MASRUR THE EUNUCH AND IBN AL-KARIBI.
The Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, was exceedingly restless one night; so he said to his Wazir Ja’afar, “I am sleep-less to-night and my breast is straitened and I know not what to do.” Now his castrato Masrúr was standing before him, and he laughed; whereupon the Caliph said “At whom laughest thou? is it to make mock of me or hath madness seized thee?” Answered Masrur, “Nay, by Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundredth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Harun al-Rashid said to Masrur the Sworder, “Dost thou laugh to make mock of me or hath madness seized thee?” Answered Masrur, “Nay, by Allah, O Commander of the Faithful, I swear by thy kinship to the Prince of Apostles, I did it not of my free will; but I went out yesterday to walk within sight of the palace and, coming to the bank of the Tigris, saw there the folk collected; so I stopped and found a man, Ibn al-Káribí hight, who was making them laugh; but just now I recalled what he said, and laughter got the better of me; and I crave pardon of thee, O Commander of the Faithful!” Quoth the Caliph, “Bring him to me forthright;” so Masrur repaired in all haste to Ibn al-Karibi and said to him, “Answer the summons of the Commander of the Faithful,” whereto he replied, “I hear and obey.” “But on condition,” added Masrur, “that, if he give thee aught, thou shalt have a quarter and the rest shall be mine.” Replied the droll, “Nay, thou shalt have half and I half.” Rejoined Masrur, “Not so, I will have three-quarters.” Lastly said Ibn al-Karibi, “Thou shalt have two-thirds and I the other third;” to which Masrur agreed, after much higgling and haggling, and they returned to the palace together. Now when Ibn al-Karibi came into the Caliph’s presence he saluted him as men greet the Caliphate, and stood before him; whereupon said Al-Rashid to him, “If thou do not make me laugh, I will give thee three blows with this bag.” Quoth Ibn al-Karibi in his mind, “And a small matter were blows with that bag, seeing that beating with whips hurteth me not;” for he thought the bag was empty. Then he began to deal out his drolleries, such as would make the dismallest jemmy guffaw, and gave vent to all manner of buffooneries; but the Caliph laughed not neither smiled, whereat Ibn al-Karibi marvelled and was chagrined and affrighted. Then said the Commander of the Faithful, “Now hast thou earned the beating,” and gave him a blow with the bag, wherein were four pebbles each two rotols in weight. The blow fell on his neck and he gave a great cry, then calling to mind his compact with Masrur, said, “Pardon, O Commander of the Faithful! Hear two words from me.” Quoth the Caliph, “Say on,” and quoth Ibn al-Karibi, “Masrur made it a condition with me and I a covenant with him, that whatsoever largesse might come to me of the bounties of the Commander of the Faithful, one-third thereof should be mine and the rest his; nor did he agree to leave me so much as one-third, save after much higgling and haggling. Now thou hast bestowed on me nothing but beating; I have had my share and here standeth he, ready to receive his portion; so pay him the two other blows.” Now when the Caliph heard this, he laughed till he fell on his back; then calling Masrur, he gave him a blow, whereat he cried out and said, “O Commander of the Faithful, the one-third sufficeth me: give him the two-thirds.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Four Hundred and First Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Masrur cried out, “O Commander of the Faithful! the one-third sufficeth me; give him the two-thirds.” So the Caliph laughed at them and ordered them a thousand dinars each, and they went away, rejoicing at the largesse. And of the tales they tell is one of
THE DEVOTEE PRINCE.
The Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid, had a son who, from the time he attained the age of sixteen, renounced the world and walked in the way[[158]] of ascetics and devotees. He was wont to go out to the grave-yards and say, “Ye once ruled the world, but that saved you not from death, and now are ye come to your sepulchres! Would Heaven I knew what ye said and what is said to you!”[[159]] And he wept as one weepeth who is troubled with fear and apprehension, and repeated the words of the poet:—
Affright me funerals at every time; ✿ And wailing women grieve me to the soul!
Now it chanced one day, as he sat among the tombs, according to his custom, his father passed by in all his state, surrounded by his Wazirs and Lords of the realm and the Officers of his household, who seeing the Caliph’s son with a gown of woollen stuff on his body and a twist of wool on his head by way of turband, said to one another, “Verily this youth dishonoureth the Commander of the Faithful among Kings: but, if he reproved him, he would leave his present way of life.” The Caliph heard these words; so quoth he to his son, “O my dear child, of a truth thou disgracest me by thy present way of life.” The young man looked at him and made no reply: then he beckoned to a bird perched on the battlements of the palace, and said to it, “O thou bird, I conjure thee by Him who created thee, alight upon my hand.” Whereupon straightway it swooped down and perched on his finger. Then quoth he, “Return to thy place;” and it did so. Presently he said, “Alight on the hand of the Commander of the Faithful;” but it refused there to perch, and he cried to his father, “It is thou that disgracest me amongst the Holy[[160]] Ones, by the love of the world; and now I am resolved to part from thee, never to return to thee, save in the world to come.” Then he went down to Bassorah, where he took to working with those which wrought in clay,[[161]] receiving, as his day’s hire, but a dirham and a dánik;[[162]] and with the danik he fed himself and gave alms of the dirham. (Quoth Abú Amir of Bassorah) There fell down a wall in my house: so I went forth to the station of the artisans to find a man who should repair it for me, and my eyes fell on a handsome youth of a radiant countenance. So I saluted him and asked him, “O my friend, dost thou seek work?” “Yes,” answered he; and I said, “Come with me and build a wall.” He replied, “On certain conditions I will make with thee.” Quoth I “What are they, O my friend?”; and quoth he, “My wage must be a dirham and a danik, and again when the Mu’ezzin calleth to prayer, thou shalt let me go pray with the congregation.” “It is well,” answered I and carried him to my place, where he fell to work, such work as I never saw the like of. Presently, I named to him the morning-meal; but he said, “No;” and I knew that he was fasting.[[163]] When he heard the call to prayer, he said to me, “Thou knowest the condition?” “Yes,” answered I. So he loosed his girdle and, applying himself to the lesser ablution, made it after a fashion than which I never saw a fairer;[[164]] then he went to the mosque and prayed with the congregation and returned to his work. He did the same upon the call to mid-afternoon prayer, and when I saw him fall to work again thereafterward, I said to him, “O my friend, verily the hours of labour are over; a workman’s day is but till the time of afternoon-prayer.” But he replied, “Praise to the Lord, my service is till the night.” And he ceased not to work till nightfall, when I gave him two dirhams; whereupon he asked “What is this!”; and I answered, “By Allah, this is but part of thy wage, because of thy diligence in my service.” But he threw them back to me saying, “I will have no more than was agreed upon between us twain.” I urged him to take them, but could not prevail upon him; so I gave him the dirham and the danik, and he went away. And when morning dawned, I went to the station but found him not; so I enquired for him and was told, “He cometh thither only on Sabbaths.” Accordingly, when Saturday came, I betook me to the market and finding him there, said to him, “Bismillah, do me the favour to come and work for me.” Said he, “Upon the conditions thou wottest;” and I answered “Yes!” Then carrying him to my house I stood to watch him where he could not see me; and he took a handful of puddled clay and laid it on the wall, when, behold, the stones ranged themselves one upon other; and I said, “On this wise are Allah’s holy ones.” He worked out his day and did even more than before; and when it was night, I gave him his hire, and he took it and walked away. Now when the third Saturday came round, I went to the place of standing, but found him not; so I asked after him and they told me, “He is sick and lying in the shanty of such a woman.” Now this was an old wife, renowned for piety, who had a hovel of reeds in the burial-ground. So I fared thither and found him stretched on the floor which was bare, with a brick for a pillow and his face beaming like the new moon with light. I saluted him and he returned my salam; and I sat down at his head weeping over his fair young years and absence from home and submission to the will of his Lord. Then said I to him, “Hast thou any need?” “Yes,” answered he; and I said, “What is it?” He replied, “Come hither to-morrow in the forenoon and thou wilt find me dead. Wash me and dig my grave and tell none thereof: but shroud me in this my gown, after thou hast unsewn it and taken out what thou shalt find in the bosom-pocket, which keep with thee. Then, when thou hast prayed over me and laid me in the dust, go to Baghdad and watch for the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, till he come forth, when do thou give him what thou shalt find in the breast of my gown and bear him my salutation.” Then he ejaculated the profession of the Faith and glorified his God in the most eloquent of words reciting these couplets:—