There dwelt once, in Alexandria city, two men, of whom one was a dyer, by name Abú Kír, and the other a barber Abú Sír;[[184]] and they were neighbours in the market-street, where their shops stood side by side. The dyer was a swindler and a liar, an exceeding wicked wight, as if indeed his head-temples were hewn out of a boulder rock or fashioned of the threshold of a Jewish synagogue, nor was he ashamed of any shameful work he wrought amongst the folk. It was his wont, when any brought him cloth for staining, first to require of him payment under pretence of buying dye-stuffs therewith. So the customer would give him the wage in advance and wend his ways, and the dyer would spend all he received on meat and drink; after which he would sell the cloth itself as soon as ever its owner turned his back and waste its worth in eating and drinking and what not else, for he ate not but of the daintiest and most delicate viands nor drank but of the best of that which doth away the wit of man. And when the owner of the cloth came to him, he would say to him, “Return to me to-morrow before sunrise and thou shalt find thy stuff dyed.” So the customer would go away, saying to himself, “One day is near another day,” and return next day at the appointed time, when the dyer would say to him, “Come to-morrow; yesterday I was not at work, for I had with me guests and was occupied with doing what their wants required till they went: but to-morrow before sunrise come and take thy cloth dyed.” So he would fare forth and return on the third day, when Abu Kir would say to him, “Indeed yesterday I was excusable, for my wife was brought to bed in the night and all day I was busy with manifold matters; but to-morrow, without fail, come and take thy cloth dyed.” When the man came again at the appointed time, he would put him off with some other pretence, it mattered little what, and would swear to him;——Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that every time the owner of an article came to the dyer he would put him off with any pretext[[185]] and would swear to him; nor would he cease to promise and swear to him, as often as he came, till the customer lost patience and said, “How often wilt thou say to me, ‘To-morrow?’ Give me my stuff: I will not have it dyed.” Whereupon the dyer would make answer, “By Allah, O my brother, I am abashed at thee; but I must tell the truth and may Allah harm all who harm folk in their goods!” The other would exclaim, “Tell me what hath happened;” and Abu Kir would reply, “As for thy stuff I dyed that same on matchless wise and hung it on the drying rope but ’twas stolen and I know not who stole it.” If the owner of the stuff were of the kindly he would say, “Allah will compensate me;” and if he were of the ill-conditioned, he would haunt him with exposure and insult, but would get nothing of him, though he complained of him to the judge. He ceased not doing thus till his report was noised abroad among the folk and each used to warn other against Abu Kir who became a byword amongst them. So they all held aloof from him and none would be entrapped by him save those who were ignorant of his character; but, for all this, he failed not daily to suffer insult and exposure from Allah’s creatures. By reason of this his trade became slack and he used to go to the shop of his neighbour the barber Abu Sír and sit there, facing the dyery and with his eyes on the door. Whenever he espied any one who knew him not standing at the dyery-door, with a piece of stuff in his hand, he would leave the barber’s booth and go up to him saying, “What seekest thou, O thou?”; and the man would reply, “Take and dye me this thing.” So the dyer would ask, “What colour wilt thou have it?” For, with all his knavish tricks his hand was in all manner of dyes; but he was never true to any one; wherefore poverty had gotten the better of him. Then he would take the stuff and say, “Give me my wage in advance and come to-morrow and take the stuff.” So the stranger would advance him the money and wend his way; whereupon Abu Kir would carry the cloth to the market-street and sell it and with its price buy meat and vegetables and tobacco[[186]] and fruit and what not else he needed; but, whenever he saw any one who had given him stuff to dye standing at the door of his shop, he would not come forth to him or even show himself to him. On this wise he abode years and years, till it fortuned one day that he received cloth to dye from a man of wrath and sold it and spent the proceeds. The owner came to him every day, but found him not in his shop; for, whenever he espied any one who had claim against him, he would flee from him into the shop of the barber Abu Sir. At last, that angry man finding that he was not to be seen and growing weary of such work, repaired to the Kazi and bringing one of his serjeants to the shop, nailed up the door, in presence of a number of Moslems, and sealed it, for that he saw therein naught save some broken pans of earthenware to stand him instead of his stuff; after which the serjeant took the key, saying to the neighbours, “Tell him to bring back this man’s cloth then come to me[[187]] and take his shop key;” and went his way, he and the man. Then said Abu Sir to Abu Kir, “What ill business is this?[[188]] Whoever bringeth thee aught thou losest it for him. What hath become of this angry man’s stuff?” Answered the dyer, “O my neighbour, ’twas stolen from me.” “Prodigious!” exclaimed the barber. “Whenever any one giveth thee aught, a thief stealeth it from thee! Art thou then the meeting-place of every rogue upon town? But I doubt me thou liest: so tell me the truth.” Replied Abu Kir, “O my neighbour, none hath stolen aught from me.” Asked Abu Sir, “What then dost thou with the people’s property?”; and the dyer answered, “Whenever any one giveth me aught to dye, I sell it and spend the price.” Quoth Abu Sir, “Is this permitted thee of Allah?” and quoth Abu Kir, “I do this only out of poverty, because business is slack with me and I am poor and have nothing.”[[189]] And he went on to complain to him of the dulness of his trade and his lack of means. Abu Sir in like manner lamented the little profit of his own calling, saying, “I am a master of my craft and have not my equal in this city; but no one cometh to me to be polled, because I am a pauper; and I loathe this art and mystery, O my brother.” Abu Kir replied, “And I also loathe my own craft, by reason of its slackness; but, O my brother, what call is there for our abiding in this town? Let us depart from it, I and thou, and solace ourselves in the lands of mankind, carrying in our hands our crafts which are in demand all the world over; so shall we breathe the air and rest from this grievous trouble.” And he ceased not to commend travel to Abu Sir, till the barber became wishful to set out; so they agreed upon their route,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Thirty-second Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abu Kir ceased not his praises of wayfaring to Abu Sir till the barber became wishful to depart; so they agreed upon their route, at which decision Abu Kir rejoiced and improvised these lines:—
Leave thy home for abroad an wouldst rise on high, ✿ And travel whence benefits five-fold rise;
The soothing of sorrow and winning of bread, ✿ Knowledge, manners and commerce with good men and wise.
An they say that in travel are travail and care, ✿ And disunion of friends and much hardship that tries;
Yet to generous youth death is better than life ✿ In the house of contempt betwixt haters and spies.
When they agreed to travel together Abu Kir said to Abu Sir, “O my neighbour, we are become brethren and there is no difference between us, so it behoveth us to recite the Fátihah[[190]] that he of us who gets work shall of his gain feed him who is out of work, and whatever is left, we will lay in a chest; and when we return to Alexandria, we will divide it fairly and equally.” “So be it,” replied Abu Sir, and they repeated the Opening Chapter of the Koran on this understanding. Then Abu Sir locked up his shop and gave the key to its owner, whilst Abu Kir left his door locked and sealed and let the key lie with the Kazi’s serjeant; after which they took their baggage and embarked on the morrow in a galleon[[191]] upon the salt sea. They set sail the same day and fortune attended them, for, of Abu Sir’s great good luck, there was not a barber in the ship albeit it carried an hundred and twenty men, besides captain and crew. So, when they loosed the sails, the barber said to the dyer, “O my brother, this is the sea and we shall need meat and drink; we have but little provaunt with us and haply the voyage will be long upon us; wherefore methinks I will shoulder my budget and pass among the passengers, and may be some one will say to me:—Come hither, O barber, and shave me, and I will shave him for a scone or a silver bit or a draught of water: so shall we profit by this, I and thou too.” “There’s no harm in that,” replied the dyer and laid down his head and slept, whilst the barber took his gear and water-tasse[[192]] and throwing over his shoulder a rag, to serve as napkin (because he was poor), passed among the passengers. Quoth one of them, “Ho, master, come and shave me.” So he shaved him, and the man gave him a half-dirham;[[193]] whereupon quoth Abu Sir, “O my brother, I have no use for this bit; hadst thou given me a scone ’twere more blessed to me in this sea, for I have a shipmate and we are short of provision.” So he gave him a loaf and a slice of cheese and filled him the tasse with sweet water. The barber carried all this to Abu Kir and said, “Eat the bread and cheese and drink the water.” Accordingly he ate and drank, whilst Abu Sir again took up his shaving gear and, tasse in hand and rag on shoulder, went round about the deck among the passengers. One man he shaved for two scones and another for a bittock of cheese, and he was in demand, because there was no other barber on board. Also he bargained with every one who said to him, “Ho, master, shave me!” for two loaves and a half-dirham, and they gave him whatever he sought, so that, by sundown, he had collected thirty loaves and thirty silvers with store of cheese and olives and botargoes.[[194]] And besides these he got from the passengers whatever he asked for and was soon in possession of things galore. Amongst the rest he shaved the Captain,[[195]] to whom he complained of his lack of victual for the voyage, and the skipper said to him, “Thou art welcome to bring thy comrade every night and sup with me and have no care for that so long as ye sail with us.” Then he returned to the dyer, whom he found asleep; so he roused him; and when Abu Kir awoke, he saw at his head an abundance of bread and cheese and olives and botargoes and said, “Whence gottest thou all this?” “From the bounty of Allah Almighty,” replied Abu Sir. Then Abu Kir would have fallen to, but the barber said to him, “Eat not of this, O my brother; but leave it to serve us another time; for know that I shaved the Captain and complained to him of our lack of victual: whereupon quoth he:—Welcome to thee! Bring thy comrade and sup both of ye with me every night. And this night we sup with him for the first time.” But Abu Kir replied, “My head goeth round with sea-sickness and I cannot rise from my stead; so let me sup off these things and fare thou alone to the Captain.” Abu Sir replied, “There is no harm in that;” and sat looking at the other as he ate, and saw him hew off gobbets, as the quarryman heweth stone from the hill-quarries and gulp them down with the gulp of an elephant which hath not eaten for days, bolting another mouthful ere he had swallowed the previous one and glaring the while at that which was before him with the glowering of a Ghul and blowing as bloweth the hungry bull over his beans and bruised straw. Presently up came a sailor and said to the barber, “O craftsmaster, the Captain biddeth thee come to supper and bring thy comrade.” Quoth the barber to the dyer, “Wilt thou come with us?”; but quoth he, “I cannot walk.” So the barber went by himself and found the Captain sitting before a tray whereon were a score or more of dishes and all the company were awaiting him and his mate. When the Captain saw him he asked, “Where is thy friend?”; and Abu Sir answered, “O my lord, he is sea-sick.” Said the skipper, “That will do him no harm; his sickness will soon pass off; but do thou carry him his supper and come back, for we tarry for thee.” Then he set apart a porringer of Kabábs and putting therein some of each dish, till there was enough for ten, gave it to Abu Sir, saying, “Take this to thy chum.” He took it and carried it to the dyer, whom he found grinding away with his dog-teeth[[196]] at the food which was before him, as he were a camel, and heaping mouthful on mouthful in his hurry. Quoth Abu Sir, “Did I not say to thee:—Eat not of this? Indeed the Captain is a kindly man. See what he hath sent thee, for that I told him thou wast sea-sick.” “Give it here,” cried the dyer. So the barber gave him the platter, and he snatched it from him and fell upon his food, ravening for it and resembling a grinning dog or a raging lion or a Rukh pouncing on a pigeon or one well-nigh dead for hunger who seeing meat falls ravenously to eat. Then Abu Sir left him and going back to the Captain, supped and enjoyed himself and drank coffee[[197]] with him; after which he returned to Abu Kir and found that he had eaten all that was in the porringer and thrown it aside, empty.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.