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"To the pure all things are pure" (Puris omnia pura)
- Arab Proverb.
"Niuna corrotta mente intese mai sanamente parole."
(Moreover, 'tis patent to all that 'twas not in the Church)
- "Decameron" - conclusion.
"Erubuit, posuitque meum Lucretia librum Sed coram Bruto. Brute!
reced, leget.
(Lucretia, more proper than whom none such,
Peeked between my covers, blushed very much,
And threw me down (but Brutus stood glowering).
Brutus, "Ciao!"—and back she'll be devouring.--Gary Schmidgall)
- Martial.
"Miculx est de ris que de larmes escripre, Pour ce que rire est
le propre des hommes."
(tis better to write of laughter than of tears, for laughter belongs to man alone.)
- Rabelais.
"The pleasure we derive from perusing the Thousand and One
Stories makes us regret that we possess only a comparatively
small part of these truly enchanting fictions."
- Crichton's "History of Arabia."
This work, labourious as it may appear, has been to me a labour of love, an unfailing source of solace and satisfaction. During my long years of official banishment to the luxuriant and deadly deserts of Western Africa, and to the dull and dreary half clearings of South America, it proved itself a charm, a talisman against ennui and despondency. Impossible even to open the pages without a vision starting into view; with out drawing a picture from the pinacothek of the brain; without reviving a host of memories and reminiscences which are not the common property of travellers, however widely they may have travelled. From my dull and commonplace and "respectable" surroundings, the Jinn bore me at once to the land of my pre-direction, Arabia, a region so familiar to my mind that even at first sight, it seemed a reminiscence of some by gone metem-psychic life in the distant Past. Again I stood under the diaphanous skies, in air glorious as aether, whose every breath raises men's spirits like sparkling wine. Once more I saw the evening star hanging like a solitaire from the pure front of the western firmament; and the after glow transfiguring and transforming, as by magic, the homely and rugged features of the scene into a fairy land lit with a light which never shines on other soils or seas. Then would appear the woollen tents, low and black, of the true Badawin, mere dots in the boundless waste of lion tawny clays and gazelle brown gravels, and the camp fire dotting like a glow worm the village centre. Presently, sweetened by distance, would be heard the wild weird song of lads and lasses, driving or rather pelting, through the gloaming their sheep and goats; and the measured chant of the spearsmen gravely stalking behind their charge, the camels; mingled with bleating of the flocks and the bellowing of the humpy herds; while the reremouse flitted overhead with his tiny shriek, and the rave of the jackal resounded through deepening glooms, and--most musical of music--the palm trees answered the whispers of the night breeze with the softest tones of falling water.
And then a shift of scene. The Shaykhs and "white beards" of the tribe gravely take their places, sitting with outspread skirts like hillocks on the plain, as the Arabs say, around the camp fire, whilst I reward their hospitality and secure its continuance by reading or reciting a few pages of their favourite tales. The women and children stand motionless as silhouettes outside the ring; and all are breathless with attention; they seem to drink in the words with eyes and mouths as well as with ears. The most fantastic flights of fancy, the wildest improbabilities, the most impossible of impossibilities, appear to them utterly natural, mere matters of every day occurrence. They enter thoroughly into each phase of feeling touched upon by the author: they take a personal pride in the chivalrous nature and knightly prowess of Taj al-Mul�k; they are touched with tenderness by the self sacrificing love of Azizah; their mouths water as they hear of heaps of untold gold given away in largesse like clay; they chuckle with delight every time a Kazi or a Fakir--a judge or a reverend--is scurvily entreated by some Pantagruelist of the Wilderness; and, despite their normal solemnity and impassibility, all roar with laughter, sometimes rolling upon the ground till the reader's gravity is sorely tried, at the tales of the garrulous Barber and of Ali and the Kurdish Sharper. To this magnetising mood the sole exception is when a Badawi of superior accomplishments, who sometimes says his prayers, ejaculates a startling "Astagh-faru'llah"--I pray Allah's pardon!--for listening, not to Carlyle's "downright lies," but to light mention of the sex whose name is never heard amongst the nobility of the Desert.
Nor was it only in Arabia that the immortal Nights did me such notable service: I found the wildlings of Somali land equally amenable to its discipline; no one was deaf to the charm and the two women cooks of my caravan, on its way to Harar, were in continently dubbed by my men "Shahrazad" and "Dinazad."
It may be permitted me also to note that this translation is a natural outcome of my Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah. Arriving at Aden in the (so called) winter of 1852, I put up with my old and dear friend, Steinhaeuser, to whose memory this volume is inscribed; and, when talking over Arabia and the Arabs, we at once came to the same conclusion that, while the name of this wondrous treasury of Moslem folk lore is familiar to almost every English child, no general reader is aware of the valuables it contains, nor indeed will the door open to any but Arabists. Before parting we agreed to "collaborate" and produce a full, complete, unvarnished, uncastrated copy of the great original, my friend taking the prose and I the metrical part; and we corresponded upon the subject for years. But whilst I was in the Brazil, Steinhaeuser died suddenly of apoplexy at Berne in Switzerland and, after the fashion of Anglo India, his valuable MSS. left at Aden were dispersed, and very little of his labours came into my hands.
Thus I was left alone to my work, which progressed fitfully amid a host of obstructions. At length, in the spring of 1879, the tedious process of copying began and the book commenced to take finished form. But, during the winter of 1881-82, I saw in the literary journals a notice of a new version by Mr. John Payne, well known to scholars for his prowess in English verse, especially for his translation of "The Poems of Master Francis Villon, of Paris." Being then engaged on an expedition to the Gold Coast (for gold), which seemed likely to cover some months, I wrote to the "Athenaeum" (Nov. 13, 1881) and to Mr. Payne, who was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same work, and freely offered him precedence and possession of the field till no longer wanted. He accepted my offer as frankly, and his priority entailed another delay lasting till the spring of 1885. These details will partly account for the lateness of my appearing, but there is yet another cause. Professional ambition suggested that literary labours, unpopular with the vulgar and the half educated, are not likely to help a man up the ladder of promotion. But common sense presently suggested to me that, professionally speaking, I was not a success, and, at the same time, that I had no cause to be ashamed of my failure. In our day, when we live under a despotism of the lower "middle class" Philister who can pardon anything but superiority, the prizes of competitive services are monopolized by certain "pets" of the Mediocratie, and prime favourites of that jealous and potent majority--the Mediocnties who know "no nonsense about merit." It is hard for an outsider to realise how perfect is the monopoly of common place, and to comprehend how fatal a stumbling stone that man sets in the way of his own advancement who dares to think for himself, or who knows more or who does more than the mob of gentlemen employee who know very little and who do even less.
Yet, however behindhand I may be, there is still ample room and verge for an English version of the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments."
Our century of translations, popular and vernacular, from (Professor Antoine) Galland's delightful abbreviation and adaptation (A.D. 1704), in no wise represent the eastern original. The best and latest, the Rev. Mr. Foster's, which is diffuse and verbose, and Mr. G. Moir Bussey's, which is a re- correction, abound in gallicisms of style and idiom; and one and all degrade a chef d'oeuvre of the highest anthropological and ethnographical interest and importance to a mere fairy book, a nice present for little boys.
After nearly a century had elapsed, Dr. Jonathan Scott (LL.D. H.E.I.C.'s S., Persian Secretary to the G. G. Bengal; Oriental Professor, etc., etc.), printed his "Tales, Anecdotes, and Letters, translated from the Arabic and Persian," (Cadell and Davies, London, A.D. 1800); and followed in 1811 with an edition of "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments" from the MS. of Edward Wortley Montague (in 6 vols., small 8vo, London: Longmans, etc.). This work he (and he only) describes as "Carefully revised and occasionally corrected from the Arabic." The reading public did not wholly reject it, sundry texts were founded upon the Scott version and it has been imperfectly reprinted (4 vole., 8vo, Nimmo and Bain, London, 1883). But most men, little recking what a small portion of the original they were reading, satisfied themselves with the Anglo French epitome and metaphrase. At length in 1838, Mr. Henry Torrens, B.A., Irishman, lawyer ("of the Inner Temple") and Bengal Civilian, took a step in the right direction; and began to translate, "The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," (1 vol., 8vo, Calcutta: W. Thacker and Co.) from the Arabic of the Egyptian (!) MS. edited by Mr. (afterwards Sir)William H. Macnaghten. The attempt, or rather the intention, was highly creditable; the copy was carefully moulded upon the model and offered the best example of the verbatim et literatim style. But the plucky author knew little of Arabic, and least of what is most wanted, the dialect of Egypt and Syria. His prose is so conscientious as to offer up spirit at the shrine of letter; and his verse, always whimsical, has at times a manner of Hibernian whoop which is comical when it should be pathetic. Lastly he printed only one volume of a series which completed would have contained nine or ten.
That amiable and devoted Arabist, the late Edward William Lane does not score a success in his "New Translation of the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights" (London: Charles Knight and Co., MDCCCXXXIX.) of which there have been four English editions, besides American, two edited by E. S. Poole. He chose the abbreviating Bulak Edition; and, of its two hundred tales, he has omitted about half and by far the more characteristic half: the work was intended for "the drawing room table;" and, consequently, the workman was compelled to avoid the "objectionable" and aught "approaching to licentiousness." He converts the Arabian Nights into the Arabian Chapters, arbitrarily changing the division and, worse still, he converts some chapters into notes. He renders poetry by prose and apologises for not omitting it altogether: he neglects assonance and he is at once too Oriental and not Oriental enough. He had small store of Arabic at the time--Lane of the Nights is not Lane of the Dictionary--and his pages are disfigured by many childish mistakes. Worst of all, the three handsome volumes are rendered unreadable as Sale's Koran by their anglicised Latin, their sesquipedalian un-English words, and the stiff and stilted style of half a century ago when our prose was, perhaps, the worst in Europe. Their cargo of Moslem learning was most valuable to the student, but utterly out of place for readers of "The Nights;" re-published, as these notes have been separately (London, Chatto, I883), they are an ethnological text book.
Mr. John Payne has printed, for the Villon Society and for private circulation only, the first and sole complete translation of the great compendium, "comprising about four times as much matter as that of Galland, and three times as much as that of any other translator;" and I cannot but feel proud that he has honoured me with the dedication of "The Book of The Thousand Nights and One Night." His version is most readable: his English, with a sub-flavour of the Mabinogionic archaicism, is admirable; and his style gives life and light to the nine volumes whose matter is frequently heavy enough. He succeeds admirably in the most difficult passages and he often hits upon choice and special terms and the exact vernacular equivalent of the foreign word, so happily and so picturesquely that all future translators must perforce use the same expression under pain of falling far short. But the learned and versatile author bound himself to issue only five hundred copies, and "not to reproduce the work in its complete and uncastrated form." Consequently his excellent version is caviaire to the general--practically unprocurable.
And here I hasten to confess that ample use has been made of the three versions above noted, the whole being blended by a callida junctura into a homogeneous mass. But in the presence of so many predecessors a writer is bound to show some raison d'etre for making a fresh attempt and this I proceed to do with due reserve.
Briefly, the object of this version is to show what "The Thousand Nights and a Night" really is. Not, however, for reasons to be more fully stated in the Terminal Essay, by straining verbum reddere verbo, but by writing as the Arab would have written in English. On this point I am all with Saint Jerome (Pref. in Jobum) "Vel verbum e verbo, vel sensum e sensu, vel ex utroque commixtum, et medic temperatum genus translationis." My work claims to be a faithful copy of the great Eastern Saga book, by preserving intact, not only the spirit, but even the micanique, the manner and the matter. Hence, however prosy and long drawn out be the formula, it retains the scheme of The Nights because they are a prime feature in the original. The Rawi or reciter, to whose wits the task of supplying details is left, well knows their value: the openings carefully repeat the names of the dramatic personae and thus fix them in the hearer's memory. Without the Nights no Arabian Nights! Moreover it is necessary to retain the whole apparatus: nothing more ill advised than Dr. Jonathan Scott's strange device of garnishing The Nights with fancy head pieces and tail pieces or the splitting up of Galland's narrative by merely prefixing "Nuit," etc., ending moreover, with the ccxxxivth Night: yet this has been done, apparently with the consent of the great Arabist Sylvestre de Sacy (Paris, Ernest Bourdin). Moreover, holding that the translator's glory is to add something to his native tongue, while avoiding the hideous hag like nakedness of Torrens and the bald literalism of Lane, I have carefully Englished the picturesque turns and novel expressions of the original in all their outlandishness; for instance, when the dust cloud raised by a tramping host is described as "walling the horizon." Hence peculiar attention has been paid to the tropes and figures which the Arabic language often packs into a single term; and I have never hesitated to coin a word when wanted, such as "she snorted and sparked," fully to represent the original. These, like many in Rabelais, are mere barbarisms unless generally adopted; in which case they become civilised and common currency.
Despite objections manifold and manifest, I have preserved the balance of sentences and the prose rhyme and rhythm which Easterns look upon as mere music. This "Saj'a," or cadence of the cooing dove, has in Arabic its special duties. It adds a sparkle to description and a point to proverb, epigram and dialogue; it corresponds with our "artful alliteration" (which in places I have substituted for it) and, generally, it defines the boundaries between the classical and the popular styles which jostle each other in The Nights. If at times it appear strained and forced, after the wont of rhymed prose, the scholar will observe that, despite the immense copiousness of assonants and consonants in Arabic, the strain is often put upon it intentionally, like the Rims cars of Dante and the Troubadours. This rhymed prose may be "un English" and unpleasant, even irritating to the British ear; still I look upon it as a sine qu� non for a complete reproduction of the original. In the Terminal Essay I shall revert to the subject.
On the other hand when treating the versical portion, which may represent a total of ten thousand lines, I have not always bound myself by the metrical bonds of the Arabic, which are artificial in the extreme, and which in English can be made bearable only by a tour de force. I allude especially to the monorhyme, Rim continuat or tirade monorime, whose monotonous simplicity was preferred by the Troubadours for threnodies. It may serve well for three or four couplets but, when it extends, as in the Ghazal-cannon, to eighteen, and in the Kasidah, elegy or ode, to more, it must either satisfy itself with banal rhyme words, when the assonants should as a rule be expressive and emphatic; or, it must display an ingenuity, a smell of the oil, which assuredly does not add to the reader's pleasure. It can perhaps be done and it should be done; but for me the task has no attractions: I can fence better in shoes than in sabots. Finally I print the couplets in Arab form separating the hemistichs by asterisks.
And now to consider one matter of special importance in the book- -its turpiloquium. This stumbling-block is of two kinds, completely distinct. One is the simple, na�ve and child like indecency which, from Tangiers to Japan, occurs throughout general conversation of high and low in the present day. It uses, like the holy books of the Hebrews, expressions "plainly descriptive of natural situations;" and it treats in an unconventionally free and naked manner of subjects and matters which are usually, by common consent, left undescribed. As Sir William Jones observed long ago, "that anything natural can be offensively obscene never seems to have occurred to the Indians or to their legislators; a singularity (?) pervading their writings and conversation, but no proof of moral depravity." Another justly observes, Les peuples primitifs n'y entendent pas malice: ils appellent les choses par leurs noms et ne trouvent pas condamnable ce qui est naturel. And they are prying as children. For instance the European novelist marries off his hero and heroine and leaves them to consummate marriage in privacy; even Tom Jones has the decency to bolt the door. But the Eastern story teller, especially this unknown "prose Shakespeare," must usher you, with a flourish, into the bridal chamber and narrate to you, with infinite gusto, everything he sees and hears. Again we must remember that grossness and indecency, in fact les turpitudes, are matters of time and place; what is offensive in England is not so in Egypt; what scandalises us now would have been a tame joke tempore Elis�. Withal The Nights will not be found in this matter coarser than many passages of Shakespeare, Sterne, and Swift, and their uncleanness rarely attains the perfection of Alcofribas Naiser, "divin maitre et atroce cochon." The other element is absolute obscenity, sometimes, but not always, tempered by wit, humour and drollery; here we have an exaggeration of Petronius Arbiter, the handiwork of writers whose ancestry, the most religious and the most debauched of mankind, practised every abomination before the shrine of the Canopic Gods.
In accordance with my purpose of reproducing the Nights, not virginibus puerisque, but in as perfect a picture as my powers permit, I have carefully sought out the English equivalent of every Arabic word, however low it may be or "shocking" to ears polite; preserving, on the other hand, all possible delicacy where the indecency is not intentional; and, as a friend advises me to state, not exaggerating the vulgarities and the indecencies which, indeed, can hardly be exaggerated. For the coarseness and crassness are but the shades of a picture which would otherwise be all lights. The general tone of The Nights is exceptionally high and pure. The devotional fervour often rises to the boiling point of fanaticism. The pathos is sweet, deep and genuine; tender, simple and true, utterly unlike much of our modern tinsel. Its life, strong, splendid and multitudinous, is everywhere flavoured with that unaffected pessimism and constitutional melancholy which strike deepest root under the brightest skies and which sigh in the face of heaven: --
Vita quid est hominis? Viridis floriscula mortis;
Sole Oriente oriens, sole cadente cadens.
Poetical justice is administered by the literary K�z� with exemplary impartiality and severity; "denouncing evil doers and eulogising deeds admirably achieved." The morale is sound and healthy; and at times we descry, through the voluptuous and libertine picture, vistas of a transcendental morality, the morality of Socrates in Plato. Subtle corruption and covert licentiousness are utterly absent; we find more real"vice" in many a short French roman, say La Dame aux Cam�lias, and in not a few English novels of our day than in the thousands of pages of the Arab. Here we have nothing of that most immodest modern modesty which sees covert implication where nothing is implied, and "improper" allusion when propriety is not outraged; nor do we meet with the Nineteenth Century refinement; innocence of the word not of the thought; morality of the tongue not of the heart, and the sincere homage paid to virtue in guise of perfect hypocrisy. It is, indeed, this unique contrast of a quaint element, childish crudities and nursery indecencies and "vain and amatorious" phrase jostling the finest and highest views of life and character, shown in the kaleidoscopic shiftings of the marvellous picture with many a "rich truth in a tale's presence", pointed by a rough dry humour which compares well with "wut; "the alternations of strength and weakness, of pathos and bathos, of the boldest poetry (the diction of Job) and the baldest prose (the Egyptian of today); the contact of religion and morality with the orgies of African Apuleius and Petronius Arbiter--at times taking away the reader's breath--and, finally, the whole dominated everywhere by that marvellous Oriental fancy, wherein the spiritual and the supernatural are as common as the material and the natural; it is this contrast, I say, which forms the chiefest charm of The Nights, which gives it the most striking originality and which makes it a perfect expositor of the medieval Moslem mind.
Explanatory notes did not enter into Mr. Payne's plan. They do with mine: I can hardly imagine The Nights being read to any profit by men of the West without commentary. My annotations avoid only one subject, parallels of European folklore and fabliaux which, however interesting, would overswell the bulk of a book whose speciality is anthropology. The accidents of my life, it may be said without undue presumption, my long dealings with Arabs and other Mahommedans, and my familiarity not only with their idiom but with their turn of thought, and with that racial individuality which baffles description, have given me certain advantages over the average student, however deeply he may have studied. These volumes, moreover, afford me a long sought opportunity of noticing practices and customs which interest all mankind and which "Society" will not hear mentioned. Grate, the historian, and Thackeray, the novelist, both lamented that the b�gueulerie of their countrymen condemned them to keep silence where publicity was required; and that they could not even claim the partial licence of a Fielding and a Smollett. Hence a score of years ago I lent my best help to the late Dr. James Hunt in founding the Anthropological Society, whose presidential chair I first occupied (pp. 2-4 Anthropologia; London, Balliere, vol. i., No. I, 1873). My motive was to supply travellers with an organ which would rescue their observations from the outer darkness of manuscript, and print their curious information on social and sexual matters out of place in the popular book intended for the Nipptisch and indeed better kept from public view. But, hardly had we begun when "Respectability," that whited sepulchre full of all uncleanness, rose up against us. "Propriety" cried us down with her brazen blatant voice, and the weak kneed brethren fell away. Yet the organ was much wanted and is wanted still. All now known barbarous tribes in Inner Africa, America and Australia, whose instincts have not been overlaid by reason, have a ceremony which they call "making men." As soon as the boy shows proofs of puberty, he and his coevals are taken in hand by the mediciner and the Fetisheer; and, under priestly tuition, they spend months in the "bush," enduring hardships and tortures which impress the memory till they have mastered the "theorick and practick" of social and sexual relations. Amongst the civilised this fruit of the knowledge tree must be bought at the price of the bitterest experience, and the consequences of ignorance are peculiarly cruel. Here, then, I find at last an opportunity of noticing in explanatory notes many details of the text which would escape the reader's observation, and I am confident that they will form a repertory of Eastern knowledge in its esoteric phase. The student who adds the notes of Lane ("Arabian Society," etc., before quoted) to mine will know as much of the Moslem East and more than many Europeans who have spent half their lives in Orient lands. For facility of reference an index of anthropological notes is appended to each volume.
The reader will kindly bear with the following technical details. Steinhaeuser and I began and ended our work with the first Bulak ("Bul.") Edition printed at the port of Cairo in A.H. 1251 = A.D. 1835. But when preparing my MSS. for print I found the text incomplete, many of the stories being given in epitome and not a few ruthlessly mutilated with head or feet wanting. Like most Eastern scribes the Editor could not refrain from "improvements," which only debased the book; and his sole title to excuse is that the second Bulak Edition (4 vols. A.H. 1279 = A.D. 1863), despite its being "revised and corrected by Sheik Mahommed Qotch Al- Adewi," is even worse; and the same may be said of the Cairo Edit. (4 vols. A.H. 1297 = A. D. 1881). The Calcutta ("Calc.") Edition, with ten lines of Persian preface by the Editor, Ahmed al-Shirwani (A.D. 1814), was cut short at the end of the first two hundred Nights, and thus made room for Sir William Hay Macnaghten's Edition (4 vols. royal 4to) of 1839-42. This ("Mac."), as by far the least corrupt and the most complete, has been assumed for my basis with occasional reference to the Breslau Edition ("Bres.") wretchedly edited from a hideous Egyptian MS. by Dr. Maximilian Habicht (1825-43). The Bayrut Text "Alif-Leila we Leila" (4 vols. at. 8vo, Beirut, 1881-83) is a melancholy specimen of The Nights taken entirely from the Bulak Edition by one Khalil Sarkis and converted to Christianity; beginning without Bismillah, continued with scrupulous castration and ending in ennui and disappointment. I have not used this missionary production.
As regards the transliteration of Arabic words I deliberately reject the artful and complicated system, ugly and clumsy withal, affected by scientific modern Orientalists. Nor is my sympathy with their prime object, namely to fit the Roman alphabet for supplanting all others. Those who learn languages, and many do so, by the eye as well as by the ear, well know the advantages of a special character to distinguish, for instance, Syriac from Arabic, Gujrati from Marathi. Again this Roman hand bewitched may have its use in purely scientific and literary works; but it would be wholly out of place in one whose purpose is that of the novel, to amuse rather than to instruct. Moreover the devices perplex the simple and teach nothing to the learned. Either the reader knows Arabic, in which case Greek letters, italics and "upper case," diacritical points and similar typographic oddities are, as a rule with some exceptions, unnecessary; or he does not know Arabic, when none of these expedients will be of the least use to him. Indeed it is a matter of secondary consideration what system we prefer, provided that we mostly adhere to one and the same, for the sake of a consistency which saves confusion to the reader. I have especially avoided that of Mr. Lane, adopted by Mr. Payne, for special reasons against which it was vain to protest: it represents the debased brogue of Egypt or rather of Cairo; and such a word as Kemer (ez-Zeman) would be utterly un- pronounceable to a Badawi. Nor have I followed the practice of my learned friend, Reverend G. P. Badger, in mixing bars and acute accents; the former unpleasantly remind man of those hateful dactyls and spondees, and the latter should, in my humble opinion, be applied to long vowels which in Arabic double, or should double, the length of the shorts. Dr. Badger uses the acute symbol to denote accent or stress of voice; but such appoggio is unknown to those who speak with purest articulation; for instance whilst the European pronounces Mus-cat', and the Arab villager Mas'-kat; the Children of the Waste, "on whose tongues Allah descended," articulate Mas-kat. I have therefore followed the simple system adopted in my "Pilgrimage," and have accented Arabic words only when first used, thinking it unnecessary to preserve throughout what is an eyesore to the reader and a distress to the printer. In the main I follow "Johnson on Richardson," a work known to every Anglo-Orientalist as the old and trusty companion of his studies early and late; but even here I have made sundry deviations for reasons which will be explained in the Terminal Essay. As words are the embodiment of ideas and writing is of words, so the word is the spoken word; and we should write it as pronounced. Strictly speaking, the e-sound and the o-sound (viz. the Italian o-sound not the English which is peculiar to us and unknown to any other tongue) are not found in Arabic, except when the figure Im�lah obliges: hence they are called "Y� al-Majh�l" and "Waw al-Majh�l" the unknown y (�) and u. But in all tongues vowel-sounds, the flesh which clothes the bones (consonants) of language, are affected by the consonants which precede and more especially which follow them, hardening and softening the articulation; and deeper sounds accompany certain letters as the s�d ( ) compared with the s�n ( ). None save a defective ear would hold, as Lane does, "Maulid" ( = birth-festival) "more properly pronounced 'Molid.'" Yet I prefer Khokh (peach) and Jokh (broad cloth) to Khukh and Jukh; Ohod (mount) to Uhud; Obayd (a little slave) to Ubayd; and Hosayn (a fortlet, not the P. N. Al-Husayn) to Husayn. As for the short e in such words as "Meml�k" for "Mamluk" (a white slave), "Eshe" for "Asha" (supper), and "Yemen" for "Al- Yaman," I consider it a flat Egyptianism, insufferable to an ear which admires the Badawi pronunciation. Yet I prefer "Shelebi" (a dandy) from the Turkish Chelebi, to "Shalabi;" "Zebdani" (the Syrian village) to "Zabdani," and "Fes and Miknes" (by the figure Im�lah) to "Fas and Mikn�s,", our "Fez and Mequinez."
With respect to proper names and untranslated Arabic words I have rejected all system in favour of common sense. When a term is incorporated in our tongue, I refuse to follow the purist and mortify the reader by startling innovation. For instance, Aleppo, Cairo and Bassorah are preferred to Halab, Kahirah and Al-Basrah; when a word is half naturalised, like Alcoran or Koran, Bashaw or Pasha, which the French write Pacha; and Mahomet or Mohammed (for Muhammad), the modern form is adopted because the more familiar. But I see no advantage in retaining,, simply because they are the mistakes of a past generation, such words as "Roc" (for Rikh),), Khalif (a pretentious blunder for Kal�fah and better written Caliph) and "genie" ( = Jinn) a mere Gallic corruption not so terrible, however, as "a Bedouin" ( = Badawi).). As little too would I follow Mr. Lane in foisting upon the public such Arabisms as "Khuff" (a riding boot), "Mikra'ah" (a palm rod) and a host of others for which we have good English equivalents. On the other hand I would use, but use sparingly, certain Arabic exclamations, as "Bismillah" ( = in the name of Allah!) and "Inshallah" ( = if Allah please!), (= which have special applications and which have been made familiar to English ears by the genius of Fraser and Morier.
I here end these desultory but necessary details to address the reader in a few final words. He will not think lightly of my work when I repeat to him that with the aid of my annotations supplementing Lane's, the student will readily and pleasantly learn more of the Moslem's manners and customs, laws and religion than is known to the average Orientalist; and, if my labours induce him to attack the text of The Nights he will become master of much more Arabic than the ordinary Arab owns. This book is indeed a legacy which I bequeath to my fellow countrymen in their hour of need. Over devotion to Hindu, and especially to Sanskrit literature, has led them astray from those (so called) "Semitic" studies, which are the more requisite for us as they teach us to deal successfully with a race more powerful than any pagans--the Moslem. Apparently England is ever forgetting that she is at present the greatest Mohammedan empire in the world. Of late years she has systematically neglected Arabism and, indeed, actively discouraged it in examinations for the Indian Civil Service, where it is incomparably more valuable than Greek and Latin. Hence, when suddenly compelled to assume the reins of government in Moslem lands, as Afghanistan in times past and Egypt at present, she fails after a fashion which scandalises her few (very few) friends; and her crass ignorance concerning the Oriental peoples which should most interest her, exposes her to the contempt of Europe as well as of the Eastern world. When the regrettable raids of 1883-84, culminating in the miserable affairs of Tokar, Teb and Tamasi, were made upon the gallant Sudani negroids, the Bisharin outlying Sawakin, who were battling for the holy cause of liberty and religion and for escape from Turkish task-masters and Egyptian tax-gatherers, not an English official in camp, after the death of the gallant and lamented Major Morice, was capable of speaking Arabic. Now Moslems are not to be ruled by raw youths who should be at school and college instead of holding positions of trust and emolument. He who would deal with them successfully must be, firstly, honest and truthful and, secondly, familiar with and favourably inclined to their manners and customs if not to their law and religion. We may, perhaps, find it hard to restore to England those pristine virtues, that tone and temper, which made her what she is; but at any rate we (myself and a host of others) can offer her the means of dispelling her ignorance concerning the Eastern races with whom she is continually in contact.
In conclusion I must not forget to notice that the Arabic ornamentations of these volumes were designed by my excellent friend Yacoub Artin Pasha, of the Ministry of Instruction, Cairo, with the aid of the well-known writing artist, Shayth Mohammed Muunis the Cairene. My name, Al-Hajj Abdullah ( = the Pilgrim Abdallah) was written by an English calligrapher, the lamented Professor Palmer who found a premature death almost within sight of Suez.
RICHARD F. BURTON
Wanderers' Club, August 15, 1885.
PRAISE BE TO ALLAH * THE BENEFICENT KING * THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE * LORD OF THE THREE WORLDS * WHO SET UP THE FIRMAMENT WITHOUT PILLARS IN ITS STEAD * AND WHO STRETCHED OUT THE EARTH EVEN AS A BED * AND GRACE, AND PRAYER-BLESSlNG BE UPON OUR LORD MOHAMMED * LORD OF APOSTOLIC MEN * AND UPON HIS FAMILY AND COMPANION TRAIN * PRAYER AND BLESSINGS ENDURING AND GRACE WHICH UNTO THE DAY OF DOOM SHALL REMAIN * AMEN! * O THOU OF THE THREE WORLDS SOVEREIGN!
And afterwards. Verily the works and words of those gone before us have become instances and examples to men of our modern day, that folk may view what admonishing chances befel other folk and may therefrom take warning; and that they may peruse the annals of antique peoples and all that hath betided them, and be thereby ruled and restrained:--Praise, therefore, be to Him who hath made the histories of the Past an admonition unto the Present! Now of such instances are the tales called "A Thousand Nights and a Night," together with their far famed legends and wonders. Therein it is related (but Allah is All knowing of His hidden things and All ruling and All honoured and All giving and All gracious and All merciful [FN#1]) that, in tide of yore and in time long gone before, there was a King of the Kings of the Banu S�s�n in the Islands of India and China, a Lord of armies and guards and servants and dependents.[FN#2] He left only two sons, one in the prime of manhood and the other yet a youth, while both were Knights and Braves, albeit the elder was a doughtier horseman than the younger. So he succeeded to the empire; when he ruled the land and forded it over his lieges with justice so exemplary that he was beloved by all the peoples of his capital and of his kingdom. His name was King Shahry�r[FN#3], and he made his younger brother, Shah Zam�n highs, King of Samarcand in Barbarian land. These two ceased not to abide in their several realms and the law was ever carried out in their dominions; and each ruled his own kingdom, with equity and fair dealing to his subjects, in extreme solace and enjoyment; and this condition continually endured for a score of years. But at the end of the twentieth twelvemonth the elder King yearned for a sight of his younger brother and felt that he must look upon him once more. So he took counsel with his Waz�r[FN#4] about visiting him, but the Minister, finding the project unadvisable, recommended that a letter be written and a present be sent under his charge to the younger brother with an invitation to visit the elder. Having accepted this advice the King forthwith bade prepare handsome gifts, such as horses with saddles of gem encrusted gold; Mamelukes, or white slaves; beautiful handmaids, high breasted virgins, and splendid stuffs and costly. He then wrote a letter to Shah Zaman expressing his warm love and great wish to see him, ending with these words, "We therefore hope of the favour and affection of the beloved brother that he will condescend to bestir himself and turn his face us wards. Furthermore we have sent our Wazir to make all ordinance for the march, and our one and only desire is to see thee ere we die; but if thou delay or disappoint us we shall not survive the blow. Wherewith peace be upon thee!" Then King Shahryar, having sealed the missive and given it to the Wazir with the offerings aforementioned, commanded him to shorten his skirts and strain his strength and make all expedition in going and returning. "Harkening and obedience!" quoth the Minister, who fell to making ready without stay and packed up his loads and prepared all his requisites without delay. This occupied him three days, and on the dawn of the fourth he took leave of his King and marched right away, over desert and hill' way, stony waste and pleasant lea without halting by night or by day. But whenever he entered a realm whose ruler was subject to his Suzerain, where he was greeted with magnificent gifts of gold and silver and all manner of presents fair and rare, he would tarry there three days,[FN#5] the term of the guest rite; and, when he left on the fourth, he would be honourably escorted for a whole day's march. As soon as the Wazir drew near Shah Zaman's court in Samarcand he despatched to report his arrival one of his high officials, who presented himself before the King; and, kissing ground between his hands, delivered his message. Hereupon the King commanded sundry of his Grandees and Lords of his realm to fare forth and meet his brother's Wazir at the distance of a full day's journey; which they did, greeting him respectfully and wishing him all prosperity and forming an escort and a procession. When he entered the city he proceeded straightway to the palace, where he presented himself in the royal presence; and, after kissing ground and praying for the King's health and happiness and for victory over all his enemies, he informed him that his brother was yearning to see him, and prayed for the pleasure of a visit. He then delivered the letter which Shah Zaman took from his hand and read: it contained sundry hints and allusions which required thought; but, when the King had fully comprehended its import, he said, "I hear and I obey the commands of the beloved brother!" adding to the Wazir, "But we will not march till after the third day's hospitality." He appointed for the Minister fitting quarters of the palace; and, pitching tents for the troops, rationed them with whatever they might require of meat and drink and other necessaries. On the fourth day he made ready for wayfare and got together sumptuous presents befitting his elder brother's majesty, and stablished his chief Wazir viceroy of the land during his absence. Then he caused his tents and camels and mules to be brought forth and encamped, with their bales and loads, attend ants and guards, within sight of the city, in readiness to set out next morning for his brother's capital. But when the night was half spent he bethought him that he had forgotten in his palace somewhat which he should have brought with him, so he re turned privily and entered his apartments, where he found the Queen, his wife, asleep on his own carpet bed, embracing with both arms a black cook of loathsome aspect and foul with kitchen grease and grime. When he saw this the world waxed black before his sight and he said, "If such case happen while I am yet within sight of the city what will be the doings of this damned whore during my long absence at my brother's court?" So he drew his scymitar and, cutting the two in four pieces with a single blow, left them on the carpet and returned presently to his camp without letting anyone know of what had happened. Then he gave orders for immediate departure and set out at once and began his travel; but he could not help thinking over his wife's treason and he kept ever saying to himself, "How could she do this deed by me? How could she work her own death?," till excessive grief seized him, his colour changed to yellow, his body waxed weak and he was threatened with a dangerous malady, such an one as bringeth men to die. So the Wazir shortened his stages and tarried long at the watering stations and did his best to solace the King. Now when Shah Zaman drew near the capital of his brother he despatched vaunt couriers and messengers of glad tidings to announce his arrival, and Shahryar came forth to meet him with his Wazirs and Emirs and Lords and Grandees of his realm; and saluted him and joyed with exceeding joy and caused the city to be decorated in his honour. When, however, the brothers met, the elder could not but see the change of complexion in the younger and questioned him of his case whereto he replied, "Tis caused by the travails of wayfare and my case needs care, for I have suffered from the change of water and air! but Allah be praised for reuniting me with a brother so dear and so rare!" On this wise he dissembled and kept his secret, adding, "O King of the time and Caliph of the tide, only toil and moil have tinged my face yellow with bile and hath made my eyes sink deep in my head." Then the two entered the capital in all honour; and the elder brother lodged the younger in a palace overhanging the pleasure garden; and, after a time, seeing his condition still unchanged, he attributed it to his separation from his country and kingdom. So he let him wend his own ways and asked no questions of him till one day when he again said, "O my brother, I see thou art grown weaker of body and yellower of colour." "O my brother," replied Shah Zaman "I have an internal wound:"[FN#6] still he would not tell him what he had witnessed in his wife. Thereupon Shahryar summoned doctors and surgeons and bade them treat his brother according to the rules of art, which they did for a whole month; but their sherbets and potions naught availed, for he would dwell upon the deed of his wife, and despondency, instead of diminishing, prevailed, and leach craft treatment utterly failed. One day his elder brother said to him, "I am going forth to hunt and course and to take my pleasure and pastime; maybe this would lighten thy heart." Shah Zaman, however, refused, saying, "O my brother, my soul yearneth for naught of this sort and I entreat thy favour to suffer me tarry quietly in this place, being wholly taken up with my malady." So King Shah Zaman passed his night in the palace and, next morning, when his brother had fared forth, he removed from his room and sat him down at one of the lattice windows overlooking the pleasure grounds; and there he abode thinking with saddest thought over his wife's betrayal and burning sighs issued from his tortured breast. And as he continued in this case lo! a pastern of the palace, which was carefully kept private, swung open and out of it came twenty slave girls surrounding his bother's wife who was wondrous fair, a model of beauty and comeliness and symmetry and perfect loveliness and who paced with the grace of a gazelle which panteth for the cooling stream. Thereupon Shah Zaman drew back from the window, but he kept the bevy in sight espying them from a place whence he could not be espied. They walked under the very lattice and advanced a little way into the garden till they came to a jetting fountain amiddlemost a great basin of water; then they stripped off their clothes and behold, ten of them were women, concubines of the King, and the other ten were white slaves. Then they all paired off, each with each: but the Queen, who was left alone, presently cried out in a loud voice, "Here to me, O my lord Saeed!" and then sprang with a drop leap from one of the trees a big slobbering blackamoor with rolling eyes which showed the whites, a truly hideous sight.[FN#7] He walked boldly up to her and threw his arms round her neck while she embraced him as warmly; then he bussed her and winding his legs round hers, as a button loop clasps a button, he threw her and enjoyed her. On like wise did the other slaves with the girls till all had satisfied their passions, and they ceased not from kissing and clipping, coupling and carousing till day began to wane; when the Mamelukes rose from the damsels' bosoms and the blackamoor slave dismounted from the Queen's breast; the men resumed their disguises and all, except the negro who swarmed up the tree, entered the palace and closed the postern door as before. Now, when Shah Zaman saw this conduct of his sister in law he said in himself, "By Allah, my calamity is lighter than this! My brother is a greater King among the kings than I am, yet this infamy goeth on in his very palace, and his wife is in love with that filthiest of filthy slaves. But this only showeth that they all do it[FN#8] and that there is no woman but who cuckoldeth her husband, then the curse of Allah upon one and all and upon the fools who lean against them for support or who place the reins of conduct in their hands." So he put away his melancholy and despondency, regret and repine, and allayed his sorrow by constantly repeating those words, adding, " 'Tis my conviction that no man in this world is safe from their malice!" When supper time came they brought him the trays and he ate with voracious appetite, for he had long refrained from meat, feeling unable to touch any dish however dainty. Then he returned grateful thanks to Almighty Allah, praising Him and blessing Him, and he spent a most restful night, it having been long since he had savoured the sweet food of sleep. Next day he broke his fast heartily and began to recover health and strength, and presently regained excellent condition. His brother came back from the chase ten days after, when he rode out to meet him and they saluted each other; and when King Shahryar looked at King Shah Zaman he saw how the hue of health had returned to him, how his face had waxed ruddy and how he ate with an appetite after his late scanty diet. He wondered much and said, "O my brother, I was so anxious that thou wouldst join me in hunting and chasing, and wouldst take thy pleasure and pastime in my dominion!" He thanked him and excused himself; then the two took horse and rode into the city and, when they were seated at their ease in the palace, the food trays were set before them and they ate their sufficiency. After the meats were removed and they had washed their hands, King Shahryar turned to his brother and said, "My mind is overcome with wonderment at thy condition. I was desirous to carry thee with me to the chase but I saw thee changed in hue, pale and wan to view, and in sore trouble of mind too. But now Alham-dolillah--glory be to God!--I see thy natural colour hath returned to thy face and that thou art again in the best of case. It was my belief that thy sickness came of severance from thy family and friends, and absence from capital and country, so I refrained from troubling thee with further questions. But now I beseech thee to expound to me the cause of thy complaint and thy change of colour, and to explain the reason of thy recovery and the return to the ruddy hue of health which I am wont to view. So speak out and hide naught!" When Shah Zaman heard this he bowed groundwards awhile his head, then raised it and said, "I will tell thee what caused my complaint and my loss of colour; but excuse my acquainting thee with the cause of its return to me and the reason of my complete recovery: indeed I pray thee not to press me for a reply." Said Shahryar, who was much surprised by these words, "Let me hear first what produced thy pallor and thy poor condition." "Know, then, O my brother," rejoined Shah Zaman, "that when thou sentest thy Wazir with the invitation to place myself between thy hands, I made ready and marched out of my city; but presently I minded me having left behind me in the palace a string of jewels intended as a gift to thee. I returned for it alone and found my wife on my carpet bed and in the arms of a hideous black cook. So I slew the twain and came to thee, yet my thoughts brooded over this business and I lost my bloom and became weak. But excuse me if I still refuse to tell thee what was the reason of my complexion returning." Shahryar shook his head, marvelling with extreme marvel, and with the fire of wrath flaming up from his heart, he cried, "Indeed, the malice of woman is mighty!" Then he took refuge from them with Allah and said, "In very sooth, O my brother, thou hast escaped many an evil by putting thy wife to death,[FN#9] and right excusable were thy wrath and grief for such mishap which never yet befel crowned King like thee. By Allah, had the case been mine, I would not have been satisfied without slaying a thousand women and that way madness lies! But now praise be to Allah who hath tempered to thee thy tribulation, and needs must thou acquaint me with that which so suddenly restored to thee complexion and health, and explain to me what causeth this concealment." "O King of the Age, again I pray thee excuse my so doing!" "Nay, but thou must." "I fear, O my brother, lest the recital cause thee more anger and sorrow than afflicted me." "That were but a better reason," quoth Shahryar, "for telling me the whole history, and I conjure thee by Allah not to keep back aught from me." Thereupon Shah Zaman told him all he had seen, from commencement to con elusion, ending with these words, "When I beheld thy calamity and the treason of thy wife, O my brother, and I resected that thou art in years my senior and in sovereignty my superior, mine own sorrow was belittled by the comparison, and my mind recovered tone and temper: so throwing off melancholy and despondency, I was able to eat and drink and sleep, and thus I speedily regained health and strength. Such is the truth and the whole truth." When King Shahryar heard this he waxed wroth with exceeding wrath, and rage was like to strangle him; but presently he recovered himself and said, "O my brother, I would not give thee the lie in this matter, but I cannot credit it till I see it with mine own eyes." "An thou wouldst look upon thy calamity," quoth Shah Zaman, "rise at once and make ready again for hunting and coursing.[FN#10] and then hide thyself with me, so shalt thou witness it and shine eyes shall verify it." "True," quoth the King; whereupon he let make proclamation of his in tent to travel, and the troops and tents fared forth without the city, camping within sight, and Shahryar sallied out with them and took seat amidmost his host, bidding the slaves admit no man to him. When night came on he summoned his Wazir and said to him, "Sit thou in my stead and let none wot of my absence till the term of three days." Then the brothers disguised themselves and returned by night with all secrecy to the palace, where they passed the dark hours: and at dawn they seated themselves at the lattice overlooking the pleasure grounds, when presently the Queen and her handmaids came out as before, and passing under the windows made for the fountain. Here they stripped, ten of them being men to ten women, and the King's wife cried out, "Where art thou, O Saeed?" The hideous blackamoor dropped from the tree straightway; and, rushing into her arms without stay or delay, cried out, "I am Sa'ad al Din Saood!"[FN#11] The lady laughed heartily, and all fell to satisfying their lusts, and remained so occupied for a couple of hours, when the white slaves rose up from the handmaidens' breasts and the blackamoor dismounted from the Queen's bosom: then they went into the basin and, after performing the Ghusl, or complete ablution, donned their dresses and retired as they had done before. When King Shahryar saw this infamy of his wife and concubines he became as one distraught and he cried out, "Only in utter solitude can man be safe from the doings of this vile world! By Allah, life is naught but one great wrong." Presently he added, "Do not thwart me, O my brother, in what I propose;" and the other answered, "I will not." So he said, "Let us up as we are and depart forthright hence, for we have no concern with Kingship, and let us overwander Allah's earth, worshipping the Almighty till we find some one to whom the like calamity hath happened; and if we find none then will death be more welcome to us than life." So the two brothers issued from a second private postern of the palace; and they never stinted wayfaring by day and by night, until they reached a tree a middle of a meadow hard by a spring of sweet water on the shore of the salt sea. Both drank of it and sat down to take their rest; and when an hour of the day had gone by: lo! they heard a mighty roar and uproar in the middle of the main as though the heavens were falling upon the earth; and the sea brake with waves before them, and from it towered a black pillar, which grew and grew till it rose skywards and began making for that meadow. Seeing it, they waxed fearful exceedingly and climbed to the top of the tree, which was a lofty; whence they gazed to see what might be the matter. And behold, it was a Jinni,[FN#12] huge of height and burly of breast and bulk, broad of brow and black of blee, bearing on his head a coffer of crystal. He strode to land, wading through the deep, and coming to the tree whereupon were the two Kings, seated himself beneath it. He then set down the coffer on its bottom and out it drew a casket, with seven padlocks of steel, which he unlocked with seven keys of steel he took from beside his thigh, and out of it a young lady to come was seen, white-skinned and of winsomest mien, of stature fine and thin, and bright as though a moon of the fourteenth night she had been, or the sun raining lively sheen. Even so the poet Utayyah hath excellently said:--
She rose like the morn as she shone through the night * And she
gilded the grove with her gracious sight:
From her radiance the sun taketh increase when * She unveileth
and shameth the moonshine bright.
Bow down all beings between her hands * As she showeth charms
with her veil undight.
And she foodeth cities[FN#13] with torrent tears * When she
flasheth her look of levee light.
The Jinni seated her under the tree by his side and looking at her said, "O choicest love of this heart of mine! O dame of noblest line, whom I snatched away on thy bride night that none might prevent me taking thy maidenhead or tumble thee before I did, and whom none save myself hath loved or hath enjoyed: O my sweetheart! I would fief sleep a little while." He then laid his head upon the lady's thighs; and, stretching out his legs which extended down to the sea, slept and snored and sparked like the roll of thunder. Presently she raised her head towards the tree top and saw the two Kings perched near the summit; then she softly lifted off her lap the Jinni's pate which she was tired of supporting and placed it upon the ground; then standing upright under the tree signed to the Kings, "Come ye down, ye two, and fear naught from this Ifrit."[FN#14] They were in a terrible fright when they found that she had seen them and answered her in the same manner, "Allah upon thee[FN#15] and by thy modesty, O lady, excuse us from coming down!" But she rejoined by saying, "Allah upon you both, that ye come down forthright, and if ye come not, I will rouse upon you my husband, this Ifrit, and he shall do you to die by the illest of deaths;" and she continued making signals to them. So, being afraid, they came down to her and she rose be fore them and said, "Stroke me a strong stroke, without stay or delay, otherwise will I arouse and set upon you this Ifrit who shall slay you straightway." They said to her, "O our lady, we conjure thee by Allah, let us off this work, for we are fugitives from such and in extreme dread and terror of this thy husband. How then can we do it in such a way as thou desires"?" "Leave this talk: it needs must be so;" quoth she, and she swore them by Him[FN#16] who raised the skies on high, without prop or pillar, that, if they worked not her will, she would cause them to be slain and cast into the sea. Whereupon out of fear King Shahryar said to King Shah Zaman, "O my brother, do thou what she biddeth thee do;" but he replied, "I will not do it till thou do it before I do." And they began disputing about futtering her. Then quoth she to the twain, "How is it I see you disputing and demurring; if ye do not come forward like men and do the deed of kind ye two, I will arouse upon you the If rit." At this, by reason of their sore dread of the Jinni, both did by her what she bade them do; and, when they had dismounted from her, she said, "Well done!" She then took from her pocket a purse and drew out a knotted string, whereon were strung five hundred and seventy[FN#17] seal rings, and asked, "Know ye what be these?" They answered her saying, "We know not!" Then quoth she; "These be the signets of five hundred and seventy men who have all futtered me upon the horns of this foul, this foolish, this filthy Ifrit; so give me also your two seal rings, ye pair of brothers." When they had drawn their two rings from their hands and given them to her, she said to them, "Of a truth this If rit bore me off on my bride night, and put me into a casket and set the casket in a coffer and to the coffer he affixed seven strong padlocks of steel and deposited me on the deep bottom of the sea that raves, dashing and clashing with waves; and guarded me so that I might remain chaste and honest, quotha! none save himself might have connexion with me. But I have lain under as many of my kind as I please, and this wretched Jinni wotteth not that Des tiny may not be averted nor hindered by aught, and that whatso woman willeth the same she fulfilleth however man nilleth. Even so saith one of them.--
Rely not on women; * Trust not to their hearts,
Whose joys and whose sorrows * Are hung to their parts!
Lying love they will swear thee * Whence guile ne'er departs:
Take Yusuf[FN#18] for sample * 'Ware sleights and 'ware smarts!
Iblis[FN#19] ousted Adam * (See ye not?) thro' their arts.
And another saith:--
Stint thy blame, man! 'Twill drive to a passion without bound; *
My fault is not so heavy as fault in it hast found.
If true lover I become, then to me there cometh not * Save what
happened unto many in the bygone stound.
For wonderful is he and right worthy of our praise * Who from
wiles of female wits kept him safe and kept him sound."
Hearing these words they marvelled with exceeding marvel, and she went from them to the Ifrit and, taking up his head on her thigh as before, said to them softly, "Now wend your ways and bear yourselves beyond the bounds of his malice." So they fared forth saying either to other, "Allah! Allah!" and, "There be no Majesty and there be no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great; and with Him we seek refuge from women's malice and sleight, for of a truth it hath no mate in might. Consider, O my brother, the ways of this marvellous lady with an Ifrit who is so much more powerful than we are. Now since there hath hap pened to him a greater mishap than that which befel us and which should bear us abundant consolation, so return we to our countries and capitals, and let us decide never to intermarry with womankind and presently we will show them what will be our action." Thereupon they rode back to the tents of King Shahryar, which they reached on the morning of the third day; and, having mustered the Wazirs and Emirs, the Chamberlains and high officials, he gave a robe of honour to his Viceroy and issued orders for an immediate return to the city. There he sat him upon his throne and sending for the Chief Minister, the father of the two damsels who (Inshallah!) will presently be mentioned, he said, "I command thee to take my wife and smite her to death; for she hath broken her plight and her faith." So he carried her to the place of execution and did her die. Then King Shahryar took brand in hand and repairing to the Serraglio slew all the concubines and their Mamelukes.[FN#20] He also sware himself by a binding oath that whatever wife he married he would abate her maidenhead at night and slay her next morning to make sure of his honour; "For," said he, "there never was nor is there one chaste woman upon face of earth." Then Shah Zaman prayed for permission to fare homewards; and he went forth equipped and escorted and travelled till he reached his own country. Mean while Shahryar commanded his Wazir to bring him the bride of the night that he might go in to her; so he produced a most beautiful girl, the daughter of one of the Emirs and the King went in unto her at eventide and when morning dawned he bade his Minister strike off her head; and the Wazir did accordingly for fear of the Sultan. On this wise he continued for the space of three years; marrying a maiden every night and killing her the next morning, till folk raised an outcry against him and cursed him, praying Allah utterly to destroy him and his rule; and women made an uproar and mothers wept and parents fled with their daughters till there remained not in the city a young person fit for carnal copulation. Presently the King ordered his Chief Wazir, the same who was charged with the executions, to bring him a virgin as was his wont; and the Minister went forth and searched and found none; so he returned home in sorrow and anxiety fearing for his life from the King. Now he had two daughters, Shahrazad and Dunyazad hight,[FN#21] of whom the elder had perused the books, annals and legends of preceding Kings, and the stories, examples and instances of by gone men and things; indeed it was said that she had collected a thousand books of histories relating to antique races and departed rulers. She had perused the works of the poets and knew them by heart; she had studied philosophy and the sciences, arts and accomplish meets; and she was pleasant and polite, wise and witty, well read and well bred. Now on that day she said to her father, "Why do I see thee thus changed and laden with cark and care? Concerning this matter quoth one of the poets.--
Tell whoso hath sorrow * Grief never shall last:
E'en as joy hath no morrow * So woe shall go past."
When the Wazir heard from his daughter these words he related to her, from first to last, all that had happened between him and the King. Thereupon said she, "By Allah, O my father, how long shall this slaughter of women endure? Shall I tell thee what is in my mind in order to save both sides from destruction?" "Say on, O my daughter," quoth he, and quoth she, "I wish thou wouldst give me in marriage to this King Shahryar; either I shall live or I shall be a ransom for the virgin daughters of Moslems and the cause of their deliverance from his hands and thine."[FN#22] "Allah upon thee!" cried he in wrath exceeding that lacked no feeding, "O scanty of wit, expose not thy life to such peril! How durst thou address me in words so wide from wisdom and un far from foolishness? Know that one who lacketh experience in worldly matters readily falleth into misfortune; and whoso considereth not the end keepeth not the world to friend, and the vulgar say:- -I was lying at mine ease: nought but my officiousness brought me unease." "Needs must thou," she broke in, "make me a doer of this good deed, and let him kill me an he will: I shall only die a ransom for others." "O my daughter," asked he. "and how shall that profit thee when thou shalt have thrown away thy life?" and she answered, "O my father it must be, come of it what will!" The Wazir was again moved to fury and blamed and reproached her, ending with, "In very deed--I fear lest the same befal thee which befel the Bull and the Ass with the Husband man." "And what," asked she, "betel them, O my father?" Whereupon the Wazir began the
Know, O my daughter, that there was once a merchant who owned much money and many men, and who was rich in cattle and camels; he had also a wife and family and he dwelt in the country, being experienced in husbandry and devoted to agriculture. Now Allah Most High had endowed him with under standing the tongues of beasts and birds of every kind, but under pain of death if he divulged the gift to any. So he kept it secret for very fear. He had in his cow house a Bull and an Ass each tethered in his own stall one hard by the other. As the merchant was sitting near hand one day with his servants and his children were playing about him, he heard the Bull say to the Ass, "Hail and health to thee O Father of Waking![FN#24] for that thou enjoyest rest and good ministering; all under thee is clean swept and fresh sprinkled; men wait upon thee and feed thee, and thy provaunt is sifted barley and thy drink pure spring water, while I (unhappy creature!) am led forth in the middle of the night, when they set on my neck the plough and a something called Yoke; and I tire at cleaving the earth from dawn of day till set of sun. I am forced to do more than I can and to bear all manner of ill treatment from night to night; after which they take me back with my sides torn, my neck flayed, my legs aching and mine eyelids sored with tears. Then they shut me up in the byre and throw me beans and crushed straw,[FN#25] mixed with dirt and chaff; and I lie in dung and filth and foul stinks through the livelong night. But thou art ever in a place swept and sprinkled and cleansed, and thou art always lying at ease, save when it happens (and seldom enough!) that the master hath some business, when he mounts thee and rides thee to town and returns with thee forthright. So it happens that I am toiling and distress while thou takest shine ease and thy rest; thou sleepest while I am sleepless; I hunger still while thou eatest thy fill, and I win contempt while thou winnest good will." When the Bull ceased speaking, the Ass turned to wards him and said, "O Broad o' Brow,[FN#26] 0 thou lost one! he lied not who dubbed thee Bull head, for thou, O father of a Bull, hast neither forethought nor contrivance; thou art the simplest of simpletons,[FN#27] and thou knowest naught of good advisers. Hast thou not heard the saying of the wise:--
For others these hardships and labours I bear * And theirs is the
pleasure and mine is the care;
As the bleacher who blacketh his brow in the sun * To whiten the
raiment which other men wear.[FN#28]
But thou, O fool, art full of zeal and thou toilest and moilest before the master; and thou tearest and wearest and slayest thy self for the comfort of another. Hast thou never heard the saw that saith, None to guide and from the way go wide? Thou wendest forth at the call to dawn prayer and thou returnest not till sundown; and through the livelong day thou endurest all manner hardships; to wit, beating and belabouring and bad language. Now hearken to me, Sir Bull! when they tie thee to thy stinking manger, thou pawest the ground with thy forehand and rashest out with thy hind hoofs and pushest with thy horns and bellowest aloud, so they deem thee contented. And when they throw thee thy fodder thou fallest on it with greed and hastenest to line thy fair fat paunch. But if thou accept my advice it will be better for thee and thou wilt lead an easier life even than mine. When thou goest a field and they lay the thing called Yoke on thy neck, lie down and rise not again though haply they swinge thee; and, if thou rise, lie down a second time; and when they bring thee home and offer thee thy beans, fall backwards and only sniff at thy meat and withdraw thee and taste it not, and be satis fied with thy crushed straw and chaff; and on this wise feign thou art sick, and cease not doing thus for a day or two days or even three days, so shalt thou have rest from toil and moil." When the Bull heard these words he knew the Ass to be his friend and thanked him, saying, "Right is thy rede;" and prayed that all blessings might requite him, and cried, "O Father Wakener![FN#29] thou hast made up for my failings." (Now[FN#30] the merchant, O my daughter, understood all that passed between them.) Next day the driver took the Bull, and settling the plough on his neck,[FN#31] made him work as wont; but the Bull began to shirk his ploughing, according to the advice of the Ass, and the ploughman drubbed him till he broke the yoke and made off; but the man caught him up and leathered him till he despaired of his life. Not the less, however, would he do nothing but stand still and drop down till the evening. Then the herd led him home and stabled him in his stall: but he drew back from his manger and neither stamped nor ramped nor butted nor bellowed as he was wont to do; whereat the man wondered. He brought him the beans and husks, but he sniffed at them and left them and lay down as far from them as he could and passed the whole night fasting. The peasant came next morning; and, seeing the manger full of beans, the crushed straw untasted and the ox lying on his back in sorriest plight, with legs outstretched and swollen belly, he was concerned for him, and said to himself, "By Allah, he hath assuredly sickened and this is the cause why he would not plough yesterday." Then he went to the merchant and reported, "O my master, the Bull is ailing; he refused his fodder last night; nay more, he hath not tasted a scrap of it this morning." Now the merchant farmer understood what all this meant, because he had overheard the talk between the Bull and the Ass, so quoth he, "Take that rascal donkey, and set the yoke on his neck, and bind him to the plough and make him do Bull's work." Thereupon the ploughman took the Ass, and worked him through the live long day at the Bull's task; and, when he failed for weakness, he made him eat stick till his ribs were sore and his sides were sunken and his neck was hayed by the yoke; and when he came home in the evening he could hardly drag his limbs along, either fore hand or hind legs. But as for the Bull, he had passed the day lying at full length and had eaten his fodder with an excellent appetite, and he ceased not calling down blessings on the Ass for his good advice, unknowing what had come to him on his ac count. So when night set in and the Ass returned to the byte the Bull rose up before him in honour, and said, "May good tidings gladden thy heart, O Father Wakener! through thee I have rested all this day and I have eaten my meat in peace and quiet." But the Ass returned no reply, for wrath and heart burning and fatigue and the beating he had gotten; and he repented with the most grievous of repentance; and quoth he to himself: "This cometh of my folly in giving good counsel; as the saw saith, I was in joy and gladness, nought save my officiousness brought me this sadness. But I will bear in mind my innate worth and the nobility of my nature; for what saith the poet?
Shall the beautiful hue of the Basil[FN#32] fail * Tho' the
beetle's foot o'er the Basil crawl?
And though spider and fly be its denizens * Shall disgrace attach
to the royal hall?
The cowrie,[FN#33] I ken, shall have currency * But the pearl's
clear drop, shall its value fall?
And now I must take thought and put a trick upon him and return him to his place, else I die." Then he went aweary to his manger, while the Bull thanked him and blessed him. And even so, O my daughter, said the Wazir, thou wilt die for lack of wits; therefore sit thee still and say naught and expose not thy life to such stress; for, by Allah, I offer thee the best advice, which cometh of my affection and kindly solicitude for thee." "O my father," she answered, "needs must I go up to this King and be married to him." Quoth he, "Do not this deed;" and quoth she, "Of a truth I will:" whereat he rejoined, "If thou be not silent and bide still, I will do with thee even what the merchant did with his wife." "And what did he?" asked she. "Know then, answered the Wazir, that after the return of the Ass the merchant came out on the terrace roof with his wife and family, for it was a moonlit night and the moon at its full. Now the ter race overlooked the cowhouse and presently, as he sat there with his children playing about him, the trader heard the Ass say to the Bull, "Tell me, O Father Broad o' Brow, what thou purposest to do to morrow?" The Bull answered, "What but continue to follow thy counsel, O Aliboron? Indeed it was as good as good could be and it hath given me rest and repose; nor will I now depart from it one little: so, when they bring me my meat, I will refuse it and blow out my belly and counterfeit crank." The Ass shook his head and said, "Beware of so doing, O Father of a Bull!" The Bull asked, "Why," and the Ass answered, "Know that I am about to give thee the best of counsel, for verily I heard our owner say to the herd, If the Bull rise not from his place to do his work this morning and if he retire from his fodder this day, make him over to the butcher that he may slaughter him and give his flesh to the poor, and fashion a bit of leather[FN#34] from his hide. Now I fear for thee on account of this. So take my advice ere a calamity befal thee; and when they bring thee thy fodder eat it and rise up and bellow and paw the ground, or our master will assuredly slay thee: and peace be with thee!" Thereupon the Bull arose and lowed aloud and thanked the Ass, and said, "To morrow I will readily go forth with them;" and he at once ate up all his meat and even licked the manger. (All this took place and the owner was listening to their talk.) Next morning the trader and his wife went to the Bull's crib and sat down, and the driver came and led forth the Bull who, seeing his owner, whisked his tail and brake wind, and frisked about so lustily that the merchant laughed a loud laugh and kept laughing till he fell on his back. His wife asked him, "Whereat laughest thou with such loud laughter as this?"; and he answered her, "I laughed at a secret something which I have heard and seen but cannot say lest I die my death." She returned, "Perforce thou must discover it to me, and disclose the cause of thy laughing even if thou come by thy death!" But he rejoined, "I cannot re veal what beasts and birds say in their lingo for fear I die." Then quoth she, "By Allah, thou liest! this is a mere pretext: thou laughest at none save me, and now thou wouldest hide somewhat from me. But by the Lord of the Heavens! an thou disclose not the cause I will no longer cohabit with thee: I will leave thee at once." And she sat down and cried. Whereupon quoth the merchant, "Woe betide thee! what means thy weeping? Bear Allah and leave these words and query me no more questions." "Needs must thou tell me the cause of that laugh," said she, and he replied, "Thou wottest that when I prayed Allah to vouchsafe me understanding of the tongues of beasts and birds, I made a vow never to disclose the secret to any under pain of dying on the spot." "No matter," cried she, "tell me what secret passed between the Bull and the Ass and die this very hour an thou be so minded;" and she ceased not to importune him till he was worn out and clean distraught. So at last he said, "Summon thy father and thy mother and our kith and kin and sundry of our neighbours," which she did; and he sent for the Kazi[FN#35] and his assessors, intending to make his will and reveal to her his secret and die the death; for he loved her with love exceeding because she was his cousin, the daughter of his father's brother, and the mother of his children, and he had lived with her a life of an hundred and twenty years. Then, having assembled all the family and the folk of his neighbourhood, he said to them, "By me there hangeth a strange story, and 'tis such that if I discover the secret to any, I am a dead man." Therefore quoth every one of those present to the woman, "Allah upon thee, leave this sinful obstinacy and recognise the right of this matter, lest haply thy husband and the father of thy children die." But she rejoined, "I will not turn from it till he tell me, even though he come by his death." So they ceased to urge her; and the trader rose from amongst them and repaired to an out house to per form Wuzu ablution,[FN#36] and he purposed thereafter to return and to tell them his secret and to die. Now, daughter Shahrazad, that mer chant had in his out houses some fifty hens under one cock, and whilst making ready to farewell his folk he heard one of his many farm dogs thus address in his own tongue the Cock, who was flapping his wings and crowing lustily and jumping from one hen's back to another and treading all in turn, saying "O Chanti clear! how mean is thy wit and how shameless is thy conduct! Be he disappointed who brought thee up![FN#37] Art thou not ashamed of thy doings on such a day as this!" "And what," asked the Rooster, "hath occurred this day?" when the Dog answered, "Doss thou not know that our master is this day making ready for his death? His wife is resolved that he shall disclose the secret taught to him by Allah, and the moment he so doeth he shall surely die. We dogs are all a mourning; but thou clappest thy wings and clarionest thy loudest and treadest hen after hen. Is this an hour for pastime and pleasuring? Art thou not ashamed of thyself?"[FN#38] "Then by Allah," quoth the Cock, "is our master a lack wit and a man scanty of sense: if he cannot manage matters with a single wife, his life is not worth prolonging. Now I have some fifty Dame Partlets; and I please this and provoke that and starve one and stuff another; and through my good governance they are all well under my control. This our master pretendeth to wit and wisdom, and he hath but one wife, and yet knoweth not how to manage her." Asked the Dog, "What then, O Cock, should the master do to win clear of his strait?" "He should arise forthright," answered the Cock, "and take some twigs from yon mulberry tree and give her a regular back basting and rib roasting till she cry:--I repent, O my lord! I will never ask thee a question as long as I live! Then let him beat her once more and soundly, and when he shall have done this he shall sleep free from care and enjoy life. But this master of ours owns neither sense nor judgment." "Now, daughter Shahrazad," continued the Wazir, "I will do to thee as did that husband to that wife." Said Shahrazad, "And what did he do?" He replied, "When the merchant heard the wise words spoken by his Cock to his Dog, he arose in haste and sought his wife's chamber, after cutting for her some mulberry twigs and hiding them there; and then he called to her, "Come into the closet that I may tell thee the secret while no one seeth me and then die." She entered with him and he locked the door and came down upon her with so sound a beating of back and shoulders, ribs, arms and legs, saying the while, "Wilt thou ever be asking questions about what concerneth thee not?" that she was well nigh senseless. Presently she cried out, "I am of the repentant! By Allah, I will ask thee no more questions, and indeed I repent sincerely and wholesomely." Then she kissed his hand and feet and he led her out of the room submissive as a wife should be. Her parents and all the company rejoiced and sadness and mourn ing were changed into joy and gladness. Thus the merchant learnt family discipline from his Cock and he and his wife lived together the happiest of lives until death. And thou also, O my daughter!" continued the Wazir, "Unless thou turn from this matter I will do by thee what that trader did to his wife." But she answered him with much decision, "I will never desist, O my father, nor shall this tale change my purpose. Leave such talk and tattle. I will not listen to thy words and, if thou deny me, I will marry myself to him despite the nose of thee. And first I will go up to the King myself and alone and I will say to him:--I prayed my father to wive me with thee, but he refused being resolved to disappoint his lord, grudging the like of me to the like of thee." Her father asked, "Must this needs be?" and she answered, "Even so." Hereupon the Wazir being weary of lamenting and contending, persuading and dissuading her, all to no purpose, went up to King Shahryar and after blessing him and kissing the ground before him, told him all about his dispute with his daughter from first to last and how he designed to bring her to him that night. The King wondered with exceeding wonder; for he had made an especial exception of the Wazir's daughter, and said to him, "O most faithful of Counsellors, how is this? Thou wottest that I have sworn by the Raiser of the Heavens that after I have gone in to her this night I shall say to thee on the morrow's morning:--Take her and slay her! and, if thou slay her not, I will slay thee in her stead without fail." "Allah guide thee to glory and lengthen thy life, O King of the age," answered the Wazir, "it is she that hath so determined: all this have I told her and more; but she will not hearken to me and she persisteth in passing this coming night with the King's Majesty." So Shahryar rejoiced greatly and said, "'Tis well; go get her ready and this night bring her to me." The Wazir returned to his daughter and reported to her the command saying, "Allah make not thy father desolate by thy loss!" But Shah razed rejoiced with exceeding joy and get ready all she required and said to her younger sister, Dunyazad, "Note well what directions I entrust to thee! When I have gone in to the King I will send for thee and when thou comest to me and seest that he hath had his carnal will of me, do thou say to me:--O my sister, an thou be not sleepy, relate to me some new story, delectable and delightsome, the better to speed our waking hours;" and I will tell thee a tale which shall be our deliverance, if so Allah please, and which shall turn the King from his blood thirsty custom." Dunyazad answered "With love and gladness." So when it was night their father the Wazir carried Shahrazad to the King who was gladdened at the sight and asked, "Hast thou brought me my need?" and he answered, "I have." But when the King took her to his bed and fell to toying with her and wished to go in to her she wept; which made him ask, "What aileth thee?" She replied, "O King of the age, I have a younger sister and fief would I take leave of her this night before I see the dawn." So he sent at once for Dunyazad and she came and kissed the ground between his hands, when he permitted her to take her seat near the foot of the couch. Then the King arose and did away with his bride's maidenhead and the three fell asleep. But when it was midnight Shahrazad awoke and signalled to her sister Dunyazad who sat up and said, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, recite to us some new story, delightsome and delectable, wherewith to while away the waking hours of our latter night."[FN#39] "With joy and goodly gree," answered Shahrazad, "if this pious and auspicious King permit me." "Tell on," quoth the King who chanced to be sleepless and restless and therefore was pleased with the prospect of hearing her story. So Shahrazad rejoiced; and thus, on the first night of the Thousand Nights and a Night, she began with the
It is related, O auspicious King, that there was a merchant of the merchants who had much wealth, and business in various cities. Now on a day he mounted horse and went forth to re cover monies in certain towns, and the heat sore oppressed him; so he sat beneath a tree and, putting his hand into his saddle bags, took thence some broken bread and dry dates and began to break his fast. When he had ended eating the dates he threw away the stones with force and lo! an Ifrit appeared, huge of stature and brandishing a drawn sword, wherewith he approached the mer chant and said, "Stand up that I may slay thee, even as thou slewest my son!" Asked the merchant, "How have I slain thy son?" and he answered, "When thou atest dates and threwest away the stones they struck my son full in the breast as he was walking by, so that he died forthwith."[FN#40] Quoth the merchant, "Verily from Allah we proceeded and unto Allah are we re turning. There is no Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! If I slew thy son, I slew him by chance medley. I pray thee now pardon me." Rejoined the Jinni, "There is no help but I must slay thee." Then he seized him and dragged him along and, casting him to the earth, raised the sword to strike him; whereupon the merchant wept, and said, "I commit my case to Allah," and began repeating these couplets:--
Containeth Time a twain of days, this of blessing that of bane *
And holdeth Life a twain of halves, this of pleasure that of
pain.
See'st not when blows the hurricane, sweeping stark and striking
strong * None save the forest giant feels the suffering of
the strain?
How many trees earth nourisheth of the dry and of the green *
Yet none but those which bear the fruits for cast of stone
complain.
See'st not how corpses rise and float on the surface of the tide
* While pearls o'price lie hidden in the deepest of the
main!
In Heaven are unnumbered the many of the stars * Yet ne'er a star
but Sun and Moon by eclipse is overta'en.
Well judgedst thou the days that saw thy faring sound and well *
And countedst not the pangs and pain whereof Fate is ever
fain.
The nights have kept thee safe and the safety brought thee pride
* But bliss and blessings of the night are 'genderers of
bane!
When the merchant ceased repeating his verses the Jinni said to him, "Cut thy words short, by Allah! needs must I slay thee." But the merchant spake him thus, "Know, O thou Ifrit, that I have debts due to me and much wealth and children and a wife and many pledges in hand; so permit me to go home and dis charge to every claimant his claim; and I will come back to thee at the head of the new year. Allah be my testimony and surety that I will return to thee; and then thou mayest do with me as thou wilt and Allah is witness to what I say." The Jinni took sure promise of him and let him go; so he returned to his own city and transacted his business and rendered to all men their dues and after informing his wife and children of what had betided him, he appointed a guardian and dwelt with them for a full year. Then he arose, and made the Wuzu ablution to purify himself before death and took his shroud under his arm and bade farewell to his people, his neighbours and all his kith and kin, and went forth despite his own nose.[FN#41] They then began weeping and wailing and beating their breasts over him; but he travelled until he arrived at the same garden, and the day of his arrival was the head of the New Year. As he sat weeping over what had befallen him, behold, a Shaykh,[FN#42] a very ancient man, drew near leading a chained gazelle; and he saluted that merchant and wishing him long life said, "What is the cause of thy sitting in this place and thou alone and this be a resort of evil spirits?" The merchant related to him what had come to pass with the Ifrit, and the old man, the owner of the gazelle, wondered and said, "By Allah, O brother, thy faith is none other than exceeding faith and thy story right strange; were it graven with gravers on the eye corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned." Then seating himself near the merchant he said, "By Allah, O my brother, I will not leave thee until I see what may come to pass with thee and this Ifrit." And presently as he sat and the two were at talk the merchant began to feel fear and terror and exceeding grief and sorrow beyond relief and ever growing care and extreme despair. And the owner of the gazelle was hard by his side; when behold, a second Shaykh approached them, and with him were two dogs both of greyhound breed and both black. The second old man after saluting them with the salam, also asked them of their tidings and said "What causeth you to sit in this place, a dwelling of the Jann?"[FN#43] So they told him the tale from beginning to end, and their stay there had not lasted long before there came up a third Shaykh, and with him a she mule of bright bay coat; and he saluted them and asked them why they were seated in that place. So they told him the story from first to last: and of no avail, O my master, is a twice told tale! There he sat down with them, and lo! a dust cloud advanced and a mighty send devil appeared amidmost of the waste. Presently the cloud opened and behold, within it was that Jinni hending in hand a drawn sword, while his eyes were shooting fire sparks of rage. He came up to them and, haling away the merchant from among them, cried to him, "Arise that I may slay thee, as thou slewest my son, the life stuff of my liver."[FN#44] The merchant wailed and wept, and the three old men began sighing and crying and weeping and wailing with their companion. Presently the first old man (the owner of the gazelle) came out from among them and kissed the hand of the Ifrit and said, "O Jinni, thou Crown of the Kings of the Jann! were I to tell thee the story of me and this gazelle and thou shouldst consider it wondrous wouldst thou give me a third part of this merchant's blood?" Then quoth the Jinni "Even so, O Shaykh ! if thou tell me this tale, and I hold it a marvellous, then will I give thee a third of his blood." Thereupon the old man began to tell
Know O Jinni! that this gazelle is the daughter of my paternal uncle, my own flesh and blood, and I married her when she was a young maid, and I lived with her well nigh thirty years, yet was I not blessed with issue by her. So I took me a concubine[FN#45] who brought to me the boon of a male child fair as the full moon, with eyes of lovely shine and eyebrows which formed one line, and limbs of perfect design. Little by little he grew in stature and waxed tall; and when he was a lad fifteen years old, it became needful I should journey to certain cities and I travelled with great store of goods. But the daughter of my uncle (this gazelle) had learned gramarye and egromancy and clerkly craft[FN#46] from her childhood; so she bewitched that son of mine to a calf, and my handmaid (his mother) to a heifer, and made them over to the herdsman's care. Now when I returned after a long time from my journey and asked for my son and his mother, she answered me, saying "Thy slave girl is dead, and thy son hath fled and I know not whither he is sped." So I remained for a whole year with grieving heart, and streaming eyes until the time came for the Great Festival of Allah.[FN#47] Then sent I to my herdsman bid ding him choose for me a fat heifer; and he brought me one which was the damsel, my handmaid, whom this gazelle had ensorcelled. I tucked up my sleeves and skirt and, taking a knife, proceeded to cut her throat, but she lowed aloud and wept bitter tears. Thereat I marvelled and pity seized me and I held my hand, saying to the herd, "Bring me other than this." Then cried my cousin, "Slay her, for I have not a fatter nor a fairer!" Once more I went forward to sacrifice her, but she again lowed aloud upon which in ruth I refrained and commanded the herdsman to slay her and flay her. He killed her and skinned her but found in her neither fat nor flesh, only hide and bone; and I repented when penitence availed me naught. I gave her to the herdsman and said to him, "Fetch me a fat calf;" so he brought my son ensorcelled. When the calf saw me, he brake his tether and ran to me, and fawned upon me and wailed and shed tears; so that I took pity on him and said to the herdsman, "Bring me a heifer and let this calf go!" Thereupon my cousin (this gazelle) called aloud at me, saying, "Needs must thou kill this calf; this is a holy day and a blessed, whereon naught is slain save what be perfect pure; and we have not amongst our calves any fatter or fairer than this!" Quoth I, "Look thou upon the condition of the heifer which I slaughtered at thy bidding and how we turn from her in disappointment and she profited us on no wise; and I repent with an exceeding repentance of having killed her: so this time I will not obey thy bidding for the sacrifice of this calf." Quoth she, "By Allah the Most Great, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! there is no help for it; thou must kill him on this holy day, and if thou kill him not to me thou art no man and I to thee am no wife." Now when I heard those hard words, not knowing her object I went up to the calf, knife in hand--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.[FN#48] Then quoth her sister to her, "How fair is thy tale, and how grateful, and how sweet and how tasteful!" And Shahrazad answered her, "What is this to that I could tell thee on the coming night, were I to live and the King would spare me?" Then said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay her, until I shall have heard the rest of her tale." So they slept the rest of that night in mutual em brace till day fully brake. Then the King went forth to his audience hall[FN#49] and the Wazir went up with his daughter's shroud under his arm. The King issued his orders, and promoted this and deposed that, until the end of the day; and he told the Wazir no whit of what had happened. But the Minister wondered thereat with exceeding wonder; and when the Court broke up King Shahryar entered his palace.
said Dunyazad to her sister Shahrazad, "O my sister, finish for us that story of the Merchant and the Jinni;" and she answered "With joy and goodly gree, if the King permit me." Then quoth the King, "Tell thy tale;" and Shahrazad began in these words: It hath reached me, O auspicious King and Heaven directed Ruler! that when the merchant purposed the sacrifice of the calf but saw it weeping, his heart relented and he said to the herdsman, "Keep the calf among my cattle." All this the old Shaykh told the Jinni who marvelled much at these strange words. Then the owner of the gazelle continued:--O Lord of the Kings of the Jann, this much took place and my uncle's daughter, this gazelle, looked on and saw it, and said, "Butcher me this calf, for surely it is a fat one;" but I bade the herdsman take it away and he took it and turned his face homewards. On the next day as I was sitting in my own house, lo! the herdsman came and, standing before me said, "O my master, I will tell thee a thing which shall gladden thy soul, and shall gain me the gift of good tidings."[FN#50] I answered, "Even so." Then said he, "O merchant, I have a daughter, and she learned magic in her childhood from an old woman who lived with us. Yesterday when thou gayest me the calf, I went into the house to her, and she looked upon it and veiled her face; then she wept and laughed alternately and at last she said:--O my father, hath mine honour become so cheap to thee that thou bringest in to me strange men? I asked her:--Where be these strange men and why west thou laughing, and crying?; and she answered, Of a truth this calf which is with thee is the son of our master, the merchant; but he is ensorcelled by his stepdame who bewitched both him and his mother: such is the cause of my laughing; now the reason of his weeping is his mother, for that his father slew her unawares. Then I marvelled at this with exceeding marvel and hardly made sure that day had dawned before I came to tell thee." When I heard, O Jinni, my herdsman's words, I went out with him, and I was drunken without wine, from the excess of joy and gladness which came upon me, until I reached his house. There his daughter welcomed me and kissed my hand, and forthwith the calf came and fawned upon me as before. Quoth I to the herdsman's daughter, "Is this true that thou sayest of this calf?" Quoth she, "Yea, O my master, he is thy son, the very core of thy heart." I rejoiced and said to her, "O maiden, if thou wilt release him shine shall be whatever cattle and property of mine are under thy father's hand." She smiled and answered, "O my master, I have no greed for the goods nor will I take them save on two conditions; the first that thou marry me to thy son and the second that I may be witch her who bewitched him and imprison her, otherwise I cannot be safe from her malice and malpractices." Now when I heard, O Jinni, these, the words of the herdsman's daughter, I replied, "Beside what thou askest all the cattle and the house hold stuff in thy father's charge are shine and, as for the daughter of my uncle, her blood is lawful to thee." When I had spoken, she took a cup and filled it with water: then she recited a spell over it and sprinkled it upon the calf, saying, "If Almighty Allah created thee a calf, remain so shaped, and change not; but if thou be enchanted, return to thy whilom form, by command of Allah Most Highest!" and lo! he trembled and became a man. Then I fell on his neck and said, "Allah upon thee, tell me all that the daughter of my uncle did by thee and by thy mother." And when he told me what had come to pass between them I said, " O my son, Allah favoured thee with one to restore thee, and thy right hath returned to thee." Then, O Jinni, I married the herdsman's daughter to him, and she transformed my wife into this gazelle, saying:--Her shape is a comely and by no means loathsome. After this she abode with us night and day, day and night, till the Almighty took her to Himself. When she deceased, my son fared forth to the cities of Hind, even to the city of this man who hath done to thee what hath been done;[FN#51] and I also took this gazelle (my cousin) and wandered with her from town to town seeking tidings of my son, till Destiny drove me to this place where I saw the merchant sitting in tears. Such is my tale! Quoth the Jinni, "This story is indeed strange, and therefore I grant thee the third part of his blood." There upon the second old man, who owned the two greyhounds, came up and said, " O Jinni, if I recount to thee what befel me from my brothers, these two hounds, and thou see that it is a tale even more wondrous and marvellous than what thou hast heard, wilt thou grant to me also the third of this man's blood?" Replied the Jinni, "Thou hast my word for it, if shine adventures be more marvellous and wondrous." Thereupon he thus began
Know, O lord of the Kings of the Jann! that these two dogs are my brothers and I am the third. Now when our father died and left us a capital of three thousand gold pieces,[FN#52] I opened a shop with my share, and bought and sold therein, and in like guise did my two brothers, each setting up a shop. But I had been in business no long while before the elder sold his stock for a thousand diners, and after buying outfit and merchandise, went his ways to foreign parts. He was absent one whole year with the caravan; but one day as I sat in my shop, behold, a beggar stood before me asking alms, and I said to him, "Allah open thee another door!"[FN#53] Whereupon he answered, weeping the while, "Am I so changed that thou knowest me not?" Then I looked at him narrowly, and lo! it was my brother, so I rose to him and welcomed him; then I seated him in my shop and put questions concerning his case. "Ask me not," answered he; "my wealth is awaste and my state hath waxed un stated!" So I took him to the Hammam bath[FN#54] and clad him in a suit of my own and gave him lodging in my house. Moreover, after looking over the accounts of my stock in trade and the profits of my business, I found that industry had gained me one thousand diners, while my principal, the head of my wealth, amounted to two thousand. So I shared the whole with him saying, "Assume that thou hast made no journey abroad but hast remained at home; and be not cast down by shine ill luck." He took the share in great glee and opened for himself a shop; and matters went on quietly for a few nights and days. But presently my second brother (yon other dog), also setting his heart upon travel, sold off what goods and stock in trade he had, and albeit we tried to stay him he would not be stayed: he laid in an outfit for the journey and fared forth with certain wayfarers. After an absence of a whole year he came back to me, even as my elder brother had come back; and when I said to him, "O my brother, did I not dissuade thee from travel?" he shed tears and cried, "O my brother, this be destiny's decree: here I am a mere beggar, penniless[FN#55] and without a shirt to my back." So I led him to the bath, O Jinni, and clothing him in new clothes of my own wear, I went with him to my shop and served him with meat and drink. Furthermore I said to him, "O my brother, I am wont to cast up my shop accounts at the head of every year, and whatso I shall find of surplusage is between me and thee."[FN#56] So I proceeded, O Ifrit, to strike a balance and, finding two thousand diners of profit, I returned praises to the Creator (be He extolled and exalted!) and made over one half to my brother, keeping the other to my self. Thereupon he busied himself with opening a shop and on this wise we abode many days. After a time my brothers began pressing me to travel with them; but I refused saying, "What gained ye by travel voyage that I should gain thereby?" As I would not give ear to them we went back each to his own shop where we bought and sold as before. They kept urging me to travel for a whole twelvemonth, but I refused to do so till full six years were past and gone when I consented with these words, "O my brothers, here am I, your companion of travel: now let me see what monies you have by you." I found, however, that they had not a doit, having squandered their substance in high diet and drinking and carnal delights. Yet I spoke not a word of reproach; so far from it I looked over my shop accounts once more, and sold what goods and stock in trade were mine; and, finding myself the owner of six thousand ducats, I gladly proceeded to divide that sum in halves, saying to my brothers, "These three thousand gold pieces are for me and for you to trade withal," adding, "Let us bury the other moiety underground that it may be of service in case any harm befal us, in which case each shall take a thousand wherewith to open shops." Both replied, "Right is thy recking;" and I gave to each one his thousand gold pieces, keeping the same sum for myself, to wit, a thousand diners. We then got ready suitable goods and hired a ship and, having embarked our merchandise, proceeded on our voyage, day following day, a full month, after which we arrived at a city, where we sold our venture; and for every piece of gold we gained ten. And as we turned again to our voyage we found on the shore of the sea a maiden clad in worn and ragged gear, and she kissed my hand and said, "O master, is there kindness in thee and charity? I can make thee a fitting return for them." I answered, "Even so; truly in me are benevolence and good works, even though thou render me no return." Then she said, "Take me to wife, O my master, and carry me to thy city, for I have given myself to thee; so do me a kindness and I am of those who be meet for good works and charity: I will make thee a fitting return for these and be thou not shamed by my condition." When I heard her words, my heart yearned towards her, in such sort as willed it Allah (be He extolled and exalted!); and took her and clothed her and made ready for her a fair resting place in the vessel, and honourably entreated her. So we voyaged on, and my heart became attached to her with exceeding attachment, and I was separated from her neither night nor day, and I paid more regard to her than to my brothers. Then they were es banged from me, and waxed jealous of my wealth and the quantity of merchandise I had, and their eyes were opened covetously upon all my property. So they took counsel to murder me and seize my wealth, saying, "Let us slay our brother and all his monies will be ours;" and Satan made this deed seem fair in their sight; so when they found me in privacy (and I sleeping by my wife's side) they took us both up and cast us into the sea. My wife awoke startled from her sleep and, forthright be coming an Ifritah,[FN#57] she bore me up and carried me to an island and disappeared for a short time; but she returned in the morning and said, "Here am I, thy faithful slave, who hath made thee due recompense; for I bore thee up in the waters and saved thee from death by command of the Almighty. Know--that I am a Jinniyah, and as I saw thee my heart loved thee by will of the Lord, for I am a believer in Allah and in His Apostle (whom Heaven bless and preserve!). Thereupon I came to thee conditioned as thou sawest me and thou didst marry me, and see now I have saved thee from sinking. But I am angered against thy brothers and assuredly I must slay them." When I heard her story I was surprised and, thanking her for all she had done, I said, "But as to slaying my brothers this must not be." Then I told her the tale of what had come to pass with them from the beginning of our lives to the end, and on hearing it quoth she, "This night will I fly as a bird over them and will sink their ship and slay them." Quoth I, "Allah upon thee, do not thus, for the proverb saith, O thou who doest good to him that cloth evil, leave the evil doer to his evil deeds. Moreover they are still my brothers." But she rejoined, "By Allah, there is no help for it but I slay them." I humbled myself before her for their pardon, whereupon she bore me up and flew away with me till at last she set me down on the terrace roof of my own house. I opened the doors and took up what I had hidden in the ground; and after I had saluted the folk I opened my shop and bought me merchan disc. Now when night came on I went home, and there I saw these two hounds tied up; and, when they sighted me, they arose and whined and fawned upon me; but ere I knew what happened my wife said, "These two dogs be thy brothers!" I answered, "And who hath done this thing by them?" and she rejoined, "I sent a message to my sister and she entreated them on this wise, nor shall these two be released from their present shape till ten years shall have passed." And now I have arrived at this place on my way to my wife's sister that she may deliver them from this condition, after their having endured it for half a score of years. As I was wending onwards I saw this young man, who acquainted me with what had befallen him, and I determined not to fare hence until I should see what might occur between thee and him. Such is my tale! Then said the Jinni, "Surely this is a strange story and therefor I give thee the third portion of his blood and his crime." Thereupon quoth the third Shaykh, the master of the mare mule, to the Jinni, "I can tell thee a tale more wondrous than these two, so thou grant me the remainder of his blood and of his offense," and the Jinni answered, "So be it!" Then the old man began
Know, O Sultan and head of the Jann, that this mule was my wife. Now it so happened that I went forth and was absent one whole year; and when I returned from my journey I came to her by night, and saw a black slave lying with her on the carpet bed and they were talking, and dallying, and laughing, and kissing and playing the close buttock game. When she saw me, she rose and came hurriedly at me with a gugglet[FN#58] of water; and, muttering spells over it, she besprinkled me and said, "Come forth from this thy shape into the shape of a dog;" and I became on the instant a dog. She drove me out of the house, and I ran through the doorway nor ceased running until I came to a butcher's stall, where I stopped and began to eat what bones were there. When the stall owner saw me, he took me and led me into his house, but as soon as his daughter had sight of me she veiled her face from me, crying out, "Doss thou bring men to me and cost thou come in with them to me?" Her father asked, "Where is the man?"; and she answered, "This dog is a man whom his wife hath ensorcelled and I am able to release him." When her father heard her words, he said, "Allah upon thee, O my daughter, release him." So she took a gugglet of water and, after uttering words over it, sprinkled upon me a few drops, saying, "Come forth from that form into thy former form." And I returned to my natural shape. Then I kissed her hand and said, "I wish thou wouldest transform my wife even as she bans formed me." Thereupon she gave me some water, saying, "As soon as thou see her asleep, sprinkle this liquid upon her and speak what words thou heardest me utter, so shall she become whatsoever thou desirest." I went to my wife and found her fast asleep; and, while sprinkling the water upon her, I said, "Come forth from that form into the form of a mare mule." So she became on the instant a she mule, and she it is whom thou seest with shine eyes, O Sultan and head of the Kings of the Jann! Then the Jinni turned towards her and said, "Is this sooth?" And she nodded her head and replied by signs, "In deed, 'tis the truth: for such is my tale and this is what hath be fallen me." Now when the old man had ceased speaking the Jinni shook with pleasure and gave him the third of the mer chant's blood. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth Dunyazad, "O. my sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful; how sweet and how grateful!" She replied, "And what is this com pared with that I could tell thee, the night to come, if I live and the King spare me?"[FN#59] Then thought the King, "By Allah, I will not slay her until I hear the rest of her tale, for truly it is wondrous." So they rested that night in mutual embrace until the dawn. After this the King went forth to his Hall of Estate, and the Wazir and the troops came in and the court was crowded, and the King gave orders and judged and appointed and deposed, bidding and forbidding during the rest of the day. Then the Divan broke up, and King Shahryar entered his palace.
It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that there was a Fisher man well stricken in years who had a wife and three children, and withal was of poor condition. Now it was his custom to cast his net every day four times, and no more. On a day he went forth about noontide to the sea shore, where he laid down his basket; and, tucking up his shirt and plunging into the water, made a cast with his net and waited till it settled to the bottom. Then he gathered the cords together and haled away at it, but found it weighty; and however much he drew it landwards, he could not pull it up; so he carried the ends ashore and drove a stake into the ground and made the net fast to it. Then he stripped and dived into the water all about the net, and left not off working hard until he had brought it up. He rejoiced thereat and, donning his clothes, went to the net, when he found in it a dead jackass which had torn the meshes. Now when he saw it, he exclaimed in his grief, "There is no Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah the Glorious, the Great!" Then quoth he, "This is a strange manner of daily bread;" and he began re citing in extempore verse:--
O toiler through the glooms of night in peril and in pain * Thy
toiling stint for daily bread comes not by might and main!
Seest thou not the fisher seek afloat upon the sea * His bread,
while glimmer stars of night as set in tangled skein.
Anon he plungeth in despite the buffet of the waves * The while
to sight the bellying net his eager glances strain;
Till joying at the night's success, a fish he bringeth home *
Whose gullet by the hook of Fate was caught and cut in
twain.
When buys that fish of him a man who spent the hours of night *
Reckless of cold and wet and gloom in ease and comfort fain,
Laud to the Lord who gives to this, to that denies his wishes *
And dooms one toil and catch the prey and other eat the
fishes.[FN#60]
Then quoth he, "Up and to it; I am sure of His beneficence, Inshallah!" So he continued:--
When thou art seized of Evil Fate, assume * The noble soul's long
suffering: 'tis thy best:
Complain not to the creature; this be plaint * From one most
Ruthful to the ruthlessest.
The Fisherman, when he had looked at the dead ass, got it free of the toils and wrung out and spread his net; then he plunged into the sea, saying, "In Allah's name!" and made a cast and pulled at it, but it grew heavy and settled down more firmly than the first time. Now he thought that there were fish in it, and he made it fast, and doffing his clothes went into the water, and dived and haled until he drew it up upon dry land. Then found he in it a large earthen pitcher which was full of sand and mud; and seeing this he was greatly troubled and began repeating these verses[FN#61]:--
Forbear, O troubles of the world, * And pardon an ye nill
So he prayed pardon of Allah and, throwing away the jar, wrung
his net and cleansed it and returned to the sea the third time to
cast his net and waited till it had sunk. Then he pulled at it
and found therein potsherds and broken glass; whereupon he began
to speak these verses:--
He is to thee that daily bread thou canst nor loose nor bind *
Then raising his eyes heavenwards he said, "O my God![FN#62]
verily Thou wottest that I cast not my net each day save four
times[FN#63]; the third is done and as yet Thou hast vouchsafed
me nothing. So this time, O my God, deign give me my daily
bread." Then, having called on Allah's name,[FN#64] he again
threw his net and waited its sinking and settling; whereupon he
haled at it but could not draw it in for that it was entangled at
the bottom. He cried out in his vexation "There is no Majesty and
there is no Might save in Allah!" and he began reciting:--
Fie on this wretched world, an so it be * I must be whelmed by
Thereupon he stripped and, diving down to the net, busied him
self with it till it came to land. Then he opened the meshes and
found therein a cucumber shaped jar of yellow copper,[FN#65]
evidently full of something, whose mouth was made fast with a
leaden cap, stamped with the seal ring of our Lord Sulayman son
of David (Allah accept the twain!). Seeing this the Fisherman
rejoiced and said, "If I sell it in the brass bazar 'tis worth
ten golden diners." He shook it and finding it heavy continued,
"Would to Heaven I knew what is herein. But I must and will open
it and look to its contents and store it in my bag and sell it in
the brass market." And taking out a knife he worked at the lead
till he had loosened it from the jar; then he laid the cup on the
ground and shook the vase to pour out whatever might be inside.
He found nothing in it; whereat he marvelled with an exceeding
marvel. But presently there came forth from the jar a smoke which
spired heavenwards into aether (whereat he again marvelled with
mighty marvel), and which trailed along earth's surface till
presently, having reached its full height, the thick vapour
condensed, and became an Ifrit, huge of bulk, whose crest touched
the clouds while his feet were on the ground. His head was as a
dome, his hands like pitchforks, his legs long as masts and his
mouth big as a cave; his teeth were like large stones, his
nostrils ewers, his eyes two lamps and his look was fierce and
lowering. Now when the Fisherman saw the Ifrit his side muscles
quivered, his teeth chattered, his spittle dried up and he became
blind about what to do. Upon this the Ifrit looked at him and
cried, "There is no god but the God, and Sulayman is the prophet
of God;" presently adding, "O Apostle of Allah, slay me not;
never again will I gainsay thee in word nor sin against thee in
deed."[FN#66] Quoth the Fisherman, "O Marid,[FN#67] diddest thou
say, Sulayman the Apostle of Allah; and Sulayman is dead some
thou sand and eight hundred years ago,[FN#68] and we are now in
the last days of the world! What is thy story, and what is thy
account of thyself, and what is the cause of thy entering into
this cucur bit?" Now when the Evil Spirit heard the words of the
Fisher man, quoth he; "There is no god but the God: be of good
cheer, O Fisherman!" Quoth the Fisherman, "Why biddest thou me to
be of good cheer?" and he replied, "Because of thy having to die
an ill death in this very hour." Said the Fisherman, "Thou
deservest for thy good tidings the withdrawal of Heaven's pro
section, O thou distant one![FN#69] Wherefore shouldest thou kill
me and what thing have I done to deserve death, I who freed thee
from the jar, and saved thee from the depths of the sea, and
brought thee up on the dry land?" Replied the Ifrit, "Ask of me
only what mode of death thou wilt die, and by what manner of
slaughter shall I slay thee." Rejoined the Fisherman, "What is my
crime and wherefore such retribution?" Quoth the Ifrit, "Hear my
story, O Fisherman!" and he answered, "Say on, and be brief in
thy saying, for of very sooth my life breath is my
nostrils."[FN#70] Thereupon quoth the Jinni, "Know, that I am one
among the heretical Jann and I sinned against Sulayman, David son
(on the twain be peace!) I together with the famous Sakhr al
Jinni;"[FN#71] whereupon the Prophet sent his minister, Asaf son
of Barkhiya, to seize me; and this Wazir brought me against my
will and led me in bonds to him (I being downcast despite my
nose) and he placed me standing before him like a suppliant. When
Sulayman saw me, he took refuge with Allah and bade me embrace
the True Faith and obey his behests; but I refused, so sending
for this cucurbit[FN#72] he shut me up therein, and stopped it
over with lead whereon he impressed the Most High Name, and gave
his orders to the Jann who carried me off, and cast me into the
midmost of the ocean. There I abode an hundred years, during
which I said in my heart, "Whoso shall release me, him will I
enrich for ever and ever." But the full century went by and, when
no one set me free, I entered upon the second five score saying,
"Whoso shall release me, for him I will open the hoards of the
earth." Still no one set me free and thus four hundred years
passed away. Then quoth I, "Whoso shall release me, for him will
I fulfil three wishes." Yet no one set me free. Thereupon I waxed
wroth with exceeding wrath and said to myself, "Whoso shall
release me from this time forth, him will I slay and I will give
him choice of what death he will die; and now, as thou hast
released me, I give thee full choice of deaths." The Fisherman,
hearing the words of the Ifrit, said, "O Allah! the wonder of it
that I have not come to free thee save in these days!" adding,
"Spare my life, so Allah spare shine; and slay me not, lest Allah
set one to slay thee." Replied the Contumacious One, "There is no
help for it; die thou must; so ask me by way of boon what manner
of death thou wilt die." Albeit thus certified the Fisherman
again addressed the Ifrit saying, "Forgive me this my death as a
generous reward for having freed thee;" and the Ifrit, "Surely I
would not slay thee save on account of that same release." "O
Chief of the Ifrits," said the Fisherman, "I do thee good and
thou requitest me with evil! in very sooth the old saw lieth not
when it saith:--
We wrought them weal, they met our weal with ill; * Such, by my
Now when the Ifrit heard these words he answered, "No more of
this talk, needs must I kill thee." Upon this the Fisherman said
to himself, "This is a Jinni; and I am a man to whom Allah hath
given a passably cunning wit, so I will now cast about to com
pass his destruction by my contrivance and by mine intelligence;
even as he took counsel only of his malice and his
frowardness."[FN#74] He began by asking the Ifrit, "Hast thou
indeed resolved to kill me?" and, receiving for all answer, "Even
so," he cried, "Now in the Most Great Name, graven on the seal
ring of Sulayman the Son of David (peace be with the holy
twain!), an I question thee on a certain matter wilt thou give me
a true answer?" The Ifrit replied "Yea;" but, hearing mention of
the Most Great Name, his wits were troubled and he said with
trembling, "Ask and be brief." Quoth the Fisherman, "How didst
thou fit into this bottle which would not hold thy hand; no, nor
even thy foot, and how came it to be large enough to contain the
whole of thee?" Replied the Ifrit, "What! cost not believe that I
was all there?" and the Fisherman rejoined, "Nay! I will never
believe it until I see thee inside with my own eyes." And
Shahrazad per ceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
Her sister said to her, "Please finish us this tale, an thou be
not sleepy!" so she resumed:--It hath reached me, O auspicious
King, that when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, "I will never
and nowise believe thee until I see thee inside it with mine own
eyes;" the Evil Spirit on the instant shook[FN#75] and became a
vapour, which condensed, and entered the jar little and little,
till all was well inside when lo! the Fisherman in hot haste took
the leaden cap with the seal and stoppered therewith the mouth of
the jar and called out to the Ifrit, saying, "Ask me by way of
boon what death thou wilt die! By Allah, I will throw thee into
the sea[FN#76] be fore us and here will I build me a lodge; and
whoso cometh hither I will warn him against fishing and will
say:--In these waters abideth an Ifrit who giveth as a last
favour a choice of deaths and fashion of slaughter to the man who
saveth him!" Now when the Ifrit heard this from the Fisherman and
saw him self in limbo, he was minded to escape, but this was
prevented by Solomon's seal; so he knew that the Fisherman had
cozened and outwitted him, and he waxed lowly and submissive and
began humbly to say, "I did but jest with thee." But the other an
swered, "Thou liest, O vilest of the Ifrits, and meanest and
filthiest!" and he set off with the bottle for the sea side; the
Ifrit calling out "Nay! Nay!" and he calling out "Aye! Aye !"
There upon the Evil Spirit softened his voice and smoothed his
speech and abased himself, saying, "What wouldest thou do with
me, O Fisherman?" "I will throw thee back into the sea," he
answered; "where thou hast been housed and homed for a thousand
and eight hundred years; and now I will leave thee therein till
Judgment day: did I not say to thee:--Spare me and Allah shall
spare thee; and slay me not lest Allah slay thee? yet thou spurn
east my supplication and hadst no intention save to deal un
graciously by me, and Allah hath now thrown thee into my hands
and I am cunninger than thou." Quoth the Ifrit, "Open for me and
I may bring thee weal." Quoth the Fisherman, "Thou liest, thou
accursed! my case with thee is that of the Wazir of King Yunan
with the sage Duban."[FN#77] "And who was the Wazir of King Yunan
and who was the sage Duban; and what was the story about them?"
quoth the Ifrit, whereupon the Fisherman began to tell
The
Know, O thou Ifrit, that in days of yore and in ages long gone
before, a King called Yunan reigned over the city of Fars of the
land of the Roum.[FN#78] He was a powerful ruler and a wealthy,
who had armies and guards and allies of all nations of men; but
his body was afflicted with a leprosy which leaches and men of
science failed to heal. He drank potions and he swallowed pow
ders and he used unguents, but naught did him good and none among
the host of physicians availed to procure him a cure. At last
there came to his city a mighty healer of men and one well
stricken in years, the sage Duban highs. This man was a reader of
books, Greek, Persian, Roman, Arabian, and Syrian; and he was
skilled in astronomy and in leechcraft, the theorick as well as
the practick; he was experienced in all that healeth and that
hurteth the body; conversant with the virtues of every plant,
grass and herb, and their benefit and bane; and he understood
philosophy and had compassed the whole range of medical science
and other branches of the knowledge tree. Now this physician
passed but few days in the city, ere he heard of the King's
malady and all his bodily sufferings through the leprosy with
which Allah had smitten him; and how all the doctors and wise men
had failed to heal him. Upon this he sat up through the night in
deep thought and, when broke the dawn and appeared the morn and
light was again born, and the Sun greeted the Good whose beauties
the world adorn,[FN#79] he donned his handsomest dress and going
in to King Yunan, he kissed the ground before him: then he prayed
for the endurance of his honour and prosperity in fairest
language and made himself known saying, "O King, tidings have
reached I me of what befel thee through that which is in thy
person; and how the host of physicians have proved themselves
unavailing to abate it; and lo! I can cure thee, O King; and yet
will I not make thee drink of draught or anoint thee with
ointment." Now when King Yunan heard his words he said in huge
surprise, "How wilt thou do this? By Allah, if thou make me whole
I will enrich thee even to thy son's son and I will give thee
sumptuous gifts; and whatso thou wishest shall be shine and thou
shalt be to me a cup companion[FN#80] and a friend." The King
then robed him with a dress of honour and entreated him
graciously and asked him, "Canst thou indeed cure me of this
complaint without drug and unguent?" and he answered, "Yes! I
will heal I thee without the pains and penalties of medicine."
The King marvelled with exceeding marvel and said, "O physician,
when shall be this whereof thou speakest, and in how many days
shall it take place? Haste thee, O my son!" He replied,"I hear
and I obey; the cure shall begin tomorrow." So saying he went
forth from the presence, and hired himself a house in the city
for the better storage of his books and scrolls, his medicines
and his aromatic roots. Then he set to work at choosing the
fittest drugs and simples and he fashioned a bat hollow within,
and furnished with a handle without, for which he made a ball;
the two being prepared with consummate art. On the next day when
both were ready for use and wanted nothing more, he went up to
the King; and, kissing the ground between his hands bade him ride
forth on the parade ground[FN#81] there to play at pall and mall.
He was accompanied by his suite, Emirs and Chamberlains, Wazirs
and Lords of the realm and, ere he was seated, the sage Duban
came up to him, and handing him the bat said, "Take this mall and
grip it as I do; so! and now push for the plain and leaning well
over thy horse drive the ball with all thy might until thy palm
be moist and thy body perspire: then the medicine will penetrate
through thy palm and will permeate thy person. When thou hast
done with playing and thou feelest the effects of the medicine,
return to thy palace, and make the Ghusl ablation[FN#82] in the
Hammam bath, and lay thee down to sleep; so shalt thou be come
whole; and now peace be with thee!" Thereupon King Yunan took the
bat from the Sage and grasped it firmly; then, mounting steed, he
drove the ball before him and gallopped after it till he reached
it, when he struck it with all his might, his palm gripping the
bat handle the while; and he ceased not malling the ball till his
hand waxed moist and his skin, perspiring, imbibed the medicine
from the wood. Then the sage Duban knew that the drugs had
penetrated his person and bade him return to the palace and enter
the Hammam without stay or delay; so King Yunan forthright
returned and ordered them to clear for him the bath. They did so,
the carpet spreaders making all haste, and the slaves all hurry
and got ready a change of raiment for the King. He entered the
bath and made the total ablution long and thoroughly; then donned
his clothes within the Hammam and rode therefrom to his palace
where he lay him down and slept. Such was the case with King
Yunan, but as regards the sage Duban, he returned home and slept
as usual and when morning dawned he repaired to the palace and
craved audience. The King ordered him to be admitted; then,
having kissed the ground between his hands, in allusion to the
King he recited these couplets with solemn intonation:--
Happy is Eloquence when thou art named her sire * But mourns
Now when the Sage ceased reciting, the King rose quickly to his
feet and fell on his neck; then, seating him by his side he bade
dress him in a sumptuous dress; for it had so happened that when
the King left the Hammam he looked on his body and saw no trace
of leprosy: the skin was all clean as virgin silver. He joyed
thereat with exceeding joy, his breast broadened[FN#83] with
delight and he felt thoroughly happy. Presently, when it was full
day he entered his audience hall and sat upon the throne of his
kingship whereupon his Chamberlains and Grandees flocked to the
presence and with them the Sage Duban. Seeing the leach the King
rose to him in honour and seated him by his side; then the food
trays furnished with the daintiest viands were brought and the
physician ate with the King, nor did he cease companying him all
that day. Moreover, at nightfall he gave the physician Duban two
thousand gold pieces, besides the usual dress of honour and other
gifts galore, and sent him home on his own steed. After the Sage
had fared forth King Yunan again expressed his amazement at the
leach's art, saying, "This man medicined my body from without nor
anointed me with aught of ointments: by Allah, surely this is
none other than consummate skill! I am bound to honour such a man
with re wards and distinction, and take him to my companion and
my friend during the remainder of my days." So King Yunan passed
the night in joy and gladness for that his body had been made
whole and had thrown off so pernicious a malady. On the morrow
the King went forth from his Serraglio and sat upon his throne,
and the Lords of Estate stood about him, and the Emirs and Wazirs
sat as was their wont on his right hand and on his left. Then he
asked for the Sage Duban, who came in and kissed the ground
before him, when the King rose to greet him and, seating him by
his side, ate with him and wished him long life. Moreover he
robed him and gave him gifts, and ceased not con versing with him
until night approached. Then the King ordered him, by way of
salary, five dresses of honour and a thousand dinars.[FN#84] The
physician returned to his own house full of gratitude to the
King. Now when next morning dawned the King repaired to his
audience hall, and his Lords and Nobles surrounded him and his
Chamberlains and his Ministers, as the white en closeth the black
of the eye.[FN#85] Now the King had a Wazir among his Wazirs,
unsightly to look upon, an ill omened spectacle; sor did,
ungenerous, full of envy and evil will. When this Minister saw
the King place the physician near him and give him all these
gifts, he jaloused him and planned to do him a harm, as in the
saying on such subject, "Envy lurks in every body;" and the say
ing, "Oppression hideth in every heart: power revealeth it and
weakness concealeth it." Then the Minister came before the King
and, kissing the ground between his hands, said, "O King of the
age and of all time, thou in whose benefits I have grown to
manhood, I have weighty advice to offer thee, and if I withhold
it I were a son of adultery and no true born man; wherefore an
thou order me to disclose it I will so do forthwith." Quoth the
King (and he was troubled at the words of the Minister), "And
what is this counsel of shine?" Quoth he, "O glorious monarch,
the wise of old have said:--Whoso regardeth not the end, hath not
Fortune to friend; and indeed I have lately seen the King on far
other than the right way; for he lavisheth largesse on his enemy,
on one whose object is the decline and fall of his king ship: to
this man he hath shown favour, honouring him with over honour and
making of him an intimate. Wherefore I fear for the King's life."
The King, who was much troubled and changed colour, asked, "Whom
cost thou suspect and anent whom doest thou hint?" and the
Minister answered, "O King, an thou be asleep, wake up! I point
to the physician Duban." Rejoined the King, "Fie upon thee! This
is a true friend who is favoured by me above all men, because he
cured me with some thing which I held in my hand, and he healed
my leprosy which had baffled all physicians; indeed he is one
whose like may not be found in these days--no, not in the whole
world from furthest east to utmost west! And it is of such a man
thou sayest such hard sayings. Now from this day forward I allot
him a settled solde and allowances, every month a thousand gold
pieces; and, were I to share with him my realm 'twere but a
little matter. Perforce I must suspect that thou speakest on this
wise from mere envy and jealousy as they relate of the King
Sindibad."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day, and ceased
saying her permitted say. Then quoth Dunyazad, "O my sister, how
pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful, how sweet, and how
grateful!" She replied, "And where is this compared with what I
could tell thee on the coming night if the King deign spare my
life?" Then said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay
her until I hear the rest of her tale, for truly it is wondrous."
So they rested that night in mutual embrace until the dawn. Then
the King went forth to his Hall of Rule, and the Wazir and the
troops came in, and the audience chamber was thronged and the
King gave orders and judged and appointed and deposed and bade
and forbade during the rest of that day till the Court broke up,
and King Shahryar returned to his palace.
Her sister said, "Do you finish for us thy story if thou be not
sleepy," and she resumed:--It hath reached me, O auspicious King
and mighty Monarch, that King Yunan said to his Minister, "O
Wazir, thou art one whom the evil spirit of envy hath possessed
because of this physician, and thou plottest for my putting him
to death, after which I should repent me full sorely, even as
repented King Sindibad for killing his falcon." Quoth the Wazir,
Pardon me, O King of the age, how was that?" So the King began
the story of
It is said (but Allah is All knowing![FN#86]) that there was a
King of the Kings of Fars, who was fond of pleasuring and
diversion, especially coursing end hunting. He had reared a
falcon which he carried all night on his fist, and whenever he
went a chasing he took with him this bird; and he bade make for
her a golden cuplet hung around her neck to give her drink
therefrom. One day as the King was sitting quietly in his palace,
behold, the high falcaner of the household suddenly addressed
him, "O King of the age, this is indeed a day fit for birding."
The King gave orders accordingly and set out taking the hawk on
fist; and they fared merrily forwards till they made a
Wady[FN#87] where they planted a circle of nets for the chase;
when lo! a gazelle came within the toils and the King cried,
"Whoso alloweth yon gazelle to spring over his head and loseth
her, that man will I surely slay." They narrowed the nets about
the gazelle when she drew near the King's station; and, planting
herself on her hind quarter, crossed her forehand over her
breast, as if about to kiss the earth before the King. He bowed
his brow low in acknowledgment to the beast; when she bounded
high over his head and took the way of the waste. Thereupon the
King turned towards his troops and seeing them winking and
pointing at him, he asked, "O Wazir, what are my men saying?" and
the Minister answered, "They say thou didst proclaim that whoso
alloweth the gazelle to spring over his head, that man shall be
put to death." Quoth the King, "Now, by the life of my head! I
will follow her up till I bring her back." So he set off
gallopping on the gazelle's trail and gave not over tracking till
he reached the foot hills of a mountain chain where the quarry
made for a cave. Then the King cast off at it the falcon which
presently caught it up and, swooping down, drove her talons into
its eyes, bewildering and blinding it;[FN#88] and the King drew
his mace and struck a blow which rolled the game over. He then
dismounted; and, after cutting the antelope's throat and flaying
the body, hung it to the pommel of his saddle. Now the time was
that of the siesta[FN#89] and the wold was parched and dry, nor
was any water to be found anywhere; and the King thirsted and his
horse also; so he went about searching till he saw a tree
dropping water, as it were melted butter, from its boughs.
Thereupon the King who wore gauntlets of skin to guard him
against poisons took the cup from the hawk's neck, and filling it
with the water set it before the bird, and lo! the falcon struck
it with her pounces and upset the liquid. The King filled it a
second time with the dripping drops, thinking his hawk was
thirsty; but the bird again struck at the cup with her talons and
overturned it. Then the King waxed wroth with the hawk and
filling the cup a third time offered it to his horse: but the
hawk upset it with a flirt of wings. Quoth the King, "Allah
confound thee, thou unluckiest of flying things! thou keepest me
from drinking, and thou deprivest thyself also, and the horse."
So he struck the falcon with his sword and cut off her wing; but
the bird raised her head and said by signs, "Look at that which
hangeth on the tree!" The King lifted up his eyes accordingly and
caught sight of a brood of vipers, whose poison drops he mistook
for water; thereupon he repented him of having struck off his
falcon's wing, and mounting horse, fared on with the dead
gazelle, till he arrived at the camp, his starting place. He
threw the quarry to the cook saying, Take and broil it," and sat
down on his chair, the falcon being still on his fist when
suddenly the bird gasped and died; whereupon the King cried out
in sorrow and remorse for having slain that falcon which had
saved his life. Now this is what occurred in the case of King
Sindibad; and I am assured that were I to do as thou desirest I
should repent even as the man who killed his parrot." Quoth the
Wazir, "And how was that?" And the King began to tell
The
A certain man and a merchant to boot had married a fair wife, a
woman of perfect beauty and grace, symmetry and loveliness, of
whom he was mad-jealous, and who contrived successfully to keep
him from travel. At last an occasion compelling him to leave her,
he went to the bird market and bought him for one hundred gold
pieces a she parrot which he set in his house to act as duenna,
expecting her to acquaint him on his return with what had passed
during the whole time of his absence; for the bird was kenning
and cunning and never forgot what she had seen and heard. Now his
fair wife had fallen in love with a young Turk, [FN#91] who used
to visit her, and she feasted him by day and lay with him by
night. When the man had made his journey and won his wish he came
home; and, at once causing the Parrot be brought to him,
questioned her concerning the conduct of his consort whilst he
was in foreign parts. Quoth she, "Thy wife hath a man friend who
passed every night with her during shine absence." Thereupon the
husband went to his wife in a violent rage and bashed her with a
bashing severe enough to satisfy any body. The woman, suspecting
that one of the slave girls had been tattling to the master,
called them together and questioned them upon their oaths, when
all swore that they had kept the secret, but that the Parrot had
not, adding, "And we heard her with our own ears." Upon this the
woman bade one of the girls to set a hand mill under the cage and
grind therewith and a second to sprinkle water through the cage
roof and a third to run about, right and left, dashing a mirror
of bright steel through the livelong night. Next morning when the
husband returned home after being entertained by one of his
friends, he bade bring the Parrot before him and asked what had
taken place whilst he was away. "Pardon me, O my master," quoth
the bird, "I could neither hear nor see aught by reason of the
exceeding murk and the thunder and lightning which lasted
throughout the night." As it happened to be the summer tide the
master was astounded and cried, "But we are now in mid
Tammuz,[FN#92] and this is not the time for rains and storms."
"Ay, by Allah," rejoined the bird, "I saw with these eyes what my
tongue hath told thee." Upon this the man, not knowing the case
nor smoking the plot, waxed exceeding wroth; and, holding that
his wife had been wrongously accused, put forth his hand and
pulling the Parrot from her cage dashed her upon the ground with
such force that he killed her on the spot. Some days after wards
one of his slave girls confessed to him the whole truth,[FN#93]
yet would he not believe it till he saw the young Turk, his
wife's lover, coming out of her chamber, when he bared his blade
[FN#94] and slew him by a blow on the back of the neck; and he
did the same by the adulteress; and thus the twain, laden with
mortal sin, went straightways to Eternal Fire. Then the merchant
knew that the Parrot had told him the truth anent all she had
seen and he mourned grievously for her loss, when mourning
availed him not. The Minister, hearing the words of King Yu nan,
rejoined, 'O Monarch, high in dignity, and what harm have I done
him, or what evil have I seen from him that I should compass his
death? I would not do this thing, save to serve thee, and soon
shalt thou sight that it is right; and if thou accept my advice
thou shalt be saved, otherwise thou shalt be destroyed even as a
certain Wazir who acted treacherously by the young Prince." Asked
the King, "How was that?" and the Minister thus began
The
A certain King, who had a son over much given to hunting and
coursing, ordered one of his Wazirs to be in attendance upon him
whithersoever he might wend. One day the youth set out for the
chase accompanied by his father's Minister; and, as they jogged
on together, a big wild beast came in sight. Cried the Wazir to
the King's son, "Up and at yon noble quarry!" So the Prince
followed it until he was lost to every eye and the chase got away
from him in the waste; whereby he was confused and he knew not
which way to turn, when lo! a damsel appeared ahead and she was
in tears. The King's son asked, "Who art thou?" and she answered,
"I am daughter to a King among the Kings of Hind, and I was
travelling with a caravan in the desert when drowsiness overcame
me, and I fell from my beast unwittingly whereby I am cut off
from my people and sore bewildered." The Prince, hearing these
words, pitied her case and, mounting her on his horse's crupper,
travelled until he passed by an old ruin [FN#95], when the damsel
said to him, "O my master, I wish to obey a call of nature": he
therefore set her down at the ruin where she delayed so long that
the King's son thought that she was only wasting time; so he
followed her without her knowledge and behold, she was a
Ghulah,[FN#96] a wicked Ogress, who was saying to her brood, "O
my children, this day I bring you a fine fat youth, [FN#97] for
dinner;" whereto they answered, "Bring him quick to us, O our
mother, that we may browse upon him our bellies full." The Prince
hearing their talk, made sure of death and his side muscles
quivered in fear for his life, so he turned away and was about to
fly. The Ghulah came out and seeing him in sore affright (for he
was trembling in every limb? cried, "Wherefore art thou afraid?"
and he replied, "I have hit upon an enemy whom I greatly fear."
Asked the Ghulah, "Diddest thou not say: - I am a King's son?"
and he answered, "Even so." Then quoth she, "Why cost not give
shine enemy something of money and so satisfy him?" Quoth he, "He
will not be satisfied with my purse but only with my life, and I
mortally fear him and am a man under oppression." She replied,
"If thou be so distressed, as thou deemest, ask aid against him
from Allah, who will surely protect thee from his ill doing and
from the evil whereof thou art afraid." Then the Prince raised
his eyes heavenwards and cried, "O Thou who answerest the
necessitous when he calleth upon Thee and dispellest his
distress; O my God ! grant me victory over my foe and turn him
from me, for Thou over all things art Almighty." The Ghulah,
hearing his prayer, turned away from him, and the Prince returned
to his father, and told him the tale of the Wazir; whereupon the
King summoned the Minister to his presence and then and there
slew him. Thou likewise, O King, if thou continue to trust this
leach, shalt be made to die the worst of deaths. He verily thou
madest much of and whom thou entreatedest as an intimate, will
work thy destruction. Seest thou not how he healed the disease
from outside thy body by something grasped in thy hand? Be not
assured that he will not destroy thee by something held in like
manner! Replied King Yunan, "Thou hast spoken sooth, O Wazir, it
may well be as thou hintest O my well advising Minister; and
belike this Sage hath come as a spy searching to put me to death;
for assuredly if he cured me by a something held in my hand, he
can kill me by a something given me to smell." Then asked King
Yunan, "O Minister, what must be done with him?" and the Wazir
answered, "Send after him this very instant and summon him to thy
presence; and when he shall come strike him across the neck; and
thus shalt thou rid thyself of him and his wickedness, and
deceive him ere he can I deceive thee." 'Thou hast again spoken
sooth, O Wazir," said the King and sent one to call the Sage who
came in joyful mood for he knew not what had appointed for him
the Compassionate; as a certain poet saith by way of
illustration:--
O Thou who fearest Fate, confiding fare * Trust all to Him who
As Duban the physician entered he addressed the King in these
lines:--
An fail I of my thanks to thee nor thank thee day by day * For
And he said further on the same theme:--
Turn thee from grief nor care a jot! * Commit thy needs to Fate
And further still.--
To th' All wise Subtle One trust worldly things * Rest thee from
And lastly.--
Gladsome and gay forget shine every grief * Full often grief the
Said the King for sole return, "Knowest thou why I have summoned
thee?" and the Sage replied, "Allah Most Highest alone kenneth
hidden things!" But the King rejoined, "I summoned thee only to
take thy life and utterly to destroy thee." Duban the Wise
wondered at this strange address with exceeding wonder and asked,
"O King, and wherefore wouldest thou slay me, and what ill have I
done thee?" and the King answered, "Men tell me thou art a spy
sent hither with intent to slay me; and lo! I will kill thee ere
I be killed by thee;" then he called to his Sworder, and said,
"Strike me off the head of this traitor and deliver us from his
evil practices." Quoth the Sage, "Spare me and Allah will spare
thee; slay me not or Allah shall slay thee." And he repeated to
him these very words, even as I to thee, O Ifrit, and yet thou
wouldst not let me go, being bent upon my death. King Yunan only
rejoined, "I shall not be safe without slaying thee; for, as thou
healedst me by something held in hand, so am I not secure against
thy killing me by something given me to smell or otherwise." Said
the physician, "This then, O King, is thy requital and reward;
thou returnest only evil for good." The King replied, "There is
no help for it; die thou must and without delay." Now when the
physician was certified that the King would slay him without
waiting, he wept and regretted the good he had done to other than
the good. As one hath said on this subject:--
Of wit and wisdom is Maymunah[FN#98] bare * Whose sire in
Hereupon the Sworder stepped forward and bound the Sage Duban's
eyes and bared his blade, saying to the King, "By thy leave;"
while the physician wept and cried, "Spare me and Allah will
spare thee, and slay me not or Allah shall slay thee," and began
repeating:--
I was kind and 'scaped not, they were cruel and escaped; * And my
"Is this," continued Duban, "the return I meet from thee? Thou
givest me, meseems, but crocodile boon." Quoth the King,"What is
the tale of the crocodile?", and quoth the physician, "Impossible
for me to tell it in this my state; Allah upon thee, spare me, as
thou hopest Allah shall spare thee." And he wept with ex ceeding
weeping. Then one of the King's favourites stood up and said, "O
King! grant me the blood of this physician; we have never seen
him sin against thee, or doing aught save healing thee from a
disease which baffled every leach and man of science." Said the
King, "Ye wot not the cause of my putting to death this
physician, and this it is. If I spare him, I doom myself to
certain death; for one who healed me of such a malady by
something held in my hand, surely can slay me by something held
to my nose; and I fear lest he kill me for a price, since haply
he is some spy whose sole purpose in coming hither was to compass
my destruction. So there is no help for it; die he must, and then
only shall I be sure of my own life." Again cried Duban, "Spare
me and Allah shall spare thee; and slay me not or Allah shall
slay thee." But it was in vain. Now when the physician, O Ifrit,
knew for certain that the King would kill him, he said, "O King,
if there be no help but I must die, grant me some little delay
that I may go down to my house and release myself from mine
obligations and direct my folk and my neighbours where to bury me
and distribute my books of medicine. Amongst these I have one,
the rarest of rarities, which I would present to thee as an
offering: keep it as a treasure in thy treasury." "And what is in
the book?" asked the King and the Sage answered, "Things beyond
compt; and the least of secrets is that if, directly after thou
hast cut off my head, thou open three leaves and read three lines
of the page to thy left hand, my head shall speak and answer
every question thou deignest ask of it." The King wondered with
exceeding wonder and shaking[FN#99] with delight at the novelty,
said, "O physician, cost thou really tell me that when I cut off
thy head it will speak to me?" He replied, "Yes, O King!" Quoth
the King, "This is indeed a strange matter!" and forthwith sent
him closely guarded to his house, and Duban then and there
settled all his obligations. Next day he went up to the King's
audience hall, where Emirs and Wazirs, Chamberlains and Nabobs,
Grandees and Lords of Estate were gathered together, making the
presence chamber gay as a garden of flower beds. And lo! the
physician came up and stood before the King, bearing a worn old
volume and a little etui of metal full of powder, like that used
for the eyes.[FN#100] Then he sat down and said, "Give me a
tray." So they brought him one and he poured the powder upon it
and levelled it and lastly spake as follows: "O King, take this
book but do not open it till my head falls; then set it upon this
tray, and bid press it down upon the powder, when forthright the
blood will cease flowing. That is the time to open the book." The
King thereupon took the book and made a sign to the Sworder, who
arose and struck off the physician's head, and placing it on the
middle of the tray, pressed it down upon the powder. The blood
stopped flowing, and the Sage Duban unclosed his eyes and said,
"Now open the book, O King!" The King opened the book, and found
the leaves stuck together; so he put his finger to his mouth and,
by moistening it, he easily turned over the first leaf, and in
like way the second, and the third, each leaf opening with much
trouble; and when he had un stuck six leaves he looked over them
and, finding nothing written thereon, said, "O physician, there
is no writing here!" Duban re plied, "Turn over yet more;" and he
turned over three others in the same way. Now the book was
poisoned; and before long the venom penetrated his system, and he
fell into strong convulsions and he cried out, "The poison hath
done its work!" Whereupon the Sage Duban's head began to
improvise:--
There be rulers who have ruled with a foul tyrannic sway *
No sooner had the head ceased speaking than the King rolled over
dead. Now I would have thee know, O Ifrit, that if King Yunan had
spared the Sage Duban, Allah would have spared him, but he
refused so to do and decreed to do him dead, wherefore Allah slew
him; and thou too, O Ifrit, if thou hadst spared me, Allah would
have spared thee. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say: then quoth Dunyazad, "O my
sister, how pleasant is thy tale, and how tasteful; how sweet,
and how grateful!" She replied, "And where is this compared with
what I could tell thee this coming night, if I live and the King
spare me?" Said the King in himself, "By Allah, I will not slay
her until I hear the rest of her story, for truly it is
wondrous." They rested that night in mutual embrace until dawn:
then the King went forth to his Darbar; the Wazirs and troops
came in and the audience hall was crowded; so the King gave
orders and judged and appointed and deposed and bade and forbade
the rest of that day, when the court broke up, and King Shahryar
entered his palace,
Her sister, Dunyazad, said to her,"Pray finish for us thy story;"
and she answered, "I will if the King give me leave." "Say on,"
quoth the King. And she continued:--It hath reached me, O
auspicious King, that when the Fisherman said to the Ifrit, "If
thou hadst spared me I would have spared thee, but nothing would
satisfy thee save my death; so now I will do thee die by jailing
thee in this jar and I will hurl thee into this sea." Then the
Marid roared aloud and cried, "Allah upon thee, O Fisher man,
don't! Spare me, and pardon my past doings; and, as I have been
tyrannous, so be thou generous, for it is said among sayings that
go current:--O thou who doest good to him who hath done thee
evil, suffice for the ill doer his ill deeds, and do not deal
with me as did Umamah to 'Atikah."[FN#101] Asked the Fisherman,
"And what was their case?" and the Ifrit answered, "This is not
the time for story telling and I in this prison; but set me free
and I will tell thee the tale." Quoth the Fisherman, "Leave this
language: there is no help but that thou be thrown back into the
sea nor is there any way for thy getting out of it for ever and
ever. Vainly I placed myself under thy protection,[FN#102] and I
humbled my self to thee with weeping, while thou soughtest only
to slay me, who had done thee no injury deserving this at thy
hands; nay, so far from injuring thee by any evil act, I worked
thee nought but weal in releasing thee from that jail of shine.
Now I knew thee to be an evil doer when thou diddest to me what
thou didst, and know, that when I have cast thee back into the
sea, I will warn whomsoever may fish thee up of what hath
befallen me with thee, and I will advise him to toss thee back
again; so shalt thou abide here under these waters till the End
of Time shall make an end of thee." But the Ifrit cried aloud,
"Set me free; this is a noble occasion for generosity and I make
covenant with thee and vow never to do thee hurt and harm; nay, I
will help thee to what shall put thee out of want." The Fisherman
accepted his promises on both conditions, not to trouble him as
before, but on the contrary to do him service; and, after making
firm the plight and swearing him a solemn oath by Allah Most
Highest he opened the cucurbit. Thereupon the pillar of smoke
rose up till all of it was fully out; then it thickened and once
more became an Ifrit of hideous presence, who forthright ad
ministered a kick to the bottle and sent it flying into the sea.
The Fisherman, seeing how the cucurbit was treated and making
sure of his own death, piddled in his clothes and said to
himself, "This promiseth badly;" but he fortified his heart, and
cried, "O Ifrit, Allah hath said[FN#103]: - Perform your
covenant; for the performance of your covenant shall be inquired
into hereafter. Thou hast made a vow to me and hast sworn an oath
not to play me false lest Allah play thee false, for verily he is
a jealous God who respiteth the sinner, but letteth him not
escape. I say to thee as said the Sage Duban to King Yunan,
"Spare me so Allah may spare thee!" The Ifrit burst into laughter
and stalked away, saying to the Fisherman, "Follow me;" and the
man paced after him at a safe distance (for he was not assured of
escape) till they had passed round the suburbs of the city.
Thence they struck into the uncultivated grounds, and crossing
them descended into a broad wilderness, and lo! in the midst of
it stood a mountain tarn. The Ifrit waded in to the middle and
again cried, "Follow me;" and when this was done he took his
stand in the centre and bade the man cast his net and catch his
fish. The Fisherman looked into the water and was much astonished
to see therein vari coloured fishes, white and red, blue and
yellow; however he cast his net and, hauling it in, saw that he
had netted four fishes, one of each colour. Thereat he rejoiced
greatly and more when the Ifrit said to him, "Carry these to the
Sultan and set them in his presence; then he will give thee what
shall make thee a wealthy man; and now accept my excuse, for by
Allah at this time I wot none other way of benefiting thee,
inasmuch I have lain in this sea eighteen hundred years and have
not seen the face of the world save within this hour. But I would
not have thee fish here save once a day." The Ifrit then gave him
God speed, saying, Allah grant we meet again;"[FN#104] and struck
the earth with one foot, whereupon the ground clove asunder and
swallowed him up. The Fisherman, much marvelling at what had
happened to him with the Ifrit, took the fish and made for the
city; and as soon as he reached home he filled an earthen bowl
with water and therein threw the fish which began to struggle and
wriggle about. Then he bore off the bowl upon his head and
repairing to the King's palace (even as the Ifrit had bidden him)
laid the fish before the presence; and the King wondered with
exceeding wonder at the sight, for never in his lifetime had' he
seen fishes like these in quality or in conformation. So he said,
"Give those fish to the stranger slave girl who now cooketh for
us," meaning the bond maiden whom the King of Roum had sent to
him only three days before, so that he had not yet made trial of
her talents in the dressing of meat. Thereupon the Wazir carried
the fish to the cook and bade her fry them[FN#105] saying, "O
damsel, the King sendeth this say to thee:--I have not treasured
thee, O tear o' me! save for stress time of me; approve, then, to
us this day thy delicate handiwork and thy savoury cooking; for
this dish of fish is a present sent to the Sultan and evidently a
rarity." The Wazir, after he had carefully charged her, returned
to the King, who commanded him to give the Fisherman four hundred
diners: he gave them accordingly, and the man took them to his
bosom and ran off home stumbling and falling and rising again and
deeming the whole thing to be a dream. However, he bought for his
family all they wanted and lastly he went to his wife in huge joy
and gladness. So far concerning him; but as regards the cookmaid,
she took the fish and cleansed them and set them in the frying
pan, basting them with oil till one side was dressed. Then she
turned them over and, behold, the kitchen wall crave asunder, and
therefrom came a young lady, fair of form, oval of face, perfect
in grace, with eyelids which Kohl lines enchase.[FN#106] Her
dress was a silken head kerchief fringed and tasseled with blue:
a large ring hung from either ear; a pair of bracelets adorned
her wrists; rings with bezels of priceless gems were on her
fingers; and she hent in hand a long rod of rattan cane which she
thrust into the frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! be ye
constant to your covenant?" When the cookmaiden saw this
apparition she swooned away. The young lady repeated her words a
second time and a third time, and at last the fishes raised their
heads from the pan, and saying in articulate speech "Yes! Yes!"
began with one voice to recite:--
Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * And if ye
After this the young lady upset the frying pan and went forth by
the way she came in and the kitchen wall closed upon her. When
the cook maiden recovered from her fainting fit, she saw the four
fishes charred black as charcoal, and crying out, "His staff
brake in his first bout,"[FN#107] she again fell swooning to the
ground. Whilst she was in this case the Wazir came for the fish
and looking upon her as insensible she lay, not knowing Sunday
from Thursday, shoved her with his foot and said, "Bring the fish
for the Sultan!" Thereupon recovering from her fainting fit she
wept and in formed him of her case and all that had befallen her.
The Wazir marvelled greatly and exclaiming, "This is none other
than a right strange matter!", he sent after the Fisherman and
said to him, "Thou, O Fisherman, must needs fetch us four fishes
like those thou broughtest before." Thereupon the man repaired to
the tarn and cast his net; and when he landed it, lo! four fishes
were therein exactly like the first. These he at once carried to
the Wazir, who went in with them to the cook maiden and said, "Up
with thee and fry these in my presence, that I may see this
business." The damsel arose and cleansed the fish, and set them
in the frying pan over the fire; however they remained there but
a little while ere the wall crave asunder and the young lady
appeared, clad as before and holding in hand the wand which she
again thrust into the frying pan, saying, "O fish! O fish! be ye
constant to your olden covenant?" And behold, the fish lifted
their heads, and repeated "Yes! Yes!" and recited this couplet:
Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye
And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when
the fishes spoke, and the young lady upset the frying pan with
her rod, and went forth by the way she came and the wall closed
up, the Wazir cried out, "This is a thing not to be hidden from
the King." So he went and told him what had happened, where upon
quoth the King, "There is no help for it but that I see this with
mine own eyes." Then he sent for the Fisherman and commended him
to bring four other fish like the first and to take with him
three men as witnesses. The Fisherman at once brought the fish:
and the King, after ordering them to give him four hundred gold
pieces, turned to the Wazir and said, "Up and fry me the fishes
here before me!" The Minister, replying "To hear is to obey,"
bade bring the frying pan, threw therein the cleansed fish and
set it over the fire; when lo! the wall crave asunder, and out
burst a black slave like a huge rock or a remnant of the tribe
Ad[FN#108] bearing in hand a branch of a green tree; and he cried
in loud and terrible tones, "O fish! O fish! be ye all constant
to your antique covenant?" whereupon the fishes lifted their
heads from the frying pan and said, "Yes! Yes ! we be true to our
vow;" and they again recited the couplet:
Come back and so will I! Keep faith and so will I! * But if ye
fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!
Then the huge blackamoor approached the frying pan and upset it
with the branch and went forth by the way he came in. When he
vanished from their sight the King inspected the fish; and
finding them all charred black as charcoal, was utterly
bewildered and said to the Wazir, "Verily this is a matter
whereanent silence cannot be kept, and as for the fishes,
assuredly some marvellous adventure connects with them." So he
bade bring the Fisherman and asked him, saying "Fie on thee,
fellow! whence came these fishes?" and he answered, "From a tarn
between four heights lying behind this mountain which is in sight
of thy city." Quoth the King, "How many days' march?" Quoth he,
"O our lord the Sultan, a walk of half hour." The King wondered
and, straight way ordering his men to march and horsemen to
mount, led off the Fisherman who went before as guide, privily
damning the Ifrit. They fared on till they had climbed the
mountain and descended unto a great desert which they had never
seen during all their lives; and the Sultan and his merry men
marvelled much at the wold set in the midst of four mountains,
and the tarn and its fishes of four colours, red and white,
yellow and blue. The King stood fixed to the spot in wonderment
and asked his troops and all present, "Hath any one among you
ever seen this piece of water before now?" and all made answer,
"O King of the age never did we set eyes upon it during all our
days." They also questioned the oldest inhabitants they met, men
well stricken in years, but they replied, each and every, "A
lakelet this we never saw in this place." Thereupon quoth the
King, "By Allah I will neither return to my capital nor sit upon
the throne of my forbears till I learn the truth about this tarn
and the fish therein." He then ordered his men to dismount and
bivouac all around the mountain; which they did; and summoning
his Wazir, a Minister of much experience, sagacious, of
penetrating wit and well versed in affairs, said to him, "'Tis in
my mind to do a certain thing whereof I will inform thee; my
heart telleth me to fare forth alone this night and root out the
mystery of this tarn and its fishes. Do thou take thy seat at my
tent door, and say to the Emirs and Wazirs, the Nabobs and the
Chamberlains, in fine to all who ask thee:--The Sultan is ill at
ease, and he hath ordered me to refuse all admittance;[FN#109]
and be careful thou let none know my design." And the Wazir could
not oppose him. Then the King changed his dress and ornaments
and, slinging his sword over his shoulder, took a path which led
up one of the mountains and marched for the rest of the night
till morning dawned; nor did he cease wayfaring till the heat was
too much for him. After his long walk he rested for a while, and
then resumed his march and fared on through the second night till
dawn, when suddenly there appeared a black point in the far
distance. Hereat he rejoiced and said to himself, "Haply some one
here shall acquaint me with the mystery of the tarn and its
fishes." Presently drawing near the dark object he found it a
palace built of swart stone plated with iron; and, while one leaf
of the gate stood wide open, the other was shut, The King's
spirits rose high as he stood before the gate and rapped a light
rap; but hearing no answer he knocked a second knock and a third;
yet there came no sign. Then he knocked his loudest but still no
answer, so he said, "Doubtless 'tis empty." Thereupon he mustered
up resolution and boldly walked through the main gate into the
great hall and there cried out aloud, "Holla, ye people of the
palace! I am a stranger and a wayfarer; have you aught here of
victual?" He repeated his cry a second time and a third but still
there came no reply; so strengthening his heart and making up his
mind he stalked through the vestibule into the very middle of the
palace and found no man in it. Yet it was furnished with silken
stuffs gold starred; and the hangings were let down over the door
ways. In the midst was a spacious court off which set four open
saloons each with its raised dais, saloon facing saloon; a canopy
shaded the court and in the centre was a jetting fount with four
figures of lions made of red gold, spouting from their mouths
water clear as pearls and diaphanous gems. Round about the palace
birds were let loose and over it stretched a net of golden wire,
hindering them from flying off; in brief there was everything but
human beings. The King marvelled mightily thereat, yet felt he
sad at heart for that he saw no one to give him account of the
waste and its tarn, the fishes, the mountains and the palace
itself. Presently as he sat between the doors in deep thought
behold, there came a voice of lament, as from a heart grief spent
and he heard the voice chanting these verses:--
I hid what I endured of him[FN#110] and yet it came to light, *
Now when the Sultan heard the mournful voice he sprang to his
feet; and, following the sound, found a curtain let down over a
chamber door. He raised it and saw behind it a young man sitting
upon a couch about a cubit above the ground; and he fair to the
sight, a well shaped wight, with eloquence dight; his forehead
was flower white, his cheek rosy bright, and a mole on his cheek
breadth like an ambergris mite; even as the poet cloth indite:--
A youth slim waisted from whose locks and brow * The world in
The King rejoiced and saluted him, but he remained sitting in his
caftan of silken stuff pureed with Egyptian gold and his crown
studded with gems of sorts; but his face was sad with the traces
of sorrow. He returned the royal salute in most courteous wise
adding, "O my lord, thy dignity demandeth my rising to thee; and
my sole excuse is to crave thy pardon."[FN#114] Quoth the King,
"Thou art excused, O youth; so look upon me as thy guest come
hither on an especial object. I would thou acquaint me with the
secrets of this tarn and its fishes and of this palace and thy
loneliness therein and the cause of thy groaning and wailing."
When the young man heard these words he wept with sore
weeping;[FN#115] till his bosom was drenched with tears and began
reciting--
Say him who careless sleeps what while the shaft of Fortune flies
Then he sighed a long fetched sigh and recited:--
Confide thy case to Him, the Lord who made mankind; * Quit cark
The King marvelled and asked him, "What maketh thee weep, O young
man?" and he answered, "How should I not weep, when this is my
case!" Thereupon he put out his hand and raised the skirt of his
garment, when lo! the lower half of him appeared stone down to
his feet while from his navel to the hair of his head he was man.
The King, seeing this his plight, grieved with sore grief and of
his compassion cried, "Alack and well away! in very sooth, O
youth, thou heapest sorrow upon my sorrow. I was minded to ask
thee the mystery of the fishes only: whereas now I am concerned
to learn thy story as well as theirs. But there is no Majesty and
there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great![FN#116]
Lose no time, O youth, but tell me forthright thy whole tale."
Quoth he, "Lend me shine ears, thy sight and shine in sight;" and
quoth the King, "All are at thy service!" Thereupon the youth
began, "Right wondrous and marvellous is my case and that of
these fishes; and were it graven with gravers upon the eye
corners it were a warner to whoso would be warned." "How is
that?" asked the King, and the young man began to tell
The
Know then, O my lord, that whilome my sire was King of this city,
and his name was Mahmud, entitled Lord of the Black Islands, and
owner of what are now these four mountains. He ruled three score
and ten years, after which he went to the mercy of the Lord and I
reigned as Sultan in his stead. I took to wife my cousin, the
daughter of my paternal uncle,[FN#117] and she loved me with such
abounding love that whenever I was absent she ate not and she
drank not until she saw me again. She cohabited with me for five
years till a certain day when she went forth to the Hammam bath;
and I bade the cook hasten to get ready all requisites for our
supper. And I entered this palace and lay down on the bed where I
was wont to sleep and bade two damsels to fan my face, one
sitting by my head and the other at my feet. But I was troubled
and made restless by my wife's absence and could not sleep; for
although my eyes were closed my mind and thoughts were wide
awake. Presently I heard the slave girl at my head say to her at
my feet, "O Mas'udah, how miserable is our master and how wasted
in his youth and oh! the pity of his being so be trayed by our
mistress, the accursed whore!''[FN#118] The other replied, "Yes
indeed: Allah curse all faithless women and adulterous; but the
like of our master, with his fair gifts, deserveth something
better than this harlot who lieth abroad every night." Then quoth
she who sat by my head, "Is our lord dumb or fit only for
bubbling that he questioneth her not!" and quoth the other, "Fie
on thee! cloth our lord know her ways or cloth she allow him his
choice? Nay, more, cloth she not drug every night the cup she
giveth him to drink before sleep time, and put Bhang[FN#119] into
it? So he sleepeth and wotteth not whither she goeth, nor what
she doeth; but we know that after giving him the drugged wine,
she donneth her richest raiment and perfumeth herself and then
she fareth out from him to be away till break of day; then she
cometh to him, and burneth a pastile under his nose and he
awaketh from his deathlike sleep." When I heard the slave girl's
words, the light became black before my sight and I thought night
would never-fall. Presently the daughter of my uncle came from
the baths; and they set the table for us and we ate and sat
together a fair half hour quaffing our wine as was ever our wont.
Then she called for the particular wine I used to drink before
sleeping and reached me the cup; but, seeming to drink it
according to my wont, I poured the contents into my bosom; and,
lying down, let her hear that I was asleep. Then, behold, she
cried, "Sleep out the night, and never wake again: by Allah, I
loathe thee and I loathe thy whole body, and my soul turneth in
disgust from cohabiting with thee; and I see not the moment when
Allah shall snatch away thy life!" Then she rose and donned her
fairest dress and perfumed her person and slung my sword over her
shoulder; and, opening the gates of the palace, went her ill way.
I rose and followed her as she left the palace and she threaded
the streets until she came to the city gate, where she spoke
words I understood not, and the padlocks dropped of themselves as
if broken and the gate leaves opened. She went forth (and I after
her without her noticing aught) till she came at last to the
outlying mounds[FN#120] and a reed fence built about a round
roofed hut of mud bricks. As she entered the door, I climbed upon
the roof which commanded a view of the interior, and lo! my fair
cousin had gone in to a hideous negro slave with his upper lip
like the cover of a pot, and his lower like an open pot; lips
which might sweep up sand from the gravel-floor of the cot. He
was to boot a leper and a paralytic, lying upon a strew of sugar
cane trash and wrapped in an old blanket and the foulest rags and
tatters. She kissed the earth before him, and he raised his head
so as to see her and said, "Woe to thee! what call hadst thou to
stay away all this time? Here have been with me sundry of the
black brethren, who drank their wine and each had his young lady,
and I was not content to drink because of shine absence." Then
she, "O my lord, my heart's love and coolth of my eyes [FN#121]
knowest thou not that I am married to my cousin whose very look I
loathe, and hate myself when in his company? And did not I fear
for thy sake, I would not let a single sun arise before making
his city a ruined heap wherein raven should croak and howlet
hoot, and jackal and wolf harbour and loot; nay I had removed its
very stones to the back side of Mount Kaf." [FN#122] Rejoined the
slave, Thou liest, damn thee! Now I swear an oath by the velour
and honour of blackamoor men (and deem not our manliness to be ;
the poor manliness of white men), from today forth if thou stay
away till this hour, I will not keep company with thee nor will I
glue my body with thy body and strum and belly bump Dost play
fast and loose with us, thou cracked pot, that we may satisfy thy
dirty lusts? stinkard! bitch! vilest of the vile whites!" When I
heard his words, and saw with my own eyes what passed between
these two wretches, the world waxed dark be fore my face and my
soul knew not in what place it was. But , my wife humbly stood up
weeping before and wheedling the slave, and saying, O my beloved,
and very fruit of my heart, there is none left to cheer me but
thy dear self; and, if thou cast me off who shall take me in, O
my beloved, O light of my eyes?" And she ceased not weeping and
abasing herself to him until he deigned be reconciled with her.
Then was she right glad and stood up and doffed her clothes, even
to her petticoat trousers, and said, 0 my master what hast thou
here for thy handmaiden to eat? Uncover the basin," he grumbled,
"and thou shalt find t the bottom the broiled bones of some rats
we dined on, pick at them, and then go to that slop pot where
thou shalt find some leavings of beer [FN#123] which thou mayest
drink." So she ate and drank and washed her hands, and went and
lay down by the side of the slave, upon the cane trash and,
stripping herself stark naked, she crept in with him under his
foul coverlet and his rags and tatters. When I saw my wife, my
cousin, the daughter of my uncle, do this deed[FN#124] I clean
lost my wits, and climbing down from the roof, I entered and took
the sword which she had with her and drew it, determined to cut
down the twain. I first struck at the slave's neck and thought
that the death decree had fallen on him:"And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
young ensorcelled Prince said to the King, "When I smote the
slave with intent to strike off his head, I thought that I had
slain him; for he groaned a loud hissing groan, but I had cut
only the skin and flesh of the gullet and the two arteries! It
awoke the daughter of my uncle, so I sheathed the sword and fared
forth for the city; and, entering the palace, lay upon my bed and
slept till morning when my wife aroused me and I saw that she had
cut off her hair and had donned mourning garments. Quoth she:--O
son of my uncle, blame me not for what I do; it hath just reached
me that my mother is dead, and my father hath been killed in holy
war, and of my brothers one hath lost his life by a snake sting
and the other by falling down some precipice; and I can and
should do naught save weep and lament. When I heard her words I
refrained from all reproach and said only:--Do as thou list; I
certainly will not thwart thee. She continued sorrowing, weeping
and wailing one whole year from the beginning of its circle to
the end, and when it was finished she said to me.--I wish to
build me in thy palace a tomb with a cupola, which I will set
apart for my mourning and will name the House of
Lamentations.[FN#125] Quoth I again:--Do as thou list! Then she
builded for herself a cenotaph wherein to mourn, and set on its
centre a dome under which showed a tomb like a Santon's
sepulchre. Thither she carried the slave and lodged him; but he
was exceeding weak by reason of his wound, and unable to do her
love service; he could only drink wine and from the day of his
hurt he spake not a word, yet he lived on because his appointed
hour[FN#126] was not come. Every day, morning and evening, my
wife went to him and wept and wailed over him and gave him wine
and strong soups, and left not off doing after this manner a
second year; and I bore with her patiently and paid no heed to
her. One day, however, I went in to her unawares; and I found her
weeping and beating her face and crying:--Why art thou absent
from my sight, O my heart's delight? Speak to me, O my life; talk
with me, O my love? Then she recited these verses:--
For your love my patience fails and albeit you forget * I may
Then she recited, weeping bitterly the while:--
The day of my delight is the day when draw you near * And the
Once more she began reciting:--
Though a morn I may awake with all happiness in hand *
When she had ended for a time her words and her weeping I said to
her--O my cousin, let this thy mourning suffice, for in pouring
forth tears there is little profit! Thwart me not, answered she,
in aught I do, or I will lay violent hands on myself! So I held
my peace and left her to go her own way; and she ceased not to
cry and keen and indulge her affliction for yet another year. At
the end of the third year I waxed aweary of this lonesome
mourning, and one day I happened to enter the cenotaph when vexed
and angry with some matter which had thwarted me, and suddenly I
heard her say:--O my lord, I never hear thee vouch safe a single
word to me! Why cost thou not answer me, O my master? and she
began reciting:--
O thou tomb! O, thou tomb! be his beauty set in shade? * Hast
When I heard such verses as these rage was heaped upon my rage I
cried out:--Well away! how long is this sorrow to last? and I
began repeating:--
O thou tomb! O thou tomb! be his horrors set in blight? * Hast
When she heard my words she sprang to her feet crying.--Fie upon
thee, thou cur! all this is of thy doings; thou hast wounded my
heart s darling and thereby worked me sore woe and thou hast
wasted his youth so that these three years he hath lain abed more
dead than alive! In my wrath I cried:--O thou foulest of harlots
and filthiest of whores ever futtered by negro slaves who are
hired to have at thee![FN#129] Yes indeed it was I who did this
good deed; and snatching up my sword I drew it and made at her to
cut her down. But she laughed my words and mine intent to scorn
crying: To heel, hound that thou art! Alas[FN#130] for the past
which shall no more come to pass nor shall any one avail the dead
to raise. Allah hath indeed now given into my hand him who did to
me this thing, a deed that hath burned my heart with a fire which
died not and a flame which might not be quenched! Then she stood
up; and, pronouncing some words to me unintelligible, she said:--
By virtue of my egromancy become thou half stone and half man;
whereupon I became what thou seest, unable to rise or to sit, and
neither dead nor alive. Moreover she ensorcelled the city with
all its streets and garths, and she turned by her gramarye the
four islands into four mountains around the tarn whereof thou
questionest me; and the citizens, who were of four different
faiths, Moslem, Nazarene, Jew and Magian, she transformed by her
enchantments into fishes; the Moslems are the white, the Magians
red, the Christians blue and the Jews yellow.[FN#131] And every
day she tortureth me and scourgeth me with an hundred stripes,
each of which draweth floods of blood and cutteth the skin of my
shoulders to strips; and lastly she clotheth my upper half with a
hair cloth and then throweth over them these robes." Hereupon the
young man again shed tears and began reciting:--
In patience, O my God, I endure my lot and fate; * I will bear at
After this the Sultan turned towards the young Prince and said,
"O youth, thou hast removed one grief only to add another grief;
but now, O my friend, where is she; and where is the mausoleum
wherein lieth the wounded slave?" "The slave lieth under yon
dome," quoth the young man, "and she sitteth in the chamber
fronting yonder door. And every day at sunrise she cometh forth,
and first strippeth me, and whippeth me with an hundred strokes
of the leathern scourge, and I weep and shriek; but there is no
power of motion in my lower limbs to keep her off me. After
ending her tormenting me she visiteth the slave, bringing him
wine and boiled meats. And to morrow at an early hour she will be
here." Quoth the King, "By Allah, O youth, I will as suredly do
thee a good deed which the world shall not willingly let die, and
an act of derring do which shall be chronicled long after I am
dead and gone by." Then the King sat him by the side of the young
Prince and talked till nightfall, when he lay down and slept;
but, as soon as the false dawn[FN#133] showed, he arose and
doffing his outer garments[FN#134] bared his blade and hastened
to the place wherein lay the slave. Then was he ware of lighted
candles and lamps, and the perfume of incenses and unguents, and
directed by these, he made for the slave and struck him one
stroke killing him on the spot: after which he lifted him on his
back and threw him into a well that was in the palace. Presentry
he returned and, donning the slave's gear, lay down at length
within the mausoleum with the drawn sword laid close to and along
his side. After an hour or so the accursed witch came; and, first
going to her husband, she stripped off his clothes and, taking a
whip, flogged him cruelly while he cried out, "Ah! enough for me
the case I am in! take pity on me, O my cousin!' But she replied,
"Didst thou take pity on me and spare the life of my true love on
whom I coated?" Then she drew the cilice over his raw and
bleeding skin and threw the robe upon all and went down to the
slave with a goblet of wine and a bowl of meat broth in her
hands. She entered under the dome weeping and wailing,
"Well-away!" and crying, "O my lord! speak a word to me! O my
master! talk awhile with me!" and began to recite these
couplets.--
How long this harshness, this unlove, shall bide? * Suffice thee
Then she wept again and said, "O my lord! speak to me, talk with
me!" The King lowered his voice and, twisting his tongue, spoke
after the fashion of the blackamoors and said "'lack! 'lack!
there be no Ma'esty and there be no Might save in Allauh, the
Gloriose, the Great!" Now when she heard these words she shouted
for joy, and fell to the ground fainting; and when her senses
returned she asked, "O my lord, can it be true that thou hast
power of speech?" and the King making his voice small and faint
answered, "O my cuss! cost thou deserve that I talk to thee and
speak with thee?" "Why and wherefore?" rejoined she; and he
replied "The why is that all the livelong day thou tormentest thy
hubby; and he keeps calling on 'eaven for aid until sleep is
strange to me even from evenin' till mawnin', and he prays and
damns, cussing us two, me and thee, causing me disquiet and much
bother: were this not so, I should long ago have got my health;
and it is this which prevents my answering thee." Quoth she,
"With thy leave I will release him from what spell is on him;"and
quoth the King, "Release him and let's have some rest!" She
cried, "To hear is to obey;" and, going from the cenotaph to the
palace, she took a metal bowl and filled it with water and spake
over it certain words which made the contents bubble and boil as
a cauldron seetheth over the fire. With this she sprinkled her
husband saying, "By virtue of the dread words I have spoken, if
thou becamest thus by my spells, come forth out of that form into
shine own former form." And lo and behold! the young man shook
and trembled; then he rose to his feet and, rejoicing at his
deliverance, cried aloud, "I testify that there is no god but the
God, and in very truth Mohammed is His Apostle, whom Allah bless
and keep!" Then she said to him, "Go forth and return not hither,
for if thou do I will surely slay thee;" screaming these words in
his face. So he went from between her hands; and she returned to
the dome and, going down to the sepulchre, she said, "O my lord,
come forth to me that I may look upon thee and thy goodliness!"
The King replied in faint low words, "What[FN#135] thing hast
thou done? Thou hast rid me of the branch but not of the root."
She asked, "O my darling! O my negro ring! what is the root?" And
he answered, "Fie on thee, O my cuss! The people of this city and
of the four islands every night when it's half passed lift their
heads from the tank in which thou hast turned them to fishes and
cry to Heaven and call down its anger on me and thee; and this is
the reason why my body's baulked from health. Go at once and set
them free then come to me and take my hand, and raise me up, for
a little strength is already back in me." When she heard the
King's words (and she still supposed him to be the slave) she
cried joyously, O my master, on my head and on my eyes be thy
commend, Bismillah[FN#136]!'' So she sprang to her feet and, full
of joy and gladness, ran down to the tarn and took a little of
its water n the palm of her hand--And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
young woman, the sorceress, took in hand some of the tarn water
and spake over it words not to be understood, the fishes lifted
their heads and stood up on the instant like men, the spell on
the people of the city having been removed. What was the lake
again became a crowded capital; the bazars were thronged with
folk who bought and sold; each citizen was occupied with his own
calling and the four hills became islands as they were whilome.
Then the young woman, that wicked sorceress, returned to the King
and (still thinking he was the negro) said to him, O my love!
stretch forth thy honoured hand that I may assist thee to rise."
"Nearer to me," quoth the King in a faint and feigned tone. She
came close as to embrace him when he took up the sword lying hid
by his side and smote her across the breast, so that the point
showed gleaming behind her back. Then he smote her a second time
and cut her in twain and cast her to the ground in two halves.
After which he fared forth and found the young man, now freed
from the spell, awaiting him and gave him joy of his happy
release while the Prince kissed his hand with abundant thanks.
Quoth the King, "Wilt thou abide in this city or go with me to my
capital?" Quoth the youth, "O King of the age, wottest thou not
what journey is between thee and thy city?" "Two days and a
half," answered he, whereupon said the other, "An thou be
sleeping, O King, awake! Between thee and thy city is a year's
march for a well girt walker, and thou haddest not come hither in
two days and a half save that the city was under enchantment. And
I, O King, will never part from thee; no, not even for the
twinkling of an eye." The King rejoiced at his words and said,
"Thanks be to Allah who hath bestowed thee upon me! From this
hour thou art my son and my only son, for that in all my life I
have never been blessed with issue." Thereupon they embraced and
joyed with exceeding great joy; and, reaching the palace, the
Prince who had been spell bound informed his lords and his
grandees that he was about to visit the Holy Places as a pilgrim,
and bade them get ready all things necessary for the occasion.
The preparations lasted ten days, after which he set out with the
Sultan, whose heart burned in yearning for his city whence he had
been absent a whole twelvemonth. They journeyed with an escort of
Mamelukes[FN#137] carrying all manners of precious gifts and
rarities, nor stinted they wayfaring day and night for a full
year until they approached the Sultan's capital, and sent on
messengers to announce their coming. Then the Wazir and the whole
army came out to meet him in joy and gladness, for they had given
up all hope of ever seeing their King; and the troops kissed the
ground before him and wished him joy of his safety. He entered
and took seat upon his throne and the Minister came before him
and, when acquainted with all that had be fallen the young
Prince, he congratulated him on his narrow escape. When order was
restored throughout the land the King gave largesse to many of
his people, and said to the Wazir, "Hither the Fisherman who
brought us the fishes!" So he sent for the man who had been the
first cause of the city and the citizens being delivered from
enchantment and, when he came in to the presence, the Sultan
bestowed upon him a dress of honour, and questioned him of his
condition and whether he had children. The Fisherman gave him to
know that he had two daughters and a son, so the King sent for
them and, taking one daughter to wife, gave the other to the
young Prince and made the son his head treasurer. Furthermore he
invested his Wazir with the Sultanate of the City in the Black
Islands whilome belonging to the young Prince, and dispatched
with him the escort of fifty armed slaves together with dresses
of honour for all the Emirs and Grandees. The Wazir kissed hands
and fared forth on his way; while the Sultan and the Prince abode
at home in all the solace and the delight of life; and the
Fisherman became the richest man of his age, and his daughters
wived with Kings, until death came to them. And yet, O King!
this is not more wondrous than the story of
Once upon a time there was a Porter in Baghdad, who was a
bachelor and who would remain unmarried. It came to pass on a
certain day, as he stood about the street leaning idly upon his
crate, behold, there stood before him an honourable woman in a
mantilla of Mosul[FN#138] silk, broidered with gold and bordered
with brocade; her walking shoes were also purfled with gold and
her hair floated in long plaits. She raised her face veil[FN#139]
and, showing two black eyes fringed with jetty lashes, whose
glances were soft and languishing and whose perfect beauty was
ever blandishing, she accosted the Porter and said in the suavest
tones and choicest language, "Take up thy crate and follow me."
The Porter was so dazzled he could hardly believe that he heard
her aright, but he shouldered his basket in hot haste saying in
himself, "O day of good luck! O day of Allah's grace!" and walked
after her till she stopped at the door of a house. There she
rapped, and presently came out to her an old man, a Nazarene, to
whom she gave a gold piece, receiving from him in return what she
required of strained wine clear as olive oil; and she set it
safely in the hamper, saying "Lift and follow." Quoth the Porter,
"This, by Allah, is indeed an auspicious day, a day propitious
for the granting of all a man wisheth." He again hoisted up the
crate and followed her; till she stopped at a fruiterer's shop
and bought from him Shami[FN#140] apples and Osmani quinces and
Omani[FN#141] peaches, and cucumbers of Nile growth, and Egyptian
limes and Sultani oranges and citrons; besides Aleppine jasmine,
scented myrtle berries, Damascene nenuphars, flower of
privet[FN#142] and camomile, blood red anemones, violets, and
pomegranate bloom, eglantine and narcissus, and set the whole in
the Porter's crate, saying, "Up with it." So he lifted and
followed her till she stopped at a butcher's booth and said, "Cut
me off ten pounds of mutton." She paid him his price and he
wrapped it in a banana leaf, whereupon she laid it in the crate
and said "Hoist, O Porter." He hoisted accordingly, and followed
her as she walked on till she stopped at a grocer's, where she
bought dry fruits and pistachio kernels, Tihamah raisins, shelled
almonds and all wanted for dessert, and said to the Porter, "Lift
and follow me." So he up with his hamper and after her till she
stayed at the confectioner's, and she bought an earthen platter,
and piled it with all kinds of sweetmeats in his shop, open
worked tarts and fritters scented with musk and "soap cakes," and
lemon loaves and melon preserves,[FN#143] and "Zaynab's combs,"
and "ladies' fingers," and "Kazi's tit-bits" and goodies of every
description; and placed the platter in the Porter's crate.
Thereupon quoth he (being a merry man), "Thou shouldest have told
me, and I would have brought with me a pony or a she camel to
carry all this market stuff." She smiled and gave him a little
cuff on the nape saying, "Step out and exceed not in words for
(Allah willing!) thy wage will not be wanting." Then she stopped
at a perfumer's and took from him ten sorts of waters, rose
scented with musk, grange Lower, waterlily, willow flower, violet
and five others; and she also bought two loaves of sugar, a
bottle for perfume spraying, a lump of male in cense, aloe wood,
ambergris and musk, with candles of Alex' andria wax; and she put
the whole into the basket, saying, "Up with thy crate and after
me." He did so and followed until she stood before the
greengrocer's, of whom she bought pickled safflower and olives,
in brine and in oil; with tarragon and cream cheese and hard
Syrian cheese; and she stowed them away in the crate saying to
the Porter, "Take up thy basket and follow me." He did so and
went after her till she came to a fair mansion fronted by a
spacious court, a tall, fine place to which columns gave strength
and grace: and the gate thereof had two leaves of ebony inlaid
with plates of red gold. The lady stopped at the door and,
turning her face veil sideways, knocked softly with her knuckles
whilst the Porter stood behind her, thinking of naught save her
beauty and loveliness. Presently the door swung back and both
leaves were opened, whereupon he looked to see who had opened it;
and behold, it was a lady of tall figure, some five feet high; a
model of beauty and loveliness, brilliance and symmetry and
perfect grace. Her forehead was flower white; her cheeks like the
anemone ruddy bright; her eyes were those of the wild heifer or
the gazelle, with eyebrows like the crescent moon which ends
Sha'aban and begins Ramazan;[FN#144] her mouth was the ring of
Sulayman,[FN#145] her lips coral red, and her teeth like a line
of strung pearls or of camomile petals. Her throat recalled the
antelope's, and her breasts, like two pomegranates of even size,
stood at bay as it were,[FN#146] her body rose and fell in waves
below her dress like the rolls of a piece of brocade, and her
navel[FN#147] would hold an ounce of benzoin ointment. In fine
she was like her of whom the poet said:--
On Sun and Moon of palace cast thy sight * Enjoy her flower like
When the Porter looked upon her his wits were waylaid, and his
senses were stormed so that his crate went nigh to fall from his
head, and he said to himself, "Never have I in my life seen a day
more blessed than this day!" Then quoth the lady portress to the
lady cateress, "Come in from the gate and relieve this poor man
of his load." So the provisioner went in followed by the portress
and the Porter and went on till they reached a spacious ground
floor hall,[FN#148] built with admirable skill and beautified
with all manner colours and carvings; with upper balconies and
groined arches and galleries and cupboards and recesses whose
curtains hung before them. In the midst stood a great basin full
of water surrounding a fine fountain, and at the upper end on the
raised dais was a couch of juniper wood set with gems and pearls,
with a canopy like mosquito curtains of red satin silk looped up
with pearls as big as filberts and bigger. Thereupon sat a lady
bright of blee, with brow beaming brilliancy, the dream of
philosophy, whose eyes were fraught with Babel's gramarye[FN#149]
and her eye brows were arched as for archery; her breath breathed
ambergris and perfumery and her lips were sugar to taste and
carnelian to see. Her stature was straight as the letter
I[FN#150] and her face shamed the noon sun's radiancy; and she
was even as a galaxy, or a dome with golden marquetry or a bride
displayed in choicest finery or a noble maid of Araby.[FN#151]
Right well of her sang the bard when he said:--
Her smiles twin rows of pearls display * Chamomile-buds or rimey
[FN#152]The third lady rising from the couch stepped forward with
grace ful swaying gait till she reached the middle of the saloon,
when she said to her sisters, "Why stand ye here? take it down
from this poor man's head!" Then the cateress went and stood
before him, and the portress behind him while the third helped
them, and they lifted the load from the Porter's head; and,
emptying it of all that was therein, set everything in its place.
Lastly they gave him two gold pieces, saying, "Wend thy ways, O
Porter." But he went not, for he stood looking at the ladies and
admiring what uncommon beauty was theirs, and their pleasant
manners and kindly dispositions (never had he seen goodlier); and
he gazed wistfully at that good store of wines and sweet scented
flowers and fruits and other matters. Also he marvelled with
exceeding marvel, especially to see no man in the place and
delayed his going; whereupon quoth the eldest lady, "What aileth
thee that goest not; haply thy wage be too little?" And, turning
to her sister the cateress, she said, "Give him another diner!"
But the Porter answered, "By Allah, my lady, it is not for the
wage; my hire is never more than two dirhams; but in very sooth
my heart and my soul are taken up with you and your condition. I
wonder to see you single with ne'er a man about you and not a
soul to bear you company; and well you wot that the minaret
toppleth o'er unless it stand upon four, and you want this same
fourth; and women's pleasure without man is short of measure,
even as the poet said:--
Seest not we want for joy four things all told * The harp and
You be there and want a fourth who shall be a person of good
sense and prudence; smart witted, and one apt to keep careful
counsel." His words pleased and amused them much; and they
laughed at him and said, "And who is to assure us of that? We are
maidens and we fear to entrust our secret where it may not be
kept, for we have read in a certain chronicle the lines of one
Ibn al-Sumam:-
Hold fast thy secret and to none unfold * Lost is a secret when
And Abu Now�s[FN#153] said well on the same subject:--
Who trusteth secret to another's hand * Upon his brow deserveth
When the Porter heard their words he rejoined, "By your lives! I
am a man of sense and a discreet, who hath read books and perused
chronicles; I reveal the fair and conceal the foul and I act as
the poet adviseth:--
None but the good a secret keep * And good men keep it
When the maidens heard his verse and its poetical application
addressed to them they said, "Thou knowest that we have laid out
all our monies on this place. Now say, hast thou aught to offer
us in return for entertainment? For surely we will not suf fer
thee to sit in our company and be our cup companion, and gaze
upon our faces so fair and so rare without paying a round
sum.[FN#155] Wottest thou not the saying:--
Whereto the lady portress added, "If thou bring anything thou art
a something; if no thing, be off with thee, thou art a nothing;"
but the procuratrix interposed, saying, "Nay, O my sisters, leave
teasing him for by Allah he hath not failed us this day, and had
he been other he never had kept patience with me, so whatever be
his shot and scot I will take it upon myself." The Porter, over
joyed, kissed the ground before her and thanked her saying, "By
Allah, these monies are the first fruits this day hath given me."
Hearing this they said, "Sit thee down and welcome to thee," and
the eldest lady added, "By Allah, we may not suffer thee to join
us save on one condition, and this it is, that no questions be
asked as to what concerneth thee not, and frowardness shall be
soundly flogged." Answered the Porter, "I agree to this, O my
lady, on my head and my eyes be it! Lookye, I am dumb, I have no
tongue. Then arose the provisioneress and tightening her girdle
set the table by the fountain and put the flowers and sweet herbs
in their jars, and strained the wine and ranged the flasks in row
and made ready every requisite. Then sat she down, she and her
sisters, placing amidst them the Porter who kept deeming himself
in a dream; and she took up the wine flagon, and poured out the
first cup and drank it off, and likewise a second and a
third.[FN#156] After this she filled a fourth cup which she
handed to one of her sisters; and, lastly, she crowned a goblet
and passed it to the Porter, saying:--
"Drink the dear draught, drink free and fain * What healeth every
He took the cup in his hand and, louting low, returned his best
thanks and improvised:--
Drain not the bowl save with a trusty friend * A man of worth
Adding:--
Drain not the bowl; save from dear hand like shine * The cup
After repeating this couplet he kissed their hands and drank and
was drunk and sat swaying from side to side and pursued:--
"All drinks wherein is blood the Law unclean * Doth hold save
Then the cateress crowned a cup and gave it to the portress, who
took it from her hand and thanked her and drank. Thereupon she
poured again and passed to the eldest lady who sat on the couch,
and filled yet another and handed it to the Porter. He kissed the
ground before them; and, after drinking and thanking them, he
again began to recite :
"Here! Here! by Allah, here! * Cups of the sweet, the dear'
Then the Porter stood up before the mistress of the house and
said, "O lady, I am thy slave, thy Mameluke, thy white thrall, a,
thy very bondsman;" and he began reciting:--
"A slave of slaves there standeth at thy door * Lauding thy
She said to him, "Drink; and health and happiness attend thy
drink." So he took the cup and kissed her hand and recited these
lines in sing song:
"I gave her brave old wine that like her cheeks * Blushed red or
She answered him in the following couplet:--
"An tears of blood for me, friend, thou hast shed * Suffer me sup
Then the lady took the cup, and drank it off to her sisters'
health, and they ceased not drinking (the Porter being in the
midst of them), and dancing and laughing and reciting verses and
singing ballads and ritornellos. All this time the Porter was
carrying on with them, kissing, toying, biting, handling,
groping, fingering; whilst one thrust a dainty morsel in his
mouth, and another slapped him; and this cuffed his cheeks, and
that threw sweet flowers at him; and he was in the very paradise
of pleasure, as though he were sitting in the seventh sphere
among the Houris[FN#157] of Heaven. They ceased not doing after
this fashion until the wine played tucks in their heads and
worsted their wits; and, when the drink got the better of them,
the portress stood up and doffed her clothes till she was mother
naked. However, she let down her hair about her body by way of
shift, and throwing herself into the basin disported herself and
dived like a duck and swam up and down, and took water in her
mouth, and spurted it all over the Porter, and washed her limbs,
and between her breasts, and inside her thighs and all around her
navel. Then she came up out of the cistern and throwing herself
on the Porter's lap said, "O my lord, O my love, what callest
thou this article?" pointing to her slit, her solution of
continuity. "I call that thy cleft," quoth the Porter, and she
rejoined, Wah! wah, art thou not ashamed to use such a word?" and
she caught him by the collar and soundly cuffed him. aid he
again, Thy womb, thy vulva;" and she struck him a second slap
crying, "O fie, O fie, this is another ugly word; is here no
shame in thee?" Quoth he, "Thy coynte;" and she cried, O thou!
art wholly destitute of modesty?" and thumped and bashed him.
Then cried the Porter, "Thy clitoris,"[FN#158] whereat the eldest
lady came down upon him with a yet sorer beading, and said, "No;"
and he said, " 'Tis so," and the Porter vent on calling the same
commodity by sundry other names, but whatever he said they beat
him more and more till his neck ached and swelled with the blows
he had gotten; and on this wise they made him a butt and a
laughing stock. At last he turned upon them asking, And what do
you women call this article?" Whereto the damsel made answer,
"The basil of the bridges."[FN#159] Cried the Porter, "Thank
Allah for my safety: aid me and be thou propitious, O basil of
the bridges!" They passed round the cup and tossed off the bowl
again, when the second lady stood up; and, stripping off all her
clothes, cast herself into the cistern and did as the first had
done; then she came out of the water and throwing her naked form
on the Porter's lap pointed to her machine and said, "O light of
mine eyes, do tell me what is the name of this concern?" He
replied as before, "Thy slit;" and she rejoined, "Hath such term
no shame for thee?" and cuffed him and buffeted him till the
saloon rang with the blows. Then quoth she, "O fie! O fie! how
canst thou say this without blushing?" He suggested, "The basil
of the bridges;" but she would not have it and she said, "No!
no!" and stuck him and slapped him on the back of the neck. Then
he began calling out all the names he knew, "Thy slit, thy womb,
thy coynte, thy clitoris;" and the girls kept on saying, "No!
no!" So he said, "I stick to the basil of the bridges;" and all
the three laughed till they fell on their backs and laid slaps on
his neck and said, "No! no! that's not its proper name."
Thereupon he cried, "O my sisters, what is its name?" and they
replied, "What sayest thou to the husked sesame seed?" Then the
cateress donned her clothes and they fell again to carousing, but
the Porter kept moaning, "Oh! and Oh!" for his neck and
shoulders, and the cup passed merrily round and round again for a
full hour. After that time the eldest and handsomest lady stood
up and stripped off her garments, whereupon the Porter took his
neck in hand, and rubbed and shampoo'd it, saying, "My neck and
shoulders are on the way of Allah!"[FN#160] Then she threw
herself into the basin, and swam and dived, sported and washed;
and the Porter looked at her naked figure as though she had been
a slice of the moon[FN#161] and at her face with the sheen of
Luna when at full, or like the dawn when it brighteneth, and he
noted her noble stature and shape, and those glorious forms that
quivered as she went; for she was naked as the Lord made her.
Then he cried "Alack! Alack!"and began to address her, versifying
in these couplets:--
"If I liken thy shape to the bough when green * My likeness errs
When the lady heard his verses she came up out of the basin and,
seating herself upon his lap and knees, pointed to her genitory
and said, "O my lordling, what be the name of this?" Quoth he,
"The basil of the bridges;" but she said, "Bah, bah!" Quoth he,
"The husked sesame;" quoth she, "Pooh, pooh!" Then said he, "Thy
womb;" and she cried, "Fie, Fie! art thou not ashamed of
thyself?" and cuffed him on the nape of the neck. And whatever
name he gave declaring " 'Tis so," she beat him and cried "No!
no!" till at last he said, "O my sisters, and what is its name?"
She replied, "It is entitled the Khan[FN#162] of Abu Mansur;"
whereupon the Porter replied, "Ha! ha! O Allah be praised for
safe deliverance! O Khan of Abu Mansur!" Then she came forth and
dressed and the cup went round a full hour. At last the Porter
rose up, and stripping off all his clothes, jumped into the tank
and swam about and washed under his bearded chin and armpits,
even as they had done. Then he came out and threw himself into
the first lady's lap and rested his arms upon the lap of the
portress, and reposed his legs in the lap of the cateress and
pointed to his prickle[FN#163] and said, "O my mistresses, what
is the name of this article?" All laughed at his words till they
fell on their backs, and one said, "Thy pintle!" But he replied,
"No!" and gave each one of them a bite by way of forfeit. Then
said they, "Thy pizzle!" but he cried "No," and gave each of them
a hug; And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Quoth her sister Dunyazad, "Finish for us thy story;" and she
answered, "With joy and goodly greet" It hath reached me, O
auspicious King, that the damsels stinted not saying to the
Porter "Thy prickle, thy pintle, thy pizzle," and he ceased not
kissing and biting and hugging until his heart was satisfied, and
they laughed on till they could no more. At last one said, "O our
brother, what, then, is it called?" Quoth he, "Know ye not?"
Quoth they, "No!" "Its veritable name," said he, "is mule Burst
all, which browseth on the basil of the bridges, and muncheth the
husked sesame, and nighteth in the Khan of Abu Mansur." Then
laughed they till they fell on their backs, and returned to their
carousel, and ceased not to be after this fashion till night
began to fall. Thereupon said they to the Porter,
''Bismillah,[FN#164] O our master, up and on with those sorry old
shoes of shine and turn thy face and show us the breadth of thy
shoulders!" Said he, "By Allah, to part with my soul would be
easier for me than departing from you: come let us join night to
day, and to morrow morning we will each wend our own way." "My
life on you," said the procuratrix, "suffer him to tarry with us,
that we may laugh at him: we may live out our lives and never
meet with his like, for surely he is a right merry rogue and a
witty."[FN#165] So they said, "Thou must not remain with us this
night save on condition that thou submit to our com mends, and
that whatso thou seest, thou ask no questions there anent, nor
enquire of its cause." "All right," rejoined he, and they said,
"Go read the writing over the door." So he rose and went to the
entrance and there found written in letters of gold wash; WHOSO
SPEAKETH OF WHAT CONCERNETH HIM NOT, SHALL HEAR WHAT PLEASETH HIM
NOT! [FN#166] The Porter said, Be ye witnesses against me that I
will not speak on whatso concerneth me not." Then the cateress
arose, and set food before them and they ate; after which they
changed their drinking place for an other, and she lighted the
lamps and candles and burned amber gris and aloes wood, and set
on fresh fruit and the wine service, when they fell to carousing
and talking of their lovers. And they ceased not to eat and drink
and chat, nibbling dry fruits and laughing and playing tricks for
the space of a full hour when lo! a knock was heard at the gate.
The knocking in no wise dis turbed the seance, but one of them
rose and went to see what it was and presently returned, saying,
"Truly our pleasure for this night is to be perfect." "How is
that?" asked they; and she answered, "At the gate be three
Persian Kalandars[FN#167] with their beards and heads and
eyebrows shaven; and all three blind of the left eye--which is
surely a strange chance. They are foreigners from Roum-land with
the mark of travel plain upon them; they have just entered
Baghdad, this being their first visit to our city; and the cause
of their knocking at our door is simply because they cannot find
a lodging. Indeed one of them said to me:--Haply the owner of
this mansion will let us have the key of his stable or some old
out house wherein we may pass this night; for evening had
surprised them and, being strangers in the land, they knew none
who would give them shelter. And, O my sisters, each of them is a
figure o' fun after his own fashion; and if we let them in we
shall have matter to make sport of." She gave not over persuading
them till they said to her, "Let them in, and make thou the usual
condition with them that they speak not of what concerneth them
not, lest they hear what pleaseth them not." So she rejoiced and
going to the door presently returned with the three monoculars
whose beards and mustachios were clean shaven.[FN#168] They
salam'd and stood afar off by way of respect; but the three
ladies rose up to them and welcomed them and wished them joy of
their safe arrival and made them sit down. The Kalandars looked
at the room and saw that it was a pleasant place, clean swept and
garnished with cowers; and the lamps were burning and the smoke
of perfumes was spireing in air; and beside the dessert and
fruits and wine, there were three fair girls who might be
maidens; so they exclaimed with one voice, "By Allah, 'tis good!"
Then they turned to the Porter and saw that he was a merry faced
wight, albeit he was by no means sober and was sore after his
slappings. So they thought that he was one of themselves and
said, "A mendicant like us! whether Arab or foreigner."[FN#169]
But when the Porter heard these words, he rose up, and fixing his
eyes fiercely upon them, said, "Sit ye here without exceeding in
talk! Have you not read what is writ over the door? surely it
befitteth not fellows who come to us like paupers to wag your
tongues at us." "We crave thy pardon, O Fak�r,"[FN#170] rejoined
they, "and our heads are between thy hands." The ladies laughed
consumedly at the squabble; and, making peace between the
Kalandars and the Porter, seated the new guests before meat and
they ate. Then they sat together, and the portress served them
with drink; and, as the cup went round merrily, quoth the Porter
to the askers, "And you, O brothers mine, have ye no story or
rare adventure to amuse us withal?" Now the warmth of wine having
mounted to their heads they called for musical instruments; and
the portress brought them a tambourine of Mosul, and a lute of
Ir�k, and a Persian harp; and each mendicant took one and tuned
it; this the tambourine and those the lute and the harp, and
struck up a merry tune while the ladies sang so lustily that
there was a great noise.[FN#171] And whilst they were carrying
on, behold, some one knocked at the gate, and the portress went
to see what was the matter there. Now the cause of that knocking,
O King (quoth Shahrazad) was this, the Caliph, Harun al-Rashid,
had gone forth from the palace, as was his wont now and then, to
solace himself in the city that night, and to see and hear what
new thing was stirring; he was in merchant's gear, and he was
attended by Ja'afar, his Wazir, and by Masrur his Sworder of
Vengeance.[FN#172] As they walked about the city, their way led
them towards the house of the three ladies; where they heard the
loud noise of musical instruments and singing and merriment; so
quoth the Caliph to Ja'afar, "I long to enter this house and hear
those songs and see who sing them." Quoth Ja'afar, "O Prince of
the Faithful; these folk are surely drunken with wine, and I fear
some mischief betide us if we get amongst them." "There is no
help but that I go in there," replied the Caliph, "and I desire
thee to contrive some pretext for our appearing among them."
Ja'afar replied, "I hear and I obey;"[FN#173] and knocked at the
door, whereupon the portress came out and opened. Then Ja'afar
came forward and kissing the ground before her said, "O my lady,
we be merchants from Tiberias town: we arrived at Baghdad ten
days ago; and, alighting at the mer chants' caravanserai, we sold
all our merchandise. Now a certain trader invited us to an
entertainment this night; so we went to his house and he set food
before us and we ate: then we sat at wine and wassail with him
for an hour or so when he gave us leave to depart; and we went
out from him in the shadow of the night and, being strangers, we
could not find our way back to our Khan. So haply of your
kindness and courtesy you will suffer us to tarry with you this
night, and Heaven will reward you!"[FN#174] The portress looked
upon them and seeing them dressed like merchants and men of grave
looks and solid, she returned to her sisters and repeated to them
Ja'afar's story; and they took compassion upon the strangers and
said to her, "Let them enter." She opened the door to them, when
said they to her, "Have we thy leave to come in?" "Come in,"
quoth she; and the Caliph entered followed by Ja'afar and Masrur;
and when the girls saw them they stood up to them in respect and
made them sit down and looked to their wants, saying, "Welcome,
and well come and good cheer to the guests, but with one
condition!" "What is that?" asked they, and one of the ladies
answered, "Speak not of what concerneth you not, lest ye hear
what pleaseth you not." "Even so," said they; and sat down to
their wine and drank deep. Presently the Caliph looked on the
three Kalandars and, seeing them each and every blind of the left
eye, wondered at the sight; then he gazed upon the girls and he
was startled and he marvelled with exceeding marvel at their
beauty and loveliness. They continued to carouse and to converse
and said to the Caliph, "Drink!" but he replied, "I am vowed to
Pilgrimage;"[FN#175] and drew back from the wine. Thereupon the
portress rose and spreading before him a table cloth worked with
gold, set thereon a porcelain bowl into which she poured willow
flower water with a lump of snow and a spoonful of sugar candy.
The Caliph thanked her and said in himself,"By Allah, I will
recompense her to morrow for the kind deed she hath done." The
others again addressed themselves to conversing and carousing;
and, when the wine get the better of them, the eldest lady who
ruled the house rose and making obeisance to them took the
cateress by the hand, and said, "Rise, O my sister and let us do
what is our devoir." Both answered "Even so!" Then the portress
stood up and proceeded to remove the table service and the
remnants of the banquet; and renewed the pastiles and cleared the
middle of the saloon. Then she made the Kalandars sit upon a sofa
at the side of the estrade, and seated the Caliph and Ja'afar and
Masrur on the other side of the saloon; after which she called
the Porter, and said, "How scanty is thy courtesy! now thou art
no stranger; nay, thou art one of the household." So he stood up
and, tightening his waist cloth, asked, "What would ye I do?" and
she answered, "Stand in thy place." Then the procuratrix rose and
set in the midst of the saloon a low chair and, opening a closet,
cried to the Porter, "Come help me." So he went to help her and
saw two black bitches with chains round their necks; and she said
to him, "Take hold of them;" and he took them and led them into
the middle of the saloon. Then the lady of the house arose and
tucked up her sleeves above her wrists and, seizing a scourge,
said to the Porter, "Bring forward one of the bitches." He
brought her forward, dragging her by the chain, while the bitch
wept, and shook her head at the lady who, however, came down upon
her with blows on the sconce; and the bitch howled and the lady
ceased not beating her till her forearm failed her. Then, casting
the scourge from her hand, she pressed the bitch to her bosom
and, wiping away her tears with her hands, kissed her head. Then
she said to the Porter, "Take her away and bring the second;"
and, when he brought her, she did with her as she had done with
the first. Now the heart of the Caliph, was touched at these
cruel doings; his chest straitened and he lost all patience in
his desire to know why the two bitches were so beaten. He threw a
wink at Ja'afar wishing him to ask, but; the Minister turning
towards him said by signs, "Be silent!" Then quoth the portress
to the mistress of the house, "O my lady, arise and go to thy
place that I in turn may do my devoir."[FN#176] She answered,
"Even so"; and, taking her seat upon the couch of juniper wood,
pargetted with gold and silver, said to the portress and
cateress, "Now do ye what ye have to do." Thereupon the portress
sat upon a low seat by the couch side; but the procuretrix,
entering a closet, brought out of it a bag of satin with green
fringes and two tassels of gold. She stood up before the lady of
the house and shaking the bag drew out from it a lute which she
tuned by tightening its pegs; and when it was in perfect order,
she began to sing these quatrains:--
"Ye are the wish, the aim of me *And when, O Love, thy sight I
Heal then my malady, for thou * Art malady and remedy!
But she whose cure is in thy hand * Shall ne'er be free of bane
When the damsel heard this elegy in quatrains she cried out
"Alas! Alas!" and rent her raiment, and fell to the ground
fainting; and the Caliph saw scars of the palm rod[FN#179] on her
back and welts of the whip; and marvelled with exceeding wonder.
Then the portress arose and sprinkled water on her and brought
her a fresh and very fine dress and put it on her. But when the
company beheld these doings their minds were troubled, for they
had no inkling of the case nor knew the story thereof; so the
Caliph said to Ja'afar, "Didst thou not see the scars upon the
damsel's body? I cannot keep silence or be at rest till I learn
the truth of her condition and the story of this other maiden and
the secret of the two black bitches." But Ja'afar answered, "O
our lord, they made it a condition with us that we speak not of
what concerneth us not, lest we come to hear what pleaseth us
not." Then said the portress "By Allah, O my sister, come to me
and complete this service for me." Replied the procuratrix, "With
joy and goodly gree;" so she took the lute; and leaned it against
her breasts and swept the strings with her finger tips, and began
singing:--
"Give back mine eyes their sleep long ravished * And say me
Then she quoted from the same ode:--
"I drank, but the draught of his glance, not wine, * And his
After a pause she resumed:--
"If we 'plain of absence what shall we say? * Or if pain afflict
Now when the portress heard her second ode she shrieked aloud and
said, "By Allah! 'tis right good!"; and laying hands on her
garments tore them, as she did the first time, and fell to the
ground fainting. Thereupon the procuratrix rose end brought her a
second change of clothes after she had sprinkled water on her.
She recovered and sat upright and said to her sister the
cateress, "Onwards, and help me in my duty, for there remains but
this one song." So the provisioneress again brought out the lute
and began to sing these verses:--
"How long shall last, how long this rigour rife of woe * May not
When the portress heard the third song she cried aloud; and,
laying hands on her garments, rent them down to the very skirt
and fell to the ground fainting a third time, again showing the
scars of the scourge. Then said the three Kalandars, "Would
Heaven we had never entered this house, but had rather righted on
the mounds and heaps outside the city! for verily our visit hath
been troubled by sights which cut to the heart." The Caliph
turned to them and asked, "Why so?" and they made answer, "Our
minds are sore troubled by this matter." Quoth the Caliph, "Are
ye not of the household?" and quoth they, "No; nor indeed did we
ever set eyes on the place till within this hour." Hereat the
Caliph marvelled and rejoined, "This man who sitteth by you,
would he not know the secret of the matter?" and so saying he
winked and made signs at the Porter. So they questioned the man
but he replied, "By the All might of Allah, in love all are
alike![FN#185] I am the growth of Baghdad, yet never in my born
days did I darken these doors till to day and my companying with
them was a curious matter." "By Allah," they rejoined, "we took
thee for one of them and now we see thou art one like ourselves."
Then said the Caliph, "We be seven men, and they only three women
without even a fourth to help them; so let us question them of
their case; and, if they answer us not, fain we will be answered
by force." All of them agreed to this except Ja'afar who
said,[FN#186] "This is not my recking; let them be; for we are
their guests and, as ye know, they made a compact and condition
with us which we accepted and promised to keep: wherefore it is
better that we be silent concerning this matter; and, as but
little of the night remaineth, let each and every of us gang his
own gait." Then he winked at the Caliph and whispered to him,
"There is but one hour of darkness left and I can bring them
before thee to morrow, when thou canst freely question them all
concerning their story." But the Caliph raised his head haughtily
and cried out at him in wrath, saying, "I have no patience left
for my longing to hear of them: let the Kalandars question them
forthright." Quoth Ja'afar, "This is not my rede." Then words ran
high and talk answered talk, and they disputed as to who should
first put the question, but at last all fixed upon the Porter.
And as the jingle increased the house mistress could not but
notice it and asked them, "O ye folk! on what matter are ye
talking so loudly?" Then the Porter stood up respectfully before
her and said, "O my lady, this company earnestly desire that thou
acquaint them with the story of the two bitches and what maketh
thee punish them so cruelly; and then thou fallest to weeping
over them and kissing them; and lastly they want to hear the tale
of thy sister and why she hath been bastinado'd with palm sticks
like a man. These are the questions they charge me to put, and
peace be with thee."[FN#187] Thereupon quoth she who was the lady
of the house to the guests, "Is this true that he saith on your
part?" and all replied, "Yes!" save Ja'afar who kept silence.
When she heard these words she cried, "By Allah, ye have wronged
us, O our guests. with grievous wronging; for when you came
before us we made compact and condition with you, that whoso
should speak of what concerneth him not should hear what pleaseth
him not. Sufficeth ye not that we took you into our house and fed
you with our best food? But the fault is not so much yours as
hers who let you in." Then she tucked up her sleeves from her
wrists and struck the floor thrice with her hand crying, "Come ye
quickly;" and lo! a closet door opened and out of it came seven
negro slaves with drawn swords in hand to whom she said, "Pinion
me those praters' elbows and bind them each to each." They did
her bidding and asked her, "O veiled and virtuous! is it thy high
command that we strike off their heads?"; but she answered,
"Leave them awhile that I question them of their condition,
before their necks feel the sword." "By Allah, O my lady!" cried
the Porter, "slay me not for other's sin; all these men offended
and deserve the penalty of crime save myself. Now by Allah, our
night had been charming had we escaped the mortification of those
monocular Kalandars whose entrance into a populous city would
convert it into a howling wilderness." Then he repeated these
verses :
"How fair is ruth the strong man deigns not smother! * And
When the Porter ended his verse the lady laughed And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lady,
after laughing at the Porter despite her wrath, came up to the
party and spake thus, "Tell me who ye be, for ye have but an hour
of life; and were ye not men of rank and, perhaps, notables of
your tribes, you had not been so froward and I had hastened your
doom." Then said the Caliph, "Woe to thee, O Ja'afar, tell her
who we are lest we be slain by mistake; and speak her fair be
fore some horror befal us." "'Tis part of thy deserts,"replied
he; whereupon the Caliph cried out at him saying, "There is a
time for witty words and there is a time for serious work." Then
the lady accosted the three Kalandars and asked them, "Are ye
brothers?"; when they answered, "No, by Allah, we be naught but
Fakirs and foreigners." Then quoth she to one among them, "West
thou born blind of one eye?"; and quoth he, "No, by Allah, 'twas
a marvellous matter and a wondrous mischance which caused my eye
to be torn out, and mine is a tale which, if it were written upon
the eye corners with needle gravers, were a warner to whoso would
be warned."[FN#188] She questioned the second and third Kalandar;
but all replied like the first, "By Allah, O our mistress, each
one of us cometh from a different country, and we are all three
the sons of Kings, sovereign Princes ruling over suzerains and
capital cities." Thereupon she turned towards them and said, "Let
each and every of you tell me his tale in due order and explain
the cause of his coming to our place; and if his story please us
let him stroke his head[FN#189] and wend his way." The first to
come forward was the Hammal, the Porter, who said, "O my lady, I
am a man and a porter. This dame, the cateress, hired me to carry
a load and took me first to the shop of a vintner, then to the
booth of a butcher; thence to the stall of a fruiterer; thence to
a grocer who also sold dry fruits; thence to a confectioner and a
perfumer cum druggist and from him to this place where there
happened to me with you what happened. Such is my story and peace
be on us all!" At this the lady laughed and said, "Rub thy head
and wend thy ways!"; but he cried, "By Allah, I will not stump it
till I hear the stories of my companions." Then came forward one
of the Monoculars and began to tell her
Know, O my lady, that the cause of my beard being shorn and my
eye being out torn was as follows. My father was a King and he
had a brother who was a King over another city; and it came to
pass that I and my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle, were
both born on one and the same day. And years and days rolled on;
and, as we grew up, I used to visit my uncle every now and then
and to spend a certain number of months with him. Now my cousin
and I were sworn friends; for he ever entreated me with exceeding
kindness; he killed for me the fattest sheep and strained the
best of his wines, and we enjoyed long conversing and carousing.
One day when the wine had gotten the better of us, the son of my
uncle said to me, "O my cousin, I have a great service to ask of
thee; and I desire that thou stay me not in whatso I desire to
do!" And I replied, "With joy and goodly will." Then he made me
swear the most binding oaths and left me; but after a little
while he returned leading a lady veiled and richly apparelled
with ornaments worth a large sum of money. Presently he turned to
me (the woman being still behind him) and said, "Take this lady
with thee and go before me to such a burial ground" (describing
it, so that I knew the place), "and enter with her into such a
sepulchre[FN#190] and there await my coming." The oaths I swore
to him made me keep silence and suffered me not to oppose him; so
I led the woman to the cemetery and both I and she took our seats
in the sepulchre; and hardly had we sat down when in came my
uncle's son, with a bowl of water, a bag of mortar and an adze
somewhat like a hoe. He went straight to the tomb in the midst of
the sepulchre and, breaking it open with the adze set the stones
on one side; then he fell to digging into the earth of the tomb
till he came upon a large iron plate, the size of a wicket door;
and on raising it there appeared below it a staircase vaulted and
winding. Then he turned to the lady and said to her, "Come now
and take thy final choice!" She at once went down by the
staircase and disappeared; then quoth he to me, "O son of my
uncle, by way of completing thy kindness, when I shall have
descended into this place, restore the trap door to where it was,
and heap back the earth upon it as it lay before; and then of thy
goodness mix this unslaked lime which is in the bag with this
water which is in the bowl and, after building up the stones,
plaster the outside so that none looking upon it shall say:--This
is a new opening in an old tomb. For a whole year have I worked
at this place whereof none knoweth but Allah, and this is the
need I have of thee;" presently adding, "May Allah never bereave
thy friends of thee nor make them desolate by shine absence, O
son of my uncle, O my dear cousin!" And he went down the stairs
and disappeared for ever. When he was lost to sight I replaced
the iron plate and did all his bidding till the tomb became as it
was before and I worked almost unconsciously for my head was
heated with wine. Returning to the palace of my uncle, I was told
that he had gone forth a-sporting and hunting; so I slept that
night without seeing him; and, when the morning dawned, I
remembered the scenes of the past evening and what happened
between me and my cousin; I repented of having obeyed him when
penitence was of no avail, I still thought, however, that it was
a dream. So I fell to asking for the son of my uncle; but there
was none to answer me concerning him; and I went out to the
grave-yard and the sepulchres, and sought for the tomb under
which he was, but could not find it; and I ceased not wandering
about from sepulchre to sepulchre, and tomb to tomb, all without
success, till night set in. So I returned to the city, yet I
could neither eat nor drink; my thoughts being engrossed with my
cousin, for that I knew not what was become of him; and I grieved
with exceeding grief and passed another sorrowful night, watching
until the morning. Then went I a second time to the cemetery,
pondering over what the son of mine uncle had done; and, sorely
repenting my hearkening to him, went round among all the tombs,
but could not find the tomb I sought. I mourned over the past,
and remained in my mourning seven days, seeking the place and
ever missing the path. Then my torture of scruples[FN#191] grew
upon me till I well nigh went mad, and I found no way to dispel
my grief save travel and return to my father. So I set out and
journeyed homeward; but as I was entering my father's capital a
crowd of rioters sprang upon me and pinioned me.[FN#192] I
wondered thereat with all wonderment, seeing that I was the son
of the Sultan, and these men were my father's subjects and
amongst them were some of my own slaves. A great fear fell upon
me, and I said to my soul,[FN#193] "Would heaven I knew what hath
happened to my father!" I questioned those that bound me of the
cause of their doing, but they returned me no answer. However,
after a while one of them said to me (and he had been a hired
servant of our house), "Fortune hath been false to thy father;
his troops betrayed him and the Wazir who slew him now reigneth
in his stead and we lay in wait to seize thee by the bidding of
him." I was well nigh distraught and felt ready to faint on
hearing of my father's death; when they carried me off and placed
me in presence of the usurper. Now between me and him there was
an olden grudge, the cause of which was this. I was fond of
shooting with the stone bow,[FN#194] and it befel one day as I
was standing on the terrace roof of the palace, that a bird
lighted on the top of the Wazir's house when he happened to be
there. I shot at the bird and missed the mark; but I hit the
Wazir's eye and knocked it out as fate and fortune decreed. Even
so saith the poet:--
We tread the path where Fate hath led * The path Fate writ we
And on like wise saith another:--
Let Fortune have her wanton way * Take heart and all her words
Now when I knocked out the Wazir's eye he could not say a single
word, for that my father was King of the city; but he hated me
everafter and dire was the grudge thus caused between us twain.
So when I was set before him hand bound and pinioned, he
straightway gave orders for me to be beheaded. I asked, "For what
crime wilt thou put me to death?"; whereupon he answered, "What
crime is greater than this?" pointing the while to the place
where his eye had been Quoth I, "This I did by accident not of
malice prepense;" and quoth he, "If thou didst it by accident, I
will do the like by thee with intention.''[FN#195] Then cried he,
"Bring him forward," and they brought me up to him, when he
thrust his finger into my left eye and gouged it out; whereupon I
became one eyed as ye see me. Then he bade bind me hand and foot,
and put me into a chest and said to the sworder, "Take charge of
this fellow, and go off with him to the waste lands about the
city; then draw thy scymitar and slay him, and leave him to feed
the beasts and birds." So the headsman fared forth with me and
when he was in the midst of the desert, he took me out of the
chest (and I with both hands pinioned and both feet fettered) and
was about to bandage my eyes before striking off my head. But I
wept with exceeding weeping until I made him weep with me and,
looking at him I began to recite these couplets:--
"I deemed you coat o' mail that should withstand * The foeman's
And I also quoted:--
"I deemed my brethren mail of strongest steel * And so they
When the headsman heard my lines (he had been sworder to my sire
and he owed me a debt of gratitude) he cried, "O my lord, what
can I do, being but a slave under orders?" presently adding, "Fly
for thy life and nevermore return to this land, or they will slay
thee and slay me with thee, even as the poet said:--
Take thy life and fly whenas evils threat; * Let the ruined house
Hardly believing in my escape, I kissed his hand and thought the
loss of my eye a light matter in consideration of my escaping
from being slain. I arrived at my uncle's capital; and, going in
to him, told him of what had befallen my father and myself;
whereat he wept with sore weeping and said, "Verily thou addest
grief to my grief, and woe to my woe; for thy cousin hath been
missing these many days; I wot not what hath happened to him, and
none can give me news of him." And he wept till he fainted. I
sorrowed and condoled with him; and he would have applied certain
medicaments to my eye, but he saw that it was become as a walnut
with the shell empty. Then said he, "O my son, better to lose eye
and keep life!" After that I could no longer remain silent about
my cousin, who was his only son and one dearly loved, so I told
him all that had happened. He rejoiced with extreme joyance to
hear news of his son and said, "Come now and show me the tomb;"
but I replied, "By Allah, O my uncle, I know not its place,
though I sought it carefully full many times, yet could not find
the site." However, I and my uncle went to the grave yard and
looked right and left, till at last I recognised the tomb and we
both rejoiced with exceeding joy. We entered the sepulchre and
loosened the earth about the grave; then, up raising the trap
door, descended some fifty steps till we came to the foot of the
staircase when lo! we were stopped by a blinding smoke. Thereupon
said my uncle that saying whose sayer shall never come to shame,
"There is no Majesty and there is no Might, save in Allah, the
Glorious, the Great!" and we advanced till we suddenly came upon
a saloon, whose floor was strewed with flour and grain and
provisions and all manner necessaries; and in the midst of it
stood a canopy sheltering a couch. Thereupon my uncle went up to
the couch and inspecting it found his son and the lady who had
gone down with him into the tomb, lying in each other's embrace;
but the twain had become black as charred wood; it was as if they
had been cast into a pit of fire. When my uncle saw this
spectacle, he spat in his son's face and said, "Thou hast thy
deserts, O thou hog![FN#196] this is thy judgment in the
transitory world, and yet remaineth the judgment in the world to
come, a durer and a more enduring "-- And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Kalandar thus went on with his story before the lady and the
Caliph and Ja'afar:--My uncle struck his son with his
slipper[FN#197] as he lay there a black heap of coal. I marvelled
at his hardness of heart, and grieving for my cousin and the
lady, said, "By Allah, O my uncle, calm thy wrath: cost thou not
see that all my thoughts are occupied with this misfortune, and
how sorrowful I am for what hath befallen thy son, and how
horrible it is that naught of him remaineth but a black heap of
charcoal? And is not that enough, but thou must smite him with
thy slipper?" Answered he,"O son of my brother, this youth from
his boyhood was madly in love with his own sister;[FN#198] and
often and often I forbade him from her, saying to myself:--They
are but little ones. However, when they grew up sin befel between
them; and, although I could hardly believe it, I confined him and
chided him and threatened him with the severest threats; and the
eunuchs and servants said to him:--Beware of so foul a thing
which none be fore thee ever did, and which none after thee will
ever do; and have a care lest thou be dishonoured and disgraced
among the Kings of the day, even to the end of time. And I
added:--Such a report as this will be spread abroad by caravans,
and take heed not to give them cause to talk or I will assuredly
curse thee and do thee to death. After that I lodged them apart
and shut her up; but the accursed girl loved him with passionate
love, for Satan had got the mastery of her as well as of him and
made their foul sin seem fair in their sight. Now when my son saw
that I separated them, he secretly built this souterrain and
furnished it and transported to it victuals, even as thou seest;
and, when I had gone out a-sporting, came here with his sister
and hid from me. Then His righteous judgment fell upon the twain
and consumed them with fire from Heaven; and verily the last
judgment will deal them durer pains and more enduring!" Then he
wept and I wept with him; and he looked at me and said, "Thou art
my son in his stead." And I bethought me awhile of the world and
of its chances, how the Wazir had slain my father and had taken
his place and had put out my eye; and how my cousin had come to
his death by the strangest chance: and I wept again and my uncle
wept with me. Then we mounted the steps and let down the iron
plate and heaped up the earth over it; and, after restoring the
tomb to its former condition, we returned to the palace. But
hardly had we sat down ere we heard the tomtoming of the kettle
drum and tantara of trumpets and clash of cymbals; and the
rattling of war men's lances; and the clamours of assailants and
the clanking of bits and the neighing of steeds; while the world
was canopied with dense dust and sand clouds raised by the
horses' hoofs.[FN#199] We were amazed at sight and sound, knowing
not what could be the matter; so we asked and were told us that
the Wazir who usurped my father's kingdom had marched his men;
and that after levying his soldiery and taking a host of wild
Arabs[FN#200] into service, he had come down upon us with armies
like the sands of the sea; their number none could tell and
against them none could prevail. They attacked the city unawares;
and the citizens, being powerless to oppose them, surrendered the
place: my uncle was slain and I made for the suburbs saying to
myself, "If thou fall into this villain's hands he will assuredly
kill thee." On this wise all my troubles were renewed; and I
pondered all that had betided my father and my uncle and I knew
not what to do; for if the city people or my father's troops had
recognised me they would have done their best to win favour by
destroying me; and I could think of no way to escape save by
shaving off my beard and my eyebrows. So I shore them off and,
changing my fine clothes for a Kalandar's rags, I fared forth
from my uncle's capital and made for this city; hoping that
peradventure some one would assist me to the presence of the
Prince of the Faithful,[FN#201] and the Caliph who is the
Viceregent of Allah upon earth. Thus have I come hither that I
might tell him my tale and lay my case before him. I arrived here
this very night, and was standing in doubt whither I should go,
when suddenly I saw this second Kalandar; so I salam'd to him
saying--"I am a stranger!" and he answered:--"I too am a
stranger!" And as we were conversing behold, up came our
companion, this third Kalandar, and saluted us saying:--"I am a
stranger!" And we answered:--"We too be strangers!" Then we three
walked on and together till darkness overtook us and Destiny
crave us to your house. Such, then, is the cause of the shaving
of my beard and mustachios and eyebrows; and the manner of my
losing my right eye. They marvelled much at this tale and the
Caliph said to Ja'afar, "By Allah, I have not seen nor have I
heard the like of what hath happened to this Kalandar!" Quoth the
lady of the house, "Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he
replied, "I will not go, till I hear the history of the two
others." Thereupon the second Kalandar came forward; and, kissing
the ground, began to tell
Know, O my lady, that I was not born one eyed and mine is a
strange story; an it were graven with needle graver on the eye
corners, it were a warner to whoso would be warned. I am a King,
son of a King, and was brought up like a Prince. I learned
intoning the Koran according the seven schools;[FN#202] and I
read all manner books, and held disputations on their contents
with the doctors and men of science; moreover I studied star lore
and the fair sayings of poets and I exercised myself in all
branches of learning until I surpassed the people of my time; my
skill in calligraphy exceeded that of all the scribes; and my
fame was bruited abroad over all climes and cities, and all the
kings learned to know my name. Amongst others the King of Hind
heard of me and sent to my father to invite me to his court, with
offerings and presents and rarities such as befit royalties. So
my father fitted out six ships for me and my people; and we put
to sea and sailed for the space of a full month till we made the
land. Then we brought out the horses that were with us in the
ships; and, after loading the camels with our presents for the
Prince, we set forth inland. But we had marched only a little
way, when behold, a dust cloud up flew, and grew until it
walled[FN#203] the horizon from view. After an hour or so the
veil lifted and discovered beneath it fifty horsemen, ravening
lions to the sight, in steel armour dight. We observed them
straightly and lo! they were cutters off of the highway, wild as
wild Arabs. When they saw that we were only four and had with us
but the ten camels carrying the presents, they dashed down upon
us with lances at rest. We signed to them, with our fingers, as
it were saying, "We be messengers of the great King of Hind, so
harm us not!" but they answered on like wise, "We are not in his
dominions to obey nor are we subject to his sway." Then they set
upon us and slew some of my slaves and put the lave to flight;
and I also fled after I had gotten a wound, a grievous hurt,
whilst the Arabs were taken up with the money and the presents
which were with us. I went forth unknowing whither I went, having
become mean as I was mighty; and I fared on until I came to the
crest of a mountain where I took shelter for the night in a cave.
When day arose I set out again, nor ceased after this fashion
till I arrived at a fair city and a well filled. Now it was the
season when Winter was turning away with his rime and to greet
the world with his flowers came Prime, and the young blooms were
springing and the streams flowed ringing, and the birds were
sweetly singing, as saith the poet concerning a certain city when
describing it:--
A place secure from every thought of fear * Safety and peace for
I was glad of my arrival for I was wearied with the way, and
yellow of face for weakness and want; but my plight was pitiable
and I knew not whither to betake me. So I accosted a Tailor
sitting in his little shop and saluted him; he returned my salam,
and bade me kindly welcome and wished me well and entreated me
gently and asked me of the cause of my strangerhood. I told him
all my past from first to last; and he was concerned on my
account and said, "O youth, disclose not thy secret to any: the
King of this city is the greatest enemy thy father hath, and
there is blood wit[FN#204] between them and thou hast cause to
fear for thy life." Then he set meat and drink before me; and I
ate and drank and he with me; and we conversed freely till night
fall, when he cleared me a place in a corner of his shop and
brought me a car pet and a coverlet. I tarried with him three
days; at the end of which time he said to me, "Knowest thou no
calling whereby to win thy living, O my son?" "I am learned in
the law," I replied, "and a doctor of doctrine; an adept in art
and science, a mathematician and a notable penman." He rejoined,
"Thy calling is of no account in our city, where not a soul under
standeth science or even writing or aught save money making."
Then said I, "By Allah, I know nothing but what I have
mentioned;" and he answered, "Gird thy middle and take thee a
hatchet and a cord, and go and hew wood in the wold for thy daily
bread, till Allah send thee relief; and tell none who thou art
lest they slay thee." Then he bought me an axe and a rope and
gave me in charge to certain wood cutters; and with these
guardians I went forth into the forest, where I cut fuel wood the
whole of my day and came back in the evening bearing my bundle on
my head. I sold it for half a diner, with part of which I bought
provision and laid by the rest. In such work I spent a whole year
and when this was ended I went out one day, as was my wont, into
the wilderness; and, wandering away from my companions, I chanced
on a thickly grown lowland[FN#205] in which there was an
abundance of wood. So I entered and I found the gnarled stump of
a great tree and loosened the ground about it and shovelled away
the earth. Presently my hatchet rang upon a copper ring; so I
cleared away the soil and behold, the ring was attached to a
wooden trap door. This I raised and there appeared beneath it a
staircase. I descended the steps to the bottom and came to a
door, which I opened and found myself in a noble hall strong of
structure and beautifully built, where was a damsel like a pearl
of great price, whose favour banished from my heart all grief and
cark and care; and whose soft speech healed the soul in despair
and captivated the wise and ware. Her figure measured five feet
in height; her breasts were firm and upright; her cheek a very
garden of delight; her colour lively bright; her face gleamed
like dawn through curly tresses which gloomed like night, and
above the snows of her bosom glittered teeth of a pearly
white.[FN#206] As the poet said of one like her:--
Slim waisted loveling jetty hair encrowned * A wand of willow on
And as saith another.--
Four things that meet not, save they here unite * To shed my
When I looked upon her I prostrated myself before Him who had
created her, for the beauty and loveliness He had shaped in her,
and she looked at me and said, "Art thou man or Jinni?" "I am a
man," answered I, and she, "Now who brought thee to this place
where I have abided five and twenty years without even yet seeing
man in it?" Quoth I (and indeed I found her words wonder sweet,
and my heart was melted to the core by them), "O my lady, my good
fortune led me hither for the dispelling of my cark and care."
Then I related to her all my mishap from first to last, and my
case appeared to her exceeding grievous; so she wept and said, "I
will tell thee my story in my turn. I am the daughter of the King
Ifitamus, lord of the Islands of Abnus,[FN#207] who married me to
my cousin, the son of my paternal uncle; but on my wedding night
an Ifrit named Jirj�s[FN#208] bin Rajm�s, first cousin that is,
mother's sister's son, of Ibl�s, the Foul Fiend, snatched me up
and, flying away with me like a bird, set me down in this place,
whither he conveyed all I needed of fine stuffs, raiment and
jewels and furniture, and meat and drink and other else. Once in
every ten days he comes here and lies a single night with me, and
then wends his way, for he took me without the consent of his
family; and he hath agreed with me that if ever I need him by
night or by day, I have only to pass my hand over yonder two
lines engraved upon the alcove, and he will appear to me before
my fingers cease touching. Four days have now passed since he was
here; and, as there remain six days before he come again, say me,
wilt thou abide with me five days, and go hence the day before
his coming?" I replied "Yes, and yes again! O rare, if all this
be not a dream!" Hereat she was glad and, springing to her feet,
seized my hand and carried me through an arched doorway to a
Hammam bath, a fair hall and richly decorate. I doffed my
clothes, and she doffed hers; then we bathed and she washed me;
and when this was done we left the bath, and she seated me by her
side upon a high divan, and brought me sherbet scented with musk.
When we felt cool after the bath, she set food before me and we
ate and fell to talking; but presently she said to me, "Lay thee
down and take thy rest, for surely thou must be weary." So I
thanked her, my lady, and lay down and slept soundly, forgetting
all that had happened to me. When I awoke I found her rubbing and
shampooing my feet;[FN#209] so I again thanked her and blessed
her and we sat for awhile talking. Said she, "By Allah, I was sad
at heart, for that I have dwelt alone underground for these five
and twenty years; and praise be to Allah, who hath sent me some
one with whom I can converse!" Then she asked, "O youth, what
sayest thou to wine?" and I answered, "Do as thou wilt." Where-
upon she went to a cupboard and took out a sealed flask of right
old wine and set off the table with flowers and scented herbs and
began to sing these lines:--
"Had we known of thy coming we fain had dispread * The cores of
Now when she finished her verse I thanked her, for indeed love
of her had gotten hold of my heart and my grief and anguish were
gone. We sat at converse and carousel till nightfall, and with
her I spent the night--such night never spent I in all my life!
On the morrow delight followed delight till midday, by which time
I had drunken wine so freely that I had lost my wits, and stood
up, staggering to the right and to the left, and said "Come, O my
charmer, and I will carry thee up from this underground vault and
deliver thee from the spell of thy Jinni." She laughed and
replied "Content thee and hold thy peace: of every ten days one
is for the Ifrit and the other nine are shine." Quoth I (and in
good sooth drink had got the better of me), "This very instant
will I break down the alcove whereon is graven the talisman and
summon the Ifrit that I may slay him, for it is a practice of
mine to slay If rite!" When she heard my words her colour waxed
wan and she said, "By Allah, do not!" and she began repeating:--
"This is a thing wherein destruction lies * I rede thee shun it
And these also:--
"O thou who seekest severance, draw the rein * Of thy swift steed
I heard her verse but paid no heed to her words, nay, I raised my
foot and administered to the alcove a mighty kick And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permisted say.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the second
Kalandar thus continued his tale to the lady:--But when, O my
mistress, I kicked that alcove with a mighty kick, behold, the
air starkened and darkened and thundered and lightened; the earth
trembled and quaked and the world became invisible. At once the
fumes of wine left my head: I cried to her, "What is the matter?"
and she replied, "The Ifrit is upon us! did I not warn thee of
this? By Allah, thou hast brought ruin upon me; but fly for thy
life and go up by the way thou camest down!" So I fled up the
staircase; but, in the excess of my fear, I forgot sandals and
hatchet. And when I had mounted two steps I turned to look for
them, and lo! I saw the earth cleave asunder, and there arose
from it an Ifrit, a monster of hideousness, who said to the
damsel "What trouble and posher be this wherewith thou disturbest
me? What mishap hath betided thee?" "No mishap hath befallen me"
she answered, "save that my breast was straitened[FN#210] and my
heart heavy with sadness! so I drank a little wine to broaden it
and to hearten myself; then I rose to obey a call of Nature, but
the wine had gotten into my head and I fell against the alcove."
"Thou liest, like the whore thou art!" shrieked the Ifrit; and he
looked around the hall right and left till he caught sight of my
axe and sandals and said to her, "What be these but the
belongings of some mortal who hath been in thy society?" She
answered, "I never set eyes upon them till this moment: they must
have been brought by thee hither cleaving to thy garments." Quoth
the Ifrit, "These words are absurd; thou harlot! thou strumpet!"
Then he stripped her stark naked and, stretching her upon the
floor, bound her hands and feet to four stakes, like one
crucified;[FN#211] and set about torturing and trying to make her
confess. I could not bear to stand listening to her cries and
groans; so I climbed the stair on the quake with fear; and when I
reached the top I replaced the trap door and covered it with
earth. Then repented I of what I had done with penitence
exceeding; and thought of the lady and her beauty and loveliness,
and the tortures she was suffering at the hands of the accursed
Ifrit, after her quiet life of five and twenty years; and how all
that had happened to her was for the cause of me. I bethought me
of my father and his kingly estate and how I had become a
woodcutter; and how, after my time had been awhile serene, the
world had again waxed turbid and troubled to me. So I wept
bitterly and repeated this couplet:--
Then I walked till I reached the home of my friend, the Tailor,
whom I found most anxiously expecting me; indeed he was, as the
saying goes, on coals of fire for my account. And when he saw me
he said, "All night long my heart hath been heavy, fearing for
thee from wild beasts or other mischances. Now praise be to Allah
for thy safety!" I thanked him for his friendly solicitude and,
retiring to my corner, sat pondering and musing on what had
befallen me; and I blamed and chided myself for my meddlesome
folly and my frowardness in kicking the alcove. I was calling
myself to account when behold, my friend, the Tailor, came to me
and said, "O youth, in the shop there is an old man, a
Persian,[FN#212] who seeketh thee: he hath thy hatchet and thy
sandals which he had taken to the woodcutters,[FN#213] saying, "I
was going out at what time the Mu'azzin began the call to dawn
prayer, when I chanced upon these things and know not whose they
are; so direct me to their owner." The woodcutters recognised thy
hatchet and directed him to thee: he is sitting in my shop, so
fare forth to him and thank him and take shine axe and sandals."
When I heard these words I turned yellow with fear and felt
stunned as by a blow; and, before I could recover myself, lo! the
floor of my private room clove asunder, and out of it rose the
Persian who was the Ifrit. He had tortured the lady with
exceeding tortures, natheless she would not confess to him aught;
so he took the hatchet and sandals and said to her, "As surely as
I am Jirjis of the seed of Iblis, I will bring thee back the
owner of this and these!"[FN#214] Then he went to the woodcutters
with the presence aforesaid and, being directed to me, after
waiting a while in the shop till the fact was confirmed, he
suddenly snatched me up as a hawk snatcheth a mouse and dew high
in air; but presently descended and plunged with me under the
earth (I being aswoon the while), and lastly set me down in the
subterranean palace wherein I had passed that blissful night. And
there I saw the lady stripped to the skin, her limbs bound to
four stakes and blood welling from her sides. At the sight my
eyes ran over with tears; but the Ifrit covered her person and
said, "O wanton, is not this man thy lover?" She looked upon me
and replied, "I wot him not nor have I ever seen him before this
hour!" Quoth the Ifrit, "What! this torture and yet no
confessing;" and quoth she,"I never saw this man in my born days,
and it is not lawful in Allah's sight to tell lies on him." "If
thou know him not," said the Ifrit to her, "take this sword and
strike off his head.''[FN#215] She hent the sword in hand and
came close up to me; and I signalled to her with my eyebrows, my
tears the while flowing adown my cheeks. She understood me and
made answer, also by signs, "How couldest thou bring all this
evil upon me?" and I rejoined after the same fashion, "This is
the time for mercy and forgiveness." And the mute tongue of my
case[FN#216] spake aloud saying:--
Mine eyes were dragomans for my tongue betted * And told full
Then, O my mistress, the lady threw away the sword and said, "How
shall I strike the neck of one I wot not, and who hath done me no
evil? Such deed were not lawful in my law!" and she held her
hand. Said the Ifrit, "'Tis grievous to thee to slay thy lover;
and, because he hath lain with thee, thou endurest these torments
and obstinately refusest to confess. After this it is clear to me
that only like loveth and pitieth like." Then he turned to me and
asked me, "O man, haply thou also cost not know this woman;"
whereto I answered, "And pray who may she be? assuredly I never
saw her till this instant." "Then take the sword," said he "and
strike off her head and I will believe that thou wottest her not
and will leave thee free to go, and will not deaf 'hardly with
thee." I replied, "That will I do;" and, taking the sword went
forward sharply and raised my hand to smite. But she signed to me
with her eyebrows, "Have I failed thee in aught of love; and is
it thus that thou requirest me?" I understood what her looks
implied and answered her with an eye-glance, "I will sacrifice my
soul for thee." And the tongue of the case wrote in our hearts
these lines:--
How many a lover with his eyebrows speaketh * To his beloved, as
Then my eyes filled with tears to overflowing and I cast the
sword from my hand saying, "O mighty Ifrit and hero, if a woman
lacking wits and faith deem it unlawful to strike off my head,
how can it be lawful for me, a man, to smite her neck whom I
never saw in my whole life. I cannot do such misdeed though thou
cause me drink the cup of death and perdition." Then said the
Ifrit, "Ye twain show the good understanding between you; but I
will let you see how such doings end." He took the sword, and
struck off the lady's hands first, with four strokes, and then
her feet; whilst I looked on and made sure of death and she
farewelled me with her dying eyes. So the Ifrit cried at her,
"Thou whorest and makest me a wittol with shine eyes;" and struck
her so that her head went flying. Then he turned to me and said,
"O mortal, we have it in our law that, when the wife committeth
advowtry it is lawful for us to slay her. As for this damsel I
snatched her away on her bride-night when she was a girl of
twelve and she knew no one but myself. I used to come to her once
every ten days and lie with her the night, under the semblance of
a man, a Persian; and when I was well assured that she had
cuckolded me, I slew her. But as for thee I am not well satisfied
that thou hast wronged me in her; nevertheless I must not let
thee go unharmed; so ask a boon of me and I will grant it." Then
I rejoiced, O my lady, with ex ceeding joy and said, "What boon
shall I crave of thee?" He replied, "Ask me this boon; into what
shape I shall bewitch thee; wilt thou be a dog, or an ass or an
ape?" I rejoined (and indeed I had hoped that mercy might be
shown me), "By Allah, spare me, that Allah spare thee for sparing
a Moslem and a man who never wronged thee." And I humbled myself
before him with exceeding humility, and remained standing in his
presence, saying, "I am sore oppressed by circumstance." He
replied "Talk me no long talk, it is in my power to slay thee;
but I give thee instead thy choice." Quoth I, "O thou Ifrit, it
would besit thee to pardon me even as the Envied pardoned the
Envier." Quoth he, "And how was that?" and I began to tell him
The
They relate, O Ifrit, that in a certain city were two men who
dwelt in adjoining houses, having a common party wall; and one of
them envied the other and looked on him with an evil eye,[FN#217]
and did his utmost endeavour to injure him; and, albeit at all
times he was jealous of his neighbour, his malice at last grew on
him till he could hardly eat or enjoy the sweet pleasures of
sleep. But the Envied did nothing save prosper; and the more the
other strove to injure him, the more he got and gained and
throve. At last the malice of his neighbour and the man's
constant endeavour to work him a harm came to his knowledge; so
he said, "By Allah! God's earth is wide enough for its people;"
and, leaving the neighbourhood, he repaired to another city where
he bought himself a piece of land in which was a dried up draw
well,[FN#218] old and in ruinous condition. Here he built him an
oratory and, furnishing it with a few necessaries, took up his
abode therein, and devoted himself to prayer and worshipping
Allah Almighty; and Fakirs and holy mendicants docked to him from
all quarters; and his fame went abroad through the city and that
country side. Presently the news reached his envious neighbour,
of what good fortune had befallen him and how the city notables
had become his disciples; so he travelled to the place and
presented himself at the holy man's hermitage, and was met by the
Envied with welcome and greeting and all honour. Then quoth the
Envier, "I have a word to say to thee; and this is the cause of
my faring hither, and I wish to give thee a piece of good news;
so come with me to thy cell." Thereupon the Envied arose and took
the Envier by the hand, and they went in to the inmost part of
the hermitage; but the Envier said, "Bid thy Fakirs retire to
their cells, for I will not tell thee what I have to say, save in
secret where none may hear us." Accordingly the Envied said to
his Fakirs, "Retire to your private cells;" and, when all had
done as he bade them, he set out with his visitor and walked a
little way until the twain reached the ruinous old well. And as
they stood upon the brink the Envier gave the Envied a push which
tumbled him headlong into it, unseen of any; whereupon he fared
forth, and went his ways, thinking to have had slain him. Now
this well happened to be haunted by the Jann who, seeing the
case, bore him up and let him down little by little, till he
reached the bottom, when they seated him upon a large stone. Then
one of them asked his fellows, "Wot ye who be this man?" and they
answered, "Nay." "This man," continued the speaker, "is the
Envied highs who, flying from the Envier, came to dwell in our
city, and here founded this holy house, and he hath edified us by
his litanies[FN#219] and his lections of the Koran; but the
Envier set out and journeyed till he rejoined him, and cunningly
contrived to deceive him and cast him into the well where we now
are. But the fame of this good man hath this very night come to
the Sultan of our city who designeth to visit him on the morrow
on account of his daughter." "What aileth his daughter?" asked
one, and another answered "She is possessed of a spirit; for
Maymun, son of Damdam, is madly in love with her; but, if this
pious man knew the remedy, her cure would be as easy as could
be." Hereupon one of them inquired, "And what is the medicine?"
and he replied, "The black tom cat which is with him in the
oratory hath, on the end of his tail, a white spot, the size of a
dirham; let him pluck seven white hairs from the spot, then let
him fumigate her therewith and the Marid will flee from her and
not return; so she shall be sane for the rest of her life." All
this took place, O Ifrit, within earshot of the Envied who
listened readily. When dawn broke and morn arose in sheen and
shone, the Fakirs went to seek the Shaykh and found him climbing
up the wall of the well; whereby he was magnified in their
eyes.[FN#220] Then, knowing that naught save the black tomcat
could supply him with the remedy required, he plucked the seven
tail hairs from the white spot and laid them by him; and hardly
had the sun risen ere the Sultan entered the hermitage, with the
great lords of his estate, bidding the rest of his retinue to
remain standing outside. The Envicd gave him a hearty welcome,
and seating him by his side asked him, "Shall I tell thee the
cause of thy coming?" The King answered, "Yes." He continued,
"Thou hast come upon pretext of a visitation;[FN#221] but it is
in thy heart to question me of thy daughter." Replied the King, "
'Tis even so, O thou holy Shaykh;" and the Envied continued,
"Send and fetch her, and I trust to heal her forthright (an such
it be the will of Allah!)" The King in great joy sent for his
daughter, and they brought her pinioned and fettered. The Envied
made her sit down behind a curtain and taking out the hairs
fumigated her therewith; whereupon that which was in her head
cried out and departed from her. The girl was at once restored to
her right mind and veiling her face, said, "What hath happened
and who brought me hither?" The Sultan rejoiced with a joy that
nothing could exceed, and kissed his daughter's eyes,[FN#222] and
the holy man's hand; then, turning to his great lords, he asked,
"How say ye! What fee deserveth he who hath made my daughter
whole?" and all answered, "He deserveth her to wife;" and the
King said, "Ye speak sooth!" So he married him to her and the
Envied thus became son in law to the King. And after a little the
Wazir died and the King said, "Whom can I make Minister in his
stead?" "Thy son in law," replied the courtiers. So the Envied
became a Wazir; and after a while the Sultan also died and the
lieges said, "Whom shall we make King?" and all cried, "The
Wazir." So the Wazir was forthright made Sultan, and he became
King regnant, a true ruler of men. One day as he had mounted his
horse; and, in the eminence of his kinglihood, was riding amidst
his Emirs and Wazirs and the Grandees of his realm his eye fell
upon his old neighbour, the Envier, who stood afoot on his path;
so he turned to one of his Ministers, and said, "Bring hither
that man and cause him no affright." The Wazir brought him and
the King said, "Give him a thousand miskals[FN#223] of gold from
the treasury, and load him ten camels with goods for trade, and
send him under escort to his own town." Then he bade his enemy
farewell and sent him away and forbore to punish him for the many
and great evils he had done. See, O Ifrit, the mercy of the
Envied to the Envier, who had hated him from the beginning and
had borne him such bitter malice and never met him without
causing him trouble; and had driven him from house and home, and
then had journeyed for the sole purpose of taking his life by
throwing him into the well. Yet he did not requ ite his injurious
dealing, but forgave him and was bountiful to him.[FN#224] Then I
wept before him, O my lady, with sore weeping, never was there
sorer, and I recited:--
"Pardon my fault, for 'tis the wise man's wont * All faults to
Said the Ifrit, "Lengthen not thy words! As to my slaying thee
fear it not, and as to my pardoning thee hope it not; but from my
bewitching thee there is no escape." Then he tore me from the
ground which closed under my feet and hew with me into the
firmament till I saw the earth as a large white cloud or a
saucer[FN#225] in the midst of the waters. Presently he set me
down on a moun fain, and taking a little dust, over which he
muttered some magical words, sprinkled me therewith, saying,
"Quit that shape and take thou the shape of an ape!" And on the
instant I became an ape, a tail less baboon, the son of a
century[FN#226]. Now when he had left me and I saw myself in this
ugly and hateful shape, I wept for myself, but resigned my soul
to the tyranny of Time and Circumstance, well weeting that
Fortune is fair and constant to no man. I descended the mountain
and found at the foot a desert plain, long and broad, over which
I travelled for the space of a month till my course brought me to
the brink of the briny sea.[FN#227] After standing there awhile,
I was ware of a ship in the offing which ran before a fair wind
making for the shore. I hid myself behind a rock on the beach and
waited till the ship drew near, when I leaped on board. I found
her full of merchants and passengers and one of them cried, "O
Captain, this ill omened brute will bring us ill luck!" and
another said, "Turn this ill omened beast out from among us;" the
Captain said, "Let us kill it!" another said, "Slay it with the
sword;" a third, "Drown it;" and a fourth, "Shoot it with an
arrow." But I sprang up and laid hold of the Rais's[FN#228]
skirt, and shed tears which poured down my chops. The Captain
took pity on me, and said, "O merchants! this ape hath appealed
to me for protection and I will protect him; henceforth he is
under my charge: so let none do him aught hurt or harm, otherwise
there will be bad blood between us." Then he entreated me kindly
and whatsoever he said I understood and ministered to his every
want and served him as a servant, albeit my tongue would not obey
my wishes; so that he came to love me. The vessel sailed on, the
wind being fair, for the space of fifty days; at the end of which
we cast anchor under the walls of a great city wherein was a
world of people, especially learned men, none could tell their
number save Allah. No sooner had we arrived than we were visited
by certain Mameluke officials from the King of that city; who,
after boarding us, greeted the merchants and giving them joy of
safe arrival said, "Our King welcometh you, and sendeth you this
roll of paper, whereupon each and every of you must write a line.
For ye shall know that the King's Minister, a calligrapher of
renown, is dead, and the King hath sworn a solemn oath that he
will make none Wazir in his stead who cannot write as well as he
couId." Hethen gave us the scroll which measured ten cubits long
by a breadth of one, and each of the merchants who knew how to
write wrote a line thereon, even to the last of them; after which
I stood up (still in the shape of an ape) and snatched the roll
out of their hands. They feared lest I should tear it or throw it
overboard; so they tried to stay me and scare me, but I signed to
them that i could write, whereat all marvelled, saying, "We never
yet saw an, ape write." And the Captain cried, "Let him write;
and if he scribble and scrabble we will kick him out and kill
him; but if he; write fair and scholarly I will adopt him as my
son; for surely I never yet saw a more intelligent and well
mannered monkey than he. Would Heaven my real son were his match
in morals and manners." I took the reed, and stretching out my
paw, dipped it in ink and wrote, in the hand used for
letters,[FN#229] these two couplets:--
Time hath recorded gifts she gave the great; * But none recorded
And I wrote in Rayh�ni or larger letters elegantly
curved[FN#230]:--
Thou hast a reed[FN#231] of rede to every land, * Whose driving
Then I wrote in the Suls[FN#232] character:--
There be no writer who from Death shall fleet, * But what his
Then I wrote in the character Naskh[FN#233]:--
When to sore parting Fate our love shall doom, * To distant life
And I wrote in the T�m�r character[FN#234]:--
Kingdom with none endures; if thou deny * This truth, where be
And I wrote in the character Muhakkak[FN#235]:--
When oped the inkhorn of thy wealth and fame * Take ink of
Then I gave the scroll to the officials and, after we all had
written our line, they carried it before the King. When he saw
the paper no writing pleased him save my writing; and he said to
the assembled courtiers, "Go seek the writer of these lines and
dress him in a splendid robe of honour; then mount him on a she
mule,[FN#236] let a band of music precede him and bring him to
the presence." At these words they smiled and the King was wroth
with them and cried, "O accursed! I give you an order and you
laugh at me?" "O King," replied they, "if we laugh 'tis not at
thee and not without a cause." "And what is it?" asked he; and
they answered, "O King, thou orderest us to bring to thy presence
the man who wrote these lines; now the truth is that he who wrote
them is not of the sons of Adam,[FN#237] but an ape, a tail-less
baboon, belonging to the ship captain." Quoth he, "Is this true
that you say?" Quoth they, "Yea! by the rights of thy
munificence!" The King marvelled at their words and shook with
mirth and said, "I am minded to buy this ape of the Captain."
Then he sent messengers to the ship with the mule, the dress, the
guard and the state drums, saying, "Not the less do you clothe
him in the robe of honour and mount him on the mule and let him
be surrounded by the guards and preceded by the band of music."
They came to the ship and took me from the Captain and robed me
in the robe of honour and, mounting me on the she mule, carried
me in state procession through the streets', whilst the people
were amazed and amused. And folk said to one another, "Halloo! is
our Sultan about to make an ape his Minister?"; and came all agog
crowding to gaze at me, and the town was astir and turned topsy
turvy on my account. When they brought me up to the King and set
me in his presence, I kissed the ground before him three times,
and once before the High Chamberlain and great officers, and he
bade me be seated, and I sat respectfully on shins and
knees,[FN#238] and all who were present marvelled at my fine
manners, and the King most of all. Thereupon he ordered the
lieges to retire; and, when none remained save the King's
majesty, the Eunuch on duty and a little white slave, he bade
them set before me the table of food, con taining all manner of
birds, whatever hoppeth and flieth and treadeth in nest, such as
quail and sand grouse. Then he signed me to eat with him; so I
rose and kissed ground before him, then sat me down and ate with
him. And when the table was removed I washed my hands in seven
waters and took the reed-case and reed; and wrote instead of
speaking these couplets:--
Wail for the little partridges on porringer and plate; * Cry for
Then I rose and seated myself at a respectful distance while the
King read what I had written, and marvelled, exclaiming, "O the
miracle, that an ape should be gifted with this graceful style
and this power of penmanship! By Allah, 'tis a wonder of
wonders!" Presently they set before the King choice wines in
flagons of glass and he drank: then he passed on the cup to me;
and I kissed the ground and drank and wrote on it:--
With fire they boiled me to loose my tongue,[FN#243] * And pain
And these also:--
Morn saith to Night, "withdraw and let me shine;" * So drain we
The King read my verse and said with a sigh, "Were these
gifts[FN#245] in a man, he would excel all the folk of his time
and age!" Then he called for the chess board, and said, "Say,
wilt thou play with me?"; and I signed with my head, "Yes." Then
I came forward and ordered the pieces and played with him two
games, both of which I won. He was speechless with surprise; so I
took the pen case and, drawing forth a reed, wrote on the board
these two couplets:--
Two hosts fare fighting thro' the livelong day * Nor is their
The King read these lines with wonder and delight and said to his
Eunuch,[FN#247] "O Mukbil, go to thy mistress, Sitt al-
Husn,[FN#248] and say her, 'Come, speak the King who biddeth thee
hither to take thy solace in seeing this right wondrous ape!"' So
the Eunuch went out and presently returned with the lady who,
when she saw me veiled her face and said, "O my father! hast thou
lost all sense of honour? How cometh it thou art pleased to send
for me and show me to strange men?" "O Sitt al-Husn," said he,
"no man is here save this little foot page and the Eunuch who
reared thee and I, thy father. Prom whom, then, cost thou veil
thy face?" She answered, "This whom thou deemest an ape is a
young man, a clever and polite, a wise and learned and the son of
a King; but he is ensorcelled and the Ifrit Jirjaris, who is of
the seed of Iblis, cast a spell upon him, after putting to death
his own wife the daughter of King Ifitamus lord of the Islands of
Abnus." The King marvelled at his daughter's words and, turning
to me, said, "Is this true that she saith of thee?"; and I signed
by a nod of my head the answer, "Yea, verily;" and wept sore.
Then he asked his daughter, "Whence knewest thou that he is
ensorcelled?"; and she answered, "O my dear papa, there was with
me in my childhood an old woman, a wily one and a wise and a
witch to boot, and she taught me the theory of magic and its
practice; and I took notes in writing and therein waxed perfect,
and have committed to memory an hundred and seventy chapters of
egro mantic formulas, by the least of which I could transport the
stones of thy city behind the Mountain Kaf and the Circum ambient
Main,[FN#249] or make its site an abyss of the sea and its people
fishes swimming in the midst of it." "O my daughter," said her
father, "I conjure thee, by my life, disenchant this young man,
that I may make him my Wazir and marry thee to him, for indeed he
is an ingenious youth and a deeply learned." "With joy and goodly
gree," she replied and, hending in hand an iron knife whereon was
inscribed the name of Allah in Hebrew characters, she described a
wide circle--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
"I am distraught, yet verily His ruth abides with me, * Tho'
Then I journeyed through many regions and saw many a city
intending for Baghdad, that I might seek audience, in the House
of Peace,[FN#255] with the Commander of the Faithful and tell him
all that had befallen me. I arrived here this very night and
found my brother in Allah, this first Kalandar, standing about as
one perplexed; so I saluted him with "Peace be upon thee," and
entered into discourse with him. Presently up came our brother,
this third Kalandar, and said to us, "Peace be with you! I am a
stranger;" whereto we replied, "And we too be strangers, who have
come hither this blessed night." So we all three walked on
together, none of us knowing the other's history, till Destiny
crave us to this door and we came in to you. Such then is my
story and my reason for shaving my beard and mustachios, and this
is what caused the loss of my eye. Said the house mistress, "Thy
tale is indeed a rare; so rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he
replied, "I will not budge till I hear my companions' stories."
Then came forward the third Kalandar, and said, "O illustrious
lady! my history is not like that of these my comrades, but more
wondrous and far more marvellous. In their case Fate and Fortune
came down on them unawares; but I drew down destiny upon my own
head and brought sorrow on mine own soul, and shaved my own beard
and lost my own eye. Hear then
Know, O my lady, that I also am a King and the son of a King and
my name is Aj�b son of Kaz�b. When my father died I succeeded
him; and I ruled and did justice and dealt fairly by all my
lieges. I delighted in sea trips, for my capital stood on the
shore, before which the ocean stretched far and wide; and near
hand were many great islands with sconces and garrisons in the
midst of the main. My fleet numbered fifty merchantmen, and as
many yachts for pleasance, and an hundred and fifty sail ready
fitted for holy war with the Unbelievers. It fortuned that I had
a mind to enjoy myself on the islands aforesaid, so I took ship
with my people in ten keel; and, carrying with me a month's
victual, I set out on a twenty days' voyage. But one night a head
wind struck us, and the sea rose against us with huge waves; the
billows sorely buffetted us and a dense darkness settled round
us. We gave ourselves up for lost and I said, "Whoso endangereth
his days, e'en an he 'scape deserveth no praise." Then we prayed
to Allah and besought Him; but the storm blasts ceased not to
blow against us nor the surges to strike us till morning broke
when the gale fell, the seas sank to mirrory stillness and the
sun shone upon us kindly clear. Presently we made an island where
we landed and cooked somewhat of food, and ate heartily and took
our rest for a couple of days. Then we set out again and sailed
other twenty days, the seas broadening and the land shrinking.
Presently the current ran counter to us, and we found ourselves
in strange waters, where the Captain had lost his reckoning, and
was wholly bewildered in this sea; so said we to the look out
man,[FN#256] "Get thee to the mast head and keep shine eyes
open." He swarmed up the mast and looked out and cried aloud, "O
Rais, I espy to starboard something dark, very like a fish
floating on the face of the sea, and to larboard there is a loom
in the midst of the main, now black and now bright." When the
Captain heard the look out's words he dashed his turband on the
deck and plucked out his beard and beat his face saying, "Good
news indeed! we be all dead men; not one of us can be saved." And
he fell to weeping and all of us wept for his weeping and also
for our lives; and I said, "O Captain, tell us what it is the
look out saw." "O my Prince," answered he, "know that we lost our
course on the night of the storm, which was followed on the
morrow by a two days' calm during which we made no way; and we
have gone astray eleven days reckoning from that night, with
ne'er a wind to bring us back to our true course. To morrow by
the end of the day we shall come to a mountain of black stone,
highs the Magnet Mountain;[FN#257] for thither the cu rents carry
us willy-nilly. As soon as we are under its lea, the ship's sides
will open and every nail in plank will fly out and cleave fast to
the mountain; for that Almighty Allah hath gifted the loadstone
with a mysterious virtue and a love for iron, by reason whereof
all which is iron travelleth towards it; and on this mountain is
much iron, how much none knoweth save the Most High, from the
many vessels which have been lost there since the days of yore.
The bright spot upon its summit is a dome of yellow laton from
Andalusia, vaulted upon ten columns; and on its crown is a
horseman who rideth a horse of brass and holdeth in hand a lance
of laton; and there hangeth on his bosom a tablet of lead graven
with names and talismans." And he presently added, "And, O King,
none destroyeth folk save the rider on that steed, nor will the
egromancy be dispelled till he fall from his horse.''[FN#258]
Then, O my lady, the Captain wept with exceeding weeping and we
all made sure of death doom and each and every one of us
farewelled his friend and charged him with his last will and
testament in case he might be saved. We slept not that night and
in the morning we found ourselves much nearer the Loadstone
Mountain, whither the waters crave us with a violent send. When
the ships were close under its lea they opened and the nails flew
out and all the iron in them sought the Magnet Mountain and clove
to it like a network; so that by the end of the day we were all
struggling in the waves round about the mountain. Some of us were
saved, but more were drowned and even those who had escaped knew
not one another, so stupefied were they by the beating of the
billows and the raving of the winds. As for me, O my lady, Allah
(be His name exalted!) preserved my life that I might suffer
whatso He willed to me of hardship, misfortune and~calamity; for
I scrambled upon a plank from one of the ships, and the wind and
waters threw it at the feet of the Mountain. There I found a
practicable path leading by steps carven out of the rock to the
summit, and I called on the name of Allah Almighty"[FN#259]--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
third Kalandar said to the lady (the rest of the party sitting
fast bound and the slaves standing with swords drawn over their
heads):--And after calling on the name of Almighty Allah and
passionately beseeching Him, I breasted the ascent, clinging to
the steps and notches hewn in the stone, and mounted little by
little. And the Lord stilled the wind and aided me in the ascent,
so that I succeeded in reaching the summit. There I found no
resting place save the dome, which I entered, joying with
exceeding joy at my escape; and made the Wuzu-ablution[FN#260]
and prayed a two bow prayer,[FN#261] a thanksgiving to God for my
preservation. Then I fell asleep under the dome, and heard in my
dream a mysterious Voice[FN#262] saying, "O son of Khazib! when
thou wakest from thy sleep dig under thy feet and thou shalt find
a bow of brass and three leaden arrows, inscribed with talismans
and characts. Take the bow and shoot the arrows at the horseman
on the dome top and free mankind from this sore calamity. When
thou hast shot him he shall fall into the sea, and the horse will
also drop at thy feet: then bury it in the place of the bow. This
done, the main will swell and rise till it is level with the
mountain head, and there will appear on it a skiff carrying a man
of laton (other than he thou shalt have shot) holding in his hand
a pair of paddles. He will come to thee and do thou embark with
him but beware of saying Bismillah or of otherwise naming Allah
Almighty. He will row thee for a space of ten days, till he bring
thee to certain Islands called the Islands of Safety, and thence
thou shalt easily reach a port and find those who will convey
thee to thy native land; and all this shall be fulfilled to thee
so thou call not on the name of Allah." Then I started up from my
sleep in joy and gladness and, hastening to do the bidding of the
mysterious Voice, found the bow and arrows and shot at the
horseman and tumbled him into the main, whilst the horse dropped
at my feet; so I took it and buried it. Presently the sea surged
up and rose till it reached the top of the mountain; nor had I
long to wait ere I saw a skiff in the offing coming towards me. I
gave thanks to Allah; and, when the skiff came up to me, I saw
therein a man of brass with a tablet of lead on his breast
inscribed with talismans and characts; and I embarked without
uttering a word. The boatman rowed on with me through the first
day and the second and the third, in all ten whole days, till I
caught sight of the Islands of Safety; whereat I joyed with
exceeding joy and for stress of gladness exclaimed, "Allah!
Allah! In the name of Allah! There is no god but the God and
Allah is Almighty.''[FN#263] Thereupon the skiff forthwith upset
and cast me upon the sea; then it righted and sank deep into the
depths. Now I am a fair swimmer, so I swam the whole day till
nightfall, when my forearms and shoulders were numbed with
fatigue and I felt like to die; so I testified to my faith,
expecting naught but death. The sea was still surging under the
violence of the winds, and presently there came a billow like a
hillock; and, bearing me up high in air, threw me with a long
cast on dry land, that His will might be fulfilled. I crawled up
the beach and doffing my raiment wrung it out to dry and spread
it in the sunshine: then I lay me down and slept the whole night.
As soon as it was day, I donned my clothes and rose to look
whither I should walk. Presently I came to a thicket of low
trees; and, making a cast round it, found that the spot whereon I
stood was an islet, a mere holm, girt on all sides by the ocean;
whereupon I said to myself, "Whatso freeth me from one great
calamity casteth me into a greater!" But while I was pondering my
case and longing for death behold, I saw afar off a ship making
for the island; so I clomb a tree and hid myself among the
branches. Presently the ship anchored and landed ten slaves,
blackamoors, bearing iron hoes and baskets, who walked on till
they reached the middle of the island. Here they dug deep into
the ground, until they uncovered a plate of metal which they
lifted, thereby opening a trap door. After this they returned to
the ship and thence brought bread and flour, honey and fruits,
clarified butter,[FN#264] leather bottles containing liquors and
many household stuffs; also furniture, table service and mirrors
rugs, carpets and in fact all needed to furnish a dwelling; and
they kept going to and fro, and descending by the trap door, till
they had transported into the dwelling all that was in the ship.
After this the slaves again went on board and brought back with
them garments as rich as may be, and in the midst of them came an
old, old man, of whom very little was left, for Time had dealt
hardly and harshly with him, and all that remained of him was a
bone wrapped in a rag of blue stuff through which the winds
whistled west and east. As saith the poet of him:--
Time gars me tremble Ah, how sore the baulk! * While Time in
And the Shaykh held by the hand a youth cast in beauty's mould,
all elegance and perfect grace; so fair that his comeliness
deserved to be proverbial; for he was as a green bough or the
tender young of the roe, ravishing every heart with his
loveliness and subduing every soul with his coquetry and amorous
ways.[FN#265] It was of him the poet spake when he said:--
Beauty they brought with him to make compare, * But Beauty
They stinted not their going, O my lady, till all went down by
the trap door and did not reappear for an hour, or rather more;
at the end of which time the slaves and the old man came up
without the youth and, replacing the iron plate and carefully
closing the door slab as it was before, they returned to the ship
and made sail and were lost to my sight. When they turned away to
depart, I came down from the tree and, going to the place I had
seen them fill up, scraped off and removed the earth; and in
patience possessed my soul till I had cleared the whole of it
away. Then appeared the trap door which was of wood, in shape and
size like a millstone; and when I lifted it up it disclosed a
winding staircase of stone. At this I marvelled and, descending
the steps till I reached the last, found a fair hall, spread with
various kinds of carpets and silk stuffs, wherein was a youth
sitting upon a raised couch and leaning back on a round cushion
with a fan in his hand and nosegays and posies of sweet scented
herbs and flowers before him;[FN#266] but he was alone and not a
soul near him in the great vault. When he saw me he turned pale;
but I saluted him courteously and said, "Set thy mind at ease and
calm thy fears; no harm shall come near thee; I am a man like
thyself and the son of a King to boot; whom the decrees of
Destiny have sent to bear thee company and cheer thee in thy
loneliness. But now tell me, what is thy story and what causeth
thee to dwell thus in solitude under the ground?" When he was
assured that I was of his kind and no Jinni, he rejoiced and his
fine colour returned; and, making me draw near to him he said, "O
my brother, my story is a strange story and 'tis this. My father
is a merchant-jeweller possessed of great wealth, who hath white
and black slaves travelling and trading on his account in ships
and on camels, and trafficking with the most distant cities; but
he was not blessed with a child, not even one. Now on a certain
night he dreamed a dream that he should be favoured with a son,
who would be short lived; so the morning dawned on my father
bringing him woe and weeping. On the following night my mother
conceived and my father noted down the date of her becoming
pregnant.[FN#267] Her time being fulfilled she bare me; whereat
my father rejoiced and made banquets and called together the
neighbors and fed the Fakirs and the poor, for that he had been
blessed with issue near the end of his days. Then he assembled
the astrologers and astronomers who knew the places of the
planets, and the wizards and wise ones of the time, and men
learned in horoscopes and nativities,[FN#268] and they drew out
my birth scheme and said to my father, "Thy son shall live to
fifteen years, but in his fifteenth there is a sinister aspect;
an he safely tide it over he shall attain a great age. And the
cause that threateneth him with death is this. In the Sea of
Peril standeth the Mountain Magnet highs; on whose summit is a
horseman of yellow laton seated on a horse also of brass and
bearing on his breast a tablet of lead. Fifty days after this
rider shall fall from his steed thy son will die and his slayer
will be he who shoots down the horseman, a Prince named Ajib son
of King Khazib." My father grieved with exceeding grief to hear
these words; but reared me in tenderest fashion and educated me
excellently well until my fifteenth year was told. Ten days ago
news came to him that the horseman had fallen into the sea and he
who shot him down was named Ajib son of King Khazib. My father
thereupon wept bitter tears at the need of parting with me and
became like one possessed of a Jinni. However, being in mortal
fear for me, he built me this place under the earth; and,
stocking it with all required for the few days still remaining,
he brought me hither in a ship and left me here. Ten are already
past and, when the forty shall have gone by without danger to me,
he will come and take me away; for he hath done all this only in
fear of Prince Ajib. Such, then, is my story and the cause of my
loneliness." When I heard his history I marvelled and said in my
mind, "I am the Prince Ajib who hath done all this; but as Allah
is with me I will surely not slay him!" So said I to him, "O my
lord, far from thee be this hurt and harm and then, please Allah,
thou shalt not suffer cark nor care nor aught disquietude, for I
will tarry with thee and serve thee as a servant, and then wend
my ways; and after having borne thee company during the forty
days, I will go with thee to thy home where thou shalt give me an
escort of some of thy Mamelukes with whom I may journey back to
my own city; and the Almighty shall requite thee for me." He was
glad to hear these words, when I rose and lighted a large wax
candle and trimmed the ramps end the three lanterns; and I set on
meat and drink and sweetmeats. We ate and drank and sat talking
over various matters till the greater part of the night was gone;
when he lay down to rest and I covered him up and went to sleep
myself. Next morning I arose and warmed a little water, then
lifted him gently so as to awake him and brought him the warm
water wherewith he washed his face[FN#269] and said to me,
"Heaven requite thee for me with every blessing, O youth! By
Allah, if I get quit of this danger and am saved from him whose
name is Ajib bin Khazib, I will make my father reward thee and
send thee home healthy and wealthy; and, if I die, then my
blessing be upon thee." I answered, "May the day never dawn on
which evil shall betide thee; and may Allah make my last day
before thy last day!" Then I set before him somewhat of food and
we ate; and I got ready perfumes for fumigating the hall,
wherewith he was pleased. Moreover I made him a Mankalah-
cloth;[FN#270] and we played and ate sweetmeats and we played
again and took our pleasure till nightfall, when I rose and
lighted the lamps, and set before him somewhat to eat, and sat
telling him stories till the hours of darkness were far spent.
Then he lay down to rest and I covered him up and rested also.
And thus I continued to do, O my lady, for days and nights and
affection for him took root in my heart and my sorrow was eased,
and I said to myself, "The astrologers lied[FN#271] when they
predicted that he should be slain by Ajib bin Khazib: by Allah, I
will not slay him." I ceased not ministering to him and
conversing and carousing with him and telling him all manner
tales for thirty nine days. On the fortieth night[FN#272] the
youth rejoiced and said, "O my brother, Alhamdo, lillah!--praise
be to Allah--who hath preserved me from death and this is by thy
blessing and the blessing of thy coming to me and I pray God that
He restore thee to thy native land. But now, O my brother, I
would thou warm me some water for the Ghusl ablution and do thou
kindly bathe me and change my clothes." I replied, "With love and
gladness;" and I heated water in plenty and carrying it in to him
washed his body all over the washing of health,[FN#273] with meal
of lupins[FN#274] and rubbed him well and changed his clothes and
spread him a high bed whereon he lay down to rest, being drowsy
after bathing. Then said he, "O my brother, cut me up a water
melon, and sweeten it with a little sugar candy."[FN#275] So I
went to the store room and bringing out a fine water melon I
found there, set it on a platter and laid it before him saying,
"O my master hast thou not a knife?" "Here it is," answered he,
"over my head upon the high shelf." So I got up in haste and
taking the knife drew it from its sheath; but my foot slipped in
stepping down and I fell heavily upon the youth holding in my
hand the knife which hastened to fulfil what had been written on
the Day that decided the destinies of man, and buried itself, as
if planted, in the youth's heart. He died on the instant. When I
saw that he was slain and knew that I had slain him, maugre
myself, I cried out with an exceeding loud and bitter cry and
beat my face and rent my raiment and said, "Verily we be Allah's
and unto Him we be returning, O Moslems! O folk fain of Allah!
there remained for this youth but one day of the forty dangerous
days which the astrologers and the learned had foretold for him;
and the predestined death of this beautiful one was to be at my
hand. Would Heaven I had not tried to cut the watermelon. What
dire misfortune is this I must bear fief or loath? What a
disaster! What an affliction! O Allah mine, I implore thy pardon
and declare to Thee my innocence of his death. But what God
willeth let that come to pass.''[FN#276]--And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ajib thus
continued his tale to the lady:--When I was certified that I had
slain him, I arose and ascending the stairs replaced the trap-
door and covered it with earth as before. Then I looked out
seawards and saw the ship cleaving the waters and making for the
island, wherefore I was afeard and said, "The moment they come
and see the youth done to death, they will know 'twas I who slew
him and will slay me without respite." So I climbed up into a
high tree and concealed myself among its leaves; and hardly had I
done so when the ship anchored and the slaves landed with the
ancient man, the youth's father, and made direct for the place
and when they removed the earth they were surprised to see it
soft.[FN#277] Then they raised the trap door and went down and
found the youth lying at full length, clothed in fair new
garments, with a face beaming after the bath, and the knife deep
in his heart. At the sight they shrieked and wept and beat their
faces, loudly cursing the murderer; whilst a swoon came over the
Shaykh so that the slaves deemed him dead, unable to survive his
son. At last they wrapped the slain youth in his clothes and
carried him up and laid him on the ground covering him with a
shroud of silk. Whilst they were making for the ship the old man
revived; and, gazing on his son who was stretched out, fell on
the ground and strewed dust over his head and smote his face and
plucked out his beard; and his weeping redoubled as he thought of
his murdered son and he swooned away once more. After awhile a
slave went and fetched a strip of silk whereupon they lay the old
man and sat down at his head. All this took place and I was on
the tree above them watching everything that came to pass; and my
heart became hoary before my head waxed grey, for the hard lot
which was mine, and for the distress and anguish I had undergone,
and I fell to reciting:--
"How many a joy by Allah's will hath fled * With flight escaping
But the old man, O my lady, ceased not from his swoon till near
sunset, when he came to himself and, looking upon his dead son,
he recalled what had happened, and how what he had dreaded had
come to pass; and he beat his face and head and recited these
couplets:--
"Racked is my heart by parting fro' my friends * And two rills
Then he sobbed a single sob and his soul fled his flesh. The
slaves shrieked aloud, "Alas, our lord!" and showered dust on
their heads and redoubled their weeping and wailing. Presently
they carried their dead master to the ship side by side with his
dead son and, having transported all the stuff from the dwelling
to the vessel, set sail and disappeared from mine eyes. I
descended from the tree and, raising the trap-door, went down
into the underground dwelling where everything reminded me of the
youth; and I looked upon the poor remains of him and began
repeating these verses:--
"Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang * And on
Then, O my lady, I went up again by the trap-door, and every day
I used to wander round about the island and every night I
returned to the underground hall. Thus I lived for a month, till
at last, looking at the western side of the island, I observed
that every day the fibs ebbed, leaving shallow water for which
the flow did not compensate; and by the end of the month the sea
showed dry land in that direction. At this I rejoiced making
certain of my safety; so I arose and fording what little was left
of the water got me to the mainland, where I fell in with great
heaps of loose sand in which even a camel's hoof would sink up to
the knee.[FN#281] However I emboldened my soul and wading through
the sand behold, a fire shone from afar burning with a brazing
light.[FN#282] So I made for it hoping haply to find succour, and
broke out into these verses:--
"Belike Fortune may her bridle turn * And Time bring weal
And when I drew near the fire aforesaid lo! it was a palace with
gates of copper burnished red which, when the rising sun shone
thereon, gleamed and glistened from afar showing what had seemed
to me a fire. I rejoiced in the sight, and sat down over against
the gate, but I was hardly settled in my seat before there met me
ten young men clothed in sumptuous gear and all were blind of the
left eye which appeared as plucked out. They were accompanied by
a Shaykh, an old, old man, and much I marvelled at their
appearance, and their all being blind of the same eye When they
saw me, they saluted me with the Salam and asked me of my case
and my history; whereupon I related to them all what had befallen
me, and what full measure of misfortune was mine. Marvelling at
my tale they took me to the mansion, where I saw ranged round the
hall ten couches each with its blue bedding and coverlet of blue
stuff[FN#283] and amiddlemost stood a smaller couch furnished
like them with blue and nothing else. As we entered each of the
youths took his seat on his own couch and the old man seated
himself upon the smaller one in the middle saying to me, "O
youth, sit thee down on the floor and ask not of our case nor of
the loss of our eyes." Presently he rose up and set before each
young man some meat in a charger and drink in a large mazer,
treating me in like manner; and after that they sat questioning
me concerning my adventures and what had betided me: and I kept
telling them my tale till the night was far spent. Then said the
young men, "O our Shaykh, wilt not thou set be fore us our
ordinary? The time is come." He replied, "With love and
gladness," and rose and entering a closet disappeared, but
presently returned bearing on his head ten trays each covered
with a strip of blue stuff. He set a tray before each youth and,
lighting ten wax candles, he stuck one upon each tray, and drew
off the covers and lo! under them was naught but ashes and
powdered charcoal and kettle soot. Then all the young men tucked
up their sleeves to the elbows and fell a weeping and wailing and
they blackened their faces and smeared their clothes and
buffetted their brows and beat their breasts, continually
exclaiming, "We were sitting at our ease but our frowardness
brought us unease! " They ceased not to do this till dawn drew
nigh, when the old man rose and heated water for them; and they
washed their faces, and donned other and clean clothes. Now when
I saw this, O my lady, for very wonderment my senses left me and
my wits went wild and heart and head were full of thought, till I
forgot what had betided me and I could not keep silence feeling I
fain must speak out and question them of these strangenesses; so
I said to them, "How come ye to do this after we have been so
open hearted and frolicksome? Thanks be to Allah ye be all sound
and sane, yet actions such as these befit none but mad men or
those possessed of an evil spirit. I conjure you by all that is
dearest to you, why stint ye to tell me your history, and the
cause of your losing your eyes and your blackening your faces
with ashes and soot?" Hereupon they turned to me and said, "O
young man, hearken not to thy youthtide's suggestions and
question us no questions." Then they slept and I with them and
when they awoke the old man brought us somewhat of food; and,
after we had eaten and the plates and goblets had been removed,
they sat conversing till night fall when the old man rose and lit
the wax candles and lamps and set meat and drink before us. After
we had eaten and drunken we sat conversing and carousing in
companionage till the noon of night, when they said to the old
man, "Bring us our ordinary, for the hour of sleep is at hand!"
So he rose and brought them the trays of soot and ashes; and they
did as they had done on the preceding night, nor more, nor less.
I abode with them after this fashion for the space of a month
during which time they used to blacken their faces with ashes
every night, and to wash and change their raiment when the morn
was young; and I but marvelled the more and my scruples and
curiosity increased to such a point that I had to forego even
food and drink. At last, I lost command of myself, for my heart
was aflame with fire unquenchable and lowe unconcealable and I
said, "O young men, will ye not relieve my trouble and acquaint
me with the reason of thus blackening your faces and the meaning
of your words:--We were sitting at our ease but our frowardness
brought us unease?" Quoth they "'Twere better to keep these
things secret." Still I was bewildered by their doings to the
point of abstaining from eating and drinking and, at last wholly
losing patience, quoth I to them, There is no help for it: ye
must acquaint me with what is the reason of these doings." They
replied, "We kept our secret only for thy good: to gratify thee
will bring down evil upon thee and thou wilt become a monocular
even as we are." I repeated "There is no help for it and, if ye
will not, let me leave you and return to mine own people and be
at rest from seeing these things, for the proverb saith:--
Better ye 'bide and I take my leave: * For what eye sees not
Thereupon they said to me, "Remember, O youth, that should ill
befal thee we will not again harbour thee nor suffer thee to
abide amongst us;" and bringing a ram they slaughtered it and
skinned it. Lastly they gave me a knife saying, "Take this skin
and stretch thyself upon it and we will sew it around thee,
presently there shall come to thee a certain bird, highs
Rukh,[FN#284] that will catch thee up in his pounces and tower
high in air and then set thee down on a mountain. When thou
feelest he is no longer flying, rip open the pelt with this blade
and come out of it; the bird will be scared and will fly away and
leave thee free. After this fare for half a day, and the march
will place thee at a palace wondrous fair to behold, towering
high in air and builded of Khalanj[FN#285], lign-aloes and
sandal-wood, plated with red gold, and studded with all manner
emeralds and costly gems fit for seal rings. Enter it and thou
shalt win to thy wish for we have all entered that palace; and
such is the cause of our losing our eyes and of our blackening
our faces. Were we now to tell thee our stories it would take too
long a time; for each and every of us lost his left eye by an
adventure of his own." I rejoiced at their words and they did
with me as they said; and the bird Rukh bore me off end set me
down on the mountain. Then I came out of the skin and walked on
till I reached the palace. The door stood open as I entered and
found myself in a spacious and goodly hall, wide exceedingly,
even as a horse-course; and around it were an hundred chambers
with doors of sandal and aloes woods plated with red gold and
furnished with silver rings by way of knockers.[FN#286] At the
head or upper end[FN#287] of the hall I saw forty damsels,
sumptuously dressed and ornamented and one and all bright as
moons; none could ever tire of gazing upon them and all so lovely
that the most ascetic devotee on seeing them would become their
slave and obey their will. When they saw me the whole bevy came
up to me and said "Welcome and well come and good cheer[FN#288]
to thee, O our lord! This whole month have we been expecting
thee. Praised be Allah who hath sent us one who is worthy of us,
even as we are worthy of him!" Then they made me sit down upon a
high divan and said to me, "This day thou art our lord and
master, and we are thy servants and thy hand-maids, so order us
as thou wilt." And I marvelled at their case. Presently one of
them arose and set meat before me and I ate and they ate with me;
whilst others warmed water and washed my hands and feet and
changed my clothes and others made ready sherbets and gave us to
drink; and all gathered around me being full of joy and gladness
at my coming. Then they sat down and conversed with me till
nightfall, when five of them arose and laid the trays and spread
them with flowers and fragrant herbs and fruits, fresh and dried,
and confections in profusion. At last they brought out a fine
wine service with rich old wine; and we sat down to drink and
some sang songs and others played the lute and psaltery and
recorders and other instruments, and the bowl went merrily round.
Hereupon such gladness possessed me that I forgot the sorrows of
the world one and all and said, "This is indeed life; O sad that
'tis fleeting!" I enjoyed their company till the time came for
rest; and our heads were all warm with wine, when they said, "O
our lord, choose from amongst us her who shall be thy bed-fellow
this night and not lie with thee again till forty days be past."
So I chose a girl fair of face and perfect in shape, with eyes
Kohl-edged by nature's hand;[FN#289] hair long and jet black with
slightly parted teeth[FN#290] and joining brows: �twas as if she
were some limber graceful branchlet or the slender stalk of sweet
basil to amaze and to bewilder man's fancy, even as the poet said
of such an one--
To even her with greeny bough were vain * Fool he who finds her
And I repeated to her the maker's words who said:--
"None other charms but shine shall greet mine eyes, * Nor other
So I lay with her that night; none fairer I ever knew; and, when
it was morning, the damsels carried me to the Hammam bath and
bathed me and robed me in fairest apparel. Then they served up
food, and we ate and drank and the cup went round till nightfall
when I chose from among them one fair of form and face, soft-
sided and a model of grace, such an one as the poet described
when he said.--
On her fair bosom caskets twain I scanned, * Sealed fast with
With her I spent a most goodly night; and, to be brief, O my
mistress, I remained with them in all solace and delight of life,
eating and drinking, conversing and carousing and every night
lying with one or other of them. But at the head of the new year
they came to me in tears and bade me farewell, weeping and crying
out and clinging about me: whereat I wondered and said, "What may
be the matter? verily you break my heart!" They exclaimed, "Would
Heaven we had never known thee; for, though we have companies
with many, yet never saw we a pleasanter than thou or a more
courteous." And they wept again. "But tell me more clearly,"
asked I, "what causeth this weeping which maketh my
gall-bladder[FN#291] like to burst;" and they answered, "O our
lord and master, it is severance which maketh us weep; and thou,
and thou only, art the cause of our tears. If thou hearken to us
we need never be parted and if thou hearken not we part for ever;
but our hearts tell us that thou wilt not listen to our words and
this is the cause of our tears and cries." "Tell me how the case
standeth?" "Know, O our lord, that we are the daughters of Kings
who have met here and have lived together for years; and once in
every year we are perforce absent for forty days; and afterwards
we return and abide here for the rest of the twelve month eating
and drinking and taking our pleasure and enjoying delights: we
are about to depart according to our custom; and we fear lest
after we be gone thou contraire our charge and disobey our
injunctions. Here now we commit to thee the keys of the palace
which containeth forty chambers and thou mayest open of these
thirty and nine, but beware (and we conjure thee by Allah and by
the lives of us!) lest thou open the fortieth door, for therein
is that which shall separate us for ever."[FN#292] Quoth I,
"Assuredly I will not open it, if it contain the cause of
severance from you." Then one among them came up to me and
falling on my neck wept and recited these verses.--
"If Time unite us after absent while, * The world harsh frowning
And I recited the following:--
"When drew she near to bid adieu with heart unstrung, * While
When I saw her weeping I said, "By Allah I will never open that
fortieth door, never and no wise!" and I bade her farewell.
Thereupon all departed flying away like birds; signalling with
their hands farewells as they went and leaving me alone in the
palace. When evening drew near I opened the door of the first
chamber and entering it found myself in a place like one of the
pleasaunces of Paradise. It was a garden with trees of freshest
green and ripe fruits of yellow sheen; and its birds were singing
clear and keen and nils ran wimpling through the fair terrene.
The sight and sounds brought solace to my sprite; and I walked
among the trees, and I smelt the breath of the flowers on the
breeze; and heard the birdies sing their melodies hymning the
One, the Almighty in sweetest litanies; and I looked upon the
apple whose hue is parcel red and parcel yellow; as said the
poet:--
Apple whose hue combines in union mellow * My fair's red cheek,
Then I looked upon the quince, and inhaled its fragrance which to
shame musk and ambergris, even as the poet hath said :
Quince every taste conjoins; in her are found * Gifts which for
Then I looked upon the pear whose taste surpasseth sherbet and
sugar; and the apricot[FN#294] whose beauty striketh the eye with
admiration, as if she were a polished ruby. Then I went out of
the place and locked the door as it was before. When it was the
morrow I opened the second door; and entering found myself in a
spacious plain set with tall date palms and watered by a running
stream whose banks were shrubbed with bushes of rose and jasmine,
while privet and eglantine, oxe-eye, violet and lily, narcissus,
origane and the winter gilliflower carpeted the borders; and the
breath of the breeze swept over these sweet smelling growths
diffusing their delicious odours right and left, perfuming the
world and filling my soul with delight. After taking my pleasure
there awhile I went from it and, having closed the door as it was
before, opened the third door wherein I saw a high open hall
pargetted with parti-coloured marbles and pietra dura of price
and other precious stones, and hung with cages of sandal-wood and
eagle-wood; full of birds which made sweet music, such as the
Thousand voiced,[FN#295] and the cushat, the merle, the turtle-
dove and the Nubian ring dove. My heart was filled with pleasure
thereby; my grief was dispelled and I slept in that aviary till
dawn. Then I undocked the door of the fourth chamber and there in
found a grand saloon with forty smaller chambers giving upon it.
All their doors stood open: so I entered and found them full of
pearls and jacinths and beryls and emeralds and corals and car
buncles, and all manner precious gems and jewels, such as tongue
of man may not describe. My thought was stunned at the sight and
I said to myself, "These be things methinks united which could
not be found save in the treasuries of a King of Kings, nor could
the monarchs of the world have collected the like of these!" And
my heart dilated and my sorrows ceased, "For," quoth I, "now
verily am I the monarch of the age, since by Allah's grace this
enormous wealth is mine; and I have forty damsels under my hand
nor is there any to claim them save myself." Then I gave not over
opening place after place until nine and thirty days were passed
and in that time I had entered every chamber except that one
whose door the Princesses had charged me not to open. But my
thoughts, O my mistress, ever ran on that forbidden
fortieth[FN#296] and Satan urged me to open it for my own
undoing; nor had I patience to forbear, albeit there wanted of
the trysting time but a single day. So I stood before the chamber
aforesaid and, after a moment's hesitation, opened the door which
was plated with red gold, and entered. I was met by a perfume
whose like I had never before smelt; and so sharp and subtle was
the odour that it made my senses drunken as with strong wine, and
I fell to the ground in a fainting fit which lasted a full hour.
When I came to myself I strengthened my heart and, entering,
found myself in a chamber whose floor was bespread with saffron
and blazing with light from branched candelabra of gold and lamps
fed with costly oils, which diffused the scent of musk and
ambergris. I saw there also two great censers each big as a
mazer-bowl,[FN#297] flaming with lign-aloes, nadd-
perfume,[FN#298] ambergris and honied scents; and the place was
full of their fragrance. Presently, O my lady, I espied a noble
steed, black as the murks of night when murkiest, standing, ready
saddled and bridled (and his saddle was of red gold) before two
mangers, one of clear crystal wherein was husked sesame, and the
other also of crystal containing water of the rose scented with
musk. When I saw this I marvelled and said to myself, "Doubtless
in this animal must be some wondrous mystery;" and Satan cozened
me, so I led him without the palace end mounted him, but he would
not stir from his place. So I hammered his sides with my heels,
but he moved not, and then I took the rein whip,[FN#299] and
struck him withal. When he felt the blow, he neighed a neigh with
a sound like deafening thunder and, opening a pair of
wings[FN#300] flew up with me in the firmament of heaven far
beyond the eyesight of man. After a full hour of flight he
descended and alighted on a terrace roof and shaking me off his
back lashed me on the face with his tail and gouged out my left
eye causing it roll along my cheek. Then he flew away. I went
down from the terrace and found myself again amongst the ten one
eyed youths sitting upon their ten couches with blue covers; and
they cried out when they saw me, "No welcome to thee, nor aught
of good cheer! We all lived of lives the happiest and we ate and
drank of the best; upon brocades and cloths of gold we took rest
and we slept with our heads on beauty's breast, but we could not
await one day to gain the delights of a year!" Quoth I, "Behold I
have become one like unto you and now I would have you bring me a
tray full of blackness, wherewith to blacken my face, and receive
me into your society." "No, by Allah," quoth they, "thou shalt
not sojourn with us and now get thee hence!" So they drove me
away. Finding them reject me thus I foresaw that matters would go
hard with me, and I remembered the many miseries which Destiny
had written upon my forehead; and I fared forth from among them
heavy hearted and tearful eyed, repeating to myself these words,
"I was sitting at mine ease but my frowardness brought me to
unease." Then I shaved beard and mustachios and eye brows,
renouncing the world, and wan dered in Kalandar garb about
Allah's earth; and the Almighty decreed safety for me till I
arrived at Baghdad, which was on the evening of this very night.
Here I met these two other Kalandars standing bewildered; so I
saluted them saying, "I am a stranger!" and they answered, "And
we likewise be strangers!" By the freak of Fortune we were like
to like, three Kalandars and three monoculars all blind of the
left eye. Such, O my lady, is the cause of the shearing of my
beard and the manner of my losing an eye. Said the lady to him,
"Rub thy head and wend thy ways;" but he answered, "By Allah, I
will not go until I hear the stories of these others." Then the
lady, turning towards the Caliph and Ja'afar and Masrur, said to
them, "Do ye also give an account of yourselves, you men!"
Whereupon Ja'afar stood forth and told her what he had told the
portress as they were entering the house; and when she heard his
story of their being merchants and Mosul men who had outrun the
watch, she said, "I grant you your lives each for each sake, and
now away with you all." So they all went out and when they were
in the street, quoth the Caliph to the Kalandars, "O company,
whither go ye now, seeing that the morning hath not yet dawned?"
Quoth they, "By Allah, O our lord, we know not where to go."
"Come and pass the rest of the night with us," said the Caliph
and, turning to Ja'afar, "Take them home with thee and to morrow
bring them to my presence that we may chronicle their
adventures." Ja'afar did as the Caliph bade him and the Commander
of the Faithful returned to his palace; but sleep gave no sign of
visiting him that night and he lay awake pondering the mishaps of
the three Kalandar princes and impatient to know the history of
the ladies and the two black bitches. No sooner had morning
dawned than he went forth and sat upon the throne of his
sovereignty; and, turning to Ja'afar, after all his Grandees and
Officers of state were gathered together, he said, "Bring me the
three ladies and the two bitches and the three Kalandars." So
Ja'afar fared forth and brought them all before him (and the
ladies were veiled); then the Minister turned to them and said in
the Caliph s name, "We pardon you your maltreatment of us and
your want of courtesy, in consideration of the kindness which
forewent it, and for that ye knew us not: now however I would
have you to know that ye stand in presence of the fifth[FN#301]
of the sons of Abbas, Harun al-Rashid, brother of Caliph M�s� al-
H�di, son of Al-Mans�r; son of Mohammed the brother of Al-Saff�h
bin Mohammed who was first of the royal house. Speak ye therefore
before him the truth and the whole truth!" When the ladies heard
Ja afar's words touching the Commander of the Faithful, the
eldest came forward and said, "O Prince of True Believers, my
story is one which, were it graven with needle-gravers upon the
eye corners were a warner for whoso would be warned and an
example for whoso can take profit from example."--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that she stood
forth before the Commander of the Faithful and began to tell
Verily a strange tale is mine and 'tis this:--Yon two black
bitches are my eldest sisters by one mother and father; and these
two others, she who beareth upon her the signs of stripes and the
third our procuratrix are my sisters by another mother. When my
father died, each took her share of the heritage and, after a
while my mother also deceased, leaving me and my sisters german
three thousand diners; so each daughter received her portion of a
thousand diners and I the same, albe the youngest. In due course
of time my sisters married with the usual festivities and lived
with their husbands, who bought merchandise with their wives
monies and set out on their travels together. Thus they threw me
off. My brothers in law were absent with their wives five years,
during which period they spent all the money they had and,
becoming bankrupt, deserted my sisters in foreign parts amid
stranger folk. After five years my eldest sister returned to me
in beggar's gear with her clothes in rags and tatters[FN#302] and
a dirty old mantilla;[FN#303] and truly she was in the foulest
and sorriest plight. At first sight I did not know my own sister;
but presently I recognised her and said "What state is this?" "O
our sister," she replied, "Words cannot undo the done; and the
reed of Destiny hath run through what Allah decreed." Then I sent
her to the bath and dressed her in a suit of mine own, and boiled
for her a bouillon and brought her some good wine and said to
her, "O my sister, thou art the eldest, who still standest to us
in the stead of father and mother; and, as for the inheritance
which came to me as to you twain, Allah hath blessed it and
prospered it to me with increase; and my circumstances are easy,
for I have made much money by spinning and cleaning silk; and I
and you will share my wealth alike." I entreated her with all
kindliness and she abode with me a whole year, during which our
thoughts and fancies were always full of our other sister Shortly
after she too came home in yet fouler and sorrier plight than
that of my eldest sister; and I dealt by her still more honorably
than I had done by the first, and each of them had a share of my
substance. After a time they said to me, 'O our sister, we desire
to marry again, for indeed we have not patience to drag on our
days without husbands and to lead the lives of widows bewitched;"
and I replied, "O eyes of me![FN#304] ye have hitherto seen
scanty weal in wedlock, for now-a-days good men and true are
become rarities and curiosities; nor do I deem your projects
advisable, as ye have already made trial of matrimony and have
failed." But they would not accept my advice and married without
my consent: nevertheless I gave them outfit and dowries out of my
money; and they fared forth with their mates. In a mighty little
time their husbands played them false and, taking whatever they
could lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch.
Thereupon they came to me ashamed and in abject case and made
their excuses to me, saying, Pardon our fault and be not wroth
with us;[FN#305] for although thou art younger in years yet art
thou older in wit; henceforth we will never make mention of
marriage; so take us back as thy hand maidens that we may eat our
mouthful." Quoth I, "Welcome to you, O my sisters, there is
naught dearer to me than you." And I took them in and redoubled
my kindness to them. We ceased not to live after this loving
fashion for a full year, when I resolved to sell my wares abroad
and first to fit me a conveyance for Bassorah; so I equipped a
large ship, and loaded her with merchandise and valuable goods
for traffic, and with provaunt and all needful for a voyage, and
said to my sisters, "Will ye abide at home whilst I travel, or
would ye prefer to accompany me on the voyage?" "We will travel
with thee," answered they, "for we cannot bear to be parted from
thee." So I divided my monies into two parts, one to accompany me
and the other to be left in charge of a trusty person, for, as I
said to myself, "Haply some accident may happen to the ship and
yet we remain alive; in which case we shall find on our return
what may stand us in good stead." I took my two sisters and we
went a voyaging some days and nights; but the master was careless
enough to miss his course, and the ship went astray with us and
entered a sea other than the sea we sought. For a time we knew
naught of this; and the wind blew fair for us ten days, after
which the look out man went aloft to see about him and cried,
"Good news!" Then he came down rejoicing and said, "I have seen
what seemeth to be a city as 'twere a pigeon." Hereat we rejoiced
and, ere an hour of the day had passed, the buildings showed
plain in the offing and we asked the Captain, "What is the name
of yonder city?" and he answered By Allah I wot not, for I never
saw it before and never sailed these seas in my life: but, since
our troubles have ended in safety, remains for you only to land
there with your merchandise and, if you find selling profitable,
sell and make your market of what is there; and if not, we will
rest here two days and provision ourselves and fare away." So we
entered the port and the Captain went up town and was absent
awhile, after which he returned to us and said, "Arise; go up
into the city and marvel at the works of Allah with His creatures
and pray to be preserved from His righteous wrath!" So we landed
and going up into the city, saw at the gate men hending staves in
hand; but when we drew near them, behold, they had been
translated[FN#306] by the anger of Allah and had become stones.
Then we entered the city and found all who therein woned into
black stones enstoned: not an inhabited house appeared to the
espier, nor was there a blower of fire.[FN#307] We were awe
struck at the sight and threaded the market streets where we
found the goods and gold and silver left lying in their places;
and we were glad and said, "Doubtless there is some mystery in
all this." Then we dispersed about the thorough-fares and each
busied himself with collecting the wealth and money and rich
stuffs, taking scanty heed of friend or comrade. As for myself I
went up to the castle which was strongly fortified; and, entering
the King's palace by its gate of red gold, found all the vaiselle
of gold and silver, and the King himself seated in the midst of
his Chamberlains and Nabobs and Emirs and Wazirs; all clad in
raiment which confounded man's art. I drew nearer and saw him
sitting on a throne incrusted and inlaid with pearls and gems;
and his robes were of gold-cloth adorned with jewels of every
kind, each one flashing like a star. Around him stood fifty
Mamelukes, white slaves, clothed in silks of divers sorts holding
their drawn swords in their hands; but when I drew near to them
lo! all were black stones. My understanding was confounded at the
sight, but I walked on and entered the great hall of the
Harim,[FN#308] whose walls I found hung with tapestries of gold
striped silk and spread with silken carpets embroidered with
golden cowers. Here I saw the Queen lying at full length arrayed
in robes purfled with fresh young[FN#309] pearls; on her head was
a diadem set with many sorts of gems each fit for a ring[FN#310]
and around her neck hung collars and necklaces. All her raiment
and her ornaments were in natural state but she had been turned
into a black stone by Allah's wrath. Presently I espied an open
door for which I made straight and found leading to it a flight
of seven steps. So I walked up and came upon a place pargetted
with marble and spread and hung with gold-worked carpets and
tapestry, amiddlemostof which stood a throne of juniper wood
inlaid with pearls and precious stones and set with bosses of
emeralds. In the further wall was an alcove whose curtains,
bestrung with pearls, were let down and I saw a light issuing
therefrom; so I drew near and perceived that the light came from
a precious stone as big as an ostrich egg, set at the upper end
of the alcove upon a little chryselephantine couch of ivory and
gold; and this jewel, blazing like the sun, cast its rays wide
and side. The couch also was spread with all manner of silken
stuffs amazing the gazer with their richness and beauty. I
marvelled much at all this, especially when seeing in that place
candles ready lighted; and I said in my mind, "Needs must some
one have lighted these candles." Then I went forth and came to
the kitchen and thence to the buttery and the King's treasure
chambers; and continued to explore the palace and to pace from
place to place; I forgot myself in my awe and marvel at these
matters and I was drowned in thought till the night came on. Then
I would have gone forth, but knowing not the gate I lost my way,
so I returned to the alcove whither the lighted candles directed
me and sat down upon the couch; and wrapping myself in a
coverlet, after I had repeated somewhat from the Koran, I would
have slept but could not, for restlessness possessed me. When
night was at its noon I heard a voice chanting the Koran in
sweetest accents; but the tone thereof was weak; so I rose, glad
to hear the silence broken, and followed the sound until I
reached a closet whose door stood ajar. Then peeping through a
chink I considered the place and lo! it was an oratory wherein
was a prayer niche[FN#311] with two wax candles burning and lamps
hanging from the ceiling. In it too was spread a prayer carpet
whereupon sat a youth fair to see; and before him on its
stand[FN#312] was a copy of the Koran, from which he was reading.
I marvelled to see him alone alive amongst the people of the city
and entering saluted him; whereupon he raised his eyes and
returned my salam. Quoth I, "Now by the Truth of what thou
readest in Allah's Holy Book, I conjure thee to answer my
question." He looked upon me with a smile and said, "O handmaid
of Allah, first tell me the cause of thy coming hither, and I in
turn will tell what hath befallen both me and the people of this
city, and what was the reason of my escaping their doom." So I
told him my story whereat he wondered; and I questioned him of
the people of the city, when he replied, "Have patience with me
for a while, O my sister!" and, reverently closing the Holy Book,
he laid it up in a satin bag. Then he seated me by his side; and
I looked at him and behold, he was as the moon at its full, fair
of face and rare of form, soft sided and slight, of well
proportioned height, and cheek smoothly bright and diffusing
light; in brief a sweet, a sugar stick,[FN#313]. even as saith
the poet of the like of him in these couplets:--
That night th' astrologer a scheme of planets drew, * And lo! a
And of a truth Allah the Most High had robed him in the raiment
of perfect grace and had purfled and fringed it with a cheek all
beauty and loveliness, even as the poet saith of such an one:--
By his eyelids shedding perfume and his fine slim waist I swear,
I glanced at him with one glance of eyes which caused me a
thousand sighs; and my heart was at once taken captive wise, so I
asked him, "O my lord and my love, tell me that whereof I
questioned thee;" and he answered, "Hearing is obeying! Know O
handmaid of Allah, that this city was the capital of my father
who is the King thou sawest on the throne transfigured by Allah's
wrath to a black stone, and the Queen thou foundest in the alcove
is my mother. They and all the people of the city were Magians
who fire adored in lieu of the Omnipotent Lord[FN#319] and were
wont to swear by lowe and heat and shade and light and the
spheres revolving day and night. My father had ne'er a son till
he was blest with me near the last of his days; and he reared me
till I grew up and prosperity anticipated me in all things. Now
it so fortuned that there was with us an old woman well stricken
in years, a Moslemah who, inwardly believing in Allah and His
Apostle, conformed outwardly with the religion of my people; and
my father placed thorough confidence in her for that he knew her
to be trustworthy and virtuous; and he treated her with ever
increasing kindness believing her to be of his own belief. So
when I was well nigh grown up my father committed me to her
charge saying:--Take him and educate him and teach him the rules
of our faith; let him have the best in structions and cease not
thy fostering care of him. So she took me and taught me the
tenets of Al-Islam with the divine ordinances[FN#320] of the Wuzu
ablution and the five daily prayers and she made me learn the
Koran by rote, often repeating:--Serve none save Allah Almighty!
When I had mastered this much of knowledge she said to me:--O my
son, keep this matter concealed from thy sire and reveal naught
to him lest he slay thee. So I hid it from him and I abode on
this wise for a term of days when the old woman died, and the
people of the city redoubled in their impiety[FN#321] and
arrogance and the error of their ways. One day, while they were
as wont, behold, they heard a loud and terrible sound and a crier
crying out with a voice like roaring thunder so every ear could
hear, far and near, "O folk of this city, leave ye your fire
worshipping and adore Allah the All-compassionate King!" At this,
fear and terror fell upon the citizens and they crowded to my
father (he being King of the city) and asked him, "What is this
awesome voice we have heard, for it hath confounded us with the
excess of its terror?" and he answered, "Let not a voice fright
you nor shake your steadfast sprite nor turn you back from the
faith which is right." Their hearts inclined to his words and
they ceased not to worship the fire and they persisted in
rebellion for a full year from the time they heard the first
voice; and on the anniversary came a second cry, and a third at
the head of the third year, each year once Still they persisted
in their malpractises till one day at break of dawn, judgment and
the wrath of Heaven descended upon them with all suddenness, and
by the visitation of Allah all were metamorphosed into black
stones,[FN#322] they and their beasts and their cattle; and none
was saved save myself who at the time was engaged in my
devotions. From that day to this I am in the case thou seest,
constant in prayer and fasting and reading and reciting the
Koran; but I am indeed grown weary by reason of my loneliness,
having none to bear me company." Then said I to him (for in very
sooth he had won my heart and was the lord of my life and soul),
"O youth, wilt thou fare with me to Baghdad city and visit the
Olema and men learned in the law and doctors of divinity and get
thee increase of wisdom and understanding and theology? And know
that she who standeth in thy presence will be thy handmaid,
albeit she be head of her family and mistress over men and
eunuchs and servants and slaves Indeed my life was no life before
it fell in with thy youth. I have here a ship laden with
merchandise; and in very truth Destiny drove me to this city that
I might come to the knowledge of these matters, for it was fated
that we should meet." And I ceased not to persuade him and speak
him fair and use every art till he consented.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
lady ceased not persuading with soft speech the youth to depart
with her till he consented and said "Yes." She slept that night
lying at his feet and hardly knowing where she was for excess of
joy. As soon as the next morning dawned (she pursued, addressing
the Caliph), I arose and we entered the treasuries and took
thence whatever was light in weight and great in worth; then we
went down side by side from the castle to the city, where we were
met by the Captain and my sisters and slaves who had been seeking
for me. When they saw me they rejoiced and asked what had stayed
me, and I told them all I had seen and related to them the story
of the young Prince and the transformation wherewith the citizens
had been justly visited. Hereat all marvelled, but when my two
sisters (these two bitches, O Commander of the Faithful!) saw me
by the side of my young lover they jaloused me on his account and
were wroth and plotted mischief against me. We awaited a fair
wind and went on board rejoicing and ready to fly for joy by
reason of the goods we had gotten, but my own greatest joyance
was in the youth; and we waited awhile till the wind blewfair for
us and then we set sail and fared forth. Now as we sat talking,
my sisters asked me, "And what wilt thou do with this handsome
young man?"; and I answered, "I purpose to make him my husband!"
Then I turned to him and said, "O my lord, I have that to propose
to thee wherein thou must not cross me; and this it is that, when
we reach Baghdad, my native city, I offer thee my life as thy
handmaiden in holy matrimony, and thou shalt be to me baron and I
will be femme to thee." He answered, "I hear and I obey!; thou
art my lady and my mistress and whatso thou doest I will not
gainsay." Then I turned to my sisters and said, "This is my gain;
I content me with this youth and those who have gotten aught of
my property let them keep it as their gain with my good will."
"Thou sayest and doest well," answered the twain, but they
imagined mischief against me. We ceased not spooning before a
fair wind till we had exchanged the sea of peril for the seas of
safety and, in a few days, we made Bassorah city, whose buildings
loomed clear before us as evening fell. But after we had retired
to rest and were sound alseep, my two sisters arose and took me
up, bed and all, and threw me into the sea: they did the same
with the young Prince who, as he could not swim, sank and was
drowned and Allah enrolled him in the noble army of
Martyrs.[FN#323] As for me would Heaven I had been drowned with
him, but Allah deemed that I should be of the saved; so when I
awoke and found myself in the sea and saw the ship making off
like a dash of lightning, He threw in my way a piece of timber
which I bestrided, and the waves tossed me to and fro till they
cast me upon an island coast, a high land and an uninhabited. I
landed and walked about the island the rest of the night and,
when morning dawned, I saw a rough track barely fit for child of
Adam to tread, leading to what proved a shallow ford connecting
island and mainland. As soon as the sun had risen I spread my
garments to dry in its rays; and ate of the fruits of the island
and drank of its waters; then I set out along the foot track and
ceased not walking till I reached the mainland. Now when there
remained between me and the city but a two hours' journey behold,
a great serpent, the bigness of a date palm, came fleeing towards
me in all haste, gliding along now to the right then to the left
till she was close upon me, whilst her tongue lolled ground wards
a span long and swept the dust as she went. She was pursued by a
Dragon[FN#324] who was not longer than two lances, and of slender
build about the bulk of a spear and, although her terror lent her
speed, and she kept wriggling from side to side, he overtook her
and seized her by the tail, whereat her tears streamed down and
her tongue was thrust out in her agony. I took pity on her and,
picking up a stone and calling upon Allah for aid, threw it at
the Dragon's head with such force that he died then and there;
and the serpent opening a pair of wings Hew into the lift and
disappeared from before my eyes. I sat down marvelling over that
adventure, but I was weary and, drowsiness overcoming me, I slept
where I was for a while. When I awoke I found a jet black damsel
sitting at my feet shampooing them; and by her side stood two
black bitches (my sisters, O Commander of the Faithful!). I was
ashamed before her[FN#325] and, sitting up, asked her, "O my
sister, who and what art thou?"; and she answered, "How soon hast
thou forgotten me! I am she for whom thou wroughtest a good deed
and sowedest the seed of gratitude and slowest her foe; for I am
the serpent whom by Allah's aidance thou didst just now deliver
from the Dragon. I am a Jinniyah and he was a Jinn who hated me,
and none saved my life from him save thou. As soon as thou
freedest me from him I Dew on the wind to the ship whence thy
sisters threw thee, and removed all that was therein to thy
house. Then I ordered my attendant Marids to sink the ship and I
transformed thy two sisters into these black bitches; for I know
all that hath passed between them and thee; but as for the youth,
of a truth he is drowned." So saying, she dew up with me and the
bitches, and presently set us down on the terrace roof of my
house, wherein I found ready stored the whole of what property
was in my ship, nor was aught of it missing. "Now (continued the
serpent that was), I swear by all engraver on the seal-ring of
Solomon[FN#326] (with whom be peace!) unless thou deal to each of
these bitches three hundred stripes every day I will come and
imprison thee forever under the earth." I answered, "Hearkening
and obedience!"; and away she Dew. But before going she again
charged me saying, "I again swear by Him who made the two seas
flow[FN#327] (and this be my second oath) if thou gainsay me I
will come and transform thee like thy sisters." Since then I have
never failed, O Commander of the Faithful, to beat them with that
number of blows till their blood flows with my tears, I pitying
them the while, and well they wot that their being scourged is no
fault of mine and they accept my excuses. And this is my tale and
my history! The Caliph marvelled at her adventures and then
signed to Ja'afar who said to the second lady, the Portress, "And
thou, how camest thou by the welts and wheels upon thy body?" So
she began the
Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that I had a father who, after
fulfilling his time, deceased and left me great store of wealth.
I remained single for a short time and presently married one of
the richest of his day. I abode with him a year when he also
died, and my share of his property amounted to eighty thousand
diners in gold according to the holy law of inheritance.[FN#328]
Thus I became passing rich an my reputation spread far and wide,
for I had made me ten changes of raiment, each worth a thousand
diners One day as I was sitting at home, behold, there came in to
me an old woman[FN#329] with lantern jaws and cheeks sucked in,
and eyes rucked up, and eyebrows scant and scald, and head bare
and bald; and teeth broken by time and mauled, and back bending
and neck nape nodding, and face blotched, and rheum running, and
hair like a snake black and white speckled, in complexion a very
fright, even as saith the poet of the like of her:--
Ill-omened hag! unshriven be her sins * Nor mercy visit her on
And as saith another:--
A hag to whom th' unlawful lawfullest * And witchcraft wisdom in
When the old woman entered she salamed to me and kissing the
ground before me, said, "I have at home an orphan daughter and
this night are her wedding and her displaying.[FN#331] We be poor
folks and strangers in this city knowing none inhabitant and we
are broken hearted. So do thou earn for thyself a recompense and
a reward in Heaven by being present at her displaying and, when
the ladles of this city shall hear that thou art to make act of
presence, they also will present themselves; so shalt thou
comfort her affliction, for she is sore bruised in spirit and she
hath none to look to save Allah the Most High." Then she wept and
kissed my feet reciting these couplets:--
"Thy presence bringeth us a grace * We own before thy winsome
So pity get hold on me and compassion and I said, "Hearing is
consenting and, please Allah, I will do somewhat more for her;
nor shall she be shown to her bridegroom save in my raiment and
ornaments and jewelry." At this the old woman rejoiced and bowed
her head to my feet and kissed them, saying, "Allah requite thee
weal, and comfort thy heart even as thou hast comforted mine!
But, O my lady, do not trouble thyself to do me this service at
this hour; be thou ready by supper time,[FN#332] when I will come
and fetch thee." So saying she kissed my hand and went her ways.
I set about stringing my pearls and donning my brocades and
making my toilette, Little recking what Fortune had in womb for
me, when suddenly the old woman stood before me, simpering and
smiling till she showed every tooth stump, and quoth she, "O my
mistress, the city madams have arrived and when I apprized them
that thou promisedst to be present, they were glad and they are
now awaiting thee and looking eagerly for thy coming and for the
honour of meeting thee." So I threw on my mantilla and, making
the old crone walk before me and my handmaidens behind me, I
fared till we came to a street well watered and swept neat, where
the winnowing breeze blew cool and sweet. Here we were stopped by
a gate arched over with a dome of marble stone firmly seated on
solidest foundation, and leading to a Palace whose walls from
earth rose tall and proud, and whose pinnacle was crowned by the
clouds,[FN#333] and over the doorway were writ these couplets:--
I am the wone where Mirth shall ever smile; * The home of
Arrived at the gate, before which hung a black curtain, the old
woman knocked and it was opened to us; when we entered and found
a vestibule spread with carpets and hung around with lamps all
alight and wax candles in candelabra adorned with pendants of
precious gems and noble ores. We passed on through this passage
till we entered a saloon, whose like for grandeur and beauty is
not to be found in this world. It was hung and carpeted with
silken stuffs, and was illuminated with branches sconces and
tapers ranged in double row, an avenue abutting on the upper or
noble end of the saloon, where stood a couch of juniper wood
encrusted with pearls and gems and surmounted by a baldaquin with
mosquito curtains of satin looped up with margaritas. And hardly
had we taken note of this when there came forth from the
baldaquin a young lady and I looked, O Commander of the Faithful,
upon a face and form more perfect than the moon when fullest,
with a favour brighter than the dawn gleaming with saffron-hued
light, even as the poet sang when he said--
Thou pacest the palace a marvel sight, * A bride for a Kisra's or
The fair young girl came down from the estrade and said to me,
"Welcome and well come and good cheer to my sister, the dearly
beloved, the illustrious, and a thousand greetings!" Then she
recited these couplets:--
"An but the house could know who cometh 'twould rejoice, * And
Then sat she down and said to me, "O my sister, I have a brother
who hath had sight of thee at sundry wedding feasts and festive
seasons: he is a youth handsomer than I, and he hath fallen
desperately in love with thee, for that bounteous Destiny hath
garnered in thee all beauty and perfection; and he hath given
silver to this old woman that she might visit thee; and she hath
contrived on this wise to foregather us twain. He hath heard that
thou art one of the nobles of thy tribe nor is he aught less in
his; and, being desirous to ally his lot with thy lot, he hath
practiced this device to bring me in company with thee; for he is
fain to marry thee after the ordinance of Allah and his Apostle;
and in what is lawful and right there is no shame." When I heard
these words and saw myself fairly entrapped in the house, I said,
"Hearing is consenting." She was delighted at this and clapped
her hands;[FN#336] whereupon a door opened and out of it came a
young man blooming in the prime of life, exquisitely dressed, a
model of beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace,
with gentle winning manners and eyebrows like a bended bow and
shaft on cord, and eyes which bewitched all hearts with sorcery
lawful in the sight of the Lord; even as saith some rhymer
describing the like of him:--
His face as the face of the young moon shines * And Fortune
And Allah favour him who said:--
Blest be his beauty; blest the Lord's decree * Who cast and
When I looked at him my heart inclined to him and I loved him;
and he sat by my side and talked with me a while, when the young
lady again clapped her hands and behold, a side door opened and
out of it came the Kazi with his four assessors as witnesses; and
they saluted us and, sitting down, drew up and wrote out the
marriage contract between me and the youth and retired. Then he
turned to me and said, "Be our night blessed," presently adding,
"O my lady, I have a condition to lay on thee." Quoth I, "O my
lord, what is that?" Whereupon he arose and fetching a copy of
the Holy Book presented it to me saying "Swear hereon thou wilt
never look at any other than myself nor incline thy body or thy
heart to him." I swore readily enough to this and he joyed with
exceeding joy and embraced me round the neck while love for him
possessed my whole heart. Then they set the table[FN#339] before
us and we ate and drank till we were satisfied, but I was dying
for the coming of the night. And when night did come he led me to
the bride chamber and slept with me on the bed and continued to
kiss and embrace me till the morning--such a night I had never
seen in my dreams. I lived with him a life of happiness and
delight for a full month, at the end of which I asked his
leave[FN#340] to go on foot to the bazar and buy me certain
especial stuffs and he gave me permission. So I donned my
mantilla and, taking with me the old woman and a
slave-girl,[FN#341] I went to the khan of the silk-mercers, where
I seated myself in the shop front of a young merchant whom the
old woman recommended, saying to me, "This youth's father died
when he was a boy and left him great store of wealth: he hath by
him a mighty fine[FN#342] stock of goods and thou wilt find what
thou seekest with him, for none in the bazar hath better stuffs
than he. Then she said to him, "Show this lady the most costly
stuffs thou hast by thee;" and he replied, "Hearken ing and
obedience!" Then she whispered me, "Say a civil word to him!";
but I replied, "I am pledged to address no man save my lord. And
as she began to sound his praise I said sharply to her, We want
nought of thy sweet speeches; our wish is to buy of him
whatsoever we need, and return home." So he brought me all I
sought and I offered him his money, but he refused to take it
saying, "Let it be a gift offered to my guest this day!" Then
quoth I to the old woman, "If he will not take the money, give
him back his stuff." "By Allah," cried he, "not a thing will I
take from thee: I sell it not for gold or for silver, but I give
it all as a gift for a single kiss; a kiss more precious to me
than everything the shop containeth." Asked the old woman, "What
will the kiss profit thee?"; and, turning to me, whispered, "O my
daughter, thou hearest what this young fellow saith? What harm
will it do thee if he get a kiss from thee and thou gettest what
thou seekest at that price?" Replied I, "I take refuge with Allah
from such action! Knowest thou not that I am bound by an
oath?''[FN#343] But she answered, "Now whist! just let him kiss
thee and neither speak to him nor lean over him, so shalt thou
keep shine oath and thy silver, and no harm whatever shall befal
thee." And she ceased not to persuade me and importune me and
make light of the matter till evil entered into my mind and I put
my head in the poke[FN#344] and, declaring I would ne'er consent,
consented. So I veiled my eyes and held up the edge of my
mantilla between me and the people passing and he put his mouth
to my cheek under the veil. But while kissing me he bit me so
hard a bite that it tore the flesh from my cheek,[FN#345] and
blood flowed fast and faintness came over me. The old woman
caught me in her arms and, when I came to myself, I found the
shop shut up and her sorrowing over me and saying, "Thank Allah
for averting what might have been worse!" Then she said to me,
"Come, take heart and let us go home before the matter become
public and thou be dishonoured. And when thou art safe inside the
house feign sickness and lie down and cover thyself up; and I
will bring thee powders and plasters to cure this bite withal,
and thy wound will be healed at the latest in three days." So
after a while I arose and I was in extreme distress and terror
came full upon me; but I went on little by little till I reached
the house when I pleaded illness and lay me down. When it was
night my husband came in to me and said, "What hath befallen
thee, O my darling, in this excursion of shine?"; and I replied,
"I am not well: my head acheth badly." Then he lighted a candle
and drew near me and looked hard at me and asked, "What is that
wound I see on thy cheek and in the tenderest part too?" And I
answered, When I went out to day with thy leave to buy stuffs, a
camel laden with firewood jostled me and one of the pieces tore
my veil and wounded my cheek as thou seest; for indeed the ways
of this city are strait." "To morrow," cried he, "I will go
complain to the Governor, so shall he gibbet every fuel seller in
Baghdad." "Allah upon thee," said I, "burden not thy soul with
such sin against any man. The fact is I was riding on an ass and
it stumbled, throwing me to the ground; and my cheek lighted upon
a stick or a bit of glass and got this wound." "Then," said he,
"to morrow I will go up to Ja'afar the Barmaki and tell him the
story, so shall he kill every donkey boy in Baghdad." "Wouldst
thou destroy all these men because of my wound," said I, "when
this which befel me was by decree of Allah and His destiny?" But
he answered, "There is no help for it;" and, springing to his
feet, plied me with words and pressed me till I was perplexed and
frightened; and I stuttered and stammered and my speech waxed
thick and I said, "This is a mere accident by decree of Allah."
Then, O Commander of the Faithful, he guessed my case and said,
"Thou hast been false to thine oath." He at once cried out with a
loud cry, whereupon a door opened and in came seven black slaves
whom he commanded to drag me from my bed and throw me down in the
middle of the room. Furthermore, he ordered one of them to pinion
my elbows and squat upon my head; and a second to sit upon my
knees and secure my feet; and drawing his sword he gave it to a
third and said, "Strike her, O Sa'ad, and cut her in twain and
let each one take half and cast it into the Tigris[FN#346] that
the fish may eat her; for such is the retribution due to those
who violate their vows and are unfaithful to their love." And he
redoubled in wrath and recited these couplets:--
"An there be one who shares with me her love, * I'd strangle Love
Then he repeated to the slave, "Smite her, O Sa'ad!" And when the
slave who was sitting upon me made sure of the command he bent
down to me and said, "O my mistress, repeat the profession of
Faith and bethink thee if there be any thing thou wouldst have
done; for verily this is the last hour of thy life." "O good
slave," said I, "wait but a little while and get off my head that
I may charge thee with my last injunctions." Then I raised my
head and saw the state I was in, how I had fallen from high
degree into lowest disgrace; and into death after life (and such
life!) and how I had brought my punishment on myself by my own
sin; where upon the tears streamed from mine eyes and I wept with
exceed ing weeping. But he looked on me with eyes of wrath, and
began repeating:--
"Tell her who turneth from our love to work it injury sore, * And
When I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I wept and looked
at him and began repeating these couplets:--
"To severance you doom my love and all unmoved remain; * My
When I ended my verses tears came again; but the poetry and the
weeping only added fury to his fury, and he recited:--
"'Twas not satiety bade me leave the dearling of my soul, * But
When he ceased reciting I wept again and prayed his pardon and
humbled myself before him and spoke him softly, saying to myself,
"I will work on him with words; so haply he will refrain from
slaying me, even though he take all I have." So I complained of
my sufferings and began to repeat these couplets:--
"Now, by thy life and wert thou just my life thou hadst not
When I ended my verse I wept again; and he looked at me and
reviled me in abusive language,[FN#349] repeating these
couplets:--
"Thou west all taken up with love of other man, not me; * 'Twas
When he had ended his verses he again cried out to the slave,
"Cut her in half and free us from her, for we have no profit of
her. So the slave drew near me, O Commander of the Faithful and I
ceased bandying verses and made sure of death and, despairing of
life, committed my affairs to Almighty Allah, when behold, the
old woman rushed in and threw herself at my husband's feet and
kissed them and wept and said, "O my son, by the rights of my
fosterage and by my long service to thee, I conjure thee pardon
this young lady, for indeed she hath done nothing deserving such
doom. Thou art a very young man and I fear lest her death be laid
at thy door; for it is said:--Whoso slayeth shall be slain. As
for this wanton (since thou deemest her such) drive her out from
thy doors, from thy love and from thy heart." And she ceased not
to weep and importune him till he relented and said, 'I pardon
her, but needs must I set on her my mark which shall show upon
her all my life." Then he bade the slaves drag me along the
ground and lay me out at full length, after stripping me of all
my clothes;[FN#350] and when the slaves had so sat upon me that I
could not move, he fetched in a rod of quince tree and came down
with it upon my body, and continued beating me on the back and
sides till I lost consciousness from excess of pain, and I
despaired of life. Then he commanded the slaves to take me away
as soon as it was dark, together with the old woman to show them
the way and throw me upon the floor of the house wherein I dwelt
before my marriage. They did their lord's bidding and cast me
down in my old home and went their ways. I did not revive from my
swoon till dawn appeared, when I applied myself to the dressing
of my wounds with ointments and other medicaments; and I
medicined myself, but my sides and ribs still showed signs of the
rod as thou hast seen. I lay in weakly case and confined to my
bed for four months before I was able to rise and health returned
to me. At the end of that time I went to the house where all this
had happened and found it a ruin; the street had been pulled down
endlong and rubbish heaps rose where the building erst was; nor
could I learn how this had come about. Then I betook myself to
this my sister on my father's side and found her with these two
black bitches. I saluted her and told her what had betided me and
the whole of my story and she said, "O my sister, who is safe
from the despite of Time and secure? Thanks be to Allah who has
brought thee off safely;" and she began to say:--
"Such is the World, so bear a patient heart * When riches leave
Then she told me her own story, and what had happened to her with
her two sisters and how matters had ended; so we abode together
and the subject of marriage was never on our tongues for all
these years. After a while we were joined by our other sister,
the procuratrix, who goeth out every morning and buyeth all we
require for the day and night; and we continued in such condition
till this last night. In the morning our sister went out, as
usual, to make her market and then befel us what befel from
bringing the Porter into the house and admitting these three
Kalandar men., We entreated them kindly and honourably and a
quarter of the night had not passed ere three grave and
respectable merchants from Mosul joined us and told us their
adventures. We sat talking with them but on one condition which
they violated, whereupon we treated them as sorted with their
breach of promise, and made them repeat the account they had
given of themselves. They did our bidding and we forgave their
offence; so they departed from us and this morning we were
unexpectedly summoned to thy presence. And such is our story! The
Caliph wondered at her words and bade the tale be recorded and
chronicled and laid up in his muniment-chambers.--And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Caliph commanded this story and those of the sister and the
Kalandars to be recorded in the archives and be set in the royal
muniment-chambers. Then he asked the eldest lady, the mistress of
the house, "Knowest thou the whereabouts of the Ifritah who
spelled thy sisters?"; and she answered, "O Commander of the
Faithful, she gave me a ringlet of her hair saying: --Whenas thou
wouldest see me, burn a couple of these hairs and I will be with
thee forthright, even though I were beyond Caucasus-mountain."
Quoth the Caliph, "Bring me hither the hair." So she brought it
and he threw the whole lock upon the fire As soon as the odour of
the burning hair dispread itself, the palace shook and trembled,
and all present heard a rumbling and rolling of thunder and a
noise as of wings and lo! the Jinniyah who had been a serpent
stood in the Caliph's presence. Now she was a Moslemah, so she
saluted him and said, "Peace be with thee O Vicar[FN#351] of
Allah;" whereto he replied, "And with thee also be peace and the
mercy of Allah and His blessing." Then she continued, "Know that
this damsel sowed for me the seed of kindness, wherefor I cannot
enough requite her, in that she delivered me from death and
destroyed mine enemy. Now I had seen how her sisters dealt with
her and felt myself bound to avenge her on them. At first I was
minded to slay them, but I feared it would be grievous to her, so
I transformed them to bitches; but if thou desire their release,
O Commander of the Faithful, I will release them to pleasure thee
and her for I am of the Moslems." Quoth the Caliph, "Release them
and after we will look into the affair of the beaten lady and
consider her case carefully; and if the truth of her story be
evidenced I will exact retaliation[FN#352] from him who wronged
her." Said the Ifritah, "O Commander of the Faithful, I will
forthwith release them and will discover to thee the man who did
that deed by this lady and wronged her and took her property, and
he is the nearest of all men to thee!" So saying she took a cup
of water and muttered a spell over it and uttered words there was
no understanding; then she sprinkled some of the water over the
faces of the two bitches, saying, "Return to your former human
shape!" whereupon they were restored to their natural forms and
fell to praising their Creator. Then said the Ifritah, "O
Commander of the Faithful, of a truth he who scourged this lady
with rods is thy son Al-Amin brother of Al-Maamun ;[FN#353] for
he had heard of her beauty and love liness and he played a
lover's stratagem with her and married her according to the law
and committed the crime (such as it is) of scourging her. Yet
indeed he is not to be blamed for beating her, for he laid a
condition on her and swore her by a solemn oath not to do a
certain thing; however, she was false to her vow and he was
minded to put her to death, but he feared Almighty Allah and
contented himself with scourging her, as thou hast seen, and with
sending her back to her own place. Such is the story of the
second lady and the Lord knoweth all." When the Caliph heard
these words of the Ifritah, and knew who had beaten the damsel,
he marvelled with mighty marvel and said, "Praise be to Allah,
the Most High, the Almighty, who hath shown his exceeding mercy
towards me, enabling me to deliver these two damsels from sorcery
and torture, and vouchsafing to let me know the secret of this
lady's history! And now by Allah, we will do a deed which shall
be recorded of us after we are no more." Then he summoned his son
Al-Amin and questioned him of the story of the second lady, the
portress; and he told it in the face of truth; whereupon the
Caliph bade call into presence the Kazis and their witnesses and
the three Kalandars and the first lady with her sisters german
who had been ensorcelled; and he married the three to the three
Kalandars whom he knew to be princes and sons of Kings and he
appointed them chamberlains about his person, assigning to them
stipends and allowances and all that they required, and lodging
them in his palace at Baghdad. He returned the beaten lady to his
son, Al-Amin, renewing the marriage contract between them and
gave her great wealth and bade rebuild the house fairer than it
was before. As for himself he took to wife the procuratrix and
lay with her that night: and next day he set apart for her an
apartment in his Serraglio, with handmaidens for her service and
a fixed daily allowance And the people marvelled at their
Caliph's generosity and natural beneficence and princely widsom;
nor did he forget to send all these histories to be recorded in
his annals. When Shahrazad ceased speaking Dunyazad exclaimed, "O
my own sister, by Allah in very sooth this is a right pleasant
tale and a delectable; never was heard the like of it, but
prithee tell me now another story to while away what yet
remaineth of the waking hours of this our night." She replied,
"With love and gladness if the King give me leave;" and he said,
"Tell thy tale and tell it quickly." So she began, in these
words, the
They relate, O King of the age and lord of the time and of these
days, that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid summoned his Wazir Ja'afar
one night and said to him, 'I desire to go down into the city and
question the common folk concerning the conduct of those charged
with its governance; and those of whom they complain we will
depose from office and those whom they commend we will promote."
Quoth Ja'afar, "Hearkening and obedience!" So the Caliph went
down with Ja'afar and Eunuch Masrur to the town and walked about
the streets and markets and, as they were threading a narrow
alley, they came upon a very old man with a fishing-net and crate
to carry small fish on his head, and in his hand a staff; and, as
he walked at a leisurely pace, he repeated these lines:--
"They say me: --Thou shinest a light to mankind * With thy lore
When the Caliph heard his verses he said to Ja'afar, "See this
poor man and note his verses, for surely they point to his
necessities." Then he accosted him and asked, "O Shaykh, what be
thine occupation?" and the poor man answered, "O my lord, I am a
fisherman with a family to keep and I have been out between
mid-day and this time; and not a thing hath Allah made my portion
wherewithal to feed my family. I cannot even pawn myself to buy
them a supper and I hate and disgust my life and I hanker after
death." Quoth the Caliph, "Say me, wilt thou return with us to
Tigris' bank and cast thy net on my luck, and whatsoever turneth
up I will buy of thee for an hundred gold pieces?" The man
rejoiced when he heard these words and said, "On my head be it! I
will go back with you;" and, returning with them river-wards,
made a cast and waited a while; then he hauled in the rope and
dragged the net ashore and there appeared in it a chest padlocked
and heavy. The Caliph examined it and lifted it finding it
weighty; so he gave the fisherman two hundred dinars and sent him
about his business; whilst Masrur, aided by the Caliph, carried
the chest to the palace and set it down and lighted the candles.
Ja'afar and Masrur then broke it open and found therein a basket
of palm-leaves corded with red worsted. This they cut open and
saw within it a piece of carpet which they lifted out, and under
it was a woman's mantilla folded in four, which they pulled out;
and at the bottom of the chest they came upon a young lady, fair
as a silver ingot, slain and cut into nineteen pieces. When the
Caliph looked upon her he cried, "Alas!" and tears ran down his
cheeks and turning to Ja'afar he said, "O dog of Wazirs, [FN#354]
shall folk be murdered in our reign and be cast into the river to
be a burden and a responsibility for us on the Day of Doom? By
Allah, we must avenge this woman on her murderer and he shall be
made die the worst of deaths!" And presently he added, " Now, as
surely as we are descended from the Sons of Abbas, [FN#355] if
thou bring us not him who slew her, that we do her justice on
him, I will hang thee at the gate of my palace, thee and forty of
thy kith and kin by thy side." And the: Caliph was wroth with
exceeding rage. Quoth Ja'afar, "Grant me three days' delay;" and
quoth the Caliph, "We grant thee this." So Ja'afar went out from
before him and returned to his own house, full of sorrow and
saying to himself, "How shall I find him who murdered this
damsel, that I may bring him before the Caliph? If I bring other
than the murderer, it will be laid to my charge by the Lord: in
very sooth I wot not what to do." He kept his house three days
and on the fourth day the Caliph sent one of the Chamberlains for
him and, as he came into the presence, asked him, "Where is the
murderer of the damsel?" to which answered Ja'afar, "O Commander
of the Faithful, am I inspector of " murdered folk that I should
ken who killed her?" The Caliph was furious at his answer and
bade hang him before the palace-gate and commanded that a crier
cry through the streets of Baghdad, "Whoso would see the hanging
of Ja'afar, the Barmaki, Wazir of the Caliph, with forty of the
Barmecides, [FN#356] his cousins and kinsmen, before the
palace-gate, let him come and let him look!" The people flocked
out from all the quarters of the city to witness the execution of
Ja'afar and his kinsmen, not knowing the cause. Then they set up
the gallows and made Ja'afar and the others stand underneath in
readiness for execution, but whilst every eye was looking for the
Caliph's signal, and the crowd wept for Ja'afar and his cousins
of the Barmecides, lo and behold! a young man fair of face and
neat of dress and of favour like the moon raining light, with
eyes black and bright, and brow flower-white, and cheeks red as
rose and young down where the beard grows, and a mole like a
grain of ambergris, pushed his way through the people till he
stood immediately before the Wazir and said to him, "Safety to
thee from this strait, O Prince of the Emirs and Asylum of the
poor! I am the man who slew the woman ye found in the chest, so
hang me for her and do her justice on me!" When Ja'afar heard the
youth's confession he rejoiced at his own deliverance. but
grieved and sorrowed for the fair youth; and whilst they were yet
talking behold, another man well stricken in years pressed
forwards through the people and thrust his way amid the populace
till he came to Ja'afar and the youth, whom he saluted saying,
"Ho thou the Wazir and Prince sans-peer! believe not the words of
this youth. Of a surety none murdered the damsel but I; take her
wreak on me this moment; for, an thou do not thus, I will require
it of thee before Almighty Allah." Then quoth the young man, "O
Wazir, this is an old man in his dotage who wotteth not whatso he
saith ever, and I am he who murdered her, so do thou avenge her
on me!" Quoth the old man, "O my son, thou art young and desirest
the joys of the world and I am old and weary and surfeited with
the world: I will offer my life as a ransom for thee and for the
Wazir and his cousins. No one murdered the damsel but I, so Allah
upon thee, make haste to hang me, for no life is left in me now
that hers is gone." The Wazir marvelled much at all this
strangeness and, taking the young man and the old man, carried
them before the Caliph, where, after kissing the ground seven
times between his hands, he said, "O Commander of the Faithful, I
bring thee the murderer of the damsel!" "Where is he?" asked the
Caliph and Ja'afar answered, "This young man saith, I am the
murderer, and this old man giving him the lie saith, I am the
murderer, and behold, here are the twain standing before thee."
The Caliph looked at the old man and the young man and asked,
"Which of you killed the girl?" The young man replied, "No one
slew her save I;" and the old man answered, "Indeed none killed
her but myself." Then said the Caliph to Ja'afar, "Take the twain
and hang them both;" but Ja'afar rejoined, "Since one of them was
the murderer, to hang the other were mere injustice."[FN#357] "By
Him who raised the firmament and dispread the earth like a
carpet," cried the youth, "I am he who slew the damsel;" and he
went on to describe the manner of her murder and the basket, the
mantilla and the bit of carpet, in fact all that the Caliph had
found upon her. So the Caliph was certified that the young man
was the murderer; whereat he wondered and asked him, 'What was
the cause of thy wrongfully doing this damsel to die and what
made thee confess the murder without the bastinado, and what
brought thee here to yield up thy life, and what made thee say Do
her wreak upon me?" The youth answered, "Know, O Commander of the
Faithful, that this woman was my wife and the mother of my
children; also my first cousin and the daughter of my paternal
uncle, this old man who is my father's own brother. When I
married her she was a maid [FN#358] and Allah blessed me with
three male children by her; she loved me and served me and I saw
no evil in her, for I also loved her with fondest love. Now on
the first day of this month she fell ill with grievous sickness
and I fetched in physicians to her; but recovery came to her
little by little. and, when I wished her to go to the Hammam.
bath, she said, "There is a something I long for before I go to
the bath and I long for it with an exceeding longing." To hear is
to comply," said I. "And what is it?" Quoth she, "I have a queasy
craving for an apple, to smell it and bite a bit of it." I
replied, "Hadst thou a thousand longings I would try to satisfy
them!" So I went on the instant into the city and sought for
apples but could find none; yet, had they cost a gold piece each,
would I have bought them. I was vexed at this and went home and
said, "O daughter of my uncle. by Allah I can find none!" She was
distressed, being yet very weakly, and her weakness in. creased
greatly on her that night and I felt anxious and alarmed on her
account. As soon as morning dawned I went out again and made the
round of the gardens, one by one, but found no apples anywhere.
At last there met me an old gardener. of whom I asked about them
and he answered, "O my son, this fruit is a rarity with us and is
not now to be found save in the garden of the Commander of the
Faithful at Bassorah, where the gardener keepeth it for the
Caliph's eating." I returned to my house troubled by my
ill-success; and my love for my wife and my affection moved me to
undertake the journey. So I gat me ready and set out and
travelled fifteen days and nights, going and coming, and brought
her three apples which I bought from the gardener for three
dinars. But when I went in to my wife and set them before her,
she took no pleasure in them and let them lie by her side; for
her weakness and fever had increased on her and her malady lasted
without abating ten days, after which time she began to recover
health. So I left my house and be. taking me to my shop sat there
buying and selling; and about midday behold, a great ugly black
slave, long as a lance and broad as a bench, passed by my shop
holding in hand one of the three apples wherewith he was playing.
Quoth I, "O my good slave, tell me whence thou tookest that
apple, that I may get the like of it?" He laughed and answered,
"I got it from my mistress, for I had been absent and on my
return I found her lying ill with three apples by her side, and
she said to me, 'My horned wittol of a husband made a journey for
them to Bassorah and bought them for three dinars.' So I ate and
drank with her and took this one from her." [FN#359] When I heard
such words from the slave, O Commander of the Faithful, the world
grew black before my face, and I arose and locked up my shop and
went home beside myself for excess of rage. I looked for the
apples and finding only two of the three asked my wife, "O my
cousin, where is the third apple?"; and raising her head
languidly she answered, "I wet not, O son of my uncle, where 'tis
gone!" This convinced me that the slave had spoken the truth, so
I took a knife and coming behind her got upon her breast without
a word said and cut her throat. Then I hewed off her head and her
limbs in pieces and, wrapping her in her mantilla and a rag of
carpet, hurriedly sewed up the whole which I set in a chest and,
locking it tight, loaded it on my he-mule and threw it into the
Tigris with my own hands. So Allah upon thee, O Commander of the
Faithful, make haste to hang me, as I fear lest she appeal for
vengeance on Resurrection Day. For, when I had thrown her into
the river and none knew aught of it, as I went back home I found
my eldest son crying and yet he knew naught of what I had done
with his mother. I asked him, "What hath made thee weep, my boy?"
and he answered, "I took one of the three apples which were by my
mammy and went down into the lane to play with my brethren when
behold, a big long black slave snatched it from my hand and said.
'Whence hadst thou this?' Quoth I, 'My father travelled far for
it, and brought it from Bassorah for my mother who was ill and
two other apples for which he paid three ducats.' He took no heed
of my words and I asked for the apple a second and a third time,
but he cuffed me and kicked me and went off with it. I was afraid
lest my mother should swinge me on account of the apple, so for
fear of her I went with my brother outside the city and stayed
there till evening closed in upon us; and indeed I am in fear of
her; and now by Allah, O my father, say nothing to her of this or
it may add to her ailment!" When I heard what-my child said I
knew that the slave was he who had foully slandered my wife, the
daughter of my uncle, and was certified that I had slain her
wrong. fully. So I wept with exceeding weeping and presently this
old man, my paternal uncle and her father, came in; and I told
him what had happened and he sat down by my side and wept and we
ceased not weeping till midnight. We have kept up mourning for
her these last five days and we lamented her in the deepest
sorrow for that she was unjustly done to die. This came from the
gratuitous lying of the slave, the blackamoor, and this was the
manner of my killing her; so I conjure thee, by the honour of
thine ancestors, make haste to kill me and do her justice upon
me, as there is no living for me after her!" The Caliph marvelled
at his words and said, "By Allah, the young man is excusable: I
will hang none but the accursed slave and I will do a deed which
shall comfort the ill-at-ease and suffering, and which shall
please the All-glorious King."--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph
swore he would hang none but the slave, for the youth was
excusable. Then he turned to Ja'afar and said to him, "Bring
before me this accursed slave who was the sole cause of this
calamity; and, if thou bring him not before me within three days,
thou shalt be slain in his stead." So Ja'afar fared forth weeping
and saying. "Two deaths have already beset me, nor shall the
crock come of safe from every shock.' [FN#360] In this matter
craft and cunning are of no avail; but He who preserved my life
the first time can preserve it a second time. By Allah, I will
not leave my house during the three days of life which remain to
me and let the Truth (whose perfection be praised!) do e'en as He
will." So he kept his house three days, and on the fourth day he
summoned the Kazis and legal witnesses and made his last will and
testament, and took leave of his children weeping. Presently in
came a messenger from the Caliph and said to him, "The Commander
of the Faithful is in the most violent rage that can be, and he
sendeth to seek thee and he sweareth that the day shall certainly
not pass without thy being hanged unless the slave be forth.
coming." When Ja'afar heard this he wept, and his children and
slaves and all who were in the house wept with him. After he had
bidden adieu to everybody except his youngest daughter, he
proceeded to farewell her; for he loved this wee one, who was a
beautiful child, more than all his other children; and he pressed
her to his breast and kissed her and wept bitterly at parting
from her; when he felt something round inside the bosom of her
dress and asked her, "O my little maid, what is in thy bosom
pocket?"; "O my father," she replied, "it is an apple with the
name of our Lord the Caliph written upon it. Rayh�n our slave
brought it to me four days ago and would not let me have it till
I gave him two dinars for it." When Ja'afar heard speak of the
slave and the apple, he was glad and put his hand into his
child's pocket [FN#361] and drew out the apple and knew it and
rejoiced saying, "O ready Dispeller of trouble " [FN#362] Then he
bade them bring the slave and said to him, "Fie upon thee,
Rayhan! whence haddest thou this apple?" "By Allah, O my master,"
he replied, "though a lie may get a man once off, yet may truth
get him off, and well off, again and again. I did not steal this
apple from thy palace nor from the gardens of the Commander of
the Faithful. The fact is that five days ago, as I was walking
along one of the alleys of this city, I saw some little ones at
play and this apple in hand of one of them. So I snatched it from
him and beat him and he cried and said, 'O youth this apple is my
mother's and she is ill. She told my father how she longed for an
apple, so he travelled to Bassorah and bought her three apples
for three gold pieces, and I took one of them to play withal.' He
wept again, but I paid no heed to what he said and carried it off
and brought it here, and my little lady bought it of me for two
dinars of gold. And this is the whole story." When Ja'afar heard
his words he marvelled that the murder of the damsel and all this
misery should have been caused by his slave; he grieved for the
relation of the slave to himself, while rejoicing over his own
deliverance, and he repeated these lines: --
"If ill betide thee through thy slave, * Make him forthright thy
Then he took the slave's hand and, leading him to the Caliph,
related the story from first to last and the Caliph marvelled
with extreme astonishment, and laughed till he fell on his back
and ordered that the story be recorded and be made public amongst
the people. But Ja'afar said, "Marvel not, O Commander of the
Faithful, at this adventure, for it is not more wondrous than the
History of the Wazir N�r al-D�n Ali of Egypt and his brother
Shams al-D�n Mohammed. -- Quoth the Caliph, "Out with it; but
what can be stranger than this story?" And Ja'afar answered, "O
Commander of the Faithful, I will not tell it thee, save on
condition that thou pardon my slave;" and the Caliph rejoined,
"If it be indeed more wondrous than that of the three apples, I
grant thee his blood, and if not I will surely slay thy slave."
So Ja'afar began in these words the
Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that in times of yore the land
of Egypt was ruled by a Sultan endowed with justice and
generosity, one who loved the pious poor and companied with the
Olema and learned men; and he had a Wazir, a wise and an
experienced, well versed in affairs and in the art of government.
This Minister, who was a very old man, had two sons, as they were
two moons; never man saw the like of them for beauty and grace,
the elder called Shams al-Din Mohammed and the younger Nur al-Din
Ali; but the younger excelled the elder in seemliness and
pleasing semblance, so that folk heard his fame in far countries
and men flocked to Egypt for the purpose of seeing him. In
course of time their father, the Wazir, died and was deeply
regretted and mourned by the Sultan, who sent for his two sons
and, investing them with dresses of honour, [FN#363] said to
them, "Let not your hearts be troubled, for ye shall stand in
your father's stead and be joint Ministers of Egypt." At this
they rejoiced and kissed the ground before him and performed the
ceremonial mourning [FN#364] for their father during a full
month; after which time they entered upon the Wazirate, and the
power passed into their hands as it had been in the hands of
their father, each doing duty for a week at a time. They lived
under the same roof and their word was one; and whenever the
Sultan desired to travel they took it by turns to be in
attendance on him. It fortuned one night that the Sultan
purposed setting out on a journey next morning, and the elder,
whose turn it was to accompany him, was sitting conversing with
his brother and said to him, "O my brother, it is my wish that we
both marry, I and thou, two sisters; and go in to our wives on
one and the same night." "Do, O my brother, as thou desirest,"
the younger replied, "for right is thy recking and surely I will
comply with thee in whatso thou sayest." So they agreed upon
this and quoth Shams al-Din, "If Allah decree that we marry two
damsels and go in to them on the same night, and they shall
conceive on their bridenights and bear children to us on the same
day, and by Allah's will they wife bear thee a son and my wife
bear me a daughter, let us wed them either to other, for they
will be cousins." Quoth Nur al-Din, "O my brother, Shams al-Din,
what dower [FN#365] wilt thou require from my son for thy
daughter?" Quoth Shams al-Din, "I will take three thousand
dinars and three pleasure gardens and three farms; and it would
not be seemly that the youth make contract for less than this."
When Nur al-Din heard such demand he said, "What manner of dower
is this thou wouldst impose upon my son? Wottest thou not that
we are brothers and both by Allah's grace Wazirs and equal in
office? It behoveth thee to offer thy daughter to my son without
marriage settlement; or if one need be, it should represent a
mere nominal value by way of show to the world: for thou knowest
that the masculine is worthier than the feminine, and my son is a
male and our memory will be preserved by him, not by thy
daughter." "But what," said Shams al-Din, "is she to have?"; and
Nur al-Din continued, "Through her we shall not be remembered
among the Emirs of the earth; but I see thou wouldest do with me
according to the saying:--An thou wouldst bluff off a buyer, ask
him high price and higher; or as did a man who, they say, went to
a friend and asked something of him being in necessity and was
answered, �Bismallah, [FN#366] in the name of Allah, I will do
all what thou requirest but come to-morrow!' Whereupon the other
replied in this verse:--
�When he who is asked a favour saith "To-morrow," * The wise man
wots �tis vain to beg or borrow.'"
Quoth Shams al-Din, "Basta! [FN#367] I see thee fail in respect
to me by making thy son of more account than my daughter; and
�tis plain that thine understanding is of the meanest and that
thou lackest manners. Thou remindest me of thy partnership in
the Wazirate, when I admitted thee to share with me only in pity
for thee, and not wishing to mortify thee; and that thou mightest
help me as a manner of assistant. But since thou talkest on this
wise, by Allah, I will never marry my daughter to thy son; no,
not for her weight in gold!" When Nur al-Din heard his brother's
words he waxed wroth and said, "And I too, I will never, never
marry my son to thy daughter; no, not to keep from my lips the
cup of death." Shams al-Din replied, "I would not accept him as
a husband for her, and he is not worth a paring of her nail.
Were I not about to travel I would make an example of thee;
however when I return thou shalt see, and I will show thee, how I
can assert my dignity and vindicate my honour. But Allah doeth
whatso He willeth."[FN#368] When Nur al-Din heard this speech
from his brother, he was filled with fury and lost his wits for
rage; but he hid what he felt and held his peace; and each of the
brothers passed the night in a place far apart, wild with wrath
against the other. As soon as morning dawned the Sultan fared
forth in state and crossed over from Cairo [FN#369] to Jizah
[FN#370] and made for the pyramids, accompanied by the Wazir
Shams al-Din, whose turn of duty it was, whilst his brother Nur
al-din, who passed the night in sore rage, rose with the light
and prayed the dawn-prayer. Then he betook himself to his
treasury and, taking a small pair of saddle-bags, filled them
with gold; and he called to mind his brother's threats and the
contempt wherewith he had treated him, and he repeated these
couplets:--
"Travel! and thou shalt find new friends for old ones left
When he ended his verse he bade one of his pages saddle him his
Nubian mare-mule with her padded selle. Now she was a dapple-
grey, [FN#372] with ears like reed-pens and legs like columns and
a back high and strong as a dome builded on pillars; her saddle
was of gold-cloth and her stirrups of Indian steel, and her
housing of Ispahan velvet; she had trappings which would serve
the Chosroes, and she was like a bride adorned for her wedding
night. Moreover he bade lay on her back a piece of silk for a
seat, and a prayer-carpet under which were his saddle-bags. When
this was done he said to his pages and slaves, "I purpose going
forth a-pleasuring outside the city on the road to Kalyub-town,
[FN#373] and I shall lie three nights abroad; so let none of you
follow me, for there is something straiteneth my breast." Then
he mounted the mule in haste; and, taking with him some provaunt
for the way, set out from Cairo and faced the open and
uncultivated country lying around it. [FN#374] About noontide he
entered Bilbays-city, [FN#375] where he dismounted and stayed
awhile to rest himself and his mule and ate some of his victual.
He bought at Bilbays all he wanted for himself and forage for his
mule and then fared on the way of the waste. Towards night-fall
he entered a town called Sa'adiyah [FN#376] where he alighted and
took out somewhat of his viaticum and ate; then he spread his
strip of silk on the sand and set the saddle-bags under his head
and slept in the open air; for he was still overcome with anger.
When morning dawned he mounted and rode onward till he reached
the Holy City, [FN#377] Jerusalem, and thence he made Aleppo,
where he dismounted at one of the caravanserais and abode three
days to rest himself and the mule and to smell the air. [FN#378]
Then, being determined to travel afar and Allah having written
safety in his fate, he set out again, wending without wotting
whither he was going; and, having fallen in with certain
couriers, he stinted not travelling till he had reached Bassorah-
city albeit he knew not what the place was. It was dark night
when he alighted at the Khan, so he spread out his prayer-carpet
and took down the saddle-bags from the back of his mule and gave
her with her furniture in charge of the door-keeper that he might
walk her about. The man took her and did as he was bid. Now it
so happened that the Wazir of Bassorah, a man shot in years, was
sitting at the lattice-window of his palace opposite the Khan and
he saw the porter walking the mule up and down. He was struck by
her trappings of price and thought her a nice beast fit for the
riding of Wazirs or even of royalties; and the more he looked the
more was he perplexed till at last he said to one of his pages,
"Bring hither yon door-keeper," The page went and returned to
the Wazir with the porter who kissed the ground between his
hands, and the Minister asked him, "Who is the owner of yonder
mule and what manner of man is he?"; and he answered, "O my lord,
the owner of this mule is a comely young man of pleasant manners,
withal grave and dignified, and doubtless one of the sons of the
merchants." When the Wazir heard the door-keeper's words he
arose forthright; and, mounting his horse, rode to the Khan
[FN#379] and went in to Nur al-Din who, seeing the minister
making towards him, rose to his feet and advanced to meet him and
saluted him. The Wazir welcomed him to Bassorah and dis-
mounting, embraced him and made him sit down by his side and
said, "O my son, whence comest thou and what dost thou seek?" "O
my lord," Nur al-Din replied, "I have come from Cairo-city of
which my father was whilome Wazir; but he hath been removed to
the grace of Allah;" and he informed him of all that had befallen
him from beginning to end, adding, "I am resolved never to return
home before I have seen all the cities and countries of the
world." When the Wazir heard this, he said to him, "O my son,
hearken not to the voice of passion lest it cast thee into the
pit; for indeed many regions be waste places and I fear for thee
the turns of Time." Then he let load the saddle-bags and the
silk and prayer-carpets on the mule and carried Nur al-Din to his
own house, where he lodged him in a pleasant place and entreated
him honourably and made much of him, for he inclined to love him
with exceeding love. After a while he said to him, "O my son,
here am I left a man in years and have no male children, but
Allah hath blessed me with a daughter who eventh thee in beauty;
and I have rejected all her many suitors, men of rank and
substance. But affection for thee hath entered into my heart;
say me, then, wilt thou be to her a husband? If thou accept
this, I will go up with thee to the Sultan of Bassorah [FN#380]
and will tell him that thou art my nephew, the son of my brother,
and bring thee to be appointed Wazir in my place that I may keep
the house for, by Allah, O my son, I am stricken in years and
aweary." When Nur al-Din heard the Wazir's words, he bowed his
head in modesty and said, "To hear is to obey!" At this the
Wazir rejoiced and bade his servants prepare a feast and decorate
the great assembly-hall, wherein they were wont to celebrate the
marriages of Emirs and Grandees. Then he assembled his friends
and the notables of the reign and the merchants of Bassorah and
when all stood before him he said to them, "I had a brother who
was Wazir in the land of Egypt, and Allah Almighty blessed him
with two sons, whilst to me, as well ye wot, He hath given a
daughter. My brother charged me to marry my daughter to one of
his sons, whereto I assented; and, when my daughter was of age to
marry, he sent me one of his sons, the young man now present, to
whom I purpose marrying her, drawing up the contract and
celebrating the night of unveiling with due ceremony; for he is
nearer and dearer to me than a stranger and, after the wedding,
if he please he shall abide with me, or if he desire to travel I
will forward him and his wife to his father's home." Hereat one
and all replied, "Right is thy recking;" and they all looked at
the bridegroom and were pleased with him. So the Wazir sent for
the Kazi and legal witnesses and they wrote out the marriage-
contract, after which the slaves perfumed the guests with
incense, [FN#381] and served them with sherbet of sugar and
sprinkled rose-water on them and all went their ways. Then the
Wazir bade his servants take Nur al-Din to the Hammam-baths and
sent him a suit of the best of his own especial raiment, and
napkins and towelry and bowls and perfume-burners and all else
that was required. After the bath, when he came out and donned
the dress, he was even as the full moon on the fourteenth night;
and he mounted his mule and stayed not till he reached the
Wazir's palace. There he dismounted and went in to the Minister
and kissed his hands, and the Wazir bade him welcome.--And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir
stood up to him and welcoming him said, "Arise and go in to thy
wife this night, and on the morrow I will carry thee to the
Sultan, and pray Allah bless thee with all manner of weal." So
Nur al-Din left him and went into his wife the Wazir's daughter.
Thus far concerning him, but as regards his eldest brother, Shams
al-Din, he was absent with the Sultan a long time and when he
returned from his journey he found not his brother; and he asked
of his servants and slaves who answered, "On the day of thy
departure with the Sultan, thy brother mounted his mule fully
caparisoned as for state procession saying, �I am going towards
Kalyub-town and I shall be absent one day or at most two days;
for my breast is straitened, and let none of you follow me.'
Then he fared forth and from that time to this we have heard no
tidings of him." Shams al-Din was greatly troubled at the sudden
disappearance of his brother and grieved with exceeding grief at
the loss and said to himself, "This is only because I chided and
upbraided him the night before my departure with the Sultan;
haply his feelings were hurt and he fared forth a-travelling; but
I must send after him." Then he went in to the Sultan and
acquainted him with what had happened and wrote letters and
dispatches, which he sent by running footmen to his deputies in
every province. But during the twenty days of his brother's
absence Nur al-Din had travelled far and had reached Bassorah; so
after diligent search the messengers failed to come at any news
of him and returned. Thereupon Shams al-Din despaired of finding
his brother and said, "Indeed I went beyond all bounds in what I
said to him with reference to the marriage of our children.
Would that I had not done so! This all cometh of my lack of wit
and want of caution." Soon after this he sought in marriage the
daughter of a Cairene merchant, [FN#382] and drew up the marriage
contract and went in to her. And it so chanced that, on the very
same night when Shams al-Din went in to his wife, Nur al-Din also
went in to his wife the daughter of the Wazir of Bassorah; this
being in accordance with the will of Almighty Allah, that He
might deal the decrees of Destiny to His creatures. Furthermore,
it was as the two brothers had said; for their two wives became
pregnant by them on the same night and both were brought to bed
on the same day; the wife of Shams al-Din, Wazir of Egypt, of a
daughter, never in Cairo was seen a fairer; and the wife of Nur
al-Din of a son, none more beautiful was ever seen in his time,
as one of the poets said concerning the like of him:--
That jetty hair, that glossy brow,
And as another also said:--
His scent was musk and his cheek was rose; * His teeth are pearls
They named the boy Badr al-Din Hasan and his grandfather, the
Wazir of Bassorah, rejoiced in him and, on the seventh day after
his birth, made entertainments and spread banquets which would
befit the birth of Kings' sons and heirs. Then he took Nur al-
Din and went up with him to the Sultan, and his son-in-law, when
he came before the presence of the King, kissed the ground
between his hands and repeated these verses, for he was ready of
speech, firm of sprite and good in heart as he was goodly in
form:--
"The world's best joys long be thy lot, my lord! * And last while
Then the Sultan rose up to honour them, and thanking Nur al-Din
for his fine compliment, asked the Wazir, "Who may be this young
man?"; and the Minister answered, "This is my brother's son," and
related his tale from first to last. Quoth the Sultan, "And how
comes he to be thy nephew and we have never heard speak of him?"
Quoth the Minister, "O our lord the Sultan, I had a brother who
was Wazir in the land of Egypt and he died, leaving two sons,
whereof the elder hath taken his father's place and the younger,
whom thou seest, came to me. I had sworn I would not marry my
daughter to any but to him; so when he came I married him to her.
[FN#385] Now he is young and I am old; my hearing is dulled and
my judgement is easily fooled; wherefore I would solicit our lord
the Sultan [FN#386] to set him in my stead, for he is my
brother's son and my daughter's husband; and he is fit for the
Wazirate, being a man of good counsel and ready contrivance."
The Sultan looked at Nur al-Din and liked him, so he stablished
him in office as the Wazir had requested and formally appointed
him, presenting him with a splendid dress of honour and a she-
mule from his private stud; and assigning to him solde, stipends
and supplies. Nur al-Din kissed the Sultan's hand and went home,
he and his father-in-law, joying with exceeding joy and saying,
"All this followeth on the heels of the boy Hasan's birth!" Next
day he presented himself before the King and, kissing the ground,
began repeating:--
"Grow thy weal and thy welfare day by day: * And thy luck
The Sultan bade him be seated on the Wazir's seat, so he sat down
and applied himself to the business of his office and went into
the cases of the lieges and their suits, as is the wont of
Ministers; while the Sultan watched him and wondered at his wit
and good sense, judgement and insight. Wherefor he loved him and
took him into intimacy. When the Divan was dismissed Nur al-Din
returned to his house and related what had passed to his father-
in-law who rejoiced. And thenceforward Nur al-Din ceased not so
to administer the Wazirate that the Sultan would not be parted
from him night or day; and increased his stipend and supplies
until his means were ample and he became the owner of ships that
made trading voyages at his command, as well as of Mamelukes and
blackamoor slaves; and he laid out many estates and set up
Persian wheels and planted gardens. When his son Hasan was four
years of age, the old Wazir deceased and he made for his father-
in-law a sumptuous funeral ceremony ere he was laid in the dust.
Then he occupied himself with the education of this son and, when
the boy waxed strong and came to the age of seven, he brought him
a Fakih, a doctor of law and religion, to teach him in his own
house and charged him to give him a good education and instruct
him in politeness and manners. So the tutor made the boy read
and retain all varieties of useful knowledge, after he had spent
some years in learning the Koran by heart; [FN#387] and he ceased
not to grow in beauty and stature and symmetry, even as saith the
poet:--
In his face-sky shines the fullest moon; * In his cheeks' anemone
The professor brought him up in his father's palace teaching him
reading, writing and cyphering, theology and belles lettres. His
grandfather the old Wazir had bequeathed to him the whole of his
property when he was but four years of age. Now during all the
time of his earliest youth he had never left the house, till on a
certain day his father, the Wazir Nur al-Din, clad him in his
best clothes and, mounting him on a she-mule of the finest, went
up with him to the Sultan. The King gazed at Badr al-Din Hasan
and marvelled at his comeliness and loved him. As for the city-
folk, when he first passed before them with his father, they
marvelled at his exceeding beauty and sat down on the road
expecting his return, that they might look their fill on his
beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace; even as the
poet said in these verses:--
As the sage watched the stars, the semblance clear
Of a fair youth on �s scroll he saw appear.
Those jetty locks Canopus o'er him threw,
And tinged his temple curls a musky hue;
Mars dyed his ruddy cheek; and from his eyes
The Archer-star his glittering arrow flies;
His wit from Hermes came; and Soha's care,
(The half-seen star that dimly haunts the Bear)
Kept off all evil eyes that threaten and ensnare,
The sage stood mazed to see such fortunes meet,
And Luna kissed the earth beneath his feet. [FN#388]
And they blessed him aloud as he passed and called upon Almighty
Allah to bless him. [FN#389] The Sultan entreated the lad with
especial favour and said to his father, "O Wazir, thou must needs
bring him daily to my presence;" whereupon he replied, "I hear
and I obey." Then the Wazir returned home with his son and
ceased not to carry him to court till he reached the age of
twenty. At that time the Minister sickened and, sending for Badr
al-Din Hasan, said to him, "Know, O my son, that the world of the
Present is but a house of mortality, while that of the Future is
a house of eternity. I wish, before I die, to bequeath thee
certain charges and do thou take heed of what I say and incline
thy heart to my words." Then he gave him last instructions as to
the properest way of dealing with his neighbours and the due
management of his affairs; after which he called to mind his
brother and his home and his native land and wept over his
separation from those he had first loved. Then he wiped away his
tears and, turning to his son, said to him, "Before I proceed, O
my son, to my last charges and injunctions, know that I have a
brother, and thou hast an uncle, Shams al-Din hight, the Wazir of
Cairo, which whom I parted, leaving him against his will. Now
take thee a sheet of paper and write upon it whatso I say to
thee." Badr al-Din took a fair leaf and set about doing his
father's bidding and he wrote thereon a full account of what had
happened to his sire first and last; the dates of his arrival at
Bassorah and of his foregathering with the Wazir; of his
marriage, of his going in to the Minister's daughter and of the
birth of his son; brief, his life of forty years from the date of
his dispute with his brother, adding the words, "And this is
written at my dictation and may Almighty Allah be with him when I
am gone!" Then he folded the paper and sealed it and said, "O
Hasan, O my son, keep this paper with all care; for it will
enable thee to stablish thine origin and rank and lineage and, if
anything contrary befal thee, set out for Cairo and ask for thine
uncle and show him this paper and say to him that I died a
stranger far from mine own people and full of yearning to see him
and them." So Badr al-Din Hasan took the document and folded it;
and, wrapping it up in a piece of waxed cloth of his skull-cap
and wound his light turband [FN#390] round it. And he fell to
weeping over his father and at parting with him, and he but a
boy. Then Nur al-Din lapsed into a swoon, the forerunner of
death; but presently recovering himself he said, "O Hasan, O my
son, I will now bequeath to thee five last behests. The FIRST
BEHEST is, Be over-intimate with none, nor frequent any, nor be
familiar with any; so shalt thou be safe from his mischief;
[FN#391] for security lieth in seclusion of thought and a certain
retirement from the society of thy fellows; and I have heard it
said by a poet:--
In this world there is none thou mayst count upon * To befriend
The SECOND BEHEST is, O my son: Deal harshly with none lest
fortune with thee deal hardly; for the fortune of this world is
one day with thee and another day against thee and all worldly
goods are but a loan to be repaid. And I have heard a poet say:-
-
Take thought nor hast to win the thing thou wilt; * Have ruth on
The THIRD BEHEST is, Learn to be silent in society and let thine
own faults distract thine attention from the faults of other men:
for it is said:--In silence dwelleth safety, and thereon I have
heard the lines that tell us:--
Reserve's a jewel, Silence safety is; * Whenas thou speakest many
The FOURTH BEHEST, O my son, is Beware of wine-bibbing, for wine
is the head of all frowardness and a fine solvent of human wits.
So shun, and again I say, shun mixing strong liquor; for I have
heard a poet say [FN#392]:--
From wine [FN#393] I turn and whoso wine-cups swill; *
The FIFTH BEHEST, O my son, is Keep thy wealth and it will keep
thee; guard thy money and it will guard thee; and waste not thy
substance lest haply thou come to want and must fare a-begging
from the meanest of mankind. Save thy dirhams and deem them the
sovereignest salve for the wounds of the world. And here again I
have heard that one of the poets said:--
When fails my wealth no friend will deign befriend: * When
On this wise Nur al-Din ceased not to counsel his son Badr al-Din
Hasan till his hour came and, sighing one sobbing sigh, his life
went forth. Then the voice of mourning and keening rose high in
his house and the Sultan and all the grandees grieved for him and
buried him; but his son ceased not lamenting his loss for two
months, during which he never mounted horse, nor attended the
Divan nor presented himself before the Sultan. At last the King,
being wroth with him, stablished in his stead one of the
Chamberlains and made him Wazir, giving orders to seize and set
seals on all Nur al-Din's houses and goods and domains. So the
new Wazir went forth with a mighty posse of Chamberlains and
people of the Divan, and watchmen and a host of idlers to do this
and to seize Badr al-Din Hasan and carry him before the King, who
would deal with him as he deemed fit. Now there was among the
crowd of followers a Mameluke of the deceased Wazir who, when he
heard this order, urged his horse and rode at full speed to the
house of Badr al-Din Hasan; for he cold not endure to see the
ruin of his old master's son. He found him sitting at the gate
with head hung down and sorrowing, as was his wont, for the loss
of his father; so he dismounted and kissing his hand said to him,
"O my lord and son of my lord, haste ere ruin come and lay
waste!" When Hasan heard this he trembled and asked, "What may
be the matter?; and the man answered, "The Sultan is angered with
thee and hath issued a warrant against thee, and evil cometh hard
upon my track; so flee with thy life!" At these words Hasan's
heart flamed with the fire of bale, and his rose-red cheek turned
pale, and he said to the "Mameluke, "O my brother, is there time
for me to go in and get me some worldly gear which may stand me
in stead during my strangerhood?" But the slave replied, "O my
lord, up at once and save thyself and leave this house, while it
is yet time." And he quoted these lines:--
"Escape with thy life, if oppression betide thee, * And let the
At these words of the Mameluke, Badr al-Din covered his head with
the skirt of his garment and went forth on foot till he stood
outside of the city, where he heard folk saying, "The Sultan hath
sent his new Wazir to the house of the old Wazir, now no more, to
seal his property and seize his son Badr al-Din Hasan and take
him before the presence, that he may put him to death; " and all
cried, "Alas for his beauty and his loveliness!" When he heard
this he fled forth at hazard, knowing not whither he was going,
and gave not over hurrying onwards till Destiny drove him to his
father's tomb. So he entered the cemetery and, threading his way
through the graves, at last he reached the sepulchre where he sat
down and let fall from his head the skirt of his long robe
[FN#396] which was made of brocade with a gold-embroidered hem
whereon were worked these couplets:--
O thou whose forehead, like the radiant East, * Tells of the
While he was sitting by his father's tomb behold, there came to
him a Jew as he were a Shroff, [FN#397] a money-changer, with a
pair of saddle-bags containing much gold, who accosted him and
kissed his hand, saying, "Whither bound, O my lord; �tis late in
the day and thou art clad but lightly land I read signs of
trouble in thy face?" "I was sleeping within this very hour,"
answered Hasan, "when my father appeared to me and chid me for
not having visited his tomb; so I awoke trembling and came hither
forthright lest the day should go by without my visiting him,
which would have been grievous to me." "O my lord," rejoined the
Jew, [FN#398] "thy father had many merchantmen at sea and, as
some of them are now due, it is my wish to buy of thee the cargo
of the first ship that cometh into port with this thousand dinars
of gold." "I consent," quoth Hasan, whereupon the Jew took out a
bag of gold and counted out a thousand sequins which he gave to
Hasan, the son of the Wazir, saying, "Write me a letter of sale
and seal it." So Hasan took a pen and paper and wrote these
words in duplicate, "The writer, Hasan Badr al-Din, son of Wazir
Nur al-Din, hath to Isaac the Jew all the cargo of the first of
his father's ships which cometh into port, for a thousand dinars,
and he hath received the price in advance." And after he had
taken one copy the Jew put it into his pouch and went away; but
Hasan fell a-weeping as he thought of the dignity and prosperity
which had erst been his and he began reciting:--
"This house, my lady, since you left is now a home no more * For
Then he wept with exceeding weeping and night came upon him; so
he leant his head against his father's grave and sleep overcame
him: Glory to him who sleepeth not! He ceased not slumbering
till the moon rose, when his head slipped from off the tomb and
he lay on his back, with limbs outstretched, his face shining
bright in the moonlight. Now the cemetery was haunted day and
night by Jinns who were of the True Believers, and presently came
out a Jinniyah who, seeing Hasan asleep, marvelled at his beauty
and loveliness and cried, "Glory to God! This youth can be none
other than one of the Wuldan of Paradise.[FN#399] Then she flew
firmament-wards to circle it, as was her custom, and met an Ifrit
on the wing who saluted her and she said to him, "Whence comest
thou?" "From Cairo," he replied. "Wilt thou come with me and
look upon the beauty of a youth who sleepeth in yonder burial
place?" she asked and he answered, "I will." So they flew till
they lighted at the tomb and she showed him the youth and said,
"Now diddest thou ever in thy born days see aught like this?"
The Ifrit looked upon him and exclaimed, "Praise be to Him that
hath no equal! But, O my sister, shall I tell thee what I have
seen this day?" Asked she, "What is that?" and he answered, "I
have seen the counterpart of this youth in the land of Egypt.
She is the daughter of the Wazir Shams al-Din and she is a model
of beauty and loveliness, of fairest favour and formous form, and
dight with symmetry and perfect grace. When she had reached the
age of nineteen, [FN#400] the Sultan of Egypt heard of her and,
sending for the Wazir her father, said to him, �Hear me, O Wazir:
it hath reached mine ear that thou hast a daughter and I wish to
demand her of thee in marriage." The Wazir replied, "O our lord
the Sultan, deign accept my excuses and take compassion on my
sorrows, for thou knowest that my brother, who was partner with
me in the Wazirate, disappeared from amongst us many years ago
and we wot not where he is. Now the cause of his departure was
that one night, as we were sitting together and talking of wives
and children to come, we had words on the matter and he went off
in high dudgeon. But I swore that I would marry my daughter to
none save to the son of my brother on the day her mother gave her
birth, which was nigh upon nineteen years ago. I have lately
heard that my brother died at Bassorah, where he married the
daughter of the Wazir and that she bare him a son; and I will not
marry my daughter but to him in honour of my brother's memory. I
recorded the date of my marriage and the conception of my wife
and the birth of my daughter; and from her horoscope I find that
her name is conjoined with that of her cousin; [FN#401] and there
are damsels in foison for our lord the Sultan.' The King,
hearing his Minister's answer and refusal, waxed wroth with
exceeding wrath and cried, �When the like of me asketh a girl in
marriage of the like of thee, he conferreth an honour, and thou
rejectest me and puttest me off with cold [FN#402] excuses! Now,
by the life of my head I will marry her to the meanest of my men
in spite of the nose thee! [FN#403] There was in the palace a
horse-groom which was a Gobbo with a bunch to his breast and a
hunch to his back; and the Sultan sent for him and married him to
the daughter of the Wazir, lief or loath, and hath ordered a
pompous marriage procession for him and that he go in to his
bride this very night. I have now just flown hither from Cairo,
where I left the Hunchback at the door of the Hammam-bath amidst
the Sultan's white slaves who were waving lighted flambeaux about
him. As for the Minister's daughter she sitteth among her nurses
and tirewomen, weeping and wailing; for they have forbidden her
father to come near her. Never have I seen, O my sister, more
hideous being than this Hunchback [FN#404] whilest the young lady
is the likest of all folk to this young man, albeit even fairer
than he,"--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased her
permitted say.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Jinni narrated to the Jinniyah how the King had caused the
wedding contract to be drawn up between the hunchbacked groom and
the lovely young lady who was heart-broken for sorrow; and how
she was the fairest of created things and even more beautiful
than this youth, the Jinniyah cried at him "Thou liest! t
forbear:
I went to seek my daily bread * I find that breadless I must
fare:
For neither handcraft brings me aught * Nor Fate allots to me a
share:
How many fools the Pleiads reach * While darkness whelms the
wise and ware.
Nor pen nor writ avail thee aught thy daily bread to find:
For joy and daily bread are what Fate deigneth to allow; * This
soil is sad and sterile ground, while that makes glad the
hind.
The shafts of Time and Life bear down full many a man of worth *
While bearing up to high degree wights of ignoble mind.
So come thou, Death! for verily life is not worth a straw * When
low the falcon falls withal the mallard wings the wind:
No wonder 'tis thou seest how the great of soul and mind * Are
poor, and many a loser carle to height of luck designed.
This bird shall overfly the world from east to furthest west *
And that shall win her every wish though ne'er she leave the
nest.
grief and misery:
Tho' gladsome be man's lot when dawns the morn * He drains the
cup of woe ere eve he see:
Yet was I one of whom the world when asked * "Whose lot is
happiest?" oft would say "'Tis he!"
life! is every bad man's labour:
To him who benefits unworthy wights * Shall hap what inapt to
Ummi Amir's neighbor.[FN#73]"
When it was the Fourth Night,
Tale of the Wazir and the Sage Duban.
she whenas other man the title claimed.
O Lord of fairest presence, whose illuming rays * Clear off the
fogs of doubt aye veiling deeds high famed,
Ne'er cease thy face to shine like Dawn and rise of Morn * And
never show Time's face with heat of ire inflamed!
Thy grace hath favoured us with gifts that worked such wise * As
rain clouds raining on the hills by words enframed:
Freely thou lavishedst thy wealth to rise on high * Till won from
Time the heights whereat thy grandeur aimed.
When It Was The Fifth Night,
Story of King Sindibad and His Falcon.
Tale of the Husband and the Parrot.
Tale of the Prince and the Ogress.
built the world and wait:
What Fate saith "Be" perforce must be, my lord! * And safe art
thou from th undecreed of Fate.
whom com posed I prose and verse, for whom my say and lay?
Thou lavishedst thy generous gifts ere they were craved by me *
Thou lavishedst thy boons unsought sans pretext or delay:
How shall I stint my praise of thee, how shall I cease to laud *
The grace of thee in secresy and patentest display?
Nay; I will thank thy benefits, for aye thy favours lie * Light
on my thought and tongue, though heavy on my back they
weigh.
and Lot!
Enjoy the Present passing well * And let the Past be clean forgot
For whatso haply seemeth worse * Shall work thy weal as Allah
wot
Allah shall do whate'er He wills * And in His will oppose Him
not.
all whereto the worldling clings:
Learn wisely well naught cometh by thy will * But e'en as willeth
Allah, King of Kings.
wisest hearts outwore:
Thought is but folly in the feeble slave * Shun it and so be
saved evermore.
wisdom all the wits outstrippeth:
Man may not tread on mud or dust or clay * Save by good sense,
else trippeth he and slippeth.
kindness only led me to Ruination Hall,
If I live I'll ne'er be kind; if I die, then all be damned * Who
follow me, and curses their kindliness befal.
But they soon became as though they had never, never been:
Just, they had won justice: they oppressed and were oppress *
By Fortune, who requited them with ban and bane and teen:
So they faded like the morn, and the tongue of things repeats *
"Take this far that, nor vent upon Fortune's ways thy
spleen."
When it was the Sixth Night,
fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!
fain forsake, I'll requite till quits we cry!
When it was the Seventh Night,
And nightly sleep mine eyelids fled and changed to sleepless
night:
Oh world! Oh Fate! withhold thy hand and cease thy hurt and
harm * Look and behold my hapless sprite in colour and
affright:
Wilt ne'er show ruth to highborn youth who lost him on the way *
Of Love, and fell from wealth and fame to lowest basest
wight.
Jealous of Zephyr's breath was I as on your form he breathed *
But whenas Destiny descends she blindeth human sight[FN#111]
What shall the hapless archer do who when he fronts his foe * And
bends his bow to shoot the shaft shall find his string
undight?
When cark and care so heavy bear on youth[FN#112] of generous
soul * How shall he 'scape his lot and where from Fate his
place of flight?
blackness and in light is set.
Throughout Creation's round no fairer show * No rarer sight shine
eye hath ever met:
A nut brown mole sits throned upon a cheek * Of rosiest red
beneath an eye of jet.[FN#113]
* How many cloth this shifting world lay low and raise to
rise?
Although thine eye be sealed in sleep, sleep not th' Almighty's
eyes * And who hath found Time ever fair, or Fate in
constant guise?
and care and cultivate content of mind;
Ask not the Past or how or why it came to pass: * All human
things by Fate and Destiny were designed!
Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince.
When it was the Eighth Night,
not, nor to other love my heart can make reply:
Bear my body, bear my soul wheresoever you may fare * And
where you pitch the camp let my body buried lie:
Cry my name above my grave, and an answer shall return * The
moaning of my bones responsive to your cry.[FN#127]
day of mine affright is the day you turn away:
Though I tremble through the night in my bitter dread of death *
When I hold you in my arms I am free from all affray
Though the world all be mine and like Kisra-kings[FN#128] I
reign;
To me they had the worth of the winglet of the gnat * When I fail
to see thy form, when I look for thee in vain
thou darkened that countenance all sheeny as the noon?
O thou tomb! neither earth nor yet heaven art to me * Then how
cometh it in thee are conjoined my sun and moon?
thou dark ened his countenance that sickeneth the soul?
O thou tomb! neither cess pool nor pipkin art to me * Then how
cometh it in thee are conjoined soil and coal?
will of Thee whatsoever be my state:
They oppress me; they torture me; they make my life a woe * Yet
haply Heaven's happiness shall compensate my strait:
Yea, straitened is my life by the bane and hate o' foes * But
Mustafa and Murtaza[FN#132] shall ope me Heaven's gate.
not tear floods thou hast espied?
Thou cost prolong our parting purposely * And if wouldst please
my foe, thou'rt satisfied!
When it Was the Ninth Night,
The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad.
face, her fragrant light:
Thine eyes shall never see in hair so black * Beauty encase a
brow so purely white:
The ruddy rosy cheek proclaims her claim * Though fail her name
whose beauties we indite:
As sways her gait I smile at hips so big * And weep to see the
waist they bear so slight.
spray
Her tresses stray as night let down * And shames her light the
dawn o' day.
lute, the flute and flageolet;
And be they companied with scents four fold * Rose, myrtle,
anemone and violet
Nor please all eight an four thou wouldst withold * Good wine and
youth and gold and pretty pet.
that secret's told
An fail thy breast thy secret to conceal * How canst thou hope
another's breast shall hold?
burn of brand!"
unrevealed:
It is to me a well shut house * With keyless locks and door
ensealed"[FN#154]
Sans hope of gain
Love's not worth a grain?"
grief and pain."
whose good old
For wine, like wind, sucks sweetness from the sweet * And stinks
when over stench It haply blow:"
recall thy gifts; thou, gifts of wine."
one, the blood shed of the vine:
Fill! fill! take all my wealth bequeathed or won * Thou fawn! a
willing ransom for those eyne."
Fill me a brimming bowl * The Fount o' Life I speer
generous boons and gifts galore
Beauty! may he come in awhile to 'joy * Thy charms? for Love
and I part nevermore!"
flame from furnace flaring up:
She bussed the brim and said with many a smile * How durst thou
deal folk's cheek for folk to sup?
"Drink!" (said I) "these are tears of mine whose tinct * Is heart
blood sighs have boiled in the cup."
them, by thy head and eyes!"
and I sore mistake it;
For the bough is fairest when clad the most * And thou art
fairest when mother naked."
When it was the Tenth Night,
Conclusion of the Story of the Porter and the Three Ladies
see[FN#177]
The heavenly mansion openeth;[FN#178] * But Hell I see when
lost thy sight.
From thee comes madness; nor the less * Comes highest joy,
comes ecstasy:
Nor in my love for thee I fear * Or shame and blame, or hate and
spite.
When Love was throned within my heart * I rent the veil of
modesty;
And stints not Love to rend that veil * Garring disgrace on grace
to alight;
The robe of sickness then I donned * But rent to rags was
secrecy:
Wherefore my love and longing heart * Proclaim your high
supremest might;
The tear drop railing adown my cheek * Telleth my tale of
ignomy:
And all the hid was seen by all * And all my riddle ree'd aright.
and blight;
Burn me those eyne that radiance rain * Slay me the swords of
phantasy;
How many hath the sword of Love * Laid low, their high degree
despite?
Yet will I never cease to pine * Nor to oblivion will I flee.
Love is my health, my faith, my joy * Public and private, wrong
or right.
O happy eyes that sight thy charms * That gaze upon thee at their
gree!
Yea, of my purest wish and will * The slave of Love I'll aye be
highs."
whither be my reason fled:
I learnt that lending to thy love a place * Sleep to mine eyelids
mortal foe was made.
They said, "We held thee righteous, who waylaid * Thy soul?" "Go
ask his glorious eyes," I said.
I pardon all my blood he pleased to spill * Owning his troubles
drove him blood to shed.
On my mind's mirror sun like sheen he cast * Whose keen
reflection fire in vitals bred
Waters of Life let Allah waste at will * Suffice my wage those
lips of dewy red:
An thou address my love thou'lt find a cause * For plaint and
tears or ruth or lustihed.
In water pure his form shall greet your eyne * When fails the
bowl nor need ye drink of wine.[FN#180]"
swaying gait swayed to sleep these eyne:
'Twas not grape juice grips me but grasp of Past * 'Twas not bowl
o'erbowled me but gifts divine:
His coiling curl-lets my soul ennetted * And his cruel will all
my wits outwitted.[FN#181]"
us where wend our way?
An I hire a truchman[FN#182] to tell my tale * The lover's plaint
is not told for pay:
If I put on patience, a lover's life * After loss of love will
not last a day:
Naught is left me now but regret, repine * And tears flooding
cheeks for ever and aye:
O thou who the babes of these eyes[FN#183] hast deaf * Thou art
homed in heart that shall never stray
Would heaven I wot hast thou kept our pact * Long as stream shall
cow, to have firmest fey?
Or hast forgotten the weeping slave * Whom groans afflict and
whom griefs waylay?
Ah, when severance ends and we side by side * Couch, I'll blame
thy rigours and chide thy pride!"
suffice thee all these tears thou seest flow?
Our parting thus with purpose fell thou cost prolong * Is't not
enough to glad the heart of envious foe?
Were but this Iying world once true to lover heart * He had not
watched the weary night in tears of woe:
Oh pity me whom overwhelmed thy cruel will * My lord, my king,
'tis time some ruth to me thou show:
To whom reveal my wrongs, O thou who murdered me? * Sad,
who of broken troth the pangs must undergo!
Increase wild love for thee and phrenzy hour by hour * And days
of exile minute by so long, so slow;
O Moslems, claim vendetta[FN#184] for this slave of Love *
Whose sleep Love ever wastes, whose patience Love lays low:
Doth law of Love allow thee, O my wish! to lie * Lapt in
another's arms and unto me cry Go!?
Yet in thy presence, say, what joys shall I enjoy * When he I
love but works my love to overthrow?"
fairest fair when shown to weakest brother:
By Love's own holy tie between us twain, * Let one not suffer for
the sin of other."
When It was the Eleventh Night,
The First Kalandar's Tale.
fain must tread:
And man in one land doomed to die * Death no where else shall do
him dead.
obey:
Nor joy nor mourn at anything * For all things pass and no things
stay.
shafts, and you proved foeman's brand
I hoped your aidance in mine every chance * Though fail my left
to aid my dexter hand:
Aloof you stand and hear the railer's gibe * While rain their
shafts on me the giber-band:
But an ye will not guard me from my foes * Stand clear, and
succour neither these nor those!"
were--from foes I to fend my dart!
I deemed their arrows surest of their aim; * And so they were�
when aiming at my heart!"
tell its owner's fate:
New land for the old thou shalt seek and find * But to find new
life thou must not await.
Strange that men should sit in the stead of shame, * When Allah's
world is so wide and great!
And trust not other, in matters grave * Life itself must act for
a life beset:
Ne'er would prowl the lion with maned neck, * Did he reckon on
aid or of others reck."
When it was the Twelfth Night,
The Second Kalandar's Tale.
ever lord it here:
Its beauties seem to beautify its sons * And as in Heaven its
happy folk appear.
a sandy mound:
heart blood and to rape my sprite:
Brilliantest forehead; tresses jetty bright; * Cheeks rosy red
and stature beauty dight.
our hearts or the balls of our eyes;
Our cheeks as a carpet to greet thee had thrown * And our eyelids
had strown for thy feet to betread."
an thy wits be wise."
nor seek o'ermuch t' advance;
Ah stay! for treachery is the rule of life, * And sweets of
meeting end in severance."
When it was the Thirteenth Night,
What time Fate's tyranny shall most oppress thee * Perpend! one
day shall joy thee, one distress thee!
clear the love I fain would hide:
When last we met and tears in torrents railed * For tongue struck
dumb my glances testified:
She signed with eye glance while her lips were mute * I signed
with fingers and she kenned th' implied:
Our eyebrows did all duty 'twixt us twain; * And we being
speechless Love spake loud and plain.
his passion pleadeth:
With flashing eyne his passion he inspireth * And well she seeth
what kits pleading needeth.
How sweet the look when each on other gazeth; * And with what
swiftness and how sure it speedeth:
And this with eyebrows all his passion writeth; * And that with
eyeballs all his passion readeth.
Tale of the Envier and the Envied.
pardon and revenge forgo:
In sooth all manner faults in me contain * Then deign of goodness
mercy grace to show:
Whoso imploreth pardon from on High * Should hold his hand
from sinners here below."
shine which be far higher
Allah ne'er orphan men by loss of thee * Who be of Goodness
mother. Bounty's sire.
causeth all the world to thrive;
Nil is the Nile of Misraim by thy boons * Who makest misery
smile with fingers five
hand hath writ men shall repeat:
Write, therefore, naught save what shall serve thee when * Thou
see's on Judgment-Day an so thou see's!
by Destiny decreed,
We cause the inkhorn's lips to 'plain our pains, * And tongue our
utterance with the talking reed.
the Kings of earlier earth?
Set trees of goodliness while rule endures, * And when thou art
fallen they shall tell thy worth.
generous heart and gracious hand;
Write brave and noble deeds while write thou can * And win thee
praise from point of pen and brand.
the ruin of the fries and stews well marinate:
Keen as I keen for loved, lost daughters of the
Kat�-grouse,[FN#239] * And omelette round the fair
enbrowned fowls agglomerate:
O fire in heart of me for fish, those deux poissons I saw, *
Bedded on new made scones[FN#240] and cakes in piles to
laniate.
For thee, O vermicelli! aches my very maw! I hold * Without thee
every taste and joy are clean annihilate
Those eggs have rolled their yellow eyes in torturing pains of
fire * Ere served with hash and fritters hot, that
delicatest cate.
Praised be Allah for His baked and roast and ah! how good * This
pulse, these pot-herbs steeped in oil with eysill combinate!
When hunger sated was, I elbow-propt fell back upon * Meat
pudding[FN#241] wherein gleamed the bangles that my wits
amate.
Then woke I sleeping appetite to eat as though in sport * Sweets
from broceded trays and kickshaws most elaborate.
Be patient, soul of me! Time is a haughty, jealous wight; * Today
he seems dark-lowering and tomorrow fair to sight.[FN#242]
and patience gave for fellowship:
Hence comes it hands of men upbear me high * And honey dew
from lips of maid I sip!
draughts that dull all pain and pine:[FN#244]
I doubt, so fine the glass, the wine so clear, * If 'tis the wine
in glass or glass in twine.
battling ever finished,
Until, when darkness girdeth them about, * The twain go sleeping
in a single bed.[FN#246]
When it was the Fourteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
Kalandar continued his tale thus:--O my lady, the King's daughter
hent in hand a knife whereon were inscribed Hebrew characters and
described a wide circle in the midst of the palace hall, and
therein wrote in Cufic letters mysterious names and talismans;
and she uttered words and muttered charms, some of which we under
stood and others we understood not. Presently the world waxed
dark before our sight till we thought that the sky was falling
upon our heads, and lo! the Ifrit presented himself in his own
shape and aspect. His hands were like many pronged pitch forks,
his legs like the masts of great ships, and his eyes like
cressets of gleaming fire. We were in terrible fear of him but
the King's daughter cried at him, "No welcome to thee and no
greeting, O dog!" whereupon he changed to the form of a lion and
said, "O traitress, how is it thou hast broken the oath we sware
that neither should contraire other!" "O accursed one," answered
she, "how could there be a compact between me and the like of
thee?" Then said he, "Take what thou has brought on thy self;"
and the lion opened his jaws and rushed upon her; but she was too
quick for him; and, plucking a hair from her head, waved it in
the air muttering over it the while; and the hair straightway
became a trenchant sword blade, wherewith she smote the lion and
cut him in twain. Then the two halves flew away in air and the
head changed to a scorpion and the Princess became a huge serpent
and set upon the accursed scorpion, and the two fought, coiling
and uncoiling, a stiff fight for an hour at least. Then the
scorpion changed to a vulture and the serpent became an eagle
which set upon the vulture, and hunted him for an hour's time,
till he became a black tom cat, which miauled and grinned and
spat. Thereupon the eagle changed into a piebald wolf and these
two battled in the palace for a long time, when the cat, seeing
himself overcome, changed into a worm and crept into a huge red
pomegranate,[FN#250] which lay beside the jetting fountain in the
midst of the palace hall. Whereupon the pomegranate swelled to
the size of a water melon in air; and, falling upon the marble
pavement of the palace, broke to pieces, and all the grains fell
out and were scattered about till they covered the whole floor.
Then the wolf shook himself and became a snow white cock, which
fell to picking up the grains purposing not to leave one; but by
doom of destiny one seed rolled to the fountain edge and there
lay hid. The cock fell to crowing and clapping his wings and
signing to us with his beak as if to ask, ' Are any grains left?"
But we understood not what he meant, and he cried to us with so
loud a cry that we thought the palace would fall upon us. Then he
ran over all the floor till he saw the grain which had rolled to
the fountain edge, and rushed eagerly to pick it up when behold,
it sprang into the midst of the water and became a fish and dived
to the bottom of the basin. Thereupon the cock changed to a big
fish, and plunged in after the other, and the two disappeared for
a while and lo! we heard loud shrieks and cries of pain which
made us tremble. After this the Ifrit rose out of the water, and
he was as a burning flame; casting fire and smoke from his mouth
and eyes and nostrils. And immediately the Princess likewise came
forth from the basin and she was one live coal of flaming lowe;
and these two, she and he, battled for the space of an hour,
until their fires entirely compassed them about and their thick
smoke filled the palace. As for us we panted for breath, being
well nigh suffocated, and we longed to plunge into the water
fearing lest we be burnt up and utterly destroyed; and the King
said, There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah the
Glorious, the Great! Verily we are Allah's and unto Him are we
returning! Would Heaven I had not urged my daughter to attempt
the disenchantment of this ape fellow, whereby I have imposed
upon her the terrible task of fighting yon accursed Ifrit against
whom all the Ifrits in the world could not prevail. And would
Heaven we had never seen this ape, Allah never assain nor bless
the day of his coming! We thought to do a good deed by him before
the face of Allah,[FN#251] and to release him from enchantment,
and now we have brought this trouble and travail upon our heart."
But I, O my lady, was tongue tied and powerless to say a word to
him. Suddenly, ere we were ware of aught, the Ifrit yelled out
from under the flames and, coming up to us as we stood on the
estrade, blew fire in our faces. The damsel overtook him and
breathed blasts of fire at his face and the sparks from her and
from him rained down upon us, and her sparks did us no harm, but
one of his sparks alighted upon my eye and destroyed it making me
a monocular ape; and another fell on the King's face scorching
the lower half, burning off his beard and mustachios and causing
his under teeth to fall out; while a third alighted on the
Castrato's breast, killing him on the spot. So we despaired of
life and made sure of death when lo! a voice repeated the saying,
"Allah is most Highest! Allah is most Highest! Aidance and
victory to all who the Truth believe; and disappointment and
disgrace to all who the religion of Mohammed, the Moon of Faith,
unbelieve." The speaker was the Princess who had burnt the Ifrit,
and he was become a heap of ashes. Then she came up to us and
said, "Reach me a cup of water." They brought it to her and she
spoke over it words we understood not, and sprinkling me with it
cried, "By virtue of the Truth, and by the Most Great name of
Allah, I charge thee return to thy former shape." And behold, I
shook, and became a man as before, save that I had utterly lost
an eye. Then she cried out, "The fire! The fire! O my dear papa
an arrow from the accursed hath wounded me to the death, for I am
not used to fight with the Jann; had he been a man I had slain
him in the beginning. I had no trouble till the time when the
pomegranate burst and the grains scattered, but I overlooked the
seed wherein was the very life of the Jinni. Had I picked it up
he had died on the spot, but as Fate and Fortune decreed, I saw
it not; so he came upon me all unawares and there befel between
him and me a sore struggle under the earth and high in air and in
the water; and, as often as I opened on him a gate,[FN#252] he
opened on me another gate and a stronger, till at last he opened
on me the gate of fire, and few are saved upon whom the door of
fire openeth. But Destiny willed that my cunning prevail over his
cunning; and I burned him to death after I vainly exhorted him to
embrace the religion of al-Islam. As for me I am a dead woman;
Allah supply my place to you!" Then she called upon Heaven for
help and ceased not to implore relief from the fire; when lo! a
black spark shot up from her robed feet to her thighs; then it
flew to her bosom and thence to her face. When it reached her
face she wept and said, "I testify that there is no god but the
God and that Mahommed is the Apostle of God!" And we looked at
her and saw naught but a heap of ashes by the side of the heap
that had been the Ifrit. We mourned for her and I wished I had
been in her place, so had I not seen her lovely face who had
worked me such weal become ashes; but there is no gainsaying the
will of Allah. When the King saw his daughter's terrible death,
he plucked out what was left of his beard and beat his face and
rent his raiment; and I did as he did and we both wept over her.
Then came in the Chamberlains and Grandees and were amazed to
find two heaps of ashes and the Sultan in a fainting fit; so they
stood round him till he revived and told them what had befallen
his daughter from the If rit; whereat their grief was right
grievous and the women and the slave girls shrieked and
keened,[FN#253] and they continued their lamentations for the
space of seven days. Moreover the King bade build over his
daughter's ashes a vast vaulted tomb, and burn therein wax tapers
and sepulchral lamps: but as for the Ifrit's ashes they scattered
them on the winds, speeding them to the curse of Allah. Then the
Sultan fell sick of a sickness that well nigh brought him to his
death for a month's space; and, when health returned to him and
his beard grew again and he had been converted by the mercy of
Allah to al-Islam, he sent for me and said, "O youth, Fate had
decreed for us the happiest of lives, safe from all the chances
and changes of Time, till thou camest to us, when troubles fell
upon us. Would to Heaven we had never seen thee and the foul face
of thee! For we took pity on thee and thereby we have lost our
all. I have on thy account first lost my daughter who to me was
well worth an hundred men, secondly I have suffered that which
befel me by reason of the fire and the loss of my teeth, and my
Eunuch also was slain. I blame thee not, for it was out of thy
power to prevent this: the doom of Allah was on thee as well as
on us and thanks be to the Almighty for that my daughter
delivered thee, albeit thereby she lost her own life! Go forth
now, O my son, from this my city, and suffice thee what hath
befallen us through thee, even although 'twas decreed for us. Go
forth in peace; and if I ever see thee again I will surely slay
thee." And he cried out at me. So I went forth from his presence,
O my lady, weeping bitterly and hardly believing in my escape and
knowing not whither I should wend. And I recalled all that had
befallen me, my meeting the tailor, my love for the damsel in the
palace beneath the earth, and my narrow escape from the Ifrit,
even after he had determined to do me die; and how I had entered
the city as an ape and was now leaving it a man once more. Then I
gave thanks to Allah and said, "My eye and not my life!" and
before leaving the place I entered the bath and shaved my poll
and beard and mustachios and eye brows; and cast ashes on my head
and donned the coarse black woollen robe of a Kalandar. Then I
fared forth, O my lady, and every day I pondered all the
calamities which had betided me, and I wept and repeated these
couplets:--
round me gather hosts of ills, whence come I cannot see:
Patient I'll be till Patience self with me impatient wax; *
Patient for ever till the Lord fulfil my destiny:
Patient I'll bide without complaint, a wronged and vanquish" man;
* Patient as sunparcht wight that spans the desert's sandy
sea:
Patient I'll be till Aloe's[FN#254] self unwittingly allow * I'm
patient under bitterer things than bitterest alo�:
No bitterer things than aloes or than patience for mankind, * Yet
bitterer than the twain to me were Patience' treachery:
My sere and seamed and seared brow would dragoman my sore *
If soul could search my sprite and there unsecret secrecy:
Were hills to bear the load I bear they'd crumble 'neath the
weight, * 'Twould still the roaring wind, 'twould quench the
flame-tongue's flagrancy,
And whoso saith the world is sweet cert�s a day he'll see * With
more than aloes' bitterness and aloes' pungency."
The Third Kalandar's Tale.
When it was the Fifteenth Night,
pride of strength cloth ever stalk:
Time was I walked nor ever felt I tired, * Now am I tired albe I
never walk!
hung her head in shame and care:
Quoth' they, "O Beauty, hast thou seen his like?" * And Beauty
cried, "His like? not anywhere!"
When it was the Sixteenth Night,
sight of wisest head!
How many a sadness shall begin the day, * Yet grow right
gladsome ere the day is sped!
How many a weal trips on the heels of ill, * Causing the
mourner's heart with joy to thrill!"[FN#278]
ever fro' my eyelids flow:
With them[FN#279] went forth my hopes, Ah, well away! * What
shift remaineth me to say or do?
Would I had never looked upon their sight, * What shift, fair
sirs, when paths e'er strainer grow?
What charm shall calm my pangs when this wise burn * Longings
of love which in my vitals glow?
Would I had trod with them the road of Death! * Ne'er had befel
us twain this parting blow:
Allah: I pray the Truthful show me Roth * And mix our lives nor
part them evermo'e!
How blest were we as 'death one roof we dwelt * Conjoined in
joys nor recking aught of woe;
Till Fortune shot us pith the severance shaft; * Ah who shall
patient bear such parting throe?
And dart of Death struck down amid the tribe * The age's pearl
that Morn saw brightest show:
I cried the while his case took speech and said:--* Would Heaven,
my son, Death mote his doom foreslow!
Which be the readiest road wi' thee to meet * My Son! for whom I
would my soul bestow?
If sun I call him no! the sun cloth set; * If moon I call him,
wane the moons; Ah no!
O sad mischance o' thee, O doom of days, * Thy place none other
love shall ever know:
Thy sire distracted sees thee, but despairs * By wit or wisdom
Fate to overthrow:
Some evil eye this day hath cast its spell * And foul befal him
as it foul betel!"
deserted hearths I weep and yearn:
And Him I pray who doomed them depart * Some day vouchsafe
the boon of safe return.''[FN#280]
although he's jealous hight;
Forward my hopes, and further all my needs, * And passed ills
with present weals requite."
heart shall never grieve."
beauties in the roe:
When hath the roe those lively lovely limbs * Or honey dews those
lips alone bestow?
Those eyne, soul piercing eyne, which slay with love, * Which
bind the victim by their shafts laid low?
My heart to second childhood they beguiled * No wonder: love
sick-man again is child!
image can my heart surprise:
Thy love, my lady, captives all my thoughts * And on that love
I'll die and I'll arise.
musk seals lovers to withstand
With arrowy glances stand on guard her eyes, * Whose shafts
would shoot who dares put forth a hand.
on our lot shall smile
And if thy semblance deign adorn mine eyes,[FN#293] * I'll
pardon Time past wrongs and by gone guile."
care and longing on that day her bosom wrung
Wet pearls she wept and mine like red carnelians rolled * And,
joined in sad rivi�re, around her neck they hung."
her hapless lover's yellow.
queen of fruits the Quince have crowned
Her taste is wine, her scent the waft of musk; * Pure gold her
hue, her shape the Moon's fair round.
When it was the Seventeenth Night,
The Eldest Lady's Tale.
graceful shape of youth appeared in view:
Saturn had stained his locks with Saturninest jet, * And spots of
nut brown musk on rosy side face blew:[FN#314]
Mars tinctured either cheek with tinct of martial red; * Sagittal
shots from eyelids Sagittarius threw:
Dowered him Mercury with bright mercurial wit; * Bore off the
Bear[FN#315] what all man's evil glances grew:
Amazed stood Astrophil to sight the marvel birth * When louted
low the Moon at full to buss the Earth.
* By the shooting of his shafts barbed with sorcery passing
rare;
By the softness of his sides,[FN#316] and glances' lingering
light, * And brow of dazzling day-tide ray and night within
his hair;
By his eyebrows which deny to who look upon them rest, * Now
bidding now forbidding, ever dealing joy and care;
By the rose that decks his cheek, and the myrtle of its
moss,[FN#317] * By jacinths bedded in his lips and pearl his
smile lays bare;
By his graceful bending neck and the curving of his breast, *
Whose polished surface beareth those granados, lovely pair;
By his heavy hips that quiver as he passeth in his pride, * Or he
resteth with that waist which is slim beyond compare;
By the satin of his skin, by that fine unsullied sprite; * By the
beauty that containeth all things bright and debonnair;
By that ever open hand; by the candour of his tongue; * By noble
blood and high degree whereof he's hope and heir;
Musk from him borrows muskiness she loveth to exhale * And all
the airs of ambergris through him perfume the air;
The sun, methinks, the broad bright sun, before my love would
pale * And sans his splendour would appear a paring of his
nail.[FN#318]
When it was the Eighteenth Night,
Tale of the Portress.
dying bed:
Thousand head strongest he mules would her guiles, * Despite
their bolting lead with spider thread.
her sight are grown:
A mischief making brat, a demon maid, * A whorish woman and a
pimping crone.[FN#330]
face:
And wert thou absent ne'er an one * Could stand in stead or take
thy place."
Joyance through my lasting while:
And 'mid my court a fountain jets and flows, * Nor tears nor
troubles shall that fount defile:
The merge with royal Nu'uman's[FN#334] bloom is dight, *
Myrtle, Narcissus-flower and Chamomile.
Kaisar's night!
Wantons the rose on thy roseate cheek, * O cheek as the blood of
the dragon[FN#335] bright!
Slim waisted, languorous, sleepy eyed, * With charms which
promise all love
And the tire which attires thy tiara'd brow * Is a night of woe
on a morn's glad light.
kiss the very dust whereon thy foot was placed
And with the tongue of circumstance the walls would say, *
"Welcome and hail to one with generous gifts engraced!"
stamps him with pearls for signs.[FN#337]
shaped a thing so bright of blee:
All gifts of beauty he conjoins in one; * Lost in his love is all
humanity;
For Beauty's self inscribed on his brow * "I testify there be no
Good but he!"[FN#338]
tho' life by Love were slain
Saying, O Soul, Death were the nobler choice, * For ill is Love
when shared 'twixt partners twain."
taketh her a fine new love the old love tossing o'er:
We cry enough o' thee ere thou enough of us shalt cry! * What
past between us cloth suffice and haply something
more."[FN#347]
tear sore lids you sleepless make and sleep while I
complain:
You make firm friendship reign between mine eyes and
insomny; * Yet can my heart forget you not, nor tears can I
restrain:
You made me swear with many an oath my troth to hold for aye; *
But when you reigned my bosom's lord you wrought me traitor
bane:
I loved you like a silly child who wots not what is Love; * Then
spare the learner, let her not be by the master slain!
By Allah's name I pray you write, when I am dead and gone, *
Upon my tomb, This died of Love whose senses Love had ta'en:
Then haply one shall pass that way who fire of Love hath felt, *
And treading on a lover's heart with ruth and woe shall
melt."
that she sinned a mortal sin which clips me in its clip:
She sought to let another share the love between us twain, * But
my True Faith of Unity refuseth partnership."[FN#348]
ta'en, * But who can break the severance law which parteth
lovers twain!
Thou loadest me with heavy weight of longing love, when I * Can
hardly bear my chemisette for weakness and for pain:
I marvel not to see my life and soul in ruin lain: * I marvel
much to see my frame such severance pangs sustain."
shine to sh ow me severance face, ''twas only mine to see:
I'll leave thee for that first thou west of me to take thy leave
* And patient bear that parting blow thou borest so
patiently:
E'en as thou soughtest other love, so other love I'll seek, * And
make the crime of murdering love shine own atrocity."
thee and when friends depart!"
When it was the Nineteenth Night,
TALE OF THE THREE APPLES
as the night which the Moon doth uplight!
I answer, "A truce to your jests and your gibes; * Without luck
what is learning?--a poor-devil wight!
If they take me to pawn with my lore in my pouch, * With my
volumes to read and my ink-case to write,
For one day's provision they never could pledge me; * As likely
on Doomsday to draw bill at sight:"
How poorly, indeed, doth it fare wi' the poor, * With his pauper
existence and beggarly plight:
In summer he faileth provision to find; * In winter the
fire-pot's his only delight:
The street-dogs with bite and with bark to him rise, * And each
losel receives him with bark and with bite:
If he lift up his voice and complain of his wrong, * None pities
or heeds him, however he's right;
And when sorrows and evils like these he must brave * His
happiest homestead were down in the grave."
When it was the Twentieth Night,
sacrifice:
A many serviles thou shalt find, * But life comes once and never
twice."
TALE OF NUR AL-DIN ALI AND HIS SON.
behind; * Toil! for the sweets of human life by toil and
moil are found:
The stay-at-home no honour wins nor aught attains but want; * So
leave thy place of birth [FN#371] and wander all the world
around!
I've seen, and very oft I've seen, how standing water stinks, *
And only flowing sweetens it and trotting makes it sound:
And were the moon for ever full and ne'er to wax or wane, * Man
would not strain his watchful eyes to see its gladsome
round:
Except the lion leave his lair he ne'er would fell his game, *
Except the arrow leave the bow ne'er had it reached its
bound:
Gold-dust is dust the while it lies untravelled in the mine, *
And aloes-wood mere fuel is upon its native ground:
And gold shall win his highest worth when from his goal ungoal'd;
* And aloes sent to foreign parts grows costlier than gold."
When it was the Twenty-first Night,
My slender-waisted youth, of thine,
Can darkness round creation throw,
Or make it brightly shine.
The dusky mole that faintly shows
Upon his cheek, ah! blame it not:
The tulip-flower never blows
Undarkened by its spot [FN#383]
and his lips drop wine;
His form is a brand and his hips a hill; * His hair is night and
his face moon-shine.
darkness and the dawn o'erlap:
O thou who makest, when we greet thy gifts, * The world to dance
and Time his palms to clap." [FN#384]
prevail o'er the envier's spite;
And ne'er cease thy days to be white as day, * And thy foeman's
day to be black as night!"
glows the sun:
He so conquered Beauty that he hath won * All charms of
humanity one by one.
thy case in the nick of need:
So live for thyself nursing hope of none * Such counsel I give
thee: enow, take heed!
man for ruth thou may'st require:
No hand is there but Allah's hand is higher; * No tyrant but
shall rue worse tyrant's ire!
a word withhold;
For an of Silence thou repent thee once, * Of speech thou shalt
repent times manifold.
Becoming one of those who deem it ill:
Wine driveth man to miss salvation-way, [FN#394] * And opes the
gateway wide to sins that kill.
wealth abounds all friends their friendship tender:
How many friends lent aid my wealth to spend; * But friends to
lack of wealth no friendship render.
house of its builder's fate!
Country for country thou'lt find, if thou seek it; * Life for
life never, early or late.
It is strange men should dwell in the house of abjection, * When
the plain of God's earth is so wide and so great!" [FN#395]
stars of Heaven and bounteous dews:
Endure thine honour to the latest day, * And Time thy growth of
glory ne'er refuse!
me, not neighbours, since you left, prove kind and
neighbourly:
The friend, whilere I took to heart, alas! no more to me * Is
friend; and even Luna's self displayeth lunacy:
You left and by your going left the world a waste, a wolf, * And
lies a gloomy murk upon the face of hill and lea:
O may the raven-bird whose cry our hapless parting croaked *
Find ne'er a nesty home and eke shed all his plumery!
At length my patience fails me; and this absence wastes my
flesh; * How many a veil by severance rent our eyes are
doomed see:
Ah! shall I ever sight again our fair past nights of your; * And
shall a single house become a home for me once more?"
When it was the Twenty-second Night,