TALE OF HARUN AL-RASHID AND ABU HASAN, THE MERCHANT OF OMAN.
The Caliph Harun Al-Rashid was one night wakeful exceedingly; so he called Masrur and said to him as soon as he came, “Fetch me Ja’afar in haste.” Accordingly, he went out and returned with the Wazir, to whom said the Caliph, “O Ja’afar wakefulness hath mastered me this night and forbiddeth sleep from me, nor wot I what shall drive it away from me.” Replied Ja’afar, “O Commander of the Faithful, the wise say:—Looking on a mirror, entering the Hammam-bath and hearkening unto song banish care and chagrin.” He rejoined, “O Ja’afar I have done all this, but it hath brought me naught of relief, and I swear by my pious forbears unless thou contrive that which shall abate from me this insomny, I will smite thy neck.” Quoth Ja’afar, “O Commander of the Faithful, wilt thou do that which I shall counsel thee?” whereupon quoth the Caliph, “And what is that thou counselleth?” He replied, “It is that thou take boat with us and drop down Tigris River with the tide to a place called Karn al-Sirat, so haply we may hear what we never heard or see what we never saw, for ’tis said:—The solace of care is in one of three things; that a man see what he never before saw or hear what he never yet heard or tread an earth he erst hath never trodden. It may be this shall be the means of remedying thy restlessness, O Commander of the Faithful, Inshallah! There, on either sides of the river, are windows and balconies one facing other, and it may be we shall hear or see from one of these somewhat wherewith our hearts may be heartened.” Ja’afar’s counsel pleased the Caliph, so he rose from his place and taking with him the Wazir and his brother Al-Fazl and Isaac[[276]] the boon-companion and Abu Nowas and Abu Dalaf[[277]] and Masrur the Sworder——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph arose from his seat with Ja’afar and the rest of the party, all entered the wardrobe, where they donned merchant’s gear. Then they went down to the Tigris and embarking in a gilded boat, dropped down with the stream, till they came to the place they sought, when they heard the voice of a damsel singing to the lute and chanting these couplets:—
To him when the wine cup is near I declare, ✿ While in coppice loud shrilleth and trilleth Hazár,
“How long this repining from joys and delight? ✿ Wake up for this life is a borrowed ware!”
Take the cup from the hand of the friend who is dear ✿ With languishing eyelids and languorous air.
I sowed on his cheek a fresh rose, which amid ✿ His side-locks the fruit of granado-tree bare.
Thou wouldst deem that the place where he tare his fair cheek[[278]] ✿ Were ashes, while cheeks hues incendiary wear.
Quoth the blamer, “Forget him! But where’s my excuse ✿ When his side-face is growing the downiest hair[[279]]?”
When the Caliph heard this, he said, “O Ja’afar, how goodly is that voice!”; and the Wazir replied, “O our lord, never smote my hearing aught sweeter or goodlier than this singing! But, good my lord, hearing from behind a wall is only half hearing; how would it be an we heard it from behind a curtain?” Quoth the Caliph, “Come, O Ja’afar, let us play the parasites with the master of this house; and haply we shall look upon the songstress, face to face;” and quoth Ja’afar, “I hear and I obey.” So they landed and sought admittance; when behold, there came out to them a young man, fair of favour, sweet of speech and fluent of tongue, who said to them, “Well come and welcome, O lords that honour me with your presence! Enter in all comfort and convenience!” So they went in (and he with them) to a saloon with four faces, whose ceiling was decorated with gold and its walls adorned with ultramarine.[[280]] At its upper end was a daïs, whereon stood a goodly row of seats[[281]] and thereon sat an hundred damsels like moons. The house-master cried out to them and they came down from their seats. Then he turned to Ja’afar and said to him “O my lord, I know not the honourable of you from the more honourable: Bismillah! deign he that is highest in rank among you favour me by taking the head of the room, and let his brethren sit each in his several stead.” So they sat down, each according to his degree, whilst Masrur abode standing before them in their service; and the host asked them, “O my guests, with your leave, shall I set somewhat of food before you?” and they answered, “Yes.” Hearing this he bade his handmaids bring food, whereupon four damsels with girded waists placed in front of them a table, whereon were rare meats of that which flieth and walketh earth and swimmeth seas, sand-grouse and quails and chickens and pigeons; and written on the raised edge of the tray were verses such as sorted with the entertainment. So they ate till they had enough and washed their hands, after which said the young man, “O my lords, if you have any want, let us know it, that we may have the honour of satisfying it.” They replied, “’Tis well: we came not to thy dwelling save for the sake of a voice we heard from behind the wall of thy house, and we would fain hear it again and know her to whom it belongeth. So, an thou deem right to vouchsafe us this favour, it will be of the generosity of thy nature, and after we will return whence we came.” Quoth the host, “Ye are welcome;” and, turning to a black slave-girl, said to her, “Fetch me thy mistress such an one.” So she went away and returning with a chair of chinaware, cushioned with brocade, set it down: then withdrew again and presently returned with a damsel, as she were the moon on the night of its full, who sat down on the chair. Then the black girl gave her a bag of satin wherefrom she brought out a lute, inlaid with gems and jacinths and furnished with pegs of gold.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the damsel came forward, she took her seat upon the chair and brought out from its case a lute and behold, it was inlaid with gems and jacinths and furnished with pegs of gold. Then she tuned its strings, even as saith the poet of her and her lute in these lines:—
She sits it in lap like a mother fond ✿ And she strikes the strings that can make it speak:
And ne’er smiteth her right an injurious touch ✿ But her left repairs of her right the wreak.[[282]]
Then she strained the lute to her bosom, binding over it as mother bendeth over babe, and swept the strings which complained as child to mother complaineth; after which she played upon it and began improvising these couplets:—
An Time my lover restore me I’ll blame him fain, ✿ Saying, “Pass, O my dear, the bowl and in passing drain
The wine which hath never mixed with the heart of man ✿ But he passes to joy from annoy and to pleasure from pain.”
Then Zephyr arose to his task of sustaining the cup: ✿ Didst e’er see full Moon that in hand the star hath ta’en?[[283]]
How oft I talked thro’ the night, when its rounded Lune ✿ Shed on darkness of Tigris ’bank a beamy rain!
And when Luna sank in the West ’twas as though she’d wave ✿ O’er the length of the watery waste a gilded glaive.
When she had made an end of her verse, she wept with sore weeping and all who were in the place wept aloud till they were well-nigh dead; nor was there one of them but took leave of his wits and rent his raiment and beat his face, for the goodliness of her singing. Then said Al-Rashid, “This damsel’s song verily denoteth that she is a lover departed from her beloved.” Quoth her master, “She hath lost father and mother;” but quoth the Caliph, “This is not the weeping of one who hath lost mother and father, but the yearning of one who hath lost him she loveth.” And he was delighted with her singing and said to Isaac, “By Allah, never saw I her like!”; and Isaac said, “O my lord, indeed I marvel at her with utterest marvel and am beside myself for delight.” Now Al-Rashid with all this stinted not to look upon the house-master and note his charms and the daintiness of his fashion; but he saw on his face a pallor as he would die; so he turned to him and said, “Ho, youth!” and the other said, “Adsum!—at thy service, O my lord,” The Caliph asked, “Knowest thou who we are?”; and he answered, “No.” Quoth Ja’afar, “Wilt thou that I tell thee the names of each of us?”; and quoth the young man “Yes;” when the Wazir said, “This is the Commander of the Faithful, descendant of the uncle of the Prince of the Apostles,” and named to him the others of the company; after which quoth Al-Rashid, “I wish that thou acquaint me with the cause of the paleness of thy face, whether it be acquired or natural from thy birth-tide.” Quoth he, “O Prince of True Believers, my case is wondrous and my affair marvellous; were it graven with gravers on the eye-corners it were a warner to whoso will be warned.” Said the Caliph, “Tell it to me: haply thy healing may be at my hand.” Said the young man, “O Commander of the Faithful, lend me thine ears and give me thy whole mind.” And he, “Come; tell it me, for thou makest me long to hear it.” So the young man began:—Know then, O Prince of True Believers, that I am a merchant of the merchants of the sea and come from Oman city, where my sire was a trader and a very wealthy trader having thirty ships trafficking upon the main, whose yearly hire was thirty thousand dinars; and he was a generous man and had taught me writing and all whereof a wight hath need. When his last hour drew near, he called me to him and gave me the customary charge; then Almighty Allah took him and admitted him to His mercy and may He continue the Commander of the Faithful on life! Now my late father had partners trading with his coin and voyaging on the ocean. So one day, as I sat in my house with a company of merchants, a certain of my servants came in to me and said, “O my lord, there is at the door a man who craveth admittance to thee!” I gave leave and he came in, bearing on his head a something covered. He set it down and uncovered it, and behold it was a box wherein were fruits out of season and herbs conserved in salt and fresh, such as are not found in our land. I thanked him and gifted him with an hundred dinars, and he went away grateful. Then I divided these things amongst my friends and guests who were present and asked them whence they came. Quoth they, “They come from Bassorah,” and praised them and went on to portray the beauties of Bassorah and all agreed that there was naught in the world goodlier than Baghdad and its people. Then they fell to describing Baghdad and the fine manners of its folk and the excellence of its air and the beauty of its ordinance, till my soul longed for it and all my hopes clave to looking upon it. So I arose and selling my houses and lands, ships and slaves, negroes and handmaids, I got together my good, to wit, a thousand thousand dinars, besides gems and jewels, wherewith I freighted a vessel and setting out therein with the whole of the property, voyaged awhile. Then I hired a barque and embarking therein with all my monies sailed up the river some days till we arrived at Baghdad. I enquired where the merchants abode and what part was pleasantest for domicile and was answered, “The Karkh quarter.” So I went thither and hiring a house in a thoroughfare called the Street of Saffron, transported all my goods to it and took up my lodging therein for some time. At last one day which was a Friday, I sallied forth to solace myself taking with me somewhat of coin. I went first to a cathedral-mosque, called the Mosque of Mansur, where the Friday service was held, and when we had made an end of congregational prayers, I fared forth with the folk to a place hight Karn al-Sirat, where I saw a tall and goodly mansion, with a balcony overlooking the river-bank and pierced with a lattice-window. So I betook myself thither with a company of folk and sighted there an old man sitting, handsomely clad and exhaling perfumes. His beard forked upon his breast in two waves like silver-wire, and about him were four damsels and five pages. So I said to one of the folk, “What is the name of this old man and what is his business?”; and the man said, “His name is Táhir ibn al-Aláa, and he is a keeper of girls: all who go into him eat and drink and look upon fair faces.” Quoth I, “By Allah, this long while have I wandered about in search of something like this!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Forty-ninth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant cried, “By Allah this long while I have gone about in search of something like this!” So I went up to the Shaykh, O Commander of the Faithful, and saluting him said to him, “O my lord, I need somewhat of thee!” He replied, “What is thy need?” and I rejoined, “’Tis my desire to be thy guest to-night.” He said, “With all my heart; but, O my son, with me are many damsels, some whose night is ten dinars, some forty and others more. Choose which thou wilt have.” Quoth I, “I choose her whose night is ten dinars.” And I weighed out to him three hundred dinars, the price of a month; whereupon he committed me to a page, who carried me to a Hammam within the house and served me with goodly service. When I came out of the Bath he brought me to a chamber and knocked at the door, whereupon out came a handmaid, to whom said he, “Take thy guest!” She met me with welcome and cordiality, laughing and rejoicing, and brought me into a mighty fine room decorated with gold. I considered her and saw her like the moon on the night of its fulness having in attendance on her two damsels as they were constellations. She made me sit and seating herself by my side, signed to her slave-girls who set before us a tray covered with dishes of various kinds of meats, pullets and quails and sand-grouse and pigeons. So we ate our sufficiency, and never in my life ate I aught more delicious than this food. When we had eaten she bade remove the tray and set on the service of wine and flowers, sweetmeats and fruits; and I abode with her a month in such case. At the end of that time, I repaired to the Bath; then, going to the old man, I said to him, “O my lord, I want her whose night is twenty dinars.” “Weigh down the gold,” said he. So I fetched money and weighed out to him six hundred dinars for a month’s hire, whereupon he called a page and said to him, “Take thy lord here.” Accordingly he carried me to the Hammam and thence to the door of a chamber, whereat he knocked and there came out a handmaid, to whom quoth he, “Take thy guest!” She received me with the goodliest reception and I found in attendance on her four slave-girls, whom she commanded to bring food. So they fetched a tray spread with all manner meats, and I ate. When I had made an end of eating and the tray had been removed, she took the lute and sang thereto these couplets:—
O waftings of musk from the Babel-land! ✿ Bear a message from me which my longings have planned:
My troth is pledged to that place of yours, ✿ And to friends there ’biding—a noble band;
And wherein dwells she whom all lovers love ✿ And would hend, but she cometh to no man’s hand.
I abode with her a month, after which I returned to the Shaykh and said to him, “I want the forty dinar one.” “Weigh out the money,” said he. So I weighed out to him twelve hundred dinars, the mensual hire, and abode with her one month as it were one day, for what I saw of the comeliness of her semblance and the goodliness of her converse. After this I went to the Shaykh one evening and heard a great noise and loud voices; so I asked him, “What is to do?”; and he answered, saying, “This is the night of our remarkablest nights, when all souls embark on the river and divert themselves by gazing one upon other. Hast thou a mind to go up to the roof and solace thyself by looking at the folk?” “Yes,” answered I, and went up to the terrace-roof,[[284]] whence I could see a gathering of people with flambeaux and cressets, and great mirth and merriment. Then I went up to the end of the roof and beheld there, behind a goodly curtain, a little chamber in whose midst stood a couch of juniper[[285]]-wood plated with shimmering gold and covered with a handsome carpet. On this sat a lovely young lady, confounding all beholders with her beauty and comeliness and symmetry and perfect grace, and by her side a youth, whose hand was on her neck; and he was kissing her and she kissing him. When I saw them, O Prince of True Believers, I could not contain myself nor knew where I was, so dazed and dazzled was I by her beauty: but, when I came down, I questioned the damsel with whom I was and described the young lady to her. “What wilt thou with her?” asked she; and I, “She hath taken my wit.” “O Abu al-Hasan, hast thou a mind to her?” “Ay, by Allah! for she hath captivated my heart and soul.” “This is the daughter of Tahir ibn al-Alaa; she is our mistress and we are all her handmaids; but knowest thou, O Abu al-Hasan, what be the price of her night and her day?” “No!” “Five hundred dinars, for she is a regret to the heart of Kings!”[[286]] “By Allah, I will spend all I have on this damsel!” So saying I lay, heartsore for desire, through the livelong night till the morning, when I repaired to the Hammam and presently donned a suit of the richest royal raiment and betaking myself to Ibn al-Alaa, said to him, “O my lord, I want her whose night is five hundred dinars.” Quoth he, “Weigh down the money.” So I weighed out to him fifteen thousand dinars for a month’s hire and he took them and said to the page, “Carry him to thy mistress such an one!” Accordingly he took me and carried me to an apartment, than which my eyes never saw a goodlier on the earth’s face and there I found the young lady seated. When I saw her, O Commander of the Faithful, my reason was confounded with her beauty, for she was like the full moon on its fourteenth night,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fiftieth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young man continued to describe before the Prince of True Believers the young lady’s characteristics, saying:—She was like the full moon on her fourteenth night, a model of grace and symmetry and loveliness. Her speech shamed the tones of the lute, and it was as it were she whom the poet meant in these verses:—
She cried while played in her side Desire, ✿ And Night o’er hung her with blackest blee:—
“O Night shall thy murk bring me ne’er a chum ✿ To tumble and futter this coynte of me?”
And she smote that part with her palm and sighed ✿ Sore sighs and a weeping continued she:—
“As the toothstick beautifies teeth e’en so ✿ Must prickle to coynte as a toothstick be.
O Moslems, is never a stand to your tools, ✿ To assist a woman’s necessity?”
Thereat rose upstanding beneath its clothes ✿ My yard, as crying, “At thee! at thee!”
And I loosed her trouser-string, startling her: ✿ “Who art thou?” and I said, “A reply to thy plea!”
And began to stroke her with wrist-thick yard, ✿ Hurting hinder cheeks by its potency:
And she cried as I rose after courses three ✿ “Suit thy gree the stroke!” and I—“suit thy gree!”
And how excellent is the saying of another![[287]]—
A fair one, to idolaters if she her face should show, They’d leave their idols and her face for only Lord would know.
If in the Eastward she appeared unto a monk, for sure, He’d cease from turning to the West and to the East bend low;
And if into the briny sea one day she chanced to spit, Assuredly the salt sea’s floods straight fresh and sweet would grow.
And that of another:—
I looked at her one look and that dazed me ✿ Such rarest gifts of mind and form to see,
When doubt inspired her that I loved her, and ✿ Upon her cheeks the doubt showed showily.
I saluted her and she said to me, “Well come and welcome, and fair welcome!”; and taking me by the hand, O Prince of True Believers, made me sit down by her side; whereupon, of the excess of my desire, I fell a-weeping for fear of severance and pouring forth the tears of the eye, recited these two couplets:—
I love the nights of parting though I joy not in the same ✿ Time haply may exchange them for the boons of Union-day:
And the days that bring Union I unlove for single thought, ✿ Seeing everything in life lacking steadfastness of stay.
Then she strave to solace me with soft sweet speech, but I was drowned in the deeps of passion, fearing even in union the pangs of disunion, for excess of longing and ecstasy of passion; and I bethought me of the lowe of absence and estrangement and repeated these two couplets:—
I thought of estrangement in her embrace ✿ And my eyes rained tears red as ’Andam-wood.
So I wiped the drops on that long white neck; ✿ For camphor[[288]] is wont to stay flow of blood.
Then she bade bring food and there came four damsels, high-bosomed girls and virginal, who set before us food and fruits and confections and flowers and wine, such as befit none save kings. So, O Commander of the Faithful, we ate, and sat over our wine, compassed about with blooms and herbs of sweet savour, in a chamber suitable only for kings. Presently, one of her maids brought her a silken bag, which she opened and taking thereout a lute, laid it in her lap and smote its strings, whereat it complained as child complaineth to mother, and she sang these two couplets:—
Drink not pure wine except from hand of slender youth ✿ Like wine for daintiness and like him eke the wine:
For wine no joyance brings to him who drains the cup ✿ Save bring the cup-boy cheek as fair and fain and fine.
So, I abode with her, O Commander of the Faithful, month after month in similar guise, till all my money was spent; wherefore I began to bethink me of separation as I sat with her one day and my tears railed down upon my cheeks like rills, and I became not knowing night from light. Quoth she, “Why dost thou weep?”; and quoth I, “O light of mine eyes, I weep because of our parting.” She asked, “And what shall part me and thee, O my lord?”; and I answered, “By Allah, O my lady, from the day I came to thee, thy father hath taken of me, for every night, five hundred dinars, and now I have nothing left. Right soothfast is the saw:—Penury maketh strangerhood at home and money maketh a home in strangerhood; and indeed the poet speaks truth when he saith:—
Lack of good is exile to man at home; ✿ And money shall house him where’er he roam.”
She replied, “Know that it is my father’s custom, whenever a merchant abideth with him and hath spent all his capital, to entertain him three days; then doth he put him out and he may return to us nevermore. But keep thou thy secret and conceal thy case and I will so contrive that thou shalt abide with me till such time as Allah will;[[289]] for, indeed, there is in my heart a great love for thee. Thou must know that all my father’s money is under my hand and he wotteth not its full tale; so, every morning, I will give thee a purse of five hundred dinars which do thou offer to my sire, saying:—Henceforth, I will pay thee only day by day. He will hand the sum to me, and I will give it to thee again, and we will abide thus till such time as may please Allah.”[[289]] Thereupon I thanked her and kissed her hand; and on this wise, O Prince of True Believers, I abode with her a whole year, till it chanced on a certain day that she beat one of her handmaids grievously and the slave-girl said, “By Allah, I will assuredly torture thy heart, even as thou hast tortured me!” So she went to the girl’s father and exposed to him all that had passed, first and last, which when Tahir ibn Alaa heard he arose forthright and coming in to me, as I sat with his daughter, said, “Ho, such an one!”; and I said, “At thy service.” Quoth he, “’Tis our wont, when a merchant grow poor with us, to give him hospitality three days; but thou hast had a year with us, eating and drinking and doing what thou wouldst.” Then he turned to his pages and cried to them, “Pull off his clothes.” They did as he bade them and gave me ten dirhams and an old suit worth five silvers; after which he said to me, “Go forth; I will not beat thee nor abuse thee; but wend thy ways and if thou tarry in this town, thy blood be upon thine own head.” So I went forth, O Commander of the Faithful, in my own despite, knowing not whither to hie, for had fallen on my heart all the trouble in the world and I was occupied with sad thought and doubt. Then I bethought me of the wealth which I had brought from Oman and said in myself, “I came hither with a thousand thousand dinars, part price of thirty ships, and have made away with it all in the house of yonder ill-omened man, and now I go forth from him, bare and broken-hearted! But there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” Then I abode three days in Baghdad, without tasting meat or drink, and on the fourth day seeing a ship bound for Bassorah, I took passage in her of the owner, and when we reached our port, I landed and went into the bazar, being sore anhungered. Presently, a man saw me, a grocer, whom I had known aforetime, and coming up to me, embraced me, for he had been my friend and my father’s friend before me. Then he questioned me of my case, seeing me clad in those tattered clothes; so I told him all that had befallen me, and he said, “By Allah, this is not the act of a sensible man! But after this that hath befallen thee what dost thou purpose to do?” Quoth I, “I know not what I shall do,” and quoth he, “Wilt thou abide with me and write my outgo and income and thou shalt have two dirhams a day, over and above thy food and drink?” I agreed to this and abode with him, O Prince of True Believers, selling and buying, till I had gotten an hundred dinars; when I hired me an upper chamber by the river-side, so haply a ship should come up with merchandise, that I might buy goods with the dinars and go back with them to Baghdad. Now it fortuned that one day, there came ships with merchandise, and all the merchants resorted to them to buy, and I went with them on board, when behold, there came two men out of the hold and setting themselves chairs on the deck, sat down thereon. The merchants addressed themselves to the twain with intent to buy, and the man said to one of the crew, “Bring the carpet.” Accordingly he brought the carpet and spread it, and another came with a pair of saddle-bags, whence he took a budget and emptied it on the carpet; and our sights were dazzled with that which issued therefrom of pearls and corals and jacinths and carnelians and other jewels of all sorts and colours.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young merchant, after recounting to the Caliph the matter of the bag and its containing jewels of all sorts, continued:—Presently, O Commander of the Faithful, said one of the men on the chairs, “O company of merchants, we will sell but this to-day, by way of spending-money, for that we are weary.” So the merchants fell to bidding one against other for the jewels and bid till the price reached four hundred dinars. Then said to me the owner of the bag (for he was an old acquaintance of mine, and when he saw me, he came down to me and saluted me), “Why dost thou not speak and bid like the rest of the merchants?” I said, “O my lord, by Allah, the shifts of fortune have run against me and I have lost my wealth and have only an hundred dinars left in the world.” Quoth he, “O Ománi, after this vast wealth, can only an hundred dinars remain to thee?” And I was abashed before him and my eyes filled with tears; whereupon he looked at me and indeed my case was grievous to him. So he said to the merchants, “Bear witness against me that I have sold all that is in this bag of various gems and precious stones to this man for an hundred gold pieces, albeit I know them to be worth so many thousand dinars, and this is a present from me to him.” Then he gave me the saddle-bag and the carpet, with all the jewels that were thereon, for which I thanked him, and each and every of the merchants present praised him. Presently I carried all this to the jewel-market and sat there to sell and buy. Now among the precious stones was a round amulet of the handiwork of the masters,[[290]] weighing half a pound: it was red of the brightest, a carnelian on both whose sides were graven characts and characters, like the tracks of ants; but I knew not its worth. I sold and bought a whole year, at the end of which I took the amulet[[291]] and said, “This hath been with me some while, and I know not what it is nor what may be its value.” So I gave it to the broker who took it and went round with it and returned, saying, “None of the merchants will give me more than ten dirhams for it.” Quoth I, “I will not sell it at that price;” and he threw it in my face and went away. Another day I again offered it for sale and its price reached fifteen dirhams; whereupon I took it from the broker in anger and threw it back into the tray. But a few days after, as I sat in my shop, there came up to me a man, who bore the traces of travel, and saluting me, said, “By thy leave, I will turn over what thou hast of wares.” Said I, “’Tis well,” and indeed, O Commander of the Faithful, I was still wroth by reason of the lack of demand for the talisman. So the man fell to turning over my wares, but took nought thereof save the amulet, which when he saw, he kissed his hand and cried, “Praised be Allah!” Then said he to me, “O my lord, wilt thou sell this?”; and I replied, “Yes,” being still angry. Quoth he, “What is its price?” And I asked, “How much wilt thou give?” He answered, “Twenty dinars”: so I thought he was making mock of me and exclaimed, “Wend thy ways.” But he resumed, “I will give thee fifty dinars for it.” I made him no answer, and he continued, “A thousand dinars.” But I was silent, declining to reply, whilst he laughed at my silence and said, “Why dost thou not return me an answer?” “Hie thee home,” repeated I and was like to quarrel with him. But he bid thousand after thousand, and I still made him no reply, till he said, “Wilt thou sell it for twenty thousand dinars?” I still thought he was mocking me; but the people gathered about me and all of them said, “Sell to him, and if he buy not, we will all up and at him and drub him and thrust him forth the city.” So quoth I to him, “Wilt thou buy or dost thou jest?”; and quoth he, “Wilt thou sell or dost thou joke?” I said, “I will sell if thou wilt buy;” then he said, “I will buy it for thirty thousand dinars; take them and make the bargain;” so I cried to the bystanders, “Bear witness against him,” adding to him, “But on condition that thou acquaint me with the virtues and profit of this amulet for which thou payest all this money.” He answered, “Close the bargain, and I will tell thee this;” I rejoined, “I sell it to thee;” and he retorted, “Allah be witness of that which thou sayst and testimony!” Then he brought out the gold and giving it to me took the amulet, and set it in his bosom; after which he turned to me and asked, “Art thou content?” Answered I, “Yes,” and he said to the people, “Bear witness against him that he hath closed the bargain and touched the price, thirty thousand dinars.” Then he turned to me and said, “Harkye, my poor fellow, hadst thou held back from selling, by Allah I would have bidden thee up to an hundred thousand dinars, nay, even to a thousand thousand!” When I heard these words, O Commander of the Faithful, the blood fled my face, and from that day there overcame it this pallor thou seest. Then said I to him, “Tell me the reason of this and what is the use of this amulet.” And he answered, saying, “Know that the King of Hind hath a daughter, never was seen a thing fairer than she, and she is possessed with a falling sickness.[[292]]” So the King summoned the Scribes and men of science and Divines, but none of them could relieve her of this. Now I was present in the assembly; so I said to him, “O King, I know a man called Sa’adu’lláh the Babylonian, than whom there is not on the face of the earth one more masterly in these matters, and if thou see fit to send me to him, do so.” Said he, “Go to him;” and quoth I, “Bring me a piece of carnelian.” Accordingly he gave me a great piece of carnelian and an hundred thousand dinars and a present, which I took, and with which I betook myself to the land of Babel. Then I sought out the Shaykh and when he was shown to me I delivered to him the money and the present, which he accepted and sending for a lapidary, bade him fashion the carnelian into this amulet. Then he abode seven months in observation of the stars, till he chose out an auspicious time for engraving it, when he graved upon it these talismanic characters which thou seest, and I took it and returned with it to the King.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-second Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young man said to the Commander of the Faithful:—So after the Shaykh had spoken, I took this talisman and returned with it to the King. Now the Princess was bound with four chains, and every night a slave-girl lay with her and was found in the morning with her throat cut. The King took the amulet and laid it upon his daughter who was straightway made whole. At this he rejoiced with exceeding joy and invested me with a vest of honour and gave alms of much money; and he caused set the amulet in the Princess’s necklace. It chanced, one day, that she embarked with her women in a ship and went for a sail on the sea. Presently, one of her maids put out her hand to her, to sport with her, and the necklace brake asunder and fell into the waves. From that hour the possessor[[293]] of the Princess returned to her, wherefore great grief betided the King and he gave me much money, saying, “Go thou to Shaykh Sa’adu’llah and let him make her another amulet, in lieu of that which is lost.” I journeyed to Babel, but found the old man dead; whereupon I returned and told the King, who sent me and ten others to go round about in all countries, so haply we might find a remedy for her: and now Allah hath caused me happen on it with thee.” Saying these words, he took from me the amulet, O Commander of the Faithful, and went his ways. Such, then, is the cause of the wanness of my complexion. As for me, I repaired to Baghdad, carrying all my wealth with me, and took up my abode in the lodgings where I lived whilome. On the morrow, as soon as it was light, I donned my dress and betook myself to the house of Tahir ibn al-Alaa, that haply I might see her whom I loved, for the love of her had never ceased to increase upon my heart. But when I came to his home, I saw the balcony broken down and the lattice builded up; so I stood awhile, pondering my case and the shifts of Time, till there came up a serving-man, and I questioned him, saying, “What hath God done with Tahir ibn al-Alaa?” He answered, “O my brother, he hath repented to Almighty Allah.[[294]]” Quoth I, “What was the cause of his repentance?”; and quoth he, “O my brother, in such a year there came to him a merchant, by name Abu al-Hasan the Omani, who abode with his daughter awhile, till his wealth was all spent, when the old man turned him out, broken-hearted. Now the girl loved him with exceeding love, and when she was parted from him, she sickened of a sore sickness and came nigh upon death. As soon as her father knew how it was with her, he sent after and sought for Abu al-Hasan through the lands, pledging himself to bestow upon whoso should produce him an hundred thousand dinars; but none could find him nor come on any trace of him; and she is now hard upon death.” Quoth I, “And how is it with her sire?” and quoth the servant, “He hath sold all his girls, for grief of that which hath befallen him, and hath repented to Almighty Allah.” Then asked I, “What wouldst thou say to him who should direct thee to Abu al-Hasan the Omani?”; and he answered, “Allah upon thee, O my brother, that thou do this and quicken my poverty and the poverty of my parents[[295]]!” I rejoined, “Go to her father and say to him, Thou owest me the reward for good news, for that Abu al-Hasan the Omani standeth at the door.” With this he set off trotting, as he were a mule loosed from the mill, and presently came back, accompanied by Shaykh Tahir himself, who no sooner saw me than he returned to his house and gave the man an hundred thousand dinars which he took and went away blessing me. Then the old man came up and embraced me and wept, saying, “O my lord, where hast thou been absent all this while? Indeed, my daughter hath been killed by reason of her separation from thee; but come with me into the house.” So we entered and he prostrated himself in gratitude to the Almighty, saying, “Praised be Allah who hath reunited us with thee!” Then he went in to his daughter and said to her, “The Lord hath healed thee of this sickness;” and said she, “O my papa, I shall never be whole of my sickness, save I look upon the face of Abu al-Hasan.” Quoth he, “An thou wilt eat a morsel and go to the Hammam, I will bring thee in company with him.” Asked she, “Is it true that thou sayst?”; and he answered, “By the Great God, ’tis true!” She rejoined, “By Allah, if I look upon his face, I shall have no need of eating!” Then said he to his page, “Bring in thy lord.” Thereupon I entered, and when she saw me, O Prince of True Believers, she fell down in a swoon, and presently coming to herself, recited this couplet:—
Yea, Allah hath joinèd the parted twain, ✿ When no thought they thought e’er to meet again.
Then she sat upright and said, “By Allah, O my lord, I had not deemed to see thy face ever more, save it were in a dream!” So she embraced me and wept, and said, “O Abu al-Hasan, now will I eat and drink.” The old man her sire rejoiced to hear these words and they brought her meat and drink and we ate and drank, O Commander of the Faithful. After this, I abode with them awhile, till she was restored to her former beauty, when her father sent for the Kazi and the witnesses and bade write out the marriage-contract between her and me and made a mighty great bride-feast; and she is my wife to this day and this is my son by her.” So saying he went away and returned with a boy of rare beauty and symmetry of form and favour to whom said he, “Kiss the ground before the Commander of the Faithful.” He kissed ground before the Caliph, who marvelled at his beauty and glorified his Creator; after which Al-Rashid departed, he and his company, saying, “O Ja’afar, verily, this is none other than a marvellous thing, never saw I nor heard I aught more wondrous.” When he was seated in the palace of the Caliphate, he cried, “O Masrur!” who replied, “Here am I, O my lord!” Then said he, “Bring the year’s tribute of Bassorah and Baghdad and Khorasan, and set it in this recess.[[296]]” Accordingly he laid the three tributes together and they were a vast sum of money, whose tale none might tell save Allah. Then the Caliph bade draw a curtain before the recess and said to Ja’afar, “Fetch me Abu al-Hasan.” Replied Ja’afar, “I hear and obey,” and going forth, returned presently with the Omani, who kissed ground before the Caliph, fearing lest he had sent for him because of some fault that he had committed when he was with him in his house. Then said Al-Rashid, “Harkye, O Omani!” and he replied, “Adsum, O Prince of True Believers! May Allah ever bestow his favours upon thee!” Quoth the Caliph, “Draw back yonder curtain.” Thereupon Abu al-Hasan drew back the curtain from the recess and was confounded and perplexed at the mass of money he saw there. Said Al-Rashid, “O Abu al-Hasan, whether is the more, this money or that thou didst lose by the amulet[[297]]?”; and he answered, “This is many times the greater, O Commander of the Faithful!” Quoth the Caliph, “Bear witness, all ye who are present, that I give this money to this young man.” So Abu al-Hasan kissed ground and was abashed and wept before the Caliph for excess of joy. Now when he wept, the tears ran down from his eyelids upon his cheeks and the blood returned to its place and his face became like the moon on the night of its fulness. Whereupon quoth the Caliph, “There is no god but the God! Glory be to Him who decreeth change upon change and is Himself the Everlasting who changeth not!” Saying these words, he bade fetch a mirror and showed Abu al-Hasan his face therein, which when he saw, he prostrated himself, in gratitude to the Most High Lord. Then the Caliph bade transport the money to Abu al-Hasan’s house and charged the young man not to absent himself from him, so he might enjoy his company as a cup-companion. Accordingly he paid him frequent visits, till Al-Rashid departed to the mercy of Almighty Allah; and glory be to Him who dieth not the Lord of the Seen and the Unseen! And among tales they tell is one touching
[276]. i.e. Ishak of Mosul, for whom see vol. iv. [119]. The Bresl. Edit. has Fazíl for Fazl.
[277]. Abu Dalaf al-Ijili, a well-known soldier equally famed for liberality and culture.
[278]. Arab. “Takhmísh,” alluding to the familiar practice of tearing face and hair in grief for a loss, a death, etc.
[279]. i.e. When he is in the very prime of life and able to administer fiers coups de canif.
For ladies e’en of most uneasy virtue
Prefer a spouse whose age is short of thirty.
Don Juan 1. 62.
[280]. Arab. “Lázuward:” see vol. iii. [33]
[281]. Arab. “Sidillah.” The Bresl. Edit. (v. 99), has, “a couch of ivory and ebony, whereon was that which befitted it of mattresses and cushions * * * * and on it five damsels.”
[282]. i.e. As she untunes the lute by “pinching” the strings over-excitedly with her right, her other hand retunes it by turning the pegs.
[283]. i.e. The slim cupbearer (Zephyr) and fair-faced girl (Moon) handed round the bubbling bowl (star).
[284]. Arab. “Al-Sath” whence the Span. Azotea. The lines that follow are from the Bresl. Edit. v. 110.
[285]. This “’Ar’ar” is probably the Callitris quadrivalvis whose resin (“Sandarac”) is imported as varnish from African Mogador to England. Also called the Thuja, it is of cypress shape, slow growing and finely veined in the lower part of the base. Most travellers are agreed that it is the Citrus-tree of Roman Mauritania, concerning which Pliny (xiii. 29) gives curious details, a single table costing from a million sesterces (£900) to 1,400,000. For other details see p. 95. “Morocco and the Moors,” by my late friend Dr. Leared (London: Sampson Low, 1876).
[286]. i.e. Kings might sigh for her in vain.
[287]. These lines are in vol. viii. [279]. I quote Mr. Payne.
[288]. A most unsavoury comparison to a Persian who always connects camphor with the idea of a corpse.
[289]. Arab. “Ilà má sháa’ lláh” i.e. as long as you like.
[290]. i.e. of gramarye.
[291]. Arab. “Ta’wíz” = the Arab Tilasm, our Talisman, a charm, an amulet; and in India mostly a magic square. The subject is complicated and occupies in Herklots some sixty pages, 222–284.
[292]. The Bul. and Mac. Edits. give the Princess’s malady, in error, as Dáa al-Sudá’ (megrims), instead of Dáa al-Sar’ (epilepsy), as in the Bresl. Edit. The latter would mean that she is possessed by a demon, again the old Scriptural fancy (see vol. v. [28]). The subject is highly fitted for romance but not for a “serious” book which ought to know better.
[293]. Arab Al-’Áriz = the demon who possessed her.
[294]. i.e. He hath renounced his infamous traffic.
[295]. Alluding to the favourite Eastern saying, “The poor man hath no life.”
[296]. In this and the following lines some change is necessary for the Bresl. and Mac. texts are very defective. The Arabic word here translated “recess” is “Aywán,” prop. a hall, an open saloon.
[297]. i.e. by selling it for thirty thousand gold pieces, when he might have got a million for it.
IBRAHIM AND JAMILAH.[[298]]
Al-Khasíb,[[299]] Wazir of Egypt, had a son named Ibrahím, than whom there was none goodlier, and of his fear for him, he suffered him not to go forth, save to the Friday prayers. One day, as the youth was returning from the mosque, he came upon an old man, with whom were many books; so he lighted down from his horse and seating himself beside him, began to turn over the tomes and examine them. In one of them he espied the semblance of a woman which all but spoke, never was seen on the earth’s face one more beautiful; and as this captivated his reason and confounded his wit, he said to the old man, “O Shaykh, sell me this picture.” The bookseller kissed ground between his hands and said, “O my lord, ’tis thine without price.[[300]]” Ibrahim gave him an hundred dinars and taking the book in which was the picture, fell to gazing upon it and weeping night and day, abstaining from meat and drink and sleep. Then said he in his mind, “An I ask the bookseller of the painter of this picture, haply he will tell me; and if the original be living, I will seek access to her; but, if it be only a picture, I will leave doting upon it and plague myself no more for a thing which hath no real existence.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-third Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the youth Ibrahim said in his mind, “An I ask the bookseller of the painter of this picture, haply he will tell me; and, if it be only a picture, I will leave doting upon it and plague myself no more for a thing which hath no real existence.” So on the next Friday he betook himself to the bookseller, who sprang up to receive him, and said to him, “Oh uncle, tell me who painted this picture.” He replied, “O my lord, a man of the people of Baghdad painted it, by name Abu al-Kásim al-Sandaláni who dwelleth in a quarter called Al-Karkh; but I know not of whom it is the portraiture.” So Ibrahim left him without acquainting any of his household with his case, and returned to the palace, after praying the Friday prayers. Then he took a bag and filling it with gold and gems to the value of thirty thousand dinars, waited till the morning, when he went out, without telling any, and presently overtook a caravan. Here he saw a Badawi and asked him, “O uncle, what distance is between me and Baghdad?”; and the other answered, “O my son, where art thou, and where is Baghdad[[301]]? Verily, between thee and it is two months’ journey.” Quoth Ibrahim, “O nuncle, an thou wilt guide me to Baghdad, I will give thee an hundred dinars and this mare under me that is worth other thousand gold pieces;” and quoth the Badawi, “Allah be witness of what we say! Thou shalt not lodge this night but with me.” So Ibrahim agreed to this and passed the night with him. At break of dawn, the Badawi took him and fared on with him in haste by a near road, in his greed for the mare and the promised good; nor did they leave wayfaring till they came to the walls of Baghdad, when said the wildling, “Praised be Allah for safety! O my lord, this is Baghdad.” Whereat Ibrahim rejoiced with exceeding joy and alighting from the mare, gave her to the Desert-man, together with the hundred dinars. Then he took the bag and entering the city walked on, enquiring for the quarter Al-Karkh and the station of the merchants, till Destiny drave him to a by-way, wherein were ten houses, five fronting five, and at the farther end was a two-leaved door with a silver ring. By the gate stood two benches of marble, spread with the finest carpets, and on one of them sat a man of handsome aspect and reverend, clad in sumptuous clothing and attended by five Mamelukes like moons. When the youth Ibrahim saw the street, he knew it by the description the bookseller had given him; so he salamed to the man, who returned his salutation and bidding him welcome, made him sit down and asked him of his case. Quoth Ibrahim, “I am a stranger man and desire of thy favour that thou look me out a house in this street where I may take up my abode.” With this the other cried out, saying, “Ho, Ghazálah[[302]]!”; and there came forth to him a slave-girl, who said, “At thy service, O my lord!” Said her master, “Take some servants and fare ye all and every to such a house and clean it and furnish it with whatso is needful for this handsome youth.” So she went forth and did his bidding; whilst the old man took the youth and showed him the house; and he said, “O my lord, how much may be the rent of this house?” The other answered, “O bright of face, I will take no rent of thee whilst thou abidest therein.” Ibrahim thanked him for this and the old man called another slave-girl, whereupon there came forth to him a damsel like the sun, to whom said he, “Bring chess.” So she brought it and one of the servants set the cloth;[[303]] whereupon said the Shaykh to Ibrahim, “Wilt thou play with me?”; and he answered, “Yes.” So they played several games and Ibrahim beat him, when his adversary exclaimed, “Well done, O youth! Thou art indeed perfect in qualities. By Allah, there is not one in Baghdad can beat me, and yet thou hast beaten me!” Now when they had made ready the house and furnished it with all that was needful, the old man delivered the keys to Ibrahim and said to him, “O my lord, wilt thou not enter my place and eat of my bread?” He assented and walking in with him, found it a handsome house and a goodly, decorated with gold and full of all manner pictures and furniture galore and other things, such as tongue faileth to set out. The old man welcomed him and called for food, whereupon they brought a table of the make of Sana’a of Al-Yaman and spread it with all manner rare viands, than which there was naught costlier nor more delicious. So Ibrahim ate his sufficiency, after which he washed his hands and proceeded to inspect the house and furniture. Presently, he turned to look for the leather bag, but found it not and said in himself, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! I have eaten a morsel worth a dirham or two and have lost a bag wherein is thirty thousand dinars’ worth: but I seek aid of Allah!” And he was silent and could not speak——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-fourth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the youth Ibrahim saw that his bag was lost, he was silent and could not speak for the greatness of his trouble. Presently his host brought the chess and said to him, “Wilt thou play with me?”; and he said, “Yes.” So they played and the old man beat him. Ibrahim cried, “Well done!” and left playing and rose: upon which his host asked him, “What aileth thee, O youth?” whereto he answered, “I want the bag.” Thereupon the Shaykh rose and brought it out to him, saying, “Here it is, O my lord. Wilt thou now return to playing with me?” “Yes,” replied Ibrahim. Accordingly they played and the young man beat him. Quoth the Shaykh, “When thy thought was occupied with the bag, I beat thee: but, now I have brought it back to thee, thou beatest me. But, tell me, O my son, what countryman art thou:” Quoth Ibrahim, “I am from Egypt,” and quoth the oldster, “And what is the cause of thy coming to Baghdad?”; whereupon Ibrahim brought out the portrait and said to him, “Know, O uncle, that I am the son of Al-Khasib, Wazir of Egypt, and I saw with a bookseller this picture, which bewildered my wit. I asked him who painted it and he said, “He who wrought it is a man, Abu al-Kasim al-Sandalani hight, who dwelleth in a street called the Street of Saffron in the Karkh quarter of Baghdad.” So I took with me somewhat of money and came hither alone, none knowing of my case; and I desire of the fulness of thy favour that thou direct me to Abu al-Kasim, so I may ask him of the cause of his painting this picture and whose portrait it is. And whatsoever he desireth of me, I will give him that same.” Said his host, “By Allah, O my son, I am Abu al-Kasim al-Sandalani, and this is a prodigious thing how Fate hath thus driven thee to me!” Now when Ibrahim heard these words, he rose to him and embraced him and kissed his head and hands, saying, “Allah upon thee, tell me whose portrait it is!” The other replied, “I hear and I obey,” and rising, opened a closet and brought out a number of books, wherein he had painted the same picture. Then said he, “Know, O my son, that the original of this portrait is my cousin, the daughter of my father’s brother, whose name is Abú al-Lays.[[304]] She dwelleth in Bassorah of which city her father is governor, and her name is Jamílah—the beautiful. There is not on the face of the earth a fairer than she; but she is averse from men and cannot hear the word ‘man’ pronounced in her presence. Now I once repaired to my uncle, to the intent that he should marry me to her, and was lavish of wealth to him; but he would not consent thereto: and when his daughter knew of this she was indignant and sent to me to say, amongst other things:—An thou have wit, tarry not in this town; else wilt thou perish and thy sin shall be on thine own neck.[[305]] For she is a virago of viragoes. Accordingly I left Bassorah, broken-hearted, and limned this likeness of her in books and scattered them abroad in various lands, so haply they might fall into the hands of a comely youth like thyself and he contrive access to her and peradventure she might fall in love with him, purposing to take a promise of him that, when he should have possession of her, he would show her to me, though I look but for a moment from afar off.” When Ibrahim son of Al-Khasib heard these words, he bowed his head awhile in thought and Al-Sandalani said to him, “O my son, I have not seen in Baghdad a fairer than thou, and meseems that, when she seeth thee, she will love thee. Art thou willing, therefore, in case thou be united with her and get possession of her, to show her to me, if I look but for a moment from afar?” Ibrahim replied, “Yes;” and the painter rejoined, “This being so, tarry with me till thou set out.” But the youth retorted, “I cannot tarry longer; for my heart with love of her is all afire.” “Have patience three days,” said the Shaykh, “till I fit thee out a ship, wherein thou mayst fare to Bassorah.” Accordingly he waited whilst the old man equipped him a craft and stored therein all that he needed of meat and drink and so forth. When the three days were past, he said to Ibrahim, “Make thee ready for the voyage; for I have prepared thee a packet-boat furnished with all thou requirest. The craft is my property and the seamen are of my servants. In the vessel is what will suffice thee till thy return, and I have charged the crew to serve thee till thou come back in safety.” Thereupon Ibrahim farewelled his host and embarking, sailed down the river till he came to Bassorah, where he pulled out an hundred dinars for the sailors, but they said, “We have gotten our hire of our lord.” However he replied, “Take this by way of largesse; and I will not acquaint him therewith.” So they took it and blessed him. Then the youth landed and entering the town asked, “Where do the merchants lodge?” and was answered, “In a Khan called the Khan of Hamadán.”[[306]] So he walked to the market wherein stood the Khan, and all eyes were fixed upon him and men’s sight was attracted to him by reason of his exceeding beauty and loveliness. He entered the caravanserai, with one of the sailors in his company; and, asking for the porter, was directed to an aged man of reverend aspect. He saluted him and the doorkeeper returned his greeting; after which Ibrahim said to him, “O uncle, hast thou a nice chamber?” He replied, “Yes,” and taking him and the sailor, opened to them a handsome room decorated with gold, and said, “O youth, this chamber befitteth thee.” Ibrahim pulled out two dinars and gave them to him, saying, “Take these to key-money.”[[307]] And the porter took them and blessed him. Then the youth Ibrahim sent the sailor back to the ship and entered the room, where the doorkeeper abode with him and served him, saying, “O my lord, thy coming hath brought us joy!” Ibrahim gave him a dinar, and said, “Buy us herewith bread and meat and sweetmeats and wine.” Accordingly the doorkeeper went to the market; and, buying ten dirhams’ worth of victual, brought it back to Ibrahim and gave him the other ten dirhams. But he cried to him, “Spend them on thyself;” whereat the porter rejoiced with passing joy. Then he ate a scone with a little kitchen[[308]] and gave the rest to the concierge, adding, “Carry this to the people of thy household.” The porter carried it to his family and said to them, “Methinketh there is not on the face of the earth a more generous than the young man who has come to lodge with us this day, nor yet a pleasanter than he. An he abide with us, we shall grow rich.” Then he returned to Ibrahim and found him weeping; so he sat down and began to rub[[309]] his feet and kiss them, saying, “O my lord, wherefore weepest thou? May Allah not make thee weep!” Said Ibrahim, “O uncle, I have a mind to drink with thee this night;” and the porter replied, “Hearing and obeying!” So he gave him five dinars and said, “Buy us fresh fruit and wine;” and presently added other five, saying, “With these buy also for us dessert[[310]] and flowers and five fat fowls and bring me a lute.” The doorkeeper went out and, buying what he had ordered, said to his wife, “Strain this wine and cook us this food and look thou dress it daintily, for this young man overwhelmeth us with his bounties.” She did as he bade her, to the utmost of desire; and he took the victuals and carried them to Ibrahim son of the Sultan.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that then they ate and drank and made merry, and Ibrahim wept and repeated the following verses:—
O my friend! an I rendered my life, my sprite, ✿ My wealth and whatever the world can unite;
Nay, th’ Eternal Garden and Paradise[[311]] ✿ For an hour of Union my heart would buy’t!
Then he sobbed a great sob and fell down a-swoon. The porter sighed, and when he came to himself, he said to him, “O my lord, what is it gars thee weep and who is she to whom thou alludest in these verses? Indeed, she cannot be but as dust to thy feet.” But Ibrahim arose and for all reply brought out a parcel of the richest raiment that women wear and said to him, “Take this to thy Harim.” So he carried it to his wife and she returned with him to the young man’s lodging and behold, she found him weeping, quoth the doorkeeper to him, “Verily, thou breakest our hearts! Tell us what fair one thou desirest, and she shall be naught save thy handmaid.” Quoth he, “O uncle, know that I am the son of Al-Khasib, Wazir of Egypt, and I am enamoured of Jamilah, daughter of Abu al-Lays the Governor.” Exclaimed the porters wife, “Allah! Allah! O my brother, leave this talk, lest any hear of us and we perish. Verily there is not on earth’s face a more masterful than she, nor may any name to her the word ‘man,’ for she is averse from men. Wherefore, O my son, turn from her to other than her.” Now when Ibrahim heard this, he wept with sore weeping and the doorkeeper said to him, “I have nothing save my life; but that I will risk for thy love and find thee a means of winning thy will.” Then the twain went out from him, and on the morrow he betook himself to the Hammam and donned a suit of royal raiment, after which he returned to his lodging, when behold, the porter and his wife came in to him and said, “Know, O my lord, that there is a humpbacked tailor here who seweth for the lady Jamilah. Go thou to him and acquaint him with thy case; haply he will show thee the way of attaining thine aim.” So the youth Ibrahim arose and betaking himself to the shop of the humpbacked tailor, went in to him and found with him ten Mamelukes as they were moons. He saluted them with the salam, and they returned his greeting and bade him welcome and made him sit down; and indeed they rejoiced in him and were amazed at his charms and loveliness, especially the hunchback who was confounded at his beauty of form and favour. Presently he said to the Gobbo, “I desire that thou sew me up my pocket;” and the tailor took a needleful of silk and sewed up his pocket which he had torn purposely; whereupon Ibrahim gave him five dinars and returned to his lodging. Quoth the tailor, “What thing have I done for this youth, that he should give me five gold pieces?” And he passed the night, pondering his beauty and generosity. And when morning morrowed Ibrahim repaired to the shop and saluted the tailor, who returned his salam and welcomed him and made much of him. Then he sat down and said to the hunchback, “O uncle, sew up my pocket, for I have rent it again.” Replied the tailor, “On my head and eyes, O my son,” and sewed it up; whereupon Ibrahim gave him ten ducats and he took them, amazed at his beauty and generosity. Then said he, “By Allah, O youth, for this conduct of thine needs must be a cause, this is no matter of sewing up a pocket. But tell me the truth of thy case. An thou be in love with one of these boys,[[312]] by Allah, there is not among them a comelier than thou, for they are each and every as the dust at thy feet; and behold, they are all thy slaves and at thy command. Or if it be other than this, tell me.” Replied Ibrahim, “O uncle, this is no place for talk, for my case is wondrous and my affair marvellous.” Rejoined the tailor, “An it be so, come with me to a place apart.” So saying, he rose up in haste and took the youth by the hand and carrying him into a chamber behind the shop, said, “Now tell me thy tale, O youth!” Accordingly Ibrahim related his story first and last to the tailor, who was amazed at his speech and cried, “O youth, fear Allah for thyself:[[313]] indeed she of whom thou speakest is a virago and averse from men. Wherefore, O my brother, do thou guard thy tongue, else thou wilt destroy thyself.” When Ibrahim heard the hunchback’s words, he wept with sore weeping and clinging to the tailor’s skirts said, “Help me, O my uncle, or I am a dead man; for I have left my kingdom and the kingdom of my father and grandfather and am become a stranger in the lands and lonely; nor can I endure without her.” When the tailor saw how it was with him, he pitied him and said, “O my son, I have but my life and that I will venture for thy love, for thou makest my heart ache. But by to-morrow I will contrive thee somewhat whereby thy heart shall be solaced.” Ibrahim blessed him and returning to the khan, told the doorkeeper what the hunchback had said, and he answered, “Indeed, he hath dealt kindly with thee.” Next morning, the youth donned his richest dress and taking a purse of gold, repaired to the Gobbo and saluted him. Then he sat down and said, “O uncle, keep thy word with me.” Quoth the hunchback, “Arise forthright and take thee three fat fowls and three ounces[[314]] of sugar-candy and two small jugs which do thou fill with wine; also a cup. Lay all these in a budget[[315]] and to-morrow, after the morning-prayers, take boat with them, saying to the boatman:—I would have thee row me down the river below Bassorah. An he say to thee, “I cannot go farther than a parasang” do thou answer:—As thou wilt; but, when he shall have come so far, lure him on with money to carry thee farther; and the first flower-garden thou wilt descry after this will be that of the lady Jamilah. Go up to the gate as soon as thou espiest it and there thou wilt see two high steps, carpeted with brocade, and seated thereon a Quasimodo like me. Do thou complain to him of thy case and crave his favour: belike he will have compassion on thy condition and bring thee to the sight of her, though but for a moment from afar. This is all I can do for thee; and unless he be moved to pity for thee, we be dead men, I and thou. This then is my rede and the matter rests with the Almighty.” Quoth Ibrahim, “I seek aid of Allah; whatso He willeth becometh; and there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah!” Then he left the hunchback tailor and returned to his lodging where, taking the things his adviser had named, he laid them in a bag. On the morrow, as soon as it was day, he went down to Tigris bank, where he found a boatman asleep; so he awoke him and giving him ten sequins, bade him row him down the river below Bassorah. Quoth the man, “O my lord, it must be on condition that I go no farther than a parasang; for if I pass that distance by a span, I am a lost man, and thou too.” And quoth Ibrahim, “Be it as thou wilt.” Thereupon he took him and dropped down the river with him till he drew near the flower-garden, when he said to him, “O my son, I can go no farther; for, if I pass this limit, we are both dead men.” Hereat Ibrahim pulled out other ten dinars and gave them to him, saying, “Take this spending-money and better thy case therewithal.” The boatman was ashamed to refuse him and fared on with him crying, “I commit the affair to Allah the Almighty!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-sixth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the youth Ibrahim gave the boatman other ten dinars, the man took them, saying, “I commit the affair to Allah the Almighty!” and fared on with him down stream. When they came to the flower-garden, the youth sprang out of the boat, in his joy, a spring of a spear’s cast from the land, and cast himself down, whilst the boatman turned and fled. Then Ibrahim fared forward and found all as it had been described by the Gobbo: he also saw the garden-gate open, and in the porch a couch of ivory, whereon sat a humpbacked man of pleasant presence, clad in gold-laced clothes and hending in hand a silvern mace plated with gold. So he hastened up to him and seizing his hand kissed it; whereupon asked the hunchback, “Who art thou and whence comest thou and who brought thee hither, O my son?” And indeed, when the man saw Ibrahim Khasib-son, he was amazed at his beauty. He answered, “O uncle, I am an ignorant lad and a stranger;” and he wept. The hunchback had pity on him and taking him up on the couch, wiped away his tears and said to him, “No harm shall come to thee. An thou be in debt, may Allah settle thy debt: and if thou be in fear, may Allah appease thy fear!” Replied Ibrahim, “O uncle, I am neither in fear nor am I in debt, but have money in plenty, thanks to Allah.” Rejoined the other, “Then, O my son, what is thy need that thou venturest thyself and thy loveliness to a place wherein is destruction?” So he told him his story and disclosed to him his case, whereupon the man bowed his head earthwards awhile, then said to him, “Was he who directed thee to me the humpbacked tailor?” “Yes,” answered Ibrahim, and the keeper said, “This is my brother, and he is a blessed man!” presently adding, “But, O my son, had not affection for thee sunk into my heart, and had I not taken compassion on thee, verily thou wert lost, thou and my brother and the doorkeeper of the Khan and his wife. For know that this flower-garden hath not its like on the face of the earth and that it is called the Garden of the Wild Heifer,[[316]] nor hath any entered it in all my life long, save the Sultan and myself and its mistress Jamilah; and I have dwelt here twenty years and never yet saw any else attain to this stead. Every forty days the Lady Jamilah cometh hither in a bark and landeth in the midst of her women, under a canopy of satin, whose skirts ten damsels hold up with hooks of gold, whilst she entereth, and I see nothing of her. Natheless, I have but my life and I will risk it for the sake of thee.” Herewith Ibrahim kissed his hand and the keeper said to him, “Sit by me, till I devise somewhat for thee.” Then he took him by the hand and carried him into the flower-garden which, when he saw, he deemed it Eden, for therein were trees intertwining and palms high towering and waters welling and birds with various voices carolling. Presently, the keeper brought him to a domed pavilion and said to him, “This is where the Lady Jamilah sitteth.” So he examined it and found it of the rarest of pleasances, full of all manner paintings in gold and lapis lazuli. It had four doors, whereto man mounted by five steps, and in its centre was a cistern of water, to which led down steps of gold all set with precious stones. Amiddlewards the basin was a fountain of gold, with figures, large and small, and water jetting in gerbes from their mouths; and when, by reason of the issuing forth of the water, they attuned themselves to various tones, it seemed to the hearer as though he were in Eden. Round the pavilion ran a channel of water, turning a Persian wheel[[317]] whose buckets[[318]] were silvern covered with brocade. To the left of the pavilion[[319]] was a lattice of silver, giving upon a green park, wherein were all manner wild cattle and gazelles and hares, and on the right hand was another lattice, overlooking a meadow full of birds of all sorts, warbling in various voices and bewildering the hearers’ wits. Seeing all this the youth was delighted and sat down in the doorway by the gardener, who said to him, “How seemeth to thee my garden?” Quoth Ibrahim, “’Tis the Paradise of the world!” Whereat the gardener laughed. Then he rose and was absent awhile and presently returned with a tray, full of fowls and quails and other dainties including sweetmeats of sugar, which he set before Ibrahim, saying, “Eat thy sufficiency.” So he ate his fill, whereat the keeper rejoiced and cried, “By Allah, this is the fashion of Kings and sons of Kings[[320]]!” Then said he, “O Ibrahim, what hast thou in yonder bag?” Accordingly he opened it before him and the keeper said, “Carry it with thee; ’twill serve thee when the Lady Jamilah cometh; for when once she is come, I shall not be able to bring thee food.” Then he rose and taking the youth by the hand, brought him to a place fronting the pavilion, where he made him an arbour[[321]] among the trees and said to him, “Get thee up here, and when she cometh thou wilt see her and she will not see thee. This is the best I can do for thee and on Allah be our dependence! Whenas she singeth, drink thou to her singing, and whenas she departeth thou shalt return in safety whence thou camest, Inshallah!” Ibrahim thanked him and would have kissed his hand, but he forbade him. Then the youth laid the bag in the arbour and the keeper said to him, “O Ibrahim, walk about and take thy pleasure in the garth and eat of its fruits, for thy mistress’s coming is appointed to be to-morrow.” So he solaced himself in the garden and ate of its fruits; after which he nighted with the keeper. And when morning morrowed and showed its sheen and shone, he prayed the dawn-prayer and presently the keeper came to him with a pale face, and said to him, “Rise, O my son, and go up into the arbour: for the slave-girls are come to order the place, and she cometh after them;”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-seventh Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the keeper came to Ibrahim Khasib-son in the Garden he said to him, “Rise, O my son, and go up into the arbour; for the slave-girls are come to order the place and she cometh after them. So beware lest thou spit or sneeze or blow thy nose[[322]]; else we are dead men, I and thou.” Hereupon Ibrahim rose and went up into his nest, whilst the keeper fared forth, saying, “Allah grant thee safety, O my son!” Presently behold, up came four slave-girls, whose like none ever saw, and entering the pavilion, doffed their outer dresses and washed it. Then they sprinkled it with rose-water and incensed it with ambergris and aloes-wood and spread it with brocade. After these came fifty other damsels, with instruments of music, and amongst them Jamilah, within a canopy of red brocade, whose skirts the handmaidens bore up with hooks of gold, till she had entered the pavilion, so that Ibrahim saw naught of her nor of her raiment. So he said to himself, “By Allah, all my travail is lost! But needs must I wait to see how the case will be.” Then the damsels brought meat and drink and they ate and drank and washed their hands, after which they set her a royal chair and she sat down; and all played on instruments of music and with ravishing voices incomparably sang. Presently, out ran an old woman, a duenna, and clapped hands and danced, whilst the girls pulled her about, till the curtain was lifted and forth came Jamilah laughing. Ibrahim gazed at her and saw that she was clad in costly robes and ornaments, and on her head was a crown set with pearls and gems. About her long fair neck she wore a necklace of unions and her waist was clasped with a girdle of chrysolite bugles, with tassels of rubies and pearls. The damsels kissed ground before her, and, “When I considered her” (quoth Ibrahim), “I took leave of my senses and wit and I was dazed and my thought was confounded for amazement at the sight of loveliness whose like is not on the face of the earth. So I fell into a swoon and coming to myself, weeping-eyed, recited these two couplets:—
I see thee and close not mine eyes for fear ✿ Lest their lids prevent me beholding thee:
An I gazed with mine every glance these eyne ✿ Ne’er could sight all the loveliness moulding thee.”
Then said the old Kahramánah[[323]] to the girls, “Let ten of you arise and dance and sing.” And Ibrahim when looking at them said in himself, “I wish the lady Jamilah would dance.” When the handmaidens had made an end of their pavane, they gathered round the Princess and said to her, “O my lady, we long for thee to dance amongst us, so the measure of our joy may be fulfilled, for never saw we a more delicious day than this.” Quoth Ibrahim to himself, “Doubtless the gates of Heaven are open[[324]] and Allah hath granted my prayer.” Then the damsels bussed her feet and said to her, “By Allah, we never saw thee broadened of breast as to-day!” Nor did they cease exciting her, till she doffed her outer dress and stood in a shift of cloth of gold,[[325]] broidered with various jewels, showing breasts which stood out like pomegranates and unveiling a face as it were the moon on the night of fulness. Then she began to dance, and Ibrahim beheld motions he had never in his life seen their like, for she showed such wondrous skill and marvellous invention, that she made men forget the dancing of bubbles in wine-cups and called to mind the inclining of the turbands from head[[326]]-tops: even as saith of her the poet[[327]]:—
A dancer whose form is like branch of Bán! ✿ Flies my soul well nigh as his steps I greet:
While he dances no foot stands still and meseems ✿ That the fire of my heart is beneath his feet.
And as quoth another[[328]]:—
A dancer whose figure is like a willow-branch: my soul almost quitteth me at the sight of her movements.
No foot can remain stationary at her dancing, she is as though the fire of my heart were beneath her feet.
Quoth Ibrahim:—As I gazed upon her, she chanced to look up and caught sight of me whereupon her face changed and she said to her women, “Sing ye till I come back to you.” Then, taking up a knife half a cubit long, she made towards me, crying, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” Now when I saw this, I well-nigh lost my wits; but, whenas she drew near me and face met face, the knife dropped from her hand, and she exclaimed, “Glory to Him who changeth men’s hearts!” Then said she to me, “O youth, be of good cheer, for thou art safe from what thou dost fear!” Whereupon I fell to weeping, and she to wiping away my tears with her hand and saying, “O youth, tell me who thou art, and what brought thee hither.” I kissed the ground before her and seized her skirt; and she said, “No harm shall come to thee; for, by Allah, no male hath ever filled mine eyes[[329]] but thyself! Tell me, then, who thou art.” So I recited to her my story from first to last, whereat she marvelled and said to me, “O my lord, I conjure thee by Allah, tell me if thou be Ibrahim bin al-Khasib?” I replied, “Yes!” and she threw herself upon me, saying, “O my lord, ’twas thou madest me averse from men; for, when I heard that there was in the land of Egypt a youth than whom there was none more beautiful on earth’s face, I fell in love with thee by report, and my heart became enamoured of thee, for that which reached me of thy passing comeliness, so that I was, in respect of thee, even as saith the poet:—
Mine ear forewent mine eye in loving him; ✿ For ear shall love before the eye at times.
“So praised be Allah who hath shown thy face! But, by the Almighty, had it been other than thou, I had crucified the keeper of the garden and the porter of the Khan and the tailor and him who had recourse to them!” And presently she added, “But how shall I contrive for somewhat thou mayst eat, without the knowledge of my women?” Quoth I, “With me is somewhat we may eat and drink;” and I opened the bag before her. She took a fowl and began to morsel me and I to morsel her; which when I saw, it seemed to me that this was a dream. Then I brought out wine and we drank, what while the damsels sang on; nor did they leave to do thus from morn to noon, when she rose and said, “Go now and get thee a boat and await me in such a place, till I come to thee: for I have no patience left to brook severance.” I replied, “O my lady, I have with me a ship of my own, whose crew are in my hire, and they await me.” Rejoined she, “This is as we would have it,” and returning to her women,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-eighth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Lady Jamilah returned to her women, she said to them, “Come, let us go back to our palace.” They replied, “Why should we return now, seeing that we use to abide here three days?” Quoth she, “I feel an exceeding oppression in myself, as though I were sick, and I fear lest this increase upon me.”[[330]] So they answered, “We hear and obey,” and donning their walking-dresses went down to the river-bank and embarked in a boat; whereupon behold, the keeper of the garden came up to Ibrahim and said to him, knowing not what had happened, “O Ibrahim, thou hast not had the luck to enjoy the sight of her, and I fear lest she have seen thee, for ’tis her wont to tarry here three days.” Replied Ibrahim, “She saw me not nor I her; for she came not forth of the pavilion.”[[331]] Rejoined the keeper, “True, O my son, for, had she seen thee, we were both dead men: but abide with me till she come again next week, and thou shalt see her and take thy fill of looking at her.” Replied the Prince, “O my lord, I have with me money and fear for it: I also left men behind me and I dread lest they take advantage of my absence.”[[332]] He retorted, “O my son ’tis grievous to me to part with thee;” and he embraced and farewelled him. Then Ibrahim returned to the Khan where he lodged, and foregathering with the doorkeeper, took of him all his property and the porter said, “Good news, Inshallah!”[[333]] But Ibrahim said, “I have found no way to my want, and now I am minded to return to my people.” Whereupon the porter wept; then taking up his baggage, he carried them to the ship and abade him adieu. Ibrahim repaired to the place which Jamilah had appointed him and awaited her there till it grew dark, when, behold, she came up, disguised as a bully-boy with rounded beard and waist bound with a girdle. In one hand she held a bow and arrows and in the other a bared blade, and she asked him, “Art thou Ibrahim, son of Al-Khasib, lord of Egypt?” “He I am,” answered the Prince; and she said, “What ne’er-do-well art thou, who comest to debauch the daughters of Kings? Come: speak with the Sultan.”[[334]] Therewith (quoth Ibrahim) I fell down in a swoon and the sailors died[[335]] in their skins for fear; but, when she saw what had betided me, she pulled off her beard and throwing down her sword, ungirdled her waist whereupon I knew her for the Lady Jamilah and said to her, “By Allah, thou hast rent my heart in sunder!”[[336]] adding to the boatmen, “Hasten the vessel’s speed.” So they shook out the sail and putting off, fared on with all diligence; nor was it many days ere we made Baghdad, where suddenly we saw a ship lying by the river-bank. When her sailors saw us, they cried out to our crew, saying, “Ho, such an one and such an one, we give you joy of your safety!” Then they drave their ship against our craft and I looked and in the other boat beheld Abu al-Kasim al-Sandalani who when he saw us exclaimed, “This is what I sought: go ye in God’s keeping; as for me, I have a need to be satisfied!” Then he turned to me and said, “Praised be Allah for safety! Hast thou accomplished thine errand?” I replied, “Yes!” Now Abu al-Kasim had a flambeau before him; so he brought it near our boat,[[337]] and when Jamilah saw him, she was troubled and her colour changed: but, when he saw her, he said, “Fare ye in Allah’s safety. I am bound to Bassorah, on business for the Sultan; but the gift is for him who is present.”[[338]] Then he brought out a box of sweetmeats, wherein was Bhang and threw it into our boat: whereupon quoth I to Jamilah, “O coolth of mine eyes, eat of this.” But she wept and said, “O Ibrahim, wottest thou who that is?” and said I, “Yes, ’tis such an one.” Replied she, “He is my first cousin, son of my father’s brother[[339]] who sought me aforetime in marriage of my sire; but I would not accept of him. And now he is gone to Bassorah and most like he will tell my father of us.” I rejoined, “O my lady he will not reach Bassorah, till we are at Mosul.” But we knew not what lurked for us in the Secret Purpose. Then (continued Ibrahim) I ate of the sweetmeat, but hardly had it reached my stomach when I smote the ground with my head; and lay there till near dawn, when I sneezed and the Bhang issued from my nostrils. With this, I opened my eyes and found myself naked and cast out among ruins; so I buffeted my face and said in myself, “Doubtless this is a trick Al-Sandalani hath played me.” But I knew not whither I should wend, for I had upon me naught save my bag-trousers.[[340]] However, I rose and walked on a little, till I suddenly espied the Chief of Police coming towards me, with a posse of men with swords and targes;[[341]] whereat I took fright and seeing a ruined Hammam hid myself there. Presently, my foot stumbled upon something; so I put my hand to it, and it became befouled with blood. I wiped my hand upon my bag-trousers, unknowing what had befouled it, and put it out a second time, when it fell upon a corpse whose head came up in my hand. I threw it down, saying, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!”; and I took refuge in one of the corner-cabinets of the Hammam. Presently the Wali stopped at the bath-door and said, “Enter this place and search.” So ten of them entered with cressets, and I of my fear retired behind a wall and looking upon the corpse, saw it to be that of a young lady[[342]] with a face like the full moon; and her head lay on one side and her body clad in costly raiment on the other. When I saw this, my heart fluttered with affright. Then the Chief of Police entered and said, “Search the corners of the bath.” So they entered the place wherein I was, and one of them seeing me, came up hending in hand a knife half a cubit long. When he drew near me, he cried, “Glory be to God, the Creator of this fair face! O youth, whence art thou?” Then he took me by the hand and said, “O youth, why slewest thou this woman?” Said I, “By Allah, I slew her not, nor wot I who slew her, and I entered not this place but in fear of you!” And I told him my case, adding, “Allah upon thee, do me no wrong, for I am in concern for myself!” Then he took me and carried me to the Wali who, seeing the marks of blood on my hand said, “This needeth no proof: strike off his head!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Fifty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ibrahim continued:—Then they carried me before the Wali and he, seeing the bloodstains on my hand, cried, “This needeth no proof: strike off his head!” Now hearing these words, I wept with sore weeping the tears streaming from my eyes and recited these two couplets[[343]]:—
We trod the steps that for us were writ, ✿ And whose steps are written he needs must tread;
And whose death is decreed in one land to be ✿ He ne’er shall perish in other stead.
Then I sobbed a single sob and fell a-swoon; and the headsman’s heart was moved to ruth for me and he exclaimed, “By Allah, this is no murtherer’s face!” But the Chief said, “Smite his neck.” So they seated me on the rug of blood and bound my eyes; after which the sworder drew his sword and asking leave of the Wali, was about to strike off my head, whilst I cried out, “Alas, my strangerhood!” when lo and behold! I heard a noise of horse coming up and a voice calling aloud, “Leave him! Stay thy hand, O Sworder!” Now there was for this a wondrous reason and a marvellous cause; and ’twas thus. Al-Khasib, Wazir of Egypt, had sent his Head Chamberlain to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid with presents and a letter, saying, “My son hath been missing this year past, and I hear that he is in Baghdad; wherefore I crave of the bounty of the Viceregent of Allah that he make search for tidings of him and do his endeavour to find him and send him back to me with the Chamberlain.” When the Caliph read the missive, he commanded the Chief of Police to search out the truth of the matter, and he ceased not to enquire after Ibrahim, till it was told him that he was at Bassorah, whereupon he informed the Caliph, who wrote a letter to the viceroy and giving it to the Chamberlain of Egypt, bade him repair to Bassorah and take with him a company of the Wazir’s followers. So, of his eagerness to find the son of his lord, the Chamberlain set out forthright and happened by the way upon Ibrahim, as he stood on the rug of blood. When the Wali saw the Chamberlain, he recognised him and alighted to him and as he asked, “What young man is that and what is his case?” The Chief told him how the matter was and the Chamberlain said (and indeed he knew him not for the son of the Sultan[[344]]) “Verily this young man hath not the face of one who murthereth.” And he bade loose his bonds; so they loosed him and the Chamberlain said, “Bring him to me!” and they brought him, but the officer knew him not his beauty being all gone for the horrors he had endured. Then the Chamberlain said to him, “O youth, tell me thy case and how cometh this slain woman with thee.” Ibrahim looked at him and knowing him, said to him, “Woe to thee! Dost thou not know me? Am I not Ibrahim, son of thy lord? Haply thou art come in quest of me.” With this the Chamberlain considered him straitly and knowing him right well, threw himself at his feet; which when the Wali saw, his colour changed; and the Chamberlain cried to him, “Fie upon thee, O tyrant! Was it thine intent to slay the son of my master Al-Khasib, Wazir of Egypt?” The Chief of Police kissed his skirt, saying “O my lord,[[345]] how should I know him? We found him in this plight and saw the girl lying slain by his side.” Rejoined the Chamberlain, “Out on thee! Thou art not fit for the office. This is a lad of fifteen and he hath not slain a sparrow; so how should he be a murtherer? Why didst thou not have patience with him and question him of his case?” Then the Chamberlain and the Wali cried to the men, “Make search for the young lady’s murtherer.” So they re-entered the bath and finding him, brought him to the Chief of Police, who carried him to the Caliph and acquainted him with that which had occurred. Al-Rashid bade slay the slayer and sending for Ibrahim, smiled in his face and said to him, “Tell me thy tale and that which hath betided thee.” So he recounted to him his story from first to last, and it was grievous to the Caliph, who called Masrur his Sworder, and said to him, “Go straightway and fall upon the house of Abu al-Kasim al-Sandalani and bring me him and the young lady.” The eunuch went forth at once and breaking into the house, found Jamilah bound with her own hair and nigh upon death; so he loosed her and taking the painter, carried them both to the Caliph, who marvelled at Jamilah’s beauty. Then he turned to Al-Sandalani and said, “Take him and cut off his hands, wherewith he beat this young lady; then crucify him and deliver his monies and possessions to Ibrahim.” They did his bidding, and as they were thus, behold, in came Abu al-Lays governor of Bassorah, the Lady Jamilah’s father, seeking aid of the Caliph against Ibrahim bin al-Khasib Wazir of Egypt and complaining to him that the youth had taken his daughter. Quoth Al-Rashid, “He hath been the means of delivering her from torture and slaughter.” Then he sent for Ibrahim, and when he came, he said to Abu al-Lays, “Wilt thou not accept of this young man, son of the Soldan of Egypt, as husband to thy daughter?” Replied Abu al-Lays, “I hear and I obey Allah and thee, O Commander of the Faithful;” whereupon the Caliph summoned the Kazi and the witnesses and married the young lady to Ibrahim. Furthermore, he gave him all Al-Sandalani’s wealth and equipped him for his return to his own country, where he abode with Jamilah in the utmost of bliss and the most perfect of happiness, till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer of societies; and glory be to the Living who dieth not! They also relate, O auspicious King, a tale anent
[298]. The tale is not in the Bresl. Edit.
[299]. Al-Khasíb (= the fruitful) was the son of ’Abd al-Hamíd and intendant of the tribute of Egypt under Harun al-Rashid, but neither Lord nor Sultan. Lane (iii. 669) quotes three couplets in his honour by Abu Nowás from p. 119 of “Elmacini (Al-Makín) Historia Saracenica.”
If our camel visit not the land of Al-Khasib, what man after Al-Khasib shall they visit?
For generosity is not his neighbour; nor hath it sojourned near him; but generosity goeth wherever he goeth:
He is a man who purchaseth praise with his wealth, and who knoweth that the periods of Fortune revolve.
[300]. The old story “Alà júdi-k” = upon thy generosity, which means at least ten times the price.
[301]. i.e. The distance is enormous.
[302]. A gazelle; but here the slave-girl’s name.
[303]. See vol. ii. [104]. Herklots (Pl. vii. fig. 2) illustrates the cloth used in playing the Indian game, Pachísí. The “board” is rather European than Oriental, but it has of late years spread far and wide, especially the backgammon board.
[304]. i.e. “Father of the Lion.”
[305]. Or as we should say, “Thy blood will be on thine own head.”
[306]. Called after the famous town in Persian Mesopotamia which however is spelt with the lesser aspirate. See p. 144. The Geographical works of Sádik-i-Ispaháni, London; Oriental Transl. Fund, 1882. Hamdan (with the greater aspirate) and Hamdun mean only the member masculine, which may be a delicate piece of chaff for the gallery.
[307]. Arab. “Hulwán al-miftáh,” for which see vol. vii. [212]. Mr. Payne compares it with the French denier à Dieu, given to the concierge on like occasions.
[308]. Arab. ’Udm, a relish, the Scotch “kitchen,” Lat. Opsonium, Ital. Companatico and our “by-meat.” See vol. iv. [128].
[309]. Arab. “Kabasa” = he shampoo’d. See vol. ii. [17].
[310]. Arab. “Nukl.” See supra p. [177].
[311]. Arab. Jannat al-Khuld and Firdaus, two of the Heavens repeatedly noticed.
[312]. The naïveté is purely Horatian, that is South European versus North European.
[313]. i.e. “Have some regard for thy life.”
[314]. Arab. “Awák” plur. of Úkiyyah a word known throughout the Moslem East. As an ounce it weighs differently in every country and in Barbary (Mauritania) which we call Morocco, it is a nominal coin containing twelve Flús (fulús) now about = a penny. It is a direct descendant from the “Uk” or “Wuk” (ounce) of the hieroglyphs (See Sharpe’s Egypt or any other Manual) and first appeared in Europe as the Greek οὐγκία.
[315]. Arab. “Kárah” usually a large bag.
[316]. Arab. “Lúlúah,” which may mean the Union-pearl; but here used in the sense of “wild cow,” the bubalus antelope, alluding to the farouche nature of Miss Jamilah. We are also told infrà that the park was full of “Wuhúsh” = wild cattle.
[317]. Arab. “Sákiyah,” the venerable old Persian wheel, for whose music see Pilgrimage ii. 198. But “Sakiyah” is also applied, as here, to the water-channel which turns the wheel.
[318]. Arab. “Kawádís,” plur. of “Kádús,” the pots round the rim of the Persian wheel: usually they are of coarse pottery.
[319]. In the text “Sákiyah” a manifest error for “Kubbah.”
[320]. Easterns greatly respect a belle fourchette, especially when the eater is a lover.
[321]. Arab. “’Aríshah,” a word of many meanings, tent, nest, vine-trellis, etc.
[322]. To spit or blow the nose in good society is “vulgar.” Sneezing (Al-’Atsah) is a complicated affair. For Talmudic traditions of death by sneezing see Lane (M. E. chapt. viii). Amongst Hindus sneezing and yawning are caused by evil spirits whom they drive away by snapping thumb and forefinger as loudly as possible. The pagan Arabs held sneezing a bad omen, which often stopped their journeys. Moslems believe that when Allah placed the Soul (life?) in Adam, the dry clay became flesh and bone and the First Man, waking to life, sneezed and ejaculated “Alhamdolillah;” whereto Gabriel replied, “Allah have mercy upon thee, O Adam!” Mohammed, who liked sneezing because accompanied by lightness of body and openness of pores, said of it, “If a man sneeze or eructate and say ‘Alhamdolillah’ he averts seventy diseases of which the least is leprosy” (Juzám); also, “If one of you sneeze, let him exclaim, ‘Alhamdolillah,’ and let those around salute him in return with, ‘Allah have mercy upon thee!’ and lastly let him say, ‘Allah direct you and strengthen your condition.’” Moderns prefer, “Allah avert what may joy thy foe!” = (our God bless you!) to which the answer is “Alhamdolillah!” Mohammed disliked yawning (Suabá or Thuabá), because not beneficial as a sneeze and said, “If one of you gape and cover not his mouth, a devil leaps into it.” This is still a popular superstition from Baghdad to Morocco.
[323]. A duenna, nursery governess, etc. See vol. i. [231].
[324]. For this belief see the tale called “The Night of Power,” vol. vi. [180].
[325]. The Anglo-Indian “Kincob” (Kimkh’áb); brocade, silk flowered with gold or silver.
[326]. Lane finds a needless difficulty in this sentence, which is far-fetched only because Kuus (cups) requires Ruus (head-tops) by way of jingle. It means only “’Twas merry in hall when beards wag all.”
[327]. The Mac. Edit. gives two couplets which have already occurred from the Bul. Edit. i. 540.
[328]. The lines are half of four couplets in vol. iv. [192]; so I quote Lane.
[329]. i.e. none hath pleased me. I have quoted the popular saying, “The son of the quarter filleth not the eye.” i.e. women prefer stranger faces.
[330]. Here after the favourite Oriental fashion, she tells the truth but so enigmatically that it is more deceptive than an untruth; a good Eastern quibble infinitely more dangerous than an honest downright lie. The consciousness that the falsehood is part fact applies a salve to conscience and supplies a force lacking in the mere fib. When an Egyptian lies to you look straight in his eyes and he will most often betray himself either by boggling or by a look of injured innocence.
[331]. Another true lie.
[332]. Arab. “Yastaghíbúní,” lit. = they deem my absence too long.
[333]. An euphemistic form of questioning after absence: “Is all right with thee?”
[334]. Arab. “Kallim al-Sultan!” the formula of summoning which has often occurred in The Nights.
[335]. Lane translates “Almost died,” Payne “well-nigh died;” but the text says “died.” I would suggest to translators
Be bould, be bould and every where be bould!
[336]. He is the usual poltroon contrasted with the manly and masterful girl, a conjunction of the lioness and the lamb sometimes seen in real life.
[337]. That he might see Jamilah as Ibrahim had promised.
[338]. A popular saying, i.e., les absents ont toujours tort.
[339]. Who had a prior right to marry her, but not against her consent after she was of age.
[340]. Arab. “Sirwál.” In Al-Hariri it is a singular form (see No. ii. of the twelve riddles in Ass. xxiv.); but Mohammed said to his followers “Tuakhkhizú” (adopt ye) “Saráwílát.” The latter is regularly declinable but the broken form Saráwíl is imperfectly declinable on account of its “heaviness,” as are all plurals whose third letter is an Alif followed by i or í in the next syllable.
[341]. Arab. “Matarik” from mitrak or mitrakah a small wooden shield coated with hide. This even in the present day is the policeman’s equipment in the outer parts of the East.
[342]. “Arab. “Sabíyah” for which I prefer Mr. Payne’s “young lady” to Lane’s “damsel”; the latter should be confined to Járiyah as both bear the double sense of girl and slave (or servant) girl. “Bint” again is daughter, maid or simply girl.
[343]. The sense of them is found in vol. ii. [41].
[344]. Here the text is defective, but I hardly like to supply the omission. Mr. Payne introduces from below, “for that his charms were wasted and his favour changed by reason of the much terror and affliction he had suffered.” The next lines also are very abrupt and unconnected.
[345]. Arab. “Yá Mauláya!” the term is still used throughout Moslem lands; but in Barbary where it is pronounced “Mooláee” Europeans have converted it to “Muley” as if it had some connection with the mule. Even in Robinson Crusoe we find “muly” or “Moly Ismael” (chapt. ii.); and we hear the high-sounding name Maulá-i-Idrís, the patron saint of the Sunset Land, debased to “Muley Drís.”
ABU AL-HASAN OF KHORASAN.[[346]]
The Caliph Al-Mu’tazid Bi ’llah[[347]] was a high-spirited Prince and a noble-minded lord; he had in Baghdad six hundred Wazirs and of the affairs of the folk naught was hidden from him. He went forth one day, he and Ibn Hamdún,[[348]] to divert himself with observing his lieges and hearing the latest news of the people; and, being overtaken with the heats of noonday, they turned aside from the main thoroughfare into a little by-street, at the upper end whereof they saw a handsome and high-builded mansion, discoursing of its owner with the tongue of praise. They sat down at the gate to take rest, and presently out came two eunuchs as they were moons on their fourteenth night. Quoth one of them to his fellow, “Would Heaven some guest would seek admission this day! My master will not eat but with guests and we are come to this hour and I have not yet seen a soul.” The Caliph marvelled at their speech and said, “This is a proof of the house-master’s liberality: there is no help but that we go in to him and note his generosity, and this shall be a means of favour betiding him from us.” So he said to the eunuch, “Ask leave of thy lord for the admission of a company[[349]] of strangers.” For in those days it was the Caliph’s wont, whenas he was minded to observe his subjects, to disguise himself in merchant’s garb. The eunuch went in and told his master, who rejoiced and rising, came out to them in person. He was fair of favour and fine of form and he appeared clad in a tunic of Níshápúr[[350]] silk and a gold laced mantle; and he dripped with scented waters and wore on his hand a signet ring of rubies. When he saw them, he said to them, “Well come and welcome to the lords who favour us with the utmost of favour by their coming!” So they entered the house and found it such as would make a man forget family and fatherland for it was like a piece of Paradise.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixtieth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph entered the mansion, he and the man with him, they saw it to be such as would make one forget family and fatherland, for it was like a piece of Paradise. Within it was a flower-garden, full of all kinds of trees, confounding sight and its dwelling-places were furnished with costly furniture. They sat down and the Caliph fell to gazing at the house and the household gear. (Quoth Ibn Hamdún), I looked at the Caliph and saw his countenance change, and being wont to know from his face whether he was amused or anangered, said to myself, “I wonder what hath vexed him.” Then they brought a golden basin and we washed our hands, after which they spread a silken cloth and set thereon a table of rattan. When the covers were taken off the dishes, we saw therein meats rare as the blooms of Prime in the season of their utmost scarcity, twofold and single, and the host said, “Bismillah, O my lords! By Allah, hunger pricketh me; so favour me by eating of this food, as is the fashion of the noble.” Thereupon he began tearing fowls apart and laying them before us, laughing the while and repeating verses and telling stories and talking gaily with pleasant sayings such as sorted with the entertainment. We ate and drank, then removed to another room, which confounded beholders with its beauty and which reeked with exquisite perfumes. Here they brought us a tray of fruits freshly-gathered and sweetmeats the finest flavoured, whereat our joys increased and our cares ceased. But withal the Caliph (continued Ibn Hamdun) ceased not to wear a frowning face and smiled not at that which gladdened all souls, albeit it was his wont to love mirth and merriment and the putting away of cares, and I knew that he was no envious wight and oppressor. So I said to myself, “Would Heaven I knew what is the cause of his moroseness and why we cannot dissipate his ill-humour!” Presently they brought the tray of wine which friends doth conjoin and clarified draughts in flagons of gold and crystal and silver, and the host smote with a rattan-wand on the door of an inner chamber, whereupon behold, it opened and out came three damsels, high-bosomed virginity with faces like the sun at the fourth hour of the day, one a lutist, another a harpist and the third a dancer-artiste. Then he set before us dried fruits and confections and drew between us and the damsels a curtain of brocade, with tassels of silk and rings of gold. The Caliph paid no heed to all this, but said to the host, who knew not who was in his company, “Art thou noble?”[[351]] Said he, “No, my lord; I am but a man of the sons of the merchants and am known among the folk as Abú al-Hasan Ali, son of Ahmad of Khorasan.” Quoth the Caliph, “Dost thou know me, O man?”; and quoth he, “By Allah, O my lord, I have no knowledge of either of your honours!” Then said I to him, “O man, this is the Commander of the Faithful, Al-Mu’tazid Bi’llah grandson of Al-Mutawakkil alà’llah.”[[352]] Whereupon he rose and kissed the ground before the Caliph, trembling for fear of him, and said, “O Prince of True Believers, I conjure thee, by the virtue of thy pious forbears, an thou have seen in me any shortcomings or lack of good manners in thy presence, do thou forgive me!” Replied the Caliph, “As for that which thou hast done with us of honouring and hospitality nothing could have exceeded it; and as for that wherewith I have to reproach thee here, an thou tell me the truth respecting it and it commend itself to my sense, thou shalt be saved from me; but, an thou tell me not the truth, I will take thee with manifest proof and punish thee with such punishment as never yet punished any.” Quoth the man, “Allah forbid that I tell thee a lie! But what is it that thou reproachest to me, O Commander of the Faithful?” Quoth the Caliph, “Since I entered thy mansion and looked upon its grandeur, I have noted the furniture and vessels therein, nay even to thy clothes, and behold, on all of them is the name of my grandfather Al-Mutawakkil ala ’llah.”[[353]] Answered Abu al-Hasan, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful (the Almighty protect thee), truth is thine inner garb and sincerity is thine outer garment and none may speak otherwise than truly in thy presence.” The Caliph bade him be seated and said, “Tell us.” So he began, “Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that my father belonged to the markets of the money-changers and druggists and linendrapers and had in each bazar a shop and an agent and all kinds of goods. Moreover, behind the money-changer’s shop he had an apartment, where he might be private, appointing the shop for buying and selling. His wealth was beyond count and to his riches there was none amount; but he had no child other than myself, and he loved me and was tenderly fain of me. When his last hour was at hand, he called me to him and commended my mother to my care and charged me to fear Almighty Allah. Then he died, may Allah have mercy upon him and continue the Prince of True Believers on life! And I gave myself up to pleasure and eating and drinking and took to myself comrades and intimates. My mother used to forbid me from this and to blame me for it, but I would not hear a word from her, till my money was all gone, when I sold my lands and houses and naught was left me save the mansion wherein I now dwell, and it was a goodly stead, O Commander of the Faithful. So I said to my mother, “I wish to sell the house;” but she said, “O my son, an thou sell it, thou wilt be dishonoured and wilt have no place wherein to take shelter.” Quoth I, “’Tis worth five thousand dinars, and with one thousand of its price I will buy me another house and trade with the rest.” Quoth she, “Wilt thou sell it to me at that price?”; and I replied, “Yes.” Whereupon she went to a coffer and opening it, took out a porcelain vessel, wherein were five thousand dinars. When I saw this meseemed the house was all of gold and she said to me, “O my son, think not that this is of thy father’s good. By Allah, O my son, it was of my own father’s money and I have treasured it up against a time of need; for, in thy father’s day I was a wealthy woman and had no need of it.” I took the money from her, O Prince of True Believers, and fell again to feasting and carousing and merrymaking with my friends, unheeding my mother’s words and admonitions, till the five thousand dinars came to an end, when I said to her, “I wish to sell the house.” Said she, “O my son, I forbade thee from selling it before, of my knowledge that thou hadst need of it; so how wilt thou sell it a second time?” Quoth I, “Be not longsome of speech with me, for I must and will sell it;” and quoth she, “Then sell it to me for fifteen thousand dinars, on condition that I take charge of thine affairs.” So I sold her the house at that price and gave up my affairs into her charge, whereupon she sought out the agents of my father and gave each of them a thousand dinars, keeping the rest in her own hands and ordering the outgo and the income. Moreover she gave me money to trade withal and said to me, “Sit thou in thy father’s shop.” So I did her bidding, O Commander of the Faithful, and took up my abode in the chamber behind the shop in the market of the money-changers, and my friends came and bought of me and I sold to them; whereby I made good cheape and my wealth increased. When my mother saw me in this fair way, she discovered to me that which she had treasured up of jewels and precious stones, pearls, and gold, and I bought back my houses and lands that I had squandered and my wealth became great as before. I abode thus for some time, and the factors of my father came to me and I gave them stock-in-trade, and I built me a second chamber behind the shop. One day, as I sat there, according to my custom, O Prince of True Believers, there came up to me a damsel, never saw eyes a fairer than she of favour, and said, “Is this the private shop of Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Ahmad al-Khorasani?” Answered I, “Yes,” and she asked, “Where is he?” “He am I,” said I, and indeed my wit was dazed at the excess of her loveliness. She sat down and said to me, “Bid thy page weigh me out three hundred dinars.” Accordingly I bade him give her that sum and he weighed it out to her and she took it and went away, leaving me stupefied. Quoth my man to me, “Dost thou know her?”; and quoth I, “No, by Allah!” He asked, “Then why didst thou bid me give her the money?”; and I answered, “By Allah, I knew not what I said, of my amazement at her beauty and loveliness!” Then he rose and followed her, without my knowledge, but presently returned, weeping and with the mark of a blow on his face. I enquired of him what ailed him, and he replied, “I followed the damsel, to see whither she went; but, when she was aware of me, she turned and dealt me this blow and all but knocked out my eye.” After this, a month passed, without her coming, O Commander of the Faithful, and I abode bewildered for love of her; but, at the end of this time, she suddenly appeared again and saluted me, whereat I was like to fly for joy. She asked me how I did and said to me, “Haply thou saidst to thyself, What manner of trickstress is this, who hath taken my money and made off?” Answered I, “By Allah, O my lady, my money and my life are all thy very own!” With this she unveiled herself and sat down to rest, with the trinkets and ornaments playing over her face and bosom. Presently, she said to me, “Weigh me out three hundred dinars.” “Hearkening and obedience,” answered I and weighed out to her the money. She took it and went away and I said to my servant, “Follow her.” So he followed her, but returned dumbstruck, and some time passed without my seeing her. But, as I was sitting one day, behold, she came up to me and after talking awhile, said to me, “Weigh me out five hundred dinars, for I have need of them.” I would have said to her, “Why should I give thee my money?”; but my love immense hindered me from utterance; for, O Prince of True Believers, whenever I saw her, I trembled in every joint and my colour paled and I forgot what I would have said and became even as saith the poet:—
“’Tis naught but this! When a-sudden I see her ✿ Mumchance I bide nor a word can say her.”
So I weighed out for her the five hundred ducats, and she took them and went away; whereupon I arose and followed her myself, till she came to the jewel-bazar, where she stopped at a man’s shop and took of him a necklace. Then she turned and seeing me, said, “Pay him five hundred dinars for me.” When the jeweller saw me, he rose to me and made much of me, and I said to him, “Give her the necklace and set down the price to me.” He replied, “I hear and obey,” and she took it and went away;——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-first Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abu Hasan the Khorasani thus pursued his tale:—So I said to the jeweller, “Give her the necklace and set down the price to me.” Then she took it and went away; but I followed her, till she came to the Tigris and boarded a boat there, whereupon I signed with my hand to the ground, as who should say, “I kiss it before thee.” She went off laughing, and I stood watching her, till I saw her land and enter a palace, which when I considered, I knew it for the palace of the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil. So I turned back, O Commander of the Faithful, with all the cares in the world fallen on my heart, for she had of me three thousand dinars, and I said to myself, “She hath taken my wealth and ravished my wit, and peradventure I shall lose my life for her love.” Then I returned home and told my mother all that had befallen me, and she said, “O my son, beware how thou have to do with her after this, or thou art lost.” When I went to my shop, my factor in the drug-market, who was a very old man, came to me and said, “O my lord, how is it that I see thee changed in case and showing marks of chagrin? Tell me what aileth thee.” So I told him all that had befallen me with her and he said, “O my son, this is indeed one of the handmaidens of the palace of the Commander of the Faithful and haply she is the Caliph’s favourite concubine: so do thou reckon the money as spent for the sake of Almighty Allah[[354]] and occupy thyself no more with her. An she come again, beware lest she have to do with thee and tell me of this, that I may devise thee some device lest perdition betide thee.” Then he fared forth and left me with a flame of fire in my heart. At the end of the month behold, she came again and I rejoiced in her with exceeding joy. Quoth she, “What ailed thee to follow me?”; and quoth I, “Excess of passion that is in my heart urged me to this,” and I wept before her. She wept for ruth of me and said, “By Allah, there is not in thy heart aught of love-longing but in my heart is more! Yet how shall I do? By Allah, I have no resource save to see thee thus once a month.” Then she gave me a bill saying, “Carry this to such an one of such a trade who is my agent and take of him what is named therein.” But I replied, “I have no need of money; be my wealth and my life thy sacrifice!” Quoth she, “I will right soon contrive thee a means of access to me, whatever trouble it cost me.” Then she farewelled me and fared forth, whilst I repaired to the old druggist and told him what had passed. He went with me to the palace of Al-Mutawakkil which I knew for that which the damsel had entered; but the Shaykh was at a loss for a device. Presently he espied a tailor sitting with his prentices at work in his shop, opposite the lattice giving upon the river bank and said to me, “Yonder is one by whom thou shalt win thy wish; but first tear thy pocket and go to him and bid him sew it up. When he hath done this, give him ten dinars.” “I hear and obey,” answered I and taking with me two pieces[[355]] of Greek brocade, went to the tailor and bade him make of them four suits, two with long-sleeved coats and two without. When he had finished cutting them out and sewing them, I gave him to his hire much more than of wont, and he put out his hand to me with the clothes; but I said, “Take them for thyself and for those who are with thee.” And I fell to sitting with him and sitting long: I also bespoke of him other clothes and said to him, “Hang them out in front of thy shop, so the folk may see them and buy them.” He did as I bade him, and whoso came forth of the Caliph’s palace and aught of the clothes pleased him, I made him a present thereof, even to the doorkeeper. One day of the days the tailor said to me, “O my son, I would have thee tell me the truth of thy case; for thou hast bespoken of me an hundred costly suits, each worth a mint of money, and hast given the most of them to the folk. This is no merchant’s fashion, for a merchant calleth an account for every dirham, and what can be the sum of thy capital that thou givest these gifts and what thy gain every year? Tell me the truth of thy case, that I may assist thee to thy desire;” presently adding, “I conjure thee by Allah, tell me, art thou not in love?” “Yes,” replied I; and he said, “With whom?” Quoth I, “With one of the handmaids of the Caliph’s palace;” and quoth he, “Allah put them to shame! How long shall they seduce the folk? Knowest thou her name?” Said I, “No;” and said he, “Describe her to me.” So I described her to him and he cried, “Out on it! This is the lutanist of the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil and his pet concubine. But she hath a Mameluke[[356]] and do thou make friends with him; it may be he shall become the means of thy having access to her.” Now as we were talking, behold, out walked the servant in question from the palace, as he were a moon on the fourteenth night; and, seeing that I had before me the clothes which the tailor had made me, and they were of brocade of all colours, he began to look at them and examine them. Then he came up to me and I rose and saluted him. He asked, “Who art thou?” and I answered, “I am a man of the merchants.” Quoth he, “Wilt thou sell these clothes?”; and quoth I, “Yes.” So he chose out five of them and said to me, “How much these five?” Said I, “They are a present to thee from me in earnest of friendship between me and thee.” At this he rejoiced and I went home and fetching a suit embroidered with jewels and jacinths, worth three thousand dinars, returned therewith and gave it to him. He accepted it and carrying me into a room within the palace, said to me, “What is thy name among the merchants?” Said I, “I am a man of them.[[357]]” He continued, “Verily I misdoubt me of thine affair.” I asked, “Why so?” and he answered, “Because thou hast bestowed on me a costly gift and won my heart therewith, and I make certain that thou art Abu al-Hasan of Khorasan the Shroff.” With this I fell a-weeping, O Prince of True Believers; and he said to me, “Why dost thou weep? By Allah, she for whom thou weepest is yet more longingly in love with thee than thou with her! And indeed her case with thee is notorious among all the palace women. But what wouldst thou have?” Quoth I, “I would have thee succour me in my calamity.” So he appointed me for the morrow and I returned home. As soon as I rose next morning, I betook myself to him and waited in his chamber till he came in and said to me, “Know that yesternight when, after having made an end of her service by the Caliph, she returned to her apartment, I related to her all that had passed between me and thee and she is minded to foregather with thee. So stay with me till the end of the day.” Accordingly I stayed with him till dark, when the Mameluke brought me a shirt of gold-inwoven stuff and a suit of the Caliph’s apparel and clothing me therein, incensed me[[358]] and I became like the Commander of the Faithful. Then he brought me to a gallery with rows of rooms on either side and said to me, “These are the lodgings of the Chief of the slave-girls; and when thou passest along the gallery, do thou lay at each door a bean, for ’tis the custom of the Caliph to do this every night——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-second Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Mameluke said to Abu Hasan, “When thou passest along the gallery set down at each door a bean for ’tis the custom of the Caliph so to do, till thou come to the second passage on thy right hand, when thou wilt see a door with a marble threshold.[[359]] Touch it with thy hand or, an thou wilt, count the doors which are so many, and enter the one whose marks are thus and thus. There thy mistress will see thee and take thee in with her. As for thy coming forth, verily Allah will make it easy to me, though I carry thee out in a chest.” Then he left me and returned, whilst I went on, counting the doors and laying at each a bean. When I had reached the middle of the gallery, I heard a great clatter and saw the light of flambeaux coming towards me. As the light drew near me, I looked at it and behold, the Caliph himself, came surrounded by the slave-girls carrying waxen lights, and I heard one of the women[[360]] say to another, “O my sister, have we two Caliphs? Verily, the Caliph whose perfumes and essences I smelt, hath already passed by my room and he hath laid the bean at my door, as his wont; and now I see the light of his flambeaux, and here he cometh with them.” Replied the other, “Indeed this is a wondrous thing, for disguise himself in the Caliph’s habit none would dare.” Then the light drew near me, whilst I trembled in every limb; and up came an eunuch, crying out to the concubines and saying, “Hither!” Whereupon they turned aside to one of the chambers and entered. Then they came out again and walked on till they came to the chamber of my mistress and I heard the Caliph say, “Whose chamber is this?” They answered, “This is the chamber of Shajarat al-Durr.” And he said, “Call her.” So they called her and she came out and kissed the feet of the Caliph, who said to her, “Wilt thou drink to-night?” Quoth she, “But for thy presence and the looking on thine auspicious countenance, I would not drink, for I incline not to wine this night.” Then quoth the Commander of the Faithful to the eunuch, “Bid the treasurer give her such necklace;” and he commanded to enter her chamber. So the waxen lights entered before him and he followed them into the apartment. At the same moment, behold, there came up a damsel, the lustre of whose face outshone that of the flambeau in her hand, and drawing near she said, “Who is this?” Then she laid hold of me and carrying me into one of the chambers, said to me, “Who art thou?” I kissed the ground before her saying, “I implore thee by Allah, O my lady, spare my blood and have ruth on me and commend thyself unto Allah by saving my life!”; and I wept for fear of death. Quoth she, “Doubtless, thou art a robber;” and quoth I, “No, by Allah, I am no robber. Seest thou on me the signs of thieves?” Said she, “Tell me the truth of thy case and I will put thee in safety.” So I said, “I am a silly lover and an ignorant, whom passion and my folly have moved to do as thou seest, so that I am fallen into this slough of despond.” Thereat cried she, “Abide here till I come back to thee;” and going forth she presently returned with some of her handmaid’s clothes wherein she clad me and bade me follow her; so I followed her till she came to her apartment and commanded me to enter. I went in and she led me to a couch, whereon was a mighty fine carpet, and said, “Sit down here: no harm shall befal thee. Art thou not Abu al-Hasan Ali the Khorasani, the Shroff?” I answered, “Yes,” and she rejoined, “Allah spare thy blood given thou speak truth! An thou be a robber, thou art lost, more by token that thou art dressed in the Caliph’s habit and incensed with his scents. But, an thou be indeed Abu al-Hasan, thou art safe and no hurt shall happen to thee, for that thou art the friend of Shajarat al-Durr, who is my sister and ceaseth never to name thee and tell us how she took of thee money, yet wast thou not chagrined, and how thou didst follow her to the river bank and madest sign as thou wouldst kiss the earth in her honour; and her heart is yet more aflame for thee than is thine for her. But how camest thou hither? Was it by her order or without it? She hath indeed imperilled thy life[[361]]. But what seekest thou in this assignation with her?” I replied, “By Allah, O my lady, ’tis I who have imperilled my own life, and my aim in foregathering with her is but to look on her and hear her pretty speech.” She said, “Thou hast spoken well;” and I added, “O my lady, Allah is my witness when I declare that my soul prompteth me to no offence against her honour.” Cried she, “In this intent may Allah deliver thee! Indeed compassion for thee hath gotten hold upon my heart.” Then she called her handmaid and said to her, “Go to Shajarat al-Durr and say to her:—Thy sister saluteth thee and biddeth thee to her; so favour her by coming to her this night, according to thy custom, for her breast is straitened.” The slave-girl went out and presently returning, told her mistress that Shajarat al-Durr said, “May Allah bless me with thy long life and make me thy ransom! By Allah, hadst thou bidden me to other than this, I had not hesitated; but the Caliph’s migraine constraineth me and thou knowest my rank with him.” But the other said to her damsel, “Return to her and say:—Needs must thou come to my mistress upon a private matter between thee and her!” So the girl went out again and presently returned with the damsel, whose face shone like the full moon. Her sister met her and embraced her; then said she, “Ho, Abu al-Hasan, come forth to her and kiss her hands!” Now I was in a closet within the apartment; so I walked out, O Commander of the Faithful, and when my mistress saw me, she threw herself upon me and strained me to her bosom, saying, “How camest thou in the Caliph’s clothes and his ornaments and perfumes? Tell me what hath befallen thee.” So I related to her all that had befallen me and what I had suffered for affright and so forth; and she said, “Grievous to me is what thou hast endured for my sake and praised be Allah who hath caused the issue to be safety, and the fulfilment of safety is in thy entering my lodging and that of my sister.” Then she carried me to her own apartment, saying to her sister, “I have covenanted with him that I will not be united to him unlawfully; but, as he hath risked himself and incurred these perils, I will be earth for his treading and dust to his sandals!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the damsel to her sister, “I have covenanted with him that I will not be united to him unlawfully; but, as he hath risked himself and incurred these perils, I will be earth for his treading and dust to his sandals!” Replied her sister, “In this intent may Allah deliver him!”; and my mistress rejoined, “Soon shalt thou see how I will do, so I may lawfully foregather with him and there is no help but that I lavish my heart’s blood to devise this.” Now as we were in talk, behold, we heard a great noise and turning, saw the Caliph making for her chamber, so engrossed was he by the thought of her; whereupon she took me, O Prince of True Believers and hid me in a souterrain[[362]] and shut down the trap-door upon me. Then she went out to meet the Caliph, who entered and sat down, whilst she stood between his hands to serve him, and commanded to bring wine. Now the Caliph loved a damsel by name Banjah, who was the mother of Al-Mu’tazz bi ’llah[[363]]; but they had fallen out and parted; and in the pride of her beauty and loveliness she would not make peace with him, nor would Al-Mutawakkil, for the dignity of the Caliphate and the kingship, make peace with her neither humble himself to her, albeit his heart was aflame with passion for her, but sought to solace his mind from her with her mates among the slave-girls and with going in to them in their chambers. Now he loved Shajarat al-Durr’s singing: so he bade her sing, when she took the lute and tuning the strings sang these verses:—
The world-tricks I admire betwixt me and her; ✿ How, us parted, the World would to me incline:
I shunned thee till said they, “He knows not Love;” ✿ I sought thee till said they, “No patience is mine!”
Then, O Love of her, add to my longing each night ✿ And, O Solace, thy comforts for Doomsday assign!
Soft as silk is her touch and her low sweet voice ✿ Twixt o’er much and o’er little aye draweth the line:
And eyne whereof Allah said “Be ye!” and they ✿ Became to man’s wit like the working of wine.
When the Caliph heard these verses, he was pleasured with exceeding pleasure, and I also, O Commander of the Faithful, was pleasured in my hiding-place, and but for the bounty of Almighty Allah, I had cried out and we had been disgraced. Then she sang also these couplets:—
I embrace him, yet after him yearns my soul ✿ For his love, but can aught than embrace be nigher?
I kiss his lips to assuage my lowe; ✿ But each kiss gars it glow with more flaming fire;
’Tis as though my vitals aye thirst unquencht ✿ Till I see two souls mixt in one entire.
The Caliph was delighted and said, “O Shajarat al-Durr, ask a boon of me.” She replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, I ask of thee my freedom, for the sake of the reward thou wilt obtain therein.[[364]]” Quoth he, “Thou art free for the love of Allah;” whereupon she kissed ground before him. He resumed, “Take the lute and sing me somewhat on the subject of my slave-girl, of whom I am enamoured with warmest love: the folk seek my pleasure and I seek hers.” So she took the lute and sang these two couplets:—
My charmer who spellest my piety[[365]] ✿ On all accounts I’ll have thee, have thee,
Or by humble suit which besitteth Love ✿ Or by force more fitting my sovranty.
The Caliph admired these verses and said, “Now, take up thy lute and sing me a song setting out my case with three damsels who hold the reins of my heart and make rest depart; and they are thyself and that wilful one and another I will not name, who hath not her like.[[366]] So she took the lute and playing a lively measure, sang these couplets:—
Three lovely girls hold my bridle-rein ✿ And in highest stead my heart over-reign.
I have none to obey amid all mankind ✿ But obeying them I but win disdain:
This is done through the Kingship of Love, whereby ✿ The best of my kingship they made their gain.
The Caliph marvelled with exceeding marvel at the aptness of these verses to his case and his delight inclined him to reconciliation with the recalcitrant damsel. So he went forth and made for her chamber whither a slave-girl preceded him and announced to her the coming of the Caliph. She advanced to meet him and kissed the ground before him; then she kissed his feet and he was reconciled to her and she was reconciled to him. Such was the case with the Caliph; but as regards Shajarat al-Durr, she came to me rejoicing and said, “I am become a free woman by thy blessed coming! Surely Allah will help me in that which I shall contrive, so I may foregather with thee in lawful way.” And I said, “Alhamdolillah!” Now as we were talking, behold her Mameluke-eunuch entered and we related to him that which had passed, when he said, “Praised be Allah who hath made the affair to end well, and we implore the Almighty to crown His favours with thy safe faring forth the palace!” Presently appeared my mistress’s sister, whose name was Fátir, and Shajarat al-Durr said to her, “O my sister, how shall we do to bring him out of the palace in safety; for indeed Allah hath vouchsafed me manumission and, by the blessing of his coming, I am become a free woman.” Quoth Fatir, “I see nothing for it but to dress him in woman’s gear.” So she brought me a suit of women’s clothes and clad me therein; and I went out forthwith, O Commander of the Faithful; but, when I came to the midst of the palace, behold, I found the Caliph seated there, with the eunuchs in attendance upon him. When he saw me, he misdoubted of me with exceeding doubt, and said to his suite, “Hasten and bring me yonder handmaiden who is faring forth.” So they brought me back to him and raised the veil from my face, which when he saw, he knew me and questioned me of my case. I told him the whole truth, hiding naught, and when he heard my story, he pondered my case awhile, without stay or delay, and going into Shajarat al-Durr’s chamber, said to her, “How couldst thou prefer before me one of the sons of the merchants?” She kissed ground between his hands and told him her tale from first to last, in accordance with the truth; and he hearing it had compassion upon her and his heart relented to her and he excused her by reason of love and its circumstances. Then he went away and her eunuch came in to her and said, “Be of good cheer; for, when thy lover was set before the Caliph, he questioned him and he told him that which thou toldest him, word by word.” Presently the Caliph returned and calling me before him, said to me, “What made thee dare to violate the palace of the Caliphate?” I replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, ’twas my ignorance and passion and my confidence in thy clemency and generosity that drave me to this.” And I wept and kissed the ground before him. Then said he, “I pardon you both,” and bade me be seated. So I sat down and he sent for the Kazi Ahmad ibn Abi Duwád[[367]] and married me to her. Then he commanded to make over all that was hers to me and they displayed her to me[[368]] in her lodging. After three days, I went forth and transported all her goods and gear to my own house; so every thing thou hast seen, O Commander of the Faithful, in my house and whereof thou misdoubtest, is of her marriage-equipage. After this, she said to me one day, “Know that Al-Mutawakkil is a generous man and I fear lest he remember us with ill mind, or that some one of the envious remind him of us; wherefore I purpose to do somewhat that may ensure us against this.” Quoth I, “And what is that?;” and quoth she, “I mean to ask his leave to go the pilgrimage and repent[[369]] of singing.” I replied, “Right is this rede thou redest;” but, as we were talking, behold, in came a messenger from the Caliph to seek her, for that Al-Mutawakkil loved her singing. So she went with the officer and did her service to the Caliph, who said to her, “Sever not thyself from us;”[[370]] and she answered, “I hear and I obey.” Now it chanced one day, after this, she went to him, he having sent for her, as was his wont; but, before I knew, she came back, with her raiment rent and her eyes full of tears. At this I was alarmed, misdoubting me that he had commanded to seize upon us, and said, “Verily we are Allah’s and unto Him shall we return! Is Al-Mutawakkil wroth with us?” She replied, “Where is Al-Mutawakkil? Indeed Al-Mutawakkil’s rule is ended and his trace is blotted out!” Cried I, “Tell me what has happened;” and she, “He was seated behind the curtain, drinking, with Al-Fath bin Khákán[[371]] and Sadakah bin Sadakah, when his son Al-Muntasir fell upon him, with a company of the Turks,[[372]] and slew him; and merriment was turned to misery and joy to weeping and wailing for annoy. So I fled, I and the slave-girl, and Allah saved us.” When I heard this, O Commander of the Faithful, I arose forthright and went down stream to Bassorah, where the news reached me of the falling out of war between Al-Muntasir and Al-Musta’ín bi ’llah;[[373]] wherefore I was affrighted and transported my wife and all my wealth to Bassorah. This, then, is my tale, O Prince of True Believers, nor have I added to or taken from it a single syllable. So all that thou seest in my house, bearing the name of thy grandfather Al-Mutawakkil, is of his bounty to us, and the fount of our fortune is from thy noble sources;[[374]] for indeed ye are people of munificence and a mine of beneficence.” The Caliph marvelled at his story and rejoiced therein with joy exceeding: and Abu al-Hasan brought forth to him the lady and the children she had borne him, and they kissed ground before the Caliph, who wondered at their beauty. Then he called for inkcase and paper and wrote Abu al-Hasan a patent of exemption from taxes on his lands and houses for twenty years. Moreover, he rejoiced in him and made him his cup-companion, till the world parted them and they took up their abode in the tombs, after having dwelt under palace-domes; and glory be to Allah, the King Merciful of doom. And they also tell a tale concerning
[346]. Lane omits this tale because “it is very similar, but inferior in interest, to the Story told by the Sultan’s Steward.” See vol. i. [278].
[347]. Sixteenth Abbaside A.H. 279–289 (= A.D. 891–902). “He was comely, intrepid, of grave exterior, majestic in presence, of considerable intellectual power and the fiercest of the Caliphs of the House of Abbas. He once had the courage to attack a lion” (Al-Siyuti). I may add that he was a good soldier and an excellent administrator, who was called Saffáh the Second because he refounded the House of Abbas. He was exceedingly fanatic and died of sensuality, having first kicked his doctor to death, and he spent his last moments in versifying.
[348]. Hamdún bin Ismá’íl, called the Kátib or Scribe, was the first of his family who followed the profession of a Nadím or Cup-companion. His son Ahmad (who is in the text) was an oral transmitter of poetry and history. Al-Siyúti (p. 390) and De Slane I. Khall (ii. 304) notice him.
[349]. Probably the Caliph had attendants, but the text afterwards speaks of them as two. Mac. Edit. iv. p. 558, line 2; and a few lines below, “the Caliph and the man with him.”
[350]. Arab. “Naysábúr,” the famous town in Khorasan where Omar-i-Khayyám (whom our people will call Omar Khayyám) was buried and where his tomb is still a place of pious visitation. A sketch of it has lately appeared in the illustrated papers. For an affecting tale concerning the astronomer-poet’s tomb, borrowed from the Nigáristán see the Preface by the late Mr. Fitzgerald whose admirable excerpts from the Rubaiyat (101 out of 820 quatrains) have made the poem popular among all the English-speaking races.
[351]. Arab. “A-Sharíf anta?” (with the Hamzah-sign of interrogation) = Art thou a Sharíf (or descendant of the Apostle)?
[352]. Tenth Abbaside (A.H. 234–247 = 848–861), grandson of Al-Rashid and born of a slave-concubine. He was famous for his hatred of the Alides (he destroyed the tomb of Al-Husayn) and claimed the pardon of Allah for having revised orthodox traditionary doctrines. He compelled the Christians to wear collars of wood or leather and was assassinated by five Turks.
[353]. His father was Al-Mu’ tasim bi’llah (A.H. 218–227 = 833–842) the son of Al-Rashid by Máridah a slave-concubine of foreign origin. He was brave and of high spirit, but destitute of education; and his personal strength was such that he could break a man’s elbow between his fingers. He imitated the apparatus of Persian kings; and he was called the “Octonary” because he was the 8th Abbaside; the 8th in descent from Abbas; the 8th son of Al-Rashid; he began his reign in A.H. 218; lived 48 years; was born under Scorpio (8th Zodiacal sign); was victorious in 8 expeditions; slew 8 important foes and left 8 male and 8 female children. For his introducing Turks see vol. iii. [81].
[354]. i.e. as if it were given away in charity.
[355]. Arab. “Shukkah,” a word much used in the Zanzibar trade where it means a piece of longcloth one fathom long. See my “Lake Regions of Central Africa,” vol. i. [147], etc.
[356]. He is afterwards called in two places “Khádim” = eunuch.
[357]. A courteous way of saying, “Never mind my name: I wish to keep it hidden.” The formula is still popular.
[358]. Arab. “Bakhkharaní” i.e. fumigated me with burning aloes-wood, Calumba or similar material.
[359]. In sign of honour. The threshold is important amongst Moslems: in one of the Mameluke Soldans’ sepulchres near Cairo I found a granite slab bearing the “cartouche” (shield) of Khufu (Cheops) with the four hieroglyphs hardly effaced.
[360]. i.e. One of the concubines by whose door he had passed.
[361]. Epistasis without the prostasis, “An she ordered thee so to do:” the situation justifies the rhetorical figure.
[362]. Arab. “Sardáb” see vol. i, 340.
[363]. Thirteenth Abbaside A.H. 252–255 (= 866–869). His mother was a Greek slave called Kabíhah (Al-Mas’udi and Al-Siyuti); for which “Banjah” is probably a clerical error. He was exceedingly beautiful and was the first to ride out with ornaments of gold. But he was impotent in the hands of the Turks who caused the mob to depose him and kill him—his death being related in various ways.
[364]. i.e. The reward from Allah for thy good deed.
[365]. Arab. “Nusk” abstinence from women, a part of the Zahid’s asceticism.
[366]. Arab. “Munázirah” the verbal noun of which, “Munázarah,” may also mean “dispute.” The student will distinguish between “Munazarah” and Munafarah = a contention for precedence in presence of an umpire.
[367]. The Mac. Edit. gives by mistake “Abú Dáúd”: the Bul. correctly “Abú Duwád.” He was Kázi al-Kuzát (High Chancellor) under Al-Mu’tasim, Al-Wasik bi ’llah (Vathek) and Al-Mutawakkil.
[368]. Arab. “Zaffú” = they led the bride to the bridegroom’s house; but here used in the sense of displaying her as both were in the palace.
[369]. i.e. renounce the craft which though not sinful (harám) is makrúh or religiously unpraiseworthy; Mohammed having objected to music and indeed to the arts in general.
[370]. Arab. “Lá tankati’í;” do not be too often absent from us. I have noticed the whimsical resemblance of “Kat’” and our “cut”; and here the metaphorical sense is almost identical.
[371]. See Ibn Khallikan ii. 455.
[372]. The Turkish body-guard. See vol. iii. [81].
[373]. Twelfth Abbaside (A.H. 248–252 = 862–866) the son of a slave-concubine Mukhárík. He was virtuous and accomplished, comely, fair-skinned, pock-marked and famed for defective pronunciation; and he first set the fashion of shortening men’s capes and widening the sleeves. After many troubles with the Turks, who were now the Prætorian guard of Baghdad, he was murdered at the instigation of Al-Mu’tazz, who succeeded him, by his Chamberlain Sa’id bin Salíh.
[374]. Arab. “Usúl,” his forbears, his ancestors.
KAMAR AL-ZAMAN AND THE JEWELLER’S WIFE.[[375]]
There was once, in time of old, a merchant hight Abd al-Rahmán, whom Allah had blessed with a son and daughter, and for their much beauty and loveliness, he named the girl Kaubab al-Sabáh and the boy Kamar al-Zamán.[[376]] When he saw what Allah had vouchsafed the twain of beauty and loveliness, brilliancy and symmetry, he feared for them the evil eyes[[377]] of the espiers and the jibing tongues of the jealous and the craft of the crafty and the wiles of the wicked and shut them up from the folk in a mansion for the space of fourteen years, during which time none saw them save their parents and a slave-girl who served them. Now their father could recite the Koran, even as Allah sent it down, as also did his wife, wherefore the mother taught her daughter to read and recite it and the father his son till both had gotten it by heart. Moreover, the twain learned from their parents writing and reckoning and all manner of knowledge and polite letters and needed no master. When Kamar al-Zaman came to years of manhood, the wife said to her husband, “How long wilt thou keep thy son Kamar al-Zaman sequestered from the eyes of the folk? Is he a girl or a boy?” He answered, “A boy.” Rejoined she, “An he be a boy, why dost thou not carry him to the bazar and seat him in thy shop, that he may know the folk and they know him, to the intent that it may become notorious among men that he is thy son, and do thou teach him to sell and to buy. Peradventure somewhat may befal thee; so shall the folk know him for thy son and he shall lay his hand on thy leavings. But, an thou die, as the case now is, and he say to the folk:—I am the son of the merchant Abd al-Rahman, verily they will not believe him, but will cry, We have never seen thee and we knew not that he had a son, wherefore the government will seize thy goods and thy son will be despoiled. In like manner the girl; I mean to make her known among the folk, so may be some one of her own condition may ask her in marriage and we will wed her to him and rejoice in her.” Quoth he, “I did thus of my fear for them from the eyes of the folk——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-fourth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Merchant’s wife spake to him in such wise, he replied, “I did thus of my fear for them from the eyes of the folk and because I love them both and love is jealous exceedingly and well saith he who spoke these verses:—
Of my sight I am jealous for thee, of me, ✿ Of thyself, of thy stead, of thy destiny:
Though I shrined thee in eyes by the craze of me ✿ In such nearness irk I should never see:
Though thou wert by my side all the days of me ✿ Till Doomsday I ne’er had enough of thee.
Said his wife, “Put thy trust in Allah, for no harm betideth him whom He protecteth, and carry him with thee this very day to the shop.” Then she clad the boy in the costliest clothes and he became a seduction to all who on him cast sight and an affliction to the heart of each lover wight. His father took him and carried him to the market, whilst all who saw him were ravished with him and accosted him, kissing his hand and saluting him with the salam. Quoth one, “Indeed the sun hath risen in such a place and blazeth in the bazar,” and another, “The rising-place of the full moon is in such a quarter;” and a third, “The new moon of the Festival[[378]] hath appeared to the creatures of Allah.” And they went on to allude to the boy in talk and call down blessings upon him. But his father scolded the folk for following his son to gaze upon him, because he was abashed at their talk, but he could not hinder one of them from talking; so he fell to abusing the boy’s mother and cursing her because she had been the cause of his bringing him out. And as he gazed about he still saw the folk crowding upon him behind and before. Then he walked on till he reached his shop and opening it, sat down and seated his son before him: after which he again looked out and found the thoroughfare blocked with people for all the passers-by, going and coming, stopped before the shop to stare at that beautiful face and could not leave him; and all the men and women crowded in knots about him, applying to themselves the words of him who said:—
Thou madest Beauty to spoil man’s sprite ✿ And saidst, “O my servants, fear My reprove:”
But lovely Thou lovest all loveliness ✿ How, then, shall thy servants refrain from Love?
When the merchant Abd al-Rahman saw the folk thus crowding about him and standing in rows, both women and men, to fix eyes upon his son, he was sore ashamed and confounded and knew not what to do; but presently there came up from the end of the bazar a man of the wandering Dervishes, clad in haircloth, the garb of the pious servants of Allah and seeing Kamar al-Zaman sitting there as he were a branch of Bán springing from a mound of saffron, poured forth copious tears and recited these two couplets:—
A wand uprising from a sandy knoll, ✿ Like full moon shining brightest sheen, I saw;
And said, “What is thy name?” Replied he “Lúlú” ✿ “What (asked I) Lily?” and he answered “Lá, lá!”[[379]]
Then the Dervish fell to walking, now drawing near and now moving away,[[380]] and wiping his gray hairs with his right hand, whilst the heart of the crowd was cloven asunder for awe of him. When he looked upon the boy, his eyes were dazzled and his wit confounded, and exemplified in him was the saying of the poet:—
While that fair-faced boy abode in the place, ✿ Moon of breakfast-fête he lit by his face,[[381]]
Lo! there came a Shaykh with leisurely pace ✿ A reverend trusting to Allah’s grace,
And ascetic signals his gait display’d.
He had studied Love both by day and night ✿ And had special knowledge of Wrong and Right;
Both for lad and lass had repined his sprite, ✿ And his form like toothpick was lean and slight,
And old bones with faded skin were o’erlaid.
In such arts our Shaykh was an Ajamí[[382]] ✿ With a catamite ever in company;
In the love of woman, a Platonist he[[383]] ✿ But in either versed to the full degree,
And Zaynab to him was the same as Zayd.[[384]]
Distraught by the Fair he adored the Fair ✿ O’er Spring-camp wailed, bewept ruins bare.[[385]]
Dry branch thou hadst deemed him for stress o’ care, ✿ Which the morning breeze swayeth here and there,
For only the stone is all hardness made!
In the lore of Love he was wondrous wise ✿ And wide awake with all-seeing eyes.
Its rough and its smooth he had tried and tries ✿ And hugged buck and doe in the self-same guise
And with greybeard and beardless alike he play’d.[[386]]
Then he came up to the boy and gave him a root[[387]] of sweet basil, whereupon his father put forth his hand to his pouch and brought out for him some small matter of silver, saying, “Take thy portion, O Dervish, and wend thy ways.” He took the dirhams, but sat down on the masonry-bench alongside the shop and opposite the boy and fell to gazing upon him and heaving sigh upon sigh, whilst his tears flowed like springs founting. The folk began to look at him and remark upon him, some saying, “All Dervishes are lewd fellows,” and other some, “Verily, this Dervish’s heart is set on fire for love of this lad.” Now when Abd al-Rahman saw this case, he arose and said to the boy, “Come, O my son, let us lock up the shop and hie us home, for it booteth not to sell and buy this day; and may Almighty Allah requite thy mother that which she hath done with us, for she was the cause of all this!” Then said he, “O Dervish, rise, that I may shut my shop.” So the Dervish rose and the merchant shut his shop and taking his son, walked away. The Dervish and the folk followed them, till they reached their place, when the boy went in and his father, turning to the Dervish, said to him, “What wouldst thou, O Dervish, and why do I see thee weep?” He replied, “O my lord, I would fain be thy guest this night, for the guest is the guest of Almighty Allah.” Quoth the merchant, “Welcome to the guest of God: enter, O Dervish!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-fifth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the merchant, the father of Kamar al-Zaman, heard the saying of the Dervish, “I am Allah’s guest,” he replied, “Welcome to the guest of God: enter, O Dervish!” But he said to himself, “An the beggar be enamoured of the boy and sue him for sin, needs must I slay him this very night and bury him secretly. But, an there be no lewdness in him, the guest shall eat his portion.” Then he brought him into a saloon, where he left him with Kamar al-Zaman, after he had said privily to the lad, “O my son, sit thou beside the Dervish when I am gone out and sport with him and provoke him to love-liesse and if he seek of thee lewdness, I who will be watching you from the window overlooking the saloon will come down to him and kill him.” So, as soon as Kamar al-Zaman was alone in the room with the Dervish, he sat down by his side and the old man began to look upon him and sigh and weep. Whenever the lad bespake him, he answered him kindly, trembling the while and would turn to him groaning and crying, and thus he did till supper was brought in, when he fell to eating, with his eyes on the boy but refrained not from shedding tears. When a fourth part of the night was past and talk was ended and sleep-tide came, Abd al-Rahman said to the lad, “O my son, apply thyself to the service of thine uncle the Dervish and gainsay him not:” and would have gone out; but the Dervish cried to him, “O my lord, carry thy son with thee or sleep with us.” Answered the merchant, “Nay, my son shall lie with thee: haply thy soul may desire somewhat, and he will look to thy want and wait upon thee.” Then he went out leaving them both together, and sat down in an adjoining room which had a window giving upon the saloon. Such was the case with the merchant; but as to the lad, as soon as his sire had left them, he came up to the Dervish and began to provoke him and offer himself to him, whereupon he waxed wroth and said, “What talk is this, O my son? I take refuge with Allah from Satan the Stoned! O my Lord, indeed this is a denial of Thee which pleaseth Thee not! Avaunt from me, O my son!” So saying, the Dervish arose and sat down at a distance; but the boy followed him and threw himself upon him, saying, “Why, O Dervish, wilt thou deny thyself the joys of my possession, and I with a heart that loveth thee?” Hereupon the Dervish’s anger redoubled and he said, “An thou refrain not from me, I will summon thy sire and tell him of thy doings.” Quoth the lad, “My father knoweth my turn for this and it may not be that he will hinder me: so heal thou my heart. Why dost thou hold off from me? Do I not please thee?” Answered the Dervish, “By Allah, O my son, I will not do this, though I be hewn in pieces with sharp-edged swords!”; and he repeated the saying of the poet:—
Indeed my heart loves all the lovely boys ✿ As girls; nor am I slow to such delight,
But, though I sight them every night and morn, ✿ I’m neither of Lot’s folk[[388]] nor wencher-wight.
Then he shed tears and said, “Arise, open the door, that I may wend my way, for I will lie no longer in this lodging.” Therewith he rose to his feet; but the boy caught hold of him, saying, “Look at the fairness of my face and the cramoisy of my cheeks and the softness of my sides and the lusciousness of my lips.” Moreover he discovered to him calves that would shame wine and cup-carrier[[389]] and gazed on him with fixed glance that would baffle enchanter and enchantments; for he was passing of loveliness and full of blandishment, even as saith of him one of the poets who sang:—
I can’t forget him, since he rose and showed with fair design ✿ Those calves of legs whose pearly shine make light in nightly gloom:
Wonder not an my flesh uprise as though ’twere Judgment-day ✿ When every shank shall barèd be and that is Day of Doom.[[390]]
Then the boy displayed to him his bosom, saying, “Look at my breasts which be goodlier than the breasts of maidens and my lip-dews are sweeter than sugar-candy. So quit scruple and asceticism and cast off devoutness and abstinence and take thy fill of my possession and enjoy my loveliness. Fear naught, for thou art safe from hurt, and leave this hebetude for ’tis a bad habit.” And he went on to discover to him his hidden beauties, striving to turn the reins of his reason with his bendings in graceful guise, whilst the Dervish turned away his face and said, “I seek refuge with Allah! Have some shame, O my son[[391]]! This is a forbidden thing I deem and I will not do it, no, not even in dream.” The boy pressed upon him, but the Dervish got free from him and turning towards Meccah addressed himself to his devotions. Now when the boy saw him praying, he left him till he had prayed a two-bow prayer and saluted,[[392]] when he would have accosted him again; but the Dervish again repeated the intent[[393]] and prayed a second two-bow prayer, and thus he did a third and a fourth and a fifth time. Quoth the lad, “What prayers are these? Art thou minded to take flight upon the clouds? Thou lettest slip our delight, whilst thou passest the whole night in the prayer-niche.” So saying, he threw himself upon the Dervish and kissed him between the eyes; but the Shaykh said, O my son, put Satan away from thine estate and take upon thee obedience of the Compassionate.” Quoth the other, “An thou do not with me that which I desire, I will call my sire and say to him, The Dervish is minded to do lewdness with me. Whereupon he will come in to thee and beat thee till thy bones be broken upon thy flesh.” All this while Abd al-Rahman was watching with his eyes and hearkening with his ears, and he was certified that there was no frowardness in the Dervish and he said to himself, “Were he a lewd fellow, he had not stood out against all this importunity.” The boy continued to beguile the Dervish and every time he expressed purpose of prayer, he interrupted him, till at last he waxed wroth with passing wrath and was rough with him and beat him. Kamar al-Zaman wept and his father came in and having wiped away his tears and comforted him said to the Dervish, “O my brother, since thou art in such case, why didst thou weep and sigh when thou sawest my son? Say me, is there a reason for this?” He replied, “There is;” and Abd al-Rahman pursued, “When I saw thee weep at his sight, I deemed evil of thee and bade the boy do with thee thus, that I might try thee, purposing in myself, if I saw thee sue him for sin, to come in upon thee and kill thee. But, when I saw what thou didst, I knew thee for one of those who are virtuous to the end. Now Allah upon thee, tell me the cause of thy weeping!” The Dervish sighed and said, “O my lord, chafe not a closed[[394]] wound.” But the merchant said, “There is no help but thou tell me;” and the other began:—Know thou that I am a Dervish who wander in the lands and the countries, and take warning by the display[[395]] of the Creator of Night and Day. It chanced that one Friday I entered the city of Bassorah in the undurn.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-sixth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Dervish said to the merchant:—Know, then, that I a wandering mendicant chanced one Friday to enter the city of Bassorah in the undurn and saw the shops open and full of all manner of wares and meat and drink; but the place was deserted and therein was neither man nor woman nor girl nor boy: nor in the markets and the main streets was there dog or cat nor sounded sound nor friend was found. I marvelled at this and said to myself, “I wonder whither the people of the city be gone with their cats and dogs and what hath Allah done with them?” Now I was anhungred so I took hot bread from a baker’s oven and going into the shop of an oilman, spread the bread with clarified butter and honey and ate. Then I entered the shop of a sherbet-seller and drank what I would; after which, seeing a coffee-shop open, I went in and found the pots on the fire, full of coffee;[[396]] but there was no one there. So I drank my fill and said, “Verily, this is a wondrous thing! It seemeth as though Death had stricken the people of this city and they had all died this very hour, or as if they had taken fright at something which befel them and fled, without having time to shut their shops.” Now whilst pondering this matter, lo! I heard a sound of a band of drums beating; whereat I was afraid and hid myself for a while: then, looking out through a crevice, I saw damsels, like moons, come walking through the market, two by two, with uncovered heads and faces displayed. They were in forty pairs, thus numbering fourscore and in their midst a young lady, riding on a horse that could hardly move his legs for that which was upon it of silvern trappings and golden and jewelled housings. Her face was wholly unveiled, and she was adorned with the costliest ornaments and clad in the richest of raiment and about her neck she wore a collar of gems and on her bosom were necklaces of gold; her wrists were clasped with bracelets which sparkled like stars, and her ankles with bangles of gold set with precious stones. The slave-girls walked before her and behind and on her right and left and in front of her was a damsel bearing in baldric a great sword, with grip of emerald and tassels of jewel-encrusted gold. When that young lady came to where I lay hid, she pulled up her horse and said, “O damsels, I hear a noise of somewhat within yonder shop: so do ye search it, lest haply there be one hidden there, with intent to enjoy a look at us, whilst we have our faces unveiled.” So they searched the shop opposite the coffee-house[[397]] wherein I lay hid, whilst I abode in terror; and presently I saw them come forth with a man and they said to her, “O our lady, we found a man there and here he is before thee.” Quoth she to the damsel with the sword, “Smite his neck.” So she went up to him and struck off his head; then, leaving the dead man lying on the ground, they passed on. When I saw this, I was affrighted; but my heart was taken with love of the young lady. After an hour or so, the people reappeared and every one who had a shop entered it; whilst the folk began to come and go about the bazars and gathered around the slain man, staring at him as a curiosity. Then I crept forth from my hiding place by stealth, and none took note of me, but love of that lady had gotten possession of my heart, and I began to enquire of her privily. None, however, gave me news of her; so I left Bassorah, with vitals yearning for her love; and when I came upon this thy son, I saw him to be the likest of all creatures to the young lady; wherefore he reminded me of her and his sight revived the fire of passion in me and kindled anew in my heart the flames of love-longing and distraction. And such is the cause of my shedding tears!” Then he wept with sore weeping till he could no more and said, “O my lord, I conjure thee by Allah, open the door to me, so I may gang my gate!” Accordingly Abd al-Rahman opened the door and he went forth. Thus fared it with him; but as regards Kamar al-Zaman, when he heard the Dervish’s story, his heart was taken with love of the lady and passion gat the mastery of him and raged in him longing and distraction; so, on the morrow, he said to his sire, “All the sons of the merchants wander about the world to attain their desire, nor is there one of them but his father provideth for him a stock-in-trade wherewithal he may travel and traffic for gain. Why, then, O my father, dost thou not outfit me with merchandise, so I may fare with it and find my luck?” He replied, “O my son, such merchants lack money; so they send their sons to foreign parts for the sake of profit and pecuniary gain and provision of the goods of the world. But I have monies in plenty nor do I covet more: why then should I exile thee? Indeed, I cannot brook to be parted from thee an hour, more especially as thou art unique in beauty and loveliness and perfect grace and I fear for thee.” But Kamar al-Zaman said, “O my father, nothing will serve but thou must furnish me with merchandise wherewithal to travel; else will I fly from thee at unawares though without money or merchandise. So, an thou wish to solace my heart, make ready for me a stock-in-trade, that I may travel and amuse myself by viewing the countries of men.” Abd al-Rahman, seeing his son enamoured of travel, acquainted his wife with this, saying, “Verily thy son would have me provide him with goods, so he may fare therewith to far regions, albeit Travel is Travail.[[398]]” Quoth she, “What is there to displease thee in this? Such is the wont of the sons of the merchants and they all vie one with other in glorifying globe-trotting and gain.” Quoth he, “Most of the merchants are poor and seek growth of good; but I have wealth galore.” She replied, “More of a good thing hurteth not; and, if thou comply not with his wish, I will furnish him with goods of my own monies.” Quoth Abd al-Rahman, “I fear strangerhood for him, inasmuch as travel is the worst of trouble;” but she said, “There is no harm in strangerhood for him when it leadeth to gaining good; and, if we consent not, our son will go away and we shall seek him and not find him and be dishonoured among the folk.” The merchant accepted his wife’s counsel and provided his son with merchandise to the value of ninety thousand gold pieces, whilst his mother gave him a purse containing forty bezel-stones, jewels of price, the least of the value of one of which was five hundred ducats, saying, “O my son, be careful of this jewellery for ’twill be of service to thee.” Thereupon Kamar al-Zaman took the jewels and set out for Bassorah,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al-Zaman took the jewels and set out for Bassorah after he had laid them in a belt, which he buckled about his waist; and he stayed not till there remained aught but a day’s journey between that city and himself; when the Arabs came out upon him and stripped him naked and slew his men and servants; but he lay himself down among the slain and wallowed in their blood, so that the wildlings took him for dead and left him without even turning him over and made off with their booty. When the Arabs had gone their ways, Kamar al-Zaman arose, having naught left but the jewels in his girdle, and fared on nor ceased faring till he came to Bassorah. It chanced that his entry was on a Friday and the town was void of folk, even as the Dervish had informed him. He found the market-streets deserted and the shops wide open and full of goods; so he ate and drank and looked about him. Presently, he heard a band of drums beating and hid himself in a shop, till the slave-girls came up, when he looked at them; and, seeing the young lady riding amongst them, love and longing overcame him and desire and distraction overpowered him, so that he had no force to stand. After awhile, the people reappeared and the bazars filled. Whereupon he went to the market and repairing to a jeweller and pulling out one of his forty gems sold it for a thousand dinars, wherewith he returned to his place and passed the night there; and when morning morrowed he changed his clothes and going to the Hammam came forth as he were the full moon. Then he sold other four stones for four thousand dinars and sauntered solacing himself about the main streets of Bassorah, clad in the costliest of clothes; till he came to a market, where he saw a barber’s shop. So he went in to the barber who shaved his head; and, clapping up an acquaintance with him, said to him, “O my father, I am a stranger in these parts and yesterday I entered this city and found it void of folk, nor was there in it any living soul, man nor Jinni. Then I saw a troop of slave-girls and amongst them a young lady riding in state:” and he went on to tell him all he had seen. Said the barber, “O my son, hast thou told any but me of this?”; and he said, “No.” The other rejoined, “Then, O my son, beware thou mention this before any but me; for all folk cannot keep a secret and thou art but a little lad and I fear lest the talk travel from man to man, till it reach those whom it concerneth and they slay thee. For know, O my son, that this thou hast seen, none ever kenned nor knew in other than this city. As for the people of Bassorah they are dying of this annoy; for every Friday forenoon they shut up the dogs and cats, to hinder them from going about the market-streets, and all the people of the city enter the cathedral-mosques, where they lock the doors on them,[[399]] and not one of them can pass about the bazar nor even look out of casement; nor knoweth any the cause of this calamity. But, O my son, to-night I will question my wife concerning the reason thereof, for she is a midwife and entereth the houses of the notables and knoweth all the city news. So Inshallah, do thou come to me to-morrow and I will tell thee what she shall have told me.” With this Kamar al-Zaman pulled out a handful of gold and said to him, “O my father, take this gold and give it to thy wife, for she is become my mother.” Then he gave him a second handful, saying, “Take this for thyself.” Whereupon quoth the barber, “O my son, sit thou in thy place, till I go to my wife and ask her and bring thee news of the true state of the case.” So saying, he left him in the shop and going home, acquainted his wife with the young man’s case, saying, “I would have thee tell me the truth of this city-business, so I may report it to this young merchant, for he hath set his heart on weeting the reason why men and beasts are forbidden the market-streets every Friday forenoon; and methinks he is a lover, for he is open-handed and liberal, and if we tell him what he would trow, we shall get great good of him.” Quoth she, “Go back and say to him:—Come, speak with thy mother, my wife, who sendeth her salam to thee and saith to thee, Thy wish is won.” Accordingly he returned to the shop, where he found Kamar al-Zaman sitting awaiting him and repeated him the very words spoken by his spouse. Then he carried him in to her and she welcomed him and bade him sit down; whereupon he pulled out an hundred ducats and gave them to her, saying, “O my mother, tell me who this young lady may be.” Said she, “Know, O my son, that there came a gem to the Sultan of Bassorah from the King of Hind, and he was minded to have it pierced. So he summoned all the jewellers in a body and said to them, I wish you to drill me this jewel. Whoso pierceth it, I will give him whatsoever he shall ask; but if he break it, I will cut off his head. At this they were afraid and said, O King of the age, a jewel is soon spoilt and there are few who can pierce them without injury, for most of them have a flaw. So do not thou impose upon us a task to which we are unable; for our hands cannot avail to drill this jewel. However, our Shaykh[[400]] is more experienced than we.” Asked the King, “And who is your Shaykh?”; and they answered, “Master Obayd: he is more versed than we in this art and hath wealth galore and of skill great store. Therefore do thou send for him to the presence and bid him pierce thee this jewel.” Accordingly the King sent for Obayd and bade him pierce the jewel, imposing on him the condition aforesaid. He took it and pierced it to the liking of the King, who said to him, “Ask a boon of me, O master!”; and said he, “O King of the age, allow me delay till to-morrow.” Now the reason of this was that he wished to take counsel with his wife, who is the young lady thou sawest riding in procession; for he loveth her with exceeding love, and of the greatness of his affection for her, he doth naught without consulting her; wherefore he put off asking till the morrow. When he went home, he said to her:—“I have pierced the King a jewel and he hath granted me a boon which I deferred asking till to-morrow, that I might consult thee. Now what dost thou wish, that I may ask it?” Quoth she, “We have riches such as fires may not consume; but, an thou love me, ask of the King to make proclamation in the streets of Bassorah that all the townsfolk shall every Friday enter the mosques, two hours before the hour of prayer, so none may abide in the town at all great or small except they be in the mosques or in the houses and the doors be locked upon them, and that every shop of the town be left open. Then will I ride with my slave-women through the heart of the city and none shall look on me from window or lattice; and every one whom I find abroad I will kill.”[[401]] So he went in to the King and begged of him this boon, which he granted him and caused proclamation to be made amongst the Bassorites——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Jeweller begged his boon, the King bade proclamation be made amongst the Bassorites to the effect aforesaid, but the people objected that they feared for their goods from the cats and dogs; wherefore he commanded to shut the animals up till the folk should come forth from the Friday prayers. So the jeweller’s wife fell to sallying forth every Friday, two hours before the time of congregational prayer, and riding in state through the city with her women; during which time none dareth pass through the market-place nor look out of casement or lattice. “This, then, is what thou wouldest know and I have told thee who she is; but, O my son, was it thy desire only to have news of her or hast thou a mind to meet her?” Answered he, “O my mother, ’tis my wish to foregather with her.” Quoth she, “Tell me what valuables thou hast with thee”; and quoth he, “O my mother, I have with me precious stones of four sorts, the first worth five hundred dinars each, the second seven hundred, the third eight hundred and the fourth a thousand ducats.” She asked, “Art thou willing to spend four of these?”; and he answered, “I am ready to spend all of them.” She rejoined, “Then, arise, O my son, and go straight to thy lodging and take a bezel-gem of those worth five hundred sequins, with which do thou repair to the jewel market and ask for the shop of Master Obayd, the Shaykh of the Jewellers. Go thither and thou wilt find him seated in his shop, clad in rich clothes, with workmen under his hand. Salute him and sit down on the front shelf of his shop;[[402]] then pull out the jewel and give it to him, saying, “O master, take this stone and fashion it into a seal-ring for me with gold. Make it not large, a Miskál[[403]] in weight and no more; but let the fashion of it be thy fairest.” Then give him twenty dinars and to each of his prentices a dinar. Sit with him awhile and talk with him and if a beggar approach thee, show thy generosity by giving him a dinar, to the intent that he may affect thee, and after this, leave him and return to thy place. Pass the night there, and next morning, take an hundred dinars and bring them and give them to thy father the barber, for he is poor.” Quoth Kamar al-Zaman, “Be it so,” and returning to his caravanserai, took a jewel worth five hundred gold pieces and went with it to the jewel-bazar. There he enquired for the shop of Master Obayd, Shaykh of the Jewellers, and they directed him thereto. So he went thither and saw the Shaykh, a man of austere aspect and robed in sumptuous raiment with four journeymen under his hand. He addressed him with “Peace be upon you!” and the jeweller returned his greeting and welcoming him, made him sit down. Then he brought out the jewel and said, “O master, I wish thee to make me this jewel into a seal-ring with gold. Let it be the weight of a Miskal and no more, but fashion it excellently.” Then he pulled out twenty dinars and gave them to him, saying, “This is the fee for chasing and the price of the ring shall remain.”[[404]] And he gave each of the apprentices a gold piece, wherefore they loved him, and so did Master Obayd. Then he sat talking with the jeweller and whenever a beggar came up to him, he gave him a gold piece and they all marvelled at his generosity. Now Master Obayd had tools at home, like those he had in the shop, and whenever he was minded to do any unusual piece of work, it was his custom to carry it home and do it there, that his journeymen might not learn the secrets of his wonderful workmanship.[[405]] His wife used to sit before him, and when she was sitting thus and he looking upon her,[[406]] he would fashion all manner of marvellously wroughten trinkets, such as were fit for none but kings. So he went home and sat down to mould the ring with admirable workmanship. When his wife saw him thus engaged, she asked him, “What wilt thou do with this bezel-gem?”; and he answered, “I mean to make it into a ring with gold, for ’tis worth five hundred dinars.” She enquired, “For whom?”; and he answered, “For a young merchant, who is fair of face, with eyes that wound with desire, and cheeks that strike fire and mouth like the seal of Sulaymán and cheeks like the bloom of Nu’mán and lips red as coralline and neck like the antelope’s long and fine. His complexion is white dashed with red and he is well-bred, pleasant and generous and doth thus and thus.” And he went on to describe to her now his beauty and loveliness and then his perfection and bounty and ceased not to vaunt his charms and the generosity of his disposition, till he had made her in love with him; for there is no sillier cuckold than he who vaunteth to his wife another man’s handsome looks and unusual liberality in money matters. So, when desire rose high in her, she said to him, “Is aught of my charms found in him?” Said he, “He hath all thy beauties; and he is thy counterpart in qualities. Meseemeth his age is even as thine and but that I fear to hurt thy feelings, I would say that he is a thousand times handsomer than thou art.” She was silent, yet the fire of fondness was kindled in her heart. And the jeweller ceased not to talk with her and to set out Kamar al-Zaman’s charms before her till he had made an end of moulding the ring; when he gave it to her and she put it on her finger, which it fitted exactly. Quoth she, “O my lord, my heart loveth this ring and I long for it to be mine and will not take it from my finger.” Quoth he, “Have patience! The owner of it is generous, and I will seek to buy it of him, and if he will sell it, I will bring it to thee. Or if he have another such stone, I will buy it and fashion it for thee into a ring like this.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the jeweller said to his wife, “Have patience! The owner of it is generous and I will seek to buy it of him; and, if he will sell it, I will bring it to thee; or, if he have another such stone I will buy it and fashion it for thee into a ring like this.” On this wise it fared with the jeweller and his wife; but as regards Kamar al-Zaman, he passed the night in his lodging and on the morrow he took an hundred dinars and carried them to the old woman, the barber’s wife, saying to her, “Accept these gold pieces,” and she replied, “Give them to thy father.” So he gave them to the barber and she asked, “Hast thou done as I bade thee?” He answered, “Yes,” and she said, “Go now to the Shaykh, the jeweller, and if he give thee the ring, put it on the tip of thy finger and pull it off in haste and say to him, O master, thou hast made a mistake; the ring is too tight. He will say, O merchant, shall I break it and mould it again larger? And do thou say, It booteth not to break it and fashion it anew. Take it and give it to one of thy slave-women. Then pull out another stone worth seven hundred dinars and say to him, Take this stone and set it for me, for ’tis handsomer than the other. Give him thirty dinars and to each of the prentices two, saying, These gold pieces are for the chasing and the price of the ring shall remain. Then return to thy lodging for the night and on the morrow bring me two hundred ducats, and I will complete thee the rest of the device.” So the youth went to the jeweller, who welcomed him and made him sit down in his shop; and he asked him, “Hast thou done my need?” “Yes,” answered Obayd and brought out to him the seal-ring; whereupon he set it on his finger-tip and pulling it off in haste, cried, “Thou hast made a mistake, O master;” and threw it to him, saying, “’Tis too strait for my finger.” Asked the jeweller, “O merchant, shall I make it larger?” But he answered, “Not so; take it as a gift and give it to one of thy slave-girls. Its worth is trifling, some five hundred dinars; so it booteth not to fashion it over again.” Then he brought out to him another stone worth seven hundred sequins and said to him, “Set this for me: ’tis a finer gem.” Moreover he gave him thirty dinars and to each of his workmen two. Quoth Obayd, “O my lord we will take the price of the ring when we have made it.”[[407]] But Kamar al-Zaman said, “This is for the chasing, and the price of the ring remains over.” So saying, he went away home, leaving the jeweller and his men amazed at the excess of his generosity. Presently the jeweller returned to his wife and said, “O Halímah,[[408]] never did I set eyes on a more generous than this young man, and as for thee, thy luck is good, for he hath given me the ring without price, saying, Give it to one of thy slave-women.” And he told her what had passed, adding, “Methinks this youth is none of the sons of the merchants, but that he is of the sons of the Kings and Sultans.” Now the more he praised him, the more she waxed in love-longing, passion and distraction for him. So she took the ring and put it on her finger, whilst the jeweller made another one, a little larger than the first. When he had finished moulding it, she put it on her finger, under the first, and said, “Look, O my lord, how well the two rings show on my finger! I wish they were both mine.” Said he, “Patience! It may be I shall buy thee this second one.” Then he lay that night and on the morrow he took the ring and went to his shop. As for Kamar al-Zaman, as soon as it was day, he repaired to the barber’s wife and gave her two hundred dinars. Quoth she, “Go to the jeweller and when he giveth thee the ring, put it on thy finger and pull it off again in haste, saying:—Thou hast made a mistake, O master! This ring is too large. A master like thee, when the like of me cometh to him with a piece of work, it behoveth him to take right measure; and if thou hadst measured my finger, thou hadst not erred. Then pull out another stone worth a thousand dinars and say to him:—Take this and set it, and give this ring to one of thy slave-women. Give him forty ducats and to each of his journeyman three, saying, This is for the chasing, and for the cost of the ring, that shall remain. And see what he will say. Then bring three hundred dinars and give them to thy father the barber, that he may mend his fortune withal, for he is a poor man.” Answered Kamar al-Zaman, “I hear and obey,” and betook himself to the jeweller, who welcomed him and making him sit down, gave him the ring. He took it and put it on his finger; then pulled it off in haste and said, “It behoveth a master like thee, when the like of me bringeth him a piece of work, to take his measure. Hadst thou measured my finger, thou hadst not erred; but take it and give it to one of thy slave-women.” Then he brought out to him a stone worth a thousand sequins and said to him, “Take this and set it in a signet-ring for me after the measure of my finger.” Quoth Obayd, “Thou hast spoken sooth and art in the right;” and took his measure, whereupon he pulled out forty gold pieces and gave them to him, saying, “Take these for the chasing and the price of the ring shall remain.” Cried the jeweller, “O my lord, how much hire have we taken of thee! Verily, thy bounty to us is great!” “No harm,” replied Kamar al-Zaman and sat talking with him awhile and giving a dinar to every beggar who passed by the shop. Then he left him and went away, whilst the jeweller returned home and said to his wife, “How generous is this young merchant! Never did I set eyes on a more open-handed or a comelier than he, no, nor a sweeter of speech.” And he went on to recount to her his charms and generosity and was loud in his praise. Cried she, “O thou lack-tact,[[409]] since thou notest these qualities in him, and indeed he hath given thee two seal-rings of price, it behoveth thee to invite him and make him an entertainment and entreat him lovingly. When he seest that thou affectest him and cometh to our place, we shall surely get great good of him; and if thou grudge him the banquet do thou bid him and I will entertain him of my monies.” Quoth he, “Dost thou know me to be niggardly, that thou sayest this Say?”; and quoth she, “Thou art no niggard, but thou lackest tact. Invite him this very night and come not without him. An he refuse, conjure him by the divorce oath and be persistent with him.” “On my head and eyes,” answered he and moulded the ring till he had finished it, after which he passed the night and went forth on the morrow to his shop and sat there. On this wise it was with him; but as for Kamar al-Zaman, he took three hundred dinars and carrying them to the old wife, gave them to her for the barber, her husband. Said she, “Most like he will invite thee to his house this day; and if he do this and thou pass the night there, tell me in the morning what befalleth thee and bring with thee four hundred dinars and give them to thy father.” Answered he, “Hearing and obeying;” and as often as he ran out of money, he would sell some of his stones. So he repaired to the jeweller, who rose to him and received him with open arms, greeted him heartily and clapped up companionship with him. Then he gave him the ring, and he found it after the measure of his finger and said to the jeweller, “Allah bless thee, O prince of artists! The setting is conformable but the stone is not to my liking.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventieth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al-Zaman said to the jeweller, “The setting is conformable to my wishes, but the stone is not to my liking. I have a handsomer than this: so take the seal-ring and give it to one of thy slave-women.” Then he gave him a fourth stone and an hundred dinars, saying, “Take thy hire and excuse the trouble we have given thee.” Obayd replied, “O merchant, all the trouble thou hast given us thou hast requited us and hast overwhelmed us with thy great bounties: and indeed my heart is taken with love of thee and I cannot brook parting from thee. So, Allah upon thee, be thou my guest this night and heal my heart.” He rejoined, “So be it; but needs must I go to my Khan, that I may give a charge to my domestics and tell them that I shall sleep abroad to-night, so they may not expect me.” “Where dost thou lodge?” asked the jeweller; and he answered, “In such a Khan.” Quoth Obayd, “I will come for thee there;” and quoth the other, “’Tis well.” So the jeweller repaired to the Khan before sundown, fearing lest his wife should be anangered with him, if he returned home without his guest; and, carrying Kamar al-Zaman to his house, seated him in a saloon that had not its match. Halimah saw him, as he entered, and was ravished with him. They talked till supper was served when they ate and drank; after which appeared coffee and sherbets, and the jeweller ceased not to entertain him with talk till eventide, when they prayed the obligatory prayers. Then entered a handmaid with two cups[[410]] of night drink, which when they had drunk, drowsiness overcame them and they slept. Presently in came the jeweller’s wife and seeing them asleep, looked upon Kamar al-Zaman’s face and her wit was confounded at his beauty. Said she, “How can he sleep who loveth the fair?” and, turning him over on his back, sat astraddle upon his breast. Then, in the mania of her passion for him, she rained down kisses on his cheeks, till she left a mark upon them and they became exceeding red and his cheek bones shone; and, she sucked his lips, till the blood ran out into her mouth; but with all this, her fire was not quenched nor her thirst assuaged. She ceased not to kiss and clip him and twine leg with leg, till the fore-brow of Morn grew white and the dawn broke forth in light; when she put in his pocket four cockals[[411]] and went away. Then she sent her maid with something like snuff, which she applied to their nostrils and they sneezed and awoke, when the slave-girl said, “O my lords, prayer is a duty; so rise ye and pray the dawn-prayer.” And she brought them basin and ewer.[[412]] Quoth Kaman al-Zamar “O master, ’tis late and we have overslept ourselves;” and quoth the jeweller, “O my friend verily the air of this room is heavy; for, whenever I sleep in it, this happens to me.” Rejoined Kamar al-Zaman, “True,” and proceeded to make the Wuzu ablution; but, when he put the water to his face, his cheeks and lips burned him. Cried he, “Prodigious! If the air of the room be heavy and we have been drowned in sleep, what aileth my cheeks and lips that they burn me?” And he said to the jeweller, “O master, my cheeks and lips burn me.” The other replied, “I guess this cometh of the mosquito-bites.” “Strange!” said Kamar al-Zaman. “Hath this thing happened to thee?” Replied Obayd, “No! But whenever I have by me a guest like thee, he complaineth in the morning of the mosquito-bites, and this happeneth only when he is like thee beardless. If he be bearded the mosquitoes sting him not, and naught hindereth them from me but my beard. It seems mosquitoes love not bearded men.”[[413]] Rejoined Kamar al-Zaman, “True.” Then the maid brought them early breakfast and they broke their fast and went out. Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to the old woman, who exclaimed, when she saw him, “I see the marks of joyance on thy face: tell me what thou hast seen.” Said he, “I have seen nothing. Only I supped with the house-master in a saloon and prayed the night-prayer, after which we fell asleep and woke not till morning.” She laughed and said, “What be those marks on thy cheeks and lips?” He answered, “’Twas the mosquitoes of the saloon that did this with me;” and she rejoined, “’Tis well. But did the same thing betide the house master?” He retorted, “Nay; but he told me that the mosquitoes of that saloon molest not bearded men, but sting those only who have no hair on face, and that whenever he hath for guest one who is beardless, the stranger awaketh complaining of the mosquito-bites; whereas an he have a beard, there befalleth him naught of this.” Said she, “Sooth thou speakest: but say me, sawest thou aught save this?” And he answered, “I found four cockals in my pocket.” Quoth she, “Show them to me.” So he gave them to her and she laughed and said, “Thy mistress laid these in thy pocket.” He asked, “How so?” And she answered, “’Tis as if she said to thee, in the language of signs:[[414]]—An thou wert in love, thou wouldst not sleep, for a lover sleepeth not: but thou has not ceased to be a child and fit for nothing but to play with these cockals. So what drave thee to fall in love with the fair? Now she came to thee by night and finding thee asleep, scored thy cheeks with her kisses and left thee this sign. But that will not suffice her of thee and she will certainly send her husband to invite thee again to-night; so, when thou goest home with him, hasten not to fall asleep, and on the morrow bring me five hundred dinars and come and acquaint me with what hath passed, and I will perfect for thee the device.” Answered he, “I hear and obey,” and went back to the Khan. Thus it befel him; but as regards the jeweller’s wife, she said to her husband, “Is the guest gone?” Answered he, “Yes, but, O Halimah,[[415]] the mosquitoes plagued him last night and scarified his cheeks and lips, and indeed I was abashed before him.” She rejoined, “This is the wont of the mosquitoes of our saloon; for they love none save the beardless. But do thou invite him again to-night.” So he repaired to the Khan where the youth abode, and bidding him, carried him to his house, where they ate and drank and prayed the night-prayer in the saloon, after which the slave-girl entered and gave each of them a cup of night-drink,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the slave-girl went in to the twain and gave each of them a cup of night-drink, and they drank and fell asleep. Presently, in came Halimah and said, “O good-for-nothing, how canst thou sleep and call thyself a lover? A lover sleepeth not!” Then she mounted on his breast and ceased not to come down upon him with kisses and caresses, biting and sucking his lips and so forth, till the morning, when she put in his pocket a knife and sent her handmaid to arouse them. And when the youth awoke, his cheeks were on fire, for excess of redness, and his lips like coral, for dint of sucking and kissing. Quoth the jeweller, “Did the mosquitoes plague thee last night?”; and quoth the other, “Nay!”; for he now knew the conceit and left complaining. Then he felt the knife in his pocket and was silent; but when he had broken his fast and drunk coffee, he left the jeweller and going to the Khan; took five hundred dinars of gold and carried them to the old woman, to whom he related what had passed, saying, “I slept despite myself, and when I woke at dawn I found nothing but a knife in my pocket.” Exclaimed the old trot, “May Allah protect thee from her this next night! For she saith to thee by this sign, An thou sleep again, I will cut thy throat. Thou wilt once more be bidden to the jeweller’s house to-night,[[416]] and if thou sleep, she will slay thee.” Said he, “What is to be done?”; and said she, “Tell me what thou atest and drankest before sleeping.” Quoth he, “We supped as was our wont and prayed the night-prayer, after which there came in to us a maid, who gave each of us a cup of night-drink, which when I had drunk, I fell asleep and awoke not till the morning.” Quoth the old woman, “The mischief is in the cup: so, when the maid giveth it to thee, take it from her, but drink not and wait till the master of the house have drunken and fallen asleep; then say to her, Give me a draught of water, and she will go to fetch thee the gugglet. Then do thou empty the cup behind the pillow and lie down and feign sleep. So when she cometh back with the gugglet, she will deem that thou hast fallen asleep, after having drunk off the cup, and will leave thee; and presently the case will appear to thee; but beware of disobeying my bidding.” Answered he, “I hear and I obey,” and returned to the Khan. Meanwhile the jeweller’s wife said to her husband, “A guest’s due honour is three nights’ entertainment: so do thou invite him a third time”; whereupon he betook himself to the youth and inviting him, carried him home and sat down with him in the saloon. When they had supped and prayed the night-prayer, behold, in came the handmaid and gave each of them a cup. Her master drank and fell asleep; but Kamar al-Zaman forbore to drink, whereupon quoth the maid, “Wilt thou not drink, O my lord?” Answered he, “I am athirst, bring me the gugglet.” Accordingly she went to fetch it, and he emptied the cup behind the pillow and lay down. When the slave girl returned, she saw him lying down and going to her mistress said, “He hath drunk off the cup and fallen asleep;” whereupon quoth Halimah to herself, “Verily, his death is better than his life.” Then, taking a sharp knife, she went in to him, saying, “Three times, and thou notedst not the sign, O fool![[417]] So now I will rip up thy maw.” When he saw her making for him knife in hand, he opened his eyes and rose, laughing; whereupon said she, “’Twas not of thine own wit, that thou camest at the meaning of the sign, but by the help of some wily cheat; so tell me whence thou hadst this knowledge.” “From an old woman,” replied he, “between whom and me befel such and such;” and he told her all that had passed. Quoth she, “To-morrow go thou forth from us and seek her and say, Hast thou any further device in store? And if she answer, I have, do thou rejoin, Then do thy best that I may enjoy her publicly. But, if she say, I have no means of doing that, and this is the last of my devices, put her away from thy thought, and to-morrow night my husband will come to thee and invite thee. Do thou come with him and tell me and I will consider what remaineth to be done.” Answered he, “There is no harm in that!” Then he spent the rest of the night with her in embracing and clipping, plying the particle of copulation in concert[[418]] and joining the conjunctive with the conjoined,[[419]] whilst her husband was as a cast-out nunnation of construction.[[420]] And they ceased not to be thus till morning, when she said to him, “’Tis not a night of thee that will content me, nor a day; no, nor yet a month nor a year; but it’s my intent to abide with thee the rest of my life. Wait, however, till I play my husband a trick which would baffle the keenest-witted and win for us our wishes. I will cause doubt to enter into him, so that he shall divorce me, whereupon I will marry thee and go with thee to thine own country; I will also transport all his monies and hoards to thy lodging and will contrive thee the ruin of his dwelling-place and the blotting out of his traces. But do thou hearken to my speech and obey me in that I shall say to thee and gainsay me not.” He replied, “I hear and I obey: in me there is none opposition.” Then said she, “Go to the Khan and, when my husband cometh to thee and inviteth thee, say to him:—O my brother, a son of Adam is apt to be burdensome, and when his visits grow over frequent, both generous and niggard loathe him.[[421]] How then shall I go with thee every night and lie I and thee, on the saloon? An thou wax not chagrined with me, thy Harim will bear me grudge, for that I hinder thee from thine. Therefore if thou have a mind to my company, take me a house beside thine own and we will abide thus, now I sitting with thee till the time of sleep, and now with me thou. Then I will go to my place and thou to thy Harim and this will be a better rede than that I hinder thee from thy Harim every night. Then will he come to me and take counsel with me, and I will advise him to turn out our neighbour, for the house wherein he liveth is our house and he renteth it of us; and once thou art in the house, Allah will make easy to us the rest of our scheme.” And presently she added, “Go now and do as I bid thee.” Answered he, “I hear and obey;” whereupon she left him and went away, whilst he lay down and feigned to be asleep. Presently, the handmaid came and aroused them; and when the jeweller awoke, he said to his guest, “O merchant have the mosquitoes worried thee?” He replied, “No,” and Obayd said, “Belike thou art grown used to them.” Then they broke their fast and drank coffee, after which they fared forth to their affairs, and Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to the old crone, and related to her what had passed,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-second Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to the old crone, he related to her what had passed, saying, “She spake to me this and that, and I answered her thus and thus. Now say me, hast thou any farther device for bringing me to enjoy her publicly?” Quoth she, “O my son, here endeth my contrivance, and now I am at the term of my devices.” Upon this he left her and returned to the Khan where, as eventide evened, the jeweller came to him and invited him. He said, “I cannot go with thee.” Asked the merchant, “Why so? I love thee and cannot brook separation from thee. Allah upon thee come with me!” The other replied, “An it be thy wish to continue our comradeship and keep up the friendship betwixt thee and me, take me a house by the side of thine own, and when thou wilt, thou shalt pass the evening with me and I with thee; but, as soon as the time of sleep cometh, each of us shall hie him to his own home and lie there.” Quoth Obayd, “I have a house adjoining mine, which is my own property: so go thou with me to-night and to-morrow I will have the house untenanted for thee.” Accordingly he went with him and they supped and prayed the night-prayer, after which the jeweller drank the cup of drugged[[422]] liquor and fell asleep: but in Kamar al-Zaman’s cup there was no trick; so he drank it and slept not. Then came the jeweller’s wife and sat chatting with him through the dark hours, whilst her husband lay like a corpse. When he awoke in the morning as of wont, he sent for his tenant and said to him, “O man, quit me the house, for I have need of it.” “On my head and eyes,” answered the other and voided the house to him, whereupon Kamar al-Zaman took up his abode therein and transported thither all his baggage. The jeweller passed that evening with him, then went to his own house. On the next day, his wife sent for a cunning builder and bribed him with money to make her an underground-way[[423]] from her chamber to Kamar al-Zaman’s house, with a trap-door under the earth. So, before the youth was ware, she came in to him with two bags of money and he said to her, “Whence comest thou?” She showed him the tunnel and said to him, “Take these two bags of his money.” Then she sat with him, the twain toying and tumbling together till the morning, when she said, “Wait for me, till I go to him and wake him, so he may go to his shop, and I return to thee.” He sat expecting her, whilst she went away and awoke her husband, who made the Wuzu-ablution and prayed and went to his shop. As soon as he was gone, she took four bags and, carrying them through the Souterrain to Kamar al-Zaman, said to him, “Store these up;” then she sat with him awhile, after which she retired to her home and he betook himself to the bazar. When he returned at sundown, he found in his house ten purses and jewels and much besides. Presently the jeweller came to him and carried him to his own house, where they passed the evening in the saloon, till the handmaid came in according to custom, and brought them the drink. Her master drank and fell asleep, whilst naught betided Kamar al-Zaman for that his cup was wholesome and there was no trick therein. Then came Halimah who sat down a-toying with him, whilst the slave-girl transported the jeweller’s goods to Kamar al-Zaman’s house by the secret passage. Thus they did till morning, when the handmaid awoke her lord and gave them to drink coffee, after which they went each his own way. On the third day the wife brought out to him a knife of her husband’s, which he had chased and wrought with his own hand, and which he priced at five hundred dinars. But there was no knife like it and because of the eagerness with which folk sought it of him, he had laid it up in a chest and could not bring himself to sell it to any one in creation. Quoth she, “Take this knife and set it in thy waist-shawl and go to my husband and sit with him. Then pull out the knife and say to him, “O master, look at this knife I bought to-day and tell me if I have the worst or the best of the bargain. He will know it, but will be ashamed to say to thee, This is my knife; so he will ask thee, Whence didst thou buy it and for how much?; and do thou make answer:—I saw two Levantines[[424]] disputing and one said to the other, Where hast thou been? Quoth his companion, I have been with my mistress, and whenever I foregather with her, she giveth me ten dirhams; but this day she said to me, My hand is empty of silver for thee to-day, but take this knife of my husband’s. So I took it and intend to sell it. The knife pleased me and hearing his tale I said to him, Wilt thou sell it to me? when he replied, Buy. So I got it of him for three hundred gold pieces and I wonder whether it was cheap or dear. And note what he will say to thee. Then talk with him awhile and rise and come back to me in haste. Thou wilt find me awaiting thee at the tunnel-mouth, and do thou give me the knife.” Replied Kamar al-Zaman, “I hear and I obey,” and taking the knife set it in his waist-shawl. Then he went to the shop of the jeweller, who saluted him with the salam and welcomed him and made him sit down. He spied the knife in his waist-shawl, at which he wondered and said to himself, “That is my knife: who can have conveyed it to this merchant?” And he fell a-musing and saying in his mind, “I wonder an it be my knife or a knife like it!” Presently Kamar al-Zaman pulled it out and said to him, “Harkye, master; take this knife and look at it.” Obayd took it and knew it right well, but was ashamed to say, “This is my knife;”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say,
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-third Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the jeweller took the knife from Kamar al-Zaman, he knew it, but was ashamed to say, “This is my knife.” So he asked, “Where didst thou buy it?” Kamar al-Zaman answered as Halimah had charged him, and the jeweller said, “The knife was cheap at that price, for it is worth five hundred dinars.” But fire flamed in his heart and his hands were tied from working at his craft. Kamar al-Zaman continued to talk with him, whilst he was drowned in the sea of solicitudes, and for fifty words wherewith the youth bespoke him, he answered him but one; for his heart ached and his frame was racked and his thoughts were troubled and he was even as saith the poet:—
I have no words though folk would have me talk ✿ And who bespeak me find me thought-waylaid:
Plunged in the Care-sea’s undiscovered depths, ✿ Nor aught of difference see ’twixt man and maid!
When Kamar al-Zaman saw his case thus changed, he said to him, “Belike thou art busy at this present,” and leaving him, returned in hottest haste to his own house, where he found Halimah standing at the passage-door awaiting him. Quoth she “Hast thou done as I bade thee?”; and quoth he, “Yes.” She asked, “What said he to thee?”; and he answered, “He told me that the knife was cheap at that price, for that it was worth five hundred dinars: but I could see that he was troubled; so I left him and know not what befel him after that.” Cried she, “Give me the knife and reck thou not of him.” Then she took the knife and restoring it to its place, sat down. Now after Kamar al-Zaman’s departure fire flamed in the jeweller’s heart and suspicion was sore upon him and he said to himself, “Needs must I get up and go look for the knife and cut down doubt with certainty.” So he rose and repaired to his house and went in to his wife, snorting like a dragon;[[425]] and she said to him, “What mattereth thee, O my lord?” He asked, “Where is my knife?” and she answered, “In the chest,” and smote hand upon breast, saying, “O my grief! Belike thou hast fallen out with some one and art come to fetch the knife to smite him withal.” Said he, “Give me the knife. Let me see it.” But said she, “Not till thou swear to me that thou wilt not smite any one therewith.” So he swore this to her and she opened the chest and brought out to him the knife and he fell to turning it over, saying, “Verily, this is a wondrous thing!” Then quoth he to her, “Take it and lay it back in its place;” and she, “Tell me the meaning of all this.” He answered, “I saw with our friend a knife like this,” and told her all that had passed between himself and the youth, adding, “But, when I saw it in the chest, my suspicion ended in certainty.” Said she, “Haply thou misdoubtedst of me and deemedst that I was the Levantine’s mistress and had given him the knife.” He replied, “Yes; I had my doubts of this; but, when I saw the knife, suspicion was lifted from my heart.” Rejoined she, “O man, there is now no good in thee!” And he fell to excusing himself to her, till he appeased her; after which he fared forth and returned to his shop. Next day, she gave Kamar al-Zaman her husband’s watch, which he had made with his own hand and whereof none had the like, saying, “Go to his shop and sit by his side and say to him:—I saw again to-day him whom I saw yesterday. He had a watch in his hand and said to me, Wilt thou buy this watch? Quoth I, Whence hadst thou it?; and quoth he, I was with my mistress and she gave me this watch. So I bought it of him for eight-and-fifty gold pieces. Look at it: is it cheap at that price or dear? Note what he shall say to thee; then return to me in haste and give me the watch.” So Kamar al-Zaman repaired to the jeweller and did with him as she had charged him. When Obayd saw the watch, he said, “This is worth seven hundred ducats;” and suspicion entered into him. Then the youth left him and returning to the wife, gave her back the watch. Presently, her husband suddenly came in snorting, and said to her, “Where is my watch?” Said she, “Here it is;” and he cried, “Give it to me.” So she brought it to him and he exclaimed, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!”; and she too exclaimed, “O man, there is something the matter with thee. Tell me what it is.” He replied, “What shall I say? Verily, I am bewildered by these chances!” And he recited these couplets[[426]]:—
Although the Merciful be doubtless with me,
Yet am I sore bewildered, for new griefs
Have compassed me about, or ere I knew it,
I have endured till Patience self became
Impatient of my patience.—I have endured
Waiting till Heaven fulfil my destiny.—
I have endured till e’en endurance owned
How I bore up with her; (a thing more bitter
Than bitter aloes) yet though a bitterer thing
Is not, than is that drug, it were more bitter
To me should Patience leave me unsustained.
Then said he to his wife, “O woman, I saw with the merchant our friend, first my knife, which I knew, for that its fashion was a device of my own wit, nor doth its like exist; and he told me of it a story that troubled the heart: so I came back and found it at home. Again to-day I see him with the watch, whose fashion also is of my own device, nor is there the fellow of it in Bassorah, and of this also he told me a story that saddened my heart. Wherefore I am bewildered in my wit and know not what is to come to me.” Quoth she, “The purport of thy speech is that thou suspectedst me of being the friend of that merchant and his leman, and eke of giving him thy good; so thou camest to question me and make proof of my perfidy; and, had I not shown thee the knife and the watch, thou hadst been certified of my treason. But since, O man, thou deemest me this ill deme, henceforth I will never again break with thee bread nor drain with thee drink, for I loathe thee with the loathing of prohibition.[[427]]” So he gentled her and excused himself till he had appeased her and returned, repenting him of having bespoken her thus, to his shop, where he sat——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the jeweller quitted his wife, he repented having bespoken her thus and, returning to his shop, he sat there in disquiet sore and anxiety galore, between belief and unbelief. About eventide he went home alone, not bringing Kamar al-Zaman with him: whereupon quoth his wife, “Where is the merchant?”; and quoth he, “In his lodgings.” She asked, “Is the friendship between thee and him grown cold?” and he answered, “By Allah, I have taken a dislike to him, because of that which hath betided me from him.”[[428]] Quoth she, “Go fetch him, to please me.” So he arose and went in to Kamar al-Zaman in his house; where he saw his own goods strewn about and knew them. At this sight, fire was kindled in his heart and he fell a-sighing. Quoth the youth, “How is it that I see thee melancholy?” Obayd was ashamed to say, “Here are my goods in thy house: who brought them hither?”; so he replied only, “A vexation hath betided me; but come thou with me to my house, that we may solace ourselves there.” The other rejoined, “Let me be in my place: I will not go with thee.” But the jeweller conjured him to come and took him to his house, where they supped and passed the evening together, Kamar al-Zaman talking with the jeweller, who was drowned in the sea of solicitude and for a hundred words, wherewith the guest bespoke him, answered him only one word. Presently, the handmaid brought them two cups of drink, as usual, and they drank; whereupon the jeweller fell asleep, but the youth abode on wake, because his cup was not drugged. Then came Halimah and said to her lover, “How deemest thou of yonder cornuted, who is drunken in his heedlessness and weeteth not the wiles of women? There is no help for it but that I cozen him into divorcing me. To-morrow, I will disguise myself as a slave-girl and walk after thee to his shop, where do thou say to him, O master, I went to-day into the Khan of Al-Yasirjíyah, where I saw this damsel and bought her for a thousand dinars. Look at her for me and tell me whether she was cheap at that price or dear. Then uncover to him my face and breasts and show all of me to him; after which do thou carry me back to thy house, whence I will go to my chamber by the secret passage, so I may see the issue of our affair with him.” Then the twain passed the night in mirth and merriment, converse and good cheer, dalliance and delight till dawn, when she returned to her own place and sent the handmaid to arouse her lawful lord and her lover. Accordingly they arose and prayed the dawn-prayer and brake their fast and drank coffee, after which Obayd repaired to his shop and Kamar al-Zaman betook himself to his own house. Presently, in came Halimah to him by the tunnel, in the guise of a slave-girl, and indeed she was by birth a slave-girl.[[429]] Then he went out and she walked behind him, till he came to the jeweller’s shop and saluting him, sat down and said, “O master, I went into the Khan of Al-Yasirjiyah to-day, to look about me, and saw this damsel in the broker’s hands. She pleased me; so I bought her for a thousand dinars and I would have thee look upon her and see if she be cheap at that price or no.” So saying, he uncovered her face and the jeweller saw her to be his own wife, clad in her costliest clothes, tricked out in her finest trinkets and kohl’d and henna’d, even as she was wont to adorn herself before him in the house. He knew with full knowledge her face and dress and trinkets, for those he had wrought with his own hand, and he saw on her fingers the seal-rings he had newly made for Kamar al-Zaman, whereby he was certified with entire assurance that she was indeed his very wife. So he asked her, “What is thy name, O slave-girl?”; and she answered, “Halimah,” naming to him her own name; whereat he was amazed and said to the youth, “For how much didst thou buy her?” He replied, “For a thousand dinars”; and the jeweller rejoined, “Thou hast gotten her gratis; for her rings and clothes and trinkets are worth more than that.” Said Kamar al-Zaman, “May Allah rejoice thee with good news! Since she pleaseth thee, I will carry her to my house;” and Obayd said, “Do thy will.” So he took her off to his house, whence she passed through the secret passage to her own apartment and sat there. Meanwhile, fire flamed in the jeweller’s heart and he said to himself, “I will go see my wife. If she be at home, this slave-girl must be her counterpart, and glory be to Him who alone hath no counterpart! But, if she be not at home, ’tis she herself without a doubt.” Then he set off running, and coming to his house, found his wife sitting in the same clothes and ornaments he had seen upon her in the shop; whereupon he beat hand upon hand, saying, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” “O man,” asked she, “art thou mad or what aileth thee? ’Tis not thy wont to do thus, and needs must it be that something hath befallen thee.” Answered he, “If thou wilt have me tell thee be not vexed.” Quoth she, “Say on”; so he said, “Our friend the merchant hath bought a slave-girl, whose shape is as thy shape and her height as thy height; moreover, her name is even as thy name and her apparel is the like of thine apparel. Brief, she resembleth thee in all her attributes, and on her fingers are seal-rings like thy seal-rings and her trinkets are as thy trinkets. So, when he displayed her to me, methought it was thyself and I was perplexed concerning my case. Would we had never seen this merchant nor companied with him; and would he had never left his own country and we had not known him, for he hath troubled my life which before was serene, causing ill-feeling to succeed good faith and making doubt to enter into my heart.” Said she, “Look in my face, belike I am she who was with him and he is my lover and I disguised myself as a slave-girl and agreed with him that he should display me to thee, so he might lay a snare for thee.” He replied, “What words are these? Indeed, I never suspected that thou wouldst do the like of this deed.” Now this jeweller was unversed in the wiles of women and knew not how they deal with men, nor had he heard the saying of him who said:—
A heart bore thee off in chase of the fair, ✿ As fled Youth and came Age wi’ his hoary hair:
Laylà troubles me and love-joys are far; ✿ And rival and risks brings us cark and care.
An would’st ask me of woman, behold I am ✿ In physic of womankind wise and ware:
When grizzleth man’s head and his monies fail, ✿ His lot in their love is a poor affair.
Nor that of another:[[430]]—
Gainsay women; he obeyeth Allah best, who saith them nay And he prospers not who giveth them his bridle-rein to sway;
For they’ll hinder him from winning to perfection in his gifts, Though a thousand years he study, seeking after wisdom’s way.
And a third:—
Women Satans are, made for woe of man: ✿ To Allah I fly from such Satanesses!
Whom they lure by their love he to grief shall come ✿ And lose bliss of world and the Faith that blesses.
Said she, “Here am I sitting in my chamber; so go thou to him forthright and knock at the door and contrive to go in to him quickly. An thou see the damsel with him ’tis a slave-girl of his who resembleth me (and Glory be to Him who hath no resemblance![[431]]) But, an thou see no slave-girl with him, then am I myself she whom thou sawest with him in the shop, and thine ill thought of me will be stablished.” “True,” answered Obayd, and went out leaving her, whereupon she passed through the hidden passage and seating herself by Kamar al-Zaman, told him what had passed, saying, “Open the door quickly and show me to him.” Now, as they were talking, behold, there came a knocking at the door. Quoth Kamar al-Zaman, “Who is at the door?”; and quoth the jeweller, “I, thy friend; thou displayedst to me thy slave-girl in the bazar, and I rejoiced for thee in her, but my joy in her was not completed; so open the door and let me look at her again.” Rejoined he, “So be it,” and opened the door to him, whereupon he saw his wife sitting by him. She rose and kissed their hands; and he looked at her; then she talked with him awhile and he saw her not to be distinguished from his wife in aught and said, “Allah createth whatso He will.” Then he went away more disheartened than before and returned to his own house where he saw his wife sitting, for she had foregone him thither by the souterrain.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the young lady forewent her spouse by the souterrain as he fared through the door and sat down in her upper chamber;[[432]] so as soon as he entered she asked him, “What hast thou seen?” and he answered, “I found her with her master; and she resembleth thee.” Then said she, “Off to thy shop and let this suffice thee of ignoble suspicion and never again deem ill of me.” Said he, “So be it: accord me pardon for what is past.” And she, “Allah grant thee grace!”;[[433]] whereupon he kissed her right and left and went back to his shop. Then she again betook herself to Kamar al-Zaman through the underground passage, with four bags of money, and said to him, “Equip thyself at once for the road and be ready to carry off the money without delay, against I devise for thee the device I have in mind.” So he went out and purchased mules and loaded them and made ready a travelling litter, he also bought Mamelukes and eunuchs and sending, without let or hindrance, the whole without the city, returned to Halimah and said to her, “I have made an end of my affairs.” Quoth she, “And I on my side am ready; for I have transported to thy house all the rest of his monies and treasures and have left him nor little nor much, whereof he may avail himself. All this is of my love for thee, O dearling of my heart, for I would sacrifice my husband to thee a thousand times. But now it behoveth, thou go to him and farewell him, saying:—I purpose to depart after three days and am come to bid thee adieu: so do thou reckon what I owe thee for the hire of the house, that I may send it to thee and acquit my conscience. Note his reply and return to me and tell me; for I can no more: I have done my best, by cozening him, to anger him with me and cause him to put me away, but I find him none the less infatuated with me. So nothing will serve us but to depart to thine own country.” And quoth he, “O rare! an but swevens prove true!”[[434]] Then he went to the jeweller’s shop and sitting down by him, said to him, “O master, I set out for home in three days’ time, and am come to farewell thee. So I would have thee reckon what I owe thee for the hire of the house, that I may pay it to thee and acquit my conscience.” Answered Obayd, “What talk is this? Verily, ’tis I who am indebted to thee. By Allah, I will take nothing from thee for the rent of the house, for thou hast brought down blessings upon us! However, thou desolatest me by thy departure, and but that it is forbidden to me, I would certainly oppose thee and hinder thee from returning to thy country and kinsfolk.” Then he took leave of him, whilst they both wept with sore weeping and the jeweller went with him, and when they entered Kamar al-Zaman’s house, there they found Halimah who stood before them and served them; but when Obayd returned home, he found her sitting there; nor did he cease to see her thus in each house in turn, for the space of three days, when she said to Kamar al-Zaman, “Now have I transported to thee all that he hath of monies and hoards and carpets and things of price, and there remaineth with him naught save the slave-girl, who used to come in to you with the night-drink: but I cannot part with her, for that she is my kinswoman and she is dear to me as a confidante. So I will beat her and be wroth with her and when my spouse cometh home, I will say to him:—I can no longer put up with this slave-girl nor stay in the house with her; so take her and sell her. Accordingly he will sell her and do thou buy her, that we may carry her with us.” Answered he, “No harm in that.” So she beat the girl and when the jeweller came in, he found her weeping and asked her why she wept. Quoth she, “My mistress hath beaten me.” He then went in to his wife and said to her, “What hath that accursed girl done, that thou hast beaten her?” She replied, “O man, I have but one word to say to thee, and ’tis that I can no longer bear the sight of this girl; so take her and sell her, or else divorce me.” Quoth he, “I will sell her that I may not cross thee in aught;” and when he went out to go to the shop he took her and passed with her by Kamar al-Zaman. No sooner had he gone out than his wife slipped through the underground passage to Kamar al-Zaman, who placed her in the litter, before the Shaykh her husband reached him. When the jeweller came up and the lover saw the slave-girl with him, he asked him, “What girl is this?”; and the other answered, “’Tis my slave-girl who used to serve us with the night-drink; she hath disobeyed her mistress who is wroth with her and hath bidden me sell her.” Quoth the youth, “An her mistress have taken an aversion to her, there is for her no abiding with her; but sell her to me, that I may smell your scent in her, and I will make her handmaid to my slave Halimah.” “Good,” answered Obayd: “take her.” Asked Kamar al-Zaman, “What is her price?”; but the jeweller said, “I will take nothing from thee, for thou hast been bountiful to us.” So he accepted her from him and said to Halimah, “Kiss thy lord’s hand.” Accordingly, she came out from the litter and kissing Obayd’s hand, remounted, whilst he looked hard at her. Then said Kamar al-Zaman, “I commend thee to Allah, O Master Obayd! Acquit my conscience of responsibility.[[435]]” Answered the jeweller, “Allah acquit thee! and carry thee safe to thy family!” Then he bade him farewell and went to his shop weeping, and indeed it was grievous to him to part from Kamar al-Zaman, for that he had been his friend and friendship hath its debtorship; yet he rejoiced in the dispelling of the doubts which had befallen him anent his wife, since the young man was now gone and his suspicions had not been stablished. Such was his case; but as regards Kamar al-Zaman, the young lady said to him, “An thou wish for safety, travel with me by other than the wonted way.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Halimah said to Kamar al-Zaman, “An thou wish for safety, travel with me by other than the wonted way,” he replied, “Hearing and obeying;” and, taking a road other than that used by folk, fared on without ceasing from region to region till he reached the confines of Egypt-land[[436]] and sent his sire a letter by a runner. Now his father the merchant Abd al-Rahman was sitting in the market among the merchants, with a heart on fire for separation from his son, because no news of the youth had reached him since the day of his departure; and while he was in such case the runner came up and cried, “O my lords, which of you is called the merchant Abd al-Rahman?” They said, “What wouldst thou of him?”; and he said, “I have a letter for him from his son Kamar al-Zaman, whom I left at Al-Arísh.[[437]]” At this Abd al-Rahman rejoiced and his breast was broadened and the merchants rejoiced for him and gave him joy of his son’s safety. Then he opened the letter and read as follows:—“From Kamar al-Zaman to the merchant Abd al-Rahman. And after Peace be upon thee and upon all the merchants! An ye ask concerning us, to Allah be the praise and the thanks. Indeed we have sold and bought and gained and are come back in health, wealth and weal.” Whereupon Abd al-Rahman opened the door[[438]] of rejoicing and made banquets and gave feasts and entertainments galore, sending for instruments of music and addressing himself to festivities after rarest fashion. When Kamar al-Zaman came to Al-Sálihiyah,[[439]] his father and all the merchants went forth to meet him, and Abd al-Rahman embraced him and strained him to his bosom and sobbed till he swooned away. When he came to himself he said, “Oh, ’tis a boon day O my son, whereon the Omnipotent Protector hath reunited us with thee!” And he repeated the words of the bard:—
The return of the friend is the best of all boons, ✿ And the joy-cup circles o’ morns and noons:
So well come, welcome, fair welcome to thee, ✿ The light of the time and the moon o’ full moons.
Then, for excess of joy, he poured forth a flood of tears from his eyes and he recited also these two couplets:—
The Moon o’ the Time,[[440]] shows unveilèd light; ✿ And, his journey done, at our door doth alight:
His locks as the nights of his absence are black ✿ And the sun upstands from his collar’s[[441]] white.
Then the merchants came up to him and saluting him, saw with him many loads and servants and a travelling litter enclosed in a spacious circle.[[442]] So they took him and carried him home; and when Halimah came forth from the litter, his father held her a seduction to all who beheld her. So they opened her an upper chamber, as it were a treasure from which the talismans had been loosed;[[443]] and when his mother saw her, she was ravished with her and deemed her a Queen of the wives of the Kings. So she rejoiced in her and questioned her; and she answered, “I am wife to thy son;” and the mother rejoined, “Since he is wedded to thee we must make thee a splendid marriage-feast, that we may rejoice in thee and in my son.” On this wise it befel her; but as regards the merchant Abd al-Rahman, when the folk had dispersed and each had wended his way, he foregathered with his son and said to him, “O my son, what is this slave-girl thou hast brought with thee and for how much didst thou buy her[[444]]?” Kamar al-Zaman said, “O my father, she is no slave-girl; but ’tis she who was the cause of my going abroad.” Asked his sire, “How so?”; and he answered, “’Tis she whom the Dervish described to us the night he lay with us; for indeed my hopes clave to her from that moment and I sought not to travel save on account of her. The Arabs came out upon me by the way and stripped me and took my money and goods, so that I entered Bassorah alone and there befel me there such and such things;” and he went on to relate to his parent all that had befallen him from commencement to conclusion. Now when he had made an end of his story, his father said to him, “O my son, and after all this didst thou marry her?” “No; but I have promised her marriage.” “Is it thine intent to marry her?” “An thou bid me marry her, I will do so; otherwise I will not marry her.” Thereupon quoth his father, “An thou marry her, I am quit of thee in this world and in the next, and I shall be incensed against thee with sore indignation. How canst thou wed her, seeing that she hath dealt thus with her husband? For, even as she did with her spouse for thy sake, so will she do the like with thee for another’s sake, because she is a traitress and in a traitor there is no trusting. Wherefore an thou disobey me, I shall be wroth with thee; but, an thou give ear to my word, I will seek thee out a girl handsomer than she, who shall be pure and pious, and marry thee to her, though I spend all my substance upon her; and I will make thee a wedding without equal and will glory in thee and in her; for ’tis better that folk should say, Such an one hath married such an one’s daughter, than that they say, He hath wedded a slave-girl sans birth or worth.” And he went on to persuade his son to give up marrying her, by citing in support of his say, proofs, stories, examples, verses and moral instances, till Kamar al-Zaman exclaimed, “O my father, since the case is thus, ’tis not right and proper that I marry her.” And when his father heard him speak on such wise, he kissed him between the eyes, saying, “Thou art my very son, and as I live, O my son, I will assuredly marry thee to a girl who hath not her equal!” Then the merchant set Obayd’s wife and her handmaid in a chamber high up in the house and, before locking the door upon the twain, he appointed a black slave-girl to carry them their meat and drink and he said to Halimah, “Ye shall abide imprisoned in this chamber, thou and thy maid, till I find one who will buy you, when I will sell you to him. An ye resist, I will slay ye both, for thou art a traitress, and there is no good in thee.” Answered she, “Do thy will: I deserve all thou canst do with me.” Then he locked the door upon them and gave his Harim a charge respecting them, saying, “Let none go up to them nor speak with them, save the black slave-girl who shall give them their meat and drink through the casement of the upper chamber.” So she abode with her maid, weeping and repenting her of that which she had done with her spouse. Meanwhile Abd al-Rahman sent out the marriage-brokers to look out a maid of birth and worth for his son, and the women ceased not to make search, and as often as they saw one girl, they heard of a fairer than she, till they came to the house of the Shaykh al-Islam[[445]] and saw his daughter. In her they found a virgin whose equal was not in Cairo for beauty and loveliness, symmetry and perfect grace, and she was a thousand-fold handsomer than the wife of Obayd. So they told Abd al-Rahman of her and he and the notables repaired to her father and sought her in wedlock of him. Then they wrote out the marriage contract and made her a splendid wedding; after which Abd al-Rahman gave bride-feasts and held open house forty days. On the first day, he invited the doctors of the law and they held a splendid nativity[[446]]: and on the morrow, he invited all the merchants, and so on during the rest of the forty days, making a banquet every day to one or other class of folk, till he had bidden all the Olema and Emirs and Antients[[447]] and Magistrates, whilst the kettle-drums were drummed and the pipes were piped and the merchant sat to greet the guests, with his son by his side, that he might solace himself by gazing on the folk, as they ate from the trays. Each night Abd al-Rahman illuminated the street and the quarter with lamps and there came every one of the mimes and jugglers and mountebanks and played all manner play; and indeed it was a peerless wedding. On the last day he invited the Fakirs, the poor and the needy, far and near, and they flocked in troops and ate, whilst the merchant sat, with his son by his side.[[448]] And among the paupers, behold, entered Shaykh Obayd the jeweller and he was naked and weary and bare on his face the marks of wayfare. When Kamar al-Zaman saw him, he knew him and said to his sire, “Look, O my father, at yonder poor man who is but now come in by the door.” So he looked and saw him clad in worn clothes and on him a patched gown[[449]] worth two dirhams: his face was yellow and he was covered with dust and was as he were an offcast of the pilgrims.[[450]] He was groaning as groaneth a sick man in need, walking with a tottering gait and swaying now to the right and then to the left, and in him was realized his saying who said[[451]]:—
Lack-gold abaseth man and doth his worth away, Even as the setting sun that pales with ended day.
He passeth ’mongst the folk and fain would hide his head; And when alone, he weeps with tears that never stay.
Absent, none taketh heed to him or his concerns; Present, he hath no part in life or pleasance aye.
By Allah, whenas men with poverty are cursed, But strangers midst their kin and countrymen are they!
And the saying of another:—
The poor man fares by everything opposed: ✿ On him to shut the door Earth ne’er shall fail:
Thou seest men abhor him sans a sin, ✿ And foes he finds tho’ none the cause can tell:
The very dogs, when sighting wealthy man, ✿ Fawn at his feet and wag the flattering tail;
Yet, an some day a pauper loon they sight, ✿ All at him bark and, gnashing fangs, assail.
And how well quoth a third:—
If generous youth be blessed with luck and wealth, ✿ Displeasures fly his path and perils fleet:
His enviers pimp for him and par’site-wise ✿ E’en without tryst his mistress hastes to meet.
When loud he farts they say “How well he sings!” ✿ And when he fizzles[[452]] cry they, “Oh, how sweet!”
——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when his son said to Abd al-Rahman, “Look at yonder pauper!” he asked, “O my son, who is this?” And Kamar al-Zaman answered, “This is Master Obayd the jeweller, husband of the woman who is imprisoned with us.” Quoth Abd al-Rahman, “Is this he of whom thou toldest me?”; and quoth his son, “Yes; and indeed I wot him right well.” Now the manner of Obayd’s coming thither was on this wise. When he had farewelled Kamar al-Zaman, he went to his shop and thence going home, laid his hand on the door, whereupon it opened and he entered and found neither his wife nor the slave-girl, but saw the house in sorriest plight, quoting in mute speech his saying who said[[453]]:—
The chambers were like a bee-hive well stocked: when their bees quitted it, they became empty.
When he saw the house void, he turned right and left and presently went round about the place, like a madman, but came upon no one. Then he opened the door of his treasure-closet, but found therein naught of his money nor his hoards; whereupon he recovered from the intoxication of fancy and shook off his infatuation and knew that it was his wife herself who had turned the tables upon him and outwitted him with her wiles. He wept for that which had befallen him, but kept his affair secret, so none of his foes might exult over him nor any of his friends be troubled, knowing that, if he disclosed his secret, it would bring him naught but dishonour and contumely from the folk; wherefore he said in himself, “O Obayd, hide that which hath betided thee of affliction and ruination; it behoveth thee to do in accordance with his saying who said:—
If a man’s breast with bane he hides be straitenèd, ✿ The breast that tells its hidden bale is straiter still.”
Then he locked up his house and, making for his shop, gave it in charge of one of his apprentices to whom said he, “My friend the young merchant hath invited me to accompany him to Cairo, for solacing ourselves with the sight of the city, and sweareth that he will not march except he carry us with him, me and my wife. So, O my son, I make thee my steward in the shop, and if the King ask for me, say thou to him:—He is gone with his Harim to the Holy House of Allah[[454]].” Then he sold some of his effects and bought camels and mules and Mamelukes, together with a slave-girl[[455]], and placing her in a litter, set out from Bassorah after ten days. His friends farewelled him and none doubted but that he had taken his wife and gone on the Pilgrimage, and the folk rejoiced in this, for that Allah had delivered them from being shut up in the mosques and houses every Friday. Quoth some of them, “Allah grant he may never return to Bassorah, so we may no more be boxed up in the mosques and houses every Friday!”; for that this usage had caused the people of Bassorah exceeding vexation. Quoth another, “Methinks he will not return from this journey, by reason of the much-praying of the people of Bassorah against him[[456]].” And yet another, “An he return, ’twill not be but in reversed case[[457]].” So the folk rejoiced with exceeding joy in the jeweller’s departure, after they had been in mighty great chagrin, and even their cats and dogs were comforted. When Friday came round, however, the crier proclaimed as usual that the people should repair to the mosques two hours before prayer-time or else hide themselves in their houses, together with their cats and dogs; whereat their breasts were straitened and they assembled in general assembly and betaking themselves to the King’s divan, stood between his hands and said, “O King of the age, the jeweller hath taken his Harim and departed on the pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah: so the cause of our restraint hath ceased to be, and why therefore are we now shut up?” Quoth the King, “How came this traitor to depart without telling me? But, when he cometh back from his journey, all will not be save well[[458]]: so go ye to your shops and sell and buy, for this vexation is removed from you.” Thus far concerning the King and the Bassorites; but as for the jeweller, he fared on ten days’ journey, and as he drew near Baghdad, there befel him that which had befallen Kamar al-Zaman, before his entering Bassorah; for the Arabs[[459]] came out upon him and stripped him and took all he had and he escaped only by feigning himself dead. As soon as they were gone, he rose and fared on, naked as he was, till he came to a village, where Allah inclined to him the hearts of certain kindly folk, who covered his shame with some old clothes; and he asked his way, begging from town to town, till he reached the city of Cairo the God-guarded. There, burning with hunger, he went about alms-seeking in the market-streets, till one of the townsfolk said to him, “O poor man, off with thee to the house of the wedding-festival and eat and drink; for to-day there is open table for paupers and strangers.” Quoth he, “I know not the way thither”: and quoth the other, “Follow me and I will show it to thee.” He followed him, till he brought him to the house of Abd al-Rahman and said to him, “This is the house of the wedding; enter and fear not, for there is no doorkeeper at the door of the festival.” Accordingly he entered and Kamar al-Zaman knew him and told his sire who said, “O my son, leave him at this present: belike he is anhungered: so let him eat his sufficiency and recover himself and after we will send for him.” So they waited till Obayd had eaten his fill and washed his hands and drunk coffee and sherbets of sugar flavoured with musk and ambergris and was about to go out, when Abd al-Rahman sent after him a page who said to him, “Come, O stranger, and speak with the merchant Abd al-Rahman.” “Who is he?” asked Obayd; and the man answered, “He is the master of the feast.” Thereupon the jeweller turned back, thinking that he meant to give him a gift, and coming up to Abd al-Rahman, saw his friend Kamar al-Zaman and went nigh to lose his senses for shame before him. But Kamar al-Zaman rose to him and embracing him, saluted him with the salam, and they both wept with sore weeping. Then he seated him by his side and Abd al-Rahman said to his son, “O destitute of good taste, this is no way to receive friends! Send him first to the Hammam and despatch after him a suit of clothes of the choicest, worth a thousand dinars[[460]].” Accordingly they carried him to the bath, where they washed his body and clad him in a costly suit, and he became as he were Consul of the Merchants. Meanwhile the bystanders questioned Kamar al-Zaman of him, saying, “who is this and whence knowest thou him?” Quoth he, “This is my friend, who lodged me in his house and to whom I am indebted for favours without number, for that he entreated me with exceeding kindness. He is a man of competence and condition and by trade a jeweller, in which craft he hath no equal. The King of Bassorah loveth him dearly and holdeth him in high honour and his word is law with him.” And he went on to enlarge before them on his praises, saying, “Verily, he did with me thus and thus and I have shame of him and know not how to requite him his generous dealing with me.” Nor did he leave to extol him, till his worth was magnified to the bystanders and he became venerable in their eyes; so they said, “We will all do him his due and honour him for thy sake. But we would fain know the reason why he hath departed his native land and the cause of his coming hither and what Allah hath done with him, that he is reduced to this plight?” Replied Kamar al-Zaman, “O folk, marvel not, for a son of Adam is still subject to Fate and Fortune, and what while he abideth in this world, he is not safe from calamities. Indeed he spake truly who said these couplets:—
The world tears man to shreds, so be thou not ✿ Of those whom lure of rank and title draws:
Nay; ’ware of slips and turn from sin aside ✿ And ken that bane and bale are worldly laws:
How oft high Fortune falls by least mishap ✿ And all things bear inbred of change a cause!
Know that I entered Bassorah in yet iller case and worse distress than this man, for that he entered Cairo with his shame hidden by rags; but I indeed came into his town with my nakedness uncovered, one hand behind and another before; and none availed me but Allah and this dear man. Now the reason of this was that the Arabs stripped me and took my camels and mules and loads and slaughtered my pages and serving-men; but I lay down among the slain and they thought that I was dead, so they went away and left me. Then I arose and walked on, mother-naked, till I came to Bassorah where this man met me and clothed me and lodged me in his house; he also furnished me with money, and all I have brought back with me I owe to none save to Allah’s goodness and his goodness. When I departed, he gave me great store of wealth and I returned to the city of my birth with a heart at ease. I left him in competence and condition, and haply there hath befallen him some bale of the banes of Time, that hath forced him to quit his kinsfolk and country, and there happened to him by the way the like of what happened to me. There is nothing strange in this; but now it behoveth me to requite him his noble dealing with me and do according to the saying of him who saith:—
O who praisest Time with the fairest appraise, ✿ Knowest thou what Time hath made and unmade?
What thou dost at least be it kindly done,[[461]] ✿ For with pay he pays shall man be repaid.
As they were talking and telling the tale, behold, up came Obayd as he were Consul[[462]] of the Merchants; whereupon they all rose to salute him and seated him in the place of honour. Then said Kamar al-Zaman to him, “O my friend, verily, thy day[[463]] is blessed and fortunate! There is no need to relate to me a thing that befel me before thee. If the Arabs have stripped thee and robbed thee of thy wealth, verily our money is the ransom of our bodies, so let not thy soul be troubled; for I entered thy city naked and thou clothedst me and entreatedst me generously, and I owe thee many a kindness. But I will requite thee.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al-Zaman said to Master Obayd the jeweller, “Verily I entered thy city naked and thou clothedst me and I owe thee many a kindness. But I will requite thee and do with thee even as thou didst with me; nay, more: so be of good cheer and eyes clear of tear.” And he went on to soothe him and hinder him from speech, lest he should name his wife and what she had done with him; nor did he cease to ply him with saws and moral instances and verses and conceits and stories and legends and console him, till the jeweller saw his drift and took the hint and kept silence concerning the past, diverting himself with the tales and rare anecdotes he heard and repeating in himself these lines:—
On the brow of the World is a writ; an thereon thou look, ✿ Its contents will compel thine eyes tears of blood to rain:
For the World never handed to humans a cup with its right, ✿ But with left it compelled them a beaker of ruin to drain.
Then Kamar al-Zaman and his father took Obayd and carrying him into the saloon of the Harim, shut themselves up with him; and Abd al-Rahman said to him, “We did not hinder thee from speaking before the folk, but for fear of dishonour to thee and to us: but now we are private; so tell me all that hath passed between thee and thy wife and my son.” So he told him all, from beginning to end, and when he had made an end of his story, Abd al-Rahman asked him, “Was the fault with my son or with thy wife?” He answered, “By Allah, thy son was not to blame, for men must needs lust after women, and ’tis the bounden duty of women to defend themselves from men. So the sin lieth with my wife, who played me false and did with me these deeds[[464]].” Then Abd al-Rahman arose and taking his son aside, said to him, “O my son, we have proved his wife and know her to be a traitress; and now I mean to prove him and see if he be a man of honour and manliness, or a wittol.[[465]]” “How so?” asked Kamar al-Zaman; and Abd al-Rahman answered, “I mean to urge him to make peace with his wife, and if he consent thereto and forgive her, I will smite him with a sword and slay him and kill her after, her and her maid, for there is no good in the life of a cuckold and a quean[[466]]; but, if he turn from her with aversion I will marry him to thy sister and give him more of wealth than that thou tookest from him.” Then he went back to Obayd and said to him, “O master, verily, the commerce of women requireth patience and magnanimity and whoso loveth them hath need of fortitude, for that they order themselves viper-wise towards men and evilly entreat them, by reason of their superiority over them in beauty and loveliness: wherefore they magnify themselves and belittle men. This is notably the case when their husbands show them affection; for then they requite them with hauteur and coquetry and harsh dealing of all kinds. But, if a man be wroth whenever he seeth in his wife aught that offendeth him, there can be no fellowship between them; nor can any hit it off with them who is not magnanimous and long-suffering; and unless a man bear with his wife and requite her foul doing with forgiveness, he shall get no good of her conversation. Indeed, it hath been said of them:—Were they in the sky, the necks of men would incline them-wards; and he who hath the power and pardoneth, his reward is with Allah. Now this woman is thy wife and thy companion and she hath long consorted with thee; wherefore it behoveth that thou entreat her with indulgence which in fellowship is of the essentials of success. Furthermore, women fail in wit and Faith,[[467]] and if she have sinned, she repenteth and Inshallah she will not again return to that which she whilome did. So ’tis my rede that thou make peace with her and I will restore thee more than the good she took; and if it please thee to abide with me, thou art welcome, thou and she, and ye shall see naught but what shall joy you both; but, an thou seek to return to thine own land. For that which falleth out between a man and his wife is manifold, and it behoveth thee to be indulgent and not take the way of the violent.” Said the jeweller, “O my lord, and where is my wife?” and said Abd al-Rahman, “She is in that upper chamber, go up to her and be easy with her, for my sake, and trouble her not; for, when my son brought her hither, he would have married her, but I forbade him from her and shut her up in yonder room, and locked the door upon her saying in myself:—Haply her husband will come and I will hand her over to him safe; for she is fair of favour, and when a woman is like unto this one, it may not be that her husband will let her go. What I counted on is come about and praised be Allah Almighty for thy reunion with thy wife! As for my son, I have sought him another woman in marriage and have married him to her: these banquets and rejoicings are for his wedding, and to-night I bring him to his bride. So here is the key of the chamber where thy wife is: take it and open the door and go in to her and her handmaid and be buxom with her. There shall be brought you meat and drink and thou shalt not come down from her till thou have had thy fill of her.” Cried Obayd, “May Allah requite thee for me with all good, O my lord!” and taking the key, went up, rejoicing. The other thought his words had pleased him and that he consented thereto; so he took the sword and following him unseen, stood to espy what should happen between him and his wife. This is how it fared with the merchant Abd al-Rahman; but as for the jeweller, when he came to the chamber-door, he heard his wife weeping with sore weeping for that Kamar al-Zaman had married another than her, and the handmaid saying to her, “O my lady, how often have I warned thee and said, Thou wilt get no good of this youth: so do thou leave his company. But thou heededst not my words and spoiledst thy husband of all his goods and gavest them to him. After the which thou forsookest thy place, of thine fondness and infatuation for him, and camest with him to this country. And now he hath cast thee out from his thought and married another and hath made the issue of thy foolish fancy for him to be durance vile.” Cried Halimah, “Be silent, O accursed! Though he be married to another, yet some day needs must I occur to his thought. I cannot forget the nights I have spent in his company and in any case I console myself with his saying who said:—
O my lords, shall he to your mind occur ✿ Who recurs to you only sans other mate?
Grant Heaven you ne’er shall forget his state ✿ Who for state of you forgot own estate!
It cannot be but he will bethink him of my affect and converse and ask for me, wherefore I will not turn from loving him nor change from passion for him, though I perish in prison; for he is my love and my leach[[468]] and my reliance is on him that he will yet return to me and deal fondly with me.” When the jeweller heard his wife’s words, he went in to her and said to her, “O traitress, thy hope in him is as the hope of Iblis[[469]] in Heaven. All these vices were in thee and I knew not thereof; for, had I been ware of one single vice, I had not kept thee with me an hour. But now I am certified of this in thee, it behoveth me to do thee die, although they put me to death for thee, O traitress!” and he clutched her with both hands and repeated these two couplets:—
O fair ones forth ye cast my faithful love ✿ With sin, nor had ye aught regard for right:
How long I fondly clung to you, but now ✿ My love is loathing and I hate your sight.
Then he pressed hardly upon her windpipe and brake her neck, whereupon her handmaid cried out “Alas, my mistress!” Said he, “O harlot, ’tis thou who art to blame for all this, for that thou knewest this evil inclination to be in her and toldest me not.[[470]]” Then he seized upon her and strangled her. All this happened while Abd al-Rahman stood, brand in hand, behind the door espying with his eyes and hearing with his ears. Now when Obayd the jeweller had done this, apprehension came upon him and he feared the issue of his affair and said to himself, “As soon as the merchant learneth that I have killed them in his house, he will surely slay me; yet I beseech Allah that He appoint the taking of my life to be while I am in the True Belief!” And he abode bewildered about his case and knew not what to do; but, as he was thus behold, in came Abd al-Rahman from his lurking-place without the door and said to him, “No harm shall befal thee, for indeed thou deservest safety. See this sword in my hand. ’Twas in my mind to slay thee, hadst thou made peace with her and restored her to favour, and I would also have slain her and the maid. But since thou hast done this deed, welcome to thee and again welcome! And I will reward thee by marrying thee to my daughter, Kamar al-Zaman’s sister.” Then he carried him down and sent for the woman who washed the dead: whereupon it was bruited abroad that Kamar al-Zaman had brought with him two slave-girls from Bassorah and that both had deceased. So the people began to condole with him saying, “May thy head live!” and “May Allah compensate thee!” And they washed and shrouded them and buried them, and none knew the truth of the matter. Then Abd al-Rahman sent for the Shaykh al-Islam and all the notables and said, “O Shaykh, draw up the contract of marriage between my daughter Kaukab al-Saláh[[471]] and Master Obayd the jeweller and set down that her dowry hath been paid to me in full.” So he wrote out the contract and Abd al-Rahman gave the company to drink of sherbets, and they made one wedding festival for the two brides the daughter of the Shaykh al-Islam and Kamar al-Zaman’s sister; and paraded them in one litter on one and the same night; after which they carried Kamar al-Zaman and Obayd in procession together and brought them in to their brides.[[472]] When the jeweller went in to Abd al-Rahman’s daughter, he found her handsomer than Halimah and a thousand-fold lovelier. So he took her maidenhead and on the morrow, he went to the Hammam with Kamar al-Zaman. Then he abode with them awhile in pleasance and joyance, after which he began to yearn for his native land: so he went in to Abd al-Rahman and said to him, “O uncle, I long for my own country, for I have there estates and effects, which I left in charge of one of my prentices; and I am minded to journey thither that I may sell my properties and return to thee. So wilt thou give me leave to go to my country for that purpose?” Answered the merchant, “O my son, I give thee leave to do this and there be no fault in thee or blame to thee for these words, for ‘Love of mother-land is a part of Religion’; and he who hath not good in his own country hath none in other folks’ country. But, haply, an thou depart without thy wife, when thou art once come to thy native place, it may seem good to thee to settle there, and thou wilt be perplexed between returning to thy wife and sojourning in thine own home; so it were the righter rede that thou carry thy wife with thee; and after, an thou desire to return to us, return and welcome to you both; for we are folk who know not divorce and no woman of us marrieth twice, nor do we lightly discard a man.”[[473]] Quoth Obayd, “Uncle, I fear me thy daughter will not consent to journey with me to my own country.” Replied Abd al-Rahman, “O my son, we have no women amongst us who gainsay their spouses, nor know we a wife who is wroth with her man.” The jeweller cried, “Allah bless you and your women!” and going in to his wife, said to her, “I am minded to go to my country: what sayst thou?” Quoth she, “Indeed, my sire had the ordering of me, whilst I was a maid, and when I married, the ordering all passed into the hands of my lord and master, nor will I gainsay him.” Quoth Obayd, “Allah bless thee and thy father, and have mercy on the womb that bare thee and the loins that begat thee!” Then he cut his thongs[[474]] and applied himself to making ready for his journey. His father-in-law gave him much good and they took leave each of other, after which the jeweller and his wife journeyed on without ceasing, till they reached Bassorah where his kinsmen and comrades came out to meet him, doubting not but that he had been in Al-Hijáz. Some rejoiced at his return, whilst others were vexed, and the folk said one to another, “Now will he straiten us again every Friday, as before, and we shall be shut up in the mosques and houses, even to our cats and our dogs.” On such wise it fared with him; but as regards the King of Bassorah, when he heard of his return, he was wroth with him; and sending for him, upbraided him and said to him, “Why didst thou depart, without letting me know of thy departure? Was I unable to give thee somewhat wherewith thou mightest have succoured thyself in thy pilgrimage to the Holy House of Allah?” Replied the jeweller, “Pardon, O my lord! By Allah, I went not on the pilgrimage! but there have befallen me such and such things.” Then he told him all that had befallen him with his wife and with Abd al-Rahman of Cairo and how the merchant had given him his daughter to wife, ending with these words, “And I have brought her to Bassorah.” Said the King, “By the Lord, did I not fear Allah the Most High, I would slay thee and marry this noble lady after thy death, though I spent on her mints of money, because she befitteth none but Kings. But Allah hath appointed her of thy portion and may He bless thee in her! So look thou use her well.” Then he bestowed largesse on the jeweller, who went out from before him and abode with his wife five years, after which he was admitted to the mercy of the Almighty. Presently the King sought his widow in wedlock; but she refused, saying, “O King, never among my kindred was a woman who married again after her husband’s death; wherefore I will never take another husband, nor will I marry thee, no, though thou kill me.” Then he sent to her one who said, “Dost thou seek to go to thy native land?” And she answered, “An thou do good, thou shalt be requited therewith.” So he collected for her all the jeweller’s wealth and added unto her of his own, after the measure of his degree. Lastly he sent with her one of his Wazirs, a man famous for goodness and piety, and an escort of five hundred horse, who journeyed with her, till they brought her to her father; and in his home she abode, without marrying again, till she died and they died all. So, if this woman would not consent to replace her dead husband with a Sultan, how shall she be compared with one who replaced her husband, whilst he was yet alive, with a youth of unknown extraction and condition, and especially when this was in lewd carriage and not by way of lawful marriage? So he who deemeth all women alike,[[475]] there is no remedy for the disease of his insanity. And glory be to Him to whom belongeth the empire of the Seen and the Unseen and He is the Living, who dieth not! And among the tales they tell, O auspicious King, is one of
[375]. Lane rejects this tale because it is “extremely objectionable; far more so than the title might lead me to expect.” But he quotes the following marginal note by his Shaykh:—“Many persons (women) reckon marrying a second time amongst the most disgraceful of actions. This opinion is commonest in the country-towns and villages; and my mother’s relations are thus distinguished; so that a woman of them, when her husband dieth or divorceth her while she is young, passeth in widowhood her life, however long it may be, and disdaineth to marry a second time.” I fear that this state of things belongs to the good old days now utterly gone by; and the loose rule of the stranger, especially the English, in Egypt will renew the scenes which characterised Sind when Sir Charles Napier hanged every husband who cut down an adulterous wife. I have elsewhere noticed the ignorant idea that Moslems deny to women souls and seats in Paradise, whilst Mohammed canonised two women in his own family. The theory arose with the “Fathers” of the Christian Church who simply exaggerated the misogyny of St. Paul. St. Ambrose commenting on Corinthians i. ii., boldly says:—“Feminas ad imaginem Dei factas non esse.” St. Thomas Aquinas and his school adopted the Aristotelian view, “Mulier est erratum naturæ, et mas occasionatus, et per accidens generatur; atque idèo est monstrum.” For other instances see Bayle s. v. Gediacus (Revd. Simon of Brandebourg) who in 1695 published a “Defensio Sexus muliebris,” a refutation of an anti-Socinian satire or squib, “Disputatio perjucunda, Mulieres homines non esse,” Parisiis, 1693. But when Islam arose in the seventh century, the Christian learned cleverly affixed the stigma of their own misogyny upon the Moslems ad captandas fœminas and in Southern Europe the calumny still bears fruit. Mohammed (Koran, chapt. xxiv.) commands for the first time, in the sixth year of his mission, the veiling and, by inference, the seclusion of women, which was apparently unknown to the Badawin and, if practised in the cities was probably of the laxest. Nor can one but confess that such modified separation of the sexes, which it would be impossible to introduce into European manners, has great and notable advantages. It promotes the freest intercourse between man and man, and thus civilises what we call the “lower orders”: in no Moslem land, from Morocco to China, do we find the brutals without manners or morals which are bred by European and especially by English civilisation. For the same reason it enables women to enjoy fullest intimacy and friendship with one another, and we know that the best of both sexes are those who prefer the society of their own as opposed to “quite the lady’s man” and “quite the gentleman’s woman.” It also adds an important item to social decorum by abolishing e.g. such indecencies as the “ballroom flirtation”—a word which must be borrowed from us, not translated by foreigners. And especially it gives to religious meetings, a tone which the presence of women modifies and not for the better. Perhaps, the best form is that semi-seclusion of the sex, which prevailed in the heroic ages of Greece, Rome, and India (before the Moslem invasion), and which is perpetuated in Christian Armenia and in modern Hellas. It is a something between the conventual strictness of Al-Islam and the liberty, or rather licence, of the “Anglo-Saxon” and the “Anglo-American.” And when England shall have cast off that peculiar insularity which makes her differ from all civilised peoples, she will probably abolish three gross abuses, time-honoured scandals, which bear very heavily on women and children. The first is the Briton’s right to will property away from his wife and offspring. The second is the action for “breach of promise,” salving the broken heart with pounds, shillings, and pence: it should be treated simply as an exaggerated breach of contract. The third is the procedure popularly called “Crim. Con.,” and this is the most scandalous of all: the offence is against the rights of property, like robbery or burglary, and it ought to be treated criminally with fine, imprisonment and in cases with corporal punishment after the sensible procedure of Moslem law.
[376]. “Moon of the age,” a name which has before occurred.
[377]. The Malocchio or gettatura, so often noticed.
[378]. The crescent of the month Zu ’l-Ka’dah when the Ramazan-fast is broken. This allusion is common. Comp. vol. i. [84].
[379]. This line contains one of the Yes, Yes and No, No trifles alluded to in vol. ii. [60]. Captain Lockett (M. A. 103) renders it “I saw a fawn upon a hillock whose beauty eclipsed the full moon. I said, What is thy name? she answered Deer. What my Dear said I, but she replied, no, no!” To preserve the sound I have sacrificed sense: Lúlú is a pearl Lí? lí? (= for me, for me?) and Lá! Lá! = no! no! See vol. i. [217]. I should have explained a line which has puzzled some readers,
“A sun (face) on wand (neck) in knoll of sand (hips) she showed” etc.
[380]. Arab. “Al-huwayná,” a rare term.
[381]. Bright in the eyes of the famishing who is allowed to break his fast.
[382]. Mr. Payne reads “Maghrabi” = a Mauritanian, Marocean, the Moors (not the Moorish Jews or Arabs) being a race of Sodomites from highest to lowest. But the Mac. and Bul. Edit. have “Ajami.”
[383]. For “Ishk uzri” = platonic love see vol. i. [232]; ii. 104.
[384]. Zaynab (Zenobia) and Zayd are generic names for women and men.
[385]. i.e. He wrote “Kasídahs (= odes, elegies) after the fashion of the “Suspended Poems” which mostly open with the lover gazing upon the traces of the camp where his beloved had dwelt. The exaggerated conventionalism of such exordium shows that these early poems had been preceded by a host of earlier pieces which had been adopted as canons of poetry.
[386]. The verses are very mal-à-propos, like many occurring in The Nights, for the maligned Shaykh is proof against all the seductions of the pretty boy and falls in love with a woman after the fashion of Don Quixote. Mr. Payne complains of the obscurity of the original owing to abuse of the figure enallage; but I find them explicit enough, referring to some debauched elder after the type of Abu Nowás.
[387]. Arab. “’Irk” = a root which must here mean a sprig, a twig. The basil grows to a comparatively large size in the East.
[388]. Arab. “Láit” = one connected with the tribe of Lot, see vol. v. [161].
[389]. For the play upon “Sáki” (oblique case of sák, leg-calf) and Sáki a cupbearer see vol. ii. [327].
[390]. “On a certain day the leg shall be bared and men shall be called upon to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able” (Koran, lxviii. 42). “Baring the leg” implies a grievous calamity, probably borrowed from the notion of tucking up the skirts and stripping for flight. On the dangerous San Francisco River one of the rapids is called “Tira-calcoens” = take off your trousers (Highlands of the Brazil, ii. 35). But here the allusion is simply ludicrous and to a Moslem blasphemous.
[391]. Arab. “Istahi,” a word of every day use in reproof. So the Hindost. “Kuchh sharm nahín?” hast thou no shame? Shame is a passion with Orientals and very little known to the West.
[392]. i.e. Angels and men saying, “The Peace (of God) be on us and on all righteous servants of Allah!” This ends every prayer.
[393]. Arab. “Al-Níyah,” the ceremonial purpose or intent to pray, without which prayer is null and void. See vol. v. [163]. The words would be “I purpose to pray a two-bow prayer in this hour of deadly danger to my soul.” Concerning such prayer see vol. i. [142].
[394]. Arab. “Sákin” = quiescent, Let a sleeping hound lie.
[395]. Arab. “Ásár” lit. traces i.e. the works, the mighty signs and marvels.
[396]. The mention of coffee now frequently occurs in this tale and in that which follows; the familiar use of it showing a comparatively late date, and not suggesting the copyist’s hand.
[397]. Arab. “Al-Kahwah,” the place being called from its produce. See Pilgrimage i. 317–18.
[398]. Arab. “Al-Ghurbah Kurbah:” the translation in the text is taken from my late friend Edward Eastwick, translator of the Gulistan and author of a host of works which show him to have been a ripe Oriental scholar.
[399]. The fiction may have been suggested by the fact that in all Moslem cities from India to Barbary the inner and outer gates are carefully shut during the noontide devotions, not “because Friday is the day on which creation was finished and Mohammed entered Al-Medinah;” but because there is a popular idea that in times now approaching the Christians will rise up against the Moslems during prayers and will repeat the “Sicilian Vespers.”
[400]. i.e. the syndic of the Guild of Jewellers.
[401]. This is an Arab Lady Godiva of the wrong sort.
[402]. This is explained in my Pilgrimage i. 99 et seq.
[403]. About three pennyweights. It varies, however, everywhere and in Morocco the “Mezkal” as they call it is an imaginary value, no such coin existing.
[404]. i.e. over and above the value of the gold, etc.
[405]. This was the custom of contemporary Europe and more than one master cutler has put to death an apprentice playing Peeping Tom to detect the secret of sword-making.
[406]. Among Moslems husbands are divided into three species; (1) of “Bahr” who is married for love; (2) of “Dahr,” for defence against the world, and (3) of “Mahr” for marriage-settlements (money). Master Obayd was an unhappy compound of the two latter; but he did not cease to be a man of honour.
[407]. The Mac. Edit. here is a mass of blunders and misprints.
[408]. The Mac. Edit. everywhere calls her “Sabiyah” = the young lady and does not mention her name Halímah = the Mild, the Gentle till the cmlxxivth Night. I follow Mr. Payne’s example by introducing it earlier into the story, as it avoids vagueness and repetition of the indefinite.
[409]. Arab. “Adím al-Zauk,” = without savour, applied to an insipid mannerless man as “bárid” (cold) is to a fool. “Ahl Zauk” is a man of pleasure, a voluptuary, a hedonist.
[410]. Arab. “Finján” the egg-shell cups from which the Easterns still drink coffee.
[411]. Arab. “Awáshik” a rare word, which Dozy translates “osselet” (or osselle) and Mr. Payne, “hucklebones,” concerning which he has obliged me with this note. Chambaud renders osselet by “petit os avec lequel les enfants jouent.” Hucklebone is the hip-bone but in the plural it applies to our cockals or cockles: Latham gives “hucklebone,” (or cockal), one of the small vertebræ of the coccygis, and Littleton translates “Talus,” a hucklebone, a bone to play with like a dye, a play called cockal. (So also in Rider). Hucklebones and knucklebones are syn.: but the latter is modern and liable to give a false idea, besides being tautological. It has nothing to do with the knuckles and derives from the German “Knöchel” (dialectically Knöchelein) a bonelet.
[412]. For ablution after sleep and before prayer. The address of the slave-girl is perfectly natural; in a Moslem house we should hear it this day nor does it show the least sign of “frowardness.”
[413]. The perfect stupidity of the old wittol is told with the driest Arab humour.
[414]. This is a rechauffé of the Language of Signs in “Azíz and Azízah” vol. ii. [302].
[415]. In the Mac. Edit. “Yá Fulánah” = O certain person.
[416]. Arab. “Laylat al-Kábilah,” lit. = the coming night, our to-night; for which see vol. iii. [349].
[417]. Arab. “Ya Ahmak!” which in Marocco means a madman, a maniac, a Santon.
[418]. The whole passage has a grammatical double entendre whose application is palpable. Harf al-Jarr = a particle governing the noun in the genitive or a mode of thrusting and tumbling.
[419]. Arab. Al-Silah = conjunctive (sentence), also coition; Al-Mausúl = the conjoined, a grammatical term for relative pronoun or particle.
[420]. Arab. “Tanwín al-Izáfah ma’zúl” = the nunnation in construction cast out. “Tanwín” (nunnation) is pronouncing the vowels of the case-endings of a noun with n—un for u (nominative)—in for i (genitive) and—an for a (accusative). This nunnation expresses indefiniteness, e.g. “Malikun” = a king, any king. When the noun is made definite by the Ma’rifah or article (al), the Tanwín must be dropped, e.g. Al-Maliku = the King; Al-Malikun being a grammatical absurdity. In construction or regimen (izáfah) the nunnation must also disappear, as Maliku ’l-Hindi = the King of Hind (a King of Hind would be Malikun min Mulúki ’l-Hindi = a King from amongst the Kings of Hind). Thus whilst the wife and the lover were conjoined as much as might be, the hocussed and sleeping husband was dismissed (ma’zúl = degraded) like a nunnation dropped in construction. I may add that the terminal syllables are invariably dropped in popular parlance and none but Mr. G. Palgrave (who afterwards ignored his own assertion) ever found an Arab tribe actually using them in conversation although they are always pronounced when reading the Koran and poetry.
[421]. This was a saying of Mohammed about over-frequency of visits, “Zur ghibban, tazid hubban” = call rarely that friendship last fairly. So the verse of Al-Mutanabbi,
“How oft familiarity breeds dislike.”
Preston quotes Jesus ben Sirach, μὴ ἔμπιπτε ἵνα μὴ ἐπωσθῇς, καὶ μὴ μακρὰν ἀφίστω ἵνα μὴ ἐπιλησθῇς. Also Al-Hariri (Ass. xv. of “The Legal”; De Sacy p. 478 l. 2.) “Visit not your friend more than one day in a month, nor stop longer than that with him!” Also Ass. xvi. 487, 8. “Multiply not visits to thy friend.” None so disliked as one visiting too often (Preston p. 352). In the Cent nouvelles (52) Nouvelles (No. lii.) the dying father says to his son:—Jamais ne vous hantez tant en l’ostel de votre voisin que l’on vous y serve de pain bis. In these matters Moslems follow the preaching and practice of the Apostle, who was about as hearty and genial as the “Great Washington.” But the Arab had a fund of dry humour which the Anglo-American lacked altogether.
[422]. Arab. “’Amal” = action, operation. In Hindostani it is used (often with an Alif for an Ayn) as intoxication e.g. Amal pání strong waters and applied to Sharáb (wine), Bozah (Beer), Tádí (toddy or the fermented juice of the Tád, Borassus flabelliformis), Naryáli (juice of the cocoa-nut tree), Saynddi (of the wild date, Elate Sylvestris), Afyún (opium and its preparations as post = poppy seeds) and various forms of Cannabis Sativa, as Ganja, Charas, Madad, Sabzi etc. for which see Herklots’ Glossary.
[423]. Arab. “Sardáb,” mostly an underground room (vol. i. [340]) but here a tunnel.
[424]. Arab. “Al-Láwandiyah”; this and the frequent mention of coffee and presently of a watch (sá’ah) show that the tale in its present state, cannot be older than the end of the sixteenth century.
[425]. Arab. “Su’bán,” vol. i. [172].
[426]. The lines have occurred in vol. i. [238]; where I have noted the punning “Sabr” = patience or aloes. I quote Torrens: the Templar, however, utterly abolishes the pun in the last couplet:—
The case is not at my command; but in fair Patience hand ✿ I’m set by Him who order’th all and doth such case command.
“Amr” here = case (circumstance) or command (order) with a suspicion of reference to Murr = myrrh, bitterness. The reader will note the resignation to Fate’s decrees which here and in host of places elevates the tone of the book.
[427]. i.e. as one loathes that which is prohibited, and with a loathing which makes it unlawful for me to cohabit with thee.
[428]. This is quite natural to the sensitive Eastern.
[429]. Hence, according to Moslem and Eastern theory generally her lewd and treasonable conduct. But in Egypt not a few freeborn women and those too of the noblest, would beat her hollow at her own little game. See for instance the booklet attributed to Jalál al-Siyútí and entitled Kitáb al-Ízáh (Book of Explanation) fí ’Ilm al-Nikáh (in the Science of Carnal Copulation). There is a copy of it in the British Museum; and a friend kindly supplied me with a lithograph from Cairo; warning me that there are doubts about the authorship.
[430]. These lines have occurred in vol. iii. [214]: I quote Mr. Payne.
[431]. This ejaculation, as the waw shows, is parenthetic; spoken either by Halimah, by Shahrazad or by the writer.
[432]. Arab. “Kasr” here meaning an upper room.
[433]. To avoid saying, I pardon thee.
[434]. A proverbial saying which here means I could only dream of such good luck.
[435]. A good old custom amongst Moslems who have had business transactions with each other: such acquittance of all possible claims will be quoted on “Judgment-Day,” when debts will be severely enquired into.
[436]. Arab. “Kutr (tract or quarter) Misr,” vulgarly pronounced “Masr.” I may remind the reader that the Assyrians called the Nile-valley “Musur” whence probably the Heb. Misraim a dual form denoting Upper and Lower Egypt which are still distinguished by the Arabs into Sa’id and Misr. The hieroglyphic term is Ta-mera = Land of the Flood; and the Greek Aigyptos is probably derived from Kahi-Ptah (region of the great God Ptah) or Ma Ka Ptah (House of the soul of Ptah). The word “Copt” or “Kopt,” in Egyptian “Kubti” and pronounced “Gubti,” contains the same consonants.
[437]. Now an unimportant frontier fort and village dividing Syria-Palestine from Egypt and famed for the French battle with the Mamelukes (Feb. 19, 1799) and the convention for evacuating Egypt. In the old times it was an important site built upon the “River of Egypt” now a dried up Wady; and it was the chief port of the then populous Najab or South Country. According to Abulfeda it derived its name (the “boothy,” the nest) from a hut built there by the brothers of Joseph when stopped at the frontier by the guards of Pharaoh. But this is usual Jewish infection of history.
[438]. Arab. “Báb” which may also = “Chapter” or category. See vol. i., 136 and elsewhere (index). In Egypt “Báb” sometimes means a sepulchral cave hewn in a rock (plur. Bíbán) from the Coptic “Bíb.”
[439]. i.e. “The Holy,” a town some three marches (60 miles) N. East of Cairo; thus showing the honour done to our unheroic hero. There is also a Sálihiyah quarter or suburb of Damascus famous for its cemetery of holy men; but the facetious Cits change the name to Zálliniyah = causing to stray; in allusion to its Kurdish population. Baron von Hammer reads “le faubourg Adelieh” built by Al-Malik Al-Adil and founded a chronological argument on a clerical error.
[440]. Kamar al-Zaman; the normal pun on the name; a practice as popular in the East as in the West, and worthy only of a pickpocket in either place.
[441]. Arab. “Azrár” plur. of “Zirr” and lit. = “buttons,” i.e. of his robe collar from which his white neck and face appear shining as the sun.
[442]. Arab. “Dáirah” = the usual inclosure of Kanáts or tent-flaps pitched for privacy during the halt.
[443]. i.e. it was so richly ornamented that it resembled an enchanted hoard whose spells, hiding it from sight, had been broken by some happy treasure seeker.
[444]. The merchant who is a “stern parent” and exceedingly ticklish on the Pundonor saw at first sight her servile origin which had escaped the mother. Usually it is the other way.
[445]. Not the head of the Church, or Chief Pontiff, but the Chief of the Olema and Fukahá (Fákihs or D.D.’s.) men learned in the Law (divinity). The order is peculiarly Moslem, in fact the succedaneum for the Christian “hierarchy,” an institution never contemplated by the Founder of Christianity. This title shows the modern date of the tale.
[446]. Arab. “Maulid,” prop. applied to the Birth-feast of Mohammed which begins on the 3rd day of Rabí al-Awwal (third Moslem month) and lasts a week or ten days (according to local custom), usually ending on the 12th and celebrated with salutes of cannon, circumcision-feasts, marriage banquets, Zikr-litanies, perlections of the Koran and all manner of solemn festivities including the “powder-play” (Láb al-Bárút) in the wilder corners of Al-Islam. It is also applied to the birth-festivals of great Santons (as Ahmad al-Badawi) for which see Lane M. E. chapt. xxiv. In the text it is used like the Span. “Funcion” or the Hind. “Tamáshá,” any great occasion of merrymaking.
[447]. Arab. “Sanájik” plur. of Sanjak (Turk.) = a banner, also applied to the bearer (ensign or cornet) and to a military rank mostly corresponding with Bey or Colonel.
[448]. I have followed Mr Payne’s ordering of the text which, both in the Mac. and Bul. Edits., is wholly inconsequent and has not the excuse of rhyme.
[449]. Arab. “Jilbáb,” a long coarse veil or gown which in Barbary becomes a “Jallábiyah,” a striped and hooded cloak of woollen stuff.
[450]. i.e. a broken down pilgrim left to die on the road.
[451]. These lines have occurred in vol. i. [272]. I quote Mr. Payne.
[452]. Note the difference between “Zirt,” the loud crepitus and “Faswah” the susurrus which Captain Grose in his quaint “Lexicum Balatronicum,” calls a “fice” or a “foyse” (from the Arabic Fas, faswah?)
[453]. These lines have occurred in Night dcxix, vol. vi. [246]: where the pun on Khaliyah is explained. I quote Lane.
[454]. The usual pretext of “God bizness,” as the Comoro men call it. For the title of the Ka’abah see my Pilgrimage vol. iii. [149].
[455]. This was in order to travel as a respectable man; he could also send the girl as a spy into the different Harims to learn news of the lady who had eloped.
[456]. A polite form of alluding to their cursing him.
[457]. i.e. on account of the King taking offence at his unceremonious departure.
[458]. i.e. It will be the worse for him.
[459]. I would here remind the reader that “’Arabiyyun” pl. ’Urb is a man of pure Arab race, whether of the Ahl al-Madar (= people of mortar, i.e. citizens) or Ahl al-Wabar (= tents of goat or camel’s hair); whereas “A’rábiyyun” pl. A’ráb is one who dwells in the Desert whether Arab or not. Hence the verse:—
They name us Al-A’ráb but Al-’Urb is our name.
[460]. I would remind the reader that the Dinár is the golden denarius (or solidus) of Eastern Rome while the Dirham is the silver denarius, whence denier, danaro, dínheiro, etc., etc. The oldest dinars date from A. H. 91–92 (= 714–15) and we find the following description of one struck in A. H. 96 by Al-Walid the VI. Ommiade:—
| Obverse. | Area. “There is no iláh but Allah: He is one: He hath no partner.” |
| Circle. “Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah who hath sent him with the true Guidance and Religion that he manifest it above all other Creeds.” | |
| Reverse. | Area. “Allah is one: Allah is Eternal: He begetteth not, nor is He begot.” |
| Circle. “Bismillah: This Dinar was struck anno 96.” |
See “’Ilâm-en-Nas” (warnings for Folk) a pleasant little volume by Mr. Godfrey Clarke (London, King and Co., 1873), mostly consisting of the minor tales from The Nights, especially this group between Nights ccxlvii. and cdlxi.; but rendered valuable by the annotations of my old friend, the late Frederick Ayrton.
[461]. The reader will note the persistency with which the duty of universal benevolence is preached.
[462]. Arab. from Pers. “Shah-bandar”: see vol. iv. [29].
[463]. i.e. of thy coming, a popular compliment.
[464]. This is the doctrine of the universal East; and it is true concerning wives and widows, not girls when innocent or rather ignorant. According to Western ideas Kamar al-Zaman was a young scoundrel of the darkest dye whose only excuse were his age, his inexperience and his passions.
[465]. Arab. “Dayyús” prop. = a man who pimps for his own wife and in this sense constantly occurring in conversation.
[466]. This is taking the law into one’s own hands with a witness; yet amongst races who preserve the Pundonor in full and pristine force, e.g. the Afghans and the Persian Iliyát, the killing so far from being considered murder or even justifiable homicide would be highly commended by public opinion.
[467]. Arab. “Nákisátu ’aklin wa dín”; the words are attributed to the Prophet whom we find saying, “Verily in your wives and children ye have an enemy, wherefore beware of them” (Koran lxiv. 14); compare 1 Cor. vii. 28, 32. But Maître Jehan de Meung went farther,
Toutes êtez, serez ou fûtes,
De faict ou de volonté, putes.
[468]. Arab. Habíbí wa tabíbí, the common jingle.
[469]. Iblis and his connection with Diabolos has been noticed in vol. i. [13]. The word is foreign as well as a P.N. and therefore is imperfectly declined, although some authorities deduce it from “ablasa” = he despaired (of Allah’s mercy). Others call him Al-Háris (the Lion) hence Eve’s first-born was named in his honour Abd al-Haris. His angelic name was Azázíl before he sinned by refusing to prostrate himself to Adam, as Allah had commanded the heavenly host for a trial of faith, not to worship the first man, but to make him a Keblah or direction of prayer addressed to the Almighty. Hence he was ejected from Heaven and became the arch-enemy of mankind (Koran xviii. 48). He was an angel but related to the Jinn: Al-Bayzáwi, however (on Koran ii. 82), opines that angelic by nature he became a Jinn by act. Ibn Abbas held that he belonged to an order of angels who are called Jinn and begot issue as do the nasnás, the Ghúl and the Kutrub which, however, are male and female, like the pre-Adamite man-woman of Genesis, the “bi-une” of our modern days. For this subject see Terminal Essay.
[470]. As usual in the East and in the West the husband was the last to hear of his wife’s ill conduct. But even Othello did not kill Emilia.
[471]. i.e. Star of the Morning: the first word occurs in Bar Cokba Barchocheba = Son of the Star, i.e., which was to come out of Jacob (Numbers xxiv, 17). The root, which does not occur in Heb., is Kaukab to shine. This Rabbi Akilah was also called Bar Cozla = Son of the Lie.
[472]. Here some excision has been judged advisable as the names of the bridegrooms and the brides recur with damnable iteration.
[473]. See the note by Lane’s Shaykh at the beginning of the tale. The contrast between the vicious wife of servile origin and the virtuous wife of noble birth is fondly dwelt upon but not exaggerated.
[474]. i.e. those of his water skins for the journey, which as usual required patching and supplying with fresh handles after long lying dry.
[475]. A popular saying also applied to men. It is usually accompanied with showing the open hand and a reference to the size of the fingers. I find this story most interesting from an anthropological point of view; suggesting how differently various races regard the subject of adultery. In Northern Europe the burden is thrown most unjustly upon the man, the woman who tempts him being a secondary consideration; and in England he is absurdly termed “a seducer.” In former times he was “paraded” or “called out,” now he is called up for damages, a truly ignoble and shopkeeper-like mode of treating a high offence against private property and public morality. In Anglo-America, where English feeling is exaggerated, the lover is revolver’d and the woman is left unpunished. On the other hand, amongst Eastern and especially Moslem peoples, the woman is cut down and scant reckoning is taken from the man. This more sensible procedure has struck firm root amongst the nations of Southern Europe where the husband kills the lover only when he still loves his wife and lover-like is furious at her affection being alienated.
Practically throughout the civilised world there are only two ways of treating women. Moslems keep them close, defend them from all kinds of temptations and if they go wrong kill them. Christians place them upon a pedestal, the observed of all observers, expose them to every danger and if they fall, accuse and abuse them instead of themselves. And England is so grandly logical that her law, under certain circumstances, holds that Mrs. A. has committed adultery with Mr. B. but Mr. B. has not committed adultery with Mrs. A. Can any absurdity be more absurd? Only “summum jus, summa injuria.” See my Terminal Essay. I shall have more to say upon this curious subject, the treatment of women who can be thoroughly guarded only by two things, firstly their hearts and secondly by the “Spanish Padlock.”
ABDULLAH BIN FAZIL AND HIS BROTHERS[[476]]
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid was one day examining the tributes of his various provinces and viceroyalties, when he observed that the contributions of all the countries and regions had come into the treasury, except that of Bassorah which had not arrived that year. So he held a Divan because of this and said, “Hither to me with the Wazir Ja’afar;” and when they brought him into the presence he thus bespoke him, “The tributes of all the provinces have come into the treasury, save that of Bassorah, no part whereof hath arrived.” Ja’afar replied, “O Commander of the Faithful, belike there hath befallen the governor of Bassorah something that hath diverted him from sending the tribute.” Quoth the Caliph, “The time of the coming of the tribute was twenty days ago; what then, can be his excuse for that, in this time, he hath neither sent it nor sent to show cause for not doing so?” And quoth the Minister, “O Commander of the Faithful, if it please thee, we will send him a messenger.” Rejoined the Caliph, “Send him Abu Ishak al-Mausili,[[477]] the boon companion,” and Ja’afar, “Hearkening and obedience to Allah and to thee, O Prince of True Believers!” Then he returned to his house and summoning Abu Ishak, wrote him a royal writ and said to him, “Go to Abdullah bin Fazil, Viceroy of Bassorah, and see what hath diverted him from sending the tribute. If it be ready, do thou receive it from him in full and bring it to me in haste, for the Caliph hath examined the tributes of the provinces and findeth that they are all come in, except that of Bassorah: but an thou see that it is not ready and he make an excuse to thee, bring him back with thee, that he may report his excuse to the Caliph with his own tongue.” Answered Abu Ishak, “I hear and I obey;” and taking with him five thousand horse of Ja’afar’s host set out for Bassorah. Now when Abdullah bin Fazil heard of his approach, he went out to meet him with his troops, and led him into the city and carried him to his palace, whilst the escort encamped without the city walls, where he appointed to them all whereof they stood in need. So Abu Ishak entered the audience-chamber and sitting down on the throne, seated the governor beside himself, whilst the notables sat round him, according to their several degrees. After salutation with the salam Abdullah bin Fazil said to him, “O my lord, is there for thy coming to us any cause?;” and said Abu Ishak, “Yes, I come to seek the tribute; for the Caliph enquireth of it and the time of its coming is gone by.” Rejoined Abdullah bin Fazil, “O my lord, would Heaven thou hadst not wearied thyself nor taken upon thyself the hardships of the journey! For the tribute is ready in full tale and complete, and I purpose to despatch it to-morrow. But, since thou art come, I will entrust it to thee, after I have entertained thee three days; and on the fourth day I will set the tribute between thine hands. But it behoveth us now to offer thee a present in part requital of thy kindness and the goodness of the Commander of the Faithful.” There is no harm in that,” said Abu Ishak. So Abdullah bin Fazil dismissed the Divan and carrying him into a saloon that had not its match, bade set a tray of food before him and his companions. They ate and drank and made merry and enjoyed themselves; after which the tray was removed and there came coffee and sherbets. They sat conversing till a third part of the night was past, when they spread for Abu Ishak bedding on an ivory couch inlaid with gold glittering sheeny. So he lay down and the viceroy lay down beside him on another couch; but wakefulness possessed Abu Ishak and he fell to meditating on the metres of prosody and poetical composition, for that he was one of the primest of the Caliph’s boon-companions and he had a mighty fine fore-arm[[478]] in producing verses and pleasant stories; nor did he leave to lie awake improvising poetry till half the night was past. Presently, behold, Abdullah bin Fazil arose, and girding his middle, opened a locker,[[479]] whence he brought out a whip; then, taking a lighted waxen taper, he went forth by the door of the saloon.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Abdullah bin Fazil went forth by the door of the saloon deeming Abu Ishak asleep, the Caliph’s cup-companion, seeing this, marvelled and said in himself, “Whither wendeth Abdullah bin Fazil with that whip? Perhaps he is minded to punish some body. But needs must I follow him and see what he will do this night.” So he arose and went out after him softly, very softly, that he might not be seen and presently saw him open a closet and take thence a tray containing four dishes of meat and bread and a gugglet of water. Then he went on, carrying the tray and secretly followed by Abu Ishak, till he came to another saloon and entered, whilst the cup-companion stood behind the door and, looking through the chink, saw a spacious saloon, furnished with the richest furniture and having in its midst a couch of ivory plated with gold glittering sheeny, to which two dogs were made fast with chains of gold. Then Abdullah set down the tray in a corner and tucking up his sleeves, loosed the first dog, which began to struggle in his hands and put its muzzle to the floor, as it would kiss the ground before him, whining the while in a weak voice. Abdullah tied its paws behind its back and throwing it on the ground, drew forth the whip and beat it with a painful beating and a pitiless. The dog struggled, but could not get free, and Abdullah ceased not to beat it with the same whip till it left groaning and lay without consciousness. Then he took it and tied it up in its place, and unbinding the second dog, did with him as he had done with the first; after which he pulled out a kerchief and fell to wiping away their tears and comforting them, saying, “Bear me not malice; for by Allah, this is not of my will, nor is it easy to me! But it may be Allah will grant you relief from this strait and issue from your affliction.” And he prayed for the twain what while Abu Ishak the cup-companion stood hearkening with his ears and espying with his eyes, and indeed he marvelled at his case. Then Abdullah brought the dogs the tray of food and fell to morselling them with his own hand, till they had enough, when he wiped their muzzles and lifting up the gugglet, gave them to drink; after which he took up the tray, gugglet and candle and made for the door. But Abu Ishak forewent him and making his way back to his couch, lay down; so that he saw him not, neither knew that he had walked behind him and watched him. Then the governor replaced the tray and the gugglet in the closet and returning to the saloon, opened the locker and laid the whip in its place; after which he doffed his clothes and lay down. But Abu Ishak passed the rest of that night pondering this affair neither did sleep visit him for excess of wonderment, and he ceased not to say in himself, “I wonder what can be the meaning of this!” Nor did he leave wondering till day break, when they arose and prayed the dawn-prayer. Then they set the breakfast[[480]] before them and they ate and drank coffee, after which they went out to the divan. Now Abu Ishak’s thought was occupied with this mystery all day long but he concealed the matter and questioned not Abdullah thereof. Next night, he again followed the governor and saw him do with the two dogs as on the previous night, first beating them and then making his peace with them and giving them to eat and to drink; and so also he did the third night. On the fourth day he brought the tribute to Abu Ishak who took it and departed, without opening the matter to him. He fared on, without ceasing, till he came to Baghdad, where he delivered the tribute to the Caliph, who questioned him of the cause of its delay. Replied he, “O Commander of the Faithful, I found that the governor of Bassorah had made ready the tribute and was about to despatch it; and had I delayed a day, it would have met me on the road. But, O Prince of True Believers, I had a wondrous adventure with Abdullah bin Fazil; never in my life saw I its like.” “And what was it, O Abu Ishak?” asked the Caliph. So he replied, “I saw such and such;” and, brief, acquainted him with that which the governor had done with the two dogs, adding, “After such fashion, I saw him do three successive nights, first beating the dogs, then making his peace with them and comforting them and giving them to eat and drink, I watching him, and he seeing me not.” Asked the Caliph, “Didst thou question him of the cause of this?”; and the other answered, “No, as thy head liveth, O Commander of the Faithful.” Then said Al-Rashid, “O Abu Ishak, I command thee to return to Bassorah and bring me Abdullah bin Fazil and the two dogs.” Quoth he, “O Commander of the Faithful, excuse me from this; for indeed Abdullah entertained me with exceedingly hospitable entertainment and I became ware of this case with chance undesigned and acquainted thee therewith. So how can I go back to him and bring him to thee? Verily, if I return to him, I shall find me no face for shame of him; wherefore ’twere meet that thou send him another than myself, with a letter under thine own hand, and he shall bring him to thee, him and the two dogs.” But quoth the Caliph, “If I send him other than thyself, peradventure he will deny the whole affair and say, I’ve no dogs. But if I send thee and thou say to him, I saw them with mine own eyes, he will not be able to deny that. Wherefore nothing will serve but that thou go and fetch him and the two dogs; otherwise I will surely slay thee.”[[481]]——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eightieth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph Harun al-Rashid said to Abu Ishak, “Nothing will serve but that thou go and fetch him and the two dogs; otherwise I will surely slay thee.” Abu Ishak replied, “Hearing and obeying, O Commander of the Faithful: Allah is our aidance and good is the Agent. He spake sooth who said, “Man’s wrong is from the tongue;[[482]] and ’tis I who sinned against myself in telling thee. But write me a royal rescript[[483]] and I will go to him and bring him back to thee.” So the Caliph gave him an autograph and he took it and repaired to Bassorah. Seeing him come in the governor said, “Allah forfend us from the mischief of thy return, O Abu Ishak! How cometh it I see thee return in haste? Peradventure the tribute is deficient and the Caliph will not accept it?” Answered Abu Ishak, “O Emir Abdullah, my return is not on account of the deficiency of the tribute, for ’tis full measure and the Caliph accepteth it; but I hope that thou wilt excuse me, for that I have failed in my duty as thy guest and indeed this lapse of mine was decreed of Allah Almighty.” Abdullah enquired, “And what may be the lapse?” and he replied, “Know that when I was with thee, I followed thee three following nights and saw thee rise at midnight and beat the dogs and return; whereat I marvelled, but was ashamed to question thee thereof. When I came back to Baghdad, I told the Caliph of thine affair, casually and without design, whereupon he charged me to return to thee, and here is a letter under his hand. Had I known that the affair would lead to this, I had not told him, but Destiny foreordained thus.” And he went on to excuse himself to him; whereupon said Abdullah, “Since thou hast told him this, I will bear out thy report with him, lest he deem thee a liar, for thou art my friend. Were it other than thou, I had denied the affair and given him the lie. But now I will go with thee and carry the two dogs with me, though this be to me ruin-rife and the ending of my term of life.” Rejoined the other, “Allah will veil[[484]] thee, even as thou hast veiled my face with the Caliph!” Then Abdullah took a present beseeming the Commander of the Faithful and mounting the dogs with him, each on a camel, bound with chains[[485]] of gold, journeyed with Abu Ishak to Baghdad, where he went in to the Caliph and kissed ground before him. He deigned bid him sit; so he sat down and brought the two dogs before Al-Rashid, who said to him, “What be these dogs, O Emir Abdullah?” Whereupon they fell to kissing the floor between his hands and wagging their tails and weeping, as if complaining to him. The Caliph marvelled at this and said to the governor, “Tell me the history of these two dogs and the reason of thy beating them and after entreating them with honour.” He replied, “O Vicar of Allah, these be no dogs, but two young men, endowed with beauty and seemliness, symmetry and shapeliness, and they are my brothers and the sons of my father and mother.” Asked the Caliph, “How is it that they were men and are become dogs?”; and he answered, “An thou give me leave, O Prince of True Believers, I will acquaint thee with the truth of the circumstance.” Said Al-Rashid, “Tell me and ’ware of leasing, for ’tis of the fashion of the hypocrites, and look thou tell truth, for that is the Ark[[486]] of safety and the mark of virtuous men.” Rejoined Abdullah, “Know then, O viceregent of Allah, when I tell thee the story of these dogs, they will both bear witness against me: an I speak sooth they will certify it and if I lie they will give me the lie.” Cried the Caliph, “These are of the dogs; they cannot speak nor answer; so how can they testify for thee or against thee?” But Abdullah said to them, “O my brothers, if I speak a lying word, do ye lift your heads and stare with your eyes; but, if I say sooth hang down your heads and lower your eyes.” Then said he to the Caliph:—Know, O Commander of the Faithful, that we are three brothers by one mother and the same father. Our sire’s name was Fazil and he was so named because his mother bare two sons at one birth, one of whom died forthright and the other twin remained alive, wherefore his sire named him Fazil—the Remainder. His father brought him up and reared him well, till he grew to manhood when he married him to our mother and died. Our mother conceived a first time and bare this my first brother, whom our sire named Mansúr; then she conceived again and bare this my second brother, whom he named Násir[[487]]; after which she conceived a third time and bare me, whom he named Abdullah. My father reared us all three till we came to man’s estate, when he died, leaving us a house and a shop full of coloured stuffs of all kinds, Indian and Greek and Khorásáni and what not, besides sixty thousand dinars. We washed him and buried him to the ruth of his Lord, after which we built him a splendid monument and let pray for him prayers for the deliverance of his soul from the fire and held perlections of the Koran and gave alms on his behalf, till the forty days[[488]] were past; when I called together the merchants and nobles of the folk and made them a sumptuous entertainment. As soon as they had eaten, I said to them, “O merchants, verily this world is ephemeral, but the next world is eternal, and extolled be the perfection of Him who endureth always after His creatures have passed away! Know ye why I have called you together this blessed day?” And they answered, “Extolled be Allah sole Scient of the hidden things.[[489]]” Quoth I, “My father died, leaving much of money, and I fear lest any have a claim against him for a debt or a pledge[[490]] or what not else, and I desire to discharge my father’s obligations towards the folk. So whoso hath any demand on him, let him say:—He oweth me so and so, and I will satisfy it to him, that I may acquit the responsibility of my sire.[[491]]” The merchants replied, “O Abdullah, verily the goods of this world stand not in stead of those of the world to come, and we are no fraudful folk, but all of us know the lawful from the unlawful and fear Almighty Allah and abstain from devouring the substance of the orphan. We know that thy father (Allah have mercy on him!) still let his money lie with the folk,[[492]] nor did he suffer any man’s claim on him to go un-quitted, and we have ever heard him declare:—I am fearful of the people’s substance. He used always to say in his prayers, O my God, Thou art my stay and my hope! Let me not die while in debt. And it was of his wont that, if he owed any one aught, he would pay it to him, without being pressed, and if any owed him aught he would not dun him, but would say to him, At thy leisure. If his debtor were poor, he would release him from his liability and acquit him of responsibility; and if he were not poor and died in his debt, he would say, Allah forgive him what he owed me! And we all testify that he owed no man aught.” Quoth I, “May Allah bless you!” Then I turned to these my brothers and said, “Our father owed no man aught and hath left us much money and stuffs, besides the house and the shop. Now we are three and each of us is entitled to one third part. So shall we agree to waive division and wone copartners in our wealth and eat together and drink together, or shall we apportion the stuffs and the money and take each his part?” Said they, “We will divide them and take each his share.” (Then Abdullah turned to the two dogs and said to them, “Did it happen thus, O my brothers?”; and they bowed their heads and lowered their eyes, as to say, “Yes.”) Abdullah continued:—I called in a departitor from the Kazi’s court, O Prince of True Believers, and he distributed amongst us the money and the stuffs and all our father had left, allotting the house and shop to me in exchange for a part of the coin and clothes to which I was entitled. We were content with this; so the house and shop fell to my share, whilst my brothers took their portion in money and stuffs. I opened the shop and stocking it with my stuffs bought others with the money apportioned to me, over and above the house and shop, till the place was full, and I sat selling and buying. As for my brothers, they purchased stuffs and hiring a ship, set out on a voyage to the far abodes of folk. Quoth I, “Allah aid them both! As for me, my livelihood is ready to my hand and peace is priceless.” I abode thus a whole year, during which time Allah opened the door of fortune to me and I gained great gains, till I became possessed of the like of that which our father had left us. One day, as I sat in my shop, with two fur pelisses on me, one of sable and the other of meniver,[[493]] for it was the season of winter and the time of the excessive cold, behold, there came up to me my two brothers, each clad in a ragged shirt and nothing more, and their lips were white with cold, and they were shivering. When I saw them in this plight, it was grievous to me and I mourned for them——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-first Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Fazil continued to the Caliph:—When I saw them in this plight, it was grievous to me and I mourned for them and my reason fled my head. So I rose and embraced them and wept over their condition: then I put on one of them the pelisse of sable and on the other the fur coat of meniver and, carrying them to the Hammam, sent thither for each of them a suit of apparel such as befitted a merchant worth a thousand.[[494]] When they had washed and donned each his suit, I carried them to my house where, seeing them well nigh famished, I set a tray of food before them and ate with them, caressing them and comforting them. (Then he again turned to the two dogs and said to them, “Was this so, O my brothers?”; and they bent their heads and lowered their eyes.) So Abdullah continued:—When they had eaten, O Vicar of Allah, quoth I to them, “What hath befallen you and where are your goods?”; and quoth they, “We fared up the river,[[495]] till we came to a city called Cufa, where we sold for ten dinars the piece of stuff that had cost half a ducat and that which cost us a ducat for twenty. So we profited greatly and bought Persian stuffs at the rate of ten sequins per piece of silk worth forty in Bassorah. Thence we removed to a city called Al-Karkh[[496]] where we sold and bought and made gain galore and amassed of wealth great store.” And they went on to set forth to me the places and the profits. So I said to them, “Since ye had such good luck and lot, how cometh it that I see you return naked?” They sighed and answered, “O our brother, some one must have evileyed us, and in travel there is no trusting. When we had gotten together these monies and goods, we freighted a ship therewith and set sail, intending for Bassorah. We fared on three days and on the fourth day we saw the sea rise and fall and roar and foam and swell and dash, whilst the waves clashed together with a crash, striking out sparks like fire[[497]] in the darks. The winds blew contrary for us and our craft struck upon the point of a bill-projected rock, where it brake up and plunged us into the river, and all we had with us was lost in the waters. We abode struggling on the surface a day and a night, till Allah sent us another ship, whose crew picked us up and we begged our way from town to town, suffering mighty sore hardships and selling our body-clothes piecemeal, to buy us food, till we drew near Bassorah; nor did we make the city till we had drained the draught of a thousand miseries. But, had we come safely off with that which was by us, we had brought back riches that might be evened with those of the King: but this was fore ordained to us of Allah.” I said, “O my brothers, let not your hearts be grieved, for wealth is the ransom of bodies and safety is property. Since Allah hath written you of the saved, this is the end of desire, for want and wealth are but as it were illusions of dreams and God-gifted is he who said:—
If a man from destruction can save his head ✿ Let him hold his wealth as a slice of nail.
I continued, “O my brothers we will suppose that our sire died to-day and left us all this wealth that is with me, for I am right willing to share it with you equally.” So I fetched a departitor from the Kazi’s court and brought out to him all my money, which he distributed into three equal parts, and we each took one. Then said I to them, “O my brothers, Allah blesseth a man in his daily bread, if he be in his own country: so let each of you open him a shop and sit therein to get his living; and he to whom aught is ordained in the Secret Purpose,[[498]] needs must he get it.” Accordingly, I helped each of them to open a shop and filled it for him with goods, saying to them, “Sell and buy and keep your monies and spend naught thereof; for all ye need of meat and drink and so forth I will furnish to you.” I continued to entreat them generously, and they fell to selling and buying by day and returning at eventide to my house where they lay the night; nor would I suffer them to expend aught of their own substance. But, whenever I sat talking with them, they would praise travel and proclaim its pleasures and vaunt the gains they had made therein; and they ceased not to urge me to accompany them in travelling over foreign parts. (Then he said to the dogs, “Was this so, O my brothers?” and they again bowed their heads and lowered their eyes in confirmation of his words). He continued:—On such wise, O Vicar of Allah, they continued to urge me and tempt me to travel by vaunting the great gains and profit to be obtained thereby till I said to them, “Needs must I fare with you for your sake!” Then I entered into a contract of partnership with them and we chartered a ship and packing up all manner of precious stuffs and merchandise of every kind, freighted it therewith; after which we embarked in it all we needed and, setting sail from Bassorah, launched out into the dashing sea, swollen with clashing surge whereinto whoso entereth is lone and lorn and whence whoso cometh forth is as a babe new-born. We ceased not sailing on till we came to a city of the cities, where we sold and bought and made great cheape. Thence we went on to another place, and we ceased not to pass from land to land and port to port, selling and buying and profiting, till we had gotten us great wealth and much advantage. Presently, we came to a mountain,[[499]] where the captain cast anchor and said to us, “O passengers, go ye ashore; ye shall be saved from this day,[[500]] and make search; it may be ye shall find water.” So all landed I amongst the crowd, and dispersed about the island in search of water. As for me, I climbed to the top of the mountain, and whilst I went along, lo and behold! I saw a white snake fleeing and followed by a black dragon, foul of favour and frightful of form, hotly pursuing her. Presently he overtook her and clipping her, seized her by the head and wound his tail about her tail, whereupon she cried out and I knew that he purposed to rape her. So I was moved to ruth for her and taking up a lump of granite,[[501]] five pounds or more in weight, hurled it at the dragon. It smote him on the head and crushed it, and ere I knew, the white snake changed and became a young girl bright with beauty and loveliness and brilliancy and perfect grace, as she were the shining full moon, who came up to me and kissing my hands, said to me, “Allah veil thee with twofold veils, one from shame in this world and the other from the flame in the world to come on the day of the Great Upstanding, the day when neither wealth nor children shall avail save to him who shall come to Allah with a sound heart!”[[502]] And presently she continued, “O mortal, thou hast saved my honour and I am indebted to thee for kindness, wherefore it behoveth me to requite thee.” So saying, she signed with her hand to the earth, which opened and she descended thereinto: then it closed up again over her and by this I knew that she was of the Jinn. As for the dragon, fire was kindled in him and consumed him and he became ashes. I marvelled at this and returned to my comrades, whom I acquainted with whatso I had seen, and we passed the night in the island. On the morrow the Captain weighed anchor and spread the sails and coiled the ropes and we sailed till the shore faded from our gaze. We fared on twenty days, without seeing or land or bird, till our water came to an end and quoth the Rais to us, “O folk, our fresh water is spent.” Quoth we, “Let us make for land; haply we shall find water.” But he exclaimed, “By Allah, I have lost my way and I know not what course will bring me to the seaboard.” Thereupon betided us sore chagrin and we wept and besought Almighty Allah to guide us into the right course. We passed that night in the sorriest case: but God-gifted is he who said:—
How many a night have I spent in woes ✿ That would grizzle the suckling-babe with fear:
But morrowed not morn ere to me there came ✿ ‘Aidance from Allah and victory near.’[[503]]
But when the day arose in its sheen and shone, we caught sight of a high mountain and rejoiced therein. When we came to its skirts, the Captain said to us, “O folk, go ashore and seek for water.” So we all landed and sought water but found none, whereat we were sore afflicted because we were suffering for want of it. As for me, I climbed up to the mountain-top and on the other side thereof I saw a spacious circle[[504]] distant from us an hour’s journey or more. Presently I called my companions and as soon as they all rejoined me, said to them “Look at yonder basin behind this mountain; for I see therein a city high of base and a strong-cornered place girt with sconce and rampartry, pasturage and lea and doubtless it wanteth not water and good things. So hie we thither and fetch drink therefrom and buy what we need of provisions, meat and fruit, and return. But they said, “We fear lest the city-folk be Kafirs ascribing to Allah partners and enemies of The Faith and lay hand on us and take us captive or else slay us; so should we cause the loss of our own lives, having cast ourselves into destruction and evil emprise. Indeed, the proud and presumptuous are never praiseworthy, for that they ever fare in danger of calamities, even as saith of such an one a certain poet:—
Long as earth is earth, long as sky is sky, ✿ The o’erproud is blamed tho’ from risk he fly!
So we will not expose ourselves to peril.” I replied, “O folk, I have no authority over you; so I will take my brothers and go to yonder city.” But my brothers said to me, “We also fear this thing and will not go with thee.” Quoth I, “As for me, I am resolved to go thither, and I put my trust in Allah and accept whatsoever He shall decree to me. Do ye therefore await me, whilst I wend thither and return to you twain.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-second Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah said, “Do ye twain await me whilst I wend thither and return to you.” So I left them and walked on till I came to the gate of the place and saw it a city of building wondrous and projection marvellous, with boulevards high-towering and towers strong-builded and palaces high-soaring. Its portals were of Chinese iron, rarely gilded and graven on such wise as confounded the wit. I entered the gateway and saw there a stone bench, whereon sat a man bearing on his fore-arm a chain of brass, whereto hung fourteen keys; so I knew him to be the porter of the city and that it had fourteen gates. I drew near him and said to him, “Peace be with thee!”; but he returned not my salam and I saluted him a second and a third time; but he made me no reply. Then I laid my hand on his shoulder and said to him, “Ho thou, why dost thou not return my salam? Art thou asleep or deaf or other than a Moslem, that thou refrainest from exchanging the salutation?” But he answered me not neither stirred; so I considered him and saw that he was stone. Quoth I, “Verily an admirable matter! This is a stone wroughten in the semblance of a son of Adam and wanting in naught save speech!” Then I left him and entering the city, beheld a man standing in the road: so I went up to him and scrutinised him and found him stone. Presently, as I walked adown the broadways, and saw that this was every where the case, I met an old woman bearing on her head a bundle of clothes ready for washing; so I went up to her and examining her, saw that she was stone, and the bundle of clothes on her head was stone also.[[505]] Then I fared for the market, where I saw an oilman with his scales set up and fronted by various kinds of wares such as cheese and so forth, all of stone. Moreover, I saw all manner of tradesmen seated in their shops and men and women and children, some standing and some sitting; but they were all stone; and the stuffs were like spiders’ webs. I amused myself with looking upon them, and as often as I laid hold upon a piece of stuff, it powdered in my hands like dust dispread. Presently I saw some chests and opening one of them, found it full of gold in bags; so I laid hold upon the bags, but they crumbled away in my grasp, whilst the gold abode unchanged. I carried off of it what I could carry and said to myself, “Were my brothers with me, they might take of this gold their fill and possess themselves of these hoards which have no owner.” Then I entered another shop and found therein more than this, but could bear away no more than I had borne. I left this market and went on to another and thence to another and another, much enjoying the sight of all manner of creatures of various kinds, all several stones, even to the dogs and the cats, till I came to the goldsmiths’ bazar, where I saw men sitting in their shops, with their stock-in-trade about them, some in their hands and others in crates of wickerwork. When I saw this, O Commander of the Faithful, I threw down the gold and loaded myself with goldsmiths’ ware, as much as I could carry. Then I went on to the jewel-market and saw there the jewellers seated in their shops, each with a tray before him, full of all sorts of precious stones, jacinths and diamonds and emeralds and balass rubies and so forth: but all the shop-keepers were stones; whereupon I threw away the goldsmiths’ ware and carried off as many jewels as I could carry, regretting that my brothers were not with me, so they might take what they would of those costly gems. Then I left the jewel-market and went on till I came to a great door, quaintly gilded and decorated after the fairest fashion, within which were wooden benches and in the porch sat eunuchs, and body-guards; horsemen, and footmen and officers of police each and every robed in the richest of raiment; but they were all stones. I touched one of them and his clothes crumbled away from his body like cobwebs. Then I passed through the door and saw a palace without equal for its building and the goodliness of the works that were therein. Here I found an audience-chamber, full of Grandees and Wazirs and Officers and Emirs, seated upon chairs and every one of them stone. Moreover, I saw a throne of red gold, crusted with pearls and gems, and seated thereon a son of Adam arrayed in the most sumptuous raiment and bearing on his head a Chosröan[[506]] crown, diademed with the finest stones that shed a light like the light of day; but, when I came up to him, I found him stone. Then I went on to the gate of the Harim and entering, found myself in the Queen’s presence-chamber, wherein I saw a throne of red gold, inlaid with pearls and gems, and the Queen seated thereon. On her head she wore a crown diademed with finest jewels, and round about her were women like moons, seated upon chairs and clad in the most sumptuous clothing of all colours. There also the eunuchry, with their hands upon their breasts,[[507]] were standing in the attitude of service, and indeed this hall confounded the beholder’s wits with what was therein of quaint gilding and rare painting and curious carving and fine furniture. There hung the most brilliant lustres[[508]] of limpid crystal, and in every globe[[509]] of the crystal was an unique jewel, whose price money might not fulfil. So I threw down that which was with me, O Prince of True Believers, and fell to taking of these jewels what I could carry, bewildered as to what I should bear away and what I should leave; for indeed I saw the place as it were a treasure of the treasures of the cities. Presently I espied a wicket[[510]] standing open and within it a staircase: so I entered and mounting forty steps, heard a human voice reciting the Koran in a low tone. I walked towards that sound till I came to the main door hung with a silken curtain, laced with wires of gold whereon were strung pearls and coral and rubies and cut emeralds which gave forth a light like the light of stars. The voice came from behind the curtain: so I raised it and discovered a gilded door, whose beauty amazed the mind. I passed through the door and found myself in a saloon as it were a hoard upon earth’s surface[[511]] and therein a girl as she were the sun shining fullest sheen in the zenith of a sky serene. She was robed in the costliest of raiment and decked with ornaments the most precious that could be and withal she was of passing beauty and loveliness, a model of symmetry and seemliness, of elegance and perfect grace, with waist slender and hips heavy and dewy lips such as heal the sick and eyelids lovely in their langour, as it were she of whom the sayer spake when he said:—
My best salam to what that robe enrobes of symmetry, ✿ And what that blooming garth of cheek enguards of rosy blee:
It seems as though the Pleiades depend upon her brow; ✿ And other lights of Night in knots upon her breast we see:
Did she but don a garment weft of Rose’s softest leaf, ✿ The leaf of Rose would draw her blood[[512]] when pluckt that fruit from tree:
And did she crache in Ocean’s face, next Morn would see a change ✿ To sweeter than the honeycomb of what was briny sea:
And did she deign her favours grant to grey-beard staff-en-propped ✿ He’d wake and rend the lion’s limbs for might and valiancy.
Then Abdullah continued:—O Prince of True Believers, as soon as I saw that girl I fell passionately in love with her and going straight up to her, found her seated on a high couch, reciting by heart and in grateful memory the Book of Allah, to whom belong honour and glory! Her voice was like the harmony of the gates of Heaven, when Rizwan openeth them, and the words came from her lips like a shower of gems; whilst her face was with beauty dight, bright and blossom-white, even as saith the poet of a similar sight:—
O thou who gladdenest man by speech and rarest quality; ✿ Grow longing and repine for thee and grow beyond degree!
In thee two things consume and melt the votaries of Love; ✿ The dulcet song of David joined with Joseph’s brilliancy.
When I heard her voice of melody reciting the sublime Koran, my heart quoted from her killing glances, ‘Peace, a word from a compassionating Lord;’[[513]] but I stammered[[514]] in my speech and could not say the salam-salutation aright, for my mind and sight were confounded and I was become as saith the bard:—
Love-longing urged me not except to trip in speech o’er free; ✿ Nor, save to shed my blood I passed the campment’s boundary:
I ne’er will hear a word from those who love to rail, but I ✿ Will testify to love of him with every word of me.
Then I hardened myself against the horrors of repine and said to her, “Peace be with thee, O noble Lady, and treasured jewel! Allah grant endurance to the foundation of thy fortune fair and upraise the pillars of thy glory rare!” Said she, “And on thee from me be peace and salutation and high honour, O Abdullah, O son of Fazil! Well come and welcome and fair welcome to thee, O dearling mine and coolth of mine eyne!” Rejoined I, “O my lady, whence wottest thou my name and who art thou and what case befel the people of this city, that they are become stones? I would have thee tell me the truth of the matter, for indeed I am admiring at this city and its citizens and that I have found none alive therein save thyself. So, Allah upon thee, tell me the cause of all this, according to the truth!” Quoth she, “Sit, O Abdullah, and Inshallah, I will talk with thee and acquaint thee in full with the facts of my case and of this place and its people; and there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” So I sat me down by her side and she said to me, “Know, O Abdullah, (may Allah have mercy on thee!) that I am the daughter of the King of this city and that it is my sire whom thou sawest seated on the high stead in the Divan, and those who are round about him were the Lords of his land and the Guards of his empery. He was a King of exceeding prowess and had under his hand a thousand thousand and sixty thousand troopers. The number of the Emirs of his Empire was four-and-twenty thousand, all of them Governors and Dignitaries. He was obeyed by a thousand cities, besides towns, hamlets and villages; and sconces and citadels, and the Emirs[[515]] of the wild Arabs under his hand were a thousand in number, each commanding twenty thousand horse. Moreover, he had monies and treasures and precious stones and jewels and things of price, such as eye never saw nor of which ear ever heard.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Princess, daughter to the King of the Stone-city, thus continued:—Verily, O Abdullah my father had monies and hoards, such as eye never saw and of which ear never heard. He used to debel Kings and do to death champions and braves in battle and in the field of fight, so that the Conquerors feared him and the Chosroës[[516]] humbled themselves to him. For all this, he was a miscreant in creed ascribing to Allah partnership and adoring idols, instead of the Lord of worship; and all his troops were of images fain in lieu of the All-knowing Sovereign. One day of the days as he sat on the throne of his Kingship, compassed about with the Grandees of his realm, suddenly there came in to him a Personage, whose face illumined the whole Divan with its light. My father looked at him and saw him clad in a garb of green,[[517]] tall of stature and with hands that reached beneath his knees. He was of reverend aspect and awesome and the light[[518]] shone from his face. Said he to my sire, “O rebel, O idolater, how long wilt thou take pride in worshipping idols and abandoning the service of the All-knowing King? Say:—I testify that there is no god but the God and that Mohammed is His servant and His messenger. And embrace Al-Islam, thou and thy tribe; and put away from you the worship of idols, for they neither suffice man’s need nor intercede. None is worshipful save Allah alone, who raised up the heavens without columns and spread out the earths like carpets in mercy to His creatures.”[[519]] Quoth my father, “Who art thou, O man who rejectest the worship of idols, that thou sayst thus? Fearest thou not that the idols will be wroth with thee?” He replied, “The idols are stones; their anger cannot prejudice me nor their favour profit me. So do thou set in my presence thine idol which thou adorest and bid all thy folk bring each his image: and when they are all present, do ye pray them to be wroth with me and I will pray my Lord to be wroth with them, and ye shall descry the difference between the anger of the creature and that of the Creator. For your idols, ye fashioned them yourselves and the Satans clad themselves therewith as with clothing, and they it is who spake to you from within the bellies of the images,[[520]] for your idols are made and the maker is my God to whom naught is impossible. An the True appear to you, do ye follow it, and if the False appear to you do ye leave it.” Cried they, “Give us a proof of thy god, that we may see it;” and quoth he, “Give me proof of your gods.” So the King bade every one who worshipped his Lord in image-form to bring it, and all the armies brought their idols to the Divan. Thus fared it with them; but as for me, I was sitting behind a curtain, whence I could look upon my father’s Divan, and I had an idol of emerald whose bigness was as the bigness of a son of Adam. My father demanded it, so I sent it to the Divan, where they set it down beside that of my sire, which was of jacinth, whilst the Wazir’s idol was of diamond.[[521]] As for those of the Grandees and Notables, some were of balass-ruby and some of carnelian, others of coral or Comorin aloes-wood and yet others of ebony or silver or gold; and each had his own idol, after the measure of his competence; whilst the idols of the common soldiers and of the people were some of granite, some of wood, some of pottery and some of mud; and all were of various hues yellow and red; green, black and white. Then said the Personage to my sire, “Pray your idol and these idols to be wroth with me.” So they aligned the idols in a Divan,[[522]] setting my father’s idol on a chair of gold at the upper end, with mine by its side, and ranking the others each according to the condition of him who owned it and worshipped it. Then my father arose and prostrating himself to his own idol, said to it, “O my god, thou art the Bountiful Lord, nor is there among the idols a greater than thyself. Thou knowest that this person cometh to me, attacking thy divinity and making mock of thee; yea, he avoucheth that he hath a god stronger than thou and ordereth us leave adoring thee and adore his god. So be thou wrath with him, O my god!” And he went on to supplicate the idol; but the idol returned him no reply neither bespoke him with aught of speech; whereupon quoth he, “O my god, this is not of thy wont, for thou usedst to answer me, when I addressed thee. How cometh it that I see thee silent and speaking not? Art thou unheeding or asleep?[[523]] Awake; succour me and speak to me!” And he shook it with his hand; but it spake not neither stirred from its stead. Thereupon quoth the Personage, “What aileth thine idol that it speaketh not?”; and quoth the King, “Methinks he is absent-minded or asleep.” Exclaimed the other, “O enemy of Allah, how canst thou worship a god that speaketh not nor availeth unto aught and not worship my God, who to prayers deigns assent and who is ever present and never absent, neither unheeding nor sleeping, whom conjecture may not ween, who seeth and is not seen and who over all things terrene is omnipotent? Thy god is powerless and cannot guard itself from harm; and indeed a stoned Satan had clothed himself therewith as with a coat that he might debauch thee and delude thee. But now hath its devil departed; so do thou worship Allah and testify that there is no god but He and that none is worshipful nor worship-worth but Himself; neither is there any good but His good. As for this thy god, it cannot ward off hurt from it; so how shall it ward off harm from thee? See with thine own eyes its impotence.” So saying, he went up to the idol and dealt it a cuff on the neck, that it fell to the ground; whereupon the King waxed wroth and cried to the bystanders, “This froward atheist hath smitten my god. Slay him!” So they would have arisen to smite him, but none of them could stir from his place. Then he propounded to them Al-Islam; but they refused to become Moslems and he said, “I will show you the wroth of my Lord.” Quoth they, “Let us see it!” So he spread out his hands and said, “O my God and my Lord, Thou art my stay and my hope; answer Thou my prayer against these lewd folk, who eat of Thy good and worship other gods. O Thou the Truth, O Thou of All-might, O Creator of Day and Night, I beseech Thee to turn these people into stones, for Thou art the Puissant nor is aught impossible to Thee, and Thou over all things are omnipotent!” And Allah transformed the people of this city into stones; but, as for me, when I saw the manifest proof of His deity, I submitted myself to Him and was saved from that which befel the rest. Then the Personage drew near me and said “Felicity[[524]] was fore-ordained of Allah to thee and in this a purpose had He.” And he went on to instruct me and I took unto him the oath and covenant.[[525]] I was then seven years of age and am now thirty years old. Then said I to him, “O my lord, all that is in the city and all its citizens are become stones by thine effectual prayer, and I am saved, for that I embraced Al-Islam at thy hands. Wherefore thou art become my Shaykh; so do thou tell me thy name and succour me with thy security and provide me with provision whereon I may subsist.” Quoth he, “My name is Abu al-’Abbás al-Khizr”; and he planted me a pomegranate-tree, which forthright grew up and foliaged, flowered and fruited, and bare one pomegranate; whereupon quoth he, “Eat of that wherewith Allah the Almighty provideth thee and worship Him with the worship which is His due.” Then he taught me the tenets of Al-Islam and the canons of prayer and the way of worship, together with the recital of the Koran, and I have now worshipped Allah in this place three-and-twenty years. Each day the tree yieldeth me a pomegranate which I eat and it sustaineth me from tide to tide; and every Friday, Al-Khizr (on whom be peace!) cometh to me and ’tis he who acquainted me with thy name and gave me the glad tidings of thy soon coming hither, saying to me, “When he shall come to thee, entreat him with honour and obey his bidding and gainsay him not; but be thou to him wife and he shall be to thee man, and wend with him whitherso he will.” So, when I saw thee, I knew thee and such is the story of this city and of its people, and the Peace!” Then she showed me the pomegranate-tree, whereon was one granado, which she took and eating one-half thereof herself, gave me the other to eat, and never did I taste aught sweeter or more savoury or more satisfying than that pomegranate. After this, I said to her, “Art thou content, even as the Shaykh Al-Khizr charged thee, to be my wife and take me to mate; and art thou ready to go with me to my own country and abide with me in the city of Bassorah?” She replied, “Yes, Inshallah: an it please Almighty Allah. I hearken to thy word and obey thy hest without gainsaying.” Then I made a binding covenant with her and she carried me into her father’s treasury, whence we took what we could carry and going forth that city, walked on till we came to my brothers, whom I found searching for me. They asked, “Where hast thou been? Indeed thou hast tarried long from us, and our hearts were troubled for thee.” And the captain of the ship said to me, “O merchant Abdullah, the wind hath been fair for us this great while, and thou hast hindered us from setting sail.” And I answered, “There is no harm in that: ofttimes slow[[526]] is sure and my absence hath wrought us naught but advantage, for indeed, there hath betided me therein the attainment of our hopes and God-gifted is he who said:—
I weet not, whenas to a land I fare ✿ In quest of good, what I shall there obtain;
Or gain I fare with sole desire to seek; ✿ Or loss that seeketh me when seek I gain.
Then said I to them, “See what hath fallen to me in this mine absence;” and displayed to them all that was with me of treasures and told them what I had beheld in the City of Stone, adding, “Had ye hearkened to me and gone with me, ye had gotten of these things great gain.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Fazil said to his shipmates and to his two brothers, “Had ye gone with me, ye had gotten of these things great gain.” But they said, “By Allah, had we gone, we had not dared to go in to the King of the city!” Then I said to my brothers, “No harm shall befal you; for that which I have will suffice us all and this is our lot.[[527]]” So I divided my booty into four parts according to our number and gave one to each of my brothers and to the Captain, taking the fourth for myself, setting aside somewhat for the servants and sailors, who rejoiced and blessed me: and all were content with what I gave them, save my brothers who changed countenance and rolled their eyes. I perceived that lust of lucre had gotten hold of them both; so I said to them, “O my brothers, methinketh what I have given you doth not satisfy you; but we are brothers and there is no difference between us. My good and yours are one and the same thing, and if I die none will inherit of me but you.” And I went on to soothe them. Then I bore the Princess on board the galleon and lodged her in the cabin, where I sent her somewhat to eat and we sat talking, I and my brothers. Said they, “O our brother, what wilt thou do with that damsel of surpassing beauty?” And I replied, “I mean to contract marriage with her, as soon as I reach Bassorah and make a splendid wedding and go in to her there.” Exclaimed one of them, “O my brother, verily, this young lady excelleth in beauty and loveliness and the love of her is fallen on my heart; wherefore I desire that thou give her to me and I will espouse her.” And the other cried, “I too desire this: give her to me, that I may espouse her.” “O my brothers,” answered I, “indeed she took of me an oath and a covenant that I would marry her myself; so, if I give her to one of you, I shall be false to my oath and to the covenant between me and her, and haply she will be broken-hearted, for she came not with me but on condition that I marry her. So how can I wed her to other than myself? As for your both loving her, I love her more than you twain, for she is my treasure-trove, and as for my giving her to one of you, that is a thing which may not be. But, if we reach Bassorah in safety, I will look you out two girls of the best of the damsels of Bassorah and demand them for you in marriage and pay the dower of my own monies and make one wedding and we will all three go into our brides on the same night. But leave ye this damsel, for she is of my portion.” They held their peace, and I thought they were content with that which I had said. Then we fared onwards for Bassorah, and every day I sent her meat and drink; but she came not forth of the cabin, whilst I slept between my brothers on deck. We sailed thus forty days, till we sighted Bassorah city and rejoiced that we were come near it. Now I trusted in my brothers and was at my ease with them, for none knoweth the hidden future save Allah the Most High; so I lay down to sleep that night; but, as I abode drowned in slumber, I suddenly found myself caught up by these my brothers, one seizing me by the legs and the other by the arms, for they had taken counsel together to drown me in the sea for the sake of the damsel. When I saw myself in their hands, I said to them, “O my brothers, why do ye this with me?” And they replied, “Ill-bred that thou art, wilt thou barter our affection for a girl?: we will cast thee into the sea, because of this.” So saying, they threw me overboard. (Here Abdullah turned to the dogs and said to them, “Is this that I have said true O my brothers or not?”; and they bowed their heads and fell awhining, as if confirming his speech; whereat the Caliph wondered). Then Abdullah resumed;—O Commander of the Faithful, when they threw me into the sea, I sank to the bottom; but the water bore me up again to the surface, and before I could think, behold a great bird, the bigness of a man, swooped down upon me and snatching me up, flew up with me into upper air. I fainted and when I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strong-pillared place, a high-builded palace, adorned with magnificent paintings and pendants of gems of all shapes and hues. Therein were damsels standing with their hands crossed over their breasts and, behold in their midst was a lady seated on a throne of red gold, set with pearls and gems, and clad in apparel whereon no mortal might open his eyes, for the lustre of the jewels wherewith they were decked. About her waist she wore a girdle of jewels no money could pay their worth and on her head a three-fold tiara dazing thought and wit and dazzling heart and sight. Then the bird which had carried me thither shook and became a young lady bright as sun raying light. I fixed my eyes on her and behold, it was she whom I had seen in snake form on the mountain and had rescued from the dragon which had wound his tail around her. Then said to her the lady who sat upon the throne, “Why hast thou brought hither this mortal?”; and she replied, “O my mother, this is he who was the means of veiling my honour[[528]] among the maidens of the Jinn.” Then quoth she to me, “Knowest thou who I am?”; and quoth I, “No.” Said she, I am she who was on such a mountain, where the black dragon strave with me and would have forced my honour, but thou slewest him.” And I said, “I saw but a white snake with the dragon.” She rejoined, “’Tis I who was the white snake; but I am the daughter of the Red King, Sovran of the Jann and my name is Sa’ídah.[[529]] She who sitteth there is my mother and her name is Mubárakah, wife of the Red King. The black dragon who attacked me and would have done away my honour was Wazir to the Black King, Darfíl by name, and he was foul of favour. It chanced that he saw me and fell in love with me; so he sought me in marriage of my sire, who sent to him to say, “Who art thou, O scum of Wazirs, that thou shouldst wed with Kings’ daughters?” Whereupon he was wroth and sware an oath that he would assuredly do away my honour, to spite my father. Then he fell to tracking my steps and following me whithersoever I went, designing to ravish me; wherefore there befel between him and my parent mighty fierce wars and bloody jars, but my sire could not prevail against him, for that he was fierce as fraudful and as often as my father pressed hard upon him and seemed like to conquer he would escape from him, till my sire was at his wits’ end. Every day I was forced to take new form and hue; for, as often as I assumed a shape, he would assume its contrary, and to whatsoever land I fled he would snuff my fragrance and follow me thither, so that I suffered sore affliction of him. At last I took the form of a snake and betook myself to the mountain where thou sawest me; whereupon he changed himself to a dragon and pursued me, till I fell into his hands, when he strove with me and I struggled with him, till he wearied me and mounted me, meaning to have his lustful will of me: but thou camest and smotest him with the stone and slewest him. Then I returned to my own shape and showed myself to thee, saying:—I am indebted to thee for a service such as is not lost save with the son of adultery.[[530]] So, when I saw thy brothers do with thee this treachery and throw thee into the sea, I hastened to thee and saved thee from destruction, and now honour is due to thee from my mother and my father.” Then she said to the Queen, “O my mother, do thou honour him as deserveth he who saved my virtue.” So the Queen said to me, “Welcome, O mortal! Indeed thou hast done us a kindly deed which meriteth honour.” Presently she ordered me a treasure-suit,[[531]] worth a mint of money, and store of gems and precious stones, and said, “Take him and carry him in to the King.” Accordingly, they carried me in to the King in his Divan, where I found him seated on his throne, with his Marids and guards before him; and when I saw him my sight was blent for that which was upon him of jewels; but when he saw me, he rose to his feet and all his officers rose also, to do him worship. Then he saluted me and welcomed me and entreated me with the utmost honour, and gave me of that which was with him of good things; after which he said to some of his followers, “Take him and carry him back to my daughter, that she may restore him to the place whence she brought him.” So they carried me back to the Lady Sa’idah, who took me up and flew away with me and my treasures. On this wise fared it with me and the Princess; but as regards the Captain of the galleon, he was aroused by the splash of my fall, when my brothers cast me into the sea, and said, “What is that which hath fallen overboard?” Whereupon my brothers fell to weeping and beating of breasts and replied, “Alas, for our brother’s loss! He thought to do his need over the ship’s side[[532]] and fell into the water!” Then they laid their hands on my good, but there befel dispute between them because of the damsel, each saying, “None shall have her but I.” And they abode jangling and wrangling each with other and remembered not their brother nor his drowning and their mourning for him ceased. As they were thus, behold Sa’idah alighted with me in the midst of the galleon——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-fifth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Fazil continued, “As they were thus, behold, Sa’idah alighted with me in the midst of the galleon and when my brothers saw me, they embraced me and rejoiced in me, saying, “O our brother, how hast thou fared in that which befel thee? Indeed our hearts have been occupied with thee.” Quoth Sa’idah, “Had ye any heart-yearnings for him or had ye loved him, ye had not cast him into the sea; but choose ye now what death ye will die.” Then she seized on them and would have slain them; but they cried out, saying, “In thy safeguard, O our brother!” Thereupon I interceded and said to her, “I claim of thine honour not to kill my brothers.” Quoth she, “There is no help but that I slay them, for they are traitors.” But I ceased not to speak her fair and conciliate her till she said, “To content thee, I will not kill them, but I will enchant them.” So saying, she brought out a cup and filling it with sea-water, pronounced over it words that might not be understood; then saying, “Quit this human shape for the shape of a dog;” she sprinkled them with the water, and immediately they were transmewed into dogs, as thou seest them, O Vicar of Allah.” Whereupon he turned to the dogs and said to them, “Have I spoken the truth, O my brothers?” And they bowed their heads, as they would say, “Thou hast spoken sooth.” At this he continued, “Then she said to those who were in the galleon:—Know ye that Abdullah bin Fazil here present is become my brother and I shall visit him once or twice every day: so, whoso of you crosseth him or gainsayeth his bidding or doth him hurt with hand or tongue, I will do with him even as I have done with these two traitors and bespell him to a dog, and he shall end his days in that form, nor shall he find deliverance.” And they all said to her, “O our lady, we are his slaves and his servants every one of us and will not disobey him in aught.” Moreover, she said to me, “When thou comest to Bassorah, examine all thy property and if there lack aught thereof, tell me and I will bring it to thee, in whose hands and in what place soever it may be, and will change him who took it into a dog. When thou hast magazined thy goods, clap a collar[[533]] of wood on the neck of each of these two traitors and tie them to the leg of a couch and shut them up by themselves. Moreover, every night, at midnight, do thou go down to them and beat each of them a bout till he swoon away; and if thou suffer a single night to pass without beating them, I will come to thee and drub thee a sound drubbing, after which I will drub them.” And I answered, “To hear is to obey.” Then said she, “Tie them up with ropes till thou come to Bassorah.” So I tied a rope about each dog’s neck and lashed them to the mast, and she went her way. On the morrow we entered Bassorah and the merchants came out to meet me and saluted me, and no one of them enquired of my brothers. But they looked at the dogs and said to me, “Ho, such and such,[[534]] what wilt thou do with these two dogs thou hast brought with thee?” Quoth I, “I reared them on this voyage and have brought them home with me.” And they laughed at them, knowing not that they were my brothers. When I reached my house, I put the twain in a closet and busied myself all that night with the unpacking and disposition of the bales of stuffs and jewels. Moreover, the merchants were with me being minded to offer me the salam; wherefore I was occupied with them and forgot to beat the dogs or chain them up. Then without doing them aught of hurt, I lay down to sleep, but suddenly and unexpectedly there came to me the Red King’s daughter Sa’idah and said to me, “Did I not bid thee clap chains on their necks and give each of them a bout of beating?” So saying, she seized me and pulling out a whip, flogged me till I fainted away, after which she went to the place where my brothers were and with the same scourge beat them both till they came nigh upon death. Then said she to me, “Beat each of them a like bout every night, and if thou let a night pass without doing this, I will beat thee;” and I replied, “O my lady, to-morrow I will put chains on their necks, and next night I will beat them nor will I leave them one night unbeaten.” And she charged me strictly to beat them and disappeared. When the morning morrowed it being no light matter for me to put fetters of iron on their necks, I went to a goldsmith and bade him make them collars and chains of gold. He did this and I put the collars on their necks and chained them up, as she bade me; and next night I beat them both in mine own despite. This befel in the Caliphate of Al-Mahdi,[[535]] third of the sons of Al-Abbas, and I commended myself to him by sending him presents, so he invested me with the government and made me viceroy of Bassorah. On this wise I abode some time and after a while I said to myself, “Haply her wrath is grown cool;” and left them a night unbeaten, whereupon she came to me and beat me a bout whose burning I shall never forget long as I live. So, from that time to this, I have never left them a single night unbeaten during the reign of Al-Mahdi; and when he deceased and thou camest to the succession, thou sentest to me, confirming me in the government of Bassorah. These twelve years past have I beaten them every night, in mine own despite, and after I have beaten them, I excuse myself to them and comfort them and give them to eat and drink; and they have remained shut up, nor did any of the creatures of Allah know of them, till thou sentest to me Abu Ishak the boon-companion, on account of the tribute, and he discovered my secret and returning to thee, acquainted thee therewith. Then thou sentest him back to fetch me and them; so I answered with ‘Hearkening and obedience,’ and brought them before thee, whereupon thou questionedst me and I told thee the truth of the case; and this is my history.” The Caliph marvelled at the case of the two dogs and said to Abdullah, “Hast thou at this present forgiven thy two brothers the wrong they did thee, yea or nay?” He replied, “O my lord, may Allah forgive them and acquit them of responsibility in this world and the next! Indeed, ’tis I who stand in need of their forgiveness, for that these twelve years past I have beaten them a grievous bout every night!” Rejoined the Caliph, “O Abdullah, Inshallah, I will endeavour for their release and that they may become men again, as they were before, and I will make peace between thee and them; so shall you live the rest of your lives as brothers loving one another; and like as thou hast forgiven them, so shall they forgive thee. But now take them and go down with them to thy lodging and this night beat them not, and to-morrow there shall be naught save weal.” Quoth Abdullah, “O my lord, as thy head liveth, if I leave them one night unbeaten, Sa’idah will come to me and beat me, and I have no body to brook beating.” Quoth the Caliph, “Fear not, for I will give thee a writing under my hand.[[536]] An she come to thee, do thou give her the paper and if, when she has read it, she spare thee, the favour will be hers; but, if she obey not my bidding, commit thy business to Allah and let her beat thee a bout and suppose that thou hast forgotten to beat them for one night and that she beateth thee because of that: and if it fall out thus and she thwart me, as sure as I am Commander of the Faithful, I will be even with her.” Then he wrote her a letter on a piece of paper, two fingers broad, and sealing it with his signet-ring, gave it to Abdullah, saying, “O Abdullah, if Sa’idah come, say to her:—The Caliph, King of mankind, hath commanded me to leave beating them and hath written me this letter for thee; and he saluteth thee with the salam. Then give her the warrant and fear no harm.” After which he exacted of him an oath and a solemn pledge that he would not beat them. So Abdullah took the dogs and carried them to his lodging, saying to himself, “I wonder what the Caliph will do with the daughter of the Sovran of the Jinn, if she cross him and trounce me to-night! But I will bear with a bout of beating for once and leave my brothers at rest this night, though for their sake I suffer torture.” Then he bethought himself awhile, and his reason said to him, “Did not the Caliph rely on some great support, he had never forbidden me from beating them.” So he entered his lodging and doffed the collars from the dogs’ necks, saying, “I put my trust in Allah,” and fell to comforting them and saying, “No harm shall befal you; for the Caliph, fifth[[537]] of the sons of Al-Abbas, hath pledged himself for your deliverance and I have forgiven you. An it please Allah the Most High, the time is come and ye shall be delivered this blessed night; so rejoice ye in the prospect of peace and gladness.” When they heard these words, they fell to whining with the whining of dogs,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah bin Fazil said to his brothers, “Rejoice ye in the prospect of comfort and gladness.” And when they heard his words they fell to whining with the whining of dogs, and rubbed their jowls against his feet, as if blessing him and humbling themselves before him. He mourned over them and took to stroking their backs till supper time; and when they set on the trays he bade the dogs sit. So they sat down and ate with him from the tray, whilst his officers stood gaping and marvelling at his eating with dogs and all said, “Is he mad or are his wits gone wrong? How can the Viceroy of Bassorah city, he who is greater than a Wazir, eat with dogs? Knoweth he not that the dog is unclean[[538]]?” And they stared at the dogs, as they ate with him as servants eat with their lords,[[539]] knowing not that they were his brothers; nor did they cease staring at them, till they had made an end of eating, when Abdullah washed his hands and the dogs also put out their paws and washed; whereupon all who were present began to laugh at them and to marvel, saying, one to other, “Never in our lives saw we dogs eat and wash their paws after eating!” Then the dogs sat down on the divans beside Abdullah, nor dared any ask him of this; and thus the case lasted till midnight, when he dismissed the attendants and lay down to sleep and the dogs with him, each on a couch; whereupon the servants said one to other, “Verily, he hath lain down to sleep and the two dogs are lying with him.” Quoth another, “Since he hath eaten with the dogs from the same tray, there is no harm in their sleeping with him; and this is naught save the fashion of madmen.” Moreover, they ate not anything of the food which remained in the tray, saying, “’Tis unclean.” Such was their case; but as for Abdullah, ere he could think, the earth clave asunder and out rose Sa’idah, who said to him, “O Abdullah, why hast thou not beaten them this night and why hast thou undone the collars from their necks? Hast thou acted on this wise perversely and in mockery of my commandment? But I will at once beat thee and spell thee into a dog like them.” He replied, “O my lady, I conjure thee by the graving upon the seal-ring of Solomon David-son (on the twain be peace!) have patience with me till I tell thee my cause and after do with me what thou wilt.” Quoth she, “Say on,” and quoth he, “The reason of my not punishing them is only this. The King of mankind, the Commander of the Faithful, the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, ordered me not to beat them this night and took of me oaths and covenants to that effect; and he saluteth thee with the salam and hath committed to me a mandate under his own hand, which he bade me give thee. So I obeyed his order for to obey the Commander of the Faithful is obligatory; and here is the mandate. Take it and read it and after work thy will.” She replied, “Hither with it!” So he gave her the letter and she opened it and read as follows, “In the name of Allah, the Compassionating, the Compassionate! From the King of mankind, Harun al-Rashid, to the daughter of the Red King, Sa’idah! But, after. Verily, this man hath forgiven his brothers and hath waived his claim against them, and we have enjoined them to reconciliation. Now, when reconciliation ruleth, retribution is remitted, and if you of the Jinn contradict us in our commandments, we will contrary you in yours and traverse your ordinances; but, an ye obey our bidding and further our orders, we will indeed do the like with yours. Wherefore I bid thee hurt them no hurt, and if thou believe in Allah and in His Apostle, it behoveth thee to obey and us to command.[[540]] So an thou spare them, I will requite thee with that whereto my Lord shall enable me; and the token of obedience is that thou remove thine enchantment from these two men, so they may come before me to-morrow, free. But an thou release them not, I will release them in thy despite, by the aid of Almighty Allah.” When she had read the letter, she said, “O Abdullah, I will do nought till I go to my sire and show him the mandate of the monarch of mankind and return to thee with the answer in haste.” So saying, she signed with her hand to the earth, which clave open and she disappeared therein, whilst Abdullah’s heart was like to fly for joy and he said, “Allah advance the Commander of the Faithful!” As for Sa’idah, she went in to her father; and, acquainting him with that which had passed, gave him the Caliph’s letter, which he kissed and laid on his head. Then he read it and understanding its contents said, “O my daughter, verily, the ordinance of the monarch of mankind obligeth us and his commandments are effectual over us, nor can we disobey him: so go thou and release the two men forthwith and say to them:—Ye are freed by the intercession of the monarch of mankind. For, should he be wroth with us, he would destroy us to the last of us; so do not thou impose on us that which we are unable.” Quoth she, “O my father, if the monarch of mankind were wroth with us, what could he do with us?”; and quoth her sire, “He hath power over us for several reasons. In the first place, he is a man and hath thus pre-eminence over us[[541]]; secondly he is the Vicar of Allah; and thirdly, he is constant in praying the dawn-prayer of two bows[[542]]; therefore were all the tribes of the Jinn assembled together against him from the Seven Worlds they could do him no hurt. But he, should he be wroth with us would pray the dawn-prayer of two bows and cry out upon us one cry, when we should all present ourselves before him obediently and be before him as sheep before the butcher. If he would, he could command us to quit our abiding-places for a desert country wherein we might not endure to sojourn; and if he desired to destroy us, he would bid us destroy ourselves, whereupon we should destroy one another. Wherefore we may not disobey his bidding for, if we did this, he would consume us with fire nor could we flee from before him to any asylum. Thus is it with every True Believer who is persistent in praying the dawn-prayer of two bows; his commandment is effectual over us: so be not thou the means of our destruction, because of two mortals, but go forthright and release them, ere the anger of the Commander of the Faithful fall upon us.” So she returned to Abdullah and acquainted him with her father’s words, saying, “Kiss for us the hands of the Prince of True Believers and seek his approval for us.” Then she brought out the tasse and filling it with water, conjured over it and uttered words which might not be understood; after which she sprinkled the dogs with the water saying, “Quit the form of dogs and return to the shape of men!” Whereupon they became men as before and the spell of the enchantment was loosed from them. Quoth they, “I testify that there is no god but the God and I testify that Mohammed is the Apostle of God!” Then they fell on their brother’s feet and hands, kissing them and beseeching his forgiveness: but he said, “Do ye forgive me;” and they both repented with sincere repentance, saying, “Verily, the damned Devil lured us and covetise deluded us: but our Lord hath requited us after our deserts, and forgiveness is of the signs of the noble.” And they went on to supplicate their brother and weep and profess repentance for that which had befallen him from them[[543]]. Then quoth he to them, “What did ye with my wife whom I brought from the City of Stone?” Quoth they, “When Satan tempted us and we cast thee into the sea, there arose strife between us, each saying, I will have her to wife. Now when she heard these words and beheld our contention, she knew that we had thrown thee into the sea; so she came up from the cabin and said to us:—Contend not because of me, for I will not belong to either of you. My husband is gone into the sea and I will follow him. So saying, she cast herself overboard and died.” Exclaimed Abdullah, “In very sooth she died a martyr[[544]]! But there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” Then he wept for her with sore weeping and said to his brothers, “It was not well of you to do this deed and bereave me of my wife.” They answered, “Indeed, we have sinned, but our Lord hath requited us our misdeed and this was a thing which Allah decreed unto us, ere He created us.” And he accepted their excuse; but Sa’idah said to him, “Have they done all these things to thee and wilt thou forgive them?” He replied, “O my sister, whoso hath power[[545]] and spareth, for Allah’s reward he prepareth.” Then said she, “Be on thy guard against them, for they are traitors;” and farewelled him and fared forth.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah, when Sa’idah warned him and blessed him and went her ways, passed the rest of the night with his brothers and on the morrow, he sent them to the Hammam and clad each of them, on his coming forth, in a suit worth a hoard of money. Then he called for the tray of food and they set it before him and he ate, he and his brothers. When his attendants saw the twain and knew them for his brothers they saluted them and said to him, “O our lord, Allah give thee joy of thy reunion with thy dear brothers! Where have they been this while?” He replied, “It was they whom ye saw in the guise of dogs; praise be to Allah who hath delivered them from prison and grievous torment!” Then he carried them to the Divan of the Caliph and kissing ground before Al-Rashid wished him continuance of honour and fortune and surcease of evil and enmity.” Quoth the Caliph, “Welcome, O Emir Abdullah! Tell me what hath befallen thee.” And quoth he, “O Commander of the Faithful (whose power Allah increase!) when I carried my brothers home to my lodging, my heart was at rest concerning them, because thou hadst pledged thyself to their release and I said in myself, “Kings fail not to attain aught for which they strain, inasmuch as the divine favour aideth them.” So I took off the collars from their necks, putting my trust in Allah, and ate with them from the same tray, which when my suite saw, they made light of my wit and said each to other, “He is surely mad! How can the governor of Bassorah who is greater than the Wazir, eat with dogs?” Then they threw away what was in the tray, saying, “We will not eat the dogs’ orts.” And they went on befool my reason, whilst I heard their words, but returned them no reply because of their unknowing that the dogs were my brothers. When the hour of sleep came, I sent them away and addressed myself to sleep; but, ere I was ware, the earth clave in sunder and out came Sa’idah, the Red King’s daughter, enraged against me, with eyes like fire.” And he went on to relate to the Caliph all what had passed between him and her and her father and how she had transmewed his brothers from canine to human form, adding, “And here they are before thee, O Commander of the Faithful!” The Caliph looked at them and seeing two young men like moons, said, “Allah requite thee for me with good, O Abdullah, for that thou hast acquainted me with an advantage[[546]] I knew not! Henceforth, Inshallah, I will never leave to pray these two-bow orisons before the breaking of the dawn, what while I live.” Then he reproved Abdullah’s brothers for their past transgressions against him and they excused themselves before the Caliph, who said, “Join hands[[547]] and forgive one another and Allah pardon what is past!” Upon which he turned to Abdullah and said to him, “O Abdullah, make thy brothers thine assistants and be careful of them.” Then he charged them to be obedient to their brother and bade them return to Bassorah after he had bestowed on them abundant largesse. So they went down from the Caliph’s Divan whilst he rejoiced in this advantage he had obtained by the action aforesaid, to wit, persistence in praying two inclinations before dawn, and exclaimed, He spake truth who said, “The misfortune of one tribe fortuneth another tribe.”[[548]] On this wise befel it to them from the Caliph; but as regards Abdullah, he left Baghdad carrying with him his brothers in all honour and dignity and increase of quality, and fared on till they drew near Bassorah, when the notables and chief men of the place came out to meet them and after decorating the city brought them thereinto with a procession which had not its match and all the folk shouted out blessings on Abdullah as he scattered amongst them silver and gold. None, however, took heed to his brothers; wherefore jealousy and envy entered their hearts, for all he entreated them tenderly as one tenders an ophthalmic eye; but the more he cherished them, the more they redoubled in hatred and envy of him: and indeed it is said on the subject:—
I’d win good will of every one, but whoso envies me ✿ Will not be won on any wise and makes mine office hard:
How gain the gree of envious wight who coveteth my good, ✿ When naught will satisfy him save to see my good go marr’d?
Then he gave each a concubine that had not her like, and eunuchs and servants and slaves white and black, of each kind forty. He also gave each of them fifty steeds all thoroughbreds and they got them guards and followers; and he assigned to them revenues and appointed them solde and stipends and made them his assistants, saying to them, “O my brothers, I and you are equal and there is no distinction between me and you twain,”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdullah assigned stipends to his brothers and made them his assistants, saying, “O my brothers, I and you are equal and there is no distinction between me and you twain, and after Allah and the Caliph, the commandment is mine and yours. So rule you at Bassorah in my absence and in my presence, and your commandments shall be effectual; but look that ye fear Allah in your ordinances and beware of oppression, which if it endure depopulateth; and apply yourselves to justice, for justice, if it be prolonged, peopleth a land. Oppress not the True Believers, or they will curse you and ill report of you will reach the Caliph, wherefore dishonour will betide both me and you. Go not therefore about to violence any, but whatso ye greed for of the goods of the folk, take it from my goods, over and above that whereof ye have need; for ’tis not unknown to you what is handed down in the Koran of prohibition versets on the subject of oppression and Allah-gifted is he who said these couplets:—
Oppression ambusheth in sprite of man ✿ Whom naught withholdeth save the lack of might:
The sage shall ne’er apply his wits to aught ✿ Until befitting time direct his sight:
The tongue of Wisdom woneth in the heart; ✿ And in his mouth the tongue of foolish wight.
Who at occasion’s call lacks power to rise ✿ Is slain by feeblest who would glut his spite.
A man may hide his blood and breed, but aye ✿ His deeds on darkest hiddens cast a light.
Wights of ill strain with ancestry as vile ✿ Have lips which never spake one word aright:
And who committeth case to hands of fool ✿ In folly proveth self as fond and light;
And who his secret tells to folk at large ✿ Shall rouse his foes to work him worst despight.
Suffice the generous what regards his lot ✿ Nor meddles he with aught regards him not.
And he went on to admonish his brothers and bid them to equity and forbid them from tyranny, doubting not but they would love him the better for his boon of good counsel[[549]] and he relied upon them and honoured them with the utmost honour; but notwithstanding all his generosity to them, they only waxed in envy and hatred of him, till, one day, the two being together alone, quoth Nasir to Mansur, “O my brother, how long shall we be mere subjects of our brother Abdullah, and he in this estate of lordship and worship? After being a merchant, he is become an Emir, and from being little, he is grown great: but we, we grow not great nor is there aught of respect or degree left us; for, behold, he laugheth at us and maketh us his assistants! What is the meaning of this? Is it not that we are his servants and under his subjection? But, long as he abideth in good case, our rank will never be raised nor shall we be aught of repute; wherefore we shall not fulfil our wish, except we slay him and win to his wealth, nor will it be possible to get his gear save after his death. So, when we have slain him, we shall become lords and will take all that is in his treasuries of gems and things of price and divide them between us. Then will we send the Caliph a present and demand of him the government of Cufah, and thou shalt be governor of Cufah and I of Bassorah. Thus each of us shall have formal estate and condition, but we shall never effect this, except we put him out of the world!” Answered Mansur, “Thou sayest sooth, but how shall we do to kill him?” Quoth Nasir, “We will make an entertainment in the house of one of us and invite him thereto and serve him with the uttermost service. Then will we sit through the night with him in talk and tell him tales and jests and rare stories till his heart melteth with sitting up when we will spread him a bed, that he may lie down to sleep. When he is asleep, we will kneel upon him and throttle him and throw him into the river; and on the morrow, we will say:—His sister the Jinniyah came to him, as he sat chatting with us, and said to him:—O thou scum of mankind, who art thou that thou shouldst complain of me to the Commander of the Faithful? Deemest thou that we dread him? As he is a King, so we too are Kings, and if he mend not his manners in our regard we will do him die by the foulest of deaths. But meantime I will slay thee, that we may see what the hand of the Prince of True Believers availeth to do. So saying, she caught him up and clave the earth and disappeared with him which when we saw, we swooned away. Then we revived and we reck not what is become of him. And saying this we will send to the Caliph and tell him the case and he will invest us with the government in his room. After awhile, we will send him a sumptuous present and seek of him the government of Cufah, and one of us shall abide in Bassorah and the other in Cufah. So shall the land be pleasant to us and we will be down upon the True Believers and win our wishes.” And quoth Mansur, “Thou counsellest well, O my brother,” and they agreed upon the murther. So Nasir made an entertainment and said to Abdullah, “O my brother, verily I am thy brother, and I would have thee hearten my heart thou and my brother Mansur and eat of my banquet in my house, so I may boast of thee and that it may be said, The Emir Abdullah hath eaten of his brother Nasir’s guest meal; when my heart will be solaced by this best of boons.” Abdullah replied, “So be it, O my brother; there is no distinction between me and thee and thy house is my house; but since thou invitest me, none refuseth hospitality save the churl.” Then he turned to Mansur and said to him, “Wilt thou go with me to thy brother Nasir’s house and we will eat of his feast and heal his heart?” Replied Mansur, “As thy head liveth, O my brother, I will not go with thee, unless thou swear to me that, after thou comest forth of brother Nasir’s house, thou wilt enter my house and eat of my banquet! Is Nasir thy brother and am not I thy brother? So, even as thou heartenest his heart, do thou hearten mine.” Answered Abdullah, “There is no harm in that: with love and gladly gree! When I come out from Nasir’s house, I will enter thine, for thou art my brother even as he.” So he kissed his hand and going forth of the Divan, made ready his feast. On the morrow, Abdullah took horse and repaired, with his brother Mansur and a company of his officers, to Nasir’s house, where they sat down, he and Mansur and his many. Then Nasir set the trays before them and welcomed them; so they ate and drank and sat in mirth and merriment; after which the trays and the platters were removed and they washed their hands. They passed the day in feasting and wine-drinking and diversion and delight till nightfall, when they supped and prayed the sundown prayers, and the night orisons; after which they sat conversing and carousing, and Nasir and Mansur fell to telling stories whilst Abdullah hearkened. Now they three were alone in the pavilion, the rest of the company being in another place, and they ceased not to tell quips and tales and rare adventures and anecdotes, till Abdullah’s heart was dissolved within him for watching and sleep overcame him.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
She pursued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Abdullah was a-wearied with watching and wanted to sleep, they also lay beside him on another couch and waited till he was drowned in slumber and when they were certified thereof they arose and knelt upon him: whereupon he awoke and seeing them kneeling on his breast, said to them, “What is this, O my brothers?” Cried they, “We are no brothers of thine, nor do we know thee unmannerly that thou art! Thy death is become better than thy life.” Then they gripped him by the throat and throttled him, till he lost his senses and abode without motion; so that they deemed him dead. Now the pavilion wherein they were overlooked the river; so they cast him into the water; but, when he fell, Allah sent to his aid a dolphin[[550]] who was accustomed to come under that pavilion because the kitchen had a window that gave upon the stream; and, as often as they slaughtered any beast there, it was their wont to throw the refuse into the river and the dolphin came and picked it up from the surface of the water; wherefore he ever resorted to the place. That day they had cast out much offal by reason of the banquet; so the dolphin ate more than of wont and gained strength. Hearing the splash of Abdullah’s fall, he hastened to the spot, where he saw a son of Adam and Allah guided him so that he took the man on his back and crossing the current made with him for the other bank, where he cast his burthen ashore. Now the place where the dolphin cast up Abdullah was a well-beaten highway, and presently up came a caravan and finding him lying on the river bank, said, “Here is a drowned man, whom the river hath cast up;” and the travellers gathered around to gaze at the corpse. The Shaykh of the caravan was a man of worth, skilled in all sciences and versed in the mystery of medicine and, withal, sound of judgment: so he said to them, “O folk, what is the news?” They answered, “Here is a drowned man;” whereupon he went up to Abdullah and examining him, said to them, “O folk, there is life yet in this young man, who is a person of condition and of the sons of the great, bred in honour and fortune, and Inshallah there is still hope of him.” Then he took him and clothing him in dry clothes warmed him before the fire; after which he nursed him and tended him three days’ march till he revived; but he was passing feeble by reason of the shock, and the chief of the caravan proceeded to medicine him with such simples as he knew, what while they ceased not faring on till they had travelled thirty days’ journey from Bassorah and came to a city in the land of the Persians, by name ’Aúj.[[551]] Here they alighted at a Khan and spread Abdullah a bed, where he lay groaning all night and troubling the folk with his groans. And when morning morrowed the concierge of the Khan came to the chief of the caravan and said to him, “What is this sick man thou hast with thee? Verily, he disturbeth us.” Quoth the chief, “I found him by the way, on the river-bank and well nigh drowned; and I have tended him, but to no effect, for he recovereth not.” Said the porter, “Show him to the Shaykhah[[552]] Rájihah.” “Who is this Religious?” asked the chief of the caravan, and the door-keeper answered, “There is with us a holy woman, a clean maid and a comely, called Rajihah, to whom they present whoso hath any ailment; and he passeth a single night in her house and awaketh on the morrow, whole and ailing nothing.” Quoth the chief, “Direct me to her;” and quoth the porter, “Take up thy sick man.” So he took up Abdullah and the doorkeeper forewent him, till he came to a hermitage, where he saw folk entering with many an ex voto offering and other folk coming forth, rejoicing. The porter went in, till he came to the curtain,[[553]] and said, “Permission, O Shaykhah Rajihah! Take this sick man.” Said she, “Bring him within the curtain;” and the porter said to Abdullah, “Enter.” So he entered and looking upon the holy woman, saw her to be his wife whom he had brought from the City of Stone. And when he knew her she also knew him and saluted him and he returned her salam. Then said he, “Who brought thee hither?”; and she answered, “When I saw that thy brothers had cast thee away and were contending concerning me, I threw myself into the sea; but my Shaykh Al-Khizr Abu al-’Abbás took me up and brought me to this hermitage, where he gave me leave to heal the sick and bade cry in the city:—Whoso hath any ailment, let him repair to the Shaykhah Rajihah; and he also said to me:—Tarry in this hermitage till the time betide, and thy husband shall come to thee here. So all the sick used to flock to me and I rubbed them and shampoo’d them and they awoke on the morrow whole and sound; whereby the report of me became noised abroad among the folk, and they brought me votive gifts, so that I have with me abundant wealth. And now I live here in high honour and worship, and all the people of these parts seek my prayers.” Then she rubbed him and by the ordinance of Allah the Most High, he became whole. Now Al-Khizr used to come to her every Friday night, and it chanced that the day of Abdullah’s coming was a Thursday.[[554]] Accordingly, when the night darkened he and she sat, after a supper of the richest meats, awaiting the coming of Al-Khizr, who made his appearance anon and carrying them forth of the hermitage, set them down in Abdullah’s palace at Bassorah, where he left them and went his way. As soon as it was day, Abdullah examined the palace and knew it for his own; then, hearing the folk clamouring without, he looked forth of the lattice and saw his brothers crucified, each on his own cross. Now the reason of this was as ensueth. When they had thrown him into the Tigris, the twain arose on the morrow, weeping and saying, “Our brother! the Jinniyah hath carried off our brother!” Then they made ready a present and sent it to the Caliph, acquainting him with these tidings and suing from him the government of Bassorah. He sent for them and questioned them and they told him the false tale we have recounted, whereupon he was exceeding wroth.[[555]] So that night he prayed a two-bow prayer before daybreak, as of his wont, and called upon the tribes of the Jinn, who came before him subject-wise, and he questioned them of Abdullah: when they sware to him that none of them had done him aught of hurt and said, “We know not what is become of him.” Then came Sa’idah, daughter of the Red King, and acquainted the Caliph with the truth of Abdullah’s case, and he dismissed the Jinn. On the morrow, he subjected Nasir and Mansur to the bastinado till they confessed, one against other: whereupon the Caliph was enraged with them and cried, “Carry them to Bassorah and crucify them there before Abdullah’s palace.” Such was their case; but as regards Abdullah, when he saw his brothers crucified, he commanded to bury them, then took horse and repairing to Baghdad, acquainted the Caliph with that which his brothers had done with him, from first to last and told him how he had recovered his wife; whereat Al-Rashid marvelled and summoning the Kazi and the witnesses, bade draw up the marriage-contract between Abdullah and the damsel whom he had brought from the City of Stone. So he went in to her and woned with her at Bassorah till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Severer of societies; and extolled be the perfection of the Living, who dieth not! Moreover, O auspicious King, I have heard a tale anent.
[476]. Lane owns that this is “one of the most entertaining tales in the work,” but he omits it because its chief and best portion is essentially the same as “The story of the First of the Three Ladies of Baghdad.” The truth is he was straightened for space by his publisher and thus compelled to cut out some of the best stories in The Nights.
[477]. i.e. Ibrahim of Mosul, the musician poet often mentioned in The Nights. I must again warn the reader that the name is pronounced Is-hák (like Isaac with a central aspirate) not Ishák. This is not unnecessary when we hear Tait-shill for Tait’s hill and “Frederick-shall” for Friedrich, shall.
[478]. i.e. He was a proficient, an adept.
[479]. Arab. from Pers. Dúláb = a waterwheel, a buttery, a cupboard.
[480]. Arab. “Futúr,” the chhotí házirí of Anglo-India or breakfast proper, eaten by Moslems immediately after the dawn-prayer except in Ramázán. Amongst sensible people it is a substantial meal of bread and boiled beans, eggs, cheese, curded milk and the pastry called fatírah, followed by coffee and a pipe. See Lane M. E. chapt. v. and my Pilgrimage ii. 48.
[481]. This “off-with-his-head” style must not be understood literally. As I have noted, it is intended by the writer to show the Kingship and the majesty of the “Vicar of Allah.”
[482]. Lit. “the calamity of man (insán) is from the tongue” (lisán).
[483]. For Khatt Sharíf, lit. = a noble letter, see vol. ii. [39].
[484]. Arab. “Allah yastura-k” = protect thee by hiding what had better be hidden.
[485]. Arab. “Janázír” = chains, an Arabised plural of the Pers. Zanjír with the metathesis or transposition of letters peculiar to the vulgar; “Janázír” for “Zanájír.”
[486]. Arab. “Safínah” = (Noah’s) Ark, a myth derived from the Baris of Egypt with subsequent embellishments from the Babylonian deluge-legends: the latter may have been survivals of the days when the waters of the Persian Gulf extended to the mountains of Eastern Syria. Hence I would explain the existence of extinct volcanoes within sight of Damascus (see Unexplored Syria i. p. 159) visited, I believe, for the first time by my late friend Charles F. Tyrwhitt-Drake and myself in May, 1871.
[487]. Mansur and Násir are passive and active participles from the same root, Nasr = victory; the former means triumphant and the latter triumphing.
[488]. The normal term of Moslem mourning, which Mohammed greatly reduced disliking the abuse of it by the Jews who even in the present day are the strictest in its observance.
[489]. An euphuistic and euphemistic style of saying, “No, we don’t know.”
[490]. Arab. “Rahan,” an article placed with him in pawn.
[491]. A Moslem is bound, not only by honour but by religion, to discharge the debts of his dead father and mother and so save them from punishment on Judgment-day. Mohammed who enjoined mercy to debtors while in the flesh (chapt. ii. 280, etc.) said “Allah covereth all faults except debt; that is to say, there will be punishment therefor.” Also “A martyr shall be pardoned every fault but debt.” On one occasion he refused to pray for a Moslem who died insolvent. Such harshness is a curious contrast with the leniency which advised the creditor to remit debts by way of alms. And practically this mild view of indebtedness renders it highly unadvisable to oblige a Moslem friend with a loan.
[492]. i.e. he did not press them for payment; and, it must be remembered, he received no interest upon his monies, this being forbidden in the Koran.
[493]. Al-Mas’údi (chap. xvii.) alludes to furs of Sable (Samúr), hermelin (Al-Farwah) and Bortás (Turkish) furs of black and red foxes. For Samúr see vol. iv. [57]. Sinjáb is Persian for the skin of the grey squirrel (Mus lemmus, the lemming), the meniver, erroneously miniver, (menu vair) as opposed to the ermine = (Mus Armenius, or mustela erminia.) I never visit England without being surprised at the vile furs worn by the rich, and the folly of the poor in not adopting the sheepskin with the wool inside and the leather well tanned which keeps the peasant warm and comfortable between Croatia and Afghanistan.
[494]. Arab. “Tájir Alfí” which may mean a thousand dinars (£500) or a thousand purses (= £5,000). “Alfí” is not an uncommon P.N., meaning that the bearer (Pasha or pauper) had been bought for a thousand left indefinite.
[495]. Tigris-Euphrates.
[496]. Possibly the quarter of Baghdad so called and mentioned in The Nights more than once.
[497]. For this fiery sea see Sind Revisited i. 19.
[498]. Arab. “Al-Ghayb” which may also mean “in the future” (unknown to man).
[499]. Arab. “Jabal”; here a mountainous island: see vol. i. [140].
[500]. i.e. ye shall be spared this day’s miseries. See my Pilgrimage vol. i. [314], and the delight with which we glided into Marsá Damghah.
[501]. Arab. “Súwán” = “Syenite” (= granite) also used for flint and other hard stones. See vol. i. [238].
[502]. Koran xxiv. Male children are to the Arab as much prized an object of possession as riches, since without them wealth is of no value to him. Mohammed, therefore, couples wealth with children as the two things wherewith one wards off the ills of this world, though they are powerless against those of the world to come.
[503]. An exclamation derived from the Surat Nasr (cx. 1) one of the most affecting in the Koran. It gave Mohammed warning of his death and caused Al-Abbás to shed tears; the Prophet sings a song of victory in the ixth year of the Hijrah (he died on the xth) and implores the pardon of his Lord.
[504]. Arab. “Dáirah,” a basin surrounded by hills. The words which follow may mean, “An hour’s journey or more in breadth.”
[505]. These petrified folk have occurred in the “Eldest Lady’s Tale” (vol. i. [165]), where they are of “black stone.”
[506]. Arab. “Táj Kisrawi,” such as was worn by the Chosroes Kings. See vol. i. [75].
[507]. The familiar and far-famed Napoleonic pose, with the arms crossed over the breast, is throughout the East the attitude assumed by slave and servant in presence of his master. Those who send statues to Anglo-India should remember this.
[508]. Arab. “Ta’ álík” = hanging lamps, often in lantern shape with coloured glass and profuse ornamentation; the Maroccan are now familiar to England.
[509]. Arab. “Kidrah,” lit. = a pot, kettle: it can hardly mean “an interval.”
[510]. The wicket or small doorway, especially by the side of a gate or portal, is called “the eye of the needle” and explains Matt. xix. 24, and Koran vii. 38. In the Rabbinic form of the proverb the camel becomes an elephant. Some have preferred to change the Koranic Jamal (camel) for Habl (cable) and much ingenuity has been wasted by Christian commentators on Mark x. 25, and Luke xviii. 25.
[511]. i.e. A “Kanz” (enchanted treasury) usually hidden underground but opened by a counter-spell and transferred to earth’s face. The reader will note the gorgeousness of the picture.
[512]. Oriental writers, Indian and Persian, as well as Arab, lay great stress upon the extreme delicacy of the skin of the fair ones celebrated in their works, constantly attributing to their heroines bodies so sensitive as to brook with difficulty the contact of the finest shift. Several instances of this will be found in the present collection and we may fairly assume that the skin of an Eastern beauty, under the influence of constant seclusion and the unremitting use of cosmetics and the bath, would in time attain a pitch of delicacy and sensitiveness such as would in some measure justify the seemingly extravagant statements of their poetical admirers, of which the following anecdote (quoted by Ibn Khellikan from the historian Et Teberi) is a fair specimen. Ardeshir ibn Babek (Artaxerxes I.), the first Sassanian King of Persia (A.D. 226–242), having long unsuccessfully besieged El Hedr, a strong city of Mesopotamia belonging to the petty King Es Satiroun, at last obtained possession of it by the treachery of the owner’s daughter Nezireh and married the latter, this having been the price stipulated by her for the betrayal to him of the place. “It happened afterwards that, one night, as she was unable to sleep and turned from side to side in the bed, Ardeshir asked her what prevented her from sleeping. She replied, ‘I never yet slept on a rougher bed than this; I feel something irk me.’ He ordered the bed to be changed, but she was still unable to sleep. Next morning, she complained of her side, and on examination, a myrtle-leaf was found adhering to a fold of the skin, from which it had drawn blood. Astonished at this circumstance, Ardeshir asked her if it was this that had kept her awake and she replied in the affirmative. ‘How then,’ asked he, ‘did your father bring you up?’ She answered, ‘He spread me a bed of satin and clad me in silk and fed me with marrow and cream and the honey of virgin bees and gave me pure wine to drink.’ Quoth Ardeshir, ’The same return which you made your father for his kindness would be made much more readily to me’; and bade bind her by the hair to the tail of a horse, which galloped off with her and killed her.” It will be remembered that the true princess, in the well-known German popular tale, is discovered by a similar incident to that of the myrtle-leaf. I quote this excellent note from Mr. Payne (ix. 148), only regretting that annotation did not enter into his plan of producing The Nights. Amongst Hindu story-tellers a phenomenal softness of the skin is a lieu commun: see Vikram and the Vampire (p. 285, “Of the marvellous delicacy of their Queens”); and the Tale of the Sybarite might be referred to in the lines given above.
[513]. “(55) Indeed joyous on that day are the people of Paradise in their employ; (56) In shades, on bridal couches reclining they and their wives: (57) Fruits have they therein and whatso they desire. (58) ‘Peace!’ shall be a word from a compassionating Lord.” Koran xxxvi. 55–58, the famous Chapt. “Yá Sín;” which most educated Moslems learn by heart. See vol. iii. [19]. In addition to the proofs there offered that the Moslem Paradise is not wholly sensual I may quote, “No soul wotteth what coolth of the eyes is reserved (for the good) in recompense of their works” (Koran lxx. 17). The Paradise of eating, drinking, and copulating which Mr. Palgrave (Arabia, i. 368) calls “an everlasting brothel between forty celestial concubines” was preached solely to the baser sort of humanity which can understand and appreciate only the pleasures of the flesh. To talk of spiritual joys before the Badawin would have been a non-sens, even as it would be to the roughs of our great cities.
[514]. Arab. “Lajlaj” lit. = rolling anything round the mouth when eating; hence speaking inarticulately, being tongue-tied, stuttering, etc.
[515]. The classical “Phylarchs,” who had charge of the Badawin.
[516]. “The Jabábirah” (giant-rulers of Syria) and the “Akásirah” (Chosroës-Kings of Persia).
[517]. This shows (and we are presently told) that the intruder was Al-Khizr, the “Green Prophet,” for whom see vol. iv. [175].
[518]. i.e. of salvation supposed to radiate from all Prophets, esp. from Mohammed.
[519]. This formula which has occurred from the beginning (vol. i. [1]) is essentially Koranic: See Chapt. li. 18–19 and passim.
[520]. This trick of the priest hidden within the image may date from the days of the vocal Memnon, and was a favourite in India esp. at the shrine of Somnauth (Soma-náth), the Moon-god, Atergatis Aphrodite, etc.
[521]. Arab. “Almás” = Gr. Adamas. In opposition to the learned ex-Professor Maskelyne I hold that the cutting of the diamond is of very ancient date. Mr. W. M. Flinders Patrie (The Pyramids and Temples of Gizah, London: Field and Tuer, 1884) whose studies have thoroughly demolished the freaks and unfacts, the fads and fancies of the “Pyramidists,” and who may be said to have raised measurement to the rank of a fine art, believes that the Euritic statues of old Egypt such as that of Khufu (Cheops) in the Bulak Museum were drilled by means of diamonds. Athenæus tells us (lib. v.) that the Indians brought pearls and diamonds to the procession of Ptolemy Philadelphus; and this suggests cutting, as nothing can be less ornamental than the uncut stone.
[522]. i.e. as if they were holding a “Durbar”; the King’s idol in the Sadr or place of honour and the others ranged about it in their several ranks.
[523]. These words are probably borrowed from the taunts of Elijah to the priests of Baal (I Kings xviii. 27). Both Jews and Moslems wilfully ignored the proper use of the image or idol which was to serve as a Keblah or direction of prayer and an object upon which to concentrate thought and looked only to the abuse of the ignobile vulgus who believe in its intrinsic powers. Christendom has perpetuated the dispute: Romanism affects statues and pictures! Greek orthodoxy pictures and not statues and the so-called Protestantism ousts both.
[524]. Arab. “Sa’ádah” = worldly prosperity and future happiness.
[525]. Arab. “Al-’Ahd wa al-Mísák” the troth pledged between the Muríd or apprentice-Darwaysh and the Shaykh or Master-Darwaysh binding the former to implicit obedience etc.
[526]. Arab. “Taakhír,” lit. postponement and meaning acting with deliberation as opposed to “Ajal” (haste), precipitate action condemned in the Koran lxv. 38.
[527]. i.e. I have been lucky enough to get this and we will share it amongst us.
[528]. i.e. of saving me from being ravished.
[529]. Sa’ídah = the auspicious (fem.): Mubárakah, = the blessed; both names showing that the bearers were Moslemahs.
[530]. i.e. the base-born from whom base deeds may be expected.
[531]. Arab. “Badlat Kunúzíyah” = such a dress as would be found in enchanted hoards (Kunúz): e.g. Prince Esterhazy’s diamond jacket.
[532]. The lieu d’aisance in Eastern crafts is usually a wooden cage or framework fastened outside the gunwale, very cleanly but in foul weather very uncomfortable and even dangerous.
[533]. Arab. “Ghull,” a collar of iron or other metal, sometimes made to resemble the Chinese Kza or Cangue, a kind of ambulant pillory, serving like the old stocks which still show in England the veteris vestigia ruris. See Davis, “The Chinese,” i. 241. According to Al-Siyúti (p. 362) the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil ordered the Christians to wear these Ghulls round the neck, yellow head-gear and girdles, to use wooden stirrups and to place figures of devils before their houses. The writer of The Nights presently changes Ghull to “chains and fetters of iron.”
[534]. Arab. “Yá fulán,” O certain person! See vol. iii. [191].
[535]. Father of Harun al-Rashid A.H. 158–169 (= 775–785) third Abbaside who both in the Mac. and the Bul. Edits. is called “the fifth of the sons of Al-Abbas.” He was a good poet and a man of letters, also a fierce persecutor of the “Zindiks” (Al-Siyuti 278), a term especially applied to those who read the Zend books and adhered to Zoroastrianism, although afterwards applied to any heretic or atheist. He made many changes at Meccah and was the first who had a train of camels laden with snow for his refreshment along a measured road of 700 miles (Gibbon, chapt. lii.). He died of an accident when hunting: others say he was poisoned after leaving his throne to his sons Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid. The name means “Heaven-directed” and must not be confounded with the title of the twelfth Shi’ah Imám Mohammed Abu al-Kásim born at Sarramanrai A.H. 255 whom Sale (sect. iv.) calls “Mahdi or Director” and whose expected return has caused and will cause so much trouble in Al-Islam.
[536]. This speciosum miraculum must not be held a proof that the tale was written many years after the days of Al-Rashid. Miracles grow apace in the East and a few years suffice to mature them. The invasion of Abraha the Abyssinia took place during the year of Mohammed’s birth; and yet in an early chapter of the Koran (No. cv.) written perhaps forty-five years afterwards, the small-pox is turned into a puerile and extravagant miracle. I myself became the subject of a miracle in Sind which is duly chronicled in the family-annals of a certain Pir or religious teacher. See History of Sindh (p. 230) and Sind Revisited (i. 156).
[537]. In the texts, “Sixth.”
[538]. Arab. “Najis” = ceremonially impure especially the dog’s mouth like the cow’s mouth amongst the Hindus; and requiring after contact the Wuzu-ablution before the Moslem can pray.
[539]. Arab. “Akl al-hashamah” (hashamah = retinue; hishmah = reverence, bashfulness) which may also mean “decorously and respectfully,” according to the vowel-points.
[540]. i.e. as the Viceregent of Allah and Vicar of the Prophet.
[541]. For the superiority of mankind to the Jinn see vol. viii. [5]; 44.
[542]. According to Al-Siyuti, Harun Al-Rashid prayed every day a hundred bows.
[543]. As the sad end of his betrothed was still to be accounted for.
[544]. For the martyrdom of the drowned see vol. i, 171, to quote no other places.
[545]. i.e. if he have the power to revenge himself. The sentiment is Christian rather than Moslem.
[546]. i.e. the power acquired (as we afterwards learn) by the regular praying of the dawn-prayer. It is not often that The Nights condescend to point a moral or inculcate a lesson as here; and we are truly thankful for the immunity.
[547]. Arab. “Musáfahah” which, I have said, serves for our shaking hands: and extends over wide regions. They apply the palms of the right hands flat to each other without squeezing the fingers and then raise the latter to the forehead. Pilgrimage ii. 332, has also been quoted.
[548]. Equivalent to our saying about an ill wind, etc.
[549]. A proof of his extreme simplicity and bonhomie.
[550]. Arab. “Dárfíl” = the Gr. δελφίς later δελφίν suggesting that the writer had read of Arion in Herodotus i. 23.
[551]. ’Aúj; I can only suggest, with due diffidence, that this is intended for Kúch the well-known Baloch city in Persian Carmania (Kirmán) and meant by Richardson’s “Koch u buloch.” But as the writer borrows so much from Al-Mas’udi it may possibly be Aúk in Sístán where stood the heretical city “Shádrak,” chapt. cxxii.
[552]. i.e. The excellent (or surpassing) Religious. Shaykhah, the fem. of Shaykh, is a she-chief, even the head of the dancing-girls will be entitled “Shaykhah.”
[553]. The curtain would screen her from the sight of men-invalids and probably hung across the single room of the “Záwiyah” or hermit’s cell. The curtain is noticed in the tales of two other reverend women; vols. iv. 155 and v. 257.
[554]. Abdullah met his wife on Thursday, the night of which would amongst Moslems be Friday night.
[555]. i.e. with Sa’idah.
END OF VOL. IX.
