When it was the Three Hundred and Thirteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth Ali Shar to himself, "This man is a tributary Unbeliever and he asked me for a draught of water; by Allah, I will not baulk him!" So he entered the house and took a gugglet of water; but the slave-girl Zumurrud saw him and said to him, "O my love, hast thou sold the curtain?" He replied, "Yes;" and she asked, "To a merchant or to a passer-by? for my heart presageth a parting." And he answered, "To whom but to a merchant?" Thereupon she rejoined, "Tell me the truth of the case, that I may order my affair; and why take the gugglet of water?" And he, To give the broker to drink," upon which she exclaimed, There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great!"; and she repeated these two couplets,[FN#284]
"O thou who seekest separation, act leisurely, and let not the
embrace of the beloved deceive thee!
Act leisurely; for the nature of fortune is treacherous, and the
end of every union is disjunction.
Then he took the gugglet and, going out, found the Christian within the vestibule and said to him, "How comest thou here and how darest thou, O dog, enter my house without my leave?" Answered he, "O my lord, there is no difference between the door and the vestibule, and I never intended to stir hence, save to go out; and my thanks are due to thee for thy kindness and favour, thy bounty and generosity." Then he took the mug and emptying it, returned it to Ali Shar, who received it and waited for him to rise up and to go; but he did not move. So Ali said to him, "Why dost thou not rise and wend thy way?"; and he answered, "O my lord, be not of those who do a kindness and then make it a reproach, nor of those of whom saith the poet,[FN#285]
'They're gone who when thou stoodest at their door * Would for
thy wants so generously cater:
But stand at door of churls who followed them, * They'd make high
favour of a draught of water!'"
And he continued, "O my lord, I have drunk, and now I would have thee give me to eat of whatever is in the house, though it be but a bit of bread or a biscuit with an onion." Replied Ali Shar, "Begone, without more chaffer and chatter; there is nothing in the house." He persisted, "O my lord, if there be nothing in the house, take these hundred dinars and bring us something from the market, if but a single scone, that bread and salt may pass between us."[FN#286] With this, quoth Ali Shar to himself, "This Christian is surely mad; I will take his hundred dinars and bring him somewhat worth a couple of dirhams and laugh at him." And the Nazarene added, "O my lord, I want but a small matter to stay my hunger, were it but a dry scone and an onion; for the best food is that which doeth away appetite, not rich viands; and how well saith the poet,
'Hunger is sated with a bone-dry scone, * How is it then[FN#287]
in woes of want I wone?
Death is all-justest, lacking aught regard * For Caliph-king and
beggar woe-begone.'"
Then quoth Ali Shar, "Wait here, while I lock the saloon and fetch thee somewhat from the market;" and quoth the Christian, "To hear is to obey." So Ali Shar shut up the saloon and, locking the door with a padlock, put the key in his pocket: after which he went to market and bought fried cheese and virgin honey and bananas[FN#288] and bread, with which he returned to the house. Now when the Christian saw the provision, he said, "O my lord, this is overmuch; 'tis enough for half a score of men and I am alone; but belike thou wilt eat with me." Replied Ali, "Eat by thyself, I am full;" and the Christian rejoined, "O my lord, the wise say, Whoso eateth not with his guest is a son of a whore." Now when Ali Shar heard these words from the Nazarene, he sat down and ate a little with him, after which he would have held his hand;—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Fourteenth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ali Shar sat down and ate a little with him, after which he would have held his hand; but the Nazarene privily took a banana and peeled it; then, splitting it in twain, put into one half concentrated Bhang, mixed with opium, a drachm whereof would over throw an elephant; and he dipped it in the honey and gave it to Ali Shar, saying, "O my lord, by the truth of thy religion, I adjure thee to take this." So Ali Shar, being ashamed to make him forsworn, took it and swallowed it; but hardly had it settled well in his stomach, when his head forwent both his feet and he was as though he had been a year asleep. As soon as the Nazarene saw this, rose to his feet as he had been a scald wolf or a cat-o'-mount[FN#289] at bay and, taking the saloon key, left Ali Shar prostrate and ran off to rejoin his brother. And the cause of his so doing was that the Nazarene's brother was the same decrepit old man who purposed to buy Zumurrud for a thousand dinars, but she would none of him and jeered him in verse. He was an Unbeliever inwardly, though a Moslem outwardly, and had called himself Rashid al-Din;[FN#290] and when Zumurrud mocked him and would not accept of him, he complained to his brother the aforesaid Christian who played this sleight to take her from her master Ali Shar; whereupon his brother, Barsum by name said to him, "Fret not thyself about the business, for I will make shift to seize her for thee, without expending either diner or dirham. Now he was a skilful wizard, crafty and wicked; so he watched his time and ceased not his practices till he played Ali Shar the trick before related; then, taking the key, he went to his brother and acquainted him with what had passed. Thereupon Rashid al-Din mounted his she mule and repaired with his brother and his servants to the house of Ali Shar, taking with him a purse of a thousand dinars, wherewith to bribe the Chief of Police, should he meet him. He opened the saloon door and the men who were with him rushed in upon Zumurrud and forcibly seized her, threatening her with death, if she spoke, but they left the place as it was and took nothing therefrom. Lastly they left Ali Shar lying in the vestibule after they had shut the door on him and laid the saloon key by his side. Then the Christian carried the girl to his own house and setting her amongst his handmaids and concubines, said to her, "O strumpet, I am the old man whom thou didst reject and lampoon; but now I have thee, without paying diner or dirham." Replied she (and her eyes streamed with tears), "Allah requite thee, O wicked old man, for sundering me and my lord!" He rejoined, "Wanton minx and whore that thou art, thou shalt see how I will punish thee! By the truth of the Messiah and the Virgin, except thou obey me and embrace my faith, I will torture thee with all manner of torture!" She replied, "By Allah, though thou cut my flesh to bits I will not forswear the faith of Al-Islam! It may be Almighty Allah will bring me speedy relief, for He cloth even as He is fief, and the wise say: 'Better body to scathe than a flaw in faith.'" Thereupon the old man called his eunuchs and women, saying, "Throw her down!" So they threw her down and he ceased not to beat her with grievous beating, whilst she cried for help and no help came; then she no longer implored aid but fell to saying, "Allah is my sufficiency, and He is indeed all-sufficient!" till her groans ceased and her breath failed her and she fell into a fainting-fit. Now when his heart was soothed by bashing her, he said to the eunuchs, "Drag her forth by the feet and cast her down in the kitchen, and give her nothing to eat." And after quietly sleeping that night, on the morrow the accursed old man sent for her and beat her again, after which he bade the Castrato return her to her place. When the burning of the blows had cooled, she said, "There is no god but the God and Mohammed is the Apostle of God! Allah is my sufficiency and excellent is my Guardian!" And she called for succour upon our Lord Mohammed (whom Allah bless and keep!)—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.