Contents of The Fourth Volume.
1. The Imam Abou Yousuf With Haroun er Reshid and his Vizier Jaafer 2. The Lover Who Feigned Himself a Thief to save His Mistress's Honour 3. Jaafer the Barmecide and the Bean-seller 4. Abou Mohammed the Lazy 5. Yehya Ben Khalid and Mensour 6. Yehya Ben Khalid and the Man Who Forged a Letter in His Name 7. The Khalif el Mamoun and the Strange Doctor 8. Ali Shar and Zumurrud 9. The Loves of Jubeir Ben Umeir and the Lady Budour 10. The Man of Yemen and His Six Slave Girls 11. Haroun er Reshid with the Damsel and Abou Nuwas 12. The Man Who Stole The Dog's Dish of Gold 13. The Sharper of Alexandria and the Master of Police 14. El Melik en Nasir and the Three Masters of Police a. Story of the Chief of the New Cairo Police b. Story of the Chief of the Boulac Police c. Story of the chief of the Old Cairo Police 15. The Thief and the Money-Changer 16. The Chief of the Cous Police and the Sharper 17. Ibrahim Ben el Mehdi and the Merchant's Sister 18. The Woman Whose Hands Were Cut Off For Almsgiving 19. The Devout Israelite 20. Abou Hassan ez Ziyadi and the Man From Khorassan 21. The Poor Man and his Generous Friend 22. The Ruined Man Who Became Rich Again Through a Dream 23. El Mutawekkil and his Favourite Mehboubeh 24. Werdan the Butcher's Adventure with the Lady and the Bear 25. The King's Daughter and the Ape 26. The Enchanted Horse 27. Uns El Eoujoud and the Vizier's Daughter Rose-in-Bud 28. Abou Nuwas with the Three Boys and the Khalif Haroun er Reshid 29. Abdallah Ben Maamer with the Man of Bassora and His Slave Girl 30. The Lovers of the Benou Udhreh 31. The Vizier of Yemen and His Young Brother 32. Loves of the Boy and Girl at School 33. El Mutelemmis and His Wife Umeimeh 34. Haroun er Reshid and Zubeideh in the Bath 35. Haroun er Reshid and the Three Poets 36. Musab Ben ez Zubeir and Aaisheh His Wife 37. Aboulasweh and His Squinting Slave Girl 38. Haroun er Reshid ad the Two Girls 39. Hroun er Reshid and the Three Girls 40. The Miller and his Wife 41. The Simpleton and the Sharper 42. The Imam Abou Yousuf with Haroun er Reshid and Zubeideh 43. The Khalif el Hakim and the Merchant 44. King Kisra Anoushirwan and the Village Damsel 45. The Water-Carrier and the Goldsmith's Wife 46. Khusrau and Shirin and the Fisherman 47. Yehya Ben Khalid and the Poor Man 48. Mohammed El Amin and Jaafer Ben el Hadi 49. Said Ben Salim and the Barmecides 50. The Woman's Trick Against Her Husband 51. The Devout Woman and the Two Wicked Elders 52. Jaafer the Barmecide and the Old Bedouin 53. Omar Ben Khettab and the Young Bedouin 54. El Mamoun and the Pyramids of Egypt 55. The Thief Turned Merchant and the Other Thief 56. Mesrour and Ibn El Caribi 57. The Devout Prince 58. The Schoolmaster Who Fell in Love by Report 59. The Foolish Schoolmaster 60. The Ignorant Man Who Set up For a Schoolmaster 61. The King and the Virtuous Wife 62. Abdurrehman the Moor's Story of the Roc 63. Adi Ben Zeid and the Princess Hind 64. Dibil el Khuzai With the Lady and Muslim Ben el Welid 65. Isaac of Mosul and the Merchant 66. The Three Unfortunate Lovers 67. The Lovers of the Benou Tai 68. The Mad Lover 69. The Apples of Paradise 70. The Loves of Abou Isa and Current El Ain 71. El Amin and His Uncle Ibrahim Ben el Mehdi 72. El Feth Ben Khacan and El Mutawekkil 73. The Man's Dispute with the Learned Woman of the Relative Excellence of the Male and the Female 74. Abou Suweid and the Handsome Old Woman 75. Ali Ben Tahir and the Birl Mounis 76. The Woman Who Has a Boy and the Other Who Had a Man to Lover 77. The Haunted House in Baghdad 78. The Pilgrim and the Old Woman Who Dwelt in the Desert 79. Aboulhusn and His Slave Girl Taweddud
THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT
HOW THE IMAM ABOU YOUSUF EXTRICATED THE KHALIF HAROUN ER RESHID AND HIS VIZIER JAAFER FROM A DILEMMA.
It is said that Jaafer the Barmecide was one night carousing with Er Reshid, when the latter said to him, 'O Jaafer, I hear that thou hast bought such and such a slave-girl. Now I have long sought her and my heart is taken up with love of her, for she is passing fair; so do thou sell her to me.' 'O Commander of the Faithful,' replied Jaafer, 'I will not sell her.' 'Then give her to me,' rejoined the Khalif. 'Nor will I give her,' answered Jaafer. 'Be Zubeideh triply divorced,' exclaimed Haroun, 'if thou shalt not either sell or give her to me!' Quoth Jaafer, 'Be my wife triply divorced, if I either sell or give her to thee!' After awhile they recovered from their intoxication and were ware that they had fallen into a grave dilemma, but knew not how to extricate themselves. Then said Er Reshid, 'None can help us in this strait but Abou Yousuf.'[FN#1] So they sent for him, and this was in the middle of the night. When the messenger reached the Imam, he arose in alarm, saying in himself, 'I should not be sent for at this hour, save by reason of some crisis in Islam.' So he went out in haste and mounted his mule, saying to his servant, 'Take the mule's nose-bag with thee; it may be she has not finished her feed; and when we come to the Khalif's palace, put the bag on her, that she may eat what is left of her fodder, whilst I am with the Khalif.' 'I hear and obey,' replied the man.
So the Imam rode to the palace and was admitted to the presence of Er Reshid, who made him sit down on the couch beside himself, whereas he was used to seat none but him, and said to him, 'We have sent for thee at this hour to advise us upon a grave matter, with which we know not how to deal' And he expounded to him the case. 'O Commander of the Faithful,' replied Abou Yousuf, 'this is the easiest of things.' Then he turned to Jaafer and said to him, 'O Jaafer, sell half of her to the Commander of the Faithful and give him the other half; so shall ye both be quit of your oaths.' The Khalif was delighted with this and they did as he prescribed. Then said Er Reshid, 'Bring me the girl at once, for I long for her exceedingly.' So they brought her and the Khalif said to Abou Yousuf, 'I have a mind to lie with her forthright; for I cannot endure to abstain from her during the prescribed period of purification; how is this to be done?' 'Bring me one of thine unenfranchised male slaves,' answered the Imam, 'and give me leave to marry her to him; then let him divorce her before consummation. So shall it be lawful for thee to lie with her before purification.' This expedient pleased the Khalif yet more than the first and he sent for the slave. When he came, Er Reshid said to the Imam, 'I authorize thee to marry her to him.' So the Imam proposed the marriage to the slave, who accepted it, and performed the due ceremony; after which he said to the slave, 'Divorce her, and thou shalt have a hundred diners.' But he refused to do this and the Imam went on to increase his offer, till he bid him a thousand diners. Then said the slave to him, 'Doth it rest with me to divorce her, or with thee or the Commander of the Faithful?' 'With thee,' answered the Imam. 'Then, by Allah,' quoth the slave, 'I will never do it!'
At this the Khalif was exceeding wroth and said to the Imam, 'What is to be done, O Abou Yousuf?' 'Be not concerned, O Commander of the Faithful,' replied the Imam; 'the thing is easy. Make this slave the damsel's property.' Quoth Er Reshid, 'I give him to her;' and the Imam said to the girl, 'Say, "I accept."' So she said, 'I accept:' whereupon quoth Abou Yousuf, 'I pronounce divorce between them, for that he hath become her property, and so the marriage is annulled.' With this, Er Reshid sprang to his feet and exclaimed, 'It is the like of thee that shall be Cadi in my time.' Then he called for sundry trays of gold and emptied them before Abou Yousuf, to whom he said, 'Hast thou wherein to put this ?' The Imam bethought him of the mule's nose-bag; so he sent for it and filling it with gold, took it and went home; and on the morrow, he said to his friends, 'There is no easier or shorter road to the goods of this world and the next, than that of learning; for, see, I have received all this money for answering two or three questions.' Consider, then, O polite [reader], the pleasantness of this anecdote, for it comprises divers goodly features, amongst which are the complaisance of Jaafer to Er Reshid and the wisdom[FN#2] of the Khalif and the exceeding wisdom of Abou Yousuf, may God the Most High have mercy on all their souls!
THE LOVER WHO FEIGNED HIMSELF A THIEF TO SAVE HIS MISTRESS'S HONOUR.
There came one day to Khalid ibn Abdallah el Kesri,[FN#3] governor of Bassora, a company of men dragging a youth of exceeding beauty and lofty bearing, whose aspect expressed good breeding and dignity and abundant wit They brought him before the governor, who asked what was to do with him, and they replied, 'This fellow is a thief, whom we caught last night in our dwelling.' Khalid looked at him and was struck with wonder at his well-favouredness and elegance; so he said to the others, 'Loose him,' and going up to the young man, asked what he had to say for himself. 'The folk have spoken truly,' answered he; 'and the case is as they have said.' 'And what moved thee to this,' asked Khalid, 'and thou so noble and comely of aspect?' 'The lust after worldly good,' replied the other, 'and the ordinance of God, glorified and exalted be He!' 'May thy mother be bereaved of thee!' rejoined Khalid. 'Hadst thou not, in thy fair face and sound sense and good breeding, what should restrain thee from thieving?' 'O Amir,' answered the young man, 'leave this talk and proceed to what God the Most High hath ordained; this is what my hands have earned, and God is no oppressor of His creatures.'[FN#4] Khalid was silent awhile, considering the matter; then he said to the young man, 'Verily, thy confession before witnesses perplexes me, for I cannot believe thee to be a thief. Surely thou hast some story that is other than one of theft. Tell it me'. 'O Amir,' replied the youth, 'deem thou nought save what I have confessed; for I have no story other than that I entered these folk's house and stole what I could lay hands on, and they caught me and took the stuff from me and carried me before thee.' Then Khalid bade clap him in prison and commanded a crier to make proclamation throughout Bassora, saying, 'Ho, whoso is minded to look upon the punishment of such an one, the thief, and the cutting off of his hand, let him be present tomorrow morning at such a place!'
When the youth found himself in prison, with irons on his feet, he sighed heavily and repeated the following verses, whilst the tears streamed from his eyes: