When El Aziz had sat awhile, he summoned the mamelukes of his son El Abbas, and they were five-and-twenty in number, besides half a score slave-girls, as they were moons, five of whom the king had brought with him and other five he had left with the prince's mother. When the mamelukes came before him, he cast over each of them a mantle of green brocade and bade them mount like horses of one and the same fashion and enter Baghdad and enquire concerning their lord El Abbas. So they entered the city and passed through the [streets and] markets, and there abode in Baghdad nor old man nor boy but came forth to gaze on them and divert himself with the sight of their beauty and grace and the goodliness of their aspect and of their clothes and horses, for that they were even as moons. They gave not over going till they came to the royal palace, where they halted, and the king looked at them and seeing their beauty and the goodliness of their apparel and the brightness of their faces, said, "Would I knew of which of the tribes these are!" And he bade the eunuch bring him news of them.
So he went out to them and questioned them of their case, whereupon, "Return to thy lord," answered they, "and question him of Prince El Abbas, if he have come unto him, for that he left his father King El Aziz a full-told year agone, and indeed longing for him troubleth the king and he hath levied a part of his army and his guards and is come forth in quest of his son, so haply he may light upon tidings of him." Quoth the eunuch, "Is there amongst you a brother of his or a son?" "Nay, by Allah!" answered they. "But we are all his mamelukes and the boughten of his money, and his father El Aziz hath despatched us to make enquiry of him. So go thou to thy lord and question him of the prince and return to us with that which he shall answer you." "And where is King El Aziz?" asked the eunuch; and they replied, "He is encamped in the Green Meadow."[FN#96]
The eunuch returned and told the king, who said, "Indeed, we have been neglectful with regard to El Abbas. What shall be our excuse with the king? By Allah, my soul misdoubted me that the youth was of the sons of the kings!" The Lady Afifeh, his wife, saw him lamenting for [his usage of] El Abbas and said to him, "O king, what is it thou regrettest with this exceeding regret?" Quoth he, "Thou knowest the stranger youth, who gave us the rubies?" "Assuredly," answered she; and he said, "Yonder youths, who have halted in the palace court, are his mamelukes, and his father King El Aziz, lord of Yemen, hath pitched his camp in the Green Meadow; for he is come with his army to seek him, and the number of his troops is [four-and-] twenty thousand men." [Then he went out from her], and when she heard his words, she wept sore for him and had compassion on his case and sent after him, counselling him to send for the mamelukes and lodge them [in the palace] and entertain them.
The king gave ear to her counsel and despatching the eunuch for the mamelukes, assigned them a lodging and said to them, "Have patience, till the king give you tidings of your lord El Abbas." When they heard his words, their eyes ran over with plenteous tears, of their much longing for the sight of their lord. Then the king bade the queen enter the privy chamber[FN#97] and let down the curtain[FN#98] [before the door thereof]. So she did this and he summoned them to his presence. When they stood before him, they kissed the earth, to do him worship, and showed forth their breeding[FN#99] and magnified his dignity. He bade them sit, but they refused, till he conjured them by their lord El Abbas. So they sat down and he caused set before them food of various kinds and fruits and sweetmeats. Now within the Lady Afifeh's palace was an underground way communicating with the palace of the princess Mariyeh. So the queen sent after her and she came to her, whereupon she made her stand behind the curtain and gave her to know that El Abbas was the king's son of Yemen and that these were his mamelukes. Moreover, she told her that the prince's father had levied his troops and was come with his army in quest of him and that he had pitched his camp in the Green Meadow and despatched these mamelukes to make enquiry of their lord. So Mariyeh abode looking upon them and upon their beauty and grace and the goodliness of their apparel, till they had eaten their fill of food and the tables were removed; whereupon the king recounted to them the story of El Abbas and they took leave of him and went away.
As for the princess Mariyeh, when she returned to her palace, she bethought herself concerning the affair of El Abbas, repenting her of that which she had done, and the love of him took root in her heart. So, when the night darkened upon her, she dismissed all her women and bringing out the letters, to wit, those which El Abbas had written, fell to reading them and weeping. She gave not over weeping her night long, and when she arose in the morning, she called a damsel of her slave-girls, Shefikeh by name, and said to her, "O damsel, I purpose to discover to thee mine affair, and I charge thee keep my secret; to wit, I would have thee betake thyself to the house of the nurse, who used to serve me, and fetch her to me, for that I have grave occasion for her."
Accordingly, Shefikeh went out and repairing to the nurse's house, found her clad in apparel other[FN#100] than that which she had been wont to wear aforetime. So she saluted her and said to her, "Whence hadst thou this dress, than which there is no goodlier?" "O Shefikeh," answered the nurse, "thou deemest that I have gotten[FN#101] no good save of thy mistress; but, by Allah, had I endeavoured for her destruction, I had done [that which was my right], for that she did with me what thou knowest[FN#102] and bade the eunuch beat me, without offence of me committed; wherefore do thou tell her that he, on whose behalf I bestirred myself with her, hath made me quit of her and her humours, for that he hath clad me in this habit and given me two hundred and fifty dinars and promised me the like thereof every year and charged me serve none of the folk."
Quoth Shefikeh, "My mistress hath occasion for thee; so come thou with me and I will engage to restore thee to thy dwelling in weal and safety." But the nurse answered, saying, "Indeed, her palace is become forbidden[FN#103] to me and never again will I enter therein, for that God (extolled be His perfection and exalted be He!) of His favour and bounty hath rendered me independent of her." So Shefikeh returned to her mistress and acquainted her with the nurse's words and that wherein she was of affluence; whereupon Mariyeh confessed the unseemliness of her dealing with her and repented, whenas repentance profited her not; and she abode in that her case days and nights, whilst the fire of longing flamed in her heart.
Meanwhile, El Abbas abode with his cousin Akil twenty days, after which he made ready for the journey to Baghdad and letting bring the booty he had gotten of King Zuheir, divided it between himself and his cousin. Then he set out for Baghdad, and when he came within two days' journey of the city, he called his servant Aamir and bade him mount his charger and forego him with the baggage-train and the cattle. So Aamir [took horse and] fared on till he came to Baghdad, and the season of his entering was the first of the day; nor was there little child or hoary old man in the city but came forth to divert himself with gazing on those flocks and herds and upon the goodliness of those slave-girls, and their wits were amazed at what they saw. Presently the news reached the king that the young man El Abbas, who had gone forth from him, was come back with herds and rarities and slaves and a mighty host and had taken up his sojourn without the city, whilst his servant Aamir was presently come to Baghdad, so he might make ready dwelling- places for his lord, wherein he should take up his abode.
When the king heard these tidings of Aamir, he sent for him and let bring him before him; and when he entered his presence, he kissed the earth and saluted and showed forth his breeding and greeted him with the goodliest of compliments. The king bade him raise his head and questioned him of his lord El Abbas; whereupon he acquainted him with his tidings and told him that which had betided him with King Zuheir and of the army that was become at his commandment and of the spoil that he had gotten. Moreover, he gave him to know that El Abbas was coming on the morrow, and with him more than fifty thousand cavaliers, obedient to his commandment. When the king heard his speech, he bade decorate Baghdad and commanded [the inhabitants] to equip themselves with the richest of their apparel, in honour of the coming of El Abbas. Moreover, he sent to give King El Aziz the glad tidings of his son's return and acquainted him with that which he had heard from the prince's servant.
When the news reached El Aziz, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy in the coming of his son and straightway took horse, he and all his army, what while the trumpets sounded and the musicians played, that the earth quaked and Baghdad also trembled, and it was a notable day. When Mariyeh beheld all this, she repented with the uttermost of repentance of that which she had wroughten against El Abbas his due and the fires still raged in her vitals. Meanwhile, the troops[FN#104] sallied forth of Baghdad and went out to meet those of El Abbas, who had halted in a meadow called the Green Island. When he espied the approaching host, he knew not what they were; so he strained his sight and seeing horsemen coming and troops and footmen, said to those about him, "Among yonder troops are ensigns and banners of various kinds; but, as for the great green standard that ye see, it is the standard of my father, the which is reserved [unto him and never displayed save] over his head, and [by this] I know that he himself is come out in quest of me." And he was certified of this, he and his troops.
[So he fared on towards them] and when he drew near unto them, he knew them and they knew him; whereupon they lighted down from their horses and saluting him, gave him joy of his safety and the folk flocked to him. When he came to his father, they embraced and greeted each other a long time, whilst neither of them availed unto speech, for the greatness of that which betided them of joy in reunion. Then El Abbas bade the folk mount; so they mounted and his mamelukes surrounded him and they entered Baghdad on the most magnificent wise and in the highest worship and glory.
The wife of the shopkeeper, to wit, the nurse, came out, with the rest of those who came out, to divert herself with gazing upon the show, and when she saw El Abbas and beheld his beauty and the goodliness of his army and that which he had brought back with him of herds and slaves and slave-girls and mamelukes, she improvised and recited the following verses:
El Abbas from Akil his stead is come again; Prize hath he made of
steeds and many a baggage-train;
Yea, horses hath he brought, full fair of shape and hue, Whose
collars, anklet-like, ring to the bridle-rein.
Taper of hoofs and straight of stature, in the dust They prance,
as like a flood they pour across the plain;
And on their saddles perched are warriors richly clad, That with
their hands do smite on kettle-drums amain.
Couched are their limber spears, right long and lithe of point,
Keen- ground and polished sheer, amazing wit and brain.
Who dares with them to cope draws death upon himself; Yea, of the
deadly lance incontinent he's slain.
Come, then, companions mine, rejoice with me and say, "All hail
to thee, O friend, and welcome fair and fain!"
For whoso doth rejoice in meeting him shall have Largesse and
gifts galore at his dismounting gain.
When the troops entered Baghdad, each of them alighted in his pavilion, whilst El Abbas encamped apart in a place near the Tigris and commanded to slaughter for the troops, each day, that which should suffice them of oxen and sheep and bake them bread and spread the tables. So the folk ceased not to come to him and eat of his banquet. Moreover, all the people of the country came to him with presents and rarities and he requited them many times the like of their gifts, so that the lands were filled with his tidings and the report of him was bruited abroad among the folk of the deserts and the cities.
Then, when he rode to his house that he had bought, the shopkeeper and his wife came to him and gave him joy of his safety; whereupon he ordered them three swift thoroughbred horses and ten dromedaries and an hundred head of sheep and clad them both in sumptuous dresses of honour. Then he chose out ten slave-girls and ten black slaves and fifty horses and the like number of she- camels and three hundred head of sheep, together with twenty ounces of musk and as many of camphor, and sent all this to the King of Baghdad. When this came to Ins ben Cais, his wit fled for joy and he was perplexed wherewithal to requite him. Moreover, El Abbas gave gifts and largesse and bestowed dresses of honour upon great and small, each after the measure of his station, save only Mariyeh; for unto her he sent nothing.
This was grievous to the princess and it irked her sore that he should not remember her; so she called her slave- girl Shefikeh and said to her, "Go to El Abbas and salute him and say to him, 'What hindereth thee from sending my lady Mariyeh her part of thy booty?'" So Shefikeh betook herself to him and when she came to his door, the chamberlains refused her admission, until they should have gotten her leave and permission. When she entered, El Abbas knew her and knew that she had somewhat of speech [with him]; so he dismissed his mamelukes and said to her, "What is thine errand, O handmaid of good?" "O my lord," answered she, "I am a slave-girl of the Princess Mariyeh, who kisseth thy hands and commendeth her salutation to thee. Indeed, she rejoiceth in thy safety and reproacheth thee for that thou breakest her heart, alone of all the folk, for that thy largesse embraceth great and small, yet hast thou not remembered her with aught of thy booty. Indeed, it is as if thou hadst hardened thy heart against her." Quoth he, "Extolled be the perfection of him who turneth hearts! By Allah, my vitals were consumed with the love of her [aforetime] and of my longing after her, I came forth to her from my native land and left my people and my home and my wealth, and it was with her that began the hardheartedness and the cruelty. Nevertheless, for all this, I bear her no malice and needs must I send her somewhat whereby she may remember me; for that I abide in her land but a few days, after which I set out for the land of Yemen."
Then he called for a chest and bringing out thence a necklace of Greek handiwork, worth a thousand dinars, wrapped it in a mantle of green silk, set with pearls and jewels and inwrought with red gold, and joined thereto two caskets of musk and ambergris. Moreover, he put off upon the girl a mantle of Greek silk, striped with gold, wherein were divers figures and semblants depictured, never saw eyes its like. Therewithal the girl's wit fled for joy and she went forth from his presence and returned to her mistress. When she came in to her, she acquainted her with that which she had seen of El Abbas and that which was with him of servants and attendants and [set out to her] the loftiness of his station and gave her that which was with her.
Mariyeh opened the mantle, and when she saw that necklace, and indeed the place was illumined with the lustre thereof, she looked at her slave-girl and said to her, "By Allah, O Shefikeh, one look at him were liefer to me than all that my hand possesseth! Would I knew what I shall do, whenas Baghdad is empty of him and I hear no tidings of him!" Then she wept and calling for inkhorn* and paper and pen of brass, wrote the following verses:
Still do I yearn, whilst passion's fire flames in my liver aye;
For parting's shafts have smitten me and done my strength
away.
Oft for thy love as I would be consoled, my yearning turns
To-thee- ward still and my desires my reason still gainsay.
My transports I conceal for fear of those thereon that spy; Yet
down my cheeks the tears course still and still my case
bewray.
No rest is there for me, no life wherein I may delight, Nor
pleasant meat nor drink avails to please me, night or day.
To whom save thee shall I complain, of whom relief implore, Whose
image came to visit me, what while in dreams I lay?
Reproach me not for what I did, but be thou kind to one Who's
sick of body and whose heart is wasted all away.
The fire of love-longing I hide; severance consumeth me, A thrall
of care, for long desire to wakefulness a prey.
Midmost the watches of the night I see thee, in a dream; A lying
dream, for he I love my love doth not repay.
Would God thou knewest that for love of thee which I endure! It
hath indeed brought down on me estrangement and dismay.
Read thou my writ and apprehend its purport, for my case This is
and fate hath stricken me with sorrows past allay.
Know, then, the woes that have befall'n a lover, neither grudge
Her secret to conceal, but keep her counsel still, I pray.
Then she folded the letter and giving it to her slave-girl, bade her carry it to El Abbas and bring back his answer thereto. Accordingly, Shefikeh took the letter and carried it to the prince, after the doorkeeper had sought leave of him to admit her. When she came in to him, she found with him five damsels, as they were moons, clad in [rich] apparel and ornaments; and when he saw her, he said to her, "What is thine occasion, O handmaid of good?" So she put out her hand to him with the letter, after she had kissed it, and he bade one of his slave-girls receive it from her. Then he took it from the girl and breaking it open, read it and apprehended its purport; whereupon "We are God's and to Him we return!" exclaimed he and calling for ink- horn and paper, wrote the following verses:
I marvel for that to my love I see thee now incline, What time my
heart, indeed, is fain to turn away from thine.
Whilere, the verses that I made it was thy wont to flout, Saying,
"No passer by the way[FN#105] hath part in me or mine.
How many a king to me hath come, of troops and guards ensued, And
Bactrian camels brought with him, in many a laden line,
And dromedaries, too, of price and goodly steeds and swift Of
many a noble breed, yet found no favour in my eyne!"
Then, after them came I to thee and union did entreat And unto
thee set forth at length my case and my design;
Yea, all my passion and desire and love-longing in verse, As
pearls in goodly order strung it were, I did enshrine.
Yet thou repaidst me with constraint, rigour and perfidy, To
which no lover might himself on any wise resign.
How many a bidder unto love, a secret-craving wight, How many a
swain, complaining, saith of destiny malign,
"How many a cup with bitterness o'erflowing have I quaffed! I
make my moan of woes, whereat it boots not to repine."
Quoth thou, "The goodliest of things is patience and its use: Its
practice still mankind doth guide to all that's fair and
fine."
Wherefore fair patience look thou use, for sure 'tis
praiseworthy; Yea, and its issues evermore are blessed and
benign;
And hope thou not for aught from me, who reck not with a folk To
mix, who may with abjectness infect my royal line.
This is my saying; apprehend its purport, then, and know I may in
no wise yield consent to that thou dost opine.
Then he folded the letter and sealing it, delivered it to the damsel, who took it and carried it to her mistress. When the princess read the letter and apprehended its contents, she said, "Meseemeth he recalleth to me that which I did aforetime." Then she called for inkhorn and paper and wrote the following verses:
Me, till I stricken was therewith, to love thou didst excite, And
with estrangement now, alas! heap'st sorrows on my spright.
The sweet of slumber after thee I have forsworn; indeed The loss
of thee hath smitten me with trouble and affright.
How long shall I, in weariness, for this estrangement pine, What
while the spies of severance[FN#106] do watch me all the
night?
My royal couch have I forsworn, sequestering myself From all, and
have mine eyes forbid the taste of sleep's delight.
Thou taught'st me what I cannot bear; afflicted sore am I; Yea,
thou hast wasted me away with rigour and despite.
Yet, I conjure thee, blame me not for passion and desire, Me whom
estrangement long hath brought to sick and sorry plight.
Sore, sore doth rigour me beset, its onslaughts bring me near
Unto the straitness of the grave, ere in the shroud I'm
dight.
So be thou kind to me, for love my body wasteth sore, The thrall
of passion I'm become its fires consume me quite.
Mariyeh folded the letter and gave it to Shefikeh, bidding her carry it to El Abbas. So she took it and going with it to his door, would have entered; but the chamberlains and serving-men forbade her, till they had gotten her leave from the prince. When she went in to him, she found him sitting in the midst of the five damsels aforesaid, whom his father had brought him. So she gave him the letter and he took it and read it. Then he bade one of the damsels, whose name was Khefifeh and who came from the land of China, tune her lute and sing upon the subject of separation. So she came forward and tuning the lute, played thereon in four-and-twenty modes; after which she returned to the first mode and sang the following verses:
Upon the parting day our loves from us did fare And left us to
endure estrangement and despair.
Whenas the burdens all were bounden on and shrill The
camel-leader's call rang out across the air,
Fast flowed my tears; despair gat hold upon my soul And needs
mine eyelids must the sweet of sleep forbear.
I wept, but those who spied to part us had no ruth On me nor on
the fires that in my vitals flare.
Woe's me for one who burns for love and longing pain! Alas for
the regrets my heart that rend and tear!
To whom shall I complain of what is in my soul, Now thou art gone
and I my pillow must forswear?
The flames of long desire wax on me day by day And far away are
pitched the tent-poles of my fair.
O breeze of heaven, from me a charge I prithee take And do not
thou betray the troth of my despair;
Whenas thou passest by the dwellings of my love, Greet him for me
with peace, a greeting debonair,
And scatter musk on him and ambergris, so long As time endures;
for this is all my wish and care.
When the damsel had made an end of her song, El Abbas swooned away and they sprinkled on him rose-water, mingled with musk, till he came to himself, when he called another damsel (now there was on her of linen and clothes and ornaments that which beggareth description, and she was endowed with brightness and loveliness and symmetry and perfection, such as shamed the crescent moon, and she was a Turkish girl from the land of the Greeks and her name was Hafizeh) and said to her, "O Hafizeh, close thine eyes and tune thy lute and sing to us upon the days of separation." She answered him with "Hearkening and obedience" and taking the lute, tuned its strings and cried out from her head,[FN#107] in a plaintive voice, and sang the following verses:
O friends, the tears flow ever, in mockery of my pain; My heart
is sick for sev'rance and love-longing in vain.
All wasted is my body and bowels tortured sore; Love's fire on me
still waxeth, mine eyes with tears still rain.
Whenas the fire of passion flamed in my breast, with tears, Upon
the day of wailing, to quench it I was fain.
Desire hath left me wasted, afflicted, sore afraid, For the spy
knows the secret whereof I do complain.
When I recall the season of love-delight with them, The sweet of
sleep forsakes me, my body wastes amain.
Those who our parting plotted our sev'rance still delights; The
spies, for fearful prudence, their wish of us attain.
I fear me for my body from sickness and unrest, Lest of the fear
of sev'rance it be betrayed and slain.
When Hafizeh had made an end of her song, El Abbas said to her, "Well done! Indeed, thou quickenest hearts from sorrows." Then he called another damsel of the daughters of the Medes, by name Merjaneh, and said to her, "O Merjaneh, sing to me upon the days of separation." "Hearkening and obedience," answered she and improvising, sang the following verses:
"Fair patience practise, for thereon still followeth content." So
runs the rede 'mongst all that dwell in city or in tent.
How oft of dole have I made moan for love and longing pain, What
while my body for desire in mortal peril went!
How oft I've waked, how many a cup of sorrow have I drained,
Watching the stars of night go by, for sleepless
languishment!
It had sufficed me, had thy grace with verses come to me; My
expectation still on thee in the foredawns was bent.
Then was my heart by that which caused my agitation seared, And
from mine eyelids still the tears poured down without
relent.
Yea, nevermore I ceased from that wherewith I stricken was; My
night with wakefulness was filled, my heart with dreariment.
But now hath Allah from my heart blotted the love of thee, After
for constancy I'd grown a name of wonderment.
Hence on the morrow forth I fare and leave your land behind; So
take your leave of us nor fear mishap or ill event.
Whenas in body ye from us are far removed, would God I knew who
shall to us himself with news of you present!
And who can tell if ever house shall us together bring In union
of life serene and undisturbed content?
When Merjaneh had made an end of her song, the prince said to her, "Well done, O damsel! Indeed, thou sayest a thing that had occurred to my mind and my tongue was like to speak it." Then he signed to the fourth damsel, who was a Cairene, by name Sitt el Husn, and bade her tune her lute and sing to him upon the [same] subject. So she tuned her lute and sang the following verses:
Fair patience use, for ease still followeth after stress And all
things have their time and ordinance no less.
Though Fortune whiles to thee belike may be unjust, Her seasons
change and man's excused if he transgress.
In her revolving scheme, to bitter sweetness still Succeeds and
things become straight, after crookedness.
Thine honour, therefore, guard and eke thy secret keep, Nor save
to one free-born and true thy case confess.
The Lord's alternatives are these, wherewith He's wont The needy
wretch to ply and those in sore duresse.
When El Abbas heard her verses, they pleased him and he said to her, "Well done, O Sitt el Husn! Indeed, thou hast done away trouble from my heart and [banished] the things that had occurred to my mind." Then he heaved a sigh and signing to the fifth damsel, who was from the land of the Persians and whose name was Merziyeh (now she was the fairest of them all and the sweetest of speech and she was like unto a splendid star, endowed with beauty and loveliness and brightness and perfection and justness of shape and symmetry and had a face like the new moon and eyes as they were gazelle's eyes) and said to her, "O Merziyeh, come forward and tune thy lute and sing to us on the [same] subject, for indeed we are resolved upon departure to the land of Yemen." Now this damsel had met many kings and had consorted with the great; so she tuned her lute and sang the following verses:
May the place of my session ne'er lack thee I Oh, why, My heart's
love, hast thou saddened my mind and mine eye?[FN#108]
By thy ransom,[FN#109] who dwellest alone in my heart, In despair
for the loss of the loved one am I.
So, by Allah, O richest of all men in charms, Vouchsafe to a
lover, who's bankrupt well-nigh
Of patience, thy whilom endearments again, That I never to any
divulged, nor deny
The approof of my lord, so my stress and unease I may ban and
mine enemies' malice defy,
Thine approof which shall clothe me in noblest attire And my rank
in the eyes of the people raise high.
When she had made an end of her song, all who were in the assembly wept for the daintiness of her speech and the sweetness of her voice and El Abbas said to her, "Well done, O Merziyeh I Indeed, thou confoundest the wits with the goodliness of thy verses and the elegance of thy speech." All this while Shefikeh abode gazing upon her, and when she beheld El Abbas his slave-girls and considered the goodliness of their apparel and the nimbleness of their wits and the elegance of their speech, her reason was confounded. Then she sought leave of El Abbas and returning to her mistress Mariyeh, without letter or answer, acquainted her with his case and that wherein he was of puissance and delight and majesty and venerance and loftiness of rank. Moreover, she told her what she had seen of the slave-girls and their circumstance and that which they had said and how they had made El Abbas desireful of returning to his own country by the recitation of verses to the sound of the strings.
When the princess heard this her slave-girl's report, she wept and lamented and was like to depart the world. Then she clave to her pillow and said, "O Shefikeh, I will instruct thee of somewhat that is not hidden from God the Most High, and it is that thou watch over me till God the Most High decree the accomplishment of His commandment, and when my days are ended, take thou the necklace and the mantle that El Abbas gave me and return them to him. Indeed, I deem not he will live after me, and if God the Most High decree against him and his days come to an end, do thou give one charge to shroud us and bury us both in one grave."
Then her case changed and her colour paled; and when Shefikeh saw her mistress in this plight, she repaired to her mother and told her that the lady Mariyeh refused meat and drink. "Since when hath this befallen her?" asked the queen, and Shefikeh answered, "Since yesterday;" whereat the queen was confounded and betaking herself to her daughter, that she might enquire into her case, found her as one dead. So she sat down at her head and Mariyeh opened her eyes and seeing her mother sitting by her, sat up for shamefastness before her. The queen questioned her of her case and she said, "I entered the bath and it stupefied me and weakened me and left an exceeding pain in my head; but I trust in God the Most High that it will cease."
When her mother went out from her, Mariyeh fell to chiding the damsel for that which she had done and said to her, "Verily, death were leifer to me than this; so look thou discover not my affair to any and I charge thee return not to the like of this fashion." Then she swooned away and lay awhile without life, and when she came to herself, she saw Shefikeh weeping over her; whereupon she took the necklace from her neck and the mantle from her body and said to the damsel, "Lay them in a napkin of damask and carry them to El Abbas and acquaint him with that wherein I am for the persistence of estrangement and the effects of forbiddance." So Shefikeh took them and carried them to El Abbas, whom she found in act to depart, for that he was about to take horse for Yemen. She went in to him and gave him the napkin and that which was therein, and when he opened it and saw what it contained, to wit, the mantle and the necklace, his vexation was excessive and his eyes were distorted, [so that the whites thereof appeared] and his rage was manifest in them.
When Shefikeh saw that which betided him, she came forward and said to him, "O bountiful lord, indeed my mistress returneth not the mantle and the necklace despitefully; but she is about to depart the world and thou hast the best right to them." "And what is the cause of this?" asked he. Quoth Shefikeh, "Thou knowest. By Allah, never among the Arabs nor the barbarians nor among the sons of the kings saw I a harder of heart than thou! Is it a light matter to thee that thou troublest Mariyeh's life and causest her mourn for herself and depart the world on account of[FN#110] thy youth? Indeed, thou wast the cause of her acquaintance with thee and now she departeth the world on thine account, she whose like God the Most High hath not created among the daughters of the kings."
When El Abbas heard these words from the damsel, his heart irked him for Mariyeh and her case was grievous to him; so he said to Shefikeh, "Canst thou avail to bring me in company with her, so haply I may discover her affair and allay that which aileth her?" "Yes," answered the damsel, "I can do that, and thine will be the bounty and the favour." So he arose and followed her, and she forewent him, till they came to the palace. Then she [opened and] locked behind them four-and-twenty doors and made them fast with bolts; and when he came to Mariyeh, he found her as she were the setting sun, cast down upon a rug of Taifi leather,[FN#111] among cushions stuffed with ostrich down, and not a limb of her quivered. When her maid saw her in this plight, she offered to cry out; but El Abbas said to her, "Do it not, but have patience till we discover her affair; and if God the Most High have decreed the ending of her days, wait till thou have opened the doors to me and I have gone forth. Then do what seemeth good to thee."
So saying, he went up to the princess and laying his hand upon her heart, found it fluttering like a doveling and the life yet clinging to[FN#112] her bosom. So he laid his hand upon her cheek, whereupon she opened her eyes and beckoning to her maid, signed to her, as who should say, "Who is this that treadeth my carpet and transgresseth against me?"[FN#113] "O my lady," answered Shefikeh, "this is Prince El Abbas, for whose sake thou departest the world." When Mariyeh heard speak of El Abbas, she raised her hand from under the coverlet and laying it upon his neck, inhaled his odour awhile. Then she sat up and her colour returned to her and they sat talking till a third part of the night was past.
Presently, the princess turned to her maid and bade her fetch them somewhat of food and sweetmeats and dessert and fruits. So Shefikeh brought what she desired and they ate and drank [and abode on this wise] without lewdness, till the night departed and the day came. Then said El Abbas, "Indeed, the day is come. Shall I go to my father and bid him go to thy father and seek thee of him in marriage for me, in accordance with the Book of God the Most High and the Institutes of His Apostle (whom may He bless and keep!) so we may not enter into transgression?" And Mariyeh answered, saying, "By Allah, it is well counselled of thee!" So he went away to his lodging and nought befell between them; and when the day lightened, she improvised and recited the following verses:
O friends, the East wind waxes, the morning draweth near; A
plaintive voice[FN#114] bespeaks me and I rejoice to hear.
Up, to our comrade's convent, that we may visit him And drink of
wine more subtle than dust;[FN#115] our trusty fere
Hath spent thereon his substance, withouten stint; indeed, In his
own cloak he wrapped it, he tendered it so dear.[FN#116]
Whenas its jar was opened, the singers prostrate fell In worship
of its brightness, it shone so wonder-clear.
The priests from all the convent came flocking onto it: With
cries of joy and welcome their voices they did rear.
We spent the night in passing the cup, my mates and I, Till in
the Eastward heaven the day-star did appear.
No sin is there in drinking of wine, for it affords All that's
foretold[FN#117] of union and love and happy cheer.
O morn, our loves that sunder'st, a sweet and easeful life Thou
dost for me prohibit, with thy regard austere.
Be gracious, so our gladness may be fulfilled with wine And we of
our beloved have easance, without fear.
The best of all religions your love is, for in you Are love and
life made easeful, untroubled and sincere.
Meanwhile, El Abbas betook himself to his father's camp, which was pitched in the Green Meadow, by the side of the Tigris, and none might make his way between the tents, for the much interlacement of the tent-ropes. When the prince reached the first of the tents, the guards and servants came out to meet him from all sides and escorted him till he drew near the sitting-place of his father, who knew of his coming. So he issued forth of his pavilion and coming to meet his son, kissed him and made much of him. Then they returned together to the royal pavilion and when they had seated themselves and the guards had taken up their station in attendance on them, the king said to El Abbas, "O my son, make ready thine affair, so we may go to our own land, for that the folk in our absence are become as they were sheep without a shepherd." El Abbas looked at his father and wept till he swooned away, and when he recovered from his swoon, he improvised and recited the following verses:
I clipped her[FN#118] in mine arms and straight grew drunken with
the scent Of a fresh branch that had been reared in
affluence and content.
'Twas not of wine that I had drunk; her mouth's sweet honeyed
dews It was intoxicated me with bliss and ravishment.
Upon the table of her cheek beauty hath writ, "Alack, Her charms!
'Twere well thou refuge sought'st with God
incontinent."[FN#119]
Since thou hast looked on her, mine eye, be easy, for by God Nor
mote nor ailment needst thou fear nor evil accident.
Beauty her appanage is grown in its entirety, And for this cause
all hearts must bow to her arbitrament.
If with her cheek and lustre thou thyself adorn,[FN#120] thou'lt
find But chrysolites and gold, with nought of baser metal
blent.
When love-longing for her sweet sake I took upon myself, The
railers flocked to me anon, on blame and chiding bent;
But on no wise was I affrayed nor turned from love of her; So let
the railer rave of her henceforth his heart's content.
By God, forgetfulness of her shall never cross my mind, What
while I wear the bonds of life nor when of death they're
rent
An if I live, in love of her I'll live, and if I die Of love and
longing for her sight, O rare! O excellent!
When El Abbas had made an end of his verses, his father said to him, "I seek refuge for thee with God, O my son! Hast thou any want unto which thou availest not, so I may endeavour for thee therein and lavish my treasures in quest thereof?" "O father mine," answered El Abbas, "I have, indeed, an urgent want, on account whereof I came forth of my native land and left my people and my home and exposed myself to perils and stresses and became an exile from my country, and I trust in God that it may be accomplished by thine august endeavour." "And what is thy want?" asked the king. Quoth El Abbas, "I would have thee go and demand me in marriage Mariyeh, daughter of the King of Baghdad, for that my heart is distraught with love of her." And he recounted to his father his story from first to last.
When the king heard this from his son, he rose to his feet and calling for his charger of state, took horse with four-and-twenty amirs of the chief officers of his empire. Then he betook himself to the palace of the King of Baghdad, who, when he saw him coming, bade his chamberlains open the doors to him and going down himself to meet him, received him with all worship and hospitality and entreated him with the utmost honour. Moreover, he carried him [and his suite] into the palace and causing make ready for them carpets and cushions, sat down upon a chair of gold, with traverses of juniper- wood, set with pearls and jewels. Then he bade bring sweetmeats and confections and odoriferous flowers and commanded to slaughter four-and-twenty head of sheep and the like of oxen and make ready geese and fowls, stuffed and roasted, and pigeons and spread the tables; nor was it long before the meats were set on in dishes of gold and silver. So they ate till they had enough and when they had eaten their fill, the tables were removed and the wine-service set on and the cups and flagons ranged in order, whilst the mamelukes and the fair slave- girls sat down, with girdles of gold about their middles, inlaid with all manner pearls and diamonds and emeralds and rubies and other jewels. Moreover, the king bade fetch the musicians; so there presented themselves before him a score of damsels, with lutes and psalteries and rebecks, and smote upon instruments of music, on such wise that they moved the assembly to delight.
Then said El Aziz to the King of Baghdad, "I would fain speak a word to thee; but do thou not exclude from us those who are present. If thou consent unto my wish, that which is ours shall be thine and that which is incumbent on thee shall be incumbent on us,[FN#121] and we will be to thee a mighty aid against all enemies and opposites." Quoth Ins ben Cais, "Say what thou wilt, O King, for indeed thou excellest in speech and attainest [the mark] in that which them sayest" So El Aziz said to him," I desire that thou give thy daughter Mariyeh in marriage to my son El Abbas, for thou knowest that wherewithal he is gifted of beauty and loveliness and brightness and perfection and how he beareth himself in the frequentation of the valiant and his constancy in the stead of smiting and thrusting." "By Allah, O king," answered Ins ben Cais, "of my love for Mariyeh, I have appointed her disposal to be in her own hand; wherefore, whomsoever she chooseth of the folk, I will marry her to him."
Then he arose and going in to his daughter, found her mother with her; so he set out to them the case and Mariyeh said, "O father mine, my wish is subject unto[FN#122] thy commandment and my will ensueth thy will; so whatsoever thou choosest, I am still obedient unto thee and under thy dominion." Therewithal the King knew that Mariyeh inclined unto El Abbas; so he returned forthright to King El Aziz and said to him, "May God amend the King! Verily, the occasion is accomplished and there is no opposition unto that which thou commandest" Quoth El Aziz, "By God's leave are occasions accomplished. How deemest thou, O King, of fetching El Abbas and drawing up the contract of marriage between Mariyeh and him?" And Ins ben Cais answered, saying, "Thine be it to decide."
So El Aziz sent after his son and acquainted him with that which had passed; whereupon El Abbas called for four-and-twenty males and half a score horses [and as many camels] and loaded the mules with pieces of silk and rags of leather and boxes of camphor and musk and the camels [and horses] with chests of gold and silver. Moreover, he took the richest of the stuffs and wrapping them in pieces of gold-striped silk, laid them on the heads of porters, and they fared on with the treasures till they reached the King of Baghdad's palace, whereupon all who were present dismounted in honour of El Abbas and escorting him to the presence of King Ins ben Cais, displayed unto the latter all that they had with them of things of price. The king bade carry all this into the harem and sent for the Cadis and the witnesses, who drew up the contract and married Mariyeh to Prince El Abbas, whereupon the latter commanded to [slaughter] a thousand head of sheep and five hundred buffaloes. So they made the bride-feast and bade thereto all the tribes of the Arabs, Bedouins and townsfolk, and the tables abode spread for the space of ten days.
Then El Abbas went in to Mariyeh in a happy and praiseworthy hour[FN#123] and found her an unpierced pearl and a goodly filly that had never been mounted; wherefore he rejoiced and was glad and made merry, and care and sorrow ceased from him and his life was pleasant and trouble departed and he abode with her in the gladsomest of case and in the most easeful of life, till seven days were past, when King El Aziz determined to set out and return to his kingdom and bade his son seek leave of his father-in-law to depart with his wife to his own country. [So El Abbas bespoke King Ins of this] and he granted him the leave he sought; whereupon he chose out a red camel, taller[FN#124] than the [other] camels, and mounting Mariyeh in a litter thereon, loaded it with apparel and ornaments.
Then they spread the ensigns and the standards, whilst the drums beat and the trumpets sounded, and set out upon the homeward journey. The King of Baghdad rode forth with them and brought them three days' journey on their way, after which he took leave of them and returned with his troops to Baghdad. As for King El Aziz and his son, they fared on night and day and gave not over going till there abode but three days' journey between them and Yemen, when they despatched three men of the couriers to the prince's mother [to acquaint her with their return], safe and laden with spoil, bringing with them Mariyeh, the king's daughter of Baghdad. When the queen-mother heard this, her wit fled for joy and she adorned El Abbas his slave-girls after the goodliest fashion. Now he had ten slave-girls, as they were moons, whereof his father had carried five with him to Baghdad, as hath aforetime been set out, and other five abode with his mother. When the dromedary-posts[FN#125] came, they were certified of the approach of El Abbas, and when the sun rose and their standards appeared, the prince's mother came out to meet her son; nor was there great or small, old man or infant, but went forth that day to meet the king.
The drums of glad tidings beat and they entered in the utmost of worship and magnificence. Moreover, the tribes heard of them and the people of the towns and brought them the richest of presents and the costliest of rarities and the prince's mother rejoiced with an exceeding joy. Then they slaughtered beasts and made mighty bride-feasts to the people and kindled fires, that it might be visible afar to townsman [and Bedouin] that this was the house of the guest-meal and the wedding, festival, to the intent that, if any passed them by, [without partaking of their hospitality], it should be of his own fault[FN#126] So the folk came to them from all parts and quarters and on this wise they abode days and months.
Then the prince's mother bade fetch the five slave-girls to that assembly; whereupon they came and the ten damsels foregathered. The queen seated five of them on her son's right hand and other five on his left and the folk assembled about them. Then she bade the five who had remained with her speak forth somewhat of verse, so they might entertain therewith the assembly and that El Abbas might rejoice therein. Now she had clad them in the richest of raiment and adorned them with trinkets and ornaments and wroughten work of gold and silver and collars of gold, set with pearls and jewels. So they came forward, with harps and lutes and psalteries and recorders and other instruments of music before them, and one of them, a damsel who came from the land of China and whose name was Baoutheh, advanced and tightened the strings of her lute. Then she cried out from the top of her head[FN#127] and improvising, sang the following verses:
Unto its pristine lustre your land returned and more, Whenas ye
came, dispelling the gloom that whiles it wore.
Our stead, that late was desert, grew green and eke our trees,
That barren were, grew loaded with ripened fruits galore.
Yea, to the earth that languished for lack of rain, the clouds
Were bounteous; so it flourished and plenteous harvests
bore;
And troubles, too, forsook us, who tears like dragons' blood, O
lordings, for your absence had wept at every pore.
Indeed, your long estrangement hath caused my bowels yearn. Would
God I were a servant in waiting at your door!
When she had made an end of her song, all who were present were moved to delight and El Abbas rejoiced in this. Then he bade the second damsel sing somewhat on the like subject. So she came forward and tuning the strings of her harp, which was of balass ruby,[FN#128] warbled a plaintive air and improvising, sang the following verses;
The absent ones' harbinger came us unto With tidings of those
who[FN#129] had caused us to rue.
"My soul be thy ransom,"quoth I,"for thy grace! Indeed, to the
oath that thou swor'st thou wast true."
On the dear nights of union, in you was our joy, But afflicted
were we since ye bade us adieu.
You swore you'd be faithful to us and our love, And true to your
oath and your troth-plight were you;
And I to you swore that a lover I was; God forbid that with
treason mine oath I ensue!
Yea, "Welcome! Fair welcome to those who draw near!" I called out
aloud, as to meet you I flew.
The dwellings, indeed, one and all, I adorned, Bewildered and
dazed with delight at your view;
For death in your absence to us was decreed; But, when ye came
back, we were quickened anew.
When she had made an end of her verses, El Abbas bade the third damsel, who came from Samarcand of the Persians and whose name was Rummaneh, sing, and she answered with "Hearkening and obedience." Then she took the psaltery and crying out from the midst of her bead[FN#130] improvised and sang the following verses:
My watering lips, that cull the rose of thy soft cheek, declare
My basil,[FN#131] lily mine, to be the myrtles of thy hair.
Sandhill[FN#132] and down[FN#133] betwixt there blooms a yellow
willow-flower,[FN#134] Pomegranate-blossoms[FN#135] and for
fruits pomegranates[FN#136] that doth bear.
His eyelids' sorcery from mine eyes hath banished sleep; since he
From me departed, nought see I except a drowsy fair.[FN#137]
He shot me with the shafts of looks launched from an
eyebrow's[FN#138] bow; A chamberlain[FN#139] betwixt his
eyes hath driven me to despair.
My heart belike shall his infect with softness, even as me His
body with disease infects, of its seductive air.
Yet, if with him forgotten be the troth-plight of our loves, I
have a king who of his grace will not forget me e'er.
His sides the tamarisk's slenderness deride, so lithe they are,
Whence for conceit in his own charms still drunken doth he
fare.
Whenas he runs, his feet still show like wings,[FN#140] and for
the wind When was a rider found, except King Solomon it
were?[FN#141]
Therewithal El Abbas smiled and her verses pleased him. Then he bade the fourth damsel come forward and sing. Now she was from the land of Morocco and her name was Belekhsha. So she came forward and taking the lute and the psaltery, tightened the strings thereof and smote thereon in many modes; then returned to the first mode and improvising, sang the following verses:
When in the sitting-chamber we for merry-making sate, With thine
eyes' radiance the place thou didst illuminate
And pliedst us with cups of wine, whilst from the necklace
pearls[FN#142] A strange intoxicating bliss withal did
circulate,
Whose subtleness might well infect the understanding folk; And
secrets didst thou, in thy cheer, to us communicate.
Whenas we saw the cup, forthright we signed to past it round And
sun and moon unto our eyes shone sparkling from it straight.
The curtain of delight, perforce, we've lifted through the
friend,[FN#143] For tidings of great joy, indeed, there came
to us of late.
The camel-leader singing came with the belov'd; our wish
Accomplished was and we were quit of all the railers' prate.
When clear'd my sky was by the sweet of our foregathering And not
a helper there remained to disuniting Fate,
I shut myself up with my love; no spy betwixt us was; We feared
no enemies' despite, no envious neighbour's hate.
Life with our loves was grown serene, estrangement was at end:
Our dear ones all delight of love vouchsafed to us elate,
Saying, "Thy fill of union take; no spy is there on us, Whom we
should fear, nor yet reproach our gladness may abate."
Our loves are joined and cruelty at last is done away; Ay, and
the cup of love-delight 'twixt us doth circulate.
Upon yon be the peace of God! May all prosperity, For what's
decreed of years and lives, upon you ever wait!
When Belekhsha had made an end of her verses, all present were moved to delight and El Abbas said to her, "Well done, O damsel!" Then he bade the fifth damsel come forward and sing. Now she was from the land of Syria and her name was Rihaneh; she was surpassing of voice and when she appeared in an assembly, all eyes were fixed upon her. So she came forward and taking the rebeck (for that she was used to play upon [all manner] instruments) improvised and sang the following verses:
Your coming to-me-ward, indeed, with "Welcome! fair welcome!" I
hail. Your sight to me gladness doth bring and banisheth
sorrow and bale;
For love with your presence grows sweet, untroubled and life is
serene And the star of our fortune burns bright, that clouds
in your absence did veil.
Yea, by Allah, my longing for you ne'er waneth nor passetb away;
For your like among creatures is rare and sought for in
mountain and vale.
Ask mine eyes whether slumber hath lit on their lids since the
hour of your loss Or if aye on a lover they've looked. Nay,
an ye believe not their tale,
My heart, since the leave-taking day afflicted, will tell of my
case, And my body, for love and desire grown wasted and
feeble and frail.
Could they who reproach me but see my sufferings, their hearts
would relent; They'd marvel, indeed, at my case and the loss
of my loved ones bewail.
Yea, they'd join me in pouring forth tears and help me my woes to
lament, And like unto me they'd become all wasted and
tortured and pale.
How long did the heart for thy love that languished with longing
endure A burden of passion, 'neath which e'en mountains
might totter and fail!
By Allah, what sorrows and woes to my soul for thy sake were
decreed! My heart is grown hoar, ere eld's snows have left
on my tresses their trail.
The fires in my vitals that rage if I did but discover to view,
Their ardour the world to consume, from the East to the
West, might avail.
But now unto me of my loves accomplished are joyance and cheer
And those whom I cherish my soul with the wine of
contentment regale.
Our Lord, after sev'rance, with them hath conjoined us, for he
who doth good Shall ne'er disappointed abide and kindnesses
kindness entail.
When King El Aziz heard the damsel's song, her speech and her verses pleased him and he said to El Abbas, "O my son, verily, these damsels are weary with long versifying, and indeed they make us yearn after the dwellings and the homesteads with the goodliness of their songs. Indeed, these five have adorned our assembly with the excellence of their melodies and have done well in that which they have said before those who are present; wherefore we counsel thee to enfranchise them for the love of God the Most High." Quoth El Abbas, "There is no commandment but thy commandment;" and he enfranchised the ten damsels in the assembly; whereupon they kissed the hands of the king and his son and prostrated themselves in thanksgiving to God the Most High. Then they put off that which was upon them of ornaments and laying aside the lutes [and other] instruments of music, clave to their houses, veiled, and went not forth.[FN#144]
As for King El Aziz, he lived after this seven years and was admitted to the mercy of God the Most High; whereupon his son El Abbas carried him forth to burial on such wise as beseemeth unto kings and let make recitations and readings of the Koran, in whole or in part, over his tomb. He kept up the mourning for his father a full-told month, at the end of which time he sat down on the throne of the kingship and judged and did justice and distributed silver and gold. Moreover, he loosed all who were in the prisons and abolished grievances and customs dues and did the oppressed justice of the oppressor; wherefore the people prayed for him and loved him and invoked on him endurance of glory and kingship and length of continuance [on life] and eternity of prosperity and happiness. Moreover, the troops submitted to him and the hosts from all parts of the kingdom, and there came to him presents from all the lands. The kings obeyed him and many were his troops and his grandees, and his subjects lived with him the most easeful and prosperous of lives.
Meanwhile, he ceased not, he and his beloved, Queen Mariyeh, in the most delightsome of life and the pleasantest thereof, and he was vouchsafed by her children; and indeed there befell friendship and love between them and the longer their companionship was prolonged, the more their love waxed, so that they became unable to endure from each other a single hour, save the time of his going forth to the Divan, when he would return to her in the utterest that might be of longing. Aud on this wise they abode in all solace and delight of life, till there came to them the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies. So extolled be the perfection of Him whose kingdom endureth for ever, who is never heedless neither dieth nor sleepeth! This is all that hath come down to us of their story, and so peace [be on you!]
SHEHRZAD AND SHEHRIYAR.[FN#145]
King Shehriyar marvelled [at this story[FN#146] and said "By Allah, verily, injustice slayeth its folk!"[FN#147] And he was edified by that wherewith Shehrzad bespoke him and sought help of God the Most High. Then said he to her, "Tell me another of thy stories, O Shehrzad; let it be a pleasant one and this shall be the completion of the story-telling." "With all my heart," answered Shehrzad. "It hath reached me, O august King, that a man once said to his fellows, 'I will set forth to you a means[FN#148] of security[FN#149] against vexation.[FN#150] A friend of mine once related to me and said, "We attained [whiles] to security[FN#151] against vexation,[FN#152]and the origin of it was other than this; to wit, it was as follows.[FN#153]
THE TWO KINGS AND THE VIZIER'S DAUGHTERS.[FN#154]
[Aforetime] I journeyed in [many] lands and climes and towns and visited the great cities and traversed the ways and [exposed myself to] dangers and hardships. Towards the last of my life, I entered a city [of the cities of China],[FN#155] wherein was a king of the Chosroes and the Tubbas[FN#156] and the Caesars.[FN#157] Now that city had been peopled with its inhabitants by means of justice and equitable dealing; but its [then] king was a tyrant, who despoiled souls and [did away] lives; there was no wanning oneself at his fire,[FN#158] for that indeed he oppressed the true believers and wasted the lands. Now he had a younger brother, who was [king] in Samarcand of the Persians, and the two kings abode a while of time, each in his own city and place, till they yearned unto each other and the elder king despatched his vizier in quest of his younger brother.
When the vizier came to the King of Samarcand [and acquainted him with his errand], he submitted himself to the commandment [of his brother and made answer] with 'Hearkening and obedience.' Then he equipped himself and made ready for the journey and brought forth his tents and pavilions. A while after midnight, he went in to his wife, that he might take leave of her, and found with her a strange man, sleeping with her in one bed. So he slew them both and dragging them out by the feet, cast them away and set forth incontinent on his journey. When he came to his brother's court, the latter rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy and lodged him in the pavilion of entertainment, [to wit, the guest-house,] beside his own palace. Now this pavilion overlooked a garden belonging to the elder king and there the younger brother abode with him some days. Then he called to mind that which his wife had done with him and remembered him of her slaughter and bethought him how he was a king, yet was not exempt from the vicissitudes of fortune; and this wrought upon him with an exceeding despite, so that it caused him abstain from meat and drink, or, if he ate anything, it profited him not.
When his brother saw him on this wise, he doubted not but that this had betided him by reason of severance from his people and family and said to him, 'Come, let us go forth a-hunting.' But he refused to go with him; so the elder brother went forth to the chase, whilst the younger abode in the pavilion aforesaid. As he was diverting himself by looking out upon the garden from the window of the palace, behold, he saw his brother's wife and with her ten black slaves and as many slave-girls. Each slave laid hold of a damsel [and swived her] and another slave [came forth and] did the like with the queen; and when they had done their occasions, they all returned whence they came. Therewithal there betided the King of Samarcand exceeding wonder and solacement and he was made whole of his malady, little by little.
After a few days, his brother returned and finding him healed of his sickness, said to him, 'Tell me, O my brother, what was the cause of thy sickness and thy pallor, and what is the cause of the return of health to thee and of rosiness to thy face after this?' So he acquainted him with the whole case and this was grievous to him; but they concealed their affair and agreed to leave the kingship and fare forth pilgrim-wise, wandering at a venture, for they deemed that there had befallen none the like of this which had befallen them. [So they went forth and wandered on at hazard] and as they journeyed, they saw by the way a woman imprisoned in seven chests, whereon were five locks, and sunken in the midst of the salt sea, under the guardianship of an Afrit; yet for all this that woman issued forth of the sea and opened those locks and coming forth of those chests, did what she would with the two brothers, after she had circumvented the Afrit.
When the two kings saw that woman's fashion and how she circumvented the Afrit, who had lodged her at the bottom of the sea, they turned back to their kingdoms and the younger betook himself to Samarcand, whilst the elder returned to China and established unto himself a custom in the slaughter of women, to wit, his vizier used to bring him a girl every night, with whom he lay that night, and when he arose in the morning, he gave her to the vizier and bade him put her to death. On this wise he abode a great while, whilst the people murmured and the creatures [of God] were destroyed and the commons cried out by reason of that grievous affair whereinto they were fallen and feared the wrath of God the Most High, dreading lest He should destroy them by means of this. Still the king persisted in that fashion and in that his blameworthy intent of the killing of women and the despoilment of the curtained ones,[FN#159] wherefore the girls sought succour of God the Most High and complained to Him of the tyranny of the king and of his oppressive dealing with them.
Now the king's vizier had two daughters, own sisters, the elder of whom had read books and made herself mistress of [all] sciences and studied the writings of the sages and the histories of the boon-companions,[FN#160] and she was possessed of abundant wit and knowledge galore and surpassing apprehension. She heard that which the folk suffered from the king and his despiteous usage of their children; whereupon compassion gat hold upon her for them and jealousy and she besought God the Most High that He would bring the king to renounce that his heresy,[FN#161] and God answered her prayer. Then she took counsel with her younger sister and said to her, 'I mean to contrive somewhat for the liberation of the people's children; and it is that I will go up to the king [and offer myself to him], and when I come to his presence, I will seek thee. When thou comest in to me and the king hath done his occasion [of me], do thou say to me, 'O my sister, let me hear and let the king hear a story of thy goodly stories, wherewithal we may beguile the waking hours of our night, till we take leave of each other.' 'It is well,' answered the other. 'Surely this contrivance will deter the king from his heresy and thou shalt be requited with exceeding favour and abounding recompense in the world to come, for that indeed thou adventurest thyself and wilt either perish or attain to thy desire.'
So she did this and fair fortune aided her and the Divine favour was vouchsafed unto her and she discovered her intent to her father, who forbade her therefrom, fearing her slaughter. However, she repeated her speech to him a second and a third time, but he consented not. Then he cited unto her a parable, that should deter her, and she cited him a parable in answer to his, and the talk was prolonged between them and the adducing of instances, till her father saw that he availed not to turn her from her purpose and she said to him, 'Needs must I marry the king, so haply I may be a sacrifice for the children of the Muslims; either I shall turn him from this his heresy or I shall die.' When the vizier despaired of dissuading her, he went up to the king and acquainted him with the case, saying, 'I have a daughter and she desireth to give herself to the king.' Quoth the king, 'How can thy soul consent unto this, seeing that thou knowest I lie but one night with a girl and when I arise on the morrow, I put her to death, and it is thou who slayest her, and thou hast done this again and again?' 'Know, O king,' answered the vizier, 'that I have set forth all this to her, yet consented she not unto aught, but needs must she have thy company and still chooseth to come to thee and present herself before thee, notwithstanding that I have cited to her the sayings of the sages; but she hath answered me to the contrary thereof with more than that which I said to her.' And the king said, 'Bring her to me this night and to-morrow morning come thou and take her and put her to death; and by Allah, an thou slay her not, I will slay thee and her also!'
The vizier obeyed the king's commandment and going out from before him, [returned to his own house. When it was night, he took his elder daughter and carried her up to the king; and when she came into his presence,] she wept; whereupon quoth he to her, 'What causeth thee weep? Indeed, it was thou who willedst this.' And she answered, saying, 'I weep not but for longing after my little sister; for that, since we grew up, I and she, I have never been parted from her till this day; so, if it please the king to send for her, that I may look on her and take my fill of her till the morning, this were bounty and kindness of the king.'
Accordingly, the king bade fetch the girl [and she came]. Then there befell that which befell of his foregathering with the elder sister, and when he went up to his couch, that he might sleep, the younger sister said to the elder, 'I conjure thee by Allah, O my sister, an thou be not asleep, tell us a story of thy goodly stories, wherewithal we may beguile the watches of our night, against morning come and parting.' 'With all my heart,' answered she and fell to relating to her, whilst the king listened. Her story was goodly and delightful, and whilst she was in the midst of telling it, the dawn broke. Now the king's heart clave to the hearing of the rest of the story; so he respited her till the morrow, and when it was the next night, she told him a story concerning the marvels of the lands and the extraordinary chances of the folk, that was yet stranger and rarer than the first. In the midst of the story, the day appeared and she was silent from the permitted speech. So he let her live till the ensuing night, so he might hear the completion of the story and after put her to death.
Meanwhile, the people of the city rejoiced and were glad and blessed the vizier's daughter, marvelling for that three days had passed and that the king had not put her to death and exulting in that, [as they deemed,] he had turned [from his purpose] and would never again burden himself with blood-guiltiness against any of the maidens of the city. Then, on the fourth night, she related to him a still more extraordinary story, and on the fifth night she told him anecdotes of kings and viziers and notables. On this wise she ceased not [to do] with him [many] days and nights, what while the king still said in himself, 'When I have heard the end of the story, I will put her to death,' and the people waxed ever in wonder and admiration. Moreover, the folk of the provinces and cities heard of this thing, to wit, that the king had turned from his custom and from that which he had imposed upon himself and had renounced his heresy, wherefore they rejoiced and the folk returned to the capital and took up their abode therein, after they had departed thence; yea, they were constant in prayer to God the Most High that He would stablish the king in that his present case; and this," said Shehrzad, "is the end of that which my friend related to me."
"O Shehrzad," quoth Shehriyar, "finish unto us the story that thy friend told thee, for that it resembleth the story of a king whom I knew; but fain would I hear that which betided the people of this city and what they said of the affair of the king, so I may return from that wherein I was." "With all my heart," answered Shehrzad. "Know, O august king and lord of just judgment and praiseworthy excellence and exceeding prowess, that, when the folk heard that the king had put away from him his custom and returned from that which had been his wont, they rejoiced in this with an exceeding joy and offered up prayers for him. Then they talked with one another of the cause of the slaughter of the girls, and the wise said, 'They[FN#162] are not all alike, nor are the fingers of the hand alike.'"
SHEHRZAD AND SHEHRIYAR.[FN#163]
(Conclusion)
When King Shehriyar heard this story, he came to himself and awaking from his drunkenness,[FN#164] said, "By Allah, this story is my story and this case is my case, for that indeed I was in wrath[FN#165] and [danger of] punishment till thou turnedst me back from this into the right way, extolled be the perfection of the Causer of causes and the Liberator of necks! Indeed, O Shehrzad," continued he, "thou hast awakened me unto many things and hast aroused me from mine ignorance."
Then said she to him, "O chief of the kings, the wise say, 'The kingship is a building, whereof the troops are the foundation,' and whenas the foundation is strong, the building endureth; wherefore it behoveth the king to strengthen the foundation, for that they say, 'Whenas the foundation is weak, the building falleth.' On like wise it behoveth the king to care for his troops and do justice among his subjects, even as the owner of the garden careth for his trees and cutteth away the weeds that have no profit in them; and so it behoveth the king to look into the affairs of his subjects and fend off oppression from them. As for thee, O king," continued Shehrzad, "it behoveth thee that thy vizier be virtuous and versed in the knowledge of the affairs of the folk and the common people; and indeed God the Most High hath named his name[FN#166] in the history of Moses (on whom be peace!) whenas He saith, [Quoth Moses] 'And make me a vizier of my people, Aaron [my brother].[FN#167] Could a vizier have been dispensed withal, Moses ben Imran had been worthier [than any of this dispensation].[FN#168]
As for the vizier, the sultan discovereth unto him his affairs, private and public; and know, O king, that the similitude of thee with the people is that of the physician with the sick man; and the condition[FN#169] of the vizier is that he be truthful in his sayings, trustworthy in all his relations, abounding in compassion for the folk and in tender solicitude over them. Indeed, it is said, O king, that good troops[FN#170] are like the druggist; if his perfumes reach thee not, thou still smallest the sweet scent of them; and ill troops are like the black-smith; if his sparks burn thee not, thou smellest his nauseous smell. So it behoveth thee take unto thyself a virtuous vizier, a man of good counsel, even as thou takest unto thee a wife displayed before thy face, for that thou hast need of the man's righteousness for thine own amendment,[FN#171] seeing that, if thou do righteously, the commons will do likewise, and if thou do evil, they also will do evil."
When the king heard this, drowsiness overcame him and he slept and presently awaking, called for the candles. So they were lighted and he sat down on his couch and seating Shehrzad by him, smiled in her face. She kissed the earth before him and said, "O king of the age and lord of the time and the day, extolled be the perfection of [God] the Forgiving One, the Bountiful Giver, who hath sent me unto thee, of His favour and beneficence, so I have informed thee with longing after Paradise; for that this which thou wast used to do was never done of any of the kings before thee. As for women, God the Most High [in His Holy Book] maketh mention of them, [whenas He saith, 'Verily, men who submit [themselves unto God] and women who submit] and true-believing men and true-believing women and obedient men and obedient women and soothfast men and soothfast women [and long-suffering men and long-suffering women and men who order themselves humbly and women who order themselves humbly and charitable men and charitable women and men who fast and women who fast] and men who guard their privities and women who guard their privities [and men who are constantly mindful of God and women who are constantly mindful, God hath prepared unto them forgiveness and a mighty recompense].[FN#172]
As for that which hath befallen thee, verily, it hath befallen [many] kings before thee and their women have played them false, for all they were greater of puissance than thou, yea, and mightier of kingship and more abounding in troops. If I would, I could relate unto thee, O king, concerning the wiles of women, that whereof I could not make an end all my life long; and indeed, aforetime, in all these my nights that I have passed before thee, I have told thee [many stories and anecdotes] of the artifices of women and of their craft and perfidy; but indeed the things abound on me;[FN#173] wherefore, if it like thee, O king, I will relate unto thee [somewhat] of that which befell kings of old time of the perfidy of their women and of the calamities which overtook them by reason of these latter." "How so?" asked the king. "Tell on." "Hearkening and obedience,"answered Shehrzad."It hath been told me, O king, that a man once related to a company and spoke as follows:
THE FAVOURITE AND HER LOVER.[FN#174]
One day, a day of excessive heat, as I stood at the door of my house, I saw a fair woman approaching, and with her a slave-girl carrying a parcel. They gave not over going till they came up to me, when the woman stopped and said to me, 'Hast thou a draught of water?' 'Yes,' answered I. 'Enter the vestibule, O my lady, so thou mayst drink.' Accordingly, she entered and I went up into the house and fetched two mugs of earthenware, perfumed with musk[FN#175] and full of cold water. She took one of them and discovered her face, [that she might drink]; whereupon I saw that she was as the shining sun or the rising moon and said to her, 'O my lady, wilt thou not come up into the house, so thou mayst rest thyself till the air grow cool and after go away to thine own place?' Quoth she, 'Is there none with thee?' 'Indeed,' answered I, 'I am a [stranger] and a bachelor and have none belonging to me, nor is there a living soul in the house.' And she said, 'An thou be a stranger, thou art he in quest of whom I was going about.'
Then she went up into the house and put off her [walking] clothes and I found her as she were the full moon. I brought her what I had by me of meat and drink and said to her, 'O my lady, excuse me: this is that which is ready.' Quoth she, 'This is abundant kindness and indeed it is what I sought' And she ate and gave the slave-girl that which was left; after which I brought her a casting-bottle of rose-water, mingled with musk, and she washed her hands and abode with me till the season of afternoon-prayer, when she brought out of the parcel that she had with her a shirt and trousers and an upper garment[FN#176] and a kerchief wroughten with gold and gave them to me; saying, 'Know that I am one of the favourites of the Khalif, and we are forty favourites, each one of whom hath a lover who cometh to her as often as she would have him; and none is without a lover save myself, wherefore I came forth to-day to find me a gallant and behold, I have found thee. Thou must know that the Khalif lieth each night with one of us, whilst the other nine-and-thirty favourites take their ease with the nine-and-thirty men, and I would have thee be with me on such a day, when do thou come up to the palace of the Khalif and wait for me in such a place, till a little eunuch come out to thee and say to thee a [certain] word, to wit, "Art thou Sendel?" And do thou answer, "Yes," and go with him.'
Then she took leave of me and I of her, after I had strained her to my bosom and embraced her and we had kissed awhile. So she went away and I abode expecting the appointed day, till it came, when I arose and went forth, intending for the trysting-place; but a friend of mine met me by the way [and would have me go home with him. So I accompanied him to his house] and when I came up [into his sitting-chamber] he locked the door on me and went forth to fetch what we might eat and drink. He was absent till mid-day, then till the hour of afternoon-prayer, whereat I was sore disquieted. Then he was absent till sundown, and I was like to die of chagrin and impatience; [and indeed he returned not] and I passed my night on wake, nigh upon death, for that the door was locked on me, and my soul was like to depart my body on account of the tryst.
At daybreak, my friend returned and opening the door, came in, bringing with him meat-pottage[FN#177] and fritters and bees' honey,[FN#178] and said to me, 'By Allah, thou must needs excuse me, for that I was with a company and they locked the door on me and have but now let me go.' But I returned him no answer. Then he set before me that which was with him and I ate a single mouthful and went out, running, so haply I might overtake that which had escaped me.[FN#179] When I came to the palace, I saw over against it eight-and-thirty gibbets set up, whereon were eight-and-thirty men crucified, and under them eight-and-thirty concubines as they were moons. So I enquired of the reason of the crucifixion of the men and concerning the women in question, and it was said unto me, 'The men [whom thou seest] crucified the Khalif found with yonder damsels, who are his favourites.' When I heard this, I prostrated myself in thanksgiving to God and said, 'God requite thee with good, O my friend!' For that, had he not invited me [and kept me perforce in his house] that night, I had been crucified with these men, wherefore praise be to God!
Thus," continued Shehrzad, "none is safe from the calamities of fortune and the vicissitudes of time, and [in proof of this], I will relate unto thee yet another story still rarer and more extraordinary than this. Know, O King, that one said to me, 'A friend of mine, a merchant, told me the following story. Quoth he,
THE MERCHANT OF CAIRO AND THE FAVOURITE OF THE KHALIF EL MAMOUN EL HAKIM BI AMRILLAH.[FN#180]
As I sat one day in my shop, there came up to me a fair woman, as she were the moon at its rising, and with her a slave-girl. Now I was a handsome man in my time; so the lady sat down on [the bench before] my shop and buying stuffs of me, paid down the price and went away. I questioned the girl of her and she said, "I know not her name." Quoth I, "Where is her abode?" "In heaven," answered the slave-girl; and I said, "She is presently on the earth; so when doth she ascend to heaven and where is the ladder by which she goeth up?" Quoth the girl, "She hath her lodging in a palace between two rivers,[FN#181] to wit, the palace of El Mamoun el Hakim bi Amrillah."[FN#182] Then said I, "I am a dead man, without recourse; "but she replied, "Have patience, for needs must she return unto thee and buy stuffs of thee yet again." "And how cometh it," asked I, "that the Commander of the Faithful trusteth her to go out?" "He loveth her with an exceeding love," answered she, "and is wrapped up in her and gainsayeth her not."
Then the girl went away, running, after her mistress, whereupon I left the shop and set out after them, so I might see her abiding-place. I followed after them all the way, till she disappeared from mine eyes, when I returned to my place, with a heart on fire. Some days after, she came to me again and bought stuffs of me. I refused to take the price and she said, "We have no need of thy goods." Quoth I, "O my lady, accept them from me as a gift;" but she said, "[Wait] till I try thee and make proof of thee." Then she brought out of her pocket a purse and gave me therefrom a thousand dinars, saying, "Trade with this till I return to thee." So I took the purse and she went away [and returned not to me] till six months had passed by. Meanwhile, I traded with the money and sold and bought and made other thousand dinars profit [on it].
Presently, she came to me again and I said to her, "Here is thy money and I have gained [with it] other thousand dinars." Quoth she, "Keep it by thee and take these other thousand dinars. As soon as I have departed from thee, go thou to Er Rauzeh[FN#183] and build there a goodly pavilion, and when the building thereof is accomplished, give me to know thereof." So saying, she left me and went away. As soon as she was gone, I betook myself to Er Rauzeh and addressed myself to the building of the pavilion, and when it was finished, I furnished it with the goodliest of furniture and sent to the lady to tell her that I had made an end of its building; whereupon she sent back to me, saying, "Let him meet me to-morrow at daybreak at the Zuweyleh gate and bring with him a good ass." So I got me an ass and betaking myself to the Zuweyleh gate, at the appointed time, found there a young man on horse- back, awaiting her, even as I awaited her.
As we stood, behold, up came the lady, and with her a slave-girl. When she saw the young man, she said to him, "Art thou here?" And he answered, "Yes, O my lady." Quoth she, "To-day I am bidden by this man. Wilt thou go with us?" And he replied, "Yes." Then said she, "Thou hast brought me [hither] against my will and perforce. Wilt thou go with us in any event?"[FN#184] "Yes, yes," answered he and we fared on, [all three,] till we came to Er Rauzeh and entered the pavilion. The lady diverted herself awhile with viewing its ordinance and furniture, after which she put off her [walking-]clothes and sat down [with the young man] in the goodliest and chiefest place. Then I went forth and brought them what they should eat at the first of the day; moreover, I went out also and fetched them what they should eat at the last of the day and brought them wine and dessert and fruits and flowers. On this wise I abode in their service, standing on my feet, and she said not unto me, "Sit," nor "Take, eat" nor "Take, drink," what while she and the young man sat toying and laughing, and he fell to kissing her and pinching her and hopping about upon the ground and laughing.
They abode thus awhile and presently she said, "Up to now we have not become drunken; let me pour out." So she took the cup and gave him to drink and plied him with liquor, till he became drunken, when she took him and carried him into a closet. Then she came out, with his head in her hand, what while I stood silent, fixing not mine eyes on hers neither questioning her of this; and she said to me, "What is this?" "I know not," answered I; and she said, "Take it and cast it into the river." I obeyed her commandment and she arose and stripping herself of her clothes, took a knife and cut the dead man's body in pieces, which she laid in three baskets, and said to me, "Throw them into the river."
I did as she bade me and when I returned, she said to me, "Sit, so I may relate to thee yonder fellow's case, lest thou be affrighted at that which hath befallen him. Thou must know that I am the Khalif's favourite, nor is there any more in honour with him than I; and I am allowed six nights in each month, wherein I go down [into the city and take up my abode] with my [former] mistress, who reared me; and when I go down thus, I dispose of myself as I will. Now this young man was the son of neighbours of my mistress, when I was a virgin girl. One day, my mistress was [engaged] with the chief [officers] of the palace and I was alone in the house. When the night came on, I went up to the roof, so I might sleep there, and before I was aware, this youth came up from the street and falling upon me, knelt on my breast. He was armed with a poniard and I could not win free of him till he had done away my maidenhead by force; and this sufficed him not, but he must needs disgrace me with all the folk, for, as often as I came down from the palace, he would lie in wait for me by the way and swive me against my will and follow me whithersoever I went. This, then, is my story, and as for thee, thou pleasest me and thy patience pleaseth me and thy good faith and loyal service, and there abideth with me none dearer than thou." Then I lay with her that night and there befell what befell between us till the morning, when she gave me wealth galore and fell to coming to the pavilion six days in every month.
On this wise we abode a whole year, at the end of which time she was absent[FN#185] from me a month's space, wherefore fire raged in my heart on her account. When it was the next month, behold, a little eunuch presented himself to me and said, "I am a messenger to thee from such an one," [naming my mistress], "who giveth thee to know that the Commander of the Faithful hath sentenced her to be drowned, her and those who are with her, six-and-twenty slave-girls, on such a day at Deir et Tin,[FN#186] for that they have confessed against one another of lewdness, and she biddeth thee look how thou mayst do with her and how thou mayst contrive to deliver her, even if thou gather together all her money and spend it upon her, for that this is the time of manhood."[FN#187] Quoth I, "I know not this woman; belike it is other than I [to whom this message is addressed]; so beware, O eunuch, lest thou cast me into stress." Quoth he, "Behold, I have told thee [that which I had to say,">[ and went away, leaving me in concern [on her account].
[When the appointed day arrived], I arose and changing my clothes and favour, donned sailor's apparel; then I took with me a purse full of gold and buying good [victual for the] morning-meal, accosted a boatman [at Deir et Tin] and sat down and ate with him; after which said I to him, "Wilt thou hire me thy boat?" Quoth he, "The Commander of the Faithful hath commanded me to be here;" and he told me the story of the concubines and how the Khalif purposed to drown them that day. When I heard this from him, I brought out to him half a score dinars and discovered to him my case, whereupon quoth he to me, "O my brother, get thee empty calabashes, and when thy mistress cometh, give me to know of her and I will contrive the trick."
I kissed his hand and thanked him, and as I was walking about, [waiting,] up came the guards and eunuchs with the women, who were weeping and crying out and taking leave of one another. The eunuchs cried out to us, whereupon we came with the boat, and they said to the boatman, "Who is this?" "This is my mate," answered he, "[whom I have brought,] to help me, so one of us may keep the boat, whilst another doth your service." Then they brought out to us the women, one by one, saying, "Throw them [in] by the Island;" and we answered, "It is well." Now each of them was shackled and they had made a jar of sand fast about her neck. We did as the eunuchs bade us and ceased not to take the women, one after another, and cast them in, till they gave us my mistress and I winked to my comrade. So we took her and carried her out into mid-stream, where I gave her the empty calabashes[FN#188] and said to her, "Wait for me at the mouth of the canal." Then we cast her in, after we had loosed the jar of sand from her neck and done off her fetters, and returned.
Now there remained one after her; so we took her and drowned her and the eunuchs went away, whilst we dropped down the river with the boat till we came to the mouth of the canal, where I saw my mistress awaiting me. So we took her up into the boat and returned to our pavilion on Er Rauzeh. Then I rewarded the boatman and he took his boat and went away; whereupon quoth she to me, "Thou art indeed a friend in need."[FN#189] And I abode with her some days; but the shock wrought upon her so that she sickened and fell to wasting away and redoubled in languishment and weakness till she died. I mourned for her with an exceeding mourning and buried her; after which I removed all that was in the pavilion to my own house [and abandoned the former].
Now she had brought to the pavilion aforetime a little brass coffer and laid it in a place whereof I knew not; so, when the inspector of inheritances[FN#190] came, he searched the pavilion and found the coffer, with the key in the lock. So he opened it and finding it full of jewels and jacinths and earrings and seal-rings and precious stones, such as are not found save with kings and sultans, took it, and me with it, and ceased not to put me to the question with beating and torment till I confessed to them the whole affair from beginning to end, whereupon they carried me to the Khalif and I told him all that had passed between me and her; and he said to me, "O man, depart from this city, for I acquit thee for thy valiance sake and because of thy [constancy in] keeping thy secret and thy daring in exposing thyself to death." So I arose forthright and departed his city; and this is what befell me.'"
SHEHRZAD AND SHEHRIYAR.
King Shehriyar marvelled at these things and Shehrzad said to him, "Thou marvelledst at that which befell thee on the part of women; yet hath there befallen the kings of the Chosroes before thee what was more grievous than that which befell thee, and indeed I have set forth unto thee that which betided khalifs and kings and others than they with their women, but the exposition is long and hearkening groweth tedious, and in this [that I have already told thee] is sufficiency for the man of understanding and admonishment for the wise."
Then she was silent, and when the king heard her speech and profited by that which she said, he summoned up his reasoning faculties and cleansed his heart and caused his understanding revert [to the right way] and turned [with repentance] to God the Most High and said in himself, "Since there befell the kings of the Chosroes more than that which hath befallen me, never, whilst I abide [on life], shall I cease to blame myself [for that which I did in the slaughter of the daughters of the folk]. As for this Shehrzad, her like is not found in the lands; so extolled be the perfection of Him who appointed her a means for the deliverance of His creatures from slaughter and oppression!" Then he arose from his session and kissed her head, whereat she rejoiced with an exceeding joy, she and her sister Dinarzad.
When the morning morrowed, the king went forth and sitting down on the throne of the kingship, summoned the grandees of his empire; whereupon the chamberlains and deputies and captains of the host went in to him and kissed the earth before him. He distinguished the vizier with his especial favour and bestowed on him a dress of honour and entreated him with the utmost kindness, after which he set forth briefly to his chief officers that which had betided him with Shehrzad and how he had turned from that his former usance and repented him of what he had done aforetime and purposed to take the vizier's daughter Shehrzad to wife and let draw up the contract of marriage with her.
When those who were present heard this, they kissed the earth before him and offered up prayers for him and for the damsel Shehrzad, and the vizier thanked her. Then Shehriyar made an end of the session in all weal, whereupon the folk dispersed to their dwelling-places and the news was bruited abroad that the king purposed to marry the vizier's daughter Shehrzad. Then he proceeded to make ready the wedding gear, and [when he had made an end of his preparations], he sent after his brother King Shahzeman, who came, and King Shehriyar went forth to meet him with the troops. Moreover, they decorated the city after the goodliest fashion and diffused perfumes [from the censing-vessels] and [burnt] aloes-wood and other perfumes in all the markets and thoroughfares and rubbed themselves with saffron, what while the drums beat and the flutes and hautboys sounded and it was a notable day.
When they came to the palace, King Shehriyar commanded to spread the tables with beasts roasted [whole] and sweetmeats and all manner viands and bade the crier make proclamation to the folk that they should come up to the Divan and eat and drink and that this should be a means of reconciliation between him and them. So great and small came up unto him and they abode on that wise, eating and drinking, seven days with their nights. Then the king shut himself up with his brother and acquainted him with that which had betided him with the vizier's daughter [Shehrzad] in those three years [which were past] and told him what he had heard from her of saws and parables and chronicles and pleasant traits and jests and stories and anecdotes and dialogues and histories and odes and verses; whereat King Shahzeman marvelled with the utterest of marvel and said, "Fain would I take her younger sister to wife, so we may be two own brothers to two own sisters, and they on likewise be sisters unto us; for that the calamity which befell me was the means of the discovering of that which befell thee and all this time of three years past I have taken no delight in woman, save that I lie each night with a damsel of my kingdom, and when I arise in the morning, I put her to death; but now I desire to marry thy wife's sister Dinarzad."
When King Shehriyar heard his brother's words he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and arising forthright, went in to his wife Shehrzad and gave her to know of that which his brother purposed, to wit, that he sought her sister Dinarzad in marriage; whereupon, "O king of the age," answered she, "we seek of him one condition, to wit, that he take up his abode with us, for that I cannot brook to be parted from my sister an hour, because we were brought up together and may not brook severance from each other. If he accept this condition, she is his handmaid." King Shehriyar returned to his brother and acquainted him with that which Shehrzad had said; and he answered, saying, "Indeed, this is what was in my mind, for that I desire nevermore to be parted from thee. As for the kingdom, God the Most High shall send unto it whom He chooseth, for that there abideth to me no desire for the kingship."
When King Shehriyar heard his brother's words, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and said, "Verily, this is what I had wished, O my brother. So praised be God who hath brought about union between us!" Then he sent after the Cadis and learned men and captains and notables, and they married the two brothers to the two sisters. The contracts were drawn up and the two kings bestowed dresses of honour of silk and satin on those who were present, whilst the city was decorated and the festivities were renewed. The king commanded each amir and vizier and chamberlain and deputy to decorate his palace and the folk of the city rejoiced in the presage of happiness and content. Moreover, King Shehriyar bade slaughter sheep and get up kitchens and made bride-feasts and fed all comers, high and low.
Then the eunuchs went forth, that they might perfume the bath [for the use of the brides]; so they essenced it with rose-water and willow-flower-water and bladders of musk and fumigated it with Cakili[FN#191] aloes-wood and ambergris. Then Shehrzad entered, she and her sister Dinarzad, and they cleansed their heads and clipped their hair. When they came forth of the bath, they donned raiment and ornaments, [such as were] prepared for the kings of the Chosroes; and among Shehrzad's apparel was a dress charactered with red gold and wroughten with semblants of birds and beasts. Moreover, they both encircled their necks with necklaces of jewels of price, in the like whereof Iskender[FN#192] rejoiced not, for therein were great jewels such as amazed the wit and the eye, and the thought was bewildered at their charms, for indeed, each of them was brighter than the sun and the moon. Before them they kindled lighted flambeaux in torch-holders of gold, but their faces outshone the flambeaux, for that they had eyes sharper than drawn swords and the lashes of their eyelids ensorcelled all hearts. Their cheeks were rosy and their necks and shapes swayed gracefully and their eyes wantoned. And the slave-girls came to meet them with instruments of music.
Then the two kings entered the bath, and when they came forth, they sat down on a couch, inlaid with pearls and jewels, whereupon the two sisters came up to them and stood before them, as they were moons, swaying gracefully from side to side in their beauty and grace. Presently they brought forward Shehrzad and displayed her, for the first dress, in a red suit; whereupon King Shehriyar rose to look upon her and the wits of all present, men and women, were confounded, for that she was even as saith of her one of her describers:
Like a sun at the end of a cane in a hill of sand, She shines in
a dress of the hue of pomegranate flower.
She gives me to drink of her cheeks and her honeyed lips And
quenches the worst of the fires that my heart devour.
Then they attired Dinarzad in a dress of blue brocade and she became as she were the full moon, whenas it shineth forth. So they displayed her in this, for the first dress, before King Shahzeman, who rejoiced in her and well-nigh took leave of his wits for longing and amorous desire; yea, he was distraught with love for her, whenas he saw her, for, indeed, she was as saith of her one of her describers in the following verses:
She comes in a robe the colour of ultramarine, Blue as the
stainless sky, unflecked with white;
I view her with yearning eyes and she seems to me A moon of the
summer, set in a winter's night.
Then they returned to Shehrzad and displayed her in the second dress. They clad her in a dress of surpassing goodliness, and veiled her face to the eyes with her hair. Moreover, they let down her side locks and she was even as saith of her one of her describers in the following verses:
Bravo for her whose loosened locks her cheeks do overcloud! She
slays me with her cruelty, so fair she is and proud.
Quoth I, "Thou overcurtainest the morning with the night;" And
she, "Not so; it is the moon that with the dark I shroud."
Then they displayed Dinarzad in a second and a third and a fourth dress and she came forward, as she were the rising sun, and swayed coquettishly to and fro; and indeed she was even as saith the poet of her in the following verses:
A sun of beauty she appears to all who look on her, Glorious in
arch and amorous grace, with coyness beautified;
And when the sun of morning sees her visage and her smile,
O'ercome. he hasteneth his face behind the clouds to hide.
Then they displayed Shehrzad in the third dress and the fourth and the fifth, and she became as she were a willow-wand or a thirsting gazelle, goodly of grace and perfect of attributes, even as saith of her one in the following verses:
Like the full moon she shows upon a night of fortune fair,
Slender of shape and charming all with her seductive air.
She hath an eye, whose glances pierce the hearts of all mankind,
Nor can cornelian with her cheeks for ruddiness compare.
The sable torrent of her locks falls down unto her hips; Beware
the serpents of her curls, I counsel thee, beware!
Indeed her glance, her sides are soft; but none the less, alas!
Her heart is harder than the rock; there is no mercy there.
The starry arrows of her looks she darts above her veil; They hit
and never miss the mark, though from afar they fare.
Then they returned to Dinarzad and displayed her in the fifth dress and in the sixth, which was green. Indeed, she overpassed with her loveliness the fair of the four quarters of the world and outshone, with the brightness of her countenance, the full moon at its rising; for she was even as saith of her the poet in the following verses:
A damsel made for love and decked with subtle grace; Thou'dst
deem the very sun had borrowed from her face.
She came in robes of green, the likeness of the leaf That the
pomegranate's flower doth in the bud encase.
"How call'st thou this thy dress?" quoth we, and she replied A
word wherein the wise a lesson well might trace;
"Breaker of hearts," quoth she, "I call it, for therewith I've
broken many a heart among the amorous race."
Then they displayed Shehrzad in the sixth and seventh dresses and clad her in youths' apparel, whereupon she came forward, swaying coquettishly from side to side; and indeed she ravished wits and hearts and ensorcelled with her glances [all who looked on her]. She shook her sides and wagged her hips, then put her hair on the hilt of her sword and went up to King Shehriyar, who embraced her, as the hospitable man embraces the guest, and threatened her in her ear with the taking of the sword; and indeed she was even as saith of her the poet in these verses:
Were not the darkness[FN#193] still in gender masculine, As
ofttimes is the case with she-things passing fine,
Tirewomen to the bride, who whiskers, ay, and beard Upon her face
produce, they never would assign.[FN#194]
On this wise they did with her sister Dinarzad, and when they had made an end of displaying the two brides, the king bestowed dresses of honour on all who were present and dismissed them to their own places. Then Shehrzad went in to King Shehriyar and Dinarzad to King Shahzeman and each of them solaced himself with the company of his beloved and the hearts of the folk were comforted. When the morning morrowed, the vizier came in to the two kings and kissed the ground before them; wherefore they thanked him and were bountiful to him. Then they went forth and sat down upon couches of estate, whilst all the viziers and amirs and grandees and the chief officers of the realm and the household presented themselves before them and kissed the earth. King Shehriyar ordered them dresses of honour and largesse and they offered up prayers for the abiding continuance [on life] of the king and his brother.
Then the two kings appointed their father-in-law the vizier to be viceroy in Samarcand and assigned him five of the chief amirs to accompany him, charging them attend him and do him service. The vizier kissed the earth and prayed that they might be vouchsafed length of life. Then he went in to his daughters, whilst the eunuchs and ushers walked before him, and saluted them and bade them farewell. They kissed his hands and gave him joy of the kingship and bestowed on him treasures galore. Then he took leave of them and setting out, journeyed days and nights till he came within three days' journey of Samarcand, where the townspeople met him and rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy. So he entered Samarcand and they decorated the city, and it was a notable day. He sat down on the throne of his kingship and the viziers did him homage and the grandees and amirs of Samarcand and prayed that he might be vouchsafed justice and victory and length of continuance [on life]. So he bestowed on them dresses of honour and entreated them with worship and they made him Sultan over them.
As soon as his father-in-law had departed for Samarcand, King Shehriyar summoned the grandees of his realm and made them a magnificent banquet of all manner rich meats and exquisite sweetmeats. Moreover, he bestowed on them dresses of honour and guerdoned them and divided the kingdoms between himself and his brother in their presence, whereat the folk rejoiced. Then the two kings abode, ruling each a day in turn and they accorded with each other, what while their wives continued in the love of God the Most High and in thanksgiving to Him; and the subjects and the provinces were at peace and the preachers prayed for them from the pulpits, and their report was bruited abroad and the travellers bore tidings of them [to all countries].
Moreover, King Shehriyar summoned chroniclers and copyists and bade them write all that had betided him with his wife, first and last; so they wrote this and named it "The Stories of the Thousand Nights and One Night." The book came to[FN#195] thirty volumes and these the king laid up in his treasury. Then the two kings abode with their wives in all delight and solace of life, for that indeed God the Most High had changed their mourning into joyance; and on this wise they continued till there took them the Destroyer of Delights and Sunderer of Companies, he who maketh void the dwelling-places and peopleth the tombs, and they were translated to the mercy of God the Most High; their houses were laid waste and their palaces ruined and the kings inherited their riches.
Then there reigned after them an understanding king, who was just, keen-witted and accomplished and loved stories, especially those which chronicle the doings of kings and sultans, and he found [in the treasuries of the kings who had foregone him] these marvellous and rare and delightful stories, [written] in the thirty volumes aforesaid. So he read in them a first book and a second and a third and [so on] to the last of them, and each book pleased him more than that which forewent it, till he came to the end of them. Then he marvelled at that which he had read [therein] of stories and discourse and witty traits and anecdotes and moral instances and reminiscences and bade the folk copy them and publish them in all lands and climes; wherefore their report was bruited abroad and the people named them "The marvels and rarities of the Thousand Nights and One Night." This is all that hath come down to us of [the history of] this book, and God is All-Knowing.[FN#196]
Calcutta (1814-18) Text. 183
Sindbad the Sailor and Hindbad the Porter
NOTE.
As the version of the sixth and seventh voyages of Sindbad the Sailor contained in[FN#197] the Calcutta Edition (1814-18) of the first two hundred Nights and in the text of the Voyages published by M. Langles (Paris, 1814) differs very materially from that of the complete Calcutta (1839-42) Edition[FN#198] (which is, in this case, practically identical with those of Boulac and Breslau), adopted by me as my standard text in the translation of "The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," the story of the seventh voyage in particular turning upon an altogether different set of incidents, related nearly as in the old version of M. Galland, I now give a translation of the text of the two voyages in question afforded by the Calcutta (1814-18) Edition, corrected and completed by collation with that of M. Langles, from which it differs only in being slightly less full. It will be observed that in this version of the story the name Sindbad is reserved for the Sailor, the porter being called Hindbad.
SINDBAD THE SAILOR AND HINDBAD THE PORTER.
On the morrow they[FN#199] returned to their place, as of their wont, and betook themselves to eating and drinking and merry-making and sporting till the last of the day, when Sindbad bade them hearken to his relation concerning his sixth voyage, the which (quoth he) is of the most extraordinary of pleasant stories and the most startling [for that which it compriseth] of tribulations and disasters. Then said he,
THE SIXTH VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.
"When I returned from my fifth voyage, I gave myself up to eating and drinking and passed my time in solace and delight and forgot that which I had suffered of stresses and afflictions, nor was it long before the thought of travel again presented itself to my mind and my soul hankered after the sea. So I brought out the goods and binding up the bales, departed from Baghdad, [intending] for certain of the lands, and came to the sea-coast, where I embarked in a stout ship, in company with a number of other merchants of like mind with myself, and we [set out and] sailed till we came among certain distant islands and found ourselves in difficult and dangerous case.
[One day], as the ship was sailing along, and we unknowing where we were, behold, the captain came down [from the mast] and casting his turban from his head, fell to buffeting his face and plucking at his beard and weeping and supplicating [God for deliverance]. We asked him what ailed him, and he answered, saying, 'Know, O my masters, that the ship is fallen among shallows and drifteth upon a sand-bank of the sea. Another moment [and we shall be upon it]. If we clear the bank, [well and good]; else, we are all dead men and not one of us will be saved; wherefore pray ye to God the Most High, so haply He may deliver us from these deadly perils, or we shall lose our lives.' So saying, he mounted [the mast] and set the sail, but at that moment a contrary wind smote the ship, and it rose upon the crest of the waves and sank down again into the trough of the sea.
Now there was before us a high mountain,[FN#200] rising [abruptly] from the sea, and the ship fell off into an eddy,[FN#201] which bore it on till presently it struck upon the skirt[FN#202] of the mountain and broke in sunder; whereupon the captain came down [from the mast], weeping, and said, 'God's will be done! Take leave of one another and look yourselves out graves from to-day, for we have fallen into a predicament[FN#203] from which there is no escape, and never yet hath any been cast away here and come off alive.' So all the folk fell a-weeping and gave themselves up for lost, despairing of deliverance; friend took leave of friend and sore was the mourning and lamentation; for that hope was cut off and they were left without guide or pilot.[FN#204] Then all who were in the ship landed on the skirt of the mountain and found themselves on a long island, whose shores were strewn with [wrecks], beyond count or reckoning, [of] ships that had been cast away [there] and whose crews had perished; and there also were dry bones and dead bodies, heaped upon one another, and goods without number and riches past count So we abode confounded, drunken, amazed, humbling ourselves [in supplication to God] and repenting us [of having exposed ourselves to the perils of travel]; but repentance availed not in that place.
In this island is a river of very sweet water, issuing from the shore of the sea and entering in at a wide cavern in the skirt of an inaccessible mountain, and the stones of the island are all limpid sparkling crystal and jacinths of price. Therein also is a spring of liquid, welling up like [molten] pitch, and when it cometh to the shore of the island, the fish swallow it, then return and cast it up, and it becometh changed from its condition and that which it was aforetime; and it is crude ambergris. Moreover, the trees of the island are all of the most precious aloes-wood, both Chinese and Comorin; but there is no way of issue from the place, for it is as an abyss midmost the sea; the steepness of its shore forbiddeth the drawing up of ships, and if any approach the mountain, they fall into the eddy aforesaid; nor is there any resource[FN#205] in that island.
So we abode there, daily expecting death, and whoso of us had with him a day's victual ate it in five days, and after this he died; and whoso had with him a month's victual ate it in five months and died also. As for me, I had with me great plenty of victual; so I buried it in a certain place and brought it out, [little by little,] and fed on it; and we ceased not to be thus, burying one the other, till all died but myself and I abode alone, having buried the last of my companions, and but little victual remained to me. So I said in myself, 'Who will bury me in this place?' And I dug me a grave and abode in expectation of death, for that I was in a state of exhaustion. Then, of the excess of my repentance, I blamed and reproached myself for my much [love of] travel and said, 'How long wilt thou thus imperil thyself?' And I abode as I were a madman, unable to rest; but, as I was thus melancholy and distracted, God the Most High inspired me with an idea, and it was that I looked at the river aforesaid, as it entered in at the mouth of the cavern in the skirt of the mountain, and said in myself, 'Needs must this water have issue in some place.'
So I arose and gathering wood and planks from the wrecks, wrought of them the semblance of a boat [to wit, a raft,] and bound it fast with ropes, saying, 'I will embark thereon and fare with this water into the inward of the mountain. If it bring me to the mainland or to a place where I may find relief and safety, [well and good]; else I shall [but] perish, even as my companions have perished.' Then I collected of the riches and gold and precious stuffs, cast up there, whose owners had perished, a great matter, and of jacinths and crude ambergris and emeralds somewhat past count, and laid all this on the raft [together with what was left me of victual]. Then I launched it on the river and seating myself upon it, put my trust in God the Most High and committed myself to the stream.
The raft fared on with me, running along the surface of the river, and entered into the inward of the mountain, where the light of day forsook me and I abode dazed and stupefied, unknowing whither I went. Whenas I hungered, I ate a little of the victual I had with me, till it was all spent and I abode expecting the mercy of the Lord of all creatures.[FN#206] Presently I found myself in a strait [channel] in the darkness and my head rubbed against the roof of the cave; and in this case I abode awhile, knowing not night from day, whilst anon the channel grew straiter and anon widened out; and whenas my breast was straitened and I was confounded at my case, sleep took me and I knew neither little nor much.
When I awoke and opened my eyes, I found myself [in the open air] and the raft moored to the bank of the stream, whilst about me were folk of the blacks of Hind. When they saw that I was awake, they came up to me, to question me; so I rose to them and saluted them. They bespoke me in a tongue I knew not, whilst I deemed myself in a dream, and for the excess of my joy, I was like to fly and my reason refused to obey me. Then there came to my mind the verses of the poet and I recited, saying:
Let destiny with loosened rein its course appointed fare And lie thou down to sleep by night, with
heart devoid of care;
For 'twixt the closing of an eye and th'opening thereof, God hath it in His power to change a case
from foul to fair.
When they heard me speak in Arabic, one of them came up to me and saluting me [in that language], questioned me of my case. Quoth I, 'What [manner of men] are ye and what country is this?' 'O my brother,' answered he, 'we are husbandmen and come to this river, to draw water, wherewithal to water our fields; and whilst we were thus engaged to-day, as of wont, this boat appeared to us on the surface of the water, issuing from the inward of yonder mountain. So we came to it and finding thee asleep therein, moored it to the shore, against thou shouldst awake. Acquaint us, therefore, with thy history and tell us how thou camest hither and whence thou enteredst this river and what land is behind yonder mountain, for that we have never till now known any make his way thence to us.' But I said to them, 'Give me somewhat to eat and after question me.' So they brought me food and I ate and my spirits revived and I was refreshed. Then I related to them all that had befallen me, whereat they were amazed and confounded and said, 'By Allah, this is none other than a marvellous story, and needs must we carry thee to our king, that thou mayst acquaint him therewith.' So they carried me before their king, and I kissed his hand and saluted him.
Now he was the king of the land of Serendib,[FN#207] and he welcomed me and entreated me with kindness, bidding me be seated and admitting me to his table and converse. So I talked with him and called down blessings upon him and he took pleasure in my discourse and showed me satisfaction and said to me, 'What is thy name?' 'O my lord,' answered I, 'my name is Sindbad the Sailor;' and he said, 'And what countryman art thou?' Quoth I, 'I am of Baghdad.' 'And how earnest thou hither?' asked he. So I told him my story and he marvelled mightily thereat and said, 'By Allah, O Sindbad, this thy story is marvellous and it behoveth that it be written in characters of gold.'
Then they brought the raft before him and I said to him, 'O my lord, I am in thy hands, I and all my good.' He looked at the raft and seeing therein jacinths and emeralds and crude ambergris, the like whereof was not in his treasuries, marvelled and was amazed at this. Then said he, 'O Sindbad, God forbid that we should covet that which God the Most High hath vouchsafed unto thee! Nay, it behoveth us rather to further thee on thy return to thine own country.' So I called down blessings on him and thanked him. Then he signed to one of his attendants, who took me and established me in a goodly lodging, and the king assigned me a daily allowance and pages to wait on me. And every day I used to go in to him and he entertained me and entreated me friendly and delighted in my converse; and as often as our assembly broke up, I went out and walked about the town and the island, diverting myself by viewing them.
Now this island is under the Equinoctial line; its night is still twelve hours and its day the like. Its length is fourscore parasangs and its breadth thirty, and it is a great island, stretching between a lofty mountain and a deep valley. This mountain is visible at a distance of three days' journey and therein are various kinds of jacinths and other precious stones and metals of all kinds and all manner spice-trees, and its soil is of emery, wherewith jewels are wrought. In its streams are diamonds, and pearls are in its rivers.[FN#208] I ascended to its summit and diverted myself by viewing all the marvels therein, which are such as beggar description; after which I returned to the king and sought of him permission to return to my own country. He gave me leave, after great pressure, and bestowed on me abundant largesse from his treasuries. Moreover, he gave me a present and a sealed letter and said to me, 'Carry this to the Khalif Haroun er Reshid and salute him for us with abundant salutation.' And I said, 'I hear and obey.'
Now this letter was written with ultramarine upon the skin of the hog-deer, the which is goodlier than parchment or paper and inclineth unto yellow, and was to the following effect: 'From the King of Hind, before whom are a thousand elephants and on the battlements of his palace a thousand jewels, [to the Khalif Haroun er Reshid, greeting]. To proceed:[FN#209] we send thee some small matter of presents, which do thou accept and be to us as a brother and a friend, for that the love of thee aboundeth in our heart and we would have thee to know that we look to thee for an answer. Indeed, we are sharers with thee in love and fear, ceasing[FN#210] never to do thee honour; and for a beginning, we send thee the Book of the Quintessence of Balms and a present after the measure of that which is fallen to our lot. Indeed, this is unworthy of thy rank, but we beseech thee, O brother, to favour us by accepting it, and peace be on thee!'
Now this present was a cup of ruby, a span high and a finger's length broad, full of fine pearls, each a mithcal[FN#211] in weight and a bed covered with the skin of the serpent that swalloweth the elephant, marked with spots, each the bigness of a dinar, whereon whoso sitteth shall never sicken; also an hundred thousand mithcals of Indian aloes-wood and thirty grains of camphor, each the bigness of a pistachio-nut, and a slave-girl with her paraphernalia, a charming creature, as she were the resplendent moon. Then the king took leave of me, commending me to the merchants and the captain of the ship, and I set out, with that which was entrusted to my charge and my own good, and we ceased not to pass from island to island and from country to country, till we came to Baghdad, when I entered my house and foregathered with my family and brethren.
Then I took the present and a token of service from myself to the Khalif and [presenting myself before him], kissed his hands and laid the whole before him, together with the King of Hind's letter. He read the letter and taking the present, rejoiced therein with an exceeding joy and entreated me with the utmost honour. Then said he to me, 'O Sindbad, is this king, indeed, such as he avoucheth in this letter?' I kissed the earth and answered, saying, 'O my lord, I myself have seen the greatness of his kingship to be manifold that which he avoucheth in his letter. On the day of his audience,[FN#212] there is set up for him a throne on the back of a huge elephant, eleven cubits high, whereon he sitteth and with him are his officers and pages and session-mates, standing in two ranks on his right hand and on his left. At his head standeth a man, having in his hand a golden javelin, and behind him another, bearing a mace of the same metal, tipped with an emerald, a span long and an inch thick. When he mounteth, a thousand riders take horse with him, arrayed in gold and silk; and whenas he rideth forth, he who is before him proclaimeth and saith, "This is the king, mighty of estate and high of dominion!" And he proceedeth to praise him on this wise and endeth by saying, "This is the king, lord of the crown the like whereof nor Solomon[FN#213] nor Mihraj[FN#214] possessed!" Then is he silent, whilst he who is behind the king proclaimeth and saith, "He shall die! He shall die! And again I say, he shall die!" And the other rejoineth, saying, "Extolled be the perfection of the Living One who dieth not!" And by reason of his justice and judgment[FN#215] and understanding, there is no Cadi in his [capital] city; but all the people of his realm distinguish truth from falsehood and know [and practise] truth and right for themselves.'
The Khalif marvelled at my speech and said, 'How great is this king! Indeed, his letter testifieth of him; and as for the magnificence of his dominion, thou hast acquainted us with that which thou hast seen; so, by Allah, he hath been given both wisdom and dominion.' Then he bestowed on me largesse and dismissed me, so I returned to my house and paid the poor-rate[FN#216] and gave alms and abode in my former easy and pleasant case, forgetting the grievous stresses I had suffered. Yea, I cast out from my heart the cares of travel and traffic and put away travail from my thought and gave myself up to eating and drinking and pleasure and delight."
SINDBAD THE SAILOR AND HINDBAD THE PORTER.
When Sindbad the Sailor had made an end of his story, all who were present marvelled at that which had befallen him. Then he bade his treasurer give the porter an hundred mithcals of gold and dismissed him, charging him return on the morrow, with the rest of the folk, to hear the history of his seventh voyage. So the porter went away to his house, rejoicing; and on the morrow he presented himself with the rest of the guests, who sat down, as of their wont, and occupied themselves with eating and drinking and merry-making till the end of the day, when their host bade them hearken to the story of his seventh voyage. Quoth Sindbad the Sailor,
THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINDBAD THE SAILOR.
"When I [returned from my sixth voyage, I] forswore travel and renounced commerce, saying in myself, 'What hath befallen me sufficeth me.' So I abode at home and passed my time in pleasance and delight, till, one day, as I sat at mine ease, plying the wine-cup [with my friends], there came a knocking at the door. The doorkeeper opened and found without one of the Khalif's pages, who came in to me and said, 'The Commander of the Faithful biddeth thee to him.' So I accompanied him to the presence of the Khalif and kissing the earth before him, saluted him. He bade me welcome and entreated me with honour and said to me, 'O Sindbad, I have an occasion with thee, which I would have thee accomplish for me.' So I kissed his hand and said, 'O my lord, what is the lord's occasion with the slave?' Quoth he, 'I would have thee go to the King of Serendib and carry him our letter and our present, even as he sent us a present and a letter.'
At this I trembled and replied, 'By the Most Great God, O my lord, I have taken a loathing to travel, and whenas any maketh mention to me of travel by sea or otherwise, I am like to swoon for affright, by reason of that which hath befallen me and what I have suffered of hardships and perils. Indeed, I have no jot of inclination left for this, and I have sworn never again to leave Baghdad.' And I related to him all that had befallen me, first and last; whereat he marvelled exceedingly and said, 'By the Most Great God, O Sindbad, never was heard from time immemorial of one whom there betided that which hath betided thee and well may it behove thee never again to mention travel! But for my sake go thou this once and carry my letter to the King of Serendib and return in haste, if it be the will of God the Most High, so we may not remain indebted to the king for favour and courtesy.' And I answered him with 'Hearkening and obedience,' for that I dared not gainsay his commandment
Then he gave me the present and letter and money for my expenses. So I kissed his hand and going out from before him, repaired to the sea-coast, where I took ship with many other merchants and we sailed days and nights, till, after a prosperous voyage, God vouchsafed us a safe arrival at the island of Serendib. We landed and went up to the city, where I carried the letter and present to the king and kissing the earth fell [prostrate before him], invoking blessings on him. When he saw me, 'Welcome to thee, O Sindbad!' quoth he. 'By the Most Great God, we have longed for thy sight and the day is blessed on which we behold thee once more.' Then he took my hand and seating me by his side, welcomed me and entreated me friendly and rejoiced in me with an exceeding joy; after which he fell to conversing with me and caressing me and said, 'What brings thee to us, O Sindbad?' I kissed his hand and thanking him, said, 'O my lord, I bring thee a present and a letter from my lord the Khalif Haroun er Reshid.' Then I brought out to him the present and the letter and he read the latter and accepted the former, rejoicing therein with an exceeding joy.
Now this present was a horse worth ten thousand dinars and all its housings and trappings of gold set with jewels, and a book and five different kinds of suits of apparel and an hundred pieces of fine white linen cloths of Egypt and silks of Suez and Cufa and Alexandria and a crimson carpet and another of Tebaristan[FN#217] make and an hundred pieces of cloth of silk and flax mingled and a goblet of glass of the time of the Pharaohs, a finger-breadth thick and a span wide, amiddleward which was the figure of a lion and before him an archer kneeling, with his arrow drawn to the head, and the table of Solomon son of David,[FN#218] on whom be peace; and the contents of the letter were as follows: 'From the Khalif Haroun er Reshid, unto whom and to his forefathers (on whom be peace) God hath vouchsafed the rank of the noble and exceeding glory, to the august, God-aided Sultan, greeting. Thy letter hath reached us and we rejoiced therein and have sent thee the book [called] "The Divan of Hearts and the Garden of Wits," of the translation whereof when thou hast taken cognizance, its excellence will be established in thine eyes; and the superscription of this book we have made unto thee. Moreover, we send thee divers other kingly presents;[FN#219] so do thou favour us by accepting them, and peace be on thee!'
When the king had read this letter, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy and bestowed on me great store of presents and entreated me with the utmost honour. Some days after this, I sought of him leave to depart, but he granted it not to me save after much pressing. So I took leave of him and shipped with divers merchants and others, intending for my own country and having no desire for travel or traffic. We sailed on, without ceasing, till we had passed many islands; but, one day, as we fared on over a certain tract of the sea, there came forth upon us a multitude of boats full of men like devils, clad in chain-mail and armed with swords and daggers and bows and arrows, and surrounded us on every side. They entreated us after the cruellest fashion, smiting and wounding and slaying those who made head against them, and taking the ship, with the crew and all that were therein, carried us to an island, where they sold us all for a low price. A rich man bought me and taking me into his house, gave me to eat and drink and clothed me and entreated me kindly, till my heart was comforted and I was somewhat restored.
One day my master said to me, 'Knowest thou not some art or handicraft?' And I answered, saying, 'O my lord, I am a merchant and know nought but traffic.' Quoth he, 'Knowest thou how to shoot with a bow and arrows?' And I replied, 'Yes, I know that.' So he brought me a bow and arrows and mounting me behind him on an elephant, set out with me, at the last of the night, and fared on till we came to a forest of great trees; whereupon he made me climb a high and stout tree and giving me the bow and arrows, said to me, 'Sit here, and when the elephants come hither by day, shoot at them, so haply thou shalt hit one of them; and if any of them fall, come at nightfall and tell me.' Then he went away and left me trembling and fearful. I abode hidden in the tree till the sun rose, when the elephants came out and fared hither and thither among the trees, and I gave not over shooting at them with arrows, till I brought down one of them. So, at eventide, I went and told my master, who rejoiced in me and rewarded me; then he came and carried away the dead elephant.
On this wise I abode a while of time, every day shooting an elephant, whereupon my master came and carried it away, till, one day, as I sat hidden in the tree, there came up elephants without number, roaring and trumpeting, so that meseemed the earth trembled for the din. They all made for the tree whereon I was and the girth whereof was fifty cubits, and compassed it about. Then a huge elephant came up to the tree and winding his trunk about it, tugged at it, till he plucked it up by the roots and cast it to the ground. I fell among the elephants, and the great elephant, coming up to me, as I lay aswoon for affright, wound his trunk about me and tossing me on to his back, made off with me, accompanied by the others; nor did he leave faring on with me, and I absent from the world, till he brought me to a certain place and casting me down from off his back, went away, followed by the rest. I lay there awhile, till my trouble subsided and my senses returned to me, when I sat up, deeming myself in a dream, and found myself on a great hill, stretching far and wide and all of elephants' bones. So I knew that this was their burial-place and that they had brought me thither on account of the bones.
Then I arose and fared on a day and a night, till I came to the house of my master, who saw me pale and disfeatured for fear and hunger. He rejoiced in my return and said to me, 'By Allah, thou hast made my heart ache on thine account; for I went and finding the tree torn up by the roots, doubted not but the elephants had destroyed thee. Tell me then how it was with thee.' So I told him what had befallen me and he marvelled exceedingly and rejoiced, saying, 'Knowst thou where this hill is?' 'Yes, O my lord,' answered I. So he took me up with him on an elephant and we rode till we came to the elephants' burial-place.
When he saw those many bones, he rejoiced therein with an exceeding joy and carried away what he had a mind to thereof. Then we returned to his house and he entreated me with increased favour and said to me, 'Verily, O my son, thou hast directed us to a passing great gain, may God requite thee with all good! Thou art free for the sake of God the Most High. Every year these elephants used to kill of us much people on account of these bones; but God delivered thee from them and thou hast done us good service in the matter of these bones, of which thou hast given us to know; wherefore thou meritest a great recompense, and thou art free.' 'O my lord,' answered I, 'may God free thy neck from the fire! I desire of thee that thou give me leave to return to my own country.' 'So be it,' replied he; 'but we have a fair, on occasion whereof the merchants come hither to us and take of us these elephants' bones. The time of the fair is now at hand, and when they come to us, I will send thee with them and give thee somewhat to bring thee to thine own country.'
I blessed him and thanked him and abode with him in all honour and consideration, till, after a little, the merchants came, even as he had said, and bought and sold and bartered; and when they were about to depart, my master came to me and said, 'The merchants are about to depart; arise, that thou mayst go with them to thy country.' So I betook myself to the folk, and behold, they had bought great store of elephants' bones and bound up their loads and embarked in the ship; and my master took passage for me with them and paid my hire and all that was chargeable upon me.[FN#220] Moreover, he gave me great store of goods and we set sail and passed from island to island, till we traversed the sea and arrived at the port of our destination; whereupon the merchants brought out their goods and sold; and I also brought out that which was with me and sold it at a good profit.
Then I bought of the best and finest of the produce and rarities of the country and all I had a mind to and a good hackney[FN#221] and we set out again and traversed the deserts from country to country till we came to Baghdad. Then I went in to the Khalif and saluted him and kissed his hand; after which I acquainted him with all that had passed and that which had befallen me. He rejoiced in my deliverance and thanked God the Most High; then he caused write my story in letters of gold and I betook myself to my house and foregathered with my brethren and family. This, then," added Sindbad, "is the last of that which befell me in my travels, and praise be to God, the One, the Creator, the Maker!"
When Sindbad the Sailor had made an end of his story, he bade his servant give the porter an hundred mithcals of gold and said to him, "How now, my brother! Hast ever in the world heard of one whom such calamities have betided as have betided me and hath any suffered that which I have suffered of afflictions or undergone that which I have undergone of hardships? Wherefore it behoveth that I have these pleasures in requital of that which I have undergone of travail and humiliations." So the porter came forward and kissing the merchant's hands, said to him, "O my lord, thou hast indeed suffered grievous perils and hast well deserved these bounteous favours [that God hath vouchsafed thee]. Abide, then, O my lord, in thy delights and put away from thee [the remembrance of] thy troubles; and may God the Most High crown thine enjoyments with perfection and accomplish thy days in pleasance until the hour of thine admission [to His mercy]!"
Therewithal Sindbad the Sailor bestowed largesse upon him and made him his boon-companion, and he abode, leaving him not night or day, to the last of their lives. Praise be to God the Glorious, the Omnipotent, the Strong, the Exalted of estate, Creator of heaven and earth and land and sea, to whom belongeth glorification! Amen. Amen. Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds! Amen.
NOTE.
As stated In the Prefatory Note to my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," four printed Editions (of which three are more or less complete) exist of the Arabic text of the original work, namely those of Calcutta (1839-42), Boulac (Cairo), Breslau (Tunis) and Calcutta (1814-18). The first two are, for purposes of tabulation, practically identical, one whole story only,[FN#222] of those that occur in the Calcutta (1839-42) Edition, (which is the most complete of all,) being omitted from that of Boulac; and I have, therefore, given but one Table of Contents for these two Editions. The Breslau Edition, though differing widely from those of Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac in contents, resembles them in containing the full number (a thousand and one) of Nights, whilst that of Calcutta (1814-18) is but a fragment, comprising only the first two hundred Nights and the Voyages of Sindbad, as a separate Tale.
The subscribers to my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night" and the present "Tales from the Arabic" have now before them a complete English rendering (the first ever made) of all the tales contained in the four printed (Arabic) Texts of the original work and I have, therefore, thought it well to add to this, the last Volume of my Translation, full Tables of Contents of these latter, a comparison of which will show the exact composition of the different Editions and the particulars in which they differ from one another, together with the manner in which the various stories that make up the respective collections are distributed over the Nights. In each Table, the titles of the stories occurring only in the Edition of which it gives the contents are printed in Italics and each Tale is referred to the number of the Night on which it is begun.
The Breslau Edition, which was printed from a Manuscript of the Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night alleged to have been furnished to the Editor by a learned Arab of Tunis, whom he styles "Herr M. Annaggar" (Quære En Nejjar, the Carpenter), the lacunes found in which were supplemented from various other MS. sources indicated by Silvestre de Sacy and other eminent Orientalists, is edited with a perfection of badness to which only German scholars (at once the best and worst editors in the world) can attain. The original Editor, Dr. Maximilian Habicht, was during the period (1825- 1839) of publication of the first eight Volumes, engaged in continual and somewhat acrimonious[FN#223] controversy concerning the details of his editorship with Prof. H. L. Fleischer, who, after his death, undertook the completion of his task and approved himself a worthy successor of his whilom adversary, his laches and shortcomings in the matter of revision and collation of the text being at least equal in extent and gravity to those of his predecessor, whilst he omitted the one valuable feature of the latter's work, namely, the glossary of Arabic words, not occurring in the dictionaries, appended to the earlier volumes.
As an instance of the extreme looseness with which the book was edited, I may observe that the first four Vols. were published without tables of contents, which were afterwards appended en bloc to the fifth Volume. The state of corruption and incoherence in which the printed Text was placed before the public by the two learned Editors, who were responsible for its production, is such as might well drive a translator to despair: the uncorrected errors of the press would alone fill a volume and the verse especially is so corrupt that one of the most laborious of English Arabic scholars pronounced its translation a hopeless task. I have not, however, in any single instance, allowed myself to be discouraged by the difficulties presented by the condition of the text, but have, to the best of my ability, rendered into English, without abridgment or retrenchment, the whole of the tales, prose and verse, contained in the Breslau Edition, which are not found in those of Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac. In this somewhat ungrateful task, I have again had the cordial assistance of Captain Burton, who has (as in the case of my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night") been kind enough to look over the proofs of my translation and to whom I beg once more to tender my warmest thanks.
Some misconception seems to exist as to the story of Seif dhoul Yezen, a fragment of which was translated by Dr. Habicht and included, with a number of tales from the Breslau Text, in the fourteenth Vol. of the extraordinary gallimaufry published by him in 1824-5 as a complete translation of the 1001 Nights[FN#224] and it has, under the mistaken impression that this long but interesting Romance forms part of the Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, been suggested that a complete translation of it should be included in the present publication. The Romance in question does not, however, in any way, belong to my original and forms no part of the Breslau Text, as will be at once apparent from an examination of the Table of Contents of the latter (see post, p. 261), by which all the Nights are accounted for. Dr. Habicht himself tells us, in his preface to the first Vol. of the Arabic Text, that he found the fragment (undivided into Nights) at the end of the fifth Volume of his MS., into which other detached tales, having no connection with the Nights, appear to have also found their way. This being the case, it is evident that the Romance of Seif dhoul Yezen in no way comes within the scope of the present work and would (apart from the fact that its length would far overpass my limits) be a manifestly improper addition to it. It is, however, possible that, should I come across a suitable text of the work, I may make it the subject of a separate publication; but this is, of course, a matter for future consideration.
TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE CALCUTTA (1839-42) AND BOULAC EDITIONS OF THE ARABIC TEXT OF THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT.
Night
INTRODUCTION.—Story of King Shehriyar and his Brother. a. Story of the Ox and the Ass 1. The Merchant and the Genie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i a. The First Old Man's Story . . . . . . . . . . . . .i b. The Second Old Man's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . ii c. The Third Old Man's Story . . . . . . . . . . . . ii 2. The Fisherman and the Genie. . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii a. Story of the Physician Douban . . . . . . . . . . iv aa. Story of King Sindbad and his Falcon. . . . .v ab. Story of the King's Son and the Ogress. . . .v b. Story of the Enchanted Youth. . . . . . . . . . .vii 3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad . . . . . . ix a. The First Calender's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . xi b. The Second Calender's Story . . . . . . . . . . .xii ba. Story of the Envier and the Envied[FN#225]xiii c. The Third Calender's Story. . . . . . . . . . . .xiv d. The Eldest Lady's Story . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii e. The Story of the Portress . . . . . . . . . . .xviii 4. The Three Apples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xix 5. Noureddin Ali of Cairo and his Son Bedreddin Hassan. . xx 6. Story of the Hunchback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xxv a. The Christian Broker's Story. . . . . . . . . . .xxv b. The Controller's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . .xxvii c. The Jewish Physician's Story. . . . . . . . . xxviii d. The Tailor's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxix e. The Barber's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxi ea. Story of the Barber's First Brother . . . xxxi eb. Story of the Barber's Second Brother. . . xxxi ec. Story of the Barber's Third Brother . . .xxxii ed. Story of the Barber's Fourth Brother. . .xxxii ee. Story of the Barber's Fifth Brother . . .xxxii ef. Story of the Barber's Sixth Brother . . xxxiii 7. Noureddin Ali and the Damsel Enis el Jelis . . . . .xxxiv 8. Ghanim ben Eyoub the Slave of Love . . . . . . . . .xxxix a. Story of the Eunuch Bekhit. . . . . . . . . . .xxxix b. Story of the Eunuch Kafour. . . . . . . . . . .xxxix 9. The History of King Omar ben Ennuman and his Sons Sherkan and Zoulmekanxlv a. Story of Taj el Mulouk and the Princess Dunya . cvii aa. Story of Aziz and Azizeh. . . . . . . . cxliii b. Bakoun's Story of the Hashish-Eater . . . . . cxliii c. Hemmad the Bedouin's Story. . . . . . . . . . .cxliv 10. The Birds and Beasts and the Son of Adam. . . . . .cxlvi 11. The Hermits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cxlviii 12. The Waterfowl and the Tortoise. . . . . . . . . .cxlviii 13. The Wolf and the Fox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cxlviii a. The Hawk and the Partridge. . . . . . . . . . .cxlix 14. The Mouse and the Weasel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cl 15. The Cat and the Crow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cl 16. The Fox and the Crow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cl a. The Mouse and the Flea. . . . . . . . . . . . . .cli b. The Falcon and the Birds. . . . . . . . . . . . clii c. The Sparrow and the Eagle . . . . . . . . . . . clii 17. The Hedgehog and the Pigeons. . . . . . . . . . . . clii a. The Merchant and the Two Sharpers . . . . . . . clii 18. The Thief and his Monkey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . clii a. The Foolish Weaver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . clii 19. The Sparrow and the Peacock . . . . . . . . . . . . clii 20. Ali ben Bekkar and Shemsennehar . . . . . . . . . .cliii 21. Kemerezzeman and Budour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . clxx a. Nimeh ben er Rebya and Num his Slave-girl . ccxxxvii 22. Alaeddin Abou esh Shamat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ccl 23. Hatim et Tal; his Generosity after Death. . . . . .cclxx 24. Maan ben Zaideh and the three Girls . . . . . . . cclxxi 25. Maan ben Zaideh and the Bedouin . . . . . . . . . cclxxi 26. The City of Lebtait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cclxxii 27. The Khalif Hisham and the Arab Youth. . . . . . . cclxxi 28. Ibrahim ben el Mehdi and the Barber-surgeon . . cclxxiii 29. The City of Irem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cclxxvi 30. Isaac of Mosul's Story of Khedijeh and the Khalif Mamouncclxxix 31. The Scavenger and the Noble Lady of Baghdad . . cclxxxii 32. The Mock Khalif . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cclxxxvi 33. Ali the Persian and the Kurd Sharper. . . . . . . ccxciv 34. The Imam Abou Yousuf with Haroun er Reshid and his Vizier Jaaferccxcvi 35. The Lover who feigned himself a Thief to save his Mistress's Honourccxcvii 36. Jaafer the Barmecide and the Bean-Seller. . . . . ccxcix 37. Abou Mohammed the Lazy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ccc 38. Yehya ben Khalid and Mensour. . . . . . . . . . . . .ccv 39. Yehya ben Khalid and the Man who forged a Letter in his Nameccvi 40. The Khalif El Mamoun and the Strange Doctor . . . .cccvi 41. Ali Shar and Zumurrud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cccvii 42. The Loves of Jubeir ben Umeir and the Lady Budourcccxxvii 43. The Man of Yemen and his six Slave-girls. . . . cccxxxiv 44. Haroun er Reshid with the Damsel and Abou Nuwascccxxxviii 45. The Man who stole the Dog's Dish of Gold. . . . . .cccxl 46. The Sharper of Alexandria and the Master of Policecccxli 47. El Melik en Nasir and the three Masters of Policecccxliii a. Story of the Chief of the New Cairo Police. cccxliii b. Story of the Chief of the Boulac Police . . .cccxliv c. Story of the Chief of the Old Cairo Police. .cccxliv 48. The Thief and the Money-Changer . . . . . . . . . ccxliv 49. The Chief of the Cous Police and the Sharper. . . cccxlv 50. Ibrahim ben el Mehdi and the Merchant's Sister Night ccxlvi 51. The Woman whose Hands were cut off for Almsgivingcccxlviii 52. The Devout Israelite. . . . . . . . . . . . . .cccxlviii 53. Abou Hassan es Ziyadi and the Man from Khorassan Night ccxlix 54. The Poor Man and his Generous Friend. . . . . . . .cccli 55. The Ruined Man who became Rich again through a Dreamcccli 56. El Mutawekkil and his Favourite Mehboubeh . . . . .cccli 57. Werdan the Butcher's Adventure with the Lady and the Bearcccliii 58. The King's Daughter and the Ape . . . . . . . . . .ccclv 59. The Enchanted Horse Night . . . . . . . . . . . cclvii 60. Uns el Wujoud and the Vizier's Daughter Rose-in-budccclxxi 61. Abou Nuwas with the three Boys and the Khalif Haroun er Reshidccclxxxi 62. Abdallah ben Maamer with the Man of Bassora and his Slave-girlccclxxxiii 63. The Lovers of the Benou Udhreh. . . . . . . . ccclxxxiii 64. Tht Vizier of Yemen and his young Brother . . .ccclxxxiv 65. The Loves of the Boy and Girl at School . . . . ccclxxxv 66. El Mutelemmis and his Wife Umeimeh. . . . . . . ccclxxxv 67. Haroun er Reshid and Zubeideh in the Bath . . . ccclxxxv 68. Haroun er Reshid and the three Poets. . . . . .ccclxxxvi 69. Musab ben ez Zubeir and Aaisheh his Wife. . . .ccclxxxvi 70. Aboulaswed and his squinting Slave-girl . . . ccclxxxvii 71. Haroun er Reshid and the two Girls. . . . . . ccclxxxvii 72. Haroun er Reshid and the three Girls. . . . . ccclxxxvii 73. The Miller and his Wife . . . . . . . . . . . ccclxxxvii 74. The Simpleton and the Sharper . . . . . . . .ccclxxxviii 75. The Imam Abou Yousuf with Haroun er Reshld and Zubeidehccclxxxviii 76. The Khalif El Hakim and the Merchant. . . . . .ccclxxxix 77. King Kisra Anoushirwan and the Village Damsel .ccclxxxix 78. The Water-Carrier and the Goldsmith's Wife. . . . .cccxc 79. Khusrau and Shirin and the Fisherman. . . . . . . cccxci 80. Yehya ben Khalid and the Poor Man . . . . . . . . cccxci 81. Mohammed el Amin and Jaafer ben el Hadi . . . . .cccxcii 82. Said ben Salim and the Barmecides . . . . . . . .cccxcii 83. The Woman's Trick against her Husband . . . . . cccxciii 84. The Devout Woman and the two Wicked Elders. . . .cccxciv 85. Jaafer the Barmecide and the Old Bedouin. . . . . cccxcv 86. Omar ben el Khettab and the Young Bedouin . . . . cccxcv 87. El Mamoun and the Pyramids of Egypt . . . . . .cccxcviii 88. The Thief turned Merchant and the other Thief .cccxcviii 89. Mesrour and Ibn el Caribi . . . . . . . . . . . .cccxcix 90. The Devout Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cccci 91. The Schoolmaster who Fell in Love by Report . . . ccccii 92. The Foolish Schoolmaster. . . . . . . . . . . . .cccciii 93. The Ignorant Man who set up for a Schoolmaster. .cccciii 94. The King and the Virtuous Wife. . . . . . . . . . cccciv 95. Abdurrehman the Moor's Story of the Roc . . . . . cccciv 96. Adi ben Zeid and the Princess Hind. . . . . . . . .ccccv 97. Dibil el Khuzai with the Lady and Muslin ben el Welidccccvii 98. Isaac of Mosul and the Merchant . . . . . . . . .ccccvii 99. The Three Unfortunate Lovers. . . . . . . . . . . ccccix 100. The Lovers of the Benou Tai. . . . . . . . . . . .ccccx 101. The Mad Lover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ccccxi 102. The Apples of Paradise . . . . . . . . . . . . .ccccxii 103. The Loves of Abou Isa and Curret el Ain. . . . .ccccxiv 104. El Amin and his Uncle Ibrahim ben el Mehdi . .ccccxviii 105. El Feth ben Khacan and El Mutawekkil . . . . . .ccccxix 106. The Man's Dispute with the Learned Woman of the relative Excellence of the Sexes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ccccxix 107. Abou Suweid and the Handsome Old Woman . . . .ccccxxiii 108. Ali ben Tahir and the Girl Mounis. . . . . . . ccccxxiv 109. The Woman who had a Boy and the other who had a Man to Loverccccxxiv 110. The Haunted House in Baghdad . . . . . . . . . ccccxxiv 111. The Pilgrim and the Old Woman who dwelt in the Desertccccxxxiv 112. Aboulhusn and his Slave-girl Taweddud. . . . .ccccxxxvi 113. The Angel of Death with the Proud King and the Devout Mancccclxii 114. The Angel of Death and the Rich King . . . . . cccclxii 115. The Angel of Death and the King of the Children of Israelcccclxiii 116. Iskender Dhoulkernein and a certain Tribe of Poor Folkcccclxiv 117. The Righteousness of King Anoushirwan. . . . . cccclxiv 118. The Jewish Cadi and his Pious Wife . . . . . . .cccclxv 119. The Shipwrecked Woman and her Child. . . . . . cccclxvi 120. The Pious Black Slave. . . . . . . . . . . . .cccclxvii 121. The Devout Platter-maker and his Wife. . . . cccclxviii 122. El Hejjaj ben Yousuf and the Pious Man . . . . .cccclxx 123. The Blacksmith who could Handle Fire without Hurtcccclxxi 124. The Saint to whom God gave a Cloud to serve him and the Devout Kingcccclxxiii 125. The Muslim Champion and the Christian Lady . .cccclxxiv 126. Ibrahim ben el Khawwas and the Christian King's Daughtercccclxxvii 127. The Justice of Providence. . . . . . . . . .cccclxxviii 128. The Ferryman of the Nile and the Hermit. . . .cccclxxix 129. The King of the Island . . . . . . . . . . . .cccclxxix 130. Abulhusn ed Durraj and Abou Jaafer the Leper .cccclxxxi 131. The Queen of the Serpents. . . . . . . . . . cccclxxxii a. The Adventures of Beloukiya . . . . . . . cccclxxxvi b. The Story of Janshah. . . . . . . . . . . . ccccxcix 132. Sindbad the Sailor and Sindbad the Porter. . . . dxxxvi a. The First Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . dxxxviii b. The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor . . . dxliii c. The Third Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . . .dxlvi d. The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor . . . . . dl e. The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . . . dlvi f. The Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . . . dlix g. The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . dlxiii 133. The City of Brass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dlxvi 134. The Malice of Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . dlxxviii a. The King and his Vizier's Wife. . . . . . . dlxxviii b. The Merchant's Wife and the Parrot. . . . . . dlxxix c. The Fuller and his Son. . . . . . . . . . . . dlxxix d. The Lover's Trick against the Chaste Wife . . .dlxxx e. The Niggard and the Loaves of Bread . . . . . .dlxxx f. The Lady and her Two Lovers . . . . . . . . . dlxxxi g. The King's Son and the Ogress . . . . . . . . dlxxxi h. The Drop of Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dlxxxii i. The Woman who made her Husband sift Dust. . .dlxxxii j. The Enchanted Springs . . . . . . . . . . . .dlxxxii k. The Vizier's Son and the Bathkeeper's Wife. .dlxxxiv l. The Wife's Device to Cheat her Husband. . . .dlxxxiv m. The Goldsmith and the Cashmere Singing- girl.dlxxxvi n. The Man who never Laughed again . . . . . . dlxxxvii o. The King's Son and the Merchant's Wife. . . . . dxci p. The Page who feigned to know the Speech of Birdsdxcii q. The Lady and her five Suitors . . . . . . . . dxciii r. The Man who saw the Night of Power. . . . . . .dxcvi s. The Stolen Necklace . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dxcvi t. The two Pigeons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dxcvii u. Prince Behram of Persia and the Princess Ed Detmadxcvii v. The House with the Belvedere. . . . . . . . .dxcviii w. The King's Son and the Afrit's Mistress . . . . dcii x. The Sandal-wood Merchant and the Sharpers . . .dciii y. The Debauchee and the Three-year-old Child. . . .dcv z. The Stolen Purse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dcv 135. Jouder and his Brothers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . dcvi 136. The History ot Gherib and his Brother Agib . . . dcxxiv 137. Otbeh and Reyya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dclxxx 138. Hind Daughter of En Numan and El Hejjaj. . . . .dclxxxi 139. Khuzeimeh ben Bishr and Ikrimeh el Feyyas. . . dclxxxii 140. Younus the Scribe and the Khalif Welid ben Sehldclxxxiv 141. Haroun er Reshid and the Arab Girl . . . . . . .dclxxxv 142. El Asmai and the three Girls of Bassora. . . . dclxxxvi 143. Ibrahim of Mosul and the Devil . . . . . . . .dclxxxvii 144. The Lovers of the Benou Udhreh . . . . . . . dclxxxviii 145. The Bedouin and his Wife . . . . . . . . . . . . .dcxci 146. The Lovers of Bassora. . . . . . . . . . . . . .dcxciii 147. Isaac of Mosul and his Mistress and the Devil. . .dcxcr 148. The Lovers of Medina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dcxcvi 149. El Melik en Nasir and his Vizier . . . . . . . .dcxcvii 150. The Rogueries of Delileh the Crafty and her Daughter Zeyneb the Trickstressdcxcviii 151. The Adventures of Quicksilver Ali of Cairo, a Sequel to the Rogueries of Delileh the Crafty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dccviil 152. Ardeshir and Heyat en Nufous . . . . . . . . . . .dccxu 153. Julnar of the Sea and her Son King Bedr Basim of Persiaiccxxxviii 154. King Mohammed ben Sebaik and the Merchant Hassan dcclvi a. Story of Prince Seif el Mulouk and the Princess Bediya el Jemal dcclviii 155. Hassan of Bassora and the King's Daughter of the Jinndcclxxviii 156. Khelifeh the Fisherman of Baghdad. . . . . . . cccxxxii 157. Mesrour and Zein el Mewasif. . . . . . . . . . .dcccxlv 158. Ali Noureddin and the Frank King's Daughter. .dccclxiii 159. The Man of Upper Egypt and his Frank Wife. . . dcccxciv 160. The Ruined Man of Baghdad and his Slave-girl . dcccxcvi 161. King Jelyaad of Hind and his Vizier Shimas: whereafter ensueth the History of King Wird Khan son of King Jelyaad and his Women and Viziersdcccxciz a. The Cat and the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . .dccoc b. The Fakir and his Pot of Butter . . . . . . .dccccii c. The Fishes and the Crab . . . . . . . . . . dcccciii d. The Crow and the Serpent. . . . . . . . . . dcccciii e. The Fox and the Wild Ass. . . . . . . . . . .dcccciv f. The Unjust King and the Pilgrim Prince. . . . dccccv g. The Crows and the Hawk. . . . . . . . . . . .dccccvi k. The Serpent-Charmer and his Wife. . . . . . dccccvii i. The Spider and the Wind . . . . . . . . . .dccccviii j. The Two Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dccccix k. The Blind Man and the Cripple . . . . . . . . dccccx l. The Foolish Fisherman . . . . . . . . . . dccccxviii m. The Boy and the Thieves . . . . . . . . . dccccxviii n. The Man and his Wilful Wife . . . . . . . . dccccxix o. The Merchant and the Thieves. . . . . . . . .dccccxx p. The Foxes and the Wolf. . . . . . . . . . . dccccxxi q. The Shepherd and the Thief. . . . . . . . . dccccxxi r. The Heathcock and the Tortoises . . . . . .dccccxxiv 162. Aboukir the Dyer and Abousir the Barber. . . . dccccxxx 163. Abdallah the Fisherman and Abdallah the Merman .dccccxl 164. The Merchant of Oman . . . . . . . . . . . . .dccccxlvi 165. Ibrahim and Jemileh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . dcccciii 166. Aboulhusn of Khorassan . . . . . . . . . . . . dcccclix 167. Kemerezzeman and the Jeweller's Wife . . . . dcccclxiii 168. Abdallah ben Fasil and his Brothers. . . . dcccclixviii 169. Marouf the Cobbler and his Wife Fatimeh. dcccclxxxix-Mi Conclusion.
TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE BRESLAU (TUNIS) EDITION OF THE ARABIC TEXT OF THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT.
Night Introduction.—Story of King Shehriyar and his Brother. a. Story of the Ox and the Ass 1. The Merchant and the Genie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i a. The First Old Man's Story . . . . . . . . . . . . iv b. The Second Old Man's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . vi c. The Third Old Man's Story . . . . . . . . . . . viii 2. The Fisherman and the Genie. . . . . . . . . . . . . viii a. Story of the Physician Douban . . . . . . . . . . xi aa. Story of the Jealous Man and the Parrot[FN#226]xiv ab. Story of the King's Son and the Ogress. . . xv b. Story of the Enchanted Youth. . . . . . . . . . .xxi 3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad . . . . xxviii a. The First Calender's Story. . . . . . . . . . xxxvii b. The Second Calender's Story . . . . . . . . . . . xl ba. The Envier and the Envied . . . . . . . . xlvi c. The Third Calender's Story. . . . . . . . . . . liii d. The Eldest Lady's Story . . . . . . . . . . . .lxiii e. Story of the Portress . . . . . . . . . . . . .lxvii 4. The Three Apples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lxix 5. Noureddin Ali of Cairo and his Son Bedreddin Hassan.lxxii 6. Story of the Hunchback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cii a. The Christian Broker's Story. . . . . . . . . . cvii b. The Controller's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . cxix c. The Jewish Physician's Story. . . . . . . . . .cxxix d. The Tailor's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . .cxxxvii e. The Barber's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cxlix ea. Story of the Barber's First Brother . . . . ci eb. Story of the Barber's Second Brother. . . cliv ec. Story of the Barber's Third Brother . . .clvii ed. Story of the Barber's Fourth Brother. . clviii ee. Story of the Barber's Fifth Brother . . . .clx ef. Story of the Barber's Sixth Brother . . .clxiv 7. Ali ben Bekkar and Shemsennehar. . . . . . . . . . .clxix 8. Noureddin Ali and the Damsel Enis el Jelii . . . . .cxcix 9. Kemerezzeman and Budour. . . . . . . . . . . . . .ccxviii 10. The Enchanted Horse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ccxlir 11. The Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor . . . . . . . . ccxliv a. The First Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . . .cclii b. The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor . . . ccliii c. The Third Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . . . cclv d. The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor . . . .cclix e. The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . .cclxiii f. The Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . . cclxvi g. The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor. . . cclxix 12. Asleep and Awake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cclxxi a. The Lackpenny and the Cook. . . . . . . . . cclxxiii 13. Seif el Mulouk and Bediya el Jemal. . . . . . . . ccxci 14. Khelif the Fisherman [FN#227] . . . . . . . . . . cccxxi 15. Ghanim ben Eyoub the Slave of Love. . . . . . . cccxxxii a. Story of the Eunuch Sewab [FN#228]. . . . . cccxxxiv b. Story of the Eunuch Kafour ,, 16. Uns el Wujoud and the Vizier's Daughter Rose- in-budcccxli 17. The Merchant of Oman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cccliv 18. Ardeshir and Heyat en Nufous. . . . . . . . . . .ccclxiv 19. Hassan of Bassora and the King's Daughter of the Jinncclxxxvi 20. Haroun er Reshid and the three Poets. . . . . .ccccxxxii 21. Omar ben Abdulaziz and the Poets. . . . . . . .ccccxxxii 22. El Hejjaj and the three Young Mem . . . . . . .ccccxxxiv 23. Er Reshid and the Woman of the Barmecides . . .ccccxxxiv 24. The Ten Viziers; or the History of King Azad- bekht and his Sonccccxxxv a. The Unlucky Merchant. . . . . . . . . . . . . ccccxl b. The Merchant and his Sons . . . . . . . . . ccccxliv c. Abou Sabir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ccccxlviii d. Prince Bihzad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ccccliii e. King Dadbin and his Viziers . . . . . . . . . cccclv f. King Bekhtzeman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cccclxi g. King Bihkerd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cccclxiv h. Ilan Shah and Abou Temam. . . . . . . . . . cccclxvi i. King Ibrahim and his Son. . . . . . . . . . cccclxxi j. King Suleiman Shah and his Sons . . . . . . cccclxxv k. The Prisoner and how God gave him Relief . cccclxxxv 25. The City of Brass . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cccclxxxvii 26. Nimeh ben er Rebya and Num his Slave-girl . . . . . . di 27. Alaeddin Abou es Shamat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dxx 28. Hatim Tai; his Generosity after Death . . . . . . .dxxxi 29. Maan ben Zaideh and the three Girls . . . . . . . dxxxii 30. Maan ben Zaideh and the Bedouin . . . . . . . . . dxxxii 31. The City of Lebtait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dxxxii 32. The Khalif Hisham and the Arab Youth. . . . . . . dxxxiv 33. Ibrahim ben el Mehdi and the Barber-Surgeon . . . dxxxiv 34. The City of Irem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dxxxviii 35. Isaac of Mosul's Story of Khedijeh and the Khalif Mamoundxl 36. The Mock Khalif . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dxliii 37. The Imam Abou Yousuf with Er Reshid and Jaafer. . . .dlv 38. The Lover who feigned himself a Thief to save his Mistress's Honourdlvii 39. Abou Mohammed the Lazy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . dlviii 40. Jaafer ben Yehya and Abdulmelik ben Salih . . . . . dlxv 41. Jaafer ben Yehya [FN#229] and the Man who forged a Letter in his Namedlxvi 42. Er Reshid and the Barmecides. . . . . . . . . . . dlxvii 43. Ibn es Semmak and Er Reshid . . . . . . . . . . .dlxviii 44. El Mamoun and Zubeideh. . . . . . . . . . . . . .dlxviii 45. Ali Shir [FN#230] and Zumurrud. . . . . . . . . . .dlxix 46. The Loves of Budour and Jubeir ben Umeir. . . . dlxxxvii 47. The Man of Yemen and his six Slave-girls. . . . . . dxcv 48. Haroun Er Reshid with the Damsel and Abou Nuwas . . . dc 49. The Man who stole the Dog's Dish of Gold. . . . . . dcii 50. El Melik en Nasir and the Three Masters of Police .dciii a. Story of the Chief of the New Cairo Police. . . dciv b. Story of the Chief of the Boulac Police . . . . .dcv c. Story of the Chief of the Old Cairo Police. . . .dcv 51. The Thief and the Money-changer . . . . . . . . . . .dcv 52. Ibrahim ben el Mehdi and the Merchant's Sister. . . dcvi 53. King Kelyaad [FN#231] of Hind and his Vizier Shimas dcix a. The Cat and the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . dcix b. The Fakir and his Pot of Butter . . . . . . . . .dcx c. The Fishes and the Crab . . . . . . . . . . . . dcxi d. The Crow and the Serpent. . . . . . . . . . . . dcxi e. The Fox and the Wild Ass. . . . . . . . . . . . dcxi f. The Unjust King and the Pilgrim Prince. . . . .dcxii g. The Crows and the Hawk. . . . . . . . . . . . dcxiii h. The Serpent-Charmer and his Wife. . . . . . . .dcxiv i. The Spider and the Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . dcxv j. The Two Kings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dcxvi k. The Blind Man and the Cripple . . . . . . . . .dcxvi l. The Foolish Fisherman . dcxxvi m. The Boy and the Thieves . . . . . . . . . . .dcxxvii n. The Man and his Wilful Wife . . . . . . . . dcxxviii o. The Merchant and the Thieves. . . . . . . . . dcxxix p. The Foxes and the Wolf. . . . . . . . . . . . .dcxxx q. The Shepherd and the Thief. . . . . . . . . .dcxxxii r. The Heathcock and the Tortoises . . . . . . .dcxxxiv 54. The Woman whose Hands were cut off for Almsgiving .dcxli 55. The Poor Man and his Generous Friend. . . . . . .dcxliii 56. The Ruined Man who became Rich again through a Dreamdcxliv 57. Abou Nuwas with the Three Boys and the Khalif Haroun er Reshiddcxlv 58. The Lovers of the Benou Udhreh [FN#232] . . . . . dcxlvi 59. El Mutelemmis and his Wife Umeimeh. . . . . . . dcxlviii 60. Haroun Er Reshid and Zubeideh in the Bath . . . dcxlviii 61. Musab ben ez Zubeir and Aaisheh his Wife. . . . . dcxlix 62. Aboulaswed and his Squinting Slave-girl . . . . . . dcli 63. Haroun er Reshid and the Two Girls. . . . . . . . . dcli 64. Haroun er Reshid and the Three Girls. . . . . . . . dcli 65. The Simpleton and the Sharper . . . . . . . . . . .dclii 66. The Imam Abou Yousuf with Er Reshid and Zubeideh. .dclii 67. The Khalif El Hakim and the Merchant. . . . . . . dcliii 68. Kisra Anoushirwan and the Village Damsel. . . . . dcliii 69. The Water-Carrier and the Goldsmith's Wife. . . . .dcliv 70. Khusrau and Shirin and the Fisherman. . . . . . . .dclvi 71. Yehya ben Khalid and the Poor Man . . . . . . . . .dclvi 73. Mohammed el Amin and Jaafer ben el Hadi . . . . . dclvii 73. The Woman's Trick against her Husband . . . . . .dclviii 74. The Devout Woman and the Two Wicked Elders. . . . .dclix 75 El Fezl ben Rebiya[FN#233] and the Old Bedouin . . . dclx 76 En Numan and the Arab of the Benou Tai . . . . . . . dclx 77 The Draper and the Thief[FN#234] . . . . . . . . . .dclxi 78. Mesrour and Ibn el Caribi . . . . . . . . . . . . dclxii 79. The Devout Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dclxiv 80. The Schoolmaster who fell in Love by Report . . . .dclxv 81. The Foolish Schoolmaster. . . . . . . . . . . . . dclxvi 82. The Ignorant Man who set up for a Schoolmaster. .dclxvii 83. Adi ben Zeid and the Princess Hind. . . . . . . dclxviii 84. Dibil el Khuzai with the Lady and Muslim ben el Weliddclxx 85. Isaac of Mosul and the Merchant . . . . . . . . . .dclxx 86. The Three Unfortunate Lovers. . . . . . . . . . .dclxxii 87. The Lovers of the Benou Tai . . . . . . . . . . dclxxiii 88. The Mad Lover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dclxxiv 89. Firous and his Wife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dclxxv 90. The Apples of Paradise. . . . . . . . . . . . . .dclxxvi 91. The Loves of Abou Isa and Curret el Ain . . . .dclxxviii 92. El Amin and his Uncle Ibrahim ben el Mehdi. . . dclxxxii 93. El Feth ben Khacan and El Mutawekkil. . . . . .dclxxxiii 94. The Man's Dispute with the Learned Woman of the relative Excellence of the Sexes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dclxxxiii 95. Abou Suweid and the Handsome Old Woman. . . . .dclxxxvii 96. Ali ben Tahir and the Girl Mounis . . . . . . dclxxxviii 97. The Woman who had a Boy and the other who had a Man to Loverdclxxxviii 98. The Haunted House in Baghdad. . . . . . . . . dclxxxviii 99. The History of Gherib and his brother Agib. . . dcxcviii 100. The Rogueries of Delileh the Crafty and her Daughter Zeyneb the Trickstressdcclvi 101. The Adventures of Quicksilver Ali of Cairo . . .dcclxvi 102. Jouder and his Brothers. . . . . . . . . . . . .dcclxxv 103. Julnar of the Sea and her Son King Bedr Basim of Persiadccxciv 104. Mesrour and Zein el Mewasif. . . . . . . . . . .dcccxxi 105. Ali Noureddin and the Frank King's Daughter. . dcccxxxi 106. The Man of Upper Egypt and his Frank Wife. . . dccclxii 107. The Ruined Man of Baghdad and his Slave-girl . dccclxiv 108. Aboukir the Dyer and Abousir the Barber. . . .dccclxvii 109. Abdallah the Fisherman and Abdallah the Mermandccclxxvii 110. King Shah Bekhi and his Vizier Er Rehwan . . .dccclxxxv a. The Man of Khorassan, his Son and his Governordccclxxxvi b. The Singer and the Druggist . . . . . . dccclxxxviii c. The King who knew the Quintessence of Things.dcccxci d. The Rich Man who gave his Fair Daughter in Marriage to the Poor Old Man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dcccxcii e. The Rich Man and his Wasteful Son . . . . .dcccxciii f. The King's Son who fell in Love with the Picturedcccxciv g. The Fuller and his Wife . . . . . . . . . . dcccxcvi h. The Old Woman, the Merchant and the King. . dcccxcvi i. The Credulous Husband . . . . . . . . . . dcccxcviii j. The Unjust King and the Tither. . . . . . . dcccxcix ja. Story of David and Solomon. . . . . . dcccxcix h. The Thief and the Woman . . . . . . . . . . dcccxcix l. The Three Men and our Lord Jesus. . . . . . . dcccci la. The Disciple's Story. . . . . . . . . . dcccci m. The Dethroned King whose Kingdom and Good were Restored to Himdcccci n. The Man whose Caution was the Cause of his Deathdcccciii o. The Man who was lavish of his House and his Victual to one whom he knew not . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .dcccciv p. The Idiot and the Sharper . . . . . . . . . . dccccv q. Khelbes and his Wife and the Learned Man. . .dccccvi r. The Pious Woman accused of Lewdness . . . . dccccvii s. The Journeyman and the Girl . . . . . . . . .dccccix t. The Weaver who became a Physician by his Wife's Commandmentdccccix u. The Two Sharpers who cheated each his Fellow.dccccxi v. The Sharpers with the Money-Changer and the Assdccccxiv w. The Sharper and the Merchants . . . . . . . .dccccxv wa. The Hawk and the Locust . . . . . . . dccccxvi x. The King and his Chamberlain's Wife . . . .dccccxvii xa. The Old Woman and the Draper's Wife .dccccxvii y. The foul-favoured Man and his Fair Wife . dccccxviii z. The King who lost Kingdom and Wife and Wealth and God restored them to him. . . . . . . . . . . dccccxix aa. Selim and Selma. . . . . . . . . . . . . .dccccxxii bb. The King of Hind and his Visier. . . . .dccccxxviii 111 El Melik es Zahir Rukneddin Bibers el Bunducdari and the Sixteen Officers of Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dccccxxx a. The First Officer's Story . . . . . . . . . dccccxxx b. The Second Officer's Story. . . . . . . . dccccxxxii c. The Third Officer's Story . . . . . . . . dccccxxxii d. The Fourth Officer's Story. . . . . . . . dccccxxxiv e. The Fifth Officer's Story . . . . . . . . dccccxxxiv f. The Sixth Officer's Story . . . . . . . . dccccxxxiv g. The Seventh Officer's Story . . . . . . . dccccxxxiv h. The Eighth Officer's Story. . . . . . . . .dccccxxxv ha. The Thief's Story . . . . . . . . dccccxxxviii i The Ninth Officer's Story. . . . . . . . dccccxxxviii j. The Tenth Officer's Story . . . . . . . dccccxxxviii k. The Eleventh Officer's Story. . . . . . dccccxxxviii l. The Twelfth Officer's Story . . . . . . . dccccxxxix m. The Thirteenth Officer's Story. . . . . . dccccxxxix n. The Fourteenth Officer's Story. . . . . . dccccxxxix na. A Merry Jest of a Thief . . . . . . . .dccccxl nb. Story of the Old Sharper. . . . . . . .dccccxl o. The Fifteenth Officer's Story . . . . . . . .dccccxl p. The Sixteenth Officer's Story . . . . . . . .dccccxl 112. Abdallah ben Nafi and the King's Son of Cashghardccccxli a. Story of Tuhfet el Culoub and Haroun er Reshiddccccxlii 113. Noureddin Ali and Sitt el Milah. . . . . . . dcccclviii 114. El Abbas and the King's Daughter of Baghdad. .dcccclxvi 115. The Malice of Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . dcccclxxix a. The King and his Vizier's Wife. . . . . . .dcccclxxx b, The Merchant's Wife and the Parrot. . . . .dcccclxxx c. The Fuller and his Son. . . . . . . . . . .dcccclxxx d. The Lover's Trick against the Chaste Wife .dcccclxxx e. The Niggard and the Loaves of Bread . . .dcccclxxxiv f. The Lady and her Two Lovers . . . . . . .dcccclxxxiv g. The King's Son and the Ogress . . . . . . dcccclxxxv h. The Drop of Honey . . . . . . . . . . . .dcccclxxxvi i. The Woman who made her Husband Sift Dust.dcccclxxxvi j. The Enchanted Springs . . . . . . . . . .dcccclxxxvi k. The Vizier's Son and the Bathkeeper's Wifedcccclxxxviii l. The Wife's Device to Cheat her Husband. .dcccclxxxix m. The Goldsmith and the Cashmere Singing-Girl .dccccxc n. The Man who never Laughed again . . . . . . dccccxci o. The King's Son and the Merchant's Wife. . dccccxciii p. The Man who saw the Night of Power. . . . dccccxciii q. The Stolen Necklace . . . . . . . . . . . .dccccxciv r. Prince Behram of Persia and the Princess Ed Detmadccccxciv s. The House with the Belvedere. . . . . . . . dccccxcv t. The Sandalwood Merchant and the Sharpers.dccccxcviii u. The Debauchee and the Three-year-old Childdccccxcviii v. The Stolen Purse. . . . . . . . . . . . . .dccccxcix w. The Fox and the Folk[FN#235]. . . . . . . . . . . .M 116. The Two Kings and the Vizier's Daughters . . . . . . .M 117. The Favourite and her Lover. . . . . . . . . . . . . .M 118. The Merchant of Cairo and the Favourite of the Khalif El Mamoun El Hikim bi Amrillak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M Conclusion
TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE UNFINISHED CALCUTTA (1814-18) EDITION (FIRST TWO HUNDRED NIGHTS ONLY) OF THE ARABIC TEXT OF THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND ONE NIGHT.
Introduction.
a. The Ox and the Ass
1. The Merchant and the Genie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i
a. The First Old Man's Story . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
b. The Second Old Man's Story[FN#236]. . . . . . . . iv
2. The Fisherman and the Genie. . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
a. The Physician Douban. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
aa. The Merchant and the Parrot . . . . . . . .xiv
ab. The King's Son and the Ogress . . . . . . . xv
b. The Enchanted Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xxi
3. The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad . . . . xxviii
a. The First Calender's Story. . . . . . . . . . .xxxix
b. The Second Calender's Story . . . . . . . . . . xlii
ba. The Envier and the Envied . . . . . . . . xlvi
c. The Third Calender's Story. . . . . . . . . . . liii
d. The Eldest Lady's Story[FN#237] . . . . . . . . lxiv
4. The Three Apples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lxviii
5. Noureddin Ali of Cairo and his Son Bedreddin Hassan.lxxii
6. Isaac of Mosul's Story of Khedijeh and the Khalif El Mamounxciv
7. Story of the Hunchback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ci
a. The Christian Broker's Story. . . . . . . . . . .cix
b. The Cook's Story[FN#238]. . . . . . . . . . . . cxxi
c. The Jewish Physician's Story. . . . . . . . . .cxxix
d. The Tailor's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . cxxxvi
e. The Barber's Story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . cxliii
ea. Story of the Barber's First Brother . . . cxlv
eb. Story of the Barber's Second Brother. .cxlviii
ec. Story of the Barber's Third Brother . . . .cli
ed. Story of the Barber's Fourth Brother. . . clii
ee. Story of the Barber's Fifth Brother . . . cliv
ef. Story of the Barber's Sixth Brother . . clviii
8. Ali ben Bekkar and Shemsennehar. . . . . . . . . . clxiii
9. Noureddin Ali and the Damsel Ennis el Jelis. . . . clxxxi
10. Women's Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .cxcv-cc
11. Sindbad the Sailor and Hindbad the Porter[FN#239]
a. The First Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
b. The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
c. The Third Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
d. The Fourth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
e. The Fifth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
f. The Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
g. The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor
ALPHABETICAL TABLE OF THE FIRST LINES OF THE VERSE IN THE "TALES FROM THE ARABIC."
N.B.—The Roman numerals denote the volume, the Arabic the page
A Damsel made for love and decked with subtle grace, iii. 192.
A fair one, to idolaters if she herself should show, iii. 10.
A sun of beauty she appears to all who look on her, iii. 191.
A white one, from her sheath of tresses now laid bare, ii. 291.
After your loss, nor trace of me nor vestige would remain, iii. 41.
Algates ye are our prey become; this many a day and night, iii. 6.
All intercessions come and all alike do ill succeed, ii. 218.
An if my substance fail, no one there is will succour me, i. 6.
An if ye'd of evil be quit, look that no evil ye do, ii. 192.
Assemble, ye people of passion, I pray, iii. 31.
Awaken, O ye sleepers all, and profit, whilst it's here, ii. 234.
Beard of the old he-goat, the one-eyed, what shall be, ii. 231.
Behold, I am clad in a robe of leaves green, ii. 242.
But for the spying of the eyes [ill-omened,] we had seen, i. 50.
By Allah, but that I trusted that I should meet you again, ii. 266.
By Him whom I worship, indeed, I swear, O thou that mine eye dost fill, ii. 213.
Damascus is all gardens decked for the pleasance of the eyes, iii. 9.
Drink ever, O lovers, I rede you, of wine, ii. 230.
El Abbas from Akil his stead is come again, iii. 108.
Endowed with amorous grace past any else am I, ii 253.
Fair fall the maid whose loosened locks her cheeks do overcloud! iii. 191.
Fair patience practise, for thereon still followeth content, iii. 116.
Fair patience use, for ease still followeth after stress, iii. 117.
For the uses of food I was fashioned and made, ii. 223.
"Forget him," quoth my censurers, "forget him; what is he?" iii. 42.
Fortune its arrows all, through him I love, let fly, iii. 31.
Full many a man incited me to infidelity, i. 205.
God judge betwixt me and her lord! Away, i. 48.
God keep the days of love-delight! How dearly sweet they were! i. 225.
God keep the days of love-delight! How passing sweet they were! ii. 96
God knows I ne'er recalled thy memory to my thought, iii. 46.
Had we thy coming known, we would for sacrifice, i. 13.
Haste not to that thou dost desire; for haste is still unblest, ii. 88.
He who Mohammed sent, as prophet to mankind, i. 50.
His love he'd have hid, but his tears denounced him to the spy, iii. 42
His love on him took pity and wept for his dismay, ii. 210.
How long, O Fate, wilt thou oppress and baffle me? ii. 69.
How long shall I thus question my heart that's drowned in woe? iii. 42.
How long will ye admonished be, without avail or heed? iii. 40.
How many, in Yemameh, dishevelled widows plain! i. 50.
I am content, for him I love, to all abide, iii. 25.
I am filled full of longing pain and memory and dole, iii. 15.
I am the champion-slayer he warrior without peer, iii. 94. 249——
I clipped her in mine arms and straight grew drunken with the scent, iii. 125.
I fear to be seen in the air, ii. 255.
I marvel for that to my love I see thee now incline, iii. 112.
I saw thee, O thou best of all the human race, display, i. 46.
I swear by his life, yea, I swear by the life of my love without peer, iii. 21.
If I must die, then welcome death to heal, iii. 23.
If, in his own land, midst his folk, abjection and despite, ii. 196.
I'm the crown of every sweet and fragrant weed, ii. 255.
In every rejoicing a boon[FN#240] midst the singers and minstrels am I, ii. 258
In my soul the fire of yearning and affliction rageth aye, iii. 65.
Indeed, thou'st told the tale of kings and men of might, iii. 87.
It chances whiles that the blind man escapes a pit, ii. 51.
It is as the jasmine, when it I espy, ii. 236.
Let destiny with loosened rein its course appointed fare, iii. 211
Like a sun at the end of a cane in a hill of sand, iii. 190.
Like the full moon she shows upon a night of fortune fair, iii. 191.
Lo, since the day I left you, O my masters, iii. 24.
Look at the moss-rose, on its branches seen, ii. 256.
May the place of my session ne'er lack thee! Oh, why, iii. 118
Me, till I stricken was therewith, to love thou didst excite, iii. 113
Midst colours, my colour excelleth in light, ii. 258.
Most like a wand of emerald my shape it is, trow I, ii. 245.
My flower a marvel on your heads doth show, ii. 254.
My fortitude fails, my endeavour is vain, ii. 95.
My fruit is a jewel all wroughten of gold, ii. 245.
My heart will never credit that I am far from thee, ii. 275.
My secret is disclosed, the which I strove to hide, iii. 89.
My watering lips, that cull the rose of thy soft cheek, declare, iii. 134.
No good's in life (to the counsel list of one who's purpose-whole), i. 28.
O amir of justice, be kind to thy subjects, iii. 24.
O friends, the East wind waxeth, the morning draweth near, iii. 123.
O friends, the tears flow ever, in mockery of my pain, iii. 116.
O hills of the sands and the rugged piebald plain, iii. 20.
O thou that blamest me for my heart and railest at my ill, ii. 101.
O thou that questionest the lily of its scent, ii. 256.
O son of Simeon, give no ear to other than my say, iii. 36.
O'er all the fragrant flowers that be I have the pref'rence aye, ii. 235.
O'erbold art thou in that to me, a stranger, thou hast sent, iii. 83.
Oft as my yearning waxeth, my heart consoleth me, ii. 228.
One of the host am I of lovers sad and sere, ii. 252.
Pease on thee! Would our gaze might light on thee once more! ii. 89.
Peace on you, people of my troth! With peace I do you greet, ii. 224.
Quoth I (and mine a body is of passion all forslain), iii. 81.
Rail not at the vicissitudes of Fate, ii. 219.
Ramazan in my life ne'er I fasted, nor e'er, i. 49.
Say, by the lightnings of thy teeth and thy soul's pure desire, iii. 19.
She comes in a robe the colour of ultramarine, iii. 190.
Sherik ben Amrou, what device avails the hand of death to stay? i. 204.
Some with religion themselves concern and make it their business all, i. 48.
Still by your ruined camp a dweller I abide, ii. 209.
Still do I yearn, whilst passion's fire flames in my liver are, iii. 111
The absent ones' harbinger came us unto, iii. 153.
The billows of thy love o'erwhelm me passing sore, ii. 226.
The crown of the flow'rets am I, in the chamber of wine, ii. 224.
The Merciful dyed me with that which I wear, ii. 245.
The season of my presence is never at an end, ii. 246.
The two girls let me down from fourscore fathoms' height, i. 49.
The zephyr's sweetness on the coppice blew, ii. 235.
They have departed, but the steads yet full of them remain, ii. 239.
They have shut out thy person from my sight, iii. 43.
Thou that the dupe of yearning art, how many a melting wight, iii. 86.
Thou that wast absent from my stead, yet still with me didst bide, iii. 46.
Thy haters say and those who malice to thee bear, iii. 8.
Thy letter reached me; when the words thou wrot'st therein I read, iii. 84.
Thy loss is the fairest of all my heart's woes, iii. 43.
Thy presence honoureth us and we, i. 13.
To his beloved one the lover's heart's inclined, iii. 22.
'Twere better and meeter thy presence to leave, ii. 85.
'Twere fitter and better my loves that I leave, i. 26.
Unto its pristine lustre your land returned and more, iii. 132.
Unto me the whole world's gladness is thy nearness and thy sight, iii. 15.
Upon the parting day our loves from us did fare, iii. 114.
Were not the darkness still in gender masculine, iii. 193.
What strength have I solicitude and long desire to bear, iii. 20.
When in the sitting-chamber we for merry-making sate, iii. 135.
Whenas mine eyes behold thee not, that day, iii. 47.
Whenas the soul desireth one other than its peer, ii 207.
Wind of the East, if thou pass by the land where my loved ones dwell, I pray, ii. 204, 271.
Would God upon that bitterest day, when my death calls for me, i. 47
Would we may live together, and when we come to die, i. 47.
Ye chide at one who weepeth for troubles ever new, iii. 30.
Ye know I'm passion-maddened, racked with love and languishment, ii. 230.
Your coming to-me-ward, indeed, with "Welcome! Fair welcome!" I hail, iii. 136.
Your water I'll leave without drinking, for there, i. 210.
INDEX TO THE NAMES OF THE "TALES FROM THE ARABIC"
N.B.-The Roman numerals denote the volume, the Arabic the page
Abbas (El) and the King's Daughter of Baghdad, iii. 53.
Abbaside, Jaafer ben Yehya and Abdulmelik ben Salih the, i. 183.
Abdallah ben Nafi and the King's Son of Cashghar, ii. 195.
Abdulmelik ben Salih the Abbaside, Jaafer ben Yehya, and, i. 183.
Abou Sabir, Story of, i. 90.
Abou Temam, Story of Ilan Shah and, i. 126.
Actions, Of the Issues of Good and Evil, i. 103.
Advantages of Patience, Of the, i. 89.
Affairs, Of Looking to the Issues of, i. 80.
Ali of Damascus and Sitt el Milah, Noureddin, iii. 3.
Appointed Term, Of the, i. 147.
Arab of the Benou Tai, En Numan and the, i. 203.
Asleep and Awake, i. 5.
Ass, the Sharpers, the Money-Changer and the, ii. 41.
Awake, Asleep and, i. 5.
Azadbekht and his Son, History of King, i. 61
Baghdad, El Abbas and the King's Daughter of, iii. 53.
Barmecides, Er Reshid and the, i. 189.
Barmecides, Haroun er Reshid and the Woman of the, i. 57.
Bekhtzeman, Story of King, i. 115.
Benou Tai, En Numan and the Arab of the, i. 203.
Bibers el Bunducdari and the Sixteen Officers of Police, El Melik ez Zahir Rukneddin, ii. 117.
Bihkerd, Story of King, i. 121.
Bihzad, Story of Prince, i. 99.
Bunducdari (El) and the Sixteen Officers of Police, El Melik ez Zahir Rukneddin Bibers, ii. 117.
Cairo (The Merchant of) and the Favourite of the Khalif El Mamoun El Hakim bi Amrillah, iii.
171.
Cashghar, Abdallah ben Nafi and the King's Son of, ii. 195.
Caution was the Cause of his Death, The Man whose, i 291.
Chamberlain's Wife, The King and his, ii. 53.
Clemency, Of, i. 120.
Cook, The Lackpenny and the, i. 9.
Craft, Women's, ii. 287.
Credulous Husband, The, i. 270.
Dadbin (King) and his Viziers, Story of, i. 104.
Damascus (Noureddin Ali of) and Sitt el Milah, iii. 3.
Daughter of the Poor Old Man, The Rich Man who married his Fair, i. 247.
Daughters, The Two Kings and the Vizier's, iii. 145.
David and Solomon, i. 275.
Death, The Man whose Caution was the Cause of his, i. 291.
Destiny, Of, i. 136.
Dethroned King whose Kingdom and Good were restored to him, The, i. 285.
Disciple's Story, The, i. 283.
Draper's Wife, The Old Woman and the, ii. 55.
Druggist, The Singer and the, i. 229.
Eighth Officer's Story, The, ii. 155.
Eleventh Officer's Story, The, ii. 175.
Endeavour against Persistent Ill Fortune, Of the Uselessness of, i. 70.
Envy and Malice, Of, i. 125.
Favourite and her Lover, The, iii. 165.
Favourite of the Khalif El Mamoun el Hakim bi Amrillah, The Merchant of Cairo and the, iii. 171.
Fifteenth Officer's Story, The, ii. 190.
Fifth Officer's Story, The, ii. 144.
Firouz and his Wife, i. 209.
First Officer's Story, The, ii. 122.
Forehead, Of that which is written on the, i. 136.
Fortune, Of the Uselessness of Endeavour against Persistent Ill, i. 70.
Foul-favoured Man and his Fair Wife, The, ii. 61.
Fourteenth Officer's Story, The, ii. 183.
Fourth Officer's Story, The, ii. 142.
Fuller and his Wife, The, i. 261.
Girl, The Journeyman and the, ii. 17.
God, Of the Speedy Relief of, i. 174.
God, Of Trust in, i. 114.
Governor, Story of the Man of Khorassan, his Son and his, i. 218.
Hakim (El) bi Amrillah, The Merchant and the Favourite of the Khalif El Mamoun, iii. 171.
Haroun er Reshid, Tuhfet el Culoub and, ii. 203.
Haroun er Reshid and the Woman of the Barmecides, i. 57.
Hawk and the Locust, The, ii. 50.
Hejjaj (El) and the Three Young Men, i. 53.
Hind and his Vizier, The King of, ii. 105.
Hindbad the Porter, Sindbad the Sailor and, iii. 199.
Husband, The Credulous, i. 270.
Ibn es Semmak and Er Reshid, i. 195.
Ibrahim and his Son, Story of King, i. 138.
Idiot and the Sharper, The, i. 298.
Ilan Shah and Abou Temam, Story of, i. 126.
Ill Effects of Precipitation, Of the, i. 98.
Ill Fortune, Of the Uselessness of Endeavour against Persistent, i 70.
Issues of Affairs, Of Looking to the, i. 80.
Issues of Good and Evil Actions, Of the, i. 103.
Jaafer ben Yehya and Abdulmelik ben Salih the Abbaside, i. 183.
Jest of a Thief, A Merry, ii. 186.
Jesus, The Three Men and our Lord, i. 282.
Journeyman and the Girl, The, ii. 17.
Khalif, El Mamoun El Hakim bi Amrillah, The Merchant of Cairo and the Favourite of the, iii.
171.
Khalif Omar ben Abdulaziz and the Poets, The, i. 45.
Khelbes and his Wife and the Learned Man, i. 301.
Khorassan, his Son and his Governor, Story of the Man of, i. 218.
King Azadbekht and his Son, History of, i. 61.
King Bekhtzeman, Story of, i. 115.
King Bihkerd, Story of, i. 121.
King and his Chamberlain's Wife, The, ii. 53.
King Dadbin and his Viziers, Story of, i. 104.
King (The Dethroned), whose Kingdom and Good were restored to him, i. 285.
King of Ind and his Vizier, The, ii. 105.
King Ibrahim and his Son, Story of, i. 138.
King who lost Kingdom and Wife and Wealth, The, ii. 66.
King, The Old Woman, the Merchant and the, i. 265.
King who knew the Quintessence of Things, The, i. 230.
King Shah Bekht and his Vizier Er Rehwan, i. 215.
King Suleiman Shah and his Sons, Story of, i. 150
King (The Unjust) and the Tither, i. 273.
King's Daughter of Baghdad, El Abbas and the, iii. 53.
King's Son of Cashghar, Abdullah ben Nafi and the, ii. 195.
Kings and the Vizier's Daughters, The Two, iii. 145.
Lackpenny and the Cook, The, i. 9.
Lavish of House and Victual to one whom he knew not, The Man who was, i. 293.
Learned Man, Khelbes and his Wife and the, i. 301.
Lewdness, The Pious Woman accused of, ii. 5.
Locust, The Hawk and the, ii. 50.
Looking to the Issues of Affairs, Of, i. 80.
Lover, The Favourite and her, iii. 165.
Malice, Of Envy and, i. 125.
Mamoun (El) El Hakim bi Amrillah, The Merchant and the Favourite of the Khalif, iii. 171.
Mamoun (El) and Zubeideh, i. 199.
Man whose Caution was the Cause of his Death, The, i. 291.
Man and his Fair Wife, The Foul-favoured, ii. 61.
Man of Khorassan, his Son and his Governor, Story of the, i. 218.
Man who was lavish of House and Victual to One whom he knew not, The, i 293.
Mariyeh, El Abbas and, iii. 53.
Marriage to the Poor Old Man, The Rich Man who gave his Fair Daughter in, i. 247.
Melik (El) Ez Zahir Rukneddin Bibers el Bunducdari and the Sixteen Officers of Police, ii. 117.
Men and our Lord Jesus, The Three, i. 282.
Merchant of Cairo and the Favourite of the Khalif El Maraoun El Hakim bi Amrillah, The, iii.
171.
Merchant and the King, The Old Woman, the, i. 265.
Merchant and his Sons, The, i. 81.
Merchant, The Unlucky, i. 73.
Merchants, The Sharper and the, ii. 46.
Merouzi (El) and Er Razi, ii. 28.
Merry Jest of a Thief, A, ii. 186.
Money-Changer and the Ass, The Sharpers, the, ii. 41.
Ninth Officer's Story, The, ii. 167.
Noureddin Ali of Damascus and Sitt el Milan, iii, 3.
Numan (En) and the Arab of the Benou Tai, i. 203.
Officer's Story, The First, ii. 122.
Officer's Story, The Second, ii. 134.
Officer's Story, The Third, ii. 137.
Officer's Story, The Fourth, ii. 142.
Officer's Story, The Fifth, ii. 144.
Officer's Story, The Sixth, ii. 146.
Officer's Story, The Seventh, ii. 150.
Officer's Story, the Eighth, ii. 155.
Officer's Story, The Ninth, ii. 167.
Officer's Story, The Tenth, ii. 172.
Officer's Story, The Eleventh, ii. 175.
Officer's Story, The Twelfth, ii. 179.
Officer's Story, The Thirteenth, ii. 181.
Officer's Story, The Fourteenth, ii. 183.
Officer's Story, The Fifteenth, ii. 190.
Officer's Story, The Sixteenth, ii. 193.
Officers of Police, El Melik ez Zahir Rukneddin Bibers el Bunducdar and the Sixteen, ii. 117.
Old Sharper, Story of the, ii. 187.
Old Woman and the Draper's Wife, The, ii. 55.
Old Woman, the Merchant and the King, The, i. 265.
Omar ben Abdulaziz and the Poets, The Khalif, i. 45.
Patience, Of the Advantages of, i. 89.
Physician by his Wife's Commandment, The Weaver who became a, ii. 21.
Picture, The Prince who fell in love with the, i. 256.
Pious Woman accused of Lewdness, The, ii. 5.
Poets, The Khalif Omar ben Abdulaziz and the, i. 45.
Police, El Melik ez Zahir Rukneddin Bibers el Bunducdari and the Sixteen Officers of, ii. 117.
Poor Old Man, The Rich Man who gave his Fair Daughter in Marriage to the, i. 247.
Porter, Sindbad the Sailor and Hindbad the, iii. 199
Precipitation, Of the Ill Effects of, i. 98
Prince Bihzad, Story of, i. 99.
Prince who fell in Love with the Picture, The, i. 256.
Prisoner and how God gave him Relief, Story of the, i. 174.
Quintessence of Things, The King who knew the, i. 230.
Razi (Er) and El Merouzi, ii. 28.
Rehwan (Er), King Shah Bekht and his Vizier, i. 215.
Relief of God, Of the Speedy, i. 174.
Relief, Story of the Prisoner and how God gave him, i. 174.
Reshid (Er) and the Barmecides, i. 189.
Reshid (Er), Ibn es Semmak and, i. 195.
Reshid (Er), Tuhfet el Culoub and, ii. 203.
Reshid (Haroun er) and the Woman of the Barmecides, i. 57.
Rich Man who gave his Fair Daughter in Marriage to the Poor Old Man, The, i. 247.
Rich Man and his Wasteful Son, The, i. 252.
Sabir (Abou), Story of, i. 90.
Sailor and Hindbad the Porter, Sindbad the, iii. 199.
Second Officer's Story, The, ii. 134.
Selim and Selma, ii. 81.
Selma, Selim and, ii. 81.
Semmak (Ibn es) and Er Reshid, i. 195.
Seventh Officer's Story, The, ii. 150.
Seventh Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor, The, iii. 224.
Shah Bekht and his Vizier Er Rehwan, King, i. 215.
Sharper, The Idiot and the, i. 298.
Sharper and the Merchant, The, ii. 46
Sharper, Story of the Old, ii. 187.
Sharpers who cheated each his Fellow, The Two, ii. 28.
Sharpers, The Money-Changer and the Ass, The, ii. 41.
Shehriyar, Shehrzad and, ii. 111, iii. 141, 157.
Shehrzad and Shehriyar, ii. 111, iii. 141, 157.
Sindbad the Sailor and Hindbad the Porter, iii. 199.
Sindbad the Sailor, The Seventh Voyage of, iii. 224.
Sindbad the Sailor, The Sixth Voyage of, iii. 203.
Singer and the Druggist, The, i. 229.
Sitt el Milah, Noureddin Ali of Damascus and, iii. 3.
Sixteen Officers of Police, El Melik ez Zahir Rukneddin Bibers el Bunducdari and the, ii. 117.
Sixteenth Officer's Story, The, ii. 193.
Sixth Officer's Story, The, ii. 146.
Sixth Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor, The, iii. 203.
Solomon, David and, i. 275.
Son, The History of King Azadbekht and his, i. 61.
Son and his Governor, Story of the Man of Khorassan, his, i. 218
Son, Story of King Ibrahim and his, i. 138.
Son, The Rich Man and his Wasteful, i. 252.
Sons, Story of King Suleiman Shah and his, i. 150.
Sons, The Merchant and his, i. 81.
Speedy Relief of God, Of the, i. 174.
Suleiman Shah and his Sons, Story of King, i. 150.
Tai, En Numan and the Arab of the Benou. i. 203.
Temam (Abou), Story of Ilan Shah and, i. 126.
Ten Viziers, The, i. 61
Tenth Officer's Story, The, ii. 172
Term, Of the Appointed, i. 147.
Thief, A Merry Jest of a, ii. 186.
Thiefs Story, The, ii. 165.
Thief and the Woman, The, i. 278
Things, The King who knew the Quintessence of, i. 239
Third Officer's Story, The, ii. 137.
Thirteenth Officer's Story, The, ii. 181.
Three Men and our Lord Jesus, The, i. 282.
Three Young Men, El Hejjaj and the, i. 53.
Tither, The Unjust King and the, i. 273.
Trust in God, Of, 114.
Tuhfet el Culoub and Er Reshid, ii. 203.
Twelfth Officer's Story, The, ii. I79.
Two Kings and the Vizier's Daughters, The, iii. 145
Unjust King and the Tither, The, i. 272
Unlucky Merchant, The, i 73.
Uselessness of Endeavour against Persistent Ill Fortune, Of the, i. 70
Vizier, The King of Hind and his, ii. 105.
Vizier Er Rehwan, King Shah Bekht and his, i. 215.
Vizier's Daughters, The Two Kings and the, iii. 145,
Viziers, Story of King Dadbin and his. i. 104.
Viziers, The Ten, i. 61.
Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor, The Seventh, iii. 224.
Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor, The Sixth, iii. 203.
Wasteful Son, The Rich Man and his, i. 252.
Weaver who became a Physician by his Wife's Commandment, The ii. 21.
Wife, The King and his Chamberlain's, ii. 53.
Wife, The Old Woman and the Draper's, ii. 55.
Wife, Firouz aad his, i. 209.
Wife, The Fuller and his, i. 261.
Wife and the Learned Man, Khelbes and his, i. 301.
Woman accused of Lewdness, The Pious, ii. 5.
Woman of the Barmecides, Haroun er Reshid and the, i. 57.
Woman, The Thief and the, i. 278.
Woman (The Old) and the Draper's Wife, ii. 55.
Woman (The Old), the Merchant and the King, i. 265.
Women's Craft, ii. 287.
Young Men, El Hejjaj and the Three, i. 53.
Zubeideh, El Mamoun and, i. 199
The End.
Tales from the Arabic, Volume 3
Endnotes
[FN#1] Breslau Text, vol. xii. pp. 50-116, Nights dcccclviii-dcccclxv.
[FN#2] Babylon, according to the Muslims, is the head-quarters of sorcery and it is there that the two fallen angels, Harout and Marout, who are appointed to tempt mankind by teaching them the art of magic, are supposed to be confined.
[FN#3] i.e. "my lord," a title generally prefixed to the names of saints. It is probable, therefore, that the boy was named after some saint or other, whose title, as well as name, was somewhat ignorantly appropriated to him.
[FN#4] i.e. one and all?
[FN#5] i.e. a foretaste of hell.
[FN#6] Lit. he loaded his sleeve with.
[FN#7] A mithcal is the same as a dinar, i.e. about ten shillings.
[FN#8] Masculine.
[FN#9] He was a noted debauchee, as well as the greatest poet of his day See my "Book of the
Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. IV. p. 205, and Vol. IX. p. 332.
[FN#10] See ante, Vol. II. p. 240. note.
[FN#11] Princess of the Fair.
[FN#12] i.e. Ye are welcome to.
[FN#13] i.e. the place in which those accused or convicted of crimes of violence were confined.
[FN#14] i.e. a youth slender and flexile as a bough.
[FN#15] i.e. sway gracefully. A swimming gait is the ideal of elegance to the Arab.
[FN#16] An Arab of Medina, proverbial for faithlessness.
[FN#17] Joseph is the Mohammedan prototype of beauty.
[FN#18] For the loss of Joseph. Jacob, in like manner, is the Muslim type of inconsolable grief.
[FN#19] Uncle of the Prophet.
[FN#20] First cousin of the Prophet.
[FN#21] i.e. cut off her head.
[FN#22] When asked, on the Day of Judgment, why he had slain her.
[FN#23] i.e. that some one of the many risings in Khorassan (which was in a chronic state of rebellion during Er Reshid's reign) had been put down.
[FN#24] Lit. fry. The custom is to sear the stump by plunging it into boiling oil.
[FN#25] Lit. of those having houses.
[FN#26] i.e. from God in the world to come.
[FN#27] I look to get God's favour in consequence of thy fervent prayers for me.
[FN#28] Provided for ablution.
[FN#29] i.e. if you want a thing done, do it yourself.
[FN#30] i.e. put on the ordinary walking dress of the Eastern lady, which completely hides the person.
[FN#31] This is apparently said in jest; but the Muslim Puritan (such as the strict Wehhabi) is often exceedingly punctilious in refusing to eat or use anything that is not sanctified by mention in the Koran or the Traditions of the Prophet, in the same spirit as the old Calvinist Scotchwoman of popular tradition, who refused to eat muffins, because they "warna mentioned in the Bible."
[FN#32] i.e. a leader (lit. foreman, antistes) of the people at prayer.
[FN#33] Koran ii. 168.
[FN#34] i.e. I have eaten largely and the food lies heavy on my stomach.
[FN#35] Wine is considered by the Arabs a sovereign digestive. See my "Book of the Thousand
Nights and One Night," Vol. IV. p. 357.
[FN#36] "The similitude of Paradise, the which is promised unto those who fear [God]. Therein are rivers of water incorruptible and rivers of milk, the taste whereof changeth not, and rivers of wine, a delight to the drinkers, and rivers of clarified honey."—Koran xlvii. 16, 17.
[FN#37] The ox is the Arab type of stupidity, as with us the ass.
[FN#38] Syn. wood (oud).
[FN#39] i.e. my pallor and emaciation testify to the affliction of my heart and the latter bears witness that the external symptoms correctly indicate the internal malady.
[FN#40] Lit. he is [first] the deposit of God, then thy deposit.
[FN#41] Or "by."
[FN#42] See supra, Vol. I. p. 35, note.
[FN#43] i.e. made him Chief of the Police of Baghdad, in place of the former Prefect, whom he had put to death with the rest of Noureddin's oppressors.
[FN#44] For affright.
[FN#45] i.e. religious ceremonies so called. See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One
Night," Vol. IX. p. 113, note.
[FN#46] Breslau Text, vol. xii. pp. 116-237, Nights dcccclxvi-dcccclxxix.
[FN#47] i.e. A member of the tribe of Sheiban. No such King of Baghdad (which was not founded till the eighth century) as Ins ben Cais is, I believe, known to history.
[FN#48] The cities and provinces of Bassora and Cufa are generally known as "The Two Iraks"; but the name is here in all probability used in its wider meaning of Irak Arabi (Chaldaea) and Irak Farsi (Persian Irak).
[FN#49] i.e. all those languages the knowledge whereof is necessary to an interpreter or dragoman (properly terjeman). Or quaere is the word terjemaniyeh (dragomanish) here a mistranscription for turkumaniyeh (Turcoman).
[FN#50] i.e. gilded?
[FN#51] i.e. sperma hominis.
[FN#52] Syn. good breeding.
[FN#53] i.e. those women of equal age and rank with herself.
[FN#54] i.e. vaunting himself of offering richer presents.
[FN#55] Apparently Zebid, the ancient capital of the province of Tehameh in Yemen, a town on the Red Sea, about sixty miles north of Mocha. The copyist of the Tunis MS. appears to have written the name with the addition of the characteristic desinence (oun) of the nominative case, which is dropped except in the Koran and in poetry.
[FN#56] Name of the province in which Mecca is situated.
[FN#57] Syn. assembly.
[FN#58] i.e. day and night, to wit, for ever.
[FN#59] Syn. the loftiness of his purpose.
[FN#60] Lit "I charm thee by invoking the aid of God for thee against evil" or "I seek refuge with
God for thee."
[FN#61] Or "determinate."
[FN#62] Koran xxxiii. 38.
[FN#63] Or "accomplishments."
[FN#64] i.e. to make a pleasure-excursion.
[FN#65] Lit. beset his back.
[FN#66] Lit. in its earth.
[FN#67] The king's own tribe.
[FN#68] i.e. the Arab of the desert or Bedouin (el Aarabi), the nomad.
[FN#69] i.e. the martial instinct.
[FN#70] Lit. "And he who is oppressed shall become oppressor."
[FN#71] i.e. be not ashamed to flee rather than perish in thy youth, if his prowess (attributed to diabolical aid or possession) prove too much for thee.
[FN#72] A periphrastic way of saying, "I look to God for help."
[FN#73] i.e. from the world.
[FN#74] In laughter.
[FN#75] i.e. as he were a flying genie, swooping down upon a mortal from the air, hawk-fashion.
[FN#76] Syn. "Thou settest out to me a mighty matter."
[FN#77] i.e. the castle.
[FN#78] i.e. was eloquent and courtly to the utmost.
[FN#79] i.e. died.
[FN#80] The Arabs use the right hand only in eating.
[FN#81] Name of a quarter of Baghdad.
[FN#82] i.e. he summoneth thee to his presence by way of kindness and not because he is wroth with thee.
[FN#83] i.e. in allowing thee hitherto to remain at a distance from as and not inviting thee to attach thyself to our person.
[FN#84] An Arab idiom, meaning "he showed agitation."
[FN#85] Apparently two well-known lovers.
[FN#86] Apparently two well-known lovers.
[FN#87] i.e. the wandering Arabs.
[FN#88] i.e. slain.
[FN#89] "O ye who believe, seek aid of patience and prayer; verily, God is with the patient."—Koran ii. 148.
[FN#90] Lit. "ignorant one" (jahil).
[FN#91] i.e. Peninsula. Jezireh (sing, of jezair, islands) is constantly used by the Arabs in this sense; hence much apparent confusion in topographical passages.
[FN#92] i.e. Mecca and Medina.
[FN#93] i.e. whether on a matter of sport, such as the chase, or a grave matter, such as war, etc.
[FN#94] i.e. the children of his fighting-men whom thou slewest.
[FN#95] Arab fashion of shaking hands. See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night,"
Vol. IX p. 171, note.
[FN#96] Lit. a cleft meadow (merj selia). This is probably a mistranscription for merj sselia, a treeless champaign.
[FN#97] i.e. one of the small rooms opening upon the hall of audience at saloon of estate.
[FN#98] So she might hear and see what passed, herself unseen.
[FN#99] Or knowledge of court etiquette.
[FN#100] i.e. richer.
[FN#101] Lit. seen.
[FN#102] Lit. what she did.
[FN#103] i.e. tabooed or unlawful in a religious sense (heram).
[FN#104] i.e. those of El Aziz, who had apparently entered the city or passed through it on their way to the camp of El Abbas.
[FN#105] Lit. none of the sons of the road.
[FN#106] i.e. the stars.
[FN#107] i.e. in falsetto?
[FN#108] by thine absence.
[FN#109] Common abbreviation for "May I be thy ransom!"
[FN#110] i.e. for love of and longing for.
[FN#111] i.e. leather from Et Taif, a town of the Hejaz, renowned for the manufacture of scented goats' leather.
[FN#112] Or "suspended in."
[FN#113] i.e. violateth my privacy.
[FN#114] i.e. the plaintive song of a nightingale or turtle-dove.
[FN#115] This curious comparison appears to be founded upon the extreme tenuity of the particles of fine dust, so minutely divided as to seem almost fluid.
[FN#116] i.e. he carried it into the convent, hidden under his cloak.
[FN#117] i.e. all the delights of Paradise, as promised to the believer by the Koran.
[FN#118] "Him" in the text and so on throughout the piece; but Mariyeh is evidently the person alluded to, according to the common practice of Muslim poets of a certain class, who consider it indecent openly to mention a woman as an object of love.
[FN#119] i.e. from the witchery of her beauty. See Vol. II. p. 240, note.
[FN#120] Lit "if thou kohl thyself" i.e. use them as a cosmetic for the eye.
[FN#121] i.e. we will assume thy debts and responsibilities.
[FN#122] Lit "behind."
[FN#123] i.e. a specially auspicious hour, as ascertained by astrological calculations. Eastern peoples have always laid great stress upon the necessity of commencing all important undertakings at an (astrologically) favourable time.
[FN#124] Or "more valuable." Red camels are considered better than those of other colours by some of the Arabs.
[FN#125] i.e. couriers mounted on dromedaries, which animals are commonly used for this purpose, being (for long distances) swifter and more enduring than horses.
[FN#126] Lit. he sinned against himself.
[FN#127] i.e. in falsetto?
[FN#128] i.e. of gold or rare wood, set with balass rubies.
[FN#129] i.e. whose absence.
[FN#130] i.e. in a throat voice?
[FN#131] Koranic synonym, victual (rihan). See Vol. II. p. 247, note.
[FN#132] Apparently, the apple of the throat.
[FN#133] Apparently, the belly.
[FN#134] Apparently, the bosom.
[FN#135] Cf. Fletcher's well-known song in The Bloody Brother;
"Hide, O hide those hills of snow,
That thy frozen bosom bears,
On Whose Tops the Pinks That Grow
Are of those that April wears."
[FN#136] i.e. the breasts themselves.
[FN#137] i.e. your languishing beauties are alone present to my mind's eye. A drowsy voluptuous air of languishment is considered by the Arabs an especial charm.
[FN#138] Syn. chamberlain (hajib).
[FN#139] Syn. eyebrow (hajib). The usual trifling play of words is of course intended.
[FN#140] Lit. feathers.
[FN#141] Solomon is fabled by the Muslims to have compelled the wind to bear his throne when placed upon his famous magic carpet. See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. V. pp. 235-6.
[FN#142] Quære the teeth.
[FN#143] i.e. the return of our beloved hath enabled us to remove the barriers that stood between us and delight.
[FN#144] Singing (as I have before pointed out) is not, in the eyes of the strict Muslim, a reputable occupation and it is, therefore, generally the first idea of the "repentant" professional songstress or (as in this case) enfranchised slave-girl, who has been wont to entertain her master with the display of her musical talents, to free herself from all signs of her former profession and identify herself as closely as possible with the ordinary "respectable" bourgeoise of the harem, from whom she has been distinguished hitherto by unveiled face and freedom of ingress and egress; and with this aim in view she would naturally be inclined to exaggerate the rigour of Muslim custom, as applied to herself.
[FN#145] Breslau Text, vol. xii. pp. 383-4 (Night mi).
[FN#146] i.e. that of the king, his seven viziers, his son and his favourite, which in the Breslau
Edition immediately follows the Story of El Abbas and Mariyeh and occupies pp. 237-383 of vol.
xii. (Nights dcccclxxix-m). It will be found translated in my "Book of the Thousand Nights and
One Night," Vol. V. pp. 260-346, under the name of "The Malice of Women."
[FN#147] i.e. those who practise it.
[FN#148] Or "cause" (sebeb).
[FN#149] Or "preservation" (selameh).
[FN#150] Or "turpitude, anything that is hateful or vexatious" (keraheh).
[FN#151] Or "preservation" (selameh).
[FN#152] Or "turpitude, anything that is hateful or vexatious" (keraheh).
[FN#153] These preliminary words of Shehrzad have no apparent connection with the story that immediately follows and which is only her own told in the third person, and it is difficult to understand why they should be here introduced. The author may have intended to connect them with the story by means of a further development of the latter and with the characteristic carelessness of the Eastern story-teller, forgotten or neglected to carry out his intention; or, again, it is possible that the words in question may have been intended as an introduction to the Story of the Favourite and her Lover (see post, p. 165), to which they seem more suitable, and have been misplaced by an error of transcription. In any case, the text is probably (as usual) corrupt.
[FN#154] Breslau Text, vol. xii. pp. 384-394.
[FN#155] The kingdom of the elder brother is afterwards referred to as situate in China. See post, p. 150.
[FN#156] Tubba was the dynastic title of the ancient Himyerite Kings of Yemen, even as
Chosroës and Cæsar of the Kings of Persia and the Emperors of Constantinople respectively.
[FN#157] i.e. a king similar in magnificence and dominion to the monarchs of the three dynasties aforesaid, whose names are in Arab literature synonyms for regal greatness.
[FN#158] i.e. his rage was ungovernable, so that none dared approach him in his heat of passion.
[FN#159] i.e. maidens cloistered or concealed behind curtains and veiled in the harem.
[FN#160] i.e. those whose business it is to compose or compile stories, verses, etc., for the entertainment of kings and grandees.
[FN#161] i.e. that his new and damnable custom. The literal meaning of bidah is "an innovation or invention, anything new;" but the word is commonly used in the sense of "heresy" or "heterodox innovation," anything new being naturally heretical in the eyes of the orthodox religionist.
[FN#162] i.e. women.
[FN#163] Breslau Text, vol. xii. pp. 394-398.
[FN#164] i.e. his apathy or indifference to the principles of right and wrong and the consequences of his wicked behaviour.
[FN#165] i.e. in a state of reprobation, having incurred the wrath of God.
[FN#166] hath mentioned the office of vizier.
[FN#167] Koran xx. 30.
[FN#168] i.e. none had been better qualified to dispense with a vizier than he.
[FN#169] i.e. the essential qualification.
[FN#170] The word jeish (troops) is here apparently used in the sense at officials, ministers of government.
[FN#171] Or "rectification."
[FN#172] Koran xxxiii. 35.
[FN#173] i.e. I know not which to choose of the superabundant material at my command in the way of instances of women's craft.
[FN#174] Breslau Text, vol xii. pp. 398-402.
[FN#175] i.e. incensed with the smoke of burning musk. It is a common practice in the East to fumigate drinking-vessels with the fragrant smoke of aloes-wood and other perfumes, for the purpose of giving a pleasant flavour to the water, etc., drunk from them.
[FN#176] Huneini foucaniyeh. Foucaniyeh means "upper" (fem.); but the meaning of huneini is unknown to me.
[FN#177] Heriseh. See supra, Vol. II. p. 26, note 4.
[FN#178] The Arabs distinguish three kinds of honey, i.e. bees' honey, cane honey (treacle or syrup of sugar) and drip-honey (date-syrup).
[FN#179] i.e. yet arrive in time for the rendezvous.
[FN#180] Breslau Text, pp. 402-412.
[FN#181] i.e. on an island between two branches of the Nile.
[FN#182] It is not plain what Khalif is here meant, though it is evident, from the context, that an Egyptian prince is referred to, unless the story is told of the Abbaside Khalif El Mamoun, son of Er Reshid (A.D. 813-33), during his temporary residence in Egypt, which he is said to have visited. This is, however, unlikely, as his character was the reverse of sanguinary; besides, El Mamoun was not his name, but his title (Aboulabbas Abdallah El Mamoun Billah). Two Khalifs of Egypt assumed the title of El Hakim bi Amrillah (He who rules or decrees by or in accordance with the commandment of God), i.e. the Fatimite Abou Ali El Mensour (A.D. 995-1021), and the faineant Abbaside Aboulabbas Ahmed (A.D. 1261-1301); but neither of these was named El Mamoun. It is probable, however, that the first named is the prince referred to in the story, the latter having neither the power nor the inclination for such wholesale massacres as that described in the text, which are perfectly in character with the brutal and fantastic nature of the founder of the Druse religion.
[FN#183] i.e. the well-known island of that name (The Garden).
[FN#184] i.e. "whatever may betide" or "will I, nill I"?
[FN#185] Lit. she was cut off or cut herself off.
[FN#186] Lit. "The convent of Clay."
[FN#187] i.e. this is the time to approve thyself a man.
[FN#188] To keep her afloat.
[FN#189] Lit "Thou art the friend who is found (or present) (or the vicissitudes of Time (or
Fortune)."
[FN#190] i.e. the officer whose duty it is to search out the estates of intestates and lay hands upon such property as escheats to the Crown for want of heirs.
[FN#191] i.e. Sumatran.
[FN#192] i.e. Alexander.
[FN#193] i.e. the blackness of the hair.
[FN#194] The ingenuity of the bride's attendants, on the occasion of a wedding, is strained to the utmost to vary her attire and the manner in which the hair is dressed on the occasion of her being displayed to her husband, and one favourite trick consists in fastening her tresses about her chin and cheeks, so as to produce a sort of imitation of beard and whiskers.
[FN#195] Literal.
[FN#196] i.e. God only knows if it be true or not.
[FN#197] Or rather appended to. The Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor form no part of the scheme of Nights in this edition, but are divided into "Voyages" only and form a sort of appendix, following the Two hundredth Night. See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. IX. pp. 307-8.
[FN#198] See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. V. pp. 202 and 210.
[FN#199] i.e. the porter and the other guests.
[FN#200] i.e. a mountainous island.
[FN#201] Kherabeh, lit. a hole. Syn. ruin or destruction.
[FN#202] i.e. an outlying spur or reef.
[FN#203] Syn. perilous place.
[FN#204] Lit. their guide was disappointed.
[FN#205] i.e. means (hileh) of sustaining life.
[FN#206] i.e. death.
[FN#207] i.e. Ceylon.
[FN#208] Audiyeh (plural of wadi, a valley). The use of the word in this sense points to an
African origin of this version of the story. The Moors of Africa and Spain commonly called a river
"a valley," by a natural figure of metonymy substituting the container for the contained; e.g.
Guadalquiver (Wadi el Kebir, the Great River), Guadiana, etc.
[FN#209] i.e. after the usual compliments, the letter proceeded thus.
[FN#210] i.e. we are thine allies in peace and war, for offence and defence. Those whom thou lovest we love, and those whom thou hatest we hate.
[FN#211] About seventy-two grains.
[FN#212] Or public appearance.
[FN#213] Solomon was the dynastic name of the kings of the prae-Adamite Jinn and is here used in a generic sense, as Chosroes for the ancient Kings of Persia, Caesar for the Emperors of Constantinople, Tubba for the Himyerite Kings of Yemen, etc., etc.
[FN#214] i.e. Maharajah.
[FN#215] Or "government."
[FN#216] Every Muslim is bound by law to give alms to the extent of two and half per cent. of his property.
[FN#217] In North-east Persia.
[FN#218] Alleged to have been found by the Arab conquerors of Spain on the occasion of the sack of Toledo and presented by them to the Ommiade Khalif El Welid ben Abdulmelik (A.D. 705-716). See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. III. p. 331.
[FN#219] i.e. such as are fit to be sent from king to king.
[FN#220] i.e, the price of his victual and other necessaries for the voyage.
[FN#221] Lit. riding-beast (French monture, no exact English equivalent), whether camel, mule or horse does not appear.
[FN#222] The Envier and the Envied.
[FN#223] After the manner of Orientalists, a far more irritable folk than any poets.
[FN#224] By the by, apropos of this soi-disant complete translation of the great Arabian collection of romantic fiction, it is difficult to understand how an Orientalist of repute, such as Dr. Habicht, can have put forth publication of this kind, which so swarms with blunders of every description as to throw the mistakes of all other translators completely into the shade and to render it utterly useless to the Arabic scholar as a book of reference. We can only conjecture that he must have left the main portion of the work to be executed, without efficient supervision, by incapable collaborators or that he undertook and executed the translation in such haste as to preclude the possibility of any preliminary examination and revision, worthy of the name, of the original MS.; and this latter supposition appears to be borne out by the fact that the translation was entirely published before the appearance of any portion of the Arabic Text, as printed from the Tunis Manuscript. Whilst on the subject of German translations, it may be well to correct an idea, which appears to prevail among non-Arabic scholars, to the effect that complete translations of the Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night exist in the language of Hoffmann and Heine, and which is (as far, at least, as my own knowledge extends) a completely erroneous one. I have, I believe, examined all the German translations in existence and have found not one of them worthy of serious consideration; the best, that of Hammer-Purgstall, to which I had looked for help in the elucidation of doubtful and corrupt passages, being so loose and unfaithful, so disfigured by ruthless retrenchments and abridgments, no less than by gross errors of all kinds, that I found myself compelled to lay it aside as useless. It is but fair, however, to the memory of the celebrated Austrian Orientalist, to state that the only form in which Von Hammer's translation is procurable is that of the German rendering of Prof. Zinserling (1823-4), executed from the original (French) manuscript, which latter was unfortunately lost before publication.
[FN#225] The Boulac Edition omits this story altogether.
[FN#226] Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac 134b. "The Merchant's Wife and the Parrot."
[FN#227] This will be found translated in my "Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night," Vol. VII. p. 307, as an Appendix to the Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac version of the story, from which it differs in detail.
[FN#228] Called "Bekhit" in Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac Editions.
[FN#229] Yehya ben Khalid (Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac).
[FN#230] "Shar" (Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac).
[FN#231] "Jelyaad" (Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac).
[FN#232] Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac, No. 63. See my "Book of the Thousand Nights and
One Night," Vol. IV. p. 211.
[FN#233] Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac, "Jaafer the Barmecide."
[FN#234] Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac, "The Thief turned Merchant and the other Thief," No. 88.
[FN#235] This story will be found translated in my "Book at the Thousand Nights and One
Night,' Vol. V. p. 345.
[FN#236] The Third Old Man's Story is wanting.
[FN#237] The Story of the Portress is wanting.
[FN#238] Calcutta (1839-42), Boulac and Breslan, "The Controller's Story."
[FN#239] Calcutta (1839-42) and Boulac, "Sindbad the Sailor and Sindbad the Porter."
[FN#240] Tuhfeh.