The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 05 (of 10)
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Title: The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 05 (of 10)
Translator: Sir Richard Francis Burton
Release date: September 1, 2002 [eBook #3439]
Most recently updated: December 11, 2022
Language: English
Original publication: The Burton Club, 1885
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THE BOOK OF THE
THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT
A Plain and Literal Translation
of the Arabian Nights Entertainments
Translated and Annotated by
Richard F. Burton
VOLUME FIVE
Privately Printed By The Burton Club
To Doctor George Bird.
My Dear Bird, This is not a strictly medical work, although in places treating
of subjects which may modestly be called hygienic. I inscribe it to you
because your knowledge of Egypt will enable you to appreciate its finer
touches; and for another and a yet more cogent reason, namely, that you are one
of my best and oldest friends.
Ever yours sincerely,
Richard F. Burton
Athenæum Club, October 20, 1885.
Contents of the Fifth Volume
59. The Ebony Horse
60. Uns Al-Wujud and the Wazir's Daughter Al-Ward Fi'l-Akmam or Rose-In-Hood
61. Abu Nowas With the Three Boys and the Caliph Harun Al-Rashid
62. Abdallah Bin Ma'amar With the Man of Bassorah and His Slave Girl
63. The Lovers of the Banu Ozrah
64. The Wazir of Al-Yaman and His Younger Brother
65. The Loves of the Boy and Girl at School
66. Al-Mutalammis and His Wife Umaymah
67. The Caliph Marun Al-Rashid and Queen Zubaydah in the Bath
68. Harun Al-Rashid and the Three Poets
69. Mus'ab Bin Al-Zubayr and Ayishah His Wife
70. Abu Al-Aswad and His Slave-Girl
71. Harun Al-Rashid and the Two Slave-Girls
72. The Caliph Harun Al-Rashid and the Three Slave-Girls
73. The Miller and His Wife
74. The Simpleton and the Sharper
75. The Kazi Abu Yusuf With Harum Al-Rashid and Queen Zubaydah
76. The Caliph Al-Hakim and the Merchand
77. King Kisra Anushirwan and the Village Damsel
78. The Water-Carrier and the Goldsmith's Wife
79. Khusrau and Shirin and the Fisherman
80. Yahya Bin Khalid the Barmecide and the Poor Man
81. Mohammed Al-Amin and the Slave-Girl
82. The Sons of Yahya Bin Khalid and Sa'id Bin Salim Al-Bahili
83. The Woman's Trick Against Her Husband
84. The Devout Woman and the Two Wicked Elders
85. Ja'afar the Barmecide and the Old Badawi
86. The Caliph Omar Bin Al-Khattab and the Young Badawi
87. The Caliph Al-Maamum and the Pyramids of Egypt
88. The Thief and the Merchant
89. Masrur the Eunuch and Ibn Al-Karibi
90. The Devotee Prince
91. The Unwise Schoolmaster Who Fell in Love by Report
92. The Foolish Dominie
93. The Illiterate Who Set Up For a Schoolmaster
94. The King and the Virtuous Wife
95. Abd Al-Rahman the Maghribi's Story of the Rukh
96. Adi Bin Zayd and the Princess Hind
97. Di'ibil Al-Khuza'i With the Lady and Muslim Bin Al-Walid
98. Isaac of Mosul and the Merchant
99. The Three Unfortunate Lovers
100. How Abu Hasan Brake Wind
101. The Lovers of the Banu Tayy
102. The Mad Lover
103. The Prior Who Became A Moslem
104. The Loves of Abu Isa and Jurrat Al-Ayn
105. Al-Amin Son of Al-Rashid and His Uncle Ibrahim Bin Al-Mahdi
106. Al-Fath Bin Khakan and Al-Mutawakkil
107. The Man's Dispute With the Learned Woman Concerning the Relative Excellence of Male and Female
108. Abu Suwayd and the Pretty Old Woman
109. The Emir ali Bin Tahir and the Girl Muunis
110. The Woman Who had a Boy and the Other Who had a Man to Lover
111. Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad
112. The Pilgrim Man and the Old Woman
113. Abu Alhusn and His Slave-Girl Tawaddud
114. The Angel of Death With the Proud King and the Devout Man
115. The Angel of Death and the Rich King
116. The Angel of Death and the King of the Children of Israel
117. Iskandar Zu Al-Karnayn and a Certain Tribe of Poor Folk
118. The Righteousness of King Anushirwan
119. The Jewish Kazi and His Pious Wife
120. The Shipwrecked Woman and Her Child
121. The Pious Black Slave
122. The Devout Tray-Maker and His Wife
123. Al-Jajjaj and the Pious Man
124. The Blacksmith Who Could Handle Fire Without Hurt
125. The Devotee To Whom Allah Gave a Cloud for Service and the Devout King
126. The Moslem Champion and the Christian Damsel
127. The Christian King's Daughter and the Moslem
128. The Prophet and the Justice of Providence
129. The Ferryman of the Nile and the Hermit
130. The Island King and the Pious Israelite
131. Abu Al-Hasan and Abu Ja'afar the Leper
132. The Queen of Serpents
a. The Adventures of Bulukiya
b. The Story of Jansha
The Book Of The
THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT
THE EBONY HORSE.[FN#1]
There was once in times of yore and ages long gone before, a great and
puissant King, of the Kings of the Persians, Sαbϊr by name, who was the
richest of all the Kings in store of wealth and dominion and surpassed
each and every in wit and wisdom. He was generous, open handed and
beneficent, and he gave to those who sought him and repelled not those
who resorted to him; and he comforted the broken-hearted and honourably
entreated those who fled to him for refuge. Moreover, he loved the poor
and was hospitable to strangers and did the oppressed justice upon the
oppressor. He had three daughters, like full moons of shining light or
flower-gardens blooming bright; and a son as he were the moon; and it
was his wont to keep two festivals in the twelve- month, those of the
Nau-Roz, or New Year, and Mihrgαn the Autumnal Equinox,[FN#2] on which
occasions he threw open his palaces and gave largesse and made
proclamation of safety and security and promoted his chamberlains and
viceroys; and the people of his realm came in to him and saluted him
and gave him joy of the holy day, bringing him gifts and servants and
eunuchs. Now he loved science and geometry, and one festival-day as he
sat on his kingly throne there came in to him three wise men, cunning
artificers and past masters in all manner of craft and inventions,
skilled in making things curious and rare, such as confound the wit;
and versed in the knowledge of occult truths and perfect in mysteries
and subtleties. And they were of three different tongues and countries,
the first a Hindi or Indian,[FN#3] the second a Roumi or Greek and the
third a Farsi or Persian. The Indian came forwards and, prostrating
himself before the King, wished him joy of the festival and laid before
him a present befitting his dignity; that is to say, a man of gold, set
with precious gems and jewels of price and hending in hand a golden
trumpet. When Sabur[FN#4] saw this, he asked, "O sage, what is the
virtue of this figure?"; and the Indian answered, "O my lord, if this
figure be set at the gate of thy city, it will be a guardian over it;
for, in an enemy enter the place, it will blow this clarion against him
and he will be seized with a palsy and drop down dead." Much the King
marvelled at this and cried, "By Allah, O sage, an this thy word be
true, I will grant thee thy wish and thy desire." Then came forward the
Greek and, prostrating himself before the King, presented him with a
basin of silver, in whose midst was a peacock of gold, surrounded by
four-and-twenty chicks of the same metal. Sabur looked at them and
turning to the Greek, said to him, "O sage, what is the virtue of this
peacock?" "O my lord," answered he, "as often as an hour of the day or
night passeth, it pecketh one of its young and crieth out and flappeth
its wings, till the four-and-twenty hours are accomplished; and when
the month cometh to an end, it will open its mouth and thou shalt see
the crescent therein." And the King said, "An thou speak sooth, I will
bring thee to thy wish and thy desire." Then came forward the Persian
sage and, prostrating himself before the King, presented him with a
horse[FN#5] of the blackest ebony-wood inlaid with gold and jewels, and
ready harnessed with saddle, bridle and stirrups such as befit Kings;
which when Sabur saw, he marvelled with exceeding marvel and was
confounded at the beauty of its form and the ingenuity of its fashion.
So he asked, "What is the use of this horse of wood, and what is its
virtue and what the secret of its movement?"; and the Persian answered,
"O my lord, the virtue of this horse is that, if one mount him, it will
carry him whither he will and fare with its rider through the air and
cover the space of a year in a single day." The King marvelled and was
amazed at these three wonders, following thus hard upon one another on
the same day, and turning to the sage, said to him, "By Allah the
Omnipotent, and our Lord the Beneficent, who created all creatures and
feedeth them with meat and drink, an thy speech be veritable and the
virtue of thy contrivance appear, I will assuredly give thee whatsoever
thou lustest for and will bring thee to thy desire and thy wish!"[FN#6]
Then he entertained the sages three days, that he might make trial of
their gifts; after which they brought the figures before him and each
took the creature he had wroughten and showed him the mystery of its
movement. The trumpeter blew the trump; the peacock pecked its chicks
and the Persian sage mounted the ebony house, whereupon it soared with
him high in air and descended again. When King Sabur saw all this, he
was amazed and perplexed and felt like to fly for joy and said to the
three sages, "Now I am certified of the truth of your words and it
behoveth me to quit me of my promise. Ask ye, therefore, what ye will,
and I will give you that same." Now the report of the King's daughters
had reached the sages, so they answered, "If the King be content with
us and accept of our gifts and allow us to prefer a request to him, we
crave of him that he give us his three daughters in marriage, that we
may be his sons-in-law; for that the stability of Kings may not be
gainsaid." Quoth the King, "I grant you that which you wish and you
desire," and bade summon the Kazi forthright, that he might marry each
of the sages to one of his daughters. Now it fortuned that the
Princesses were behind a curtain, looking on; and when they heard this,
the youngest considered her husband to be and behold, he was an old
man,[FN#7] an hundred years of age, with hair frosted, forehead
drooping, eyebrows mangy, ears slitten, beard and mustachios stained
and dyed; eyes red and goggle; cheeks bleached and hollow; flabby nose
like a brinjall, or egg- plant[FN#8]; face like a cobbler's apron,
teeth overlapping and lips like camel's kidneys, loose and pendulous;
in brief a terror, a horror, a monster, for he was of the folk of his
time the unsightliest and of his age the frightfullest; sundry of his
grinders had been knocked out and his eye-teeth were like the tusks of
the Jinni who frighteneth poultry in hen-houses. Now the girl was the
fairest and most graceful of her time, more elegant than the gazelle
however tender, than the gentlest zephyr blander and brighter than the
moon at her full; for amorous fray right suitable; confounding in
graceful sway the waving bough and outdoing in swimming gait the pacing
roe; in fine she was fairer and sweeter by far than all her sisters.
So, when she saw her suitor, she went to her chamber and strewed dust
on her head and tore her clothes and fell to buffeting her face and
weeping and wailing. Now the Prince, her brother, Kamar al-Akmαr, or
the Moon of Moons hight, was then newly returned from a journey and,
hearing her weeping and crying came in to her (for he loved her with
fond affection, more than his other sisters) and asked her, "What
aileth thee? What hath befallen thee? Tell me and conceal naught from
me." So she smote her breast and answered, "O my brother and my dear
one, I have nothing to hide. If the palace be straitened upon thy
father, I will go out; and if he be resolved upon a foul thing, I will
separate myself from him, though he consent not to make provision for
me; and my Lord will provide." Quoth he, "Tell me what meaneth this
talk and what hath straitened thy breast and troubled thy temper." "O
my brother and my dear one," answered the Princess, "Know that my
father hath promised me in marriage to a wicked magician who brought
him, as a gift, a horse of black wood, and hath bewitched him with his
craft and his egromancy; but, as for me, I will none of him, and would,
because of him, I had never come into this world!" Her brother soothed
her and solaced her, then fared to his sire and said, "What be this
wizard to whom thou hast given my youngest sister in marriage, and what
is this present which he hath brought thee, so that thou hast
killed[FN#9] my sister with chagrin? It is not right that this should
be." Now the Persian was standing by and, when he heard the Prince's
words, he was mortified and filled with fury and the King said, "O my
son, an thou sawest this horse, thy wit would be confounded and thou
wouldst be amated with amazement." Then he bade the slaves bring the
horse before him and they did so; and, when the Prince saw it, it
pleased him. So (being an accomplished cavalier) he mounted it
forthright and struck its sides with the shovel-shaped stirrup-irons;
but it stirred not and the King said to the Sage, "Go show him its
movement, that he also may help thee to win thy wish." Now the Persian
bore the Prince a grudge because he willed not he should have his
sister; so he showed him the pin of ascent on the right side of the
horse and saying to him, "Trill this," left him. Thereupon the Prince
trilled the pin and lo! the horse forthwith soared with him high in
ether, as it were a bird, and gave not overflying till it disappeared
from men's espying, whereat the King was troubled and perplexed about
his case and said to the Persian, "O sage, look how thou mayest make
him descend." But he replied, "O my lord, I can do nothing, and thou
wilt never see him again till Resurrection-day, for he, of his
ignorance and pride, asked me not of the pin of descent and I forgot to
acquaint him therewith." When the King heard this, he was enraged with
sore rage; and bade bastinado the sorcerer and clap him in jail, whilst
he himself cast the crown from his head and beat his face and smote his
breast. Moreover, he shut the doors of his palaces and gave himself up
to weeping and keening, he and his wife and daughters and all the folk
of the city; and thus their joy was turned to annoy and their gladness
changed into sore affliction and sadness. Thus far concerning them; but
as regards the Prince, the horse gave not over soaring with him till he
drew near the sun, whereat he gave himself up for lost and saw death in
the skies, and was confounded at his case, repenting him of having
mounted the horse and saying to himself, "Verily, this was a device of
the Sage to destroy me on account of my youngest sister; but there is
no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great! I am lost without recourse; but I wonder, did not he who made
the ascent-pin make also a descent-pin?" Now he was a man of wit and
knowledge and intelligence; so he fell to feeling all the parts of the
horse, but saw nothing save a screw, like a cock's head, on its right
shoulder and the like on the left, when quoth he to himself, "I see no
sign save these things like buttons." Presently he turned the
right-hand pin, whereupon the horse flew heavenwards with increased
speed. So he left it and looking at the sinister shoulder and finding
another pin, he wound it up and immediately the steed's upwards motion
slowed and ceased and it began to descend, little by little, towards
the face of the earth, while the rider became yet more cautious and
careful of his life.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Prince
wound up the sinister screw, the steed's upward motion slowed and
ceased, and it began to descend, little by little, towards the earth
while the rider became yet more cautious and careful of his life. And
when he saw this and knew the uses of the horse, his heart was filled
with joy and gladness and he thanked Almighty Allah for that He had
deigned deliver him from destruction. Then he began to turn the horse's
head whithersoever he would, making it rise and fall at pleasure, till
he had gotten complete mastery over its every movement. He ceased not
to descend the whole of that day, for that the steed's ascending flight
had borne him afar from the earth; and, as he descended, he diverted
himself with viewing the various cities and countries over which he
passed and which he knew not, never having seen them in his life.
Amongst the rest, he descried a city ordered after the fairest fashion
in the midst of a verdant and riant land, rich in trees and streams,
with gazelles pacing daintily over the plains; whereat he fell a-musing
and said to himself, "Would I knew the name of yon town and in what
land it is!" And he took to circling about it and observing it right
and left. By this time, the day began to decline and the sun drew near
to its downing; and he said in his mind, "Verily I find no goodlier
place to night in than this city; so I will lodge here and early on the
morrow I will return to my kith and kin and my kingdom; and tell my
father and family what hath passed and acquaint him with what mine eyes
have seen." Then he addressed himself to seeking a place wherein he
might safely bestow himself and his horse and where none should descry
him, and presently behold, he espied a-middlemost of the city a palace
rising high in upper air surrounded by a great wall with lofty
crenelles and battlements, guarded by forty black slaves, clad in
complete mail and armed with spears and swords, bows and arrows. Quoth
he, "This is a goodly place," and turned the descent-pin, whereupon the
horse sank down with him like a weary bird, and alighted gently on the
terrace-roof of the palace. So the Prince dismounted and ejaculating
"Alhamdolillah"—praise be to Allah[FN#10]—he began to go round about
the horse and examine it, saying, "By Allah, he who fashioned thee with
these perfections was a cunning craftsman, and if the Almighty extend
the term of my life and restore me to my country and kinsfolk in safety
and reunite me with my father, I will assuredly bestow upon him all
manner bounties and benefit him with the utmost beneficence." By this
time night had overtaken him and he sat on the roof till he was assured
that all in the palace slept; and indeed hunger and thirst were sore
upon him, for that he had not tasted food nor drunk water since he
parted from his sire. So he said within himself, "Surely the like of
this palace will not lack of victual;" and, leaving the horse above,
went down in search of somewhat to eat. Presently, he came to a
staircase and descending it to the bottom, found himself in a court
paved with white marble and alabaster, which shone in the light of the
moon. He marvelled at the place and the goodliness of its fashion, but
sensed no sound of speaker and saw no living soul and stood in
perplexed surprise, looking right and left and knowing not whither he
should wend. Then said he to himself, "I may not do better than return
to where I left my horse and pass the night by it; and as soon as day
shall dawn I will mount and ride away."— And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Fifty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the king's
son to himself, "I may not do better than pass the night by my horse;
and as soon as day shall dawn I will mount and ride away." However, as
he tarried talking to himself, he espied a light within the palace, and
making towards it, found that it came from a candle that stood before a
door of the Harim, at the head of a sleeping eunuch, as he were one of
the Ifrits of Solomon or a tribesman of the Jinn, longer than lumber
and broader than a bench. He lay before the door, with the pommel of
his sword gleaming in the flame of the candle, and at his head was a
bag of leather[FN#11] hanging from a column of granite. When the Prince
saw this, he was affrighted and said, "I crave help from Allah the
Supreme! O mine Holy One, even as Thou hast already delivered me from
destruction, so vouchsafe me strength to quit myself of the adventure
of this palace!" So saying, he put out his hand to the budget and
taking it, carried it aside and opened it and found in it food of the
best. He ate his fill and refreshed himself and drank water, after
which he hung up the provision-bag in its place and drawing the
eunuch's sword from its sheath, took it, whilst the slave slept on,
knowing not whence destiny should come to him. Then the Prince fared
forwards into the palace and ceased not till he came to a second door,
with a curtain drawn before it; so he raised the curtain and behold, on
entering he saw a couch of the whitest ivory, inlaid with pearls and
jacinths and jewels, and four slave-girls sleeping about it. He went up
to the couch, to see what was thereon, and found a young lady lying
asleep, chemised with her hair[FN#12] as she were the full moon
rising[FN#13] over the Eastern horizon, with flower-white brow and
shining hair-paring and cheeks like blood-red anemones and dainty moles
thereon. He was amazed at her as she lay in her beauty and loveliness,
her symmetry and grace, and he recked no more of death. So he went up
to her, trembling in every nerve and, shuddering with pleasure, kissed
her on the right cheek; whereupon she awoke forthright and opened her
eyes, and seeing the Prince standing at her head, said to him, "Who art
thou and whence comest thou?" Quoth he, "I am thy slave and thy lover."
Asked she, "And who brought thee hither?" and he answered, "My Lord and
my fortune." Then said Shams al-Nahαr[FN#14] (for such was her name),
"Haply thou art he who demanded me yesterday of my father in marriage
and he rejected thee, pretending that thou wast foul of favour. By
Allah, my sire lied in his throat when he spoke this thing, for thou
art not other than beautiful." Now the son of the King of Hind had
sought her in marriage, but her father had rejected him, for that he
was ugly and uncouth, and she thought the Prince was he. So, when she
saw his beauty and grace (for indeed he was like the radiant moon) the
syntheism[FN#15] of love gat hold of her heart as it were a flaming
fire, and they fell to talk and converse. Suddenly, her waiting-women
awoke and, seeing the Prince with their mistress, said to her, "Oh my
lady, who is this with thee?" Quoth she, "I know not; I found him
sitting by me, when I woke up: haply 'tis he who seeketh me in marriage
of my sire." Quoth they, "O my lady, by Allah the All-Father, this is
not he who seeketh thee in marriage, for he is hideous and this man is
handsome and of high degree. Indeed, the other is not fit to be his
servant."[FN#16] Then the handmaidens went out to the eunuch, and
finding him slumbering awoke him, and he started up in alarm. Said
they, "How happeth it that thou art on guard at the palace and yet men
come in to us, whilst we are asleep?" When the black heard this, he
sprang in haste to his sword, but found it not; and fear took him and
trembling. Then he went in, confounded, to his mistress and seeing the
Prince sitting at talk with her, said to him, "O my lord, art thou man
or Jinni?" Replied the Prince, "Woe to thee, O unluckiest of slaves:
how darest thou even the sons of the royal Chosroes[FN#17] with one of
the unbelieving Satans?" And he was as a raging lion. Then he took the
sword in his hand and said to the slave, "I am the King's son-in-law,
and he hath married me to his daughter and bidden me go in to her." And
when the eunuch heard these words he replied, "O my lord, if thou be
indeed of kind a man as thou avouchest, she is fit for none but for
thee, and thou art worthier of her than any other." Thereupon the
eunuch ran to the King, shrieking loud and rending his raiment and
heaving dust upon his head; and when the King heard his outcry, he said
to him, "What hath befallen thee?: speak quickly and be brief; for thou
hast fluttered my heart." Answered the eunuch, "O King, come to thy
daughter's succour; for a devil of the Jinn, in the likeness of a
King's son, hath got possession of her; so up and at him!" When the
King heard this, he thought to kill him and said, "How camest thou to
be careless of my daughter and let this demon come at her?" Then he
betook himself to the Princess's palace, where he found her slave-women
standing to await him and asked them, "What is come to my daughter?" "O
King," answered they, "slumber overcame us and, when we awoke, we found
a young man sitting upon her couch in talk with her, as he were the
full moon; never saw we aught fairer of favour than he. So we
questioned him of his case and he declared that thou hadst given him
thy daughter in marriage. More than this we know not, nor do we know if
he be a man or a Jinni; but he is modest and well bred, and doth
nothing unseemly or which leadeth to disgrace." Now when the King heard
these words, his wrath cooled and he raised the curtain little by
little and looking in, saw sitting at talk with his daughter a Prince
of the goodliest with a face like the full moon for sheen. At this
sight he could not contain himself, of his jealousy for his daughter's
honour; and, putting aside the curtain, rushed in upon them drawn sword
in hand like a furious Ghul. Now when the Prince saw him he asked the
Princess, "Is this thy sire?"; and she answered, "Yes."—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixtieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Price
saw the King rushing in upon them, drawn sword in hand, like a furious
Ghul he asked the Princess, "Is this thy sire?"; and she answered,
"Yes." Whereupon he sprang to his feet and, seizing his sword, cried
out at the King with so terrible a cry that he was confounded. Then the
youth would have fallen on him with the sword; but the King seeing that
the Prince was doughtier than he, sheathed his scymitar and stood till
the young man came up to him, when he accosted him courteously and said
to him, "O youth, art thou a man or a Jinni?" Quoth the Prince, "Did I
not respect thy right as mine host and thy daughter's honour, I would
spill thy blood! How darest thou fellow me with devils, me that am a
Prince of the sons of the royal Chosroes who, had they wished to take
thy kingdom, could shake thee like an earthquake from thy glory and thy
dominions and spoil thee of all thy possessions?" Now when the King
heard his words, he was confounded with awe and bodily fear of him and
rejoined, "If thou indeed be of the sons of the Kings, as thou
pretendest, how cometh it that thou enterest my palace without my
permission, and smirchest mine honour, making thy way to my daughter
and feigning that thou art her husband and claiming that I have given
her to thee to wife, I that have slain Kings and Kings' sons, who
sought her of me in marriage? And now who shall save thee from my might
and majesty when, if I cried out to my slaves and servants and bade
them put thee to the vilest of deaths they would slay thee forthright?
Who shall deliver thee out of my hand?" When the Prince heard this
speech of the King he answered, "Verily, I wonder at thee and at the
shortness and denseness of thy wit! Say me, canst covet for thy
daughter a mate comelier than myself, and hast ever seen a stouter
hearted man or one better fitted for a Sultan or a more glorious in
rank and dominion than I?" Rejoined the King, "Nay, by Allah! but I
would have had thee, O youth, act after the custom of Kings and demand
her from me to wife before witnesses, that I might have married her to
thee publicly; and now, even were I to marry her to thee privily, yet
hast thou dishonoured me in her person." Rejoined the Prince, "Thou
sayest sooth, O King, but if thou summon thy slaves and thy soldiers
and they fall upon me and slay me, as thou pretendest, thou wouldst but
publish thine own disgrace, and the folk would be divided between
belief in thee and disbelief in thee. Wherefore, O King, thou wilt do
well, meseemeth, to turn from this thought to that which I shall
counsel thee." Quoth the King, "Let me hear what thou hast to advise;"
and quoth the Prince, "What I have to propose to thee is this: either
do thou meet me in combat singular, I and thou; and he who slayeth his
adversary shall be held the worthier and having a better title to the
kingdom; or else, let me be this night and, whenas dawns the morn, draw
out against me thy horsemen and footmen and servants; but first tell me
their number." Said the King, "They are forty thousand horse, beside my
own slaves and their followers,[FN#18] who are the like of them in
number." Thereupon said the Prince, "When the day shall break, do thou
array them against me and say to them"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-first Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that quoth the
Prince, "When day shall break, do thou array them against me and say to
them: 'This man is a suitor to me for my daughter's hand, on condition
that he shall do battle single-handed against you all; for he
pretendeth that he will overcome you and put you to the rout, and
indeed that ye cannot prevail against him.' After which, leave me to do
battle with them: if they slay me, then is thy secret surer guarded and
thine honour the better warded; and if I overcome them and see their
backs, then is it the like of me a King should covet to his
son-in-law." So the King approved of his opinion and accepted his
proposition, despite his awe at the boldness of his speech and amaze at
the pretensions of the Prince to meet in fight his whole host, such as
he had described to him, being at heart assured that he would perish in
the fray and so he should be quit of him and freed from the fear of
dishonour. Thereupon he called the eunuch and bade him go to his Wazir
without stay and delay and command him to assemble the whole of the
army and cause them don their arms and armour and mount their steeds.
So the eunuch carried the King's order to the Minister, who
straightaway summoned the Captains of the host and the Lords of the
realm and bade them don their harness of derring-do and mount horse and
sally forth in battle array. Such was their case; but as regards the
King, he sat a long while conversing with the young Prince, being
pleased with his wise speech and good sense and fine breeding. And when
it was day-break he returned to his palace and, seating himself on his
throne, commanded his merry men to mount and bade them saddle one of
the best of the royal steeds with handsome selle and housings and
trappings and bring it to the Prince. But the youth said, "O King, I
will not mount horse, till I come in view of the troops and review
them." "Be it as thou wilt," replied the King. Then the two repaired to
the parade-ground, where the troops were drawn up, and the young Prince
looked upon them and noted their great number; after which the King
cried out to them, saying, "Ho, all ye men, there is come to me a youth
who seeketh my daughter in marriage; and in very sooth never have I
seen a goodlier than he; no, nor a stouter of heart nor a doughtier of
arm, for he pretendeth that he can overcome you, single-handed, and
force you to flight and that, were ye an hundred thousand in number,
yet for him would ye be but few. Now when he chargeth down on you, do
ye receive him upon point of pike and sharp of sabre; for, indeed, he
hath undertaken a mighty matter." Then quoth the King to the Prince,
"Up, O my son, and do thy devoir on them." Answered he, "O King, thou
dealest not justly and fairly by me: how shall I go forth against them,
seeing that I am afoot and the men be mounted?" The King retorted, "I
bade thee mount, and thou refusedst; but choose thou which of my horses
thou wilt." Then he said, "Not one of thy horses pleaseth me, and I
will ride none but that on which I came." Asked the King, "And where is
thy horse?" "Atop of thy palace." "In what part of my palace?" "On the
roof." Now when the King heard these words, he cried, "Out on thee!
this is the first sign thou hast given of madness. How can the horse be
on the roof? But we shall at once see if thou speak the truth or lies."
Then he turned to one of his chief officers and said to him, "Go to my
palace and bring me what thou findest on the roof." So all the people
marvelled at the young Prince's words, saying one to other, "How can a
horse come down the steps from the roof? Verily this is a thing whose
like we never heard." In the meantime the King's messenger repaired to
the palace and mounting to the roof, found the horse standing there and
never had he looked on a handsomer; but when he drew near and examined
it, he saw that it was made of ebony and ivory. Now the officer was
accompanied by other high officers, who also looked on and they laughed
to one another, saying, "Was it of the like of this horse that the
youth spake? We cannot deem him other than mad; however, we shall soon
see the truth of his case."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the high
officials looked upon the horse, they laughed one to other and said,
"Was it of the like of his horse that the youth spake? We cannot deem
him other than mad; however, we shall soon see the truth of his case.
Peradventure herein is some mighty matter, and he is a man of high
degree." Then they lifted up the horse bodily and, carrying it to the
King, set it down before him, and all the lieges flocked round to look
at it, marvelling at the beauty of its proportions and the richness of
its saddle and bridle. The King also admired it and wondered at it with
extreme wonder; and he asked the Prince, "O youth, is this thy horse?"
He answered, "Yes, O King, this is my horse, and thou shalt soon see
the marvel it showeth." Rejoined the King, "Then take and mount it,"
and the Prince retorted, "I will not mount till the troops withdraw
afar from it." So the King bade them retire a bowshot from the horse;
whereupon quoth its owner, "O King, see thou; I am about to mount my
horse and charge upon thy host and scatter them right and left and
split their hearts asunder." Said the King, "Do as thou wilt; and spare
not their lives, for they will not spare thine." Then the Prince
mounted, whilst the troops ranged themselves in ranks before him, and
one said to another, "When the youth cometh between the ranks, we will
take him on the points of our pikes and the sharps of our sabres."
Quoth another, "By Allah, this a mere misfortune: how shall we slay a
youth so comely of face and shapely of form?" And a third continued,
"Ye will have hard work to get the better of him; for the youth had not
done this, but for what he knew of his own prowess and pre- eminence of
valour." Meanwhile, having settled himself in his saddle, the Prince
turned the pin of ascent; whilst all eyes were strained to see what he
would do, whereupon the horse began to heave and rock and sway to and
fro and make the strangest of movements steed ever made, till its belly
was filled with air and it took flight with its rider and soared high
into the sky. When the King saw this, he cried out to his men, saying,
"Woe to you! catch him, catch him, ere he 'scape you!" But his Wazirs
and Viceroys said to him, "O King, can a man overtake the flying bird?
This is surely none but some mighty magician or Marid of the Jinn or
devil, and Allah save thee from him. So praise thou the Almighty for
deliverance of thee and of all thy host from his hand." Then the King
returned to his palace after seeing the feat of the Prince and, going
in to his daughter, acquainted her with what had befallen them both on
the parade-ground. He found her grievously afflicted for the Prince and
bewailing her separation from him; wherefore she fell sick with violent
sickness and took to her pillow. Now when her father saw her on this
wise, he pressed her to his breast and kissing her between the eyes,
said to her, "O my daughter, praise Allah Almighty and thank Him for
that He hath delivered us from this crafty enchanter, this villain,
this low fellow, this thief who thought only of seducing thee!" And he
repeated to her the story of the Prince and how he had disappeared in
the firmament; and he abused him and cursed him knowing not how dearly
his daughter loved him. But she paid no heed to his words and did but
redouble in her tears and wails, saying to herself, "By Allah, I will
neither eat meat nor drain drink, till Allah reunite me with him!" Her
father was greatly concerned for her case and mourned much over her
plight; but, for all he could do to soother her, love-longing only
increased on her.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King mourned
much over his daughter's plight but, for all he could do to soothe her,
love-longing only increased on her. Thus far concerning the King and
Princess Shams al-Nahαr; but as regards Prince Kamar al-Akmar, when he
had risen high in air, he turned his horse's head towards his native
land, and being alone mused upon the beauty of the Princess and her
loveliness. Now he had enquired of the King's people the name of the
city and of its King and his daughter; and men had told him that it was
the city of Sana'α.[FN#19] So he journeyed with all speed, till he drew
near his father's capital and, making an airy circuit about the city,
alighted on the roof of the King's palace, where he left his horse,
whilst he descended into the palace and seeing its threshold strewn
with ashes, though that one of his family was dead. Then he entered, as
of wont, and found his father and mother and sisters clad in mourning
raiment of black, all pale of faces and lean of frames. When his sire
descried him and was assured that it was indeed his son, he cried out
with a great cry and fell down in a fit, but after a time coming to
himself, threw himself upon him and embraced him, clipping him to his
bosom and rejoicing in him with exceeding joy and extreme gladness. His
mother and sisters heard this; so they came in and seeing the Prince,
fell upon him, kissing him and weeping, and joying with exceeding
joyance. Then they questioned him of his case; so he told them all that
had passed from first to last, and his father said to him, "Praised be
Allah for thy safety, O coolth of my eyes and core of my heart!" Then
the King bade hold high festival, and the glad tidings flew through the
city. So they beat drums and cymbals and, doffing the weed of mourning,
they donned the gay garb of gladness and decorated the streets and
markets; whilst the folk vied with one another who should be the first
to give the King joy, and the King proclaimed a general pardon and
opening the prisons, released those who were therein prisoned.
Moreover, he made banquets for the people, with great abundance of
eating and drinking, for seven days and nights and all creatures were
gladsomest; and he took horse with his son and rode out with him, that
the folk might see him and rejoice. After awhile the Prince asked about
the maker of the horse, saying, "O my father, what hath fortune done
with him?"; and the King answered, "Allah never bless him nor the hour
wherein I set eyes on him! For he was the cause of thy separation from
us, O my son, and he hath lain in gaol since the day of thy
disappearance." Then the King bade release him from prison and, sending
for him, invested him in a dress of satisfaction and entreated him with
the utmost favour and munificence, save that he would not give him his
daughter to wife; whereat the Sage raged with sore rage and repented of
that which he had done, knowing that the Prince had secured the secret
of the steed and the manner of its motion. Moreover, the King said to
his son, "I reck thou wilt do will not to go near the horse henceforth
and more especially not to mount it after this day; for thou knowest
not its properties, and belike thou art in error about it." Not the
Prince had told his father of his adventure with the King of Sana'a and
his daughter and he said, "Had the King intended to kill thee, he had
done so; but thine hour was not yet come." When the rejoicings were at
an end, the people returned to their places and the King and his son to
the palace, where they sat down and fell to eating and drinking and
making merry. Now the King had a handsome handmaiden who was skilled in
playing the lute; so she took it and began to sweep the strings and
sing thereto before the King and his son of separation of lovers, and
she chanted the following verses:—
"Deem not that absence breeds in me aught of forgetfulness; *
What should remember I did you fro' my remembrance wane?
Time dies but never dies the fondest love for you we bear; *
And in your love I'll die and in your love I'll arise
again."[FN#20]
When the Prince heard these verses, the fires of longing flamed up in
his heart and pine and passion redoubled upon him. Grief and regret
were sore upon him and his bowels yearned in him for love of the King's
daughter of Sana'a; so he rose forthright and, escaping his father's
notice, went forth the palace to the horse and mounting it, turned the
pin of ascent, whereupon bird-like it flew with him high in air and
soared towards the upper regions of the sky. In early morning his
father missed him and, going up to the pinnacle of the palace, in great
concern, saw his son rising into the firmament; whereat he was sore
afflicted and repented in all penitence that he had not taken the horse
and hidden it; and he said to himself, "By Allah, if but my son return
to me, I will destroy the horse, that my heart may be at rest
concerning my son." And he fell again to weeping and bewailing
himself.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King again
fell to weeping and bewailing himself for his son. Such was his case;
but as regards the Prince, he ceased not flying on through air till he
came to the city of Sana'a and alighted on the roof as before. Then he
crept down stealthily and, finding the eunuch asleep, as of wont,
raised the curtain and went on little by little, till he came to the
door of the Princess's alcove-[FN#21]chamber and stopped to listen;
when lo! he heard her shedding plenteous tears and reciting verses,
whilst her women slept round her. Presently, overhearing her weeping
and wailing quoth they, "O our mistress, why wilt thou mourn for one
who mourneth not for thee?" Quoth she, "O ye little of wit, is he for
whom I mourn of those who forget or who are forgotten?" And she fell
again to wailing and weeping, till sleep overcame her. Hereat the
Prince's heart melted for her and his gall-bladder was like to burst,
so he entered and, seeing her lying asleep without covering,[FN#22]
touched her with his hand; whereupon she opened her eyes and espied him
standing by her. Said he, "Why all this crying and mourning?" And when
she knew him, she threw herself upon him, and took him around the neck
and kissed him and answered, "For thy sake and because of my separation
from thee." Said he, "O my lady, I have been made desolate by thee all
this long time!" But she replied, "'Tis thou who hast desolated me; and
hadst thou tarried longer, I had surely died!" Rejoined he, "O my lady,
what thinkest thou of my case with thy father and how he dealt with me?
Were it not for my love of thee, O temptation and seduction of the
Three Worlds, I had certainly slain him and made him a warning to all
beholders; but, even as I love thee, so I love him for thy sake." Quoth
she, "How couldst thou leave me: can my life be sweet to me after
thee?" Quoth he, "Let what hath happened suffice: I am now hungry, and
thirsty." So she bade her maidens make ready meat and drink, and they
sat eating and drinking and conversing till night was well nigh ended;
and when day broke he rose to take leave of her and depart, ere the
eunuch should awake. Shams al-Nahar asked him, "Whither goest thou?";
and he answered, "To my father's house, and I plight thee my troth that
I will come to thee once in every week." But she wept and said, "I
conjure thee, by Allah the Almighty, take me with thee whereso thou
wendest and make me not taste anew the bittergourd[FN#23] of separation
from thee." Quoth he, "Wilt thou indeed go with me?" and quoth she,
"Yes." "Then," said he, "arise that we depart." So she rose forthright
and going to a chest, arrayed herself in what was richest and dearest
to her of her trinkets of gold and jewels of price, and she fared
forth, her handmaids recking naught. So he carried her up to the roof
of the palace and, mounting the ebony horse, took her up behind him and
made her fast to himself, binding her with strong bonds; after which he
turned the shoulder-pin of ascent, and the horse rose with him high in
air. When her slave-women saw this, they shrieked aloud and told her
father and mother, who in hot haste ran to the palace-roof and looking
up, saw the magical horse flying away with the Prince and Princess. At
this the King was troubled with ever-increasing trouble and cried out,
saying, "O King's son, I conjure thee, by Allah, have ruth on me and my
wife and bereave us not of our daughter!" The Prince made him no reply;
but, thinking in himself that the maiden repented of leaving father and
mother, asked her, "O ravishment of the age, say me, wilt thou that I
restore thee to thy mother and father?": whereupon she answered, "By
Allah, O my lord, that is not my desire: my only wish is to be with
thee, wherever thou art; for I am distracted by the love of thee from
all else, even from my father and mother." Hearing these words the
Prince joyed with great joy, and made the horse fly and fare softly
with them, so as not to disquiet her; nor did they stay their flight
till they came in sight of a green meadow, wherein was a spring of
running water. Here they alighted and ate and drank; after which the
Prince took horse again and set her behind him, binding her in his fear
for her safety; after which they fared on till they came in sight of
his father's capital. At this, the Prince was filled with joy and
bethought himself to show his beloved the seat of his dominion and his
father's power and dignity and give her to know that it was greater
than that of her sire. So he set her down in one of his father's
gardens without the city where his parent was wont to take his
pleasure; and, carrying her into a domed summer-house prepared there
for the King, left the ebony horse at the door and charged the damsel
keep watch over it, saying, "Sit here, till my messenger come to thee;
for I go now to my father, to make ready a palace for thee and show
thee my royal estate." She was delighted when she heard these words and
said to him, "Do as thou wilt;"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the maiden was
delighted when she heard these words and said to him, "Do as thou
wilt;" for she thereby understood that she should not enter the city
but with due honour and worship, as became her rank. Then the Prince
left her and betook himself to the palace of the King his father, who
rejoiced in his return and met him and welcomed him; and the Prince
said to him, "Know that I have brought with me the King's daughter of
whom I told thee; and have left her without the city in such a garden
and come to tell thee, that thou mayst make ready the procession of
estate and go forth to meet her and show her thy royal dignity and
troops and guards." Answered the King, "With joy and gladness"; and
straightaway bade decorate the town with the goodliest adornment. Then
he took horse and rode out in all magnificence and majesty, he and his
host, high officers and household, with drums and kettle-drums, fifes
and clarions and all manner instruments; whilst the Prince drew forth
of his treasuries jewellery and apparel and what else of the things
which Kings hoards and made a rare display of wealth and splendour:
moreover he got ready for the Princess a canopied litter of brocades,
green, red and yellow, wherein he set Indian and Greek and Abyssinian
slave- girls. Then he left the litter and those who were therein and
preceded them to the pavilion where he had set her down; and searched
but found naught, neither Princess nor horse. When he saw this, he beat
his face, and rent his raiment and began to wander round about the
garden, as he had lost his wits; after which he came to his senses and
said to himself, "How could she have come at the secret of this horse,
seeing I told her nothing of it? Maybe the Persian sage who made the
horse hath chanced upon her and stolen her away, in revenge for my
father's treatment of him." Then he sought the guardians of the garden
and asked them if they had seen any pass the precincts; and said, "Hath
any one come in here? Tell me the truth and the whole truth or I will
at once strike off your heads." They were terrified by his threats; but
they answered with one voice, "We have seen no man enter save the
Persian sage, who came to gather healing herbs." So the Prince was
certified that it was indeed he that had taken away the maiden,—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Prince
heard their answer, he was certified that the Sage had taken away the
maiden and abode confounded and perplexed concerning his case. And he
was abashed before the folk and, turning to his sire, told him what had
happened and said to him, "Take the troops and march them back to the
city. As for me, I will never return till I have cleared up this
affair." When the King heard this, he wept and beat his breast and said
to him, "O my son, calm thy choler and master thy chagrin and come home
with us and look what King's daughter thou wouldst fain have, that I
may marry thee to her." But the Prince paid no heed to his words and
farewelling him departed, whilst the King returned to the city and
their joy was changed into sore annoy. Now, as Destiny issued her
decree, when the Prince left the Princess in the garden-house and
betook himself to his father's palace, for the ordering of his affair,
the Persian entered the garden to pluck certain simples and, scenting
the sweet savour of musk and perfumes that exhaled from the Princess
and impregnated the whole place, followed it till he came to the
pavilion and saw standing at the door the horse which he had made with
his own hands. His heart was filled with joy and gladness, for he had
bemourned its loss much since it had gone out of his hand: so he went
up to it and, examining its every part, found it whole and sound;
whereupon he was about to mount and ride away, when he bethought
himself and said, "Needs must I first look what the Prince hath brought
and left here with the horse." So he entered the pavilion and, seeing
the Princess sitting there, as she were the sun shining sheen in the
sky serene, knew her at the first glance to be some high-born lady and
doubted not but the Prince had brought her thither on the horse and
left her in the pavilion, whilst he went to the city, to make ready for
her entry in state procession with all splendor. Then he went up to her
and kissed the earth between her hands, whereupon she raised her eyes
to him and, finding him exceedingly foul of face and favour, asked,
"Who art thou?"; and he answered, "O my lady, I am a messenger sent by
the Prince who hath bidden me bring thee to another pleasance nearer
the city; for that my lady the Queen cannot walk so far and is
unwilling, of her joy in thee, that another should forestall her with
thee." Quoth she, "Where is the Prince?"; and quoth the Persian, "He is
in the city, with his sire and forthwith he shall come for thee in
great state." Said she, "O thou! say me, could he find none handsomer
to send to me?"; whereat loud laughed the Sage and said, "Yea verily,
he hath not a Mameluke as ugly as I am; but, O my lady, let not the
ill-favour of my face and the foulness of my form deceive thee. Hadst
thou profited of me as hath the Prince, verily thou wouldst praise my
affair. Indeed, he chose me as his messenger to thee, because of my
uncomeliness and loathsomeness in his jealous love of thee; else hath
he Mamelukes and negro slaves, pages, eunuchs and attendants out of
number, each goodlier than other." Whenas she heard this, it commended
itself to her reason and she believed him; so she rose forthright;—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Persian
sage acquainted the Princess with the case of the King's son, she
believed him; so she rose forthright; and, putting her hand in his,
said, "O my father, what hast thou brought me to ride?" He replied, "O
my lady, thou shalt ride the horse thou camest on;" and she, "I cannot
ride it by myself." Whereupon he smiled and knew that he was her master
and said, "I will ride with thee myself." So he mounted and, taking her
up behind him bound her to himself with firm bonds, while she knew not
what he would with her. Then he turned the ascent-pin, whereupon the
belly of the horse became full of wind and it swayed to and fro like a
wave of the sea, and rose with them high in air nor slackened in its
flight, till it was out of sight of the city. Now when Shams al-Nahir
saw this, she asked him, "Ho thou! what is become of that thou toldest
me of my Prince, making me believe that he sent thee to me?" Answered
the Persian, "Allah damn the Prince! he is a mean and skin-flint
knave." She cried, "Woe to thee! How darest thou disobey thy lord's
commandment?" Whereto the Persian replied, "He is no lord of mine:
knowest thou who I am?" Rejoined the Princess, "I know nothing of thee
save what thou toldest me;" and retorted he, "What I told thee was a
trick of mine against thee and the King's son: I have long lamented the
loss of this horse which is under us; for I constructed it and made
myself master of it. But now I have gotten firm hold of it and of thee
too, and I will burn his heart even as he hath burnt mine; nor shall he
ever have the horse again; no, never! So be of good cheer and keep
thine eyes cool and clear; for I can be of more use to thee than he;
and I am generous as I am wealthy; my servants and slaves shall obey
thee as their mistress; I will robe thee in finest raiment and thine
every wish shall be at thy will." When she heard this, she buffeted her
face and cried out, saying, "Ah, well-away! I have not won my beloved
and I have lost my father and mother!" And she wept bitter tears over
what had befallen her, whilst the Sage fared on with her, without
ceasing, till he came to the land of the Greeks[FN#24] and alighted in
a verdant mead, abounding in streams and trees. Now this meadow lay
near a city wherein was a King of high puissance, and it chanced that
he went forth that day to hunt and divert himself. As he passed by the
meadow, he saw the Persian standing there, with the damsel and the
horse by his side; and, before the Sage was ware, the King's slaves
fell upon him and carried him and the lady and the horse to their
master who, noting the foulness of the man's favour and his
loathsomeness and the beauty of the girl and her loveliness, said, "O
my lady, what kin is this oldster to thee?" The Persian made haste to
reply, saying, "She is my wife and the daughter of my father's
brother." But the lady at once gave him the lie and said, "O King, by
Allah, I know him not, nor is he my husband; nay, he is a wicked
magician who hath stolen me away by force and fraud." Thereupon the
King bade bastinado the Persian and they beat him till he was well-nigh
dead; after which the King commanded to carry him to the city and cast
him into jail; and, taking from him the damsel and the ebony horse
(though he knew not its properties nor the secret of its motion), set
the girl in his serraglio and the horse amongst his hoards. Such was
the case with the Sage and the lady; but as regards Prince Kamar
al-Akmar, he garbed himself in travelling gear and taking what he
needed of money, set out tracking their trail in very sorry plight; and
journeyed from country to country and city to city seeking the Princess
and enquiring after the ebony horse, whilst all who heard him marvelled
at him and deemed his talk extravagant. Thus he continued doing a long
while; but, for all his enquiry and quest, he could hit on no new news
of her. At last he came to her father's city of Sana'a and there asked
for her, but could get no tidings of her and found her father mourning
her loss. So he turned back and made for the land of the Greeks,
continuing to enquire concerning the twain as he went,— And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King's son
made for the land of the Greeks, continuing to enquire concerning the
two as he went along, till, as chance would have it, he alighted at a
certain Khan and saw a company of merchants sitting at talk. So he sat
down near them and heard one say, "O my friends, I lately witnessed a
wonder of wonders." They asked, "What was that?" and he answered, "I
was visiting such a district in such a city (naming the city wherein
was the Princess), and I heard its people chatting of a strange thing
which had lately befallen. It was that their King went out one day
hunting and coursing with a company of his courtiers and the lords of
his realm; and, issuing from the city, they came to a green meadow
where they espied an old man standing, with a woman sitting hard by a
horse of ebony. The man was foulest-foul of face and loathly of form,
but the woman was a marvel of beauty and loveliness and elegance and
perfect grace; and as for the wooden horse, it was a miracle, never saw
eyes aught goodlier than it nor more gracious than its make." Asked the
others, "And what did the King with them?"; and the merchant answered,
"As for the man the King seized him and questioned him of the damsel
and he pretended that she was his wife and the daughter of his paternal
uncle; but she gave him the lie forthright and declared that he was a
sorcerer and a villain. So the King took her from the old man and bade
beat him and cast him into the trunk-house. As for the ebony horse, I
know not what became of it." When the Prince heard these words, he drew
near to the merchant and began questioning him discreetly and
courteously touching the name of the city and of its King; which when
he knew, he passed the night full of joy. And as soon as dawned the day
he set out and travelled sans surcease till he reached that city; but,
when he would have entered, the gate-keepers laid hands on him, that
they might bring him before the King to question him of his condition
and the craft in which he was skilled and the cause of his coming
thither-such being the usage and custom of their ruler. Now it was
supper-time when he entered the city, and it was then impossible to go
in to the King or take counsel with him respecting the stranger. So the
guards carried him to the jail, thinking to lay him by the heels there
for the night; but, when the warders saw his beauty and loveliness,
they could not find it in their hearts to imprison him: they made him
sit with them without the walls; and, when food came to them, he ate
with them what sufficed him. As soon as they had made an end of eating,
they turned to the Prince and said, "What countryman art thou?" "I come
from Fars," answered he, "the land of the Chosroλs." When they heard
this they laughed and one of them said, "O Chosroan,[FN#25] I have
heard the talk of men and their histories and I have looked into their
conditions; but never saw I or heard I a bigger liar than the Chosroan
which is with us in the jail." Quoth another, "And never did I see
aught fouler than his favour or more hideous than his visnomy." Asked
the Prince. "What have ye seen of his lying?"; and they answered, "He
pretendeth that he is one of the wise! Now the King came upon him, as
he went a- hunting, and found with him a most beautiful woman and a
horse of the blackest ebony, never saw I a handsomer. As for the
damsel, she is with the King, who is enamoured of her and would fain
marry her; but she is mad, and were this man a leach as he claimeth to
be, he would have healed her, for the King doth his utmost to discover
a cure for her case and a remedy for her disease, and this whole year
past hath he spent treasure upon physicians and astrologers, on her
account; but none can avail to cure her. As for the horse, it is in the
royal hoard-house, and the ugly man is here with us in prison; and as
soon as night falleth, he weepeth and bemoaneth himself and will not
let us sleep."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the warders
had recounted the case of the Persian egromancer they held in prison
and his weeping and wailing, the Prince at once devised a device
whereby he might compass his desire; and presently the guards of the
gate, being minded to sleep, led him into the jail and locked the door.
So he overheard the Persian weeping and bemoaning himself, in his own
tongue, and saying, "Alack, and alas for my sin, that I sinned against
myself and against the King's son, in that which I did with the damsel;
for I neither left her nor won my will of her! All this cometh of my
lack of sense, in that I sought for myself that which I deserved not
and which befitted not the like of me; for whoso seeketh what suiteth
him not at all, falleth with the like of my fall." Now when the King's
son heard this, he accosted him in Persian, saying, "How long will this
weeping and wailing last? Say me, thinkest thou that hath befallen thee
that which never befel other than thou?" Now when the Persian heard
this, he made friends with him and began to complain to him of his case
and misfortunes. And as soon as the morning morrowed, the warders took
the Prince and carried him before their King, informing him that he had
entered the city on the previous night, at a time when audience was
impossible. Quoth the King to the Prince, "Whence comest thou and what
is thy name and trade and why hast thou travelled hither?" He replied,
"As to my name I am called in Persian Harjah;[FN#26] as to my country I
come from the land of Fars; and I am of the men of art and especially
of the art of medicine and healing the sick and those whom the Jinns
drive mad. For this I go round about all countries and cities, to
profit by adding knowledge to my knowledge, and whenever I see a
patient I heal him and this is my craft."[FN#27] Now when the King
heard this, he rejoiced with exceeding joy and said, "O excellent Sage,
thou hast indeed come to us at a time when we need thee." Then he
acquainted him with the case of the Princess, adding, "If thou cure her
and recover her from her madness, thou shalt have of me everything thou
seekest." Replied the Prince, "Allah save and favour the King: describe
to me all thou hast seen of her insanity and tell me how long it is
since the access attacked her; also how thou camest by her and the
horse and the Sage." So the King told him the whole story, from first
to last, adding, "The Sage is in goal." Quoth the Prince, "O auspicious
King, and what hast thou done with the horse?" Quoth the King, "O
youth, it is with me yet, laid up in one of my treasure-chambers,"
whereupon said the Prince within himself, "The best thing I can do is
first to see the horse and assure myself of its condition. If it be
whole and sound, all will be well and end well; but, if its motor-works
be destroyed, I must find some other way of delivering my beloved."
Thereupon he turned to the King and said to him, "O King, I must see
the horse in question: haply I may find in it somewhat that will serve
me for the recovery of the damsel." "With all my heart," replied the
King, and taking him by the hand, showed him into the place where the
horse was. The Prince went round about it, examining its condition, and
found it whole and sound, whereat he rejoiced greatly and said to the
King, "Allah save and exalt the King! I would fain go in to the damsel,
that I may see how it is with her; for I hope in Allah to heal her by
my healing hand through means of the horse." Then he bade them take
care of the horse and the King carried him to the Princess's apartment
where her lover found her wringing her hands and writhing and beating
herself against the ground, and tearing her garments to tatters as was
her wont; but there was no madness of Jinn in her, and she did this but
that none might approach her. When the Prince saw her thus, he said to
her, "No harm shall betide thee, O ravishment of the three worlds;" and
went on to soothe her and speak her fair, till he managed to whisper,
"I am Kamar al-Akmar;" whereupon she cried out with a loud cry and fell
down fainting for excess of joy; but the King thought this was
epilepsy[FN#28] brought on by her fear of him, and by her suddenly
being startled. Then the Prince put his mouth to her ear and said to
her, "O Shams al-Nahar, O seduction of the universe, have a care for
thy life and mine and be patient and constant; for this our position
needeth sufferance and skilful contrivance to make shift for our
delivery from the tyrannical King. My first move will be now to go out
to him and tell him that thou art possessed of a Jinn and hence thy
madness; but that I will engage to heal thee and drive away the evil
spirit, if he will at once unbind thy bonds. So when he cometh in to
thee, do thou speak him smooth words, that he may think I have cured
thee, and all will be done for us as we desire." Quoth she, "Hearkening
and obedience;" and he went out to the King in joy and gladness, and
said to him, "O august King, I have, by thy good fortune, discovered
her disease and its remedy, and have cured her for thee. So now do thou
go in to her and speak her softly and treat her kindly, and promise her
what may please her; so shall all thou desirest of her be accomplished
to thee."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Prince
feigned himself a leach and went in to the damsel and made himself
known to her and told her how he purposed to deliver her, she cried
"Hearkening and obedience!" He then fared forth from her and sought the
King and said, "Go thou in to her and speak her softly and promise her
what may please her; so shall all thou desirest of her be accomplished
to thee." Thereupon the King went in to her and when she saw him, she
rose and kissing the ground before him, bade him welcome and said, "I
admire how thou hast come to visit thy handmaid this day;" whereat he
was ready to fly for joy and bade the waiting-women and the eunuchs
attend her and carry her to the Hammam and make ready for her dresses
and adornment. So they went in to her and saluted her, and she returned
their salams with the goodliest language and after the pleasantest
fashion; whereupon they clad her in royal apparel and, clasping a
collar of jewels about her neck, carried her to the bath and served her
there. Then they brought her forth, as she were the full moon; and,
when she came into the King's presence, she saluted him and kissed
ground before him; whereupon he joyed in her with joy exceeding and
said to the Prince, "O Sage, O philosopher, all this is of thy
blessing. Allah increase to us the benefit of thy healing
breath!"[FN#29] The Prince replied, "O King, for the completion of her
cure it behoveth that thou go forth, thou and all thy troops and
guards, to the place where thou foundest her, not forgetting the beast
of black wood which was with her; for therein is a devil; and, unless I
exorcise him, he will return to her and afflict her at the head of
every month." "With love and gladness," cried the King, "O thou Prince
of all philosophers and most learned of all who see the light of day."
Then he brought out the ebony horse to the meadow in question and rode
thither with all his troops and the Princess, little weeting the
purpose of the Prince. Now when they came to the appointed place, the
Prince, still habited as a leach, bade them set the Princess and the
steed as far as eye could reach from the King and his troops, and said
to him, "With thy leave, and at thy word, I will now proceed to the
fumigations and conjurations, and here imprison the adversary of
mankind, that he may never more return to her. After this, I shall
mount this wooden horse which seemeth to be made of ebony, and take the
damsel up behind me; whereupon it will shake and sway to and fro and
fare forwards, till it come to thee, when the affair will be at an end;
and after this thou mayst do with her as thou wilt." When the King
heard his words, he rejoiced with extreme joy; so the Prince mounted
the horse and, taking the damsel up behind him, whilst the King and his
troops watched him, bound her fast to him. Then he turned the
ascending-pin and the horse took flight and soared with them high in
air, till they disappeared from every eye. After this the King abode
half the day, expecting their return; but they returned not. So when he
despaired of them, repenting him greatly of that which he had done and
grieving sore for the loss of the damsel, he went back to the city with
his troops. He then sent for the Persian who was in prison and said to
him, "O thou traitor, O thou villian, why didst thou hide from me the
mystery of the ebony horse? And now a sharper hath come to me and hath
carried it off, together with a slave-girl whose ornaments are worth a
mint of money, and I shall never see anyone or anything of them again!"
So the Persian related to him all his past, first and last, and the
King was seized with a fit of fury which well-nigh ended his life. He
shut himself up in his palace for a while, mourning and afflicted; but
at last his Wazirs came in to him and applied themselves to comfort
him, saying, "Verily, he who took the damsel is an enchanter, and
praised be Allah who hath delivered thee from his craft and sorcery!"
And they ceased not from him, till he was comforted for her loss. Thus
far concerning the King; but as for the Prince, he continued his career
towards his father's capital in joy and cheer, and stayed not till he
alighted on his own palace, where he set the lady in safety; after
which he went in to his father and mother and saluted them and
acquainted them with her coming, whereat they were filled with solace
and gladness. Then he spread great banquets for the towns-folk,—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King's son
spread great banquets for the towns-folk and they held high festival a
whole month, at the end of which time he went in to the Princess and
they took their joy of each other with exceeding joy. But his father
brake the ebony horse in pieces and destroyed its mechanism for flight;
moreover the Prince wrote a letter to the Princess's father, advising
him of all that had befallen her and informing him how she was now
married to him and in all health and happiness, and sent it by a
messenger, together with costly presents and curious rarities. And when
the messenger arrived at the city which was Sana'a and delivered the
letter and the presents to the King, he read the missive and rejoiced
greatly thereat and accepted the presents, honouring and rewarding the
bearer handsomely. Moreover, he forwarded rich gifts to his son-in-law
by the same messenger, who returned to his master and acquainted him
with what had passed; whereat he was much cheered. And after this the
Prince wrote a letter every year to his father-in-law and sent him
presents till, in course of time, his sire King Sabur deceased and he
reigned in his stead, ruling justly over his lieges and conducting
himself well and righteously towards them, so that the land submitted
to him and his subjects did him loyal service; and Kamar al-Akmar and
his wife Shams al-Nahar abode in the enjoyment of all satisfaction and
solace of life, till there came to them the Destroyer of deligights and
Sunderer of societies; the Plunderer of palaces, the Caterer for
cemeteries and the Garnerer of graves. And now glory be to the Living
One who dieth not and in whose hand is the dominion of the worlds
visible and invisible! Moreover I have heard tell the tale of
UNS AL-WUJUD AND THE WAZIR'S DAUGHTER AL-WARD FI'L-AKMAM OR
ROSE-IN-HOOD.[FN#30]
There was once, in days of yore and in ages and times long gone before,
a King of great power and lord of glory and dominion galore; who had a
Wazir Ibrahim hight, and this Wazir's daughter was a damsel of
extraordinary beauty and loveliness, gifted with passing brilliancy and
the perfection of grace, possessed of abundant wit, and in all good
breeding complete. But she loved wassail and wine and the human face
divine and choice verses and rare stories; and the delicacy of her
inner gifts invited all hearts to love, even as saith the poet,
describing her,
"Like moon she shines amid the starry sky, *
Robing in tresses blackest ink outvie.
The morning-breezes give her boughs fair drink, *
And like a branch she sways with supple ply:
She smiles in passing us. O thou that art *
Fairest in yellow robed, or cramoisie,
Thou playest with my wit in love, as though *
Sparrow in hand of playful boy were I."[FN#31]
Her name was Rose-in-Hood and she was so named for her young and tender
beauty and the freshness of her brilliancy; and the King loved her in
his cups because of her accomplishments and fine manners. Now it was
the King's custom yearly to gather together all the nobles of his realm
and play with the ball.[FN#32] So when the day came round whereon the
folk assembled for ballplay, the Minister's daughter seated herself at
her lattice, to divert herself by looking on at the game; and, as they
were at play, her glance fell upon a youth among the guards than whom
never was seen a comelier face nor a goodlier form; for he was bright
of favour showing white teeth when he smiled, tall-statured and
broad-shouldered. She looked at him again and again and could not take
her fill of gazing; and presently said to her nurse, "What is the name
of yonder handsome young man among the troops?" Replied the nurse, "O
my daughter, the dear fellows are all handsome. Which of them dost thou
mean?" Said Rose-in-Hood, "Wait till he come past and I will point him
out to thee." So she took an apple and as he rode by dropped it on him,
whereupon he raised his head, to see who did this, and espied the
Wazir's daughter at the window, as she were the moon of fullest light
in the darkness of the night; nor did he withdraw his eyes, till his
heart was utterly lost to her, and he recited these lines,
"Was't archer shot me, or was't thine eyes *
Ruined lover's heart that thy charms espies?
Was the notched shaft[FN#33] from a host outshot, *
Or from latticed window in sudden guise?"
When the game was at an end, and all had left the ground, she asked her
nurse, "What is the name of that youth I showed thee?"; and the good
woman answered, "His name is Uns al-Wujud;" whereat Rose-in-Hood shook
her head and lay down on her couch, with thoughts a-fire for love.
Then, sighing deeply, she improvised these couplets,
"He missed not who dubbed thee, 'World's delight,' *
A world's love conjoining to bounty's light:[FN#34]
O thou, whose favour the full moon favours, *
Whose charms make life and the living bright!
Thou hast none equal among mankind; *
Sultan of Beauty, and proof I'll cite:
Thine eye-brows are likest a well-formed Nϊn,[FN#35] *
And thine eyes a Sαd,[FN#36] by His hand indite;
Thy shape is the soft, green bough that gives *
When asked to all with all-gracious sprite:
Thou excellest knights of the world in stowre, *
With delight and beauty and bounty dight."
When she had finished her verses, she wrote them on a sheet of paper,
which she folded in a piece of golf-embroidered silk and placed under
her pillow. Now one of her nurses had seen her; so she came up to her
and held her in talk till she slept, when she stole the scroll from
under her pillow; and, after reading it, knew that she had fallen in
love with Uns al-Wujud. Then she returned the scroll to its place and
when her mistress awoke, she said to her, "O my lady, indeed I am to
thee a true counsellor and am tenderly anxious on thy account. Know
that love is a tyrant and the hiding it melteth iron and entaileth
sickness and unease; nor for whoso confesseth it is there aught of
reproach." Rejoined Rose-in-Hood, "And what is the medicine of passion,
O nurse mine?" Answered the nurse, "The medicine of passion is
enjoyment" Quoth she, "And how may one come by enjoyment?" Quoth the
other, "By letters and messages, my lady; by whispered words of
compliment and by greetings before the world;[FN#37] all this bringeth
lovers together and makes hard matters easy. So if thou have aught at
heart, mistress mine, I am the fittest to keep thy secret and do thy
desires and carry thy letters." Now when the damsel heard this, her
reason flew and fled for joy; but she restrained herself from speech
till she should see the issue of the matter, saying within herself,
"None knoweth this thing of me, nor will I trust this one with my
secret, till I have tried her." Then said the woman, "O my lady, I saw
in my sleep as though a man came to me and said: 'Thy mistress and Uns
al-Wujud love each other; so do thou serve their case by carrying their
messages and doing their desires and keeping their secrets; and much
good shall befal thee.' So now I have told thee my vision and it is
thine to decide." Quoth Rose-in-Hood, after she heard of the dream,—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Rose-in- Hood
asked her nurse after hearing of the dream, "Tell me, canst thou keep a
secret, O my nurse?"; whereto she answered, "And how should I not keep
secrecy, I that am of the flower of the free?"[FN#38] Then the maiden
pulled out the scroll, whereon she had written the verses and said,
"Carry me this my letter to Uns al-Wujud and bring me his reply." The
nurse took the letter and, repairing to Uns al-Wujud, kissed his hands
and greeted him right courteously, then gave him the paper; and he read
it and, comprehending the contents, wrote on the back these couplets,
"I soothe my heart and my love repel; *
But my state interprets my love too well:
When tears flow I tell them mine eyes are ill, *
Lest the censor see and my case fortell,
I was fancy-free and unknew I Love; *
But I fell in love and in madness fell.
I show you my case and complain of pain, *
Pine and ecstasy that your ruth compel:
I write you with tears of eyes, so belike *
They explain the love come my heart to quell;
Allah guard a face that is veiled with charms, *
Whose thrall is Moon and the Stars as well:
In her beauty I never beheld the like; *
From her sway the branches learn sway and swell:
I beg you, an 'tis not too much of pains, *
To call;[FN#39] 'twere boon without parallel.
I give you a soul you will haply take. *
To which Union is Heaven, Disunion Hell."
Then he folded the letter and kissing it, gave it to the go- between
and said to her, "O nurse, incline the lady's heart to me." "To hear is
to obey," answered she and carried the script to her mistress, who
kissed it and laid it on her head, then she opened it and read it and
understood it and wrote at the foot of it these couplets,
"O whose heart by our beauty is captive ta'en, *
Have patience and all thou shalt haply gain!
When we knew that thy love was a true affect, *
And what pained our heart to thy heart gave pain,
We had granted thee wished-for call and more; *
But hindered so doing the chamberlain.
When the night grows dark, through our love's excess *
Fire burns our vitals with might and main:
And sleep from our beds is driven afar, *
And our bodies are tortured by passion-bane.
'Hide Love!' in Love's code is the first command; *
And from raising his veil thy hand restrain:
I fell love-fulfilled by yon gazelle: *
Would he never wander from where I dwell!"
Then she folded the letter and gave it to the nurse, who took it and
went out from her mistress to seek the young man; but, as she would
fare forth, the chamberlain met her and said to her, "Whither away?"
"To the bath," answered she; but in her fear and confusion, she dropped
the letter, without knowing it, and went off unrecking what she had
done; when one of the eunuchs, seeing it lying in the way, picked it
up. When the nurse came without the door, she sought for it, but found
it not, so turned back to her mistress and told her of this and what
had befallen her. Meanwhile, the Wazir came out of the Harim and seated
himself on his couch; whereupon behold, the eunuch, who had picked up
the letter, came in to him, hending it in hand and said, "O my lord, I
found this paper lying upon the floor and picked it up." So the
Minister took it from his hand, folded as it was, and opening it, read
the verses as above set down. Then, after mastering the meaning, he
examined the writing and knew it for his daughter's hand; whereupon he
went to her mother, weeping so abundant tears that his beard was
wetted. His wife asked him, "What maketh thee weep, O my lord?"; and he
answered, "Take this letter and see what is therein." So she took it
and found it to be a love-letter from her daughter Rose-in-Hood to Uns
al-Wujud: whereupon the ready drops sprang to her eyes; but she
composed her mind, and, gulping down her tears, said to her husband, "O
my lord, there is no profit in weeping: the right course is to cast
about for a means of keeping thine honour and concealing the affair of
thy daughter." And she went on to comfort him and lighten his trouble;
but he said, "I am fearful for my daughter by reason of this new
passion. Knowest thou not that the Sultan loveth Uns al- Wujud with
exceeding love? And my fear hath two causes. The first concerneth
myself; it is, that she is my daughter: the second is on account of the
King; for that Uns al-Wujud is a favourite with the Sultan and
peradventure great troubles shall come out of this affair. What deemest
thou should be done?"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir, after
recounting the affair of his daughter, asked his wife, "What deemest
thou should be done?" And she answered, "Have patience whilst I pray
the prayer for right direction." So she prayed a two-bow prayer
according to the prophetic[FN#40] ordinance for seeking divine
guidance; after which she said to her husband, "In the midst of the Sea
of Treasures[FN#41] standeth a mountain named the Mount of the Bereaved
Mother (the cause of which being so called shall presently follow in
its place, Inshallah!); and thither can none have access, save with
pains and difficulty and distress: do thou make that same her
abiding-place." Accordingly the Minister and his wife agreed to build
on that mountain a virgin castle and lodge their daughter therein with
the necessary provision to be renewed year by year and attendants to
cheer and to serve her. Accordingly he collected carpenters, builders
and architects and despatched them to the mountain, where they builded
her an impregnable castle, never saw eyes the like thereof. Then he
made ready vivers and carriage for the journey and, going in to his
daughter by night, bade her prepare to set out on a pleasure-excursion.
Thereupon her heart presaged the sorrows of separation and, when she
went forth and saw the preparations for the journey, she wept with sore
weeping and wrote that upon the door which might acquaint her lover
with what had passed and with the transports of passion and grief that
were upon her, transports such as would make the flesh to shiver and
hair to stare, and melt the hardest stone with care, and tear from
every eye a tear. And what she wrote were these couplets,
"By Allah, O thou house, if my beloved a morn go by, *
And greet with signs and signals lover e'er is wont to fly,
I pray thee give him our salams in pure and fragrant guise, *
For he indeed may never know where we this eve shall lie.
I wot not whither they have fared, thus bearing us afar *
At speed, and lightly-quipt, the lighter from one love to
fly:
When starkens night, the birds in brake or branches snugly
perched * Wail for our sorrow and announce our hapless
destiny:
The tongue of their condition saith, 'Alas, alas for woe, *
And heavy brunt of parting-blow two lovers must aby':
When viewed I separation-cups were filled to the brim *
And us with merest sorrow-wine Fate came so fast to ply,
I mixed them with becoming share of patience self to excuse, *
But Patience for the loss of you her solace doth refuse."
Now when she ended her lines, she mounted and they set forward with
her, crossing and cutting over wold and wild and riant dale and rugged
hill, till they came to the shore of the Sea of Treasures; here they
pitched their tents and built her a great ship, wherein they went down
with her and her suite and carried them over to the mountain. The
Minister had ordered them, on reaching the journey's end, to set her in
the castle and to make their way back to the shore, where they were to
break up the vessel. So they did his bidding and returned home, weeping
over what had befallen. Such was their case; but as regards Uns al-
Wujud, he arose from sleep and prayed the dawn-prayer, after which he
took horse and rode forth to attend upon the Sultan. On his way, he
passed by the Wazir's house, thinking perchance to see some of his
followers as of wont; but he saw no one and, looking upon the door, he
read written thereon the verses aforesaid. At this sight, his senses
failed him; fire was kindled in his vitals and he returned to his
lodging, where he passed the day in trouble and transports of grief,
without finding ease or patience, till night darkened upon him, when
his yearning and love-longing redoubled. Thereupon, by way of
concealment, he disguised himself in the ragged garb of a Fakir,[FN#42]
and set out wandering at random through the glooms of night, distracted
and knowing not whither he went. So he wandered on all that night and
next day, till the heat of the sun waxed fierce and the mountains
flamed like fire and thirst was grievous upon him. Presently, he espied
a tree, by whose side was a thin thread of running water; so he made
towards it and sitting down in the shade, on the bank of the rivulet,
essayed to drink, but found that the water had no taste in his
mouth;[FN#43] and, indeed his colour had changed and his face had
yellowed, and his feet were swollen with travel and travail. So he shed
copious tears and repeated these couplets,
"The lover is drunken with love of friend; *
On a longing that groweth his joys depend:
Love-distracted, ardent, bewildered, lost *
From home, nor may food aught of pleasure lend:
How can life be delightsome to one in love, *
And from lover parted, 'twere strange, unkenned!
I melt with the fire of my pine for them, *
And the tears down my cheek in a stream descend.
Shall I see them, say me, or one that comes *
From the camp, who th' afflicted heart shall tend?"
And after thus reciting he wept till he wetted the hard dry ground; but
anon without loss of time he rose and fared on again over waste and
wold, till there came out upon him a lion, with a neck buried in
tangled mane, a head the bigness of a dome, a mouth wider than the door
thereof and teeth like elephants' tusks. Now when Uns al-Wujud saw him,
he gave himself up for lost, and turning[FN#44] towards the Temple of
Meccah, pronounced the professions of the faith and prepared for death.
He had read in books that whoso will flatter the lion, beguileth
him,[FN#45] for that he is readily duped by smooth speech and gentled
by being glorified; so he began and said, "O Lion of the forest! O Lord
of the waste! O terrible Leo! O father of fighters! O Sultan of wild
beasts! Behold, I am a lover in longing, whom passion and severance
have been wronging; since I parted from my dear, I have lost my
reasoning gear; wherefore, to my speech do thou give ear and have ruth
on my passion and hope and fear." When the lion heard this, he drew
back from him and sitting down on his hindquarters, raised his head to
him and began to frisk tail and paws; which when Uns al-Wujud saw, he
recited these couplets,
"Lion of the wold wilt thou murther me, *
Ere I meet her who doomed me to slavery?
I am not game and I bear no fat; *
For the loss of my love makes me sickness dree;
And estrangement from her hath so worn me down *
I am like a shape in a shroud we see.
O thou sire of spoils,[FN#46] O thou lion of war, *
Give not my pains to the blamer's gree.
I burn with love, I am drowned in tears *
For a parting from lover, sore misery!
And my thoughts of her in the murk of night *
For love hath make my being unbe."
As he had finished his lines the lion rose,—And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that as Uns al- Wujud
ended his lines, the lion arose and stalked slowly up to him, with eyes
tear-railing and licked him with his tongue, then walked on before him,
signing to him as though saying, "Follow me." So he followed him, and
the beast ceased not leading him on for a while till he brought him up
a mountain, and guided him to the farther side, where he came upon the
track of a caravan over the desert, and knew it to be that of
Rose-in-Hood and her company. Then he took the trail and, when the lion
saw that he knew the track for that of the party which escorted her, he
turned back and went his way; whilst Uns al-Wujud walked along the
foot-marks day and night, till they brought him to a dashing sea,
swollen with clashing surge. The trail led down to the sandy shore and
there broke off; whereby he knew that they had taken ship and had
continued their journey by water. So he lost hope of finding his lover
and with hot tears he repeated these couplets,
"Far is the fane and patience faileth me; *
How can I seek them[FN#47] o'er the abyssmal sea;
Or how be patient, when my vitals burn *
For love of them, and sleep waxed insomny?
Since the sad day they left the home and fled, *
My heart's consumed by love's ardency:
Sayhun, Jayhun,[FN#48] Euphrates-like my tears, *
Make flood no deluged rain its like can see:
Mine eyelids chafed with running tears remain, *
My heart from fiery sparks is never free;
The hosts of love and longing pressed me *
And made the hosts of patience break and flee.
I've risked my life too freely for their love; *
And risk of life the least of ills shall be.
Allah ne'er punish eye that saw those charms *
Enshrined, and passing full moon's brilliancy!
I found me felled by fair wide-opened eyes, *
Which pierced my heart with stringless archery:
And soft, lithe, swaying shape enraptured me *
As sway the branches of the willow-tree:
Wi' them I covet union that I win, *
O'er love-pains cark and care, a mastery.
For love of them aye, morn and eve I pine, *
And doubt all came to me from evil eyne."
And when his lines were ended he wept, till he swooned away, and abode
in his swoon a long while; but as soon as he came to himself, he looked
right and left and seeing no one in the desert, he became fearful of
the wild beasts; so he clomb to the top of a high mountain, where he
heard the voice of a son of Adam speaking within a cave. He listened
and lo! they were the accents of a devotee, who had forsworn the world
and given himself up to pious works and worship. He knocked thrice at
the cavern-door, but the hermit made him no answer, neither came forth
to him; wherefore he groaned aloud and recited these couplets.
"What pathway find I my desire t'obtain, *
How 'scape from care and cark and pain and bane?
All terrors join to make me old and hoar *
Of head and heart, ere youth from me is ta'en:
Nor find I any aid my passion, nor *
A friend to lighten load of bane and pain.
How great and many troubles I've endured! *
Fortune hath turned her back I see unfain.
Ah mercy, mercy on the lover's heart, *
Doomed cup of parting and desertion drain!
A fire is in his heart, his vitals waste, *
And severance made his reason vainest vain.
How dread the day I came to her abode *
And saw the writ they wrote on doorway lain!
I wept, till gave I earth to drink my grief; *
But still to near and far[FN#49] I did but feign:
Then strayed I till in waste a lion sprang *
On me, and but for flattering words had slain:
I soothed him: so he spared me and lent me aid, *
He too might haply of love's taste complain.
O devotee, that idlest in thy cave, *
Meseems eke thou hast learned Love's might and main;
But if, at end of woes, with them I league, *
Straight I'll forget all suffering and fatigue."
Hardly had he made an end of these verses when, behold! the door of the
cavern opened and he heard one say, "Alas, the pity of it!"[FN#50] So
he entered and saluted the devotee, who returned his salam and asked
him, "What is thy name?" Answered the young man, "Uns al-Wujud." "And
what caused thee to come hither?" quoth the hermit. So he told him his
story in its entirety, omitting naught of his misfortunes; whereat he
wept and said, "O Uns al- Wujud, these twenty years have I passed in
this place, but never beheld I any man here, until yesterday, when I
heard a noise of weeping and lamentation and, looking forth in the
direction of the sound, saw many people and tents pitched on the
sea-shore; and the party at once proceeded to build a ship, in which
certain of them embarked and sailed over the waters. Then some of the
crew returned with the ship and breaking it up, went their way; and I
suspect that those who embarked in the ship and returned not, are they
whom thou seekest. In that case, O Uns al-Wujud, thy grief must needs
be great and sore and thou art excusable, though never yet was lover
but suffered love-longing." Then he recited these couplets,
"Uns al-Wujud, dost deem me fancy-free, *
When pine and longing slay and quicken me?
I have known love and yearning from the years *
Since mother-milk I drank, nor e'er was free.
Long struggled I with Love, till learnt his might; *
Ask thou of him, he'll tell with willing gree.
Love-sick and pining drank I passion-cup, *
And well-nigh perished in mine agony.
Strong was I, but my strength to weakness turned, *
And eye-sword brake through Patience armoury:
Hope not to win love-joys, without annoy; *
Contrary ever links with contrary.
But fear not change from lover true; be true *
Unto thy wish, some day thine own 'twill be.
Love hath forbidden to his votaries *
Relinquishment as deadliest heresy."
The eremite, having ended his verse, rose and, coming up to Uns
al-Wujud, embraced him,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the eremite
having ended his verse, rose and coming up to Uns al-Wujud embraced
him, and they wept together, till the hills rang with their cries and
they fell down fainting. When they revived, they swore
brotherhood[FN#51] in Allah Almighty; after which said Uns al-Wujud,
"This very night will I pray to God and seek of Him direction[FN#52]
anent what thou shouldst do to attain thy desire." Thus it was with
them; but as regards Rose-in-Hood, when they brought her to the
mountain and set her in the castle and she beheld its ordering, she
wept and exclaimed, "By Allah, thou art a goodly place, save that thou
lackest in thee the presence of the beloved!"[FN#53] Then seeing birds
in the island, she bade her people set snares for them and put all they
caught in cages within the castle; and they did so. But she sat at a
lattice and bethought her of what had passed, and desire and passion
and distraction redoubled upon her, till she burst into tears and
repeated these couplets,
"O to whom now, of my desire complaining sore, shall I *
Bewail my parting from my fere compellθd thus to fly?
Flames rage within what underlies my ribs, yet hide them I *
In deepest secret dreading aye the jealous hostile spy:
I am grown as lean, attenuate as any pick of tooth,[FN#54] *
By sore estrangement, absence, ardour, ceaseless sob and
sigh.
Where is the eye of my beloved to see how I'm become *
Like tree stripped bare of leafage left to linger and to
die.
They tyrannised over me whom they confined in place *
Whereto the lover of my heart may never draw him nigh:
I beg the Sun for me to give greetings a thousandfold, *
At time of rising and again when setting from the sky,
To the beloved one who shames a full moon's loveliness, *
When shows that slender form that doth the willow-branch
outvie.
If Rose herself would even with his cheek, I say of her *
'Thou art not like it if to me my portion thou
deny:'[FN#55]
His honey-dew of lips is like the grateful water draught *
Would cool me when a fire in heart upflameth fierce and
high:
How shall I give him up who is my heart and soul of me, *
My malady my wasting cause, my love, sole leach of me?"
Then, as the glooms of night closed around her, her yearning increased
and she called to mind the past and recited also these couplets,
"'Tis dark: my transport and unease now gather might and main,
* And love-desire provoketh me to wake my wonted pain:
The pang of parting takes for ever place within my breast, *
And pining makes me desolate in destitution lain.
Ecstasy sore maltreats my soul and yearning burns my sprite, *
And tears betray love's secresy which I would lief contain:
I weet no way, I know no case that can make light my load, *
Or heal my wasting body or cast out from me this bane.
A hell of fire is in my heart upflames with lambent tongue *
And Laza's furnace-fires within my liver place have ta'en.
O thou, exaggerating blame for what befel, enough *
I bear with patience whatsoe'er hath writ for me the Pen!
I swear, by Allah, ne'er to find aught comfort for their loss;
* "Tis oath of passion's children and their oaths are ne'er
in vain.
O Night! Salams of me to friends and let to them be known *
Of thee true knowledge how I wake and waking ever wone."
Meanwhile, the hermit said to Uns al-Wujud, "Go down to the palm- grove
in the valley and fetch some fibre."[FN#56] So he went and returned
with the palm-fibre, which the hermit took and, twisting into ropes,
make therewith a net,[FN#57] such as is used for carrying straw; after
which he said, "O Uns al-Wujud, in the heart of the valley groweth a
gourd, which springeth up and drieth upon its roots. Go down there and
fill this sack therewith; then tie it together and, casting it into the
water, embark thereon and make for the midst of the sea, so haply thou
shalt win thy wish; for whoso never ventureth shall not have what he
seeketh." "I hear and obey," answered Uns al-Wujud. Then he bade the
hermit farewell after the holy man had prayed for him; and, betaking
himself to the sole of the valley, did as his adviser had counselled
him; made the sack, launched it upon the water, and pushed from shore.
Then there arose a wind, which drave him out to sea, till he was lost
to the eremite's view; and he ceased not to float over the abysses of
the ocean, one billow tossing him up and another bearing him down (and
he beholding the while the dangers and marvels of the deep), for the
space of three days. At the end of that time Fate cast him upon the
Mount of the Bereft Mother, where he landed, giddy and tottering like a
chick unfledged, and at the last of his strength for hunger and thirst;
but, finding there streams flowing and birds on the branches cooing and
fruit-laden trees in clusters and singly growing, he ate of the fruits
and drank of the rills. Then he walked on till he saw some white thing
afar off, and making for it, found that it was a strongly fortified
castle. So he went up to the gate and seeing it locked, sat down by it;
and there he sat for three days when behold, the gate opened and an
eunuch came out, who finding Uns al-Wujud there seated, said to him,
"Whence camest thou and who brought thee hither?" Quoth he, "From
Ispahan and I was voyaging with merchandise when my ship was wrecked
and the waves cast me upon the farther side of this island." Whereupon
the eunuch wept and embraced him, saying, "Allah preserve thee, O thou
friendly face! Ispahan is mine own country and I have there a cousin,
the daughter of my father's brother, whom I loved from my childhood and
cherished with fond affection; but a people stronger than we fell upon
us in foray and taking me among other booty, cut off my yard[FN#58] and
sold me for a castrato, whilst I was yet a lad; and this is how I came
to be in such case."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the eunuch who
came forth from the castle, where Rose-in-Hood was confined, told Uns
al-Wujud all his tale and said:—"The raiders who captured me cut off my
yard and sold me for a castrato; and this is how I came to be in such
case."[FN#59] And after saluting him and wishing him long life, the
eunuch carried him into the courtyard of the castle, where he saw a
great tank of water, surrounded by trees, on whose branches hung cages
of silver, with doors of gold, and therein birds were warbling and
singing the praises of the Requiting King. And when he came to the
first cage he looked in and lo! a turtle dove, on seeing him, raised
her voice and cried out, saying, "O Thou Bounty-fraught!" Whereat he
fell down fainting and after coming to himself, he sighed heavily and
recited these couplets,
"O turtle dove, like me art thou distraught? *
Then pray the Lord and sing 'O Bounty-fraught!'
Would I knew an thy moan were sign of joy, *
Or cry of love-desire in heart inwrought,—
An moan thou pining for a lover gone *
Who left thee woe begone to pine in thought,—
Or if like me hast lost thy fondest friend, *
And severance long desire to memory brought?
O Allah, guard a faithful lover's lot *
I will not leave her though my bones go rot!"
Then, after ending his verses, he fainted again; and, presently
reviving he went on to the second cage, wherein he found a ringdove.
When it saw him, it sang out, "O Eternal, I thank thee!" and he groaned
and recited these couplets,
"I heard a ringdove chanting plaintively, *
'I thank Thee, O Eternal for this misery!'
Haply, perchance, may Allah, of His grace, *
Send me by this long round my love to see.
Full oft[FN#60] she comes with honeyed lips dark red, *
And heaps up lowe upon love's ardency.
Quoth I (while longing fires flame high and fierce *
In heart, and wasting life's vitality,
And tears like gouts of blood go railing down *
In torrents over cheeks now pale of blee),
'None e'er trod earth that was not born to woe, *
But I will patient dree mine agony,
So help me Allah! till that happy day *
When with my mistress I unite shall be:
Then will I spend my good on lover-wights, *
Who're of my tribe and of the faith of me;
And loose the very birds from jail set free, *
And change my grief for gladdest gree and glee!'"
Then he went on to the third cage, wherein he found a
mockingbird[FN#61] which, when it saw him, set up a song, and he
recited the following couplets,
"Pleaseth me yon Hazar of mocking strain *
Like voice of lover pained by love in vain.
Woe's me for lovers! Ah how many men *
By nights and pine and passion low are lain!
As though by stress of love they had been made *
Morn-less and sleep-less by their pain and bane.
When I went daft for him who conquered me *
And pined for him who proved of proudest strain,
My tears in streams down trickled and I cried *
'These long-linkt tears bind like an adamant-chain:'
Grew concupiscence, severance long, and I *
Lost Patience' hoards and grief waxed sovereign:
If Justice bide in world and me unite *
With him I love and Allah veil us deign,
I'll strip my clothes that he my form shall sight *
With parting, distance, grief, how poor of plight!"
Then he went to the fourth cage, where he found a Bulbul[FN#62] which,
at sight of him, began to sway to and fro and sing its plaintive
descant; and when he heard its complaint, he burst into tears and
repeated these couplets.
"The Bulbul's note, whenas dawn is nigh, *
Tells the lover from strains of strings to fly:
Complaineth for passion Uns al-Wujud, *
For pine that would being to him deny.
How many a strain do we hear, whose sound *
Softens stones and the rock can mollify:
And the breeze of morning that sweetly speaks *
Of meadows in flowered greenery.
And scents and sounds in the morning-tide *
Of birds and zephyrs in fragrance vie;
But I think of one, of an absent friend, *
And tears rail like rain from a showery sky;
And the flamy tongues in my breast uprise *
As sparks from gleed that in dark air fly.
Allah deign vouchsafe to a lover distraught *
Someday the face of his dear to descry!
For lovers, indeed, no excuse is clear, *
Save excuse of sight and excuse of eye."
Then he walked on a little and came to a goodly cage, than which was no
goodlier there, and in it a culver of the forest, that is to say, a
wood-pigeon,[FN#63] the bird renowned among birds as the minstrel of
love-longing, with a collar of jewels about its neck marvellous fine
and fair. He considered it awhile and, seeing it absently brooding in
its cage, he shed tears and repeated these couplets,
"O culver of copse,[FN#64] with salams I greet; *
O brother of lovers who woe must weet!
I love a gazelle who is slender-slim, *
Whose glances for keenness the scymitar beat:
For her love are my heart and my vitals a-fire, *
And my frame consumes in love's fever-heat.
The sweet taste of food is unlawful for me, *
And forbidden is slumber, unlawfullest sweet.
Endurance and solace have travelled from me, *
And love homes in my heart and grief takes firm seat:
How shall life deal joy when they flee my sight *
Who are joy and gladness and life and sprite?"
As soon as Uns al-Wujud had ended his verse,—And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that as soon as Uns
al-Wujud had ended his verse, the wood-culver awoke from its brooding
and cooed a reply to his lines and shrilled and trilled with its
thrilling notes till it all but spake with human speech;[FN#65] and the
tongue of the case talked for it and recited these couplets,
"O lover, thou bringest to thought a tide *
When the strength of my youth first faded and died;
And a friend of whose form I was 'namoured, *
Seductive and dight with beauty's pride;
Whose voice, as he sat on the sandhill-tree, *
From the Nay's[FN#66] sweet sound turned my heart aside;
A fowler snared him in net, the while *
'O that man would leave me at large!' he cried;
I had hoped he might somewhat of mercy show *
When a hapless lover he so espied;
But Allah smite him who tore me away, *
In his hardness of heart, from my lover's side;
But aye my desire for him groweth more, *
And my heart with the fires of disjunction is fried:
Allah guard a true lover, who strives with love, *
And hath borne the torments I still abide!
And, seeing me bound in this cage, with mind *
Of ruth, release me my love to find."
Then Uns al-Wujud turned to his companion, the Ispahahi, and said,
"What palace is this? Who built it and who abideth in it?" Quoth the
eunuch, "The Wazir of a certain King built it to guard his daughter,
fearing for her the accidents of Time and the incidents of Fortune, and
lodged her herein, her and her attendants; nor do we open it save once
in every year, when their provision cometh to them." And Uns al-Wujud
said to himself, "I have gained my end, though I may have long to
wait." Such was his case; but as regards Rose-in-Hood, of a truth she
took no pleasure in eating or drinking, sitting or sleeping; but her
desire and passion and distraction redoubled on her, and she went
wandering about the castle-corners, but could find no issue; wherefore
she shed tears and recited these couplets,
"They have cruelly ta'en me from him, my beloved, *
And made me taste anguish in prison ta'en:
They have fired my heart with the flames of love, *
Barred all sight of him whom to see I'm fain:
In a lofty palace they prisoned me *
On a mountain placed in the middle main.
If they'd have me forget him, right vain's their wish, *
For my love is grown of a stronger strain.
How can I forget him whose face was cause *
Of all I suffer, of all I 'plain?
The whole of my days in sorrow's spent, *
And in thought of him through the night I'm lain.
Remembrance of him cheers my solitude, *
While I lorn of his presence and lone remain.
Would I knew if, after this all, my fate *
To oblige the desire of my hear will deign."
When her verses were ended, she ascended to the terrace-roof of the
castle after donning her richest clothes and trinkets and throwing a
necklace of jewels around her neck. Then binding together some dresses
of Ba'albak[FN#67] stuff by way of rope, she tied them to the crenelles
and let herself down thereby to the ground. And she fared on over
wastes and waterless wilds, till she came to the shore, where she saw a
fisherman plying here and there over the sea, for the wind had driven
him on to the island. When he saw her, he was affrighted[FN#68] and
pushed off again, flying from her; but she cried out and made pressing
signs to him to return, versifying with these couplets,
"O fisherman no care hast thou to fear, *
I'm but an earth-born maid in mortal sphere;
I pray thee linger and my prayer grant *
And to my true unhappy tale give ear:
Pity (so Allah spare thee!) warmest love; *
Say, hast thou seen him-my beloved fere?
I love a lovely youth whose face excels *
Sunlight, and passes moon when clearest clear:
The fawn, that sees his glance, is fain to cry *
'I am his thrall' and own himself no peer:
Beauty hath written, on his winsome cheek, *
Rare lines of pregnant sense for every seer;
Who sights the light of love his soul is saved; *
Who strays is Infidel to Hell anear:
An thou in mercy show his sight, O rare![FN#69] *
Thou shalt have every wish, the dearest dear,
Of rubies and what likest are to them *
Fresh pearls and unions new, the seashell's tear:
My friend, thou wilt forsure grant my desire *
Whose heart is melted in love's hottest fire.
When the fisherman heard her words, he wept and made moan and lamented;
then, recalling what had betided himself in the days of his youth, when
love had the mastery over him and longing and desire and distraction
were sore upon him and the fires of passion consumed him, replied with
these couplets,
"What fair excuse is this my pining plight, *
With wasted limbs and tears' unceasing blight;
And eyelids open in the nightly murk, *
And heart like fire-stick[FN#70] ready fire to smite;
Indeed love burdened us in early youth, *
And true from false coin soon we learned aright:
Then did we sell our soul on way of love, *
And drunk of many a well[FN#71] to win her sight;
Venturing very life to gain her grace, *
And make high profit perilling a mite.
'Tis Love's religion whoso buys with life *
His lover's grace, with highest gain is dight."
And when he ended his verse, he moored his boat to the beach and said
to her, "Embark, so may I carry thee whither thou wilt." Thereupon she
embarked and he put off with her; but they had not gone far from land,
before there came out a stern-wind upon the boat and drove it swiftly
out of sight of shore. Now the fisherman knew not whither he went, and
the strong wind blew without ceasing three days, when it fell by leave
of Allah Almighty, and they sailed on and ceased not sailing till they
came in sight of a city sitting upon the sea-shore,—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
fisherman's craft, carrying Rose-in-Hood, made the city sitting upon
the sea-shore, the man set about making fast to the land. Now the King
of the city was a Prince of pith and puissance named Dirbas, the Lion;
and he chanced at that moment to be seated, with his son, at a window
in the royal palace giving upon the sea; and happening to look out
seawards, they saw the fishing- boat make the land. They observed it
narrowly and espied therein a young lady, as she were the full moon
overhanging the horizon- edge, with pendants in her ears of costly
balass-rubies and a collar of precious stones about her throat. Hereby
the King knew that this must indeed be the daughter of some King or
great noble and, going forth of the sea-gate of the palace, went down
to the boat, where he found the lady asleep and the fisherman busied in
making fast to shore. So he went up to her and aroused her, whereupon
she awoke, weeping; and he asked her, "Whence comest thou and whose
daughter art thou and what be the cause of thy coming hither?"; and she
answered, "I am the daughter of Ibrahim, Wazir to King Shamikh; and the
manner of my coming hither is wondrous and the cause thereof
marvellous." And she told him her whole story first and last, hiding
naught from him; then she groaned aloud and recited these couplets,
"Tear-drops have chafed mine eyelids and rail down in wondrous
wise, * For parting pain that fills my sprite and turns to
springs mine eyes,
For sake of friend who ever dwells within my vitals homed, * And
I may never win my wish of him in any guise.
He hath a favour fair and bright, and brilliant is his face, *
Which every Turk and Arab wight in loveliness outvies:
The Sun and fullest Moon lout low whenas his charms they sight, *
And lover-like they bend to him whene'er he deigneth rise.
A wondrous spell of gramarye like Kohl bedecks his eyne, * And
shows thee bow with shaft on string make ready ere it flies:
O thou, to whom I told my case expecting all excuse, * Pity a
lover-wight for whom Love-shafts such fate devise!
Verily, Love hath cast me on your coast despite of me * Of will
now weak, and fain I trust mine honour thou wilt prize:
For noble men, whenas perchance alight upon their bounds, *
Grace-worthy guests, confess their worth and raise to
dignities. Then,
O thou hope of me, to lovers' folly veil afford * And be to them
reunion cause, thou only liefest lord!"
And when she had ended her verses, she again told the King her sad tale
and shed plenteous tears and recited these couplets bearing on her
case,
"We lived till saw we all the marvels Love can bear; * Each month
to thee we hope shall fare as Rajab[FN#72] fare:
Is it not wondrous, when I saw them march amorn * That I with
water o' eyes in heart lit flames that flare?
That these mine eyelids rain fast dropping gouts of blood? * That
now my cheek grows gold where rose and lily were?
As though the safflower hue, that overspread my cheeks, * Were
Joseph's coat made stain of lying blood to wear."
Now when the King heard her words he was certified of her love and
longing and was moved to ruth for her; so he said to her, "Fear nothing
and be not troubled; thou hast come to the term of thy wishes; for
there is no help but that I win for thee thy will and bring thee to thy
desire." And he improvised these couplets,
"Daughter of nobles, who thine aim shalt gain; *
Hear gladdest news nor fear aught hurt of bane!
This day I'll pack up wealth, and send it on *
To Shαmikh, guarded by a champion-train;
Fresh pods of musk I'll send him and brocades, *
And silver white and gold of yellow vein:
Yes, and a letter shall inform him eke *
That I of kinship with that King am fain:
And I this day will lend thee bestest aid, *
That all thou covetest thy soul assain.
I, too, have tasted love and know its taste *
And can excuse whoso the same cup drain."[FN#73]
Then, ending his verse, he went forth to his troops and summoned his
Wazir; and, causing him to pack up countless treasure, commanded him
carry it to King Shamikh and say to him, "Needs must thou send me a
person named Uns al-Wujud;" and say moreover "The King is minded to
ally himself with thee by marrying his daughter to Uns al-Wujud, thine
officer. So there is no help but thou despatch him to me, that the
marriage may be solemnized in her father's kingdom." And he wrote a
letter to King Shamikh to this effect, and gave it to the Minister,
charging him strictly to bring back Uns al-Wujud and warning him, "An
thou fail thou shalt be deposed and degraded." Answered the Wazir, "I
hear and obey;" and, setting out forthright with the treasures, in due
course arrived at the court of King Shamikh whom he saluted in the name
of King Dirbas and delivered the letter and the presents. Now when King
Shamikh read the letter and saw the name of Uns al-Wujud, he burst into
tears and said to the Wazir "And where, or where, is Uns al-Wujud?; he
went from us and we know not his place of abiding; only bring him to
me, and I will give thee double the presents thou hast brought me." And
he wept and groaned and lamented, saying these couplets,
"To me restore my dear; * I want not wealth untold:
Nor crave I gifts of pearls * Or gems or store of gold:
He was to us a moon * In beauty's heavenly fold.
Passing in form and soul; * With roe compare withhold!
His form a willow-wand, * His fruit, lures manifold;
But willow lacketh power * Men's hearts to have and hold.
I reared him from a babe * On cot of coaxing roll'd;
And now I mourn for him * With woe in soul ensoul'd."
Then, turning to the Wazir who had brought the presents and the
missive, he said, "Go back to thy liege and acquaint him that Uns
al-Wujud hath been missing this year past, and his lord knoweth not
whither he is gone nor hath any tidings of him." Answered the Minister
of King Dirbas, "O my lord, my master said to me, 'An thou fail to
bring him back, thou shalt be degraded from the Wazirate and shall not
enter my city. How then can I return without him?'" So King Shamikh
said to his Wazir Ibrahim, "Take a company and go with him and make ye
search for Uns al-Wujud everywhere." He replied, "Hearkening and
obedience;" and, taking a body of his own retainers, set out
accompanied by the Wazir of King Dirbas seeking Uns al-Wujud.—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Seventy-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Ibrahim, Wazir to
King Shamikh, took him a body of his retainers and, accompanied by the
Minister of King Dirbas, set out seeking Uns al-Wujud. And as often as
they fell in with wild Arabs or others they asked of the youth, saying,
"Tell us have ye seen a man whose name is so and so and his semblance
thus and thus?" But they all answered, "We know him not." Still they
continued their quest, enquiring in city and hamlet and seeking in
fertile plain and stony hall and in the wild and in the wold, till they
made the Mountain of the Bereaved Mother; and the Wazir of King Dirbas
said to Ibrahim, "Why is this mountain thus called?" He answered, "Once
of old time, here sojourned a Jinniyah, of the Jinn of China, who loved
a mortal with passionate love; and, being in fear of her life from her
own people, searched all the earth over for a place, where she might
hide him from them, till she happened on this mountain and, finding it
cut off from both men and Jinn, there being no access to it, carried
off her beloved and lodged him therein. There, when she could escape
notice of her kith and kin, she used privily to visit him, and
continued so doing till she had borne him a number of children; and the
merchants, sailing by the mountain, in their voyages over the main,
heard the weeping of the children, as it were the wailing of a woman
bereft of her babes, and said, 'Is there here a mother bereaved of her
children?' For which reason the place was named the Mountain of the
Bereaved Mother." And the Wazir of King Dirbas marvelled at his words.
Then they landed and, making for the castle, knocked at the gate which
was opened to them by an eunuch, who knew the Wazir Ibrahim and kissed
his hands. The Minister entered and found in the courtyard, among the
serving- men, a Fakir, which was Uns al-Wujud, but he knew him not and
said, "Whence cometh yonder wight?" Quoth they, "He is a merchant, who
hath lost his goods, but saved himself; and he is an ecstatic."[FN#74]
So the Wazir left him and went on into the castle, where he found no
trace of his daughter and questioned her women, who answered, "We wot
not how or whither she went; this place misliked her and she tarried in
it but a short time." Whereupon he wept sore and repeated these
couplets,
"Ho thou, the house, whose birds were singing gay, *
Whose sills their wealth and pride were wont display!
Till came the lover wailing for his love, *
And found thy doors wide open to the way;
Would Heaven I knew where is my soul that erst *
Was homed in house, whose owners fared away!
'Twas stored with all things bright and beautiful, *
And showed its porters ranged in fair array:
They clothed it with brocades a bride become;[FN#75] *
Would I knew whither went its lords, ah, say!"
After ending his verses he again shed tears, and groaned and bemoaned
himself, exclaiming, "There is no deliverance from the destiny decreed
by Allah; nor is there any escape from that which He hath predestined!"
Then he went up to the roof and found the strips of Ba'albak stuff tied
to the crenelles and hanging down to the ground, and thus it was he
knew that she had descended thence and had fled forth, as one
distracted and demented with desire and passion. Presently, he turned
and seeing there two birds, a gor-crow and an owl he justly deemed this
an omen of ill; so he groaned and recited these couplets,
"I came to my dear friends' door, of my hopes the goal, *
Whose sight mote assuage my sorrow and woes of soul:
No friends found I there, nor was there another thing *
To find, save a corby-crow and an ill-omened owl.
And the tongue o' the case to me seemed to say, *
'Indeed This parting two lovers fond was cruel and
foul!
So taste thou the sorrow thou madest them taste and live *
In grief: wend thy ways and now in thy sorrow prowl!'"
Then he descended from the castle-roof, weeping, and bade the servants
fare forth and search the mount for their mistress; so they sought for
her, but found her not. Such was their case; but as regards Uns
al-Wujud, when he was certified that Rose-in-Hood was indeed gone, he
cried with a great cry and fell down in a fainting-fit, nor came to
himself for a long time, whilst the folk deemed that his spirit had
been withdrawn by the Compassionating One; and that he was absorbed in
contemplation of the splendour, majesty and beauty of the Requiting
One. Then, despairing of finding Uns al-Wujud, and seeing that the
Wazir Ibrahim was distracted for the loss of his daughter, the Minister
of King Dirbas addressed himself to return to his own country, albeit
he had not attained the object of his journey, and while bidding his
companion adieu, said to him, "I have a mind to take the Fakir with me;
it may be Allah Almighty will incline the King's heart to me by his
blessing, for that he is a holy man; and thereafter, I will send him to
Ispahan, which is near our country." "Do as thou wilt," answered
Ibrahim. So they took leave of each other and departed, each for his
own mother land, the Wazir of King Dirbas carrying with him Uns
al-Wujud,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Eightieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Wazir of King
Dirbas carried with him Uns al-Wujud who was still insensible. They
bore him with them on mule-back (he unknowing if he were carried or
not) for three days, when he came to himself and said, "Where am I?"
"Thou art in company with the Minister of King Dirbas," replied they
and went and gave news of his recovering to the Wazir, who sent him
rose-water and sherbet of sugar, of which they gave him to drink and
restored him. Then they ceased not faring on till they drew near King
Dirbas's capital and the King, being advised of his Wazir's coming,
wrote to him, saying, "If Uns al-Wujud be not with thee, come not to me
ever." Now when the Wazir read the royal mandate, it was grievous to
him, for he knew not that Rose-in-Hood was with the King, nor why he
had been sent in quest of Uns al-Wujud, nor the King's reason for
desiring the alliance; whilst Uns al-Wujud also knew not whither they
were bearing him or that the Wazir had been sent in quest of him; nor
did the Wazir know that the Fakir he had with him was Uns al-Wujud
himself. And when the Minister saw that the sick man was whole, he said
to him, "I was despatched by the King on an errand, which I have not
been able to accomplish. So, when he heard of my return, he wrote to
me, saying, 'Except thou have fulfilled my need enter not my city.'"
"And what is the King's need?" asked Uns al-Wujud. So the Wazir told
him the whole tale, and he said, "Fear nothing, but go boldly to the
King and take me with thee; and I will be surety to thee for the coming
of Uns al-Wujud." At this the Wazir rejoiced and cried, "Is this true
which thou sayest?" "Yes," replied he; whereupon the Wazir mounted and
carried him to King Dirbas who, after receiving their salutations said
to him, "Where is Uns al-Wujud?" Answered the young man, "O King, I
know where he is." So the King called him to him and said, "Where?"
Returned Uns al-Wujud, "He is near-hand and very near; but tell me what
thou wouldst with him, and I will fetch him into thy presence." The
King replied, "With joy and good gree, but the case calleth for
privacy." So he ordered the folk to withdraw and, carrying Uns al-Wujud
into his cabinet, told him the whole story; whereupon quoth the youth,
"Robe me in rich raiment, and I will forthright bring Uns al-Wujud to
thee." So they brought him a sumptuous dress, and he donned it and
said, "I am Uns al-Wujud, the World's Delight, and to the envious a
despite"; and presently he smote with his glances every sprite, and
began these couplets to recite,
"My loved one's name in cheerless solitude aye cheereth me * And
driveth off my desperance and despondency:
I have no helper[FN#76] but my tears that ever flow in fount, *
And as they flow, they lighten woe and force my grief to
flee.
My longing is so violent naught like it ere was seen; * My love-
tale is a marvel and my love a sight to see:
I spend the night with lids of eye that never close in sleep, *
And pass in passion twixt the Hells and Edens heavenly.
I had of patience fairish store, but now no more have I; * And
love's sole gift to me hath been aye-growing misery:
My frame is wasted by the pain of parting from my own, * And
longing changed my shape and form and made me other be.
Mine eyelids by my torrent tears are chafed, and ulcerate, * The
tears, whose flow to stay is mere impossibility.
My manly strength is sore impaired for I have lost my heart; *
How many griefs upon my griefs have I been doomed to dree!
My heart and head are like in age with similar hoariness * By
loss of Beauty's lord,[FN#77] of lords the galaxy:
Despite our wills they parted us and doomed us parted wone, *
While they (our lords) desire no more than love in unity.
Then ah, would Heaven that I wot if stress of parting done, *
The world will grant me sight of them in union fain and
free—
Roll up the scroll of severance which others would unroll— *
Efface my trouble by the grace of meeting's jubilee!
And shall I see them homed with me in cup-company, * And change
my melancholic mood for joy and jollity?"
And when he had ended his verses the King cried aloud, "By Allah, ye
are indeed a pair of lovers true and fain and in Beauty's heaven of
shining stars a twain: your story is wondrous and your case
marvellous." Then he told him all that had befalled Rose-in- Hood; and
Uns al-Wujud said, "Where is she, O King of the age?" "She is with me
now," answered Dirbas and, sending for the Kazi and the witnesses, drew
up the contract of marriage between her and him. Then he honoured Uns
al-Wujud with favours and bounties and sent to King Shamikh acquainting
him with what had befallen, whereat this King joyed with exceeding joy
and wrote back the following purport. "Since the ceremony of contract
hath been performed at thy court, it behoveth that the marriage and its
consummation be at mine." Then he made ready camels, horses and men and
sent them in quest of the pair; and when the embassy reached King
Dirbas, he gave the lovers much treasure and despatched them to King
Shamikh's court with a company of his own troops. The day of their
arrival was a notable day, never was seen a grander; for the King
gathered together all the singing- women and players on instruments of
music and made wedding banquets and held high festival seven days; and
on each day he gave largesse to the folk and bestowed on them sumptuous
robes of honour. Then Uns al-Wujud went in to Rose-in-Hood and they
embraced and sat weeping for excess of joy and gladness, whilst she
recited these couplets,
"Joyance is come, dispelling cark and care; *
We are united, enviers may despair.
The breeze of union blows, enquickening *
Forms, hearts and vitals, fresh with fragrant air:
The splendour of delight with scents appears, *
And round us[FN#78] flags and drums show gladness rare.
Deem not we're weeping for our stress of grief;*
It is for joy our tears as torrents fare:
How many fears we've seen that now are past! *
And bore we patient what was sore to bear:
One hour of joyance made us both forget *
What from excess of terror grey'd our hair."
And when the verses were ended, they again embraced and ceased not from
their embrace, till they fell down in a swoon,—And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Eighty-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Uns al- Wujud and
Rose-in-Hood embraced when they foregathered and ceased not from their
embrace, till they fell down in a swoon for the delight of reunion; and
when they came to themselves, Uns al- Wujud recited these couplets,
"How joyously sweet are the nights that unite, *
When my dearling deigns keep me the troth she did
plight;
When union conjoins us in all that we have, *
And parting is severed and sundered from sight,
To us comes the world with her favour so fair, *
After frown and aversion and might despight!
Hath planted her banner Good Fortune for us, *
And we drink of her cup in the purest delight.
We have met and complained of the pitiful Past, *
And of nights a full many that doomed us to blight.
But now, O my lady, the Past is forgot; *
The Compassionate pardon the Past for unright!
How sweet is existence, how glad is to be! *
This union my passion doth only incite."
And when he ended his verses they once more embraced, drowned in the
sea of passion; and lay down together in the private apartment
carousing and conversing and quoting verses and telling pleasant tales
and anecdotes. On this wise seven days passed over them whilst they
knew not night from day and it was to them, for very stress of gaiety
and gladness, pleasure and possession, as if the seven days were but
one day with ne'er a morrow. Not did they know the seventh day,[FN#79]
but by the coming of the singers and players on instruments of music;
whereat Rose-in-Hood beyond measure wondered and improvised these
couplets,
"In spite of enviers' jealousy, at end *
We have won all we hoped of the friend:
We've crowned our meeting with a close embrace *
On quilts where new brocades with sendal blend;
On bed of perfumed leather, which the spoils *
Of downy birds luxuriously distend.
But I abstain me from unneeded wine, *
When honey-dews of lips sweet musk can lend:
Now from the sweets of union we unknow *
Time near and far, if slow or fast it wend,
The seventh night hath come and gone, O strange! *
How went the nights we never reckt or kenned;
Till, on the seventh wishing joy they said, *
'Allah prolong the meet of friend with friend!'"
When she had finished her song, Uns al-Wujud kissed her, more than an
hundred times, and recited these couplets,
"O day of joys to either lover fain! *
The loved one came and freed from lonely pain:
She blest me with all inner charms she hath; *
And companied with inner grace deep lain:
She made me drain the wine of love till I, *
Was faint with joys her love had made me drain:
We toyed and joyed and on each other lay; *
Then fell to wine and soft melodious strain:
And for excess of joyance never knew, *
How went the day and how it came again.
Fair fall each lover, may he union win *
And gain of joy like me the amplest gain;
Nor weet the taste of severance' bitter fruit *
And joys assain them as they us assain!"
Then they went forth and distributed to the folk alms and presents of
money and raiment and rare gifts and other tokens of generosity; after
which Rose-in-Hood bade clear the bath for her[FN#80] and, turning to
Uns al-Wujud said to him, "O coolth of my eyes, I have a mind to see
thee in the Hammam, and therein we will be alone together." He joyfully
consented to this, and she let scent the Hammam with all sorts of
perfumed woods and essences, and light the wax-candles. Then of the
excess of her contentment she recited these couplets,
"O who didst win my love in other date *
(And Present e'er must speak of past estate);
And, oh! who art my sole sufficiency, *
Nor want I other friends with me to mate:
Come to the Hammam, O my light of eyes, *
And enter Eden through Gehenna-gate!
We'll scent with ambergris and aloes-wood *
Till float the heavy clouds with fragrant freight;
And to the World we'll pardon all her sins *
And sue for mercy the Compassionate;
And I will cry, when I descry thee there, *
'Good cheer, sweet love, all blessings on thee
wait!'"[FN#81]
Whereupon they arose and fared to the bath and took their pleasure
therein; after which they returned to their palace and there abode in
the fulness of enjoyment, till there came to them the Destroyer of
Delights and the Sunderer of societies; and glory be to Him who
changeth not neither ceaseth, and to whom everything returneth! And
they also tell a tale of
ABU NOWAS WITH THE THREE BOYS AND THE CALIPH HARUN AL-RASHID[FN#82]
Abu Nowas one day shut himself up and, making ready a richly-furnished
feast, collected for it meats of all kinds and of every colour that
lips and tongue can desire. Then he went forth, to seek a minion worthy
of such entertainment, saying, "Allah, my Lord and my Master, I beseech
Thee to send me one who befitteth this banquet and who is fit to
carouse with me this day!" Hardly had he made an end of speaking when
he espied three youths handsome and beardless, as they were of the boys
of Paradise,[FN#83] differing in complexion but fellows in incomparable
beauty; and all hearts yearned with desire to the swaying of their
bending shapes, even to what saith the poet,
"I passed a beardless pair without compare *
And cried, 'I love you, both you ferly fir!'
'Money'd?' quoth one: quoth I, 'And lavish too;' *
Then said the fair pair, 'Pere, c'est notre affaire.'"
Now Abu Nowas was given to these joys and loved to sport and make merry
with fair boys and cull the rose from every brightly blooming check,
even as saith the bard,
Full many a reverend Shaykh feels sting of flesh, *
Loves pretty faces, shows at Pleasure's depot:
Awakes in Mosul,[FN#84] land of purity; *
And all the day dreams only of Aleppo.[FN#85]
So he accosted them with the salutation, and they returned his greeting
with civility and all honour and would have gone their several ways,
but he stayed them, repeating these couplets,
"Steer ye your steps to none but me *
Who hath a mine of luxury:-
Old wine that shines with brightest blee *
Made by the monk in monastery;
And mutton-meat the toothsomest *
And birds of all variety.
Then eat of these and drink of those *
Old wines that bring you jollity:
And have each other, turn by turn, *
Shampooing this my tool you see."[FN#86]
Thereupon the youths were beguiled by his verses and consented to his
wishes,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Three hundred and Eighty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Abu Nowas
beguiled the youths with his wishes, saying, "We hear and obey;" and
accompanied him to his lodging, where they found all ready that he had
set forth in his couplets. They sat down and ate and drank and made
merry awhile, after which they appealed to Abu Nowas to decide which of
them was handsometh of face and shapliest of form. So he pointed to one
of them and, having kissed him twice over, recited the following
verses,
"I'll ransom that beauty-spot with my soup; *
Where's it and where is a money-dole?[FN#87]
Praise Him who hairless hath made that cheek *
And bid Beauty bide in that mole, that mole!"
Then he pointed to another and, kissing his lips, repeated these
couplets,
"And loveling weareth on his cheek a mole *
Like musk, which virgin camphor ne'er lets off it:
My peepers marvel such a contrast seeing; *
And cried the Mole to me, 'Now bless the
Prophet.'"[FN#88]
Then he pointed to the third and, after kissing him half a score times
repeated these couplets,
"Melted pure gold in silvern bowl to drain *
The youth, whose fingers wore a winey stain:
He with the drawers[FN#89] served one cup of wine, *
And served his wandering eyes the other twain.
A loveling, of the sons of Turks,[FN#90] a fawn *
Whose waist conjoins the double Mounts Honayn.[FN#91]
Could Eve's corrupting daughers[FN#92] tempt my heart *
Content with two-fold lure 'twould bear the bane.
Unto Diyar-I-Bakr ('maid-land '[FN#93] this one lures; *
That lures to two-mosqued cities of the plain."[FN#94]
Now each of the youths had drunk two cups, and when it came to the turn
of Abu Nowas, he took the goblet and repeated these couplets,
"Drink not strong wine save at the slender dearling's hand; *
Each like to other in all gifts the spirt grace:
For wine can never gladden toper's heart and soul, *
Unless the cup-boy show a bright and sparkling face."
Then he drank off his cup and the bowl went round, and when it came to
Abu Nowas again, joyance got the mastery of him and he repeated these
couplets,
"For cup-friends cup succeeding cup assign, *
Brimming with grape-juice, brought in endliess line,
By hand of brown-lipped[FN#95] Beauty who is sweet *
At wake as apple or musk finest fine.[FN#96]
Drink not the wine except from hand of fawn *
Whose cheek to kiss is sweeter than the wine."
Presently the drink got into his noddle, drunkenness mastered him and
he knew not hand from head, so that he lolled from side to side in joy
and inclined to the youths one and all, anon kissing them and anon
embracing them leg overlying leg. And he showed no sense of sin or
shame, but recited these couplets,
"None wotteth best joyance but generous youth *
When the pretty ones deign with him company keep:
This sings to him, sings to him that, when he wants *
A pick-me-up[FN#97] lying there all of a heap:
And when of a loveling he needeth a kiss, *
He takes from his lips or a draught or a nip;
Heaven bless them! How sweetly my day with them sped; *
A wonderful harvest of pleasure I reap:
Let us drink our good liquor both watered and pure, *
And agree to swive all who dare slumber and sleep."
While they were in this deboshed state behold, there came a knocking at
the door; so they bade him who knocked enter, and behold, it was the
Commander of the Faithful, Harun al-Rashid. When they saw him, they all
rose and kissed ground before him; and Abu Nowas threw off the fumes of
the wine for awe of the Caliph, who said to him, "Holla, Abu Nowas!" He
replied, "Adsum, at thy service, O Commander of the Faithful, whom
Allah preserve!" The Caliph asked, "What state is this?" and the poet
answered, "O Prince of True Believers, my state indubitably dispenseth
with questions." Quoth the Caliph, "O Abu Nowas, I have sought
direction of Allah Almighty and have appointed thee Kazi of pimps and
panders." Asked he, "Dost thou indeed invest me with that high office,
O Commander of the Faithful?"; and the Caliph answered "I do;"
whereupon Abu Nowas rejoined, "O Commander of the Faithful, hast thou
any suit to prefer to me?" Hereat the Caliph was wroth and presently
turned away and left them, full of rage, and passed the night sore
an-angered against Abu Nowas, who amid the party he had invited spent
the merriest of nights and the jolliest and joyousest. And when
day-break dawned and the star of morn appeared in sheen and shone, he
broke up the sitting and, dismissing the youths, donned his court-dress
and leaving his house set out for the palace of the Caliph. Now it was
the custom of the Commander of the Faithful, when the Divan broke up,
to withdraw to his sitting-saloon and summon thither his poets and
cup-companions and musicians, each having his own place, which he might
not overpass. So it happened that day, he retired to his saloom, and
the friends and familiars came and seated themselves, each in his rank
and degree. Presently, in walked Abu Nowas and was about to take his
usual seat, when the Caliph cried to Masrur, the sworder, and bade him
strip the poet of his clothes and bind an ass's packsaddle on his back
and a halter about his head and a crupper under his rump and lead him
round to all the lodgings of the slave-girls, —And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three hundred and Eighty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph
commanded Masrur, the sworder, to strip Abu Nowas of his court-suit and
bind an ass's packsaddle on his back and a halter about his head, and a
crupper under his rump and lead him round to all the lodgings of the
slave-girls, and the chambers of the Harim, that the women might make
mock of him; then cut off his head and bring it to him. "Hearkening and
obedience," replied Masrur and, doing with Abu Nowas as the Caliph had
bidden him, led him round all the chambers whose number equalled the
days of the year; but Abu Nowas was a funny fellow, so he made all the
girls laugh with his buffooneries and each gave him something whereby
he returned not save with a pocketful of money. And while this was
going on behold, Ja'afar the Barmecide, who had been absent on an
important business for the Commander of the Faithful, entered and
recognising the poet, albeit in this plight, said to him, "Holla, Abu
Nowas!" He said, "Here at thy service, O our lord." Ja'afar asked,
"What offence hast thou committed to bring this punishment on thee?"
Thereupon he answered, "None whatsoever, except that I made our lord
the Caliph a present of the best of my poetry and he presented me, in
return, with the best of his raiment." When the Prince of True
Believers head this, he laughed, from a heart full of wrath,[FN#98] and
pardoned Abu Nowas, and also gave him a myriad of money. And they also
recount the tale of
ABDALLAH BIN MA'AMAR WITH THE MAN OF BASSORAH AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL.
A certain man of Bassorah once bought a slave-girl and reared and
educated her right well. Moreover, he loved her very dearly and spent
all his substance in pleasuring and merry-making with her, til he had
naught left and extreme poverty was sore upon him. So she said to him,
"O my master, sell me; for thou needest my price and it maketh my heart
ache to see thy sorry and want-full plight. If thou vend me and make
use of my value, 'twill be better for thee than keeping me by thee, and
haply Almighty Allah will ample thee and amend thy fortune." He agreed
to this for the straitness of his case, and carried her to the bazar,
where the broker offered her for sale to the Governor of Bassorah, by
name Abdallah bin Ma'amar al-Taymi, and she pleased him. So he bought
her, for five hundred dinars and paid the sum to her master; but when
he book the money and was about to go away, the girl burst into tears
and repeated these two couplets,
"May coins though gainest joy in heart instil; *
For me remaineth naught save saddest ill:
I say unto my soul which sorely grieves, *
'Thy friend departeth an thou will nor nill.'"
And when her master heard this, he groaned and replied in these
couplets,
"Albeit this thy case lack all resource, *
Nor findeth aught but death's doom, pardon still;
Evening and morning, thoughts of thee will dole *
Comfort to heart all woes and griefs full fill:
Peace be upon thee! Meet we now no more *
Nor pair except at Ibn Ma'amar's will."
Now when Abdullah bin Ma'amar heard these verses and saw their
affection, he exclaimed, "By Allah, I will not assist fate in
separating you; for it is evident to me that ye two indeed love each
other. So take the money and the damsel, O man, and Allah bless thee in
both; for verily parting be grievous to lovers." So they kissed his
hand and going away, ceased not to dwell together, till death did them
part; and glory be to Him whom death over-taketh not! And amonst
stories is that of
THE LOVERS OF THE BANU[FN#99] OZRAH
There was once, among the Banu Ozrah, a handsome and accomplished man,
who was never a single day out of love, and it chanced that he became
enamoured of a beauty of his own tribe and sent her many messages; but
she ceased not to entreat him with cruelty and disdain; till, for
stress of love and longing and desire and distraction, he fell sick of
a sore sickness and took to his pillow and murdered sleep. His malady
redoubled on him and his torments increased and he was well nigh dead
when his case became known among the folk and his passion
notorious;—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Eighty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the man took to
his pillow and murdered sleep. So his case became known and his passion
notorious; and his infirmity grew upon him and his pains redoubled
until he was well nigh dead. His family and hers were urgent with her
to visit him, but she refused, till he was at the point of death when,
being told of this, she relented towards him and vouchsafed him a
visit. As soon as he saw her, his eyes ran over with tears and he
repeated from a broken heart,
"An, by thy life, pass thee my funeral train, *
A bier upborne upon the necks of four,
Wilt thou not follow it, and greet the grave *
Where shall my corpse be graved for evermore?"
Hearing this, she wept with sore weeping and said to him, "By Allah, I
suspected not that passion had come to such a pass with thee, as to
cast thee into the arms of death! Had I wist of this, I had been
favourable to thy wish, and thou shouldst have had thy will." At this
his tears streamed down even as the clouds rail rain, and he repeated
this verse,
"She drew near whenas death was departing us, *
And deigned union grant when twas useless all."
Then he groaned one groan and died. So she fell on him, kissing him and
weeping and ceased not weeping until she swooned away; and when she
came to herself, she charged her people to bury her in his grave and
with streaming eyes recited these two couplets,
"We lived on earth a life of fair content; *
And tribe and house and home of us were proud;
But Time in whirling flight departed us, *
To join us now in womb of earth and shroud.[FN#100]"
Then she fell again to weeping, nor gave over shedding tears and
lamenting till she fainted away; and she lay three days, senseless.
Then she died and was buried in his grave. This is one of the strange
chances of love.[FN#101] And I have heard related a tale of the
WAZIR OF AL-YAMAN AND HIS YOUNG BROTHER
It is said that Badr al-Din, Wazir of Al-Yaman, had a young brother of
singular beauty and kept strait watch over him; so he applied himself
to seek a tutor for him and, coming upon a Shaykh of dignified and
reverend aspect, chaste and religious, lodged him in a house next his
own. This lasted a long time, and he used to come daily from his
dwelling to that of Sαhib[FN#102] Badr al-Din and teach the young
brother. After a while, the old man's heart was taken with love for the
youth, and longing grew upon him and his vitals were troubled, till one
day, he bemoaned his case to the boy, who said, "What can I do, seeing
that I may not leave my brother night or day? and thou thyself seest
how careful he is over me." Quoth the Shaykh, "My lodging adjoineth
thine; so there will be no difficulty, when thy brother sleepeth, to
rise and, entering the privy, feign thyself asleep. Then come to the
parapet[FN#103] of the terrace-roof and I will receive thee on the
other side of the wall; so shalt thou sit with me an eye-twinkling and
return without thy brother's knowledge." "I hear and obey," answered
the lad; and the tutor began to prepare gifts suitable to his degree.
Now when a while of the night was past, he entered the water-closet and
waited until his brother lay down on his bed and took patience till he
was drowned in sleep, when he rose and going to the parapet of the
terrace-roof, found standing there to await him the old man, who gave
him his hand and carried him to the sitting-chamber, where he had made
ready various dainties for his entertainment, and they sat down to
carouse. Now it was the night of the full moon and, as they sat with
the wine-cup going round, her rays shone upon them, and the governor
fell to singing. But, whilst they were thus in joy and jollity and
mirth and merriment, such as confoundeth the wit and the sight and
defieth description, lo! the Wazir awoke and, missing his brother,
arose in affright and found the door open. So he went up to the roof
and hearing a noise of talk, climbed over the parapet to the adjoining
terrace and saw a light shining from the lodging. He looked in from
behind the wall, and espied his brother and his tutor sitting at
carouse; but the Shaykh became aware of him and sang cup in hand, to a
lively measure these couplets,
"He made me drain his wine of honeyed lips, *
Toasting with cheeks which rose and myrtle smother:
Then nighted in embrace, cheek to my cheek, *
A loveling midst mankind without another.
When the full moon arose on us and shone *
Pray she traduce us not to the big brother."
And it proved the perfect politeness of the Wazir Badr al-Din that,
when he heard this, he said, "By Allah, I will not betray you!" And he
went away and left them to their diversions. They also tell a tale
concerning
THE LOVES OF THE BOY AND GIRL AT SCHOOL
A free boy and a slave-girl once learnt together in school, and the boy
fell passionately in love with the girl.—And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Eighty-Fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the lad fell
passionately in love with the slave-lass: so one day, when the other
boys were heedless, he took her tablet[FN#104] and wrote on it these
two couplets,
"What sayest thou of him by sickness waste, *
Until he's clean distraught for love of thee?
Who in the transport of his pain complains, *
Nor can bear load of heart in secrecy?"
Now when the girl took her tablet, she read the verses written thereon
and understanding them, wept for ruth of him; then she wrote thereunder
these two couplets,
"An if we behold a lover love-fordone *
Desiring us, our favours he shall see:
Yea, what he wills of us he shall obtain, *
And so befal us what befalling be."
Now it chanced that the teacher came in on them and taking the tablet,
unnoticed, read what was written thereon. So he was moved to pity of
their case and wrote on the tablet beneath those already written these
two couplets addressed to the girl,
"Console thy lover, fear no consequence; *
He is daft with loving lowe's insanity;
But for the teacher fear not aught from him; *
Love-pain he learned long before learnt ye."
Presently it so happened that the girl's owner entered the school about
the same time and, finding the tablet, read the above verses indited by
the boy, the girl and the schoolmaster; and wrote under them these two
couplets,
"May Allah never make you parting dree *
And be your censurer shamed wearily!
But for the teacher ne'er, by Allah, eye *
Of mine beheld a bigger pimp than he!"
Then he sent for the Kazi and witnesses and married them on the spot.
Moreover, he made them a wedding-feast and treated them with exceeding
munificence; and they ceased not abiding together in joy and happiness,
till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the Severer of
societies. And equally pleasant is the story of
AL-MUTALAMMIS AND HIS WIFE UMAYMAH
It is related Al-Mutalammis[FN#105] once fled from Al-Nu'uman bin
Munzir[FN#106] and was absent so long that folk deemed him dead. Now he
had a beautiful wife, Umaymah by name, and her family urged her to
marry again; but she refused, for that she loved her husband
Al-Mutalammis very dearly. However, they were urgent with her, because
of the multitude of her suitors, and importuned with her till at last
she consented, albe reluctantly; and they espoused her to a man of her
own tribe. Now on the night of the wedding, Al-Mutalammis came back
and, hearing in the camp a noise of pipes and tabrets and seeing signs
of a wedding festival, asked some of the children what was the
merry-making, to which they replied, "They have married Umaymah wife of
Al-Mutalammis, to such an one, and he goes in to her this night." When
he heard this, he planned to enter the house amongst the mob of women
and saw the twain seated on the bridal couch.[FN#107] By and by, the
bridegroom came up to her, whereupon she sighed heavily and weeping,
recited this couplet,
"Would Heaven I knew (but many are the shifts of joy and woe) *
In what far distant land thou art, my Mutalammis, oh!"
Now Al-Mutalammis was a renowned poet; so he answered her saying;
"Right near at hand, Umaymah mine! when'er the caravan *
Halted, I never ceased for thee to pine, I would thou know."
When the bridegroom heard this, he guess how the case stood and went
forth from them in hast improvising,
"I was in bestest luck, but now my luck goes contrary: *
A hospitable house and room contain your loves, you two!"
And he returned not but left the twain to their privacy. So Al-
Mutalammis and his wife abode together in all comfort and solace of
life and in all its joys and jollities till death parted them. And
glory be to Him at whose command the earth and the heavens shall arise!
And among other tales is that of
THE CALIPH HARUM AL-RASHID AND QUEEN ZUBAYDAH IN THE BATH
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid loved the Lady Zubaydah with exceeding love
and laid out for her a pleasaunce, wherein he made a great tank and set
thereabouts a screen of trees and led thither water from all sides;
hence the trees grew and interlaced over the basin so densely, that one
could go in and wash, without being seen of any, for the thickness of
the leafage. It chanced, one day, that Queen Zubaydah entered the
garden and, coming to the swimming-bath,—And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night
She said, It hath reached me, "O auspicious King, that Queen Zubaydah
entered the garden one day and, coming to the swimming- bath, gazed
upon its goodliness; and the sheen of the water and the overshading of
the trees pleased her. Now it was a day of exceeding heat; so she
doffed her clothes and, entering the tank, which was not deep enough to
cover the whole person, fell to pouring the water over herself from an
ewer of silver. It also happened that the Caliph heard she was in the
pool; so he left his palace and came down to spy upon her through the
screen of the foliage. He stood behind the trees and espied her mother-
nude, showing everything that is kept hidden. Presently, she became
aware of him and turning, saw him behind the trees and was ashamed that
he should see her naked. So she laid her hands on her parts, but the
Mount of Venus escaped from between them, by reason of its greatness
and plumpness; and the Caliph at once turned and went away, wondering
and reciting this couplet,
"I looked on her with loving eyne *
And grew anew my old repine:"
But he knew not what to say next; so he sent for Abu Nowas and said to
him, "Make me a piece of verse commencing with this line." "I hear and
obey," replied the poet and in an eye- twinkling extemporised these
couplets,
"I looked on her with longing eyne *
And grew anew my old repine
For the gazelle, who captured me *
Where the two lotus-trees incline:
There was the water poured on it *
From ewer of the silvern mine;
And seen me she had hidden it *
But twas too plump for fingers fine.
Would Heaven that I were on it, *
An hour, or better two hours, li'en."[FN#108]
Thereupon the Commander of the Faithful smiled and made him a handsome
present and he went away rejoicing. And I have heard another story of
HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE THREE POETS
The Prince of True Believers, Caliph Harun al-Rashid, was exceeding
restless one night; so he rose and walked about his palace, till he
happened upon a handmaid overcome with wine. Now he was prodigiously
enamoured of this damsel; so he played with her and pulled her to him,
whereupon her zone fell down and her petticoat-trousers were loosed and
he besought her of amorous favour. But she said to him, "O Commander of
the Faithful wait till to-morrow night, for I am unprepared for thee,
knowing not of thy coming." So he left her and went away. But, when the
morrow showed its light and the sun shone bright, he sent a page to her
saying, "The Commander of the Faithful is about to visit thine
apartment;" but she replied, "Day doth away with the promise of night."
So he said to his courtiers, "Make me somewhat of verse, introducing
these words, The Promise of Night is effaced by Day.'" Answered they,
"We hear and obey," and Al- Rakαshi[FN#109] came forward and recited
the following couplets,
"By Allah, couldst thou but feel my pain, *
Thy rest had turned and had fled away.
Hath left me in sorrow and love distraught, *
Unseen and unseeing, that fairest may:
She promised me grace, then jilted and said, *
The promise of night is effaced by day!'"
Then Abu Mus'ab came forward and recited these couplets,
"When wilt thou be wise and love-heat allay *
That from food and sleeping so leads astray?
Suffices thee not ever weeping eye, *
And vitals on fire when thy name they say?
He must smile and laugh and in pride must cry *
The promise of Night is effaced by Day.'"
Last came Abu Nowas and recited the following couplets,
"As love waxt longer less met we tway *
And fell out, but ended the useless fray;
One night in the palace I found her fou'; *
Yet of modesty still there was some display:
The veil from her shoulders had slipt; and showed *
Her loosened trousers Love's seat and stay:
And rattled the breezes her huge hind cheeks *
And the branch where two little pomegranates lay:
Quoth I, Give me tryst;' whereto quoth she *
To-morrow the fane shall wear best array:'
Next day I asked her, Thy word?' Said she *
The promise of Night is effaced by Day.'"
The Caliph bade give a myriad of money each to Al-Rakashi and Abu
Mus'ab, but bade strike off the head of Abu Nowas, saying, "Thou wast
with us yesternight in the palace." Said he, "By Allah, I slept not but
in my own house! I was directed to what I said by thine own words as to
the subject of the verse; and indeed quoth Almighty Allah (and He is
the truest of all speakers): As for poets (devils pursue them!) dost
thou not see that they rove as bereft of their senses through every
valley and that they say that which they do not?'"[FN#110] So the
Caliph forgave him and gave him two myriads of money. And another tale
is that of
MUS'AB BIN AL-ZUBAYR AND AYISHAH HIS WIFE
It is told of Mus'ab bin al-Zubayr[FN#111] that he met in Al- Medinah
Izzah, who was one of the shrewdest of women, and said to her, "I have
a mind to marry Ayishah[FN#112] daughter of Talhah, and I should like
thee to go herwards and spy out for me how she is made." So she went
away and returning to Mus'ab, said, "I have seen her, and her face is
fairer than health; she hath large and well-opened eyes and under them
a nose straight and smooth as a cane; oval cheeks and a mouth like a
cleft pomegranate, a neck as a silver ewer and below it a bosom with
two breasts like twin- pomegranates and further down a slim waist and a
slender stomach with a navel therein as it were a casket of ivory, and
back parts like a hummock of sand; and plumply rounded thighs and
calves like columns of alabaster; but I saw her feet to be large, and
thou wilt fall short with her in time of need." Upon this report he
married her,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Eighty-seventh Day
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Izzah this
wise reported of Ayishah bint Talhah, Mus'ab married her and went in to
her. And presently Izzah invited Ayishah and the women of the tribe
Kuraysh to her house, when Ayishah sang these two couplets with Mus'ab
standing by,
"And the lips of girls, that are perfume sweet; *
So nice to kiss when with smiles they greet:
Yet ne'er tasted I them, but in thought of him; *
And by thought the Ruler rules worldly seat."
The night of Mus'ab's going in unto her, he departed not from her, till
after seven bouts; and on the morrow, a freewoman of his met him and
said to him, "May I be thy sacrifice! Thou art perfect, even in this."
And a certain woman said, "I was with Ayishah, when her husband came in
to her, and she lusted for him; so he fell upon her and she snarked and
snorted and made use of all wonder of movements and marvellous new
inventions, and I the while within hearing. So, when he came out from
her, I said to her, How canst thou do thus with thy rank and nobility
and condition, and I in thy house?' Quoth she, Verily a woman should
bring her husband all of which she is mistress, by way of excitement
and rare buckings and wrigglings and motitations.[FN#113] What
dislikest thou of this?' And I answered I would have this by nights.'
Rejoined she, Thus is it by day and by night I do more than this; for
when he seeth me, desire stirreth him up and he falleth in heat; so he
putteth it out to me and I obey him, and it is as thou seest.'" And
there also hath reached me an account of
ABU AL-ASWAD AND HIS SLAVE-GIRL
Abu al-Aswad bought a native-born slave-girl, who was blind of an eye,
and she pleased him; but his people decried her to him; whereat he
wondered and, turning the palms of his hands upwards,[FN#114] recited
these two couplets,
"They find me fault with her where I default ne'er find, *
Save haply that a speck in either eye may show:
But if her eyes have fault, of fault her form hath none, *
Slim-built above the waist and heavily made below."
And this is also told of
HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE TWO SLAVE-GIRLS
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid lay one night between two slave-girls, one
from Al-Medinah and the other from Cufa and the Cufite rubbed his
hands, whilst the Medinite rubbed his feet and made his concern[FN#115]
stand up. Quoth the Cufite, "I see thou wouldst keep the whole of the
stock-in-trade to thyself; give me my share of it." And the other
answered, "I have been told by Mαlik, on the authority of Hishαm ibn
Orwah,[FN#116] who had it of his (grand) father, that the Prophet said,
Whoso quickeneth the dead, the dead belongeth to him and is his.' But
the Cufite took her unawares and, pushing her away, seized it all in
her own hand and said, "Al-A'amash telleth us, on the authority of
Khaysamah, who had it of Abdallah bin Mas'ud, that the Prophet
declared, Game belongeth to him who taketh it, not to him who raiseth
it.'" And this is also related of
THE CALIPH HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE THREE SLAVE-GIRLS
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid once slept with three slave-girls, a Meccan,
a Medinite and an Irakite. The Medinah girl put her hand to his yard
and handled it, whereupon it rose and the Meccan sprang up and drew it
to herself. Quoth the other, "What is this unjust aggression? A
tradition was related to me by Mαlik[FN#117] after Al-Zuhri, after
Abdallah ibn Sαlim, after Sa'νd bin Zayd, that the Apostle of Allah
(whom Allah bless and keep!) said: Whoso enquickeneth a dead land, it
is his.' And the Meccan answered, "It is related to us by Sufyαn, from
Abu Zanαd, from Al-A'araj, from Abu Horayrah, that the Apostle of Allah
said: The quarry is his who catcheth it, not his who starteth it.'" But
the Irak girl pushed them both away and taking it to herself, said,
"This is mine, till your contention be decided." And they tell a tale
of
THE MILLER AND HIS WIFE
There was a miller, who had an ass to turn his mill; and he was married
to a wicked wife, whom he loved, while she hated him because she was
sweet upon a neighbour, who misliked her and held aloof from her. One
night, the miller saw, in his sleep, one who said to him, "Dig in such
a spot of the ass's round in the mill, and thou shalt find a hoard."
When he awoke, he told his wife the vision and bade her keep the
secret; but she told her neighbour,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three hundred and Eighty-eighth Night
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the miller's wife
told the secret to the neighbour whom she loved, thinking to win his
favour; and he agreed with her to come to her by night. So he came and
they dug in the mill and found the treasure and took it forth. Then he
asked her, "How shall we do with this?" and she answered; "We will
divide it into two halves and will share it equally between us, and do
thou leave thy wife and I will cast about to rid me of my husband. Then
shalt thou marry me and, when we are conjoined, we will join the two
halves of the treasure one to other, and all will be in our hands."
Quoth he, "I fear lest Satan seduce thee and thou take some other man
other than myself; for gold in the house is like the sun in the world.
I reck, therefore, it were right that the money be all in my hands, so
thou give thy whole mind to getting free of thy husband and coming to
me." Quoth she, "I fear even as thou fearest, nor will I yield up my
part to thee; for it was I directed thee to it." When he heard this,
greed of gain prompted him to kill her; so he slew her and threw her
body into the empty hoard-hole; but day overtook him and hindered him
from covering it up; he therefore took the money and went his way. Now
after a while the miller awoke and, missing his wife, went into the
mill, where he fastened the ass to the beam and shouted to it. It went
on a little, then stopped; whereupon he beat it grievously; but the
more he bashed it, the more it drew back; for it was affrighted at the
dead woman and could not go forward. Thereupon the Miller, unknowing
what hindered the donkey, took out a knife and goaded it again and
again, but still it would not budge. Then he was wroth with it, knowing
not the cause of its obstinacy, and drove the knife into its flanks,
and it fell down dead. But when the sun rose, he saw his donkey lying
dead and likewise his wife in the place of the treasure, and great was
his rage and sore his wrath for the loss of his hoard and the death of
his wife and his ass. All this came of his letting his wife into his
secret and not keeping it to himself.[FN#118] And I have heard this
tale of
THE SIMPLETON AND THE SHARPER
A certain simpleton was once walking along, haling his ass after him by
the halter, when a pair of sharpers saw him and one said to his fellow,
"I will take that ass from yonder wight." Asked the other, "How wilt
thou do that?" "Follow me and I will show thee how," answered the
first. So the cony-catcher went up to the ass and, loosing it from the
halter, gave the beast to his fellow; then he haltered his own head and
followed Tom Fool till he knew the other had got clean off with the
ass, when he stood still. The oaf haled at the halter, but the rascal
stirred not; so he turned and seeing the halter on a man's neck, said
to him, "What art thou?" Quoth the sharper, "I am thine ass and my
story is a wonderous one and tis this. Know that I have a pious old
mother and come in to her one day, drunk; and she said to me: O my son,
repent to the Almighty of these thy transgressions.' But I took my
staff and beat her, whereupon she cursed me and Allah changed me into
an ass and caused me fall into thy hands, where I have remained till
this moment. However, to-day, my mother called me to mind and her heart
yearned towards me; so she prayed for me and the Lord restored me to my
former shape amongst the sons of Adam." Cried the silly one, "There is
no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the
Great! Allah upon thee, O my brother, acquit me of what I have done
with thee in the way of riding and so forth." Then he let the
cony-catcher go and returned home, drunken with chagrin and concern as
with wine. His wife asked him, "What aileth thee and where is the
donkey?"; and he answered, "Thou knowest not what was this ass; but I
will tell thee." So he told her the story, and she exclaimed, "Alack
and alas for the punishment we shall receive from Almighty Allah! How
could we have used a man as a beast of burden, all this while? And she
gave alms by way of atonement and prayed pardon of Heaven.[FN#119] Then
the man abode awhile at home, idle and feckless, till she said to him,
"How long wilt thou sit at home doing naught? Go to the market and buy
us an ass and ply thy work with it." Accordingly, he went to the market
and stopped by the ass-stand, where behold, he saw his own ass for
sale. So he went up to it and clapping his mouth to its ear, said to
it, "Woe to thee, thou ne'er-do-well! Doubtless thou hast been getting
drunk again and beating thy mother! But, by Allah, I will never buy
thee more."[FN#120] and he left it and went away. And they tell a tale
concerning
THE KAZI ABU YUSUF WITH HARUN AL-RASHID AND QUEEN ZUBAYDAH
The Caliph Harun al-Rashid went up one noon-tide to his couch, to lie
down; and mounting, found upon the bed-clothes semen freshly emitted;
whereat he was startled and troubled with sore trouble. So he called
the Lady Zubaydah and said to her, "What is that spilt on the bed?" She
looked at it and replied, "O Commander of the Faithful, it is semen."
Quoth he, "Tell me truly what this meaneth or I will lay violent hands
on thee forthright." Quoth she, "By Allah, O Commander of the Faithful,
indeed I know not how it came there and I am guiltless of that whereof
you suspectest me." So he sent for the Kazi Abϊ Yϊsuf and acquainted
him of the case. The Judge raised his eyes to the ceiling and, seeing a
crack therein, said to the Caliph, "O Commander of the Faithful, in
very sooth the bat hath seed like that of a man,[FN#121] and this is
bat's semen." Then he called for a spear and thrust it into the
crevice, whereupon down fell the bat. In this manner the Caliph's
suspicions were dispelled,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Three hundred and Eighty-ninth Night
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Kazi Abu
Yusuf took the spear and thrust it into the crevice, down fell the bat,
and thus the Caliph's suspicions were dispelled and the innocence of
Zubaydah was made manifest; whereat she gave loud and liberal vent to
her joy and promised Abu Yusuf a magnificent reward. Now there were
with her certain delicious fruits, out of their season, and she knew of
others in the garden; so she asked Abu Yusuf, "O Imam of the Faith,
which wouldst thou rather have of the two kinds of fruits, those that
are here or those that are not here?" And he answered, "Our code
forbiddeth us to pronounce judgement on the absent; whenas they are
present, we will give our decision." So she let bring the two kinds of
fruits before him; and he ate of both. Quoth she, "What is the
difference between them?" and quoth he, "As often as I think to praise
one kind, the adversary putteth in its claim." The Caliph laughed at
his answer[FN#122] and made him a rich present; and Zubaydah also gave
him what she had promised him, and he went away, rejoicing. See, then
the virtues of this Imαm and how his hands were manifest the truth and
the innocence of the Lady Zubaydah. And amongst other stories is that
of
THE CALIPH AL-HAKIM[FN#123] AND THE MERCHANT
The Caliph Al-Hαkim bi-Amri'llah was riding out in state procession one
day, when he passed along a garden, wherein he saw a man, surrounded by
negro-slaves and eunuchs. He asked him for a draught of water, and the
man gave him to drink, saying, "Belike, the Commander of the Faithful
will honour me by alighting in this my garden." So the Caliph
dismounted and with his suite entered the garden; whereupon the said
man brought out to them an hundred rugs and an hundred leather mats and
an hundred cushions; and set before them an hundred dishes of fruits,
an hundred bowls of sweetmeats and an hundred jars of sugared sherbets;
at which the Caliph marvelled with much amaze and said to his host, "O
man, verily this thy case is wondrous: didst thou know of our coming
and make this preparation for us?" He replied, "No by Allah, O
Commander of the Faithful, I knew not of thy coming and I am a merchant
of the rest of thy subjects; but I have an hundred concubines; so, when
the Commander of the Faithful honoured me by alighting with me, I sent
to each of them, bidding her send me her morning-meal in the garden. So
they sent me each of her furniture and the surplus of her meat and
drink: and every day each sendeth me a dish of meat and another of
cooling marinades, also a platter of fruits and a bowl of sweetmeats
and a jar of sherbet. This is my noon-day dinner, nor have I added
aught thereto for thee." Then the Commander of the Faithful, Al-Hakim
bi-Amri'llah prostrated himself in thanksgiving to the Almighty
(extolled and exalted be His name!) and said, "Praise be Allah, who
hath been so bountiful to one of our lieges, that he entertaineth the
Caliph and his host, without making ready for them; nay, he feedeth
them with the surplusage of his day's provision!" Then he sent for all
the dirhams in the treasury, that had been struck that year (and they
were in number three thousand and seven hundred thousand); nor did he
mount until the money came, when he gave it to the merchant, saying,
"Use this as thy state may require; and thy generosity deserveth more
than this." Then he took horse and rode away. And I have heard a story
concerning
KING KISRA ANUSHIRWAN[FN#124] AND THE VILLAGE DAMSEL
The Just King, Kisrα Anϊshirwαn, one day rode forth to the chase and,
in pursuit of a deer, became separated from his suite. Presently, he
caught sight of a hamlet near hand and being sore athirst, he made for
it and presenting himself at the door of a house that lay by the
wayside, asked for a draught of water. So a damsel came out and looked
at him; then, going back into the house, pressed the juice from a
single sugar-cane into a bowl and mixed it with water; after which she
strewed on the top some scented stuff, as it were dust, and carried it
tot he King. Thereupon he seeing in it what resembled dust, drank it,
little by little, till he came to the end; when said he to her, "O
damsel, the drink is good, and how sweet it had been but for this dust
in it that troubleth it." Answered she, "O guest, I put in that powder
for a purpose;" and he asked, "And why didst thou thus?"; so she
replied, "I saw thee exceedingly thirsty and feared that thou wouldst
drain the whole at one draught and that this would thee mischief; and
but for this dust that troubled the drink so hadst thou done." The Just
King wondered at her words, knowing that they came of her wit and good
sense, and said to her, "From how many sugar canes didst thou express
this draught?" "One," answered she; whereat Anushirwan marvelled and,
calling for the register of the village taxes, saw that its assessment
was but little and bethought him to increase it, on his return to his
palace, saying in himself, "A village where they get this much juice
out of one sugar-cane, why is it so lightly taxed?" He then left the
village and pursued his chase; and, as he came back at the end of the
day, he passed alone by the same door and called again for drink;
whereupon the same damsel came out and, knowing him at a look, went in
to fetch him water. It was some time before she returned and Anushirwan
wondered thereat and said to her, "Why hast thou tarried?"—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
When it was the Three hundred and Ninetieth Night
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Anushirwan
hurried the damsel and asked her, "Why hast thou tarried?" she
answered, "Because a single sugar-cane gave not enough for thy need; so
I pressed three; but they yielded not to much as one did before."
Rejoined he, "What is the cause of that?"; and she replied, "The cause
of it is that when the Sultan's[FN#125] mind is changed against a folk,
their prosperity ceaseth and their good waxeth less." So Anushirwan
laughed and dismissed from his mind that which he had purposed against
the villagers. Moreover, he took the damsel to wife then and there,
being pleased with her much wit and acuteness and the excellence of her
speech. And they tell another tale of the
WATER-CARRIER[FN#126] AND THE GOLDSMITH'S WIFE
There was once, in the city of Bokhara, a water-carrier, who used to
carry water to the house of a goldsmith and had done this thirty years.
Now that goldsmith had a wife of exceeding beauty and loveliness,
brilliancy and perfect grace; and she was withal renowned for piety,
chastity and modesty. One day the water- carrier came, as of custom,
and poured the water into the cisterns. Now the woman was standing in
the midst of the court; so he went close up to her and taking her hand,
stroked it and pressed it, then went away and left her. When her
husband came home from the bazar, she said to him, "I would have thee
tell me what thing thou hast done in the market this day, to anger
Almighty Allah." Quoth he, "I have done nothing to offend the Lord."
"Nay," rejoined she, "but, by Allah, thou hast indeed done something to
anger Him; and unless thou tell me the whole truth, I will not abide in
thy house, and thou shalt not see me, nor will I see thee." So he
confessed, "I will tell thee the truth of what I did this day. It so
chanced that, as I was sitting in my shop, as of wont, a woman came up
to me and bade me make her a bracelet of gold. Then she went away and I
wrought her a bracelet and laid it aside. But when she returned and I
brought her out the bracelet, she put forth her hand and I clasped the
bracelet on her wrist; and I wondered at the whiteness of her hand and
the beauty of her wrist, which would captivate any beholder; and I
recalled what the poet saith,
Her fore-arms, dight with their bangles, show *
Like fire ablaze on the waves a-flow;
As by purest gold were the water girt, *
And belted around by a living lowe.'
So I took her hand and pressed it and squeezed it." Said the woman,
"Great God! Why didst thou this ill thing? Know that the water-carrier,
who hath come to our house these thirty years, nor sawst thou ever any
treason in him took my hand this day and pressed and squeezed it." Said
her husband, "O woman, let us crave pardon of Allah! Verily, I repent
of what I did, and do thou ask forgiveness of the Lord for me." She
cried, "Allah pardon me and thee, and receive us into his holy
keeping."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Three hundred and Ninety-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the goldsmith's
wife cried out, "Allah pardon me and thee, and receive us into his holy
keeping!" And on the next day, the water-carrier came in to the
jeweller's wife and, throwing himself at her feet, grovelled in the
dust and besought pardon of her, saying, "O my lady, acquit me of that
which Satan deluded me to do; for it was he that seduced me and led me
astray." She answered, "Go thy ways, the sin was not in thee, but in my
husband, for that he did what he did in his shop, and Allah hath
retaliated upon him in this world." And it related that the goldsmith,
when his wife told him how the water-carrier had used her, said, "Tit
for tat, and blow for blow!; had I done more the water-carrier had done
more";—which became a current byword among the folk. Therefore it
behoveth a wife to be both outward and inward with her husband;
contenting herself with little from him, if he cannot give her much,
and taking pattern by Ayishah the Truthful and Fatimah the virgin
mother (Allah Almighty accept of them the twain!), that she may be of
the company of the righteous ancestry.[FN#127] And I have heard the
following tale of
KHUSRAU AND SHIRIN AND THE FISHERMAN
King Khusrau[FN#128] Shahinshah of Persia loved fish; and one day, as
he sat in his saloon, he and Shirin his wife, there came a fisherman,
with a great fish, and he laid it before the King, who was pleased and
ordered the man four thousand dirhams.[FN#129] Thereupon Shirin said to
the King, "Thou hast done ill." Asked he, "And why?", and she answered,
"Because if, after this, though give one of thy courtiers a like sum,
he will disdain it and say, He hath but given me the like of what he
gave the fisherman.' And if thou give him less, the same will say, He
despiseth me and giveth me less than he gave the fisherman.'" Rejoined
Khusrau, "Thou art right, but it would dishonour a king to go back on
his gift; and the thing is done." Quoth Shirin, "If thou wilt, I will
contrive thee a means to get it back from him." Quoth he, "How so?";
and she said, "Call back, if thou so please, the fisherman and ask him
if the fish be male or female. If he say, Male,' say thou, We want a
female,' and if he say, Female,' say, We want a male.'" So the King
sent for the fisherman, who was a man of wit and astuteness, and said
to him, "Is this fish male or female?" whereupon the fisherman kissed
the ground and answered, "This fish is an hermaphrodite,[FN#130]
neither male nor female." Khusrau laughed at his clever reply and
ordered him other four thousand dirhams. So the fisherman went to the
treasurer and, taking his eight thousand dirhams, put them in a sack he
had with him. Then, throwing it over his shoulder, he was going away,
when he dropped a dirham; so he laid the bag off his back and stooped
down to pick it up. Now the King and Shirin were looking on, and the
Queen said, "O King, didst thou note the meanness of the man, in that
he must needs stoop down to pick up the one dirham, and could not bring
himself to leave it for any of the King's servants?" When the King
heard these words, he was exceeding wroth with the fisherman and said,
"Thou art right, O Shirin!" So he called the man back and said to him,
"Thou low-minded carle! Thou art no man! How couldst thou put the bag
with all this money off thy back and bend thee groundwards to pick up
the one dirham and grudge to leave it where it fell?" Thereupon the
fisherman kissed the earth before him and answered, "May Allah prolong
the King's life! Indeed, I did not pick up the dirham off the ground
because of its value in my eyes; but I raised it off the earth because
on one of its faces is the likeness of the King and on the other his
name; and I feared lest any should unwittingly set foot upon it, thus
dishonouring the name and presentment of the King, and I be blamed for
this offence." The King wondered at his words and approved of his wit
and shrewdness, and ordered him yet another four thousand dirhams.
Moreover, he bade cry abroad in his kingdom, saying, "It behoveth none
to be guided by women's counsel; for whoso followeth their advice,
loseth, with his one dirham, other twain."[FN#131] And here is the tale
they tell of
YAHYA BIN KHALID THE BARMECIDE AND THE POOR MAN
Yahya bin Khαlid the Barmecide was returning home, one day, from the
Caliph's palace, when he saw, at the gate of his mansion, a man who
rose as he drew near and saluted him, saying, "O Yahya, I am in sore
need of that which is in they hand, and I make Allah my intermediary
with thee." So Yahya caused a place to be set aside for him in his
house and bade his treasurer carry him a thousand dirhams every day and
ordered that his diet be of the choicest of his own meat. The man abode
in this case a whole month, at the end of which time, having received
in all thirty thousand dirhams and fearing lest Yahya should take the
money from him, because of the greatness of the sum, he departed by
stealth.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Ninety-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the man, taking
with him the money, departed by stealth. But when they told Yahya of
this, he said, "By Allah, though he had tarried with me to the end of
his days, yet had I not stinted him of my largesse nor cut off from him
the bounties of my hospitality!" For, indeed, the excellences of the
Barmecides were past count nor can their virtues be committed to
description, especially those of Yahya bin Khalid, for he was an
ocean[FN#132] of noble qualities, even as saith the poet of him,
"I asked of Bounty, Art thou free?' Quoth she, *
No, I am slave to Yahyα Khαlid-son!'
Boughten?' asked I. Allah forfend,' quoth she, *
By heirship, sire to sire's transmission!'"
And the following is related of
MOHAMMED AL-AMIN AND THE SLAVE-GIRL
Ja'afar bin Musα al-Hαdi[FN#133] once had a slave-girl, a lutist,
called Al-Badr al-Kabνr, than whom there was not in her time a fairer
of face nor shapelier of shape nor a more elegant of manners nor a more
accomplished in the art of singing and striking the strings; she was
indeed perfect in beauty and extreme in every charm. Now Mohammed
al-Amνn,[FN#134] son of Zubaydah, heard of her and was urgent with
Ja'afar to sell her to him; but he replied, "Thou knowest it beseemeth
not one of my rank to sell slave-girls nor set prices on concubines;
but were she not a rearling I would send her to thee, as a gift, not
grudge her to thee." And Mohammed al-Amin, some days after this went to
Ja'afar's house, to make merry; and the host set before him that which
it behoveth to set before true friends and bade the damsel Al-Badr
al-Kabir sing to him and gladden him. So she tuned the lute and sang
with a ravishing melody; whilst Mohammed al-Amin fell to drinking and
jollity and bade the cupbearers ply Ja'afar with much wine, till they
made him drunken, when he took the damsel and carried her to his own
house, but laid not a finger on her. And when the morrow dawned he bade
invite Ja'afar; and when he came, he set wine before him and made the
girl sing to him, from behind the curtain. Ja'afar knew her voice and
was angered at this, but, of the nobleness of his nature and the
magnanimity of his mind he showed no change. Now when the carousal was
at an end, Al-Amin commanded one of his servants to fill the boat,
wherein Ja'afar had come, with dirhams and dinars and all manner of
jewels and jacinths and rich raiment and goods galore. So he laid
therein a thousand myriads of money and a thousand fine pearls, each
worth twenty thousand dirhams; nor did he give over loading the barge
with all manner of things precious and rare, till the boatmen cried out
for help, saying, "The boat can't hold any more;" whereupon he bade
them carry all this to Ja'afar's palace. Such are the exploits of the
magnanimous, Allah have mercy on them! And a tale is related of
THE SONS OF YAHYA BIN KHALID AND SA'ID BIN SALIM AL-BAHILI
Quoth Sa'νd bin Sαlim al'Bαhilν,[FN#135] I was once in very narrow
case, during the days of Harun al-Rashid, and debts accumulated upon
me, burdening my back, and these I had no means of discharging. I was
at my wits' end what to do, for my doors were blocking up with
creditors and I was without cease importuned for payment by claimants,
who dunned me in crowds till at last I was sore perplexed and troubled.
So I betook myself to Abdallah bin Mαlik al-Khuza'ν[FN#136] and
besought him to extend the hand of aid with his judgement and direct me
of his good counsel to the door of relief; and he said, None can save
thee from this thy strait and sorrowful state save the Barmecides.'
Quoth I, Who can brook their pride and put up patiently with their
arrogant pretensions?' and quoth he, Thou wilt put up with all this for
the bettering of thy case.'"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Three Hundred and Ninety-third Night
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Abdallah ibn
Malik al-Khuza'i said to Sa'id bin Salim, "Thou wilt put up with all
this for the bettering of thy case." "So I left him suddenly (continued
Sa'id) and went straight to Al-Fazl and Ja'afar, sons of Yahyα bin
Khαlid, to whom I related my circumstances; whereto they replied, Allah
give thee His aid, and render thee by His bounties independent of His
creatures and vouchsafe thee abundant weal and bestow on thee what
shall suffice thee, without the need of any but Himself; for whatso He
willeth that He can, and He is gracious with His servants and knoweth
their wants.' So I went out from the twain and returned to Abdallah,
with straitened breast and mind perplexed and heavy of heart, and
repeated to him what they had said. Quoth he, Thou wouldst do well to
abide with us this day, that we may see what Allah Almighty will
decree.' So I sat with him awhile, when lo! up came my servant, who
said to me, O my lord, there are at our door many laden mules and with
them a man, who says he is the agent of Al-Fazl and Ja'afar bin Yahya.'
Quoth Abdallah, I trust that relief is come to thee: rise up and go see
what is the matter.' So I left him and, hastening to my house, found at
the door a man who gave me a note wherein was written the following:
After thou hadst been with us and we heard thy case, we betook
ourselves to the Caliph and informed him that ill condition had reduced
thee to the humiliation of begging; where upon he ordered us to supply
thee with a thousand thousand dirhams from the Treasury. We represented
to him: The debtor will spend this money in paying off creditors and
wiping off debt; whence then shall he provide for his subsistence? So
he ordered thee other three hundred thousand, and each of us hath also
sent thee, of his proper wealth, a thousand thousand dirhams: so that
thou hast now three thousand thousand and three hundred thousand
dirhams wherewithal to order and amend thine estate.'" See, then, the
munificence of these magnificos: Almighty Allah have mercy on them! And
a tale is told of
THE WOMAN'S TRICK AGAINST HER HUSBAND
A man brought his wife a fish one Friday and, bidding her to cook it
against the end of the congregational prayers, went out to his craft
and business. Meanwhile in came her friend who bade her to a wedding at
his house; so she agreed and, laying the fish in a jar of water, went
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