AL-MALIK AL-NASIR AND HIS WAZIR.
There was given to Abú Ámir bin Marwán,[[177]] a boy of the Christians, than whom never fell eyes on a handsomer. Al-Nasir the conquering Soldan saw him and said to Abu Amir, who was his Wazir, “Whence cometh this boy?” Replied he, “From Allah;” whereupon the other, “Wilt thou terrify us with stars and make us prisoner with moons?” Abu Amir excused himself to him and preparing a present, sent it to him with the boy, to whom he said, “Be thou part of the gift: were it not of necessity, my soul had not consented to give thee away.” And he wrote with him these two couplets:—
My lord, this full moon takes in Heaven of thee new birth; ✿ Nor can deny we Heaven excelleth humble earth:
Thee with my soul I please and—oh! the pleasant case! ✿ No man e’er saw I who to give his soul prefer’th.
The thing pleased Al-Nasir and he requited him with much treasure and the Minister became high in favour with him. After this, there was presented to the Wazir a slave-girl, one of the loveliest women in the world, and he feared lest this should come to the King’s ears and he desire her, and the like should happen as with the boy. So he made up a present still costlier than the first and sent it with her to the King,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-eighth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir Abu Amir, when presented with the beautiful slave-girl, feared lest it come to the Conquering King’s ears and that the like should happen as with the boy, so he made up a present still costlier than the first and sent it with her to his master, accompanying it with these couplets:—
My lord, this be the Sun, the Moon thou hadst before; ✿ So the two greater lights now in thy Heaven unite:
Conjunction promising to me prosperity, ✿ And Kausar-draught to thee and Eden’s long delight.
Earth shows no charms, by Allah, ranking as their third, ✿ Nor King who secondeth our Conquering King in might.
Wherefore his credit redoubled with Al-Nasir; but, after a while, one of his enemies maligned him to the King, alleging that there still lurked in him a hot lust for the boy and that he ceased not to desire him, whenever the cool northern breezes moved him, and to gnash his teeth for having given him away. Cried the King, “Wag not thou thy tongue at him, or I will shear off thy head.” However, he wrote Abu Amir a letter, as from the boy, to the following effect: “O my lord, thou knowest that thou wast all and one to me and that I never ceased from delight with thee. Albeit I am with the Sultan, yet would I choose rather solitude with thee, but that I fear the King’s majesty: wherefore devise thou to demand me of him.” This letter he sent to Abu Amir by a little foot-page, whom he enjoined to say, “This is from such an one: the King never speaketh to him.” When the Wazir read the letter and heard the cheating message, he noted the poison-draught[[178]] and wrote on the back of the note these couplets:—
Shall man experience-lectured ever care ✿ Fool-like to thrust his head in lion’s lair?
I’m none of those whose wits to love succumb ✿ Nor witless of the snares my foes prepare:
Wert thou my sprite, I’d give thee loyally; ✿ Shall sprite, from body sundered, backwards fare?
When Al-Nasir knew of this answer, he marvelled at the Wazir’s quickness of wit and would never again lend ear to aught of insinuations against him. Then said he to him, “How didst thou escape falling into the net?” And he replied, “Because my reason is unentangled in the toils of passion.” And they also tell a tale of
[177]. He was Wazir to the Great “Saladin” (Saláh al-Din = one conforming with the Faith): see vol. iv. 271, where Saladin is also entitled al-Malik al-Nasir = the Conquering King. He was a Kurd and therefore fond of boys (like Virgil, Horace, etc.), but that perversion did not prevent his being one of the noblest of men. He lies in the Great Amawi Mosque of Damascus and I never visited a tomb with more reverence.
[178]. Arab. “Ahassa bi’l-Shurbah;” in our idiom “he smelt a rat.”
THE ROGUERIES OF DALILAH THE CRAFTY AND HER DAUGHTER ZAYNAB THE CONEY-CATCHER.[[179]]
There lived in the time of Harun al-Rashid a man named Ahmad al-Danaf and another Hasan Shúmán[[180]] hight, the twain past masters in fraud and feints, who had done rare things in their day; wherefore the Caliph invested them with caftans of honour and made them Captains of the watch for Baghdad (Ahmad of the right hand and Hasan of the left hand); and appointed to each of them a stipend of a thousand dinars a month and forty stalwart men to be at their bidding. Moreover to Calamity Ahmad was committed the watch of the district outside the walls. So Ahmad and Hasan went forth in company of the Emir Khalid, the Wali or Chief of Police, attended each by his forty followers on horseback, and preceded by the Crier, crying aloud and saying, “By command of the Caliph! None is captain of the watch of the right hand but Ahmad al-Danaf and none is captain of the watch of the left hand but Hasan Shuman, and both are to be obeyed when they bid and are to be held in all honour and worship.” Now there was in the city an old woman called Dalílah the Wily, who had a daughter by name Zaynab the Coney-catcher. They heard the proclamation made and Zaynab said to Dalilah, “See, O my mother, this fellow, Ahmad al-Danaf! He came hither from Cairo, a fugitive, and played the double-dealer in Baghdad, till he got into the Caliph’s company and is now become captain of the right hand, whilst that mangy chap Hasan Shuman is captain of the left hand, and each hath a table spread morning and evening and a monthly wage of a thousand dinars; whereas we abide unemployed and neglected in this house, without estate and without honour, and have none to ask of us.” Now Dalilah’s husband had been town-captain of Baghdad with a monthly wage of one thousand dinars; but he died leaving two daughters, one married and with a son by name Ahmad al-Lakít[[181]] or Ahmad the Abortion; and the other called Zaynab, a spinster. And this Dalilah was a past mistress in all manner of craft and trickery and double dealing; she could wile the very dragon out of his den and Iblis himself might have learnt deceit of her. Her father[[182]] had also been governor of the carrier-pigeons to the Caliph with a solde of one thousand dinars a month. He used to rear the birds to carry letters and messages, wherefore in time of need each was dearer to the Caliph than one of his own sons. So Zaynab said to her mother, “Up and play off some feint and fraud that may haply make us notorious”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Six Hundred and Ninety-ninth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Zaynab thus addressed her dam, “Up and play off some feint and fraud which may haply make us notorious in Baghdad, so perchance we shall win our father’s stipend for ourselves.” Replied the old trot, “As thy head liveth, O my daughter, I will play off higher-class rogueries in Baghdad than ever played Calamity Ahmad or Hasan the Pestilent.” So saying, she rose and threw over her face the Lisám-veil and donned clothes such as the poorer Sufis wear, petticoat-trousers falling over her heels, and a gown of white wool with a broad girdle. She also took a pitcher[[183]] and filled it with water to the neck; after which she set three dinars in the mouth and stopped it up with a plug of palm-fibre. Then she threw round her shoulder, baldrick-wise, a rosary as big as a load of firewood, and taking in her hand a flag, made of parti-coloured rags, red and yellow and green, went out, crying, “Allah! Allah!” with tongue celebrating the praises of the Lord, whilst her heart galloped in the Devil’s race-course, seeking how she might play some sharping trick upon town. She walked from street to street, till she came to an alley swept and watered and marble-paved, where she saw a vaulted gateway, with a threshold of alabaster, and a Moorish porter standing at the door, which was of sandal-wood plated with brass and furnished with a ring of silver for knocker. Now this house belonged to the Chief of the Caliph’s Serjeant-ushers, a man of great wealth in fields, houses and allowances, called the Emir Hasan Sharr al-Tarík, or Evil of the Way, and therefor called because his blow forewent his word. He was married to a fair damsel, Khátún[[184]] hight, whom he loved and who had made him swear, on the night of his going in unto her, that he would take none other to wife over her nor lie abroad for a single night. And so things went on till one day, he went to the Diyan and saw that each Emir had with him a son or two. Then he entered the Hammam-bath and looking at his face in the mirror, noted that the white hairs in his beard overlay its black, and he said in himself, “Will not He who took thy sire bless thee with a son?” So he went in to his wife, in angry mood, and she said to him, “Good evening to thee”; but he replied, “Get thee out of my sight: from the day I saw thee I have seen naught of good.” “How so?” quoth she. Quoth he, “On the night of my going in unto thee, thou madest me swear to take no other wife over thee, and this very day I have seen each Emir with a son and some with two. So I minded me of death[[185]]; and also that to me hath been vouchsafed neither son nor daughter and that whoso leaveth no male hath no memory. This, then, is the reason of my anger, for thou art barren; and knowing thee is like planing a rock.” Cried she, “Allah’s name upon thee. Indeed, I have worn out the mortars with beating wool and pounding drugs,[[186]] and I am not to blame; the barrenness is with thee, for that thou art a snub-nosed mule and thy sperm is weak and watery and impregnateth not neither getteth children.” Said he, “When I return from my journey, I will take another wife;” and she, “My luck is with Allah!” Then he went out from her and both repented of the sharp words spoken each to other. Now as the Emir’s wife looked forth of her lattice, as she were a Bride of the Hoards[[187]] for the jewellery upon her, behold, there stood Dalilah espying her and seeing her clad in costly clothes and ornaments, said to herself, “’Twould be a rare trick, O Dalilah, to entice yonder young lady from her husband’s house and strip her of all her jewels and clothes and make off with the whole lot.” So she took up her stand under the windows of the Emir’s house, and fell to calling aloud upon Allah’s name and saying, “Be present, O ye Walis, ye friends of the Lord!” Whereupon every woman in the street looked from her lattice and, seeing a matron clad, after Sufi fashion, in clothes of white wool, as she were a pavilion of light, said, “Allah bring us a blessing by the aidance of this pious old person, from whose face issueth light!” And Khatun, the wife of the Emir Hasan, burst into tears and said to her handmaid, “Get thee down, O Makbúlah, and kiss the hand of Shaykh Abú Alí, the porter, and say to him:—Let yonder Religious enter to my lady, so haply she may get a blessing of her.” So she went down to the porter and kissing his hand, said to him, “My mistress telleth thee:—Let yonder pious old woman come in to me, so may I get a blessing of her; and belike her benediction may extend to us likewise.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundredth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the handmaid went down and said to the porter, “Suffer yonder Religious enter to my lady so haply she may get a blessing of her, and we too may be blessed, one and all,” the gate-keeper went up to Dalilah and kissed her hand, but she forbade him, saying, “Away from me, lest my ablution be made null and void.[[188]] Thou, also, art of the attracted God-wards and kindly looked upon by Allah’s Saints and under His especial guardianship. May He deliver thee from this servitude, O Abu Ali!” Now the Emir owed three months’ wage to the porter who was straitened thereby, but knew not how to recover his due from his lord; so he said to the old woman, “O my mother, give me to drink from thy pitcher, so I may win a blessing through thee.” She took the ewer from her shoulder and whirled it about in air, so that the plug flew out of its mouth and the three dinars fell to the ground. The porter saw them and picked them up, saying in his mind, “Glory to God! This old woman is one of the Saints that have hoards at their command! It hath been revealed to her of me that I am in want of money for daily expenses; so she hath conjured me these three dinars out of the air.” Then said he to her, “Take, O my aunt, these three dinars which fell from thy pitcher;” and she replied, “Away with them from me! I am of the folk who occupy not themselves with the things of the world, no never! Take them and use them for thine own benefit, in lieu of those the Emir oweth thee.” Quoth he, “Thanks to Allah for succour! This is of the chapter of revelation!” Thereupon the maid accosted her and kissing her hand, carried her up to her mistress. She found the lady as she were a treasure, whose guardian talisman had been loosed; and Khatun bade her welcome and kissed her hand. Quoth she, “O my daughter, I come not to thee save for thy weal and by Allah’s will.” Then Khatun set food before her; but she said, “O my daughter, I eat naught except of the food of Paradise and I keep continual fast breaking it but five days in the year. But, O my child, I see thee chagrined and desire that thou tell me the cause of thy concern.” “O my mother,” replied Khatun, “I made my husband swear, on my wedding-night, that he would wive none but me, and he saw others with children and longed for them and said to me:—Thou art a barren thing! I answered:—Thou art a mule which begetteth not; so he left me in anger, saying, When I come back from my journey, I will take another wife, for he hath villages and lands and large allowances, and if he begat children by another, they will possess the money and take the estates from me.” Said Dalilah, “O my daughter, knowest thou not of my master, the Shaykh Abú al-Hamlát,[[189]] whom if any debtor visit, Allah quitteth him his debt, and if a barren woman, she conceiveth?” Khatun replied, “O my mother, since the day of my wedding I have not gone forth the house, no, not even to pay visits of condolence or congratulation.” The old woman rejoined, “O my child, I will carry thee to him and do thou cast thy burden on him and make a vow to him: haply when thy husband shall return from his journey and lie with thee thou shalt conceive by him and bear a girl or a boy: but, be it female or male, it shall be a dervish of the Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat.” Thereupon Khatun rose and arrayed herself in her richest raiment, and donning all her jewellery said, “Keep thou an eye on the house,” to her maid, who replied, “I hear and obey, O my lady.” Then she went down and the porter Abu Ali met her and asked her, “Whither away, O my lady?” “I go to visit the Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat;” answered she; and he, “Be a year’s fast incumbent on me! Verily yon Religious is of Allah’s saints and full of holiness, O my lady, and she hath hidden treasure at her command, for she gave me three dinars of red gold and divined my case, without my asking her, and knew that I was in want.” Then the old woman went out with the young lady Khatun, saying to her, “Inshallah, O my daughter, when thou hast visited the Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat, there shall betide thee solace of soul and by leave of Almighty Allah thou shalt conceive, and thy husband the Emir shall love thee by the blessing of the Shaykh and shall never again let thee hear a despiteful word.” Quoth Khatun, “I will go with thee to visit him, O my mother!” But Dalilah said to herself, “Where shall I strip her and take her clothes and jewellery, with the folk coming and going?” Then she said to her, “O my daughter, walk thou behind me, within sight of me, for this thy mother is a woman sorely burdened; everyone who hath a burden casteth it on me and all who have pious offerings[[190]] to make give them to me and kiss my hand.” So the young lady followed her at a distance, whilst her anklets tinkled and her hair-coins[[191]] clinked as she went, till they reached the bazar of the merchants. Presently, they came to the shop of a young merchant, by name Sídí Hasan who was very handsome[[192]] and had no hair on his face. He saw the lady approaching and fell to casting stolen glances at her, which when the old woman saw, she beckoned to her and said, “Sit down in this shop, till I return to thee.” Khatun obeyed her and sat down in the shop-front of the young merchant, who cast at her one glance of eyes that cost him a thousand sighs. Then the old woman accosted him and saluted him, saying, “Tell me, is not thy name Sidi Hasan, son of the merchant Mohsin?” He replied, “Yes, who told thee my name?” Quoth she, “Folk of good repute direct me to thee. Know that this young lady is my daughter and her father was a merchant, who died and left her much money. She is come of marriageable age and the wise say:—Offer thy daughter in marriage and not thy son; and all her life she hath not come forth the house till this day. Now a divine warning and a command given in secret bid me wed her to thee; so, if thou art poor, I will give thee capital and will open for thee instead of one shop two shops.” Thereupon quoth the young merchant to himself, “I asked Allah for a bride, and He hath given me three things, to wit, coin, clothing, and coynte.” Then he continued to the old trot, “O my mother, that whereto thou directest me is well; but this long while my mother saith to me:—I wish to marry thee, but I object replying, I will not marry except on the sight of my own eyes.” Said Dalilah, “Rise and follow my steps, and I will show her to thee, naked.”[[193]] So he rose and took a thousand dinars, saying in himself, “Haply we may need to buy somewhat”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and First Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old woman said to Hasan, son of Mohsin the merchant, “Rise up and follow me, and I will show her naked to thee.” So he rose and took with him a thousand dinars, saying in himself, “Haply we may need to buy somewhat or pay the fees for drawing up the marriage contract.” The old woman bade him walk behind the young lady at a distance but within shot of sight and said to herself, “Where wilt thou carry the young lady and the merchant that thou mayest strip them both whilst his shop is still shut?” Then she walked on and Khatun after her, followed by the young merchant, till she came to a dyery, kept by a master dyer, by name Hajj Mohammed, a man of ill-repute; like the colocasia[[194]] seller’s knife cutting male and female, and loving to eat both figs and pomegranates.[[195]] He heard the tinkle of the ankle rings and, raising his head, saw the lady and the young man. Presently the old woman came up to him and, after salaaming to him and sitting down opposite him, asked him, “Art thou not Hajj Mohammed the dyer?” He answered, “Yes, I am he: what dost thou want?” Quoth she, “Verily, folks of fair repute have directed me to thee. Look at yonder handsome girl, my daughter, and that comely beardless youth, my son; I brought them both up and spent much money on both of them. Now, thou must know that I have a big old ruinous house which I have shored up with wood, and the builder saith to me:—Go and live in some other place, lest belike it fall upon thee; and when this is repaired return hither. So I went forth to seek me a lodging, and people of worth directed me to thee, and I wish to lodge my son and daughter with thee.” Quoth the dyer in his mind, “Verily, here is fresh butter upon cake come to thee.” But he said to the old woman, “’Tis true I have a house and saloon and upper floor; but I cannot spare any part thereof, for I want it all for guests and for the indigo-growers my clients.” She replied, “O my son, ’twill be only for a month or two at the most, till our house be repaired, and we are strange folk. Let the guest-chamber be shared between us and thee, and by thy life, O my son, an thou desire that thy guests be ours, we will welcome them and eat with them and sleep with them.” Then he gave her the keys, one big and one small and one crooked, saying to her, “The big key is that of the house, the crooked one that of the saloon and the little one that of the upper floor.” So Dalilah took the keys and fared on, followed by the lady who forwent the young merchant, till she came to the lane wherein was the house. She opened the door and entered, introducing the damsel to whom said she, “O my daughter, this (pointing to the saloon) is the lodging of the Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat; but go thou into the upper floor and loose thy outer veil and wait till I come to thee.” So she went up and sat down. Presently appeared the young merchant, whom Dalilah carried into the saloon, saying, “Sit down, whilst I fetch my daughter and show her to thee.” So he sat down and the old trot went up to Khatun who said to her, “I wish to visit the Shaykh, before the folk come.” Replied the beldame, “O my daughter, we fear for thee.” Asked Khatun, “Why so?” and Dalilah answered, “Because here is a son of mine, a natural who knoweth not summer from winter, but goeth ever naked. He is the Shaykh’s deputy and, if he saw a girl like thee come to visit his chief, he would snatch her earrings and tear her ears and rend her silken robes.[[196]] So do thou doff thy jewellery and clothes and I will keep them for thee, till thou hast made thy pious visitation.” Accordingly the damsel did off her outer dress and jewels and gave them to the old woman, who said, “I will lay them for thee on the Shaykh’s curtain, that a blessing may betide thee.” Then she went out, leaving the lady in her shift and petticoat-trousers, and hid the clothes and jewels in a place on the staircase; after which she betook herself to the young merchant, whom she found impatiently awaiting the girl, and he cried, “Where is thy daughter, that I may see her?” But she smote palm on breast and he said, “What aileth thee?” Quoth she, “Would there were no such thing as the ill neighbour and the envious! They saw thee enter the house with me and asked me of thee; and I said:—This is a bridegroom I have found for my daughter. So they envied me on thine account and said to my girl, Is thy mother tired of keeping thee, that she marrieth thee to a leper? Thereupon I swore to her that she should not see thee save naked.” Quoth he, “I take refuge with Allah from the envious,” and baring his forearm, showed her that it was like silver. Said she, “Have no fear; thou shalt see her naked, even as she shall see thee naked;” and he said, “Let her come and look at me.” Then he put off his pelisse and sables and his girdle and dagger and the rest of his raiment, except his shirt and bag-trousers, and would have laid the purse of a thousand dinars with them, but Dalilah cried, “Give them to me, that I may take care of them.” So she took them and fetching the girl’s clothes and jewellery shouldered the whole and locking the door upon them went her ways.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Second Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old woman had taken the property of the young merchant and the damsel and wended her ways, having locked the door upon them, she deposited her spoils with a druggist of her acquaintance and returned to the dyer, whom she found sitting, awaiting her. Quoth he, “Inshallah, the house pleaseth thee?”; and quoth she, “There is a blessing in it; and I go now to fetch porters to carry hither our goods and furniture. But my children would have me bring them a panade with meat; so do thou take this dinar and buy the dish and go and eat the morning meal with them.” Asked the dyer, “Who shall guard the dyery meanwhile and the people’s goods that be therein?”; and the old woman answered, “Thy lad!” “So be it,” rejoined he, and taking a dish and cover, went out to do her bidding. So far concerning the dyer who will again be mentioned in the tale; but as regards the old woman, she fetched the clothes and jewels she had left with the druggist and going back to the dyery, said to the lad, “Run after thy master, and I will not stir hence till you both return.” “To hear is to obey,” answered he and went away, while she began to collect all the customers’ goods. Presently, there came up an ass-driver, a scavenger, who had been out of work for a week and who was an Hashísh-eater to boot; and she called him, saying, “Hither, O donkey-boy!” So he came to her and she asked, “Knowest thou my son the dyer?”; whereto he answered, “Yes, I know him.” Then she said, “The poor fellow is insolvent and loaded with debts, and as often as he is put in prison, I set him free. Now we wish to see him declared bankrupt and I am going to return the goods to their owners; so do thou lend me thine ass to carry the load and receive this dinar to its hire. When I am gone, take the handsaw and empty out the vats and jars and break them, so that if there come an officer from the Kází’s court, he may find nothing in the dyery.” Quoth he, “I owe the Hajj a kindness and will do something for Allah’s love.” So she laid the things on the ass and, the Protector protecting her, made for her own house; so that she arrived there in safety and went in to her daughter Zaynab, who said to her, “O my mother, my heart hath been with thee! What hast thou done by way of roguery?” Dalilah replied, “I have played off four tricks on four wights; the wife of the Serjeant-usher, a young merchant, a dyer and an ass-driver, and have brought thee all their spoil on the donkey-boy’s beast.” Cried Zaynab, “O my mother, thou wilt never more be able to go about the town, for fear of the Serjeant-usher, whose wife’s raiment and jewellery thou hast taken, and the merchant whom thou hast stripped naked, and the dyer whose customers’ goods thou hast stolen and the owner of the ass.” Rejoined the old woman, “Pooh, my girl! I reck not of them, save the donkey-boy, who knoweth me.” Meanwhile the dyer bought the meat-panade and set out for the house, followed by his servant with the food on head. On his way thither, he passed his shop, where he found the donkey-boy breaking the vats and jars and saw that there was neither stuff nor liquor left in them and that the dyery was in ruins. So he said to him, “Hold thy hand, O ass-driver;” and the donkey-boy desisted and cried, “Praised be Allah for thy safety, O master! Verily my heart was with thee.” “Why so?” “Thou art become bankrupt and they have filed a docket of thine insolvency.” “Who told thee this?” “Thy mother told me, and bade me break the jars and empty the vats, that the Kazi’s officers might find nothing in the shop, if they should come.” “Allah confound the far One!”[[197]] cried the dyer; “My mother died long ago.” And he beat his breast, exclaiming, “Alas, for the loss of my goods and those of the folk!” The donkey-boy also wept and ejaculated, “Alas, for the loss of my ass!”; and he said to the dyer, “Give me back my beast which thy mother stole from me.” The dyer laid hold of him by the throat and fell to buffeting him, saying, “Bring me the old woman;” whilst the other buffeted him in return saying, “Give me back my beast.” So they beat and cursed each other, till the folk collected around them——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Third Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the dyer caught hold of the donkey-boy and the donkey-boy caught hold of the dyer and they beat and cursed each other till the folk collected round them and one of them asked, “What is the matter, O Master Mohammed?” The ass-driver answered, “I will tell thee the tale,” and related to them his story, saying, “I deemed I was doing the dyer a good turn; but, when he saw me he beat his breast and said, My mother is dead. And now, I for one require my ass of him, it being he who hath put this trick on me, that he might make me lose my beast.” Then said the folk to the dyer, “O Master Mohammed, dost thou know this matron, that thou didst entrust her with the dyery and all therein?” And he replied, “I know her not; but she took lodgings with me to-day, she and her son and daughter.” Quoth one, “In my judgment, the dyer is bound to indemnify the ass-driver.” Quoth another, “Why so?” “Because,” replied the first, “he trusted not the old woman nor gave her his ass save only because he saw that the dyer had entrusted her with the dyery and its contents.” And a third said, “O master, since thou hast lodged her with thee, it behoveth thee to get the man back his ass.” Then they made for the house, and the tale will come round to them again. Meanwhile, the young merchant remained awaiting the old woman’s coming with her daughter, but she came not nor did her daughter; whilst the young lady in like manner sat expecting her return with leave from her son, the God-attended one, the Shaykh’s deputy, to go in to the holy presence. So weary of waiting, she rose to visit the Shaykh by herself and went down into the saloon, where she found the young merchant, who said to her, “Come hither! where is thy mother, who brought me to marry thee?” She replied, “My mother is dead, art thou the old woman’s son, the ecstatic, the deputy of the Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat?” Quoth he, “The swindling old trot is no mother of mine; she hath cheated me and taken my clothes and a thousand dinars.” Quoth Khatun, “And me also hath she swindled for she brought me to see the Shaykh Abu al-Hamlat and in lieu of so doing she hath stripped me.” Thereupon he, “I look to thee to make good my clothes and my thousand dinars;” and she, “I look to thee to make good my clothes and jewellery.” And, behold, at this moment in came the dyer and seeing them both stripped of their raiment, said to them, “Tell me where your mother is.” So the young lady related all that had befallen her and the young merchant related all that had betided him, and the Master-dyer exclaimed, “Alas, for the loss of my goods and those of the folk!”; and the ass-driver ejaculated, “Alas, for my ass! Give me, O dyer, my ass!” Then said the dyer, “This old woman is a sharper. Come forth, that I may lock the door.” Quoth the young merchant, “’Twere a disgrace to thee that we should enter thy house dressed and go forth from it undressed.” So the dyer clad him and the damsel and sent her back to her house where we shall find her after the return of her husband. Then he shut the dyery and said to the young merchant, “Come, let us go and search for the old woman and hand her over to the Wali,[[198]] the Chief of Police.” So they and the ass-man repaired to the house of the master of police and made their complaint to him. Quoth he, “O folk, what want ye?” and when they told him he rejoined, “How many old women are there not in the town! Go ye and seek for her and lay hands on her and bring her to me, and I will torture her for you and make her confess.” So they sought for her all round the town; and an account of them will presently be given.[[199]] As for old Dalilah the Wily, she said, “I have a mind to play off another trick,” to her daughter who answered, “O my mother, I fear for thee;” but the beldam cried, “I am like the bean husks which fall, proof against fire and water.” So she rose, and donning a slave-girl’s dress of such as serve people of condition, went out to look for some one to defraud. Presently she came to a by-street, spread with carpets and lighted with hanging lamps, and heard a noise of singing-women and drumming of tambourines. Here she saw a handmaid bearing on her shoulder a boy, clad in trousers laced with silver and a little Abá-cloak of velvet, with a pearl embroidered Tarbush-cap on his head, and about his neck a collar of gold set with jewels. Now the house belonged to the Provost of the Merchants of Baghdad, and the boy was his son. He had a virgin daughter, to boot, who was promised in marriage, and it was her betrothal they were celebrating that day. There was with her mother a company of noble dames and singing-women, and whenever she went upstairs or down, the boy clung to her. So she called the slave-girl and said to her, “Take thy young master and play with him, till the company break up.” Seeing this, Dalilah asked the handmaid, “What festivities are these in your mistress’s house;” and was answered, “She celebrates her daughter’s betrothal this day, and she hath singing-women with her.” Quoth the old woman to herself, “O Dalilah, the thing to do is to spirit away this boy from the maid,”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old trot said to herself, “O Dalilah, the thing to do is to spirit away this boy from the maid!” she began crying out, “O disgrace! O ill luck!” Then pulling out a brass token, resembling a dinar, she said to the maid, who was a simpleton, “Take this ducat and go in to thy mistress and say to her:—Umm al-Khayr rejoiceth with thee and is beholden to thee for thy favours, and on the day of assembly she and her daughters will visit thee and handsel the tiring-women with the usual gifts.” Said the girl, “O my mother, my young master here catcheth hold of his mamma, whenever he seeth her;” and she replied “Give him to me, whilst thou goest in and comest back.” So she gave her the child and taking the token, went in; whereupon Dalilah made off with the boy to a by-lane, where she stripped him of his clothes and jewels, saying to herself, “O Dalilah, ’twould indeed be the finest of tricks, even as thou hast cheated the maid and taken the boy from her, so now to carry on the game and pawn him for a thousand dinars.” So she repaired to the jewel-bazar, where she saw a Jew goldsmith seated with a cage full of jewellery before him, and said to herself, “’Twould be a rare trick to chouse this Jew fellow and get a thousand gold pieces worth of jewellery from him and leave the boy in pledge for it.” Presently the Jew looked at them and seeing the boy with the old woman, knew him for the son of the Provost of the Merchants. Now the Israelite was a man of great wealth, but would envy his neighbour if he sold and himself did not sell; so espying Dalilah, he said to her, “What seekest thou, O my mistress?” She asked, “Art thou Master Azariah[[200]] the Jew?” having first enquired his name of others; and he answered, “Yes.” Quoth she, “This boy’s sister, daughter of the Shahbandar of the Merchants, is a promised bride, and to-day they celebrate her betrothal; and she hath need of jewellery. So give me two pair of gold ankle-rings, a brace of gold bracelets, and pearl ear-drops, with a girdle, a poignard and a seal-ring.” He brought them out and she took of him a thousand dinars’ worth of jewellery, saying, “I will take these ornaments on approval; and whatso pleaseth them, they will keep and I will bring thee the price and leave this boy with thee till then.” He said, “Be it as thou wilt!” So she took the jewellery and made off to her own house, where her daughter asked her how the trick had sped. She told her how she had taken and stripped the Shahbandar’s boy, and Zaynab said, “Thou wilt never be able to walk abroad again in the town.” Meanwhile, the maid went in to her mistress and said to her, “O my lady, Umm al-Khayr saluteth thee and rejoiceth with thee and on assembly-day she will come, she and her daughters, and give the customary presents.” Quoth her mistress, “Where is thy young master?” Quoth the slave-girl, “I left him with her lest he cling to thee, and she gave me this, as largesse for the singing-women.” So the lady said to the chief of the singers, “Take thy money;” and she took it and found it a brass counter; whereupon the lady cried to the maid, “Get thee down, O whore, and look to thy young master.” Accordingly, she went down and finding neither boy nor old woman, shrieked aloud and fell on her face. Their joy was changed into annoy, and behold, the Provost came in, when his wife told him all that had befallen and he went out in quest of the child, whilst the other merchants also fared forth and each sought his own road. Presently, the Shahbandar, who had looked everywhere, espied his son seated, naked, in the Jew’s shop and said to the owner, “This is my son.” “’Tis well,” answered the Jew. So he took him up, without asking for his clothes, of the excess of his joy at finding him; but the Jew laid hold of him, saying, “Allah succour the Caliph against thee!”[[201]] The Provost asked, “What aileth thee, O Jew?”; and he answered, “Verily the old woman took of me a thousand dinars’ worth of jewellery for thy daughter, and left this lad in pledge for the price; and I had not trusted her, but that she offered to leave the child whom I knew for thy son.” Said the Provost, “My daughter needeth no jewellery, give me the boy’s clothes.” Thereupon the Jew shrieked out, “Come to my aid, O Moslems!” but at that moment up came the dyer and the ass-man and the young merchant, who were going about, seeking the old woman, and enquired the cause of their jangle. So they told them the case and they said, “This old woman is a cheat, who hath cheated us before you.” Then they recounted to them how she had dealt with them, and the Provost said, “Since I have found my son, be his clothes his ransom! If I come upon the old woman, I will require them of her.” And he carried the child home to his mother, who rejoiced in his safety. Then the Jew said to the three others, “Whither go ye?”; and they answered, “We go to look for her.” Quoth the Jew, “Take me with you,” presently adding, “Is there any one of you knoweth her?” The donkey-boy cried, “I know her;” and the Jew said, “If we all go forth together, we shall never catch her; for she will flee from us. Let each take a different road, and be our rendezvous at the shop of Hajj Mas’úd, the Moorish barber.” They agreed to this and set off, each in a different direction. Presently, Dalilah sallied forth again to play her tricks and the ass-driver met her and knew her. So he caught hold of her and said to her, “Woe to thee! Hast thou been long at this trade?” She asked, “What aileth thee?”; and he answered, “Give me back my ass.” Quoth she, “Cover what Allah covereth, O my son! Dost thou seek thine ass and the people’s things?” Quoth he, “I want my ass; that’s all;” and quoth she, “I saw that thou wast poor: so I deposited thine ass for thee with the Moorish barber. Stand off, whilst I speak him fair, that he may give thee the beast.” So she went up to the Maghrabi and kissed his hand and shed tears. He asked her what ailed her and she said, “O my son, look at my boy who standeth yonder. He was ill and exposed himself to the air, which injured his intellect. He used to buy asses and now, if he stand he saith nothing but, My ass! if he sit he crieth, My ass! and if he walk he crieth, My ass! Now I have been told by a certain physician that his mind is disordered and that nothing will cure him but drawing two of his grinders and cauterising him twice on either temple. So do thou take this dinar and call him to thee, saying:—Thine ass is with me.” Said the barber, “May I fast for a year, if I do not give him his ass in his fist!” Now he had with him two journeymen, so he said to one of them, “Go, heat the irons.” Then the old woman went her way and the barber called to the donkey-boy,[[202]] saying, “Thine ass is with me, good fellow! come and take him, and as thou livest, I will give him into thy palm.” So he came to him and the barber carried him into a dark room, where he knocked him down and the journeymen bound him hand and foot. Then the Maghrabi arose and pulled out two of his grinders and fired him on either temple; after which he let him go, and he rose and said, “O Moor, why hast thou used me with this usage?” Quoth the barber, “Thy mother told me that thou hadst taken cold whilst ill, and hadst lost thy reason, so that, whether sitting or standing or walking, thou wouldst say nothing but My ass! So here is thine ass in thy fist.” Said the other, “Allah requite thee for pulling out my teeth.” Then the barber told him all that the old woman had related and he exclaimed, “Allah torment her!”; and the twain left the shop and went out, disputing. When the barber returned, he found his booth empty, for, whilst he was absent, the old woman had taken all that was therein and made off with it to her daughter, whom she acquainted with all that had befallen and all she had done. The barber, seeing his place plundered, caught hold of the donkey-boy and said to him, “Bring me thy mother.” But he answered, saying, “She is not my mother; she is a sharper who hath cozened much people and stolen my ass.” And lo! at this moment up came the dyer and the Jew and the young merchant, and seeing the Moorish barber holding on to the ass-driver who was fired on both temples, they said to him, “What hath befallen thee, O donkey-boy?” So he told them all that had betided him and the barber did the like; and the others in turn related to the Moor the tricks the old woman had played them. Then he shut up his shop and went with them to the office of the Police-master to whom they said, “We look to thee for our case and our coin.”[[203]] Quoth the Wali, “And how many old women are there not in Baghdad! Say me, doth any of you know her?” Quoth the ass-man, “I do; so give me ten of thine officers.” He gave them half a score archers and they all five went out, followed by the sergeants, and patrolled the city, till they met the old woman, when they laid hands on her and carrying her to the house of the Chief of Police, stood waiting under his office windows till he should come forth. Presently, the warders fell asleep, for excess of watching with their chief, and old Dalilah feigned to follow their example, till the ass-man and his fellows slept likewise, when she stole away from them and, going in to the Wali’s Harim, kissed the hand of the mistress of the house and asked her, “Where is the Chief of Police?” The lady answered, “He is asleep; what wouldst thou with him?” Quoth Dalilah, “My husband is a merchant of chattels and gave me five Mamelukes to sell, whilst he went on a journey. The Master of Police met me and bought them of me for a thousand dinars and two hundred for myself, saying:—Bring them to my house. So I have brought them.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Fifth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old woman, entering the Harim of the Police-Master, said to his wife, “Verily the Wali bought of me five slaves for one thousand ducats and two hundred for myself, saying:—Bring them to my quarters. So I have brought them.” Hearing the old woman’s story she believed it and asked her, “Where are the slaves?” Dalilah replied, “O my lady, they are asleep under the palace window”; whereupon the dame looked out and seeing the Moorish barber clad in a Mameluke habit and the young merchant as he were a drunken Mameluke[[204]] and the Jew and the dyer and the ass-driver as they were shaven Mamelukes, said in herself, “Each of these white slaves is worth more than a thousand dinars.” So she opened her chest and gave the old woman the thousand ducats, saying, “Fare thee forth now and come back anon; when my husband waketh, I will get thee the other two hundred dinars from him.” Answered the old woman, “O my lady, an hundred of them are thine, under the sherbet-gugglet whereof thou drinkest,[[205]] and the other hundred do thou keep for me against I come back,” presently adding, “Now let me out by the private door.” So she let her out, and the Protector protected her and she made her way home to her daughter, to whom she related how she had gotten a thousand gold pieces and sold her five pursuers into slavery, ending with, “O my daughter, the one who troubleth me most is the ass-driver, for he knoweth me.” Said Zaynab, “O my mother, abide quiet awhile and let what thou hast done suffice thee, for the crock shall not always escape the shock.” When the Chief of Police awoke, his wife said to him, “I give thee joy of the five slaves thou hast bought of the old woman.” Asked he, “What slaves?” And she answered, “Why dost thou deny it to me? Allah willing, they shall become like thee people of condition.” Quoth he, “As my head liveth, I have bought no slaves! Who saith this?” Quoth she, “The old woman, the brokeress, from whom thou boughtest them; and thou didst promise her a thousand dinars for them and two hundred for herself.” Cried he, “Didst thou give her the money?” And she replied, “Yes; for I saw the slaves with my own eyes, and on each is a suit of clothes worth a thousand dinars; so I sent out to bid the sergeants have an eye to them.” The Wali went out and, seeing the five plaintiffs, said to the officers, “Where are the five slaves we bought for a thousand dinars of the old woman?” Said they, “There are no slaves here; only these five men, who found the old woman, and seized her and brought her hither. We fell asleep, whilst waiting for thee, and she stole away and entered the Harim. Presently out came a maid and asked us:—Are the five with you with whom the old woman came?”; and we answered, “Yes.” Cried the Master of Police, “By Allah, this is the biggest of swindles!”; and the five men said, “We look to thee for our goods.” Quoth the Wali, “The old woman, your mistress, sold you to me for a thousand gold pieces.” Quoth they, “That were not allowed of Allah; we are free-born men and may not be sold, and we appeal from thee to the Caliph.” Rejoined the Master of Police, “None showed her the way to the house save you, and I will sell you to the galleys for two hundred dinars apiece.” Just then, behold, up came the Emir Hasan Sharr al-Tarik who, on his return from his journey had found his wife stripped of her clothes and jewellery and heard from her all that had passed; whereupon quoth he, “The Master of Police shall answer me this” and repairing to him, said, “Dost thou suffer old women to go round about the town and cozen folk of their goods? This is thy duty and I look to thee for my wife’s property.” Then said he to the five men, “What is the case with you?” So they told him their stories and he said, “Ye are wronged men,” and turning to the Master of Police, asked him, “Why dost thou arrest them?” Answered he, “None brought the old wretch to my house save these five, so that she took a thousand dinars of my money and sold them to my women.” Whereupon the five cried, “O Emir Hasan, be thou our advocate in this cause.” Then said the Master of Police to the Emir, “Thy wife’s goods are at my charge and I will be surety for the old woman. But which of you knoweth her?” They cried, “We all know her: send ten apparitors with us, and we will take her.” So he gave them ten men, and the ass-driver said to them, “Follow me, for I should know her with blue eyes.”[[206]] Then they fared forth and lo! they meet old Dalilah coming out of a by-street: so they at once laid hands on her and brought her to the office of the Wali who asked her, “Where are the people’s goods?” But she answered, saying, “I have neither gotten them nor seen them.” Then he cried to the gaoler, “Take her with thee and clap her in gaol till the morning;” but he replied, “I will not take her nor will I imprison her lest she play a trick on me and I be answerable for her.” So the Master of Police mounted and rode out with Dalilah and the rest to the bank of the Tigris, where he bade the lamp-lighter crucify her by her hair. He drew her up by the pulley and bound her on the cross; after which the Master of Police set ten men to guard her and went home. Presently, the night fell down and sleep overcame the watchmen. Now a certain Badawi had heard one man say to a friend, “Praise be to Allah for thy safe return! Where hast thou been all this time?” Replied the other, “In Baghdad where I broke my fast on honey-fritters.”[[207]] Quoth the Badawi to himself, “Needs must I go to Baghdad and eat honey-fritters therein”; for in all his life he had never entered Baghdad nor seen fritters of the sort. So he mounted his stallion and rode on towards Baghdad, saying in his mind, “’Tis a fine thing to eat honey-fritters! On the honour of an Arab, I will break my fast with honey-fritters and naught else!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Sixth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the wild Arab mounted horse and made for Baghdad saying in his mind, “’Tis a fine thing to eat honey-fritters! On the honour of an Arab I will break my fast with honey-fritters and naught else;” and he rode on till he came to the place where Dalilah was crucified and she heard him mutter these words. So he went up to her and said to her, “What art thou?” Quoth she, “I throw myself on thy protection, O Shaykh of the Arabs!” and quoth he, “Allah indeed protect thee! But what is the cause of thy crucifixion?” Said she, “I have an enemy, an oilman, who frieth fritters, and I stopped to buy some of him, when I chanced to spit and my spittle fell on the fritters. So he complained of me to the Governor, who commanded to crucify me, saying:—I adjudge that ye take ten pounds of honey-fritters and feed her therewith upon the cross. If she eat them, let her go, but if not, leave her hanging. And my stomach will not brook sweet things.” Cried the Badawi, “By the honour of the Arabs, I departed not the camp but that I might taste of honey-fritters! I will eat them for thee.” Quoth she, “None may eat them, except he be hung up in my place.” So he fell into the trap and unbound her; whereupon she bound him in her stead, after she had stripped him of his clothes and turband and put them on; then covering herself with his burnous and mounting his horse, she rode to her house, where Zaynab asked her, “What meaneth this plight?”; and she answered, “They crucified me;” and told her all that had befallen her with the Badawi. This is how it fared with her; but as regards the watchmen, the first who woke roused his companions and they saw that the day had broken. So one of them raised his eyes and cried, “Dalilah.” Replied the Badawi, “By Allah! I have not eaten all night. Have ye brought the honey-fritters?” All exclaimed, “This is a man and a Badawi,” and one of them asked him, “O Badawi, where is Dalilah and who loosed her?” He answered, “’Twas I; she shall not eat the honey-fritters against her will; for her soul abhorreth them.” So they knew that the Arab was ignorant of her case, whom she had cozened, and said to one another, “Shall we flee or abide the accomplishment of that which Allah hath written for us?” As they were talking, up came the Chief of Police, with all the folk whom the old woman had cheated, and said to the guards, “Arise, loose Dalilah.” Quoth the Badawi, “We have not eaten to-night. Hast thou brought the honey-fritters?” Whereupon the Wali raised his eyes to the cross and seeing the Badawi hung up in the stead of the old woman, said to the watchmen, “What is this?” “Pardon, O our lord!” “Tell me what hath happened.” “We were weary with watching with thee on guard and said:—Dalilah is crucified. So we fell asleep, and when we awoke, we found the Badawi hung up in her room; and we are at thy mercy.” “O folk, Allah’s pardon be upon you! She is indeed a clever cheat!” Then they unbound the Badawi, who laid hold of the Master of Police, saying, “Allah succour the Caliph against thee! I look to none but thee for my horse and clothes!” So the Wali questioned him and he told him what had passed between Dalilah and himself. The magistrate marvelled and asked him, “Why didst thou release her?”; and the Badawi answered, “I knew not that she was a felon.” Then said the others, “O Chief of Police, we look to thee in the matter of our goods; for we delivered the old woman into thy hands and she was in thy guard; and we cite thee before the Divan of the Caliph.” Now the Emir Hasan had gone up to the Divan, when in came the Wali with the Badawi and the five others, saying, “Verily, we are wronged men!” “Who hath wronged you?” asked the Caliph; so each came forward in turn and told his story, after which said the Master of Police, “O Commander of the Faithful, the old woman cheated me also and sold me these five men as slaves for a thousand dinars, albeit they are free-born.” Quoth the Prince of True Believers, “I take upon myself all that you have lost”; adding to the Master of Police, “I charge thee with the old woman.” But he shook his collar, saying, “O Commander of the Faithful, I will not answer for her; for, after I had hung her on the cross, she tricked this Badawi and, when he loosed her, she tied him up in her room and made off with his clothes and horse.” Quoth the Caliph, “Whom but thee shall I charge with her?”; and quoth the Wali, “Charge Ahmad al-Danaf, for he hath a thousand dinars a month and one-and-forty followers, at a monthly wage of an hundred dinars each.” So the Caliph said, “Harkye, Captain Ahmad!” “At thy service, O Commander of the Faithful,” said he; and the Caliph cried, “I charge thee to bring the old woman before us.” Replied Ahmad, “I will answer for her.” Then the Caliph kept the Badawi and the five with him,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Seventh Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph said to Calamity Ahmad, “I charge thee to bring the old woman before us,” he said, “I will answer for her, O Commander of the Faithful!” Then the Caliph kept the Badawi and the five with him, whilst Ahmad and his men went down to their hall,[[208]] saying to one another, “How shall we lay hands on her, seeing that there are many old women in the town?” And quoth Ahmad to Hasan Shuman, “What counsellest thou?” Whereupon quoth one of them, by name Ali Kitf al-Jamal,[[209]] to al-Danaf, “Of what dost thou take counsel with Hasan Shuman? Is the Pestilent one any great shakes?” Said Hasan, “O Ali, why dost thou disparage me? By the Most Great Name, I will not company with thee at this time!”; and he rose and went out in wrath. Then said Ahmad, “O my braves, let every sergeant take ten men, each to his own quarter and search for Dalilah.” All did his bidding, Ali included, and they said, “Ere we disperse let us agree to rendezvous in the quarter Al-Kalkh.” It was noised abroad in the city that Calamity Ahmad had undertaken to lay hands on Dalilah the Wily, and Zaynab said to her, “O my mother, an thou be indeed a trickstress, do thou befool Ahmad al-Danaf and his company.” Answered Dalilah, “I fear none save Hasan Shuman;” and Zaynab said, “By the life of my brow-lock, I will assuredly get thee the clothes of all the one-and-forty.” Then she dressed and veiled herself and going to a certain druggist, who had a saloon with two doors, salamed to him and gave him an ashrafi and said to him, “Take this gold piece as a douceur for thy saloon and let it to me till the end of the day.” So he gave her the keys and she fetched carpets and so forth on the stolen ass and furnishing the place, set on each raised pavement a tray of meat and wine. Then she went out and stood at the door, with her face unveiled and behold, up came Ali Kitf al-Jamal and his men. She kissed his hand; and he fell in love with her, seeing her to be a handsome girl, and said to her, “What dost thou want?” Quoth she, “Art thou Captain Ahmad al-Danaf?”; and quoth he, “No, but I am of his company and my name is Ali Camel-shoulder.” Asked she, “Whither fare you?”; and he answered, “We go about in quest of a sharkish old woman, who hath stolen folk’s good, and we mean to lay hands on her. But who art thou and what is thy business?” She replied, “My father was a taverner at Mosul and he died and left me much money. So I came hither, for fear of the Dignities, and asked the people who would protect me, to which they replied:—None but Ahmad al-Danaf.” Said the men, “From this day forth, thou art under his protection”; and she replied, “Hearten me by eating a bit and drinking a sup of water.”[[210]] They consented and entering, ate and drank till they were drunken, when she drugged them with Bhang and stripped them of their clothes and arms; and on like wise she did with the three other companions. Presently, Calamity Ahmad went out to look for Dalilah, but found her not, neither set eyes on any of his followers, and went on till he came to the door where Zaynab was standing. She kissed his hand and he looked on her and fell in love with her. Quoth she, “Art thou Captain Ahmad al-Danaf?”; and quoth he, “Yes: who art thou?” She replied, “I am a stranger from Mosul. My father was a vintner at that place and he died and left me much money wherewith I came to this city, for fear of the powers that be, and opened this tavern. The Master of Police hath imposed a tax on me, but it is my desire to put myself under thy protection and pay thee what the police would take of me, for thou hast the better right to it.” Quoth he, “Do not pay him aught: thou shalt have my protection and welcome.” Then quoth she, “Please to heal my heart and eat of my victual.” So he entered and ate and drank wine, till he could not sit upright, when she drugged him and took his clothes and arms. Then she loaded her purchase on the Badawi’s horse and the donkey-boy’s ass and made off with it, after she had aroused Ali Kitf al-Jamal. Camel-shoulder awoke and found himself naked and saw Ahmad and his men drugged and stripped: so he revived them with the counter-drug and they awoke and found themselves naked. Quoth Calamity Ahmad, “O lads, what is this? We were going to catch her, and lo! this strumpet hath caught us! How Hasan Shuman will rejoice over us! But we will wait till it is dark and then go away.” Meanwhile Pestilence Hasan said to the hall-keeper, “Where are the men?”; and as he asked, up they came naked; and he recited these two couplets[[211]]:—
Men in their purposes are much alike, ✿ But in their issues difference comes to light:
Of men some wise are, others simple souls; ✿ As of the stars some dull, some pearly bright.
Then he looked at them and asked, “Who hath played you this trick and made you naked?”; and they answered, “We went in quest of an old woman, and a pretty girl stripped us.” Quoth Hasan, “She hath done right well.” They asked, “Dost thou know her?”; and he answered, “Yes, I know her and the old trot too.” Quoth they, “What shall we say to the Caliph?”; and quoth he, “O Danaf, do thou shake thy collar before him, and he will say:—Who is answerable for her; and if he ask why thou hast not caught her; say thou:—We know her not; but charge Hasan Shuman with her. And if he give her into my charge, I will lay hands on her.” So they slept that night and on the morrow they went up to the Caliph’s Divan and kissed ground before him. Quoth he, “Where is the old woman, O Captain Ahmad?” But he shook his collar. The Caliph asked him why he did so, and he answered, “I know her not; but do thou charge Hasan Shuman to lay hands on her, for he knoweth her and her daughter also.” Then Hasan interceded for her with the Caliph, saying, “Indeed, she hath not played off these tricks, because she coveted the folk’s stuff, but to show her cleverness and that of her daughter, to the intent that thou shouldst continue her husband’s stipend to her and that of her father to her daughter. So an thou wilt spare her life I will fetch her to thee.” Cried the Caliph, “By the life of my ancestors, if she restore the people’s goods, I will pardon her on thine intercession!” And said the Pestilence, “Give me a pledge, O Prince of True Believers!” Whereupon Al-Rashid gave him the kerchief of pardon. So Hasan repaired to Dalilah’s house and called to her. Her daughter Zaynab answered him and he asked her, “Where is thy mother?” “Upstairs,” she answered; and he said, “Bid her take the people’s goods and come with me to the presence of the Caliph; for I have brought her the kerchief of pardon, and if she will not come with a good grace, let her blame only herself.” So Dalilah came down and tying the kerchief about her neck gave him the people’s goods on the donkey-boy’s ass and the Badawi’s horse. Quoth he, “There remain the clothes of my Chief and his men”; and quoth she, “By the Most Great Name, ’twas not I who stripped them!” Rejoined Hasan, “Thou sayst sooth, it was thy daughter Zaynab’s doing, and this was a good turn she did thee.” Then he carried her to the Divan and laying the people’s goods and stuff before the Caliph, set the old trot in his presence. As soon as he saw her, he bade throw her down on the carpet of blood, whereat she cried, “I cast myself on thy protection, O Shuman!” So he rose and kissing the Caliph’s hands, said, “Pardon, O Commander of the Faithful! Indeed, thou gavest me the kerchief of pardon.” Said the Prince of True Believers, “I pardon her for thy sake: come hither, O old woman; what is thy name?” “My name is Wily Dalilah,” answered she, and the Caliph said, “Thou art indeed crafty and full of guile.” Whence she was dubbed Dalilah the Wily One. Then quoth he, “Why hast thou played all these tricks on the folk and wearied our hearts?” and quoth she, “I did it not of lust for their goods, but because I had heard of the tricks which Ahmad al-Danaf and Hasan Shuman played in Baghdad and said to myself:—I too will do the like. And now I have returned the folk their goods.” But the ass-driver rose and said, “I invoke Allah’s law[[212]] between me and her; for it sufficed her not to take my ass, but she must needs egg on the Moorish barber to tear out my eye-teeth and fire me on both temples.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the donkey-boy rose and cried out, “I invoke Allah’s law between me and her; for it sufficed her not to take my ass, but she must needs egg on the barber to tear out my eye-teeth and fire me on both temples;” thereupon the Caliph bade give him an hundred dinars and ordered the dyer the like, saying, “Go; set up thy dyery again.” So they called down blessings on his head and went away. The Badawi also took his clothes and horse and departed, saying, “’Tis henceforth unlawful and forbidden me to enter Baghdad and eat honey-fritters.” And the others took their goods and went away. Then said the Caliph, “Ask a boon of me, O Dalilah!”; and she said, “Verily, my father was governor of the carrier-pigeons to thee and I know how to rear the birds; and my husband was town-captain of Baghdad. Now I wish to have the reversion of my husband and my daughter wisheth to have that of her father.” The Caliph granted both their requests and she said, “I ask of thee that I may be portress of thy Khan.” Now he had built a Khan of three stories, for the merchants to lodge in, and had assigned to its service forty slaves and also forty dogs he had brought from the King of the Sulaymániyah,[[213]] when he deposed him; and there was in the Khan a cook-slave, who cooked for the chattels and fed the hounds for which he let make collars. Said the Caliph, “O Dalilah, I will write thee a patent of guardianship of the Khan, and if aught be lost therefrom, thou shalt be answerable for it.” “’Tis well,” replied she; “but do thou lodge my daughter in the pavilion over the door of the Khan, for it hath terraced roofs, and carrier-pigeons may not be reared to advantage save in an open space.” The Caliph granted her this also and she and her daughter removed to the pavilion in question, where Zaynab hung up the one-and-forty dresses of Calamity Ahmad and his company. Moreover, they delivered to Dalilah the forty pigeons which carried the royal messages, and the Caliph appointed the Wily One mistress over the forty slaves and charged them to obey her. She made the place of her sitting behind the door of the Khan, and every day she used to go up to the Caliph’s Divan, lest he should need to send a message by pigeon-post and stay there till eventide whilst the forty slaves stood on guard at the Khan; and when darkness came on they loosed the forty dogs that they might keep watch over the place by night. Such were the doings of Dalilah the Wily One in Baghdad and much like them were
[179]. This and the next tale are omitted by Lane (iii. 254) on “account of its vulgarity, rendered more objectionable by indecent incidents.” It has been honoured with a lithographed reprint at Cairo A.H. 1278 and the Bresl. Edit. ix. 193 calls it the “Tale of Ahmad al-Danaf with Dalílah.”
[180]. “Ahmad, the Distressing Sickness,” or “Calamity”; Hasan the Pestilent and Dalílah the bawd. See vol. ii. 329, and vol. iv. 75.
[181]. A fœtus, a foundling, a contemptible fellow.
[182]. In the Mac. Edit. “her husband”: the end of the tale shows the error, infra, p. 171. The Bresl. Edit., x. 195, informs us that Dalilah was a “Faylasúfíyah” = philosopheress.
[183]. Arab. “Ibrík” usually a ewer, a spout-pot, from the Pers. Ab-ríz = water-pourer; the old woman thus vaunted her ceremonial purity. The basin and ewer are called in poetry “the two rumourers,” because they rattle when borne about.
[184]. Khátún in Turk. is = a lady, a dame of high degree; at times, as here and elsewhere, it becomes a P. N.
[185]. Arab. “Maut,” a word mostly avoided in the Koran and by the Founder of Christianity.
[186]. Arab. “Akákír,” drugs, spices, simples which cannot be distinguished without study and practice. Hence the proverb (Burckhardt, 703), Is this an art of drugs?—difficult as the druggist’s craft?
[187]. i.e. Beautiful as the fairy damsels who guard enchanted treasures, such as that of Al-Shamardal (vol. vi. 221).
[188]. i.e. by contact with a person in a state of ceremonial impurity; servants are not particular upon this point and “Salát mamlúkíyah” (Mameluke’s prayers) means praying without ablution.
[189]. i.e. Father of assaults, burdens or pregnancies; the last being here the meaning.
[190]. Ex votos and so forth.
[191]. Arab. “Iksah,” plaits, braids, also the little gold coins and other ornaments worn in the hair, now mostly by the middle and lower classes. Low Europeans sometimes take advantage of the native prostitutes by detaching these valuables, a form of “bilking” peculiar to the Nile-Valley.
[192]. In Bresl. Edit. Malíh Kawí (pron. ’Awi), a Cairene vulgarism.
[193]. Meaning without veil or upper clothing.
[194]. Arab. “Kallakás” the edible African arum before explained. This Colocasia is supposed to bear, unlike the palm, male and female flowers in one spathe.
[195]. See vol. iii. 302. The figs refer to the anus and the pomegranates, like the sycomore, to the female parts. Me nec fæmina nec puer, &c., says Horace in pensive mood.
[196]. It is in accordance to custom that the Shaykh be attended by a half-witted fanatic who would be made furious by seeing gold and silks in the reverend presence so coyly curtained.
[197]. In English, “God damn everything an inch high!”
[198]. Burckhardt notes that the Wali, or chief police officer at Cairo, was exclusively termed Al-Agha and quotes the proverb (No. 156) “One night the whore repented and cried:—What! no Wali (Al-Aghá) to lay whores by the heels?” Some of these Egyptian by-words are most amusing and characteristic; but they require literal translation, not the timid touch of the last generation. I am preparing, for the use of my friend, Bernard Quaritch, a bonâ fide version which awaits only the promised volume of Herr Landberg.
[199]. Lit. for “we leave them for the present”; the formula is much used in this tale, showing another hand, author or copyist.
[200]. Arab. “Uzrah.”
[201]. i.e. “Thou art unjust and violent enough to wrong even the Caliph!”
[202]. I may note that a “donkey-boy” like our “post-boy” can be of any age in Egypt.
[203]. They could legally demand to be recouped but the chief would have found some pretext to put off payment. Such at least is the legal process of these days.
[204]. i.e. drunk with the excess of his beauty.
[205]. A delicate way of offering a fee. When officers commanding regiments in India contracted for clothing the men, they found these douceurs under their dinner-napkins. All that is now changed; but I doubt the change being an improvement: the public is plundered by a “Board” instead of an individual.
[206]. This may mean, I should know her even were my eyes blue (or blind) with cataract and the Bresl. Edit. ix., 231, reads “Ayní” = my eye; or it may be, I should know her by her staring, glittering, hungry eyes, as opposed to the “Hawar” soft-black and languishing (Arab. Prov. i. 115, and ii. 848). The Prophet said “blue-eyed (women) are of good omen.” And when one man reproached another saying “Thou art Azrak” (blue-eyed!) he retorted, “So is the falcon!” “Zurk-an” in Kor. xx. 102, is translated by Mr. Rod well “leaden eyes.” It ought to be blue-eyed, dim-sighted, purblind.
[207]. Arab. “Zalábiyah bi-’Asal.”
[208]. Arab. “Ká’ah,” their mess-room, barracks.
[209]. i.e. Camel shoulder-blade.
[210]. So in the Brazil you are invited to drink a copa d’agua and find a splendid banquet. There is a smack of Chinese ceremony in this practice which lingers throughout southern Europe; but the less advanced society is, the more it is fettered by ceremony and “etiquette.”
[211]. The Bresl. Edit. (ix. 239) prefers these lines:—
Some of us be hawks and some sparrow-hawks, ✿ And vultures some which at carrion pike;
And maidens deem all alike we be ✿ But, save in our turbands, we’re not alike.
[212]. Arab. Shar’a = holy law; here it especially applies to Al-Kisás = lex talionis, which would order her eye-tooth to be torn out.
[213]. i.e., of the Afghans. Sulaymáni is the Egypt and Hijazi term for an Afghan and the proverb says “Sulaymáni harámi”—the Afghan is a villainous man. See Pilgrimage i. 59, which gives them a better character. The Bresl. Edit. simply says, “King Sulaymán.”
THE ADVENTURES OF MERCURY ALI OF CAIRO.[[214]]
Now as regards the works of Mercury ’Alí; there lived once at Cairo,[[215]] in the days of Saláh the Egyptian, who was Chief of the Cairo Police and had forty men under him, a sharper named Ali, for whom the Master of Police used to set snares and think that he had fallen therein; but, when they sought for him, they found that he had fled like zaybak, or quicksilver, wherefore they dubbed him Ali Zaybak or Mercury Ali of Cairo. Now one day, as he sat with his men in his hall, his heart became heavy within him and his breast was straitened. The hall-keeper saw him sitting with frowning face and said to him, “What aileth thee, O my Chief? If thy breast be straitened take a turn in the streets of Cairo, for assuredly walking in her markets will do away with thy irk.” So he rose up and went out and threaded the streets awhile, but only increased in cark and care. Presently, he came to a wine-shop and said to himself, “I will go in and drink myself drunken.” So he entered and seeing seven rows of people in the shop, said, “Harkye, taverner! I will not sit except by myself.” Accordingly, the vintner placed him in a chamber alone and set strong pure wine before him whereof he drank till he lost his senses. Then he sallied forth again and walked till he came to the road called Red, whilst the people left the street clear before him, out of fear of him. Presently, he turned and saw a water-carrier trudging along, with his skin and gugglet, crying out and saying, “O exchange! There is no drink but what raisins make, there is no love-delight but what of the lover we take and none sitteth in the place of honour save the sensible freke[[216]]!” So he said to him, “Here, give me to drink!” The water-carrier looked at him and gave him the gugglet which he took and gazing into it, shook it up and lastly poured it out on the ground. Asked the water-carrier, “Why dost thou not drink?”; and he answered, saying, “Give me to drink.” So the man filled the cup a second time and he took it and shook it and emptied it on the ground; and thus he did a third time. Quoth the water-carrier, “An thou wilt not drink, I will be off.” And Ali said, “Give me to drink.” So he filled the cup a fourth time and gave it to him; and he drank and gave the man a dinar. The water-carrier looked at him with disdain and said, belittling him, “Good luck to thee! Good luck to thee, my lad! Little folk are one thing and great folk another!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Ninth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the water-carrier receiving the dinar, looked at the giver with disdain and said, “Good luck to thee! Good luck to thee! Little folk are one thing and great folk another.” Now when Mercury Ali heard this, he caught hold of the man’s gaberdine and drawing on him a poignard of price, such an one as that whereof the poet speaketh in these two couplets:—
Watered steel-blade, the world perfection calls, ✿ Drunk with the viper poison foes appals,
Cuts lively, burns the blood whene’er it falls; ✿ And picks up gems from pave of marble halls;[[217]]
cried to him, “O Shaykh, speak reasonably to me! Thy water-skin is worth if dear three dirhams, and the gugglets I emptied on the ground held a pint or so of water.” Replied the water-carrier “’Tis well,” and Ali rejoined, “I gave thee a golden ducat: why, then dost thou belittle me? Say me, hast thou ever seen any more valiant than I or more generous than I?” Answered the water-carrier; “I have indeed, seen one more valiant than thou and eke more generous than thou; for, never, since women bare children, was there on earth’s face a brave man who was not generous.” Quoth Ali, “and who is he thou deemest braver and more generous than I?” Quoth the other, “Thou must know that I have had a strange adventure. My father was a Shaykh of the Water-carriers who give drink in Cairo and, when he died, he left me five male camels, a he-mule, a shop and a house; but the poor man is never satisfied; or, if he be satisfied he dieth. So I said to myself:—I will go up to Al-Hijaz; and, taking a string of camels, bought goods on tick, till I had run in debt for five hundred ducats, all of which I lost in the pilgrimage. Then I said in my mind:—If I return to Cairo the folk will clap me in jail for their goods. So I fared with the pilgrims-caravan of Damascus to Aleppo and thence I went on to Baghdad, where I sought out the Shaykh of the Water-carriers of the city and finding his house I went in and repeated the opening chapter of the Koran to him. He questioned me of my case and I told him all that had betided me, whereupon he assigned me a shop and gave me a water-skin and gear. So I sallied forth a-morn trusting in Allah to provide, and went round about the city. I offered the gugglet to one, that he might drink; but he cried, I have eaten naught whereon to drink; for a niggard invited me this day and set two gugglets before me; so I said to him:—O son of the sordid, hast thou given me aught to eat that thou offerest me drink after it? Wherefore wend thy ways, O water-carrier, till I have eaten somewhat: then come and give me to drink.” Thereupon I accosted another and he said:—Allah provide thee! And so I went on till noon, without taking hansel, and I said to myself, Would Heaven I had never come to Baghdad! Presently, I saw the folk running as fast as they could; so I followed them and behold, a long file of men riding two and two and clad in steel, with double neck-rings and felt bonnets and burnouses and swords and bucklers. I asked one of the folk whose suite this was, and he answered, That of Captain Ahmad al-Danaf. Quoth I, And what is he? and quoth the other, He is town-captain of Baghdad and her Divan, and to him is committed the care of the suburbs. He getteth a thousand dinars a month from the Caliph and Hasan Shuman hath the like. Moreover, each of his men draweth an hundred dinars a month; and they are now returning to their barrack from the Divan. And lo! Calamity Ahmad saw me and cried out, Come give me drink. So I filled the cup and gave it him, and he shook it and emptied it out, like unto thee; and thus he did a second time. Then I filled the cup a third time and he took a draught as thou diddest; after which he asked me, O water-carrier, whence comest thou? And I answered, From Cairo, and he, Allah keep Cairo and her citizens! What may bring thee thither? So I told him my story and gave him to understand that I was a debtor fleeing from debt and distress. He cried, Thou art welcome to Baghdad; then he gave me five dinars and said to his men, For the love of Allah be generous to him. So each of them gave me a dinar and Ahmad said to me, O Shaykh, what while thou abidest in Baghdad thou shalt have of us the like every time thou givest us to drink. Accordingly, I paid them frequent visits and good ceased not to come to me from the folk till, one day, reckoning up the profit I had made of them, I found it a thousand dinars and said to myself, The best thing thou canst do is to return to Egypt. So I went to Ahmad’s house and kissed his hand, and he said, What seekest thou? Quoth I, I have a mind to depart; and I repeated these two couplets:—
Sojourn of stranger, in whatever land, ✿ Is like the castle based upon the wind:
The breaths of breezes level all he raised. ✿ And so on homeward-way’s the stranger’s mind.
I added, The caravan is about to start for Cairo and I wish to return to my people. So he gave me a she-mule and an hundred dinars and said to me, I desire to send somewhat by thee, O Shaykh! Dost thou know the people of Cairo? Yes, answered I;——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Tenth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ahmad al-Danaf had given the water-carrier a she-mule and an hundred dinars and said to him, “I desire to send a trust by thee. Dost thou know the people of Cairo?” I answered (quoth the water-carrier), “Yes; and he said, Take this letter and carry it to Ali Zaybak of Cairo and say to him, Thy Captain saluteth thee and he is now with the Caliph. So I took the letter and journeyed back to Cairo, where I paid my debts and plied my water-carrying trade; but I have not delivered the letter, because I know not the abode of Mercury Ali.” Quoth Ali, “O elder, be of good cheer and keep thine eyes cool and clear: I am that Ali, the first of the lads of Captain Ahmad: here with the letter!” So he gave him the missive and he opened it and read these two couplets:—
“O adornment of beauties to thee write I ✿ On a paper that flies as the winds go by:
Could I fly, I had flown to their arms in desire, ✿ But a bird with cut wings; how shall ever he fly?”
“But after salutation from Captain Ahmad al-Danaf to the eldest of his sons, Mercury Ali of Cairo. Thou knowest that I tormented Salah al-Din the Cairene and befooled him till I buried him alive and reduced his lads to obey me, and amongst them Ali Kitf al-Jamal; and I am now become town-captain of Baghdad in the Divan of the Caliph who hath made me overseer of the suburbs. An thou be still mindful of our covenant, come to me; haply thou shalt play some trick in Baghdad which may promote thee to the Caliph’s service, so he may appoint thee stipends and allowances and assign thee a lodging, which is what thou wouldst see and so peace be on thee.” When Ali read this letter, he kissed it and laying it on his head, gave the water-carrier ten dinars; after which he returned to his barracks and told his comrades and said to them, “I commend you one to other.” Then he changed all his clothes and, donning a travelling cloak and a tarboosh, took a case, containing a spear of bamboo-cane, four-and-twenty cubits long, made in several pieces, to fit into one another. Quoth his lieutenant, “Wilt thou go a journey when the treasury is empty?”; and quoth Ali, “When I reach Damascus I will send you what shall suffice you.” Then he set out and fared on, till he overtook a caravan about to start, whereof were the Shahbandar, or Provost of the Merchants, and forty other traders. They had all loaded their beasts, except the Provost, whose loads lay upon the ground, and Ali heard his caravan-leader, who was a Syrian, say to the muleteers, “Bear a hand, one of you!” But they reviled him and abused him. Quoth Ali in himself, “None will suit me so well to travel withal as this leader.” Now Ali was beardless and well-favoured; so he went up to and saluted the leader who welcomed him and said, “What seekest thou?” Replied Ali, “O my uncle, I see thee alone with forty mule-loads of goods; but why hast thou not brought hands to help thee?” Rejoined the other, “O my son, I hired two lads and clothed them and put in each one’s pocket two hundred dinars; and they helped me till we came to the Dervishes’ Convent,[[218]] when they ran away.” Quoth Ali, “Whither are you bound?” and quoth the Syrian, “to Aleppo,” when Ali said, “I will lend thee a hand.” Accordingly they loaded the beasts and the Provost mounted his she-mule and they set out he rejoicing in Ali; and presently he loved him and made much of him and on this wise they fared on till nightfall, when they dismounted and ate and drank. Then came the time of sleep and Ali lay down on his side and made as if he slept; whereupon the Syrian stretched himself near him and Ali rose from his stead and sat down at the door of the merchant’s pavilion. Presently, the Syrian turned over and would have taken Ali in his arms, but found him not and said to himself, “Haply he hath promised another and he hath taken him; but I have the first right and another night I will keep him.” Now Ali continued sitting at the door of the tent till nigh upon daybreak, when he returned and lay down near the Syrian, who found him by his side, when he awoke, and said to himself, “If I ask him where he hath been, he will leave me and go away.” So he dissembled with him and they went on till they came to a forest, in which was a cave, where dwelt a rending lion. Now whenever a caravan passed, they would draw lots among themselves and him on whom the lot fell they would throw to the beast. So they drew lots and the lot fell not save upon the Provost of the Merchants. And lo! the lion cut off their way awaiting his pray, wherefore the Provost was sore distressed and said to the leader, “Allah disappoint the fortunes[[219]] of the far one and bring his journey to naught! I charge thee, after my death, give my loads to my children.” Quoth Ali the Clever One, “What meaneth all this?” So they told him the case and he said, “Why do ye run from the tom-cat of the desert? I warrant you I will kill him.” So the Syrian went to the Provost and told him of this and he said, “If he slay him, I will give him a thousand dinars,” and said the other merchants, “We will reward him likewise one and all.” With this Ali put off his mantle and there appeared upon him a suit of steel; then he took a chopper of steel[[220]] and opening it turned the screw; after which he went forth alone and standing in the road before the lion, cried out to him. The lion ran at him, but Ali of Cairo smote him between the eyes with his chopper and cut him in sunder, whilst the caravan-leader and the merchants looked on. Then said he to the leader, “Have no fear, O nuncle!” and the Syrian answered, saying, “O my son, I am thy servant for all future time.” Then the Provost embraced him and kissed him between the eyes and gave him the thousand dinars, and each of the other merchants gave him twenty dinars. He deposited all the coin with the Provost and they slept that night till the morning, when they set out again, intending for Baghdad, and fared on till they came to the Lion’s Clump and the Wady of Dogs, where lay a villain Badawi, a brigand and his tribe, who sallied forth on them. The folk fled from the highwaymen, and the Provost said, “My monies are lost!”; when, lo! up came Ali in a buff coat hung with bells, and bringing out his long lance, fitted the pieces together. Then he seized one of the Arab’s horses and mounting it cried out to the Badawi Chief, saying, “Come out to fight me with spears!” Moreover he shook his bells and the Arab’s mare took fright at the noise and Ali struck the chief’s spear and broke it. Then he smote him on the neck and cut off his head.[[221]] When the Badawin saw their chief fall, they ran at Ali, but he cried out, saying, “Allaho Akbar—God is Most Great!”—and, falling on them broke them and put them to flight. Then he raised the Chief’s head on his spear-point and returned to the merchants, who rewarded him liberally and continued their journey, till they reached Baghdad. Thereupon Ali took his money from the Provost and committed it to the Syrian caravan-leader, saying, “When thou returnest to Cairo, ask for my barracks and give these monies to my deputy.” Then he slept that night and on the morrow he entered the city and threading the streets enquired for Calamity Ahmad’s quarters; but none would direct him thereto.[[222]] So he walked on, till he came to the square Al-Nafz, where he saw children at play, and amongst them a lad called Ahmad al-Lakít,[[223]] and said to himself, “O my Ali, thou shalt not get news of them but from their little ones.” Then he turned and seeing a sweetmeat-seller bought Halwá of him and called to the children; but Ahmad al-Lakit drove the rest away and coming up to him, said, “What seekest thou?” Quoth Ali, “I had a son and he died and I saw him in a dream asking for sweetmeats: wherefore I have bought them and wish to give each child a bit.” So saying, he gave Ahmad a slice, and he looked at it and seeing a dinar sticking to it, said, “Begone! I am no catamite: seek another than I.” Quoth Ali, “O my son, none but a sharp fellow taketh the hire, even as he is a sharp one who giveth it. I have sought all day for Ahmad al-Danaf’s barrack, but none would direct me thereto; so this dinar is thine an thou wilt guide me thither.” Quoth the lad, “I will run before thee and do thou keep up with me, till I come to the place, when I will catch up a pebble with my foot[[224]] and kick it against the door; and so shalt thou know it.” Accordingly he ran on and Ali after him, till they came to the place, when the boy caught up a pebble between his toes and kicked it against the door so as to make the place known.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Eleventh Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ahmad the Abortion had made known the place, Ali laid hold of him and would have taken the dinar from him, but could not; so he said to him, “Go: thou deservest largesse for thou art a sharp fellow, whole of wit and stout of heart. Inshallah, if I become a captain to the Caliph, I will make thee one of my lads.” Then the boy made off and Ali Zaybak went up to the door and knocked; whereupon quoth Ahmad al-Danaf, “O doorkeeper, open the door; that is the knock of Quicksilver Ali the Cairene.” So he opened the door and Ali entered and saluted with the salam Ahmad who embraced him, and the Forty greeted him. Then Calamity Ahmad gave him a suit of clothes, saying, “When the Caliph made me captain, he clothed my lads and I kept this suit[[225]] for thee.” Then they seated him in the place of honour and setting on meat they ate well and drink they drank hard and made merry till the morning, when Ahmad said to Ali, “Beware thou walk not about the streets of Baghdad, but sit thee still in this barrack.” Asked Ali, “Why so? Have I come hither to be shut up? No, I came to look about me and divert myself.” Replied Ahmad, “O my son, think not that Baghdad be like Cairo. Baghdad is the seat of the Caliphate; sharpers abound therein and rogueries spring therefrom as worts spring out of earth.” So Ali abode in the barrack three days when Ahmad said to him, “I wish to present thee to the Caliph, that he may assign thee an allowance.” But he replied, “When the time cometh.” So he let him go his own way. One day, as Ali sat in the barrack, his breast became straitened and his soul troubled and he said in himself, “Come, let us up and thread the ways of Baghdad and broaden my bosom.” So he went out and walked from street to street, till he came to the middle bazar, where he entered a cook-shop and dined;[[226]] after which he went out to wash his hands. Presently he saw forty slaves, with felt bonnets and steel cutlasses, come walking, two by two; and last of all came Dalilah the Wily, mounted on a she-mule, with a gilded helmet which bore a ball of polished steel, and clad in a coat of mail, and such like. Now she was returning from the Divan to the Khan of which she was portress; and when she espied Ali, she looked at him fixedly and saw that he resembled Calamity Ahmad in height and breadth. Moreover, he was clad in a striped Abá-cloak and a burnous, with a steel cutlass by his side and similar gear, while valour shone from his eyes, testifying in favour of him and not in disfavour of him. So she returned to the Khan and going in to her daughter, fetched a table of sand, and struck a geomantic figure, whereby she discovered that the stranger’s name was Ali of Cairo and that his fortune overcame her fortune and that of her daughter. Asked Zaynab, “O my mother, what hath befallen thee that thou hast recourse to the sand-table?” Answered Dalilah, “O my daughter, I have seen this day a young man who resembleth Calamity Ahmad, and I fear lest he come to hear how thou didst strip Ahmad and his men and enter the Khan and play us a trick, in revenge for what we did with his chief and the forty; for methinks he has taken up his lodging in al-Danaf’s barrack.” Zaynab rejoined, “What is this? Methinks thou hast taken his measure.” Then she donned her fine clothes and went out into the streets. When the people saw her, they all made love to her and she promised and sware and listened and coquetted and passed from market to market, till she saw Ali the Cairene coming, when she went up to him and rubbed her shoulder against him. Then she turned and said, “Allah give long life to folk of discrimination!” Quoth he, “How goodly is thy form! To whom dost thou belong?”; and quoth she, “To the gallant[[227]] like thee;” and he said, “Art thou wife or spinster?” “Married,” said she. Asked Ali, “Shall it be in my lodging or thine?”[[228]] and she answered, “I am a merchant’s daughter and a merchant’s wife and in all my life I have never been out of doors till to-day, and my only reason was that when I made ready food and thought to eat, I had no mind thereto without company. When I saw thee, love of thee entered my heart: so wilt thou deign solace my soul and eat a mouthful with me?” Quoth he, “Whoso is invited, let him accept.” Thereupon she went on and he followed her from street to street, but presently he bethought himself and said, “What wilt thou do and thou a stranger? Verily ’tis said:—Whoso doth whoredom in his strangerhood, Allah will send him back disappointed. But I will put her off from thee with fair words.” So he said to her, “Take this dinar and appoint me a day other than this;” and she said, “By the Mighty Name, it may not be but thou shalt go home with me as my guest this very day and I will take thee to fast friend.” So he followed her till she came to a house with a lofty porch and a wooden bolt on the door and said to him, “Open this lock.”[[229]] Asked he “Where is the key?”; and she answered, “’Tis lost.” Quoth he, “Whoso openeth a lock without a key is a knave whom it behoveth the ruler to punish, and I know not how to open doors without keys?[[230]]” With this she raised her veil and showed him her face, whereat he took one glance of eyes that cost him a thousand sighs. Then she let fall her veil on the lock and repeating over it the names of the mother of Moses, opened it without a key and entered. He followed her and saw swords and steel-weapons hanging up; and she put off her veil and sat down with him. Quoth he to himself, “Accomplish what Allah hath decreed to thee,” and bent over her, to take a kiss of her cheek; but she caught the kiss upon her palm, saying, “This beseemeth not but by night.” Then she brought a tray of food and wine, and they ate and drank; after which she rose and drawing water from the well, poured it from the ewer over his hands, whilst he washed them. Now whilst they were on this wise, she cried out and beat upon her breast, saying, “My husband had a signet-ring of ruby, which was pledged to him for five hundred dinars, and I put it on; but ’twas too large for me, so I straitened it with wax, and when I let down the bucket,[[231]] that ring must have dropped into the well. So turn thy face to the door, the while I doff my dress and go down into the well and fetch it.” Quoth Ali, “’Twere shame on me that thou shouldst go down there I being present; none shall do it save I.” So he put off his clothes and tied the rope about himself and she let him down into the well. Now there was much water therein and she said to him, “The rope is too short; loose thyself and drop down.” So he did himself loose from the rope and dropped into the water, in which he sank fathoms deep without touching bottom; whilst she donned her mantilla and taking his clothes, returned to her mother——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twelfth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ali of Cairo was in the well, Zaynab donned her mantilla and, taking his clothes, returned to her mother and said, “I have stripped Ali the Egyptian and cast him into the Emir Hasan’s well, whence alas for his chance of escaping!”[[232]] Presently, the Emir Hasan, the master of the house, who had been absent at the Divan, came home and, finding the door open, said to his Syce, “Why didst thou not draw the bolt?” “O my lord,” replied the groom, “indeed I locked it with my own hand.” The Emir cried, “As my head liveth, some robber hath entered my house!” Then he went in and searched, but found none and said to the groom, “Fill the ewer, that I may make the Wuzu-ablution.” So the man lowered the bucket into the well but, when he drew it up, he found it heavy and looking down, saw something therein sitting; whereupon he let it fall into the water and cried out, saying, “O my lord, an Ifrit came up to me out of the well!” Replied the Emir, “Go and fetch four doctors of the law, that they may read the Koran over him, till he go away.” So he fetched the doctors and the Emir said to them, “Sit round this well and exorcise me this Ifrit.” They did as he bade them; after which the groom and another servant lowered the bucket again and Ali clung to it and hid himself under it patiently till he came near the top, when he sprang out and landed among the doctors, who fell a-cuffing one another and crying out, “Ifrit! Ifrit!” The Emir looked at Ali and seeing him a young man, said to him, “Art thou a thief?” “No,” replied Ali; “Then what dost thou in the well?” asked the Emir; and Ali answered, “I was asleep and dreamt a wet dream;[[233]] so I went down to the Tigris to wash myself and dived, whereupon the current carried me under the earth and I came up in this well.” Quoth the other, “Tell the truth.”[[234]] So Ali told him all that had befallen him, and the Emir gave him an old gown and let him go. He returned to Calamity Ahmad’s lodging and related to him all that had passed. Quoth Ahmad, “Did I not warn thee that Baghdad is full of women who play tricks upon men?” And quoth Ali Kitf al-Jamal, “I conjure thee by the Mighty Name, tell me how it is that thou art the chief of the lads of Cairo and yet hast been stripped by a girl?” This was grievous to Ali and he repented him of not having followed Ahmad’s advice. Then the Calamity gave him another suit of clothes and Hasan Shuman said to him, “Dost thou know the young person?” “No,” replied Ali; and Hasan rejoined, “’Twas Zaynab, the daughter of Dalilah the Wily, the portress of the Caliph’s Khan; and hast thou fallen into her toils, O Ali?” Quoth he, “Yes,” and quoth Hasan, “O Ali, ’twas she who took thy Chief’s clothes and those of all his men.” “This is a disgrace to you all!” “And what thinkest thou to do?” “I purpose to marry her.” “Put away that thought far from thee, and console thy heart of her.” “O Hasan, do thou counsel me how I shall do to marry her.” “With all my heart: if thou wilt drink from my hand and march under my banner, I will bring thee to thy will of her.” “I will well.” So Hasan made Ali put off his clothes; and, taking a cauldron heated therein somewhat as it were pitch, wherewith he anointed him and he became like unto a blackamoor slave. Moreover, he smeared his lips and cheeks and pencilled his eyes with red Kohl.[[235]] Then he clad him in a slave’s habit and giving him a tray of kabobs and wine, said to him, “There is a black cook in the Khan who requires from the bazar only meat; and thou art now become his like; so go thou to him civilly and accost him in friendly fashion and speak to him in the blacks’ lingo, and salute him, saying, ’Tis long since we met in the beer-ken. He will answer thee, I have been too busy: on my hands be forty slaves, for whom I cook dinner and supper, besides making ready a tray for Dalilah and the like for her daughter Zaynab and the dogs’ food. And do thou say to him, Come, let us eat kabobs and lush swipes.[[236]] Then go with him into the saloon and make him drunken and question him of his service, how many dishes and what dishes he hath to cook, and ask him of the dogs’ food and the keys of the kitchen and the larder; and he will tell thee; for a man, when he is drunken, telleth all he would conceal were he sober. When thou hast done this drug him and don his clothes and sticking the two knives in thy girdle, take the vegetable-basket and go to the market and buy meat and greens, with which do thou return to the Khan and enter the kitchen and the larder and cook the food. Dish it up and put Bhang in it, so as to drug the dogs and the slaves and Dalilah and Zaynab and lastly serve up. When all are asleep, hie thee to the upper chamber and bring away every suit of clothes thou wilt find hanging there. And if thou have a mind to marry Zaynab, bring with thee also the forty carrier-pigeons.” So Ali went to the Khan and going in to the cook, saluted him and said, “’Tis long since I have met thee in the beer-ken.” The slave replied, “I have been busy cooking for the slaves and the dogs.” Then he took him and making him drunken, questioned him of his work. Quoth the kitchener, “Every day I cook five dishes for dinner and the like for supper; and yesterday they sought of me a sixth dish,[[237]] yellow rice,[[238]] and a seventh, a mess of cooked pomegranate seed.” Ali asked, “And what is the order of thy service?” and the slave answered, “First I serve up Zaynab’s tray, next Dalilah’s; then I feed the slaves and give the dogs their sufficiency of meat, and the least that satisfies them is a pound each.” But, as fate would have it, he forgot to ask him of the keys. Then he drugged him and donned his clothes; after which he took the basket and went to the market. There he bought meat and greens.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirteenth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ali of Cairo, after drugging the cook-slave with Bhang, took the two knives which he stuck in his belt and, carrying the vegetable-basket, went to the market where he bought meat and greens; and, presently returning to the Khan, he saw Dalilah seated at the gate, watching those who went in and came out, and the forty slaves with her, armed. So he heartened his heart and entered; but Dalilah knew him and said to him, “Back, O captain of thieves! Wilt thou play a trick on me in the Khan?” Thereupon he (dressed as a slave) turned and said to her, “What sayest thou, O portress?” She asked, “What hast thou done with the slave, our cook?; say me if thou hast killed or drugged him?” He answered, “What cook? Is there here another slave-cook than I?” She rejoined, “Thou liest, thou art Mercury Ali the Cairene.” And he said to her, in slaves’ patois, “O portress, are the Cairenes black or white? I will slave for you no longer.” Then said the slaves to him, “What is the matter with thee, O our cousin?” Cried Dalilah, “This is none of your uncle’s children, but Ali Zaybak the Egyptian; and meseems he hath either drugged your cousin or killed him.” But they said, “Indeed this is our cousin Sa’adu’llah the cook;” and she, “Not so, ’tis Mercury Ali, and he hath dyed his skin.” Quoth the sharper, “And who is Ali? I am Sa’adu’llah.” Then she fetched unguent of proof, with which she anointed Ali’s forearm and rubbed it; but the black did not come off; whereupon quoth the slaves, “Let him go and dress us our dinner.” Quoth Dalilah, “If he be indeed your cousin, he knoweth what you sought of him yesternight[[239]] and how many dishes he cooketh every day.” So they asked him of this and he said, “Every day I cook you five dishes for the morning and the like for the evening meal, lentils and rice and broth and stew[[240]] and sherbet of roses; and yesternight ye sought of me a sixth dish and a seventh, to wit yellow rice and cooked pomegranate seed.” And the slaves said “Right!” Then quoth Dalilah, “In with him and if he know the kitchen and the larder, he is indeed your cousin; but, if not, kill him.” Now the cook had a cat which he had brought up, and whenever he entered the kitchen it would stand at the door and spring to his back, as soon as he went in. So, when Ali entered, the cat saw him and jumped on his shoulders; but he threw it off and it ran before him to the door of the kitchen and stopped there. He guessed that this was the kitchen door; so he took the keys and seeing one with traces of feathers thereon, knew it for the kitchen key and therewith opened the door. Then he entered and setting down the greens, went out again, led by the cat, which ran before him and stopped at another door. He guessed that this was the larder and seeing one of the keys marked with grease, knew it for the key and opened the door therewith; whereupon quoth the slaves, “O Dalilah, were he a stranger, he had not known the kitchen and the larder, nor had he been able to distinguish the keys thereof from the rest; verily, he is our cousin Sa’adu’llah.” Quoth she, “He learned the places from the cat and distinguished the keys one from the other by the appearance: but this cleverness imposeth not upon me.” Then he returned to the kitchen where he cooked the dinner and, carrying Zaynab’s tray up to her room, saw all the stolen clothes hanging up; after which he went down and took Dalilah her tray and gave the slaves and the dogs their rations. The like he did at sundown and drugged Dalilah’s food and that of Zaynab and the slaves. Now the doors of the Khan were opened and shut with the sun. So Ali went forth and cried out, saying, “O dwellers in the Khan, the watch is set and we have loosed the dogs; whoso stirreth out after this can blame none save himself.” But he had delayed the dogs’ supper and put poison therein; consequently when he set it before them, they ate of it and died while the slaves and Dalilah and Zaynab still slept under Bhang. Then he went up and took all the clothes and the carrier-pigeons and, opening the gate, made off to the barrack of the Forty, where he found Hasan Shuman the Pestilence who said to him, “How hast thou fared?” Thereupon he told him what had passed and he praised him. Then he caused him put off his clothes and boiled a decoction of herbs wherewith he washed him, and his skin became white as it was; after which he donned his own dress and going back to the Khan, clad the cook in the habit he had taken from him and made him smell to the counter-drug; upon which the slave awoke and going forth to the greengrocer’s, bought vegetables and returned to the Khan. Such was the case with Al-Zaybak of Cairo; but as regards Dalilah the Wily, when the day broke, one of the lodgers in the Khan came out of his chamber and, seeing the gate open and the slaves drugged and the dogs dead, he went in to her and found her lying drugged, with a scroll on her neck and at her head a sponge steeped in the counter-drug. He set the sponge to her nostrils and she awoke and asked, “Where am I?” The merchant answered, “When I came down from my chamber I saw the gate of the Khan open and the dogs dead and found the slaves and thee drugged.” So she took up the paper and read therein these words, “None did this deed save Ali the Egyptian.” Then she awoke the slaves and Zaynab by making them smell the counter-Bhang and said to them, “Did I not tell you that this was Ali of Cairo?”; presently adding to the slaves, “But do ye conceal the matter.” Then she said to her daughter, “How often have I warned thee that Ali would not forego his revenge? He hath done this deed in requital of that which thou diddest with him and he had it in his power to do with thee other than this thing; but he refrained therefrom out of courtesy and a desire that there should be love and friendship between us.” So saying, she doffed her man’s gear and donned woman’s attire[[241]] and, tying the kerchief of peace about her neck, repaired to Ahmad al-Danaf’s barrack. Now when Ali entered with the clothes and the carrier-pigeons, Hasan Shuman gave the hall-keeper the price of forty pigeons and he bought them and cooked them amongst the men. Presently there came a knock at the door and Ahmad said, “That is Dalilah’s knock: rise and open to her, O hall-keeper.” So he admitted her and——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Fourteenth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Dalilah was admitted, Hasan asked her, “What bringeth thee hither, O ill-omened old woman? Verily, thou and thy brother Zurayk the fishmonger are of a piece!”; and she answered, “O captain I am in the wrong and this my neck is at thy mercy; but tell me which of you it was that played me this trick?” Quoth Calamity Ahmad, “’Twas the first of my lads.” Rejoined Dalilah, “For the sake of Allah intercede with him to give me back the carrier-pigeons and what not, and thou wilt lay me under great obligation.” When Hasan heard this he said, “Allah requite thee, O Ali! Why didst thou cook the pigeons?”; and Ali answered, “I knew not that they were carrier-pigeons.” Then said Ahmad, “O hall-keeper bring us the cooked pigeons.” So he brought them and Dalilah took a piece and tasting it, said, “This is none of the carrier-pigeons’ flesh, for I fed them on grains of musk and their meat is become even as musk.” Quoth Shuman, “An thou desire to have the carrier-pigeons, comply with Ali’s will.” Asked she “What is that?” And Hasan answered, “He would have thee marry him to thy daughter Zaynab.” She said, “I have not command over her except of affection”; and Hasan said to Ali the Cairene “Give her the pigeons.” So he gave them to her, and she took them and rejoiced in them. Then quoth Hasan to her, “There is no help but thou return us a sufficient reply”; and Dalilah rejoined, “If it be indeed his wish to marry her, it availed nothing to play this clever trick upon us: it behoveth him rather to demand her in marriage of her mother’s brother and her guardian, Captain Zurayk, him who crieth out, saying:—Ho! a pound of fish for two farthings! and who hangeth up in his shop a purse containing two thousand dinars.” When the Forty heard this, they all rose and cried out, saying, “What manner of blather is this, O harlot? Dost thou wish to bereave us of our brother Ali of Cairo?” Then she returned to the Khan and said to her daughter, “Ali the Egyptian seeketh thee in marriage.” Whereat Zaynab rejoiced, for she loved him because of his chaste forbearance towards her,[[242]] and asked her mother what had passed. So she told her, adding, “I made it a condition that he should demand thy hand of thine uncle, so I might make him fall into destruction.” Meanwhile Ali turned to his fellows and asked them, “What manner of man is this Zurayk?”; and they answered, “He was chief of the sharpers of Al-Irak land and could all but pierce mountains and lay hold upon the stars. He would steal the Kohl from the eye and, in brief, he had not his match for roguery; but he hath repented his sins and forsworn his old way of life and opened him a fishmonger’s shop. And now he hath amassed two thousand dinars by the sale of fish and laid them in a purse with strings of silk, to which he hath tied bells and rings and rattles of brass, hung on a peg within the doorway. Every time he openeth his shop he suspendeth the said purse and crieth out, saying:—Where are ye, O sharpers of Egypt, O prigs of Al-Irak, O tricksters of Ajam-land? Behold, Zurayk the fishmonger hath hung up a purse in front of his shop, and whoso pretendeth to craft and cunning, and can take it by sleight, it is his. So the long fingered and greedy-minded come and try to take the purse, but cannot; for, whilst he frieth his fish and tendeth the fire, he layeth at his feet scone-like circles of lead; and whenever a thief thinketh to take him unawares and maketh a snatch at the purse he casteth at him a load of lead and slayeth him or doeth him a damage. So O Ali, wert thou to tackle him, thou wouldst be as one who jostleth a funeral cortège, unknowing who is dead;[[243]] for thou art no match for him, and we fear his mischief for thee. Indeed, thou hast no call to marry Zaynab, and he who leaveth a thing alone liveth without it.” Cried Ali, “This were shame, O comrades; needs must I take the purse: but bring me a young lady’s habit.” So they brought him women’s clothes and he clad himself therein and stained his hands with Henna, and modestly hung down his veil. Then he took a lamb and killing it, cut out the long intestine[[244]] which he cleaned and tied up below; moreover he filled it with the blood and bound it between his thighs; after which he donned petticoat-trousers and walking boots. He also made himself a pair of false breasts with birds’ crops and filled them with thickened milk and tied round his hips and over his belly a piece of linen, which he stuffed with cotton, girding himself over all with a kerchief of silk well starched. Then he went out, whilst all who saw him exclaimed, “What a fine pair of hind cheeks!” Presently he saw an ass-driver coming, so he gave him a dinar and mounting, rode till he came to Zurayk’s shop, where he saw the purse hung up and the gold glittering through it. Now Zurayk was frying fish, and Ali said, “O ass-man, what is that smell?” Replied he, “It’s the smell of Zurayk’s fish.” Quoth Ali, “I am a woman with child and the smell harmeth me; go, fetch me a slice of the fish.” So the donkey-boy said to Zurayk, “What aileth thee to fry fish so early and annoy pregnant women with the smell? I have here the wife of the Emir Hasan Sharr al-Tarik, and she is with child; so give her a bit of fish, for the babe stirreth in her womb. O Protector, O my God, avert from us the mischief of this day!” Thereupon Zurayk took a piece of fish and would have fried it, but the fire had gone out and he went in to rekindle it. Meanwhile Ali dismounted and sitting down, pressed upon the lamb’s intestine till it burst and the blood ran out from between his legs. Then he cried aloud, saying, “O my back! O my side!” Whereupon the driver turned and seeing the blood running, said, “What aileth thee, O my lady?” Replied Ali, “I have miscarried”; whereupon Zurayk looked out and seeing the blood fled affrighted into the inner shop. Quoth the donkey-driver, “Allah torment thee, O Zurayk! The lady hath miscarried and thou art no match for her husband. Why must thou make a stench so early in the morning? I said to thee:—Bring her a slice, but thou wouldst not.” Thereupon, he took his ass and went his way and, as Zurayk still did not appear, Ali put out his hand to the purse; but no sooner had he touched it than the bells and rattles and rings began to jingle and the gold to chink. Quoth Zurayk, who returned at the sound, “Thy perfidy hath come to light, O gallows-bird! Wilt thou put a cheat on me and thou in a woman’s habit? Now take what cometh to thee!” And he threw a cake of lead at him, but it went agley and lighted on another; whereupon the people rose against Zurayk and said to him, “Art thou a tradesman, or a swashbuckler? An thou be a tradesman, take down thy purse and spare the folk thy mischief.” He replied, “Bismillah, in the name of Allah! On my head be it.” As for Ali, he made off to the barrack and told Hasan Shuman what had happened, after which he put off his woman’s gear and donning a groom’s habit which was brought to him by his chief took a dish and five dirhams. Then he returned to Zurayk’s shop and the fishmonger said to him, “What dost thou want, O my master?”[[245]] He showed him the dirhams and Zurayk would have given him of the fish in the tray, but he said, “I will have none save hot fish.” So he set fish in the earthen pan and finding the fire dead, went in to relight it; whereupon Ali put out his hand to the purse and caught hold of the end of it. The rattles and rings and bells jingled and Zurayk said, “Thy trick hath not deceived me. I knew thee for all thou art disguised as a groom by the grip of thy hand on the dish and the dirhams.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Fifteenth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ali of Egypt put out his hand to the purse, the bells and rings jingled and Zurayk said, “Thy trick hath not deceived me; for all thou comest disguised as a groom I knew thee by the grip of thy hand on the dish and the dirhams!” So saying, he threw the lead at him, but he avoided it and it fell into the pan full of hot fish and broke it and overturned it, fat and all, upon the breast and shoulders of the Kazi, who was passing. The oil ran down inside his clothes to his privy parts and he cried out, “O my privities! What a sad pickle you are in! Alas, unhappy I! Who hath played me this trick?” Answered the people, “O our lord, it was some small boy that threw a stone into the pan: but for Allah’s ward, it had been worse.” Then they turned and seeing the loaf of lead and that it was Zurayk who had thrown it, rose against him and said to him, “O Zurayk, this is not allowed of Allah! Take down the purse or it shall go ill for thee.” Answered he, “I will take it down, Inshallah!” Meanwhile Ali returned to the barrack and told his comrades who cried, “Where is the purse?”, all that had passed and they said, “Thou hast exhausted two-thirds of his cunning.” Then he changed his groom’s dress for the garb of a merchant and going out, met a snake-charmer, with a bag of serpents and a wallet containing his kit to whom said he, “O charmer, come and amuse my lads, and thou shalt have largesse.” So he accompanied him to the barrack, where he fed him and drugging him with Bhang, doffed his clothes and put them on. Then he took the bags and repairing to Zurayk’s shop began to play the reed-pipe. Quoth Zurayk, “Allah provide thee!” But Ali pulled out the serpents and cast them down before him; whereat the fish-seller, who was afraid of snakes, fled from them into the inner shop. Thereupon Ali picked up the reptiles and, thrusting them back into the bag, stretched out his hand and caught hold of the end of the purse. The rings again rang and the bells and rattles jangled, and Zurayk cried, “Wilt thou never cease to play me tricks? Now thou feignest thyself a serpent-charmer!” So saying, he took up a piece of lead, and hurled it at Ali; but it missed him and fell on the head of a groom, who was passing by, following his master, a trooper, and knocked him down. Quoth the soldier, “Who felled him?”; and the folk said, “’Twas a stone fell from the roof.” So the soldier passed on and the people, seeing the piece of lead, went up to Zurayk and cried to him, “Take down the purse!”; and he said, “Inshallah, I will take it down this very night!” Ali ceased not to practice upon Zurayk till he had made seven different attempts but without taking the purse. Then he returned the snake-charmer his clothes and kit and gave him due benevolence; after which he went back to Zurayk’s shop and heard him say, “If I leave the purse here to-night, he will dig through the shop-wall and take it; I will carry it home with me.” So he arose and shut the shop; then he took down the purse and putting it in his bosom set out home, till he came near his house, when he saw a wedding in a neighbour’s lodging and said to himself, “I will hie me home and give my wife the purse and don my fine clothes and return to the marriage.” And Ali followed him. Now Zurayk had married a black girl, one of the freed women of the Wazir Ja’afar and she had borne him a son, whom he named Abdallah, and he had promised her to spend the money in the purse on the occasion of the boy’s circumcision and of his marriage-procession. So he went into his house and, as he entered, his wife saw that his face was overcast and asked him, “What hath caused thy sadness?” Quoth he, “Allah hath afflicted me this day with a rascal who made seven attempts to get the purse, but without avail;” and quoth she, “Give it to me, that I may lay it up against the boy’s festival-day.” (Now Ali, who had followed him lay hidden in a closet whence he could see and hear all.) So he gave her the purse and changed his clothes, saying, “Keep the purse safely, O Umm Abdallah, for I am going to the wedding.” But she said, “Take thy sleep awhile.” So he lay down and fell asleep. Presently, Ali rose and going on tiptoe to the purse, took it and went to the house of the wedding and stood there, looking on at the fun. Now meanwhile, Zurayk dreamt that he saw a bird fly away with the purse and awaking in affright, said to his wife, “Rise; look for the purse.” So she looked and finding it gone, buffeted her face and said, “Alas the blackness of thy fortune, O Umm Abdallah! A sharper hath taken the purse.” Quoth Zurayk, “By Allah it can be none other than rascal Ali who hath plagued me all day! He hath followed me home and seized the purse; and there is no help but that I go and get it back.” Quoth she, “Except thou bring it, I will lock on thee the door and leave thee to pass the night in the street.” So he went up to the house of the wedding, and seeing Ali looking on, said to himself, “This is he who took the purse; but he lodgeth with Ahmad al-Danaf.” So he forewent him to the barrack and, climbing up at the back, dropped down into the saloon, where he found every one asleep. Presently there came a rap at the door and Zurayk asked, “Who is there?” “Ali of Cairo,” answered the knocker; and Zurayk said, “Hast thou brought the purse?” So Ali thought it was Hasan Shuman and replied, “I have brought it;[[246]] open the door.” Quoth Zurayk, “Impossible that I open to thee till I see the purse; for thy chief and I have laid a wager about it.” Said Ali, “Put out thy hand.” So he put out his hand through the hole in the side-door and Ali laid the purse in it; whereupon Zurayk took it and going forth, as he had come in, returned to the wedding. Ali stood for a long while at the door, but none opened to him; and at last he gave a thundering knock that awoke all the men and they said, “That is Ali of Cairo’s peculiar rap.” So the hall-keeper opened to him and Hasan Shuman said to him, “Hast thou brought the purse?” Replied Ali, “Enough of jesting, O Shuman: didst thou not swear that thou wouldest not open to me till I showed thee the purse, and did I not give it thee through the hole in the side door? And didst thou not say to me, I am sworn never to open the door till thou show me the purse?” Quoth Hasan, “By Allah, ’twas not I who took it, but Zurayk!” Quoth Ali, “Needs must I get it again,” and repaired to the house of the wedding, where he heard the buffoon[[247]] say, “Bravo,[[248]] O Abu Abdallah! Good luck to thee with thy son!” Said Ali, “My luck is in the ascendant,” and going to the fishmonger’s lodging, climbed over the back wall of the house and found his wife asleep. So he drugged her with Bhang and clad himself in her clothes. Then he took the child in his arms and went round, searching, till he found a palm-leaf basket containing buns,[[249]] which Zurayk of his niggardliness, had kept from the Greater Feast. Presently, the fishmonger returned and knocked at the door, whereupon Ali imitated his wife’s voice and asked, “Who is at the door?” “Abu Abdallah,” answered Zurayk and Ali said, “I swore that I would not open the door to thee, except thou broughtest back the purse.” Quoth the fishmonger, “I have brought it.” Cried Ali, “Here with it into my hand before I open the door;” and Zurayk answered, saying, “Let down the basket and take it therein.” So Sharper Ali let down the basket and the other put the purse therein, whereupon Ali took it and drugged the child. Then he aroused the woman and making off by the back way as he had entered, returned with the child and the purse and the basket of cakes to the barrack and showed them all to the Forty, who praised his dexterity. Thereupon he gave them cakes, which they ate, and made over the boy to Hasan Shuman, saying, “This is Zurayk’s child; hide it by thee.” So he hid it and fetching a lamb, gave it to the hall-keeper who cooked it whole, wrapped in a cloth, and laid it out shrouded as it were a dead body. Meanwhile Zurayk stood awhile, waiting at the door, then gave a knock like thunder and his wife said to him, “Hast thou brought the purse?” He replied, “Didst thou not take it up in the basket thou diddest let down but now?”; and she rejoined, “I let no basket down to thee, nor have I set eyes on the purse.” Quoth he, “By Allah the sharper hath been beforehand with me and hath taken the purse again!” Then he searched the house and found the basket of cakes gone and the child missing and cried out, saying, “Alas, my child!” Whereupon the woman beat her breast and said, “I and thee to the Wazir, for none hath killed my son save this sharper, and all because of thee.” Cried Zurayk, “I will answer for him.” So he tied the kerchief of truce about his neck and going to Ahmad al-Danaf’s lodging, knocked at the door. The hall-keeper admitted him and as he entered Hasan Shuman asked him, “What bringeth thee here?” He answered, “Do ye intercede with Ali the Cairene to restore me my child and I will yield to him the purse of gold.” Quoth Hasan, “Allah requite thee, O Ali! Why didst thou not tell me it was his child?” “What hath befallen him?” cried Zurayk, and Hasan replied, “We gave him raisins to eat, and he choked and died; and this is he.” Quoth Zurayk “Alas, my son! What shall I say to his mother?” Then he rose and opening the shroud, saw it was a lamb barbecued and said, “Thou makest sport of me, O Ali!” Then they gave him the child and Calamity Ahmad said to him, “Thou didst hang up the purse, proclaiming that it should be the property of any sharper who should be able to take it, and Ali hath taken it; so ’tis the very property of our Cairene.” Zurayk answered, “I make him a present of it;” but Ali said to him, “Do thou accept it on account of thy niece Zaynab.” And Zurayk replied, “I accept it.” Then quoth the Forty, “We demand of thee Zaynab in marriage for Ali of Cairo;” but quoth he, “I have no control over her save of kindness.” Hasan asked, “Dost thou grant our suit?”; and he answered, “Yes, I will grant her in marriage to him who can avail to her mahr or marriage-settlement.” “And what is her dowry?” enquired Hasan; and Zurayk replied, “She hath sworn that none shall mount her breast save the man who bringeth her the robe of Kamar, daughter of Azariah the Jew and the rest of her gear.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Sixteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Zurayk replied to Shuman, “She hath sworn that none shall ride astraddle upon her breast save the man who bringeth her the clothes of Kamar, daughter of Azariah the Jew and her crown and girdle and pantoufle[[250]] of gold,” Ali cried, “If I do not bring her the clothes this very night, I renounce my claim to her.” Rejoined Zurayk, “O Ali, thou art a dead man if thou play any of thy pranks on Kamar.” “Why so?” asked Ali and the other answered, “Her father, Jew Azariah, is a skilful, wily, perfidious magician who hath the Jinn at his service. He owneth without the city a castle, whose walls are one brick of gold and one of silver and which is visible to the folk only whilst he is therein: when he goeth forth, it disappeareth. He brought his daughter this dress I speak of from an enchanted treasure, and every day he layeth it in a charger of gold and, opening the windows of the palace, crieth out:—Where are the sharpers of Cairo, the prigs of Al-Irak, the master-thieves of Ajam-land? Whoso prevaileth to take this dress, ’tis his. So all the long fingered ones essayed the adventure, but failed to take it, and he turned them by his magic into apes and asses.” But Ali said, “I will assuredly take it, and Zaynab shall be displayed therein.”[[251]] So he went to the shop of the Jew and found him a man of stern and forbidding aspect, seated with scales and stone-weights and gold and silver and nests of drawers and so forth before him, and a she-mule tethered hard by. Presently he rose and shutting his shop, laid the gold and silver in two purses, which he placed in a pair of saddle-bags and set on the she-mule’s back. Then he mounted and rode till he reached the city-outskirts followed, without his knowledge, by Ali, when he took out some dust from a pocket-purse and, muttering over it, sprinkled it upon the air. No sooner had he done this than sharper Ali saw a castle which had not its like, and the Jew mounted the steps upon his beast which was a subject Jinni; after which he dismounted and taking the saddle-bags off her back, dismissed the she-mule and she vanished. Then he entered the castle and sat down. Presently, he arose and opening the lattices, took a wand of gold, which he set up in the open window and, hanging thereto a golden charger by chains of the same metal, laid in it the dress, whilst Ali watched him from behind the door, and presently he cried out, saying, “Where are the sharpers of Cairo? Where are the prigs of Al-Irak, the master-thieves of the Ajam-land? Whoso can take this dress by his sleight, ’tis his!” Then he pronounced certain magical words and a tray of food spread itself before him. He ate and conjured a second time, whereupon the tray disappeared; and yet a third time, when a table of wine was placed between his hands and he drank. Quoth Ali, “I know not how I am to take the dress except if he be drunken.” Then he stole up behind the Jew whinger in grip; but the other turned and conjured, saying to his hand, “Hold with the sword;” whereupon Ali’s right arm was held and abode half-way in the air hending the hanger. He put out his left hand to the weapon, but it also stood fixed in the air, and so with his right foot, leaving him standing on one foot. Then the Jew dispelled the charm from him and Ali became as before. Presently Azariah struck a table of sand and found that the thief’s name was Mercury Ali of Cairo; so he turned to him and said, “Come nearer! Who art thou and what dost thou here?” He replied, “I am Ali of Cairo, of the band of Ahmad al-Danaf. I sought the hand of Zaynab, daughter of Dalilah the Wily, and she demanded thy daughter’s dress to her dowry; so do thou give it to me and become a Moslem, an thou wouldst save thy life.” Rejoined the Jew, “After thy death! Many have gone about to steal the dress, but failed to take it from me; wherefore an thou deign be advised, thou wilt begone and save thyself; for they only seek the dress of thee, that thou mayst fall into destruction; and indeed, had I not seen by geomancy that thy fortune overrideth my fortunes I had smitten thy neck.” Ali rejoiced to hear that his luck overcame that of the Jew and said to him, “There is no help for it but I must have the dress and thou must become a True Believer.” Asked the Jew, “Is this thy will and last word,” and Ali answered, “Yes.” So the Jew took a cup and filling it with water, conjured over it and said to Ali, “Come forth from this shape of a man into the form of an ass.” Then he sprinkled him with the water and straightway he became a donkey, with hoofs and long ears, and fell to braying after the manner of asinines. The Jew drew round him a circle which became a wall over against him, and drank on till the morning, when he said to Ali, “I will ride thee to-day and give the she-mule a rest.” So he locked up the dress, the charger, the rod and the charms in a cupboard[[252]] and conjured over Ali, who followed him. Then he set the saddle-bags on his back and mounting, fared forth of the Castle, whereupon it disappeared from sight and he rode into Baghdad, till he came to his shop, where he alighted and emptied the bags of gold and silver into the trays before him. As for Ali, he was tied up by the shop-door, where he stood in his asinine form hearing and understanding all that passed, without being able to speak. And behold, up came a young merchant with whom fortune had played the tyrant and who could find no easier way of earning his livelihood than water-carrying. So he brought his wife’s bracelets to the Jew and said to him, “Give me the price of these bracelets, that I may buy me an ass.” Asked the Jew, “What wilt thou do with him?”; and the other answered, “O master, I mean to fetch water from the river on his back, and earn my living thereby.” Quoth the Jew, “Take this ass of mine.” So he sold him the bracelets and received the ass-shaped Ali of Cairo in part payment and carried him home. Quoth Ali to himself, “If the Ass-man clap the pannel on thee and load thee with water-skins and go with thee half a score journeys a day he will ruin thy health and thou wilt die.” So, when the water-carrier’s wife came to bring him his fodder, he butted her with his head and she fell on her back; whereupon he sprang on her and smiting her brow with his mouth, put out and displayed that which his begetter left him. She cried aloud and the neighbours came to her assistance and beat him and raised him off her breast. When her husband the intended water-carrier came home, she said to him, “Now either divorce me or return the ass to his owner.” He asked, “What hath happened?”; and she answered, “This is a devil in the guise of a donkey. He sprang upon me, and had not the neighbours beaten him off my bosom he had done with me a foul thing.” So he carried the ass back to the Jew, who said to him, “Wherefore hast thou brought him back?” and he replied, “He did a foul thing with my wife.” So the Jew gave him his money again and he went away; and Azariah said to Ali, “Hast thou recourse to knavery, unlucky wretch that thou art, in order that”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Seventeenth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the water-carrier brought back the ass, its Jew owner returned to him the monies and turning to Ali of Cairo said, “Hast thou recourse to knavery, unlucky wretch that thou art, in order that he may return thee to me? But since it pleaseth thee to be an ass, I will make thee a spectacle and a laughing stock to great and small.” Then he mounted him and rode till he came without the city, when he brought out the ashes in powder and conjuring over it sprinkled it upon the air and immediately the Castle appeared. He entered and taking the saddle-bags off the ass’s back set up the rod and hung to it the charger wherein were the clothes proclaiming aloud, “Where be the clever ones of all quarters who may avail to take this dress?” Then he conjured as before and meat was set before him and he ate and then wine when he drank; after which he took a cup of water and muttering certain words thereover, sprinkled it on the ass Ali, saying, “Quit this form and return to thy former shape.” Ali straightway became a man once more and Azariah said to him, “O Ali, take good advice and be content with my mischief. Thou hast no call to marry Zaynab nor to take my daughter’s dress, for ’tis no easy matter for thee: so leave greed and ’twill be better for thee; else will I turn thee into a bear or an ape or set on thee an Ifrit, who will cast thee behind the Mountain Kaf.” He replied, “I have engaged to take the dress and needs must I have it and thou must Islamize or I will slay thee.” Rejoined the Jew, “O Ali, thou art like a walnut; unless it be broken it cannot be eaten.” Then he took a cup of water and conjuring over it, sprinkled Ali with somewhat thereof, saying, “Take thou shape of bear;” whereupon he instantly became a bear and the Jew put a collar about his neck, muzzled him and chained him to a picket of iron. Then he sat down and ate and drank, now and then throwing him a morsel of his orts and emptying the dregs of the cup over him, till the morning, when he rose and laid by the tray and the dress and conjured over the bear, which followed him to the shop. There the Jew sat down and emptied the gold and silver into the trays before Ali, after binding him by the chain; and the bear there abode seeing and comprehending but not able to speak. Presently up came a man and a merchant, who accosted the Jew and said to him, “O Master, wilt thou sell me yonder bear? I have a wife who is my cousin and is sick; and they have prescribed for her to eat bears’ flesh and anoint herself with bears’ grease.” At this the Jew rejoiced and said to himself, “I will sell him to this merchant, so he may slaughter him and we be at peace from him.” And Ali also said in his mind, “By Allah, this fellow meaneth to slaughter me; but deliverance is with the Almighty.” Then said the Jew, “He is a present from me to thee.” So the merchant took him and carried him to the butcher, to whom he said, “Bring thy tools and company me.” The butcher took his knives and followed the merchant to his house, where he bound the beast and fell to sharpening his blade: but, when he went up to him to slaughter him, the bear escaped from his hands and rising into the air, disappeared from sight between heaven and earth; nor did he cease flying till he alighted at the Jew’s castle. Now the reason thereof was on this wise. When the Jew returned home, his daughter questioned him of Ali and he told her what had happened; whereupon she said, “Summon a Jinni and ask him of the youth, whether he be indeed Mercury Ali or another who seeketh to put a cheat on thee.” So Azariah called a Jinni by conjurations and questioned him of Ali; and he replied, “’Tis Ali of Cairo himself. The butcher hath pinioned him and whetted his knife to slaughter him.” Quoth the Jew, “Go, snatch him up and bring him hither, ere the butcher cut his throat.” So the Jinni flew off and, snatching Ali out of the butcher’s hands, bore him to the palace and set him down before the Jew, who took a cup of water and conjuring over it, sprinkled him therewith, saying, “Return to thine own shape.” And he straightway became a man again as before. The Jew’s daughter Kamar,[[253]] seeing him to be a handsome young man, fell in love with him and he fell in love with her; and she said to him, “O unlucky one, why dost thou go about to take my dress, enforcing my father to deal thus with thee?” Quoth he, “I have engaged to get it for Zaynab the Coney-catcher, that I may wed her therewith.” And she said, “Others than thou have played pranks with my father to get my dress, but could not win to it,” presently adding, “So put away this thought from thee.” But he answered, “Needs must I have it, and thy father must become a Moslem, else I will slay him.” Then said the Jew, “See, O my daughter, how this unlucky fellow seeketh his own destruction,” adding, “Now I will turn thee into a dog.” So he took a cup graven with characters and full of water and conjuring over it, sprinkled some of it upon Ali, saying, “Take thou form of dog.” Whereupon he straightway became a dog, and the Jew and his daughter drank together till the morning, when the father laid up the dress and charger and mounted his mule. Then he conjured over the dog, which followed him, as he rode towards the town, and all dogs barked at Ali[[254]] as he passed, till he came to the shop of a broker, a seller of second-hand goods, who rose and drove away the dogs, and Ali lay down before him. The Jew turned and looked for him, but finding him not, passed onwards. Presently, the broker shut up his shop and went home, followed by the dog, which, when his daughter saw enter the house, she veiled her face and said, “O my papa, dost thou bring a strange man in to me?” He replied, “O my daughter, this is a dog.” Quoth she, “Not so, ’tis Ali the Cairene, whom the Jew Azariah hath enchanted;” and she turned to the dog and said to him, “Art not Ali of Cairo?” And he signed to her with his head, “Yes.” Then her father asked her, “Why did the Jew enchant him?”; and she answered, “Because of his daughter Kamar’s dress; but I can release him.” Said the broker, “An thou canst indeed do him this good office, now is the time,” and she, “If he will marry me, I will release him.” And he signed to her with his head, “Yes.” So she took a cup of water, graven with certain signs and conjuring over it, was about to sprinkle Ali therewith, when lo and behold! she heard a great cry and the cup fell from her hand. She turned and found that it was her father’s handmaid, who had cried out; and she said to her, “O my mistress, is’t thus thou keepest the covenant between me and thee? None taught thee this art save I, and thou didst agree with me that thou wouldst do naught without consulting me and that whoso married thee should marry me also, and that one night should be mine and one night thine.” And the broker’s daughter said, “’Tis well.” When the broker heard the maid’s words, he asked his daughter, “Who taught the maid?”; and she answered, “O my papa, enquire of herself.” So he put the question and she replied, “Know, O my lord, that, when I was with Azariah the Jew, I used to spy upon him and listen to him, when he performed his gramarye; and when he went forth to his shop in Baghdad, I opened his books and read in them, till I became skilled in the Cabbala-science. One day, he was warm with wine and would have me lie with him, but I objected, saying, I may not grant thee this except thou become a Moslem. He refused and I said to him, Now for the Sultan’s market.[[255]] So he sold me to thee and I taught my young mistress, making it a condition with her that she should do naught without my counsel, and that whoso might wed her should wed me also, one night for me and one night for her.” Then she took a cup of water and conjuring over it, sprinkled the dog therewith; saying, “Return thou to form of man.” And he straightway was restored to his former shape; whereupon the broker saluted him with the salam and asked him the reason of his enchantment. So Ali told him all that had passed——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Eighteenth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the broker, having saluted Ali of Cairo with the salam, asked him the reason of his enchantment and what had befallen him; and he answered by telling him all that had passed, when the broker said to him, “Will not my daughter and the handmaid suffice thee?” but he answered, “Needs must I have Zaynab also.” Now suddenly there came a rap at the door and the maid said, “Who is at the door?” The knocker replied, “Kamar, daughter of Azariah the Jew; say me, is Ali of Cairo with you?” Replied the broker’s daughter, “O thou daughter of a dog! If he be with us, what wilt thou with him? Go down, O maid, and open to her.” So the maid let her in, and when she looked upon Ali and he upon her, he said, “What bringeth thee hither O dog’s daughter?” Quoth she, “I testify that there is no god but the God and I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of God.” And, having thus Islamised, she asked him, “Do men in the Faith of Al-Islam give marriage portions to women or do women dower men?” Quoth he, “Men endow women.” “Then,” said she, “I come and dower myself for thee, bringing thee, as my marriage-portion, my dress together with the rod and charger and chains and the head of my father, the enemy of thee and the foeman of Allah.” And she threw down the Jew’s head before him. Now the cause of her slaying her sire was as follows. On the night of his turning Ali into a dog, she saw, in a dream, a speaker who said to her, “Become a Moslemah.” She did so; and as soon as she awoke next morning she expounded Al-Islam to her father who refused to embrace the Faith; so she drugged him with Bhang and killed him. As for Ali, he took the gear and said to the broker, “Meet we to-morrow at the Caliph’s Divan, that I may take thy daughter and the handmaid to wife.” Then he set out rejoicing, to return to the barrack of the Forty. On his way he met a sweetmeat seller, who was beating hand upon hand and saying, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Folk’s labour hath waxed sinful and man is active only in fraud!” Then said he to Ali, “I conjure thee, by Allah, taste of this confection!” So Ali took a piece and ate it and fell down senseless, for there was Bhang therein; whereupon the sweetmeat-seller seized the dress and the charger and the rest of the gear and thrusting them into the box where he kept his sweetmeats hoisted it up and made off. Presently he met a Kazi, who called to him, saying, “Come hither, O sweetmeat seller!” So he went up to him and setting down his sack laid the tray of sweetmeats upon it and asked, “What dost thou want?” “Halwá and dragées,[[256]]” answered the Kazi and, taking some in his hand, said, “Both of these are adulterated.” Then he brought out sweetmeats from his breast-pocket[[257]] and gave them to the sweetmeat-seller, saying, “Look at this fashion; how excellent it is! Eat of it and make the like of it.” So he ate and fell down senseless, for the sweetmeats were drugged with Bhang, whereupon the Kazi bundled him into the sack and made off with him, charger and chest and all, to the barrack of the Forty. Now the Judge in question was Hasan Shuman and the reason of this was as follows. When Ali had been gone some days in quest of the dress and they heard no news of him, Calamity Ahmad said to his men, “O lads, go and seek for your brother Ali of Cairo.” So they sallied forth in quest of him and among the rest Hasan Shuman the Pestilence, disguised in a Kazi’s gear. He came upon the sweetmeat-seller and, knowing him for Ahmad al-Lakit[[258]] suspected him of having played some trick upon Ali; so he drugged him and did as we have seen. Meanwhile, the other Forty fared about the streets and highways making search in different directions, and amongst them Ali Kitf al-Jamal, who espying a crowd, made towards the people and found the Cairene Ali lying drugged and senseless in their midst. So he revived him and he came to himself and seeing the folk flocking around him asked, “Where am I?” Answered Ali Camel-shoulder and his comrades, “We found thee lying here drugged but know not who drugged thee.” Quoth Ali, “’Twas a certain sweetmeat-seller who drugged me and took the gear from me; but where is he gone?” Quoth his comrades, “We have seen nothing of him; but come, rise and go home with us.” So they returned to the barrack, where they found Ahmad al-Danaf, who greeted Ali and enquired if he had brought the dress. He replied, “I was coming hither with it and other matters, including the Jew’s head, when a sweetmeat-seller met me and drugged me with Bhang and took them from me.” Then he told him the whole tale ending with, “If I come across that man of goodies again, I will requite him.” Presently Hasan Shuman came out of a closet and said to him, “Hast thou gotten the gear, O Ali?” So he told him what had befallen him and added, “If I know whither the rascal is gone and where to find the knave, I would pay him out. Knowest thou whither he went?” Answered Hasan, “I know where he is,” and opening the door of the closet, showed him the sweetmeat-seller within, drugged and senseless. Then he aroused him and he opened his eyes and finding himself in presence of Mercury Ali and Calamity Ahmad and the Forty, started up and said, “Where am I and who hath laid hands on me?” Replied Shuman, “’Twas I laid hands on thee;” and Ali cried, “O perfidious wretch, wilt thou play thy pranks on me?” And he would have slain him: but Hasan said to him, “Hold thy hand for this fellow is become thy kinsman.” “How my kinsman?” quoth Ali; and quoth Hasan, “This is Ahmad al-Lakit son of Zaynab’s sister.” Then said Ali to the prisoner, “Why didst thou thus, O Lakit?” and he replied, “My grandmother, Dalilah the Wily, bade me do it; only because Zurayk the fishmonger foregathered with the old woman and said:—Mercury Ali of Cairo is a sharper and a past master in knavery, and he will certainly slay the Jew and bring hither the dress. So she sent for me and said to me, O Ahmad, dost thou know Ali of Cairo? Answered I:—Indeed I do and ’twas I directed him to Ahmad al-Danaf’s lodging when he first came to Baghdad. Quoth she:—Go and set thy nets for him, and if he have brought back the gear, put a cheat on him and take it from him. So I went round about the highways of the city, till I met a sweetmeat-seller and buying his clothes and stock-in-trade and gear for ten dinars, did what was done.” Thereupon quoth Ali, “Go back to thy grandmother and Zurayk, and tell them that I have brought the gear and the Jew’s head and say to them:—Meet me to-morrow at the Caliph’s Divan, there to receive Zaynab’s dowry.” And Calamity Ahmad rejoiced in this and said, “We have not wasted our pains in rearing thee, O Ali!” Next morning Ali took the dress, the charger, the rod and the chains of gold, together with the head of Azariah the Jew mounted on a pike, and went up, accompanied by Ahmad al-Danaf and the Forty, to the Divan, where they kissed ground before the Caliph——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Nineteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ali the Cairene went up to the Caliph’s Divan, accompanied by his uncle Ahmad al-Danaf and his lads they kissed ground before the Caliph who turned and seeing a youth of the most valiant aspect, enquired of Calamity Ahmad concerning him and he replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, this is Mercury Ali the Egyptian captain of the brave boys of Cairo, and he is the first of my lads.” And the Caliph loved him for the valour that shone from between his eyes, testifying for him and not against him. Then Ali rose; and, casting the Jew’s head down before him, said, “May thine every enemy be like this one, O Prince of True Believers!” Quoth Al-Rashid, “Whose head is this?”; and quoth Ali, “’Tis the head of Azariah the Jew.” “Who slew him?” asked the Caliph. So Ali related to him all that had passed, from first to last, and the Caliph said, “I had not thought thou wouldst kill him, for that he was a sorcerer.” Ali replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, my Lord made me prevail to his slaughter.” Then the Caliph sent the Chief of Police to the Jew’s palace, where he found him lying headless; so he laid the body on a bier,[[259]] and carried it to Al-Rashid, who commanded to burn it. Whereat, behold, up came Kamar and kissing the ground before the Caliph, informed him that she was the daughter of Jew Azariah and that she had become a Moslemah. Then she renewed her profession of Faith before the Commander of the Faithful and said to him “Be thou my intercessor with Sharper Ali that he take me to wife.” She also appointed him her guardian to consent to her marriage with the Cairene, to whom he gave the Jew’s palace and all its contents, saying, “Ask a boon of me.” Quoth Ali, “I beg of thee to let me stand on thy carpet and eat of thy table;” and quoth the Caliph, “O Ali, hast thou any lads?” He replied, “I have forty lads; but they are in Cairo.” Rejoined the Caliph, “Send to Cairo and fetch them hither,” presently adding, “But, O Ali, hast thou a barrack for them?” “No,” answered Ali; and Hasan Shuman said, “I make him a present of my barrack with all that is therein, O Commander of the Faithful.” However, the Caliph retorted, saying, “Thy lodging is thine own, O Hasan;” and he bade his treasurer give the court architect ten thousand dinars, that he might build Ali a hall with four daïses and forty sleeping-closets for his lads. Then said he, “O Ali, hast thou any further wish, that we may command its fulfilment?”; and said Ali, “O King of the age, be thou my intercessor with Dalilah the Wily that she give me her daughter Zaynab to wife and take the dress and gear of Azariah’s girl in lieu of dower.” Dalilah accepted the Caliph’s intercession and accepted the charger and dress and what not, and they drew up the marriage contracts between Ali and Zaynab and Kamar, the Jew’s daughter and the broker’s daughter and the handmaid. Moreover, the Caliph assigned him a solde with a table morning and evening, and stipends and allowances for fodder; all of the most liberal. Then Ali the Cairene fell to making ready for the wedding festivities and, after thirty days, he sent a letter to his comrades in Cairo, wherein he gave them to know of the favours and honours which the Caliph had bestowed upon him and said, “I have married four maidens and needs must ye come to the wedding.” So, after a reasonable time the forty lads arrived and they held high festival; he homed them in his barrack and entreated them with the utmost regard and presented them to the Caliph, who bestowed on them robes of honour and largesse. Then the tiring-women displayed Zaynab before Ali in the dress of the Jew’s daughter, and he went in unto her and found her a pearl unthridden and a filly by all save himself unridden. Then he went in unto the three other maidens and found them accomplished in beauty and loveliness. After this it befel that Ali of Cairo was one night on guard by the Caliph who said to him, “I wish thee O Ali, to tell me all that hath befallen thee from first to last with Dalilah the Wily and Zaynab the Coney-catcher and Zurayk the Fishmonger.” So Ali related to him all his adventures and the Commander of the Faithful bade record them and lay them up in the royal muniment-rooms. So they wrote down all that had befallen him and kept it in store with other histories for the people of Mohammed the Best of Men. And Ali and his wives and comrades abode in all solace of life, and its joyance, till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and Sunderer of Societies; and Allah (be He extolled and exalted!) is All-knowing![[260]] And also men relate the tale of
[214]. This is a sequel to the Story of Dalilah and both are highly relished by Arabs. The Bresl. Edit. ix. 245, runs both into one.
[215]. Arab. Misr, Masr, the Capital, says Savary, applied alternately to Memphis, Fostat and Grand Cairo each of which had a Jízah (pron. Gízah), skirt, angle outlying suburb.
[216]. For the curious street-cries of old Cairo see Lane (M. E. chapt. xiv.) and my Pilgrimage (i. 120): here the rhymes are of Zabíb (raisins), habíb (lover) and labíb (man of sense).
[217]. The Mac. and Bul. Edits. give two silly couplets of moral advice:—
Strike with thy stubborn steel, and never fear ✿ Aught save the Godhead of Almighty Might;
And shun ill practices and never show ✿ Through life but generous gifts to human sight.
The above is from the Bresl. Edit. ix. 247.
[218]. Arab. “Al-Khanakah” now more usually termed a Takíyah (Pilgrim. i. 124).
[219]. Arab. “Ka’b al-ba’íd” (Bresl. Edit. ix. 255) = heel or ankle, metaph. for fortune, reputation: so the Arabs say the “Ka’b of the tribe is gone!” Here “the far one” = the caravan-leader.
[220]. Arab. “Sharít,” from Sharata = he Scarified; “Mishrat” = a lancet and “Sharítah” = a mason’s rule. Mr. Payne renders “Sharít” by whinyard: it must be a chopper-like weapon, with a pin or screw (laulab) to keep the blade open like the snap of the Spaniard’s cuchillo. Dozy explains it = epée, synonyme de Sayf.
[221]. Text “Dimágh,” a Persianism when used for the head: the word properly means brain or meninx.
[222]. They were afraid even to stand and answer this remarkable ruffian.
[223]. Ahmad the Abortion, or the Foundling, nephew (sister’s son) of Zaynab the Coney-catcher. See supra, p. [145].
[224]. Here the sharp lad discovers the direction without pointing it out. I need hardly enlarge upon the prehensile powers of the Eastern foot: the tailor will hold his cloth between his toes and pick up his needle with it, whilst the woman can knead every muscle and at times catch a mosquito between the toes. I knew an officer in India whose mistress hurt his feelings by so doing at a critical time when he attributed her movement to pleasure.
[225]. Arab. “Hullah” = dress. In old days it was composed of the Burd or Ridá, the shoulder-cloth from 6 to 9 or 10 feet long, and the Izár or waistcloth which was either tied or tucked into a girdle of leather or metal. The woman’s waistcloth was called Nitáh and descended to the feet while the upper part was doubled and provided with a Tikkah or string over which it fell to the knees overhanging the lower folds. This doubling of the “Hujrah,” or part round the waist, was called the “Hubkah.”
[226]. Arab. “Taghaddá,” the dinner being at eleven a.m. or noon.
[227]. Arab. Ghandúr for which the Dictionaries give only “fat, thick.” It applies in Arabia especially to a Harámi, brigand or freebooter, most honourable of professions, slain in foray or fray, opposed to “Fatís” or carrion (the corps crévé of the Klephts), the man who dies the straw-death. Pilgrimage iii. 66.
[228]. My fair readers will note with surprise how such matters are hurried in the East. The picture is, however, true to life in lands where “flirtation” is utterly unknown and, indeed, impossible.
[229]. Arab. “Zabbah,” the wooden bolt (before noticed) which forms the lock and is opened by a slider and pins. It is illustrated by Lane (M. E. Introduction).
[230]. i.e. I am not a petty thief.
[231]. Arab. “Satl” = kettle, bucket. Lat. Situla (?)
[232]. i.e. “there is no chance of his escaping.” It may also mean, “And far from him (Hayhát) is escape.”
[233]. Arab. “Ihtilám,” the sign of puberty in boy or girl; this, like all emissions of semen, voluntary or involuntary, requires the Ghuzl or total ablution before prayers can be said, etc. See vol. v. 199, in the Tale of Tawaddud.
[234]. This is the way to take an Eastern when he tells a deliberate lie; and it often surprises him into speaking the truth.
[235]. The conjunctiva in Africans is seldom white; often it is red and more frequently yellow.
[236]. So in the texts, possibly a clerical error for the wine which he had brought with the kabobs. But beer is the especial tipple of African slaves in Egypt.
[237]. Arab. Laun, prop. = color, hue; but applied to species and genus, our “kind”; and especially to dishes which differ in appearance; whilst in Egypt it means any dish.
[238]. Arab. “Zardah” = rice dressed with honey and saffron. Vol. ii. 313. The word is still common in Turkey.
[239]. Arab. “Laylat Ams,” the night of yesterday (Al-bárihah) not our “last night” which would be the night of the day spoken of.
[240]. Arab. “Yakhní,” a word much used in Persia and India and properly applied to the complicated broth prepared for the rice and meat. For a good recipe see Herklots, Appendix xxix.
[241]. In token of defeat and in acknowledgment that she was no match for men.
[242]. This is a neat touch of nature. Many a woman, even of the world, has fallen in love with a man before indifferent to her because he did not take advantage of her when he had the opportunity.
[243]. The slightest movement causes a fight at a funeral or a wedding-procession in the East; even amongst the “mild Hindus.”
[244]. Arab. “Al-Musrán” (plur. of “Masír”) properly the intestines which contain the chyle. The bag made by Ali was, in fact, a “Cundum” (so called from the inventor, Colonel Cundum of the Guards in the days of Charles Second) or “French letter”; une capote anglaise, a “check upon child.” Captain Grose says (Class. Dict. etc. s.v. Cundum) “The dried gut of a sheep worn by a man in the act of coition to prevent venereal infection. These machines were long prepared and sold by a matron of the name of Philips at the Green Canister in Half Moon Street in the Strand * * * Also a false scabbard over a sword and the oilskin case for the colours of a regiment.” Another account is given in the Guide Pratique des Maladies Secrètes, Dr. G. Harris, Bruxelles. Librairie Populaire. He calls these petits sachets de baudruche “Candoms, from the doctor who invented them.” (Littré ignores the word) and declares that the famous Ricord compared them with a bad umbrella which a storm can break or burst, while others term them cuirasses against pleasure and cobwebs against infection. They were much used in the last century. “Those pretended stolen goods were Mr. Wilkes’s Papers, many of which tended to prove his authorship of the North Briton, No. 45, April 23, 1763, and some Cundums enclosed in an envelope” (Records of C. of King’s Bench, London, 1763). “Pour finir l’inventaire de ces curiosités du cabinet de Madame Gourdan, il ne faut pas omettre une multitude de redingottes appelées d’Angleterre, je ne sais pourquois. Vous connoissez, au surplus, ces espèces de boucliers qu’on oppose aux traits empoisonnés de l’amour; et qui n’emoussent que ceux du plaisir.” (L’Observateur Anglois, Londres 1778, iii. 69). Again we read:—
“Les capotes mélancoliques
Qui pendent chez les gros Millan (?)
S’enflent d’elles-mêmes, lubriques,
Et dechargent en se gonflant.”
Passage Satyrique.
Also in Louis Prolat:—
“Il fuyait, me laissant une capote au cul.”
The articles are now of two kinds mostly of baudruche (sheep’s gut) and a few of caoutchouc. They are made almost exclusively in the faubourgs of Paris, giving employment to many women and young girls; Grenelle turns out the baudruche and Grenelle and Lilas the India-rubber article; and of the three or four makers M. Deschamps is best known. The sheep’s gut is not joined in any way but of single piece as it comes from the animal after, of course, much manipulation to make it thin and supple; the inferior qualities are stuck together at the sides. Prices vary from 4½ to 36 francs per gross. Those of India-rubber are always joined at the side with a solution especially prepared for the purpose. I have also heard of fish-bladders but can give no details on the subject. The Cundum was unknown to the ancients of Europe although syphilis was not: even prehistoric skeletons show traces of its ravages.
[245]. Arab. “Yá Ustá” (for “Ustáz.”) The Pers. term is Ustád = a craft-master, an artisan and especially a barber. Here it is merely a polite address.
[246]. In common parlance Arabs answer a question (like the classics of Europe who rarely used Yes and No, Yea and Nay), by repeating its last words. They have, however, many affirmative particles e.g. Ni’am which answers a negative “Dost thou not go?”—Ni’am (Yes!); and Ajal, a stronger form following a command, e.g. Sir (go)—Ajal, Yes verily. The popular form is Aywá (’lláhi) = Yes, by Allah. The chief negatives are Má and Lá, both often used in the sense of “There is not.”
[247]. Arab. “Khalbús,” prop. the servant of the Almah-girls who acts buffoon as well as pimp. The “Maskharah” (whence our “mask”) corresponds with the fool or jester of mediæval Europe: amongst the Arnauts he is called “Suttari” and is known by his fox’s tails: he mounts a mare, tom-toms on the kettle-drum and is generally one of the bravest of the corps. These buffoons are noted for extreme indecency: they generally appear in the ring provided with an enormous phallus of whip-cord and with this they charge man, woman and child, to the infinite delight of the public.
[248]. Arab. “Shúbash” pronounced in Egypt Shobash: it is the Persian Sháh-básh lit. = be a King, equivalent to our bravo. Here, however, the allusion is to the buffoon’s cry at an Egyptian feast, “Shohbash ’alayk, yá Sáhib al-faraj,” = a present is due from thee, “O giver of the fête!” See Lane M. E. xxvii.
[249]. Arab. “Ka’ak al-I’d:” the former is the Arab form of the Persian “Kahk” (still retained in Egypt) whence I would derive our word “cake.” It alludes to the sweet cakes which are served up with dates, the quatre mendiants and sherbets during visits of the Lesser (not the greater) Festival, at the end of the Ramazan fast. (Lane M.E. xxv).
[250]. Arab. “Tásúmah,” a rare word for a peculiar slipper. Dozy (s.v.) says only, espèce de chaussure, sandale, pantoufle, soulier.
[251]. Arab. “Ijtilá” = the displaying of the bride on her wedding night so often alluded to in The Nights.
[252]. Arab. Khiskhánah; a mixed word from Khaysh = canvass or stuffs generally and Pers. Khánah = house room. Dozy (s.v.) says armoire, buffet.
[253]. The Bresl. Edit. “Kamaríyah” = Moon-like (fem.) for Moon.
[254]. Every traveller describes the manners and customs of dogs in Eastern cities where they furiously attack all canine intruders. I have noticed the subject in writing of Al-Medinah where the beasts are confined to the suburbs (Pilgrimage ii. 52–54).
[255]. She could legally compel him to sell her; because, being an Infidel, he had attempted to debauch a Moslemah.
[256]. Arab. “Haláwat wa Mulabbas”; the latter etymologically means one dressed or clothed. Here it alludes to almonds, etc., clothed or coated with sugar. See Dozy s.v. “labas.”
[257]. Arab. “’Ubb” from a root = being long: Dozy (s.v.), says poche au sein; Habb al-’ubb is a woman’s ornament.
[258]. Who, it will be remembered, was Dalilah’s grandson.
[259]. Arab. “Tábút,” a term applied to the Ark of the Covenant (Koran ii. 349), which contained Moses’ rod and shoes, Aaron’s mitre, the manna-pot, the broken Tables of the Law, and the portraits of all the prophets which are to appear till the end of time—an extensive list for a box measuring 3 by cubits. Europeans often translate it coffin, but it is properly the wooden case placed over an honoured grave. “Irán” is the Ark of Moses’ exposure, also the large hearse on which tribal chiefs were carried to earth.
[260]. i.e. What we have related is not “Gospel Truth.”
ARDASHIR AND HAYAT AL-NUFUS.[[261]]
There was once in the city of Shíráz a mighty King called Sayf al-A’azam Shah, who had grown old, without being blessed with a son. So he summoned the physicists and physicians and said to them, “I am now in years and ye know my case and the state of the kingdom and its ordinance; and I fear for my subjects after me; for that up to this present I have not been vouchsafed a son.” Thereupon they replied, “We will compound thee a somewhat of drugs wherein shall be efficacy, if it please Almighty Allah!” So they mixed him drugs, which he used and knew his wife carnally, and she conceived by leave of the Most High Lord, who saith to a thing, “Be,” and it becometh. When her months were accomplished, she gave birth to a male child like the moon, whom his father named Ardashir,[[262]] and he grew up and throve and applied himself to the study of learning and letters, till he attained the age of fifteen. Now there was in Al-Irak a King called Abd al-Kádir who had a daughter, by name Hayát al-Nufús, and she was like the rising full moon; but she had an hatred for men and the folk very hardly dared name mankind in her presence. The Kings of the Chosroës had sought her in marriage of her sire; but, when he spoke with her thereof, she said, “Never will I do this; and if thou force me thereto, I will slay myself.” Now Prince Ardashir heard of her fame and fell in love with her and told his father who, seeing his case, took pity on him and promised him day by day that he should marry her. So he despatched his Wazir to demand her in wedlock, but King Abd al-Kadir refused, and when the Minister returned to King Sayf al-A’azam and acquainted him with what had befallen his mission and the failure thereof, he was wroth with exceeding wrath and cried, “Shall the like of me send to one of the Kings on a requisition and he accomplish it not?” Then he bade a herald make proclamation to his troops, bidding them bring out the tents and equip them for war with all diligence, though they should borrow money for the necessary expenses; and he said, “I will on no wise turn back, till I have laid waste King Abd al-Kadir’s dominions and slain his men and plundered his treasures and blotted out his traces!” When the report of this reached Ardashir he rose from his carpet-bed, and going in to his father, kissed ground[[263]] between his hands and said, “O mighty King, trouble not thyself with aught of this thing”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twentieth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when report of this reached the Prince he went in to his sire the King and, kissing ground between his hands, said, “O mighty King, trouble not thy soul with aught of this thing and levy not thy champions and armies neither spend thy monies. Thou art stronger than he, and if thou loose upon him this thy host, thou wilt lay waste his cities and dominions and spoil his good and slay his strong men and himself; but when his daughter shall come to know what hath befallen her father and his people by reason of her, she will slay herself, and I shall die on her account; for I can never live after her; no, never.” Asked the King, “And what then thinkest thou to do, O my son?” and the Prince answered, “I will don a merchant’s habit and cast about how I may win to the Princess and compass my desire of her.” Quoth Sayf al-A’azam, “Art thou determined upon this?”; and quoth the Prince, “Yes, O my sire;” whereupon the King called to his Wazir, and said to him, “Do thou journey with my son, the core of my heart, and help him to win his will and watch over him and guide him with thy sound judgment, for thou standest to him even in my stead.” “I hear and obey,” answered the Minister; and the King gave his son three hundred thousand dinars in gold and great store of jewels and precious stones and goldsmiths’ ware and stuffs and other things of price. Then Prince Ardashir went in to his mother and kissed her hands and asked her blessing. She blessed him and, forthright opening her treasures, brought out to him necklaces and trinkets and apparel and all manner of other costly objects hoarded up from the time of the bygone Kings, whose price might not be evened with coin. Moreover, he took with him of his Mamelukes and negro-slaves and cattle all that he needed for the road and clad himself and the Wazir and their company in traders’ gear. Then he farewelled his parents and kinsfolk and friends; and, setting out, fared on over wolds and wastes all hours of the day and watches of the night; and whenas the way was longsome upon him he improvised these couplets:—
My longing bred of love with mine unease for ever grows; ✿ Nor against all the wrongs of time one succourer arose:
When Pleiads and the Fishes show in sky the rise I watch, ✿ As worshipper within whose breast a pious burning glows:
For Star o’ Morn I speer until at last when it is seen, ✿ I’m madded with my passion and my fancy’s woes and throes:
I swear by you that never from your love have I been loosed; ✿ Naught am I save a watcher who of slumber nothing knows!
Though hard appear my hope to win, though languor aye increase, ✿ And after thee my patience fails and ne’er a helper shows;
Yet will I wait till Allah shall be pleased to join our loves; ✿ I’ll mortify the jealous and I’ll mock me of my foes.
When he ended his verse he swooned away and the Wazir sprinkled rose-water on him, till the Prince came to himself, when the Minister said to him, “O King’s son, possess thy soul in patience; for the consequence of patience is consolation, and behold, thou art on the way to whatso thou wishest.” And he ceased not to bespeak him fair and comfort him till his trouble subsided; and they continued their journey with all diligence. Presently, the Prince again became impatient of the length of the way and bethought him of his beloved and recited these couplets:—
Longsome is absence, restlessness increaseth and despite; ✿ And burn my vitals in the blaze my love and longings light:
Grows my hair gray from pains and pangs which I am doomèd bear ✿ For pine, while tear-floods stream from eyes and sore offend my sight:
I swear, O Hope of me, O End of every wish and will, ✿ By Him who made mankind and every branch with leafage dight,
A passion-load for thee, O my Desire, I must endure, ✿ And boast I that to bear such load no lover hath the might.
Question the Night of me and Night thy soul shall satisfy ✿ Mine eyelids never close in sleep throughout the livelong night.
Then he wept with sore weeping and ’plained of that he suffered for stress of love-longing; but the Wazir comforted him and spoke him fair, promising him the winning of his wish; after which they fared on again for a few days, when they drew near to the White City, the capital of King Abd al-Kadir, soon after sunrise. Then said the Minister to the Prince, “Rejoice, O King’s son, in all good; for see, yonder is the White City, that which thou seekest.” Whereat the Prince rejoiced with exceeding joy and recited these couplets:—
My friends, I yearn in heart distraught for him; ✿ Longing abides and with sore pains I brim:
I mourn like childless mother, nor can find ✿ One to console me when the light grows dim;
Yet when the breezes blow from off thy land, ✿ I feel their freshness shed on heart and limb;
And rail mine eyes like water-laden clouds, ✿ While in a tear-sea shed by heart I swim.
Now when they entered the White City they asked for the Merchants’ Khan, a place of moneyed men; and when shown the hostelry they hired three magazines and on receiving the keys[[264]] they laid up therein all their goods and gear. They abode in the Khan till they were rested, when the Wazir applied himself to devise a device for the Prince,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-first Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Prince and the Minister alighted at the Khan and lodged their goods in the ground-floor magazines and there settled their servants. Then they tarried awhile till they had rested when the Wazir arose and applied himself to devise a device for the Prince, and said to him, “I have bethought me of somewhat wherein, methinks, will be success for thee, so it please Almighty Allah.” Quoth Ardashir, “O thou Wazir of good counsel, do what cometh to thy mind, and may the Lord direct thy rede aright!” Quoth the Minister, “I purpose to hire thee a shop in the market-street of the stuff-sellers and set thee therein; for that all, great and small, have recourse to the bazar and, meseems, when the folk see thee with their own eyes sitting in the shop their hearts will incline to thee and thou wilt thus be enabled to attain thy desire, for thou art fair of favour and souls incline to thee and sight rejoiceth in thee.” The other replied, “Do what seemeth good to thee.” So the Wazir forthright began to robe the Prince and himself in their richest raiment and, putting a purse of a thousand dinars in his breast-pocket, went forth and walked about the city, whilst all who looked upon them marvelled at the beauty of the King’s son, saying, “Glory be to Him who created this youth ’of vile water’[[265]]! Blessed be Allah excellentest of Creators!” Great was the talk anent him and some said, “This is no mortal, ’this is naught save a noble angel’”;[[266]] and others, “Hath Rizwán, the doorkeeper of the Eden-garden, left the gate of Paradise unguarded, that this youth hath come forth?” The people followed them to the stuff-market, where they entered and stood, till there came up to them an old man of dignified presence and venerable appearance, who saluted them, and they returned his salam. Then the Shaykh said to them, “O my lords, have ye any need, that we may have the honour of accomplishing?”; and the Wazir asked him, “Who art thou, O elder?” He answered, “I am the Overseer of the market.” Quoth the Wazir, “Know then, O Shaykh, that this youth is my son and I wish to hire him a shop in the bazar, that he may sit therein and learn to sell and buy and take and give, and come to ken merchants’ ways and habits.” “I hear and I obey,” replied the Overseer and brought them without stay or delay the key of a shop, which he caused the brokers sweep and clean. And they did his bidding. Then the Wazir sent for a high mattress, stuffed with ostrich-down, and set it up in the shop, spreading upon it a small prayer-carpet, and a cushion fringed with broidery of red gold. Moreover he brought pillows and transported thither so much of the goods and stuffs that he had brought with him as filled the shop. Next morning the young Prince came and opening the shop, seated himself on the divan, and stationed two Mamelukes, clad in the richest of raiment before him and two black slaves of the goodliest of the Abyssinians in the lower part of the shop. The Wazir enjoined him to keep his secret from the folk, so thereby he might find aid in the winning of his wishes; then he left him and charging him to acquaint him with what befel him in the shop, day by day returned to the Khan. The Prince sat in the shop till night as he were the moon at its fullest, whilst the folk, hearing tell of his comeliness, flocked to the place, without errand, to gaze on his beauty and loveliness and symmetry and perfect grace and glorify the Almighty who created and shaped him, till none could pass through that bazar for the excessive crowding of the folk about him. The King’s son turned right and left, abashed at the throng of people that stared at him, hoping to make acquaintance with some one about the court, of whom he might get news of the Princess; but he found no way to this, wherefore his breast was straitened. Meanwhile, the Wazir daily promised him the attainment of his desire and the case so continued for a time till, one morning, as the youth sat in the shop, there came up an old woman of respectable semblance and dignified presence clad in raiment of devotees[[267]] and followed by two slave-girls like moons. She stopped before the shop and, having considered the Prince awhile, cried, “Glory be to God who fashioned that face and perfected that figure!” Then she saluted him and he returned her salam and seated her by his side. Quoth she, “Whence cometh thou, O fair of favour?”; and quoth he, “From the parts of Hind, O my mother; and I have come to this city to see the world and look about me.” “Honour to thee for a visitor! What goods and stuffs hast thou? Show me something handsome, fit for Kings.” “If thou wish for handsome stuffs, I will show them to thee; for I have wares that beseem persons of every condition.” “O my son, I want somewhat costly of price and seemly to sight; brief, the best thou hast.” “Thou must needs tell me for whom thou seekest it, that I may show thee goods according to the rank of the requirer.” “Thou speakest sooth, O my son,” said she, “I want somewhat for my mistress Hayat al-Nufus, daughter of Abd al-Kadir, lord of this land and King of this country.” Now when Ardashir heard his mistress’s name, his reason flew for joy and his heart fluttered and he gave no order to slave or servant, but, putting his hand behind him, pulled out a purse of an hundred dinars and offered it to the old woman, saying, “This is for the washing of thy clothes.” Then he again put forth his hand and brought out of a wrapper a dress worth ten thousand dinars or more and said to her, “This is of that which I have brought to your country.” When the old woman saw it, it pleased her and she asked, “What is the price of this dress, O perfect in qualities?” Answered he, “I will take no price for it!” whereupon she thanked him and repeated her question; but he said, “By Allah, I will take no price for it. I make thee a present of it, an the Princess will not accept it and ’tis a guest-gift from me to thee. Alhamdolillah—Glory be to God—who hath brought us together, so that, if one day I have a want, I shall find thee a helper to me in winning it!” She marvelled at the goodliness of his speech and the excess of his generosity and the perfection of his courtesy and said to him, “What is thy name, O my lord?” He replied, “My name is Ardashir;” and she cried, “By Allah this is a rare name! Therewith are Kings’ sons named, and thou art in a guise of the sons of the merchants!” Quoth he, “Of the love my father bore me, he gave me this name, but a name signifieth naught;” and quoth she in wonder, “O my son, take the price of thy goods.” But he swore that he would not take aught. Then the old lady said to him, “O my dear one, Truth (I would have thee know) is the greatest of all things and thou hadst not dealt thus generously by me but for a special reason: so tell me thy case and thy secret thought; belike thou hast some wish to whose winning I may help thee.” Thereupon he laid his hand in hers and, after exacting an oath of secrecy, told her the whole story of his passion for the Princess and his condition by reason thereof. The old woman shook her head and said, “True; but O my son, the wise say, in the current adage:—An thou wouldest be obeyed, abstain from ordering what may not be made; and thou, my son, thy name is Merchant, and though thou hadst the keys of the Hidden Hoards, yet wouldst thou be called naught but Merchant. An thou wouldst rise to high rank, according to thy station, then seek the hand of a Kazi’s daughter or even an Emir’s; but why, O my son, aspirest thou to none but the daughter of the King of the age and the time, and she a clean maid, who knoweth nothing of the things of the world and hath never in her life seen anything but her palace wherein she dwelleth? Yet, for all her tender age, she is intelligent, shrewd, vivacious, penetrating, quick of wit, sharp of act and rare of rede: her father hath no other child and she is dearer to him than his life and soul. Every morning he cometh to her and giveth her good-morrow, and all who dwell in the palace stand in dread of her. Think not, O my son, that any dare bespeak her with aught of these words; nor is there any way for me thereto. By Allah, O my son, my heart and vitals love thee and were it in my power to give thee access to her, I would assuredly do it; but I will tell thee somewhat, wherein Allah may haply appoint the healing of thy heart, and will risk life and goods for thee, till I win thy will for thee.” He asked, “And what is that, O my mother”; and she answered, “Seek of me the daughter of a Wazir or an Emir, and I will grant thy request; but it may not be that one should mount from earth to heaven at one bound.” When the Prince heard this, he replied to her with courtesy and sense, “O my mother, thou art a woman of wit and knowest how things go. Say me doth a man, when his head irketh him, bind up his hand?” Quoth she, “No, by Allah, O my son”; and quoth he, “Even so my heart seeketh none but her and naught slayeth me but love of her. By Allah, I am a dead man, and I find not one to counsel me aright and succour me! Allah upon thee, O my mother, take pity on my strangerhood and the streaming of my tears!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-second Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ardashir, the King’s son said to the old woman, “Allah upon thee, O my mother, take pity on my strangerhood and the streaming of my tears.” Replied she, “By Allah, O my son, thy words rend my heart, but my hand hath no cunning wherewith to help thee.” Quoth he, “I beseech thee of thy favour, carry her a letter and kiss her hands for me.” So she had compassion on him and said, “Write what thou wilt and I will bear it to her.” When he heard this, he was ready to fly for joy and calling for ink-case and paper, wrote these couplets:—
O Hayát al-Nufús, be gen’rous, and incline ✿ To one who loving thee for parting’s doomed to pine.
I was in all delight, in gladsomest of life, ✿ But now I am distraught with sufferings condign.
To wakefulness I cling through longsomeness of night ✿ And with me sorrow chats[[268]] through each sad eve of mine;
Pity a lover sad, a sore afflicted wretch ✿ Whose eyelids ever ulcered are with tearful brine;
And when the morning comes at last, the real morn ✿ He finds him drunken and distraught with passion’s wine.
Then he folded the scroll and kissing it, gave it to the old woman; after which he put his hand to a chest and took out a second purse containing an hundred dinars, which he presented to her, saying, “Divide this among the slave girls.” She refused it and cried, “By Allah, O my son, I am not with thee for aught of this!”; however, he thanked her and answered, “There is no help but that thou accept of it.” So she took it and kissing his hands, returned home; and going in to the Princess, cried, “O my lady, I have brought thee somewhat the like whereof is not with the people of our city, and it cometh from a handsome young man, than whom there is not a goodlier on earth’s face!” She asked, “O my nurse, and whence cometh the youth?” and the old woman answered, “From the parts of Hind; and he hath given me this dress of gold brocade, embroidered with pearls and gems and worth the Kingdom of Chosroës and Cæsar.” Thereupon she opened the dress and the whole palace was illuminated by its brightness, because of the beauty of its fashion and the wealth of unions and jewels wherewith it was broidered, and all who were present marvelled at it. The Princess examined it and, judging it to be worth no less than a whole year’s revenue of her father’s kingdom, said to the old woman, “O my nurse, cometh this dress from him or from another?”[[269]] Replied she, “From him;” and Hayat al-Nufus asked, “Is this trader of our town or a stranger?” The old woman answered, “He is a foreigner, O my lady, newly come hither; and by Allah he hath servants and slaves; and he is fair of face, symmetrical of form, well mannered, open-handed and open-hearted, never saw I a goodlier than he, save thyself.” The King’s daughter rejoined, “Indeed this is an extraordinary thing, that a dress like this, which money cannot buy, should be in the hands of a merchant! What price did he set on it, O my nurse?” Quoth she, “By Allah, he would set no price on it, but gave me back the money thou sentest by me and swore that he would take naught thereof, saying:—’Tis a gift from me to the King’s daughter; for it beseemeth none but her; and if she will not accept it, I make thee a present of it.” Cried the Princess, “By Allah, this is indeed marvellous generosity and wondrous munificence! But I fear the issue of his affair, lest haply[[270]] he be brought to necessity. Why didst thou not ask him, O my nurse, if he had any desire, that we might fulfil it for him?” The nurse replied, “O my lady, I did ask him, and he said to me:—I have indeed a desire; but he would not tell me what it was. However, he gave me this letter and said:—Carry it to the Princess.” So Hayat al-Nufus took the letter and opened and read it to the end; whereupon she was sore chafed; and lost temper and changing colour for anger she cried out to the old woman, saying, “Woe to thee, O nurse! What is the name of this dog who durst write this language to a King’s daughter? What affinity is there between me and this hound that he should address me thus? By Almighty Allah, Lord of the well Zemzem and of the Hatim Wall,[[271]] but that I fear the Omnipotent, the Most High, I would send and bind the cur’s hands behind him and slit his nostrils, and shear off his nose and ears and after, by way of example, crucify him on the gate of the bazar wherein is his booth!” When the old woman heard these words, she waxed yellow; her side muscles[[272]] quivered and her tongue clave to her mouth; but she heartened her heart and said, “Softly, O my lady! What is there in his letter to trouble thee thus? Is it aught but a memorial containing his complaint to thee of poverty or oppression, from which he hopeth to be relieved by thy favour?” Replied she, “No, by Allah, O my nurse, ’tis naught of this; but verses and shameful words! However, O my nurse, this dog must be in one of three cases: either he is Jinn-mad, and hath no wit, or he seeketh his own slaughter, or else he is assisted to his wish of me by some one of exceeding puissance and a mighty Sultan. Or hath he heard that I am one of the baggages of the city, who lie a night or two with whosoever seeketh them, that he writeth me immodest verses to debauch my reason by talking of such matters?” Rejoined the old woman, “By Allah, O my lady, thou sayst sooth! But reck not thou of yonder ignorant hound, for thou art seated in thy lofty, firm-builded and unapproachable palace, to which the very birds cannot soar neither the wind pass over it, and as for him, he is clean distraught. Wherefore do thou write him a letter and chide him angrily and spare him no manner of reproof, but threaten him with dreadful threats and menace him with death and say to him:—Whence hast thou knowledge of me, that thou durst write me, O dog of a merchant, O thou who trudgest far and wide all thy days in wilds and wolds for the sake of gaining a dirham or a dinar? By Allah, except thou awake from thy sleep and put off thine intoxication, I will assuredly crucify thee on the gate of the market-street wherein is thy shop!” Quoth the Princess, “I fear lest he presume, if I write to him”; and quoth the nurse, “And pray what is he and what is his rank that he should presume to us? Indeed, we write him but to the intent that his presumption may be cut off and his fear magnified.” And she ceased not craftily to persuade her, till she called for ink-case and paper and wrote him these couplets:—
O thou who claimest to be prey of love and ecstasy; ✿ Thou, who for passion spendest nights in grief and saddest gree:
Say, dost thou (haughty one!) desire enjoyment of the moon? ✿ Did man e’er sue the moon for grace whate’er his lunacy?
I verily will counsel thee with rede the best to hear: ✿ Cut short this course ere come thou nigh sore risk, nay death, to dree!
If thou to this request return, surely on thee shall fall ✿ Sore punishment, for vile offence a grievous penalty.
Be reasonable then, be wise, hark back unto thy wits; ✿ Behold, in very truth I speak with best advice to thee:
By Him who did all things that be create from nothingness; ✿ Who dressed the face of heaven with stars in brightest radiancy:
If in the like of this thy speech thou dare to sin again! ✿ I’ll surely have thee crucified upon a trunk of tree.
Then she rolled up the letter and gave it to the old woman who took it and, repairing to Ardashir’s shop, delivered it to him,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old woman took that letter from Hayat al-Nufus she fared forth till she found the youth who was sitting in his shop and gave it to him, saying, “Read thine answer and know that when she perused thy paper she was wroth with exceeding wrath; but I soothed her and spake her fair, till she consented to write thee a reply.” He took the letter joyfully but, when he had read it and understood its drift, he wept sore, whereat the old woman’s heart ached and she cried, “O my son, Allah never cause thine eyes to weep nor thy heart to mourn! What can be more gracious than that she should answer thy letter when thou hast done what thou diddest?” He replied, “O my mother what shall I do for a subtle device? Behold, she writeth to me, threatening me with death and crucifixion and forbidding me from writing to her; and I, by Allah, see my death to be better than my life; but I beg thee of thy grace[[273]] to carry her another letter from me.” She said, “Write and I warrant I’ll bring thee an answer. By Allah, I will assuredly venture my life to win for thee thy wish, though I die to pleasure thee!” He thanked her and kissing her hands, wrote these verses:—
Do you threaten me wi’ death for my loving you so well? ✿ When Death to me were rest and all dying is by Fate?
And man’s death is but a boon, when so longsome to him grows ✿ His life, and rejected he lives in lonest state:
Then visit ye a lover who hath ne’er a soul to aid; ✿ For on pious works of men Heaven’s blessing shall await.
But an ye be resolved on this deed then up and on; ✿ I’m in bonds to you, a bondsman confined within your gate:
What path have I whose patience without you is no more? ✿ How is this, when a lover’s heart in stress of love is strait?
O my lady show me ruth, who by passion am misused; ✿ For all who love the noble stand for evermore excused.
He then folded the scroll and gave it to the old woman, together with two purses of two hundred dinars, which she would have refused, but he conjured her by oath to accept of them. So she took them both and said, “Needs must I bring thee to thy desire, despite the noses of thy foes.” Then she repaired to the palace and gave the letter to Hayat al-Nufus who said, “What is this, O my nurse? Here are we in a correspondence and thou coming and going! Indeed, I fear lest the matter get wind and we be disgraced.” Rejoined the old woman, “How so, O my lady? Who dare speak such word?” So she took the letter and after reading and understanding it she smote hand on hand, saying, “Verily, this is a calamity which is fallen upon us, and I know not whence this young man came to us!” Quoth the old woman, “O my lady, Allah upon thee, write him another letter; but be rough with him this time and say to him:—An thou write me another word after this, I will have thy head struck off.” Quoth the Princess, “O my nurse, I am assured that the matter will not end on such wise; ’twere better to break off this exchange of letters; and, except the puppy take warning by my previous threats, I will strike off his head.” The old woman said, “Then write him a letter and give him to know this condition.” So Hayat al-Nufus called for pen-case and paper and wrote these couplets:—
Ho, thou heedless of Time and his sore despight! ✿ Ho, thou heart whom hopes of my favours excite!
Think O pride-full! would’st win for thyself the skies? ✿ Would’st attain to the moon shining clear and bright?
I will burn thee with fire that shall ne’er be quenched, ✿ Or will slay thee with scymitar’s sharpest bite!
Leave it, friend, and ’scape the tormenting pains, ✿ Such as turn hair-partings[[274]] from black to white.
Take my warning and fly from the road of love; ✿ Draw thee back from a course nor seemly nor right!
Then she folded the scroll and gave it to the old woman, who was puzzled and perplexed by the matter. She carried it to Ardashir, and the Prince read the letter and bowed his head to the earth, making as if he wrote with his finger and speaking not a word. Quoth the old woman, “How is it I see thee silent stay and not say thy say?”; and quoth he, “O my mother, what shall I say, seeing that she doth but threaten me and redoubleth in hardheartedness and aversion?” Rejoined the nurse, “Write her a letter of what thou wilt: I will protect thee; nor let thy heart be cast down, for needs must I bring you twain together.” He thanked her for her kindness and kissing her hand, wrote these couplets:—
A heart, by Allah! never soft to lover-wight, ✿ Who sighs for union only with his friends, his sprite!
Who with tear-ulcered eyelids evermore must bide, ✿ When falleth upon earth first darkness of the night:
Be just, be gen’rous, lend thy ruth and deign give alms ✿ To love-molested lover, parted, forced to flight!
He spends the length of longsome night without a doze; ✿ Fire-brent and drent in tear-flood flowing infinite:
Ah; cut not off the longing of my fondest heart ✿ Now disappointed, wasted, flutt’ring for its blight.
Then he folded the scroll and gave it to the old woman, together with three hundred dinars, saying, “This is for the washing of thy hands.” She thanked him and kissed his hands, after which she returned to the palace and gave the letter to the Princess, who took it and read it and throwing it from her fingers, sprang to her feet. Then she walked, shod as she was with pattens of gold, set with pearls and jewels, till she came to her sire’s palace, whilst the vein of anger started out between her eyes, and none dared ask her of her case. When she reached the palace, she enquired for the King, and the slave-girls and concubines replied to her, “O my lady, he is gone forth a-hunting and sporting.” So she returned, as she were a rending lioness, and bespake none for the space of three hours, when her brow cleared and her wrath cooled. As soon as the old woman saw that her irk and anger were past, she went up to her and, kissing ground between her hands, asked her, “O my lady, whither went those noble steps?” The Princess answered, “To the palace of the King my sire.” “And could no one do thine errand?” enquired the nurse. Replied the Princess, “No, for I went to acquaint him of that which hath befallen me with yonder cur of a merchant, so he might lay hands on him and on all the merchants of his bazar and crucify them over their shops nor suffer a single foreign merchant to tarry in our town.” Quoth the old woman, “And was this thine only reason, O my lady, for going to thy sire?”; and quoth Hayat al-Nufus, “Yes, but I found him absent a-hunting and sporting and now I await his return.” Cried the old nurse, “I take refuge with Allah, the All-hearing, the All-knowing! Praised be He! O my lady, thou art the most sensible of women and how couldst thou think of telling the King these fond words, which it behoveth none to publish?” Asked the Princess, “And why so?” and the nurse answered, “Suppose thou had found the King in his palace and told him all this tale and he had sent after the merchants and commanded to hang them over their shops, the folk would have seen them hanging and asked the reason and it would have been answered them:—They sought to seduce the King’s daughter.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-fourth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old woman said to the Princess, “Suppose thou had told this to the King and he had ordered the merchants to be hanged, would not folk have seen them and have asked the cause of the execution when the answer would have been:—They sought to seduce the King’s daughter? Then would they have dispread divers reports concerning thee, some saying:—She abode with them ten days, away from her palace, till they had taken their fill of her; and other some in otherguise; for woman’s honour, O my lady, is like curded milk, the least dust fouleth it; and like glass, which, if it be cracked, may not be mended. So beware of telling thy sire or any other of this matter, lest thy fair fame be smirched, O mistress mine, for ’twill never profit thee to tell folk aught; no, never! Weigh what I say with thy keen wit, and if thou find it not just, do whatso thou wilt.” The Princess pondered her words, and seeing them to be altogether profitable and right, said, “Thou speakest sooth, O my nurse; but anger had blinded my judgment.” Quoth the old woman, “Thy resolve to tell no one is pleasing to the Almighty; but something remaineth to be done: we must not let the shamelessness of yonder vile dog of a merchant pass without notice. Write him a letter and say to him:—O vilest of traders, but that I found the King my father absent, I had straightway commanded to hang thee and all thy neighbours. But thou shalt gain nothing by this; for I swear to thee, by Allah the Most High, that an thou return to the like of this talk, I will blot out the trace of thee from the face of earth! And deal thou roughly with him in words, so shalt thou discourage him in this attempt and arouse him from his heedlessness.” “And will these words cause him to abstain from his offending?” asked the Princess; and the old woman answered, “How should he not abstain? Besides, I will talk with him and tell him what hath passed.” So the Princess called for ink-case and paper and wrote these couplets:—
To win our favours still thy hopes are bent; ✿ And still to win thy will art confident!
Naught save his pride-full aim shall slay a man; ✿ And he by us shall die of his intent.
Thou art no lord of might, no chief of men, ✿ Nabob or Prince or Soldan Heaven-sent;
And were this deed of one who is our peer, ✿ He had returned with hair for fear white-sprent:
Yet will I deign once more excuse thy sin ✿ So from this time thou prove thee penitent.
Then she gave the missive to the old woman, saying, “O my nurse, do thou admonish this puppy lest I be forced to cut off his head and sin on his account.” Replied the old woman, “By Allah, O my lady, I will not leave him a side to turn on!” Then she returned to the youth and, when salams had been exchanged, she gave him the letter. He read it and shook his head, saying, “Verily, we are Allah’s and unto him shall we return!” adding, “O my mother, what shall I do? My fortitude faileth me and my patience palleth upon me!” She replied, “O my son, be long-suffering: peradventure, after this Allah shall bring somewhat to pass. Write that which is in thy mind and I will fetch thee an answer, and be of good cheer and keep thine eyes cool and clear; for needs must I bring about union between thee and her,—Inshallah!” He blessed her and wrote to the Princess a note containing these couplets:—
Since none will lend my love a helping hand, ✿ And I by passion’s bale in death low-lain,
I bear a flaming fire within my heart ✿ By day and night nor place of rest attain,
How cease to hope in thee, my wishes’ term? ✿ Or with my longings to be glad and fain?
The Lord of highmost Heaven to grant my prayer ✿ Pray I, whom love of lady fair hath slain;
And as I’m clean o’erthrown by love and fear, ✿ To grant me speedy union deign, oh deign!
Then he folded the scroll and gave it to the old woman, bringing out at the same time a purse of four hundred dinars. She took the whole and returning to the palace sought the Princess to whom she gave the letter; but the King’s daughter refused to take it and cried, “What is this?” Replied the old woman, “O my lady, this is only the answer to the letter thou sentest to that merchant dog.” Quoth Hayat al-Nufus, “Didst thou forbid him as I told thee?”; and quoth she, “Yes, and this is his reply.” So the Princess took the letter and read it to the end; then she turned to the old woman and exclaimed, “Where is the result of thy promise?” “O my lady, saith he not in his letter that he repenteth and will not again offend, excusing himself for the past?” “Not so, by Allah!: on the contrary, he increaseth.” “O my lady, write him a letter and thou shalt presently see what I will do with him.” “There needeth nor letter nor answer.” “I must have a letter that I may rebuke him roughly and cut off his hopes.” “Thou canst do that without a letter.” “I cannot do it without the letter.” So Hayat al-Nufus called for pen-case and paper and wrote these verses:—
Long have I chid thee but my chiding hindereth thee not ✿ How often would my verse with writ o’ hand ensnare thee, ah!
Then keep thy passion hidden deep and ever unrevealed, ✿ And if thou dare gainsay me Earth shall no more bear thee, ah!
And if, despite my warning, thou dost to such words return ✿ Death’s Messenger[[275]] shall go his rounds and dead declare thee, ah!
Soon shall the wold’s fierce chilling blast o’erblow that corse o’ thine; ✿ And birds o’ the wild with ravening bills and beaks shall tear thee, ah!
Return to righteous course; perchance that same will profit thee; ✿ If bent on wilful aims and lewd I fain forswear thee, ah!
When she had made an end of her writing this, she cast the writ from her hand in wrath, and the old woman picked it up and went with it to Ardashir. When he read it to the last he knew that she had not softened to him, but only redoubled in rage against him, and that he would never win to meet her, so he bethought himself to write her an answer invoking Allah’s help against her. Thereupon he indited these couplets:—
O Lord, by the Five Shaykhs, I pray deliver me ✿ From love, which gars me bear such grief and misery.
Thou knowest what I bear for passion’s fiery flame; ✿ What stress of sickness for that merciless maid I dree.
She hath no pity on the pangs to me decreed ✿ How long on weakly wight shall last her tyranny?
I am distraught for her with passing agonies ✿ And find no friend, O folk! to hear my plaint and plea.
How long, when Night hath drooped her pinions o’er the world ✿ Shall I lament in public as in privacy?
For love of you I cannot find forgetfulness; ✿ And how forget when Patience taketh wings to flee?
O thou wild parting-bird[[276]] say is she safe and sure ✿ From shift and change of time and the world’s cruelty?
Then he folded the scroll and gave it to the old woman, adding a purse of five hundred dinars; and she took it and carried it to the Princess, who read it to the end and learned its purport. Then, casting it from her hand, she cried, “Tell me O wicked old woman, the cause of all that hath befallen me from thee and from thy cunning and thine advocacy of him, so that thou hast made me write letter after letter and thou ceasest not to carry messages, going and coming between us twain, till thou hast brought about a correspondence and a connection. Thou leavest not to say:—I will ensure thee against his mischief and cut off from thee his speech; but thou speakest not thus save only to the intent that I may continue to write thee letters and thou to fetch and carry between us, evening and morning, till thou ruin my repute. Woe to thee! Ho, eunuchs, seize her!” Then Hayat al-Nufus commanded them to beat her, and they lashed her till her whole body flowed with blood and she fainted away, whereupon the King’s daughter caused her slave-women to drag her forth by the feet and cast her without the palace and bade one of them stand by her head till she recovered, and say to her, “The Princess hath sworn an oath that thou shalt never return to and re-enter this palace; and she hath commanded to slay thee without mercy an thou dare return hither.” So, when she came to herself, the damsel told her what the King’s daughter said and she answered, “Hearkening and obedience.” Presently the slave-girls fetched a basket and a porter whom they caused carry her to her own house; and they sent after her a physician, bidding him tend her assiduously till she recovered. He did what he was told to do and as soon as she was whole she mounted and rode to the shop of Ardashir who was concerned with sore concern for her absence and was longing for news of her. As soon as he saw her, he sprang up and coming to meet her, saluted her; then he noticed that she was weak and ailing; so he questioned her of her case and she told him all that had befallen her from her nursling. When he heard this, he found it grievous and smote hand upon hand, saying, “By Allah, O my mother, this that hath betided thee straiteneth my heart! But, what, O my mother, is the reason of the Princess’s hatred to men?” Replied the old woman, “Thou must know O my son, that she hath a beautiful garden, than which there is naught goodlier on earth’s face and it chanced that she lay there one night. In the joyance of sleep, she dreamt a dream and ’twas this, that she went down into the garden, where she saw a fowler set up his net and strew corn thereabout, after which he withdrew and sat down afar off to await what game should fall into it. Ere an hour had passed the birds flocked to pick up the corn and a male pigeon[[277]] fell into the net and struggled in it, whereat all the others took fright and fled from him. His mate was amongst them, but she returned to him after the shortest delay; and, coming up to the net, sought out the mesh wherein his foot was entangled and ceased not to peck at it with her bill, till she severed it and released her husband, with whom she flew away. All this while, the fowler sat dozing, and when he awoke, he looked at the net and found it spoilt. So he mended it and strewed fresh grain, then withdrew to a distance and sat down to watch it again. The birds soon returned and began to pick up the corn, and among the rest the pair of pigeons. Presently, the she-pigeon fell into the net and struggled to get free; whereupon all the other birds flew away, and her mate, whom she had saved, fled with the rest and did not return to her. Meantime, sleep had again overcome the fowler; and, when he awoke after long slumbering, he saw the she-pigeon caught in the net; so he went up to her and freeing her feet from the meshes, cut her throat. The Princess startled by the dream awoke troubled, and said:—Thus do men with women, for women have pity on men and throw away their lives for them, when they are in difficulties; but if the Lord decree against a woman and she fall into calamity, her mate deserteth her and rescueth her not, and wasted is that which she did with him of kindness. Allah curse her who putteth her trust in men, for they ill requite the fair offices which women do them! And from that day she conceived an hatred to men.” Said the King’s son, “O my mother, doth she never go out into the highways?”; and the old woman replied, “Nay, O my son; but I will tell thee somewhat wherein, Allah willing, there shall be profit for thee. She hath a garden which is of the goodliest pleasaunces of the age; and every year, at the time of the ripening of the fruits, she goeth thither and taketh her pleasure therein only one day, nor layeth the night but in her pavilion. She entereth the garden by the private wicket of the palace which leadeth thereto; and thou must know that it wanteth now but a month to the time of her going forth. So take my advice and hie thee this very day to the keeper of that garden and make acquaintance with him and gain his good graces, for he admitteth not one of Allah’s creatures into the garth, because of its communication with the Princess’s palace. I will let thee know two days beforehand of the day fixed for her coming forth, when do thou repair to the garden, as of thy wont, and make shift to night there. When the King’s daughter cometh be thou hidden in some place or other;”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old woman charged the King’s son, saying, “I will let thee know two days beforehand of the King’s daughter going down to the garden: do thou hide thee in some place or other; and, when thou espiest her, come forth and show thyself to her. When she seeth thee, she will fall in love with thee; for thou art fair to look upon and love covereth all things. So keep thine eyes cool and clear[[278]] and be of good cheer, O my son, for needs must I bring about union between thee and her.” The young Prince kissed her hand and thanked her and gave her three pieces of Alexandrian silk and three of satin of various colours, and with each piece, linen for shifts and stuff for trousers and a kerchief for the turband and fine white cotton cloth of Ba’albak for the linings, so as to make her six complete suits, each handsomer than its sister. Moreover, he gave her a purse containing six hundred gold pieces and said to her, “This is for the tailoring.” She took the whole and said to him, “O my son, art thou not pleased to acquaint me with thine abiding-place and I also will show thee the way to my lodging?” “Yes,” answered he and sent a Mameluke with her to note her home and show her his own house. Then he rose and bidding his slaves shut the shop, went back to the Wazir, to whom he related all that had passed between him and the old woman, from first to last. Quoth the Minister, “O my son, should the Princess Hayat al-Nufus come out and look upon thee and thou find no favour with her what wilt thou do?” Quoth Ardashir, “There will be nothing left but to pass from words to deeds and risk my life with her; for I will snatch her up from amongst her attendants and set her behind me on a swift horse and make for the wildest of the wold. If I escape, I shall have won my wish and if I perish, I shall be at rest from this hateful life.” Rejoined the Minister, “O my son, dost thou think to do this thing and live? How shall we make our escape, seeing that our country is far distant, and how wilt thou deal thus with a King of the Kings of the Age, who hath under his hand an hundred thousand horse, nor can we be sure but that he will despatch some of his troops to cut off our way? Verily, there is no good in this project which no wise man would attempt.” Asked Ardashir, “And how then shall we do, O Wazir of good counsel? For unless I win her I am a dead man without a chance.” The Minister answered, “Wait till to-morrow when we will visit this garden and note its condition and see what betideth us with the care-taker.” So when the morning morrowed they took a thousand dinars in a poke and, repairing to the garden, found it compassed about with high walls and strong, rich in trees and rill-full leas and goodly fruiteries. And indeed its flowers breathed perfume and its birds warbled amid the bloom as it were a garden of the gardens of Paradise. Within the door sat a Shaykh, an old man on a stone bench and they saluted him. When he saw them and noted the fairness of their favour, he rose to his feet after returning their salute, and said, “O my lords, perchance ye have a wish which we may have the honour of satisfying?” Replied the Wazir, “Know, O elder, that we are strangers and the heat hath overcome us: our lodging is afar off at the other end of the city; so we desire of thy courtesy that thou take these two dinars and buy us somewhat of provaunt and open us meanwhile the door of this flower garden and seat us in some shaded place, where there is cold water, that we may cool ourselves there, against thou return with the provision, when we will eat, and thou with us, and then, rested and refreshed, we shall wend our ways.” So saying, he pulled out of his pouch a couple of dinars and put them into the keeper’s hand. Now this care-taker was a man aged threescore and ten, who had never in all his life possessed so much money: So, when he saw the two dinars in his hand, he was like to fly for joy and rising forthwith opened the garden gate to the Prince and the Wazir, and made them enter and sit down under a wide-spreading, fruit-laden, shade-affording tree, saying, “Sit ye here and go no further into the garden, for it hath a privy door communicating with the palace of the Princess Hayat al-Nufus.” They replied, “We will not stir hence.” Whereupon he went out to buy what they had ordered and returned after awhile, with a porter bearing on his head a roasted lamb and bread. They ate and drank together and talked awhile, till, presently, the Wazir, looking about him in all corners right and left, caught sight of a lofty pavilion at the farther end of the garden; but it was old and the plaster was peeled from its walls and its buttresses were broken down. So he said to the Gardener, “O Shaykh, is this garden thine own or dost thou hire it?”; and he replied, “I am neither owner nor tenant of the garden, only its care-taker.” Asked the Minister, “And what is thy wage?” whereto the old man answered, “A dinar a month,” and quoth the Wazir, “Verily they wrong thee, especially an thou have a family.” Quoth the elder, “By Allah, O my lord; I have eight children and I”—The Wazir broke in, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Thou makest me bear thy grief my poor fellow! What wouldst thou say of him who should do thee a good turn, on account of this family of thine?” Replied the old man, “O my lord, whatsoever good thou dost shall be garnered up for thee with God the Most High!” Thereupon said the Wazir, “O Shaykh, thou knowest this garden of thine to be a goodly place; but the pavilion yonder is old and ruinous. Now I mean to repair it and stucco it anew and paint it handsomely, so that it will be the finest thing in the garth; and when the owner comes and finds the pavilion restored and beautified, he will not fail to question thee concerning it. Then do thou say:—O my lord, at great expense I set it in repair, for that I saw it in ruins and none could make use of it nor could anyone sit therein. If he says:—Whence hadst thou the money for this? reply, I spent of my own money upon the stucco, thereby thinking to whiten my face with thee and hoping for thy bounties. And needs must he recompense thee fairly over the extent of thine expenses. To-morrow I will bring builders and plasterers and painters to repair this pavilion and will give thee what I promised thee.” Then he pulled out of his poke a purse of five hundred dinars and gave it to the Gardener, saying, “Take these gold pieces and expend them upon thy family and let them pray for me and for this my son.” Thereupon the Prince asked the Wazir, “What is the meaning of all this?” and he answered, “Thou shalt presently see the issue thereof.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-sixth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Wazir gave five hundred ducats to the old Gardener, saying, “Take these gold pieces and expend them upon thy family and let them pray for this my son,” the old man looked at the gold and his wits fled; so he fell down at the Wazir’s feet, kissing them and invoking blessings on him and his son; and when they went away, he said to them, “I shall expect you to-morrow: for by Allah Almighty, there must be no parting between us, night or day.” Next morning the Wazir went to the Prince’s shop and sent for the syndic of the builders; then he carried him and his men to the garth, where the Gardener rejoiced in their sight. He gave them the price of rations[[279]] and what was needful to the workmen for the restoration of the pavilion, and they repaired it and stucco’d it and decorated it. Then said the Minister to the painters, “Harkye, my masters, listen to my words and apprehend my wish and my aim. Know that I have a garden like this, where I was sleeping one night among the nights and saw in a dream a fowler set up nets and sprinkle corn thereabout. The birds flocked to pick up the grain, and a cock-bird fell into the net, whereupon the others took fright and flew away, and amongst the rest his mate: but, after awhile, she returned alone and picked at the mesh that held his feet, till she set him free and they flew away together. Now the fowler had fallen asleep and, when he awoke, he found the net empty; so he mended it and strewing fresh grain sat down afar off, waiting for game to fall into that snare. Presently the birds assembled again to pick up the grains, and amongst the rest the two pigeons. By-and-by, the hen-bird fell into the net, when all the other birds took fright at her and flew away, and her husband flew with them and did not return; whereupon the fowler came up and taking the quarry, cut her throat. Now, when her mate flew away with the others, a bird of raven seized him and slew him and ate his flesh and drank his blood, and I would have you pourtray me the presentment of this my dream, even as I have related it to you, in the liveliest colours, laying the fair scene in this rare garden, with its walls and trees and rills, and dwell especially on the fowler and the falcon. If ye do this I have set forth to you and the work please me, I will give you what shall gladden your hearts, over and above your wage.” The painters, hearing these words, applied themselves with all diligence to do what he required of them and wrought it out in masterly style; and when they had made an end of the work, they showed it to the Wazir who, seeing his so-called dream set forth as it was[[280]] was pleased and thanked them and rewarded them munificently. Presently, the Prince came in, according to his custom, and entered the pavilion, unweeting what the Wazir had done. So when he saw the portraiture of the fowler and the birds and the net and beheld the male pigeon in the clutches of the hawk, which had slain him and was drinking his blood and eating his flesh, his understanding was confounded and he returned to the Minister and said, “O Wazir of good counsel, I have seen this day a marvel which, were it graven with needle-gravers on the eye-corners would be a warner to whoso will be warned?” Asked the Minister, “And what is that, O my lord?”; and the Prince answered, “Did I not tell thee of the dream the Princess had and how it was the cause of her hatred for men?” “Yes,” replied the Wazir; and Ardashir rejoined, “By Allah, O Minister, I have seen the whole dream pourtrayed in painting, as I had eyed it with mine own eyes; but I found therein a circumstance which was hidden from the Princess, so that she saw it not, and ’tis upon this that I rely for the winning of my wish.” Quoth the Wazir, “And what is that, O my son?”; and quoth the Prince, “I saw that, when the male bird flew away; and, leaving his mate entangled in the net, failed to return and save her, a falcon pounced on him and slaying him, ate his flesh and drank his blood. Would to Heaven the Princess had seen the whole of the dream and had beheld the cause of his failure to return and rescue her!” Replied the Wazir, “By Allah, O auspicious King, this is indeed a rare thing and a wonderful!” And the King’s son ceased not to marvel at the picture and lament that the King’s daughter had not beheld the dream to its end, saying in himself, “Would she had seen it to the last or might see the whole over again, though but in the imbroglio of sleep!” Then quoth the Wazir to him, “Thou saidst to me:—Why wilt thou repair the pavilion?; and I replied:—Thou shalt presently see the issue thereof. And behold, now its issue thou seest; for it was I did this deed and bade the painters pourtray the Princess’s dream thus and paint the male bird in the pounces of the falcon which eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood; so that when she cometh to the pavilion, she will behold her dream depicted and see how the cock-pigeon was slain and excuse him and turn from her hate for men.” When the Prince heard the Wazir’s words, he kissed his hands and thanked him, saying, “Verily, the like of thee is fit to be Minister to the most mighty King, and, by Allah, an I win my wish and return to my sire, rejoicing, I will assuredly acquaint him with this, that he may redouble in honouring thee and advance thee in dignity and hearken to thine every word.” So the Wazir kissed his hand and they both went to the old Gardener and said, “Look at yonder pavilion and see how fine it is!” And he replied, “This is all of your happy thought.” Then said they, “O elder, when the owners of the place question thee concerning the restoration of the pavilion, say thou:—’Twas I did it of my own monies; to the intent that there may betide thee fair favour and good fortune.” He said, “I hear and I obey”; and the Prince continued to pay him frequent visits. Such was the case with the Prince and the Wazir; but as regards Hayat al-Nufus, when she ceased to receive the Prince’s letters and messages and when the old woman was absent from her, she rejoiced with joy exceeding and concluded that the young man had returned to his own country. One day, there came to her a covered tray from her father; so she uncovered it and finding therein fine fruits, asked her waiting-women, “Is the season of these fruits come?” Answered they, “Yes.” Thereupon she cried, “Would we might make ready to take our pleasure in the flower-garden!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Princess, after receiving the fruit from her sire, asked, “Is the season of these fruits set in?”; and they answered, “Yes!” Thereupon she cried, “Would we might make ready to take our pleasure in the flower-garden!” “O my lady,” they replied, “thou sayest well, and by Allah, we also long for the garden!” So she enquired, “How shall we do, seeing that every year it is none save my nurse who taketh us to walk in the garden and who pointeth out to us the various trees and plants; and I have beaten her and forbidden her from me? Indeed, I repent me of what was done by me to her, for that, in any case, she is my nurse and hath over me the right of fosterage. But there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” When her handmaids heard this, they all sprang up; and, kissing the ground between her hands, exclaimed, “Allah upon thee, O my lady, do thou pardon her and bid her to the presence!”; and quoth she, “By Allah, I am resolved upon this; but which of you will go to her, for I have prepared her a splendid robe of honour?” Hereupon two damsels came forward, by name Bulbul and Siwád al-’Ayn, who were comely and graceful and the principals among the Princess’s women, and her favourites. And they said, “We will go to her, O King’s daughter!”; and she said, “Do what seemeth good to you.” So they went to the house of the nurse and knocked at the door and entered; and she, recognising the twain, received them with open arms and welcomed them. When they had sat awhile with her, they said to her, “O nurse, the Princess pardoneth thee and desireth to take thee back into favour.” She replied, “This may never be, though I drink the cup of ruin! Hast thou forgotten how she put me to shame before those who love me and those who hate me, when my clothes were dyed with my blood and I well nigh died for stress of beating, and after this they dragged me forth by the feet, like a dead dog, and cast me without the door? So by Allah, I will never return to her nor fill my eyes with her sight!” Quoth the two girls, “Disappoint not our pains in coming to thee nor send us away unsuccessful. Where is thy courtesy uswards? Think but who it is that cometh in to visit thee: canst thou wish for any higher of standing than we with the King’s daughter?” She replied, “I take refuge with Allah: well I wot that my station is less than yours; were it not that the Princess’s favour exalted me above all her women, so that, were I wroth with the greatest of them, she had died in her skin of fright.” They rejoined, “All is as it was and naught is in anywise changed. Indeed, ’tis better than before, for the Princess humbleth herself to thee and seeketh a reconciliation without intermediary.” Said the old woman, “By Allah, were it not for your presence and intercession with me, I had never returned to her; no, not though she had commanded to slay me!” They thanked her for this and she rose and dressing herself accompanied them to the palace. Now when the King’s daughter saw her, she sprang to her feet in honour, and the old woman said, “Allah! Allah! O King’s daughter, say me, whose was the fault, mine or thine?” Hayat al-Nufus replied, “The fault was mine, and ’tis thine to pardon and forgive. By Allah, O my nurse, thy rank is high with me and thou hast over me the right of fosterage; but thou knowest that Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) hath allotted to His creatures four things, disposition, life, daily bread and death; nor is it in man’s power to avert that which is decreed. Verily, I was beside myself and could not recover my senses; but, O my nurse, I repent of what deed I did.” With this, the crone’s anger ceased from her and she rose and kissed the ground before the Princess, who called for a costly robe of honour and threw it over her, whereat she rejoiced with exceeding joy in the presence of the Princess’s slaves and women. When all ended thus happily, Hayat al-Nufus said to the old woman, “O my nurse, how go the fruits and growths of our garth?”; and she replied, “O my lady, I see excellent fruits in the town; but I will enquire of this matter and return thee an answer this very day.” Then she withdrew, honoured with all honour and betook herself to Ardashir, who received her with open arms and embraced her and rejoiced in her coming, for that he had expected her long and longingly. She told him all that had passed between herself and the Princess and how her mistress was minded to go down into the garden on such a day.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old woman betook herself to the Prince and told him all that had passed between herself and the Princess Hayat al-Nufus; and how her mistress was minded to go down into the garden on such a day and said to him, “Hast thou done as I bade thee with the Warder of the garden and hast thou made him taste of thy bounties?” He replied, “Yes, and the oldster is become my good friend: my way is his way and he would well I had need of him.” Then he told her all that had happened and of the dream-paintings which the Wazir had caused to be limned in the pavilion; especially of the fowler, the net and the falcon: whereat she joyed with great joy and said, “Allah upon thee, do thou set thy Minister midmost thy heart, for this that he hath done pointeth to the keenness of his wit and he hath helped thee to the winning thy wish. So rise forthright, O my son, and go to the Hammam-bath and don thy daintiest dress, wherein may be our success. Then fare thou to the Gardener and make shift to pass the night in the garden, for though he should give the earth full of gold none may win to pass into it, whilst the King’s daughter is therein. When thou hast entered, hide thee where no eye may espy thee and keep concealed till thou hear me cry:—O Thou whose boons are hidden, save us from that we fear! Then come forth from thine ambush and walk among the trees and show thy beauty and loveliness which put the moons to shame, to the intent that Princess Hayat al-Nufus may see thee and that her heart and soul may be filled with love of thee; so shalt thou attain to thy wish and thy grief be gone.” “To hear is to obey,” replied the young Prince and gave her a purse of a thousand dinars, which she took and went away. Thereupon Ardashir fared straight for the bath and washed; after which he arrayed himself in the richest of robes of the apparel of the Kings of the Chosroës and girt his middle with a girdle wherein were conjoined all manner precious stones and donned a turband inwoven with red gold and purfled with pearls and gems. His cheeks shone rosy-red and his lips were scarlet; his eyelids like the gazelle’s wantoned; like a wine-struck wight in his gait he swayed; beauty and loveliness garbed him, and his shape shamed the bowing of the bough. Then he put in his pocket a purse containing a thousand dinars and, repairing to the flower-garden, knocked at the door. The Gardener opened to him and rejoicing with great joy salamed to him in most worshipful fashion; then, observing that his face was overcast, he asked him how he did. The King’s son answered, “Know, O elder, that I am dear to my father and he never laid his hand on me till this day, when words arose between us and he abused me and smote me on the face and struck me with his staff and drave me away. Now I have no friend to turn to and I fear the perfidy of Fortune, for thou knowest that the wrath of parents is no light thing. Wherefore I come to thee, O uncle, seeing that to my father thou art known, and I desire of thy favour that thou suffer me abide in the garden till the end of the day, or pass the night there, till Allah grant good understanding between myself and my sire.” When the old man heard these words he was concerned anent what had occurred and said, “O my lord, dost thou give me leave to go to thy sire and be the means of reconciliation between thee and him?” Replied Ardashir, “O uncle, thou must know that my father is of impatient nature, and irascible; so an thou proffer him reconciliation in his heat of temper he will make thee no answer; but when a day or two shall have passed, his heat will soften. Then go thou in to him and thereupon he will relent.” “Hearkening and obedience,” quoth the Gardener; “but, O my lord, do thou come with me to my house, where thou shalt night with my children and my family and none shall reproach this to us.” Quoth Ardashir, “O uncle, I must be alone when I am angry.”[[281]] The old man said, “It irketh me that thou shouldst lie solitary in the garden, when I have a house.” But Ardashir said, “O uncle, I have an aim in this, that the trouble of my mind may be dispelled from me and I know that in this lies the means of regaining his favour and softening his heart to me.” Rejoined the Gardener, “I will fetch thee a carpet to sleep on and a coverlet wherewith to cover thee;” and the Prince said, “There is no harm in that, O uncle.” So the keeper rose and opened the garden to him, and brought him the carpet and coverlet, knowing not that the King’s daughter was minded to visit the garth. On this wise fared it with the Prince; but as regards the nurse, she returned to the Princess and told her that the fruits were kindly ripe on the garden trees; whereupon she said, “O my nurse, go down with me to-morrow into the garden, that we may walk about in it and take our pleasure,—Inshallah; and send meanwhile to the Gardener, to let him know what we purpose.” So she sent to the Gardener to say:—The Princess will visit the parterre to-morrow, so leave neither water-carriers nor tree-tenders therein, nor let one of Allah’s creatures enter the garth. When word came to him, he set his water-ways and channels in order and, going to Ardashir, said to him, “O my lord, the King’s daughter is mistress of this garden; and I have only to crave thy pardon, for the place is thy place and I live only in thy favours, except that my tongue is under thy feet.[[282]] I must tell thee that the Princess Hayat al-Nufus hath a mind to visit it to-morrow at the first of the day and hath bidden me leave none therein who might look upon her. So I would have thee of thy favour go forth of the garden this day, for the Queen will abide only in it till the time of mid-afternoon prayer and after it shall be at thy service for se’nnights and fortnights, months and years.” Ardashir asked, “O elder, haply we have caused thee some mishap?”; and the other answered, “By Allah, O my lord, naught hath betided me from thee but honour!” Rejoined the Prince, “An it be so, nothing but all good shall befal thee through us; for I will hide in the garden and none shall espy me, till the King’s daughter hath gone back to her palace.” Said the Gardener, “O my lord, an she espy the shadow of a man in the garden or any of Allah’s male creatures she will strike off my head;”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-ninth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Gardener said to the Prince, “An the King’s daughter espy the shadow of a man in her garden, she will strike off my head;” the youth replied, “Have no fear, I will on no wise let any see me. But doubtless to-day thou lackest of spending-money for thy family.” Then he put his hand to his purse and pulled out five hundred ducats, which he gave to him saying, “Take this gold and lay it out on thy family, that thy heart may be at ease concerning them.” When the Shaykh looked upon the gold, his life seemed a light thing to him[[283]] and he suffered the Prince to tarry where he was, charging him straitly not to show himself in the garden. Then he left him loitering about. Meanwhile, when the eunuchs went in to the Princess at break of day, she bade open the private wicket leading from the palace to the parterres and donned a royal robe, embroidered with pearls and jewels and gems, over a shift of fine silk purfled with rubies. Under the whole was that which tongue refuseth to explain, whereat was confounded the brain and whose love would embrave the craven’s strain. On her head she set a crown of red gold, inlaid with pearls and gems and she tripped in pattens of cloth of gold, embroidered with fresh pearls[[284]] and adorned with all manner precious stones. Then she put her hand upon the old woman’s shoulder and commanded to go forth by the privy door; but the nurse looked at the garden and, seeing it full of eunuchs and handmaids walking about, eating the fruits and troubling the streams and taking their ease of sport and pleasure in the water said to the Princess, “O my lady, is this a garden or a madhouse?” Quoth the Princess, “What meaneth thy speech, O nurse?”; and quoth the old woman, “Verily the garden is full of slave-girls and eunuchs, eating of the fruits and troubling the streams and scaring the birds and hindering us from taking our ease and sporting and laughing and what not else; and thou hast no need of them. Wert thou going forth of thy palace into the highway, this would be fitting, as an honour and a ward to thee; but, now, O my lady, thou goest forth of the wicket into the garden, where none of Almighty Allah’s creatures may look on thee.” Rejoined the Princess, “By Allah, O nurse mine, thou sayst sooth! But how shall we do?”; and the old woman said, “Bid the eunuchs send them all away and keep only two of the slave-girls, that we may make merry with them.” So she dismissed them all, with the exception of two of her handmaids who were most in favour with her. But when the old woman saw that her heart was light and that the season was pleasant to her, she said to her, “Now we can enjoy ourselves aright: so up and let us take our pleasance in the garden.” The Princess put her hand upon her shoulder and went out by the private door. The two waiting-women walked in front and she followed them laughing at them and swaying gracefully to and fro in her ample robes; whilst the nurse forewent her, showing her the trees and feeding her with fruits; and so they fared on from place to place, till they came to the pavilion, which when the King’s daughter beheld and saw that it had been restored, she asked the old woman, “O my nurse, seest thou yonder pavilion? It hath been repaired and its walls whitened.” She answered, “By Allah, O my lady, I heard say that the keeper of the garden had taken stuffs of a company of merchants and sold them and bought bricks and lime and plaster and stones and so forth with the price; so I asked him what he had done with all this, and he said:—I have repaired the pavilion which lay in ruins, presently adding:—And when the merchants sought their due of me, I said to them, Wait till the Princess visit the garden and see the repairs and they satisfy her; then will I take of her what she is pleased to bestow on me, and pay you what is your due. Quoth I—What moved thee to do this thing?; and quoth he:—I saw the pavilion in ruins, the coigns thrown down and the stucco peeled from the walls, and none had the grace to repair it; so I borrowed the coin on my own account and restored the place; and I trust in the King’s daughter to deal with me as befitteth her dignity. I said:—The Princess is all goodness and generosity and will no doubt requite thee. And he did all this but in hopes of thy bounty.” Replied the Princess, “By Allah, he hath dealt nobly in rebuilding it and hath done the deed of generous men! Call me my purse-keeperess.” The old woman accordingly fetched the purse-keeperess, whom the Princess bade give the Gardener two thousand dinars; whereupon the nurse sent to him, bidding him to the presence of the King’s daughter. But when the messenger said to him, “Obey the Queen’s order,” the Gardener felt feeble and, trembling in every joint, said in himself, “Doubtless, the Princess hath seen the young man, and this day will be the most unlucky of days for me.” So he went home and told his wife and children what had happened and gave them his last charges and farewelled them, while they wept for and with him. Then he presented himself before the Princess, with a face the colour of turmeric and ready to fall flat at full length. The old woman remarked his plight and hastened to forestall him, saying, “O Shaykh, kiss the earth in thanksgiving to Almighty Allah and be constant in prayer to Him for the Princess. I told her what thou didst in the matter of repairing the ruined pavilion, and she rejoiceth in this and bestoweth on thee two thousand dinars in requital of thy pains; so take them from the purse-keeperess and kiss the earth before the King’s daughter and bless her and wend thy way.” Hearing these words he took the gold and kissed the ground before Hayat al-Nufus, calling down blessings on her. Then he returned to his house, and his family rejoiced in him and blessed him[[285]] who had been the prime cause of this business.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirtieth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Care-taker took the two thousand ducats from the Princess and returned to his house, all his family rejoiced in him and blessed him who had been the prime cause of this business. Thus it fared with these; but as regards the old woman, she said to the Princess, “O my lady, this is indeed become a fine place! Never saw I a purer white than its plastering nor properer than its painting! I wonder if he have also repaired it within: else hath he made the outside white and left the inside black. Come, let us enter and inspect.” So they went in, the nurse preceding, and found the interior painted and gilded in the goodliest way. The Princess looked right and left, till she came to the upper end of the estrade, when she fixed her eyes upon the wall and gazed long and earnestly thereat; whereupon the old woman knew that her glance had lighted on the presentment of her dream and took the two waiting-women away with her, that they might not divert her mind. When the King’s daughter had made an end of examining the painting, she turned to the old woman, wondering and beating hand on hand, and said to her, “O my nurse, come, see a wondrous thing which were it graven with needle-gravers on the eye corners would be a warner to whoso will be warned.” She replied, “And what is that, O my lady?”; when the Princess rejoined, “Go, look at the upper end of the estrade, and tell me what thou seest there.” So she went up and considered the dream-drawing: then she came down, wondering, and said, “By Allah, O my lady, here is depicted the garden and the fowler and his net and the birds and all thou sawest in thy dream; and verily, nothing but urgent need withheld the male pigeon from returning to free his mate after he had fled her, for I see him in the talons of a bird of raven which hath slaughtered him and is drinking his blood and rending his flesh and eating it; and this, O my lady, caused his tarrying to return and rescue her from the net. But, O my mistress, the wonder is how thy dream came to be thus depicted, for, wert thou minded to set it forth in painture, thou hadst not availed to portray it. By Allah, this is a marvel which should be recorded in histories! Surely, O my lady, the angels appointed to attend upon the sons of Adam, knew that the cock-pigeon was wronged of us, because we blamed him for deserting his mate; so they embraced his cause and made manifest his excuse; and now for the first time we see him in the hawk’s pounces a dead bird.” Quoth the Princess, “O my nurse, verily, Fate and Fortune had course against this bird, and we did him wrong.” Quoth the nurse, “O my mistress, foes shall meet before Allah the Most High: but, O my lady, verily, the truth hath been made manifest and the male pigeon’s excuse certified to us; for had the hawk not seized him and drunk his blood and rent his flesh he had not held aloof from his mate, but had returned to her, and set her free from the net; but against death there is no recourse, nor, O my lady, is there aught in the world more tenderly solicitous than the male for the female, among all creatures which Almighty Allah hath created. And especially ’tis thus with man; for he starveth himself to feed his wife, strippeth himself to clothe her, angereth his family to please her and disobeyeth and denieth his parents to endow her. She knoweth his secrets and concealeth them and she cannot endure from him a single hour.[[286]] An he be absent from her one night, her eyes sleep not, nor is there a dearer to her than he: she loveth him more than her parents and they lie down to sleep in each other’s arms, with his hand under her neck and her hand under his neck, even as saith the poet:—
I made my wrist her pillow and I lay with her in litter; ✿ And I said to Night “Be long!” while the full moon showed glitter:
Ah me, it was a night, Allah never made its like; ✿ Whose first was sweetest sweet and whose last was bitt’rest bitter![[287]]
Then he kisseth her and she kisseth him; and I have heard of a certain King that, when his wife fell sick and died, he buried himself alive with her, submitting himself to death, for the love of her and the strait companionship which was between them. Moreover, a certain King sickened and died, and when they were about to bury him, his wife said to her people: Let me bury myself alive with him: else will I slay myself and my blood shall be on your heads. So, when they saw she would not be turned from this thing, they left her, and she cast herself into the grave with her dead husband, of the greatness of her love and tenderness for him.” And the old woman ceased not to ply the Princess with anecdotes of conjugal love between men and women, till there ceased that which was in her heart of hatred for the sex masculine; and when she felt that she had succeeded in renewing in her the natural inclination of woman to man, she said to her, “’Tis time to go and walk in the garden.” So they fared forth from the pavilion and paced among the trees. Presently the Prince chanced to turn and his eyes fell on Hayat al-Nufus; and when he saw the symmetry of her shape and the rosiclearness of her cheeks and the blackness of her eyes and her exceeding grace and her passing loveliness and her excelling beauty and her prevailing elegance and her abounding perfection, his reason was confounded and he could not take his eyes off her. Passion annihilated his right judgment and love overpassed all limits in him; his vitals were occupied with her service and his heart was aflame with the fire of repine, so that he swooned away and fell to the ground. When he came to himself, she had passed from his sight and was hidden from him among the trees;——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirty-first Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Prince Ardashir, who lay hid in the garden, saw the Princess and her nurse walking amongst the trees, he swooned away for very love-longing. When he came to himself Hayat al-Nufus had passed from his sight and was hidden from him among the trees; so he sighed from his heart-core and improvised these couplets:—
Whenas mine eyes behold her loveliness, ✿ My heart is torn with love’s own ecstasy.
I wake o’erthrown, cast-down on face of earth ✿ Nor can the Princess[[288]] my sore torment see.
She turned and ravished this sad Love-thrall’d sprite; ✿ Mercy, by Allah, ruth; nay, sympathy!
O Lord, afford me union, deign Thou soothe ✿ My soul, ere grave-niche house this corse of me;
I’ll kiss her ten times ten times, and times ten ✿ For lover’s wasted cheek the kisses be!
The old woman ceased not to lead the Princess a-pleasuring about the garden, till they reached the place where the Prince lay ambushed, when, behold she said, “O Thou whose bounties are hidden, vouchsafe us assurance from that we fear!” The King’s son hearing the signal, left his lurking-place and, surprised by the summons, walked among the trees, swaying to and fro with a proud and graceful gait and a shape that shamed the branches. His brow was crowned with pearly drops and his cheeks red as the afterglow, extolled be Allah the Almighty in that He hath created! When the King’s daughter caught sight of him, she gazed a long while on him and noticed his beauty and grace and loveliness and his eyes that wantoned like the gazelle’s, and his shape that outvied the branches of the myrobalan; wherefore her wits were confounded and her soul captivated and her heart transfixed with the arrows of his glaces. Then she said to the old woman, “O my nurse, whence came yonder handsome youth?”; and the nurse asked, “Where is he, O my lady?” “There he is,” answered Hayat al-Nufus; “near hand, among the trees.” The old woman turned right and left, as if she knew not of his presence, and cried, “And pray, who can have taught this youth the way into this garden?” Quoth Hayat al-Nufus, “Who shall give us news of the young man? Glory be to Him who created men! But say me, dost thou know him, O my nurse?” Quoth the old woman, “O my lady, he is the young merchant who wrote to thee by me.” The Princess (and indeed she was drowned in the sea of her desire and the fire of her passion and love-longing) broke out, “O my nurse, how goodly is this youth! Indeed he is fair of favour. Methinks, there is not on the face of earth a goodlier than he!” Now when the old woman was assured that the love of him had gotten possession of the Princess, she said to her, “Did I not tell thee, O my lady, that he was a comely youth with a beaming favour?” Replied Hayat al-Nufus, “O my nurse, King’s daughters know not the ways of the world nor the manners of those that be therein, for that they company with none, neither give they nor take they. O my nurse, how shall I do to bring about a meeting and present myself to him, and what shall I say to him and what will he say to me?” Said the old woman, “What device is left me? Indeed, we were confounded in this matter by thy behaviour”; and the Princess said, “O my nurse, know thou that if any ever died of passion, I shall do so, and behold, I look for nothing but death on the spot by reason of the fire of my love-longing.” When the old woman heard her words and saw the transport of her desire for him, she answered, “O my lady, now as for his coming to thee, there is no way thereto; and indeed thou art excused from going to him, because of thy tender age; but rise with me and follow me. I will accost him: so shalt thou not be put to shame, and in the twinkling of an eye affection shall ensue between you.” The King’s daughter cried, “Go thou before me, for the decree of Allah may not be rejected.” Accordingly they went up to the place where Ardashir sat, as he were the full moon at its fullest, and the old woman said to him, “See O youth, who is present before thee! ’Tis the daughter of our King of the age, Hayat al-Nufus: bethink thee of her rank and appreciate the honour she doth thee in coming to thee and rise out of respect for her and stand before her.” The Prince sprang to his feet in an instant and his eyes met her eyes, whereupon they both became as they were drunken without wine. Then the love of him and desire redoubled upon the Princess and she opened her arms and he his, and they embraced; but love-longing and passion overcame them and they swooned away and fell to the ground and lay a long while without sense. The old woman, fearing scandalous exposure, carried them both into the pavilion, and, sitting down at the door, said to the two waiting-women, “Seize the occasion to take your pleasure in the garden, for the Princess sleepeth.” So they returned to their diversion. Presently the lovers revived from their swoon and found themselves in the pavilion, whereat quoth the Prince, “Allah upon thee, O Princess of fair ones, is this vision or sleep-illusion?” Then the twain embraced and intoxicated themselves without wine, complaining each to other of the anguish of passion; and the Prince improvised these couplets:—
Sun riseth sheen from her brilliant brow, ✿ And her cheek shows the rosiest afterglow:
And when both appear to the looker-on, ✿ The skyline star ne’er for shame will show:
An the leven flash from those smiling lips, ✿ Morn breaks and the rays dusk and gloom o’erthrow.
And when with her graceful shape she sways, ✿ Droops leafiest Bán-tree[[289]] for envy low:
Me her sight suffices; naught crave I more: ✿ Lord of Men and Morn, be her guard from foe!
The full moon borrows a part of her charms; ✿ The sun would rival but fails his lowe.
Whence could Sol aspire to that bending grace? ✿ Whence should Luna see such wit and such mind-gifts know?
Who shall blame me for being all love to her, ✿ ’Twixt accord and discord aye doomed to woe:
’Tis she won my heart with those forms that bend ✿ What shall lover’s heart from such charms defend?
——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Prince had made an end of his verses, the Princess strained him to her bosom and kissed him on the mouth and between the eyes; whereupon his soul returned to him and he fell to complaining to her of that he had endured for stress of love and tyranny of longing and excess of transport and distraction and all he had suffered for the hardness of her heart. Hearing those words she kissed his hands and feet and bared her head,[[290]] whereupon the gloom gathered and the full moons dawned therein. Then said she to him, “O my beloved and term of all my wishes, would the day of estrangement had never been and Allah grant it may never return between us!” And they embraced and wept together, whilst she recited these couplets:—
O who shamest the Moon and the sunny glow: ✿ Thou whose slaught’ring tyranny lays me low;
With the sword of a look thou hast shorn my heart, ✿ How escape thy sword-glance fatal of blow?
Thus eke are thine eyebrows a bow that shot ✿ My bosom with shafts of fiercest lowe:
From thy cheeks’ rich crop cometh Paradise; ✿ How, then, shall my heart the rich crop forego?
Thy graceful shape is a blooming branch, ✿ And shall pluck the fruits who shall bear that bough.
Perforce thou drawest me, robst my sleep; ✿ In thy love I strip me and shameless show:[[291]]
Allah lend thee the rays of most righteous light, ✿ Draw the farthest near and a tryst bestow:
Then have ruth on the vitals thy love hath seared, ✿ And the heart that flies to thy side the mo’e!
And when she ended her recitation, passion overcame her and she was distraught for love and wept copious tears, rain-like streaming down. This burnt the Prince’s heart and he in turn became troubled and distracted for love of her. So he drew nearer to her and kissed her hands and wept with sore weeping and they ceased not from lover-reproaches and converse and versifying, until the call to mid-afternoon prayer (nor was there aught between them other than this), when they bethought them of parting and she said to him, “O light of mine eyes and core of my heart, the time of severance has come between us twain: when shall we meet again?” “By Allah,” replied he (and indeed her words shot him as with shafts), “to mention of parting I am never fain!” Then she went forth of the pavilion, and he turned and saw her sighing sighs would melt the rock and weeping shower-like tears; whereupon he for love was sunken in the sea of desolation and improvised these couplets:—
O my heart’s desire! grows my misery ✿ From the stress of love, and what cure for me?
By thy face, like dawn when it lights the dark, ✿ And thy hair whose hue beareth night-tide’s blee,
And thy form like the branch which in grace inclines ✿ To Zephyr’s[[292]] breath blowing fain and free,
By the glance of thine eyes like the fawn’s soft gaze, ✿ When she views pursuer of high degree,
And thy waist down borne by the weight of hips, ✿ These so heavy and that lacking gravity,
By the wine of thy lip-dew, the sweetest of drink, ✿ Fresh water and musk in its purity,
O gazelle of the tribe, ease my soul of grief, ✿ And grant me thy phantom in sleep to see!
Now when she heard his verses in praise of her, she turned back to him and embracing him, with a heart on fire for the anguish of severance, fire which naught save kisses and embraces might quench, cried, “Sooth the byword saith, Patience is for a lover and not the lack thereof. There is no help for it but I contrive a means for our reunion.” Then she farewelled him and fared forth, knowing not where she set her feet, for stress of her love; nor did she stay her steps till she found herself in her own chamber. When she was gone, passion and love-longing redoubled upon the young Prince and the delight of sleep was forbidden him, and the Princess in her turn tasted not food and her patience failed and she sickened for desire. As soon as dawned the day, she sent for the nurse, who came and found her condition changed and she cried, “Question me not of my case; for all I suffer is due to thy handiwork. Where is the beloved of my heart?” “O my lady, when did he leave thee? Hath he been absent from thee more than this night?” “Can I endure absence from him an hour? Come, find some means to bring us together speedily, for my soul is like to flee my body.” “O my lady, have patience till I contrive thee some subtle device, whereof none shall be ware.” “By the Great God, except thou bring him to me this very day, I will tell the King that thou hast corrupted me, and he will cut off thy head!” “I conjure thee, by Allah, have patience with me, for this is a dangerous matter!” And the nurse humbled herself to her, till she granted her three days’ delay, saying, “O my nurse, the three days will be three years to me; and if the fourth day pass and thou bring him not, I will go about to slay thee.” So the old woman left her and returned to her lodging, where she abode till the morning of the fourth day, when she summoned the tirewomen of the town and sought of them fine dyes and rouge for the painting of a virgin girl and adorning; and they brought her cosmetics of the best. Then she sent for the Prince and, opening her chest, brought out a bundle containing a suit of woman’s apparel, worth five thousand dinars, and a head-kerchief fringed with all manner gems. Then said she to him, “O my son, hast thou a mind to foregather with Hayat al-Nufus?”; and he replied, “Yes.” So she took a pair of tweezers and pulled out the hairs of his face and pencilled his eyes with Kohl.[[293]] Then she stripped him and painted him with Henna[[294]] from his nails to his shoulders and from his insteps to his thighs and tattooed[[295]] him about the body, till he was like red roses upon alabaster slabs. After a little, she washed him and dried him and bringing out a shift and a pair of petticoat-trousers made him put them on. Then she clad him in the royal suit aforesaid and, binding the kerchief about his head, veiled him and taught him how to walk, saying, “Advance thy left and draw back thy right.” He did her bidding and forewent her, as he were a Houri faring abroad from Paradise. Then said she to him, “Fortify thy heart, for thou art going to the King’s palace, where there will without fail be guards and eunuchs at the gate; and if thou be startled at them and show doubt or dread, they will suspect thee and examine thee, and we shall both get into grievous trouble and haply lose our lives: wherefore an thou feel thyself unable to this, tell me.” He answered, “In very sooth this thing hath no terrors for me, so be of good cheer and keep thine eyes cool and clear.” Then she went out preceding him till the twain came to the palace-gate, which was full of eunuchs. She turned and looked at him, as much as to say, “Art thou troubled or no?” and finding him all unchanged, went on. The chief eunuch glanced at the nurse and knew her but, seeing a damsel following her, whose charms confounded the reason, he said in his mind, “As for the old woman, she is the nurse; but as for the girl who is with her there is none in our land resembleth her in favour or approacheth her in fairness save the Princess Hayat al-Nufus, who is secluded and never goeth out. Would I knew how she came into the streets and would Heaven I wot whether or no ’twas by leave of the King!” Then he rose to learn somewhat concerning her and well nigh thirty castratos followed him; which when the old woman saw, her reason fled for fear and she said, “Verily, we are Allah’s and to Him we shall return! Without recourse we are dead folk this time.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirty-third Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the old nurse saw the head of the eunuchry and his assistants making for her she was in exceeding fear and cried, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Verily we are God’s and unto him we shall return; without recourse we be dead folk this time.” When the head eunuch heard her speak thus, fear gat hold upon him, by reason of that which he knew of the Princess’s violence and that her father was ruled by her, and he said to himself, “Belike the King hath commanded the nurse to carry his daughter forth upon some occasion of hers, whereof she would have none know; and if I oppose her, she will be wroth with me and will say:—This eunuch fellow stopped me, that he might pry into my affairs. So she will do her best to kill me, and I have no call to meddle in this matter.” So saying, he turned back, and with him the thirty assistants who drove the people from the door of the palace; whereupon the nurse entered and saluted the eunuchs with her head, whilst all the thirty stood to do her honour and returned her salam. She led in the Prince and he ceased not following her from door to door, and the Protector protected them, so that they passed all the guards, till they came to the seventh door: it was that of the great pavilion, wherein was the King’s throne, and it communicated with the chambers of his women and the saloons of the Harim, as well as with his daughter’s pavilion. So the old woman halted and said, “Here we are, O my son, and glory be to Him who hath brought us thus far in safety! But, O my son, we cannot foregather with the Princess except by night; for night enveileth the fearful.” He replied, “True, but what is to be done?” Quoth she, “Hide thee in this black hole,” showing him behind the door a dark and deep cistern, with a cover thereto. So he entered the cistern, and she went away and left him there till ended day, when she returned and carried him into the palace, till they came to the door of Hayat al-Nufus’s apartment. The old woman knocked and a little maid came out and said, “Who is at the door?” Said the nurse, “’Tis I,” whereupon the maid returned and craved permission of her lady, who said, “Open to her and let her come in with any who may accompany her.” So they entered and the nurse, casting a glance around, perceived that the Princess had made ready the sitting-chamber and ranged the lamps in row and lighted candles of wax in chandeliers of gold and silver and spread the divans and estrades with carpets and cushions. Moreover, she had set on trays of food and fruits and confections and she had perfumed the place with musk and aloes-wood and ambergris. She was seated among the lamps and the tapers and the light of her face outshone the lustre of them all. When she saw the old woman, she said to her, “O nurse, where is the beloved of my heart?”; and the other replied, “O my lady, I cannot find him nor have mine eyes espied him; but I have brought thee his own sister; and here she is.” Cried the Princess, “Art thou Jinn-mad? What need have I of his sister? Say me, an a man’s head irk him, doth he bind up his hand?” The old woman answered, “No, by Allah, O my lady! But look on her, and if she pleases thee, let her be with thee.” Then she uncovered the Prince’s face, whereupon Hayat al-Nufus knew him and running to him, pressed him to her bosom, and he pressed her to his breast. Then they both fell down in a swoon and lay without sense a long while. The old woman sprinkled rose-water upon them till they came to themselves, when she kissed him on the mouth more than a thousand times and improvised these couplets:—
Sought me this heart’s dear love at gloom of night; ✿ I rose in honour till he sat forthright,
And said, “O aim of mine, O sole desire ✿ In such night-visit hast of guards no fright?”
Replied he, “Yes, I fearèd much, but Love ✿ Robbed me of all my wits and reft my sprite.”
We clipt with kisses and awhile clung we ✿ For here ’twas safe; nor feared we watchman-wight:
Then rose we parting without doubtful deed ✿ And shook out skirts where none a stain could sight.
——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when her lover visited Hayat al-Nufus in her palace, the twain embraced and she improvised some happy couplets beseeming the occasion. And when she had ended her extempore lines she said, “Is it indeed true that I see thee in my abode and that thou art my cup-mate and my familiar?” Then passion grew on her and love was grievous to her, so that her reason well-nigh fled for joy and she improvised these couplets:—
With all my soul I’ll ransom him who came to me in gloom ✿ Of night, whilst I had waited long to see his figure loom;
And naught aroused me save his weeping voice of tender tone ✿ And whispered I, “Fair fall thy foot and welcome and well come!”
His cheek I kissed a thousand times, and yet a thousand more; ✿ Then clipt and clung about his breast enveiled in darkling room.
And cried, “Now verily I’ve won the aim of every wish ✿ So praise and prayers to Allah for this grace now best become.”
Then slept we even as we would the goodliest of nights ✿ Till morning came to end our night and light up earth with bloom.
As soon as it was day, she made him enter a place in her apartment unknown to any and he abode there till nightfall, when she brought him out and they sat in converse and carouse. Presently he said to her, “I wish to return to my own country and tell my father what hath passed between us, that he may equip his Wazir to demand thee in marriage of thy sire.” She replied, “O my love, I fear, an thou return to thy country and kingdom, thou wilt be distracted from me and forget the love of me; or that thy father will not further thy wishes in this matter and I shall die. Meseems the better rede were that thou abide with me and in my hand-grasp, I looking on thy face, and thou on mine, till I devise some plan, whereby we may escape together some night and flee to thy country; for I have cut off my hopes from my own people and I despair of them.” He rejoined, “I hear and obey;” and they fell again to their carousal and conversing. He tarried with her thus for some time till, one night, the wine was pleasant to them and they lay not down nor did they sleep till break of day. Now it chanced that one of the Kings sent her father a present, and amongst other things, a necklace of union jewels, nine-and-twenty grains, to whose price a King’s treasures might not suffice. Quoth Abd-al-Kadir, “This rivière beseemeth none but my daughter Hayat al-Nufus;” and, turning to an eunuch, whose jaw-teeth the Princess had knocked out for reasons best known to herself,[[296]] he called to him and said, “Carry the necklace to thy lady and say to her:—One of the Kings hath sent thy father this, as a present, and its price may not be paid with money; put it on thy neck.” The slave took the necklace, saying in himself, “Allah Almighty make it the last thing she shall put on in this world, for that she deprived me of the benefit of my grinder-teeth!”; and repairing to the Princess’s apartment, found the door locked and the old woman asleep before the threshold. He shook her, and she awoke in affright and asked, “What dost thou want?”; to which he answered, “The King hath sent me on an errand to his daughter.” Quoth the nurse, “The key is not here, go away, whilst I fetch it;” but quoth he, “I cannot go back to the King without having done his commandment.” So she went away, as if to fetch the key; but fear overtook her and she sought safety in flight. Then the eunuch awaited her awhile; then, finding she did not return, he feared that the King would be angry at his delay; so he rattled at the door and shook it, whereupon the bolt gave way and the leaf opened. He entered and passed on, till he came to the seventh door and walking in to the Princess’s chamber found the place splendidly furnished and saw candles and flagons there. At this spectacle he marvelled and going close up to the bed, which was curtained by a hanging of silk, embroidered with a net-work of jewels, drew back the curtain from before the Princess and saw her sleeping with her arms about the neck of a young man handsomer than herself; whereat he magnified Allah Almighty, who had created such a youth of vile water, and said, “How goodly be this fashion for one who hateth men! How came she by this fellow? Methinks ’twas on his account that she knocked out my back teeth!” Then he drew the curtain and made for the door; but the King’s daughter awoke in affright and seeing the eunuch, whose name was Káfúr, called to him. He made her no answer: so she came down from the bed on the estrade; and catching hold of his skirt laid it on her head and kissed his feet, saying, “Veil what Allah veileth!” Quoth he, “May Allah not veil thee nor him who would veil thee! Thou didst knock out my grinders and saidst to me:—Let none make mention to me aught of men and their ways!” So saying, he disengaged himself from her grasp and running out, locked the door on them and set another eunuch to guard it. Then he went in to the King who said to him? “Hast thou given the necklace to Hayat al-Nufus?” The eunuch replied, “By Allah, thou deservest altogether a better fate;” and the King asked, “What hath happened? Tell me quickly;” whereto he answered, “I will not tell thee, save in private and between our eyes,” but the King retorted, saying, “Tell me at once and in public.” Cried the eunuch, “Then grant me immunity.” So the King threw him the kerchief of immunity and he said, “O King, I went into the Princess Hayat al-Nufus and found her asleep in a carpeted chamber and on her bosom was a young man. So I locked the door upon the two and came back to thee.” When the King heard these words he started up and taking a sword in his hand, cried out to the Rais of the eunuchs, saying, “Take thy lads and go to the Princess’s chamber and bring me her and him who is with her as they twain lie on the bed; but cover them both up.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the King commanded the head eunuch to take his lads and to fetch and set before him Hayat al-Nufus and him who was with her, the chief and his men entered the Princess’s apartment where he found her standing up, dissolved in railing tears, and the Prince by her side; so he said to them, “Lie down on the bed, as thou wast and let him do likewise.” The King’s daughter feared for her lover[[297]] and said to him, “This is no time for resistance.” So they both lay down and the eunuchs covered them up and carried the twain into the King’s presence. Thereupon Abd al-Kadir pulled off the coverings and the Princess sprang to her feet. He looked at her and would have smitten her neck: but the Prince threw himself on the father’s breast, saying, “The fault was not hers but mine only: kill me before thou killest her.” The King made at him, to cut him down, but Hayat al-Nufus cast herself on her father and said, “Kill me not him; for he is the son of a great King, lord of all the land in its length and breadth.” When the King heard this, he turned to the Chief Wazir, who was a gathering-place of all that is evil, and said to him, “What sayst thou of this matter, O Minister?” Quoth his Wazir, “What I say is that all who find themselves in such case as this have need of lying, and there is nothing for it but to cut off both their heads, after torturing them with all manner of tortures.” Hereupon the King called his sworder of vengeance, who came with his lads, and said to him, “Take this gallows bird and strike off his head and after do the like with this harlot and burn their bodies, and consult me not about them a second time.” So the headsmen put his hand to her back, to take her; but the King cried out at him and cast at him somewhat he hent in hand, which had well-nigh killed him, saying, “O dog, how durst thou show ruth to those with whom I am wroth? Put thy hand to her hair and drag her along by it, so that she may fall on her face.” Accordingly he haled her by her hair and the Prince in like manner to the place of blood, where he tore off a piece of his skirt and therewith bound the Prince’s eyes putting the Princess last, in the hope that some one would intercede for her. Then, having made ready the Prince he swung his sharp sword three times (whilst all the troops wept and prayed Allah to send them deliverance by some intercessor), and raised his hand to cut off Ardashir’s head when, behold, there arose a cloud of dust, that spread and flew till it veiled the view. Now the cause thereof was that when the young Prince had delayed beyond measure, the King, his sire, had levied a mighty host and had marched with it in person to get tidings of his son. Such was his case; but as regards King Abd al-Kadir, when he saw this, he said, “O wights, what is the meaning of yonder dust that dimmeth sights?” The Grand Wazir sprang up and went out to reconnoitre and found behind the cloud men like locusts, of whom no count could be made nor aught avail of aid, filling the hills and plains and valleys. So he returned with the report to the King, who said to him, “Go down and learn for us what may be this host and the cause of its marching upon our country. Ask also of their commander and salute him for me and enquire the reason of his coming. An he came in quest of aught, we will aid him, and if he have a blood-feud with one of the Kings, we will ride with him; or, if he desire a gift, we will handsel him; for this is indeed a numerous host and a power uttermost, and we fear for our land from its mischief.” So the Minister went forth and walked among the tents and troopers and body-guards, and ceased not faring on from the first of the day till near sundown, when he came to the warders with gilded swords in tents star-studded. Passing these, he made his way through Emirs and Wazirs and Nabobs and Chamberlains, to the pavilion of the Sultan, and found him a mighty King. When the King’s officers saw him, they cried out to him, saying, “Kiss ground! Kiss ground!”[[298]] He did so and would have risen, but they cried out at him a second and a third time. So he kissed the earth again and again and raised his head and would have stood up, but fell down at full length for excess of awe. When at last he was set between the hands of the King he said to him, “Allah prolong thy days and increase thy sovranty and exalt thy rank, O thou auspicious King! And furthermore, of a truth, King Abd al-Kadir saluteth thee and kisseth the earth before thee and asketh on what weighty business thou art come. An thou seek to avenge thee for blood on any King, he will take horse in thy service; or, an thou come in quest of aught, wherein it is in his power to help thee, he standeth up at thy service on account thereof.” So Ardashir’s father replied to the Wazir, saying, “O messenger, return to thy lord and tell him that the most mighty King Sayf al-A’azam Shah, Lord of Shiraz, had a son who hath been long absent from him and news of him have not come and all traces of him have been cut off. An he be in this city, he will take him and depart from you; but, if aught have befallen him or any mischief have ensued to him from you, his father will lay waste your land and make spoil of your goods and slay your men and seize your women. Return, therefore, to thy lord in haste and tell him this, ere evil befal him.” Answered the Minister, “To hear is to obey!” and turned to go away, when the Chamberlains cried out to him, saying, “Kiss ground! Kiss ground!” So he kissed the ground a score of times and rose not till his life-breath was in his nostrils.[[299]] Then he left the King’s high court and returned to the city, full of anxious thought concerning the affair of this King and the multitude of his troops, and going in to King Abd al-Kadir, pale with fear and trembling in his side-muscles, acquainted him with that had befallen him;——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir returned from the court of the Great King, pale with fear and with side-muscles quivering for dread exceeding; and acquainted his lord with that had befallen him. Hereat disquietude and terror for himself and for his people laid hold upon him and he said to the Minister, “O Wazir, and who is this King’s son?” Replied the other, “’Tis even he whom thou badest put to death, but praised be Allah who hastened not his slaughter! Else had his father wasted our lands and spoiled our good.” Quoth the King, “See now thy corrupt judgment, in that thou didst counsel us to slay him! Where is the young man, the son of yonder magnanimous King?” And quoth the Wazir, “O mighty King, thou didst command him be put to death.” When the King heard this, he was clean distraught and cried out from his heart’s core and in-most of head, saying, “Woe to you! Fetch me the Headsman forthright, lest death fall on him!” So they fetched the Sworder and he said, “O King of the Age, I have smitten off his head even as thou badest me.” Cried Abd al-Kadir, “O dog, an this be true, I will assuredly send thee after him.” The Headsman replied, “O King, thou didst command me to slay him without consulting thee a second time.” Said the King, “I was in my wrath; but speak the truth, ere thou lose thy life;” and said the Sworder, “O King, he is yet in the chains of life.” At this Abd al-Kadir rejoiced and his heart was set at rest; then he called for Ardashir, and when he came, he stood up to receive him and kissed his mouth, saying, “O my son, I ask pardon of Allah Almighty for the wrong I have done thee, and say thou not aught that may lower my credit with thy sire, the Great King.” The Prince asked “O King of the Age, and where is my father?” and the other answered, “He is come hither on thine account.” Thereupon quoth Ardashir, “By thy worship, I will not stir from before thee till I have cleared my honour and the honour of thy daughter from that which thou laidest to our charge; for she is a pure virgin. Send for the midwives and let them examine her before thee. An they find her maidenhead gone, I give thee leave to shed my blood; and if they find her a clean maid, her innocence of dishonour and mine also will be made manifest.” So he summoned the midwives, who examined the Princess and found her a pure virgin and so told the King, seeking largesse of him. He gave them what they sought, putting off his royal robes to bestow on them, and in like manner he was bountiful to all who were in the Harim. And they brought forth the scent-cups and perfumed all the Lords of estate and Grandees; and not one but rejoiced with exceeding joy. Then the King threw his arms about Ardashir’s neck and entreated him with all worship and honour, bidding his chief eunuchs bear him to the bath. When he came out, he cast over his shoulders a costly robe and crowned him with a coronet of jewels; he also girt him with a girdle of silk, purfled with red gold and set with pearls and gems, and mounted him on one of his noblest mares, with selle and trappings of gold inlaid with pearls and jewels. Then he bade his Grandees and Captains mount on his service and escort him to his father’s presence; and charged him tell his sire that King Abd al-Kadir was at his disposal, hearkening to and obeying him in whatso he should bid or forbid. “I will not fail of this,” answered Ardashir and farewelling him, repaired to his father who, at sight of him, was transported for delight and springing up, advanced to meet him and embraced him, whilst joy and gladness spread among all the host of the Great King. Then came the Wazirs and Chamberlains and Captains and guards and kissed the ground before the Prince and rejoiced in his coming: and it was a great day with them for enjoyment, for the King’s son gave leave to those of King Abd al-Kadir’s officers who had accompanied him and others of the townsfolk, to view the ordinance of his father’s host, without let or stay, so they might know the multitude of the Great King’s troops and the might of his empire. And all who had seen him selling stuffs in the linendrapers’ bazar marvelled how his soul could have consented thereto, considering the nobility of his spirit and the loftiness of his dignity; but it was his love and inclination to the King’s daughter that to this had constrained him. Meanwhile, news of the multitude of her lover’s troops came to Hayat al-Nufus, who was still jailed by her sire’s commandment, till they knew what he should order respecting her, whether pardon and release or death and burning; and she looked down from the terrace-roof of the palace and, turning towards the mountains, saw even these covered with armed men. When she beheld all those warriors and knew that they were the army of Ardashir’s father, she feared lest he should be diverted from her by his sire and forget her and depart from her, whereupon her father would slay her. So she called a handmaid that was with her in her apartment by way of service, and said to her, “Go to Ardashir, son of the Great King, and fear not. When thou comest into his presence, kiss the ground before him and tell him what thou art and say to him:—My lady saluteth thee and would have thee to know that she is a prisoner in her father’s palace, awaiting his sentence, whether he be minded to pardon her or put her to death, and she beseecheth thee not to forget her or forsake her; for to-day thou art all-powerful; and, in whatso thou commandest, no man dare cross thee. Wherefore, an it seem good to thee to rescue her from her sire and take her with thee, it were of thy bounty, for indeed she endureth all these trials for thy sake. But, an this seem not good to thee, for that thy desire of her is at an end, still speak to thy sire, so haply he may intercede for her with her father and he depart not, till he have made him set her free and taken surety from and made covenant with him, that he will not go about to put her to death nor work her aught of harm. This is her last word to thee, may Allah not desolate her of thee, and so The Peace!”[[300]]——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirty-seventh Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the bondmaid sent by Hayat al-Nufus made her way to Ardashir and delivered him her lady’s message, which when he heard, he wept with sore weeping and said to her, “Know that Hayat al-Nufus is my mistress and that I am her slave and the captive of her love. I have not forgotten what was between us nor the bitterness of the parting day; so do thou say to her, after thou hast kissed her feet, that I will speak with my father of her, and he shall send his Wazir, who sought her aforetime in marriage for me, to demand her hand once more of her sire, for he dare not refuse. So, if he send to her to consult her, let her make no opposition; for I will not return to my country without her.” Then the handmaid returned to Hayat al-Nufus; and, kissing her hands, delivered to her the message, which when she heard, she wept for very joy and returned thanks to Almighty Allah. Such was her case; but as regards Ardashir, he was alone with his father that night and the Great King questioned him of his case, whereupon he told him all that had befallen him, first and last. Then quoth the King, “What wilt thou have me do for thee, O my son? An thou desire Abd al-Kadir’s ruin, I will lay waste his lands and spoil his hoards and dishonour his house.” Replied Ardashir, “I do not desire that, O my father, for he hath done nothing to me deserving thereof; but I wish for union with her; wherefore I beseech thee of thy favour to make ready a present for her father, (but let it be a magnificent gift!) and send it to him by thy Minister, the man of just judgment.” Quoth the King, “I hear and consent;” and sending for the treasures he had laid up from time past, brought out all manner precious things and showed them to his son, who was pleased with them. Then he called his Wazir and bade him bear the present with him[[301]] to King Abd al-Kadir and demand his daughter in marriage for Ardashir, saying, “Accept the present and return him a reply.” Now from the time of Ardashir’s departure, King Abd al-Kadir had been troubled and ceased not to be heavy at heart, fearing the laying waste of his reign and the spoiling of his realm; when behold, the Wazir came in to him and saluting him, kissed ground before him. He rose up standing and received him with honour; but the Minister made haste to fall at his feet and kissing them cried, “Pardon, O King of the Age! The like of thee should not rise to the like of me, for I am the least of servants’ slaves. Know, O King, that Prince Ardashir hath acquainted his father with some of the favours and kindnesses thou hast done him, wherefore he thanketh thee and sendeth thee in company of thy servant who standeth before thee, a present, saluting thee and wishing thee especial blessings and prosperities.” Abd al-Kadir could not believe what he heard of the excess of his fear, till the Wazir laid the present before him, when he saw it to be such gift as no money could purchase nor could one of the Kings of the earth avail to the like thereof; wherefore he was belittled in his own eyes and springing to his feet, praised Almighty Allah and glorified Him and thanked the Prince. Then said the Minister to him, “O noble King, give ear to my word and know that the Great King sendeth to thee, desiring thine alliance, and I come to thee seeking and craving the hand of thy daughter, the chaste dame and treasured gem Hayat al-Nufus, in wedlock for his son Ardashir, wherefore, if thou consent to this proposal and accept of him, do thou agree with me for her marriage-portion.” Abd al-Kadir hearing these words replied, “I hear and obey. For my part, I make no objection, and nothing can be more pleasurable to me; but the girl is of full age and reason and her affair is in her own hand. So be assured that I will refer it to her and she shall chose for herself.” Then he turned to the chief eunuch and bade him go and acquaint the Princess with the event. So he repaired to the Harim and, kissing the Princess’s hands, acquainted her with the Great King’s offer adding, “What sayest thou in answer?” “I hear and I obey,” replied she.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Thirty-eighth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the chief eunuch of the Harim having informed the Princess how she had been demanded in marriage by the Great King and having heard her reply, “I hear and I obey,” returned therewith to the King and gave him this answer, whereat he rejoiced with exceeding joy and, calling for a costly robe of honour, threw it over the Wazir’s shoulders. Furthermore, he ordered him ten thousand dinars and bade him carry the answer to the Great King and crave leave for him to pay him a visit. “Hearing and obeying,” answered the Minister; and, returning to his master, delivered him the reply and Abd al-Kadir’s message, and repeated all their talk, whereat he rejoiced greatly and Ardashir was transported for delight and his breast broadened and he was a most happy man. King Sayf al-A’azam also gave King Abd al-Kadir leave to come forth to visit him; so, on the morrow, he took horse and rode to the camp of the Great King, who came to meet him and saluting him, seated him in the place of honour, and gave him welcome; and they two sat whilst Ardashir stood before them. Then arose an orator of the King Abd al-Kadir’s court and pronounced an eloquent discourse, giving the Prince joy of the attainment of his desire and of his marriage with the Princess, a Queen among King’s daughters. When he sat down the Great King caused bring a chest full of pearls and gems, together with fifty thousand dinars, and said to King Abd al-Kadir, “I am my son’s deputy in all that concerneth this matter.” So Abd al-Kadir acknowledged receipt of the marriage-portion and amongst the rest, fifty thousand dinars for the nuptial festivities; after which they fetched the Kazis and the witnesses, who wrote out the contract of marriage between the Prince and Princess, and it was a notable day, wherein all lovers made merry and all haters and enviers were mortified. They spread the marriage-feasts and banquets and lastly Ardashir went in unto the Princess and found her a jewel which had been hidden, an union pearl unthridden and a filly that none but he had ridden, so he notified this to his sire. Then King Sayf al-A’azam asked his son, “Hast thou any wish thou wouldst have fulfilled ere we depart?”; and he answered, “Yes, O King, know that I would fain take my wreak of the Wazir who entreated us on evil wise and the eunuch who forged a lie against us.” So the King sent forthright to Abd al-Kadir, demanding of him the Minister and the castrato, whereupon he despatched them both to him and he commanded to hang them over the city gate. After this, they abode a little while and then sought of Abd al-Kadir leave for his daughter to equip her for departure. So he equipped her and mounted her in a Takhtrawán, a travelling litter of red gold, inlaid with pearls and gems and drawn by noble steeds. She carried with her all her waiting-women and eunuchs, as well as the nurse, who had returned, after her flight, and resumed her office. Then King Sayf al-A’azam and his son mounted and Abd al-Kadir mounted also with all the lords of his land, to take leave of his son-in-law and daughter; and it was a day to be reckoned of the goodliest of days. After they had gone some distance, the Great King conjured Abd al-Kadir to turn back; so he farewelled him and his son, after he had strained him to his breast and kissed him between the eyes and thanked him for his grace and favours and commended his daughter to his care. Then he went in to the Princess and embraced her; and she kissed his hands and they wept in the standing-place of parting. After this he returned to his capital and Ardashir and his company fared on, till they reached Shiraz, where they celebrated the marriage-festivities anew. And they abode in all comfort and solace and joyance of life, till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and Severer of societies; the Depopulator of palaces and the Garnerer of graveyards. And men also relate the tale of
[261]. Omitted by Lane (iii. 252) “because little more than a repetition” of Taj al-Mulúk and the Lady Dunyá. This is true; but the nice progress of the nurse’s pimping is a well-finished picture and the old woman’s speech (infra p. [243]) is a gem.
[262]. Artaxerxes; in the Mac. Edit. Azdashír, a misprint.
[263]. I use “kiss ground” as we say “kiss hands.” But it must not be understood literally: the nearest approach would be to touch the earth with the finger-tips and apply them to the lips or brow. Amongst Hindus the Ashtánga-prostration included actually kissing the ground.
[264]. The “key” is mentioned because a fee so called (miftáh) is paid on its being handed to the new lodger (Pilgrimage i. 62).
[265]. The Koranic term for semen, often quoted.
[266]. Koran, xii. 31, in the story of Joseph, before noticed.
[267]. Probably the white woollens, so often mentioned, whose use is now returning to Europe, where men have a reasonable fear of dyed stuffs, especially since Aniline conquered Cochineal.
[268]. Arab. “samír,” one who enjoys the musámarah or night-talk outside the Arab tents. “Samar” is the shade of the moon, or half darkness when only stars shine without a moon, or the darkness of a moonless night. Hence the proverb (A. P. ii. 513) “Má af’al-hú al-samar wa’l kamar;” I will not do it by moon-darkness or by moonshine, i.e. never. I have elsewhere remarked that “Early to bed and early to rise” is a civilised maxim; most barbarians sit deep into the night in the light of the moon of a camp-fire and will not rise till nearly noon. They agree in our modern version of the old saw:—
Early to bed and early to rise
Makes a man surly and gives him red eyes.
The Shayks of Arab tribes especially transact most of their public business during the dark hours.
[269]. Suspecting that it had been sent by some Royal lover.
[270]. Arab. “Rubbamá” a particle more emphatic than rubba, = perhaps, sometimes, often.
[271]. “The broken (wall)” from Hatim = breaking. It fences the Hijr or space where Ishmael is buried (vol. vi. 205); and I have described it in Pilgrimage iii. 165.
[272]. Arab. “Faráis” (plur. of farísah): the phrase has often occurred and is = our “trembled in every nerve.” As often happens in Arabic, it is “horsey;” alluding to the shoulder-muscles (not shoulder-blades, Preston p. 89) between neck and flank which readily quiver in blood-horses when excited or frightened.
[273]. Arab. “Fazl” = exceeding goodness as in “Fazl wa ma’rifah” = virtue and learning.
[274]. Arab. “Al-Mafárik” (plur. of Mafrak), = the pole or crown of the head, where the hair parts naturally and where baldness mostly begins.
[275]. Arab. Ná’í al-maut, the person sent round to announce a death to the friends and relations of the deceased and invite them to the funeral.
[276]. Arab. Táir al-bayn, any bird, not only the Hátim or black crow, which announces separation. Crows and ravens flock for food to the camps broken up for the springtide and autumnal marches, and thus become emblems of desertion and desolation. The same birds are also connected with Abel’s burial in the Koran (v. 34), a Jewish tradition borrowed by Mohammed. Lastly, here is a paronomasia in the words “Ghuráb al-Bayn” = Raven of the Wold (the black bird with white breast and red beak and legs): “Ghuráb” (Heb. Oreb) connects with Cuba = strangerhood, exile, and “Bayn” with distance, interval, disunion, the desert (between the cultivated spots). There is another and a similar pun anent the Bán-tree; the first word meaning “he fared, he left.”
[277]. Arab. “Tayr,” any flying thing, a bird; with true Arab carelessness the writer waits till the tale is nearly ended before letting us know that the birds are pigeons (Hamám).
[278]. Arab. “Karalynn.” The Arabs say, “Allah cool thine eye,” because tears of grief are hot and those of joy cool (Al-Asma’i); others say the cool eye is opposed to that heated by watching; and Al-Hariri (Ass. xxvii.) makes a scorching afternoon “hotter than the tear of a childless mother.” In the burning climate of Arabia coolth and refrigeration are equivalent to refreshment and delight.
[279]. Arab. “Muunah,” the “Mona” of Maroccan travellers (English not Italian who are scandalised by “Mona”) meaning the provisions supplied gratis by the unhappy villagers to all who visit them with passport from the Sultan. Our cousins German have lately scored a great success by paying for all their rations which the Ministers of other nations, England included, were mean enough to accept.
[280]. Arab. “Kaannahu huwa”; lit. = as he (was) he. This reminds us of the great grammarian, Sibawayh, whose name the Persians derive from “Apple-flavour” (Sib + BA). He was disputing, in presence of Harun al-Rashid with a rival Al-Kiss, and advocated the Bastian form, “Fa-izá huwa hú” (behold, it was he) against the Ku fan, “Fa-izá huwa IA” (behold, it was him). The enemy overcame him by appealing to Badawin, who spoke impurely, whereupon Sibawayh left the court, retired to Khorasan and died, it is said of a broken heart.
[281]. This is a sign of the Sada or melancholic temperament in which black bile predominates. It is supposed to cause a distaste for society and a longing for solitude, an unsettled habit of mind and neglect of worldly affairs. I remarked that in Arabia students are subject to it, and that amongst philosophers and literary men of Mecca and Al-Medinah there was hardly one who was not spoken of as a “Sada.” See Pilgrimage ii. 49, 50.
[282]. i.e. I am a servant and bound to tell thee what my orders are.
[283]. A touching lesson how tribes settle matters in the East.
[284]. i.e. fresh from water (Arab. “Rutub”), before the air can tarnish them. The pearl (margarita) in Arab is Lulu’; the “Union” or large pearl Durr, plur. Durar. In modern parlance Durr is the second quality of the twelve into which pearls are divided.
[285]. i.e. the Wazir, but purposely left vague.
[286]. The whole of the nurse’s speech is admirable: its naïve and striking picture of conjugal affection goes far to redeem the grossness of The Nights.
[287]. The bitterness was the parting in the morning.
[288]. English “Prin´cess,” too often pronounced in French fashion Princess.
[289]. In dictionaries “Bán” (Anglice ben-tree) is the myrobalan which produces gum benzoin. It resembles the tamarisk. Mr. Lyall (p. 74 Translations of Ancient Arab Poetry, Williams and Norgate, 1885), calls it a species of Moringa, tall, with plentiful and intensely green foliage used for comparisons on account of its straightness and graceful shape of its branches. The nut supplies a medicinal oil.
[290]. A sign of extreme familiarity: the glooms are the hands and the full moons are the eyes.
[291]. Arab. “Khal’a al-’izár”: lit. = stripping off jaws or side-beard.
[292]. Arab. “Shimál” = the north wind.
[293]. An operation well described by Juvenal—
Illa supercilium, modicâ fuligine tactum,
Obliquâ producit acu, pingitque, trementes
Attolens oculos.
Sonnini (Travels in Egypt, chapt. xvi.) justly remarks that this pencilling the angles of the eyes with Kohl, which the old Levant trade called alquifoux or arquifoux, makes them appear large and more oblong; and I have noted that the modern Egyptian (especially Coptic) eye, like that of the Sphinx and the old figures looks in profile as if it were seen in full (Pilgrimage i. 214).
[294]. The same traveller notes a singular property in the Henna-flower that when smelt closely it exhales a “very powerful spermatic odour,” hence it became a favourite with women as the tea-rose with us. He finds it on the nails of mummies, and identifies it with the Kupros of the ancient Greeks (the moderns call it Kene or Kena) and the Βότρυς τῆς κύπρου (Botrus cypri) of Solomon’s Song (i. 14). The Hebr. is “Copher,” a well-known word which the A. V. translates by “a cluster of camphire (?) in the vineyards of En-gedi”; and a note on iv. 13 ineptly adds, “or, cypress.” The Revised Edit. amends it to “a cluster of henna-flowers.” The Solomonic (?) description is very correct; the shrub affects vineyards, and about Bombay forms fine hedges which can be smelt from a distance.
[295]. Hardly the equivalent of the Arab. “Kataba” (which includes true tattooing with needles) and is applied to painting “patches” of blue or green colour, with sprigs and arabesques upon the arms and especially the breasts of women. “Kataba” would also be applied to striping the fingers with Henna which becomes a shining black under a paste of honey, lime and sal-ammoniac. This “patching” is alluded to by Strabo and Galen (Lane M. E. chapt ii.); and we may note that savages and barbarians can leave nothing of beauty unadorned; they seem to hate a plain surface like the Hindu silversmith, whose art is shown only in chasing.
[296]. A violent temper, accompanied with voies de fait and personal violence, is by no means rare amongst Eastern princesses; and terrible tales are told in Persia concerning the daughters of Fath Ali Shah. Few men and no woman can resist the temptations of absolute command. The daughter of a certain Dictator all-powerful in the Argentine Republic was once seen on horseback with a white bridle of peculiar leather; it was made of the skin of a man who had boasted of her favours. The slave-girls suffer first from these masterful young persons and then it is the turn of the eunuchry.
[297]. A neat touch; she was too thoroughbred to care for herself first.
[298]. Here the ground or earth is really kissed.
[299]. Corresponding with our phrase, “His heart was in his mouth.”
[300]. Very artful is the contrast of the love-lorn Princess’s humility with her furious behaviour, in the pride of her purity, while she was yet a virginette and fancy free.
[301]. Arab. “Suhbat-hu” lit. = in company with him, a popular idiom in Egypt and Syria. It often occurs in the Bresl. Edit.