeded them yet other ten damsels, fairer than
+they, clad in gorgeous apparel, such as defies description; and
+they also stationed themselves by the door. Then in came a band
+of twenty damsels and amongst them the lady Shemsennehar, as she
+were the moon among the stars, scarved with the luxuriance of her
+hair and dressed in a blue robe and a veil of silk, embroidered
+with gold and jewels. About her middle she wore a girdle set with
+various kinds of precious stones, and she advanced with a
+graceful and coquettish gait, till she came to the couch that
+stood at the upper end of the chamber and seated herself thereon.
+When Ali ben Bekkar saw her, he repeated the following couplets:
+
+Yes, this is she indeed, the source of all my ill, For whom with
+     long desire I languish at Love's will.
+Near her, I feel my soul on fire and bones worn waste For
+     yearning after her that doth my heart fulfih
+
+Then said he to Aboulhusn, 'Thou hadst dealt more kindly with me
+to have forewarned me of these things; that I might have prepared
+my mind and taken patience to support what hath befallen me ;'
+and he wept and groaned and complained. 'O my brother,' replied
+Aboulhusn, 'I meant thee nought but good; but I feared to tell
+thee of this, lest such transport should overcome thee as might
+hinder thee from foregathering with her and intervene between
+thee and her: but take courage and be of good heart, for she is
+well disposed to thee and inclineth to favour thee.' 'What is the
+lady's name?' asked Ali ben Bekkar. 'She is called Shemsennehar,'
+answered Aboulhusn 'she is one of the favourites of the Commander
+of the Faithful Haroun er Reshid and this is the palace of the
+Khalifate.' Then Shemsennehar sat gazing upon Ali ben Bekkar's
+charms and he upon hers, till each was engrossed with love of the
+other. Presently, she commanded the damsels to sit; so they sat
+down, each in her place, on a couch before one of the windows,
+and she bade them sing; whereupon one of them took a lute and
+sang the following verses:
+
+Twice be the message to my love made known, And take the answer
+     from his lips alone.
+To thee, O monarch of the fair, I come And stand, of this my case
+     to make my moan.
+O thou my sovereign, dear my heart and life, That in my inmost
+     bosom hast thy throne,
+Prithee, bestow a kiss upon thy slave; If not as gift, then even
+     as a loan.
+I will repay it, (mayst thou never fail!) Even as I took it, not
+     a little gone.
+Or, if thou wish for more than thou didst lend, Take and content
+     thee; it is all thine own.
+May health's fair garment ever gladden thee, Thee that o'er me
+     the wede of woe hast thrown!
+
+Her singing charmed Ali ben Bekkar, and he said to her, 'Sing me
+more of the like of these verses.' So she struck the strings and
+sang as follows:
+
+By excess of estrangement, beloved mine, Thou hast taught long
+     weeping unto my eyne.
+O joy of my sight and its desire, O goal of my hopes, my
+     worship's shrine,
+Have pity on one, whose eyes are drowned In the sorrowful lover's
+     tears of brine!
+
+
+When she had finished, Shemsennehar said to another damsel, 'Sing
+us somewhat, thou.' So she played a lively measure and sang the
+following verses:
+
+His looks 'twas made me drunken, in sooth, and not his wine; And
+     the grace of his gait has banished sleep from these eyes of
+     mine.
+'Twas not the wine-cup dazed me, but e'en his glossy curls; His
+     charms it was that raised me and not the juice o' the vine.
+His winding browlocks have routed my patience, and my wit Is done
+     away by the beauties his garments do enshrine.[FN#5]
+
+When Shemsennehar heard this, she sighed heavily, and the song
+pleased her. Then she bade another damsel sing; so she took the
+lute and chanted the following:
+
+A face that vies, indeed, with heaven's lamp, the sun; The
+     welling of youth's springs upon him scarce begun.
+His curling whiskers write letters wherein the sense Of love in
+     the extreme is writ for every one.
+Beauty proclaimed of him, whenas with him it met, "A stuff in
+     God's best loom was fashioned forth and done!"
+
+When she had finished, Ali Ben Bekkar. said to the damsel nearest
+him, 'Sing us somewhat, thou.' So she took the lute and sang
+these verses:
+
+The time of union's all too slight For coquetry and prudish
+     flight.
+Not thus the noble are. How long This deadly distance and
+     despite?
+Ah, profit by the auspicious time, To sip the sweets of
+     love-delight.
+
+Ali ben Bekkar followed up her song with plentiful tears; and
+when Shemsennehar saw him weeping and groaning and lamenting, she
+burned with love-longing and desire and passion and transport
+consumed her. So she rose from the couch and came to the door of
+the alcove, where Ali met her and they embraced and fell down
+a-swoon in the doorway; whereupon the damsels came to them and
+carrying them into the alcove, sprinkled rose-water upon them.
+When they revived, they missed Aboulhusn, who had hidden himself
+behind a couch, and the young lady said, 'Where is Aboulhusn?' So
+he showed himself to her from beside the couch, and she saluted
+him, saying, 'I pray God to give me the means of requiting thee
+thy kindness!' Then she turned to Ali ben Bekkar and said to him,
+'O my lord, passion has not reached this pass with thee, without
+doing the like with me; but there is nothing for it but to bear
+patiently what hath befallen us.' 'By Allah, O my lady,' rejoined
+he, 'converse with thee may not content me nor gazing upon thee
+assuage the fire of my heart, nor will the love of thee, that
+hath mastered my soul, leave me, but with the passing away of my
+life.' So saying, he wept and the tears ran down upon his cheeks,
+like unstrung pearls. When Shemsennehar saw him weep, she wept
+for his weeping; and Aboulhusn exclaimed, 'By Allah, I wonder at
+your plight and am confounded at your behaviour; of a truth, your
+affair is amazing and your case marvellous. If ye weep thus, what
+while ye are yet together, how will it be when ye are parted?
+Indeed, this is no time for weeping and wailing, but for
+foregathering and gladness; rejoice, therefore, and make merry
+and weep no more.' Then Shemsennehar signed to a damsel, who went
+out and returned with handmaids bearing a table, whereon were
+silver dishes, full of all manner rich meats. They set the table
+before them, and Shemsennehar began to eat and to feed Ali ben
+Bekkar, till they were satisfied, when the table was removed and
+they washed their hands. Presently the waiting-women brought
+censors and casting bottles and sprinkled them with rose-water
+and incensed them with aloes and ambergris and other perfumes;
+after which they set on dishes of graven gold, containing all
+manner of sherbets, besides fruits and confections, all that the
+heart can desire or the eye delight in, and one brought a flagon
+of carnelian, full of wine. Then Shemsennehar chose out ten
+handmaids and ten singing-women to attend on them and dismissing
+the rest to their apartments, bade some of those who remained
+smite the lute. They did as she bade them and one of them sang
+the following verses:
+
+My soul be a ransom for him who returned my salute with a smile
+     And revived in my breast the longing for union after
+     despair!
+The hands of passion have brought my secret thoughts to the light
+     And that which is in my bosom unto my censors laid bare.
+The very tears of my eyes press betwixt me and him, As though
+     they, even as I, enamoured of him were.
+
+When she had finished, Shemsennehar rose and filling a. cup,
+drank it off, then filled it again and gave it to Ali ben Bekkar;
+after which she bade another damsel sing; and she sang the
+following verses:
+
+My tears, as they flow, are alike to my wine, as I brim it up!
+     For my eyes pour forth of their lids the like of what froths
+     in my cup.[FN#6]
+By Allah, I know not, for sure, whether my eyelids it is Run over
+     with wine or else of my tears it is that I sup!
+
+Then Ali ben Bekkar drank off his cup and returned it to
+Shemsennehar. She filled it again and gave it to Aboulhusn, who
+drank it off. Then she took the lute, saying, 'None shall sing
+over my cup but myself.' So she tuned the strings and sang these
+verses:
+
+The hurrying tears upon his cheeks course down from either eye'
+     For very passion, and love's fires within his heart flame
+     high.
+He weeps whilst near to those he loves, for fear lest they
+     depart: So, whether near or far they be, his tears are never
+     dry.
+
+And again:
+
+Our lives for thee, O cupbearer, O thou whom beauty's self From
+     the bright parting of thy hair doth to the feet army!
+The full moon[FN#7] from thy collar-folds rises, the
+     Pleiades[FN#8] Shine from thy mouth and in thine hands there
+     beams the sun of day.[FN#9]
+I trow, the goblets wherewithal thou mak'st us drunk are those
+     Thou pourest to us from thine eyes, that lead the wit
+     astray.
+Is it no wonder that thou art a moon for ever full And that thy
+     lovers 'tis, not thou, that wane and waste away?
+Art thou a god, that thou, indeed, by favouring whom thou wilt
+     And slighting others, canst at once bring back to life and
+     slay?
+GCod moulded beauty from thy form and eke perfumed the breeze With
+     the sheer sweetness of the scent that cleaves to thee alway.
+None of the people of this world, an angel sure thou art, Whom
+     thy Creator hath sent down, to hearten our dismay.
+
+When Ali and Aboulhusn and the bystanders heard Shemsennehar's
+song, they were transported and laughed and sported; but while
+they were thus engaged, up came a damsel, trembling for fear, and
+said, 'O my lady, Afif and Mesrour and Merjan and others of the
+Commander of the Faithful's eunuchs, whom I know not, are at the
+door.' When they heard this they were like to die of fright, but
+Shemsennehar laughed and said, 'Have no fear.' Then said she to
+the damsel, 'Hold them in parley, whilst we remove hence.' And
+she caused shut the doors of the alcove upon Ali and Aboulhusn
+and drew the curtains over them; after which she shut the door of
+the saloon and went out by the privy gate into the garden, where
+she seated herself on a couch she had there and bade one of the
+damsels rub her feet. Then she dismissed the rest of her women
+and bade the portress admit those who were at the door; whereupon
+Mesrour entered, he and his company, twenty men with drawn
+swords, and saluted her. Quoth she, 'Wherefore come-ye?' And they
+answered, 'The Commander of the Faithful salutes thee. He wearies
+for thy sight and would have thee to know that this with him is a
+day of great joy and gladness and he is minded to seal his
+gladness with thy present company: wilt thou then go to him or
+shall he come to thee?' At this she rose, and kissing the earth,
+said, 'I hear and obey the commandment of the Commander of the
+Faithful.' Then she summoned the chief (female) officers of her
+household and other damsels and made a show of complying with the
+Khalif's orders and commanding them to make preparations for his
+reception, albeit all was in readiness; and she said to the
+eunuchs, 'Go to the Commander of the Faithful and tell him that I
+await him after a little space, that I may make ready for him a
+place with carpets and so forth.' So they returned in haste to
+the Khalif, whilst Shemsennehar, doffing her (outer) clothing,
+repaired to her beloved Ali ben Bekkar and strained him to her
+bosom and bade him farewell, whereat he wept sore and said, 'O my
+lady, this leave-taking will lead to the ruin of my soul and the
+loss of my life; but I pray God to grant me patience to bear this
+my love, wherewith He hath smitten me!' 'By Allah, answered she,
+'none will suffer perdition but I; for thou wilt go out to the
+market and company with those that will divert thee, and thine
+honour will be in safety and thy passion concealed; whilst I
+shall fall into trouble and weariness nor find any to console me,
+more by token that I have given the Khalif a rendezvous, wherein
+haply great peril shall betide me, by reason of my love and
+longing passion for thee and my grief at being parted from thee.
+For with what voice shall I sing and with what heart shall I
+present me before the Khalif and with what speech shall I
+entertain the Commander of the Faithful and with what eyes shall
+I look upon a place where thou art not and take part in a banquet
+at which thou art not present and with what taste shall I drink
+wine of which thou partakest not?' 'Be not troubled,' said
+Aboulhusn 'but take patience and be not remiss in entertaining
+the Commander of the Faithful this night, neither show him any
+neglect, but be of good courage.' At this juncture, up came a
+damsel, who said to Shemsennehar, 'O my lady, the Khalif's pages
+are come.' So she rose to her feet and said to the maid, 'Take
+Aboulhusn and his friend and carry them to the upper gallery
+giving upon the garden and there leave them, till it be dark;
+when do thou make shift to carry them forth.' Accordingly, the
+girl carried them up to the gallery and locking the door upon
+them, went away. As they sat looking on the garden, the Khalif
+appeared, preceded by near a hundred eunuchs with drawn swords
+and compassed about with a score of damsels, as they were moons,
+holding each a lighted flambeau. They were clad in the richest of
+raiment and on each one's head was a crown set with diamonds
+and rubies. The Khalif walked in their midst with a majestic
+gait, whilst Mesrour and Afif and Wesif went before him and
+Shemsennehar and all her damsels rose to receive him and meeting
+him at the garden door, kissed the earth before him; nor did they
+cease to go before him, till they brought him to the couch,
+whereon he sat down, whilst all the waiting-women and eunuchs
+stood before him and there came fair maids and slave-girls with
+lighted flambeaux and perfumes and essences and instruments of
+music. Then he bade the singers sit down, each in her room, and
+Shemsennehar came up and seating herself on a stool by the
+Khalif's side, began to converse with him, whilst Ali and the
+jeweller looked on and listened, unseen of the prince. The Khalif
+fell to jesting and toying with Shemsennehar and bade throw open
+the (garden) pavilion. So they opened the doors and windows and
+lighted the flambeaux till the place shone in the season of
+darkness even as the day. The eunuchs removed thither the
+wine-service and (quoth Aboulhusn), 'I saw drinking-vessels and
+rarities, whose like mine eyes never beheld, vases of gold and
+silver and all manner precious stones and jewels, such as beggar
+description, till indeed meseemed I was dreaming, for excess of
+amazement at what I saw!' But as for Ali ben Bekkar, from the
+moment Shemsennehar left him, he lay prostrate on the ground for
+excess of passion and desire and when he revived, he fell to
+gazing upon these things that had not their like, and saying to
+Aboulhusn, 'O my brother, I fear lest the Khalif see us or come
+to know of us; but the most of my fear is for thee. For myself, I
+know that I am surely lost past recourse, and the cause of my
+destruction is nought but excess of passion and love-longing and
+desire and separation from my beloved, after union with her; but
+I beseech God to deliver us from this predicament.' Then they
+continued to look on, till the banquet was spread before the
+Khalif, when he turned to one of the damsels and said to her, 'O
+Gheram, let us hear some of thine enchanting songs.' So she tool:
+the lute and tuning it, sang as follows:
+
+The longing of a Bedouin maid, whose folk are far away, Who
+     yearns after the willow of the Hejaz and the bay,--
+Whose tears, when she on travellers lights, might for their water
+     serve And eke her passion, with its heat, their bivouac-fire
+     purvey,--
+Is not more fierce nor ardent than my longing for my love, Who
+     deem: that I commit a crime in loving him alway.
+
+When Shemsennehar heard this, she slipped off the stool on which
+she sat and fell to the earth insensible; where upon the damsels
+came and lifted her up. When Ali ben Bekkar saw this from the
+gallery, he also fell down senseless, and Aboulhusn said, 'Verily
+Fate hath apportioned passion equally between you!' As he spoke,
+in came the damsel who had brought them thither and said to him,
+'O Aboulhusn, arise and come down, thou and thy friend, for of a
+truth the world is grown strait upon us and I fear lest our case
+be discovered or the Khalif become aware of you: so, except you
+descend at once, we are dead folk. 'How shall this youth
+descend,' replied he, 'seeing that he hath not strength to rise?'
+With this she fell to sprinkling rose-water on Ali ben Bekkar,
+till he came to himself, when Aboulhusn lifted him up and the
+damsel stayed him. So they went down from the gallery and walked
+on awhile, till they came to a little iron door, which the damsel
+opened, and they found themselves on the Tigris' bank. Here they
+sat down on a stone bench, whilst the girl clapped her hands and
+there came up a man with a little boat, to whom said she, 'Carry
+these two young men to the other bank.' So they all three entered
+the boat and the man put off with them; and as they launched out
+into the stream, Ali ben Bekkar looked back towards the Khalif's
+palace and the pavilion and the garden and bade them farewell
+with these verses:
+
+I stretch forth a feeble hand to bid farewell to thee, With the
+     other upon my burning breast, beneath the heart of me.
+But be not this the last of the love betwixt us twain And let not
+     this the last of my soul's refreshment be.
+
+The damsel said to the boatman, 'Make haste with them.' So he
+plied his oars swiftly till they reached the opposite bank, where
+they landed, and she took lease of them, saying, 'It were my wish
+not to leave you, but I can go no farther than this.' Then she
+turned back, whilst Ali ben Bekkar lay on the ground before
+Aboulhusn and could not rise, till the latter said to him, 'This
+place is not sure and I am in fear of our lives, by reason of the
+thieves and highwaymen and men of lawlessness.' With this Ali
+arose and essayed to walk a little, but could not. Now Aboulhusn
+had friends in that quarter, so he made for the house of one of
+them, in whom he trusted and who was of his intimates, and
+knocked at the door. The man came out quickly and seeing them,
+bade them welcome and brought them into his house, where he made
+them sit down and talked with them and asked them whence they
+came. Quoth Aboulhusn 'We came out but now, being moved thereto
+by a man with whom I had dealings and who hath in his hands
+monies of mine. It was told me that he was minded to flee into
+foreign countries with my money; so I came out to-night in quest
+of him, taking with me this my friend Ali ben Bekkar for company
+but he hid from us and we could get no speech of him So we turned
+back, empty-handed, and knew not whither to go, for it were
+irksome to us to return home at this hour of the night; wherefore
+we came to thee, knowing thy wonted courtesy and kindness.' 'Ye
+are right welcome,' answered the host, and studied to do them
+honour. They abode with him the rest of the night, and as soon as
+it was day, they left him and made their way back to the city.
+When they came to Aboulhusn's house, the latter conjured his
+friend to enter; so they went in and lying down on the bed, slept
+awhile. When they awoke, Aboulhusn bade his servants spread the
+house with rich carpets saying in himself, 'Needs must I divert
+this youth and distract him from thoughts of his affliction, for
+I know his case better than another.' Then he called for water
+for Ali ben Bekkar, and the latter rose and making his ablutions,
+prayed the obligatory prayers that he had omitted for the past
+day and night; after which he sat down and began to solace
+himself with talk with his friend. When Aboulhusn saw this, he
+turned to him and said, 'O my lord, it were better for thy case
+that thou abide with me this night, so thy heart may be lightened
+and the anguish of love-longing that is upon thee be dispelled
+and thou make merry with us and haply the fire of thy heart be
+allayed.' 'O my brother,' answered Ali, 'do what seemeth good to
+thee; for I may not anywise escape from what hath befallen me.'
+Accordingly, Aboulhusn arose and bade his servants summon some of
+the choicest of his friends and sent for singers and musicians.
+Meanwhile he made ready meat and drink for them, and they came
+and sat eating and drinking and making merry till nightfall Then
+they lit the candles, and the cups of friendship and good
+fellowship went round amongst them, and the time passed
+pleasantly with them. Presently, a singing-woman took the lute
+and sang the following verses:
+
+Fate launched at me a dart, the arrow of an eye; It pierced me
+     and cut off from those I love am I.
+Fortune hath mauled me sore and patience fails me now; But long
+     have I forebode misfortune drawing nigh.
+
+When Ali ben Bekkar heard this, he fell to the earth in a swoon
+and abode thus till daybreak, and Aboulhusn despaired of him.
+But, with the dawning, he came to himself and sought to go home;
+nor could Aboulhusn deny him, for fear of the issue of his
+affair. So he made his servants bring a mule and mounting Ali
+thereon, carried him to his lodging, he and one of his men. When
+he was safe at home, the merchant thanked God for his deliverance
+from that peril and sat awhile with him, comforting him; but Ali
+could not contain himself, for the violence of his passion and
+love-longing. Presently Aboulhusn rose to take leave of him and
+Ali said, 'O my brother, leave me not without news.' 'I hear and
+obey, answered Aboulhusn, and repairing to his shop, opened it
+and sat there all day, expecting news of Shemsennehar; but none
+came. He passed the night in his own house and when it was day,
+he went to Ali ben Bekkar's lodging and found him laid on his
+bed, with his friends about him and physicians feeling his pulse
+and prescribing this or that. When he saw Aboulhusn, he smiled,
+and the latter saluting him, enquired how he did and sat with him
+till the folk withdrew, when he said to him, 'What plight is
+this?' Quoth Ali, 'It was noised abroad that I was ill and I have
+no strength to rise and walk, so as to give the lie to the report
+of my sickness, but continue lying here as thou seest. So my
+friends heard of me and came to visit me. But, O my brother, hast
+thou seen the damsel or heard any news of her?' 'I have not seen
+her,' answered Aboulhusn, 'since we parted from her on the
+Tigris' bank; but, O my brother, beware of scandal and leave this
+weeping.' 'O my brother,' rejoined Ali, 'indeed, I have no
+control over myself ;' and he sighed and recited the following
+verses:
+
+She giveth unto her hand that whereof mine doth fail, A dye on
+     the wrist, wherewith she doth my patience assail
+She standeth in fear for her hand of the arrows she shoots from
+     her eyes; So, for protection, she's fain to clothe it in
+     armour of mail.[FN#10]
+The doctor in ignorance felt my pulse, and I said to him, "Leave
+     thou my hand alone; my heart it is that doth ail."
+Quoth she to the dream of the night, that visited me and fled,
+     "By Allah, describe him to me and bate me no jot of the
+     tale!"
+It answered, "I put him away, though he perish of thirst, and
+     said, 'Stand off from the watering-place!' So he could not
+     to drink avail."
+She poured forth the pearls of her tears from her eyes' narcissus
+     and gave The rose of her cheeks to drink and bit upon
+     jujubes[FN#11] with hail.[FN#12]
+
+Then he said, 'O Aboulhusn, I am smitten with an affliction, from
+which I deemed myself in surety, and there is no greater ease for
+me than death.' 'Be patient,' answered his friend: 'peradventure
+God will heal thee.' Then he went out from him and repairing
+to his shop, opened it, nor had he sat long, when up came
+Shemsennehar's hand-maid, who saluted him. He returned her salute
+and looking at her, saw that her heart was palpitating and that
+she was troubled and bore the traces of affliction: so he said to
+her, 'Thou art welcome. How is it with Shemsennehar?' 'I will
+tell thee,' answered she; 'but first tell me how doth Ali ben
+Bekkar.' So he told her all that had passed, whereat she was
+grieved and sighed and lamented and marvelled at his case. Then
+said she, 'My lady's case is still stranger than this; for when
+you went away, I turned back, troubled at heart for you and
+hardly crediting your escape, and found her lying prostrate in
+the pavilion, speaking not nor answering any, whilst the
+Commander of the Faithful sat by her head, unknowing what aided
+her and finding none who could give him news of her. She ceased
+not from her swoon till midnight, when she revived and the Khalif
+said to her, "What ails thee, O Shemsennehar, and what has
+behllen thee this night?" "May God make me thy ransom, O
+Commander of the Faithful!" answered she. "Verily, bile rose in
+me and lighted a fire in my body, so that I lost my senses for
+excess of pain, and I know no more." "What hast thou eaten
+to-day?" asked the Khalif. Quoth she, "I broke my fast on
+something I had never before eaten." Then she feigned to be
+recovered and calling for wine, drank it and begged the Khalif to
+resume his diversion. So he sat down again on his couch in the
+pavilion and made her sit as before. When she saw me, she asked
+me how you fared; so I told her what I had done with you and
+repeated to her the verses that Ali ben BeLkar had recited at
+parting, whereat she wept secretly, but presently stinted. After
+awhile, the Khalif ordered a damsel to sing, and she chanted the
+following verses:
+
+Life, as I live, has not been sweet since I did part from thee;
+     Would God I knew but how it fared with thee too after me!
+If thou be weeping tears of brine for sev'rance of our loves, Ah,
+     then, indeed, 'twere meet my tears of very blood should be.
+
+When my lady heard this, she fell back on the sofa in a swoon,
+and I seized her hand and sprinkled rose-water on her face, till
+she revived, when I said to her, "O my lady, do not bring ruin on
+thyself and on all thy house-hold, but be patient, by the life of
+thy beloved!" "Can aught befall me worse than death?" answered
+she. "That, indeed, I long for, for, by Allah, my ease is
+therein." Whilst we were talking, another damsel sang the
+following words of the poet:
+
+"Patience shall peradventure lead to solacement," quoth they; and
+     I, "Where's patience to be had, now he is gone away?"
+He made a binding covenant with me to cut the cords Of patience,
+     when we two embraced upon the parting day.
+
+When Shemsennehar heard this, she swooned away once more, which
+when the Khalif saw, he came to her in haste and commanded the
+wine-service to be removed and each damsel to return to her
+chamber. He abode with her the rest of the night, and when it was
+day, he sent for physicians and men of art and bade them medicine
+her, knowing not that her sickness arose from passion and
+love-longing. He tarried with her till he deemed her in a way of
+recovery, when he returned to his palace, sore concerned for her
+illness, and she bade me go to thee and bring her news of Ali ben
+Bekkar. So I came, leaving with her a number of her bodywomen;
+and this is what has delayed me from thee.' When Aboulhusn heard
+her story, he marvelled and said, 'By Allah, I have acquainted
+thee with his whole case; so now return to thy mistress; salute
+her for me and exhort her to patience and secrecy and tell her
+that I know it to be a hard matter and one that calls for prudent
+ordering.' She thanked him and taking leave of him, returned to
+her mistress, whilst he abode in his place till the end of the
+day, when he shut the shop and betaking himself to Ali ben
+Bekkar's house, knocked at the door. One of the servants came out
+and admitted him; and when Ali saw him, he smiled and re-joiced
+in his coming, saying, 'O Aboulhusn, thou hast made a weary man
+of me by thine absence from me this day; for indeed my soul is
+pledged to thee for the rest of my days.' 'Leave this talk,'
+answered the other. 'Were thy healing at the price of my hand, I
+would cut it off, ere thou couldst ask me; and could I ransom
+thee with my life, I had already laid it down for thee. This very
+day, Shemsennehar's handmaid has been with me and told me that
+what hindered her from coming before this was the Khalif's
+sojourn with her mistress;' and he went on to repeat to him all
+that the girl had told him of Shemsennehar; at which Ali lamented
+sore and wept and said to him, 'O my brother, I conjure thee by
+God to help me in this mine affliction and teach me how I shall
+do! Moreover, I beg thee of thy grace to abide with me this
+night, that I may have the solace of thy company.' Aboulhusn
+agreed to this; so they talked together till the night darkened,
+when Ali groaned aloud and lamented and wept copious tears,
+reciting the following verses:
+
+My eye holds thine image ever; thy name in my mouth is aye And
+     still in my heart is thy sojourn; so how canst thou absent
+     be?
+How sore is my lamentation for life that passes away Nor is
+     there, alas! in union a part for thee and me!
+
+And also these:
+
+She cleft with the sword of her glance the helm of my courage in
+     two And the mail of my patience she pierced with the spear
+     of her shape through and through.
+She unveiled to us, under the musk of the mole that is set on her
+     cheek, carnphor-whlte dawning a-break through a night of the
+     ambergris' hue.[FN#13]
+Her spirit was stirred to chagrin and she bit on cornelian[FN#14]
+     with pearls,[FN#15] Whose unions unvalued abide in a lakelet
+     of sugary dew.
+She sighed for impatience and smote with her palm on the snows of
+     her breast. Her hand left a scar; so I saw what never before
+     met my view;
+Pens fashioned of coral (her nails), that, dinting the book of
+     her breast Five lines, scored in ambergris ink, on a table
+     of crystal drew,
+O ye that go girded with steel, O swordsmen, I rede you beware Of
+     the stroke of her death-dealing eyes, that never looked yet
+     but they slew!
+And guard yourselves, ye of the spears, and fence off her thrust
+     from your hearts, If she tilt with the quivering lance of
+     her shape straight and slender at you.
+
+Then he gave a great cry and fell down in a swoon. Aboulhusn
+thought that his soul had departed his body and he ceased not
+from his swoon till daybreak, when he came to himself and talked
+with his friend, who sat with him till the forenoon. Then he left
+him and repaired to his shop. Hardly had he opened it, when the
+damsel came and stood before him. As soon as he saw her, she made
+a sign of salutation to him, which he returned; and she greeted
+him for her mistress, saying, 'How doth Ali ben BeLkar?' 'O good
+damsel,' replied he, 'ask me not how he doth nor what he suffers
+for excess of passion; for he sleeps not by night neither rests
+by day; wakefulness wasteth him and affliction hath gotten the
+mastery of him and his case is distressful to his friend.' Quoth
+she, 'My lady salutes thee and him, and indeed she is in worse
+case than he. She hath written him a letter and here it is. When
+she gave it me, she said to me, "Do not return save with the
+answer." So wilt thou go with me to him and get his reply?' 'I
+hear and obey,' answered Aboulhusn, and shutting his shop,
+carried her, by a different way to that by which he came, to Ali
+ben Bekkar's house, where he left her standing at the door and
+entered. When Ali saw him, he rejoiced, and Aboulhusn said to
+him, 'The reason of my coming is that such an one hath sent his
+handmaid to thee with a letter, containing his greeting to thee
+and excusing himself for that he hath tarried by reason of a
+certain matter that hath betided him. The girl stands even now at
+the door: shall she have leave to enter?' And he signed to him
+that it was Shemsennehar's slave-girl. Ali understood his sign
+and answered, 'Bring her in.' So she entered and when he saw her,
+he shook for joy and signed to her, as who should say, 'How doth
+thy lord, may God grant him health and recovery!' 'He is well,'
+answered she and pulling out the letter, gave it to him. He took
+it and kissing it, opened and read it; after which he handed it
+to Aboulhusn, who found written therein what follows:
+
+The messenger of me will give thee news aright; So let his true
+     report suffice thee for my sight.
+A lover hast thou left, for love of thee distraught; Her eyes
+     cease never-more from watching, day or night.
+I brace myself to bear affliction, for to foil The buffets of
+     ill-fate is given to no wight.
+But be thou of good cheer; for never shall my heart Forget thee
+     nor thy thought be absent from my spright.
+Look on thy wasted frame and what is fallen thereon And thence
+     infer of me and argue of my plight.
+
+To proceed: I have written thee a letter without fingers and
+speak to thee without tongue; to tell thee my whole state, I have
+an eye from which sleeplessness is never absent and a heart
+whence sorrowful thought stirs not. It is with me as I had never
+known health nor let sadness, neither beheld a fair face nor
+spent an hour of pleasant life; but it is as I were made up of
+love-longing and of the pain of passion and chagrin. Sickness is
+unceasing upon me and my yearning redoubles ever; desire
+increases still and longing rages in my heart. I pray God to
+hasten our union and dispel the trouble of my mind: and I would
+fain have thee write me some words, that I may solace myself
+withal. Moreover, I would have thee put on a becoming patience,
+till God give relief; and peace be on thee.' When Ali ben Bekkar
+had read this letter, he said, 'With what hand shall I write and
+with what tongue shall I make moan and lament? Indeed she addeth
+sickness to my sickness and draweth death upon my death!' Then he
+sat up and taking inkhorn and paper, wrote the following reply:
+'In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. O my lady,
+thy letter hath reached me and hath given ease to a mind worn out
+with passion and desire and brought healing to a wounded heart,
+cankered with languishment and sickness; for indeed I am become
+even as saith the poet:
+
+
+Bosom contracted and grievous thought dilated, Eyes ever wakeful
+     and body wearied aye;
+Patience cut off and separation ever present, Reason disordered
+     and heart all stolen away.
+
+Know that complaining quenches not the fire of calamity; but it
+eases him whom love-longing consumes and separation destroys; and
+so I comfort myself with the mention of the word "union;" for how
+well saith the poet:
+
+If love had not pain and pleasure, satisfaction and despite,
+     Where of messengers and letters were for lovers the
+     delight?'
+
+When he had made an end of this letter, he gave it to Aboulhusn,
+saying, 'Read it and give it to the damsel.' So he took it and
+read it and its words stirred his soul and its meaning wounded
+his vitals. Then he gave it to the girl, and Ali said to her,
+'Salute thy lady for me and tell her of my passion and longing
+and how love is blent with my flesh and my bones; and say to her
+that I need one who shall deliver me from the sea of destruction
+and save me from this dilemma; for of a truth fortune oppresseth
+me with its vicissitudes; and is there any helper to free me from
+its defilements?' So saying, he wept and the damsel wept for his
+weeping. Then she took leave of him and Aboulhusn went out with
+her and bade her farewell. So she went her way and he returned to
+his shop, which he opened, and sat down there, according to his
+wont; but as he sat, he found his bosom straitened and his heart
+oppressed and was troubled about his case. He ceased not from
+melancholy thought the rest of that day and night, and on the
+morrow he betook himself to Ali ben Bekkar, with whom he sat till
+the folk withdrew, when he asked him how he did. Ali began to
+complain of passion and descant upon the longing and distraction
+that possessed him, ending by repeating the following words of
+the poet:
+
+Folk have made moan of passion before me of past years, And live
+     and dead for absence have suffered pains and fears;
+But what within my bosom I harbour, with mine eyes I've never
+     seen the like of nor heard it with mine ears.
+
+And also these:
+
+I've suffered for thy love what Cais, that madman[FN#16] hight,
+     Did never undergo for love of Leila bright.
+Yet chase I not the beasts o' the desert, as did he; For madness
+     hath its kinds for this and th' other wight.
+
+Quoth Aboulhusn, 'Never did I see or hear of one like unto thee
+in thy love! If thou sufferest all this transport and sickness
+and trouble, being enamoured of one who returns thy passion, how
+would it be with thee, if she whom thou lovest were contrary and
+perfidious? Meseems, thy case will be discovered, if thou abide
+thus.' His words pleased Ali ben Bekkar and he trusted in him and
+thanked him.
+
+Now Aboulhusn had a friend, to whom he had discovered his affair
+and that of Ali ben Bekkar and who knew that they were close
+friends; but none other than he was acquainted with what was
+betwixt them. He was wont to come to him and enquire how Ali did
+and after a little, he began to ask about the damsel; but
+Aboulhusn put him off, saying, 'She invited him to her and there
+was between him and her what passeth words, and this is the end
+of their affair; but I have devised me a plan which I would fain
+submit to thy judgment.' 'And what is that?' asked his friend. 'O
+my brother,' answered Aboulhusn, 'I am a man well known, having
+much dealing among the notables, both men and women, and I fear
+lest the affair of these twain get wind and this lead to my death
+and the seizure of my goods and the ruin of my repute and that of
+my family. Wherefore I purpose to get together my property and
+make ready forthright and repair to the city of Bassora and abide
+there, till I see what comes of their affair, that none may know
+of me, for passion hath mastered them and letters pass between
+them. Their go-between and confidant at this present is a
+slave-girl, who hath till now kept their counsel, but I fear lest
+haply she be vexed with them or anxiety get the better of her and
+she discover their case to some one and the matter be noised
+abroad and prove the cause of my ruin; for I have no excuse
+before God or man.' 'Thou acquaintest me with a perilous matter,'
+rejoined his friend, 'and one from the like of which the wise and
+understanding will shrink in affright. May God preserve thee and
+avert from thee the evil thou dreadest! Assuredly, thy resolve is
+a wise one.' So Aboulhusn returned home and betook himself to
+setting his affairs in order and preparing for his journey; nor
+had three days elapsed ere he made an end of his business and
+departed for Bassora. Three days after, his friend came to visit
+him, but finding him not, asked the neighbours of him; and they
+answered, 'He set out three days ago for Bassora, for he had
+dealings with merchants there and is gone thither to collect his
+debts; but he will soon return.' The man was confounded at the
+news and knew not whither to go; and he said in himself, 'Would I
+had not parted with Aboulhusn!' Then he bethought him how he
+should gain access to Ali ben Bekkar and repairing to the
+latter's lodging, said to one of his servants, 'Ask leave for me
+of thy master that I may go in and salute him.' So the servant
+went in and told his master and presently returning, invited the
+man to enter. So he went in and found Ali ben Bekkar lying back
+on the pillow and saluted him. Ali returned his greeting and bade
+him welcome; whereupon the other began to excuse himself for
+having held aloof from him all this while and added, 'O my lord,
+there was a close friendship between Aboulhusn and myself, so
+that I used to trust him with my secrets and could not brook to
+be severed from him an hour. It chanced but now that I was absent
+three days' space on certain business with a company of my
+friends, and when I came back, I found his shop shut; so I asked
+the neighbours of him and they replied, "He is gone to Bassora."
+Now I know he had no surer friend than thou; so I conjure thee,
+by Allah, to tell me what thou knowest of him.' When Ali heard
+this, his colour changed and he was troubled and answered, 'I
+never heard of his departure till this day, and if it be as thou
+sayest, weariness is come upon me.' And he repeated the following
+verses:
+
+Whilom I wept for what was past of joy and pleasant cheer, Whilst
+     yet the objects of my love were unremoved and near;
+But now my sad and sorry fate hath sundered me and them And I
+     to-day must weep for those that were to me most dear.
+
+Then he bent his head awhile in thought and presently raising it,
+said to one of his servants, 'Go to Aboulhusn'' house and enquire
+whether he be at home or gone on a journey. If they say, "He is
+abroad;" ask whither.' The servant went out and presently
+returning, said to his master, 'When I asked after Aboulhusn, his
+people told me that he was gone on a journey to Bassora; but I
+saw a damsel standing at the door, who knew me, though I knew her
+not, and said to me, "Art thou not servant to Ali ben Bekkar?"
+"Yes," answered I. And she said, "I have a message for him from
+one who is the dearest of all folk to him." So she came with me
+and is now at the door.' Quoth Ali, 'Bring her in.' So the
+servant went out and brought her in, and the man who was with Ali
+ben Bekkar looked at her and found her comely. She came up to Ali
+and saluting him, talked with him privily; and he from time to
+time exclaimed with an oath and swore that he had not done as she
+avouched. Then she took leave of him and went away. When she was
+gone, Aboulhusn's friend, who was a jeweller, took occasion to
+speak and said to Ali ben Bekkar, 'Doubtless, the women of the
+palace have some claim upon thee or thou hast dealings with the
+Khalif's household?' 'Who told thee of this?' asked Ali. 'I
+know it by yonder damsel,' replied the jeweller, 'who is
+Shemsennehar's slave-girl; for she came to me awhile since with a
+written order for a necklace of jewels; and I sent her a costly
+one.' When Ali heard this, he was greatly troubled, so that the
+jeweller feared for his life, but after awhile he recovered
+himself and said, 'O my brother, I conjure thee by Allah to tell
+me truly how thou knowest her.' 'Do not press me as to this,'
+replied the other; and Ali said, 'Indeed, I will not desist from
+thee till thou tell me the truth.' 'Then,' said the jeweller, 'I
+will tell thee all, that thou mayst not distrust me nor be
+alarmed at what I said, nor will I conceal aught from thee, but
+will discover to thee the truth of the matter, on condition that
+thou possess me with the true state of thy case and the cause of
+thy sickness.' Then he told him all that had passed between
+Aboulhusn and himself, adding that he had acted thus only out of
+friendship for him and of his desire to serve him and assuring
+him that he would keep his secret and venture life and goods in
+his service. So Ali in turn told him his story and added, 'By
+Allah, O my brother, nought moved me to keep my case secret from
+thee and others but my fear lest the folk should lift the veils
+of protection from certain persons.' 'And I,' rejoined the
+jeweller, 'desired not to foregather with thee but of the great
+affection I bear thee and my zeal for thee in every case and my
+compassion for the anguish thy heart endureth for severance.
+Haply, I may be a comforter to thee in the room of my friend
+Aboulhusn, during his absence. So take heart and be of good
+cheer.' Ali thanked him and repeated the following verses:
+
+If, 'I am patient,' I say, since forth from me he went, My tears
+     give me the lie and the stress of my lament.
+And how shall I hide the tears, that flow in streams adown The
+     table of my cheek for his evanishment?
+
+Then he was silent awhile, and presently said to the jeweller,
+'Knowest thou what the girl whispered to me?' 'Not I, by Allah, O
+my lord,' answered he. Quoth Ali, 'She would have it that I had
+counselled Aboulhusn to go to Bassora and that I had used this
+device to put a stop to our correspondence and intercourse. I
+swore to her that this was not so: but she would not credit me
+and went away to her mistress, persisting in her injurious
+suspicions; and indeed I know not what I shall do without
+Aboulhusn, for she inclined to him and gave ear to his word.' 'O
+my brother,' answered the jeweller, 'I guessed as much from her
+manner; but, if it please God the Most High, I will help thee to
+thy desire.' 'Who can help me,' rejoined Ali, 'and how wilt thou
+do with her, when she takes umbrage like a wilding of the
+desert?' 'By Allah,' exclaimed the jeweller, 'needs must I
+do my utmost endeavour to help thee and contrive to make her
+acquaintance, without exposure or mischief!' Then he asked leave
+to depart, and Ali said, 'O my brother, see thou keep my counsel'
+And he looked at him and wept. The jeweller bade him farewell and
+went away, knowing not what he should do to further his wishes;
+but as he went along pondering the matter, he spied a letter
+lying in the road, and taking it up, found that it bore the
+following superscription, 'From the least worthy of lovers to the
+most excellent of beloved ones.' He opened it and found these
+words written therein:
+
+'The messenger brought me a promise of union and delight; But yet
+     that he had mistaken 'twas constant in my spright.
+Wherefore I joyed not: but sorrow was added unto me, For that I
+     knew my envoy had read thee not aright.
+
+To proceed: Know, O my lord, that I am ignorant of the cause of
+the breaking off of the correspondence between thee and me: but
+if it arise from cruelty on thy part, I will meet it with
+fidelity, and if love have departed from thee, I will remain
+constant to my love in absence for I am with thee even as says
+the poet:
+
+Be haughty and I will be patient; capricious, I'll bear; turn
+     away, I'll draw near thee; be harsh, I'll be abject;
+     command, I'll give ear and obey.
+
+As he was reading, up came the slave-girl, looking right and
+left, and seeing the letter in the jeweller's hand, said to him,
+'O my lord, this letter is one I let fall.' He made her no
+answer, but walked on, and she followed him, till he came to his
+house, when he entered and she after him, saying, 'O my lord,
+give me back the letter, for it fell from me.' He turned to her
+and said, 'O good slave-girl, fear not, neither grieve, for
+verily God the Protector loves to protect [His creatures]; but
+tell me the truth of thy case, for I am one who keepeth counsel.
+I conjure thee by an oath to hide from me nothing of thy lady's
+affair; for haply God shall help me to further her wishes and
+make easy what is hard by my hand' 'O my lord,' answered she,
+'indeed a secret is not lost whereof thou art the keeper; nor
+shall any affair come to nought for which thou strivest. Know
+that my heart inclines to thee, and do thou give me the letter.'
+Then she told him the whole story, adding, 'God is witness to
+what I say.' 'Thou hast spoken truly,' said the jeweller, 'for I
+am acquainted with the root of the matter.' Then he told her how
+he had come by Ali ben Bekkar's secret and related to her all
+that had passed, whereat she rejoiced; and they agreed that she
+should carry the letter to Ali and return and tell the jeweller
+all that passed. Accordingly he gave her the letter and she took
+it and sealed it up as it was before, saying, 'My mistress
+Shemsennehar gave it to me sealed; and when he hath read it and
+given me the reply, I will bring it to thee.' Then she repaired
+to Ali ben Bekkar, whom she found waiting, and gave him the
+letter. He read it and writing an answer, gave it to the damsel.
+She carried it to the jeweller, who broke the seal and read what
+was written therein, as follows:
+
+'Neglected are our messages, for lo, our go-between, That wont to
+     keep our counsel erst, is wroth with us, I ween.
+So choose us out a messenger, a true and trusty wight, Yea, one
+     of whom fidelity, not falsehood, is well seen.
+
+To proceed: Verily, I have not entered upon perfidy nor left
+fidelity; I have not used cruelty, neither have I put off loyalty
+nor broken faith. I have not ceased from affection nor severed
+myself from grief; neither have I found aught after separation
+but misery and ruin. I know nothing of that thou avouchest nor do
+I love aught but that which thou lovest. By Him who knoweth the
+secret of the hidden things, I have no desire but to be united
+with her whom I love and my one business is the concealment of my
+passion, though sickness consume me. This is the exposition of my
+case and peace be on thee.' When the jeweller read this letter,
+he wept sore and the girl said to him, 'Leave not this place,
+till I return to thee; for he suspects me of such and such
+things, in which he is excusable; so it is my desire to bring
+thee in company with my mistress Shemsennehar, howsoever I may
+contrive it. I left her prostrate, awaiting my return with the
+answer.' Then she went away and the jeweller passed the night in
+a state of agitation. On the morrow he prayed the morning prayer
+and sat awaiting the girl's coming. Presently she came in to him,
+rejoicing, and he said to her, 'What news, O damsel?' Quoth she,
+'I gave my mistress Ali ben Bekkar's reply, and when she read it,
+she was troubled in her mind; but I said to her, "O my lady, have
+no fear of the hindrance of your affair by reason of Aboulhusn's
+absence, for I have found one to take his place, better than he
+and more of worth and apt to keep secrets." Then I told her what
+was between Aboulhusn and thyself and how thou camest by his
+confidence and that of Ali ben Bekkar and how I met with thee and
+showed her how matters stood betwixt thee and me. Now she is
+minded to have speech of thee, that she may be assured by thy
+words of the covenants between thee and him; so do thou make
+ready to go with me to her forthwith. When the jeweller heard
+the girl's words, he saw that what she proposed was a grave
+matter and a great peril, not lightly to be undertaken or entered
+upon, and said to her, 'O my stster, verily, I am of the common
+people and not like unto Aboulhusn; for he was of high rank and
+repute and was wont to frequent the Khalif's household, because
+of their need of his wares. As for me, he used to talk with me,
+and I trembled before him the while. So, if thy mistress would
+have speech of me, it must be in some place other than the
+Khalif's palace and far from the abode of the Commander of the
+Faithful; for my reason will not let me do what thou proposest.'
+Accordingly, he refused to go with her, and she went on to assure
+him of impunity, saying, 'Fear not,' and pressed him, till he
+consented to accompany her; but, when he would have risen, his
+legs bent under him and his hands trembled and he exclaimed, 'God
+forbid that I should go with thee! Indeed, I cannot do this.'
+'Reassure thyself,' answered she; 'if it irk thee to go to the
+Khalif's palace and thou canst not muster up courage to accompany
+me, I will make her come to thee; so stir not from thy place till
+I return to thee with her.' Then she went away and returning
+after a little, said to the jeweller, 'Look that there be with
+thee neither slave-girl nor man-slave nor any other.' Quoth he,
+'I have but an old negress-slave, who waits on me.' So she locked
+the door between the jeweller and his negress and sent his
+man-servants out of the house, after which she went out and
+presently returned, followed by a lady, who filled the house with
+the sweet scent of her perfumes. When the jeweller saw her, he
+sprang to his feet and set her a couch and a cushion, and she sat
+down. He seated himself before her and she abode awhile without
+speaking, till she was rested, when she unveiled her face and it
+seemed to the jeweller as if the sun had risen in his house. Then
+said she to her slave-girl, 'Is this the man of whom thou spakest
+to me?' 'Yes,' answered she; whereupon the lady turned to the
+jeweller and said to him, 'How is it with thee?' 'Well,' replied
+he. 'May God preserve thy life and that of the Commander of the
+Faithful!' Quoth she, 'Thou hast moved us to come to thee and
+possess thee with our secret.' Then she questioned him of
+his household and family; and he discovered to her all his
+circumstance and said to her, 'I have another house, which I have
+set apart for entertaining my friends and brethren, and there is
+none there save the old negress, of whom I spoke to thy handmaid.'
+She asked him how he came first to know of the matter and what
+had made Aboulhusn absent himself, so he told her all and she
+bewailed the loss of Aboulhusn and said to the jeweller, 'Know
+that the minds of men are at one in desires, and however they may
+differ in estate, men are still men and have need one of the
+other: an affair is not accomplished without speech nor is a wish
+fulfilled save by endeavour: ease comes not but after weariness
+nor is succour compassed save by the help of the generous. Now I
+have trusted my secret to thee and it is in thy power to expose
+or shield us; I say no more, because of thy generosity of nature.
+Thou knowest that this my hand-maid keeps my counsel and is
+therefore in high favour with me and I have chosen her to
+transact my affairs of importance. So let none be worthier in thy
+sight than she and acquaint her with thine affair. Be of good
+cheer, for thou art safe from what thou fearest on our account,
+and there is no shut place but she shall open it to thee. She
+shall bring thee messages from me to Ali ben Bekkar, and thou
+shalt be our go-between.' So saying, she rose, scarcely able to
+stand, and the jeweller forewent her to the door of the house,
+after which he returned and sat down again in his place, having
+seen of her beauty what dazzled him and heard of her speech what
+confounded his wit and witnessed of her grace and courtesy what
+bewitched him. He sat musing on her perfections till his trouble
+subsided, when he called for food and ate enough to stay his
+stomach. Then he changed his clothes and repairing to Ali ben
+Bekkar's house, knocked at the door. The servants hastened to
+admit him and brought him to their master, whom he found laid
+upon his bed. When he saw the jeweller, he said to him, 'Thou
+hast tarried long from me and hast added concern to my concern.'
+Then he dismissed his servants and bade shut the doors, after
+which he said to the jeweller, 'By Allah, O my brother, I have
+not closed my eyes since I saw thee last; for the slave-girl
+came to me yesterday with a sealed letter from her mistress
+Shemsennehar;' and went on to tell him all that had passed,
+adding, 'Indeed, I am perplexed concerning mine affair and my
+patience fails me: for Aboulhusn was of comfort to me, because he
+knew the girl.' When the jeweller heard this, he laughed and Ali
+said, 'Why dost thou laugh at my words, thou in whom I rejoiced
+and to whom I looked for succour against the shifts of fortune?'
+Then he sighed and wept and repeated the following verses:
+
+Many an one laughs at my weeping, whenas he looks on my pain. Had
+     he but suffered as I have, he, also, to weep would be fain.
+No one hath ruth on the smitten, for that he is doomed to endure
+     But he who alike is afflicted and long in affliction hath
+     lain
+My passion, my yearning, my sighing, my care and distraction end
+     woe Are all for a loved one, whose dwelling is in my heart's
+     innermost fane.
+He made his abode in my bosom and never will leave it again; And
+     yet with my love to foregather I weary and travail in vain.
+I know of no friend I can choose me to stand in his stead unto
+     me, Nor ever, save him, a companion, to cherish and love
+     have I ta'en.[FN#17]
+
+When the jeweller heard this, he wept also and told him all that
+had passed betwixt himself and the slave-girl and her mistress,
+since he left him, whilst Ali gave ear to his speech, and at
+every fresh word his colour shifted 'twixt white and red and his
+body grew now stronger and now weaker, till he came to the end of
+his tale, when Ali wept and said to him, 'O my brother, I am a
+lost man in any event. Would my end were near, that I might be at
+rest from ail this! But I beg thee, of thy favour, to be my
+helper and comforter in all my affairs, till God accomplish
+His will; and I will not gainsay thee in aught.' Quoth the
+jeweller, 'Nothing will quench the fire of thy passion save union
+with her whom thou lovest: and this must not be in this perilous
+place, but in a house of mine other than in which the girl and
+her mistress came to me. This place she chose for herself, to the
+intent that ye may there foregather and complain one to the other
+of what you have suffered from the pangs of love.' 'O my lord,'
+answered Ali ben Bekkar, 'do as thou wilt and may God requite
+thee for me! What thou deemest fit will be right: but be not long
+about it, lest I die of this anguish.' So I abode with him (quoth
+the jeweller) that night, entertaining him with converse, till
+daybreak, when I prayed the morning prayers and going out from
+him, returned to my house. Hardly had I done so, when the damsel
+came up and saluted me. I returned her greeting and told her what
+had passed between Ali ben Bekkar and myself; and she said, 'Know
+that the Khalif has left us and there is none in our lodging, and
+it is safer for us and better.' 'True,' replied I; 'yet it is not
+like my house yonder, which is both surer and fitter for us.' 'Be
+it as thou wilt,' rejoined she. 'I will go to my lady and tell
+her what thou sayest.' So she went away and presently returned
+and said to me, 'It is to be as thou sayest: so make us ready the
+place and expect us.' Then she took out a purse of diners and
+said to me, 'My lady salutes thee and bids thee take this and
+provide therewith what the case calls for.' But I swore that I
+would have nought of it; so she took the purse and returning to
+her mistress, said to her, 'He would not take the money, but gave
+it back to me.' 'No matter,' answered Shemsennehar. As soon as
+she was gone, I betook myself to my other house and transported
+thither all that was needful, by way of furniture and utensils
+and rich carpets and vessels of china and glass and gold and
+silver, and made ready meat and drink for the occasion. When the
+damsel came and saw what I had done, it pleased her and she bade
+me fetch Ali ben Bekkar; but I said, 'None shall fetch him but
+thou.' Accordingly she went to him and brought him back, dressed
+to perfection and looking his best. I met him and welcomed him
+and making him sit down on a couch befitting his condition, set
+before him sweet-scented flowers in vases of china and crystal of
+various colours. Then I set on a tray of vari-coloured meats, of
+such as rejoice the heart with their sight, and sat talking with
+him and diverting him, whi'st the girl went away and was absent
+till after sundown, when she returned with Shemsennehar, attended
+by two maids and no more. When Ali saw her, he rose and embraced
+her and they both fell down in a swoon. They lay awhile
+insensible, then, coming to themselves, began to complain to each
+other of the pains of separation. They sat awhile, conversing
+with eloquence and tenderness, after which they perfumed
+themselves and fell to thanking me for what I had done. Said I,
+'Have ye a mind for food?' 'Yes,' answered they. So I set food
+before them, and they ate till they were satisfied and washed
+their hands, after which I carried them to another room and
+brought them wine. So they drank and grew merry with wine and
+inclined to one another, and Shemsennehar said to me, 'O my lord,
+complete thy kindness by bringing us a lute or other instrument
+of music that the measure of our joy may be filled.' 'On my head
+and eyes,' answered I and rising, brought her a lute. She took it
+and tuned it, then laying it in her lap, made masterly music, at
+once exciting to sorrowful thoughts and cheering the afflicted;
+after which she sang the following verses:
+
+I wake and I watch till it seemeth as I were in love with unrest
+     And I waste and I languish, as sickness, meseemeth, were
+     born in my breast.
+The tides of my tears, ever flowing, have burnt up my cheeks with
+     their heat: Would I knew if our loves, after sev'rance, with
+     union again will be blest!
+
+
+She went on to sing song after song, choice words set to various
+airs, till our minds were bewitched and it seemed as if the very
+room would dance with excess of pleasure for the marvel of her
+sweet singing and there was nor thought nor reason left in us.
+When we had sat awhile and the cup had gone round amongst us, the
+damsel took the lute and sang the following verses to a lively
+measure:
+
+My love a visit promised me and did fulfil his plight One night
+     that I shall reckon aye for many and many a night.
+O night of raptures that the fates vouchsafed unto us twain;
+     Unheeded of the railing tribe and in the spies' despite!
+My loved one lay the night with me and I of my content Clipped
+     him with my left hand, while he embraced me with his right.
+I strained him to my breast and drank his lips' sweet wine, what
+     while I of the honey and of him who sells it had delight.
+
+Whilst we were thus drowned in the sea of gladness, in came a
+little maid, trembling, and said, 'O my lady, look how you may go
+away, for the folk are upon us and have surrounded the house, and
+we know not the cause of this.' When I heard this, I arose in
+affright, and behold, in came a slave-girl, who said, 'Calamity
+hath overtaken you!' At the same moment, the door was burst open
+and there rushed in upon us half a score masked men, with
+poniards in their hands and swords by their sides, and as many
+more behind them. When I saw this, the world, for all its
+wideness, was straitened on me and I looked to the door, but saw
+no way out; so I sprang (from the roof) into the house of one of
+my neighbours and hid myself there. Thence I heard a great uproar
+in my house and concluded that the Khalif had gotten wind of us
+and sent the chief of the police to seize us and bring us before
+him. So I abode confounded and remained in my place, without
+daring to move, till midnight, when the master of the house
+became aware of me and being greatly affrighted, made at me with
+a drawn sword in his hand, saying, 'Who is this in my house?'
+Quoth I, 'I am thy neighbour, the jeweller;' and he knew me and
+held his hand. Then he fetched a light and coming up to me, said,
+'O my brother, indeed that which hath befallen thee this night is
+grievous to me.' 'O my brother,' answered I, 'tell me who it was
+entered my house and broke in the door, for I fled to thee, not
+knowing what was the matter.' Quoth he, 'The robbers, who visited
+our neighbours yesterday and slew such an one and took his goods,
+saw thee yesterday bringing hither furniture and what not; so
+they broke in upon thee and stole thy goods and slew thy guests.'
+Then we arose, he and I, and repaired to my house, which I found
+empty and stripped of everything, whereat I was confounded and
+said to myself, 'I care not for the loss of the gear, though
+indeed I borrowed part thereof of my friends; yet is there no
+harm in that, for they know my excuse in the loss of my goods and
+the pillage of my house; but as for Ali ben Bekkar and the
+Khalif's favourite, I fear lest their case get wind and this
+cause the loss of my life.' So I turned to my neighbour and said
+to him, 'Thou art my brother and my neighbour and wilt cover my
+nakedness; what dost thou counsel me to do?' 'I counsel thee to
+wait,' answered he; 'for they who entered thy house and stole thy
+goods have murdered the better part of a company from the
+Khalif's palace, besides some of the police, and the Khalif's
+officers are now in quest of them on every side. Haply they will
+chance on them and so thy wish will come about without effort of
+thine.' Then I returned to my other house, that in which I dwelt,
+saying to myself, 'This that hath befallen me is what Aboulhusn
+feared and from which he fled to Bassora.' Presently the pillage
+of my pleasure-house was noised abroad among the folk, and they
+came to me from all sides, some rejoicing in my misfortune and
+others excusing me and condoling with me, whilst I bewailed
+myself to them and ate not neither drank for grief. As I sat,
+repenting me of what I had done, one of my servants came in to me
+and said, 'There is a man at the door, who asks for thee; and I
+know him not.' So I went out and found at the door a man whom I
+knew not. I saluted him, and he said to me, 'I have somewhat to
+say to thee privily.' So I brought him in and said to him, 'What
+hast thou to say to me?' Quoth he, 'Come with me to thine other
+house.' 'Doss thou then know my other house,' asked I. 'I know
+all about thee,' replied he, 'and I know that also wherewith God
+will dispel thy concern.' So I said to myself, 'I will go with
+him whither he will;' and we went out and walked on till we came
+to my other house, which when he saw, he said to me, 'It is
+without door or doorkeeper, and we cannot sit in it; so come thou
+with me to another house.' Accordingly, he went on from place to
+place and I with him, till the night overtook us. Yet I put no
+question to him and we ceased not to walk on, till we reached the
+open country. He kept saying, 'Follow me,' and quickened his
+pace, whilst I hurried after him, heartening myself to go on.
+Presently; we came to the river-bank, where he took boat with me,
+and the boatman rowed us over to the other side. Here my guide
+landed and I after him and he took my hand and led me to a street
+I had never before entered, nor do I know in what quarter it is.
+Presently he stopped at the door of a house, and opening, entered
+and made me enter with him; after which he bolted the door with a
+bolt of iron and carried me along the vestibule, till he brought
+me in presence of ten men, brothers, as they were one and the
+same man. We saluted them and they returned our greeting and bade
+us be seated; so we sat down. Now I was like to die for very
+weariness; so they brought rose-water and sprinkled it on my
+face, after which they gave me to drink and set food before me,
+of which some of them ate with me. Quoth I to myself, 'Were there
+aught of harm in the food, they would not eat with me.' So I ate,
+and when we had washed our hands, each of us returned to his
+place. Then said they to me, 'Dost thou know us?' 'I never in my
+life saw you nor this your abode,' answered I; 'nay, I know not
+even him who brought me hither.' Said they, 'Tell us thy case and
+lie not in aught.' 'Know then,' rejoined I, 'that my case is
+strange and my affair marvellous: but do you know aught of me?'
+'Yes,' answered they; 'it was we took thy goods yesternight and
+carried off thy friend and her who was singing to him.' 'May God
+let down the veil of His protection over you!' said I. 'But
+where is my friend and she who was singing to him?' They pointed
+to two doors and replied, 'They are yonder, each in a room apart;
+but, by Allah, O our brother, the secret of their case is known
+to none but thee, for from the time we brought them hither, we
+have not seen them nor questioned them of their condition, seeing
+them to be persons of rank and dignity. This it was that hindered
+us from putting them to death: so tell us the truth of their case
+and be assured of their safety and thine own.' When I heard this,
+I was like to die of fright and said to them, 'O my brethren, if
+generosity were lost, it would not be found save with you and had
+I a secret, which I feared to divulge, your breasts alone should
+have the keeping of it.' And I went on to expatiate to them in
+this sense, till I saw that frankness would profit me more than
+concealment; so I told them the whole story. When they heard it,
+they said, 'And is this young man Ali ben Bekkar and this damsel
+Shemsennehar?' 'Yes,' answered I. This was grievous to them and
+they rose and made their excuses to the two lovers. Then they said
+to me, 'Part of what we took from thy house is spent, but here is
+what is left of it.' So saying, they gave me back the most part
+of my goods and engaged to return them to my house and restore me
+the rest. So my heart was set at ease, and some of them abode
+with me, whilst the rest fetched Ali ben Bekkar and Shemsennehar,
+who were well-nigh dead for excess of fear. Then they all sallied
+forth with us and I went up to the two lovers and saluting them,
+said to them, 'What became of the damsel and the two maids?' 'We
+know nothing of them,' answered they. Then we walked on till we
+came to the river-bank, where we all embarked in the boat that
+had brought me over before, and the boatman rowed us to the other
+side; but hardly had we landed and sat down on the bank to rest,
+when a troop of horse swooped down on us like eagles and
+surrounded us on all sides, whereupon the robbers with us sprang
+up in haste and the boatman, putting back for them, took them in
+and pushed off into mid-stream, leaving us on the bank, unable to
+move or abide still. The horseman said to us, 'Whence come ye?'
+And we were perplexed for an answer; but I said, 'Those ye saw
+with us are rogues: we know them not. As for us, we are singers,
+whom they would have taken to sing to them, nor could we win free
+of them, save by subtlety and fair words, and they have but now
+left us.' They looked at Ali and Shemsennehar and said to me,
+'Thou hast not spoken sooth; but if thy tale be true, tell us who
+you are and whence you come and in what quarter you dwell.' I
+knew not what to answer, but Shemsennehar sprang up and
+approaching the captain of the troop, spoke with him privily,
+whereupon he dismounted and setting her on his steed, began to
+lead it along by the bridle. Two of his men did the like with Ali
+ben Bekkar and myself, and they fared on with us, till they
+reached a certain part of the river-bank, when the captain sang
+out in jargon and there came to us a number of men with two
+boats. The captain embarked with Shemsennehar in one boat and
+went his way, whilst the rest of his men put off in the other,
+with Ali ben Bekkar and myself, and rowed on with us, we the
+while enduring the agonies of death for excess of fear, till they
+came to a place whence there was a way to our quarter. Here we
+landed and walked on, escorted by some of the horsemen, till we
+came to Ali ben Bekkar's house, where they took leave of us and
+went their way. We entered the house and abode there, unable to
+stir and knowing not night from day, till nightfall of the next
+day, when I came to myself and saw Ali ben Bekkar stretched out
+without sense or motion, and the men and women of his household
+weeping over him. When they saw that I had recovered my senses,
+some of them came to me and helping me sit up, said to me, 'Tell
+us what hath befallen our son and how he came in this plight.' 'O
+folk,' answered I, 'hearken to me and importune me not; but be
+patient and he will come to himself and tell you his story for
+himself.' And I was round with them and made them afraid of a
+scandal between us; but as we were thus, behold, Ali ben Bekkar
+moved in his bed, whereat his friends rejoiced and the [most part
+of the] folk withdrew from him; but his people forbade me to go
+away. Then they sprinkled rose-water on his face, and he
+presently revived and breathed the air, whereupon they questioned
+him of his case. He essayed to answer them, but could not speak
+forthright and signed to them to let me go home. So they let me
+go, and I returned to my own house, supported by two men and
+hardly crediting my escape. When my people saw me thus, they fell
+a-shrieking and buffeting their faces; but I signed to them to
+hold their peace, and they were silent. Then the two men went
+their way and I threw myself down on my bed, where I lay the rest
+of the night and awoke not till the forenoon, when I found my
+people collected round me and they said, 'What hath befallen thee
+and what (evil) hath smitten thee with its mischief?' Quoth I,
+'Bring me to drink.' So they brought me wine, and I drank what I
+would and said to them, 'Wine got the better of me and it was
+this caused the state in which ye saw me' Then they went away,
+and I made my excuses to my friends and asked if any of the goods
+that had been stolen from my other house had been returned.'
+'Yes,' answered they. 'Some of them have come back: and the
+manner of their coming was that a man came and threw them down
+in the doorway and we saw him not.' So I comforted myself and
+abode two days, unable to rise, at the end of which time I
+began to regain strength and went to the bath, for I was worn
+out with fatigue and troubled at heart for Ali ben Bekkar and
+Shemsennehar, because I had no news of them all this time and
+could neither get to Ali's house nor rest in my own, out of fear
+for myself. And I repented to God the Most High of what I had
+done and praised Him for my safety. Then I bethought me to go to
+such and such a place and see the folk and divert myself; so I
+went to the stuff-market and sat awhile with a friend of mine
+there. When I rose to go, I saw a woman standing in my road; so I
+looked at her, and behold it was Shemsennehar's slave-girl. When
+I saw her, the world grew dark in my eyes and I hurried on. She
+followed me, but I was afraid and fled from her, trembling
+whenever I looked at her, whilst she pursued me, saying, 'Stop,
+that I may tell thee somewhat.' But I heeded her not and went on,
+till I reached a mosque in an unfrequented spot, and she said to
+me, 'Enter the mosque, that I may say a word to thee, and fear
+nothing.' And she conjured me: so I entered the mosque, and she
+after me. I prayed a two-bow prayer, after which I turned to her,
+sighing, and said, 'What dost thou want?' She asked me how I did,
+and I told her all that had befallen myself and Ali ben Bekkar
+and asked her for news of herself. 'Know,' answered she, 'that
+when I and the two maids saw the robbers break open thy door, we
+doubted not but they were the Khalif's officers and would seize
+us and our mistress and we perish forthright: so we fled over the
+roofs and casting ourselves down from a high place, took refuge
+with some people, who harboured us and brought us to the palace,
+where we arrived in the sorriest of plights. We concealed our
+case and abode on coals of fire till nightfall, when I opened the
+river-gate and calling the boatman who had carried us the night
+before, said to him, "I know not what is come of my mistress; so
+take me in thy boat, that we may seek her on the river: it may be
+I shall chance on some news of her." So he took me into the boat
+and rowed about with me till midnight, when I spied a boat making
+towards the water-gate, with one man rowing and another standing
+up and a woman lying prostrate between them. When they reached
+the shore and the woman landed, I looked at her, and behold, it
+was Shemsennehar. So I landed and joined her, dazed for joy,
+after having lost hope of her. When I came up to her, she bade me
+give the man who had brought her thither a thousand diners, and I
+and the two maids carried her in and laid her on her bed, and she
+at death's door. She abode thus all that day and the next day and
+I forbade the eunuchs and women to go in to her; but on the third
+day, she revived and I found her as she had come out of the
+grave. So I sprinkled rose-water upon her face and changed her
+clothes and washed her hands and feet, nor did I cease to
+persuade her, till I brought her to eat a little and drink some
+wine, though she had no mind to it. As soon as she had breathed
+the air and strength began to return to her, I fell to upbraiding
+her, saying, "Consider, O my lady, and have pity on thyself; thou
+seest what has betided us Surely, enough of evil hath befallen
+thee and thou hast been nigh upon death." "By Allah, O good
+damsel," replied she, "death were easier to me than what hath
+befallen me; for I had renounced all hope of deliverance and gave
+myself up for lost. When the robbers took us from the jeweller's
+house, they asked me who I was; I replied, 'I am a singing-girl,'
+and they believed me. Then they said to Ali ben Bekkar, 'And who
+art thou and what is thy condition?' And he answered, 'I am of
+the common people.' So they carried us to their abode, and we
+hurried on with them for fear; but when they had us with them in
+the house, they looked at me and seeing the clothes I wore and my
+necklaces and jewellery, believed me not and said to me, 'No
+singing-girl ever had such jewels as these; tell us the truth of
+thy case.' I returned them no answer, saying in myself, 'Now will
+they kill me for my clothes and ornaments;' and I spoke not a
+word. Then they turned to Ali ben Bekkar and said to him, 'And
+thou, who and whence art thou? For thy favour is not as that of
+the common folk.' But he was silent and we ceased not to keep our
+counsel and weep, till God inclined the rogues' hearts towards us
+and they said to us, 'Who is the owner of the house in which you
+were?' 'Such an one, the jeweller,' answered we; whereupon quoth
+one of them, 'I know him well and where he lives, and I will
+engage to bring him to you forthright.' Then they agreed to set
+me in a place by myself and Ali ben Bekkar in a place by himself,
+and said to us, 'Be at rest and fear not lest your secret be
+divulged; ye are safe from us.' Meanwhile their comrade went away
+and returned with the jeweller, who made known to them our case,
+and we joined company with him; after which one of the band
+fetched a boat, in which they embarked us all three and rowing us
+over the river, landed us on the opposite bank and went away;
+whereupon up came a horse-patrol and asked us who we were. So I
+spoke with the captain and said to him, 'I am Shemsennehar, the
+Khalif's favourite; I had drunken wine and went out to visit
+certain of my acquaintance of the wives of the Viziers, when
+yonder rogues laid hold of me and brought me hither; but when
+they saw you, they fled. I met these men with them; so do thou
+escort me and them to a place of safety and I will requite thee.'
+When the captain heard my speech, he knew me and alighting,
+mounted me on his horse; and in like manner did two of his men
+with Ali and the jeweller. And now my heart is on fire on their
+account, especially for Ali's friend the jeweller: so do thou go
+to him and salute him and ask him for news of Ali ben Bekkar." I
+spoke to her and blamed her and bade her beware, saying' "O my
+lady, have a care for thyself and give up this intrigue." But she
+was angered at my words and cried out at me. So I came forth in
+quest of thee, but found thee not and dared not go to Ali's
+house; so stood watching for thee, that I might ask thee of him
+and know how it is with him. And I beg thee, of thy favour, to
+take some money of me, for belike thou borrowedst of thy friends
+some of the goods, and as they are lost, it behoves thee to make
+them compensation.' 'I hear and obey,' answered I. 'Go on.' And I
+walked with her till we drew near my house, when she said to me,
+'Wait till I return to thee.' So she went away and presently
+returned with a bag of money, which she handed to me, saying, 'O
+my lord, where shall we meet?' Quoth I, 'I will go to my house at
+once and suffer hardship for thy sake and contrive how thou mayst
+win to him, for access to him is difficult at this present.' 'Let
+me know where I shall come to thee,' said she, and I answered,
+'In my other house; I will go thither forthright and have the
+doors repaired and the place made secure again, and henceforth we
+will meet there.' Then she took leave of me and went her way,
+whilst I carried the money home, and counting it, found it five
+thousand diners. I gave my people some of it and made good their
+loss to all who had lent me aught, after which I took my servants
+and repaired to my other house, with builders and carpenters,
+who restored it to its former state. Moreover, I placed my
+negress-slave there and forgot what had befallen me. Then I
+repaired to Ali ben Bekkar's house, where his servants accosted
+me, saying, 'Our lord calls for thee day and night and hath
+promised his freedom to whichever of us brings thee to him; so we
+have been in quest of thee everywhere, but knew not where to find
+thee. Our master is by way of recovery, but he has frequent
+relapses, and when he revives, he names thee and says, "Needs
+must ye bring him to me, though but for an instant," and sinks
+back into his torpor.' So I went in to Ali ben Bekkar and finding
+him unable to speak, sat down at his head, whereupon he opened
+his eyes and seeing me, wept and said, 'Welcome and fair
+welcome!' I raised him and making him sit up, strained him to my
+bosom, and he said, 'Know, O my brother, that, since I took to my
+bed, I have not sat up till now: praised be God that I see thee
+again!' Presently, little by little, I made him stand up and walk
+a few steps, after which I changed his clothes and he drank some
+wine. All this he did to please me. Then, seeing him to be
+somewhat restored, I told him what had befallen me with the
+slave-girl, none else hearing me, and said to him, 'I know what
+thou sufferest; but take heart and be of good courage; for
+henceforth nought shall betide thee, but what shall rejoice thee
+and ease thine heart.' He smiled and called for food, which being
+brought, he signed to his servants, and they withdrew. Then said
+he to me, 'O my brother, thou seest what hath befallen me;' and
+he made his excuses to me and enquired how I had fared all that
+while. I told him all that had befallen me, from first to last,
+at which he wondered and calling his servants, said, 'Bring me
+such and such things.' Accordingly, they brought in rich carpets
+and hangings and utensils of gold and silver, more than I had
+lost, and he gave them all to me; so I sent them to my house and
+abode with him that night. When the day began to break, he said
+to me, 'To everything there is an end, and the end of love is
+death or enjoyment. I am nearer unto death, would I had died ere
+this befell! For, had not God favoured us, we had been discovered
+and put to shame. And now I know not what shall deliver me from
+this my strait, and were it not that I fear God, I would hasten
+my own death; for know, O my brother, that I am like the bird in
+the cage and that my life is of a surety perished, by reason of
+the distresses that have befallen me; yet hath it a fixed period
+and an appointed term.' And he wept and groaned and repeated the
+following verses:
+
+Indeed, it sufficeth the lover the time that his tears have run;
+     As for affliction, of patience it hath him all fordone.
+He who concealeth the secrets conjoined us heretofore And now His
+     hand hath severed that which Himself made one.
+
+When he had finished, I said to him, 'O my lord, I would fain
+return to my house; it may be the damsel will come back to me
+with news.' 'It is well,' answered he; 'go and return to me
+speedily with news, for thou seest my condition.' So I took leave
+of him and went home. Hardly had I sat down, when up came the
+damsel, choked with her tears. 'What is the matter?' asked I, and
+she said, 'O my lord, what we feared has fallen on us; for, when
+I returned yesterday to my lady, I found her enraged with one of
+the two maids who were with us the other night, and she ordered
+her to be beaten. The girl took fright and ran away; but one of
+the gate-keepers stopped her and would have sent her back to her
+mistress. However, she let fall some hints, which excited his
+curiosity; so he coaxed her and led her on to talk, and she
+acquainted him with our case. This came to the ears of the
+Khalif, who bade remove my mistress and all her gear to his own
+palace and set over her a guard of twenty eunuchs. Since then he
+has not visited her nor given her to know the cause of his
+action, but I suspect this to be the cause; wherefore I am in
+fear for myself and am perplexed, O my lord, knowing not what I
+shall do nor how I shall order my affair and hers, for she had
+none more trusted nor trustier than myself. So do thou go quickly
+to Ali ben Bekkar and acquaint him with this, that he may be on
+his guard; and if the affair be discovered, we will cast about
+for a means of saving ourselves.' At this, I was sore troubled
+and the world grew dark in my sight for the girl's words. Then
+she turned to go, and I said to her, 'What is to be done?' Quoth
+she, 'My counsel is that thou hasten to Ali ben Bekkar, if thou
+be indeed his friend and desire his escape; thine be it to carry
+him the news forthright, and be it mine to watch for further
+news.' Then she took her leave of me and went away. I followed
+her out and betaking myself to Ali ben Bekkar, found him
+flattering himself with hopes of speedy enjoyment and staying
+himself with vain expectations. When he saw me, he said, 'I see
+thou hast come back to me forthwith' 'Summon up all thy
+patience,' answered I, 'and put away thy vain doting and shake
+off thy preoccupation, for there hath befallen that which may
+bring about the loss of thy life and goods.' When he heard this,
+he was troubled and his colour changed and he said to me, 'O my
+brother, tell me what hath happened.' 'O my lord,' replied I,
+'such and such things have happened and thou art lost without
+recourse, if thou abide in this thy house till the end of the
+day.' At this he was confounded and his soul well-nigh departed
+his body, but he recovered himself and said to me, 'What shall I
+do, O my brother, and what is thine advice?' 'My advice,'
+answered I, 'is that thou take what thou canst of thy property
+and whom of thy servants thou trustest and flee with me to a land
+other than this, ere the day come to an end.' And he said, 'I
+hear and obey.' So he rose, giddy and dazed, now walking and now
+falling down and took what came under his hand. Then he made an
+excuse to his household and gave them his last injunctions, after
+which he loaded three camels and mounted his hackney. I did the
+like and we went forth privily in disguise and fared on all day
+and night, till nigh upon morning, when we unloaded and hobbling
+our camels, lay down to sleep; but, being worn with fatigue, we
+neglected to keep watch, so that there fell on us robbers, who
+stripped us of all we had and slew our servants, when they would
+have defended us, after which they made off with their booty,
+leaving us naked and in the sorriest of plights. As soon as they
+were gone, we arose and walked on till morning, when we came to a
+village and took refuge in its mosque. We sat in a corner of the
+mosque all that day and the next night, without meat or drink;
+and at daybreak, we prayed the morning prayer and sat down again.
+Presently, a man entered and saluting us, prayed a two-bow
+prayer, after which he turned to us and said, 'O folk, are ye
+strangers?' 'Yes,' answered we, 'robbers waylaid us and stripped
+us, and we came to this town, but know none here with whom we may
+shelter.' Quoth he, 'What say you? Will you come home with me?'
+And I said to Ali ben Bekkar, 'Let us go with him, and we shall
+escape two evils; first, our fear lest some one who knows us
+enter the mosque and so we be discovered; and secondly, that we
+are strangers and have no place to lodge in.' 'As thou wilt,'
+answered he. Then the man said to us again, 'O poor folk, give
+ear unto me and come with me to my house.' 'We hear and obey,'
+answered I; whereupon he pulled off a part of his own clothes and
+covered us therewith and made his excuses to us and spoke kindly
+to us. Then we accompanied him to his house and he knocked at the
+door, whereupon a little servant came out and opened to us. We
+entered after our host, who called for a parcel of clothes and
+muslin for turbans, and gave us each a suit of clothes and a
+piece of muslin; so we made us turbans and sat down. Presently,
+in came a damsel with a tray of food and set it before us,
+saying, 'Eat.' We ate a little and she took away the tray; after
+which we abode with our host till nightfall, when Ali ben Bekkar
+sighed and said to me, 'Know, O my brother, that I am a dead man
+and I have a charge to give thee: it is that, when thou seest me
+dead, thou go to my mother and tell her and bid her come hither,
+that she may be present at the washing of my body and take order
+for my funeral; and do thou exhort her to bear my loss with
+patience.' Then he fell down in a swoon and when he revived, he
+heard a damsel singing afar off and addressed himself to give ear
+to her and hearken to her voice; and now he was absent from the
+world and now came to himself, and anon he wept for grief and
+mourning at what had befallen him. Presently, he heard the damsel
+sing the following verses:
+
+Parting hath wrought in haste our union to undo After the
+     straitest loves and concord 'twixt us two.
+The shifts of night and day have torn our lives apart. When shall
+     we meet again? Ah, would to God I knew!
+After conjoined delight, how bitter sev'rance is! Would God it
+     had no power to baffle lovers true!
+Death's anguish hath its hour, then endeth; but the pain Of
+     sev'rance from the loved at heart is ever new.
+Could we but find a way to come at parting's self, We'd surely
+     make it taste of parting's cup of rue.
+
+When he heard this, he gave one sob and his soul quitted his
+body. As soon as I saw that he was dead, I committed his body to
+the care of the master of the house and said to him, 'I go to
+Baghdad, to tell his mother and kinsfolk, that they may come
+hither and take order for his burial' So I betook myself to
+Baghdad and going to my house, changed my clothes, after which I
+repaired to Ali ben Bekkar's lodging. When his servants saw me,
+they came to me and questioned me of him, and I bade them ask
+leave for me to go in to his mother. She bade admit me; so I
+entered and saluting her, said, 'Verily God orders the lives of
+all creatures by His commandment and when He decreeth aught,
+there is no escaping its fulfilment, nor can any soul depart but
+by His leave, according to the Writ which prescribeth the
+appointed terms.' She guessed by these words that her son was
+dead and wept sore, then she said to me, 'I conjure thee by
+Allah, tell me, is my son dead?' I could not answer her for tears
+and much grief, and when she saw me thus, she was choked with
+weeping and fell down in a swoon. As soon as she came to herself,
+she said to me, 'Tell me how my son died.' 'May God abundantly
+requite thee for him!' answered I and told her all that had
+befallen him, from first to last. 'Did he give thee any charge?'
+asked she. 'Yes,' answered I and told her what he had said,
+adding, 'Hasten to take order for his funeral.' When she heard
+this, she swooned away again; and when she recovered, she
+addressed herself to do as I bade her. Then I returned to my
+house; and as I went along, musing sadly upon his fair youth, a
+woman caught hold of my hand. I looked at her and behold, it was
+Shemsennehar's slave-girl, broken for grief. When we knew each
+other, we both wept and gave not over weeping till we reached my
+house, and I said to her, 'Knowest thou the news of Ali ben
+Bekkar?' 'No, by Allah,' replied she; so I told her the manner of
+his death and all that had passed, whilst we both wept; after
+which I said to her, 'And how is it with thy mistress?' Quoth
+she, 'The Khalif would not hear a word against her, but saw all
+her actions in a favourable light, of the great love he bore her,
+and said to her, "O Shemsennehar, thou art dear to me and I will
+bear with thee and cherish thee, despite thine enemies." Then he
+bade furnish her a saloon decorated with gold and a handsome
+sleeping-chamber, and she abode with him in all ease of life and
+high favour. One day, as he sat at wine, according to his wont,
+with his favourites before him, he bade them be seated in their
+places and made Shemsennehar sit by his side. (Now her patience
+was exhausted and her disorder redoubled upon her.) Then he bade
+one of the damsels sing: so she took a lute and tuning it,
+preluded and sang the following verses:
+
+One sought me of lore and I yielded and gave him that which he
+     sought. And my tears write the tale of my transport in
+     furrows upon my cheek.
+Meseemeth as if the teardrops were ware, indeed, of our case And
+     hide what I'd fain discover and tell what to hide I seek.
+How can I hope to be secret and hide the love that I feel, Whenas
+     the stress of my longing my passion for thee doth speak?
+Death, since the loss of my loved ones, is sweet to me: would I
+     knew What unto them is pleasant, now that they've lost me
+     eke!
+
+When Shemsennehar heard these verses, she could not keep her
+seat, but fell down in a swoon, whereupon the Khalif threw the
+cup from his hand and drew her to him, crying out. The damsels
+clamoured and he turned her over and shook her, and behold, she
+was dead. The Khalif grieved sore for her death and bade break
+all the vessels and lutes and other instruments of mirth and
+music in the place; then carrying her body to his closet, he
+abode with her the rest of the night. When the day broke, he laid
+her out and commanded to wash her and shroud her and bury her.
+And he mourned very sore for her and questioned not of her case
+nor what ailed her. And I beg thee in God's name,' continued the
+damsel, 'to let me know the day of the coming of Ali ben Bekkar's
+funeral train, that I may be present at his burial.' Quoth I,
+'For myself, thou canst find me where thou wilt; but thou, who
+can come at thee where thou art?' 'On the day of Shemsennehar's
+death,' answered she, 'the Commander of the Faithful freed all
+her women, myself among the rest; and we are now abiding at the
+tomb in such a place.' So I accompanied her to the burial-ground
+and visited Shemennehar's tomb;[FN#18] after which I went my way
+and awaited the coming of Ali ben Bekkar's funeral. When it
+arrived, the people of Baghdad went forth to meet it and I with
+them; and I saw the damsel among the women and she the loudest of
+them in lamentation, crying out and wailing with a voice that
+rent the vitals and made the heart ache. Never was seen in
+Baghdad a greater funeral than his and we ceased not to follow in
+crowds, till we reached the cemetery and buried him to the mercy
+of God the most High; nor from that time to this have I ceased to
+visit his tomb and that of Shemsennehar." This, then, is their
+story, and may God the Most High have mercy upon them!
+
+
+
+
+
+                    KEMEREZZEMAN AND BUDOUR.
+
+
+
+There was once, of old time, a king called Shehriman, who was
+lord of many troops and guards and officers and reigned over
+certain islands, known as the Khalidan Islands, on the borders of
+the land of the Persians; but he was grown old and decrepit,
+without having been blessed with a son, albeit he had four wives,
+daughters of kings, and threescore concubines, with each of whom
+he was wont to lie one night in turn.  This preyed upon his mind
+and disquieted him, so that he complained thereof to one of his
+Viziers, saying, 'I fear lest my kingdom be lost, when I die, for
+that I have no son to take it after me.'  'O King,' answered the
+Vizier, 'peradventure God shall yet provide for this; do thou put
+thy trust in Him and be constant in supplication to Him.'  So the
+King rose and making his ablutions, prayed a two-bow prayer with
+a believing heart; after which he called one of his wives to bed
+and lay with her forthright.  By God's grace, she conceived by
+him and when her months were accomplished, she bore a male child,
+like the moon on the night of its full.  The King named him
+Kemerezzeman and rejoiced in him with exceeding joy and bade
+decorate the city in his honour.  So they decorated the city
+seven days, whilst the drums beat and the messengers bore the
+glad tidings abroad.  Meanwhile nurses and attendants were
+provided for the boy and he was reared in splendour and delight,
+until he reached the age of fifteen.  He grew up of surpassing
+beauty and symmetry, and his father loved him very dear, so that
+he could not brook to be parted from him day or night.  One day,
+he complained to one of his Viziers of the excess of his love for
+his son, saying, 'O Vizier, of a truth I fear the shifts and
+accidents of fortune for my son Kemerezzeman and fain would I
+marry him in my lifetime.'  'O King,' answered the Vizier,
+'marriage is one of the most honourable of actions, and thou
+wouldst indeed do well to marry thy son in thy lifetime, ere
+thou make him king.'  Quoth the King, 'Fetch me my son;' so
+Kemerezzeman came and bowed his head before his father, out of
+modesty.  'O Kemerezzeman,' said the King, 'I desire to marry
+thee and rejoice in thee in my lifetime.'  'O my father,'
+answered the prince, 'know that I have no wish to marry, nor doth
+my soul incline to women; for that I have read many books and
+heard much talk concerning their craft and perfidy, even as saith
+the poet:
+
+If ye would know of women and question of their case, Lo, I am
+     versed in their fashions and skilled all else above.
+When a man's head grows grizzled or for the nonce his wealth
+     Falls from his hand, then, trust me, he hath no part in
+     their love.
+
+And again:
+
+Gainsay women; he obeyeth Allah best who saith them nay, And he
+     prospers not who giveth them his bridle-rein to sway;
+For they'll hinder him from winning to perfection in his gifts,
+     Though a thousand years he study, seeking after wisdom's
+     way.
+
+Wherefore (continued Kemerezzeman) marriage is a thing to which I
+will never consent; no, not though I drink the cup of death.'
+When the King heard this, the light in his sight became darkness
+and he was excessively chagrined at his son's lack of obedience
+to his wishes; yet, for the great love he bore him, he forbore to
+press him and was not wroth with him, but caressed him and spoke
+him fair and showed him all manner of kindness such as tends to
+cultivate affection.  He took patience with him a whole year,
+during which time Kemerezzeman increased daily in beauty and
+elegance and amorous grace, till he became perfect in eloquence
+and loveliness.  All men were ravished with his beauty and every
+breeze that blew carried the tidings of his charms; he was a
+seduction to lovers and a garden of delight to longing hearts,
+for he was sweet of speech and his face put the full moon to
+shame.  Accomplished in symmetry as in elegance and engaging
+manners, his shape was slender and graceful as the willow-wand or
+the flowering cane and his cheeks might pass for roses or
+blood-red anemones.  He was, in fine, charming in all respects,
+even as the poet hath said of him:
+
+He comes and "Blest be God!" say all men, high and base. "Glory
+     to Him who shaped and fashioned forth his face!"
+He's monarch of the fair, wherever they may be;  For, lo, they're
+     all become the liegemen of his grace.
+The water of his mouth is liquid honey-dew And 'twixt his lips
+     for teeth fine pearls do interlace.
+Perfect in every trait of beauty and unique, His witching
+     loveliness distracts the human race.
+Beauty itself hath writ these words upon his cheek, "Except this
+     youth there's none that's fair in any place."
+
+When the year came to an end, the King called his son to him and
+said, 'O my son, wilt thou not hearken to me?'  Whereupon
+Kemerezzeman fell down for respect and shame before his father
+and replied, 'O my father, how should I not hearken to thee,
+seeing that God commandeth me to obey thee and not gainsay thee?'
+'O my son,' said King Shehriman, 'know that I desire to marry
+thee and rejoice in thee, whilst yet I live, and make thee king
+over my realm, before my death.'  When the prince heard this, he
+bowed his head awhile, then raised it and said, 'O my father,
+this is a thing that I will never do, though I drink the cup of
+death.  I know of a surety that God the Most High enjoins on me
+obedience to thee; but in His name I conjure thee, press me not
+in this matter of marriage, neither think that I will ever marry
+my life long; for that I have read the books both of the ancients
+and the moderns and have come to know all the troubles and
+calamities that have befallen them through women and the
+disasters that have sprung from their craft without end.  How
+well says the poet:
+
+He, whom the baggages entrap, Deliverance shall never know,
+Although a thousand forts he build, Plated with lead;--'gainst
+     such a foe
+It shall not profit him to build Nor citadels avail, I trow.
+Women are traitresses to all, Both near and far and high and low.
+With fingers dyed and flowing hair Plaited with tresses, sweet of
+     show,
+And eyelids beautified with kohl, They make one drink of bale and
+     woe.
+
+And no less excellently saith another:
+
+Women, for all to chastity they're bidden, everywhere Are carrion
+     tossed about of all the vultures of the air.
+To-night their converse, ay, and all their secret charms are
+     thine, But on the morn their leg and wrist fall to another's
+     share;
+Like to an inn in which thou lodg'st, departing with the dawn,
+     And one thou know'st not, after thee, lights down and lodges
+     there.
+
+When King Shehriman heard these his son's words, he made him no
+answer, of his great love for him, but redoubled in favour and
+kindness to him.  As soon as the audience was over, he called his
+Vizier and taking him apart, said to him, 'O Vizier, tell me how
+I shall do with my son in this matter of his marriage.  I took
+counsel with thee thereon and thou didst counsel me to marry him,
+before making him king.  I have spoken with him once and again of
+marriage, and he still gainsaid me; so do thou now counsel me
+what to do.'  'O King,' answered the Vizier, 'wait another year,
+and if after that thou be minded to speak to him on the matter of
+marriage, do it not privily, but on a day of state, when all the
+Viziers and Amirs are present and all the troops standing before
+thee.  Then send for thy son and broach to him the matter of
+marriage before the Viziers and grandees and officers of state
+and captains; for he will surely be daunted by their presence and
+will not dare to oppose thy will.'  The King rejoiced exceedingly
+in his Vizier's advice, deeming it excellent, and bestowed on him
+a splendid robe of honour.  Then he took patience with his son
+another year, whilst, with every day that passed over him,
+Kemerezzeman increased in grace and beauty and elegance and
+perfection, till he was nigh twenty years old.  Indeed, God had
+clad him in the habit of beauty and crowned him with the crown of
+perfection: his eyes were more ensorcelling than Harout and
+Marout[FN#19] and the play of his glances more misleading than
+Taghout.[FN#20] His cheeks shone with redness and his eyelashes
+outvied the keen-edged sword: the whiteness of his forehead
+resembled the shining moon and the blackness of his hair was as
+the murky night.  His waist was more slender than the gossamer
+and his buttocks heavier than two hills of sand, troubling the
+heart with their softness; but his waist complained of their
+weight.  In fine, his charms ravished all mankind, even as saith
+the poet:
+
+By his cheeks' unfading damask and his smiling teeth I swear, By
+     the arrows that he feathers with the witchery of his air,
+By his sides so soft and tender and his glances bright and keen,
+     By the whiteness of his forehead and the blackness of his
+     hair,
+By his arched imperious eyebrows, chasing slumber from mine eyes,
+     With their yeas and noes that hold me 'twixt rejoicing and
+     despair,
+By the scorpious[FN#21] that he launches from his
+     ringlet-clustered brows, Seeking ever in their meshes
+     hapless lovers to ensnare,
+By the myrtle of his whiskers and the roses of his cheeks, By his
+     lips' incarnate rubies and his teeth's fine pearls and rare,
+By his breath's delicious fragrance and the waters of his mouth,
+     That defy old wine and choicest with their sweetness to
+     compare,
+By his heavy hips that tremble, both in motion and repose, And
+     the slender waist above them, all too slight their weight to
+     bear,
+By his hand's perennial bounty and his true and trusty speech, By
+     the stars that smile upon him, favouring and debonair,
+Lo, the scent of musk none other than his very perfume is, And
+     the ambergris's fragrance breathes about him everywhere.
+Yea, the sun in all his splendour cannot with his brightness vie,
+     And the crescent moon's a fragment that he from his nail
+     doth pare.
+
+The King, accordingly, waited till a day of state, when the
+audience hall was filled with his Amirs and Viziers and grandees
+and officers of state and captains.  As soon as they were all
+assembled, he sent for his son Kemerezzeman, who came and kissing
+the earth three times, stood before him, with his hands clasped
+behind his back.  Then said the King to him, 'Know, O my son,
+that I have sent for thee and summoned thee to appear before this
+assembly and all these officers of state that I may lay a
+commandment on thee, wherein do thou not gainsay me.  It is that
+thou marry, for I am minded to wed thee to a king's daughter and
+rejoice in thee ere I die.'  When the prince heard these his
+father's words, he bowed his head awhile, then raising it,
+replied, being moved thereto by youthful folly and boyish
+ignorance, 'Never will I marry, no, not though I drink the cup of
+death!  As for thee, thou art great in years and little of wit:
+hast thou not, twice before this, questioned me of the matter of
+marriage, and I refused thee?  Indeed, thou dotest and art not
+fit to govern a flock of sheep!'  So saying, he unclasped his
+hands from behind his back and rolled up his sleeves, in his
+rage; moreover, he added many words to his father, knowing not
+what he said, in the trouble of his spirit.  The King was
+confounded and ashamed, for that this befell in the presence of
+his grandees and officers assembled on an occasion of state; but
+presently the energy of kingship took him and he cried out upon
+his son and made him tremble.  Then he called to his guards and
+bade them seize him and bind his hands behind his back.  So they
+laid hands on Kemerezzeman and binding him, brought him before
+his father, full of shame and confusion, with his head bowed down
+for fear and inquietude and his brow and face beaded with sweat.
+The King loaded him with reproaches, saying, 'Out on thee, thou
+whoreson and nursling of abomination!  Dost thou dare to answer
+me thus before my captains and officers?  But hitherto none hath
+corrected thee.  Knowest thou not that this thou hast done were
+disgraceful in the meanest of my subjects?'  And he commanded his
+guards to loose his bonds and imprison him in one of the turrets
+of the citadel.  So they carried the prince into an old tower,
+wherein there was a dilapidated saloon, after having first swept
+it and cleansed its floor and set him a couch in its midst, on
+which they laid a mattress, a leathern rug and a cushion. Then
+they brought him a great lantern and a candle, for the place
+was dark, even by day, and posting an eunuch at the door, left
+him to himself.  Kemerezzeman threw himself on the couch,
+broken-spirited and mournful-hearted, blaming himself and
+repenting of his unseemly behaviour to his father, when
+repentance availed him nothing, and saying, 'May God curse
+marriage and girls and women, the traitresses!  Would I had
+hearkened to my father and married!  It were better for me than
+this prison.'
+
+Meanwhile, King Shehriman abode on his throne till sundown, when
+he took the Vizier apart and said to him, 'O Vizier, thine advice
+is the cause of all this that hath befallen between me and my
+son.  What doth thou counsel me to do now?'  'O King,' answered
+he, 'leave thy son in prison for the space of fifteen days; then
+send for him and command him to marry, and he will not again
+gainsay thee.'  The King accepted the Vizier's counsel and lay
+down to sleep, troubled at heart concerning Kemerezzeman, for he
+loved him very dearly, having no other child, and it was his wont
+not to sleep, save with his arm about his son's neck.  So he
+passed the night in trouble and unease, tossing from side to
+side, as he were laid on coals of tamarisk-wood; for he was
+overcome with inquietude and sleep visited him not all that
+night; but his eyes ran over with tears and he repeated the
+following verses:
+
+The night, whilst the slanderers sleep, is tedious unto me;
+     Suffice thee a heart that aches for parting's agony!
+I cry, whilst my night for care grows long and longer aye, "O
+     light of the morning, say, is there no returning for thee?"
+
+And these also:
+
+When the Pleiads I saw leave to shine in their stead And over the
+     pole-star a lethargy shed
+And the maids of the Bier[FN#22] in black raiment unveiled, I
+     knew that the lamp of the morning was dead.
+
+To return to Kemerezzeman.  When the night came on, the eunuch
+set the lantern before him and lighting a candle, placed it in
+the candlestick; then brought him food.  The prince ate a little
+and reproached himself for his ill-behaviour to his father,
+saying to himself, 'O my soul, knowst thou not that a son of Adam
+is the hostage of his tongue and that a man's tongue is what
+casts him into perils?'  Then his eyes ran over with tears and he
+bewailed that which he had done, from an anguished heart and an
+aching bosom, repenting him with an exceeding repentance of the
+wrong he had done his father repeating the following verses:
+
+For the sheer stumble of his tongue the youth must death aby,
+     Though for the stumble of his foot the grown man shall not
+     die.
+Thus doth the slipping of his mouth smite off his head, I ween,
+     What while the slipping of his foot is healed, as time goes
+     by.
+
+When he had made an end of eating, he called the eunuch, who
+washed his hands.  Then he made his ablutions and prayed the
+prayers of sundown and nightfall, after which he sat down on the
+couch, to read[FN#23] the Koran.  He read the chapters called
+'The Cow,' 'The family of Imran,'  'Ya-Sin,' 'The Compassionate,'
+'Blessed be the King,' 'Unity' and 'The two Amulets,' and
+concluded with blessing and supplication, seeking refuge with God
+from Satan the accursed.  Then he put off his trousers and the
+rest of his clothes and lay down, in a shirt of fine waxed cloth
+and a coif of blue stuff of Merv, upon a mattress of satin,
+embroidered on both sides with gold and quilted with Irak silk,
+having under his head a pillow stuffed with ostrich-down.  In
+this guise, he was like the full moon, when it rises on its
+fourteenth night.  Then, drawing over himself a coverlet of silk,
+he fell asleep with the lantern burning at his feet and the
+candle at his head, and woke not for a third part of the night,
+being ignorant of that which lurked for him in the secret purpose
+of God and what He who knoweth the hidden things had appointed
+unto him.  Now, as chance and destiny would have it, the tower in
+question was old and had been many years deserted; and there was
+therein a Roman well, inhabited by an Afriteh of the lineage of
+Iblis the Accursed, by name Maimouneh, daughter of Ed Dimiryat, a
+renowned King of the Jinn.  In the middle of the night, Maimouneh
+came up out of the well and made for heaven, thinking to listen
+by stealth to the discourse of the angels; but, when she reached
+the mouth of the well, she saw a light shining in the tower,
+contrary to wont; whereat she was mightily amazed, having dwelt
+there many years and never seen the like, and said to herself,
+'Needs must there be some cause for this.'  So she made for the
+light and found that it came from the saloon, at whose door she
+found the eunuch sleeping.  She entered and saw a man Iying
+asleep upon the couch, with the lantern burning at his feet and
+the candle at his head; at which she wondered and going softly
+up to him, folded her wings and drawing back the coverlid,
+discovered his face.  The lustre of his visage outshone that of
+the candle, and the Afriteh abode awhile, astounded at his beauty
+and grace; for his face beamed with light, his cheeks were
+rose-red and his eyelids languorous; his brows were arched like
+bows and his whole person exhaled a scent of musk, even as saith
+of him the poet:
+
+I kissed him and his cheeks forthwith grew red, and black and
+     bright The pupils grew that are my soul's seduction and
+     delight.
+O heart, if slanderers avouch that there exists his like For
+     goodliness, say thou to them, "Produce him to my sight."
+
+When Maimouneh saw him, she glorified God and said, 'Blessed be
+Allah, the best of Creators!'  For she was of the true-believing
+Jinn.  She stood awhile, gazing on his face, proclaiming the
+unity of God and envying the youth his beauty and grace.  And she
+said in herself, 'By Allah, I will do him no hurt nor let any
+harm him, but will ransom him from all ill, for this fair face
+deserves not but that folk should look upon it and glorify God.
+But how could his family find it in their hearts to leave him in
+this desert place, where if one of our Marids came upon him at
+this hour, he would kill him?'  Then she bent over him and
+kissing him between the eyes, folded back the coverlet over his
+face; after which she spread her wings and soaring into the air,
+flew upward till she drew near the lowest heaven, when she heard
+the noise of wings beating the air and making for the sound,
+found that it came from an Afrit called Dehnesh.  So she swooped
+down on him like a sparrow-hawk; and when he was ware of her and
+knew her to be Maimouneh, daughter of the King of the Jinn, he
+feared her and his nerves trembled; and he implored her
+forbearance, saying, 'I conjure thee by the Most Great and August
+Name and by the most noble talisman graven upon the seal of
+Solomon, entreat me kindly and harm me not!'  When she heard
+this, her heart inclined to him and she said, 'Verily, thou
+conjurest me with a mighty conjuration, O accursed one!
+Nevertheless, I will not let thee go, till thou tell me whence
+thou comest at this hour.'  'O princess,' answered he, 'know that
+I come from the uttermost end of the land of Cathay and from
+among the islands, and I will tell thee of a wonderful thing I
+have seen this night.  If thou find my words true, let me go my
+way and write me a patent under thy hand that I am thy freedman,
+so none of the Jinn, whether of the air or the earth, divers or
+flyers,[FN#24] may do me let or hindrance.'  'And what is it thou
+hast seen this night, O liar, O accursed one?'  rejoined
+Maimouneh.  'Tell me without leasing and think not to escape from
+my hand with lies, for I swear to thee by the inscription on the
+beazel of the ring of Solomon son of David (on whom be peace,)
+except thy speech be true, I will pluck out thy feathers with
+mine own hand and strip off thy skin and break thy bones.'  'I
+accept this condition, O my lady,' answered Dehnesh, son of
+Shemhourish the Flyer.  'Know that I come to-night from the
+Islands of the Inland Sea in the parts of Cathay, which are the
+dominions of King Ghaiour, lord of the Islands and the Seas and
+the Seven Palaces.  There I saw a daughter of his, than whom God
+hath made none fairer in her time,--I cannot picture her to thee,
+for my tongue would fail to describe her aright; but I will name
+to thee somewhat of her charms, by way of approximation.  Her
+hair is like the nights of estrangement and separation and her
+face like the days of union; and the poet hath well described her
+when he says:
+
+She took up three locks of her hair and spread them out one night
+     And straight four nights discovered at once unto my sight.
+Then did she turn her visage up to the moon of the sky And showed
+     me two moons at one season, both burning clear and bright.
+
+She hath a nose like the point of the burnished sword and cheeks
+like purple wine or blood-red anemones: her lips are like coral
+and cornelian and the water of her mouth is sweeter than old
+wine, its taste would allay the torments of Hell.  Her tongue is
+moved by abounding wit and ready repartee: her breast is a
+temptation to all that see it, glory be to Him who created it and
+finished it: and joined thereto are two smooth round arms.  As
+says of her the poet El Welhan:
+
+She hath two wrists, which, were they not by bracelets held, I
+     trow, Would flow out of their sleeves as brooks of liquid
+     silver flow.
+
+She has breasts like two globes of ivory, the moons borrow from
+their brightness, and a belly dimpled as it were a brocaded cloth
+of the finest Egyptian linen, with creases like folded scrolls,
+leading to a waist slender past conception, over buttocks like a
+hill of sand, that force her to sit, when she would fain stand,
+and awaken her, when she would sleep, even as saith of her the
+poet:
+
+Her slender waist a pair of buttocks overlies, The which both
+     over her and me do tyrannize.
+For they confound my wit, whenas I think on them, And eke enforce
+     her sit, whenas she fain would rise.
+
+They are upborne by smooth round thighs and legs like columns of
+pearl, and all this rests upon two slender feet, pointed like
+spear-blades, the handiwork of God, the Protector and Requiter, I
+wonder how, of their littleness, they can sustain what is above
+them.  But I cut short my description of her charms, lest I be
+tedious.  The father of this young lady is a powerful king, a
+fierce cavalier, immersed night and day in wars and battles,
+fearless of death and dreading not ruin, for that he is a
+masterful tyrant and an irresistible conqueror, lord of troops
+and armies, continents and islands, cities and villages, and his
+name is King Ghaiour, lord of the Islands and the Seas and of the
+Seven Palaces.  He loves his daughter, the young lady whom I have
+described to thee, very dearly, and for love of her, he gathered
+together the treasures of all the kings and built her therewith
+seven palaces, each of a different fashion; the first of crystal,
+the second of marble, the third of China steel, the fourth of
+precious stones, the fifth of porcelain and vari-coloured onyx,
+the sixth of silver and the seventh of gold.  He filled the seven
+palaces with rich silken carpets and hangings and vessels of gold
+and silver and all manner of gear befitting kings and commanded
+his daughter, whose name is the Princess Budour, to abide in each
+by turns for a certain season of the year.  When her beauty
+became known and her fame was noised abroad in the neighbouring
+countries, all the kings sent to her father, to demand her in
+marriage, and he consulted her on the matter, but she misliked it
+and said, "O my father, I have no mind to marry; for I am a
+sovereign lady and a princess ruling over men, and I have no
+desire for a man who shall rule over me." The more she refused,
+the more the eagerness of her suitors increased and all the kings
+of the Islands of the Inland Sea sent gifts and offerings to her
+father, with letters asking her in marriage.  So he pressed her
+again and again to make choice of a husband, despite her
+refusals, till at last she turned upon him angrily and said to
+him, "O my father, if thou name marriage to me again, I will go
+into my chamber and take a sword and fixing its hilt in the
+ground, set its point to my breast; then will I lean upon it,
+till it come forth from my back, and so kill myself." When the
+King heard this, the light became darkness in his sight and his
+heart was torn with anxiety and perplexity concerning her affair;
+for he feared lest she should kill herself and knew not how to
+deal with the kings who sought her hand.  So he said to her, "If
+thou be irrevocably determined not to marry, abstain from going
+in and out." Then he shut her up in her chamber, appointing ten
+old body-women to guard her, and made as though he were wroth
+with her, forbidding her to go forth to the seven palaces;
+moreover, he sent letters to all the kings, giving them to know
+that she had been stricken with madness.  It is now a year
+(continued Dehnesh) since she has been thus cloistered, and every
+night I go to her, whilst she is asleep, and take my fill of
+gazing on her face and kiss her between the eyes: yet, of my love
+to her, I do her no hurt neither swive her, for that her youth is
+fair and her loveliness surpassing; every one who sees is jealous
+for her of himself.  I conjure thee, therefore, O my lady, to go
+back with me and look on her beauty and symmetry; and after, if
+thou wilt, chastise me or enslave me: for it is thine to command
+and to forbid.'  So saying, he bowed his head towards the earth
+and drooped his wings; but Maimouneh laughed at his words and
+spitting in his face, answered, 'What is this girl of whom thou
+pratest but a potsherd to cleanse the privities withal?  Faugh!
+Faugh!  By Allah, O accursed one, I thought thou hadst some rare
+story to tell me or some marvel to make known to me!  How would
+it be if thou sawest my beloved?  Verily this night I have seen a
+young man whom if thou sawest though but in sleep, thou wouldst
+be palsied with admiration and thy mouth would water.'  'And who
+and what is this youth?'  asked the Afrit.  'Know, O Dehnesh,'
+answered she, 'that there hath befallen him the like of what
+befell thy mistress; for his father pressed him again and again
+to marry, but he refused, till at length his father waxed wroth
+and imprisoned him in the tower where I dwell: and I came up
+to-night and saw him.'  'O my lady,' said Dehnesh, 'show me the
+youth, that I may see if he be indeed handsomer than my mistress,
+the Princess Budour, or not; for I cannot believe that there
+lives her equal.'  'Thou liest, O accursed one!'  rejoined
+Maimouneh.  'O most ill-omened of Marids and vilest of  Satans!
+Sure am I that there is not in this world the like of my beloved.
+Art thou mad to even thy beloved with mine?'  'I conjure thee by
+Allah, O my lady,' said Dehnesh, 'to go back with me and see my
+mistress, and after I will return with thee and look upon thy
+beloved.'  'It must needs be so, O accursed one!'  answered she.
+'Yet, for that thou art a knavish devil, I will not go with thee
+nor shalt thou come with me, save upon surety and condition of
+pledge.  If thy beloved prove handsomer than mine, the pledge
+shall be thine against me; but if my beloved prove the fairer,
+the pledge shall be mine against thee.'  'O my lady,' said
+Dehnesh, 'I accept this thy condition; so come with me to the
+Islands.'  'Not so,' replied Maimouneh; 'for the abode of my
+beloved is nearer than that of thine: here it is under us; so
+come down with me and see my beloved, and after we will go look
+upon thy mistress.'  'I hear and obey,' said Dehnesh.  So they
+descended and alighting on the tower, entered the saloon, where
+Maimouneh stationed Dehnesh beside the bed and putting out her
+hand, drew back the silken coverlet, whereupon Kemerezzeman's
+face shone out like the sun.  She looked at him a moment, then
+turning to Dehnesh, said, ''Look, O accursed one, and be not the
+vilest of madmen; I am a maiden and am ravished with him.'  So
+Dehnesh looked at the prince and gazed steadfastly on him awhile,
+then, shaking his head, said to Maimouneh, 'By Allah, O my lady,
+thou art excusable; but there is another thing to be considered,
+and that is that the female estate differs from the male.  By the
+virtue of God, this thy beloved is the likest of all created
+things to my mistress in beauty and loveliness and grace and
+it is as though they were both cast alike in the mould of
+perfection!'  When Maimouneh heard these words, the light in
+her sight became darkness and she dealt him so fierce a buffet
+on the head with her wing as well-nigh made an end of him. Then,
+'I conjure thee,' said she, 'by the light of his glorious
+countenance, go at once, O accursed one, and bring hither thy
+mistress in haste that we may lay them together and look on them
+both, as they lie asleep side by side; so will it appear to us
+whether is the goodlier and more beautiful of the two.  Except
+thou obey me forthright, I will dart my sparks at thee and
+consume thee with my fire; yea, I will rend thee in pieces and
+cast thee into the deserts, as an example to stay-at-home and
+wayfarer.'  'O my lady,' answered the Afrit, 'I will do thy
+bidding, for I know that my mistress is the fairer and sweeter.'
+So saying, he flew away and Maimouneh flew with him, to guard
+him.  They were absent awhile and presently returned, bearing the
+young lady, who was clad in a shift of fine Venetian silk, laced
+with gold and wrought with the most exquisite broidery and having
+the following verses worked upon the ends of the sleeves:
+
+Three things for ever hinder her to visit us, for fear Of the
+     intriguing spy and eke the rancorous envier;
+Her forehead's lustre and the sound of all her ornaments And the
+     sweet scent her creases hold of ambergris and myrrh.
+Grant with the border of her sleeve she hide her brows and doff
+     Her ornaments, how shall she do her scent away from her?
+
+They carried her into the saloon and laying her beside
+Kemerezzeman, uncovered both their faces, and behold, they were
+the likest of all folk, one to the other, as they were twins or
+an only brother and sister; and indeed they were a temptation to
+the pious, even as says of them  the poet El Mubin:
+
+Be not thy love, O heart, to one alone confined, Lest, for that
+     one, amaze and doting thee enwind;
+But love thou rather all the fair, and thou shalt find, If one
+     contrarious prove, another will be kind.
+
+And quoth another:
+
+Two fair ones lying on the earth I did of late espy; Two that I
+     needs must love, although they lay upon mine eye.
+
+Dehnesh and Maimouneh gazed on them awhile, and the former said,
+'By Allah, O my lady, it is good!  My mistress is assuredly the
+fairer.'  'Not so,' answered she, 'my beloved is the fairer.  Out
+on thee, O Dehnesh!  Thou art blind of eye and heart and
+distinguishest not between good and bad.[FN#25] Wilt thou hide
+the truth?  Dost thou not see his beauty and grace and symmetry?
+Out on thee, hear what I purpose to say in praise of my beloved,
+and do thou the like for her thou lovest, an thou be a true
+lover.'  Then she kissed Kemerezzeman again and again between the
+eyes and repeated the following ode:
+
+Ah me, what ails the censurer that he at thee should flite? How
+     shall I be consoled for thee, and thou a sapling slight?
+Thou of the black and languorous eye, that casteth far and wide
+     Charms, whose sheer witchery compels to passion's utmost
+     height,
+Whose looks, with Turkish languor fraught, work havoc in the
+     breast, Leaving such wounds as ne'er were made of falchion
+     in the fight,
+Thou layst on me a heavy load of passion and desire, On me that
+     am too weak to bear a shift upon me dight.
+My love for thee, as well thou know'st, my very nature is, And
+     that for others which I feign dissembling but and sleight.
+An if my heart were like to thine, I'd not refuse; alack!  'Tis
+     but my body's like thy waist, worn thin and wasted quite.
+Out on him for a moon that's famed for beauty far and near, That
+     for th' exemplar of all grace men everywhere do cite!
+The railers say, "Who's this for love of whom thou art
+     distressed?" And I reply, "An if ye can, describe the lovely
+     wight."
+O learn to yield, hard heart of his, take pattern by his shape!
+     So haply yet he may relent and put away despite.
+Thou, that my prince in beauty art, a steward[FN#26] hast, whose
+     rule Aggrieves me and a chamberlain[FN#27] that doth me foul
+     upright.
+He lies who says, "All loveliness in Joseph was comprised." How
+     many a Joseph is there not within thy beauty bright!
+The Jinn do fear me, whenas I confront them face to face; But
+     when I meet with thee, my heart doth tremble for affright.
+I feign aversion unto thee, for fear of slanderous tongues; The
+     more I feign, the more my love to madness I excite.
+Black hair and smooth and glistening brows, eyes languorous and
+     soft, As of the maids of Paradise, and slender shape and
+     slight!
+
+When Dehnesh heard this, he shook for delight and was filled with
+admiration and said, 'Thou hast indeed done well in praise of him
+whom thou lovest!  Needs must I do my endeavour, in my turn, to
+celebrate my mistress, to the best of my power, and recite
+somewhat in her honour.'  Then he went up to the lady Budour and
+kissing her  between the eyes, looked at her and at Maimouneh and
+recited the following verses, for all he had no skill in poetry:
+
+They chide my passion for my fair in harsh and cruel guise; But,
+     of their ignorance, forsooth, they're neither just nor wise.
+Vouchsafe thy favours to the slave of love, for, an he taste Of
+     thine estrangement and disdain, assuredly he dies.
+Indeed, for very stress of love, I'm drenched with streaming
+     tears, That, like a rivulet of blood, run ever from mine
+     eyes.
+No wonder 'tis what I for love endure; the wonder is That any,
+     since the loss of thee, my body recognize.
+Forbidden be thy sight to me, if I've a thought of doubt Or if my
+     heart of passion tire or feign or use disguise!
+
+And also the following:
+
+I feed mine eyes on the places where we met long ago; Far distant
+     now is the valley and I'm forslain for woe.
+I'm drunk with the wine of passion and the teardrops in mine eyes
+     Dance to the song of the leader of the camels, as we go.
+I cease not from mine endeavour to win to fortune fair; Yet in
+     Budour, Suada,[FN#28] all fortune is, I know.
+Three things I reckon, I know not of which to most complain; Give
+     ear whilst I recount them and be you judge, I trow.
+Firstly, her eyes, the sworders; second, the spearman, her shape,
+     And thirdly, her ringlets that clothe her in armour,[FN#29]
+     row upon row.
+Quoth she (and indeed I question, for tidings of her I love, All
+     whom I meet, or townsman or Bedouin, high or low)
+Quoth she unto me, "My dwelling is in thy heart; look there And
+     thou shalt see me." I answer, "And where is my heart?
+     Heigho!"
+
+When Maimouneh heard this, she said, 'Thou hast done well, O
+Dehnesh!  But tell me, which of the two is the handsomer?'  And
+he answered, 'My mistress Budour is certainly handsomer than thy
+beloved.'  'Thou liest, O accursed one!'  cried Maimouneh.  'Nay,
+my beloved is more beautiful than thine!'  And they ceased not to
+gainsay each other, till Maimouneh cried out at Dehnesh and would
+have laid violent hands on him; but he humbled himself to her and
+softening his speech, said to her, 'Let us leave talking, for we
+do but contradict each other, and rather seek one who shall judge
+fairly between us, whether of the two is fairer, and let us abide
+by his sentence.'  'I agree to this,' answered she and smote the
+earth with her foot, whereupon there came up a one-eyed Afrit,
+hump-backed and scurvy, with eyes slit endlong in his face.  On
+his head were seven horns and four locks of hair falling to his
+heels; his hands were like pitchforks, his legs like masts and he
+had claws like a lion and hoofs like those of the wild ass.  When
+he saw Maimouneh, he kissed the earth before her and standing
+with his hands clasped behind him, said, 'What is thy will, O
+king's daughter?'  'O Keshkesh,' answered she, 'I would have thee
+judge between me and this accursed Dehnesh.'  And she made known
+to him the whole matter, whereupon he looked at the prince and
+princess and saw them lying asleep, embraced, each with an arm
+about the other's neck, alike in beauty and grace and equal in
+goodliness.  The Marid gazed long and fixedly upon them,
+marvelling at their beauty, and repeated the following verses:
+
+Cleave fast to her thou lov'st and let the envious rail amain,
+     For calumny and envy ne'er to favour love were fain.
+Lo, the Compassionate hath made no fairer thing to see Than when
+     one couch in its embrace enfoldeth lovers twain,
+Each to the other's bosom clasped, clad in their own delight,
+     Whilst hand with hand and arm with arm about their necks
+     enchain.
+If in thy time thou find but one to love thee and be true, I rede
+     thee cast the world away and with that one remain.
+Lo, when two hearts are straitly knit in passion and desire, But
+     on cold iron smite the folk that chide at them in vain.
+Thou that for loving censures the votaries of love, Canst thou
+     assain a heart diseased or heal a cankered brain?
+O Lord, O Thou Compassionate, I prithee, ere we die, Though only
+     for a single day, unite us two again!
+
+
+Then he turned to Maimouneh and Dehnesh and said to them, 'By
+Allah, if you will have the truth, they are equal in beauty and
+grace and perfection, nor is there any difference between them
+but that of sex.  But I have another idea, and it is that we wake
+each of them in turn, without the other's knowledge, and
+whichever is more enamoured of the other shall be held the lesser
+in beauty and grace.'  'This is a good counsel,' answered
+Maimouneh, and Dehnesh said, 'I consent to this.'  Then Dehnesh
+changed himself to a flea and bit Kemerezzeman on the neck,
+whereupon the prince awoke with a start and rubbed the place of
+the bite, because of the smart.  Then turning sideways, he found
+lying by him something, whose breath was more fragrant than musk,
+and whose body was softer than cream.  At this he marvelled
+greatly and sitting up, looked at this that lay beside him and
+saw it to be a young lady like the moon, as she were a splendid
+pearl, or a shining sun, five feet high, with a shape like the
+letter I, high-bosomed and rosy-checked; even as saith of her the
+poet:
+
+Four things there are, which ne'er unite, except it be To shed my
+     heart's best blood and take my soul by storm.
+And these are night-black locks and brow as bright as day, Cheeks
+     ruddy as the rose and straight and slender form.
+
+And also quoth another:
+
+She shineth forth, a moon, and bends, a willow-wand, And
+     breathes, pure ambergris, and gazes, a gazelle.
+It seems as if grief loved my heart and when from her
+     Estrangement I endure, possession to it fell.
+
+She was clad in a shift of Venetian silk, without drawers, and
+wore on her head a kerchief embroidered with gold and jewels; her
+ears were hung with earrings, that shone like stars, and round
+her neck was a collar of great pearls, past the competence of any
+king.  When he saw this, his reason was confounded and natural
+heat began to stir in him; God awoke in him the desire of coition
+and he said, 'What God wills, shall be, and what He will not,
+shall not be!'  So saying, he put out his hand and turning her
+over, loosed the collar of her shift, laying bare her bosom, with
+its breasts like globes of ivory; whereat his inclination for her
+redoubled and he desired her with an exceeding desire.  Then he
+shook her and moved her, essaying to waken her and saying, 'O my
+beloved, awake and look on me; I am Kemerezzeman.'  But she awoke
+not, neither moved her head, for Dehnesh made her sleep heavy.
+With this, he considered awhile and said to himself, 'If I guess
+aright, this is she to whom my father would have married me and I
+have refused these three years past; but, God willing, as soon as
+it is day, I will say to him,  "Marry me to her that I may enjoy
+her," nor will I let half the day pass ere I possess her and take
+my fill of her beauty and grace.'  Then he bent over Budour, to
+kiss her, whereat Maimouneh trembled and was confounded and
+Dehnesh was like to fly for joy.  But, as Kemerezzeman was about
+to kiss her, he was ashamed before God and turned away his head,
+saying to his heart, 'Have patience.'  Then he considered awhile
+and said, 'I will be patient, lest my father have brought this
+young lady and made her lie by my side, to try me with her,
+charging her not to be lightly awakened, whenas I would fain
+arouse her, and bidding her tell him all that I do to her.
+Belike, he is hidden somewhere whence he can see all I do with
+this young lady, himself unseen; and to-morrow he will flout me
+and say, "How comes it that thou feignest to have no mind to
+marry and yet didst kiss and clip yonder damsel?" So I will
+forbear her, lest I be shamed before my father; and it were well
+that I look not on her nor touch her at this present, except to
+take from her somewhat to serve as a sign of remembrance and a
+token between us.'  Then he lifted her hand and took from her
+little finger a ring worth much money, for that its beazel was of
+precious jewels and around it were graven the following verses:
+
+Think not that I have forgotten thy sometime promises, Though long
+     thou hast protracted thy cruelty, ywis.
+Be generous, O my master, vouchsafe me of thy grace, So it to me
+     be given thy lips and cheeks to kiss.
+Never, by Allah, never will I abandon thee, Though thou
+     transgress thy limits in love and go amiss!
+
+
+Then he put the ring on his own little finger, and turning his
+back to her, went to sleep.  When Maimouneh saw this, she was
+glad and said, 'Saw ye how my beloved Kemerezzeman forbore
+this young lady?  Verily, this was of the perfection of his
+excellences; for see how he looked on her and noted her beauty
+and grace, yet clipped her not neither kissed her nor put his
+hand to her, but turned his back to her and slept.'  'It is
+well,' answered they; 'we saw how perfectly he bore himself.'
+Then Maimouneh changed herself into a flea and entering Budour's
+clothes, crept up her leg and bit her four finger-breadths below
+the navel; whereupon she opened her eyes and sitting up in bed,
+saw a youth lying beside her and breathing heavily in his sleep,
+the loveliest of God's creatures, with eyes that put to shame
+the fair maids of Paradise, mouth like Solomon's seal, whose
+water was sweeter to the taste and more efficacious than
+triacle,[FN#30] lips the colour of coral and cheeks like
+blood-red anemones, even as saith one, describing him:
+
+From Zeyneb[FN#31] and Newar[FN#32] my mind is drawn away By the
+     rose of a cheek, whereo'er a whisker's myrtles stray.
+I'm fallen in love with a fawn, a youngling tunic-clad, And joy
+     no more in love of bracelet-wearing may.
+My mate in banquet-hall and closet's all unlike To her with whom
+     within my harem's close I play:
+O thou that blames me, because I flee from Hind[FN#33] And
+     Zeyneb, my excuse is clear as break of day.
+Would'st have me be a slave, the bondsman of a slave, One
+     cloistered and confined behind a wall alway?[FN#34]
+
+When the princess saw him, a transport of passion and longing
+seized her and she said to herself, 'Alas my shame!  This is a
+strange youth and I know him not.  How comes he lying in one bed
+with me?'  Then she looked at him again and noting his beauty and
+grace, said, 'By Allah, he is a comely youth and my heart is
+well-nigh torn in sunder with longing for him.  But alas, how am
+I shamed by him!  By Allah, had I known it was he who sought my
+hand of my father, I had not rejected him, but had married him
+and enjoyed his loveliness!'  Then she gazed in his face and
+said, 'O my lord and light of mine eyes, awake from sleep and
+enjoy my beauty and grace.'  And she moved him with her hand; but
+Maimouneh let down sleep upon him (as it were a curtain) and
+pressed on his head with her wings, so that he awoke not.  The
+princess went on to shake him and say, 'My life on thee, give ear
+unto me!  Awake and look on the narcissus and the tender green
+and enjoy my body and my secret charms and dally with me and
+touzle me from now till break of day!  I conjure thee by Allah, O
+my lord, sit up and lean against the pillow and sleep not!'
+Still he made her no answer, but breathed heavily in his sleep.
+'Alas!  Alas!'  continued she.  'Thou art proud in thy beauty and
+grace and lovely looks!  But if thou art handsome, so am I; what
+then is this thou dost?  Have they lessoned thee to flout me or
+has the wretched old man, my father, made thee swear not to speak
+to me to-night?'  But he opened not his mouth neither awoke,
+whereat her passion redoubled and God inflamed her heart with
+love of him.  She stole one glance at him that cost her a
+thousand sighs: her heart fluttered and her entrails yearned and
+she exclaimed, 'Speak to me, O my lord!  O my friend, my beloved,
+answer me and tell me thy name, for indeed thou hast ravished my
+wit!'  Still he abode drowned in sleep and answered her not a
+word, and she sighed and said, 'Alas!  Alas!  why art thou so
+self-satisfied?'  Then she shook him and turning his hand over,
+saw her ring on his little finger, whereat she cried out and
+said, with a sigh of passion, 'Alack!  Alack!  By Allah, thou art
+my beloved and lovest me!  Yet meseems thou turnest away from me
+out of coquetry, for all thou camest to me whilst I was asleep
+and knew not what thou didst, and tookest my ring.  But I will
+not pull it off thy finger.'  So saying, she opened the bosom of
+his shirt and kissed him and put her hand to him, seeking
+somewhat that she might take as a token, but found nothing.  Then
+she put her hand into his breast, and for the smoothness of his
+body, it slipped down to his navel and thence to his yard,
+whereupon her heart ached and her entrails quivered and desire
+was sore upon her, for that women's lust is fiercer than that of
+men, and she was confounded.  Then she took his ring from his
+finger and put it on her own and kissed his mouth and hands, nor
+did she leave any part of him unkissed; after which she took him
+to her breast and laying one of her hands under his neck and the
+other under his armpit, fell asleep by his side.  Then said
+Maimouneh to Dehnesh, 'O accursed one, sawst thou how prudishly
+and coquettishly my beloved bore himself and what ardour of
+passion thy mistress showed to him?  There can be no doubt that
+my beloved is handsomer than thine; nevertheless I pardon thee.'
+Then she wrote him a patent of manumission and said to Keshkesh,
+'Help Dehnesh to take up his mistress and carry her back to her
+own place, for the night wanes apace and there is but little left
+of it.'  'I hear and obey,' answered Keshkesh.  So the two
+Afrits lifted up the Princess Budour and flying away with her,
+carried her back to her own place and laid her on her bed, whilst
+Maimouneh abode alone with Kemerezzeman, gazing upon him as he
+slept, till the night was all but spent, when she went her way.
+
+At break of day, the prince awoke from sleep and turned right and
+left, but found not the young lady by him and said in himself,
+'What is this?  It would seem as if my father would fain incline
+me to marriage with the young lady, that was with me, and have
+now taken her away by stealth, to the intent that my desire for
+marriage may redouble.'  Then he called out to the eunuch who
+slept at the door, saying, 'Out on thee, O accursed one, arise
+forthright!'  So the eunuch arose, dazed with sleep, and
+brought him basin and ewer, whereupon Kemerezzeman entered the
+draught-house and did his need; then, coming out, made his
+ablutions and prayed the morning-prayer, after which he sat
+telling his beads.  Then he looked up, and seeing the eunuch
+standing waiting upon him, said to him, 'Out on thee, O Sewab!
+Who was it came hither and took away the young lady from beside
+me, whilst I slept?'  'O my lord, what young lady?'  asked the
+eunuch.  'She that lay with me last night,' replied Kemerezzeman.
+The eunuch was troubled at his words and said to him, 'By Allah,
+there has been with thee neither young lady nor other!  How
+should she have come in to thee, when the door was locked and I
+asleep before it?  By Allah, O my lord, neither man nor woman has
+come in to thee!'  'Thou liest, O pestilent slave!'  exclaimed
+the prince.  'Dost thou also presume to hoodwink me and wilt thou
+not tell me what is come of the young lady who lay with me last
+night and who took her away?'  The eunuch was affrighted at him
+and answered, 'By Allah, O my lord, I have seen neither girl nor
+boy!'  His words only angered Kemerezzeman and he said to him, 'O
+accursed one, my father hath taught thee deceit!  Come hither.'
+So the eunuch came up to him, and the prince seized him by the
+collar and threw him to the ground.  He let fly a crack of wind,
+and Kemerezzeman, kneeling upon him, kicked him and throttled
+him, till he fainted away.  Then he tied him to the well-rope,
+and lowering him into the well, plunged him into the water, then
+drew him up and plunged him in again.  Now it was hard winter
+weather, and Kemerezzeman ceased not to lower the eunuch into the
+water and pull him up again, whilst he screamed and called for
+help.  Quoth the prince, 'By Allah, O accursed one, I will not
+draw thee up out of the well, till thou tell me the story of the
+young lady and who it was took her away, whilst I slept.'  'O my
+lord,' answered the eunuch, seeing death staring him in the face,
+'let me go and I will tell thee the truth.'  So Kemerezzeman
+pulled him up out of the well, all but dead for cold and wet and
+torture and beating and fear of drowning.  His teeth chattered
+and he shook like the reed in the hurricane and his clothes were
+drenched and his body befouled and torn by the rough slimy sides
+of the well.  When Kemerezzeman saw him in this sorry plight, he
+relented towards him; and as soon as the eunuch found himself on
+dry land, he said to him, 'O my lord, let me go and put off my
+clothes and wring them out and spread them in the sun to dry and
+don others; after which I will return to thee forthwith and tell
+thee the truth of the matter.'  'O wretched slave,' answered the
+prince, 'hadst thou not seen death face to face, thou hadst never
+confessed; but go now and do thy will, and after return speedily
+and tell me the truth.'  So the eunuch went out, hardly crediting
+his escape, and gave not over running and stumbling, in his
+haste, till he came in to King Shehriman, whom he found sitting
+talking with his Vizier of Kemerezzeman's case and saying, 'I
+slept not last night, for anxiety concerning my son Kemerezzeman,
+and indeed I fear lest some harm befall him in that old tower.
+What good was there in imprisoning him?'  'Have no care for him,'
+answered the Vizier.  'By Allah, no hurt will befall him!  Leave
+him in prison for a month, till his humour yield and his spirit
+be broken and he return to his senses.'  As he spoke, in came the
+eunuch, in the aforesaid plight, and said to the King, who was
+troubled at sight of him, 'O our lord the Sultan, thy son's wits
+are fled and he has gone mad; he has dealt with me thus and thus,
+so that I am become as thou seest, and says, "A young lady lay
+with me this night and stole away whilst I slept.  Where is she?"
+And insists on my telling him where she is and who took her away.
+But I have seen neither girl nor boy; the door was locked all
+night, for I slept before it, with the key under my head, and
+opened to him in the morning with my own hand.'  When the King
+heard this, he cried out, saying, 'Alas, my son!'  And he was
+sore enraged against the Vizier, who had been the cause of all
+this, and said to him, 'Go, bring me news of my son and see what
+hath befallen his wit.'  So the Vizier rose and hastened with the
+slave to the tower, tumbling over his skirts, in his fear of the
+King's anger.  The sun had now risen and when he came in to
+Kemerezzeman, he found him sitting on the couch, reading the
+Koran; so he saluted him and sitting down by his side, said to
+him, 'O my lord, this wretched slave brought us news that
+disquieted and alarmed us and incensed the King.'  'And what,'
+asked Kemerezzeman, 'hath he told you of me, to trouble my
+father?  In good sooth, he hath troubled none but me.'  'He came
+to us in a sorry plight,' answered the Vizier, 'and told us of
+thee a thing which God forfend and a lie which it befits not to
+repeat, may God preserve thy youth and sound wit and eloquent
+tongue and forbid aught of foul to come from thee!'  'O Vizier,'
+said the prince, 'what did this pestilent slave say of me?'  'He
+told us,' replied the Vizier, 'thou hadst taken leave of thy wits
+and would have it that a young lady lay with thee last night and
+wast instant with him to tell thee whither she had gone and didst
+torture him to that end.'  When Kemerezzeman heard this, he was
+sore enraged and said to the Vizier, 'It is manifest to me that
+you taught the eunuch to do as he did and forbade him to tell me
+what became of the young lady.  But thou, O Vizier, art more
+reasonable than the eunuch; so do thou tell me forthright whither
+went the young lady that lay in my bosom last night; for it was
+you who sent her and bade her sleep in my arms, and we lay
+together till day; but when I awoke, I found her not.  So where
+is she now?'  'O my lord Kemerezzeman,' said the Vizier, 'the
+name of God encompass thee!  By Allah, we sent none to thee last
+night, but thou layest alone, with the door locked on thee and
+the eunuch sleeping before it, nor did there come to thee a
+young lady or any other.  Stablish thy reason, O my lord, and
+return to thy senses and occupy thy mind no longer [with vain
+imaginations].'  'O Vizier,' rejoined Kemerezzeman, incensed at
+his words, 'the young lady in question is my beloved, the fair
+one with the black eyes and red cheeks, whom I held in my arms
+all last night.'  The Vizier wondered at his words and said to
+him, 'Didst thou see this damsel with thine eyes and on wake,
+or in sleep?'  'O wretched old man,' answered Kemerezzeman,
+'thinkest thou I saw her with my ears?  Indeed, I saw her with my
+very eyes and on wake and touched her with my hand and watched by
+her half the night, gazing my fill on her beauty and grace and
+elegance and lovely looks.  But thou hadst schooled her and
+charged her to speak no word to me; so she feigned sleep and I
+lay by her side till morning, when I awoke and found her gone.'
+'O my lord Kemerezzeman,' rejoined the Vizier, 'surely thou
+sawest this in thy sleep; it must have been a delusion of dreams
+or a hallucination caused by eating various kinds of food or a
+suggestion of the accursed devils.'  'O pestilent old man,' cried
+the prince, 'wilt thou too make a mock of me and tell me this was
+an illusion of dreams, when this eunuch confessed to the young
+lady, saying, "I will return to thee forthwith and tell thee all
+about her?"' So saying, he sprang up and laying hold of the
+Vizier's long beard, twisted his hand in it and tugging him off
+the couch, threw him on the floor.  It seemed to the Vizier as
+though his soul departed his body for the violent plucking at his
+beard, and Kemerezzeman fell to kicking him and pummelling his
+breast and sides and cuffing him on the nape, till he had
+well-nigh made an end of him.  Then said the Vizier in himself,
+'I must save myself from this madman by telling him a lie, even
+as did the eunuch; else he will kill me, for he is mad beyond a
+doubt.'  So he said to Kemerezzeman, 'O my lord, bear me not
+malice, for indeed thy father charged me to conceal from thee
+this affair of the young lady; but now I am weak and weary and
+sore with beating; for I am an old man and lack strength to
+endure blows.  So have a little patience with me and I will tell
+thee all.'  When the prince heard this, he left beating him
+and said, 'Why couldst thou not tell me without blows and
+humiliation?  Rise now, unlucky old man that thou art, and tell
+me her story.'  Quoth the Vizier, 'Dost thou ask of the young
+lady with the fair face and perfect shape?'  'Yes,' answered
+Kemerezzeman.  'Tell me who it was laid her by my side and took
+her away by night, and let me know whither she is gone, that I
+may go to her.  If my father did this to try me, with a view to
+our marriage, I consent to marry her and be quit of this trouble;
+for he only dealt thus with me, because I refused to marry.  I
+say again, I consent to marry: so tell this to my father, O
+Vizier, and advise him to marry me to her, for I will have none
+other and my heart loveth her alone.  Go now to my father and
+counsel him to hasten our marriage and bring me his answer
+forthright.'  'It is well,' rejoined the Vizier, and went out
+from him, hardly crediting his escape.  Then he set off running
+and stumbling as he went, for excess of affright and agitation,
+till he came in to the King, who said to him, 'O Vizier, what has
+befallen thee and who has maltreated thee and how comes it that I
+see thee thus confounded and terrified?'  'O King,' answered the
+Vizier, 'I bring thee news.'  'What is it?'  asked Shehriman, and
+the Vizier said, 'Know that thy son Kemerezzeman's wits are gone
+and that madness hath betided him.'  When the King heard this,
+the light in his face became darkness and he said, 'Expound to me
+the nature of my son's madness.'  'O my lord,' answered the
+Vizier, 'I hear and obey.'  Then he told him all that had passed
+and the King said to him, 'O most ill-omened of Viziers and
+filthiest of Amirs, know that the reward I will give thee in
+return for this thy news of my son's madness shall be the cutting
+off of thy bead and the forfeiture of thy goods; for thou hast
+caused my son's disorder by the wicked and sinister counsel thou
+hast given me first and last.  By Allah, if aught of mischief or
+madness have befallen him, I will nail thee upon the dome [of the
+palace] and make thee taste the bitterness of death!'  Then
+rising, he betook himself with the Vizier to the tower, and when
+Kemerezzeman saw him, he came down to him in haste from the couch
+on which he sat and kissing his hands, drew back and stood before
+him awhile, with his eyes cast down and his hands clasped behind
+him.  Then he raised his head and repeated the following verses,
+whilst the tears streamed down his cheeks:
+
+
+If I have borne myself blameworthily to you Or if I've made
+     default in that which is your due,
+I do repent my fault; so let your clemency Th' offender
+     comprehend, who doth for pardon sue.
+
+When the King heard this, he embraced his son and kissing him
+between the eyes, made him sit by his side on the couch; then
+turned to the Vizier and looking on him with angry eyes, said to
+him, 'O dog of a Vizier, why didst thou tell me that my son was
+mad and make my heart quake for him?'  Then he turned to the
+prince and said to him, 'O my son, what is to-day called?'  'O my
+father,' answered he, 'to-day is Saturday and to-morrow Sunday:
+then come Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.'  'O
+my son, O Kemerezzeman,' exclaimed the King, 'praised be God for
+the preservation of thy reason!  What is this present month
+called in Arabic?'
+
+'Dhoulcaadeh,' answered Kemerezzeman, 'and it is followed by
+Dhoulhejjeh; then comes Muherrem, then Sefer, then Rebia the
+First and Rebia the Second, the two Jumadas, Rejeb, Shaaban,
+Ramazan and Shewwal.'  At this the King rejoiced exceedingly and
+spat in the Vizier's face, saying, 'O wicked old man, how canst
+thou pretend that my son is mad?  None is mad but thou.'  The
+Vizier shook his head and would have spoken, but bethought
+himself to wait awhile and see what befell.  Then the King said
+to Kemerezzeman, 'O my son, what is this thou sayest to the
+eunuch and the Vizier of a fair damsel that lay with thee last
+night?  What damsel is this of whom thou speakest?'  Kemerezzeman
+laughed at his father's words and replied, 'O my father, I can
+bear no more jesting; so mock me not with another word, for my
+humour is soured by that you have done with me.  Let it suffice
+thee to know that I consent to marry, but on condition that thou
+give me to wife her with whom I lay yesternight; for I am assured
+that it was thou sentest her to me and madest me in love with
+her, then tookest her away from beside me before the dawn.'  'O
+my son,' rejoined the King, 'the name of God encompass thee and
+preserve thy wit from madness!  What young lady is this of whom
+thou talkest?  By Allah, O my son, I know nothing of the affair,
+and I conjure thee, tell me if it be a delusion of sleep or a
+hallucination caused by food?  Doubtless, thou layest down to
+sleep last night, with thy mind occupied with marriage and
+troubled with the thought of it (may God curse marriage and the
+hour in which it occurred to me and him who counselled it!) and
+dreamtest that a handsome young lady embraced thee and didst
+fancy thou sawst her on wake; but all this, O my son, is but an
+illusion of dreams.'  'Leave this talk,' replied Kemerezzeman,
+'and swear to me by God, the All-wise Creator, the Humbler of the
+mighty and the Destroyer of the Chosroes, that thou knowest
+nothing of the young lady nor of her abiding-place.'  'By the
+virtue of the Most High God,' said the King, 'the God of Moses
+and Abraham, I know nothing of all this and it is assuredly but
+an illusion of dreams that thou hast seen in sleep.'  Quoth the
+prince, 'I will give thee a proof that it was not a dream.  Come,
+let me put a case to thee: did it ever happen to any to dream
+that he was fighting a sore battle and after to awake and find in
+his hand a sword besmeared with blood?'  'No, by Allah, O my
+son,' answered the King, 'this hath never been.'  'I will tell
+thee what happened to me,' rejoined Kemerezzeman.  'Meseemed I
+awoke from sleep in the middle of the past night and found a
+young lady lying by my side, whose shape and favour were as mine.
+I embraced her and turned her about with my hand and took her
+ring, which I put on my finger, and she pulled off my ring and
+put it on her finger.  Then I went to sleep by her side, but
+refrained from her and was ashamed to kiss her on the mouth,
+deeming that thou hadst sent her to me, with intent to tempt me
+with her and incline me to marriage, and misdoubting thee to be
+hidden somewhere whence thou couldst see what I did with her.  At
+point of day, I awoke and found no trace of her, nor could I come
+at any news of her, and there befell me what thou knowest of with
+the eunuch and the Vizier.  How then can this have been a dream
+and a delusion, seeing that the ring is a reality?  I should
+indeed have deemed it a dream but for her ring on my finger.
+Here it is: look at it, O King, and see what is its worth.'  So
+saying, he handed the ring to his father, who examined it and
+turned it over, then said to his son, 'Verily, there hangs some
+mighty mystery by this ring and some strange secret.  What befell
+thee last night is indeed a mysterious affair and I know not how
+this intruder came in upon us.  None is the cause of all this
+trouble save the Vizier; but I conjure thee, O my son, to take
+patience, so haply God may do away this affliction from thee and
+bring thee complete relief: as quoth one of the poets:
+
+It may be Fate at last shall draw its bridle-rein And bring us
+     happy chance; for Fortune changes still;
+And things shall happen yet, despite the things fordone, To
+     further forth my hopes and bring me to my will.
+
+And now, O my son,' added he, 'I am certified that thou art not
+mad; but thy case is a strange one, none can unravel it for thee
+but God the Most High.'  'By Allah, O my father,' cried the
+prince, 'deal kindly with me and seek out this damsel and hasten
+her coming to me; else I shall die of grief.'  And he repeated
+the following verses, in a voice that betrayed the ardour of his
+passion:
+
+An if thy very promise of union prove untrue, Let but in sleep
+     thy favours the longing lover cheer.
+"How can the phantom visit a lover's eyes," quoth they, "From
+     which the grace of slumber is banned and banished sheer?"
+
+And he sighed and wept and groaned aloud from a wounded heart,
+whilst the tears streamed from his eyes.  Then turning to his
+father, with submission and despondency, he said to him, 'By
+Allah, O my father, I cannot endure to be parted from her even
+for an hour.'  The King smote hand upon hand and exclaimed,
+'There is no power and no virtue but in God, the Most High, the
+Sublime!  There is no device can profit us in this affair!'  Then
+he took his son by the hand and carried him to the palace, where
+Kemerezzeman lay down on the bed of languor and the King sat at
+his head, weeping and mourning over him and leaving him not night
+or day, till at last the Vizier came in to him and said, 'O King
+of the age and the time, how long wilt thou remain shut up with
+thy son and deny thyself to thy troops?  Verily, the order of thy
+realm is like to be deranged, by reason of thine absence from
+thy grandees and officers of state.  It behoves the man of
+understanding, if he have various wounds in his body, to apply
+him (first) to heal the most dangerous; so it is my counsel to
+thee that thou transport the prince to the pavilion overlooking
+the sea and shut thyself up with him there, setting apart
+Monday and Thursday in every week for state receptions and the
+transaction of public business.  On these days let thine Amirs
+and Viziers and Chamberlains and deputies and captains and
+grandees and the rest of the troops and subjects have access to
+thee and submit their affairs to thee, and do thou their needs
+and judge between them and give and take with them and command
+and forbid.  The rest of the week thou shalt pass with thy son
+Kemerezzeman, and thus do till God vouchsafe you both relief.
+Think not, O King, that thou art exempt from the shifts of
+fortune and the strokes of calamity; for the wise man is still on
+his guard, as well saith the poet:
+
+Thou madest fair thy thought of Fate, whenas the days were fair,
+     And fearedst not the unknown ills that they to thee might
+     bring.
+The nights were fair and calm to thee; thou wast deceived by
+     them, For in the peace of night is born full many a
+     troublous thing.
+O all ye children of mankind, to whom the Fates are kind, Let
+     caution ever have a part in all your reckoning.'
+
+The King was struck with the Vizier's words and deemed his
+counsel wise and timely, fearing lest the order of the state be
+deranged; so he rose at once and bade carry his son to the
+pavilion in question, which was built (upon a rock) midmost the
+water and was approached by a causeway, twenty cubits wide.  It
+had windows on all sides, overlooking the sea; its floor was of
+variegated marble and its roof was painted in the richest colours
+and decorated with gold and lapis-lazuli.  They furnished it for
+Kemerezzeman with embroidered rugs and carpets of the richest
+silk and hung the walls with choice brocades and curtains
+bespangled with jewels.  In the midst they set him a couch of
+juniper-wood, inlaid with pearls and jewels, and he sat down
+thereon, like a man that had been sick twenty years; for the
+excess of his concern and passion for the young lady had wasted
+his charms and emaciated his body, and he could neither eat nor
+drink nor sleep.  His father seated himself at his head, mourning
+sore for him, and every Monday and Thursday he gave his Viziers
+and Amirs and grandees and officers and the rest of his subjects
+leave to come in to him in the pavilion.  So they entered and did
+their several service and abode with him till the end of the day,
+when they went their ways and he returned to his son, whom he
+left not night nor day; and on this wise did he many days and
+nights.
+
+To return to the Princess Budour.  When the two Afrits carried
+her back to her palace and laid her on her bed, she slept on till
+daybreak, when she awoke and sitting up, looked right and left,
+but saw not the youth who had lain in her bosom.  At this, her
+heart was troubled, her reason fled and she gave a great cry,
+whereupon all her damsels and nurses and serving-women awoke and
+came in to her; and the chief of them said to her, 'What ails
+thee, O my lady?'  'O wretched old woman,' answered the princess,
+'where is my beloved, the handsome youth that lay last night in
+my bosom?  Tell me where he is gone.'  When the old woman heard
+this, the light in her eyes became darkness and she was sore in
+fear of her mischief and said to her, 'O my lady Budour, what
+unseemly words are these?'  'Out on thee, pestilent crone that
+thou art!'  cried the princess.  'Where is my beloved, the goodly
+youth with the shining face and the slender shape, the black eyes
+and the joined eyebrows, who lay with me last night from dusk
+until near daybreak?'  'By Allah, O my lady,' replied the old
+woman, 'I have seen no young man nor any other; but I conjure
+thee, leave this unseemly jesting, lest we be all undone.
+Belike, it may come to thy father's ears and who shall deliver us
+from his hand?'  'I tell thee,' rejoined Budour, 'there lay a
+youth with me last night, one of the fairest-faced of men.'  'God
+preserve thy reason!'  exclaimed the nurse.  'Indeed, no one lay
+with thee last night.'  The princess looked at her hand and
+seeing her own ring gone and Kemerezzeman's ring on her finger in
+its stead, said to the nurse, 'Out on thee, thou accursed
+traitress, wilt thou lie to me and tell me that none lay with me
+last night and forswear thyself to me?'  'By Allah,' replied the
+nurse, 'I do not lie to thee nor have I sworn falsely!'  Her
+words incensed the princess and drawing a sword she had by her,
+she smote the old woman with it and slew her; whereupon the
+eunuch and the waiting-women cried out at her and running to her
+father, acquainted him with her case.  So he went to her
+forthright and said to her, 'O my daughter, what ails thee?'  'O
+my father,' answered she, 'where is the young man that lay with
+me last night?'  Then her reason left her and she cast her eyes
+right and left and rent her dress even to the skirt.  When the
+King saw this, he bade the women lay hands on her; so they seized
+and bound her, then putting a chain of iron about her neck, made
+her fast to the window and there left her.  As for her father,
+the world was straitened upon him, when he saw what had befallen
+her, for that he loved her and her case was not a little thing to
+him.  So he summoned the doctors and astrologers and magicians
+and said to them, 'Whoso cureth my daughter of her disorder, I
+will marry him to her and give him half my kingdom; but whoso
+cometh to her and cureth her not, I will strike off his head and
+hang it over her palace-gate.'  Accordingly, all who went in to
+her, but failed to cure her, he beheaded and hung their heads
+over her palace-gate, till he had beheaded forty physicians and
+crucified as many astrologers on her account; wherefore all the
+folk held aloof from her, for all the physicians failed to cure
+her malady and her case was a puzzle to the men of science and
+the magicians.  And as her longing and passion redoubled and love
+and distraction were sore upon her, she poured forth tears and
+repeated the following verses:
+
+My longing after thee, my moon, my foeman is; The thought of thee
+     by night doth comrade with me dwell.
+I pass the darksome hours, and in my bosom flames A fire, for
+     heat that's like the very fire of hell.
+I'm smitten with excess of ardour and desire; By which my pain is
+     grown an anguish fierce and fell.
+
+Then she sighed and repeated these also:
+
+My peace on the beloved ones, where'er they light them down! I
+     weary for the neighbourhood of those I love, full sore.
+My salutation unto you,--not that of taking leave, But greetings
+     of abundant peace, increasing evermore!
+For, of a truth, I love you dear and love your land no less; But
+     woe is me!  I'm far away from that I weary for.
+
+
+Then she wept till her eyes grew weak and her cheeks pale and
+withered: and thus she abode three years.  Now she had a
+foster-brother, by name Merzewan, who was absent from her all
+this time, travelling in far countries.  He loved her with an
+exceeding love, passing that of brothers; so when he came back,
+he went in to his mother and asked for his foster-sister the
+princess Budour.  'Alas, my son,' answered she, 'thy sister has
+been smitten with madness and has passed these three years, with
+an iron chain about her neck; and all the physicians and men of
+science have failed of curing her.'  When he heard this, he said,
+'I must needs go in to her; peradventure I may discover what ails
+her, and be able to cure her.'  'So be it,' replied his mother;
+'but wait till to-morrow, that I may make shift for thee.'  Then
+she went to the princess's palace and accosting the eunuch in
+charge of the door, made him a present and said to him, 'I have a
+married daughter, who was brought up with thy mistress and is
+sore concerned for what has befallen her, and I desire of thy
+favour that my daughter may go in to her and look on her awhile,
+then return whence she came, and none shall know it.'  'This may
+not be, except by night,' replied the eunuch, 'after the King has
+visited the princess and gone away; then come thou and thy
+daughter.'  She kissed the eunuch's hand and returning home,
+waited till the morrow at nightfall, when she dressed her son in
+woman's apparel and taking him by the hand, carried him to the
+palace.  When the eunuch saw her, he said, 'Enter, but do not
+tarry long.'  So they went in and when Merzewan saw the princess
+in the aforesaid plight, he saluted her, after his mother had
+taken off his woman's attire: then pulling out the books he had
+brought with him and lighting a candle, he began to recite
+certain conjurations.  The princess looked at him and knowing
+him, said to him, 'O my brother, thou hast been absent on thy
+travels and we have been cut off from news of thee.'  'True,'
+answered he; 'but God has brought me back in safety and I am now
+minded to set out again; nor has aught delayed me but the sad
+news I hear of thee; wherefore my heart ached for thee and I came
+to thee, so haply I may rid thee of thy malady.'  'O my brother,'
+rejoined she, 'thinkest thou it is madness ails me?'  'Yes,'
+answered he, and she said, 'Not so, by Allah!  It is even as says
+the poet:
+
+Quoth they, "Thou'rt surely mad for him thou lov'st;" and I
+     replied, "Indeed the sweets of life belong unto the raving
+     race.
+Lo, those who love have not, for that, the upper hand of fate;
+     Only the madman 'tis, I trow, o'ercometh time and space.
+Yes, I am mad; so bring me him for whom ye say I'm mad; And if he
+     heal my madness, spare to blame me for my case."'
+
+Then she told him that she was in love, and he said, 'Tell me thy
+story and what befell thee: peradventure God may discover to me a
+means of deliverance for thee.' 'Know then,' said she, 'that one
+night I awoke from sleep, in the last watch of the night, and
+sitting up, saw by my side the handsomest of youths, as he were a
+willow-wand or an Indian cane, the tongue fails to describe him.
+Me-thought this was my father's doing to try me, for that he had
+consulted me, when the kings sought me of him in marriage, and I
+had refused.  It was this idea that withheld me from arousing
+him, for I thought that if I did aught or embraced him, he would
+most like tell my father.  When I awoke in the morning, I found
+his ring on my finger in place of my own, which he had taken;
+and, O my brother, my heart was taken with him at first sight;
+and for the violence of my passion and longing, I have never
+since known the taste of sleep and have no occupation save
+weeping and repeating verses night and day.  This, then, O my
+brother, is the story of the cause of my (pretended) madness.'
+Then she poured forth tears and repeated the following verses:
+
+Love has banished afar my delight; they are fled With a fawn that
+     hath hearts for a pasturing-stead.
+To him lovers' blood is a trifle, for whom My soul is a-wasting
+     for passion and dread.
+I'm jealous for him of my sight and my thought; My heart is a spy
+     on my eyes and my head.
+His eyelashes dart at us death-dealing shafts; The hearts that
+     they light on are ruined and dead.
+Whilst yet there is left me a share in the world, Shall I see
+     him, I wonder, or ever I'm sped?
+I fain would conceal what I suffer for him; 'Tis shown to the spy
+     by the tears that I shed.
+When near, his enjoyment is distant from me: But his image is
+     near, when afar he doth tread.
+
+
+'See then, O my brother,' added she, 'how thou mayest aid me in
+this my affliction.'  Merzewan bowed his head awhile, marvelling
+and knowing not what to do, then raised it and said to her, 'I
+believe all thou hast said to be true, though the case of the
+young man passes my imagination: but I will go round about all
+countries and seek for what may heal thee; peradventure God shall
+appoint thy deliverance to be at my hand.  Meanwhile, take
+patience and be not disquieted.'  So saying, he took leave of
+her, after he had prayed that she might be vouchsafed constancy,
+and left her repeating the following verses:
+
+Thine image in my thoughts fares as a pilgrim aye, For all thy
+     stead and mine are distant many a day.
+The wishes of my heart do bring thee near to me For 'gainst the
+     speed of thought what is the levin's ray?
+Depart thou not, that art the lustre of mine eyes; Yea, when
+     thou'rt far removed, all void of light are they.
+
+He returned to his mother's house, where he passed the night, and
+on the morrow, after furnishing himself for his journey, he set
+out and travelled from city to city and from island to island for
+a whole month.  Everywhere he heard talk of the princess Budour's
+madness, till he came to a city named Teyreb and seeking news of
+the townsfolk, so haply he might light on a cure for his
+foster-sister's malady, heard that Kemerezzeman, son of King
+Shehriman, was fallen sick and afflicted with melancholy madness.
+He enquired the name of this prince's capital and was told that
+it stood on the Islands of Khalidan and was distant thence a
+whole month's journey by sea and six by land.  So he took passage
+in a ship that was bound thither, and they sailed with a
+favouring breeze for a whole month, till they came in sight of
+the city and there remained for them but to enter the harbour;
+when there came out on them a tempestuous wind which carried away
+the masts and rent the canvas, so that the sails fell into the
+sea and the ship foundered, with all on board.  Each looked to
+himself, and as for Merzewan, the current carried him under the
+King's palace, wherein was Kemerezzeman.  As fate would have it,
+it was the day on which the King gave audience to his grandees
+and officers, and he was sitting, with his son's head in his lap,
+whilst an eunuch whisked away the flies.  The prince had not
+spoken, neither had he eaten nor drunk for two days, and he was
+grown thinner than a spindle.  Now the Vizier was standing near
+the window giving on the sea and raising his eyes, saw Merzewan
+at the last gasp for struggling with the waves; whereupon his
+heart was moved to pity for him and he drew near to the King and
+said to him, 'O King, I crave thy leave to go down to the court
+of the pavilion and open the water-gate, that I may rescue a man
+who is at the point of drowning in the sea and bring him forth of
+peril into deliverance; peradventure, on this account, God may
+ease thy son of his affliction.'  'O Vizier,' replied Shehriman,
+enough is that which has befallen my son through thee and on
+thine account.  Belike, if thou rescue this drowning man, he will
+look on my son and come to know our affairs and exult over me;
+but I swear by Allah, that, if he come hither and see my son and
+after go out and speak of our secrets to any, I will assuredly
+strike off thy head before his; for thou art the cause of all
+that hath befallen us, first and last.  Now do as thou wilt.'
+The Vizier rose and opening the postern, descended to the
+causeway; then walked on twenty steps and came to the sea, where
+he saw Merzewan nigh unto death.  So he put out his hand to him
+and catching him by the hair of his head, drew him ashore, in a
+state of unconsciousness, with belly full of water and eyes
+starting from his head.  The Vizier waited till he came to
+himself, when he pulled off his wet clothes and clad him in a
+fresh suit, covering his head with one of his servants' turbans;
+after which he said to him, 'I have been the means of saving thee
+from drowning: do not thou requite me by causing my death and
+thine own.'  'How so?' asked Merzewan; and the Vizier answered,
+'Thou art now about to go up and pass among Amirs and Viziers,
+all silent and speaking not, because of Kemerezzeman, the King's
+son.'  When Merzewan heard the name of Kemerezzeman, he knew that
+this was he of whom he came in search, but he feigned ignorance
+and said to the Vizier, 'And who is Kemerezzeman?'  Quoth the
+Vizier, 'He is the King's son and lies sick on his couch,
+restless, eating not nor drinking neither sleeping night nor day;
+indeed he is nigh upon death and we have lost hope of his
+recovery.  Beware lest thou look too long on him or on any place
+other than that where thou settest thy feet: else thou art a lost
+man and I also.'  'O Vizier,' said Merzewan, 'I conjure thee by
+Allah, tell me of thy favour, the cause of this youth's malady.'
+'I know none,' answered the Vizier, 'save that, three years ago,
+his father pressed him to marry, but he refused; whereat the King
+was wroth and imprisoned him.  On the morrow, he would have it
+that he had had, for a bedfellow, the night before, a young lady
+of surpassing beauty, beggaring description, with whom he had
+exchanged rings; but we know not the meaning of all this.  So by
+Allah, O my son, when thou comest up into the palace, look not on
+the prince, but go thy way; for the King's heart is full of anger
+against me.'  'By Allah,' said Merzewan in himself, 'this is he
+whom I sought!'  Then he followed the Vizier up to the palace,
+where the latter seated himself at the prince's feet; but
+Merzewan must needs go up to Kemerezzeman and stand before him,
+gazing on him.  At this, the Vizier was like to die of affright
+and signed to Merzewan to go his way; but he feigned not to see
+him and gave not over gazing upon Kemerezzeman, till he was
+assured that it was indeed he of whom he was in search. Then,
+'Glory be to God,' cried he, 'who hath made his shape even as her
+shape and his complexion as her complexion and his cheek as her
+cheek!'  At this Kemerezzeman opened his eyes and gave ear to his
+speech; and when Merzewan saw him listening, he repeated the
+following verses:
+
+I see thee full of song and plaint and ecstasy amain, And to the
+     setting forth in words of charms I find thee fain.
+Can it be love hath wounded thee or art thou shot with shafts?
+     For sure these fashions but belong unto a smitten swain.
+Ho, pour me out full cups of wine and sing me eke, in praise Of
+     Tenam, Suleyma, Rebaeb,[FN#35] a glad and lovesome strain!
+Yea, let the grape-vine's sun[FN#36] go round, whose mansion is
+     its jar, Whose East the cupbearer and West my thirsty mouth
+     I feign.
+I'm jealous of the very clothes she dights upon her side, For
+     that upon her body soft and delicate they've lain;
+And eke I'm envious of the cups that touch her dainty lips, When
+     to the kissing-place she sets them ever and again.
+Think not that I in anywise with sword am done to death; 'Tis by
+     the arrows of a glance, alack!  that I am slain.
+Whenas we met again, I found her fingers dyed with red, As 'twere
+     the juice of tragacanth had steeped them in its stain.
+Said I to her, "Thou'st dyed thy palms,[FN#37] whilst I was far
+     away. This then is how the slave of love is 'quited for his
+     pain."
+Quoth she (and cast into my heart the flaming fires of love,
+     Speaking as one who hath no care love's secret to contain),
+"No, by thy life, this is no dye I've used!  So haste thou not To
+     heap accusings on my head and slander me in vain.
+For, when I saw thee get thee gone upon our parting day, My eyes,
+     for very dreariment, with tears of blood did rain.
+I wiped them with my hand, and so my fingers with my blood Were
+     all to-reddened and do yet their ruddy tint retain."
+Had I for very passion wept, or e'er my mistress did, I should,
+     before repentance came, have solaced heart and brain;
+But she before my weeping wept; her tears drew mine and so Quoth
+     I, "Unto the precedent the merit doth pertain."
+Chide not at me for loving her, for by Love's self I swear, My
+     heart with anguish for her sake is well-nigh cleft in twain.
+I weep for one whose face is decked by Beauty's self; there's
+     none, Arab or foreigner, to match with her, in hill or
+     plain.
+The lore of Locman[FN#38] hath my love and Mary's chastity, with
+     Joseph's loveliness to boot and David's songful vein;
+Whilst Jacob's grief to me belongs and Jonah's dreariment, Ay,
+     and Job's torment and despite and Adam's plight of bane.
+Slay ye her not, although I die for love of her, but ask, How
+     came it lawful unto her to shed my blood in vain.
+
+When Kemerezzeman heard these verses, they brought refreshment
+and healing to his heart, and he sighed and turning his tongue in
+his mouth, said to the King, 'O my father, let this young man
+come and sit by my side.'  The King, hearing these words from his
+son, rejoiced exceedingly, though at the first he had been wroth
+with Merzewan and thought in himself to have stricken off his
+head: but when he heard Kemerezzeman speak, his anger left him
+and he arose and drawing Merzewan to him, made him sit down by
+his son and said to him, 'Praised be God for thy safety!'  'May
+God bless thee,' answered Merzewan, 'and preserve thy son to
+thee!'  Then said the King, 'From what country comest thou?'
+'From the Islands of the Inland Sea,' replied he, 'the kingdom of
+King Ghaiour, lord of the Islands and the seas and the Seven
+Palaces.'  Quoth the King, 'Maybe thy coming shall be blessed to
+my son and God vouchsafe to heal him of his malady.'  'God
+willing,' rejoined Merzewan, 'all shall yet be well.'  Then
+turning to Kemerezzeman, he said to him in his ear, unheard of
+the King and his court, 'Be of good cheer, O my lord, and take
+heart and courage.  As for her for whose sake thou art thus, ask
+not of her condition on thine account.  Thou keptest thy secret
+and fellest sick, but she discovered hers and they said she was
+mad; and she is now in prison, with an iron chain about her neck,
+in most piteous case; but, God willing, the healing of  both of
+you shall be at my hand.'  When Kemerezzeman heard this, his life
+returned to him and he took heart and courage and signed to his
+father to help him sit up; at which the King was like to lose his
+reason for joy and lifting him up, set two pillows for him
+to lean upon.  Then, of his fear for his son, he shook the
+handkerchief of dismissal and all the Amirs and Viziers withdrew;
+after which he bade perfume the palace with saffron and decorate
+the city, saying to Merzewan, 'By Allah, O my son, thou hast a
+lucky and a blessed aspect!'  And he made much of him and called
+for food, which when they brought, Merzewan said to the prince,
+'Come, eat with me.'  So he obeyed him and ate with him, while
+the King called down blessings on Merzewan and said, 'How
+auspicious is thy coming, O my son!'  When he saw Kemerezzeman
+eat, his joy redoubled and he went out and told the prince's
+mother and the people of the palace.  Then he let call abroad the
+good news of the prince's recovery and proclaimed the decoration
+of the city: so the people rejoiced and decorated the city and it
+was a day of high festival.  Merzewan passed the night with
+Kemerezzeman, and the King also slept with them, in the excess of
+his joy for his son's recovery.  Next morning, when the King had
+gone away and the two young men were left alone, Kemerezzeman
+told Merzewan his story from first to last and the latter said to
+him, 'I know her with whom thou didst foregather; her name is the
+princess Budour and she is daughter to King Ghaiour.'  Then he
+told him all that had befallen the princess and acquainted him
+with the excessive love she bore him, saying, 'All that befell
+thee with thy father hath befallen her with hers, and thou art
+without doubt her beloved, even as she is thine; so brace up thy
+resolution and take heart, for I will bring thee to her and unite
+you both anon and deal with you even as saith the poet:
+
+Though to the lover adverse be the fair And drive him with her
+     rigours to despair,
+Yet will I soon unite them, even as I The pivot of a pair of
+     scissors were.
+
+And he went on to comfort and hearten Kemerezzeman and urged him
+to eat and drink, cheering him and diverting him with talk and
+song and stories, till he ate food and drank wine and life and
+strength returned to him.  In good time he became free of his
+disorder and stood up and sought to go to the bath.  So Merzewan
+took him by the hand and carried him to the bath, where they
+washed their bodies and made them clean.  When his father heard
+of this, in his joy he freed the prisoners and gave alms to the
+poor; moreover he bestowed splendid dresses of honour upon his
+grandees and let decorate the city seven days.  Then said
+Merzewan to Kemerezzeman, 'Know, O my lord, that the sole object
+of my journey hither was to deliver the princess Budour from her
+present strait; and it remains but for us to devise how we may
+get to her, since thy father cannot brook the thought of parting
+with thee.  So it is my counsel that tomorrow thou ask his leave
+to go a-hunting, saying, "I have a mind to divert myself with
+hunting in the desert and to see the open country and pass the
+night there."  Then do thou take with thee a pair of saddle-bags
+full of gold and mount a swift hackney and I will do the like;
+and we will take each a spare horse.  Suffer not any servant to
+follow us, for as soon as we reach the open country, we will go
+our ways.'  Kemerezzeman rejoiced mightily in this plan and said,
+'It is good.'  Then he took heart and going in to his father,
+sought his leave to go out to hunt, saying as Merzewan had taught
+him.  The King consented and said, 'O my son, a thousandfold
+blessed be the day that restores thee to health!  I will not
+gainsay thee in this; but pass not more than one night in the
+desert and return to me on the morrow; for thou knowest that life
+is not good to me without thee, and indeed I can hardly as yet
+credit thy recovery, because thou art to me as he of whom quoth
+the poet:
+
+Though Solomon his carpet were mine both day and night, Though
+     the Choeroes' empire, yea, and the world were mine,
+All were to me in value less than a midge's wing, Except mine
+     eyes still rested upon that face of thine.'
+
+Then he equipped the prince and Merzewan for the excursion,
+bidding make them ready four horses, together with a dromedary to
+carry the money and a camel for the water and victuals; and
+Kemerezzeman forbade any of his attendants to follow him.  His
+father bade him farewell and pressed him to his breast and kissed
+him, saying, 'I conjure thee by Allah, be not absent from me more
+than one night, wherein sleep will be denied me, for I am even as
+saith the poet:
+
+Thy presence with me is my heaven of delight And my hell of
+     affliction the loss of thy sight.
+My soul be thy ransom!  If love be my crime For thee, my offence,
+     of a truth, is not light.
+Doth passion blaze up in thy heart like to mine? I suffer the
+     torments of hell day and night.'
+
+'O my father,' answered Kemerezzeman, 'God willing, I will lie
+but one night abroad.'  Then he took leave of him, and he and
+Merzewan mounted and taking with them the dromedary and camel,
+rode out into the open country.  They drew not bridle from the
+first of the day till nightfall, when they halted and ate and
+drank and fed their beasts and rested awhile; after which they
+again took horse and fared on three days, till they came to a
+spacious wooded tract.  Here they alighted and Merzewan, taking
+the camel and one of the horses, slaughtered them and cut the
+flesh off their bones.  Then he took from Kemerezzeman his shirt
+and trousers and cassock and tearing them in shreds, smeared them
+with the horse's blood and cast them down in the fork of the
+road.  Then they ate and drank and taking horse set forward
+again.  'O my brother,' said Kemerezzeman, 'what is this thou
+hast done and how will it profit us?'  'Know,' answered Merzewan,
+'that thy father, when he finds that we have outstayed the night
+for which we had his leave, will mount and follow in our track
+till he comes hither; and when he sees the blood and thy clothes
+torn and bloodied, he will deem thee to have been slain of
+highway robbers or wild beasts; so he will give up hope of thee
+and return to his city, and by this devise we shall gain our
+end.'  'By Allah,' said Kemerezzeman, 'this is indeed a rare
+device!  Thou hast done well.'  Then they fared on days and
+nights and Kemerezzeman did nought but weep and complain, till
+they drew near their journey's end, when he rejoiced and repeated
+the following verses:
+
+Wilt thou be harsh to a lover, who's never unmindful of thee, And
+     wilt thou now cast him away to whom thou wast fain
+     heretofore?
+May I forfeit the favour of God, if I ever was false to thy love!
+     Abandonment punish my crime, if I've broken the vows that I
+     swore!
+But no, I've committed no crime, that calleth for rigour from
+     thee; Or, if in good sooth I'm at fault, I bring thee
+     repentance therefor.
+Of the marvels of Fortune it is that thou shouldst abandon me
+     thus; But Fortune to bring to the light fresh marvels will
+     never give o'er.
+
+When he had made an end of these verses, Merzewan said to him,
+'See, yonder are King Ghaiour's Islands.'  Whereat Kemerezzeman
+rejoiced with an exceeding joy and thanked him for what he had
+done and strained him to his bosom and kissed him between the
+eyes.  They entered the city and took up their lodging at a khan,
+where they rested three days from the fatigues of the journey;
+after which Merzewan carried Kemerezzeman to the bath and
+clothing him in a merchant's habit, provided him with a geomantic
+tablet of gold, a set of astrological instruments and an
+astrolabe of silver, plated with gold.  Then he said to him, 'Go,
+O my lord, stand before the King's palace and cry out, "I am the
+mathematician, I am the scribe, I am he that knows the Sought and
+the Seeker, I am the skilled physician, I am the accomplished
+astrologer.  Where then is he that seeketh?"  When the King hears
+this, he will send after thee and carry thee in to his daughter
+the princess Budour, thy mistress: but do thou say to him, "Grant
+me three days' delay, and if she recover, give her to me to wife,
+and if not, deal with me as with those who came before me."  If
+he agree to this, as soon as thou art alone with her, discover
+thyself to her; and when she knows thee, her madness will cease
+from her and she will be made whole in one night.  Then do thou
+give her to eat and drink, and her father, rejoicing in her
+recovery, will marry thee to her and share his kingdom with thee,
+according to the condition he hath imposed on himself: and so
+peace be on thee.'  'May I never lack thine excellence!' replied
+Kemerezzeman, and taking the instruments aforesaid, sallied forth
+of the khan and took up his station before King Ghaiour's palace,
+where he began to cry out, saying, 'I am the scribe, I am the
+mathematician, he that knows the Sought and the Seeker, I am he
+who makes calculations for marriage contracts, who draws
+horoscopes, interprets dreams and traces the magical characters
+by which hidden treasures are discovered!  Where then is the
+seeker?'  When the people of the city heard this, they flocked to
+him, for it was long since they had seen a scribe or an
+astrologer, and stood round him, wondering at his beauty and
+grace and perfect symmetry.  Presently one of them accosted him
+and said, 'God on thee, O fair youth with the eloquent tongue,
+cast not thyself into perdition, in thy desire to marry the
+princess Budour!  Do but look on yonder heads hung up; they are
+all those of men who have lost their lives in this same venture.'
+He paid no heed to them, but cried out at the top of his voice,
+saying, 'I am the doctor, the scribe!  I am the astrologer, the
+mathematician!'  And all the townsfolk forbade him from this, but
+he heeded them not, saying in himself, 'None knoweth desire save
+he who suffereth it.'  Then he began again to cry his loudest,
+saying, 'I am the scribe, I am the mathematician, I am the
+astrologer!'  till all the townsfolk were wroth with him and said
+to him, 'Thou art but a silly self-willed boy!  Have pity on
+thine own youth and tender years and beauty and grace.'  But he
+cried all the more, 'I am the astrologer, I am the mathematician!
+Is there any one that seeketh?'  As he was thus crying and the
+people remonstrating with him, King Ghaiour heard his voice and
+the clamour of the folk and said to his Vizier, 'Go down and
+bring me yon astrologer.'  So the Vizier went down and taking
+Kemerezzeman from the midst of the crowd, carried him up to the
+King, before whom he kissed the earth, repeating the following
+verses:
+
+Eight elements of high renown are all comprised in thee; By them
+     may Fortune never cease thy bounder slave to be!
+Munificence and knowledge sure, glory and piety, Fair fluent
+     speech and eloquence and might and victory.
+
+When the King saw him, he made him sit down by his side and said
+to him, 'By Allah, O my son, an thou be not an astrologer,
+venture not thy life nor submit thyself to my condition; for I
+have bound myself to strike off the head of whoso goeth in to my
+daughter and healeth her not of her disorder; but him who healeth
+her I will marry to her.  So let not thy beauty and grace delude
+thee; for, by Allah, if thou cure her not, I will assuredly cut
+off thy head!'  'I knew of this condition before I came hither,'
+answered Kemerezzeman, 'and am ready to abide by it.'  Then King
+Ghaiour took the Cadis to witness against him and delivered him
+to an eunuch, saying, 'Carry this fellow to the lady Budour.'  So
+the eunuch took him by the hand and led him along the gallery;
+but Kemerezzeman out-went him and pushed on before, whilst the
+eunuch ran after him, saying, 'Out on thee!  Hasten not to
+destroy thyself.  By Allah, never yet saw I astrologer so eager
+for his own destruction: thou knowest not the calamities that
+await thee.'  But Kemerezzeman turned away his face and repeated
+the following verses:
+
+A learned man, I'm ignorant before thy beauties bright; Indeed, I
+     know not what I say, confounded at thy sight.
+If I compare thee to the sun, thou passest not away, Whilst the
+     sun setteth from the sky and fails anon of light.
+Perfect, indeed, thy beauties are; they stupefy the wise Nor ev'n
+     the eloquent avail to praise thy charms aright.
+
+The eunuch stationed Kemerezzeman behind the curtain of the
+princess's door and the prince said to him, 'Whether of the two
+wilt thou liefer have me do, cure thy lady from here or go in and
+cure her within the curtain?'  The eunuch marvelled at his words
+and answered, 'It were more to thine honour to cure her from
+here.'  So Kemerezzeman sat down behind the curtain and taking
+out pen and inkhorn and paper, wrote the following: 'This is the
+letter of one whom passion torments and whom desire consumes and
+sorrow and misery destroy; one who despairs of life and looks for
+nothing but death, whose mourning heart has neither comforter nor
+helper, whose sleepless eyes have none to succour them against
+affliction, whose day is passed in fire and his night in torment,
+whose body is wasted for much emaciation and there comes to him
+no messenger from his beloved:
+
+I write with a heart devoted to thee and the thought of thee And
+     an eyelid, wounded for weeping tears of the blood of me.
+And a body that love and affliction and passion and long desire
+     Have clad with the garment of leanness and wasted utterly.
+I plain me to thee of passion, for sore hath it baffled me Nor is
+     there a corner left me where patience yet may be.
+Wherefore, have mercy, I prithee, show favour unto me, For my
+     heart, my heart is breaking for love and agony.
+
+The cure of hearts is union with the beloved and whom his love
+maltreateth, God is his physician.  If either of us have broken
+faith, may the false one fail of his desire!  There is nought
+goodlier than a lover who is faithful to a cruel beloved one.'
+Then, for a subscription, he wrote, 'From the distracted and
+despairing lover, him whom love and longing disquiet, from the
+captive of passion and transport, Kemerezzeman, son of Shehriman,
+to the peerless beauty, the pearl of the fair Houris, the Lady
+Budour, daughter of King Ghaiour.  Know that by night I am
+wakeful and by day distraught, consumed with ever-increasing
+wasting and sickness and longing and love, abounding in sighs,
+rich in floods of tears, the prisoner of passion, the slain of
+desire, the debtor of longing, the boon-companion of sickness, he
+whose heart absence hath seared.  I am the sleepless one, whose
+eyes close not, the slave of love, whose tears run never dry, for
+the fire of my heart is still unquenched and the flaming of my
+longing is never hidden.'  Then in the margin he wrote this
+admired verse:
+
+Peace from the stores of the grace of my Lord be rife On her in
+     whose hand are my heart and soul and life!
+
+And also these:
+
+Vouchsafe thy converse unto me some little, so, perchance, Thou
+     mayst have ruth on me or else my heart be set at ease.
+Yea, for the transport of my love and longing after thee, Of all
+     I've suffered I make light and all my miseries.
+God guard a folk whose dwelling-place is far removed from mine,
+     The secret of whose love I've kept in many lands and seas!
+But fate, at last, hath turned on me a favourable face And on my
+     loved one's threshold-earth hath cast me on my knees.
+Budour beside me in the bed I saw and straight my moon, Lit by
+     her sun, shone bright and blithe upon my destinies.[FN#39]
+
+Then by way of subscription, he wrote the following verses:
+
+Ask of my letter what my pen hath written, and the scroll Will
+     tell the passion and the pain that harbour in my soul.
+My hand, what while my tears rain down, writes and desire makes
+     moan Unto the paper by the pen of all my weary dole.
+My tears roll ever down my cheeks and overflow the page; Nay, I'd
+     ensue them with my blood, if they should cease to roll.
+
+And at the end he added this other verse:
+
+I send thee back herewith the ring I took whilere of thee, Whenas
+     we companied; so send me that thou hadst of me.
+
+Then he folded up Budour's ring inside the letter and sealing it,
+gave it to the eunuch, who went in with it to the princess.  She
+took it from him and opening it, found in it her own ring.  Then
+she read the letter and when she understood its purport and knew
+that her beloved stood behind the curtain, her reason fled and
+her breast dilated for joy; and she repeated the following
+verses:
+
+Long, long have I bewailed the sev'rance of our loves, With tears
+     that from my lids streamed down like burning rain,
+And vowed that, if the days should reunite us two, My lips should
+     never speak of severance again.
+Joy hath o'erwhelmed me so that, for the very stress Of that
+     which gladdens me, to weeping I am fain.
+Tears are become to you a habit, O my eyes, So that ye weep as
+     well for gladness as for pain.
+
+Then she rose and setting her feet to the wall, strained with all
+her might upon the iron collar, till she broke it from her neck
+and snapped the chains; then going forth, she threw herself on
+Kemerezzeman and kissed him on the mouth, like a pigeon billing.
+And she embraced him with all the stress of her love and longing
+and said to him, 'O my lord, do I wake or sleep and has God
+indeed vouchsafed us reunion after separation?  Praised be He who
+hath reknit our loves, after despair!'  When the eunuch saw this,
+he ran to King Ghaiour and kissing the earth before him, said, 'O
+my lord, know that this is indeed the prince and paragon of
+astrologers; for he hath cured thy daughter from behind the
+curtain, without going in to her.'  'Look to it well,' said the
+King; 'is this news true?'  'O my lord,' answered the eunuch,
+'come and see for thyself how she hath found strength to break
+the iron chains and is come forth to the astrologer, kissing and
+embracing him.'  So the King arose and went in to his daughter,
+who, when she saw him, rose and covered her face, reciting the
+following verses:
+
+I love not the toothstick; 'tis hateful to me, For I, when I name
+     it, say, "Other than thee."[FN#40]
+But I love, notwithstanding, the capparis-tree, For, whenas I
+     name it I say, "Thee I see."[FN#41]
+
+The King was transported for joy at her recovery and kissed her
+between the eyes, for he loved her very dearly; then turning to
+Kemerezzeman, he asked him who he was and whence he came.  The
+prince told him his name and rank and that he was the son of King
+Shehriman, and related to him the whole story from beginning to
+end; whereat Ghaiour marvelled and said, 'Verily, your story
+deserves to be recorded in books and read after you, generation
+after generation.'  Then he summoned Cadis and witnesses
+forthright and married the two lovers; after which he bade
+decorate the city seven days long.  So they decorated the city
+and held high festival, and all the troops donned their richest
+clothes, whilst the drums beat and the criers announced the glad
+tidings.  Then they spread the tables with all manner meats and
+unveiled the princess before Kemerezzeman, and behold, each was
+like unto the other in beauty and elegance and amorous grace.  So
+the King rejoiced in the issue of her affair and in her marriage
+and praised God for that He had made her to fall in love with a
+goodly youth of the sons of the kings.  Then Kemerezzeman went in
+to her and lay with her that night and took his will of her,
+whilst she in like manner fufilled her desire of him and enjoyed
+his beauty and grace; and they clipped each other till the
+morning.  On the morrow, the King made a banquet and spreading
+the tables with the richest meats, kept open house a whole month
+to all comers from the Islands of the Inner and the Outer Seas.
+Now, when Kemerezzeman had thus attained his desire and had
+tarried awhile with the princess Budour, he bethought him of his
+father and saw him in a dream, saying, 'O my son, is it thus thou
+dealest with me?' and reciting the following verses:
+
+The moon o' the dark by his neglect my spirit doth appal And to
+     the watching of his stars hath made my eyelids thrall.
+But soft, my heart!  It may be yet he will return to thee; And
+     patience, soul, beneath the pain he's smitten thee withal!
+
+Kemerezzeman awoke in the morning, afflicted and troubled at what
+he had seen, whereupon the princess questioned him and he told
+her his dream.  Then they both went in to King Ghaiour and
+telling him what had passed, besought his leave to depart.  He
+gave the prince the leave he sought; but the princess said,
+'O my father, I cannot endure to be parted from him.'  Quoth
+Ghaiour, 'Then go thou with him,' and gave her leave to be
+absent a whole year, charging her to visit him once in every year
+thereafterward.  So she kissed his hand and Kemerezzeman did the
+like; after which he proceeded to equip them for the journey,
+furnishing them with horses and dromedaries of choice and a
+litter for his daughter, besides mules and camels laden with
+victual and all manner of travelling gear.  Moreover, he
+gave them slaves and eunuchs to serve them and bestowed on
+Kemerezzeman ten splendid suits of cloth of gold, embroidered
+with jewels, together with a treasury[FN#42] of money and ten
+riding horses and as many she-camels.  When the day of departure
+arrived, the King accompanied them to the farthest limits of his
+islands, where, going in to his daughter Budour in the litter, he
+kissed her and strained her to his bosom, weeping and repeating
+the following verses:
+
+O thou that seekest parting, stay thy feet, For sure embraces are
+     a lover's right.
+Softly, for fortune's nature is deceit And parting is the end of
+     love-delight.
+
+Then, leaving her, he kissed her husband and commended his
+daughter to his care; after which he bade him farewell and giving
+the signal for departure, returned to his capital with his
+troops.  The prince and princess and their suite fared on without
+stopping a whole month, at the end of which time they came to a
+spacious champaign, abounding in pasturage, where they alighted
+and pitched their tents.  They ate and drank and rested, and
+the princess Budour lay down to sleep.  Presently, Kemerezzeman
+went in to her and found her lying asleep, in a shift of
+apricot-coloured silk, that showed all it should have covered,
+and a coif of cloth of gold embroidered with pearls and jewels.
+The breeze raised her shift and showed her breasts and navel and
+a belly whiter than snow, each one of whose dimples contained an
+ounce of benzoin ointment.[FN#43] At this sight, his love and
+passion for her redoubled, and he recited the following verses:
+
+If, whilst within my entrails the fires of hell did stir And
+     flames raged high about me, 'twere spoken in my ear,
+"Which wilt thou have the rather, a draught of water cold Or
+     sight of her thou lovest?"  I'd say, "The sight of her."
+
+Then he put his hand to the ribbon of her trousers and drew it
+and loosed it, for that his soul lusted after her, when he saw a
+jewel, red as dragon's blood,[FN#44] made fast to the band.  He
+untied and examined it and seeing two lines of writing graven
+thereon, in a character not to be read, marvelled and said in
+himself, 'Except she set great store by this, she had not tied it
+to the ribbon of her trousers nor hidden it in the most private
+place about her person, that she might not be parted from it.  I
+wonder what she doth with it and what is the secret that is in
+it.'  So saying, he took it and went without the tent to look at
+it in the light; but as he was examining it, a bird swooped down
+on him and snatching it from his hand, flew off with it and
+lighted on the ground at a little distance.  Fearing to lose the
+talisman, he ran after the bird; but it flew on before him,
+keeping just out of his reach, and drew him on from place to
+place and from hill to hill, till the night came on and the air
+grew dark, when it roosted on a high tree.  Kemerezzeman stopped
+under the tree, confounded and faint for hunger and weariness,
+and giving himself up for lost, would have turned back, but knew
+not the way, for the darkness had overtaken him.  So he
+exclaimed, 'There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most
+High, the Supreme!'  and lying down under the tree, slept till
+the morning, when he awoke and saw the bird also awake and fly
+away.  He arose and walked after it, and it flew on little by
+little before him, after the measure of his going; at which he
+smiled and said, 'By Allah, this is a strange thing!  Yesterday,
+the bird flew before me as fast as I could run; and to-day,
+knowing that I am tired and cannot run, it flieth after the
+measure of my walking.  By Allah, this is wonderful!  But,
+whether it lead me to my death or to my life, I must needs follow
+it, wherever it goeth, for it will surely not abide save in some
+inhabited land.  So he  followed the bird, eating of the fruits
+of the earth and drinking of its waters, for ten days' space, and
+every night the bird roosted on a tree.  At the end of this time,
+he came in sight of an inhabited city, whereupon the bird darted
+off like the glance of the eye and entering the town, was lost to
+view: and Kemerezzeman marvelled at this and exclaimed, 'Praised
+be God, who hath brought me hither in safety!'  Then he sat down
+by a stream and washed his hands and feet and face and rested
+awhile: and recalling his late easy and pleasant life of union
+with his beloved and contrasting it with his present plight of
+trouble and weariness and hunger and strangerhood and severance,
+the tears streamed from his eyes and he repeated the following
+cinquains:
+
+I strove to hide the load that love on me did lay; In vain, and
+     sleep for me is changed to wake alway.
+Whenas wanhope doth press my heart both night and day, I cry
+     aloud, "O Fate, hold back thy hand, I pray.
+          For all my soul is sick with dolour and dismay!"
+If but the Lord of Love were just indeed to me, Sleep had not
+     fled mine eyes by his unkind decree.
+Have pity, sweet, on one that is for love of thee Worn out and
+     wasted sore; once rich and great was he,
+          Now beggared and cast down by love from his array.
+The railers chide at thee full sore; I heed not, I, But stop my
+     ears to them and give them back the lie.
+"Thou lov'st a slender one," say they; and I reply, "I've chosen
+     her and left all else beneath the sky."
+          Enough; when fate descends, the eyes are blinded aye.
+
+As soon as he was rested, he rose and walked on, little by
+little, till he came to the city-gate and entered, knowing not
+whither he should go.  He traversed the city from end to end,
+without meeting any of the townsfolk, entering by the land-gate
+and faring on till he came out at the sea-gate, for the city
+stood on the sea-shore.  Presently, he found himself among the
+orchards and gardens of the place and passed among the trees,
+till he came to a garden-gate and stopped before it, whereupon
+the keeper came out to him and saluted him.  The prince returned
+his greeting and the other bade him welcome, saying, 'Praised be
+God that thou hast come off safe from the people of the city!
+Quick, come into the garden, ere any of the townsfolk see thee.'
+So Kemerezzeman entered the garden, amazed, and said to the
+keeper, 'Who and what then are the people of this city?'  'Know,'
+answered the other,' that the people of this city are all
+Magians: but, God on thee, tell me how and why thou camest
+hither.'  Accordingly, Kemerezzeman told him all that had
+befallen him, at which the gardener marvelled greatly and said,
+'Know, O my son, that from this place to the cities of Islam is
+four months' journey by sea and a whole year by land.  We have a
+ship that sails yearly hence with merchandise to the Ebony
+Islands, which are the nearest Muslim country, and thence to the
+Khalidan Islands, the dominions of King Shehriman.'  Kemerezzeman
+considered awhile and concluding that he could not do better than
+abide with the gardener and become his assistant, said to him,
+'Wilt thou take me into thy service, to help thee in this
+garden?'  'Willingly,' answered the gardener and clothing him in
+a short blue gown, that reached to his knees, taught him to lead
+the water to the roots of the trees.  So Kemerezzeman abode with
+him, watering the trees and hoeing up the weeds and weeping
+floods of tears; for he had no rest day or night, by reason of
+his strangerhood and separation from his beloved, and he ceased
+not to repeat verses upon her, amongst others the following:
+
+Ye made us a promise of yore; will ye not to your promise be
+     true? Ye spoke us a word aforetime; as ye spoke to us, will
+     ye not do?
+We waken, whilst ye are asleep, according to passion's decree; So
+     have ye the vantage of us, for watchers and sleepers are
+     two.
+We vowed to each other, whilere, that we would keep secret our
+     loves; But the breedbate possessed you to speak, and you
+     spoke and revealed what none knew.
+Beloved in pleasure and pain, chagrin and contentment alike,
+     Whate'er may betide, ye alone are the goal that my wishes
+     ensue.
+There's one that still holdeth a heart, a heart sore tormented of
+     mine; Ah, would she'd have ruth on my plight and pity the
+     soul that she slew!
+Not every one's eye is as mine, worn wounded and cankered with
+     tears, And hearts that are, even as mine, the bondslaves of
+     passion, are few.
+Ye acted the tyrant with me, saying, "Love is a tyrant, I trow."
+     Indeed, ye were right, and the case has proved what ye said
+     to be true.
+Alack!  They've forgotten outright a passion-distraught one,
+     whose faith Time 'minisheth not, though the fires in his
+     entrails rage ever anew.
+If my foeman in love be my judge, to whom shall I make my
+     complaint? To whom of injustice complain, to whom for
+     redress shall I sue?
+Were it not for my needing of love and the ardour that burns in
+     my breast, I had not a heart love-enslaved and a soul that
+     for passion must rue.
+
+To return to the princess Budour.  When she awoke, she sought her
+husband and found him not: then she saw the ribbon of her
+trousers undone and the talisman missing and said to herself, 'By
+Allah, this is strange!  Where is my husband?  It would seem as
+if he had taken the talisman and gone away, knowing not the
+secret that is in it.  Whither can he have gone?  It must have
+been some extraordinary matter that drew him away, for he cannot
+brook to leave me an hour.  May God curse the talisman and its
+hour!'  Then she considered awhile and said in herself, 'If I go
+out and tell the servants that my husband is lost, they will
+covet me: I must use stratagem.'  So she rose and donned some of
+her husband's clothes and boots and spurs and a turban like his,
+drawing the loose end across her face for a chin-band.  Then
+setting a slave-girl in her litter, she went forth the tent and
+called to the servants, who brought her Kemerezzeman's horse; and
+she mounted and bade load the beasts and set forward.  So they
+bound on the burdens and departed, none doubting but she was
+Kemerezzeman, for she resembled him in face and form; nor did
+they leave journeying, days and nights, till they came in sight
+of a city overlooking the sea, when they halted to rest and
+pitched their tents without the walls.  The princess asked the
+name of the place and was told, 'It is called the City of Ebony:
+its king is named Armanous, and he hath a daughter called Heyat
+en Nufous.'  Presently, the King sent to learn who it was that
+had encamped without his city; so the messenger, coming to the
+tents, enquired of Budour's servants and was told that she was a
+king's son, bound for the Khalidan Islands, who had strayed
+from his road; whereupon he returned and told the King, who
+straightway took horse and rode out, with his nobles, to meet the
+strange prince.  As he drew near the tents, the princess came to
+meet him on foot, whereupon the King alighted and they saluted
+each other.  Then he carried her into the city and bringing her
+to the palace, let spread a banquet and bade transport her
+company and baggage to the guest-house, where they abode three
+days; at the end of which time the King came in to Budour (Now
+she had that day gone to the bath and her face shone as the moon
+at its full, enchanting all beholders, and she was clad in robes
+of silk, embroidered with gold and jewels) and said to her,
+'Know, O my son, that I am a very old man and am grown unable for
+the conduct of the state.  Now God has blessed me with no child
+save one daughter, who resembles thee in beauty and grace; so, O
+my son, if this my country please thee and thou be willing to
+make thine abode here, I will marry thee to my daughter and give
+thee my kingdom and so be at rest.'  When Budour heard this, she
+bowed her head and her forehead sweated for shame, and she said
+to herself, 'How shall I do, and I a woman?  If I refuse and
+depart, I cannot be safe but that he may send after me troops to
+kill me; and if I consent, belike I shall be put to shame.  I
+have lost my beloved Kemerezzeman and know not what is come of
+him; wherefore I see nothing for it but to hold my peace and
+consent and abide here, till God accomplish what is to be.'
+So she raised her head and made submission to King Armanous,
+saying, 'I hear and obey,' whereat he rejoiced and bade make
+proclamation, throughout the Ebony Islands, to hold high festival
+and decorate the houses.  Then he assembled his chamberlains and
+Amirs and Viziers and other officers of state and the Cadis of
+the city, and putting off the kingship, invested Budour therewith
+and clad her in the royal robes.  Moreover, the Amirs and
+grandees went in to her and did her homage, nothing doubting but
+that she was a young man, and all who looked on her berayed their
+hose for the excess of her beauty and grace; then, after the lady
+Budour had been made Sultan and the drums had been beaten, in
+announcement of the joyful event, Armanous proceeded to equip his
+daughter for marriage, and in a few days, they brought Budour in
+to her, when they seemed as it were two moons risen at one time
+or two suns foregathering.  So they entered the bridal-chamber
+and the doors were shut and the curtains let down upon them,
+after the attendants had lighted the candles and spread the bed
+for them.  When Budour found herself alone with the princess
+Heyat en Nufous, she called to mind her beloved Kemerezzeman and
+grief was sore upon her.  So she wept for his loss and absence
+and repeated the following verses:
+
+O ye who went and left my heart to pine alone fore'er, No spark
+     of life remains in me, since ye away did fare!
+I have an eye that doth complain of sleeplessness alway; Tears
+     have consumed it; would to God that sleeplessness would
+     spare!
+When ye departed, after you the lover did abide; But question of
+     him what of pain in absence he doth bear.
+But for the ceaseless flood of tears my eyes pour forth, the
+     world Would at my burning all catch fire, yea, seas and
+     lands and air.
+To God Most High I make my moan of dear ones loved and lost, That
+     on my passion have no ruth nor pity my despair.
+I never did them wrong, except my love for them were such; But
+     into blest and curst in love men aye divided were.
+
+When she had finished, she sat down beside the princess Heyat en
+Nufous and kissed her on the mouth.  Then, rising abruptly, she
+made the ablution and betook herself to her devotions, nor did
+she leave praying till Heyat en Nufous was asleep, when she slipt
+into bed and lay with her back to her till morning; then rose and
+went out.  Presently, the old king and queen came in to their
+daughter and asked her how she did, whereupon she told them what
+had passed and repeated to them the verses she had heard.
+
+Meanwhile, Budour seated herself upon the throne and all the
+Amirs and captains and officers of state came in to her and
+wished her joy of the kingship, kissing the earth before her and
+calling down blessings upon her.  She smiled on them and clad
+them in robes of honour, augmenting the fiefs of the Amirs and
+giving largesse to the troops; wherefore all the people loved her
+and offered up prayers for the continuance of her reign, doubting
+not but that she was a man.  She sat all day in the hall of
+audience, ordering and forbidding and dispensing justice,
+releasing those who were in prison and remitting the customs
+dues, till nightfall, when she withdrew to the apartment prepared
+for her.  Here she found Heyat en Nufous seated; so she sat down
+by her and clapping her on the back, caressed her and kissed her
+between the eyes, repeating the following verses:
+
+The secret that I cherished my tears have public made; The
+     wasting of my body my passion hath bewrayed.
+I hid my love and longing; but on the parting-day My plight,
+     alas!  revealed it to spies; 'twas open laid.
+O ye who have departed the camp, ye've left behind My body worn
+     with languor and spirit all decayed.
+Within my heart's recesses ye have your dwelling-place; My tears
+     are ever running and lids with blood berayed.
+For ever will I ransom the absent with my soul; Indeed, for them
+     my yearnings are patent and displayed.
+I have an eye, whose pupil, for love of them, rejects Sleep and
+     whose tears flow ever, unceasing and unstayed.
+My foes would have me patient for him; but God forbid That ever
+     of my hearing should heed to them be paid!
+I baulked their expectation.  Of Kemerezzeman Sometime I did
+     accomplish the joys for which I prayed.
+He doth, as none before him, perfections all unite; No king of
+     bygone ages was in the like arrayed.
+His clemency and bounty Ben Zaideh's[FN#45] largesse And
+     Muawiyeh's[FN#46] mildness have cast into the shade.
+But that it would be tedious and verse sufficeth not To picture
+     forth his beauties, I'd leave no rhyme unmade.
+
+Then she wiped away her tears and making the ablution, stood up
+to pray; nor did she give over praying, till drowsiness overcame
+Heyat en Nufous and she slept, whereupon Budour came and lay
+beside her till the morning.  At daybreak, she arose and prayed
+the morning-prayer; then, going forth, seated herself on the
+throne and passed the day in ordering and forbidding and
+administering justice.  Meanwhile, King Armanous went in to his
+daughter and asked her how she did; so she told him all that had
+passed and repeated to him the verses that Budour had recited,
+adding, 'O my father, never saw I one more abounding in sense and
+modesty than my husband, save that he doth nothing but weep and
+sigh.'  'O my daughter,' answered her father, 'have patience with
+him yet this third night, and if he go not in to thee and do away
+thy maidenhead,  we will take order with him and oust him from
+the throne and banish him the country.'  When the night came, the
+princess Budour rose from the throne and betaking herself to the
+bride-chamber, found the candles lighted and the princess Heyat
+en Nufous sitting awaiting her; whereupon she bethought her of
+her husband and recalling the early severance of their loves,
+wept and sighed and groaned groan upon groan, repeating the
+following verses:
+
+I swear the tidings of my woes fills all the country-side, Like
+     the sun shining on the hills of Nejed far and wide.
+His gesture speaks, but hard to tell the meaning of it is, And
+     thus my yearning without end is ever magnified.
+I hate fair patience since the hour I fell in love with thee.
+     Hast seen a lover hating love at any time or tide?
+One, in whose glances sickness lies, hath smitten me to death,
+     For looks are deadliest of the things, wherein doth sickness
+     bide.
+He shook his clustered ringlets down and laid his chin-band by,
+     And beauty thus in him, at once both black and white, I
+     spied.
+Sickness and cure are in his hands; for, to the sick of love, By
+     him alone who caused their dole can healing be applied.
+The softness of his waist hath made his girdle mad for love And
+     of his hips, for jealousy, to rise he is denied.
+His forehead, covered with his curls, is as a mirky night;
+     Unveiled, 'tis as a shining moon that thrusts the dark
+     aside.
+
+When she had finished, she would have risen to pray, but Heyat en
+Nufous caught her by the skirt, saying, 'O my lord, art thou not
+ashamed to neglect me thus, after all the favour my father hath
+done thee?'  When Budour heard this, she sat down again and said,
+'O my beloved, what is this thou sayest?'  'What I say,' answered
+Heyat en Nufous, 'is that I never saw any so self-satisfied as
+thou.  Is every fair one so disdainful?  I say not this to
+incline thee to me, but only of my fear for thee from King
+Armanous; for he purposes, an thou go not in to me to-night and
+do away my maidenhead, to strip thee of the kingship on the
+morrow and banish thee the realm; and belike his much anger may
+lead him to kill thee.  But I, O my lord, have compassion on thee
+and give thee fair warning; and it is thine to decide.'  At this,
+Budour bowed her head in perplexity and said in herself, 'If I
+refuse, I am lost, and if I obey, I am shamed.  I am now queen of
+all the Ebony Islands and they are under my rule and I shall
+never again foregather with Kemerezzeman except it be in this
+place; for there is no way for him to his native land but through
+the Ebony Islands.  Verily, I know not what to do, for I am no
+man that I should arise and open this virgin girl; but I commit
+my case to God, who orders all for the best.'  Then she said to
+Heyat en Nufous, 'O my beloved, it is in my own despite that I
+have neglected thee and abstained from thee.'  And she discovered
+herself to her and told her her whole story, saying, 'I conjure
+thee by Allah to keep my counsel, till God reunite me with my
+beloved Kemerezzeman, and then let what will happen.'  Her story
+moved Heyat en Nufous to wonder and pity, and she prayed God to
+reunite her with her beloved, saying, 'Fear nothing, O my sister,
+but have patience till God accomplish that which is to be.'  And
+she repeated the following verses:
+
+None keepeth counsel saving those who're trusty and discreet. A
+     secret's ever safely placed with honest folk and leal;
+And secrets trusted unto me are in a locked-up house, Whose keys
+     are lost and on whose door is set the Cadi's seal.
+
+'O my sister,' continued she, 'the breasts of the noble are the
+graves of secrets, and I will not discover thine.'  Then they
+toyed and embraced and kissed and slept till near the call to
+morning-prayer, when Heyat en Nufous arose and slaughtering a
+young pigeon, besmeared herself and besprinkled her shift with
+its blood.  Then she put off her trousers and cried out,
+whereupon her waiting-women hastened to her and raised cries of
+joy.  Presently, her mother came in to her aad asked her how she
+did and tended her and abode with her till evening; whilst the
+lady Budour repaired to the bath and after washing herself,
+proceeded to the hall of audience, where she sat down on her
+throne and dispensed justice among the folk.  When King Armanous
+heard the cries, he asked what was the matter and was informed of
+the consummation of his daughter's marriage; whereat he rejoiced
+and his breast dilated and he made a great banquet.
+
+To return to King Shehriman.  When Kemerezzeman and Merzewan
+returned not at the appointed time, he passed the night without
+sleep, restless and consumed with anxiety.  The night was long
+upon him and he thought the day would never dawn.  He passed the
+forenoon of the ensuing day in expectation of his son's coming,
+but he came not; whereat his heart forebode separation and he was
+distraught with fears for Kemerezzeman.  He wept till his clothes
+were drenched, crying out, 'Alas, my son!'  and repeating the
+following verses from an aching heart:
+
+Unto the votaries of love I still was contrary, Till of its
+     bitter and its sweet myself perforce must taste.
+I quaffed its cup of rigours out, yea, even to the dregs, And to
+     its freemen and its slaves myself therein abased.
+Fortune aforetime made a vow to separate our loves; Now hath she
+     kept her vow, alack!  and made my life a waste.
+
+Then he wiped away his tears and bade his troops make ready for a
+long journey.  So they all mounted and set forth, headed by the
+Sultan, whose heart burnt with grief and anxiety for his son.  He
+divided the troops into six bodies, whom he despatched in as many
+directions, giving them rendezvous for the morrow at the
+cross-roads.  Accordingly they scoured the country diligently all
+that day and night, till at noon of the ensuing day they joined
+company at the cross-roads.  Here four roads met and they knew
+not which the prince had followed, till they came to the torn
+clothes and found shreds of flesh and blood scattered by the way
+on all sides.  When the King saw this, he cried out from his
+inmost heart, saying, 'Alas, my son!' and buffeted his face and
+tore his beard and rent his clothes, doubting not but his son was
+dead.  Then he gave himself up to weeping and wailing, and the
+troops also wept for his weeping, being assured that the prince
+had perished.  They wept and lamented and threw dust on their
+heads till they were nigh upon death, and the night surprised
+them whilst they were thus engaged.  Then the King repeated the
+following verses, with a heart on fire for the torment of his
+despair:
+
+Blame not the mourner for the grief to which he is a prey, For
+     yearning sure sufficeth him, with all its drear dismay.
+He weeps for dreariment and grief and stress of longing pain, And
+     eke his transport doth the fires, that rage in him, bewray.
+Alas, his fortune who's Love's slave, whom languishment hath
+     bound Never to let his eyelids stint from weeping night and
+     day!
+He mourns the loss of one was like a bright and brilliant moon,
+     That shone out over all his peers in glorious array.
+But Death did proffer to his lips a brimming cup to drink, What
+     time he left his native land, and now he's far away.
+He left his home and went from us unto calamity; Nor to his
+     brethren was it given to him farewell to say.
+Indeed, his loss hath stricken me with anguish and with woe; Yea,
+     for estrangement from his sight my wits are gone astray.
+Whenas the Lord of all vouchsafed to him His Paradise, Upon his
+     journey forth he fared and passed from us for aye.
+
+Then he returned with the troops to his capital, giving up his
+son for lost and deeming that wild beasts or highwaymen had set
+on him and torn him in pieces, and made proclamation that all in
+the Khalidan Islands should don black in mourning for him.
+Moreover, he built a pavilion in his memory, naming it House of
+Lamentations, and here he was wont to spend his days, (with the
+exception of Mondays and Thursdays, which he devoted to the
+business of the state), mourning for his son and bewailing him
+with verses, of which the following are some:
+
+My day of bliss is that whereon thou drawest near to me, And
+     that, whereon thou turn'st away, my day of death and fear.
+What though I tremble all the night and go in dread of death, Yet
+     thine embraces are to me than safety far more dear.
+
+And again:
+
+My soul redeem the absent, whose going cast a blight On hearts
+     and did afflict them with anguish and affright!
+Let gladness then accomplish its purification-time,[FN#47] For,
+     by a triple divorcement,[FN#48] I've put away delight.
+
+Meanwhile, the princess Budour abode in the Ebony Islands, whilst
+the folk would point to her and say, 'Yonder is King Armanous's
+son-in-law;' and every night she lay with Heyat en Nufous, to
+whom she made moan of her longing for her husband Kemerezzeman,
+weeping and describing to her his beauty and grace and yearning
+to enjoy him, though but in a dream.  And bytimes she would
+repeat these verses:
+
+God knows that, since my severance from thee, full sore I've
+     wept, So sore that needs my eyes must run for very tears in
+     debt.
+"Have patience," quoth my censurer, "and thou shalt win them
+     yet," And I, "O thou that blamest me, whence should I
+     patience get?"
+
+
+All this time, Kemerezzeman abode with the gardener, weeping and
+repeating verses night and day, bewailing the seasons of
+enjoyment and the nights of delight, whilst the gardener
+comforted him with the assurance that the ship would set sail for
+the land of the Muslims at the end of the year.  One day, he saw
+the folk crowding together and wondered at this; but the gardener
+came in to him and said, 'O my son, give over work for to-day
+neither water the trees; for it is a festival day, on which the
+folk visit one another.  So rest and only keep thine eye on the
+garden, whilst I go look after the ship for thee; for yet but a
+little while and I send thee to the land of the Muslims.'  So
+saying, he went out, leaving Kemerezzeman alone in the garden,
+who fell to musing upon his condition, till his courage gave way
+and the tears streamed from his eyes.  He wept till he swooned
+away, and when he recovered, he rose and walked about the garden
+pondering what fate had done with him and bewailing his long
+estrangement from those he loved.  As he went thus, absorbed in
+melancholy thought, his foot stumbled and he fell on his face,
+striking his forehead against the stump of a tree.  The blow cut
+it open and his blood ran down and blent with his tears.  He rose
+and wiping away the blood, dried his tears and bound his forehead
+with a piece of rag; then continued his melancholy walk about the
+garden.  Presently, he saw two birds quarrelling on a tree, and
+one of them smote the other on the neck with its beak and cut off
+its head, with which it flew away, whilst the slain bird's body
+fell to the ground before Kemerezzeman.  As it lay, two great
+birds flew down and alighting, one at the head and the other at
+the tail of the dead bird, drooped their wings over it and bowing
+their heads towards it, wept; and when Kemerezzeman saw them thus
+bewail their mate, he called to mind his wife  and father and
+wept also.  Then he saw them dig a grave and bury the dead bird;
+after which they flew away, but presently returned with the
+murderer and alighting on the grave, stamped on him till they
+killed him.  Then they rent his belly and tearing out his
+entrails, poured the blood on the grave.  Moreover, they stripped
+off his skin and tearing his flesh in pieces, scattered it hither
+and thither.  All this while Kemerezzeman was watching them and
+wondering; but presently, chancing to look at the dead bird's
+crop, he saw therein something gleaming.  So he opened it and
+found the talisman that had been the cause of his separation from
+his wife.  At this sight, he fell down in a swoon for joy; and
+when he revived, he said, 'Praised be God!  This is a good omen
+and a presage of reunion with my beloved.'  Then he examined the
+jewel and passed it over his eyes; after which he bound it to his
+arm, rejoicing in coming good, and walked about, awaiting the
+gardener's return, till nightfall; when, as he came not, he lay
+down and slept in his wonted place.  At daybreak he rose and
+girding himself with a cord of palm-fibre, took hoe and basket
+and went out to his work in the garden.  Presently, he came to a
+carob-tree and struck the hoe into its roots.  The blow resounded
+[as if it had fallen on metal]; so he cleared away the earth and
+discovered a trap-door of brass.  He raised the trap and found a
+winding stair, which he descended and came to an ancient vault of
+the time of Aad and Themoud,[FN#49]  hewn out of the rock.  Round
+the vault stood many brazen vessels of the bigness of a great
+oil-jar, into one of which he put his hand and found it full of
+red and shining gold; whereupon he said to himself, 'Verily, the
+days of weariness are past and joy and solace are come!'  Then he
+returned to the garden and replacing the trap-door, busied
+himself in tending the trees till nightfall, when the gardener
+came back and said to him, 'O my son, rejoice in a speedy return
+to thy native land, for the merchants are ready for the voyage
+and in three days' time the ship will set sail for the City of
+Ebony, which is the first of the cities of the Muslims; and
+thence thou must travel by land six months' journey till thou
+come to the Islands of Khalidan, the dominions of King Shehriman.'
+At this Kemerezzeman rejoiced and repeated the following verses:
+
+Forsake not a lover unused aversion from thee, Nor punish the
+     guiltless with rigour and cruelty.
+Another, when absence was long, had forgotten thee And changed
+     from his faith and his case; not so with me.
+
+Then he kissed the gardener's hand, saying, 'O my father, even as
+thou hast brought me glad tidings, so I also have great good news
+for thee,' and told him of his discovery in the garden; whereat
+the gardener rejoiced and said, 'O my son, fourscore years have I
+dwelt in this garden and have never chanced on aught; whilst
+thou, who hast not sojourned with me a year, hast discovered
+this thing; wherefore it is God's gift to thee, for the cesser
+of thine ill fortune, and will aid thee to rejoin thy folk
+and foregather with her thou lovest.'  'Not so,' answered
+Kemerezzeman, 'it must be shared between us.'  Then he carried
+him to the underground chamber and showed him the gold, which was
+in twenty jars.  So he took ten and the gardener ten, and the
+latter said to him, 'O my son, fill thyself jars with the olives
+that grow in the garden, for they are not found but in our land
+and are sought after; the merchants carry them to all parts and
+they are called Asafiri[FN#50] olives.  Lay the gold in the jars
+and cover it with olives: then stop them and cover them and take
+them with thee in the ship.'  So Kemerezzeman took fifty jars and
+laying in each somewhat of the gold, filled it up with olives.
+At the bottom of one of the jars he laid the talisman, then
+stopped and covered the jars and sat down to talk with the
+gardener, making sure of speedy reunion with his own people and
+saying in himself, 'When I come to the Ebony Islands, I will
+journey thence to my father's country and enquire for my beloved
+Budour.  I wonder whether she turned back to her own land or
+journeyed on to my father's country or whether there befell her
+any accident by the way.'  And he repeated the following verses:
+
+Love in my breast they lit and passed away forthright: Far
+     distant is the land that holds my soul's delight.
+Far, far from me the camp and those that dwell therein; No
+     visitation-place again shall us unite.
+Patience and reason fled from me, when they fared forth; Sleep
+     failed me and despair o'ercame me, like a blight.
+They left me, and with them departed all my joy; Tranquillity and
+     peace with them have taken flight.
+They made mine eyes run down with tears of love laid waste; My
+     lids for lack of them brim over day and night.
+Whenas my sad soul longs to see them once again And waiting and
+     desire are heavy on my spright,
+Midmost my heart of hearts their images I trace, Love and
+     desireful pain and yearning for their sight.
+
+Then he told the gardener what he had seen pass between the
+birds, whereat he wondered; and they both lay down and slept till
+the morning.  The gardener awoke sick and abode thus two days;
+but on the third day, his sickness increased on him, till they
+despaired of his life and Kemerezzeman grieved sore for him.
+Meanwhile, the captain and sailors came and enquired for the
+gardener.  Kemerezzeman told them that he was sick, and they
+said, 'Where is the young man that is minded to go with us to the
+Ebony Islands?'  'He is your servant,' answered the prince and
+bade them carry the jars of olives to the ship.  So they
+transported them to the ship, saying, 'Make haste, for the wind
+is fair;' and he answered, 'I hear and obey.'  Then he carried
+his victual on board and returning, to bid the gardener farewell,
+found him in the agonies of death.  So he sat down at his head
+and closed his eyes, and his soul departed his body; whereupon he
+laid him out and committed him to the earth to the mercy of God
+the Most High.  Then he went down to the port, to embark, but
+found that the ship had already weighed anchor and set sail; nor
+did she cease to cleave the waters, till she disappeared from
+his sight.  So he returned to the garden, sorrowful and
+heavy-hearted, and sitting down, threw dust on his head and
+buffeted his face.  Then he rented the garden of its owner and
+hired a man to help him tend the trees.  Moreover, he went down
+to the underground chamber and bringing up the rest of the gold,
+stowed it in other fifty jars, which he filled up with olives.
+Then he enquired of the ship and was told that it sailed but once
+a year; at which his affliction redoubled and he mourned sore for
+that which had befallen him, above all for the loss of the
+princess Budour's talisman, and spent his nights and days weeping
+and repeating verses.
+
+Meanwhile, the ship sailed with a favouring wind, till it reached
+the Ebony Islands.  As fate would have it, the princess Budour
+was sitting at a window overlooking the sea and saw the ship cast
+anchor in the port.  At this sight, her heart throbbed and she
+mounted and riding down to the port, with her officers, halted by
+the ship, whilst the sailors broke out the cargo and transported
+the goods to the storehouses; after which she called the captain
+and asked what he had with him.  'O King,' answered he, 'I have
+with me drugs and cosmetics and powders and ointments and
+plasters and rich stuffs and Yemen rugs and other costly
+merchandise, not to be borne of mule or camel, and all manner
+essences and spices and perfumes, civet and ambergris and camphor
+and Sumatra aloes-wood, and tamarinds and Asafiri olives to boot,
+such as are rare to find in this country.'  When she heard talk
+of Asafiri olives, her heart yearned for them and she said to the
+captain, 'How much olives hast thou?'  'Fifty jars full,'
+answered he.  'Their owner is not with us, but the King shall
+take what he will of them.'  Quoth she, 'Bring them ashore, that
+I may see them.'  So he called to the sailors, who brought her
+the fifty jars; and she opened one and looking at the olives,
+said to the captain, 'I will take the whole fifty and pay you
+their value, whatever it may be.'  'By Allah, O my lord,'
+answered he, 'they have no value in our country and the fifty
+jars may be worth some hundred dirhems; but their owner tarried
+behind us, and he is a poor man.'  'And what are they worth
+here?' asked she.  'A thousand dirhems,' replied he.  'I will
+take them at that price,' quoth she and bade carry the fifty jars
+to the palace.  When it was night, she called for a jar of olives
+and opened it, there being none present but herself and the
+princess Heyat en Nufous.  Then, taking a dish, she turned into
+it the contents of the jar, when behold there fell out into the
+dish with the olives a heap of red gold and she said to Heyat en
+Nufous, 'This is nought but gold!'  So she sent for the rest of
+the jars and found each one full of gold and scarce enough olives
+in the whole fifty to fill one jar.  Moreover, she sought among
+the gold and found the talisman, which she took and examined and
+knew for that which Kemerezzeman had taken from off the riband of
+her trousers; whereupon she cried out for joy and fell down in a
+swoon.  When she revived, she said in herself, 'Verily, this
+talisman was the cause of my separation from my beloved
+Kemerezzeman; but now it is an omen of good.'  Then she showed it
+to Heyat en Nufous and said to her, 'This was the cause of
+separation and now, please God, it shall be the cause of
+reunion.'  As soon as it was day, she seated herself on her
+throne and sent for the captain, who came and kissed the ground
+before her.  Quoth she, 'Where didst thou leave the owner of
+these olives?'  'O King of the age,' answered he, 'we left him in
+the land of the Magians and he is a gardener there.'  'Except
+thou bring him to me,' said she, 'thou knowest not the harm that
+awaits thee and thy ship.'  Then she bade seal up the merchants'
+storehouses and said to them, 'The owner of these olives is my
+debtor; and an ye bring him not to me, I will without fail put
+you all to death and confiscate your goods.'  So they all went to
+the captain and promised him the hire of the ship, if he would go
+and return a second time, saying, 'Deliver us from this masterful
+tyrant.'  Accordingly, the captain set sail and God decreed him a
+prosperous voyage, till he came to the city of the Magians, and
+landing by night, went up to the garden.  Now the night was long
+upon Kemerezzeman, and he sat, bethinking him of his beloved and
+weeping over what had befallen him and repeating the following
+verses:
+
+Full many a night I've passed, whose stars their course did stay,
+     A night that seemed of those that will not pass away,
+That was, as 'twere, for length the Resurrection-morn, To him
+     that watched therein and waited for the day!
+
+At this moment, the captain knocked at the garden-gate, and
+Kemerezzeman opened and went out to him, whereupon the sailors
+seized him and carrying him on board the ship, weighed anchor
+forthright.  They sailed on without ceasing days and nights,
+whilst Kemerezzeman knew not why they dealt thus with him; but
+when he questioned them, they replied, 'Thou hast offended
+against the lord of the Ebony Islands, the son-in-law of King
+Armanous, and hast stolen his good, unhappy wretch that thou
+art!'  'By Allah,' said he, 'I know not the country nor was I
+ever there in all my life!'  However, they fared on with him,
+till they made the Ebony Islands and landing, carried him up to
+the princess Budour, who knew him at sight and said, 'Leave him
+with the eunuchs, that they may take him to the bath.'  Then she
+relieved the merchant of the embargo and gave the captain a dress
+of honour and ten thousand dinars; after which, she went in that
+night to the princess Heyat en Nufous and told her what had
+passed, saying, 'Keep thou my counsel, till I accomplish my
+purpose and do a thing that shall be recorded and told to kings
+and commoners after us.'  Meanwhile, they carried Kemerezzeman to
+the bath and clad him in a royal habit, so that, when he came
+forth, he resembled a willow-wand or a star whose aspect put to
+shame both sun and moon, and his life returned to him.  Then he
+went in to the princess Budour, who, when she saw him, schooled
+her heart to patience, till she should have accomplished her
+purpose, and bestowed on him slaves and servants, black and
+white, and camels and mules.  Moreover, she gave him a treasury
+of money and advanced him from dignity to dignity, till she made
+him treasurer and committed to his charge all the treasures of
+the state; nor did she leave day by day to increase his
+allowances and afford him fresh marks of her favour.  As for
+Kemerezzeman, he was at a loss for the reason of all the honour
+and favour she showed him and gave gifts and largesse out of the
+abundance of the wealth he owed to her munificence, devoting
+himself in particular to the service of King Armanous, so that he
+and all the Amirs and people, great and small, loved him and were
+wont to swear by his life.  Nevertheless, he ceased not to marvel
+at the favour shown him by Budour and said in himself, 'By Allah,
+there must be a reason for this affection!  Peradventure, this
+king favours me thus excessively with some ill purpose and needs
+must I therefore crave leave of him to depart his realm.'  So he
+went in to Budour and said to her, 'O King, thou hast overwhelmed
+me with favours, but it will fulfil the measure of thy bounties
+if thou wilt take from me all thou hast given and let me depart.'
+She smiled and said, 'What makes thee seek to depart and plunge
+into new perils, whenas thou art in the enjoyment of the greatest
+favour and prosperity?'  'O King,' answered Kemerezzeman, 'this
+favour, if there be no reason for it, is indeed a wonder of
+wonders, more by token that thou hast advanced me to dignities
+such as befit graybeards, albeit I am but a child.'  'The reason
+is,' answered she, 'that I love thee for thine exceeding grace
+and thy surpassing beauty; and so thou wilt but grant me my
+desire of thee, I will advance thee yet further in honour and
+favour and largesse and make thee Vizier, for all thy tender age,
+even as the folk made me Sultan and I no older than thou; so that
+nowadays there is nothing strange in the headship of children,
+and gifted of God was he who said:
+
+Our time is, meseems, of the lineage of Lot; It craves the
+     advancement of younglings, God wot.'
+
+When Kemerezzeman heard this, he was confounded and his cheeks
+flushed till they seemed on fire; and he said, 'I reck not of
+favours that involve the commission of sin; I will live poor in
+wealth but rich in virtue and honour.'  Quoth she, 'I am not the
+dupe of thy scruples, arising from prudery and coquetry: and God
+bless him who says:
+
+I mentioned to him the pact of fruition, and he, "How long with
+     vexatious discourse wilt thou set upon me?"
+I showed him a dinar and straightway he sang out and said, "O
+     whither shall one from Fate irresistible flee!"
+
+'O King,' replied Kemerezzeman, 'I have not the wont of these
+doings, nor have I strength, who am but of tender years, to bear
+these heavy burdens, for which elder than I have proved unable.'
+She smiled and rejoined, 'Indeed, it is wonderful how error
+springs from the disorder of the wit.  Since thou art but a boy,
+why standest thou in fear of sin or the doing of forbidden
+things, seeing that thou art not yet come to years of discretion
+and the offences of a child incur neither punishment nor reproof?
+Verily, thou committest thyself to an argument advanced but for
+the sake of contention, and it behoves thee to bow to the
+ordinance of fruition, which has been given against thee.
+Wherefore, henceforward, give over denial and coyness, for the
+commandment of God is a foreordained decree:[FN#51] indeed, I
+have more reason than thou to fear falling into error; and
+well-inspired was he who said:
+
+My pintle is big and the little one said unto me, "Tilt boldly
+     therewith at my inwards and quit thee thy need."
+Quoth I, "'Tis unlawful;" but he, "It is lawful with me;" So to
+     it I fell, supporting myself by his rede.'
+
+When Kemerezzeman heard these words, the light in his eyes became
+darkness and he said, 'O King, thou hast in thy palace women and
+female slaves, that have not their like in this age: may not
+these suffice thee without me?  Do thy will with them and leave
+me.'  'Thou speakest truth,' answered she; 'but it is not with
+them that one who loves thee can heal himself of torment and
+fever; for when tastes and inclinations are corrupted, they
+hearken to other than good counsel.  So leave arguing and hear
+what the poet says:
+
+Seest not the fruits of the market, how of two kinds they be?
+     Some are for figs,[FN#52] but more for the fruit of the
+     sycamore-tree.[FN#53]
+
+And what another says:
+
+
+Full many an one, whose ankle-rings are dumb, her girdle sounds;
+     So this one is content and that a tale of need must tell.
+Thou'dst have me, foolwise, in her charms forget thee. God
+     forfend I, that a true believer am, should turn an infidel!
+No, by a whisker that makes mock of all her curls, I swear, Nor
+     maid nor strumpet from thy side shall me by guile compel!
+
+And a third:
+
+O pearl of loveliness, to love thee is my faith; Yea, and my
+     choice of all the faiths that have been aye.
+Women I have forsworn, indeed, for thy sweet sake, So that the
+     folk avouch I'm grown a monk to-day
+
+And a fourth:
+
+Compare not a wench with a boy and to the spy, Who says to thee,
+     "This is wrong," pay thou no heed.
+'Twixt a woman whose feet one's lips kiss and a smooth-faced
+     fawn, Who kisses the earth, the diff'rence is great indeed.
+
+And a fifth:
+
+My soul be thy ransom!  Indeed, I've chosen thee out with intent,
+     Because thou layest no eggs and dost not menstruate.
+For, an I inclined to foregather with harlots, upon my faith, The
+     wide, wide world for the brats I should get would prove too
+     strait.
+
+And a sixth:
+
+Quoth she to me,--and sore enraged for wounded pride was she, For
+     she in sooth had bidden me to that which might not be,--
+"An if thou swive me not forthright, as one should swive his
+     wife, If thou be made a cuckold straight, reproach it not to
+     me.
+Meseems thy yard is made of wax, for very flaccidness; For, when
+     I rub it with my hand, it softens instantly."
+
+And a seventh:
+
+Quoth she (for I to lie with her would not consent), "O fool,
+     that followest on thy folly to the extent,
+If thou reject my kaze for Kibleh[FN#54] to thy yard, We'll show
+     thee one wherewith thou shalt be sure content."
+
+And an eighth:
+
+She proffered me a tender kaze; But I, "I will not swive,"
+     replied.
+She drew back, saying, "From the truth Needs must he turn who's
+     turned aside;[FN#55]
+And swiving frontwise in our day Is all abandoned and decried;"
+Then turned and showed me, as it were A lump of silver, her
+     backside.
+"Well done, O mistress mine!  No more Am I in pain for thee," I
+     cried,
+"Whose poke of all God's openings[FN#56] Is sure the amplest and
+     most wide!"
+
+And a ninth:
+
+Men crave forgiveness with uplifted hands; But women pray with
+     lifted legs, I trow.[FN#57]
+Out on it for a pious piece of work! God shall exalt it to the
+     deeps below.[FN#58]
+
+When Kemerezzeman heard these verses and was certified that there
+was no escaping compliance with her will, he said, 'O King, if
+thou must needs have it so, swear to me that thou wilt use me
+thus but once, though it avail not to stay thy debauched
+appetite; and that thou wilt never again require me of this to
+the end of time; so it may be God will purge me of the sin.'  'I
+promise thee that,' replied she, 'hoping that God of His favour
+will relent towards us and blot out our mortal sins; for the
+compass of the Divine forgiveness is not indeed so strait, but it
+may altogether embrace us and absolve us of the excess of our
+transgressions and bring us to the light of righteousness out of
+the darkness of error.  As most excellent well saith the poet:
+
+The folk imagine of us twain an evil thing, I ween, And with
+     their hearts and souls, indeed, they do persist therein.
+Come, let us justify their thought and free them thus from guilt,
+     This once, 'gainst us; and then will we repent us of our
+     sin.'
+
+Then she swore to him a solemn oath, by Him whose existence is
+unconditioned, that this thing should befall betwixt them but
+once and never again for all time, and vowed to him that the
+desire of him was driving her to death and perdition.  So he went
+with her, on this condition, to her privy closet, that she might
+quench the fire of her passion, saying, 'There is no power and no
+virtue save in God the Most High, the Supreme!  This is the
+ordinance of the All-powerful, the All-wise!'  And did off his
+trousers, in the utmost confusion, with the tears running from
+his eyes for stress of affright; whereat she smiled and carrying
+him on to a couch, said to him, 'After this night, thou shalt see
+nought that will displease thee.'  Then she turned to him,
+kissing and clipping him and twining leg with leg, and said to
+him, 'Put thy hand, between my thighs, to that thou wottest of,
+so haply it may be won to stand up after prostration.'  He wept
+and said, 'I am not good at aught of this.'  But she said, 'As I
+live, an thou do as I bid thee, it shall profit thee!'  So he put
+out his hand, with a heart on fire for confusion, and found her
+thighs fresher than cream and softer than silk.  The touching of
+them pleasured him and he moved his hand hither and thither, till
+he came to a dome abounding in benedictions and movements and
+said in himself, 'Belike this king is a hermaphrodite, nor male
+nor female.'  So he said to her, 'O King, I cannot find that thou
+hast any manly gear, even as other men; what then moved thee to
+do thus?'  When the princess heard this, she laughed till she
+fell backward, and said, 'O my beloved, how quickly thou hast
+forgotten the nights we have lain together!'  Then she made
+herself known to him and he knew her for his wife, the Lady
+Budour, daughter of King Ghaiour.  So he embraced her and she
+embraced him and they kissed each other; then they lay down on
+the bed of delight, repeating the words of the poet:
+
+Whenas the softness of a shape did bid him to my arms, That, as
+     it were a trailing vine with twinings did him ply
+And on the hardness of his heart its very softness shed, He
+     yielded, though at first he feigned reluctance to comply,
+And came, provided with a stock of caution safe and sure, Fearing
+     lest, when he did appear, the railers should him spy.
+His waist of buttocks maketh moan, that lay upon his feet A very
+     camel's load, what time he would a-walking hie.
+Girt with his glances' trenchant swords and cuirassed with the
+     mail Of his bright locks, as 'twere the dusk new fallen from
+     the sky,
+His fragrance brought me from afar the news of his approach, And
+     forth, as bird let out from cage, to meet my love fled I.
+I laid my cheek within his way, beneath his sandal-soles, And lo,
+     their dust's collyrium healed the ailment of mine eye!
+With an embrace I hoisted up the flag of loves new linked And
+     loosed the knot of my delight, that made as 'twould deny.
+Then let I call high festival, and gladness, all unmixed With any
+     thought of troublousness, came flocking in reply.
+The full moon handselled with the stars the teeth, like grains of
+     pearl, That on the laughing face of wine now dance, now
+     stirless lie.
+So in the niche of their delight I gave me up to joys, The
+     veriest sinner would repent if he their like might try.
+The morning-glories of his face be pledge I'll ne'er, in him,
+     Forget the writ that biddeth us One only glorify![FN#59]
+
+Then they told one another all that had befallen them since their
+separation, after which he began to upbraid her, saying, 'What
+moved thee to deal with me as thou hast done this night?'  'Do
+not reproach me,' replied she; 'for I did this but by way of jest
+and for increase of pleasure and gladness.'  When it was morning
+and the day arose with its light and shone, she sent to King
+Armanous and acquainted him with the truth of the case and that
+she was wife to Kemerezzeman.  Moreover, she told him their story
+and the manner of their separation and how his daughter Heyat
+en Nufous was yet a maid.  He marvelled greatly at their story
+and bade record it in letters of gold.  Then he turned to
+Kemerezzeman and said, 'O king's son, art thou minded to marry my
+daughter and become my son-in-law?'  'I must consult the princess
+Budour,' answered he; 'for I owe her favour without stint.'  So
+he took counsel with her and she said, 'This is well seen; marry
+her and I will be her handmaid, for I am her debtor for kindness
+and favour and good offices, more by token that we are here in
+her place and that the king her father has loaded us with
+benefits.'  When he saw that she inclined to this and was not
+jealous of Heyat en Nufous, he agreed with her thereupon and told
+King Armanous what she had said, whereat he rejoiced greatly.
+Then he went out and seating himself in his chair of estate,
+assembled all the Viziers and Amirs and chamberlains and
+grandees, to whom he related the whole story and acquainted them
+with his desire to marry his daughter to Kemerezzeman and make
+him king in the stead of the princess Budour.  Whereupon said
+they all, 'Since he is the husband of the princess Budour, who
+hath been our Sultan till now, whilst we deemed her King
+Armanous's son-in-law, we are all content to have him to Sultan
+over us and will be his servants, nor will we swerve from his
+allegiance.'  At this Armanous rejoiced and summoning Cadis and
+witnesses and the chief officers of state, let draw up the
+contract of marriage between Kemerezzeman and his daughter, the
+princess Heyat en Nufous.  Then he held high festival, giving
+sumptuous banquets and bestowing costly dresses of honour upon
+the Amirs and captains; moreover, he gave alms to the poor and
+needy and freed the prisoners.  All the folk rejoiced in the
+coming of Kemerezzeman to the throne, wishing him abiding glory
+and prosperity and happiness and renown, and as soon as he became
+king, he remitted the customs-dues and released all that
+remained in prison.  Thus he abode a long while, ordering himself
+worthily towards his subjects, and lived with his wives in peace
+and happiness and content, lying the night with each of them in
+turn.  And indeed all his troubles and afflictions were blotted
+out from him and he forgot his father King Shehriman and his
+former estate of honour and worship with him.
+
+After awhile, God the Most High blessed him with two sons, as
+they were two shining moons, the elder, whose name was prince
+Amjed, by Queen Budour, and the younger, whose name was prince
+Asaad and who was comelier than his brother, by Queen Heyat en
+Nufous.  They were reared in splendour and delight and were
+instructed in penmanship and science and the arts of government
+and horsemanship and other polite arts and accomplishments, till
+they attained the extreme of perfection and the utmost limit of
+beauty and grace, and both men and women were ravished by their
+charms.  They grew up together, till they reached the age of
+seventeen, and loved one another so dear that they were never
+apart, eating and drinking together and sleeping in one bed; and
+all the people envied them their beauty and concord.  When they
+came to man's estate and were endowed with every perfection,
+their father was wont, as often as he went on a journey, to make
+them sit in his stead by turns in the place of judgment, and
+each did justice among the folk one day at a time.  Now, as
+unalterable fate and foreordained destiny would have it, Queen
+Budour fell in love with Asaad, son of Queen Heyat en Nufous, and
+the latter became enamoured of Amjed; and each of them used to
+sport and play with the other's son, kissing him and straining
+him to her bosom, whilst each thought that the other's behaviour
+arose but from motherly affection.  On this wise, passion got the
+mastery of the two women's hearts and they became madly enamoured
+of the two youths, so that when the other's son came in to either
+of them, she would press him to her bosom and long for him never
+to be parted from her; till, at last, when waiting grew tedious
+to them and they found no way to enjoyment, they refused meat and
+drink and forewent the solace of sleep.  Presently, the King went
+out to hunt, bidding his sons sit to do justice in his stead,
+each one day in turn, according to their wont.  So prince Amjed
+sat on the throne the first day, ordering and forbidding,
+appointing and deposing, giving and denying; and Queen Heyat
+en Nufous took a scroll and wrote to him the following letter,
+suing for his favour and discovering to him her passion, in
+fine, altogether putting off the mask and giving him to know
+that she desired to enjoy him.  'From the wretched lover, the
+sorrowful severed one, whose youth is wasted in the love of
+thee and whose torment for thee is prolonged.  Were I to
+recount to thee the extent of my affliction and what I suffer
+for sadness, the passion that is in my breast and all that I
+endure for weeping and groaning and the rending of my sorrowful
+heart, my unremitting cares and my ceaseless griefs and all my
+suffering for severance and sadness and the ardour of desire,
+no letter could contain it nor calculation compass it. Indeed,
+earth and heaven are straitened upon me, and I have no hope and
+no trust but in thee.  I am come nigh upon death and suffer the
+horrors of dissolution; burning is sore upon me, and the pangs
+of separation and estrangement.  Were I to set out the yearnings
+that possess me, no scrolls would suffice thereto: and of the
+excess of my affliction and wasting away, I have made the
+following verses:
+
+Were I to set down all I feel of heart-consuming dole And all the
+     transport and unease that harbour in my soul,
+Nor ink nor pen in all the world thereafter would remain, Nor
+     aught from east to west were left of paper or of scroll.'
+
+Then she folded up the silken tresses of her hair, whose cost
+swallowed up treasures, in the letter, and wrapping it in a piece
+of rich silk, scented with musk and ambergris, laid it in a
+handkerchief; after which she gave it to an eunuch and bade him
+carry it to prince Amjed.  The eunuch took it, knowing not what
+the future hid for him, (for He who knoweth the hidden things
+ordereth events according to His will,) and going in to the
+prince, kissed the earth before him and gave him the letter.  He
+opened it and reading it, was ware that his father's wife was in
+intent an adulteress and a traitress to her husband; whereat he
+was exceeding wroth and railed at women and their works, saying,
+'May God curse women, the traitresses, that lack reason and
+religion!'  Then he drew his sword and said to the eunuch, 'Out
+on thee, thou wicked slave!  Dost thou carry adulterous messages
+for thy lord's wife?  By Allah, there is no good in thee, O black
+of hue and heart, O foul of face and nature!'  So saying, he
+smote him on the neck and severed his head from his body; then,
+folding the letter in the handkerchief, he thrust it into his
+pocket and went in to his own mother and told her what had
+passed, reviling and reproaching her and saying, 'Each one of you
+is worse than the other; and by God the Great, did I not fear to
+transgress against the rights of my father and my brother Asaad,
+I would assuredly go in to her and cut off her head, even as I
+cut off that of her eunuch!'  Then he went out in a great rage;
+and when the news reached Queen Heyat en Nufous of what he had
+done with her messenger, she reviled him and cursed him and
+plotted perfidy against him.  He passed the night, sick with
+anger and disgust and concern, nor was meat nor drink nor sleep
+sweet to him.  Next morning, prince Asaad went out in his
+turn to rule the folk in his father's stead and sat in the
+audience-chamber, judging and administering justice, appointing
+and deposing, ordering and forbidding, giving and bestowing, till
+near the time of afternoon-prayer, when Queen Budour sent for a
+crafty old woman and discovering to her what was in her heart,
+wrote a letter to prince Asaad, complaining of the excess of her
+love and longing for him, as follows: 'From her who perisheth for
+passion and love-longing to the goodliest of mankind in form and
+nature, him who is conceited of his own loveliness and glories in
+his amorous grace, who turneth away from those that seek to
+enjoy him and refuseth to show favour unto the lowly and the
+self-abasing, him who is cruel and disdainful; from the
+despairing lover to prince Asaad, lord of surpassing beauty and
+excelling grace, of the moon-bright face and the flower-white
+brow and dazzling splendour.  This is my letter to him whose love
+consumes my body and rends my skin and my bones.  Know that my
+patience fails me and I am at a loss what to do: longing and
+wakefulness weary me and sleep and patience deny themselves to
+me; but mourning and watching stick fast to me and desire and
+passion torment me, and the extremes of languor and sickness.
+Yet may my life be thy ransom, though it be thy pleasure to slay
+her who loveth thee, and may God prolong thy life and preserve
+thee from every ill!'  After this, she wrote the following
+verses:
+
+
+Fate hath so ordered it that I must needs thy lover be, O thou
+     whose charms shine as the moon, when at the full is she!
+All beauty and all eloquence thou dost in thee contain And over
+     all the world of men thou'rt bright and brave to see.
+That thou my torturer shouldst be, I am indeed content, So but
+     thou wilt one glance bestow, as almous-deed, on me.
+Happy, thrice happy is her lot who dieth for thy love! No good is
+     there in any one that doth not cherish thee.
+
+And these also:
+
+To thee, O Asaad, of the pangs of passion I complain; Have pity
+     on a slave of love, that burns for longing pain.
+How long, I wonder, shall the hands of passion sport with me And
+     love and dole and sleeplessness consume me, heart and brain?
+Whiles do I plain me of a sea within my heart and whiles Of
+     flaming; surely, this is strange, O thou my wish and bane!
+Give o'er thy railing, censor mine, and set thyself to flee From
+     love that maketh eyes for aye with burning tears to rain.
+How oft, for absence and desire, I cry, "Alas, my grief!" But all
+     my crying and lament in this my case are vain.
+Thou hast with rigours made me sick, that passed my power to
+     bear: Thou'rt the physician; do thou me with what befits
+     assain.
+O thou my censurer, forbear to chide me for my case, Lest, of
+     Love's cruel malady, perdition thee attain.
+
+Then she scented the letter with odoriferous musk and winding it
+in the tresses of her hair, which were of Irak silk, with tassels
+of oblong emeralds, set with pearls and jewels, delivered it to
+the old woman, bidding her carry it to prince Asaad.  She
+undertook the errand, to pleasure her, and going in straightway
+to the prince, found him in his closet and delivered him the
+letter; after which she stood waiting for the answer.  When Asaad
+had read the letter and knew its purport, he wrapped it up again
+in the tresses and put it in his pocket, cursing false women;
+then, for he was beyond measure wroth, he sprang up and drawing
+his sword, smote the old woman on the neck and cut off her head.
+Then he went in to his mother, Queen Heyat en Nufous, whom he
+found lying on her bed, sick for that which had betided her with
+prince Amjed, and railed at her and cursed her; after which he
+left her and betook himself to his brother, to whom he related
+what had befallen him with Queen Budour, adding, 'By Allah, O my
+brother, but that I feared to grieve thee, I had gone in to her
+forthright and smitten her head off her shoulders!'  'By Allah, O
+my brother,' replied Amjed, 'the like of what hath befallen thee
+befell me also yesterday with thy mother Queen Heyat en Nufous.'
+And he told him what had passed, adding, 'By Allah, O my brother,
+nought but respect for thee withheld me from going in to her and
+dealing with her even as I dealt with the eunuch!'  They passed
+the rest of the night in trouble and affliction, conversing and
+cursing false women, and agreed to keep the matter secret, lest
+their father should hear of it and kill the two women.
+
+
+On the morrow, the King returned with his suite from hunting and
+sat awhile in his chair of estate; after which he dismissed the
+Amirs and went up to his harem, where he found his two wives
+lying on the bed, exceeding sick.  Now they had made a plot
+against the two princes and concerted to do away their lives, for
+that they had exposed themselves before them and feared to be at
+their mercy.  When Kemerezzeman saw them on this wise, he said to
+them, 'What ails you?'  Whereupon they rose and kissing his
+hands, answered, perverting the case and saying, 'Know, O King,
+that thy sons, who have been reared in thy bounty, have played
+thee false and outraged thee in the persons of thy wives.'  When
+he heard this, the light in his eyes became darkness and his
+reason fled for the excess of his rage; then said he to them,
+'Expound this thing to me.'  'O King of the age,' answered
+Budour, 'know that these many days past thy son Asaad has been
+wont to send me letters and messages to solicit me to lewdness,
+and I still forbade him from this, but he would not be forbidden.
+When thou wentest forth to hunt, he rushed in on me, drunk and
+with a drawn sword in his hand, and smiting my eunuch, slew him.
+Then he mounted on my breast, still holding the sword, and I
+feared lest he should slay me even as he had slain my eunuch, if
+I gainsaid him; so he took his will of me by force; and now an
+thou do me not justice on him, O King, I will slay myself with my
+own hand, for I reck not of life in the world after this foul
+deed.'  Queen Heyat en Nufous, choking with tears, told him a
+like story respecting prince Amjed, after which she fell a-
+weeping and wailing and said, 'Except thou avenge me on him, I
+will tell my father, King Armanous.'  Then they both wept sore
+before King Kemerezzeman, who, when he saw their tears and heard
+their words, concluded that their story was true and waxing
+beyond measure wroth, went out, thinking to fall upon his two
+sons and put them to death.  On his way he met his father-in-law
+King Armanous, who hearing of his return from the chase, had come
+to salute him and seeing him with the naked sword in his hand and
+the blood dripping from his nostrils, for excess of rage,
+enquired what ailed him.  Kemerezzeman told him what his sons
+Amjed and Asaad had done and added, 'I am now going in to them,
+to slay them on the foulest wise and make of them the most
+shameful of examples.'  'O my son,' said King Armanous, (and
+indeed he too was wroth with them,) 'thou dost well, and may God
+not bless them nor any sons that offend thus against their
+father's honour!  But, O my son, the proverb says, "Whoso looks
+not to the issues, Fortune is no friend to him."  In any case,
+they are thy sons, and it befits not that thou put them to death
+with thine own hand, lest thou drink of their agony and after
+repent of having slain them, whenas repentance will avail thee
+nothing.  Rather do thou send one of thine officers with them
+into the desert and let him kill them there, out of thy sight,
+for, as says the adage, "When the eye sees not, the heart grieves
+not."' Kemerezzeman saw his father-in-law's words to be just, so
+he sheathed his sword and turning back, sat down upon his throne
+and called his treasurer, a very old man, versed in affairs and
+in the shifts of fortune, to whom he said, 'Go in to my sons
+Amjed and Asaad; bind fast their hands behind them and lay them
+in two chests and set them on a mule.  Then take horse and carry
+them into the mid-desert, where do thou put them to death and
+fill two vials with their blood and bring them to me in haste.'
+'I hear and obey,' answered the treasurer and went out forthright
+to do his bidding.  On his way, he met the princes coming out of
+the palace-vestibule, for they had donned their richest clothes
+and were on their way to salute their father and give him joy of
+his safe return from the chase.  When he saw them, he laid hands
+on them, saying, 'O my sons, know that I am but a slave commanded
+and that your father hath laid a commandment on me: will ye obey
+his commandment?'  'Yes,' answered they; whereupon he bound their
+hands and laying them in the chests, set the latter on the back
+of a mule, with which he left the city and rode into the open
+country, till near midday, when he halted in a waste and desert
+spot and dismounting, set down the two chests.  He opened them
+and took out Amjed and Asaad; whom when he saw, he wept sore for
+their beauty and grace; then drawing his sword, he said to them,
+'O my lords, indeed it irks me to deal so foully by you; but I am
+to be excused in this, being but a slave commanded, for that your
+father King Kemerezzeman hath bidden me strike off your heads.'
+'O Amir,' answered they, 'do the King's bidding, for we submit
+with patience to that which God (to whom be ascribed might and
+majesty) hath decreed to us; and thou art quit of our blood.'
+Then they embraced and bade each other farewell, and Asaad said
+to the treasurer, 'God on thee, O uncle, spare me the sight of my
+brother's agony and make me not drink of his anguish, but kill me
+first, that it may be the easier for me.'  Amjed said the like
+and entreated the treasurer to kill him before Asaad, saying, 'My
+brother is younger than I; so make me not taste of his anguish.'
+And they both wept sore, whilst the treasurer wept for their
+weeping, and they said to each other, 'All this comes of the
+malice of those traitresses, our mothers; and this is the reward
+of our forbearance towards them.  But there is no power and no
+virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme!  Verily, we are His
+and unto Him we return.'  And Asaad embraced his brother, sobbing
+and repeating the following verses:
+
+O Thou to whom the sad complain, to whom the fearful flee, Thou
+     that art evermore prepared for all that is to be,
+Lord, there is left me no resource but at Thy door to knock; Yea,
+     at whose portal shall I knock, if Thou be deaf to me?
+O Thou, the treasures of whose grace are in the one word "Be," Be
+     favourable, I beseech, for all good is with Thee!
+
+When Amjed heard his brother's weeping, he wept also and pressed
+him to his bosom, repeating the following verses:
+
+O Thou, whose bounties unto me are more than one, I trow, Whose
+     favours lavished on my head are countless as the sand,
+No blow of all the blows of fate has ever fall'n on me, But I
+     have found Thee ready still to take me by the hand.
+
+Then said he to the treasurer, 'I conjure thee by the One God the
+Omnipotent King and Protector, kill me before my brother Asaad
+and allay the fire of my heart!'  But Asaad wept and exclaimed,
+'Not so: I will die first;' whereupon said Amjed, 'It were best
+that we embrace each other, so the sword may fall upon us and
+kill us both at one stroke.'  So they embraced, face to face, and
+clipped each other straitly, whilst the treasurer bound them fast
+with cords, weeping the while.  Then he drew his sword and said
+to them, 'By Allah, O my lords, it is indeed hard to me to kill
+you!  But have ye no last wishes or injunctions that I may fulfil
+or message that I may carry?'  'We have no wish,' replied Amjed,
+'and my only injunction to thee is that thou set my brother
+undermost, that the blow may fall on me first; and when thou hast
+slain us and returnest to the King and he asks thee, "What said
+they before their death?" do thou answer, "Thy sons salute thee
+and say to thee, 'Thou knewest not if we were innocent or guilty,
+yet hast thou put us to death and hast not certified thyself of
+our guilt nor looked into our case.'"  Then do thou repeat to him
+these verses:
+
+
+Women are very devils, made to work us dole and death; Refuge I
+     seek with God Most High from all their craft and scaith.
+Prime source are they of all the ills that fall upon mankind,
+     Both in the fortunes of this world and matters of the faith.
+
+'We desire of thee nought but this,' continued Amjed, 'except
+that thou have patience with us, whilst I repeat other two lines
+to my brother.'  Then he wept sore and recited the following
+verses:
+
+Examples many, thou and I, We have in kings of days gone by,
+How many, alack, have trod this road, Of great and small and low
+     and high!
+
+At this the treasurer wept, till his beard was wet, whilst
+Asaad's eyes filled with tears and he in turn repeated these
+verses:
+
+Fate, when the thing itself is past, afflicteth with the trace,
+     And weeping is not, of a truth, for body or form or
+     face.[FN#60]
+What ails the nights?[FN#61] May God blot out our error from the
+     nights And may the hand of change bewray and bring them to
+     disgrace!
+They wreaked their malice to the full on Ibn ez Zubeir[FN#62]
+     erst, And on the House and Sacred Stone[FN#63] his safeguard
+     did embrace.
+Would God, since Kharijeh[FN#64] they took for Amrou's sacrifice,
+     They'd ransomed Ali with whome'er they would of all our
+     race!
+
+Then, with cheeks stained with thick-coming tears, he recited
+these also:
+
+The days and nights are fashioned for treachery and despite; Yea,
+     they are full of perfidy and knavish craft and sleight.
+The mirage is their lustre of teeth, and to their eyes The horror
+     of all darkness the kohl that keeps them bright.
+My crime against them (hateful their nature is!) is but The
+     sword's crime, when the sworder sets on into the fight.
+
+Then he sobbed and said:
+
+O thou that seeketh the worthless world, give ear to me and know
+     The very net of ruin it is and quarry of dole and woe;
+A stead, whom it maketh laugh to-day, to-morrow it maketh weep:
+     Out on it then for a dwelling-place, since it is even so!
+Its raids and its onsets are never done, nor can its bondsman win
+     To free himself from its iron clutch by dint of stress and
+     throe.
+How many an one in its vanities hath gloried and taken pride,
+     Till froward and arrogant thus he grew and did all bounds
+     o'ergo!
+Then did she[FN#65] turn him the buckler's back and give him to
+     drink therein Full measure and set her to take her wreak of
+     the favours she did show.
+For know that her blows fall sudden and swift and unawares,
+     though long The time of forbearance be and halt the coming
+     of fate and slow.
+So look to thyself, lest life in the world pass idle and
+     profitless by, And see that thou fail not of taking thought
+     to the end of all below.
+Cast loose from the chains of the love and the wish of the world
+     and thou shalt find Guidance and help unto righteousness and
+     peace of heart, I trow.
+
+When he had made an end of these verses, he clipped his brother
+in his arms, till they seemed as it were one body, and the
+treasurer, raising his sword, was about to strike them, when,
+behold, his horse took fright at the wind of his upraised hand
+and breaking its tether, fled into the desert.  Now the horse was
+worth a thousand dinars and on his back was a splendid saddle,
+worth much money: so the treasurer threw down his sword, in
+great concern, and ran after him, to catch him.  The horse
+galloped on, snorting and neighing and pawing the earth in his
+fright, till he raised a cloud of dust, and presently coming to a
+wood, fled into the midst of it, whither the treasurer followed
+him.  Now there was in this wood a terrible lion, foul of face,
+with eyes that cast forth sparks; his look was grim and his
+aspect struck terror into men's souls.  He heard the noise made
+by the horse and came out to see what was to do.  Presently the
+treasurer turned and saw the lion making towards him; but found
+no way of escape, nor had he his sword with him.  So he said in
+himself, 'There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most
+High, the Supreme!  This stress is come upon me because of Amjed
+and Asaad; and indeed this journey was unblest from the first!'
+Meanwhile Amjed and Asaad were grievously oppressed by the heat
+and grew sore athirst, so that their tongues hung out and they
+cried for succour; but none came to their relief and they said,
+'Would God we were dead and at peace from this torment!  But we
+know not whither the treasurer's horse hath fled, that he has
+gone and left us bound.  If he would but come back and kill us,
+it were easier to us than to suffer this torture.'  'O my
+brother,' said Asaad, 'be patient and the relief of God (blessed
+and exalted be He) will surely come to us; for the horse ran not
+away save of His favour towards us, and nought irks us but this
+thirst.'  So saying, he stretched himself and strained right and
+left, till he burst his bonds; then he unbound his brother and
+taking up the Amir's sword, said, 'By Allah, we will not go
+hence, till we know what is come of him!'  So they followed the
+track, till it led them to the wood and they said to one another,
+'Of a surety, the horse and the treasurer have not overgone this
+wood.'  Quoth Asaad, 'Stay thou here, whilst I enter the wood and
+search it.'  'I will not let thee go in alone,' answered Amjed.
+'We will both go in; so if we escape, we shall escape together,
+and if we perish, we shall perish together.'  So they entered
+both and found the lion standing over the treasurer, who lay like
+a sparrow in his grip, calling upon God for help and lifting his
+hands to heaven.  When Amjed saw this, he took the sword and
+running to the lion, smote him between the eyes and laid him dead
+on the ground.  The Amir arose, marvelling at this, and seeing
+Amjed and Asaad his lord's sons, standing there, cast himself at
+their feet and exclaimed, 'By Allah, O my lords, it were foul
+wrong in me to put you to death!  May the man never be who would
+kill you!  Indeed, I will ransom you with my life.'  Then he rose
+and embracing them, enquired how they had loosed their bonds and
+come thither, whereupon they told him how the bonds of one of
+them had fallen loose and he had unbound the other, that they
+might quit their intent, and how they had followed his track till
+they came upon him.  He thanked them for their deed and went with
+them forth of the wood, where they said to him, 'O uncle, do our
+father's bidding.'  'God forbid,' answered he, 'that I should
+draw near to you with hurt!  I mean to take your clothes and
+clothe you with mine; then will I fill two vials with the lion's
+blood and go back to the King and tell him I have put you to
+death.  But as for you, fare ye forth into the lands, for God's
+earth is wide; and know, O my lords, that it irks me to part from
+you.'  At this, they all fell a-weeping; then the two youths put
+off their clothes and the treasurer covered them with his own.
+Moreover, he filled two vials with the lion's blood and making
+two parcels of the princes' clothes, set them before him on his
+horse's back.  Then he took leave of them and making his way back
+to the city, went in to King Kemerezzeman and kissed the earth
+before him.  The King saw him pale and troubled and deeming this
+came of the slaughter of the two princes (though in truth it came
+of his adventure with the lion) rejoiced and said to him, 'Hast
+thou done the business?'  'Yes, O our lord,' answered the
+treasurer and gave him the two parcels of clothes and the two
+vials of blood.  'How bore they themselves,' asked the King, 'and
+did they give thee any charge?'  'I found them patient and
+resigned to their fate,' answered the treasurer; 'and they said
+to me, "Verily, our father is excusable; bear him our salutation
+and say to him, 'Thou art quit of our blood;' and repeat to him
+the following verses:
+
+Women are very devils, made to work us dole and death; Refuge I
+     seek with God Most High from all their craft and scaith.
+Prime source are they of all the ills that fall upon mankind,
+     Both in the fortunes of this world and matters of the
+     faith."'
+
+When the King heard this, he bowed his head a long while and knew
+this to mean that they had wrongfully been put to death.  Then he
+bethought himself of the perfidy of women and the calamities
+brought about by them, and opening the two parcels fell to
+turning over his sons' clothes and weeping.  Presently, he found
+in the pocket of his son Asaad's clothes a letter in Queen
+Budour's hand, enclosing the tresses of her hair, and reading it,
+knew that the prince had been falsely accused.  Then he searched
+Amjed's clothes and found in his pocket a letter in the
+handwriting of Queen Heyat en Nufous, enclosing the tresses of
+her hair; so he opened and read it and knew that Amjed also had
+been wronged; whereupon he beat hand upon hand and exclaimed,
+'There is no power and no virtue but in God!  I have slain my
+sons unjustly.'  And he buffeted his face, crying out, 'Alas, my
+sons!  Alas, my long grief!'  Then he bade build two tombs in one
+house, which he styled 'House of Lamentations,' and let grave
+thereon his sons' names; and he threw himself on Amjed's tomb,
+weeping and groaning and lamenting, and repeated these verses:
+
+O moon, that hast set beneath the earth for aye, For whose loss
+     weep the shining stars of the sky,
+O wand, after whom no more shall the flexile grace Of the
+     willow-like bending shape enchant the eye,
+My sight I've bereft of thee, of my jealousy, And ne'er shall I
+     see thee again, till I come to die.
+I'm drowned in the sea of my tears, for sheer unrest; Indeed, for
+     sleepless sorrow in hell am I.
+
+Then he threw himself on Asaad's tomb and recited the following
+verses, whilst the tears poured from his eyes:
+
+Fain had I shared with thee, dear heart, in death and ill; But
+     God, that ordereth all, willed other than my will.
+All that I see, my dole makes black, whilst from my eyes All
+     black I've blotted out with weeping all my fill.[FN#66]
+I weep and never stint; mine eyes run never dry; My entrails
+     ulcered are and blood and tears distil.
+Sore, sore it irketh me to see thee in a place[FN#67] Where
+     slaves and kings alike foregather, will or nill.
+
+Then he forsook his friends and intimates, and denying himself to
+his women and his family, shut himself up in the House of
+Lamentations, where he passed his time in weeping for his sons.
+
+Meanwhile, Amjed and Asaad fared on into the desert a whole
+month's journey, eating of the fruits of the earth and drinking
+of the rain-pools, till their travel brought them to a mountain
+of black stone, where the road divided in two, one skirting the
+foot of the mountain and the other leading to its summit.  They
+took the former way, for fear of thirst, and followed it five
+days, but saw no end to it and were overcome with weariness,
+being unused to walking in mountains or elsewhere.  At last,
+despairing of coming to the end of the road, they retraced their
+steps and taking the other, that led over the mountain, followed
+it all that day, till nightfall, when Asaad, weary with much
+travel, said to Amjed, 'O my brother, I can go no farther, for I
+am exceeding weak.'  'Courage,' replied Amjed; 'may be God will
+send us relief.'  So they walked on part of the night, till the
+darkness closed in upon them, when Asaad became beyond measure
+weary and saying, 'O my brother, I am worn out and spent with
+walking,' threw himself on the ground and wept.  Amjed took him
+in his arms and fared on with him, halting bytimes to rest, till
+break of day, when they came to the mountain-top and found there
+a stream of running water and by it a pomegranate-tree and a
+prayer-niche.  They could hardly believe their eyes, but, sitting
+down by the spring, drank of its water and ate of the fruit of
+the tree; after which they lay down and slept till sunrise, when
+they washed in the spring and eating of the pomegranates, slept
+again till the time of afternoon-prayer.  Then they thought to
+continue their journey, but Asaad could not walk, for his feet
+were swollen.  So they abode there three days, till they were
+rested, after which they set out again and fared on over the
+mountain days and nights, well-nigh perished for thirst, till
+they came in sight of a city afar off, at which they rejoiced and
+made towards it.  When they drew near it, they thanked God the
+Most High and Amjed said to Asaad, 'O my brother, sit here,
+whilst I go to yonder city and see what and whose it is and where
+we are in God's wide world, that we may know through what lands
+we have passed in crossing this mountain, whose skirts if we had
+followed, we had not reached this city in a whole year: so
+praised be God for safety!'  'By Allah,' replied Asaad, 'none
+shall go but myself, and may I be thy ransom!  If thou leave me,
+I shall imagine a thousand things and suffer tortures of anxiety
+on thine account, for I cannot brook thine absence from me.'  'Go
+then,' rejoined Amjed, 'and do not tarry.'  So Asaad took money
+and leaving his brother awaiting him, descended the mountain and
+fared on, till he entered the city.  As he passed through the
+streets, he met an old man, with a beard that flowed down upon
+his breast and was parted in twain; he bore a walking-staff in
+his hand and was richly clad, with a great red turban on his
+head.  When Asaad saw him, he wondered at his mien and habit;
+nevertheless, he went up to him and saluting him, enquired the
+way to the market.  The old man smiled in his face and said, 'O
+my son, meseems thou art a stranger?'  'Yes,' answered Asaad; 'I
+am a stranger.'  'O my son,' rejoined the other, 'verily, thou
+gladdenest our country with thy presence and makest thine own
+land desolate by reason of thine absence.  What wantest thou of
+the market?'  'O uncle,' replied Asaad, 'I have an elder brother,
+with whom I have journeyed these three months, for we come from a
+far country.  When we sighted this city, I left my brother in the
+mountain and came hither, purposing to buy food and what else and
+return therewith to him, that we might feed thereon.'  'Rejoice
+in all good, O my son!' said the old man.  'Know that to-day I
+give a marriage-feast, to which I have bidden many guests, and I
+have made ready great plenty of the best and most delicious meats
+that the heart can desire.  So, if thou wilt come home with me, I
+will give thee freely all thou lackest, without price.  Moreover,
+I will teach thee the ways of the city; and praised be God, O my
+son, that thou hast fallen in with me and none other!'  'As thou
+wilt,' answered Asaad; 'but make haste, for my brother awaits me
+and his whole heart is with me.'  So the old man took Asaad by
+the hand, smiling in his face and saying, 'Glory be to Him who
+hath delivered thee from the people of this city!'  Then he
+carried him to a narrow lane and entering a spacious house,
+brought him into a saloon, wherein were forty old men, seated in
+a circle about a lighted fire, to which they were doing worship
+and prostrating themselves.  When Asaad saw this he was
+confounded and his flesh quaked, though he knew not what they
+were; and the old man said to them, 'O elders of the fire, how
+blessed is this day!'  Then he cried out, saying, 'Ho, Ghezban!'
+Whereupon there came out to him a tall black slave of forbidding
+aspect, grim-visaged and flat-nosed.  The old man made a sign to
+him, and he bound Asaad straitly; after which the old man said
+to him, 'Bear him to the dungeon under the earth and bid my
+slave-girl Kewam torture him day and night and give him a cake of
+bread to eat morning and evening, against the time come of the
+voyage to the Blue Sea and the Mountain of Fire, when we will
+slaughter him on the mountain as a sacrifice.'  So the black
+carried him out at another door and raising a flag in the floor,
+discovered a flight of twenty steps leading to a chamber under
+the earth, into which he descended with him and laying his
+feet in irons, committed him to the slave-girl and went away.
+Meanwhile, the old men said to one another, 'When the day of
+the Festival of the Fire comes, we will sacrifice him on the
+mountain, as a propitiatory offering to the Fire.'  Presently the
+damsel went down to him and beat him grievously, till the blood
+streamed from his sides and he fainted away; after which she set
+at his head a cake of bread and a cruse of brackish water and
+went away and left him.  In the middle of the night, he revived
+and found himself bound and sore with beating: so he wept
+bitterly and recalling his former estate of ease and honour and
+lordship and dominion, groaned and lamented and repeated the
+following verses:
+
+Halt by the ruins of the house and question of our fate Nor think
+     we sojourn in the land, as in our first estate.
+Fortune, the sunderer, hath wrought the severance of our loves;
+     Yet doth our enemies' despite against us nought abate.
+A filthy cockatrice is set to torture me with whips, Whose breast
+     against me is fulfilled with rancour and with hate.
+But haply God shall yet reknit our severed loves again And turn
+     our enemies from us with vengeance stern and strait.
+
+Then he put out his hand and finding the bread and water at his
+head, ate enough to keep life in him and drank a little water,
+but could get no sleep for the swarms of bugs and lice.  As soon
+as it was day, the slave-girl came down to him and changed his
+clothes, which were drenched with blood and stuck to him, so that
+his skin came off with the shirt; wherefore he shrieked aloud and
+cried, 'Alas!' and said, 'O my God, if this be Thy pleasure,
+increase it upon me!  O Lord, verily Thou art not unmindful of
+him that oppresses me: do Thou then avenge me upon him!'  And he
+groaned and repeated the following verses:
+
+Lord, I submit myself to that Thou dost decree, Contented to
+     endure, if but it pleasure Thee;
+To suffer at Thy will with patience nor complain, Though I be
+     cast to burn on coals of tamarisk-tree.[FN#68]
+Mine enemies oppress and torture me; but Thou With benefits
+     belike shall 'quite and comfort me.
+Far be 't from Thee to let th' oppressor go unscathed; Thou art
+     my hope and stay, O Lord of Destiny!
+
+
+And what another says:
+
+Avert thy face from thought-taking and care And trust to fate to
+     order thine affair;
+For many a weary and a troublous thing Is, in its issue,
+     solaceful and fair.
+That which was strait is oftentimes made wide And straitened
+     that, which easy was whilere.
+God orders all, according to His will; Gainsay Him not in what He
+     doth prepare,
+But trust in happy fortune near at hand, Wherein thou shalt
+     forget the woes that were.
+
+Then the slave-girl beat him till he fainted away and throwing
+him a cake of bread and a cruse of brackish water, went away and
+left him sad and lonely, bound in chains of iron, with the blood
+streaming from his sides  and far from those he loved.  So he
+called to mind his brother and his former high estate and
+repeated the following verses, shedding floods of tears the
+while:
+
+How long wilt thou wage war on me, O Fate, and bear away My
+     brethren from me?  Hold thy hand and spare awhile, I pray!
+Is it not time, O thou whose heart is as the rock, that thou My
+     long estrangement and my dole shouldst pity and allay?
+Ill hast thou wrought to those I love and made my foes exult With
+     all that thou hast wreaked on me of ruin and dismay.
+Yea, for the pains he sees me brook of exile and desire And
+     loneliness, my foeman's heart is solaceful and gay.
+Thou'rt not content with what is fallen on me of bitter dole, Of
+     loss of friends and swollen eyes, affliction and affray.
+But I must lie and rot, to boot, in prison strait and dour, Where
+     nought but gnawing of my hands I have for help and stay,
+And tears that shower in torrents down, as from the rain-charged
+     clouds, And fire of yearning, never quenched, that rages
+     night and day,
+And memory and longing pain and melancholy thought And sobs and
+     sighs and groans and cries of "Woe!" and "Wellaway!"
+Passion and soul-destroying grief I suffer, and unto Desire, that
+     knoweth not relent nor end, am fallen a prey.
+No kindly soul is found to have compassion on my case And with
+     his visits and his grace my misery allay.
+Lives there a true and tender friend, who doth compassionate My
+     sickness and my long unrest, that unto him I may
+Make moan of all that I endure for dole and drearihead And of my
+     sleepless eyes, oppressed of wakefulness alway?
+My night in torments is prolonged; I burn, without reprieve, In
+     flames of heart-consuming care that rage in me for aye.
+The bug and flea do drink my blood, even as one drinks of wine,
+     Poured by the hand of damask-lipped and slender-waisted may.
+The body of me, amongst the lice, is as an orphan's good, That in
+     an unjust Cadi's hands doth dwindle and decay.
+My dwelling-place is in a tomb, three scanty cubits wide, Wherein
+     in shackles and in bonds I languish night and day.
+My tears my wine are and my chains my music: my dessert Woeworthy
+     thought and cares the bed whereon myself I lay.
+
+Meanwhile his brother abode, awaiting him, till mid-day, but he
+returned not: whereupon Amjed's heart fluttered and the tears
+welled from his eyes.  The pangs of severance were sore upon him
+and he wept sore, exclaiming, 'Alas, my brother!  Alas, my
+companion!  Alas, my grief!  I fear me we are separated!'  Then
+he descended the mountain, with the tears running down his
+cheeks, and entering the city, made for the market.  He asked
+the folk the name of the city and of its people, and they said,
+'This is called the City of the Magians, and its people serve
+the Fire, not the Omnipotent King.'  Then he enquired of the
+City of Ebony and they answered, 'It is a year's journey
+thither by land and six months' by sea: it was governed erst by
+a King called Armanous, but he took to son-in-law a prince called
+Kemerezzeman, distinguished for justice and loyalty, munificence
+and benevolence, and made him king in his stead.'  When Amjed
+heard tell of his father, he groaned and wept and lamented and knew
+not whither to go.  However, he bought food and carried it with him,
+till he came to a retired spot, where he sat down, thinking to
+eat: but, recalling his brother, he fell a-weeping and ate but a
+morsel to stay his stomach, and that against his will.  Then he
+rose and walked about the city, seeking news of his brother, till
+he saw a Muslim, a tailor, sitting in his shop; so he sat down by
+him and told him his story; whereupon quoth the tailor, 'If he
+have fallen into the hands of any of the Magians, thou shalt
+hardly see him again: yet it may be God will reunite you. But
+thou, O my brother,' added he, 'wilt thou lodge with me?' 'Yes,'
+answered Amjed, and the tailor rejoiced at this.  So Amjed abode
+with him many days, what while the tailor comforted him and
+exhorted him to patience and taught him his craft, till he became
+expert.  One day, he went forth to the sea-shore and washed his
+clothes; after which he entered the bath and put on clean
+raiment.  Then he walked about the streets, to divert himself,
+and presently fell in with a woman of surpassing beauty and
+symmetry, unequalled for grace and loveliness.  When she saw him,
+she raised her face-veil and winked to him and ogled him,
+reciting the following verses:
+
+Afar, I saw thee coming and cast mine eyes down straight, As if,
+     loveling slender, thou wert the very sun.
+Indeed, thou art the fairest of all beholden; yea, Even than
+     thyself thou'rt fairer, since yesterday was done.
+Were beauty but allotted, to every one his due, One-fifth of it
+     were Joseph's or but a part of one,
+And all the rest were surely thine own and only thine; May all
+     men be thy ransom, yea, every mother's son!
+
+When he heard this, his heart inclined to her and the  hands of
+love sported with him: so he winked to her in  answer and
+repeated the following verses:
+
+Over the rose of the cheek, the thorns of the eyelashes rise; So
+     who shall adventure himself to gather the flowery prize?
+Lift not your hands to the rose, for long have the lashes waged
+     war And poured on us battle, because we lifted to it-ward
+     our eyes.
+Tell her the tyrant who plays and yet is temptation itself,
+     (Though still more seductive she'd be, if she dealt but in
+     loyaller wise),
+I see that, for beauty like thine, exposure's the surest of
+     guards, For the veiling thy face but augments its seductions
+     and adds to our sighs;
+Like the sun, on whose visage undimmed the eye still refuses to
+     look, And yet we may gaze at our ease, when the thinnest of
+     clouds o'er it lies.
+The honey's protected, forsooth, by the sting of the bees of the
+     hive: So question the guards of the camp why they stay us in
+     this our emprise.
+If my slaughter be what they desire, let them put off their
+     rancours and stand From between us and leave her to deal
+     with me and my life at her guise;
+For, I wot, not so deadly are they, when they set on a foe with
+     their swords, As the eyes of the fair with the mole, when
+     her glances upon us she plies.
+
+At this she sighed deeply and signing to him again, repeated the
+following verses:
+
+'Tis thou that hast trodden the road of aversion and coyness; not
+     I Vouchsafe me the promised delight, for the time of
+     fulfilment draws nigh.
+O thou that mak'st morning to dawn with the lustre and light of
+     thy brows And eke, with thy brow-locks unloosed, the night
+     to sink down from the sky,
+Thou hast, with an idol's aspect, seduced me and made me thy
+     slave And hast stirred me up troubles galore in many a
+     season past by.
+And yet it is just that my heart with the ardour of passion
+     should burn, For the fire is their due who adore aught other
+     than God the Most High.
+Thou sellest the like of myself for nothing, yea, free, without
+     price; If needs thou must sell, and no help, take a price,
+     then, of those that would buy.
+
+When he heard this, he said to her, 'Wilt thou come to my lodging
+or shall I go with thee to thine?'  At this, she hung her head
+bashfully and repeated the words of the Most High, 'Men shall
+have precedence over women, for that God hath preferred these
+over those.'[FN#69] By this, Amjed understood that she wished to
+go with him and felt himself bounden to find a place wherein to
+receive her, but was ashamed to carry her to the house of his
+host, the tailor.  So he walked on and she followed him from
+street to street, till she was tired and said to him, 'O my lord,
+where is thy house?'  'But a little way before us,' answered he.
+Then he turned aside into a handsome street, followed by the
+young lady, and walked on, till he came to the end, when he found
+it had no issue and exclaimed, 'There is no power and no virtue
+but in God the Most High, the Supreme!'  Then, raising his eyes,
+he saw, at the upper end of the street, a great door, with two
+stone benches; but it was locked.  So he sat down on one of the
+benches and the lady on the other; and she said to him, 'O my
+lord, wherefore waitest thou?'  He bowed his head awhile, then
+raised it and answered, 'I am waiting for my servant, who has the
+key: for I bade him make me ready meat and drink and flowers for
+the wine-service against my return from the bath.'  But he said
+in himself, 'Belike she will grow tired of waiting and go about
+her business, leaving me here, when I will go my own way.'
+However, when she was weary of waiting, she said, 'O my lord, thy
+servant tarries long; and here are we waiting in the street.'
+And she took a stone and went up to the lock.  'Be not in haste,'
+said Amjed; 'but have patience till the servant comes.'  However,
+she hearkened not to him, but smote the lock with the stone and
+broke it in half, whereupon the door opened.  Quoth he, 'What
+possessed thee to do this?'  'Pooh, pooh, my lord!' answered she.
+'What matters it?  Is not the house thine?'  'Yes,' said he; 'but
+there was no need to break the lock.'  Then she entered, leaving
+Amjed confounded and knowing not what to do for fear of the
+people of the house; but she said to him, 'Why dost thou not
+enter, O light of mine eyes and darling of my heart?'  'I hear
+and obey,' answered he; 'but my servant tarries long upon me and
+I know not if he have done aught of what I bade him or not.'  So
+saying, he entered, sore in fear of the people of the house, and
+found himself in a handsome saloon, full of buffets and niches
+and settles, furnished with stuffs of silk and brocade.  It had
+four raised recesses, each facing other, and in the midst was a
+fountain of costly fashion, on whose margin stood a covered tray
+(of meats), with a leather table-cloth hanging up and dishes set
+with jewels, full of fruits and sweet-scented flowers.  Hard by
+stood drinking vessels and a candlestick with a candle therein.
+The place was full of precious stuffs, and therein were chests
+and stools set, on each of which latter lay a parcel of clothes
+and a purse full of gold and silver.  The floor was paved with
+marble and the house bore witness in every part to its owner's
+fortune.  When Amjed saw all this, he was confounded and said in
+himself, 'I am a lost man!  Verily, we are God's and to God we
+return!'  As for the lady, she was transported at what she saw
+and said to him, 'By Allah, O my lord, thy servant has not failed
+of his duty; for see, he has swept the place and cooked the meat
+and set on the fruit; and indeed I come at the best of times.'
+But he paid no heed to her, his heart being taken up with fear of
+the people of the house; and she said, 'Fie, O my lord, O my
+heart!  What ails thee to stand thus?'  Then she sighed and
+giving him a kiss, that sounded like the cracking of a walnut,
+said, 'O my lord, and thou have bidden other than me, I will gird
+my middle and serve her and thee.'  Amjed laughed from an
+angerful heart and sat down, panting and saying in himself,
+'Alack, how I shall smart for it, when the owner of the house
+returns!'  She seated herself by him and fell to jesting and
+laughing, whilst he sat careful and frowning, thinking a thousand
+thoughts and saying in himself, 'The master of the house will
+surely come and what shall I say to him?  He will assuredly kill
+me without mercy.'  Presently, she rose and tucking up her
+sleeves, took a table, on which she laid the cloth and the tray
+of food; then set it before Amjed and began to eat, saying, 'Eat,
+O my lord.'  So he came forward and ate; but the food was not
+pleasant to him and he ceased not to look towards the door, till
+the lady had eaten her fill, when she took away the meats and
+setting on the dessert, fell to eating of the dried fruits.  Then
+she brought the wine-service and opening the jar, filled a cup
+and gave it to Amjed, who took it, saying in himself, 'Alas!
+what will become of me, when the master of the house comes and
+sees me!'  Presently, as he sat, with the cup in his hand and his
+eyes fixed on the vestibule, in came the master of the house, who
+was one of the chief men of the city, being Master of the Horse
+to the King.  He had fitted up this house for his privy
+pleasures, that he might make merry therein and be private with
+whom he would, and had that day bidden one whom he loved and had
+made this entertainment for him.  When, therefore, this man
+(whose name was Behadir and who was a kindly, liberal and open-
+handed man) came thither and found the door open and the lock
+broken, he entered softly and putting in his head at the door of
+the saloon, saw Amjed and the lady sitting, with the dish of
+fruit and the wine-jar before them.  Amjed at that moment had the
+cup in his hand and his face turned to the door; and when his
+eyes met Behadir's, he turned pale and trembled in every nerve.
+Behadir, seeing his trouble, signed to him, with his finger on
+his lips, as who should say, 'Be silent and come hither to me.'
+So he set down the cup and rose, whereupon quoth the lady,
+'Whither away?'  He shook his head and signing to her that he
+wished to make water, went out into the corridor, barefoot.  When
+he saw Behadir, he knew him for the master of the house; so he
+hastened to him and kissing his hands, said to him, 'God on thee,
+O my lord, before thou do me any hurt, hear what I have to say.'
+Then he told him who he was and what caused him leave his native
+land and royal state, and how he had not entered his house of his
+free will, but that it was the lady who had broken the lock and
+done all this.  When Behadir heard his story and knew that he was
+a king's son, he inclined to him and taking compassion on him,
+said to him, 'O Amjed, hearken to me and do what I bid thee, and
+I will ensure thee safety from that thou fearest; but, if thou
+cross me, I will kill thee.'  'Command me as thou wilt,' answered
+Amjed.  'I will not gainsay thee in aught, for I am the freedman
+of thy bounty.'  'Then go back forthright into the saloon,'
+rejoined Behadir, 'and sit down in thy place and take thine ease.
+I will presently come in to thee, and when thou seest me (now my
+name is Behadir) do thou revile me and rail at me, saying, "Why
+hast thou tarried till now?"  And accept no excuse from me, but
+rise and beat me; and if thou spare me, I will do away thy life.
+Enter now and make merry and whatsoever thou seekest of me, I
+will bring thee forthwith.  So pass the night as thou wilt and on
+the morrow go thy way.  This in honour of thy strangerhood, for I
+love strangers and hold myself bounden to do them honour.'  So
+Amjed kissed his hand and returning to the saloon, with his face
+clad in its native white and red, said to the lady, 'O my
+mistress, the place is gladdened by thy presence, and this is
+indeed a blessed night.'  'Verily,' said she, 'this is a
+wonderful change in thee, that thou now welcomest me so
+cordially!'  'By Allah, O my lady,' answered he, 'methought my
+servant Behadir had robbed me of some necklaces of jewels, worth
+ten thousand dinars each; however, when I went out but now, in
+concern for this, I sought for them and found them in their
+place.  I know not why the knave tarries thus, and needs must I
+punish him for it.'  She was satisfied with his answer, and they
+drank and sported and made merry, till near upon sundown, when
+Behadir came in to them, having changed his clothes and girt his
+middle and put on shoes, such as are worn of servants.  He
+saluted and kissed the earth, then clasped his hands behind him
+and stood, with his head hanging down, as one who confesses to a
+fault.  Amjed looked at him with angry eyes and said, 'Why hast
+thou tarried till now, O most pestilent of slaves?'  'O my lord,'
+answered Behadir, 'I was busy washing my clothes and knew not of
+thy being here; for thou hadst appointed me for nightfall and not
+for the daytime.'  But Amjed cried out at him, saying, 'Thou
+liest, O vilest of slaves!  By Allah, I must beat thee!'  So he
+rose and laying Behadir on the ground, took a stick and beat him
+gingerly: but the lady sprang up and snatching the stick from his
+hand, laid on to Behadir so lustily, that the tears ran from his
+eyes and he ground his teeth together and called out for succour;
+whilst Amjed cried out to the lady to hold her hand and she
+answered, 'Let me stay my anger on him;' till at last he snatched
+the stick from her hand and pushed her away.  Behadir arose and
+wiping away his tears, waited upon them awhile; after which he
+swept the hall and lighted the lamps; but, as often as he went in
+and out, the lady railed at him and cursed him, till Amjed was
+wroth with her and said, 'For God's sake, leave my servant; he is
+not used to this.'  Then they sat eating and drinking, whilst
+Behadir waited upon them, till midnight, when the latter, weary
+with service and beating, fell asleep in the midst of the hall
+and snored and snorted; whereupon the lady, who was heated with
+wine, said to Amjed, 'Arise, take the sword that hangs yonder and
+cut off this slave's head, or I will be the death of thee.'
+'What possesses thee to kill my slave?' asked Amjed; and she
+answered, 'Our delight will not be fulfilled but by his death.
+If thou wilt not kill him, I will do it myself.'  'For God's
+sake,' cried Amjed, 'do not this thing!'  'It must be,' replied
+she and taking down the sword, drew it and made at Behadir to
+kill him; but Amjed said in himself, 'This man hath entreated us
+courteously and sheltered us and done us kindness and made
+himself my servant: and shall we requite him by killing him?
+This shall never be.  Then he said to the lady, 'If my slave must
+be killed, better I should do it than thou.'  So saying, he took
+the sword from her and raising his hand, smote her on the neck
+and made her head fly from her body.  It fell upon Behadir, who
+awoke and sitting up, saw Amjed standing by him, with the
+bloodstained sword in his hand, and the damsel lying dead.  He
+enquired what had passed, and Amjed told him what she had said,
+adding, 'Nothing would serve her but she must kill thee; and this
+is her reward.'  Behadir rose and kissing the prince's hand, said
+to him, 'Would God thou hadst spared her!  But now there is
+nothing for it but to rid us of her forthright, before the day
+break.'  So saying, he wrapped the body in a mantle and laying it
+in a basket, said to Amjed, 'Thou art a stranger here and knowest
+no one: so sit thou here and await my return.  If I come back, I
+will assuredly do thee great good service and use my endeavour to
+have news of thy brother; but if I return not by sunrise, know
+that all is over with me; in which case the house and all it
+contains are thine, and peace be on thee.'  Then he shouldered
+the basket and going forth, made for the sea, thinking to throw
+it therein: but as he drew near the shore, he turned and found
+himself surrounded by the chief of the police and his officers.
+They knew him and wondered and opened the basket, in which they
+found the slain woman.  So they seized him and laid him in irons
+till the morning, when they carried him and the basket to the
+King and acquainted the latter with the case.  The King was sore
+enraged and said to Behadir, 'Out on thee!  This is not the first
+time thou hast slain folk and cast them into the sea and taken
+their goods.  How many murders hast thou done ere this?'  Behadir
+hung his head, and the King cried out at him, saying, 'Woe to
+thee!  Who killed this young lady?'  'O my lord,' answered
+Behadir, 'I killed her, and there is no power and no virtue but
+in God the Most High, the Supreme!'  At this the King's anger
+redoubled and he commanded to hang him.  So the hangman and
+the chief of the police went down with him, by the King's
+commandment, and paraded him through the streets and markets of
+the town, whilst a crier forewent them, bidding all the folk to
+the execution of Behadir, the King's Master of the Horse.
+
+Meanwhile, Amjed awaited his host's return till the day broke and
+the sun rose, and when he saw that he came not, he exclaimed,
+'There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High, the
+Supreme!  I wonder what is come of him?'  As he sat musing, he
+heard the crier proclaiming aloud Behadir's sentence and bidding
+the people to his hanging at midday; whereat he wept and
+exclaimed, 'Verily, we are God's and to Him we return!  He means
+to sacrifice himself unjustly for my sake, when it was I killed
+her.  By Allah, this shall never be!'  Then he went out and
+shutting the door after him, hurried through the streets, till he
+overtook Behadir, when he accosted the chief of the police and
+said to him, 'O my lord, put not Behadir to death, for he is
+innocent.  By Allah, none killed her but I.'  When the Master of
+the Police heard this, he took them both and carrying them before
+the King, told him what Amjed had said; whereupon he looked at
+the prince and said to him, 'Didst thou kill the young lady?'
+'Yes,' answered he, and the King said, 'Tell me why thou killedst
+her, and speak the truth.'  'O King,' replied Amjed, 'indeed, it
+is a rare event and a strange matter that hath befallen me: were
+it graven with needles on the corners of the eye, it would serve
+as a lesson to whoso can profit by admonition.'  Then he told him
+his whole story and all that had befallen him and his brother,
+first and last; whereat the King wondered greatly and said to
+him, 'O youth, I know thee now to be excusable.  Wilt thou be my
+Vizier?'  'I hear and obey,' answered Amjed; whereupon the King
+bestowed magnificent dresses of honour on him and Behadir and
+gave him a handsome house, with servants and officers and all
+things needful, appointing him stipends and allowances and
+bidding him make search for his brother Asaad.  So Amjed sat down
+in the seat of office and governed and did justice and invested
+and deposed and gave and took.  Moreover, he sent out a crier to
+cry his brother throughout the city, and he made proclamation in
+the streets and markets many days, but heard no news of Asaad nor
+happened on any trace of him.
+
+Meanwhile, the Magians ceased not to torture Asaad, night and
+day, for a whole year's space, till the day of their festival
+drew near, when the old man (whose name was Behram) made ready
+for the voyage and fitted out a ship for himself.  When all was
+ready, he laid Asaad in a chest and locking it, transported it to
+the ship.  As fate would have it, Amjed was at that very time
+standing looking upon the sea; and when he saw the men carrying
+the chest and other gear on board the ship, his heart throbbed
+and he called to his servants to bring him his horse.  Then,
+mounting with a company of his officers, he rode down to the port
+and halted before the Magian's ship, which he commanded his men
+to search.  So they boarded the vessel and searched it in every
+part, but found nothing and returned and told Amjed, who mounted
+again and rode back to his palace, with a troubled mind.  As he
+entered, he cast his eyes on the wall and saw written thereon the
+following verses, which when he read, he called to mind his
+brother and wept:
+
+Beloved ones, for all you're absent from my sight, Yet in my
+     heart and thought you have your sojourn still.
+You leave me here to pine and languish for desire; You rob mine
+     eyes of sleep and sleep yourselves your fill.
+
+Meanwhile, Behram embarked and shouted to his crew to make sail
+in all haste.  So they loosed the sails and departing, fared on
+without ceasing many days and nights; and every other day, Behram
+took out Asaad and gave him a little bread and water, till they
+drew near the Mountain of Fire, when there came out on them a
+contrary wind and the sea rose against them, so that they were
+driven out of their course into strange waters and came in sight
+of a city builded upon the shore, with a citadel whose windows
+overlooked the sea.  Now the ruler of this city was a queen
+called Merjaneh, and the captain said to Behram, 'O my lord, we
+have strayed from our course and come to the island of Queen
+Merjaneh, who is a devout Muslim; and if she know that we are
+Magians, she will take our ship and slay us to the last man.  Yet
+needs must we put in here to rest [and refit].'  Quoth Behram,
+'Let us clothe this Muslim we have with us in a slave's habit and
+carry him ashore with us, so that, when the queen sees him, she
+will think and say,  "This is a slave."  As for me, I will tell
+her that I am a dealer in white slaves and that I had with me
+many, but have sold all but this one, whom I have retained to
+keep my accounts, for he can read and write.'  And the captain
+said, 'This device should serve well.'  Presently they reached
+the city and slackening sail, cast anchor; when, behold, Queen
+Merjaneh came down to them, attended by her guards, and halting
+before the ship, called out to the captain, who landed and kissed
+the earth before her.  Quoth she, 'What is the lading of thy ship
+and whom hast thou with thee?'  'O queen of the age,' answered
+he, 'I have with me a merchant who deals in slaves.'  And she
+said, 'Bring him to me;' whereupon Behram came ashore to her,
+followed by Asaad in a slave's habit, and kissed the earth before
+her.  'What is thy condition?' asked the queen; and Behram
+answered, 'I am a slave-dealer.'  Then she looked at Asaad and
+taking him for a slave, said to him, 'What is thy name?'  Quoth
+he, 'Dost thou ask my present or my former name?'  'Hast thou
+then two names?' asked she, and he answered (and indeed his voice
+was choked with tears), 'Yes; my name aforetime was Asaad,[FN#70]
+but now it is Muterr.'[FN#71] Her heart inclined to him and she
+said, 'Canst thou write?'  'Yes,' answered he; and she gave him
+inkhorn and pen and paper and said to him, 'Write somewhat, that
+I may see it.'  So he wrote the following verses:
+
+Harkye, O thou that judgest, what can a mortal do, When fate, in
+     all conditions, doth him to death ensue?
+It casts him in the ocean, bound hand and foot, and says, "Beware
+     lest with the water you wet yourself, look you!"
+
+When she read this, she had compassion upon him and said to
+Behram, 'Sell me this slave.'  'O my lady,' answered he, 'I
+cannot sell him, for he is the only slave I have left.'  Quoth
+she, 'I must have him of thee, either by purchase or as a gift.'
+But Behram said, 'I will neither sell him nor give him.'  Whereat
+she was wroth and taking Asaad by the hand, carried him up to the
+palace and sent to Behram, saying, 'Except thou set sail and
+depart our city this very night, I will seize all thy goods and
+break up thy ship.'  When the message reached the Magian, he was
+sore troubled and said, 'Verily, this voyage is every way
+unfortunate.'  Then he made ready and took all he needed and
+awaited the coming of the night, to resume his voyage, saying to
+the sailors, 'Provide yourselves and fill the waterskins, that we
+may set sail at the last of the night.'  So the sailors did their
+occasions and awaited the coming of the night.
+
+To return to Queen Merjaneh.  When she had brought Asaad into the
+palace, she opened the windows overlooking the sea and bade her
+handmaids bring food.  Accordingly, they set food before Asaad
+and herself, and they ate, after which the queen called for wine
+and fell to drinking with him.  Now God (may He be exalted and
+glorified!) filled her heart with love for Asaad and she plied
+him with wine, till his reason fled and presently he rose and
+left the hall, to do an occasion.  Seeing a door open, he went
+out and walked on, till he came to a vast garden full of all
+manner fruits and flowers and sitting down under a tree, did his
+occasion.  Then he went up to a fountain in the garden and made
+the ablution and washed his hands and face, after which he would
+have risen to go away; but the air smote him and he fell back,
+with his clothes undone, and slept, and night overcame him thus.
+
+Meanwhile, Behram, the night being come, cried out to the sailors
+to spread sail and depart.  'We hear and obey,' answered they;
+'but give us time to fill our water-skins.'  Then they landed
+with their water-skins and coasting the palace, found nothing but
+walls: so they climbed over into the garden and followed the
+track of feet, that led them to the fountain, where they found
+Asaad lying on his back, asleep.  They knew him and taking him
+up, climbed the wall again with him, after they had filled their
+skins, and carried him back in haste to Behram, to whom said
+they, 'Beat thy drums and sound thy pipes; for we have found thy
+prisoner, whom Queen Merjaneh took from thee by force, and have
+brought him back to thee.'  And they threw Asaad down before
+him. When Behram saw him, his heart leapt for joy and his
+breast dilated with gladness.  Then he bestowed largesse on
+the sailors and bade them weigh anchor in haste.  So they set
+sail forthright, intending for the Mountain of Fire, and stayed
+not their course till the morning.
+
+As for Queen Merjaneh, she abode awhile, awaiting Asaad's return;
+and when she saw that he came not, she rose and sought him, but
+found no trace of him.  Then she bade her women light flambeaux
+and search for him, whilst she herself went forth and seeing the
+garden-door open, knew that he had gone thither.  So she went out
+and finding his slippers lying by the fountain, searched the
+garden in every part, but found no sign of him.  Nevertheless,
+she gave not over the search till morning, when she enquired for
+the Magian's ship and was told that it had set sail in the first
+watch of the night; wherefore she knew that they had taken Asaad
+with them and this was grievous to her and she was angry.  So she
+bade equip ten great ships forthwith and arming herself, embarked
+in one of them, with her guards and women and troops, richly
+accoutred and armed for war.  They spread the sails and she said
+to the captain, 'If you overtake the Magian's ship, ye shall have
+of me dresses of honour and largesse; but if ye let it escape, I
+will kill you all.'  Whereat fear and great hope fell upon the
+seamen, and they sailed three days and nights, till, on the
+fourth day, they sighted Behram's ship.  Ere ended day, they came
+up with it and surrounded it on all sides, even as Behram had
+taken Asaad forth of the chest and was beating and torturing him,
+whilst the prince cried out for succour and relief, but found
+neither helper nor deliverer; and indeed he was sorely tormented
+with much beating.  Presently Behram chanced to look up and
+seeing himself encompassed by the queen's ships, as the white of
+the eye encompasses the black, gave himself up for lost and
+groaned and said to Asaad, 'Out on thee, O Asaad!  This is all
+thy doing; but, by Allah, I will kill thee ere I die myself.'
+Then he bade the sailors throw him overboard; so they took him by
+the hands and feet and cast him into the sea and he sank.  But
+God (may He be exalted and glorified!) willed that his life
+should be saved and that his last day should be deferred; so He
+caused him to rise again and he struck out with his hands and
+feet, till the Almighty gave him ease and relief and the waves
+bore him far from the Magian's ship and threw him ashore.  He
+landed, scarce crediting his escape, and putting off his clothes,
+wrung them and spread them out to dry, whilst he sat, naked and
+weeping over his misfortunes and desolate and forlorn condition
+and repeating the following verses:
+
+My fortitude fails me for travail and pain; My patience is spent,
+     my endeavour in vain;
+My sinews are sundered; O Lord of all lords, To whom but his Lord
+     shall the wretched complain?
+
+Then, rising, he donned his clothes and set out at a venture,
+knowing not whither he went.  He fared on day and night, eating
+of the herbs of the earth and the fruits of the trees and
+drinking of the streams, till he came in sight of a city;
+whereupon he rejoiced and hurried on; but before he reached it,
+the night overtook him and the gates were shut.  Now, as chance
+would have it, this was the very city in which he had been a
+prisoner and to whose king his brother Amjed was vizier. When
+he saw the gate was shut, he turned back and made for the
+burial-ground, where finding a tomb without a door, he entered
+and lay down and fell asleep, with his face in his sleeve.
+
+Meanwhile, Queen Merjaneh, coming up with Behram's ship,
+questioned him of Asaad; but he swore to her that he was not with
+him and that he knew nothing of him.  She searched the ship, but
+found no trace of Asaad, so took Behram and carrying him back to
+her castle, would have put him to death; but he ransomed himself
+from her with all his good and his ship and she released him and
+his men.  They went forth from her, hardly believing in their
+escape, and fared on ten days' journey, till they came to their
+own city and found the gate shut, it being eventide.  So they
+made for the burial-ground, thinking to lie the night there, and
+going round about the tombs, as fate would have it, saw that, in
+which Asaad lay, open; whereat Behram marvelled and said,' I must
+look into this tomb.'  Then he entered and found Asaad lying
+asleep, with his head on his sleeve; so he raised his head and
+looking in his face, knew him for him on whose account he had
+lost his goods and his ship, and said, 'Art thou yet alive?'
+Then he bound him and gagged him, without further parley, and
+carried him to his house, where he clapped heavy shackles on his
+feet and lowered him into the underground dungeon aforesaid,
+affected to the tormenting of Muslims, bidding a daughter of his,
+by name Bustan, torture him night and day, till the next year,
+when they would again visit the Mountain of Fire and offer him up
+as a sacrifice there.  Then he beat him grievously and locking
+the dungeon door upon him, gave the keys to his daughter.  By and
+by, she opened the door and went down to beat him, but finding
+him a comely sweet-faced youth, with arched brows and melting
+black eyes, fell in love with him and said to him, 'What is thy
+name?'  'My name is Assad,'[FN#72] answered he.  'Mayst thou
+indeed be happy,' exclaimed she, 'and happy be thy days!  Thou
+deservest not torture and blows, and I see thou hast been
+unjustly entreated.'  And she comforted him with kind words and
+loosed his bonds.  Then she questioned him of the faith of Islam,
+and he told her that it was the true and orthodox faith and that
+our lord Mohammed had approved himself by surpassing miracles and
+manifest signs and that the [worship of] fire was not profitable,
+but harmful; and he went on to expound to her the tenets of
+Islam, till she was persuaded and the love of the True Faith
+entered her heart.  Then (for God the Most High had filled her
+with love of Asaad), she made profession of the faith and became
+of the people of felicity.  After this, she brought him meat and
+drink and talked with him and they prayed together: moreover, she
+made him chicken-broths and fed him therewith, till he regained
+strength and his sickness left him and he was restored to health.
+One day, as she stood at the door of the house, she heard the
+crier proclaiming aloud and saying, 'Whoso hath with him a
+handsome young man, whose favour is thus and thus, and bringeth
+him forth, shall have all he seeketh of wealth; but if any have
+him and discover it not, he shall be hanged over his own door and
+his goods shall be confiscated and his blood go for nought.'  Now
+Asaad had acquainted her with his whole history: so, when she
+heard the crier, she knew that it was he who was sought for and
+going down to him, told him the news.  Then she went forth with
+him to the palace of the Vizier, whom when Asaad saw, he
+exclaimed, 'By Allah, this is my brother Amjed!'  And threw
+himself upon him; whereupon Amjed also knew him and they embraced
+each other and lay awhile insensible, whilst the Vizier's
+officers stood round them.  When they came to themselves, Amjed
+took his brother and carried him to the Sultan, to whom he
+related the whole story, and the Sultan charged him to plunder
+Behram's house and take himself.  So Amjed despatched thither a
+company of men, who sacked the house and took Behram and brought
+his daughter to the Vizier, who received her with all honour, for
+Asaad had told his brother all the torments he had suffered and
+the kindness that she had done him.  Moreover, Amjed, in his
+turn, related to Asaad all that had passed between the lady and
+himself and how he had escaped hanging and become Vizier; and
+they made moan, each to the other, of the anguish they had
+suffered for separation.  Then the Sultan sent for Behram and
+bade strike off his head; but he said, 'O most mighty King, art
+thou indeed resolved to put me to death?'  'Yes,' replied the
+King, 'except thou save thyself by becoming a Muslim.'  And
+Behram said, 'O King, have patience with me a little.'  Then he
+bowed his head awhile and presently raising it again, made
+profession of the faith and avowed himself a Muslim at the hands
+of the Sultan.  They all rejoiced at his conversion and Amjed and
+Asaad told him all that had befallen them, whereat he wondered
+and said, 'O my lords, make ready for the journey and I will
+depart with you and carry you back to your father's court in a
+ship.'  At this they rejoiced and wept sore; but he said, 'O my
+lords, weep not for your departure, for ye shall be re-united
+[with those you love], even as were Nimeh and Num.'  'And what
+befell Nimeh and Num?' asked they.  'It is told,' replied Behram,
+'(but God alone is all-knowing), that
+
+
+
+
+Story of Nimeh Ben Er Rebya and Num His Slave-girl
+
+
+
+There lived once in the city of Cufa a man called Er Rebya ben
+Hatim, who was one of the chief men of the town, rich in goods
+and prosperous, and God had vouchsafed him a son, whom he named
+Nimet Allah.[FN#73] One day, being in the slave-dealers' mart, he
+saw a female slave exposed for sale, with a little girl of
+wonderful beauty and grace in her hand.  So he beckoned to the
+broker and said to him, "What is the price of this woman and her
+child?"  "Fifty dinars," answered he.  "Write the contract of
+sale," said Er Rebya, "and take the money and give it to her
+owner."  Then he gave the broker the price and his brokerage and
+taking the woman and her child, carried them to his house.  When
+his wife saw the slave, she said to her husband (who was the son
+of her father's brother), "O my cousin, what is this damsel?"
+Quoth he, "I bought her for the sake of the little one on her
+arm, for know that, when she grows up, there will not be her like
+for beauty, either in the land of the Arabs or elsewhere."  "It
+was well seen of thee," answered his wife.  Then said she to the
+woman, "What is thy name?"  "O my lady," replied she, "my name is
+Taufic."  "And what is thy daughter's name?" asked she.
+"Saad,"[FN#74] answered the slave.  "Thou sayst sooth," rejoined
+her mistress.  "Thou art indeed happy, and happy is he who hath
+bought thee."  Then said she to her husband, "O my cousin, what
+wilt thou call her?"  "What thou choosest," answered he.  "Then
+let us call her Num,"[FN#75] quoth she, and he said, "Good."  The
+little Num was reared with Er Rebya's son Nimeh in one cradle and
+each grew up handsomer than the other.  They were wont to call
+each other brother and sister, till they came to the age of ten,
+when Er Rebya said to Nimeh, "O my son, Num is not thy sister,
+but thy slave.  I bought her in thy name, whilst thou wast yet in
+the cradle; so call her no more 'sister' from this day forth."
+"If that be so," quoth Nimeh, "I will take her to wife."  Then he
+went to his mother and told her of this, and she said to him, "O
+my son, she is thy handmaid."  So he went in to Num and loved her
+and two years passed over them, whilst Num grew up, nor was there
+in all Cufa a fairer or sweeter or more graceful girl than she.
+She learnt the Koran and all manner of knowledge and excelled in
+music and singing and playing upon all kinds of instruments, so
+that she surpassed all the folk of her time.  One day, as she sat
+with her husband in the wine-chamber, she took the lute and
+tuning it, sang the following verses:
+
+Since thou'rt my lord, by whose good grace I live in fair estate,
+     A sword wherewith I smite in twain the neck of adverse fate,
+No need is mine to have recourse to Amr[FN#76] or to Zeid,[FN#77]
+     Nor any but thyself, an if the ways on me grow strait.
+
+Nimeh was charmed with these verses and said to her, "I conjure
+thee, by my life, O Num, sing to us with the tambourine and other
+instruments!"  So she sang the following verses to a lively air:
+
+By him whose hand possesses the reins of my affair, On passion's
+     score, I swear it, my enviers I'll dare.
+Yea, I will vex my censors and thee alone obey And sleep and ease
+     and solace, for thy sweet sake, forswear
+And dig midmost my entrails, to hold the love of thee, A grave,
+     of which not even my heart shall be aware.
+
+And Nimeh exclaimed, "Gifted of God art thou, O Num!"
+
+But whilst they led thus the most delightsome life, El Hejjaj,
+[FN#78] [the governor of Cufa, heard of Num and] said in
+himself, "Needs must I make shift to take this girl Num and send
+her to the Commander of the Faithful Abdulmelik ben Merwan, for
+he hath not in his palace her like for beauty and sweet singing."
+Then, calling an old woman, one of his body-servants, he said to
+her, "Go to Er Rebya's house and foregather with the girl Num and
+cast about to steal her away, for her like is not to be found on
+the face of the earth."  She promised to do his bidding; so next
+morning she donned clothes of wool[FN#79] and threw round her
+neck a rosary of thousands of beads; then, taking in her hand a
+staff and water-bottle of Yemen make, went forth, exclaiming,
+"Glory be to God!  Praised be God!  There is no god but God!  God
+is most great!  There is no power and no virtue but in God the
+Most High, the Supreme!"  Nor did she leave making devout
+ejaculations, whilst her heart was full of craft and fraud, till
+she came to Nimeh's house, at the hour of noonday-prayer, and
+knocked at the door.  The doorkeeper opened and said to her,
+"What dost thou want?"  Quoth she, "I am a poor pious woman, whom
+the time of noonday-prayer hath overtaken, and I would fain pray
+in this blessed place."  "O old woman," answered the porter,
+"this is no mosque nor oratory, but the house of Nimeh ben er
+Rebya."  "I know there is neither mosque nor oratory like the
+house of Nimeh ben er Rebya," rejoined she.  "I am a chamberwoman
+of the palace of the Commander of the Faithful and am come out
+upon a pilgrimage of devotion."  But the porter replied, "Thou
+canst not enter;" and many words passed between them, till at
+last she caught hold of him, saying, "Shall the like of me, who
+have free access to the houses of Amirs and grandees, be denied
+admission to the house of Nimeh ben er Rebya?"  Presently, out
+came Nimeh and hearing their dispute, laughed and bade the old
+woman enter.  So she followed him into the presence of Num, whom
+she saluted after the goodliest fashion; and when she looked on
+her, she was confounded at her exceeding beauty and said to her,
+"O my lady, I commend thee to the safeguard of God, who made thee
+and thy lord to accord in beauty and grace!"  Then she stood up
+in the prayer-niche and betook herself to inclination and
+prostration and prayer, till the day departed and the night came
+with the darkness, when Num said to her, "O my mother, rest thy
+feet awhile."  "O my lady," answered the old woman, "whoso
+seeketh the world to come must weary himself in this world, and
+whoso wearieth not himself in this world shall not attain the
+dwellings of the just in the world to come."  Then Num brought
+her food and said to her, "O my mother, eat of my victual and
+pray that God may relent towards me and have mercy on me."  But
+she replied, "O my lady, I am fasting.  As for thee, thou art but
+a girl and it befits thee to eat and drink and make merry.  May
+God be indulgent to thee!  Quoth the Most High, '(None shall be
+saved) except those that repent and believe and work the works of
+righteousness.'"[FN#80] Num sat awhile, conversing with the old
+woman, and presently said to Nimeh, "O my lord, conjure this old
+woman to sojourn with us awhile, for piety is imprinted on her
+face."  Quoth he, "Set apart for her a chamber, where she may do
+her devotions, and let none go in to her: peradventure God
+(glorified and exalted be He!) shall prosper us by the blessing
+of her presence and part us not."  The old woman passed the night
+in prayer and recitation,[FN#81] till daybreak, when she went in
+to Nimeh and Num and giving them good morning, said to them, "I
+pray God to have you in His holy keeping!"  "Whither away, O my
+mother?" said Num.  "My lord hath bidden me set apart for thee a
+chamber, where thou mayst retire for thy devotions."  "God give
+him long life," replied the old woman, "and continue His favour
+to you both!  I would have you charge the doorkeeper not to stay
+my coming in to you, and (God willing) I will go the round of the
+Holy Places and pray for you at the end of my devotions every day
+and night."  Then she went out (whilst Num wept for parting with
+her, knowing not the purpose of her coming) and returned to El
+Hejjaj, who said to her, "What news?"  She answered, "I have seen
+the girl, and indeed never bore woman of her day a lovelier than
+she."  And El Hejjaj said to her, "So thou do my bidding, thou
+shalt have of me abundant good."  Quoth she, "I ask of thee a
+month's time."  And he replied, "It is well."  Then she fell to
+paying frequent visits to Nimeh and Num, who redoubled in honour
+and kindness to her, and she used to go in to them morning and
+evening, and all in the house welcomed her, till, one day, being
+alone with Num, she said to her, "By Allah, O my lady, when I go
+to the Holy Places, I will pray for thee; but I should love thee
+to go thither with me, that thou mightest look on the Elders
+of the Faith that resort thither, and they should pray for
+thee, according to thy desire."  "O my mother," said Num, "I
+conjure thee by Allah, take me with thee!"  "Ask leave of thy
+mother-in-law," replied the old woman, "and I will take thee."
+So Num said to her mother-in-law, "O my lady, ask my master to
+let us go, thee and me, one day, with this my old mother, to pray
+and worship with the fakirs in the Holy Places."  Presently,
+Nimeh came in and sat down, whereupon the old woman went up to
+him and would have kissed his hand, but he forbade her; so she
+called down blessings on him and left the house.  Next day, she
+came again, in the absence of Nimeh, and said to Num, "We prayed
+for thee yesterday; but arise now and divert thyself and return
+ere thy lord come home."  So Num said to her mother-in-law, "I
+beseech thee, for God's sake, let me go with this pious woman,
+that I may look upon the friends of God in the Holy Places and
+return speedily, ere my lord come."  Quoth Nimeh's mother, "I
+fear lest thy lord know."  "By Allah," said the old woman, "I
+will not let her sit down; but she shall look, standing on her
+feet, and not tarry."  So on this wise she took the damsel by
+guile and carrying her to El Hejjaj's palace, bestowed her in a
+privy chamber and told him of her coming; whereupon he went in to
+her and looking upon her, saw her to be the loveliest of the
+people of the day, never had he beheld her like.  When Num saw
+him, she veiled her face from him; but he left her not till he
+had called his chamberlain, whom he commanded to take fifty
+horsemen and mounting the damsel on a swift dromedary, carry her
+to Damascus and there deliver her to the Commander of the
+Faithful, Abdulmelik ben Merwan.  Moreover, he gave him a letter
+for the Khalif, saying, "Bear him this letter and bring me his
+answer in all haste."  So the chamberlain took the damsel, all
+tearful for separation from her lord, and setting out with her
+for Syria, gave not over journeying till he reached Damascus and
+sought an audience of the Commander of the Faithful, to whom he
+delivered the damsel and the letter.  The Khalif appointed her a
+separate apartment and going into his harem, said to his wife,
+"El Hejjaj has bought me a female slave of the daughters
+(descendants) of the (ancient) Kings of Cufa, for ten thousand
+dinars, and has sent her to me with this letter."  "May God
+increase thee of his favour!"  answered she.  Then the Khalif's
+sister went into Num and when she saw her, she said, "By Allah,
+happy the man who hath thee in his house, were thy cost a hundred
+thousand dinars!"  "O fair-faced one," said Num, "what King's
+palace is this?"  "This is the city of Damascus," answered the
+princess, "and the palace of my brother, the Commander of the
+Faithful, Abdulmelik ben Merwan.  Didst thou not know this?"  "By
+Allah, O my lady," said Num, "I had no knowledge of this!"  "And
+he who sold thee and took thy price," asked the princess, "did he
+not tell thee that the Khalif had bought thee?"  When Num heard
+this, she wept and said in herself, "I have been cozened; but, if
+I speak, none will credit me; so I will hold my peace and take
+patience, knowing that the relief of God is near."  Then she bent
+her head for shame, and indeed her cheeks were tanned with the
+journey and the sun.  So the Khalif's sister left her that day
+and returned to her on the morrow with clothes and necklaces of
+jewels and dressed her; after which the Khalif came in to her and
+sat down by her side, and his sister said to him, "Look on this
+damsel, in whom God hath united every perfection of beauty and
+grace."  So he said to Num, "Draw back the veil from thy face;"
+but she would not unveil, and he beheld not her face.  However,
+he saw her wrists and love of her entered his heart; and he said
+to his sister, "I will not go in to her for three days, till she
+be cheered by thy converse."  Then he left her, but Num ceased
+not to brood over her case and sigh for her separation from
+Nimeh, till, at eventide, she fell sick of a fever and ate not
+nor drank; and her face grew pale and her charms faded.  They
+told the Khalif of this, and it grieved him; so he visited her
+with physicians and men of skill, but none could come at a cure
+for her.
+
+As for Nimeh, when he returned home, he sat down on his bed and
+cried, "Ho, Num!"  But she answered not; so he rose in haste and
+called out, but none came to him, for all the women in the house
+had hidden themselves, for fear of him.  Then he went in to his
+mother, whom he found sitting with her cheek on her hand, and
+said to her, "O my mother, where is Num?"  "O my son," answered
+she, "she is with one who is worthier than I to be trusted with
+her, namely, the devout old woman; she went forth with her to
+visit the fakirs and return."  "Since when has this been her
+wont," asked Nimeh, "and at what hour went she forth?"  Quoth his
+mother, "She went out early in the morning."  "And how camest
+thou to give her leave for this?" said he, and she replied, "O my
+son, it was she persuaded me."  "There is no power and no virtue
+but in God the Most High, the Supreme!" exclaimed Nimeh and going
+forth, in a state of distraction, repaired to the chief of the
+police, to whom said he, "Dost thou practice on me and steal my
+slave-girl away from me?  I will assuredly complain of thee to
+the Commander of the Faithful."  "Who has taken her?" asked the
+chief of the police, and Nimeh answered, "An old woman of such
+and such a favour, clad in woollen raiment and carrying a rosary
+of thousands of beads."  "Find me the old woman," rejoined the
+other, "and I will get thee back thy slave-girl."  "Who knows
+the old woman?" said Nimeh.  "And who knows the hidden things
+save God, may He be glorified and exalted?" replied the official,
+who knew her for El Hejjaj's agent.  Quoth Nimeh, "I look to thee
+for my slave-girl, and El Hejjaj shall judge between thee and
+me."  And the master of police answered, "Go to whom thou wilt."
+Now Nimeh's father was one of the chief men of Cufa; so he went
+to the palace of the governor, whose chamberlain went in to him
+and told him what was to do.  El Hejjaj bade admit him and
+enquired his business.  Quoth Nimeh, "Such and such things have
+befallen me."  And the governor said, "Bring me the chief of the
+police, and we will bid him seek for the old woman."  Now he knew
+that the chief of the police knew her; so, when he came, he said
+to him, "I wish thee to make search for the slave-girl of Nimeh
+ben er Rebya."  And he answered, "None knoweth the hidden things
+save God the Most High."  "Thou must send out horsemen," rejoined
+El Hejjaj, "and look for the damsel in all the roads and towns."
+Then he turned to Nimeh and said to him, "An thy slave-girl
+return not, I will give thee ten slave-girls from my house and
+ten from that of the chief of the police."  And he said to the
+latter, "Go and seek for the girl."  So he went out and Nimeh
+returned home, full of trouble and despairing of life.  He had
+now reached the age of fourteen and there was yet no hair on his
+cheeks.  He shut himself up from his household and ceased not to
+weep and lament, he and his mother, till the morning, when his
+father came in to him and said, "O my son, El Hejjaj hath put a
+cheat on the damsel and stolen her away; but from hour to hour
+God giveth relief."  But grief redoubled on Nimeh, so that he
+knew not what he said nor who came in to him, and indeed his
+charms were changed and he was in sorry case.  In this plight he
+abode three months, till his father despaired of him, and the
+physicians visited him and said, "There is no cure for him but
+the damsel."  One day, Er Rebya heard tell of a skilful Persian
+physician, whom the folk gave out for accomplished in medicine
+and astrology and geomancy.  So he sent for him and seating him
+by his side, entreated him with honour and said to him, "Look
+into my son's case."  So he said to Nimeh, "Give me thy hand."
+Accordingly, the young man gave him his hand and he felt his
+pulse and his joints and looked in his face; then he laughed and
+turning to Er Rebya, said, "Thy son's only ailment is in his
+heart."  "Thou sayst sooth, O sage," answered Er Rebya; "but
+apply thy skill to the consideration of his state and case and
+acquaint me with the whole thereof and hide nought from me."
+Quoth the Persian, "He is enamoured of a girl, who is either in
+Bassora or Damascus; and there is no cure for him but reunion
+with her."  "An thou bring them together," said Er Rebya, "thou
+shalt have of me what will rejoice thee and shalt live all thy
+life in wealth and delight."  "This is an easy matter," answered
+the Persian, "and soon brought about;" and he turned to Nimeh and
+said to him, "Fear not; no hurt shall befall thee; so take heart
+and be of good cheer."  Then said he to Er Rebya, "Give me four
+thousand dinars of your money."  So he gave them to him, and he
+said, "I wish to carry thy son with me to Damascus, and God
+willing, we will not return thence but with the damsel."  Then
+said he to the youth, "What is thy name?"  And he answered,
+"Nimeh."  "O Nimeh," said the Persian, "sit up and be of good
+heart, for God will reunite thee with the damsel.  So put thy
+trust in Him and eat and drink and be cheerful and fortify
+thyself for travel, for we set out for Damascus this very day."
+So he sat up whilst the Persian made his preparations and took of
+Er Rebya, in all, the sum of ten thousand dinars, together with
+horses and camels and beasts of burden such as he needed for the
+journey.  Then Nimeh took leave of his father and mother and
+journeyed with the physician to Aleppo.  They could get no news
+of Num there, so fared on to Damascus, where they abode three
+days, after which the Persian took a shop and adorned its shelves
+with gilding and stuffs of price and stocked them with vessels of
+costly porcelain, with covers of silver.  Moreover, he set before
+himself vases and flagons of glass full of all manner ointments
+and syrups, surrounded by cups of crystal, and donning a
+physician's habit, took his seat in the shop, with his astrolabe
+and geomantic tablet before him.  Then he clad Nimeh in a shirt
+and gown of silk and girding his middle with a silken kerchief
+embroidered with gold, made him sit before himself, saying to
+him, "O Nimeh, henceforth thou art my son; so call me nought but
+father and I will call thee son."  And he replied, "I hear and
+obey."  The people of Damascus flocked to gaze on the youth's
+goodliness and the beauty of the shop and its contents, whilst
+the physician spoke to Nimeh in Persian and he answered him in
+the same tongue, for he knew the language, after the wont of the
+sons of the notables.  The Persian soon became known among the
+townsfolk and they began to resort to him and acquaint him with
+their ailments, for which he prescribed.  Moreover, they brought
+him the water of the sick in phials, and he would examine it and
+say, "He, whose water this is, is suffering from such and such a
+disease."  And the patient would say, "Verily, this physician
+says sooth."  So he continued to do the occasions of the folk and
+they to flock to him, till his fame spread throughout the city
+and into the houses of the great.  One day, as he sat in his
+shop, there came up an old woman riding on an ass with housings
+of brocade, embroidered with jewels, and drawing bridle before
+his shop, beckoned to him, saying, "Take my hand."  So he took
+her hand, and she alighted and said to him, "Art thou the Persian
+physician from Irak?"  "Yes," answered he, and she said, "Know
+that I have a sick daughter."  Then she brought out to him
+a phial and he looked at it and said to her, "Tell me thy
+daughter's name, that I may calculate her horoscope and learn the
+hour in which it will befit her to take medicine."  "O brother of
+the Persians," answered she, "her name is Num."  When he heard
+this, he fell to calculating and writing on his hand and
+presently said to her, "O my lady, I cannot prescribe for the
+girl, till I know what countrywoman she is, because of the
+difference of climate: so tell me where she was brought up and
+what is her age."  "She is fourteen years old," replied the old
+woman, "and was brought up in Cufa of Irak."  "And how long,"
+asked he, "has she sojourned in this country?"  "But a few
+months," answered she.  When Nimeh heard the old woman's words
+and the name of his slave-girl, his heart fluttered and he was
+like to swoon.  Then said the Persian to the old woman, "Such and
+such medicines will suit her case;" and she rejoined, "Then make
+them up and give them to me, with the blessing of God the Most
+High!"  So saying, she threw him ten dinars, and he bade Nimeh
+prepare the necessary drugs; whereupon she looked at the youth
+and exclaimed, "God have thee in His holy keeping, O my son!
+Verily, she is like thee in age and favour."  Then said she to
+the physician, "O brother of the Persians, is this thy slave or
+thy son?"  "He is my son," answered he.  So Nimeh made up the
+medicine and laying it in a little box, took a piece of paper and
+wrote thereon the following verses:
+
+So Num but vouchsafe me a glance, to gladden my heart and my
+     mind, Let Suada unfavouring prove and Juml, an't please her,
+     unkind.[FN#82]
+"Forget her," quoth they unto me, "And thou shalt have twenty
+     like her." I will not forget her, I swear, for never her
+     like should I find.
+
+He put the paper in the box and sealing it up, wrote on the cover
+the following words in the Cufic character, "I am Nimeh ben er
+Rebya of Cufa."  Then he gave it to the old woman, who bade them
+farewell and returning to the Khalif's palace, went in to Num, to
+whom she delivered the box, saying, "O my lady, know that there
+is lately come to our town a Persian physician, than whom I never
+saw a more skilful nor a better versed in matters of sickness.  I
+showed him the phial and told him thy name, and he knew thine
+ailment and prescribed a remedy.  Then, by his order, his son
+made thee up this medicine; and there is not in Damascus a
+comelier or more elegant youth than this son of his nor hath any
+the like of his shop."  Num took the box and seeing the names of
+her lord and his father written thereon, changed colour and said
+to herself, "Doubtless, the owner of this shop is come in search
+of me."  So she said to the old woman, "Describe this youth to
+me."  "His name is Nimeh," answered the old woman; "he is richly
+clad and perfectly handsome and has a mole on his right eyebrow."
+"Give me the medicine," cried Num, "and may the blessing and help
+of God the Most High attend it!"  So she drank off the potion and
+said, laughing, "Indeed, it is a blessed medicine."  Then she
+sought in the box and finding the paper, read it and knew that
+this was indeed her lord, whereat her heart was solaced and she
+rejoiced.  When the old woman saw her laughing, she exclaimed,
+"This is indeed a blessed day!"  And Num said, "O nurse, I
+have a mind to eat and drink."  So the old woman said to the
+serving-women, "Bring a tray of dainty viands for your mistress;"
+whereupon they set food before her and she sat down to eat.
+Presently, in came the Khalif and seeing her sitting eating,
+rejoiced; and the old woman said to him, "O Commander of the
+Faithful, I give thee joy of thy slave's recovery!  Know that
+there is lately come to our city a physician, than whom I never
+saw a better versed in diseases and their cure.  I fetched her
+medicine from him and she has taken of it but once and is
+restored to health."  Quoth he, "Take a thousand dinars and
+provide for her treatment, till she be completely recovered." And
+he went away, rejoicing in the damsel's recovery, whilst the old
+woman betook herself to the physician, to whom she delivered the
+thousand dinars and a letter that Num had written, giving him to
+know that she was become the Khalif's slave.  He gave the letter
+to Nimeh, who knew her hand and fell down in a swoon.  When he
+came to himself, he opened the letter and found these words
+written therein: "From the slave despoiled of her delight,[FN#83]
+her whose reason hath been beguiled and who is separated from the
+beloved of her heart.  Thy letter hath reached me and hath
+dilated my bosom and rejoiced my heart, even as saith the poet:
+
+The letter reached me, never may the fingers fail thee aught,
+     That traced its characters, until with sweetest scent
+     they're fraught!
+'Twas as unto his mother's arms when Moses was restored Or as to
+     blind old Jacob's hands when Joseph's coat was
+     brought."[FN#84]
+
+When he read these verses, his eyes ran over with tears and the
+old woman said to him, "What ails thee to weep, O my son?  May
+God never make thine eye to shed tears!"  "O my lady," answered
+the Persian, "how should my son not weep, seeing that this is his
+slave-girl and he her lord Nimeh ben er Rebya of Cufa?  Indeed,
+her recovery depends on her seeing him, for nought ails her but
+the love of him.  So, O my lady, take these thousand dinars to
+thyself (and thou shalt have of me yet more than this) and look
+on us with eyes of compassion; for we know not how to bring this
+affair to a happy issue but through thee."  Then she said to
+Nimeh, "Art thou indeed her lord?"  "Yes," answered he, and she,
+"Thou sayst truly; for she ceases not to name thee."  Then he
+told her all that had passed from first to last, and she said, "O
+youth, thou shalt owe thy reunion with her to none but me."  So
+she mounted at once and returning to Num, looked in her face and
+smiled, saying, "O my daughter, it is just that thou weep and
+fall sick for thy separation from thy master Nimeh ben er Rebya
+of Cufa."  Quoth Num, "Verily, the veil has been withdrawn for
+thee and the truth revealed to thee."  "Be of good cheer,"
+rejoined the old woman, "and take heart, for I will surely bring
+you together, though it cost me my life."  Then she returned to
+Nimeh and said to him, "I have seen thy slave-girl and find that
+she longs for thee yet more than thou for her; for the Commander
+of the Faithful is minded to foregather with her, but she refuses
+herself to him.  But if thou be stout of heart and firm of
+courage, I will bring you together and venture myself for you and
+make shift to bring thee to her in the Khalif's palace; for she
+cannot come forth."  And Nimeh answered, "God requite thee with
+good!"  Then she went back to Num and said to her, "Thy lord is
+indeed dying of love for thee and would fain see thee and
+foregather with thee.  What sayst thou?"  "And I also," answered
+Num, "am dying for his sight."  So the old woman took a parcel of
+women's clothes and ornaments and repairing to Nimeh, said to
+him, "Come apart with me into a privy place."  So he brought her
+into the room behind the shop, where she painted him and decked
+his wrists and plaited his hair, after which she clad him in a
+slave-girl's habit and adorned him after the fairest fashion of
+woman's adornment, till he was as one of the houris of Paradise;
+and when she saw him thus, she exclaimed, "Blessed be God, the
+most excellent Creator!  By Allah, thou art handsomer than the
+damsel!  Now, walk with thy left shoulder forward and swing thy
+buttocks."  So he walked before her, as she bade him; and when
+she saw he had caught the trick of women's gait, she said to him,
+"Expect me to-morrow night, when, God willing, I will come and
+carry thee to the palace.  When thou seest the chamberlains and
+the eunuchs, fear not, but bow thy head and speak not with any,
+for I will ward thee from their speech; and with God is success."
+Accordingly, on the morrow she returned at the appointed hour and
+carrying him to the palace, entered and he after her.  The
+chamberlain would have stayed him, but the old woman said to him,
+"O most ill-omened of slaves, this is the handmaid of Num, the
+Khalif's favourite.  How darest thou stay her?"  Then said she,
+"Enter, O damsel!"  And they went on, till they drew near the
+door leading to the inner court of the palace, when the old woman
+said to him, "O Nimeh, take courage and enter and turn to the
+left.  Count five doors and enter the sixth, for it is that of
+the place prepared for thee.  Fear nothing, and if any speak to
+thee, answer not neither stop."  Then she went up with him to the
+door, and the chamberlain on guard hailed her, saying, "What
+damsel is that?"  Quoth the old woman, "Our lady hath a mind to
+buy her."  And he said, "None may enter save by leave of the
+Commander of the Faithful; so go thou back with her.  I cannot
+let her pass, for thus am I commanded."  "O chief chamberlain,"
+replied the old woman, "use thy reason.  Thou knowest that Num,
+the Khalif's slave-girl, of whom he is enamoured, is but now
+restored to health and the Commander of the Faithful hardly yet
+credits her recovery.  Now she is minded to buy this girl; so
+oppose thou not her entrance, lest it come to Num's knowledge and
+she be wroth with thee and suffer a relapse and this bring thy
+head to be cut off."  Then said she to Nimeh, "Enter, O damsel;
+pay no heed to what he says and tell not the princess that he
+opposed thine entrance."  So Nimeh bowed his head and entered,
+but mistook and turned to his right, instead of his left, and
+meaning to count five doors and enter the sixth, counted six
+and entering the seventh, found himself in a  place carpeted
+with brocade and hung with curtains of gold-embroidered silk.
+Here and there stood censers of aloes-wood and ambergris and
+sweet-scented musk, and at the upper end was a couch covered with
+brocade, on which he seated himself, marvelling at the exceeding
+magnificence of the place and knowing not what was appointed to
+him in the secret purpose of God.  As he sat musing on his case,
+the Khalif's sister entered, followed by her handmaid, and seeing
+him seated there took him for a slave-girl and said to him, "What
+art thou, O damsel, and who brought thee hither?"  He made no
+reply and she continued, "If thou be one of my brother's
+favourites and he be wroth with thee, I will intercede with him
+for thee."  But he answered her not a word; so she said to her
+maid, "Stand at the door and let none enter."  Then she went up
+to Nimeh and looking at him, was amazed at his beauty and said to
+him, "O lady, tell me who thou art and how thou camest here; for
+I have never seen thee in the palace."  Still he answered not,
+whereat she was angered and putting her hand to his bosom, found
+no breasts and would have unveiled him, that she might know who
+he was; but he said to her, "O my lady, I am thy slave and cast
+myself on thy protection; do thou protect me."  "No harm shall
+come to thee," said she; "but tell me who thou art and who
+brought thee into this my lodging."  "O princess," answered he,
+"I am known as Nimeh ben er Rebya of Cufa, and I have ventured my
+life for my slave-girl Num, whom El Hejjaj took by sleight and
+sent hither."  "Fear not," rejoined the princess; "no harm shall
+befall thee."  Then, calling her maid, she said to her, "Go to
+Num's chamber and bid her to me."
+
+Meanwhile, the old woman went to Num's bed-chamber and said to
+her, "Has thy lord come to thee?"  "No, by Allah!" answered Num,
+and the other said, "Belike he hath gone astray and entered some
+chamber other than thine."  "There is no power and no virtue but
+in God the Most High, the Supreme!" exclaimed Num.  "Our last
+hour is come and we are all lost."  As they sat, pondering, in
+came the princess's maid and saluting Num, said to her, "My lady
+bids thee to her entertainment."  "I hear and obey," answered the
+damsel, and the old woman said, "Belike thy lord is with the
+Khalif's sister and the veil has been done away."  So Num rose
+and betook herself to the princess, who said to her, "Here is thy
+lord sitting with me; it seems he has gone astray; but, please
+God, neither thou nor he has any cause for fear."  When Num heard
+this, she took heart and went up to Nimeh, who rose to meet her,
+and they embraced and fell down in a swoon.  As soon as they came
+to themselves, the princess said to them, "Sit down and let us
+take counsel for your deliverance from this your strait."  And
+they answered, "O our lady, we hear and obey: it is thine to
+command."  "By Allah," quoth she, "no harm shall befall you from
+us!"  Then she called for meat and drink, and they sat down and
+ate till they had enough, after which they sat drinking.  The cup
+went round amongst them and their cares ceased from them; but
+Nimeh said, "Would I knew how this will end!"  "O Nimeh," quoth
+the princess, "dost thou love thy slave Num?"  "O my lady,"
+answered he, "it is my passion for her that has brought me thus
+in peril of my life."  Then she said to the damsel, "O Num, dost
+thou love thy lord Nimeh?"  And she replied, "O my lady, it is
+the love of him that has wasted my body and brought me to evil
+case."  "By Allah," rejoined the princess, "since ye love each
+other thus, may he not live who would sunder you!  Take heart and
+be of good cheer." At this they both rejoiced, and Num, calling
+for a lute, tuned it and preluded enchantingly, then sang the
+following verses:
+
+Whenas, content with nothing less, the spies our sev'rance
+     sought, Allbe no debt of blood they had 'gainst me or thee
+     in aught,
+Whenas they poured upon our ears the hurtling din of war, Whilst
+     helpers and protectors failed and succour came there nought,
+I fought the railers with my tears, my spirit and thine eyes;
+     Yea, with the torrent, fire and sword, to fend them off I
+     wrought.
+
+Then she gave the lute to Nimeh, saying, "Sing thou to us."  So
+he took it and playing a lively measure, sang these verses:
+
+The moon were like thee at its full, were it of freckles free,
+     And did it never brook eclipse, the sun would favour thee.
+Indeed, I marvel, (but in love how many a marvel is! Therein are
+     passion and desire and cares and ecstasy,)
+Short seems the distance, when I fare towards my love's abode;
+     But when I journey from her sight, the way is long to me.
+
+When he had made an end of his song, Num filled the cup and gave
+it to him, and he drank it off; then she filled again and gave
+the cup to the princess, who took it and emptied it; after which
+she in her turn took the lute and sang as follows:
+
+Mourning and grief possess my heart and in my breast The ardour
+     of desire abideth as a guest.
+The wasting of my frame, alas! is manifest And all my soul is
+     sick with passion and unrest.
+
+Then she filled the cup and gave it to Num, who drank  it off and
+taking the lute, sang the following verses:
+
+O thou, upon whom I bestowed my soul and thou rack'dst it to
+     death And I would have ta'en it again, but could not release
+     it i' faith,
+Relent to a lover forlorn; vouchsafe him, I pray, ere he die,
+     What may from perdition redeem, for this is the last of his
+     breath.
+
+They ceased not to sing and make merry and drink to the sweet
+sound of the strings, full of mirth and joyance and good cheer,
+till, behold, in came the Commander of the Faithful.  When they
+saw him, they rose and kissed the ground before him; and he,
+seeing Num with the lute in her hand, said to her, "O Num,
+praised be God who hath done away from thee pain and affliction!"
+Then he looked at Nimeh (who was still disguised as a woman) and
+said to the princess, "O my sister, what damsel is this by Num's
+side?"  "O Commander of the Faithful," answered she, "she is one
+of thy slave-girls and the bosom friend of Num, who will neither
+eat nor drink without her."  And she repeated the words of the
+poet:
+
+Two opposites, dissevered still in charms and straitly knit, And
+     each one's beauty brightlier shows against its opposite.
+
+"By the Great God," said the Khalif, "she is as handsome as Num,
+and to-morrow, I will appoint her a separate chamber beside that
+of Num and send her furniture and linen and all that befits her,
+in honour of Num."  Then, the princess called for food and set it
+before her brother, who ate and filling a cup, signed to Num to
+sing.  So she took the lute, after drinking two cups, and sang
+the following verses:
+
+Whenas my cup-companion hath poured me out of wine Three foaming
+     cups, brimmed over with nectar from the vine,
+I trail my skirts in glory all night, as if o'er thee, Commander
+     of the Faithful, the empery were mine.
+
+The Khalif was delighted and filling another cup, gave it to Num
+and bade her sing again.  So she drank off the cup, and sweeping
+the strings of the lute, sang as follows:
+
+O thou, the noblest man of men that live in this our day, Whose
+     equal none may boast himself in power and mightiness,
+O all unpeered in pride of place, to whom munificence Is as a
+     birthright, Lord and King, whom all in all confess,
+Thou, that dost lord it, sovran-wise, o'er all the kings of earth
+     And without grudging or reproach, giv'st bountiful largesse,
+God have thee ever in His guard, despite thine every foe, And be
+     thy fortune ever bright with victory and success!
+
+When the Khalif heard this, he exclaimed, "By Allah, it is good!
+By Allah, it is excellent!  Verily, God hath been good to thee, O
+Num!  How sweet is thy voice and how clear thy speech!"  They
+passed the time thus in mirth and good cheer, till midnight, when
+the Khalif's sister said to him, "O Commander of the Faithful,
+give ear to a tale I have read in books of a certain man of
+rank."  "And what is this tale?" asked he.  "Know," said she,
+"that there lived once in the city of Cufa, a youth called Nimeh
+ben er Rebya, and he had a slave-girl whom he loved and who loved
+him.  They had been reared in one bed; but when they grew up and
+mutual love took possession of them, fate smote them with its
+calamities and decreed separation unto them.  For designing folk
+enticed her by sleight forth of his house and stealing her away
+from him, sold her to one of the Kings for ten thousand dinars.
+Now the girl loved her lord even as he loved her; so he left
+house and home and fortune and setting out in quest of her, made
+shift, at the peril of his life, to gain access to her; but they
+had not been long in company, when in came the King, who had
+bought her of her ravisher, and hastily bade put them to death,
+without waiting to enquire into the matter, as was just.  What
+sayest thou, O Commander of the Faithful, of this King's
+conduct?"  "This was indeed a strange thing," answered the
+Khalif; "it behoved the King to use his power with clemency, and
+he should have considered three things in their favour; first,
+that they loved one another; secondly, that they were in his
+house and under his hand; and thirdly, that it behoves a King to
+be deliberate in judging between the folk, and how much more so
+when he himself is concerned!  Wherefore the King in this did
+unkingly."  Then said his sister, "O my brother by the Lord of
+heaven and earth, I conjure thee, bid Num sing and give ear to
+that she shall sing!"  And he said, "O Num, sing to me."  So she
+played a lively measure and sang the following verses:
+
+Fortune hath played the traitor; indeed, 'twas ever so,
+     Transpiercing hearts and bosoms and kindling care and woe
+And parting friends in sunder, that were in union knit, So down
+     their cheeks thou seest the tears in torrents flow.
+They were, and I was with them, in all delight of life, And
+     fortune did unite us full straitly whiles ago.
+So gouts of blood, commingled with tears, both night and day I'll
+     weep, my sore affliction for loss of thee to show.
+
+When he heard this, he was moved to great delight, and his sister
+said to him, "O my brother, he who decideth in aught against
+himself, it behoveth him to abide by it and do according to his
+word; and thou hast by this judgment decided against thyself."
+Then said she, "O Nimeh, stand up, and do thou likewise, O Num!"
+So they stood up and she continued, "O Commander of the Faithful,
+she who stands before thee is Num, whom El Hejjaj ben Yousuf eth
+Thekefi stole and sent to thee, falsely pretending in his letter
+to thee that he had bought her for ten thousand dinars.  This
+other is her lord, Nimeh ben er Rebya; and I beseech thee, by the
+honour of thy pious forefathers and by Hemzeh and Akil and
+Abbes,[FN#85] to pardon them and bestow them one on the other,
+that thou mayst earn the recompense in the next world of thy
+just dealing with them; for they are under thy hand and have
+eaten of thy meat and drunken of thy drink; and behold, I make
+intercession for them and beg of thee the boon of their lives."
+"Thou sayst sooth," replied the Khalif, "I did indeed give
+judgment as thou sayst, and I use not to go back on my word."
+Then said he, "O Num, is this thy lord?"  And she answered, "Yes,
+O Commander of the Faithful."  "No harm shall befall you," said
+he; "I give you to one another."  Then he said to the young man,
+"O Nimeh, who told thee where she was and taught thee how to get
+at her?"  "O Commander of the Faithful," replied he, "give ear to
+my story; for by the virtue of thy pious forefathers, I will hide
+nothing from thee!"  And he told him all that had passed between
+himself and the Persian physician and the old woman and how she
+had brought him into the palace and he had mistaken one door for
+another; whereat the Khalif wondered exceedingly and said, "Fetch
+me the Persian."  So they fetched him and he made him one of his
+chief officers.  Moreover, he bestowed on him robes of honour and
+ordered him a handsome present, saying, "Him, who has shown such
+good sense and skill in his ordinance, it behoves us to make one
+of our chief officers."  He also loaded Nimeh and Num with gifts
+and honours and rewarded the old woman; and they abode with him
+in joy and content and all delight of life seven days; at the end
+of which time Nimeh craved leave to return to Cufa with his
+slave-girl.  The Khalif gave leave and they departed accordingly
+and arrived in due course at Cufa, where Nimeh foregathered with
+his father and mother, and they abode in the enjoyment of all the
+delights and comforts of life, till there came to them the
+Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies.'
+
+                 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
+
+The princes wondered mightily at Behram's story and said, 'By
+Allah, this is indeed a rare story!'  They passed the night thus,
+and next morning, Amjed and Asaad mounted and riding to the
+palace, sought an audience of the King, who received them with
+honour.  As they sat talking, of a sudden they heard the
+townsfolk crying aloud and shouting to one another and calling
+for help, and the chamberlain came in to the King and said to
+him, 'Some King hath encamped before the city, he and his army,
+with arms displayed, and we know not who they are nor what they
+seek.'  The King took counsel with his Vizier and Asaad, and
+Amjed said, 'I will go out to him and learn the cause of his
+coming.'  So he took horse and riding forth the city, repaired to
+the stranger's camp, where he found the King and with him many
+soldiers and mounted officers.  When the guards saw him, they
+knew him for an ambassador from the King of the city; so they
+took him and brought him to their King.  Amjed kissed the ground
+before him; but lo, the King was a queen, who wore a chin-band
+over her face, and she said to Amjed, 'Know that I have no design
+on your city and am only come hither in quest of a beardless
+slave of mine, whom if I find with you, I will do you no hurt;
+but if I find him not, then shall there befall sore battle
+between you and me.'  'O Queen,' asked Amjed, 'what is thy
+slave's name and what like is he?'  Said she, 'His name is Asaad
+and he is of such and such a favour.  My name is Merjaneh, and
+this slave came to my town in company of Behram, a Magian, who
+refused to sell him to me; so I took him by force, but the Magian
+fell upon him by night and took him away by stealth.'  When Amjed
+heard this he knew that it was his brother Asaad whom she sought
+and said to her, 'O Queen of the age, praised be God who hath
+brought us relief!  Know that he whom thou seekest is my
+brother.'  Then he told her their story and all that had befallen
+them in the land of exile, and acquainted her with the cause of
+their departure from the Islands of Ebony, whereat she marvelled
+and rejoiced to have found Asaad.  So she bestowed a dress of
+honour upon Amjed, and he returned to the King and told him what
+had passed, at which they all rejoiced and the King and the two
+princes went forth to meet Queen Merjaneh.  They were admitted to
+her presence and sat down to converse with her, but as they were
+thus engaged, behold, a cloud of dust arose and grew, till it
+covered the landscape.  Presently, it lifted and discovered an
+army, in numbers like the swollen sea, armed cap-a-pie, who,
+making for the city with naked swords, encompassed it as the ring
+encompasses the little finger.  When Amjed and Asaad saw this,
+they exclaimed, 'We are God's and to Him we return.  What is this
+great army?  Doubtless, these are enemies; and except we agree
+with this Queen Merjaneh to resist them, they will take the town
+from us and slay us.  There is nothing for us but to go out to
+them and see who they are.'  So Amjed mounted and passing through
+Queen Merjaneh's camp, came to the approaching army and was
+admitted to the presence of their King, to whom he delivered his
+message, after kissing the earth before him.  Quoth the King, 'I
+am called King Ghaiour, lord of the Islands and the Seas and the
+Seven Castles, and am come out in quest of my daughter Budour, of
+whom fortune hath bereft me; for she left me and returned not to
+me, nor have I heard any news of her or her husband Kemerezzeman.
+Have ye any tidings of them?'  When Amjed heard this, he knew
+that this King was none other than his grandfather, his mother's
+father, and kissing the earth before him, told him that he was
+the son of his daughter Budour; whereupon Ghaiour threw himself
+upon him and they both fell a-weeping.  Then said Ghaiour,
+'Praised be God, O my son, for safety, since I have foregathered
+with thee!'  And Amjed told him that his daughter Budour and her
+husband Kemerezzeman were well and abode in a city called the
+City of Ebony.  Moreover, he related to him how his father, being
+wroth with him and his brother, had commanded his treasurer to
+put them to death, but that the latter had taken pity on them and
+let them go with their lives.  Quoth King Ghaiour, 'I will go
+back with thee and thy brother to your father and make your peace
+with him.'  Amjed kissed the ground before him and the King
+bestowed a dress of honour upon him, after which he returned,
+smiling, to the King of the city of the Magians and told him what
+he had learnt, at which he wondered exceedingly.  Then he
+despatched guest-gifts of sheep and horses and camels and
+provender and so forth to King Ghaiour and the like to Queen
+Merjaneh and told her what had chanced, whereupon quoth she, 'I
+too will accompany you with my troops and will do my endeavour to
+make peace [between the princes and their father.]' At this
+moment, there arose another cloud of dust and spread, till it
+covered the prospect and darkened the day; and under it, they
+heard shouts and cries and neighing of horses and saw the sheen
+of swords and the glint of lance-points.  When this new host drew
+near the city and saw the two other armies, they beat their drums
+and the King of the Magians exclaimed, 'This is indeed a blessed
+day!  Praised be God who hath made us of accord with these two
+armies!  If it be His will, He will give us peace with yon other
+also.'  Then said he to Amjed and Asaad, 'Go forth and bring us
+news of them, for they are a mighty host, never saw I a
+mightier.'  So they opened the city gates, which the King had
+shut for fear of the surrounding troops, and Amjed and Asaad went
+forth and coming to the new host, found that it was the army of
+the King of the Ebony Islands, led by their father, King
+Kemerezzeman in person.  When they came before him, they kissed
+the earth and wept; but, when he saw them, he threw himself upon
+them, weeping sore, and strained them long to his breast.  Then
+he excused himself to them and told them how sore desolation he
+had suffered for their loss; and they acquainted him with King
+Ghaiour's arrival, whereupon he mounted with his chief officers
+and proceeded to the King of China's camp, he and his sons.  As
+they drew near, one of the princes rode forward and informed King
+Ghaiour of Kemerezzeman's coming, whereupon he came out to meet
+him and they joined company, marvelling at these things and
+how Fortune had ordered their encounter in that place.  Then
+the townsfolk made them banquets of all manner of meats and
+confections and brought them sheep and horses and camels and
+fodder and other guest-gifts and all that the troops needed.
+Presently, behold, yet another cloud of dust arose and spread
+till it covered the landscape, whilst the earth shook with the
+tramp of horse and the drums sounded like the storm-winds.  After
+awhile, the dust lifted and discovered an army clad in black and
+armed cap-a-pie, and in their midst rode a very old man clad
+also in black, whose beard flowed down over his breast.  When the
+King of the city saw this great host, he said to the other Kings,
+'Praised be God the Most High, by whose leave ye are met here,
+all in one day, and proved all known one to the other!  But what
+vast army is this that covers the country?'  'Have no fear of
+them,' answered they; 'we are here three Kings, each with a great
+army, and if they be enemies, we will join thee in doing battle
+with them, were three times their number added to them.'  As they
+were talking, up came an envoy from the approaching host, making
+for the city.  They brought him before the four Kings and he
+kissed the earth and said, 'The King my master comes from the
+land of the Persians; many years ago he lost his son and is
+seeking him in all countries.  If he find him with you, well and
+good; but if he find him not, there will be war between him and
+you, and he will lay waste your city.'  'That shall he not,'
+rejoined Kemerezzeman; 'but how is thy master called in the land
+of the Persians?'  'He is called King Shehriman, lord of the
+Khalidan Islands,' answered the envoy; 'and he hath levied these
+troops in the lands traversed by him, whilst seeking his son.'
+When Kemerezzeman heard his father's name, he gave a great cry
+and fell down in a swoon; then, presently coming to himself, he
+wept sore and said to Amjed and Asaad, 'Go, O my sons, with the
+messenger: salute your grandfather, King Shehriman, and give him
+glad tidings of me, for he mourns my loss and even now wears
+black for my sake.'  Then he told the other Kings all that had
+befallen him in his youth, at which they all wondered and
+mounting with him, repaired to his father, whom he saluted, and
+they embraced and fell down in a swoon, for excess of joy.  When
+they revived, Kemerezzeman acquainted his father with all his
+adventures, and the other Kings saluted Shehriman.  Then they
+married Merjaneh to Asaad and sent her back to her kingdom,
+charging her not to leave them without news of her.  Moreover,
+Amjed took Bustan, Behram's daughter, to wife, and they all set
+out for the City of Ebony.  When they arrived there, Kemerezzeman
+went in to his father-in-law, King Armanous, and told him all
+that had befallen him and how he had found his sons; whereat
+Armanous rejoiced and gave him joy of his safe return.  Then King
+Ghaiour went in to his daughter, Queen Budour, and satisfied his
+longing for her company, and they all abode a month's space in
+the City of Ebony; after which the King of China and his daughter
+returned to their own country with their company, taking prince
+Amjed with them, whom, as soon as Ghaiour was settled again in
+his kingdom, he made king in his stead.  Moreover, Kemerezzeman
+made Asaad king in his room over the Ebony Islands, with the
+consent of his grandfather, King Armanous, and set out himself,
+with his father, King Shehriman, for the Islands of Khalidan.
+The people of the capital decorated the city in their honour and
+they ceased not to beat the drums for glad tidings a whole month;
+nor did Kemerezzeman leave to govern in his father's room, till
+there overtook them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of
+Companies."
+
+"O Shehrzad," said King Shehriyar, "this is indeed a right
+wonderful story!"  "O King," answered she, "it is not more
+wonderful than that of Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat."  "What is
+that?" asked he, and she said, "I have heard tell, O august King,
+that
+
+
+
+
+                   ALAEDDIN ABOU ESH SHAMAT.
+
+
+
+There lived once in Cairo, of old time, a merchant named
+Shemseddin, who was of the best and truest-spoken of the traders
+of the city and had great store of money and goods and slaves and
+servants, white and black and male and female. Moreover, he was
+Provost of the Merchants of Cairo and had a wife, whom he loved
+and who loved him; but he had lived with her forty years, yet had
+not been blessed with son or daughter by her. One Friday, as he
+sat in his shop, he noted that each of the merchants had a son or
+two or more, sitting in shops like their fathers. Presently, he
+entered the bath and made the Friday ablution; after which he
+came out and took the barber's glass, saying, 'I testify that
+there is no god but God and that Mohammed is His Apostle!' Then
+he looked at his beard and seeing that the white hairs in it
+outnumbered the black, bethought himself that hoariness is the
+harbinger of death. Now his wife knew the time of his coming and
+had washed and made ready for him; so when he came in to her, she
+said, 'Good even;' but he replied, 'I see no good.' Then she
+called for the evening meal and said to her husband, 'Eat, O my
+lord.' Quoth he, 'I will eat nothing,' and pushing the table away
+with his foot, turned his back to her. 'Why dost thou thus?' said
+she. 'What has vexed thee?' And he answered, 'Thou art the cause
+of my vexation.' 'How so?' asked she. 'This morning,' replied he,
+'when I opened my shop, I saw that each of the other merchants
+had a son or two or more, and I said to myself, "He who took thy
+father will not spare thee." Now the night I wedded thee, thou
+madest me swear that I would never take a second wife nor a
+concubine, Abyssinian or Greek or other, nor would lie a night
+from thee: and behold, thou art barren, and swiving thee is like
+boring into the rock.' 'God is my witness,' rejoined she, 'that
+the fault lies with thee, for that thy seed is thin.' 'And how is
+it with him whose seed is thin?' asked he, and she, 'He cannot
+get women with child nor beget children.' 'What thickens seed?'
+asked he. 'Tell me and I will try it: haply, it will thicken
+mine.' Quoth she, 'Enquire for it of the druggists.' They slept
+that night and arose on the morrow, repenting each of having
+spoken angrily to the other. Then he went to the market and
+accosting a druggist, said to him, 'Hast thou wherewithal to
+thicken the seed?' 'I had it, but am spent of it,' answered the
+druggist; 'ask my neighbour.' So Shemseddin made the round of the
+bazaar, till he had asked every one; but they all laughed at him
+and he returned to his shop and sat down, troubled. Now there was
+in the market a man called Sheikh Mohammed Semsem, who was syndic
+of the brokers and was given to the use of opium and bang and
+hashish. He was poor and used to wish Shemseddin good morrow
+every day; so he came to him according to his wont and saluted
+him. The merchant returned his salute, and the other, seeing him
+vexed, said to him, 'O my lord, what hath crossed thee?' Quoth
+Shemseddin, 'These forty years have I been married to my wife,
+yet hath she borne me neither son nor daughter; and I am told
+that the cause of my failure to get her with child is the
+thinness of my seed; so I have been seeking wherewithal to
+thicken it, but found it not.' 'I have a thickener,' said Sheikh
+Mohammed; 'but what wilt thou say to him who makes thy wife
+conceive by thee, after forty years' barrenness? 'An thou do
+this,' answered the merchant, 'I will largely reward thee.' 'Then
+give me a dinar,' rejoined the broker, and Shemseddin said, 'Take
+these two dinars.' He took them and said, 'Give me also yonder
+bowl of porcelain.' So he gave it him, and the broker betook
+himself to a hashish-seller, of whom he bought two ounces of
+concentrated Turkish opium and equal parts of Chinese cubebs,
+cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, white pepper, ginger and mountain
+lizard[FN#86] and pounding them all together, boiled them in
+sweet oil; after which he added three ounces of frankincense and
+a cupful or coriander-seed and macerating the whole, made it into
+a paste with Greek honey. Then he put the electuary in the bowl
+and carried it to the merchant, to whom he delivered it, saying,
+'This is the seed-thickener, and the manner of using it is this.
+Make the evening-meal of mutton and house-pigeon, plentifully
+seasoned and spiced; then take of this electuary with a spoon
+and wash it down with a draught of boiled date-wine.' So the
+merchant bought mutton and pigeons and sent them to his wife,
+bidding her dress them well and lay up the electuary till he
+should call for it. She did as he bade her and he ate the
+evening-meal, after which he called for the bowl and ate of the
+electuary. It liked him well, so he ate the rest and lay with his
+wife. That very night she conceived by him and after three
+months, her courses ceased and she knew that she was with child.
+When the days of her pregnancy were accomplished, the pangs
+of labour took her and they raised cries of joy. The midwife
+delivered her with difficulty [of a son], then, taking the new-
+born child, she pronounced over him the names of Mohammed and Ali
+and said, 'God is Most Great!' Moreover, she called in his ear
+the call to prayer; then swathed him and gave him to his mother,
+who took him and put him to her breast; and he sucked his full
+and slept. The midwife abode with them three days, till they had
+made the mothering-cakes and sweetmeats; and they distributed
+them on the seventh day. Then they sprinkled salt[FN#87] and the
+merchant, going in to his wife, gave her joy of her safe delivery
+and said, 'Where is the gift of God?' So they brought him a babe
+of surpassing beauty, the handiwork of the Ever-present Orderer
+of all things, whoever saw him would have deemed him a yearling
+child, though he was but seven days old. Shemseddin looked on his
+face and seeing it like a shining full moon, with moles on both
+cheeks, said to his wife, 'What hast thou named him?' 'If it were
+a girl,' answered she, 'I had named her; but it is a boy, so none
+shall name him but thou.' Now the people of that time used to
+name their children by omens; and whilst the merchant and his
+wife were taking counsel of the name, they heard one say to his
+friend, 'Harkye, my lord Alaeddin!' So the merchant said, 'We
+will call him Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.'[FN#88] Then he committed
+the child to the nurses, and he drank milk two years, after which
+they weaned him and he grew up and throve and walked upon the
+earth. When he came to seven years old, they put him in a chamber
+under the earth, for fear of the evil eye, and his father said,
+'He shall not come out, till his beard grows.' And he gave him in
+charge to a slave-girl and a black slave; the former dressed him
+his meals and the latter carried them to him. Then his father
+circumcised him and made him a great feast; after which he
+brought him a doctor of the law, who taught him to write and
+repeat the Koran and other parts of knowledge, till he became an
+accomplished scholar. One day, the slave, after bringing him the
+tray of food, went away and forgot to shut the trap-door after
+him: so Alaeddin came forth and went in to his mother, with whom
+was a company of women of rank. As they sat talking, in came he
+upon them, as he were a drunken white slave,[FN#89] for the
+excess of his beauty; and when they saw him, they veiled their
+faces and said to his mother, 'God requite thee, O such an one!
+How canst thou let this strange slave in upon us? Knowest thou
+not that modesty is a point of the Faith?' 'Pronounce the name of
+God,'[FN#90] answered she. 'This is my son, the darling of my
+heart and the son of the Provost Shemseddin.' Quoth they, 'We
+never knew that thou hadst a son:' and she, 'His father feared
+the evil eye for him and shut him up in a chamber under the
+earth, nor did we mean that he should come out, before his beard
+was grown; but it would seem as if the slave had unawares left
+the door open, and he hath come out.' The women gave her joy of
+him, and he went out from them into the courtyard, where he
+seated himself in the verandah.[FN#91] Presently, in came the
+slaves with his father's mule, and he said to them, 'Whence comes
+this mule?' Quoth they, 'Thy father rode her to the shop, and we
+have brought her back.' 'And what is my father's trade?' asked
+he. And they replied, 'He is Provost of the merchants of Cairo
+and Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs.' Then he went in to his
+mother and said to her, 'O my mother, what is my father's trade?'
+Said she, 'He is a merchant and Provost of the merchants of Cairo
+and Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs. His slaves consult him not
+in selling aught whose price is less than a thousand dinars, but
+sell it at their own discretion; nor doth any merchandise, little
+or much, enter or leave Cairo, without passing through his hands;
+for, O my son, God the Most Great hath given thy father wealth
+past count.' 'Praised be God,' exclaimed he, 'that I am son of
+the Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs and that my father is Provost
+of the merchants! But why, O my mother, did you put me in the
+underground chamber and leave me prisoner there?' 'O my son,'
+answered she, 'we did this for fear of (men's) eyes, for it is
+true that the evil eye hath power to harm and the most part of
+the sojourners in the tombs are of its victims.' 'O my mother,'
+rejoined he, 'where is a place of refuge against destiny? Verily,
+taking care estoppeth not fate nor is there any escape from that
+which is written. He who took my grandfather will not spare
+myself nor my father; for, though he live to-day, he shall not
+live to-morrow. And when my father dies and I come forth and say,
+"I am Alaeddin, son of Shemseddin the merchant," none of the
+people will believe me, but the aged will say, "Never in our
+lives saw we a son or a daughter of Shemseddin." Then the
+Treasury will come down and take my father's estate; and may
+Allah have mercy on him who saith, "The noble dies and his wealth
+passes away and the meanest of men take his women." So do thou, O
+my mother, speak to my father, that he take me with him to the
+market and set me up in a shop with merchandise and teach me to
+buy and sell and give and take.' 'O my son,' answered his mother,
+'when thy father returns, I will tell him this.' So when the
+merchant came home, he found his son sitting with his mother and
+said to her, 'Why hast thou brought him forth of the underground
+chamber?' 'O my cousin,' answered she, 'it was not I that brought
+him out; but the servants forgot to shut the door and left it
+open; so he came forth and came in to me, as I sat with a company
+of women of rank.' And she went on to repeat to him what the boy
+had said; and Shemseddin said to the latter, 'O my son, to-
+morrow, God willing, I will take thee with me to the market; but
+I would have thee know that the commerce of the markets and the
+shops demands good manners and an accomplished carriage in all
+conditions.' So Alaeddin passed the night, rejoicing in his
+father's promise; and on the morrow the merchant carried him to
+the bath and clad him in a suit worth much money. As soon as they
+had broken their fast and drunken sherbets, Shemseddin mounted
+his mule and rode to the market, followed by his son; but when
+the market-folk saw their Provost making towards them, followed
+by a youth as he were a piece of the moon on its fourteenth
+night, they said, one to another, 'See yonder boy behind the
+Provost of the merchants. Verily, we thought well of him; but he
+is like the leek, grayheaded and green at the heart.' And Sheikh
+Mohammed Semsem before mentioned, the Deputy of the market, said,
+'O merchants, never will we accept the like of him for our
+chief.' Now it was the custom, when the Provost came from his
+house and sat down in his shop of a morning, for the Deputy of
+the market and the rest of the merchants to go in a body to his
+ship and recite to him the opening chapter of the Koran, after
+which they wished him good morrow and went away, each to his
+shop. Shemseddin seated himself in his shop as usual, but the
+merchants come not to him as of wont; so he called the Deputy and
+said to him, 'Why come not the merchants together as usual?' 'I
+know not how to tell thee,' answered Mohammed Semsem; 'for they
+have agreed to depose thee from the headship of the market and to
+recite the first chapter to thee no more.' 'And why so?' asked
+Shemseddin. 'What boy is this that sits beside thee,' asked the
+Deputy, 'and thou a man of years and chief of the merchants? Is
+he a slave or akin to thy wife? Verily, I think thou lovest him
+and inclinest [unlawfully] to the boy.' With this, the Provost
+cried out at him, saying, 'God confound thee, hold thy peace!
+This is my son.' 'Never knew we that thou hadst a son,' rejoined
+the Deputy; and Shemseddin answered, 'When thou gavest me the
+seed-thickener, my wife conceived and bore this youth, whom I
+reared in a chamber under the earth, for fear of the evil eye,
+nor was it my purpose that he should come forth, till he could
+take his beard in his hand. However, his mother would not agree
+to this, and he would have me bring him to the market and stock
+him a shop and teach him to sell and buy.' So the Deputy returned
+to the other merchants and acquainted them with the truth of
+the case, whereupon they all arose and going in a body to
+Shemseddin's shop, stood before him and recited the first chapter
+of the Koran to him; after which they gave him joy of his son and
+said to him, 'God prosper root and branch! But even the poorest
+of us, when son or daughter is born to him, needs must he make a
+pot of custard and bid his friends and acquaintances; yet thou
+hast not done this.' Quoth he, 'This is your due from me; be our
+rendezvous in the garden.' So next morning, he sent the carpet-
+layer to the pavilion in the garden and bade him furnish it.
+Moreover, he sent thither all that was needful for cooking, such
+as sheep and butter and so forth, and spread two tables, one in
+the saloon and another in the upper chamber. Then he and his son
+girded themselves, and he said to the latter, 'O my son, when a
+graybeard enters, I will meet him and carry him into the upper
+chamber and seat him at the table; and do thou, in like manner,
+receive the beardless youths and seat them at the table in the
+saloon.' 'O my father,' asked Alaeddin, 'why dost thou spread two
+tables, one for men and another for youths?' 'O my son,' answered
+Shemseddin, 'the beardless boy is ashamed to eat with men.' And
+his son was content with this answer. So when the merchants
+arrived, Shemseddin received the men and seated them in the upper
+chamber, whilst Alaeddin received the youths and seated them in
+the saloon. Then the servants set on food and the guests ate and
+drank and made merry, whilst the attendants served them with
+sherbets and perfumed them with the fragrant smoke of scented
+woods; and the elders fell to conversing of matters of science
+and tradition. Now there was amongst them a merchant called
+Mehmoud of Balkh, a Muslim by profession but at heart a Magian, a
+man of lewd life, who had a passion for boys. He used to buy
+stuffs and merchandise of Alaeddin's father; and when he saw the
+boy, one look at his face cost him a thousand sighs and Satan
+dangled the jewel before his eyes, so that he was taken with
+desire and mad passion for him and his heart was filled with love
+of him. So he arose and made for the youths, who rose to receive
+him. At this moment, Alaeddin, being taken with an urgent
+occasion, withdrew to make water; whereupon Mehmoud turned to the
+other youths and said to them, 'If ye will incline Alaeddin's
+mind to journeying with me, I will give each of you a dress worth
+much money.' Then he returned to the men's party; and when
+Alaeddin came back, the youths rose to receive him and seated him
+in the place of honour. Presently, one of them said to his
+neighbour, 'O my lord Hassan, tell me how thou camest by the
+capital on which thou tradest.' 'When I came to man's estate,'
+answered Hassan, 'I said to my father, "O my father, give me
+merchandise." "O my son," answered he, "I have none by me: but go
+thou to some merchant and take of him money and traffic with it
+and learn to buy and sell and give and take." So I went to one of
+the merchants and borrowed of him a thousand dinars, with which I
+bought stuffs and carrying them to Damascus, sold them there at a
+profit of two for one. Then I bought Syrian stuffs and carrying
+them to Aleppo, disposed of them there at a like profit; after
+which I bought stuffs of Aleppo and repaired with them to
+Baghdad, where I sold them with the same result; nor did I cease
+to buy and sell, till I was worth nigh ten thousand dinars.' Each
+of the others told a like tale, till it came to Alaeddin's turn,
+when they said to him, 'And thou, O my lord Alaeddin?' Quoth he,
+'I was brought up in a chamber underground and came forth from it
+but this week and I do but go to the shop and return home.' 'Thou
+art used to abide at home,' rejoined they, 'and knowest not the
+delight of travel, for travel is for men only.' 'I reck not of
+travel,' answered he, 'and value ease above all things.'
+Whereupon quoth one to the other, 'This youth is like the fish:
+when he leaves the water he dies.' Then they said to him, 'O
+Alaeddin, the glory of the sons of the merchants is not but in
+travel for the sake of gain.' Their talk angered him and he left
+them, weeping-eyed and mourning-hearted, and mounting his mule,
+returned home. When his mother saw him thus, she said to him,
+'What ails thee to weep, O my son?' And he answered, 'All the
+sons of the merchants made mock of me and said to me, "There is
+no glory for a merchant's son save in travel for gain."' 'O my
+son,' rejoined she, 'hast thou a mind for travel?' 'Yes,' said
+he. 'And whither wilt thou go?' asked she. 'To the city of
+Baghdad,' answered he; 'for there folk make a profit of two to
+one on their goods.' 'O my son,' said she, 'thy father is a very
+rich man, and if he provide thee not with merchandise, I will do
+so of my own monies.' Quoth he, 'The best of favours is that
+which is quickly bestowed; if it is to be, now is the time for
+it.' So she called the servants and sent them for packers; then
+opening a store-house, brought out ten loads of stuffs, which the
+packers made up into bales for him. Meanwhile Shemseddin missed
+his son and enquiring after him, was told that he had mounted and
+gone home; so he too mounted and followed him. When he entered
+the house, he saw the bales packed ready and asked what they
+were; whereupon his wife told him what had passed between
+Alaeddin and the young merchants and he said, 'O my son, may God
+curse foreign travel! Verily, the Prophet (whom God bless and
+preserve) hath said, "It is of a man's good fortune that he have
+his livelihood in his own land;" and it was said of the ancients,
+"Leave travel, though but for a mile."' Then he said to his son,
+'Art thou indeed resolved to travel and wilt thou not turn back
+from it?' 'Needs must I journey to Baghdad with merchandise,'
+answered Alaeddin, 'else will I put off my clothes and don a
+dervish's habit and go a-wandering over the world.' Quoth
+Shemseddin, 'I am no lackgood, but have great plenty of wealth
+and with me are stuffs and merchandise befitting every country in
+the world.' Then he showed him his goods and amongst the rest,
+forth bales ready packed, with the price, a thousand dinars,
+written on each, and said to him, 'Take these forty loads,
+together with those thy mother gave thee, and set out under the
+safeguard of God the Most High. But, O my son, I fear for thee a
+certain wood in thy way, called the Lion's Copse, and a valley
+called the Valley of Dogs, for there lives are lost without
+mercy.' 'How so?' asked Alaeddin. 'Because of a Bedouin
+highwayman, hight Ajlan,' answered his father, 'who harbours
+there.' Quoth Alaeddin, 'Fortune is with God; if any part in it
+be mine, no harm will befall me.' Then they rode to the cattle
+market, where a muleteer alighted from his mule and kissing the
+Provost's hand, said to him, 'O my lord, by Allah, it is long
+since thou hast employed me to carry merchandise for thee!'
+'Every time hath its fortune and its men,' answered Shemseddin;
+'and may God have mercy on him who said:
+
+An old man went walking the ways of the world, So bowed and so
+     bent that his beard swept his knee.
+"What makes thee go doubled this fashion?" quoth I. He answered
+     (and spread out his hands unto me),
+"My youth hath escaped me; 'tis lost in the dust, And I bend me
+     to seek it, where'er it may be."
+
+O captain,'[FN#92] added he, 'it is not I, but this my son that
+is minded to travel.' 'God preserve his to thee!' said the
+muleteer. Then Shemseddin made a contract between Alaeddin and
+the muleteer, appointing that the former should be to the latter
+as a son, and gave him into his charge, saying, 'Take these
+hundred dinars for thy men.' Moreover, he bought his son
+threescore mules and a lamp and covering of honour for the tomb
+of Sheikh Abdulcadir el Jilani[FN#93] and said to him, 'O my son,
+I am leaving thee, and this is thy father in my stead: whatsoever
+he biddeth thee, do thou obey him.' So saying, he returned home
+with the mules and servants and they made recitations of the
+Koran and held a festival that night in honour of the Sheikh
+Abdulcadir. On the morrow, Shemseddin gave his son ten thousand
+dinars, saying, 'O my son, when thou comest to Baghdad, if thou
+find stuffs brisk of sale, sell them; but if they be dull, spend
+of these dinars.' Then they loaded the mules and taking leave of
+their friends, set out on their journey.
+
+Now Mehmoud of Balkh had made ready his own venture for Baghdad
+and set up his tents without the city, saying in himself, 'I
+shall not enjoy this youth but in the desert, where there is
+neither spy not spoil-sport to trouble me.' It chanced that he
+had in hand a thousand dinars of Shemseddin's monies, the balance
+of a dealing between them; so he went to the Provost and bade him
+farewell; and he said to him, 'Give the thousand dinars to my son
+Alaeddin,' and commended the latter to his care, saying, 'He is
+as it were thy son.' Accordingly, Alaeddin joined company with
+Mehmoud, who charged the youth's cook to dress nothing for him,
+but himself provided him and his company with meat and drink. Now
+he had four houses, one at Cairo, another at Damascus, a third at
+Aleppo and a fourth at Baghdad. So they set out and journeyed
+over deserts and plains, till they drew near Damascus, when
+Mehmoud sent his servant to Alaeddin, whom he found reading. He
+went up to him and kissed his hands, and Alaeddin asked him what
+he sought. 'My master salutes thee,' answered the slave, 'and
+craves thy company to a banquet in his house.' Quoth the youth,
+'I must consult my father Kemaleddin, the captain of the
+caravan.' So he consulted the muleteer, who said, 'Do not go.'
+Then they left Damascus and journeyed on till they came to
+Aleppo, where Mehmoud made a second entertainment and sent to bid
+Alaeddin; but the muleteer again forbade him. Then they departed
+Aleppo and fared on, till they came within a day's journey of
+Baghdad. Here Mehmoud repeated his invitation a third time and
+Kemaleddin once more forbade Alaeddin to accept it; but the
+latter said, 'I must needs go.' So he rose and girding on a sword
+under his clothes, repaired to the tent of Mehmoud of Balkh, who
+came to meet him and saluted him. Then he set a sumptuous repast
+before him, and they ate and drank and washed their hands.
+Presently, Mehmoud bent towards Alaeddin, to kiss him, but the
+youth received the kiss on his hand and said to him, 'What wilt
+thou do?' Quoth Mehmoud, 'I brought thee hither that I might do
+delight with thee in this jousting-ground, and we will comment
+the words of him who saith:
+
+Can't be thou wilt with us a momentling alight, Like to an
+     ewekin's milk or what not else of white,
+And cat what liketh thee of dainty wastel-bread And take what
+     thou mayst get of silver small and bright
+And bear off what thou wilt, sans grudging or constraint,
+     Spanling or full-told span or fistling filled outright?'
+
+Then he would have laid hands on Alaeddin; but he rose and
+drawing his sword, said to him, 'Shame on thy gray hairs! Hast
+thou no fear of God, and He of exceeding great might?[FN#94] May
+He have mercy on him who saith:
+
+Look thou thy hoariness preserve from aught that may it stain,
+     For whiteness still to take attaint is passing quick and
+     fain.
+
+This merchandise,' added he, 'is a trust from God and may not be
+sold. If I sold it to other than thee for gold, I would sell it
+thee for silver: but, by Allah, O filthy one, I will never again
+company with thee!' Then he returned to Kemaleddin and said to
+him, 'Yonder man is a lewd fellow and I will no longer consort
+with him nor suffer his company by the way.' 'O my son,' replied
+the muleteer, 'did I not forbid thee to go with him? But if we
+part company with him, I fear destruction for ourselves; so let
+us still make one caravan.' But Alaeddin said, 'It may not be: I
+will never again travel with him.' So he loaded his beasts and
+journeyed onward, he and his company, till they came to a valley,
+where Alaeddin would have halted, but the muleteer said to him,
+'Do not halt here; rather let us fare forward and quicken our
+pace, so haply we may reach Baghdad before the gates are
+closed, for they open and shut them with the sun, for fear the
+schismatics should take the city and throw the books of learning
+into the Tigris.' 'O my father,' replied Alaeddin, 'I came not to
+Baghdad with this merchandise, for the sake of traffic, but to
+divert myself with the sight of foreign lands.' And Kemaleddin
+rejoined, 'O my son, we fear for thee and for thy goods from the
+wild Arabs.' But he answered, 'Harkye, sirrah, art thou master or
+servant? I will not enter Baghdad till the morning, that the
+townsfolk may see my merchandise and know me.' 'Do as thou wilt,'
+said the muleteer; 'I have given thee good counsel, and thou must
+judge for thyself.' Then Alaeddin bade them unload the mules and
+pitch the tent; so they did his bidding and abode there till the
+middle of the night, when the youth went out to do an occasion
+and seeing something gleaming afar off, said to Kemaleddin, 'O
+captain, what is yonder glittering?' The muleteer sat up and
+considering it straitly, knew it for the glint of spear-heads and
+Bedouin swords and harness. Now this was a troop of Bedouins
+under a chief called Ajlan Abou Naib, Sheikh of the Arabs, and
+when the neared the camp and saw the baggage, they said, one to
+another, 'O night of booty!' Quoth Kemaleddin, 'Avaunt, O meanest
+of Arabs!' But Abou Naib smote him with his javelin in the
+breast, that the point came out gleaming from his back, and he
+fell down dead at the tent-door. Then cried the water-carrier,
+'Avaunt, O foulest of Arabs!' and one of them smote him with a
+sword upon the shoulder, that it issued shining from the tendons
+of the throat and he also fell slain. Then the Bedouins fell upon
+the caravan from all sides and slew the whole company except
+Alaeddin, after which they loaded the mules with the spoil and
+made off. Quoth Alaeddin to himself, 'Thy dress and mule will be
+the death of thee.' So he put off his cassock and threw it over
+the back of a mule, remaining in his shirt and drawers alone;
+after which he went to the door of the tent and finding there a
+pool of blood from the slain, rolled himself in it, till he was
+as a slain man, drowned in his blood. Meanwhile Ajlan said to his
+men, 'O Arabs, was this caravan bound from Egypt for Baghdad or
+from Baghdad for Egypt?' 'It was bound from Egypt for Baghdad,'
+answered they. 'Then,' said he, 'return to the slain, for
+methinks the owner of the caravan is not dead.' So they turned
+back and fell to larding the slain with lance and sword-thrusts,
+[lest any life were left in them,] till they came to Alaeddin,
+who had laid himself among the dead bodies. Quoth they, 'Thou
+dost but feign thyself dead, but we will make an end of thee.' So
+one of the Bedouins drew his javelin and should have plunged
+it into his breast. But he cried out, 'Save me, O my lord
+Abdulcadir!' and behold, he saw a hand turn the lance away from
+his breast to that of the muleteer, so that it pierced the latter
+and spared himself. Then the Bedouins made off; and when Alaeddin
+saw that the birds were flown with their purchase, he rose and
+set off running; but Abou Naib looked back and said, 'O Arabs, I
+see somewhat moving.' So one of the Bedouins turned back and
+spying Alaeddin running, called out to him, saying, 'Flight shall
+not avail thee, and we after thee;' and he smote his mare with
+his fist and pricked after him. Then Alaeddin, seeing before him
+a watering tank and a cistern beside it, climbed up into a niche
+in the cistern and stretching himself along, feigned sleep and
+said, 'O gracious Protector, cover me with the veil of Thy
+protection, that may not be torn away!' Presently, the Bedouin
+came up to the cistern and standing in his stirrups put out one
+hand to lay hold of Alaeddin; but he said 'Save me, O my lady
+Nefiseh![FN#95] Now is thy time!' And behold, a scorpion stung
+the Bedouin in the palm and he cried out, saying, 'Help, O Arabs!
+I am stung;' and fell off his mare. His comrades came up to him
+and set him on horseback again, saying, 'What hath befallen
+thee?' Quoth he, 'A scorpion stung me.' And they departed,
+leaving Alaeddin in the niche.
+
+Meanwhile, Mehmoud of Balkh loaded his beasts and fared on till
+he came to the Valley of Dogs, where he found Alaeddin's men
+lying slain. At this he rejoiced and went on till he reached the
+reservoir. Now his mule was athirst and turned aside to drink,
+but took fright at Alaeddin's shadow in the water and started;
+whereupon Mehmoud raised his eyes and seeing Alaeddin lying in
+the niche, stripped to his shirt and trousers, said to him, 'Who
+hath dealt thus with thee and left thee in this ill plight?' 'The
+Bedouins,' answered Alaeddin, and Mehmoud said, 'O my son, the
+mules and the baggage were thy ransom; so do thou comfort thyself
+with the saying of the poet:
+
+
+So but a man may win to save his soul alive from death, But as
+     the paring of his nail his wealth he reckoneth.
+
+But now, O my son,' continued he, 'come down and fear no hurt.'
+So he came down from the niche and Mehmoud mounted him on a mule
+and fared on with him, till they reached Baghdad, where he
+brought him to his own house and bade his servants carry him to
+the bath, saying to him, 'O my son, the goods and money were the
+ransom of thy life; but, if thou wilt harken to me, I will give
+thee the worth of that thou hast lost, twice told.' When he came
+out of the bath, Mehmoud carried him into a saloon with four
+estrades, decorated with gold, and let bring a tray of all manner
+meats. So they ate and drank and Mehmoud turned to Alaeddin and
+would have taken a kiss of him; but he received it upon his hand
+and said, 'Dost thou persist in thy evil designs upon me? Did I
+not tell thee that, were I wont to sell this merchandise to other
+than thee for gold, I would sell it thee for silver?' Quoth
+Mehmoud, 'I will give thee neither mule nor clothes nor
+merchandise save at this price; for I am mad for love of thee,
+and God bless him who said:
+
+
+Abou Bilal his saw of an object of love, Which from one of his
+     elders himself did derive
+"The lover's not healed of the pangs of desire By clips nor by
+     kisses, excepting he swive."
+
+'This may never be,' replied Alaeddin. 'Take back thy dress and
+thy mule and open the door, that I may go out.' So he opened the
+door, and Alaeddin went forth and walked on, with the dogs
+yelping at his heels, till he saw the door of a mosque open and
+going in, took shelter in the vestibule. Presently, he espied a
+light approaching and examining it, saw that it came from a pair
+of lanterns borne by two slaves before two merchants, an old man
+of comely aspect and a youth. He heard the latter say to the
+other, 'O my uncle, I conjure thee by Allah, give me back my
+wife!' The old man replied, 'Did I not warn thee, many a time,
+when the oath of divorce was always in thy mouth, as it were thy
+Koran?' Then he turned and seeing Alaeddin, as he were a piece of
+the moon, said to him, 'Who art thou, O my son?' Quoth he, 'I am
+Alaeddin, son of Shemseddin, Provost of the merchants at Cairo. I
+besought my father for merchandise; so he packed me fifty loads
+of goods and gave me ten thousand dinars, wherewith I set out for
+Baghdad; but when I came to the Lion's Copse, the Bedouins fell
+upon me and took all I had. So I entered this city, knowing not
+where to pass the night, and seeing this place, I took shelter
+here.' 'O my son,' said the old man, 'what sayst thou to a
+thousand dinars and a suit of clothes and a mule worth other two
+thousand?' 'To what end wilt thou give me this?' asked Alaeddin,
+and the other answered, 'This young man, whom thou seest, is
+the only son of my brother and I have an only daughter called
+Zubeideh the Lutanist, who is endowed with beauty and grace. I
+married her to him and he loves her, but she hates him. Now he
+took an oath of triple divorcement and broke it.[FN#96] As soon
+as she heard of this, she left him, and he egged on all the folk
+to intercede with me to restore her to him; but I told him that
+this could not lawfully be done but by an intermediate marriage,
+and we have agreed to make some stranger the intermediary, so
+none may taunt him with this affair. So, as thou art a stranger,
+come with us and we will marry thee to her; thou shalt lie with
+her to-night and on the morrow divorce her, and we will give thee
+what I said.' 'By Allah,' quoth Alaeddin to himself, 'it were
+better to pass the night with a bride on a bed in a house, than
+in the streets and vestibules!' So he went with them to the Cadi,
+who, as soon as he saw Alaeddin, was moved to love of him and
+said to the old man, 'What is your will?' Quoth he, 'We wish to
+marry this young man to my daughter, as an intermediary, and the
+contract is to be for ten thousand dinars, dowry precedent, for
+which he shall give us a bond. If he divorce her in the morning,
+we will give him a thousand dinars and a mule and dress worth
+other two thousand; but if he divorce her not, he shall pay down
+the ten thousand dinars, according to the bond.' The Cadi drew up
+the marriage contract to this effect and the lady's father took a
+bond for the dowry. Then he took Alaeddin and clothing him anew,
+carried him to his daughter's house, where he left him at the
+door, whilst he himself went in to the young lady and gave her
+the bond, saying, 'Take the bond of thy dowry, for I have married
+thee to a handsome youth by name Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat; so do
+thou use him with all consideration.' Then he left her and went
+to his own lodging. Now the lady's cousin had an old waiting-
+woman, to whom he had done many a kindness and who used to visit
+Zubeideh; so he said to her, 'O my mother, if my cousin Zubeideh
+see this handsome young man, she will never after accept of me;
+so I would fain have thee contrive to keep them apart.' 'By thy
+youth,' answered she, 'I will not suffer him to approach her!'
+Then she went to Alaeddin and said to him, 'O my son, I have a
+warning to give thee, for the love of God the Most High, and do
+thou follow my advice, for I fear for thee from this damsel: let
+her lie alone and handle her not nor draw near to her.' 'Why
+so?' asked he, and she answered, 'Because her body is full of
+elephantiasis and I fear lest she infect thy fair youth.' Quoth
+he, 'I have no need of her.' Moreover, she went to the lady and
+said the like to her of Alaeddin; and she replied, 'I have no
+need of him, but will let him lie alone, and on the morrow he
+shall go his way.' Then she called a slave-girl and said to her,
+'Take him the tray of food, that he may sup.' So the maid carried
+him the tray of food and set it before him, and he ate his fill;
+after which he sat down and fell to reciting the chapter called
+Ya-sin[FN#97] in a sweet voice. The lady listened to him and
+found his voice as melodious as the psalms of David, which when
+she heard, she exclaimed, 'Beshrew the old hag that told me that
+he was affected with leprosy! Surely, that is a lie against him,
+for this is not the voice of one who hath such a disease.' Then
+she took a lute of Indian workmanship and tuning it, sang the
+following verses, in a voice, whose music would stay the birds in
+mid-heaven:
+
+I am enamoured of a fawn with black and languorous eyes;    The
+     willow-branches, as he goes, are jealous of him still.
+Me he rejects and others 'joy his favours in my stead. This is
+     indeed the grace of God He gives to whom He will.
+
+As soon as he had finished his recitation, he sang the following
+verse in reply:
+
+My salutation to the shape that through the wede doth show And to
+     the roses in the cheeks' full-flowering meads that blow!
+
+When she heard this, her inclination for him redoubled and she
+rose and lifted the curtain; and Alaeddin, seeing her, repeated
+these verses:
+
+She shineth forth, a moon, and bends, a willow-wand, And breathes
+     out ambergris and gazes, a gazelle.
+Meseems as if grief loved my heart and when from her Estrangement
+     I abide, possession to it fell.
+
+Thereupon she came forward, swinging her hips and swaying
+gracefully from side to side with a shape the handiwork of Him
+whose bounties are hidden, and each of them stole a glance at the
+other, that cost them a thousand regrets. Then, for that the
+arrows of her glances overcame his heart, he repeated the
+following verses:
+
+The moon of the heavens she spied and called to my thought The
+     nights of our loves in the meadows under her shine.
+Yea, each of us saw a moon, but, sooth to say, It was her
+     eyes[FN#98] that I saw and she saw mine.[FN#99]
+
+Then she drew near him, and when there remained but two paces
+between them, he repeated these verses:
+
+She took up three locks of her hair and spread them out one night
+     And straight three nights discovered at once unto my sight.
+Then did she turn her visage up to the moon of the sky And showed
+     me two moons at one season, both burning clear and bright.
+
+Then said he to her, 'Keep off from me, lest thou infect me.'
+Whereupon she uncovered her wrist to him, and he saw that it was
+cleft [like a peach] and its whiteness was as the whiteness of
+silver. Then said she, 'Hold off from me, thou, for thou art
+stricken with leprosy, and belike thou wilt infect me.' 'Who told
+thee I was a leper?' asked he, and she said, 'The old woman.'
+Quoth he, 'It was she told me that thou wast afflicted with
+elephantiasis.' So saying, he bared his arms and showed her that
+his skin was like virgin silver, whereupon she pressed him to her
+bosom and they clipped one another. Then she took him and lying
+down on her back, did off her trousers, whereupon that which his
+father had left him rose up [in rebellion] against him and he
+said, 'To it, O elder of yards, O father of nerves!' And putting
+his hands to her flanks, set the nerve of sweetness to the mouth
+of the cleft and thrust on to the wicket-gate. His passage was by
+the gate of victories [or openings] and after this he entered the
+Monday market and those of Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and
+finding the carpet after the measure of the estrade, he plied [or
+turned] the box within its sheath [or cover] till he came to [the
+end of] it.[FN#100] When it was morning, he exclaimed, 'Alas for
+delight that is not fulfilled! The raven[FN#101] takes it and
+flies away!' 'What means this saying?' asked she, and he
+answered, 'O my lady, I have but this hour to abide with thee.'
+Quoth she, 'Who saith so?' and he, 'Thy father made me give him a
+bond to pay ten thousand dinars to thy dowry; and except I pay it
+this very day, they will lay me in prison therefor in the Cadi's
+house; and now my hand lacketh one para of the sum.' 'O my lord,'
+said she, 'is the marriage bond in thy hand or in theirs?' 'In
+mine,' answered he, 'but I have nothing.' Quoth she, 'The matter
+is easy; fear nothing. Take these hundred dinars; if I had more,
+I would give thee what thou lackest; but my father, for his love
+of my cousin, hath transported all his good, even to my trinkets,
+from my lodging to his. But when they send thee a serjeant of the
+court and the Cadi and my father bid thee divorce, answer thou,
+"By what code is it right that I should marry at nightfall and
+divorce in the morning?" Then kiss the Cadi's hand and give him a
+present, and in like manner kiss the Assessors' hands and give
+each of them half a score dinars. So they will all speak with
+thee and if they say to thee, "Why dost thou not divorce her and
+take the thousand dinars and the mule and suit of clothes,
+according to contract?" do thou answer, "Every hair of her head
+is worth a thousand dinars to me and I will never put her away,
+neither will I take a suit of clothes nor aught else." If the
+Cadi say to thee, "Then pay down the dowry," do thou reply, "I am
+straitened at this present;" whereupon he and the Assessors will
+deal friendly with thee and allow thee time to pay.' Whilst they
+were talking, the Cadi's officer knocked at the door; so Alaeddin
+went down and the man said to him, 'The Cadi cites thee to answer
+thy father-in-law's summons.' Alaeddin gave him five dinars and
+said to him, 'O serjeant, by what code am I bound to marry at
+night and divorce next morning?' 'By none of ours,' answered the
+serjeant; 'and if thou be ignorant of the law, I will act as
+thine advocate.' Then they went to the court and the Cadi said to
+Alaeddin, 'Why dost thou not divorce the woman and take what
+falls to thee by the contract?' With this he went up to the Cadi
+and kissing his hand, put in it fifty dinars and said, 'O our
+lord the Cadi, by what code is it right that I should marry at
+night and divorce in the morning in my own despite?' 'Divorce on
+compulsion,' replied the Cadi, 'is sanctioned by no school of the
+Muslims.' Then said the lady's father, 'If thou wilt not divorce,
+pay me the ten thousand dinars, her dowry.' Quoth Alaeddin, 'Give
+me three days' time.' But the Cadi said, 'Three days is not
+enough; he shall give thee ten.' So they agreed to this and bound
+him to pay the dowry or divorce after ten days. Then he left them
+and taking meat and rice and butter and what else of food he
+needed, returned to his wife and told her what had passed;
+whereupon she said, 'Between night and day, wonders may happen:
+and God bless him who saith:
+
+Be mild what time thou'rt ta'en with anger and despite And
+     patient, if there fall misfortune on thy head.
+Indeed, the nights are quick and great with child by time And of
+     all wond'rous things are hourly brought to bed.
+
+Then she rose and made ready food and brought the tray, and they
+ate and drank and made merry awhile. Presently, Alaeddin besought
+her to let him hear some music; so she took the lute and played a
+measure, that would have made the very rock dance for delight,
+and the strings cried out, in ecstasy, 'O Loving One!'[FN#102]
+after which she passed into a livelier measure. As they were thus
+passing the time in mirth and delight, there came a knocking at
+the door and Zubeideh said to Alaeddin, 'Go and see who is at the
+door.' So he went down and finding four dervishes standing
+without, said to them, 'What do you want?' 'O my lord,' answered
+they, 'we are foreign dervishes, the food of whose souls is music
+and dainty verse, and we would fain take our pleasure with thee
+this night. On the morrow we will go our way, and with God the
+Most High be thy reward; for we adore music and there is not one
+of us but hath store of odes and songs and ballads.' 'I must
+consult [my wife],' answered he and returned and told Zubeideh,
+who said, 'Open the door to them.' So he went down again and
+bringing them up, made them sit down and welcomed them. Then he
+brought them food, but they would not eat and said, 'O my lord,
+our victual is to magnify God with out hearts and hear music with
+our ears: and God bless him who saith:
+
+We come for your company only, and not for your feasts; For
+     eating for eating's sake is nought but a fashion of beasts.
+
+Just now,' added they, 'we heard pleasant music here; but when we
+knocked, it ceased; and we would fain know whether the player was
+a slave-girl, white of black, or a lady.' 'It was this my wife,'
+answered he and told them all that had befallen him, adding, 'My
+father-in-law hath bound me to pay a dowry of ten thousand dinars
+for her and they have given me ten days' time.' 'Have no care and
+think nought but good,' said one of the dervishes; 'for I am head
+of the convent and have forty dervishes under my hand. I will
+gather thee from them the ten thousand dinars and thou shalt pay
+thy father-in-law the dowry. But now bid thy wife make us music,
+that we may be heartened and solaced, for to some music is food,
+to others medicine and to others refreshment.'[FN#103] Now
+these four dervishes were none other than the Khalif Haroun er
+Reshid and his Vizier Jaafer the Barmecide and Abou Nuwas ben
+Hani[FN#104] and Mesrour the headsman; and the reason of their
+coming thither was that the Khalif, being heavy at heart, had
+called his Vizier and signified to him his wish to go forth and
+walk about the city, to divert himself. So they all four donned
+dervish habits and went out and walked about, till they came to
+Zubeideh's house and hearing music, were minded to know the
+cause. They spent the night in mirth and harmony and discourse,
+till the morning, when the Khalif laid a hundred dinars under the
+prayer-carpet and taking leave of Alaeddin, went his way, he and
+his companions. Presently, Zubeideh lifted the carpet and finding
+the hundred dinars, gave them to her husband, saying, 'Take these
+hundred dinars that I have found under the prayer-carpet; the
+dervishes must have laid them there, without our knowledge.' So
+he took the money and repairing to the market, bought meat and
+rice and butter and so forth. When it was night, he lighted the
+candled and said to Zubeideh, 'The dervishes have not brought the
+ten thousand dinars that they promised me: but indeed they are
+poor men.' As they were talking, the dervishes knocked at the
+door and she said, 'Go down and open to them.' So he went down
+and bringing them up, said to them, 'Have you brought me the ten
+thousand dinars?' 'We have not been able to get aught thereof as
+yet,' answered they, 'but fear nothing: to-morrow, God willing,
+we will make an alchymic operation for thee. But now bid thy wife
+play her best to us and gladden our hearts, for we love music.'
+So she made them music, that would have caused the very rocks to
+dance; and they passed the night in mirth and converse and good
+cheer, till the morning appeared with its light and shone, when
+they took leave of Alaeddin and went their way, after laying
+other hundred dinars under the carpet. They continued to visit
+him thus every night for nine nights, and each morning the Khalif
+put a hundred dinars under the prayer-carpet, till the tenth
+night, when they came not. Now the reason for their failure to
+come was that the Khalif had sent to a great merchant, saying to
+him, 'Bring me fifty loads of stuffs, such as come from Cairo,
+each worth a thousand dinars, and write on each bale its price;
+and bring me also a male Abyssinian slave.' The merchant did the
+bidding of the Khalif, who write a letter to Alaeddin, as from
+his father Shemseddin, and committed it to the slave, together
+with the fifty loads and a basin and ewer of gold and other
+presents, saying to him, 'Take these bales and what else and go
+to such and such a quarter and enquire for Alaeddin Abou esh
+Shamat, at the house of the Provost of the merchants.' So the
+slave took the letter and the goods and went out on his errand.
+
+Meanwhile the lady's first husband went to her father and said to
+him, 'Come, let us go to Alaeddin and make him divorce my
+cousin.' So they set out, and when they came to the street in
+which Zubeideh's house stood, they found fifty mules, laden with
+stuffs, and a black slave riding on a she-mule. So they said to
+him, 'Whose goods are these?' 'They belong to my lord Alaeddin
+Abou esh Shamat,' answered he. 'His father equipped him with
+merchandise and sent him on a journey to Baghdad; but the
+Bedouins fell on him and took all he had. So when the news of his
+despoilment reached his father, he despatched me to him with
+these fifty loads, in place of those he had lost, besides a mule
+laden with fifth thousand dinars and a parcel of clothes worth
+much money and a cloak of sables and a basin and ewer of gold.'
+When the old merchant heard this, he said, 'He whom thou seekest
+is my son-in-law and I will show thee his house.' Now Alaeddin
+was sitting in great concern, when one knocked at the door, and
+he said, 'O Zubeideh, God is all-knowing! Thy father hath surely
+sent me an officer from the Cadi or the Chief of the Police.' 'Go
+down,' said she, 'and see what it is.' So he went down and
+opening the door, found his father-in-law, with an Abyssinian
+slave, dusky-hued and pleasant of favour, riding on a mule. When
+the slave saw him, he alighted and kissed his hands: and Alaeddin
+said, 'What dost thou want?' Quoth he, 'I am the slave of my load
+Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat, son of Shemseddin, Provost of the
+merchants of Cairo, who has sent me to him with this charge.'
+Then he gave him the letter and Alaeddin, opening it, read what
+follows:
+
+Harkye, my letter, when my beloved sees thee, Kiss thou the earth
+     before him and his shoes.
+Look thou go softly and hasten not nor hurry, For in his hands
+     are my life and my repose.
+
+Then after the usual salutations from Shemseddin to his son, the
+letter proceeded thus: 'Know, O my son, that news hath reached me
+of the slaughter of thy men and the plunder of thy baggage; so I
+send thee herewith fifty loads of Egyptian stuffs, together with
+a suit of clothes and a cloak of sables and an ewer and basin of
+gold. Fear no evil and be not anywise troubled, for, O my son,
+the goods thou hast lost were the ransom of thy life. Thy mother
+and the people of the house are well and in good case and send
+thee many greetings. Moreover, O my son, I hear that they have
+married thee, by way of intermediation, to the lady Zubeideh the
+Lutanist and have imposed on thee a dowry of ten thousand dinars;
+wherefore I send thee also fifty thousand dinars by thy slave
+Selim, the bearer of these presents, whereout thou mayest pay the
+dowry and provide thyself with the rest.' When Alaeddin had made
+an end of reading the letter, he took possession of the goods and
+turning to the old merchant, said to him, 'O my father-in-law,
+take the ten thousand dinars, thy daughter's dowry, and take also
+the loads of goods and dispose of them, and thine be the profit;
+only return me the cost-price.' 'Nay, by Allah,' answered he, 'I
+will take nothing; and as for thy wife's dowry, do thou settle it
+with her.' Then they went in to Zubeideh, after the goods had
+been brought in, and she said to her father, 'O my father, whose
+goods are these?' 'They belong to thy husband Alaeddin,' answered
+he; 'his father hath sent them to him in place of those of which
+the Bedouins spoiled him. Moreover, he hath sent him fifty
+thousand dinars and a parcel of clothes and a cloak of sables and
+a riding mule and an ewer and basin of gold. As for the dower,
+that is thine affair.' Thereupon Alaeddin rose and opening the
+chest [of money] gave her her dowry. Then said the lady's cousin,
+'O my uncle, let him divorce to me my wife;' but the old man
+replied, 'This may never be now, for the marriage-tie is in his
+hand.' With this the young man went out, sore afflicted, and
+returning home, fell sick, for he had received his death-blow; so
+he took to his bed and presently died. But as for Alaeddin, he
+went to the market and buying what victual he needed, made a
+banquet as usual against the night, saying to Zubeideh, 'See
+these lying dervishes; they promised us and broke their promise.'
+Quoth she, 'Thou art the son of a Provost of the merchants yet
+did thy hand lack of a para; how then should it be with poor
+dervishes?' 'God the Most High hath enabled us to do without
+them,' answered Alaeddin; 'but never again will I open the door
+to them.' 'Why so,' asked she, 'seeing that their coming brought
+us good luck, and moreover, they put a hundred dinars under the
+prayer-carpet for us every night? So needs must thou open to
+them, if they come.' So when the day departed with its light and
+the night came, they lighted the candles and he said to her,
+'Come, Zubeideh, make us music.' At this moment some one knocked
+at the door, and she said, 'Go and see who is at the door.' So he
+went down and opened it and seeing the dervishes, said, 'Welcome
+to the liars! Come up.' Accordingly, they went up with him, and
+he made them sit down and brought them the tray of food. So they
+ate and drank and made merry and presently said to him, 'O my
+lord, our hearts have been troubled for thee: what hath passed
+between thee and thy father-in-law?' 'God hath compensated us
+beyond our desire,' answered he. 'By Allah,' rejoined they, 'we
+were in fear for thee and nought kept us from thee but our lack
+of money.' Quoth he, 'My Lord hath vouchsafed me speedy relief;
+for my father hath sent me fifty thousand dinars and fifty loads
+of stuffs, each worth a thousand dinars, besides an Abyssinian
+slave and a riding mule and a suit of clothes and a basin and an
+ewer of gold. Moreover, I have made my peace with my father-in-
+law and my wife is confirmed to me; so praised be God for this!'
+Presently the Khalif rose to do an occasion; whereupon Jaafer
+turned to Alaeddin and said to him, 'Look to thy manners, for
+thou art in the presence of the Commander of the Faithful.' 'How
+have I failed in good breeding before the Commander of the
+Faithful,' asked he, 'and which of you is he?' Quoth Jaafer, 'He
+who went out but now is the Commander of the Faithful and I am
+the Vizier Jaafer: this is Mesrour the headsman, and this other
+is Abou Nuwas ben Hani. And now, O Alaeddin, use thy reason and
+bethink thee how many days' journey it is from Cairo hither.'
+'Five-and-forty days' journey,' answered he, and Jaafer rejoined,
+'Thy baggage was stolen but ten days ago; so how could the news
+have reached thy father, and how could he pack thee up other
+goods and send them to thee five-and-forty days' journey in ten
+days' time?' 'O my lord,' said Alaeddin, 'and whence then came
+they?' 'From the Commander of the Faithful,' replied Jaafer, 'of
+his much affection for thee.' As he spoke, the Khalif entered and
+Alaeddin, rising, kissed the ground before him and said, 'God
+keep thee, O Commander of the Faithful, and give thee long life,
+so the folk may not lack thy bounty and beneficence!' 'O
+Alaeddin,' replied the Khalif, 'let Zubeideh play us an air, by
+way of thank-offering for thy deliverance.' So she played him
+the rarest of measures on the lute, till the very stones shook
+for delight and the strings cried out for ecstasy, 'O Loving
+One!'[FN#105] They spent the night after the merriest fashion,
+and in the morning, the Khalif said to Alaeddin, 'Come to the
+Divan to-morrow.' 'I hear and obey, O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered he, 'so it please God and thou be well and in good
+case.' So on the morrow he took ten trays and putting a costly
+present on each, went up with them to the palace. As the Khalif
+was sitting on the throne, Alaeddin appeared at the door of the
+Divan, repeating the following verses:
+
+Good fortune and glory still wait on thy days And rubbed in the
+     dust be thine envier's nose!
+May the days never stint to be white unto thee And black with
+     despite be the days of thy foes!
+
+'Welcome, O Alaeddin!' sad the Khalif, and he replied, 'O
+Commander of the Faithful, the Prophet (whom God bless and
+preserve) accepted presents; and these ten trays, with what is on
+them, are my present to thee.' The Khalif accepted his gift and
+ordering him a robe of honour, made him Provost of the merchants
+and gave him a seat in the Divan. Presently, his father-in-law
+came in, and seeing Alaeddin seated in his place and clad in a
+robe of honour, said to the Khalif, 'O King of the age, why is
+this man sitting in my place and wearing this robe of honour?'
+Quoth the Khalif, 'I have made him Provost of the merchants, and
+thou art deposed; for offices are by investiture and not in
+perpetuity.' 'Thou hast done well, O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered the merchant; 'for he is art and part of us. May God
+make the best of us the orderers of our affairs! How many a
+little one hath become great!' Then the Khalif wrote Alaeddin a
+patent [of investiture] and gave it to the Master of Police, who
+gave it to the crier and the latter made proclamation in the
+Divan, saying, 'None is Provost of the merchants but Alaeddin
+Abou esh Shamat, and it behoves all to give heed to his words and
+pay him respect and honour and consideration!' Moreover, when the
+Divan broke up, the Master of the Police took Alaeddin and
+carried him through the thoroughfares of Baghdad, whilst the
+crier went before him, making proclamation of his dignity. Next
+day, Alaeddin opened a shop for his slave Selim and set him
+therein, to buy and sell, whilst he himself rode to the palace
+and took his place in the Khalif's Divan.
+
+One day, as he sat in his place, one said to the Khalif, 'O
+Commander of the Faithful, may thy head survive such an one the
+boon-companion! He is gone to the mercy of God the Most High, but
+may thy life be prolonged!' Quoth the Khalif, 'Where is Alaeddin
+Abou esh Shamat?' So he went up to the Commander of the Faithful,
+who clad him in a splendid dress of honour and made him his boon-
+companion in the dead man's room, appointing him a monthly wage
+of a thousand dinars. He continued to fill his new office till,
+one day, as he sat in the Divan, according to his wont, an Amir
+came up with a sword and shield in his hand and said, 'O
+Commander of the Faithful, mayst thou outlive the Chief of the
+Sixty, for he is this day dead;' whereupon the Khalif ordered
+Alaeddin a dress of honour and made him Chief of the Sixty, in
+place of the dead man, who had neither wife nor child. So
+Alaeddin laid hands on his estate, and the Khalif said to him,
+'Bury him in the earth and take all he hath left of wealth and
+slaves, male and female.' Then he shook the handkerchief and
+dismissed the Divan, whereupon Alaeddin went forth, attended by
+Ahmed ed Denef, captain of the right hand, and Hassan Shouman,
+captain of the left hand troop of the Khalif's guard, riding at
+his either stirrup, each with his forty men. Presently, he turned
+to Hassan Shouman and his men and said to them, 'Plead ye for me
+with Captain Ahmed ed Denef, that he accept me as his son before
+God.' And Ahmed ed Denef assented, saying, 'I and my forty men
+will go before thee to the Divan every day.'
+
+After this, Alaeddin abode in the Khalif's service many days;
+till one day it chanced that he left the Divan and returning
+home, dismissed Ahmed ed Denef and his men and sat down with his
+wife, who lighted the candles and went out of the room upon an
+occasion. Presently, he heard a great cry and running in haste to
+see what was the matter, found that it was his wife who had cried
+out. She was lying prone on the groudn and when he put his hand
+to her breast, he found her dead. Now her father's house faced
+that of Alaeddin, and he, hearing her cry out, came in and said,
+'What is the matter, O my lord Alaeddin?' 'O my father,' answered
+he, 'may thy head outlive thy daughter Zubeideh! But the honour
+we owe the dead is to bury them.' So, on the morrow, they buried
+her in the earth and her husband and father condoled with each
+other. Moreover, Alaeddin put on mourning apparel and absented
+himself from the Divan, abiding tearful-eyed and sorrowful-
+hearted. After awhile, the Khalif said to Jaafer, 'O Vizier, what
+is the cause of Alaeddin's absence from the Divan?' 'O Commander
+of the Faithful,' answered Jaafer, 'he is in mourning for his
+wife Zubeideh;' and the Khalif said, 'It behoves us to pay him a
+visit of condolence.' 'I hear and obey,' replied Jaafer. So they
+took horse and riding to Alaeddin's house, came in upon him with
+their attendants, as he sat at home; whereupon he rose to receive
+them and kissed the earth before the Khalif, who said to him,
+'May God abundantly make good thy loss to thee!' 'May He preserve
+thee to us, O Commander of the Faithful!' answered Alaeddin. Then
+said the Khalif, 'O Alaeddin, why hast thou absented thyself from
+the Divan?' And he replied, 'Because of my mourning for my wife
+Zubeideh, O Commander of the Faithful.' 'Put away grief from
+thee,' rejoined the prince. 'She is dead and gone to the mercy of
+God the Most High, and mourning will avail thee nothing.' But
+Alaeddin said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, I shall never leave
+mourning for her till I die and they bury me by her side.' Quoth
+Haroun, 'With God is compensation for every loss, and neither
+wealth nor device can deliver from death. God bless him who said:
+
+Every son of woman, how long soe'er his life be, Must one day be
+     carried upon the bulging bier.
+How shall he have pleasure in life or hold it goodly, He unto
+     whose cheeks the dust must soon adhere?'
+
+Then, when he had made an end of condoling with him, he charged
+him not to absent himself from the Divan and returned to his
+palace. On the morrow, Alaeddin mounted and riding to the court,
+kissed the ground before the Khalif, who rose from the throne, to
+greet and welcome him, and bade him take his appointed place in
+the Divan saying, 'O Alaeddin, thou art my guest to-night.' So
+presently he carried him into his seraglio and calling a slave-
+girl named Cout el Culoub, said to her, 'Alaeddin had a wife
+called Zubeideh, who used to sing to him and solace him of care
+and trouble; but she is gone to the mercy of God the Most High,
+and now I desire that thou play him an air of thy rarest fashion
+on the lute, that he may be diverted from his grief and
+mourning.' So she rose and made rare music; and the Khalif said
+to Alaeddin, 'What sayst thou of this damsel's voice?' 'O
+Commander of the Faithful', answered he, 'Zubeideh's voice was
+the finer; but she is rarely skilled in touching the lute, and
+her playing would make a rock dance.' 'Doth she please thee?'
+asked the Khalif. 'Yes, O Commander of the Faithful,' answered
+Alaeddin, and Haroun said, 'By the life of my head and the tombs
+of my forefathers, she is a gift from me to thee, she and her
+waiting-women!' Alaeddin thought that the Khalif was jesting with
+him; but, on the morrow, he went in to Cout el Culoub and said to
+her, 'I have given thee to Alaeddin;' whereat she rejoiced, for
+she had seen and loved him. Then the Khalif returned to the Divan
+and calling porters, said to them, 'Set Cout el Culoub and her
+waiting-women in a litter and carry them, together with her
+goods, to Alaeddin's house.' So they did as he bade them and left
+her in the upper chamber of Alaeddin's house, whilst the Khalif
+sat in the hall of audience till the close of the day, when the
+Divan broke up and he retired to his harem.
+
+Meanwhile, Cout el Culoub, having taken up her lodging in
+Alaeddin's house, with her women, forty in all, besides eunuchs,
+called two of the latter and said to them, 'Sit ye on stools, one
+on the right and another on the left hand of the door; and when
+Alaeddin comes home, kiss his hands and say to him, "Our mistress
+Cout el Culoub bids thee to her in the upper chamber, for the
+Khalif hath given her to thee, her and her women."' 'We hear and
+obey,' answered they and did as she bade them. So, when Alaeddin
+returned, he found two of the Khalif's eunuchs sitting at the
+door and was amazed and said to himself, 'Surely, this is not my
+own house; or else what can have happened?' When the eunuchs saw
+him, they rose and kissing his hands, said to him, 'We are of the
+Khalif's household and servants to Cout el Culoub, who salutes
+thee, giving thee to know that the Khalif hath bestowed her on
+thee, her and her women, and craves thy company.' Quoth Alaeddin,
+'Say ye to her, "Thou art welcome; but so long as thou abidest
+with me, I will not enter thy lodging, for it befits not that
+what was the master's should become the servant's;" and ask her
+also what was the sum of her day's expense in the Khalif's
+palace.' So they went in to her and did his errand to her, and
+she replied, 'A hundred dinars a day;' whereupon quoth he in
+himself, 'There was no need for the Khalif to give me Cout el
+Culoub, that I should be put to such an expense for her; but
+there is no help for it.' So she abode with him awhile and he
+assigned her daily a hundred dinars for her maintenance, till,
+one day, he absented himself from the Divan and the Khalif said
+to Jaafer, 'O Vizier, I gave Cout el Culoub unto Alaeddin, that
+she might console him for his wife; but why doth he still hold
+aloof from us?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' answered Jaafer,
+'he spoke sooth who said, "Whoso findeth his beloved, forgetteth
+his friends."' 'Belike he hath excuse for his absence,' rejoined
+the Khalif; 'but we will pay him a visit.' (Now some days before
+this, Alaeddin had said to Jaafer, 'I complained to the Khalif of
+my grief for the loss of my wife Zubeideh, and he gave me Cout el
+Culoub.' And Jaafer replied, 'Except he loved thee, he had not
+given her to thee.' Hast thou gone in to her?' 'No, by Allah!
+answered Alaeddin. 'I know not her length from her breadth.' 'And
+why?' asked Jaafer. 'O Vizier,' replied Alaeddin, 'what befits
+the master befits not the servant.') Then the Khalif and Jaafer
+disguised themselves and went privily to visit Alaeddin; but he
+knew them and rising to them, kissed the hands of the Khalif, who
+looked at him and read trouble in his face. So he said to him, 'O
+Alaeddin, whence cometh this trouble in which I see thee? Hast
+thou gone in to Cout el Culoub?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered he, 'what befits the master befits not the servant. No,
+I have not gone in to her nor do I know her length from her
+breadth; so do thou quit me of her.' Quoth the Khalif, 'I would
+fain see her and question her of her case.' And Alaeddin replied,
+'I hear and obey, O Commander of the Faithful.' So the Khalif
+went in to Cout el Culoub, who rose and kissed the ground before
+him, and said to her, 'Hath Alaeddin gone in to thee?' 'No, O
+Commander of the Faithful,' answered she; 'I sent to bid him to
+me, but he would not come.' So he bade carry her back to the
+harem and saying to Alaeddin, 'Do not absent thyself from us,'
+returned to his palace. Accordingly, next morning, Alaeddin
+mounted and rode to the Divan, where he took his seat as Chief of
+the Sixty. Presently the Khalif bade his treasurer give the
+Vizier Jaafer ten thousand dinars and said to the latter, 'I
+charge thee to go down to the slave-market and buy Alaeddin a
+slave-girl with this sum.' So Jaafer took Alaeddin and went down
+with him to the bazaar. As change would have it, that very day,
+the Amir Khalid, Chief of the Baghdad Police, had gone down to
+the market to buy a slave-girl for his son Hebezlem Bezazeh. Now
+this son he had by his wife Khatoun, and he was foul of favour
+and had reached the age of twenty, without learning to ride,
+albeit his father was a valiant cavalier and a doughty champion
+and delighted in battle and adventure. One night, he had a dream
+of dalliance in sleep and told his mother, who rejoiced and told
+his father, saying, 'Fain would I find him a wife, for he is now
+apt for marriage.' Quoth Khalid, 'He is so foul of favour and
+withal so evil of odour, so sordid and churlish, that no woman
+would accept of him.' And she answered, 'We will buy him a slave-
+girl.' So it befell, for the accomplishment of that which God the
+Most High had decreed, that the Amir and his son went down, on
+the same day as Jaafer and Alaeddin, to the market, where they
+saw a beautiful girl, full of grace and symmetry, in the hands of
+a broker, and the Vizier said to the latter, 'O broker, ask her
+owner if he will take a thousand dinars for her.' The broker
+passed by the Amir and his son with the slave and Hebezlem took
+one look of her, that cost him a thousand sighs; and he fell
+passionately in love with her and said, 'O my father, buy me
+yonder slave-girl.' So the Amir called the broker, who brought
+the girl to him, and asked her her name. 'My name is Jessamine,'
+replied she; and he said to Hebezlem, 'O my son, an she please
+thee, bid for her.' Then he asked the broker what had been bidden
+for her and he replied, 'A thousand dinars.' 'She is mine for a
+thousand and one,' said Hebezlem, and the broker passed on to
+Alaeddin, who bid two thousand dinars for her; and as often as
+Hebezlem bid another dinar, Alaeddin bid a thousand. The Amir's
+son was vexed at this and said to the broker, 'Who is it that
+bids against me for the slave-girl?' 'It is the Vizier Jaafer,'
+answered the broker, 'who is minded to buy her for Alaeddin Abou
+esh Shamat.' Alaeddin continued to bid for her till he brought
+her price up to ten thousand dinars, and her owner sold her to
+him for that sum. So he took the girl and said to her, 'I give
+thee thy freedom for the love of God the Most High.' Then he
+married her and carried her to his house. When the broker
+returned, after having delivered the girl and received his
+brokerage, Hebezlem called him and said to him, 'Where is the
+girl?' Quoth he, 'She was bought for ten thousand dinars by
+Alaeddin, who hath set her free and married her.' At this the
+young man was greatly cast down and heaving many a sigh, returned
+home, sick for love of the damsel. He threw himself on his bed
+and refused food, and passion and love-longing were sore upon
+him. When his mother saw him in this plight, she said to him,
+'God keep thee, O my son! What ails thee?' And he answered, 'Buy
+me Jessamine, O my mother.' 'When the flower-seller passes,' said
+she, 'I will buy thee a basketful of jessamine.' Quoth he, 'It is
+not the jessamine one smells I want, but a slave girl named
+Jessamine, whom my father would not buy for me.' So she said to
+her husband, 'Why didst thou not buy him the girl?' And he
+replied, 'What is fit for the master is not fit for the servant,
+and I have no power to take her; for no less a man bought her
+than Alaeddin, Chief of the Sixty.' Then the youth's weakness
+redoubled upon him, till he could neither sleep nor eat, and his
+mother bound her head with the fillets of mourning. Presently, as
+she sat at home, lamenting over her son, there came in to her an
+old woman, known as the mother of Ahmed Kemakim the arch-thief, a
+knave who would bore through the stoutest wall and scale the
+highest and steal the very kohl from the eye. From his earliest
+years he had been given to these foul practices, till they made
+him captain of the watch, when he committed a robbery and the
+Chief of the Police, taking him in the act, carried him to the
+Khalif, who bade put him to death. But he sought protection of
+the Vizier, whose intercession the Khalif never rejected; so he
+pleaded for him with the Commander of the Faithful, who said,
+'How canst thou intercede for a wretch who is the pest of the
+human race?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' replied Jaafer, 'do
+thou imprison him; he who built the [first] prison was a sage,
+seeing that a prison is the sepulchre of the live and a cause for
+their enemies to exult.' So the Khalif bade lay him in chains and
+write thereon, 'Appointed to remain until death and not to be
+loosed but on the bench of the washer of the dead.' And they
+fettered him and cast him into prison. Now his mother was a
+frequent visitor to the house of the Master of the Police and
+used to go in to her son in prison and say to him, 'Did I not
+warn thee to turn from thy wicked ways?' 'God decreed this to
+me,' would he answer; 'but, O my mother, when thou visitest the
+Amir's wife, make her intercede for me with her husband.' So when
+the old woman came in to the Lady Khatoun, she found her bound
+with the fillets of mourning and said to her, 'Wherefore dost
+thou mourn?' 'For my son Hebezlem Bezazeh,' answered she, and the
+old woman exclaimed, 'God keep thy son! What hath befallen him?'
+So Khatoun told her the whole story, and she said, 'What wouldst
+thou say of him who should find means to save thy son?' 'And what
+wilt thou do?' asked the lady. Quoth the old woman, 'I have a son
+called Ahmed Kemakim the arch-thief, who lies chained in prison,
+and on his fetters is written, "Appointed to remain till death."
+So do thou don thy richest clothes and trinkets and present
+thyself to thy husband with an open and smiling favour; and when
+he seeks of thee what men use to seek of women, put him off and
+say, "By Allah, it is a strange thing! When a man desires aught
+of his wife, he importunes her till she satisfies him; but if a
+wife desire aught of her husband, he will not grant it to her."
+Then he will say, "What dost thou want?" And do thou answer,
+"First swear to grant my request." If he swear to thee by his
+head or by Allah, say to him, "Swear to me the oath of divorce,"
+and so not yield to him, except he do this. Then, if he swear to
+thee the oath of divorce, say to him, "Thou hast in prison a man
+called Ahmed Kemakim, and he has a poor mother, who is instant
+with me to urge thee to intercede for him with the Khalif, that
+he may relent towards him and thou earn a reward from God."' 'I
+hear and obey,' answered Khatoun. So when her husband came in to
+her, she did as the old woman had taught her and extorted the
+required oath from him, before she would yield to his wishes. He
+lay with her that night and on the morrow, after he had made his
+ablutions and prayed the morning prayers, he repaired to the
+prison and said to Ahmed Kemakim, 'Harkye, O arch-thief, dost
+thou repent of thy ill deeds?' 'I do indeed repent and turn to
+God,' answered he, 'and say with heart and tongue, "I ask pardon
+of Allah."' So he carried him, still chained, to the Divan and
+kissed the earth before the Khalif, who said to him, 'O Amir
+Khalid, what seekest thou?' Then he brought forward Ahmed
+Kemakim, shuffling in his fetters, and the Khalif said to him, 'O
+Kemakim, art thou yet alive?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered he, 'the wretched are long-lived.' Then said the Khalif
+to the Amir, 'Why have thou brought him hither?' And he replied,
+'O Commander of the Faithful, he hath a poor, desolate mother,
+who hath none but him, and she hath had recourse to thy slave,
+imploring him to intercede with thee to set him free and make him
+Captain of the Watch as before; for he repenteth of his evil
+courses.' Quoth the Khalif to Ahmed, 'Dost thou repent of thy
+sins?' 'I do indeed repent to God, O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered he; whereupon the Khalif called for the blacksmith and
+made him strike off his irons on the bench of the washer of the
+dead. Moreover, he restored him to his former office and charged
+him to walk in the way of good and righteousness. So he kissed
+the Khalif's hands and donning the captain's habit, went forth,
+whilst they made proclamation of his appointment.
+
+He abode awhile in the exercise of his office, till, one day, his
+mother went in to the wife of the Chief of the Police, who said
+to her, 'Praised be God who hath delivered thy son from prison
+and restored him to health and safety! But why dost thou not bid
+him cast about to get the girl Jessamine for my son Hebezlem
+Bezazeh?' 'That will I,' answered she and going out from her,
+repaired to her son. She found him drunken and said to him, 'O my
+son, none was the cause of thy release from prison but the wife
+of the Master of Police, and she would have thee go about to kill
+Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat and get his slave-girl Jessamine for her
+son Hebezlem Bezazeh.' 'That will be the easiest of things,'
+answered he, 'and I will set about it this very night.' Now this
+was the first night of the new month, and it was the Khalif's
+wont to pass that night with the Princess Zubeideh, for the
+setting free of a male or female slave or what not else of the
+like. On this occasion, he used to doff his royal habit and lay
+it upon a chair in the sitting-chamber, together with his rosary
+and dagger and royal signet and a golden lantern, adorned with
+three jewels strung on a wire of gold, by which he set great
+store, committing all these things to the charge of the eunuchs,
+whilst he sent into the Lady Zubeideh's apartment. So Ahmed
+Kemakim waited till midnight, when Canopus shone and all
+creatures slept, whilst the Creator covered them with the curtain
+[of the dark]. Then he took his naked sword in one hand and his
+grappling iron in the other, and repairing to the Khalif's
+pavilion, cast his grapnel on to the roof. It caught there and he
+fixed his rope-ladder and climbed up to the roof; then, raising
+the trap-door, let himself down into the saloon, where he found
+the eunuchs asleep. So he drugged them with henbane and taking
+the Khalif's dress and dagger and rosary and handkerchief and
+signet-ring and lantern, returned whence he came and betook
+himself to the house of Alaeddin, who had that night celebrated
+his wedding festivities with Jessamine and had gone in to her and
+gotten her with child. Ahmed climbed over into his saloon and
+raising one of the marble slabs of the floor, dug a hole under it
+and laid the stolen things therein, all save the lantern, which
+he kept, saying in himself, 'I will set it before me, when I sit
+at wine, and drink by its light.' Then he plastered down the
+marble slab, as it was, and returning whence he came, went back
+to his own house. As soon as it was day, the Khalif went out into
+the sitting-chamber, and finding the eunuchs drugged with
+henbane, aroused them. Then he put his hand to the chair and
+found neither dress nor signet nor rosary nor dagger nor lantern;
+whereat he was exceeding wroth and donning the habit of anger,
+which was red, sat down in the Divan. So the Vizier Jaafer came
+forward and kissing the earth before him, said, 'May God avert
+the wrath of the Commander of the Faithful!' 'O Vizier,' answered
+the Khalif, 'I am exceeding wroth!'[FN#106] 'What has happened?'
+asked Jaafer; so he told him what had happened and when the Chief
+of the Police appeared, with Ahmed Kemakim at his stirrup, he
+said to him, 'O Amir Khalid, how goes Baghdad?' And he answered,
+'It is safe and quiet.' 'Thou liest!' rejoined the Khalif. 'How
+so, O Commander of the Faithful?' asked the Amir. So he told him
+the case and added, 'I charge thee to bring me back all the
+stolen things.' 'O Commander of the Faithful', replied the Amir,
+'the vinegar-worm is of and in the vinegar, and no stranger can
+get at this place.'[FN#107] But the Khalif said, 'Except thou
+bring me these things, I will put thee to death.' Quoth Khalid,
+'Ere thou slay me, slay Ahmed Kemakim, for none should know the
+robber and the traitor but the captain of the watch.' Then came
+forward Ahmed Kemakim and said to the Khalif, 'Accept my
+intercession for the Master of Police, and I will be responsible
+to thee for the thief and will follow his track till I find him;
+but give me two Cadis and two Assessors, for he who did this
+thing feareth thee not, nor doth he fear the Chief of the Police
+nor any other.' 'Thou shalt have what thou seekest,' answered the
+Khalif; 'but let search be made first in my palace and then in
+those of the Vizier and the Chief of the Sixty.' 'Thou sayst
+well, O Commander of the Faithful,' rejoined Ahmed; 'most like
+the thief is one who had been reared in thy household or that of
+one of thy chief officers.' 'As my head liveth,' said Haroun,
+'whosoever shall appear to have done the deed, I will put him to
+death, be it my very own son!' Then Ahmed Kemakim received a
+written warrant to enter and search the houses and taking in his
+hand a [divining] rod made of equal parts of bronze, copper, iron
+and steel, went forth, attended by the Cadis and Assessors and
+the Chief of the Police. He first searched the palace of the
+Khalif, then that of the Vizier Jaafer; after which he went the
+round of the houses of the chamberlains and officers, till he
+came to that of Alaeddin. When the latter heard the clamour
+before his house, he left his wife and opening the door, found
+the Master of Police without, with a crowd of people. So he said,
+'What is the matter, O Amir Khalid?' The Chief of the Police told
+him the case and Alaeddin said, 'Enter my house and search it.'
+'Pardon, O my lord,' replied the Amir; 'thou art a man in
+authority,[FN#108] and God forbid that such should be guilty of
+treason!' Quoth Alaeddin, 'Needs must my house be searched. So
+they entered, and Ahmed Kemakim went straight to the saloon and
+let the rod fall upon the slab, under which he had buried the
+stolen goods, with such force that the marble broke in sunder and
+discovered something that glistened underneath. Then said he, 'In
+the name of God! what He willeth! Thanks to our coming, we have
+lit upon a treasure. Let us go down into this hiding-place and
+see what is therein.' So the Cadis and Assessors looked down into
+the hole and finding there the stolen goods, drew up a statement
+of how they had discovered them in Alaeddin's house, to which
+they set their seals. Then they bade seize upon Alaeddin and took
+his turban from his head, and making an inventory of all his
+property and effects, [sealed them up]. Meanwhile, Ahmed Kemakim
+laid hands on Jessamine, who was with child by Alaeddin, and
+committed her to his mother, saying, 'Deliver her to the Lady
+Khatoun.' So the old woman took her and carried her to the wife
+of the Master of Police. As soon as Hebezlem saw her, health and
+strength returned to him and he arose forthright, rejoicing
+greatly, and would have drawn near her: but she pulled a dagger
+from her girdle and said, 'Keep off from me, or I will kill thee
+and myself after.' 'O strumpet,' exclaimed his mother, 'let my
+son have his will of thee!' But Jessamine answered, 'O bitch, by
+what code is it lawful for a woman to marry two husbands, and how
+shall the dog take the lion's place?' With this Hebezlem's
+passion redoubled and he sickened for unfulfilled desire and
+refusing food, took to his bed again. Then said his mother to
+her, 'O harlot, how canst thou make me thus to sorrow for my son?
+Needs must I punish thee, and as for Alaeddin, he will assuredly
+be hanged.' 'And I will die for love of him,' answered Jessamine.
+Then Khatoun stripped her of her jewels and silken raiment and
+clothing her in sackcloth drawers and a shift of hair-cloth, sent
+her down into the kitchen and made her a scullery-wench, saying,
+'Thy punishment shall be to split wood and peel onions and set
+fire under the cooking pots.' Quoth she, 'I am willing to brook
+all manner of hardship and servitude, but not thy son's sight.'
+But God inclined the hearts of the slave-girls to her and they
+used to do her service in the kitchen.
+
+Meanwhile, they carried Alaeddin to the Divan and brought him,
+together with the stolen goods, before the Khalif, who said,
+'Where did ye find them?' 'Amiddleward Alaeddin's house,'
+answered they; whereat the Khalif was filled with wrath and took
+the things, but found not the lantern among them, and said to
+Alaeddin, 'Where is the lantern?' 'I know nought of it,' answered
+he; 'it was not I that stole it.' 'O traitor,' said the Khalif,
+'how comes it that I brought thee near unto me and thou hast cast
+me out, and I trusted in thee and thou hast betrayed me?' And he
+commanded to hang him. So the Chief of the Police took him and
+went down with him into the city, whilst the crier forewent them,
+proclaiming aloud and saying, 'This is the reward and the least
+of the reward of him who doth treason against the orthodox
+Khalifs!' And the folk flocked to the gallows.
+
+Meanwhile, Ahmed ed Denef, Alaeddin's adopted father, was
+sitting, making merry with his followers in a garden, when in
+came one of the water-carriers of the Divan and kissing Ahmed's
+hand, said to him, 'O Captain, thou sittest at thine ease, with
+water running at thy feet, and knowest not what has happened.'
+'What is to do?' asked Ahmed, and the other answered, 'They have
+gone down with thine adopted son, Alaeddin, to the gallows.'
+'O Hassan Shouman,' said Ahmed, 'What sayst thou of this?'
+'Assuredly, Alaeddin is innocent' replied his lieutenant; 'and
+this is some enemy's practice against him.' Quoth Ahmed, 'What
+counsellest thou?' And Hassan said, 'God willing, we must rescue
+him.' Then he went to the prison and said to the gaoler, 'Give us
+some one deserving of death.' So he gave him one that was likest
+to Alaeddin and they covered his head and carried him to the
+place of execution between Ahmed ed Denef and Ali ez Zibec of
+Cairo. Now they had brought Alaeddin to the gibbet, to hang him,
+but Ahmed ed Denef came forward and set his foot on that of the
+hangman, who said, 'Give me room to do my office.' 'O accursed
+one,' replied Ahmed, 'take this man and hang him in Alaeddin's
+stead; for he is innocent and we will ransom him with this
+fellow, even as Abraham ransomed Ishmael[FN#109] with the ram.'
+So the hangman took the man and hanged him in Alaeddin's room.
+Then Ahmed and Ali took Alaeddin and carried him to the house of
+the former, to whom said he, 'O my father, may God abundantly
+requite thee!' 'O Alaeddin,' said Ahmed, 'what is this thou hast
+done? God's mercy on him who said, "Whoso trusteth in thee,
+betray him not, though thou be a traitor." Now the Khalif set
+thee in high place about him and styled thee "Trusty" and
+"Faithful;" how then couldst thou deal thus with him and steal
+his goods?' 'By the Most Great Name, O my father,' replied
+Alaeddin, 'I had no hand in this, nor do I know who did it.'
+Quoth Ahmed, 'Of a surety none did this but a manifest enemy and
+whoso doth aught shall be requited for his deed; but, O Alaeddin,
+thou canst tarry no longer in Baghdad, for kings, O my son, may
+not be bought off and longsome is his travail whom they pursue.'
+'Whither shall I go, O my father?' asked Alaeddin. 'O my son,'
+answered Ahmed, 'I will bring thee to Alexandria, for it is a
+blessed place; its environs are green and its sojourn pleasant.'
+And Alaeddin said, 'I hear and obey, O my father.' So Ahmed said
+to Hassan Shouman, 'Be mindful and when the Khalif asks for me,
+say I am gone on a circuit of the provinces.' Then, taking
+Alaeddin, he went forth of Baghdad and stayed not till they came
+to the vineyards and gardens, where they met two Jews of the
+Khalif's tax-gatherers, riding on mules, and Ahmed said to them,
+'Give me the guard-money.'[FN#110] 'Why should we give thee
+guard-money?' asked they. 'Because,' answered he, 'I am the
+patrol of this valley.' So they gave him each a hundred dinars,
+after which he slew them and took their mules, one of which he
+mounted, whilst Alaeddin bestrode the other. Then they rode on,
+till they came to the city of Ayas[FN#111] and put up for the
+night at an inn. Next morning, Alaeddin sold his own mule and
+committed that of Ahmed to the charge of the doorkeeper of the
+inn, after which they took ship from the port of Ayas and sailed
+to Alexandria. Here they landed and proceeded to the Bazaar,
+where they found a broker crying a shop and a chamber behind it
+for sale. The last bidding for the premises (which belonged to
+the Treasury) was nine hundred and fifty dirhems;[FN#112] so
+Alaeddin bid a thousand and his offer being accepted, took the
+keys and opened the shop and room, which latter he found
+furnished with carpets and cushions. Moreover, he found there a
+storehouse full of sails and masts and ropes and chests and bags
+of beads and shells and stirrups and axes and maces and knives
+and scissors and what not else, for the last owner of the shop
+had been a dealer in second-hand goods. So he took his seat in
+the shop and Ahmed ed Denef said to him, 'O my son, the shop and
+room and that which is therein are become thine; so abide thou
+here and buy and sell and grudge not, neither repine; for God the
+Most High blesseth trade.' After this he abode with him three
+days and on the fourth he took leave of him, saying, 'O my son,
+abide here till I bring thee the Khalif's pardon and learn who
+hath played thee this trick.' Then he took ship for Ayas,
+where he took the mule from the inn and returning to Baghdad,
+foregathered with Hassan Shouman, to whom said he, 'Has the
+Khalif asked for me?' 'No,' answered Hassan, 'nor hath thou come
+to his thought.' So he resumed his service about the Khalif's
+person and set himself to seek news of Alaeddin's case, till one
+day he heard the Khalif say to the Vizier, 'See, O Jaafer, how
+Alaeddin dealt with me!' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' replied
+Jaafer, 'thou hast requited him with hanging, and it was what he
+deserved.' Quoth Haroun, 'I have a mind to go down and see him
+hanging.' And the Vizier answered, 'As thou wilt, O Commander of
+the Faithful.' So the Khalif and Jaafer went down to the place of
+execution, and the former, raising his eyes, saw the hanged man
+to be other than Alaeddin and said to the Vizier, 'This is not
+Alaeddin.' 'How knowest thou that it is not he?' asked the
+Vizier, and the Khalif answered, 'Alaeddin was short and this
+fellow is tall.' Quoth Jaafer, 'Hanging stretches a man.' 'But,'
+rejoined the Khalif, 'Alaeddin was fair and this man's face is
+black.' 'Knowest thou not, O Commander of the Faithful,' replied
+Jaafer, 'that death (by hanging) causes blackness?' Then the
+Khalif bade take down the body and they found the names of he
+first two Khalifs, Abou Bekr and Omar, written on his heels;
+whereupon quoth the Khalif, 'O Vizier, Alaeddin was a Sunnite,
+and this fellow is a Shiyaite.'[FN#113] 'Glory be to God who
+knowest the hidden things!' answered Jaafer. 'We know not whether
+this was he or another.' Then the Khalif bade bury the body and
+Alaeddin became altogether forgotten.
+
+As for Hebezlem Bezazeh, the Amir Khalid's son, he ceased not to
+languish for passion and desire, till he died and they buried
+him; whilst Jessamine accomplished the months of her pregnancy
+and being taken with the pains of labour, gave birth to a male
+child like the moon. The serving-women said to her, 'What wilt
+thou name him?' And she answered, 'Were his father alive, he had
+named him; but now I will name him Aslan.' She gave him suck two
+years, then weaned him, and he crawled and walked. One day,
+whilst his mother was busied with the service of the kitchen, the
+child went out and seeing the stairs, mounted to the guest-
+chamber,[FN#114] where the Amir Khalid was sitting. When the
+latter saw him, he took him in his lap and glorified his Lord for
+that which He had created and fashioned forth; then eyeing him
+straitly, he saw that he was the likest of all creatures to
+Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat; and God informed his heart with love of
+the boy. Presently, his mother Jessamine sought for him and
+finding him not, mounted to the guest-chamber, where she saw the
+Amir seated, with the child playing in his lap. The latter,
+spying his mother, would have thrown himself upon her: but the
+Amir held him back and said to Jessamine, 'Come hither, O
+damsel.' So she came to him, and he said to her, 'Whose son is
+this?' Quoth she, 'He is my son and the darling of my heart.'
+'Who is his father?' asked the Amir; and she answered, 'His
+father was Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat, but now he is become thy
+son.' Quoth Khalid, 'Alaeddin was a traitor.' 'God deliver him
+from treason!' replied she. 'God forbid that the Faithful should
+be a traitor!' Then said he, 'When the boy grows up and says to
+thee, "Who is my father?" say thou to him, "Thou art the son of
+the Amir Khalid, Chief of the Police."' And she answered, 'I hear
+and obey.' Then he circumcised the boy and reared him after the
+goodliest fashion, bringing him a tutor, who taught him to read
+and write; so he read (and commented) the Koran twice and learnt
+it by heart and grew up, calling the Amir father. Moreover, the
+latter used to go down with him to the tilting-ground and
+assemble horsemen and teach the lad warlike exercises and the use
+of arms, so that, by the time he was fourteen years old, he
+became a valiant and accomplished cavalier and gained the rank of
+Amir.[FN#115]
+
+It chanced one day that he fell in with Ahmed Kemakim and
+clapping up an acquaintance with him, accompanied him to the
+tavern, where Ahmed took out the lantern he had stolen from the
+Khalif and fell to plying the wine-cup by its light, till he
+became drunken. Presently Aslan said to him, 'O Captain, give me
+yonder lantern;' but he replied, 'I cannot give it thee.' 'Why
+not?' asked Aslan. 'Because,' answered Ahmed, 'lives have been
+lost for it.' 'Whose life?' asked Aslan; and Ahmed said, 'There
+came hither a man named Alaeddin Abou est Shamat, who was made
+Captain of the Sixty and lost his life through this lantern.'
+Quoth Aslan, 'And how was that?' 'Know,' replied Ahmed Kemakim,
+'that thou hadst an elder brother by name Hebezlem Bezazeh, for
+whom, when he became apt for marriage, thy father would have
+bought a slave-girl named Jessamine.' And he went on to tell him
+the whole story of Hebezlem's illness and what befell Alaeddin,
+undeserved. When Aslan heard this, he said in himself, 'Most like
+this slave-girl was my mother Jessamine and my father was no
+other than Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.' So he went out from him,
+sorrowful, and met Ahmed ed Denef, who exclaimed at sight of him,
+'Glory be to Him to whom none is like!' 'At what dost thou
+marvel, O my chief?' asked Hassan Shouman. 'At the make of yonder
+boy Aslan,' replied Ed Denef; 'for he is the likest of all
+creatures to Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.' Then he called Aslan and
+said to him, 'What is thy mother's name?' 'She is called the
+damsel Jessamine,' answered Aslan; and Ed Denef said, 'Harkye,
+Aslan, take heart and be of good cheer, for thy father was none
+other than Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat: but, O my son, go thou in to
+thy mother and question her of thy father.' 'I hear and obey,'
+answered he, and going in to his mother, said to her, 'Who is my
+father?' Quoth she, 'The Amir Khalid is thy father.' 'Not so,'
+rejoined he, 'my father was none other than Alaeddin Abou esh
+Shamat.' At this, she wept and said, 'Who told thee this?' 'Ahmed
+ed Denef, the Captain of the Guard,' answered he; so she told him
+the whole story, saying, 'O my son, the truth can no longer be
+hidden: know that Alaeddin was indeed thy father, but it was the
+Amir Khalid who reared thee and adopted thee as his son. And now,
+O my son, when thou seest Ahmed ed Denef, so thou say to him, "I
+conjure thee, by Allah, O my chief, avenge me on the murderer of
+my father Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat!"' So he went out from her and
+betaking himself to Ahmed ed Denef, kissed his hand. Quoth Ed
+Denef, 'What ails thee, O Aslan?' And he answered, 'I know now
+for certain that I am the son of Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat and I
+would have thee avenge me of my father's murderer.' 'And who was
+thy father's murderer?' asked Ed Denef. 'Ahmed Kemakim the arch-
+thief,' replied Aslan. 'Who told thee this?' said Ed Denef, and
+Aslan answered, 'I saw in his hand the lantern hung with jewels,
+that was lost with the rest of the Khalif's gear, and asked him
+to give it me; but he refused, saying, "Lives have been lost on
+account of this," and told me how it was he who had broken into
+the palace and stolen the goods and hidden them in my father's
+house.' Then said Ed Denef, 'When thou seest the Amir Khalid don
+his harness of war, beg him to equip thee like himself and take
+thee with him. Then do thou some feat of prowess before the
+Khalif and he will say to thee, "Ask a boon of me, O Aslan." And
+do thou answer, "I ask of thee that thou avenge me of my father's
+murderer." If he say, "Thy father is alive and is the Amir
+Khalid, the Chief of the Police," answer thou, "My father was
+Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat, and the Amir Khalid is only my father
+by right of fosterage and adoption." Then tell him all that
+passed between thee and Ahmed Kemakim and say, "O Commander of
+the Faithful, order him to be searched and I will bring the
+lantern forth of his bosom."' 'I hear and obey,' answered Aslan
+and returning to the Amir Khalid, found him making ready to
+repair to the Divan and said to him, 'I would fain have thee arm
+and harness me like thyself and carry me to the Divan.' So he
+equipped him and carried him to the Divan, with Ahmed Kemakim at
+his stirrup. Then the Khalif sallied forth of Baghdad with his
+retinue and let pitch tents and pavilions without the city;
+whereupon the troops divided into two parties and fell to playing
+at ball and striking it with the mall from one to the other. Now
+there was among the troops a spy, who had been hired to kill the
+Khalif; so he took the ball and smiting it with the mall, drove
+it straight at the Khalif's face; but Aslan interposed and
+catching it in mid-volley, drove it back at him who smote it, so
+that it struck him between the shoulders and he fell to the
+ground. The Khalif exclaimed, 'God bless thee, O Aslan!' and they
+all dismounted and sat on chairs. Then the Khalif bade bring the
+smiter of the ball before him and said to him, 'Who moved thee to
+do this thing and art thou friend or foe?' Quoth he, 'I am a foe
+and it was my purpose to kill thee.' 'And wherefore?' asked the
+Khalif. 'Art thou not an (orthodox) Muslim?' 'No,' replied the
+spy; 'I am a Shiyaite.' So the Khalif bade put him to death and
+said to Aslan, 'Ask a boon of me.' Quoth he, 'I ask of thee that
+thou avenge me of my father's murderer.' 'Thy father is alive,'
+answered the Khalif; 'and there he stands.' 'And who is he?'
+asked Aslan. The Khalif replied, 'He is the Amir Khalid, Chief of
+the Police.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' rejoined Aslan, 'he
+is no father of mine, save by right of fosterage; my father was
+none other than Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.' 'Then thy father was a
+traitor,' said the Khalif. 'God forbid, O Commander of the
+Faithful,' replied Aslan, 'that the Faithful should be a traitor!
+But how did he wrong thee?' Quoth the Khalif, 'He stole my royal
+habit and what was therewith.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'
+rejoined Aslan, 'God forfend that my father should be a traitor!
+But, O my lord, didst thou ever recover the lantern that was
+stolen from thee?' 'No,' answered the Khalif, 'we never got it
+back.' And Aslan said, 'I saw it in the hands of Ahmed Kemakim
+and begged it of him; but he refused to give it me, saying,
+"Lives have been lost on account of this." Then he told me of the
+sickness of Hebezlem Bezazeh, son of the Amir Khalid, by reason
+of his passion for the damsel Jessamine, and how he himself was
+released from prison and that it was he who stole the lamp and
+robe and so forth. Do thou then, O Commander of the Faithful,
+avenge me of my father on him who murdered him.' So the Khalif
+caused Ahmed Kemakim to be brought before him and sending for
+Ahmed ed Denef, bade him search him; whereupon he put his hand
+into the thief's bosom and pulled out the lamp. 'Harkye,
+traitor,' said the Khalif, 'whence hadst thou this lantern?' And
+Kemakim replied, 'I bought it, O Commander of the Faithful!'
+'Where didst thou buy it?' said the Khalif, 'and who could come
+by its like to sell it to thee?' Then they beat him, till he
+confessed that he had stolen the lantern and the rest, and the
+Khalif said, 'O traitor, what moved thee to do this thing and
+ruin Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat, the Trusty and Well-beloved?' Then
+he bade lay hands on him and on the Chief of the Police, but the
+latter said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, indeed I am unjustly
+entreated; thou badest me hang him, and I had no knowledge of
+this plot, for the thing was contrived between Ahmed Kemakim and
+his mother and my wife. I crave thine intercession, O Aslan.' So
+Aslan interceded for him with the Khalif, who said, 'What hath
+God done with this lad's mother?' 'She is with me,' answered
+Khalid, and the Khalif said, 'I command thee to bid thy wife
+dress her in her own clothes and ornaments and restore her to her
+former rank; and do thou remove the seals from Alaeddin's house
+and give his son possession of his estate.' 'I hear and obey,'
+answered Khalid, and going forth, carried the Khalif's order to
+his wife, who clad Jessamine in her own apparel; whilst he
+himself removed the seals from Alaeddin's house and gave Aslan
+the keys. Then said the Khalif to Aslan, 'Ask a boon of me;' and
+he replied, 'I beseech thee to unite me with my father.' Whereat
+the Khalif wept and said, 'Most like it was thy father that was
+hanged and is dead; but by the life of my forefathers, whoso
+bringeth me the glad news that he is yet in the bonds of life, I
+will give him all he seeketh!' Then came forward Ahmed ed Denef
+and kissing the earth before the Khalif, said, 'Grant me
+indemnity, O Commander of the Faithful!' 'Thou hast it,' answered
+the Khalif; and Ed Denef said, 'I give thee the good news that
+Alaeddin is alive and well.' Quo the Khalif, 'What is this thou
+sayest?' 'As thy head liveth,' answered Ed Denef, 'I speak sooth;
+for I ransomed him with another, of those who deserved death, and
+carried him to Alexandria, where I set him up as a dealer in
+second-hand goods.' Then said Er Reshid, 'I charge thee fetch him
+to me;' and Ed Denef replied, 'I hear and obey;' whereupon the
+Khalif bade give him ten thousand dinars and he set out for
+Alexandria.
+
+Meanwhile Alaeddin sold all that was in his shop, till he had but
+a few things let and amongst the rest a bag. So he shook the bag
+and there fell out a jewel, big enough to fill the palm of the
+hand, hanging to a chain of gold and having five faces, whereon
+were names and talismanic characters, as they were ant-tracks.
+'God is All-knowing!' quoth he. 'Belike this is a talisman.' So
+he rubbed each face; but nothing came of it and he said to
+himself, 'Doubtless it is a piece of [naturally] variegated
+onyx,' and hung it up in the shop. Presently, a Frank passed
+along the street and seeing the jewel hanging up, seated himself
+before the shop and said to Alaeddin, 'O my lord, is yonder jewel
+for sale?' 'All I have is for sale,' answered Alaeddin; and the
+Frank said, 'Wilt thou sell it me for fourscore thousand dinars?'
+'May God open!'[FN#116] replied Alaeddin. 'Wilt thou sell it for
+a hundred thousand dinars?' asked the Frank, and he answered, 'I
+sell it to thee for a hundred thousand dinars; pay me down the
+money.' Quoth the Frank, 'I cannot carry such a sum about me, for
+there are thieves and sharpers in Alexandria; but come with me to
+my ship and I will pay thee the money and give thee to boot a
+bale of Angora wool, a bale of satin, a bale of velvet and a
+bale of broadcloth.' So Alaeddin rose and giving the jewel to
+the Frank, locked up his shop and committed the keys to his
+neighbour, saying, 'Keep these keys for me, whilst I go with this
+Frank to his ship and take the price of my jewel. If I be long
+absent and there come to thee Captain Ahmed ed Denef,--he who set
+me up in this shop,--give him the keys and tell him where I am.'
+Then he went with the Frank to his ship, where the latter set him
+a stool and making him sit down, said [to his men], 'Bring the
+money.' So [they brought it and] he paid him the price of the
+jewel and gave him the four bales he had promised him; after
+which he said to him, 'O my lord, honour me by taking a morsel or
+a draught of water.' And Alaeddin answered, 'If thou have any
+water, give me to drink.' So the Frank called for drink, and they
+brought sherbets, drugged with henbane, of which no sooner had
+Alaeddin drunk, than he fell over on his back; whereupon they
+weighed anchor and shoving off, shipped the poles and made sail.
+The wind blew fair and they sailed till they lost sight of land,
+when the Frank bade bring Alaeddin up out of the hold and made
+him smell to the counter-drug, whereupon he opened his eyes and
+said, 'Where am I?' 'Thou art bound and in my power,' answered
+the Frank; 'and if thou hadst refused to take a hundred thousand
+dinars for the jewel, I would have bidden thee more.' 'What art
+thou?' asked Alaeddin, and the other replied, 'I am a sea-
+captain and mean to carry thee to my mistress.' As they were
+talking, a ship hove in sight, with forty Muslim merchants on
+board; so the Frank captain gave chase and coming up with the
+vessel, made fast to it with grappling-irons. Then he boarded it
+with his men and took it and plundered it; after which he sailed
+on with his prize, till he reached the city of Genoa, where he
+repaired to the gate of a palace, that gave upon the sea, and
+there came forth to him a veiled damsel, who said, 'Hast thou
+brought the jewel and its owner?' 'I have brought them both,'
+answered he; and she said, 'Then give me the jewel.' So he gave
+it to her and returning to the port, fired guns to announce his
+safe return; whereupon the King of the city, being notified of
+his arrival, came down to receive him and said to him, 'What
+manner of voyage hast thou had?' 'A right prosperous one,'
+answered the captain, 'and I have made prize of a ship with one-
+and-forty Muslim merchants.' Being them ashore,' said the King.
+So he landed the merchants in irons, and Alaeddin among the rest;
+and the King and the captain mounted and made the captives walk
+before them, till they reached the palace, where the King sat
+down in the audience-chamber and making the prisoners pass before
+him, one by one, said to the first, 'O Muslim, whence comest
+thou?' 'From Alexandria,' answered he; whereupon the King said,
+'O headsman, put him to death.' So the headsman smote him with
+the sword and cut off his head: and thus it fared with the second
+and the third, till forty were dead and there remained but
+Alaeddin, who drank the cup of his comrades' anguish and said to
+himself, 'God have mercy on thee, O Alaeddin! Thou art a dead
+man.' Then said the King to him, 'And thou, what countryman art
+thou?' 'I am of Alexandria,' answered Alaeddin, and the King
+said, 'O headsman, strike off his head.' So the headsman raised
+his arm and was about to strike, when an old woman of venerable
+aspect presented herself before the King, who rose to do her
+honour, and said to him, 'O King, did I not bid thee remember,
+when the captain came back with captives, to keep one or two for
+the convent, to serve in the church?' 'O my mother, answered the
+King, 'would thou hadst come a while earlier! But take this one
+that is left.' So she turned to Alaeddin and said to him, 'Wilt
+thou serve in the church, or shall I let the King kill thee?'
+Quoth he, 'I will serve in the church.' So she took him and
+carried him forth of the palace to the church, where he said to
+her, 'What service must I do?' And she answered, 'Thou must arise
+in the morning and take five mules and go with them into the
+forest and there cut dry firewood and split it and bring it to
+the convent-kitchen. Then must thou take up the carpets and sweep
+and wipe the stone and marble pavements and lay the carpets down
+again, as they were; after which thou must take two bushels and a
+half of wheat and sift it and grind it and knead it and make it
+into cracknels for the convent; and thou must take also a bushel
+of lentils and sift and crush and cook them. Then must thou fetch
+water in barrels and fill the four fountains; after which thou
+must take three hundred and threescore and six wooden platters
+and crumble the cracknels therein and pour of the lentil pottage
+over each and carry every monk and patriarch his platter.' 'Take
+me back to the King and let him kill me,' said Alaeddin; 'it were
+easier to me than this service.' 'If thou do the service that is
+due from thee,' replied the old woman, 'thou shalt escape death;
+but, if thou do it not, I will let the King kill thee.' Then she
+went away, leaving Alaeddin heavy at heart. Now there were in the
+church ten blind cripples, and one of them said to him, 'Bring me
+a pot.' So he brought it him and he did his occasion therein and
+said, 'Throw away the ordure.' He did do, and the blind man said,
+'The Messiah's blessing be upon thee, O servant of the church!'
+Presently, the old woman came in and said to him, 'Why hast thou
+not done thy service?' 'How many hands have I,' answered he,
+'that I should suffice for all this work?' 'Thou fool!' rejoined
+she.' 'I brought thee not hither but to work. But,' added she,
+giving him a wand of brass with a cross at the top, 'take this
+rod and go forth into the highway, and whomsoever thou meetest,
+were he governor of the ciy, say to him, "I summon thee to the
+service of the church, in the name of the Messiah." And he will
+not refuse thee. Then make him sift the wheat and grind it and
+bolt it and knead it and bake it into cracknels; and if any
+gainsay thee, beat him and fear none.' 'I hear and obey,'
+answered he and did as she said, pressing great and small into
+his service; nor did he leave to do thus for the space of
+seventeen years, till, one day, the old woman came to him, as he
+sat in the church, and said to him, 'Go forth of the convent.'
+'Whither shall I go?' asked he, and she said, 'Thou canst pass
+the night in a tavern or with one of thy friends.' Quoth he, 'Why
+dost thou send me forth of the church?' and she replied, 'The
+princess Husn Meryem, daughter of Youhenna, King of the city,
+purposes this night to pay a visit to the church, and it befits
+not that any abide in her way.' So he rose and made a show of
+obeying her and of leaving the church; but he said in himself, 'I
+wonder whether the princess is like our women or fairer than
+they! Algates, I will not go till I have had a sight of her.' So
+he hid himself in a closet[FN#117] with a window looking into the
+church, and as he watched, in came the King's daughter. He cast
+one glance at her, that cost him a thousand sighs, for she was
+like the full moon, when it emerges from the clouds; and with her
+was a damsel, to whom he heard her say, 'O Zubeideh, thy company
+is grateful to me.' So he looked straitly at the damsel and found
+her to be none other than his wife, Zubeideh the Lutanist, whom
+he thought dead. Then the princess said to Zubeideh, 'Play us an
+air on the lute.' But she answered, 'I will make no music for
+thee, till thou grant my wish and fulfil thy promise to me.' 'And
+what did I promise thee?' asked the princess. 'That thou wouldst
+reunite me with my husband Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat,' said
+Zubeideh. 'O Zubeideh,' rejoined the princess, 'be of good cheer
+and play us an air, as a thank-offering for reunion with thy
+husband.' 'Where is he?' asked Zubeideh, and Meryem replied, 'He
+is in yonder closet, listening to us.' So Zubeideh played a
+measure on the lute, that would have made a rock dance; which
+when Alaeddin heard, his entrails were troubled and he came forth
+and throwing himself upon his wife, strained her to his bosom.
+She also knew him and they embraced and fell down in a swoon.
+Then came the princess and sprinkled rose-water on them, till
+they revived, when she said to them, 'God hath reunited you.' 'By
+thy kind offices, O my lady,' replied Alaeddin and turning to his
+wife, said to her, 'O Zubeideh, thou didst surely die and we
+buried thee: how then camest thou to life and to this place?' 'O
+my lord,' answered she, 'I did not die; but a Marid of the Jinn
+snatched me up and flew with me hither. She whom thou buriedst
+was a Jinniyeh, who took my shape and feigned herself dead, but
+presently broke open the tomb and returned to the service of this
+her mistress, the princess Husn Meryem. As for me, I was in a
+trance, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself with the
+princess; so I said to her, "Why hast thou bought me hither?" "O
+Zubeideh," answered she, "know that I am predestined to marry thy
+husband Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat: wilt thou then accept of me to
+fellow-wife, a night for me and a night for thee?" "I hear and
+obey, O my lady," rejoined I; "but where is my husband?" Quoth
+she, "Upon his forehead is written what God hath decreed to him;
+as soon as what is there written is fulfilled to him he must
+needs come hither, and we will beguile the time of our separation
+from him with songs and smiting upon instruments of music, till
+it please God to unite us with him." So I abode with her till God
+brought us together in this church.' Then the princess turned to
+him and said, 'O my lord Alaeddin, wilt thou accept of me to
+wife?' 'O my lady,' replied he, 'I am a Muslim and thou art a
+Nazarene; so how can I marry thee?' 'God forbid,' rejoined she,
+'that I should be an infidel! Nay, I am a Muslim; these eighteen
+years have I held fast the Faith of Submission and I am pure of
+any faith other than that of Islam.' Then said he, 'O my lady, I
+would fain return to my native land.' And she answered, 'Know
+that I see written on thy forehead things that thou must needs
+fulfil and thou shalt come to thy desire. Moreover, I give thee
+the glad tidings, O Alaeddin, that there hath been born to thee a
+son named Aslan, who is now eighteen years old and sitteth in thy
+place with the Khalif. Know also that God hath shown forth the
+truth and done away the false by withdrawing the curtain of
+secrecy from him who stole the Khalif's goods, that is, Ahmed
+Kemakim the arch-thief and traitor; and he now lies bound and in
+prison. It was I who caused the jewel to be put in the bag where
+thou foundest it and who sent the captain to thee; for thou must
+know that he is enamoured of me and seeketh my favours, but I
+refused to yield to his wishes, till he should being me the jewel
+and its owner. So I gave him a hundred purses[FN#118] and
+despatched him to thee, in the habit of a merchant; and it was I
+also who sent the old woman to save thee from being put to death
+with the other captives.' 'May God requite thee for us with all
+good!' said he. 'Indeed, thou hast done well.' Then she renewed
+her profession of the Mohammedan faith at his hands, and when he
+was assured of the truth of her speech, he said to her, 'O my
+lady, tell me what are the virtues of the jewel and whence cometh
+it?' 'It came from an enchanted treasure,' answered she, 'and has
+five virtues, that will profit us in time of need. The princess
+my grandmother, my father's mother, was an enchantress and
+skilled in solving mysteries and winning at hidden treasures, and
+from one of the latter came the jewel into her hands. When I grew
+up and reached the age of fourteen, I read the Evangel and other
+books and found the name of Mohammed (whom God bless and
+preserve) in four books, the Evangel, the Pentateuch, the
+Psalms[FN#119] and the Koran; so I believed in Mohammed and
+became a Muslim, being assured that none is worship-worth save
+God the Most High and that to the Lord of all creatures no faith
+is acceptable save that of Submission. When my grandmother fell
+sick, she gave me the jewel and taught me its virtues. Moreover,
+before she died, my father said to her, 'Draw me a geomantic
+figure and see the issue of my affair and what will befall me.'
+And she foretold him that he should die by the hand of a captive
+from Alexandria. So he swore to kill every captive from that
+place and told the captain of this, saying, "Do thou fall on the
+ships of the Muslims and seize them and whomsoever thou findest
+of Alexandria, kill him or bring him to me." The captain did his
+bidding and he slew as many in number as the hairs of his head.
+Then my grandmother died and I took a geomantic tablet, being
+minded to now who I should marry, and drawing a figure, found
+that none should be my husband save one called Alaeddin Abou esh
+Shamat, the Trusty and Well-beloved. At this I marvelled and
+waited till the times were accomplished and I foregathered with
+thee.' So Alaeddin took her to wife and said to her, 'I desire to
+return to my own country.' 'If it be so,' replied she, 'come with
+me.' Then she carried him into the palace and hiding him in a
+closet there, went in to her father, who said to her, 'O my
+daughter, my heart is exceeding heavy to-day; let us sit down and
+make merry with wine, thou and I.' So he called for a table of
+wine, and she sat down with him and plied him with wine, till he
+lost his wits, when she drugged a cup with henbane, and he drank
+it off and fell backward. Then she brought Alaeddin out of the
+closet and said to him, 'Come; thine enemy is laid prostrate, for
+I made him drunk and drugged him; so do thou with him as thou
+wilt.' Accordingly Alaeddin went to the King and finding him
+lying drugged and helpless, bound him fast, hand and foot. Then
+he gave him the counter-drug and he came to himself and finding
+his daughter and Alaeddin sitting on his breast, said to her, 'O
+my daughter, dost thou deal thus with me?' 'If I be indeed thy
+daughter,' answered she, 'become a Muslim, even as I have done;
+for the truth was shown to me, and I embraced it, and the false,
+and I renounced it. I have submitted myself unto God, the Lord of
+all creatures, and am pure of all faiths contrary to that of
+Islam in this world and the next. Wherefore, if thou wilt become
+a Muslim, well and good; if not, thy death were better than thy
+life.' Alaeddin also exhorted him to embrace the true faith; but
+he refused and was obstinate: so Alaeddin took a dagger and cut
+his throat from ear to ear. Then he wrote a scroll, setting forth
+what had happened and laid it on the dead man's forehead, after
+which they took what was light of weight and heavy of worth and
+returned to the church. Here the princess took out the jewel and
+rubbed the face whereon was figured a couch, whereupon a couch
+appeared before her and she mounted upon it with Alaeddin and
+Zubeideh, saying, 'O couch, I conjure thee by the virtue of the
+names and talismans and characters of art engraven on this jewel,
+rise up with us!' And it rose with them into the air and flew,
+till I came to a desert valley, when the princess turned the face
+on which the couch was figured towards the earth, and it sank
+with them to the ground. Then she turned up the face whereon was
+figured a pavilion and tapping it, said, 'Let a pavilion be
+pitched in this valley.' And immediately there appeared a
+pavilion, in which they seated themselves. Now this valley was a
+desert waste, without grass or water; so she turned a third face
+of the jewel towards the sky and said, 'By the virtue of the
+names of God, let trees spring up here and a river run beside
+them!' And immediately trees sprang up and a river ran rippling
+and splashing beside them. They made their ablutions and prayed
+and drank of the stream; after which the princess turned up a
+fourth face of the jewel, on which was figured a table of food,
+and said, 'By the virtue of the names of God, let the table be
+spread!' And immediately there appeared before them a table,
+spread with all manner rich meats, and they ate and drank and
+made merry.
+
+Meanwhile, the King's son went in to waken his father, but found
+him slain and seeing the scroll, took it and read. Then he sought
+his sister and finding her not, betook himself to the old woman
+in the church, of whom he enquired of her, but she said, 'I have
+not seen her since yesterday.' So he returned to the troops and
+cried out, saying, 'To horse, cavaliers!' Then he told them what
+had happened, and they mounted and rode after the fugitives, till
+they drew near the pavilion. Presently, Husn Meryem looked up and
+saw a cloud of dust, which spread till it covered the prospect,
+then lifted and discovered her brother and his troops, crying
+aloud and saying, 'Whither will ye fly, and we on your track!'
+Then said she to Alaeddin, 'Art thou steadfast in battle?' 'Even
+as the stake in bran,' answered he; 'I know not war nor battle,
+neither swords nor spears.' So she pulled out the jewel and
+rubbed the fifth face, that on which were depictured a horse and
+his rider, and straightway a horseman appear out of the desert
+and driving at the pursuing host, ceased not to do battle with
+them and smite them with the sword, till he routed them and put
+them to flight. Then said the princess to Alaeddin, 'Wilt thou go
+to Cairo or to Alexandria?' And he answered, 'To Alexandria.'
+So they mounted the couch and she pronounced over it the
+conjuration, whereupon it set off with them and brought them to
+Alexandria in the twinkling of an eye. They alighted without the
+city and Alaeddin hid the women in a cavern, whilst he went into
+Alexandria and fetched them veils and outer clothing, wherewith
+he covered them. Then he carried them to his ship and leaving
+them in the room behind it, went forth to fetch them the morning
+meal, when he met Ahmed ed Denef coming from Baghdad. He saw him
+in the street and received him with open arms, embracing him and
+welcoming him. Ed Denef gave him the good news of his son Aslan
+and how he was now come to the age of twenty; and Alaeddin, in
+his turn, told the captain of the guard all that had befallen
+him, whereat he marvelled exceedingly. Then he brought him to his
+lodging, where they passed the night; and next day he sold his
+shop and laid its price with his other monies. Now Ed Denef had
+told him that the Khalif sought him; but he said, 'I am bound
+first for Cairo, to salute my father and mother and the people of
+my house.' So they all mounted the couch and it carried them to
+Cairo the Happy, where they alighted in the street called Yellow,
+where stood Shemseddin's house. Alaeddin knocked at the door, and
+his mother said, 'Who is at the door, now that we have lost our
+beloved?' 'It is I, Alaeddin,' replied he; whereupon they came
+down and embraced him. Then he sent his wives and baggage into
+the house and entering himself with Ahmed ed Denef, rested there
+three days, after which he was minded to set out for Baghdad and
+his father said, 'O my son, abide with me.' But he answered, 'I
+cannot brook to be parted from my son Aslan.' So he took his
+father and mother and set out for Baghdad. When they came
+thither, Ahmed ed Denef went in to the Khalif and gave him the
+glad tidings of Alaeddin's arrival and told him his story;
+whereupon the Prince went forth to meet him, accompanied by his
+son Aslan, and they met and embraced each other. Then the Khalif
+sent for Ahmed Kemakim and said to Alaeddin, 'Up and avenge thee
+of thine enemy!' So he drew his sword and smote off Ahmed's head.
+Then the Khalif held festival for Alaeddin and summoning the
+Cadis and the witnesses, married him to the princess Husn Meryem;
+and he went in to her and found her an unpierced pearl. Moreover,
+the Khalif made Aslan Chief of the Sixty and bestowed upon him
+and his father sumptuous dresses of honour; and they abode in the
+enjoyment of all the comforts and pleasures of life, till there
+came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of
+Companies.
+
+
+
+
+           HATIM ET TAI: HIS GENEROSITY AFTER DEATH.
+
+
+
+It is told of Hatim et Tai[FN#120], that when he died, they
+buried him on the top of a mountain and set over his grave two
+boughs hewn out of two rocks and stone figures of women with
+dishevelled hair. At the foot of the hill was a stream of running
+water, and when wayfarers camped there, they heard loud crying in
+the night, from dark till daybreak; but when they arose in the
+morning, they found nothing but the girls carved in stone. Now
+when Dhoulkeraa, King of Himyer, going forth of his tribe, came
+to the valley, he halted to pass the night there and drawing near
+the mountain, heard the crying and said, 'What lamenting is that
+on yonder hill?' They answered him, saying, 'This is the tomb of
+Hatim et Tai, over which are two troughs of stone and stone
+figures of girls with dishevelled hair; and all who camp in this
+place by night hear this crying and lamenting.' So he said
+jestingly, 'O Hatim et Tai, we are thy guests this night, and we
+are lank with hunger.' Then sleep overcame him, but presently he
+awoke in affright and cried out, saying, 'Help, O Arabs! Look at
+my beast!' So they came to him and finding his she-camel
+struggling in the death-agony, slaughtered it and roasted its
+flesh and ate. Then they asked him what had happened and he said,
+'When I closed my eyes, I saw in my sleep Hatim et Tai, who came
+to me with a sword in his hand and said to me, "Thou comest to us
+and we have nothing by us." Then he smote my she-camel with his
+sword, and she would have died, though ye had not come to her and
+cut her throat.' Next morning the prince mounted the beast of one
+of his companions and taking the latter up behind him, set out
+and fared on till midday, when they saw a man coming towards
+them, mounted on a camel and leading another, and said to him,
+'Who art thou?' 'I am Adi, son of Hatim et Tai,' answered he.
+'Where is Dhoulkeraa, prince of Himyer?' 'This is he,' replied
+they, and he said to the prince, 'Take this camel in place of
+thine own, which my father slaughtered for thee.' 'Who told thee
+of this?' asked Dhoulkeraa, and Adi answered, 'My father appeared
+to me in a dream last night and said to me, "Harkye, Adi;
+Dhoulkeraa, King of Himyer, sought hospitality of me and I,
+having nought to give him, slaughtered him his she-camel, that he
+might eat: so do thou carry him a she-camel to ride, for I have
+nothing."' And Dhoulkeraa took her, marvelling at the generosity
+of Hatim et Tai, alive and dead.
+
+
+
+
+              MAAN BEN ZAIDEH AND THE THREE GIRLS.
+
+
+
+It is told of Maan ben Zaideh[FN#121] that, being out one day
+a-hunting, he became athirst and would have drunk, but his men
+had no water with them. Presently, he met three damsels, bearing
+three skins of water; so he begged drink of them, and they gave
+him to drink. Then he sought of his men somewhat to give the
+damsels; but they had no money; so he gave each girl ten
+golden-headed arrows from his quiver. Whereupon quoth one of them
+to her mates, 'Harkye! These fashions pertain to none but Maan
+ben Zaideh; so let each of us recite somewhat of verse in his
+praise.' Then said the first:
+
+
+He heads his shafts with gold and shooting at his foes, Dispenses
+     thus largesse and bounties far and wide,
+Giving the wounded man wherewith to get him cure And
+     grave-clothes unto him must in the tombs abide.
+
+And the second:
+
+A warrior, for the great excess of his magnificence, both friends
+     and foes enjoy the goods his liberal hands dispense.
+His arrowheads are forged of gold, that so his very wars May not
+     estop his generous soul from its munificence.
+
+And the third:
+
+With arrows he shoots at his foes, of his generosity, Whose heads
+     are fashioned and forged of virgin gold, in steel's room;
+That those whom he wounds may spend the price of the gold for
+     their cure And those that are slain of his shafts may buy
+     them the wede of the tomb.
+
+
+
+
+                MAAN BEN ZAIDEH AND THE BEDOUIN.
+
+
+
+It is told also of Maan ben Zaideh that he went forth one day to
+the chase with his company, and they came upon a herd of
+gazelles. So they separated in pursuit of them and Maan was left
+alone in chase of one of the gazelles. When he had made prize of
+it, he alighted and slaughtered it; and as he was thus engaged,
+he espied a man coming towards him on an ass. So he remounted and
+riding up to the new-comer, saluted him and asked him whence he
+came. Quoth he, 'I come from the land of Cuzaaeh, where we have
+had a two years' dearth; but this year it was a season of plenty
+and I sowed cucumbers. They came up before their time, so I
+gathered the best of them and set out to carry them to the Amir
+Maan ben Zaideh, because of his well-known generosity and
+notorious munificence.' 'How much cost thou hope to get of him?'
+asked Maan, and the Bedouin answered, 'A thousand diners.' 'What
+if he say, "This is too much"?' quoth Maan. 'Then I will ask five
+hundred diners,' said the Bedouin. 'And if he say, "Too much"?'
+said Maan. 'Then three hundred,' replied the other. 'And if he
+say yet, "Too much"?' 'Then two hundred.' 'And yet, "Too much"?'
+'Then one hundred.' 'And yet, "Too much"?' 'Then fifty.' 'And
+yet, "Too much"?' 'Then thirty.' 'And if he still say, "Too
+much"?' said Maan ben Zaideh. 'Then,' answered the Bedouin, 'I
+will make my ass set his feet in his sanctuary[FN#122] and return
+to my people, disappointed and empty-handed.' Maan laughed at him
+and spurring his horse, rode on till he came up with his suite
+and returned home, when he said to his chamberlain, 'If there
+come a man with cucumbers, riding on an ass, admit him.'
+Presently up came the Bedouin and was admitted to Maan's
+presence, but knew him not for the man he had met in the desert,
+by reason of the gravity and majesty of his aspect and the
+multitude of his servants and attendants, for he was seated on
+his chair of estate, with his officers about him. So he saluted
+him and Maan said to him, 'O brother of the Arabs, what brings
+thee?' 'I hoped in the Amir,' answered the Bedouin, 'and have
+brought him cucumbers out of season.' 'And how much cost thou
+expect of us?' asked Maan. 'A thousand diners,' answered the
+Bedouin. 'Too much,' said Maan. Quoth the Bedouin, 'Five
+hundred;' but Maan repeated, 'Too much.' 'Then three hundred,'
+said the Bedouin. 'Too much,' said Maan. 'Two hundred.' 'Too
+much' 'One hundred.' 'Too much' 'Fifty.' 'Too much.' At last the
+Bedouin came down to thirty diners; but Maan still replied, 'Too
+much.' 'By Allah,' cried the Bedouin, 'the man I met in the
+desert brought me ill luck! But I will not go lower than thirty
+diners.' The Amir laughed and said nothing; whereupon the Bedouin
+knew that it was he whom he had met and said, 'O my lord, except
+thou bring the thirty diners, there is the ass tied ready at the
+door and here sits Maan.' At this, Maan laughed, till he fell
+backward, and calling his steward, said to him, 'Give him a
+thousand diners and five hundred and three hundred and two
+hundred and one hundred and fifty and thirty and leave the ass
+where he is.' So the Bedouin, to his amazement, received two
+thousand and nine score diners, and may God have mercy on them
+both!
+
+
+
+
+                      THE CITY OF LEBTAIT.
+
+
+
+There was once a city in the land of the Franks, called the City
+of Lebtait.[FN#123] It was a royal city and in it stood a tower
+which was always shut. Whenever a King died and another King of
+the Franks took the Kingship after him, he set a new and strong
+lock on the tower, till there were four-and-twenty locks upon
+the gate. After this time, there came to the throne a man who was
+not of the old royal house, and he had a mind to open the locks,
+that he might see what was within the tower. The grandees of his
+kingdom forbade him from this and were instant with him to
+desist, offering him all that their hands possessed of riches and
+things of price, if he would but forego his desire; but he would
+not be baulked and said, 'Needs must I open this tower.' So he
+did off the locks and entering, found within figures of Arabs on
+their horses and camels, covered with turbans with hanging ends,
+girt with swords and bearing long lances in their hands. He found
+there also a scroll, with these words written therein: 'Whenas
+this door is opened, a people of the Arabs, after the likeness of
+the figures here depictured, will conquer this country; wherefore
+beware, beware of opening it.' Now this city was in Spain, and
+that very year Tarik ibn Ziyad conquered it, in the Khalifate of
+Welid ben Abdulmelik[FN#124] of the sons of Umeyyeh, slaying this
+King after the sorriest fashion and sacking the city and making
+prisoners of the women and boys therein. Moreover, he found there
+immense treasures; amongst the rest more than a hundred and
+seventy crowns of pearls and rubies and other gems, and a saloon,
+in which horsemen might tilt with spears, full of vessels of gold
+and silver, such as no description can comprise. Moreover, he
+found there also the table of food of the prophet of God, Solomon
+son of David (on whom be peace), which is extant even now in a
+city of the Greeks; it is told that it was of green emerald, with
+vessels of gold and platters of chrysolite; likewise, the Psalms
+written in the [ancient] Greek character, on leaves of gold set
+with jewels, together with a book setting forth the properties of
+stones and herbs and minerals, as well as the use of charms and
+talismans and the canons of the art of alchemy, and another
+that treated of the art of cutting and setting rubies and
+other [precious] stones and of the preparation of poisons
+and antidotes. There found he also a representation of the
+configuration of the earth and the seas and the different towns
+and countries and villages of the world and a great hall full of
+hermetic powder, one drachm of which would turn a thousand
+drachms of silver into fine gold; likewise a marvellous great
+round mirror of mixed metals, made for Solomon son of David (on
+whom be peace), wherein whoso looked might see the very image and
+presentment of the seven divisions of the world, and a chamber
+full of carbuncles, such as no words can suffice to set forth,
+many camel-loads. So he despatched all these things to Welid ben
+Abdulmelik, and the Arabs spread all over the cities of Spain,
+which is one of the finest of lands. This is the end of the story
+of the City of Lebtait.
+
+
+
+
+             THE KHALIF HISHAM AND THE ARAB YOUTH.
+
+
+
+The Khalif Hisham ben Abdulmelik ben Merwan was hunting one day,
+when he sighted an antelope and pursued it with his dogs. As he
+was following the chase, he saw an Arab youth pasturing sheep and
+said to him, 'Ho, boy, up and stop yonder antelope, for it
+escapeth me!' The youth raised his head and replied, 'O ignorant
+of the worth of the worthy,[FN#125] thou lookest on me with
+disdain and speakest to me with contempt; thy speech is that of a
+tyrant and thy conduct that of an ass.' 'Out on thee,' cried
+Hisham. 'Dost thou not know me?' 'Verily,' rejoined the youth,
+'thine unmannerliness hath made thee known to me, in that thou
+spokest to me, without beginning by the salutation."[FN#126] 'Out
+on thee!' repeated the Khalif. 'I am Hisham ben Abdulmelik.' 'May
+God not favour thy dwellings,' replied the Arab, 'nor guard
+thine abiding-place! How many are thy words and how few thy
+generosities!' Hardly had he spoken, when up came the troops from
+all sides and surrounded him, saying, 'Peace be on thee, O
+Commander of the Faithful!' Quoth Hisham, 'Leave this talk and
+seize me yonder boy.' So they laid hands on him; and when he saw
+the multitude of chamberlains and viziers and officers of state,
+he was in nowise concerned and questioned not of them, but let
+his chin fall on his breast and looked where his feet fell, till
+they brought him to the Khalif,[FN#127] when he stood before him,
+with head bowed down, and saluted him not neither spoke. So one
+of the attendants said to him, 'O dog of the Arabs, what ails
+thee that thou salutest not the Commander of the Faithful?' The
+youth turned to him angrily and replied, 'O packsaddle of an ass,
+the length of the way it was that hindered me from this and the
+steepness of the steps and sweat.' Then said Hisham (and indeed
+he was exceeding wroth), 'O boy, thou art come to thy last hour;
+thy hope is gone from thee and thy life is past.' 'By Allah, O
+Hisham,' answered the Arab, 'if the time[FN#128] be prolonged and
+its cutting short be not ordained of destiny, thy words irk me
+not, be they much or little.' Then said the (chief) chamberlain
+to him, 'O vilest of the Arabs, what art thou to bandy words with
+the Commander of the Faithful?' He answered promptly, 'Mayest
+thou meet with adversity and may woe and mourning never depart
+from thee! Hast thou not heard the saying of God the Most
+High? "One day, every soul shall come to give an account of
+itself."'[FN#129] "At this, Hisham rose, in great wrath, and
+said, 'O headsman, bring me his head; for indeed he multiplies
+talk, such as passes conception, and fears not reproach.' So the
+headsman took him and making him kneel on the carpet of blood,
+drew his sword and said to the Khalif, 'O Commander of the
+Faithful, shall I smite off the head of this thy misguided slave,
+who is on the way to his grave, and be quit of his blood?' 'Yes,'
+replied Hisham. He repeated his question and the Khalif again
+replied in the affirmative. Then he asked leave a third time, and
+the youth, knowing that, if the Khalif assented yet once more, it
+would be the signal of his death, laughed till his wang-teeth
+appeared; at which Hisham's wrath redoubled and he said to him,
+'O boy, meseems thou art mad; seest thou not that thou art about
+to depart the world? Why then dost thou laugh in mockery of
+thyself?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' answered the young Arab,
+'if my life is to be prolonged, none can hurt me, great or small;
+but I have bethought me of some verses, which do thou hear, for
+my death cannot escape thee.' 'Say on and be brief,' replied
+Hisham; so the Arab repeated the following verses: A hawk once
+seized a sparrow, so have I heard men say, A sparrow of the
+desert, that fate to him did throw; And as the hawk was flying to
+nestward with his prize, The sparrow in his clutches did thus
+bespeak his foe: "There's nought in me the stomach of such as
+thou to stay; Indeed, I'm all too paltry to fill thy maw, I
+trow." The hawk was pleased and flattered with pride and self
+conceit;   He smiled for self-contentment and let the sparrow go.
+At this Hisham smiled and said, 'By my kinship to the Prophet
+(whom God bless and preserve), had he spoken thus at first, I had
+given him all he asked, except the Khalifate!' Then he bade his
+servants stuff his mouth with jewels and entreat him courteously;
+so they did as he bade them and the Arab went his way.
+
+
+
+
+                  IBRAHIM BEN EL MEHDI AND THE
+                        BARBER-SURGEON.
+
+
+
+When the Khalifate fell to El Mamoun the son of Haroun er Reshid,
+the latter's brother Ibrahim, son of El Mehdi, refused to
+acknowledge his nephew and betook himself to Er Rei,[FN#130]
+where he proclaimed himself Khalif and abode thus a year and
+eleven months and twelve days.  Meanwhile Mamoun remained
+awaiting his return to allegiance, till, at last, despairing of
+this, he mounted with his horsemen and footmen and repaired to Er
+Rei in quest of him.  When the news came to Ibrahim, he found
+nothing for it but to flee to Baghdad and hide there, fearing for
+his life; and Mamoun set a price of a hundred thousand dinars
+upon his head.
+
+(Quoth Ibrahim) 'Now when I heard of this price being set upon my
+head, I feared for myself and knew not what to do: so I disguised
+myself and went forth of my house at midday, knowing not whither
+I should go.  Presently, I entered a street that had no issue and
+said in myself, "Verily, we are God's and to Him we return!  I
+have exposed myself to destruction.  If I retrace my steps, I
+shall arouse suspicion."  Then I espied, at the upper end of the
+street, a negro standing at his door; so I went up to him and
+said to him, "Hast thou a place where I may abide awhile of the
+day?"  "Yes," answered he, and opening the door, admitted me into
+a decent house, furnished with carpets and mats and cushions of
+leather.  Then he shut the door on me and went away; and I
+misdoubted me he had heard of the reward offered for me and said
+in myself, "He has gone to inform against me."  But, as I sat
+pondering my case and boiling like the pot over the fire, my host
+came back, followed by a porter loaded with meat and bread and
+new cooking-pots and goblets and a new jar and other needful
+gear.  He took them from the porter and dismissing him, said to
+me, "I make myself thy ransom!  I am a barber-surgeon, and I know
+it would mislike thee to eat with me, because of the way in which
+I get my living; so do thou shift for thyself with these things
+whereon no hand hath fallen."  Now I was anhungred; so I cooked
+me a pot of meat, whose like I mind me not ever to have eaten;
+and when I had done my desire, he  said to me, "O my lord, God
+make me thy ransom!  Art thou for wine?  Indeed, it gladdens the
+soul and does away care."  "I have no objection," replied I,
+being desirous of his company; so he brought me new flagons of
+glass, that no hand had touched, and a jar of excellent wine,
+and said to me, "Mix for thyself, to thy liking."  So I cleared
+the wine and mixed myself a most pleasant draught.  Then he
+brought me a new cup and fruits and flowers in new vessels of
+earthenware; after which he said to me, "Wilt thou give me leave
+to sit apart and drink of wine of my own by myself, of my joy in
+thee and for thee?"  "Do so."  answered I.  So we drank, he and
+I, till the wine began to take effect upon us, when he rose and
+going to a closet, took out a lute of polished wood and said to
+me, "O my lord, it is not for the like of me to ask thee to sing,
+but it behoves thine exceeding generosity to render my respect
+its due; so, an thou see fit to honour thy slave, thine is the
+august decision."  Quoth I (and indeed I thought not that he knew
+me), "How knowest thou that I excel in song?"  "Glory be to God!"
+answered he.  "Our lord is too well renowned for that![FN#131]
+Thou art my lord Ibrahim, son of El Mehdi, our Khalif of
+yesterday, he on whose head Mamoun hath set a price of a hundred
+thousand dinars: but thou art in safety with me."  When I heard
+him say this, he was magnified in my eyes and his loyalty was
+certified to me; so I complied with his wish and took the lute
+and tuned it.  Then I bethought me of my severance from my
+children and my family and sang the following verses:
+
+It may be that He, who restored his folk to Joseph of old And
+     raised him to high estate from the prison where in bonds he
+     lay,
+Will hear our prayer and unite us; for Allah, the Lord of the
+     worlds, All-powerful is, and His puissance knows neither let
+     nor stay.
+
+When the barber heard this, exceeding delight took possession of
+him and he was of great good cheer; (for it is said that when
+Ibrahim's neighbours heard him [but] say, "Ho, boy, saddle the
+mule!"  they were filled with delight).  Then, being overborne by
+mirth, he said to me (continues Ibrahim), "O my lord, wilt thou
+give me leave to say what is come to my mind, for all I am not of
+the folk of the craft?"  "Do so," answered I; "this is of thy
+great courtesy and kindness."  So he took the lute and sang the
+following verses:
+
+Unto our loved ones we made our moan of our nights so long and
+     drear; And lo, "How short is the night with us!" quoth they
+     we hold so dear.
+This is because quick-coming sleep closes their happy eyes, But
+     slumber comes not to close our lids, that burn with many a
+     tear.
+When the night approaches, the night so dread and drear to those
+     that love, We are oppressed with grief; but they rejoice,
+     when the night draws near.
+Had they but drunken our bitter cup and suffered of our dole,
+     Then were their nights as ours, as long and full of heavy
+     cheer.
+
+"Thou hast acquitted thee rarely, O my friend," said I, "and hast
+done away from me the pangs of sorrow.  Let me hear more trifles
+of thy fashion."  So he sang these verses:
+
+So a man's honour be unstained and free of all impair, Lo, every
+     garment that he dights on him is fit and fair.
+She taunted me, because, forsooth, our numbers were but few; But
+     I "The noble," answer made, "are ever few and rare."
+It irks us nought that we are few and eke our neighbour great,
+     For all the neighbours of most folk are scant and mean
+     elsewhere;
+For we're a folk, that deem not death an evil nor reproach,
+     Albeit Aamir and Seloul so deem, of their despair.
+The love of death that is in us brings near our ends to us, But
+     theirs, who loathe and rail at it, are long and far to fare.
+We, an it like us, give the lie to others of their speech; But,
+     when we speak, no man on earth to gainsay us doth dare.
+
+When I heard this, I was filled with delight and marvelled
+exceedingly.  Then I slept and awoke not till past nightfall,
+when I washed my face, with a mind full of the high worth of this
+barber-surgeon; after which I aroused him and taking out a purse
+I had with me, containing a considerable sum of money, threw it
+to him, saying, "I commend thee to God, for I am about to go
+forth from thee, and beg thee to spend what is in this purse on
+thine occasions; and thou shalt have an abounding reward of me,
+when I am quit of my fear."  But he returned it to me, saying, "O
+my lord, poor wretches like myself are of no value in thine eyes;
+but how, for mine own dignity's sake, can I take a price for the
+boon which fortune hath vouchsafed me of thy favour and company?
+By Allah, if thou repeat thy words and throw the purse to me
+again, I will kill myself."  So I put the purse in my sleeve (and
+indeed its weight was irksome to me) and would have gone away;
+but when I came to the door of the house, he said to me, "O my
+lord, this is a safer hiding-place for thee than another, and thy
+keep is no burden to me; so do thou abide with me, till God grant
+thee relief."  So I turned back, saying, "On condition that thou
+spend of the money in this purse."  He let me believe that he
+consented to this, and I abode with him some days in the utmost
+comfort; but, perceiving that he spent none of the contents of
+the purse, I revolted at the idea of abiding at his charge and
+thought shame to be a burden on him; so I disguised myself in
+women's apparel, donning walking-boots and veil, and left his
+house.
+
+When I found myself in the street, I was seized with excessive
+fear, and going to pass the bridge, came to a place sprinkled
+with water, where a trooper, who had been in my service, saw me
+and knowing me, cried out, saying, "This is he whom Mamoun
+seeks!"  Then he laid hold of me, but the love of life lent me
+strength and I gave him a push, which threw him and his horse
+down in that slippery place, so that he became an example to
+those who will take warning and the folk hastened to him.
+Meanwhile, I hurried on over the bridge and entered a street,
+where I saw the door of a house open and a woman standing in the
+vestibule.  So I said to her, "O my lady, have pity on me and
+save my life; for I am a man in fear."  Quoth she, "Enter and
+welcome;" and carried me into an upper chamber, where she spread
+me a bed and brought me food, saying, "Calm thy fear, for not a
+soul shall know of thee."  As she spoke, there came a loud
+knocking at the door; so she went and opened, and lo, it was my
+friend whom I had thrown down on the bridge, with his head bound
+up, the blood running down upon his clothes and without his
+horse.  "O so and so," said she, "what hath befallen thee?"
+Quoth he, "I made prize of the man [whom the Khalif seeks] and he
+escaped from me."  And told her the whole story.  So she brought
+out tinder and applying it to his head, bound it up with a piece
+of rag; after which she spread him a bed and he lay sick.  Then
+she came up to me and said, "Methinks thou art the man in
+question?"  "I am," answered I, and she said, "Fear not: no harm
+shall befall thee," and redoubled in kindness to me.
+
+I abode with her three days, at the end of which time she said to
+me, "I am in fear for thee, lest yonder man happen upon thee and
+betray thee to what thou dreadest; so save thyself by flight."  I
+besought her to let me tarry till nightfall, and she said, "There
+is no harm in that."  So, when the night came, I put on my
+woman's attire and taking leave of her, betook me to the house of
+a freed woman, who had once been mine.  When she saw me, she wept
+and made a show of affliction and praised God the Most High for
+my safety.  Then she went forth, as if she would go to the
+market, in the interests of hospitality, and I thought no harm;
+but, ere long, I espied Ibrahim el Mausili[FN#132] making for the
+house, with his servants and troopers, led by a woman whom I
+knew for the mistress of the house.  She brought them to my
+hiding-place and delivered me into their hands, and I saw death
+face to face.  They carried me, in my woman's attire, to Mamoun,
+who called a general council and let bring me before him.  When I
+entered I saluted him by the title of Khalif, saying, "Peace be
+on thee, O Commander of the Faithful!"  and he replied, "May God
+neither give thee peace nor bless thee!"  "At thy leisure, O
+Commander of the Faithful!"  rejoined I.  "It is for him in whose
+hand is revenge[FN#133] to decree retaliation or forgiveness; but
+forgiveness is nigher to the fear of God, and God hath set thy
+forgiveness above all other, even as He hath made my sin to excel
+all other sin.  So, if thou punish, it is of thy right, and if
+thou pardon, it is of thy bounty."  And I repeated the following
+verses:
+
+Great is my sin, in sooth, 'gainst thee, But thou art greater
+     still, perdie.
+So take thy due of me, or else Remit it of thy clemency.
+If of the noble I've not been Indeed, yet do thou of them be.
+
+At this he raised his head to me and I hastened to add these
+verses:
+
+Indeed, I've offended full sore, But thou art disposed to
+     forgive.
+'Twere justice to punish my crime And grace to allow me to live.
+
+Then he bowed his head and repeated the following verses:
+
+Whenas a friend against me doth grievously offend And maketh me
+     with anger to choke, yet in the end,
+I pardon his offending and take him back again Into my favour,
+     fearing to live without a friend.
+
+When I heard this, I scented the odour of mercy, knowing his
+disposition to clemency.  Then he turned to his son El Abbas and
+his brother Abou Ishac and other his chief officers there
+present and said to them, "What deem ye of his case!"  They all
+counselled him to slay me, but differed as to the manner of my
+death.  Then said he to Ahmed ibn Ali Khalid,[FN#134] "And what
+sayst thou, O Ahmed?"  "O Commander of the Faithful," answered
+he, "if thou put him to death, we find thy like who hath slain
+the like of him; but, if thou pardon him, we find not the like of
+thee that hath pardoned the like of him."  At this Mamoun bowed
+his head and repeated the following verse:
+
+The people of my tribe, they have my brother slain; But, an I
+     shoot, my shaft reverts to me again.
+
+And also these:
+
+Use not thy brother with despite, Although he mingle wrong with
+     right,
+And still be kind to him, all be With thanklessness he thee
+     requite;
+And if he go astray and err One day, revile thou not the wight.
+Seest not that loved and loathed at once In every way of life
+     unite?
+That by the annoy of hoary hairs Embittered is long life's
+     delight,
+And that the bristling thorns beset The branch with pleasant
+     fruits bedight?
+Who is it doth good deeds alone And who hath never wrought
+     unright?
+Prove but the age's sons, thou'lt find The most have fallen from
+     the light.
+
+When I heard this, I uncovered my head and cried out, saying,
+"God is most great!  By Allah, the Commander of the Faithful
+pardons me!"  Quoth he, "No harm shall come to thee, O uncle."
+And I, "O Commander of the Faithful, my offence is too great for
+me to attempt to extenuate it and thy pardon is too great for me
+to speak a word of thanks for it."  And I chanted the following
+verses:
+
+
+Sure, He, who made the virtues all, stored them in Adam's loins
+     For His high-priest, the seventh prince of Abbas' royal
+     seed!
+The hearts of all the folk are filled with reverence for thee,
+     And thou, with meek and humble heart, dost keep them all and
+     lead.
+Error-deluded as I was, against thee I rebelled, Intent on
+     covetise alone and base ambitious greed;
+Yet hast thou pardon giv'n to one, the like of whom before Was
+     never pardoned, though for him no one with thee did plead,
+And on a mother's bleeding heart hadst ruth and little ones, Like
+     to the desert-grouse's young, didst pity in their need.
+
+Quoth Mamoun, "I say, like our lord Joseph (on whom and on our
+Prophet be peace and blessing), 'There shall be no reproach on
+thee this day.  God will forgive thee, for He is the Most
+Merciful of the Merciful ones.'[FN#135] Indeed, I pardon thee, O
+uncle, and restore thee thy goods and lands, and no harm shall
+befall thee."  So I offered up devout prayers for him and
+repeated the following verses:
+
+My wealth thou hast given me again and hast not begrudged it to
+     me; Yea, and to boot, before this, my life and my blood thou
+     didst spare.
+So if, thine approval to win, I lavish my blood and my wealth And
+     e'en to the shoe off my foot, in thy service, I strip myself
+     bare,
+'Twere but the restoring to thee of the loans that I owe to thy
+     grace Which none might reproach thee nor blame, I trow,
+     hadst thou chos'n to forbear.
+Ungrateful henceforth if I prove for the favours vouchsafed me by
+     thee, Still worthier of blame than thyself of honour and
+     reverence I were.
+
+Then Mamoun showed me honour and favour and said to me, "O uncle,
+Abou Ishac and Abbas counselled me to put thee to death."  "And
+they counselled thee right loyally, O Commander of the Faithful,"
+answered I; "but thou hast done after thine own nature and hast
+put away what I feared with what I hoped."  "O uncle," rejoined
+he, "thou didst extinguish my rancour with the humbleness of
+thine excuse, and I pardon thee without making thee drink the
+bitterness of obligation to intercessors."  Then he prostrated
+himself in prayer a long while, after which he raised his head
+and said to me, "O uncle, knowest thou why I prostrated myself?"
+"Haply," answered I, "thou didst this in thanksgiving to God, for
+that He hath given thee the mastery over thine enemy."  "Not so,"
+rejoined he, "but to thank Him for having inspired me to pardon
+thee and purified my mind towards thee.  Now tell me thy story."
+So I told him all that had befallen me and he sent for the
+freed-woman, who was in her house, expecting the reward.  When
+she came, he said to her, "What moved thee to deal thus with thy
+lord?"  And she answered, "Lust of money."  "Hast thou a child or
+a husband?"  asked the Khalif; and she said, "No."  So he bade
+give her a hundred blows with a whip and imprisoned her for life.
+Then he sent for the soldier and his wife and the barber-surgeon
+and asked the former what had moved him to do thus.  "Lust of
+money," answered he; whereupon quoth the Khalif, "It befits that
+thou be a  barber-surgeon,"[FN#136] and committed him to one whom
+he charged to place him in a barber's shop, where he might learn
+the craft.  But his wife he entreated with honour and lodged in
+his palace, saying, "This is a woman of sense and apt for matters
+of moment."  Then said he to the barber-surgeon, "Verily, what
+has come to light of thy worth and generosity calls for
+extraordinary honour."  So he commanded the trooper's house and
+all that was therein to be given him and bestowed on him a dress
+of honour and fifteen thousand dinars.'
+
+
+
+
+                       THE CITY OF IREM.
+
+
+
+It is related that Abdallah ben Abou Kilabeh went forth in quest
+of a camel that had strayed from him; and as he was wandering in
+the deserts of Yemen and Sebaa, he came upon a great city in
+whose midst was a vast citadel compassed about with pavilions,
+that rose high into the air. He made for the place, thinking to
+find there inhabitants, of whom he might enquire concerning his
+camel; but, when he reached it, he found it deserted, without a
+living soul in it. So (quoth Abdallah), 'I alighted and hobbling
+my she-camel, took courage and entered the city. When I came to
+the citadel, I found it had two vast gates, never in the world
+was seen their like for size and loftiness, inlaid with all
+manner jewels and jacinths, white and red and yellow and green.
+At this I marvelled greatly and entering the citadel, trembling
+and dazed with wonder and affright, found it long and wide, as it
+were a city[FN#137] for bigness; and therein were lofty storied
+pavilions, builded of gold and silver and inlaid with many-
+coloured jewels and jacinths and chrysolites and pearls. The
+leaves of their doors were even as those of the citadel for
+beauty and their floors strewn with great pearls and balls, as
+they were hazel-nuts, of musk and ambergris and saffron. When I
+came within the city and saw no human being therein, I had nigh-
+well swooned and died for fear. Moreover, I looked down from the
+summit of the towers and balconies and saw rivers running under
+them; in the streets were fruit-laden trees and tall palms, and
+the manner of the building of the city was one brick of gold and
+one of silver. So I said to myself, "Doubtless this is the
+Paradise promised for the world to come." Then I took of the
+jewels of its gravel and the musk of its dust as much as I could
+bear and returned to my own country, where I told the folk what I
+had seen.
+
+After awhile, the news reached Muawiyeh ben Abou Sufyan, who was
+then Khalif in the Hejaz; so he wrote to his lieutenant in Senaa
+of Yemen to send for the teller of the story and question him of
+the truth of the case. Accordingly the lieutenant sent for me and
+questioned me, and I told him what I had seen; whereupon he
+despatched me to Muawiyeh, to whom I repeated my story; but he
+would not credit it. So I brought out to him some of the pearls
+and balls of musk and ambergris and saffron, in which latter
+there was still some sweet smell; but the pearls were grown
+yellow and discoloured. The Khalif wondered at this and sending
+for Kaab el Ahbar,[FN#138], said to him, "O Kaab el Ahbar, I have
+sent for thee to learn the truth of a certain matter and hope
+that thou wilt be able to certify me thereanent." "What is it, O
+Commander of the Faithful?" asked Kaab, and Muawiyeh said,
+"Wottest thou of a city builded of gold and silver, the pillars
+whereof are of rubies and chrysolites and its gravel pearls and
+balls of musk and ambergris and saffron?" "Yes, O Commander of
+the Faithful," answered Kaab. "It is Irem of the Columns, the
+like of which was never made in the lands,'[FN#139] and it was
+Sheddad son of Aad the Great that built it." Quoth the Khalif,
+"Tell us of its history," and Kaab said, "Aad the Great had two
+sons, Shedid and Sheddad. When their father died, they ruled in
+his stead, and there was no king of the kings of the earth but
+was subject to them. After awhile Shedid died and his brother
+Sheddad reigned over the earth alone. Now he was fond of reading
+in old books, and happening upon the description of the world to
+come and of Paradise, with its pavilions and galleries and trees
+and fruits and so forth, his soul moved him to build the like
+thereof in this world, after the fashion aforesaid.[FN#140] Now
+under his hand were a hundred thousand kings, each ruling over a
+hundred thousand captains, commanding each a hundred thousand
+warriors; so he called these all before him and said to them, 'I
+find in old books and histories a description of Paradise, as it
+is to be in the next world, and I desire to build its like in
+this world. Go ye forth therefore to the goodliest and most
+spacious tract in the world and build me there a city of gold and
+silver, whose gravel shall be rubies and chrysolites and pearls
+and the columns of its vaults beryl. Fill it with palaces,
+whereon ye shall set galleries and balconies, and plant its lanes
+and thoroughfares with all manner of trees bearing ripe fruits
+and make rivers to run through it in channels of gold and
+silver.' 'How can we avail to do this thing,' answered they, 'and
+whence shall we get the chrysolites and rubies and pearls whereof
+thou speakest?' Quoth he, 'Know ye not that all the kings of the
+word are under my hand and that none that is therein dare gainsay
+my commandment?' 'Yes,' answered they; 'we know that.' 'Get ye
+then,' rejoined he, 'to the mines of chrysolites and rubies and
+gold and silver and to the pearl-fisheries and gather together
+all that is in the world of jewels and metals of price and leave
+nought; and take also for me such of these things as be in men's
+hands and let nothing escape you: be diligent and beware of
+disobedience.'
+
+Then he wrote letters to all the [chief] kings of the world (now
+the number of kings then reigning [in chief] over the earth was
+three hundred and threescore kings) and bade them gather together
+all of these things that were in their subjects' hands and get
+them to the mines of precious stones and metals and bring forth
+all that was therein, even from the abysses of the seas. This
+they accomplished in the space of twenty years, and Sheddad then
+assembled from all lands and countries builders and men of art
+and labourers and handicraftsmen, who dispersed over the world
+and explored all the wastes and deserts thereof, till they came
+to a vast and fair open plain, clear of hills and mountains, with
+springs welling and rivers running, and said, 'This is even such
+a place as the King commanded us to find.' So they busied
+themselves in building the city even as Sheddad, King of the
+whole earth in its length and breadth, had commanded them, laying
+the foundations and leading the rivers therethrough in channels
+after the prescribed fashion. Moreover, all the Kings of the
+earth sent thither jewels and precious stones and pearls large
+and small and cornelian and gold and silver upon camels by land
+and in great ships over the waters, and there came to the
+builders' hands of all these things so great a quantity as may
+neither be told or imagined. They laboured at the work three
+hundred years; and when they had wrought it to end, they went to
+King Sheddad and acquainted him therewith. Then said he, 'Depart
+and make thereto an impregnable citadel, rising high into the
+air, and round it a thousand pavilions, each builded on a
+thousand columns of chrysolite and ruby and vaulted with gold,
+that in each pavilion may dwell a Vizier.' So they returned and
+did this in other twenty years; after which they again presented
+themselves before the King and informed him of the accomplishment
+of his will. Then he commanded his Viziers, who were a thousand
+in number, and his chief officers and such of his troops and
+others as he put trust in, to prepare for departure and removal
+to Many-Columned Irem, at the stirrup of Sheddad son of Aad, king
+of the world; and he bade also such as he would of his women and
+of his female slaves and eunuchs make them ready for the journey.
+They spent twenty years preparing for departure, at the end of
+which time Sheddad set out with his host, rejoicing in the
+attainment of his wish, and fared forward till there remained but
+one day's journey between him and Item. Then God sent down on him
+and on the stubborn unbelievers with him a thunderblast from the
+heavens of His power, which destroyed them all with a mighty
+clamour, and neither he nor any of his company set eyes on the
+city. Moreover, God blotted out the road that led to the city,
+and it stands unchanged, in its stead, until the Resurrection
+Day."
+
+Muawiyeh wondered greatly ad Kaab's story and said to him, "Hath
+any mortal ever made his way to the city?" "Yes," answered Kaab;
+"one of the companions of Mohammed (on whom be peace and
+salvation) reached it, doubtless after the same fashion as this
+man who sits here." And (quoth Es Shaabi) it is related, on the
+authority of learned men of Himyer of Yemen, that Sheddad was
+succeeded in his kingship by his son Sheddad the Less, whom he
+left his viceregent in Hezremout and Sebaa, when he set out for
+Irem. When he heard of his father's death on the road, he caused
+his body to be brought back to Hezremout and let hew him out a
+sepulchre in a cavern, where he laid the body on a throne of gold
+and threw over it threescore and ten robes of cloth of gold,
+embroidered with precious stones; and at his head he set up a
+tablet of gold, on which were graven the following verses:
+
+Take warning, thou that by long life Art duped and thinkst to
+     live alway.
+I'm Sheddad son of Aad, a high And mighty monarch in my day;
+Lord of the columned citadel, Great was my prowess in the fray.
+All the world's peoples feared my might And did my ordinance
+     obey;
+Yes, and I held the East and West And ruled them with an iron
+     sway.
+One[FN#141] came to us with God's command And summoned us to the
+     right way
+"Is there no 'scaping from this thing?" Quoth we and did his word
+     gainsay.
+Then on us fell a thunderblast From out the heaven far away,
+And like the sheaves in reaping-time Midmost a field, o'erthrown
+     we lay.
+And now beneath the storied plains Of earth we wait the appointed
+     Day.
+
+(Quoth Eth Thaalibi also) It chanced that two men once entered
+this cavern and found at its upper end a stair; so they descended
+and came to an underground chamber, a hundred cubits long by
+forth wide and a hundred high. In the midst stood a throne of
+gold, whereon lay a man of gigantic stature, filling the whole
+length and breadth of the throne. He was covered with jewelry and
+raiment gold and silver wrought, and at his head was a tablet of
+gold, bearing an inscription. So they took the tablet and bore it
+off, together with as many bars of gold and silver and so forth
+as they could away with.
+
+
+
+
+          ISAAC OF MOSUL'S STORY OF THE LADY KHEDIJEH
+                     AND THE KHALIF MAMOUN
+
+
+
+(Quoth Isaac of Mosul[FN#142]) 'I went out one night from
+Mamoun's presence, on my way to my house, and being taken with a
+need to make water, I turned aside into a by-street and stood up
+against a wall, fearing lest something might hurt me, if I
+squatted down. Presently, I espied something hanging down from
+one of the houses and feeling it, found that it was a great four-
+handled basket, covered with brocade. "There must be some reason
+for this," said I to myself and knew not what to think, then
+drunkenness led me to seat myself in the basket, whereupon the
+people of the house pulled me up, supposing me to be he whom they
+expected. When I came to the top of the wall, I found four
+damsels, who said to me, "Descend and welcome!" Then one of them
+went before me with a flambeau and brought me down into a
+mansion, wherein were furnished sitting-chambers, whose like I
+had never seen, save in the Khalif's palace. So I sat down and
+after awhile, the curtains were drawn from one side of the room
+and in came damsels bearing lighted flambeaux and censers full of
+Sumatran aloes-wood, and amongst them a young lady as she were
+the rising full moon. I rose and she said, "Welcome to thee for a
+visitor!" Then she made me sit down again and asked how I came
+thither. Quoth I, "I was returning home from a friend's house and
+went astray in the dark; then, being taken with an urgent
+occasion, I turned aside into this street, where I found a basket
+let down. The wine which I had drunk led me to seat myself in it
+and it was drawn up with me into this house." "No harm shall
+befall thee," rejoined she, "and I hope thou wilt have cause to
+praise the issue of thine adventure. But what is thy condition?"
+"I am a merchant in the Baghdad bazaar," replied I, and she,
+"Canst thou repeat any verses?" "Some small matter," answered I.
+"Then," said she, "let us hear some of them." But I said, "A
+visitor is [naturally] bashful; do thou begin." "True," answered
+she and recited some of the choicest verses of the poets, past
+and present, so that I knew not whether more to marvel at her
+beauty and grace or at the charm of her diction. Then said she,
+"Is thy bashfulness gone?" "Yes, by Allah!" answered I. "Then, if
+thou wilt," rejoined she, "recite us somewhat." So I repeated to
+her a number of poems by old writers, and she applauded, saying,
+"By Allah I did not look to find such culture among the trader
+folk!"
+
+Then she called for food and fell to taking of it and setting it
+before me; and the place was full of all manner sweet-scented
+flowers and rare fruits, such as are found only in kings' houses.
+Presently, she called for wine and drank a cup, after which she
+filled another and gave it to me, saying, "Now is the time for
+converse and story-telling." So I bethought myself and related to
+her a number of pleasing stories and anecdotes, with which she
+was delighted and said, "It is wonderful that a merchant should
+have such store of tales like unto these, for they are fit for
+kings." Quoth I, "I have a neighbour who uses to consort with
+kings and bear them company at table; so, when he is at leisure,
+I visit his house and he often tells me what he has heard." "By
+my life," exclaimed she, "thou hast a good memory!"
+
+We continued to converse thus, and as often as I was silent, she
+would begin, till the most part of the night was spent, whilst
+the burning aloes-wood diffused its fragrance and I was in such
+case as, if the Khalif had suspected it, would have made him wild
+with longing for it. Then said she to me, "Verily, thou art one
+of the most pleasant and accomplished of men and passing well-
+bred; but there lacks one thing." "What is that?" asked I, and
+she said, "If but thou knewest how to sing verses to the lute!" I
+answered, "I was once passionately fond of this art, but finding
+I had no gift for it, I abandoned it, thou reluctantly. Indeed, I
+should love to sing somewhat well at this present and fulfil my
+night's enjoyment." "Meseemeth thou hintest a wish for the lute
+to be brought?" said she, and I, "It is thine to decide, if thou
+wilt so far favour me, and to thee be the thanks." So she called
+for a lute and sang a song, in a manner whose like I never heard,
+both for sweetness of voice and perfection of style and skill in
+playing, in short, for general excellence. Then said she,
+"Knowest thou who made the air and words of this song?" "No,"
+answered I; and she said, "The words are so and so's and the air
+is Isaac's." "And hath Isaac then (may I be thy ransom!) such a
+talent?" asked I. "Glory be to Isaac!" replied she. "Indeed he
+excels in this art." "Glory be to Allah," exclaimed I, "who hath
+given this man what He hath vouchsafed unto none other!" And she
+said, "How would it be, if thou heardest this song from himself?"
+Thus did we till break of day, when there came to her an old
+woman, as she were her nurse, and said to her, "The time is
+come." So she rose and said to me, "Keep what hath passed between
+us to thyself; for meetings of this kind are in confidence." "May
+I be thy ransom!" answered I. "I needed no enjoinder of this."
+Then I took leave of her and she sent a damsel to open the door
+to me; so I went forth and retuned to my own house, where I
+prayed the morning prayer and slept.
+
+Presently, there came to me a messenger from the Khalif; so I
+went to him and passed the day in his company. When the night
+came, I called to mind my yesternight's pleasure, a thing from
+which none but a fool could be content to abstain, and betook
+myself to the street, where I found the basket, and seating
+myself therein, was drawn up to the place in which I had passed
+the previous night. When the lady saw me, she said, "Indeed, thou
+art assiduous," And I answered, "Meseems rather that I am
+neglectful." Then we fell to conversing and passed the night as
+before in talking and reciting verses and telling rare stories,
+each in turn, till daybreak, when I returned home. I prayed the
+morning prayer and slept, and there came to me a messenger from
+Mamoun. So I went to him and spent the day with him till
+nightfall, when he said to me, "I conjure thee to sit here,
+whilst I go on an occasion and come back." As soon as he was
+gone, my thoughts turned to the lady and calling to mind my late
+delight, I recked little what might befall me from the Commander
+of the Faithful. So I sprang up and going out, ran to the street
+aforesaid, where I sat down in the basket and was drawn up as
+before. When the lady saw me, she said, "Verily, thou art a
+sincere friend to us." "Yea, by Allah!" answered I; and she said,
+"Hath thou made our house thine abiding-place?" "May I be thy
+ransom!" replied I. "A guest hath a right to three days'
+entertainment, and if I return after this, ye are free to shed my
+blood." Then we passed the night as before; and when the time of
+departure drew near, I bethought me that Mamoun would certainly
+question me nor be content save with a full explanation: so I
+said to her, "I see thee to be of those who delight in singing.
+Now I have a cousin who is handsomer than I and higher of station
+and more accomplished; and he is the most intimate of all God's
+creatures with Isaac." "Art thou a spunger?" asked she. "Verily,
+thou art importunate." Quoth I, "It is for thee to decide;" and
+she, "If thy cousin be as thou sayst, it would not displease me
+to make his acquaintance."
+
+Then I left her and returned to my house, but hardly had I
+reached it, when the Khalif's messengers came down on me and
+carried me before him by main force. I found him seated on a
+chair, wroth with me, and he said to me, "O Isaac, art thou a
+traitor to thine allegiance?" "No, by Allah, O Commander of the
+Faithful!" answered I. "What hast thou then to say?" asked he.
+"Tell me the truth." And I replied, "I will well; but in
+private." So he signed to his attendants, who withdrew to a
+distance, and I told him the case, adding, "I promised to bring
+thee to visit her." And he said, "Thou didst well." Then we spent
+the day in our usual pleasures, but Mamoun's heart was taken with
+the lady, and hardly was the appointed time come, when we set
+out. As we went along, I cautioned him, "Look that thou call me
+not by my name before her; but do thou sing and I will accompany
+thee." He assented to this, and we fared on till we came to the
+house, where we found two baskets hanging ready. So we sat down
+in them and were drawn up to the usual place, where the damsel
+came forward and saluted us. When Mamoun saw her, he was amazed
+at her beauty and grace; and she began to entertain him with
+stories and verses. Presently, she called for wine and we fell to
+drinking, she paying him especial attention and delighting in him
+and he repaying her in kind. Then he took the lute and sang an
+air, after which she said to me, "And is thy cousin also a
+merchant?" "Yes," answered I, and she said, "Indeed, ye resemble
+one another nearly." But when Mamoun had drunk three pints, he
+grew merry with wine and called out saying, "Ho, Isaac!" "At thy
+service, O Commander of the Faithful," answered I. Quoth he,
+"Sing me such an air."
+
+As soon as the lady knew that he was the Khalif, she withdrew to
+another place, and when I had made an end of my song, Mamoun said
+to me, "See who is the master of this house;" whereupon an old
+woman hastened to make answer, saying, "It belongs to Hassan ben
+Sehl."[FN#143] "Fetch him to me," said the Khalif. So she went
+away and after awhile in came Hassan, to whom said Mamoun, "Hath
+thou a daughter?" "Yes," answered he; "her name is Khedijeh." "Is
+she married?" asked the Khalif. "No, by Allah!" replied Hassan.
+"Then," said Mamoun, "I ask her of thee in marriage." "O
+Commander of the Faithful," replied Hassan, "she is thy
+handmaiden and at thy commandment." Quoth Mamoun, "I take her to
+wife at a present dower of thirty thousand dinars, which thou
+shalt receive this very morning; and do thou being her to us this
+next night." And Hassan answered, "I hear and obey."
+
+'Then he went out, and the Khalif said to me, "O Isaac, tell this
+story to no one." So I kept it secret till Mamoun's death. Surely
+never was man's life to fulfilled with delights as was mine these
+four days' time, whenan I companied with Mamoun by day and with
+Khedijeh by night; and by Allah, never saw I among men the like
+of Mamoun, neither among women have I ever set eyes on the like
+of Khedijeh, no, nor on any that came near her in wit and
+understanding and pleasant speech!'
+
+
+
+
+              THE SCAVENGER AND THE NOBLE LADY OF
+                            BAGHDAD.
+
+
+
+At Mecca, one day, in the season of pilgrimage, whilst the people
+were making the enjoined circuits about the Holy House and the
+place of compassing was crowded, a man laid hold of the covering
+of the Kaabeh and cried out, from the bottom of his heart,
+saying, 'I beseech Thee, O God, that she may once again be wroth
+with her husband and that I may lie with her!' A company of the
+pilgrims heard him and falling on him, loaded him with blows and
+carried him to the governor of the pilgrims, to whom said they,
+'O Amir, we found this man in the Holy Places, saying thus and
+thus.' The governor commanded to hang him; but he said, 'O Amir,
+I conjure thee, by the virtue of the Prophet (whom God bless and
+preserve), hear my story and after do with me as thou wilt.' 'Say
+on,' quoth the Amir. 'Know then, O Amir,' said the man, 'that I
+am a scavenger, who works in the sheep-slaughterhouses and
+carries off the blood and the offal to the rubbish-heaps.[FN#144]
+One day, as I went along with my ass loaded, I saw the people
+running away and one of them said to me, "Enter this alley, lest
+they kill thee." Quoth I, "What ails the folk to run away?" And
+he answered, "It is the eunuchs in attendance on the wife of one
+of the notables, who drive the people out of her way and beat
+them all, without distinction." So I turned aside with the ass
+and stood, awaiting the dispersal of the crowd. Presently up came
+a number of eunuchs with staves in their hands, followed by nigh
+thirty women, and amongst them a lady as she were a willow-wand
+or a thirsty gazelle, perfect in beauty and elegance and amorous
+grace. When she came to the mouth of the passage where I stood,
+she turned right and left and calling one of the eunuchs,
+whispered in his ear; whereupon he came up to me and laying hold
+of me, bound me with a rope and haled me along after him, whilst
+another eunuch took my ass and made off with it. I knew not what
+was to do and the people followed us, crying out, "This is not
+allowed of God! What has this poor scavenger done that he should
+be bound with ropes?" and saying to the eunuchs, "Have pity on
+him and let him go, so God have pity on you!" And I the while
+said in myself, "Doubtless the eunuch seized me, because his
+mistress smelt the offal and it sickened her. Belike she is with
+child or ailing; but there is no power and no virtue save in God
+the Most High, the Supreme!" So I walked on behind them, till
+they stopped at the door of a great house and entering, brought
+me into a great hall, I know not how I shall describe its
+goodliness, furnished with magnificent furniture. The women
+withdrew to the harem, leaving me bound with the eunuch and
+saying in myself, "Doubtless they will torture me here till I
+die, and none know of my death." However, after a while, they
+carried me into an elegant bathroom, adjoining the hall; and as I
+sat there, in came three damsels, who seated themselves round me
+and said to me, "Strip off thy rags." So I pulled off my
+threadbare clothes, and one of them fell a-rubbing my feet,
+whilst another washed my head and the third scrubbed my body.
+When they had made an end of washing me, they brought me a parcel
+of clothes and said to me, "Put these on." "By Allah," answered
+I, "I know not how!" So they came up to me and dressed me,
+laughing at me the while; after which they brought casting-
+bottles, full of rose-water, and sprinkled me therewith. Then I
+went out with them into another saloon, by Allah, I know not how
+to set out its goodliness, for the much paintings and furniture
+therein; and here I found the lady seated on a couch of Indian
+cane with ivory feet and before her a number of damsels. When she
+saw me, she rose and called to me; so I went up to her and she
+made me sit by her side. Then she called for food, and the
+damsels brought all manner rich meats, such as I never saw in all
+my life; I do not even know the names of the dishes. So I ate my
+fill and when the dishes had been taken away and we had washed
+our hands, she called for fruits and bade me eat of them; after
+which she bade one of the waiting-women bring the wine-service.
+So they set on flagons of divers kinds of wine and burned
+perfumes in all the censers, what while a damsel like the moon
+rose and served us with wine, to the sound of the smitten
+strings. We sat and drank, the lady and I, till we were warm with
+wine, whilst I doubted not but that all this was an illusion of
+sleep. Presently, she signed to one of the damsels to spread us a
+bed in such a place, which being done, she took me by the hand
+and led me thither. So I lay with her till the morning, and as
+often as I pressed her in my arms, I smelt the delicious
+fragrance of musk and other perfumes that exhaled from her and
+could think no otherwise but that I was in Paradise or in the
+mazes of a dream. When it was day, she asked me where I lodged
+and I told her, "In such a place;" whereupon she gave me a
+handkerchief gold and silver wrought, with somewhat tied in it,
+and bade me depart, saying, "Go to the bath with this." So I
+rejoiced and said to myself, "If there be but five farthings
+here, it will buy me the morning meal." Then I left her, as I
+were leaving Paradise, and returned to my lodging, where I opened
+the handkerchief and found in it fifty dinars of gold. I buried
+them in the ground and buying two farthings' worth of bread and
+meat, sat down at the door and breakfasted; after which I sat
+pondering my case till the time of afternoon-prayer, when a
+slave-girl accosted me, saying, "My mistress calls for thee." So
+I followed her to the house aforesaid and she carried me in to
+the lady, before whom I kissed the earth, and she bade me sit and
+called for meat and wine as on the previous day; after which I
+again lay with her all night. On the morrow, she gave me a second
+handkerchief, with other fifty dinars therein, and I took it and
+going home, buried this also.
+
+Thus did I eight days running, going in to her at the hour of
+afternoon-prayer and leaving her at daybreak; but, on the eighth
+night, as I lay with her, one of her maids came running in and
+said to me, "Arise, go up into yonder closet." So I rose and went
+into the closet, which was over the gate and had a window giving
+upon the street in front of the house. Presently, I heard a great
+clamour and tramp of horse, and looking out of the window, saw a
+young man, as he were the rising moon on the night of her full,
+come riding up, attended by a number of servants and soldiers. He
+alighted at the door and entering, found the lady seated on the
+couch in the saloon. So he kissed the earth before her, then came
+up to her and kissed her hands; but she would not speak to him.
+However, he ceased not to soothe her and speak her fair, till he
+made his peace with her, and they lay together that night. Next
+morning, the soldiers came for him and he mounted and rode away;
+whereupon she came in to me and said, "Sawst thou yonder man?"
+"Yes," answered I; and she said, "He is my husband, and I will
+tell thee what befell me with him.
+
+"It chanced one day that we were sitting, he and I, in the garden
+within the house, when he rose from my side and was absent a long
+while, till I grew tired of waiting and said to myself, 'Most
+like, he is in the wardrobe.' So I went thither, but not finding
+him there, went down to the kitchen, where I saw a slave-girl, of
+whom I enquired for him, and she showed him to me lying with one
+of the cook-maids. When I saw this, I swore a great oath that I
+would do adultery with the foulest and filthiest man in Baghdad;
+and the day the eunuch laid hands on thee, I had been four days
+going round about the town in quest of one who should answer this
+description, but found none fouler nor more filthy than thee. So
+I took thee and there passed between us that which God fore-
+ordained to us; and now I am quit of my oath. But," added she,
+"if my husband return yet again to the cook-maid and lie with
+her, I will restore thee to thy late place in my favours."
+
+When (continued the scavenger) I heard these words from her lips,
+what while she transfixed my heart with the arrows of her
+glances, my tears streamed forth, till my eyelids were sore with
+weeping, and I repeated the saying of the poet:
+
+Vouchsafe me the kiss of thy left hand, I prithee, And know that
+     it's worthier far than thy right;
+For 'tis but a little while since it was washing Sir reverence
+     away from the stead of delight.
+
+Then she gave me other fifty dinars (making in all four hundred
+dinars I had of her) and bade me depart. So I went out from her
+and came hither, that I might pray God (blessed and exalted be
+He!) to make her husband return to the cook-maid, so haply I
+might be again admitted to her favours.' When the governor of the
+pilgrims heard the man's story, he set him free and said to the
+bystanders, 'God on you, pray for him, for indeed he is
+excusable.'
+
+
+
+
+                        THE MOCK KHALIF.
+
+
+
+It is related that the Khalif Haroun er Reshid, being one night
+troubled with a persistent restlessness, summoned his Vizier
+Jaafer the Barmecide and said to him, 'My heart is straitened and
+I have a mind to divert myself tonight by walking about the
+streets of Baghdad and looking into the affairs of the folk; but
+we will disguise ourselves as merchants, that none may know us.'
+'I hear and obey,' answered Jaafer. So they rose at once and
+putting off the rich clothes they wore, donned merchants' habits
+and sallied forth, the Khalif and Jaafer and Mesrour the
+headsman. They walked from place to place, till they came to the
+Tigris and saw an old man sitting in a boat; so they went up to
+him and saluting him, said, 'O old man, we desire thee of thy
+favour to carry us a-pleasuring down the river, in this thy boat,
+and take this dinar to thy hire.' 'Who may go a-pleasuring on the
+Tigris?' replied the boatman. 'Seeing that the Khalif every night
+comes down the stream in his barge, and with him one crying
+aloud, "Ho, all ye people, great and small, gentle and simple,
+men and boys, whoso is found in a boat on the Tigris [by night],
+I will strike off his head or hang him to the mast of his boat!"
+And ye had well-nigh met him; for here comes his barge.' But the
+Khalif and Jaafer said, 'O old man, take these two dinars, and
+when thou seest the Khalif's barge approaching, run us under one
+of the arches, that we may hide there till he have passed. 'Hand
+over the money,' replied the boatman; 'and on God the Most High
+be our dependence!' So they gave him the two dinars and embarked
+in the boat; and he put off and rowed about with them awhile,
+till they saw the barge coming down the river in mid-stream, with
+lighted flambeaux and cressets therein. Quoth the boatman, 'Did I
+not tell you that the Khalif passed every night? O Protector,
+remove not the veils of Thy protection!' So saying, he ran the
+boat under an arch and threw a piece of black cloth over the
+Khalif and his companions, who looked out from under the covering
+and saw, in the bows of the barge, a man holding a cresset of red
+gold and clad in a tunic of red satin, with a muslin turban on
+his head. Over one of his shoulders hung a cloak of yellow
+brocade, and on the other was a green silk bag full of Sumatran
+aloes-wood, with which he fed the cresset by way of firewood. In
+the stern stood another man, clad like the first and bearing a
+like cresset, and in the barge were two hundred white slaves,
+standing right and left about a throne of red gold, on which sat
+a handsome young man, like the moon, clad in a dress of black,
+embroidered with yellow gold. Before him they saw a man, as he
+were the Vizier Jaafer, and at his head stood an eunuch, as he
+were Mesrour, with a drawn sword in his hand, besides a score of
+boon-companions. When the Khalif saw this, he turned to Jaafer
+and said to him, 'Belike this is one of my sons, El Amin or El
+Mamoun.' Then he examined the young man that sat on the throne,
+and finding him accomplished in beauty and grace and symmetry,
+said to Jaafer, 'Verily, this young man abates no jot of the
+state of the Khalifate! See, there stands before him one as he
+were thyself, O Jaafer; yonder eunuch is as he were Mesrour and
+those boon-companions as they were my own. By Allah, O Jaafer, my
+reason is confounded and I am filled with amazement at this
+thing!' 'And I also, by Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,'
+replied Jaafer. Then the barge passed on and disappeared from
+sight; whereupon the boatman pushed out again into the stream,
+saying, 'Praised be God for safety, since none hath fallen in
+with us!' 'O old man,' said Er Reshid, 'doth the Khalif come down
+the river every night?' 'Yes, O my lord,' answered the boatman;
+'he hath done so every night this year past.' 'O old man,'
+rejoined Er Reshid, 'we wish thee of thy favour to await us here
+to-morrow night, and we will give thee five dinars, for we are
+strangers, lodging at El Khendek, and we have a mind to divert
+ourselves.' 'With all my heart,' replied the boatman. Then the
+Khalif and Jaafer and Mesrour returned to the palace, where they
+put off their merchants' habits and donning their apparel of
+state, sat down each in his several room. Then came the amirs and
+viziers and chamberlains and officers, and the Divan assembled as
+of wont.
+
+When the night came and all the folk had dispersed and gone each
+his own way, the Khalif said to his Vizier, 'Come, O Jaafer, let
+us go and amuse ourselves by looking on the other Khalif.' At
+this, Jaafer and Mesrour laughed, and the three, donning
+merchants' habits, went out at the privy gate and made their way
+through the city, in great glee, till they came to the Tigris,
+where they found the boatman sitting, waiting for them. They
+embarked with him in the boat and had not sat long, before up
+came the mock Khalif's barge, with the cresset-bearers crying
+aloud as of wont, and in it two hundred white slaves other than
+those of the previous night. 'O Vizier,' exclaimed the Khalif,
+'had I heard tell of this, I had not believed it; but I have seen
+it with my own eyes.' Then said he to the boatman, 'Take these
+ten dinars and row us along abreast of them, for they are in the
+light and we in the shade, and we can see them and divert
+ourselves by looking on them, but they cannot see us.' So he took
+the money and pushing off, followed in the shadow of the barge,
+till they came among the gardens and the barge cast anchor before
+a postern door, where they saw servants standing with a mule
+saddled and bridled. Here the mock Khalif landed and mounting the
+mule, rode away with his boon-companions, attended by his suite
+and preceded by the cresset-bearers crying aloud. Then Haroun and
+Jaafer and Mesrour landed also and making their way through the
+press of servants, walked on before them. Presently, the cresset-
+bearers espied them and seeing three strangers in merchants'
+habits, misdoubted of them; so they pointed them out and caused
+bring them before the mock Khalif, who looked at them and said,
+'How come ye here at this hour?' 'O our lord,' answered they, 'we
+are foreign merchants, who arrived here this day and were out a-
+walking to-night, when ye came up and these men laid hands on us
+and brought us before thee.' Quoth the mock Khalif, 'Since you
+are strangers, no harm shall befall you; but had ye been of
+Baghdad, I had struck off your heads.' Then he turned to his
+Vizier and said to him, 'Take these men with thee; for they are
+our guests this night.' 'I hear and obey, O our lord,' answered
+he; and they followed him, till they came to a lofty and splendid
+palace of curious ordinance, such as no king possesses, rising
+from the dust and laying hold upon the marges of the clouds. Its
+door was of teak, inlaid with glittering gold, and by it one
+passed into a saloon, amiddleward which was a basin of water,
+with an artificial fountain rising from its midst. It was
+furnished with carpets and cushions and divans of brocade and
+tables and other gear such as amazed the wit and defied
+description. There, also, was a curtain drawn, and upon the door
+were written these two verses:
+
+
+A palace, upon it be blessing and greeting and grace! Fair
+     fortune hath put off her beauty to brighten the place.
+Therein are all manner of marvels and rarities found; The penmen
+     are puzzled in story its charms to retrace.
+
+The mock Khalif entered with his company and sat down on a throne
+of gold, set with jewels and covered with a prayer-carpet of
+yellow silk; whilst the boon-companions took their seats and the
+sword-bearer stood before him. Then the servants laid the tables
+and they ate and washed their hands, after which the dishes were
+removed and the wine-service set on, with cups and flagons in due
+order. The cup went round till it came to Er Reshid, who refused
+it, and the mock Khalif said to Jaafer, 'What ails thy friend
+that he drinks not?' 'O our lord,' replied the Vizier, 'this long
+while he hath drunk no wine.' Quoth the mock Khalif, 'I have
+drink other than this, a kind of apple-wine, that will suit him.'
+So he let bring apple-sherbet and said to Haroun, 'Drink thou of
+this, as often as it comes to thy turn.' Then they continued to
+drink and make merry, till the wine rose to their heads and
+mastered their wits; and Haroun said to Jaafer, 'O Jaafer, by
+Allah, we have no such vessels as these. Would God I knew what
+manner of man this is!' Presently, the young man glanced at them
+and seeing them talking privily, said, 'It is unmannerly to
+whisper.' 'No rudeness was meant,' answered Jaafer. 'My friend
+did but say to me, "Verily, I have travelled in most countries
+and have caroused and companied with the greatest of kings and
+captains; yet never saw I a goodlier ordinance than this nor
+passed a more delightful night; save that the people of Baghdad
+say, 'Drink without music often leaves headache.'"' When the mock
+Khalif heard this, he smiled merrily and struck a gong[FN#145]
+with a rod he had in his hand; whereupon a door opened and out
+came an eunuch, bearing a stool of ivory, inlaid with glittering
+gold, and followed by a damsel of surpassing beauty and symmetry.
+He set down the stool and the damsel seated herself on it, as she
+were the sun shining in the cloudless sky. In her hand she had a
+lute of Indian make, which she laid in her lap and bending over
+it as a mother bends over her child, preluded in four-and-twenty
+modes, amazing all wits. Then she returned to the first mode and
+sang the following verses to a lively measure:
+
+The tongue of passion in my heart bespeaketh thee of me And
+     giveth thee to know that I enamoured am of thee.
+The burning of an anguished heart is witness to my pain And
+     ulcerated eyes and tears that flow incessantly.
+I had no knowledge what Love was, before the love of thee; But
+     God's forewritten ordinance o'ertaketh all that be.
+
+When the mock Khalif heard this, he gave a great cry and rent his
+robe to the skirt, whereupon they let down a curtain over him and
+brought him a fresh robe, handsomer than the first. He put it on
+and sat as before, till the cup came round to him, when he struck
+the gong a second time and behold, a door opened and out came an
+eunuch with a chair of gold, followed by a damsel handsomer than
+the first, bearing a lute, such as mortified the heart of the
+envious. She sat down on the chair and sang to the lute these
+verses:
+
+Ah, how can I be patient, when longing in my soul Flames high and
+     from mine eyelids the tears in torrents roll?
+Life hath no sweet, by Allah, wherein I may rejoice. How shall a
+     heart be joyous, that's all fulfilled of dole?
+
+No sooner did the youth hear this than he gave a great cry and
+rent his clothes to the skirt; whereupon they let down the
+curtain over him and brought him another dress. He put it on and
+sitting up as before, fell again to cheerful talk, till the cup
+came round to him, when he smote once more upon the gong and out
+came an eunuch with a chair, followed by a damsel fairer than she
+who had foregone her. So she sat down on the chair, with a lute
+in her hand, and sang thereto the following verses:
+
+Have done with your disdain and leave to make me rue; For, by
+     your life, my heart to you was ever true!
+Have ruth on one distraught, the bondslave of your love, Sorry
+     and sick and full of longings ever new.
+Sickness, for passion's stress, hath wasted him to nought, And
+     still for your consent to Allah he doth sue.
+O ye full moons, whose place of sojourn is my heart, Amongst the
+     human race whom can I choose but you?
+
+At this the young man gave a great cry and rent his clothes,
+whereupon they let fall the curtain over him and brought him
+other clothes. Then he returned to his former case with his boon-
+companions and the cup went round as before, till it came to him,
+when he struck the gong a fourth time and the door opening, out
+came a boy, bearing a chair and followed by a damsel. He set the
+chair for her and she sat down upon it and taking the lute, tuned
+it and sang to it these verses:
+
+When, when will separation and hatred pass away And what is past
+     of joyance come back to make me gay?
+But yesterday, in gladness, one dwelling held us both; We saw the
+     enviers napping, all heedless of their prey.
+But fortune played the traitor with us and sundered us, And left
+     our dwelling-places even as the desert grey.
+Wilt have me, O my censor, be solaced for my loves? Alas, my
+     heart the censor, I see, will not obey!
+So make an end of chiding and leave me to my love; For of my
+     loved one's converse my heart is full alway.
+Fair lords, though you've been fickle and broken faith and troth,
+     Deem not my heart for absence forgets you night or day.
+
+When the mock Khalif heard the girl's song, he gave a great cry
+and tearing his clothes as before, fell down in a swoon;
+whereupon they would have let down the curtain over him, as of
+wont; but the cords stuck fast and Er Reshid, chancing to look at
+him, saw on his body the marks of beating with palm-rods and said
+to Jaafer, 'By Allah, he is a handsome youth, but a foul thief!'
+'Whence knowest thou that, O Commander of the Faithful?' asked
+Jaafer, and the Khalif answered, 'Sawst thou not the marks of
+whips on his sides?' Then they let fall the curtain over him and
+brought him a fresh dress, which he put on and sat up as before
+with his courtiers. Presently, he saw the Khalif and Jaafer
+whispering together and said to them, 'What is the matter,
+gentlemen?' 'Nothing, my lord,' replied Jaafer, 'save that my
+friend here, who (as is not unknown to thee) is of the merchants
+and hath visited all the great cities and countries of the world
+and foregathered with kings and men of worth, saith to me,
+"Verily, that which our lord the Khalif hath done this night is
+beyond measure extravagant, never saw I any do the like of his
+fashion in any country; for he hath rent four dresses, each worth
+a thousand dinars, and this is surely excessive extravagance."'
+'O man,' replied the youth, 'the money is my money and the stuff
+my stuff and this is by way of largesse to my servants and
+followers; for each suit that is rent belongeth to one of my
+boon-companions here present and I appoint him, in exchange
+therefor, [if it so like him,] the sum of five hundred dinars.'
+'Well is that thou dost, O our lord!' answered Jaafer and recited
+the following verses:
+
+The virtues sure have built themselves a dwelling in thy palm;
+     Thou hast thy wealth to all mankind made common property.
+An if the virtues' doors were shut on us one luckless day, Thy
+     hand unto their locks, indeed, were even as a key.
+
+When the young man heard these verses, he ordered Jaafer a
+thousand dinars and a dress of honour. Then the cup went round
+among them and the wine was pleasant to them; but, after awhile,
+the Khalif said to Jaafer, 'Ask him of the marks on his ribs,
+that we may see what he will say.' 'Softly, O my lord,' replied
+Jaafer; 'be not hasty, for patience is more becoming.' 'By the
+life of my head and by the tomb of El Abbas,'[FN#146] rejoined
+the Khalif, 'except thou ask him, I will assuredly make an end of
+thee!' With this the young man turned towards Jaafer and said to
+him, 'What ails thee and thy friend to be whispering together?
+Tell me what is to do with you.' 'It is nothing,' replied
+Jaafer; but the mock Khalif rejoined, 'I conjure thee, by Allah,
+tell me what ails you and hide from me nothing of your case.' 'O
+my lord,' answered the Vizier, 'my companion here saw on thy
+sides the marks of beating with whips and rods and marvelled
+thereat exceedingly, saying, "How came the Khalif to be beaten?"
+And he would fain know the cause of this.' When the youth heard
+this, he smiled and said, 'Know that my story is wonderful and my
+case extraordinary; were it graven with needles on the corners of
+the eye, it would serve as an admonition to him who can profit by
+admonition.' And he sighed and repeated the following verses:
+
+Strange is my story and outdoes all marvels that can be. By Love
+     itself I swear, my ways are straitened upon me!
+An ye would know my case, give ear and hearken to my tale And all
+     be dumb, on every side, in this our company.
+Take heed unto my speech, for lo! therein a warning is; Ay, and
+     my words no leasing are, but naked verity.
+I am a man of passion slain, the victim of desire, And she who
+     slew me fairer is than all the stars to see.
+A bright black eye she hath, whose glance is as an Indian sword,
+     And from her eyebrows' bended bows full many a shaft shoots
+     she.
+My heart forebodes me that 'mongst you the Khalif of the age, Our
+     Imam[FN#147] is, of high descent and noble pedigree,
+And that the second of you he, that's known as Jaafer, is, His
+     vizier and a vizier's son, a lord of high degree.
+Yea, and the third of you Mesrour the eunuch is, I ween, The
+     swordsman of his vengeance. So, if true my saying be,
+I have of this my case attained to all for which I hoped And
+     hearts' content from every side is come, indeed, to me.
+
+When they heard this, Jaafer swore to him a dissembling oath that
+they were not those he named; whereupon he laughed and said,
+'Know, O my lords, that I am not the Commander of the Faithful
+and that I do but style myself thus, to get my will of the people
+of the city. My real name is Mohammed Ali son of Ali the Jeweller
+and my father was one of the chief men [of the city]. When he
+died, he left me great store of gold and silver and pearls and
+coral and rubies and chrysolites and other jewels, besides houses
+and lands and baths and gardens and orchards and shops and
+brickfields and slaves, male and female. One day, as I sat in my
+shop, surrounded by my slaves and servants, there came up a young
+lady, riding on a mule and attended by three damsels like moons.
+She alighted at my shop and seating herself by me, said to me,
+"Art thou Mohammed the jeweller?" "Yes," answered I, "I am he, at
+thy service." "Hast thou a necklace of jewels fit for me?" asked
+she, and I replied, "O my lady, I will show thee what I have; and
+if any please thee, it will be of thy slave's good luck; if not,
+of his ill-fortune." I had by me a hundred necklaces and showed
+them all to her; but none of them pleased her and she said, "I
+want a better than those I have seen." Now I had a small
+necklace, that my father had bought for a hundred thousand dinars
+and the like whereof was not to be found with any of the great
+kings; so I said to her, "O my lady, I have yet one necklace of
+fine stones, whose like none possesseth, great or small." "Show
+it me," said she. So I showed it her and she said, "This is what
+I sought and what I have wished for all my life. What is its
+price?" Quoth I, "It cost my father a hundred thousand dinars;"
+and she said, "I will give thee five thousand dinars to thy
+profit." "O my lady," answered I, "the necklace and its owner are
+at thy service and I cannot gainsay thee [in aught]." "Not so,"
+rejoined she; "needs must thou have the profit, and I am still
+much beholden to thee." Then she rose and mounting the mule in
+haste, said to me, "O my lord, in God's name, favour us with thy
+company, to receive the money; for this thy day is a milk-white
+day[FN#148] with us." So I shut the shop and accompanied her, in
+all security, till we came to a house, on which were manifest the
+signs of fortune. Its door was wrought with gold and silver and
+lapis lazuli, and thereon were written these verses:
+
+
+Nay mourning never enter thee, I pray, O house, nor fortune e'er
+     thy lord bewray!
+A goodly sojourn art thou to the guest, When strait on him is
+     every place and way.
+
+She dismounted and entered the house, bidding me sit down on the
+stone bench at the door, till the money-changer should come. So I
+sat awhile, till presently a damsel came out to me and said, "Q
+my lord, enter the vestibule; for it is not seemly that thou
+shouldst sit at the door." Accordingly, I entered the vestibule
+and sat down on the settle there. As I sat, another damsel came
+out and said to me, "O my lord, my mistress bids thee enter and
+sit down at the door of the saloon, to receive thy money." So I
+entered and sat down, nor had I sat a moment, before a curtain of
+silk was drawn aside and I saw the lady seated on a throne of
+gold, with the necklace about her neck, unveiled and showing a
+face as it were the round of the moon. At this sight, my wit was
+troubled and my mind confounded, by reason of her exceeding
+beauty and grace; but, when she saw me, she rose and coming up to
+me, said, "O light of mine eyes, is every handsome one like thee
+pitiless to his mistress?" "O my lady," answered I, "beauty, all
+of it, is in thee and is one of thine attributes." "O jeweller,"
+rejoined she, "know that I love thee and can hardly credit that I
+have brought thee hither." Then she bent to me and I kissed her,
+and she kissed me, and drawing me towards her, pressed me to her
+bosom. She knew by my case that I had a mind to enjoy her; so she
+said to me, "O my lord, dost thou think to foregather with me
+unlawfully? By Allah, may he not live who would do the like of
+this sin and who takes pleasure in foul talk! I am a clean
+virgin, whom no man hath approached, nor am I unknown in the
+city. Knowest thou who I am?" "No, by Allah, O my lady!" replied
+I. Quoth she, "I am the lady Dunya, daughter of Yehya ben Khalid
+the Barmecide and sister of Jaafer, the Khalif's Vizier." When I
+heard this, I drew back from her, saying, "O my lady, it is no
+fault of mine if I have been over-bold with thee; it was thou
+didst encourage me to aspire to thy love, by giving me access to
+thee." "No harm shall befall thee," answered she; "and needs must
+thou attain thy desire in the way that is pleasing to God. I am
+my own mistress and the Cadi shall act as my guardian, in
+consenting to the marriage-contract; for it is my will that I be
+thy wife and thou my husband." Then she sent for the Cadi and the
+witnesses and busied herself with the necessary preparations.
+When they came, she said to them, "Mohammed Ali ben Ali the
+jeweller seeks me in marriage and hath given me the necklace to
+my dowry; and I accept and consent." So they drew up the contract
+of marriage between us; after which the servants brought the
+wine-service and the cups passed round, after the goodliest
+ordinance: and when the wine mounted to our heads, she ordered a
+damsel, a lute-player, to sing. So she took the lute and sang
+thereto the following verses:
+
+He comes and shows me, all in one, fawn, moon and sapling slight:
+     Foul fall the heart for thought of him that watches not the
+     night!
+A fair one, Allah had a mind t' extinguish from his cheek One
+     ravishment, and straight, instead, another sprang to light.
+Whenas my censors speak of him, I cavil at their word, Feigning
+     as if I did mislike the mention of the wight;
+Yea, and I hearken, when they speak of other than of him, Though
+     for the thought of him, nathelesse, I am consumed outright.
+Prophet of beauty, all in him 's a very miracle Of grace, and
+     greatest of them all his face's splendid sight.
+The sable mole upon his cheek hath taken up its stead, Against
+     the troubles of this life to ward his forehead bright.
+The censors, of their ignorance, bid me forget; but I From true-
+     believer cannot turn an infidel forthright.
+
+We were ravished by the sweet music she made and the beauty of
+the verses she sang and the other damsels went on to sing, one
+after another, till ten had done so; when the lady Dunya took the
+lute and playing a lively measure, sang these verses:
+
+By the softness of thy graceful-gaited shape I swear, For
+     estrangement from thy presence the pangs of hell I bear.
+Have pity on a heart that burns i' the hell-fire of thy love, O
+     full moon in the darkness of the night that shinest fair!
+Vouchsafe to me thy favours, and by the wine-cup's light To
+     blazon forth thy beauties, henceforth, I'll never spare.
+A rose hath ta'en me captive, whose colours varied are, Whose
+     charms outvie the myrtle and make its thorns despair.
+
+When she had finished, I took the lute and playing a quaint
+prelude, sang the following verses:
+
+Glory to Him who gave thee all beauty in earth and skies So I'm
+     become of thy bondsmen for ever and thy prize.
+Thou that art gifted with glances that make mankind thy slaves,
+     Pray we may come off scathless from the sorcery of thine
+     eyes.
+Two opposites, fire, incarnate in shining splendour of flame, And
+     water, thy cheek uniteth, conjoined in wondrous wise.
+How dulcet and yet how bitter thou art to my heart, alack! To
+     which thou at once and ever art Hell and Paradise!
+
+When she heard this, she rejoiced with an exceeding joy; then,
+dismissing her women, she brought me to a most goodly place,
+where they had spread us a bed of various colours. She did off
+her clothes and I had a lover's privacy of her and found her an
+unpierced pearl and a filly no man had ridden. So I rejoiced in
+her and repeated the following verses:
+
+Stay with us, Night, I prithee! I want no morning white; The face
+     of my beloved sufficeth me for light.
+I gave my love, for chin-band, my palm spread open wide And eke
+     for ringdove's collar, my arms about him dight.
+This is indeed th' attainment of fortune's topmost height! We
+     clip and clip and care not to stir from our delight.
+
+
+Never in my life knew I a more delightful night than this, and I
+abode with her a whole month, forsaking shop and home and family,
+till one day she said to me, "O light of my eyes, O my lord
+Mohammed, I have a mind to go to the bath to-day; so sit thou on
+this couch and budge not from thy place, till I return to thee."
+"I hear and obey," answered I, and she made me swear to this;
+after which she took her women and went off to the bath. But, by
+Allah, O my brothers, she had not reached the end of the street,
+when the door opened and in came an old woman, who said to me, "O
+my lord Mohammed, the lady Zubeideh bids thee to her, for she
+hath heard of thine elegance and accomplishments and skill in
+singing." "By Allah," answered I, "I will not rise from my place,
+till the lady Dunya come back." "O my lord," rejoined the old
+woman, "do not anger the lady Zubeideh with thee and make an
+enemy of her. Come, speak with her and return to thy place." So I
+rose and followed her into the presence of the princess, who said
+to me, "O light of the eye, art thou the lady Dunya's beloved?"
+"At thy service," answered I. Quoth she, "He spoke sooth who
+reported thee possessed of grace and beauty and good breeding and
+all good qualities; indeed, thou surpassest report; but now sing
+to me, that I may hear thee." "I hear and obey," answered I. So
+she brought me a lute, and I sang the following verses:
+
+The heart of the lover is weary with loving and striving in vain,
+     And even as a spoil is his body in the hands of sickness and
+     pain.
+Who should there be, 'mongst the riders on camels with haltered
+     head, Save a lover whose dear-beloved the camel-litters
+     contain!
+A moon, in your tents that rises, to Allah I commend, One my
+     heart loves and tenders, shut in from the sight of her
+     swain.
+Anon she is kind, anon angry: how goodly her coquetry is! For all
+     that is done of a loved one must needs to her lover be fain.
+
+When I had finished, she said to me, "God assain thy body and
+sweeten thy voice! Verily, thou art perfect in beauty and good
+breeding and singing. But now rise and return to thy place, ere
+the lady Dunya come back, lest she find thee not and he wroth
+with thee." So I kissed the earth before her and the old woman
+forewent me to the door whence I came. I entered and going up to
+the couch, found that my wife had come back and was lying asleep
+there. So I sat down at her feet and rubbed them; whereupon she
+opened her eyes and seeing me, drew up her feet and gave me a
+kick that threw me off the couch, saying, "O traitor, thou hast
+been false to thine oath and hast perjured thyself. Thou sworest
+to me that thou wouldst not stir from thy place; yet didst thou
+break thy promise and go to the lady Zubeideh. By Allah, but that
+I fear scandal, I would pull down the palace over her head!" Then
+said she to her black slave, "Harkye, Sewab, arise and strike off
+this lying traitor's head, for we have no further need of him."
+So the slave came up to me and tearing a strip from his skirt,
+bound my eyes with it and would have cut off my head; but all her
+women, great and small, came up to her and said to her, "O our
+lady, this is not the first who hath erred: indeed, he knew not
+thy humour and hath done nothing deserving of death." "By Allah,"
+replied she, "I must needs set my mark on him." And she bade beat
+me; so they beat me on my sides, and the marks ye saw are the
+scars of that beating. Then she bade them put me out, and they
+carried me to a distance from the house and cast me down. I rose
+and dragged myself little by little to my own house, where I sent
+for a surgeon, who dressed my wounds and comforted me. As soon as
+I was recovered and my pains and sickness had left me, I went to
+the bath and thence betaking myself to my shop, sold all that was
+therein. With the proceeds, I bought four hundred white slaves,
+such as no king ever got together, and caused two hundred of them
+ride out with me every day. Then I made me yonder barge, on which
+I spent five thousand dinars, and styled myself Khalif and
+appointed each of my servants to the charge and clad him in the
+habit of some one of the Khalif's officers. Moreover, I let cry
+abroad, "Whoso goeth a-pleasuring on the Tigris [by night], I
+will strike off his head without mercy;" and on this wise have I
+done this whole year past, during which time I have heard no news
+of the lady neither happened upon any trace of her.' And he wept
+copiously and repeated the following verses:
+
+By Allah, I will never all my life long forget her, my dear; And
+     those only will I tender, who shall bring her to me to draw
+     near.
+Now glory to her Maker and Creator be given evermore! As the full
+     moon in the heavens, in her aspect and her gait she doth
+     appear.
+She, indeed, hath made me weariful and wakeful, full of sorrow,
+     sick for love; Yea, my heart is all confounded at her
+     beauty, dazed for trouble and for fear.
+
+When Er Reshid heard the young man's story and knew the passion
+and transport and love-longing that afflicted him, he was moved
+to compassion and wonder and said, 'Glory be to God who hath
+appointed to every thing a cause!' Than they craved the young
+man's leave to depart; which being granted, they took leave of
+him, the Khalif purposing to do him justice and entreat him with
+the utmost munificence, and returned to the palace of the
+Khalifate, where they changed their clothes for others befitting
+their station and sat down, whilst Mesrour stood before them.
+After awhile, the Khalif said to Jaafer, 'O Vizier, bring me the
+young man with whom we were last night.' 'I hear and obey,'
+answered Jaafer, and going to the youth, saluted him, saying,
+'The Commander of the Faithful calls for thee.' So he returned
+with him to the palace, in great concern by reason of the
+summons, and going in to the Khalif, kissed the earth before him.
+Then said he, 'Peace be on thee, O Commander of the Faithful
+and Protector of the people of the Faith!' And offered up a
+prayer for the endurance of his glory and prosperity, for the
+accomplishment of his desires and the continuance of his bounty
+and the cessation of evil and punishment, ordering his speech as
+best he might and ending by repeating the following verses:
+
+
+Still may thy threshold as a place of adoration[FN#149] Be sought
+     and on men's brows its dust bespeak prostration,
+That so in every land be made this proclamation, "Thou, thou art
+     Abraham and this his very station."[FN#150]
+
+The Khalif smiled in his face and returned his salute, looking on
+him with the eye of favour. Then he bade him draw near and sit
+down before him and said to him, 'O Mohammed Ali, I wish thee to
+tell me what befell thee last night, for it was rare and passing
+strange.' 'Pardon, O Commander of the Faithful!' replied the
+youth. 'Give me the handkerchief of immunity, that my trouble may
+be appeased and my heart set at rest.' Quoth the Khalif, 'Thou
+art safe from fear and trouble.' So the young man told him his
+story from first to last, whereby the Khalif knew him to be a
+lover and severed from his beloved and said to him, 'Wilt thou
+that I restore her to thee?' 'This were of the bounty of the
+Commander of the Faithful,' answered the youth and repeated the
+following verses:
+
+Kiss thou his finger-tips, for no mere fingers they, But keys to
+     all the goods by God to men assigned;
+And praise his deeds no less, for no mere deeds are they, But
+     jewels to adorn the necks of humankind.
+
+Thereupon the Khalif turned to Jaafer and said to him, 'Bring me
+thy sister the lady Dunya.' 'I hear and obey,' answered he and
+fetched her forthright. When she stood before the Khalif, he said
+to her, 'Dost thou know who this is?' 'O Commander of the
+Faithful,' answered she, 'how should women have knowledge of
+men?' The Khalif smiled and said, 'O Dunya, this is thy beloved,
+Mohammed ben Ali the jeweller. We are acquainted with his case,
+for we have heard the whole story, from beginning to end, and
+apprehended its inward and its outward; and it is no more hidden,
+for all it was kept secret.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'
+rejoined she, 'this was written in the book of destiny. I crave
+the forgiveness of the Most High God for that which I have done
+and beseech thee to pardon me of thy favour.' At this the Khalif
+laughed and summoning the Cadi and the witnesses, renewed the
+marriage-contract between Dunya and her husband, whereby there
+betided them the utmost of felicity and those who envied them
+were mortified. Moreover, he made Mohammed Ali one of his boon-
+companions, and they abode in joy and cheer and gladness, till
+there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of
+Companies.
+
+
+
+
+          ALI THE PERSIAN'S STORY OF THE KURD SHARPER
+
+
+
+
+The Khalif Haroun er Reshid, being more than commonly restless
+one night, sent for his Vizier and said to him, 'O Jaafer, I am
+sore wakeful and heavy at heart to-night, and I desire of thee
+what may cheer my spirit and ease me of my oppression.' 'O
+Commander of the Faithful,' answered Jaafer, 'I have a friend, by
+name Ali the Persian, who hath store of tales and pleasant
+stories, such as lighten the heart and do away care.' 'Fetch him
+to me,' said the Khalif. 'I hear and obey,' replied Jaafer and
+going out from before him, sent for Ali the Persian and said to
+him, 'The Commander of the Faithful calls for thee.' 'I hear and
+obey,' answered Ali and followed the Vizier into the presence of
+the Khalif, who bade him be seated and said to him, 'O Ali, my
+heart is heavy within me this night and I hear that thou hast
+great store of tales and anecdotes; so I desire of thee that thou
+let me hear what will relieve my oppression and gladden my
+melancholy.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' said he, 'shall I
+tell thee what I have seen with my eyes or what I have heard with
+my ears?' 'An thou have seen aught [worth telling],' replied the
+Khalif, 'let me hear that.' 'Know then, O Commander of the
+Faithful,' said Ali, 'that some years ago I left this my native
+city of Baghdad on a journey, having with me a boy who carried a
+light wallet. Presently, we came to a certain city, where, as I
+was buying and selling, a rascally thief of a Kurd fell on me and
+seized my wallet, saying, "This is my bag, and all that is in it
+is my property." Thereupon, "Ho, Muslims all," cried I, "deliver
+me from the hand of the vilest of oppressors!" But they all said,
+"Come, both of you, to the Cadi and submit yourselves to his
+judgement." I agreed to this and we both presented ourselves
+before the Cadi, who said, "What brings you hither and what is
+your case?" Quoth I, "We are men at difference, who appeal to
+thee and submit ourselves to thy judgement." "Which of you is the
+complainant?" asked the Cadi. So the Kurd came forward and said,
+"God preserve our lord the Cadi! Verily, this bag is my bag and
+all that is in it is my property. It was lost from me and I found
+it with this man." "When didst thou lose it?" asked the Cadi.
+"But yesterday," replied the Kurd; "and I passed a sleepless
+night by reason of its loss." "If it be thy bag," said the Cadi,
+"tell me what is in it." Quoth the Kurd, "There were in my bag
+two silver styles and eye-powders and a handkerchief, and I had
+laid therein two gilt cups and two candlesticks. Moreover it
+contained two tents and two platters and two hooks and a cushion
+and two leather rugs and two ewers and a brass tray and two
+basins and a cooking-pot and two water-jars and a ladle and a
+sacking-needle and a she-cat and two bitches[FN#151] and a wooden
+trencher and two sacks and two saddles and a gown and two fur
+pelisses and a cow and two calves and a she-goat and two sheep
+and an ewe and two lambs and two green pavilions and a camel and
+two she-camels and a she-buffalo and two bulls and a lioness and
+two lions and a she-bear and two foxes and a mattress and two
+couches and an upper chamber and two saloons and a portico and
+two ante-rooms and a kitchen with two doors and a company of
+Kurds who will testify that the bag is mine." Then said the
+Cadi to me, "And thou, what sayst thou?" So I came forward, O
+Commander of the Faithful (and indeed the Kurd's speech had
+bewildered me) and said, "God advance our lord the Cadi! There
+was nothing in this my wallet, save a little ruined house and
+another without a door and a dog-kennel and a boys' school and
+youths playing dice and tents and tent-poles and the cities of
+Bassora and Baghdad and the palace of Sheddad ben Aad[FN#152] and
+a smith's forge and a fishing net and cudgels and pickets and
+girls and boys and a thousand pimps, who will testify that the
+bag is my bag." When the Kurd heard my words, he wept and wailed
+and said, "O my lord the Cadi, my bag is known and what is in it
+is renowned; therein are castles and citadels and cranes and
+beasts of prey and men playing chess and draughts. Moreover, in
+this my bag is a brood-mare and two colts and a stallion and two
+blood-horses and two long lances and a lion and two hares and a
+city and two villages and a courtezan and two sharking pimps and
+a catamite and two gallows-birds and a blind man and two dogs and
+a cripple and two lameters and a priest and two deacons and a
+patriarch and two monks and a Cadi and two assessors, who will
+testify that the bag is my bag." Quoth the Cadi to me, "And what
+sayst thou, O Ali?" So, O Commander of the Faithful, being filled
+with rage, I came forward and said, "God keep our lord the Cadi!
+I had in this my wallet a coat of mail and a broadsword and
+armouries and a thousand fighting rams and a sheep-fold and a
+thousand barking dogs and gardens and vines and flowers and sweet
+herbs and figs and apples and pictures and statues and flagons
+and goblets and fair-faced slave-girls and singing-women and
+marriage-feasts and tumult and clamour and great tracts of land
+and brothers of success[FN#153] and a company of daybreak-riders,
+with swords and spears and bows and arrows, and true friends and
+dear ones and intimates and comrades and men imprisoned for
+punishment and cup-companions and a drum and flutes and flags and
+banners and boys and girls and brides, in all their wedding
+bravery, and singing-girls and five Abyssinian women and three
+Hindi and four women of Medina and a score of Greek girls and
+half a hundred Turkish and threescore and ten Persian girls and
+fourscore Kurd and fourscore and ten Georgian women and Tigris
+and Euphrates and a fowling net and a flint and steel and Many-
+Columned Irem[FN#154] and a thousand rogues and pimps and horse-
+courses and stables and mosques and baths and a builder and a
+carpenter and a plank and a nail and a black slave, with a pair
+of recorders, and a captain and a caravan-leader and towns and
+cities and a hundred thousand dinars and Cufa and Ambar[FN#155]
+and twenty chests full of stuffs and twenty store-houses for
+victual and Gaza and Askalon and from Damietta to Essouan and the
+palace of Kisra Anoushirwan[FN#156] and the kingdom of Solomon
+and from Wadi Numan[FN#157] to the land of Khorassan and Balkh
+and Ispahan and from India to the Soudan. Therein also (may God
+prolong the life of our lord the Cadi!) are doublets and cloths
+and a thousand sharp razors to shave the Cadi's chin, except he
+fear my resentment and adjudge the bag to be mine."
+
+When the Cadi heard what I and the Kurd avouched, he was
+confounded and said, "I see ye are none other than two pestilent
+atheistical fellows, who make sport of Cadis and magistrates and
+stand not in fear of reproach. Never did any tell or hear tell of
+aught more extraordinary than that which ye pretend. By Allah,
+from China to Shejreh umm Ghailan[FN#158] nor from Fars to the
+Soudan, nor from Wadi Numan to Khorassan, ever was heard or
+credited the like of what ye avouch! Is this bag a bottomless sea
+or the Day of Resurrection, that shall gather together the just
+and unjust?" Then he bade open the bag; so I opened it and
+behold, there was in it bread and a lemon and cheese and olives.
+So I threw it down before the Kurd and went away.'
+
+When the Khalif heard Ali's story, he laughed till he fell
+backward and made him a handsome present.
+
+
+
+
+End of Vol. III.
+
+
+
+
+                       Notes to Volume 3
+
+
+
+[FN#1] It need hardly be remarked that Eastern stirrups are made
+so to do duty as spurs.
+
+[FN#2] i.e. The Seven Sleepers.
+
+[FN#3] i.e. The birds of prey.
+
+[FN#4] "O thou of the little stronghold."  A sobriquet popularly
+bestowed on the fox, even as we call him "Reynard."
+
+[FN#5] These verses are full of plays upon words, which it is
+impossible to render in a translation.
+
+[FN#6] i.e. blood, like wine in colour.
+
+[FN#7] The face.
+
+[FN#8] The teeth.
+
+[FN#9] The wine-cup.
+
+[FN#10] Alluding to the Eastern practice of dying the hands with
+henna in concentric bands.
+
+[FN#11] The lips, likened to the plum of the jujube-tree.
+
+[FN#12] The teeth.
+
+[FN#13] A well-known metaphor for the brilliant whiteness of the
+face shining through the black hair.
+
+[FN#14] The lips.
+
+[FN#15] The teeth.
+
+[FN#16] Mejnoun, the well-known lover of Eastern romance.
+
+[FN#17] These verses apparently relate to Aboulhusn, but it is
+possible that they may be meant to refer to Shemsennehar, as the
+masculine is constantly used for the feminine in Oriental love-
+poetry.
+
+[FN#18] As that of a martyr. See Vol. II. p. 25, note 2. {Vol. 2,
+FN#15}
+
+[FN#19] Two fallen angels appointed to tempt men by teaching them
+the art of magic.
+
+[FN#20] An idol or idols of the Arabs before Mohammed.
+
+[FN#21] The browlocks, from their shape, are commonly likened by
+Eastern poets to scorpions.
+
+[FN#22] Three stars so called in the Great Bear.
+
+[FN#23] or recite.
+
+[FN#24] There are three orders of Jinn: the upper or inhabitants
+of the air, the lower or inhabitants of the earth and the divers
+or inhabitants of the waters.
+
+[FN#25] Lit. lean and fat.
+
+[FN#26] Syn. eye (nazir).
+
+[FN#27] Syn. eyebrow (hajib).
+
+[FN#28] A play upon words turning upon the literal meaning
+("auspicious full moons") of the two names of women Budour and
+Suad.
+
+[FN#29] Ring-mail.
+
+[FN#30] i.e. Orvietan or Venice treacle, the well-known universal
+remedy of the middle ages, alluded to by Chaucer in the words,
+"And Christ that is unto all ills triacle."
+
+[FN#31] Names of women.
+
+[FN#32] Women's name.
+
+[FN#33] Women's name.
+
+[FN#34] i.e. a woman.
+
+[FN#35] Women's names.
+
+[FN#36] Wine.
+
+[FN#37]  i.e. by way of ornament.
+
+[FN#38] The well-known semi-legendary sage and fabulist.
+
+[FN#39] Playing upon his own name, Kemerezzeman, which means,
+"Moon of the time or of fortune."  Budour means "Full moons."
+
+[FN#40] Siwaka, a toothstick, (acc.) means also "other than
+thee."
+
+[FN#41] Araka, a capparis-tree, (acc.) means also, "I see thee."
+Toothsticks are made of
+the wood of this tree.
+
+[FN#42] A treasury of money is a thousand purses or about L5,000.
+
+[FN#43] This expression is of course metaphorical.  Cf. Solomon's
+Song passim.
+
+[FN#44] i.e. gum tragacanth.
+
+[FN#45] See post p. 317. {see Vol. 3. Maan Ben Zaideh and the
+Three Girls, FN#121.}
+
+[FN#46] The mansuetude of the Khalif Muawiyeh, the founder of the
+Ommiade dynasty, is a proverb among the Arabs, though hardly to
+be reconciled with the accredited records of his life and
+actions.
+
+[FN#47] Alluding, for the sake of metaphor, to the months of
+purification which, according to the Muslim ceremonial law, must
+be accomplished by a divorced woman, before she can marry again.
+
+[FN#48] A divorce three times pronounced cannot be revoked.
+
+[FN#49] Fabulous peoples mentioned in the Koran.
+
+[FN#50] Said to be so called, because they attract sparrows
+(asafir), but it seems to me more probable that the name denotes
+the colour of the fruit and is derived from usfur, safflower.
+
+[FN#51] Koran,  xxxiii. 38.
+
+[FN#52] Met. anus.
+
+[FN#53] Met. cunnus.
+
+[FN#54] Kibleh, the point of the compass to which one turns in
+prayer.  Mecca is the Kibleh of the Muslims, even as Jerusalem
+that of the Jews and Christians.  The meaning of the text is
+obvious.
+
+[FN#55] i.e. of God.--Koran, li. 9.
+
+[FN#56] The word (futouh) translated "openings" may also be
+rendered "victories" or "benefits."
+
+[FN#57] Cf. Aristophanes, Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusae passim.
+
+[FN#58] An audacious parody of the Koran, applied ironically,
+"And the pious work God shall raise up."--Koran, xxxv. 11.
+
+[FN#59] Lit. The chapter of clearing (oneself from belief in any
+but God), or Unity, Koran, cxii.  It ends with the words, "There
+is none like unto Him."
+
+[FN#60] i.e. but for the soul that animated them.
+
+[FN#61] The word "nights" (more commonly "days," sometimes also
+"days and nights," as in the verses immediately following) is
+constantly used in the sense of "fortune" or "fate" by the poets
+of the East.
+
+[FN#62] Abdallah ibn ez Zubeir revolted (A.D. 680) against Yezid
+(second Khalif of the Ommiade dynasty) and was proclaimed Khalif
+at Mecca, where he maintained himself till A.D. 692, when he was
+killed in the siege of that town by the famous Hejjaj, general of
+Abdulmelik,  the fifth Ommiade Khalif.
+
+[FN#63] The allusion here appears to be to the burning of part of
+Mecca, including the Temple and Kaabeh, during the (unsuccessful)
+siege by Hussein, A.D. 683.
+
+[FN#64] Three Muslim sectaries (Kharejites), considering the
+Khalif Ali (Mohammed's son-in-law), Muawiyeh (founder of the
+Ommiade dynasty) and Amr (or Amrou), the conqueror of Egypt, as
+the chief authors of the intestine discords which then (A.D. 661
+) ravaged Islam, conspired to assassinate them; but only
+succeeded in killing Ali, Muawiyeh escaping with a wound and the
+fanatic charged with the murder of Amr slaying Kharijeh, the
+chief of the police at Cairo, by mistake, in his stead.  The
+above verses are part of a famous but very obscure elegy on the
+downfall of one of the Muslim dynasties in Spain, composed in the
+twelfth century by Ibn Abdoun el Andalousi, one of the most
+celebrated of the Spanish Arabic poets.
+
+[FN#65] i.e. fortune.  The word dunya (world) is constantly used
+in poetry to signify "fortune" or "the fortune of this world."
+
+[FN#66] This line is a characteristic example of the antithetical
+conceits so common in Oriental poetry.  The meaning is, "My grief
+makes all I behold seem black to me, whilst my tears have washed
+out all the colour from my eyes."
+
+[FN#67] i.e. the tomb.
+
+[FN#68] The wood of which makes a peculiarly fierce and lasting
+fire.
+
+[FN#69] Koran iv. 38.
+
+[FN#70] Most happy.
+
+[FN#71] Wretched.
+
+[FN#72] Most happy.
+
+[FN#73] The gift of God. The h in Nimeh becomes t before a vowel.
+
+[FN#74] i.e. happiness.
+
+[FN#75] Num is synonymous with Saad.  The purpose of the change
+of name was to make the little one's name correspond with that of
+Nimeh, which is derived from the same root.
+
+[FN#76] i.e. to any one, as we should say, "to Tom, Dick or
+Harry."
+
+[FN#77] i.e. to any one, as we should say, "to Tom, Dick or
+Harry."
+
+[FN#78] El Hejjaj ben Yousuf eth Thekefi, a famous statesman and
+soldier of the seventh and eighth centuries.  He was governor of
+Chaldaea under the fifth and sixth Ommiade Khalifs and was
+renowned for his cruelty; but appears nevertheless to have been a
+prudent and capable administrator, who probably used no more
+rigour than was necessary to restrain the proverbially turbulent
+populations of Bassora and Cufa.  Most of the anecdotes of his
+brutality and tyranny, some of which will be found in this
+collection, are, in all probability, apocryphal.
+
+[FN#79] Wool is the distinctive wear of Oriental devotees.
+
+[FN#80] Koran xxv. 70.
+
+[FN#81] Of the Koran.
+
+[FN#82] This verse contains a series of jeux-de-mots, founded
+upon the collocation of the three proper names, Num, Suada and
+Juml, with the third person feminine singular, preterite-present,
+fourth conjugation, of their respective verb-roots, i.e. idka
+anamet Num, if Num vouchsafe, etc., etc.
+
+[FN#83] Nimeh.
+
+[FN#84] "And he (Jacob) turned from them, saying, 'Woe is me for
+Joseph!'  And his eyes grew white for grief ...  (Quoth Joseph to
+his brethren)  'Take this my shirt and throw it over my father's
+face and he will recover his sight' ...  So, when the messenger
+of glad tidings came (to Jacob), he threw it (the shirt) over his
+face and he was restored to sight."--Koran xii. 84, 93, 96.
+
+[FN#85] Hemzeh and Abbas were uncles of Mohammed.  The Akil here
+alluded to is apparently a son of the Khalif Ali, who deserted
+his father and joined the usurper Muawiyeh, the founder of the
+Ommiade dynasty.
+
+[FN#86] One of the numerous quack aphrodisiacs current in the
+middle ages, as with us cock's cullions and other grotesque
+prescriptions.
+
+[FN#87] To conjure the evil eye.
+
+[FN#88] i.e. him of the moles.
+
+[FN#89] Alluding to the redness of his cheeks, as if they had
+been flushed with wine. The passage may be construed, "As he were
+a white slave, with cheeks reddened by wine." The Turkish and
+other white slaves were celebrated for their beauty.
+
+[FN#90] As a protection against the evil eye. We may perhaps,
+however, read, "Ask pardon of God!", i.e. for your unjust
+reproach.
+
+[FN#91] See note, post, p. 299. {see Vol. 3, FN#114}
+
+[FN#92] i.e. of the caravan.
+
+[FN#93] A famous Muslim saint of the twelfth century and founder
+of the four great orders of dervishes. He is buried at Baghdad.
+
+[FN#94] Koran xiii. 14.
+
+[FN#95] Another well-known saint.
+
+[FN#96] i.e. He engaged to do somewhat, undertaking upon oath in
+case of default to divorce his wife by pronouncing the triple
+formula of divorcement, and she therefore became divorced, by
+operation of law, on his failure to keep his engagement.
+
+[FN#97] The 36th chapter of the Koran.
+
+[FN#98] or "herself."
+
+[FN#99] or "myself."
+
+[FN#100] This passage is full of double-entendres, the meaning of
+most of which is obvious, but others are so obscure and
+farfetched as to defy explanation.
+
+[FN#101] The raven is the symbol of separation.
+
+[FN#102] One of the names of God (Breslau. The two other editions
+have it, "O David!"). It is the custom of the Arabs, as will
+appear in others of these tales, to represent inarticulate music
+(such as that of birds and instruments) as celebrating the
+praises of God.
+
+[FN#103] lit. a fan.
+
+[FN#104] One of the most celebrated, as well as the most witty
+and licentious, of Arab poets. He was one of Haroun er Reshid's
+boon-companions and died early in the ninth century.
+
+[FN#105] See note, p. 274.{see Vol. 3, FN#102}
+
+[FN#106] The above appears to be the meaning of this somewhat
+obscure passage; but we may perhaps translate it as follows: "May
+God preserve (us) from the mischief of he Commander of the
+Faithful!" "O Vizier," answered the Khalif, "the mischief is
+passing great."
+
+[FN#107] Meaning that the robbery must have been committed by
+some inmate of the palace.
+
+[FN#108] Amir. Thus the Breslau edition; the two others give
+Amin, i.e. one who is trusted or in a position of trust.
+
+[FN#109] According to Mohammedan tradition, it was Ishmael, not
+Isaac, whom Abraham was commanded to sacrifice.
+
+[FN#110] Apparently a sort of blackmail levied upon merchants and
+others by the soldiers who protected them against the Bedouins.
+
+[FN#111] A village on the Gulf of Scanderoon.
+
+[FN#112] Or perhaps dinars, the coin not being specified.
+
+[FN#113] Or sectary of Ali. The Shiyaites did not acknowledge the
+first three Khalifs Abou Bekr, Omar, and Othman, and were wont to
+write their names upon their heels, in token of contempt. The
+Sunnites are the orthodox Muslims, who accept the actual order of
+things.
+
+[FN#114] An open-fronted reception-room, generally on the first
+floor and giving on the interior court of the house.
+
+[FN#115] Instead of "rank of Amir," we should perhaps read
+"knighthood."
+
+[FN#116] i.e. It is not enough. See Vol. II, p. 74, note. {see
+Vol. 2, FN#29}
+
+[FN#117] Confessional?
+
+[FN#118] L500.
+
+[FN#119] The Mohammedans accuse the Jews, as well as the
+Christians, of falsifying their sacred books, so as to suppress
+the mention of Mohammed.
+
+[FN#120] A very famous Arab chieftain of the latter part of the
+sixth century, especially renowned for the extravagance with
+which he practiced the patriarchal virtues of generosity and
+hospitality. He died a few years after Mohammed's birth.
+
+[FN#121] Another famous Oriental type of generosity. He was a
+celebrated soldier and statesman of the eighth century and stood
+in high favour with the Ommiade Khalifs, as also (after the
+change of dynasty) with those of the house of Abbas.
+
+[FN#122] Apparently meaning the upper part of the carpet whereon
+the Amir's chair was set. It is the place of honour and has a
+peculiar sanctity among the Arabs, it being a breach of good
+manners to tread upon it (or indeed upon any part of the carpet)
+with shodden feet.
+
+[FN#123] Apparently Toledo.
+
+[FN#124] Sixth Khalif of the Ommiade dynasty, A.D. 705-716.
+
+[FN#125] Or perhaps "of that which is due to men of worth."
+
+[FN#126] It is the invariable custom (and indeed the duty) of
+every Muslim to salute his co-religionist with the words "Peace
+be on thee!" upon first accosting him.
+
+[FN#127] He having then returned to his palace.
+
+[FN#128] i.e. of life.
+
+[FN#129] Lit. to dispute about or defend itself, Koran xvi 112.
+
+[FN#130] The Rages of the Apocrypha; a great city of Persia,
+formerly its capital, but now a mere heap of ruins in the
+neighbourhood of Teheran.
+
+[FN#131] Ibrahim ben El Mehdi was one of the most celebrated
+musicians and wits of his day.  "He was a man of great merit and
+a perfect scholar, possessed of an open heart and a generous
+hand; his like had never before been seen among the sons of the
+Khalifs, none of whom spoke with more propriety and elegance or
+composed verses with greater ability." (Ibn Khellikan.)
+
+[FN#132] Ibrahim of Mosul, the greatest musician of the time, a
+boon-companion and special favourite of Haroun er Reshid and his
+son.
+
+[FN#133] Lit. the lord of the blood-revenge, i.e. the person
+entitled to exact the blood-wit.
+
+[FN#134] His Vizier.
+
+[FN#135] Joseph to his brethren, Koran xii. 92.
+
+[FN#136] Playing upon the literal meaning, "blood-sucker," of the
+word kejjam, cupper or barber-surgeon.
+
+[FN#137] The Arabic word is el Medineh, lit. the city. Perhaps
+the narrator meant to compare the citadel to the actual city of
+Medina.
+
+[FN#138] A well-known theologian.
+
+[FN#139] Koran lxxxix. 6, 7.
+
+[FN#140] According to the Breslau edition, it was the prophet
+Hond who, being sent of God to exhort Sheddad and his people to
+embrace the true faith, promised them Paradise in the next world,
+as a reward, describing it as above. Quoth Sheddad, on hearing
+this description, "I will build me in this world the like of this
+Paradise and I have no need of that thou promisest me."
+
+[FN#141] i.e. the prophet Houd (Heber).
+
+[FN#142] Son of Ibrahim el Mausili and still more famous as a
+musician. He was also an excellent poet and a great favourite
+with the Khalif Mamoun.
+
+[FN#143] Mamoun's own Vizier, a man of great wealth and
+munificence.
+
+[FN#144] Witout the town.
+
+[FN#145] Medewwerek, lit. "something round." This word generally
+means a small round cushion; but, in the present instance, a gong
+is evidently referred to.
+
+[FN#146] The Prophet's uncle, from whom the Abbaside Khalifs were
+descended.
+
+[FN#147] Lit. "fugleman," i.e. "leader of the people at prayer,"
+a title bestowed upon the Khalifs, in recognition of their
+spiritual headship.
+
+[FN#148] Dies albo lapide notanda.
+
+[FN#149] Lit. Kaabeh.
+
+[FN#150] Referring to the station in the Temple of Mecca, known
+as the Mecam or standing-place of Abraham. The wish inferred is
+that the Khalif's court may be as favourite a place of reverent
+resort as the station in question.
+
+[FN#151] Or (quaere) a pair of forceps.
+
+[FN#152] See ante, p. 335. {see Vol. 3, FN#139}
+
+[FN#153] i.e. thieves.
+
+[FN#154] See ante, p. 337. {...to Many-Columned Irem, at the ...}
+
+[FN#155] A city on the Euphrates, about 40 miles west of Baghdad.
+
+[FN#156] The famous King of Persia.
+
+[FN#157] In Arabia.
+
+[FN#158] Lit. "a thorn-acacia tree." Quaere, the name of a town
+in Egypt?
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT, VOLUME III ***
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+
+
+Title: The Book Of The Thousand Nights And One Night, Volume III
+
+Author:  Anonymous
+
+Translator: John Payne
+
+Release Date: August, 2005  [EBook #8657]
+[This file was first posted on July 30, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT, VOLUME III ***
+
+
+
+
+Text scanned by JC Byers (www.wollamshram.ca/1001) and proofread by Ralph
+Zimmerman, Renate Preuss, JC Byers, Anne Soulard, and Coralee Sheehan
+
+
+Editorial Note: Project Gutenberg also has the translation of this work by
+                Richard F. Burton in 16 volumes.
+
+
+
+
+         THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT:
+
+             Now First Completely Done Into English
+           Prose and Verse, From The Original Arabic,
+
+                         By John Payne
+(Author of "The Masque of Shadows," "Intaglios: Sonnets," "Songs
+                      of Life and Death,"
+ "Lautrec," "The Poems of Master Francis Villon of Paris," "New
+                      Poems," Etc, Etc.).
+
+                        In Nine Volumes:
+
+
+
+                       VOLUME THE THIRD.
+
+
+                             London
+                  Printed For Subscribers Only
+                              1901
+
+                         Delhi Edition
+
+
+                 Contents of The Third Volume.
+
+
+1.   The Birds and Beasts and the Son of Adam
+2.   The Hermits
+3.   The Water-Foul and the Tortoise
+4.   The Wolf and the Fox
+     a.   The Hawk and the Partridge
+5.   The Mouse and the Weasel
+6.   The Cat and the Crow
+7.   The Fox and the Crow
+     a.   The Mouse and the Flea
+     b.   The Falcon and the Birds
+     c.   The Sparrow and the Eagle
+8.   The Hedgehog and the Pigeons
+     a.   The Merchant and the Two Sharpers
+9.   The Thief and his Monkey
+     a.   The Foolish Weaver
+10.  The Sparrow and the Peacock
+11.  Ali Ben Bekkar and Shemsennehar
+12.  Kemeezzeman and Boudour
+     a.   Nimeh Ben er Rebya and Num his Slave Girl
+13.  Alaeddin Abou Esh Shamat
+14.  Hatim et Yai: His Generosity After Death
+15.  Maan Ben Zaideh and the Three Girls
+16.  Maan Ben Zaideh and the Bedouin
+17.  The City of Lebtait
+18.  The Khalif Hisham and the Arab Youth
+19.  Ibrahim Ben el Mehdi and the Barber-surgeon
+20.  The City of Irem
+21.  Isaac of Mosul's Story of Khedijeh and the Khalif Mamoun
+22.  The Scavenger and the Noble Lady of Baghdad
+23.  The Mock Khalif
+24.  Ali the Persian and the Kurd Sharper
+
+
+
+
+
+                THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS
+                         AND ONE NIGHT
+
+
+
+When Shehrzad had made an end of the history of King Omar teen
+Ennuman and his sons, Shehriyar said to her, "I desire that thou
+tell me some story about birds;" and Dunyazad, hearing this, said
+to her sister, "All this while I have never seen the Sultan light
+at heart till this night; and this gives me hope that the issue
+may be a happy one for thee with him." Then drowsiness overcame
+the Sultan; so he slept and Shehrzad, perceiving the approach of
+day, was silent.
+
+When it was the hundred and forty-sixth night, Shehrzad began as
+follows: "I have heard tell, O august King, that
+
+
+
+
+           STORY OF THE BIRDS AND BEASTS AND THE SON
+                            OF ADAM.
+
+
+
+A peacock once abode with his mate on the sea-shore, in a place
+that abounded in trees and streams, but was infested with lions
+and all manner other wild beasts, and for fear of these latter,
+the two birds were wont to roost by night upon a tree, going
+forth by day in quest of food. They abode thus awhile, till,
+their fear increasing on them, they cast about for some other
+place wherein to dwell, and in the course of their search, they
+happened on an island abounding in trees and streams. So they
+alighted there and ate of its fruits and drank of its waters.
+Whilst they were thus engaged, up came a duck, in a state of
+great affright, and stayed not till she reached the tree on which
+the two peacocks were perched, when she seemed reassured. The
+peacock doubted not but that she had some rare story; so he asked
+her of her case and the cause of her alarm, to which she replied,
+'I am sick for sorrow and my fear of the son of Adam: beware, O
+beware of the sons of Adam!' 'Fear not,' rejoined the peacock,
+'now that thou hast won to us.' 'Praised be God,' cried the
+duck, 'who hath done away my trouble and my concern with your
+neigbourhood! For indeed I come, desiring your friendship.'
+Thereupon the peahen came down to her and said, 'Welcome and fair
+welcome! No harm shall befall thee: how can the son of Adam come
+at us and we in this island midmost the sea? From the land he
+cannot win to us, neither can he come up to us out of the sea. So
+be of good cheer and tell us what hath betided thee from him.
+'Know then, O peahen,' answered the duck, 'that I have dwelt all
+my life in this island in peace and safety and have seen no
+disquieting thing, till one night, as I was asleep, I saw in a
+dream the semblance of a son of Adam, who talked with me and I
+with him. Then I heard one say to me, "O duck, beware of the son
+of Adam and be not beguiled by his words nor by that he may
+suggest to thee; for he aboundeth in wiles and deceit; so beware
+with all wariness of his perfidy, for he is crafty and guileful,
+even as saith of him the poet:
+
+He giveth thee honeyed words with the tip of his tongue, galore.
+     But sure he will cozen thee, as the fox cloth, evermore.
+
+For know that the son of Adam beguileth the fish and draweth them
+forth of the waters and shooteth the birds with a pellet of clay
+and entrappeth the elephant with his craft. None is safe from his
+mischief, and neither beast nor bird escapeth him. Thus have I
+told thee what I have heard concerning the son of Adam." I awoke,
+fearful and trembling (continued the duck), and from that time to
+this my heart hath not known gladness, for fear of the son of
+Adam, lest he take me unawares by his craft or trap me in his
+snares. By the time the end of the day overtook me, I was grown
+weak and my strength and courage failed me; so, desiring to eat
+and drink, I went forth, troubled in spirit and with a heart ill
+at ease. I walked on, till I reached yonder mountain, where I saw
+a tawny lion-whelp at the door of a cave. When he saw me, he
+rejoiced greatly in me, for my colour pleased him and my elegant
+shape: so he cried out to me, saying "Draw nigh unto me." So I
+went up to him and he said to me, "What is thy name and thy
+kind?" Quoth I, "My name is 'duck,' and I am of the bird-kind;
+but thou, why tarriest thou in this place till now?" "My father
+the lion," answered he, "has bidden me many a day beware of the
+son of Adam, and it befell this night that I saw in my sleep the
+semblance of a son of Adam." And he went on to tell me the like
+of that I have told you. When I heard this, I said to him, "O
+lion, I resort to thee, that thou mayst kill the son of Adam and
+steadfastly address thy thought to his slaughter; for I am
+greatly in fear for myself of him, and fear is added to my fear,
+for that thou also fearest the son of Adam, and thou the Sultan
+of the beasts. Then, O my sister, I ceased not to bid him beware
+of the son of Adam and urge him to slay him, till he rose of a
+sudden from his stead and went out, lashing his flanks with his
+tail. He fared on, and I after him, till we came to a place,
+where several roads met, and saw cloud of dust arise, which,
+presently clearing away, discovered a naked runaway ass, and now
+running and galloping and now rolling in the dust. When the
+lion saw the ass, he cried out to him, and he came up to him
+submissively. Then said the lion, "Harkye, crack-brain! What is
+thy kind and what brings thee hither?" "O, son of the Sultan,"
+answered the ass, "I am by kind an ass, and the cause of my
+coming hither is that I am fleeing from the son of Adam." "Dost
+thou fear then that he will kill thee?" asked the lion-whelp.
+"Not so, O son of the Sultan," replied the ass; "but I fear lest
+he put a cheat on me; for he hath a thing called the pad, that he
+sets on my back, and a thing called the girth, that he binds
+about my belly, and a thing called the crupper, that he puts
+under my tail, and a thing called the bit, that he places in my
+mouth; and he fashions me a goad and goads me with it and makes
+me run more than my strength. If I stumble, he curses me, and
+if I bray, he reviles me; and when I grow old and can no longer
+run, he puts a wooden pannel on me and delivers me to the
+water-carriers, who load my back with water from the river, in
+skins and other vessels, such as jars, and I wear out my life in
+misery and abasement and fatigue till I die, when they cast me on
+the rubbish-heaps to the dogs. So what misery can surpass this,
+and what calamities can be greater than these?" When, O peahen, I
+heard the ass's words, my skin shuddered at the son of Adam and I
+said to the lion-whelp, "Of a verity, O my lord, the ass hath
+excuse, and his words add terror to my terror." Then said the
+lion to the ass, "Whither goest thou?" "Before the rising of the
+sun" answered he, "I espied the son of Adam afar off and fled
+from him, and now I am minded to flee forth and run without
+ceasing, for the greatness of my fear of him, so haply I may find
+a place to shelter me from the perfidious son of Adam." Whilst he
+was thus discoursing, seeking the while to take leave of us and
+go away, behold, another cloud of dust arose, at sight of which
+the ass brayed and cried out and let fly a great crack of wind.
+Presently, the dust lifted and discovered a handsome black horse
+of elegant shape, with white feet and fine legs and a brow-star
+like a dirhem, which made towards us, neighing, and stayed not
+till he stood before the whelp, the son of the lion, who, when he
+saw him, marvelled at his beauty and said to him, "What is thy
+kind, O noble wild beast, and wherefore fleest thou into this
+vast and wide desert?" "O lord of the beasts," answered he, "I am
+of the horse-kind, and I am fleeing from the son of Adam." The
+whelp wondered at the horse's words and said to him, "Say not
+thus; for it is shame for thee, seeing that thou art tall and
+stout. How comes it that thou fearest the son of Adam, thou, with
+thy bulk of body and thy swiftness of running, when I, for all my
+littleness of body, am resolved to find out the son of Adam, and
+rushing on him, eat his flesh, that I may allay the affright of
+this poor duck and make her to dwell in peace in her own place.
+But now thou hast wrung my heart with thy talk and turned me back
+from what I had resolved to do, in that, for all thy bulk, the
+son of Adam hath mastered thee and feared neither thy height nor
+thy breadth, though, wert thou to kick him with thy foot, thou
+wouldst kill him, nor could he prevail against thee, but thou
+wouldst make him drink the cup of death." The horse laughed, when
+he heard the whelp's words, and replied, "Far, far is it from my
+power to overcome him, O king's son! Let not my length and my
+breadth nor yet my bulk delude thee, with respect to the son
+of Adam; for he, of the excess of his guile and his cunning,
+fashions for me a thing called a hobble and hobbles my four legs
+with ropes of palm-fibres, bound with felt, and makes me fast by
+the head to a high picket, so that I remain standing and can
+neither sit nor lie down, being tied up. When he hath a mind to
+ride me, he binds on his feet a thing of iron called a stirrup
+and lays on my back another thing called a saddle, which he
+fastens by two girths, passed under my armpits. Then he sets in
+my mouth a thing of iron he calls a bit, to which he ties a thing
+of leather called a rein; and when he mounts on the saddle on
+my back, he takes the rein in his hand and guides me with it,
+goading my flanks the while with the stirrups[FN#1], till he
+makes them bleed: so do not ask, O king's son, what I endure from
+the son of Adam. When I grow old and lean and can no longer run
+swiftly, he sells me to the miller, who makes me turn in the
+mill, and I cease not from turning night and day, till I grow
+decrepit. Then he in turn sells me to the knacker, who slaughters
+me and flays off my hide, after which he plucks out my tail,
+which he sells to the sieve-makers, and melts down my fat for
+tallow." At this, the young lion's anger and vexation redoubled,
+and he said to the horse, "When didst thou leave the son of
+Adam?" "At mid-day," replied the horse; "and he is now on my
+track." Whilst the whelp was thus conversing with the horse,
+there arose a cloud of dust and presently subsiding, discovered a
+furious camel, which made toward us, braying and pawing the earth
+with his feet. When the whelp saw how great and lusty he was, he
+took him to be the son of Adam and was about to spring at him,
+when I said to him, "O king's son, this is not the son of Adam,
+but a camel, and me seems he is fleeing from the son of Adam."
+As I spoke, O my sister, the camel came up and saluted the
+lion-whelp, who returned his greeting and said to him, "What
+brings thee hither?" Quoth he, "I am fleeing from the son of
+Adam." "And thou," said the whelp, "with thy huge frame and
+length and breadth, how comes it that thou fearest the son of
+Adam, seeing that one kick of thy foot would kill him?" "O son of
+the Sultan," answered the camel, "know that the son of Adam has
+wiles, which none can withstand, nor can any but Death prevail
+against him; for he puts in my nostrils a twine of goat's-hair he
+calls a nose-ring and over my head a thing he calls a halter;
+then he delivers me to the least of his children, and the
+youngling draws me along by the nose-ring, for all my size and
+strength. Then they load me with the heaviest of burdens and go
+long journeys with me and put me to hard labours all hours of the
+day and night. When I grow old and feeble, my master keeps me not
+with him, but sells me to the knacker, who slaughters me and
+sells my hide to the tanners and my flesh to the cooks: so do not
+ask what I suffer from the son of Adam." "When didst thou leave
+the son of Adam?" asked the young lion. "At sundown," replied the
+camel; "and I doubt not but that, having missed me, he is now in
+search of me: wherefore, O son of the Sultan, let me go, that I
+may flee into the deserts and the wilds." "Wait awhile, O camel,"
+said the whelp, "till thou see how I will rend him in pieces and
+give thee to eat of his flesh, whilst I crunch his bones and
+drink his blood." "O king's son," rejoined the camel, "I fear for
+thee from the son of Adam, for he is wily and perfidious." And he
+repeated the following verse:
+
+Whenas on any land the oppressor cloth alight, There's nothing
+     left for those, that dwell therein, but flight.
+
+Whilst the camel was speaking, there arose a cloud of dust,
+which opened and showed a short thin old man, with a basket of
+carpenters' tools on his shoulder and a branch of a tree and
+eight planks on his head. He had little children in his hand, and
+came on at a brisk pace, till he drew near us. When I saw him, O
+my sister, I fell down for excess of affright; but the young lion
+rose and went to meet the carpenter, who smiled in his face and
+said to him, with a glib tongue, "O illustrious king and lord of
+the long arm, may God prosper shine evening and shine endeavour
+and increase thy velour and strengthen thee! Protect me from that
+which hath betided me and smitten me with its mischief, for I
+have found no helper save only thee." And he stood before him,
+weeping and groaning and lamenting. When the whelp heard his
+weeping and wailing, he said, "I will succour thee from that thou
+fearest. Who hath done thee wrong and what art thou, O wild
+beast, whose like I never saw in my life nor saw I ever one
+goodlier of form or more eloquent of tongue than thou? What is
+thy case?" "O lord of the beasts," answered the man, "I am a
+carpenter; he who hath wronged me is a son of Adam, and by break
+of dawn he will be with thee in this place." When the lion heard
+this, the light in his face was changed to darkness and he roared
+and snorted and his eyes cast forth sparks. Then he said, "By
+Allah, I will watch this night till the dawn, nor will I return
+to my father till I have compassed my intent. But thou,"
+continued he, addressing the carpenter, "I see thou art short of
+step, and I would not wound thy feelings, for that I am generous
+of heart; yet do I deem thee unable to keep pace with the wild
+beasts: tell me then whither thou goest." "Know," answered the
+carpenter, "that I am on my way to thy father's Vizier, the Lynx;
+for when he heard that the son of Adam had set foot in this
+country, he feared greatly for himself and sent one of the beasts
+for me, to make him a house, wherein he should dwell, that it
+might shelter him and hold his enemy from him, so not one of the
+sons of Adam should come at him." When the young lion heard this,
+he envied the lynx and said to the carpenter, "By my life, thou
+must make me a house with these planks, ere thou make one for the
+lynx! When thou hast done my work, go to the lynx and make him
+what he wishes." "O lord of the beasts," answered the carpenter,
+"I cannot make thee aught, till I have made the lynx what he
+desires: then will I return to thy service and make thee a house,
+to ward thee from shine enemy." "By Allah," exclaimed the whelp,
+"I will not let thee go hence, till thou make me a house of these
+planks!" So saying, he sprang upon the carpenter, thinking to
+jest with him, and gave him a cuff with his paw. The blow knocked
+the basket off the man's shoulder and he fell down in a swoon,
+whereupon the young lion laughed at him and said, "Out on thee, O
+carpenter! Of a truth thou art weak and hast no strength; so it
+is excusable in thee to fear the son of Adam." Now the carpenter
+was exceeding wroth; but he dissembled his anger, for fear of the
+whelp, and sat up and smiled in his face, saying, "Well, I will
+make thee the house." With this, he took the planks, and nailing
+them together, made a house in the form of a chest, after the
+measure of the young lion. In this he cut a large opening, to
+which he made a stout cover and bored many holes therein, leaving
+the door open. Then he took out some nails of wrought iron and a
+hammer and said to the young lion, "Enter this opening, that I
+may fit it to thy measure." The whelp was glad and went up to the
+opening, but saw that it was strait; and the carpenter said to
+him, "Crouch down and so enter." So the whelp crouched down and
+entered the chest, but his tail remained outside. Then he would
+have drawn back and come out; but the carpenter said to him,
+"Wait till I see if there be room for thy tail with thee." So
+saying, he twisted up the young lion's tail, and stuffing it into
+the chest, whipped the lid on to the opening and nailed it down;
+whereat the whelp cried out and said, "O carpenter, what is this
+narrow house thou hast made me? Let me out." But the carpenter
+laughed and answered, "God forbid! Repentance avails nothing for
+what is passed, and indeed thou shalt not come out of this place.
+Verily thou art fallen into the trap and there is no escape for
+thee from duresse, O vilest of wild beasts!" "O my brother,"
+rejoined the whelp, "what manner of words are these?" "Know, O
+dog of the desert," answered the man, "that thou hast fallen into
+that which thou fearedst; Fate hath overthrown thee, nor did
+thought-taking profit thee." When the whelp heard these words, he
+knew that this was indeed the very son of Adam, against whom he
+had been warned by his father on wake and by the mysterious voice
+in sleep; and I also, O my sister, was certified that this was
+indeed he without doubt; wherefore there took me great fear of
+him for myself and I withdrew a little apart and waited to see
+what he would do with the young lion. Then I saw the son of Adam
+dig a pit hard by the chest and throwing the latter therein, heap
+brushwood upon it and burn the young lion with fire. At this
+sight, my fear of the son of Adam redoubled, and in my affright I
+have been these two days fleeing from him.'"
+
+When the peahen heard the duck's story, she wondered exceedingly
+and said to her, 'O my sister, thou art safe here from the son of
+Adam, for we are in one of the islands of the sea, whither there
+is no way for him; so do thou take up shine abode with us, till
+God make easy shine and our affair.' Quoth the duck, 'I fear lest
+some calamity come upon me by night, for no runaway can rid him
+of fate.' 'Abide with us,' rejoined the peahen, 'and be even as
+we;' and ceased not to persuade her, till she yielded, saying, 'O
+my sister, thou knowest how little is my fortitude: had I not
+seen thee here, I had not remained.' 'That which is written on
+our foreheads,' said the peahen, 'we must indeed fulfil, and when
+our appointed day draws near, who shall deliver us? But not a
+soul passes away except it have accomplished its predestined term
+and fortune.' As they talked, a cloud of dust appeared, at sight
+of which the duck shrieked aloud and ran down into the sea,
+crying out, 'Beware, beware, albeit there is no fleeing from Fate
+and Fortune!' After awhile, the dust subsided and discovered an
+antelope; whereat the duck and the peahen were reassured and the
+latter said to her companion, 'O my sister, this thou seest and
+wouldst have me beware of is an antelope, and he is making for
+us. He will do us no hurt, for the antelope feeds upon the herbs
+of the earth, and even as thou art of the bird-kind, so is he of
+the beast-kind. So be of good cheer and leave care-taking; for
+care-taking wasteth the body.' Hardly had the peahen done
+speaking, when the antelope came up to them, thinking to shelter
+under the shade of the tree, and seeing the two birds, saluted
+them and said, 'I came to this island to-day, and I have seen
+none richer in herbage nor more pleasant of habitance.' Then he
+besought them of company and amity, and they, seeing his friendly
+behaviour to them, welcomed him and gladly accepted his offer. So
+they swore friendship one to another and abode in the island in
+peace and safety, eating and drinking and sleeping in common,
+till one day there came thither a ship, that had strayed from its
+course in the sea. It cast anchor near them, and the crew
+landing, dispersed about the island. They soon caught sight of
+the three animals and made for them, whereupon the peahen flew up
+into the tree and the antelope fled into the desert, but the duck
+abode paralysed (by fear). So they chased her, till they caught
+her and carried her with them to the ship, whilst she cried out
+and said, 'Caution availed me nothing against Fate and destiny!'
+When the peahen saw what had betided the duck, she came down from
+the tree, saying, 'I see that misfortunes lie in wait for all.
+But for yonder ship, parting had not befallen between me and this
+duck, for she was one of the best of friends. Then she flew off
+and rejoined the antelope, who saluted her and gave her joy of
+her safety and enquired for the duck, to which she replied, 'The
+enemy hath taken her, and I loathe the sojourn of this island
+after her.' Then she wept for the loss of the duck and repeated
+the following verses:
+
+The day of severance broke my heart in tway. God do the like unto
+     the severance-day!
+
+And also these:
+
+I pray that we may yet foregather once again. That I may tell her
+     all that parting wrought of pain.
+
+The antelope was greatly moved at hearing of their comrade's
+fate, but dissuaded the peahen from her resolve to leave the
+island. So they abode there together, eating and drinking in
+peace and safety, save that they ceased not to mourn for the loss
+of the duck, and the antelope said to the peahen, 'Thou seest, O
+my sister, how the folk who came forth of the ship were the means
+of our severance from the duck and of her destruction; so do thou
+beware of them and guard thyself from them and from the craft of
+the son of Adam and his perfidy.' But the peahen replied, 'I am
+assured that nought caused her death but her neglect to celebrate
+the praises of God, and indeed I said to her, "Verily I fear for
+thee, because thou art not careful to praise God; for all things
+that He hath made do glorify Him, and if any neglect to do so, it
+leadeth to their destruction."' When the antelope heard the
+peahen's words, he exclaimed, 'May God make fair thy face!' and
+betook himself to the celebration of the praises of the Almighty,
+never after slackening therefrom. And it is said that his form of
+adoration was as follows: 'Glory be to the Requiter of good and
+evil, the Lord of glory and dominion!'
+
+
+
+
+                          THE HERMITS.
+
+
+
+There was once a hermit, who served God on a certain mountain,
+whither resorted a pair of pigeons; and he was wont to make two
+parts of his daily bread, eating one half himself and giving the
+other to the pigeons. He prayed also for them, that they might be
+blest with increase; so they increased and multiplied greatly.
+Now they resorted only to that mountain, and the reason of
+their foregathering with the holy man was their assiduity in
+celebrating the praises of God; for it is said that the pigeons'
+formula of praise is, 'Glory be to the Creator of all things,
+Who appointeth to every one his daily bread, Who builded the
+heavens and spread out the earth like a carpet!' They dwelt thus
+together, in the happiest of life, they and their brood, till the
+holy man died, when the company of the pigeons was broken up, and
+they all dispersed among the towns and villages and mountains.
+
+Now in a certain other mountain there dwelt a shepherd, a man of
+piety and chastity and understanding; and he had flocks of sheep,
+which he tended, and made his living by their milk and wool. The
+mountain aforesaid abounded in trees and pasturage and wild
+beasts, but the latter had no power over the peasant nor over his
+flocks; so he continued to dwell therein, in security, taking no
+thought to the things of the world, by reason of his happiness
+and assiduity in prayer and devotion, till God ordained that he
+should fall exceeding sick. So he betook himself to a cavern in
+the mountain, and his sheep used to go out in the morning to the
+pasturage and take refuge at night in the cave. Now God was
+minded to try him and prove his obedience and constancy; so He
+sent him one of His angels, who came in to him in the semblance
+of a fair woman and sat down before him. When the shepherd saw
+the woman seated before him, his flesh shuddered with horror of
+her and he said to her, 'O woman, what brings thee hither? I have
+no need of thee, nor is there aught betwixt thee and me that
+calls for thy coming in to me.' 'O man,' answered she, 'dost thou
+not note my beauty and grace and the fragrance of my breath and
+knowest thou not the need women have of men and men of women?
+Behold, I have chosen to be near thee and desire to enjoy thy
+company; so who shall forbid thee from me? Indeed, I come to thee
+willingly and do not withhold myself from thee: there is none
+with us whom we need fear; and I wish to abide with thee as long
+as thou sojournest in this mountain and be thy companion. I offer
+myself to thee, for thou needest the service of women; and if
+thou know me, thy sickness will leave thee and health return to
+thee and thou wilt repent thee of having forsworn the company of
+women during thy past life. Indeed, I give thee good advice: so
+give ear to my counsel and draw near unto me.' Quoth he, 'Go out
+from me, O deceitful and perfidious woman! I will not incline to
+thee nor approach thee. I want not thy company; he who coveteth
+thee renounceth the future life, and he who coveteth the future
+life renounceth thee, for thou seduces the first and the last.
+God the Most High lieth in wait for His servants and woe unto him
+who is afflicted with thy company!' 'O thou that errest from the
+truth and wanderest from the path of reason,' answered she, 'turn
+thy face to me and look upon my charms and profit by my nearness,
+as did the wise who have gone before thee. Indeed, they were
+richer than thou in experience and greater of wit; yet they
+rejected not the society of women, as thou dost, but took their
+pleasure of them and their company, and it did them no hurt, in
+body or in soul. Wherefore do thou turn from thy resolve and thou
+shalt praise the issue of shine affair.' 'All thou sayest I deny
+and abhor,' rejoined the shepherd, 'and reject all thou offerest;
+for thou art cunning and perfidious and there is no faith in
+thee, neither honour. How much foulness cost thou hide under thy
+beauty and how many a pious man hast thou seduced, whose end was
+repentance and perdition! Avaunt from me, O thou who devotes
+thyself to corrupt others!' So saying, he threw his goat's-hair
+cloak over his eyes, that he might not see her face, and betook
+himself to calling upon the name of his Lord. When the angel saw
+the excellence of his obedience (to God), he went out from him
+and ascended to heaven.
+
+Now hard by the mountain was a village wherein dwelt a pious man,
+who knew not the other's stead, till one night he saw in a dream
+one who said to him, 'In such a place near to thee is a pious
+man: go to him and be at his command.' So when it was day, he set
+out afoot to go thither, and at the time when the heat was
+grievous upon him, he came to a tree, which grew beside a spring
+of running water. He sat down to rest in the shadow of the tree,
+and birds and beasts came to the spring to drink; but when they
+saw him, they took fright and fled. Then said he, 'There is no
+power and no virtue save in God the Most High! I am resting here,
+to the hurt of the beasts and fowls.' So he rose and went on,
+blaming himself and saying, 'My tarrying here hath wronged these
+beasts and birds, and what excuse have I towards my Creator and
+the Creator of these creatures, for that I was the cause of their
+flight from their watering-place and their pasture? Alas, my
+confusion before my Lord on the day when He shall avenge the
+sheep of the goats!' And he wept and repeated the following
+verses:
+
+By Allah, if men knew for what they are create, They would not go
+     and sleep, unheeding of their fate!
+Soon cometh death, then wake and resurrection come; Then judgment
+     and reproof and terrors passing great.
+Obey me or command, the most of us are like. The dwellers in the
+     cave, [FN#2] asleep early and late.
+
+Then he fared on, weeping for that he had driven the birds and
+beasts from the spring by sitting down under the tree, till he
+came to the shepherd's dwelling and going in, saluted him. The
+shepherd returned his greeting and embraced him, weeping and
+saying, 'What brings thee hither, where no man hath ever come in
+to me?' Quoth the other, 'I saw in my sleep one who described to
+me this thy stead and bade me repair to thee and salute thee: so
+I came, in obedience to the commandment.' The shepherd welcomed
+him, rejoicing in his company, and they both abode in the cavern,
+doing fair service to their Lord and living upon the flesh and
+milk of their sheep, having put away from them wealth and
+children and other the goods of this world, till there came to
+them Death, the Certain, the Inevitable. And this is the end of
+their story."
+
+"O Shehrzad," said King Shehriyar, "thou puttest me out of
+conceit with my kingdom and makest me repent of having slain so
+many women and maidens. Hast thou any stories of birds?" "Yes,"
+answered she, and began as follows:
+
+
+
+
+                THE WATER-FOWL AND THE TORTOISE
+
+
+
+"A water-fowl flew high up into the air and alighted on rock in
+the midst of a running water. As it sat, behold, the water
+floated up a carcase, that was swollen and rose high out of the
+water, and lodged it against the rock. The bird drew near and
+examining it, found that it was the dead body of a man and saw in
+it spear and sword wounds. So he said in himself, 'Belike, this
+was some evil-doer, and a company of men joined themselves
+together against him and slew him and were at peace from him and
+his mischief.' Whilst he was marvelling at this, vultures and
+eagles came down upon the carcase from all sides; which when the
+water-fowl saw, he was sore affrighted and said, 'I cannot endure
+to abide here longer.' So he flew away in quest of a place where
+he might harbour, till the carcase should come to an end and the
+birds of prey leave it, and stayed not in his flight, till he
+came to a river with a tree in its midst. He alighted on the
+tree, troubled and distraught and grieved for his separation from
+his native place, and said to himself, 'Verily grief and vexation
+cease not to follow me: I was at my ease, when I saw the carcase,
+and rejoiced therein exceedingly, saying, "This is a gift of God
+to me;" but my joy became sorrow and my gladness mourning, for
+the lions of the birds[FN#3] took it and made prize of it and
+came between it and me. How can I trust in this world or hope to
+be secure from misfortune therein? Indeed, the proverb says, "The
+world is the dwelling of him who hath no dwelling: he who hath no
+understanding is deceived by it and trusteth in it with his
+wealth and his child and his family and his folk; nor doth he who
+is deluded by it leave to rely upon it, walking proudly upon the
+earth, till he is laid under it and the dust is cast over him by
+him who was dearest and nearest to him of all men; but nought is
+better for the noble than patience under its cares and miseries."
+I have left my native place, and it is abhorrent to me to quit my
+brethren and friends and loved ones.' Whilst he was thus devising
+with himself, behold, a tortoise descended into the water and
+approaching the bird, saluted him, saying, 'O my lord, what hath
+exiled thee and driven thee afar from thy place?' 'The descent of
+enemies thereon,' replied the water-fowl; 'for the understanding
+cannot brook the neighbourhood of his enemy; even as well says
+the poet:
+
+Whenas on any land the oppressor doth alight, There's nothing
+     left for those, that dwell therein, but flight.'
+
+Quoth the tortoise, 'If the case be as thou sayest, I will not
+leave thee nor cease to be before thee, that I may do thy need
+and fulfil thy service; for it is said that there is no sorer
+desolation than that of him who is an exile, cut off from friends
+and country; and also that no calamity equals that of severance
+from virtuous folk; but the best solace for the understanding is
+to seek companionship in his strangerhood and be patient under
+adversity. Wherefore I hope that thou wilt find thine account
+in my company, for I will be to thee a servant and a helper.'
+'Verily, thou art right in what thou sayest,' answered the
+water-fowl; 'for, by my life, I have found grief and pain in
+separation, what while I have been absent from my stead and
+sundered from my friends and brethren, seeing that in severance
+is an admonition to him who will be admonished and matter of
+thought for him who will take thought. If one find not a
+companion to console him, good is cut off from him for ever and
+evil stablished with him eternally; and there is nothing for the
+wise but to solace himself in every event with brethren and be
+instant in patience and constancy; for indeed these two are
+praiseworthy qualities, that uphold one under calamities and
+shifts of fortune and ward off affliction and consternation, come
+what will.' 'Beware of sorrow,' rejoined the tortoise, 'for it
+will corrupt thy life to thee and do away thy fortitude.' And
+they gave not over converse, till the bird said, 'Never shall I
+leave to fear the strokes of fortune and the vicissitudes of
+events.' When the tortoise heard this, he came up to him and
+kissing him between the eyes, said to him, 'Never may the company
+of the birds cease to be blest in thee and find good in thy
+counsel! How shalt thou be burdened with inquietude and harm?'
+And he went on to comfort the water-fowl and soothe his disquiet,
+till he became reassured. Then he flew to the place, where the
+carcase was, and found the birds of prey gone and nothing left of
+the body but bones; whereupon he returned to the tortoise and
+acquainted him with this, saying, 'I wish to return to my stead
+and enjoy the society of my friends; for the wise cannot endure
+separation from his native place.' So they both went thither and
+found nought to affright them; whereupon the water-fowl repeated
+the following verses:
+
+Full many a sorry chance doth light upon a man and fill His life
+     with trouble, yet with God the issue bideth still.
+His case is sore on him, but when its meshes straitened are To
+     att'rest, they relax, although he deem they never will.
+
+So they abode there in peace and gladness, till one day fate led
+thither a hungry hawk, which drove its talons into the bird's
+belly and killed him, nor did caution stand him in stead seeing
+that his hour was come. Now the cause of his death was that he
+neglected to praise God, and it is said that his form of
+adoration was as follows, 'Glory be to our Lord in that He
+ordereth and ordaineth, and glory be to our Lord in that He
+maketh rich and maketh poor!'"
+
+"O Shehrzad," said the Sultan, "verily, thou overwhelmest me with
+admonitions and salutary instances! Hast thou any stories of
+beasts?" "Yes," answered she. "Know, O King, that
+
+
+
+
+                     THE WOLF AND THE FOX.
+
+
+
+A fox and a wolf once dwelt in the same den, harbouring therein
+together day and night; but the wolf was cruel and oppressive to
+the fox. They abode thus awhile, till one day the fox exhorted
+the wolf to use gentle dealing and leave evil-doing, saying, 'If
+thou persist in thine arrogance, belike God will give the son of
+Adam power over thee, for he is past master in guile and craft
+and knavery. By his devices he brings down the birds from the air
+and draws the fish forth of the waters and sunders mountains in
+twain and transports them from place to place. All this is of his
+craft and wiliness; wherefore do thou betake thyself to equity
+and fair dealing and leave evil and tyranny; and thou shalt fare
+the better for it.' But the wolf rejected his counsel and
+answered him roughly, saying, 'Thou hast no call to speak of
+matters of weight and stress.' And he dealt the fox a buffet that
+laid him senseless; but, when he revived, he smiled in the wolf's
+face and excused himself for his unseemly speech, repeating the
+following verses:
+
+If I have sinned in aught that's worthy of reproach Or if I've
+     made default against the love of you,
+Lo, I repent my fault; so let thy clemency The sinner comprehend,
+     that doth for pardon sue.
+
+The wolf accepted his excuse and held his hand from him, saying,
+'Speak not of that which concerns thee not, or thou shalt hear
+what will not please thee.' 'I hear and obey,' answered the fox;
+'henceforth I will abstain from what pleaseth thee not; for the
+sage says, "Speak thou not of that whereof thou art not asked;
+answer not, when thou art not called upon; leave that which
+concerns thee not for that which does concern thee and lavish not
+good counsel on the wicked, for they will repay thee therefor
+with evil."' And he smiled in the wolf's face, but in his heart
+he meditated treachery against him and said in himself, 'Needs
+must I compass the destruction of this wolf.' So he bore with his
+ill usage, saying in himself, 'Verily arrogance and falsehood
+lead to perdition and cast into confusion, and it is said, "He
+who is arrogant suffers and he who is ignorant repents and he who
+fears is safe: fair dealing is a characteristic of the noble, and
+gentle manners are the noblest of gains." It behoves me to
+dissemble with this tyrant, and needs must he be cast down.' Then
+said he to the wolf, 'Verily, the Lord pardons his erring servant
+and relents towards him, if he confess his sins; and I am a weak
+slave and have sinned in presuming to counsel thee. If thou
+knewest the pain that befell me by thy buffet, thou wouldst see
+that an elephant could not stand against it nor endure it: but I
+complain not of the pain of the blow, because of the contentment
+that hath betided me through it; for though it was exceeding
+grievous to me, yet its issue was gladness. As saith the sage,
+"The blow of the teacher is at first exceeding grievous, but the
+end of it is sweeter than clarified honey."' Quoth the wolf, 'I
+pardon thine offence and pass over thy fault; but be thou ware of
+my strength and avow thyself my slave; for thou knowest how
+rigorously I deal with those that transgress against me.'
+Thereupon the fox prostrated himself to the wolf, saying, 'May
+God prolong thy life and mayst thou cease never to subdue thine
+enemies!' And he abode in fear of the wolf and ceased not to
+wheedle him and dissemble with him.
+
+One day, the fox came to a vineyard and saw a breach in its wall;
+but he mistrusted it and said in himself, 'Verily, there must be
+some reason for this breach and the adage says, "He who sees a
+cleft in the earth and doth not shun it or be wary in going up to
+it, is self-deluded and exposes himself to destruction." Indeed,
+it is well known that some folk make a semblant of a fox in their
+vineyards, even to setting before it grapes in dishes, that foxes
+may see it and come to it and fall into destruction. Meseems,
+this breach is a snare and the proverb says, "Prudence is the
+half of cleverness." Now prudence requires that I examine this
+breach and see if there be ought therein that may lead to
+perdition; and covetise shall not make me cast myself into
+destruction.' So he went up to the breach and examining it
+warily, discovered a deep pit, lightly covered (with boughs and
+earth), which the owner of the vineyard had dug, thinking to trap
+therein the wild beasts that laid waste his vines. Then he drew
+back from it, saying in himself, 'I have found it as I expected.
+Praised be God that I was wary of it! I hope that my enemy the
+wolf, who makes my life miserable, will fall into it; so will the
+vineyard be left to me and I shall enjoy it alone and dwell
+therein in peace.' So saying, he shook his head and laughed
+aloud, repeating the following verses:
+
+Would God I might see, even now, A wolf fallen into yon pit,
+That this long time hath tortured my heart And made me quaff
+     bitters, God wit!
+God grant I may live and be spared And eke of the wolf be made
+     quit!
+So the vineyard of him shall be rid And I find my purchase in it.
+
+Then he returned in haste to the wolf and said to him, 'God hath
+made plain the way for thee into the vineyard, without toil. This
+is of thy good luck; so mayst thou enjoy the easy booty and the
+plentiful provant that God hath opened up to thee without
+trouble!' 'What proof hast thou of what thou sayest?' asked the
+wolf; and the fox answered, 'I went up to the vineyard and found
+that the owner was dead, having been devoured by wolves: so I
+entered and saw the fruit shining on the trees.' The wolf
+misdoubted not of the fox's report and gluttony got hold on him;
+so he rose and repaired to the breach, blinded by greed; whilst
+the fox stopped short and lay as one dead, applying to the case
+the following verse:
+
+Lustest after Leila's favours? Look thou rather bear in mind That
+     'tis covetise plays havoc with the necks of human kind.
+
+Then said he to the wolf, 'Enter the vineyard: thou art spared
+the trouble of climbing, for the wall is broken down, and with
+God be the rest of the benefit.' So the wolf went on, thinking to
+enter the vineyard; but when he came to the middle of the
+covering (of the pit), he fell in; whereupon the fox shook for
+delight and gladness; his care and concern left him and he sang
+out for joy and recited the following verses:
+
+Fortune hath taken ruth on my case; Yea, she hath pitied the
+     length of my pain,
+Doing away from me that which I feared And granting me that
+     whereto I was fain.
+So I will pardon her all the sins She sinned against me once and
+     again;
+Since for the wolf there is no escape From certain ruin and
+     bitter bane,
+And now the vineyard is all my own And no fool sharer in my
+     domain.
+
+Then he looked into the pit, and seeing the wolf weeping for
+sorrow and repentance over himself, wept with him; whereupon the
+wolf raised his head to him and said, 'Is it of pity for me thou
+weepest, O Aboulhussein?' [FN#4] 'Not so,' answered the fox, 'by
+Him who cast thee into the pit! I weep for the length of thy past
+life and for regret that thou didst not sooner fall into the pit;
+for hadst thou done so before I met with thee, I had been at
+peace: but thou wast spared till the fulfilment of thine allotted
+term.' The wolf thought he was jesting and said, 'O sinner, go to
+my mother and tell her what has befallen me, so haply she may
+make shift for my release.' 'Verily,' answered the fox, 'the
+excess of thy gluttony and thy much greed have brought thee to
+destruction, since thou art fallen into a pit whence thou wilt
+never escape. O witless wolf, knowest thou not the proverb, "He
+who taketh no thought to results, Fate is no friend to him, nor
+shall he be safe from perils?"' 'O Aboulhussein,' said the wolf,
+'thou wast wont to show me affection and covet my friendship and
+fear the greatness of my strength. Bear me not malice for that I
+did with thee, for he who hath power and forgiveth, his reward is
+with God; even as saith the poet:
+
+
+Sow benefits aye, though in other than fitting soil. A benefit's
+     never lost, wherever it may be sown;
+And though time tarry full long to bring it to harvest-tide, Yet
+     no man reapeth its fruit, save he who sowed it alone.'
+
+'O most witless of beasts of prey and stupidest of the wildings
+of the earth,' rejoined the fox, 'hast thou forgotten thine
+arrogance and pride and tyranny and how thou disregardedst the
+due of comradeship and wouldst not take counsel by what the poet
+says:
+
+Do no oppression, whilst the power thereto is in thine hand, For
+     still in danger of revenge the sad oppressor goes.
+Thine eyes will sleep anon, what while the opprest, on wake, call
+     down Curses upon thee, and God's eye shuts never in repose.'
+
+'O Aboulhussein,' replied the wolf, 'reproach me not for past
+offences; for forgiveness is expected of the noble, and the
+practice of kindness is the best of treasures. How well says the
+poet:
+
+Hasten to do good works, whenever thou hast the power, For thou
+     art not able thereto at every season and hour.'
+
+And he went on to humble himself to the fox and say to him,
+'Haply, thou canst do somewhat to deliver me from destruction.'
+'O witless, deluded, perfidious, crafty wolf,' answered the fox,
+'hope not for deliverance, for this is but the just reward of thy
+foul dealing.' Then he laughed from ear to ear and repeated the
+following verses:
+
+A truce to thy strife to beguile me! For nothing of me shalt thou
+     gain. Thy prayers are but idle; thou sowedst Vexation; so
+     reap it amain.
+
+'O gentlest of beasts of prey,' said the wolf, 'I deem thee too
+faithful to leave me in this pit.' Then he wept and sighed and
+recited the following verses, whilst the tears streamed from his
+eyes:
+
+O thou, whose kindnesses to me are more than one, I trow, Whose
+     bounties unto me vouchsafed are countless as the sand,
+No shift of fortune in my time has ever fall'n on me, But I have
+     found thee ready still to take me by the hand.
+
+'O stupid enemy,' said the fox, 'how art thou reduced to humility
+and obsequiousness and abjection and submission, after disdain
+and pride and tyranny and arrogance! Verily, I companied with
+thee and cajoled thee but for fear of thy violence and not in
+hope of fair treatment from thee: but now trembling is come upon
+thee and vengeance hath overtaken thee.' And he repeated the
+following verses:
+
+O thou that for aye on beguiling art bent, Thou'rt fall'n in the
+     snare of thine evil intent.
+So taste of the anguish that knows no relent And be with the rest
+     of the wolven forspent!
+
+'O clement one,' replied the wolf, 'speak not with the tongue of
+despite nor look with its eyes; but fulfil the covenant of
+fellowship with me, ere the time for action pass away. Rise, make
+shift to get me a rope and tie one end of it to a tree; then let
+the other end down to me, that I may lay hold of it, so haply I
+may escape from this my strait, and I will give thee all my hand
+possesseth of treasures.' Quoth the fox, 'Thou persistest in talk
+of that wherein thy deliverance is not. Hope not for this, for
+thou shalt not get of me wherewithal to save thyself; but call to
+mind thy past ill deeds and the craft and perfidy thou didst
+imagine against me and bethink thee how near thou art to being
+stoned to death. For know that thy soul is about to leave the
+world and cease and depart from it; so shalt thou come to
+destruction and evil is the abiding-place to which thou goest!'
+'O Aboulhussein,' rejoined the wolf, 'hasten to return to
+friendliness and persist not in this rancour. Know that he, who
+saves a soul from perdition, is as if he had restored it to life,
+and he, who saves a soul alive, is as if he had saved all
+mankind. Do not ensue wickedness, for the wise forbid it: and it
+were indeed the most manifest wickedness to leave me in this pit
+to drink the agony of death and look upon destruction, whenas it
+lies in thy power to deliver me from my strait. Wherefore go thou
+about to release me and deal benevolently with me.' 'O thou
+barbarous wretch,' answered the fox, 'I liken thee, because of
+the fairness of thy professions and the foulness of thine intent
+and thy practice, to the hawk with the partridge.' 'How so ?'
+asked the wolf; and the fox said,
+
+
+
+
+The Hawk and the Partridge.
+
+
+
+'I entered a vineyard one day and saw a hawk stoop upon a
+partridge and seize it: but the partridge escaped from him and
+entering its nest, hid itself there. The hawk followed and called
+out to it, saying, "O wittol, I saw thee in the desert, hungry,
+and took pity on thee; so I gathered grain for thee and took hold
+of thee that thou mightest eat; but thou fledst, wherefore I know
+not, except it were to slight me. So come out and take the grain
+I have brought thee to eat, and much good may it do thee!" The
+partridge believed what he said and came out, whereupon the hawk
+stuck his talons into him and seized him. "Is this that which
+thou saidst thou hadst brought me from the desert," cried the
+partridge, "and of which thou badest me eat, saying, 'Much good
+may it do thee?' Thou hast lied to me and may God make what thou
+eatest of my flesh to be a deadly poison in thy maw!" So when the
+hawk had eaten the partridge, his feathers fell off and his
+strength failed and he died on the spot. Know, then, O wolf, that
+he, who digs a pit for his brother, soon falls into it himself,
+and thou first dealtest perfidiously with me.' 'Spare me this
+talk and these moral instances,' said the wolf, 'and remind me
+not of my former ill deeds, for the sorry plight I am in suffices
+me, seeing that I am fallen into a place, in which even my enemy
+would pity me, to say nothing of my friend. So make thou some
+shift to deliver me and be thou thereby my saviour. If this cause
+thee aught of hardship, think that a true friend will endure the
+sorest travail for his friend's sake and risk his life to deliver
+him from perdition; and indeed it hath been said, "A tender
+friend is better than an own brother." So if thou bestir thyself
+and help me and deliver me, I will gather thee such store of
+gear, as shall be a provision for thee against the time of want,
+and teach thee rare tricks to gain access to fruitful vineyards
+and strip the fruit-laden trees.' 'How excellent,' rejoined the
+fox, laughing, 'is what the learned say of those who are past
+measure ignorant, like unto thee!' 'What do they say?' asked the
+wolf; and the fox answered, 'They say that the gross of body are
+gross of nature, far from understanding and nigh unto ignorance.
+As for thy saying, O perfidious, stupid self-deceiver, that a
+friend should suffer hardship to succour his friend, it is true,
+as thou sayest: but tell me, of thine ignorance and poverty of
+wit, how can I be a true friend to thee, considering thy
+treachery? Dost thou count me thy friend? Behold, I am thine
+enemy, that exulteth in thy misfortune; and couldst thou
+understand it, this word were sorer to thee than slaughter and
+arrow-shot. As for thy promise to provide me a store against the
+time of want and teach me tricks to enter vineyards and spoil
+fruit-trees, how comes it, O crafty traitor, that thou knowest
+not a trick to save thyself from destruction? How far art thou
+from profiting thyself and how far am I from lending ear to thy
+speech! If thou have any tricks, make shift for thyself to save
+thee from this peril, wherefrom I pray God to make thine escape
+distant! So look, O idiot, if there be any trick with thee and
+save thyself from death therewith, before thou lavish instruction
+on others. But thou art like a certain sick man, who went to
+another, suffering from the same disease, and said to him, "Shall
+I heal thee of thy disease?" "Why dost thou not begin by healing
+thyself?" answered the other; so he left him and went his way.
+And thou, O ignorant wolf, art like this; so stay where thou art
+and be patient under what hath befallen thee.' When the wolf
+heard what the fox said, he knew he had no hope from him; so he
+wept for himself, saying, 'Verily, I have been heedless of mine
+affair; but if God deliver me from this scrape, I will assuredly
+repent of my arrogance towards those who are weaker than I and
+will put on wool and go upon the mountains, celebrating the
+praises of God the Most High and fearing His wrath. Yea, I will
+sunder myself from all the other wild beasts and feed the poor
+and those who fight for the Faith.' Then he wept and lamented,
+till the heart of the fox was softened and he took pity on him,
+whenas he heard his humble words and his professions of
+repentance for his past arrogance and tyranny. So he sprang up
+joyfully and going to the brink of the pit, sat down on his hind
+quarters and let his tail fall therein; whereupon the wolf arose
+and putting out his paw, pulled the fox's tail, so that he fell
+down into the pit with him. Then said the wolf, 'O fox of little
+ruth, why didst thou exult over me, thou that wast my companion
+and under my dominion? Now thou art fallen into the pit with me
+and retribution hath soon overtaken thee. Verily, the wise have
+said, "If one of you reproach his brother with sucking the teats
+of a bitch, he also shall suck her," and how well saith the poet:
+
+When fortune's blows on some fall hard and heavily, With others
+     of our kind as friend encampeth she.
+So say to those who joy in our distress, "Awake; For those who
+     mock our woes shall suffer even as we."
+
+And death in company is the best of things; wherefore I will make
+haste to kill thee, ere thou see me killed.' 'Alas! Alas!' said
+the fox in himself. 'I am fallen in with this tyrant, and my case
+calls for the use of craft and cunning; for indeed it is said
+that a woman fashions her ornaments for the festival day, and
+quoth the proverb, "I have kept thee, O my tear, against the time
+of my distress!" Except I make shift to circumvent this
+overbearing beast, I am lost without recourse; and how well says
+the poet:
+
+Provide thee by craft, for thou liv'st in a time Whose folk are
+     as lions that lurk in a wood,
+And set thou the mill-stream of knavery abroach, That the mill of
+     subsistence may grind for thy food,
+And pluck the fruits boldly; but if they escape From thy grasp,
+     then content thee with hay to thy food.'
+
+Then said he to the wolf, 'Hasten not to slay me, for that is not
+my desert and thou wouldst repent it, O valiant beast, lord of
+might and exceeding prowess! If thou hold thy hand and consider
+what I shall tell thee, thou wilt know that which I purpose; but
+if thou hasten to kill me, it will profit thee nothing and we
+shall both die here.' 'O wily deceiver,' answered the wolf, 'how
+hopest thou to work my deliverance and thine own, that thou
+wouldst have me grant thee time? Speak and let me know thy
+purpose.' 'As for my purpose,' replied the fox, 'it was such as
+deserves that thou reward me handsomely for it; for when I heard
+thy promises and thy confession of thy past ill conduct and
+regrets for not having earlier repented and done good and thy
+vows, shouldst thou escape from this thy stress, to leave harming
+thy fellows and others and forswear eating grapes and other
+fruits and devote thyself to humility and cut thy claws and break
+thy teeth and don wool and offer thyself as a sacrifice to God
+the Most High,--when (I say), I heard thy repentance and vows of
+amendment, compassion took me for thee, though before I was
+anxious for thy destruction, and I felt bound to save thee from
+this thy present plight. So I let down my tail, that thou
+mightest grasp it and make thine escape. Yet wouldst thou not put
+off thy wonted violence and brutality nor soughtest to save
+thyself by fair means, but gavest me such a tug that I thought my
+soul would depart my body, so that thou and I are become involved
+in the same stead of ruin and death. There is but one thing can
+deliver us, to which if thou agree, we shall both escape; and
+after it behoves thee to keep the vows thou hast made, and I will
+be thy friend.' 'What is it thou hast to propose?' asked the
+wolf. 'It is,' answered the fox, 'that thou stand up, and I will
+climb up on to thy head and so bring myself nigh on a level with
+the surface of the earth. Then will I give a spring and as soon
+as I reach the ground, I will fetch thee what thou mayst lay hold
+of and make thine escape.' 'I have no faith in thy word,'
+rejoined the wolf, 'for the wise have said, "He who practices
+trust in the place of hate, errs," and "He who trusts in the
+faithless is a dupe; he who tries those that have been [already]
+tried (and found wanting) shall reap repentance and his days
+shall pass away without profit; and he who cannot distinguish
+between cases, giving each its due part, his good fortune will be
+small and his afflictions many." How well saith the poet:
+
+Be thy thought ever ill and of all men beware; Suspicion of good
+     parts the helpfullest was e'er.
+For nothing brings a man to peril and distress As doth the doing
+     good (to men) and thinking fair.
+
+And another:
+
+Be constant ever in suspect; 'twill save thee aye anew; For he
+     who lives a wakeful life, his troubles are but few.
+Meet thou the foeman in thy way with open, smiling face; But in
+     thy heart set up a host shall battle with him do.
+
+And yet another:
+
+Thy worst of foes is thy nearest friend, in whom thou puttest
+     trust; So look thou be on thy guard with men and use them
+     warily aye.
+'Tis weakness to augur well of fate; think rather ill of it. And
+     be in fear of its shifts and tricks, lest it should thee
+     bewray.'
+
+'Verily,' said the fox, 'distrust is not to be commended in
+every case; on the contrary, a confiding disposition is the
+characteristic of a noble nature and its issue is freedom from
+terrors. Now it behoves thee, O wolf, to put in practice some
+device for thy deliverance from this thou art in and the escape
+of us both will be better than our death: so leave thy distrust
+and rancour; for if thou trust in me, one of two things will
+happen; either I shall bring thee whereof to lay hold and escape,
+or I shall play thee false and save myself and leave thee; and
+this latter may not be, for I am not safe from falling into
+some such strait as this thou art in, which would be fitting
+punishment of perfidy. Indeed the adage saith, "Faith is fair and
+perfidy foul." It behoves thee, therefore, to trust in me, for I
+am not ignorant of the vicissitudes of Fortune: so delay not to
+contrive some device for our deliverance, for the case is too
+urgent for further talk.' 'To tell thee the truth,' replied the
+wolf, 'for all my want of confidence in thy fidelity, I knew what
+was in thy mind and that thou wast minded to deliver me, whenas
+thou heardest my repentance, and I said in myself, "If what he
+asserts be true, he will have repaired the ill he did: and if
+false, it rests with God to requite him." So, behold, I accept
+thy proposal, and if thou betray me, may thy perfidy be the cause
+of thy destruction!' Then he stood upright in the pit and taking
+the fox upon his shoulders, raised him to the level of the
+ground, whereupon the latter gave a spring and lighted on the
+surface of the earth. When he found himself in safety, he fell
+down senseless, and the wolf said to him, 'O my friend, neglect
+not my case and delay not to deliver me.' The fox laughed
+derisively and replied, 'O dupe, it was but my laughing at thee
+and making mock of thee that threw me into thy hands: for when I
+heard thee profess repentance, mirth and gladness seized me and I
+frisked about and danced and made merry, so that my tail fell
+down into the pit and thou caughtest hold of it and draggedst me
+down with thee. Why should I be other than a helper in thy
+destruction, seeing that thou art of the host of the devil! I
+dreamt yesterday that I danced at thy wedding and related my
+dream to an interpreter, who told me that I should fall into a
+great danger and escape from it. So now I know that my falling
+into thy hand and my escape are the fulfilment of my dream, and
+thou, O ignorant dupe, knowest me for thine enemy; so how canst
+thou, of thine ignorance and lack of wit, hope for deliverance at
+my hands, after all thou hast heard of harsh words from me, and
+wherefore should I endeavour for thy deliverance, whenas the wise
+have said, "In the death of the wicked is peace for mankind and
+purgation for the earth?" Yet, but that I fear to reap more
+affliction by keeping faith with thee than could follow perfidy,
+I would do my endeavour to save thee.' When the wolf heard this,
+he bit his paws for despite and was at his wit's end what to do.
+Then he gave the fox fair words, but this availed nought; so he
+said to him softly, 'Verily, you foxes are the most pleasant
+spoken of folk and the subtlest in jest, and this is but a jest
+of thine; but all times are not good for sport and jesting.' 'O
+dolt,' answered the fox, 'jesting hath a limit, that the jester
+overpasses not, and deem not that God will again give thee power
+over me, after having once delivered me from thee.' Quoth the
+wolf, 'It behoves thee to endeavour for my release, by reason of
+our brotherhood and fellowship, and if thou deliver me, I will
+assuredly make fair thy reward.' 'The wise say,' rejoined the
+fox,' "Fraternize not with the ignorant and wicked, for he will
+shame thee and not adorn thee,--nor with the liar, for if thou do
+good, he will hide it, and if evil, he will publish it;" and
+again, "There is help for everything but death: all may be
+mended, save natural depravity, and everything may be warded off,
+except Fate." As for the reward thou promisest me, I liken thee
+therein to the serpent that fled from the charmer. A man saw her
+affrighted and said to her, "What ails thee, O serpent?" Quoth
+she, "I am fleeing from the serpent-charmer, who is in chase of
+me, and if thou wilt save me and hide me with thee, I will make
+fair thy recompense and do thee all manner of kindness." So he
+took her, moved both by desire of the promised recompense and a
+wish to find favour with God, and hid her in his bosom. When the
+charmer had passed and gone his way and the serpent had no longer
+any reason to fear, he said to her, "Where is the recompense thou
+didst promise me? Behold, I have saved thee from that thou
+dreadest." "Tell me where I shall bite thee," replied she, "for
+thou knowest we overpass not that recompense." So saying, she
+gave him a bite, of which he died. And I liken thee, O dullard,
+to the serpent in her dealings with the man. Hast thou not heard
+what the poet says?
+
+Trust not in one in whose heart thou hast made wrath to abide And
+     thinkest his anger at last is over and pacified.
+Verily vipers, though smooth and soft to the feel and the eye And
+     graceful of movements they be, yet death-dealing venom they
+     hide.'
+
+'O glib-tongue, lord of the fair face,' said the wolf, 'thou art
+not ignorant of my case and of men's fear of me and knowest how I
+assault the strong places and root up the vines. Wherefore, do as
+I bid thee and bear thyself to me as a servant to his lord.' 'O
+stupid dullard,' answered the fox, 'that seekest a vain thing, I
+marvel at thy stupidity and effrontery, in that thou biddest me
+serve thee and order myself towards thee as I were a slave bought
+with thy money; but thou shalt see what is in store for thee, in
+the way of breaking thy head with stones and knocking out thy
+traitor's teeth.' So saying, he went up to a hill that gave upon
+the vineyard and standing there, called out to the people of the
+place, nor did he give over crying, till he woke them and they,
+seeing him, came up to him in haste. He held his ground till they
+drew near him and near the pit, when he turned and fled. So they
+looked into the pit and spying the wolf, fell to pelting him with
+heavy stones, nor did they leave smiting him with sticks and
+stones and piercing him with lances, till they killed him and
+went away; whereupon the fox returned to the pit and looking
+down, saw the wolf dead: so he wagged his head for excess of joy
+and chanted the following verses:
+
+Fate took the soul o' the wolf and snatched it far away; Foul
+     fall it for a soul that's lost and perished aye!
+How oft, O Gaffer Grim, my ruin hast thou sought! But unrelenting
+     bale is fallen on thee this day.
+Thou fellst into a pit, wherein there's none may fall Except the
+     blasts of death blow on him for a prey.
+
+Then he abode alone in the vineyard, secure and fearing no hurt.
+
+
+
+
+                   THE MOUSE AND THE WEASEL.
+
+
+
+A mouse and a weasel once dwelt in the house of a poor peasant,
+one of whose friends fell sick and the doctor prescribed him
+husked sesame. So he sought of one of his comrades sesame and
+gave the peasant a measure thereof to husk for him; and he
+carried it home to his wife and bade her dress it. So she steeped
+it and husked it and spread it out to dry. When the weasel saw
+the grain, he came up to it and fell to carrying it away to his
+hole, nor stinted all day, till he had borne off the most of it.
+Presently, in came the peasant's wife, and seeing great part of
+the sesame gone, stood awhile wondering; after which she sat down
+to watch and find out the cause. After awhile, out came the
+weasel to carry off more of the grain, but spying the woman
+seated there, knew that she was on the watch for him and said to
+himself, 'Verily, this affair is like to end ill. I fear me this
+woman is on the watch for me and Fortune is no friend to those
+who look not to the issues: so I must do a fair deed, whereby I
+may manifest my innocence and wash out all the ill I have done.'
+So saying, he began to take of the sesame in his hole and carry
+it out and lay it back upon the rest. The woman stood by and
+seeing the weasel do thus, said in herself, 'Verily, this is not
+the thief, for he brings it back from the hole of him that stole
+it and returns it to its place. Indeed, he hath done us a
+kindness in restoring us the sesame and the reward of those that
+do us good is that we do them the like. It is clear that this is
+not he who stole the grain. But I will not leave watching till I
+find out who is the thief.' The weasel guessed what was in her
+mind, so he went to the mouse and said to her, 'O my sister,
+there is no good in him who does not observe the claims of
+neighbourship and shows no constancy in friendship.' 'True, O my
+friend,' answered the mouse, 'and I delight in thee and in thy
+neighbourhood; but what is the motive of thy speech?' Quoth the
+weasel, 'The master of the house has brought home sesame and has
+eaten his fill of it, he and his family, and left much; every
+living soul has eaten of it, and if thou take of it in thy turn,
+thou art worthier thereof than any other.' This pleased the mouse
+and she chirped and danced and frisked her ears and tail, and
+greed for the grain deluded her; so she rose at once and issuing
+forth of her hole, saw the sesame peeled and dry, shining with
+whiteness, and the woman sitting watching, armed with a stick.
+The mouse could not contain herself, but taking no thought to the
+issue of the affair, ran up to the sesame and fell to messing it
+and eating of it; whereupon the woman smote her with the stick
+and cleft her head in twain: so her greed and heedlessness of the
+issue of her actions led to her destruction."
+
+"By Allah," said the Sultan to Shehrzad, "this is a goodly story!
+Hast thou any story bearing upon the beauty of true friendship
+and the observance of its obligations in time of distress and
+rescuing from destruction?" "Yes, answered she; "it hath teached
+me that
+
+
+
+
+                     THE CAT AND THE CROW.
+
+
+
+A crow and a cat once lived in brotherhood. One day, as they were
+together under a tree, they spied a leopard making towards them,
+of which they had not been ware, till he was close upon them. The
+crow at once flew up to the top of the tree; but the cat abode
+confounded and said to the crow, 'O my friend, hast thou no
+device to save me? All my hope is in thee.' 'Indeed,' answered
+the crow, 'it behoveth brethren, in case of need, to cast about
+for a device, whenas any peril overtakes them, and right well
+saith the poet:
+
+He is a right true friend who is with thee indeed And will
+     himself undo, to help thee in thy need,
+Who, when love's severance is by evil fate decreed, To join your
+     sundered lives will risk his own and bleed.'
+
+Now hard by the tree were shepherds with their dogs; so the crow
+flew towards them and smote the face of the earth with his wings,
+cawing and crying out, to draw their attention. Then he went up
+to one of the dogs and flapped his wings in his eyes and flew up
+a little way, whilst the dog ran after him, thinking to catch
+him. Presently, one of the shepherds raised his head and saw the
+bird flying near the ground and lighting now and then; so he
+followed him, and the crow gave not over flying just out of the
+dogs' reach and tempting them to pursue and snap at him: but as
+soon as they came near him, he would fly up a little; and so he
+brought them to the tree. When they saw the leopard, they rushed
+upon it, and it turned and fled. Now the leopard thought to eat
+the cat, but the latter was saved by the craft of its friend the
+crow. This story, O King, shows that the friendship of the
+virtuous saves and delivers from difficulties and dangers.
+
+
+
+
+                     THE FOX AND THE CROW.
+
+
+
+A fox once dwelt in a cave of a certain mountain, and as often as
+a cub was born to him and grew stout, he would eat it, for,
+except he did so, he had died of hunger; and this was grievous to
+him. Now on the top of the same mountain a crow had made his
+nest, and the fox said to himself, 'I have a mind to strike up a
+friendship with this crow and make a comrade of him, that he may
+help me to my day's meat, for he can do what I cannot.' So he
+made for the crow's stead, and when he came within earshot, he
+saluted him, saying, 'O my neighbour, verily a true-believer
+hath two claims upon his true-believing neighbour, that of
+neighbourliness and that of community of faith; and know, O my
+friend, that thou art my neighbour and hast a claim upon me,
+which it behoves me to observe, the more that I have been long
+thy neighbour. Moreover, God hath set in my breast a store of
+love to thee, that bids me speak thee fair and solicit thy
+friendship. What sayst thou?' 'Verily,' answered the crow, 'the
+best speech is that which is soothest, and most like thou
+speakest with thy tongue that which is not in thy heart. I fear
+lest thy friendship be but of the tongue, outward, and shine
+enmity of the heart, inward; for that thou art the Eater and I
+the Eaten, and to hold aloof one from the other were more apt to
+us than friendship and fellowship. What, then, maketh thee seek
+that thou mayst not come at and desire what may not be, seeing
+that thou art of the beast and I of the bird kind? Verily, this
+brotherhood [thou profferest] may not be, neither were it
+seemly.' He who knoweth the abiding-place of excellent things,'
+rejoined the fox, 'betters choice in what he chooses therefrom,
+so haply he may win to advantage his brethren; and indeed I
+should love to be near thee and I have chosen thy companionship,
+to the end that we may help one another to our several desires;
+and success shall surely wait upon our loves. I have store of
+tales of the goodliness of friendship, which, an it like thee, I
+will relate to thee.' 'Thou hast my leave,' answered the crow;
+'let me hear thy story and weigh it and judge of thine intent
+thereby.' 'Hear then, O my friend,' rejoined the fox, 'that which
+is told of a mouse and a flea and which bears out what I have
+said to thee.' 'How so?' asked the crow. 'It is said,' answered
+the fox, 'that
+
+
+
+
+The Mouse and the Flea.
+
+
+
+A mouse once dwelt in the house of a rich and busy merchant. One
+night, a flea took shelter in the merchant's bed and finding his
+body soft and being athirst, drank of his blood. The smart of the
+bite awoke the merchant, who sat up and called to his serving men
+and maids. So they hastened to him and tucking up their sleeves,
+fell to searching for the flea. As soon as the latter was ware of
+the search, he turned to flee and happening on the mouse's hole,
+entered it. When the mouse saw him, she said to him, "What brings
+thee in to me, seeing that thou art not of my kind and canst not
+therefore be assured of safety from violence or ill-usage?"
+"Verily," answered the flea, "I took refuge in thy dwelling from
+slaughter and come to thee, seeking thy protection and not
+anywise coveting thy house, nor shall aught of mischief betide
+thee from me nor aught to make thee leave it. Nay, I hope to
+repay thy favours to me with all good, and thou shalt assuredly
+see and praise the issue of my words." "If the case be as thou
+sayest," answered the mouse, "be at thine ease here; for nought
+shall betide thee, save what may pleasure thee; there shall fall
+on thee rain of peace alone nor shall aught befall thee, but what
+befalls me. I will give thee my love without stint and do not
+thou regret thy loss of the merchant's blood nor lament for thy
+subsistence from him, but be content with what little of
+sufficient sustenance thou canst lightly come by; for indeed this
+is the safer for thee, and I have heard that one of the moral
+poets saith as follows:
+
+I have trodden the road of content and retirement And lived out
+     my life with whatever betided;
+With a morsel of bread and a draught of cold water, Coarse salt
+     and patched garments content I abided.
+If God willed it, He made my life easy of living; Else, I was
+     contented with what He provided."
+
+"O my sister," rejoined the flea, "I hearken to thine injunction
+and submit myself to yield thee obedience, nor have I power to
+gainsay thee, till life be fulfilled, in this fair intent."
+"Purity of intent suffices to sincere affection," replied the
+mouse. So love befell and was contracted between them and after
+this, the flea used (by night) to go to the merchant's bed and
+not exceed moderation (in sucking his blood) and harbour with the
+mouse by day in the latter's hole. One night, the merchant
+brought home great store of dinars and began to turn them over.
+When the mouse heard the chink of the coin, she put her head out
+of her hole and gazed at it, till the merchant laid it under his
+pillow and went to sleep, when she said to the flea, "Seest thou
+not the favourable opportunity and the great good fortune! Hast
+thou any device to bring us to our desire of yonder dinars?"
+"Verily," answered the flea, "it is not good for one to strive
+for aught, but if he be able to compass his desire; for if he
+lack of ableness thereto, he falls into that of which he should
+be ware and attains not his wish for weakness, though he use all
+possible cunning, like the sparrow that picks up grain and falls
+into the net and is caught by the fowler. Thou hast no strength
+to take the dinars and carry them into thy hole, nor can I do
+this; on the contrary, I could not lift a single dinar; so what
+hast thou to do with them?" Quoth the mouse, "I have made me
+these seventy openings, whence I may go out, and set apart a
+place for things of price, strong and safe; and if thou canst
+contrive to get the merchant out of the house, I doubt not of
+success, so Fate aid me." "I will engage to get him out of the
+house for thee," answered the flea and going to the merchant's
+bed, gave him a terrible bite, such as he had never before felt,
+then fled to a place of safety. The merchant awoke and sought for
+the flea, but finding it not, lay down again on his other side.
+Then came the flea and bit him again, more sharply than before.
+So he lost patience and leaving his bed, went out and lay down on
+the bench before the door and slept there and awoke not till the
+morning. Meanwhile the mouse came out and fell to carrying the
+dinars into her hole, till not one was left; and when it was day,
+the merchant began to accuse the folk and imagine all manner of
+things. And know, O wise, clear-sighted and experienced crow
+(continued the fox), that I only tell thee this to the intent
+that thou mayst reap the recompense of thy goodness to me, even
+as the mouse reaped the reward of her kindness to the flea; for
+see how he repaid her and requited her with the goodliest of
+requitals.' Quoth the crow, 'It lies with the benefactor to show
+benevolence or not; nor is it incumbent on us to behave kindly to
+whoso seeks an impossible connection. If I show thee favour, who
+art by nature my enemy, I am the cause of my own destruction, and
+thou, O fox, art full of craft and cunning. Now those, whose
+characteristics these are, are not to be trusted upon oath, and
+he who is not to be trusted upon oath, there is no good faith in
+him. I heard but late of thy perfidious dealing with thy comrade
+the wolf and how thou leddest him into destruction by thy perfidy
+and guile, and this though he was of thine own kind and thou
+hadst long companied with him; yet didst thou not spare him; and
+if thou didst thus with thy fellow, that was of thine own kind,
+how can I have confidence in thy fidelity and what would be thy
+dealing with thine enemy of other than thy kind? Nor can I liken
+thee and me but to the Falcon and the Birds.' 'How so?' asked the
+fox. 'They say,' answered the crow, 'that
+
+
+
+
+The Falcon and the Birds.
+
+
+
+There was once a falcon who was a cruel tyrant in the days of his
+youth, so that the beasts of prey of the air and of the earth
+feared him and none was safe from his mischief; and many were the
+instances of his tyranny, for he did nothing but oppress and
+injure all the other birds. As the years passed over him, he grew
+weak and his strength failed, so that he was oppressed with
+hunger; but his cunning increased with the waning of his strength
+and he redoubled in his endeavour and determined to go to the
+general rendezvous of the birds, that he might eat their
+leavings, and in this manner he gained his living by cunning,
+whenas he could do so no longer by strength and violence. And
+thou, O fox, art like this: if thy strength fail thee, thy
+cunning fails not; and I doubt not that thy seeking my friendship
+is a device to get thy subsistence; but I am none of those who
+put themselves at thy mercy, for God hath given me strength in my
+wings and caution in my heart and sight in my eyes, and I know
+that he who apeth a stronger than he, wearieth himself and is
+often destroyed, wherefore I fear for thee lest, if thou ape a
+stronger than thou, there befall thee what befell the sparrow.'
+'What befell the sparrow?' asked the fox. 'I conjure thee, by
+Allah, to tell me his story.' 'I have heard,' replied the crow,
+'that
+
+
+
+
+The Sparrow and the Eagle.
+
+
+
+A sparrow was once hovering over a sheep-fold, when he saw a
+great eagle swoop down upon a lamb and carry it off in his claws.
+Thereupon the sparrow clapped his wings and said, "I will do even
+as the eagle hath done;" and he conceited himself and aped a
+greater than he. So he flew down forthright and lighted on the
+back of a fat ram, with a thick fleece that was become matted, by
+his lying in his dung and stale, till it was like felt. As soon
+as the sparrow lighted on the sheep's back, he clapped his wings
+and would have flown away, but his feet became tangled in the
+wool and he could not win free. All this while the shepherd was
+looking on, having seen as well what happened with the eagle as
+with the sparrow; so he came up to the latter in a rage and
+seized him. Then he plucked out his wing-feathers and tying his
+feet with a twine, carried him to his children and threw him to
+them. "What is this?" asked they and he answered, "This is one
+that aped a greater than himself and came to grief." Now thou, O
+fox,' continued the crow, 'art like this and I would have thee
+beware of aping a greater than thou, lest thou perish. This is
+all I have to say to thee; so go from me in peace.' When the fox
+despaired of the crow's friendship, he turned away, groaning and
+gnashing his teeth for sorrow and disappointment, which when the
+crow heard, he said to him, 'O fox, why dost thou gnash thy
+teeth?' 'Because I find thee wilier than myself,' answered the
+fox and made off to his den."
+
+"O Shehrzad," said the Sultan, "how excellent and delightful are
+these thy stories! Hast thou more of the like edifying tales?"
+"It is said," answered she, "that
+
+
+
+
+                 THE HEDGEHOG AND THE PIGEONS.
+
+
+
+A hedgehog once took up his abode under a palm-tree, on which
+roosted a pair of wood-pigeons, that had made their nest there
+and lived an easy life, and he said to himself, 'These pigeons
+eat of the fruit of the palm-tree, and I have no means of getting
+at it; but needs must I go about with them.' So he dug a hole at
+the foot of the palm-tree and took up his lodging there, he and
+his wife. Moreover, he made a place of prayer beside the hole, in
+which he shut himself and made a show of piety and abstinence and
+renunciation of the world. The male pigeon saw him praying and
+worshipping and inclined to him for his much devoutness and said
+to him, 'How long hast thou been thus?' 'Thirty years,' replied
+the hedgehog. 'What is thy food?' asked the bird and the other
+answered, 'What falls from the palm-tree.' 'And what is thy
+clothing?' asked the pigeon. 'Prickles,' replied the hedgehog; 'I
+profit by their roughness.' 'And why,' continued the bird, 'hast
+thou chosen this place rather than another?' 'I chose it,'
+answered the hedgehog, 'that I might guide the erring into
+the right way and teach the ignorant.' 'I had thought thee
+other-guise than this,' rejoined the pigeon; but now I feel a
+yearning for that which is with thee.' Quoth the hedgehog, 'I
+fear lest thy deed belie thy speech and thou be even as the
+husbandman, who neglected to sow in season, saying, "I fear lest
+the days bring me not to my desire, and I shall only waste my
+substance by making haste to sow." When the time of harvest came
+and he saw the folk gathering in their crops, he repented him of
+what he had lost by his tardiness and died of chagrin and
+vexation.' 'What then shall I do,' asked the pigeon, 'that I
+may be freed from the bonds of the world and give myself up
+altogether to the service of my Lord?' 'Betake thee to preparing
+for the next world,' answered the hedgehog, 'and content thyself
+with a pittance of food.' 'How can I do this,' said the pigeon,
+'I that am a bird and may not go beyond the palm-tree whereon is
+my food? Nor, could I do so, do I know another place, wherein I
+may abide.' Quoth the hedgehog, 'Thou canst shake down of the
+fruit of the palm what shall suffice thee and thy wife for a
+year's victual; then do ye take up your abode in a nest under the
+tree, that ye may seek to be guided in the right way, and do ye
+turn to what ye have shaken down and store it up against the time
+of need; and when the fruits are spent and the time is long upon
+you, address yourselves to abstinence from food.' 'May God
+requite thee with good,' exclaimed the pigeon, 'for the fair
+intent with which thou hast reminded me of the world to come and
+hast directed me into the right way!' Then he and his wife busied
+themselves in knocking down the dates, till nothing was left on
+the palm-tree, whilst the hedgehog, finding whereof to eat,
+rejoiced and filled his den with the dates, storing them up for
+his subsistence and saying in himself, 'When the pigeon and his
+wife have need of their provant, they will seek it of me,
+trusting in my devoutness and abstinence; and from what they have
+heard of my pious counsels and admonitions, they will draw near
+unto me. Then will I seize them and eat them, after which I shall
+have the place and all that drops from the palm-tree, to suffice
+me.' Presently the pigeon and his wife came down and finding that
+the hedgehog had carried off all the dates, said to him, 'O pious
+and devout-spoken hedgehog of good counsel, we can find no sign
+of the dates and know not on what else we shall feed.' 'Belike,'
+replied the hedgehog, 'the winds have carried them away; but the
+turning from the provision to the Provider is of the essence of
+prosperity, and He who cut the corners of the mouth will not
+leave it without victual.' And he gave not over preaching to them
+thus and making a show of piety and cozening them with fine
+words, till they put faith in him and entered his den, without
+suspicion, where-upon he sprang to the door and gnashed his
+tusks, and the pigeon, seeing his perfidy manifested, said to
+him, 'What has to-night to do with yester-night? Knowest thou not
+that there is a Helper for the oppressed? Beware of treachery and
+craft, lest there befall thee what befell the sharpers who
+plotted against the merchant.' 'What was that?' asked the
+hedgehog. 'I have heard tell,' answered the pigeon, 'that
+
+
+
+
+The Merchant and the Two Sharpers.
+
+
+
+There was once in a city called Sendeh a very wealthy merchant,
+who made ready merchandise and set out with it for such a city,
+thinking to sell it there. There followed him two sharpers, who
+had made up into bales what goods they could get and giving out
+to him that they also were merchants, companied with him by the
+way. At the first halting-place, they agreed to play him false
+and take his goods; but, at the same time, each purposed inwardly
+foul play to the other, saying in himself, "If I can cheat my
+comrade, it will be well for me and I shall have all to myself."
+So each took food and putting therein poison, brought it to his
+fellow; and they both ate of the poisoned mess and died. Now they
+had been sitting talking with the merchant; so when they left him
+and were long absent from him, he sought for them and found them
+both dead; whereby he knew that they were sharpers, who had
+plotted to play him foul, but their treachery had recoiled upon
+themselves; so the merchant was preserved and took what they
+had.'"
+
+"O Shehrzad," said the Sultan, "verily thou hast aroused me to
+all whereof I was negligent! Continue to edify me with these
+fables." Quoth she, "It has come to my knowledge, O King, that
+
+
+
+
+                   THE THIEF AND HIS MONKEY.
+
+
+
+A certain man had a monkey and was a thief, who never entered one
+of the markets of the city in which he dwelt, but he made off
+with great purchase. One day, he saw a man offering for sale worn
+clothes, and he went calling them in the market, but none bid for
+them, and all to whom he showed them refused to buy of him.
+Presently, the thief saw him put the clothes in a wrapper and sit
+down to rest for weariness; so he made the ape sport before him,
+and whilst he was busy gazing at it, stole the parcel from him.
+Then he took the ape and made off to a lonely place, where he
+opened the wrapper and taking out the old clothes, wrapped them
+in a piece of costly stuff. This he carried to another market and
+exposed it for sale with what was therein, making it a condition
+that it should not be opened and tempting the folk with the
+lowness of the price he set on it. A certain man saw the wrapper
+and it pleased him; so he bought the parcel on these terms and
+carried it home, doubting not but he had gotten a prize. When his
+wife saw it, she said, 'What is this?' And he answered, 'It is
+precious stuff, that I have bought below its worth, meaning to
+sell it again and take the profit.' 'O dupe,' rejoined she,
+'would this stuff be sold under its value, except it were stolen?
+Dost thou not know that he who buys a ware, without examining it,
+erreth? And indeed he is like unto the weaver.' 'What is the
+story of the weaver?' asked he; and she said, 'I have heard tell
+that
+
+
+
+
+The Foolish Weaver.
+
+
+
+There was once in a certain village a weaver who could not earn
+his living save by excessive toil. One day, it chanced that a
+rich man of the neighbourhood made a feast and bade the folk
+thereto. The weaver was present and saw such as were richly clad
+served with delicate meats and made much of by the master of the
+house, for what he saw of their gallant array. So he said in
+himself, "If I change this my craft for another, easier and
+better considered and paid, I shall amass store of wealth and
+buy rich clothes, that so I may rise in rank and be exalted in
+men's eyes and become like unto these." Presently, one of the
+mountebanks there climbed up to the top of a steep and lofty wall
+and threw himself down, alighting on his feet; which when the
+weaver saw, he said to himself, "Needs must I do as this fellow
+hath done, for surely I shall not fail of it." So he climbed up
+on to the wall and casting himself down to the ground, broke his
+neck and died forthright. I tell thee this (continued the woman)
+that thou mayst get thy living by that fashion thou knowest and
+throughly understandest, lest greed enter into thee and thou lust
+after what is not of thy competence.' Quoth he, 'Not every wise
+man is saved by his wisdom nor is every fool lost by his folly. I
+have seen a skilful charmer versed in the ways of serpents,
+bitten by a snake and killed, and I have known others prevail
+over serpents, who had no skill in them and no knowledge of their
+ways.' And he hearkened not to his wife, but went on buying
+stolen goods below their value, till he fell under suspicion and
+perished.
+
+
+
+
+                  THE SPARROW AND THE PEACOCK.
+
+
+
+There was once a sparrow, that used every day to visit a certain
+king of the birds and was the first to go in to him and the last
+to leave him. One day, a company of birds assembled on a high
+mountain, and one of them said to another, 'Verily, we are waxed
+many and many are the differences between us, and needs must we
+have a king to order our affairs, so shall we be at one and our
+differences will cease.' Thereupon up came the sparrow and
+counselled them to make the peacock,--that is, the prince he used
+to visit,--king over them. So they chose the peacock to their
+king and he bestowed largesse on them and made the sparrow his
+secretary and vizier. Now the sparrow was wont bytimes to leave
+his assiduity [in the personal service of the king] and look into
+affairs [in general]. One day, he came not at the usual time,
+whereat the peacock was sore troubled; but presently, he returned
+and the peacock said to him, 'What hath delayed thee, that art
+the nearest to me of all my servants and the dearest?' Quoth the
+sparrow, 'I have seen a thing that is doubtful to me and at which
+I am affrighted.' 'What was it thou sawest?' asked the king; and
+the sparrow answered, 'I saw a man set up a net, hard by my nest,
+and drive its pegs fast into the ground. Then he strewed grain in
+its midst and withdrew afar off. As I sat watching what he would
+do, behold, fate and destiny drove thither a crane and his wife,
+which fell into the midst of the net and began to cry out;
+whereupon the fowler came up and took them. This troubled me, and
+this is the reason of my absence from thee, O king of the age;
+but never again will I abide in that nest, for fear of the net.'
+'Depart not thy dwelling,' rejoined the peacock; 'for precaution
+will avail thee nothing against destiny.' And the sparrow obeyed
+his commandment, saying, 'I will take patience and not depart, in
+obedience to the king.' So he continued to visit the king and
+carry him food and water, taking care for himself, till one day
+he saw two sparrows fighting on the ground and said in himself,
+'How can I, who am the king's vizier, look on and see sparrows
+fighting in my neighbourhood? By Allah, I must make peace between
+them!' So he flew down to them, to reconcile them; but the fowler
+cast the net over them and taking the sparrow in question, gave
+him to his fellow, saying, 'Take care of him, for he is the
+fattest and finest I ever saw.' But the sparrow said in himself,
+'I have fallen into that which I feared and it was none but the
+peacock that inspired me with a false security. It availed me
+nothing to beware of the stroke of fate, since for him who taketh
+precaution there is no fleeing from destiny; and how well says
+the poet:
+
+That which is not to be shall by no means be brought To pass, and
+     that which is to be shall come, unsought,
+Even at the time ordained; but he that knoweth not The truth is
+     still deceived and finds his hopes grown nought.'
+
+
+
+
+           STORY OF ALI BEN BEKKAR AND SHEMSENNEHAR.
+
+
+
+There lived once [at Baghdad] in the days of the Khalif Haroun er
+Reshid a merchant named Aboulhusn Ali ben Tahir, who was great of
+goods and grace, handsome and pleasant-mannered, beloved of all.
+He used to enter the royal palace without asking leave, for all
+the Khalif's concubines and slave-girls loved him, and he was
+wont to company with Er Reshid and recite verses to him and tell
+him witty stories. Withal he sold and bought in the merchants'
+bazaar, and there used to sit in his shop a youth named Ali ben
+Bekkar, a descendant of the ancient kings of Persia, who was fair
+of face and elegant of shape, with rosy cheeks and joined
+eyebrows, sweet of speech and laughing-lipped, a lover of mirth
+and gaiety. It chanced one day, as they sat laughing and talking,
+there came up ten damsels like moons, every one of them
+accomplished in beauty and symmetry, and amongst them a young
+lady riding on a mule with housings of brocade and golden
+stirrups. She was swathed in a veil of fine stuff, with a girdle
+of gold-embroidered silk, and was even as says the poet:
+
+She hath a skin like very silk and a soft speech and sweet;
+     Gracious to all, her words are nor too many nor too few.
+Two eyes she hath, quoth God Most High, "Be," and forthright they
+     were; They work as wine upon the hearts of those whom they
+     ensue.
+Add to my passion, love of her, each night; and, solacement Of
+     loves, the Resurrection be thy day of rendezvous!
+
+The lady alighted at Aboulhusn's shop and sitting down there,
+saluted him, and he returned her salute. When Ali ben Bekkar saw
+her, she ravished his understanding and he rose to go away; but
+she said to him, 'Sit in thy place. We came to thee and thou
+goest away: this is not fair.' 'O my lady,' answered he, 'by
+Allah, I flee from what I see; for the tongue of the case saith:
+
+She's the sun and her dwelling's in heaven on high; Look, then,
+     to thine heart thou fair patience commend.
+Thou mayst not climb up to her place in the sky, Nor may she to
+     thee from her heaven descend.'
+
+When she heard this, she smiled and said to Aboulhusn, 'What is
+the name of this young man?' 'He is a stranger,' answered he.
+'What countryman is he?' asked she, and the merchant replied, 'He
+is a descendant of the (ancient) kings of Persia; his name is Ali
+ben Bekkar, and indeed it behoves us to use strangers with
+honour.' 'When my damsel comes to thee,' rejoined she, 'come thou
+at once to us and bring him with thee, that we may entertain him
+in our abode, lest he blame us and say, "There is no hospitality
+in the people of Baghdad:" for niggardliness is the worst fault
+that a man can have. Thou hearest what I say to thee and if thou
+disobey me, thou wilt incur my displeasure and I will never again
+visit thee or salute thee.' 'On my head and eyes,' answered
+Aboulhusn; 'God preserve me from thy displeasure, fair lady!'
+Then she rose and went away, leaving Ali ben Bekkar in a state
+of bewilderment. Presently, the damsel came and said to the
+merchant, 'O my lord Aboulhusn, my lady Shemsennehar, the
+favourite of the Commander of the Faithful Haroun er Reshid, bids
+thee to her, thee and thy friend, my lord Ali ben Bekkar.' So he
+rose and taking Ali with him, followed the girl to the Khalif's
+palace, where she carried them into a chamber and made them sit
+down. They talked together awhile, till she set trays of food
+before them, and they ate and washed their hands. Then she
+brought them wine, and they drank and made merry; after which she
+bade them rise and carried them into another chamber, vaulted
+upon four columns and adorned and furnished after the goodliest
+fashion with various kinds of furniture and decorations, as it
+were one of the pavilions of Paradise. They were amazed at the
+rarities they saw and as they were gazing at these marvels, up
+came ten damsels, like moons, with a proud and graceful gait,
+dazzling the sight and confounding the wit, and ranged themselves
+in two ranks, as they were of the houris of Paradise. After
+awhile, in came ten other damsels, with lutes and other
+instruments of mirth and music in their hands, who saluted the
+two guests and sitting down, fell to tuning their instruments.
+Then they rose and standing before them, played and sang and
+recited verses: and indeed each one of them was a seduction to
+the faithful. Whilst they were thus occupied, there entered other
+ten damsels like unto them, high-bosomed and of an equal age,
+with black eyes and rosy cheeks, joined eyebrows and languorous
+looks, a seduction to the faithful and a delight to all who
+looked upon them, clad in various kinds of coloured silks, with
+ornaments that amazed the wit. They took up their station at the
+door, and there succeeded them yet other ten damsels, fairer than
+they, clad in gorgeous apparel, such as defies description; and
+they also stationed themselves by the door. Then in came a band
+of twenty damsels and amongst them the lady Shemsennehar, as she
+were the moon among the stars, scarved with the luxuriance of her
+hair and dressed in a blue robe and a veil of silk, embroidered
+with gold and jewels. About her middle she wore a girdle set with
+various kinds of precious stones, and she advanced with a
+graceful and coquettish gait, till she came to the couch that
+stood at the upper end of the chamber and seated herself thereon.
+When Ali ben Bekkar saw her, he repeated the following couplets:
+
+Yes, this is she indeed, the source of all my ill, For whom with
+     long desire I languish at Love's will.
+Near her, I feel my soul on fire and bones worn waste For
+     yearning after her that doth my heart fulfih
+
+Then said he to Aboulhusn, 'Thou hadst dealt more kindly with me
+to have forewarned me of these things; that I might have prepared
+my mind and taken patience to support what hath befallen me ;'
+and he wept and groaned and complained. 'O my brother,' replied
+Aboulhusn, 'I meant thee nought but good; but I feared to tell
+thee of this, lest such transport should overcome thee as might
+hinder thee from foregathering with her and intervene between
+thee and her: but take courage and be of good heart, for she is
+well disposed to thee and inclineth to favour thee.' 'What is the
+lady's name?' asked Ali ben Bekkar. 'She is called Shemsennehar,'
+answered Aboulhusn 'she is one of the favourites of the Commander
+of the Faithful Haroun er Reshid and this is the palace of the
+Khalifate.' Then Shemsennehar sat gazing upon Ali ben Bekkar's
+charms and he upon hers, till each was engrossed with love of the
+other. Presently, she commanded the damsels to sit; so they sat
+down, each in her place, on a couch before one of the windows,
+and she bade them sing; whereupon one of them took a lute and
+sang the following verses:
+
+Twice be the message to my love made known, And take the answer
+     from his lips alone.
+To thee, O monarch of the fair, I come And stand, of this my case
+     to make my moan.
+O thou my sovereign, dear my heart and life, That in my inmost
+     bosom hast thy throne,
+Prithee, bestow a kiss upon thy slave; If not as gift, then even
+     as a loan.
+I will repay it, (mayst thou never fail!) Even as I took it, not
+     a little gone.
+Or, if thou wish for more than thou didst lend, Take and content
+     thee; it is all thine own.
+May health's fair garment ever gladden thee, Thee that o'er me
+     the wede of woe hast thrown!
+
+Her singing charmed Ali ben Bekkar, and he said to her, 'Sing me
+more of the like of these verses.' So she struck the strings and
+sang as follows:
+
+By excess of estrangement, beloved mine, Thou hast taught long
+     weeping unto my eyne.
+O joy of my sight and its desire, O goal of my hopes, my
+     worship's shrine,
+Have pity on one, whose eyes are drowned In the sorrowful lover's
+     tears of brine!
+
+
+When she had finished, Shemsennehar said to another damsel, 'Sing
+us somewhat, thou.' So she played a lively measure and sang the
+following verses:
+
+His looks 'twas made me drunken, in sooth, and not his wine; And
+     the grace of his gait has banished sleep from these eyes of
+     mine.
+'Twas not the wine-cup dazed me, but e'en his glossy curls; His
+     charms it was that raised me and not the juice o' the vine.
+His winding browlocks have routed my patience, and my wit Is done
+     away by the beauties his garments do enshrine.[FN#5]
+
+When Shemsennehar heard this, she sighed heavily, and the song
+pleased her. Then she bade another damsel sing; so she took the
+lute and chanted the following:
+
+A face that vies, indeed, with heaven's lamp, the sun; The
+     welling of youth's springs upon him scarce begun.
+His curling whiskers write letters wherein the sense Of love in
+     the extreme is writ for every one.
+Beauty proclaimed of him, whenas with him it met, "A stuff in
+     God's best loom was fashioned forth and done!"
+
+When she had finished, Ali Ben Bekkar. said to the damsel nearest
+him, 'Sing us somewhat, thou.' So she took the lute and sang
+these verses:
+
+The time of union's all too slight For coquetry and prudish
+     flight.
+Not thus the noble are. How long This deadly distance and
+     despite?
+Ah, profit by the auspicious time, To sip the sweets of
+     love-delight.
+
+Ali ben Bekkar followed up her song with plentiful tears; and
+when Shemsennehar saw him weeping and groaning and lamenting, she
+burned with love-longing and desire and passion and transport
+consumed her. So she rose from the couch and came to the door of
+the alcove, where Ali met her and they embraced and fell down
+a-swoon in the doorway; whereupon the damsels came to them and
+carrying them into the alcove, sprinkled rose-water upon them.
+When they revived, they missed Aboulhusn, who had hidden himself
+behind a couch, and the young lady said, 'Where is Aboulhusn?' So
+he showed himself to her from beside the couch, and she saluted
+him, saying, 'I pray God to give me the means of requiting thee
+thy kindness!' Then she turned to Ali ben Bekkar and said to him,
+'O my lord, passion has not reached this pass with thee, without
+doing the like with me; but there is nothing for it but to bear
+patiently what hath befallen us.' 'By Allah, O my lady,' rejoined
+he, 'converse with thee may not content me nor gazing upon thee
+assuage the fire of my heart, nor will the love of thee, that
+hath mastered my soul, leave me, but with the passing away of my
+life.' So saying, he wept and the tears ran down upon his cheeks,
+like unstrung pearls. When Shemsennehar saw him weep, she wept
+for his weeping; and Aboulhusn exclaimed, 'By Allah, I wonder at
+your plight and am confounded at your behaviour; of a truth, your
+affair is amazing and your case marvellous. If ye weep thus, what
+while ye are yet together, how will it be when ye are parted?
+Indeed, this is no time for weeping and wailing, but for
+foregathering and gladness; rejoice, therefore, and make merry
+and weep no more.' Then Shemsennehar signed to a damsel, who went
+out and returned with handmaids bearing a table, whereon were
+silver dishes, full of all manner rich meats. They set the table
+before them, and Shemsennehar began to eat and to feed Ali ben
+Bekkar, till they were satisfied, when the table was removed and
+they washed their hands. Presently the waiting-women brought
+censors and casting bottles and sprinkled them with rose-water
+and incensed them with aloes and ambergris and other perfumes;
+after which they set on dishes of graven gold, containing all
+manner of sherbets, besides fruits and confections, all that the
+heart can desire or the eye delight in, and one brought a flagon
+of carnelian, full of wine. Then Shemsennehar chose out ten
+handmaids and ten singing-women to attend on them and dismissing
+the rest to their apartments, bade some of those who remained
+smite the lute. They did as she bade them and one of them sang
+the following verses:
+
+My soul be a ransom for him who returned my salute with a smile
+     And revived in my breast the longing for union after
+     despair!
+The hands of passion have brought my secret thoughts to the light
+     And that which is in my bosom unto my censors laid bare.
+The very tears of my eyes press betwixt me and him, As though
+     they, even as I, enamoured of him were.
+
+When she had finished, Shemsennehar rose and filling a. cup,
+drank it off, then filled it again and gave it to Ali ben Bekkar;
+after which she bade another damsel sing; and she sang the
+following verses:
+
+My tears, as they flow, are alike to my wine, as I brim it up!
+     For my eyes pour forth of their lids the like of what froths
+     in my cup.[FN#6]
+By Allah, I know not, for sure, whether my eyelids it is Run over
+     with wine or else of my tears it is that I sup!
+
+Then Ali ben Bekkar drank off his cup and returned it to
+Shemsennehar. She filled it again and gave it to Aboulhusn, who
+drank it off. Then she took the lute, saying, 'None shall sing
+over my cup but myself.' So she tuned the strings and sang these
+verses:
+
+The hurrying tears upon his cheeks course down from either eye'
+     For very passion, and love's fires within his heart flame
+     high.
+He weeps whilst near to those he loves, for fear lest they
+     depart: So, whether near or far they be, his tears are never
+     dry.
+
+And again:
+
+Our lives for thee, O cupbearer, O thou whom beauty's self From
+     the bright parting of thy hair doth to the feet army!
+The full moon[FN#7] from thy collar-folds rises, the
+     Pleiades[FN#8] Shine from thy mouth and in thine hands there
+     beams the sun of day.[FN#9]
+I trow, the goblets wherewithal thou mak'st us drunk are those
+     Thou pourest to us from thine eyes, that lead the wit
+     astray.
+Is it no wonder that thou art a moon for ever full And that thy
+     lovers 'tis, not thou, that wane and waste away?
+Art thou a god, that thou, indeed, by favouring whom thou wilt
+     And slighting others, canst at once bring back to life and
+     slay?
+GCod moulded beauty from thy form and eke perfumed the breeze With
+     the sheer sweetness of the scent that cleaves to thee alway.
+None of the people of this world, an angel sure thou art, Whom
+     thy Creator hath sent down, to hearten our dismay.
+
+When Ali and Aboulhusn and the bystanders heard Shemsennehar's
+song, they were transported and laughed and sported; but while
+they were thus engaged, up came a damsel, trembling for fear, and
+said, 'O my lady, Afif and Mesrour and Merjan and others of the
+Commander of the Faithful's eunuchs, whom I know not, are at the
+door.' When they heard this they were like to die of fright, but
+Shemsennehar laughed and said, 'Have no fear.' Then said she to
+the damsel, 'Hold them in parley, whilst we remove hence.' And
+she caused shut the doors of the alcove upon Ali and Aboulhusn
+and drew the curtains over them; after which she shut the door of
+the saloon and went out by the privy gate into the garden, where
+she seated herself on a couch she had there and bade one of the
+damsels rub her feet. Then she dismissed the rest of her women
+and bade the portress admit those who were at the door; whereupon
+Mesrour entered, he and his company, twenty men with drawn
+swords, and saluted her. Quoth she, 'Wherefore come-ye?' And they
+answered, 'The Commander of the Faithful salutes thee. He wearies
+for thy sight and would have thee to know that this with him is a
+day of great joy and gladness and he is minded to seal his
+gladness with thy present company: wilt thou then go to him or
+shall he come to thee?' At this she rose, and kissing the earth,
+said, 'I hear and obey the commandment of the Commander of the
+Faithful.' Then she summoned the chief (female) officers of her
+household and other damsels and made a show of complying with the
+Khalif's orders and commanding them to make preparations for his
+reception, albeit all was in readiness; and she said to the
+eunuchs, 'Go to the Commander of the Faithful and tell him that I
+await him after a little space, that I may make ready for him a
+place with carpets and so forth.' So they returned in haste to
+the Khalif, whilst Shemsennehar, doffing her (outer) clothing,
+repaired to her beloved Ali ben Bekkar and strained him to her
+bosom and bade him farewell, whereat he wept sore and said, 'O my
+lady, this leave-taking will lead to the ruin of my soul and the
+loss of my life; but I pray God to grant me patience to bear this
+my love, wherewith He hath smitten me!' 'By Allah, answered she,
+'none will suffer perdition but I; for thou wilt go out to the
+market and company with those that will divert thee, and thine
+honour will be in safety and thy passion concealed; whilst I
+shall fall into trouble and weariness nor find any to console me,
+more by token that I have given the Khalif a rendezvous, wherein
+haply great peril shall betide me, by reason of my love and
+longing passion for thee and my grief at being parted from thee.
+For with what voice shall I sing and with what heart shall I
+present me before the Khalif and with what speech shall I
+entertain the Commander of the Faithful and with what eyes shall
+I look upon a place where thou art not and take part in a banquet
+at which thou art not present and with what taste shall I drink
+wine of which thou partakest not?' 'Be not troubled,' said
+Aboulhusn 'but take patience and be not remiss in entertaining
+the Commander of the Faithful this night, neither show him any
+neglect, but be of good courage.' At this juncture, up came a
+damsel, who said to Shemsennehar, 'O my lady, the Khalif's pages
+are come.' So she rose to her feet and said to the maid, 'Take
+Aboulhusn and his friend and carry them to the upper gallery
+giving upon the garden and there leave them, till it be dark;
+when do thou make shift to carry them forth.' Accordingly, the
+girl carried them up to the gallery and locking the door upon
+them, went away. As they sat looking on the garden, the Khalif
+appeared, preceded by near a hundred eunuchs with drawn swords
+and compassed about with a score of damsels, as they were moons,
+holding each a lighted flambeau. They were clad in the richest of
+raiment and on each one's head was a crown set with diamonds
+and rubies. The Khalif walked in their midst with a majestic
+gait, whilst Mesrour and Afif and Wesif went before him and
+Shemsennehar and all her damsels rose to receive him and meeting
+him at the garden door, kissed the earth before him; nor did they
+cease to go before him, till they brought him to the couch,
+whereon he sat down, whilst all the waiting-women and eunuchs
+stood before him and there came fair maids and slave-girls with
+lighted flambeaux and perfumes and essences and instruments of
+music. Then he bade the singers sit down, each in her room, and
+Shemsennehar came up and seating herself on a stool by the
+Khalif's side, began to converse with him, whilst Ali and the
+jeweller looked on and listened, unseen of the prince. The Khalif
+fell to jesting and toying with Shemsennehar and bade throw open
+the (garden) pavilion. So they opened the doors and windows and
+lighted the flambeaux till the place shone in the season of
+darkness even as the day. The eunuchs removed thither the
+wine-service and (quoth Aboulhusn), 'I saw drinking-vessels and
+rarities, whose like mine eyes never beheld, vases of gold and
+silver and all manner precious stones and jewels, such as beggar
+description, till indeed meseemed I was dreaming, for excess of
+amazement at what I saw!' But as for Ali ben Bekkar, from the
+moment Shemsennehar left him, he lay prostrate on the ground for
+excess of passion and desire and when he revived, he fell to
+gazing upon these things that had not their like, and saying to
+Aboulhusn, 'O my brother, I fear lest the Khalif see us or come
+to know of us; but the most of my fear is for thee. For myself, I
+know that I am surely lost past recourse, and the cause of my
+destruction is nought but excess of passion and love-longing and
+desire and separation from my beloved, after union with her; but
+I beseech God to deliver us from this predicament.' Then they
+continued to look on, till the banquet was spread before the
+Khalif, when he turned to one of the damsels and said to her, 'O
+Gheram, let us hear some of thine enchanting songs.' So she tool:
+the lute and tuning it, sang as follows:
+
+The longing of a Bedouin maid, whose folk are far away, Who
+     yearns after the willow of the Hejaz and the bay,--
+Whose tears, when she on travellers lights, might for their water
+     serve And eke her passion, with its heat, their bivouac-fire
+     purvey,--
+Is not more fierce nor ardent than my longing for my love, Who
+     deem: that I commit a crime in loving him alway.
+
+When Shemsennehar heard this, she slipped off the stool on which
+she sat and fell to the earth insensible; where upon the damsels
+came and lifted her up. When Ali ben Bekkar saw this from the
+gallery, he also fell down senseless, and Aboulhusn said, 'Verily
+Fate hath apportioned passion equally between you!' As he spoke,
+in came the damsel who had brought them thither and said to him,
+'O Aboulhusn, arise and come down, thou and thy friend, for of a
+truth the world is grown strait upon us and I fear lest our case
+be discovered or the Khalif become aware of you: so, except you
+descend at once, we are dead folk. 'How shall this youth
+descend,' replied he, 'seeing that he hath not strength to rise?'
+With this she fell to sprinkling rose-water on Ali ben Bekkar,
+till he came to himself, when Aboulhusn lifted him up and the
+damsel stayed him. So they went down from the gallery and walked
+on awhile, till they came to a little iron door, which the damsel
+opened, and they found themselves on the Tigris' bank. Here they
+sat down on a stone bench, whilst the girl clapped her hands and
+there came up a man with a little boat, to whom said she, 'Carry
+these two young men to the other bank.' So they all three entered
+the boat and the man put off with them; and as they launched out
+into the stream, Ali ben Bekkar looked back towards the Khalif's
+palace and the pavilion and the garden and bade them farewell
+with these verses:
+
+I stretch forth a feeble hand to bid farewell to thee, With the
+     other upon my burning breast, beneath the heart of me.
+But be not this the last of the love betwixt us twain And let not
+     this the last of my soul's refreshment be.
+
+The damsel said to the boatman, 'Make haste with them.' So he
+plied his oars swiftly till they reached the opposite bank, where
+they landed, and she took lease of them, saying, 'It were my wish
+not to leave you, but I can go no farther than this.' Then she
+turned back, whilst Ali ben Bekkar lay on the ground before
+Aboulhusn and could not rise, till the latter said to him, 'This
+place is not sure and I am in fear of our lives, by reason of the
+thieves and highwaymen and men of lawlessness.' With this Ali
+arose and essayed to walk a little, but could not. Now Aboulhusn
+had friends in that quarter, so he made for the house of one of
+them, in whom he trusted and who was of his intimates, and
+knocked at the door. The man came out quickly and seeing them,
+bade them welcome and brought them into his house, where he made
+them sit down and talked with them and asked them whence they
+came. Quoth Aboulhusn 'We came out but now, being moved thereto
+by a man with whom I had dealings and who hath in his hands
+monies of mine. It was told me that he was minded to flee into
+foreign countries with my money; so I came out to-night in quest
+of him, taking with me this my friend Ali ben Bekkar for company
+but he hid from us and we could get no speech of him So we turned
+back, empty-handed, and knew not whither to go, for it were
+irksome to us to return home at this hour of the night; wherefore
+we came to thee, knowing thy wonted courtesy and kindness.' 'Ye
+are right welcome,' answered the host, and studied to do them
+honour. They abode with him the rest of the night, and as soon as
+it was day, they left him and made their way back to the city.
+When they came to Aboulhusn's house, the latter conjured his
+friend to enter; so they went in and lying down on the bed, slept
+awhile. When they awoke, Aboulhusn bade his servants spread the
+house with rich carpets saying in himself, 'Needs must I divert
+this youth and distract him from thoughts of his affliction, for
+I know his case better than another.' Then he called for water
+for Ali ben Bekkar, and the latter rose and making his ablutions,
+prayed the obligatory prayers that he had omitted for the past
+day and night; after which he sat down and began to solace
+himself with talk with his friend. When Aboulhusn saw this, he
+turned to him and said, 'O my lord, it were better for thy case
+that thou abide with me this night, so thy heart may be lightened
+and the anguish of love-longing that is upon thee be dispelled
+and thou make merry with us and haply the fire of thy heart be
+allayed.' 'O my brother,' answered Ali, 'do what seemeth good to
+thee; for I may not anywise escape from what hath befallen me.'
+Accordingly, Aboulhusn arose and bade his servants summon some of
+the choicest of his friends and sent for singers and musicians.
+Meanwhile he made ready meat and drink for them, and they came
+and sat eating and drinking and making merry till nightfall Then
+they lit the candles, and the cups of friendship and good
+fellowship went round amongst them, and the time passed
+pleasantly with them. Presently, a singing-woman took the lute
+and sang the following verses:
+
+Fate launched at me a dart, the arrow of an eye; It pierced me
+     and cut off from those I love am I.
+Fortune hath mauled me sore and patience fails me now; But long
+     have I forebode misfortune drawing nigh.
+
+When Ali ben Bekkar heard this, he fell to the earth in a swoon
+and abode thus till daybreak, and Aboulhusn despaired of him.
+But, with the dawning, he came to himself and sought to go home;
+nor could Aboulhusn deny him, for fear of the issue of his
+affair. So he made his servants bring a mule and mounting Ali
+thereon, carried him to his lodging, he and one of his men. When
+he was safe at home, the merchant thanked God for his deliverance
+from that peril and sat awhile with him, comforting him; but Ali
+could not contain himself, for the violence of his passion and
+love-longing. Presently Aboulhusn rose to take leave of him and
+Ali said, 'O my brother, leave me not without news.' 'I hear and
+obey, answered Aboulhusn, and repairing to his shop, opened it
+and sat there all day, expecting news of Shemsennehar; but none
+came. He passed the night in his own house and when it was day,
+he went to Ali ben Bekkar's lodging and found him laid on his
+bed, with his friends about him and physicians feeling his pulse
+and prescribing this or that. When he saw Aboulhusn, he smiled,
+and the latter saluting him, enquired how he did and sat with him
+till the folk withdrew, when he said to him, 'What plight is
+this?' Quoth Ali, 'It was noised abroad that I was ill and I have
+no strength to rise and walk, so as to give the lie to the report
+of my sickness, but continue lying here as thou seest. So my
+friends heard of me and came to visit me. But, O my brother, hast
+thou seen the damsel or heard any news of her?' 'I have not seen
+her,' answered Aboulhusn, 'since we parted from her on the
+Tigris' bank; but, O my brother, beware of scandal and leave this
+weeping.' 'O my brother,' rejoined Ali, 'indeed, I have no
+control over myself ;' and he sighed and recited the following
+verses:
+
+She giveth unto her hand that whereof mine doth fail, A dye on
+     the wrist, wherewith she doth my patience assail
+She standeth in fear for her hand of the arrows she shoots from
+     her eyes; So, for protection, she's fain to clothe it in
+     armour of mail.[FN#10]
+The doctor in ignorance felt my pulse, and I said to him, "Leave
+     thou my hand alone; my heart it is that doth ail."
+Quoth she to the dream of the night, that visited me and fled,
+     "By Allah, describe him to me and bate me no jot of the
+     tale!"
+It answered, "I put him away, though he perish of thirst, and
+     said, 'Stand off from the watering-place!' So he could not
+     to drink avail."
+She poured forth the pearls of her tears from her eyes' narcissus
+     and gave The rose of her cheeks to drink and bit upon
+     jujubes[FN#11] with hail.[FN#12]
+
+Then he said, 'O Aboulhusn, I am smitten with an affliction, from
+which I deemed myself in surety, and there is no greater ease for
+me than death.' 'Be patient,' answered his friend: 'peradventure
+God will heal thee.' Then he went out from him and repairing
+to his shop, opened it, nor had he sat long, when up came
+Shemsennehar's hand-maid, who saluted him. He returned her salute
+and looking at her, saw that her heart was palpitating and that
+she was troubled and bore the traces of affliction: so he said to
+her, 'Thou art welcome. How is it with Shemsennehar?' 'I will
+tell thee,' answered she; 'but first tell me how doth Ali ben
+Bekkar.' So he told her all that had passed, whereat she was
+grieved and sighed and lamented and marvelled at his case. Then
+said she, 'My lady's case is still stranger than this; for when
+you went away, I turned back, troubled at heart for you and
+hardly crediting your escape, and found her lying prostrate in
+the pavilion, speaking not nor answering any, whilst the
+Commander of the Faithful sat by her head, unknowing what aided
+her and finding none who could give him news of her. She ceased
+not from her swoon till midnight, when she revived and the Khalif
+said to her, "What ails thee, O Shemsennehar, and what has
+behllen thee this night?" "May God make me thy ransom, O
+Commander of the Faithful!" answered she. "Verily, bile rose in
+me and lighted a fire in my body, so that I lost my senses for
+excess of pain, and I know no more." "What hast thou eaten
+to-day?" asked the Khalif. Quoth she, "I broke my fast on
+something I had never before eaten." Then she feigned to be
+recovered and calling for wine, drank it and begged the Khalif to
+resume his diversion. So he sat down again on his couch in the
+pavilion and made her sit as before. When she saw me, she asked
+me how you fared; so I told her what I had done with you and
+repeated to her the verses that Ali ben BeLkar had recited at
+parting, whereat she wept secretly, but presently stinted. After
+awhile, the Khalif ordered a damsel to sing, and she chanted the
+following verses:
+
+Life, as I live, has not been sweet since I did part from thee;
+     Would God I knew but how it fared with thee too after me!
+If thou be weeping tears of brine for sev'rance of our loves, Ah,
+     then, indeed, 'twere meet my tears of very blood should be.
+
+When my lady heard this, she fell back on the sofa in a swoon,
+and I seized her hand and sprinkled rose-water on her face, till
+she revived, when I said to her, "O my lady, do not bring ruin on
+thyself and on all thy house-hold, but be patient, by the life of
+thy beloved!" "Can aught befall me worse than death?" answered
+she. "That, indeed, I long for, for, by Allah, my ease is
+therein." Whilst we were talking, another damsel sang the
+following words of the poet:
+
+"Patience shall peradventure lead to solacement," quoth they; and
+     I, "Where's patience to be had, now he is gone away?"
+He made a binding covenant with me to cut the cords Of patience,
+     when we two embraced upon the parting day.
+
+When Shemsennehar heard this, she swooned away once more, which
+when the Khalif saw, he came to her in haste and commanded the
+wine-service to be removed and each damsel to return to her
+chamber. He abode with her the rest of the night, and when it was
+day, he sent for physicians and men of art and bade them medicine
+her, knowing not that her sickness arose from passion and
+love-longing. He tarried with her till he deemed her in a way of
+recovery, when he returned to his palace, sore concerned for her
+illness, and she bade me go to thee and bring her news of Ali ben
+Bekkar. So I came, leaving with her a number of her bodywomen;
+and this is what has delayed me from thee.' When Aboulhusn heard
+her story, he marvelled and said, 'By Allah, I have acquainted
+thee with his whole case; so now return to thy mistress; salute
+her for me and exhort her to patience and secrecy and tell her
+that I know it to be a hard matter and one that calls for prudent
+ordering.' She thanked him and taking leave of him, returned to
+her mistress, whilst he abode in his place till the end of the
+day, when he shut the shop and betaking himself to Ali ben
+Bekkar's house, knocked at the door. One of the servants came out
+and admitted him; and when Ali saw him, he smiled and re-joiced
+in his coming, saying, 'O Aboulhusn, thou hast made a weary man
+of me by thine absence from me this day; for indeed my soul is
+pledged to thee for the rest of my days.' 'Leave this talk,'
+answered the other. 'Were thy healing at the price of my hand, I
+would cut it off, ere thou couldst ask me; and could I ransom
+thee with my life, I had already laid it down for thee. This very
+day, Shemsennehar's handmaid has been with me and told me that
+what hindered her from coming before this was the Khalif's
+sojourn with her mistress;' and he went on to repeat to him all
+that the girl had told him of Shemsennehar; at which Ali lamented
+sore and wept and said to him, 'O my brother, I conjure thee by
+God to help me in this mine affliction and teach me how I shall
+do! Moreover, I beg thee of thy grace to abide with me this
+night, that I may have the solace of thy company.' Aboulhusn
+agreed to this; so they talked together till the night darkened,
+when Ali groaned aloud and lamented and wept copious tears,
+reciting the following verses:
+
+My eye holds thine image ever; thy name in my mouth is aye And
+     still in my heart is thy sojourn; so how canst thou absent
+     be?
+How sore is my lamentation for life that passes away Nor is
+     there, alas! in union a part for thee and me!
+
+And also these:
+
+She cleft with the sword of her glance the helm of my courage in
+     two And the mail of my patience she pierced with the spear
+     of her shape through and through.
+She unveiled to us, under the musk of the mole that is set on her
+     cheek, carnphor-whlte dawning a-break through a night of the
+     ambergris' hue.[FN#13]
+Her spirit was stirred to chagrin and she bit on cornelian[FN#14]
+     with pearls,[FN#15] Whose unions unvalued abide in a lakelet
+     of sugary dew.
+She sighed for impatience and smote with her palm on the snows of
+     her breast. Her hand left a scar; so I saw what never before
+     met my view;
+Pens fashioned of coral (her nails), that, dinting the book of
+     her breast Five lines, scored in ambergris ink, on a table
+     of crystal drew,
+O ye that go girded with steel, O swordsmen, I rede you beware Of
+     the stroke of her death-dealing eyes, that never looked yet
+     but they slew!
+And guard yourselves, ye of the spears, and fence off her thrust
+     from your hearts, If she tilt with the quivering lance of
+     her shape straight and slender at you.
+
+Then he gave a great cry and fell down in a swoon. Aboulhusn
+thought that his soul had departed his body and he ceased not
+from his swoon till daybreak, when he came to himself and talked
+with his friend, who sat with him till the forenoon. Then he left
+him and repaired to his shop. Hardly had he opened it, when the
+damsel came and stood before him. As soon as he saw her, she made
+a sign of salutation to him, which he returned; and she greeted
+him for her mistress, saying, 'How doth Ali ben BeLkar?' 'O good
+damsel,' replied he, 'ask me not how he doth nor what he suffers
+for excess of passion; for he sleeps not by night neither rests
+by day; wakefulness wasteth him and affliction hath gotten the
+mastery of him and his case is distressful to his friend.' Quoth
+she, 'My lady salutes thee and him, and indeed she is in worse
+case than he. She hath written him a letter and here it is. When
+she gave it me, she said to me, "Do not return save with the
+answer." So wilt thou go with me to him and get his reply?' 'I
+hear and obey,' answered Aboulhusn, and shutting his shop,
+carried her, by a different way to that by which he came, to Ali
+ben Bekkar's house, where he left her standing at the door and
+entered. When Ali saw him, he rejoiced, and Aboulhusn said to
+him, 'The reason of my coming is that such an one hath sent his
+handmaid to thee with a letter, containing his greeting to thee
+and excusing himself for that he hath tarried by reason of a
+certain matter that hath betided him. The girl stands even now at
+the door: shall she have leave to enter?' And he signed to him
+that it was Shemsennehar's slave-girl. Ali understood his sign
+and answered, 'Bring her in.' So she entered and when he saw her,
+he shook for joy and signed to her, as who should say, 'How doth
+thy lord, may God grant him health and recovery!' 'He is well,'
+answered she and pulling out the letter, gave it to him. He took
+it and kissing it, opened and read it; after which he handed it
+to Aboulhusn, who found written therein what follows:
+
+The messenger of me will give thee news aright; So let his true
+     report suffice thee for my sight.
+A lover hast thou left, for love of thee distraught; Her eyes
+     cease never-more from watching, day or night.
+I brace myself to bear affliction, for to foil The buffets of
+     ill-fate is given to no wight.
+But be thou of good cheer; for never shall my heart Forget thee
+     nor thy thought be absent from my spright.
+Look on thy wasted frame and what is fallen thereon And thence
+     infer of me and argue of my plight.
+
+To proceed: I have written thee a letter without fingers and
+speak to thee without tongue; to tell thee my whole state, I have
+an eye from which sleeplessness is never absent and a heart
+whence sorrowful thought stirs not. It is with me as I had never
+known health nor let sadness, neither beheld a fair face nor
+spent an hour of pleasant life; but it is as I were made up of
+love-longing and of the pain of passion and chagrin. Sickness is
+unceasing upon me and my yearning redoubles ever; desire
+increases still and longing rages in my heart. I pray God to
+hasten our union and dispel the trouble of my mind: and I would
+fain have thee write me some words, that I may solace myself
+withal. Moreover, I would have thee put on a becoming patience,
+till God give relief; and peace be on thee.' When Ali ben Bekkar
+had read this letter, he said, 'With what hand shall I write and
+with what tongue shall I make moan and lament? Indeed she addeth
+sickness to my sickness and draweth death upon my death!' Then he
+sat up and taking inkhorn and paper, wrote the following reply:
+'In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. O my lady,
+thy letter hath reached me and hath given ease to a mind worn out
+with passion and desire and brought healing to a wounded heart,
+cankered with languishment and sickness; for indeed I am become
+even as saith the poet:
+
+
+Bosom contracted and grievous thought dilated, Eyes ever wakeful
+     and body wearied aye;
+Patience cut off and separation ever present, Reason disordered
+     and heart all stolen away.
+
+Know that complaining quenches not the fire of calamity; but it
+eases him whom love-longing consumes and separation destroys; and
+so I comfort myself with the mention of the word "union;" for how
+well saith the poet:
+
+If love had not pain and pleasure, satisfaction and despite,
+     Where of messengers and letters were for lovers the
+     delight?'
+
+When he had made an end of this letter, he gave it to Aboulhusn,
+saying, 'Read it and give it to the damsel.' So he took it and
+read it and its words stirred his soul and its meaning wounded
+his vitals. Then he gave it to the girl, and Ali said to her,
+'Salute thy lady for me and tell her of my passion and longing
+and how love is blent with my flesh and my bones; and say to her
+that I need one who shall deliver me from the sea of destruction
+and save me from this dilemma; for of a truth fortune oppresseth
+me with its vicissitudes; and is there any helper to free me from
+its defilements?' So saying, he wept and the damsel wept for his
+weeping. Then she took leave of him and Aboulhusn went out with
+her and bade her farewell. So she went her way and he returned to
+his shop, which he opened, and sat down there, according to his
+wont; but as he sat, he found his bosom straitened and his heart
+oppressed and was troubled about his case. He ceased not from
+melancholy thought the rest of that day and night, and on the
+morrow he betook himself to Ali ben Bekkar, with whom he sat till
+the folk withdrew, when he asked him how he did. Ali began to
+complain of passion and descant upon the longing and distraction
+that possessed him, ending by repeating the following words of
+the poet:
+
+Folk have made moan of passion before me of past years, And live
+     and dead for absence have suffered pains and fears;
+But what within my bosom I harbour, with mine eyes I've never
+     seen the like of nor heard it with mine ears.
+
+And also these:
+
+I've suffered for thy love what Caïs, that madman[FN#16] hight,
+     Did never undergo for love of Leila bright.
+Yet chase I not the beasts o' the desert, as did he; For madness
+     hath its kinds for this and th' other wight.
+
+Quoth Aboulhusn, 'Never did I see or hear of one like unto thee
+in thy love! If thou sufferest all this transport and sickness
+and trouble, being enamoured of one who returns thy passion, how
+would it be with thee, if she whom thou lovest were contrary and
+perfidious? Meseems, thy case will be discovered, if thou abide
+thus.' His words pleased Ali ben Bekkar and he trusted in him and
+thanked him.
+
+Now Aboulhusn had a friend, to whom he had discovered his affair
+and that of Ali ben Bekkar and who knew that they were close
+friends; but none other than he was acquainted with what was
+betwixt them. He was wont to come to him and enquire how Ali did
+and after a little, he began to ask about the damsel; but
+Aboulhusn put him off, saying, 'She invited him to her and there
+was between him and her what passeth words, and this is the end
+of their affair; but I have devised me a plan which I would fain
+submit to thy judgment.' 'And what is that?' asked his friend. 'O
+my brother,' answered Aboulhusn, 'I am a man well known, having
+much dealing among the notables, both men and women, and I fear
+lest the affair of these twain get wind and this lead to my death
+and the seizure of my goods and the ruin of my repute and that of
+my family. Wherefore I purpose to get together my property and
+make ready forthright and repair to the city of Bassora and abide
+there, till I see what comes of their affair, that none may know
+of me, for passion hath mastered them and letters pass between
+them. Their go-between and confidant at this present is a
+slave-girl, who hath till now kept their counsel, but I fear lest
+haply she be vexed with them or anxiety get the better of her and
+she discover their case to some one and the matter be noised
+abroad and prove the cause of my ruin; for I have no excuse
+before God or man.' 'Thou acquaintest me with a perilous matter,'
+rejoined his friend, 'and one from the like of which the wise and
+understanding will shrink in affright. May God preserve thee and
+avert from thee the evil thou dreadest! Assuredly, thy resolve is
+a wise one.' So Aboulhusn returned home and betook himself to
+setting his affairs in order and preparing for his journey; nor
+had three days elapsed ere he made an end of his business and
+departed for Bassora. Three days after, his friend came to visit
+him, but finding him not, asked the neighbours of him; and they
+answered, 'He set out three days ago for Bassora, for he had
+dealings with merchants there and is gone thither to collect his
+debts; but he will soon return.' The man was confounded at the
+news and knew not whither to go; and he said in himself, 'Would I
+had not parted with Aboulhusn!' Then he bethought him how he
+should gain access to Ali ben Bekkar and repairing to the
+latter's lodging, said to one of his servants, 'Ask leave for me
+of thy master that I may go in and salute him.' So the servant
+went in and told his master and presently returning, invited the
+man to enter. So he went in and found Ali ben Bekkar lying back
+on the pillow and saluted him. Ali returned his greeting and bade
+him welcome; whereupon the other began to excuse himself for
+having held aloof from him all this while and added, 'O my lord,
+there was a close friendship between Aboulhusn and myself, so
+that I used to trust him with my secrets and could not brook to
+be severed from him an hour. It chanced but now that I was absent
+three days' space on certain business with a company of my
+friends, and when I came back, I found his shop shut; so I asked
+the neighbours of him and they replied, "He is gone to Bassora."
+Now I know he had no surer friend than thou; so I conjure thee,
+by Allah, to tell me what thou knowest of him.' When Ali heard
+this, his colour changed and he was troubled and answered, 'I
+never heard of his departure till this day, and if it be as thou
+sayest, weariness is come upon me.' And he repeated the following
+verses:
+
+Whilom I wept for what was past of joy and pleasant cheer, Whilst
+     yet the objects of my love were unremoved and near;
+But now my sad and sorry fate hath sundered me and them And I
+     to-day must weep for those that were to me most dear.
+
+Then he bent his head awhile in thought and presently raising it,
+said to one of his servants, 'Go to Aboulhusn'' house and enquire
+whether he be at home or gone on a journey. If they say, "He is
+abroad;" ask whither.' The servant went out and presently
+returning, said to his master, 'When I asked after Aboulhusn, his
+people told me that he was gone on a journey to Bassora; but I
+saw a damsel standing at the door, who knew me, though I knew her
+not, and said to me, "Art thou not servant to Ali ben Bekkar?"
+"Yes," answered I. And she said, "I have a message for him from
+one who is the dearest of all folk to him." So she came with me
+and is now at the door.' Quoth Ali, 'Bring her in.' So the
+servant went out and brought her in, and the man who was with Ali
+ben Bekkar looked at her and found her comely. She came up to Ali
+and saluting him, talked with him privily; and he from time to
+time exclaimed with an oath and swore that he had not done as she
+avouched. Then she took leave of him and went away. When she was
+gone, Aboulhusn's friend, who was a jeweller, took occasion to
+speak and said to Ali ben Bekkar, 'Doubtless, the women of the
+palace have some claim upon thee or thou hast dealings with the
+Khalif's household?' 'Who told thee of this?' asked Ali. 'I
+know it by yonder damsel,' replied the jeweller, 'who is
+Shemsennehar's slave-girl; for she came to me awhile since with a
+written order for a necklace of jewels; and I sent her a costly
+one.' When Ali heard this, he was greatly troubled, so that the
+jeweller feared for his life, but after awhile he recovered
+himself and said, 'O my brother, I conjure thee by Allah to tell
+me truly how thou knowest her.' 'Do not press me as to this,'
+replied the other; and Ali said, 'Indeed, I will not desist from
+thee till thou tell me the truth.' 'Then,' said the jeweller, 'I
+will tell thee all, that thou mayst not distrust me nor be
+alarmed at what I said, nor will I conceal aught from thee, but
+will discover to thee the truth of the matter, on condition that
+thou possess me with the true state of thy case and the cause of
+thy sickness.' Then he told him all that had passed between
+Aboulhusn and himself, adding that he had acted thus only out of
+friendship for him and of his desire to serve him and assuring
+him that he would keep his secret and venture life and goods in
+his service. So Ali in turn told him his story and added, 'By
+Allah, O my brother, nought moved me to keep my case secret from
+thee and others but my fear lest the folk should lift the veils
+of protection from certain persons.' 'And I,' rejoined the
+jeweller, 'desired not to foregather with thee but of the great
+affection I bear thee and my zeal for thee in every case and my
+compassion for the anguish thy heart endureth for severance.
+Haply, I may be a comforter to thee in the room of my friend
+Aboulhusn, during his absence. So take heart and be of good
+cheer.' Ali thanked him and repeated the following verses:
+
+If, 'I am patient,' I say, since forth from me he went, My tears
+     give me the lie and the stress of my lament.
+And how shall I hide the tears, that flow in streams adown The
+     table of my cheek for his evanishment?
+
+Then he was silent awhile, and presently said to the jeweller,
+'Knowest thou what the girl whispered to me?' 'Not I, by Allah, O
+my lord,' answered he. Quoth Ali, 'She would have it that I had
+counselled Aboulhusn to go to Bassora and that I had used this
+device to put a stop to our correspondence and intercourse. I
+swore to her that this was not so: but she would not credit me
+and went away to her mistress, persisting in her injurious
+suspicions; and indeed I know not what I shall do without
+Aboulhusn, for she inclined to him and gave ear to his word.' 'O
+my brother,' answered the jeweller, 'I guessed as much from her
+manner; but, if it please God the Most High, I will help thee to
+thy desire.' 'Who can help me,' rejoined Ali, 'and how wilt thou
+do with her, when she takes umbrage like a wilding of the
+desert?' 'By Allah,' exclaimed the jeweller, 'needs must I
+do my utmost endeavour to help thee and contrive to make her
+acquaintance, without exposure or mischief!' Then he asked leave
+to depart, and Ali said, 'O my brother, see thou keep my counsel'
+And he looked at him and wept. The jeweller bade him farewell and
+went away, knowing not what he should do to further his wishes;
+but as he went along pondering the matter, he spied a letter
+lying in the road, and taking it up, found that it bore the
+following superscription, 'From the least worthy of lovers to the
+most excellent of beloved ones.' He opened it and found these
+words written therein:
+
+'The messenger brought me a promise of union and delight; But yet
+     that he had mistaken 'twas constant in my spright.
+Wherefore I joyed not: but sorrow was added unto me, For that I
+     knew my envoy had read thee not aright.
+
+To proceed: Know, O my lord, that I am ignorant of the cause of
+the breaking off of the correspondence between thee and me: but
+if it arise from cruelty on thy part, I will meet it with
+fidelity, and if love have departed from thee, I will remain
+constant to my love in absence for I am with thee even as says
+the poet:
+
+Be haughty and I will be patient; capricious, I'll bear; turn
+     away, I'll draw near thee; be harsh, I'll be abject;
+     command, I'll give ear and obey.
+
+As he was reading, up came the slave-girl, looking right and
+left, and seeing the letter in the jeweller's hand, said to him,
+'O my lord, this letter is one I let fall.' He made her no
+answer, but walked on, and she followed him, till he came to his
+house, when he entered and she after him, saying, 'O my lord,
+give me back the letter, for it fell from me.' He turned to her
+and said, 'O good slave-girl, fear not, neither grieve, for
+verily God the Protector loves to protect [His creatures]; but
+tell me the truth of thy case, for I am one who keepeth counsel.
+I conjure thee by an oath to hide from me nothing of thy lady's
+affair; for haply God shall help me to further her wishes and
+make easy what is hard by my hand' 'O my lord,' answered she,
+'indeed a secret is not lost whereof thou art the keeper; nor
+shall any affair come to nought for which thou strivest. Know
+that my heart inclines to thee, and do thou give me the letter.'
+Then she told him the whole story, adding, 'God is witness to
+what I say.' 'Thou hast spoken truly,' said the jeweller, 'for I
+am acquainted with the root of the matter.' Then he told her how
+he had come by Ali ben Bekkar's secret and related to her all
+that had passed, whereat she rejoiced; and they agreed that she
+should carry the letter to Ali and return and tell the jeweller
+all that passed. Accordingly he gave her the letter and she took
+it and sealed it up as it was before, saying, 'My mistress
+Shemsennehar gave it to me sealed; and when he hath read it and
+given me the reply, I will bring it to thee.' Then she repaired
+to Ali ben Bekkar, whom she found waiting, and gave him the
+letter. He read it and writing an answer, gave it to the damsel.
+She carried it to the jeweller, who broke the seal and read what
+was written therein, as follows:
+
+'Neglected are our messages, for lo, our go-between, That wont to
+     keep our counsel erst, is wroth with us, I ween.
+So choose us out a messenger, a true and trusty wight, Yea, one
+     of whom fidelity, not falsehood, is well seen.
+
+To proceed: Verily, I have not entered upon perfidy nor left
+fidelity; I have not used cruelty, neither have I put off loyalty
+nor broken faith. I have not ceased from affection nor severed
+myself from grief; neither have I found aught after separation
+but misery and ruin. I know nothing of that thou avouchest nor do
+I love aught but that which thou lovest. By Him who knoweth the
+secret of the hidden things, I have no desire but to be united
+with her whom I love and my one business is the concealment of my
+passion, though sickness consume me. This is the exposition of my
+case and peace be on thee.' When the jeweller read this letter,
+he wept sore and the girl said to him, 'Leave not this place,
+till I return to thee; for he suspects me of such and such
+things, in which he is excusable; so it is my desire to bring
+thee in company with my mistress Shemsennehar, howsoever I may
+contrive it. I left her prostrate, awaiting my return with the
+answer.' Then she went away and the jeweller passed the night in
+a state of agitation. On the morrow he prayed the morning prayer
+and sat awaiting the girl's coming. Presently she came in to him,
+rejoicing, and he said to her, 'What news, O damsel?' Quoth she,
+'I gave my mistress Ali ben Bekkar's reply, and when she read it,
+she was troubled in her mind; but I said to her, "O my lady, have
+no fear of the hindrance of your affair by reason of Aboulhusn's
+absence, for I have found one to take his place, better than he
+and more of worth and apt to keep secrets." Then I told her what
+was between Aboulhusn and thyself and how thou camest by his
+confidence and that of Ali ben Bekkar and how I met with thee and
+showed her how matters stood betwixt thee and me. Now she is
+minded to have speech of thee, that she may be assured by thy
+words of the covenants between thee and him; so do thou make
+ready to go with me to her forthwith. When the jeweller heard
+the girl's words, he saw that what she proposed was a grave
+matter and a great peril, not lightly to be undertaken or entered
+upon, and said to her, 'O my stster, verily, I am of the common
+people and not like unto Aboulhusn; for he was of high rank and
+repute and was wont to frequent the Khalif's household, because
+of their need of his wares. As for me, he used to talk with me,
+and I trembled before him the while. So, if thy mistress would
+have speech of me, it must be in some place other than the
+Khalif's palace and far from the abode of the Commander of the
+Faithful; for my reason will not let me do what thou proposest.'
+Accordingly, he refused to go with her, and she went on to assure
+him of impunity, saying, 'Fear not,' and pressed him, till he
+consented to accompany her; but, when he would have risen, his
+legs bent under him and his hands trembled and he exclaimed, 'God
+forbid that I should go with thee! Indeed, I cannot do this.'
+'Reassure thyself,' answered she; 'if it irk thee to go to the
+Khalif's palace and thou canst not muster up courage to accompany
+me, I will make her come to thee; so stir not from thy place till
+I return to thee with her.' Then she went away and returning
+after a little, said to the jeweller, 'Look that there be with
+thee neither slave-girl nor man-slave nor any other.' Quoth he,
+'I have but an old negress-slave, who waits on me.' So she locked
+the door between the jeweller and his negress and sent his
+man-servants out of the house, after which she went out and
+presently returned, followed by a lady, who filled the house with
+the sweet scent of her perfumes. When the jeweller saw her, he
+sprang to his feet and set her a couch and a cushion, and she sat
+down. He seated himself before her and she abode awhile without
+speaking, till she was rested, when she unveiled her face and it
+seemed to the jeweller as if the sun had risen in his house. Then
+said she to her slave-girl, 'Is this the man of whom thou spakest
+to me?' 'Yes,' answered she; whereupon the lady turned to the
+jeweller and said to him, 'How is it with thee?' 'Well,' replied
+he. 'May God preserve thy life and that of the Commander of the
+Faithful!' Quoth she, 'Thou hast moved us to come to thee and
+possess thee with our secret.' Then she questioned him of
+his household and family; and he discovered to her all his
+circumstance and said to her, 'I have another house, which I have
+set apart for entertaining my friends and brethren, and there is
+none there save the old negress, of whom I spoke to thy handmaid.'
+She asked him how he came first to know of the matter and what
+had made Aboulhusn absent himself, so he told her all and she
+bewailed the loss of Aboulhusn and said to the jeweller, 'Know
+that the minds of men are at one in desires, and however they may
+differ in estate, men are still men and have need one of the
+other: an affair is not accomplished without speech nor is a wish
+fulfilled save by endeavour: ease comes not but after weariness
+nor is succour compassed save by the help of the generous. Now I
+have trusted my secret to thee and it is in thy power to expose
+or shield us; I say no more, because of thy generosity of nature.
+Thou knowest that this my hand-maid keeps my counsel and is
+therefore in high favour with me and I have chosen her to
+transact my affairs of importance. So let none be worthier in thy
+sight than she and acquaint her with thine affair. Be of good
+cheer, for thou art safe from what thou fearest on our account,
+and there is no shut place but she shall open it to thee. She
+shall bring thee messages from me to Ali ben Bekkar, and thou
+shalt be our go-between.' So saying, she rose, scarcely able to
+stand, and the jeweller forewent her to the door of the house,
+after which he returned and sat down again in his place, having
+seen of her beauty what dazzled him and heard of her speech what
+confounded his wit and witnessed of her grace and courtesy what
+bewitched him. He sat musing on her perfections till his trouble
+subsided, when he called for food and ate enough to stay his
+stomach. Then he changed his clothes and repairing to Ali ben
+Bekkar's house, knocked at the door. The servants hastened to
+admit him and brought him to their master, whom he found laid
+upon his bed. When he saw the jeweller, he said to him, 'Thou
+hast tarried long from me and hast added concern to my concern.'
+Then he dismissed his servants and bade shut the doors, after
+which he said to the jeweller, 'By Allah, O my brother, I have
+not closed my eyes since I saw thee last; for the slave-girl
+came to me yesterday with a sealed letter from her mistress
+Shemsennehar;' and went on to tell him all that had passed,
+adding, 'Indeed, I am perplexed concerning mine affair and my
+patience fails me: for Aboulhusn was of comfort to me, because he
+knew the girl.' When the jeweller heard this, he laughed and Ali
+said, 'Why dost thou laugh at my words, thou in whom I rejoiced
+and to whom I looked for succour against the shifts of fortune?'
+Then he sighed and wept and repeated the following verses:
+
+Many an one laughs at my weeping, whenas he looks on my pain. Had
+     he but suffered as I have, he, also, to weep would be fain.
+No one hath ruth on the smitten, for that he is doomed to endure
+     But he who alike is afflicted and long in affliction hath
+     lain
+My passion, my yearning, my sighing, my care and distraction end
+     woe Are all for a loved one, whose dwelling is in my heart's
+     innermost fane.
+He made his abode in my bosom and never will leave it again; And
+     yet with my love to foregather I weary and travail in vain.
+I know of no friend I can choose me to stand in his stead unto
+     me, Nor ever, save him, a companion, to cherish and love
+     have I ta'en.[FN#17]
+
+When the jeweller heard this, he wept also and told him all that
+had passed betwixt himself and the slave-girl and her mistress,
+since he left him, whilst Ali gave ear to his speech, and at
+every fresh word his colour shifted 'twixt white and red and his
+body grew now stronger and now weaker, till he came to the end of
+his tale, when Ali wept and said to him, 'O my brother, I am a
+lost man in any event. Would my end were near, that I might be at
+rest from ail this! But I beg thee, of thy favour, to be my
+helper and comforter in all my affairs, till God accomplish
+His will; and I will not gainsay thee in aught.' Quoth the
+jeweller, 'Nothing will quench the fire of thy passion save union
+with her whom thou lovest: and this must not be in this perilous
+place, but in a house of mine other than in which the girl and
+her mistress came to me. This place she chose for herself, to the
+intent that ye may there foregather and complain one to the other
+of what you have suffered from the pangs of love.' 'O my lord,'
+answered Ali ben Bekkar, 'do as thou wilt and may God requite
+thee for me! What thou deemest fit will be right: but be not long
+about it, lest I die of this anguish.' So I abode with him (quoth
+the jeweller) that night, entertaining him with converse, till
+daybreak, when I prayed the morning prayers and going out from
+him, returned to my house. Hardly had I done so, when the damsel
+came up and saluted me. I returned her greeting and told her what
+had passed between Ali ben Bekkar and myself; and she said, 'Know
+that the Khalif has left us and there is none in our lodging, and
+it is safer for us and better.' 'True,' replied I; 'yet it is not
+like my house yonder, which is both surer and fitter for us.' 'Be
+it as thou wilt,' rejoined she. 'I will go to my lady and tell
+her what thou sayest.' So she went away and presently returned
+and said to me, 'It is to be as thou sayest: so make us ready the
+place and expect us.' Then she took out a purse of diners and
+said to me, 'My lady salutes thee and bids thee take this and
+provide therewith what the case calls for.' But I swore that I
+would have nought of it; so she took the purse and returning to
+her mistress, said to her, 'He would not take the money, but gave
+it back to me.' 'No matter,' answered Shemsennehar. As soon as
+she was gone, I betook myself to my other house and transported
+thither all that was needful, by way of furniture and utensils
+and rich carpets and vessels of china and glass and gold and
+silver, and made ready meat and drink for the occasion. When the
+damsel came and saw what I had done, it pleased her and she bade
+me fetch Ali ben Bekkar; but I said, 'None shall fetch him but
+thou.' Accordingly she went to him and brought him back, dressed
+to perfection and looking his best. I met him and welcomed him
+and making him sit down on a couch befitting his condition, set
+before him sweet-scented flowers in vases of china and crystal of
+various colours. Then I set on a tray of vari-coloured meats, of
+such as rejoice the heart with their sight, and sat talking with
+him and diverting him, whi'st the girl went away and was absent
+till after sundown, when she returned with Shemsennehar, attended
+by two maids and no more. When Ali saw her, he rose and embraced
+her and they both fell down in a swoon. They lay awhile
+insensible, then, coming to themselves, began to complain to each
+other of the pains of separation. They sat awhile, conversing
+with eloquence and tenderness, after which they perfumed
+themselves and fell to thanking me for what I had done. Said I,
+'Have ye a mind for food?' 'Yes,' answered they. So I set food
+before them, and they ate till they were satisfied and washed
+their hands, after which I carried them to another room and
+brought them wine. So they drank and grew merry with wine and
+inclined to one another, and Shemsennehar said to me, 'O my lord,
+complete thy kindness by bringing us a lute or other instrument
+of music that the measure of our joy may be filled.' 'On my head
+and eyes,' answered I and rising, brought her a lute. She took it
+and tuned it, then laying it in her lap, made masterly music, at
+once exciting to sorrowful thoughts and cheering the afflicted;
+after which she sang the following verses:
+
+I wake and I watch till it seemeth as I were in love with unrest
+     And I waste and I languish, as sickness, meseemeth, were
+     born in my breast.
+The tides of my tears, ever flowing, have burnt up my cheeks with
+     their heat: Would I knew if our loves, after sev'rance, with
+     union again will be blest!
+
+
+She went on to sing song after song, choice words set to various
+airs, till our minds were bewitched and it seemed as if the very
+room would dance with excess of pleasure for the marvel of her
+sweet singing and there was nor thought nor reason left in us.
+When we had sat awhile and the cup had gone round amongst us, the
+damsel took the lute and sang the following verses to a lively
+measure:
+
+My love a visit promised me and did fulfil his plight One night
+     that I shall reckon aye for many and many a night.
+O night of raptures that the fates vouchsafed unto us twain;
+     Unheeded of the railing tribe and in the spies' despite!
+My loved one lay the night with me and I of my content Clipped
+     him with my left hand, while he embraced me with his right.
+I strained him to my breast and drank his lips' sweet wine, what
+     while I of the honey and of him who sells it had delight.
+
+Whilst we were thus drowned in the sea of gladness, in came a
+little maid, trembling, and said, 'O my lady, look how you may go
+away, for the folk are upon us and have surrounded the house, and
+we know not the cause of this.' When I heard this, I arose in
+affright, and behold, in came a slave-girl, who said, 'Calamity
+hath overtaken you!' At the same moment, the door was burst open
+and there rushed in upon us half a score masked men, with
+poniards in their hands and swords by their sides, and as many
+more behind them. When I saw this, the world, for all its
+wideness, was straitened on me and I looked to the door, but saw
+no way out; so I sprang (from the roof) into the house of one of
+my neighbours and hid myself there. Thence I heard a great uproar
+in my house and concluded that the Khalif had gotten wind of us
+and sent the chief of the police to seize us and bring us before
+him. So I abode confounded and remained in my place, without
+daring to move, till midnight, when the master of the house
+became aware of me and being greatly affrighted, made at me with
+a drawn sword in his hand, saying, 'Who is this in my house?'
+Quoth I, 'I am thy neighbour, the jeweller;' and he knew me and
+held his hand. Then he fetched a light and coming up to me, said,
+'O my brother, indeed that which hath befallen thee this night is
+grievous to me.' 'O my brother,' answered I, 'tell me who it was
+entered my house and broke in the door, for I fled to thee, not
+knowing what was the matter.' Quoth he, 'The robbers, who visited
+our neighbours yesterday and slew such an one and took his goods,
+saw thee yesterday bringing hither furniture and what not; so
+they broke in upon thee and stole thy goods and slew thy guests.'
+Then we arose, he and I, and repaired to my house, which I found
+empty and stripped of everything, whereat I was confounded and
+said to myself, 'I care not for the loss of the gear, though
+indeed I borrowed part thereof of my friends; yet is there no
+harm in that, for they know my excuse in the loss of my goods and
+the pillage of my house; but as for Ali ben Bekkar and the
+Khalif's favourite, I fear lest their case get wind and this
+cause the loss of my life.' So I turned to my neighbour and said
+to him, 'Thou art my brother and my neighbour and wilt cover my
+nakedness; what dost thou counsel me to do?' 'I counsel thee to
+wait,' answered he; 'for they who entered thy house and stole thy
+goods have murdered the better part of a company from the
+Khalif's palace, besides some of the police, and the Khalif's
+officers are now in quest of them on every side. Haply they will
+chance on them and so thy wish will come about without effort of
+thine.' Then I returned to my other house, that in which I dwelt,
+saying to myself, 'This that hath befallen me is what Aboulhusn
+feared and from which he fled to Bassora.' Presently the pillage
+of my pleasure-house was noised abroad among the folk, and they
+came to me from all sides, some rejoicing in my misfortune and
+others excusing me and condoling with me, whilst I bewailed
+myself to them and ate not neither drank for grief. As I sat,
+repenting me of what I had done, one of my servants came in to me
+and said, 'There is a man at the door, who asks for thee; and I
+know him not.' So I went out and found at the door a man whom I
+knew not. I saluted him, and he said to me, 'I have somewhat to
+say to thee privily.' So I brought him in and said to him, 'What
+hast thou to say to me?' Quoth he, 'Come with me to thine other
+house.' 'Doss thou then know my other house,' asked I. 'I know
+all about thee,' replied he, 'and I know that also wherewith God
+will dispel thy concern.' So I said to myself, 'I will go with
+him whither he will;' and we went out and walked on till we came
+to my other house, which when he saw, he said to me, 'It is
+without door or doorkeeper, and we cannot sit in it; so come thou
+with me to another house.' Accordingly, he went on from place to
+place and I with him, till the night overtook us. Yet I put no
+question to him and we ceased not to walk on, till we reached the
+open country. He kept saying, 'Follow me,' and quickened his
+pace, whilst I hurried after him, heartening myself to go on.
+Presently; we came to the river-bank, where he took boat with me,
+and the boatman rowed us over to the other side. Here my guide
+landed and I after him and he took my hand and led me to a street
+I had never before entered, nor do I know in what quarter it is.
+Presently he stopped at the door of a house, and opening, entered
+and made me enter with him; after which he bolted the door with a
+bolt of iron and carried me along the vestibule, till he brought
+me in presence of ten men, brothers, as they were one and the
+same man. We saluted them and they returned our greeting and bade
+us be seated; so we sat down. Now I was like to die for very
+weariness; so they brought rose-water and sprinkled it on my
+face, after which they gave me to drink and set food before me,
+of which some of them ate with me. Quoth I to myself, 'Were there
+aught of harm in the food, they would not eat with me.' So I ate,
+and when we had washed our hands, each of us returned to his
+place. Then said they to me, 'Dost thou know us?' 'I never in my
+life saw you nor this your abode,' answered I; 'nay, I know not
+even him who brought me hither.' Said they, 'Tell us thy case and
+lie not in aught.' 'Know then,' rejoined I, 'that my case is
+strange and my affair marvellous: but do you know aught of me?'
+'Yes,' answered they; 'it was we took thy goods yesternight and
+carried off thy friend and her who was singing to him.' 'May God
+let down the veil of His protection over you!' said I. 'But
+where is my friend and she who was singing to him?' They pointed
+to two doors and replied, 'They are yonder, each in a room apart;
+but, by Allah, O our brother, the secret of their case is known
+to none but thee, for from the time we brought them hither, we
+have not seen them nor questioned them of their condition, seeing
+them to be persons of rank and dignity. This it was that hindered
+us from putting them to death: so tell us the truth of their case
+and be assured of their safety and thine own.' When I heard this,
+I was like to die of fright and said to them, 'O my brethren, if
+generosity were lost, it would not be found save with you and had
+I a secret, which I feared to divulge, your breasts alone should
+have the keeping of it.' And I went on to expatiate to them in
+this sense, till I saw that frankness would profit me more than
+concealment; so I told them the whole story. When they heard it,
+they said, 'And is this young man Ali ben Bekkar and this damsel
+Shemsennehar?' 'Yes,' answered I. This was grievous to them and
+they rose and made their excuses to the two lovers. Then they said
+to me, 'Part of what we took from thy house is spent, but here is
+what is left of it.' So saying, they gave me back the most part
+of my goods and engaged to return them to my house and restore me
+the rest. So my heart was set at ease, and some of them abode
+with me, whilst the rest fetched Ali ben Bekkar and Shemsennehar,
+who were well-nigh dead for excess of fear. Then they all sallied
+forth with us and I went up to the two lovers and saluting them,
+said to them, 'What became of the damsel and the two maids?' 'We
+know nothing of them,' answered they. Then we walked on till we
+came to the river-bank, where we all embarked in the boat that
+had brought me over before, and the boatman rowed us to the other
+side; but hardly had we landed and sat down on the bank to rest,
+when a troop of horse swooped down on us like eagles and
+surrounded us on all sides, whereupon the robbers with us sprang
+up in haste and the boatman, putting back for them, took them in
+and pushed off into mid-stream, leaving us on the bank, unable to
+move or abide still. The horseman said to us, 'Whence come ye?'
+And we were perplexed for an answer; but I said, 'Those ye saw
+with us are rogues: we know them not. As for us, we are singers,
+whom they would have taken to sing to them, nor could we win free
+of them, save by subtlety and fair words, and they have but now
+left us.' They looked at Ali and Shemsennehar and said to me,
+'Thou hast not spoken sooth; but if thy tale be true, tell us who
+you are and whence you come and in what quarter you dwell.' I
+knew not what to answer, but Shemsennehar sprang up and
+approaching the captain of the troop, spoke with him privily,
+whereupon he dismounted and setting her on his steed, began to
+lead it along by the bridle. Two of his men did the like with Ali
+ben Bekkar and myself, and they fared on with us, till they
+reached a certain part of the river-bank, when the captain sang
+out in jargon and there came to us a number of men with two
+boats. The captain embarked with Shemsennehar in one boat and
+went his way, whilst the rest of his men put off in the other,
+with Ali ben Bekkar and myself, and rowed on with us, we the
+while enduring the agonies of death for excess of fear, till they
+came to a place whence there was a way to our quarter. Here we
+landed and walked on, escorted by some of the horsemen, till we
+came to Ali ben Bekkar's house, where they took leave of us and
+went their way. We entered the house and abode there, unable to
+stir and knowing not night from day, till nightfall of the next
+day, when I came to myself and saw Ali ben Bekkar stretched out
+without sense or motion, and the men and women of his household
+weeping over him. When they saw that I had recovered my senses,
+some of them came to me and helping me sit up, said to me, 'Tell
+us what hath befallen our son and how he came in this plight.' 'O
+folk,' answered I, 'hearken to me and importune me not; but be
+patient and he will come to himself and tell you his story for
+himself.' And I was round with them and made them afraid of a
+scandal between us; but as we were thus, behold, Ali ben Bekkar
+moved in his bed, whereat his friends rejoiced and the [most part
+of the] folk withdrew from him; but his people forbade me to go
+away. Then they sprinkled rose-water on his face, and he
+presently revived and breathed the air, whereupon they questioned
+him of his case. He essayed to answer them, but could not speak
+forthright and signed to them to let me go home. So they let me
+go, and I returned to my own house, supported by two men and
+hardly crediting my escape. When my people saw me thus, they fell
+a-shrieking and buffeting their faces; but I signed to them to
+hold their peace, and they were silent. Then the two men went
+their way and I threw myself down on my bed, where I lay the rest
+of the night and awoke not till the forenoon, when I found my
+people collected round me and they said, 'What hath befallen thee
+and what (evil) hath smitten thee with its mischief?' Quoth I,
+'Bring me to drink.' So they brought me wine, and I drank what I
+would and said to them, 'Wine got the better of me and it was
+this caused the state in which ye saw me' Then they went away,
+and I made my excuses to my friends and asked if any of the goods
+that had been stolen from my other house had been returned.'
+'Yes,' answered they. 'Some of them have come back: and the
+manner of their coming was that a man came and threw them down
+in the doorway and we saw him not.' So I comforted myself and
+abode two days, unable to rise, at the end of which time I
+began to regain strength and went to the bath, for I was worn
+out with fatigue and troubled at heart for Ali ben Bekkar and
+Shemsennehar, because I had no news of them all this time and
+could neither get to Ali's house nor rest in my own, out of fear
+for myself. And I repented to God the Most High of what I had
+done and praised Him for my safety. Then I bethought me to go to
+such and such a place and see the folk and divert myself; so I
+went to the stuff-market and sat awhile with a friend of mine
+there. When I rose to go, I saw a woman standing in my road; so I
+looked at her, and behold it was Shemsennehar's slave-girl. When
+I saw her, the world grew dark in my eyes and I hurried on. She
+followed me, but I was afraid and fled from her, trembling
+whenever I looked at her, whilst she pursued me, saying, 'Stop,
+that I may tell thee somewhat.' But I heeded her not and went on,
+till I reached a mosque in an unfrequented spot, and she said to
+me, 'Enter the mosque, that I may say a word to thee, and fear
+nothing.' And she conjured me: so I entered the mosque, and she
+after me. I prayed a two-bow prayer, after which I turned to her,
+sighing, and said, 'What dost thou want?' She asked me how I did,
+and I told her all that had befallen myself and Ali ben Bekkar
+and asked her for news of herself. 'Know,' answered she, 'that
+when I and the two maids saw the robbers break open thy door, we
+doubted not but they were the Khalif's officers and would seize
+us and our mistress and we perish forthright: so we fled over the
+roofs and casting ourselves down from a high place, took refuge
+with some people, who harboured us and brought us to the palace,
+where we arrived in the sorriest of plights. We concealed our
+case and abode on coals of fire till nightfall, when I opened the
+river-gate and calling the boatman who had carried us the night
+before, said to him, "I know not what is come of my mistress; so
+take me in thy boat, that we may seek her on the river: it may be
+I shall chance on some news of her." So he took me into the boat
+and rowed about with me till midnight, when I spied a boat making
+towards the water-gate, with one man rowing and another standing
+up and a woman lying prostrate between them. When they reached
+the shore and the woman landed, I looked at her, and behold, it
+was Shemsennehar. So I landed and joined her, dazed for joy,
+after having lost hope of her. When I came up to her, she bade me
+give the man who had brought her thither a thousand diners, and I
+and the two maids carried her in and laid her on her bed, and she
+at death's door. She abode thus all that day and the next day and
+I forbade the eunuchs and women to go in to her; but on the third
+day, she revived and I found her as she had come out of the
+grave. So I sprinkled rose-water upon her face and changed her
+clothes and washed her hands and feet, nor did I cease to
+persuade her, till I brought her to eat a little and drink some
+wine, though she had no mind to it. As soon as she had breathed
+the air and strength began to return to her, I fell to upbraiding
+her, saying, "Consider, O my lady, and have pity on thyself; thou
+seest what has betided us Surely, enough of evil hath befallen
+thee and thou hast been nigh upon death." "By Allah, O good
+damsel," replied she, "death were easier to me than what hath
+befallen me; for I had renounced all hope of deliverance and gave
+myself up for lost. When the robbers took us from the jeweller's
+house, they asked me who I was; I replied, 'I am a singing-girl,'
+and they believed me. Then they said to Ali ben Bekkar, 'And who
+art thou and what is thy condition?' And he answered, 'I am of
+the common people.' So they carried us to their abode, and we
+hurried on with them for fear; but when they had us with them in
+the house, they looked at me and seeing the clothes I wore and my
+necklaces and jewellery, believed me not and said to me, 'No
+singing-girl ever had such jewels as these; tell us the truth of
+thy case.' I returned them no answer, saying in myself, 'Now will
+they kill me for my clothes and ornaments;' and I spoke not a
+word. Then they turned to Ali ben Bekkar and said to him, 'And
+thou, who and whence art thou? For thy favour is not as that of
+the common folk.' But he was silent and we ceased not to keep our
+counsel and weep, till God inclined the rogues' hearts towards us
+and they said to us, 'Who is the owner of the house in which you
+were?' 'Such an one, the jeweller,' answered we; whereupon quoth
+one of them, 'I know him well and where he lives, and I will
+engage to bring him to you forthright.' Then they agreed to set
+me in a place by myself and Ali ben Bekkar in a place by himself,
+and said to us, 'Be at rest and fear not lest your secret be
+divulged; ye are safe from us.' Meanwhile their comrade went away
+and returned with the jeweller, who made known to them our case,
+and we joined company with him; after which one of the band
+fetched a boat, in which they embarked us all three and rowing us
+over the river, landed us on the opposite bank and went away;
+whereupon up came a horse-patrol and asked us who we were. So I
+spoke with the captain and said to him, 'I am Shemsennehar, the
+Khalif's favourite; I had drunken wine and went out to visit
+certain of my acquaintance of the wives of the Viziers, when
+yonder rogues laid hold of me and brought me hither; but when
+they saw you, they fled. I met these men with them; so do thou
+escort me and them to a place of safety and I will requite thee.'
+When the captain heard my speech, he knew me and alighting,
+mounted me on his horse; and in like manner did two of his men
+with Ali and the jeweller. And now my heart is on fire on their
+account, especially for Ali's friend the jeweller: so do thou go
+to him and salute him and ask him for news of Ali ben Bekkar." I
+spoke to her and blamed her and bade her beware, saying' "O my
+lady, have a care for thyself and give up this intrigue." But she
+was angered at my words and cried out at me. So I came forth in
+quest of thee, but found thee not and dared not go to Ali's
+house; so stood watching for thee, that I might ask thee of him
+and know how it is with him. And I beg thee, of thy favour, to
+take some money of me, for belike thou borrowedst of thy friends
+some of the goods, and as they are lost, it behoves thee to make
+them compensation.' 'I hear and obey,' answered I. 'Go on.' And I
+walked with her till we drew near my house, when she said to me,
+'Wait till I return to thee.' So she went away and presently
+returned with a bag of money, which she handed to me, saying, 'O
+my lord, where shall we meet?' Quoth I, 'I will go to my house at
+once and suffer hardship for thy sake and contrive how thou mayst
+win to him, for access to him is difficult at this present.' 'Let
+me know where I shall come to thee,' said she, and I answered,
+'In my other house; I will go thither forthright and have the
+doors repaired and the place made secure again, and henceforth we
+will meet there.' Then she took leave of me and went her way,
+whilst I carried the money home, and counting it, found it five
+thousand diners. I gave my people some of it and made good their
+loss to all who had lent me aught, after which I took my servants
+and repaired to my other house, with builders and carpenters,
+who restored it to its former state. Moreover, I placed my
+negress-slave there and forgot what had befallen me. Then I
+repaired to Ali ben Bekkar's house, where his servants accosted
+me, saying, 'Our lord calls for thee day and night and hath
+promised his freedom to whichever of us brings thee to him; so we
+have been in quest of thee everywhere, but knew not where to find
+thee. Our master is by way of recovery, but he has frequent
+relapses, and when he revives, he names thee and says, "Needs
+must ye bring him to me, though but for an instant," and sinks
+back into his torpor.' So I went in to Ali ben Bekkar and finding
+him unable to speak, sat down at his head, whereupon he opened
+his eyes and seeing me, wept and said, 'Welcome and fair
+welcome!' I raised him and making him sit up, strained him to my
+bosom, and he said, 'Know, O my brother, that, since I took to my
+bed, I have not sat up till now: praised be God that I see thee
+again!' Presently, little by little, I made him stand up and walk
+a few steps, after which I changed his clothes and he drank some
+wine. All this he did to please me. Then, seeing him to be
+somewhat restored, I told him what had befallen me with the
+slave-girl, none else hearing me, and said to him, 'I know what
+thou sufferest; but take heart and be of good courage; for
+henceforth nought shall betide thee, but what shall rejoice thee
+and ease thine heart.' He smiled and called for food, which being
+brought, he signed to his servants, and they withdrew. Then said
+he to me, 'O my brother, thou seest what hath befallen me;' and
+he made his excuses to me and enquired how I had fared all that
+while. I told him all that had befallen me, from first to last,
+at which he wondered and calling his servants, said, 'Bring me
+such and such things.' Accordingly, they brought in rich carpets
+and hangings and utensils of gold and silver, more than I had
+lost, and he gave them all to me; so I sent them to my house and
+abode with him that night. When the day began to break, he said
+to me, 'To everything there is an end, and the end of love is
+death or enjoyment. I am nearer unto death, would I had died ere
+this befell! For, had not God favoured us, we had been discovered
+and put to shame. And now I know not what shall deliver me from
+this my strait, and were it not that I fear God, I would hasten
+my own death; for know, O my brother, that I am like the bird in
+the cage and that my life is of a surety perished, by reason of
+the distresses that have befallen me; yet hath it a fixed period
+and an appointed term.' And he wept and groaned and repeated the
+following verses:
+
+Indeed, it sufficeth the lover the time that his tears have run;
+     As for affliction, of patience it hath him all fordone.
+He who concealeth the secrets conjoined us heretofore And now His
+     hand hath severed that which Himself made one.
+
+When he had finished, I said to him, 'O my lord, I would fain
+return to my house; it may be the damsel will come back to me
+with news.' 'It is well,' answered he; 'go and return to me
+speedily with news, for thou seest my condition.' So I took leave
+of him and went home. Hardly had I sat down, when up came the
+damsel, choked with her tears. 'What is the matter?' asked I, and
+she said, 'O my lord, what we feared has fallen on us; for, when
+I returned yesterday to my lady, I found her enraged with one of
+the two maids who were with us the other night, and she ordered
+her to be beaten. The girl took fright and ran away; but one of
+the gate-keepers stopped her and would have sent her back to her
+mistress. However, she let fall some hints, which excited his
+curiosity; so he coaxed her and led her on to talk, and she
+acquainted him with our case. This came to the ears of the
+Khalif, who bade remove my mistress and all her gear to his own
+palace and set over her a guard of twenty eunuchs. Since then he
+has not visited her nor given her to know the cause of his
+action, but I suspect this to be the cause; wherefore I am in
+fear for myself and am perplexed, O my lord, knowing not what I
+shall do nor how I shall order my affair and hers, for she had
+none more trusted nor trustier than myself. So do thou go quickly
+to Ali ben Bekkar and acquaint him with this, that he may be on
+his guard; and if the affair be discovered, we will cast about
+for a means of saving ourselves.' At this, I was sore troubled
+and the world grew dark in my sight for the girl's words. Then
+she turned to go, and I said to her, 'What is to be done?' Quoth
+she, 'My counsel is that thou hasten to Ali ben Bekkar, if thou
+be indeed his friend and desire his escape; thine be it to carry
+him the news forthright, and be it mine to watch for further
+news.' Then she took her leave of me and went away. I followed
+her out and betaking myself to Ali ben Bekkar, found him
+flattering himself with hopes of speedy enjoyment and staying
+himself with vain expectations. When he saw me, he said, 'I see
+thou hast come back to me forthwith' 'Summon up all thy
+patience,' answered I, 'and put away thy vain doting and shake
+off thy preoccupation, for there hath befallen that which may
+bring about the loss of thy life and goods.' When he heard this,
+he was troubled and his colour changed and he said to me, 'O my
+brother, tell me what hath happened.' 'O my lord,' replied I,
+'such and such things have happened and thou art lost without
+recourse, if thou abide in this thy house till the end of the
+day.' At this he was confounded and his soul well-nigh departed
+his body, but he recovered himself and said to me, 'What shall I
+do, O my brother, and what is thine advice?' 'My advice,'
+answered I, 'is that thou take what thou canst of thy property
+and whom of thy servants thou trustest and flee with me to a land
+other than this, ere the day come to an end.' And he said, 'I
+hear and obey.' So he rose, giddy and dazed, now walking and now
+falling down and took what came under his hand. Then he made an
+excuse to his household and gave them his last injunctions, after
+which he loaded three camels and mounted his hackney. I did the
+like and we went forth privily in disguise and fared on all day
+and night, till nigh upon morning, when we unloaded and hobbling
+our camels, lay down to sleep; but, being worn with fatigue, we
+neglected to keep watch, so that there fell on us robbers, who
+stripped us of all we had and slew our servants, when they would
+have defended us, after which they made off with their booty,
+leaving us naked and in the sorriest of plights. As soon as they
+were gone, we arose and walked on till morning, when we came to a
+village and took refuge in its mosque. We sat in a corner of the
+mosque all that day and the next night, without meat or drink;
+and at daybreak, we prayed the morning prayer and sat down again.
+Presently, a man entered and saluting us, prayed a two-bow
+prayer, after which he turned to us and said, 'O folk, are ye
+strangers?' 'Yes,' answered we, 'robbers waylaid us and stripped
+us, and we came to this town, but know none here with whom we may
+shelter.' Quoth he, 'What say you? Will you come home with me?'
+And I said to Ali ben Bekkar, 'Let us go with him, and we shall
+escape two evils; first, our fear lest some one who knows us
+enter the mosque and so we be discovered; and secondly, that we
+are strangers and have no place to lodge in.' 'As thou wilt,'
+answered he. Then the man said to us again, 'O poor folk, give
+ear unto me and come with me to my house.' 'We hear and obey,'
+answered I; whereupon he pulled off a part of his own clothes and
+covered us therewith and made his excuses to us and spoke kindly
+to us. Then we accompanied him to his house and he knocked at the
+door, whereupon a little servant came out and opened to us. We
+entered after our host, who called for a parcel of clothes and
+muslin for turbans, and gave us each a suit of clothes and a
+piece of muslin; so we made us turbans and sat down. Presently,
+in came a damsel with a tray of food and set it before us,
+saying, 'Eat.' We ate a little and she took away the tray; after
+which we abode with our host till nightfall, when Ali ben Bekkar
+sighed and said to me, 'Know, O my brother, that I am a dead man
+and I have a charge to give thee: it is that, when thou seest me
+dead, thou go to my mother and tell her and bid her come hither,
+that she may be present at the washing of my body and take order
+for my funeral; and do thou exhort her to bear my loss with
+patience.' Then he fell down in a swoon and when he revived, he
+heard a damsel singing afar off and addressed himself to give ear
+to her and hearken to her voice; and now he was absent from the
+world and now came to himself, and anon he wept for grief and
+mourning at what had befallen him. Presently, he heard the damsel
+sing the following verses:
+
+Parting hath wrought in haste our union to undo After the
+     straitest loves and concord 'twixt us two.
+The shifts of night and day have torn our lives apart. When shall
+     we meet again? Ah, would to God I knew!
+After conjoined delight, how bitter sev'rance is! Would God it
+     had no power to baffle lovers true!
+Death's anguish hath its hour, then endeth; but the pain Of
+     sev'rance from the loved at heart is ever new.
+Could we but find a way to come at parting's self, We'd surely
+     make it taste of parting's cup of rue.
+
+When he heard this, he gave one sob and his soul quitted his
+body. As soon as I saw that he was dead, I committed his body to
+the care of the master of the house and said to him, 'I go to
+Baghdad, to tell his mother and kinsfolk, that they may come
+hither and take order for his burial' So I betook myself to
+Baghdad and going to my house, changed my clothes, after which I
+repaired to Ali ben Bekkar's lodging. When his servants saw me,
+they came to me and questioned me of him, and I bade them ask
+leave for me to go in to his mother. She bade admit me; so I
+entered and saluting her, said, 'Verily God orders the lives of
+all creatures by His commandment and when He decreeth aught,
+there is no escaping its fulfilment, nor can any soul depart but
+by His leave, according to the Writ which prescribeth the
+appointed terms.' She guessed by these words that her son was
+dead and wept sore, then she said to me, 'I conjure thee by
+Allah, tell me, is my son dead?' I could not answer her for tears
+and much grief, and when she saw me thus, she was choked with
+weeping and fell down in a swoon. As soon as she came to herself,
+she said to me, 'Tell me how my son died.' 'May God abundantly
+requite thee for him!' answered I and told her all that had
+befallen him, from first to last. 'Did he give thee any charge?'
+asked she. 'Yes,' answered I and told her what he had said,
+adding, 'Hasten to take order for his funeral.' When she heard
+this, she swooned away again; and when she recovered, she
+addressed herself to do as I bade her. Then I returned to my
+house; and as I went along, musing sadly upon his fair youth, a
+woman caught hold of my hand. I looked at her and behold, it was
+Shemsennehar's slave-girl, broken for grief. When we knew each
+other, we both wept and gave not over weeping till we reached my
+house, and I said to her, 'Knowest thou the news of Ali ben
+Bekkar?' 'No, by Allah,' replied she; so I told her the manner of
+his death and all that had passed, whilst we both wept; after
+which I said to her, 'And how is it with thy mistress?' Quoth
+she, 'The Khalif would not hear a word against her, but saw all
+her actions in a favourable light, of the great love he bore her,
+and said to her, "O Shemsennehar, thou art dear to me and I will
+bear with thee and cherish thee, despite thine enemies." Then he
+bade furnish her a saloon decorated with gold and a handsome
+sleeping-chamber, and she abode with him in all ease of life and
+high favour. One day, as he sat at wine, according to his wont,
+with his favourites before him, he bade them be seated in their
+places and made Shemsennehar sit by his side. (Now her patience
+was exhausted and her disorder redoubled upon her.) Then he bade
+one of the damsels sing: so she took a lute and tuning it,
+preluded and sang the following verses:
+
+One sought me of lore and I yielded and gave him that which he
+     sought. And my tears write the tale of my transport in
+     furrows upon my cheek.
+Meseemeth as if the teardrops were ware, indeed, of our case And
+     hide what I'd fain discover and tell what to hide I seek.
+How can I hope to be secret and hide the love that I feel, Whenas
+     the stress of my longing my passion for thee doth speak?
+Death, since the loss of my loved ones, is sweet to me: would I
+     knew What unto them is pleasant, now that they've lost me
+     eke!
+
+When Shemsennehar heard these verses, she could not keep her
+seat, but fell down in a swoon, whereupon the Khalif threw the
+cup from his hand and drew her to him, crying out. The damsels
+clamoured and he turned her over and shook her, and behold, she
+was dead. The Khalif grieved sore for her death and bade break
+all the vessels and lutes and other instruments of mirth and
+music in the place; then carrying her body to his closet, he
+abode with her the rest of the night. When the day broke, he laid
+her out and commanded to wash her and shroud her and bury her.
+And he mourned very sore for her and questioned not of her case
+nor what ailed her. And I beg thee in God's name,' continued the
+damsel, 'to let me know the day of the coming of Ali ben Bekkar's
+funeral train, that I may be present at his burial.' Quoth I,
+'For myself, thou canst find me where thou wilt; but thou, who
+can come at thee where thou art?' 'On the day of Shemsennehar's
+death,' answered she, 'the Commander of the Faithful freed all
+her women, myself among the rest; and we are now abiding at the
+tomb in such a place.' So I accompanied her to the burial-ground
+and visited Shemennehar's tomb;[FN#18] after which I went my way
+and awaited the coming of Ali ben Bekkar's funeral. When it
+arrived, the people of Baghdad went forth to meet it and I with
+them; and I saw the damsel among the women and she the loudest of
+them in lamentation, crying out and wailing with a voice that
+rent the vitals and made the heart ache. Never was seen in
+Baghdad a greater funeral than his and we ceased not to follow in
+crowds, till we reached the cemetery and buried him to the mercy
+of God the most High; nor from that time to this have I ceased to
+visit his tomb and that of Shemsennehar." This, then, is their
+story, and may God the Most High have mercy upon them!
+
+
+
+
+
+                    KEMEREZZEMAN AND BUDOUR.
+
+
+
+There was once, of old time, a king called Shehriman, who was
+lord of many troops and guards and officers and reigned over
+certain islands, known as the Khalidan Islands, on the borders of
+the land of the Persians; but he was grown old and decrepit,
+without having been blessed with a son, albeit he had four wives,
+daughters of kings, and threescore concubines, with each of whom
+he was wont to lie one night in turn.  This preyed upon his mind
+and disquieted him, so that he complained thereof to one of his
+Viziers, saying, 'I fear lest my kingdom be lost, when I die, for
+that I have no son to take it after me.'  'O King,' answered the
+Vizier, 'peradventure God shall yet provide for this; do thou put
+thy trust in Him and be constant in supplication to Him.'  So the
+King rose and making his ablutions, prayed a two-bow prayer with
+a believing heart; after which he called one of his wives to bed
+and lay with her forthright.  By God's grace, she conceived by
+him and when her months were accomplished, she bore a male child,
+like the moon on the night of its full.  The King named him
+Kemerezzeman and rejoiced in him with exceeding joy and bade
+decorate the city in his honour.  So they decorated the city
+seven days, whilst the drums beat and the messengers bore the
+glad tidings abroad.  Meanwhile nurses and attendants were
+provided for the boy and he was reared in splendour and delight,
+until he reached the age of fifteen.  He grew up of surpassing
+beauty and symmetry, and his father loved him very dear, so that
+he could not brook to be parted from him day or night.  One day,
+he complained to one of his Viziers of the excess of his love for
+his son, saying, 'O Vizier, of a truth I fear the shifts and
+accidents of fortune for my son Kemerezzeman and fain would I
+marry him in my lifetime.'  'O King,' answered the Vizier,
+'marriage is one of the most honourable of actions, and thou
+wouldst indeed do well to marry thy son in thy lifetime, ere
+thou make him king.'  Quoth the King, 'Fetch me my son;' so
+Kemerezzeman came and bowed his head before his father, out of
+modesty.  'O Kemerezzeman,' said the King, 'I desire to marry
+thee and rejoice in thee in my lifetime.'  'O my father,'
+answered the prince, 'know that I have no wish to marry, nor doth
+my soul incline to women; for that I have read many books and
+heard much talk concerning their craft and perfidy, even as saith
+the poet:
+
+If ye would know of women and question of their case, Lo, I am
+     versed in their fashions and skilled all else above.
+When a man's head grows grizzled or for the nonce his wealth
+     Falls from his hand, then, trust me, he hath no part in
+     their love.
+
+And again:
+
+Gainsay women; he obeyeth Allah best who saith them nay, And he
+     prospers not who giveth them his bridle-rein to sway;
+For they'll hinder him from winning to perfection in his gifts,
+     Though a thousand years he study, seeking after wisdom's
+     way.
+
+Wherefore (continued Kemerezzeman) marriage is a thing to which I
+will never consent; no, not though I drink the cup of death.'
+When the King heard this, the light in his sight became darkness
+and he was excessively chagrined at his son's lack of obedience
+to his wishes; yet, for the great love he bore him, he forbore to
+press him and was not wroth with him, but caressed him and spoke
+him fair and showed him all manner of kindness such as tends to
+cultivate affection.  He took patience with him a whole year,
+during which time Kemerezzeman increased daily in beauty and
+elegance and amorous grace, till he became perfect in eloquence
+and loveliness.  All men were ravished with his beauty and every
+breeze that blew carried the tidings of his charms; he was a
+seduction to lovers and a garden of delight to longing hearts,
+for he was sweet of speech and his face put the full moon to
+shame.  Accomplished in symmetry as in elegance and engaging
+manners, his shape was slender and graceful as the willow-wand or
+the flowering cane and his cheeks might pass for roses or
+blood-red anemones.  He was, in fine, charming in all respects,
+even as the poet hath said of him:
+
+He comes and "Blest be God!" say all men, high and base. "Glory
+     to Him who shaped and fashioned forth his face!"
+He's monarch of the fair, wherever they may be;  For, lo, they're
+     all become the liegemen of his grace.
+The water of his mouth is liquid honey-dew And 'twixt his lips
+     for teeth fine pearls do interlace.
+Perfect in every trait of beauty and unique, His witching
+     loveliness distracts the human race.
+Beauty itself hath writ these words upon his cheek, "Except this
+     youth there's none that's fair in any place."
+
+When the year came to an end, the King called his son to him and
+said, 'O my son, wilt thou not hearken to me?'  Whereupon
+Kemerezzeman fell down for respect and shame before his father
+and replied, 'O my father, how should I not hearken to thee,
+seeing that God commandeth me to obey thee and not gainsay thee?'
+'O my son,' said King Shehriman, 'know that I desire to marry
+thee and rejoice in thee, whilst yet I live, and make thee king
+over my realm, before my death.'  When the prince heard this, he
+bowed his head awhile, then raised it and said, 'O my father,
+this is a thing that I will never do, though I drink the cup of
+death.  I know of a surety that God the Most High enjoins on me
+obedience to thee; but in His name I conjure thee, press me not
+in this matter of marriage, neither think that I will ever marry
+my life long; for that I have read the books both of the ancients
+and the moderns and have come to know all the troubles and
+calamities that have befallen them through women and the
+disasters that have sprung from their craft without end.  How
+well says the poet:
+
+He, whom the baggages entrap, Deliverance shall never know,
+Although a thousand forts he build, Plated with lead;--'gainst
+     such a foe
+It shall not profit him to build Nor citadels avail, I trow.
+Women are traitresses to all, Both near and far and high and low.
+With fingers dyed and flowing hair Plaited with tresses, sweet of
+     show,
+And eyelids beautified with kohl, They make one drink of bale and
+     woe.
+
+And no less excellently saith another:
+
+Women, for all to chastity they're bidden, everywhere Are carrion
+     tossed about of all the vultures of the air.
+To-night their converse, ay, and all their secret charms are
+     thine, But on the morn their leg and wrist fall to another's
+     share;
+Like to an inn in which thou lodg'st, departing with the dawn,
+     And one thou know'st not, after thee, lights down and lodges
+     there.
+
+When King Shehriman heard these his son's words, he made him no
+answer, of his great love for him, but redoubled in favour and
+kindness to him.  As soon as the audience was over, he called his
+Vizier and taking him apart, said to him, 'O Vizier, tell me how
+I shall do with my son in this matter of his marriage.  I took
+counsel with thee thereon and thou didst counsel me to marry him,
+before making him king.  I have spoken with him once and again of
+marriage, and he still gainsaid me; so do thou now counsel me
+what to do.'  'O King,' answered the Vizier, 'wait another year,
+and if after that thou be minded to speak to him on the matter of
+marriage, do it not privily, but on a day of state, when all the
+Viziers and Amirs are present and all the troops standing before
+thee.  Then send for thy son and broach to him the matter of
+marriage before the Viziers and grandees and officers of state
+and captains; for he will surely be daunted by their presence and
+will not dare to oppose thy will.'  The King rejoiced exceedingly
+in his Vizier's advice, deeming it excellent, and bestowed on him
+a splendid robe of honour.  Then he took patience with his son
+another year, whilst, with every day that passed over him,
+Kemerezzeman increased in grace and beauty and elegance and
+perfection, till he was nigh twenty years old.  Indeed, God had
+clad him in the habit of beauty and crowned him with the crown of
+perfection: his eyes were more ensorcelling than Harout and
+Marout[FN#19] and the play of his glances more misleading than
+Taghout.[FN#20] His cheeks shone with redness and his eyelashes
+outvied the keen-edged sword: the whiteness of his forehead
+resembled the shining moon and the blackness of his hair was as
+the murky night.  His waist was more slender than the gossamer
+and his buttocks heavier than two hills of sand, troubling the
+heart with their softness; but his waist complained of their
+weight.  In fine, his charms ravished all mankind, even as saith
+the poet:
+
+By his cheeks' unfading damask and his smiling teeth I swear, By
+     the arrows that he feathers with the witchery of his air,
+By his sides so soft and tender and his glances bright and keen,
+     By the whiteness of his forehead and the blackness of his
+     hair,
+By his arched imperious eyebrows, chasing slumber from mine eyes,
+     With their yeas and noes that hold me 'twixt rejoicing and
+     despair,
+By the scorpious[FN#21] that he launches from his
+     ringlet-clustered brows, Seeking ever in their meshes
+     hapless lovers to ensnare,
+By the myrtle of his whiskers and the roses of his cheeks, By his
+     lips' incarnate rubies and his teeth's fine pearls and rare,
+By his breath's delicious fragrance and the waters of his mouth,
+     That defy old wine and choicest with their sweetness to
+     compare,
+By his heavy hips that tremble, both in motion and repose, And
+     the slender waist above them, all too slight their weight to
+     bear,
+By his hand's perennial bounty and his true and trusty speech, By
+     the stars that smile upon him, favouring and debonair,
+Lo, the scent of musk none other than his very perfume is, And
+     the ambergris's fragrance breathes about him everywhere.
+Yea, the sun in all his splendour cannot with his brightness vie,
+     And the crescent moon's a fragment that he from his nail
+     doth pare.
+
+The King, accordingly, waited till a day of state, when the
+audience hall was filled with his Amirs and Viziers and grandees
+and officers of state and captains.  As soon as they were all
+assembled, he sent for his son Kemerezzeman, who came and kissing
+the earth three times, stood before him, with his hands clasped
+behind his back.  Then said the King to him, 'Know, O my son,
+that I have sent for thee and summoned thee to appear before this
+assembly and all these officers of state that I may lay a
+commandment on thee, wherein do thou not gainsay me.  It is that
+thou marry, for I am minded to wed thee to a king's daughter and
+rejoice in thee ere I die.'  When the prince heard these his
+father's words, he bowed his head awhile, then raising it,
+replied, being moved thereto by youthful folly and boyish
+ignorance, 'Never will I marry, no, not though I drink the cup of
+death!  As for thee, thou art great in years and little of wit:
+hast thou not, twice before this, questioned me of the matter of
+marriage, and I refused thee?  Indeed, thou dotest and art not
+fit to govern a flock of sheep!'  So saying, he unclasped his
+hands from behind his back and rolled up his sleeves, in his
+rage; moreover, he added many words to his father, knowing not
+what he said, in the trouble of his spirit.  The King was
+confounded and ashamed, for that this befell in the presence of
+his grandees and officers assembled on an occasion of state; but
+presently the energy of kingship took him and he cried out upon
+his son and made him tremble.  Then he called to his guards and
+bade them seize him and bind his hands behind his back.  So they
+laid hands on Kemerezzeman and binding him, brought him before
+his father, full of shame and confusion, with his head bowed down
+for fear and inquietude and his brow and face beaded with sweat.
+The King loaded him with reproaches, saying, 'Out on thee, thou
+whoreson and nursling of abomination!  Dost thou dare to answer
+me thus before my captains and officers?  But hitherto none hath
+corrected thee.  Knowest thou not that this thou hast done were
+disgraceful in the meanest of my subjects?'  And he commanded his
+guards to loose his bonds and imprison him in one of the turrets
+of the citadel.  So they carried the prince into an old tower,
+wherein there was a dilapidated saloon, after having first swept
+it and cleansed its floor and set him a couch in its midst, on
+which they laid a mattress, a leathern rug and a cushion. Then
+they brought him a great lantern and a candle, for the place
+was dark, even by day, and posting an eunuch at the door, left
+him to himself.  Kemerezzeman threw himself on the couch,
+broken-spirited and mournful-hearted, blaming himself and
+repenting of his unseemly behaviour to his father, when
+repentance availed him nothing, and saying, 'May God curse
+marriage and girls and women, the traitresses!  Would I had
+hearkened to my father and married!  It were better for me than
+this prison.'
+
+Meanwhile, King Shehriman abode on his throne till sundown, when
+he took the Vizier apart and said to him, 'O Vizier, thine advice
+is the cause of all this that hath befallen between me and my
+son.  What doth thou counsel me to do now?'  'O King,' answered
+he, 'leave thy son in prison for the space of fifteen days; then
+send for him and command him to marry, and he will not again
+gainsay thee.'  The King accepted the Vizier's counsel and lay
+down to sleep, troubled at heart concerning Kemerezzeman, for he
+loved him very dearly, having no other child, and it was his wont
+not to sleep, save with his arm about his son's neck.  So he
+passed the night in trouble and unease, tossing from side to
+side, as he were laid on coals of tamarisk-wood; for he was
+overcome with inquietude and sleep visited him not all that
+night; but his eyes ran over with tears and he repeated the
+following verses:
+
+The night, whilst the slanderers sleep, is tedious unto me;
+     Suffice thee a heart that aches for parting's agony!
+I cry, whilst my night for care grows long and longer aye, "O
+     light of the morning, say, is there no returning for thee?"
+
+And these also:
+
+When the Pleïads I saw leave to shine in their stead And over the
+     pole-star a lethargy shed
+And the maids of the Bier[FN#22] in black raiment unveiled, I
+     knew that the lamp of the morning was dead.
+
+To return to Kemerezzeman.  When the night came on, the eunuch
+set the lantern before him and lighting a candle, placed it in
+the candlestick; then brought him food.  The prince ate a little
+and reproached himself for his ill-behaviour to his father,
+saying to himself, 'O my soul, knowst thou not that a son of Adam
+is the hostage of his tongue and that a man's tongue is what
+casts him into perils?'  Then his eyes ran over with tears and he
+bewailed that which he had done, from an anguished heart and an
+aching bosom, repenting him with an exceeding repentance of the
+wrong he had done his father repeating the following verses:
+
+For the sheer stumble of his tongue the youth must death aby,
+     Though for the stumble of his foot the grown man shall not
+     die.
+Thus doth the slipping of his mouth smite off his head, I ween,
+     What while the slipping of his foot is healed, as time goes
+     by.
+
+When he had made an end of eating, he called the eunuch, who
+washed his hands.  Then he made his ablutions and prayed the
+prayers of sundown and nightfall, after which he sat down on the
+couch, to read[FN#23] the Koran.  He read the chapters called
+'The Cow,' 'The family of Imran,'  'Ya-Sin,' 'The Compassionate,'
+'Blessed be the King,' 'Unity' and 'The two Amulets,' and
+concluded with blessing and supplication, seeking refuge with God
+from Satan the accursed.  Then he put off his trousers and the
+rest of his clothes and lay down, in a shirt of fine waxed cloth
+and a coif of blue stuff of Merv, upon a mattress of satin,
+embroidered on both sides with gold and quilted with Irak silk,
+having under his head a pillow stuffed with ostrich-down.  In
+this guise, he was like the full moon, when it rises on its
+fourteenth night.  Then, drawing over himself a coverlet of silk,
+he fell asleep with the lantern burning at his feet and the
+candle at his head, and woke not for a third part of the night,
+being ignorant of that which lurked for him in the secret purpose
+of God and what He who knoweth the hidden things had appointed
+unto him.  Now, as chance and destiny would have it, the tower in
+question was old and had been many years deserted; and there was
+therein a Roman well, inhabited by an Afriteh of the lineage of
+Iblis the Accursed, by name Maimouneh, daughter of Ed Dimiryat, a
+renowned King of the Jinn.  In the middle of the night, Maimouneh
+came up out of the well and made for heaven, thinking to listen
+by stealth to the discourse of the angels; but, when she reached
+the mouth of the well, she saw a light shining in the tower,
+contrary to wont; whereat she was mightily amazed, having dwelt
+there many years and never seen the like, and said to herself,
+'Needs must there be some cause for this.'  So she made for the
+light and found that it came from the saloon, at whose door she
+found the eunuch sleeping.  She entered and saw a man Iying
+asleep upon the couch, with the lantern burning at his feet and
+the candle at his head; at which she wondered and going softly
+up to him, folded her wings and drawing back the coverlid,
+discovered his face.  The lustre of his visage outshone that of
+the candle, and the Afriteh abode awhile, astounded at his beauty
+and grace; for his face beamed with light, his cheeks were
+rose-red and his eyelids languorous; his brows were arched like
+bows and his whole person exhaled a scent of musk, even as saith
+of him the poet:
+
+I kissed him and his cheeks forthwith grew red, and black and
+     bright The pupils grew that are my soul's seduction and
+     delight.
+O heart, if slanderers avouch that there exists his like For
+     goodliness, say thou to them, "Produce him to my sight."
+
+When Maimouneh saw him, she glorified God and said, 'Blessed be
+Allah, the best of Creators!'  For she was of the true-believing
+Jinn.  She stood awhile, gazing on his face, proclaiming the
+unity of God and envying the youth his beauty and grace.  And she
+said in herself, 'By Allah, I will do him no hurt nor let any
+harm him, but will ransom him from all ill, for this fair face
+deserves not but that folk should look upon it and glorify God.
+But how could his family find it in their hearts to leave him in
+this desert place, where if one of our Marids came upon him at
+this hour, he would kill him?'  Then she bent over him and
+kissing him between the eyes, folded back the coverlet over his
+face; after which she spread her wings and soaring into the air,
+flew upward till she drew near the lowest heaven, when she heard
+the noise of wings beating the air and making for the sound,
+found that it came from an Afrit called Dehnesh.  So she swooped
+down on him like a sparrow-hawk; and when he was ware of her and
+knew her to be Maimouneh, daughter of the King of the Jinn, he
+feared her and his nerves trembled; and he implored her
+forbearance, saying, 'I conjure thee by the Most Great and August
+Name and by the most noble talisman graven upon the seal of
+Solomon, entreat me kindly and harm me not!'  When she heard
+this, her heart inclined to him and she said, 'Verily, thou
+conjurest me with a mighty conjuration, O accursed one!
+Nevertheless, I will not let thee go, till thou tell me whence
+thou comest at this hour.'  'O princess,' answered he, 'know that
+I come from the uttermost end of the land of Cathay and from
+among the islands, and I will tell thee of a wonderful thing I
+have seen this night.  If thou find my words true, let me go my
+way and write me a patent under thy hand that I am thy freedman,
+so none of the Jinn, whether of the air or the earth, divers or
+flyers,[FN#24] may do me let or hindrance.'  'And what is it thou
+hast seen this night, O liar, O accursed one?'  rejoined
+Maimouneh.  'Tell me without leasing and think not to escape from
+my hand with lies, for I swear to thee by the inscription on the
+beazel of the ring of Solomon son of David (on whom be peace,)
+except thy speech be true, I will pluck out thy feathers with
+mine own hand and strip off thy skin and break thy bones.'  'I
+accept this condition, O my lady,' answered Dehnesh, son of
+Shemhourish the Flyer.  'Know that I come to-night from the
+Islands of the Inland Sea in the parts of Cathay, which are the
+dominions of King Ghaïour, lord of the Islands and the Seas and
+the Seven Palaces.  There I saw a daughter of his, than whom God
+hath made none fairer in her time,--I cannot picture her to thee,
+for my tongue would fail to describe her aright; but I will name
+to thee somewhat of her charms, by way of approximation.  Her
+hair is like the nights of estrangement and separation and her
+face like the days of union; and the poet hath well described her
+when he says:
+
+She took up three locks of her hair and spread them out one night
+     And straight four nights discovered at once unto my sight.
+Then did she turn her visage up to the moon of the sky And showed
+     me two moons at one season, both burning clear and bright.
+
+She hath a nose like the point of the burnished sword and cheeks
+like purple wine or blood-red anemones: her lips are like coral
+and cornelian and the water of her mouth is sweeter than old
+wine, its taste would allay the torments of Hell.  Her tongue is
+moved by abounding wit and ready repartee: her breast is a
+temptation to all that see it, glory be to Him who created it and
+finished it: and joined thereto are two smooth round arms.  As
+says of her the poet El Welhan:
+
+She hath two wrists, which, were they not by bracelets held, I
+     trow, Would flow out of their sleeves as brooks of liquid
+     silver flow.
+
+She has breasts like two globes of ivory, the moons borrow from
+their brightness, and a belly dimpled as it were a brocaded cloth
+of the finest Egyptian linen, with creases like folded scrolls,
+leading to a waist slender past conception, over buttocks like a
+hill of sand, that force her to sit, when she would fain stand,
+and awaken her, when she would sleep, even as saith of her the
+poet:
+
+Her slender waist a pair of buttocks overlies, The which both
+     over her and me do tyrannize.
+For they confound my wit, whenas I think on them, And eke enforce
+     her sit, whenas she fain would rise.
+
+They are upborne by smooth round thighs and legs like columns of
+pearl, and all this rests upon two slender feet, pointed like
+spear-blades, the handiwork of God, the Protector and Requiter, I
+wonder how, of their littleness, they can sustain what is above
+them.  But I cut short my description of her charms, lest I be
+tedious.  The father of this young lady is a powerful king, a
+fierce cavalier, immersed night and day in wars and battles,
+fearless of death and dreading not ruin, for that he is a
+masterful tyrant and an irresistible conqueror, lord of troops
+and armies, continents and islands, cities and villages, and his
+name is King Ghaïour, lord of the Islands and the Seas and of the
+Seven Palaces.  He loves his daughter, the young lady whom I have
+described to thee, very dearly, and for love of her, he gathered
+together the treasures of all the kings and built her therewith
+seven palaces, each of a different fashion; the first of crystal,
+the second of marble, the third of China steel, the fourth of
+precious stones, the fifth of porcelain and vari-coloured onyx,
+the sixth of silver and the seventh of gold.  He filled the seven
+palaces with rich silken carpets and hangings and vessels of gold
+and silver and all manner of gear befitting kings and commanded
+his daughter, whose name is the Princess Budour, to abide in each
+by turns for a certain season of the year.  When her beauty
+became known and her fame was noised abroad in the neighbouring
+countries, all the kings sent to her father, to demand her in
+marriage, and he consulted her on the matter, but she misliked it
+and said, "O my father, I have no mind to marry; for I am a
+sovereign lady and a princess ruling over men, and I have no
+desire for a man who shall rule over me." The more she refused,
+the more the eagerness of her suitors increased and all the kings
+of the Islands of the Inland Sea sent gifts and offerings to her
+father, with letters asking her in marriage.  So he pressed her
+again and again to make choice of a husband, despite her
+refusals, till at last she turned upon him angrily and said to
+him, "O my father, if thou name marriage to me again, I will go
+into my chamber and take a sword and fixing its hilt in the
+ground, set its point to my breast; then will I lean upon it,
+till it come forth from my back, and so kill myself." When the
+King heard this, the light became darkness in his sight and his
+heart was torn with anxiety and perplexity concerning her affair;
+for he feared lest she should kill herself and knew not how to
+deal with the kings who sought her hand.  So he said to her, "If
+thou be irrevocably determined not to marry, abstain from going
+in and out." Then he shut her up in her chamber, appointing ten
+old body-women to guard her, and made as though he were wroth
+with her, forbidding her to go forth to the seven palaces;
+moreover, he sent letters to all the kings, giving them to know
+that she had been stricken with madness.  It is now a year
+(continued Dehnesh) since she has been thus cloistered, and every
+night I go to her, whilst she is asleep, and take my fill of
+gazing on her face and kiss her between the eyes: yet, of my love
+to her, I do her no hurt neither swive her, for that her youth is
+fair and her loveliness surpassing; every one who sees is jealous
+for her of himself.  I conjure thee, therefore, O my lady, to go
+back with me and look on her beauty and symmetry; and after, if
+thou wilt, chastise me or enslave me: for it is thine to command
+and to forbid.'  So saying, he bowed his head towards the earth
+and drooped his wings; but Maimouneh laughed at his words and
+spitting in his face, answered, 'What is this girl of whom thou
+pratest but a potsherd to cleanse the privities withal?  Faugh!
+Faugh!  By Allah, O accursed one, I thought thou hadst some rare
+story to tell me or some marvel to make known to me!  How would
+it be if thou sawest my beloved?  Verily this night I have seen a
+young man whom if thou sawest though but in sleep, thou wouldst
+be palsied with admiration and thy mouth would water.'  'And who
+and what is this youth?'  asked the Afrit.  'Know, O Dehnesh,'
+answered she, 'that there hath befallen him the like of what
+befell thy mistress; for his father pressed him again and again
+to marry, but he refused, till at length his father waxed wroth
+and imprisoned him in the tower where I dwell: and I came up
+to-night and saw him.'  'O my lady,' said Dehnesh, 'show me the
+youth, that I may see if he be indeed handsomer than my mistress,
+the Princess Budour, or not; for I cannot believe that there
+lives her equal.'  'Thou liest, O accursed one!'  rejoined
+Maimouneh.  'O most ill-omened of Marids and vilest of  Satans!
+Sure am I that there is not in this world the like of my beloved.
+Art thou mad to even thy beloved with mine?'  'I conjure thee by
+Allah, O my lady,' said Dehnesh, 'to go back with me and see my
+mistress, and after I will return with thee and look upon thy
+beloved.'  'It must needs be so, O accursed one!'  answered she.
+'Yet, for that thou art a knavish devil, I will not go with thee
+nor shalt thou come with me, save upon surety and condition of
+pledge.  If thy beloved prove handsomer than mine, the pledge
+shall be thine against me; but if my beloved prove the fairer,
+the pledge shall be mine against thee.'  'O my lady,' said
+Dehnesh, 'I accept this thy condition; so come with me to the
+Islands.'  'Not so,' replied Maimouneh; 'for the abode of my
+beloved is nearer than that of thine: here it is under us; so
+come down with me and see my beloved, and after we will go look
+upon thy mistress.'  'I hear and obey,' said Dehnesh.  So they
+descended and alighting on the tower, entered the saloon, where
+Maimouneh stationed Dehnesh beside the bed and putting out her
+hand, drew back the silken coverlet, whereupon Kemerezzeman's
+face shone out like the sun.  She looked at him a moment, then
+turning to Dehnesh, said, ''Look, O accursed one, and be not the
+vilest of madmen; I am a maiden and am ravished with him.'  So
+Dehnesh looked at the prince and gazed steadfastly on him awhile,
+then, shaking his head, said to Maimouneh, 'By Allah, O my lady,
+thou art excusable; but there is another thing to be considered,
+and that is that the female estate differs from the male.  By the
+virtue of God, this thy beloved is the likest of all created
+things to my mistress in beauty and loveliness and grace and
+it is as though they were both cast alike in the mould of
+perfection!'  When Maimouneh heard these words, the light in
+her sight became darkness and she dealt him so fierce a buffet
+on the head with her wing as well-nigh made an end of him. Then,
+'I conjure thee,' said she, 'by the light of his glorious
+countenance, go at once, O accursed one, and bring hither thy
+mistress in haste that we may lay them together and look on them
+both, as they lie asleep side by side; so will it appear to us
+whether is the goodlier and more beautiful of the two.  Except
+thou obey me forthright, I will dart my sparks at thee and
+consume thee with my fire; yea, I will rend thee in pieces and
+cast thee into the deserts, as an example to stay-at-home and
+wayfarer.'  'O my lady,' answered the Afrit, 'I will do thy
+bidding, for I know that my mistress is the fairer and sweeter.'
+So saying, he flew away and Maimouneh flew with him, to guard
+him.  They were absent awhile and presently returned, bearing the
+young lady, who was clad in a shift of fine Venetian silk, laced
+with gold and wrought with the most exquisite broidery and having
+the following verses worked upon the ends of the sleeves:
+
+Three things for ever hinder her to visit us, for fear Of the
+     intriguing spy and eke the rancorous envier;
+Her forehead's lustre and the sound of all her ornaments And the
+     sweet scent her creases hold of ambergris and myrrh.
+Grant with the border of her sleeve she hide her brows and doff
+     Her ornaments, how shall she do her scent away from her?
+
+They carried her into the saloon and laying her beside
+Kemerezzeman, uncovered both their faces, and behold, they were
+the likest of all folk, one to the other, as they were twins or
+an only brother and sister; and indeed they were a temptation to
+the pious, even as says of them  the poet El Mubin:
+
+Be not thy love, O heart, to one alone confined, Lest, for that
+     one, amaze and doting thee enwind;
+But love thou rather all the fair, and thou shalt find, If one
+     contrarious prove, another will be kind.
+
+And quoth another:
+
+Two fair ones lying on the earth I did of late espy; Two that I
+     needs must love, although they lay upon mine eye.
+
+Dehnesh and Maimouneh gazed on them awhile, and the former said,
+'By Allah, O my lady, it is good!  My mistress is assuredly the
+fairer.'  'Not so,' answered she, 'my beloved is the fairer.  Out
+on thee, O Dehnesh!  Thou art blind of eye and heart and
+distinguishest not between good and bad.[FN#25] Wilt thou hide
+the truth?  Dost thou not see his beauty and grace and symmetry?
+Out on thee, hear what I purpose to say in praise of my beloved,
+and do thou the like for her thou lovest, an thou be a true
+lover.'  Then she kissed Kemerezzeman again and again between the
+eyes and repeated the following ode:
+
+Ah me, what ails the censurer that he at thee should flite? How
+     shall I be consoled for thee, and thou a sapling slight?
+Thou of the black and languorous eye, that casteth far and wide
+     Charms, whose sheer witchery compels to passion's utmost
+     height,
+Whose looks, with Turkish languor fraught, work havoc in the
+     breast, Leaving such wounds as ne'er were made of falchion
+     in the fight,
+Thou layst on me a heavy load of passion and desire, On me that
+     am too weak to bear a shift upon me dight.
+My love for thee, as well thou know'st, my very nature is, And
+     that for others which I feign dissembling but and sleight.
+An if my heart were like to thine, I'd not refuse; alack!  'Tis
+     but my body's like thy waist, worn thin and wasted quite.
+Out on him for a moon that's famed for beauty far and near, That
+     for th' exemplar of all grace men everywhere do cite!
+The railers say, "Who's this for love of whom thou art
+     distressed?" And I reply, "An if ye can, describe the lovely
+     wight."
+O learn to yield, hard heart of his, take pattern by his shape!
+     So haply yet he may relent and put away despite.
+Thou, that my prince in beauty art, a steward[FN#26] hast, whose
+     rule Aggrieves me and a chamberlain[FN#27] that doth me foul
+     upright.
+He lies who says, "All loveliness in Joseph was comprised." How
+     many a Joseph is there not within thy beauty bright!
+The Jinn do fear me, whenas I confront them face to face; But
+     when I meet with thee, my heart doth tremble for affright.
+I feign aversion unto thee, for fear of slanderous tongues; The
+     more I feign, the more my love to madness I excite.
+Black hair and smooth and glistening brows, eyes languorous and
+     soft, As of the maids of Paradise, and slender shape and
+     slight!
+
+When Dehnesh heard this, he shook for delight and was filled with
+admiration and said, 'Thou hast indeed done well in praise of him
+whom thou lovest!  Needs must I do my endeavour, in my turn, to
+celebrate my mistress, to the best of my power, and recite
+somewhat in her honour.'  Then he went up to the lady Budour and
+kissing her  between the eyes, looked at her and at Maimouneh and
+recited the following verses, for all he had no skill in poetry:
+
+They chide my passion for my fair in harsh and cruel guise; But,
+     of their ignorance, forsooth, they're neither just nor wise.
+Vouchsafe thy favours to the slave of love, for, an he taste Of
+     thine estrangement and disdain, assuredly he dies.
+Indeed, for very stress of love, I'm drenched with streaming
+     tears, That, like a rivulet of blood, run ever from mine
+     eyes.
+No wonder 'tis what I for love endure; the wonder is That any,
+     since the loss of thee, my body recognize.
+Forbidden be thy sight to me, if I've a thought of doubt Or if my
+     heart of passion tire or feign or use disguise!
+
+And also the following:
+
+I feed mine eyes on the places where we met long ago; Far distant
+     now is the valley and I'm forslain for woe.
+I'm drunk with the wine of passion and the teardrops in mine eyes
+     Dance to the song of the leader of the camels, as we go.
+I cease not from mine endeavour to win to fortune fair; Yet in
+     Budour, Suada,[FN#28] all fortune is, I know.
+Three things I reckon, I know not of which to most complain; Give
+     ear whilst I recount them and be you judge, I trow.
+Firstly, her eyes, the sworders; second, the spearman, her shape,
+     And thirdly, her ringlets that clothe her in armour,[FN#29]
+     row upon row.
+Quoth she (and indeed I question, for tidings of her I love, All
+     whom I meet, or townsman or Bedouin, high or low)
+Quoth she unto me, "My dwelling is in thy heart; look there And
+     thou shalt see me." I answer, "And where is my heart?
+     Heigho!"
+
+When Maimouneh heard this, she said, 'Thou hast done well, O
+Dehnesh!  But tell me, which of the two is the handsomer?'  And
+he answered, 'My mistress Budour is certainly handsomer than thy
+beloved.'  'Thou liest, O accursed one!'  cried Maimouneh.  'Nay,
+my beloved is more beautiful than thine!'  And they ceased not to
+gainsay each other, till Maimouneh cried out at Dehnesh and would
+have laid violent hands on him; but he humbled himself to her and
+softening his speech, said to her, 'Let us leave talking, for we
+do but contradict each other, and rather seek one who shall judge
+fairly between us, whether of the two is fairer, and let us abide
+by his sentence.'  'I agree to this,' answered she and smote the
+earth with her foot, whereupon there came up a one-eyed Afrit,
+hump-backed and scurvy, with eyes slit endlong in his face.  On
+his head were seven horns and four locks of hair falling to his
+heels; his hands were like pitchforks, his legs like masts and he
+had claws like a lion and hoofs like those of the wild ass.  When
+he saw Maimouneh, he kissed the earth before her and standing
+with his hands clasped behind him, said, 'What is thy will, O
+king's daughter?'  'O Keshkesh,' answered she, 'I would have thee
+judge between me and this accursed Dehnesh.'  And she made known
+to him the whole matter, whereupon he looked at the prince and
+princess and saw them lying asleep, embraced, each with an arm
+about the other's neck, alike in beauty and grace and equal in
+goodliness.  The Marid gazed long and fixedly upon them,
+marvelling at their beauty, and repeated the following verses:
+
+Cleave fast to her thou lov'st and let the envious rail amain,
+     For calumny and envy ne'er to favour love were fain.
+Lo, the Compassionate hath made no fairer thing to see Than when
+     one couch in its embrace enfoldeth lovers twain,
+Each to the other's bosom clasped, clad in their own delight,
+     Whilst hand with hand and arm with arm about their necks
+     enchain.
+If in thy time thou find but one to love thee and be true, I rede
+     thee cast the world away and with that one remain.
+Lo, when two hearts are straitly knit in passion and desire, But
+     on cold iron smite the folk that chide at them in vain.
+Thou that for loving censures the votaries of love, Canst thou
+     assain a heart diseased or heal a cankered brain?
+O Lord, O Thou Compassionate, I prithee, ere we die, Though only
+     for a single day, unite us two again!
+
+
+Then he turned to Maimouneh and Dehnesh and said to them, 'By
+Allah, if you will have the truth, they are equal in beauty and
+grace and perfection, nor is there any difference between them
+but that of sex.  But I have another idea, and it is that we wake
+each of them in turn, without the other's knowledge, and
+whichever is more enamoured of the other shall be held the lesser
+in beauty and grace.'  'This is a good counsel,' answered
+Maimouneh, and Dehnesh said, 'I consent to this.'  Then Dehnesh
+changed himself to a flea and bit Kemerezzeman on the neck,
+whereupon the prince awoke with a start and rubbed the place of
+the bite, because of the smart.  Then turning sideways, he found
+lying by him something, whose breath was more fragrant than musk,
+and whose body was softer than cream.  At this he marvelled
+greatly and sitting up, looked at this that lay beside him and
+saw it to be a young lady like the moon, as she were a splendid
+pearl, or a shining sun, five feet high, with a shape like the
+letter I, high-bosomed and rosy-checked; even as saith of her the
+poet:
+
+Four things there are, which ne'er unite, except it be To shed my
+     heart's best blood and take my soul by storm.
+And these are night-black locks and brow as bright as day, Cheeks
+     ruddy as the rose and straight and slender form.
+
+And also quoth another:
+
+She shineth forth, a moon, and bends, a willow-wand, And
+     breathes, pure ambergris, and gazes, a gazelle.
+It seems as if grief loved my heart and when from her
+     Estrangement I endure, possession to it fell.
+
+She was clad in a shift of Venetian silk, without drawers, and
+wore on her head a kerchief embroidered with gold and jewels; her
+ears were hung with earrings, that shone like stars, and round
+her neck was a collar of great pearls, past the competence of any
+king.  When he saw this, his reason was confounded and natural
+heat began to stir in him; God awoke in him the desire of coition
+and he said, 'What God wills, shall be, and what He will not,
+shall not be!'  So saying, he put out his hand and turning her
+over, loosed the collar of her shift, laying bare her bosom, with
+its breasts like globes of ivory; whereat his inclination for her
+redoubled and he desired her with an exceeding desire.  Then he
+shook her and moved her, essaying to waken her and saying, 'O my
+beloved, awake and look on me; I am Kemerezzeman.'  But she awoke
+not, neither moved her head, for Dehnesh made her sleep heavy.
+With this, he considered awhile and said to himself, 'If I guess
+aright, this is she to whom my father would have married me and I
+have refused these three years past; but, God willing, as soon as
+it is day, I will say to him,  "Marry me to her that I may enjoy
+her," nor will I let half the day pass ere I possess her and take
+my fill of her beauty and grace.'  Then he bent over Budour, to
+kiss her, whereat Maimouneh trembled and was confounded and
+Dehnesh was like to fly for joy.  But, as Kemerezzeman was about
+to kiss her, he was ashamed before God and turned away his head,
+saying to his heart, 'Have patience.'  Then he considered awhile
+and said, 'I will be patient, lest my father have brought this
+young lady and made her lie by my side, to try me with her,
+charging her not to be lightly awakened, whenas I would fain
+arouse her, and bidding her tell him all that I do to her.
+Belike, he is hidden somewhere whence he can see all I do with
+this young lady, himself unseen; and to-morrow he will flout me
+and say, "How comes it that thou feignest to have no mind to
+marry and yet didst kiss and clip yonder damsel?" So I will
+forbear her, lest I be shamed before my father; and it were well
+that I look not on her nor touch her at this present, except to
+take from her somewhat to serve as a sign of remembrance and a
+token between us.'  Then he lifted her hand and took from her
+little finger a ring worth much money, for that its beazel was of
+precious jewels and around it were graven the following verses:
+
+Think not that I have forgotten thy sometime promises, Though long
+     thou hast protracted thy cruelty, ywis.
+Be generous, O my master, vouchsafe me of thy grace, So it to me
+     be given thy lips and cheeks to kiss.
+Never, by Allah, never will I abandon thee, Though thou
+     transgress thy limits in love and go amiss!
+
+
+Then he put the ring on his own little finger, and turning his
+back to her, went to sleep.  When Maimouneh saw this, she was
+glad and said, 'Saw ye how my beloved Kemerezzeman forbore
+this young lady?  Verily, this was of the perfection of his
+excellences; for see how he looked on her and noted her beauty
+and grace, yet clipped her not neither kissed her nor put his
+hand to her, but turned his back to her and slept.'  'It is
+well,' answered they; 'we saw how perfectly he bore himself.'
+Then Maimouneh changed herself into a flea and entering Budour's
+clothes, crept up her leg and bit her four finger-breadths below
+the navel; whereupon she opened her eyes and sitting up in bed,
+saw a youth lying beside her and breathing heavily in his sleep,
+the loveliest of God's creatures, with eyes that put to shame
+the fair maids of Paradise, mouth like Solomon's seal, whose
+water was sweeter to the taste and more efficacious than
+triacle,[FN#30] lips the colour of coral and cheeks like
+blood-red anemones, even as saith one, describing him:
+
+From Zeyneb[FN#31] and Newar[FN#32] my mind is drawn away By the
+     rose of a cheek, whereo'er a whisker's myrtles stray.
+I'm fallen in love with a fawn, a youngling tunic-clad, And joy
+     no more in love of bracelet-wearing may.
+My mate in banquet-hall and closet's all unlike To her with whom
+     within my harem's close I play:
+O thou that blames me, because I flee from Hind[FN#33] And
+     Zeyneb, my excuse is clear as break of day.
+Would'st have me be a slave, the bondsman of a slave, One
+     cloistered and confined behind a wall alway?[FN#34]
+
+When the princess saw him, a transport of passion and longing
+seized her and she said to herself, 'Alas my shame!  This is a
+strange youth and I know him not.  How comes he lying in one bed
+with me?'  Then she looked at him again and noting his beauty and
+grace, said, 'By Allah, he is a comely youth and my heart is
+well-nigh torn in sunder with longing for him.  But alas, how am
+I shamed by him!  By Allah, had I known it was he who sought my
+hand of my father, I had not rejected him, but had married him
+and enjoyed his loveliness!'  Then she gazed in his face and
+said, 'O my lord and light of mine eyes, awake from sleep and
+enjoy my beauty and grace.'  And she moved him with her hand; but
+Maimouneh let down sleep upon him (as it were a curtain) and
+pressed on his head with her wings, so that he awoke not.  The
+princess went on to shake him and say, 'My life on thee, give ear
+unto me!  Awake and look on the narcissus and the tender green
+and enjoy my body and my secret charms and dally with me and
+touzle me from now till break of day!  I conjure thee by Allah, O
+my lord, sit up and lean against the pillow and sleep not!'
+Still he made her no answer, but breathed heavily in his sleep.
+'Alas!  Alas!'  continued she.  'Thou art proud in thy beauty and
+grace and lovely looks!  But if thou art handsome, so am I; what
+then is this thou dost?  Have they lessoned thee to flout me or
+has the wretched old man, my father, made thee swear not to speak
+to me to-night?'  But he opened not his mouth neither awoke,
+whereat her passion redoubled and God inflamed her heart with
+love of him.  She stole one glance at him that cost her a
+thousand sighs: her heart fluttered and her entrails yearned and
+she exclaimed, 'Speak to me, O my lord!  O my friend, my beloved,
+answer me and tell me thy name, for indeed thou hast ravished my
+wit!'  Still he abode drowned in sleep and answered her not a
+word, and she sighed and said, 'Alas!  Alas!  why art thou so
+self-satisfied?'  Then she shook him and turning his hand over,
+saw her ring on his little finger, whereat she cried out and
+said, with a sigh of passion, 'Alack!  Alack!  By Allah, thou art
+my beloved and lovest me!  Yet meseems thou turnest away from me
+out of coquetry, for all thou camest to me whilst I was asleep
+and knew not what thou didst, and tookest my ring.  But I will
+not pull it off thy finger.'  So saying, she opened the bosom of
+his shirt and kissed him and put her hand to him, seeking
+somewhat that she might take as a token, but found nothing.  Then
+she put her hand into his breast, and for the smoothness of his
+body, it slipped down to his navel and thence to his yard,
+whereupon her heart ached and her entrails quivered and desire
+was sore upon her, for that women's lust is fiercer than that of
+men, and she was confounded.  Then she took his ring from his
+finger and put it on her own and kissed his mouth and hands, nor
+did she leave any part of him unkissed; after which she took him
+to her breast and laying one of her hands under his neck and the
+other under his armpit, fell asleep by his side.  Then said
+Maimouneh to Dehnesh, 'O accursed one, sawst thou how prudishly
+and coquettishly my beloved bore himself and what ardour of
+passion thy mistress showed to him?  There can be no doubt that
+my beloved is handsomer than thine; nevertheless I pardon thee.'
+Then she wrote him a patent of manumission and said to Keshkesh,
+'Help Dehnesh to take up his mistress and carry her back to her
+own place, for the night wanes apace and there is but little left
+of it.'  'I hear and obey,' answered Keshkesh.  So the two
+Afrits lifted up the Princess Budour and flying away with her,
+carried her back to her own place and laid her on her bed, whilst
+Maimouneh abode alone with Kemerezzeman, gazing upon him as he
+slept, till the night was all but spent, when she went her way.
+
+At break of day, the prince awoke from sleep and turned right and
+left, but found not the young lady by him and said in himself,
+'What is this?  It would seem as if my father would fain incline
+me to marriage with the young lady, that was with me, and have
+now taken her away by stealth, to the intent that my desire for
+marriage may redouble.'  Then he called out to the eunuch who
+slept at the door, saying, 'Out on thee, O accursed one, arise
+forthright!'  So the eunuch arose, dazed with sleep, and
+brought him basin and ewer, whereupon Kemerezzeman entered the
+draught-house and did his need; then, coming out, made his
+ablutions and prayed the morning-prayer, after which he sat
+telling his beads.  Then he looked up, and seeing the eunuch
+standing waiting upon him, said to him, 'Out on thee, O Sewab!
+Who was it came hither and took away the young lady from beside
+me, whilst I slept?'  'O my lord, what young lady?'  asked the
+eunuch.  'She that lay with me last night,' replied Kemerezzeman.
+The eunuch was troubled at his words and said to him, 'By Allah,
+there has been with thee neither young lady nor other!  How
+should she have come in to thee, when the door was locked and I
+asleep before it?  By Allah, O my lord, neither man nor woman has
+come in to thee!'  'Thou liest, O pestilent slave!'  exclaimed
+the prince.  'Dost thou also presume to hoodwink me and wilt thou
+not tell me what is come of the young lady who lay with me last
+night and who took her away?'  The eunuch was affrighted at him
+and answered, 'By Allah, O my lord, I have seen neither girl nor
+boy!'  His words only angered Kemerezzeman and he said to him, 'O
+accursed one, my father hath taught thee deceit!  Come hither.'
+So the eunuch came up to him, and the prince seized him by the
+collar and threw him to the ground.  He let fly a crack of wind,
+and Kemerezzeman, kneeling upon him, kicked him and throttled
+him, till he fainted away.  Then he tied him to the well-rope,
+and lowering him into the well, plunged him into the water, then
+drew him up and plunged him in again.  Now it was hard winter
+weather, and Kemerezzeman ceased not to lower the eunuch into the
+water and pull him up again, whilst he screamed and called for
+help.  Quoth the prince, 'By Allah, O accursed one, I will not
+draw thee up out of the well, till thou tell me the story of the
+young lady and who it was took her away, whilst I slept.'  'O my
+lord,' answered the eunuch, seeing death staring him in the face,
+'let me go and I will tell thee the truth.'  So Kemerezzeman
+pulled him up out of the well, all but dead for cold and wet and
+torture and beating and fear of drowning.  His teeth chattered
+and he shook like the reed in the hurricane and his clothes were
+drenched and his body befouled and torn by the rough slimy sides
+of the well.  When Kemerezzeman saw him in this sorry plight, he
+relented towards him; and as soon as the eunuch found himself on
+dry land, he said to him, 'O my lord, let me go and put off my
+clothes and wring them out and spread them in the sun to dry and
+don others; after which I will return to thee forthwith and tell
+thee the truth of the matter.'  'O wretched slave,' answered the
+prince, 'hadst thou not seen death face to face, thou hadst never
+confessed; but go now and do thy will, and after return speedily
+and tell me the truth.'  So the eunuch went out, hardly crediting
+his escape, and gave not over running and stumbling, in his
+haste, till he came in to King Shehriman, whom he found sitting
+talking with his Vizier of Kemerezzeman's case and saying, 'I
+slept not last night, for anxiety concerning my son Kemerezzeman,
+and indeed I fear lest some harm befall him in that old tower.
+What good was there in imprisoning him?'  'Have no care for him,'
+answered the Vizier.  'By Allah, no hurt will befall him!  Leave
+him in prison for a month, till his humour yield and his spirit
+be broken and he return to his senses.'  As he spoke, in came the
+eunuch, in the aforesaid plight, and said to the King, who was
+troubled at sight of him, 'O our lord the Sultan, thy son's wits
+are fled and he has gone mad; he has dealt with me thus and thus,
+so that I am become as thou seest, and says, "A young lady lay
+with me this night and stole away whilst I slept.  Where is she?"
+And insists on my telling him where she is and who took her away.
+But I have seen neither girl nor boy; the door was locked all
+night, for I slept before it, with the key under my head, and
+opened to him in the morning with my own hand.'  When the King
+heard this, he cried out, saying, 'Alas, my son!'  And he was
+sore enraged against the Vizier, who had been the cause of all
+this, and said to him, 'Go, bring me news of my son and see what
+hath befallen his wit.'  So the Vizier rose and hastened with the
+slave to the tower, tumbling over his skirts, in his fear of the
+King's anger.  The sun had now risen and when he came in to
+Kemerezzeman, he found him sitting on the couch, reading the
+Koran; so he saluted him and sitting down by his side, said to
+him, 'O my lord, this wretched slave brought us news that
+disquieted and alarmed us and incensed the King.'  'And what,'
+asked Kemerezzeman, 'hath he told you of me, to trouble my
+father?  In good sooth, he hath troubled none but me.'  'He came
+to us in a sorry plight,' answered the Vizier, 'and told us of
+thee a thing which God forfend and a lie which it befits not to
+repeat, may God preserve thy youth and sound wit and eloquent
+tongue and forbid aught of foul to come from thee!'  'O Vizier,'
+said the prince, 'what did this pestilent slave say of me?'  'He
+told us,' replied the Vizier, 'thou hadst taken leave of thy wits
+and would have it that a young lady lay with thee last night and
+wast instant with him to tell thee whither she had gone and didst
+torture him to that end.'  When Kemerezzeman heard this, he was
+sore enraged and said to the Vizier, 'It is manifest to me that
+you taught the eunuch to do as he did and forbade him to tell me
+what became of the young lady.  But thou, O Vizier, art more
+reasonable than the eunuch; so do thou tell me forthright whither
+went the young lady that lay in my bosom last night; for it was
+you who sent her and bade her sleep in my arms, and we lay
+together till day; but when I awoke, I found her not.  So where
+is she now?'  'O my lord Kemerezzeman,' said the Vizier, 'the
+name of God encompass thee!  By Allah, we sent none to thee last
+night, but thou layest alone, with the door locked on thee and
+the eunuch sleeping before it, nor did there come to thee a
+young lady or any other.  Stablish thy reason, O my lord, and
+return to thy senses and occupy thy mind no longer [with vain
+imaginations].'  'O Vizier,' rejoined Kemerezzeman, incensed at
+his words, 'the young lady in question is my beloved, the fair
+one with the black eyes and red cheeks, whom I held in my arms
+all last night.'  The Vizier wondered at his words and said to
+him, 'Didst thou see this damsel with thine eyes and on wake,
+or in sleep?'  'O wretched old man,' answered Kemerezzeman,
+'thinkest thou I saw her with my ears?  Indeed, I saw her with my
+very eyes and on wake and touched her with my hand and watched by
+her half the night, gazing my fill on her beauty and grace and
+elegance and lovely looks.  But thou hadst schooled her and
+charged her to speak no word to me; so she feigned sleep and I
+lay by her side till morning, when I awoke and found her gone.'
+'O my lord Kemerezzeman,' rejoined the Vizier, 'surely thou
+sawest this in thy sleep; it must have been a delusion of dreams
+or a hallucination caused by eating various kinds of food or a
+suggestion of the accursed devils.'  'O pestilent old man,' cried
+the prince, 'wilt thou too make a mock of me and tell me this was
+an illusion of dreams, when this eunuch confessed to the young
+lady, saying, "I will return to thee forthwith and tell thee all
+about her?"' So saying, he sprang up and laying hold of the
+Vizier's long beard, twisted his hand in it and tugging him off
+the couch, threw him on the floor.  It seemed to the Vizier as
+though his soul departed his body for the violent plucking at his
+beard, and Kemerezzeman fell to kicking him and pummelling his
+breast and sides and cuffing him on the nape, till he had
+well-nigh made an end of him.  Then said the Vizier in himself,
+'I must save myself from this madman by telling him a lie, even
+as did the eunuch; else he will kill me, for he is mad beyond a
+doubt.'  So he said to Kemerezzeman, 'O my lord, bear me not
+malice, for indeed thy father charged me to conceal from thee
+this affair of the young lady; but now I am weak and weary and
+sore with beating; for I am an old man and lack strength to
+endure blows.  So have a little patience with me and I will tell
+thee all.'  When the prince heard this, he left beating him
+and said, 'Why couldst thou not tell me without blows and
+humiliation?  Rise now, unlucky old man that thou art, and tell
+me her story.'  Quoth the Vizier, 'Dost thou ask of the young
+lady with the fair face and perfect shape?'  'Yes,' answered
+Kemerezzeman.  'Tell me who it was laid her by my side and took
+her away by night, and let me know whither she is gone, that I
+may go to her.  If my father did this to try me, with a view to
+our marriage, I consent to marry her and be quit of this trouble;
+for he only dealt thus with me, because I refused to marry.  I
+say again, I consent to marry: so tell this to my father, O
+Vizier, and advise him to marry me to her, for I will have none
+other and my heart loveth her alone.  Go now to my father and
+counsel him to hasten our marriage and bring me his answer
+forthright.'  'It is well,' rejoined the Vizier, and went out
+from him, hardly crediting his escape.  Then he set off running
+and stumbling as he went, for excess of affright and agitation,
+till he came in to the King, who said to him, 'O Vizier, what has
+befallen thee and who has maltreated thee and how comes it that I
+see thee thus confounded and terrified?'  'O King,' answered the
+Vizier, 'I bring thee news.'  'What is it?'  asked Shehriman, and
+the Vizier said, 'Know that thy son Kemerezzeman's wits are gone
+and that madness hath betided him.'  When the King heard this,
+the light in his face became darkness and he said, 'Expound to me
+the nature of my son's madness.'  'O my lord,' answered the
+Vizier, 'I hear and obey.'  Then he told him all that had passed
+and the King said to him, 'O most ill-omened of Viziers and
+filthiest of Amirs, know that the reward I will give thee in
+return for this thy news of my son's madness shall be the cutting
+off of thy bead and the forfeiture of thy goods; for thou hast
+caused my son's disorder by the wicked and sinister counsel thou
+hast given me first and last.  By Allah, if aught of mischief or
+madness have befallen him, I will nail thee upon the dome [of the
+palace] and make thee taste the bitterness of death!'  Then
+rising, he betook himself with the Vizier to the tower, and when
+Kemerezzeman saw him, he came down to him in haste from the couch
+on which he sat and kissing his hands, drew back and stood before
+him awhile, with his eyes cast down and his hands clasped behind
+him.  Then he raised his head and repeated the following verses,
+whilst the tears streamed down his cheeks:
+
+
+If I have borne myself blameworthily to you Or if I've made
+     default in that which is your due,
+I do repent my fault; so let your clemency Th' offender
+     comprehend, who doth for pardon sue.
+
+When the King heard this, he embraced his son and kissing him
+between the eyes, made him sit by his side on the couch; then
+turned to the Vizier and looking on him with angry eyes, said to
+him, 'O dog of a Vizier, why didst thou tell me that my son was
+mad and make my heart quake for him?'  Then he turned to the
+prince and said to him, 'O my son, what is to-day called?'  'O my
+father,' answered he, 'to-day is Saturday and to-morrow Sunday:
+then come Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.'  'O
+my son, O Kemerezzeman,' exclaimed the King, 'praised be God for
+the preservation of thy reason!  What is this present month
+called in Arabic?'
+
+'Dhoulcaadeh,' answered Kemerezzeman, 'and it is followed by
+Dhoulhejjeh; then comes Muherrem, then Sefer, then Rebia the
+First and Rebia the Second, the two Jumadas, Rejeb, Shaaban,
+Ramazan and Shewwal.'  At this the King rejoiced exceedingly and
+spat in the Vizier's face, saying, 'O wicked old man, how canst
+thou pretend that my son is mad?  None is mad but thou.'  The
+Vizier shook his head and would have spoken, but bethought
+himself to wait awhile and see what befell.  Then the King said
+to Kemerezzeman, 'O my son, what is this thou sayest to the
+eunuch and the Vizier of a fair damsel that lay with thee last
+night?  What damsel is this of whom thou speakest?'  Kemerezzeman
+laughed at his father's words and replied, 'O my father, I can
+bear no more jesting; so mock me not with another word, for my
+humour is soured by that you have done with me.  Let it suffice
+thee to know that I consent to marry, but on condition that thou
+give me to wife her with whom I lay yesternight; for I am assured
+that it was thou sentest her to me and madest me in love with
+her, then tookest her away from beside me before the dawn.'  'O
+my son,' rejoined the King, 'the name of God encompass thee and
+preserve thy wit from madness!  What young lady is this of whom
+thou talkest?  By Allah, O my son, I know nothing of the affair,
+and I conjure thee, tell me if it be a delusion of sleep or a
+hallucination caused by food?  Doubtless, thou layest down to
+sleep last night, with thy mind occupied with marriage and
+troubled with the thought of it (may God curse marriage and the
+hour in which it occurred to me and him who counselled it!) and
+dreamtest that a handsome young lady embraced thee and didst
+fancy thou sawst her on wake; but all this, O my son, is but an
+illusion of dreams.'  'Leave this talk,' replied Kemerezzeman,
+'and swear to me by God, the All-wise Creator, the Humbler of the
+mighty and the Destroyer of the Chosroës, that thou knowest
+nothing of the young lady nor of her abiding-place.'  'By the
+virtue of the Most High God,' said the King, 'the God of Moses
+and Abraham, I know nothing of all this and it is assuredly but
+an illusion of dreams that thou hast seen in sleep.'  Quoth the
+prince, 'I will give thee a proof that it was not a dream.  Come,
+let me put a case to thee: did it ever happen to any to dream
+that he was fighting a sore battle and after to awake and find in
+his hand a sword besmeared with blood?'  'No, by Allah, O my
+son,' answered the King, 'this hath never been.'  'I will tell
+thee what happened to me,' rejoined Kemerezzeman.  'Meseemed I
+awoke from sleep in the middle of the past night and found a
+young lady lying by my side, whose shape and favour were as mine.
+I embraced her and turned her about with my hand and took her
+ring, which I put on my finger, and she pulled off my ring and
+put it on her finger.  Then I went to sleep by her side, but
+refrained from her and was ashamed to kiss her on the mouth,
+deeming that thou hadst sent her to me, with intent to tempt me
+with her and incline me to marriage, and misdoubting thee to be
+hidden somewhere whence thou couldst see what I did with her.  At
+point of day, I awoke and found no trace of her, nor could I come
+at any news of her, and there befell me what thou knowest of with
+the eunuch and the Vizier.  How then can this have been a dream
+and a delusion, seeing that the ring is a reality?  I should
+indeed have deemed it a dream but for her ring on my finger.
+Here it is: look at it, O King, and see what is its worth.'  So
+saying, he handed the ring to his father, who examined it and
+turned it over, then said to his son, 'Verily, there hangs some
+mighty mystery by this ring and some strange secret.  What befell
+thee last night is indeed a mysterious affair and I know not how
+this intruder came in upon us.  None is the cause of all this
+trouble save the Vizier; but I conjure thee, O my son, to take
+patience, so haply God may do away this affliction from thee and
+bring thee complete relief: as quoth one of the poets:
+
+It may be Fate at last shall draw its bridle-rein And bring us
+     happy chance; for Fortune changes still;
+And things shall happen yet, despite the things fordone, To
+     further forth my hopes and bring me to my will.
+
+And now, O my son,' added he, 'I am certified that thou art not
+mad; but thy case is a strange one, none can unravel it for thee
+but God the Most High.'  'By Allah, O my father,' cried the
+prince, 'deal kindly with me and seek out this damsel and hasten
+her coming to me; else I shall die of grief.'  And he repeated
+the following verses, in a voice that betrayed the ardour of his
+passion:
+
+An if thy very promise of union prove untrue, Let but in sleep
+     thy favours the longing lover cheer.
+"How can the phantom visit a lover's eyes," quoth they, "From
+     which the grace of slumber is banned and banished sheer?"
+
+And he sighed and wept and groaned aloud from a wounded heart,
+whilst the tears streamed from his eyes.  Then turning to his
+father, with submission and despondency, he said to him, 'By
+Allah, O my father, I cannot endure to be parted from her even
+for an hour.'  The King smote hand upon hand and exclaimed,
+'There is no power and no virtue but in God, the Most High, the
+Sublime!  There is no device can profit us in this affair!'  Then
+he took his son by the hand and carried him to the palace, where
+Kemerezzeman lay down on the bed of languor and the King sat at
+his head, weeping and mourning over him and leaving him not night
+or day, till at last the Vizier came in to him and said, 'O King
+of the age and the time, how long wilt thou remain shut up with
+thy son and deny thyself to thy troops?  Verily, the order of thy
+realm is like to be deranged, by reason of thine absence from
+thy grandees and officers of state.  It behoves the man of
+understanding, if he have various wounds in his body, to apply
+him (first) to heal the most dangerous; so it is my counsel to
+thee that thou transport the prince to the pavilion overlooking
+the sea and shut thyself up with him there, setting apart
+Monday and Thursday in every week for state receptions and the
+transaction of public business.  On these days let thine Amirs
+and Viziers and Chamberlains and deputies and captains and
+grandees and the rest of the troops and subjects have access to
+thee and submit their affairs to thee, and do thou their needs
+and judge between them and give and take with them and command
+and forbid.  The rest of the week thou shalt pass with thy son
+Kemerezzeman, and thus do till God vouchsafe you both relief.
+Think not, O King, that thou art exempt from the shifts of
+fortune and the strokes of calamity; for the wise man is still on
+his guard, as well saith the poet:
+
+Thou madest fair thy thought of Fate, whenas the days were fair,
+     And fearedst not the unknown ills that they to thee might
+     bring.
+The nights were fair and calm to thee; thou wast deceived by
+     them, For in the peace of night is born full many a
+     troublous thing.
+O all ye children of mankind, to whom the Fates are kind, Let
+     caution ever have a part in all your reckoning.'
+
+The King was struck with the Vizier's words and deemed his
+counsel wise and timely, fearing lest the order of the state be
+deranged; so he rose at once and bade carry his son to the
+pavilion in question, which was built (upon a rock) midmost the
+water and was approached by a causeway, twenty cubits wide.  It
+had windows on all sides, overlooking the sea; its floor was of
+variegated marble and its roof was painted in the richest colours
+and decorated with gold and lapis-lazuli.  They furnished it for
+Kemerezzeman with embroidered rugs and carpets of the richest
+silk and hung the walls with choice brocades and curtains
+bespangled with jewels.  In the midst they set him a couch of
+juniper-wood, inlaid with pearls and jewels, and he sat down
+thereon, like a man that had been sick twenty years; for the
+excess of his concern and passion for the young lady had wasted
+his charms and emaciated his body, and he could neither eat nor
+drink nor sleep.  His father seated himself at his head, mourning
+sore for him, and every Monday and Thursday he gave his Viziers
+and Amirs and grandees and officers and the rest of his subjects
+leave to come in to him in the pavilion.  So they entered and did
+their several service and abode with him till the end of the day,
+when they went their ways and he returned to his son, whom he
+left not night nor day; and on this wise did he many days and
+nights.
+
+To return to the Princess Budour.  When the two Afrits carried
+her back to her palace and laid her on her bed, she slept on till
+daybreak, when she awoke and sitting up, looked right and left,
+but saw not the youth who had lain in her bosom.  At this, her
+heart was troubled, her reason fled and she gave a great cry,
+whereupon all her damsels and nurses and serving-women awoke and
+came in to her; and the chief of them said to her, 'What ails
+thee, O my lady?'  'O wretched old woman,' answered the princess,
+'where is my beloved, the handsome youth that lay last night in
+my bosom?  Tell me where he is gone.'  When the old woman heard
+this, the light in her eyes became darkness and she was sore in
+fear of her mischief and said to her, 'O my lady Budour, what
+unseemly words are these?'  'Out on thee, pestilent crone that
+thou art!'  cried the princess.  'Where is my beloved, the goodly
+youth with the shining face and the slender shape, the black eyes
+and the joined eyebrows, who lay with me last night from dusk
+until near daybreak?'  'By Allah, O my lady,' replied the old
+woman, 'I have seen no young man nor any other; but I conjure
+thee, leave this unseemly jesting, lest we be all undone.
+Belike, it may come to thy father's ears and who shall deliver us
+from his hand?'  'I tell thee,' rejoined Budour, 'there lay a
+youth with me last night, one of the fairest-faced of men.'  'God
+preserve thy reason!'  exclaimed the nurse.  'Indeed, no one lay
+with thee last night.'  The princess looked at her hand and
+seeing her own ring gone and Kemerezzeman's ring on her finger in
+its stead, said to the nurse, 'Out on thee, thou accursed
+traitress, wilt thou lie to me and tell me that none lay with me
+last night and forswear thyself to me?'  'By Allah,' replied the
+nurse, 'I do not lie to thee nor have I sworn falsely!'  Her
+words incensed the princess and drawing a sword she had by her,
+she smote the old woman with it and slew her; whereupon the
+eunuch and the waiting-women cried out at her and running to her
+father, acquainted him with her case.  So he went to her
+forthright and said to her, 'O my daughter, what ails thee?'  'O
+my father,' answered she, 'where is the young man that lay with
+me last night?'  Then her reason left her and she cast her eyes
+right and left and rent her dress even to the skirt.  When the
+King saw this, he bade the women lay hands on her; so they seized
+and bound her, then putting a chain of iron about her neck, made
+her fast to the window and there left her.  As for her father,
+the world was straitened upon him, when he saw what had befallen
+her, for that he loved her and her case was not a little thing to
+him.  So he summoned the doctors and astrologers and magicians
+and said to them, 'Whoso cureth my daughter of her disorder, I
+will marry him to her and give him half my kingdom; but whoso
+cometh to her and cureth her not, I will strike off his head and
+hang it over her palace-gate.'  Accordingly, all who went in to
+her, but failed to cure her, he beheaded and hung their heads
+over her palace-gate, till he had beheaded forty physicians and
+crucified as many astrologers on her account; wherefore all the
+folk held aloof from her, for all the physicians failed to cure
+her malady and her case was a puzzle to the men of science and
+the magicians.  And as her longing and passion redoubled and love
+and distraction were sore upon her, she poured forth tears and
+repeated the following verses:
+
+My longing after thee, my moon, my foeman is; The thought of thee
+     by night doth comrade with me dwell.
+I pass the darksome hours, and in my bosom flames A fire, for
+     heat that's like the very fire of hell.
+I'm smitten with excess of ardour and desire; By which my pain is
+     grown an anguish fierce and fell.
+
+Then she sighed and repeated these also:
+
+My peace on the belovéd ones, where'er they light them down! I
+     weary for the neighbourhood of those I love, full sore.
+My salutation unto you,--not that of taking leave, But greetings
+     of abundant peace, increasing evermore!
+For, of a truth, I love you dear and love your land no less; But
+     woe is me!  I'm far away from that I weary for.
+
+
+Then she wept till her eyes grew weak and her cheeks pale and
+withered: and thus she abode three years.  Now she had a
+foster-brother, by name Merzewan, who was absent from her all
+this time, travelling in far countries.  He loved her with an
+exceeding love, passing that of brothers; so when he came back,
+he went in to his mother and asked for his foster-sister the
+princess Budour.  'Alas, my son,' answered she, 'thy sister has
+been smitten with madness and has passed these three years, with
+an iron chain about her neck; and all the physicians and men of
+science have failed of curing her.'  When he heard this, he said,
+'I must needs go in to her; peradventure I may discover what ails
+her, and be able to cure her.'  'So be it,' replied his mother;
+'but wait till to-morrow, that I may make shift for thee.'  Then
+she went to the princess's palace and accosting the eunuch in
+charge of the door, made him a present and said to him, 'I have a
+married daughter, who was brought up with thy mistress and is
+sore concerned for what has befallen her, and I desire of thy
+favour that my daughter may go in to her and look on her awhile,
+then return whence she came, and none shall know it.'  'This may
+not be, except by night,' replied the eunuch, 'after the King has
+visited the princess and gone away; then come thou and thy
+daughter.'  She kissed the eunuch's hand and returning home,
+waited till the morrow at nightfall, when she dressed her son in
+woman's apparel and taking him by the hand, carried him to the
+palace.  When the eunuch saw her, he said, 'Enter, but do not
+tarry long.'  So they went in and when Merzewan saw the princess
+in the aforesaid plight, he saluted her, after his mother had
+taken off his woman's attire: then pulling out the books he had
+brought with him and lighting a candle, he began to recite
+certain conjurations.  The princess looked at him and knowing
+him, said to him, 'O my brother, thou hast been absent on thy
+travels and we have been cut off from news of thee.'  'True,'
+answered he; 'but God has brought me back in safety and I am now
+minded to set out again; nor has aught delayed me but the sad
+news I hear of thee; wherefore my heart ached for thee and I came
+to thee, so haply I may rid thee of thy malady.'  'O my brother,'
+rejoined she, 'thinkest thou it is madness ails me?'  'Yes,'
+answered he, and she said, 'Not so, by Allah!  It is even as says
+the poet:
+
+Quoth they, "Thou'rt surely mad for him thou lov'st;" and I
+     replied, "Indeed the sweets of life belong unto the raving
+     race.
+Lo, those who love have not, for that, the upper hand of fate;
+     Only the madman 'tis, I trow, o'ercometh time and space.
+Yes, I am mad; so bring me him for whom ye say I'm mad; And if he
+     heal my madness, spare to blame me for my case."'
+
+Then she told him that she was in love, and he said, 'Tell me thy
+story and what befell thee: peradventure God may discover to me a
+means of deliverance for thee.' 'Know then,' said she, 'that one
+night I awoke from sleep, in the last watch of the night, and
+sitting up, saw by my side the handsomest of youths, as he were a
+willow-wand or an Indian cane, the tongue fails to describe him.
+Me-thought this was my father's doing to try me, for that he had
+consulted me, when the kings sought me of him in marriage, and I
+had refused.  It was this idea that withheld me from arousing
+him, for I thought that if I did aught or embraced him, he would
+most like tell my father.  When I awoke in the morning, I found
+his ring on my finger in place of my own, which he had taken;
+and, O my brother, my heart was taken with him at first sight;
+and for the violence of my passion and longing, I have never
+since known the taste of sleep and have no occupation save
+weeping and repeating verses night and day.  This, then, O my
+brother, is the story of the cause of my (pretended) madness.'
+Then she poured forth tears and repeated the following verses:
+
+Love has banished afar my delight; they are fled With a fawn that
+     hath hearts for a pasturing-stead.
+To him lovers' blood is a trifle, for whom My soul is a-wasting
+     for passion and dread.
+I'm jealous for him of my sight and my thought; My heart is a spy
+     on my eyes and my head.
+His eyelashes dart at us death-dealing shafts; The hearts that
+     they light on are ruined and dead.
+Whilst yet there is left me a share in the world, Shall I see
+     him, I wonder, or ever I'm sped?
+I fain would conceal what I suffer for him; 'Tis shown to the spy
+     by the tears that I shed.
+When near, his enjoyment is distant from me: But his image is
+     near, when afar he doth tread.
+
+
+'See then, O my brother,' added she, 'how thou mayest aid me in
+this my affliction.'  Merzewan bowed his head awhile, marvelling
+and knowing not what to do, then raised it and said to her, 'I
+believe all thou hast said to be true, though the case of the
+young man passes my imagination: but I will go round about all
+countries and seek for what may heal thee; peradventure God shall
+appoint thy deliverance to be at my hand.  Meanwhile, take
+patience and be not disquieted.'  So saying, he took leave of
+her, after he had prayed that she might be vouchsafed constancy,
+and left her repeating the following verses:
+
+Thine image in my thoughts fares as a pilgrim aye, For all thy
+     stead and mine are distant many a day.
+The wishes of my heart do bring thee near to me For 'gainst the
+     speed of thought what is the levin's ray?
+Depart thou not, that art the lustre of mine eyes; Yea, when
+     thou'rt far removed, all void of light are they.
+
+He returned to his mother's house, where he passed the night, and
+on the morrow, after furnishing himself for his journey, he set
+out and travelled from city to city and from island to island for
+a whole month.  Everywhere he heard talk of the princess Budour's
+madness, till he came to a city named Teyreb and seeking news of
+the townsfolk, so haply he might light on a cure for his
+foster-sister's malady, heard that Kemerezzeman, son of King
+Shehriman, was fallen sick and afflicted with melancholy madness.
+He enquired the name of this prince's capital and was told that
+it stood on the Islands of Khalidan and was distant thence a
+whole month's journey by sea and six by land.  So he took passage
+in a ship that was bound thither, and they sailed with a
+favouring breeze for a whole month, till they came in sight of
+the city and there remained for them but to enter the harbour;
+when there came out on them a tempestuous wind which carried away
+the masts and rent the canvas, so that the sails fell into the
+sea and the ship foundered, with all on board.  Each looked to
+himself, and as for Merzewan, the current carried him under the
+King's palace, wherein was Kemerezzeman.  As fate would have it,
+it was the day on which the King gave audience to his grandees
+and officers, and he was sitting, with his son's head in his lap,
+whilst an eunuch whisked away the flies.  The prince had not
+spoken, neither had he eaten nor drunk for two days, and he was
+grown thinner than a spindle.  Now the Vizier was standing near
+the window giving on the sea and raising his eyes, saw Merzewan
+at the last gasp for struggling with the waves; whereupon his
+heart was moved to pity for him and he drew near to the King and
+said to him, 'O King, I crave thy leave to go down to the court
+of the pavilion and open the water-gate, that I may rescue a man
+who is at the point of drowning in the sea and bring him forth of
+peril into deliverance; peradventure, on this account, God may
+ease thy son of his affliction.'  'O Vizier,' replied Shehriman,
+enough is that which has befallen my son through thee and on
+thine account.  Belike, if thou rescue this drowning man, he will
+look on my son and come to know our affairs and exult over me;
+but I swear by Allah, that, if he come hither and see my son and
+after go out and speak of our secrets to any, I will assuredly
+strike off thy head before his; for thou art the cause of all
+that hath befallen us, first and last.  Now do as thou wilt.'
+The Vizier rose and opening the postern, descended to the
+causeway; then walked on twenty steps and came to the sea, where
+he saw Merzewan nigh unto death.  So he put out his hand to him
+and catching him by the hair of his head, drew him ashore, in a
+state of unconsciousness, with belly full of water and eyes
+starting from his head.  The Vizier waited till he came to
+himself, when he pulled off his wet clothes and clad him in a
+fresh suit, covering his head with one of his servants' turbans;
+after which he said to him, 'I have been the means of saving thee
+from drowning: do not thou requite me by causing my death and
+thine own.'  'How so?' asked Merzewan; and the Vizier answered,
+'Thou art now about to go up and pass among Amirs and Viziers,
+all silent and speaking not, because of Kemerezzeman, the King's
+son.'  When Merzewan heard the name of Kemerezzeman, he knew that
+this was he of whom he came in search, but he feigned ignorance
+and said to the Vizier, 'And who is Kemerezzeman?'  Quoth the
+Vizier, 'He is the King's son and lies sick on his couch,
+restless, eating not nor drinking neither sleeping night nor day;
+indeed he is nigh upon death and we have lost hope of his
+recovery.  Beware lest thou look too long on him or on any place
+other than that where thou settest thy feet: else thou art a lost
+man and I also.'  'O Vizier,' said Merzewan, 'I conjure thee by
+Allah, tell me of thy favour, the cause of this youth's malady.'
+'I know none,' answered the Vizier, 'save that, three years ago,
+his father pressed him to marry, but he refused; whereat the King
+was wroth and imprisoned him.  On the morrow, he would have it
+that he had had, for a bedfellow, the night before, a young lady
+of surpassing beauty, beggaring description, with whom he had
+exchanged rings; but we know not the meaning of all this.  So by
+Allah, O my son, when thou comest up into the palace, look not on
+the prince, but go thy way; for the King's heart is full of anger
+against me.'  'By Allah,' said Merzewan in himself, 'this is he
+whom I sought!'  Then he followed the Vizier up to the palace,
+where the latter seated himself at the prince's feet; but
+Merzewan must needs go up to Kemerezzeman and stand before him,
+gazing on him.  At this, the Vizier was like to die of affright
+and signed to Merzewan to go his way; but he feigned not to see
+him and gave not over gazing upon Kemerezzeman, till he was
+assured that it was indeed he of whom he was in search. Then,
+'Glory be to God,' cried he, 'who hath made his shape even as her
+shape and his complexion as her complexion and his cheek as her
+cheek!'  At this Kemerezzeman opened his eyes and gave ear to his
+speech; and when Merzewan saw him listening, he repeated the
+following verses:
+
+I see thee full of song and plaint and ecstasy amain, And to the
+     setting forth in words of charms I find thee fain.
+Can it be love hath wounded thee or art thou shot with shafts?
+     For sure these fashions but belong unto a smitten swain.
+Ho, pour me out full cups of wine and sing me eke, in praise Of
+     Tenam, Suleyma, Rebäb,[FN#35] a glad and lovesome strain!
+Yea, let the grape-vine's sun[FN#36] go round, whose mansion is
+     its jar, Whose East the cupbearer and West my thirsty mouth
+     I feign.
+I'm jealous of the very clothes she dights upon her side, For
+     that upon her body soft and delicate they've lain;
+And eke I'm envious of the cups that touch her dainty lips, When
+     to the kissing-place she sets them ever and again.
+Think not that I in anywise with sword am done to death; 'Tis by
+     the arrows of a glance, alack!  that I am slain.
+Whenas we met again, I found her fingers dyed with red, As 'twere
+     the juice of tragacanth had steeped them in its stain.
+Said I to her, "Thou'st dyed thy palms,[FN#37] whilst I was far
+     away. This then is how the slave of love is 'quited for his
+     pain."
+Quoth she (and cast into my heart the flaming fires of love,
+     Speaking as one who hath no care love's secret to contain),
+"No, by thy life, this is no dye I've used!  So haste thou not To
+     heap accusings on my head and slander me in vain.
+For, when I saw thee get thee gone upon our parting day, My eyes,
+     for very dreariment, with tears of blood did rain.
+I wiped them with my hand, and so my fingers with my blood Were
+     all to-reddened and do yet their ruddy tint retain."
+Had I for very passion wept, or e'er my mistress did, I should,
+     before repentance came, have solaced heart and brain;
+But she before my weeping wept; her tears drew mine and so Quoth
+     I, "Unto the precedent the merit doth pertain."
+Chide not at me for loving her, for by Love's self I swear, My
+     heart with anguish for her sake is well-nigh cleft in twain.
+I weep for one whose face is decked by Beauty's self; there's
+     none, Arab or foreigner, to match with her, in hill or
+     plain.
+The lore of Locman[FN#38] hath my love and Mary's chastity, with
+     Joseph's loveliness to boot and David's songful vein;
+Whilst Jacob's grief to me belongs and Jonah's dreariment, Ay,
+     and Job's torment and despite and Adam's plight of bane.
+Slay ye her not, although I die for love of her, but ask, How
+     came it lawful unto her to shed my blood in vain.
+
+When Kemerezzeman heard these verses, they brought refreshment
+and healing to his heart, and he sighed and turning his tongue in
+his mouth, said to the King, 'O my father, let this young man
+come and sit by my side.'  The King, hearing these words from his
+son, rejoiced exceedingly, though at the first he had been wroth
+with Merzewan and thought in himself to have stricken off his
+head: but when he heard Kemerezzeman speak, his anger left him
+and he arose and drawing Merzewan to him, made him sit down by
+his son and said to him, 'Praised be God for thy safety!'  'May
+God bless thee,' answered Merzewan, 'and preserve thy son to
+thee!'  Then said the King, 'From what country comest thou?'
+'From the Islands of the Inland Sea,' replied he, 'the kingdom of
+King Ghaïour, lord of the Islands and the seas and the Seven
+Palaces.'  Quoth the King, 'Maybe thy coming shall be blessed to
+my son and God vouchsafe to heal him of his malady.'  'God
+willing,' rejoined Merzewan, 'all shall yet be well.'  Then
+turning to Kemerezzeman, he said to him in his ear, unheard of
+the King and his court, 'Be of good cheer, O my lord, and take
+heart and courage.  As for her for whose sake thou art thus, ask
+not of her condition on thine account.  Thou keptest thy secret
+and fellest sick, but she discovered hers and they said she was
+mad; and she is now in prison, with an iron chain about her neck,
+in most piteous case; but, God willing, the healing of  both of
+you shall be at my hand.'  When Kemerezzeman heard this, his life
+returned to him and he took heart and courage and signed to his
+father to help him sit up; at which the King was like to lose his
+reason for joy and lifting him up, set two pillows for him
+to lean upon.  Then, of his fear for his son, he shook the
+handkerchief of dismissal and all the Amirs and Viziers withdrew;
+after which he bade perfume the palace with saffron and decorate
+the city, saying to Merzewan, 'By Allah, O my son, thou hast a
+lucky and a blessed aspect!'  And he made much of him and called
+for food, which when they brought, Merzewan said to the prince,
+'Come, eat with me.'  So he obeyed him and ate with him, while
+the King called down blessings on Merzewan and said, 'How
+auspicious is thy coming, O my son!'  When he saw Kemerezzeman
+eat, his joy redoubled and he went out and told the prince's
+mother and the people of the palace.  Then he let call abroad the
+good news of the prince's recovery and proclaimed the decoration
+of the city: so the people rejoiced and decorated the city and it
+was a day of high festival.  Merzewan passed the night with
+Kemerezzeman, and the King also slept with them, in the excess of
+his joy for his son's recovery.  Next morning, when the King had
+gone away and the two young men were left alone, Kemerezzeman
+told Merzewan his story from first to last and the latter said to
+him, 'I know her with whom thou didst foregather; her name is the
+princess Budour and she is daughter to King Ghaïour.'  Then he
+told him all that had befallen the princess and acquainted him
+with the excessive love she bore him, saying, 'All that befell
+thee with thy father hath befallen her with hers, and thou art
+without doubt her beloved, even as she is thine; so brace up thy
+resolution and take heart, for I will bring thee to her and unite
+you both anon and deal with you even as saith the poet:
+
+Though to the lover adverse be the fair And drive him with her
+     rigours to despair,
+Yet will I soon unite them, even as I The pivot of a pair of
+     scissors were.
+
+And he went on to comfort and hearten Kemerezzeman and urged him
+to eat and drink, cheering him and diverting him with talk and
+song and stories, till he ate food and drank wine and life and
+strength returned to him.  In good time he became free of his
+disorder and stood up and sought to go to the bath.  So Merzewan
+took him by the hand and carried him to the bath, where they
+washed their bodies and made them clean.  When his father heard
+of this, in his joy he freed the prisoners and gave alms to the
+poor; moreover he bestowed splendid dresses of honour upon his
+grandees and let decorate the city seven days.  Then said
+Merzewan to Kemerezzeman, 'Know, O my lord, that the sole object
+of my journey hither was to deliver the princess Budour from her
+present strait; and it remains but for us to devise how we may
+get to her, since thy father cannot brook the thought of parting
+with thee.  So it is my counsel that tomorrow thou ask his leave
+to go a-hunting, saying, "I have a mind to divert myself with
+hunting in the desert and to see the open country and pass the
+night there."  Then do thou take with thee a pair of saddle-bags
+full of gold and mount a swift hackney and I will do the like;
+and we will take each a spare horse.  Suffer not any servant to
+follow us, for as soon as we reach the open country, we will go
+our ways.'  Kemerezzeman rejoiced mightily in this plan and said,
+'It is good.'  Then he took heart and going in to his father,
+sought his leave to go out to hunt, saying as Merzewan had taught
+him.  The King consented and said, 'O my son, a thousandfold
+blessed be the day that restores thee to health!  I will not
+gainsay thee in this; but pass not more than one night in the
+desert and return to me on the morrow; for thou knowest that life
+is not good to me without thee, and indeed I can hardly as yet
+credit thy recovery, because thou art to me as he of whom quoth
+the poet:
+
+Though Solomon his carpet were mine both day and night, Though
+     the Choeroës' empire, yea, and the world were mine,
+All were to me in value less than a midge's wing, Except mine
+     eyes still rested upon that face of thine.'
+
+Then he equipped the prince and Merzewan for the excursion,
+bidding make them ready four horses, together with a dromedary to
+carry the money and a camel for the water and victuals; and
+Kemerezzeman forbade any of his attendants to follow him.  His
+father bade him farewell and pressed him to his breast and kissed
+him, saying, 'I conjure thee by Allah, be not absent from me more
+than one night, wherein sleep will be denied me, for I am even as
+saith the poet:
+
+Thy presence with me is my heaven of delight And my hell of
+     affliction the loss of thy sight.
+My soul be thy ransom!  If love be my crime For thee, my offence,
+     of a truth, is not light.
+Doth passion blaze up in thy heart like to mine? I suffer the
+     torments of hell day and night.'
+
+'O my father,' answered Kemerezzeman, 'God willing, I will lie
+but one night abroad.'  Then he took leave of him, and he and
+Merzewan mounted and taking with them the dromedary and camel,
+rode out into the open country.  They drew not bridle from the
+first of the day till nightfall, when they halted and ate and
+drank and fed their beasts and rested awhile; after which they
+again took horse and fared on three days, till they came to a
+spacious wooded tract.  Here they alighted and Merzewan, taking
+the camel and one of the horses, slaughtered them and cut the
+flesh off their bones.  Then he took from Kemerezzeman his shirt
+and trousers and cassock and tearing them in shreds, smeared them
+with the horse's blood and cast them down in the fork of the
+road.  Then they ate and drank and taking horse set forward
+again.  'O my brother,' said Kemerezzeman, 'what is this thou
+hast done and how will it profit us?'  'Know,' answered Merzewan,
+'that thy father, when he finds that we have outstayed the night
+for which we had his leave, will mount and follow in our track
+till he comes hither; and when he sees the blood and thy clothes
+torn and bloodied, he will deem thee to have been slain of
+highway robbers or wild beasts; so he will give up hope of thee
+and return to his city, and by this devise we shall gain our
+end.'  'By Allah,' said Kemerezzeman, 'this is indeed a rare
+device!  Thou hast done well.'  Then they fared on days and
+nights and Kemerezzeman did nought but weep and complain, till
+they drew near their journey's end, when he rejoiced and repeated
+the following verses:
+
+Wilt thou be harsh to a lover, who's never unmindful of thee, And
+     wilt thou now cast him away to whom thou wast fain
+     heretofore?
+May I forfeit the favour of God, if I ever was false to thy love!
+     Abandonment punish my crime, if I've broken the vows that I
+     swore!
+But no, I've committed no crime, that calleth for rigour from
+     thee; Or, if in good sooth I'm at fault, I bring thee
+     repentance therefor.
+Of the marvels of Fortune it is that thou shouldst abandon me
+     thus; But Fortune to bring to the light fresh marvels will
+     never give o'er.
+
+When he had made an end of these verses, Merzewan said to him,
+'See, yonder are King Ghaïour's Islands.'  Whereat Kemerezzeman
+rejoiced with an exceeding joy and thanked him for what he had
+done and strained him to his bosom and kissed him between the
+eyes.  They entered the city and took up their lodging at a khan,
+where they rested three days from the fatigues of the journey;
+after which Merzewan carried Kemerezzeman to the bath and
+clothing him in a merchant's habit, provided him with a geomantic
+tablet of gold, a set of astrological instruments and an
+astrolabe of silver, plated with gold.  Then he said to him, 'Go,
+O my lord, stand before the King's palace and cry out, "I am the
+mathematician, I am the scribe, I am he that knows the Sought and
+the Seeker, I am the skilled physician, I am the accomplished
+astrologer.  Where then is he that seeketh?"  When the King hears
+this, he will send after thee and carry thee in to his daughter
+the princess Budour, thy mistress: but do thou say to him, "Grant
+me three days' delay, and if she recover, give her to me to wife,
+and if not, deal with me as with those who came before me."  If
+he agree to this, as soon as thou art alone with her, discover
+thyself to her; and when she knows thee, her madness will cease
+from her and she will be made whole in one night.  Then do thou
+give her to eat and drink, and her father, rejoicing in her
+recovery, will marry thee to her and share his kingdom with thee,
+according to the condition he hath imposed on himself: and so
+peace be on thee.'  'May I never lack thine excellence!' replied
+Kemerezzeman, and taking the instruments aforesaid, sallied forth
+of the khan and took up his station before King Ghaïour's palace,
+where he began to cry out, saying, 'I am the scribe, I am the
+mathematician, he that knows the Sought and the Seeker, I am he
+who makes calculations for marriage contracts, who draws
+horoscopes, interprets dreams and traces the magical characters
+by which hidden treasures are discovered!  Where then is the
+seeker?'  When the people of the city heard this, they flocked to
+him, for it was long since they had seen a scribe or an
+astrologer, and stood round him, wondering at his beauty and
+grace and perfect symmetry.  Presently one of them accosted him
+and said, 'God on thee, O fair youth with the eloquent tongue,
+cast not thyself into perdition, in thy desire to marry the
+princess Budour!  Do but look on yonder heads hung up; they are
+all those of men who have lost their lives in this same venture.'
+He paid no heed to them, but cried out at the top of his voice,
+saying, 'I am the doctor, the scribe!  I am the astrologer, the
+mathematician!'  And all the townsfolk forbade him from this, but
+he heeded them not, saying in himself, 'None knoweth desire save
+he who suffereth it.'  Then he began again to cry his loudest,
+saying, 'I am the scribe, I am the mathematician, I am the
+astrologer!'  till all the townsfolk were wroth with him and said
+to him, 'Thou art but a silly self-willed boy!  Have pity on
+thine own youth and tender years and beauty and grace.'  But he
+cried all the more, 'I am the astrologer, I am the mathematician!
+Is there any one that seeketh?'  As he was thus crying and the
+people remonstrating with him, King Ghaïour heard his voice and
+the clamour of the folk and said to his Vizier, 'Go down and
+bring me yon astrologer.'  So the Vizier went down and taking
+Kemerezzeman from the midst of the crowd, carried him up to the
+King, before whom he kissed the earth, repeating the following
+verses:
+
+Eight elements of high renown are all comprised in thee; By them
+     may Fortune never cease thy bounder slave to be!
+Munificence and knowledge sure, glory and piety, Fair fluent
+     speech and eloquence and might and victory.
+
+When the King saw him, he made him sit down by his side and said
+to him, 'By Allah, O my son, an thou be not an astrologer,
+venture not thy life nor submit thyself to my condition; for I
+have bound myself to strike off the head of whoso goeth in to my
+daughter and healeth her not of her disorder; but him who healeth
+her I will marry to her.  So let not thy beauty and grace delude
+thee; for, by Allah, if thou cure her not, I will assuredly cut
+off thy head!'  'I knew of this condition before I came hither,'
+answered Kemerezzeman, 'and am ready to abide by it.'  Then King
+Ghaïour took the Cadis to witness against him and delivered him
+to an eunuch, saying, 'Carry this fellow to the lady Budour.'  So
+the eunuch took him by the hand and led him along the gallery;
+but Kemerezzeman out-went him and pushed on before, whilst the
+eunuch ran after him, saying, 'Out on thee!  Hasten not to
+destroy thyself.  By Allah, never yet saw I astrologer so eager
+for his own destruction: thou knowest not the calamities that
+await thee.'  But Kemerezzeman turned away his face and repeated
+the following verses:
+
+A learnéd man, I'm ignorant before thy beauties bright; Indeed, I
+     know not what I say, confounded at thy sight.
+If I compare thee to the sun, thou passest not away, Whilst the
+     sun setteth from the sky and fails anon of light.
+Perfect, indeed, thy beauties are; they stupefy the wise Nor ev'n
+     the eloquent avail to praise thy charms aright.
+
+The eunuch stationed Kemerezzeman behind the curtain of the
+princess's door and the prince said to him, 'Whether of the two
+wilt thou liefer have me do, cure thy lady from here or go in and
+cure her within the curtain?'  The eunuch marvelled at his words
+and answered, 'It were more to thine honour to cure her from
+here.'  So Kemerezzeman sat down behind the curtain and taking
+out pen and inkhorn and paper, wrote the following: 'This is the
+letter of one whom passion torments and whom desire consumes and
+sorrow and misery destroy; one who despairs of life and looks for
+nothing but death, whose mourning heart has neither comforter nor
+helper, whose sleepless eyes have none to succour them against
+affliction, whose day is passed in fire and his night in torment,
+whose body is wasted for much emaciation and there comes to him
+no messenger from his beloved:
+
+I write with a heart devoted to thee and the thought of thee And
+     an eyelid, wounded for weeping tears of the blood of me.
+And a body that love and affliction and passion and long desire
+     Have clad with the garment of leanness and wasted utterly.
+I plain me to thee of passion, for sore hath it baffled me Nor is
+     there a corner left me where patience yet may be.
+Wherefore, have mercy, I prithee, show favour unto me, For my
+     heart, my heart is breaking for love and agony.
+
+The cure of hearts is union with the beloved and whom his love
+maltreateth, God is his physician.  If either of us have broken
+faith, may the false one fail of his desire!  There is nought
+goodlier than a lover who is faithful to a cruel beloved one.'
+Then, for a subscription, he wrote, 'From the distracted and
+despairing lover, him whom love and longing disquiet, from the
+captive of passion and transport, Kemerezzeman, son of Shehriman,
+to the peerless beauty, the pearl of the fair Houris, the Lady
+Budour, daughter of King Ghaïour.  Know that by night I am
+wakeful and by day distraught, consumed with ever-increasing
+wasting and sickness and longing and love, abounding in sighs,
+rich in floods of tears, the prisoner of passion, the slain of
+desire, the debtor of longing, the boon-companion of sickness, he
+whose heart absence hath seared.  I am the sleepless one, whose
+eyes close not, the slave of love, whose tears run never dry, for
+the fire of my heart is still unquenched and the flaming of my
+longing is never hidden.'  Then in the margin he wrote this
+admired verse:
+
+Peace from the stores of the grace of my Lord be rife On her in
+     whose hand are my heart and soul and life!
+
+And also these:
+
+Vouchsafe thy converse unto me some little, so, perchance, Thou
+     mayst have ruth on me or else my heart be set at ease.
+Yea, for the transport of my love and longing after thee, Of all
+     I've suffered I make light and all my miseries.
+God guard a folk whose dwelling-place is far removed from mine,
+     The secret of whose love I've kept in many lands and seas!
+But fate, at last, hath turned on me a favourable face And on my
+     loved one's threshold-earth hath cast me on my knees.
+Budour beside me in the bed I saw and straight my moon, Lit by
+     her sun, shone bright and blithe upon my destinies.[FN#39]
+
+Then by way of subscription, he wrote the following verses:
+
+Ask of my letter what my pen hath written, and the scroll Will
+     tell the passion and the pain that harbour in my soul.
+My hand, what while my tears rain down, writes and desire makes
+     moan Unto the paper by the pen of all my weary dole.
+My tears roll ever down my cheeks and overflow the page; Nay, I'd
+     ensue them with my blood, if they should cease to roll.
+
+And at the end he added this other verse:
+
+I send thee back herewith the ring I took whilere of thee, Whenas
+     we companied; so send me that thou hadst of me.
+
+Then he folded up Budour's ring inside the letter and sealing it,
+gave it to the eunuch, who went in with it to the princess.  She
+took it from him and opening it, found in it her own ring.  Then
+she read the letter and when she understood its purport and knew
+that her beloved stood behind the curtain, her reason fled and
+her breast dilated for joy; and she repeated the following
+verses:
+
+Long, long have I bewailed the sev'rance of our loves, With tears
+     that from my lids streamed down like burning rain,
+And vowed that, if the days should reunite us two, My lips should
+     never speak of severance again.
+Joy hath o'erwhelmed me so that, for the very stress Of that
+     which gladdens me, to weeping I am fain.
+Tears are become to you a habit, O my eyes, So that ye weep as
+     well for gladness as for pain.
+
+Then she rose and setting her feet to the wall, strained with all
+her might upon the iron collar, till she broke it from her neck
+and snapped the chains; then going forth, she threw herself on
+Kemerezzeman and kissed him on the mouth, like a pigeon billing.
+And she embraced him with all the stress of her love and longing
+and said to him, 'O my lord, do I wake or sleep and has God
+indeed vouchsafed us reunion after separation?  Praised be He who
+hath reknit our loves, after despair!'  When the eunuch saw this,
+he ran to King Ghaïour and kissing the earth before him, said, 'O
+my lord, know that this is indeed the prince and paragon of
+astrologers; for he hath cured thy daughter from behind the
+curtain, without going in to her.'  'Look to it well,' said the
+King; 'is this news true?'  'O my lord,' answered the eunuch,
+'come and see for thyself how she hath found strength to break
+the iron chains and is come forth to the astrologer, kissing and
+embracing him.'  So the King arose and went in to his daughter,
+who, when she saw him, rose and covered her face, reciting the
+following verses:
+
+I love not the toothstick; 'tis hateful to me, For I, when I name
+     it, say, "Other than thee."[FN#40]
+But I love, notwithstanding, the capparis-tree, For, whenas I
+     name it I say, "Thee I see."[FN#41]
+
+The King was transported for joy at her recovery and kissed her
+between the eyes, for he loved her very dearly; then turning to
+Kemerezzeman, he asked him who he was and whence he came.  The
+prince told him his name and rank and that he was the son of King
+Shehriman, and related to him the whole story from beginning to
+end; whereat Ghaïour marvelled and said, 'Verily, your story
+deserves to be recorded in books and read after you, generation
+after generation.'  Then he summoned Cadis and witnesses
+forthright and married the two lovers; after which he bade
+decorate the city seven days long.  So they decorated the city
+and held high festival, and all the troops donned their richest
+clothes, whilst the drums beat and the criers announced the glad
+tidings.  Then they spread the tables with all manner meats and
+unveiled the princess before Kemerezzeman, and behold, each was
+like unto the other in beauty and elegance and amorous grace.  So
+the King rejoiced in the issue of her affair and in her marriage
+and praised God for that He had made her to fall in love with a
+goodly youth of the sons of the kings.  Then Kemerezzeman went in
+to her and lay with her that night and took his will of her,
+whilst she in like manner fufilled her desire of him and enjoyed
+his beauty and grace; and they clipped each other till the
+morning.  On the morrow, the King made a banquet and spreading
+the tables with the richest meats, kept open house a whole month
+to all comers from the Islands of the Inner and the Outer Seas.
+Now, when Kemerezzeman had thus attained his desire and had
+tarried awhile with the princess Budour, he bethought him of his
+father and saw him in a dream, saying, 'O my son, is it thus thou
+dealest with me?' and reciting the following verses:
+
+The moon o' the dark by his neglect my spirit doth appal And to
+     the watching of his stars hath made my eyelids thrall.
+But soft, my heart!  It may be yet he will return to thee; And
+     patience, soul, beneath the pain he's smitten thee withal!
+
+Kemerezzeman awoke in the morning, afflicted and troubled at what
+he had seen, whereupon the princess questioned him and he told
+her his dream.  Then they both went in to King Ghaïour and
+telling him what had passed, besought his leave to depart.  He
+gave the prince the leave he sought; but the princess said,
+'O my father, I cannot endure to be parted from him.'  Quoth
+Ghaïour, 'Then go thou with him,' and gave her leave to be
+absent a whole year, charging her to visit him once in every year
+thereafterward.  So she kissed his hand and Kemerezzeman did the
+like; after which he proceeded to equip them for the journey,
+furnishing them with horses and dromedaries of choice and a
+litter for his daughter, besides mules and camels laden with
+victual and all manner of travelling gear.  Moreover, he
+gave them slaves and eunuchs to serve them and bestowed on
+Kemerezzeman ten splendid suits of cloth of gold, embroidered
+with jewels, together with a treasury[FN#42] of money and ten
+riding horses and as many she-camels.  When the day of departure
+arrived, the King accompanied them to the farthest limits of his
+islands, where, going in to his daughter Budour in the litter, he
+kissed her and strained her to his bosom, weeping and repeating
+the following verses:
+
+O thou that seekest parting, stay thy feet, For sure embraces are
+     a lover's right.
+Softly, for fortune's nature is deceit And parting is the end of
+     love-delight.
+
+Then, leaving her, he kissed her husband and commended his
+daughter to his care; after which he bade him farewell and giving
+the signal for departure, returned to his capital with his
+troops.  The prince and princess and their suite fared on without
+stopping a whole month, at the end of which time they came to a
+spacious champaign, abounding in pasturage, where they alighted
+and pitched their tents.  They ate and drank and rested, and
+the princess Budour lay down to sleep.  Presently, Kemerezzeman
+went in to her and found her lying asleep, in a shift of
+apricot-coloured silk, that showed all it should have covered,
+and a coif of cloth of gold embroidered with pearls and jewels.
+The breeze raised her shift and showed her breasts and navel and
+a belly whiter than snow, each one of whose dimples contained an
+ounce of benzoin ointment.[FN#43] At this sight, his love and
+passion for her redoubled, and he recited the following verses:
+
+If, whilst within my entrails the fires of hell did stir And
+     flames raged high about me, 'twere spoken in my ear,
+"Which wilt thou have the rather, a draught of water cold Or
+     sight of her thou lovest?"  I'd say, "The sight of her."
+
+Then he put his hand to the ribbon of her trousers and drew it
+and loosed it, for that his soul lusted after her, when he saw a
+jewel, red as dragon's blood,[FN#44] made fast to the band.  He
+untied and examined it and seeing two lines of writing graven
+thereon, in a character not to be read, marvelled and said in
+himself, 'Except she set great store by this, she had not tied it
+to the ribbon of her trousers nor hidden it in the most private
+place about her person, that she might not be parted from it.  I
+wonder what she doth with it and what is the secret that is in
+it.'  So saying, he took it and went without the tent to look at
+it in the light; but as he was examining it, a bird swooped down
+on him and snatching it from his hand, flew off with it and
+lighted on the ground at a little distance.  Fearing to lose the
+talisman, he ran after the bird; but it flew on before him,
+keeping just out of his reach, and drew him on from place to
+place and from hill to hill, till the night came on and the air
+grew dark, when it roosted on a high tree.  Kemerezzeman stopped
+under the tree, confounded and faint for hunger and weariness,
+and giving himself up for lost, would have turned back, but knew
+not the way, for the darkness had overtaken him.  So he
+exclaimed, 'There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most
+High, the Supreme!'  and lying down under the tree, slept till
+the morning, when he awoke and saw the bird also awake and fly
+away.  He arose and walked after it, and it flew on little by
+little before him, after the measure of his going; at which he
+smiled and said, 'By Allah, this is a strange thing!  Yesterday,
+the bird flew before me as fast as I could run; and to-day,
+knowing that I am tired and cannot run, it flieth after the
+measure of my walking.  By Allah, this is wonderful!  But,
+whether it lead me to my death or to my life, I must needs follow
+it, wherever it goeth, for it will surely not abide save in some
+inhabited land.  So he  followed the bird, eating of the fruits
+of the earth and drinking of its waters, for ten days' space, and
+every night the bird roosted on a tree.  At the end of this time,
+he came in sight of an inhabited city, whereupon the bird darted
+off like the glance of the eye and entering the town, was lost to
+view: and Kemerezzeman marvelled at this and exclaimed, 'Praised
+be God, who hath brought me hither in safety!'  Then he sat down
+by a stream and washed his hands and feet and face and rested
+awhile: and recalling his late easy and pleasant life of union
+with his beloved and contrasting it with his present plight of
+trouble and weariness and hunger and strangerhood and severance,
+the tears streamed from his eyes and he repeated the following
+cinquains:
+
+I strove to hide the load that love on me did lay; In vain, and
+     sleep for me is changed to wake alway.
+Whenas wanhope doth press my heart both night and day, I cry
+     aloud, "O Fate, hold back thy hand, I pray.
+          For all my soul is sick with dolour and dismay!"
+If but the Lord of Love were just indeed to me, Sleep had not
+     fled mine eyes by his unkind decree.
+Have pity, sweet, on one that is for love of thee Worn out and
+     wasted sore; once rich and great was he,
+          Now beggared and cast down by love from his array.
+The railers chide at thee full sore; I heed not, I, But stop my
+     ears to them and give them back the lie.
+"Thou lov'st a slender one," say they; and I reply, "I've chosen
+     her and left all else beneath the sky."
+          Enough; when fate descends, the eyes are blinded aye.
+
+As soon as he was rested, he rose and walked on, little by
+little, till he came to the city-gate and entered, knowing not
+whither he should go.  He traversed the city from end to end,
+without meeting any of the townsfolk, entering by the land-gate
+and faring on till he came out at the sea-gate, for the city
+stood on the sea-shore.  Presently, he found himself among the
+orchards and gardens of the place and passed among the trees,
+till he came to a garden-gate and stopped before it, whereupon
+the keeper came out to him and saluted him.  The prince returned
+his greeting and the other bade him welcome, saying, 'Praised be
+God that thou hast come off safe from the people of the city!
+Quick, come into the garden, ere any of the townsfolk see thee.'
+So Kemerezzeman entered the garden, amazed, and said to the
+keeper, 'Who and what then are the people of this city?'  'Know,'
+answered the other,' that the people of this city are all
+Magians: but, God on thee, tell me how and why thou camest
+hither.'  Accordingly, Kemerezzeman told him all that had
+befallen him, at which the gardener marvelled greatly and said,
+'Know, O my son, that from this place to the cities of Islam is
+four months' journey by sea and a whole year by land.  We have a
+ship that sails yearly hence with merchandise to the Ebony
+Islands, which are the nearest Muslim country, and thence to the
+Khalidan Islands, the dominions of King Shehriman.'  Kemerezzeman
+considered awhile and concluding that he could not do better than
+abide with the gardener and become his assistant, said to him,
+'Wilt thou take me into thy service, to help thee in this
+garden?'  'Willingly,' answered the gardener and clothing him in
+a short blue gown, that reached to his knees, taught him to lead
+the water to the roots of the trees.  So Kemerezzeman abode with
+him, watering the trees and hoeing up the weeds and weeping
+floods of tears; for he had no rest day or night, by reason of
+his strangerhood and separation from his beloved, and he ceased
+not to repeat verses upon her, amongst others the following:
+
+Ye made us a promise of yore; will ye not to your promise be
+     true? Ye spoke us a word aforetime; as ye spoke to us, will
+     ye not do?
+We waken, whilst ye are asleep, according to passion's decree; So
+     have ye the vantage of us, for watchers and sleepers are
+     two.
+We vowed to each other, whilere, that we would keep secret our
+     loves; But the breedbate possessed you to speak, and you
+     spoke and revealed what none knew.
+Belovéd in pleasure and pain, chagrin and contentment alike,
+     Whate'er may betide, ye alone are the goal that my wishes
+     ensue.
+There's one that still holdeth a heart, a heart sore tormented of
+     mine; Ah, would she'd have ruth on my plight and pity the
+     soul that she slew!
+Not every one's eye is as mine, worn wounded and cankered with
+     tears, And hearts that are, even as mine, the bondslaves of
+     passion, are few.
+Ye acted the tyrant with me, saying, "Love is a tyrant, I trow."
+     Indeed, ye were right, and the case has proved what ye said
+     to be true.
+Alack!  They've forgotten outright a passion-distraught one,
+     whose faith Time 'minisheth not, though the fires in his
+     entrails rage ever anew.
+If my foeman in love be my judge, to whom shall I make my
+     complaint? To whom of injustice complain, to whom for
+     redress shall I sue?
+Were it not for my needing of love and the ardour that burns in
+     my breast, I had not a heart love-enslaved and a soul that
+     for passion must rue.
+
+To return to the princess Budour.  When she awoke, she sought her
+husband and found him not: then she saw the ribbon of her
+trousers undone and the talisman missing and said to herself, 'By
+Allah, this is strange!  Where is my husband?  It would seem as
+if he had taken the talisman and gone away, knowing not the
+secret that is in it.  Whither can he have gone?  It must have
+been some extraordinary matter that drew him away, for he cannot
+brook to leave me an hour.  May God curse the talisman and its
+hour!'  Then she considered awhile and said in herself, 'If I go
+out and tell the servants that my husband is lost, they will
+covet me: I must use stratagem.'  So she rose and donned some of
+her husband's clothes and boots and spurs and a turban like his,
+drawing the loose end across her face for a chin-band.  Then
+setting a slave-girl in her litter, she went forth the tent and
+called to the servants, who brought her Kemerezzeman's horse; and
+she mounted and bade load the beasts and set forward.  So they
+bound on the burdens and departed, none doubting but she was
+Kemerezzeman, for she resembled him in face and form; nor did
+they leave journeying, days and nights, till they came in sight
+of a city overlooking the sea, when they halted to rest and
+pitched their tents without the walls.  The princess asked the
+name of the place and was told, 'It is called the City of Ebony:
+its king is named Armanous, and he hath a daughter called Heyat
+en Nufous.'  Presently, the King sent to learn who it was that
+had encamped without his city; so the messenger, coming to the
+tents, enquired of Budour's servants and was told that she was a
+king's son, bound for the Khalidan Islands, who had strayed
+from his road; whereupon he returned and told the King, who
+straightway took horse and rode out, with his nobles, to meet the
+strange prince.  As he drew near the tents, the princess came to
+meet him on foot, whereupon the King alighted and they saluted
+each other.  Then he carried her into the city and bringing her
+to the palace, let spread a banquet and bade transport her
+company and baggage to the guest-house, where they abode three
+days; at the end of which time the King came in to Budour (Now
+she had that day gone to the bath and her face shone as the moon
+at its full, enchanting all beholders, and she was clad in robes
+of silk, embroidered with gold and jewels) and said to her,
+'Know, O my son, that I am a very old man and am grown unable for
+the conduct of the state.  Now God has blessed me with no child
+save one daughter, who resembles thee in beauty and grace; so, O
+my son, if this my country please thee and thou be willing to
+make thine abode here, I will marry thee to my daughter and give
+thee my kingdom and so be at rest.'  When Budour heard this, she
+bowed her head and her forehead sweated for shame, and she said
+to herself, 'How shall I do, and I a woman?  If I refuse and
+depart, I cannot be safe but that he may send after me troops to
+kill me; and if I consent, belike I shall be put to shame.  I
+have lost my beloved Kemerezzeman and know not what is come of
+him; wherefore I see nothing for it but to hold my peace and
+consent and abide here, till God accomplish what is to be.'
+So she raised her head and made submission to King Armanous,
+saying, 'I hear and obey,' whereat he rejoiced and bade make
+proclamation, throughout the Ebony Islands, to hold high festival
+and decorate the houses.  Then he assembled his chamberlains and
+Amirs and Viziers and other officers of state and the Cadis of
+the city, and putting off the kingship, invested Budour therewith
+and clad her in the royal robes.  Moreover, the Amirs and
+grandees went in to her and did her homage, nothing doubting but
+that she was a young man, and all who looked on her berayed their
+hose for the excess of her beauty and grace; then, after the lady
+Budour had been made Sultan and the drums had been beaten, in
+announcement of the joyful event, Armanous proceeded to equip his
+daughter for marriage, and in a few days, they brought Budour in
+to her, when they seemed as it were two moons risen at one time
+or two suns foregathering.  So they entered the bridal-chamber
+and the doors were shut and the curtains let down upon them,
+after the attendants had lighted the candles and spread the bed
+for them.  When Budour found herself alone with the princess
+Heyat en Nufous, she called to mind her beloved Kemerezzeman and
+grief was sore upon her.  So she wept for his loss and absence
+and repeated the following verses:
+
+O ye who went and left my heart to pine alone fore'er, No spark
+     of life remains in me, since ye away did fare!
+I have an eye that doth complain of sleeplessness alway; Tears
+     have consumed it; would to God that sleeplessness would
+     spare!
+When ye departed, after you the lover did abide; But question of
+     him what of pain in absence he doth bear.
+But for the ceaseless flood of tears my eyes pour forth, the
+     world Would at my burning all catch fire, yea, seas and
+     lands and air.
+To God Most High I make my moan of dear ones loved and lost, That
+     on my passion have no ruth nor pity my despair.
+I never did them wrong, except my love for them were such; But
+     into blest and curst in love men aye divided were.
+
+When she had finished, she sat down beside the princess Heyat en
+Nufous and kissed her on the mouth.  Then, rising abruptly, she
+made the ablution and betook herself to her devotions, nor did
+she leave praying till Heyat en Nufous was asleep, when she slipt
+into bed and lay with her back to her till morning; then rose and
+went out.  Presently, the old king and queen came in to their
+daughter and asked her how she did, whereupon she told them what
+had passed and repeated to them the verses she had heard.
+
+Meanwhile, Budour seated herself upon the throne and all the
+Amirs and captains and officers of state came in to her and
+wished her joy of the kingship, kissing the earth before her and
+calling down blessings upon her.  She smiled on them and clad
+them in robes of honour, augmenting the fiefs of the Amirs and
+giving largesse to the troops; wherefore all the people loved her
+and offered up prayers for the continuance of her reign, doubting
+not but that she was a man.  She sat all day in the hall of
+audience, ordering and forbidding and dispensing justice,
+releasing those who were in prison and remitting the customs
+dues, till nightfall, when she withdrew to the apartment prepared
+for her.  Here she found Heyat en Nufous seated; so she sat down
+by her and clapping her on the back, caressed her and kissed her
+between the eyes, repeating the following verses:
+
+The secret that I cherished my tears have public made; The
+     wasting of my body my passion hath bewrayed.
+I hid my love and longing; but on the parting-day My plight,
+     alas!  revealed it to spies; 'twas open laid.
+O ye who have departed the camp, ye've left behind My body worn
+     with languor and spirit all decayed.
+Within my heart's recesses ye have your dwelling-place; My tears
+     are ever running and lids with blood berayed.
+For ever will I ransom the absent with my soul; Indeed, for them
+     my yearnings are patent and displayed.
+I have an eye, whose pupil, for love of them, rejects Sleep and
+     whose tears flow ever, unceasing and unstayed.
+My foes would have me patient for him; but God forbid That ever
+     of my hearing should heed to them be paid!
+I baulked their expectation.  Of Kemerezzeman Sometime I did
+     accomplish the joys for which I prayed.
+He doth, as none before him, perfections all unite; No king of
+     bygone ages was in the like arrayed.
+His clemency and bounty Ben Zaïdeh's[FN#45] largesse And
+     Muawiyeh's[FN#46] mildness have cast into the shade.
+But that it would be tedious and verse sufficeth not To picture
+     forth his beauties, I'd leave no rhyme unmade.
+
+Then she wiped away her tears and making the ablution, stood up
+to pray; nor did she give over praying, till drowsiness overcame
+Heyat en Nufous and she slept, whereupon Budour came and lay
+beside her till the morning.  At daybreak, she arose and prayed
+the morning-prayer; then, going forth, seated herself on the
+throne and passed the day in ordering and forbidding and
+administering justice.  Meanwhile, King Armanous went in to his
+daughter and asked her how she did; so she told him all that had
+passed and repeated to him the verses that Budour had recited,
+adding, 'O my father, never saw I one more abounding in sense and
+modesty than my husband, save that he doth nothing but weep and
+sigh.'  'O my daughter,' answered her father, 'have patience with
+him yet this third night, and if he go not in to thee and do away
+thy maidenhead,  we will take order with him and oust him from
+the throne and banish him the country.'  When the night came, the
+princess Budour rose from the throne and betaking herself to the
+bride-chamber, found the candles lighted and the princess Heyat
+en Nufous sitting awaiting her; whereupon she bethought her of
+her husband and recalling the early severance of their loves,
+wept and sighed and groaned groan upon groan, repeating the
+following verses:
+
+I swear the tidings of my woes fills all the country-side, Like
+     the sun shining on the hills of Nejed far and wide.
+His gesture speaks, but hard to tell the meaning of it is, And
+     thus my yearning without end is ever magnified.
+I hate fair patience since the hour I fell in love with thee.
+     Hast seen a lover hating love at any time or tide?
+One, in whose glances sickness lies, hath smitten me to death,
+     For looks are deadliest of the things, wherein doth sickness
+     bide.
+He shook his clustered ringlets down and laid his chin-band by,
+     And beauty thus in him, at once both black and white, I
+     spied.
+Sickness and cure are in his hands; for, to the sick of love, By
+     him alone who caused their dole can healing be applied.
+The softness of his waist hath made his girdle mad for love And
+     of his hips, for jealousy, to rise he is denied.
+His forehead, covered with his curls, is as a mirky night;
+     Unveiled, 'tis as a shining moon that thrusts the dark
+     aside.
+
+When she had finished, she would have risen to pray, but Heyat en
+Nufous caught her by the skirt, saying, 'O my lord, art thou not
+ashamed to neglect me thus, after all the favour my father hath
+done thee?'  When Budour heard this, she sat down again and said,
+'O my beloved, what is this thou sayest?'  'What I say,' answered
+Heyat en Nufous, 'is that I never saw any so self-satisfied as
+thou.  Is every fair one so disdainful?  I say not this to
+incline thee to me, but only of my fear for thee from King
+Armanous; for he purposes, an thou go not in to me to-night and
+do away my maidenhead, to strip thee of the kingship on the
+morrow and banish thee the realm; and belike his much anger may
+lead him to kill thee.  But I, O my lord, have compassion on thee
+and give thee fair warning; and it is thine to decide.'  At this,
+Budour bowed her head in perplexity and said in herself, 'If I
+refuse, I am lost, and if I obey, I am shamed.  I am now queen of
+all the Ebony Islands and they are under my rule and I shall
+never again foregather with Kemerezzeman except it be in this
+place; for there is no way for him to his native land but through
+the Ebony Islands.  Verily, I know not what to do, for I am no
+man that I should arise and open this virgin girl; but I commit
+my case to God, who orders all for the best.'  Then she said to
+Heyat en Nufous, 'O my beloved, it is in my own despite that I
+have neglected thee and abstained from thee.'  And she discovered
+herself to her and told her her whole story, saying, 'I conjure
+thee by Allah to keep my counsel, till God reunite me with my
+beloved Kemerezzeman, and then let what will happen.'  Her story
+moved Heyat en Nufous to wonder and pity, and she prayed God to
+reunite her with her beloved, saying, 'Fear nothing, O my sister,
+but have patience till God accomplish that which is to be.'  And
+she repeated the following verses:
+
+None keepeth counsel saving those who're trusty and discreet. A
+     secret's ever safely placed with honest folk and leal;
+And secrets trusted unto me are in a locked-up house, Whose keys
+     are lost and on whose door is set the Cadi's seal.
+
+'O my sister,' continued she, 'the breasts of the noble are the
+graves of secrets, and I will not discover thine.'  Then they
+toyed and embraced and kissed and slept till near the call to
+morning-prayer, when Heyat en Nufous arose and slaughtering a
+young pigeon, besmeared herself and besprinkled her shift with
+its blood.  Then she put off her trousers and cried out,
+whereupon her waiting-women hastened to her and raised cries of
+joy.  Presently, her mother came in to her aad asked her how she
+did and tended her and abode with her till evening; whilst the
+lady Budour repaired to the bath and after washing herself,
+proceeded to the hall of audience, where she sat down on her
+throne and dispensed justice among the folk.  When King Armanous
+heard the cries, he asked what was the matter and was informed of
+the consummation of his daughter's marriage; whereat he rejoiced
+and his breast dilated and he made a great banquet.
+
+To return to King Shehriman.  When Kemerezzeman and Merzewan
+returned not at the appointed time, he passed the night without
+sleep, restless and consumed with anxiety.  The night was long
+upon him and he thought the day would never dawn.  He passed the
+forenoon of the ensuing day in expectation of his son's coming,
+but he came not; whereat his heart forebode separation and he was
+distraught with fears for Kemerezzeman.  He wept till his clothes
+were drenched, crying out, 'Alas, my son!'  and repeating the
+following verses from an aching heart:
+
+Unto the votaries of love I still was contrary, Till of its
+     bitter and its sweet myself perforce must taste.
+I quaffed its cup of rigours out, yea, even to the dregs, And to
+     its freemen and its slaves myself therein abased.
+Fortune aforetime made a vow to separate our loves; Now hath she
+     kept her vow, alack!  and made my life a waste.
+
+Then he wiped away his tears and bade his troops make ready for a
+long journey.  So they all mounted and set forth, headed by the
+Sultan, whose heart burnt with grief and anxiety for his son.  He
+divided the troops into six bodies, whom he despatched in as many
+directions, giving them rendezvous for the morrow at the
+cross-roads.  Accordingly they scoured the country diligently all
+that day and night, till at noon of the ensuing day they joined
+company at the cross-roads.  Here four roads met and they knew
+not which the prince had followed, till they came to the torn
+clothes and found shreds of flesh and blood scattered by the way
+on all sides.  When the King saw this, he cried out from his
+inmost heart, saying, 'Alas, my son!' and buffeted his face and
+tore his beard and rent his clothes, doubting not but his son was
+dead.  Then he gave himself up to weeping and wailing, and the
+troops also wept for his weeping, being assured that the prince
+had perished.  They wept and lamented and threw dust on their
+heads till they were nigh upon death, and the night surprised
+them whilst they were thus engaged.  Then the King repeated the
+following verses, with a heart on fire for the torment of his
+despair:
+
+Blame not the mourner for the grief to which he is a prey, For
+     yearning sure sufficeth him, with all its drear dismay.
+He weeps for dreariment and grief and stress of longing pain, And
+     eke his transport doth the fires, that rage in him, bewray.
+Alas, his fortune who's Love's slave, whom languishment hath
+     bound Never to let his eyelids stint from weeping night and
+     day!
+He mourns the loss of one was like a bright and brilliant moon,
+     That shone out over all his peers in glorious array.
+But Death did proffer to his lips a brimming cup to drink, What
+     time he left his native land, and now he's far away.
+He left his home and went from us unto calamity; Nor to his
+     brethren was it given to him farewell to say.
+Indeed, his loss hath stricken me with anguish and with woe; Yea,
+     for estrangement from his sight my wits are gone astray.
+Whenas the Lord of all vouchsafed to him His Paradise, Upon his
+     journey forth he fared and passed from us for aye.
+
+Then he returned with the troops to his capital, giving up his
+son for lost and deeming that wild beasts or highwaymen had set
+on him and torn him in pieces, and made proclamation that all in
+the Khalidan Islands should don black in mourning for him.
+Moreover, he built a pavilion in his memory, naming it House of
+Lamentations, and here he was wont to spend his days, (with the
+exception of Mondays and Thursdays, which he devoted to the
+business of the state), mourning for his son and bewailing him
+with verses, of which the following are some:
+
+My day of bliss is that whereon thou drawest near to me, And
+     that, whereon thou turn'st away, my day of death and fear.
+What though I tremble all the night and go in dread of death, Yet
+     thine embraces are to me than safety far more dear.
+
+And again:
+
+My soul redeem the absent, whose going cast a blight On hearts
+     and did afflict them with anguish and affright!
+Let gladness then accomplish its purification-time,[FN#47] For,
+     by a triple divorcement,[FN#48] I've put away delight.
+
+Meanwhile, the princess Budour abode in the Ebony Islands, whilst
+the folk would point to her and say, 'Yonder is King Armanous's
+son-in-law;' and every night she lay with Heyat en Nufous, to
+whom she made moan of her longing for her husband Kemerezzeman,
+weeping and describing to her his beauty and grace and yearning
+to enjoy him, though but in a dream.  And bytimes she would
+repeat these verses:
+
+God knows that, since my severance from thee, full sore I've
+     wept, So sore that needs my eyes must run for very tears in
+     debt.
+"Have patience," quoth my censurer, "and thou shalt win them
+     yet," And I, "O thou that blamest me, whence should I
+     patience get?"
+
+
+All this time, Kemerezzeman abode with the gardener, weeping and
+repeating verses night and day, bewailing the seasons of
+enjoyment and the nights of delight, whilst the gardener
+comforted him with the assurance that the ship would set sail for
+the land of the Muslims at the end of the year.  One day, he saw
+the folk crowding together and wondered at this; but the gardener
+came in to him and said, 'O my son, give over work for to-day
+neither water the trees; for it is a festival day, on which the
+folk visit one another.  So rest and only keep thine eye on the
+garden, whilst I go look after the ship for thee; for yet but a
+little while and I send thee to the land of the Muslims.'  So
+saying, he went out, leaving Kemerezzeman alone in the garden,
+who fell to musing upon his condition, till his courage gave way
+and the tears streamed from his eyes.  He wept till he swooned
+away, and when he recovered, he rose and walked about the garden
+pondering what fate had done with him and bewailing his long
+estrangement from those he loved.  As he went thus, absorbed in
+melancholy thought, his foot stumbled and he fell on his face,
+striking his forehead against the stump of a tree.  The blow cut
+it open and his blood ran down and blent with his tears.  He rose
+and wiping away the blood, dried his tears and bound his forehead
+with a piece of rag; then continued his melancholy walk about the
+garden.  Presently, he saw two birds quarrelling on a tree, and
+one of them smote the other on the neck with its beak and cut off
+its head, with which it flew away, whilst the slain bird's body
+fell to the ground before Kemerezzeman.  As it lay, two great
+birds flew down and alighting, one at the head and the other at
+the tail of the dead bird, drooped their wings over it and bowing
+their heads towards it, wept; and when Kemerezzeman saw them thus
+bewail their mate, he called to mind his wife  and father and
+wept also.  Then he saw them dig a grave and bury the dead bird;
+after which they flew away, but presently returned with the
+murderer and alighting on the grave, stamped on him till they
+killed him.  Then they rent his belly and tearing out his
+entrails, poured the blood on the grave.  Moreover, they stripped
+off his skin and tearing his flesh in pieces, scattered it hither
+and thither.  All this while Kemerezzeman was watching them and
+wondering; but presently, chancing to look at the dead bird's
+crop, he saw therein something gleaming.  So he opened it and
+found the talisman that had been the cause of his separation from
+his wife.  At this sight, he fell down in a swoon for joy; and
+when he revived, he said, 'Praised be God!  This is a good omen
+and a presage of reunion with my beloved.'  Then he examined the
+jewel and passed it over his eyes; after which he bound it to his
+arm, rejoicing in coming good, and walked about, awaiting the
+gardener's return, till nightfall; when, as he came not, he lay
+down and slept in his wonted place.  At daybreak he rose and
+girding himself with a cord of palm-fibre, took hoe and basket
+and went out to his work in the garden.  Presently, he came to a
+carob-tree and struck the hoe into its roots.  The blow resounded
+[as if it had fallen on metal]; so he cleared away the earth and
+discovered a trap-door of brass.  He raised the trap and found a
+winding stair, which he descended and came to an ancient vault of
+the time of Aad and Themoud,[FN#49]  hewn out of the rock.  Round
+the vault stood many brazen vessels of the bigness of a great
+oil-jar, into one of which he put his hand and found it full of
+red and shining gold; whereupon he said to himself, 'Verily, the
+days of weariness are past and joy and solace are come!'  Then he
+returned to the garden and replacing the trap-door, busied
+himself in tending the trees till nightfall, when the gardener
+came back and said to him, 'O my son, rejoice in a speedy return
+to thy native land, for the merchants are ready for the voyage
+and in three days' time the ship will set sail for the City of
+Ebony, which is the first of the cities of the Muslims; and
+thence thou must travel by land six months' journey till thou
+come to the Islands of Khalidan, the dominions of King Shehriman.'
+At this Kemerezzeman rejoiced and repeated the following verses:
+
+Forsake not a lover unused aversion from thee, Nor punish the
+     guiltless with rigour and cruelty.
+Another, when absence was long, had forgotten thee And changed
+     from his faith and his case; not so with me.
+
+Then he kissed the gardener's hand, saying, 'O my father, even as
+thou hast brought me glad tidings, so I also have great good news
+for thee,' and told him of his discovery in the garden; whereat
+the gardener rejoiced and said, 'O my son, fourscore years have I
+dwelt in this garden and have never chanced on aught; whilst
+thou, who hast not sojourned with me a year, hast discovered
+this thing; wherefore it is God's gift to thee, for the cesser
+of thine ill fortune, and will aid thee to rejoin thy folk
+and foregather with her thou lovest.'  'Not so,' answered
+Kemerezzeman, 'it must be shared between us.'  Then he carried
+him to the underground chamber and showed him the gold, which was
+in twenty jars.  So he took ten and the gardener ten, and the
+latter said to him, 'O my son, fill thyself jars with the olives
+that grow in the garden, for they are not found but in our land
+and are sought after; the merchants carry them to all parts and
+they are called Asafiri[FN#50] olives.  Lay the gold in the jars
+and cover it with olives: then stop them and cover them and take
+them with thee in the ship.'  So Kemerezzeman took fifty jars and
+laying in each somewhat of the gold, filled it up with olives.
+At the bottom of one of the jars he laid the talisman, then
+stopped and covered the jars and sat down to talk with the
+gardener, making sure of speedy reunion with his own people and
+saying in himself, 'When I come to the Ebony Islands, I will
+journey thence to my father's country and enquire for my beloved
+Budour.  I wonder whether she turned back to her own land or
+journeyed on to my father's country or whether there befell her
+any accident by the way.'  And he repeated the following verses:
+
+Love in my breast they lit and passed away forthright: Far
+     distant is the land that holds my soul's delight.
+Far, far from me the camp and those that dwell therein; No
+     visitation-place again shall us unite.
+Patience and reason fled from me, when they fared forth; Sleep
+     failed me and despair o'ercame me, like a blight.
+They left me, and with them departed all my joy; Tranquillity and
+     peace with them have taken flight.
+They made mine eyes run down with tears of love laid waste; My
+     lids for lack of them brim over day and night.
+Whenas my sad soul longs to see them once again And waiting and
+     desire are heavy on my spright,
+Midmost my heart of hearts their images I trace, Love and
+     desireful pain and yearning for their sight.
+
+Then he told the gardener what he had seen pass between the
+birds, whereat he wondered; and they both lay down and slept till
+the morning.  The gardener awoke sick and abode thus two days;
+but on the third day, his sickness increased on him, till they
+despaired of his life and Kemerezzeman grieved sore for him.
+Meanwhile, the captain and sailors came and enquired for the
+gardener.  Kemerezzeman told them that he was sick, and they
+said, 'Where is the young man that is minded to go with us to the
+Ebony Islands?'  'He is your servant,' answered the prince and
+bade them carry the jars of olives to the ship.  So they
+transported them to the ship, saying, 'Make haste, for the wind
+is fair;' and he answered, 'I hear and obey.'  Then he carried
+his victual on board and returning, to bid the gardener farewell,
+found him in the agonies of death.  So he sat down at his head
+and closed his eyes, and his soul departed his body; whereupon he
+laid him out and committed him to the earth to the mercy of God
+the Most High.  Then he went down to the port, to embark, but
+found that the ship had already weighed anchor and set sail; nor
+did she cease to cleave the waters, till she disappeared from
+his sight.  So he returned to the garden, sorrowful and
+heavy-hearted, and sitting down, threw dust on his head and
+buffeted his face.  Then he rented the garden of its owner and
+hired a man to help him tend the trees.  Moreover, he went down
+to the underground chamber and bringing up the rest of the gold,
+stowed it in other fifty jars, which he filled up with olives.
+Then he enquired of the ship and was told that it sailed but once
+a year; at which his affliction redoubled and he mourned sore for
+that which had befallen him, above all for the loss of the
+princess Budour's talisman, and spent his nights and days weeping
+and repeating verses.
+
+Meanwhile, the ship sailed with a favouring wind, till it reached
+the Ebony Islands.  As fate would have it, the princess Budour
+was sitting at a window overlooking the sea and saw the ship cast
+anchor in the port.  At this sight, her heart throbbed and she
+mounted and riding down to the port, with her officers, halted by
+the ship, whilst the sailors broke out the cargo and transported
+the goods to the storehouses; after which she called the captain
+and asked what he had with him.  'O King,' answered he, 'I have
+with me drugs and cosmetics and powders and ointments and
+plasters and rich stuffs and Yemen rugs and other costly
+merchandise, not to be borne of mule or camel, and all manner
+essences and spices and perfumes, civet and ambergris and camphor
+and Sumatra aloes-wood, and tamarinds and Asafiri olives to boot,
+such as are rare to find in this country.'  When she heard talk
+of Asafiri olives, her heart yearned for them and she said to the
+captain, 'How much olives hast thou?'  'Fifty jars full,'
+answered he.  'Their owner is not with us, but the King shall
+take what he will of them.'  Quoth she, 'Bring them ashore, that
+I may see them.'  So he called to the sailors, who brought her
+the fifty jars; and she opened one and looking at the olives,
+said to the captain, 'I will take the whole fifty and pay you
+their value, whatever it may be.'  'By Allah, O my lord,'
+answered he, 'they have no value in our country and the fifty
+jars may be worth some hundred dirhems; but their owner tarried
+behind us, and he is a poor man.'  'And what are they worth
+here?' asked she.  'A thousand dirhems,' replied he.  'I will
+take them at that price,' quoth she and bade carry the fifty jars
+to the palace.  When it was night, she called for a jar of olives
+and opened it, there being none present but herself and the
+princess Heyat en Nufous.  Then, taking a dish, she turned into
+it the contents of the jar, when behold there fell out into the
+dish with the olives a heap of red gold and she said to Heyat en
+Nufous, 'This is nought but gold!'  So she sent for the rest of
+the jars and found each one full of gold and scarce enough olives
+in the whole fifty to fill one jar.  Moreover, she sought among
+the gold and found the talisman, which she took and examined and
+knew for that which Kemerezzeman had taken from off the riband of
+her trousers; whereupon she cried out for joy and fell down in a
+swoon.  When she revived, she said in herself, 'Verily, this
+talisman was the cause of my separation from my beloved
+Kemerezzeman; but now it is an omen of good.'  Then she showed it
+to Heyat en Nufous and said to her, 'This was the cause of
+separation and now, please God, it shall be the cause of
+reunion.'  As soon as it was day, she seated herself on her
+throne and sent for the captain, who came and kissed the ground
+before her.  Quoth she, 'Where didst thou leave the owner of
+these olives?'  'O King of the age,' answered he, 'we left him in
+the land of the Magians and he is a gardener there.'  'Except
+thou bring him to me,' said she, 'thou knowest not the harm that
+awaits thee and thy ship.'  Then she bade seal up the merchants'
+storehouses and said to them, 'The owner of these olives is my
+debtor; and an ye bring him not to me, I will without fail put
+you all to death and confiscate your goods.'  So they all went to
+the captain and promised him the hire of the ship, if he would go
+and return a second time, saying, 'Deliver us from this masterful
+tyrant.'  Accordingly, the captain set sail and God decreed him a
+prosperous voyage, till he came to the city of the Magians, and
+landing by night, went up to the garden.  Now the night was long
+upon Kemerezzeman, and he sat, bethinking him of his beloved and
+weeping over what had befallen him and repeating the following
+verses:
+
+Full many a night I've passed, whose stars their course did stay,
+     A night that seemed of those that will not pass away,
+That was, as 'twere, for length the Resurrection-morn, To him
+     that watched therein and waited for the day!
+
+At this moment, the captain knocked at the garden-gate, and
+Kemerezzeman opened and went out to him, whereupon the sailors
+seized him and carrying him on board the ship, weighed anchor
+forthright.  They sailed on without ceasing days and nights,
+whilst Kemerezzeman knew not why they dealt thus with him; but
+when he questioned them, they replied, 'Thou hast offended
+against the lord of the Ebony Islands, the son-in-law of King
+Armanous, and hast stolen his good, unhappy wretch that thou
+art!'  'By Allah,' said he, 'I know not the country nor was I
+ever there in all my life!'  However, they fared on with him,
+till they made the Ebony Islands and landing, carried him up to
+the princess Budour, who knew him at sight and said, 'Leave him
+with the eunuchs, that they may take him to the bath.'  Then she
+relieved the merchant of the embargo and gave the captain a dress
+of honour and ten thousand dinars; after which, she went in that
+night to the princess Heyat en Nufous and told her what had
+passed, saying, 'Keep thou my counsel, till I accomplish my
+purpose and do a thing that shall be recorded and told to kings
+and commoners after us.'  Meanwhile, they carried Kemerezzeman to
+the bath and clad him in a royal habit, so that, when he came
+forth, he resembled a willow-wand or a star whose aspect put to
+shame both sun and moon, and his life returned to him.  Then he
+went in to the princess Budour, who, when she saw him, schooled
+her heart to patience, till she should have accomplished her
+purpose, and bestowed on him slaves and servants, black and
+white, and camels and mules.  Moreover, she gave him a treasury
+of money and advanced him from dignity to dignity, till she made
+him treasurer and committed to his charge all the treasures of
+the state; nor did she leave day by day to increase his
+allowances and afford him fresh marks of her favour.  As for
+Kemerezzeman, he was at a loss for the reason of all the honour
+and favour she showed him and gave gifts and largesse out of the
+abundance of the wealth he owed to her munificence, devoting
+himself in particular to the service of King Armanous, so that he
+and all the Amirs and people, great and small, loved him and were
+wont to swear by his life.  Nevertheless, he ceased not to marvel
+at the favour shown him by Budour and said in himself, 'By Allah,
+there must be a reason for this affection!  Peradventure, this
+king favours me thus excessively with some ill purpose and needs
+must I therefore crave leave of him to depart his realm.'  So he
+went in to Budour and said to her, 'O King, thou hast overwhelmed
+me with favours, but it will fulfil the measure of thy bounties
+if thou wilt take from me all thou hast given and let me depart.'
+She smiled and said, 'What makes thee seek to depart and plunge
+into new perils, whenas thou art in the enjoyment of the greatest
+favour and prosperity?'  'O King,' answered Kemerezzeman, 'this
+favour, if there be no reason for it, is indeed a wonder of
+wonders, more by token that thou hast advanced me to dignities
+such as befit graybeards, albeit I am but a child.'  'The reason
+is,' answered she, 'that I love thee for thine exceeding grace
+and thy surpassing beauty; and so thou wilt but grant me my
+desire of thee, I will advance thee yet further in honour and
+favour and largesse and make thee Vizier, for all thy tender age,
+even as the folk made me Sultan and I no older than thou; so that
+nowadays there is nothing strange in the headship of children,
+and gifted of God was he who said:
+
+Our time is, meseems, of the lineage of Lot; It craves the
+     advancement of younglings, God wot.'
+
+When Kemerezzeman heard this, he was confounded and his cheeks
+flushed till they seemed on fire; and he said, 'I reck not of
+favours that involve the commission of sin; I will live poor in
+wealth but rich in virtue and honour.'  Quoth she, 'I am not the
+dupe of thy scruples, arising from prudery and coquetry: and God
+bless him who says:
+
+I mentioned to him the pact of fruition, and he, "How long with
+     vexatious discourse wilt thou set upon me?"
+I showed him a dinar and straightway he sang out and said, "O
+     whither shall one from Fate irresistible flee!"
+
+'O King,' replied Kemerezzeman, 'I have not the wont of these
+doings, nor have I strength, who am but of tender years, to bear
+these heavy burdens, for which elder than I have proved unable.'
+She smiled and rejoined, 'Indeed, it is wonderful how error
+springs from the disorder of the wit.  Since thou art but a boy,
+why standest thou in fear of sin or the doing of forbidden
+things, seeing that thou art not yet come to years of discretion
+and the offences of a child incur neither punishment nor reproof?
+Verily, thou committest thyself to an argument advanced but for
+the sake of contention, and it behoves thee to bow to the
+ordinance of fruition, which has been given against thee.
+Wherefore, henceforward, give over denial and coyness, for the
+commandment of God is a foreordained decree:[FN#51] indeed, I
+have more reason than thou to fear falling into error; and
+well-inspired was he who said:
+
+My pintle is big and the little one said unto me, "Tilt boldly
+     therewith at my inwards and quit thee thy need."
+Quoth I, "'Tis unlawful;" but he, "It is lawful with me;" So to
+     it I fell, supporting myself by his rede.'
+
+When Kemerezzeman heard these words, the light in his eyes became
+darkness and he said, 'O King, thou hast in thy palace women and
+female slaves, that have not their like in this age: may not
+these suffice thee without me?  Do thy will with them and leave
+me.'  'Thou speakest truth,' answered she; 'but it is not with
+them that one who loves thee can heal himself of torment and
+fever; for when tastes and inclinations are corrupted, they
+hearken to other than good counsel.  So leave arguing and hear
+what the poet says:
+
+Seest not the fruits of the market, how of two kinds they be?
+     Some are for figs,[FN#52] but more for the fruit of the
+     sycamore-tree.[FN#53]
+
+And what another says:
+
+
+Full many an one, whose ankle-rings are dumb, her girdle sounds;
+     So this one is content and that a tale of need must tell.
+Thou'dst have me, foolwise, in her charms forget thee. God
+     forfend I, that a true believer am, should turn an infidel!
+No, by a whisker that makes mock of all her curls, I swear, Nor
+     maid nor strumpet from thy side shall me by guile compel!
+
+And a third:
+
+O pearl of loveliness, to love thee is my faith; Yea, and my
+     choice of all the faiths that have been aye.
+Women I have forsworn, indeed, for thy sweet sake, So that the
+     folk avouch I'm grown a monk to-day
+
+And a fourth:
+
+Compare not a wench with a boy and to the spy, Who says to thee,
+     "This is wrong," pay thou no heed.
+'Twixt a woman whose feet one's lips kiss and a smooth-faced
+     fawn, Who kisses the earth, the diff'rence is great indeed.
+
+And a fifth:
+
+My soul be thy ransom!  Indeed, I've chosen thee out with intent,
+     Because thou layest no eggs and dost not menstruate.
+For, an I inclined to foregather with harlots, upon my faith, The
+     wide, wide world for the brats I should get would prove too
+     strait.
+
+And a sixth:
+
+Quoth she to me,--and sore enraged for wounded pride was she, For
+     she in sooth had bidden me to that which might not be,--
+"An if thou swive me not forthright, as one should swive his
+     wife, If thou be made a cuckold straight, reproach it not to
+     me.
+Meseems thy yard is made of wax, for very flaccidness; For, when
+     I rub it with my hand, it softens instantly."
+
+And a seventh:
+
+Quoth she (for I to lie with her would not consent), "O fool,
+     that followest on thy folly to the extent,
+If thou reject my kaze for Kibleh[FN#54] to thy yard, We'll show
+     thee one wherewith thou shalt be sure content."
+
+And an eighth:
+
+She proffered me a tender kaze; But I, "I will not swive,"
+     replied.
+She drew back, saying, "From the truth Needs must he turn who's
+     turned aside;[FN#55]
+And swiving frontwise in our day Is all abandoned and decried;"
+Then turned and showed me, as it were A lump of silver, her
+     backside.
+"Well done, O mistress mine!  No more Am I in pain for thee," I
+     cried,
+"Whose poke of all God's openings[FN#56] Is sure the amplest and
+     most wide!"
+
+And a ninth:
+
+Men crave forgiveness with uplifted hands; But women pray with
+     lifted legs, I trow.[FN#57]
+Out on it for a pious piece of work! God shall exalt it to the
+     deeps below.[FN#58]
+
+When Kemerezzeman heard these verses and was certified that there
+was no escaping compliance with her will, he said, 'O King, if
+thou must needs have it so, swear to me that thou wilt use me
+thus but once, though it avail not to stay thy debauched
+appetite; and that thou wilt never again require me of this to
+the end of time; so it may be God will purge me of the sin.'  'I
+promise thee that,' replied she, 'hoping that God of His favour
+will relent towards us and blot out our mortal sins; for the
+compass of the Divine forgiveness is not indeed so strait, but it
+may altogether embrace us and absolve us of the excess of our
+transgressions and bring us to the light of righteousness out of
+the darkness of error.  As most excellent well saith the poet:
+
+The folk imagine of us twain an evil thing, I ween, And with
+     their hearts and souls, indeed, they do persist therein.
+Come, let us justify their thought and free them thus from guilt,
+     This once, 'gainst us; and then will we repent us of our
+     sin.'
+
+Then she swore to him a solemn oath, by Him whose existence is
+unconditioned, that this thing should befall betwixt them but
+once and never again for all time, and vowed to him that the
+desire of him was driving her to death and perdition.  So he went
+with her, on this condition, to her privy closet, that she might
+quench the fire of her passion, saying, 'There is no power and no
+virtue save in God the Most High, the Supreme!  This is the
+ordinance of the All-powerful, the All-wise!'  And did off his
+trousers, in the utmost confusion, with the tears running from
+his eyes for stress of affright; whereat she smiled and carrying
+him on to a couch, said to him, 'After this night, thou shalt see
+nought that will displease thee.'  Then she turned to him,
+kissing and clipping him and twining leg with leg, and said to
+him, 'Put thy hand, between my thighs, to that thou wottest of,
+so haply it may be won to stand up after prostration.'  He wept
+and said, 'I am not good at aught of this.'  But she said, 'As I
+live, an thou do as I bid thee, it shall profit thee!'  So he put
+out his hand, with a heart on fire for confusion, and found her
+thighs fresher than cream and softer than silk.  The touching of
+them pleasured him and he moved his hand hither and thither, till
+he came to a dome abounding in benedictions and movements and
+said in himself, 'Belike this king is a hermaphrodite, nor male
+nor female.'  So he said to her, 'O King, I cannot find that thou
+hast any manly gear, even as other men; what then moved thee to
+do thus?'  When the princess heard this, she laughed till she
+fell backward, and said, 'O my beloved, how quickly thou hast
+forgotten the nights we have lain together!'  Then she made
+herself known to him and he knew her for his wife, the Lady
+Budour, daughter of King Ghaïour.  So he embraced her and she
+embraced him and they kissed each other; then they lay down on
+the bed of delight, repeating the words of the poet:
+
+Whenas the softness of a shape did bid him to my arms, That, as
+     it were a trailing vine with twinings did him ply
+And on the hardness of his heart its very softness shed, He
+     yielded, though at first he feigned reluctance to comply,
+And came, provided with a stock of caution safe and sure, Fearing
+     lest, when he did appear, the railers should him spy.
+His waist of buttocks maketh moan, that lay upon his feet A very
+     camel's load, what time he would a-walking hie.
+Girt with his glances' trenchant swords and cuirassed with the
+     mail Of his bright locks, as 'twere the dusk new fallen from
+     the sky,
+His fragrance brought me from afar the news of his approach, And
+     forth, as bird let out from cage, to meet my love fled I.
+I laid my cheek within his way, beneath his sandal-soles, And lo,
+     their dust's collyrium healed the ailment of mine eye!
+With an embrace I hoisted up the flag of loves new linked And
+     loosed the knot of my delight, that made as 'twould deny.
+Then let I call high festival, and gladness, all unmixed With any
+     thought of troublousness, came flocking in reply.
+The full moon handselled with the stars the teeth, like grains of
+     pearl, That on the laughing face of wine now dance, now
+     stirless lie.
+So in the niche of their delight I gave me up to joys, The
+     veriest sinner would repent if he their like might try.
+The morning-glories of his face be pledge I'll ne'er, in him,
+     Forget the writ that biddeth us One only glorify![FN#59]
+
+Then they told one another all that had befallen them since their
+separation, after which he began to upbraid her, saying, 'What
+moved thee to deal with me as thou hast done this night?'  'Do
+not reproach me,' replied she; 'for I did this but by way of jest
+and for increase of pleasure and gladness.'  When it was morning
+and the day arose with its light and shone, she sent to King
+Armanous and acquainted him with the truth of the case and that
+she was wife to Kemerezzeman.  Moreover, she told him their story
+and the manner of their separation and how his daughter Heyat
+en Nufous was yet a maid.  He marvelled greatly at their story
+and bade record it in letters of gold.  Then he turned to
+Kemerezzeman and said, 'O king's son, art thou minded to marry my
+daughter and become my son-in-law?'  'I must consult the princess
+Budour,' answered he; 'for I owe her favour without stint.'  So
+he took counsel with her and she said, 'This is well seen; marry
+her and I will be her handmaid, for I am her debtor for kindness
+and favour and good offices, more by token that we are here in
+her place and that the king her father has loaded us with
+benefits.'  When he saw that she inclined to this and was not
+jealous of Heyat en Nufous, he agreed with her thereupon and told
+King Armanous what she had said, whereat he rejoiced greatly.
+Then he went out and seating himself in his chair of estate,
+assembled all the Viziers and Amirs and chamberlains and
+grandees, to whom he related the whole story and acquainted them
+with his desire to marry his daughter to Kemerezzeman and make
+him king in the stead of the princess Budour.  Whereupon said
+they all, 'Since he is the husband of the princess Budour, who
+hath been our Sultan till now, whilst we deemed her King
+Armanous's son-in-law, we are all content to have him to Sultan
+over us and will be his servants, nor will we swerve from his
+allegiance.'  At this Armanous rejoiced and summoning Cadis and
+witnesses and the chief officers of state, let draw up the
+contract of marriage between Kemerezzeman and his daughter, the
+princess Heyat en Nufous.  Then he held high festival, giving
+sumptuous banquets and bestowing costly dresses of honour upon
+the Amirs and captains; moreover, he gave alms to the poor and
+needy and freed the prisoners.  All the folk rejoiced in the
+coming of Kemerezzeman to the throne, wishing him abiding glory
+and prosperity and happiness and renown, and as soon as he became
+king, he remitted the customs-dues and released all that
+remained in prison.  Thus he abode a long while, ordering himself
+worthily towards his subjects, and lived with his wives in peace
+and happiness and content, lying the night with each of them in
+turn.  And indeed all his troubles and afflictions were blotted
+out from him and he forgot his father King Shehriman and his
+former estate of honour and worship with him.
+
+After awhile, God the Most High blessed him with two sons, as
+they were two shining moons, the elder, whose name was prince
+Amjed, by Queen Budour, and the younger, whose name was prince
+Asaad and who was comelier than his brother, by Queen Heyat en
+Nufous.  They were reared in splendour and delight and were
+instructed in penmanship and science and the arts of government
+and horsemanship and other polite arts and accomplishments, till
+they attained the extreme of perfection and the utmost limit of
+beauty and grace, and both men and women were ravished by their
+charms.  They grew up together, till they reached the age of
+seventeen, and loved one another so dear that they were never
+apart, eating and drinking together and sleeping in one bed; and
+all the people envied them their beauty and concord.  When they
+came to man's estate and were endowed with every perfection,
+their father was wont, as often as he went on a journey, to make
+them sit in his stead by turns in the place of judgment, and
+each did justice among the folk one day at a time.  Now, as
+unalterable fate and foreordained destiny would have it, Queen
+Budour fell in love with Asaad, son of Queen Heyat en Nufous, and
+the latter became enamoured of Amjed; and each of them used to
+sport and play with the other's son, kissing him and straining
+him to her bosom, whilst each thought that the other's behaviour
+arose but from motherly affection.  On this wise, passion got the
+mastery of the two women's hearts and they became madly enamoured
+of the two youths, so that when the other's son came in to either
+of them, she would press him to her bosom and long for him never
+to be parted from her; till, at last, when waiting grew tedious
+to them and they found no way to enjoyment, they refused meat and
+drink and forewent the solace of sleep.  Presently, the King went
+out to hunt, bidding his sons sit to do justice in his stead,
+each one day in turn, according to their wont.  So prince Amjed
+sat on the throne the first day, ordering and forbidding,
+appointing and deposing, giving and denying; and Queen Heyat
+en Nufous took a scroll and wrote to him the following letter,
+suing for his favour and discovering to him her passion, in
+fine, altogether putting off the mask and giving him to know
+that she desired to enjoy him.  'From the wretched lover, the
+sorrowful severed one, whose youth is wasted in the love of
+thee and whose torment for thee is prolonged.  Were I to
+recount to thee the extent of my affliction and what I suffer
+for sadness, the passion that is in my breast and all that I
+endure for weeping and groaning and the rending of my sorrowful
+heart, my unremitting cares and my ceaseless griefs and all my
+suffering for severance and sadness and the ardour of desire,
+no letter could contain it nor calculation compass it. Indeed,
+earth and heaven are straitened upon me, and I have no hope and
+no trust but in thee.  I am come nigh upon death and suffer the
+horrors of dissolution; burning is sore upon me, and the pangs
+of separation and estrangement.  Were I to set out the yearnings
+that possess me, no scrolls would suffice thereto: and of the
+excess of my affliction and wasting away, I have made the
+following verses:
+
+Were I to set down all I feel of heart-consuming dole And all the
+     transport and unease that harbour in my soul,
+Nor ink nor pen in all the world thereafter would remain, Nor
+     aught from east to west were left of paper or of scroll.'
+
+Then she folded up the silken tresses of her hair, whose cost
+swallowed up treasures, in the letter, and wrapping it in a piece
+of rich silk, scented with musk and ambergris, laid it in a
+handkerchief; after which she gave it to an eunuch and bade him
+carry it to prince Amjed.  The eunuch took it, knowing not what
+the future hid for him, (for He who knoweth the hidden things
+ordereth events according to His will,) and going in to the
+prince, kissed the earth before him and gave him the letter.  He
+opened it and reading it, was ware that his father's wife was in
+intent an adulteress and a traitress to her husband; whereat he
+was exceeding wroth and railed at women and their works, saying,
+'May God curse women, the traitresses, that lack reason and
+religion!'  Then he drew his sword and said to the eunuch, 'Out
+on thee, thou wicked slave!  Dost thou carry adulterous messages
+for thy lord's wife?  By Allah, there is no good in thee, O black
+of hue and heart, O foul of face and nature!'  So saying, he
+smote him on the neck and severed his head from his body; then,
+folding the letter in the handkerchief, he thrust it into his
+pocket and went in to his own mother and told her what had
+passed, reviling and reproaching her and saying, 'Each one of you
+is worse than the other; and by God the Great, did I not fear to
+transgress against the rights of my father and my brother Asaad,
+I would assuredly go in to her and cut off her head, even as I
+cut off that of her eunuch!'  Then he went out in a great rage;
+and when the news reached Queen Heyat en Nufous of what he had
+done with her messenger, she reviled him and cursed him and
+plotted perfidy against him.  He passed the night, sick with
+anger and disgust and concern, nor was meat nor drink nor sleep
+sweet to him.  Next morning, prince Asaad went out in his
+turn to rule the folk in his father's stead and sat in the
+audience-chamber, judging and administering justice, appointing
+and deposing, ordering and forbidding, giving and bestowing, till
+near the time of afternoon-prayer, when Queen Budour sent for a
+crafty old woman and discovering to her what was in her heart,
+wrote a letter to prince Asaad, complaining of the excess of her
+love and longing for him, as follows: 'From her who perisheth for
+passion and love-longing to the goodliest of mankind in form and
+nature, him who is conceited of his own loveliness and glories in
+his amorous grace, who turneth away from those that seek to
+enjoy him and refuseth to show favour unto the lowly and the
+self-abasing, him who is cruel and disdainful; from the
+despairing lover to prince Asaad, lord of surpassing beauty and
+excelling grace, of the moon-bright face and the flower-white
+brow and dazzling splendour.  This is my letter to him whose love
+consumes my body and rends my skin and my bones.  Know that my
+patience fails me and I am at a loss what to do: longing and
+wakefulness weary me and sleep and patience deny themselves to
+me; but mourning and watching stick fast to me and desire and
+passion torment me, and the extremes of languor and sickness.
+Yet may my life be thy ransom, though it be thy pleasure to slay
+her who loveth thee, and may God prolong thy life and preserve
+thee from every ill!'  After this, she wrote the following
+verses:
+
+
+Fate hath so ordered it that I must needs thy lover be, O thou
+     whose charms shine as the moon, when at the full is she!
+All beauty and all eloquence thou dost in thee contain And over
+     all the world of men thou'rt bright and brave to see.
+That thou my torturer shouldst be, I am indeed content, So but
+     thou wilt one glance bestow, as almous-deed, on me.
+Happy, thrice happy is her lot who dieth for thy love! No good is
+     there in any one that doth not cherish thee.
+
+And these also:
+
+To thee, O Asaad, of the pangs of passion I complain; Have pity
+     on a slave of love, that burns for longing pain.
+How long, I wonder, shall the hands of passion sport with me And
+     love and dole and sleeplessness consume me, heart and brain?
+Whiles do I plain me of a sea within my heart and whiles Of
+     flaming; surely, this is strange, O thou my wish and bane!
+Give o'er thy railing, censor mine, and set thyself to flee From
+     love that maketh eyes for aye with burning tears to rain.
+How oft, for absence and desire, I cry, "Alas, my grief!" But all
+     my crying and lament in this my case are vain.
+Thou hast with rigours made me sick, that passed my power to
+     bear: Thou'rt the physician; do thou me with what befits
+     assain.
+O thou my censurer, forbear to chide me for my case, Lest, of
+     Love's cruel malady, perdition thee attain.
+
+Then she scented the letter with odoriferous musk and winding it
+in the tresses of her hair, which were of Irak silk, with tassels
+of oblong emeralds, set with pearls and jewels, delivered it to
+the old woman, bidding her carry it to prince Asaad.  She
+undertook the errand, to pleasure her, and going in straightway
+to the prince, found him in his closet and delivered him the
+letter; after which she stood waiting for the answer.  When Asaad
+had read the letter and knew its purport, he wrapped it up again
+in the tresses and put it in his pocket, cursing false women;
+then, for he was beyond measure wroth, he sprang up and drawing
+his sword, smote the old woman on the neck and cut off her head.
+Then he went in to his mother, Queen Heyat en Nufous, whom he
+found lying on her bed, sick for that which had betided her with
+prince Amjed, and railed at her and cursed her; after which he
+left her and betook himself to his brother, to whom he related
+what had befallen him with Queen Budour, adding, 'By Allah, O my
+brother, but that I feared to grieve thee, I had gone in to her
+forthright and smitten her head off her shoulders!'  'By Allah, O
+my brother,' replied Amjed, 'the like of what hath befallen thee
+befell me also yesterday with thy mother Queen Heyat en Nufous.'
+And he told him what had passed, adding, 'By Allah, O my brother,
+nought but respect for thee withheld me from going in to her and
+dealing with her even as I dealt with the eunuch!'  They passed
+the rest of the night in trouble and affliction, conversing and
+cursing false women, and agreed to keep the matter secret, lest
+their father should hear of it and kill the two women.
+
+
+On the morrow, the King returned with his suite from hunting and
+sat awhile in his chair of estate; after which he dismissed the
+Amirs and went up to his harem, where he found his two wives
+lying on the bed, exceeding sick.  Now they had made a plot
+against the two princes and concerted to do away their lives, for
+that they had exposed themselves before them and feared to be at
+their mercy.  When Kemerezzeman saw them on this wise, he said to
+them, 'What ails you?'  Whereupon they rose and kissing his
+hands, answered, perverting the case and saying, 'Know, O King,
+that thy sons, who have been reared in thy bounty, have played
+thee false and outraged thee in the persons of thy wives.'  When
+he heard this, the light in his eyes became darkness and his
+reason fled for the excess of his rage; then said he to them,
+'Expound this thing to me.'  'O King of the age,' answered
+Budour, 'know that these many days past thy son Asaad has been
+wont to send me letters and messages to solicit me to lewdness,
+and I still forbade him from this, but he would not be forbidden.
+When thou wentest forth to hunt, he rushed in on me, drunk and
+with a drawn sword in his hand, and smiting my eunuch, slew him.
+Then he mounted on my breast, still holding the sword, and I
+feared lest he should slay me even as he had slain my eunuch, if
+I gainsaid him; so he took his will of me by force; and now an
+thou do me not justice on him, O King, I will slay myself with my
+own hand, for I reck not of life in the world after this foul
+deed.'  Queen Heyat en Nufous, choking with tears, told him a
+like story respecting prince Amjed, after which she fell a-
+weeping and wailing and said, 'Except thou avenge me on him, I
+will tell my father, King Armanous.'  Then they both wept sore
+before King Kemerezzeman, who, when he saw their tears and heard
+their words, concluded that their story was true and waxing
+beyond measure wroth, went out, thinking to fall upon his two
+sons and put them to death.  On his way he met his father-in-law
+King Armanous, who hearing of his return from the chase, had come
+to salute him and seeing him with the naked sword in his hand and
+the blood dripping from his nostrils, for excess of rage,
+enquired what ailed him.  Kemerezzeman told him what his sons
+Amjed and Asaad had done and added, 'I am now going in to them,
+to slay them on the foulest wise and make of them the most
+shameful of examples.'  'O my son,' said King Armanous, (and
+indeed he too was wroth with them,) 'thou dost well, and may God
+not bless them nor any sons that offend thus against their
+father's honour!  But, O my son, the proverb says, "Whoso looks
+not to the issues, Fortune is no friend to him."  In any case,
+they are thy sons, and it befits not that thou put them to death
+with thine own hand, lest thou drink of their agony and after
+repent of having slain them, whenas repentance will avail thee
+nothing.  Rather do thou send one of thine officers with them
+into the desert and let him kill them there, out of thy sight,
+for, as says the adage, "When the eye sees not, the heart grieves
+not."' Kemerezzeman saw his father-in-law's words to be just, so
+he sheathed his sword and turning back, sat down upon his throne
+and called his treasurer, a very old man, versed in affairs and
+in the shifts of fortune, to whom he said, 'Go in to my sons
+Amjed and Asaad; bind fast their hands behind them and lay them
+in two chests and set them on a mule.  Then take horse and carry
+them into the mid-desert, where do thou put them to death and
+fill two vials with their blood and bring them to me in haste.'
+'I hear and obey,' answered the treasurer and went out forthright
+to do his bidding.  On his way, he met the princes coming out of
+the palace-vestibule, for they had donned their richest clothes
+and were on their way to salute their father and give him joy of
+his safe return from the chase.  When he saw them, he laid hands
+on them, saying, 'O my sons, know that I am but a slave commanded
+and that your father hath laid a commandment on me: will ye obey
+his commandment?'  'Yes,' answered they; whereupon he bound their
+hands and laying them in the chests, set the latter on the back
+of a mule, with which he left the city and rode into the open
+country, till near midday, when he halted in a waste and desert
+spot and dismounting, set down the two chests.  He opened them
+and took out Amjed and Asaad; whom when he saw, he wept sore for
+their beauty and grace; then drawing his sword, he said to them,
+'O my lords, indeed it irks me to deal so foully by you; but I am
+to be excused in this, being but a slave commanded, for that your
+father King Kemerezzeman hath bidden me strike off your heads.'
+'O Amir,' answered they, 'do the King's bidding, for we submit
+with patience to that which God (to whom be ascribed might and
+majesty) hath decreed to us; and thou art quit of our blood.'
+Then they embraced and bade each other farewell, and Asaad said
+to the treasurer, 'God on thee, O uncle, spare me the sight of my
+brother's agony and make me not drink of his anguish, but kill me
+first, that it may be the easier for me.'  Amjed said the like
+and entreated the treasurer to kill him before Asaad, saying, 'My
+brother is younger than I; so make me not taste of his anguish.'
+And they both wept sore, whilst the treasurer wept for their
+weeping, and they said to each other, 'All this comes of the
+malice of those traitresses, our mothers; and this is the reward
+of our forbearance towards them.  But there is no power and no
+virtue but in God the Most High, the Supreme!  Verily, we are His
+and unto Him we return.'  And Asaad embraced his brother, sobbing
+and repeating the following verses:
+
+O Thou to whom the sad complain, to whom the fearful flee, Thou
+     that art evermore prepared for all that is to be,
+Lord, there is left me no resource but at Thy door to knock; Yea,
+     at whose portal shall I knock, if Thou be deaf to me?
+O Thou, the treasures of whose grace are in the one word "Be," Be
+     favourable, I beseech, for all good is with Thee!
+
+When Amjed heard his brother's weeping, he wept also and pressed
+him to his bosom, repeating the following verses:
+
+O Thou, whose bounties unto me are more than one, I trow, Whose
+     favours lavished on my head are countless as the sand,
+No blow of all the blows of fate has ever fall'n on me, But I
+     have found Thee ready still to take me by the hand.
+
+Then said he to the treasurer, 'I conjure thee by the One God the
+Omnipotent King and Protector, kill me before my brother Asaad
+and allay the fire of my heart!'  But Asaad wept and exclaimed,
+'Not so: I will die first;' whereupon said Amjed, 'It were best
+that we embrace each other, so the sword may fall upon us and
+kill us both at one stroke.'  So they embraced, face to face, and
+clipped each other straitly, whilst the treasurer bound them fast
+with cords, weeping the while.  Then he drew his sword and said
+to them, 'By Allah, O my lords, it is indeed hard to me to kill
+you!  But have ye no last wishes or injunctions that I may fulfil
+or message that I may carry?'  'We have no wish,' replied Amjed,
+'and my only injunction to thee is that thou set my brother
+undermost, that the blow may fall on me first; and when thou hast
+slain us and returnest to the King and he asks thee, "What said
+they before their death?" do thou answer, "Thy sons salute thee
+and say to thee, 'Thou knewest not if we were innocent or guilty,
+yet hast thou put us to death and hast not certified thyself of
+our guilt nor looked into our case.'"  Then do thou repeat to him
+these verses:
+
+
+Women are very devils, made to work us dole and death; Refuge I
+     seek with God Most High from all their craft and scaith.
+Prime source are they of all the ills that fall upon mankind,
+     Both in the fortunes of this world and matters of the faith.
+
+'We desire of thee nought but this,' continued Amjed, 'except
+that thou have patience with us, whilst I repeat other two lines
+to my brother.'  Then he wept sore and recited the following
+verses:
+
+Examples many, thou and I, We have in kings of days gone by,
+How many, alack, have trod this road, Of great and small and low
+     and high!
+
+At this the treasurer wept, till his beard was wet, whilst
+Asaad's eyes filled with tears and he in turn repeated these
+verses:
+
+Fate, when the thing itself is past, afflicteth with the trace,
+     And weeping is not, of a truth, for body or form or
+     face.[FN#60]
+What ails the nights?[FN#61] May God blot out our error from the
+     nights And may the hand of change bewray and bring them to
+     disgrace!
+They wreaked their malice to the full on Ibn ez Zubeir[FN#62]
+     erst, And on the House and Sacred Stone[FN#63] his safeguard
+     did embrace.
+Would God, since Kharijeh[FN#64] they took for Amrou's sacrifice,
+     They'd ransomed Ali with whome'er they would of all our
+     race!
+
+Then, with cheeks stained with thick-coming tears, he recited
+these also:
+
+The days and nights are fashioned for treachery and despite; Yea,
+     they are full of perfidy and knavish craft and sleight.
+The mirage is their lustre of teeth, and to their eyes The horror
+     of all darkness the kohl that keeps them bright.
+My crime against them (hateful their nature is!) is but The
+     sword's crime, when the sworder sets on into the fight.
+
+Then he sobbed and said:
+
+O thou that seeketh the worthless world, give ear to me and know
+     The very net of ruin it is and quarry of dole and woe;
+A stead, whom it maketh laugh to-day, to-morrow it maketh weep:
+     Out on it then for a dwelling-place, since it is even so!
+Its raids and its onsets are never done, nor can its bondsman win
+     To free himself from its iron clutch by dint of stress and
+     throe.
+How many an one in its vanities hath gloried and taken pride,
+     Till froward and arrogant thus he grew and did all bounds
+     o'ergo!
+Then did she[FN#65] turn him the buckler's back and give him to
+     drink therein Full measure and set her to take her wreak of
+     the favours she did show.
+For know that her blows fall sudden and swift and unawares,
+     though long The time of forbearance be and halt the coming
+     of fate and slow.
+So look to thyself, lest life in the world pass idle and
+     profitless by, And see that thou fail not of taking thought
+     to the end of all below.
+Cast loose from the chains of the love and the wish of the world
+     and thou shalt find Guidance and help unto righteousness and
+     peace of heart, I trow.
+
+When he had made an end of these verses, he clipped his brother
+in his arms, till they seemed as it were one body, and the
+treasurer, raising his sword, was about to strike them, when,
+behold, his horse took fright at the wind of his upraised hand
+and breaking its tether, fled into the desert.  Now the horse was
+worth a thousand dinars and on his back was a splendid saddle,
+worth much money: so the treasurer threw down his sword, in
+great concern, and ran after him, to catch him.  The horse
+galloped on, snorting and neighing and pawing the earth in his
+fright, till he raised a cloud of dust, and presently coming to a
+wood, fled into the midst of it, whither the treasurer followed
+him.  Now there was in this wood a terrible lion, foul of face,
+with eyes that cast forth sparks; his look was grim and his
+aspect struck terror into men's souls.  He heard the noise made
+by the horse and came out to see what was to do.  Presently the
+treasurer turned and saw the lion making towards him; but found
+no way of escape, nor had he his sword with him.  So he said in
+himself, 'There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most
+High, the Supreme!  This stress is come upon me because of Amjed
+and Asaad; and indeed this journey was unblest from the first!'
+Meanwhile Amjed and Asaad were grievously oppressed by the heat
+and grew sore athirst, so that their tongues hung out and they
+cried for succour; but none came to their relief and they said,
+'Would God we were dead and at peace from this torment!  But we
+know not whither the treasurer's horse hath fled, that he has
+gone and left us bound.  If he would but come back and kill us,
+it were easier to us than to suffer this torture.'  'O my
+brother,' said Asaad, 'be patient and the relief of God (blessed
+and exalted be He) will surely come to us; for the horse ran not
+away save of His favour towards us, and nought irks us but this
+thirst.'  So saying, he stretched himself and strained right and
+left, till he burst his bonds; then he unbound his brother and
+taking up the Amir's sword, said, 'By Allah, we will not go
+hence, till we know what is come of him!'  So they followed the
+track, till it led them to the wood and they said to one another,
+'Of a surety, the horse and the treasurer have not overgone this
+wood.'  Quoth Asaad, 'Stay thou here, whilst I enter the wood and
+search it.'  'I will not let thee go in alone,' answered Amjed.
+'We will both go in; so if we escape, we shall escape together,
+and if we perish, we shall perish together.'  So they entered
+both and found the lion standing over the treasurer, who lay like
+a sparrow in his grip, calling upon God for help and lifting his
+hands to heaven.  When Amjed saw this, he took the sword and
+running to the lion, smote him between the eyes and laid him dead
+on the ground.  The Amir arose, marvelling at this, and seeing
+Amjed and Asaad his lord's sons, standing there, cast himself at
+their feet and exclaimed, 'By Allah, O my lords, it were foul
+wrong in me to put you to death!  May the man never be who would
+kill you!  Indeed, I will ransom you with my life.'  Then he rose
+and embracing them, enquired how they had loosed their bonds and
+come thither, whereupon they told him how the bonds of one of
+them had fallen loose and he had unbound the other, that they
+might quit their intent, and how they had followed his track till
+they came upon him.  He thanked them for their deed and went with
+them forth of the wood, where they said to him, 'O uncle, do our
+father's bidding.'  'God forbid,' answered he, 'that I should
+draw near to you with hurt!  I mean to take your clothes and
+clothe you with mine; then will I fill two vials with the lion's
+blood and go back to the King and tell him I have put you to
+death.  But as for you, fare ye forth into the lands, for God's
+earth is wide; and know, O my lords, that it irks me to part from
+you.'  At this, they all fell a-weeping; then the two youths put
+off their clothes and the treasurer covered them with his own.
+Moreover, he filled two vials with the lion's blood and making
+two parcels of the princes' clothes, set them before him on his
+horse's back.  Then he took leave of them and making his way back
+to the city, went in to King Kemerezzeman and kissed the earth
+before him.  The King saw him pale and troubled and deeming this
+came of the slaughter of the two princes (though in truth it came
+of his adventure with the lion) rejoiced and said to him, 'Hast
+thou done the business?'  'Yes, O our lord,' answered the
+treasurer and gave him the two parcels of clothes and the two
+vials of blood.  'How bore they themselves,' asked the King, 'and
+did they give thee any charge?'  'I found them patient and
+resigned to their fate,' answered the treasurer; 'and they said
+to me, "Verily, our father is excusable; bear him our salutation
+and say to him, 'Thou art quit of our blood;' and repeat to him
+the following verses:
+
+Women are very devils, made to work us dole and death; Refuge I
+     seek with God Most High from all their craft and scaith.
+Prime source are they of all the ills that fall upon mankind,
+     Both in the fortunes of this world and matters of the
+     faith."'
+
+When the King heard this, he bowed his head a long while and knew
+this to mean that they had wrongfully been put to death.  Then he
+bethought himself of the perfidy of women and the calamities
+brought about by them, and opening the two parcels fell to
+turning over his sons' clothes and weeping.  Presently, he found
+in the pocket of his son Asaad's clothes a letter in Queen
+Budour's hand, enclosing the tresses of her hair, and reading it,
+knew that the prince had been falsely accused.  Then he searched
+Amjed's clothes and found in his pocket a letter in the
+handwriting of Queen Heyat en Nufous, enclosing the tresses of
+her hair; so he opened and read it and knew that Amjed also had
+been wronged; whereupon he beat hand upon hand and exclaimed,
+'There is no power and no virtue but in God!  I have slain my
+sons unjustly.'  And he buffeted his face, crying out, 'Alas, my
+sons!  Alas, my long grief!'  Then he bade build two tombs in one
+house, which he styled 'House of Lamentations,' and let grave
+thereon his sons' names; and he threw himself on Amjed's tomb,
+weeping and groaning and lamenting, and repeated these verses:
+
+O moon, that hast set beneath the earth for aye, For whose loss
+     weep the shining stars of the sky,
+O wand, after whom no more shall the flexile grace Of the
+     willow-like bending shape enchant the eye,
+My sight I've bereft of thee, of my jealousy, And ne'er shall I
+     see thee again, till I come to die.
+I'm drowned in the sea of my tears, for sheer unrest; Indeed, for
+     sleepless sorrow in hell am I.
+
+Then he threw himself on Asaad's tomb and recited the following
+verses, whilst the tears poured from his eyes:
+
+Fain had I shared with thee, dear heart, in death and ill; But
+     God, that ordereth all, willed other than my will.
+All that I see, my dole makes black, whilst from my eyes All
+     black I've blotted out with weeping all my fill.[FN#66]
+I weep and never stint; mine eyes run never dry; My entrails
+     ulcered are and blood and tears distil.
+Sore, sore it irketh me to see thee in a place[FN#67] Where
+     slaves and kings alike foregather, will or nill.
+
+Then he forsook his friends and intimates, and denying himself to
+his women and his family, shut himself up in the House of
+Lamentations, where he passed his time in weeping for his sons.
+
+Meanwhile, Amjed and Asaad fared on into the desert a whole
+month's journey, eating of the fruits of the earth and drinking
+of the rain-pools, till their travel brought them to a mountain
+of black stone, where the road divided in two, one skirting the
+foot of the mountain and the other leading to its summit.  They
+took the former way, for fear of thirst, and followed it five
+days, but saw no end to it and were overcome with weariness,
+being unused to walking in mountains or elsewhere.  At last,
+despairing of coming to the end of the road, they retraced their
+steps and taking the other, that led over the mountain, followed
+it all that day, till nightfall, when Asaad, weary with much
+travel, said to Amjed, 'O my brother, I can go no farther, for I
+am exceeding weak.'  'Courage,' replied Amjed; 'may be God will
+send us relief.'  So they walked on part of the night, till the
+darkness closed in upon them, when Asaad became beyond measure
+weary and saying, 'O my brother, I am worn out and spent with
+walking,' threw himself on the ground and wept.  Amjed took him
+in his arms and fared on with him, halting bytimes to rest, till
+break of day, when they came to the mountain-top and found there
+a stream of running water and by it a pomegranate-tree and a
+prayer-niche.  They could hardly believe their eyes, but, sitting
+down by the spring, drank of its water and ate of the fruit of
+the tree; after which they lay down and slept till sunrise, when
+they washed in the spring and eating of the pomegranates, slept
+again till the time of afternoon-prayer.  Then they thought to
+continue their journey, but Asaad could not walk, for his feet
+were swollen.  So they abode there three days, till they were
+rested, after which they set out again and fared on over the
+mountain days and nights, well-nigh perished for thirst, till
+they came in sight of a city afar off, at which they rejoiced and
+made towards it.  When they drew near it, they thanked God the
+Most High and Amjed said to Asaad, 'O my brother, sit here,
+whilst I go to yonder city and see what and whose it is and where
+we are in God's wide world, that we may know through what lands
+we have passed in crossing this mountain, whose skirts if we had
+followed, we had not reached this city in a whole year: so
+praised be God for safety!'  'By Allah,' replied Asaad, 'none
+shall go but myself, and may I be thy ransom!  If thou leave me,
+I shall imagine a thousand things and suffer tortures of anxiety
+on thine account, for I cannot brook thine absence from me.'  'Go
+then,' rejoined Amjed, 'and do not tarry.'  So Asaad took money
+and leaving his brother awaiting him, descended the mountain and
+fared on, till he entered the city.  As he passed through the
+streets, he met an old man, with a beard that flowed down upon
+his breast and was parted in twain; he bore a walking-staff in
+his hand and was richly clad, with a great red turban on his
+head.  When Asaad saw him, he wondered at his mien and habit;
+nevertheless, he went up to him and saluting him, enquired the
+way to the market.  The old man smiled in his face and said, 'O
+my son, meseems thou art a stranger?'  'Yes,' answered Asaad; 'I
+am a stranger.'  'O my son,' rejoined the other, 'verily, thou
+gladdenest our country with thy presence and makest thine own
+land desolate by reason of thine absence.  What wantest thou of
+the market?'  'O uncle,' replied Asaad, 'I have an elder brother,
+with whom I have journeyed these three months, for we come from a
+far country.  When we sighted this city, I left my brother in the
+mountain and came hither, purposing to buy food and what else and
+return therewith to him, that we might feed thereon.'  'Rejoice
+in all good, O my son!' said the old man.  'Know that to-day I
+give a marriage-feast, to which I have bidden many guests, and I
+have made ready great plenty of the best and most delicious meats
+that the heart can desire.  So, if thou wilt come home with me, I
+will give thee freely all thou lackest, without price.  Moreover,
+I will teach thee the ways of the city; and praised be God, O my
+son, that thou hast fallen in with me and none other!'  'As thou
+wilt,' answered Asaad; 'but make haste, for my brother awaits me
+and his whole heart is with me.'  So the old man took Asaad by
+the hand, smiling in his face and saying, 'Glory be to Him who
+hath delivered thee from the people of this city!'  Then he
+carried him to a narrow lane and entering a spacious house,
+brought him into a saloon, wherein were forty old men, seated in
+a circle about a lighted fire, to which they were doing worship
+and prostrating themselves.  When Asaad saw this he was
+confounded and his flesh quaked, though he knew not what they
+were; and the old man said to them, 'O elders of the fire, how
+blessed is this day!'  Then he cried out, saying, 'Ho, Ghezban!'
+Whereupon there came out to him a tall black slave of forbidding
+aspect, grim-visaged and flat-nosed.  The old man made a sign to
+him, and he bound Asaad straitly; after which the old man said
+to him, 'Bear him to the dungeon under the earth and bid my
+slave-girl Kewam torture him day and night and give him a cake of
+bread to eat morning and evening, against the time come of the
+voyage to the Blue Sea and the Mountain of Fire, when we will
+slaughter him on the mountain as a sacrifice.'  So the black
+carried him out at another door and raising a flag in the floor,
+discovered a flight of twenty steps leading to a chamber under
+the earth, into which he descended with him and laying his
+feet in irons, committed him to the slave-girl and went away.
+Meanwhile, the old men said to one another, 'When the day of
+the Festival of the Fire comes, we will sacrifice him on the
+mountain, as a propitiatory offering to the Fire.'  Presently the
+damsel went down to him and beat him grievously, till the blood
+streamed from his sides and he fainted away; after which she set
+at his head a cake of bread and a cruse of brackish water and
+went away and left him.  In the middle of the night, he revived
+and found himself bound and sore with beating: so he wept
+bitterly and recalling his former estate of ease and honour and
+lordship and dominion, groaned and lamented and repeated the
+following verses:
+
+Halt by the ruins of the house and question of our fate Nor think
+     we sojourn in the land, as in our first estate.
+Fortune, the sunderer, hath wrought the severance of our loves;
+     Yet doth our enemies' despite against us nought abate.
+A filthy cockatrice is set to torture me with whips, Whose breast
+     against me is fulfilled with rancour and with hate.
+But haply God shall yet reknit our severed loves again And turn
+     our enemies from us with vengeance stern and strait.
+
+Then he put out his hand and finding the bread and water at his
+head, ate enough to keep life in him and drank a little water,
+but could get no sleep for the swarms of bugs and lice.  As soon
+as it was day, the slave-girl came down to him and changed his
+clothes, which were drenched with blood and stuck to him, so that
+his skin came off with the shirt; wherefore he shrieked aloud and
+cried, 'Alas!' and said, 'O my God, if this be Thy pleasure,
+increase it upon me!  O Lord, verily Thou art not unmindful of
+him that oppresses me: do Thou then avenge me upon him!'  And he
+groaned and repeated the following verses:
+
+Lord, I submit myself to that Thou dost decree, Contented to
+     endure, if but it pleasure Thee;
+To suffer at Thy will with patience nor complain, Though I be
+     cast to burn on coals of tamarisk-tree.[FN#68]
+Mine enemies oppress and torture me; but Thou With benefits
+     belike shall 'quite and comfort me.
+Far be 't from Thee to let th' oppressor go unscathed; Thou art
+     my hope and stay, O Lord of Destiny!
+
+
+And what another says:
+
+Avert thy face from thought-taking and care And trust to fate to
+     order thine affair;
+For many a weary and a troublous thing Is, in its issue,
+     solaceful and fair.
+That which was strait is oftentimes made wide And straitened
+     that, which easy was whilere.
+God orders all, according to His will; Gainsay Him not in what He
+     doth prepare,
+But trust in happy fortune near at hand, Wherein thou shalt
+     forget the woes that were.
+
+Then the slave-girl beat him till he fainted away and throwing
+him a cake of bread and a cruse of brackish water, went away and
+left him sad and lonely, bound in chains of iron, with the blood
+streaming from his sides  and far from those he loved.  So he
+called to mind his brother and his former high estate and
+repeated the following verses, shedding floods of tears the
+while:
+
+How long wilt thou wage war on me, O Fate, and bear away My
+     brethren from me?  Hold thy hand and spare awhile, I pray!
+Is it not time, O thou whose heart is as the rock, that thou My
+     long estrangement and my dole shouldst pity and allay?
+Ill hast thou wrought to those I love and made my foes exult With
+     all that thou hast wreaked on me of ruin and dismay.
+Yea, for the pains he sees me brook of exile and desire And
+     loneliness, my foeman's heart is solaceful and gay.
+Thou'rt not content with what is fallen on me of bitter dole, Of
+     loss of friends and swollen eyes, affliction and affray.
+But I must lie and rot, to boot, in prison strait and dour, Where
+     nought but gnawing of my hands I have for help and stay,
+And tears that shower in torrents down, as from the rain-charged
+     clouds, And fire of yearning, never quenched, that rages
+     night and day,
+And memory and longing pain and melancholy thought And sobs and
+     sighs and groans and cries of "Woe!" and "Wellaway!"
+Passion and soul-destroying grief I suffer, and unto Desire, that
+     knoweth not relent nor end, am fallen a prey.
+No kindly soul is found to have compassion on my case And with
+     his visits and his grace my misery allay.
+Lives there a true and tender friend, who doth compassionate My
+     sickness and my long unrest, that unto him I may
+Make moan of all that I endure for dole and drearihead And of my
+     sleepless eyes, oppressed of wakefulness alway?
+My night in torments is prolonged; I burn, without reprieve, In
+     flames of heart-consuming care that rage in me for aye.
+The bug and flea do drink my blood, even as one drinks of wine,
+     Poured by the hand of damask-lipped and slender-waisted may.
+The body of me, amongst the lice, is as an orphan's good, That in
+     an unjust Cadi's hands doth dwindle and decay.
+My dwelling-place is in a tomb, three scanty cubits wide, Wherein
+     in shackles and in bonds I languish night and day.
+My tears my wine are and my chains my music: my dessert Woeworthy
+     thought and cares the bed whereon myself I lay.
+
+Meanwhile his brother abode, awaiting him, till mid-day, but he
+returned not: whereupon Amjed's heart fluttered and the tears
+welled from his eyes.  The pangs of severance were sore upon him
+and he wept sore, exclaiming, 'Alas, my brother!  Alas, my
+companion!  Alas, my grief!  I fear me we are separated!'  Then
+he descended the mountain, with the tears running down his
+cheeks, and entering the city, made for the market.  He asked
+the folk the name of the city and of its people, and they said,
+'This is called the City of the Magians, and its people serve
+the Fire, not the Omnipotent King.'  Then he enquired of the
+City of Ebony and they answered, 'It is a year's journey
+thither by land and six months' by sea: it was governed erst by
+a King called Armanous, but he took to son-in-law a prince called
+Kemerezzeman, distinguished for justice and loyalty, munificence
+and benevolence, and made him king in his stead.'  When Amjed
+heard tell of his father, he groaned and wept and lamented and knew
+not whither to go.  However, he bought food and carried it with him,
+till he came to a retired spot, where he sat down, thinking to
+eat: but, recalling his brother, he fell a-weeping and ate but a
+morsel to stay his stomach, and that against his will.  Then he
+rose and walked about the city, seeking news of his brother, till
+he saw a Muslim, a tailor, sitting in his shop; so he sat down by
+him and told him his story; whereupon quoth the tailor, 'If he
+have fallen into the hands of any of the Magians, thou shalt
+hardly see him again: yet it may be God will reunite you. But
+thou, O my brother,' added he, 'wilt thou lodge with me?' 'Yes,'
+answered Amjed, and the tailor rejoiced at this.  So Amjed abode
+with him many days, what while the tailor comforted him and
+exhorted him to patience and taught him his craft, till he became
+expert.  One day, he went forth to the sea-shore and washed his
+clothes; after which he entered the bath and put on clean
+raiment.  Then he walked about the streets, to divert himself,
+and presently fell in with a woman of surpassing beauty and
+symmetry, unequalled for grace and loveliness.  When she saw him,
+she raised her face-veil and winked to him and ogled him,
+reciting the following verses:
+
+Afar, I saw thee coming and cast mine eyes down straight, As if,
+     loveling slender, thou wert the very sun.
+Indeed, thou art the fairest of all beholden; yea, Even than
+     thyself thou'rt fairer, since yesterday was done.
+Were beauty but allotted, to every one his due, One-fifth of it
+     were Joseph's or but a part of one,
+And all the rest were surely thine own and only thine; May all
+     men be thy ransom, yea, every mother's son!
+
+When he heard this, his heart inclined to her and the  hands of
+love sported with him: so he winked to her in  answer and
+repeated the following verses:
+
+Over the rose of the cheek, the thorns of the eyelashes rise; So
+     who shall adventure himself to gather the flowery prize?
+Lift not your hands to the rose, for long have the lashes waged
+     war And poured on us battle, because we lifted to it-ward
+     our eyes.
+Tell her the tyrant who plays and yet is temptation itself,
+     (Though still more seductive she'd be, if she dealt but in
+     loyaller wise),
+I see that, for beauty like thine, exposure's the surest of
+     guards, For the veiling thy face but augments its seductions
+     and adds to our sighs;
+Like the sun, on whose visage undimmed the eye still refuses to
+     look, And yet we may gaze at our ease, when the thinnest of
+     clouds o'er it lies.
+The honey's protected, forsooth, by the sting of the bees of the
+     hive: So question the guards of the camp why they stay us in
+     this our emprise.
+If my slaughter be what they desire, let them put off their
+     rancours and stand From between us and leave her to deal
+     with me and my life at her guise;
+For, I wot, not so deadly are they, when they set on a foe with
+     their swords, As the eyes of the fair with the mole, when
+     her glances upon us she plies.
+
+At this she sighed deeply and signing to him again, repeated the
+following verses:
+
+'Tis thou that hast trodden the road of aversion and coyness; not
+     I Vouchsafe me the promised delight, for the time of
+     fulfilment draws nigh.
+O thou that mak'st morning to dawn with the lustre and light of
+     thy brows And eke, with thy brow-locks unloosed, the night
+     to sink down from the sky,
+Thou hast, with an idol's aspéct, seduced me and made me thy
+     slave And hast stirred me up troubles galore in many a
+     season past by.
+And yet it is just that my heart with the ardour of passion
+     should burn, For the fire is their due who adore aught other
+     than God the Most High.
+Thou sellest the like of myself for nothing, yea, free, without
+     price; If needs thou must sell, and no help, take a price,
+     then, of those that would buy.
+
+When he heard this, he said to her, 'Wilt thou come to my lodging
+or shall I go with thee to thine?'  At this, she hung her head
+bashfully and repeated the words of the Most High, 'Men shall
+have precedence over women, for that God hath preferred these
+over those.'[FN#69] By this, Amjed understood that she wished to
+go with him and felt himself bounden to find a place wherein to
+receive her, but was ashamed to carry her to the house of his
+host, the tailor.  So he walked on and she followed him from
+street to street, till she was tired and said to him, 'O my lord,
+where is thy house?'  'But a little way before us,' answered he.
+Then he turned aside into a handsome street, followed by the
+young lady, and walked on, till he came to the end, when he found
+it had no issue and exclaimed, 'There is no power and no virtue
+but in God the Most High, the Supreme!'  Then, raising his eyes,
+he saw, at the upper end of the street, a great door, with two
+stone benches; but it was locked.  So he sat down on one of the
+benches and the lady on the other; and she said to him, 'O my
+lord, wherefore waitest thou?'  He bowed his head awhile, then
+raised it and answered, 'I am waiting for my servant, who has the
+key: for I bade him make me ready meat and drink and flowers for
+the wine-service against my return from the bath.'  But he said
+in himself, 'Belike she will grow tired of waiting and go about
+her business, leaving me here, when I will go my own way.'
+However, when she was weary of waiting, she said, 'O my lord, thy
+servant tarries long; and here are we waiting in the street.'
+And she took a stone and went up to the lock.  'Be not in haste,'
+said Amjed; 'but have patience till the servant comes.'  However,
+she hearkened not to him, but smote the lock with the stone and
+broke it in half, whereupon the door opened.  Quoth he, 'What
+possessed thee to do this?'  'Pooh, pooh, my lord!' answered she.
+'What matters it?  Is not the house thine?'  'Yes,' said he; 'but
+there was no need to break the lock.'  Then she entered, leaving
+Amjed confounded and knowing not what to do for fear of the
+people of the house; but she said to him, 'Why dost thou not
+enter, O light of mine eyes and darling of my heart?'  'I hear
+and obey,' answered he; 'but my servant tarries long upon me and
+I know not if he have done aught of what I bade him or not.'  So
+saying, he entered, sore in fear of the people of the house, and
+found himself in a handsome saloon, full of buffets and niches
+and settles, furnished with stuffs of silk and brocade.  It had
+four raised recesses, each facing other, and in the midst was a
+fountain of costly fashion, on whose margin stood a covered tray
+(of meats), with a leather table-cloth hanging up and dishes set
+with jewels, full of fruits and sweet-scented flowers.  Hard by
+stood drinking vessels and a candlestick with a candle therein.
+The place was full of precious stuffs, and therein were chests
+and stools set, on each of which latter lay a parcel of clothes
+and a purse full of gold and silver.  The floor was paved with
+marble and the house bore witness in every part to its owner's
+fortune.  When Amjed saw all this, he was confounded and said in
+himself, 'I am a lost man!  Verily, we are God's and to God we
+return!'  As for the lady, she was transported at what she saw
+and said to him, 'By Allah, O my lord, thy servant has not failed
+of his duty; for see, he has swept the place and cooked the meat
+and set on the fruit; and indeed I come at the best of times.'
+But he paid no heed to her, his heart being taken up with fear of
+the people of the house; and she said, 'Fie, O my lord, O my
+heart!  What ails thee to stand thus?'  Then she sighed and
+giving him a kiss, that sounded like the cracking of a walnut,
+said, 'O my lord, and thou have bidden other than me, I will gird
+my middle and serve her and thee.'  Amjed laughed from an
+angerful heart and sat down, panting and saying in himself,
+'Alack, how I shall smart for it, when the owner of the house
+returns!'  She seated herself by him and fell to jesting and
+laughing, whilst he sat careful and frowning, thinking a thousand
+thoughts and saying in himself, 'The master of the house will
+surely come and what shall I say to him?  He will assuredly kill
+me without mercy.'  Presently, she rose and tucking up her
+sleeves, took a table, on which she laid the cloth and the tray
+of food; then set it before Amjed and began to eat, saying, 'Eat,
+O my lord.'  So he came forward and ate; but the food was not
+pleasant to him and he ceased not to look towards the door, till
+the lady had eaten her fill, when she took away the meats and
+setting on the dessert, fell to eating of the dried fruits.  Then
+she brought the wine-service and opening the jar, filled a cup
+and gave it to Amjed, who took it, saying in himself, 'Alas!
+what will become of me, when the master of the house comes and
+sees me!'  Presently, as he sat, with the cup in his hand and his
+eyes fixed on the vestibule, in came the master of the house, who
+was one of the chief men of the city, being Master of the Horse
+to the King.  He had fitted up this house for his privy
+pleasures, that he might make merry therein and be private with
+whom he would, and had that day bidden one whom he loved and had
+made this entertainment for him.  When, therefore, this man
+(whose name was Behadir and who was a kindly, liberal and open-
+handed man) came thither and found the door open and the lock
+broken, he entered softly and putting in his head at the door of
+the saloon, saw Amjed and the lady sitting, with the dish of
+fruit and the wine-jar before them.  Amjed at that moment had the
+cup in his hand and his face turned to the door; and when his
+eyes met Behadir's, he turned pale and trembled in every nerve.
+Behadir, seeing his trouble, signed to him, with his finger on
+his lips, as who should say, 'Be silent and come hither to me.'
+So he set down the cup and rose, whereupon quoth the lady,
+'Whither away?'  He shook his head and signing to her that he
+wished to make water, went out into the corridor, barefoot.  When
+he saw Behadir, he knew him for the master of the house; so he
+hastened to him and kissing his hands, said to him, 'God on thee,
+O my lord, before thou do me any hurt, hear what I have to say.'
+Then he told him who he was and what caused him leave his native
+land and royal state, and how he had not entered his house of his
+free will, but that it was the lady who had broken the lock and
+done all this.  When Behadir heard his story and knew that he was
+a king's son, he inclined to him and taking compassion on him,
+said to him, 'O Amjed, hearken to me and do what I bid thee, and
+I will ensure thee safety from that thou fearest; but, if thou
+cross me, I will kill thee.'  'Command me as thou wilt,' answered
+Amjed.  'I will not gainsay thee in aught, for I am the freedman
+of thy bounty.'  'Then go back forthright into the saloon,'
+rejoined Behadir, 'and sit down in thy place and take thine ease.
+I will presently come in to thee, and when thou seest me (now my
+name is Behadir) do thou revile me and rail at me, saying, "Why
+hast thou tarried till now?"  And accept no excuse from me, but
+rise and beat me; and if thou spare me, I will do away thy life.
+Enter now and make merry and whatsoever thou seekest of me, I
+will bring thee forthwith.  So pass the night as thou wilt and on
+the morrow go thy way.  This in honour of thy strangerhood, for I
+love strangers and hold myself bounden to do them honour.'  So
+Amjed kissed his hand and returning to the saloon, with his face
+clad in its native white and red, said to the lady, 'O my
+mistress, the place is gladdened by thy presence, and this is
+indeed a blessed night.'  'Verily,' said she, 'this is a
+wonderful change in thee, that thou now welcomest me so
+cordially!'  'By Allah, O my lady,' answered he, 'methought my
+servant Behadir had robbed me of some necklaces of jewels, worth
+ten thousand dinars each; however, when I went out but now, in
+concern for this, I sought for them and found them in their
+place.  I know not why the knave tarries thus, and needs must I
+punish him for it.'  She was satisfied with his answer, and they
+drank and sported and made merry, till near upon sundown, when
+Behadir came in to them, having changed his clothes and girt his
+middle and put on shoes, such as are worn of servants.  He
+saluted and kissed the earth, then clasped his hands behind him
+and stood, with his head hanging down, as one who confesses to a
+fault.  Amjed looked at him with angry eyes and said, 'Why hast
+thou tarried till now, O most pestilent of slaves?'  'O my lord,'
+answered Behadir, 'I was busy washing my clothes and knew not of
+thy being here; for thou hadst appointed me for nightfall and not
+for the daytime.'  But Amjed cried out at him, saying, 'Thou
+liest, O vilest of slaves!  By Allah, I must beat thee!'  So he
+rose and laying Behadir on the ground, took a stick and beat him
+gingerly: but the lady sprang up and snatching the stick from his
+hand, laid on to Behadir so lustily, that the tears ran from his
+eyes and he ground his teeth together and called out for succour;
+whilst Amjed cried out to the lady to hold her hand and she
+answered, 'Let me stay my anger on him;' till at last he snatched
+the stick from her hand and pushed her away.  Behadir arose and
+wiping away his tears, waited upon them awhile; after which he
+swept the hall and lighted the lamps; but, as often as he went in
+and out, the lady railed at him and cursed him, till Amjed was
+wroth with her and said, 'For God's sake, leave my servant; he is
+not used to this.'  Then they sat eating and drinking, whilst
+Behadir waited upon them, till midnight, when the latter, weary
+with service and beating, fell asleep in the midst of the hall
+and snored and snorted; whereupon the lady, who was heated with
+wine, said to Amjed, 'Arise, take the sword that hangs yonder and
+cut off this slave's head, or I will be the death of thee.'
+'What possesses thee to kill my slave?' asked Amjed; and she
+answered, 'Our delight will not be fulfilled but by his death.
+If thou wilt not kill him, I will do it myself.'  'For God's
+sake,' cried Amjed, 'do not this thing!'  'It must be,' replied
+she and taking down the sword, drew it and made at Behadir to
+kill him; but Amjed said in himself, 'This man hath entreated us
+courteously and sheltered us and done us kindness and made
+himself my servant: and shall we requite him by killing him?
+This shall never be.  Then he said to the lady, 'If my slave must
+be killed, better I should do it than thou.'  So saying, he took
+the sword from her and raising his hand, smote her on the neck
+and made her head fly from her body.  It fell upon Behadir, who
+awoke and sitting up, saw Amjed standing by him, with the
+bloodstained sword in his hand, and the damsel lying dead.  He
+enquired what had passed, and Amjed told him what she had said,
+adding, 'Nothing would serve her but she must kill thee; and this
+is her reward.'  Behadir rose and kissing the prince's hand, said
+to him, 'Would God thou hadst spared her!  But now there is
+nothing for it but to rid us of her forthright, before the day
+break.'  So saying, he wrapped the body in a mantle and laying it
+in a basket, said to Amjed, 'Thou art a stranger here and knowest
+no one: so sit thou here and await my return.  If I come back, I
+will assuredly do thee great good service and use my endeavour to
+have news of thy brother; but if I return not by sunrise, know
+that all is over with me; in which case the house and all it
+contains are thine, and peace be on thee.'  Then he shouldered
+the basket and going forth, made for the sea, thinking to throw
+it therein: but as he drew near the shore, he turned and found
+himself surrounded by the chief of the police and his officers.
+They knew him and wondered and opened the basket, in which they
+found the slain woman.  So they seized him and laid him in irons
+till the morning, when they carried him and the basket to the
+King and acquainted the latter with the case.  The King was sore
+enraged and said to Behadir, 'Out on thee!  This is not the first
+time thou hast slain folk and cast them into the sea and taken
+their goods.  How many murders hast thou done ere this?'  Behadir
+hung his head, and the King cried out at him, saying, 'Woe to
+thee!  Who killed this young lady?'  'O my lord,' answered
+Behadir, 'I killed her, and there is no power and no virtue but
+in God the Most High, the Supreme!'  At this the King's anger
+redoubled and he commanded to hang him.  So the hangman and
+the chief of the police went down with him, by the King's
+commandment, and paraded him through the streets and markets of
+the town, whilst a crier forewent them, bidding all the folk to
+the execution of Behadir, the King's Master of the Horse.
+
+Meanwhile, Amjed awaited his host's return till the day broke and
+the sun rose, and when he saw that he came not, he exclaimed,
+'There is no power and no virtue but in God the Most High, the
+Supreme!  I wonder what is come of him?'  As he sat musing, he
+heard the crier proclaiming aloud Behadir's sentence and bidding
+the people to his hanging at midday; whereat he wept and
+exclaimed, 'Verily, we are God's and to Him we return!  He means
+to sacrifice himself unjustly for my sake, when it was I killed
+her.  By Allah, this shall never be!'  Then he went out and
+shutting the door after him, hurried through the streets, till he
+overtook Behadir, when he accosted the chief of the police and
+said to him, 'O my lord, put not Behadir to death, for he is
+innocent.  By Allah, none killed her but I.'  When the Master of
+the Police heard this, he took them both and carrying them before
+the King, told him what Amjed had said; whereupon he looked at
+the prince and said to him, 'Didst thou kill the young lady?'
+'Yes,' answered he, and the King said, 'Tell me why thou killedst
+her, and speak the truth.'  'O King,' replied Amjed, 'indeed, it
+is a rare event and a strange matter that hath befallen me: were
+it graven with needles on the corners of the eye, it would serve
+as a lesson to whoso can profit by admonition.'  Then he told him
+his whole story and all that had befallen him and his brother,
+first and last; whereat the King wondered greatly and said to
+him, 'O youth, I know thee now to be excusable.  Wilt thou be my
+Vizier?'  'I hear and obey,' answered Amjed; whereupon the King
+bestowed magnificent dresses of honour on him and Behadir and
+gave him a handsome house, with servants and officers and all
+things needful, appointing him stipends and allowances and
+bidding him make search for his brother Asaad.  So Amjed sat down
+in the seat of office and governed and did justice and invested
+and deposed and gave and took.  Moreover, he sent out a crier to
+cry his brother throughout the city, and he made proclamation in
+the streets and markets many days, but heard no news of Asaad nor
+happened on any trace of him.
+
+Meanwhile, the Magians ceased not to torture Asaad, night and
+day, for a whole year's space, till the day of their festival
+drew near, when the old man (whose name was Behram) made ready
+for the voyage and fitted out a ship for himself.  When all was
+ready, he laid Asaad in a chest and locking it, transported it to
+the ship.  As fate would have it, Amjed was at that very time
+standing looking upon the sea; and when he saw the men carrying
+the chest and other gear on board the ship, his heart throbbed
+and he called to his servants to bring him his horse.  Then,
+mounting with a company of his officers, he rode down to the port
+and halted before the Magian's ship, which he commanded his men
+to search.  So they boarded the vessel and searched it in every
+part, but found nothing and returned and told Amjed, who mounted
+again and rode back to his palace, with a troubled mind.  As he
+entered, he cast his eyes on the wall and saw written thereon the
+following verses, which when he read, he called to mind his
+brother and wept:
+
+Belovéd ones, for all you're absent from my sight, Yet in my
+     heart and thought you have your sojourn still.
+You leave me here to pine and languish for desire; You rob mine
+     eyes of sleep and sleep yourselves your fill.
+
+Meanwhile, Behram embarked and shouted to his crew to make sail
+in all haste.  So they loosed the sails and departing, fared on
+without ceasing many days and nights; and every other day, Behram
+took out Asaad and gave him a little bread and water, till they
+drew near the Mountain of Fire, when there came out on them a
+contrary wind and the sea rose against them, so that they were
+driven out of their course into strange waters and came in sight
+of a city builded upon the shore, with a citadel whose windows
+overlooked the sea.  Now the ruler of this city was a queen
+called Merjaneh, and the captain said to Behram, 'O my lord, we
+have strayed from our course and come to the island of Queen
+Merjaneh, who is a devout Muslim; and if she know that we are
+Magians, she will take our ship and slay us to the last man.  Yet
+needs must we put in here to rest [and refit].'  Quoth Behram,
+'Let us clothe this Muslim we have with us in a slave's habit and
+carry him ashore with us, so that, when the queen sees him, she
+will think and say,  "This is a slave."  As for me, I will tell
+her that I am a dealer in white slaves and that I had with me
+many, but have sold all but this one, whom I have retained to
+keep my accounts, for he can read and write.'  And the captain
+said, 'This device should serve well.'  Presently they reached
+the city and slackening sail, cast anchor; when, behold, Queen
+Merjaneh came down to them, attended by her guards, and halting
+before the ship, called out to the captain, who landed and kissed
+the earth before her.  Quoth she, 'What is the lading of thy ship
+and whom hast thou with thee?'  'O queen of the age,' answered
+he, 'I have with me a merchant who deals in slaves.'  And she
+said, 'Bring him to me;' whereupon Behram came ashore to her,
+followed by Asaad in a slave's habit, and kissed the earth before
+her.  'What is thy condition?' asked the queen; and Behram
+answered, 'I am a slave-dealer.'  Then she looked at Asaad and
+taking him for a slave, said to him, 'What is thy name?'  Quoth
+he, 'Dost thou ask my present or my former name?'  'Hast thou
+then two names?' asked she, and he answered (and indeed his voice
+was choked with tears), 'Yes; my name aforetime was Asaad,[FN#70]
+but now it is Muterr.'[FN#71] Her heart inclined to him and she
+said, 'Canst thou write?'  'Yes,' answered he; and she gave him
+inkhorn and pen and paper and said to him, 'Write somewhat, that
+I may see it.'  So he wrote the following verses:
+
+Harkye, O thou that judgest, what can a mortal do, When fate, in
+     all conditions, doth him to death ensue?
+It casts him in the ocean, bound hand and foot, and says, "Beware
+     lest with the water you wet yourself, look you!"
+
+When she read this, she had compassion upon him and said to
+Behram, 'Sell me this slave.'  'O my lady,' answered he, 'I
+cannot sell him, for he is the only slave I have left.'  Quoth
+she, 'I must have him of thee, either by purchase or as a gift.'
+But Behram said, 'I will neither sell him nor give him.'  Whereat
+she was wroth and taking Asaad by the hand, carried him up to the
+palace and sent to Behram, saying, 'Except thou set sail and
+depart our city this very night, I will seize all thy goods and
+break up thy ship.'  When the message reached the Magian, he was
+sore troubled and said, 'Verily, this voyage is every way
+unfortunate.'  Then he made ready and took all he needed and
+awaited the coming of the night, to resume his voyage, saying to
+the sailors, 'Provide yourselves and fill the waterskins, that we
+may set sail at the last of the night.'  So the sailors did their
+occasions and awaited the coming of the night.
+
+To return to Queen Merjaneh.  When she had brought Asaad into the
+palace, she opened the windows overlooking the sea and bade her
+handmaids bring food.  Accordingly, they set food before Asaad
+and herself, and they ate, after which the queen called for wine
+and fell to drinking with him.  Now God (may He be exalted and
+glorified!) filled her heart with love for Asaad and she plied
+him with wine, till his reason fled and presently he rose and
+left the hall, to do an occasion.  Seeing a door open, he went
+out and walked on, till he came to a vast garden full of all
+manner fruits and flowers and sitting down under a tree, did his
+occasion.  Then he went up to a fountain in the garden and made
+the ablution and washed his hands and face, after which he would
+have risen to go away; but the air smote him and he fell back,
+with his clothes undone, and slept, and night overcame him thus.
+
+Meanwhile, Behram, the night being come, cried out to the sailors
+to spread sail and depart.  'We hear and obey,' answered they;
+'but give us time to fill our water-skins.'  Then they landed
+with their water-skins and coasting the palace, found nothing but
+walls: so they climbed over into the garden and followed the
+track of feet, that led them to the fountain, where they found
+Asaad lying on his back, asleep.  They knew him and taking him
+up, climbed the wall again with him, after they had filled their
+skins, and carried him back in haste to Behram, to whom said
+they, 'Beat thy drums and sound thy pipes; for we have found thy
+prisoner, whom Queen Merjaneh took from thee by force, and have
+brought him back to thee.'  And they threw Asaad down before
+him. When Behram saw him, his heart leapt for joy and his
+breast dilated with gladness.  Then he bestowed largesse on
+the sailors and bade them weigh anchor in haste.  So they set
+sail forthright, intending for the Mountain of Fire, and stayed
+not their course till the morning.
+
+As for Queen Merjaneh, she abode awhile, awaiting Asaad's return;
+and when she saw that he came not, she rose and sought him, but
+found no trace of him.  Then she bade her women light flambeaux
+and search for him, whilst she herself went forth and seeing the
+garden-door open, knew that he had gone thither.  So she went out
+and finding his slippers lying by the fountain, searched the
+garden in every part, but found no sign of him.  Nevertheless,
+she gave not over the search till morning, when she enquired for
+the Magian's ship and was told that it had set sail in the first
+watch of the night; wherefore she knew that they had taken Asaad
+with them and this was grievous to her and she was angry.  So she
+bade equip ten great ships forthwith and arming herself, embarked
+in one of them, with her guards and women and troops, richly
+accoutred and armed for war.  They spread the sails and she said
+to the captain, 'If you overtake the Magian's ship, ye shall have
+of me dresses of honour and largesse; but if ye let it escape, I
+will kill you all.'  Whereat fear and great hope fell upon the
+seamen, and they sailed three days and nights, till, on the
+fourth day, they sighted Behram's ship.  Ere ended day, they came
+up with it and surrounded it on all sides, even as Behram had
+taken Asaad forth of the chest and was beating and torturing him,
+whilst the prince cried out for succour and relief, but found
+neither helper nor deliverer; and indeed he was sorely tormented
+with much beating.  Presently Behram chanced to look up and
+seeing himself encompassed by the queen's ships, as the white of
+the eye encompasses the black, gave himself up for lost and
+groaned and said to Asaad, 'Out on thee, O Asaad!  This is all
+thy doing; but, by Allah, I will kill thee ere I die myself.'
+Then he bade the sailors throw him overboard; so they took him by
+the hands and feet and cast him into the sea and he sank.  But
+God (may He be exalted and glorified!) willed that his life
+should be saved and that his last day should be deferred; so He
+caused him to rise again and he struck out with his hands and
+feet, till the Almighty gave him ease and relief and the waves
+bore him far from the Magian's ship and threw him ashore.  He
+landed, scarce crediting his escape, and putting off his clothes,
+wrung them and spread them out to dry, whilst he sat, naked and
+weeping over his misfortunes and desolate and forlorn condition
+and repeating the following verses:
+
+My fortitude fails me for travail and pain; My patience is spent,
+     my endeavour in vain;
+My sinews are sundered; O Lord of all lords, To whom but his Lord
+     shall the wretched complain?
+
+Then, rising, he donned his clothes and set out at a venture,
+knowing not whither he went.  He fared on day and night, eating
+of the herbs of the earth and the fruits of the trees and
+drinking of the streams, till he came in sight of a city;
+whereupon he rejoiced and hurried on; but before he reached it,
+the night overtook him and the gates were shut.  Now, as chance
+would have it, this was the very city in which he had been a
+prisoner and to whose king his brother Amjed was vizier. When
+he saw the gate was shut, he turned back and made for the
+burial-ground, where finding a tomb without a door, he entered
+and lay down and fell asleep, with his face in his sleeve.
+
+Meanwhile, Queen Merjaneh, coming up with Behram's ship,
+questioned him of Asaad; but he swore to her that he was not with
+him and that he knew nothing of him.  She searched the ship, but
+found no trace of Asaad, so took Behram and carrying him back to
+her castle, would have put him to death; but he ransomed himself
+from her with all his good and his ship and she released him and
+his men.  They went forth from her, hardly believing in their
+escape, and fared on ten days' journey, till they came to their
+own city and found the gate shut, it being eventide.  So they
+made for the burial-ground, thinking to lie the night there, and
+going round about the tombs, as fate would have it, saw that, in
+which Asaad lay, open; whereat Behram marvelled and said,' I must
+look into this tomb.'  Then he entered and found Asaad lying
+asleep, with his head on his sleeve; so he raised his head and
+looking in his face, knew him for him on whose account he had
+lost his goods and his ship, and said, 'Art thou yet alive?'
+Then he bound him and gagged him, without further parley, and
+carried him to his house, where he clapped heavy shackles on his
+feet and lowered him into the underground dungeon aforesaid,
+affected to the tormenting of Muslims, bidding a daughter of his,
+by name Bustan, torture him night and day, till the next year,
+when they would again visit the Mountain of Fire and offer him up
+as a sacrifice there.  Then he beat him grievously and locking
+the dungeon door upon him, gave the keys to his daughter.  By and
+by, she opened the door and went down to beat him, but finding
+him a comely sweet-faced youth, with arched brows and melting
+black eyes, fell in love with him and said to him, 'What is thy
+name?'  'My name is Assad,'[FN#72] answered he.  'Mayst thou
+indeed be happy,' exclaimed she, 'and happy be thy days!  Thou
+deservest not torture and blows, and I see thou hast been
+unjustly entreated.'  And she comforted him with kind words and
+loosed his bonds.  Then she questioned him of the faith of Islam,
+and he told her that it was the true and orthodox faith and that
+our lord Mohammed had approved himself by surpassing miracles and
+manifest signs and that the [worship of] fire was not profitable,
+but harmful; and he went on to expound to her the tenets of
+Islam, till she was persuaded and the love of the True Faith
+entered her heart.  Then (for God the Most High had filled her
+with love of Asaad), she made profession of the faith and became
+of the people of felicity.  After this, she brought him meat and
+drink and talked with him and they prayed together: moreover, she
+made him chicken-broths and fed him therewith, till he regained
+strength and his sickness left him and he was restored to health.
+One day, as she stood at the door of the house, she heard the
+crier proclaiming aloud and saying, 'Whoso hath with him a
+handsome young man, whose favour is thus and thus, and bringeth
+him forth, shall have all he seeketh of wealth; but if any have
+him and discover it not, he shall be hanged over his own door and
+his goods shall be confiscated and his blood go for nought.'  Now
+Asaad had acquainted her with his whole history: so, when she
+heard the crier, she knew that it was he who was sought for and
+going down to him, told him the news.  Then she went forth with
+him to the palace of the Vizier, whom when Asaad saw, he
+exclaimed, 'By Allah, this is my brother Amjed!'  And threw
+himself upon him; whereupon Amjed also knew him and they embraced
+each other and lay awhile insensible, whilst the Vizier's
+officers stood round them.  When they came to themselves, Amjed
+took his brother and carried him to the Sultan, to whom he
+related the whole story, and the Sultan charged him to plunder
+Behram's house and take himself.  So Amjed despatched thither a
+company of men, who sacked the house and took Behram and brought
+his daughter to the Vizier, who received her with all honour, for
+Asaad had told his brother all the torments he had suffered and
+the kindness that she had done him.  Moreover, Amjed, in his
+turn, related to Asaad all that had passed between the lady and
+himself and how he had escaped hanging and become Vizier; and
+they made moan, each to the other, of the anguish they had
+suffered for separation.  Then the Sultan sent for Behram and
+bade strike off his head; but he said, 'O most mighty King, art
+thou indeed resolved to put me to death?'  'Yes,' replied the
+King, 'except thou save thyself by becoming a Muslim.'  And
+Behram said, 'O King, have patience with me a little.'  Then he
+bowed his head awhile and presently raising it again, made
+profession of the faith and avowed himself a Muslim at the hands
+of the Sultan.  They all rejoiced at his conversion and Amjed and
+Asaad told him all that had befallen them, whereat he wondered
+and said, 'O my lords, make ready for the journey and I will
+depart with you and carry you back to your father's court in a
+ship.'  At this they rejoiced and wept sore; but he said, 'O my
+lords, weep not for your departure, for ye shall be re-united
+[with those you love], even as were Nimeh and Num.'  'And what
+befell Nimeh and Num?' asked they.  'It is told,' replied Behram,
+'(but God alone is all-knowing), that
+
+
+
+
+Story of Nimeh Ben Er Rebya and Num His Slave-girl
+
+
+
+There lived once in the city of Cufa a man called Er Rebya ben
+Hatim, who was one of the chief men of the town, rich in goods
+and prosperous, and God had vouchsafed him a son, whom he named
+Nimet Allah.[FN#73] One day, being in the slave-dealers' mart, he
+saw a female slave exposed for sale, with a little girl of
+wonderful beauty and grace in her hand.  So he beckoned to the
+broker and said to him, "What is the price of this woman and her
+child?"  "Fifty dinars," answered he.  "Write the contract of
+sale," said Er Rebya, "and take the money and give it to her
+owner."  Then he gave the broker the price and his brokerage and
+taking the woman and her child, carried them to his house.  When
+his wife saw the slave, she said to her husband (who was the son
+of her father's brother), "O my cousin, what is this damsel?"
+Quoth he, "I bought her for the sake of the little one on her
+arm, for know that, when she grows up, there will not be her like
+for beauty, either in the land of the Arabs or elsewhere."  "It
+was well seen of thee," answered his wife.  Then said she to the
+woman, "What is thy name?"  "O my lady," replied she, "my name is
+Taufic."  "And what is thy daughter's name?" asked she.
+"Saad,"[FN#74] answered the slave.  "Thou sayst sooth," rejoined
+her mistress.  "Thou art indeed happy, and happy is he who hath
+bought thee."  Then said she to her husband, "O my cousin, what
+wilt thou call her?"  "What thou choosest," answered he.  "Then
+let us call her Num,"[FN#75] quoth she, and he said, "Good."  The
+little Num was reared with Er Rebya's son Nimeh in one cradle and
+each grew up handsomer than the other.  They were wont to call
+each other brother and sister, till they came to the age of ten,
+when Er Rebya said to Nimeh, "O my son, Num is not thy sister,
+but thy slave.  I bought her in thy name, whilst thou wast yet in
+the cradle; so call her no more 'sister' from this day forth."
+"If that be so," quoth Nimeh, "I will take her to wife."  Then he
+went to his mother and told her of this, and she said to him, "O
+my son, she is thy handmaid."  So he went in to Num and loved her
+and two years passed over them, whilst Num grew up, nor was there
+in all Cufa a fairer or sweeter or more graceful girl than she.
+She learnt the Koran and all manner of knowledge and excelled in
+music and singing and playing upon all kinds of instruments, so
+that she surpassed all the folk of her time.  One day, as she sat
+with her husband in the wine-chamber, she took the lute and
+tuning it, sang the following verses:
+
+Since thou'rt my lord, by whose good grace I live in fair estate,
+     A sword wherewith I smite in twain the neck of adverse fate,
+No need is mine to have recourse to Amr[FN#76] or to Zeid,[FN#77]
+     Nor any but thyself, an if the ways on me grow strait.
+
+Nimeh was charmed with these verses and said to her, "I conjure
+thee, by my life, O Num, sing to us with the tambourine and other
+instruments!"  So she sang the following verses to a lively air:
+
+By him whose hand possesses the reins of my affair, On passion's
+     score, I swear it, my enviers I'll dare.
+Yea, I will vex my censors and thee alone obey And sleep and ease
+     and solace, for thy sweet sake, forswear
+And dig midmost my entrails, to hold the love of thee, A grave,
+     of which not even my heart shall be aware.
+
+And Nimeh exclaimed, "Gifted of God art thou, O Num!"
+
+But whilst they led thus the most delightsome life, El Hejjaj,
+[FN#78] [the governor of Cufa, heard of Num and] said in
+himself, "Needs must I make shift to take this girl Num and send
+her to the Commander of the Faithful Abdulmelik ben Merwan, for
+he hath not in his palace her like for beauty and sweet singing."
+Then, calling an old woman, one of his body-servants, he said to
+her, "Go to Er Rebya's house and foregather with the girl Num and
+cast about to steal her away, for her like is not to be found on
+the face of the earth."  She promised to do his bidding; so next
+morning she donned clothes of wool[FN#79] and threw round her
+neck a rosary of thousands of beads; then, taking in her hand a
+staff and water-bottle of Yemen make, went forth, exclaiming,
+"Glory be to God!  Praised be God!  There is no god but God!  God
+is most great!  There is no power and no virtue but in God the
+Most High, the Supreme!"  Nor did she leave making devout
+ejaculations, whilst her heart was full of craft and fraud, till
+she came to Nimeh's house, at the hour of noonday-prayer, and
+knocked at the door.  The doorkeeper opened and said to her,
+"What dost thou want?"  Quoth she, "I am a poor pious woman, whom
+the time of noonday-prayer hath overtaken, and I would fain pray
+in this blessed place."  "O old woman," answered the porter,
+"this is no mosque nor oratory, but the house of Nimeh ben er
+Rebya."  "I know there is neither mosque nor oratory like the
+house of Nimeh ben er Rebya," rejoined she.  "I am a chamberwoman
+of the palace of the Commander of the Faithful and am come out
+upon a pilgrimage of devotion."  But the porter replied, "Thou
+canst not enter;" and many words passed between them, till at
+last she caught hold of him, saying, "Shall the like of me, who
+have free access to the houses of Amirs and grandees, be denied
+admission to the house of Nimeh ben er Rebya?"  Presently, out
+came Nimeh and hearing their dispute, laughed and bade the old
+woman enter.  So she followed him into the presence of Num, whom
+she saluted after the goodliest fashion; and when she looked on
+her, she was confounded at her exceeding beauty and said to her,
+"O my lady, I commend thee to the safeguard of God, who made thee
+and thy lord to accord in beauty and grace!"  Then she stood up
+in the prayer-niche and betook herself to inclination and
+prostration and prayer, till the day departed and the night came
+with the darkness, when Num said to her, "O my mother, rest thy
+feet awhile."  "O my lady," answered the old woman, "whoso
+seeketh the world to come must weary himself in this world, and
+whoso wearieth not himself in this world shall not attain the
+dwellings of the just in the world to come."  Then Num brought
+her food and said to her, "O my mother, eat of my victual and
+pray that God may relent towards me and have mercy on me."  But
+she replied, "O my lady, I am fasting.  As for thee, thou art but
+a girl and it befits thee to eat and drink and make merry.  May
+God be indulgent to thee!  Quoth the Most High, '(None shall be
+saved) except those that repent and believe and work the works of
+righteousness.'"[FN#80] Num sat awhile, conversing with the old
+woman, and presently said to Nimeh, "O my lord, conjure this old
+woman to sojourn with us awhile, for piety is imprinted on her
+face."  Quoth he, "Set apart for her a chamber, where she may do
+her devotions, and let none go in to her: peradventure God
+(glorified and exalted be He!) shall prosper us by the blessing
+of her presence and part us not."  The old woman passed the night
+in prayer and recitation,[FN#81] till daybreak, when she went in
+to Nimeh and Num and giving them good morning, said to them, "I
+pray God to have you in His holy keeping!"  "Whither away, O my
+mother?" said Num.  "My lord hath bidden me set apart for thee a
+chamber, where thou mayst retire for thy devotions."  "God give
+him long life," replied the old woman, "and continue His favour
+to you both!  I would have you charge the doorkeeper not to stay
+my coming in to you, and (God willing) I will go the round of the
+Holy Places and pray for you at the end of my devotions every day
+and night."  Then she went out (whilst Num wept for parting with
+her, knowing not the purpose of her coming) and returned to El
+Hejjaj, who said to her, "What news?"  She answered, "I have seen
+the girl, and indeed never bore woman of her day a lovelier than
+she."  And El Hejjaj said to her, "So thou do my bidding, thou
+shalt have of me abundant good."  Quoth she, "I ask of thee a
+month's time."  And he replied, "It is well."  Then she fell to
+paying frequent visits to Nimeh and Num, who redoubled in honour
+and kindness to her, and she used to go in to them morning and
+evening, and all in the house welcomed her, till, one day, being
+alone with Num, she said to her, "By Allah, O my lady, when I go
+to the Holy Places, I will pray for thee; but I should love thee
+to go thither with me, that thou mightest look on the Elders
+of the Faith that resort thither, and they should pray for
+thee, according to thy desire."  "O my mother," said Num, "I
+conjure thee by Allah, take me with thee!"  "Ask leave of thy
+mother-in-law," replied the old woman, "and I will take thee."
+So Num said to her mother-in-law, "O my lady, ask my master to
+let us go, thee and me, one day, with this my old mother, to pray
+and worship with the fakirs in the Holy Places."  Presently,
+Nimeh came in and sat down, whereupon the old woman went up to
+him and would have kissed his hand, but he forbade her; so she
+called down blessings on him and left the house.  Next day, she
+came again, in the absence of Nimeh, and said to Num, "We prayed
+for thee yesterday; but arise now and divert thyself and return
+ere thy lord come home."  So Num said to her mother-in-law, "I
+beseech thee, for God's sake, let me go with this pious woman,
+that I may look upon the friends of God in the Holy Places and
+return speedily, ere my lord come."  Quoth Nimeh's mother, "I
+fear lest thy lord know."  "By Allah," said the old woman, "I
+will not let her sit down; but she shall look, standing on her
+feet, and not tarry."  So on this wise she took the damsel by
+guile and carrying her to El Hejjaj's palace, bestowed her in a
+privy chamber and told him of her coming; whereupon he went in to
+her and looking upon her, saw her to be the loveliest of the
+people of the day, never had he beheld her like.  When Num saw
+him, she veiled her face from him; but he left her not till he
+had called his chamberlain, whom he commanded to take fifty
+horsemen and mounting the damsel on a swift dromedary, carry her
+to Damascus and there deliver her to the Commander of the
+Faithful, Abdulmelik ben Merwan.  Moreover, he gave him a letter
+for the Khalif, saying, "Bear him this letter and bring me his
+answer in all haste."  So the chamberlain took the damsel, all
+tearful for separation from her lord, and setting out with her
+for Syria, gave not over journeying till he reached Damascus and
+sought an audience of the Commander of the Faithful, to whom he
+delivered the damsel and the letter.  The Khalif appointed her a
+separate apartment and going into his harem, said to his wife,
+"El Hejjaj has bought me a female slave of the daughters
+(descendants) of the (ancient) Kings of Cufa, for ten thousand
+dinars, and has sent her to me with this letter."  "May God
+increase thee of his favour!"  answered she.  Then the Khalif's
+sister went into Num and when she saw her, she said, "By Allah,
+happy the man who hath thee in his house, were thy cost a hundred
+thousand dinars!"  "O fair-faced one," said Num, "what King's
+palace is this?"  "This is the city of Damascus," answered the
+princess, "and the palace of my brother, the Commander of the
+Faithful, Abdulmelik ben Merwan.  Didst thou not know this?"  "By
+Allah, O my lady," said Num, "I had no knowledge of this!"  "And
+he who sold thee and took thy price," asked the princess, "did he
+not tell thee that the Khalif had bought thee?"  When Num heard
+this, she wept and said in herself, "I have been cozened; but, if
+I speak, none will credit me; so I will hold my peace and take
+patience, knowing that the relief of God is near."  Then she bent
+her head for shame, and indeed her cheeks were tanned with the
+journey and the sun.  So the Khalif's sister left her that day
+and returned to her on the morrow with clothes and necklaces of
+jewels and dressed her; after which the Khalif came in to her and
+sat down by her side, and his sister said to him, "Look on this
+damsel, in whom God hath united every perfection of beauty and
+grace."  So he said to Num, "Draw back the veil from thy face;"
+but she would not unveil, and he beheld not her face.  However,
+he saw her wrists and love of her entered his heart; and he said
+to his sister, "I will not go in to her for three days, till she
+be cheered by thy converse."  Then he left her, but Num ceased
+not to brood over her case and sigh for her separation from
+Nimeh, till, at eventide, she fell sick of a fever and ate not
+nor drank; and her face grew pale and her charms faded.  They
+told the Khalif of this, and it grieved him; so he visited her
+with physicians and men of skill, but none could come at a cure
+for her.
+
+As for Nimeh, when he returned home, he sat down on his bed and
+cried, "Ho, Num!"  But she answered not; so he rose in haste and
+called out, but none came to him, for all the women in the house
+had hidden themselves, for fear of him.  Then he went in to his
+mother, whom he found sitting with her cheek on her hand, and
+said to her, "O my mother, where is Num?"  "O my son," answered
+she, "she is with one who is worthier than I to be trusted with
+her, namely, the devout old woman; she went forth with her to
+visit the fakirs and return."  "Since when has this been her
+wont," asked Nimeh, "and at what hour went she forth?"  Quoth his
+mother, "She went out early in the morning."  "And how camest
+thou to give her leave for this?" said he, and she replied, "O my
+son, it was she persuaded me."  "There is no power and no virtue
+but in God the Most High, the Supreme!" exclaimed Nimeh and going
+forth, in a state of distraction, repaired to the chief of the
+police, to whom said he, "Dost thou practice on me and steal my
+slave-girl away from me?  I will assuredly complain of thee to
+the Commander of the Faithful."  "Who has taken her?" asked the
+chief of the police, and Nimeh answered, "An old woman of such
+and such a favour, clad in woollen raiment and carrying a rosary
+of thousands of beads."  "Find me the old woman," rejoined the
+other, "and I will get thee back thy slave-girl."  "Who knows
+the old woman?" said Nimeh.  "And who knows the hidden things
+save God, may He be glorified and exalted?" replied the official,
+who knew her for El Hejjaj's agent.  Quoth Nimeh, "I look to thee
+for my slave-girl, and El Hejjaj shall judge between thee and
+me."  And the master of police answered, "Go to whom thou wilt."
+Now Nimeh's father was one of the chief men of Cufa; so he went
+to the palace of the governor, whose chamberlain went in to him
+and told him what was to do.  El Hejjaj bade admit him and
+enquired his business.  Quoth Nimeh, "Such and such things have
+befallen me."  And the governor said, "Bring me the chief of the
+police, and we will bid him seek for the old woman."  Now he knew
+that the chief of the police knew her; so, when he came, he said
+to him, "I wish thee to make search for the slave-girl of Nimeh
+ben er Rebya."  And he answered, "None knoweth the hidden things
+save God the Most High."  "Thou must send out horsemen," rejoined
+El Hejjaj, "and look for the damsel in all the roads and towns."
+Then he turned to Nimeh and said to him, "An thy slave-girl
+return not, I will give thee ten slave-girls from my house and
+ten from that of the chief of the police."  And he said to the
+latter, "Go and seek for the girl."  So he went out and Nimeh
+returned home, full of trouble and despairing of life.  He had
+now reached the age of fourteen and there was yet no hair on his
+cheeks.  He shut himself up from his household and ceased not to
+weep and lament, he and his mother, till the morning, when his
+father came in to him and said, "O my son, El Hejjaj hath put a
+cheat on the damsel and stolen her away; but from hour to hour
+God giveth relief."  But grief redoubled on Nimeh, so that he
+knew not what he said nor who came in to him, and indeed his
+charms were changed and he was in sorry case.  In this plight he
+abode three months, till his father despaired of him, and the
+physicians visited him and said, "There is no cure for him but
+the damsel."  One day, Er Rebya heard tell of a skilful Persian
+physician, whom the folk gave out for accomplished in medicine
+and astrology and geomancy.  So he sent for him and seating him
+by his side, entreated him with honour and said to him, "Look
+into my son's case."  So he said to Nimeh, "Give me thy hand."
+Accordingly, the young man gave him his hand and he felt his
+pulse and his joints and looked in his face; then he laughed and
+turning to Er Rebya, said, "Thy son's only ailment is in his
+heart."  "Thou sayst sooth, O sage," answered Er Rebya; "but
+apply thy skill to the consideration of his state and case and
+acquaint me with the whole thereof and hide nought from me."
+Quoth the Persian, "He is enamoured of a girl, who is either in
+Bassora or Damascus; and there is no cure for him but reunion
+with her."  "An thou bring them together," said Er Rebya, "thou
+shalt have of me what will rejoice thee and shalt live all thy
+life in wealth and delight."  "This is an easy matter," answered
+the Persian, "and soon brought about;" and he turned to Nimeh and
+said to him, "Fear not; no hurt shall befall thee; so take heart
+and be of good cheer."  Then said he to Er Rebya, "Give me four
+thousand dinars of your money."  So he gave them to him, and he
+said, "I wish to carry thy son with me to Damascus, and God
+willing, we will not return thence but with the damsel."  Then
+said he to the youth, "What is thy name?"  And he answered,
+"Nimeh."  "O Nimeh," said the Persian, "sit up and be of good
+heart, for God will reunite thee with the damsel.  So put thy
+trust in Him and eat and drink and be cheerful and fortify
+thyself for travel, for we set out for Damascus this very day."
+So he sat up whilst the Persian made his preparations and took of
+Er Rebya, in all, the sum of ten thousand dinars, together with
+horses and camels and beasts of burden such as he needed for the
+journey.  Then Nimeh took leave of his father and mother and
+journeyed with the physician to Aleppo.  They could get no news
+of Num there, so fared on to Damascus, where they abode three
+days, after which the Persian took a shop and adorned its shelves
+with gilding and stuffs of price and stocked them with vessels of
+costly porcelain, with covers of silver.  Moreover, he set before
+himself vases and flagons of glass full of all manner ointments
+and syrups, surrounded by cups of crystal, and donning a
+physician's habit, took his seat in the shop, with his astrolabe
+and geomantic tablet before him.  Then he clad Nimeh in a shirt
+and gown of silk and girding his middle with a silken kerchief
+embroidered with gold, made him sit before himself, saying to
+him, "O Nimeh, henceforth thou art my son; so call me nought but
+father and I will call thee son."  And he replied, "I hear and
+obey."  The people of Damascus flocked to gaze on the youth's
+goodliness and the beauty of the shop and its contents, whilst
+the physician spoke to Nimeh in Persian and he answered him in
+the same tongue, for he knew the language, after the wont of the
+sons of the notables.  The Persian soon became known among the
+townsfolk and they began to resort to him and acquaint him with
+their ailments, for which he prescribed.  Moreover, they brought
+him the water of the sick in phials, and he would examine it and
+say, "He, whose water this is, is suffering from such and such a
+disease."  And the patient would say, "Verily, this physician
+says sooth."  So he continued to do the occasions of the folk and
+they to flock to him, till his fame spread throughout the city
+and into the houses of the great.  One day, as he sat in his
+shop, there came up an old woman riding on an ass with housings
+of brocade, embroidered with jewels, and drawing bridle before
+his shop, beckoned to him, saying, "Take my hand."  So he took
+her hand, and she alighted and said to him, "Art thou the Persian
+physician from Irak?"  "Yes," answered he, and she said, "Know
+that I have a sick daughter."  Then she brought out to him
+a phial and he looked at it and said to her, "Tell me thy
+daughter's name, that I may calculate her horoscope and learn the
+hour in which it will befit her to take medicine."  "O brother of
+the Persians," answered she, "her name is Num."  When he heard
+this, he fell to calculating and writing on his hand and
+presently said to her, "O my lady, I cannot prescribe for the
+girl, till I know what countrywoman she is, because of the
+difference of climate: so tell me where she was brought up and
+what is her age."  "She is fourteen years old," replied the old
+woman, "and was brought up in Cufa of Irak."  "And how long,"
+asked he, "has she sojourned in this country?"  "But a few
+months," answered she.  When Nimeh heard the old woman's words
+and the name of his slave-girl, his heart fluttered and he was
+like to swoon.  Then said the Persian to the old woman, "Such and
+such medicines will suit her case;" and she rejoined, "Then make
+them up and give them to me, with the blessing of God the Most
+High!"  So saying, she threw him ten dinars, and he bade Nimeh
+prepare the necessary drugs; whereupon she looked at the youth
+and exclaimed, "God have thee in His holy keeping, O my son!
+Verily, she is like thee in age and favour."  Then said she to
+the physician, "O brother of the Persians, is this thy slave or
+thy son?"  "He is my son," answered he.  So Nimeh made up the
+medicine and laying it in a little box, took a piece of paper and
+wrote thereon the following verses:
+
+So Num but vouchsafe me a glance, to gladden my heart and my
+     mind, Let Suada unfavouring prove and Juml, an't please her,
+     unkind.[FN#82]
+"Forget her," quoth they unto me, "And thou shalt have twenty
+     like her." I will not forget her, I swear, for never her
+     like should I find.
+
+He put the paper in the box and sealing it up, wrote on the cover
+the following words in the Cufic character, "I am Nimeh ben er
+Rebya of Cufa."  Then he gave it to the old woman, who bade them
+farewell and returning to the Khalif's palace, went in to Num, to
+whom she delivered the box, saying, "O my lady, know that there
+is lately come to our town a Persian physician, than whom I never
+saw a more skilful nor a better versed in matters of sickness.  I
+showed him the phial and told him thy name, and he knew thine
+ailment and prescribed a remedy.  Then, by his order, his son
+made thee up this medicine; and there is not in Damascus a
+comelier or more elegant youth than this son of his nor hath any
+the like of his shop."  Num took the box and seeing the names of
+her lord and his father written thereon, changed colour and said
+to herself, "Doubtless, the owner of this shop is come in search
+of me."  So she said to the old woman, "Describe this youth to
+me."  "His name is Nimeh," answered the old woman; "he is richly
+clad and perfectly handsome and has a mole on his right eyebrow."
+"Give me the medicine," cried Num, "and may the blessing and help
+of God the Most High attend it!"  So she drank off the potion and
+said, laughing, "Indeed, it is a blessed medicine."  Then she
+sought in the box and finding the paper, read it and knew that
+this was indeed her lord, whereat her heart was solaced and she
+rejoiced.  When the old woman saw her laughing, she exclaimed,
+"This is indeed a blessed day!"  And Num said, "O nurse, I
+have a mind to eat and drink."  So the old woman said to the
+serving-women, "Bring a tray of dainty viands for your mistress;"
+whereupon they set food before her and she sat down to eat.
+Presently, in came the Khalif and seeing her sitting eating,
+rejoiced; and the old woman said to him, "O Commander of the
+Faithful, I give thee joy of thy slave's recovery!  Know that
+there is lately come to our city a physician, than whom I never
+saw a better versed in diseases and their cure.  I fetched her
+medicine from him and she has taken of it but once and is
+restored to health."  Quoth he, "Take a thousand dinars and
+provide for her treatment, till she be completely recovered." And
+he went away, rejoicing in the damsel's recovery, whilst the old
+woman betook herself to the physician, to whom she delivered the
+thousand dinars and a letter that Num had written, giving him to
+know that she was become the Khalif's slave.  He gave the letter
+to Nimeh, who knew her hand and fell down in a swoon.  When he
+came to himself, he opened the letter and found these words
+written therein: "From the slave despoiled of her delight,[FN#83]
+her whose reason hath been beguiled and who is separated from the
+beloved of her heart.  Thy letter hath reached me and hath
+dilated my bosom and rejoiced my heart, even as saith the poet:
+
+The letter reached me, never may the fingers fail thee aught,
+     That traced its characters, until with sweetest scent
+     they're fraught!
+'Twas as unto his mother's arms when Moses was restored Or as to
+     blind old Jacob's hands when Joseph's coat was
+     brought."[FN#84]
+
+When he read these verses, his eyes ran over with tears and the
+old woman said to him, "What ails thee to weep, O my son?  May
+God never make thine eye to shed tears!"  "O my lady," answered
+the Persian, "how should my son not weep, seeing that this is his
+slave-girl and he her lord Nimeh ben er Rebya of Cufa?  Indeed,
+her recovery depends on her seeing him, for nought ails her but
+the love of him.  So, O my lady, take these thousand dinars to
+thyself (and thou shalt have of me yet more than this) and look
+on us with eyes of compassion; for we know not how to bring this
+affair to a happy issue but through thee."  Then she said to
+Nimeh, "Art thou indeed her lord?"  "Yes," answered he, and she,
+"Thou sayst truly; for she ceases not to name thee."  Then he
+told her all that had passed from first to last, and she said, "O
+youth, thou shalt owe thy reunion with her to none but me."  So
+she mounted at once and returning to Num, looked in her face and
+smiled, saying, "O my daughter, it is just that thou weep and
+fall sick for thy separation from thy master Nimeh ben er Rebya
+of Cufa."  Quoth Num, "Verily, the veil has been withdrawn for
+thee and the truth revealed to thee."  "Be of good cheer,"
+rejoined the old woman, "and take heart, for I will surely bring
+you together, though it cost me my life."  Then she returned to
+Nimeh and said to him, "I have seen thy slave-girl and find that
+she longs for thee yet more than thou for her; for the Commander
+of the Faithful is minded to foregather with her, but she refuses
+herself to him.  But if thou be stout of heart and firm of
+courage, I will bring you together and venture myself for you and
+make shift to bring thee to her in the Khalif's palace; for she
+cannot come forth."  And Nimeh answered, "God requite thee with
+good!"  Then she went back to Num and said to her, "Thy lord is
+indeed dying of love for thee and would fain see thee and
+foregather with thee.  What sayst thou?"  "And I also," answered
+Num, "am dying for his sight."  So the old woman took a parcel of
+women's clothes and ornaments and repairing to Nimeh, said to
+him, "Come apart with me into a privy place."  So he brought her
+into the room behind the shop, where she painted him and decked
+his wrists and plaited his hair, after which she clad him in a
+slave-girl's habit and adorned him after the fairest fashion of
+woman's adornment, till he was as one of the houris of Paradise;
+and when she saw him thus, she exclaimed, "Blessed be God, the
+most excellent Creator!  By Allah, thou art handsomer than the
+damsel!  Now, walk with thy left shoulder forward and swing thy
+buttocks."  So he walked before her, as she bade him; and when
+she saw he had caught the trick of women's gait, she said to him,
+"Expect me to-morrow night, when, God willing, I will come and
+carry thee to the palace.  When thou seest the chamberlains and
+the eunuchs, fear not, but bow thy head and speak not with any,
+for I will ward thee from their speech; and with God is success."
+Accordingly, on the morrow she returned at the appointed hour and
+carrying him to the palace, entered and he after her.  The
+chamberlain would have stayed him, but the old woman said to him,
+"O most ill-omened of slaves, this is the handmaid of Num, the
+Khalif's favourite.  How darest thou stay her?"  Then said she,
+"Enter, O damsel!"  And they went on, till they drew near the
+door leading to the inner court of the palace, when the old woman
+said to him, "O Nimeh, take courage and enter and turn to the
+left.  Count five doors and enter the sixth, for it is that of
+the place prepared for thee.  Fear nothing, and if any speak to
+thee, answer not neither stop."  Then she went up with him to the
+door, and the chamberlain on guard hailed her, saying, "What
+damsel is that?"  Quoth the old woman, "Our lady hath a mind to
+buy her."  And he said, "None may enter save by leave of the
+Commander of the Faithful; so go thou back with her.  I cannot
+let her pass, for thus am I commanded."  "O chief chamberlain,"
+replied the old woman, "use thy reason.  Thou knowest that Num,
+the Khalif's slave-girl, of whom he is enamoured, is but now
+restored to health and the Commander of the Faithful hardly yet
+credits her recovery.  Now she is minded to buy this girl; so
+oppose thou not her entrance, lest it come to Num's knowledge and
+she be wroth with thee and suffer a relapse and this bring thy
+head to be cut off."  Then said she to Nimeh, "Enter, O damsel;
+pay no heed to what he says and tell not the princess that he
+opposed thine entrance."  So Nimeh bowed his head and entered,
+but mistook and turned to his right, instead of his left, and
+meaning to count five doors and enter the sixth, counted six
+and entering the seventh, found himself in a  place carpeted
+with brocade and hung with curtains of gold-embroidered silk.
+Here and there stood censers of aloes-wood and ambergris and
+sweet-scented musk, and at the upper end was a couch covered with
+brocade, on which he seated himself, marvelling at the exceeding
+magnificence of the place and knowing not what was appointed to
+him in the secret purpose of God.  As he sat musing on his case,
+the Khalif's sister entered, followed by her handmaid, and seeing
+him seated there took him for a slave-girl and said to him, "What
+art thou, O damsel, and who brought thee hither?"  He made no
+reply and she continued, "If thou be one of my brother's
+favourites and he be wroth with thee, I will intercede with him
+for thee."  But he answered her not a word; so she said to her
+maid, "Stand at the door and let none enter."  Then she went up
+to Nimeh and looking at him, was amazed at his beauty and said to
+him, "O lady, tell me who thou art and how thou camest here; for
+I have never seen thee in the palace."  Still he answered not,
+whereat she was angered and putting her hand to his bosom, found
+no breasts and would have unveiled him, that she might know who
+he was; but he said to her, "O my lady, I am thy slave and cast
+myself on thy protection; do thou protect me."  "No harm shall
+come to thee," said she; "but tell me who thou art and who
+brought thee into this my lodging."  "O princess," answered he,
+"I am known as Nimeh ben er Rebya of Cufa, and I have ventured my
+life for my slave-girl Num, whom El Hejjaj took by sleight and
+sent hither."  "Fear not," rejoined the princess; "no harm shall
+befall thee."  Then, calling her maid, she said to her, "Go to
+Num's chamber and bid her to me."
+
+Meanwhile, the old woman went to Num's bed-chamber and said to
+her, "Has thy lord come to thee?"  "No, by Allah!" answered Num,
+and the other said, "Belike he hath gone astray and entered some
+chamber other than thine."  "There is no power and no virtue but
+in God the Most High, the Supreme!" exclaimed Num.  "Our last
+hour is come and we are all lost."  As they sat, pondering, in
+came the princess's maid and saluting Num, said to her, "My lady
+bids thee to her entertainment."  "I hear and obey," answered the
+damsel, and the old woman said, "Belike thy lord is with the
+Khalif's sister and the veil has been done away."  So Num rose
+and betook herself to the princess, who said to her, "Here is thy
+lord sitting with me; it seems he has gone astray; but, please
+God, neither thou nor he has any cause for fear."  When Num heard
+this, she took heart and went up to Nimeh, who rose to meet her,
+and they embraced and fell down in a swoon.  As soon as they came
+to themselves, the princess said to them, "Sit down and let us
+take counsel for your deliverance from this your strait."  And
+they answered, "O our lady, we hear and obey: it is thine to
+command."  "By Allah," quoth she, "no harm shall befall you from
+us!"  Then she called for meat and drink, and they sat down and
+ate till they had enough, after which they sat drinking.  The cup
+went round amongst them and their cares ceased from them; but
+Nimeh said, "Would I knew how this will end!"  "O Nimeh," quoth
+the princess, "dost thou love thy slave Num?"  "O my lady,"
+answered he, "it is my passion for her that has brought me thus
+in peril of my life."  Then she said to the damsel, "O Num, dost
+thou love thy lord Nimeh?"  And she replied, "O my lady, it is
+the love of him that has wasted my body and brought me to evil
+case."  "By Allah," rejoined the princess, "since ye love each
+other thus, may he not live who would sunder you!  Take heart and
+be of good cheer." At this they both rejoiced, and Num, calling
+for a lute, tuned it and preluded enchantingly, then sang the
+following verses:
+
+Whenas, content with nothing less, the spies our sev'rance
+     sought, Allbe no debt of blood they had 'gainst me or thee
+     in aught,
+Whenas they poured upon our ears the hurtling din of war, Whilst
+     helpers and protectors failed and succour came there nought,
+I fought the railers with my tears, my spirit and thine eyes;
+     Yea, with the torrent, fire and sword, to fend them off I
+     wrought.
+
+Then she gave the lute to Nimeh, saying, "Sing thou to us."  So
+he took it and playing a lively measure, sang these verses:
+
+The moon were like thee at its full, were it of freckles free,
+     And did it never brook eclipse, the sun would favour thee.
+Indeed, I marvel, (but in love how many a marvel is! Therein are
+     passion and desire and cares and ecstasy,)
+Short seems the distance, when I fare towards my love's abode;
+     But when I journey from her sight, the way is long to me.
+
+When he had made an end of his song, Num filled the cup and gave
+it to him, and he drank it off; then she filled again and gave
+the cup to the princess, who took it and emptied it; after which
+she in her turn took the lute and sang as follows:
+
+Mourning and grief possess my heart and in my breast The ardour
+     of desire abideth as a guest.
+The wasting of my frame, alas! is manifest And all my soul is
+     sick with passion and unrest.
+
+Then she filled the cup and gave it to Num, who drank  it off and
+taking the lute, sang the following verses:
+
+O thou, upon whom I bestowed my soul and thou rack'dst it to
+     death And I would have ta'en it again, but could not release
+     it i' faith,
+Relent to a lover forlorn; vouchsafe him, I pray, ere he die,
+     What may from perdition redeem, for this is the last of his
+     breath.
+
+They ceased not to sing and make merry and drink to the sweet
+sound of the strings, full of mirth and joyance and good cheer,
+till, behold, in came the Commander of the Faithful.  When they
+saw him, they rose and kissed the ground before him; and he,
+seeing Num with the lute in her hand, said to her, "O Num,
+praised be God who hath done away from thee pain and affliction!"
+Then he looked at Nimeh (who was still disguised as a woman) and
+said to the princess, "O my sister, what damsel is this by Num's
+side?"  "O Commander of the Faithful," answered she, "she is one
+of thy slave-girls and the bosom friend of Num, who will neither
+eat nor drink without her."  And she repeated the words of the
+poet:
+
+Two opposites, dissevered still in charms and straitly knit, And
+     each one's beauty brightlier shows against its opposite.
+
+"By the Great God," said the Khalif, "she is as handsome as Num,
+and to-morrow, I will appoint her a separate chamber beside that
+of Num and send her furniture and linen and all that befits her,
+in honour of Num."  Then, the princess called for food and set it
+before her brother, who ate and filling a cup, signed to Num to
+sing.  So she took the lute, after drinking two cups, and sang
+the following verses:
+
+Whenas my cup-companion hath poured me out of wine Three foaming
+     cups, brimmed over with nectar from the vine,
+I trail my skirts in glory all night, as if o'er thee, Commander
+     of the Faithful, the empery were mine.
+
+The Khalif was delighted and filling another cup, gave it to Num
+and bade her sing again.  So she drank off the cup, and sweeping
+the strings of the lute, sang as follows:
+
+O thou, the noblest man of men that live in this our day, Whose
+     equal none may boast himself in power and mightiness,
+O all unpeered in pride of place, to whom munificence Is as a
+     birthright, Lord and King, whom all in all confess,
+Thou, that dost lord it, sovran-wise, o'er all the kings of earth
+     And without grudging or reproach, giv'st bountiful largesse,
+God have thee ever in His guard, despite thine every foe, And be
+     thy fortune ever bright with victory and success!
+
+When the Khalif heard this, he exclaimed, "By Allah, it is good!
+By Allah, it is excellent!  Verily, God hath been good to thee, O
+Num!  How sweet is thy voice and how clear thy speech!"  They
+passed the time thus in mirth and good cheer, till midnight, when
+the Khalif's sister said to him, "O Commander of the Faithful,
+give ear to a tale I have read in books of a certain man of
+rank."  "And what is this tale?" asked he.  "Know," said she,
+"that there lived once in the city of Cufa, a youth called Nimeh
+ben er Rebya, and he had a slave-girl whom he loved and who loved
+him.  They had been reared in one bed; but when they grew up and
+mutual love took possession of them, fate smote them with its
+calamities and decreed separation unto them.  For designing folk
+enticed her by sleight forth of his house and stealing her away
+from him, sold her to one of the Kings for ten thousand dinars.
+Now the girl loved her lord even as he loved her; so he left
+house and home and fortune and setting out in quest of her, made
+shift, at the peril of his life, to gain access to her; but they
+had not been long in company, when in came the King, who had
+bought her of her ravisher, and hastily bade put them to death,
+without waiting to enquire into the matter, as was just.  What
+sayest thou, O Commander of the Faithful, of this King's
+conduct?"  "This was indeed a strange thing," answered the
+Khalif; "it behoved the King to use his power with clemency, and
+he should have considered three things in their favour; first,
+that they loved one another; secondly, that they were in his
+house and under his hand; and thirdly, that it behoves a King to
+be deliberate in judging between the folk, and how much more so
+when he himself is concerned!  Wherefore the King in this did
+unkingly."  Then said his sister, "O my brother by the Lord of
+heaven and earth, I conjure thee, bid Num sing and give ear to
+that she shall sing!"  And he said, "O Num, sing to me."  So she
+played a lively measure and sang the following verses:
+
+Fortune hath played the traitor; indeed, 'twas ever so,
+     Transpiercing hearts and bosoms and kindling care and woe
+And parting friends in sunder, that were in union knit, So down
+     their cheeks thou seest the tears in torrents flow.
+They were, and I was with them, in all delight of life, And
+     fortune did unite us full straitly whiles ago.
+So gouts of blood, commingled with tears, both night and day I'll
+     weep, my sore affliction for loss of thee to show.
+
+When he heard this, he was moved to great delight, and his sister
+said to him, "O my brother, he who decideth in aught against
+himself, it behoveth him to abide by it and do according to his
+word; and thou hast by this judgment decided against thyself."
+Then said she, "O Nimeh, stand up, and do thou likewise, O Num!"
+So they stood up and she continued, "O Commander of the Faithful,
+she who stands before thee is Num, whom El Hejjaj ben Yousuf eth
+Thekefi stole and sent to thee, falsely pretending in his letter
+to thee that he had bought her for ten thousand dinars.  This
+other is her lord, Nimeh ben er Rebya; and I beseech thee, by the
+honour of thy pious forefathers and by Hemzeh and Akil and
+Abbes,[FN#85] to pardon them and bestow them one on the other,
+that thou mayst earn the recompense in the next world of thy
+just dealing with them; for they are under thy hand and have
+eaten of thy meat and drunken of thy drink; and behold, I make
+intercession for them and beg of thee the boon of their lives."
+"Thou sayst sooth," replied the Khalif, "I did indeed give
+judgment as thou sayst, and I use not to go back on my word."
+Then said he, "O Num, is this thy lord?"  And she answered, "Yes,
+O Commander of the Faithful."  "No harm shall befall you," said
+he; "I give you to one another."  Then he said to the young man,
+"O Nimeh, who told thee where she was and taught thee how to get
+at her?"  "O Commander of the Faithful," replied he, "give ear to
+my story; for by the virtue of thy pious forefathers, I will hide
+nothing from thee!"  And he told him all that had passed between
+himself and the Persian physician and the old woman and how she
+had brought him into the palace and he had mistaken one door for
+another; whereat the Khalif wondered exceedingly and said, "Fetch
+me the Persian."  So they fetched him and he made him one of his
+chief officers.  Moreover, he bestowed on him robes of honour and
+ordered him a handsome present, saying, "Him, who has shown such
+good sense and skill in his ordinance, it behoves us to make one
+of our chief officers."  He also loaded Nimeh and Num with gifts
+and honours and rewarded the old woman; and they abode with him
+in joy and content and all delight of life seven days; at the end
+of which time Nimeh craved leave to return to Cufa with his
+slave-girl.  The Khalif gave leave and they departed accordingly
+and arrived in due course at Cufa, where Nimeh foregathered with
+his father and mother, and they abode in the enjoyment of all the
+delights and comforts of life, till there came to them the
+Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies.'
+
+                 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
+
+The princes wondered mightily at Behram's story and said, 'By
+Allah, this is indeed a rare story!'  They passed the night thus,
+and next morning, Amjed and Asaad mounted and riding to the
+palace, sought an audience of the King, who received them with
+honour.  As they sat talking, of a sudden they heard the
+townsfolk crying aloud and shouting to one another and calling
+for help, and the chamberlain came in to the King and said to
+him, 'Some King hath encamped before the city, he and his army,
+with arms displayed, and we know not who they are nor what they
+seek.'  The King took counsel with his Vizier and Asaad, and
+Amjed said, 'I will go out to him and learn the cause of his
+coming.'  So he took horse and riding forth the city, repaired to
+the stranger's camp, where he found the King and with him many
+soldiers and mounted officers.  When the guards saw him, they
+knew him for an ambassador from the King of the city; so they
+took him and brought him to their King.  Amjed kissed the ground
+before him; but lo, the King was a queen, who wore a chin-band
+over her face, and she said to Amjed, 'Know that I have no design
+on your city and am only come hither in quest of a beardless
+slave of mine, whom if I find with you, I will do you no hurt;
+but if I find him not, then shall there befall sore battle
+between you and me.'  'O Queen,' asked Amjed, 'what is thy
+slave's name and what like is he?'  Said she, 'His name is Asaad
+and he is of such and such a favour.  My name is Merjaneh, and
+this slave came to my town in company of Behram, a Magian, who
+refused to sell him to me; so I took him by force, but the Magian
+fell upon him by night and took him away by stealth.'  When Amjed
+heard this he knew that it was his brother Asaad whom she sought
+and said to her, 'O Queen of the age, praised be God who hath
+brought us relief!  Know that he whom thou seekest is my
+brother.'  Then he told her their story and all that had befallen
+them in the land of exile, and acquainted her with the cause of
+their departure from the Islands of Ebony, whereat she marvelled
+and rejoiced to have found Asaad.  So she bestowed a dress of
+honour upon Amjed, and he returned to the King and told him what
+had passed, at which they all rejoiced and the King and the two
+princes went forth to meet Queen Merjaneh.  They were admitted to
+her presence and sat down to converse with her, but as they were
+thus engaged, behold, a cloud of dust arose and grew, till it
+covered the landscape.  Presently, it lifted and discovered an
+army, in numbers like the swollen sea, armed cap-a-pie, who,
+making for the city with naked swords, encompassed it as the ring
+encompasses the little finger.  When Amjed and Asaad saw this,
+they exclaimed, 'We are God's and to Him we return.  What is this
+great army?  Doubtless, these are enemies; and except we agree
+with this Queen Merjaneh to resist them, they will take the town
+from us and slay us.  There is nothing for us but to go out to
+them and see who they are.'  So Amjed mounted and passing through
+Queen Merjaneh's camp, came to the approaching army and was
+admitted to the presence of their King, to whom he delivered his
+message, after kissing the earth before him.  Quoth the King, 'I
+am called King Ghaïour, lord of the Islands and the Seas and the
+Seven Castles, and am come out in quest of my daughter Budour, of
+whom fortune hath bereft me; for she left me and returned not to
+me, nor have I heard any news of her or her husband Kemerezzeman.
+Have ye any tidings of them?'  When Amjed heard this, he knew
+that this King was none other than his grandfather, his mother's
+father, and kissing the earth before him, told him that he was
+the son of his daughter Budour; whereupon Ghaïour threw himself
+upon him and they both fell a-weeping.  Then said Ghaïour,
+'Praised be God, O my son, for safety, since I have foregathered
+with thee!'  And Amjed told him that his daughter Budour and her
+husband Kemerezzeman were well and abode in a city called the
+City of Ebony.  Moreover, he related to him how his father, being
+wroth with him and his brother, had commanded his treasurer to
+put them to death, but that the latter had taken pity on them and
+let them go with their lives.  Quoth King Ghaïour, 'I will go
+back with thee and thy brother to your father and make your peace
+with him.'  Amjed kissed the ground before him and the King
+bestowed a dress of honour upon him, after which he returned,
+smiling, to the King of the city of the Magians and told him what
+he had learnt, at which he wondered exceedingly.  Then he
+despatched guest-gifts of sheep and horses and camels and
+provender and so forth to King Ghaïour and the like to Queen
+Merjaneh and told her what had chanced, whereupon quoth she, 'I
+too will accompany you with my troops and will do my endeavour to
+make peace [between the princes and their father.]' At this
+moment, there arose another cloud of dust and spread, till it
+covered the prospect and darkened the day; and under it, they
+heard shouts and cries and neighing of horses and saw the sheen
+of swords and the glint of lance-points.  When this new host drew
+near the city and saw the two other armies, they beat their drums
+and the King of the Magians exclaimed, 'This is indeed a blessed
+day!  Praised be God who hath made us of accord with these two
+armies!  If it be His will, He will give us peace with yon other
+also.'  Then said he to Amjed and Asaad, 'Go forth and bring us
+news of them, for they are a mighty host, never saw I a
+mightier.'  So they opened the city gates, which the King had
+shut for fear of the surrounding troops, and Amjed and Asaad went
+forth and coming to the new host, found that it was the army of
+the King of the Ebony Islands, led by their father, King
+Kemerezzeman in person.  When they came before him, they kissed
+the earth and wept; but, when he saw them, he threw himself upon
+them, weeping sore, and strained them long to his breast.  Then
+he excused himself to them and told them how sore desolation he
+had suffered for their loss; and they acquainted him with King
+Ghaïour's arrival, whereupon he mounted with his chief officers
+and proceeded to the King of China's camp, he and his sons.  As
+they drew near, one of the princes rode forward and informed King
+Ghaïour of Kemerezzeman's coming, whereupon he came out to meet
+him and they joined company, marvelling at these things and
+how Fortune had ordered their encounter in that place.  Then
+the townsfolk made them banquets of all manner of meats and
+confections and brought them sheep and horses and camels and
+fodder and other guest-gifts and all that the troops needed.
+Presently, behold, yet another cloud of dust arose and spread
+till it covered the landscape, whilst the earth shook with the
+tramp of horse and the drums sounded like the storm-winds.  After
+awhile, the dust lifted and discovered an army clad in black and
+armed cap-a-pie, and in their midst rode a very old man clad
+also in black, whose beard flowed down over his breast.  When the
+King of the city saw this great host, he said to the other Kings,
+'Praised be God the Most High, by whose leave ye are met here,
+all in one day, and proved all known one to the other!  But what
+vast army is this that covers the country?'  'Have no fear of
+them,' answered they; 'we are here three Kings, each with a great
+army, and if they be enemies, we will join thee in doing battle
+with them, were three times their number added to them.'  As they
+were talking, up came an envoy from the approaching host, making
+for the city.  They brought him before the four Kings and he
+kissed the earth and said, 'The King my master comes from the
+land of the Persians; many years ago he lost his son and is
+seeking him in all countries.  If he find him with you, well and
+good; but if he find him not, there will be war between him and
+you, and he will lay waste your city.'  'That shall he not,'
+rejoined Kemerezzeman; 'but how is thy master called in the land
+of the Persians?'  'He is called King Shehriman, lord of the
+Khalidan Islands,' answered the envoy; 'and he hath levied these
+troops in the lands traversed by him, whilst seeking his son.'
+When Kemerezzeman heard his father's name, he gave a great cry
+and fell down in a swoon; then, presently coming to himself, he
+wept sore and said to Amjed and Asaad, 'Go, O my sons, with the
+messenger: salute your grandfather, King Shehriman, and give him
+glad tidings of me, for he mourns my loss and even now wears
+black for my sake.'  Then he told the other Kings all that had
+befallen him in his youth, at which they all wondered and
+mounting with him, repaired to his father, whom he saluted, and
+they embraced and fell down in a swoon, for excess of joy.  When
+they revived, Kemerezzeman acquainted his father with all his
+adventures, and the other Kings saluted Shehriman.  Then they
+married Merjaneh to Asaad and sent her back to her kingdom,
+charging her not to leave them without news of her.  Moreover,
+Amjed took Bustan, Behram's daughter, to wife, and they all set
+out for the City of Ebony.  When they arrived there, Kemerezzeman
+went in to his father-in-law, King Armanous, and told him all
+that had befallen him and how he had found his sons; whereat
+Armanous rejoiced and gave him joy of his safe return.  Then King
+Ghaïour went in to his daughter, Queen Budour, and satisfied his
+longing for her company, and they all abode a month's space in
+the City of Ebony; after which the King of China and his daughter
+returned to their own country with their company, taking prince
+Amjed with them, whom, as soon as Ghaïour was settled again in
+his kingdom, he made king in his stead.  Moreover, Kemerezzeman
+made Asaad king in his room over the Ebony Islands, with the
+consent of his grandfather, King Armanous, and set out himself,
+with his father, King Shehriman, for the Islands of Khalidan.
+The people of the capital decorated the city in their honour and
+they ceased not to beat the drums for glad tidings a whole month;
+nor did Kemerezzeman leave to govern in his father's room, till
+there overtook them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of
+Companies."
+
+"O Shehrzad," said King Shehriyar, "this is indeed a right
+wonderful story!"  "O King," answered she, "it is not more
+wonderful than that of Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat."  "What is
+that?" asked he, and she said, "I have heard tell, O august King,
+that
+
+
+
+
+                   ALAEDDIN ABOU ESH SHAMAT.
+
+
+
+There lived once in Cairo, of old time, a merchant named
+Shemseddin, who was of the best and truest-spoken of the traders
+of the city and had great store of money and goods and slaves and
+servants, white and black and male and female. Moreover, he was
+Provost of the Merchants of Cairo and had a wife, whom he loved
+and who loved him; but he had lived with her forty years, yet had
+not been blessed with son or daughter by her. One Friday, as he
+sat in his shop, he noted that each of the merchants had a son or
+two or more, sitting in shops like their fathers. Presently, he
+entered the bath and made the Friday ablution; after which he
+came out and took the barber's glass, saying, 'I testify that
+there is no god but God and that Mohammed is His Apostle!' Then
+he looked at his beard and seeing that the white hairs in it
+outnumbered the black, bethought himself that hoariness is the
+harbinger of death. Now his wife knew the time of his coming and
+had washed and made ready for him; so when he came in to her, she
+said, 'Good even;' but he replied, 'I see no good.' Then she
+called for the evening meal and said to her husband, 'Eat, O my
+lord.' Quoth he, 'I will eat nothing,' and pushing the table away
+with his foot, turned his back to her. 'Why dost thou thus?' said
+she. 'What has vexed thee?' And he answered, 'Thou art the cause
+of my vexation.' 'How so?' asked she. 'This morning,' replied he,
+'when I opened my shop, I saw that each of the other merchants
+had a son or two or more, and I said to myself, "He who took thy
+father will not spare thee." Now the night I wedded thee, thou
+madest me swear that I would never take a second wife nor a
+concubine, Abyssinian or Greek or other, nor would lie a night
+from thee: and behold, thou art barren, and swiving thee is like
+boring into the rock.' 'God is my witness,' rejoined she, 'that
+the fault lies with thee, for that thy seed is thin.' 'And how is
+it with him whose seed is thin?' asked he, and she, 'He cannot
+get women with child nor beget children.' 'What thickens seed?'
+asked he. 'Tell me and I will try it: haply, it will thicken
+mine.' Quoth she, 'Enquire for it of the druggists.' They slept
+that night and arose on the morrow, repenting each of having
+spoken angrily to the other. Then he went to the market and
+accosting a druggist, said to him, 'Hast thou wherewithal to
+thicken the seed?' 'I had it, but am spent of it,' answered the
+druggist; 'ask my neighbour.' So Shemseddin made the round of the
+bazaar, till he had asked every one; but they all laughed at him
+and he returned to his shop and sat down, troubled. Now there was
+in the market a man called Sheikh Mohammed Semsem, who was syndic
+of the brokers and was given to the use of opium and bang and
+hashish. He was poor and used to wish Shemseddin good morrow
+every day; so he came to him according to his wont and saluted
+him. The merchant returned his salute, and the other, seeing him
+vexed, said to him, 'O my lord, what hath crossed thee?' Quoth
+Shemseddin, 'These forty years have I been married to my wife,
+yet hath she borne me neither son nor daughter; and I am told
+that the cause of my failure to get her with child is the
+thinness of my seed; so I have been seeking wherewithal to
+thicken it, but found it not.' 'I have a thickener,' said Sheikh
+Mohammed; 'but what wilt thou say to him who makes thy wife
+conceive by thee, after forty years' barrenness? 'An thou do
+this,' answered the merchant, 'I will largely reward thee.' 'Then
+give me a dinar,' rejoined the broker, and Shemseddin said, 'Take
+these two dinars.' He took them and said, 'Give me also yonder
+bowl of porcelain.' So he gave it him, and the broker betook
+himself to a hashish-seller, of whom he bought two ounces of
+concentrated Turkish opium and equal parts of Chinese cubebs,
+cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, white pepper, ginger and mountain
+lizard[FN#86] and pounding them all together, boiled them in
+sweet oil; after which he added three ounces of frankincense and
+a cupful or coriander-seed and macerating the whole, made it into
+a paste with Greek honey. Then he put the electuary in the bowl
+and carried it to the merchant, to whom he delivered it, saying,
+'This is the seed-thickener, and the manner of using it is this.
+Make the evening-meal of mutton and house-pigeon, plentifully
+seasoned and spiced; then take of this electuary with a spoon
+and wash it down with a draught of boiled date-wine.' So the
+merchant bought mutton and pigeons and sent them to his wife,
+bidding her dress them well and lay up the electuary till he
+should call for it. She did as he bade her and he ate the
+evening-meal, after which he called for the bowl and ate of the
+electuary. It liked him well, so he ate the rest and lay with his
+wife. That very night she conceived by him and after three
+months, her courses ceased and she knew that she was with child.
+When the days of her pregnancy were accomplished, the pangs
+of labour took her and they raised cries of joy. The midwife
+delivered her with difficulty [of a son], then, taking the new-
+born child, she pronounced over him the names of Mohammed and Ali
+and said, 'God is Most Great!' Moreover, she called in his ear
+the call to prayer; then swathed him and gave him to his mother,
+who took him and put him to her breast; and he sucked his full
+and slept. The midwife abode with them three days, till they had
+made the mothering-cakes and sweetmeats; and they distributed
+them on the seventh day. Then they sprinkled salt[FN#87] and the
+merchant, going in to his wife, gave her joy of her safe delivery
+and said, 'Where is the gift of God?' So they brought him a babe
+of surpassing beauty, the handiwork of the Ever-present Orderer
+of all things, whoever saw him would have deemed him a yearling
+child, though he was but seven days old. Shemseddin looked on his
+face and seeing it like a shining full moon, with moles on both
+cheeks, said to his wife, 'What hast thou named him?' 'If it were
+a girl,' answered she, 'I had named her; but it is a boy, so none
+shall name him but thou.' Now the people of that time used to
+name their children by omens; and whilst the merchant and his
+wife were taking counsel of the name, they heard one say to his
+friend, 'Harkye, my lord Alaeddin!' So the merchant said, 'We
+will call him Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.'[FN#88] Then he committed
+the child to the nurses, and he drank milk two years, after which
+they weaned him and he grew up and throve and walked upon the
+earth. When he came to seven years old, they put him in a chamber
+under the earth, for fear of the evil eye, and his father said,
+'He shall not come out, till his beard grows.' And he gave him in
+charge to a slave-girl and a black slave; the former dressed him
+his meals and the latter carried them to him. Then his father
+circumcised him and made him a great feast; after which he
+brought him a doctor of the law, who taught him to write and
+repeat the Koran and other parts of knowledge, till he became an
+accomplished scholar. One day, the slave, after bringing him the
+tray of food, went away and forgot to shut the trap-door after
+him: so Alaeddin came forth and went in to his mother, with whom
+was a company of women of rank. As they sat talking, in came he
+upon them, as he were a drunken white slave,[FN#89] for the
+excess of his beauty; and when they saw him, they veiled their
+faces and said to his mother, 'God requite thee, O such an one!
+How canst thou let this strange slave in upon us? Knowest thou
+not that modesty is a point of the Faith?' 'Pronounce the name of
+God,'[FN#90] answered she. 'This is my son, the darling of my
+heart and the son of the Provost Shemseddin.' Quoth they, 'We
+never knew that thou hadst a son:' and she, 'His father feared
+the evil eye for him and shut him up in a chamber under the
+earth, nor did we mean that he should come out, before his beard
+was grown; but it would seem as if the slave had unawares left
+the door open, and he hath come out.' The women gave her joy of
+him, and he went out from them into the courtyard, where he
+seated himself in the verandah.[FN#91] Presently, in came the
+slaves with his father's mule, and he said to them, 'Whence comes
+this mule?' Quoth they, 'Thy father rode her to the shop, and we
+have brought her back.' 'And what is my father's trade?' asked
+he. And they replied, 'He is Provost of the merchants of Cairo
+and Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs.' Then he went in to his
+mother and said to her, 'O my mother, what is my father's trade?'
+Said she, 'He is a merchant and Provost of the merchants of Cairo
+and Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs. His slaves consult him not
+in selling aught whose price is less than a thousand dinars, but
+sell it at their own discretion; nor doth any merchandise, little
+or much, enter or leave Cairo, without passing through his hands;
+for, O my son, God the Most Great hath given thy father wealth
+past count.' 'Praised be God,' exclaimed he, 'that I am son of
+the Sultan of the Sons of the Arabs and that my father is Provost
+of the merchants! But why, O my mother, did you put me in the
+underground chamber and leave me prisoner there?' 'O my son,'
+answered she, 'we did this for fear of (men's) eyes, for it is
+true that the evil eye hath power to harm and the most part of
+the sojourners in the tombs are of its victims.' 'O my mother,'
+rejoined he, 'where is a place of refuge against destiny? Verily,
+taking care estoppeth not fate nor is there any escape from that
+which is written. He who took my grandfather will not spare
+myself nor my father; for, though he live to-day, he shall not
+live to-morrow. And when my father dies and I come forth and say,
+"I am Alaeddin, son of Shemseddin the merchant," none of the
+people will believe me, but the aged will say, "Never in our
+lives saw we a son or a daughter of Shemseddin." Then the
+Treasury will come down and take my father's estate; and may
+Allah have mercy on him who saith, "The noble dies and his wealth
+passes away and the meanest of men take his women." So do thou, O
+my mother, speak to my father, that he take me with him to the
+market and set me up in a shop with merchandise and teach me to
+buy and sell and give and take.' 'O my son,' answered his mother,
+'when thy father returns, I will tell him this.' So when the
+merchant came home, he found his son sitting with his mother and
+said to her, 'Why hast thou brought him forth of the underground
+chamber?' 'O my cousin,' answered she, 'it was not I that brought
+him out; but the servants forgot to shut the door and left it
+open; so he came forth and came in to me, as I sat with a company
+of women of rank.' And she went on to repeat to him what the boy
+had said; and Shemseddin said to the latter, 'O my son, to-
+morrow, God willing, I will take thee with me to the market; but
+I would have thee know that the commerce of the markets and the
+shops demands good manners and an accomplished carriage in all
+conditions.' So Alaeddin passed the night, rejoicing in his
+father's promise; and on the morrow the merchant carried him to
+the bath and clad him in a suit worth much money. As soon as they
+had broken their fast and drunken sherbets, Shemseddin mounted
+his mule and rode to the market, followed by his son; but when
+the market-folk saw their Provost making towards them, followed
+by a youth as he were a piece of the moon on its fourteenth
+night, they said, one to another, 'See yonder boy behind the
+Provost of the merchants. Verily, we thought well of him; but he
+is like the leek, grayheaded and green at the heart.' And Sheikh
+Mohammed Semsem before mentioned, the Deputy of the market, said,
+'O merchants, never will we accept the like of him for our
+chief.' Now it was the custom, when the Provost came from his
+house and sat down in his shop of a morning, for the Deputy of
+the market and the rest of the merchants to go in a body to his
+ship and recite to him the opening chapter of the Koran, after
+which they wished him good morrow and went away, each to his
+shop. Shemseddin seated himself in his shop as usual, but the
+merchants come not to him as of wont; so he called the Deputy and
+said to him, 'Why come not the merchants together as usual?' 'I
+know not how to tell thee,' answered Mohammed Semsem; 'for they
+have agreed to depose thee from the headship of the market and to
+recite the first chapter to thee no more.' 'And why so?' asked
+Shemseddin. 'What boy is this that sits beside thee,' asked the
+Deputy, 'and thou a man of years and chief of the merchants? Is
+he a slave or akin to thy wife? Verily, I think thou lovest him
+and inclinest [unlawfully] to the boy.' With this, the Provost
+cried out at him, saying, 'God confound thee, hold thy peace!
+This is my son.' 'Never knew we that thou hadst a son,' rejoined
+the Deputy; and Shemseddin answered, 'When thou gavest me the
+seed-thickener, my wife conceived and bore this youth, whom I
+reared in a chamber under the earth, for fear of the evil eye,
+nor was it my purpose that he should come forth, till he could
+take his beard in his hand. However, his mother would not agree
+to this, and he would have me bring him to the market and stock
+him a shop and teach him to sell and buy.' So the Deputy returned
+to the other merchants and acquainted them with the truth of
+the case, whereupon they all arose and going in a body to
+Shemseddin's shop, stood before him and recited the first chapter
+of the Koran to him; after which they gave him joy of his son and
+said to him, 'God prosper root and branch! But even the poorest
+of us, when son or daughter is born to him, needs must he make a
+pot of custard and bid his friends and acquaintances; yet thou
+hast not done this.' Quoth he, 'This is your due from me; be our
+rendezvous in the garden.' So next morning, he sent the carpet-
+layer to the pavilion in the garden and bade him furnish it.
+Moreover, he sent thither all that was needful for cooking, such
+as sheep and butter and so forth, and spread two tables, one in
+the saloon and another in the upper chamber. Then he and his son
+girded themselves, and he said to the latter, 'O my son, when a
+graybeard enters, I will meet him and carry him into the upper
+chamber and seat him at the table; and do thou, in like manner,
+receive the beardless youths and seat them at the table in the
+saloon.' 'O my father,' asked Alaeddin, 'why dost thou spread two
+tables, one for men and another for youths?' 'O my son,' answered
+Shemseddin, 'the beardless boy is ashamed to eat with men.' And
+his son was content with this answer. So when the merchants
+arrived, Shemseddin received the men and seated them in the upper
+chamber, whilst Alaeddin received the youths and seated them in
+the saloon. Then the servants set on food and the guests ate and
+drank and made merry, whilst the attendants served them with
+sherbets and perfumed them with the fragrant smoke of scented
+woods; and the elders fell to conversing of matters of science
+and tradition. Now there was amongst them a merchant called
+Mehmoud of Balkh, a Muslim by profession but at heart a Magian, a
+man of lewd life, who had a passion for boys. He used to buy
+stuffs and merchandise of Alaeddin's father; and when he saw the
+boy, one look at his face cost him a thousand sighs and Satan
+dangled the jewel before his eyes, so that he was taken with
+desire and mad passion for him and his heart was filled with love
+of him. So he arose and made for the youths, who rose to receive
+him. At this moment, Alaeddin, being taken with an urgent
+occasion, withdrew to make water; whereupon Mehmoud turned to the
+other youths and said to them, 'If ye will incline Alaeddin's
+mind to journeying with me, I will give each of you a dress worth
+much money.' Then he returned to the men's party; and when
+Alaeddin came back, the youths rose to receive him and seated him
+in the place of honour. Presently, one of them said to his
+neighbour, 'O my lord Hassan, tell me how thou camest by the
+capital on which thou tradest.' 'When I came to man's estate,'
+answered Hassan, 'I said to my father, "O my father, give me
+merchandise." "O my son," answered he, "I have none by me: but go
+thou to some merchant and take of him money and traffic with it
+and learn to buy and sell and give and take." So I went to one of
+the merchants and borrowed of him a thousand dinars, with which I
+bought stuffs and carrying them to Damascus, sold them there at a
+profit of two for one. Then I bought Syrian stuffs and carrying
+them to Aleppo, disposed of them there at a like profit; after
+which I bought stuffs of Aleppo and repaired with them to
+Baghdad, where I sold them with the same result; nor did I cease
+to buy and sell, till I was worth nigh ten thousand dinars.' Each
+of the others told a like tale, till it came to Alaeddin's turn,
+when they said to him, 'And thou, O my lord Alaeddin?' Quoth he,
+'I was brought up in a chamber underground and came forth from it
+but this week and I do but go to the shop and return home.' 'Thou
+art used to abide at home,' rejoined they, 'and knowest not the
+delight of travel, for travel is for men only.' 'I reck not of
+travel,' answered he, 'and value ease above all things.'
+Whereupon quoth one to the other, 'This youth is like the fish:
+when he leaves the water he dies.' Then they said to him, 'O
+Alaeddin, the glory of the sons of the merchants is not but in
+travel for the sake of gain.' Their talk angered him and he left
+them, weeping-eyed and mourning-hearted, and mounting his mule,
+returned home. When his mother saw him thus, she said to him,
+'What ails thee to weep, O my son?' And he answered, 'All the
+sons of the merchants made mock of me and said to me, "There is
+no glory for a merchant's son save in travel for gain."' 'O my
+son,' rejoined she, 'hast thou a mind for travel?' 'Yes,' said
+he. 'And whither wilt thou go?' asked she. 'To the city of
+Baghdad,' answered he; 'for there folk make a profit of two to
+one on their goods.' 'O my son,' said she, 'thy father is a very
+rich man, and if he provide thee not with merchandise, I will do
+so of my own monies.' Quoth he, 'The best of favours is that
+which is quickly bestowed; if it is to be, now is the time for
+it.' So she called the servants and sent them for packers; then
+opening a store-house, brought out ten loads of stuffs, which the
+packers made up into bales for him. Meanwhile Shemseddin missed
+his son and enquiring after him, was told that he had mounted and
+gone home; so he too mounted and followed him. When he entered
+the house, he saw the bales packed ready and asked what they
+were; whereupon his wife told him what had passed between
+Alaeddin and the young merchants and he said, 'O my son, may God
+curse foreign travel! Verily, the Prophet (whom God bless and
+preserve) hath said, "It is of a man's good fortune that he have
+his livelihood in his own land;" and it was said of the ancients,
+"Leave travel, though but for a mile."' Then he said to his son,
+'Art thou indeed resolved to travel and wilt thou not turn back
+from it?' 'Needs must I journey to Baghdad with merchandise,'
+answered Alaeddin, 'else will I put off my clothes and don a
+dervish's habit and go a-wandering over the world.' Quoth
+Shemseddin, 'I am no lackgood, but have great plenty of wealth
+and with me are stuffs and merchandise befitting every country in
+the world.' Then he showed him his goods and amongst the rest,
+forth bales ready packed, with the price, a thousand dinars,
+written on each, and said to him, 'Take these forty loads,
+together with those thy mother gave thee, and set out under the
+safeguard of God the Most High. But, O my son, I fear for thee a
+certain wood in thy way, called the Lion's Copse, and a valley
+called the Valley of Dogs, for there lives are lost without
+mercy.' 'How so?' asked Alaeddin. 'Because of a Bedouin
+highwayman, hight Ajlan,' answered his father, 'who harbours
+there.' Quoth Alaeddin, 'Fortune is with God; if any part in it
+be mine, no harm will befall me.' Then they rode to the cattle
+market, where a muleteer alighted from his mule and kissing the
+Provost's hand, said to him, 'O my lord, by Allah, it is long
+since thou hast employed me to carry merchandise for thee!'
+'Every time hath its fortune and its men,' answered Shemseddin;
+'and may God have mercy on him who said:
+
+An old man went walking the ways of the world, So bowed and so
+     bent that his beard swept his knee.
+"What makes thee go doubled this fashion?" quoth I. He answered
+     (and spread out his hands unto me),
+"My youth hath escaped me; 'tis lost in the dust, And I bend me
+     to seek it, where'er it may be."
+
+O captain,'[FN#92] added he, 'it is not I, but this my son that
+is minded to travel.' 'God preserve his to thee!' said the
+muleteer. Then Shemseddin made a contract between Alaeddin and
+the muleteer, appointing that the former should be to the latter
+as a son, and gave him into his charge, saying, 'Take these
+hundred dinars for thy men.' Moreover, he bought his son
+threescore mules and a lamp and covering of honour for the tomb
+of Sheikh Abdulcadir el Jilani[FN#93] and said to him, 'O my son,
+I am leaving thee, and this is thy father in my stead: whatsoever
+he biddeth thee, do thou obey him.' So saying, he returned home
+with the mules and servants and they made recitations of the
+Koran and held a festival that night in honour of the Sheikh
+Abdulcadir. On the morrow, Shemseddin gave his son ten thousand
+dinars, saying, 'O my son, when thou comest to Baghdad, if thou
+find stuffs brisk of sale, sell them; but if they be dull, spend
+of these dinars.' Then they loaded the mules and taking leave of
+their friends, set out on their journey.
+
+Now Mehmoud of Balkh had made ready his own venture for Baghdad
+and set up his tents without the city, saying in himself, 'I
+shall not enjoy this youth but in the desert, where there is
+neither spy not spoil-sport to trouble me.' It chanced that he
+had in hand a thousand dinars of Shemseddin's monies, the balance
+of a dealing between them; so he went to the Provost and bade him
+farewell; and he said to him, 'Give the thousand dinars to my son
+Alaeddin,' and commended the latter to his care, saying, 'He is
+as it were thy son.' Accordingly, Alaeddin joined company with
+Mehmoud, who charged the youth's cook to dress nothing for him,
+but himself provided him and his company with meat and drink. Now
+he had four houses, one at Cairo, another at Damascus, a third at
+Aleppo and a fourth at Baghdad. So they set out and journeyed
+over deserts and plains, till they drew near Damascus, when
+Mehmoud sent his servant to Alaeddin, whom he found reading. He
+went up to him and kissed his hands, and Alaeddin asked him what
+he sought. 'My master salutes thee,' answered the slave, 'and
+craves thy company to a banquet in his house.' Quoth the youth,
+'I must consult my father Kemaleddin, the captain of the
+caravan.' So he consulted the muleteer, who said, 'Do not go.'
+Then they left Damascus and journeyed on till they came to
+Aleppo, where Mehmoud made a second entertainment and sent to bid
+Alaeddin; but the muleteer again forbade him. Then they departed
+Aleppo and fared on, till they came within a day's journey of
+Baghdad. Here Mehmoud repeated his invitation a third time and
+Kemaleddin once more forbade Alaeddin to accept it; but the
+latter said, 'I must needs go.' So he rose and girding on a sword
+under his clothes, repaired to the tent of Mehmoud of Balkh, who
+came to meet him and saluted him. Then he set a sumptuous repast
+before him, and they ate and drank and washed their hands.
+Presently, Mehmoud bent towards Alaeddin, to kiss him, but the
+youth received the kiss on his hand and said to him, 'What wilt
+thou do?' Quoth Mehmoud, 'I brought thee hither that I might do
+delight with thee in this jousting-ground, and we will comment
+the words of him who saith:
+
+Can't be thou wilt with us a momentling alight, Like to an
+     ewekin's milk or what not else of white,
+And cat what liketh thee of dainty wastel-bread And take what
+     thou mayst get of silver small and bright
+And bear off what thou wilt, sans grudging or constraint,
+     Spanling or full-told span or fistling filled outright?'
+
+Then he would have laid hands on Alaeddin; but he rose and
+drawing his sword, said to him, 'Shame on thy gray hairs! Hast
+thou no fear of God, and He of exceeding great might?[FN#94] May
+He have mercy on him who saith:
+
+Look thou thy hoariness preserve from aught that may it stain,
+     For whiteness still to take attaint is passing quick and
+     fain.
+
+This merchandise,' added he, 'is a trust from God and may not be
+sold. If I sold it to other than thee for gold, I would sell it
+thee for silver: but, by Allah, O filthy one, I will never again
+company with thee!' Then he returned to Kemaleddin and said to
+him, 'Yonder man is a lewd fellow and I will no longer consort
+with him nor suffer his company by the way.' 'O my son,' replied
+the muleteer, 'did I not forbid thee to go with him? But if we
+part company with him, I fear destruction for ourselves; so let
+us still make one caravan.' But Alaeddin said, 'It may not be: I
+will never again travel with him.' So he loaded his beasts and
+journeyed onward, he and his company, till they came to a valley,
+where Alaeddin would have halted, but the muleteer said to him,
+'Do not halt here; rather let us fare forward and quicken our
+pace, so haply we may reach Baghdad before the gates are
+closed, for they open and shut them with the sun, for fear the
+schismatics should take the city and throw the books of learning
+into the Tigris.' 'O my father,' replied Alaeddin, 'I came not to
+Baghdad with this merchandise, for the sake of traffic, but to
+divert myself with the sight of foreign lands.' And Kemaleddin
+rejoined, 'O my son, we fear for thee and for thy goods from the
+wild Arabs.' But he answered, 'Harkye, sirrah, art thou master or
+servant? I will not enter Baghdad till the morning, that the
+townsfolk may see my merchandise and know me.' 'Do as thou wilt,'
+said the muleteer; 'I have given thee good counsel, and thou must
+judge for thyself.' Then Alaeddin bade them unload the mules and
+pitch the tent; so they did his bidding and abode there till the
+middle of the night, when the youth went out to do an occasion
+and seeing something gleaming afar off, said to Kemaleddin, 'O
+captain, what is yonder glittering?' The muleteer sat up and
+considering it straitly, knew it for the glint of spear-heads and
+Bedouin swords and harness. Now this was a troop of Bedouins
+under a chief called Ajlan Abou Naib, Sheikh of the Arabs, and
+when the neared the camp and saw the baggage, they said, one to
+another, 'O night of booty!' Quoth Kemaleddin, 'Avaunt, O meanest
+of Arabs!' But Abou Naib smote him with his javelin in the
+breast, that the point came out gleaming from his back, and he
+fell down dead at the tent-door. Then cried the water-carrier,
+'Avaunt, O foulest of Arabs!' and one of them smote him with a
+sword upon the shoulder, that it issued shining from the tendons
+of the throat and he also fell slain. Then the Bedouins fell upon
+the caravan from all sides and slew the whole company except
+Alaeddin, after which they loaded the mules with the spoil and
+made off. Quoth Alaeddin to himself, 'Thy dress and mule will be
+the death of thee.' So he put off his cassock and threw it over
+the back of a mule, remaining in his shirt and drawers alone;
+after which he went to the door of the tent and finding there a
+pool of blood from the slain, rolled himself in it, till he was
+as a slain man, drowned in his blood. Meanwhile Ajlan said to his
+men, 'O Arabs, was this caravan bound from Egypt for Baghdad or
+from Baghdad for Egypt?' 'It was bound from Egypt for Baghdad,'
+answered they. 'Then,' said he, 'return to the slain, for
+methinks the owner of the caravan is not dead.' So they turned
+back and fell to larding the slain with lance and sword-thrusts,
+[lest any life were left in them,] till they came to Alaeddin,
+who had laid himself among the dead bodies. Quoth they, 'Thou
+dost but feign thyself dead, but we will make an end of thee.' So
+one of the Bedouins drew his javelin and should have plunged
+it into his breast. But he cried out, 'Save me, O my lord
+Abdulcadir!' and behold, he saw a hand turn the lance away from
+his breast to that of the muleteer, so that it pierced the latter
+and spared himself. Then the Bedouins made off; and when Alaeddin
+saw that the birds were flown with their purchase, he rose and
+set off running; but Abou Naib looked back and said, 'O Arabs, I
+see somewhat moving.' So one of the Bedouins turned back and
+spying Alaeddin running, called out to him, saying, 'Flight shall
+not avail thee, and we after thee;' and he smote his mare with
+his fist and pricked after him. Then Alaeddin, seeing before him
+a watering tank and a cistern beside it, climbed up into a niche
+in the cistern and stretching himself along, feigned sleep and
+said, 'O gracious Protector, cover me with the veil of Thy
+protection, that may not be torn away!' Presently, the Bedouin
+came up to the cistern and standing in his stirrups put out one
+hand to lay hold of Alaeddin; but he said 'Save me, O my lady
+Nefiseh![FN#95] Now is thy time!' And behold, a scorpion stung
+the Bedouin in the palm and he cried out, saying, 'Help, O Arabs!
+I am stung;' and fell off his mare. His comrades came up to him
+and set him on horseback again, saying, 'What hath befallen
+thee?' Quoth he, 'A scorpion stung me.' And they departed,
+leaving Alaeddin in the niche.
+
+Meanwhile, Mehmoud of Balkh loaded his beasts and fared on till
+he came to the Valley of Dogs, where he found Alaeddin's men
+lying slain. At this he rejoiced and went on till he reached the
+reservoir. Now his mule was athirst and turned aside to drink,
+but took fright at Alaeddin's shadow in the water and started;
+whereupon Mehmoud raised his eyes and seeing Alaeddin lying in
+the niche, stripped to his shirt and trousers, said to him, 'Who
+hath dealt thus with thee and left thee in this ill plight?' 'The
+Bedouins,' answered Alaeddin, and Mehmoud said, 'O my son, the
+mules and the baggage were thy ransom; so do thou comfort thyself
+with the saying of the poet:
+
+
+So but a man may win to save his soul alive from death, But as
+     the paring of his nail his wealth he reckoneth.
+
+But now, O my son,' continued he, 'come down and fear no hurt.'
+So he came down from the niche and Mehmoud mounted him on a mule
+and fared on with him, till they reached Baghdad, where he
+brought him to his own house and bade his servants carry him to
+the bath, saying to him, 'O my son, the goods and money were the
+ransom of thy life; but, if thou wilt harken to me, I will give
+thee the worth of that thou hast lost, twice told.' When he came
+out of the bath, Mehmoud carried him into a saloon with four
+estrades, decorated with gold, and let bring a tray of all manner
+meats. So they ate and drank and Mehmoud turned to Alaeddin and
+would have taken a kiss of him; but he received it upon his hand
+and said, 'Dost thou persist in thy evil designs upon me? Did I
+not tell thee that, were I wont to sell this merchandise to other
+than thee for gold, I would sell it thee for silver?' Quoth
+Mehmoud, 'I will give thee neither mule nor clothes nor
+merchandise save at this price; for I am mad for love of thee,
+and God bless him who said:
+
+
+Abou Bilal his saw of an object of love, Which from one of his
+     elders himself did derive
+"The lover's not healed of the pangs of desire By clips nor by
+     kisses, excepting he swive."
+
+'This may never be,' replied Alaeddin. 'Take back thy dress and
+thy mule and open the door, that I may go out.' So he opened the
+door, and Alaeddin went forth and walked on, with the dogs
+yelping at his heels, till he saw the door of a mosque open and
+going in, took shelter in the vestibule. Presently, he espied a
+light approaching and examining it, saw that it came from a pair
+of lanterns borne by two slaves before two merchants, an old man
+of comely aspect and a youth. He heard the latter say to the
+other, 'O my uncle, I conjure thee by Allah, give me back my
+wife!' The old man replied, 'Did I not warn thee, many a time,
+when the oath of divorce was always in thy mouth, as it were thy
+Koran?' Then he turned and seeing Alaeddin, as he were a piece of
+the moon, said to him, 'Who art thou, O my son?' Quoth he, 'I am
+Alaeddin, son of Shemseddin, Provost of the merchants at Cairo. I
+besought my father for merchandise; so he packed me fifty loads
+of goods and gave me ten thousand dinars, wherewith I set out for
+Baghdad; but when I came to the Lion's Copse, the Bedouins fell
+upon me and took all I had. So I entered this city, knowing not
+where to pass the night, and seeing this place, I took shelter
+here.' 'O my son,' said the old man, 'what sayst thou to a
+thousand dinars and a suit of clothes and a mule worth other two
+thousand?' 'To what end wilt thou give me this?' asked Alaeddin,
+and the other answered, 'This young man, whom thou seest, is
+the only son of my brother and I have an only daughter called
+Zubeideh the Lutanist, who is endowed with beauty and grace. I
+married her to him and he loves her, but she hates him. Now he
+took an oath of triple divorcement and broke it.[FN#96] As soon
+as she heard of this, she left him, and he egged on all the folk
+to intercede with me to restore her to him; but I told him that
+this could not lawfully be done but by an intermediate marriage,
+and we have agreed to make some stranger the intermediary, so
+none may taunt him with this affair. So, as thou art a stranger,
+come with us and we will marry thee to her; thou shalt lie with
+her to-night and on the morrow divorce her, and we will give thee
+what I said.' 'By Allah,' quoth Alaeddin to himself, 'it were
+better to pass the night with a bride on a bed in a house, than
+in the streets and vestibules!' So he went with them to the Cadi,
+who, as soon as he saw Alaeddin, was moved to love of him and
+said to the old man, 'What is your will?' Quoth he, 'We wish to
+marry this young man to my daughter, as an intermediary, and the
+contract is to be for ten thousand dinars, dowry precedent, for
+which he shall give us a bond. If he divorce her in the morning,
+we will give him a thousand dinars and a mule and dress worth
+other two thousand; but if he divorce her not, he shall pay down
+the ten thousand dinars, according to the bond.' The Cadi drew up
+the marriage contract to this effect and the lady's father took a
+bond for the dowry. Then he took Alaeddin and clothing him anew,
+carried him to his daughter's house, where he left him at the
+door, whilst he himself went in to the young lady and gave her
+the bond, saying, 'Take the bond of thy dowry, for I have married
+thee to a handsome youth by name Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat; so do
+thou use him with all consideration.' Then he left her and went
+to his own lodging. Now the lady's cousin had an old waiting-
+woman, to whom he had done many a kindness and who used to visit
+Zubeideh; so he said to her, 'O my mother, if my cousin Zubeideh
+see this handsome young man, she will never after accept of me;
+so I would fain have thee contrive to keep them apart.' 'By thy
+youth,' answered she, 'I will not suffer him to approach her!'
+Then she went to Alaeddin and said to him, 'O my son, I have a
+warning to give thee, for the love of God the Most High, and do
+thou follow my advice, for I fear for thee from this damsel: let
+her lie alone and handle her not nor draw near to her.' 'Why
+so?' asked he, and she answered, 'Because her body is full of
+elephantiasis and I fear lest she infect thy fair youth.' Quoth
+he, 'I have no need of her.' Moreover, she went to the lady and
+said the like to her of Alaeddin; and she replied, 'I have no
+need of him, but will let him lie alone, and on the morrow he
+shall go his way.' Then she called a slave-girl and said to her,
+'Take him the tray of food, that he may sup.' So the maid carried
+him the tray of food and set it before him, and he ate his fill;
+after which he sat down and fell to reciting the chapter called
+Ya-sin[FN#97] in a sweet voice. The lady listened to him and
+found his voice as melodious as the psalms of David, which when
+she heard, she exclaimed, 'Beshrew the old hag that told me that
+he was affected with leprosy! Surely, that is a lie against him,
+for this is not the voice of one who hath such a disease.' Then
+she took a lute of Indian workmanship and tuning it, sang the
+following verses, in a voice, whose music would stay the birds in
+mid-heaven:
+
+I am enamoured of a fawn with black and languorous eyes;    The
+     willow-branches, as he goes, are jealous of him still.
+Me he rejects and others 'joy his favours in my stead. This is
+     indeed the grace of God He gives to whom He will.
+
+As soon as he had finished his recitation, he sang the following
+verse in reply:
+
+My salutation to the shape that through the wede doth show And to
+     the roses in the cheeks' full-flowering meads that blow!
+
+When she heard this, her inclination for him redoubled and she
+rose and lifted the curtain; and Alaeddin, seeing her, repeated
+these verses:
+
+She shineth forth, a moon, and bends, a willow-wand, And breathes
+     out ambergris and gazes, a gazelle.
+Meseems as if grief loved my heart and when from her Estrangement
+     I abide, possession to it fell.
+
+Thereupon she came forward, swinging her hips and swaying
+gracefully from side to side with a shape the handiwork of Him
+whose bounties are hidden, and each of them stole a glance at the
+other, that cost them a thousand regrets. Then, for that the
+arrows of her glances overcame his heart, he repeated the
+following verses:
+
+The moon of the heavens she spied and called to my thought The
+     nights of our loves in the meadows under her shine.
+Yea, each of us saw a moon, but, sooth to say, It was her
+     eyes[FN#98] that I saw and she saw mine.[FN#99]
+
+Then she drew near him, and when there remained but two paces
+between them, he repeated these verses:
+
+She took up three locks of her hair and spread them out one night
+     And straight three nights discovered at once unto my sight.
+Then did she turn her visage up to the moon of the sky And showed
+     me two moons at one season, both burning clear and bright.
+
+Then said he to her, 'Keep off from me, lest thou infect me.'
+Whereupon she uncovered her wrist to him, and he saw that it was
+cleft [like a peach] and its whiteness was as the whiteness of
+silver. Then said she, 'Hold off from me, thou, for thou art
+stricken with leprosy, and belike thou wilt infect me.' 'Who told
+thee I was a leper?' asked he, and she said, 'The old woman.'
+Quoth he, 'It was she told me that thou wast afflicted with
+elephantiasis.' So saying, he bared his arms and showed her that
+his skin was like virgin silver, whereupon she pressed him to her
+bosom and they clipped one another. Then she took him and lying
+down on her back, did off her trousers, whereupon that which his
+father had left him rose up [in rebellion] against him and he
+said, 'To it, O elder of yards, O father of nerves!' And putting
+his hands to her flanks, set the nerve of sweetness to the mouth
+of the cleft and thrust on to the wicket-gate. His passage was by
+the gate of victories [or openings] and after this he entered the
+Monday market and those of Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and
+finding the carpet after the measure of the estrade, he plied [or
+turned] the box within its sheath [or cover] till he came to [the
+end of] it.[FN#100] When it was morning, he exclaimed, 'Alas for
+delight that is not fulfilled! The raven[FN#101] takes it and
+flies away!' 'What means this saying?' asked she, and he
+answered, 'O my lady, I have but this hour to abide with thee.'
+Quoth she, 'Who saith so?' and he, 'Thy father made me give him a
+bond to pay ten thousand dinars to thy dowry; and except I pay it
+this very day, they will lay me in prison therefor in the Cadi's
+house; and now my hand lacketh one para of the sum.' 'O my lord,'
+said she, 'is the marriage bond in thy hand or in theirs?' 'In
+mine,' answered he, 'but I have nothing.' Quoth she, 'The matter
+is easy; fear nothing. Take these hundred dinars; if I had more,
+I would give thee what thou lackest; but my father, for his love
+of my cousin, hath transported all his good, even to my trinkets,
+from my lodging to his. But when they send thee a serjeant of the
+court and the Cadi and my father bid thee divorce, answer thou,
+"By what code is it right that I should marry at nightfall and
+divorce in the morning?" Then kiss the Cadi's hand and give him a
+present, and in like manner kiss the Assessors' hands and give
+each of them half a score dinars. So they will all speak with
+thee and if they say to thee, "Why dost thou not divorce her and
+take the thousand dinars and the mule and suit of clothes,
+according to contract?" do thou answer, "Every hair of her head
+is worth a thousand dinars to me and I will never put her away,
+neither will I take a suit of clothes nor aught else." If the
+Cadi say to thee, "Then pay down the dowry," do thou reply, "I am
+straitened at this present;" whereupon he and the Assessors will
+deal friendly with thee and allow thee time to pay.' Whilst they
+were talking, the Cadi's officer knocked at the door; so Alaeddin
+went down and the man said to him, 'The Cadi cites thee to answer
+thy father-in-law's summons.' Alaeddin gave him five dinars and
+said to him, 'O serjeant, by what code am I bound to marry at
+night and divorce next morning?' 'By none of ours,' answered the
+serjeant; 'and if thou be ignorant of the law, I will act as
+thine advocate.' Then they went to the court and the Cadi said to
+Alaeddin, 'Why dost thou not divorce the woman and take what
+falls to thee by the contract?' With this he went up to the Cadi
+and kissing his hand, put in it fifty dinars and said, 'O our
+lord the Cadi, by what code is it right that I should marry at
+night and divorce in the morning in my own despite?' 'Divorce on
+compulsion,' replied the Cadi, 'is sanctioned by no school of the
+Muslims.' Then said the lady's father, 'If thou wilt not divorce,
+pay me the ten thousand dinars, her dowry.' Quoth Alaeddin, 'Give
+me three days' time.' But the Cadi said, 'Three days is not
+enough; he shall give thee ten.' So they agreed to this and bound
+him to pay the dowry or divorce after ten days. Then he left them
+and taking meat and rice and butter and what else of food he
+needed, returned to his wife and told her what had passed;
+whereupon she said, 'Between night and day, wonders may happen:
+and God bless him who saith:
+
+Be mild what time thou'rt ta'en with anger and despite And
+     patient, if there fall misfortune on thy head.
+Indeed, the nights are quick and great with child by time And of
+     all wond'rous things are hourly brought to bed.
+
+Then she rose and made ready food and brought the tray, and they
+ate and drank and made merry awhile. Presently, Alaeddin besought
+her to let him hear some music; so she took the lute and played a
+measure, that would have made the very rock dance for delight,
+and the strings cried out, in ecstasy, 'O Loving One!'[FN#102]
+after which she passed into a livelier measure. As they were thus
+passing the time in mirth and delight, there came a knocking at
+the door and Zubeideh said to Alaeddin, 'Go and see who is at the
+door.' So he went down and finding four dervishes standing
+without, said to them, 'What do you want?' 'O my lord,' answered
+they, 'we are foreign dervishes, the food of whose souls is music
+and dainty verse, and we would fain take our pleasure with thee
+this night. On the morrow we will go our way, and with God the
+Most High be thy reward; for we adore music and there is not one
+of us but hath store of odes and songs and ballads.' 'I must
+consult [my wife],' answered he and returned and told Zubeideh,
+who said, 'Open the door to them.' So he went down again and
+bringing them up, made them sit down and welcomed them. Then he
+brought them food, but they would not eat and said, 'O my lord,
+our victual is to magnify God with out hearts and hear music with
+our ears: and God bless him who saith:
+
+We come for your company only, and not for your feasts; For
+     eating for eating's sake is nought but a fashion of beasts.
+
+Just now,' added they, 'we heard pleasant music here; but when we
+knocked, it ceased; and we would fain know whether the player was
+a slave-girl, white of black, or a lady.' 'It was this my wife,'
+answered he and told them all that had befallen him, adding, 'My
+father-in-law hath bound me to pay a dowry of ten thousand dinars
+for her and they have given me ten days' time.' 'Have no care and
+think nought but good,' said one of the dervishes; 'for I am head
+of the convent and have forty dervishes under my hand. I will
+gather thee from them the ten thousand dinars and thou shalt pay
+thy father-in-law the dowry. But now bid thy wife make us music,
+that we may be heartened and solaced, for to some music is food,
+to others medicine and to others refreshment.'[FN#103] Now
+these four dervishes were none other than the Khalif Haroun er
+Reshid and his Vizier Jaafer the Barmecide and Abou Nuwas ben
+Hani[FN#104] and Mesrour the headsman; and the reason of their
+coming thither was that the Khalif, being heavy at heart, had
+called his Vizier and signified to him his wish to go forth and
+walk about the city, to divert himself. So they all four donned
+dervish habits and went out and walked about, till they came to
+Zubeideh's house and hearing music, were minded to know the
+cause. They spent the night in mirth and harmony and discourse,
+till the morning, when the Khalif laid a hundred dinars under the
+prayer-carpet and taking leave of Alaeddin, went his way, he and
+his companions. Presently, Zubeideh lifted the carpet and finding
+the hundred dinars, gave them to her husband, saying, 'Take these
+hundred dinars that I have found under the prayer-carpet; the
+dervishes must have laid them there, without our knowledge.' So
+he took the money and repairing to the market, bought meat and
+rice and butter and so forth. When it was night, he lighted the
+candled and said to Zubeideh, 'The dervishes have not brought the
+ten thousand dinars that they promised me: but indeed they are
+poor men.' As they were talking, the dervishes knocked at the
+door and she said, 'Go down and open to them.' So he went down
+and bringing them up, said to them, 'Have you brought me the ten
+thousand dinars?' 'We have not been able to get aught thereof as
+yet,' answered they, 'but fear nothing: to-morrow, God willing,
+we will make an alchymic operation for thee. But now bid thy wife
+play her best to us and gladden our hearts, for we love music.'
+So she made them music, that would have caused the very rocks to
+dance; and they passed the night in mirth and converse and good
+cheer, till the morning appeared with its light and shone, when
+they took leave of Alaeddin and went their way, after laying
+other hundred dinars under the carpet. They continued to visit
+him thus every night for nine nights, and each morning the Khalif
+put a hundred dinars under the prayer-carpet, till the tenth
+night, when they came not. Now the reason for their failure to
+come was that the Khalif had sent to a great merchant, saying to
+him, 'Bring me fifty loads of stuffs, such as come from Cairo,
+each worth a thousand dinars, and write on each bale its price;
+and bring me also a male Abyssinian slave.' The merchant did the
+bidding of the Khalif, who write a letter to Alaeddin, as from
+his father Shemseddin, and committed it to the slave, together
+with the fifty loads and a basin and ewer of gold and other
+presents, saying to him, 'Take these bales and what else and go
+to such and such a quarter and enquire for Alaeddin Abou esh
+Shamat, at the house of the Provost of the merchants.' So the
+slave took the letter and the goods and went out on his errand.
+
+Meanwhile the lady's first husband went to her father and said to
+him, 'Come, let us go to Alaeddin and make him divorce my
+cousin.' So they set out, and when they came to the street in
+which Zubeideh's house stood, they found fifty mules, laden with
+stuffs, and a black slave riding on a she-mule. So they said to
+him, 'Whose goods are these?' 'They belong to my lord Alaeddin
+Abou esh Shamat,' answered he. 'His father equipped him with
+merchandise and sent him on a journey to Baghdad; but the
+Bedouins fell on him and took all he had. So when the news of his
+despoilment reached his father, he despatched me to him with
+these fifty loads, in place of those he had lost, besides a mule
+laden with fifth thousand dinars and a parcel of clothes worth
+much money and a cloak of sables and a basin and ewer of gold.'
+When the old merchant heard this, he said, 'He whom thou seekest
+is my son-in-law and I will show thee his house.' Now Alaeddin
+was sitting in great concern, when one knocked at the door, and
+he said, 'O Zubeideh, God is all-knowing! Thy father hath surely
+sent me an officer from the Cadi or the Chief of the Police.' 'Go
+down,' said she, 'and see what it is.' So he went down and
+opening the door, found his father-in-law, with an Abyssinian
+slave, dusky-hued and pleasant of favour, riding on a mule. When
+the slave saw him, he alighted and kissed his hands: and Alaeddin
+said, 'What dost thou want?' Quoth he, 'I am the slave of my load
+Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat, son of Shemseddin, Provost of the
+merchants of Cairo, who has sent me to him with this charge.'
+Then he gave him the letter and Alaeddin, opening it, read what
+follows:
+
+Harkye, my letter, when my beloved sees thee, Kiss thou the earth
+     before him and his shoes.
+Look thou go softly and hasten not nor hurry, For in his hands
+     are my life and my repose.
+
+Then after the usual salutations from Shemseddin to his son, the
+letter proceeded thus: 'Know, O my son, that news hath reached me
+of the slaughter of thy men and the plunder of thy baggage; so I
+send thee herewith fifty loads of Egyptian stuffs, together with
+a suit of clothes and a cloak of sables and an ewer and basin of
+gold. Fear no evil and be not anywise troubled, for, O my son,
+the goods thou hast lost were the ransom of thy life. Thy mother
+and the people of the house are well and in good case and send
+thee many greetings. Moreover, O my son, I hear that they have
+married thee, by way of intermediation, to the lady Zubeideh the
+Lutanist and have imposed on thee a dowry of ten thousand dinars;
+wherefore I send thee also fifty thousand dinars by thy slave
+Selim, the bearer of these presents, whereout thou mayest pay the
+dowry and provide thyself with the rest.' When Alaeddin had made
+an end of reading the letter, he took possession of the goods and
+turning to the old merchant, said to him, 'O my father-in-law,
+take the ten thousand dinars, thy daughter's dowry, and take also
+the loads of goods and dispose of them, and thine be the profit;
+only return me the cost-price.' 'Nay, by Allah,' answered he, 'I
+will take nothing; and as for thy wife's dowry, do thou settle it
+with her.' Then they went in to Zubeideh, after the goods had
+been brought in, and she said to her father, 'O my father, whose
+goods are these?' 'They belong to thy husband Alaeddin,' answered
+he; 'his father hath sent them to him in place of those of which
+the Bedouins spoiled him. Moreover, he hath sent him fifty
+thousand dinars and a parcel of clothes and a cloak of sables and
+a riding mule and an ewer and basin of gold. As for the dower,
+that is thine affair.' Thereupon Alaeddin rose and opening the
+chest [of money] gave her her dowry. Then said the lady's cousin,
+'O my uncle, let him divorce to me my wife;' but the old man
+replied, 'This may never be now, for the marriage-tie is in his
+hand.' With this the young man went out, sore afflicted, and
+returning home, fell sick, for he had received his death-blow; so
+he took to his bed and presently died. But as for Alaeddin, he
+went to the market and buying what victual he needed, made a
+banquet as usual against the night, saying to Zubeideh, 'See
+these lying dervishes; they promised us and broke their promise.'
+Quoth she, 'Thou art the son of a Provost of the merchants yet
+did thy hand lack of a para; how then should it be with poor
+dervishes?' 'God the Most High hath enabled us to do without
+them,' answered Alaeddin; 'but never again will I open the door
+to them.' 'Why so,' asked she, 'seeing that their coming brought
+us good luck, and moreover, they put a hundred dinars under the
+prayer-carpet for us every night? So needs must thou open to
+them, if they come.' So when the day departed with its light and
+the night came, they lighted the candles and he said to her,
+'Come, Zubeideh, make us music.' At this moment some one knocked
+at the door, and she said, 'Go and see who is at the door.' So he
+went down and opened it and seeing the dervishes, said, 'Welcome
+to the liars! Come up.' Accordingly, they went up with him, and
+he made them sit down and brought them the tray of food. So they
+ate and drank and made merry and presently said to him, 'O my
+lord, our hearts have been troubled for thee: what hath passed
+between thee and thy father-in-law?' 'God hath compensated us
+beyond our desire,' answered he. 'By Allah,' rejoined they, 'we
+were in fear for thee and nought kept us from thee but our lack
+of money.' Quoth he, 'My Lord hath vouchsafed me speedy relief;
+for my father hath sent me fifty thousand dinars and fifty loads
+of stuffs, each worth a thousand dinars, besides an Abyssinian
+slave and a riding mule and a suit of clothes and a basin and an
+ewer of gold. Moreover, I have made my peace with my father-in-
+law and my wife is confirmed to me; so praised be God for this!'
+Presently the Khalif rose to do an occasion; whereupon Jaafer
+turned to Alaeddin and said to him, 'Look to thy manners, for
+thou art in the presence of the Commander of the Faithful.' 'How
+have I failed in good breeding before the Commander of the
+Faithful,' asked he, 'and which of you is he?' Quoth Jaafer, 'He
+who went out but now is the Commander of the Faithful and I am
+the Vizier Jaafer: this is Mesrour the headsman, and this other
+is Abou Nuwas ben Hani. And now, O Alaeddin, use thy reason and
+bethink thee how many days' journey it is from Cairo hither.'
+'Five-and-forty days' journey,' answered he, and Jaafer rejoined,
+'Thy baggage was stolen but ten days ago; so how could the news
+have reached thy father, and how could he pack thee up other
+goods and send them to thee five-and-forty days' journey in ten
+days' time?' 'O my lord,' said Alaeddin, 'and whence then came
+they?' 'From the Commander of the Faithful,' replied Jaafer, 'of
+his much affection for thee.' As he spoke, the Khalif entered and
+Alaeddin, rising, kissed the ground before him and said, 'God
+keep thee, O Commander of the Faithful, and give thee long life,
+so the folk may not lack thy bounty and beneficence!' 'O
+Alaeddin,' replied the Khalif, 'let Zubeideh play us an air, by
+way of thank-offering for thy deliverance.' So she played him
+the rarest of measures on the lute, till the very stones shook
+for delight and the strings cried out for ecstasy, 'O Loving
+One!'[FN#105] They spent the night after the merriest fashion,
+and in the morning, the Khalif said to Alaeddin, 'Come to the
+Divan to-morrow.' 'I hear and obey, O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered he, 'so it please God and thou be well and in good
+case.' So on the morrow he took ten trays and putting a costly
+present on each, went up with them to the palace. As the Khalif
+was sitting on the throne, Alaeddin appeared at the door of the
+Divan, repeating the following verses:
+
+Good fortune and glory still wait on thy days And rubbed in the
+     dust be thine envier's nose!
+May the days never stint to be white unto thee And black with
+     despite be the days of thy foes!
+
+'Welcome, O Alaeddin!' sad the Khalif, and he replied, 'O
+Commander of the Faithful, the Prophet (whom God bless and
+preserve) accepted presents; and these ten trays, with what is on
+them, are my present to thee.' The Khalif accepted his gift and
+ordering him a robe of honour, made him Provost of the merchants
+and gave him a seat in the Divan. Presently, his father-in-law
+came in, and seeing Alaeddin seated in his place and clad in a
+robe of honour, said to the Khalif, 'O King of the age, why is
+this man sitting in my place and wearing this robe of honour?'
+Quoth the Khalif, 'I have made him Provost of the merchants, and
+thou art deposed; for offices are by investiture and not in
+perpetuity.' 'Thou hast done well, O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered the merchant; 'for he is art and part of us. May God
+make the best of us the orderers of our affairs! How many a
+little one hath become great!' Then the Khalif wrote Alaeddin a
+patent [of investiture] and gave it to the Master of Police, who
+gave it to the crier and the latter made proclamation in the
+Divan, saying, 'None is Provost of the merchants but Alaeddin
+Abou esh Shamat, and it behoves all to give heed to his words and
+pay him respect and honour and consideration!' Moreover, when the
+Divan broke up, the Master of the Police took Alaeddin and
+carried him through the thoroughfares of Baghdad, whilst the
+crier went before him, making proclamation of his dignity. Next
+day, Alaeddin opened a shop for his slave Selim and set him
+therein, to buy and sell, whilst he himself rode to the palace
+and took his place in the Khalif's Divan.
+
+One day, as he sat in his place, one said to the Khalif, 'O
+Commander of the Faithful, may thy head survive such an one the
+boon-companion! He is gone to the mercy of God the Most High, but
+may thy life be prolonged!' Quoth the Khalif, 'Where is Alaeddin
+Abou esh Shamat?' So he went up to the Commander of the Faithful,
+who clad him in a splendid dress of honour and made him his boon-
+companion in the dead man's room, appointing him a monthly wage
+of a thousand dinars. He continued to fill his new office till,
+one day, as he sat in the Divan, according to his wont, an Amir
+came up with a sword and shield in his hand and said, 'O
+Commander of the Faithful, mayst thou outlive the Chief of the
+Sixty, for he is this day dead;' whereupon the Khalif ordered
+Alaeddin a dress of honour and made him Chief of the Sixty, in
+place of the dead man, who had neither wife nor child. So
+Alaeddin laid hands on his estate, and the Khalif said to him,
+'Bury him in the earth and take all he hath left of wealth and
+slaves, male and female.' Then he shook the handkerchief and
+dismissed the Divan, whereupon Alaeddin went forth, attended by
+Ahmed ed Denef, captain of the right hand, and Hassan Shouman,
+captain of the left hand troop of the Khalif's guard, riding at
+his either stirrup, each with his forty men. Presently, he turned
+to Hassan Shouman and his men and said to them, 'Plead ye for me
+with Captain Ahmed ed Denef, that he accept me as his son before
+God.' And Ahmed ed Denef assented, saying, 'I and my forty men
+will go before thee to the Divan every day.'
+
+After this, Alaeddin abode in the Khalif's service many days;
+till one day it chanced that he left the Divan and returning
+home, dismissed Ahmed ed Denef and his men and sat down with his
+wife, who lighted the candles and went out of the room upon an
+occasion. Presently, he heard a great cry and running in haste to
+see what was the matter, found that it was his wife who had cried
+out. She was lying prone on the groudn and when he put his hand
+to her breast, he found her dead. Now her father's house faced
+that of Alaeddin, and he, hearing her cry out, came in and said,
+'What is the matter, O my lord Alaeddin?' 'O my father,' answered
+he, 'may thy head outlive thy daughter Zubeideh! But the honour
+we owe the dead is to bury them.' So, on the morrow, they buried
+her in the earth and her husband and father condoled with each
+other. Moreover, Alaeddin put on mourning apparel and absented
+himself from the Divan, abiding tearful-eyed and sorrowful-
+hearted. After awhile, the Khalif said to Jaafer, 'O Vizier, what
+is the cause of Alaeddin's absence from the Divan?' 'O Commander
+of the Faithful,' answered Jaafer, 'he is in mourning for his
+wife Zubeideh;' and the Khalif said, 'It behoves us to pay him a
+visit of condolence.' 'I hear and obey,' replied Jaafer. So they
+took horse and riding to Alaeddin's house, came in upon him with
+their attendants, as he sat at home; whereupon he rose to receive
+them and kissed the earth before the Khalif, who said to him,
+'May God abundantly make good thy loss to thee!' 'May He preserve
+thee to us, O Commander of the Faithful!' answered Alaeddin. Then
+said the Khalif, 'O Alaeddin, why hast thou absented thyself from
+the Divan?' And he replied, 'Because of my mourning for my wife
+Zubeideh, O Commander of the Faithful.' 'Put away grief from
+thee,' rejoined the prince. 'She is dead and gone to the mercy of
+God the Most High, and mourning will avail thee nothing.' But
+Alaeddin said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, I shall never leave
+mourning for her till I die and they bury me by her side.' Quoth
+Haroun, 'With God is compensation for every loss, and neither
+wealth nor device can deliver from death. God bless him who said:
+
+Every son of woman, how long soe'er his life be, Must one day be
+     carried upon the bulging bier.
+How shall he have pleasure in life or hold it goodly, He unto
+     whose cheeks the dust must soon adhere?'
+
+Then, when he had made an end of condoling with him, he charged
+him not to absent himself from the Divan and returned to his
+palace. On the morrow, Alaeddin mounted and riding to the court,
+kissed the ground before the Khalif, who rose from the throne, to
+greet and welcome him, and bade him take his appointed place in
+the Divan saying, 'O Alaeddin, thou art my guest to-night.' So
+presently he carried him into his seraglio and calling a slave-
+girl named Cout el Culoub, said to her, 'Alaeddin had a wife
+called Zubeideh, who used to sing to him and solace him of care
+and trouble; but she is gone to the mercy of God the Most High,
+and now I desire that thou play him an air of thy rarest fashion
+on the lute, that he may be diverted from his grief and
+mourning.' So she rose and made rare music; and the Khalif said
+to Alaeddin, 'What sayst thou of this damsel's voice?' 'O
+Commander of the Faithful', answered he, 'Zubeideh's voice was
+the finer; but she is rarely skilled in touching the lute, and
+her playing would make a rock dance.' 'Doth she please thee?'
+asked the Khalif. 'Yes, O Commander of the Faithful,' answered
+Alaeddin, and Haroun said, 'By the life of my head and the tombs
+of my forefathers, she is a gift from me to thee, she and her
+waiting-women!' Alaeddin thought that the Khalif was jesting with
+him; but, on the morrow, he went in to Cout el Culoub and said to
+her, 'I have given thee to Alaeddin;' whereat she rejoiced, for
+she had seen and loved him. Then the Khalif returned to the Divan
+and calling porters, said to them, 'Set Cout el Culoub and her
+waiting-women in a litter and carry them, together with her
+goods, to Alaeddin's house.' So they did as he bade them and left
+her in the upper chamber of Alaeddin's house, whilst the Khalif
+sat in the hall of audience till the close of the day, when the
+Divan broke up and he retired to his harem.
+
+Meanwhile, Cout el Culoub, having taken up her lodging in
+Alaeddin's house, with her women, forty in all, besides eunuchs,
+called two of the latter and said to them, 'Sit ye on stools, one
+on the right and another on the left hand of the door; and when
+Alaeddin comes home, kiss his hands and say to him, "Our mistress
+Cout el Culoub bids thee to her in the upper chamber, for the
+Khalif hath given her to thee, her and her women."' 'We hear and
+obey,' answered they and did as she bade them. So, when Alaeddin
+returned, he found two of the Khalif's eunuchs sitting at the
+door and was amazed and said to himself, 'Surely, this is not my
+own house; or else what can have happened?' When the eunuchs saw
+him, they rose and kissing his hands, said to him, 'We are of the
+Khalif's household and servants to Cout el Culoub, who salutes
+thee, giving thee to know that the Khalif hath bestowed her on
+thee, her and her women, and craves thy company.' Quoth Alaeddin,
+'Say ye to her, "Thou art welcome; but so long as thou abidest
+with me, I will not enter thy lodging, for it befits not that
+what was the master's should become the servant's;" and ask her
+also what was the sum of her day's expense in the Khalif's
+palace.' So they went in to her and did his errand to her, and
+she replied, 'A hundred dinars a day;' whereupon quoth he in
+himself, 'There was no need for the Khalif to give me Cout el
+Culoub, that I should be put to such an expense for her; but
+there is no help for it.' So she abode with him awhile and he
+assigned her daily a hundred dinars for her maintenance, till,
+one day, he absented himself from the Divan and the Khalif said
+to Jaafer, 'O Vizier, I gave Cout el Culoub unto Alaeddin, that
+she might console him for his wife; but why doth he still hold
+aloof from us?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' answered Jaafer,
+'he spoke sooth who said, "Whoso findeth his beloved, forgetteth
+his friends."' 'Belike he hath excuse for his absence,' rejoined
+the Khalif; 'but we will pay him a visit.' (Now some days before
+this, Alaeddin had said to Jaafer, 'I complained to the Khalif of
+my grief for the loss of my wife Zubeideh, and he gave me Cout el
+Culoub.' And Jaafer replied, 'Except he loved thee, he had not
+given her to thee.' Hast thou gone in to her?' 'No, by Allah!
+answered Alaeddin. 'I know not her length from her breadth.' 'And
+why?' asked Jaafer. 'O Vizier,' replied Alaeddin, 'what befits
+the master befits not the servant.') Then the Khalif and Jaafer
+disguised themselves and went privily to visit Alaeddin; but he
+knew them and rising to them, kissed the hands of the Khalif, who
+looked at him and read trouble in his face. So he said to him, 'O
+Alaeddin, whence cometh this trouble in which I see thee? Hast
+thou gone in to Cout el Culoub?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered he, 'what befits the master befits not the servant. No,
+I have not gone in to her nor do I know her length from her
+breadth; so do thou quit me of her.' Quoth the Khalif, 'I would
+fain see her and question her of her case.' And Alaeddin replied,
+'I hear and obey, O Commander of the Faithful.' So the Khalif
+went in to Cout el Culoub, who rose and kissed the ground before
+him, and said to her, 'Hath Alaeddin gone in to thee?' 'No, O
+Commander of the Faithful,' answered she; 'I sent to bid him to
+me, but he would not come.' So he bade carry her back to the
+harem and saying to Alaeddin, 'Do not absent thyself from us,'
+returned to his palace. Accordingly, next morning, Alaeddin
+mounted and rode to the Divan, where he took his seat as Chief of
+the Sixty. Presently the Khalif bade his treasurer give the
+Vizier Jaafer ten thousand dinars and said to the latter, 'I
+charge thee to go down to the slave-market and buy Alaeddin a
+slave-girl with this sum.' So Jaafer took Alaeddin and went down
+with him to the bazaar. As change would have it, that very day,
+the Amir Khalid, Chief of the Baghdad Police, had gone down to
+the market to buy a slave-girl for his son Hebezlem Bezazeh. Now
+this son he had by his wife Khatoun, and he was foul of favour
+and had reached the age of twenty, without learning to ride,
+albeit his father was a valiant cavalier and a doughty champion
+and delighted in battle and adventure. One night, he had a dream
+of dalliance in sleep and told his mother, who rejoiced and told
+his father, saying, 'Fain would I find him a wife, for he is now
+apt for marriage.' Quoth Khalid, 'He is so foul of favour and
+withal so evil of odour, so sordid and churlish, that no woman
+would accept of him.' And she answered, 'We will buy him a slave-
+girl.' So it befell, for the accomplishment of that which God the
+Most High had decreed, that the Amir and his son went down, on
+the same day as Jaafer and Alaeddin, to the market, where they
+saw a beautiful girl, full of grace and symmetry, in the hands of
+a broker, and the Vizier said to the latter, 'O broker, ask her
+owner if he will take a thousand dinars for her.' The broker
+passed by the Amir and his son with the slave and Hebezlem took
+one look of her, that cost him a thousand sighs; and he fell
+passionately in love with her and said, 'O my father, buy me
+yonder slave-girl.' So the Amir called the broker, who brought
+the girl to him, and asked her her name. 'My name is Jessamine,'
+replied she; and he said to Hebezlem, 'O my son, an she please
+thee, bid for her.' Then he asked the broker what had been bidden
+for her and he replied, 'A thousand dinars.' 'She is mine for a
+thousand and one,' said Hebezlem, and the broker passed on to
+Alaeddin, who bid two thousand dinars for her; and as often as
+Hebezlem bid another dinar, Alaeddin bid a thousand. The Amir's
+son was vexed at this and said to the broker, 'Who is it that
+bids against me for the slave-girl?' 'It is the Vizier Jaafer,'
+answered the broker, 'who is minded to buy her for Alaeddin Abou
+esh Shamat.' Alaeddin continued to bid for her till he brought
+her price up to ten thousand dinars, and her owner sold her to
+him for that sum. So he took the girl and said to her, 'I give
+thee thy freedom for the love of God the Most High.' Then he
+married her and carried her to his house. When the broker
+returned, after having delivered the girl and received his
+brokerage, Hebezlem called him and said to him, 'Where is the
+girl?' Quoth he, 'She was bought for ten thousand dinars by
+Alaeddin, who hath set her free and married her.' At this the
+young man was greatly cast down and heaving many a sigh, returned
+home, sick for love of the damsel. He threw himself on his bed
+and refused food, and passion and love-longing were sore upon
+him. When his mother saw him in this plight, she said to him,
+'God keep thee, O my son! What ails thee?' And he answered, 'Buy
+me Jessamine, O my mother.' 'When the flower-seller passes,' said
+she, 'I will buy thee a basketful of jessamine.' Quoth he, 'It is
+not the jessamine one smells I want, but a slave girl named
+Jessamine, whom my father would not buy for me.' So she said to
+her husband, 'Why didst thou not buy him the girl?' And he
+replied, 'What is fit for the master is not fit for the servant,
+and I have no power to take her; for no less a man bought her
+than Alaeddin, Chief of the Sixty.' Then the youth's weakness
+redoubled upon him, till he could neither sleep nor eat, and his
+mother bound her head with the fillets of mourning. Presently, as
+she sat at home, lamenting over her son, there came in to her an
+old woman, known as the mother of Ahmed Kemakim the arch-thief, a
+knave who would bore through the stoutest wall and scale the
+highest and steal the very kohl from the eye. From his earliest
+years he had been given to these foul practices, till they made
+him captain of the watch, when he committed a robbery and the
+Chief of the Police, taking him in the act, carried him to the
+Khalif, who bade put him to death. But he sought protection of
+the Vizier, whose intercession the Khalif never rejected; so he
+pleaded for him with the Commander of the Faithful, who said,
+'How canst thou intercede for a wretch who is the pest of the
+human race?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' replied Jaafer, 'do
+thou imprison him; he who built the [first] prison was a sage,
+seeing that a prison is the sepulchre of the live and a cause for
+their enemies to exult.' So the Khalif bade lay him in chains and
+write thereon, 'Appointed to remain until death and not to be
+loosed but on the bench of the washer of the dead.' And they
+fettered him and cast him into prison. Now his mother was a
+frequent visitor to the house of the Master of the Police and
+used to go in to her son in prison and say to him, 'Did I not
+warn thee to turn from thy wicked ways?' 'God decreed this to
+me,' would he answer; 'but, O my mother, when thou visitest the
+Amir's wife, make her intercede for me with her husband.' So when
+the old woman came in to the Lady Khatoun, she found her bound
+with the fillets of mourning and said to her, 'Wherefore dost
+thou mourn?' 'For my son Hebezlem Bezazeh,' answered she, and the
+old woman exclaimed, 'God keep thy son! What hath befallen him?'
+So Khatoun told her the whole story, and she said, 'What wouldst
+thou say of him who should find means to save thy son?' 'And what
+wilt thou do?' asked the lady. Quoth the old woman, 'I have a son
+called Ahmed Kemakim the arch-thief, who lies chained in prison,
+and on his fetters is written, "Appointed to remain till death."
+So do thou don thy richest clothes and trinkets and present
+thyself to thy husband with an open and smiling favour; and when
+he seeks of thee what men use to seek of women, put him off and
+say, "By Allah, it is a strange thing! When a man desires aught
+of his wife, he importunes her till she satisfies him; but if a
+wife desire aught of her husband, he will not grant it to her."
+Then he will say, "What dost thou want?" And do thou answer,
+"First swear to grant my request." If he swear to thee by his
+head or by Allah, say to him, "Swear to me the oath of divorce,"
+and so not yield to him, except he do this. Then, if he swear to
+thee the oath of divorce, say to him, "Thou hast in prison a man
+called Ahmed Kemakim, and he has a poor mother, who is instant
+with me to urge thee to intercede for him with the Khalif, that
+he may relent towards him and thou earn a reward from God."' 'I
+hear and obey,' answered Khatoun. So when her husband came in to
+her, she did as the old woman had taught her and extorted the
+required oath from him, before she would yield to his wishes. He
+lay with her that night and on the morrow, after he had made his
+ablutions and prayed the morning prayers, he repaired to the
+prison and said to Ahmed Kemakim, 'Harkye, O arch-thief, dost
+thou repent of thy ill deeds?' 'I do indeed repent and turn to
+God,' answered he, 'and say with heart and tongue, "I ask pardon
+of Allah."' So he carried him, still chained, to the Divan and
+kissed the earth before the Khalif, who said to him, 'O Amir
+Khalid, what seekest thou?' Then he brought forward Ahmed
+Kemakim, shuffling in his fetters, and the Khalif said to him, 'O
+Kemakim, art thou yet alive?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered he, 'the wretched are long-lived.' Then said the Khalif
+to the Amir, 'Why have thou brought him hither?' And he replied,
+'O Commander of the Faithful, he hath a poor, desolate mother,
+who hath none but him, and she hath had recourse to thy slave,
+imploring him to intercede with thee to set him free and make him
+Captain of the Watch as before; for he repenteth of his evil
+courses.' Quoth the Khalif to Ahmed, 'Dost thou repent of thy
+sins?' 'I do indeed repent to God, O Commander of the Faithful,'
+answered he; whereupon the Khalif called for the blacksmith and
+made him strike off his irons on the bench of the washer of the
+dead. Moreover, he restored him to his former office and charged
+him to walk in the way of good and righteousness. So he kissed
+the Khalif's hands and donning the captain's habit, went forth,
+whilst they made proclamation of his appointment.
+
+He abode awhile in the exercise of his office, till, one day, his
+mother went in to the wife of the Chief of the Police, who said
+to her, 'Praised be God who hath delivered thy son from prison
+and restored him to health and safety! But why dost thou not bid
+him cast about to get the girl Jessamine for my son Hebezlem
+Bezazeh?' 'That will I,' answered she and going out from her,
+repaired to her son. She found him drunken and said to him, 'O my
+son, none was the cause of thy release from prison but the wife
+of the Master of Police, and she would have thee go about to kill
+Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat and get his slave-girl Jessamine for her
+son Hebezlem Bezazeh.' 'That will be the easiest of things,'
+answered he, 'and I will set about it this very night.' Now this
+was the first night of the new month, and it was the Khalif's
+wont to pass that night with the Princess Zubeideh, for the
+setting free of a male or female slave or what not else of the
+like. On this occasion, he used to doff his royal habit and lay
+it upon a chair in the sitting-chamber, together with his rosary
+and dagger and royal signet and a golden lantern, adorned with
+three jewels strung on a wire of gold, by which he set great
+store, committing all these things to the charge of the eunuchs,
+whilst he sent into the Lady Zubeideh's apartment. So Ahmed
+Kemakim waited till midnight, when Canopus shone and all
+creatures slept, whilst the Creator covered them with the curtain
+[of the dark]. Then he took his naked sword in one hand and his
+grappling iron in the other, and repairing to the Khalif's
+pavilion, cast his grapnel on to the roof. It caught there and he
+fixed his rope-ladder and climbed up to the roof; then, raising
+the trap-door, let himself down into the saloon, where he found
+the eunuchs asleep. So he drugged them with henbane and taking
+the Khalif's dress and dagger and rosary and handkerchief and
+signet-ring and lantern, returned whence he came and betook
+himself to the house of Alaeddin, who had that night celebrated
+his wedding festivities with Jessamine and had gone in to her and
+gotten her with child. Ahmed climbed over into his saloon and
+raising one of the marble slabs of the floor, dug a hole under it
+and laid the stolen things therein, all save the lantern, which
+he kept, saying in himself, 'I will set it before me, when I sit
+at wine, and drink by its light.' Then he plastered down the
+marble slab, as it was, and returning whence he came, went back
+to his own house. As soon as it was day, the Khalif went out into
+the sitting-chamber, and finding the eunuchs drugged with
+henbane, aroused them. Then he put his hand to the chair and
+found neither dress nor signet nor rosary nor dagger nor lantern;
+whereat he was exceeding wroth and donning the habit of anger,
+which was red, sat down in the Divan. So the Vizier Jaafer came
+forward and kissing the earth before him, said, 'May God avert
+the wrath of the Commander of the Faithful!' 'O Vizier,' answered
+the Khalif, 'I am exceeding wroth!'[FN#106] 'What has happened?'
+asked Jaafer; so he told him what had happened and when the Chief
+of the Police appeared, with Ahmed Kemakim at his stirrup, he
+said to him, 'O Amir Khalid, how goes Baghdad?' And he answered,
+'It is safe and quiet.' 'Thou liest!' rejoined the Khalif. 'How
+so, O Commander of the Faithful?' asked the Amir. So he told him
+the case and added, 'I charge thee to bring me back all the
+stolen things.' 'O Commander of the Faithful', replied the Amir,
+'the vinegar-worm is of and in the vinegar, and no stranger can
+get at this place.'[FN#107] But the Khalif said, 'Except thou
+bring me these things, I will put thee to death.' Quoth Khalid,
+'Ere thou slay me, slay Ahmed Kemakim, for none should know the
+robber and the traitor but the captain of the watch.' Then came
+forward Ahmed Kemakim and said to the Khalif, 'Accept my
+intercession for the Master of Police, and I will be responsible
+to thee for the thief and will follow his track till I find him;
+but give me two Cadis and two Assessors, for he who did this
+thing feareth thee not, nor doth he fear the Chief of the Police
+nor any other.' 'Thou shalt have what thou seekest,' answered the
+Khalif; 'but let search be made first in my palace and then in
+those of the Vizier and the Chief of the Sixty.' 'Thou sayst
+well, O Commander of the Faithful,' rejoined Ahmed; 'most like
+the thief is one who had been reared in thy household or that of
+one of thy chief officers.' 'As my head liveth,' said Haroun,
+'whosoever shall appear to have done the deed, I will put him to
+death, be it my very own son!' Then Ahmed Kemakim received a
+written warrant to enter and search the houses and taking in his
+hand a [divining] rod made of equal parts of bronze, copper, iron
+and steel, went forth, attended by the Cadis and Assessors and
+the Chief of the Police. He first searched the palace of the
+Khalif, then that of the Vizier Jaafer; after which he went the
+round of the houses of the chamberlains and officers, till he
+came to that of Alaeddin. When the latter heard the clamour
+before his house, he left his wife and opening the door, found
+the Master of Police without, with a crowd of people. So he said,
+'What is the matter, O Amir Khalid?' The Chief of the Police told
+him the case and Alaeddin said, 'Enter my house and search it.'
+'Pardon, O my lord,' replied the Amir; 'thou art a man in
+authority,[FN#108] and God forbid that such should be guilty of
+treason!' Quoth Alaeddin, 'Needs must my house be searched. So
+they entered, and Ahmed Kemakim went straight to the saloon and
+let the rod fall upon the slab, under which he had buried the
+stolen goods, with such force that the marble broke in sunder and
+discovered something that glistened underneath. Then said he, 'In
+the name of God! what He willeth! Thanks to our coming, we have
+lit upon a treasure. Let us go down into this hiding-place and
+see what is therein.' So the Cadis and Assessors looked down into
+the hole and finding there the stolen goods, drew up a statement
+of how they had discovered them in Alaeddin's house, to which
+they set their seals. Then they bade seize upon Alaeddin and took
+his turban from his head, and making an inventory of all his
+property and effects, [sealed them up]. Meanwhile, Ahmed Kemakim
+laid hands on Jessamine, who was with child by Alaeddin, and
+committed her to his mother, saying, 'Deliver her to the Lady
+Khatoun.' So the old woman took her and carried her to the wife
+of the Master of Police. As soon as Hebezlem saw her, health and
+strength returned to him and he arose forthright, rejoicing
+greatly, and would have drawn near her: but she pulled a dagger
+from her girdle and said, 'Keep off from me, or I will kill thee
+and myself after.' 'O strumpet,' exclaimed his mother, 'let my
+son have his will of thee!' But Jessamine answered, 'O bitch, by
+what code is it lawful for a woman to marry two husbands, and how
+shall the dog take the lion's place?' With this Hebezlem's
+passion redoubled and he sickened for unfulfilled desire and
+refusing food, took to his bed again. Then said his mother to
+her, 'O harlot, how canst thou make me thus to sorrow for my son?
+Needs must I punish thee, and as for Alaeddin, he will assuredly
+be hanged.' 'And I will die for love of him,' answered Jessamine.
+Then Khatoun stripped her of her jewels and silken raiment and
+clothing her in sackcloth drawers and a shift of hair-cloth, sent
+her down into the kitchen and made her a scullery-wench, saying,
+'Thy punishment shall be to split wood and peel onions and set
+fire under the cooking pots.' Quoth she, 'I am willing to brook
+all manner of hardship and servitude, but not thy son's sight.'
+But God inclined the hearts of the slave-girls to her and they
+used to do her service in the kitchen.
+
+Meanwhile, they carried Alaeddin to the Divan and brought him,
+together with the stolen goods, before the Khalif, who said,
+'Where did ye find them?' 'Amiddleward Alaeddin's house,'
+answered they; whereat the Khalif was filled with wrath and took
+the things, but found not the lantern among them, and said to
+Alaeddin, 'Where is the lantern?' 'I know nought of it,' answered
+he; 'it was not I that stole it.' 'O traitor,' said the Khalif,
+'how comes it that I brought thee near unto me and thou hast cast
+me out, and I trusted in thee and thou hast betrayed me?' And he
+commanded to hang him. So the Chief of the Police took him and
+went down with him into the city, whilst the crier forewent them,
+proclaiming aloud and saying, 'This is the reward and the least
+of the reward of him who doth treason against the orthodox
+Khalifs!' And the folk flocked to the gallows.
+
+Meanwhile, Ahmed ed Denef, Alaeddin's adopted father, was
+sitting, making merry with his followers in a garden, when in
+came one of the water-carriers of the Divan and kissing Ahmed's
+hand, said to him, 'O Captain, thou sittest at thine ease, with
+water running at thy feet, and knowest not what has happened.'
+'What is to do?' asked Ahmed, and the other answered, 'They have
+gone down with thine adopted son, Alaeddin, to the gallows.'
+'O Hassan Shouman,' said Ahmed, 'What sayst thou of this?'
+'Assuredly, Alaeddin is innocent' replied his lieutenant; 'and
+this is some enemy's practice against him.' Quoth Ahmed, 'What
+counsellest thou?' And Hassan said, 'God willing, we must rescue
+him.' Then he went to the prison and said to the gaoler, 'Give us
+some one deserving of death.' So he gave him one that was likest
+to Alaeddin and they covered his head and carried him to the
+place of execution between Ahmed ed Denef and Ali ez Zibec of
+Cairo. Now they had brought Alaeddin to the gibbet, to hang him,
+but Ahmed ed Denef came forward and set his foot on that of the
+hangman, who said, 'Give me room to do my office.' 'O accursed
+one,' replied Ahmed, 'take this man and hang him in Alaeddin's
+stead; for he is innocent and we will ransom him with this
+fellow, even as Abraham ransomed Ishmael[FN#109] with the ram.'
+So the hangman took the man and hanged him in Alaeddin's room.
+Then Ahmed and Ali took Alaeddin and carried him to the house of
+the former, to whom said he, 'O my father, may God abundantly
+requite thee!' 'O Alaeddin,' said Ahmed, 'what is this thou hast
+done? God's mercy on him who said, "Whoso trusteth in thee,
+betray him not, though thou be a traitor." Now the Khalif set
+thee in high place about him and styled thee "Trusty" and
+"Faithful;" how then couldst thou deal thus with him and steal
+his goods?' 'By the Most Great Name, O my father,' replied
+Alaeddin, 'I had no hand in this, nor do I know who did it.'
+Quoth Ahmed, 'Of a surety none did this but a manifest enemy and
+whoso doth aught shall be requited for his deed; but, O Alaeddin,
+thou canst tarry no longer in Baghdad, for kings, O my son, may
+not be bought off and longsome is his travail whom they pursue.'
+'Whither shall I go, O my father?' asked Alaeddin. 'O my son,'
+answered Ahmed, 'I will bring thee to Alexandria, for it is a
+blessed place; its environs are green and its sojourn pleasant.'
+And Alaeddin said, 'I hear and obey, O my father.' So Ahmed said
+to Hassan Shouman, 'Be mindful and when the Khalif asks for me,
+say I am gone on a circuit of the provinces.' Then, taking
+Alaeddin, he went forth of Baghdad and stayed not till they came
+to the vineyards and gardens, where they met two Jews of the
+Khalif's tax-gatherers, riding on mules, and Ahmed said to them,
+'Give me the guard-money.'[FN#110] 'Why should we give thee
+guard-money?' asked they. 'Because,' answered he, 'I am the
+patrol of this valley.' So they gave him each a hundred dinars,
+after which he slew them and took their mules, one of which he
+mounted, whilst Alaeddin bestrode the other. Then they rode on,
+till they came to the city of Ayas[FN#111] and put up for the
+night at an inn. Next morning, Alaeddin sold his own mule and
+committed that of Ahmed to the charge of the doorkeeper of the
+inn, after which they took ship from the port of Ayas and sailed
+to Alexandria. Here they landed and proceeded to the Bazaar,
+where they found a broker crying a shop and a chamber behind it
+for sale. The last bidding for the premises (which belonged to
+the Treasury) was nine hundred and fifty dirhems;[FN#112] so
+Alaeddin bid a thousand and his offer being accepted, took the
+keys and opened the shop and room, which latter he found
+furnished with carpets and cushions. Moreover, he found there a
+storehouse full of sails and masts and ropes and chests and bags
+of beads and shells and stirrups and axes and maces and knives
+and scissors and what not else, for the last owner of the shop
+had been a dealer in second-hand goods. So he took his seat in
+the shop and Ahmed ed Denef said to him, 'O my son, the shop and
+room and that which is therein are become thine; so abide thou
+here and buy and sell and grudge not, neither repine; for God the
+Most High blesseth trade.' After this he abode with him three
+days and on the fourth he took leave of him, saying, 'O my son,
+abide here till I bring thee the Khalif's pardon and learn who
+hath played thee this trick.' Then he took ship for Ayas,
+where he took the mule from the inn and returning to Baghdad,
+foregathered with Hassan Shouman, to whom said he, 'Has the
+Khalif asked for me?' 'No,' answered Hassan, 'nor hath thou come
+to his thought.' So he resumed his service about the Khalif's
+person and set himself to seek news of Alaeddin's case, till one
+day he heard the Khalif say to the Vizier, 'See, O Jaafer, how
+Alaeddin dealt with me!' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' replied
+Jaafer, 'thou hast requited him with hanging, and it was what he
+deserved.' Quoth Haroun, 'I have a mind to go down and see him
+hanging.' And the Vizier answered, 'As thou wilt, O Commander of
+the Faithful.' So the Khalif and Jaafer went down to the place of
+execution, and the former, raising his eyes, saw the hanged man
+to be other than Alaeddin and said to the Vizier, 'This is not
+Alaeddin.' 'How knowest thou that it is not he?' asked the
+Vizier, and the Khalif answered, 'Alaeddin was short and this
+fellow is tall.' Quoth Jaafer, 'Hanging stretches a man.' 'But,'
+rejoined the Khalif, 'Alaeddin was fair and this man's face is
+black.' 'Knowest thou not, O Commander of the Faithful,' replied
+Jaafer, 'that death (by hanging) causes blackness?' Then the
+Khalif bade take down the body and they found the names of he
+first two Khalifs, Abou Bekr and Omar, written on his heels;
+whereupon quoth the Khalif, 'O Vizier, Alaeddin was a Sunnite,
+and this fellow is a Shiyaite.'[FN#113] 'Glory be to God who
+knowest the hidden things!' answered Jaafer. 'We know not whether
+this was he or another.' Then the Khalif bade bury the body and
+Alaeddin became altogether forgotten.
+
+As for Hebezlem Bezazeh, the Amir Khalid's son, he ceased not to
+languish for passion and desire, till he died and they buried
+him; whilst Jessamine accomplished the months of her pregnancy
+and being taken with the pains of labour, gave birth to a male
+child like the moon. The serving-women said to her, 'What wilt
+thou name him?' And she answered, 'Were his father alive, he had
+named him; but now I will name him Aslan.' She gave him suck two
+years, then weaned him, and he crawled and walked. One day,
+whilst his mother was busied with the service of the kitchen, the
+child went out and seeing the stairs, mounted to the guest-
+chamber,[FN#114] where the Amir Khalid was sitting. When the
+latter saw him, he took him in his lap and glorified his Lord for
+that which He had created and fashioned forth; then eyeing him
+straitly, he saw that he was the likest of all creatures to
+Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat; and God informed his heart with love of
+the boy. Presently, his mother Jessamine sought for him and
+finding him not, mounted to the guest-chamber, where she saw the
+Amir seated, with the child playing in his lap. The latter,
+spying his mother, would have thrown himself upon her: but the
+Amir held him back and said to Jessamine, 'Come hither, O
+damsel.' So she came to him, and he said to her, 'Whose son is
+this?' Quoth she, 'He is my son and the darling of my heart.'
+'Who is his father?' asked the Amir; and she answered, 'His
+father was Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat, but now he is become thy
+son.' Quoth Khalid, 'Alaeddin was a traitor.' 'God deliver him
+from treason!' replied she. 'God forbid that the Faithful should
+be a traitor!' Then said he, 'When the boy grows up and says to
+thee, "Who is my father?" say thou to him, "Thou art the son of
+the Amir Khalid, Chief of the Police."' And she answered, 'I hear
+and obey.' Then he circumcised the boy and reared him after the
+goodliest fashion, bringing him a tutor, who taught him to read
+and write; so he read (and commented) the Koran twice and learnt
+it by heart and grew up, calling the Amir father. Moreover, the
+latter used to go down with him to the tilting-ground and
+assemble horsemen and teach the lad warlike exercises and the use
+of arms, so that, by the time he was fourteen years old, he
+became a valiant and accomplished cavalier and gained the rank of
+Amir.[FN#115]
+
+It chanced one day that he fell in with Ahmed Kemakim and
+clapping up an acquaintance with him, accompanied him to the
+tavern, where Ahmed took out the lantern he had stolen from the
+Khalif and fell to plying the wine-cup by its light, till he
+became drunken. Presently Aslan said to him, 'O Captain, give me
+yonder lantern;' but he replied, 'I cannot give it thee.' 'Why
+not?' asked Aslan. 'Because,' answered Ahmed, 'lives have been
+lost for it.' 'Whose life?' asked Aslan; and Ahmed said, 'There
+came hither a man named Alaeddin Abou est Shamat, who was made
+Captain of the Sixty and lost his life through this lantern.'
+Quoth Aslan, 'And how was that?' 'Know,' replied Ahmed Kemakim,
+'that thou hadst an elder brother by name Hebezlem Bezazeh, for
+whom, when he became apt for marriage, thy father would have
+bought a slave-girl named Jessamine.' And he went on to tell him
+the whole story of Hebezlem's illness and what befell Alaeddin,
+undeserved. When Aslan heard this, he said in himself, 'Most like
+this slave-girl was my mother Jessamine and my father was no
+other than Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.' So he went out from him,
+sorrowful, and met Ahmed ed Denef, who exclaimed at sight of him,
+'Glory be to Him to whom none is like!' 'At what dost thou
+marvel, O my chief?' asked Hassan Shouman. 'At the make of yonder
+boy Aslan,' replied Ed Denef; 'for he is the likest of all
+creatures to Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.' Then he called Aslan and
+said to him, 'What is thy mother's name?' 'She is called the
+damsel Jessamine,' answered Aslan; and Ed Denef said, 'Harkye,
+Aslan, take heart and be of good cheer, for thy father was none
+other than Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat: but, O my son, go thou in to
+thy mother and question her of thy father.' 'I hear and obey,'
+answered he, and going in to his mother, said to her, 'Who is my
+father?' Quoth she, 'The Amir Khalid is thy father.' 'Not so,'
+rejoined he, 'my father was none other than Alaeddin Abou esh
+Shamat.' At this, she wept and said, 'Who told thee this?' 'Ahmed
+ed Denef, the Captain of the Guard,' answered he; so she told him
+the whole story, saying, 'O my son, the truth can no longer be
+hidden: know that Alaeddin was indeed thy father, but it was the
+Amir Khalid who reared thee and adopted thee as his son. And now,
+O my son, when thou seest Ahmed ed Denef, so thou say to him, "I
+conjure thee, by Allah, O my chief, avenge me on the murderer of
+my father Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat!"' So he went out from her and
+betaking himself to Ahmed ed Denef, kissed his hand. Quoth Ed
+Denef, 'What ails thee, O Aslan?' And he answered, 'I know now
+for certain that I am the son of Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat and I
+would have thee avenge me of my father's murderer.' 'And who was
+thy father's murderer?' asked Ed Denef. 'Ahmed Kemakim the arch-
+thief,' replied Aslan. 'Who told thee this?' said Ed Denef, and
+Aslan answered, 'I saw in his hand the lantern hung with jewels,
+that was lost with the rest of the Khalif's gear, and asked him
+to give it me; but he refused, saying, "Lives have been lost on
+account of this," and told me how it was he who had broken into
+the palace and stolen the goods and hidden them in my father's
+house.' Then said Ed Denef, 'When thou seest the Amir Khalid don
+his harness of war, beg him to equip thee like himself and take
+thee with him. Then do thou some feat of prowess before the
+Khalif and he will say to thee, "Ask a boon of me, O Aslan." And
+do thou answer, "I ask of thee that thou avenge me of my father's
+murderer." If he say, "Thy father is alive and is the Amir
+Khalid, the Chief of the Police," answer thou, "My father was
+Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat, and the Amir Khalid is only my father
+by right of fosterage and adoption." Then tell him all that
+passed between thee and Ahmed Kemakim and say, "O Commander of
+the Faithful, order him to be searched and I will bring the
+lantern forth of his bosom."' 'I hear and obey,' answered Aslan
+and returning to the Amir Khalid, found him making ready to
+repair to the Divan and said to him, 'I would fain have thee arm
+and harness me like thyself and carry me to the Divan.' So he
+equipped him and carried him to the Divan, with Ahmed Kemakim at
+his stirrup. Then the Khalif sallied forth of Baghdad with his
+retinue and let pitch tents and pavilions without the city;
+whereupon the troops divided into two parties and fell to playing
+at ball and striking it with the mall from one to the other. Now
+there was among the troops a spy, who had been hired to kill the
+Khalif; so he took the ball and smiting it with the mall, drove
+it straight at the Khalif's face; but Aslan interposed and
+catching it in mid-volley, drove it back at him who smote it, so
+that it struck him between the shoulders and he fell to the
+ground. The Khalif exclaimed, 'God bless thee, O Aslan!' and they
+all dismounted and sat on chairs. Then the Khalif bade bring the
+smiter of the ball before him and said to him, 'Who moved thee to
+do this thing and art thou friend or foe?' Quoth he, 'I am a foe
+and it was my purpose to kill thee.' 'And wherefore?' asked the
+Khalif. 'Art thou not an (orthodox) Muslim?' 'No,' replied the
+spy; 'I am a Shiyaite.' So the Khalif bade put him to death and
+said to Aslan, 'Ask a boon of me.' Quoth he, 'I ask of thee that
+thou avenge me of my father's murderer.' 'Thy father is alive,'
+answered the Khalif; 'and there he stands.' 'And who is he?'
+asked Aslan. The Khalif replied, 'He is the Amir Khalid, Chief of
+the Police.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' rejoined Aslan, 'he
+is no father of mine, save by right of fosterage; my father was
+none other than Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat.' 'Then thy father was a
+traitor,' said the Khalif. 'God forbid, O Commander of the
+Faithful,' replied Aslan, 'that the Faithful should be a traitor!
+But how did he wrong thee?' Quoth the Khalif, 'He stole my royal
+habit and what was therewith.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'
+rejoined Aslan, 'God forfend that my father should be a traitor!
+But, O my lord, didst thou ever recover the lantern that was
+stolen from thee?' 'No,' answered the Khalif, 'we never got it
+back.' And Aslan said, 'I saw it in the hands of Ahmed Kemakim
+and begged it of him; but he refused to give it me, saying,
+"Lives have been lost on account of this." Then he told me of the
+sickness of Hebezlem Bezazeh, son of the Amir Khalid, by reason
+of his passion for the damsel Jessamine, and how he himself was
+released from prison and that it was he who stole the lamp and
+robe and so forth. Do thou then, O Commander of the Faithful,
+avenge me of my father on him who murdered him.' So the Khalif
+caused Ahmed Kemakim to be brought before him and sending for
+Ahmed ed Denef, bade him search him; whereupon he put his hand
+into the thief's bosom and pulled out the lamp. 'Harkye,
+traitor,' said the Khalif, 'whence hadst thou this lantern?' And
+Kemakim replied, 'I bought it, O Commander of the Faithful!'
+'Where didst thou buy it?' said the Khalif, 'and who could come
+by its like to sell it to thee?' Then they beat him, till he
+confessed that he had stolen the lantern and the rest, and the
+Khalif said, 'O traitor, what moved thee to do this thing and
+ruin Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat, the Trusty and Well-beloved?' Then
+he bade lay hands on him and on the Chief of the Police, but the
+latter said, 'O Commander of the Faithful, indeed I am unjustly
+entreated; thou badest me hang him, and I had no knowledge of
+this plot, for the thing was contrived between Ahmed Kemakim and
+his mother and my wife. I crave thine intercession, O Aslan.' So
+Aslan interceded for him with the Khalif, who said, 'What hath
+God done with this lad's mother?' 'She is with me,' answered
+Khalid, and the Khalif said, 'I command thee to bid thy wife
+dress her in her own clothes and ornaments and restore her to her
+former rank; and do thou remove the seals from Alaeddin's house
+and give his son possession of his estate.' 'I hear and obey,'
+answered Khalid, and going forth, carried the Khalif's order to
+his wife, who clad Jessamine in her own apparel; whilst he
+himself removed the seals from Alaeddin's house and gave Aslan
+the keys. Then said the Khalif to Aslan, 'Ask a boon of me;' and
+he replied, 'I beseech thee to unite me with my father.' Whereat
+the Khalif wept and said, 'Most like it was thy father that was
+hanged and is dead; but by the life of my forefathers, whoso
+bringeth me the glad news that he is yet in the bonds of life, I
+will give him all he seeketh!' Then came forward Ahmed ed Denef
+and kissing the earth before the Khalif, said, 'Grant me
+indemnity, O Commander of the Faithful!' 'Thou hast it,' answered
+the Khalif; and Ed Denef said, 'I give thee the good news that
+Alaeddin is alive and well.' Quo the Khalif, 'What is this thou
+sayest?' 'As thy head liveth,' answered Ed Denef, 'I speak sooth;
+for I ransomed him with another, of those who deserved death, and
+carried him to Alexandria, where I set him up as a dealer in
+second-hand goods.' Then said Er Reshid, 'I charge thee fetch him
+to me;' and Ed Denef replied, 'I hear and obey;' whereupon the
+Khalif bade give him ten thousand dinars and he set out for
+Alexandria.
+
+Meanwhile Alaeddin sold all that was in his shop, till he had but
+a few things let and amongst the rest a bag. So he shook the bag
+and there fell out a jewel, big enough to fill the palm of the
+hand, hanging to a chain of gold and having five faces, whereon
+were names and talismanic characters, as they were ant-tracks.
+'God is All-knowing!' quoth he. 'Belike this is a talisman.' So
+he rubbed each face; but nothing came of it and he said to
+himself, 'Doubtless it is a piece of [naturally] variegated
+onyx,' and hung it up in the shop. Presently, a Frank passed
+along the street and seeing the jewel hanging up, seated himself
+before the shop and said to Alaeddin, 'O my lord, is yonder jewel
+for sale?' 'All I have is for sale,' answered Alaeddin; and the
+Frank said, 'Wilt thou sell it me for fourscore thousand dinars?'
+'May God open!'[FN#116] replied Alaeddin. 'Wilt thou sell it for
+a hundred thousand dinars?' asked the Frank, and he answered, 'I
+sell it to thee for a hundred thousand dinars; pay me down the
+money.' Quoth the Frank, 'I cannot carry such a sum about me, for
+there are thieves and sharpers in Alexandria; but come with me to
+my ship and I will pay thee the money and give thee to boot a
+bale of Angora wool, a bale of satin, a bale of velvet and a
+bale of broadcloth.' So Alaeddin rose and giving the jewel to
+the Frank, locked up his shop and committed the keys to his
+neighbour, saying, 'Keep these keys for me, whilst I go with this
+Frank to his ship and take the price of my jewel. If I be long
+absent and there come to thee Captain Ahmed ed Denef,--he who set
+me up in this shop,--give him the keys and tell him where I am.'
+Then he went with the Frank to his ship, where the latter set him
+a stool and making him sit down, said [to his men], 'Bring the
+money.' So [they brought it and] he paid him the price of the
+jewel and gave him the four bales he had promised him; after
+which he said to him, 'O my lord, honour me by taking a morsel or
+a draught of water.' And Alaeddin answered, 'If thou have any
+water, give me to drink.' So the Frank called for drink, and they
+brought sherbets, drugged with henbane, of which no sooner had
+Alaeddin drunk, than he fell over on his back; whereupon they
+weighed anchor and shoving off, shipped the poles and made sail.
+The wind blew fair and they sailed till they lost sight of land,
+when the Frank bade bring Alaeddin up out of the hold and made
+him smell to the counter-drug, whereupon he opened his eyes and
+said, 'Where am I?' 'Thou art bound and in my power,' answered
+the Frank; 'and if thou hadst refused to take a hundred thousand
+dinars for the jewel, I would have bidden thee more.' 'What art
+thou?' asked Alaeddin, and the other replied, 'I am a sea-
+captain and mean to carry thee to my mistress.' As they were
+talking, a ship hove in sight, with forty Muslim merchants on
+board; so the Frank captain gave chase and coming up with the
+vessel, made fast to it with grappling-irons. Then he boarded it
+with his men and took it and plundered it; after which he sailed
+on with his prize, till he reached the city of Genoa, where he
+repaired to the gate of a palace, that gave upon the sea, and
+there came forth to him a veiled damsel, who said, 'Hast thou
+brought the jewel and its owner?' 'I have brought them both,'
+answered he; and she said, 'Then give me the jewel.' So he gave
+it to her and returning to the port, fired guns to announce his
+safe return; whereupon the King of the city, being notified of
+his arrival, came down to receive him and said to him, 'What
+manner of voyage hast thou had?' 'A right prosperous one,'
+answered the captain, 'and I have made prize of a ship with one-
+and-forty Muslim merchants.' Being them ashore,' said the King.
+So he landed the merchants in irons, and Alaeddin among the rest;
+and the King and the captain mounted and made the captives walk
+before them, till they reached the palace, where the King sat
+down in the audience-chamber and making the prisoners pass before
+him, one by one, said to the first, 'O Muslim, whence comest
+thou?' 'From Alexandria,' answered he; whereupon the King said,
+'O headsman, put him to death.' So the headsman smote him with
+the sword and cut off his head: and thus it fared with the second
+and the third, till forty were dead and there remained but
+Alaeddin, who drank the cup of his comrades' anguish and said to
+himself, 'God have mercy on thee, O Alaeddin! Thou art a dead
+man.' Then said the King to him, 'And thou, what countryman art
+thou?' 'I am of Alexandria,' answered Alaeddin, and the King
+said, 'O headsman, strike off his head.' So the headsman raised
+his arm and was about to strike, when an old woman of venerable
+aspect presented herself before the King, who rose to do her
+honour, and said to him, 'O King, did I not bid thee remember,
+when the captain came back with captives, to keep one or two for
+the convent, to serve in the church?' 'O my mother, answered the
+King, 'would thou hadst come a while earlier! But take this one
+that is left.' So she turned to Alaeddin and said to him, 'Wilt
+thou serve in the church, or shall I let the King kill thee?'
+Quoth he, 'I will serve in the church.' So she took him and
+carried him forth of the palace to the church, where he said to
+her, 'What service must I do?' And she answered, 'Thou must arise
+in the morning and take five mules and go with them into the
+forest and there cut dry firewood and split it and bring it to
+the convent-kitchen. Then must thou take up the carpets and sweep
+and wipe the stone and marble pavements and lay the carpets down
+again, as they were; after which thou must take two bushels and a
+half of wheat and sift it and grind it and knead it and make it
+into cracknels for the convent; and thou must take also a bushel
+of lentils and sift and crush and cook them. Then must thou fetch
+water in barrels and fill the four fountains; after which thou
+must take three hundred and threescore and six wooden platters
+and crumble the cracknels therein and pour of the lentil pottage
+over each and carry every monk and patriarch his platter.' 'Take
+me back to the King and let him kill me,' said Alaeddin; 'it were
+easier to me than this service.' 'If thou do the service that is
+due from thee,' replied the old woman, 'thou shalt escape death;
+but, if thou do it not, I will let the King kill thee.' Then she
+went away, leaving Alaeddin heavy at heart. Now there were in the
+church ten blind cripples, and one of them said to him, 'Bring me
+a pot.' So he brought it him and he did his occasion therein and
+said, 'Throw away the ordure.' He did do, and the blind man said,
+'The Messiah's blessing be upon thee, O servant of the church!'
+Presently, the old woman came in and said to him, 'Why hast thou
+not done thy service?' 'How many hands have I,' answered he,
+'that I should suffice for all this work?' 'Thou fool!' rejoined
+she.' 'I brought thee not hither but to work. But,' added she,
+giving him a wand of brass with a cross at the top, 'take this
+rod and go forth into the highway, and whomsoever thou meetest,
+were he governor of the ciy, say to him, "I summon thee to the
+service of the church, in the name of the Messiah." And he will
+not refuse thee. Then make him sift the wheat and grind it and
+bolt it and knead it and bake it into cracknels; and if any
+gainsay thee, beat him and fear none.' 'I hear and obey,'
+answered he and did as she said, pressing great and small into
+his service; nor did he leave to do thus for the space of
+seventeen years, till, one day, the old woman came to him, as he
+sat in the church, and said to him, 'Go forth of the convent.'
+'Whither shall I go?' asked he, and she said, 'Thou canst pass
+the night in a tavern or with one of thy friends.' Quoth he, 'Why
+dost thou send me forth of the church?' and she replied, 'The
+princess Husn Meryem, daughter of Youhenna, King of the city,
+purposes this night to pay a visit to the church, and it befits
+not that any abide in her way.' So he rose and made a show of
+obeying her and of leaving the church; but he said in himself, 'I
+wonder whether the princess is like our women or fairer than
+they! Algates, I will not go till I have had a sight of her.' So
+he hid himself in a closet[FN#117] with a window looking into the
+church, and as he watched, in came the King's daughter. He cast
+one glance at her, that cost him a thousand sighs, for she was
+like the full moon, when it emerges from the clouds; and with her
+was a damsel, to whom he heard her say, 'O Zubeideh, thy company
+is grateful to me.' So he looked straitly at the damsel and found
+her to be none other than his wife, Zubeideh the Lutanist, whom
+he thought dead. Then the princess said to Zubeideh, 'Play us an
+air on the lute.' But she answered, 'I will make no music for
+thee, till thou grant my wish and fulfil thy promise to me.' 'And
+what did I promise thee?' asked the princess. 'That thou wouldst
+reunite me with my husband Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat,' said
+Zubeideh. 'O Zubeideh,' rejoined the princess, 'be of good cheer
+and play us an air, as a thank-offering for reunion with thy
+husband.' 'Where is he?' asked Zubeideh, and Meryem replied, 'He
+is in yonder closet, listening to us.' So Zubeideh played a
+measure on the lute, that would have made a rock dance; which
+when Alaeddin heard, his entrails were troubled and he came forth
+and throwing himself upon his wife, strained her to his bosom.
+She also knew him and they embraced and fell down in a swoon.
+Then came the princess and sprinkled rose-water on them, till
+they revived, when she said to them, 'God hath reunited you.' 'By
+thy kind offices, O my lady,' replied Alaeddin and turning to his
+wife, said to her, 'O Zubeideh, thou didst surely die and we
+buried thee: how then camest thou to life and to this place?' 'O
+my lord,' answered she, 'I did not die; but a Marid of the Jinn
+snatched me up and flew with me hither. She whom thou buriedst
+was a Jinniyeh, who took my shape and feigned herself dead, but
+presently broke open the tomb and returned to the service of this
+her mistress, the princess Husn Meryem. As for me, I was in a
+trance, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself with the
+princess; so I said to her, "Why hast thou bought me hither?" "O
+Zubeideh," answered she, "know that I am predestined to marry thy
+husband Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat: wilt thou then accept of me to
+fellow-wife, a night for me and a night for thee?" "I hear and
+obey, O my lady," rejoined I; "but where is my husband?" Quoth
+she, "Upon his forehead is written what God hath decreed to him;
+as soon as what is there written is fulfilled to him he must
+needs come hither, and we will beguile the time of our separation
+from him with songs and smiting upon instruments of music, till
+it please God to unite us with him." So I abode with her till God
+brought us together in this church.' Then the princess turned to
+him and said, 'O my lord Alaeddin, wilt thou accept of me to
+wife?' 'O my lady,' replied he, 'I am a Muslim and thou art a
+Nazarene; so how can I marry thee?' 'God forbid,' rejoined she,
+'that I should be an infidel! Nay, I am a Muslim; these eighteen
+years have I held fast the Faith of Submission and I am pure of
+any faith other than that of Islam.' Then said he, 'O my lady, I
+would fain return to my native land.' And she answered, 'Know
+that I see written on thy forehead things that thou must needs
+fulfil and thou shalt come to thy desire. Moreover, I give thee
+the glad tidings, O Alaeddin, that there hath been born to thee a
+son named Aslan, who is now eighteen years old and sitteth in thy
+place with the Khalif. Know also that God hath shown forth the
+truth and done away the false by withdrawing the curtain of
+secrecy from him who stole the Khalif's goods, that is, Ahmed
+Kemakim the arch-thief and traitor; and he now lies bound and in
+prison. It was I who caused the jewel to be put in the bag where
+thou foundest it and who sent the captain to thee; for thou must
+know that he is enamoured of me and seeketh my favours, but I
+refused to yield to his wishes, till he should being me the jewel
+and its owner. So I gave him a hundred purses[FN#118] and
+despatched him to thee, in the habit of a merchant; and it was I
+also who sent the old woman to save thee from being put to death
+with the other captives.' 'May God requite thee for us with all
+good!' said he. 'Indeed, thou hast done well.' Then she renewed
+her profession of the Mohammedan faith at his hands, and when he
+was assured of the truth of her speech, he said to her, 'O my
+lady, tell me what are the virtues of the jewel and whence cometh
+it?' 'It came from an enchanted treasure,' answered she, 'and has
+five virtues, that will profit us in time of need. The princess
+my grandmother, my father's mother, was an enchantress and
+skilled in solving mysteries and winning at hidden treasures, and
+from one of the latter came the jewel into her hands. When I grew
+up and reached the age of fourteen, I read the Evangel and other
+books and found the name of Mohammed (whom God bless and
+preserve) in four books, the Evangel, the Pentateuch, the
+Psalms[FN#119] and the Koran; so I believed in Mohammed and
+became a Muslim, being assured that none is worship-worth save
+God the Most High and that to the Lord of all creatures no faith
+is acceptable save that of Submission. When my grandmother fell
+sick, she gave me the jewel and taught me its virtues. Moreover,
+before she died, my father said to her, 'Draw me a geomantic
+figure and see the issue of my affair and what will befall me.'
+And she foretold him that he should die by the hand of a captive
+from Alexandria. So he swore to kill every captive from that
+place and told the captain of this, saying, "Do thou fall on the
+ships of the Muslims and seize them and whomsoever thou findest
+of Alexandria, kill him or bring him to me." The captain did his
+bidding and he slew as many in number as the hairs of his head.
+Then my grandmother died and I took a geomantic tablet, being
+minded to now who I should marry, and drawing a figure, found
+that none should be my husband save one called Alaeddin Abou esh
+Shamat, the Trusty and Well-beloved. At this I marvelled and
+waited till the times were accomplished and I foregathered with
+thee.' So Alaeddin took her to wife and said to her, 'I desire to
+return to my own country.' 'If it be so,' replied she, 'come with
+me.' Then she carried him into the palace and hiding him in a
+closet there, went in to her father, who said to her, 'O my
+daughter, my heart is exceeding heavy to-day; let us sit down and
+make merry with wine, thou and I.' So he called for a table of
+wine, and she sat down with him and plied him with wine, till he
+lost his wits, when she drugged a cup with henbane, and he drank
+it off and fell backward. Then she brought Alaeddin out of the
+closet and said to him, 'Come; thine enemy is laid prostrate, for
+I made him drunk and drugged him; so do thou with him as thou
+wilt.' Accordingly Alaeddin went to the King and finding him
+lying drugged and helpless, bound him fast, hand and foot. Then
+he gave him the counter-drug and he came to himself and finding
+his daughter and Alaeddin sitting on his breast, said to her, 'O
+my daughter, dost thou deal thus with me?' 'If I be indeed thy
+daughter,' answered she, 'become a Muslim, even as I have done;
+for the truth was shown to me, and I embraced it, and the false,
+and I renounced it. I have submitted myself unto God, the Lord of
+all creatures, and am pure of all faiths contrary to that of
+Islam in this world and the next. Wherefore, if thou wilt become
+a Muslim, well and good; if not, thy death were better than thy
+life.' Alaeddin also exhorted him to embrace the true faith; but
+he refused and was obstinate: so Alaeddin took a dagger and cut
+his throat from ear to ear. Then he wrote a scroll, setting forth
+what had happened and laid it on the dead man's forehead, after
+which they took what was light of weight and heavy of worth and
+returned to the church. Here the princess took out the jewel and
+rubbed the face whereon was figured a couch, whereupon a couch
+appeared before her and she mounted upon it with Alaeddin and
+Zubeideh, saying, 'O couch, I conjure thee by the virtue of the
+names and talismans and characters of art engraven on this jewel,
+rise up with us!' And it rose with them into the air and flew,
+till I came to a desert valley, when the princess turned the face
+on which the couch was figured towards the earth, and it sank
+with them to the ground. Then she turned up the face whereon was
+figured a pavilion and tapping it, said, 'Let a pavilion be
+pitched in this valley.' And immediately there appeared a
+pavilion, in which they seated themselves. Now this valley was a
+desert waste, without grass or water; so she turned a third face
+of the jewel towards the sky and said, 'By the virtue of the
+names of God, let trees spring up here and a river run beside
+them!' And immediately trees sprang up and a river ran rippling
+and splashing beside them. They made their ablutions and prayed
+and drank of the stream; after which the princess turned up a
+fourth face of the jewel, on which was figured a table of food,
+and said, 'By the virtue of the names of God, let the table be
+spread!' And immediately there appeared before them a table,
+spread with all manner rich meats, and they ate and drank and
+made merry.
+
+Meanwhile, the King's son went in to waken his father, but found
+him slain and seeing the scroll, took it and read. Then he sought
+his sister and finding her not, betook himself to the old woman
+in the church, of whom he enquired of her, but she said, 'I have
+not seen her since yesterday.' So he returned to the troops and
+cried out, saying, 'To horse, cavaliers!' Then he told them what
+had happened, and they mounted and rode after the fugitives, till
+they drew near the pavilion. Presently, Husn Meryem looked up and
+saw a cloud of dust, which spread till it covered the prospect,
+then lifted and discovered her brother and his troops, crying
+aloud and saying, 'Whither will ye fly, and we on your track!'
+Then said she to Alaeddin, 'Art thou steadfast in battle?' 'Even
+as the stake in bran,' answered he; 'I know not war nor battle,
+neither swords nor spears.' So she pulled out the jewel and
+rubbed the fifth face, that on which were depictured a horse and
+his rider, and straightway a horseman appear out of the desert
+and driving at the pursuing host, ceased not to do battle with
+them and smite them with the sword, till he routed them and put
+them to flight. Then said the princess to Alaeddin, 'Wilt thou go
+to Cairo or to Alexandria?' And he answered, 'To Alexandria.'
+So they mounted the couch and she pronounced over it the
+conjuration, whereupon it set off with them and brought them to
+Alexandria in the twinkling of an eye. They alighted without the
+city and Alaeddin hid the women in a cavern, whilst he went into
+Alexandria and fetched them veils and outer clothing, wherewith
+he covered them. Then he carried them to his ship and leaving
+them in the room behind it, went forth to fetch them the morning
+meal, when he met Ahmed ed Denef coming from Baghdad. He saw him
+in the street and received him with open arms, embracing him and
+welcoming him. Ed Denef gave him the good news of his son Aslan
+and how he was now come to the age of twenty; and Alaeddin, in
+his turn, told the captain of the guard all that had befallen
+him, whereat he marvelled exceedingly. Then he brought him to his
+lodging, where they passed the night; and next day he sold his
+shop and laid its price with his other monies. Now Ed Denef had
+told him that the Khalif sought him; but he said, 'I am bound
+first for Cairo, to salute my father and mother and the people of
+my house.' So they all mounted the couch and it carried them to
+Cairo the Happy, where they alighted in the street called Yellow,
+where stood Shemseddin's house. Alaeddin knocked at the door, and
+his mother said, 'Who is at the door, now that we have lost our
+beloved?' 'It is I, Alaeddin,' replied he; whereupon they came
+down and embraced him. Then he sent his wives and baggage into
+the house and entering himself with Ahmed ed Denef, rested there
+three days, after which he was minded to set out for Baghdad and
+his father said, 'O my son, abide with me.' But he answered, 'I
+cannot brook to be parted from my son Aslan.' So he took his
+father and mother and set out for Baghdad. When they came
+thither, Ahmed ed Denef went in to the Khalif and gave him the
+glad tidings of Alaeddin's arrival and told him his story;
+whereupon the Prince went forth to meet him, accompanied by his
+son Aslan, and they met and embraced each other. Then the Khalif
+sent for Ahmed Kemakim and said to Alaeddin, 'Up and avenge thee
+of thine enemy!' So he drew his sword and smote off Ahmed's head.
+Then the Khalif held festival for Alaeddin and summoning the
+Cadis and the witnesses, married him to the princess Husn Meryem;
+and he went in to her and found her an unpierced pearl. Moreover,
+the Khalif made Aslan Chief of the Sixty and bestowed upon him
+and his father sumptuous dresses of honour; and they abode in the
+enjoyment of all the comforts and pleasures of life, till there
+came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of
+Companies.
+
+
+
+
+           HATIM ET TAÏ: HIS GENEROSITY AFTER DEATH.
+
+
+
+It is told of Hatim et Taï[FN#120], that when he died, they
+buried him on the top of a mountain and set over his grave two
+boughs hewn out of two rocks and stone figures of women with
+dishevelled hair. At the foot of the hill was a stream of running
+water, and when wayfarers camped there, they heard loud crying in
+the night, from dark till daybreak; but when they arose in the
+morning, they found nothing but the girls carved in stone. Now
+when Dhoulkeraa, King of Himyer, going forth of his tribe, came
+to the valley, he halted to pass the night there and drawing near
+the mountain, heard the crying and said, 'What lamenting is that
+on yonder hill?' They answered him, saying, 'This is the tomb of
+Hatim et Taï, over which are two troughs of stone and stone
+figures of girls with dishevelled hair; and all who camp in this
+place by night hear this crying and lamenting.' So he said
+jestingly, 'O Hatim et Taï, we are thy guests this night, and we
+are lank with hunger.' Then sleep overcame him, but presently he
+awoke in affright and cried out, saying, 'Help, O Arabs! Look at
+my beast!' So they came to him and finding his she-camel
+struggling in the death-agony, slaughtered it and roasted its
+flesh and ate. Then they asked him what had happened and he said,
+'When I closed my eyes, I saw in my sleep Hatim et Taï, who came
+to me with a sword in his hand and said to me, "Thou comest to us
+and we have nothing by us." Then he smote my she-camel with his
+sword, and she would have died, though ye had not come to her and
+cut her throat.' Next morning the prince mounted the beast of one
+of his companions and taking the latter up behind him, set out
+and fared on till midday, when they saw a man coming towards
+them, mounted on a camel and leading another, and said to him,
+'Who art thou?' 'I am Adi, son of Hatim et Taï,' answered he.
+'Where is Dhoulkeraa, prince of Himyer?' 'This is he,' replied
+they, and he said to the prince, 'Take this camel in place of
+thine own, which my father slaughtered for thee.' 'Who told thee
+of this?' asked Dhoulkeraa, and Adi answered, 'My father appeared
+to me in a dream last night and said to me, "Harkye, Adi;
+Dhoulkeraa, King of Himyer, sought hospitality of me and I,
+having nought to give him, slaughtered him his she-camel, that he
+might eat: so do thou carry him a she-camel to ride, for I have
+nothing."' And Dhoulkeraa took her, marvelling at the generosity
+of Hatim et Taï, alive and dead.
+
+
+
+
+              MAAN BEN ZAÏDEH AND THE THREE GIRLS.
+
+
+
+It is told of Maan ben Zaïdeh[FN#121] that, being out one day
+a-hunting, he became athirst and would have drunk, but his men
+had no water with them. Presently, he met three damsels, bearing
+three skins of water; so he begged drink of them, and they gave
+him to drink. Then he sought of his men somewhat to give the
+damsels; but they had no money; so he gave each girl ten
+golden-headed arrows from his quiver. Whereupon quoth one of them
+to her mates, 'Harkye! These fashions pertain to none but Maan
+ben Zaïdeh; so let each of us recite somewhat of verse in his
+praise.' Then said the first:
+
+
+He heads his shafts with gold and shooting at his foes, Dispenses
+     thus largesse and bounties far and wide,
+Giving the wounded man wherewith to get him cure And
+     grave-clothes unto him must in the tombs abide.
+
+And the second:
+
+A warrior, for the great excess of his magnificence, both friends
+     and foes enjoy the goods his liberal hands dispense.
+His arrowheads are forged of gold, that so his very wars May not
+     estop his generous soul from its munificence.
+
+And the third:
+
+With arrows he shoots at his foes, of his generosity, Whose heads
+     are fashioned and forged of virgin gold, in steel's room;
+That those whom he wounds may spend the price of the gold for
+     their cure And those that are slain of his shafts may buy
+     them the wede of the tomb.
+
+
+
+
+                MAAN BEN ZAÏDEH AND THE BEDOUIN.
+
+
+
+It is told also of Maan ben Zaïdeh that he went forth one day to
+the chase with his company, and they came upon a herd of
+gazelles. So they separated in pursuit of them and Maan was left
+alone in chase of one of the gazelles. When he had made prize of
+it, he alighted and slaughtered it; and as he was thus engaged,
+he espied a man coming towards him on an ass. So he remounted and
+riding up to the new-comer, saluted him and asked him whence he
+came. Quoth he, 'I come from the land of Cuzaäh, where we have
+had a two years' dearth; but this year it was a season of plenty
+and I sowed cucumbers. They came up before their time, so I
+gathered the best of them and set out to carry them to the Amir
+Maan ben Zaïdeh, because of his well-known generosity and
+notorious munificence.' 'How much cost thou hope to get of him?'
+asked Maan, and the Bedouin answered, 'A thousand diners.' 'What
+if he say, "This is too much"?' quoth Maan. 'Then I will ask five
+hundred diners,' said the Bedouin. 'And if he say, "Too much"?'
+said Maan. 'Then three hundred,' replied the other. 'And if he
+say yet, "Too much"?' 'Then two hundred.' 'And yet, "Too much"?'
+'Then one hundred.' 'And yet, "Too much"?' 'Then fifty.' 'And
+yet, "Too much"?' 'Then thirty.' 'And if he still say, "Too
+much"?' said Maan ben Zaïdeh. 'Then,' answered the Bedouin, 'I
+will make my ass set his feet in his sanctuary[FN#122] and return
+to my people, disappointed and empty-handed.' Maan laughed at him
+and spurring his horse, rode on till he came up with his suite
+and returned home, when he said to his chamberlain, 'If there
+come a man with cucumbers, riding on an ass, admit him.'
+Presently up came the Bedouin and was admitted to Maan's
+presence, but knew him not for the man he had met in the desert,
+by reason of the gravity and majesty of his aspect and the
+multitude of his servants and attendants, for he was seated on
+his chair of estate, with his officers about him. So he saluted
+him and Maan said to him, 'O brother of the Arabs, what brings
+thee?' 'I hoped in the Amir,' answered the Bedouin, 'and have
+brought him cucumbers out of season.' 'And how much cost thou
+expect of us?' asked Maan. 'A thousand diners,' answered the
+Bedouin. 'Too much,' said Maan. Quoth the Bedouin, 'Five
+hundred;' but Maan repeated, 'Too much.' 'Then three hundred,'
+said the Bedouin. 'Too much,' said Maan. 'Two hundred.' 'Too
+much' 'One hundred.' 'Too much' 'Fifty.' 'Too much.' At last the
+Bedouin came down to thirty diners; but Maan still replied, 'Too
+much.' 'By Allah,' cried the Bedouin, 'the man I met in the
+desert brought me ill luck! But I will not go lower than thirty
+diners.' The Amir laughed and said nothing; whereupon the Bedouin
+knew that it was he whom he had met and said, 'O my lord, except
+thou bring the thirty diners, there is the ass tied ready at the
+door and here sits Maan.' At this, Maan laughed, till he fell
+backward, and calling his steward, said to him, 'Give him a
+thousand diners and five hundred and three hundred and two
+hundred and one hundred and fifty and thirty and leave the ass
+where he is.' So the Bedouin, to his amazement, received two
+thousand and nine score diners, and may God have mercy on them
+both!
+
+
+
+
+                      THE CITY OF LEBTAIT.
+
+
+
+There was once a city in the land of the Franks, called the City
+of Lebtait.[FN#123] It was a royal city and in it stood a tower
+which was always shut. Whenever a King died and another King of
+the Franks took the Kingship after him, he set a new and strong
+lock on the tower, till there were four-and-twenty locks upon
+the gate. After this time, there came to the throne a man who was
+not of the old royal house, and he had a mind to open the locks,
+that he might see what was within the tower. The grandees of his
+kingdom forbade him from this and were instant with him to
+desist, offering him all that their hands possessed of riches and
+things of price, if he would but forego his desire; but he would
+not be baulked and said, 'Needs must I open this tower.' So he
+did off the locks and entering, found within figures of Arabs on
+their horses and camels, covered with turbans with hanging ends,
+girt with swords and bearing long lances in their hands. He found
+there also a scroll, with these words written therein: 'Whenas
+this door is opened, a people of the Arabs, after the likeness of
+the figures here depictured, will conquer this country; wherefore
+beware, beware of opening it.' Now this city was in Spain, and
+that very year Tarik ibn Ziyad conquered it, in the Khalifate of
+Welid ben Abdulmelik[FN#124] of the sons of Umeyyeh, slaying this
+King after the sorriest fashion and sacking the city and making
+prisoners of the women and boys therein. Moreover, he found there
+immense treasures; amongst the rest more than a hundred and
+seventy crowns of pearls and rubies and other gems, and a saloon,
+in which horsemen might tilt with spears, full of vessels of gold
+and silver, such as no description can comprise. Moreover, he
+found there also the table of food of the prophet of God, Solomon
+son of David (on whom be peace), which is extant even now in a
+city of the Greeks; it is told that it was of green emerald, with
+vessels of gold and platters of chrysolite; likewise, the Psalms
+written in the [ancient] Greek character, on leaves of gold set
+with jewels, together with a book setting forth the properties of
+stones and herbs and minerals, as well as the use of charms and
+talismans and the canons of the art of alchemy, and another
+that treated of the art of cutting and setting rubies and
+other [precious] stones and of the preparation of poisons
+and antidotes. There found he also a representation of the
+configuration of the earth and the seas and the different towns
+and countries and villages of the world and a great hall full of
+hermetic powder, one drachm of which would turn a thousand
+drachms of silver into fine gold; likewise a marvellous great
+round mirror of mixed metals, made for Solomon son of David (on
+whom be peace), wherein whoso looked might see the very image and
+presentment of the seven divisions of the world, and a chamber
+full of carbuncles, such as no words can suffice to set forth,
+many camel-loads. So he despatched all these things to Welid ben
+Abdulmelik, and the Arabs spread all over the cities of Spain,
+which is one of the finest of lands. This is the end of the story
+of the City of Lebtait.
+
+
+
+
+             THE KHALIF HISHAM AND THE ARAB YOUTH.
+
+
+
+The Khalif Hisham ben Abdulmelik ben Merwan was hunting one day,
+when he sighted an antelope and pursued it with his dogs. As he
+was following the chase, he saw an Arab youth pasturing sheep and
+said to him, 'Ho, boy, up and stop yonder antelope, for it
+escapeth me!' The youth raised his head and replied, 'O ignorant
+of the worth of the worthy,[FN#125] thou lookest on me with
+disdain and speakest to me with contempt; thy speech is that of a
+tyrant and thy conduct that of an ass.' 'Out on thee,' cried
+Hisham. 'Dost thou not know me?' 'Verily,' rejoined the youth,
+'thine unmannerliness hath made thee known to me, in that thou
+spokest to me, without beginning by the salutation."[FN#126] 'Out
+on thee!' repeated the Khalif. 'I am Hisham ben Abdulmelik.' 'May
+God not favour thy dwellings,' replied the Arab, 'nor guard
+thine abiding-place! How many are thy words and how few thy
+generosities!' Hardly had he spoken, when up came the troops from
+all sides and surrounded him, saying, 'Peace be on thee, O
+Commander of the Faithful!' Quoth Hisham, 'Leave this talk and
+seize me yonder boy.' So they laid hands on him; and when he saw
+the multitude of chamberlains and viziers and officers of state,
+he was in nowise concerned and questioned not of them, but let
+his chin fall on his breast and looked where his feet fell, till
+they brought him to the Khalif,[FN#127] when he stood before him,
+with head bowed down, and saluted him not neither spoke. So one
+of the attendants said to him, 'O dog of the Arabs, what ails
+thee that thou salutest not the Commander of the Faithful?' The
+youth turned to him angrily and replied, 'O packsaddle of an ass,
+the length of the way it was that hindered me from this and the
+steepness of the steps and sweat.' Then said Hisham (and indeed
+he was exceeding wroth), 'O boy, thou art come to thy last hour;
+thy hope is gone from thee and thy life is past.' 'By Allah, O
+Hisham,' answered the Arab, 'if the time[FN#128] be prolonged and
+its cutting short be not ordained of destiny, thy words irk me
+not, be they much or little.' Then said the (chief) chamberlain
+to him, 'O vilest of the Arabs, what art thou to bandy words with
+the Commander of the Faithful?' He answered promptly, 'Mayest
+thou meet with adversity and may woe and mourning never depart
+from thee! Hast thou not heard the saying of God the Most
+High? "One day, every soul shall come to give an account of
+itself."'[FN#129] "At this, Hisham rose, in great wrath, and
+said, 'O headsman, bring me his head; for indeed he multiplies
+talk, such as passes conception, and fears not reproach.' So the
+headsman took him and making him kneel on the carpet of blood,
+drew his sword and said to the Khalif, 'O Commander of the
+Faithful, shall I smite off the head of this thy misguided slave,
+who is on the way to his grave, and be quit of his blood?' 'Yes,'
+replied Hisham. He repeated his question and the Khalif again
+replied in the affirmative. Then he asked leave a third time, and
+the youth, knowing that, if the Khalif assented yet once more, it
+would be the signal of his death, laughed till his wang-teeth
+appeared; at which Hisham's wrath redoubled and he said to him,
+'O boy, meseems thou art mad; seest thou not that thou art about
+to depart the world? Why then dost thou laugh in mockery of
+thyself?' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' answered the young Arab,
+'if my life is to be prolonged, none can hurt me, great or small;
+but I have bethought me of some verses, which do thou hear, for
+my death cannot escape thee.' 'Say on and be brief,' replied
+Hisham; so the Arab repeated the following verses: A hawk once
+seized a sparrow, so have I heard men say, A sparrow of the
+desert, that fate to him did throw; And as the hawk was flying to
+nestward with his prize, The sparrow in his clutches did thus
+bespeak his foe: "There's nought in me the stomach of such as
+thou to stay; Indeed, I'm all too paltry to fill thy maw, I
+trow." The hawk was pleased and flattered with pride and self
+conceit;   He smiled for self-contentment and let the sparrow go.
+At this Hisham smiled and said, 'By my kinship to the Prophet
+(whom God bless and preserve), had he spoken thus at first, I had
+given him all he asked, except the Khalifate!' Then he bade his
+servants stuff his mouth with jewels and entreat him courteously;
+so they did as he bade them and the Arab went his way.
+
+
+
+
+                  IBRAHIM BEN EL MEHDI AND THE
+                        BARBER-SURGEON.
+
+
+
+When the Khalifate fell to El Mamoun the son of Haroun er Reshid,
+the latter's brother Ibrahim, son of El Mehdi, refused to
+acknowledge his nephew and betook himself to Er Rei,[FN#130]
+where he proclaimed himself Khalif and abode thus a year and
+eleven months and twelve days.  Meanwhile Mamoun remained
+awaiting his return to allegiance, till, at last, despairing of
+this, he mounted with his horsemen and footmen and repaired to Er
+Rei in quest of him.  When the news came to Ibrahim, he found
+nothing for it but to flee to Baghdad and hide there, fearing for
+his life; and Mamoun set a price of a hundred thousand dinars
+upon his head.
+
+(Quoth Ibrahim) 'Now when I heard of this price being set upon my
+head, I feared for myself and knew not what to do: so I disguised
+myself and went forth of my house at midday, knowing not whither
+I should go.  Presently, I entered a street that had no issue and
+said in myself, "Verily, we are God's and to Him we return!  I
+have exposed myself to destruction.  If I retrace my steps, I
+shall arouse suspicion."  Then I espied, at the upper end of the
+street, a negro standing at his door; so I went up to him and
+said to him, "Hast thou a place where I may abide awhile of the
+day?"  "Yes," answered he, and opening the door, admitted me into
+a decent house, furnished with carpets and mats and cushions of
+leather.  Then he shut the door on me and went away; and I
+misdoubted me he had heard of the reward offered for me and said
+in myself, "He has gone to inform against me."  But, as I sat
+pondering my case and boiling like the pot over the fire, my host
+came back, followed by a porter loaded with meat and bread and
+new cooking-pots and goblets and a new jar and other needful
+gear.  He took them from the porter and dismissing him, said to
+me, "I make myself thy ransom!  I am a barber-surgeon, and I know
+it would mislike thee to eat with me, because of the way in which
+I get my living; so do thou shift for thyself with these things
+whereon no hand hath fallen."  Now I was anhungred; so I cooked
+me a pot of meat, whose like I mind me not ever to have eaten;
+and when I had done my desire, he  said to me, "O my lord, God
+make me thy ransom!  Art thou for wine?  Indeed, it gladdens the
+soul and does away care."  "I have no objection," replied I,
+being desirous of his company; so he brought me new flagons of
+glass, that no hand had touched, and a jar of excellent wine,
+and said to me, "Mix for thyself, to thy liking."  So I cleared
+the wine and mixed myself a most pleasant draught.  Then he
+brought me a new cup and fruits and flowers in new vessels of
+earthenware; after which he said to me, "Wilt thou give me leave
+to sit apart and drink of wine of my own by myself, of my joy in
+thee and for thee?"  "Do so."  answered I.  So we drank, he and
+I, till the wine began to take effect upon us, when he rose and
+going to a closet, took out a lute of polished wood and said to
+me, "O my lord, it is not for the like of me to ask thee to sing,
+but it behoves thine exceeding generosity to render my respect
+its due; so, an thou see fit to honour thy slave, thine is the
+august decision."  Quoth I (and indeed I thought not that he knew
+me), "How knowest thou that I excel in song?"  "Glory be to God!"
+answered he.  "Our lord is too well renowned for that![FN#131]
+Thou art my lord Ibrahim, son of El Mehdi, our Khalif of
+yesterday, he on whose head Mamoun hath set a price of a hundred
+thousand dinars: but thou art in safety with me."  When I heard
+him say this, he was magnified in my eyes and his loyalty was
+certified to me; so I complied with his wish and took the lute
+and tuned it.  Then I bethought me of my severance from my
+children and my family and sang the following verses:
+
+It may be that He, who restored his folk to Joseph of old And
+     raised him to high estate from the prison where in bonds he
+     lay,
+Will hear our prayer and unite us; for Allah, the Lord of the
+     worlds, All-powerful is, and His puissance knows neither let
+     nor stay.
+
+When the barber heard this, exceeding delight took possession of
+him and he was of great good cheer; (for it is said that when
+Ibrahim's neighbours heard him [but] say, "Ho, boy, saddle the
+mule!"  they were filled with delight).  Then, being overborne by
+mirth, he said to me (continues Ibrahim), "O my lord, wilt thou
+give me leave to say what is come to my mind, for all I am not of
+the folk of the craft?"  "Do so," answered I; "this is of thy
+great courtesy and kindness."  So he took the lute and sang the
+following verses:
+
+Unto our loved ones we made our moan of our nights so long and
+     drear; And lo, "How short is the night with us!" quoth they
+     we hold so dear.
+This is because quick-coming sleep closes their happy eyes, But
+     slumber comes not to close our lids, that burn with many a
+     tear.
+When the night approaches, the night so dread and drear to those
+     that love, We are oppressed with grief; but they rejoice,
+     when the night draws near.
+Had they but drunken our bitter cup and suffered of our dole,
+     Then were their nights as ours, as long and full of heavy
+     cheer.
+
+"Thou hast acquitted thee rarely, O my friend," said I, "and hast
+done away from me the pangs of sorrow.  Let me hear more trifles
+of thy fashion."  So he sang these verses:
+
+So a man's honour be unstained and free of all impair, Lo, every
+     garment that he dights on him is fit and fair.
+She taunted me, because, forsooth, our numbers were but few; But
+     I "The noble," answer made, "are ever few and rare."
+It irks us nought that we are few and eke our neighbour great,
+     For all the neighbours of most folk are scant and mean
+     elsewhere;
+For we're a folk, that deem not death an evil nor reproach,
+     Albeit Aamir and Seloul so deem, of their despair.
+The love of death that is in us brings near our ends to us, But
+     theirs, who loathe and rail at it, are long and far to fare.
+We, an it like us, give the lie to others of their speech; But,
+     when we speak, no man on earth to gainsay us doth dare.
+
+When I heard this, I was filled with delight and marvelled
+exceedingly.  Then I slept and awoke not till past nightfall,
+when I washed my face, with a mind full of the high worth of this
+barber-surgeon; after which I aroused him and taking out a purse
+I had with me, containing a considerable sum of money, threw it
+to him, saying, "I commend thee to God, for I am about to go
+forth from thee, and beg thee to spend what is in this purse on
+thine occasions; and thou shalt have an abounding reward of me,
+when I am quit of my fear."  But he returned it to me, saying, "O
+my lord, poor wretches like myself are of no value in thine eyes;
+but how, for mine own dignity's sake, can I take a price for the
+boon which fortune hath vouchsafed me of thy favour and company?
+By Allah, if thou repeat thy words and throw the purse to me
+again, I will kill myself."  So I put the purse in my sleeve (and
+indeed its weight was irksome to me) and would have gone away;
+but when I came to the door of the house, he said to me, "O my
+lord, this is a safer hiding-place for thee than another, and thy
+keep is no burden to me; so do thou abide with me, till God grant
+thee relief."  So I turned back, saying, "On condition that thou
+spend of the money in this purse."  He let me believe that he
+consented to this, and I abode with him some days in the utmost
+comfort; but, perceiving that he spent none of the contents of
+the purse, I revolted at the idea of abiding at his charge and
+thought shame to be a burden on him; so I disguised myself in
+women's apparel, donning walking-boots and veil, and left his
+house.
+
+When I found myself in the street, I was seized with excessive
+fear, and going to pass the bridge, came to a place sprinkled
+with water, where a trooper, who had been in my service, saw me
+and knowing me, cried out, saying, "This is he whom Mamoun
+seeks!"  Then he laid hold of me, but the love of life lent me
+strength and I gave him a push, which threw him and his horse
+down in that slippery place, so that he became an example to
+those who will take warning and the folk hastened to him.
+Meanwhile, I hurried on over the bridge and entered a street,
+where I saw the door of a house open and a woman standing in the
+vestibule.  So I said to her, "O my lady, have pity on me and
+save my life; for I am a man in fear."  Quoth she, "Enter and
+welcome;" and carried me into an upper chamber, where she spread
+me a bed and brought me food, saying, "Calm thy fear, for not a
+soul shall know of thee."  As she spoke, there came a loud
+knocking at the door; so she went and opened, and lo, it was my
+friend whom I had thrown down on the bridge, with his head bound
+up, the blood running down upon his clothes and without his
+horse.  "O so and so," said she, "what hath befallen thee?"
+Quoth he, "I made prize of the man [whom the Khalif seeks] and he
+escaped from me."  And told her the whole story.  So she brought
+out tinder and applying it to his head, bound it up with a piece
+of rag; after which she spread him a bed and he lay sick.  Then
+she came up to me and said, "Methinks thou art the man in
+question?"  "I am," answered I, and she said, "Fear not: no harm
+shall befall thee," and redoubled in kindness to me.
+
+I abode with her three days, at the end of which time she said to
+me, "I am in fear for thee, lest yonder man happen upon thee and
+betray thee to what thou dreadest; so save thyself by flight."  I
+besought her to let me tarry till nightfall, and she said, "There
+is no harm in that."  So, when the night came, I put on my
+woman's attire and taking leave of her, betook me to the house of
+a freed woman, who had once been mine.  When she saw me, she wept
+and made a show of affliction and praised God the Most High for
+my safety.  Then she went forth, as if she would go to the
+market, in the interests of hospitality, and I thought no harm;
+but, ere long, I espied Ibrahim el Mausili[FN#132] making for the
+house, with his servants and troopers, led by a woman whom I
+knew for the mistress of the house.  She brought them to my
+hiding-place and delivered me into their hands, and I saw death
+face to face.  They carried me, in my woman's attire, to Mamoun,
+who called a general council and let bring me before him.  When I
+entered I saluted him by the title of Khalif, saying, "Peace be
+on thee, O Commander of the Faithful!"  and he replied, "May God
+neither give thee peace nor bless thee!"  "At thy leisure, O
+Commander of the Faithful!"  rejoined I.  "It is for him in whose
+hand is revenge[FN#133] to decree retaliation or forgiveness; but
+forgiveness is nigher to the fear of God, and God hath set thy
+forgiveness above all other, even as He hath made my sin to excel
+all other sin.  So, if thou punish, it is of thy right, and if
+thou pardon, it is of thy bounty."  And I repeated the following
+verses:
+
+Great is my sin, in sooth, 'gainst thee, But thou art greater
+     still, perdie.
+So take thy due of me, or else Remit it of thy clemency.
+If of the noble I've not been Indeed, yet do thou of them be.
+
+At this he raised his head to me and I hastened to add these
+verses:
+
+Indeed, I've offended full sore, But thou art disposed to
+     forgive.
+'Twere justice to punish my crime And grace to allow me to live.
+
+Then he bowed his head and repeated the following verses:
+
+Whenas a friend against me doth grievously offend And maketh me
+     with anger to choke, yet in the end,
+I pardon his offending and take him back again Into my favour,
+     fearing to live without a friend.
+
+When I heard this, I scented the odour of mercy, knowing his
+disposition to clemency.  Then he turned to his son El Abbas and
+his brother Abou Ishac and other his chief officers there
+present and said to them, "What deem ye of his case!"  They all
+counselled him to slay me, but differed as to the manner of my
+death.  Then said he to Ahmed ibn Ali Khalid,[FN#134] "And what
+sayst thou, O Ahmed?"  "O Commander of the Faithful," answered
+he, "if thou put him to death, we find thy like who hath slain
+the like of him; but, if thou pardon him, we find not the like of
+thee that hath pardoned the like of him."  At this Mamoun bowed
+his head and repeated the following verse:
+
+The people of my tribe, they have my brother slain; But, an I
+     shoot, my shaft reverts to me again.
+
+And also these:
+
+Use not thy brother with despite, Although he mingle wrong with
+     right,
+And still be kind to him, all be With thanklessness he thee
+     requite;
+And if he go astray and err One day, revile thou not the wight.
+Seest not that loved and loathed at once In every way of life
+     unite?
+That by the annoy of hoary hairs Embittered is long life's
+     delight,
+And that the bristling thorns beset The branch with pleasant
+     fruits bedight?
+Who is it doth good deeds alone And who hath never wrought
+     unright?
+Prove but the age's sons, thou'lt find The most have fallen from
+     the light.
+
+When I heard this, I uncovered my head and cried out, saying,
+"God is most great!  By Allah, the Commander of the Faithful
+pardons me!"  Quoth he, "No harm shall come to thee, O uncle."
+And I, "O Commander of the Faithful, my offence is too great for
+me to attempt to extenuate it and thy pardon is too great for me
+to speak a word of thanks for it."  And I chanted the following
+verses:
+
+
+Sure, He, who made the virtues all, stored them in Adam's loins
+     For His high-priest, the seventh prince of Abbas' royal
+     seed!
+The hearts of all the folk are filled with reverence for thee,
+     And thou, with meek and humble heart, dost keep them all and
+     lead.
+Error-deluded as I was, against thee I rebelled, Intent on
+     covetise alone and base ambitious greed;
+Yet hast thou pardon giv'n to one, the like of whom before Was
+     never pardoned, though for him no one with thee did plead,
+And on a mother's bleeding heart hadst ruth and little ones, Like
+     to the desert-grouse's young, didst pity in their need.
+
+Quoth Mamoun, "I say, like our lord Joseph (on whom and on our
+Prophet be peace and blessing), 'There shall be no reproach on
+thee this day.  God will forgive thee, for He is the Most
+Merciful of the Merciful ones.'[FN#135] Indeed, I pardon thee, O
+uncle, and restore thee thy goods and lands, and no harm shall
+befall thee."  So I offered up devout prayers for him and
+repeated the following verses:
+
+My wealth thou hast given me again and hast not begrudged it to
+     me; Yea, and to boot, before this, my life and my blood thou
+     didst spare.
+So if, thine approval to win, I lavish my blood and my wealth And
+     e'en to the shoe off my foot, in thy service, I strip myself
+     bare,
+'Twere but the restoring to thee of the loans that I owe to thy
+     grace Which none might reproach thee nor blame, I trow,
+     hadst thou chos'n to forbear.
+Ungrateful henceforth if I prove for the favours vouchsafed me by
+     thee, Still worthier of blame than thyself of honour and
+     reverence I were.
+
+Then Mamoun showed me honour and favour and said to me, "O uncle,
+Abou Ishac and Abbas counselled me to put thee to death."  "And
+they counselled thee right loyally, O Commander of the Faithful,"
+answered I; "but thou hast done after thine own nature and hast
+put away what I feared with what I hoped."  "O uncle," rejoined
+he, "thou didst extinguish my rancour with the humbleness of
+thine excuse, and I pardon thee without making thee drink the
+bitterness of obligation to intercessors."  Then he prostrated
+himself in prayer a long while, after which he raised his head
+and said to me, "O uncle, knowest thou why I prostrated myself?"
+"Haply," answered I, "thou didst this in thanksgiving to God, for
+that He hath given thee the mastery over thine enemy."  "Not so,"
+rejoined he, "but to thank Him for having inspired me to pardon
+thee and purified my mind towards thee.  Now tell me thy story."
+So I told him all that had befallen me and he sent for the
+freed-woman, who was in her house, expecting the reward.  When
+she came, he said to her, "What moved thee to deal thus with thy
+lord?"  And she answered, "Lust of money."  "Hast thou a child or
+a husband?"  asked the Khalif; and she said, "No."  So he bade
+give her a hundred blows with a whip and imprisoned her for life.
+Then he sent for the soldier and his wife and the barber-surgeon
+and asked the former what had moved him to do thus.  "Lust of
+money," answered he; whereupon quoth the Khalif, "It befits that
+thou be a  barber-surgeon,"[FN#136] and committed him to one whom
+he charged to place him in a barber's shop, where he might learn
+the craft.  But his wife he entreated with honour and lodged in
+his palace, saying, "This is a woman of sense and apt for matters
+of moment."  Then said he to the barber-surgeon, "Verily, what
+has come to light of thy worth and generosity calls for
+extraordinary honour."  So he commanded the trooper's house and
+all that was therein to be given him and bestowed on him a dress
+of honour and fifteen thousand dinars.'
+
+
+
+
+                       THE CITY OF IREM.
+
+
+
+It is related that Abdallah ben Abou Kilabeh went forth in quest
+of a camel that had strayed from him; and as he was wandering in
+the deserts of Yemen and Sebaa, he came upon a great city in
+whose midst was a vast citadel compassed about with pavilions,
+that rose high into the air. He made for the place, thinking to
+find there inhabitants, of whom he might enquire concerning his
+camel; but, when he reached it, he found it deserted, without a
+living soul in it. So (quoth Abdallah), 'I alighted and hobbling
+my she-camel, took courage and entered the city. When I came to
+the citadel, I found it had two vast gates, never in the world
+was seen their like for size and loftiness, inlaid with all
+manner jewels and jacinths, white and red and yellow and green.
+At this I marvelled greatly and entering the citadel, trembling
+and dazed with wonder and affright, found it long and wide, as it
+were a city[FN#137] for bigness; and therein were lofty storied
+pavilions, builded of gold and silver and inlaid with many-
+coloured jewels and jacinths and chrysolites and pearls. The
+leaves of their doors were even as those of the citadel for
+beauty and their floors strewn with great pearls and balls, as
+they were hazel-nuts, of musk and ambergris and saffron. When I
+came within the city and saw no human being therein, I had nigh-
+well swooned and died for fear. Moreover, I looked down from the
+summit of the towers and balconies and saw rivers running under
+them; in the streets were fruit-laden trees and tall palms, and
+the manner of the building of the city was one brick of gold and
+one of silver. So I said to myself, "Doubtless this is the
+Paradise promised for the world to come." Then I took of the
+jewels of its gravel and the musk of its dust as much as I could
+bear and returned to my own country, where I told the folk what I
+had seen.
+
+After awhile, the news reached Muawiyeh ben Abou Sufyan, who was
+then Khalif in the Hejaz; so he wrote to his lieutenant in Senaa
+of Yemen to send for the teller of the story and question him of
+the truth of the case. Accordingly the lieutenant sent for me and
+questioned me, and I told him what I had seen; whereupon he
+despatched me to Muawiyeh, to whom I repeated my story; but he
+would not credit it. So I brought out to him some of the pearls
+and balls of musk and ambergris and saffron, in which latter
+there was still some sweet smell; but the pearls were grown
+yellow and discoloured. The Khalif wondered at this and sending
+for Kaab el Ahbar,[FN#138], said to him, "O Kaab el Ahbar, I have
+sent for thee to learn the truth of a certain matter and hope
+that thou wilt be able to certify me thereanent." "What is it, O
+Commander of the Faithful?" asked Kaab, and Muawiyeh said,
+"Wottest thou of a city builded of gold and silver, the pillars
+whereof are of rubies and chrysolites and its gravel pearls and
+balls of musk and ambergris and saffron?" "Yes, O Commander of
+the Faithful," answered Kaab. "It is Irem of the Columns, the
+like of which was never made in the lands,'[FN#139] and it was
+Sheddad son of Aad the Great that built it." Quoth the Khalif,
+"Tell us of its history," and Kaab said, "Aad the Great had two
+sons, Shedid and Sheddad. When their father died, they ruled in
+his stead, and there was no king of the kings of the earth but
+was subject to them. After awhile Shedid died and his brother
+Sheddad reigned over the earth alone. Now he was fond of reading
+in old books, and happening upon the description of the world to
+come and of Paradise, with its pavilions and galleries and trees
+and fruits and so forth, his soul moved him to build the like
+thereof in this world, after the fashion aforesaid.[FN#140] Now
+under his hand were a hundred thousand kings, each ruling over a
+hundred thousand captains, commanding each a hundred thousand
+warriors; so he called these all before him and said to them, 'I
+find in old books and histories a description of Paradise, as it
+is to be in the next world, and I desire to build its like in
+this world. Go ye forth therefore to the goodliest and most
+spacious tract in the world and build me there a city of gold and
+silver, whose gravel shall be rubies and chrysolites and pearls
+and the columns of its vaults beryl. Fill it with palaces,
+whereon ye shall set galleries and balconies, and plant its lanes
+and thoroughfares with all manner of trees bearing ripe fruits
+and make rivers to run through it in channels of gold and
+silver.' 'How can we avail to do this thing,' answered they, 'and
+whence shall we get the chrysolites and rubies and pearls whereof
+thou speakest?' Quoth he, 'Know ye not that all the kings of the
+word are under my hand and that none that is therein dare gainsay
+my commandment?' 'Yes,' answered they; 'we know that.' 'Get ye
+then,' rejoined he, 'to the mines of chrysolites and rubies and
+gold and silver and to the pearl-fisheries and gather together
+all that is in the world of jewels and metals of price and leave
+nought; and take also for me such of these things as be in men's
+hands and let nothing escape you: be diligent and beware of
+disobedience.'
+
+Then he wrote letters to all the [chief] kings of the world (now
+the number of kings then reigning [in chief] over the earth was
+three hundred and threescore kings) and bade them gather together
+all of these things that were in their subjects' hands and get
+them to the mines of precious stones and metals and bring forth
+all that was therein, even from the abysses of the seas. This
+they accomplished in the space of twenty years, and Sheddad then
+assembled from all lands and countries builders and men of art
+and labourers and handicraftsmen, who dispersed over the world
+and explored all the wastes and deserts thereof, till they came
+to a vast and fair open plain, clear of hills and mountains, with
+springs welling and rivers running, and said, 'This is even such
+a place as the King commanded us to find.' So they busied
+themselves in building the city even as Sheddad, King of the
+whole earth in its length and breadth, had commanded them, laying
+the foundations and leading the rivers therethrough in channels
+after the prescribed fashion. Moreover, all the Kings of the
+earth sent thither jewels and precious stones and pearls large
+and small and cornelian and gold and silver upon camels by land
+and in great ships over the waters, and there came to the
+builders' hands of all these things so great a quantity as may
+neither be told or imagined. They laboured at the work three
+hundred years; and when they had wrought it to end, they went to
+King Sheddad and acquainted him therewith. Then said he, 'Depart
+and make thereto an impregnable citadel, rising high into the
+air, and round it a thousand pavilions, each builded on a
+thousand columns of chrysolite and ruby and vaulted with gold,
+that in each pavilion may dwell a Vizier.' So they returned and
+did this in other twenty years; after which they again presented
+themselves before the King and informed him of the accomplishment
+of his will. Then he commanded his Viziers, who were a thousand
+in number, and his chief officers and such of his troops and
+others as he put trust in, to prepare for departure and removal
+to Many-Columned Irem, at the stirrup of Sheddad son of Aad, king
+of the world; and he bade also such as he would of his women and
+of his female slaves and eunuchs make them ready for the journey.
+They spent twenty years preparing for departure, at the end of
+which time Sheddad set out with his host, rejoicing in the
+attainment of his wish, and fared forward till there remained but
+one day's journey between him and Item. Then God sent down on him
+and on the stubborn unbelievers with him a thunderblast from the
+heavens of His power, which destroyed them all with a mighty
+clamour, and neither he nor any of his company set eyes on the
+city. Moreover, God blotted out the road that led to the city,
+and it stands unchanged, in its stead, until the Resurrection
+Day."
+
+Muawiyeh wondered greatly ad Kaab's story and said to him, "Hath
+any mortal ever made his way to the city?" "Yes," answered Kaab;
+"one of the companions of Mohammed (on whom be peace and
+salvation) reached it, doubtless after the same fashion as this
+man who sits here." And (quoth Es Shaabi) it is related, on the
+authority of learned men of Himyer of Yemen, that Sheddad was
+succeeded in his kingship by his son Sheddad the Less, whom he
+left his viceregent in Hezremout and Sebaa, when he set out for
+Irem. When he heard of his father's death on the road, he caused
+his body to be brought back to Hezremout and let hew him out a
+sepulchre in a cavern, where he laid the body on a throne of gold
+and threw over it threescore and ten robes of cloth of gold,
+embroidered with precious stones; and at his head he set up a
+tablet of gold, on which were graven the following verses:
+
+Take warning, thou that by long life Art duped and thinkst to
+     live alway.
+I'm Sheddad son of Aad, a high And mighty monarch in my day;
+Lord of the columned citadel, Great was my prowess in the fray.
+All the world's peoples feared my might And did my ordinance
+     obey;
+Yes, and I held the East and West And ruled them with an iron
+     sway.
+One[FN#141] came to us with God's command And summoned us to the
+     right way
+"Is there no 'scaping from this thing?" Quoth we and did his word
+     gainsay.
+Then on us fell a thunderblast From out the heaven far away,
+And like the sheaves in reaping-time Midmost a field, o'erthrown
+     we lay.
+And now beneath the storied plains Of earth we wait the appointed
+     Day.
+
+(Quoth Eth Thaalibi also) It chanced that two men once entered
+this cavern and found at its upper end a stair; so they descended
+and came to an underground chamber, a hundred cubits long by
+forth wide and a hundred high. In the midst stood a throne of
+gold, whereon lay a man of gigantic stature, filling the whole
+length and breadth of the throne. He was covered with jewelry and
+raiment gold and silver wrought, and at his head was a tablet of
+gold, bearing an inscription. So they took the tablet and bore it
+off, together with as many bars of gold and silver and so forth
+as they could away with.
+
+
+
+
+          ISAAC OF MOSUL'S STORY OF THE LADY KHEDIJEH
+                     AND THE KHALIF MAMOUN
+
+
+
+(Quoth Isaac of Mosul[FN#142]) 'I went out one night from
+Mamoun's presence, on my way to my house, and being taken with a
+need to make water, I turned aside into a by-street and stood up
+against a wall, fearing lest something might hurt me, if I
+squatted down. Presently, I espied something hanging down from
+one of the houses and feeling it, found that it was a great four-
+handled basket, covered with brocade. "There must be some reason
+for this," said I to myself and knew not what to think, then
+drunkenness led me to seat myself in the basket, whereupon the
+people of the house pulled me up, supposing me to be he whom they
+expected. When I came to the top of the wall, I found four
+damsels, who said to me, "Descend and welcome!" Then one of them
+went before me with a flambeau and brought me down into a
+mansion, wherein were furnished sitting-chambers, whose like I
+had never seen, save in the Khalif's palace. So I sat down and
+after awhile, the curtains were drawn from one side of the room
+and in came damsels bearing lighted flambeaux and censers full of
+Sumatran aloes-wood, and amongst them a young lady as she were
+the rising full moon. I rose and she said, "Welcome to thee for a
+visitor!" Then she made me sit down again and asked how I came
+thither. Quoth I, "I was returning home from a friend's house and
+went astray in the dark; then, being taken with an urgent
+occasion, I turned aside into this street, where I found a basket
+let down. The wine which I had drunk led me to seat myself in it
+and it was drawn up with me into this house." "No harm shall
+befall thee," rejoined she, "and I hope thou wilt have cause to
+praise the issue of thine adventure. But what is thy condition?"
+"I am a merchant in the Baghdad bazaar," replied I, and she,
+"Canst thou repeat any verses?" "Some small matter," answered I.
+"Then," said she, "let us hear some of them." But I said, "A
+visitor is [naturally] bashful; do thou begin." "True," answered
+she and recited some of the choicest verses of the poets, past
+and present, so that I knew not whether more to marvel at her
+beauty and grace or at the charm of her diction. Then said she,
+"Is thy bashfulness gone?" "Yes, by Allah!" answered I. "Then, if
+thou wilt," rejoined she, "recite us somewhat." So I repeated to
+her a number of poems by old writers, and she applauded, saying,
+"By Allah I did not look to find such culture among the trader
+folk!"
+
+Then she called for food and fell to taking of it and setting it
+before me; and the place was full of all manner sweet-scented
+flowers and rare fruits, such as are found only in kings' houses.
+Presently, she called for wine and drank a cup, after which she
+filled another and gave it to me, saying, "Now is the time for
+converse and story-telling." So I bethought myself and related to
+her a number of pleasing stories and anecdotes, with which she
+was delighted and said, "It is wonderful that a merchant should
+have such store of tales like unto these, for they are fit for
+kings." Quoth I, "I have a neighbour who uses to consort with
+kings and bear them company at table; so, when he is at leisure,
+I visit his house and he often tells me what he has heard." "By
+my life," exclaimed she, "thou hast a good memory!"
+
+We continued to converse thus, and as often as I was silent, she
+would begin, till the most part of the night was spent, whilst
+the burning aloes-wood diffused its fragrance and I was in such
+case as, if the Khalif had suspected it, would have made him wild
+with longing for it. Then said she to me, "Verily, thou art one
+of the most pleasant and accomplished of men and passing well-
+bred; but there lacks one thing." "What is that?" asked I, and
+she said, "If but thou knewest how to sing verses to the lute!" I
+answered, "I was once passionately fond of this art, but finding
+I had no gift for it, I abandoned it, thou reluctantly. Indeed, I
+should love to sing somewhat well at this present and fulfil my
+night's enjoyment." "Meseemeth thou hintest a wish for the lute
+to be brought?" said she, and I, "It is thine to decide, if thou
+wilt so far favour me, and to thee be the thanks." So she called
+for a lute and sang a song, in a manner whose like I never heard,
+both for sweetness of voice and perfection of style and skill in
+playing, in short, for general excellence. Then said she,
+"Knowest thou who made the air and words of this song?" "No,"
+answered I; and she said, "The words are so and so's and the air
+is Isaac's." "And hath Isaac then (may I be thy ransom!) such a
+talent?" asked I. "Glory be to Isaac!" replied she. "Indeed he
+excels in this art." "Glory be to Allah," exclaimed I, "who hath
+given this man what He hath vouchsafed unto none other!" And she
+said, "How would it be, if thou heardest this song from himself?"
+Thus did we till break of day, when there came to her an old
+woman, as she were her nurse, and said to her, "The time is
+come." So she rose and said to me, "Keep what hath passed between
+us to thyself; for meetings of this kind are in confidence." "May
+I be thy ransom!" answered I. "I needed no enjoinder of this."
+Then I took leave of her and she sent a damsel to open the door
+to me; so I went forth and retuned to my own house, where I
+prayed the morning prayer and slept.
+
+Presently, there came to me a messenger from the Khalif; so I
+went to him and passed the day in his company. When the night
+came, I called to mind my yesternight's pleasure, a thing from
+which none but a fool could be content to abstain, and betook
+myself to the street, where I found the basket, and seating
+myself therein, was drawn up to the place in which I had passed
+the previous night. When the lady saw me, she said, "Indeed, thou
+art assiduous," And I answered, "Meseems rather that I am
+neglectful." Then we fell to conversing and passed the night as
+before in talking and reciting verses and telling rare stories,
+each in turn, till daybreak, when I returned home. I prayed the
+morning prayer and slept, and there came to me a messenger from
+Mamoun. So I went to him and spent the day with him till
+nightfall, when he said to me, "I conjure thee to sit here,
+whilst I go on an occasion and come back." As soon as he was
+gone, my thoughts turned to the lady and calling to mind my late
+delight, I recked little what might befall me from the Commander
+of the Faithful. So I sprang up and going out, ran to the street
+aforesaid, where I sat down in the basket and was drawn up as
+before. When the lady saw me, she said, "Verily, thou art a
+sincere friend to us." "Yea, by Allah!" answered I; and she said,
+"Hath thou made our house thine abiding-place?" "May I be thy
+ransom!" replied I. "A guest hath a right to three days'
+entertainment, and if I return after this, ye are free to shed my
+blood." Then we passed the night as before; and when the time of
+departure drew near, I bethought me that Mamoun would certainly
+question me nor be content save with a full explanation: so I
+said to her, "I see thee to be of those who delight in singing.
+Now I have a cousin who is handsomer than I and higher of station
+and more accomplished; and he is the most intimate of all God's
+creatures with Isaac." "Art thou a spunger?" asked she. "Verily,
+thou art importunate." Quoth I, "It is for thee to decide;" and
+she, "If thy cousin be as thou sayst, it would not displease me
+to make his acquaintance."
+
+Then I left her and returned to my house, but hardly had I
+reached it, when the Khalif's messengers came down on me and
+carried me before him by main force. I found him seated on a
+chair, wroth with me, and he said to me, "O Isaac, art thou a
+traitor to thine allegiance?" "No, by Allah, O Commander of the
+Faithful!" answered I. "What hast thou then to say?" asked he.
+"Tell me the truth." And I replied, "I will well; but in
+private." So he signed to his attendants, who withdrew to a
+distance, and I told him the case, adding, "I promised to bring
+thee to visit her." And he said, "Thou didst well." Then we spent
+the day in our usual pleasures, but Mamoun's heart was taken with
+the lady, and hardly was the appointed time come, when we set
+out. As we went along, I cautioned him, "Look that thou call me
+not by my name before her; but do thou sing and I will accompany
+thee." He assented to this, and we fared on till we came to the
+house, where we found two baskets hanging ready. So we sat down
+in them and were drawn up to the usual place, where the damsel
+came forward and saluted us. When Mamoun saw her, he was amazed
+at her beauty and grace; and she began to entertain him with
+stories and verses. Presently, she called for wine and we fell to
+drinking, she paying him especial attention and delighting in him
+and he repaying her in kind. Then he took the lute and sang an
+air, after which she said to me, "And is thy cousin also a
+merchant?" "Yes," answered I, and she said, "Indeed, ye resemble
+one another nearly." But when Mamoun had drunk three pints, he
+grew merry with wine and called out saying, "Ho, Isaac!" "At thy
+service, O Commander of the Faithful," answered I. Quoth he,
+"Sing me such an air."
+
+As soon as the lady knew that he was the Khalif, she withdrew to
+another place, and when I had made an end of my song, Mamoun said
+to me, "See who is the master of this house;" whereupon an old
+woman hastened to make answer, saying, "It belongs to Hassan ben
+Sehl."[FN#143] "Fetch him to me," said the Khalif. So she went
+away and after awhile in came Hassan, to whom said Mamoun, "Hath
+thou a daughter?" "Yes," answered he; "her name is Khedijeh." "Is
+she married?" asked the Khalif. "No, by Allah!" replied Hassan.
+"Then," said Mamoun, "I ask her of thee in marriage." "O
+Commander of the Faithful," replied Hassan, "she is thy
+handmaiden and at thy commandment." Quoth Mamoun, "I take her to
+wife at a present dower of thirty thousand dinars, which thou
+shalt receive this very morning; and do thou being her to us this
+next night." And Hassan answered, "I hear and obey."
+
+'Then he went out, and the Khalif said to me, "O Isaac, tell this
+story to no one." So I kept it secret till Mamoun's death. Surely
+never was man's life to fulfilled with delights as was mine these
+four days' time, whenan I companied with Mamoun by day and with
+Khedijeh by night; and by Allah, never saw I among men the like
+of Mamoun, neither among women have I ever set eyes on the like
+of Khedijeh, no, nor on any that came near her in wit and
+understanding and pleasant speech!'
+
+
+
+
+              THE SCAVENGER AND THE NOBLE LADY OF
+                            BAGHDAD.
+
+
+
+At Mecca, one day, in the season of pilgrimage, whilst the people
+were making the enjoined circuits about the Holy House and the
+place of compassing was crowded, a man laid hold of the covering
+of the Kaabeh and cried out, from the bottom of his heart,
+saying, 'I beseech Thee, O God, that she may once again be wroth
+with her husband and that I may lie with her!' A company of the
+pilgrims heard him and falling on him, loaded him with blows and
+carried him to the governor of the pilgrims, to whom said they,
+'O Amir, we found this man in the Holy Places, saying thus and
+thus.' The governor commanded to hang him; but he said, 'O Amir,
+I conjure thee, by the virtue of the Prophet (whom God bless and
+preserve), hear my story and after do with me as thou wilt.' 'Say
+on,' quoth the Amir. 'Know then, O Amir,' said the man, 'that I
+am a scavenger, who works in the sheep-slaughterhouses and
+carries off the blood and the offal to the rubbish-heaps.[FN#144]
+One day, as I went along with my ass loaded, I saw the people
+running away and one of them said to me, "Enter this alley, lest
+they kill thee." Quoth I, "What ails the folk to run away?" And
+he answered, "It is the eunuchs in attendance on the wife of one
+of the notables, who drive the people out of her way and beat
+them all, without distinction." So I turned aside with the ass
+and stood, awaiting the dispersal of the crowd. Presently up came
+a number of eunuchs with staves in their hands, followed by nigh
+thirty women, and amongst them a lady as she were a willow-wand
+or a thirsty gazelle, perfect in beauty and elegance and amorous
+grace. When she came to the mouth of the passage where I stood,
+she turned right and left and calling one of the eunuchs,
+whispered in his ear; whereupon he came up to me and laying hold
+of me, bound me with a rope and haled me along after him, whilst
+another eunuch took my ass and made off with it. I knew not what
+was to do and the people followed us, crying out, "This is not
+allowed of God! What has this poor scavenger done that he should
+be bound with ropes?" and saying to the eunuchs, "Have pity on
+him and let him go, so God have pity on you!" And I the while
+said in myself, "Doubtless the eunuch seized me, because his
+mistress smelt the offal and it sickened her. Belike she is with
+child or ailing; but there is no power and no virtue save in God
+the Most High, the Supreme!" So I walked on behind them, till
+they stopped at the door of a great house and entering, brought
+me into a great hall, I know not how I shall describe its
+goodliness, furnished with magnificent furniture. The women
+withdrew to the harem, leaving me bound with the eunuch and
+saying in myself, "Doubtless they will torture me here till I
+die, and none know of my death." However, after a while, they
+carried me into an elegant bathroom, adjoining the hall; and as I
+sat there, in came three damsels, who seated themselves round me
+and said to me, "Strip off thy rags." So I pulled off my
+threadbare clothes, and one of them fell a-rubbing my feet,
+whilst another washed my head and the third scrubbed my body.
+When they had made an end of washing me, they brought me a parcel
+of clothes and said to me, "Put these on." "By Allah," answered
+I, "I know not how!" So they came up to me and dressed me,
+laughing at me the while; after which they brought casting-
+bottles, full of rose-water, and sprinkled me therewith. Then I
+went out with them into another saloon, by Allah, I know not how
+to set out its goodliness, for the much paintings and furniture
+therein; and here I found the lady seated on a couch of Indian
+cane with ivory feet and before her a number of damsels. When she
+saw me, she rose and called to me; so I went up to her and she
+made me sit by her side. Then she called for food, and the
+damsels brought all manner rich meats, such as I never saw in all
+my life; I do not even know the names of the dishes. So I ate my
+fill and when the dishes had been taken away and we had washed
+our hands, she called for fruits and bade me eat of them; after
+which she bade one of the waiting-women bring the wine-service.
+So they set on flagons of divers kinds of wine and burned
+perfumes in all the censers, what while a damsel like the moon
+rose and served us with wine, to the sound of the smitten
+strings. We sat and drank, the lady and I, till we were warm with
+wine, whilst I doubted not but that all this was an illusion of
+sleep. Presently, she signed to one of the damsels to spread us a
+bed in such a place, which being done, she took me by the hand
+and led me thither. So I lay with her till the morning, and as
+often as I pressed her in my arms, I smelt the delicious
+fragrance of musk and other perfumes that exhaled from her and
+could think no otherwise but that I was in Paradise or in the
+mazes of a dream. When it was day, she asked me where I lodged
+and I told her, "In such a place;" whereupon she gave me a
+handkerchief gold and silver wrought, with somewhat tied in it,
+and bade me depart, saying, "Go to the bath with this." So I
+rejoiced and said to myself, "If there be but five farthings
+here, it will buy me the morning meal." Then I left her, as I
+were leaving Paradise, and returned to my lodging, where I opened
+the handkerchief and found in it fifty dinars of gold. I buried
+them in the ground and buying two farthings' worth of bread and
+meat, sat down at the door and breakfasted; after which I sat
+pondering my case till the time of afternoon-prayer, when a
+slave-girl accosted me, saying, "My mistress calls for thee." So
+I followed her to the house aforesaid and she carried me in to
+the lady, before whom I kissed the earth, and she bade me sit and
+called for meat and wine as on the previous day; after which I
+again lay with her all night. On the morrow, she gave me a second
+handkerchief, with other fifty dinars therein, and I took it and
+going home, buried this also.
+
+Thus did I eight days running, going in to her at the hour of
+afternoon-prayer and leaving her at daybreak; but, on the eighth
+night, as I lay with her, one of her maids came running in and
+said to me, "Arise, go up into yonder closet." So I rose and went
+into the closet, which was over the gate and had a window giving
+upon the street in front of the house. Presently, I heard a great
+clamour and tramp of horse, and looking out of the window, saw a
+young man, as he were the rising moon on the night of her full,
+come riding up, attended by a number of servants and soldiers. He
+alighted at the door and entering, found the lady seated on the
+couch in the saloon. So he kissed the earth before her, then came
+up to her and kissed her hands; but she would not speak to him.
+However, he ceased not to soothe her and speak her fair, till he
+made his peace with her, and they lay together that night. Next
+morning, the soldiers came for him and he mounted and rode away;
+whereupon she came in to me and said, "Sawst thou yonder man?"
+"Yes," answered I; and she said, "He is my husband, and I will
+tell thee what befell me with him.
+
+"It chanced one day that we were sitting, he and I, in the garden
+within the house, when he rose from my side and was absent a long
+while, till I grew tired of waiting and said to myself, 'Most
+like, he is in the wardrobe.' So I went thither, but not finding
+him there, went down to the kitchen, where I saw a slave-girl, of
+whom I enquired for him, and she showed him to me lying with one
+of the cook-maids. When I saw this, I swore a great oath that I
+would do adultery with the foulest and filthiest man in Baghdad;
+and the day the eunuch laid hands on thee, I had been four days
+going round about the town in quest of one who should answer this
+description, but found none fouler nor more filthy than thee. So
+I took thee and there passed between us that which God fore-
+ordained to us; and now I am quit of my oath. But," added she,
+"if my husband return yet again to the cook-maid and lie with
+her, I will restore thee to thy late place in my favours."
+
+When (continued the scavenger) I heard these words from her lips,
+what while she transfixed my heart with the arrows of her
+glances, my tears streamed forth, till my eyelids were sore with
+weeping, and I repeated the saying of the poet:
+
+Vouchsafe me the kiss of thy left hand, I prithee, And know that
+     it's worthier far than thy right;
+For 'tis but a little while since it was washing Sir reverence
+     away from the stead of delight.
+
+Then she gave me other fifty dinars (making in all four hundred
+dinars I had of her) and bade me depart. So I went out from her
+and came hither, that I might pray God (blessed and exalted be
+He!) to make her husband return to the cook-maid, so haply I
+might be again admitted to her favours.' When the governor of the
+pilgrims heard the man's story, he set him free and said to the
+bystanders, 'God on you, pray for him, for indeed he is
+excusable.'
+
+
+
+
+                        THE MOCK KHALIF.
+
+
+
+It is related that the Khalif Haroun er Reshid, being one night
+troubled with a persistent restlessness, summoned his Vizier
+Jaafer the Barmecide and said to him, 'My heart is straitened and
+I have a mind to divert myself tonight by walking about the
+streets of Baghdad and looking into the affairs of the folk; but
+we will disguise ourselves as merchants, that none may know us.'
+'I hear and obey,' answered Jaafer. So they rose at once and
+putting off the rich clothes they wore, donned merchants' habits
+and sallied forth, the Khalif and Jaafer and Mesrour the
+headsman. They walked from place to place, till they came to the
+Tigris and saw an old man sitting in a boat; so they went up to
+him and saluting him, said, 'O old man, we desire thee of thy
+favour to carry us a-pleasuring down the river, in this thy boat,
+and take this dinar to thy hire.' 'Who may go a-pleasuring on the
+Tigris?' replied the boatman. 'Seeing that the Khalif every night
+comes down the stream in his barge, and with him one crying
+aloud, "Ho, all ye people, great and small, gentle and simple,
+men and boys, whoso is found in a boat on the Tigris [by night],
+I will strike off his head or hang him to the mast of his boat!"
+And ye had well-nigh met him; for here comes his barge.' But the
+Khalif and Jaafer said, 'O old man, take these two dinars, and
+when thou seest the Khalif's barge approaching, run us under one
+of the arches, that we may hide there till he have passed. 'Hand
+over the money,' replied the boatman; 'and on God the Most High
+be our dependence!' So they gave him the two dinars and embarked
+in the boat; and he put off and rowed about with them awhile,
+till they saw the barge coming down the river in mid-stream, with
+lighted flambeaux and cressets therein. Quoth the boatman, 'Did I
+not tell you that the Khalif passed every night? O Protector,
+remove not the veils of Thy protection!' So saying, he ran the
+boat under an arch and threw a piece of black cloth over the
+Khalif and his companions, who looked out from under the covering
+and saw, in the bows of the barge, a man holding a cresset of red
+gold and clad in a tunic of red satin, with a muslin turban on
+his head. Over one of his shoulders hung a cloak of yellow
+brocade, and on the other was a green silk bag full of Sumatran
+aloes-wood, with which he fed the cresset by way of firewood. In
+the stern stood another man, clad like the first and bearing a
+like cresset, and in the barge were two hundred white slaves,
+standing right and left about a throne of red gold, on which sat
+a handsome young man, like the moon, clad in a dress of black,
+embroidered with yellow gold. Before him they saw a man, as he
+were the Vizier Jaafer, and at his head stood an eunuch, as he
+were Mesrour, with a drawn sword in his hand, besides a score of
+boon-companions. When the Khalif saw this, he turned to Jaafer
+and said to him, 'Belike this is one of my sons, El Amin or El
+Mamoun.' Then he examined the young man that sat on the throne,
+and finding him accomplished in beauty and grace and symmetry,
+said to Jaafer, 'Verily, this young man abates no jot of the
+state of the Khalifate! See, there stands before him one as he
+were thyself, O Jaafer; yonder eunuch is as he were Mesrour and
+those boon-companions as they were my own. By Allah, O Jaafer, my
+reason is confounded and I am filled with amazement at this
+thing!' 'And I also, by Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,'
+replied Jaafer. Then the barge passed on and disappeared from
+sight; whereupon the boatman pushed out again into the stream,
+saying, 'Praised be God for safety, since none hath fallen in
+with us!' 'O old man,' said Er Reshid, 'doth the Khalif come down
+the river every night?' 'Yes, O my lord,' answered the boatman;
+'he hath done so every night this year past.' 'O old man,'
+rejoined Er Reshid, 'we wish thee of thy favour to await us here
+to-morrow night, and we will give thee five dinars, for we are
+strangers, lodging at El Khendek, and we have a mind to divert
+ourselves.' 'With all my heart,' replied the boatman. Then the
+Khalif and Jaafer and Mesrour returned to the palace, where they
+put off their merchants' habits and donning their apparel of
+state, sat down each in his several room. Then came the amirs and
+viziers and chamberlains and officers, and the Divan assembled as
+of wont.
+
+When the night came and all the folk had dispersed and gone each
+his own way, the Khalif said to his Vizier, 'Come, O Jaafer, let
+us go and amuse ourselves by looking on the other Khalif.' At
+this, Jaafer and Mesrour laughed, and the three, donning
+merchants' habits, went out at the privy gate and made their way
+through the city, in great glee, till they came to the Tigris,
+where they found the boatman sitting, waiting for them. They
+embarked with him in the boat and had not sat long, before up
+came the mock Khalif's barge, with the cresset-bearers crying
+aloud as of wont, and in it two hundred white slaves other than
+those of the previous night. 'O Vizier,' exclaimed the Khalif,
+'had I heard tell of this, I had not believed it; but I have seen
+it with my own eyes.' Then said he to the boatman, 'Take these
+ten dinars and row us along abreast of them, for they are in the
+light and we in the shade, and we can see them and divert
+ourselves by looking on them, but they cannot see us.' So he took
+the money and pushing off, followed in the shadow of the barge,
+till they came among the gardens and the barge cast anchor before
+a postern door, where they saw servants standing with a mule
+saddled and bridled. Here the mock Khalif landed and mounting the
+mule, rode away with his boon-companions, attended by his suite
+and preceded by the cresset-bearers crying aloud. Then Haroun and
+Jaafer and Mesrour landed also and making their way through the
+press of servants, walked on before them. Presently, the cresset-
+bearers espied them and seeing three strangers in merchants'
+habits, misdoubted of them; so they pointed them out and caused
+bring them before the mock Khalif, who looked at them and said,
+'How come ye here at this hour?' 'O our lord,' answered they, 'we
+are foreign merchants, who arrived here this day and were out a-
+walking to-night, when ye came up and these men laid hands on us
+and brought us before thee.' Quoth the mock Khalif, 'Since you
+are strangers, no harm shall befall you; but had ye been of
+Baghdad, I had struck off your heads.' Then he turned to his
+Vizier and said to him, 'Take these men with thee; for they are
+our guests this night.' 'I hear and obey, O our lord,' answered
+he; and they followed him, till they came to a lofty and splendid
+palace of curious ordinance, such as no king possesses, rising
+from the dust and laying hold upon the marges of the clouds. Its
+door was of teak, inlaid with glittering gold, and by it one
+passed into a saloon, amiddleward which was a basin of water,
+with an artificial fountain rising from its midst. It was
+furnished with carpets and cushions and divans of brocade and
+tables and other gear such as amazed the wit and defied
+description. There, also, was a curtain drawn, and upon the door
+were written these two verses:
+
+
+A palace, upon it be blessing and greeting and grace! Fair
+     fortune hath put off her beauty to brighten the place.
+Therein are all manner of marvels and rarities found; The penmen
+     are puzzled in story its charms to retrace.
+
+The mock Khalif entered with his company and sat down on a throne
+of gold, set with jewels and covered with a prayer-carpet of
+yellow silk; whilst the boon-companions took their seats and the
+sword-bearer stood before him. Then the servants laid the tables
+and they ate and washed their hands, after which the dishes were
+removed and the wine-service set on, with cups and flagons in due
+order. The cup went round till it came to Er Reshid, who refused
+it, and the mock Khalif said to Jaafer, 'What ails thy friend
+that he drinks not?' 'O our lord,' replied the Vizier, 'this long
+while he hath drunk no wine.' Quoth the mock Khalif, 'I have
+drink other than this, a kind of apple-wine, that will suit him.'
+So he let bring apple-sherbet and said to Haroun, 'Drink thou of
+this, as often as it comes to thy turn.' Then they continued to
+drink and make merry, till the wine rose to their heads and
+mastered their wits; and Haroun said to Jaafer, 'O Jaafer, by
+Allah, we have no such vessels as these. Would God I knew what
+manner of man this is!' Presently, the young man glanced at them
+and seeing them talking privily, said, 'It is unmannerly to
+whisper.' 'No rudeness was meant,' answered Jaafer. 'My friend
+did but say to me, "Verily, I have travelled in most countries
+and have caroused and companied with the greatest of kings and
+captains; yet never saw I a goodlier ordinance than this nor
+passed a more delightful night; save that the people of Baghdad
+say, 'Drink without music often leaves headache.'"' When the mock
+Khalif heard this, he smiled merrily and struck a gong[FN#145]
+with a rod he had in his hand; whereupon a door opened and out
+came an eunuch, bearing a stool of ivory, inlaid with glittering
+gold, and followed by a damsel of surpassing beauty and symmetry.
+He set down the stool and the damsel seated herself on it, as she
+were the sun shining in the cloudless sky. In her hand she had a
+lute of Indian make, which she laid in her lap and bending over
+it as a mother bends over her child, preluded in four-and-twenty
+modes, amazing all wits. Then she returned to the first mode and
+sang the following verses to a lively measure:
+
+The tongue of passion in my heart bespeaketh thee of me And
+     giveth thee to know that I enamoured am of thee.
+The burning of an anguished heart is witness to my pain And
+     ulcerated eyes and tears that flow incessantly.
+I had no knowledge what Love was, before the love of thee; But
+     God's forewritten ordinance o'ertaketh all that be.
+
+When the mock Khalif heard this, he gave a great cry and rent his
+robe to the skirt, whereupon they let down a curtain over him and
+brought him a fresh robe, handsomer than the first. He put it on
+and sat as before, till the cup came round to him, when he struck
+the gong a second time and behold, a door opened and out came an
+eunuch with a chair of gold, followed by a damsel handsomer than
+the first, bearing a lute, such as mortified the heart of the
+envious. She sat down on the chair and sang to the lute these
+verses:
+
+Ah, how can I be patient, when longing in my soul Flames high and
+     from mine eyelids the tears in torrents roll?
+Life hath no sweet, by Allah, wherein I may rejoice. How shall a
+     heart be joyous, that's all fulfilled of dole?
+
+No sooner did the youth hear this than he gave a great cry and
+rent his clothes to the skirt; whereupon they let down the
+curtain over him and brought him another dress. He put it on and
+sitting up as before, fell again to cheerful talk, till the cup
+came round to him, when he smote once more upon the gong and out
+came an eunuch with a chair, followed by a damsel fairer than she
+who had foregone her. So she sat down on the chair, with a lute
+in her hand, and sang thereto the following verses:
+
+Have done with your disdain and leave to make me rue; For, by
+     your life, my heart to you was ever true!
+Have ruth on one distraught, the bondslave of your love, Sorry
+     and sick and full of longings ever new.
+Sickness, for passion's stress, hath wasted him to nought, And
+     still for your consent to Allah he doth sue.
+O ye full moons, whose place of sojourn is my heart, Amongst the
+     human race whom can I choose but you?
+
+At this the young man gave a great cry and rent his clothes,
+whereupon they let fall the curtain over him and brought him
+other clothes. Then he returned to his former case with his boon-
+companions and the cup went round as before, till it came to him,
+when he struck the gong a fourth time and the door opening, out
+came a boy, bearing a chair and followed by a damsel. He set the
+chair for her and she sat down upon it and taking the lute, tuned
+it and sang to it these verses:
+
+When, when will separation and hatred pass away And what is past
+     of joyance come back to make me gay?
+But yesterday, in gladness, one dwelling held us both; We saw the
+     enviers napping, all heedless of their prey.
+But fortune played the traitor with us and sundered us, And left
+     our dwelling-places even as the desert grey.
+Wilt have me, O my censor, be solaced for my loves? Alas, my
+     heart the censor, I see, will not obey!
+So make an end of chiding and leave me to my love; For of my
+     loved one's converse my heart is full alway.
+Fair lords, though you've been fickle and broken faith and troth,
+     Deem not my heart for absence forgets you night or day.
+
+When the mock Khalif heard the girl's song, he gave a great cry
+and tearing his clothes as before, fell down in a swoon;
+whereupon they would have let down the curtain over him, as of
+wont; but the cords stuck fast and Er Reshid, chancing to look at
+him, saw on his body the marks of beating with palm-rods and said
+to Jaafer, 'By Allah, he is a handsome youth, but a foul thief!'
+'Whence knowest thou that, O Commander of the Faithful?' asked
+Jaafer, and the Khalif answered, 'Sawst thou not the marks of
+whips on his sides?' Then they let fall the curtain over him and
+brought him a fresh dress, which he put on and sat up as before
+with his courtiers. Presently, he saw the Khalif and Jaafer
+whispering together and said to them, 'What is the matter,
+gentlemen?' 'Nothing, my lord,' replied Jaafer, 'save that my
+friend here, who (as is not unknown to thee) is of the merchants
+and hath visited all the great cities and countries of the world
+and foregathered with kings and men of worth, saith to me,
+"Verily, that which our lord the Khalif hath done this night is
+beyond measure extravagant, never saw I any do the like of his
+fashion in any country; for he hath rent four dresses, each worth
+a thousand dinars, and this is surely excessive extravagance."'
+'O man,' replied the youth, 'the money is my money and the stuff
+my stuff and this is by way of largesse to my servants and
+followers; for each suit that is rent belongeth to one of my
+boon-companions here present and I appoint him, in exchange
+therefor, [if it so like him,] the sum of five hundred dinars.'
+'Well is that thou dost, O our lord!' answered Jaafer and recited
+the following verses:
+
+The virtues sure have built themselves a dwelling in thy palm;
+     Thou hast thy wealth to all mankind made common property.
+An if the virtues' doors were shut on us one luckless day, Thy
+     hand unto their locks, indeed, were even as a key.
+
+When the young man heard these verses, he ordered Jaafer a
+thousand dinars and a dress of honour. Then the cup went round
+among them and the wine was pleasant to them; but, after awhile,
+the Khalif said to Jaafer, 'Ask him of the marks on his ribs,
+that we may see what he will say.' 'Softly, O my lord,' replied
+Jaafer; 'be not hasty, for patience is more becoming.' 'By the
+life of my head and by the tomb of El Abbas,'[FN#146] rejoined
+the Khalif, 'except thou ask him, I will assuredly make an end of
+thee!' With this the young man turned towards Jaafer and said to
+him, 'What ails thee and thy friend to be whispering together?
+Tell me what is to do with you.' 'It is nothing,' replied
+Jaafer; but the mock Khalif rejoined, 'I conjure thee, by Allah,
+tell me what ails you and hide from me nothing of your case.' 'O
+my lord,' answered the Vizier, 'my companion here saw on thy
+sides the marks of beating with whips and rods and marvelled
+thereat exceedingly, saying, "How came the Khalif to be beaten?"
+And he would fain know the cause of this.' When the youth heard
+this, he smiled and said, 'Know that my story is wonderful and my
+case extraordinary; were it graven with needles on the corners of
+the eye, it would serve as an admonition to him who can profit by
+admonition.' And he sighed and repeated the following verses:
+
+Strange is my story and outdoes all marvels that can be. By Love
+     itself I swear, my ways are straitened upon me!
+An ye would know my case, give ear and hearken to my tale And all
+     be dumb, on every side, in this our company.
+Take heed unto my speech, for lo! therein a warning is; Ay, and
+     my words no leasing are, but naked verity.
+I am a man of passion slain, the victim of desire, And she who
+     slew me fairer is than all the stars to see.
+A bright black eye she hath, whose glance is as an Indian sword,
+     And from her eyebrows' bended bows full many a shaft shoots
+     she.
+My heart forebodes me that 'mongst you the Khalif of the age, Our
+     Imam[FN#147] is, of high descent and noble pedigree,
+And that the second of you he, that's known as Jaafer, is, His
+     vizier and a vizier's son, a lord of high degree.
+Yea, and the third of you Mesrour the eunuch is, I ween, The
+     swordsman of his vengeance. So, if true my saying be,
+I have of this my case attained to all for which I hoped And
+     hearts' content from every side is come, indeed, to me.
+
+When they heard this, Jaafer swore to him a dissembling oath that
+they were not those he named; whereupon he laughed and said,
+'Know, O my lords, that I am not the Commander of the Faithful
+and that I do but style myself thus, to get my will of the people
+of the city. My real name is Mohammed Ali son of Ali the Jeweller
+and my father was one of the chief men [of the city]. When he
+died, he left me great store of gold and silver and pearls and
+coral and rubies and chrysolites and other jewels, besides houses
+and lands and baths and gardens and orchards and shops and
+brickfields and slaves, male and female. One day, as I sat in my
+shop, surrounded by my slaves and servants, there came up a young
+lady, riding on a mule and attended by three damsels like moons.
+She alighted at my shop and seating herself by me, said to me,
+"Art thou Mohammed the jeweller?" "Yes," answered I, "I am he, at
+thy service." "Hast thou a necklace of jewels fit for me?" asked
+she, and I replied, "O my lady, I will show thee what I have; and
+if any please thee, it will be of thy slave's good luck; if not,
+of his ill-fortune." I had by me a hundred necklaces and showed
+them all to her; but none of them pleased her and she said, "I
+want a better than those I have seen." Now I had a small
+necklace, that my father had bought for a hundred thousand dinars
+and the like whereof was not to be found with any of the great
+kings; so I said to her, "O my lady, I have yet one necklace of
+fine stones, whose like none possesseth, great or small." "Show
+it me," said she. So I showed it her and she said, "This is what
+I sought and what I have wished for all my life. What is its
+price?" Quoth I, "It cost my father a hundred thousand dinars;"
+and she said, "I will give thee five thousand dinars to thy
+profit." "O my lady," answered I, "the necklace and its owner are
+at thy service and I cannot gainsay thee [in aught]." "Not so,"
+rejoined she; "needs must thou have the profit, and I am still
+much beholden to thee." Then she rose and mounting the mule in
+haste, said to me, "O my lord, in God's name, favour us with thy
+company, to receive the money; for this thy day is a milk-white
+day[FN#148] with us." So I shut the shop and accompanied her, in
+all security, till we came to a house, on which were manifest the
+signs of fortune. Its door was wrought with gold and silver and
+lapis lazuli, and thereon were written these verses:
+
+
+Nay mourning never enter thee, I pray, O house, nor fortune e'er
+     thy lord bewray!
+A goodly sojourn art thou to the guest, When strait on him is
+     every place and way.
+
+She dismounted and entered the house, bidding me sit down on the
+stone bench at the door, till the money-changer should come. So I
+sat awhile, till presently a damsel came out to me and said, "Q
+my lord, enter the vestibule; for it is not seemly that thou
+shouldst sit at the door." Accordingly, I entered the vestibule
+and sat down on the settle there. As I sat, another damsel came
+out and said to me, "O my lord, my mistress bids thee enter and
+sit down at the door of the saloon, to receive thy money." So I
+entered and sat down, nor had I sat a moment, before a curtain of
+silk was drawn aside and I saw the lady seated on a throne of
+gold, with the necklace about her neck, unveiled and showing a
+face as it were the round of the moon. At this sight, my wit was
+troubled and my mind confounded, by reason of her exceeding
+beauty and grace; but, when she saw me, she rose and coming up to
+me, said, "O light of mine eyes, is every handsome one like thee
+pitiless to his mistress?" "O my lady," answered I, "beauty, all
+of it, is in thee and is one of thine attributes." "O jeweller,"
+rejoined she, "know that I love thee and can hardly credit that I
+have brought thee hither." Then she bent to me and I kissed her,
+and she kissed me, and drawing me towards her, pressed me to her
+bosom. She knew by my case that I had a mind to enjoy her; so she
+said to me, "O my lord, dost thou think to foregather with me
+unlawfully? By Allah, may he not live who would do the like of
+this sin and who takes pleasure in foul talk! I am a clean
+virgin, whom no man hath approached, nor am I unknown in the
+city. Knowest thou who I am?" "No, by Allah, O my lady!" replied
+I. Quoth she, "I am the lady Dunya, daughter of Yehya ben Khalid
+the Barmecide and sister of Jaafer, the Khalif's Vizier." When I
+heard this, I drew back from her, saying, "O my lady, it is no
+fault of mine if I have been over-bold with thee; it was thou
+didst encourage me to aspire to thy love, by giving me access to
+thee." "No harm shall befall thee," answered she; "and needs must
+thou attain thy desire in the way that is pleasing to God. I am
+my own mistress and the Cadi shall act as my guardian, in
+consenting to the marriage-contract; for it is my will that I be
+thy wife and thou my husband." Then she sent for the Cadi and the
+witnesses and busied herself with the necessary preparations.
+When they came, she said to them, "Mohammed Ali ben Ali the
+jeweller seeks me in marriage and hath given me the necklace to
+my dowry; and I accept and consent." So they drew up the contract
+of marriage between us; after which the servants brought the
+wine-service and the cups passed round, after the goodliest
+ordinance: and when the wine mounted to our heads, she ordered a
+damsel, a lute-player, to sing. So she took the lute and sang
+thereto the following verses:
+
+He comes and shows me, all in one, fawn, moon and sapling slight:
+     Foul fall the heart for thought of him that watches not the
+     night!
+A fair one, Allah had a mind t' extinguish from his cheek One
+     ravishment, and straight, instead, another sprang to light.
+Whenas my censors speak of him, I cavil at their word, Feigning
+     as if I did mislike the mention of the wight;
+Yea, and I hearken, when they speak of other than of him, Though
+     for the thought of him, nathelesse, I am consumed outright.
+Prophet of beauty, all in him 's a very miracle Of grace, and
+     greatest of them all his face's splendid sight.
+The sable mole upon his cheek hath taken up its stead, Against
+     the troubles of this life to ward his forehead bright.
+The censors, of their ignorance, bid me forget; but I From true-
+     believer cannot turn an infidel forthright.
+
+We were ravished by the sweet music she made and the beauty of
+the verses she sang and the other damsels went on to sing, one
+after another, till ten had done so; when the lady Dunya took the
+lute and playing a lively measure, sang these verses:
+
+By the softness of thy graceful-gaited shape I swear, For
+     estrangement from thy presence the pangs of hell I bear.
+Have pity on a heart that burns i' the hell-fire of thy love, O
+     full moon in the darkness of the night that shinest fair!
+Vouchsafe to me thy favours, and by the wine-cup's light To
+     blazon forth thy beauties, henceforth, I'll never spare.
+A rose hath ta'en me captive, whose colours varied are, Whose
+     charms outvie the myrtle and make its thorns despair.
+
+When she had finished, I took the lute and playing a quaint
+prelude, sang the following verses:
+
+Glory to Him who gave thee all beauty in earth and skies So I'm
+     become of thy bondsmen for ever and thy prize.
+Thou that art gifted with glances that make mankind thy slaves,
+     Pray we may come off scathless from the sorcery of thine
+     eyes.
+Two opposites, fire, incarnate in shining splendour of flame, And
+     water, thy cheek uniteth, conjoined in wondrous wise.
+How dulcet and yet how bitter thou art to my heart, alack! To
+     which thou at once and ever art Hell and Paradise!
+
+When she heard this, she rejoiced with an exceeding joy; then,
+dismissing her women, she brought me to a most goodly place,
+where they had spread us a bed of various colours. She did off
+her clothes and I had a lover's privacy of her and found her an
+unpierced pearl and a filly no man had ridden. So I rejoiced in
+her and repeated the following verses:
+
+Stay with us, Night, I prithee! I want no morning white; The face
+     of my beloved sufficeth me for light.
+I gave my love, for chin-band, my palm spread open wide And eke
+     for ringdove's collar, my arms about him dight.
+This is indeed th' attainment of fortune's topmost height! We
+     clip and clip and care not to stir from our delight.
+
+
+Never in my life knew I a more delightful night than this, and I
+abode with her a whole month, forsaking shop and home and family,
+till one day she said to me, "O light of my eyes, O my lord
+Mohammed, I have a mind to go to the bath to-day; so sit thou on
+this couch and budge not from thy place, till I return to thee."
+"I hear and obey," answered I, and she made me swear to this;
+after which she took her women and went off to the bath. But, by
+Allah, O my brothers, she had not reached the end of the street,
+when the door opened and in came an old woman, who said to me, "O
+my lord Mohammed, the lady Zubeideh bids thee to her, for she
+hath heard of thine elegance and accomplishments and skill in
+singing." "By Allah," answered I, "I will not rise from my place,
+till the lady Dunya come back." "O my lord," rejoined the old
+woman, "do not anger the lady Zubeideh with thee and make an
+enemy of her. Come, speak with her and return to thy place." So I
+rose and followed her into the presence of the princess, who said
+to me, "O light of the eye, art thou the lady Dunya's beloved?"
+"At thy service," answered I. Quoth she, "He spoke sooth who
+reported thee possessed of grace and beauty and good breeding and
+all good qualities; indeed, thou surpassest report; but now sing
+to me, that I may hear thee." "I hear and obey," answered I. So
+she brought me a lute, and I sang the following verses:
+
+The heart of the lover is weary with loving and striving in vain,
+     And even as a spoil is his body in the hands of sickness and
+     pain.
+Who should there be, 'mongst the riders on camels with haltered
+     head, Save a lover whose dear-beloved the camel-litters
+     contain!
+A moon, in your tents that rises, to Allah I commend, One my
+     heart loves and tenders, shut in from the sight of her
+     swain.
+Anon she is kind, anon angry: how goodly her coquetry is! For all
+     that is done of a loved one must needs to her lover be fain.
+
+When I had finished, she said to me, "God assain thy body and
+sweeten thy voice! Verily, thou art perfect in beauty and good
+breeding and singing. But now rise and return to thy place, ere
+the lady Dunya come back, lest she find thee not and he wroth
+with thee." So I kissed the earth before her and the old woman
+forewent me to the door whence I came. I entered and going up to
+the couch, found that my wife had come back and was lying asleep
+there. So I sat down at her feet and rubbed them; whereupon she
+opened her eyes and seeing me, drew up her feet and gave me a
+kick that threw me off the couch, saying, "O traitor, thou hast
+been false to thine oath and hast perjured thyself. Thou sworest
+to me that thou wouldst not stir from thy place; yet didst thou
+break thy promise and go to the lady Zubeideh. By Allah, but that
+I fear scandal, I would pull down the palace over her head!" Then
+said she to her black slave, "Harkye, Sewab, arise and strike off
+this lying traitor's head, for we have no further need of him."
+So the slave came up to me and tearing a strip from his skirt,
+bound my eyes with it and would have cut off my head; but all her
+women, great and small, came up to her and said to her, "O our
+lady, this is not the first who hath erred: indeed, he knew not
+thy humour and hath done nothing deserving of death." "By Allah,"
+replied she, "I must needs set my mark on him." And she bade beat
+me; so they beat me on my sides, and the marks ye saw are the
+scars of that beating. Then she bade them put me out, and they
+carried me to a distance from the house and cast me down. I rose
+and dragged myself little by little to my own house, where I sent
+for a surgeon, who dressed my wounds and comforted me. As soon as
+I was recovered and my pains and sickness had left me, I went to
+the bath and thence betaking myself to my shop, sold all that was
+therein. With the proceeds, I bought four hundred white slaves,
+such as no king ever got together, and caused two hundred of them
+ride out with me every day. Then I made me yonder barge, on which
+I spent five thousand dinars, and styled myself Khalif and
+appointed each of my servants to the charge and clad him in the
+habit of some one of the Khalif's officers. Moreover, I let cry
+abroad, "Whoso goeth a-pleasuring on the Tigris [by night], I
+will strike off his head without mercy;" and on this wise have I
+done this whole year past, during which time I have heard no news
+of the lady neither happened upon any trace of her.' And he wept
+copiously and repeated the following verses:
+
+By Allah, I will never all my life long forget her, my dear; And
+     those only will I tender, who shall bring her to me to draw
+     near.
+Now glory to her Maker and Creator be given evermore! As the full
+     moon in the heavens, in her aspect and her gait she doth
+     appear.
+She, indeed, hath made me weariful and wakeful, full of sorrow,
+     sick for love; Yea, my heart is all confounded at her
+     beauty, dazed for trouble and for fear.
+
+When Er Reshid heard the young man's story and knew the passion
+and transport and love-longing that afflicted him, he was moved
+to compassion and wonder and said, 'Glory be to God who hath
+appointed to every thing a cause!' Than they craved the young
+man's leave to depart; which being granted, they took leave of
+him, the Khalif purposing to do him justice and entreat him with
+the utmost munificence, and returned to the palace of the
+Khalifate, where they changed their clothes for others befitting
+their station and sat down, whilst Mesrour stood before them.
+After awhile, the Khalif said to Jaafer, 'O Vizier, bring me the
+young man with whom we were last night.' 'I hear and obey,'
+answered Jaafer, and going to the youth, saluted him, saying,
+'The Commander of the Faithful calls for thee.' So he returned
+with him to the palace, in great concern by reason of the
+summons, and going in to the Khalif, kissed the earth before him.
+Then said he, 'Peace be on thee, O Commander of the Faithful
+and Protector of the people of the Faith!' And offered up a
+prayer for the endurance of his glory and prosperity, for the
+accomplishment of his desires and the continuance of his bounty
+and the cessation of evil and punishment, ordering his speech as
+best he might and ending by repeating the following verses:
+
+
+Still may thy threshold as a place of adoration[FN#149] Be sought
+     and on men's brows its dust bespeak prostration,
+That so in every land be made this proclamation, "Thou, thou art
+     Abraham and this his very station."[FN#150]
+
+The Khalif smiled in his face and returned his salute, looking on
+him with the eye of favour. Then he bade him draw near and sit
+down before him and said to him, 'O Mohammed Ali, I wish thee to
+tell me what befell thee last night, for it was rare and passing
+strange.' 'Pardon, O Commander of the Faithful!' replied the
+youth. 'Give me the handkerchief of immunity, that my trouble may
+be appeased and my heart set at rest.' Quoth the Khalif, 'Thou
+art safe from fear and trouble.' So the young man told him his
+story from first to last, whereby the Khalif knew him to be a
+lover and severed from his beloved and said to him, 'Wilt thou
+that I restore her to thee?' 'This were of the bounty of the
+Commander of the Faithful,' answered the youth and repeated the
+following verses:
+
+Kiss thou his finger-tips, for no mere fingers they, But keys to
+     all the goods by God to men assigned;
+And praise his deeds no less, for no mere deeds are they, But
+     jewels to adorn the necks of humankind.
+
+Thereupon the Khalif turned to Jaafer and said to him, 'Bring me
+thy sister the lady Dunya.' 'I hear and obey,' answered he and
+fetched her forthright. When she stood before the Khalif, he said
+to her, 'Dost thou know who this is?' 'O Commander of the
+Faithful,' answered she, 'how should women have knowledge of
+men?' The Khalif smiled and said, 'O Dunya, this is thy beloved,
+Mohammed ben Ali the jeweller. We are acquainted with his case,
+for we have heard the whole story, from beginning to end, and
+apprehended its inward and its outward; and it is no more hidden,
+for all it was kept secret.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,'
+rejoined she, 'this was written in the book of destiny. I crave
+the forgiveness of the Most High God for that which I have done
+and beseech thee to pardon me of thy favour.' At this the Khalif
+laughed and summoning the Cadi and the witnesses, renewed the
+marriage-contract between Dunya and her husband, whereby there
+betided them the utmost of felicity and those who envied them
+were mortified. Moreover, he made Mohammed Ali one of his boon-
+companions, and they abode in joy and cheer and gladness, till
+there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of
+Companies.
+
+
+
+
+          ALI THE PERSIAN'S STORY OF THE KURD SHARPER
+
+
+
+
+The Khalif Haroun er Reshid, being more than commonly restless
+one night, sent for his Vizier and said to him, 'O Jaafer, I am
+sore wakeful and heavy at heart to-night, and I desire of thee
+what may cheer my spirit and ease me of my oppression.' 'O
+Commander of the Faithful,' answered Jaafer, 'I have a friend, by
+name Ali the Persian, who hath store of tales and pleasant
+stories, such as lighten the heart and do away care.' 'Fetch him
+to me,' said the Khalif. 'I hear and obey,' replied Jaafer and
+going out from before him, sent for Ali the Persian and said to
+him, 'The Commander of the Faithful calls for thee.' 'I hear and
+obey,' answered Ali and followed the Vizier into the presence of
+the Khalif, who bade him be seated and said to him, 'O Ali, my
+heart is heavy within me this night and I hear that thou hast
+great store of tales and anecdotes; so I desire of thee that thou
+let me hear what will relieve my oppression and gladden my
+melancholy.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' said he, 'shall I
+tell thee what I have seen with my eyes or what I have heard with
+my ears?' 'An thou have seen aught [worth telling],' replied the
+Khalif, 'let me hear that.' 'Know then, O Commander of the
+Faithful,' said Ali, 'that some years ago I left this my native
+city of Baghdad on a journey, having with me a boy who carried a
+light wallet. Presently, we came to a certain city, where, as I
+was buying and selling, a rascally thief of a Kurd fell on me and
+seized my wallet, saying, "This is my bag, and all that is in it
+is my property." Thereupon, "Ho, Muslims all," cried I, "deliver
+me from the hand of the vilest of oppressors!" But they all said,
+"Come, both of you, to the Cadi and submit yourselves to his
+judgement." I agreed to this and we both presented ourselves
+before the Cadi, who said, "What brings you hither and what is
+your case?" Quoth I, "We are men at difference, who appeal to
+thee and submit ourselves to thy judgement." "Which of you is the
+complainant?" asked the Cadi. So the Kurd came forward and said,
+"God preserve our lord the Cadi! Verily, this bag is my bag and
+all that is in it is my property. It was lost from me and I found
+it with this man." "When didst thou lose it?" asked the Cadi.
+"But yesterday," replied the Kurd; "and I passed a sleepless
+night by reason of its loss." "If it be thy bag," said the Cadi,
+"tell me what is in it." Quoth the Kurd, "There were in my bag
+two silver styles and eye-powders and a handkerchief, and I had
+laid therein two gilt cups and two candlesticks. Moreover it
+contained two tents and two platters and two hooks and a cushion
+and two leather rugs and two ewers and a brass tray and two
+basins and a cooking-pot and two water-jars and a ladle and a
+sacking-needle and a she-cat and two bitches[FN#151] and a wooden
+trencher and two sacks and two saddles and a gown and two fur
+pelisses and a cow and two calves and a she-goat and two sheep
+and an ewe and two lambs and two green pavilions and a camel and
+two she-camels and a she-buffalo and two bulls and a lioness and
+two lions and a she-bear and two foxes and a mattress and two
+couches and an upper chamber and two saloons and a portico and
+two ante-rooms and a kitchen with two doors and a company of
+Kurds who will testify that the bag is mine." Then said the
+Cadi to me, "And thou, what sayst thou?" So I came forward, O
+Commander of the Faithful (and indeed the Kurd's speech had
+bewildered me) and said, "God advance our lord the Cadi! There
+was nothing in this my wallet, save a little ruined house and
+another without a door and a dog-kennel and a boys' school and
+youths playing dice and tents and tent-poles and the cities of
+Bassora and Baghdad and the palace of Sheddad ben Aad[FN#152] and
+a smith's forge and a fishing net and cudgels and pickets and
+girls and boys and a thousand pimps, who will testify that the
+bag is my bag." When the Kurd heard my words, he wept and wailed
+and said, "O my lord the Cadi, my bag is known and what is in it
+is renowned; therein are castles and citadels and cranes and
+beasts of prey and men playing chess and draughts. Moreover, in
+this my bag is a brood-mare and two colts and a stallion and two
+blood-horses and two long lances and a lion and two hares and a
+city and two villages and a courtezan and two sharking pimps and
+a catamite and two gallows-birds and a blind man and two dogs and
+a cripple and two lameters and a priest and two deacons and a
+patriarch and two monks and a Cadi and two assessors, who will
+testify that the bag is my bag." Quoth the Cadi to me, "And what
+sayst thou, O Ali?" So, O Commander of the Faithful, being filled
+with rage, I came forward and said, "God keep our lord the Cadi!
+I had in this my wallet a coat of mail and a broadsword and
+armouries and a thousand fighting rams and a sheep-fold and a
+thousand barking dogs and gardens and vines and flowers and sweet
+herbs and figs and apples and pictures and statues and flagons
+and goblets and fair-faced slave-girls and singing-women and
+marriage-feasts and tumult and clamour and great tracts of land
+and brothers of success[FN#153] and a company of daybreak-riders,
+with swords and spears and bows and arrows, and true friends and
+dear ones and intimates and comrades and men imprisoned for
+punishment and cup-companions and a drum and flutes and flags and
+banners and boys and girls and brides, in all their wedding
+bravery, and singing-girls and five Abyssinian women and three
+Hindi and four women of Medina and a score of Greek girls and
+half a hundred Turkish and threescore and ten Persian girls and
+fourscore Kurd and fourscore and ten Georgian women and Tigris
+and Euphrates and a fowling net and a flint and steel and Many-
+Columned Irem[FN#154] and a thousand rogues and pimps and horse-
+courses and stables and mosques and baths and a builder and a
+carpenter and a plank and a nail and a black slave, with a pair
+of recorders, and a captain and a caravan-leader and towns and
+cities and a hundred thousand dinars and Cufa and Ambar[FN#155]
+and twenty chests full of stuffs and twenty store-houses for
+victual and Gaza and Askalon and from Damietta to Essouan and the
+palace of Kisra Anoushirwan[FN#156] and the kingdom of Solomon
+and from Wadi Numan[FN#157] to the land of Khorassan and Balkh
+and Ispahan and from India to the Soudan. Therein also (may God
+prolong the life of our lord the Cadi!) are doublets and cloths
+and a thousand sharp razors to shave the Cadi's chin, except he
+fear my resentment and adjudge the bag to be mine."
+
+When the Cadi heard what I and the Kurd avouched, he was
+confounded and said, "I see ye are none other than two pestilent
+atheistical fellows, who make sport of Cadis and magistrates and
+stand not in fear of reproach. Never did any tell or hear tell of
+aught more extraordinary than that which ye pretend. By Allah,
+from China to Shejreh umm Ghailan[FN#158] nor from Fars to the
+Soudan, nor from Wadi Numan to Khorassan, ever was heard or
+credited the like of what ye avouch! Is this bag a bottomless sea
+or the Day of Resurrection, that shall gather together the just
+and unjust?" Then he bade open the bag; so I opened it and
+behold, there was in it bread and a lemon and cheese and olives.
+So I threw it down before the Kurd and went away.'
+
+When the Khalif heard Ali's story, he laughed till he fell
+backward and made him a handsome present.
+
+
+
+
+End of Vol. III.
+
+
+
+
+                       Notes to Volume 3
+
+
+
+[FN#1] It need hardly be remarked that Eastern stirrups are made
+so to do duty as spurs.
+
+[FN#2] i.e. The Seven Sleepers.
+
+[FN#3] i.e. The birds of prey.
+
+[FN#4] "O thou of the little stronghold."  A sobriquet popularly
+bestowed on the fox, even as we call him "Reynard."
+
+[FN#5] These verses are full of plays upon words, which it is
+impossible to render in a translation.
+
+[FN#6] i.e. blood, like wine in colour.
+
+[FN#7] The face.
+
+[FN#8] The teeth.
+
+[FN#9] The wine-cup.
+
+[FN#10] Alluding to the Eastern practice of dying the hands with
+henna in concentric bands.
+
+[FN#11] The lips, likened to the plum of the jujube-tree.
+
+[FN#12] The teeth.
+
+[FN#13] A well-known metaphor for the brilliant whiteness of the
+face shining through the black hair.
+
+[FN#14] The lips.
+
+[FN#15] The teeth.
+
+[FN#16] Mejnoun, the well-known lover of Eastern romance.
+
+[FN#17] These verses apparently relate to Aboulhusn, but it is
+possible that they may be meant to refer to Shemsennehar, as the
+masculine is constantly used for the feminine in Oriental love-
+poetry.
+
+[FN#18] As that of a martyr. See Vol. II. p. 25, note 2. {Vol. 2,
+FN#15}
+
+[FN#19] Two fallen angels appointed to tempt men by teaching them
+the art of magic.
+
+[FN#20] An idol or idols of the Arabs before Mohammed.
+
+[FN#21] The browlocks, from their shape, are commonly likened by
+Eastern poets to scorpions.
+
+[FN#22] Three stars so called in the Great Bear.
+
+[FN#23] or recite.
+
+[FN#24] There are three orders of Jinn: the upper or inhabitants
+of the air, the lower or inhabitants of the earth and the divers
+or inhabitants of the waters.
+
+[FN#25] Lit. lean and fat.
+
+[FN#26] Syn. eye (nazir).
+
+[FN#27] Syn. eyebrow (hajib).
+
+[FN#28] A play upon words turning upon the literal meaning
+("auspicious full moons") of the two names of women Budour and
+Suad.
+
+[FN#29] Ring-mail.
+
+[FN#30] i.e. Orvietan or Venice treacle, the well-known universal
+remedy of the middle ages, alluded to by Chaucer in the words,
+"And Christ that is unto all ills triacle."
+
+[FN#31] Names of women.
+
+[FN#32] Women's name.
+
+[FN#33] Women's name.
+
+[FN#34] i.e. a woman.
+
+[FN#35] Women's names.
+
+[FN#36] Wine.
+
+[FN#37]  i.e. by way of ornament.
+
+[FN#38] The well-known semi-legendary sage and fabulist.
+
+[FN#39] Playing upon his own name, Kemerezzeman, which means,
+"Moon of the time or of fortune."  Budour means "Full moons."
+
+[FN#40] Siwaka, a toothstick, (acc.) means also "other than
+thee."
+
+[FN#41] Araka, a capparis-tree, (acc.) means also, "I see thee."
+Toothsticks are made of
+the wood of this tree.
+
+[FN#42] A treasury of money is a thousand purses or about £5,000.
+
+[FN#43] This expression is of course metaphorical.  Cf. Solomon's
+Song passim.
+
+[FN#44] i.e. gum tragacanth.
+
+[FN#45] See post p. 317. {see Vol. 3. Maan Ben Zaideh and the
+Three Girls, FN#121.}
+
+[FN#46] The mansuetude of the Khalif Muawiyeh, the founder of the
+Ommiade dynasty, is a proverb among the Arabs, though hardly to
+be reconciled with the accredited records of his life and
+actions.
+
+[FN#47] Alluding, for the sake of metaphor, to the months of
+purification which, according to the Muslim ceremonial law, must
+be accomplished by a divorced woman, before she can marry again.
+
+[FN#48] A divorce three times pronounced cannot be revoked.
+
+[FN#49] Fabulous peoples mentioned in the Koran.
+
+[FN#50] Said to be so called, because they attract sparrows
+(asafir), but it seems to me more probable that the name denotes
+the colour of the fruit and is derived from usfur, safflower.
+
+[FN#51] Koran,  xxxiii. 38.
+
+[FN#52] Met. anus.
+
+[FN#53] Met. cunnus.
+
+[FN#54] Kibleh, the point of the compass to which one turns in
+prayer.  Mecca is the Kibleh of the Muslims, even as Jerusalem
+that of the Jews and Christians.  The meaning of the text is
+obvious.
+
+[FN#55] i.e. of God.--Koran, li. 9.
+
+[FN#56] The word (futouh) translated "openings" may also be
+rendered "victories" or "benefits."
+
+[FN#57] Cf. Aristophanes, Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusæ passim.
+
+[FN#58] An audacious parody of the Koran, applied ironically,
+"And the pious work God shall raise up."--Koran, xxxv. 11.
+
+[FN#59] Lit. The chapter of clearing (oneself from belief in any
+but God), or Unity, Koran, cxii.  It ends with the words, "There
+is none like unto Him."
+
+[FN#60] i.e. but for the soul that animated them.
+
+[FN#61] The word "nights" (more commonly "days," sometimes also
+"days and nights," as in the verses immediately following) is
+constantly used in the sense of "fortune" or "fate" by the poets
+of the East.
+
+[FN#62] Abdallah ibn ez Zubeir revolted (A.D. 680) against Yezid
+(second Khalif of the Ommiade dynasty) and was proclaimed Khalif
+at Mecca, where he maintained himself till A.D. 692, when he was
+killed in the siege of that town by the famous Hejjaj, general of
+Abdulmelik,  the fifth Ommiade Khalif.
+
+[FN#63] The allusion here appears to be to the burning of part of
+Mecca, including the Temple and Kaabeh, during the (unsuccessful)
+siege by Hussein, A.D. 683.
+
+[FN#64] Three Muslim sectaries (Kharejites), considering the
+Khalif Ali (Mohammed's son-in-law), Muawiyeh (founder of the
+Ommiade dynasty) and Amr (or Amrou), the conqueror of Egypt, as
+the chief authors of the intestine discords which then (A.D. 661
+) ravaged Islam, conspired to assassinate them; but only
+succeeded in killing Ali, Muawiyeh escaping with a wound and the
+fanatic charged with the murder of Amr slaying Kharijeh, the
+chief of the police at Cairo, by mistake, in his stead.  The
+above verses are part of a famous but very obscure elegy on the
+downfall of one of the Muslim dynasties in Spain, composed in the
+twelfth century by Ibn Abdoun el Andalousi, one of the most
+celebrated of the Spanish Arabic poets.
+
+[FN#65] i.e. fortune.  The word dunya (world) is constantly used
+in poetry to signify "fortune" or "the fortune of this world."
+
+[FN#66] This line is a characteristic example of the antithetical
+conceits so common in Oriental poetry.  The meaning is, "My grief
+makes all I behold seem black to me, whilst my tears have washed
+out all the colour from my eyes."
+
+[FN#67] i.e. the tomb.
+
+[FN#68] The wood of which makes a peculiarly fierce and lasting
+fire.
+
+[FN#69] Koran iv. 38.
+
+[FN#70] Most happy.
+
+[FN#71] Wretched.
+
+[FN#72] Most happy.
+
+[FN#73] The gift of God. The h in Nimeh becomes t before a vowel.
+
+[FN#74] i.e. happiness.
+
+[FN#75] Num is synonymous with Saad.  The purpose of the change
+of name was to make the little one's name correspond with that of
+Nimeh, which is derived from the same root.
+
+[FN#76] i.e. to any one, as we should say, "to Tom, Dick or
+Harry."
+
+[FN#77] i.e. to any one, as we should say, "to Tom, Dick or
+Harry."
+
+[FN#78] El Hejjaj ben Yousuf eth Thekefi, a famous statesman and
+soldier of the seventh and eighth centuries.  He was governor of
+Chaldæa under the fifth and sixth Ommiade Khalifs and was
+renowned for his cruelty; but appears nevertheless to have been a
+prudent and capable administrator, who probably used no more
+rigour than was necessary to restrain the proverbially turbulent
+populations of Bassora and Cufa.  Most of the anecdotes of his
+brutality and tyranny, some of which will be found in this
+collection, are, in all probability, apocryphal.
+
+[FN#79] Wool is the distinctive wear of Oriental devotees.
+
+[FN#80] Koran xxv. 70.
+
+[FN#81] Of the Koran.
+
+[FN#82] This verse contains a series of jeux-de-mots, founded
+upon the collocation of the three proper names, Num, Suada and
+Juml, with the third person feminine singular, preterite-present,
+fourth conjugation, of their respective verb-roots, i.e. idka
+anamet Num, if Num vouchsafe, etc., etc.
+
+[FN#83] Nimeh.
+
+[FN#84] "And he (Jacob) turned from them, saying, 'Woe is me for
+Joseph!'  And his eyes grew white for grief ...  (Quoth Joseph to
+his brethren)  'Take this my shirt and throw it over my father's
+face and he will recover his sight' ...  So, when the messenger
+of glad tidings came (to Jacob), he threw it (the shirt) over his
+face and he was restored to sight."--Koran xii. 84, 93, 96.
+
+[FN#85] Hemzeh and Abbas were uncles of Mohammed.  The Akil here
+alluded to is apparently a son of the Khalif Ali, who deserted
+his father and joined the usurper Muawiyeh, the founder of the
+Ommiade dynasty.
+
+[FN#86] One of the numerous quack aphrodisiacs current in the
+middle ages, as with us cock's cullions and other grotesque
+prescriptions.
+
+[FN#87] To conjure the evil eye.
+
+[FN#88] i.e. him of the moles.
+
+[FN#89] Alluding to the redness of his cheeks, as if they had
+been flushed with wine. The passage may be construed, "As he were
+a white slave, with cheeks reddened by wine." The Turkish and
+other white slaves were celebrated for their beauty.
+
+[FN#90] As a protection against the evil eye. We may perhaps,
+however, read, "Ask pardon of God!", i.e. for your unjust
+reproach.
+
+[FN#91] See note, post, p. 299. {see Vol. 3, FN#114}
+
+[FN#92] i.e. of the caravan.
+
+[FN#93] A famous Muslim saint of the twelfth century and founder
+of the four great orders of dervishes. He is buried at Baghdad.
+
+[FN#94] Koran xiii. 14.
+
+[FN#95] Another well-known saint.
+
+[FN#96] i.e. He engaged to do somewhat, undertaking upon oath in
+case of default to divorce his wife by pronouncing the triple
+formula of divorcement, and she therefore became divorced, by
+operation of law, on his failure to keep his engagement.
+
+[FN#97] The 36th chapter of the Koran.
+
+[FN#98] or "herself."
+
+[FN#99] or "myself."
+
+[FN#100] This passage is full of double-entendres, the meaning of
+most of which is obvious, but others are so obscure and
+farfetched as to defy explanation.
+
+[FN#101] The raven is the symbol of separation.
+
+[FN#102] One of the names of God (Breslau. The two other editions
+have it, "O David!"). It is the custom of the Arabs, as will
+appear in others of these tales, to represent inarticulate music
+(such as that of birds and instruments) as celebrating the
+praises of God.
+
+[FN#103] lit. a fan.
+
+[FN#104] One of the most celebrated, as well as the most witty
+and licentious, of Arab poets. He was one of Haroun er Reshid's
+boon-companions and died early in the ninth century.
+
+[FN#105] See note, p. 274.{see Vol. 3, FN#102}
+
+[FN#106] The above appears to be the meaning of this somewhat
+obscure passage; but we may perhaps translate it as follows: "May
+God preserve (us) from the mischief of he Commander of the
+Faithful!" "O Vizier," answered the Khalif, "the mischief is
+passing great."
+
+[FN#107] Meaning that the robbery must have been committed by
+some inmate of the palace.
+
+[FN#108] Amir. Thus the Breslau edition; the two others give
+Amin, i.e. one who is trusted or in a position of trust.
+
+[FN#109] According to Mohammedan tradition, it was Ishmael, not
+Isaac, whom Abraham was commanded to sacrifice.
+
+[FN#110] Apparently a sort of blackmail levied upon merchants and
+others by the soldiers who protected them against the Bedouins.
+
+[FN#111] A village on the Gulf of Scanderoon.
+
+[FN#112] Or perhaps dinars, the coin not being specified.
+
+[FN#113] Or sectary of Ali. The Shiyaites did not acknowledge the
+first three Khalifs Abou Bekr, Omar, and Othman, and were wont to
+write their names upon their heels, in token of contempt. The
+Sunnites are the orthodox Muslims, who accept the actual order of
+things.
+
+[FN#114] An open-fronted reception-room, generally on the first
+floor and giving on the interior court of the house.
+
+[FN#115] Instead of "rank of Amir," we should perhaps read
+"knighthood."
+
+[FN#116] i.e. It is not enough. See Vol. II, p. 74, note. {see
+Vol. 2, FN#29}
+
+[FN#117] Confessional?
+
+[FN#118] £500.
+
+[FN#119] The Mohammedans accuse the Jews, as well as the
+Christians, of falsifying their sacred books, so as to suppress
+the mention of Mohammed.
+
+[FN#120] A very famous Arab chieftain of the latter part of the
+sixth century, especially renowned for the extravagance with
+which he practiced the patriarchal virtues of generosity and
+hospitality. He died a few years after Mohammed's birth.
+
+[FN#121] Another famous Oriental type of generosity. He was a
+celebrated soldier and statesman of the eighth century and stood
+in high favour with the Ommiade Khalifs, as also (after the
+change of dynasty) with those of the house of Abbas.
+
+[FN#122] Apparently meaning the upper part of the carpet whereon
+the Amir's chair was set. It is the place of honour and has a
+peculiar sanctity among the Arabs, it being a breach of good
+manners to tread upon it (or indeed upon any part of the carpet)
+with shodden feet.
+
+[FN#123] Apparently Toledo.
+
+[FN#124] Sixth Khalif of the Ommiade dynasty, A.D. 705-716.
+
+[FN#125] Or perhaps "of that which is due to men of worth."
+
+[FN#126] It is the invariable custom (and indeed the duty) of
+every Muslim to salute his co-religionist with the words "Peace
+be on thee!" upon first accosting him.
+
+[FN#127] He having then returned to his palace.
+
+[FN#128] i.e. of life.
+
+[FN#129] Lit. to dispute about or defend itself, Koran xvi 112.
+
+[FN#130] The Rages of the Apocrypha; a great city of Persia,
+formerly its capital, but now a mere heap of ruins in the
+neighbourhood of Teheran.
+
+[FN#131] Ibrahim ben El Mehdi was one of the most celebrated
+musicians and wits of his day.  "He was a man of great merit and
+a perfect scholar, possessed of an open heart and a generous
+hand; his like had never before been seen among the sons of the
+Khalifs, none of whom spoke with more propriety and elegance or
+composed verses with greater ability." (Ibn Khellikan.)
+
+[FN#132] Ibrahim of Mosul, the greatest musician of the time, a
+boon-companion and special favourite of Haroun er Reshid and his
+son.
+
+[FN#133] Lit. the lord of the blood-revenge, i.e. the person
+entitled to exact the blood-wit.
+
+[FN#134] His Vizier.
+
+[FN#135] Joseph to his brethren, Koran xii. 92.
+
+[FN#136] Playing upon the literal meaning, "blood-sucker," of the
+word kejjam, cupper or barber-surgeon.
+
+[FN#137] The Arabic word is el Medineh, lit. the city. Perhaps
+the narrator meant to compare the citadel to the actual city of
+Medina.
+
+[FN#138] A well-known theologian.
+
+[FN#139] Koran lxxxix. 6, 7.
+
+[FN#140] According to the Breslau edition, it was the prophet
+Hond who, being sent of God to exhort Sheddad and his people to
+embrace the true faith, promised them Paradise in the next world,
+as a reward, describing it as above. Quoth Sheddad, on hearing
+this description, "I will build me in this world the like of this
+Paradise and I have no need of that thou promisest me."
+
+[FN#141] i.e. the prophet Houd (Heber).
+
+[FN#142] Son of Ibrahim el Mausili and still more famous as a
+musician. He was also an excellent poet and a great favourite
+with the Khalif Mamoun.
+
+[FN#143] Mamoun's own Vizier, a man of great wealth and
+munificence.
+
+[FN#144] Witout the town.
+
+[FN#145] Medewwerek, lit. "something round." This word generally
+means a small round cushion; but, in the present instance, a gong
+is evidently referred to.
+
+[FN#146] The Prophet's uncle, from whom the Abbaside Khalifs were
+descended.
+
+[FN#147] Lit. "fugleman," i.e. "leader of the people at prayer,"
+a title bestowed upon the Khalifs, in recognition of their
+spiritual headship.
+
+[FN#148] Dies albo lapide notanda.
+
+[FN#149] Lit. Kaabeh.
+
+[FN#150] Referring to the station in the Temple of Mecca, known
+as the Mecam or standing-place of Abraham. The wish inferred is
+that the Khalif's court may be as favourite a place of reverent
+resort as the station in question.
+
+[FN#151] Or (quaere) a pair of forceps.
+
+[FN#152] See ante, p. 335. {see Vol. 3, FN#139}
+
+[FN#153] i.e. thieves.
+
+[FN#154] See ante, p. 337. {...to Many-Columned Irem, at the ...}
+
+[FN#155] A city on the Euphrates, about 40 miles west of Baghdad.
+
+[FN#156] The famous King of Persia.
+
+[FN#157] In Arabia.
+
+[FN#158] Lit. "a thorn-acacia tree." Quaere, the name of a town
+in Egypt?
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT, VOLUME III ***
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